CUTI CUTI ASIA SHENZHEN (HONG KONG) June 19-24, 2008 (Day 1)

June 19, 2008 (Thursday)
LCCT – Shenzhen - Flight AK88

We had to rush even with our best effort to be as early as possible. I hate being late and I hate rushing but it happened. Nothing we could do about it as it was Airasia’s checkin counter mess. I knew why we were rushed to the plane because Mr Fenandez recently came out to announce that they will compensate all flyers if they were delayed. With small children how can we move that fast? Luckily, even we did not get seats next to one another at least close enough to each other. I just wanted to read and sleep as soon as I was on board but Mar and hunger distracted me. Both Along and Baqir were fast asleep the minute they were seated. That’s because they had been staying up the whole night. One of my colleagues in the office recently remarked that Airasia is not ready for international flight and having had the first hand experience I guess she has a point. Another thing that disturbed me was the kiasu behaviour of most of the passengers. Yes, we know we did not have our seat assigned but do we have to be like children to board. I am not about to insult them but it was as if that was their first time on a plane. All the decency and courtesy suddenly just went out of the windows when we were ready to board. I hope time will change that.

On a short flight I normally like to have an isle seat so I just settled myself next to two China nationals. When I decided to sit there they sort of made sound complaint and I said to them in English that, ‘I bought my ticket legally as well you know and may picked any seat that I wish because Mr Fanendez decided you all had to fight for them.’ Obviously with their limited English they did not have a clue to what I said and I just smiled at them. My agenda as soon as we boarded was to read and maybe doze off in preparation for the days in China, Mar’s was to order her favourite hotdogs, Baqir and Ghazi their lunch but they were fast asleep already so I let them sleep. It was a short 4 hour flight where the takeoff was lousy.

Since I was in the isle seat I could not see Shenzhen’s bright city lights when we approached to land but by the glimpsed I judged it to be quite a big city. Everyone was excited and we landed safely at around 2030. It was a breeze to get through the immigration where the only small incident was when the immigration lady attending to my travel documents being OA. Of course I had my US visa and just returned from the US and having the Visa does not mean I am a US citizen. Still she found it necessary to notify her superior that I had a US visa. On hearing her explanation her supervisor just gave a dry smile as if just to please her. Maybe she was just that type of person. Of course all these were conducted in Chinese and my guess would not be that far from the truth.

After that was the hard part – how to figure out the best way to go to our hotel. My instinct said taxi but I needed to explore other alternatives, if there was any. I asked the lady at the tourist bus ticket counter and she misunderstood my question. Then I asked one airport security guy he replied to me in Chinese. Well he tried his best to be helpful, I salute him for that, and in the end both of us sort of agreed that the best way is to take taxi. For us it meant three taxis. With that I pull out the small hotel map with the hotel name in Chinese and get everyone to wait at the taxi stand. I showed the first driver our destination and he understood immediately and I asked Ngah, Tariq and family to take the first one. I showed the map to the second driver and he was confused, how could that be the hotel name was in Chinese, and when the first driver saw us struggling with the second driver he came over to explain and he did the same with the third driver. With that off we went into Shenzhen’s night. From inside the taxi I could see Shenzhen was very dry and no sign of rain at all let alone flood as reported in other part of southern China. I was worried that we will end up with a wet holiday but by all indications thus far was encouraging.

Early on we realized that taxi driver would want to rule the road in Shenzhen and their best friend is the horn. As they kept on blaring the horn at every opportunity. The drive was fast and smooth it was just like from KLIA to KL, from the kampong area into the city. Observing the traffic on the highway I could fit in straight away and I will enjoy it as well because in Shenzhen even the trucks and busses were ‘mencilok’, jumping, from lane to lane. Shenzhen as a city began to take shape as we rode in and it was definitely a big city where development had been rapid. It was too early to get my bearing but I did recognize certain areas from my first short visit.

