Amazing Racers

Sisters Pamela and Vanessa from Malaysia finished runners-up in the Amazing Race Asia Season 2, which saw teams travel through 4 continents around the world. In fact, they managed to finished first in the First Pit Stop of the race in the Philippines. Cool chicks, you've gotta see them when they are under presure. Their most prominent trademark is "I'm so confused....".

Here are some of their photos.

Source: axn-asia.com
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Maria Sharapova wins Third Grand Slam Title

26 Jan 2008: Maria Sharapova claimed her third tennis Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open today after defeating Ana Inavonic in the final. She has previously won the Wimbledon Open in 2004 and the U.S. Open in 2006. The only Grand Slam title still eluding her is the French Open.




Source: wikipedia.org, yahoo.com
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Jaguh Kampung

20 Jan 2008: Lee Chong Wei won the 2008 Malaysia Open Badminton championship for the fourth time in his career surpassing his "Jaguh Kampung" predecessor Rashid Sidek's three-time win from 1990 to 1992. Lee Chong Wei's previous wins here were in 2004 (where he beat South Korean Park Sung Hwan in the final), 2005 and 2006 (where he beat Chinese Lin Dan in the final on both ocassions).

The only record he has yet to overcome is the one held by Wong Peng Soon who won this championship for a record total of 8 times from 1940 to 1953.

His results en-route to victory are as follows:

1st Round: bt Muhd Hafiz B Hashim (Malaysia) 21-17, 21-16
2nd Round: bt Przemyslaw Wacha (Poland) 21-5, 15-21, 21-8
Q Finals: bt Simon Santoso (Indonesia) 21-13, 21-13
S Finals: bt Chen Yu (China) 25-23, 21-11
Final: bt Lee Hyun Il (S Korea) 21-15, 11-21, 21-17

Source: tournamentsoftware.com, wikipedia.org
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Top Pangrams

A pangram is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once. The shorter the sentence, the better it is. Among the popular pangrams are as follows:

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

35 letters, 9 repeated: o (4 times), e (3 times), h (2 times), r (2 times), t (2 times), u (2 times)

By changing the second "the" to "a", the above sentence has reduced the number of letters from 35 to 33:

“The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.”

33 letters, 7 repeated: o (4 times), a (2 times), e (2 times), r (2 times), u (2 times)

This version is further modified to reduce one more letter:

“Quick brown dogs jump over the lazy fox.”

32 letters, 6 repeated: o (4 times), e (2 times), r (2 times), u (2 times)

“Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.”

32 letters, 6 repeated: i (3 times), o (3 times), e (2 times), u (2 times)

“The five boxing wizards jump quickly.”

31 letters, 5 repeated: i (4 times), e (2 times), u (2 times)

For more fun with words, please visit rinkworks.com.
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Top Anagrams

DORMITORY
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

MOTHER-IN-LAW
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

SNOOZE ALARMS
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z'S

A DECIMAL POINT
When you rearrange the letters:
I'M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

And for the grand finale

PRESIDENT CLINTON OF THE USA
When you rearrange the letters
(With no letters left over and using each letter only once):
TO COPULATE HE FINDS INTERNS

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Source: wikipedia.org
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Happy New Year 2008

Countdown to 2008

A list of my New Year celebrations for the past decade.

Countdown to 1998 - At UPM Serdang with USM friends
Countdown to 1999 - At Channel 5, Ipoh with USM friends
Countdown to 2000 (Millennium edition) - At Subang Airport Terminal One with Big Streetians
Countdown to 2001 - At Bintang Walk with Big Streetians
Countdown to 2002 - At Bintang Walk with friend
Countdown to 2003 - At Bintang Walk with friend
Countdown to 2004 - At Rockmount, Bandar Sunway with friends
Countdown to 2005 (In remembrance of Tsunami 26/12/04) - At PJ SS2 home with Big Streetians
Countdown to 2006 - At Serdang Big Street member's home with Big Streetians
Countdown to 2007 - At McDonald's Penang after Big Street member's wedding with Big Streetians
Countdown to 2008 - What next?? At Big Street??
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Merry Christmas 2007

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year

Good tidings we bring
To you and your kin
Good tidings for Christmas
And a Happy New Year

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Dostello Wanio Felicidad

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Dostello Wanio Felicidad

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

God Bless All
Good friends here
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year

dum dum dum dum dum..... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

For more Christmas Carol lyrics, go to mikeleal.com
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One more week to Christmas

The Christmas spirit is in the air
Christmas Carols are sung everywhere
Let me sing to you a Christmas Carol
It will really lift your spirit and soul

Silent Night
Holy Night
All is calm
All is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
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Syabas Malaysia

Syabas to Malaysia for the success in the just concluded 2007 SEA Games that was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from 6th to 16th December 2007.

