tankiasu's Xanga

Spiderman made it to the top of KLCC, finally!

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:27:53 GMT

The famous French climber, Alain Robert, dubbed the Spiderman for his crazy & daring climbs finally managed to scale all the way up to the top of KLCC's Petronas Twin Towers this morning. The picture below showed the daredevil standing proudly on the tip of the spire, which stands at 451.9 metres from the ground level.

Spot the Spiderman!

Despite the heavy rain in the morning, Alain Robert started his third attempt to conquer this steel landmark. Both his attempts in 1997 and 2007 were thwarted when the authorities stopped & detained him at the 60th floor, 28 floors short of the 88-storey skyscraper.

Alain Robert, seen here during his 2007's 2nd attempt at KLCC.

While I do not condone reckless actions of endangering someone's own life, I do however respect this French Spiderman's determination, guts & superb scaling skills. Do you know he scaled all those famous buldings/structures (Chicago's Sears Tower, Taipei's 101, Paris' Eiffel Tower & etc) with his bare hands and only some chalk powder?! No ropes, no safety locks... *gulp*

Will post up more photos as soon as I get them.

Hindu Temple Protest by Racist Malays in Shah Alam

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:06:56 GMT

Once again, a blatant display of racial provocation by certain group of people, after the similar provocation during the pig farm protest in Melaka last December. And once again, no action was taken against these people, even though it was a clear case of incitement of hatred, not to mention it was an illegal assembly, both an offense worthy of arrest under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The article below is taken from MalaysiaKini.com:

Some 50 residents enraged with the proposed relocation of a Hindu temple to their area staged a noisy protest with a severed cow's head this afternoon.

The residents - from Section 23 in Shah Alam - who gathered after the Friday prayers, placed the head outside the gates of the state secretariat building for a short period before removing it.

"Where is Xavier? This head is for him," shouted one of the protesters in reference to Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar.

Jeyakumar is one of those in charge of non-Muslim affairs in the state.

Earlier, the protesters had marched some 300m from the state mosque to the state secretariat building.

Before dispersing, several protesters spat and stomped on the cow head. The cow is considered sacred among Hindus.

Samy Vellu sees red

In an immediate reaction, MIC president S Samy Vellu condemned the protest.

"The cow is a sacred animal of the Hindus, and for this group to resort to such action, is intolerable and tantamount to challenging the freedom of religion as enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution.

"It is the right of Malaysians of any faith, including Hindus to build temples and other places of worships. I am very sad that this group had paraded the cow's head on their way to the state secretariat building," he said in a statement.

"We must not allow anyone to challenge or ridicule any religion in this country. I worry that this action may lead to retaliation from the Hindu community. However, I wish to urge the Hindus especially be calm and let the authorities deal with it," he added.

Samy Vellu said MIC wants the government and the police to take action against the organisers of this protest.

They must be punished according to the law for endangering the racial harmony in this country, he added.

So while our Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak keeps promoting his 1Malaysia concept of national unity, all we can see is 2 laws, 2 types of citizenship, 2 economic rights, 2 educational opportunities, 2 housing prices, and many other 2s. 1BigJoke that's what it is!

Sad story involving the Pixar's movie UP

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:59:52 GMT

ANIMATED movie Up may have been Pixar's second-biggest hit after grossing US$290million ($420m) to date, but it is the story before its release that has touched many.

UP: An undated photo of 10-year-old Colby Curtin, who was diagnosed with vascular cancer. She died hours after watching Pixar's animated movie Up, which was her wish before she died. PICTURE: AP

Ten-year-old cancer-stricken Colby Curtin got her final wish to watch the movie in a private screening in her home.

Seven hours later, she died.

She was too sick to go to a theatre, but a family friend got in touch with the movie studio Pixar. They sent an employee of the Emeryville-based company to Colby's home with a DVD copy of the movie, The Orange County Register reported.

Colby's mother, Mrs Lisa Curtin, said she had asked her daughter if she could hang on until the movie arrived.

'I'm ready (to die), but I'm going to wait for the movie,' she said her daughter replied.

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on 23Dec 2005 after doctors found a tumour in her liver.

Up is the animated tale of a grumpy old man who, after his wife's death, tries to fulfil their joint dream of visiting South America by tying thousands of balloons to his house and floating away.

Colby had gone for a DreamWorks 3-D movie, Monsters Vs. Aliens on 28 April. But she was impressed by the previews to Up.

'It was from then on, she said, that 'I have to see that movie. It is so cool,' family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, said Mrs Curtin, and she latched onto Pixar's movies because she loved animals.

