WWW is World Wide Wait not World Wide Web

I woke up yesterday morning and found that the Internet was down when I got to work.

At first, I thought it was because the ISP was down. (We use TIMEdotcom...)

It turned out that there was an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale in Taiwan. This earthquake has so far killed 2 people and caused millions of people much migraine when the underwater cables were damaged as well.

That means, for us in M'sia, we're cut off from US and other parts of the world because we connect out to US via Taiwan/China.

Anyway, I managed to get this info from Screenshots (Jeff Ooi's blog) and got even more info from Lowyat.

The best solution now is to get hold of a proxy server and use that as a temporary solution to surf out to Internet. I'm currently using some proxies listed on Proxy 4 Free @ http://www.proxy4free.com. Try it out, if possible.. ;)

Of course, please be considerate and not use that to play your online games-la....

Other people want to use the proxy server to check their mails and stuff too-le...

Merry Blessed Christmas 2006!!!

Shinny, Bright... O'Christmas Tree...

Christmas is finally here and I'm sooooo glad that I'm back home.

For me, Christmas is a time to remember to welcome Christ into our hearts. This is the time of year when we begin our journey with Him, from the time of His birth to His death and rising again at Easter.

Christmas for me is about spending precious moments with family and friends. It is a time to cherish each other. Many people travel from near and far to be with their loved ones.

When I was a kid, it was all about the presents, but as I get older, the presents are now the time spent with my close friends and family.

I found a very meaningful verse:

"The Word became a human being and lived among us. We saw his glory, full of grace and truth. This was the glory which he received as the Father's only Son." - John 1:14

We must be reminded that Christmas is not just about presents, food and parties, it is also a time to show love and care to one another. For, God so loved the world that He gave us His only son. God gave His son to restore the connection which was broken between the world and Him.

So, what are you doing for Christmas?

Happy B'day PA!!!

It's my Dad's 62nd b'day today.

He doesn't look that old.

I believe I'm my Dad's b'day present today. (^_^)

Anyway, I got him a St. Andrew's Golf Course cap which I got from Edinburgh. I believe its his dream place to play a round of golf there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PA!!!

我的家在英国。。。

It has been a very busy week for me. I'll try to keep up by posting once a week. I'll probably have to make my site feel a little "Christmasy" but then, I know I can't do it due to work constraints. ^_^

As some of you may know, I've moved out of my lovely apartment near the city centre to another house. Anyway, I was put up at a new house but it had some problems with the heating and so, I moved out after spending a very cold night there.

The following picture is the outside of the house where I'm currently staying in Alvaston. It is about 5-15mins away from the office by car. It's more of a townhouse than a house standing on its own.

10 Downing Street got black door, we got green door...

The interior of the house is modern and very homey. The following picture is one of the couches, we have 1 3-seater and another two-seater on the right-hand side of the picture which I didn't take. The TV is at the front, and it's a small one, about 21-inches. No, it's not a plasma or LCD... It's not even digital.. -_-

Comfy couch...

I'm sure you're wondering how the kitchen and dining looks like, right? Hehehe.. Am sure that some of my colleagues who lived in the house would be surprised to find that it looks clean now because the landlord was very fussy about it.

All food is eaten here...

This is where we have our big makan.... Ok-la, it's not like a great hall or anything, but at least we have a table and chairs to sit on to makan-la.

Jamie Oliver/Nigella Lawson wanna-bes cook here...

Yes, we have a functioning oven/gas-stove and that little machine on the right is a dish-washing machine. We don't use it as it doesn't clean very well. My last apartment was equiped with an electric stove and so, that was quite ok to cook with it except that it took a while to heat up the element.

So, the next picture you're curious about is where I spend about 6-8hrs of my day... alone... Oii!!! No deerttty thots.. So, here it is...

Take 40-winks here...

It's a nice room and I have the view of the garden from that window. The rooms get a bit warm at night and so, it is nice to sleep in on cold winter nights these days.

All in all, I'm pretty comfy here. The house comes with 3-rooms, & 2-bathrooms. Anyway, we met up with the landlord recently, who came to inspect the house. After some complaints, we cleaned up the place and waited for the landlord to come. After two false alarms, we finally met up with them.

The landlord's wife came to inspect the house to ensure that all the work she asked the builders to come and fix had been done and that the house was neat and tidy. She got the house 2 years back and so, she wants to maintain the house to near-mint condition.

