Short Cut Keys

What do you do if you can't think of the short-cut keys to your mobile phone apps/function?

Answer: Grab any Generation-Y kid and ask them. They are practically walking encyclopaedia to new tech. :)

P.S. Three fingers slide down = capture screen on phone

Mi Band 2

Finally! Birthday present for this year (from myself) has arrived! This new version Mi Band 2, which also serve as Sport Watch for me looks cool. Hopefully I can use it for several months.

Super Moon

It is said there will be a super moon on Nov 14th, 2016; and that it will be 14% bigger and 30% brighter.
We couldn't see it in Klang Valley due to bad weather. Nonetheless, the photos that other people post (which they claim to be un-edited) looks more like 1400% bigger and 30% reder. I wonder if any of them are true.

Hobbies

Man without hobbies are no different to salted fish.
I haven't play basketball in two years. I haven't been playing computer games lately. I hardly drink any wines apart from the entry level wines.
Question. Am I a salted fish?

Work

The only way you can get work done is if you are not at work; for if you are at work, no work can be done.

Lantern

Someone is going up into the air, as in the lantern thing Rapunzel style in Tangle the movie.

Who is going up into the air?

Its Da Bing!

Generation Gap

Ever spoke to someone in which you understand every single word he said, yet you have absolutely no idea what he is talking about?

Try talking to a Generation Y Taiwan young man.

Election

Do you want to do what's right or what you really want?
Do you want to vote for someone who do the right thing or do something you want deep down?
That explains why Trump win!

Saman

After not receiving any 'saman' for the entire year, I got hit by two 'bombs', to be held within the next few weeks.
Boy am I shock at the updated 'Saman' Fee. RM 150 - 300 (5 star hotel) versus my days of RM 100-200.

Statue

Quiz: Why does Taiwan likes to have big cute statue at their museum / restaurants?
Answer: Because silly tourist like myself like to take photo with it.

Instant Coffee

We shall have a little competition coming up. Three instant coffee in the mix. Mirror mirror on the wall. Who is the best coffee of them all?

Display Shelf

Question: How do you make a shelf with 50 adorable little display items look better?
Answer: Remove 20 of them.

Colouring

First ever colouring by all four members of the family. (Very first for HX)
Can you tell who colour which part?

Cute Merchandise

Merchandise / souvenirs are much more adorable if it is based on real items or landmark. I particularly like the following two items.

Real vs Fake- Part 2

Can you tell which is real and which is fake? Jade Bai Cai versus Replicate Bai Cai.

Halloween

Knock knock, trick or treat? Who are you?

I'm a Cowboy (and I'm a Fairy)

Round 2
Knock knock, trick or treat? Who are you?

I'm a handyman (and I'm a ghost)

Round 3
Knock knock, trick or treat? Who are you?

We're dooodolls!

Round 4
Knock knock, trick or treat? Who are you?

Zombies!!!! Grrrrr !!!!!
RUN !!!

Real vs Fake- Part 1

Can you tell which is real and which is fake? The Queen’s head versus Queen’s head version 2.

Que in Taiwan

Rules in Taiwan. Everybody will que for something that is good but not something that is nearly as good, even if the que is crazy. To buy delicious food for example, (refer to previous journal) the que for [2], [3], [4], [7], [8] and [10] are just ridiculously long. Having said that, it makes it very easy for a novice traveler to look for delicious food.

Taiwan Food

Top 10 Taiwan food:

[10] Soya Milk – The soya milk is good. The You Tiao and Cong Yu Bing that comes with it are rather ordinary.
[9] Fried Chicken Steak – The sweet type is special, the salty type is similar to Malaysia.
[8] Xiao Long Bao & Kuo Tie- Its good although Malaysia's are not that bad either.

[7] Mee Sua- That’s one particularly tasty at XiMenDing. You have to stand though, no seat provided.

[6] Peanut Wrap Ice Cream- Its too good to share.

[5] Fried Deep Sea Squid – Big, juicy and simply delicious.

[4] Sponge cake – Wow. I mean Wow. Oh, did I mentioned wow?

[3] Beef noodles- Whether it is the meat, noodles or soup, its simply better than Malaysia. We tried in 3 separate occasions. Same result.

[2] Fried Rou Bing – Yummy yummy!! So delicious I had two.

[1] Sausage –The Black pork is so tasty, it is simply irresistible. The most amazing thing is that no matter where or which stall you buy from, they are all super tasty.

Other food that I like during the trip but does not make the cut includes Rou Bing, Mini Cheese Pizza, Taiwan Gold Brand Beer & milk tea.

