Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I gave RM 50,000 ......
Yes..I gave RM 50,000 to my son and his cousin last year. They were 16 and 17 years old . No it was not real money but was VIRTUAL money. They can do anything they like with the money and whatever profit they make will be rewarded to them as REAL MONEY. Some suggestions were they can invest in shares..let me know when and what price they buy and why, they can do trading (maybe online through Mudah.com), even buy real estate. It has to be a legal transaction (no Ah Long activities). All they have to do is advice me when they make any business transaction. The idea here is to cultivate their thinking habits sort of like a "Tactical exercise Without Troops" something which I did a lot in the military college years ago. It was also make them make money work for them instead of working for money which most people do. It has been a year already and the results are most disappointing! they had not made a single cent. the least they could have done is to park the money in the bank as fixed deposit and they could have earned at least RM 1500 at a 3% interest. Well it looks like if they do not want to be rich in life. Maybe it is too easy to join the rat race by working hard and run the threadmill.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Shaping the nose of my catamaran hull
The bow of the hull up to this stage is only a flat piece of wood. The design calls for putting foam and make a shape that looks nice and functional.
To construct this i used some scrap / left over foam from my hull construction. These are "pasted" and secured to the front of the hull. 
Altogether I used 4 layers of foam. The foam is then shaped with a grinder and then I applied 2 layers of 600/225 biaxial and one layer of 300 gm CSM. 
After the nose is glassed, it is sanded down again ..to that stage where it will look nice from 50 ft!
Meanwhile I have started filling up the holes in the hull. these holes were drilled into the hull to provide support of the hull panels to the bulkheads during the construction process.
To construct this i used some scrap / left over foam from my hull construction. These are "pasted" and secured to the front of the hull. Altogether I used 4 layers of foam. The foam is then shaped with a grinder and then I applied 2 layers of 600/225 biaxial and one layer of 300 gm CSM. After the nose is glassed, it is sanded down again ..to that stage where it will look nice from 50 ft!
Meanwhile I have started filling up the holes in the hull. these holes were drilled into the hull to provide support of the hull panels to the bulkheads during the construction process.Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Touring Bicycle Haven with my Dahon Mu 8
At the end of my simulator training sessions in France I treated myself to a tour of Holland by bicycle for a few days. As usual my trusty Dahon Mu 8 was with me. My big bags were left in my friend's apartment. In fact I used his place in Hoofddrop as a base for my tours. Hoofddrop is like PJ and is quite close to Schipol airport. The first day of my tour was a ride from Hoofddrop to Edam. The planned cycling distance was only 50 km but with all the twisting and turning around I did another 10 km extra. I started at about 0930 hrs from Hoofddrop heading towards Schipol airport. I had to go to the airport to reconfirm my flight back home. From Schipol I wandered off to Amstervee and then to Amsterdam. No problem at all..this is not a navigational error but rather a diversion and some extra sight seeing. With the air temperature around 6 degrees it was fun to ride. In Holland, bicycles are the king of the road. Cars were stopping for me everywhere! And Holland has bicycle lanes all over the country. These bicycle lanes are very well marked and has excellent signage
The roads are very well marked so there is no problem going from one point to the next. the Dutch are also very friendly people and they speak English pretty well too so it is difficult to get lost enroute.
This picture was taken near the Schipol Airport. I was really suprised that cars and bicycles go under the taxiway. The bridge at the background is where the huge 747s taxi on top.
Wild life, esp birds and ducks are everywhere. The Dutch have done well to conserve their wild lifes. These geese just walk up to admire my trusty Dahon. I was having wild thoughts about cooking roast duck or geese for dinner! But not for this trip as I will not be camping. Next trip if I come in summer I will camp and maybe I will have roasted wild duck for dinner!
It is lunch time when I arrived Amsterdam central area. To satisfy my hunger I had a hot dog. Expensive.. 5 Euro for a small hot dog.
