The cute little mouse is moving out and the strong bull is here to stay. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends and fellow bloggers a wonderful year ahead. Since this year is going to be the year for recession, we will work just as hard as the ox to go through this hard ship and reap what we sew. All your dreams come true and most importantly good health all year long!!!

I'm going to leave you a Chinese New Year mv from our local radio station 988. Which I don't really know what they are singing but all I know it all good wishes. That goes the same from me to all of you :)

TH is having another giveaway, it is a Purple Flip Flop pendant. It is open to all bloggers and the closing date is on 14th February 2009, midnight Malaysia time. Just follow this simple rules and regulations and you will have your chances to win this cute little Purple Flip Flop pendant.

1. Subscribed to There is Happiness by email. (1 entry)
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Saturday January 3, 2009

Whale Of A Catch For Deep-Sea Fishermen

GEORGE TOWN: Four fishermen had a huge New Year’s surprise when an unexpected visitor swam into their nets, 10 nautical miles off the coast of Teluk Bahang.

The group was deep-sea fishing near Pulau Kendi when a 7m-long whale shark got entangled in their trawl nets at 3am yesterday.

“We didn’t know what was in the net, so two of us pulled it up and saw the shark.

“In my 30 years of being a fisherman, I have never seen this. I didn’t even know what species it was,” said fisherman Keh Chai Yang, 52.

They returned to shore with the shark at 5.30am.

Keh said they had informed the state Department of Fisheries of the two-tonne whale shark and would surrender the fish to them.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a filter feeding shark that is the largest living fish.

The slow-moving creature is known for its playful character and poses no harm to humans.

Sunday January 4, 2009

Fishermen Who Caught Whale Shark Maybe Fine

GEORGE TOWN: The four fishermen who caught a juvenile whale shark by accident on New Year’s Day may be fined – the fish is an endangered and protected species.

Penang Fisheries Department director Mohd Najib Ramli said statements had taken from the four and forwarded to the department’s legal unit in Putrajaya for further action.

“It is up to the unit. They may be compounded for catching the fish,” he said.

Mohd Najib said deep-sea fishermen should immediately release endangered or protected marine wildlife that got entangled in their nets.

He said fishermen should be alert and ready to act quickly to release such wildlife.

“If the fish or animal had died while in the net, the Fisheries Department must be notified,” he said in an interview.

On Friday, the shark was caught in fishermen’s trawl nets 10 nautical miles off Teluk Ba- hang.

The 7m-long fish got entangled in the nets at 3am. The four fishermen later returned to shore in Teluk Bahang, with the fish, at 5.30am.

The two-tonne whale shark was surrendered to the state Fisheries Department and hauled to the tuna landing port in Batu Maung by fishing boats on Friday eve- ning.

It was transported to the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), where it was buried at 3.20pm yesterday – minus its fins and part of its tail.

Najib said the parts cut off would be sent to the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) in Terengganu for research.

“In about one month, we will take out the whale shark’s bones and send them to Tumec where they will be put on exhibition,” he said.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a filter-feeding shark known for its playful character.

It is the largest living fish that poses no harm to humans.

GEORGE TOWN: The four fishermen who caught a juvenile whale shark by accident on Jan 1 might only be given a warning if their claims that they had no intention of catching the endangered fish are true.

Penang Fisheries Department director Mohd Najib Ramli said the department’s legal adviser would investigate the fishermen’s claims before determining the next course of action.

“It would normally take about three days for the compound directive from the headquarters but not in this case as this is a bit more complicated.

“We must make sure the whale shark was not caught intentionally,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Citing an example of a similar case a few months ago, Mohd Najib said the fishermen were let off with a warning after the legal officer found that the catch had been unintentional.

Mohd Najib also said fines imposed by the department varied but would not exceed a maximum of RM30,000.

Fisherman Keh Chai Yang, when contacted, said it would be unfair to them if they are fined because they were not aware that the whale shark had become entangled in the net.

“It was only when we tried to pull up the net that we saw the fish but it was already dead. If we were to leave it in the sea, the carcass would surely pollute the water.”

Keh said they were already bearing the cost of repair for the net which was damaged when pulling the two-tonne whale shark up to the shore.

“Some of our fishing equipment was also damaged,” he said, adding that he hoped the authorities would be fair to them.

The 7m-long fish was caught in the fishermen’s net about 10 nautical miles off the Teluk Bahang coast.

After talking to some of my friends about our childhood lives and all the inexpensive games we use to play during our schooling years. Come to think of it, it is slowly vanishing. As modern technology like PSP, X Box, Nintendo or PS is slowly replacing all these inexpensive games.

Pick up stick, it is definitely an interesting game and yet cheap too. Collect all the necessary satay stick, any many as you wish. Clean them up before using it. Gather all of them and let go and let it fall randomly, after that each one take turns to get as many sticks as possible until non is left. By the end of the calculate how many stick each players has. Of course the one with the most stick wins. And of course you can make it more interesting by painting the tip of the sticks with colours, each colour represents different points.

Bottle caps, one of my favourite games played during my secondary school years. Just collect five bottle caps, stack them up and spin them. See where it spin off too and take out one bottle cap and leave four of them to let other players to decided which bottle cap to shoot another bottle cap. Once the task is complete, put the bottle caps on your hand and flip it to mid air and see how many you could catch and that would be your points. Play as long as you wish and by the end see who has the most point. When a task is fail to perform and it goes to the next player.

Five stone, it is actually five packet of rice or beans inside each of these small little packet of cloth about 1" x 1" or 1.5" x 1.5" not bigger than 2". And one of the simplest game with 5 or 6 task to complete and at the end of the 5 or 6 task you calculate your points by flipping it to mid air and see how many you could catch and that would be your points, its about the same with bottle caps but instead of bottle caps but these five cute little bag.

Ice cream stick, most likely a one on one game. This is usually in between class or nothing else to go kind of game. Place the ice cream stick directly opposite each other and try to blow the ice cream stick above the other one. Whoever get to over come the other ice cream stick wins the game.

Of course there are more inexpensive games that I use to play and I think if I were to list, it is going to very long so I just cut it simple and short with just these few games.

Remember I have this toy on New Years Day, It actually have a name and it is called Sunny Twin from one of the Dooodolls™ series. What Cindy told me, it actually represent a zodiac sign and I went to dig up more info regarding this soft toy that I have. And to my surprise, it is actually by one of the local graphic designer, Darren Chen. Just a brief story on how this company started from a mere hobby to a full fledged business.

The brainchild of Malaysian graphic designer, Darren Chen, Dooodolls™ founded in 2004. With the help of partners ,business has expanded exponentially. While Chen is the chief designer and creative director of Dooodolls™ Chew and Ong are in charge of the business side of the company.

This Malaysian-born company is seeing success not just on our own shores; the dolls made such a hit at the yearly toy fair in Germany & Hong Kong that a few foreign companies snapped them up. As such, Dooodolls™ now also available in parts of Asia, Europe and the United States.

Each and every Dooodolls™ skillfully hand-stitched to perfection. With 17 different designs and more to be introduce, each doll is uniquely named and boasts an even more unique character. They do, nonetheless, share a few common traits—they are all adorable and friendly, but ever-so-slightly naughty and mischievous. Just don’t take them too seriously!

Besides these unique soft toys, Dooodolls™ do have their own comics and animations which you can check them out in their website. Besides just soft toys, there is a whole range of other stuff like accessories, paper + prints, plushes & tees available as well.

With this story, the more so it makes me realise that sometimes dream do come true. Nothing is impossible if you put your heart to it and with the right contact, your dreams will take flight.