We managed to make it to 1-Utama on Saturday morning despite me feeling off color today. And boy, it was worth the effort. We came face to face with ASIMO (well, not exactly face to face, but few feet away).
The first show was at 11.30am. We took our places at about 10.55am. The crowd started to swell, and in the end it was about 300 people or so. Many came with families.
Malaysians shouldn’t let go of this opportunity to meet a real humanoid Robot. The ASIMO project started way back in 1986 until it evolved into the current design. You can read about ASIMO at Honda’s website. The amount of effort put in to make it walk properly, to able to hold things, to move as naturally as possible (but still looks like Popeye or Jar Jar Blinks to me!), just mind-bongling.
Parents should make use of this opportunity to bring their kids to meet ASIMO.
Below is a slideshow of photos taken. I took plenty of continuous shots with the D70:
I was supposed to attend the talk by Vinod Shekar (organised by the Minds association together with IGA UPM) today afternoon, but since Then was going, I thought better let others go since places was limited. I had met Vinod Shekar once, when he came to UTM for our Cultural Night, looong time ago. Anyway, good thing I didn’t book a seat because I was stuck in another programme. Sara would have been unhappy if people booked a seat and didn’t turn up since it was limited 🙂
I in fact, had an informative session today. Majlis Perbandaran Sepang (MPS) organised a Workshop on Local Agenda 21 for its JPPs (Jawatan kuasa Perwakilan Penduduk – Residents Representative Committee) and also to present letters of appoinment for the JPP members. For your info, Sepang district had 12 zones, but has been broken into 24 now after new government took over (FYI – 12 Malays, 7 Chinese and 5 Indian councillors in MPS). Each councillor in the MPS is in charge of one zone. To my amazement, I found that my zone has the biggest population among all! Guess road and transport planning will take precedence soon.
The function was held in Cyberjaya, and from the looks of it, the MPS need to improve on its event management. The function started 30 minutes late, and after people were seated, they were asked to sit according to gender. That is so PAS-like! One guy was quite upset that his front seat had to be given up and he later admitted he dozed off while seated at the far end.
Event management aside, it was quite an informative program. 3 papers were presented – but all 3 were non-Sepang based. The first is a Lee Li Shyan, from MPSJ, and the other two were reps from JPPs in Taman Datuk Harun and Kota Damansara Section 6 respectively. The first speaker gave a good account on what Local Agenda 21 is all about.
Local Agenda 21 is the outcome of the World Summit in Rio, Brazil in 1992. It has 21 principles in 40 chapters, which is supposed to create sustainable living and communities in cities. The workshop today was to create awareness among the residents representatives and also to educate us that residents also play a role in creating a city that is sustainable and liveable.
In the afternoon there was a discussion session among the participants, and I was in the 3rd group – talking about environmental issues. The guest person was a Dr Kalithasan from Global Environment Centre who gave very useful information.
The problem was, no one informed me that is a whole day event! I ended up stuck until 5pm.
What surprised me was the admission by the YDP of Sepang that this is the biggest crowd he has seen for a long time. He was very happy that the residents are showing concern and spending time to voice their opinions.
And voice out they did. I think the residents representatives were quite outspoken at times. Generally, most were happy with the change of government (or at least sounded like it) but clearly said that they don’t want to see the current government making same excuses or mistakes as before.
As for me, since I just joined this JPP, I was just a passive participant throughout the event. It was interesting to see and talk to the participants – getting their ideas, thoughts and expectations.
As for me, I am thinking of composting garbage as one activity which can be introduced in my housing area. Other than that, need to educate residents to be proactive in making complaints and monitoring their surroundings.
* Minds – Malaysian Indian Education Development Society
* IGA UPM – Indian Graduates Association of UPM
* MPS – Majlis Perbandaran Sepang (Sepang Municipal Council).
I was feeling a bit guilty for not attending any of Mindsblog gatherings so far due to busy schedule (and the fact that I’ll be the oldest fella around didn’t exactly motivate me). So, when the Mindsblog admin announced a photoshoot outing at Batu Caves, I gave my standard “will try to come if nothing else crops up” reply, but told myself I’ll be there.Latest update showed 11 people confirmed (minus myself), so I was hoping to meet many new faces. And I won’t be the oldest since Selian was coming too 🙂
Thus, on Saturday morning, managed to drag myself out of bed, settle dog-walking, garden watering, and a quick breakfast before speeding off to Batu Caves. Had to utilise my racing skills to reach Batu Caves at 9.13am (left at 8.36am, that means 37 mins from Puchong to Batu Caves).