To our surprise our taxi was the first one to arrive and I straight away check ourselves in. We had to wait for a while before the others to arrive. I was worried for a while there and was calling everyone to make sure they were on the way. Tired and smelly we staggered to our room and was surprised to find out that it was actually not a three rooms apartment. I went down to the counter to enquire and with their limited English they said that the apartment that I booked was actually 3 bed apartment not a 3 bedrooms apartment. I just laughed in their face when I heard the explanation. I had no choice as they ddi not have a three rooms actually so we decided, all 13 of us, to squeeze into the two bedroom apartment. After all it is just going to be a place for us to sleep. With our luggage in the room I announced that we were going out for dinner. We were lucky when we came in I saw the word Muslim on one of the restaurant’s door nearby and we walked there. The night was quite humid that should have warned us for the days ahead. But we were too happy to be derailed by things like the weather. The dinner was ok and I could guess we could only last for two days on that kind of food. The taste and the ingredients used were not for our palate. But because we were hungry we just ate. I paid around 200 yuan for the meal that was roughly around RM100. When we came in there was already a Malay family eating and I say Malay because the lady was wearing tudung and they looked Malay. When they were finished they were good enough to come over to our table to say hello and chat. They were actually from Brunei and would be leaving Shenzhen the next day. She shared about her, mostly, shopping experience, and when we said that we will be staying for five days she excitedly exclaimed lamanya! Well that is relative for a shopping mad individuals and it may not be enough he he. And before they left they warned us about pickpockets as well as Yuan conman. If we were to use a 100 yuan bill they will switch it with a fake one and tell us our bill is fake. So my advice is not to use 100 yuan bill in any small outlet and only use them in big shopping complex. Even then please be careful.

I thought we were going to walk to check out the rest of the place there but everyone was tired. Tired? It was only a 4 hour flight and they were tired. Since we were going to have an early morning I relented. All of us accept those watching the EURO 08 went to sleep early. The room came with a free broadband internet and I spent some time surfing and reading my emails.

Cuti Cuti Malaysia : Kuala Rompin, Feb 7-9, 2008

3rd Day, Sunday

Since we have nothing else to do in Rompin I decided to check out early and hit the road down south. We skipped breakfast at the resort and stopped to have breakfast at the eateries that we bought our breakfast the day before.

My plan was to drive down to Mersing and cut in towards Kluang at Jemaluang and eventually take the north south highway back to Bandar Seri Putra. However the journey home was about detours and incidences. Just before we reached Mersing town I saw on the left a sign indicating a popular beach area. Instantaneously I gave a signal to turn left and made a turn towards the Air Papan Beach. It was quite a distance getting to the beach, roughly around 5 km, and when we got there, there were already a lot of people and activities on the beach. We maneuvered our cars through the crowds and parked cars and managed to find a good spot park. I knew some of us were tempted to jump inot the sea but looking at the waves and the strong sea breeze I preempted the desire by announcing that we were not staying to bath. We explored the place first by checking out what on sales. There were the usual souvenirs stuff that you can find on any beach resorts. Sadly I could not find a decent t-shirt to buy. I discovered there were quite a few cheap chalets and lodging that could be useful in the future. Later I got to know that every year on May 1st they organize a Pesta Laut or Air at the beach. According to the report on that day the beach would be packed solid with holiday makers and all the chalets would be fully booked. I do not know when we would be there again but then again being me all things is possible.

We bought one or two things and had air kelapa muda before we continue our journey towards Mersing. We drove into Mersing town at 1222 hr and with no specific place to go we drove around until we could find a aby to park in front of the building next to the Jeti Penumpang Jabatan Laut Mersing. We stayed there for almost an hour just to absorb the place.

The last and first time I took the Jemaluang route to Kluang was in 1996 or 97 and I remember I drove our Nissan Venette through and across forest reserve, palm plantations and rivers. The road then was narrow and at certain area full with potholes. Now I did not know what to expect so I we reached the junction I just drove fast and fast leaving Tariq behind. Since it was basically a single route and only after awhile only we would reach a small residential area I was not worried for them being lost. I pressed on hard until when we about the reach Kg Kahang Baru that kakak started to cry. Of course we thought it was due to my driving making her dizzy but when I stopped beside a mosque when we almost at Kluang I sensed it was something else. It seemed out of a sudden she just felt sad and started to cry. I asked her to get down and rest at the mosque. Sure enough she ok after that.

My plan was to drive straight on to Kluang, explore the town a bit and find a good place to have lunch. We managed the first part ok but a good place to eat proved to be elusive. After awhile we just chanced upon a mamak restaurant and we settled for that. I thought of sampling Kluang cuisine but what I got was mamak food and to make things worse it was a bad mamak food. It was 1521 hrs then which means a late lunch for us. There was nothing much to do after lunch so we were on the road again. The traffic was quite heavy going out of Kluang indicating people on leave for the Chinese New Year weekend were on their way back. At 1600 hrs the weather was a bit hot in Kluang prompted me to stop at the next Petronas station to say our prayers.

