R.I.P. Saddam Hussein

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging at 0300 GMT today.

Is it really a punishment? Or is it simply revenge?

Even though he may be brutal in his rule in Iraq, he does not deserve to die this way, especially not in the hands of the Americans and the Iraqi puppet government.

They could not have chosen a worse date as today is the Haj, i.e. the day of sacrifice in the Muslim Calendar. It is a day where minor crimes are forgiven and major crimes either commuted or deferred.

Does this mark the end of the war on terror? I am afraid not. Instead more hatred may have been sown in the hearts of many Iraqis and Muslims around the world.

It started off with an illegitimate war - an invasion of a sovereign state by America and its allies (especially Britain), based on allegations (proven to be lies) that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction.

The intention of America is clear - revenge, most likely driven by hatred of its ignorant President.

This illegal invasion has caused the lives of hundreds of thousands of people - Iraqis, Americans, British, etc. Number of body bags are increasing by the day, with no one knowing when it will stop and how much more. The situation created by Americans and British are worse than that under the Saddam rule.

We are told Saddam was executed for crimes against humanity, the mass murder of civilians.

Bush and Blair where the leaders with ultimate responsibility when they influenced and authorised the illegitimate invasion of iraq which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

It seems to me that they may be guilty of similar offences.

Will the Western democratic process pull them in front of the courts to assess their guilt? Not a chance.

If there is really true justice in this world, Bush and Blair should join Saddam Hussein at the gallows. They should be buddies down under.

It's a sad day for humanity where Western hypocrisy is at its worst.

Shame on Bush, shame on Blair, and shame on all the corrupt and opportunist, profiteering, companies and individuals who took advantage of this illegal war for their own gain.

If you kill by sword be ready to die by sword.

Great Christmas celebration

Auntie Yu Hsiang was really kind to invite us over to her house for a stay over Christmas. Johanna and I had been struggling to find ways to get to Acton Town on Christmas day, after knowing that all modes of public transport would not be running on that day.

We made our way to the West side of London on Christmas eve night. Shazrul had invited us over to his place in Ealing. He picked us up from Ealing Broadway station. It was already quite late, hence we only managed to chit chat for a while, while tasting the delicious apple crumble made by his sister-in-law.

Shazrul sent us to Uncle Michael's home after that. It was quite near to where Shazrul is living.

Uncle Michael brought us to a room on the first floor, with big windows and overlooking the backyard. The backyard is so huge! About 50m long.

On Christmas Day itself, everyone in the family - Uncle, auntie and their two sons Justin and Crispin were busy preparing food for the lunch. I also had a chance to play some PS2 games with Crispin.

Other guests arrived around lunch time - Uncle Michael's cousin and his wife, Justin's girlfriend Amy and her family.

We had a big feast at the greenhouse - turkey, pork, potatoes, parsnips (too bad I don't know how to describe), etc.

It was a really great session. After lunch, everyone started chatting and playing games.

The guests only went home around 9pm.

The next day, we had lunch before Auntie Yu Hsiang sent us back to our flat after dropping off Crispin at his flat in Canary Wharf.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2007!

Johann's music

As promised, Jo, Jih Hoay and I went to My Place in Earls Court to watch Johann perform yesterday. His band is Brown Music http://www.brownmusic.co.uk/.

To be frank most of the gigs were not that good except for Johann's - He and his great guitar skills and showmanship. Johanna was really impressed with his skills. She said that he has all the great skills of other guitarists she knew, combined. I wasn't surprised as I've always know that Johanna has something special with his guitar since KTJ days. The two vocalists in his band were also great. I love it when they blend their voices (including Johann's occassionally) so well in the four songs performed.

Life as a musician is not easy. Hope Johann will achieve something big soon. Jo and I will continue to attend his gig whenever possible.

Sista comin' to town...

Jih Hoay had a flight to London again on the 21st. Unfortunately she couldn't stay over for Christmas as her flight back to Singapore was on 23rd.

I managed to brought her to Primark, Harrod's and H&M for some shopping (and window shopping).

