Badminton : My newfound passion (Shuttle cock review)

Starting last year, I started to find a group of friend who share the same interest with me to play badminton. And this year, the group member is increasing, as the saying said, the more the merrier.

I am not to talk about my badminton group, but I would like to share my personal review about various brands of badminton shuttle cock used during our game. Since badminton is becoming a pricey game with badminton shuttlecocks becoming more expensive, I am on a constant quest to make the game cost effective while not sacrificing the joy of the game. Our group is consist of casual player (some of them are near pro-level, definitely not me!) and we do silly mistakes like accidentally hitting the feather. So my review will be focused on the feel, durability and cost.

From left : Yonex Aerosensa 30, RSL Classic Tourney, RSL Supreme Classic and RSL Classic Tourney

As of now, I have tested 3 brands of shuttlecocks namely RSL Classic Tourney, RSL Supreme Gold and Yonex Aerosensa 30. To simplify my review, all scores will be on the scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the worst, 5 being the best. All shuttle cocks featured have speed rating of 77.

Yonex Aerosensa 30

Feel : 5/5

Durability : 3/5

Cost : 2/5 (most expensive)

Remarks : Being the most expensive among the three (RM 75/tube), it is also provide the best feeling, the flight speed is manageable suitable for casual player like me. On casual game with occasional smashes, a shuttle could barely survive 1.5 sets (21 point system). The feathers ruffle very quick

Verdict : If money is not your concern, go for this.

RSL Classic Tourney

Feel : 4/5

Durability : 4/5

Cost : 5/5 (cheapest)

Remarks : It is the cheapest among the three (RM 57/tube), the feeling is somewhat in the middle, the flight speed is faster than the Yonex and casual player like me will find it a bit harder to keep up especially during long rally and if you are not as agile as the pro. But I considered this feat as a challenged to improve my stamina and agility. On casual game with occasional smashes, a shuttle could easily survive 2 sets (21 point system), and maybe 3! The feathers does not easily ruffle making it the best-value-for-money shuttlecocks while not sacrificing a lot on the feels.

Verdict : highly recommended for starters and frequent players.

RSL Supreme Gold

Feel : 3/5

Durability : 5/5 (very durable)

Cost : 3/5

Remarks : Slightly cheaper than Yonex Aerosensa 30 (RM 65/tube), it has the "hardest" feeling in terms of flight and really giving me hard time to keep up and adapt with the fast speed. But the best thing about this shuttlecock is the durability. It can survive up to 3 sets of casual games easily with ruffling the feathers. Or 2 sets for intense game.

Verdict : I won't recommend this one, it is better to choose RSL Classic Tourney if cost is your constraint and Yonex Aerosensa 30 for the feels and if money is not and issue.

So I Just Watched a Shitty Malay Movie

Where and when was this happening?

TGV Mesra Mall, early this week 14/10/2012.

Why do you feel like Tron walking inside the movie theatre?

Thanks to reflective stripes on my coverall, they attracted a lot of attention. Due to extreme boredom, I did not even care to change my working coverall and just picked the movie that was available on the time I arrived there.

 

This is just simulation

Mind to share the synopsis of the movie?

It was about 2 cops who were in undercover operation to break the criminal activity of two gangs that involves in the selling of pirated DVDs around KL. Their tactic is to make the two gangs collided and fought among themselves to bring their criminal activity to light. Yes, it is pretty lame and predictable storyline. The theme is typical Malay movies themes like rempit, triad, gangster and comedy horror movie. Lame.

What is so shitty about this movie?

Most of it. From my understanding, it involves two gangs that are led by two Malay gang leaders. But their conversation is full of terms that were derived from Chinese words like langsi, sailang, pailang and they converse in Chinese slang too. Maybe that makes them look more gangster, I presume? Lame ass movie. Can you at least speaks a 'proper' Bahasa Melayu pasar rather than speaks like old apek? Even Chinese can speak better Bahasa Melayu than that. Wake up, things have changed nowadays.