It was very difficult to navigate away from Amsterdam to Edam. My GPS keeps pointing towards a direction that says NO CYCLING / WALKING. Eventually I found out that I have to take a ferry to the other side of the town to head towards Edam. The ferry ride was free and once on the other side of town the ride to Edam was straight forward. Edam is famous for its Edam Cheese buy unfortunately I could not take one of these back on my bike. This village is very scenic and the pace here is typical village standard although Edam is only 30 km from Amsterdam.
I had booked myself a room in a B and B in a village called Volendam which is about 2 km from Edam. This B and B is run and owned by John and Henny Kruize. John had been a bus driver but he has done very well with managing his wealth and life and I am totally impressed by his knowledge of things and machines.
This is the good breakfast that Henny served me. I had enjoyed it very much. We had meat, cheese, coffee and eggs. A real value for money. I would recommend their place to anyone visiting this part of Holland.
After breakfast it was a short ride to visit Monikerdam. This is a small historical village and there are a lot of boats . I spent about and hour admiring the boats.
There were some catamarans around too.
I past by a floating village. people here stay in houses that were built on top of the water and for them to visit the neighbours means a few strokes of rowing their boat.
Of course no report on Holland wold be complete without photos of windmills. These are operational wind mills. Notice the bicycle path by the side.
Having a sandwich lunch by a very scenic canal. The food actually taste better here!
This is how their fish mongers sell fish. Much better organised than our pasar malams!. Again getting out of Amsterdam for the ride back to Hoofddrop was a pain. I arrived back in Hoofddrop by 1500 hrs after cycling 50 pus kilometers.Here I stayed with an old friend Keith Yim in his apartment.
Day 3 was a trip to the North sea resort town called Zandvoort. It is only about 20 km from Hoofddrop so I started a bit later at about 1000hrs. I passed by Hamstede which is a beautiful village.
Zandvoort is a touristy place. There are beautiful stores and restaurants here. I was told this place is packed with German tourist during summer.
Of course there are abundance of wild ducks here too. Just amazing
For lunch I want to taste the fresh North Sea fish. These fish stores are set on the beach and they serve very fresh sea food at a reasonable price.
For 6 Euro I had a piece of cod and some potatoes. The fish was very fresh and tasty.
I took the route via Harleam to go back . This route is more "hilly" because the riding is done on top of the sand dunes.
There is a national park but maybe it is winter now as there was nothing much to see. Again I reached Hoofddrop by 1500 hrs.
The roads are very well marked so there is no problem going from one point to the next. the Dutch are also very friendly people and they speak English pretty well too so it is difficult to get lost enroute.This picture was taken near the Schipol Airport. I was really suprised that cars and bicycles go under the taxiway. The bridge at the background is where the huge 747s taxi on top.Wild life, esp birds and ducks are everywhere. The Dutch have done well to conserve their wild lifes. These geese just walk up to admire my trusty Dahon. I was having wild thoughts about cooking roast duck or geese for dinner! But not for this trip as I will not be camping. Next trip if I come in summer I will camp and maybe I will have roasted wild duck for dinner!It is lunch time when I arrived Amsterdam central area. To satisfy my hunger I had a hot dog. Expensive.. 5 Euro for a small hot dog.It was very difficult to navigate away from Amsterdam to Edam. My GPS keeps pointing towards a direction that says NO CYCLING / WALKING. Eventually I found out that I have to take a ferry to the other side of the town to head towards Edam. The ferry ride was free and once on the other side of town the ride to Edam was straight forward. Edam is famous for its Edam Cheese buy unfortunately I could not take one of these back on my bike. This village is very scenic and the pace here is typical village standard although Edam is only 30 km from Amsterdam.I had booked myself a room in a B and B in a village called Volendam which is about 2 km from Edam. This B and B is run and owned by John and Henny Kruize. John had been a bus driver but he has done very well with managing his wealth and life and I am totally impressed by his knowledge of things and machines.This is the good breakfast that Henny served me. I had enjoyed it very much. We had meat, cheese, coffee and eggs. A real value for money. I would recommend their place to anyone visiting this part of Holland.After breakfast it was a short ride to visit Monikerdam. This is a small historical village and there are a lot of boats . I spent about and hour admiring the boats.There were some catamarans around too.I past by a floating village. people here stay in houses that were built on top of the water and for them to visit the neighbours means a few strokes of rowing their boat.Of course no report on Holland wold be complete without photos of windmills. These are operational wind mills. Notice the bicycle path by the side.Having a sandwich lunch by a very scenic canal. The food actually taste better here!This is how their fish mongers sell fish. Much better organised than our pasar malams!. Again getting out of Amsterdam for the ride back to Hoofddrop was a pain. I arrived back in Hoofddrop by 1500 hrs after cycling 50 pus kilometers.Here I stayed with an old friend Keith Yim in his apartment.Day 3 was a trip to the North sea resort town called Zandvoort. It is only about 20 km from Hoofddrop so I started a bit later at about 1000hrs. I passed by Hamstede which is a beautiful village.
