HCFoo's Blogyard

"Night match please?"

That's what tennis beauty Maria Sharapova said when she listed Adam Scott at number six on her top 10 list of dream mixed-doubles partners.

Scott also admitted that he would be keen to play a round with Sharapova.

"I haven't met Maria yet but it's nice," said the Australian world number five.

"She's a good-looking girl and a good tennis player. Maybe we'll run into each other one day."

The comments will set tongues wagging in elite sports circles where both Scott, 27, and Sharapova are hot commodities.

(Pictures via Down the Line!)

One of the biggest secret is out. Wild child turn soldier, Prince Harry, has been secretly fighting in Afghanistan since Christmas.

He is a J-TAC (Joint Terminal Air Controller). He serves on the frontlines in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The third in line for the throne has coordinated major air support against the Taliban and taken part in foot patrols with his fellow soldiers.

The prince arrived in Afghanistan Christmas Eve. A week later, he oversaw his first airstrike on a bunker system behind Taliban lines in which up to 15 enemy fighters had been positively identified from the air.

Perhaps this could be a positive turning point for Prince Harry. In the last few year, he has made more news being served alcohol at various nightclubs than he has serving his country.

I once read an article predicted that Prince Harry would be the first member of the royal family to go to the outer space. Looking at the path he is going, it might happen one day.

Finally Andy Murray has get rid of his pop-up disastrous hairstyle. Yay!

I've mentioned a bit on how un-smart it is for him to sport that hairstyle. The talented British tennis player even documented the process of the transformation.

Here's Andy Murray's new look! It's simple and most importantly look clean.

Gillian Chung, who was recently involved in the Edison Chen's nude scandal photos, was axed from singing at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Here is the citation from the Sydney Morning Herald:

A female Hong Kong pop star at the centre of a sex photos scandal has been banned from singing at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, a news report said today.
The ceremony’s artistic director Zhang Yimou decided to take Chung off the bill after the scandal broke and had replaced her and another Hong Kong star not involved in the photos incident with Chinese pop act A-One, the newspaper said.

More than 2000 people complained when Chung appeared on a charity TV show at the height of the scandal a fortnight ago and she was forced to scrap a public appearance last Saturday when protesters threatened to disrupt her performance.

The scandal over the pictures has tainted the saccharine-sweet image of Hong Kong’s so-called Canto-pop industry whose cheesy romantic melodies sung in Cantonese sell by their millions in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan.

I wonder if there are any further consequences from this scandal in the near future again.

Of all the places on the taxi, Pak Lah chose to stick the Barisan Nasional sticker on the windscreen. How smart is that when it comes to road safety? Although it is not sticked right in front of the driver's seat, it is still dangerous assuming cars coming from the left. Tak realistik betul lar Pak Lah ni!

My birthday is just few days away. As usual, I would prefer to remain low profile hoping that no one will waste money and effort to do anything for my birthday.

What I want is just to remember my beloved mother who had to struggle and experienced extreme labour pain to deliver me into this world. Hence, it has been a ritual for me to call home and thank my mother instead.

However, there are always caring siblings and friends who want to celebrate your birthday. I celebrated my birthday yesterday, few days earlier, with a small group of friends including my sister. It was just a small gathering. The highlight yesterday wasn't really me but instead it was the Birthday Cake!

I had my dream cake, a mint chocolate ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.


However the dry ice cannot last for more than 4 hours. Hence, the ice cream cake was already melted quite a bit by the time we opened it. Even lighting up the candles on the cake made us nervous because the chocolate started to melt too.


Thank you guys for the birthday cake and the dinner. I truly enjoy last evening.

As promised in my previous post, I would like to share what I've learned on how to get massive traffic explosion to your blogs too.

Now that paid posts are dead, I'm focusing on blog traffic instead. After a couple of months of researching and reading (without spending a single cent), I've concluded that bloggers who have been experiencing low traffic are able to achieve massive hits by choosing THE keywords to optimize for. By writing the right post at the right time along with the keywords, explosive laser targeted traffic is easy to receive. And this is the secret many big players are not telling us.

Here are the baby steps on how you can get it started and start driving huge number of unique visitors to your blog:

1. The first step in search engine optimization is choosing the right keywords that you want to rank well for on the search engines. This is actually very easy to do but many of us failed because most bloggers love to write whatever they want.

