England - Scotland Trip (Day 3)

We were greeted by the lovely morning sun in Kendal. At last, some fine weather.

Johanna getting ready for the next destination

Our next destination is Isle of Skye. To get there we had to drive through Loch Lomond and the Scottish Highlands, including the famous Glen Coe.

Just as we thought we were going to get good weather, the clouds came back in numbers and very soon we had the same gloomy weather again. Well, it is difficult to get good weather in Scotland, so it was not really bad luck.

The best I could get out of Loch Lomond under the poor weather condition

By the time we reached Glen Coe, it was getting a bit misty. But the drive along the winding roads on the highlands are enjoyable, compared to the dull motorway. I could imagine how beautiful the highlands are if the weather were sunny. Will definitely want to visit this place again. Hopefully the weather will be great next time around.










Eilean Donan Castle
Perhaps the best shot from the whole trip

We finally arrived at a town called Broadford on Isle of Skye after a 7-hour drive.

England - Scotland Trip (Day 2)

The only reason we were at Manchester was to bring Jih Xian to Old Trafford. A United fan like me, he was very excited about the visit to OT. In fact, sad to say that, it was the only place that matter to him in the whole trip!

Some of the photos of Jih Xian in the Manchester United Museum. Jo and I bought him a jersey as his early birthday present.

We left Old Trafford at noon time to proceed our journey to the Lake District.

After locating our accomodation in Kendal, we drove to the scenic Windermere. Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day and we only managed to get gloomy views of the beautiful lake. We drove around the hilly roads later on for more countryside sceneries.

England - Scotland Trip (Day 1)

Day 1 of our 6-day trip to various parts of England and Scotland with my parents, my sister Jih Hoay and my 15-year-old brother Jih Xian.

We set off late from London as we need to source for a Tomtom, as Enterprise-Rent-A-Car has run out of it despite it being included in our reservation. We had to cancel our first destination - Stonehenge because of that, and headed straight to Bath.

It is my second time to Bath, the first time in winter 2002. All of us were amazed with the picturesque sceneries on the way into the city.

By the time we arrived at the city, the Roman Bath is already closed. Hence we could only take a few photos outside the famous tourist attraction. Johanna & I managed to track down Laura Ashley branch somewhere in the town before continuing our journey to Manchester.

Tea break

More photos at http://flickr.com/photos/jihying/sets/72157600337371503/detail/

Not So Bright Brighton

Perhaps one of the worst trip in my life.

Despite knowing the weather will not be great that weekend (May 27), I still went ahead with our trip to Brighton in order to maximise my parents' and brother's trip to UK.

And how wrong we were to go to Brighton on that day. It was chilly, windy and rainy. We had to endure walking in the rain for most part of our trip. In the end we decided to head home few hours earlier than scheduled.

As for Brighton, there was nothing much to see. The beach wasn't great either.

Had to convert most of my photos into black and white since the colours are dull anyway.

Royal Pavillion


Rain!

More photos at http://flickr.com/photos/jihying/sets/72157600286003615/detail/

Back from holiday

Just got back from a 6-day driving trip of England and Scotland. It's great to have my parents, sister and brother around, especially my 14-year-old brother - Jih Xian who is visiting London for the first time.

My parents and sister had left for Barcelona on Friday morning while Jih Xian will be flying back to Penang today. Wish he could stay on longer as we have yet to brought him to few places which he intends to visit. We managed to have an early birthday celebration for him yesterday at a BBQ with my coursemates and friends. Jih Xian is turning 15 on Monday and he'll be flying home alone as my parents won't be back home until mid June.

Will post some photos of the the England-Scotland trip as soon as Johanna and I got over our fatigue from the 2000-mile drive.

Billingsgate Market

I finally got to Billingsgate market after months of talking but no action. The reason is due to its early closing hours, which I thought no public transport is available. But I was wrong. The 24-hour bus 108 brought us (Johanna and my parents) there last Saturday morning. My parents have just arrived from Malaysia the evening before.

Since this market is quite new, I expected something like Sydney Fish Market where all items are neatly displayed in glass display units and the floor is kept dry. To my disappointment, the whole place felt just like any other wet markets in Malaysia where the floor is wet and all the stocks are strewn on cement tabletops or placed in styrofoam containers.

Some of the shots I've taken of the market.

