My Life In Space @MSC Cybercentre

Around the same time last year I was awarded the incubator space at MSC Cybercentre in KL Sentral. This year the people at MDEC is kind enough to offer me another year contract. Just signed it a week ago with the prospect of getting a new funding for the incubatees who are creating original contents. This is one of the highlight of my life. The kind of moments that I like to take snapshots and put it in a picture frame to be remembered for many years to come.

Last year I took several shots of the incubator's interior with my handphone camera, Sony Ericsson W900i, a 2 megapixels resolution. The quality is good but not great for low light shots. Too much colour noises. So last December I bought a Nikon D40x, a 10 megapixels DSLR. Many of the shots that I took recently for this blog were taken by the new Nikon. So I decided to shoot some night scenes of KL Sentral giving the feel of my life at the incubator. Nearly every night working till morning at the incubator, feeling like living in space.

This is block 1B of Plaza Sentral where the incubator is located. It really look like a spaceship from this angle, cruising in space. It was shot at f/22 with exposure time of 3.6 seconds.

This is KL Sentral's train terminal. Many people got confused when I mentioned KL Sentral. Most would think that this is KL Sentral. KL Sentral is actually a development area, a city within a city with the train terminal as its centre piece. Trains from all over converge here, even the KLIA Express to the KL International Airport. The terminal is just next to Plaza Sentral where the incubator is. The two bulidings in the background is Le Meridian and Hilton. The idea is to make it convenient for overseas clients to drop by straight from the airport. There are some nice and expensive restaurants there. But there are many other affordable eating places at the train terminal and also at Sooka Sentral just beside me. Yes this workaholic need to eat in a nice restaurant sometime :). This was shot at f/11 with the exposure time of 2 seconds. You can tell the slow shutter speed by the streak of the train on the track.

This is the walkway that link Plaza Sentral and the train terminal. It is fully sheltered all the way. I can never get wet even when it pours. I could arrive at the airport all dry. Perhaps not just the airport, even the restaurants. At the side there are banners advertising new restaurants at Sooka Sentral. Well not all eat, there is also a big gym that I have just registered with. This place is getting lively during the day. But in the night I am back in my spaceship. I can hear Bowie singing....

"This is Ground Control to Major Tom. You've really made the grade. And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear. Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare.

This is Major Tom to Ground Control. I'm stepping through the door. And I'm floating in a most peculiar way. And the stars look very different today."

An Artist Among the Suits

The incubator at KL Sentral is finally launched today by the Minister of Science Technology and Innovations. After a year of occupancy humans finally heard about us. Humans in suits came in large numbers while this artist try to keep awake. Some of them thought this incubator is for some fancy high-tech stuff, the kind of Bill Gates would bless with his holy water. Sorry lady, you are in La La Land where life starts after midnight, we work barefoot and sleep in sleeping bags. But the goverment had spend millions for us and added another 2 million more today for our petty cash. Surely somebody is insane here.

Sister & A Couple Of Good Men

We had the main renovation finally completed last week. Shukur alhamdulillah we are blessed with this chance of having our own travel agency. With the support of a couple of good men who are with us because of our principles and not just because of money. May Allah bless us with His Rahmah and may it will be full of barakah. Insha Allah.
The lineup from left to right: Shahrul Asri, En Musa, me, Jelita and Sofia.

Here we are at our modest meeting room. It is a temporary setup. The area will be partitioned for my private office in the second phase of planning. The final meeting room will be shifted behind where there is another big area. Insha Allah.

En Musa and Shahrul discussing business with an associate of us. Could it be a multi-million dollar project or just quick and dirty? Million sound good but quick and dirty is not our way. May Allah protect us from such haram trades. I will make sure such thing don't come near the company. Alhamdulillah this meeting of no such nature.

Here is Jelita at front office doing all the marketing planning. She is actually multi-tasking, doing office work and taking care of Sofia at the same time. Sofia is actually by her side hidden from the camera.

Much of the search for resources used for the renovation were done using internet search engine and locating the items and contractors using the GPS tracking unit that I mentioned in my previous post. We work smart but play hard. Hey, its the year 2008.

