Archive | September, 2006

Minehead – Seaside Relaxing in the UK

Posted September 29, 2006 at 3:01 am in Trips & Travel, UK

I still have quite a few posts from UK, so back to normal service again for a while, until I decide to whinge about the stupid SE K750i I bought in January that now doesn’t work because the screen is totally white…and the LCD warranty is only for 1 MONTH, yes I just found out today when I looked at the back of the warranty card..

Anyway, whilst I was in UK I suggested to my Mom we pop down to my Aunt’s cottage in Minehead, Minehead is a small coastal village towards the south of Bristol in UK. You can read more HERE.

We had beautiful weather thankfully and it was a incredibly relaxing couple of days, the first day we did nothing, we just sat on the terrace, had lunch Al Fresco and enjoyed a good bottle of wine.

My Aunt’s cottage is a quaint little place build into a rock hill, the back is actually joined to the hill it’s ancient and she spent a lot of money fixing it up, it’s really beautiful now.

She has a new neighbour too, this is their dog Jessie a beautiful Golden Retriever.

Jessie

The stairs up to the terrace.

Stairs

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Continue Reading · 14 Comments · Trips & Travel, UK

Window Replaced… Choice Made.. More Travel!

Posted September 27, 2006 at 12:49 pm in General Nonsense

I replaced my window on Monday afternoon, it took quite a while as there was a small but deep dent where they had used something to rip the window out and smash the corner and it was raining..

The total cost was RM880, a nice number…but shit almost 1k to replace the fscking window!

That’s one of the disadvantages of having a 3 door car, the rear windows are thick and curved and cost a small fortune..

Have to replace my camera now too, I’ve decided I’ll get the D200, it’s a solid camera and it should last me a good 2-3 years so I think it’s worth a bit of extra investment.

Nikon D200

*Sigh*

Imagine if everyone from the last post who commented gave me RM10, I’d have more than enough already 😀

I’m still a bit depressed, but still it’s only material and everything can be replaced/fixed. No one was hurt and nothing intagible was lost.

But yah if anyone wants to make donations to my new camera fund feel free!

Let’s all learn the lesson anyway, lot’s of reports have been made about thefts and car break-ins in the SS2 area, so be very wary, people’s cars have been broken into just for a nasi lemak in a black bag as someone thought it was valuable..Cameras and laptops have been stolen in seconds outside ATM machines and at petrol stations whilst people paid.

Criminals are desperate and ruthless, please don’t give them a chance like I did as they will take it.

I’ll be off to Philippines AGAIN on Monday for about a week I think, not sure if I’ll get to do anything interesting this time 🙂

Will charge the old powershot A70 and get him rolling!

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Continue Reading · 28 Comments · General Nonsense

NOT a Good Weekend…Car Broken Into – Camera Stolen

Posted September 25, 2006 at 1:07 am in Serious Issues

Yes my beloved 3 month old Nikon D70s is gone..gone I tell you.

It was supposed to be a good weekend, good plans, good company, good food..

I’d just done my research, asked around, saved up and bought a new SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 lens too on Saturday afternoon, I was excited to go home and try it out.

It all went wrong on Saturday night after having dinner in Section 17, we stopped by SS2 to buy some DVD’s near Murni Mamak, I forgot to take my camera down as it was brightly lit and there were lots of people around..

Unfortunately that made no difference at all the whole of my car window was ripped out and discarded underneath my car.

I didn’t even notice at first until I saw glass on the ground..and saw the whole window under the car, I was in absolute shock for quite some time.

Window Smashed

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Continue Reading · 68 Comments · Serious Issues

Dubai Desert Safari – Part II – Belly Dancing BBQ!

Posted September 21, 2006 at 2:36 am in Dubai, Trips & Travel

So after a gruelling trek through the desert and some pounding sand duning in the jeep we headed to camp for some dinner and entertainment, all inclusive in the package of course.

We were pretty starving by the time we got there as it’s not recommended to eat before the sand duning as you’ll most likely get naseous..so none of us had eaten since breakfast.

Out of 5 cars I think we saw someone sick in all of em..including ours 🙁

When we arrived we got to have a quick ride on a camel, only for 10-15 metres or so just to get a taste of the experience, it’s really not very comfortable and seems quite high..much higher than a horse and a lot bumpier! The worse part is when the camel kneels down for you to get off…beware men you might lose your chance to have kids if you aren’t prepared at this point.

Yes indeed, it’s a bit of a ball crusher.

Camel Ride

After that we all sat around the huge rug in the middle and munched on something like naan bread whilst smelling the BBQ we would be eating later.

Sitting

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Continue Reading · 14 Comments · Dubai, Trips & Travel

Dubai Desert Safari – A must do!

