When others won't, for clearly the situation doesn't warrant the humour/laughter....Most of the time it's not because I have a sadist view of most things (thought at times, I do), but simply because there is very little I can do about it.
Going back abit. I'm getting quite a lot of slack from people who know me but don't know me all that well for my ill-timed laughter or smiles. Most people write me off as being some sicko finding fun out of other's misfortune (yes, I smile/laugh at other people's misfortunes. But I laugh at my own significantly much more..) Oops. Wait, Saint Saen's Organ symphony just ended. Going to put something else on..Brahm's Tragic overture is next..
Now, where was I? Ok, so I laugh when things go wrong. Or something bad happens. It's not that I am insensitive towards the situation, but throughout my years I have turned into a person almost impervious to grief by bad luck/misfortune. Or, at least, I don't show it.
Wait, let's jump around a bit and confuse myself and anyone insane enough to read this. Take this example that happened over lunch. This new waiter serving at a food court came over to take me and my friend's orders. I wanted my good old teh tarik (pulled tea with milk) and my friend ordered Milo Ais (ice) kurang manis (less sugar). The waiter promptly went off and returned a few minutes later. In his hands were Teh O panas and Teh O panas Ais (that's tea wihout milk, and another with ice). Two completely different drinks from what we ordered. Ok, if you're not from my region/locale, the orders don't seem that different, but where I am from, they shouldn't make these mistakes. But they do.
After clearly stating the drinks we ordered and have the waiter return the drinks for correct ones, my friend commented that I seem to be enjoying myself with the waiter's incompetence. His clue was the smirk on my face. While he agreed that I wasn't in anyway making hell out of things and giving the waiter a hard time, I seemed to like the whole muck up. To him, I was having fun. But I wasn't. Fortunately for me, his comment was both blasé and direct, allowing me the opportunity to explain (Not many people allow others to explain things that seem weird to them but in reality it isn't. OR, they just find it weird. PERIOD). So I explained that my smirk wasn't because I enjoyed it, but it was just me not showing my frustration to the whole mess of things at the waiter whom I know, or believe, was new, foreign, and untrained. The reasons why he gets the job is because (most) restaurant/food court operators in my country are so selfish and profit-minded that they prefer to hire foreign labours to do jobs locals can do simply because it's probably at a fraction (possibly even a tenth) of the cost of locals. It is also not helped that locals here find jobs like that( waiting tables at coffeeshops/food courts) either demeaning (yes, (many) uneducated people in my country believes they are due a desk job that pays them well without them requiring to use much brains) or too low paying, making the bosses sometimes having no option but to look for job hungry foreigners who would take any job that will pay them ANYTIME.
So the whole muck up, while to some part, was the waiter's fault, in many ways, it wasn't. Nor will it help if I turn hostile and give the guy a good shouting or two. I still wanted him to bring me the drinks I want, and preferably not contaminated. So my response? Withold all the negative energy in me, try to it work out with the waiter and hope that he gets it right the second time. Oops. Tragic overture ended too. This is longer than I thought. Schumann's Piano Concerto it is then.
There you have it. A common occurance where you have me smiling (at times laughing with myself) when most others would either show their annoyance or anger and react negatively. I'm not saying that I am so capable of controlling my anger and all that saintly stuff. I don't. Nor do I try to. If showing anger, annoyance and frustration, in my honest opinion, gets the message across, I will, without hesitation, give it to you/them/it. Just ask the many poor sods that tried to telemarket me. But in many instances, these emotions/reaction just doesn't do the right job. So, instead of making everyone feel bad, I'll just make myself feel bad. By doing so, most people think I'm some psycho. (Which, on a different vantage point, isn't so far off bulleye :p)
The next time you see me laughing or smiling when you don't see how it can be funny, don't immediately think I'm having a good time too. I'm just not showing it. On other note, I do find it hilariously interesting how in a span of 3 months, I know of 3 persons whom I am not related to to have died. By my theories, while death is inevitable, they tend to happen over much longer periods of time; not so frequently. Must be me..
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
I'm Broke, By the Way...
The weekend's been quite interesting. For those familiar with me, interesting is the word I use too often as proxy to more accurate but potentially deangerous terms like; Boring, Ridiculuous, Silly, Incompetent, Unacceptable, Mess, Useless, Annoying, etc......You should get the drift.
But this weekend was interesting in essence. It was expensive, however..
I'll start off with my 2 hour trip to Sunway Lagoon. Now, I've never been much of a fun-park guy, mostly because I haven't the heart to take all the crazy G-Force they are all aimed and putting the human body through. But as with many things that hurts my heart, it has such a shoddy memory of pain that for some unknown reason I felt like doing all those crazy rides. It didn't help that my company decided to arrange the trip free for people like me (who are members of a club in the company). That, or the fact that I'm now 30+ makes me realise that if I don't try them now, I probably never will.
So after some kiddie rides I took the ship like ride that moves like a pendulum, but eventually goes all 360 when the momentum is just enough to reach the apex and fall over. Half way on the ride my heart was already giving out and I could hardly think reasonably. I couldn't scream, not sure why and all I could think off was how to survive the ride. Eventually I just focused on the floor of the 'ship' and didn't even dare to look out when I could tell I was upside down. When the whole thing was over, I couldn't wait to get off the ride. I had this weird sensation in my heart which said pretty much, "DON'T TRY THAT AGAIN"..Gladly...
After that I took some other rides and shot some paintballs. By noon I was ready for lunch and left the park soon after. Note to self: Do not ride crazy rides. Do not do them alone.
Funness...
Now what has that got to do with me being broke? Broken, maybe, but broke?
Well, yesterday I did some scouting for digital pianos/keyboards. The problem I have now is that my keyboard at home is not touch sensitive, i.e. light touch or hammer the keys I get the same sound and loudness. For casual playing that's actually good, for my piano lessons it's not good enough. I have been putting off securing a new keyboard for awhile, but with the sound of the old keyboard getting worse, I'm losing drive to practice.
So at the end of the scouting session I signed my life away for a new digital keyboard. It arrives tomorrow. Luckily for me the makers have realised a market for small digital keyboards for beginners like me that cost half as much as the bombs of normal digital keyboards and nowhere near acoustic pianos. Still, in this economic environment, I'm broke...
Oh, a quote from myself I told my (ex) boss, " Interesting Developments, Without Much Developments"....
But this weekend was interesting in essence. It was expensive, however..
I'll start off with my 2 hour trip to Sunway Lagoon. Now, I've never been much of a fun-park guy, mostly because I haven't the heart to take all the crazy G-Force they are all aimed and putting the human body through. But as with many things that hurts my heart, it has such a shoddy memory of pain that for some unknown reason I felt like doing all those crazy rides. It didn't help that my company decided to arrange the trip free for people like me (who are members of a club in the company). That, or the fact that I'm now 30+ makes me realise that if I don't try them now, I probably never will.
So after some kiddie rides I took the ship like ride that moves like a pendulum, but eventually goes all 360 when the momentum is just enough to reach the apex and fall over. Half way on the ride my heart was already giving out and I could hardly think reasonably. I couldn't scream, not sure why and all I could think off was how to survive the ride. Eventually I just focused on the floor of the 'ship' and didn't even dare to look out when I could tell I was upside down. When the whole thing was over, I couldn't wait to get off the ride. I had this weird sensation in my heart which said pretty much, "DON'T TRY THAT AGAIN"..Gladly...
After that I took some other rides and shot some paintballs. By noon I was ready for lunch and left the park soon after. Note to self: Do not ride crazy rides. Do not do them alone.
Funness...
Now what has that got to do with me being broke? Broken, maybe, but broke?
Well, yesterday I did some scouting for digital pianos/keyboards. The problem I have now is that my keyboard at home is not touch sensitive, i.e. light touch or hammer the keys I get the same sound and loudness. For casual playing that's actually good, for my piano lessons it's not good enough. I have been putting off securing a new keyboard for awhile, but with the sound of the old keyboard getting worse, I'm losing drive to practice.
So at the end of the scouting session I signed my life away for a new digital keyboard. It arrives tomorrow. Luckily for me the makers have realised a market for small digital keyboards for beginners like me that cost half as much as the bombs of normal digital keyboards and nowhere near acoustic pianos. Still, in this economic environment, I'm broke...
Oh, a quote from myself I told my (ex) boss, " Interesting Developments, Without Much Developments"....
Monday, March 23, 2009
Yet Another Bites the Dust....
Interestingly, 2 persons I've known of at work has since passed away.
One via suicide, the latest one suspected to be murdered.
My whole workplace is a gloomy place to be for the moment.
Yet all I can think about is how my Danny Murphy and Micha Richards picks for Fantasy Football turning out to be great picks!!
I don't quite know these 2 individuals that have passed away, but I have worked with them and even shared meal times with them before. Both are female, by the way. While everyone's thinking about the ordeal the latest demised would have went through hours before her time (consideirng current speculation involving foul play), I can't feel the slightest for her.
It's not the first time I felt this hollow in me. Last year a known associate lost her mother and when informed, my thought was solely on "yet another where I wouldhave to fork out money if I turned up at the funeral. I shall pass". In my memory, the closest persons who have passed away while I was mature enough to understand the passing were my grandmothers. Yet, I don't recall ever shedding a tear for either one of them. Granted, I wasn't close, but..?? Really??
I don't know, maybe if in the time my immediate family members or my parents, that time I might actually feel it. But for now, I think I'm unable to feel sad when a person dies..When a person dies, here are my immediate thoughts:
1) They do not need to suffer in life anymore
2) If they died young, that means they've done a whole lot of good for their god to take them away.
3) I don't want to go to the funeral as I don't want to pay
4) Wonder how did they go?
5) Will they realise (their soul/spirit) they are dead? For the dead that don't know/accept that they are can really give the living problems.
While I now believe going to a person's funeral is some sign of respect, I can't see myself going to one anytime soon. Unless I've some work to do...
:p
One via suicide, the latest one suspected to be murdered.
