Ant Expandable Baton

Few months ago I start to arm myself with a baton due to fear of parang/matchete wielding robbers which happen quite frequently nowadays especially in the Klang Valley. I bought the Ant expandable baton from Professor Uniform store and it costs less than RM50.

Its weight about half a kilo and it is quite compact and easy to carry around. It is about the same length of a badminton handle when the baton is retracted.

Even in retract mode, the baton can still be used as a weapon as there are still metal parts at both tips of the handle which can deliver devastating blow to the attacker. There are a few good clips in youtube which show the correct and effective techniques of using the expandable baton.

With a quick hard swing, the the baton will be fully expanded and give that extra length for the user against the attacker. The overall length is about 67cm or equivalent to the length of a badminton racquet. Hence, beginners can actually practice using the badminton racquet to perfect the baton swing before moving to the next step.

 

The expandable baton can be a great defense weapon but it can be also be a deadly weapon if it strikes critical part of human body such as the head and spine. The shaft is made of steel and can easily break bones if it hits the arm and leg of the attacker.

 

It comes with a pouch but unfortunately, the thread starts to come apart when attach to the belt while supporting the weight of the baton itself.

I really hope I don't have to use this baton to defend myself one day but I will have no qualm of using it if myself or my loved ones are threaten.

Donation Bins @ Putrajaya

I notice a white collection bins located at selected bus stops along Precinct 7, 9 and 11 since the beginning of the year.

It is actually a collection bins to accept clothes, shoes, hand bags, belts, linen and soft toy where the sales of those items will be distributed evenly to 3 charity associations; Malaysia Association for the Blind, National Cancer Council and Spastic Children's Association of Selangor and Federal Territory.

It is a well designed and solid donation bins, secured with 2 padlocks to ensure no one would take opportunity of the donation for themselves.

The only thing I don't like is the location of some donation bins which are rather isolated from the highly populated residential area and I wonder if people would actually walk the distance to drop their donation to the bins.

Haze 2013 @ Putrajaya

The haze has been a nuisance for me since last Sunday when I returned from my hometown. It somehow trap the heat and make life really miserable.

 

The API around Putrajaya for the last 3 days has been lingering around 100-194 (unhealthy), just slightly below 200. Surprisingly, still not many around here put on any facial mask to prevent those fine dust particles from entering their respiratory system.

Having faced the worst haze crisis back in 1997 at my hometown where the API hit a record high of 800++ for more than a week and the visibility are just a few metres,  I am still able to adapt with the current situation.

 

Good news is that it rained heavily around 6pm yesterday and the haze was completely gone after that. Wonder how long that will last.

The 1997 crisis also taught me that the haze will always present every year. Hence I always had a few respirators on standby as my contingency plan. I only use a minimum N95 respirator and not those cheap facial mask which most people seems to be wearing nowadays. I also had a re-useable respirator in hand should the API shot up to hazardous level.

Bus Selangor No. 141 to Kuala Selangor

There is only one option to travel from KL to Kuala Selangor with public transportation and that is to take the Selangor Bus No. 141 from Medan Pasar. Currently, the bus stop is not far away from the Central Market at Lebuh Ampang, below the HSBC building.

Selangor bus is owned by Selangor Omni Bus Sdn Bhd and their buses appear to be old from the outside. I would say they operate rather efficiently without waiting for too long (30 minutes) for the next bus to arrive. This is definitely more efficient compare to some of the routes operated by Rapid KL.

The bus interior is fairly clean and comfortable. Definitely better than some of the older Rapid KL buses. It still has a bus conductor inside and surprisingly they are friendly and helpful.

The bus fare from KL to Kuala Selangor is RM 7.30. The journey took approximately 2 hours with multiple stops along the way. It is a long journey but one get to see some towns such as Kepong, Sungai Buloh and Ijok along the way.

The bus stop at Kuala Selangor is located conveniently at the new Bandar Melawati town.

I came here for one sole purpose only, which is to visit the historic Bukit Melawati. It is about 20 minutes walk from the bus station.

