Best TV series of 2022

It’s that time of the year to list down the best TV series (IMO) that I’ve been watching in 2022. These are all new series of course. There are good subsequent seasons of previous years best TV series but I am only going to review new series here as always. Without further ado, in the chronological order that I watch them:


The Book of Boba Fett



This list will not be complete without the latest installment of a Star Wars universe series right? The Book of Boba Fett has some crossover from the Mandalorian but it is mostly about Boba Fett after (spoiler alert) he was left for dead after losing a battle with Luke in the Sarlacc pit. From then on Boba went on to become the new benevolent crime lord of Tatooine. Mildly entertaining this one but still worth a watch for all Star Wars aficionados out there. Available on Disney Hotstar.


Peacemaker



A spin-off from The Suicide Squad movie, Peacemaker is an entertaining comedy staring John Cena as the superhero/villain that believes in achieving peace at any cost, usually with disasterous aftermath. Throw in some nostalgic 80s rock ballad and you got half an hour of comedic gold. Available on HBO Go


Severance



What Apple TV+ lack in quantity, they sometimes make up for it in quality in rare good series such as Severance. Imagine you needed to separate your consciousness between your work life and the one outside of it. Meaning you have no idea what’s going on in the world outside your work life and vice versa. Beautiful cinematography and set design, what’s not to love about this sci-fi psychological thriller?

Obi Wan Kenobi

This new Star Wars series is the one I look forward to most this year. Ever wondered what happened soon after the Jedis were annihilated after Order 66 and Anakin became Darth Vader? Well this series is supposed to take place 10 years after that but that gives us enough time for Luke and Leia to grow up a bit and become part of the main characters of this series. I don’t want to spoil this series too much but suffice to say the fight scene and the amount of nostalgia and call back were enough to keep you tethered to your seat.


Andor



Two Star Wars spin--offs not enough? How about three? Andor, a prequel to the Rogue One movie, is the third Star Wars series released this year. Telling the origin story of rebel spy Cassion Andor several years before the events in Rogue One. It has a darker and more mature tone compared to previous Star Wars series and enjoyed critical acclaim from the fans. To be honest, I found it to be too serious and gloomy but hey that’s just me.


Ramy



There’s usually two types of muslims in America - the strict sharia-abiding one and then the non-practising one. Ramy falls into the third-category which mixes and matches his Islamic life with the modern secular world. An entertaining comedy and provides an interesting insight into the modern muslim world in America.


Wednesday



It took me a while to watch Wednesday. I thought the preview looked too cheesy and boring, But after a while, I saw rave reviews from netizens about this series so I decided to take the plunge and watch it anyway. Wednesday is a crossover of Sabrina, Riverdale and a dark Harry Potter. I enjoyed the dark comedy portrayed by Wednesday Addams in this series. It was just entertaining enough to watch it until the end.


First Love



First Love also comes recommended by netizens (mostly from Twitter). At first I thought how good can a Japanese romantic series be right? A cute leading actress plus some good theme song is a winning combination for me. Viewers will be taken on an emotional roller-coaster ride from the beginning to the end of this series. Girls, prepare your tissue papers!

Southern tour 2022

For our annual end of the year family trip this year we had a few places in my mind. Initially it was Labuan off the coast of Sabah. And then we contemplated going to Singapore but both places were prohibitively expensive for our budget. Labuan’s return flight was over 3,000 ringgit and we had to make passports for our entire family which would easily run to 1,000 ringgit. Let’s not even talk about Singapore’s dear exchange rate (damn you UMNO). In the end we settled for a little tour of the southern states, mainly Desaru, Johor Bharu and Malacca. We originally wanted to stay in Mersing as well but we simply didn’t have the time (nor the budget) plus there was news of flooding in the area.

Traffic was surprisingly smooth heading south that Friday afternoon. It rained occasionally but nothing heavy. We stopped by Yong Peng to try the supposedly famous 40 hari kari kambing restaurant. To be honest I don’t understand the hype because it tasted just like any ordinary kuzi lamb and mandy rice. The queue was extra long too although I can’t deny the lamb price is much cheaper than anywhere in Selangor.

