Page 1 of 1  1 

Archive for December, 2008

Find Out Which Program is Using Internet Connection

Published December 29, 2008 in Software and Tips & Tricks. 2 Comments

At today’s age with Internet connection availability becoming a common lifestyle companion, it’s practically impossible for your computer not having any program unknowingly accessing Internet in the background, as long as your PC is connected to Internet.

Even if you’re not running any web browser, IM client (such as MSN, Yahoo! Messenger) and email checker, chances are there will still be some programs running background scheduled jobs to check for software updates.

So, how do you know which exact program is actually communicating to the Internet?

NetLimiter 2 - Monitor

I’m using NetLimiter 2. It’s available for Windows. The free version of NetLimiter 2 is featuring a simple monitoring tool, which is showing a listing of all programs currently requiring incoming or outgoing network connection.

NetLimiter 2 - Stats for a Program

Besides, you can also generate network traffic statistics of a program, for a particular date.

Download NetLimiter 2

Hoa Lu The Ancient Capital City

Published December 29, 2008 in Travelogue. 0 Comments

Continue reading from:

After visiting Hoa Lu Tam Coc, we were brought to the ancient town of Hoa Lu, where it was once the capital city of Vietnam (during that time, Vietnam it was known as Dai Co Viet 大越), during the age of Vietnamese dynasties under Dinh Tien Hoang’s ruling.

In Hoa Lu, many ancient sanctuaries and tombs can still be seen today.

Dinh Tiên Hoang Temple, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Dinh Tiên Hoang Temple, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Dragon statue at Dinh Tiên Hoang Temple, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Dinh Tiên Hoang Temple, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Dragons at Dinh Tiên Hoang Temple, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Dinh Tiên Hoang Temple, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

As shown above are some scenes of Dinh Tien Hoang Temple. In the Vietnamese history, Dinh Dynasty was the imperial dynasty of Vietnam, with Dinh Tien Hoang (Lord Dinh Bo Linh) vanquished the upheavals of Twelve warlords.

Beautiful and Breathtaking Sceneries

Historical values aside, the landscapes outside of Dinh Tien Hoang Temple was breathtaking too!

Hoa Lu ancient city, Vietnam

My gf at Hoa Lu ancient city, Vietnam

Hoa Lu ancient city, Vietnam

Jenny Toh and buffalo, at Hoa Lu ancient city, Vietnam

Buffalo at Hoa Lu ancient city, Vietnam

During my Hanoi trip, I didn’t really enjoy the Hanoi city. However, I love the outskirt areas of Vietnam, particularly Hoa Lu.

Hoa Lu Tam Coc - Enjoy Beautiful Limestone View from Water Level

Published December 28, 2008 in Travelogue. 1 Comment

Continue reading from:

While Ha Long Bay wasn’t as great as what I had expected, my third day itinerary has given me a satisfying trip with an unique experience. There were 15 of us, and we paid USD20 each to book for a day trip to Hoa Lu - the ancient capital city of Vietnam under the Dinh Dynasty.

The journey from Hanoi to Hoa Lu via highway took us about 2.5 hours, with 1 stop along the way.

My gf and the rice grains at Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Rice grains were easily spotted everywhere in Hoa Lu. They were left on the floor under sunshine for drying.

Hoa Lu Tam Coc - The Little Ha Long Bay

Our first stop in Hoa Lu, was a visit to Tam Coc (means three caves) at Boi River. Similar to Ha Long Bay, Tam Coc is also known for its picturesque limestone caves and islets.

Why should you visit yet another topology of limestone caves? Trust me, Tam Coc is not just “yet another limestone caves”; it offered me a distinctive experience.

Buying Vietnamese conical hat at Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Along the way to Boi River dock, you will find many stalls selling conical hats. This is because, the 2-hour boat ride under direct sunshine could potentially be quite hot for your skin. To me, I found it all right; as it was year end, the outdoor temperature was around 18C - 20C, comfortably cool despite the direct sunshine.

Visit Limestone Caves by Sampan

At Ha Long Bay, we were boating on big junks on the sea. However, at Tam Coc, we were visiting the spectacular natural scenes by rowing sampan (we didn’t need to row ourselves la hehe). Imagine these:

  1. no sound and air pollution from mechanical engines
  2. you can hear sound of splashing water, which comes from the contact between rowing pads and water
  3. you’re enjoying the scenes from low level perspective (very close to water level)
  4. the limestone caves are all so near to you

The dock at Tam Coc, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

Tam Coc, Hoa Lu, Vietnam

By these simple descriptions above, I’m sure you can tell that it’s so different :) Continue reading ‘Hoa Lu Tam Coc - Enjoy Beautiful Limestone View from Water Level’

Ha Long Bay, Thien Cung Cave - Thousand of Junks Cruising at the Bay of Descending Dragons

Published December 28, 2008 in Travelogue. 2 Comments

Continue reading from:

Woke up at 6am, opened up the curtains, and immediately, I was caught in surprise. I didn’t know that my room was directly facing the east!

Good morning Hanoi

See! What a trilling morning to begin my day in a foreign country with a beautify sunrise view.

According to the second day of our itinerary, it was a day trip to one of the UNESCO world heritage spots - Ha Long Bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin, northeastern part of Vietnam.

