boon's log 4109.03: Tiada Orang, Tiada Denggi

The authorities were at it again for a second time in a month, fumigating the houses just below/next us. 2 times in a month. Gosh, if the mosquitoes don't die, i'm afraid that the people/humans will if they keep on doing that.


Fumigation at Sunway Bukit Gambir, Penang

I believe i read in the newspapers recently about this fumigations. Instead of fumigating the housing area when a dinggi case is reported, the authorities should do something about the breeding areas. And I do not mean sending their employees to check houses for still water trapped in metal cans or abandoned tyres. But look at the jammed-up longkangs and areas that needs better drainage. Stop focusing just on the small time breeding grounds but expand and put some traction into detecting (which is not hard) and eliminating the bigger breeding areas.


No, it's not on fire... just gasses...

Some even said that the over-doing of the fumigation could help the mosquitoes build up their "immunity" to the gasses, which will produce stronger and more fumigation-resistant mosquitoes. Not sure how true and scientifically-founded is that claim, but it is quite believable, resorting back to the rule of "survival of the fittest"...

Anyway, does anyone also know if there are any side effects towards humans for over-inhaling these gasses? In any case, their visits to our housing area at such a high frequency can be quite disturbing...

The Dengue Posters typically read, "Tiada Aedes, Tiada Denggi" ("No Aedes, No Dengue"). It should also include "Tiada Orang, Tiada Denggi " ("No people/human, No Dengue")...

On a different note, here's a shot of last night's moon... WH, if you are seeing this, hopefully, we can get better shots of it in the coming days. Let me know if you wanna meet up...


moonshot_100609


boon out...

boon's log 2409.02: Weekend in Langkawi

The 3 of us took advantage of the long weekend to use up some of our timeshare allocations in Langkawi. Eversince our trip to Honolulu, Ab's been looking forward to go to the beach again. And knowing Penang, it's rather hard to find a relatively clean beach. So we kinda hit a few birds with one stone - besides the beach, Ab also likes to take the plane and boat - so we Fire-flew (Firefly) to Langkawi from PG and took the ferry home.

The ferry trip home was a rather disappointing experience for me. Not that I got sea-sick or anything, but I was rather ticked off with how disorganized the arrangements were with respect to the way the ferry trip was arranged - from poor directions/signs to unnecessarily moving people from one end of the terminal to the other, to total darkness at the Penang Jetty/Port - yes, I am talking total darkness (!!!). To me, at least, it was the worst part of the trip... Honestly, that part of the trip really drained most of my energy compared to the rest of the trip.

Apart from that, we enjoyed the short weekend away. I do not mind going back to Langkawi again, but please, no more Ferry. We did not do much of sighseeing - it was just basically a short getaway weekend to just rest and relax.

Here are some photos of our short weekend away...


"Battle of the fittest"


A game of chess, anyone?


Ab, contemplating whether to "attack" the waters...


The isolated and exquisite Pahn Thai Restaurant, from a distance


Mom and daughter taking a strong on the beach...


Langkawian sunset...


Moonlight Sonata


Rob-the-pianist, serenading us at the Phan Thai Restaurant


Rock formations on Gunung Mat ChinChang


View from the top of Gunung Mat CinCang


The suspension bridge on Gunung Mat CinCang

boon out...

boon's log 0309.03: We're home!

Moonshot 011309

We've arrived home safely last Thursday - I cannot say that it was a smooth ride all the way back, though. We had to squat in a hotel suite because we were "kicked" out of our apartment because our contract expired and we could not depart on our original departure date because of the snow storm... and after the snow, came the heavy rain and flood and flights continued to be delayed and foggy SanFran lived up to her foggy-reputation which had us circling in the air for about an hour before we were given the greenlight to land - what was supposed to be 1hr flight ended up being a 2hr flight. Oh and the amount of turbulence... and the list goes on... Anyways, believe me when I say, I am so glad to be home!

IL and I have been attacking the local food eversince we touchedown and so far, the food's been really good and we are not disappointed. While Ab's been pretty much kidnapped from us (by our relatives) and we pretty much have all the time to ourselves to unpack, clean up, unpack again and clean up again and hawker-hopping for the past 5-6 days. We even managed to squeeze Keanu Reeves' latest The Day the Earth Stood Still in between (which by the way was a disappointment, probably 1.5/5 stars). I fell asleep more than 3 times during the entire movie.

Things in and around Penang are what we expected it to be. Quite some changes, but not much that is of a surprise to us.

The only thing that came as a surprise to us was the passing away of our dear friend Hong Leong. We are assured that he has left this world to be in a better place.


Lim Hong Leong: 1958-2009

Our deepest and heartfelt condolences go out to Lean Bee and Hui Ling. May God continue to watch over them and bring healing to their hearts and grant them peace.

Write up from The Star, by Ng Su-Ann


He was known as the “punny guy” because he was never short of puns, and he was proud of it.

His tongue-in-cheek wit never failed to bring a smile even to the gloomiest face.

The Star Penang’s assistant chief photographer Lim Hong Leong, died after 5.30am yesterday following a short illness at Island Hospital. He was 51.

Lim will always be remembered for his quips.

Instead of the usual “Let’s go have a meal”, he would entreat us with “Let’s go stuff our face” or “We go for CKT (char koay teow)”.

One of his mischievous remarks was “God gave us relatives but thank God, we can choose our friends.”

Even on Facebook, his humour was distinct. He named his virtual pet – a crab – Dinner.

Lim, who joined The Star’s Penang office in the late 1970s, was described as a jack of all trades.

He worked as a driver, a paste-up artist and a clerk before joining the photo department in 1981.

“He was a jovial father figure to rookies and trainees. His positive outlook of life made him easy to get along with,” said Penang chief photographer Ng Ah Bak.

Lim also had a passion for music.

“He played the guitar and loved jam sessions with other fellow journalists. Lim also played the guitar at church services,” said another colleague.

In 1984, he won a gold medal for taking a photograph of a nude man who was walking around in public, dubbed the Sunday Streaker.

His picture was adjudged by the Kedah Photography Society as the best of many entries from the northern region.

He will also be remembered as a devoted husband and a doting father.

Lim would always place family above everything else.

He leaves behind his wife Ong Lean Bee, 47, and an only child, Hui Ling, 22, whom he always referred to as “my Sim Kua (heart)”.

His body has been taken to the Batu Gantong funeral parlour.

The funeral service will be held at 11am tomorrow and his remains will be cremated at the Batu Gantong crematorium.



boon out...

boon's log 4208.07: Moon Shot 002

It was quite a clear night, so I decided to look out for the moon and lo' and behold, there it was... Here's a shot of the moon.


moon_shot_002

Shooting information
Filename: moon_shot_002
Shooting Date: 10/19/2008 12:24:12 AM
Shooting Mode: Manual Exposure
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/60
Av (Aperture Speed): 8.0
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: 55-200 mm
Focal Length: 200.0 mm

boon out...

boon's log 4208.03: FullMoon

Shooting Information
Filename: Moon_Shot_001
Shooting Date: 10/15/2008 12:08:49 AM
Shooting Mode: Manual Exposure
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/250
Av (Aperture Speed): 8.0
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: 55-200 mm
Focal Length: 200.0 mm


boon out...