Let's say we are going to write a post about 'tennis'. First you need to use the very powerful keyword tool that Overture provides.

2. Now the next step is to key in 'tennis' in Overture and search for it in the overture keyword tool. The results that I received are shown here:

Count Search Term
216800 tennis
68576 australian open tennis
57918 tennis court
28449 table tennis
22494 prince of tennis
20429 tennis racket
14658 tennis warehouse
13075 2007 australian open tennis
12631 tennis shoes
12501 atp tennis
11772 tennis video

As you can see in the search results, there are thousands of searches done monthly using these keywords and by ranking well in search engines you can get all these visitors for FREE!

Don't get too excited though and DON'T try to rank for the keyword 'tennis' because if you search in Google for that keyword you will find out that there are more than 276 MILLION pages competing for that specific keyword!

So what do we need to do? We need to start small and target less competitive keywords to get some good traffic to begin with and then target the 'BIG FISH'! For example you can target the keyword 'prince of tennis' which is searched for approximately 22,494 times every month and YET there are only approximately 3 million pages competing for it! You CAN rank very well for this keyword and could be on the FIRST page to receive more than 20,000 hits to your website every month. That’s about 600-700 visitors everyday for one keyword FREE!

3. We have chosen a keyword that is not very competitive but gets quite a lot of searches and it is 'prince of tennis'. You can choose a few other keywords like 'tennis clothes' which is only about 380,000 pages competing and yet get about 3000 hits a month for FREE.

4. Now take a few minutes to think of a keyword that is related to your blogs and repeat steps 1 to 3. It's easy and wont take much time. Choose the right keywords and I'll share more tips in the upcoming post.

By the way, don't expect massive traffic overnight nor it will happen in days. Do a lot of research and be alert of the latest news and try to incorporate them into your posts and don't forget to update them from time to time. Hopefully the end results for you is an EXPLOSIVE TRAFFIC to your blog.

To many bloggers, there's nothing to shout about. But to me, it gives me a sense of achievement. It's addictive to see those traffic growing every hour and every day.

By the end of the today, I shall share with you on how I actually did it; growing from merely 100 hits per day, to a steady 400 hits for the past weeks and up until today of 1,000 hits, all this in just 1 month.

Seriously, I never care about the traffic until the consequences of paid posts hit me. All this while, I thought only page rank matters.

Finally, Edison Chen came out from his hide and face the music (the nude photos scandal). Here is the citation from ShanghaiDaily.com about the press conference held in Hong Kong.

HONG Kong singer and actor Edison Chen said today that he will leave the Hong Kong entertainment industry after admitting he took the raunchy celebrity pictures that showed him posing in bed with several other female entertainment stars.


The 27-year-old actor made his first public appearance this afternoon after returning to Hong Kong from the United States. He has been accused of avoiding the public and the media due to the nude picture scandal that broke in late January.

"I've decided to step away from the Hong Kong entertainment industry," Chen, who was wearing a black suit, told more than 300 reporters at a news conference at Hong Kong Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre at 3pm today.

He said in a brief statement in English that he would fulfill existing commitments before stepping down "indefinitely."

The Canada-born Chinese admitted he snapped most of the more than 800 nude pictures that have circulated on the Internet. The nude photos show him with dozens of female celebrities, including singer Gillian Chung and actress Cecilia Cheung.

The scandal has created a media frenzy and heated discussions on BBS communities both in Hong Kong and on the mainland since the scandal broke.

Some Internet users shared the raunchy pictures by e-mail or posting them on other Websites.

Hong Kong police said last week some 1,300 private shots of Chen in bed with at least half a dozen female celebrities had been copied by employees of a computer repair shop from a faulty laptop believed to belong to Chen.

"I'm sorry to those ladies and their families," Chen said. "And most of all, I feel sorry for Hong Kong people.

"These photos were very private and have not been shown to people and were never intended to be shown to anyone," Chen said in a calm voice amid a flood of camera flashes from the hundreds of reporters gathered.

He said he will perform charity work in the next few months "to heal his injuries and soul" before stepping away as he has "decided to do this to give myself an opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul.

"I have failed as a role model. However I wish that this matter will teach everyone a lesson.

"I hope the scandal can be over as soon as possible and prevent more young people from further injuries," Chen said.