Later that evening we arrived at the Lotus Desaru Beach Resort. As the name suggests, it is a resort along the Desaru beach near Kota Tinggi. It’s a huge place, they must have had hundreds of rooms in each block. We have two decent rooms in our suite with a little bath tub in the master bedroom. It’s reasonably clean so I can’t complain. There was not much furniture in the living room apart from a little sofa next to the small dining table. Next to the room suites is their water park which comes free with the room or 5 ringgit per person. The water park is just your typical hotel/resort water park with a few slides and a moderately big dipping pool. I went down the slide once and then waded in the pool for a few minutes and then I’m out of there. The kids seem to enjoy it though. They spent hours in the water.

Breakfast the next day was okay I guess. They serve the usual budget hotel menu like nasi lemak, fried rice, friend noodles, sausages, roti canai and porridge among others. I suspect the resort was fully booked because the Seaview restaurant was packed with holiday goers. So full it’s basically a factory assembly line. We didn’t get a chance to stroll along the Desaru beach just next to the restaurant because there were strong waves and the entrance was closed. Still we get to see the strong waves hitting the sea wall, spraying water on sightseers. Overall I would rate Lotus Desaru with 3.5 stars. A decent place to bring your family during school holidays. Perhaps if you booked the place earlier than we did (12 days prior), you might get slightly better rates.

The next day we drove for an hour to downtown Johor Bahru. We purposely booked a hotel next to IKEA Tebrau so that we could literally walk there later. Just kidding, who in their right mind would want to walk 500 metres to anywhere? Actually I could have walked had we not had a toddler in tow and a considerable shopping list. Besides, it rained heavily later in the evening. IKEA Tebrau is surprise-surprise is just like any other IKEAs I’ve been to in the country, from Batu Kawan to Cheras to Damansara. You go to one IKEA, you’ve been to all. The Tappen mall that’s connected to IKEA was a decent mall with the usual fare, a few shops and some recreational arenas like archery and wall-climbing. We even managed to steal some time to visit Aeon mall next door looking for a Robocar Poli toy for Asif. We didn’t find any and only found some at a Penn-mart toy shop nearby.

Later that evening we headed straight to JB city centre actual for dinner at Jalan Stulang Laut. We’ve been there before the last time we visited JB and Legoland, most of them don’t remember anything from that last visit because of old age it was quite some time ago. The seafood dinner was okay and affordable I guess. We would have enjoyed ourselves more had we not been interrupted by beggars and an assortment of traders every few minutes. Our last itinerary for the day was the Danga Bay park which features a little fun fair along the coast of the Johor straits. The entrance to the park was jammed and the parking lot was packed that it’s a miracle that we even got a parking spot. But found a spot we did so the kids get to enjoy some fun rides at the amusement park. The rides were pretty affordable, starting from 4 ringgit and up to 10 ringgit each and they include a big merry-go-round, train ride, tea cup ride and others.

Vertilex hotel that we stayed at was small which barely fit a queen-sized bed and a bathroom. But for 73 ringgit each and a last-minute booking, it’s a fair deal. Besides, we spent most of the time outside so we thought it would be wasteful to book a more luxurious hotel.

The next day we headed to our final destination which was Malacca. But not before we stopped by Johor Premium Outlet which is similar to Genting Premium Outlet and Mitsui Premium Outlet. Traffic going into the mall was already congested but we braved on anyway because Adam wanted to get a pair of shoes for his birthday. Like their Genting outlet, this one is packed with people, even more so on Christmas day. There’s the usual long queue outside of their anchor tenants like Adidas, Nike, Gucci and Coach and also the few restaurants that open. The goods prices are not that cheap mind you, driven even further up by Singaporean customers I suspect.

Unlike GPO, the atmosphere here is hot and humid whereas Genting’s was cool and refreshing due to their higher latitude. It was made even worse by selfish smokers smoking in the middle of the walkway. The management is partly to blame for putting those smoking bins right next to the benches. It’s an open invitation to those assholes. In the end, Adam didn’t find the shoes that he likes so our visit was almost a total waste of time. I said almost because my wife did buy some clothes for our toddler there.

Later we stopped by the Machap R and R lunch. I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering why there’s so much flies in the Kulai/Machap area. The rest stop was infested with flies. For our final stay, we booked a Airbnb unit next to the seaside. Too bad our unit did not face the sea but instead faces inwards toward other units. Waking up to the straits of Malacca would have been awesome. The owner provides self check in with clear instructions on how to get in and where to park. The studio unit is reasonably clean with one queen bed, one sofa bed and a small mattress, good for 3 people but no more. The bath tub in the bathroom is a bonus. You have access to the condo's swimming pool on the 13th floor.



