Forever Barbie - 50th Anniversary

Who would not love to look their best forever? Barbie is the most popular plastic doll for girls in history and she still looks her best and trendy after 50 years.

Forever Barbie, celebrating 50th year of a pop culture icon - Barbie - is being showcased at Federation Square (top floor car park). It is the biggest Australia has ever seen. In fact, it is the biggest Barbie exhibition ever in the southern hemisphere!

With over three hundred Barbies, from the yesteryears to the new. From retail models to custom made ones, accessories - bags, glasses, shoes, more bags, houses, furnitures, automobiles (and space shuttle and horses) and pets and of course Ken (which may be classified as her pet also?)! From Barbie doll size to life-size fashion designs...

Not only Barbie fans will find it interesting. There are heaps of merchandise to purchase as well and I don't mean just dolls! Barbie is more than just a doll!

If you haven't checked it out yet. I highly recommend it, especially for this school holiday. It will be open (since Friday, 26th June) until Sunday, 12th July. Checkout the Barbie site for more details.

KEN: "To debunk all the rumour claiming that my relationship with Barbie is rocky, here is proof! We love each other and we are very happy together.

All you eligible bachelors out there, go look somewhere else!

Fans, thank you for your unwavering support to both Barbie and me! XOXO"

The King of Pop Michael Jackson has left

Very sad and unbelieveable news that Michael Jackson (29/08/1958-25/06/2006) has passed away this morning at the age of 50. He was such a great performer, so talented.

His life and career was filled with so much drama and he was undoubtedly the most influential music performer in the last 30 years. On the same day, Farrah Fawcett, one of the original Charlie's Angels also died. She was one of the most beautiful during my childhood years. ;_;

Must say like many, I was somewhat turned off by Michael's look in his later years after the plastic surgeries and skin condition... when he was given the nickname Jacko.

Nevertheless, he was a significant person during my childhood. Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Bad, Black or White are some of his songs that have permanent residence in my memory.

It was quite a moving experience at Federation Square tonight. They screened many of Michael's top hits on the giant screen. Many stopped, stood there, sat there, cuddled another and watched. There were older folks, younger people and even some kids.


While there was some technical problems here and there (the video flickered and the audio could not be heard in some songs), people patiently waited, looked on... filling in the gaps with what they remembered and remembered so well.

I wonder about all the memories that must have rushed back to each person as they saw Michael perform... I felt like everything came to a standstill for a moment...


It is so sad that he is not with us anymore. No doubt he will be remembered as a legend, a great achiever, one who won many hearts. Lets remember him for his amazing talent, wonderful songs and moon-walk. RIP Michael.

The Light in Winter

Wanted to photograph the light shows at Federation Square for sometime. Tonight is the night! It was indeed very nice. Federation Square has officially became one of my favorite place! :)

The whole exhibit is called The Light in Winter which is all part an enlightenment theme. This first picture is The Gift of Light. Visit here for more details.
This exhibit is called Volume, LED light columns that reacts to human movements. I love all the colours of the exhibit and also the rich colours of the buildings near by. Beautiful!
Lets see it from ground level.

The next one, called Context, is a really interesting one. It is a real fire. You probably guessed it, it relates to the indigenous people of Australia.

Indeed, it was deigned by Vicki Couzens with the elders of the indigenous communities.

Roxanne is moving on!

After 14 months in the team, one of my colleague is switching from a teammate to a customer.. Doh, I have to be nice to her from now on! Well done for enduring with us and all the best with the new position. Good to see you moving towards the direction you want to go.

Visible Air

Mark Raymond Mason wrote in his photography tip, "When light is transmitted, it is simply allowed to pass through a material, such as window glass. If light is fully transmitted, the object will be totally invisible, like air. (Jun 14, 2009)"

Tonight I see air!! Not only I know air exists because it is keeping me alive and it is keeping me from running at 100,000km/h (actually, there are other factors on top of wind drag, like the lack of exercise, that contributes to it..), I CAN SEE AIR!! Well, this statement is of course not true. It is politically incorrect and scientifically unsound. :P

It is a very foggy night tonight. Flood lights on the tennis court opposite my house are lighting up the sky like it is day time! So bright I can not believe it! The picture doesn't do justice to what I saw... and they were switched off just as I was approaching... very shy! Anyway, I will leave your imagination to do the rest...

