I’m back from Singapore. Unlike my last visit to the city state some months ago, I didn’t have too much chance to roam the city and take shots. Still, I managed to get a decent picture out of my latest trip:
This is an alley by Jalan Sultan. It doesn’t look too different from Kuala Lumpur.
For photos from my previous visit to Singapore, please go to [602] Of Singapore waterfront, [619] Of Singaporean old building and [612] Of Singapore’s pretty much…
This was taken some time last week from the 35th floor of the Tower 2, Petronas Twin Towers. The view looks slightly southeast. More to eastward rather than southward (tag).
Like the northeastern view, there aren’t too many structures here. The best parts of the city could be seen between the south and northwestward directions.
I’m unhappy with the photo quality. It was edited with some software and not Adobe Photoshop – the software that I’m using currently is inferior to Adobe Photoshop. I still unable able to access my Photoshop since my desktop has yet to be repaired.
p/s – Ann Coulter is in trouble yet again:
NEW YORK Well, Ann Coulter may be “liberal” in one respect, anyway. The New York Post reported Sunday that author/columnist Coulter “cribbed liberally in her latest book” and also in several of her syndicated columns, according to a plagiarism expert.
John Barrie, creator of the iThenticate plagiarism-probing system, claimed he found at least three examples of what he called “textbook plagiarism” in the new Coulter book “Godless” after he ran its text through the program.
He also discovered verbatim copying in Coulter’s weekly column, which is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers by Universal.
The headline in classic Post fashion: COPYCATTY COULTER PILFERS PROSE: PRO
After her ragheads remark not too long ago, I’m sure many conservatives are running away from Coulter. If they haven’t yet, they better be.
The Bangkok Post reported yesterday that southern Thai states of Satun and Pattani were covered with haze. From the sound of it, the haze is still there (tag):
Smog from forest fires in Indonesia has moved across the south now including Pattani on the Gulf of Thailand, Faisol Kasetkala, head of the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office said Tuesday.
In another report by Bangkok Post suggests that the states have already been experiencing haze since July 2 or earlier:
Satun – Thailand’s southern Andaman Sea coastal province of Satun on Sunday remained covered by a blanket of smog, believed to be caused by forest fires in nearby Indonesia.
The provincial public health authorities warned the public to suspend regular outdoor exercise to avoid excessive breathing of the toxins in the atmosphere.
Another report dated July 2 by Bangkok Post states that northern Malaysian states of Kedah and Perlis are suffering minor bout of haze too. And as you can see, Indonesia is the alleged culprit yet again.
As for Kuala Lumpur around 9:15 AM today, from the 35th floor of the Petronas Twin Towers, Tower 2:
I can’t really say for certain if that is really haze since approximately two weeks ago, it was like this:
On a fairly good day, it should be something like this:
Most probably, in the first photo, that is just local smog. I don’t want to see anything worse and I definitely hope that that is not a mere wishful thinking. Despite that, in 2005, I’ve said the haze will return. I had no reason to believe the governments of ASEAN were willing to do anything effective, especially when Indonesian government had proved to be very non-committal to the Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution of ASEAN. And so, here we are – possibly – again.
I hope, by the time haze hit Kuala Lumpur, I’d already be in Bangkok, Thailand.
Whatever it is, brace yourself!
p/s – a bad way to start the day. Italy defeated Germany to progress to the final match of the FIFA World Cup. Well, it’s going to be a boring game, that’s for sure.
pp/s – a victory for science:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA gave the shuttle Discovery a majestic Fourth of July send-off and said early signs showed the spacecraft was in good shape, despite once again being struck by the flying foam that has plagued the program.
The first-ever Independence Day manned launch came after two weather delays and over objections from those within NASA who argued for more fuel-tank repairs.
This is the first launch since the Columbia tragedy in 2003.
This is sad. It’s Friday evening, almost 10 PM and I’m still stuck at the 35th floor of one of the Petronas Twin Towers. Worse, Germany-Argentina match will start less than one hour from now.
Anyway, I still don’t have the luxury of time. As such, another photo. I’ve already posted pictures of the clock tower, the Overfloor and the Big Tree at the Malay College. Now, it’s the Big School (tag).
During my time, the Overfloor was painted white. Allegedly, the current colors are the original colors when the building was first erected in 1905.
No real blogging since I can’t find the time to do so. So, here, another photo from the Malay College that I snapped earlier (tag).
It’s fondly known as the Big Tree. Scientifically, it’s Samanea saman.In foreword written by Abdullah Ahmad in MCKK 1905 – 2005: Leadership But What’s Next? by Khasnor Johan, he wrote:
Whenever I look at the pictures of the Big School and the Big Tree, time seems to have stood still. There is always something about them; the school and tree are timeless and seem never to have grown old.
Never? Heh. Not literally.
I don’t have access to Photoshop right now since my desktop is messed up at the moment. So, I have limited ability to improve the picture digitally. That sucks in so many ways.