Happy New Year 2010 and Reflections on 2009

Happy New Year for 2010!

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Once again it is the last day in this year's calendar year and what better way to "celebrate" than to reflect back on the year that was 2009. 2009 was a weird year in that the year started off after the financial meltdown in September 2008. Other than the excitement generated by the inauguration of President Obama in the United States in January, the year was already being written off before it even began! I'll begin by separating my thoughts of 2009 into the following categories.

Singapore to Brunei: Flight, Arrival and Royal Regalia Museum

On May 13, 2008 we flew from Singapore to Brunei after coming back from Kuala Lumpur the day before. Brunei is not exactly a tourism hotspot so the only reason we went to Brunei was because that is where my mom was born and also because she never went back to visit after she immigrated to Canada in the mid-1970s...until now.

Since most people have no idea where Brunei is, I thought that maybe I should include some maps of where it is. The country is located on the island of Borneo. The following map shows the relative locations of Singapore and Brunei with respect to Southeast Asia.





The following map shows the places that I visited in Brunei and East Malaysia.





We started our journey in the morning from Singapore's Changi Airport. It is constantly voted as one of the best airports in the world due to the amount of amenities it offers to travellers.

The following shows the distinctive control tower of Changi Airport.

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Kuala Lumpur: Merdeka Square and Departure

On May 12, 2008 we spent a half-day exploring the Kuala Lumpur city centre before going to the airport at late noon for our evening flight back to Singapore.

We started out at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre area where our hotel was located and took the LRT system to the old downtown area.

The Kuala Lumpur City Centre area is also where the Petronas Twin Towers and Suria shopping mall are located. In front of the twin towers is a massive landscaped park.

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Putrajaya: Malaysia's Other Capital City

Merry Christmas 2009! Now continuing with my series of posts from my travels in Malaysia last year...

On May 11, 2008 after our day trip to Melaka the day before, we went on another day trip to Putrajaya, the federal administrative centre of Malaysia, first stopping at the Royal Selangor Pewter museum on the way there.

Royal Selangor is a famous Malaysian brand in pewter goods and their products make excellent gifts. Another reason for going to the museum was to buy souvenirs at their factory store for back home at a fraction of the price that they sell overseas because everything was priced in Malaysian currency.

Entering the museum, we see a massive model of the modern icon of Malaysia, the Petronas Twin Towers.


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2010 Winter Olympics: Highly Expensive Tickets Finally Arrived

Yesterday I received a phone call from Purolator (courier service) at 11:00 am informing me that my overpriced, highly expensive 2010 Winter Olympics tickets had arrived.

I ordered two hockey tickets to the semi-finals and four victory ceremony tickets. The hockey tickets cost me $80 each and the victory ceremony tickets cost me $22 each.

What is unusual for the upcoming games is that they are going to present the medals in a "victory ceremony" each day I think at the 60,000+ seat BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and on each night they will also have performers that represent the different provinces of Canada. I guess I was lucky in that the day that I will be going to the victory ceremony, British Columbia's Nelly Furtado will be performing.

The tickets come with an "Official Spectator's Guide" and according to the guide, when you show your ticket within Vancouver, you will get free access to transit for that day.

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Melaka (Malacca): Malaysian UNESCO World Hertitage Site

On May 10, 2008, we hired a taxi for the day from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka for a day trip. We hired a taxi because unless you have a car in Malaysia, it is very hard to get to many places (a situation similar to traveling in the United States). Luckily hiring a taxi for the day was not that expensive. We just asked our hotel to book a taxi and the taxi drivers knew most of the tourist areas and would drop us off for sightseeing while he waited in his car. It took around one hour and a half to reach Melaka from Kuala Lumpur on the taxi.

In 2008, UNESCO awarded Melaka along with George Town in Penang the status of "World Heritage Site".

What makes Melaka interesting to tourists is that beginning from the 15th century onwards it had been colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch and finally the British before gaining independence within the Malaysian federation. Also Melaka has a large Chinese population due to past migration and all of these factors contributed to creating a town with a distinct culture.

The Christ Church built by the Dutch in the "Dutch Square" area, an area that was once the centre of the Dutch colonial administration in the 17th century. The colonial administration building is one of the oldest Dutch buildings in the East.

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Kuala Lumpur Day 1 Continued: Jalan Alor & KL Tower

This is the second part of the photos from Kuala Lumpur on May 8-9, 2008. This set of pictures is actually from our second day in Kuala Lumpur as we arrived at night on our first day.

Continuing from my previous post:

Kuala Lumpur Day 1: Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC, Chinatown

After we left Chinatown (see previous post) it was already around mid-afternoon so we decided to go to the main shopping and entertainment area of Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang via the KL Monorail.