Overall, the Malaysian team surpassed their target and managed to haul in a total of 68 gold medals, finishing second behind hosts Thailand and achieving their best ever result thus far outside home soil.

Here is the final medal tally:

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand	183	123	103	409
2	Malaysia	68	52	96	216
3	Vietnam	64	58	82	204
4	Indonesia	56	64	83	203
5	Singapore	43	43	41	127
6	Philippines	41	91	96	228
7	Myanmar	14	26	47	87
8	Laos	5	7	32	44
9	Cambodia	2	5	11	18
10	Brunei Darussalam	1	1	4	6
11	Timor Leste	0	0	0	0

Source: wikipedia.org
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Whitewater Rafting

Wonder why it is called Whitewater Rafting and not just Water Rafting? Well, this is basically due to the roughness and the strong current of the water, with splashes here and there. As a result, white foams are formed all over the surface. Hence, the name Whitewater Rafting.

Sungai Kampar which is located at Perak, Malaysia is a good place for this adventure. The river here is mostly of Whitewater Class 1 and Class 2 category, with some occasional Class 3 rapids here and there. Located somewhere along the main North-South trunk road near Kampar town, I don't remember seeing any clear signage directing people to this place.

However, one easy way of getting here is by going to the famous Gua Tempurung, which is a stone's throw away, and asking the guides there to direct you the way here. They will be more than willing to assist you.

We have conquered Sungai Kampar!
From left: Kong KW, Tan MS, June, our guide (backside facing camera), Lim YH and Jack. This trip was back in 31st October 2004.

Whitewater Rafting is SUPER COOL!
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Barber Paradox

Suppose there is a town with just one male barber, and that every man in the town keeps himself clean-shaven. It seems reasonable to make this statement:

The barber shaves all and only those men who do not shave themselves.

Under this scenario, we can ask the following question: Does the barber shave himself? Asking this, however, we discover that the situation presented is in fact impossible.

1) If the barber does not shave himself, he must abide by the statement and shave himself.

2) If the barber shaves himself, according to the statement, he will not shave himself.

So, who shaves the barber?

Source: wikipedia.org
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Unexpected Hanging Paradox

A prisoner is told that he will be hanged on some day between Monday and Friday, but that he will not know on which day the hanging will occur until it is due to happen.

He reasons to himself that he cannot be hanged on Friday, because if he were still alive on Thursday night, he would know that the hanging will occur on Friday; but he has been told he will not know the day of his hanging in advance.

For the same reason, he foresees that he cannot be hanged on Thursday, because if he were still alive on Wednesday night, he would know that the hanging will occur on Thursday.

Using the same argument, he foresees that he cannot be hanged on Wednesday, because if he were still alive on Tuesday night, he would know that the hanging will occur on Wednesday.

And so he reasons that he cannot be hanged on Tuesday, because if he were still alive on Monday night, he would know that the hanging will occur on Tuesday.

Hence, the hanging cannot be on Monday as well, because he now knows that the hanging will occur on Monday; but he has been told he will not know the day of his hanging in advance. Joyfully, he concludes that he will not be hanged.

Nevertheless, the executioner unexpectedly arrives on Thursday, surprising the prisoner. The statement is true after all.

Source: wolfram.com
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Happy 1st Birthday Janelle

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to Janelle
Happy Birthday to you
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Jade Hills

Tel: 03 87370122
http://www.jadehills.com.my/
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Asian Beauties of 2007

20-year-old Riyo Mori, Miss Japan, was crowned Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City, Mexico on 28th May 2007.

23-year-old Zhang Zilin, Miss China, was crowned Miss World 2007 in Sanya, Hainan Province, China on 1st December 2007.

