Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronnie44052/3151568446/

First of all, sorry for the lack of the update. Some of us could not access Volgotimes at all while others were experiencing crawling speed while loading the site about 10 days ago. Then, Volgotimes was hosted in a Malaysian server, and I am not entirely sure but I suspect it has something to do with Streamyx (the date fits) or perhaps it was the host’s problem itself.

I have since migrated Volgotimes to a US server, the downtime was not pleasant but the final outcome is not all disastrous, though. Throughout the ordeal, I learnt to migrate the whole Volgotimes site and now it is faster than ever. Previously I was unable to burn Volgotimes feeds using FeedBurner but on this server, the process of feed burning is as smooth as it ever could be. This also means that you could now subscribe to Volgotimes feeds through email or RSS reader of your choice, so that you would never miss a single update anymore. I shall provide tutorials on how to subscribe either via email or any RSS reader in another post.

I don’t know how the year has been for all of you but if I were to describe my year 2008, then it was mostly uneventful, exciting at times with some balanced ups and downs. However, I am extremely glad and grateful that nothing really unfortunate befell my family and friends and to have learnt many things throughout the year.

Reflecting on a wider scale, I believe the proposal to have summer practical session has brought us all together under the banner of Malaysian Student Association of Volgograd (MSA), it was the first time we have an issue which concerns everyone and which we all contributed in one way or another to solve the problem. Hopefully MSA will continue to be strong and active in looking after our welfare for many years to come.

Back at home, there is massive political upheaval throughout the year but hopefully peace and our unity could be preserved and good things will come from the recent political developments. No doubt, inflations is a serious problem following the unstable world price of oil but I am sure the people has learnt to cope with the inflations and price of commodity now.  I think it is also worth mentioning Datuk Lee Chong Wei has come closest to the feat of winning a first Olympic Gold Medal for Malaysia in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Just when it seemed that all troubles have been left behind, we were shocked by the news of the terrible landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa. There were less than 10 deaths and some property loss but at least the authorities are paying attention to the danger of landslides now and would not blatantly approve hillside development proposals anymore.

There was also much news about United States of America in year 2008 (or should I say in every single year?). Firstly, US finally have an elected colored President, many have said that this is good development and a testimonial to the success of democracy in US, where in a free society, all races are equal and even immigrant race could benefit from it. Lastly the Mumbai terrorist attack at the end of November seemed to be the worst speck in the history of 2008 and best be deplored and may terrorism be wiped from the faced of earth, forever.

So what to expect in 2009, the year of the Ox?

I think this will be my longest rant on Volgotimes, don’t worry because it will rarely happen again unless I have something really important to convey. As I am writing this sub header, I feel like a fortune teller, like Lilian Too.

Well, I am not a fortune teller (yet?) but I am going to speculate, from what little that I have read or heard about the fortunes in 2009. There is already news that more than a few companies will be retrenching their staffs in first quarter of 2009. This is usually what happens during a recession. Some people will be out of their jobs but people who are working with multinational companies should not worry too much because salary for Malaysian employee is relatively low compared to their peers in the region, and a regional executive is more likely to be given the boot rather than a supervisor or secretary in Kuala Lumpur branch.

Year 2009, the year of the Ox will be tough, but people who make the extra effort or work as hard as the Ox should have no problem sailing through it. Although recession is not something to be happy about, it does give us a chance to assess our current lifestyle and get our priorities right. Chinese believe that whenever there is danger, there is also opportunity to be found. So instead of lamenting about your fortunes in 2009 and whining continuously, be ready to improvise and snatch the opportunities when they are present. Do not take success or failure too seriously, for one closed door may lead to another larger open doorway, as long as you are determined, fortunes will not desert you.

Wish you and your family a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead

“Happy New Year 2009″

May the coming year be filled with good results, more medical experiences, and more meaningful days as a med students.

I cannot help but notice Kakiis, a new Malaysian social networking site with integrated micr0-blogging feature. Kakiis is noticeable because of its creative ads (you might just notice its ads on this site itself if you are observant enough) on major online advertising network, namely MSN and Nuffnang.

