|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Location : Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
A female friend of mine who lives in Phuket is safe. She told me the tidal wave was 6 to 10 meters high when it hit Phuket and all the tourist beach areas are devastated. I haven't heard from another friend who's a surfer-cum-diver living in Phuket. I read a report somewhere that the backpacker/tourist death toll in Phuket is 1000. Every other friend of mine who might have been in danger before(mentioned in my last post) is alright.
I am also fine. Still exhausted, sunburnt and dehydrated. Yes, I was out surfing the time the tidal waves hit us but I was surfing the South China Sea on the eastern coast of Malaysia. The earthquake happened in the Indian Ocean and it affected the western coast of Malaysia. Surfers in Sumatra, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India would have been badly hit. If the earthquake occured when I was on my surfing trip to Phuket 4 months ago, I would've been absolutely screwed. I feel kinda warmed by the amount of concern shown on me through emails, comments and phone calls received from friends and blog readers alike when they remember me surfing in Asia. Thank you for thinking of me. Even my Dad who is usually pretty cool(or blur) with most things has asked me to try and avoid the ocean for the time being. I haven't succeeded in doing that yet. Furthermore, there are bigger waves heading our way again this coming weekend. Last night, as I was on the way from Cherating to Kuala Terengganu, a policeman stopped our car. After seeing the surfboards on top of the car, he asked why are we still going surfing after thousands have died.
Maybe, in my past life I was a cat.
Posted by Ripcord at December 29, 2004 12:32 AMGlad to hear you've heard from most your mates. We continue to be shocked by the rising death toll, all the way over here in UK, can't imagine how it feels so close to the disaster.
We keep hoping/praying for all those still out there...
just glad you're safe. Some friends of friends are still MIA.
Posted by: dian at December 29, 2004 03:35 AMGlad you are safe man and pray that your friends are save too.
Posted by: Kevin at December 29, 2004 07:29 AMEd do take care of yourself..........
Posted by: marj at December 29, 2004 08:42 AMI guess the inefficiencies of British Administration could have possibly saved your life in a way.
Good to know you're good and well.
///j
Posted by: Ju-Lee at December 29, 2004 01:51 PMglad u r alright mate. take it easy. have a good new year.
Posted by: Theroadie at December 29, 2004 04:22 PMglad tht all your mates are in good condition...
hope tht new year will bring GOOD condition too all the affected countries, and people
Posted by: zbjernak at December 29, 2004 04:33 PMsomeone : i'm really saddened by the huge death toll that just seems to keep jumping by 20,000 everyday.
Posted by: Ripcord at December 29, 2004 09:14 PMAnd on to over 60,000 as of today...
Posted by: Someone else at December 29, 2004 09:54 PMI'll keep that in mind, cuz I've never been to NZ or have "backpacked" before, lol.
It's good to hear that your friend is safe, and I hope that your other friend will be safe too!
Posted by: Kelly at December 29, 2004 11:49 PMI was watching this on the news. Very sad. I guess no one saw this coming. 50,000+ dead/missing now??
Posted by: Aurora at December 30, 2004 12:33 AMPray hard for those people who live in Nias Island, understand that many lives still waiting for help and most of the Island nearly total wipeout by tsunami. Check this for more detail about Nias Island :http://www.hopeww.org/home/2004/12/indo_day1.htm
Posted by: GrandPa at December 31, 2004 12:14 AMi chance across this blog on the last day of '04. U sure seem like am interesting bloke. And a daredevil (ur mates n u)..Well, hope ur mates r good n safe..and as lucky as u. Cheers. Have a fab new year!
Posted by: meow at December 31, 2004 03:02 AMShame how the british government oly decide to pledge £50 million as a result of the public raising £25 million through donations. Initially they were only going to send £5 million. Glad to know that the public appreciate the overwhelming scale of the disaster, even when their politicians can't see it...
Did anyone else hear that the US pledge of $30 million is something like 0.023% of what they spend (or spent) on arms for Iraq! Ficking ludicrous...
Venue: Buddhist Maha Vihara temple, Brickfields
Date: All day long from Dec. 27, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005
The temple's prayer halls have been converted into a mass collection area for clothings, food and medicine.
Manpower is needed to load and unload stuff, sort the food and clothes and directing traffic in the area. So if you don't have much to give, you can always contribute in this aspect.
If you've always wanted to help the Tsunami 2612 victims but don't know where to start, head on there.
love, jin
Posted by: erinnys at December 31, 2004 09:13 AM116,000 deaths and still rising. Very sad tragedy indeed. For all you Malaysians out there, please do donate to the relief funds setup here now. You can either SMS in your donations (RM1 per SMS, type AMP and send to 32111) or if you have a Maybank account, you can do a 3rd party funds transfer to this account, 514011389072. It is a temporary account which Maybank has setup to accept donations.
Please guys, do what you can help...it is estimated that most of the hard hit countries require a total of 10 billion Euros for reconstruction work, food and medical supplies and etc...It is also estimated that twice the amount will die in the coming years from poverty, disease and other stuff.
Posted by: LoafeR at December 31, 2004 02:49 PMi always thought u wanted very badly to continue your life in...
but i wasn't unhappy when u said otherwise... -*mwahaha*- c u soon, and u can tell me all abt your search for 'quality' life.
ps: touchwood abt getting killed. no one deserves to die fr disasters. or surfing. -*choy*-choy-*choy*-
pps: a x'mas present is a x'mas present is a x'mas present. and i don't need a reason to be nice!
..., jin
Posted by: erinnys at December 31, 2004 03:18 PMEdwin
do you know if Lipe was hit?or lanta?
we were planning to go there last xmas, but my china job got in the way.
Was watching the WCT surfing in spain on telly...andy irons won the round...reminded me of the tsunamis...
BTW dude
have a safe 2005 alrite?
stay sober.
Posted by: my name is fake at December 31, 2004 05:19 PMsomeone : yeah i heard that and they were told off by the UN.
erinnys : thanks for the appeals.
fake : i watched the same WCT finals too! i think lipe and lanta must've been hit pretty hard too. but i remember lipe having some hills. but i can understand the devastation at koh phi phi because settlement was only on a low-lying thin strip of land between 2 hills. if you're interested, check out my photo album and you'd know what i mean.
Posted by: Ripcord at January 2, 2005 09:23 PM