::the indolent blog::

To freeze time and history on the birth of my firstborn, I decided to encapsulate the technologies that exists at this time of the year. Being a gadget fan-boy, I hope my son would be able to look back at these “ancient” technology that his daddy is using.

Standard Internet Speed (Home) - 2Mbps@RM110/month

Standard & Best Home TV (Plasma/LCD/LED)

42” 1024 x 768 - RM2,500
55” 1920 x 1080, 3D LED - RM21,999

Best Gadget in 2010 - Apple iPhone 4

Standard Apple MacBook

Standard Capacity USB Flash Drive - RM155

32Gb USB2.0

Standard Capacity Flash Memory

SD Ultra II, 16Gb - RM150
CF Extreme 8Gb - RM189

Most popular Gaming Console

PlayStation 3, 120Gb - RM1,299

Most Popular Game - PC/Mac

Starcraft 2 (Wings of Liberty) - RM288

Standard customised PC that you can buy with RM3,000

Intel Core i5 760, 2.8Ghz Quad Core, 8Mb L3 Cache (LGA 1156)
Intel DP55WG (DDR3 1600) CFX Raid+GL+S+E-SATA
CMX 4GX3M2A1600C9 DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 2Gx2
WesternD 3.5” 1.0TB SATA2 64Mb 
Nvidia (PCI-E 16X) Asus GTS450 Direct CU 1Gb DDR5 128bit 783Core
Lite On SATA 24X / External 8x Slim DVD Writer
COOLER MASTER CENTURION 5 ATX CASING
COOLER MASTER - CASE FAN - 12CM-Sleeve Bearing, 1200rpm, 19.8dBA
CPU COOLER MASTER Gemini II - Cu. Base/Alu.Fins/6 HP
SAMSUNG Monitor 20.0” E2020NX A+D 50000:1 5ms
LOGITECH G1 DESKTOP KEY + MSE - USB/PS

Step 1: Approach locked lavatory
Step 2: Lift “LAVATORY” sign
Step 3: Slide the knob into the unlocked position
Step 4: Cackle because you’ve just unlocked the bathroom from the outside

The amazing simple idea that turns bloggers into ‘twitter-ers’. Spore from SMS and into the cyber-space, it has literally turned our world apart. Information is desseminated at an instant, and there’s no turning back. Everything is recorded and everything is spread like a super wild-fire that has gone berzerk into the arms of followers. In the marketing world, this is a very powerful media which could cause mayhem if its used without precaution and intelligence

I gotten some tech specs a few days ago that amazes me:

In each Tweet includes in terms of text (200 bytes for 140 characters). Twitter is seeing 800 Tweets per second, or 12GBs of Twitter text. And Twitter generates 8 terabytes of data per day (or 80 MB per second), whereas the New York Stock Exchange creates 1 terabyte of data per day.

The compounding theorem is in my head now, just imagine one tweet is a mere 200kb.. and contains information that can literally change the whole planet. Impressive no?

The rest that I get from the well made clean-soft-linen-bed in Radisson is practically a heaven in this land of Central Asia. I was woken again by the help of ‘morning call’ due to the absence of my beloved iPhone.

After a quick bite at the hotel’s restaurant, we were on our way again to two other inspections in Bunyodkor and Lokomotiv. Both very famous football clubs in Tashkent. I was disappointed cause I fail to remember to take my camera with me. These two clubs are very nice.

I guess Bunyodkor is one of the club that covered our inspections quite efficiently: http://www.fcbunyodkor.com/en/news/club/4442

The happy news I received came right after the inspection visits that the UFF officials already have my phone! We were invited to have Chinese dinner right after the final meeting and they handed me my phone all intact.

Okay.. there was nothing much ‘Chinese’ about the dinner.. but anyway the atmosphere certainly do feels like a Chinese restaurant.

Tomm I’m going to leave this country, I’m both excited and anxious. Another 7.5hrs of no entertainment and wait till you drop flight, I better juiced up my laptop so that I can watch a movie later then. Packing the bag will be quite a challenge as I’ve accumulated around 7kg of souvenir.. Guess I have to leave some out..

The country is actually not as bad as it sounds. People here are really friendly and helpful. Other than the “I’m an Uzbek because” thingy that I’ve learned from this trip, I also learned that they are many other poorer country out there in the world. People live their lives with just bare minimum. I have learned to appreciate the things that we have in M’sia and will definitely look at my life back in KL with a new point of view.

Okay KL peeps.. See ya soon!

I’m an Uzbek because:-

1)      My phone will ring whenever I get on a plane

2)      I will then talk loudly on my Nokia while ignoring the fact that we have to turn our phone off

3)      I think it’s okay that my kids do not wear seatbelt during take-off & landing

Rite.. I have 7.5hrs to burn.. Let’s just sleep it off..

We left Samarkand at exactly 6am if we are to make it to Bukhara to take our flight back to Tashkent. There is still one more club that we need to inspect that is located in Zarafshan City. The time taken to Zarafshan will be 5+ hours and from there to Bukhara is another 4+ hours.

Okay, I didn’t take any pictures caused I collapsed in the car. I slept throughout the journey.. well almost. My fever was gone but I was still having the stomach discomfort. I’ve also finished both Dzung and Georgiy’s diarrhea medication. I really have to watch what I eat. Thank God this car have air-conditioning.. and a cold one I mean. I heard from Sean that the temperature reached up to 45’C today!

¾ of the way, we had to stop because 1 of the 3 convoy cars has broken down. A quick check we found out that the engine has blown. Gasket gone. Radiator gone. The weather is killing! Again we have to thank God because our phone has a signal in the middle of the desert and we can ask for rescue.

We reached Zarafshan at around 11am, earlier than initially planned. Did our inspection and I was snapping away when I finished my rounds. Somehow the sleep in the car did me good.

After a quick lunch at the club’s restaurant which is located next to a beautiful man-made lake, we are on the road again!

This is considered the best road trip ever.. cause we were seated in a VW Caravelle MPV 3.2 V6!..

Everyone that was seated in this MPV loves it! The air-cond is cold plus it has a lot of funny gadgets. Josey and I were like kids in this car. Pulling, pushing and pressing every single button we can see. Alas we managed to flip open a round table in the middle of the MPV! See below..

Ben was fast asleep cause the car is really comfy.. even when the roads are horrendously bumpy and bad, the cushions is really doing its job in absorbing all the bumps. Look at him..

We reached Bukhara City at around 6-ish.. just enough time for us for an internal meeting before rush to board our flight at 9-ish. The thought of going back to Tashkent & having back my iPhone really brightens my day up.

We board the Uzbek air at around 2135hrs and the plane leaves exactly on time. So I took a nap. After an 1½ hrs we landed safely.. only to find out that we are again in Urgench!!?! WTF? We were asked to go to the terminal and wait for the plane to re-fuel and pick up more passenger.. WAHLIAO.. what is this? Bus Mini ah? Pick up more passengers and going the opposite direction?!

After about 45mins of waiting, the crew actually called us back and ushered us back to our seats once again. Another 2hrs on the flight and finally we’ve reached Tashkent. What a flight!

Anyhow, I’m already back in Tashkent and am so glad that the hotel has internet and a good bed. I was shrunken into a hibernating lil piglet. Totally forgotten about my iPhone and I made it a point to get it back tomorrow no matter what.

I’m an Uzbek because:-

1)      I own a Nokia.. so are my family, friends, acquaintances, enemy & strangers

2)      I love watching MTV wherever and everywhere I go.

3)      I don’t eat fast-food. Sorry we ah dun have KFC nor McD nor PizzaHut