Of course form Kluang the most logical entrance to the North South highway was at Air Hitam interchange and Air Hitam being a famous for shopping area, for Intan’s and Tariq’s sakes (he he he) I was not about to miss it. As we approached Air Hitam immediately we could see a long crawl and with that I decided not to go all the way in town suffice to shop on the outskirt. Even that there were now a lot of new outlets in new buildings selling dry food, fabrics, crafts, potteries and stuff like that. I would say you are not going to miss anything by not going into town proper nowadays. Just like any other times we were in Air Hitam we bought almost the same things.

On the day when we left Bangi for Kuala Rompin I was really praying hard that our Ranger would hold up and last the distance. But by then I should have known the days of our beloved Ranger were coming to an end. As I was pressing for Pagoh and a constant decent speed a familiar sound came out of the hood. I was pretty sure the turbo turbine was busted once again. Not taking any risk we entered Pagoh R&R to pray and rested the Ranger for awhile. Confident that we would be ok if I were to drive slowly, slow means 120 km/hr, I encouraged Traiq to go first and not to wait for us. Furthermore it was the Plus highway what chance was there for them to get lost LOL).Along the way they called us to check if we were ok and I was glad they did as well so that they could tell me they were not lost :)).

We were safely home around 2300 or 2400 and the end of another chapter in our Cuti Cuti Malaysia.

Note: When I took our Ranger to our dear friend the mechanics he diagnosed it to be a busted gasket. I was sure then we need a new ride for our next Cuti Cuti Malaysia

Cuti Cuti Malaysia : Kuala Rompin, Feb 7-9, 2008

2nd Day, Friday

I woke up early as usual and decided to go out to check what morning like in a small town of Kuala Rompin. The rest in the room Sam, Baqir and Mar decided to follow me.

The town was of course small and there were only two major eating places open for breakfast and both were selling varieties. We bought the usual breakfast combination of kueh-kueh, nasi lemak, and roti canai. With that we drove back with a detour towards the Kuala Rompin beach area. They were already several families there but the beach was, although flat like Cherating, not a beach where you want to play on or go for a swim. It was more for just having nice picnic for the families. The water was almost black and the beaches strewn with debris and wastes. I drove further in and discovered an abandoned paddock which was nice. I took several shots of the place with Baqir as model and some of them turned out like a Salem high country advertisement :).

Since it was Friday I decided to just stay in until lunch time before we go out. Lunch was another main decision point while we were in Kuala Rompin because of the Chinese New Year weekend we did not have many options. In the end I decided to go back to the place where we stopped to have lunch the day before. But once we were there I picked another restaurant, Gerai Makan Mak Ngah. However the food were just about the same and you are not going to get wrong here. Even if you just walk in and sit at any table you’ll get the same kind of food and taste.

After lunch, since the turn off to Lanjut Beach was on the way back, I decided to check out the place and we took the road less traveled. It was at 1531 hours that we were on the straight beach front kampong road. I knew that it was the road to Serai Lanjut Beach Resort and Golf Club so I was expecting a decent surrounding. I was not disappointed. From the road the Serai Lanjut Beach Resort and Golf Club looked promising and I thought I wanted to go in to check the place further but when I saw the guards at the gate I drove straight ahead. Not that I was afraid or anything like that I just felt it was a turn off straight away. So we drove further on in until we reached a small kampong, Kampong Pantai Bernas, at the muara. There was a boat jetty there that was more like a tourist and anglers jetty than anything else. Probably it was a low tide that we did not see any boats there. Beside the jetty on the left was a budget hotel Ikhwan Beach Resorts, ` that I have seen while browsing the internet for places to stay in Kuala Rompin. From the description in the Net it was passable place if you do not have any other options. It was cheap within a fisherman kampong environment but too far out from the town if you need anything. Even if you just want to kill the time there the place could be a bit hot during the day. Later when I looked at Google Map the muara was actually close to the Kuala Rompin town where we stayed. Because there was no access road the kampong was cutoff and the only way out was to use the Lanjut road. I guess if ever the place is being developed a bridge would be built across.

There was not much thing to explore there but the jetty was good enough for me to just relax to enjoy the breeze. We Baqir, Kak Cik and I just sat around watching the anglers trying their luck. Over time several other anglers and visitors came to join us at the jetty and the atmosphere changed straight away for us. Gone were the tranquility and feeling good situation as if the newcomers suddenly absorbed them..

