Compilation of my favourite track #6

BT, Tritonal & Emma Hewitt : Calling your Name

Formation Of New island In Gwadar,Pakistan

On September 24, 2013, a major strike-slip earthquake rattled western Pakistan, killing at least 350 people and leaving more than 100,000 homeless. The 7.7 magnitude quake struck the Baluchistan province of northwestern Pakistan. Amidst the destruction, a new island was created offshore in the Paddi Zirr (West Bay) near Gwadar, Pakistan.

On September 26, 2013, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured the top image of that new island, which sits roughly one kilometer (0.6 miles) offshore. Likely a “mud volcano,” the island rose from the seafloor near Gwadar on September 24, shortly after the earthquake struck about 380 kilometers (230 miles) inland. The lower image, acquired by the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite, shows the same area on April 17, 2013.

In the satellite images, lighter shades of green and tan in the water reveal shallow seafloor or suspended sediment. The water depth around the new island is roughly 15 to 20 meters (50 to 65 feet), according to marine geologist Asif Inam of Pakistan’s National Institute of Oceanography. “The floor in that area is generally flat, but the gradient in this area changes quite abruptly,” Inam said. The top image from ALI is also clear enough to show the parallel ripples of waves marching toward the shore.

The aerial photograph below from the National Institute of Oceanography provides a close-up of the landform, estimated to stretch 75 to 90 meters (250 to 300 feet) across and standing 15 to 20 meters (60 to 70 feet) above the water line. The surface is a mixture of mud, fine sand, and solid rock. Click on the downloadable video below the image for a first-hand view.

Compilation of my favourite track #5

Avicii : I could be the one

Sillouhette

Addicted to you

Welding on Zinc coated plates

For zinc coated plates, we should always use a low silicone type consumable for welding. Some manufacturer have wires that is especially built for welding on these primed plates, however they are not too popular. Safro and Oerlikon has got the product used for welding of zinc surfaces, they are the Safdual Zn, or Carbofil Galva.

Or in anycase if you have difficulties looking for these wires, you could opt for AWS: 5.18:ER70S-3 designated wires. With this general wires, expect porosity in the welds due to vaporisation of zinc which forms gas bubles in the weld.

Discolourtion of HAZ

I was working on some PLC tank welding of 304 stainless steel when i found this. A welder asked me why is there traces of blue in their welds?.

As you could see from the diagram below, blue HAZ means the thickness of the oxide layer measures at 170nm (1 x 10^-6 milimeter). At this scale its thickness enough to get a fail from the welding inspector.

Temperature	Colour	Oxide thickness
500	Jaune	50nm
750	Violet	100nm
900	Bleu	170nm
1050	jaune-vert	280nm

The reason why discolouration happens in a weld is because of oxidation that occurs in HAZ.Oxygen as much as 50ppm could result in loss of corrosion resistance. While in Titanium alloys, less than 20ppm is desirable.

If ever oxide thickness exceeds 50nm, recheck on the purging gas as there might have been an oxygen contamination either in the gas supply, or there's a leak in the purging system.

A welders story!

A snap from my workdesk

So i've joined into the ranks of other who's struggling to climb the corporate ladder!. Well, its been months since i joined this company called Air Liquide Welding (pronounced as air lick-it) which is a French based company.

This company distributes the Safro-oerlikon brand in the Asia pacific region., in short its a brand know for its high price of welding electrodes/consumables and machines.

My rank as a welding engineer, means that i've got to be very good in memorizing standards,procedures and the parameters involved in the process. Not entirely difficult if you had good photographic memory, which unfortunately is missing in me.

So i've welded a lot and alot of metals, but i still suck in welding. Welding seems to be more difficult than it seems on the youtube, i really do have to learn to steady my hand and my movement, as steady as a surgeon's hands.

So far i'm quite satisfied with my job, and it's sad to say that "i loved my job".....Yes!!!, i've said it, i loved my job not because its cool or etc, but its because its got such a bright future for me. Where else can you find a job that can pay you up to hundreds of thousand per month in salary?.

OK,my salary is microscopic, my workplace is 2 hours drive away, its hard to work under a frenchie!, but in the end, i dont fuckin care, because life is always tough!

My New Year

Firsly i would like to wish all my readers a happy chinese new year. Hope that you will acheive what is possibly the best for you this year.