Mind to tell what was the movie that you watched?

Taikun.

Finally, how would you rate this movie?

So-so movie, exciting enough to watch under the condition that you have nothing better to do at that time. The babes are good looking but not enticing enough to be called hot and beautiful. :P So I would give 2 stars out of 5.

Gender Alteration?

No more costly, painful and risky procedures. Change your gender now! :P

EcoCare Goes into the Jungle!

One of my company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program is EcoCare. EcoCare is focused on mostly on conservation of mangrooves along Sungai Kerteh, Terengganu. However, this year EcoCare team had diversified their focus by inviting the fellow volunteers for a jungle-trekking in Rimba Hutan Bukit Bauk.

Yazid from EcoCare delivering a short briefing to the volunteers

My colleague from Maintenance Department

I arrived at Rimba Hutan Bukit Bauk at around 8:30 AM. After having breakfast, the volunteers gathered at Jabatan Perhutanan Terengganu office in Bukit Bauk. The officers from Forestry Department of Terengganu had delivered a short briefing to all 70 volunteers who were present on that day.

The bosses

En. Manan from Jabatan Perhutanan Terengganu

Some of the volunteers

According to the officer, Bukit Bauk is unique because it is the only place where 'Kapur' trees are abundant. The forest is also home to few endemic species (nearly extinct) such as Mempisang. It is important to preserve the forest to make sure these species will not extinct in the future.

Pokok Kapur, makes up the most of Bukit Bauk Forest Reserve

Pokok Kapur tree trunk

After briefing, we were divided into 5 groups and each group were led by a forest ranger that explained about the trees that are available in the forest.

 

 Nearly extinct Mempisang plant

Lime green mushroom

I have also spotted a green Wagler pit viper or locally known as 'Ular Tapak Gajah'. This is a very poisonous snake, however it is blind during the day and can only sense using thermal detection.

Ular tapak gajah (Tropidolaemus wagleri)

Each group sent one representative to share about what they had learnt from the jungle-trekking activities soon after we complete the walk.

With some of the volunteers after the jungle trekking

 

Then, we were served with lunch provided by EcoCare team. I also took opportunity to taste 'Karas' tea that is made from 'Karas' tree bark. It taste like Chinese tea and is said to have benefit for men's health.

Karas tea

 Karas tea for sale, can be obtained from Forestry Department office

 

A big thank you from EcoCare folks to the guys in Forestry Department!

Crabby Affair

When you are in foreign land, try their local specialties. You might try Maggi Ketam dish (crab noodles) from Maggi Ketam Bistro in Dungun, Terengganu. The gravy is rich of taste, a lot of seafood thrown in including squid, prawn and clams. And not forgetting, the main highlight, sea crab that is cooked together with the gravy.

Very rich and thick gravy!

Where can I get such delicious dish? Well, you can get it here:

View Larger Map

After 24 Days of Painful Wait

2 April 2012, a report with reference number 11077792 has been made at TM Careline by dialing 1300889515 using my mobile phone. The complaint was made to report about no dial tone and unavailability of Streamyx service at my home.

24 Days earlier...

Starting from there, numerous calls was made and they just said to me that they will send technician to my house to investigate the problem. And they never came...

Furious about the slow progress, I've made a report to Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) on 4th April.

Only after 18 days of waiting and calling, they only said there was cable theft in my area and they need to wait for the replacement cable to arrive before they can proceed with the rectification work.

 After 24 Days...

Finally, on 26 April 2012 (after freaking long 24 DAYS!!!), the problem was rectified. Thank you TM for your speedy service and superb customer service. Just because you are the only Internet provider in this area, you took this customer for granted. :)

Now I can start torrenting like no tomorrow!

p/s: for record, TM had accidentally terminated my service for not receiving my bill payments. Upon thorough checking, they admit they overlooked my payment that was made online.