So what exactly is Kakiis? According to their own description:

Welcome to Kakiis, an online and mobile social networking community that connects people through networks of friends for communicating, sharing and making new friends.

Being a little kiasu and wanting (badly) to feel proud about a Malaysian product, I decided to register on Kakiis.com. While registering, I also read through its Terms of Use (TOS) and apparently this social networking service is solely open for Malaysians use only because you are required to fill in a Malaysian cellphone number before you are allowed to register (okay, to be more precise anyone who has a Malaysian cellphone number could register on the site).

I am not entirely sure yet how this service works, generally I think it is based on community or user groups because its main navigation bar consists only of your own profile and create a circle menus. Circle is the equivalent of community or user groups on Facebook and Hi5 (any other services having similar features?). Having no friend on the network, I am left with but 1 option – I created The Volgograd Times circle on Kakiis.

Unfortunately I am not able to show you The Volgograd Times Kakiis Circle page if you are not a member of Kakiis, unlike profile pages on Friendster. I am inclined to believe that Kakiis is not a completed platform, there seems to be too little on offer there right now and I am not even sure what I could do once I created the circle. Either that or the developer really needs to work hard to add extra atrractive features on it, otherwise it will be deserted (like Volgotimes? Do comment below to show that Volgotimes is not deserted).

If anyone would like to explore this network together with me or would like to join The Volgograd Times circle, kindly comment below with your email (in the right field please, not in the comment field to avoid spams) and I shall hit you up with an invitation as soon as possible.

Meanwhile I would like to give some feedbacks to Kakiis developer.

1. Please allow users to register without a Malaysian cellphone number.
2. Please set up a contact form or leave your email on your mainpage. I really hate services which are not sensible enough to provide any communication method whatsoever. I mean it!
3. Go post a video on YouTube regarding your services and features. Although your ads are attractive, so far I don’t see them being relevant to what your services are about.

Do you have any other complaints or suggestions about Kakiis?

Reigning Miss Russia Kseniya Sukhinova has just been crowned Miss World 2008 in the 58th Miss World Pageant held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 13, 2008.

Beauty pageant has never been universally accepted, generally we behold the beauty of the pageants and enjoy watching the contest on television but there are people who are unhappy with the way beauty contest is run. Besides, there has been countless allegations of corruptions and vote buying in most beauty pageant contests.

To say the truth, Miss World bears no significance to most of us. However, winning the title or just participating in the contest may be a significant part of the contestants’ life experience. Miss World represents a symbol to the rest of us, to the whole world, something wholesome and beautiful and we are supposed to come together and behold the beauty of the pageants regardless of race and social status.

Therefore it is not surprising that Miss World is often sent to do charity work and to spread the important message of unity and world peace. Ironically, the Miss World Organization decided to hold the event in South Africa instead of the originally planned venue in Kiev, Ukraine due to the ongoing crisis between Georgia and Russia concerning South Ossetia. Perhaps the organization is concerned about the safety of the pageants, spectators and other workers involved. No matter, perhaps the newly crowned Miss World could still help to spread the spirit of peace to the two countries in particular and to the world in general after this.

109 pageants from all over the world competed for Miss World 2008, marking the biggest turnout in the 58 years of the pageant, surpassing the previous record of 107 during Miss World 2004. Miss World 2007, Zhang Zilin of the People’s Republic of China crowned her successor Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia as the brand new Miss World.

Ksenia Sukhinova is a Siberian blonde who represented Russia to Miss World 2008 after winning the 2007 Miss Russia Pageant exactly a year ago (December 14, 2007 in Moscow). She is the second Russian contestant to win Miss World, the first was Julia Kourotchkina in 1992. Unfortunately she was unable to represent Russia at Miss Universe 2008 due to her college work, so her 2nd runner-up, Vera Krasova, replaced her in the pageant. Vera is the 3rd runner-up in Miss Universe 2008.