This year's chinese new year is probably the most unhappening new year i had. I only had 2 days of holiday, and i was forced to work on the third day of CNY.

OK, so i ate loads and loads of home cooked food during the celebration, i put on weight, and i lost count of the amount of ang pows i received. This year, i was questioned countless times by my relatives and my friends whether i am married or if i had a girl friend? I`m feeling the pressure alright!.

i`ve always told myself that the best candidate is difficult to find here in Malaysia as they had been exported out of the country by thier parents. Why oh why??.

I'll try my best to find her though, but meanwhile i'll concentrate on what i love the most.....moooneyh moooneyh $$$$$$.I had a list of to do this year, they are:-

1) Drive a sports car

2) A nice maurice lacroix skeleton watch

3) and someone which i can talk to.

I've noticed that i've not posted much oh timepeices for some time now. I just wish i could get my hands on more of them, so i could review them.

Anyway keep tab on this site, i'll try hard to update more often.

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Wishing everybody a Happy Chinese New Year, may the year of the dragon brings everyone good luck and good health.

Seat Ibiza Ecomotive review

Had an opportunity to drive the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive while i was in the U.K. This particular version is the 3 cylinder, 1.2 litre turbodiesel, 5 door model.

Spec wise may not look that impressive, but that doesnt reflect on how it feels in the hands of the driver. The engine may only produce 74bhp and 180Nm of torque. Official acceleration figures shows that 0-100kmh is reached at 13.9 seconds.

At engine speeds below 2000rpm, the car feels lethargic and underpowered, but once it goes past that, the engine suddenly delivers punches way above what other 1.5 litre cars could do!!!. I'm now in love with small turbodiesel engines.

Official fuel figures suggest that it can hit 80Mpg's, and after driving from sheffield to london with half a tank of fuel left, i can confirm that they weren't lying.

Ride wise was comfortable, with much of the bumps being soaked by the suspension, while the torsion beam setup in the rear copes with mid corner bumps well.

The skinny tyres dont provide much grip, and the car rolls a little in the corners, but people don't buy this car to drive swiftly around corners aren't they?. The brakes are JUST adequate, and brake feel is OK, no complaints.

As for the interior, the front passengers gets loads of room, while the rear passenger suffers due to insufficient legroom and headroom. This car is better with 4 passengers.

I also had a pleasant experience driving this car, as the the steering is great to hold, thew controls are well laid out, steering has great feel and very direct, manual gearchanges feels great and the doors close solidly.


As a conclusion, this car would be a fine family car as it provides all the basic need of a small family. Great value, good looks,comfortable, huge boot.  Whats bad about it is the poor legroom for rear passengers.

Compilation of my favorite tracks for this month #4

Serge Devant feat. Emma Hewitt - Take Me With You

Dash Berlin - Man On The Run

Armin van buuren - big sky

Yamin ft Marcie - Forward Motion (Tydi remix)

DJ Tiesto - Century (Feat. Calvin Harris)

Dash Berlin - Never Cry Again

I've survived my childhood!!!

Hey, i'm back to blogging again, and its been quite some time since i last posted something about myself. I have now officially graduated and working my way up the career ladder.

This career ladder is not something new for me, as i've worked my butts off since i was a little kid. From carrying sacks of 25KG potatoes, to distributing leaflets and bathing with engine oil and etc, i take no pride in telling other people of my history as i really endured what other kids had not.

I do not have the privilege that other school kids had when i was a little boy (secondary school), i rarely visited the cybercafe when i was a kid, i rarely go out at night when i was a kid, and i rarely mixed around when i was a kid...etc. Back then, i had to "punch card" in my daddy's office after school, and at that time on, my life as a salesman begun.

I've learned how to approach people and how to make people "like" you....but mind it, only applied to chinamen's, can't seem to work it on girls?, I'm really no good when it comes to sweet talking, understanding or be sensitive to them!.

One after another, my salesmanship becomes better and better by day, from a blardy cowardy boy, i've now become so confident in talking to people that i'm able to sell as many commercial vehicles as my boss himself.

Every sale makes me stronger and my confidence level boosted to new levels that some people starts to hate me for being too confident.

Just when my college life starts, again...i thought that i would regain my life back, as my business is already stable and alls well. But I'm wrong.....