Perkhidmatan Potong Rumput di Kerteh

Sesiapa memerlukan perkhidmatan memotong rumput dengan kadar berpatutan di sekitar kawasan Kerteh boleh menghubungi En. Azman di talian 0199671698. Harga untuk perkhidmatan memotong rumput agak berpatutan dengan hasil kerja yang diberi. Untuk kawasan rumah aku, aku membayar RM20 untuk memotong rumput di depan dan di belakang rumah. Agak berpatutan kerana lalang sudah meninggi seperti hutan sekunder. :)

Selain menggunakan mesin rumput, cangkul juga digunakan untuk membuang tunggul kayu bergantung kepada keperluan

Selepas semua rumput dan lalang dipotong

p/s: Lama tak kemaskini blog, talian Internet terputus sejak 2 April lalu~

Orang Ittew

Maliq n D Essenstials - Dia

Temukan apa arti dibalik cerita
Hati ini terasa berbunga-bunga
Membuat seakan aku melayang
Terbuai asmara

Adakah satu arti dibalik tatapan
Tersipu malu akan sebuah senyuman
Membuat suasana menjadi nyata
Begitu indahnya

Reff:
Dia seperti apa yang selalu ku nantikan aku inginkan
Dia melihatku apa adanya seakan kusempurna

Tanpa buah kata kau curi hatiku
Dia tunjukkan dengan tulus cintanya
Terasa berbeda saat bersamanya
Aku jatuh cinta

Back to Reff:2x

Dia bukakan pintu hatiku yang lama tak bisa kupercayakan cinta
Hingga dia disini memberi cintaku harapan

Back to Reff:

dia seperti apa yang ku nantikan aku inginkan
dia melhatku apa adanya seakan kusempurna

Give me your love 2x
Now so come on and love me2x
Give me your love 2x
Now so come on and love me 2x

Nothing in this world could come baby love to me
I would tell the world when you give your love to me

Give me your love 2x
Now so come on and love me2x
Give me your love 2x
Now so come on and love me 2x

RM100 Take All

I found the fisherman selling these lobsters while having lunch at Jeti Kuala Paka today. RM100 and it is all yours. Too bad my rumah bujang do not have proper kitchen. Else, I will surely buy it. Bargain!

Lobstersssss

Symbian Belle Update for My Nokia N8

The long awaited Symbian Belle update is finally available yesterday! Without much hesitation, I quickly hooked-up my Nokia N8 to my PC, launch Nokia Suite and update the smart phone from Symbian Anna to Symbian Belle. In 30 minutes, the installation completed.

Update completed

My first impression, Symbian Belle offers many improvements over Symbian Anna with intuitive, vibrant and sleeker user interface (UI). It is like migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 where u need some time to get used to the new UI but it is worth it. Another thing worth noting is you can add up to 6 homescreens compared to Symbian Anna with only 4 homescreens.

Symbian Belle new homescreen

Another important improvement in Symbian Belle is we can control the connection (Mobile Data, WiFi and Bluetooth) incoming and outcoming of the phone easily via drop down menu. Just tap on the data connection and it will switch on and off like toggle switch. This is very useful especially if we want to turn of data connection while roaming to avoid bill shock. So convenient.

Controlling the way your phone connects to the outside world is much easier now

The only irk I found is I need to reinstall all my apps after Belle update, however data in mass storage (E:/) and SD card (F:/) are not touched. Nokia Suite will backup your old Symbian Anna in C: to new folder in E:/Nokia_Belle folder

Currently, Symbian Belle update is available for all Nokia phones running on Symbian like C6-01, C7-00, E6-00, E7-00, X7-00 and N8-00. You may check if your phone are ready to receive the update (some product code is not ready for update yet) here.

Rage Against the Rodents

Lately, my sleep had been disturbed by squealing noise of mouses that 'invaded' my house. After a week of investigation, I had identified two mouses were residing inside my room. To avoid further damage to my properties, I had monitored the mouses' route and set up a trap.