My whole workplace is a gloomy place to be for the moment.
Yet all I can think about is how my Danny Murphy and Micha Richards picks for Fantasy Football turning out to be great picks!!
I don't quite know these 2 individuals that have passed away, but I have worked with them and even shared meal times with them before. Both are female, by the way. While everyone's thinking about the ordeal the latest demised would have went through hours before her time (consideirng current speculation involving foul play), I can't feel the slightest for her.
It's not the first time I felt this hollow in me. Last year a known associate lost her mother and when informed, my thought was solely on "yet another where I wouldhave to fork out money if I turned up at the funeral. I shall pass". In my memory, the closest persons who have passed away while I was mature enough to understand the passing were my grandmothers. Yet, I don't recall ever shedding a tear for either one of them. Granted, I wasn't close, but..?? Really??
I don't know, maybe if in the time my immediate family members or my parents, that time I might actually feel it. But for now, I think I'm unable to feel sad when a person dies..When a person dies, here are my immediate thoughts:
1) They do not need to suffer in life anymore
2) If they died young, that means they've done a whole lot of good for their god to take them away.
3) I don't want to go to the funeral as I don't want to pay
4) Wonder how did they go?
5) Will they realise (their soul/spirit) they are dead? For the dead that don't know/accept that they are can really give the living problems.
While I now believe going to a person's funeral is some sign of respect, I can't see myself going to one anytime soon. Unless I've some work to do...
:p
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
It's Been a Month!!!
Since I last blogged!!
Oh my, words escape me.. No, really, I really have little to blog. I wanted to write about educational choices and work happiness but realised the post was going from nowehere to, well, nowhere..
I'd like to blog about bread making but unless I just want to write about how crap my attempts have been, there really isn't much to write about.
I'd like to write about my love life............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................(still don't get the hint??)
I'd like to write about work but there isn't anything new to blog about..
I'd like to write about my progress with piano lessons but progress has been slow. Aside from a serious consideration (despite the poorer economic conditions) to purchase a touch sensitive electronic keyboard that should set me back around RM 3000.
I'd like to blog about any other thing, but really.......
I guess the only thing worth looking forward for the moment is this concert I'm going to go in 10 days time..Should be fun...
Hope it's fun....
Oh my, words escape me.. No, really, I really have little to blog. I wanted to write about educational choices and work happiness but realised the post was going from nowehere to, well, nowhere..
I'd like to blog about bread making but unless I just want to write about how crap my attempts have been, there really isn't much to write about.
I'd like to write about my love life............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................(still don't get the hint??)
I'd like to write about work but there isn't anything new to blog about..
I'd like to write about my progress with piano lessons but progress has been slow. Aside from a serious consideration (despite the poorer economic conditions) to purchase a touch sensitive electronic keyboard that should set me back around RM 3000.
I'd like to blog about any other thing, but really.......
I guess the only thing worth looking forward for the moment is this concert I'm going to go in 10 days time..Should be fun...
Hope it's fun....
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Shaking Hands...
Literally, shaking hands. As in 2 right hands phyisically in embrace in a show of gratitude or just greeting.
So what gives with the topic? Well, I am generally a non-physical person, to an extent even handshakes are avoided. As greetings I'd say the occasional hi, or even just a raise of a brow signifies the standard 'yes I see you and acknowledge your presence' indication when dealing with people. Of course, in more official situations, i.e. at work, I'd follow the customary expectations. However, I still flinch whenever I have to deal with visitors from abroad whom tend to have rather elaborate hi's and bye's.
Having said that, Last Sunday I probably shook more hands (and all different set of hands!) then I have for the past, erm, 20 years?? Oh, I guess I'm ahead of myself here.
Before going on, I should do the customary shout out to my friend who, after 2 wedding receptions, should now be officially married enough for the previous generation to accept him to their fold and stop treating him (and his wife) like single people. :P In any case, long be your marriage, fruitful (pun intended) and fulfilling (that just came out of a blue). Enjoy being on the giving end of all the nasty marriage jokes. :D :D!!
Ok, back to shaking hands. Ok, maybe not.
I have recently developed a fear of weddings and, well, most social gatherings that I have basically put up a huge sign saying, "Ignore me for wedding invites!" (it's invisible, but they know its there...). I have skipped a number of weddings since acquiring this phobia so much that even my mom is annoyed as she too has had to turn down some of the invites from my relatives as she doesn't want to go there alone (I offered to drive her but not attend, you see...:p). With this friend's wedding, the crux was that it was in a format of a buffet, rather than a sitdown, therefore I actually could turn up, feast and leave without saying a word. (Almost makes me feel like a wedding crasher/free-loader with an invite...:D). But as I have told everyone who wanted to invite me to their wedding, I would prefer to be involved/helping, but if I'm just to go (and in Chinese weddings, to go and pay; which after last weekend isn't clearly true anymore, but you'll see..) then I'd rather not. The phobia is the real reason, but I don't think anyone would believe or accept I really have one. They'd rather accept that I'm a stingy (little doesn't fit me very well) big %^$*%& who just wouldn't pay up when someone I know gets married.
So luckily for me my, friend decides that he probably needs some manual labour who'd be free (and even pay for his own transport, hahaha!) so he decided to ask for my help. Initially I had a very simple assignment for his wedding; Ensure a certain area in the parking lot was reserved for the in-laws. When the kompangs (traditional malay timpani/tramborine of sorts) sounded, my duty is done and I'm free to wine and dine...Ok, no wine, but dine or more correctly, lunch...as I wish. Unfortunately, due to some technical reasons the parking area wasn't cordone off and by the time I arrived on Sunday morning, I was jobless..
Ok, since I wasn't getting paid, jobless would be a little off. Assignment-less. But I was already there and even given some pin-up thing (I don't know what it's called, but its meant to be pinned on my shirt) to identify me as one of the 'workers' (While I'm writing this I'm getting some really distracting influences I just can't make up better words...sigh...). The next thing I know I was asked to help ushering.
All of a sudden, from me assigned to doing something I relish (yes, telling people "NO, YOU CAN'T PARK HERE" is something I relish doing), I ended up being the (few) guy greeting every guest coming to my friend's wedding. I was not, of course, prepared in any way for the task at hand. Suffice to say I spent the first 30 or so minutes avoiding the guests in someway so that I don't have to shake their hands. Eventually, I just got used to the gesture. It was also easier when some of the guest were mutual associates of ours whom the parents ( the other people ushering the guests) weren't familiar with.
By the time the kompangs sounded, (which also included the expected delay of the arrival of the bride and groom..) I have somewhat gotten into the groove of shaking hands. Not to say I'm now a 'shake hands' person, but on that day maybe I was. I'm back to being me, ofcourse...:P
That, explains why shaking hands is the title of this post..
Oh, before I forget, it is no longer just the Chinese who practice giving money when attending a wedding reception. Even this wedding (he is Malay) the practice was quite apparent. While some still turn up with presents, a vast majority of the guest gave moeny (or small envelope of something, which could very well contain some love letters, secret messages and even recipes of the unspoken kind...:p But I'll just assume they are cash). So eventually weddings will be business transactions. I.e. I'm getting married, I'll come up with the capital to host a reception and everyone I invite will help pay it off. I'm guessing this was definitely NOT the reason why people host wedding receptions in the first place, but by pracicing the giving of cash, it will sooner or later turn into one.
Why do I care? I'm neither getting married nor attending a wedding reception (which I am expected to pay for) anyway???
So what gives with the topic? Well, I am generally a non-physical person, to an extent even handshakes are avoided. As greetings I'd say the occasional hi, or even just a raise of a brow signifies the standard 'yes I see you and acknowledge your presence' indication when dealing with people. Of course, in more official situations, i.e. at work, I'd follow the customary expectations. However, I still flinch whenever I have to deal with visitors from abroad whom tend to have rather elaborate hi's and bye's.
Having said that, Last Sunday I probably shook more hands (and all different set of hands!) then I have for the past, erm, 20 years?? Oh, I guess I'm ahead of myself here.
Before going on, I should do the customary shout out to my friend who, after 2 wedding receptions, should now be officially married enough for the previous generation to accept him to their fold and stop treating him (and his wife) like single people. :P In any case, long be your marriage, fruitful (pun intended) and fulfilling (that just came out of a blue). Enjoy being on the giving end of all the nasty marriage jokes. :D :D!!
Ok, back to shaking hands. Ok, maybe not.
I have recently developed a fear of weddings and, well, most social gatherings that I have basically put up a huge sign saying, "Ignore me for wedding invites!" (it's invisible, but they know its there...). I have skipped a number of weddings since acquiring this phobia so much that even my mom is annoyed as she too has had to turn down some of the invites from my relatives as she doesn't want to go there alone (I offered to drive her but not attend, you see...:p). With this friend's wedding, the crux was that it was in a format of a buffet, rather than a sitdown, therefore I actually could turn up, feast and leave without saying a word. (Almost makes me feel like a wedding crasher/free-loader with an invite...:D). But as I have told everyone who wanted to invite me to their wedding, I would prefer to be involved/helping, but if I'm just to go (and in Chinese weddings, to go and pay; which after last weekend isn't clearly true anymore, but you'll see..) then I'd rather not. The phobia is the real reason, but I don't think anyone would believe or accept I really have one. They'd rather accept that I'm a stingy (little doesn't fit me very well) big %^$*%& who just wouldn't pay up when someone I know gets married.
So luckily for me my, friend decides that he probably needs some manual labour who'd be free (and even pay for his own transport, hahaha!) so he decided to ask for my help. Initially I had a very simple assignment for his wedding; Ensure a certain area in the parking lot was reserved for the in-laws. When the kompangs (traditional malay timpani/tramborine of sorts) sounded, my duty is done and I'm free to wine and dine...Ok, no wine, but dine or more correctly, lunch...as I wish. Unfortunately, due to some technical reasons the parking area wasn't cordone off and by the time I arrived on Sunday morning, I was jobless..
