My 1Malaysia Theme Song Piano Version

Posted by : foongpc | Friday, August 31, 2012 | Published in

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Happy Merdeka to all my Malaysian readers and friends!

Today we celebrate our 55th Independence Day. I am so thankful and grateful to be living in a beautiful country like Malaysia. There are so many reasons to love Malaysia and if you want to know my reasons, click on this link below.

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Malaysia

I thought I will celebrate this wonderful day by sharing with you my piano version of the now famous 1Malaysia Theme Song. If you are not familiar with this song, watch the YouTube video below.



Now although 1Malaysia is a term coined by our current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, there is nothing political with my post today. I simply thought that this song is a great song that showcase the unity of all races in Malaysia.

It is also in my opinion, a much better song (in terms of melody and lyrics) than Janji Ditepati, the theme song for this year's Independence Day.

Here is the ballad version of the 1Malaysia Theme Song sung by this female singer. (Sorry don't know her name)



Which do you prefer - the group version or the solo ballad version?

Anyway, after listening to both versions a few times, I tried playing it on my piano and here is the outcome. As usual, please excuse some mistakes here and there. Hope you like it! : )



Who Is The Lucky Blogger?

Posted by : foongpc | Wednesday, August 29, 2012 | Published in

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Last week, I came up with a contest called My Top 3 Dislikes which is also a tag or meme for bloggers.

Only 13 bloggers joined this contest, which was quite disappointing. Compared with the Win RM100 If Lee Chong Wei Wins Malaysia's First Olympics Gold, which attracted almost 40 participants, this contest is considered a failure. (To know who is the winner of that contest, click HERE)

I guess here are the Top 3 Reasons why not many bloggers want to join my tag contest.

Reason #1 :  Bloggers nowadays are just not fond of doing tags or memes anymore. And I really can't blame them. I myself do not like to do tags in my blog, so please do not tag me! Smiley

Reason #2 : Some bloggers only blog about certain topics and it would be unsuitable to do my tag if your blog is all about movies, or travels, or food, just to quote some examples.

Reason #3 : Some bloggers just don't think they are lucky enough to ever win a lucky draw - the chance of winning is probably smaller than getting a free scoop of Baskin Robbins. LOL! And I can't blame them cos I think the same way too! I actually dislike lucky draws!!

But of course, I can't deny there is one more important reason why bloggers are not joining my contest, and that is because the prize is way too small - only a miserable RM80 (cash or vouchers) or USD25. Haha!

Well, I can offer all the BIG prizes if there are sponsors but, I am really not fond of getting sponsors and all that. I just want to do a small little contest and I want to be giving away my money from my own pocket! It's just more fun this way.

Anyway, a promise is a promise. I have already done the Lucky Draw and found the winner. Are you ready?

Here are all the contestants. Thank you for doing the tag! Hope you all had a fun time with it! Smiley

1. BlogBabyBlogger

2. Tekkaus

3. Wenn

4. Tekkaus (free entry for tagging Wenn)

5. Robin

6. Emily

7. Charmaine

8. Ruxyn

9. Marissa

10. Ruxyn (free entry for tagging Marissa)

11. Piggy697

12. Marissa (free entry for tagging Piggy697)

13. June Tan

14. Akijayyy

15. Ruxyn (free entry for tagging Akijayy)

16. Be My

17. Hui Ling

Each contestant is given a number in the order of the earliest till the last to join.

As usual, I did the Lucky Draw with the help of the Pick Number app in my iPhone.



All I need to do is to press the 'Click' button and a random number from 1 - 20 will be selected.

So what number was selected?  Smiley

Scroll down slowly.....

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  Smiley

$$$$$$$$$$$

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Number 4? Such unlucky number? Of all the numbers, why number 4?!!

Number 4 sounds like 'death' in Chinese and is deemed unlucky, BUT that's not the case today.

The lucky winner is TEKKAUS!!! Congratulations!!
Smiley
Please email me your address so that I can send you the RM80 Jusco voucher ASAP!

Now, who want some more contests? Smiley

FIRST COMMENTER
Wishing on a Falling Star

More Ghosts In My Photos

Posted by : foongpc | Monday, August 27, 2012 | Published in

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It's that time of the year again! Yes, I am talking about the Hungry Ghost Festival.

For the benefit of my Western readers who may be unfamiliar with this event, Hungry Ghost Festival is  a period during the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar when souls and spirits of the dead are set free to wander the earth. It's a yearly custom for people in parts of Asia to appease these spirits with certain rituals and feasts.

This year, the Hungry Ghost month begins on August 17th and lasts till September 15th. To the Chinese, there are a number of taboos that are observed during this period.

Read More : 10 things NOT to do during the Hungry Ghost month.

