Friday Frolics - What Type of Cruise Should You Go On?

I've yet to be on a cruise but I think it should be fun on one. I've always thought all cruises are the same, i.e., with the same facilities and itinerary. Apparently, they are not. This week's quiz is about cruises and it says I should go on a Disney cruise. Check out the type of cruise that you should go on.

Have a cruising, happy weekend, everyone! It's one that's longer than usual, isn't it, considering it's a public holiday today. Happy Malaysia Day!

You Should Go on a Disney Cruise

You are family oriented, fun loving, and truly a kid at heart. For you, a cruse is less about the destination and more about the total experience. You love the idea of a cruise with a little nostalgia and lots of activities for everyone. A Disney cruise will wow you, entertain you, and give you memories to last a lifetime.

What Type of Cruise Should You Go On?

Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

PM announces repeal of ISA, three Emergency proclamations

Certainly a big step in the right direction for Malaysia as the country celebrates Malaysia Day today, September 16.

Indeed, a happy Malaysia Day!

From The Star: PM announces repeal of ISA, three Emergency proclamations

KUALA LUMPUR: Several draconian laws including the ISA and the three Emergency proclamations are to be repealed under major civil liberty reforms announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Thursday.

The reforms include:

*Total repeal of the Internal Security Act

The legislation, introduced in 1960 in the wake of an armed insurgency by Communist rebels, gives the police wide-ranging powers to detain suspects indefinitely.

It will be replaced by a new law that incorporates far more judicial oversight and limits the powers of the police to detain suspect for preventive reasons.

37 people are currently being held under the ISA. There will be a six-month transition period while the new laws are introduced, after which their cases will be considered under the new legislation.

*Total repeal of the Emergency Ordinance

Introduced following race riots in 1969, the Emergency Ordinance, which allows suspects to be detained without charge for up to two years if permission is granted by a Minister.

This too will be replaced by a law that will not compromise on national security and terrorism while increasing democratic accountability and judicial oversight.

*Removal of annual renewal of press and publication permits

All licences will now remain valid indefinitely unless they are revoked, in common with broadcasting regulations in many Western nations.

*Government to review Section 27 of the Police Act 1967

The Malaysian constitution guarantees the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The law requires police permission before gatherings can go ahead, including on private land such as stadiums. This law will now be reviewed to bring Malaysia in line with international standards while ensuring that the police retain the power to prevent violent scenes on the nation's streets.

A host of other laws, including those governing banishment and residence, will also be abolished or reviewed. Any law found to be no longer relevant or justifiable will be repealed.

Full text of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's speech.


Source: The Star

Haze spreading across Southeast Asia

Malaysia is once again shrouded in haze and it's even preventing the sun from shining through here in Kuala Lumpur. This is what happens in September each year when land-clearing takes place in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The condition further worsens with the lack of rainfall.

CNN reports that there are 1,200 hotspots identified in Southern Sumatra. Fortunately, air quality is not as bad here in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur as it is in Indonesia. Take a look at the video from CNN.

Mid-Autmn/Mooncake/Lantern Festival - 12 Sep 2011

Today, Sep 12, is Mid-Autumn Festival or often referred to as Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival here in Malaysia. Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month which incidentally is believed to be an auspicious month for marriages, so you might see many Chinese weddings and engagements this month.

On the home-front, families get together for dinner just as they would during Chinese New year, Dumpling festival and Winter solstice. The Mid-Autumn Festival is therefore considered as one of the four most important Chinese festivals.

The Mooncake/Lantern Festival involves family members gathering together after dinner for some more family time in the spirit of figuratively gazing at the moon. The moon tonight is believed to be the fullest and brightest among all the year's fullmoons. Traditional food during this Mooncake festival includes the mooncake (of course), the pomelo fruit and the mini yam or taro. Children will play with colorful paper lanterns in various animal forms and colors. Lanterns would also be hung around the courtyard for that air of festivity.

A little bit on the mooncake delicacy. Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 10cm in diameter and 4–5cm thick. A thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste is surrounded by a relatively thin (2–3mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. (Wikipedia)

For families of Buddhist/Taoist faith, offerings of incense and food (mooncakes, pomelos, etc.,) will be made to deities including the lunar deity. My late grandmother found it impossible that man had landed on the moon so she continued her normal ritual of making offerings to the moon. Traditions die hard. I wonder if this tradition will stand the test of time, but no matter, it is fun while it lasts.

