Year end for most people is the best time for a quiet reflection on how the year has gone by. Like most people, 2011 was an eventful year and for me, it was filled with ups and downs.

Even though I am not the type of person that actually make up new year resolution at the beginning of every year, I did, however, make a list of 3 simple things to be completed by 2011. Sadly, so far only 1 has been accomplished. Looks like I got to move that 2 other tasks to 2012.

Nevertheless, hopefully by reflecting on several important events of 2011, maybe it is possible to connect the dots by looking backwards since it is impossible to connect the dots by looking forward, quote Steve Jobs.

Life and Death

The sudden passing of a good friend’s parent was truly shocking and sad. It reminded me that life is precious and my time in this world is limited. The chase for more material things will not bring true happiness. Instead, showing more compassion and caring towards people around me will lead more fulfillment in life. As per our wise Yoda teacher, “You must feel the force around you”.

Health

The only task that I am able to achieve for 2011 and darn proud of myself is the fact I started running and even signed up for not 1 but 4 marathons. Since young, I always admire marathon runners as they are physically fit and have the determine mindset to finish the run. For me, hopefully it is a beginning of a healthy lifestyle. Hey, age is catching up, no more young, so better don’t play-play with health.

Work

For 2011, I have the privilege to work with 4 great minds in terms of work and research. It is both rewarding and refreshing to observe and learn how great minds work.

Even though not something to shout about, the final output for 2011 was 8 International conference papers and 4 Journal papers. Looking forwards for 2012 for better results and output! *hint to 4 great minds*

Travel

2011 was a year filled with travel plans too. Visited Phoenix (USA), Bali (Indonesia), London, Paris and Iceland. Had the opportunities to captured some of the finest travel photos.

Notable travelled places – travelled to Apache Trail of Arizona, hiked Mount Batur of Bali, travelled to Eyjafjallajökull, the famous volcano of Iceland, Palace of Versailles, France and of course, the best of all, chance of a life time, witnessed with my own eyes, the wonderful natural beauty of Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights at Iceland.

As for 2012, I am really looking forwards for more great destinations and witness the natural beauty of our beloved planet earth. Yup, it is time to start planning. If you are interested, let’s go travel together!

2012

I am not really an optimistic person and not very often can I look back on a year and say, “Wow, that was an awesome year.” At the end of the day, I guess what really matters is to cherish all the happy and good moments and hope for the best. 2012 will be a better year.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2012! Have another great year ahead.

Remember,
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” – Albert Einstein

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2011, The Year it was…

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Planter Jim’s Thai and Malaysian Restaurant in Bangsar was established in 1997. The recent promotion by Groupon Malaysia, we got ourselves a four-course Thai fusion meal for two people for the price of half (RM45). The actual value of the meal is RM78 value which will inclusive of 16% service charge and Government tax of RM12.48. That will be total value of RM90.48.

Cozy restaurant

Young coconut water (RM10) not inclusive in the Groupon deal

Vietnamese spring rolls with fresh rice paper (RM15 value)

Meal consists of:

• Vietnamese spring rolls with fresh rice paper (RM15 value)
• Larb Kai (RM19 value)
• Prawn and pineapple curry (RM25 value)
• Stir-fried bean sprout (RM13 value)
• 2 bowls of steamed Thai fragrant rice (RM6 value)

Stir-fried bean sprout (RM13 value)

Prawn and pineapple curry (RM25 value)

Prawn and pineapple curry (RM25 value)

As it was our first Groupon dining experience, we found that overall the taste of the 4 dishes were quite alright. However, we do feel that the price is abit expensive for the types of dishes served. It would be nice if Tom Yam is included in the menu as well.

Address:
6-8, Jalan Telawi 2, 
Bangsar Baru,
59100, Kuala Lumpur, 
Wilayah Persekutuan 
Tel: 03- 2282 4084
Fax: 03-2282 2692
Business Hours: Opens from 12pm – 12am (Except Monday)
Pork Free: Yes
Taste: 
Value: 
GPS: 3.13264, 101.67185

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[Foods] Planter Jim’s Thai and Malaysian Restaurant @ Bangsar

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To all readers, Happy Chinese New Rabbit Year 2011. Here are some Rabbit Year Greetings “兔年”图片 that might be useful to you.

新年快乐!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

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Happy Chinese New Rabbit Year 2011

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I got to admit that I have more than one social networking sites. In fact, I have signed up with too many social networking sites and it is becoming too difficult for me to update all of them. Luckily, there is Pixelpipe. It is a content distribution gateway that allows users to publish text and upload photos, video and audio files once through Pixelpipe and have the content distributed across over 75 social networks, photo/video sites and blogs, and other online destinations. In another words, Pixelpipe is the one stop upload gateway to all your social networking sites.