"I beg your forgiveness in the future," he added as he concluded his five-minute statement.

He also added that he had been staying with his family and was not running away from the scandal.

Chen played the lead role in the second film of the trilogy "Internal Affairs," the biggest box office draw ever in Hong Kong's movie industry. The film was later adapted by Hollywood director Martin Scorsese and renamed "The Departed."

He previously apologized via an Internet video on February 4.

Chung, previously known for her squeaky-clean image in the popular female duo Twins, apologized to the public when she made her first public appearance last Tuesday. She admitted that "she used to be na?ve and very silly."

Police on the mainland said they have launched a nationwide online crackdown to delete the pornographic pictures and pledged to close any Websites that posted the photographs.

In the southern city of Shenzhen, police have apprehended 10 suspects for allegedly producing, selling and purchasing discs of the photos while in Hong Kong, up to 10 people were detained for spreading the pictures.

So the nude photos scandal is officially ended, no? Hopefully no more news from Edison, especially something to do with the triad gang and losing his hands. I don't mind to see news about him doing charity though.

Tang yuen, tang yuan or tong yuen is not only eaten on Dong Zhi (Winter Solstice). Traditionally, many Chinese people eat tang yuen on Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) too.

Last week, I made tang yuen for my guests for the first time.We were having Chinese New Year gathering and I thought it would be perfect to have some tang yuen after dinner as dessert.

My mother's recipe is simple and it is without the sweet fillings. Here is how you can do it too:

Ingredients (for 8 -10 pax):
1 packet of glutinous rice flour
5-6 screwpine leaves (pandan leaves)
1-2 packets of rock sugar
Ginger
Food colouring (rose flavour)
Water

Method:
1. Put the flour in a large bowl and using chopsticks or your hand, mix the warm water in a little at a time.



2. Knead the dough in the bowl until it is soft and smooth. If it feels a little dry, wet your hands and knead again. Put in some food colouring and knead all over again.



3. Remove about one quarter of the dough and break off gum-ball size pieces. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Put them aside and let it rest for a short while.



4. Now prepare the soup by boiling the water. Put in rock sugar, ginger and screwpine leaves (pandan leaves). Taste the soup see if it is suit your taste.



5. While the soup is boiling, boil some water in another pot. Put in the balls one by one into the rapidly boiling water. Stir a few times to prevent sticking. Once the balls start floating, drain and put it into the soup.

6. Now the tang yuen is ready to be served.

If you cannot finish them, you can keep them for another day by putting them into the fridge. By the way the tang yuen turns out to be quite nice. Yummy!

Wishing you guys Happy Chap Goh Meh. It's the Chinese Valentine's Day today. You're still in time to make some tang yuen for your loved one on the 15th day of Chinese New Year.

A powerful earthquake struck western Indonesia on Wednesday, alarming residents, the U.S. geological survey and witnesses said.

The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, struck off the western coast of Sumatra island close to Simeulue island, the survey said in a posting on its Web site.

There was an immediate tsunami warning issued, possibly because the quake was deep under the sea bed.

Several callers told local radio station el-Shinta that the quake was felt strongly on Sumatra, but there was no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Tremors can be felt in Banda Acheh, Medan, Sibolga, Northern Peninsular Malaysia (Penang) and Kuala Lumpur. There is a tsunami alert being issued. For other readings, go to BBC News.

By the way, there's also a moderate earthquake in Philippines.

During the first day of Chinese New Year, I read about the prediction for the year of rat. It is said that there will be many earthquakes and tsunami. Let's just pray that there will be no major events going to happen in 2008.

(Citation from The China Post)

Updates: Officials said the powerful earthquake killed three people and injuring 25 others (source The Canadian Press).

Yes, I can teach you how to get a bigger boobs instantaneously. No push up bra and no breast implant surgery required.

It's very simple and yet many women do not know how to do it, the right way. Even worse, many women are wearing the wrong bras. A good pair of bra is a woman's best friend. You don't want to look saggy, aren't you?

All you need for this training is your bra. Here are the following steps:


Step 1
Slip your arms through the shoulder straps and place the straps over your shoulder. Using both hands, hold the under-busts band of the bra, lean your body slightly forward and let your breasts fall into and fill the cups.

