Bali

Well, are more pics and stories from my Bali trip. It was a few weeks ago, but I finally have the type to blog it.

As mentioned, we got a very nice room at a bargain of USD 60 per night. H and I stayed at Inna Kuta Beach Hotel, which is next to the beach, close to Legian Street. It a peaceful, safe (IMHO) and clean hotel. Good facilities with free breakfast. Staff is friendly, speaks English (as possibly other languages). In short, yes, I would want to return to this hotel if I visit Bali again.

Pool at Inna Kuta Hotel.

This is our 'room'. Large room with a dining area. No kitchen, but we didn't plan on cooking. The down side is, there is another room right next to us, in the same bungalow. The two rooms are separated by two wooden doors. Let's just say that the doors are not very solid and there is a little, just a little sound that passes through. The problem is, during our very intimate (long) moments, H would make a lot of noise, if you get what I mean. We try to keep it down, but it's difficult. We don't care if they neighbours know that we are screwing, but I don't want to bother them.

Hmmm. That's my idea of good fashion. H's sexy dress by the bed side the next morning. Hehehe. It took me some time to find my shorts, which was between the bed and the mattress. Don't ask how.

In general, we made love twice a day. It's so nice to wake up in the morning, hugging H. One thing leads to another, and we will end up having sex. At night, we would definitely take our time making love. I enjoyed kissing her, hugging her, eating out the breasts - she gets noisy already, playing with her pussy, eating her out; doggy style is her favourite but we both love to hug each other, kiss and fu*k at the same time. Very intimate. In the afternoons, she's naughty - she would give me blowjobs but won't let me cum - to save it for the night. Hehehe.

While having sex on the beach sounded very naughty and tempting, the both of us didn't want to risk it. We were not afraid of getting caught but didn't want any sand on the more sensitive parts of the body!

Speaking of the beach, this is the view right outside our room. Wow! The other quirky thing was, they have lifeguards. Safe areas to swim are marked with a red and yellow flag (Swim between the yellow flags). Unsafe areas are marked with red flags. As usual, most would think the red flags are for decorative purposes only, swimming and diving in areas marked unsafe. I sure hope nothing bad happens.

Like any tourists, no holidays would be complete without souvenirs. The worst places to buy souvenirs are from the stalls outside tourist areas - such as just outside a temple. Bad idea. It would be a major rip off. They have no price tags, and super inflated prices. You need to bargain for a 90% discount. That's not my idea of shopping. I am on holidays. Why should one waste his time and energy haggling over price? Why get ripped off?

So, with some luck, we found a great place to shop for souvenirs - Omega Handicraft which is along Legian Street, Kuta. It's about 10 minutes from the hotel, by foot. Everything has a price tag and the prices are reasonable. Very wide selection of products. Highly recommended place to hunt for souvenirs.

Something very puzzling - dicks for sale. To be precise, wooden phallus on sale. They cost about Rp 25,000 each (or RM 10 / USD 3 each). Like real-life, they come in all shapes and sizes. The puzzling part is, why sell dicks? I wonder does the local women use them as dildos? Surely their men can satisfy them.

In any case, I bought some too, as a gag gift. And bought the biggest I could find - for only one purpose. No no, not to use it as a dildo. My original equipment works fine. If my partners want a dick, they can just give me a call and I will satisfy them. :) If I ever resign from Nible2 - correction, when I resign from Nible2, I will show it to my bosses and ask them to ... You get the idea.

Could they at least sell wooden phallus and a statue of Buddha separately, for crying out loud?

I bought a lot (Rp4.5 million) of Indonesian Rupiah before I left KL. Ran of money into Day 3. The gross under-estimate was due to the fact that credit cards are not widely accepted. Cash is preferred. So, I had to buy more currency in Kuta. There are many currency traders along streets. Some would offer Rp2650 for each ringgit. Some were offering up to Rp 2980 for each ringgit. At first, I didn't know. I went to one which offered Rp 2980. I wanted to sell RM 300.

That stall itself was shady, at the back of a shop, under a staircase. Figured out it was illegal. In any case, I was feeling brave (H was waiting outside). They proceeded to give me the Indonesian currency, close to Rp 800,000, all in Rp 20,000 notes. It was a huge stack. In Indonesia, they have Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000 notes. But these crooks, preferred the Rp 20,000 bills for only one reason. They cheat.

After I've counted the stack of Rp 20,000 bills, one of the guys helpfully stacked it back nicely for me. That's when I knew I was being tricked. During the stacking process, very quickly and I didn't observe it, he must have removed some of the bills. I recounted the stack again, and sure enough, it was short of Rp 200,000 this time. I told them that it's short. So, they had to cough up the 'missing' cash. I did get a good bargain (they suffered a lost in exchange) but I was nearly cheated. One has to be brave to deal with these crooks.

Moral of the story - after one has counted the notes, do NOT let anyone else touch it.

I could not help but to post another picture of Jimbaran here. A must visit and must dine place in Bali. Very romantic place.

Strangely, there were few Indonesian food outlets along Kuta. Most of them served Western food, or Japanese food. H and I preferred local food when we travel. Fortunately, we were introduced to Made's Warung along Legian street. It has good food, cheap, good service and most important - Indonesian cooking!

That's the sign of Made's Warung. Always busy. Starts at 8am. However, I don't see many tourist up and about at that hour. I certainly would be in bed with H enjoying each other's body. Anyway, back to the subject of food. How good was Made's Warung? We dined there for four meals, including a breakfast. Each time, we ordered different dishes. My favourite was the noodles in soup ( I cannot recall the name ). H loves soups.

On Day 3, we took a cab to Denpasar. One way was about Rp 80,000 but it is a lot cheaper to rent them for a day. The cheapest being the cabs by the road side - but do be careful. We went to Denpasar Market. A local lady, speaks English, decides to tail H and I. At every shop, when we asked the proprietor for the price, she would interrupt, mumbles to each other in their local dialect, and replies to me in English. The problem was, the prices were greatly inflated. Mind you, Malaysians can speak some Bahasa Indonesia, we needed no translator and we definitely knew the products well! They weren't foreign to us. Bananas went for Rp 15,000.

So, it took us something for H and I to shake of this unwanted agent. We did so leaving the market. Then, we got smarter - we approached the market from a side entrance. Looks like the agents were only waiting in front. Oh, I got some good avocados, bananas (for Rp 2500 only, but decided to pay the old lady Rp 5000), rambutans and some spices.

Denpasar Market.


For the rest of the day and Day 4, we went touring, to various tourist spots: temples, beaches. I cannot recall where some of these pictures were taken but they are certainly beautiful places. As for temples, we only walked on the outside. I don't like to enter the temples per-se as a tourist - it is meant for prayers! Anyway, that's my belief.

An elaborate door arch.

This would have been a great place for a beer, with H on my lap. It was really windy, overlooking the sea beneath, listening to the waves breaking.