Zandvoort is a touristy place. There are beautiful stores and restaurants here. I was told this place is packed with German tourist during summer. Of course there are abundance of wild ducks here too. Just amazingFor lunch I want to taste the fresh North Sea fish. These fish stores are set on the beach and they serve very fresh sea food at a reasonable price.For 6 Euro I had a piece of cod and some potatoes. The fish was very fresh and tasty.I took the route via Harleam to go back . This route is more "hilly" because the riding is done on top of the sand dunes.
There is a national park but maybe it is winter now as there was nothing much to see. Again I reached Hoofddrop by 1500 hrs.
For the 3 days of touring I did only 160 km which is not really a lot. Holland is such a bicycle friendly country that I would recommend anyone who wants to come to Europe for a bicycle to start in Holland. i hope to get back for some longer distance cycling in the near future.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Gypsy Building Progress
Well, it is actually a NO PROGRESS report! Work on building my catamaran stopped towards the end of Oct 2010 when the monsoon started. At this stage the hull was almost ready to be turned over. The monsoon season is the time when it rains heavily and it is almost a daily affair. Somehow or rather it started about 2 weeks early this year. I am not prepared to have the hull turned over to collect all the rain water so the decision was to let it be as it is until March 2010.
The reasons as to why there had been no blogging last month is that I had been on the move..Nov/ Dec I was in France for my EC 225 helicopter ground school (see earlier posting). Then it was a family trip to Chiengmai, followed by flying conversion with a Eurocopter factor instructor on the new helicopter . ( I just don't understand why they are PAYING me so much to enjoy all these!)
The biggest culprit is that I travel with a new toy now..the Ipad which has no "holes" for me to download my pictures in the absence of a regular notebook/PC , Those of you who think you can survive only with an Ipad you will be disappointed!
I have just came back from a simulator training trip in France yesterday and YES I will be starting on building my cat again as the weather is much better now.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Ground School for the New EC 225 Helicopter
The next offshore helicopter contract calls for a brand new helicopter..the Super Puma EC 225 helicopter. It is a modern helicopter that evolved from the Super Puma family and it has very "matured" designs and a lot of oil companies are using/planning to use this model. I was one of those in MHS to fly this type of helicopter from April 2011. However, the training bond for the training is RM500,000.00 for a period of three years. After signing the bond, I proceeded to Eurocopter factory in Marignane Airport in Marseille, France for the ground school training before the flying phase.
Security in the Training Service is very tight. We are NOT ALLOWED to take any pictures anywhere and we cannot wander into any of the factory except the classroom and the canteen. This is to safeguard some of the customer's secrets as a lot of military helicopters are built here. Any breach of the rules means instant dismissal from the course. Of course computers etc are not allowed in as well to avoid any IT theft!