But the girl's health began to deteriorate two days after she watched Monsters Vs. Aliens.

On 4 Jun, Mrs Curtin asked a hospice company to provide a wheelchair so that her daughter could go to a movie theatre, but the chair was not delivered over the weekend, she said.

Five days later, Colby was too sick to go anywhere.

Another family friend, Mr Terrell Orum, called both Pixar and Disney, which owns the animation studio.

The message was received by Pixar officials, who agreed to send someone to Colby's house the next day with a copy of Up for a private screening, Orum said.

The employee arrived with the DVD, stuffed animals of characters and other movie memorabilia.

Couldn't open her eyes

Colby was unable to open her eyes to see the movie so her mother described the scenes.

'When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,' Colby's mother told the Register.

'I just know that word Up and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me, it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.'

When her mother asked if she enjoyed it, the girl nodded, Curtin said.

The Pixar employee left after the movie, taking the DVD, which at that time, had not been released.

Ms Lynch, who was with the family during the screening, said the employee was teary.

Her mother said one of the souvenirs left by the Pixar employee was an 'adventure book' based on a scrapbook that, in the movie, is kept by the wife of the main character.

'I'll have to fill those adventures in for her,' Mrs Curtin said of her daughter.

Police crackdown on Anti-ISA demonstrators

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:31:34 GMT

Just got this picture from an email by a friend. Kekeke...found it sooo funny. Of course, no disrespect to our beloved Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM - Royal Malaysian Police) and millions of Michael Jackson's fans out there.

Lyrics for Beat It - Michael Jackson

They told him "Don't you ever come around here
Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear"
The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it

You better run, you better do what you can
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it. beat it
Just beat it, beat it

They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it

You have to show them that you're really not scared
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it

Beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it,
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it

Penang's 1988's Jetty Collapse Tragedy

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:12:26 GMT

I was watching a local Mandarin news programme on Astro when I saw the preview of a special segment on a victim of the 1988's Penang ferry terminal tragedy. No idea what I am talking about?

Well on the 31st July, 1988, the Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry Terminal (Penang Ferry Jetty) in Butterworth, suddenly collapsed due to severe overcrowding and weak steel bars structure of the jetty. The collapse caused 32 deaths and at least 1674 people were injured, most of the devotees rushing to the Penang Island for the Kuan Yin Festival (Goddess of Mercy) on that fateful day.

The special segment of the news programme were about the TV show's effort to locate a victim, that were photographed among the debris, trapped together with the body of her dead mother. 21 years later, they managed to locate her, and interviewed the now 20-ish woman.

That spurred me to google the incident on the net but to my surprise, I found next to nothing. For a major tragedy, I find it hard to believe so little about it has been recorded/posted/archived in the cyberspace. I remember all the cover pages of the major newspapers on the day after the incident were all about it, and people were talking about it for weeks.

Recently there were numerous incidents of collapsed stadium, collapsed roads, cracked flyovers, collapsed ceilings, leaking pipeworks and other avoidable debacles in this country. Thank God so far no lives are lost. I hate to see changes only after lives have been "sacrificed" unneccesary. May the people/government that have been given authorities/responsibilities to be accountable, honest, incorruptible and efficient in what they do.

This posting is dedicated to the 32 lost lives and thousand others who are affected by the jetty tragedy. Lest we forget...

Hannah Yeoh on Teoh Beng Hock's Death

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:58:06 GMT

By Hannah Yeoh, Sin Chew Daily

I'M GOING TO share a personal story with all of you here. Back in 1990, when I was still in school, I received news that my favourite uncle (mom's brother) had injured himself from a fall while working. He was admitted to SJMC and hours later, he passed away. My uncle was only 29 when he left us. He was one month away from getting married. He had personally renovated his house and bought new furniture in anticipation of his wedding day. I was told that he cried when his engagement ring was removed from his finger, moments before he passed away.

On the day of his burial, his pre-wedding photographs taken at the studio were delivered to us. His fiancee wept uncontrollably. Their wedding did not materialise. Their dream of beginning their lives together was shattered. Photograph of him in his groom tuxedo adorned his coffin and hearse. His parents (my grandparents) also could not participate in the funeral, just like Beng Hock's parents. According to Chinese culture, the parents should not participate in the funeral of a child.

I can understand how Beng Hock's nieces and nephews feel. I spent so many nights crying, longing for my favourite uncle to return. I can imagine the atmosphere in Beng Hock's home now. My grandparents' home was no different. One night, I shared the room with my uncle's fiancee. I woke up to the sound of her weeping. She told me how my uncle wanted me to teach him English and that it was too late. How she was supposed to prepare soup for him for dinner but he never came home that day, it was too late.