Close to 1700 we slowly moved out from the place. But of course being me our way out included detour to another beach area along the way. There, there was a tyre swing being put for kids to play and Mar in seeing that straight away made a beeline for it and there she stayed almost the whole duration. As for us the sea breeze was strong and pleasant enough for us just lazing around and having teh tarik. In the end we stayed there almost an hour.

We had planned to have a family session in the karaoke room that night I rushed back and lucky to get a room booked for 2100 session. Due to that we opted to have dinner at the hotel. It did not matter the dinner was a disappointment as everyone was really looking forward to the karaoke session. So that night we polluted the good air of Rompin with our tone deaf singing that we called music LOL. Bottom line everyone had a nice time. Intan and Tariq having little Khadijah with them decided not to join us but I knew for a fact they were itching to contribute to the pollution of Rompin quite atmosphere. I sang so much my voice croaked, not that my voice was any good in the first place; I guess I croaked even worse. Even the amphibians around Rompin were not even close enough to want to make me their friends. I would not be surprised if some of them actually ran away in shame. We ended our session close to midnight.

Cuti Cuti Malaysia : Kuala Rompin, Feb 7-9, 2008

1st Day, Thursday

I took the Ranger out at 0718 and started to load it. I casted my eyes sideways towards Intan’s house and I did not see any life in it. They must still be sleeping I thought and continued with my chore. Eventually Kak Cik and Imah went over to check on Intan and family and they reported back that they were still sleeping. Once everyone and the Ranger were ready to set out I decided not to wait any longer and drove out after instructing Kak Cik to leave instruction that we will wait for them at Seremban R&R.

Still after we had finished our breakfast no sign of Intan and family and I was tempted to continue but decided to be a nice Uncle and waited for them.

I remembered the first time we drove through to Kuala Rompin I stopped at the R&R at the junction to Seri Menanti to ease myself and then we went to look at the Istana. Looked was the exact word as we did not even get down to go into the Istana area. At 0930 we arrived at the same R&R and I decided to stop to ease myself again and then visit Seri Menanti, Kuala Pilah for real. The last time we were there we just stood outside to take some photograph as I did not want to spend too much time there. This time I had time and really wanted to go and explore the Istana. We parked inside the compound and walked towards the Istana. I was already busy taking photos as we walked and did not realized when my wife actually paid the entrance fees. I saw at one corner of the reception a series of historical as well as local theme books on sale. I bought one of the local dishes hoping that someday someone would cook some for me . We explored the Istana starting with the Balai Rong Sri, Dining room, Resting area and the kitchen. We did not climb to the upper level as I sensed something else was or were there. But I had a field day taking photographs of the place.

We took our leave around 1015 and sped towards Kuala Pilah town and Bahau. My inclination was to speed off and arrive a bit early but since Tariq was not familiar with the route and afraid they’ll get lost I contained myself. In the end I was the one who got lost. Actually I was blindsided by the Rompin signboard. Rompin was actually Rompin, Negeri Sembilan and not Kuala Rompin. My wife was right when she asked me to turn left when we saw the signboard indicating direction to Bandar Muadzam but I kept going until I saw the milestones indicating mileage to Gemas. Both Baqir and I simultaneously acclaimed it was another Rompin. Realising that I still drove on for awhile to see if there was anything interesting. We turned back to the junction that I missed and turn right towards Bandar Muadzam and from there on I could not resist speeding away only to stop waiting at junction to make sure we still had Tariq and family at the back. I thought stopping for lunch at Muadzam but when we got there it was pretty too early and I asked my wife who said we should go on. From there on I really sped off as I knew the next junction would already be in Kuala Rompin.

Exactly at 1300 we reached the Nenasi Kuala Rompin junction where there was a Medan Selara that we used to stop and eat. I jumped out and went to ease myself at the restroom which I had to pay RM0.30. I need to say this as I was surprised that it was that much in Kuala Rompin. When I came out Tariq arrived and looking around at the kedai makan I decided to have lunch there. So what else, it was a Udang Galah field day for Baqir. He actually filled-up his plate with udang galah that I could not see anything else in it. If you still do not know it Kuala Rompin is a place for Udang Galah. All of the eateries in Kuala Rompin would serve Udang Galah and in fact you could buy a bundle of fresh one to take home as well.