When i was in college, i find it difficult to clique with  some of my friend, it seems like identity crisis hit on me and suddenly i don't know how to approach or be "liked" by them, furthermore i really had difficulties in communicating withe them as i can't speak mandarin. I know its funny how a Chinese boy can't converse in proper Chinese, but back then they placed emphasis on mother tongue, and my mum just happen to speak Cantonese (thank god TVB was in Cantonese).

The identity crisis hit on me and i getting bored at school, so i did what i had to, i returned back to my office after every class. As the crisis continues, my friends list shrunk and my college life goes back to abnormal. While my friends are happily spending their college lives surrounded with girls,puppy loves and boozes, mine was all cars, trucks and diesels.

Years past just like that and soon my grades deteriorates as i lost interest in my studies, as blardy serious problem as i keep failing and failing my papers. As i kept repeating my subjects, my drive to soldier on with my studies slows down......but strangely my mum didn't even complaint? She only encourages me.

As years go by, i slowly pick up on my studies and finally till today only i've succeeded. It's only yesterday that both my parents attended my graduation with a wide grin plastered on both of their faces.

So what's my next move after graduation?, back to my business?...nuhhh....... enough!.

i would want to go my own way, i would like to work in a multinational company, i would like to endure office politics, i would like to meet powerful and influential people, i would like to have my life back......

While i was studying in U.K, i had my moment of my lifetime as i was in total control of myself. I had my students life when i was there, and i played as hard as i could. It was a brief one, but a wonderful one nonetheless

DJ Tiesto Club Life Tour Malaysia

One of my favourite DJ is in Malaysia, and I'm privileged enough to get a ticket to the concert.

To be honest, this was my first concert to a DJ event, so its natural that i have low expectations, but this is one concert which even someone with low expectation like me felt a little shortchanged.

It wasn't a satisfactory event for me, as he did not played any of his popular songs such as Element of life, traffic,  tears in open and etc.

Compilation of my favorite tracks for this month #3

Heatbeat - Roses Never Cry (Original Mix)

Mark Eteson feat. Audrey Gallagher – Breathe On My Own (Daniel Kandi Remix)

Creep feat. Romy Madley Croft aka The XX - Days (Super8 Tab Remix)

BT - The Light In Things (tyDi Remix)

Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques Phase de Lune Chronograph watch review

My second piece of dress watch from Maurice lacroix was a LC 1148. With a chronograph and a moon phase indicator what more can i ask from a dress watch?. At RM5k + , its a bargain buy if you factor in the prices of ML watches displayed in their boutiques.

Firstly, its a dress watch with a quartz movement. Many enthusiast don't buy quartz watches anymore, but let me tell you how annoyed i am waking up every morning and picking up a watch that has stopped and needs winding and resetting. Quartz watches works 365 days non stop without any resetting.

I've not seen this watch before, and i bet its not a new collection as well, but what attracts me the most is the clarity of the dial. I've always loved clean and sharp dials, and this ML fits the bill nicely without being too expensive.

The crown and pushers are also properly finished as it should be in the higher ML models. Edges are rounded and details are superb.

This watch is built of stainless steel at 40 mm diameter, and its got a gold colored surrounding bezel which is really nice without being too flashy, although it tends to scratch easily.

The glass is made of sapphire crystal and it is not coated with anti reflective materials, so its gotta bling a little bit.

This watch sits pretty comfortably on the wrist, and it is secured with a deployant buckle which wraps around nicely on my wrist. The deployant buckle had a very high quality feel to it, but the leather strap doesn't feel too premium.

At 30m's of water resistance, and poor lume in the night, this is not the watch that you'll be wearing for rugged activities. The lume is close to useless when it comes to night reading, and the leather strap becomes uncomfortable once it is wet.

So if you're shopping for a affordable dress watch that is quartz powered, look nowhere. Tag Heuer F1 comes close, but then they are sport models and doesn't go well with blazers and ties.

Where are the youths?, Where are the retired people?

I've not been posting anything for sometime now, and here I go, ending my month long hiatus with something about my beloved country again.

It seems that wherever i go, i noticed something strange after few months away from my motherland. I've start to notice more and more immigrants within my area in Klang valley. From chefs to tourist agents,money changers, employment agencies and etc, are some of the sectors where they ruled.