Kelana Jaya LRT Extension Project @ Putra Heights

LRT extension project has been underway since last year and one can see a few of these structures around Klang Valley and Selangor.

The Kelana Jaya extension project will  terminate at Putra Heights and the LRT track works already had begun in way of Station 12.

Notice some of the high end homes along this route. Wonder how much this houses will cost now with the LRT track and station is just a stone throw away.

Even a school is spotted just beside the track. This might make life easier for the students to commute home in the future.

 

Launching gantry is widely used for the LRT/MRT extension project where the segmented box girder will be lifted and hanged before the span is tensioned.

 

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2015. I am a bit disappointed that there is no LRT connection to Putrajaya (which is only served with KLIA Transit) as I'm sure it will complete the circle and somehow address some of the traffic woes as well as the connectivity issues.

5S in Progress

5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words, Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set in order), Seiso (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardizing) and Shitsuke (Sustaining). It is not a new concept and has been around for many years now.

To comply with the 5S requirements in just 3 months period for beginner would be an uphill task.

 

Besides the workstation, the storage room is usually the most challenging place where files and stuffs were strewn almost everywhere and indirectly causing other hazards.

One of the key element during the 5S audit is to locate a random document below 30s. I guess that will be quite impossible in this file room.

The benefit of implementing 5S is quite obvious, where everything will be in order and the task of locating a particular file can be performed efficiently.

 

After seeing this mess, let's see how it can be fixed to create a more conducive working environment. A journey of a thousand mile begins with a step. Seiri and Seiton should be carried out first before taking it to another level. Hope to see some progress in  few more weeks to come.

Nadi Putra Revised Route for 2013

Starting tomorrow, Putrajaya's Nadi Putra bus will revamp its transportation system by introducing new bus numbers and revised routes. The management seems to revise their bus routes after the CNY for the last 2 years or so.

Some of the bus routes which clash in the past will be combined into a route. The new route will now begins with the prefix "L". This is seen as part of the effort to cut cost by reducing the number of buses on the road and even the drivers. As the frequency remains at 30 minutes, this does not translate as an improvement in waiting time and efficiency. I believe the residents here would like the waiting time to be reduced to 15-20 minutes.

The good news for tourists arriving at Putrajaya Sentral, a new route, L11 has been introduced to ferry the commuters from the station straight to Putra Mosque and Alamanda, passing Presint 2, 3 & 4 as well as Complex A, B, C, D & E.

Nadi Putra also introduces the night route starting from 10pm until midnight every hour. The bus number will starts with the prefix "N" for the night route. This only means I should be back to Putrajaya before 10pm to avoid a long wait should I miss a bus.

The direct buses which ferry commuters to specific housing areas at peak hour are maintained and are given a new route number starting with the prefix "D".

I also just realise that they start introducing new route to Desa Pinggiran Putra and Cyberjaya.

For the last 3 years or so, I had a fair share of problems with the bus services here such as punctuality and when the bus drivers missed their shift which in return has cause great inconvenience. I really hope the service is more reliable so people can have more confident in using the public transport and ease the peak hour traffic and parking woes. 

8 months Belly

This is the belly of my wife who is already pregnant for 8 months. Its really amazing how it grew from the beginning until today. We had gone through a lot for the past couple of months and I started to understand what my mother had to go through when I was still in her tummy.

I hope all will turn out well on the delivery day as the last scan indicate that the umbilical cord has wrapped around the neck of our son twice. That definitely created some anxious moment but after reading a few articles online, I guess I worry myself too much.

God willing, we will be having a healthy baby boy next month.

Doraemon World Fair @ Pavilion KL

Doraemon is a famous Japanese manga series which is recognizable all around the world.

 

 

 

 

Now, Doraemon exclusive merchandise are available from 6 - 13 January 2012 at Tokyo Street (Pavilion KL).

 

This would be a good time too for the Doraemon fans to take photos with their favourite character.

I believe after this, they will move on to Genting Highlands after the Pavilion leg.

Do catch this opportunity if you are a Doraemon's fan. You don't get to see Doraemon figures and merchandise always