I'll be leaving for Batam tomorrow for a three days visit. So hopefully it's going to be a worthwhile trip though I don't expect Batam to be as colourful and vibrant as Jogjakarta or Bali. In case you don't where the heck Batam Island is; it is situated to the south of Singapore about 20km away. History has it that Hang Nadim, the boy of great wisdom of the classic "Singapura Dilanggar Todak" fame had once set foot on the island of Batam, hence the reason why the international airport in Batam (Hang Nadim International Airport) is named after him. Off.

..Dmitri Torbinski strikes past Van der Sar to put Russia 2-1 up (© Getty Images ) Sighh... What a dissapointing result for the Netherlands. They beat two 2006 World Cup finalist, Italy and France, comfortably in group stage, but end up losing to a relatively unknown Russia. Thank goodness I didn't watch the match as it would be more frustrating to watch your favourite team lose ( Earlier on I watched how stupidly the Selangor team conceded defeat to Kedah in the FA Cup final even though they controlled 65% of the game plus playing against 10-man Kedah team in the last 20 minutes ). But anyways, hats off to the Russian coach, Guus Hiddink for bringing the Russian team into the semis for the first time since the 1980s, I think. ..According to my mobile Google Maps ( download it onto your mobile ), this place is somewhere near Kampung Pasir Panjang, somewhere down south of Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson Euro 2008 aside, I had a great weekend with my friends at our usual annual retreat a...

Yay, I have just created a new photo site! Travel and Leisure . Haha, nothing much to shout about though. Just a simple website. It's a collection of photos from my trip to Indonesia, Phillipines, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia as well. Some, or most of the photos in there are currently hosted in Fotopage .

..Baiturrahman Mosque (Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman), built during the Dutch colonial era, is one of Aceh's most visible landmark ..fisherman boat on a wrecked house, Ulee Lheue, Aceh I'm home! Back from a three-day trip to Banda Aceh, Aceh . It's a good trip to kick off 2008, though bit late that is. Here's some summary of the trip, but I'm hoping to find some time to write a full travelogue. Upon reaching Banda Aceh, I was welcomed by a huge billboard near the Sultan Iskandar Muda airport, saying, 'Anda telah berada di wilayah pelaksanaan syariat Islam. Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam' (translated as 'You are now entering an Islamic Shariah province'). From my observation, I can sense that, after almost 4 years of the Tsunami tragedy, life has pretty much returned to normal, at least in Banda Aceh. I am aware that in certain district things are still progressing at slow pace, like Meulaboh, where 70% of the entire city was wiped out by the massive T...