On Friday night, all of us watched my former KTJ housemate Johanna performed with his band in a hotel in Earls Court. He's great!

On Saturday morning, we had stuffed chicken (yes, chicken not turkey as turkey is too big for three of us!) for brunch before sending her off.

Jih Hoay brought Jo and me a lot of food from Singapore - ingredients for chicken soup, 3 in 1 coffee, red dates, etc. She also brought along my badminton rackets and actuarial notes. Really grateful to her.

I bought her a cutlery set for her new condominium in Penang. Hope she'll have a great time decorating the place!

Foggy London

The fog has been very thick for the whole week, resulting in hundreds of fligt cancellations... Pity those who have planned to fly home for Christmas. Despite the very cold weather (colder than Paris, Moscow, New York and most Scandinavian cities), there is no snow in sight! Sigh.

Colchester and West Mersea

Liu Yi invited Jo and myself to a feast at her place in Colchester on Sunday, 17 December. We took the opportunity to visit West Mersea for some Colchester oysters.

Roshan was also on the invitation list, hence our first meeting since coming to London.

Great oysters, seafood and great stuffed turkey... Mmm... What a weekend.

Colchester town

Colchester Castle

Nice big houses on the way to Company Shed to have seafood

Yachts at West Mersea

Company Shed, the seafood place

Seafood platter

Raw Colchester oysters, yum yum!

Colchester oysters with mozarella cheese... Mmmm

Johanna enjoying seafood

Stelios, Roshan, Liu Yi, Johanna and myself

Bapak & Mak's Christmas Party

This must be one of the last Christmas Party I've attended at the McWilliams' home in London. Friday 15 December, while the rest of London's working people are enjoying themselves in their company's Christmas Party, we had our very own in our Bapak and Mak's home in Camberwell.

I met up with Jo at Earls Court (she came from work) before proceeding to Denmark Hill by train from Victoria. Then we took a bus to Camberwell Green and walked to the McWilliams' home. I was wearing the blue Nadza shark T-shirt.

Clare greeted us at the door with Victor following suit moments later. It has been a long time since we last met in KTJ 2 years back. They still look the same, but the guests weren't. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, mostly juniors who've gone to KTJ after I've left. The only familiar faces out of the 20-odd guests were Xian, Matthew, Chris and Jonathan. Chris and Jonathan are both grown ups now, unlike the kids I've known in KTJ.

We started queueing up for food moments later - can sense a lot of Malaysian influence in the cooking! It was great to catch up with everyone and knowing some juniors who also went to Nadzaruddin House.

Johann Ting arrive a bit later, just when I thought he was giving this year's party a miss. I was surprised to know that he has quit Goldman Sachs long time ago and is now doing a guitar course and playing part-time. He is one of the greatest musicians I've ever known. I promised to turn up at his gig in Earls Court the following Friday.

The McWilliams are planning to quit KTJ next year and may hold the last Christmas party in their London home next Christmas. Since I won't be in London next Christmas, this should be the last reunion for me.

Well done to the McWilliams for doing this for us for the past many years! You do not earn the title Bapak and Mak for nothing. =)

Visit to Nottingham

Jo and I took the opportunity to visit Nottingham on 4 November by joining City University Malaysian Society's members to the annual Nottingham Games.

We had to sleep overnight at Seng Hon's place in order to get to the uni at 4am in the morning. It was freezing cold at that time.

We arrived in Nottingham around 7pm. It was really cold all the way. There was frost everywhere.

Unlike other Nottingham Games I've been to, this one has few ministers and few other VIP guests present. So we sort of have to put up with some lame speeches by Dato' Mustapa Mohamed and the keris waving Dato' Seri Hishammuddin. The speeches were ridiculously childish for a crowd full of undergraduates and postgraduates, to the extent that I felt embarrassed for my country, especially in front of the Vice Chancellor of Nottingham University. Based on other speeches and controversies in the country lately, it is difficult to feel the sincerity of these ministers in what they were preaching.

After the opening ceremony, Jo and I proceed to the sports hall to watch volleyball and basketball before making our way to Nottingham city.

