Is he coming?

Doctor House, I Presume?

Newspapers reported that our Healthcare would be liberalised after some AFTA agreements. See here

Is that true? Ha!Ha!

Would we be expecting characters like Dr. House? Dr. Dopey? Dr. McDreamy? Dr. Meredith? Poohrah!

Beauty of Nature

Red Durians

While scanning thru some old photos, I came across a shot taken in Kudasang, Sabah.

It was our old trip to the wilds near Gunung Kinabalu, the highest mountain of Malaysia. This was around 1992. Met some natives and bought these red durians. They do look unique but do not taste good. The red flesh is as hard as the Jackfruit (Nangka).

Also obtained some other pictures by :-
Densonalice of Singapore

and

Dr. Izad's mount-kinabalu-borneo.com

For novelty sake, why can't some enterprising biologist cross and clone these with the West Malaysian champion a.k.a Musang King to create an awesome hybrid?
With prices of durians shooting up always, a new one would make a killing!

Go to this site belonging to Dr. Izad to read more.

Any takers?

Gone This Year.

Brown Wood Owl

Last year in March, we recorded a hooting call of a Brown Wood Owl. It was near impossible to take a photograph.
The call...."....hoo,hoo,hoo.....HOooooo!" is typical of this Asiatic Owl found around our home in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.

This year, just last week, a different Owl came. Was trying to shoot a picture of a Spotted Wood Owl (below) but in vain. Only hear his calling with a loud, deep single note "HOOOooo!"
Witnessed a pair flying off this site at 19:35hrs.
This pair, mating perhaps, have been around for a month now.

My short Video clip of the Brown Wood Owl hooting, below.

(Photos courtesy of Google Images)

High Speed Broadband?

As Usual, TM Suxs!

Lately, browsing thru the net via TM's Steamyx is crawling! You call that Broadband?
It is quite OK if you are just going in getting your mails from GMail, Yahoo, Hotmail....
but surfing is damn.....slow! It takes 4 minutes to load-up a home page averagingly.

Is this really Broadband ? TM charges RM110.00 for the line plus 1Mb Broadband package and choosing the 2Mb Broadband plus line is all pure bull shit because unless one lives next to Big Shots...i.e in Cyberjaya/Putrajaya. Even in PJ, one cannot get 2Mb. Why?
It is the absence of fibre-optic cables!

Just look at other countries.
In a computer magazine in the UK (one of the most expensive Cities in the World) , A 2Mb Broadband package with a phoneline, it costs only RM80.60!! (currency exchange at Pound Sterling 5.2, March 2009)

Why is TM overcharging us?
It is almost impossible to get involved in on-line (network) gaming with such slow speed which is now out of date. Just like High Definition TV, our RTM was also caught sleeping!!!

This morning's newspaper reported ASSTRO also lost money!!! A monopoly also lost money!
Just like TM, I bet their CEO still gets BIG FAT SALARIES!!! Just like Puncak Niaga's
RM 425,000.00 a MONTH!!!! (not in a year mind you!) No joke!

Damn shiok, this type of salary I also want!!!! But I not.........................lah!
Farkau!

Earth Hour

Birds Talking Too
fully supports

Kindly join us on Saturday, 28th. March, 2009 by switching off all your lights and power at home at 8pm. for an hour.
This is to show that we still love our dear and suffering Planet. We sincerely believe that for this sixty minutes, Nature would be given a chance to heal herself.

Click here to join and sign-up with Earth Hour by WWF

Talk-ed Da Cock-ed Dept.

Cabut!
Now, run like headless Chickens!!

They have talk-ed da Cock-ed, walk-ed da walk-ed and now shit-ed da talked!

Today's newspaper reported they now want to Sell Da Klang Sentral!!!!!
Whadda happened?
Did they not listened to the folks before starting the job? Did they not planned it properly? We are talking about RM300 Million. It is not a small project. Now all fucked up and then do the chicken run!!!
The guy who 'approved' this fiasco should be hanged by the balls for wasting money!
They should have designed and built a Hospital instead because Klang Utara citizens do NOT have one. So who is going to be responsible and accountable?

