Summit USJ

I went to Summit USJ on 29th December 2008...

The Malaysian cube forum have information that Summit USJ have a store that sells a lot of puzzles...

Since I was there...so I decided to look for the store...

And I finally found the store...it is at LG(Lower ground) floor...a normal stall....in front of MPH bookstore...
As usual....solve all the puzzles =P But I wasn't able to solve the megaminx last step...well..that was just my first attempt to solve a megaminx..(I never search for any solutions on how to solve a megaminx before...)..so it means a good start.... ^_^

The puzzles that I solved..from left to right : 3x3x3 jumbo cube, normal 3x3x3 cube, 2x2x2 cube, pyraminx, megaminx...
I decided to buy a 3x3x3 jumbo cube....RM10

So let's compare the size with a normal 3x3x3 cube...

Left : 3x3x3 Jumbo cube
Right : White old type A 3x3x3 cube(with Cubesmith stickers)

The size of the jumbo cube is around 3 times the size of a standard sized cube..

I bought it because it is unique...collection =P
I also decided to buy a megaminx...RM29....a 12-coloured puzzle...with 20 corners !

I failed to solve it on my 2nd attempt too...

Managed to solve it on my 3rd attempt...and solved 10+ times so far...*will solve more in the future*

So the fastest solve I achieved in that 10+ attempts is 7 mins 33.82 seconds...*it is not smooth, easy pops, and locks up a lot*
My new puzzle collection.... ^_^

Can you see the word? *I M NEU* =P

-The End-

Tanjung Sepat Trip

My relatives and my family went to Tanjung Sepat on 28th December 2008...It is somewhere near Klang...

Firstly, we paid a visit to Ganofarm Factory Outlet...
It is more like a tourist attraction...a mushroom showroom for tourist to visit...
Some facts on different kind of mushrooms....

Mushroom helps in various health problems of humans...mainly helping on blood circulations and more...
This is how they cultivate mushrooms...

A bottle filled with cotton wool and some other stuffs in it...(well I do not know much..)
A bundle of cotton wool stored behind of the showroom
Hmm...looks like sawdust...might be one of the stuffs inside the bottle...
The Ganofarm Factory Outlet is beside the beach...

Where there are lots of mangroove trees there...primary colonisers? =P

It is around morning-afternoon...the sea level have a low tide...allowing us to have a clear view of the mangroove trees....at this time of the day, land breeze occurs, wind blows from the land towards the sea....astronomy studies said that the low and high tides are due to the gravitational pull of the moon, causing changes to the sea level...
They also have a retail store there, for tourists to visit and buy their products...mushrooms and more...some health products too...
After visiting the Ganofarm Factory Outlet, we decided to go to a nearby beach...
Flying kites...the kite on the right is mine.. the one with the aeroplane shape... and the one on the left is my relative's...
After that, we decided to have dinner at a nearby restaurant...

On the way there, I saw cattles(cows) beside the road...local cows are brown in colour..different from overseas'...
We had our dinner at Bay Watch Restaurant...a seafood restaurant...
The dishes we ate...fishes, squids, prawns, vegetables, and some type of clam food...

-The End-

Singapore Open 2009 (Cube Competition)

The Singapore Open 2009 Cube Competition will be on 28th February till 1st March 2009...I registered for the competition and hope for the best....

This competition is the first official(international level) cube competition in Singapore...reachable distance for Malaysians and other nearby countries....it is also the nearest official competition for Malaysians to participate(there isn't any official competitions so close to Malaysia before - this is the first)..

An official cube competition is permitted by WCA(World Cube Association)...the rules and regulations of an official competition will be the same as WCA....a WCA Delegate will attend the official competition to make sure things work according to the WCA standard...participants that participated an official competition will have their solving speed ranked on the WCA ranking list (http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/regions.php)....

For more information about World Cube Association...
http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/index.php

The details of The Singapore Open 2009 Cube Competition...(in the picture below)

Here is the information - for those that could not load the picture above..

Date: Feb 28 - Mar 1, 2009Venue: SAFRA Toa Payoh

Address: 293 Lorong 6, Toa Payoh, Singapore 319387 (Map)

Main Events: Rubik's Cube, 2x2x2 Speedsolve, 4x4x4 Speedsolve, 5x5x5 Speedsolve, 3x3x3 One-handed

Side Events: Rubik's Magic, 3x3x3 Blindfolded, Megaminx, Pyraminx

Registration fee: FREE!

WCA Delegate: Anders Larsson (Sweden)

Regulations: Competitors must be familiar with the WCA Regulations. Keep in mind that the 2009 regulations may be finalized before this competition, so there may be changes from the 2008 regulations by this time.

Questions: If you have any questions or concerns, contact Eric Chung at rubiks_sg@hotmail.com.