There were 6 of us in this course..4 from Malaysia, one from Brazil and another from Eurocopter China. The handsome man in the centre is Jean Luc, our instructor. The ground school covers all aspect of the aircraft technical and was held over a period of 10 days after which there is an exam. A passing mark of 75% is required to pass this exam in order to start the flying phase. I scored 94% for the exam.
Everywhere there is NO PHOTO sign but I cannot resist breaking this rule when no one else was around!
For those who want to know more about the training and Eurocopter, please visit their site at:
Security in the Training Service is very tight. We are NOT ALLOWED to take any pictures anywhere and we cannot wander into any of the factory except the classroom and the canteen. This is to safeguard some of the customer's secrets as a lot of military helicopters are built here. Any breach of the rules means instant dismissal from the course. Of course computers etc are not allowed in as well to avoid any IT theft!
There were 6 of us in this course..4 from Malaysia, one from Brazil and another from Eurocopter China. The handsome man in the centre is Jean Luc, our instructor. The ground school covers all aspect of the aircraft technical and was held over a period of 10 days after which there is an exam. A passing mark of 75% is required to pass this exam in order to start the flying phase. I scored 94% for the exam.
Everywhere there is NO PHOTO sign but I cannot resist breaking this rule when no one else was around!
For those who want to know more about the training and Eurocopter, please visit their site at:Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Cycling to an Aquaduct in Rural France
The weather report looks very promising for winter...some sunshine, high of 3C for the day. Now that is a good reason to take my Dahon folding bike to explore rural France. I had known of an aquaduct in the region from my earlier trips (An aquaduct is an ancient man made structure to tranport water between on hill to the next over the valley). Good old google earth was consulted and the coordinates entered to my Garmin 60Csx GPS. A route from where I am staying at the moment at an olive farm in Rognac was planned. This trip will take me through some villages and the estimated distance with some diversions will be about 45b km. Just about ideal.
I had to rely on my GPS for navigation since I do not speak French. Asking for directions in English languiage in France might not be a very good idea. You can end up in Holland! A thick rubber band was used to strap the GPS to my Dahon. I promised myself that I will buy a proper GPS holder in future.
If the GPS fails then I will use the road signs which is ok.
After cycling about 6 km from Rognac I came across an open air market. I was told sinec it is near Christmas there are quite a lot of these pasar malams all over.
These guys werte selling some Spanish made electric bikes at the market. I had a chat with them and they were very interested in my machine. The electric bikes are quite expensive..around 1500 Euro for a basic model.
The view along the way is fantastic. Only a person on a bicycle will be able to enjoy such views. There is a small river that flows parallel to the road. 
There were also farms not too far from the main road but of course the growing will have to wait for better weather.
Then from a distance I could see the majestic structure of this ancient aquaduct. By then I had cycled for over an hour. Although it was 3 C, I did not feel cold while cycling but when I stopped I found that I was sweating a little.
It is amazingly beautiful. I just cannot imagine the number of (probably slave labour) that was required to build it. And they can think of the arches to support the column.
I saw a trek by the side of the aquaduct and wanted to climb up to the top. Being unable to understand French, I had entered a private property and by the time I was 100 meters on the trek, some fierce looking dog that looked like it had not been fed for a week came after after me. Then the owner , a fat lady appeared. I told her using sign language that I wanted to go to the top of the aquaduct but she shoke her head and said "Neil" . I think that was simple enough to understand and I went off.
I took off on my bicycle again along the D20 route, hoping to get to a store where I can get some sandwiches for lunch. There was a restaurant along the way but it was a high class one so I skipped that.
By now, I had guessed the meaning of "la propriété privée" but I could not resist venturing into this arae to enjoy the nice river. Besides i did not see or smell any dogs.
There were no sandwich stores for the next 10 km so when I saw a fruit store I stopped and bought myself a bunch of bananas for a healthy lunch. these few bananas cost me 2.5 euros which is about RM12.00 so it is not cheap.