From that junction RBR was about 13 kilometers away and we drove in slowly. Slowly because I wanted everyone to absorb the environment as not often that they can experience it. Alas, some of them just let the opportunity went to waste. The resort was actually at the beach area of Rompin town and as soon as we reached the town we decided to go and check-in straight away. To my delight the room was spacious enough and would be comfortable for 7 people to sleep in for a night or two. Baqir, Mar, Sam and myself in one room and the rest, seven of them, in another room. The smell of the room indicated to us that it has not been occupied for quite a while. I blasted both the aircons and the fan and walked out to check the beach with Mar and Sam.

The beach was not suitable for swimming. Not only the high tide area strewn with man made rubbish and the surrounding was pathetic. We did not stay long at the beach as nothing to admire. Had not for two young girls flying kite we would have walked away even earlier.

That evening I just let everyone soaked and rested the traveling fatigue by either staying in or cooling off in the pool. The pool was another story and discovery. Because of full occupancy due to long holidays there were a lot of families and most of them were there in groups to celebrate something. Like the group of family from Melaka that took up the chalets around us having their unofficial family weekend in Kuala Rompin. The pool was full with noisy and almost rowdy kids and young adults who refused to adhere to pool etiquettes. They were jumping off the pool which was dangerous to the smaller ones. At least there was space for us at the deeper end but then later two adults came acting the same way. So I rest my case and concluded that they were having too much fun that they did not want to care. Or maybe they were plain stupid.

I did not have a specific plan for dinner but wanted to explore seafood. From our last stop at Rompin, that was 5 years ago, there was one seafood stall by the roadside that we ate at. I presumed by now it has moved somewhere or out of business already. Whatever the case maybe, the roadside up to Tg Gemuk was devoid of stalls. So I drove on to find a suitable place to eat but we were out of luck with seafood. I purposely crossed the Sg Endau bridge and stopped just before the Johor state line. I walked out with my Nikon to the bridge to take few photos. I already saw the new eating place at the new clock tower next to the bridge on the side of Rompin when I drove by but when I looked through my lens I got interested to stop there for dinner. So after I have done with my photography session on the bridge I turned the Ranger around and entered the eating area.

The place was really new and there were only three stalls in business. We decided on the first one and started to pull three tables together for all of us. There were enough varieties for all of us at the two nearest stalls and we started ordering our favourites right away. Since I was in the mood to explore I ordered mee goreng from the first stall and steak from the second one. While I was sitting waiting for the food my mind wondered around and decided so far I was a bit disappointed with Kuala Rompin as after four years I was expecting a bit more. Sadly they could not offer me that. I could see they were trying to improve things but I think it was not fast enough. We ate our food and enjoyed each other companies and conversation. The boulevard like environment of the place encouraged our behavior to be more opened and relaxed. My favourite past time activity in time like that was of course to tease Imah.

On the way back to the resort at 2031 we stopped at Kuala Rompin (Tanjung Gemok) Pasar Malam. I just loved the small town’s Pasar Malam as most of them would have certain specialties and surprises for us. Sadly not this Pasar Malam and we went back to the Hotel a bit disappointed.

Cuti Cuti Malaysia : Kuala Rompin, Feb 7-9, 2008

The week approaching the CNY was a little bit frustrating for me work wise. A lot of things seemed to be going wrong and near sleepless nights were the normal occurrence for me. But I have to have brave face and smile even more as days passed by. That’s I guess the requirement of the job. I did not think of going anywhere as I just planned to slouch at home but as the CNY week inched closer I realized I needed to get out of town. I just need to get out of town. Another frantic searching for places, nothing new there, and with four-day CNY weekend getting a decent place was really a tall order. I had three options really;

1. To resurrect the abandoned trip around Johor, or
2. Go camping somewhere, or
3. Try Kuala Rompin, as it is the only place that we have not explored enough.

I went for the third option first as I have always the other two to fall back to if I failed. But after searching carefully I was lucky to get two chalets at Rompin Beach Resort. Judging from their website it looked enticing and decent enough for us. I was not sure of the size of each chalet but we invited others to join us anyway. In the end Tariq and family confirmed they were going with us and with them of course Imah.

Busy Weekend, Oct 25-27, 2008

It was a very busy three-day weekend for me. Open houses, wedding, and whatever left of our Syawal celebration. However three things that I want to write about.

