Cameron Highlands

We set off early in the morning to meet at around 8.30am for breakfast, we took our time and ended up leaving nearer to 10am - off we went on the highway stopping off at Tapah services for some Baskin Robbins.

After that it was time to turn off and start the winding journey up the old road to Cameron Highlands! It's actually the first time I've been there, I've been meaning to go for ages but didn't have chance yet.

Cameron Highlands was founded by William Cameron, a government surveyor while on a mapping expedition in 1885. He discovered a plateau at an elevation of 1370-1700 meters above sea level and was so enamored by the wide area of gentle slopes and plateau land. Cameron’s name was bestowed upon the highland area.

It is crucial to enjoy the journey, not necessarily the place itself. Do remember that when you travel to Cameron Highlands (especially from Kuala Lumpur), you are able to admire the things you see out of your side window. Driving along the North-South Highway is pleasant and to an extent therapeutic. Sitting in a decent car certainly helps to enhance your ride. Here are some tips for you when you go on a road trip to Cameron Highlands (just the basic):

1. Have a meal – not too much, just right.

2. Visit the gents’ or ladies’ before you step into the car.

3. Have toilet breaks at the rest area if needed as you might not know when it might suddenly rain, or if there is a sudden traffic jam which could be for hours.

4. Have a bag in case you throw up in the car, from motion sickness.

5. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

6. As you drive through the winding roads, you need to look straight so you don’t get dizzy. You must stop reading or turning your head frequently.

7. Have a sweet in your mouth, it helps.

8. Take sips of water from time to time as you get dehydrated.

The people in Cameron Highlands usually drive Land Rover to cater for their crops. I caught sight of these beautiful flowers before we headed to a market near Equatorial hotel, Kea Farm. They sold so many strawberry items because Cameron Highlands is famous for its fresh strawberries.

However, I bought one week’s supply of vegetables. The vegetables looked really fresh and they were sold at around RM10 for 7 packets of vegetables. The market also sold a lot of key chains. Other souvenirs include t-shirts. Some other extraordinary plants like blue roses were sold, including color chrysanthemums (besides the usual yellow and white). Not forgetting the ever-famous, succulent and fresh, red strawberries – the icon of Cameron Highlands as well.

Boh Tea Plantation

It was a dangerous, steep and narrow road leading up to the Boh Tea Plantation where oncoming cars share the same one-lane road as you. We were really careful on the way up. It is best to keep horning your car and also have flash lights just in case, to let the cars from the opposite direction know that you’re going towards them. Bear in mind that it’s a winding road, so you may not see the oncoming cars so soon yet.

We stopped at the foot of the tea centre. I went to the toilet and when I came out, everyone disappeared. Perhaps all my friends had already walked up. So, I took a stroll while searching for them and I found a turkey behind the tea plant it very beautiful one in fact. It was a long way up, but it was really fun smelling the aroma of the tea leaves and nature at its best.

It was the end of our trip – although we had hoped for a colder weather (although I had a massive flu). It must be global warming. The weather in Cameron Highlands didn’t feel much different from on-ground Kuala Lumpur.

Mid-semester exmas

Mid-term exam getting nearer and nearer, every classmate they all seem like done their preparation. College life is really difference with secondary school life. When in secondary school, before examination teachers will give us a lot of notes, share out the questions and answers, and extra and extra point. What we need to is just memories it and will get a pretty good result.

In college it is totally difference, lecturers may not tell you what the points and what the standard answers. You will just given a notes, which chapters and so on, it is almost depends yourself how to search the answer and prepare it. Moreover, memories all the notes is not enough for facing college exam now, you must know well and try to understand it as well as you memories it and copy it as the notes in your answer sheets.

Library which is the most information collected at there, it provided many recourses and references. For prepare this exam I went to library every single days with classmates, finding some book which relate to exam subjects. Thus, you can find out some points to help u answer question and more accurate to support your answers. I will highlight the points or copy out easy to research it.

Otherwise, wed-side searching also is the way to helping you to prepare your exam and it is the biggest databases, sometimes library is also don’t have or less information, so u can just online and type out what question and synonyms ward, it will help you search out a lot of wed-site which have related your require wards.

Discuss with classmates also is the ways for prepare your exam. From discussion, you may found the answers which you are cannot search out from your classmate. Thus, through the discussion you will more get clearly and can memories it more easier on the question. If only do anything by yourself it is not enough, discuss can let your get more difference suggestion and opinion from you classmates.