Click here to see the photos of some of the contestants of Miss World 2008

Miss World 2008 Official Site

Falalalala~ lala la la!

Christmas is back with a vengeance and Santa’s gonna ride his sleigh over your ass soon! The season of giving and being thankful for the people around you, even if especially if they annoy the hell out of you, is upon us!

Short history lesson: Christmas is the celebration of the birthday of Yehoshua the Nazarene some 2000 years ago. Sure, technically, it’s almost certain that he wasn’t born on the 25th of December but that’s not important! The important thing is the spirit and symbolism of the celebration: hope, reconciliation, forgiveness and thanksgiving to name some.

This article is actually about the JE Christmas Bash. Now, let it not be said that I did not warn you people: This Bash is organized by the JE – the Jesus Embassy. It is a religious group and therefore, there will be some elements at the Bash that some people might find offensive. I mean, I haven’t seen the agenda but there might be prayers, carols and the songs might revolve around Jesus. I know, it IS Christmas, what did I expect, right? But I do know some people who felt they were caught off-guard in the previous Bashes, so I might as well add this warning here.

Being a Malaysian, let me begin with the food. If you’ve never had authentic russian food, this is the place to have it. First of all, it’s free. Second of all, no, it’s not the weak-ass generic-tasting kotlet pa-kievskii that went up by 13 roubles since I first came here. No, these are real home-cooked Russian delicacies. Sure, it might be the same salat s krevetkami and the chicken you can find in any stalovaya but seriously, these are home-cooked. Come on, you know the difference between home-cooked and commercially sold meals, right?

What is Christmas without caroling, eh? Yep, usually, the Bashes open up slowly with carols. It’s hard to believe that the choir members are students from our very own university. These are the everyday people who we interact with, yet once a year at the Winter Solstice, these people unleash their angelic voices upon us. And every year I get that feeling of awe at the harmony and unity that these people beam.

A staple of the JE Bashes would be at least two modern dance performances and at least one performance art. I’d be very surprised if the LIFE dance group isn’t invited to perform and/or if there won’t be a break-dance show by the African students. Personally, the highlight of the night for me would be the performance art thing. In past years they had sketches, comedic lip-synching and, last year, they even had a very deep mime act. I actually keep score with myself whether each year performance trumps the year before or not. So far, it has not been disappointing. I sometimes wonder from where these people get the creativity to come out with this stuff.

Now, no party deserves to be called a Bash if it doesn’t have an open floor session, does it? Don’t worry, JE Bashes traditionally open the floor to boogie-woogie. Last year, they actually had a live band! Not your mellow yellow bands, either. They had a Real Rockin’ Band! To be COMPLETELY honest with you, dear readers, this is the part of the night that rates the lowest on my scale. No, not because the song selection sucks – they rock. Partly it’s because of me having two left feet that couldn’t decide which would be the right foot, but a bigger part would be I feel that I’m too old for these things.

Yes, I’m younger, much younger than most of you think but I’m a recycled soul. In the immortal words of Kipling, “He never wasted a leaf or a tree, do you think he would squander souls?”

But I digress. Let me end this with the details now lest I get chastised for my haranguing. Damn, Kipling got me all literal and shit.

The Christmas Bash: 27-12 1800

JE XMas Bash `08: El Amor Mas Grande
Date: 27/XII/2008
Time: 1800 sharp
Venue: Церковь Иисуса Спасителя <- I’m not quite sure where but…
Transportation: Buses will be made available at both Kim and Hiroshima hostels.

P.S: The good people at JE provided us with a slideshow of last year’s event:

Going anywhere this winter holidays? On a budget trip? Well, if you are seriously on a tight budget and is still looking for a way to really save a lot of money (I mean A LOT), try sleeping in an airport.

Actually it is not hard to do so, all you need to do is arrange your schedule so that you arrive at a certain place in the evening and spend the night until the next morning and you could continue with your next agenda on your list. I had personally tried a few airports myself and this is seriously a good way to save money. Well, sorry if you are a rich dude and you prefer your trip to be comfortable and luxurious but I think this post is for those who like to travel the commando-style.