JAZ Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd is located down south in Johor Bahru. We are strategically located at the gateway to Singapore - Malaysia. We will be expecting more JB-Singapore business. The company is a subsidiary of JAZ Multimedia Sdn Bhd located at MSC Cybercentre in Kuala Lumpur where it receives its financial support and information technology.

Hey There Lonely Girl

Here's my niece Sofia who just turned 3 month old recently. She's not ready to sit but got a big heart to see the world vertically. With her hero by her side I am sure she'll always be bold and never lonely.

Here's Eddie Holman singing for you girl:



Hey there lonely girl, lonely girl
Let me make your broken heart like new
Oh, my lonely girl, lonely girl
Don't you know this lonely boy loves you

Ever since he broke your heart you seem so lost
Each time you pass my way
How I long to take your hand
And say don't cry, I'll kiss your tears away
Hey there lonely girl, lonely girl
Let me make your broken heart like new
Oh my lonely girl, lonely girl
don't you know this lonely boy loves you .....

My First GPS - GARMIN nuvi 200

I had been planning to get a GPS unit to hook to my notebook for sometime. I heard of a Bluetooth unit by GARMIN. I went to Low Yat Plaza the other day and tried it out. There was a problem with the Bluetooth communication. My notebook crashed a couple of times. After trying it out for half an hour I finally gave up. Then I asked the sales person for a simple stand alone unit. He introduced me the GARMIN nuvi 200. It looks simple and compact just like a game device. But the price is not a game. It cost around RM1,100. A bit expensive for an entry level unit. It looks good though and solid and so I gave it a shot. Can't go wrong with a GARMIN product.

On the way home I tried it in the train. It works fine even inside a vehicle in the night. Though it still looks like a game device, the tracking is really accurate. I heard GARMIN has the best mapping system. Though it is a good device it still has problem acquiring the satellite around tall buildings and even dark stormy sky as most GPS unit do.

Besides the flat 2D view, it can also display in 3D. Personally I like the 2D view because I have a clearer picture of the things around me. Just like reading a conventional map. Unlike conventional map I can know exactly where I am. If I click on the car icon it will tell me my location in longitude and latitude. In time of emergency it is very useful. If you need to go to a certain location it will direct you there with a voice-prompted directions every step of the way. You can choose the options of the shortest or the fastest route.

The other thing that I like about a GPS unit like this is the Point of Interest tool. It will tell me places nearby like Food, Fuel, Shopping, Bank/ATM, Hospitals and many other POI. No more asking strangers where things are while the place or thing you are looking for is just around the corner.

It also has some handy tools for travellers like Calculator, Currency Converter, Unit Converter and World Clock. It even has a Picture Viewer where you can store photos and show it around. The photos can be transfered by a USB cable. New maps can also be transfered this way.

Here's a demo movie from GARMIN: http://www8.garmin.com/buzz/demos/nuvi200demo.jsp

Have Company Will Travel

This week I have been very busy renovating my new office down in JB. A travel company that I share with my sister. The guy beside me in the photo who is trying hard to be taller is my assistant Shahrul. He had been working very hard and deserves the limelight. We had done most of the painting and today we had stripped the floor for the new carpet.

This is the view from the reception area looking towards the window area which will be my room. The office location is just great that is beside the highway. A nice view to see everytime I come back from Kuala Lumpur. Looks like we have to work through the weekend to get the business running next week.

Rantauan's Eid Gathering at Malacca

Last Saturday the 27th October we had our Rantauan's Eid gathering at the town of Malacca. Usually every year we had separate gatherings in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to welcome home our members from overseas who are back for Eid. This year I had an idea to have it in Malacca, the historic place where once a popular destination for travellers from all over the world.

We stayed for a night in Hotel Seri Costa (http://www.hotelsericosta.com/home.htm). I got a good deal for the exclusive rooms even had an extra one. There we had a casual eid feast brought by our member Aisah from her home town nearby.

That's me and the rest sitting on 'tikar mengkuang' that was bought by our member eLva at the handicraft shops nearby, giving the touch of kampung life in a hotel. This is one of the most memorable and fun gathering we had. Not sure if I can top this. Just waiting for another crazy idea.