Year after year, at every family gathering, I witnessed my grandmother crying. I saw my grandfather hiding in the kitchen, crying by himself. The loss of their son was too painful, too much for them to bear. Even on the dying bed in 2007, my grandfather was still thinking of his son - my uncle who left so prematurely at the age of 29, a month before his scheduled wedding.

Beng Hock's death has brought painful remembrance of my personal loss. Beng Hock was my friend. I last saw him in the Dewan Annex at the Selangor State Assembly last Wednesday during our lunch break. I never imagined that that would be the last time we chatted. I am 30 years old. Beng Hock was 30 too. He would not be at MACC if he hadn't accepted the call of public service. This race in which I have started to run to bring change in this land is not an easy one. I know some will stop running. Some may be injured running the race. I pray I will complete the race.

My sister who is indifferent to politics (like many other young people in this country) sent me a text message when I was at Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih the day Beng Hock was buried. She said : "Please teach me what to do in the event you are taken in by MACC too. I do not want to learn of it too late". She must have seen the agony of Beng Hock's siblings and realised that it could have been her going through it.

I hope my grandmother isn't watching the news of Beng Hock's death. She would be grieving and crying seeing Beng Hock's mom. I hope this article doesn't reach her. Just like how my family still remembers my late uncle some 19 years later, I know Beng Hock too would be remembered many years to come. Farewell, my friend.

(Yeoh is DAP assemblywoman for Subang Jaya and a regular columnist Sin Chew Daily)

Shogun Japanese Buffet - Sunway Pyramid: Bad Service & Rude Staff

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:33:36 GMT

Read this on another food blog. I've decided I would never ever step into Shogun Japanese Buffet Restaurant, unless they drastically improve their service level as well as their food quality as well. Read for yourself the experience by one of the many unhappy customers of Shogun:

My siblings and I visited Shogun in Sunway Pyramid for the first time today. We called on Monday (18 May 2009) to make a reservation for 3 at 1pm for Friday (22 May 2009). However, upon reaching Shogun’s doorstep at 1pm today, we were told TODAY that our reservation was CHANGED to THURSDAY (21 May 2009)!

The doorman in charge at that time, Gibson, insisted that they called us to confirm that the reservation was changed to Thursday. The only phone call we received was at 12.45pm today, but it was missed. We promptly called back several times for the next 15 minutes but there was either no answer, or was engaged.

We explained that we did not change our reservation for Friday at 1pm. Gibson insisted that we called to change and shortly after that raised his voice saying, “IT’S NOT MY FAULT!!”. He then told us to wait and walked away. When he returned, he pretended not to see us waiting and continued with what he was previously doing.

Personally, I think that was very rude.

We approached him again and asked to speak to the manager. He let out a grunt before going inside to call the supervisor, who then looked at the reservation list again, and told us that our reservation was only for 2, meaning if he were to admit us into the restaurant, he can only admit 2. We told him that it was impossible because we clearly made reservations for 3, and told him to check our reservation number which was W14. The supervisor checked the list again and pointed to a column on the list which stated 2pax. Dissatisfied, we cross-referenced that column with the name and phone number recorded and found that it was a reservation under the same name, but different contact number. Even though they had clearly made a mistake, both the supervisor and Gibson did not apologize and asked for our reservation number again. After checking the list again, the right record for our reservation but then said that we did not show up at 12.30 pm, so they gave our table away. But we clearly made a reservation for 3 at 1 pm. Why was it written as 12.30 pm? We insisted that the supervisor check with the person who was in charge of taking reservations on Monday, but they refused and said that it was a miscommunication. Gibson then proceeded to tell us that we would have to wait for our table.

That defeats the whole purpose of making reservation, doesn’t it?

We were only seated after half an hour and we did not even get a word of apology from them at all! It was obviously an internal management error, so shouldn’t they at least apologize?

Before we left, we approached Gibson (we didn’t know his name then) to ask for his name and politely told him that he was very rude to us. He refused to give us his name, and instead he raised his voice again saying, “You all started it first!”. Pardon me, but the last time I checked, restaurant staff are supposed to be well mannered and polite, not this rude! He insisted on not giving us his name, and then turned around to ignore us. We proceeded to ask the other cashier behind the counter, but she too refused to give us his name.

