Lobster Crossing the Tramway Track

As you may already know, Izwan went to Hong Kong last month and got me the Beijing Olympics 2008 magnets. But that wasn't the only magnets he bought me, there is this one too:

It just says "Hong Kong" there but I suspect it is actually the tramway towards The Peak in Hong Kong. In order to have that view in the background, one will have to be at The Peak... which gently reminded me of our HK trip in 2001 - Tasha was 6 months old and we celebrated Hari Raya Aidiladha there - no ketupat but hey hey, grilled salmon dinner!

Plus, if you check out this website of the Peak's Tramways, you will notice that the picture is similar!

See? Except that on the magnet, there is something that looks suspiciously like a LOBSTER ..... trying to cross the tramway track ! Hey, watch out! Lobster crosses the road!!

I think its hilarious how this lobster meets its death. Sorry, it's pathetic but when I pointed it out to Izwan and our children, everybody laughed out loud. Poor poor lobster! How the heck did it climb up all the way there? Funny lor how these magnets-making people drawing their stuff!

Where from: Hong Kong

When: 2008

Who: Izwan

Wow factor: #213

Izwan in his NY shirt in HK

Movie World

Dato' Muzaffirah Tun Ahmad Fairuz a.k.a. good ole Firah bought me some magnets from her recent trip to Gold Coast, Australia. One of them is this little cute tweety bird:

Where from: Gold Coast, Australia

Where now: Home

Who: Dato' Firah

When: 2008

Wow factor: #212

Wikipedia will tell you that Warner Bros. Movie World is a popular movie related theme park on the Gold Coast in Australia. It is owned and operated by Village Roadshow since the take over from Time Warner and is the only movie related park in Australia.

It opened on June 3, 1991.

The park contains various movie-themed rides and attractions ranging from motion simulators to roller coasters and slow river rides.

Movie World also features the only Scooby-doo film based indoor roller-coaster situated in the theme park's own studio lot. In addition, costumed character performers also patrol the park, allowing visitors the chance to take photos with them. These include Catwoman, Batman, Austin Powers and various Looney Tunes characters.

Minor street shows including skits and singing performances are also present. The All-Star Parade commences at 2.30 PM every day, and also showcases costumed characters alongside vehicles and movie-themed floats.

There are also a number of actual active film studios within the Movie World complex.

Back to Firah, the pic above is of the two of us together with our friends Shida, Aida & Yaya during the all-birthdays-lumped-in-one lunch we had earlier this year.

Braveheart

This magnet is a mini Wallace Monument all the way from Scotland. Remember Braveheart? Probably one of the best movies ever made.

The monument commemorates William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish hero. All this info was obtained from Wikipedia. The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a tower standing on the summit of Abbey Craig, a hilltop near Stirling in Scotland.

The tower was constructed following a fundraising campaign which accompanied a resurgence of Scottish national identity in the 19th century. In addition to public subscription, it was partially funded by contributions from a number of foreign donors, including Italian national leader Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Completed in 1869 to the designs of architect John Thomas Rochead, the monument is a 220 foot sandstone tower, built in the Victorian Gothic style. It stands on the Abbey Craig, a volcanic crag above Cambuskenneth Abbey, from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of English king Edward I, just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

A number of artifacts believed to belong to Wallace are on display inside the monument, including the Wallace Sword, a 5 foot 6 inch-long claymore.

This magnet was a gift from Nik Yurni (pic below, blue oval) which she bought for me during her trip earlier this year to Scotland.

Where from: Scotland

Where now: Home. Hafiz likes to play with it. Good thing that the magnet is very sturdy.

Who: Nik Yurni Nik Mustapha of Nottingham

When: 2008

Wow factor: #211

Hard Rocking Bali

Here are some hard rocking guitars from Bali. I have several of them, and after dishing our a few as souvenirs, I still have three left. I already have in mind that one of them is to be given to a friend who'll be coming over for buka puasa at my house next weekend, insya Allah, if all goes well.
Here is a picture of my husband and our children in front of the giant guitar at the Bali Hard Rock Hotel. I am pretty sure we've taken similar photo during our first trip to Las Vegas in 1999.