Not to be left out, we attended a Barong Dance - a traditional Balinese dance. It tells a very interesting story. The only damper was the rain. It did clear up eventually.

I end this blog with a picture of the memorial at Legian, Kuta - to remember the victims of the senseless 2002 bombings. I feel sad that the world has to come to this. I still think business in Bali is affected. Kuta certainly isn't very crowded. Oh well, that's part of life. If only people learn to accept things and not fight it. Even if they must fight it, go face to face with the US Army or the Australian Armed Forces. Why take it out on a group of innocent tourist?

Dreaded visit to the Dentist

It's Tuesday and I have been caught in the strangest of tug of 'war'. My Head of Department, let's call her A, doesn't want me her department. I have been 'jobless' for the last two weeks. Not that I am complaining, but I do welcome the change from the sheer madness. It is good to just sit around and keep the chair warm.

Another HOD has resigned and he wants me to take over. His section is a pile of crap, which he admits. While I have no preference, my current HOD, A, has decided to keep me around. I have no idea why she wants to keep me around when at the same time, I have just been asked to keep the chair warm. She is just toying with me? Or wants to freeze me to death? Or am I her insurance policy - when things go wrong, I can be the sacrificial lamb.

But that's just business. I don't loose any sleep over it. What's on my mind is, tomorrow's appointment with the dentist. To remove the wisdom tooth. It will hurt my wallet. My jaw will hurt. Mouth will hurt. I will have to keep my mouth shut but I sure hope I am not disabled in pain, to the point I am unable to blog.

My colleague had his wisdom tooth removed sometime back. Took him 6 days to recover. And many visits to the dentists. He was chewing on ice chips, eating ice cream and a extremely soft diet for days. When he showed up for work, his face was still swollen. Oh well, at least I know what I am in for. I sure hope I have chosen the right dentist!

Odd balls... and other photos

I've seena number of rather quirky things during my travels, and yes, at work too. Here are some pictures of those worthy of mention.

This picture was taken in Bali, Indonesia. I was surprised that all the motorcycles actually stopped behind the white line. We don't see this often, even in Malaysia.

Unfortunately, this picture was taken in Bali, Indonesia as well. It tells a completely different story, with five fellows on one bike. Kids without helmet. Once again, not common in Malaysia.

Lorries / trucks in India (especially in Mumbai), love to have the "Horn Please OK" 'bumper sticker'. I have no idea what it means. The place is certainly noisy enough without additional encouragement. This particular truck as transporting dangerous chemicals - but the it indeed has a very colourful warning. If you zoom into the photo, the danger sign is spelt "Dagner".

These two pictures are my all time favourite. It is taken at the Mumbai International Airport. This must be the biggest Emergency Break Glass in the world. Usually, it is small pieces of glass. But how on earth is someone expected to break this piece of glass? In an emergency? India is indeed truely unique. I reckon there is a chance that one might get more injuries from breaking the glass than the actual emergency.

A typical day at Nible2

My ex-colleague asked me the other day, what exactly does SNAFU mean. I was surprised. It means, Situation Normal, All Fucked Up. This brings me to my typical day at Nible2.

7.00am - Manage to find my cubicle. Thankfully it is still in tack. No sign of further attack by the rats. Starts reading my newspapers and have breakfast. We have a canteen.

8.15am - Officially, we start work. Typically, my laptop refuses to turn on. The damn 'ON' button is busted after much use and it has travelled the world.

8.30am - Computers is OK, but finds out that the bloody network is now busted. Calls MIS for help.

9.00am - Network is running, but Internet DNS is not working. More calls to the MIS.

9.15am - Checks the website. Finds out that the server is dead - ColdFusion error. Another call to MIS.

9.30am - Emails arrive. Lots of offer to buy Viagra. When will they offer cheap gals as well?

10.00am - Finally completes deleting junk mail.

10.15am - Wanted to print something but there's no paper left in the printer. Paper chase begins. Everyone hides their own secret stash of paper. Found out that someone from Purchasing forgot to order paper last week. Bummer.

10.30am - Received some blank faxes, fax machine out of ink.

10.35am - Received presentation file, PowerPoint 2007. I'm on old Office 2003. All the formating is out. Spends time fixing it.

10.45am - Paper jammed in the fax machine. Feels like tossing it out of the window.

10.50am - Stapler is missing. Replacement has not showed up.

11.00am - Wonders what is for lunch. Someone screwed up a customer order. Spend some time fixing the damage. Interrogation begins. What exactly does that customer want?

11.30am - Lunch time. Internet is damn slow.

1.30pm - Back from lunch. Got notice from email server. Attached file was too big. Now, we need to hunt for a FTP server.

1.45pm - Looking for a calculator. Believe it or not, we are asked to share calculators to cut cost. Obviously if anyone had one, they are not about to share it and loose the darn thing for good.

2.00pm - Could not log-in to the FTP server, some bozos changed the password, or deleted our account.

2.30pm - Finally uploaded a file to the FTP server. Another SNAFU. Insufficient stock to fulfill and order. Waiting time is 3 months. Customer pissed. More fire-fighting required.

3.00pm - Sales needs to issue a quotation. No idea what the price is. Unable to provide price, costing is not available. No product specifications either. R&D cannot confirm when product will be ready. Potential customer gets pissed. Sales personnel begins to yell.

3.30pm - Need to do some market research. However, access to a competitor's site has been blocked by MIS - to save bandwidth. Idiots. Calls MIS.

4.00pm - Put out fire on quotation request. Potential customer yells again. He wants a Ferrari for the price of a Ford Pinto. Informs Sales to tell the customer to get ...

4.15pm - Customer sorts of agrees to the price, asks for brochure. What brochure? Immediately starts cooking up a brochure. Or rather I ask someone else to do it. Ensures that it is Booker's Prize material.

4.30pm - Another customer calls up - unable to access FTP server. Server time out. Tells MIS to liaise directly with the customer. Too tired to fight this fire. Decides to update personal blog instead.

4.45pm - HR calls up. Says thay my phone bill is too high, despite all calls are for business. I carry my own personal mobile. What an idiot. If our usage is high, go negotiate with the service provider for better rates. Tells HR to just take back my business phone. Issue will be closed, till the next bill shows up.

4.50pm - HR sends memo to tell us that medical bills are too high. Requested to fall sick less often. HR Director doesn't ask the panel doctors for a discount.

5.00pm - Aircond is switched off, as cost cutting measures. Signals time to pack up.

5.15pm - Office is too warm. Spent entire day fire fighting, none of my work is done. Too warm to work over-time.

5.30pm - Runs off. Goes to gym, keep fit - hoping to bed some pretty gals later. Updates resume later in the evening.

