Geo-tagging and route-mapping in the Gold Coast

Before I left Malaysia I said I wanted to try out route-mapping in the Gold Coast with the help of the beta Sportstracker application. What I wanted to do was walk around the city, take some pictures, and have it recorded on a map so I could easily share some of that experience with you.

Click on the below picture to see the results:



Couple of notes I'd like to make here:
1. I turned on the GPS to get the initial lock and then for the most part of the rest of the trip, my N95 sat in my pocket. The magic is that with the initial lock, the application then uses the accelerometer to determine the direction and number of steps you took to 'map' the route. I did take it out two or three times again to get a re-lock, but as you can see from the route, the accelerometer was quite accurate.

2. I snapped pictures along the way and I think it's quite descriptive of what we did. Basically, this route was mapped when we to take a walk around to do some grocery shopping. Along the way, we passed some awesome sites and snapped a few pictures. There's another route that we took that I mapped with some pretty good pics as well. All the pictures snapped are compiled as media and geo-tagged to location by the Sportstracker application.

Overall, I had some fun doing this and it worked beautifully even without a Wi-Fi connection. Of course, the GPS took a little while to get the initial lock (about 4 minutes for me) without the help of A-GPS, but after that, the re-locks happened real quick. CNet's already predicted earlier this year that GPS-enabled cameras will be the next big thing and from my personal experience, they can't be far from wrong. What will rule, at the end of the day, is ease-of-use and the simplicity in getting the mass consumer to understand this new experience.

Okay, that's it for this update, I'm thinking of budget-travellers guide to Gold Coast as a future post but we'll see how that goes.

*For the sake of disclosure: I do work for Nokia as a consultant. However, the above opinions are purely my own, coming from the corner of my geek personality but probably influenced by my deep(er) knowledge of the technologies Nokia works on. Which often make me exclaim (cool!) anyway.

Back from Gold Coast

Just got back from the Gold Coast and am mucho sleepy, but I just wanted to let everyone know I'm back!

Yeah, the plane touched down at 3:10 p.m. on time, but a culmination of a very long queue at the immigration counters, slow transferring of baggage off the aeroplane and a long, long queue at the too-small duty free shop meant we only got back to KL about 6:30 p.m. (a whopping 3 and a half hours since we stepped off the plane!)

I read in today's Star about a story where AirAsia complained about them needing to move out of LCCT (at least partially) and I have to say I agree. With low airfares getting really popular, and an increase in volume of passengers, we need better facilities to cope.

Anyway, let's not sound to sour about the whole terminal issue, rather, here's a nice pic I snapped in Australia. And it's geo-tagged too:



More pictures to come later.

Off to the Gold Coast!

Dear readers,

Just dropping a note to tell you I'll be off to the Gold Coast, Australia with my wife for a long awaited second honeymoon kinda thing. This means I'm not entirely sure when I'll be posting again - it all depends if I can find some free Wi-Fi over in OZ.

Like now. Amazingly, our Low Cost Carrier Terminal has free Wi-Fi! So, I can share this parting picture with you.



At the very latest, this blog will resume usual service when I get back next week. I plan to do some really geeky stuff over at Australia like geo-tagging my routes and such so I'll blog about it as and when I can.

So, till the next post, have a bash!

Dear Mas, where's the plane?

The picture probably says it all.

It's past the fifth hour I've spent sitting in Kuching International Airport. I've tried various outlets to kill time - doing work, staring at too-expensive toys, eating KFC and sleeping on extremely uncomfortable chairs.

My neck now aches and I'm in a whingy mood. I'll only rant short to keep this blog from turning into a whinge-fest. And I promise to put something thoughtful up soon.

-start of rant-
What's with Malaysia Airlines and all it's broken down planes? For the fee customers pay, you should at least be able to keep your planes in running shape.

Add insult to the injury, hey... the Air Asia flight back to Kuala Lumpur just took off. On time.
-end of rant-

Getting on. Getting off. Going nowhere.

So we were supposed to take off at 10:05 a.m. (that’s what our boarding pass suggested), and as of time of writing at 11:41 a.m., I’m now still sitting in KLIA tip-tapping away on my Thinkpad with a thirst swelling at the back of my throat.

The view wasn't worth the wait.

We have just gotten off the plane; The Client, Libby and I.

More than an hour ago, we were all boarded and settled in on MH 2564 bound for Kuching. Yes, there were some problems with the plane and we boarded 15 minutes later than expected. Yes, I’d prefer that we waste 2 hours rather than crash land somewhere on the Pentas Sunda. But, could this have been done in a better way? Yes!