Okie, that's it for now. I'll blog about Edinburgh Part 2 soon...

Edinburgh Part 1 (25-Nov-2006)

It has been a while since I've blogged and I do apologize for my inability to do so. Work has caught up with me and so, I only have time to blog during weekends, if possible. ^_^

Anyway, I've decided to blog about my Edinburgh trip, short though it was, but I managed to capture some of Scotland's beautiful city and countryside.

The Edinburgh trip started off really early as we were looking at almost 1000 miles worth of road. That is, a roundtrip of going to Edinburgh, the attractions and back to Derby. We started off from Derby at about 7:30am, heading towards the M1 to go up north towards Leeds, and onwards towards the city of Edinburgh. We had directions taken from theAA.com, which provided comprehensive information for the long road up North.

The weather was not too good as it was drizzling and at some parts raining a little heavy. When it did rain a bit heavy, we had to drive a little slower. The route took us from highways to small country roads and eventually back to the main highway. We even managed to pass by the coast of Scotland just as we were entering the border of Scotland.

Colleague driving the car (near Manchester)

Half-way through, we managed to switch drivers. I didn't drive as I wasn't insured to drive the car and so, I acted as navigator for the trip. The trip up to Edinburgh took about 5hrs. By the time we reached the city, it was about 1pm. However, we got lost around the city and so, we managed to reach our hostel by 2pm.

The first thing which strikes us about Edinburgh is how hilly the city is. This means that most of the city is built on hills and thus, we need to be able to walk uphill ALOT! I would suggest that if you intend to visit the city to get some good walking shoes as the roads are mostly cobbled/concrete streets and thus, if the streets are wet, it will be slippery.

Castle Rock Hostel

After checking in and taking a short break, we decided to visit Edinburgh castle which is just situated on a hill above our hostel. It is accessible via a flight of stairs (YES!! MORE CLIMBING!!) and the castle is situated right at the top of it. Once there, the first thing which greeted us was a huge gust of wind which nearly knocked us off our feet. The wind made our hands jerky and it is difficult to take photos.

Edinburgh castle (yes! It's on a hilltop!!)

Edinburgh castle served as a fortress and residence for the royal family of Scotland. The fortress was also the birthplace of King James I who unified England with Scotland to form the United Kingdom after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. The castle also included a memorial to all the Scottish soldiers who have fallen since the Great War (WWI) up til this day. The crown jewels of Scotland were also hosted at the castle. It had been returned 10 years ago by Queen Elizabeth II.

It's awfully C...CCCCOLDD & windy!!! Thank Goodness I'm prepared for it!

Great Hall

Apartments where the Scotland Crown Jewels are kept

We stayed around the castle, taking some photos until it was close to closing time. After that, we decided to walk the streets of Edinburgh. We managed to pick up a few souvenirs and stuff. We even walked to Princes Street to look at the Christmas fair there. The fair was very busy with many stalls selling goods and food. There was mulled wines and even stalls selling some Christmas foods. I was feeling rather cold as the weather in Edinburgh was cold and windy. So, a good cup of hot chocolate was very much welcomed to warm a cold body.

Edinburgh Castle at night...

We continued to walk around the city until it started to get a bit late for dinner. During the course of our walk, we got lost in the city. However, pressing on, decieded to get to Greyfriars Bobby's pub for dinner to have some pub eats. When we got there, there was no room and so, we had to go on to search for another restaurant. I regretted not taking a photo of the statue while I was there but all of us were tired and wet, looking for a place to recuperate. In the end, we found this pizza place to have dinner. We had to wait for a good 20 minutes before we had a seat. We had forgotten that Edinburgh, being a cosmopolitan city, was very active during Saturday nights and so, many places were full. Besides that, there were a few rugby matches, that night, being New Zealand played against Scotland. New Zealand won of course and the afternoon before, Australia had won their match as well.

Anyway, after dinner and getting warmed up in the restaurant, we made our way back to our hostel. Taking a hot shower and getting to sleep before having to wake up the next day at 5am (!!!!!!) for our trip to Uruqhart castle and subsequently making our way back to Derby.

I was freezing my butt off. Frankly, I don't think I was able to feel my hands and feet after all that walking in the cold... If this was autumn, I can't imagine what winter will be like.. (o___0)

Next up... Scotland's rugged countryside...