NOW... ASIAN LADIES ARE COOL...

Source: msn.com, sina.com
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Congrats to Wong Mew Choo

25 Nov 2007: Wong Mew Choo made it into the Malaysian badminton history by winning her first major international title in grand style at the China Open in Guangzhou yesterday. En route to the singles title she packed off the top Chinese women shuttlers.

Her results in full:

1st Round: bt Zhu Jingjing (China) 21-19, 21-11
2nd Round: bt Pi Hongyan (6th seed - France) 21-17, 16-21, 21-11
Q Finals: bt Zhu Lin (4th seed - China) 18-21, 21-9, 21-13
S Finals: bt Zhang Ning (2nd seed - China) 21-16, 21-19
Final: bt Xie Xingfang (Top seed - China) 21-16, 8-21, 21-17

Source: thestar.com.my, cba.org.cn, tournamentsoftware.com
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Missing Square Puzzle - Part 2

A simpler version of the Missing Square Puzzle (depicted in the series of graphics below) uses four equal quadrilaterals and a small square, which form a larger square. When the quadrilaterals are rotated about their centers they fill the space of the small square, although the total area of the figure seems unchanged.

The apparent paradox is explained by the fact that the side of the new large square is actually a little smaller than the original one.

As simple and COOL as that.

Source: wikipedia.org
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Missing Square Puzzle

According to Martin Gardner, a popular American mathematics and science writer, this puzzle was invented by a New York City amateur magician Paul Curry in 1953. Compare these two triangles below.

Both triangles, the first (Triangle 1) and second (Triangle 2), depict two arrangements of shapes, each of which apparently forms a 13 unit × 5 unit right-angled triangle, but Triangle 2 has one missing square in it.

Both Triangle 1 and Triangle 2 are made up of the same four components, namely:

1) Red right-angled triangle with a measurement of 8 unit x 3 unit.
2) Blue right-angled triangle with of measurement of 5 unit x 2 unit.
3) Green L-shaped figure consisting of 8 square unit.
4) Yellow L-shaped figure consisting of 7 square unit.

However, notice that Triangle 2 has one missing square.

How can this be?

The key to the puzzle is the fact that neither Triangle 1 nor Triangle 2 has the same area as the combined area of its components.

Let’s measure the areas of the four components:

1) Red right-angled triangle. Area = 0.5 x 8 x 3 = 12 square unit
2) Blue right-angled triangle. Area = 0.5 x 5 x 2 = 5 square unit
3) Green L-shaped figure. Area = 8 square unit
4) Yellow L-shaped figure. Area = 7 square unit

Combined area of the four components = 12 + 5 + 8 + 7 = 32 square unit

BUT

Calculated area for Triangle 1 (or Triangle 2 if you ignore the missing square) = 0.5 x 13 x 5 = 32.5 square unit, or so it seems.

So, the combined area of the four components does not tally with the calculated area of Triangle 1 or Triangle 2.

So what does this mean?

The red triangle has a ratio of 8:3 while the blue triangle has a ratio of 5:2. This means these two hypotenuse lines do not have the same gradient. So the apparent combined hypotenuse in both Triangle 1 and Triangle 2 are actually bent. In other words, the hypotenuse in the red triangle is not parallel (in the same straight line) as the hypotenuse in the blue triangle for both Triangle 1 and Triangle 2.

Note the grid point where the red and blue hypotenuses meet in Triangle 1, and compare it to the same point in Triangle 2; the edge is slightly over or under the mark. Overlaying the hypotenuses from Triangle 1 and Triangle 2 results in a very thin parallelogram with the area of exactly one square, the same area “missing” from Triangle 2.

Got it?

Source: wikipedia.org, marktaw.com

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Liar Paradox

Consider this paradoxical statement:

"This statement is false."

This statement is paradoxical because there is no way to assign it a consistent truth value. Consider that if "This statement is false" is true, then what it says is the case. But what it says now is that it is false, hence it is false. On the other hand, if it is false, then what it says is not the case; thus, since it says that it is false, it must be true.

A variation of the above statement is this:

"The next sentence is false. The previous sentence is true.”

Now try figuring that out! COOL!

Source: wikipedia.org
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