This place is riddled with inefficiencies. At the end of the day, the wonder why the staff is not performing. The answer is easy. We do not have the tools. My laptop is old. Software is outdated. Internet is slow. Air cond is either too cold or too hot. Internet? What internet? Email goes missing. R&D misses deadline and it becomes my problem. Solving Sales problems. At the end of the day, I fail to do my marketing work. And they are still wondering why.

Cost cutting has been the 'in' thing for management around the world, when they should really be focusing on being more efficient.

Holidays in Bali

I am about to leave for New Delhi in an hour, so, a brief post on my holidays to Bali. ChilliLady, you want something from Bali?

As usual, the hotel sold my pre-booked room ( a USD 60 room) to someone else, as I arrived only at 8pm. The good news is, I got to stay in the most expensive room which is just by the sea. It's worth USD 440 per night, but I didn't mind paying USD 60 only. With the USD at an all time low against the Ringgit, I was actually paying peanuts.

The highlight of the trip was dinner at Jimbaran - a fishing village just south of the airport. Extremely romantic setting, excellent and relaxing environment plus good food. To get there from Kuta cost me Indonesian Rupee Rp 150,000 - which is about RM 30. Dinner was Rp 500,000 - abotu RM 175.


A temple by the beach.

This is Jimbaran. It has a lot of restaurants, all with table set up along the beach. Watch the sunset with a cold beer in hand and enjoy dinner listening to the waves. Nothing could be better. Oh yeah, of course I had H next to me.

Sunset at Jimbaran. Relaxing, isn't it?

H and I went to this volcano. Suppose to be still active. Great view of the volcano and its surrounding lakes. Food was only 'so so', nothing much to shout about. But the view... money cannot buy!

That's all for today. I really should pack for my trip to India. As I always say - India, never a dull moment!

Suspicious Characters

More Singapore bashing. I was in the MRT on the way to Geylang, the infamous red light district in Singapore. And there was this announcement which went "If you see anyone suspicious, please report it to the authorities". Could someone please define suspicious?

There are plenty of suspicious people around. I mean, we all need a proper definition right? Should I report everyone? Or someone? And by the way, who exactly was I to call? The announcement was not smart, at best. Unsure what the Singaporean authorities are up to, perhaps just to instill fear.

And, how should the report be made? I mean, heck, if Osama was standing next to me, like hell I am going to pick up my phone, dial 999 and say "Geez, I think a Mr. Osama is next to me." Do I look stupid or as if I have a suicidal wish? Heck, I don't think I would want to piss Mr. Osama off. Am I afraid of him, if he's next to me? Rationally, no. No bombs ever exploded in his presence. But I am not about to piss him off by calling 999. Or what if there is someone in the MRT with a gun, yelling and shouting. Would you call the authorities in his presence?

And on the subject of suspicious characters, here are two on the MRT:

Do click on the image to enlarge it. Firstly, the guy with the Sunkist box. Now, Singapore is a very fashion conscious country. Or rather, very "Kiasu" (afraid to loose, always wants to be the best) place. So, why on earth would a guy walk around town with a box of 'Sunkist' oranges? Even if a Singaporean wanted to buy a box of oranges, they would put carry it around in their LV or Gucci bag. At worst, it would have been a fake LV or a 'Guchi' bag. So, should I report this guy? In addition, he has a pouch strapped to his waist. Very suspicious indeed.

Even more suspicious would be the student, sitting next to the guy with the Sunkist box. He must be in secondary school, in uniform. You noticed? Heck. That guy is actually reading newspapers! Something has gone horribly wrong. Where's his Game Boy? Or MP3 player? Or his Nokia N82? Or he should be checking out babes, like me. Should I report him as well? He is definitely very suspicious.

I can only hope no one reported me to the authorities. I had H in one arm, hugging her. My eyes were busy checking out some hot babes. Singaporean babes do look good. Hot body. Good taste in dressing. Generally, very yummy looking. Hehehe. So, should I be reported for checking out babes (and perhaps drooling...)?

Nett nett, I have not a clue what the announcements are for, but just political propaganda.

Singapore - Samy Vellu is available

I was in Singapore recently, on the way to Bali. Guess what? At the Changi Airport MRT station, the bloody roof there was still leaking. I went... heck, that cannot be true. This is Singapore after all. I thought only Malaysia had leaky roofs in courts, Parliament House and government buildings.

What happened? Did Singapore rejoined Malaysia recently? Someone better sent me a memo on that to update me. Perhaps not. Since Border Control was still working, Singapore must be "independent".

Being Singapore, they had a little more finesse in dealing with leaks. Trays specially lined with sponge to absorb the water and nicely placed yellow hazard signs to advertise the leak. Perhaps they are subtly saying... "Malaysia, Singapore can leak too!". Being kiasu Singaporeans, they may not want to be left out in the leak race.

To my best memory, the roof has been leaking at this Changi Airport MRT station for at least two years. When I was there back in 2005, the darn thing was leaking. It is still now. Look at the first picture. The sponge has a 'hole' in it. It must be the wear and tear from all the dripping water. So, this confirms it, the leak is permanent.

This brings me a bright idea. Samy Vellu was our former Works Minister. He was the chap who fixed (temporary) all the leaks. He did a great job at it. It sure did leak, but he had a solution. Now that he has been voted out by the rakyat (maybe we felt that he was creating the leaks to fix them later as job security), Singapore can have him. Isn't that great or what? He can fix the leaks. He will be employed. And Malaysia gets rid of one big pain in the ass. It's win win for all.

Do you want your leaky MRT station dry? Do you want to give visitors a good impression? How about a world class airport sans leaks? Give it a try. Call 1800-SAMY now for a free, no obligation quotation!

Now, I can hear someone asking me "Can you please look out of your window. What's the colour of your sky? In our planet, it's blue."

MP Longkang

Big news on The Star, a government controlled newspapers. Member of Parliament (MP), Azlina Othman, who is now the Minister for Tourism is busy cleaning up some garbage. This is the classical MP Longkang - or Drain MP.

In the past, the rakyat (citizens) used to be very happy when their MP could get the town councils to clean the drain. But heck, the year is 2008 and MP Longkangs are now obsolete. Most of the MP Longkangs lost their pants during the last general elections. Guess what? Someone forgot to send a memo to Azlina to tell her not to be a MP Longkang or Minister Longkang.

Can you believe it? Your MP or Minister is busy cleaning up some garbage, when clearly that's someone's job scope? This is a similar problem in Nible2. Engineers love to do the job of a technician. The technicians will end up doing a operator's work. The managers? Of course, they will be doing the engineers work. Who's the manager then? It's call no management. Nothing new here.

Some say I am mean, but I think I am being very fair. I keep telling my staff. If they (executive staff, such as Marketing Executives) are caught doing administrative work (such as being a typist for the week), I will ask Nible2 to only pay them what a typist is worth. I don't deny that the statement can be mean, but hey, do your job.