Evidently, the management of Shogun Pyramid does not highly prioritize customers’ satisfaction based on this particular episode. Initially, a simple apology would suffice. However, given that the fact that my siblings and myself were at the receiving end of a ruder treatment, I made a point to personally lodge a direct complain against the staff in Shogun Pyramid.

My friends and I are frequent customers to various Japanese buffets. This is the first time we decided to give Shogun a try, and after such treatment, it just left us with a bitter aftertaste, and full of disappointment. We would definitely not give Shogun a visit anymore, and we would also spread the word around about the horrible customers service that we were given.

*edit*
I forgot to mention above, that Gibson wears a different uniform from the other waiters/waitresses. He wears white shirt and vest as oppose to the other table waiters/waitresses who wears only yellow shirts. So I’m guessing he’s of higher position?

And I thought services at Japanese restaurants are the best in the world...apparently not in this part of the world it seems.

TNB Peninsula-wide Power Disruption

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:17:14 GMT

Ladies & gentlemen, our beloved power supplier, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) will be doing a major maintenance to its power distribution system in July till early August, for almost the whole of Peninsular Malaysia. But somehow, they did not feel the need to inform millions of their customers except for this brief news article on NST:

http://www.nst.com.my/Monday/National/2594641

It is advisable to be prepared as some areas might experience power interruption as long as 6 hours, and some even up to 11 hours. For residential areas, the power cut will mostly occur in the morning, while for commercial area it will be done after working hours.

You can check the schedule and see if/when your area will be affected here:

http://www.tnb.com.my/tnb/power_alert.php

Stay safe and stay entertained people!

New iPhone is revealed!

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:12:04 GMT

For the past 2 months, there has been a constant streams of rumors and leaked photos on the internet of a possible new model for the popular iPhone. Well, wait no more. Apple has just announced a new version of the iPhone: the iPhone 3G S. The “S” apparently stands for “Speed,” with Apple indicating that the new device is “the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.” I figures a large number of iPhone fans who have been waiting for the new model will be disappointed to learn that there is no changes to the physical appearance of the new iPhone.

There will be two versions of the iPhone 3G S available, in the United States initially at least: 16GB for $199 (RM704.45), and 32GB for $299 (RM1058.45), and they’ll both be available on 19th of June. Meanwhile, Apple also announced that it would be dropping the price on the current generation iPhone - iPhone 3G - to $99 (RM350.45) (ouch to those who've just signed up with Maxis on ridiculous mobile plans. Serve you right Pity you guys, awww).

Other features of the iPhone 3G S include longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. The device will include version 3.0 of iPhone’s OS software, which adds “more than 100 new features,” most notably copy/paste, MMS, and a new “find my iPhone” feature that helps you track down a missing device.

The iPhone 3.0 software will be available a couple days before the new device (on June 17th) as a free upgrade to existing iPhone users, and $9.95 (RM35.22) for those with an iPod Touch.

Now, the next question would be, when will this iPhone 3G S comes to Malaysia? Can't wait to know how much it'll cost as well! Keep your fingers crossed folks.

For more detailed information and specs, head on to Apple's website.

*pictures taken from Apple.com*

KFC increasing their price again!

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:30:55 GMT

Just came back from a KFC outlet. One of their employee showed me their newly-printed menus. No it's not a design revamp or new corporate image. KFC is going to increase their price again, starting tomorrow! I said again because they have just hiked their price not too long ago. From tomorrow, a set of Dinner Plate (3 pieces of chicken) without any drink will cost RM10.35 before tax, a RM0.55 or 5.6% increase from the current price of RM9.80.

I am sure they can come out with a dozen excuses why this recent hike is justifiable and bla bla bla. But your price is already one of the highest in the world (dollar-to-dollar and proportions to average income) and can you actually deny you are reaping million of ringgits of profit annually? In fact, your company recorded your highest ever net profit in 2008, with profit of RM118,000,000. And your net profit of RM28.7mil for the first quarter of 2009 was 1.4% higher than Q1 2008, so you are already on track to break yet another record. So why do you have to burden the rakyat somemore?!?

I've been loving and enjoying KFC for decades, since I started stockpiling cholestrol when I was a little kid. Now with this unreasonable price hike, hmm...I'm not sure I would want to patronize KFC so frequent anymore. I am weak, I don't think I can bring myself to boycott them totally. ;-P But for those who are stronger than I am, please...go ahead and show them that consumers won't be forced to fatten KFC's director's wallets anymore!

While on my part, I will post up reviews of other alternative sources for fried chicken soon. It would be especially helpful for people who can't survive without a regular dosage of artery-choking meal of fried poultry.