Collect you information and straighten out it also importance for prepare exam. You must do it and it helping you easy to read and search. You will not be lost any points.

This mid-term exam is quite hard for me, do enough preparation just can face this exam and will not fail my exam.

Chinese Musical Instruments

Every person life cannot without music, especially me. Music is always around man, since ancient times such as China history they are using bamboo, different kind of wood, copper, animal skins and so on to create the musical instruments. China which had more than 13 million of people and more than fifty-six kinds of races as well, it is a huge country. Thus, due to those reasons they created a lots of difference kinds of musical instruments, every each instruments have it own characteristic and it might significance their culture as well.

Chinese musical instruments can be separated as “wind instruments”, “bowed string instruments”, “plucked string instruments” and “percussion instruments” four types. Wind instruments

Sheng

Sheng was came into use during the Yin Dynasty, the later period of the Shang Dynasty. A free brass reed is placed in the root of the instrument. It in soprano, alto, and tenor models, they have a great clearness of tone, and compensate for the lack of brass in tutti orchestration.

Bawu

Bawu, it look alike Di, with 8 holes in general, can produce 8 to 11 tones. Having been remade, it can produce two octaves and usually used by the Yi, Dai (Tai), Miao and Han nationalities distributed area of Yunnan. It sound is soft, apparent to be with nasal sound.

Di

It is the traditional Chinese flute. It’s the only one Chinese instrument just can played three keys, most players carry a chromatic set. It can have a membrane over an extra tone hole to give the characteristic rattle effect, although some compositions call for this to be omitted.

Suona

It has a nasal penetrating sound and comes in various sizes. When traditional Chinese wedding they will played it in front.

Bowed string instruments

Erhu

Er Hu, also known as Hu Chin, or Nan Hu, well-liked In the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty as well, is one of the most popular musical instruments played in the orchestra. Erhu has a small body and with a long neck. There are two strings, with the bow placed in between them. With a range of around three octaves, it sound quite same like the violin, but with a thinner tone due to the smaller resonating hall.

Gehu

It is a mixture of the cello and hu, it resonation covered with a single casing of boa skin, a bridge, a neck and four strings. Gehu sound is eloquent and resilient, but it is not alike cello.

Plucked string instruments

Pipa

It quite look alike the Spanish guitar, with long finger-nails being refined to pluck the strings. With its characteristic pear shape and four gut strings, many techniques and uses have developed, to the point where it may be considered a characteristic of Chinese music.

Liu Qin

Liu Qing is looks like a smaller version of the pipa and sounds like a mandolin.

Yang Qin

Yang qin is played with a pair of bamboo mallets. The metallic tone resembles the harpsichord, and the concert model has four octaves. It’s sound quite a like piano.

Ruan

Also known as the moon guitar, it comes in a variety of different sizes and pitches, and is fitted with four strings.

Percussion instruments

Like many other oriental musical ensembles, the classic Chinese orchestra uses a wide variety of percussion. Some examples are the Paigu, which is a set of seven, small, tuned drums, together with drums of all pitches and sizes. Used are the yunlo, quings, and the jingluo, a small gong used in Beijing opera. This last is recognizable for its characteristic rising tone. Also used are cymbals, gongs, bells and hand bells, wooden bells and hand clappers, claves and temple blocks.

Bells

Yun Luo

Pai gu

Sports

Swimming Sport

Swimming is a healthy activity that can be enjoyed by people of any age and ability. It offers a variety of health benefits and you can swim on your own or as part of a group workout.

It's hard to beat swimming when it comes to a sport that strengthens the body, smoothes the mind, regulates breathing, stimulates circulation and puts no stress on the joints - all in one. Unlike running or weight training, which concentrate on specific muscle groups, swimming benefits the upper body, torso and legs together and is one of the fastest ways to improve general strength, stamina and cardiovascular fitness.

Swimming is a very low impact exercise, making it ideal for recovery patients, the elderly and for pregnant woman. The provided weightlessness of the water greatly reduces stress on joints, virtually eliminating the potential of back, knee and other muscular injuries that are common in high impact activities such as running. The water pressure against the legs and arms is also beneficial to the circulatory system.

There have few type of swimming like Breast Stroke, Back Stroke, Butterfly, Freestyle and etc…

Few technical swimming tips for freestyle;

1) Swim with all of your body close to the surface of the water, keeping your hips and legs behind your shoulders. Imagine you are trying to swim through a narrow tube without touching the sides. A good way of doing this is to put your face in the water and keep your legs kicking all of the time.