We thoroughly enjoyed the little Bali break. A respite (the word of the day from yourdictionary.com yesterday) amidst tons of work.

Where from: Bali

When: 2008

Who: Yours truly

Where now: Home

Wow factor: #209 and #210. I know there are three altogether but since I've already decided to give out one of them.

San Francisco and it's hilly geographical landscape are quite famous for the tramcars. This is an excellent picture of a tramcar I got from here.



Izwan stopped briefly in SF on his way to Houston earlier this year and he amanged to get some fridge magnets for me. It's a really cool one:



According to Tim Ball, who takes tons of pictures - including of SF trams, "You really don't appreciate how hilly San Fransisco is. A trip on one of the trams can bea nervy experience as you pray that the brakes work."

Here's a close up of the magnet's tramcar. As the pic on the magnet depicted, that is the tram going uphill. Imagine it going downhill!

Where from: San Francisco
When: 2008
Who: Izwan Ismail
Where now: Home
Wow factor: #208

Whoop Dee Doo

On 8th September 2008, there's a whooping 80 unique visitors to the blog. Wow.

William the Conquerer

Another excellent piece of magnet, compliments from Doodlemom. This is Lincoln Castle from Lincolnshire. It is made from steel and quite heavy for its size. More importantly, one have to go there and get it (beli online tak main la, ok?).

And your history lesson for today: By Norman times, Lincoln was the third city of the realm in prosperity and importance. (Norman times= Norman conquest era).

Anyways, Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. It was in 1068, to be exact. Two years after the Battle of Hastings.

William the Conquerer a.k.a. William I is the fella who ordered Domesday Book, the first ever record of the great survey of England completed in 1086. The Domesday Book is also known as Book of Winchester).

He was also French - was Duke of Normandy before he decided to invade England. Before the historical Norman conquest stuff, he was known as William the Bastard, as he is, the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificient (a.k.a. Robert the Devil) but lucky him, he was the only son and thus the heir to Normandy.

Tak percaya ke? Do a wikipedia research :-D

Back to the castle, for 900 years the castle was used as a court and prison with many being executed on the ramparts.

Many original features still remain and the wall walks provide visitors with magnificent views of the Cathedral, the City of Lincoln and the surrounding countryside.

Lincoln Castle is situated in the North/ Historic centre of Lincoln. Info is from here.

Where from: Lincolnshire, Newland, Lincoln

When: 2008

Who: Nik Yurni

Where now: Home

Wow factor: #207

Shake Shake Shakespeare

Nik Yurni went to Stratford-upon-Avon and bought this guy for me:


Don't you think he's familiar? Well, the title to this blog entry is a dead give-away, anyway :-)

Yes, that the genius in the form of William Sheakespeare (1564 - 1616) who wrote a total of 37 plays in his lifetime and his plays are thought to be the finest ever written in any language.

William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon in a house in Henley Street. This is preserved intact. His mother, Mary Arden, was one of the daughters of Robert Arden, a yeoman farmer of Wilmcote: his father, John Shakespeare, was a glover and wool dealer of good standing who held the office of Bailiff of the Borough in 1568.

From the age of seven to about 14, he attended Stratford Grammar School receiving an excellent well rounded education.

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At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who was seven years his senior and three months pregnant. She was of 'yeoman' stock - her family owned a farm one mile west of Stratford in Shottery.

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He endured her until he could stand it no longer and fled to London to become an actor. .

He then became actor-manager and part-owner in the Blackfriars and afterwards the Globe Theatres. He was a first-rate actor, but it is as a writer of plays that he has achieved lasting world-wide fame.

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Shakespeare's plays vary in type; historical romances, light, fantastic comedies, some are tragedies, all including the comical and the farcical.

He was a shrewd business man, amassing quite a fortune in his time. He returned to Stratford for his latter years where he died at the age of 52 and now lies at rest in his special grave at Holy Trinity Church.

This magnet is now one of my favourite. As it has dangling feet, I choose to put it at the office but I think I'll be bringing it home one of these days. I think I stare and appreciate them better at home hehe.