Turning back towards home, I decided to climb up Ventabren which is about 1200 ft high. A pleasant climb with a lot of cold sweat.
At the top after a few kilos of steep climbing.
Nice view from the top and I was suprised to find a museum and other tourist attractions around. It is now time to go home as it gets dark by just after 5 Pm. so it was another hour of cycling.
This si the railway station at Rognac which is located in the village centre. It has been a great day and I had enjoyed cycling in the cold 3C weather.
I had to rely on my GPS for navigation since I do not speak French. Asking for directions in English languiage in France might not be a very good idea. You can end up in Holland! A thick rubber band was used to strap the GPS to my Dahon. I promised myself that I will buy a proper GPS holder in future.If the GPS fails then I will use the road signs which is ok.After cycling about 6 km from Rognac I came across an open air market. I was told sinec it is near Christmas there are quite a lot of these pasar malams all over.These guys werte selling some Spanish made electric bikes at the market. I had a chat with them and they were very interested in my machine. The electric bikes are quite expensive..around 1500 Euro for a basic model.The view along the way is fantastic. Only a person on a bicycle will be able to enjoy such views. There is a small river that flows parallel to the road. There were also farms not too far from the main road but of course the growing will have to wait for better weather.Then from a distance I could see the majestic structure of this ancient aquaduct. By then I had cycled for over an hour. Although it was 3 C, I did not feel cold while cycling but when I stopped I found that I was sweating a little.It is amazingly beautiful. I just cannot imagine the number of (probably slave labour) that was required to build it. And they can think of the arches to support the column.I saw a trek by the side of the aquaduct and wanted to climb up to the top. Being unable to understand French, I had entered a private property and by the time I was 100 meters on the trek, some fierce looking dog that looked like it had not been fed for a week came after after me. Then the owner , a fat lady appeared. I told her using sign language that I wanted to go to the top of the aquaduct but she shoke her head and said "Neil" . I think that was simple enough to understand and I went off.I took off on my bicycle again along the D20 route, hoping to get to a store where I can get some sandwiches for lunch. There was a restaurant along the way but it was a high class one so I skipped that.By now, I had guessed the meaning of "la propriété privée" but I could not resist venturing into this arae to enjoy the nice river. Besides i did not see or smell any dogs.There were no sandwich stores for the next 10 km so when I saw a fruit store I stopped and bought myself a bunch of bananas for a healthy lunch. these few bananas cost me 2.5 euros which is about RM12.00 so it is not cheap.
Turning back towards home, I decided to climb up Ventabren which is about 1200 ft high. A pleasant climb with a lot of cold sweat.At the top after a few kilos of steep climbing.
Nice view from the top and I was suprised to find a museum and other tourist attractions around. It is now time to go home as it gets dark by just after 5 Pm. so it was another hour of cycling.
This si the railway station at Rognac which is located in the village centre. It has been a great day and I had enjoyed cycling in the cold 3C weather.Sunday, November 28, 2010
A quick tour of Switzerland
It all started when I casually mentioned that I will be going for a cousre in France and I will be side tracking to Switzerland over my old school's forum. One old scout KC Foong came over with a private email that he can arrange for a hiking trip in Switzerland if I am keen. He has a Malaysian friend staying in Switzerland who is also a keen outdoorman. So I was linked up with a fine gentlemen KB Tan from Johore. Several emails later everything was set and I was ready to go. We were scheduled to meet up at the train station at Yverdon Les Bains on Friday 25 Nov 2010 at 1700 hrs local time. I arranged my flight from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam with a connecting flight to Geneva. 
Upon arrival at Geneva I have about 6 hours to loiter around before taking a train to KB's village. The airport offers a free bus trip down to town but it is valid for only 80 min. So I took along my bike to Geneva town for some sight seeing.
Geneva is a nice clean city. Everything seems so organised and neat here! But it is cold.