Just a suggestion for MAS in case you have people who monitor non-consequential blogs like mine. I think it would be good if you showed some token of remorse or at least appreciation for the inconvenience caused to your passengers by giving us some food and drink vouchers, or maybe some RM 20 in-flight shopping vouchers (good that it does us) or some other nice touch. Not a lot, but you know, the guy next to me missed an important meeting just because of the delay.

Addendum at the end a long day that seemed longer than it should have. 6:52 pm:

Dear MAS,

Also, please do at least have the decency to realize that when you shift a two-hour flight to 12 noon, that the meal on-board should be lunch – not a fancy croissant and some yoghurt. My stomach rumbles.

Random updates , technology speeds up my life

Update 1: I'm going to Brisbane



This happened in a whirl yesterday when wife SMSed me at about 9:30 a.m. in the morning and said, "AirAsia is having a free ticket giveaway and tickets to Brisbane are still available! QUICK!!! Tell me if you want to go?"

"Okay honey, I'll go call some friends and see if anyone wants to go."

Picking up the phone, I called a couple of buddies.... "You have three hours to make a decision before the tickets are all gone. Quick. Make the decision."

There was much flip-flopping in the decision-making, but in the end, two other friends joined in to make it a motley crew of 4 flyers to Brisbane. Calming down at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, I thought to myself, "Wow, that's the quickest trip I've planned." This morning, I still can't believe I'm going to Brisbane.

Technology's really accelerated our lives and sometimes, I'm not sure if our brains can make good decisions fast enough. Thanks to the magic of SMS, the Internet and Telegraphic Credit Card transactions, I've committed to go for a trip that didn't cross my mind even just 28 hours ago.

Things really happen fast, don't they?

Update 2: I snap a nice pic of Bukit Bintang at night

One more contribution to Soul of the Night. Guess where I had to stand to snap the pic below?

davidlian visits: Lookout Point - feat. Group Samuel

Two weeks ago, our church youth group (SAMUEL! Yeah!) went for an outing at this place called Lookout point. Snuggled somewhere off the road between Ulu Langat and Ampang, Lookout Point boasts an eco-resort, a couple of restaurants of varying quality, and a fantastic view of the city.

Just thought I'd share a couple of pics from our visit and point out yet another great "secret place" in Malaysia that many people still don't know about. Wondering if tourists are brought here on their buses?


As you can see, we were somewhere between the outskirts of Ampang and the road to Ulu Langat.


Ignore my poser friend, check out the view of the city. :)


The view at night is breathtaking. Really good.


My youth group - Samuel. Striking a pose.


We settled down to have some food at the cheapest joint there. I ordered Kam Heong fried rice.


Which I promptly regretted when I saw Yee Ling's Portuguese rice. More meat!


Of course, no one could beat Jonathan's Western Cuisine.


The nice, resortie-ish food complex. Got many restaurants to try.


The guys fooling around. Check out the boy-band album cover expressions.


Not to be out-done, the girls demanded a picture too.


And we all went home with some very full stomachs. Don't start the rumour, this isn't my stomach.

If you're looking for a place to go for a nice visit our outing, check out Lookout Point. Seriously. We went there for the first time and surprised ourselves with how much fun we had. Of course, you could join us anytime we have an outing or event again - we have these sort of things every Saturday (that's why I'm always busy every weekend, guys). Just drop me a line if you want to come along.

PS. If you're thinking of going to Lookout Point, I'd warn you to beware of the jam that starts at 8:30 p.m. or so when many, many couples come up to have a romantic dinner and view of the city. As the access road is single laned, you'll have hard time going down. But don't let that deter you anyway.

Thoughts on India

About 10 days ago I was in India for a company offsite which I returned from with a "Delhi Belly". Thought I'd get back and straight up to posting about India, but because of recurring lethargy and the sheer amount of work that had piled up whilst I was gone meant it was delayed until now. But good stuff is always worth the wait, right?

I think it's been said before that Delhi's a land of extremes, but I don't think you'd ever realise how extreme it is until you've set foot there. From landing in the Delhi International Airport, the bus ride to the hotel was perhap's the best was to tell the story: Stately old Buicks driving right next to sleek BMWs. Dirt roads giving way to tar-covered highways. Shanty towns neighbouring modern complexes.

You can see a grand old shopping complex like KLCC surrounded with armed guards situated right opposite a very,very poor settlement. By opposite, I mean, right across the road!


Traffic in india. Notice the all-kinds-of-transport.