Ok, since I wasn't getting paid, jobless would be a little off. Assignment-less. But I was already there and even given some pin-up thing (I don't know what it's called, but its meant to be pinned on my shirt) to identify me as one of the 'workers' (While I'm writing this I'm getting some really distracting influences I just can't make up better words...sigh...). The next thing I know I was asked to help ushering.
All of a sudden, from me assigned to doing something I relish (yes, telling people "NO, YOU CAN'T PARK HERE" is something I relish doing), I ended up being the (few) guy greeting every guest coming to my friend's wedding. I was not, of course, prepared in any way for the task at hand. Suffice to say I spent the first 30 or so minutes avoiding the guests in someway so that I don't have to shake their hands. Eventually, I just got used to the gesture. It was also easier when some of the guest were mutual associates of ours whom the parents ( the other people ushering the guests) weren't familiar with.
By the time the kompangs sounded, (which also included the expected delay of the arrival of the bride and groom..) I have somewhat gotten into the groove of shaking hands. Not to say I'm now a 'shake hands' person, but on that day maybe I was. I'm back to being me, ofcourse...:P
That, explains why shaking hands is the title of this post..
Oh, before I forget, it is no longer just the Chinese who practice giving money when attending a wedding reception. Even this wedding (he is Malay) the practice was quite apparent. While some still turn up with presents, a vast majority of the guest gave moeny (or small envelope of something, which could very well contain some love letters, secret messages and even recipes of the unspoken kind...:p But I'll just assume they are cash). So eventually weddings will be business transactions. I.e. I'm getting married, I'll come up with the capital to host a reception and everyone I invite will help pay it off. I'm guessing this was definitely NOT the reason why people host wedding receptions in the first place, but by pracicing the giving of cash, it will sooner or later turn into one.
Why do I care? I'm neither getting married nor attending a wedding reception (which I am expected to pay for) anyway???
Monday, January 19, 2009
The thing about domestic helpers (aka maids)...
But in my opinion, from the stories I hear from colleagues, more like legal slaves....
To be frank, I don't employ one probably because I don't earn enough to afford one and luckily my mom (who lives with me, haha!) is willing to help out with the household management. Most of the time I (and my other siblings) contribute financially as and when funds is required. So I haven't experienced the 'luxury' of having someone non-related do all the work 24/7...Or more or less that way. I do, however, have cleaners coming weekly to do the standard household chores over several hours. That, is somewhat affordable.
So I shouldn't complain when other people CAN afford hiring/employing another person to do the whole household administration for them. It's an improvement in quality of life for them, and provides employment for the hired help.
For sheer economic sense, in most instances these hired help are non-local. While Malaysians are still cheaper than many countries (which explains why so much work gets moved here, as well as why I have a job..), labour cost of a Malaysian is unfortunately more expensive than most Malaysian can afford. Hence we go plundering our poorer neighbours. Unfortunately, them being our poorer neighbours, are not as educated as Malaysians. But the rise in Quality of life (and to some extent, better currency), attracts them by the loads.
So many Malaysian families get to play employer, even when they don't own a business but jobs which may have more than 10 bosses who could dictate their work/play hours everyday. The cool part is that since their all foreign labours, aside from the need to either survive through the red tape of employing one or paying off to expedite the process (note: this is merely speculation. I have no proof you can PAY OFF to expedite the process), they have very little 'employer' issues which they have to deal with.
No Annual Leave, Medical Insurance, Accident Insurance, Off Days, Allowances, Sick Days, Promotion, Pay Rise, etc.. They hire them with 1 fixed salary, and that goes on for as long as the 'maid' sticks around. (Ok, some more reasonable employer may give salary increases, but, really, who am I trying to bull?). The 'maid', considering that they 'live in', basically begins work when they wake up and do not stop until they sleep. You can argue they get to rest as and when the chores are done. But if anyone of us working for a proper company is on call 24/7, we're WORKING. Hence so are they. Even if they aren't actually doing work (Not that all of us actually work throughout our 8-9 hours daily either...)
Not only do they not have to deal with all things an employer should be mindful of, because of the amount of financial commitment involved, they also go to an extent to control the lives of these maids. Who they speak with, what they do when they're not at 'work', what they do with their money, how they dress, etc. I can understand that they are merely looking after their own interest; to ensure that the one person they rely on so much to support their 'improved' Quality of life, they need these maids to do nothing but care for their family and households and have no intention on furthering their own interests.
So if you're a foreign maid of a poorer nation than Malaysia employed in Malaysia, you can forget about going out to meet people and new friends, meeting old and known ones, falling in love, getting married, getting laid, having hobbies, personal time, etc... Unless your 'employer' is ok (or in some cases, involved...:p) OR, you have to do it hush hush. As with all secret rendevouz, they rarely become anything good for any party, except maybe...Maybe the parties involved.
So looking from a 3rd party's perspective, I see the hirers as slavers and the hired, slaves. Why so? Because the hirers do not offer the same, or somewhat equal amount of freedom that they have to their hired ones. While the hirer can go about doing all things that we, as human beings, believe is our right, the hired seemed to have signed that right away. When the hired do, at some point decide to do these things (falling in love, getting married, wanting to do something else other than being at 'this employers' beck and call), the hirers cry blue murder and act as though they never had it coming and deserved so much more for all that they've done for the hired.
If all proper companies did that, we'd all be slaves, no? (Ok, for the select few that actually have jobs. Does not apply to does whose job is to employ people. :p)
As I mentioned at the start, all this dawned on me after hearing the many sob stories of my colleagues who do employ maids (I seem to be calling them all sorts of stuff, but they all should mean the same thing). When their maids runaway, or leave, they have all these sob stories to tell. But when you listen to how they actually treat their maids, you'd wonder who in the right mind would have stayed? I mean, yes, the opportunity to work for them is an upgrade of quality of life..But human nature dictates that we will always want better, and other things. These maids are no different. Back where they were maybe they couldn't find enough for 3 meals, so working abroad is godsent. But once they're here, 3 meals isn't quite enough. They will see there is more out there. As much as they may (or may not) appreciate what these employers have done for them (like saving them from the hell hole they were before), it's counts for almost nothing when it's no longer enough. We, appreciate our current bosses/employers for giving us this job. BUT when someone/something better comes, are we going to say no and stick around anyway? (yeah yeah, those who know me would say that I'm one of those who might stay...But I'm not being discussed here...)
NO. AND no one in our right mind would say we are evil and ungrateful (ok, maybe sometimes, but generally speaking....) Yet these maids are thought off as such.
I pity these maids. At the same time I pity the employers as well. Some of them are really nice people. But once they experience the power of being able to dictate a person's life (and they are not kin...), they lose sight that their maids are as much human as they are with the same needs et all, only less fortunate. Treating them any less makes them devils in disguise. If only they'd realise that.
But then again, that's just me seeing from the outside. I'm sure if I were in their shoes I'd probably end up doing the same thing too. Which is why if I can I'd rather not employ a maid (IMHO, having cleaners come periodically doesn't count as they're a service, not employed by me..:p) I now see how appropriate it is when I was a child to help out at home, even when most of my peers were happily playing outside or with their console games.
That's all the rant for the moment.
To be frank, I don't employ one probably because I don't earn enough to afford one and luckily my mom (who lives with me, haha!) is willing to help out with the household management. Most of the time I (and my other siblings) contribute financially as and when funds is required. So I haven't experienced the 'luxury' of having someone non-related do all the work 24/7...Or more or less that way. I do, however, have cleaners coming weekly to do the standard household chores over several hours. That, is somewhat affordable.
So I shouldn't complain when other people CAN afford hiring/employing another person to do the whole household administration for them. It's an improvement in quality of life for them, and provides employment for the hired help.
For sheer economic sense, in most instances these hired help are non-local. While Malaysians are still cheaper than many countries (which explains why so much work gets moved here, as well as why I have a job..), labour cost of a Malaysian is unfortunately more expensive than most Malaysian can afford. Hence we go plundering our poorer neighbours. Unfortunately, them being our poorer neighbours, are not as educated as Malaysians. But the rise in Quality of life (and to some extent, better currency), attracts them by the loads.
So many Malaysian families get to play employer, even when they don't own a business but jobs which may have more than 10 bosses who could dictate their work/play hours everyday. The cool part is that since their all foreign labours, aside from the need to either survive through the red tape of employing one or paying off to expedite the process (note: this is merely speculation. I have no proof you can PAY OFF to expedite the process), they have very little 'employer' issues which they have to deal with.
No Annual Leave, Medical Insurance, Accident Insurance, Off Days, Allowances, Sick Days, Promotion, Pay Rise, etc.. They hire them with 1 fixed salary, and that goes on for as long as the 'maid' sticks around. (Ok, some more reasonable employer may give salary increases, but, really, who am I trying to bull?). The 'maid', considering that they 'live in', basically begins work when they wake up and do not stop until they sleep. You can argue they get to rest as and when the chores are done. But if anyone of us working for a proper company is on call 24/7, we're WORKING. Hence so are they. Even if they aren't actually doing work (Not that all of us actually work throughout our 8-9 hours daily either...)
Not only do they not have to deal with all things an employer should be mindful of, because of the amount of financial commitment involved, they also go to an extent to control the lives of these maids. Who they speak with, what they do when they're not at 'work', what they do with their money, how they dress, etc. I can understand that they are merely looking after their own interest; to ensure that the one person they rely on so much to support their 'improved' Quality of life, they need these maids to do nothing but care for their family and households and have no intention on furthering their own interests.
So if you're a foreign maid of a poorer nation than Malaysia employed in Malaysia, you can forget about going out to meet people and new friends, meeting old and known ones, falling in love, getting married, getting laid, having hobbies, personal time, etc... Unless your 'employer' is ok (or in some cases, involved...:p) OR, you have to do it hush hush. As with all secret rendevouz, they rarely become anything good for any party, except maybe...Maybe the parties involved.