After at least five months I have decided to seriously rekindle my love for cycling. I said seriously because it was like chipsmore biscuit since the last few months. This time my health was the main factor to my conviction to be consistent. Incidentally, a group of my ex-school buddies planned an outing of slow and easy ride in Putrajya on Sunday which was good start for me. So as early as 0715 I was already at the Putrajaya boulevard waiting for the group to arrive. Yeah, I was that eager. I had all my gears ready when the only lady rider in the group arrived followed by Abedib, Saifuddin, Nadim, Dr Azmi and the rest of the gang. Half of the group was Dr Azmi’s friend and they were doctors. So we joked that we had doctors at hand if anything happen to any of us. Of course I was teased for riding a dusty Trek . After the ceremonial photo taking we set off with Saifuddin as the lead. He took us along the lake and slowly we moved towards the PICC. It was a fun enjoyable ride at first but slowly I felt I need to test my fitness level and as soon as we neared the PICC Bridge I stepped up and sped off towards the PICC. The climbing was not that hard but I knew I would be panting if it was the Bukit Mahkota climb. Still it was a good workout. As I reached the top I looked behind and only Nadim, Shaifuddin and Dr Azmi in sight. I told Nadim I had to go off first as my family will be coming that night and I need to do few things. With that I screamed down with Shaifuddin in pursuit behind me. Shaifuddin stopped at the bridge to wait for others but I sped towards the Putra mosque. I was panting half way through there and not wanting to break anything I eased a bit and maintain a decent speed. When I got to the Putra mosque I straight away put my bike inside the Ranger and waited for somebody to arrive so that I could go off. I knew they would be going for our ceremonial the tarik after the ride so I thank Abedib and those arrived after him and left the place. So next week it will be the Wetland for us. I could not wait. Maybe I’ll just cycle there.

Shaifuddin and Abedib talking bicycle

Shaifuddin and his RM20K Ducati

Nadim ready to roll

The second main event for me was that night my family was coming to visit which mean a feast was on the card. Coincidentally ‘the would be’ chef in the house was planning a do for his friends so I told him to prepare a feast for 30 people. It was one of the memorable nights for me as everyone was having a good time. The family started to arrive as early as 2000. Soon our house was buzzing with all sorts of activities as people started to eat and talk to one another. The chef assistant was super busy at the grill. My only regret for the night was I bought a token of a lamb that I thought not many people would like. How wrong I was. If I’d bought a whole lamb also would not be enough that night. The second lesson learned for the night was my own realization as to the reason why it was so difficult for me to renovate the house. I knew then that the garden was perfect for night family barbecue.

The third and the last over the weekend was the PT Majlis Makan Malam Ramah Mesra. This year the event was organized by Jln 3/1, 3/2 and 3/8 and it was at the corner of Jalan 3/8. As instructed I arrived with a full suit of baju melayu. Comparatively the number of people turned up this year was less and it was understandable due to the last weekend of Syawal and Deepavali.

Blogging Live On The Train, Oct 24, 2008

I forgot that today is the Friday of the Deepavali three day weekend. The train as usual was late and almost solid pack when it arrived at Bank Negara station. As expected it is worse now at KL Sentral. Remember the embarking and disembarking queues I talked about recently there were barely existed just now when I looked out ha ha ha. So I guess I would be walking home from the Bangi train station today as I would be definitely late now. Well at least I would get to exercise. It is a mad house now at Mid Valley as people pushing in trying to get in. I could hear, despite my ears plugged in with music from my iPod, a lady voice yelling everyone to move in so that they can get on. Immediately the crowd inside yell back protesting as obviously there is no more room even for a child inside. With all the commotion made worse by a child crying I concentrated on the song whre Ebiet G Ade is on.

Crazy, maybe obsess, about books? Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008

I came to know about the MPH Warehouse Booksales through the advertisement in the newspaper. I knew, no I think the correct word is wanted, yes I wanted to straight away go there on the opening day. I was a bit pissed off with myself for not, after browsing four bookstores, buying any book when I was in Singapore last week. As if I had to make amend my friend was good enough to drop me at the MPH warehouse after our meeting in PJ. Without missing a beat I grabbed a basket and started to browse and pick whatever books I like. Not more than half an hour I was there it was announced that the place would be closed at 1900. I thought it was suppose to be closed at 1930. Cursing, at nothing in particular, I hurried on browsing and waited to the very last minute to pay. In the end I paid RM150 for 8 books and was sure I would be there again this weekend with my family.