So far, I had slept (why this makes me felt like I had slept with some girl or something) in some of the airports during my previous trip to London. Here is a few tips if you are a first timer. Well, even if you are a frequent airport-sleeper, hopefully this would help you more in your future stay over!

1. Have a backup plan : This is very important even thou most of the time you wouldn’t get kicked out by the airport officials but try to be prepared to answer few questions if you are asked. The best way is to sleep in an airport when you are catching a flight the next day or some other excuses. Think before you act! It will save you a lot of embarassment.

2. The commando backpack kit : Prepare yourself for the stay with books, mp3 player, ear plugs, water bottles, toilet papers, even sleeping bag! I personally brought along a sleeping bag since I knew I was going to spend 5 days of airport sleepovers! Try to make yourself comfortable.

3. Get to the airport early : Well, you can’t possibly find a nice spot too early like 6pm or 7pm, but you would certainly see people filling up spaces after 9pm or 10pm. Be there early so that you can find yourself a nice spot. It is rather hard to get a nice spot if you are late and this means that you might end up with a lot of people waking you up during your sleep and etc. Go for the chairs as the cold airport floor makes it hard to sleep even if you have a sleeping bag with you (personal experience). And besides that, arrival hall is always a better part compared to departure.

4. Act innocent! Don’t act like a pro when you are going to sleep there like you do it in your every trip. Like the 1st tip, always be prepared when you are questioned.

5. Becareful with your belongings. This is easier if you have a sleeping bag. Just zip yourself up and it is almost impossible to get to your wallet without waking you up. But if you do not have one, make sure that they are kept in a safe place like your jacket pocket and with you wearing the jacket.

6. Have fun!!

Seriously, this is not a bad option. You have free clean toilets, sometimes even free internet! And nothing beats the experience.

If you are curious about where to sleep and how is the sleeping condition in that airport, you could visit http://www.sleepinginairports.net/airports.htm to get some tips. It is a site where all the airport sleepers share their experience and preferences. Personally, I think the tips and descriptions given are really true and practical. They even rate the airport by their conditions!

If you designed this properly, you could easily save up a lot of money. Imagine each night of 20Euros become free. Of course, you gotta have a commando’s spirit to pull this out and still enjoy your trip to the max.

I personally choose to bring along a sleeping bag and check out all those airports before deciding on staying in the airport or not. The sleeping bag is very useful and it makes the night comfortable and can give me some sense of security. Well, waking up in front of hundreds of busy people in an airport is seriously a special experience!

*Author had experience in London Stansted airport and Riga airport. If you have any experience to share, feel free to post in the comment box!

Pictures taken from http://saveukayhts.wordpress.com/

Fresh from the Terrorist attack scare in Mumbai, there is unfortunately a natural disaster in our own country – Bukit Antarabangsa landslide.

The landslide happened at about 4am Saturday morning. See the video news below from TheStar.

If you prefer not to watch the video, here is a summary of the incident:

There is apparently 4 people confirmed dead, 93 have been rescued while 7 are still missing amid the ruins. There are at least 14 bungalows that are affected while other residents in the vicinity totalling about 3000 people have been evacuated due to persistent rain in the area and fear of further landslides. A total of 160 rescue and relief workers have been deployed in Bukit Antarabangsa.

This incident reminded me of the Highland Towers disaster in 1993, only that it was a more terrible one with a whole block of apartments involved instead of individual bungalows. That was the first time I followed a 24 hour coverage of a disaster, the second was of course the September 11 terrorist attacks.

My condolences to those people who have family and friends involved in the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide. Also, may god bless those rescue and relief workers who risk their lives for their kins in need. Hopefully the casualty count is final and there will be no new injuries or dead and may the missing ones would be found soon.

Further reading:
Stop The Hillslope Madness!!

I would usually refrain from writing a football match review that I have not watched on TV. However, I decided to highlight this match for several reasons.

