Upcoming photo essays

My friend introduced me to the Lao Zi Temple, otherwise known as the Dragon Temple, as it is the longest man-made dragon in the world at a distance of 823 metres. Located some 13 km from Kuantan, we reached there in under half an hour. Look out for more pictures and an essay to come.

A run-down, deserted Taman Pertanian still offered our eyes some beautiful sights of nature despite the eerie silence and emptiness shrouding its borders.

A recent trip to the beach threw up a variety of interesting sea shells scattered across the shore, freshly washed up from the sea.

WIMBLEDON 2010 BEGINS

Number one seed and 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer was expecting an easier ride than that which he was given by Alejandro Falla in his first round match on centre court.

The Colombian, yet to win an ATP tour title of any description came out firing on all cylinders, his forehand cross-court to Federer's backhand proving a menace indeed. Federer didn't seem to have any answer and unbelievably the Swiss was broken once in each of the first two sets. At 4-4 in the third and with a 2-set lead, Falla was looking strong for an amazing upset, but Federer managed to break crucially to extend the match into a fourth set.

However, he got off to the worst possible start in the 4th by dropping serve in the opening game. Serve was held by both competitors until Falla found himself serving for the match at 5-4. At this point I was left hanging on to the very last strand of hope, shell-shocked at what was happening before my eyes.

But Federer sprang to life when it really mattered as Falla faltered on his chance to beat the living legend in the first round of Wimbledon. The set went to a tiebreak which The Great Man strolled through, 7-1. Federer completed a fighting comeback with a bagel! (A 6-0 scoreline).

We can never count out this man - especially at Wimbledon. Credit is due to Alejandro Falla for performing so well and almost, almost, recording a shock victory. But Federer is about more than just pretty tennis.



He is a fighter. GO ROG!!!

Father's Day

Firstly, I extend my best wishes to my father who is a perfect example of hard work which I desire to emulate. I hope he had a great Father's Day over in England.

Here in Malaysia, we were all out walking last week when my wife suddenly asked us to find small twigs and sticks which she mysteriously wanted to use to make something. So Gaz and I raked the field for small branches and stored them in the basket below Lauren's pushchair.

A few days before Father's Day I was presented with this:

A home made photo frame which didn't cost a penny. I was also treated to a Father's Day cake from Dora:

One proud daddy with his beautiful daughter!

Wild Boar Feast

The other night our neighbour Dora invited us over for a wild boar feast. It sounded interesting and so we couldn't refuse the offer. We prepared the rice and Dora took care of the meat. We were presented with a number of dishes of wild boar and once I got eating, it was delicious indeed.

I really enjoyed this dish...

...and this one

Fidelia tucked in to the wild boar bone soup and I thought those white carrots tasted just the same as the usual orange ones.

Gaz and I loved our meal; my brother reached his 3rd round of rice. We followed up the dinner with yellow watermelon and orange juice.

Starbucks Kuantan

I took my brother to Starbucks in East Coast Mall so he could update his ipod with the free wifi service there. We have been very interested in his ipod since he arrived, enjoying the beauty of touch-screen games. We also enjoyed a pretty nice hot chocolate with cream on top and a good browse through the newspapers.

Looked nice...tasted ok