Besides selling the 'Sentral' itself, nobody is even keen in all the shops! Just see this picture as the banner reads".....plenty of lots to choose from...!"
Now we got a 'live' sick joke on our hands. Why? In these turbulent economic crisis, who da fuck want to buy or invest in a 'dead' place? Dear developer, bless you.....kiok!kiok!...kiok!!!!!!!

Money!Money!Money!

Ah Loongs at it again!

It looks like money do fall from the sky especially in these economic turbulent times.
When we got home yesterday, a look-alike RM50.00 was on our porch floor and some of them were resting on our polycarbonate roof!!! These pesky Loan sharks went around our housing area and began tossing bunch of their 'calling card' into every homes. On the card it even claimed that they are "Licensed" to do so and they even said"....Government Recognised License Interest Rate Act Accordingly..." whatever that means.
The concern here is that they have 'reprinted' part of our currency and is already breaking the laws and yet the 'limped' authorities can't do a thing about it. It even broke the rules by using a mobile phone number for these activities and we are wondering why these mobile phone companies are helpless to solve such menance.

I similiarly reported this at this blog last year.
Here is a You Tube video that we shot yesterday.

Leaping Lizard!

Karma
Chameleon!
Our resident chameleon lives just outside our house. Due to clearing up of some overgrown bushes, he decided to switch habitat and is now on our mango tree.
Photos taken earlier shows that he was greenish yellow in color.
Today, he is more 'golden' looking!

Its Here!

HAWX's
HERE!!!!!

Got this new Tom Clancy's PS3 Game last night.
It is the first full feature Flight War Game in PS3.
Released Internationally, just 2 days ago I managed to get my paws on it.
It is Awesome!!!!
High Definition 720p, Dolby 5.1 Sound and with a Sixaxis Remote controller, the experience is shattering. You also get to fly the A12 Avenger, F22 Raptor and the F117A Nighthawk.
You get to save the Ghost Recon team too!

My best game so far for the Playstation 3.

Our Birds Need Your Help!!!!

A PLEA.
PLEASE DONATE A BIRD FEEDER!

Dear Birders & Bird Lovers especially in the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Being a new birder, and also having read 2 years of magazines from the UK and the US, it was wonderful to note that people there loves, conserves and even protects all their Wild Birds found naturally.

It is very strange that we in Asia were not taught to appreciate Wild Birds.

One can find so many pets shops selling bred birds and accessories to feed them. The same goes to hamsters and white mice.

In Malaysia, we still have many areas which are heavily forrested near homes. There are many Malaysian bird species, some endemic, can be spotted once awhile. Many are now coming out of their habitat because of their areas being cleared for agriculture, industries and housing.
We are fast losing these kind of lands .

Two year ago, we realised that we, as Bird Lovers, can help.
If each and everyone of us just put up a bird feeder (either the seed type or the nectar ones)
we can play a part in their survival.

But we found out that there is not a single shop in our Town, nor in our City, nor in our State, nor in our entire Country and eventually not even in the entire South East Asia that sells these kind of bird feeders!!!!!

This is really STRANGE because even in our education system, we were not really told exactly how to save our own nature! There are so many blabbering about saving our rare Malayan Tigers [which would be extinct in 10 years] but exactly how? We do not know, but maybe, go directly into the jungles to shoot the damn poachers ourselves!!! Our existing nature clubs and associations are even clueless about this kind of feeding. One even doubted me if feeding Wild Birds this way could work!!

I proved them wrong! Thank Gawd. It Works!

We made several types of nectar feeders to try and our Malaysian Sunbirds fed from it!!!!
Two kinds of 'do-it-yourself' feeders and with a bird bath.
Just then why are we Asians so negative about doing this? Some even said that the Wild Birds carries the Avian Flu Bugs!!!! Sheeshs!!! What da Bull! Clearly very un-educated!

Due to unsuitable materials available, our DIY feeders began to break apart.
We made it out from recycleable materials thus the cracking, discoloring thus breaking down.
We are getting tired of making new ones which could only lasts 4 months at a time.

We need to buy suitable feeders which are actually designed and made for that purpose.
The funny thing is that many of these feeders are Made in China but not a single piece can be bought in any Asian Countries!

We enquired via the internet and found that they are not that costly. Only the freight/post charges are impossible to meet. For example, a feeder only costs USD 12.00 and the cost to send a single piece is 3 times that much! This is ridiculous!