On The Train (Culture Change), Oct 20, 2008

I knew even before the Eidul Fitri celebration that KTMB was finally going to manage the embarking and disembarking passengers at major stations especially KL Sentral when I saw the lines being painted on the floor just like at the LRT stations. Today I saw the first implementation of that when we approached KL Sentral. I saw commuters neatly lined up on each side to board. Or course I saw a few guards on duty to make sure that happen and I could not help but wonder how long that going to last. I hope all of us would learn and observe the new ‘rule’ even when the guards are not around. I am a bit optimistic but being a Malaysian I have my doubt. We have just to wait for few more weeks if indeed we could change the culture and mindset. If forcing the rules upon us would make it works I am all for it. But I have also seen at LRT station when the guards were not there or when the train approached suddenly the lines went missing and commuters simply rushed in. We have still along way to go. I just got back from Temasek and I did not see any guards at all on the platform. The same thing when I was in Hong Kong. So I guess as far as Malaysian is concern we have to force this rule upon us to make it a success.

On The KTM Komuter, ERL KLIA Express and Plane, Oct 15, 2008

I dragged out my luggage, kissed my wife and walked to the station as usual. This morning I bought a one way ticket to KL Sentral because I wanted to checkin straight away before going to the office. The train as usual was late and I was not bothered anymore. We arrived at KL Sentral around 0730 and straight away I went to the TAM machine to withdraw some cash and since the money changer was just next to the ATM I bought a few Sing dollars. Checking in at KL Sentral was easy I have done a couple of times before but what surprised me was that a lady working for the ERL stopped me to ask whether I have a ERL ticket already. I said why as I would not be boarding until later as my flight was as 1500. She said the KL Sentral checkin counters were meant for ERL customers. Yes! and I had to buy the ERL ticket first before I could approach the counter. Since I do not wish to argue with anybody that early in the morning I just turned back to buy the ticket.

At 1255 I boarded the ERL KLIA Express and managed to get the platform seat . In front on isle on the other side sat a lady ready a book. I did not get the title on the book she was reading but I presumed it was funny as the lady was smiling reading it. It was not about the lady or the book but it was about smiling the book that sometimes I do myself and I always wonder what other think when they see me doing that. Now at least I now how I would feel as I felt happy, a warm feeling happy, and glad looking at the situation. The train departed from KL Sentral at 1300 sharp and arrived at KLIA 28 minutes later. After buying few things that I needed I straight away went into the departure hall. Since it was my first time using Gate G I did not know where the MAS Golden Launch was. I was told it was the MAS Regional Golden Lounge and I was not disappointed when I was there. The atmosphere is good, comparatively the food was better than the other Lounges that I have used. Particularly I loved the hot Herbal noodles soup there.

40 minutes to flight time I unplugged myself form the lounge and walked down to the boarding Gate G6. Jas was already there. I can’t remember whether I have had taken a flight down to Singapore in the evening but I am very sure that I have never been on one that had taken the flight path along the coast of Strait of Melaka. The sky was decently clear half of the journey and I managed to view the coast of PD, Melaka, and Johor from another angle and perspective. Once I saw PD after take off my view was fixed downward and since I have been taking the land route so many times I could identify the building and places immediately and so well. I was hooked and had a ‘feeling good’ feeling through out the flight. I would have followed the whole land route down to JB had not for a bit of raining just after Muar. As I said, it could nothing to anyone, it was a fantastic feeling.

About 1700 we were already walking inside the Changi terminal towards the immigration counters and subsequently checkin into our hotel 45 minutes after that.

Another Family Wedding

Over the weekend was the wedding of my cousin Niza. While going the normal motion of a wedding it was not the wedding that got me into thinking mood but the whole clan of my aki Mohamad Nasib and moyang Abdul Jabbar. The strong realization was during the grand reception at the Felda Perdana Hall yesterday. The trigger was during my uncle’s thank you speech and something he said brought down a hard reality unto me. Fact one is that my uncle is the only surviving man in the family and fact two is that after him would be my generation to keep the flag flying for the family and we are in need of a leader to keep going. Symptoms of strain family relations and culturally not suitable behaviour are the order of the day. When I looked around me in the hall I realized if I do not do something the family chain will be broken for good. Whether I like it or not, whether I am ready or not or whether I am the best person to do it or not I have to do it.