Although the Hungry Ghost Festival peaks on the 14th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar (or August 30th, 2012 according to Western calendar), the ghosts are already walking amongst us. Be afraid, be very afraid.....

How did I know that ghosts are already wandering the Earth? The proof lies in these unexplained photos which I took the past week.

I took all these photos using my iPhone 3Gs, so please excuse the poor quality.



The above is a picture I took from Casa Damansara condo in PJ. It shows the back part of Tropicana City Mall. Nothing wrong with the picture until I took another one, but a closer (enlarged) shot.



Can you see a lady standing there? Looks more like a ghost to me!



What do you think? She looks sort of transparent to me. More like a ghost than a human, no?

Last week, I was chilling out at a cafe at Mont Kiara in the evening when I noticed someone peering from outside the glass window. The person looked rather odd so I secretly snapped a photo of him.



I have to say he looked more like a shadow than a real person but from inside, it's hard to really see.

I brushed it aside, and forgot about it until a few moments later when I looked up and got a shock of my life! The same person appeared to be looking directly at me!!



Despite being chilled to my bones, I managed to take a snapshot of him. I did not know how long he stared at me, but it was really, really long. I could not even remember what happened after that. Somehow he disappeared while I was still in a state of shock.

Now I have driven past the nice waterfall at Bangsar South many times and had admired it each time. But last week, while waiting at the traffic light near this waterfall, I decided to take a snapshot. When I reached back home, I looked at the photo I had taken and noticed something.



Can you spot a face peering out from the waterfall?

What do you think? Was it just my imagination?



The worst experience I had was while at a shopping mall in PJ. Or more precisely, inside the shopping mall's toilet. They say never go to the toilet alone at night.

Well, I was washing my hands after doing my business in one of the cubicles when I saw this!

 

What will you do if you see this? Will you freak out?

If by now, you are still thinking I saw these ghosts, then you are too easily fooled! Hahaha!! Let me make a confession - NONE of these photos are true.

I created them using the Ghost Capture app in my iPhone. LOL!

Those of you who have read my blog post Ghosts In My Photos last year would know very early on that the ghosts here are all fake. That's why I named this post 'More Ghosts In My Photos' - some sort like a sequel. I hope you had enjoyed reading it. Haha!

Now here's a YouTube video of the HauntedFace app in my iPhone. Enjoy! Make sure the volume is turned on.



Scary? Well, you can take anyone's photo and change him or her into a horrible looking ghost with this app. But I would not dare try. Haha!

My Dinner At Li Yen In Ritz-Carlton KL

Posted by : foongpc | Friday, August 24, 2012 | Published in

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This is a long overdue post.

Remember I complained about the horrible dinner I had at Ritz-Carlton in KL during Chinese New Year early this year? Read HERE.

Well, I was invited to dine at the Li Yen Chinese Restaurant in Ritz-Carlton a month or so later with a group of friends, some of them bloggers. We were given a private room.



I did not take any pictures of the restaurant interior.

Our first dish was Peking Duck served with steamed sesame pancakes. The duck was carved right in front of us in the room.



The duck skin which was skillfully carved was then wrapped in a layer of thin pancake, and placed on the plate together with some carrots, cucumber, spring onion and barbecue sauce. The crispy skin was yummy and was especially delicious when combined with the soft pancake and sweet sauce.



Next we had double-boiled assorted seafood soup with bamboo pith.



There were prawns, fish fillet and scallops inside the soup. Flavourful and delicious, this soup is best enjoyed on a cold and rainy night.



Steamed patin fish with superior soya sauce was our third dish.



The fish was quite huge, but most importantly it was fresh and firm. I really enjoyed eating this steamed fish!



The next dish looked rather special. It was Li Yen's golden prawns!



This got to be one of my top favorites for the night! The succulent prawns were fresh and juicy but combined with the cripsy yam shreds on the outside and some thousand island sauce made them way too delicious!!

Honestly, these two on my plate were definitely not enough for me!



Next on the customized menu was deep-fried spare ribs with thick vinegar sauce.



The meat was juicy and tender but the vinegar sauce was probably a little too strong for me. However, I would still consider it pretty yummylicious!



Too much meat is not good for health, so it was good to know that the next item on the menu was bean curd with honshimeji mushrooms and spinach.



The bean curd and spinach combination was good - I loved it!



The second last course was fried rice with diced duck meat. Hmm, I have a feeling that the duck meat comes from part of that duck that was carved in front of us earlier!



I always love fried rice, and this one was no exception. Although I must admit it would be nicer if the rice was a bit more tasty.



Lastly, to end the dinner, we had double-boiled assorted nuts and snow fungus in sugar syrup for desserts.



Although not exactly my kind of dessert, it was nevertheless quite good and not overly sweet.