I was ready to apologise for being late, but to my utter dissappointment no one was there! Immediately called the person in charge, who was on the way. Next person to arrive was Rames. I’ve seen his blog before, and he is good. As for me, hmm…like land and sky, if compare with him or Selian.
Anyway, managed to get some tips and advice from Rames, and we decided to start shooting away while waiting for others to arrive. The weather was cloudy and quite a number of tourists were milling around. We did not go up the stairs, but just took photos at ground level. The main attraction without a doubt were the pigeons and the monkeys. Oh ya, Lord Muruga’s golden statue as well.
I was tired by around 10.00am, and told Rames that we should take a break. By then, the organiser arrived – Amutha, who brought a guest, Parimala. We adjourned to Rani Restaurant. Being the ever-inquisitive (kepoh) person, I think I may have irritated the rest with many questions. Sorry guys 🙂
We resumed our activity at about 10.40am, and decided to go up the stairs into the main cave. Selian joined us halfway up the stairs. So, that’s 5 people already. We spent more than 1 hour in the cave taking shots. While up there, another two people turned up – Pushparaaja and Sundra (hope i got that correct). Up to 7 people now.
We came down at about 1pm. Took some group shots. The next activity was to enter the Kalai Kudam (Art Cave) but since I have other commitments (well, have to show I’m busy person ma!!!), I took leave.
Ok, that’s for the reporting part. Now the comments and opinions:
1. I think those who promised to come must inform the organiser if they can’t make at last minute. This will spare us from waiting unneccesarily. No point giving your name, but then go AWOL. Especially the models. 🙂
2. In future, a small tutorial/lecture/talk on photography concepts will be useful so that it will inspire bloggers to learn more about their camera. Nothing heavy, but some basic ideas and theories will suffice (err..are theories considered heavy?)
(update: Ronaldo scores. Man Utd 2-0 WBA). So, now you know what I’m doing at 2.00am.
3. Should structure the event so that we have a timeplan and focus. For example, 1 hour at ground level, 1 hour in cave, and so on. Will ensure better use of time.
Overall, I had a good time and met new friends. I liked Rames and his positive attitude. He is easy-going and willing to share his knowledge. Parimala was vivacious and bubbly (hehehe…i hope its the correct English word to use!), a welcome addition to the group. Didn’t really got a chance to talk to Pushparaaja and Sundra. Fret not, we shall meet again.
(update: Berbatov scores his first goal for Man Utd. 3-0 now).
Ok, I’m going off-tangent here. The main reason for the outing was to take PHOTOS, not chit-chatting with people. I’ve uploaded the pics at Picasa. I’m not into editing, so its WYSIWIS (What You See Is What I Shot). Images are JPG and resized from 700-800kb to 70-100kb. Originals are in RAW.
(update: Nani scores. Man Utd 4-0 WBA. Looks like the Big Four all scored at least 3 goals)
I was at IKEA (second visit in my life) yesterday – partly because no electricity for 10 hours at my area, and also because Then wanted to get some household stuff. Spent about 3 hours there. Took me 11 minutes to find a parking. So, you can imagine the crowd. The road was jammed from Persiaran Surian exit (via LDP). Where did all these people come from? Granted we have few buildings in the area – Cineleisure, Ikano, IKEA, Courts etc, but still so many people around. I got a headache just thinking about the crowd.
Now, this scene is similar in many shopping complexes in the city. If you assume that every visitor spends at least RM15 (just window shopping – food and parking), its still money being spent. But, many visitors don’t leave empty handed. I can guess that a trolley of goods will cost about RM100 – RM200 on average. So, are we earning enough? Or is it just the particular segment of society that is earning above the national average? Probably those staying in the affluent areas of Bandar Utama, PJ, Kelana Jaya, Damansara?
Cost of living is going up, but people still can spend.
was in taiping to attend a funeral yesterday. the deceased was MIC branch chairman, so some MIC people came. total about 150 people were there.
samy came at 1.30pm and stayed till the end at 3.30pm. just got lukewarm response, not many shook hands with him. btw, he also visited the deceased in hospital on sunday.
dr s.subra came at 2pm and parthiban (ex ijok state assemblyman) tagged along him. I wonder what he is doing for a living now. teacher job which paid about rm3500 (my estimate) is no more.
towards the end, local MIC people brought a case of a guy without proper identification to dr s.subra.
their presence honored the deceased.
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