So looking from a 3rd party's perspective, I see the hirers as slavers and the hired, slaves. Why so? Because the hirers do not offer the same, or somewhat equal amount of freedom that they have to their hired ones. While the hirer can go about doing all things that we, as human beings, believe is our right, the hired seemed to have signed that right away. When the hired do, at some point decide to do these things (falling in love, getting married, wanting to do something else other than being at 'this employers' beck and call), the hirers cry blue murder and act as though they never had it coming and deserved so much more for all that they've done for the hired.
If all proper companies did that, we'd all be slaves, no? (Ok, for the select few that actually have jobs. Does not apply to does whose job is to employ people. :p)
As I mentioned at the start, all this dawned on me after hearing the many sob stories of my colleagues who do employ maids (I seem to be calling them all sorts of stuff, but they all should mean the same thing). When their maids runaway, or leave, they have all these sob stories to tell. But when you listen to how they actually treat their maids, you'd wonder who in the right mind would have stayed? I mean, yes, the opportunity to work for them is an upgrade of quality of life..But human nature dictates that we will always want better, and other things. These maids are no different. Back where they were maybe they couldn't find enough for 3 meals, so working abroad is godsent. But once they're here, 3 meals isn't quite enough. They will see there is more out there. As much as they may (or may not) appreciate what these employers have done for them (like saving them from the hell hole they were before), it's counts for almost nothing when it's no longer enough. We, appreciate our current bosses/employers for giving us this job. BUT when someone/something better comes, are we going to say no and stick around anyway? (yeah yeah, those who know me would say that I'm one of those who might stay...But I'm not being discussed here...)
NO. AND no one in our right mind would say we are evil and ungrateful (ok, maybe sometimes, but generally speaking....) Yet these maids are thought off as such.
I pity these maids. At the same time I pity the employers as well. Some of them are really nice people. But once they experience the power of being able to dictate a person's life (and they are not kin...), they lose sight that their maids are as much human as they are with the same needs et all, only less fortunate. Treating them any less makes them devils in disguise. If only they'd realise that.
But then again, that's just me seeing from the outside. I'm sure if I were in their shoes I'd probably end up doing the same thing too. Which is why if I can I'd rather not employ a maid (IMHO, having cleaners come periodically doesn't count as they're a service, not employed by me..:p) I now see how appropriate it is when I was a child to help out at home, even when most of my peers were happily playing outside or with their console games.
That's all the rant for the moment.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Never Underestimate the Kindness of Humanity....Final Part of HK Trip
This isn't much of a epilogue or anything, but just a few things I'd like to write before I completely forget the HK trip and wondered what I did the first week of December in 2008.
The most important thing is that I'm really thankful and grateful of my host in HK. He has been so accomodating and helpful in making the whole HK trip possible. As I've mentioned earlier, I don't actually know him all that much. But the trip has given me a chance to know him a little more and really, even now, I still don't quite get what made me deserve such a good host. Now if only my future trips abroad I'd have such great host as well, I'd travel a whole lot more..
At the same time, it makes me think that when it's my turn to play host, I'd have his standards to meet or exceed, which is quite alot. It's not really so much of the free lodging and meals (he did buy me a meal here and there), but more to the whole 'hosting' ettiquette which is most impressive. I don't really know how else to say it, but a whole lot of thanks.
Secondly, I'd say that if given a choice (and no skin allergies to boot), I wouldn't mind living/working in HK. But I wouldn't want to raise a family there, as it's just too fast I think. Yet to think they've got so many people living in such a small place. I saw so many teenagers out at night at Mong Kok, I wonder if the parents could have some control to where the kids go. With everyone using the trains/subways et all, travel is too convenient, I believe. Respect to those who dared to be parents in HK (for those who actually made a thoughtful decision...)
Thirdly, be prepared to walk a whole freaking lot when travelling abroad. I didn't, hence the knees. Also, bring allergy medication just in case.
Lastly, Nothing beats being able to drive. To think I dodge that for 29 years...Such silly silly boy...
Ok, enough blogging for now....Hope this will be a good read in times to come.....
The most important thing is that I'm really thankful and grateful of my host in HK. He has been so accomodating and helpful in making the whole HK trip possible. As I've mentioned earlier, I don't actually know him all that much. But the trip has given me a chance to know him a little more and really, even now, I still don't quite get what made me deserve such a good host. Now if only my future trips abroad I'd have such great host as well, I'd travel a whole lot more..
At the same time, it makes me think that when it's my turn to play host, I'd have his standards to meet or exceed, which is quite alot. It's not really so much of the free lodging and meals (he did buy me a meal here and there), but more to the whole 'hosting' ettiquette which is most impressive. I don't really know how else to say it, but a whole lot of thanks.
Secondly, I'd say that if given a choice (and no skin allergies to boot), I wouldn't mind living/working in HK. But I wouldn't want to raise a family there, as it's just too fast I think. Yet to think they've got so many people living in such a small place. I saw so many teenagers out at night at Mong Kok, I wonder if the parents could have some control to where the kids go. With everyone using the trains/subways et all, travel is too convenient, I believe. Respect to those who dared to be parents in HK (for those who actually made a thoughtful decision...)
Thirdly, be prepared to walk a whole freaking lot when travelling abroad. I didn't, hence the knees. Also, bring allergy medication just in case.
Lastly, Nothing beats being able to drive. To think I dodge that for 29 years...Such silly silly boy...
Ok, enough blogging for now....Hope this will be a good read in times to come.....
Sin is IN...Part 6 of HK trip
Ok,
let me check where I am again..I've told about the days in training, the day without training and the day going to the buddha and back.
Instead of going straight home after a tiring climb up the Buddha's hill and then a ride to the edge of Hong Kong to an unfamiliar fishing village, it was around 6pm-ish and my host suggested we go to Mong Kok. Initially i wanted to go to Mong Kok because I was there with my guy colleagues on Thursday and found a Camel shoe that cost less than RM 200. However, because I got myself a jacket that day, I decided against further spending in an effort to avoid going on a spree.
So we took the train back to Kowloon area and boy, was it a packed train. Now, in the past few days I've been in Hong Kong, all the while the trains have been well occupied but not crowded. This time, however it was. To the brim. I guess that's what happens when you take the train from one end of the line to almost the other end of the line.
About 45 minutes later we arrived at Mong Kok. Other than hunting for my shoes, my host wanted me to try out the street food which is kind of famous in HK. While the shoes were hard to find, the food was not. The sky was already dark, but the streets were brighter than ever. Hong Kong sure knows how to use electricity.
Now I know street food is not healthy. I also hear people say 'chou tau fu' is not healthy either. But if you're going to be in HK once every 10 or so years, without really knowing if you'll ever return in your lifetime, too bad for health. I went for the broke. I had 2 pieces of 'chow tau fu', grilled squid, fish balls and even some gizzards. Yum. Sinful, but who cares? (Ok, you weren't expecting any OTHER kind of sin, were you? ME? That? how can??) But that wasn't the only sin I committed that night. Oh, just like to comment that there were probably as many kids/teenagers as there were adults on the streets that night...Scary...
My host was constantly on a look out for new games for his PS3. In addition, he is a collector of miniature robots, like Gundam and such. HK is like a haven for people with that interest as they seem to be selling them everywhere. So while I was limping my way through Mong Kok (by now my knees were killing me softly. It's nice that for the first time it's my knees giving me aches and not my feet. I DID WALK ALOT, you know...) we went around the area looking for toys and games. To think we're both over 30. Anyone believing in the New Testament stating 30 makes a man, man should rethink as we're both hardly men. (Ok, he's probably more since he's got a wife and kids to boot. No offence to the wife and kids as I don't literally mean they get booted like Beckham from Fergie or Bush from the Iraqi journalist, but you get my drift).
So one of the shops we stopped by actually sold PC games. Another quick aside, I've been looking for this PC game Neverwinter Nights 2 for a long, long while. There's lots of it sold in Malaysia, but they're not original. They don't sell the original in Malaysia (or my lousy hunting skills found nothing) and I can't buy them online as they don't ship to Malaysia (they won't let me download them either..zzz). So here was I, finding a copy of the game, in it's original form. I was hoping it was and incompatible copy, as most, if not all games in HK are in Chinese. A quick ask and the shopkeeper told me the one on display is the ONLY ENGLISH copy he has. I asked my host if I should buy and his reply was (somewhat like this) " You're asking a gamer. I don't wait until it's old so that I buy them off cheap".
Suffice to say my credit card had another charge from HK for about HKD 290. This game was more expensive than my jacket, mind you...(Sorry to disappoint anyone expecting more juicy 'sinful' stories. hehe). After that, I told my host I'm not getting the shoe as I didn't want to bust my budget. I actually could afford it (I actually manage my credit card quite well, mind you..:P) but as the other day, key to stemming a spree is to stop short from starting it.
The rest of the day/night was relatively uneventful. No, I didn't bathe in cold water again as I already knew how to operate the heater by now. Oh, it's still bloody cold.
*******
Saturday was a slow day. My host I guess had a long night as I slept much earlier than he did. By the time he woke up it was already afternoon.
The plan was lunch, then Star Ferry. HK still has this ferry service that gets people from the island to Kowloon, at only HKD 2.20. As usual, its not exactly light speed when you compare to the other transportation services available. But it was quite crowded as well. I mean, I'm not the only tourist you know..
I'm thinking and thinking and I can't recall what I had for lunch. It was something, I guess. So we went to the Star Ferry after a train ride. The ferries look a little old, but it was still fun to ride. I mean, at HKD 2.20, who cares?
That's me posing inside the ferry. Must have done something right since my eyes returned. Wonder if doing sinful things have anything to do with it?
That's a picture I took while I was on the ferry. I have no idea what it is or where it is, but of the other pictures I also took, this looked best.
Alighting on the other side, we were just next to Harbour City, another huge shopping complex. Oh, I must have forgotten to mention, HK is just one big shopping complex after another. No wonder the people earn so much, since retail theraphy is probably the most convenient one they'll find to kill the stress/blues.