My HR manager is another idiot. He prefers hiring managers, with the rational that managers can do the job of the executives. He doesn't like to hire executives because they can only work as executives. So, Nible2 ends up with tonnes of managers without any executives. I once told that idiot, why don't he fires all the cleaners in Nible2? That will save some money. After all, managers can clean toilet.

At times like this, I really feel like asking them. "Can you please look out of your window and tell me what's the colour of your sky? In my planet, it's blue."

MP Longkang Azlina hard at work. She is no more than a grossly overpaid drain cleaner. Of course, this joke of the day was proudly brought to you by Barisan National, picture from http://www.thestar.com.my/.

Who Said Malaysians Do No Read

I was in Time Square recently, and I was rather proud to see fellow Malaysians enjoying a book or two.



This chap was fast asleep, but to the very least he was not snooring.

This chap was definately reading, but he is getting way to comfy - removing his shoes. At least it didn't smell - from where I was sitting!

Drilling

Just came back from me holidays in Bali with H. That was fun, involved a lot of 'drilling', if you get what I mean.

Last Tuesday, I got more drilling than I've bargained for. Meet up with the 19 year old virgin, who asked me to do her. Well, I did meet up with her, and yes, there was a lot drilling involved in the end, but it wasn't the kind I had in mind. For one reason or another, the 19-year old got cold feet and didn't want sex. I respected that.

So, what the heck was I to do with the rest of the day off? There was a nagging problem which I have been putting off for sometime, so, I've decided to tackle it head on today. I was feeling brave (or some could say stupid). I went to the dentist.

One tooth, was giving me hell occasionally, especially when food was stuck in it. I suspected it was my wisdom tooth. It has been in pain on and off for the last few months. So, today, I visited my 3rd dentist for the same problem.

This dentist was very professional and found out that I had a severe tooth decay - the tooth just in front of the wisdom tooth. Darn. Root canal was required - I didn't want to loose a tooth just yet. So, I needed up being drilled, by a male dentist, for about two hours. Bloody hell. How sexy could that be? It was definitely not what I had in mind when I met up with the virgin earlier.

The nurse? Forget her. I nearly yelled at her - I had to take the X-ray three times because she was using the wrong solution to develop the film. Think I could glow in the dark now.

The bright side is, no more pain, but I am due for more drilling - by the bloody dentist that is. Sigh.

Random blogs on Malaysian politics

I cannot believe that this Mohammad Taib is back in the scene. He was the former MB who forgot to declare a huge sum of money in an Australian airport years back. His excuse - he could not read English well and therefore could not understand the signboard. What a scumbag. And the sleeping Prime Minister has decided to make him a Senator this time around.

The federal Opposition should thank Pak Lah. At the rate BN is going, they will loose even more.

***

What a joke on the Sunday papers to read that the Terengganu bunch from BN is now going to boycott the swearing in of the new MB. Just because the palace did not appoint their suggested guy, they want a boycott. Aren't that disrespectful to the royalty? They condemned Lim Kit Siang when he called for a boycott. Lim Kit Siang was stupid to have said that. Now, it is BN's turn. I sure hope they be all made persona non grata for the state of Terengganu.

What goes around comes around.

***

And it is now BN's turn to worry about defection of the MPs to the opposition. Years back, PBS (who was against BN back then) lost the state of Sabah when one of their exco members defected to BN. BN celebrated it. Now, BN is calling to amend the constitution to prevent party hopping. BN says party hopping is unfair, unethical. What a joke.

Firstly, BN still wants to amend the constitution as and when they like. They haven't learn their lesson from the elections 2 weeks ago. The good news is, they want to amend it to their liking. To their advantage.

Secondly, always remember... what goes around comes around.

Saturday nite out

I was out with two very pretty gals last nite, for dinner - and only dinner. One of them, C, is my good friend - and introduced her still available 'Grade A' gal to me. Both of them are pretty and more importantly, friendly with good personalities.

To start off with, I was nearly late. Had to pick up C - she stays near UH. Good thing I could still remember the short cut across University Malaya, so, I am able to use the NPE Highway, drive across UM and pick C up. I found that way by chance. Federal Highway is way to conjested, especially when it is raining.

As for food, it was good northern Indian Food. We ate at The Passage Through India, along Jalan Tun Razak. The restaurant is after Time Dot Com building, just before the Kuwait Embassy. I feel that it's one of the best place to have Indian food. Strangely, I was introduced to this place by one of my German visitors. We ordered many dishes, my favourite being the Rogan Josht, or mutton curry. Curries here are spicy but not chilly hot. Both the gals enjoyed the food too. Pricec is very reasonable. We ate alot, only for RM 200. Nice atmosphere and parking is readily available and it's free! Highly recommended place.

I sure hope to meet up with the 'Grade A' gal again.

I cannot believe it...

I discovered the pleasure of an 'illicit' joy today. I am now a happy human trader. There is this feature on Facebook which allows me to see and buy friends. The whole problem is, I get more imaginary credit for giving away 'human' whom I own. So, I now have this grand plan. Buy up all the cheap ones, for L$1, and just give them away to my friends. I have no idea who I have 'purchased'. As they say, it is nothing personal, just business.

A rather unethical game. Purchasing unknown persons, at a very low cost, and giving it away to friends for more credits.

Having said that, I have no bloody idea what am I going to do with all the imaginary credit. Great eh?

Now, it is funny...

Looking back, it is sure funny now. However, when it happens, it could have been a murder case. Then again, the I am sure the judge would understand.

When I was in Germany, one of the Director's Personal Assistants (PA) called me. Bad enough I received the call on my personal phone, which meant that I had to pay for the call. The conversation when something like this:

Caller: Hello. Is this Wally?
Me: Yes, speaking.
Caller: I am Cindy. Donny is looking for a NotSure agreement.
Me: I am sorry, but I am in Germany now. Could you ask Pound?
Caller: Are you sure you are in Germany?

What the... am I sure I am in Germany? Of course I am. How can I be not sure? Could I have landed in the wrong country? Or accidentally walked to France? I wonder what was she thinking about.

Today, I asked M about a vendor. It's a new vendor for a brand new task.

Me: Who did the translation for this advert?
M: Oh, the usual vendors.

Who the heck exactly are the 'usual vendor'? This is our first time doing translation work on an advertisement. You know what? When I pointed this out to her, very gently, she got upset at me, for asking for specifics. What the ...

M has already resigned from QQQ. At this point, I told her that I wish her new boss all the best.

Another staff, N, is equally slow.

Me: When will you complete your task?
N: I started yesterday.

What the ... I asked when will she complete it, and she answers "started yesterday". Sadly, N has yet to resign. Think I must help her update her resume or something like that.

Terrible colleagues I have. Most of them are conspiring to drive each other up the wall, or out of the window. But it is worth a laugh now.

Pics!