Imperio Residences looks magnificent and imposing at first glance but very few locals actually live here and they're occupied mostly by holiday-makers like us. The rest of the building looks under-maintained and run down because of the lack of tenants. The place has potential for sure, it’s just too bad they didn't go through with the mall downstairs. There's a washer and dryer combo machine provided but you'll have to bring your own soap. The dryer part of the machine doesn't really work well so you're left with some damp laundry. Consider that before you use the machine. Other than that I have no complaints.

From the condo, we drove to the Malacca city centre on Christmas eve for sightseeing. Even for the short 5 kilometer drive, it took us 22 minutes to get there with all the traffic. In the end, we parked near the Tabung Haji building and walked 500 metres to Jonker Walk. I’ve been meaning to visit Jonker Walk for years. Heard of the name but never really got the chance to visit. To be honest you won’t miss anything much because there’s nothing much of interest there. A few souvenir and handicraft stalls, a bunch of food and snack stalls and that’s about it. You’d probably have more fun visiting Petaling Street or Chow Kit than this.

Now we’ve been to Malacca city centre a few times before but never at night. The place has a totally different vibe and atmosphere at night, especially the loud and flash trishaw rides at the centre. I usually ignore those cringey trishaw rides but not with little Asif Yusuf along who demanded that we ride them. For 25 ringgit each, they took us for a short 15 minute ride around the city. It would have been memorable if not for the loud obnoxious music blaring from the onboard speakers. They’re totally unnecessary.

So that concludes our 4 days 3 night tour of the southern states. Thankfully traffic was not that bad and was pretty smooth in fact for both to and return trip. I can’t say the same for people coming and going in the opposite direction. Did I feel refreshed and relaxed? If not totally, at least a little bit. I don’t really have the extra budget to pay for this vacation but I went along with it anyway so that my wife and kids can have some fun away from home. Now that the vacation is finished and I’m back to face reality, the prospect of paying for all my credit card spending excess is not really fun but hey at least my loved ones are happy, right?

Apple Device Support Exam questions

I was required to take a certification exam by The Management recently to prove that I have the necessary qualifications to deal with users and customers at work. The Apple Device Support exam is for technical professionals who support Apple devices in their organization. When you pass the exam, you earn the Apple Certified Support Professional digital badge. The exam costs USD158 (around RM717) to take and you take it online using the Pearson VUE website. It has got some really hard and tricky questions (and answers). So hard that I had to take the exam twice (yes I flunked the first one). The upside of that failure is that I could recall some 80 to 90 questions from the exam by memory which I have turned into this exam Google form below.

I tried to look around for any revision or "dump" questions for the Apple Device Support exam on the web but the ones that I found are placed behind a paywall and there's no guarantee that they're even legit. If you plan to study the old school way, you can refer to the Apple Device Support tutorials page and reviewing the learning objectives page. They always include the latest macOS and iOS version there. Other than that, many of the questions are based on your experience using, deploying, repairing and troubleshooting Apple devices including Macs, iPhones and iPads. For that, there's no substitute for wisdom.

Hopefully this exam questions that I created can help a fellow brother or sister out for their Apple Device Support certification. If you find these questions useful, feel free to donate to my account below or buy me a coffee. Thank you and all the best!

GE15 result and analysis

    Quite a few people predicted no single party or coalition could win enough seats to form the government for the 15th general election and rightly so. A few months before the dissolution of parliament, BN was at their lowest point while PH was only going back on track thanks to Rafizi Ramli and his Ayuh Malaysia initiative. PN however was quietly gaining traction through social media especially Tik-Tok which I could have dismissed before but clearly underestimated their influence.

Done my part. Slim to zero chance of making a dent here but at least I’m proud of my choice pic.twitter.com/adEBuNqKKX

— Afif (@afifplc) November 19, 2022

I went home with little hope of seeing any major upset or change in my home state. Three decades of brainwashing wasn’t going to change in a few years, if ever. But went home I did, to exercise my democratic right. It’s hard changing people’s minds. Heck I wasn’t even sure who my wife going to vote for because she’d been very cryptic with her choice. My in-laws were a lost cause because they’re sure as hell going to vote for PAS/PN again. What surprised me the most was that my sister and brother were going to vote for them as well. It’s either they truly believed their cause or they were also influenced by the social media campaigns.