Here is another sample, taken at the foot of Mt Fuji in Japan.

Andrew and Dharshi are Engaged!

Well done Andrew for putting together a fantastic surprise engagement party for your darling Dharshi! Look at how (pleasantly) surprised the bride-to-be was and a big sigh of relief for Andrew for finding the place and keeping it secret. Great job mate! Good work Jenks also!
We are so very happy for the two of you. Well done for finding each other. We wish you a life time of happiness, love and chocolate (at least Dharshi would say amen to that!).

All the girls were quick to offer Dharshi husband training advice while Andrew wasn't really sure what he is signing himself up to... Nah, he just couldn't believe his luck! :)

Sorry to all the admirers, available bachelors and single girls out there (and those looking to upgrade what they have...), Dharshi and Andrew are officially off the market!

I can't wait til your wedding day and see your new home! We love both of you! XOXO


For more pics, visit here.

Melbourne City, People and Holden Commodore

I love the city of Melbourne.

Dispite earning the status as the swine (H1N1) flu capital of the world in recent days because it has the highest number of confirmed swine flu cases per capita in the world, it is a beautiful city with many cultures, many nice eateries and beautiful architectures. I also love the energy of the city created by the people.

I would love to see Melbournians being known as friendly, kind, polite and generous people as well. Will try my best to be one myself because I would like to be treated the same way. :)

Luke 6:31, "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

This talented musician was playing the famous Chinese piece The Butterfly Lovers (梁祝). Very nice, thank you!

Click here to listen.


The current model of Holden Commodore, Calais, Statesman, HSV are the most beautiful todate, sporting elegant lines and defined wheel arcs. Very clean, looks good in any colour and at any angle.

Thank God that Holden is not affected by the bankruptcy of General Motors. Not sure if this is the last of the big six (6 cylinders vehicle) as Holden move towards producing more fuel efficient automobiles.

Loving family on a journey

What does this picture communicate to you?

1. Lovely family bonding?
   
2. OMG! Where the hell are the kids' helmets?
   
3. Honda rules! (it is a Honda C70)

Zipping through the streets of Penang in the back of my mum's Toyota Avensis is quite an experience. Not sure why they bother to paint lines on the road. No one pay any attention to them anyway. People REALLY share the road over there! There are lots of motorbikes, motor vehicles of all types, tricycles and trishaws on the road not to mention pedestrians trying to cross the road. I am not sure if I would dare to get onto one of those tricycle or trishaw, aimed for tourist, as the mode of transport for sightseeing around that little island... Looks incredibly dangerous. What about the fumes from the truck in front?

I thought I hit the jackpot when I saw this - four people riding a motorbike together. A family affair, the old and the young. The young sandwiched between the old.

It was in the news in Japan that helmets are really important for kids especially because their skull are still soft needing much more protection than would an adult. Yet, they don't wear helmets.. The bike was a Honda C70, may be 25 years old (C70 was manufactured between 1970 and 1984), with a mere 72cc engine and top speed of 80km/h.

Love the flowing hair of the little kid in front, with his cute yellow shoes in the basket, and both hands on the handle bars. Most of the time, you won't see the passengers holding on to the driver / rider or any handles that might be available. They would sway to the left or to the right along with the bike. I thought that is pretty amazing and dangerous. You can tell I never rode on a motorbike. :P Boy, I wonder why the best rally drivers in the world are not from Malaysia!

What do you think this post should be titled? Send me a comment to suggest. You decide!

[2009-06-26] Thank you to all who voted on the subject of this post. The winning vote is "Loving family on a journey". You are sooo kind. Thanks!

Bamboos of Japan Penang

Missed the bamboo forest in Kyoto... sob sob... so I wasn't going to miss it when another opportunity presented itself!