Firstly, I had just watched an uninspirational performance by Manchester United against Manchester City in a derby match in City of Manchester Stadium last Sunday. To be able to see a totally fired-up performance by the same team against their bogey team (Blackburn Rovers) really made up the time I wasted watching the derby match.

Secondly, this match is the kind of matches which we would like to see every time, through the highlights I must say that it was highly entertaining and there were good display of skills and motivation to win by both teams (honestly though, Blackburn was trying hard to just equalise and deny MU an easy win). Sometimes cup matches are more interesting than Premier League matches, especially when there are high scoring matches and sensational upsets. Yes, cup matches are indeed more unpredictable than league matches. There is less discipline, more creativity, more goals, less drama and more upsets, what else…?

Click here to see for yourself this exciting game

There are in total 8 goals and let me just run through the goals briefly:

1. First goal is credited to Carlos Tevez. On another day, it will be considered an own goal by Aaron Mokoena. Ryan Giggs took a free kick on left hand side of opponent’s goal, at the far post Tevez and Mokoena were trying to overpower each other to get a solid touch on the ball and that resulted in a goal. United 1 – 0 Blackburn.
2. Second goal was scored by Portuguese teenager Nani (anyone else thinks he looks like an Indian?) after exchanging a clever one-two with provider Tevez. United 2 – 0 Blackburn.
3. Benni McCarthy was subbed in after half-time and he repaid the faith of his manager by scoring Blackburn’s first goal. His goal was a solid volley shot, United’s defenders were at fault (and by the way, why was right back Rafael on the left hand side of the goal?). Perfect co-operation from Santa Cruz and McCarthy. United 2 – 1 Blackburn.
4. Fourth goal was a penalty scored by Tevez, he was fouled in the box but I think it is a soft foul, there was not any solid contact (I might be wrong here!). United 3 – 1 Blackburn.
5. Fifth goal was scored by Tevez yet again. If the previous one-two with Nani was admirable, then this was an absolute beauty and art. First Anderson have a one-two with Tevez, then when in the box Anderson faked to shoot but laid the ball across the despairing Paul Robinson and a defender for Tevez to finish easily. United 4 – 1 Blackburn.
6. Sixth goal was scored by Matt Derbyshire, got the ball from a short through pass, made a turn in the box (which assumedly confused on-rushing goalkeeper Ben Foster and other defenders) before quickly stabbing the ball into the empty goal. Another goal from the left hand side of United’s goal. United 4 – 2 Blackburn.
7. Benni McCarthy strikes again scoring the seventh goal of the game in the 90th minute. The assist came from Matt Derbyshire, not surprisingly from the same side of United’s goal. McCarthy was expecting a low cross and made a quick contact with the ball to send it through the on-rushing goalkeeper into the goal. Evra nowhere to be seen. United 4 – 3 Blackburn.
8. Apparently hat-trick hero had not had enough, Tevez scored the eight goal of the match and United’s fifth in the 93rd minute to round up an excellent display. Someone (care to speculate?) lobbed a glorious through ball into the box, Tevez ran swiftly and powered a wonderful volley into the lower corner of the far post. United 5 – 3 Blackburn.

There goes my short highlight. Before I end this post, I should include some of my personal thoughts (which would be advantageous for either managers if they take note of my points):

• I don’t have any problems with Paul Robinson but I must say that he was involved in many unacceptable blunders and high-scoring games, often being the humbled goalkeeper. I am not judging here, perhaps those are coincidences?
• Rafael and Evra are both excellent players and they provide great offensive options. However Ferguson needs to really analyze what went wrong with the defense and plug the leak sooner rather than later.
• Ben Foster is still not ready to replace first choice goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. However, no one knows for sure what will happen if van der Sar were to play in this match.
• Tevez is a wonderful player, depending on situation he might even be a better choice ahead of Berbatov. While goal is not guaranteed from playing Tevez, there will not be a shortage of silky runs, slick one-twos and instantaneous creativity.
• Santa Cruz and McCarthy are among the best strikers in the league currently. Any managers planning a swoop for them in the January transfer window?

What are your thoughts? Do share them with us, we would like to know.