My mother and grandmother were traditional UMNO/BN voters and until a few weeks before the election, were all but sure to vote for them again. It was not until I made a sustained campaigning session through Whatsapp and in real life to them that I managed to change their mind. My grandmother was even simpler. I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. So for the first time in their lives, they voted for somebody other than BN in the general election. As for my siblings, I did make some last minute appeals to them but it was too little too late. My brother for example was flown in straight from Sabah and shuttled via bus specifically to vote for PN. Where did they get all the money from?

After shuttling my grandmother and brother, I drove back to Tanah Merah to pick up my wife and send her to the polling station. I know she’s divided between voting for PH or PN but I think I managed to convince her enough to vote for the former. I hate it when political parties abuse race and religion to buy votes. It’s the worst premise ever to elect a government, especially for a 33 month government who failed spectacularly.

Pukul 3 baru sampai rumah semalam. Zombie mode on pic.twitter.com/0ScH8TnpEa

— Afif (@afifplc) November 21, 2022

We didn’t go back until the next day because it was thankfully a weekend voting day this time round. I thought we picked the right route via Gerik and PLUS north-south highway but it was jammed anyway. We didn’t get home until 3 o’clock in the morning and I had to get to work 3 hours later. By then the result all but confirmed we have a hung parliament with no single coalition capable of getting more than 112 seats. I was bemused yet a bit alarmed when PN announced they got the numbers to form the government that night despite the fact that they only won 73 seats. Even with GPS MPs in the bag, they still need to persuade BN to join the motley crew.

The next day it becomes clear that PN didn’t actually manage to get BN to join them. Instead they enticed 15 BN lawmakers to jump ship and support them. This might actually work before the anti-hopping law was passed but not anymore. Any MPs that disobeyed their party’s direction will lose their parliamentary seat and trigger a by-election. The fact that PN was more than willing to fund the rogue MPs by-election is both sickening and a testament of how deep their pockets are.

If this is true then @dapmalaysia & @guanenglim have a lot of explaining to do pic.twitter.com/VLnpM9b7gr

— Afif (@afifplc) November 22, 2022

So for the next four days, there was some serious negotiating and horse-trading going on behind the scene by each coalition. PH with 82 seats could have secured enough seats to form the government if they had GPS and GRS from Sarawak and Sabah respectively behind them but unfortunately they didn't. While in power for the short 22 months, PH and DAP especially burnt a lot of bridges with the Sarawak based coalition which they don’t easily forget. That’s why GPS had no qualms joining hands with PN despite Mahiaddin’s anti-Christian rhetorics and the extremists in PAS. BN on the other hand declined to join any coalitions at first and resigned to be the opposition but that will not resolve the hung parliament situation. 

Agong should appoint PM from PH since they got the most seats and let Anwar form a minority government. Up to him to work out a CSA with BN & GPS

— Afif (@afifplc) November 22, 2022

On November 23rd however, the head of all major political parties that won seats in the election were called to the palace. Previously when the monarch did this, Mahiaddin was selected as prime minister so I was obviously distraught at the thought of history repeating itself. And then comes the rumours that Anwar could finally be appointed prime minister but still nothing confirmed. I even tweeted that the king should appoint Anwar as the premier cause his coalition won the most seats. He could even lead a minority government with some kind of CSA or MOU with other coalitions.

On my birthday, news broke that DAP’s secretary general - Anthony Loke and their chairman Lim Guan Eng flew to Kuching and apologies wholeheartedly to the Sarawak government for all their past shenanigans. That’s surely a good sign isn’t it? In the afternoon, the entire country waited with bated breath on the result of the head of parties meeting with the king. Some time around 3:00PM the palace finally announced that the king had agreed to appoint Anwar Ibahim as the country’s 10th prime minister after getting GPS, GRS and BN to support him. It was the best birthday present ever.

😚 pic.twitter.com/8PogjNEvcn

— Afif (@afifplc) November 24, 2022

Apparently the king had asked PN, to join Anwar and create a unity government but PN, specifically Mahiaddin, categorically refused. Anwar on the other hand agreed to form a unity government with BN and the rest when asked and the rest is history.