Another view of the Petronas Twin Towers and the Kuala Lumpur City Centre complex as we walked away from it.


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Kuala Lumpur Day 1: Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC, Chinatown

Continuing with the series of pictures from my travels to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei last year in May 2008. Next is a set from May 9, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur.

Here is a recap of what I posted so far with regards to my 3 week trip in May 2008.

Stopover in Seoul, Korea:

Nanyang Trip: Stopover in Seoul Day 1: Arrival and Namdaemun Night Markets

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the USO Korea Tour


Seoul Day 2: Seoul Station, Deoksugung Palace, N Seoul Tower

Seoul Day 3: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsangol Traditional Folk Village

Seoul Day 3: Insadong, Seoul Skyline from Han River

Seoul Day 3: Myeongdong at Night, Cheonggyecheon Stream


Seoul Day 4: Namdaemun Market

Seoul Day 4: Incheon International Airport


Singapore:

Singapore Day 1: Financial/Colonial District, Boat Quay

Singapore Day 1: Singapore City Gallery at the Urban Redevelopment Authority HQ

Singapore Day 2: The Singapore Flyer (The World's Largest Ferris Wheel as of 2009)

Singapore: Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street


We flew from Singapore via a Japan Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur whose final destination was Osaka, Japan. The flight was only 30 minutes long and was so short that all we received on the flight was a juice box.

Arrival at Kuala Lumpur airport:

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Singapore: Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street

After a 5 month hiatus from my last post about my travels to Nanyang: Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, I decided to continue where I left off by posting pictures from Singapore's ethnic areas.

The pictures are taken from May 5-8, 2008.

Here is a recap of what I posted so far with regards to my 3 week trip in May 2008.

Stopover in Seoul, Korea:

Nanyang Trip: Stopover in Seoul Day 1: Arrival and Namdaemun Night Markets

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the USO Korea Tour


Seoul Day 2: Seoul Station, Deoksugung Palace, N Seoul Tower

Seoul Day 3: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsangol Traditional Folk Village

Seoul Day 3: Insadong, Seoul Skyline from Han River

Seoul Day 3: Myeongdong at Night, Cheonggyecheon Stream


Seoul Day 4: Namdaemun Market

Seoul Day 4: Incheon International Airport


Singapore:

Singapore Day 1: Financial/Colonial District, Boat Quay

Singapore Day 1: Singapore City Gallery at the Urban Redevelopment Authority HQ

Singapore Day 2: The Singapore Flyer (The World's Largest Ferris Wheel as of 2009)


Because we stayed at my cousin's flat in Singapore, everyday when we went sightseeing we would commute via the train system from the suburbs to the city centre.

The suburbs are where the population of Singapore lives. They live in HDB - Housing and Development Board "new towns" where all the housing is built by the government.

Unlike in most countries, there is no "low income" sigma attached to public housing as almost all housing within Singapore is public. Therefore household ownership is affordable to people of all income levels.

Typical HDB block:

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Canada Line Opening

On Monday, August 17, 2009, the Canada Line rapid transit project finally opened to the public after 4 years of construction and 3 months ahead of schedule.

I don't know why they choose to have the grand opening on a Monday (these kinds of grand infrastructure projects are usually open to the public on the weekends...) but because I had work, I unfortunately could not ride the train on the opening day. I tried going after work but the lines were just too crazy.

Instead after dinner I went biking down Cambie St. and across the Canada Line bridge to Richmond. While biking I passed by many stations and they were all packed with people. I had never seen Cambie St. so alive with pedestrians before!

Below are pictures of the craziness that ensued on opening day when an estimated 100,000 people rode the train from 1 pm to 9 pm.

(Note: The pictures are not mine and are from various sources)

Our illustrious leader, the one who knows best, Premier Gordon Campbell opening the system at the YVR-Airport station.



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Club Nintendo Hanafuda Cards

Today I finally received by Nintendo-branded Hanafuda Cards from the Club Nintendo loyalty program.

It cost me 800 coins to "earn" this reward. For reference, the purchase of a new Wii game gives you 50 coins. I was lucky that Nintendo lets customers retroactively collect coins from before the Club Nintendo loyalty program launch or else I would have needed to buy 16 Wii games just to earn 800 coins. The cards are technically worth a whopping $800 (800 coins x Wii game/50 coins x $50/Wii game = $800).

I thought the cards would be made of cheap cardboard but they are actually made of plastic. Either way its a great collector's item.

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Golden Ears Bridge Opening

On June 15, 2009, the Golden Ears Bridge had a public opening where people could walk across the bridge. The bridge had been in construction since 2006, for 3 years.