Journey to Ha Long Bay

From Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, it was a 3.5 hours journey by bus via highway, with 2 stops along the way. However, don’t pay high expectation by the word “highway”; the highway in Vietnam is like some of the better-built old trunks in Peninsula Malaysia.

While the first toilet stop was at a typical souvenir center preparing to “slaughter” tourists with inflated prices, the second stop was quite interesting. The second stop was at a road-side stall selling pineapples and dried lychees.

Had a break here for pineapple, half an hour before reaching Halong Bay

Pineapple

Pretty Vietnamese lady selling pineapples

There was this pretty Vietnamese lady selling pineapples.

This is a not-so-proper toilet in Vietnam

At the back of the pineapple stall was a small residence of wooden houses, and there was this simple toilet. Since there was only 1 sheltered toilet, so we leave it to the girls. Guys le?? Look for a tree at the nearby bush and pee lo..

Wood-fire cooking

They were still using traditional wood-fire cooking. All the pots were burnt to black.

Probably The Only Place with 1 Thousand Junks

Due to the surge in touristic attention and principal of supply-demand economic model, the local business entities stared deploying a lot of junks into Ha Long Bay, aiming to maximize their returns. In order to minimize the potential environmental and heritage value degradation, Vietnamese government has enforced a law to cap the maximum number of registered junks at 1000 units. If not because of this regulation, I think it would be practically impossible to take a seascape picture without capturing any junk into the view. Continue reading ‘Ha Long Bay, Thien Cung Cave - Thousand of Junks Cruising at the Bay of Descending Dragons’

Cooling Sunny Hanoi

Published December 1, 2008 in Shutterbug and Travelogue. 0 Comments

After coming back from Hanoi trip on 11th Nov, I’ve managed to complete the post-processing of pictures on the following day. However, last week only I’ve uploaded them to my Flickr, each picture with a relevant title. Now, I better post up my travelogue before the fresh memory goes into my “archive” due to insufficient space :p

Hanoi has always been one of the traveling destinations in my wish-list, mainly because of its picturesque attractions seen on blogs and Flickr. Last year, Hanoi was beaten by Krabi for company trip. This year, due to budget constraint for Guilin, Hanoi has finally been realized as the destination for company trip 2008.

Hanoi Flooded; Should The Trip be Rescheduled?

Our departure was scheduled on 8th Nov. However, a week before our departure, we were stumbled with news headlines like “Hanoi Flooded”, “Hanoi Flood Toll Rises”, “Hanoi Still Under Water”, “Hanoi Hit by The Worst Flood in 20 Years”, and etc. Situation was getting worse when these negative news and related pictures were excessively circulating within the company, and yet without anyone of us knowing the real situation. (You know la.. a lot of times, news are relevant but not exactly precise) Soon, directors raised security concerns, and the organizing committee must look into alternative options.

Rescheduling of flight was financially infeasible, as we need to absorb 100% lost of AirAsia tickets. Luckily, we have a tour agency (Holiday Tours) to manage our groud tour. With our agent’s help, by liaising with Hanoi counterpart, we have got confirmation that the flood was only affecting the new developing areas in Hanoi, not the Old Quarter and French Quarter, where Hanoi attractions are located. The tour agent in Hanoi has also sent us a number of pictures captured from Hanoi Old Quarter on 5th Nov morning. Gladly, scenes shown in the pictures given were very promising.

Besides, I have also managed to find a news article, which exactly critized the way that Hanoi flood incident was reported by most news channels. All were hoo-haa-ing on the flood, but none was highlighting that the tourist attraction centralized areas were not affected. In addition, blog posts from a couple traveling in Hanoi, were also not suggesting any sign of depressing tourism situation in Hanoi.

Witnessed how “precise” the reported news were.

So, we were blessed to have booked our accommodation at Vietnam Trade Union Hotel, which is located in between of Old Quarter and French Quarter. We were told that it is one of the highest altitude in Hanoi town.

Watching Sunrise from Airplane

As we were flying with 6.30am flight, I’ve purposely chosen seats on the right side, so that I’ll be facing the east. I must say, watching sunrise from airplane is an amazing experience!

Watching sunrise from aircraft

Watching sunrise from aircraft

Watching sunrise from aircraft

Greeted with Sunny Hanoi

When we arrived at Noi Bai International Airport on 8th Nov at 9.15am, it was a sunny, breezy and cooling morning. Temperature was 25C.

Baggage belt

Collected baggages, met our Vietnamese tour guide Jackie Chan Lee, and boarded to a bus heading to Trade Union Hotel Hanoi. Continue reading ‘Cooling Sunny Hanoi’

my email address

About

You are currently browsing the MyTwentyFive.com weblog archives for the month December, 2008.

Longer entries are truncated. Click the headline of an entry to read it in its entirety.

Latest

RSS

Categories

Comments

RSS

My Flickr

RSS
What to do at the Avenue of Stars?Camwhoring with palm print at the Avenue of StarsBruce Lee's statue at Avenue of StarsBruce Lee's statue at Avenue of Stars

Browse my Flickr photostream

Subscribe

Subscribe to my RSS Feeds

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

My Tweets

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Archives