I see a general pattern in this country, and it seems that unskilled immigrants far outnumbered the skilled. This pattern is well known by most Malaysian, and we are well aware of the dependency on them.

Let me point out that i'm not here to spread discrimination or whatsoever, but I'm really puzzled on why they are so many of them here?. Are they legal or illegal?

From what i see, they are many of them which holds a stable job, and again i would like to question if its legal or illegal?.

Where are the youths?, where are the retired people?. These 2 groups of people should be the one that should be holding jobs instead of the immigrants. These 2 people are the ones that pays taxes and contributed to the motherland, and yet they are not employed?.

I believe the problem lies in our loose border control, and corruption. It seems that the illegals kept pouring in. I read the STAR headlines few days ago, and it reported that how the ROYAL NAVY managed to capture some pirates trying to hijack a ship. I salute to the ROYAL NAVY for their excellent job, they are really good at what they do. My point is no matter how good their job is, it seems that they are still "leaking Indonesians and Bangladeshi", well, some-ONE must have closed an eye, or slacked on his job.

Every Malaysian knows that the crime rate is very high, it's too high that the some respective authorities don't even want to publish the real figure. Most of these crimes go unpunished because the crime enforcer slacked in their job.



The bottomline is TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

If you're in trouble, YOU are in trouble. Nobody else is going to help you. If there is, their intention is only to get you into further trouble by robbing you.

Make sure you plan your retirement properly, because you basically are the burden to the Malaysian society. Nobody's gonna employ you. You are ALONE.

Eat Fast food more often (eg. Mc Donalds,KFC..etc) because they seems to be the company that absorbs our Malaysian youths into their workforce. BAN mamak restaurants because they only want to make Malaysian ringgit, and don't intend to absorb our people into their workforce.

The Mini Countryman Review

Definitely not MINI at all

Nope, still doesn't look MINI either.

Ahh...looks familiar!!! I wonder if i've ever seen this before?

A full 5 Seater MINI?

At least the doors close with a solid thud.

McPherson struts in front.

Similar arrangement to the regular Cooper, although slightly reworked to accommodate the rear axle.

At RM 250K this countryman is considered a premium SUV and it sits in a category of black label SUV's such as the Volkswagen Tiguan, Nissan Murano, Lexus RX and etc.

At 5.68 inches of ground clearance this is not exactly a vehicle where you would want to take it offroad. It definitely has sufficient clearance to deal with speed bumps or roadside kerbs. I was also told that the ALL4 Model has a slightly higher ground clearance, but this particular unit here is the 2WD version.

Engine wise, it's got a 1.6 litre turbo unit which is identical to the cooper S, and it pumps out 180 Bhp of power. Sufficient, but not powerful, and it loses out to the VW Tiguan's 2.0 TSI unit which produces 200Bhp.

I've yet to see any countryman's on our roads, even the MINI Clubman are so rare on Malaysian roads, so i could foresee that this countryman could be another flop for BMW. Anyway if i had that much money to spend, I wouldn't put it on the countryman, i'll either get the VW Tiguan or the Cooper S JCW.

Compilation of my favorite tracks for this month #2

I'm good to go!

I've recently purchased a karrimor panther 65 rucksack for my oncoming trip to the europe. This bag is considered as mid size, considering most people would go for the 100L pack for month long holidays.

This pack feels very durable and tough, and the outer fabric feels so rufty-tufty. Great bang for the buck.

I'll be going on a month long holiday soon, and  hopes this karrimor wont fail on me.

Compilation of my favorite tracks for this month #1

A really nice track from  A state of trance 2010, CD1

New artist,Arty produce great tracks.

From state of trance episode 520, Roger shah's new track is a blast.

Such sweet voice and calm melody.

The beautiful voice of Emma lock.

Kick ass track, loved the vocals. 

Such a mystical track, the piano and vocals track is gonna make your nipples erect,  it's definately my favorite this week.

Malaysia's Slowing Down!!!!

The article below was qouted from DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang's blog.
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Malaysia’s Slowing Performance

by Greg Lopez

Asia Sentinel

25 August 2011

There are strong institutional reasons for the lagging performance against its regional neighbors

In the 70 years since World War II ended, East Asian economies, including Malaysia, appear to have largely got performance right. Malaysia was also one of 13 countries identified by the Commission on Growth and Development in its 2008 Growth Report to have recorded average growth of more than 7 percent per year for 25 years or more. Malaysia achieved this spectacular performance from 1967 to 1997.