It was a thoroughly enjoyable dinner at Li Yen. I had a good time with my friends there and was totally satisfied with the nice ambience and excellent service - definitely a far cry from the horrible experience I had during the Chinese New Year dinner in January.

Li Yen Chinese Restaurant,
The Ritz-Carlton KL,
168, Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur 55100,
Malaysia
Tel : +603-2142 8000
Website

My Top 3 Dislikes

Posted by : foongpc | Monday, August 20, 2012 | Published in

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It's been a long time since I did tags or memes. Now I am not a fan of tags and memes, and I know many of you are not as well, but it's the Raya holidays and I thought I would do something fun today!

I'm going to do a contest and up for grabs are Jusco vouchers worth RM80 or USD25 cash. Not a lot I know, but that's all I can afford for now. LOL!

So, what is this Contest all about?

Well, it's called 'My Top 3 Dislikes' Contest. All you need to do is to list out your top 3 dislikes in the following category. Here's mine.

(Note : You will have to start copying after this line and paste onto your blog)

My Top 3 Dislikes 

1. Days Of The Week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

2. Numbers - 0, 4, 7

3. Fruits - rambutan, dragonfruit, ciku

4. Character In A Person - grumpy, deceiving, selfish

5. Movies - Twilight, Piranha 3DD, The Touch

I was tagged by ABC. I would like to invite X, Y, Z to join in the fun!!

RULES
1. This is a contest by My Very First Blog. It is open to anyone with a blog in Malaysia and worldwide.

2. Everyone who participates in this contest will be entered into a Lucky Draw.

3. Copy the above starting from My Top 3 Dislikes title, followed by the list from No.1 - 5 and these Rules and paste onto your blog post.

4. Replace my top 3 dislikes with your own for each category from No. 1 - 5.

5. Please mention who tagged you, and link back to his or her blog. (If you join this Contest directly from My Very First Blog, then mention that you are tagged by foongpc).

6. You may or may not tag others (your choice!) but anyone you tagged who join this contest will earn you 1 entry into the Lucky Draw. You choose to tag as many people as you like or none at all. Make sure you inform the person that you invite.

7. After you have put up your post in your blog, go to My Very First Blog, search for the post 'My Top 3 Dislikes' and leave a comment there with the URL of your blog post.

8. The winner can opt to have the RM80 Jusco voucher delivered to his/her address OR RM80 cash banked into his account provided he/she has a Maybank account. Non Malaysian winner must have a Paypal account to receive the USD25.

9. This contest closes on the 26th August 2012. Good Luck!!

Games I Play On My iPhone (Part 2)

Posted by : foongpc | Thursday, August 16, 2012 | Published in

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After reading my Part 1 post, some people said that I play more games than them! Now that's a surprise really, as I have mentioned before that I am NOT into online games. I mean, you can hardly see me play games on my Macbook or iPhone!

Anyway, here are some more games that I have played before - some of which I have already stopped playing, while others I am still playing on and off, according to my mood. Haha!

The one that I really liked when it first came out is Draw Something



You need to play this game with a friend which you can invite to play or by finding friends in Facebook who are already playing the game.

As the name of this game suggests, you just draw something to let your friend guess what it is that you have drawn. Pretty simple. However, you can't just draw anything. You are given a choice of three random words to draw, ranked by difficulty.



As you can see above, the word 'open' is easier to draw than the word 'wicked'. So if you draw 'wicked', your friend earns 3 coins (instead of 1 coin if you drew 'open') if he or she succeeds in guessing it right!

Your friend who is doing the guessing is given a number of blank spaces representing the word and a selection of scrambled letters which include all the letters in the word plus some other letters not found in the word.

The really fun part is viewing your friend's attempt to guess the word after he or she is done! Below I am watching a replay of my friend Marzie guessing the word 'RAPTURE', a future event mentioned in the Bible. I tried my best to draw it with people being lifted up in the air with the bright yellow sun and blue color to show it's the sky. I even hinted by writing the word "Future Biblical Event". LOL!



Unfortunately, she did not manage to guess it correctly. Guess my drawing sucks! Haha!

OK, this is another one - the word is ESKIMO - and she managed to guess it right. Yay!



Notice the bomb? That's for the guesser to use. By clicking on the bomb, the letters that do not belong to the word are eliminated, thus making it easier for you to guess the word. However, bombs are limited and you need coins to purchase them, so use them wisely.

Below is my feeble attempt to draw MILKMAN. Haha!! I can never draw a proper human.



The good thing for people who are artistic is, you can draw as beautifully as you like and there are variety of colors for you to choose from!

