Baby Jie Ying

Congratulations to Leong Seng and Shin Yi for their little bundle of Joy – Quay Jie Ying.

SMK SEAFIELD'S NEW TOILET

Did a pro bono design for the new toilet block in ML's school. Toilet was officially opened last Sunday during the School's Carnival Day. Was invited and given a letter of appreciation by the Parents & Teachers Association.

Mulu Caves Trip - Update 4

The Mulu Caves 3D2N tour package has been confirmed by the tour operator and will be posted at a later date. Enclosed below is the proposed Miri City tour offered by the same operator. We have requested that the tour starts at the airport at 10:45AM upon arrival and are awaiting his reply. At the meantime please confirm if you interested so that we can inform the operator as to how many are going for the Miri City tour.


Miri City Tour ( RM 38 nett per person )
Duration : 3 hours
Depart Time : 9:00 am & 2:00 pm
Meet at hotel lobby and depart for Miri City Tours.
Tour features Malaysia 1 st
Oil Well or The grand Old Lady located at Canada Hill. The well has an important
place in Miri’s history, as it was here that oil was first struck by Sarawak Shell in 1910. The largest Taoist
Temple in South East Asia, Miri City Fan, Miri Heritage Centre (handicraft & souvenir) & visit Tamun
Muhibbah ~ the local farmers market-you can find various tropical fruits & vegetable. finally enjoy yours
shopping in Modern and Trendy Shopping Malls.
Transfer back to hotel.

Mulu Caves Trip - Update 3

After a lot of telephone calls and frantic internet checking and booking over the past 3 days, all the air tickets were finally purchased. The trouble with the much advertised low air fares was the very limited quotas available. Fares kept going up as more booking were made. Booking for 3 person is easy but with 17 it gets very tricky esp. when we try to secure the best price. In the end some ticket bought were comparatively quite expensive but averaging them out the fares are still quite reasonable. Anyway the confirmed (MAS) flight schedule is as follows:-

Thu 20/10 KL-Miri 8:30AM
Fri 21/10 Miri-Mulu 9:30AM
Sun 23/10 Mulu-Miri 12:20PM
Miri-KL 4:10PM (13 passengers)
Mon 24/10 Miri-KL 4:10PM (Sam & family)

We were informed that the Niah Cave day trip will take 7-8 hours. So that side trip is out. We are now looking at other possibility like a city tour, etc.

Shui Hu Zhuan - the tragic ending

The series finally ended after 86 episodes. Although the book is 100 chapters long, the final 20 agonizing chapters had been mercifully condensed into 6 episodes by the producer. There had been debates regarding the 2 authors associated with the book. However, it is now believed by some scholars of the classic that Shi Nai’an was actually the pseudonym for Luo Guanzhong (according to Wikipedia), so it one and the same person.

What is the moral of the story? From a historical context, it is all about filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, righteousness and patriotism.

My take, the sworn brotherhood thing is 10 times more fanatic than what present day underground triads do (as shown in Hong Kong movies). The blind and irrevocable patriotism to the Emperor and Country is simply incomprehensible and stupidity to the nth degree. A present day equivalent will be like pledging sole allegiance to the BN government and king.

Song Jiang ruled like an autocrat with a misguided sense of self-righteousness. There was no democracy or consultation. The opinions of the rank and file were ignored. Even the simple peasants could see that capitulation to the Emperor would be the beginning of an end, but the Chinese Don Quixote was unrepentant and led his men like sacrificial lambs to a tragic and fatal end.

The series actually evoke in me a sense of disbelief and annoyance. So why bother to waste all those hours and watch it in the first place. A combination of indirect and unqualified recommendations from friends and curiosity I suppose. Well, rather than letting it simmers inside me, I decided to blog about it.

simon

Mulu Caves Trip - Update 2

We have managed to purchase all the 17 air tickets for the Miri-Mulu-Miri sector at an average price of RM146. Miri to Mulu at 9:30AM on Fri and Mulu-Miri at 12:20PM on Sun.

Tickets for Air Asia has gone up since yesterday. We are now proposing to take the 8:30AM MAS flight to Miri on Thu. If there is any objection or those with other preferred arrangement, please let us know otherwise we will go ahead and purchase the tickets tomorrow.

There are some who are still keen on the 1/2 day trip to Niah Caves.
Those who interested please confirm asap as arrangement has to be made with the local tour agency.

simon

Mulu Caves Trip - Update 1

1) 17 people have confirmed for the above trip. We have started booking the MAS flight for Miri-Mulu return sector. There are only 2 flights per day from Miri-Mulu at 9:30AM and 2:00PM and return flight Mulu-Miri at 10:25AM and 12:20PM. We managed to book 9 person on the 9:30AM(fri) and return at 12:20PM(Sun). When we tried to buy the next 8 tickets on the same flight the price had increased from RM126 to RM258 return. We will try again tomorrow. Failing which, the option is to take the different flight schedule which is still at RM126 for now. The Mulu Caves tour itinerary will not be affected.

2) Please take note that the dates confirmed for the trip is from Thu 20 Oct to Sun 23 Oct. The 2N3D Mulu caves tour for Fri-Sun has been booked. We are flying in to Miri on Thu 20 Oct and staying 1 night there. The KL-Miri return flight has not been booked yet. There are 3 Air Asia flights and 4 MAS flights from KL-Miri daily. No itinerary has been fixed for 1st day in Miri. There are expressed interest to go to Niah Caves, Brunei, Miri tour, rest, etc. We are leaving it open for now. Some have also informed that they intend to fly to Miri earlier than 20 Oct for some other business.

3) For the KL-Miri return flights, I think it is best that we leave it to individuals to choose their own flights and buy their own tickets. Currently, the cheapest Air Asia ticket to Miri on Thu 20 Oct is the 7:20AM flight at RM79. Those who wish to go on that flight please confirm immediately so that we book for them while the price still stands.

simon