However, since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and1998, Malaysia’s economic performance when compared to previous decades has been lackluster and most macroeconomic indicators are trending downwards. This was confirmed by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak himself in the publication on March 30, 2010 of the New Economic Model – Part 1. This was a very brave move but a necessary one by the premier as he acknowledged publicly the failures of Malaysia’s current economic model in order to demonstrate urgency for reforms.

The New Economic Model identifies domestic factors such as weak investor confidence, capability constraints (weak human capital, entrepreneurial base and innovative capacity) , productivity ceilings and institutional degradation and external factors such as a sluggish global economy caused by the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the rise of neighbors in the region in contributing to the declining growth trajectory.

If we were to revisit the determinants of growth and agree that proper institutions form the overall structure that determines long-term sustainable growth, then the logical response is to reform Malaysia’s institutional set-up, as it must be the deepest determinant of what is hindering economic growth.

This view is further strengthened as Malaysia’s other deep determinants, geography and trade, are favorable. The country has abundant natural resources, is shielded from natural hazards and is well-located strategically both geopolitically and economically. Malaysia has also benefitted tremendously from being an open economy, especially in the merchandise sector.

The New Economic Model also reports that regional challenges from China, India and Vietnam, etc. are a cause for Malaysia’s declining economic performance. What has changed about these countries? They have all undertaken institutional reforms: China since 1978, India since 1992 and Vietnam since 1986. They are reaping the benefits while Malaysia has stalled in its institutional reforms since the 1990s, regressed in some ways and is suffering from the consequences.

The above points stress the importance of institutional reforms in Malaysia, something that Najib has ironically neglected in his signature policies – 1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation Programme.

According to the Growth Commission report, “…fast sustained growth is not a miracle; it is attainable for developing countries with the ‘right mix of ingredients.’ Countries need leaders who are committed to achieving growth and who can take advantage of opportunities from the global economy. They also need to know about the levels of incentives and public investments that are necessary for private investment to take off and ensure the long-term diversification of the economy and its integration in the global economy…”

Michael Spence, the Chairman of the Growth Commission, elaborated on his extensive experience working with developing countries on growth issues in his latest book by emphasizing two important characteristics for developing countries to ensure long term sustainable growth – the role of political leadership and democratic norms. He suggests four characteristics for governments that are necessary requirements to underpin long term growth:

1.The government takes economic performance and growth seriously.

2.The governing group has values that cause it to try to act in the interest of the vast majority of the people (as opposed to themselves or some subgroup, however defined)

3.The government is competent and effective and selects a viable sustained-growth strategy that includes openness to the global economy, high levels of investment, and a strong future orientation.

4.Economic freedom is present and is supported by the legal system and regulatory policy

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I'm surprised to see that even Najib is aware that our economy is going downward, jeez, it took a long time for him to figure it out though!!!

Malaysia's economy had been spiraling downwards ever since BODOWI took over. I remembered he once did something really useful by imposing a minimum salary of RM600, but after much pressure from the private sector he kept the issue aside and let it chill.

Ever since Najib took over, nothing much changed.....erm, apart from the 1 Malaysia slogan.
Fresh graduates with overseas degrees starts with a low salary of RM2k+, and it was the same few years ago, see how stagnant it is?. Half of it will go to the condominium, because you could barely afford a landed house, and the other half onto a car. This means all that's left is peanuts, and you'll be forced to eat Roti kosong RM1,Nasi lemak RM1, and teh tarik RM1.20 , of which will kill you faster than your loan tenure, than the government says we have to excersice more often because malaysian are obese...F**k it

What i'm stressing here is that, our spending power had been suppressed because we pay heftily on cars which is considered a must in Malaysia, why? Ask BODOWI lo. LRT line was announced since he stepped into office, but now in 2011, haven't build yet!!!.

Cars in Malaysia is so expensive that we some of us literally spend 10 years in repayments, on top of the 35 years repayment that we spend for the condo, that's a heavy burden for a light monthly paycheque. Guess right now it will be more economical to eat mamak/malay food rather than chinese/indian food...no wonder those Pendatang overtaken the Malays