I wanted to show more of the majestic deco the entrance had, but again poor skills *whisper* (equipment) let me down. There was a cruise ship docked nest to the complex, but the picture had my host in it so lack of photoshopping expertise meant that picture got the cut (the irony, hehe..)
A lot of walking and window shopping later, we decided to walk to the nearest MTR station, which neither of us knew where it was. Asking the locals only got us in the right direction, but somehow we seem to miss the nearest station anyway and walked all the way to the next one. By now my knees really, really hurt but somehow being on a holiday kind of helped me keep walking.
My host needed to get some movie tickets for the next day, so we ended up stopping somewhere in the middle of the MTR line and went to yet another shopping complex. The only thing worth mentioning was how my host proved to be a Sony faithful when he bought a Sony camera after asking several stores and finding the cheapest one. No, he didn't ask about other brands, just Sony.
It was getting late, so it's time to return home. My host suggested dinner near the apartment as there's suppose to be some nice 'low mien' for me to try. I also finally caved in and tried HK's chilli oil. It's like sambal in Malaysia, except that it's oil. Just oil. (Ok, some colouring and maybe chilli, but mostly you only see oil). I also bought some egg tarts from the restaurant we had dinner with, since everyone said their egg tarts were good. Me? So so only.....hehehe
Oops. Somewhere between the night on Friday and the night on Saturday, I returned to Sogo to buy some 'wife biscuits' (lou poh pang). It was the only biscuit I knew it's kind of HK specific and because I bought it for my Singapore colleague on Wednesday night while he went clubbing, I had some experience in getting 'that'. It was funny as I started of asking for a box of 'wife biscuit', but noticed there were other things there that wasn't too expensive. (The 'wife biscuits' were HKD 4 each. A box holds 6). So I asked for 1 each of 2 other kinds of biscuits, only to try them after a short while and found them nice. So I brought my host a round back to the same shop so I could get more biscuits. Last I checked, they were a hit back home. I obvious didn't buy enough. Unfortunately now I don't know what they're called either..hahaha..
Back to Saturday night, after dinner, my host asked if I wanted to check out the club house. Inside they had an indoor pool, 4 bowling alleys, snooker, pool, badminton courts, tennis courts, some space for boardgames and most importantly, a music room. If only I knew! I'd have sneaked in and destroy the piano!! muahahahaha. He did ask if I wanted to bowl, but by now my knees were close to giving way so that option wasn't taken up. I probably saved myself some humiliation anyway...
There was a picture taken outside his apartment compound, but it looks a little out of focus (my skills are bad, but my hosts are.....ahem...:P). Back in the apartment, we played Winning 11 and I got trashed. Well, he did have the PS3 and all I have is some rundown PC. Besides, I have the dexterity of a klutz.
******
On the final morning in Hong Kong we did what all hongkies love doing. It's 'yum cha'. That's just people visiting a nearby reataurant, order a pot of tea and then random dim sum to spend the day. my host says some older folks actually spend the whole day that way. To think the restaurants make it a point to cycle through customers as fast as possible, I guess it's not happening in a 'yum cha' place.
What I do like about HK dim sum is that the ingredients are really good. They use large prawns for their 'har kau' and in most of their dim sum, you don't get this feeling of being cheated with inferior ingredients. Its the expectation there anyway, and as with the rest of HK, the expectations of quality and service is way higher than I am used to. Not like I mind one bit, but definitely hope the standards can be met back home.....alas.....
As I was about to leave, I couldn't help thinking that I never tried their 'siew yuk' as well as Burger King. With my plane leaving at 3.50pm, I knew if the airport had Burger King then I'd have time to taste it. So as I leave the dim sum restaurant, the sight of them hanging the 'siew yuk' to dry just did it for me. before you know it, I had a takeaway of 'siew yuk' (which cost me HKD 44). I had plan it to complement my Burger King as lunch, but, as you'll find out later, didn't quite work out.
It's time to go. It so happened that from my hosts place there is a bus that sends me all the way to the airport for a meagre HKD 22. Also, it's a double decker bus!!
I tried my level best to take a proper photo of myself on the bus, but that's just as good as it gets. I got on the bus at 11am, expecting the ride to take an hour or so. However, since it was a Sunday there was hardly any traffic and the ride was faster. But, as highways are and always will be boring, so was the ride. Luckiliy some random person decides to sms me while I was on the way, so that kept me busy for a while. :)
I arrived the airport slightly before 12pm and proceeded to check in. Little did I know that the ground crew was going to offer me a seat on the plane departing at 12.55pm! I was worried that my 'siew yuk' would be a problem, as it's neither properly wrapped or can I eat it straight away as I was still quite full from breakfast. The crew thought nothing of it and before long, I was racing away to the customs to avoid missing my plane! (I know I should have waited for my own plane, in that way no rush at all, but really, who wants to wait in the airport for 3 hours??)
All that rushing meant 2 things; 1) I couldn't eat my 'siew yuk', so I'll have to take that back home. I hope customs doesn't decide to have a look, as they might not fancy the smell or the sight. 2) My Burger King!!! :(( I had no time to queue for a Whopper as the time it took me to get to my terminal was longer than I expected. Burger King is a big miss for me.....:(
The flight back was a complete non-event except for the fact I already planned to watch Dark Knight on the return flight, only for them to have a broken copy of the movie on board! I ended up watching X-Files, which was crap. sigh..
5 hours after departing and saying goodbye to HK, I was back home again.....
It has been fun, so i'll list my thoughts and learnings in the next post!
let me check where I am again..I've told about the days in training, the day without training and the day going to the buddha and back.
Instead of going straight home after a tiring climb up the Buddha's hill and then a ride to the edge of Hong Kong to an unfamiliar fishing village, it was around 6pm-ish and my host suggested we go to Mong Kok. Initially i wanted to go to Mong Kok because I was there with my guy colleagues on Thursday and found a Camel shoe that cost less than RM 200. However, because I got myself a jacket that day, I decided against further spending in an effort to avoid going on a spree.
So we took the train back to Kowloon area and boy, was it a packed train. Now, in the past few days I've been in Hong Kong, all the while the trains have been well occupied but not crowded. This time, however it was. To the brim. I guess that's what happens when you take the train from one end of the line to almost the other end of the line.
About 45 minutes later we arrived at Mong Kok. Other than hunting for my shoes, my host wanted me to try out the street food which is kind of famous in HK. While the shoes were hard to find, the food was not. The sky was already dark, but the streets were brighter than ever. Hong Kong sure knows how to use electricity.
Now I know street food is not healthy. I also hear people say 'chou tau fu' is not healthy either. But if you're going to be in HK once every 10 or so years, without really knowing if you'll ever return in your lifetime, too bad for health. I went for the broke. I had 2 pieces of 'chow tau fu', grilled squid, fish balls and even some gizzards. Yum. Sinful, but who cares? (Ok, you weren't expecting any OTHER kind of sin, were you? ME? That? how can??) But that wasn't the only sin I committed that night. Oh, just like to comment that there were probably as many kids/teenagers as there were adults on the streets that night...Scary...
My host was constantly on a look out for new games for his PS3. In addition, he is a collector of miniature robots, like Gundam and such. HK is like a haven for people with that interest as they seem to be selling them everywhere. So while I was limping my way through Mong Kok (by now my knees were killing me softly. It's nice that for the first time it's my knees giving me aches and not my feet. I DID WALK ALOT, you know...) we went around the area looking for toys and games. To think we're both over 30. Anyone believing in the New Testament stating 30 makes a man, man should rethink as we're both hardly men. (Ok, he's probably more since he's got a wife and kids to boot. No offence to the wife and kids as I don't literally mean they get booted like Beckham from Fergie or Bush from the Iraqi journalist, but you get my drift).
So one of the shops we stopped by actually sold PC games. Another quick aside, I've been looking for this PC game Neverwinter Nights 2 for a long, long while. There's lots of it sold in Malaysia, but they're not original. They don't sell the original in Malaysia (or my lousy hunting skills found nothing) and I can't buy them online as they don't ship to Malaysia (they won't let me download them either..zzz). So here was I, finding a copy of the game, in it's original form. I was hoping it was and incompatible copy, as most, if not all games in HK are in Chinese. A quick ask and the shopkeeper told me the one on display is the ONLY ENGLISH copy he has. I asked my host if I should buy and his reply was (somewhat like this) " You're asking a gamer. I don't wait until it's old so that I buy them off cheap".
Suffice to say my credit card had another charge from HK for about HKD 290. This game was more expensive than my jacket, mind you...(Sorry to disappoint anyone expecting more juicy 'sinful' stories. hehe). After that, I told my host I'm not getting the shoe as I didn't want to bust my budget. I actually could afford it (I actually manage my credit card quite well, mind you..:P) but as the other day, key to stemming a spree is to stop short from starting it.
The rest of the day/night was relatively uneventful. No, I didn't bathe in cold water again as I already knew how to operate the heater by now. Oh, it's still bloody cold.
*******
Saturday was a slow day. My host I guess had a long night as I slept much earlier than he did. By the time he woke up it was already afternoon.
The plan was lunch, then Star Ferry. HK still has this ferry service that gets people from the island to Kowloon, at only HKD 2.20. As usual, its not exactly light speed when you compare to the other transportation services available. But it was quite crowded as well. I mean, I'm not the only tourist you know..
I'm thinking and thinking and I can't recall what I had for lunch. It was something, I guess. So we went to the Star Ferry after a train ride. The ferries look a little old, but it was still fun to ride. I mean, at HKD 2.20, who cares?
That's me posing inside the ferry. Must have done something right since my eyes returned. Wonder if doing sinful things have anything to do with it?
That's a picture I took while I was on the ferry. I have no idea what it is or where it is, but of the other pictures I also took, this looked best.
Alighting on the other side, we were just next to Harbour City, another huge shopping complex. Oh, I must have forgotten to mention, HK is just one big shopping complex after another. No wonder the people earn so much, since retail theraphy is probably the most convenient one they'll find to kill the stress/blues.