Other food that Sacha likes but not quite my cup of tea: Yu Yuan. Smelly Tou Fu.

Fire

I feel bad every time I drive pass the road where the furniture shop was burnt down. After all we have visited the place no less than five times and its still technically the closest furniture street to my house. Insurance company claims that every few years there will be accident in furniture shops in which out-of-fashion furniture will get burnt. Is the world really as dark as it seems on TV?

Humidifier

Yeah! A Humidifier! HY is happy because it’s something we been talking about for a long time, and that he get to choose it himself. Not to mention it is green, it is an apple shape and it is cute. SA is happy because it might actually help the kid’s nose issue. I am happy because it is not expensive. The happiest of all is however, the fish. Look at him! He finally gets his water!

Dancing

I have little knowledge on whether girls naturally love dancing, but HX definitely is one of them. I am surprised at the moves she pick up whilst watching youtube. Look, she is trying to duplicate the moves made by the previous girl who is playing this dance machine.

Clock

Should we be considering this a scary event or pure bad luck or the consequences of lower quality product for lower price? The clock in my house kept breaking down. There are five clock (wall and desk) broke down over the last twelve months and each one of them couldn’t last more than half a year. Nonetheless a replacement is needed and here are some of the candidates. Look good at reasonable price but can they last?

Sunway- Parenthood

We visited Sunway newly established Parenthood. The initial intention is to visit the playground, however, it is simply too crowded that we decide to just wander around outside the playground. It might look good but I really do wonder how long this concept/business can survive in Malaysia. My bet is no more than 3 years.

School Sports Day 2016

HY is so excited for this School Sports Day even days before the actual event. He absolutely enjoy the actual event and also non-stop talk (and brag) about it after the event. He is fortunate that he won a Gold Medal on that day. I couldn't imagine how disappointed he will be if he didn't win. In the meantime, his mummy won first and his dad (ie myself) won second in parents competition. Everybody is a winner and everybody is happy.

3rd Run of the year

Today marks my third major run this year. Its a 5km plus run but I do carry a flag in the run so its bit different. I also struggle quite a bit but I like to blame it on the flag this round. :)

Standard Chart Run 2016

2016- 10km run is concluded. My time this round is 1 hour 18 minutes. That's a full 3 minutes more than the run I had 2 years ago. Perhaps age is catching up, or it could be lack of practises. After all I was kind of in a good form two years ago with plenty of in house practises. The only way I can find out is to practise plenty and go for the same run in 2017.

https://twitter.com/cfkoo/status/766161148307615744

Policeman

Papa,' Look Hong Yi. There's a police car in front. What is the policeman doing in the restaurant?' HY,' Catching bad guys lo.' Papa,' No no no. They are here for a meal.' HY,' If they are here for a meal, why are they not driving their own family car?' Papa,' ..... you are right... they are here to catch bad guys.'

Hello Passat

Finally own my first ever brand new car. Drove my first ever tiptronic vehicle, and in the process I took up my first ever car loan too. A liability that no one wish to have but simply inevitable in today's market place.

Run

First major run in 2 years, but this 10km has proven to be really difficult. I am not sure whether it is the difficult terrain or lack of practice, but I absolutely struggle through out the run. Luckily there is still a medal to keep me happy at the end of it.

Cars

The quest to seek for ideal car continues as the old Honda Civic continue to cause problems and rising maintenance costs. Tested 3 cars over the weekend, namely Volkswagen Passat, Honda CRV and Mazda CX5. Honda CRV is rather disappointing, whilst CX5 and Passat are equally impressive. When all things are equal, the cheaper alternatives are usually the winner; unless some other unexpected factors arise in the coming week.

Painting

Hey, who says HY can’t paint? I guess with proper tools and guidance, anybody can paint. Well, … almost…. Except HY’s dad. Can’t teach the old dog new tricks.

Competition: Better Tourist Destination: Macau vs ZhuHai

Competition: Better Tourist Destination: Macau vs ZhuHai

Round 1: Food. Just when you think Macau, a place famous for great food, should win this competition easily; we actually prefer ZhuHai over Macau. Macau food is boring and almost identical from one restaurant to another. Their cookies, however, are really delicious (but still identical from one outlet to another).

Round 2: Photo Shooting. Macau has state of the art architects and modernize lighting that is obviously at a supreme level that nothing ZhuHai can match. There are, however, way too many crowd to make the experience enjoyable. ZhuHai has traditional Chinese building, which for some reason attracts us equally. We call this round a draw.