Once you have registered with Pixelpipe, you can start adding in your social networking sites or pipes.

For every new social networking services added, you may need to key in the related username and password or simply authorize for Pixelpipe to upload directly.

To make things easy for you, Pixelpipe provides users with free tools to upload via your mobile, PC windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

Pixelpipe : One stop upload gateway to 75 social network sites.

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Pixelpipe : One stop upload gateway to 75 social network sites

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With Kodak Gallery you actually get UNLIMITED storage and UNLIMITED uploads.  However, there’s a catch … you need to order at least one print every 12 months.  So, there’s still no free lunch …

You can order prints from Kodak Gallery too, OBVIOUSLY!  The charges are reasonable, for example, a 4″x6″ print cost USD0.15 each.  However, there’s delivery charges and it increases with the number of prints ordered.  Delivery fees starts at UDS1.39 (excluding any taxes).

Unlike other photo sharing sites, Kodak Gallery only accepts JPEG formats, which is kinda limiting, especially when you are hoping to print high quality prints.

Ian Tan is a blogger that blogs about life, camera, photography and everything under the sun. You can find out more about him at his blog, Iantan dot net

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Kodak Gallery is giving away 20 free prints for new members

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PDF is a popular format for online documents. However, it is hard to edit pdf documents. Now you can merge multiple pdf documents into one for FREE. mergepdf.net allows you combine multiple PDF documents into a single one document.

Information about the merge process and notable limitations:

• Maximum number of input files is 10
• Individual file size limit is 5 MB
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It takes only two steps to merge pdf documents

1. Select two (or more) PDF files to be joined together by pressing “Pick files…”

2. Press the “Merge PDF!” button to upload and combine the selected documents!

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Merge multiple PDF documents into one for FREE

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OK this is a weird web service. Do you wish to keep a piece of memory what of what you did last weekend?. Now you can do that. However, you only can choose and keep up to the best FIVE memories. Nothing more than that!. This is what Memiary (memory + diary) is about. With Memiary, you can record up to five memories of your day and make them memorable forever.

According to Memiary website,

The story goes something like this: Sid yadav (the creator of Memiary) has a bad memory. He has trouble remembering events preceding the last five hours, let alone week, month, or year. Sid liked the idea of preserving and cataloguing memories of his day to day life – the most important and interesting moments, thoughts, events, and (mis)haps – to reminisce about it at a later date. Perhaps to show his grandkids. Or to think about the good ‘ol days. Or maybe simply to register in the history of time.

Signup up with Memiary.

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Memiary – Record five memories of your day

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Movie-making, short and long, online and on-screen, private and public, will be the most important communications process of the 21st century and its democratization is a massive business opportunity. With xtranormal’s revolutionary approach to movie-making that is built on an almost universally held skill—typing. You type something; xtranormal will turn it into a movie.

Movie making with xtranormal is pretty simple. Click on the Make Movie tab and the movie maker appears. You can change the set, actors, and background music. Start typing the dialogue for your actors. You can drag many actions directly into the text blocks such as camera angles, sound effects, facial expressions, and character animations.

Movies created from xtranormal is similar to any video stored in video sharing sites, e.g. Youtube, Google Videos, Yahoo videos etc. are all shareable and embedable into any websites. You can also upload your movies to your YouTube account.

Create your movie now with xtranormal.

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xtranormal : Create movies by typing

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Ever since Apple introduced the unique way of display named “Cover Flow”, it has been well received by many. Now there is a new visual search engine that is similar to cover flow. Searchme lets you see what you’re searching. As you start typing, categories appear that to your query. Choose a category, and you’ll see pictures of web pages that are related to your queries. With Searchme, you can review these pages quickly to find just the information you’re looking for.

With SearchMe, it is much easier for you to scroll through the results visually.

Now you can add Searchme to your list of search providers in Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7. Once added, you will have instant access to Searchme results right from your toolbar. Here’s how:

1. While you’re on the Searchme site, click on the little glowing arrow next to the the search box in the top right corner of your browser.
2. Select “Add Searchme Beta” from the list.
3. Start Searching!

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SearchMe – "Cover flow" style visual search engine

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It is Christmas, and it is present time. Now it is possible to get your early Christmas present in the form of Hulu private beta invites. In case you are wondering what is Hulu, it is the latest web service with the most comprehensive selection of premium programming across all genres and formats – television shows, feature films, clips, and more.

There are more than 10,000 private beta to be given away. Hurry up, it is on first come first serve basis. You can get your invites from these links. (*Hulu is only accessible for residents in the US, however if you are a registered user, learn how to watch Hulu shows outside of the US from this post)

• 2500 GigaOm Hulu Private Beta Invites Giveaway
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Merry Christmas and have fun viewing.

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10,000+ Hulu private beta invites to be given away

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