Well, here are some pics of my latest trip to Germany.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has to be one of my favourite airports. It has a great selection of shops and prices are very reasonable - especially liquor, cigarettes and perfume. Lots of restaurants, from high end to low end. Duty free is good - ciggies are only RM 45 per carton (less than EUR 10). In case you are wondering, I do not smoke. The only place I've seen with slightly cheaper ciggies is Singapore Airport.

I have no idea what this building is, but it is in Hannover, Germany. This pic turned out very nice. It was taken on my Nokia 6800. After I arrived, I've decided to walk around a bit. I try not to sleep during the day, otherwise, it would take a long time to get over the jetlag. Got over mine in less than 24 hours upon arrival. Sweet. :)

I had my first Magnum Yogurt in Munich, 2 years ago. I fell in love with it at first bite. Yummy. Every since then, I have been craving for this ice cream. Strangely, they do not have this flavour in Malaysia. It's not very sweet and it's frozen yogurt!

Hannover Hbf (main train station). A good landmark to meet someone in Hannover. However, if you want to shop, there is a Kaufland (I think that's how it is spelt), just behind Etap Hotel. Etap Hotel is on the left, after back exit of Hannover Hbf. Pic is the front. Don't be deceived by this picture. The skies were clear, but it was rather cold - at about zero degrees Celsius. Cold for a Malaysia, where the sun practically shines every day and the average temperature is 24 degrees C.

Was in Hamburg for a day trip. One of the few cities in Germany with a lake. A very nice place, more happening than Frankfurt. And yes, there's a lot of good seafood and a red light district. Not that I was spending much time with the gals!

Here are two pictures of my hotel room in Steigenberger Hotel. A welcomed changed indeed. It was luxury compared to my room at Etap Hotel. The large LCD TV as a nice to have but unfortunately most programmes were in German, I think. Deco was nice. Bed was very comfortable. Oh, if only I could share the room with H. I am sure we would have enjoyed the room, and each other!

Curiously, I cannot remember where did I take the picture below. Was it in Frankfurt or Hamburg? Hmmm. I have a terrible memory.

This is the first installation of pics. More to come, of my other trips event perhaps. Got some very nice pics to share. Most of them are not that great, but one always gets one or two good photos.

Safety Trips when Travelling

I have been very fortunate to be able to study in Australia and during my stay there, I did pick up a lot of streetwise tips. Till this day, I still treassure the experience and the knowledge. In Australia, the government gives out a lot of safety tips. Sadly, they are not so readily available in Malaysia. Here's something I would like to share with all. I am sure it is not a complete list, but at least the ones I've experienced. If you have good tips, please drop me a line or a comment. I shall include it with acknowledgements!

Most cities are very safe during the day, but things can be very different at night. So, do take care and travel safe.