This was the first new bridge to be built in the Vancouver area since the Alex Fraser Bridge back in 1986. An interesting aspect is that the bridge was built using the public-private-partnership financing model that was lead not by the provincial government, but by TransLink, the local public transportation authority.

When we got there, we parked at the parking lot of a movie theatre and boarded free shuttle buses to the bridge.

It took 30 minutes to walk across the bridge and another 30 minutes to walk back across.

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Canada Line Technical Tour

Today I had the opportunity to ride the Canada Line as part of a tour that was organized by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC).

We started at 12:00 pm at Waterfront Station and we rode the train from Waterfront to the YVR-Airport station. Although the train stopped at a couple of stations, we did not have the opportunity to explore any of the stations other than the Waterfront station where we first boarded the train.

Once the train arrived at the airport, it just backed out and we were on our way back towards downtown.

One observation that I had was that the trains were really quiet and smooth (at least compared to the existing SkyTrain cars where you can't even listen to your personal music player without turning up the volume to maximum).

Another complaint that I had was that at Waterfront station, the Canada Line station is not directly connected to the existing SkyTrain station so that means to transfer between the two lines, you would have to walk across the old train station atrium and have to exit and enter the "Fare Paid Zones" two times. This could be a potential problem when faregates are finally installed.

Other than that, it is very exciting to see a brand new underground subway system being built to places that people actually want to go to.

As someone who has followed this project from the days of the "RAV Line" back in 2002-2003 when the project was killed and resurrected by politicians twice, I can't wait until it finally opens to the public on Labour Day this year.



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Canada Line Operations & Maintenance Centre Tour

Last week on May 19, 2009 I had the opportunity to visit the Canada Line (new automated rapid transit system linking Vancouver, Richmond and the airport) operations and maintenance centre.

The system has been under construction since 2005 and is scheduled to open on Labour Day (first Monday in September) Sept. 7, 2009.

The trains are all made in Korea by a subsidiary of Hyundai, the Rotem company and is not compatible with the current SkyTrain system in Vancouver. The two systems do not interconnect.

For more information please see the Canada Line Wikipedia page.

Inside one of the three maintenance bays.

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Singapore Day 2: The Singapore Flyer (The World's Largest Ferris Wheel as of 2009)

On May 7, 08, after visiting my mom's cousin in Singapore. We decided to visit the Singapore Flyer. It is billed as the world's largest Ferris wheel at 165 m (541 ft) although it will soon be eclipsed by the 208 m (682 ft) Beijing Great Wheel when it is completed in late 2009.

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2008 Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Level 2 Results

I just received my results last week for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 that I took in December and I was pleasantly surprised that I barely passed. In normal circumstances this would not be an acceptable result, but in this case it is because I only started to study for the test after I registered in September one week before the closing registration date of the exam. I only had three months to study the material for the test which included about 150 grammar points and countless vocabulary.

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Singapore Day 1: Singapore City Gallery at the Urban Redevelopment Authority HQ

On May 6, 2008, after exploring the financial and government district of Singapore (see my previous post: Singapore Day 1: Financial/Colonial District, Boat Quay) we took the MRT ("Mass Rapid Transit", as what the subway is called there) to Chinatown.

This post will focus on the Singapore City Gallery located at the Urban Redevelopment Authority Headquarters which is located in Chinatown.

This is the description of the Singapore City Gallery from the official website:

"Don’t want to climb a skyscraper to catch a glimpse of Singapore’s central hub? Then drop by Singapore City Gallery and catch an amazing bird’s eye view of Singapore’s central area, and see the fascinating 11 by 11 metre architectural model, the only one of its kind in the world. Spread over two levels, Singapore City Gallery is Singapore’s version of a city exhibition that captures our planning efforts in a nutshell."

This is the main attraction of the Singapore City Gallery, a scaled model of what Singapore will look like in a couple years time.

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Singapore Day 1: Financial/Colonial District, Boat Quay

Happy New Year (although most people seem to already have written off 2009 for 2010...)

Continuing from the Seoul series of posts, on May 6, 08 we arrived in Singapore from Seoul.

This was my second time visiting Singapore. I first visited Singapore way back in 1995 when our family stayed for 1 month in the hot humid month of August.

Because we were staying at my cousin's place, we had to wake them up at 3 am in the morning to let us into their apartment.

After a short rest we woke up and took the train (or as they call it in Singapore, the MRT, Mass Rapid Transit) to the airport to buy the Singapore Tourist Pass which is a set price unlimited travel transit smart card for tourist use. We had to go to the airport because that was the closest MRT station near my cousin's apartment which sold the pass (my cousin lives every close to the airport, maybe 15 minutes away by taxi).

Arrival at the airport again to buy the transit pass.

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