By evening I took a train to Yerdon Les Bains where KB Tan will come and pick me up at 5 pm. From there it is another 15 min drive to KB's house which is in a village. Sorry ..no photos of his house as it was dark by the time we arrived and the next whole day we were out. BUT believe me, it is a very nice old farm house and KB Tan has done a good job renovating it.
Next morning by 6 am were were already on the train to Zermatt a popular skiing resort at the base of the famous Matterrhorns.
KB is a veteran traveller..always well prepared. He even stocks up sandwiches and drinks for the trip. 
As this is the winter sports season, there are a lot of tourist in the area. we went away from the crowd as soon as we could.
This area is like KB's backyard and he knows the area well . After putting on the snow rackets we started trekking on the snow. For a beginner like me it is very tiring trekking on the snow.
Except for a shepherd there was nobody on the trail. One gets a wonderful feeling of loneliness here.
The temperature is minus 17 degrees for that day and we decided to head for a church where we can get some shelther so thatwe can have a hot drink.
After our tea time we spent another hour coming down. It was an interesting trip for me.
It is now time to catch a train to Berne , the capital of Switzerland.
It started snowing by the time we arrrive Berne. 
This is the famous clock tower in Berne.
But life goes on like normal. people here are used to snowing..it is just like a light shower but a little bit colder.
Even the cheese from this outdoor market is frozen.
From Berne, we took another train to another town Basel where there is a very popular Christmas night market...some sort of pasar malam to me but cleaner and run by Mat Sallehs.
This man was selling puppets and at the same time giving a puppet show. I enjoyed the show but did not buy any puppets. I have a short video and will upload it later.
KB's wife, Melody a Swiss and is also a seasoned traveller, having stayed in India and Malaysia.
Next morning I was up early to take a TGV train to Marseille, France for some more adventure. Thank You KB Tan for hosting me and thank you KC Foong for connecting us! We will meet in Malaysia!
Upon arrival at Geneva I have about 6 hours to loiter around before taking a train to KB's village. The airport offers a free bus trip down to town but it is valid for only 80 min. So I took along my bike to Geneva town for some sight seeing.Geneva is a nice clean city. Everything seems so organised and neat here! But it is cold.By evening I took a train to Yerdon Les Bains where KB Tan will come and pick me up at 5 pm. From there it is another 15 min drive to KB's house which is in a village. Sorry ..no photos of his house as it was dark by the time we arrived and the next whole day we were out. BUT believe me, it is a very nice old farm house and KB Tan has done a good job renovating it.Next morning by 6 am were were already on the train to Zermatt a popular skiing resort at the base of the famous Matterrhorns.KB is a veteran traveller..always well prepared. He even stocks up sandwiches and drinks for the trip. As this is the winter sports season, there are a lot of tourist in the area. we went away from the crowd as soon as we could.This area is like KB's backyard and he knows the area well . After putting on the snow rackets we started trekking on the snow. For a beginner like me it is very tiring trekking on the snow.Except for a shepherd there was nobody on the trail. One gets a wonderful feeling of loneliness here.The temperature is minus 17 degrees for that day and we decided to head for a church where we can get some shelther so thatwe can have a hot drink.After our tea time we spent another hour coming down. It was an interesting trip for me.It is now time to catch a train to Berne , the capital of Switzerland.It started snowing by the time we arrrive Berne. This is the famous clock tower in Berne.
But life goes on like normal. people here are used to snowing..it is just like a light shower but a little bit colder.Even the cheese from this outdoor market is frozen.
From Berne, we took another train to another town Basel where there is a very popular Christmas night market...some sort of pasar malam to me but cleaner and run by Mat Sallehs.This man was selling puppets and at the same time giving a puppet show. I enjoyed the show but did not buy any puppets. I have a short video and will upload it later.KB's wife, Melody a Swiss and is also a seasoned traveller, having stayed in India and Malaysia.
Next morning I was up early to take a TGV train to Marseille, France for some more adventure. Thank You KB Tan for hosting me and thank you KC Foong for connecting us! We will meet in Malaysia!
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