Genie Chuo (卓文萱, Genie Zhuo, Xuan Xuan (萱萱), Xiao Mi (小咪)) Meeting Fans at Selayang Mall

My kids have been reminding me for weeks about their favourite Taiwanese Mandopop and actress, Genie Zhuo meeting the fans session in Selayang mall. They have been singing most of her songs during our family numerous karaoke outings during the weekends. So, today I have to drive them there to see Genie Chuo. 

We were late because I mistaken another mall for Selayang mall. Anyway, we made it just on time and the kids rushed into the centre court of Selayang Mall while I looked for parking.

By the time I parked the car and got down from the lifts, fans were already queueing up to get the artist autograph.

I was probably the oldest guy there, surrounded by a crowd of teenagers! LOL!

My kids waiting for Genie to sign her poster and latest album, Just The Way I Am.

After a meal at MC D, they went back happily with an autograph poster........and

Genie's latest album which my kids used their pocket money to buy. Cost them RM45.....

Genie's song Love Castle 爱的城堡 - 卓文萱

Craft with Parenthots, Tropicana Mall, May 2011

I got to know about Craft with Parenthots activity from Alice but unfortunately she cannot make it there because her daughter was down with fever. Maybe we can meet up next round...

My daughter loves arts and crafts, so I brought her, my little toddler and my wife to this Parenthots event at Tropicana Mall, Petaling Jaya last Saturday. My eldest son tagged along but he choosed to check out the books at Borders,.....anyway he is a little too old for this kind of activities liao....lol!

It was a gread weekend outing for the family and I met up with petite blogger Merryn, the owner of Crafty Crafted Studio. Nice to have met up with Merryn, her son and wonderful hubby.
Here are some random photos I took,

Long queue for the goodies bag.....I finally got one after queuing for the second round.....

Petite Merryn with her son. The dinosaurs that she made from egg cartons were very popular. All snapped up during the first round of the event. Merryn spent countless hours making the dinosaurs.......

My son drying his dinosaur after painting them, using the hairdryer that Merryn provided....., thanks Merryn!

My daughter busy painting her T'shirt at another counter.

Helping my little toddler to paint Stegosaurus on his T'shirt.

He he he, nice or not? I am going to model with my own painted T'shirt! LOL!

My daughter's painted T'shirt.



Painted T'shirts by other participants, left on the floor to dry.......

Then, my little toddler tried his hand at making play doh models. Noticed the cute Angry Bird? The owner of this counter gave it to him...

There were other arts and crafts counter at this event but we did not try all of them because it was already lunch time when we finished with the dinosours crafts and t'shirt painting. Then, I brought my family for lunch at Happy Wok in Tropicana Mall. Stay tuned for the Happy Wok food review.

In Loving Memories of my Father in Law and Auntie Lucy

The last few days have been just like a dream.

First I received unexpected news that my aunt was hospitalized and she passed away without regaining consciousness.

Then, the second news came the very next day; my father in law was in coma and on life support system in the hospital. He passed away without regaining consciousness as well.

I still cannot believe that I lost 2 loved ones within such a short period.

Live is short! Cherish every minutes and moments with your loved ones. Live life to the fullest everyday!

Pete will be back soon!

Japanese Fukushima Nuclear Reactor - Dumping of Radioactive Waste water into the Sea

I have been following the news of Japanese Fukushima quake hit reactor closely and greatly saddened by the fact that they have released radioactive tainted water in to the nearby sea. The Fukushima Japan Nuclear Reactor is still not stable and the danger level was raised to level 1 yesterday. This level is equivalent to Chernobyl disaster level.

I was a little concern during the early stage of the disaster when I heard that they are using water to cool down the reactor. It is very hard to contain water and it flows freely everywhere easily. No one knows how much of these tainted water have seeped into underground water system. Now they are dumping all the radioactive water in to the sea and fishes around the areas are contaminated.

The whole thing is getting out of hand! They should have entombed the whole plant with sand and concrete in the first place! Please don't destroy our sea!........so, Pete can continue fishing...

PS : Gosh, looks like I am turning into anti Nuclear activist! No lah, I am still a Foodie at heart! Nuclear and Particle physics happened to be my major and favourite subject. Because of my personal interest, I still keep track of latest nuclear and particle physics news all these years after leaving the university. LOL!

Happy Earth Day (hour)! Cheers!