I wanted to show more of the majestic deco the entrance had, but again poor skills *whisper* (equipment) let me down. There was a cruise ship docked nest to the complex, but the picture had my host in it so lack of photoshopping expertise meant that picture got the cut (the irony, hehe..)
A lot of walking and window shopping later, we decided to walk to the nearest MTR station, which neither of us knew where it was. Asking the locals only got us in the right direction, but somehow we seem to miss the nearest station anyway and walked all the way to the next one. By now my knees really, really hurt but somehow being on a holiday kind of helped me keep walking.
My host needed to get some movie tickets for the next day, so we ended up stopping somewhere in the middle of the MTR line and went to yet another shopping complex. The only thing worth mentioning was how my host proved to be a Sony faithful when he bought a Sony camera after asking several stores and finding the cheapest one. No, he didn't ask about other brands, just Sony.
It was getting late, so it's time to return home. My host suggested dinner near the apartment as there's suppose to be some nice 'low mien' for me to try. I also finally caved in and tried HK's chilli oil. It's like sambal in Malaysia, except that it's oil. Just oil. (Ok, some colouring and maybe chilli, but mostly you only see oil). I also bought some egg tarts from the restaurant we had dinner with, since everyone said their egg tarts were good. Me? So so only.....hehehe
Oops. Somewhere between the night on Friday and the night on Saturday, I returned to Sogo to buy some 'wife biscuits' (lou poh pang). It was the only biscuit I knew it's kind of HK specific and because I bought it for my Singapore colleague on Wednesday night while he went clubbing, I had some experience in getting 'that'. It was funny as I started of asking for a box of 'wife biscuit', but noticed there were other things there that wasn't too expensive. (The 'wife biscuits' were HKD 4 each. A box holds 6). So I asked for 1 each of 2 other kinds of biscuits, only to try them after a short while and found them nice. So I brought my host a round back to the same shop so I could get more biscuits. Last I checked, they were a hit back home. I obvious didn't buy enough. Unfortunately now I don't know what they're called either..hahaha..
Back to Saturday night, after dinner, my host asked if I wanted to check out the club house. Inside they had an indoor pool, 4 bowling alleys, snooker, pool, badminton courts, tennis courts, some space for boardgames and most importantly, a music room. If only I knew! I'd have sneaked in and destroy the piano!! muahahahaha. He did ask if I wanted to bowl, but by now my knees were close to giving way so that option wasn't taken up. I probably saved myself some humiliation anyway...
There was a picture taken outside his apartment compound, but it looks a little out of focus (my skills are bad, but my hosts are.....ahem...:P). Back in the apartment, we played Winning 11 and I got trashed. Well, he did have the PS3 and all I have is some rundown PC. Besides, I have the dexterity of a klutz.
******
On the final morning in Hong Kong we did what all hongkies love doing. It's 'yum cha'. That's just people visiting a nearby reataurant, order a pot of tea and then random dim sum to spend the day. my host says some older folks actually spend the whole day that way. To think the restaurants make it a point to cycle through customers as fast as possible, I guess it's not happening in a 'yum cha' place.
What I do like about HK dim sum is that the ingredients are really good. They use large prawns for their 'har kau' and in most of their dim sum, you don't get this feeling of being cheated with inferior ingredients. Its the expectation there anyway, and as with the rest of HK, the expectations of quality and service is way higher than I am used to. Not like I mind one bit, but definitely hope the standards can be met back home.....alas.....
As I was about to leave, I couldn't help thinking that I never tried their 'siew yuk' as well as Burger King. With my plane leaving at 3.50pm, I knew if the airport had Burger King then I'd have time to taste it. So as I leave the dim sum restaurant, the sight of them hanging the 'siew yuk' to dry just did it for me. before you know it, I had a takeaway of 'siew yuk' (which cost me HKD 44). I had plan it to complement my Burger King as lunch, but, as you'll find out later, didn't quite work out.
It's time to go. It so happened that from my hosts place there is a bus that sends me all the way to the airport for a meagre HKD 22. Also, it's a double decker bus!!
I tried my level best to take a proper photo of myself on the bus, but that's just as good as it gets. I got on the bus at 11am, expecting the ride to take an hour or so. However, since it was a Sunday there was hardly any traffic and the ride was faster. But, as highways are and always will be boring, so was the ride. Luckiliy some random person decides to sms me while I was on the way, so that kept me busy for a while. :)
I arrived the airport slightly before 12pm and proceeded to check in. Little did I know that the ground crew was going to offer me a seat on the plane departing at 12.55pm! I was worried that my 'siew yuk' would be a problem, as it's neither properly wrapped or can I eat it straight away as I was still quite full from breakfast. The crew thought nothing of it and before long, I was racing away to the customs to avoid missing my plane! (I know I should have waited for my own plane, in that way no rush at all, but really, who wants to wait in the airport for 3 hours??)
All that rushing meant 2 things; 1) I couldn't eat my 'siew yuk', so I'll have to take that back home. I hope customs doesn't decide to have a look, as they might not fancy the smell or the sight. 2) My Burger King!!! :(( I had no time to queue for a Whopper as the time it took me to get to my terminal was longer than I expected. Burger King is a big miss for me.....:(
The flight back was a complete non-event except for the fact I already planned to watch Dark Knight on the return flight, only for them to have a broken copy of the movie on board! I ended up watching X-Files, which was crap. sigh..
5 hours after departing and saying goodbye to HK, I was back home again.....
It has been fun, so i'll list my thoughts and learnings in the next post!
A day to waste away in HK....Part 5 of the HK trip
It is now Friday, 5th December 2008. My host has an early morning meeting at work, so I am to follow him to the island in the morning. As I've always been, I'm an early riser when I'm not at home (even now, when I'm at home, I wake up too early, I think...) but my host was not as early as me. When he did wake up, I was already playing with his PS3 :D. He asked me if I used the heater to shower the night before, so I told him I didn't (and he had a good laugh). Luckily for me he forgot to turn off the heater overnight so when I bathed in the morning I didn't have to do cold water!
Since he was running a little late for his meeting, he showed me a place where they have nice beef noodles so that I can try them for breakfast. Now, the morning before my pork chop with tea came to about HKD 30, so imagine my surprise when my beef noodles only cost HKD 15! So I got itchy fingers and decided to order a bowl of beef balls as well. The beef balls were quite big and there was around 7 of them I think, but.....The beef balls cost HKD 19! Should have just stuck with the noodles.
I had time to kill after breakfast and it was quite awkward to eat without something to read. I did hope to get some free paper near the MTR station as they generally do give them away the previous mornings, but this morning I had no luck. Also, my knees were getting worse so I kept having to find pathways that did not include stairs down.
Since I had time to kill while waiting for my host to finish with his meeting, I decided to do a little exploring around the area until my knees gave up. I walked and walked and walked so much I found myself at the shopping complex of the next station, which, is none other than City Plaza. Seeing that I've walked a little too far, I tracked back just in time to meet up with my host who finished his meeting.
Now the plan for the day was some tram rides and a visit to the giant Buddha in Lantau Island. These trams are old and still run through the HK island, so I thought it'd be nice to hop on one of them. It only cost HKD 2 per person anyway. Aside from it's slow pace, it did provide an opportunity to see HK island. Though with my limited view, all I see is shops at the ground levels and losts of apartments above them..Everywhere..
That's taken from a tram.
After we got off the tram we took the train to Lantau Island where the Buddha thing was at the last stop. The train ride was somewhat uneventful so much that I think we both dozed off. We got off at the last stop and was surprised that there weren't any clear signs to lead us to the Buddha. Seems like everyone in HK knows how to get there, so don't mind the tourist. My host hasn't been there either, so we had to walk around a bit before finding the cable car stations. Hongkies call it 360, which is what it's named anyway. Don't know how that name came to be.
Arriving at the cable car station the prices to get on the cable car was quite steep. HKD 96 return. If you wanted to check out their display rooms, then it's HKD 130ish I think. Since neither one of us were keen with the showrooms/display rooms, we went for just the ride up.
The cable ride was interesting enough. Had a good view of the HK airport too.
Unfortunately my photography skills betray me. I'd like to blame the camera too, but since it isn't mine, better not say too much else I might not even get to borrow it the next time.
Oh, the customary..
Don't ask me where my eyes went. I don't know. Didn't notice it when I took the picture and don't know how to photoshop it. Too bad.
Arriving at the place, there were some shops laid out along the pathway, which supposedly used to be the village. Funnily enough we decided to have some icecream, despite us being about 300-400 feet above sea level and in Winter. A short trek later here's the giant arch to welcome tourist
Here's the hill next to it
Now, this Buddha is strategically located right up the hill (not up that hill, but the one I'm on, which you'll see better later), so there's a couple of hundred steps to climb before being within proper distance to take a picture. At the foot of the steps, there's this thing
Which I really don't know what it was. It was huge, so I figure worth taking a picture off.
Now for those who read my Batu Caves adventure, here's another Ego trip for me. Know that I had knees that were in pain. Yet suprisingly, I had no problems climbing the stairs, unlike my happily settled host, who needed several stops before we reach the top. Dejavu for me, except that one is already married while the earlier one (in Batu Caves) is getting to it.
Here's big old Buddha. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I do know that there's suppose to be an inner sanctum of sorts within, but you'd have to have paid for vegetarian meal below before they'd let you go in. Surronding the Buddha is these six
Aside from these 6 sculptures and lots of tourist, there isn't much to describe or to take photos off.
Then came the real problem. You see, while I have no problems going up, my knees have a problem going down. Don't ask me why, I don't know either. I just know they hurt everytime I go one step down. And this is 250+ steps down...
Pain....Real pain..
