Earthquake resistance buildings in New Zealand

28 Feb 2011 I am sure many of us who are planning to travel in New Zealand, are frightened now by the 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck on Christchurch in February 2011. We all feel sad and worried to see the number of death is increasing to over 100.

Look into the link below and under the "Majar Earthquakes", you can have the idea on the earthquake history in New Zealand, along with their fatalities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_New_Zealand

Below is another chart showing the risk of earthquake at different areas.
http://blog.teara.govt.nz/2011/02/24/wellington-christchurchs-earthquake-risk/

Some of you must be wondering if the buildings there are well designed and equiped to resist for the ground shaking. Some of you even started to blame the government for the earthquake in Christchurch which has taken more than 100 lives.

Well, I do believe many of the buildings are earthquake resistant, if not all. Otherwise, the number of death would have been even higher. To proof this, I did some research and below are some information I found.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/earthquakes/4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_engineering

"City lifelines – water, sewerage and drains, gas, electricity, telecommunications and transport networks – are also threatened by earthquakes. Lifeline engineering aims at reducing both the damage and the time needed to restore services."

For those who have lost their lives, please rest in peace. For those who were injured, please be strong to get through the suffer and pain. For their family members, please take good care.

For those who have intention to visit New Zealand, take things as they come.

你的心声

28 Feb 2011

原谅无情的我，烦着无助的你。
其实我看穿你的心，也听破你的呼吸。
就在我追求梦想的同时，你只祈求我出入平安。
正当我无忧无虑的身在外头，你却无时无刻的在家掂挂我。

我何尝不是盼望一切顺利，但是既来之，则安之。
开始学习不要把自己变成一位预言家，预测未必发生的事情。
与其费神胡思乱想，不如集中精神，做好充分准备，尽我所能安排妥当，处理危机。

我答应你，答应大家，答应自己会爱惜和保护自己，带着一箩箩的经验与大家分享。

New Zealand - Flight

26 February 2011

In Nov/Dec last year, Airasia launched direct flights to Christchurch, New Zealand for the first time. It is definitely a good news to all of us who are going to New Zealand as we can have affordable flight to our destination now. I did not managed to get the lowest fare (MYR222 including baggage), but I am satisfied enough to get a one-way flight at the price of MYR355 per person, excluding the charge for baggage and food.

Our initial plan was to stay a couple of days in Christchurch after we touched down. We could take the opportunity to open an IRD account, bank account, and look for jobs before we decided which city to go next. Due to the earthquake last week, we have finally changed our mind to directly move to Wellington since New Zealand Ariline is giving great promotion now. It is even cheaper than taking the ferry to cross the strait from Piton to Wellington. At first, we had struggles to choose whether to go Auckland, or Wellington.

pic: To Auckland

pic: To Wellington

As you can see from the table above, the pricing for Auckland and Wellington is more or less the same. Auckland is situated at the top of north island and Wellington is located at the bottom of north island. Most of the job opportunities are concentrated at the middle of north island, such as Hastings. Whichever we go, we would need to travel to the middle. The differences are only the flight's departure time, the duration, and of course your personal preferences.

In order to save the time and transportation to go back and forth between the airport and the hostel in Christchurch, I finally proposed to go Wellington as there are flight to there on the same day we would arrive in Christchurch. And each of us was only charged NZD81, giving us the flexibility to choose the seats (subjected to availability) and change the flight until one day before our departure day.

This is our flight details......for only NZD81 per person including a 23kg checked-in baggage allowance.

Thu 28 Apr 8:45 PM Christchurch Thu 28 Apr 9:30 PM Wellington

Please read more in below link if you think 23kg is not enough.
http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/excess-baggage-nz

For booking, please go here.

https://flightbookings.airnewzealand.co.nz/isbook_en_NZ/book/initSelectFlights.do

http://www.interislander.co.nz/Default.aspx

My Dancing Life

1226 February 2011

I have been taking part in culture dance since I was 9. I quit in my 20's and after that, I learnt hip hop and various modern dances, occasionally. I was originally from Chin Woo/精武, but I have switched to Pooi Lam Old Students' Association when I was 14, after being captivated by one of their well arranged and performed dance. I was greatly happy that I was given a chance to play a role in this dance performance not long after joining this association. I supposed to have a recording for it, but unfortunately it could not be played back as it was corrupted. It is my favourite dance among all, followed by the dance that you can see in the first video below.

