Heroes & Friends

Twenty two years ago, in 1988; Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband.

Her happiness was crushed when she was told she will have to pay $103.00 surcharge if she wanted to bring both her suitcases to Norway!

Mary had no money. Her new husband had traveled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.

As Mary stood there, in front of the counter; with tears streaming down her face, a tall man whom she never seen before said; "That's okay, I will pay for her."

That man was Barack Obama.

Mary's hero became the first black President of the United States!

Fast rewind 22 years, 1988; Singapore International Airport, yours truly and family with THIRTEEN pieces of luggage; checking in at economy, Air New Zealand. We are migrating lock stock and barrel, from Penang to Wellington, New Zealand.

NZMS Celebrates 21st

NZMS, the New Zealand Malaysian Society turn 21st last week.

To celebrate the occasion, members were "invited" (after paying $35 / head) to attend the function at the Manor Park Golf Club in Lower Hutt.

Saturday, 5 pm; I thought we head off early, since I volunteered to take some pictures for them. Just my Malaysian luck that the panel beater's courtesy car, a "Honda U.S. Wagon" failed to start!

With a car model named like that, what did I expect?!

Too late to call AA, I was suppose to be there at 6 pm! I ring my neighbor, in a panic; my good neighbor Diana calm me down and said Alex will take us there! A friend in need, indeed!

At 5.15 pm we were whooshing our way to Manor Park in Alex's spaceship like Toyota Prius :) Thank you Alex and Diana!

Now back to the celebration...

RED NOSE Day Is Back!

It has been been 13 years since Kiwis have been spotted with red noses!!

But according to TVNZ:

"Red Nose Day is back today, after a long break to raise $1 million for research into life-threatening childhood diseases.
Cure Kids, once known as the Child Health Research Foundation, said a Red Nose day had not been held for 13 years.
Andrea Birtwistle, from Cure Kids, said that the foundation started 30 years ago and had invested $25m in medical research which had helped save hundreds of young lives and improved the quality of life for thousands, she said.
Red nose paraphernalia was on sale at all Shell service stations, Take Note and Paper Plus shops and a street collection would be held today."

Pic Used WITHOUT Permission!

Last night I received a "Needing Your Knowledge" mail from Martin Smith, a colleague and friend:

"Please take a look at this thread from a site from my home town, ( Southport ).
If you could syn up & give your advice, it would be cool!
All to do with a picture placed on the net then being used by a 3rd party without permission.
My name on this site is Smudge1 so you can see what I have said."

It seems a nice action picture of a skier in mid air, taken by Martin's friend (who call himself Greenlander) was the subject of the dispute.

The action picture of a skier shot by Greenlander.

Déjà vu - LOTR Parade

What prompt me to re post "LOTR Parade in Wellington"... a short chat with our daughter this morning...

11:11 Ming-N: hey ya...just wondering, did you do a blog post on the lord of the rings premiere?

11:13 me: I did in the old blog that was attached to Jeff Ooi's ScreenShot, that site was hacked and completely gone! Why?

Ming-N: ahh... shame...Ashley (new guy) is a huge LOTR fan

was going to show him the picsare they online anywhere?

me: May be I should do a deja vu piece :)

11:14 I am sure it will be highly popular :)

11:15 Ming-N: definitely! especially with The Hobbit starting filming next Feb11:16 me: That is a good idea! I will, soon...

So to Ashley who recently moved log stock and barrel from England and all the LOTR fans, here it is again!

Most of the photos below were NOT in the original post, so please enjoy ;)

WELLY Thru My Eyes!

WELLY, just in case you don't know; is a nickname for the city of Wellington, New Zealand which has been named the "Coolest Little Capital In The World" by traveler's bible Lonely Planet!

Some of my friends in Malaysia has requested that I post more photos of this cool city and area around it, here they are!

A luxurious cruise ship from Princess Cruises leaving Wellington Harbour after a short visit.

Wellington, the COOLEST LITTLE CAPITAL!

Wellington, New Zealand; has been named the "Coolest Little Capital" in the world by traveler's bible Lonely Planet!

This is the first time a New Zealand city has made it into the annual Best in Travel, a publication on world's best trends, destinations, journeys and experiences according to Lonely Planet.

Lonely Planet has named where we are, (yes, we set up home here!) the 4th Best City in which to travel, behind New York, Tangier and Tel Aviv.

Eat yer heart out, London and Singapore ;)

According to Positively Wellington Tourism chief executive David Perks...

"To have Lonely Planet – a global brand respected for frank opinions and having its finger on the pulse – come out and refer to Wellington as the `coolest little capital in the world' and among the top 10 cities you must visit for 2011 is quite simply incredible."

Wellington sunset from Mt Victoria lookout.