View from Gorny Vosdukh

What the?: View from the peak of Gorny Vosdukh

Where?: Yuzhno Sakhalinsk

When?: Oct 2008

Located very near Yuzhno city (on the east side), is a ski hill called Gorny Vosdukh. You can grab a cable car ride for 100 rubbles to the peak for a great view of the city. The cable car usually opens only after 12pm and is subject to wind conditions. Here are some pics from the hill.

Cable cars arriving at the peak station.

View from the other side of the hill. In the background is the hilly terrain east of Yuzhno city.

One of the ski slopes.

A stone to mark the peak of the hill. Not really sure what is says...

Yuzhno city in the daytime.

Yuzhno city at night

Salmon Fishing

What the?: Salmon fishing

Where?: Yuzhno Sakhalinsk

When?: Sept 2008

I think Salmon is probably the easiest fish to catch in the world! Barely 5 minutes after casting your hook or net, your are bound to catch one. Its no small size fish either, its a big one. All this happens of course during Salmon season. The time of the year where they swim upstream to lay eggs and then hang around just long enough for humans or bears to pick them up! Hehe...

Shallow river where the salmons congregate.

Even at sea, they just carelessly swim into carefully placed nets.

Look at the size of that fish!

First weekend in Yuzhno!

What the?: First weekend around Yuzhno city

Where : Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

When: September 2008

The first weekend in Yuzhno, it was definitely time to do what most tourists would do, visit the "tourisy" sites such as the museum or parks. That's just exactly what happened. It was a beautiful bright and cool autumn day. It was about 15 degrees and filled with a gentle cool breeze. First up, was a visit to Yuzhno's famous musuem pictured above.

One of Yuzhno's inhabitants, the grizzly bear. Picture here on display at the museum. You would not want to be uplose with one especially in this position!

Next to the museum was a display of russian war vehicles. There was a stripped down MIG and some armoured units like the BMP1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP_1) shown above.

Famous christian orthordox church in Yuzhno. Situated close to Gagarin Park.

Local shopping center, Dom Turguvli situated not far from the museum, right in the center of Yuzhno city.

The best way to finish up your day, is a walk in Gagarin Park and enjoy a dish of Shashlik (Pork barbequed kebab). Not forgetting to wash down with a cool russian beer of course! Pictured here, a 500ml bottle of Baltika 7.

Transiting Japan

What the? : Transiting Japan, on the way to russia
Where: Narita, Tokyo, Japan
When: September 2008


One of the way to get to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia is through Narita Airport in Tokyo. The journey starts with an 8 hour flight from KLIA to Narita. After that, a 2 hour charter flight on Vladisvostok Air from Narita to Yuzhno.

As usual, captured some pictures while descending to Narita. The flight was a pleasant experience, pleasant because of MH business class!


The business class seat onboard Boeing 777 is really nice especially when the seat can fully recline. This makes catching some sleep on an overnight flight possible. It also has a back massager which helps relax the back muscles.



Narita is a fully modern and equipped airport. Make sure to visit the information booth soon after passing customs to get the english map guide of terminal 1 and 2. Depending on your flight, you may need to switch terminals which can be easily done via a shuttle bus. A charter flight might not always be on the flights display in the airport. Best to check with the friendly staff at the information counter to know where to catch the bus and your flight.

The charter flight from VA is usually situated at the other end of Narita airport. After going past the boarding gate, passengers are gathered into a bus to be driven to the other side. Passengers typically makes up of travelling expats in the oil industry. Hardly any tourist heads to Yuzhno especially on a charter flight! I boarded a Tupolev 154 tri-engined plane which looked like a cold war relic! I couldn't snap any photos of it due to security concerns, but it looks really old to me. Paint were stripping of from the plane's body and I had doubts if the plane would fly! The russian aircrew appeared confident and that was somewhat reassurring as we boarded the plane and prepared for take off. I heared a better route with much better planes would be to take Asiana via Seoul. That would take a little longer, 3 hours flight to be exact. But, i think it would be a much better experience flying in a much more modern and comfortable Boeing 737. I will definitely opt for that if I ever go to Yuzhno again!

Merdeka in Melbourne

What the?: Merdeka Day celebrations in Melbourne

Where: Federation Square, Melbourne CBD

When: August 31st 2008

The student association in Melbourne jointly organised the Merdeka Day celebrations (Malaysian Independence) at Federation Square in Melbourne city. It was a colorful event which happened on the last cold day of winter. Lots of Malaysians showed up to show their support. There were dances and performances throughout the day. Some stalls were also setup to sell Malaysian merchandise and even movies/CDs. Students from all over showed up with some dressed in traditional ware. Malaysia Boleh!

Regarding Evolution IX

What the?: Mitsubishi Evolution IX test drive
Where: Melbourne
When: July 2008

The E9 proved to be a formidable sports sedan car for the Australian market. If you have about AUD 40K to spare, you can land yourself one of these babies, second hand. I feel that they are a tad pricey brand new, almost AUD 57K. So can't go wrong getting a good conditioned used E9. Especially with the Evo X priced at AUD70k on the road, I think spending less to get EVO performance is a good idea. Plus you avoid luxury car tax too! :)

This Evo incarnation boasts a new Mivec Turbo 4G63 engine, alluminium hood and roof and all the gizmos (ACD, S-AYC) from the E8. I feel the Australian delivered models are tonned down, you don't get the explosive kick you expect from the legendary 4G63. An exhaust and air filter mod will quickly remedy that problem :) Personally I would go for the E8 which has many of the E9's gadgets and even more cheaper these days. A JDM import with 6 sp manual would be a good start! Hehe...

Flight Experience

What the?: Experience being an airline pilot

When: August 2008

Where: Melbourne CBD

Too expansive to hire a real flight simulator? Playing simulator on your PC just doesn't excite you anymore? Head on down to the Flight Experience at QV in Melbourne CBD to get a close to real-life experience of piloting the latest 737-800 series.

You can pick several airports to take off and land from. The famous must try airport is the Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong. Quite a crazy approach to the airport and it really takes some skill to land there! The session typically lasts about an hour and includes a recorded DVD of your flight.