Step 2
Stand up straight and fasten the hook.


Step 3
Adjust the shoulder straps to a comfortable position and length to avoid them biting into your flesh. Ensure that the shoulder straps are not too tight (you should be able to fit a finger under each strap).


Step 4 (Important!)
Lean your body slightly forward. Push the bulges and excess flesh from your underarm, back and armpit areas towards breast area and into bra cup. You should be able to see the difference between the 2 sides of the breasts now. Repeat for the other side.


Step 5
Stand up straight. Readjust and ensure your nipple is at the centre seam of the bra cup.


Step 6
Pull both shoulder straps upwards and to the back to lift breasts. Adjust back band for a comfortable fit.


Step 7
Readjust and ensure that the bra band encircles your torso at the same level.

Step 8 (if necessary)
Stand up straight. Readjust a final round to ensure that your breasts fit snugly into the bra cups.

The result is really amazing. Now, you will not only get your breasts uplifted and one bra cup size bigger, your waistline will look smaller too. Hope this will help boost your confidence.

For those who are seeking professional training on how to wear bra correctly can contact Sarah. She will try to entertain any questions about wearing the right bra and how to wear it correctly. By the way, Sarah, thank you for the pictures and your 'free training'!

Sing Tao Daily estimated that the nude photos scandal could cost Edison Chen, who was seen as one of the coolest entertainers in Hong Kong showbiz, HK$10m a year in work and endorsements.

Since the scandal broke out, Edison has not face the media and public. According to veteran singer, Alan Tam, Edison should face the music and clear things up. However, it is said that the Hong Kong police does not want him to to come back to Hong Kong yet, fear for his safety and causing interference to the current investigation.

In the latest report by Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, a senior member of a triad society had put a price of HK$500,000 to chop off Edison's hand. The paper also quoted a female artiste who suggested that the HK$500,000 price be placed "on the part of Edison's body which he likes to flaunt so much."

So, it's not only career suicide for Edison. His life is now at stake. And no, I don't think Edison will attempt suicide over this scandal. He is a narcissist and someone narcissistic won't consider to kill himself. Perhaps he should consider of hiding in US or Canada instead of coming back to Hong Kong forever. Or at least until this scandal subsides.

In the meanwhile, Gillian Chung has been rumoured of marrying to Juno Mak Chun Long. Few years ago, Juno, his father, Clement Mak and Albert Yeung, the Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG) Chairman were brought into investigation by the Hong Kong anti-corruption organization (ICAC).

It is interesting to know that Tony Pua is most likely to stand against Chew Mei Fun.

Personally I don't think it is an advisable move because everyone knows Chew Mei Fun has a strong influence in PJ Utara and she is a woman who walk the talk.

Few years back, she personally helped my business partners and I who are struggling for months to get a business license. She then even attended the opening ceremony of our small tuition centre in PJ. However, what amazes me is that Chew Mei Fun is a person who recognized faces very well, when she said 'hi' to me at 1 Utama some time ago. She doesn't mind to greet you first. What a humble politician.

As for Tony Pua, I am a regular to his education blog and honestly he is the only DAP leader and blogger I respect due to his non radical approach and often enlightening way of writing.

Tony is looking for volunteers in some areas of his campaign. If you, especially bloggers who have been supporting Tony and DAP 'virtually' all these while, why not get out from your seat and help in his campaign? Unlike Chew Mei Fun and BN, Tony and DAP do not have the luxury for machinery and media.

It is time for you guys, the so-called political bloggers to show some actions rather than just talk the talk. So are you game for it?

Hong Kong television veteran Lydia Shum died after a protracted fight with liver cancer, local broadcaster Radio and Television Hong Kong reported on its Web site, without citing anyone. She was 60. The actress, affectionately known as Fei-fei for her plump appearance and jolly disposition, died at 8:38 a.m. Hong Kong time at the Queen Mary Hospital, the report said.

She was best known for her comedic roles in Hong Kong films such as ``Drunken Tai Chi.'' Fei means fat in Cantonese. Shum was born in Shanghai and joined Shaw Brothers, founded by Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw, in 1960. Her work in ``Living with Lydia,'' a Singapore sitcom, won her the ``Best Comedy Performance by an Actress'' award at the 2003 Asian Television Awards.