The name of this dance is 庆典, meaning celebration. Unfortunately we did not practise well enough and it turned out to be disappointing.

During my last performance in our association's anniversary dinner in 2006, I was asked by my coach to compose a dance choreography myself, where I would be the only dancer in this. Oh my God, I can dance, I can teach, but not compose!!!! Still, I felt proud to be given such opportunity and finally I went to buy some vcds with winning dances from China, and stole some ideas from them :) And below was my creation. I understand there are a lot of room for improvement, but I was only given a month of time.

Lately, I involved myself in belly dance, MTV jazz, and hip hop. If you are interested, please see this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1-8t9AhMOY

祸不单行

12 Feb 2011

脆弱的心灵终于被一连串不幸的事而打败了。这次真的在与好友通电时大哭出来，沉默了数分钟，才能正常说话，再次告诉她另外一个坏消息，钱包在回怡保的路途上遗失了。原来人在有需要时，真的要哭出来，不要憋着。哭够了，心也就通了。

这次绝对不是为损失而哭。真正的原因是我感到心寒，没有预料到不幸的事这么快又降临了。日子从2010下半年至今依然那么"精彩"。我虽然不是个迷信的人，但也开始担心今年的运测会一一实现。没错，当中有些事，我是应该负上责任，但也得天时地利人和三大元素配合到，它们才能一连二，三接二顺利地发生。从2010下半年开始，

1. 钱包被偷
2. 情场失意
3. 交通意外
4. 车子被偷
5. 钱包遗失

当时的我，觉得自己掉到谷底，很疲惫，没有勇气继续与恶运熬下去了，只希望未来的路走。不要求多了。只要出入平安，做事顺利就好了。不求大富大贵，也不望升职加薪。

有缘千里来相会，无缘对面不相逢

人与人之间一旦建立了感情，管它是友情，爱情，还是亲情，离别都是痛苦。因为你曾经付出的时间，金钱，关心，和爱，在此时此刻，感觉好像只能换取回忆，却失去与对方继续相处的机会。

亲情反而是例外，因为不管你是多么恨家人，你们依然被血缘牢笼着。它虽然也有一点抽象，但是里面的脱氧核糖核酸，却能够实实在在地证实彼此的关系。

对于朋友和爱人，离别后，剩下的只有回忆。离别时，通常都会互相安慰对方，有机会再见。要是往另外一方面去想，数年后在路上碰到他们，不打招呼的也多不胜数，要怪，也只能埋怨之间少了份缘。俗语说，有缘千里来相会，无缘对面不相逢。

在未来的这一年，离别的机会将会是很多，说再见的机会也一样多。我衷心希望我们都能说到做到，大家都会再见面。

All good things come to an end

9 February 2011

I have finally tendered my resignation today. It was a tough process to go through. The nervousness was huge as if I was waiting for a job interview. It was my first resignation ever in my life.

Despite the fast and strong heart beating, I booked a conference room and requested from my supervisor for a short discussion. He came in and I saw some curiousity on his face, wondering what I was going to discuss.

Right after he sat down, I tendered my resignation letter and told him that I am leaving the country soon. As expected, I was asked a series of questions : Reason, future plan, comment and etc.

I was greatly relieved after hearing his comments about my good performance. Though I did not totally agree, I just accepted :). I was happy enough to know that in his opinion, I was a valuable and useful asset to the company.

The struggle started after he asked me to consider extending my service, if not staying back. My mind was not moved to change the decision, but my heart was moved as I started to imagine how sad the people around here, or even including myself would be about my leaving.

Among all, I have the strongest bond with Mr J, followed by a group of ladies such as hy, yh, bk, and sk. Mr J has been patiently imparting knowledge to me. And the team has brought out the best in me in my first formal job out of University by giving support and guidance throughtout the working time here.

They are more than colleague, but also good friends who can make fun and hang out with. All good things come to an end. Let us appreciate the two months left and spent the time together as much as we can.

I hereby would like to express my gratitude to Mr J, hy, bk, sk, louis, Mr S, Mr W and all others who have been putting effort on me.