I've also managed a few shots of Canary Wharf. This time in near perfect weather instead of the overcast last September. I found out that clear sky may be good for colour photography but not for black and white as the sky colour is too dark to provide good contrast.





More photos at http://flickr.com/photos/jihying/sets/72157600238369068/

TDM in ICU

Rocky has reported that Tun Dr. Mahathir has been warded due to breathing difficulties.

Let's hope he'll recover soon.

The Hardi Jaafar Goal

I saw this text contribution to thelondonpaper from LEDIL in response to the most stunning goal. LEDIL's best goal is a goal by Malaysian Hardi Jaafar. I youtubed Hardi Jaafar and watched the video of the goal. While it is debatable whether he was intending to cross or shoot, the way the ball travelled into the goal is incredible!

Watch it for yourself if you haven't seen this before.

Happy Mothers' Day

Happy Mothers' Day to all mums out there especially to my mum.

Thank you for all the hardship and sacrifices in bringing us up.

The following is the last thing any Terengganu mums will want to find out.

The Star

State Religious Department commissioner Datuk Shaikh Harun Ismail said that in Terengganu, polygamous man could solemnise the marriage without informing his wife or wives.

State Islam Hadhari and Welfare committee chairman Abdullah Che Muda said the men were subjected to certain rulings of the Religious Department, such as being mentally and financially stable, has in-depth knowledge of the religion and able to render fair treatment to all wives.

Now, how do we judge whether one is able to render fair treatment to all wives, especially when the wives need not be informed about the decisions?

This new ruling must have excited many gatal men in Terengganu.

Update:

This post is meant to highlight the plight of some Muslim women, in support of some Muslim women's movement to prevent the abuse of Islam in conjunction with Mothers' Day. You can find similar opinions raised by some Muslim women bloggers out there.

Rules on having four wives.

Men are prohibited from cheating on their wives, meaning a man can't marry another woman without the knowledge of his wife. He should tell her, for she might refuse such situation, and in this case it's totally her right if she asked for divorce.

Polygamy is not a rule or an order but an exception. Many people are under the misconception that it is compulsory for a Muslim man to have more than one wife.

Now Even the Professionals Need Crutches!

The Star

UTUSAN Malaysia reported that Malay economists, lawyers and politicians had urged the Government to uphold Maybank's introduction of ownership criteria on legal firms that wanted to serve on the bank's panel to have 50% bumiputra equity.

They said that it was in line with the government's policy for fair distribution of wealth, particularly for the bumiputra who still lagged behind economically.

They added that the Government should appreciate Maybank's initiative as it would open doors to bumiputra law firms to participate directly in the country's economic development.

Last week, Maybank's requirement for legal firms on its panel to have a bumiputra partner with at least a 50% stake sparked controversy and drew much criticism for being discriminatory and led to the Cabinet directing the bank on Wednesday to withdraw its condition.

Economist Haim Hilman Abdullah described Maybank's action as fulfilling its corporate social responsibility and said that everyone should support the voluntary move.

“In my view, firms that do not fulfil this requirement still have many opportunities to deal with other banks that do not impose such conditions,” the economist said.

Universiti Utara Malaysia economic lecturer Assoc Prof Asan Ali Gulam said the Government should encourage other banks to follow Maybank's example and not view it as being discriminatory towards other races.

Barisan Nasional Backbencher's Club acting chairman Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar said that Maybank's policy was not meant to make Malays control the economy but to create a balance and give every race an equal opportunity.

Berita Harian also reported that the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association and several bumiputra legal firms supported Maybank.

For one to become a professional, one must have certain capabilities in order to qualify as one. Professionals are usually much better off than the general population. Why must they be given handouts? Isn't it embarrassing for a professional to request for handouts? Those who argue that handouts are needed must be insulting all the capable bumiputera lawyers out there.

What's next? 50% bumiputera equity for actuarial consultancies, audit firms, doctors? Or maybe bumiputera pay 50% less taxes?

What kind of signal are we sending to the globalised world? I'm truly worried about Malaysia's competitive position in light of many similar issues.

I was surprised to know that there is even such thing as Muslim Lawyers Association. Imagine having a Muslim or Christian Actuaries Society of Malaysia too.

From my minimal knowledge of Islam, the foundation of Islam is justice. Furthermore I wonder whether such way of obtaining wealth is halal?

All these are fuelled by greed. "Lagged behind" means not rich enough.