Posted September 19, 2006 at 8:32 am in Dubai, Photography, Trips & Travel

Ah finally back from Dubai, my sleeping pattern is a bit screwed though because of the 4 hour time difference and the 7 hour overnight flight..

It’ll get back to normal soon enough I guess..

Well yes, finally I’m back! Dubai was…hot and sandy and it makes me fat as you can order everything under the sun there without moving your ass off the sofa…Pizza, fried chicken, chinese food, arabic food, indian food, iranian food, lebanese food, groceries..basically whatever you want. And the portions are all huge!

We managed to grab a couple of days off towards the end and relax, we planned our trip out and went for a Dubai Desert Safari the day before we came back.

I recommend the Desert Safari to everyone, it’s an amazing experience, if you are ever flying with Emirates, just stop over in Dubai for a couple of days, check out Jumeirah, perhaps the Mall of Emirates and do the Desert Safari, that’s enough 🙂

The Desert Safari includes sand duning (driving fast up and down sand dunes in a massive jeep which feels like it’s about to turn over!), a camel ride, belly dancing and a bbq in the middle of the desert, oh yah and some shishas!

It costs between Dhs 150 and 280 depending which company you go with (that’s equivalent to the same amount in RM as the exchange rate is 0.99 = 1) and is worth every cent!

You leave for the safari about 3-4pm as it’s too hot before that, and it’s a good time to head out and catch the sunset on the dunes.

Leaving

After quite a long journey and a quick stop at a buggy place (you can take a buggy on the dunes for Dhs100 for about 20 minutes and get sunburnt for free), which none of us took up, we hit the dunes.

The driving is crazy, it’s fun, it’s like a rollercoaster, up and down, sliding sideways down sandunes in a heavy 4.5 litre Toyota Landcruiser GXR.

You stop off a couple of times to admire the view and take some pictures of the dunes, it’s a beautiful peaceful place and is suprisingly windy.

Endless Dunes

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Continue Reading · 25 Comments · Dubai, Photography, Trips & Travel

Dubai..sand…. sand…cranes …sand & Jack Daniels

Posted September 11, 2006 at 12:20 am in Dubai, Ranting, Trips & Travel

I’m going out of my mind really, I’m not sure how much more of this I can take..

I have nothing to do, the hotel had no Internet (unless I paid a ridiculous RM100), the appartment I’m staying in now has no Internet and has 3 TV channels.

I’ve spent the last 3 days doing absolutely nothing apart from watching the same shitty movies over and over on TV…there were a few good ones thankfully, Road to Perdition, Ali is on tonight, the rest were pretty crap tho (Far & Away etc..).

I’m going to use my own precious bandwidth to host some pictures here..

I’ll have to post the rest of my UK trip when I get back as that would take too much bandwidth.

When I first came here I was staying in a ‘Chalet’ room, some cheap ass shit, it wasn’t even in the hotel, it was a concrete 2 floor building out the back behind the swimming pool..the shower didn’t work…I got out of there..

dsc_7297_blog.jpg

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Continue Reading · 19 Comments · Dubai, Ranting, Trips & Travel

Flickr Banned and Youtube Blocked in Dubai

Posted September 7, 2006 at 4:37 pm in Internet & Tech, Ranting

Argh, how are office workers supposed to be unproductive with these two landmark sites blocked!

Apparently Flickr has nude pictures and can be considered a dating site which is against the principles of the country..

Flickr Blocked

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Continue Reading · 14 Comments · Internet & Tech, Ranting

Food, food and more FOOD! (Cheese, Pasta & Omlette)

Posted September 5, 2006 at 9:38 am in Food/Eating

Well the next folder just mainly contained a collection of random food pics, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Some of the stuff my cooked when I was back.

Argh off to Dubai again this afternoon at 4pm, hopefully will be able to come back soon and double hopefully I’ll have Internet in the room so I can keep posting..

First up is the classic English breakfast, this time with an added waffle, yummy, this is more like a brunch version as I don’t tend to wake up very early..

English Breakfast

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Continue Reading · 15 Comments · Food/Eating

Fish & Chips and a Walk by the River Severn with Sunset!

Posted September 4, 2006 at 9:25 am in Food/Eating, Photography, Trips & Travel, UK

So a few days later I headed back down to town to capture the cathedral again with my sturdy tripod and the correct ISO setting..sadly it was closed by the time I got there, but do enjoy these pics of the Riverside.

We started off customarily with fish and chips sitting on a bench by the river watching the children playing and people feeding the swans and pigeons.

Fish & Chips

The kids were really enjoying the fountain.

Fountain

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Continue Reading · 23 Comments · Food/Eating, Photography, Trips & Travel, UK