And the traffic. If you thought Malaysian roads were hazardous (a generalisation, perhaps) then Delhi roads would be enough to make you mad. For starters:
1. Everyone drives as if they are in some terrible hurry trying to rush a relative to the hospital.
2. Drivers believe in the optimisation of space, thus cars are driving as close as they can to each other and every obscure angle, nook and cranny is filled with a part of someone elses car - e.g. the front right corner of the car's nose.
3. Nobody waits at roundabouts. It's a game of who dares wins.
4. Honk please! Seriously! Almost every car has that at its back end. The streets are filled with loud honking.


We stayed in a plush hotel. The Intercontinental Eros. It's a world of difference from what's outside the Hotel. That's my colleague Corina in the picture.


Meet Ashish, my room mate. He's smart and very intelligent. He also taught me how to dance like a Bollywood superstar.

The water's supposed to be unfit for drinking, but after talking to my Indian colleagues, i think it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Tap water is drinkable if you boil or filter it first - gee...that's just like Malaysia. The food, though... wow...if you thought the Indian food in Malaysia was spicy...wait till you check out what Delhi food is like! I must've had so much Tandoori that my stomach was flaming and paining by the time it was time to go home. And, I noticed (at the hotel at least) the eating utensils provided are usually fork and knife - even if you're eating rice. I had to request for a spoon on more than one occassion.


The Bahai Temple is one of the picturesque landmarks. You have to keep silent in the temple.

If you're thinking of visiting Delhi for the sights, then expect a very authentic historical and spiritual journey. In Delhi alone, I think I counted four or five spiritual sites including the Bahai Temple (one of Six around the world), a Muslim Spinarret and temples to other Indo religions.


The marketplaces are colourful. We went to this place called Janpath market on the second night.


Semi-precious stones are some of the best buys in India.


The streets of Delhi town. It's really a colourful place, full of culture and a unique ethnic identity you don't find in Malaysia.


America's most famous export has special burgers in India. Like the Chicken Aloo burger.

The shopping was quite the experience too and tourists should normally look out for cloth items (clothing, bags etc.) or semi-precious stones. I think I spent more than RM 300 on semi-precious stones for my mom and Lydia. But you have to bargain (goes without saying). I think a good benchmark is to get at least 50% off and be prepared to walk away. I'm told the bargaining threshholds for locals and foreigners are different, so if you're a foreigner, expect that you'll still be paying more than a local for what you buy.

Just to conclude this post, my regret was we didn't get to see the Taj Mahal on this trip as there weren't enough people signing up for the trip. Maybe one day I'll make another trip: Back to India!

Waiting to go to India

The airport makes me sleepy. Every time I go to KLIA, I realise I feel quite, quite tired. Wonder if it's some sort of psychological association problem thingy?

I'm now sitting right in KLIA in front of a sponsored Samsung TV screening old Astro movie re-runs. I'm trying to get KLIA Wi-Fi to work right, but for some wierd reason I can't get Firefox to work (web pages keep coming back with 404 errors). So now, I'm booting up on Internet Explorer for pretty much the first time ever on my office PC.

Then, Windows Live Messenger doesn't work either. And neither does my office VPN link - so I can't check my emails (other than with my N95 for those of you who are sure to point that out ... :))

I'm waiting to go to India for the first time ever. Everyone has given me pretty much a piece of advice:
1. Drink only bottled water or canned drinks.
2. Brush your teeth with bottled water.
3. Don't simply eat roadside food.
4. Check out the cheap cheap stones (i.e. Jewellery) in India.
5. Don't drink water from the tap.
6. Make sure you drink only bottled water.

Yeah, I got the message. Thanks! I'm going to make it a point to buy bottled water once I reach India. Hoping it doesn't cost a bomb.

We're training.... seriously

So we had our Text 100 training yesterday, and unlike Suan's training-to-the-death, I figured ours was pretty fun in comparison.

Okay, the location wasn'tthe best - Bukit Tinggi is a bit too wannabe for my liking - but hey, it's the content and the people that really matter right? We had a fantastic time learning (throught presentation) but the killer was going out for orienteering.

Here's some excerpts:

Bukit Tinggi has this French-Wannabe theme which I found to be a bit..er.. muak. (Malay for 'Overly- Satiated')

Guess what these icons represent? It took me a while. Maybe my IQ just not as high as I thought.

Local wildlife in their natural habitat abound in Bukit Tinggi - like this leaf insect.

One day, someone is gonna give me one of these for my Birthday present... (shameless hint)

Finally, picture with some people. We were all pretty happy to be going outdoors for orienteering.

Until the guide dumped us here...

Gave us a compass...

And told us to find our way out.

Of course, Lee did extremely well...I might say. :)

See more here.