(Citation from Bloomberg)

No, no, no, there's nothing controversial about the dress. In the picture, tennis players Venus Williams of the United States, Russia's Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Serbian Ana Ivanoic pose in traditional Qatari dresses during the opening ceremony of the WTA Qatar Total Open in Doha.

The controversial topic is about Israeli Shahar Peer who is playing on the Arab courts. Shahar Peer has become the first Israeli tennis player to compete in the Gulf region.

Setting aside Arab-Israeli differences, Peer made a successful debut at the WTA Qatar Open on Monday by defeating Slovakia's Andreja Klepac 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

"Everyone was very supportive" when she decided to go to Doha, Peer said.

"When I came here I was a little excited because I didn't know what to expect, just like every new tournament and every new place you go," she said after the match.

"I find the people are really nice here. I got a very warm welcome."

Peer said when she goes on the court "you don't think about politics, you just want to go and play tennis".

(All pictures from Getty Images)

The Star runs an article about night tennis today.

Forget everything you already know about tennis - because at night the rules are totally different. Having already brought the house down in Madris, Miami and Zurich, Night Tennis has recently hit Melbourne, Australia.



Australian tennis legends Pat Cash and Wayne Arthurs and six of their peers proved they could still play a fine game of tennis at the unique Night Tennis tournament.

The brainchild of phone makers Sony Ericsson, Night Tennis is a potentially trendy gig aimed at bringing together the two cultures of sporting and clubbing.

Night Tennis was created to showcase the sport to a new and younger audience. Whether or not it achieved its objective, Sony Ericsson showed everyone a great time at Shed Four.

I say, with or without Night Tennis, this sports will still be able to approach younger audience.

World number two Rafael Nadal is only 21, at the top of his career, but he is already thinking of his future beyond tennis and is convinced his privileged position gives him the chance to help others.

"This can be the beginning of my future, when I retire and have more time," the Spaniard said Wednesday as he launched the Rafa Nadal Foundation in his native town, Manacor, on the island of Mallorca.

The foundation will seek to promote "sport as an integration tool for those groups in most need," focusing particularly on childhood and youth.

Ana Maria Parera, Nadal's mother, will chair the foundation, and his father Sebastian will be vice-chairman. Nadal's uncle and coach Toni Nadal and his agent, former tennis player Carlos Costa, will also be involved.

Nadal is not the first sportsman to set up a foundation. One of the most famous in tennis is that set up by Swiss world number one Roger Federer, which focuses on Africa - the continent that Federer's mother hails from.

"I have talked a lot about this with Roger, and he tells me that when you are there it is something that fills you with satisfaction. And I think the time has come, it is a beautiful time for my life and for my career," Nadal said.

And speaking about Roger Federer, if is is not playing on court, he'll be busy collecting awards. And he just received his fourth consecutive Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.

While Nadal launched his foundation and Federer collecting awards and spending time with girlfriend Mirka, players like Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga were celebrating their Davis Cup victory by getting down with some go-go girls. The Frenchmen certainly know how to have fun!

Who would have thought Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori will shocked the heavily-favoured James Blake, who is ranked 12th in the world, in the final of the Delray Beach International Championships?

Nishikori is only 18 years old and ranked 224 in the ATP rankings but post the biggest victory of his young career yesterday.

Nishikori rallied from a set down to stun the top-seeded American 3-6 6-1 6-4 in the hardcourt event for his first career title.

With so many breakthrough performances by young and unheard tennis players this year, 2008 is definitely a great year to see other than the dominance by the top players alone.

No, this post is not about the anime series, The Prince of Tennis (テニスの王子様, Tennis no Ōjisama).

I am talking about rising tennis sensation from the land of rising sun who made it into the final at Delray Beach. The Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori is only 18 years old. He has just reached his first ATP final by beating third-seeded Sam Querrey 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7) yesterday at the International Tennis Championships.

Kei Nishikori is the first Japanese man to reach a tour final since Shuzo Matsuoka lost to Wayne Ferreira at Queens Club in June 1992.

Currently, Nishikori who is ranked 224 on the ATP rankings said, "He (Matsuoka) is the only one (player from Japan) to reach the top 50." Nishikori is hoping to pass him.

Kei Nishikori has been training at the Nick Bollettieri Academy the past three years on a grant bestowed by Masaaki Morita, the CEO of Sony.

