A Day in Aquaria KLCC

The first time I entered Aquaria KLCC was in December 2006 for Dutchlady 123 shoot with Amy Mastura, but that was for work purposes.

It was time to come back to KL to start my new job. Mum, Dad and Aaron flew here for Chap Goh Mei and since I had some time to hang around, I suggested Aquaria KLCC...and we went! We paid RM35 per person and spent a couple of hours touring and also to watch the feeding at the main tank at 12pm. There weren't that many species of fishes as I would have imagined but it was just wonderful to be surrounded with them.

The journey started with insects and reptiles (eww! especially when I saw the snakes!) and later it was into the Amazon tank where all the fishes were giants...even the catfish was super huge! I was rather scary to imagine what'll happen if someone fell into the Amazon tank with all the big fishes swimming around........

What amazed me was the fishes in the sea. We had to walk into the underwater tunnel where fishes swam around us. This brings me back to the time I first visited Sentosa Underwater World in Singapore back when I was a kid. We went around the tunnel twice!

After the feeding and the tunnel ride, we went on taking photographs and into the 'weird' creature section where we saw nautilus, jelly fish, lionfish, seahorses, etc. I don't even think these creatures are considered weird but....hmm!

And it was time to reach the exit point. Though it didn't take long for us to finish our tour in Aquaria KLCC, at least we did something rather different this time in KL; no more shopping, no more train rides. I had quite some fun...I hope my family did too!

I've decided not to go for the 'Dive with Sharks' in Aquaria KLCC anymore because I'll be diving with the Sand Tiger Sharks and some Rays only. And, one time into Aquaria KLCC is enough. Glad to finally visited the place!

...like Avatar...

One good thing about going to an Underwater World...

you don't need to dive to take pictures of the corals and the creatures!

Road Trip to Damai with Mum and Dad

It was my last weekend in Kuching that I persuaded Dad to drive Mum and I to Damai Beach Resort and the best part of all was...I forgot to bring extra clothes to change after a swim! So, I didn't even get myself wet in the sea *sigh* We paid RM3 each to enter Damai Beach Resort that morning and started taking photographs.

We spent an hour or so at the beach area before taking a short break to Kampung Santubong beach. It's been years since we last step foot on this beach. Back when I was little, my parents used to bring us to Damai Lagoon Resort for a weekend stay and once at Damai Beach Resort. But, after price hikes the room became more and more expensive so our other option was Santubong Beach Resort. It's good to see that there are more activities now in Damai Beach Resort.

Off we went to Kampung Santubong and its beach. There isn't anything great at the beach but the feeling of just being by the sea is just wonderful~

Since we were already at that area, Dad drove us to Pantai Pasir Pandak and Pantai Pasir Panjang for a look-see. There were small stalls and families having their picnics there. I remembered the last time I was there was in 1998 where my Primary 6 friends and I were on a school trip after UPSR and we had great times here on this beach.

It was one fun day with Mum and Dad on the road to the beach. Feel like a kid once again. I'm glad that I had time to spend with my family in Kuching after having to work back home.

Can't wait to go back home again!

Days in the Bus

Again I'm back in KL for a new freelancing job, this time with a company founded by my college friend, Nina called TwentySeventh Pictures. This time around, my public transportation route has been shifted quite a bit, starting from the train from Pandan Indah to Masjid Jamek and interchange another train to KL Sentral before getting on RapidKL Bus No83 to Damansara area. In total, 90 minutes of travel time from home to work!

The bus ride kills me very much! But its days in the bus for me from now onwards...

Privatizing Mission Schools in Sarawak

How many mission schools are pushed to the limit to privatize or even worse, to close here in Sarawak. There have been series of mission schools which have already taken the step to close down the schools, that includes my own Primary School - SRB St. Theresa Padungan, Kuching. So many things have changed since I was studying in these schools; declining on study grades and discipline especially. Many knew why, but there is nothing anyone can do.

Today, another news came out:

CATHOLIC CHURCH TO TAKE MISSION SCHOOLS OUT OF NATIONAL SYSTEM

Here's the news - taken from thestar.com.my

KUCHING: The St Joseph secondary and primary schools, among the oldest here, are going private.

It is learnt that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese had obtained the necessary licences to take back the two mission-turned-government schools.

The archdiocese had revealed its plan during a parish dinner in January.

When contacted, Kuching Archbishop John Ha refused to comment about the move.