So today after work I went to the local hardware shop to buy mouse trap. I have been offered with two options, rat's glue or mouse trap. I've decided to go with rat's glue method and bought the super sticky glue at RM5.00 per can.

Fuji Glue costs RM 5.00

The result? One mouse was trapped after 2 hours of the trap placement. The only drawback of using glue is the strong smell of glue. I've placed the trap and went to Fitri's house to watch the lame Anugerah Juara Lagu 2012 (AJL 2012) to run away from the smell. I found the mouse trapped the moment I went back from Fitri's house.

First catch!

How about the second mouse? I could not sleep with the strong smell of glue. I would like to give the second mouse a chance to repent and go away from my room by tonight before I set up another trap tomorrow.

Update Ovi Store and Get Premium Apps for Free!

So I just knew about this 3 days ago when I have so much free time to spend by synchronizing my Nokia N8 to Nokia Suite and start apps hunting.

I launched Ovi Store and it prompted me to update to latest version. So I preceded with the update and Nokia offered me premium apps for free! This offer is valid for 30 days from the day you updated to the latest version of Ovi Store.

After updating to the latest version of Ovi Store, tap the link on top portion of Ovi Store Homepage

Currently they are offering 8 premium apps to be downloaded for FREE! Most importantly, Angry Birds Arcade is also included in the offer. For comparison, normal paid version of Angry Birds Arcade costs RM 4.00.

The premium apps that are offered to be downloaded for free in 30 days

So, what are you waiting for? Update to the latest version of Ovi Store and get selected premium apps for FREE!

Walaupun Aku Tak Menerima Baucar Buku 1Malaysia

Hari ini aku berasa sangat bosan. Ramai rakan-rakan seperjuangan di Kerteh telah pulang ke kampung halaman masing-masing mengambil peluang sempena cuti Tahun Baru Cina selama 5 hari. Namun begitu, aku tidak dapat pulang ke Banting demi tuntutan tugas.

Bagi menghilangkan kebosanan, aku menuju ke Mesra Mall untuk makan tengah hari walaupun sudah pukul 3:00 petang. Aku terus menuju ke Secret Racipe dan memesan Chicken Cordon Bleu dan air teh limau sebagai minuman.

Chicken Cordon Bleu, potongan ayam goreng tanpa tulang diisi dengan keju yang lazat berkrim

Selesai makan, aku berjalan tanpa arah tujuan di sekitar kawasan Mesra Mall. Aku melewati kedai buku Popular dan melihat ramai orang melawat kedai buku tersebut, sesuatu yang amat jarang berlaku di kalangan rakyat Malaysia.

Situasi tersebut membuatkan aku tertarik untuk masuk melawat kedai buku tersebut. Rupa-rupanya orang ramai mengambil peluang untuk membeli buku dan alat tulis menggunakan baucar buku 1Malaysia yang diberi kerajaan kepada mereka yang layak.

Walaupun aku tidak menerima baucar tersebut, aku berasa terdorong untuk sama-sama menghabiskan duit di situ. Terima kasih kepada kebosanan yang melanda diri, akhirnya aku membelanjakan RM 51.85 untuk membeli sebuah novel karangan Tom Clancy dan juga 2 naskhah majalah berkenaan IT dan fotografi.

 

2 naskhah majalah dan senaskhah novel

Jumlah wang yang dikeluarkan agak banyak, tetapi aku tidak kisah kerana wang itu dibelanjakan untuk membeli buku. Membaca jambatan ilmu. Mungkin novel Dead or Alive tulisan Tom Clancy ini boleh dibaca besok di pejabat yang tiada orang kerana ramai bercuti? Oppss...

p/s: Esok bekerja seperti biasa

Wetnessday

Monsoon season is hitting Terengganu again for this year! Indeed, today is the wettest day throughout the week. It is raining heavily today since morning and have a short pause at noon before torrential rain hit again in the afternoon. To some, the rain symbolizes blessings from the god. However, the rain could also means sadness to some.