It’s an open secret that Anwar and Zahid has a long history between them of the positive kind despite the latter being the current president of UMNO and BN. As a matter of fact, that relationship all but helped Anwar secure BN’s support for the premiership. Besides, Zahid and his lieutenants were pretty pissed when Mahiaddin attempted to steal their MPs behind their back instead of being a gentleman and negotiate openly and transparently like Anwar did.

A week later, when the ministers and the cabinet line up was announced, I and I'm sure many Malaysians were disappointed to see Zahid Hamidi appointed as deputy prime minister and minister for rural development. But I understand realpolitik. His appointment was probably one of the prerequisite or reward for BN supporting the government. BN got 7 full ministers while DAP who won the most seats in PH only got four. Some suggested that this was DAP’s sacrifice to stem the anti-DAP sentiment among the electorate which I believe could be true. As long as Anwar kept to his promise of not interfering or appear to magically let Zahid Hamidi get off his 47 criminal charges scot-free, I can live with that. It’s still better than seeing an islamofascist government screwing with our future.

I do hope they will hit the ground running and do an incredibly good job even for BN and GPS ministers who had a history of underperforming previously. This is paramount if they ever want to halt the green wave of PAS and PN that’s drowning the entire country.

Just yesterday, PN won a landslide victory in the Padang Serai parliamentary seat in Kedah bringing their final seat count to 74. If the remaining state elections were to be held in the near future, there’s a real possibility that PN will sweep clean all the states save for Penang and maybe Selangor. Like I said, decades of religious indoctrination and intense social media campaigning months before the election turned the tide in PN’s way. I am genuinely terrified at the prospect of the ultraracist PN and islamofascist PAS governing the country. We’ll be transformed into a mini Afghanistan in a decade or two.

The road to a prosperous, peaceful and progressive Malaysia is long and winding with enemies waiting to pounce on the sides at any opportunity to topple this government. This unity government will have their work cut out for them because PN will have no qualms to continue abusing race and religion to their advantage. The siege-mentality, us versus them, malays versus other races narrative pioneered by UMNO and adapted by PN will not be easy to dismantle. Anwar Ibrahim and his coalition partner must do a really damn good job to win the hearts and votes of the common folks, the fence sitters and those who were tricked or influenced to vote for PN last time. It will not be easy but hopefully they will have the next five years to achieve it. For our future and children’s sake, they better do it.

GE15 thoughts and predictions

At around this time next week, we’ll probably know the results of GE15. Could BN claim a comfortable victory? Will Anwar finally become the Malaysian prime minister? As of this moment, who knows.

From the ashes of GE14, UMNO has gone from strength to strength, initially colluding with PAS in the name of “ummah” and then ditching the islamist party after they felt that they are strong enough to go for it alone. I’m not sure whether Malaysians have a really short memory or they have this tendency for self-destruction because a majority of them keep voting in BN in the last 3 state elections. Did they not remember how much money Najib and Zahid have stolen from the country, from you and me all these years? Do they even care that we will all be paying for Najib's 1MDB crimes until the next generation? I guess some of them don't.

I honestly thought PPBM or Bersatu’s fate were sealed when they failed to establish an electoral pact with BN. And then came PAS to their rescue when they agreed to join the band of traitors to create Perikatan Nasional. In the west coast where the PAS brand is toxic, they campaigned and contested under the PN flag. On the east coast, at their safe seats, they go with PAS’ banner. A cunning but shrewd move I must say and many will be fooled by this ploy. If the state elections are anything to go by, PN actually presented themselves as a credible alternative to the corrupt BN. Not everyone who hates BN is willing to vote for PH so PN is another choice for them.

What can I say about Pakatan Harapan? Post Sheraton move, Before Rafizi Ramli came out of political retirement, the pact was in disarray and disjointed. They were fighting each other, throwing insults and barbs that were definitely not helping their cause. Rafizi came back, won the PKR VP seat, got into action with a clear plan and strategy and pulled the coalition together. Now he’s hot on the campaign trail, attacking BN and PN, exposing scandal after scandal perpetrated by the incumbent. If PH were to ever win this election, they can thank this messiah from Kemaman.

And what about Mahathir and his ilks? He launched yet another race-based party, tried to cooperate with PH at the last hour but failed and now works with a bunch of racists from ISMA to contest in GE15. While I’m not so sure about Bersatu’s demise, I can say for sure this will be Mahathir’s final show in Malaysian politics and he will ride into the sunset when his fledgling party loses every seat that they contested.