Saw these bamboos next to the food court (called New World I think) where we had dinner. Got stank by mosquito twice in the process... I was a little worried about catching Dengue fever from the mosquitos. Anyway, I survived and I like the result. Hope you like them too. :)

No photos? Too hot!

Sorry, I didn't take many pics at all in Penang. That includes all the wonderful food that we consumed. My excuse is that it was soooo very hot while we were there it didn't take much time to zap all our energy away. -_- zzzZZZ Well, I must be fair and say thank God for this His amazing grace for giving us great sunny weather. Aparently, it was raining the whole month just prior our arrival. But when we were there, it was sunny (and hot), for all 6 days we were there. Just as we take off from Penang, it started raining and mum told us it rained heavily after we left. Thank you Jesus!


Even the monkeys would not come out because it was sooo hot. We went to the Penang Botanical Gardens that supposed to have a large population of monkeys. Well, it is nicknamed Monkey park after all... However, we saw very few of them. We bought peanuts and we even bought bananas. Still that wasn't enough to entice them to come out and meet their cousins! Rubbish, I don't believe we are related... ;]

However, we found this really amazing looking tree with flowers so amazing that I don't know how to describe it apart from calling it Exotic with the capital E! Its colours so rich and almost looks like a wallet and at the opening of the "wallet" are little arms with yellow petals at the end. Can you believe that it is actually called the "Canon-ball" tree.. You can see why.

Well, we did bump into some monkeys that day, a couple of them in a big cage (that's the only reason why we saw them because they couldn't run away... :P).

In case your parents or teachers have never educated you. They are wild animals, don't get too close because they can carry disease. They can also get aggressive (or too passionate) and grab you. One tourist tried to stand right next to the cage to take a pic with the monkeys. Both monkeys launched at the tourist grabbing his shirt and arm. Luckily their claws were not sharp.

Penang Foods

Thank you mum and Linda for taking us around to sooo many places to spoil our taste buds.

All the hawker food Penang has to offer - char koay teow, nasi lamak, laksa, rojak, hokkien mee, popiah (actually I prefer the Singaporean version), chicken rice, loh bak, chu cheung fun, curry mee, nyonya dishes and many others I can't remember how to call them... Memory is a wonderful thing. I can "taste" them just trying to recall them in my mind.. :P

What about deserts, drinks, durian and mangosteen (photographed below)... Oh, desert?! What about desert?! I felt cheated by the desert. Don't laugh Linda. What they dished out looked nothing like the picture in the menu... Compare this pink soup with the picture immmediately next to it on its left.

Photographs are supposed to convey truth. People believe it when they see it in a photo.

That said, this is my only whinge out of many dozens of great food we had. It is kind of like the train that was late in one of our legs to Mt Fuji. Our short memory meant we have forgotten how not punctual or un-punctual the train system can be back home (in Melbourne), we have become accustomed to the 100% punctual trains in Japan. But on this cold morning, waiting outside at this train platform. This train was late by 3 minutes, all of us were cold (perhaps except James who was armed with his Canadian water...) and not very happy that the train was late. That said, Japan has the most amazing train system still just like Penang food are still excellent (and cheap)! :)

Oh yes, before I forget, we had Japanese, Western as well as German food also, the last of which was really good. We had lamb shanks and it was great, at a very cheap price also! It is called Ingolf’s Kneipe German Bar and Restaurant. It is situated at Jalan Sungai Kelian, off the main Jalan Tanjong Bungah. For more information and pics, check this out! I don't get no commission for this.

Congrats to the new Mr & Mrs Choo

Very well done David and See Voon! David, you know your whole family - mum, your sis, myself, uncle Jason and many others are very proud of all you have accomplished. You threw a beautiful (wedding) party, sorry we couldn't be at the Ipoh one as well. The ice sculpture was fantastic and so was the reception, the band, the video presentation and of course the food. What about that 32 seconds kiss?! I wish you and See Voon a life time of happiness together. May good things continue to come to the two of you and your love for each other will grow even stronger now that you are married.

Romans 13:8 says, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another..." In short, love each other like you owe it to one another.


You might ask, where is the beautiful new Mrs Choo... She is being pampered and made up by the make up artist/s.