Where from: Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK
Who: Nik Yurni
When: 2008
Where now: Office
Number: #206

Yeah, I too can't believe I have over 200 of these precious little things!

Hard Bodied Texan

This one is really cute. Its' all McConaughey and then some. Yes, yes, imagine him and his slang and imagine him saying all these:

Haha... turun saham pakcik tu, despite the 6 pack abs!! Sexy no more!

Many thanks for our neighbour Zaki for this magnet. I'm just not sure why I decide to kutuk Matthew McConaughey - maybe because he's not that good looking but bloody attractive? Yeah, now that the world has passed on Brad Pitt.

Where from : Houston, Texas

Who: Zaki

When : 2008 - pretty new, this one.

Where now: At home. resting against the hard bodied fridge.

Count me in, baby: 205.

London Landmarks

Izwan bought this magnet cum room thermometer on his way home from Ireland. And Mrs. Izwan was very very pleased.

There are several landmarks you can see from the magnet, including London Eye. When Izwan and I went to London for our honeymoon (second?) way back in 1998, the Eye was something in the distant future - but we did get to see the other places.

Where from: London, England

Who: Izwan Ismail

When: 2006 - November.

Where now: Home

Let's have the sentence that is making others jealous:

This is magnet number 204.

Starry Starry Street

Oh one more fridge magnet in celebration of the famous long street with stars all over the pedestrian's path. Yes, equals to be walked on, spitted on and some parts, unfortunately, wee-weed on.

(took this pic from the abovementioned website). Been to the place myself, the posh part is near Mann Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater and perhaps 50 meters to the buildings' left and right. If you go a bit further.... hmm.. homeless lying around, sleeping, wasted.
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But if you do go to LA, it is definitely not complete if this place is not visited!
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Where from: Hollywood, Los Angeles

Who: Shahrul Mazli, my husband's brother in law.

When: 2008

Where now: My office

Number: 203

That's Shahrul on the right with his son Fitri (my nephew, the boy in blue). Above picture was taken few nights ago at my house where husband's siblings + their spouses + children & my MIL came for iftar.

Winter Sonata

Hello! Here's a happy couple all the way from Korea:



They say, when you go to Korea, these are the places that one must visit:

(1) Jogyesa Temple - large and beautiful temple. If you have time do half day temple stays where you learn about the life and live it a tiny bit. "You'll never forget the four bowl lunch."

(2) Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung - Temples surrounding the backpacker hostel are pretty good.

(3) Tapgol Park - small, peacful park containing an ancient marble pagoda, protected by a large glass case.

(4) Seoul Tower - fantastic views of the city, especially at night. You can catch a cable car up to to the base of the tower, or a bus from Chung-muro subway stop.

(5) Namdaemun/Sungnyemun - the south gate, National Treasure number 1 and stunning.

(6) Gyeongbokgung - the main palace in the centre of Seoul. Take a few hours to wander round and look at the gardens and buildings.

(7) The Hammering Man - a bizarre huge moving statue close to the museum of history.

(8) Nanta - a cooking/ taiko performance which is just insane. Most hotels have information leaflets about it.

This couple were purchased with the other pair in September 2004 when Izwan went to Busan for an assignment.

Where from: Busan, Korea

Who: Izwan

When: 2004

Where now: Home

Number: #201 + #202

Fridge Magnet Collector

Way back on 31 March 2008, Tech N U, the IT pullout of New Straits Times newspaper, published a story about yours truly on my craze over fridge magnets. I am a collector of those cute things, especially when the magnet features the name of the country/state/town that it represents. Here is what how the story looks:

Well, way back in March, updating the blog every three or four days was a statement of fact. But after this feature was published, that blog took a backseat and I have not updated it for a long while - more than a month now. But that's not too bad, right, since I have 1501 who have visited this blog - compared to only a handful who read it when I was actively updating it - heheh

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I'll post a pic on how my fridge looks like now; soon. In fact, I'll try to pudate this blog soon, with more pics and stories about my magnets. Oh, you may ask - why did it take me so long to blog about this '15 minutes of glamour'? Kita segan la, wak!!