Jo loves the city a lot. She said it felt like Melbourne a lot, not too crowded and peaceful. We found the people here extremly friendly compared to London.

We browsed through the town, sent postcards to our families before finding our way to Nottingham Castle. The existing buildings are built not too long ago in place of the ancient castle which did not survive many battles and wars in the past. Robin Hood, the icon of this city, is present at every corner of the castle and the town.

The Lace Centre, outside Nottingham Castle
Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle
Lovely garden at Nottingham Castle
Johanna being cute as usual :-)

Bringing Sis to Warwick Castle

Many many weeks ago, when I haven't had internet connection at home...

My sister Jih Hoay came to visit us on 20 October. The 3rd member of my family, after my parents to visit me in London. My younger brother is the only one left. Hope he'll want to come and visit us soon.

Jih Hoay was staying in Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch. I didn't have any classes on Friday. So we met up at the hotel around lunch time. I brought her to my flat and cooked lunch for her. Next we went to Jo and my temporary accomodation at Goodenough College to access internet before I brought her to see Cass Business School. We met up with our hometown friend Khoon Peng near Moorgate station and proceed to Angel to join my Malaysian uni mates for freshers dinner at Whitechapel. Jo could only join us a bit later as she left work late.

The next day, I took Jo and Jih Hoay to Warwick Castle. The train ticket and entrance fees only cost us GBP77 in total. I've been there with Yee Sian and Swati many years ago, during undergraduate days. The castle still looks the same. We managed to take some photos with the sun appearing and disappearing every now and then.

It rained heavily at the time we were on our way to Warwick Train Station. We had to take a shelter in a local bar. We missed the train in the end and arrived nearly 2 hours later than planned. As a result, I missed Xian's birthday celebration in Khan's. Felt really bad for that but what to do?

We had Taza Kebab - supposedly the best kebab in the world according to many of my Malaysian friends.. Jih Hoay concluded that kebab is not her thing.

Jo and I were too lazy to go back to our own flat. So we bunked at Jih Hoay's hotel room. Very nice room with 42" Plasma TV!

The next day, we managed to have duck rice at Four Seasons with Khoon Peng before we send Jih Hoay off with her SIA crew.

Missing in action

Even though I've moved in to my new place since 9 October, I have yet to get broadband access from the world class companies in this developed nation!

It took me nearly 3 weeks to arrange for a phone line installation with BT and another 2 weeks to get my broadband provider to install my broadband access. That'll be 8 November when my life gets reconnected to the world.

Until then I'll have to stick with the limited access I have in my university.

Smoking is more important than sex

Doesn't make sense to you?

Ask an actuary and he might be able to explain it to you.

Koh's visit to London

My colleague, Koh Kong Yong came to London the day my sister left (22 October). He was sent by Bank Negara to participate in a course on financial stability, organised by Bank of England.

It was his first visit to London.

Jo and I met up with him on his first night of arrival for a dinner in Chinatown.

In the next few days, I took him to Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, Parliament Square, Greenwich, Portobello market, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Oxford Street, Regent Street and few other places, on weekday nights after his course and on Saturday morning. Due to work commitment, Johanna could not join us most of the time, except on Saturday, the last day of Koh's stay. I also invited him to our flat for a dinner.

Cambridge trip

Photos at http://jihying.com/photos/cambridge/

Last Friday morning, I took Johanna to Cambridge. Cambridge is one of my favourite cities in England. I love the peaceful scenery especially along river Cam on a punt, with Cambridege University colleges lining up on either side of the river.

We departed from Victoria Coach Station at 9.30am. The weather did not look good at all. The journey took us 2 hours. On the way we went past East London, came within 200 metres from our Bromley-by-Bow flat too.

Our arrival was greeted by drizzle which became heavier minutes later. We decided to have lunch in Burger King while waiting for the weather to improve. Johanna noticed that there are a lot of East Asians students and old English retirees in this town.

The rain finally cleared but still very cloudy. Not a good day for photography. We walked around the old town, passing through shops, including Laura Ashley, then St. John College, before arriving at King's College. King's is the biggest among all colleges. After taking some photos, we walked through Clare College to the other side of the river.