As for my prediction, I’m gonna say it will be very tight. There’s a few new variables that will make this election hard to predict the outcome. There’s Undi 18 and then automatic voter registration. The state elections were not a good barometer of youngsters' preferences and which party they lean into since the voter turnout was rather low. While they can be media, especially social media savvy, they could also be easily duped by mass propaganda or disinformation campaigns. Honestly they could go either way and it’s really hard to tell before the election. As for automatic voters registration, the newly registered voters could come out and vote in droves for the first time or they simply won't bother.

I predict no single coalition of the big three (BN, PH and PN) will gather enough seats to pass the magic 112 number but BN will still manage to form a government with help from their old BN partner in Sarawak, GPS. In this nightmare scenario, Zahid Hamidi will become prime minister and all his ongoing criminal cases will be mysteriously dropped and the country will go to the dogs.

Another possible scenario is BN plus GPS still won’t have enough seats to form a government but PAS will stab Bersatu at the back and collude with UMNO to form the next government in exchange for ministerial and GLC posts and the country will still burn to the ground.

Of course, my dream scenario is for PH to win a simple majority and bring this country out of the doldrums. But I am a realist and realistically, too many of the electorate are still easily manipulated, emotional especially when it comes to race and religion. Throw in political apathy and you have the perfect recipe for conservatives (read BN & PN) to gain inroad into the malay heartland. Just winning the majority of the seriously gerry-mandered urban seats will not be enough for PH. Undi 18 could still make or break PH chances though. They could make an educated decision or they would simply reflect the voting trends of the older generation.

Looking back, I made the same grim prediction before the surprise GE14 result. I dearly hope I will be proven wrong once again this time round. I pray for the citizens of this country to make the right decision next week. As for me, I will still be doing the 12 hours, 1,000KM round trip to my hometown to vote, despite the dire prospect of voting in a PAS stronghold. If PH makes strong gains in Kelantan, I might not change my voting location to Selangor yet. If not, I might as well become a Semenyih voter next time because all hope is lost with that state. Why even bother.

Pangkor Island vacation 2022

It’s been a while since we last visited Pangkor island with the family. The last time we went there for a family day event, Adam and Mia were a bunch of wee little kids and I think Hana wasn’t even born yet. It was an impromptu holiday plan we made for the long Deepavali weekend. My parent in law was coincidentally in Manjung at the time so we decided to hop on to Pangkor after visiting them.

The drive to Lumut was a breeze thanks to our turbocharged X50. We booked the ferry tickets at Marina Island jetty which were pricier than the regular Lumut tickets but a lot less crowded. We didn’t want to risk the Deepavali crowd. We parked our car at the designated car park which cost 20 ringgit per day, expensive I know but at least it’s relatively safe and we didn’t need to bother our relatives to drop us there. After like 10 minutes later we arrived safe and sound at the Pangkor main jetty.

We took one of the familiar pink Pangkor vans to get to our hotel at the Puteri Bayu Beach Resort. Since it was last minute, we could only snag two standard rooms for RM230 each to fit all six of us. I must say the rooms are a wee bit small and they could improve on the facilities and cleanliness, especially the bathroom. I’m still bitter that they don’t provide any hairdryers and instead offered to loan us one from the front desk for a 50 ringgit deposit. Incredulous in this day and age.





The upside of this hotel is that it’s a beachfront property and you could walk straight out to the beach. There’s a small swimming pool as well should you decide to not bathe in saltwater. The beach is relatively clean compared to say Port Dickson or Dungun. There’s the odd animal dung here and there but apart from that it was quite spotless. The less accessible a beach is, the less polluted they are I conclude. The kids had a ball playing and bathing in by the sea. Right opposite of Pasir Bogak beach where we stayed is the exclusive Pangkor Laut island resort which starts from RM2,096 per night. Will we ever get to stay at such a luxurious resort? Not anytime soon and not with my current pay grade. Remind me to get a better paying job.



Fortunately for us, dining out is not much of a problem because there were a couple of roadside eateries operating about 5 minutes walk from the hotel. We had lunch and dinner at two of them and the prices were actually reasonable for a tourist attraction. If you didn’t know, Pangkor island is in fact a duty-free island and you can find duty-free shops dotted everywhere around the place. Linda and the kids had a ball picking up duty-free chocolates at a store nearby and she even went home with a brand new pot.