Congratulations to our national football team Harimau Muda for defeating Garuda of Indonesia during final match of SEA games yesterday. The weather was also kinder here in Terengganu, probably supporting the loyal supporters of Harimau Muda to go out and cheer for their beloved team via live match telecast provided by most restaurants here. There was no rain and the patrons cheering with full enthusiasm without fear of getting wet.
 

However, heavy rain today is probably signifies the sorrow of my friend and his family. The mother  nature is like mourning the death of his 6 days old daughter. I was at the funeral, solat jenazah was performed after Asar prayer and the deceased was buried in cemetery at Dungun at 5:00 p.m. I hope you and your family is strong to face this unfortunate events. Al-fatihah.

All in all, I can avoid myself from being drenched in wetness. :)

11/11/11 - Royal Breakfast

Adelle Davis once quoted, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper". But that quote does not really reflect my eating habit here in Kerteh. My diet is quite improper and I eat whenever I feel like due to no cook available here.

Kerteh Morning Market

Most probably I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner like a pauper. But on this 'special' day (what is so special about this day, it is merely a date in a year!), I decided to get up early and ate breakfast like a king. After getting a shower (which I rarely do in the morning of a weekend), I fired up the car and went to Kerteh morning market. The morning market is held every Friday from 0800H to 1100H.

 

 The food section, heaven!

Fruits sold here

You can buy anything from clothings, sundry items to fresh vegetables, seafood, poultry and meat. My target for today is to hunt for breakfast to fit the 'king' status. After browsing around the market for 30 minutes, I decided to have nasi kerabu, satay and sugar cane drinks for breakfast. It was a filling breakfast and I was full till dinner. Enjoy the pictures! :)

 Solok, stuffed chilli for Nasi Kerabu

 Clothings

 Jumbo jackfruit

Refreshing sugarcane

Dugaan di Waktu Sahur

Hari ini aku bangkit jam 4:45 pagi. Niat di hati ingin bersahur dengan makanan berat seperti nasi berlauk atau pun set sarapan McDonald's kerana hari ini aku akan menyertai acara berbuka puasa bersama masyarakat setempat di Masjid Hadhari, Paka anjuran tempat kerja aku.

TakBolehBlah

Jadi dengan langkah yang malas, aku mencuci muka serta menyarung jaket dan seluar untuk bersiap-siap untuk keluar. Aku capai kunci TakBolehBlah dan tergesa-gesa menuruni tangga hanya untuk mengetahui bahawa rakan serumah meletakkan keretanya betul-betul di hadapan rumah dan menghalang aku daripada mengeluarkan kereta aku. Sememangnya kawasan perumahan tempat aku tinggal mengalami masalah kekurangan tempat letak kereta yang serius dan aku amat maklum akan hal itu.

Kereta milik rakan serumah

Tak mengapa, aku naik ke bilik untuk mengambil kunci motor BuJanG ku. Masih ada ruang untuk menyelit keluar jika aku menaiki motorsikal. Aku terus ke motorsikal ku, membuka mangga kunci yang terpasang di tayar hadapan dan terus menghidupkan enjin motorsikalku. Enjin motorsikalku dihidupkan, memecah keheningan pagi di Kerteh yang aman damai ini. Tetapi bila aku mahu bergerak, aku sedar tayar belakang motorsikal BuJanG ku pancit. Mungkin cubaan Ramadhan bagi aku hari ini. Aku harus bersabar.

Pancitlah pulak!

Aku amat memerlukan tenaga tambahan semasa bersahur kerana hari ini aku menjadi ahli jawatankuasa untuk majlis berbuka puasa anjuran tempat kerjaku. Aku harus berfikir pantas tentang sumber tenaga yang aku perlukan semasa bersahur. Aku terus ke dapur dan mengambil tiga biji telur untuk ku buat telur separuh masak.