Though for some reason after the steps me and my host still feels up for some more travelling. Earlier in the day we meet up with some of my host's colleagues before we got on the tram for a short breafast. In the discussion, there was talks about this fishing village that sold salted fish. While I'm not the type to buy souveniers home for random people, I am the type to buy food back if I can and salted fish was a good option. In the conversation they mentioned it's just a bus ride away and closeby to the '360' thingy. So after we returned via cable car, the fishing village was our next stop.
The bus itself was rather ordinary and the ride was kinda boring. Suffice to say dozing off was yet another preferred pasttime. About an hour later we arrived only to find it IS, indeed, just a fishing village.
There were no nice lights or was it bustling with people. It was quiet and there was a fishy smell in the air. It took us less than 20 minutes to explore the whole place. Randomly picking a store, I bought 2 salted fish and then we were back to catching the bus ride.
Even now, I still wonder why I spent 2 hours, HKD 23.60 (bus fare) just to buy 2 salted fish worht HKD 50. Silly boy..
But the day isn't over. Ok, the day is, but the night was still young..(hehe, if you think something indulgent and sinful is coming up, you are correct!)
But then again, this is still me doing the writing, you know.....
Since he was running a little late for his meeting, he showed me a place where they have nice beef noodles so that I can try them for breakfast. Now, the morning before my pork chop with tea came to about HKD 30, so imagine my surprise when my beef noodles only cost HKD 15! So I got itchy fingers and decided to order a bowl of beef balls as well. The beef balls were quite big and there was around 7 of them I think, but.....The beef balls cost HKD 19! Should have just stuck with the noodles.
I had time to kill after breakfast and it was quite awkward to eat without something to read. I did hope to get some free paper near the MTR station as they generally do give them away the previous mornings, but this morning I had no luck. Also, my knees were getting worse so I kept having to find pathways that did not include stairs down.
Since I had time to kill while waiting for my host to finish with his meeting, I decided to do a little exploring around the area until my knees gave up. I walked and walked and walked so much I found myself at the shopping complex of the next station, which, is none other than City Plaza. Seeing that I've walked a little too far, I tracked back just in time to meet up with my host who finished his meeting.
Now the plan for the day was some tram rides and a visit to the giant Buddha in Lantau Island. These trams are old and still run through the HK island, so I thought it'd be nice to hop on one of them. It only cost HKD 2 per person anyway. Aside from it's slow pace, it did provide an opportunity to see HK island. Though with my limited view, all I see is shops at the ground levels and losts of apartments above them..Everywhere..
That's taken from a tram.
After we got off the tram we took the train to Lantau Island where the Buddha thing was at the last stop. The train ride was somewhat uneventful so much that I think we both dozed off. We got off at the last stop and was surprised that there weren't any clear signs to lead us to the Buddha. Seems like everyone in HK knows how to get there, so don't mind the tourist. My host hasn't been there either, so we had to walk around a bit before finding the cable car stations. Hongkies call it 360, which is what it's named anyway. Don't know how that name came to be.
Arriving at the cable car station the prices to get on the cable car was quite steep. HKD 96 return. If you wanted to check out their display rooms, then it's HKD 130ish I think. Since neither one of us were keen with the showrooms/display rooms, we went for just the ride up.
The cable ride was interesting enough. Had a good view of the HK airport too.
Unfortunately my photography skills betray me. I'd like to blame the camera too, but since it isn't mine, better not say too much else I might not even get to borrow it the next time.
Oh, the customary..
Don't ask me where my eyes went. I don't know. Didn't notice it when I took the picture and don't know how to photoshop it. Too bad.
Arriving at the place, there were some shops laid out along the pathway, which supposedly used to be the village. Funnily enough we decided to have some icecream, despite us being about 300-400 feet above sea level and in Winter. A short trek later here's the giant arch to welcome tourist
Here's the hill next to it
Now, this Buddha is strategically located right up the hill (not up that hill, but the one I'm on, which you'll see better later), so there's a couple of hundred steps to climb before being within proper distance to take a picture. At the foot of the steps, there's this thing
Which I really don't know what it was. It was huge, so I figure worth taking a picture off.
Now for those who read my Batu Caves adventure, here's another Ego trip for me. Know that I had knees that were in pain. Yet suprisingly, I had no problems climbing the stairs, unlike my happily settled host, who needed several stops before we reach the top. Dejavu for me, except that one is already married while the earlier one (in Batu Caves) is getting to it.
Here's big old Buddha. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I do know that there's suppose to be an inner sanctum of sorts within, but you'd have to have paid for vegetarian meal below before they'd let you go in. Surronding the Buddha is these six
Aside from these 6 sculptures and lots of tourist, there isn't much to describe or to take photos off.
Then came the real problem. You see, while I have no problems going up, my knees have a problem going down. Don't ask me why, I don't know either. I just know they hurt everytime I go one step down. And this is 250+ steps down...
Pain....Real pain..
Though for some reason after the steps me and my host still feels up for some more travelling. Earlier in the day we meet up with some of my host's colleagues before we got on the tram for a short breafast. In the discussion, there was talks about this fishing village that sold salted fish. While I'm not the type to buy souveniers home for random people, I am the type to buy food back if I can and salted fish was a good option. In the conversation they mentioned it's just a bus ride away and closeby to the '360' thingy. So after we returned via cable car, the fishing village was our next stop.
The bus itself was rather ordinary and the ride was kinda boring. Suffice to say dozing off was yet another preferred pasttime. About an hour later we arrived only to find it IS, indeed, just a fishing village.
There were no nice lights or was it bustling with people. It was quiet and there was a fishy smell in the air. It took us less than 20 minutes to explore the whole place. Randomly picking a store, I bought 2 salted fish and then we were back to catching the bus ride.
Even now, I still wonder why I spent 2 hours, HKD 23.60 (bus fare) just to buy 2 salted fish worht HKD 50. Silly boy..
But the day isn't over. Ok, the day is, but the night was still young..(hehe, if you think something indulgent and sinful is coming up, you are correct!)
But then again, this is still me doing the writing, you know.....
Now the adventure really begins.....Part 4 of the HK Trip
And I waited...
Ok, I didn't really have to wait too long before a smiling familiar face turned up around 6.50pm-ish. It did look like a flabbier face than I last remember it, but being chinese and what they say about growing horizontally once married is an indication of happiness in life, I thought nothing negative of it.
Oh, in any case, yes, my host, a Malaysian working in Hong Kong, did turn up. (Hereon referred to as host as I'm not sure he'd like it so much if I name him). He just finished work, or to be more accurate, he's on half day leave. A brief hello (like we meet each other everyday) later I was asked to re-enter the MTR as we were going off to his place which is near a MTR station. (Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me remember the station. It's in Kowloon though...)
3 stops (I think) later, my host asked me to disembark and lo and behold, his apartment is right above the station. Like, really, above it. Some 20 odd stories above (I also forgot what floor, sigh..Growing old I say..) Interestingly getting from the station exit to his apartment lifts required us to go through 3 'gates' which he doesn't fancy much but I think it's good security. A bit of a walk around the area later and a ride up the apartment lifts I find myself at his home.
It was a nice 2-room apartment, though for a person used to Malaysian sized apartments (and one living now in a 1500 square feet(sf) place) you'd find the apartments small and expensive. His was just shy of 800 sf, but cost a whopping HKD 3 million! Ok, so HK real estate is a killer, if you don't know by now. But his apartment is very convenient and has great facilities too (unfortunately, he only showed them to me on my final night there.) Luckily for me his wife and kids have recently returned to Malaysia, so I didn't have to sleep on the couch. Unfortunately, however, nothing really beats sleeping in your own bed at home, so I still had some adjusting to do. Not to mention the cold. So so cold (Ok, it's only because this dumb bloke hasn't spent near 0.01% of his lifetime in any climate other than hot, humid, Malaysian like weather (Singapore's no better), so winter IS a PROBLEM). Oh, I also had rashes ALL OVER MY BODY.......
Enough rambling. Dropping off my luggage, we went to dinner at a standard HK 'restaurant' which is much like coffee shops in Malaysia except its the same dudes that serve you drinks that serve you food. One day a Malaysian should go there and bring them the concept of owning a place, sell drinks and have loads of other blokes sell food for you. I don't recall what I ate, but it wasn't anything spectacular. As it was already getting late, we ended up walking around the complexes there and my host decided to drop by a console game shop to get his latest fixes.
You see, I didn't know that my host was quite an avid gamer. He owns a PS3 at home and has several PSPs for him and his family. So suffice to say I was never short of entertainment whenever we we resting at his place. This is turning into a great holiday! Muahahaha
Oh, a quick note about the bathroom. It's like this cool bathroom even though it's quite compact with bathtub and shower. Considering it was cold, I obviously needed hot water. But while I was getting ready to bathe, my host was having an 'in-depth' conversation via skype with his sister and I couldn't find myself to trouble him and ask how to activate the heater. So there I was, already shivering in the cold, bathing in COLD WATER!! brrrrrrrrrrrbrrrrrrrrrbrrrrrrr....
So, I'm not going to spend 3 nights 3 days in HK playing console games, am I?
Ok, I didn't really have to wait too long before a smiling familiar face turned up around 6.50pm-ish. It did look like a flabbier face than I last remember it, but being chinese and what they say about growing horizontally once married is an indication of happiness in life, I thought nothing negative of it.
Oh, in any case, yes, my host, a Malaysian working in Hong Kong, did turn up. (Hereon referred to as host as I'm not sure he'd like it so much if I name him). He just finished work, or to be more accurate, he's on half day leave. A brief hello (like we meet each other everyday) later I was asked to re-enter the MTR as we were going off to his place which is near a MTR station. (Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me remember the station. It's in Kowloon though...)
3 stops (I think) later, my host asked me to disembark and lo and behold, his apartment is right above the station. Like, really, above it. Some 20 odd stories above (I also forgot what floor, sigh..Growing old I say..) Interestingly getting from the station exit to his apartment lifts required us to go through 3 'gates' which he doesn't fancy much but I think it's good security. A bit of a walk around the area later and a ride up the apartment lifts I find myself at his home.