New Zealand Working Holiday Visa (NZWH) under Malaysia's scheme

25 Jan 2011

Each year, 1150 places are available under this scheme allowing young citizens of Malaysia to stay in New Zealand for up to six months. The anual quota refresh used to occur on every 1st January. This year, it was delayed to 11th but the reason was not stated in the immigration website. People have been saying that the application approval take 1 to 80 days. There are limited number of extreme cases and most of them fall on the average. But I was so lucky that mine was processed and approved in just one day. Well done for their productivity!!!! And bravo for their efficient online application which make us so much convenient!!!

The visa application procedures are much simpler than you could have expected. No interview, no documents and no medical certificates required. All you need to do is just filling up the application form which ask you about personal details, criminal background and health fitness. Here I will show you the steps for your reference.

Before you apply, make sure you are eligible for the application.

• have a Malaysian passport that‘s valid for at least three months after your planned departure from New Zealand
• be at least 18 and not more than 30 years old
• not bring children with you
• hold a return ticket or sufficient funds to purchase such a ticket
• have a minimum of NZ$2,250 available funds to meet your living costs while you’re here
• meet our health and character requirements
• be coming to New Zealand to holiday, with work or study being secondary intentions for your visit
• not have been approved a visa under a Working Holiday Scheme before.

For more information:

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/malaysiaworkingholidayscheme.htm

1) Part 1: Create an online account

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/secure/default.htm

a) At welcome to our Online Service Login Page, click on "Register Here" to register for a new online account.

Here is the direct link to the registration page.

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/registration/CreateAccount.aspx

b) Click on Next and here you need to key in your registration details, followed by pressing the "Register" button.

2) Part 2: Visa Application

a) With the username and password created during the registration, please login here.

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/secure/default.htm

b) Then you are directed to a page with the message "Welcome to your Online Services Homepage".

c) Under the "Online Services" pane on your right, click on "Working Holiday".

d) At the next page, you will need to choose your own country and click the "OK" button.

e) At the page "Create New Working Holiday Application", click on "Apply Now".

f) Now you need to fill in the information for the first section: Personal

You need to take notes on below

Personal Details

• Are you represented by an immigration adviser? Answer: NO
• Communication method. Answer: Email
• Do you have a Visa or MasterCard card available for payment? Answer: Yes. You are not required to use a card with your own name

Identification

• Identification type. Answer: National ID (IC Number)
• Date Document was Issued. Anwer: Date and year on your 12yrs old birthday

Occupation Details

• Not required

g) The second section: Health

• Do you have a medical condition that requires, or may require, renal dialysis during your intended stay in New Zealand? Answer: NO
• Do you have active tuberculosis (TB)? Anwer: NO
• Do you have any of the following medical condition(s): Cancer- NO, Heart disease- NO, A mental, physical or intellectual disability- NO
• Do you have any medical condition(s) that currently requires, or may require during your intended stay in New Zealand:

Hospitalisation- NO

Residential care (residential care is long-term care provided in a live-in facility such as a facility for people with a physical or psychiatric disability and includes 24 hour supervision)- NO

• Are you pregnant? Answer: NO
• In the five years prior to this application, have you spent (lived in and/or visited) a combined total of 3 months in any country or countries NOT considered to be low risk for TB. Answer: YES
• If you can prove that you have not lived in or visited that country you may be eligible for exemption. Do you wish to be considered for an exemption on this basis? Answer: Not required to answer

h) The third section: Character

• Answers for all questions shall be NO

i) The fourth section: Working Holiday Specific

• Do you meet the specific requirements for the scheme you are applying for? Answer: Yes

j) Application status: You will not be informed on the application status via email unless necessary. It is best practice login to your account and check the status from time to time. If you see the expiry date of the visa on the right pane after you login, it means your application is successful.

2011 Chinese New Year

2-5 February 2011

Reunion Dinner

6 of us including my little baby nephew in my sister in law's stomach had a "sumptuos" dinner with great varieties.

1st day of 2011 Chinese New Year

And for the first dinner of the Rabbit year, we had another 8 dishes.

2nd day of 2011 Chinese New Year

On the second day, my sister and brother in law came back and again, we had a complete reunion dinner with more dishes. The smoke roast duck from "Yang Wei" stood out among all.

3rd day of 2011 Chinese New Year

The third day was full of gathering. We had an annual vegetarian lunch gathering with the other two families, who are friends of my parents.

At night, I had another gathering with my old schoolmates of my secondary school. I have never been seeing them since my high school graduation and surprisingly we could still spend the time chatting with each other without any problem.