• Travel by train is common. Usually, it is very safe. But it can be dangerous at night. So, when travelling at night, please use the carriage / coach closest to the driver. That's the safest.
• Always note the last train. Don't miss it - unexpectedly at least.
• Train stations usually attract a lot homeless, drunks and drug addicts at night. If possible, don't hang around train stations after 'dark', or when it is quiet. Homeless are harmless. Drunks usually want some money for drinks or at worse, puke. Drug addicts can resort to robbing you. The worse kind is when they threaten someone with a used syringe, which can be HIV tainted.
• If you enter a toilet and you notice blue lights - that means the area is a haunt for drug addicts. Ironically, blue light toilets are relatively safe. Why? For drug addicts to inject drugs, they need to find their veins. Veins are green. Under blue light, green veins do not show up. So, authorities deliberately puts blue light in toilets to prevent addicts from 'shooting up'. This means, the area has drug addicts. Now, the toilets are safe because there won't be any used syringes. But what's outside, druggies waiting to rob someone, is another story. So, know what the blue light means. It does not mean that the town council supports funky toilets!
• When using toilets, be on the look out for used syringes. Accidental contact will cause more mental sufferings than anything else!
• Chinatowns are great during the day. But when it is dark, it is usually not a good place to be. I don't know why. Chinatowns usually have the most drug deals, illegal prostitution, counterfeit goods - you name it, you get it. I have been offered 'ice' in Chinatown Montreal during the day. So, avoid Chinatowns if you can. And if you must know, I am not racist - I am of Chinese decent! This just happens to be a fact. I've been to enough in Vancouver, Montreal, Melbourne, Sydney and of course, KL. At night, it is not a good place to be. If a drug deal goes wrong they might just shoot each other with you in between! Oh yeah, it does not mean that all places with Chinese is unsafe. I have noted - it is just the place that they label Chinatown is bad. Take KL - most of KL is OK but when it comes to Petaling Street - just be careful. What's near (back streets of) Petaling Street can even be worse! Other areas are perfectly fine. No idea why. Just an observation. Another observation - it's not just the Chinese in chinatown that's giving chinatown a bad name. Chinatown, to me, is like the UN's local office for criminals.
• Always keep money in different places - wallet and bag. Don't put all your eggs in one wallet.
• If you must hide money in your shoe, please ensure that it will not end up as very expensive paper mache.
• Try to use a credit card (with chip) at all times. If your card is stolen, you just have to report it. It will then be Visa's or MasterCard's problem. No worries.
• If your credit card is stolen, report it immediately!
• There are places that cards are cloned. Malaysia use to be infamous for it. Therefore, try to get your credit card provider to issue a credit card with a smart card (it has a chip). The chip makes it very difficult to clone. All cards issued in Malaysia has a chip now. No prizes if you can figure out why.
• When you use your card, use it wisely. Don't let it get out of sight.
• Inform your credit card centre BEFORE you travel. You don't want them to bar your card when you are about to impress a pretty Austrian gal with an expensive dinner. No smart. It has happened to many of my colleagues - spending too much money on international calls just to ask the banks in KL to approve their transactions.
• Carry minimum amount of cash. But have spare for emergencies! For Malaysians, Mayban ATM cards actually work overseas. Just enable the overseas use in any ATM in Malaysia. They also offer very good rates, but there is a fee of RM 12 per transaction. It's good if you take out an equivalent of RM 1500 per transaction - works out cheaper than money exchange. I've used it in Bangkok, USA, Canada, Germany and France. It all works! Remember - they cannot steal what you do not have.
• Keep spare change and a small amount of money in a separate pocket. Don't take out your entire wallet to pay for a EUR 5 beer. Don't advertise how much you have.
• Please, do NOT advertise that you are a tourist. Try not to take a photograph of everything. Do take photos, at tourist places - like in Petronas Towers in KL. But please do not take photographs of a train approaching in a subway. Everyone will know you are a tourist. You might as well have a sign that says "rob me".
• Also, don't open up your map and read it in full view of others. Don't tell everyone you do not know your way! Read it in a shop. Or fold it into a smaller piece. Or make a summary of directions- where to turn left, etc. Be discreet.
• Know the emergency phone number. Every country is different. It's 911 is USA, 999 in Malaysia, 000 in Australia. For mobile phones, it is a universal 112. Remember it.
• Note the consulate's / embassy's phone number in the country. Maxis usually sends the number when you start 'roaming'. Keep it!
• Keep a copy of your passport / travel documents / ID with you. If you loose your passport, at least you have a copy of it. Imagine if you end up in your own embassy, and when they ask you for your passport number, you have to answer " I do not know". Don't laugh. This actually happened to my colleague. Not funny!
• Ensure someone at home has a copy of your travel documents and travel itinerary. If it is private, put it in a seal envelope, with instructions to open only in an emergency.
• Never ever leave anything in your coat pocket. In cold countries, everyone wears a coat. Some call it jacket, whatever. When we enter a warm place, such as a restaurant, we tend to remove the coat. And there are people who targets only coats. Even the coat is right behind you, hung on your chair, someone will still try to empty it. So, do NOT place anything in the coat - including the pockets. I had a colleague who lost the coat, plus passport, wallet, phones and keys. He couldn't get into his own hotel room - he didn't have any ID left on him. Ended up the night in a German police station. Not fun - although the police was very kind to let him spend the night there. It was snowing outside, so, he better not complain the chair was hard!
• If possible, do NOT hail a taxi from the roadside. Instead, call the cab company, to ask for a cab. Tell them were you are, and where you want to go. Give them your name (keep it simple, just first or last only - never the full name!). Ask them for the cab number. When your cab shows up, make sure the number is right. In some places, they cannot give you the cab number before hand. If that's the case, when the cab shows up, ask them *who* has asked for the cab. They should be able to reply you with your name. This will weed out bogus cab drivers. In addition, the cab company has a record of who went where and who picked up who. The cab drivers won't try anything funny - at least they will think twice.
• If you do not know the number for the cab company, ask the hotel or restaurant or bar to help you make the call. Just tip that guy. He will be happy to help you.
• Give the impression that someone knows where you are at all times - sms your boyfriend or girlfriend, or both. Or pretend to SMS / text message. Bad guys prefer to target someone who has no one to come look for them when the victim is in trouble.
• Never ever stop to give spare change, do charity. If you must do charity, do it in a proper place. Helping a beggar is not a good idea. That's usually the first step to being mugged. He can always run off with you entire wallet.
• Or, he will lure you away from your group. Let's say you walk around with a group of friends. Someone wants to rob you. In a group, he will be bashed up for trying to rob you. The best way is to lure you away. Offer you gals. Or ask you for spare change. When you stop, your group moves away, doesn't know you have stopped. That's when trouble starts. Be smart. If you want to do charity, go to a church, temple or the Red Cross. Not in the middle of the night, in the middle of a street that is new to you.
• If you are being rob, just give them what they want. Not worth fighting.
• If you loose your passport to a pick pocket - the best is go to the local police station about 24 hours later. Most of the time, it will find its way there. I have a sneaky suspicion the police somehow have a hand in it. Someone gets the money. The police doesn't want to be stuck with a bunch of sobbing tourists. Get the idea?
• Be prepared for the eventuality that you end up in your destination in Africa while your bags ended up in Austria for a skiing trip. Bags do go astray. Labels bags - but do it smartly. Have a spare change of clothes in your hand carry bags. At least a spare change of underwear if you must travel light!
• Do NOT put your full name, address and phone number on your bags. Put your initials. Think about it scenario. I am a scumbag, to cheat a tourist. I gets his details from his bag. I approach him. Hello Mr. XYZ. (I know his full name from from the bag). You have an emergency back at home (and I know his address). Please follow me, the scumbag. Imagine - that would be dangerous. Just put your name (initials) and phone number. Or put your office address. Why tell everyone that your house is bloody empty and you are on vacation?
• Lock your bags. I never worry about that they take out. I worry a lot about what they put in. Drug trafficking is a capital offence in Malaysia. Imagine if you end up being an unknowing drug mule. No fun.
• Check the bags for tamper the second you get them. Complain like mad, to the airline, if something is wrong.
• This is not so much about safely, but more on comfy. Book your darn seats when you book your air ticket. Imagine if you are a pretty gal - do you want to end up stuck to a window seat beside a guy like me? Book an aisle seat. Or a window seat - some people like windows seats. I just prefer aisle.
• As usual, beware of pick pockets. Nothing new here.
• Keep mobile phones fully charged at all times - or recharge them every night. It would be your life saver - or saving someone else's life.
• And please, don't bloody drain the battery of the mobile / cell phone by listening to MP3s, playing porn or games! A phone is a phone. Period. A dead 3G phone during an emergency is as good as a one's shoe when it comes to emergency communications.
• Keep a flash light around, even a small one LED one. A mobile phone is a good emergency light source too, but see previous point.
• A lighter is good too, but naked flames are dangerous. Airport security might have a issue too.
• Lastly, if something is too good to be true, it probably is! So, don't be greedy!

My trip to Germany

Oh my, what a trip it has been. This post shall be a summary of the trip - more details a lot later.
It was an adventure, almost like that in India, for me. The last time I was in Frankfurt, it was an adventure too.

Many years ago, I was on transit in Frankfurt. The air ticket was arranged by the same old PA (Personal Assistant) who gave me an extra day in Frankfurt this time. Not the brightest PA. Back then, the final destination was Graz, Austria. She only booked flights up to Frankfurt and told us (I was travelling with another lady engineer) to get connecting flights Graz when we are at Frankfurt airport. It was a disaster. We found out that the cheapest tickets (we had to fly one way - our travel was Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to Frankfurt (transit) to Graz to Marseilles (transit) to Paris) - was EUR 1000 per person. This worked out to be RM 10000 for the both of us. Where the heck were we to find RM 10000 on a cold morning in Frankfurt airport?

Thankfully, the Lufthansa staff took pity on us, manage to scrape together RM 10000 and got our tickets. Mind you, the initial offer was more than RM 20000 for the both of us, before Lufthansa gave us a discount. Apparently, for one way tickets, only business class tickets were sold! Cheap tickets are available in EU, but only with advance booking - not tickets on the spot.

Anyway, back to my latest trip. When the flight landed, we were greeted by a message, in German, which sounded like " ... airport strike, ... no bags, ... delay getting of the plane...". Rob came to mind immediately. More on Rob later. There was a full strike by the ground crew. All passengers were worried not getting their bags. Thankfully, MAS manage to employ some other ground crew (Lufthansa was on strike) and we got our bags an hour late. Sadly, some other passengers left the airport after believing rumours that bags will only be offloaded the next day. How could that be true? The MAS plane had to leave for Malaysia 6 hours later. The bags must leave the plane before that!

The result of the strike. All were sitting around, awaiting for luggage.