“We have a committee working on it but you will have to wait until the ‘launch’,” he said, without going into the details of the ‘launch’.

The Archbishop is expected to formally announce the changes to the schools in late March or early April.

“It (the private schools) will start from next year onwards and the fees have already been worked out,” said a source.

He said both schools would go by the name Sekolah Menengah Swasta St Joseph and Sekolah Rendah Swasta St Joseph respectively.

When contacted, Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah admitted that she was aware of the archdiocese’s plan but refused to divulge any further information.

The change in the schools’ status has become a cause for concern for parents as many students feared that the school could be closed.

However, a senior staff of the school told Star Sarawak that there was no truth to talk of the schools’ closure.

“They will continue to run as usual for now,” he said.

SMK St Joseph currently has over 1,500 students whereas SK St Joseph has 855 pupils.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Teachers’ Union president William Ghani Bina believes that change in the schools’ status would not have much effect on the teachers and students if the school’s management planned the transition well.

He added that if a government school became a private school, teachers and students would have the option to either remain with the school or be transferred to a government school.

“If the teacher wants to stay on, then he would have to resign from the government. If not, then it would be like any other transfer,” he explained.

As for the students, he said their studies would not be interrupted since all government schools used the same textbooks and teachers were trained on the same syllabus.

“The only thing they might face is familiarising with their new environment and having to make new friends,” he said. SMK St Joseph is considered to be one of the most distinguished schools in the state, having churned out several high profile individuals including Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan and former State Secretary Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Hussain.

The school which was built in 1882, also has a reputation of producing top scorers one of them include ex-national squash player June Tiong who is currently studying Chemistry at the prestigious Harvard University in the US.

Personally, I support the idea of converting mission schools from national schools to private schools. These mission schools have been around for so many years and it will definitely be a waste to just have them closed. I hope more mission schools will privatize instead of a closure.

What's more to come?

Valentine's Day Dinner with Family

It's Valentine's Day and this time around, I'm back home. It was my last 2 days in Kuching and Mum decided to cook dinner, and no doubt, Mum's Home Cook Dinner is the BEST!

Here are the dishes....

...Stir-Fried Vegetable with Chicken and Mushroom...

...Tempura Prawn...

...Sea Cucumber soup...

YUMMY!

Definitely going to miss Mum's Home Cook food after I'm back to KL!

Road Trip to Muara Tebas and Kampung Bako

Date: 9th February 2011

Mum and I (at first) decided to take the Rapid Kuching bus to Bako this morning and it was later last night that Dad reminded us that we can drive there on our own and it will save us a lot of hassle to wait for bus, to sit in the bus for a long time, to chase after the bus when it comes and more. So, we decided to drive there. Aaron came along.

We had breakfast at Kim Joo, Carpenter Street before the drive through the one-and-only-toll in Kuching and headed up to Muara Tebas. Little did we know we were heading there until we saw the roadsign. We took a detour to Ching San Yan (Green Hill) for a visit. There were quite a lot of people as it is still Chinese New Year.

We saw a crab jumping from the table and ran off *laughs* We then drove the old road to Kampung Bako and reached a small jetty, parked the car and came down by the river to take photographs. A little drive further, we reached Bako National Park Terminal where Rapid Kuching and the other shuttles from Kuching will bring the tourists to this terminal to catch a boat to the park.

And yes! We had a great time this morning, driving around the other side of Kuching. There's more places to explore and I'll be back with Mum to explore them soon!

ABSOLUTELY GLAD TO BE HOME!

Writeup from Diverse Borneo

It's been a month since I did my EFR and Rescue Diver courses with Diverse Borneo and I've been missing the fun and laughter with fellow divers back in Kota Kinabalu. I'm now eager to sign up for my Dive Master training but will have to wait until I have enough money to spend for 2 months away from the city, on an island again!

Weeks ago, I read a writeup written in Diverse Borneo's website.

Click HERE to read it!

Family Photo 2011

Taken on The 1st Day of Chinese New Year at Grandma's House

Uncle Gilbert & Aunt Veronica's Wedding Dinner

Date: 30th January 2010

Venue: The Heritage

We were having Uncle Gilbert and Aunt Veronica's Wedding Dinner here in Kuching with fellow family members in Kuching and that means, there's lots of people and here's the photograph to show you! Dinner was awesome!

CONGRATS TO UNCLE GILBERT & AUNT VERONICA!