The next morning we had some mediocre breakfast at the hotel café. The menu consists of fried rice and noodles, sausages, baked beans, samosas, porridge, toast and some more noodle soup. I’m not sure whether they are still recovering from the economic effects of the lockdown or they’re just being cheap. I would rate their breakfast as 2 and the hotel overall 2.5 stars. Honestly, we’ve had much better-tasting food at other hotels at the same price range.



Since we’re short of time, we didn’t get to try any of the activities like island hopping plus snorkeling or visit any other part of the island. Perhaps we could return again some day and stay longer at a better hotel. All in all, it’s a two days well spent at an island resort not far from KL. Plus we get to visit relatives.

Aqiss riverside camping

I don’t know when my wife got the camping bug but I reckon it was either from his siblings or from some groups on Facebook. Being an avid hiker/camper myself, I see absolutely no problem with that. We’ve planned for our first family camping trip for a while now. We’ve been gradually buying camping equipment and gears - tents, sheets, pots and what not. Our first big family camping trip was supposed to be last month along with my in-laws but unfortunately my parents-in-law got Covid while staying at our place so we had to do a raincheck for that.

The next camping trip did actually happen. Linda found this little place near Batu 12 in Gombak, not far from UIA. I’ve never heard of Aqiss River Camp before so I had no expectations of that place. After an hour’s drive from Semenyih, we reached the campsite which goes through a picnic site (I didn’t notice the name) and up a steep hill which my beat up old Alza barely manage to climb.



At first glance, it was a proper campsite with a proper flat camping base, a little verandah right next to it, toilets, running water and a power point somewhere. I fumbled a bit trying to set up the new big Quecha living room tent for the first time but managed thanks to some help from a bystander. The tent says it would fit 6 people but honestly 5 would be more comfortable.

The Relang river right next to the camp was flowing with a fairly strong current thanks to the rain the night before. Still, Mia, Hana and I managed to take a dip for half an hour or so in the freezing cold water although we stayed mostly by the river bank. We had barbecue cooked by Adam that evening. The campsite was fully booked that weekend so we had neighbouring campers all around. They all looked like seasoned campers unlike us and we didn’t chat much with them.



Being in Gombak, the cell and Internet reception was pretty good there. At least the kids and I don’t get too bored when we had nothing to do that night. Adam spends most of his time either doing homework or revision. I admire his dedication. Me, I tried to sleep early to catch the early morning football later that morning. You know the one where we lost 3-2 to Arsenal due to some shambolic refereeing and VAR. Like I said, the tent could barely fit 6 people and I think I speak for everybody that we didn’t have a good night sleep that night with so little space to even flex your muscles. Next time we’re gonna need two tents for the family to sleep comfortably. The fact that the Karak highway is just next door and you could hear the loud traffic noise 24/7 didn’t help at all.

The next day we had a proper bath in the river now that the currents had calmed down considerably and the water less chocolaty in colour. Everybody joined in for the morning shower. Not long after that we packed up and left the site.

How was our first family camping trip? It’s a mixed bag really. Memorable but it could be more comfortable. Now I’ve been with about half a dozen hiking and camping trips before but this family camping trip is a lot different from what I’ve gone through. For my hiking trips, we pack light, most of the time with no tents but fly and sheet and minimal gears so that we don’t have to carry all the heavy stuff throughout the trip. For a family camping trip, we tried to be as comfortable as possible. That’s why we packed up as much stuff as we could fit in the car including the non-essentials like pillows, speakers, tables, extra food and cooking utensils . Since we could park the car right next to the campsite and we could pretty much unload everything easily, packing light is not an issue.

Would we return to Aqiss again? I doubt it. The loud noise from the highway was the dealbreaker. Next time we would find somewhere more peaceful and quiet, like literally. That said, Aqiss River Camp is conveniently located right next door in Gombak and the facilities are adequate so if you don’t mind the noise, it can make for a good family camping site.

Mac mini 2020 review

My last Mac mini was an old 2014 version of the compact Apple computer. It was not so bad if it was running the original OS that it came with (Mac OS Yosemite) but I I needed a newer OS to run the latest apps on the Mac so I upgraded to Mojave and then later Monterey which caused the chronic performance issue due to the slow HDD drive. Eventually it took me 2-3 minutes from login to open a single Chrome tab which is forever in modern day computing standard.