I then got myself on a Inter City Express (ICE) from Frankfurt to Hannover. Good grief! The bloody thing was full to the brim - it reminded me of a very high tech version of the mini bus. Mini buses use to service Kuala Lumpur and they were packed like sardines. Ended up standing for 3 hours. Not a bad thing to do after sitting for 12 hours on a plane. Being a bloody idiot, I got down at Hannover Masse instead of Hannover HBf. One station too early. Had to drag my luggage and catch another train. Not smart!

Finally, I arrived at Etap Hotel, where I spent about five nights. A budget hotel which has all the basics. Nothing fancy. Because of peak demand, the rates were EUR 140 per night. Normally, it would have been a EUR 45 room. Basic and clean. However, I must warn readers that when my colleagues were there last year, two laptops were stolen. No idea who did it. Maybe they did not lock their doors properly. Other laptops in other rooms were OK. In any case, I took along a lock for my laptop. Better be safe than sorry.

Etap hotel revising the rates when the exhibition was over. When I was there, the rates were EUR 120 per nite. Now, it is happy EUR 43 per nite. Simple demand and supply.

Made my way back to Frankfurt after my stay in Hannover - managed to squeeze in a day trip to Hamburg. Hamburg's a very nice city - full of life. This time, I got smarter - booked a seat on the ICE. The bad news was, there was a train strike. However, thanks for Rob, I got myself on one of the confirmed trains - trains that will run even the strike is on. Talk about German efficiency. Unfortunately, when the train reached Frankfurt HBf (main station), there was a long announcement in German. A fellow passenger was kind enough to translate it to me, saying that the train suffered some technical error and passengers need to find an alternative train. Being me, I summarized the situation in a simple "Kaput" for him. He had a good laugh. Frankly, if they announced train kaput, I would have understood. Kaput is the German word for "koyak" (in Malay)! So, the adventure continues - searching for another train which was in good order and not on strike.

I then checked in to a Steigenberger Hotel, near the Frankfurt airport. Good grief. It took me 45 minutes to queue at check-in. When my turn came, the room which I booked for was not available. Jokers sold it to someone else. But, they offered me an upgrade to a very luxurious Executive Room. After 5 days in a budget hotel, this is like a palace. Very cool deco. Comfy beds. Very nice bathrooms. A huge LCD TV. Reasonably cheap high speed Internet access. A very welcome change indeed. But there was a price to pay. The room was in the executive tower. Had a different room number from the 'normal' rooms. I did plan to dress very casually in jeans and all for my stay at the hotel, excluding formal business meetings. I was rather shy. Had to dress in something better. Don't want to look like a bum staying in the Executive Tower. Anyway, I think I still look like half a bum but bad luck, I've done my share.

The weather in Frankfurt was rotten for the two days I was there. Turned sunny on the day I left. What more can I say. Guess my trips to Frankfurt has been nothing but adventures - since my first trip there.

On yes, and now, the juicy bits. Who sat next to me on my flights? When I was there, I sat next to a German chap - about my age, perhaps younger, very friendly. Don't think I was very friendly because I was dead tired after work. Wasn't rude, but just slept all the way! As usual, my ass started to hurt after we flew past India. That's another 7 hours before Germany!

On the way back - oh yes - the best thing happened. Always my dream - and it came true. In the waiting lounge, I saw this very cute gal. Later found out she's from Indonesia. Long hair, slim. Sweet smile too. I boarded the plane first. And a few minutes later, guess who sat next to me? Yes, this sweet young thing. I took the aisle seat and she took the window seat. We exchanged smiles and looked at each other. Then, we both realise that the seats in the centre of the plane, (row of 5 seats in the centre), were all empty. Smart gal. She made a dash for one of them. Smiled at me. I was very happy too. For one reason or another, there were about 80 empty seats.

So, the seat to get, is an empty seat next to you. A pretty gal would be good, but nothing beats an empty seat. Bet you, that pretty gal had exactly the same feelings! Don't get me wrong. I love to have friends, mix around but when I am on board a plane, in economy class, sitting for 12 hours - I rather be really comfortable. No point having the sweetest young thing and being darn uncomfortable. Of course, if I had a sweet young thing back in the executive room in Steigenberger, it would have been a very different story.

Wind of Change

Well well, what a welcome back from Germany. Such interested general elections results for Malaysia. Here's some of my thoughts on the general elections...

We were in Germany, all excited with the results. It was indeed a shock. BN has lost a couple of states. Big win for the 'opposition'. But we all concluded that it was for the better. BN could no longer do as it wishes.

***

Big news today, Umno members had an illegal street protest in Penang. Wow! Back in the days when the Opposition had illegal street protest, they were jailed and sometimes locked up under ISA - jailed without trial that is. So, is the Federal Government about to jail their own bunch for illegal protest? A protest WITHOUT police permit? This if fun to watch.

Now UMNO know what it is like to be the opposition.

***
NEP. BN is just confused. There are people against the NEP but it is not because of race or because they don't want the Malays to progress. Here are some questions:

Where the leaky pipes episodes sponsored by a NEP contractor?
How about the uncompleted collapsed building in Kedah? Also by NEP?
Or the bridge, which also collapsed in Kedah? Yet another NEP product?

Hello! It is time to wake up! It has nothing to do with race. It has to do with sheer incompetency. If they don't wake up, I guess they will be the Opposition by 2012.

***
Heavens knows why they are calling DAP the opposition in Penang. Bad luck, they are now the ruling party and BN is the Opposition. Looks like BN and all its controlled media are still badly confused.

***
Based on a report on The Star, BN managed only 51% of the vote, which is far less than 60% of the seats in Parliament they control. Guess the message is clear. They are very close to be shown the door. And yet, they still do not have a clue what they have done wrong.

The fact is rather simple. What bothers people the most is something close to home. Town councils. And since we have no say over our town councillors, the next best thing is to boot the state government out. That's exactly what happened.

No one cares if KLCC has the tallest towers. But I would be swearing and cursing if they took away the field and built bloody shop lots there. That's what they've tried to do many times. And the good news - we kicked Lee Hwa Beng's ass! He was the state exco member. Every few months, there would be a new application to build something on the field. Come on! No means no. How many times can the residents protests? Better solve these problem once and for all, for the next five years at least!

***
The best news from this elections - Malaysians have shown that they are a matured bunch. Based on statistics, voting was not done based on race. Voting was also not done based on the number of wasteful banners and posters one puts up. Voting was not done based on the impressive advertisements on newspapers. Not on empty promises.

Voting was done to send a message. Loud and clear. And it was done!

***
Nett nett, it is a good wake up call. Most Malaysians are worried - wow, change of government. To be honest, most countries - Australia, UK, USA, change governments every so often. This is indeed a big step forward for Malaysia. I dare say - this is something Singaporeans have yet to achieve. A level of maturity equivalent to developed countries. This is truly Malaysia Boleh!