For more information about The Singapore Open 2009 Cube Competition...

http://www.rubiks.com.sg/

or

http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/c.php?list=List+of+Registered+Competitiors&competitionId=SingaporeOpen2009

I hope more Malaysian cubers can participate in this competition....

-The End-

Survivor 08

Survivor 08 (10th Petaling Scout Camp)...4th December till 8th December 2008...but I went on the 6th till the 8th due to some other events that clash with the camp time...

I missed many activities of the camp...

On the 3rd day of Survivor 08, 6th December 2008, I arrived in the afternoon....everyone were out...they were having an activity named The Survival...something like Amazing Race...where you go around the city(Petaling Jaya) to perform tasks and more...

This is one of the tasks of The Survival...should be checking prices of some items I guess...I did not attend the activity, so I do not know much...this type of activity is to train scouts to know the way around - able to go around cities and learn to ask for directions and more(socialise)...

After The Survival...participants were gathered at school...
After that, the participants cooked dinner and fed themselves well....to train scouts to be more independent - cook for themselves...
Crime Night activity....CSI(Crime Scene Investigation)....

There was a murder case going on....participants need to search for clues to solve the mystery of the crime...
Participants questioning crime suspects....
The detectives(participants) were not able to solve the mystery...and a flashback to the actual time of the murder case was demonstrated by the seniors...
OBH activity....

Where participants were being awaken at night and blindfolded and lead to an unknown place... and sit at a spot for a certain period of time(usually 1 hour+)...this is to train the patience of scouts...
Seniors on duty to keep participants awake - participants are not allowed to sleep during the activity...
After the OBH activity, I went to sleep...

The next morning, I went to my uncle's wedding...and missed many activities...

I came back at night...where the BBQ night(A tradition activity for 10th Petaling Scouts) was almost over...but they left some food for me =)
After that, they had patrol presentation... there were 4 patrols....a patrol is a group of participants in a team...patrols have leader,assistant leader,quartermaster(incharge of equipments and more),timekeeper and more...

Patrol presentation is where each patrol have to prepare songs, claps, cheers, logo, flags, and more...to present their patrol to everyone...to let others know about their patrol..(like introduction)..this activity is able to train scouts to be more creative and improve their public speaking...
Drama act...

Participants have to come up with a drama act to present....to improve creativity and performing skills....
The next day - last day....

Time to pack up...
After that, Footdrill competition...

Footdrill competition a.k.a(also known as) marching competition...where participants have to present their marching skills and get graded by judges(seniors)....
Patrol leaders have to march out and salute(hormat) to the judge(senior) and report(laporkan diri) information(patrol leader's name, amount of patrol members, and being ready and set to perform the task set by the judge) to the judge...
Participants marching...patrol by patrol...

Marching is able to train patience, discipline, synchronisation, and stamina....
Troop leader activity...

Patrol leader or assistant patrol leader of each patrol is said to be acted as a troop leader of a troop....

Seniors will question the acting-troop leader on how he/she would do for a troop...and being questioned with lots of no-answer type of questions..

This is to train participants to be able to control their emotions, tolerance(resist scoldings), think rationally, and also patience....
The "fierce" seniors.... =P
Group photo of organizers and participants...some were not there(went back or doing some other things)....
Weeeee~~ ^_^

Yu Hong : I can fly~

Quek : I am superman !

Lingesh : Yo...I am the boss (look at my body guards) =P

-The End-

My Uncle's Wedding (William Phan)

7th December 2008...my uncle's wedding....

I was at Survivor 08(Scout Camp) before my parents came to fetch me home to clean up and prepare to go to my uncle's wedding lunch...

The venue is a chinese restaurant...well..many chinese have their weddings at chinese restaurants...

The wedding car....decorated nicely...
The wedding cake...many layers.....well...that is usual for restaurant wedding...
Our first dish of the day...variety of food....this is a standard arrival of dish everytime you order set dishes from chinese restaurant...the first dish usually will be a plate with variety of food....
Second dish...yes...soup....many years ago it used to be shark fin soup...but nowadays, sharks became an endangered species....so the soup changes ingredient in it...like crab meat, vegetables or others....that is what you will get for a second dish in chinese restaurant(set meals)...

After the second dish...the dishes will arrive according to the ordered set except for the last dish - usually dessert...

The dish arrive according to the set meal choosed...you might get fish or any other dishes as a third dish and so on....
Next dish....prawns....

And then mixed vegetables...

Followed by "loh mai fan"...which is starchy rice? well I do not know what is it called in english..

The final dish.....dessert....mostly sweet food....which I do not want to consume so much - prevent diabetes....

Time for the bridegroom's family(bridegroom in black outfit) and the bride's family(bride in white dress) to go up the stage....where the bridegroom will yell out "Yam Sing" as long as he could......after yelling "Yam Sing"....everyone that attend the wedding will have to drink up their tea, water, wine, beer, or whatever drink they have on their glass....

End of the wedding...time to go home.... ^_^

-The End-