Sometimes, I really laugh hard when people guess wrongly. Look at this. ROSE? Haha!! Does it look anything like a rose?! OK, sorry Rad : D



After you have drawn and your friend have done guessing, it's your friend's turn to draw and you do the guessing. And so it keeps going on and on. Pure fun!

But I have to admit this game does not offer you a strong goal to aim for, so it sort of gets boring after some time. Now I no longer play it anymore.

Now here's something interesting - Draw Something was so successful when it first launched that within 50 days after its release, it was downloaded 50 million times! Developed by Omgpop, it had caught the attention of game giant Zynga, which bought it over for US$180 million!!

Unfortunately, that was a bad decision on Zynga's part, because right after the purchase, Draw Something started to lose its popularity, and Zynga's stock price dropped by 50 percent as a result! Ouch!

Another game that I played (and occasionally still play) is Triple Town. Guess what attracted me to this game? It's the cute bear! Haha!



Triple Town is a game where you aim to build the biggest city possible. You build by matching 3 or more game-pieces together. For example, combine 3 grasses to make a flower, 3 flowers to make a bush, 3 bushes to make a tree, 3 trees to make a hut and so on... you get the idea! You just keep doing it until you've filled the board with houses, cathedrals and castles!



However, the bears tend to get in the way by taking up spaces. Look! The bears don't appear so cute any more! Blocking the bears will turn them into gravestones. And here is where you need some strategy. For 3 gravestones combined will turn into a church, and 3 churches into a cathedral!

So the bears are not so bad after all! The real enemy are not the bears but the ninja bears, which appear later in the game. These ninja bears can teleport from one empty spot to another all over the board so they are a real pain (in the neck). Depends how good your strategy is, the ninja bears can either irritate you or make it all the more fun!

Recently, I downloaded a game onto my iPhone - it's called DreamWorks Dragons : Tap Dragon Drop.



If you have seen the DreamWorks' movie 'How To Train Your Dragon', you may probably like this game. I think this is more for children to play, but then adults can find it quite fun too.

The game is basically about getting the dragon to herd sheep into their pens. There are obstacles which you as the player must think of how to overcome. Ample tools are provided and the dragon can pick up rocks, roar to make the sheep move, smash statues, and burn stuffs with its fire, but stop short of carrying the sheep. 



The sheep are quite vulnerable and can die by dropping from a great height, getting eaten by sharks, and it can even get accidentally roasted by the dragon's fire! I tell you - they are weak!!



To me, it's more of a logical puzzle game. You need to complete each step in the right order or you will lose a lot of sheep! But sometimes, out of frustration, I just kill off those hopeless sheep by burning them, pushing them off the cliff or just feed them to the sharks. Watching them die can be a source of enjoyment. Muahaha!!

One of the games that got me addicted not too long ago is Temple Run.



The story behind this game is simple. An explorer steals an idol from an ancient temple and is chased by demonic looking monkeys, thus the name Temple Run.

There is no level to this game. Your objective is just to run as far and as long as possible without being caught by the monkeys, or crash into obstacles along the way, or fall to your death.



To jump over tree trunks or broken bridges, you can slide your finger forward. To pass under a tree hole or fire, slide your finger backward. To turn the corners, simply slide your finger to the right or left.



The character runs really fast and sometimes you need to tilt your iPhone to collect coins along the way.    This game can be very thrilling and is definitely not a game you want to play if you are looking for relaxation.

However, I did not like its graphics that much. Recently, a friend introduced me another game quite similar to Temple Run but with much better graphics. It's called Subway Surfers.



Just like Temple Run, the objective of this game is to run as far and as long as possible. But instead of being chased by demonic monkeys, you are being chased by cops!

And the title Subway Surfers already gives you a hint that you will be doing all the running along rail tracks so you will be dodging trains, jumping hurdles and even running on top of the trains.



And just like Temple Run, you get to collect coins along the way. Only difference is, Subway Surfers does not require you to tilt your iPhone, so it's easier, but may not necessarily be more fun.

Also just like Temple Run, you slide your finger forward to jump, slide backward to tuck and roll, and slide right and left to switch lanes or tracks. However, unlike Temple Run, there are no corners to turn so it's all straight and easy to see what's ahead, thus making it easier to plan your move.



There are many power-ups in this game like a special magnet that can attracts all those coins, boots that increase your running speed and jetpacks that actually let you fly above all the obstacles! These power-ups can be earned by playing the game or can be bought via the in-game store.

Oops! I didn't quite make through the hurdle, so it's GAME OVER!!



I find the graphics of Subway Surfers much more attractive and colorful compared to Temple Run and that's the main reason I no longer play the latter.

So there you are - the games I play on my iPhone. I'm sure I will be trying out more new games in the future but I still have this to say - I am NOT into games! : )

FIRST COMMENTER
Wishing on a Falling Star