I have been celebrating Earth Day (hour) for the last 3 consecutive years. We shut off the lights in the house after we came back from dinner at Top Kitchen, the restaurant in Manjalara that serves really nice Penang food. My wife lighted one candle in the house which is in the shape of a little teapot. The kids have some great time enjoying a slow moving, quiet and peaceful night. I sit back and slowly sip my "3 Amigos Beer" that the Roti Chanai Restaurant boss convinced me to buy earlier. Ya, Roti Chanai restaurant selling beer! Competition must have been stiff nowadays! LOL! He swear that it is very nice and smooth, so I bought 3 cans to try out. I think it was made under license from a Texas based company and manufactured in Vietnam. Actually Vietnam is famous for its' Ba Ba Ba beer (Ba means 3 in Vietnamese). I didn't come across this beer when I visited Ho Chi Minh. Ahhhh, all the good memories of Vietnam! LOL!

Cheers! Happy Earth Day!

Will the Radiation Fallout in Fukushima Japan Reach Malaysia or Spread? How Nuclear Reactor Works, Prevention and Symptoms of Radiation Exposure.

Everyone is worried about the radiation leakage in Fukushima, Japan spreading to other countries. To understand the situation, let’s take a look at the basic operation of a nuclear reactor. A kilogram of Uranium in nuclear reactor can generate 3 million times more energy than a kilogram of coal. It is a clean and efficient way of generating power for a country like Japan which has limited natural resources. However, this is only true if we can effectively contain the radiation in the reactor itself. When Uranium absorbs a neutron, a nuclear fission will occur. The uranium will splits into lighter isotopes, Barium and Krypton. The free neutrons generated will react with other uranium and this would cause other reaction which is known as nuclear chain reaction. These reactions produce thermal energy which is then harvested to for electricity production. Moderators like light water, graphite or heavy water are used absorb some of these neutrons to control the reactions in the reactor.

When there is a leak or explosion in a nuclear reactor, radioactive particles or dust are carried by the wind in to the atmosphere. The contaminated water from these reactors can also leak in to our water system. Decaying radioactive material produces ionizing radiation that interferes with our body chemical system which in turn would lead to cancer. Accumulation of radioactive iodine in our thyroid gland can cause thyroid cancer. However, taking potassium iodide (KI, Iostat®, ThyroBlock®) pill can obstruct the accumulation of this radioactive iodine. Radioactive iodine has half life of 8 days and it is not as dangerous as Cesium (Cs 137, half life 30.07 years) which has a half life of around 3 decades and Strontium (Sr 90, half life of 28.78). Therefore, there is a serious danger of our food chain being contamination by these radioactive materials. The amount of damage to our body corresponds to the level of radiation that we are exposed to. The common long term illnesses are cancer, tumours and genetic mutation. A single acute exposure common symptom includes nausea and vomiting. Other symptoms are hair loss, diarrhea, bloody vomiting, fever, fatigue, headache, dizziness and disorientation. Severe exposure of 6 to 8 Sv can result in death in most cases. The time within exposure and the appearance of the systems is an indication of the level of radiation absorbed by the body. The best ways to prevent exposures are time and distance. Distance would reduce the dose rate and time as well because of the half life of radioactive isotopes decays. As long as the wind from Fukushima, Japan is not blowing into our way or the water system is not flowing to our country, the chances of exposure to this radioactive contamination would be minimal. Meanwhile, just stay healthy and take a good care of your Health.

@copyright material of http://peteformation.blogspot.com

Happy Chinese New Year - The Importance of Filial Piety

Well, how time flies and it is Chinese New Year again! Everyone would be very busy preparing for this auspicious day. My mom, although already in her eighties would insist of preparing some food for Chinese New Year. Every year, I will try my best to be home early to help her out buying things at the market and also cooking in the kitchen. Luckilly everyone in my family would be there to help out as well. My mom would be the Chief Chef! LOL! She is always happy to see everyone in the family seated together to have a reunion dinner and enjoying the scrumptous food. The Petronas commercial in Hokkien dialects below really touches my heart. It reminds us of the importance of filial piety! We must always take a break from our busy schedule to spend some time with our parents. They would treasure these moments forever!

I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year!

Hungry Ghost Festival and the Chinese Forever Vibrant Economy

My youngest son waiting for me to take him to see the Kotai. He is all dressed up, donning his Michael Jackson hat while holding a microphone and his favourite MJ cds. He kept on insisting of going up the stage to sing MJ most popular song, Beat It! ha ha ha ha!