If it is not for last minute, nothing gets done

It is now 8.00am Malaysian time. My flight is in about 14 hours from now. I am right here, sitting in the office, updating my blog and my suitcase is still empty. Officially, I finish work at 5.30pm, so, I suppose I will have to sneak hope early to pack.

Germany is rather cold now, but I sure hope it is not snowing. That would not be fun. Yet to locate my gloves, I am taking it a long, just in case. The biggest dilemma is to decide what to take and what not to take. I prefer to travel with absolute minimum items from home. Only one or two pairs of shoes - best if they are fairly old shoes, that I could discard before returning home. Why? I need the space to do my shopping! I've discarded at least 4 pair of shoes while travelling - after purchasing a new pair that is. Oh, I am a guy, but I do some shopping for myself and for my dear sister.

In need badly of a new wallet, perhaps a new pair of shoes. Speaking of shoes. I could remember a trip to San Francisco. I had to purchase a new pair of shoes before travelling (bad timing for that trip, the old pair could not survive just for one more trip!). I got myself a Hush Puppy, for about RM 380 - which is rather expensive in Malaysia. Sadly, I threw it away after one trip - the soles were so thin. It is not comfortable at all and it was such a pain. I prefer European, American and Australian shoes, nothing too expensive (at most USD 120 a pair) and yet, so comfortable. So, to all the Malaysians travelling overseas - do consider getting shoes!

I will still have to print out some documents for my business meetings. Last night, I had a brilliant idea. Instead of just printing marketing stuff for Nible2, I have to print out some marketing stuff for myself. Yes, you got it right, my resume! As the saying goes, if you get lemons, make lemonade.

Cannot help but to wonder who will be the fellow passenger next to me tonight. I do not expect a sexy supermodel (like ChillyLady), but hey, at least someone who's not annoying. I have had my fair share of drama on flights - kids, mothers with kids, families yelling at each other, air sick passengers and once, a medical situation just a few seats away. The best of the lot was a Malaysian guy next to me on business class from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur. When he sat next to me, he told me how much he was looking forward to enjoy all the liquor and the wine. He was pretty much boasting about his alcohol consumption. Was I worried flying with a drunk? Heck no. The next I knew, he was fast asleep and snoring! Didn't mind that chap at all.

More updates on my trip later. Got to pay some bills before I get stuck with work.

Short Restaurant Reviews

Here are a couple of short reviews on restaurants:

Yesterday nite, I was in The Gardens, Mid Valley with H. No no, no sex. Just some good food a a movie - Charlie Wilson's War. Ok, it is the wrong subject, but what the heck, this is my personal blog.

The cinema, which I have been to a couple of times, GSC at The Gardens is indeed a very lovely cinema. Only with Premier and Gold Class. Worth the extra money, no queues and yeah, I get to hug H. The seats are great. Lots of food too, which one can order and they will deliver it to the seats. Only complaint - GSC, please note, - the place is freezing. Good excuse to hug a gal! Then again, I don't need excuses for hugging H. Sadly, business isn't too good, still very empty. I don't think GSC is doing enough promotion. How about free upgrades for some customers at GSC Mid Valley? Just like airlines, travellers do get free upgrades.

The movie, well, rather meaningful. But censorship was heavy. No good. All in all, I would only rate it about 6 out of 10. It is based on real life, on how the USA supported Afghans and in the screwed up the end game. The supported the Afghans during the war against Russia. When Russia left, the Afghans were abandoned. Well, the results are clear - look at Afghanistan today. Terrorrist, narcotics and largely poor.

Back to food, dinner with H was at Gurney Drive, The Gardens. BTW, The Gardens is part of Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur. Gurney Drive offers various Penang 'street food' or hawker food. We had a 'mee suah' ( a noodle in hot soup, with chicken and chinese herbs), one 'fried kuay teow', and satay. Food wise, it was great! Smelt good, tasted good but being typical Malaysian food - not the most healthy. Price wise, I would say it is a bit expensive for hawker food, but the ambience is great. I would term it as a high class collection of hawker food. Will I return - definately. Out of 10, I would give it a 7.5. Worth a visit!

Above - mee goreng mamak at Gurney Drive. And the delicious satay, below!

***

Was doing my filing and I saw a receipt from my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah a few months ago. I was there with H, and we did put the bed to good use, to say the least. It's a good place to be on holidays. Back to my restaurant review, one of the best seafood has to be the restaurant on Manukan Island. Manukan Island is in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine park, a protected area. Great place for the sea, snorkling, etc. I would prefer to dine, as usual. Took H there mid day, by speed boat - which was a fun ride! The restaurant there served the best seafood and it was definately worth every cent. No rip off! We had prawns, satay, crabs, fish and squid. All for about RM 100 only, including drinks! Value for money, great food, outdoor dining by the sea! Out of 10, definately a score of 9. Good service too!

Manukan Island - the beach!

For travellers to Kota Kinabalu (KK), Manukan Island is a good place to stay - only down side is, water supply is short. With the exception of drinking water, all is salty. But hey, I don't mind. It's fun and we do not get that often!

In KK, there are tonnes of over-rated, expensive, rip-off seafood restaurant. How to spot them? If they are in a nice place with a huge neon sign, well, that's the first sign (no pun intended). A good place to eat is at the Kedai Kopi Fatt Kee. It's on the ground floor, Number 28, Jalan Bakau, Jalan Pantai intersection, KK. It is a typical chinese restaurant. Lots of good food, fairly healthy (not a lot of oil). We had a fish - deep fried, sweet and sour prawns, one claypot tauhu and a vegetable. Food was delicious. Too much to eat (we had to rest a bit before we started our sexercise). The bill - oh, RM 48.83 - which works out to be 10 euros or about USD 15 - for two. No tips required. Rating - 7 out of 10. And yes, I will definately be back there when I am in KK!



This is sabah. A very nice place to be. Still natural. At night, fire flies are aplenty.


And here, a picture of sexy H. Hmmmm... don't I miss her. She's not on the menu!
***

Paddington House of Pancakes - I was there with H about 4 weeks ago. We were walking around, wondering what to have for brunch. Not the typical American style pancakes - where they load you with a stack of no less than 6 pancakes - and good grief, they taste good but I can never finish half of it! We had a Tenderloin, a Tuscany salad and H took a Ham and Cheese Crep. Food is fantastic. A wide variety on the menu. Serves are just nice - not too large, not too small. Don't want to over-eat! Very tasty. I would summarize it as a refreshing change. Something different. Something for every taste bud. Definately will return to try other offerings on the menu. Costs only about RM 100. Very reasonable. Rating - about 6.9 out of 10. All in all, one of the better places to dine (for Western food) at Mid Valley or The Gardens. I have to say - service was only reasonably good. I would rate service at no more than 5 out of 10.