Hence why when I sold the old Mac mini and saved some money to buy a new one. I was torn between the cheaper 2018 Intel Mac mini with SSD and the newer but slightly more expensive 2020 M1 Mac mini but after much research, I decided to go with the latter. For only 2,000 ringgit, it proved to be one of the better investments I have made in recent times.





The one that I got comes with an 8 core CPU and 8 core GPU with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. Pretty basic but it gets the job done. It has two Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI and one ethernet port. You can connect one display to the Thunderbolt port and another display via the HDMI port at the same time. The Thunderbolt/USB-C port can transfer data up to 40 Gb/s so if you got a Thunderbolt SSD drive connected, it will feel like a local SSD drive.





For one thing, the M1 Mac mini runs blazing fast. It took literally seconds to get from power on to the desktop. Chrome and other apps show up pretty much instantly. I don’t play many games but the one that I regularly play - Football Manager 2020 breezes past the processing time between games. I also rendered a 22 minute 4K video using Davinci Resolve in less than 8 minutes. In a nutshell, the M1 Mac mini is a major improvement compared to the last HDD Mac that I had and I can trust this Mac to last 7-8 years more into the future before showing any signs of decline.

If you’re looking for a future proof, affordable and fully capable Mac desktop computer, look no more than the M1 Mac mini. If you have another 500 ringgit to spare, the newer 2023 M2 Mac mini which is twice as fast than the M1 is now on sale for only 2,499.00 ringgit. I assure you, they’re a worthy investment compared to any compact Windows desktop out there.

Airpods Pro review

My trusty Airpods died on me recently. Well not actually dead but the right side likes to disconnect from the phone after a few minutes of using which is as good as dead. So I bought a moderately affordable Beats Flex earphones, also from Apple, which is sort of a wireless earbuds but with a wire connecting both buds. When I tried it on, the sound was nice. You can hear some of the bass and the right amount of treble just like the old Airpods. The only issue that I have with the Beats Flex is that when I jog with it, I have that old thumping noise in my ears whenever my feet strike the ground. It’s loud and annoying in the long run. Also the fact that there’s wire dangling on your neck makes it feels like it’s not a truly wireless earbuds.

 


After a while, I decided I needed to have another Airpods. But it’s not going to be a standard Airpods. It’s time for an upgrade. When I finally saved enough money, I bought the Airpods Pro (first generation). A second hand unit of course, don’t feel like wasting good money on a brand new one. Design-wise, it has a bigger bud but a shorter stem compared to the original Airpods. The rubber tips are replaceable and it comes in three different sizes in the box. You can use the Airpods Ear Tip Fit test on your iPhone to make sure you use the correct ear tip size for your ears.



Controlling music or sound on the Airpods Pro is slightly different from the predecessor. While you double-tap the buds on the original Airpods, you will need to double-click the stem of the Airpods Pro to skip a track. Press three times if you wanna go back and press once if you want to stop or pause. Just like the original one, the Pro is also powered by the H2 chip which connects and switches seamlessly with all supported Apple devices.



What strikes me the most about these Airpods Pro is the active noise canceling (ANC) feature. Probably because this is my first ANC earbuds ever, the difference that it makes is profound compared to regular earbuds. It almost completely drowns out outside noise making the music and sound you hear in your head really clear, giving you a fully immersive hearing experience. Seriously, if you can’t afford Airpods, try any of those good ANC earbuds. It’s a totally whole new experience.

The ANC feature is good when you’re sitting still on your sofa or in a static position but if you’re outdoors and you need to be aware of traffic, then it could be dangerous if you can’t hear incoming vehicles. That’s where the transparency mode comes in. This mode, which can be turned on by long pressing the stem or changing it on your Control Center, provides a balance between ANC and letting in just enough outside noise to your ears. That way, you can still enjoy much of your music while still hearing loud enough noises from the outside. This is particularly useful when you use the Airpods Pro while running or riding a bike.

You can charge the Airpods pro using the Lightning port or you can use the wireless charging feature which is pretty handy. A single charge could last around a week with moderate use. The Airpods Pro is a major upgrade from the original Airpods and the ANC feature is a gamechanger. I would highly recommend the Airpods Pro if you’re already invested in the Apple ecosystem although you could technically connect the Airpods to other Bluetooth enabled devices. Otherwise you might be better off with other, slightly cheaper ANC earbuds/headphones.