Will's Fountain of Useless Info: Reloaded

Yesterday me and a few friends planned to visit the hot air balloon fiesta in Putrajaya. So we met up in the morning for breakfast, then left for Putrajaya. By the time we reached there it was around noon, and the hot air balloons are nowhere to be seen. Then the announcer mentioned that the balloons would only be flying at about 5:30pm, so seeing that we have a lot of time, we decided to go for karaoke lunch in Puchong.

Come to think of it, this is the first time in 2009 that I've stepped foot into a karaoke. So after some singing and lunch, time is up and we left the premise. Seeing that we still have some time, we drop by Alamanda to hangout for a while before going back to the fiesta location.

By the time we reached the fiesta grounds once again, it's just past 5:30pm. Traffic was quite bad as many are also rushing in to see the balloons take off. As we reach the fenced up compound, we're just in time to see the balloons getting prepared for take off. It was quite a sight to see indeed. There are some funky shaped balloons like a peacock, an elephant head etc, apart from the regular shaped ones. Because the weather was still quite hot, I suspect that the balloon couldn't get enough heat differences in and out to really lift it really high up, so after lifting off for a while, I could see some of the balloons are hovering while trying to maintain altitude. The pink elephant head balloon couldn't get enough altitude and ended up taking an emergency landing in a small park not far away.

All these balloons reminded me of an event near my house in Klang many years back. At that time, a cigarette brand sponsored an event that sees about 8 balloons or so flying across Klang sky. In fact I still keep the foldable binoculars of the event. Really brings back some memories.

It's just another day for me, but there are people who thinks it is a very unlucky day. Well, to all you Paraskavedekatriaphobia people, eat your heart out... there's 3 Friday the 13th in 2009. February, March, and November. :P

According to some online source, this Friday the 13th comes from the combination that some believes that Friday is unlucky, and to some the number 13 is unlucky.

But then again, some civilizations like the Egyptians and Chinese believe 13 to be an auspicious number.

Anyways if you're interested to read more about it, check out the links below:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/friday-the-13th-history.html

Overall my experience has been great, once we landed on the Sam Ratulangi airport. The people are friendly (except when they drive), and dive sites are nice. It's a pity we didn't get to see much of the big fishes (as my sifu says, the Manado fishermen are too good, they've caught most of the edible fishes).

We stayed at this hotel called Quality Hotel which deserves a mention. It is strategically located in the town center. There are many food stalls within walking distance, and the Mega Mall is not far away. The staffs are friendly and service is good, not to mention the rooms are very very clean and tidy. One funny thing is when sifu told my friend about our accommodation, it goes like this:

Sifu: We'll be staying in Quality Hotel
B: So which hotel is it going to be?
Sifu: Quality Hotel la
B: I know it's gonna be a quality hotel, but what's the name?
Sifu: Quality Hotel loh. The name of the hotel is Quality Hotel
B: Oh...

We dived at a few locations, mainly around Bunaken Island and Lembeh Strait. According to the web, it would've been better to dive between May and October, the so-called "dry" season, as visibility can reach up to 35m. Overall here there's an abundance of lionfish, porcupine fish, puffer fish, razor fish, and nudi branches. I managed to spot a white tip shark, though my friends saw 3. There's also something special there, called the electric clam. It's a red clam with electical charges but I didn't manage to take note of the electric charge.

There are many makan places. Wisata Bahari, seated on the waterfront, offers a variety of fresh seafood, from mantis prawn reared inside 1.5l mineral water bottles, to coconut crabs and lobsters. Another worthy mention is Raja Sate, just a little further on the opposite of the Mega Mall, which specializes in grilled meat (satay). Somewhat off the main street is Green Garden, a Chinese restaurant that has satay babi and a lot of Chinese dishes. Over here they maintain a couple of display aquarium with a variety of sea creatures. One of them even has a Mandarin Fish!

There are also a lot of stalls at the waterfront selling banana fritters and grilled fish. Didn't really try them out but they all looked quite good. We've even seen a whole team of police stopped by a banana fritter stall to have their afternoon tea.

One word of caution, their chili are REALLY hot. You have been warned. :P

Apparently the massages here are pretty good and cheap too. My friends went for it on the second day. I wanted to save it till the last day of diving, but missed it because we didn't have enough time in the end.

There are 2 famous alcoholic drinks here, the Cap Tikus and the Saguer. I heard that the saguer is a lot like our toddy. Cap Tikus on the other hand is a clear distilled (also palm based) liquor with alcohol content of about 50% (my estimate). Here they like to use coconut for a lot of their cooking and baking. Coconut syrup (like our gula melaka) is also often used, especially when you order a coconut drink. They'll add it for you or give you a small cup to add as you see fit.

As I went there mainly for diving, didn't really have much time to visit other attractions. Apparently there's a city called Tomohon which is surrounded by 3 volcanoes, about 25min (according to some online source, locals told me about 40mins) away from Manado town. There's supposed to be a hot spring around there too. Then there's the Tangkoko National Park which has the world smallest monkeys - the big-eyed Tarsius. These are some of the attractions that non-divers can go have a look.

If you've read or watched about The Secret, then you'd know about Laws of Attraction. Basically it says that you get what you wish for, something like the genie in Aladdin's magic lantern.

Apparently many people tried out the theory, with various outcomes. I've even read about groups of people who got together, bought lottery tickets, and wished that the ticket is the winning ticket. And they claimed that they have a good success rate.

For me, I've decided to do my own experiments after watching the DVD. And frankly, I don't know if it's coincidence or what, but I had some degree of success... although I don't really get what I wished for, but close.

Case 1:
I wished for a million dollars. Yeah, don't laugh, I prefer to aim high. :P
Outcome:
Out of nowhere someone sent me an MP3, a Hokkien song with the title "If I had a million dollar"

Case 2:
I entered a contest and wished of winning the first prize.
Outcome:
I won the second prize instead.

Case 3:
Lately I relived the idea while chatting with my friend. This time I aim for 3 million (hoping that I might strike the Pan Malaysian Pool lottery).
Outcome:
I changed 3 million Rupiah with RM936 for my Manado dive trip.

So, what do you think? Coincidence? or Laws of Attraction?

I don't know, maybe I should be more specific next time. :P