We would now like to make an Honest Plea to all Birders there to help us feed our local birds.
If you have a spare (unused) feeder of either the seed and the nectar type, please donate it to us.
The nectar type with side rail (above photo)
Another nectar type with side rails (above photo)
This is the seed type (above photo)

Excess feeders collected would be given FREE to our other Birders throughout our country so that we can share and help to feed our hungry Wild Birds.

Please pass this message to your friends and fellow birders or view this blogsite especially at my older posting at 1, 2, 3 and 4 here. A YouTube video is also a proof that it works!
You can also contact me at donaldghtan.at.gmail.dot.com (please key in actual email address the normal way. This is due to anti-spamming) for further infomation and the address to send the feeders. Please do not send CASH as we are not soliciting for it. We just need the feeders as we cannot buy it here even we have the cash!

For the nectar feeders, please send the type with side railing because our Sunbirds cannot hoover like the Hummers. They need to 'stand' to feed. Also do not send seeds or feeds because it will cause some Quarantine/Agriculture problems here in Malaysia.
And importantly, please state a note that these are bird feeders as a gift/donation and not for sale because, we may be faced with the un-necessary import and sales tax imposed!

Thank you so much for reading this. We sincerely hope that you can contribute.

Please remember to pass this plea to your friends. This is the least we can do for our very own Wild Birds.

Thanks once again.

Plane over Gurney Plaza, Penang

GOTCHA!!

Google Earth is one of my favourite site for the World's Pictorial Information.

Armchair travelling, or rather armchair 'flying' was never that easy with so much large maps and atlas. Just by moving your fingers and rolling your mouse, one gets so much information about where and what places are all about. With its new 3D feature, we can now tilt the picture 'slide' ways to get a beeter feel of the place.

Early last year, while 'flying' about Peninsula Malaysia, I spotted a Boeing 777 flying over Gurney Plaza in Penang Malaysia. The satellite shot was taken on 23rd. January, 2005.
You can also see the plane's shadow on the ground.
This is a rare shot as the aircraft was flying at least 10,000 meters above sea level.
(Please click on above image to enlarge.)

This plane is either belonging to Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific.

The Co-Ordinates are at:-

5°26′04.71″ N
100°18′37.87″ E

Many other have also reported shots like these at different parts of the world and have attracted interested person to 'go out and seek' these rare gems.

Google Earth (and Google Maps) are the current modern computer tools that is easy to use and understand and I have been using this since 2004. Go get yours today if you have not download it yet. It is free from Google.

Note: These pictures are from Google Earth. They were not shot by me as I have yet learnt
to 'fly' that high yet! Ha!Ha!
Thanks Google.

Peria/FooGua/KhorGuay

Bitter Gourd
aka Bitter Melon

Its scientific name is Momordica charantia (Wikipedia)


Our first harvest of one of our favourite vegetable, the Bitter Gourd [the chinese variety]

(also known in Hokkien as Khor Guay) was from our very own garden and grown 100% organically. It is very special to us for all of our hard work.

Wifey made some natural organic enzymes out of fruits & vegetables as an organic fertilizer and it works!

Again for the first time, we let it ripen till it turns yellow. It is slightly softer than the ordinary ones bought from the wet market. It is rare to obtain such ripe gourds at the market because all of them are harvested green . Buying them yellow would meant that they are about to be rotting!

Ours were deliberately left to ripen before harvest.
That is the difference.

Ours are purely organic too. No pesticides, no toxic fungicides, no chemical fertilizer and fresh.

Just look at the deep red seed pith!

Contrary to what was written, the yellow gourd is sweeter and less bitter than the green ones. It has a fruity taste and contains a strong yellow Phyto-nutrient similar to the colorful capsicums.
We made a Chinese (Hokkien) soup dish called "Khor Guay Bark Kin Th'ng" that uses thin slices of seasoned lean pork, chopped garlic and the bitter gourd.

Delicious!!! No added salt to remove its bitterness and less cooking time to enjoy all its nutrients.

This is one vegetable to watch and is being studied closely by scientists in China and Australia for its properties to help those who has elevated blood/sugar levels, HIV and Malaria.

It have also been noted for its cleansing properties such as detoxification of our liver.