The Yue Lan (Hungry Ghost) committee in my area organized their 5th hungry ghost festival recently. I can see there number of participants growing tremendously from year to year. My kids would wait for me to reach home everyday to take them to see the Chinese Opera show and also Kotai (live concert). My daughter loves to help out in folding gold and silver paper money, while my youngest son took the opportunity to run around all over the festival wide areas. Everyday the hired cook would prepare tasty mixed ingredients porridge , fried bihun and nice tong sui (Dessert). I see this festival as a time for the people in my community to get together and work hand in hand to make it a success. It is time to remember the dead too; Buddhist nuns are hired to chant for the soul of the dead. The hungry ghost festival is a part of our colourful Chinese culture which I believe should be carried on to the next generation to come. The Chinese spent generously whenever there is such festival. Some of the money collected is donated to the Chinese School in my area. With the large amount of cash spent on food and prayer, no wonder the Chinese economy is always vibrant. You need money in the economical system in order to make it move healthily. The is why no matter where in the world the Chinese community settle down, you can see businesses booming in that area!

Oppps, kotai singer too sexy......censored! ha ha ha!, Actually the lights were too bright!

The Chinese Opera show starts after the Kotai singing finishes!

Lots of offering on the final day of prayers. Yummy roast pork! Had a feast after the final sent off!

Final sent off Tau Sui Yeh (God of Hades). An excavator is used to cover the road with sand (Selangor sand! ha ha ha) before all the paper prayers material are burnt. I was carrying the horse! LOL!

A Busy Father’s Day Weekend – A Father’s Job Never ends....

My Father's Day weekend started with a family outing to KL Metropolitan Park in Kepong. We brought some food there and had a small picnic. My eldest son skates and practised boomerang throwing at the field, whereas my little toddler had a whale of time playing at the playground and my daughter tested out her 2 wheels portable skates.

Then we went over to eat chicken rice at Fook Loong Chicken rice stall at Jalan Burung Pucung, Taman Bukit Maluri, Kepong. My wife and I had chicken rice while my daughter ordered the yong tau foo and my son had the wantan mee. The chicken rice is nice and the roast pork is very crunchy. No wonder there is a long queue of crowd around the stall. The yong tau foo and wantan mee so so only. When we reached home, I realised that I still have the whole pumpkin that my ex-neighbour gave me. It was harvested from her mother’s vegetable plot. So, I made two Steamed Pumpkin Cake with it. I gave one to my neighbour. Then, my bathroom tap broke and I have to replace them. The renovation contractor installed the tap too close to the wall so there was no way for me to turn the tap to remove it. Therefore, I have to cut away the pvc pipe and replace one section with a flexible tubing. Time to get some stuff from the hardware shop, luckily they are open. It was a major job because I have to remove the whole sink from the bracket to install the tap. However, I managed to finish installing the new tap! My wife had a hard time keeping my curious toddler away from my working tools.

Tada, my new tap!

Since I already have all my tools out, I installed the long overdue key holder that my eldest son made in school on the wall in my house.

Then, the story that I just heard from my fellow insurance agent about his customer’s son who died after a sink fell on him struck my mind. I decided to check all my sinks and toilet flush tank brackets. Most of them had some rust and are falling apart. So, I had to visit the hardware shop again to get some new brackets. I had to replace the brackets at two of my bathrooms.

After finishing replacing the toilet brackets, my shower heater went ‘KO’, there is no hot water coming out from the shower. I called my electrician but he was too busy at his shop, so I have to dismantle the shower unit by myself and sent it to his shop. Then, my wife received a call from my electrician that the Euro Uno shower unit cannot be repaired. It is time for us to get a new one, so my wife and I rushed to the electrical appliance shop to buy a new unit. We bought a Joven shower unit with built in pump for RM399, a good offer price. It was a Sunday, so we could not get any electrician to install the unit for us. My wife was looking at me and grinning away; awwwww, I have to install it! I would rather have the electrician install the unit for us but then, the kids need to take their morning shower the next day before school. I have to get the unit up and running on Sunday itself! So, I got my tools out and started to install the new unit. First I have finished all the pipe work before starting with the electrical work. I have to replace the main inlet cables because the wires that my former electrician used were not of the right size. Luckily, I have some main power cable in my storeroom. It took me some time to finish installing the new Joven shower unit. I do not have the right size flexible tubing at that time so I have to make do with the hose from the old shower. The following day, I bought the right length flexible hose and power socket blanks to cover the hole on the wall.

Old shower unit

New Joven shower unit

See the pink long temporary tubing and the new short metal reinforced tubing I used?

We do not have time to fix dinner and my wife had to keep my little active toddler away from my tools. I have done a good job on home improvement and it was Father’s day; therefore my wife ‘belanja’ (treat) me to dinner at Mei Gai Yuan.

The dinner cost RM64 (medium serving). My charge to install the shower unit! Ha ha ha! Although the dishes are of medium serving we were struggling to finish them because my family are small eaters! A hectic but memorable day indeed! LOL!