We took a punt later on, together with a couple from China, chauffeured by a 2nd year Cambridge student called David. Johanna love the ride a lot as it was so peaceful and scenic.

Our trip more or less came to an end after the 45-minute punting trip. We slowly walked to the coach station. I bought some strawberries on the way. 60p for one box, but I found out later on that many of them are already rotten. While waiting for the coach, we took a stroll in the park. I love this park a lot, but it was not at its best without the flowers.

We left at 3.45pm. Overall not a bad trip even though I failed to take enough good photos due to the poor weather.

More at http://jihying.com/photos/cambridge/

The new and the old financial centre

London is the world's financial centre. Hence a visit to London would not be complete without seeing the financial centre itself. London has two financial district now. The square mile, also known as the City, is the traditional financial centre, while Canary Wharf, which was intensively developed in the last decade, is rivalling City's status. The 3 tallest building in UK are all located here - One Canada Square, HSBC Tower and Citigroup Centre.

I finally brought Johanna to visit these two areas yesterday evening. Actually it was also an adventure for me since I've never really visited the Canary Wharf area during my undergraduate days in London. We took Jubilee line to Canary Wharf from Waterloo, possibly the smoothest tube route in London. Upon exiting the tube station, we were greeted by blocks of modern skyscrappers around Canada Square. Johanna was really impressed. I was happy to know that since she has been disappointed with quite a number of things in London - stuffy tube, crowded and dirty areas and tedious procedures in opening bank accounts, renting house, etc.

We decided to be more adventurous - took Docklands Light Railway (DLR) train to Lewisham and then back to Canary Wharf again. We discovered that one DLR station is near the flat we are moving in in October. Hence we took another DLR train to Devons Road and find our way to the flat. Not bad. Only 10 minutes walk from the DLR station.

We took a DLR train to Bank after that. Yet again Johanna was impressed, this time with the City. I showed her the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange and of course Lloyds. She wasn't impressed with the controversial design of Lloyds.

We went back to Canary Wharf again today. This time around, I brought along my camera. Unfortunately, we have the typical London grey sky today, hence most of the photos look quite dull. In the end I've decided to desaturate some of them. To view more, please visit http://jihying.com/photos/canary_wharf/.

The most popular screensaver...

...in the States, according to some.

Don't click if you're a fan or supporter of George W Bush.

http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/georgie.htm

[ Failed to post this after numerous attempts. Is National Security watching me? ]

View from our room

This is the view from room 315 of William Goodenough House. Johanna and I will be staying here until 8 October. Thereafter we have two weeks to shift things from here to our new place in Bromley-by-Bow.

Canterbury and Whitstable Trip

Xian and Niki has invited us to join them on a trip to Canterbury and Whitstable, together with Xian's neighbour in Goodenough College, Hasreen last Saturday.

Canterbury was where Xian and Niki studied during their undergraduate days.

We set off at 9 in the morning and arrived in Canterbury slightly more than an hour later. I've been to Canterbury before hence was not too excited about it. We walked around the town while Hasreen toured the Canterbury Cathedral. We took a boat ride on a canal after that. Niki then went to pierce her belly button, ouch!

We set off for Whitstable after that. It was a 20 minute bus ride from Canterbury. Whitstable is a small fishing village located by the English Channel. The scenery that greeted us was great - yatchs, boats, seashells, blue sea and loads of people. The main objective of going there was of course fresh seafood, especially oysters for the ladies. We bought some fresh oysters and cups of mixed seafood and gobbled them up immediately, with exception of Hasreen, who was fasting, and Xian who doesn't take seafood. Then we proceed to the fish market to buy tuna and salmon for our dinner - grill tuna steak and sashimi. On our way to the train station, we bought 2 dozens of oysters.

We took a cab to Asford after that to do some shopping at a giant shopping mall selling goods at a steep discount compared to highstreets.

By the time we left Asford, it was already 7.30pm. Pity Hasreen who had to break fast with only a muffin.