So, to you who celebrate this fun festival, let me wish you a Happy Lantern/Mooncake/Mid-Autumn Festival and a good harvest the following year!

Friday Frolics - Man among the coffee beans

No quiz this week but let's do something 'brainy' instead - with coffee beans.

We have seen how coffee beans look like. Now let's see if we can spot the man among the coffee beans. Ready? Start looking... Now!

Found him? Once you've found him you might ask yourself, "Why didn't I see him immediately?"

The result:
Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein. If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger! And yes, the man is really there!

After you've found the man in the beans forward the e-mail to your brainy friends. LOL! Have a wonderfully brainy weekend, everyone!


Source unknown. This came in an email from a brainy friend.

Black is Back with Arthur’s Day 2011

Hey hey hey! Nuffnang has done it again! Nuffnang is making it possible for you to join the annual Arthur's Day celebrations that will be surging around the globe, beginning in Ireland and Europe across to the USA and the Caribbean and finally hitting our shores. Kicking off at 17:59 GMT on 22 September 2011, it’s 24 hours of global celebrations and live music events to mark yet another year of Guinness goodness.

80 lucky blog entries will each win TWO pairs of exclusive passes to this money-can't-buy-passes world celebration where the hottest acts in music will be bringing the house down. Watch international R&B superstar, Taio Cruz, perform live. Yep, he's the very same sexy crooner who took the world by storm with two consecutive US Billboard No. 1 singles, “Break Your Heart” and “Dynamite”! All this happening on

Date: 23 September 2011 (Friday)
Time: 6 pm onwards
Venue: Speed City KL, Selangor Turf Club

Six local acts will vie to be the top two (based on votes) to perform on this night. They are Prema Yin, NakedBreed, Rosevelt, Dragon Red, Jin Hackman (feat. CSBTEA) and James Baum. Who do you want to see perform? Cast your vote here.

Am I excited? You bet! Coz Taio Cruz is gonna be there and I know it's gonna be Dynamite!



To Arthur!
To Nuffnang too!

The New Blogger interface

Blogger is still my choice of blog platform which I've been using for many years now. It's not a perfect platform but over the years, there have been many improvements done though I've yet to be using the new blog templates. I've been toying with the idea lately but the thought of having to retype the links is a big turnoff. Still, the inevitable will come one day.

Blogger recently introduced something quite radical, a new interface. Have you had the chance to try the new Blogger interface or are you already using it? Me, I'm glad there is still the old interface to fall back to. You can learn more about it on Blogger Buzz: Blogger’s fresh new look.

The new interface looks sophisticated, more of-the-times, if you will, though it takes some getting used to like all things new. I've been switching back and forth from old to new and back to old again. After doing that, switching, I'm now seeing a little glitch.

The paragraphing option doesn't work anymore. I have to go to Compose to do that (on the old interface as I'm still blogging from there). Anyone encountering this problem? Any suggestion to fix it? I haven't done much on the new interface to know everything there is to know about the features but I guess when the time comes for a total switch, then the hard-knocks would come. Now let me go to Compose to break the paragraphs. Sigh..

The Haze is back - The smell of BBQ in the air..

 The haze is back in Malaysia with the air quality in parts of Klang Valley dipping further. The Department of Environment (DOE) Air Pollutant Index (API) recorded a reading of 92 as at 7am this morning (86 the day before). Shah Alam drew closer to unhealthy level at 96, Port Klang at 81, Batu Muda - 88 and Cheras at 84. In other parts of Peninsula Malaysia, SK Jalan Pegoh in Ipoh worsened to 86 while Seberang Jaya 2 in Perai recorded 79.

A good API reading is from 0-50, moderate (51-100), unhealthy (101-200), very unhealthy (201-299) and hazardous (from 300 and above).

A few things to remember when the air quality is bad. Best to stay indoors as much as possible. If at all possible avoid going to areas where the haze reading is particularly bad. Drinking lots of water to stay hydrated is a wise move. Open burning is to be avoided. Holding barbeques is certainly not a good idea at this moment. Put them off until Halloween. Did I say Halloween? It must be because of some Halloween invitations I saw on a website that has all kinds of Halloween invitations with images of all manner of pumpkins, witches on brooms, costumes, masks and all sorts of other related items.


Image source: InvitationConsultants.com