2) Your arms provide the power for the stroke, so one arm should follow the other through the water and over the top. Try putting your hand into the water in front of your head and stretch it forwards as far as it will go, slicing it into the water with your thumb first - the less splash the better.

3) Bending your elbow and pushing your hand towards your feet, keeping it going until it reaches the top of your leg. Lift your arm out of the water and try to control it as it goes back to the starting point. Breathe regularly, try turn the head smoothly.

Water Polo Sport

The origins of water polo, however it is known that the sport originated in the rivers and lakes of mid-nineteenth century England as a water version of rugby. Early games used an inflated, rubber ball from India known as a "pulu”, which pronounced "polo" by the English. Both the ball and the game became known as water polo.

Water Polo is a team sport. You have to shoot a buoyant ball into a netted goal. The goals are rectangular with a wood, metal or plastic frame.

There are 6 people on a team and a goalie. You can have 6 subs. The teams have two different colored caps, White for one team, blue for the other, and red for goalies. The goalie can’t hang on the goal or on the side of the pool. The goalie can use two hands. The team members can only use one hand when handling the ball.

There are 2 referees, 2 goal judges, 2 time keepers, 2 minute breaks, and the game is divided into 4 periods, 7 minute each. Each goal is one point.

Melaka

During the holidays, my friend and I went to Melacca. The main purpose of the trip is to, surprisingly - eat. Secondary purpose includes visiting historical places. We left from Kuala Lumpur at 10.30am and we reached Melaka on 12.45am our first destination the hotel Puri.

Hotel Puri

We stayed at Hotel Puri at only RM138 net with breakfast. The Standard room is not bad, not as small as we thought. It comes with 2 Super Single beds. Room is new cause just renovated. Breakfast wise is good. Location is good as it’s located behind Jonker Street where the Weekend Pasar malam is.

We managed to check in at 12.45am and parked at Hotel Puri Car Park (their car park is locked with a gate so is quite safe), you have to inform the bell room with your confirmation from the receptionist so they can open the car park gate for you.

Day 1

After checking in, for lunch we walked few street away to eat the famous Chung Wah’s Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls, a popular chicken rice ball shop at Jonker Walk, not bad at only RM4.50 per plate. Their rice ball is nice too, all handmade. After that, we walked towards the Stadthuys Building for photo taking, along the way, we shop at Jonker Street shops and ate the famous Baba Cendol (Jonker Street) at only RM2.50 per bowl. Taste different cos they add Gula Melaka syrup instead of normal syrup. I prefer their Baba Ice kacang instead as I find their Cendol too much coconut cream. Next, went to Palawan shopping centre which is beside Stadthuys Building and walked back to hotel.

The first thing that struck me about this place was the old Church Buildings. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to rule Melacca, they took over from the Malays in 1511 and colonized the place for 130 years. Then the Dutch sailed down from Holland and kicked out the Portuguese and ruled for 154 years. The Church building above Christ Church Melaka was first built as a Dutch Reformed Church. Then came the British in 1824, and they kicked out the Dutch. They took over this Church Building and turned it into an Anglican Church.

St. Paul’s Church was first built by the Portuguese as a Catholic Church, on top of the hill overlooking the harbor in Malacca. The Dutch turned it into a Dutch Reformed Church, and then the British took it over, and stored their gun-powder in it. The Church is now only a ruin and reminded me of the famous old Church ruins in Macao, but not quite so beautiful!

In the evening, we walked to eat the famous Hainan’s satay (Sun May Hiong Satay House) only RM0.80 per stick and it very nice, especially the sauce. Next, we went to the famous Tandoori chicken and naan (the best in Malacca), located 2 lanes in front of Puri Hotel. We paid only RM12.80 for 2 lime juices, 1 cheese naan, 1 plain naan and one set of Tandoori Chicken.

We took a walk at Jonker Street Pasar Malam in the evening. A lot of stalls and quite crowded. Try not to bring pram or stroller if you have kids.

There is a river down the path that I was walking at and I admired the view. Just as I was daydreaming at how nice it would be to take a dip on this hot day. Taking a river tour by the boat is nice and exciting from the view to the river side. There got a lot beautiful lighting around the river side and the whole river tour journey it took about 1 hour.

Day 2

Next day we checked out at 11.00am and drove to stall nearby Holiday Inn Hotel for lunch. There Things are quite cheap there.

Overall, we enjoyed our trip very much. Ours first driving trip to Melaka. Food and shopping is so much cheaper than Kuala Lumpur. We will go there again.