We only reached Niki's place at Canada Water at 9-ish. Hasreen was already starving and weak by that time. Johanna and I did the grill tuna steak immediately while others prepared the sashimi and fried vegetable.

By the time we finished our meal of fresh fish, it was already near 11pm. Johanna and I had to rush back to Shazrul and Teratai's place as it was at the other end of London. We only reached their house at 1am. We felt really bad about that.

More photos at http://jihying.com/photos/canterbury_whitstable/.

#1. Canterbury Cathedral


#2. Outside the cathedral


#3. On a boat trip


#4. Lovely Johanna


#5. By the beach of Whitstable


#6. Oysters... yum!


#7. Fish market


#8. Tuna steaks and sashimi

Found a place at Bromley-by-Bow

After a tiring week of scouting for apartment, we've finally found a good one at Bromley-by-Bow. But in the process, we've came across quite a number of very dodgy ones. I wouldn't even stay in few of these even if I'm paid for it.

Properties in London are definitely very expensive. A small studio apartment in Zone 3 will cost around £160 - £180 a week. We saw a few in Ealing. Decent but very small. One bedroom flat will cost from £180 to £250 in Zone 2 and 3. Of course not for areas such as South Kensington. One of these one bedroom flats in Elephant and Castle looked quite decent on the website. But upon our visit to the place, we were really shocked. The place was dark and dirty. We had to go up a metal staircase by the side of the 3-storey building right beside a row of small shops. Another place in Fulham was even worse. It's located at a very quiet and rundown part of Fulham. We were greeted by heaps of leaflets strewn on the floor at the entrance, torn and dirty carpets, soiled beds and creaking staircase. It looks like a house in a ghetto.

Anyway, we contacted Base Properties last Tuesday and managed to view two of the one bedroom flats in a place called Wealdon House right next to Bromley-by-Bow tube station. The place is only one-year old and looks really new. The interior is of modern design which is rare in London, unless you are willing to pay a lot more. The ground floor unit was going for £195 a week while the 4th floor one was £210 a week. A student called Thomas was viewing with us and showed immediate interest in the ground floor one. Johanna and I also indicated our interest in the same unit. Our agent Kristjan told us that he'll had to let the landlord decide. In the afternoon, he called and informed us that the landlord had favoured Thomas over us as one person is likely to cause less wear and tear. Hence we have no choice but to settle for the 4th floor unit. Kristjan managed to get it for us at £205 a week, which works out to £888.33 a month. The only complication is we can only move in on 9 October which is few weeks away.

We have been putting up with Johanna's cousin Jonathan for the past few days. Since he's putting his house for sale we've decided to put up with Shazrul while looking for temporary accomodation before moving in to the new place. We've finally settled down at Goodenough College yesterday, subletting from a member there for one month. We only need the place for two weeks though. But this is the best deal we could find. If you've read the previous post, we're suppose to move into Goodenough on 19 October as we've been offered a place here. But upon our visit the the college, we found the apartment big but old. We're also not impressed with the hostel style of accomodation. Being married, I think we should get a place with more privacy. This place is also a long walk from the tube at night as we could not use the short cut due to security reasons. Our new place is just next to the tube. So that'll save us a lot of time walking. But of course there are also downside to it, which is probably why we could get such a new place for such a bargain. To get to Bromley-by-Bow which is at the end of Zone 2, we have to go through areas such as Mile End, Aldgate and Bethnal Green, which are not the best areas in town. Our place is also located right next to the motorway leading to Blackwell Tunnel. There are no shops around except for a giant Tesco.

It's such a huge relief to have found a place. But of course in terms of getting to work and study, it'll be different experience for both of us. I'll only need to take City and Hammersmith line direct to Moorgate, which is 7 stops away, while Johanna will need to take the District line to Fulham Broadway, which is around 20 stops away! Furthermore she'll need to take bus 391 from Fulham Broadway to Laura Ashley's office at Bagley's Lane. Since the properties on the Western part of London is significantly more expensive than the Eastern part, we had no choice.

Anyway below are some photos of a similar unit of the flat that we are moving in soon.