It has been a couple of months where I have travelled back and forth between Brussels and Amsterdam but have never taken the high speed train, Thalys. This time, I got to travel in first class. I took a quick picture of the lounge.
The journey took less than 2 hours and the train was full and many were travelling to Paris in the same train.
Apologies for the randomness but I thought it would be a nice quick post as I have not blog in ages.
It has been a while since I scout around the internet for free domain names without any ads. I was driven to do so recently for a development website that I was working on.
Well, I found the following extensions being available that is worth sharing:
.co.cc – I recommend this!
This is run by a Korean company and a quick search on the web seems to indicate that they are the largest provider of free domain names. Everyone is entitled to two free domain names for personal use. Commercial use is only free for the first year and requires a renewal fee of USD3.00/year. If you require more than 2 domain names, you can simply donate USD 10.00 via paypal and receive another 100 domain names to register. The discount increases with the donation you offer. There are selected premium or as they call it, top names which are available for a fee which ranges from USD 3.00 onwards per year. Visit their website to find out more.
A sample website with this domain name is PSDblowout.co.cc. Since it is selling graphics, it will obviously have to pay the renewal fee next year!
This extension is run by a company based in Czech Republic called the dotFree Group. This website offers you 5 free domain names and similarly to the above, you can register up to 150 domain names with a donation of USD 9.99. All domain names here are provided for free unlike the above competitor. I would recommend registering for two years in a row each time to avoid your domain being deleted.
There are also additional features such as SSL Certificates that you may purchase with your credits. You can earn credits through refferals, completing surveys or visiting websites.
A sample website that I have with this domain name is Auction4Newbies.cz.cc. This domain name will remain free for me and I have to do is keep renewing it.
One thing to note about .co.cz is that Facebook does not recognize it as a domain name. You will not be able to share the link or post your domain name on facebook for some odd reason. Co.CC on the other hand, does not have this issue.
.tk
I registered my first free domain name with this organisation, the website is Justdial.tk
Other free domain names.
.mp – For linking all your social network pages. My page is at bennyong.mp
.co.nr - Another popular provider but your account can be deleted if you do not login after a pre-defined period
uni.cc
vv.cc
cx.cc
co.tv
Last but not least, you pay for what you get. I am not sure what guarantees they offer and what will happen when they go bust or if they are planning to charge higher for the names in the future. If you are thinking long term and would really want to own your domain name directly, it is always better to get an establish domain name with a reputable provider.
Also, if you require hosting, always do consider http://www.hostonfire.com!
Enjoy the remaining of your weekend!
Can’t believe the year has passed. Was at Museumplein yesterday to usher in the new year. It just made me realise that I was celebrating Chinese New Year in four different cities in the pass four years. Amazing!
2010 has been an amazing year with uphill climbs and celebrations. There were moments when I thought I would not make it or came close to giving up! Well, all are valueable lessons learned and gained.
Now, I am not expecting 2011 to be any less. I am looking forward to every bit of it!
Till my next post, take care of yourself!
This was at my desk this morning. After weeks of being away in Amsterdam, it is a nice surprise.
It is done as part of a the launch of a new set of packaging and caught all office based staff by surprise.
If it is unclear, it is a beach towel from M&S with some candy tied with blue coloured straw. The cupcake had golden glitters on it. It was too sweet for my liking but did give me the sugar rush boost I needed.
The office also transformed the breakout area for summer with deck chairs on the balcony. I will spending more time there now next to the fridge for my iced cold coca-cola.
Should be a good start to summer!
Till my next post take care!
This is part of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) which is a campaign a to put a stop to the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create. At least that is what the website says. However, based on conversations that day, there were groups that were there to campaign against the dependency of petrol and also celebrating humanity.
London happens to be one of the major cities participating in this global event and I can see it growing in the upcoming years as there are many other UK cities participating. This years turnout was a success according to the press with thousands navigating through the streets of london and other major cities.
Other countries where such rides are organised includes Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, America, Canada and Hungary. If you are interested, check out their website as it may be occuring in your hometown.
Anyone with a bike can participate and you don’t have to bare all. Do what you are comfortable with as they have a Bare As You Dare policy. It is common for the participants to paint their body with messages.