Telur ayam gred B menjadi penyelamat

Mudah dan cepat disediakan. Rendam telur di dalam air panas selama lima minit, dan makan bersama lada hitam dan kicap lemak manis cap Kipas Udang. Gabungan kurma dan sekotak susu turut menjadi santapan di kala bersahur. Syukur, aku masih boleh bersahur. Dugaan di bulan Ramadhan datang dalam pelbagai bentuk, dan ianya tidak bukan adalah untuk menguji kesabaran hamba-Nya. :)


p/s: Besok balik Banting! (BBB)

Boobs from Paris?

Yes, I managed to have a taste of Parisian's bosoms while having iftar (break of fasting, berbuka puasa) in Awana Kijal recently. Well, did I really done that perverted act in this month of Ramadhan? I really want to say yes but it is not! The picture tells it all.

Ignorance feeds the troll

Actually, the dessert was wrongly spelled due to the ignorance of the hotel staff and the chef too. This, of course is the good source of LOL for me but a quick browse through the net tells me the real name of the dessert is Paris-Brest. This dessert was created to commemorate the 1200 km cycling race starting from Paris to Brest and back to Paris again. The first race took place in year 1981. Back on the dessert, it is basically a circle of choux pastry, filled with whipped cream and the shape is meant to resemble a bicycle wheels. You can read more about this here.

The taste? Well, I'm not really a food critique, as long as it is edible and tasty, it is deemed good enough for me. C'est bon! The cake lover would want to try this and to make it more meaningful, eat it after you done cycling. What's more important was my stomach practically bloated and it was a very satisfying gastronomic moment. Happy Ramadhan to all!

My Second Ramadhan

Time flies very fast; it has been a year since I started working in this beach town Kerteh, Terengganu. I still remember I reported into one of the petrochemical plant owned by our very own NOC in the final week of Ramadhan. The challenge was substantial, being thrown into new place alone with limited amount of money and was struggling to adapt to the new atmosphere and culture.

Bazar Ramadhan Kerteh

Today, here I am, still here and manage to make myself live comfortably although the environment is very different from my hometown, Banting. I hear and speak the different dialect, learning to eat local food and starting to enjoy it, slowly accepting the different culture and norms of the locals; I find myself being slowly assimilated into the laidback lifestyle of sleepy town Kerteh.

I bet the Flying Squad uses this to fly

However, the story is different when I step into the office. The workload had started to get bigger day by day, but thankfully, I have a bunch of supportive colleagues and bosses that always ready to offer assistance when I need it. I started to get immersed and stressful at work, but thanks to this sleepy town, I can de-stress once I call it a day in my office although a lonely life will greet me once I am home. Somehow, I can accept the calmness of this town as tranquilizer that keep me calm after stressful day at work.

The patrons flocking the small Ramadhan Bazaar

Ramadhan come again, and this is my second time fasting far from home. Truthfully, I still miss my mom’s cooking but here I have to celebrate this blissful month alone most of the time. The bazaar is not as big as one found in Banting. The food choices are limited and the price is exorbitantly expensive. Yet, it provides me with a whole new perspective about the Ramadhan in the East Coast, not literally. Most obvious thing is I can see a lot of people wearing coveralls with various colours that drop by to get some food for breaking fast. Yes, they are just like me, petrochemical plants workers and contractors from the nearby petrochemical plant complex in Kerteh. Somewhat I feel that we are like the Teletubbies wearing coverall with different colours. That is the most obvious thing that I cannot see in Banting. At least I know that I am not alone, most of them are like me, celebrating the month of Ramadhan far from family.

Standard drink with local distinct taste

Rotating chickens

I hope I can improve myself to be a better person in this year’s Ramadhan. I will fight my way to survive in this town; it slowly becomes my second home where I could rely on should I need a tranquil retreat. This town teaches me how to adapt to changes fast, being dynamic and inculcates a good working culture. To my family, I hope all of you are fine there and I am doing very fine here. Nonetheless, I still miss all of you days and nights; I look forward to see all of you and celebrate Hari Raya together. Happy fasting and I pray that all of you are blessed in this month.