He will be facing James Blake in the final. It's going to be tough but in tennis, anything could happen.

Yeps, HCFoo is blogging about The L Word.

Recently I've been taking some risks by blogging about celebrities sex scandal, nude photos and more sex. But what the heck because these topics are searched by many netizens and it helps increasing my traffic by a tremendous margin. Even blogging about shirtless tennis players help.

So here I am taking more risk by blogging about a lesbian show. If you haven't heard about The L Word, gosh, you must have been missing a good show. The popular television drama on Showtime has gone into its 5th season now. And the show is getting steamier than ever.

In The L Word, you will see some familiar faces such as Jennifer Beals of the 1983 film Flashdance, Eric Mabius of Ugly Betty and Karina Lombard of Legends Of The Fall. Pam Grier, the blaxploitation icon is also a regular in The L Word since season 1.

If season 6th is on, you could be seeing Paris Hilton making a cameo on The L Word and adding more complication to 'The Chart'. Here's a citation from Wikipedia.

Though it has yet to be confirmed if “The L Word” has been picked up for a sixth season, socialite Paris Hilton did confirm that she’ll be on an episode of “The L Word” with Parade Magazine. When asked, “There’s a rumor out there that you're planning to do The L Word, the series about lesbians.” The heiress replied, “It’s true. I have no idea what kind of character I’ll be playing, but it’s a good show.”

Recently, Paris Hilton who attended The L Word season 5 premiere in LA, has been spotted in a wig, cuddling Daniela Sea and Kate Moennig.

Since The L Word will not be making way into our local television, all you can do is get the DVDs or downloading torrent files (blame it for not showing it here in Malaysia). It's pretty easy to find the DVDs.

For The L Word Season 5 torrent files, go to the following sites (updates: US is currently showing episode 7):

The L Word Season 5 Episode 1 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 2 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 3 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 4 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 5 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 6 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 7 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 8 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 9 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 10 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 11 - download torrent here
The L Word Season 5 Episode 12 - download the last episode here

Honestly there are a lot of steamy scenes in The L Word. Hope you guys and girls are able to handle it. If you are homophobic, give this show a miss. However, if you are looking for a good quality lesbian show that speaks the issue in a positive light, The L Word definitely should not be missed.

Yes, no more photos will surface. The scandal has unofficially ended.

Gillian Chung was able to smile and keep her cool in her first public appearance few days ago. And Edison Chen is going back to Hong Kong this Sunday.

Based on the conspiracy theories discussed, it's all about extortion of money by the man who is still at large, Kira. He has disappeared, forever. Source said that EEG Music has paid a huge sum of 7 million HK dollars to Kira to stop further damages to the celebrities. Read the whole conspiracy theories here.

Gillian Chung and Edison Chen might have survived this scandal. But sad to say, Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Chung might not be able to save their marriage. So does, Bobo Chan.

I wonder what's going on. I couldn't access to Nuffnang website since yesterday night.

I experienced problem loading page with the indication of:

http://www.nuffnang.com.my/session-expired

Updates: Thanks to Hallaj. Your suggestion works.

Despite complaints over inflation, increased of crime rates and ethnic tension, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the dissolution of the national parliament.

Voting must be held within the next 60 days at a date to be fixed by the election commission, which will be announced soon. Some say it could fall on March 2.

This is going to be my first year casting my vote. Personally, I don't think Barisan Nasional deserves a landslide victory after poor performance in the last term. However, I doubt the opposition parties have the credibility and experience to rule the country. Honestly I'm not convinced at all.

My hope is pretty simple: Barisan Nasional continues to run the country but rakyat have to deny BN's 2/3 majority in the parliament.

Updates: It's confirmed that the Election Commission has set Feb 24 for parties to nominate candidates for 12th general election and Malaysia will go to the polls on March 8.

Finally I'm back to work. Received hoi gong lai see (start work angpow?) from Boss and Mom. There are a lot of biscuits to eat in the office as well as at home.

I've seen that most of you blogger friends have posted about your reunion dinner. So I'll share about mine too. As usual, my Dad the main cook in the house, will cook our reunion dinner. There are 6 dishes all together, which means 'good luck'. If you haven't know, '6' in Hokkien sounds like 'luck'. By the way, I'm Hakka.