As I was in the starting point of the event, I felt uncomfortable when everyone started to undress around me. A bit of a culture shock but it is always healthly to be out of your comfort zone once in a while. They all felt so confident, comfortable and did not mind people taking pictures and some even encouraged it. Look at the picture below, she draw attention to herself first.
I have to salute the participants for bearing it all. Not something that I am prepared to do. Some went all out with elaborate head gears, body paint and costumes.
If you need more info of this event, click here for the UK mini site.
As a conclusion, this is a surefire way to gather interests and spread a message. It would be things such as my blog post and word of mouth that would create the awareness of this campaign. As for will I change my ways after being there. I am proud to say I don’t use a car when I am in the UK and rely on public transport all the time. It is a different story when I am back in Malaysia occassionally 
. Well that’s all for this weekend. I will be away in Amsterdam for work the whole of next week. Take care!
It has been weeks since I ventured out during the weekend and I had many reasons to go to London, so I force myself out to visit a Thai Buddhist Temple in Wimbledon. Buddhapadipada Thai Temple is the first Thai Temple in the United Kingdom.
I got to know about this place from an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s show of best local restaurants competition. In one of the episodes, it was Thai food.
I did not take any pictures inside the main shrine as a sign of respect. The next time you are here, please pay close attention to the detailed murals on the walls and ceilings. You will see a Thai Airways flight and I believe Vincent Van Gogh.
The grounds boasts a meditation garden and also cabins to house classes.
I did not see any monks around as I was hoping to get some holy water blessing.
If you wish to visit this place, all you need to do is get yourself to Wimbledon Station which is one of the many last stops on the District Line. From there you can take bus 93 and alight at Parkside Avenue. It is a very short walk then to Callone Road where the temple is. There are quite a lot of signs.
There was a signal failure when I arrive and I have to alight at Wimbledon Park instead. It took me roughly 30 mins by foot from here.
Till my next post! Take care…
I am watching this in the comfort of my living room. My favourite act so far is from Turkey, a band called maNga.
Last year, I was watching this in Hamburg together with my colleagues and the year before in Southampton with me exchanging messages with Song Yia on msn judging the acts. This shows how fast time flies.
The Eurovision song contest is now in its 55th year! It was the platform that launched the career for Abba when they won for Sweden. Every year, European countries would be represented by a music act to battle for the crown. The winners are based on votes and you can’t vote for your home country. (That’s the rules!) The winning country gets to host the following years event. It is the largest live music event shown with over 120 million viewers.
This years highlight included a stage crasher during Spain’s performance which granted Spain another opportunity to perform again after the final 25th act. France and Germany had upbeat tunes while Iceland and Ireland had standing ovations.
The show’s most iconic part with almost a cult status is the results announcement section in the end. Each country eligible to vote in this event will have their mini slot announcing the results of their local vote. It is also interesting to see that neighbouring countries will often vote for each other. (eg. UK voting for Ireland). Will be interesting to see who will grab this year’s glory.
Being nostalgic again, the first time I ever I heard about Eurovision was when Ruslana of Ukraine won with the following upbeat tune in 2004. Still a good performance in my records.
Well, enough for this time while I continue watching the remainder of the show.
My lucky day, I won this gift basket in a lucky draw after successfully answering two questions correctly in an office competition! It was in conjunction with a new packaging launch. Yipee! Thought of sharing my luck and celebrating it with a blog post!
Two weeks ahead of the actual celebrations and I have lost count of the times I was fortunate to be here to witness the proceedings. However, this year was extra special as I followed the mini procession from Leicester Square into Chinatown and back.
If you are curios what this event is all about, here is the link to Wikipedia.
Here are some pics of the event worth sharing.
The Chariot
Main Banner
The Queue To Bath Baby Buddha
As my parents are in town, I decided to spend the night in London. What better way to make their visit memorable by watching one of West End’s many performances. I decided to go for Stomp which was a performance that I have always wanted to watch since I was in University.
Stomp is a show of rhythm, comedy and dance using everyday household items such as a box of matches, lighters, brooms, kitchen sink, tubes, pots and pans.
To show you what I mean, the below video is their opening act using brooms and I believe was extracted from their DVD.
One of the highlights was that the stage at the Ambassadors Theatre has a sign stating Penang Street. Penang is of course my hometown!
I highly recommend Stomp because it is easy to follow with no plot or heavy conversations. It made my evening!
Click here to find out more about Stomp.