It was a nice 2-room apartment, though for a person used to Malaysian sized apartments (and one living now in a 1500 square feet(sf) place) you'd find the apartments small and expensive. His was just shy of 800 sf, but cost a whopping HKD 3 million! Ok, so HK real estate is a killer, if you don't know by now. But his apartment is very convenient and has great facilities too (unfortunately, he only showed them to me on my final night there.) Luckily for me his wife and kids have recently returned to Malaysia, so I didn't have to sleep on the couch. Unfortunately, however, nothing really beats sleeping in your own bed at home, so I still had some adjusting to do. Not to mention the cold. So so cold (Ok, it's only because this dumb bloke hasn't spent near 0.01% of his lifetime in any climate other than hot, humid, Malaysian like weather (Singapore's no better), so winter IS a PROBLEM). Oh, I also had rashes ALL OVER MY BODY.......
Enough rambling. Dropping off my luggage, we went to dinner at a standard HK 'restaurant' which is much like coffee shops in Malaysia except its the same dudes that serve you drinks that serve you food. One day a Malaysian should go there and bring them the concept of owning a place, sell drinks and have loads of other blokes sell food for you. I don't recall what I ate, but it wasn't anything spectacular. As it was already getting late, we ended up walking around the complexes there and my host decided to drop by a console game shop to get his latest fixes.
You see, I didn't know that my host was quite an avid gamer. He owns a PS3 at home and has several PSPs for him and his family. So suffice to say I was never short of entertainment whenever we we resting at his place. This is turning into a great holiday! Muahahaha
Oh, a quick note about the bathroom. It's like this cool bathroom even though it's quite compact with bathtub and shower. Considering it was cold, I obviously needed hot water. But while I was getting ready to bathe, my host was having an 'in-depth' conversation via skype with his sister and I couldn't find myself to trouble him and ask how to activate the heater. So there I was, already shivering in the cold, bathing in COLD WATER!! brrrrrrrrrrrbrrrrrrrrrbrrrrrrr....
So, I'm not going to spend 3 nights 3 days in HK playing console games, am I?
Friday, December 26, 2008
The adventure begins!....Part 3 of the HK Trip
Thursday morning and for the first time me and my chinese colleague decided to grab some authentic HK breakfast. You see, during the training we couldn't because we had this muslim colleague to be 'thoughtful' of, but for this breakfast we kinda made it known we weren't going to settle for anything BUT non-halal food. I think he ended up having instant noodles. oops. I had pork chop and 'nai cha'! Yipee. Unfortunately 'nai cha', which is the equivelant of a 'teh tarik' in Malaysia, doesn't come close to as nice. I miss my country already..:(
Now, a little bit about my 'friend' in HK. Well, to those that know me know that I have few friends, if any, at all. I'm just not all that friendly, I guess. My loss. This guy I got to know from playing Raw Deal wrestling card games. Over time, we had some trades and with the game dead and him moving to HK, he asked me to caretake some of his more expensive cards in a hope to liquidify them. Number of cards i've sold? NONE. hehe. He also offered to host if I ever decided to visit HK. So i took up the offer.
Now aside from his HP number, I have no other way to contact him. No email, no work address. I didn't even know where he lives! My colleagues in HK keep reminding me to find out where he lives so I can plan how to get to the airport on sunday but all I could tell them is I'd only find out when I meet him. I won't deny the whole time in HK I contemplated the possibility he might not turn up where we were suppose to meet on Thurday evening, leaving me relatively stranded and having to fork out more money just to find a place to stay and not get targeted by crooks who could obviously tell that I'm lost. I just kept telling myself,"My life is never that interesting..."...
Anyway, it was still a while before I would meet my host. I decided to tag along with the 2 guys to Mongkok which was where they'd be staying that one night. After seeing them lug their luggage all over HK (I kept mine in the office, as it is near where I'd meet up with my host later) and checking into a very 'space efficient' room, I wondered if I'd even have a place to sleep the next 3 nights. We then decided to go shopwalk as they seemed keen to find some items to buy back home. Me? I'm not buying nobody nothing but me. hehehe. I wan't even planning to buy anything for me as I didn't know if the items were cheaper in Malaysia.
Funnily, we stopped by a Bossini shop and they had this green jacket at HKD 199. Now, did I fail to mention it's winter over there? I did have a jacket, which I've worn the last 3 days, but getting another would be nice. The other guys just kept saying to buy it as it's cheap. I wouldn't be able to tell. So I asked the salesgirl to get me and XL or bigger, in hope that I'd get to check it out. Instead, they found the size I wanted and proceeded straight to the payment counter. I'm not that fast, you know...(nevertheless, I do own a green jacket now....)
We had McDonalds for lunch but I forgot to ask them what was pork. Dang. My muslim colleague only had fries. How sad. More walking later and I realised that all of a sudden my knees hurt. Mostly my left knee. So I called it quits and proceeded back to the office before meeting up with my host.
After grabbing my luggage, I proceeded to do this...
Man, that was stupid. SEETOOPEED. But I still managed to get a picture of my utter stupidity. how smart is that? hehe. Yeah, I laughed myself. I just couldn't do it out loud as I was putting on a pitiful face so that the MTR person could help me out. Suffice to say I didn't make that mistake anymore in HK, or well, any other place I plan to go to in the future..
Me and my host we to meet at one of the MTR stations at 6.30pm. I was of course, early (Malaysian time? What's that). So I waited. Oh, did I also mention that the last time I met him was in February? So I don't remember his face all that much. by the time 6.30pm came and went I told myself if he doesn't turn up by 7pm, I better get ready for a contingency.
And I waited...
and waited...
Now, a little bit about my 'friend' in HK. Well, to those that know me know that I have few friends, if any, at all. I'm just not all that friendly, I guess. My loss. This guy I got to know from playing Raw Deal wrestling card games. Over time, we had some trades and with the game dead and him moving to HK, he asked me to caretake some of his more expensive cards in a hope to liquidify them. Number of cards i've sold? NONE. hehe. He also offered to host if I ever decided to visit HK. So i took up the offer.
Now aside from his HP number, I have no other way to contact him. No email, no work address. I didn't even know where he lives! My colleagues in HK keep reminding me to find out where he lives so I can plan how to get to the airport on sunday but all I could tell them is I'd only find out when I meet him. I won't deny the whole time in HK I contemplated the possibility he might not turn up where we were suppose to meet on Thurday evening, leaving me relatively stranded and having to fork out more money just to find a place to stay and not get targeted by crooks who could obviously tell that I'm lost. I just kept telling myself,"My life is never that interesting..."...
Anyway, it was still a while before I would meet my host. I decided to tag along with the 2 guys to Mongkok which was where they'd be staying that one night. After seeing them lug their luggage all over HK (I kept mine in the office, as it is near where I'd meet up with my host later) and checking into a very 'space efficient' room, I wondered if I'd even have a place to sleep the next 3 nights. We then decided to go shopwalk as they seemed keen to find some items to buy back home. Me? I'm not buying nobody nothing but me. hehehe. I wan't even planning to buy anything for me as I didn't know if the items were cheaper in Malaysia.
Funnily, we stopped by a Bossini shop and they had this green jacket at HKD 199. Now, did I fail to mention it's winter over there? I did have a jacket, which I've worn the last 3 days, but getting another would be nice. The other guys just kept saying to buy it as it's cheap. I wouldn't be able to tell. So I asked the salesgirl to get me and XL or bigger, in hope that I'd get to check it out. Instead, they found the size I wanted and proceeded straight to the payment counter. I'm not that fast, you know...(nevertheless, I do own a green jacket now....)
We had McDonalds for lunch but I forgot to ask them what was pork. Dang. My muslim colleague only had fries. How sad. More walking later and I realised that all of a sudden my knees hurt. Mostly my left knee. So I called it quits and proceeded back to the office before meeting up with my host.
After grabbing my luggage, I proceeded to do this...
Man, that was stupid. SEETOOPEED. But I still managed to get a picture of my utter stupidity. how smart is that? hehe. Yeah, I laughed myself. I just couldn't do it out loud as I was putting on a pitiful face so that the MTR person could help me out. Suffice to say I didn't make that mistake anymore in HK, or well, any other place I plan to go to in the future..
Me and my host we to meet at one of the MTR stations at 6.30pm. I was of course, early (Malaysian time? What's that). So I waited. Oh, did I also mention that the last time I met him was in February? So I don't remember his face all that much. by the time 6.30pm came and went I told myself if he doesn't turn up by 7pm, I better get ready for a contingency.
And I waited...
and waited...
The Training Days...Part 2 of HK Trip
Now the time I spent in HK while on training wasn't much of a story. It was a 2 full day training. While breakfast and lunch were provided (we weren't told initially..) dinner was a free for all (to my detriment). I took the 9.50am-ish flight out of KLIA with Cathay Pacific and found their services not much different from MAS or SIA. (Air Asia still sucks, but then you get what you pay for...) But my return flight....(later, later...)
When we touched down, I had this feeling since there were 3 of us, one of us is going to have luggage issues. I was right. Luckily it wasn't me, but the other guy (one of the 2) got his luggage delayed and only got his luggage at 4am in the morning the next day. Fortunately, the HK Airport personnel were quick to advise about it and tell him what to do. Such great service!
We took a cab to the hotel. Cab metre begins at HKD 16 for 2KM and each 150 metres is HKD 1.40. (Compared to Malaysia, where it is (should still be) RM 2 for 2KM and then RM 0.15 every 100 metres. I think.) Hence then I assured myself converting back to RM each time I spent would be a nightmare.
Speaking of which, I only brought HKD 700 in cash, when everyone was already complaining HKD 1K isn't enough. So how do you think I fared? Hehehe
Once arrived at the hotel I promptly checked in. I then observed something. In HK, they are willing to commit 1 person, or more, to just stand around acting like human information counters. At the airport, in the hotel, at the subway, everywhere. IMPRESSIVE!! Because the way I see it, why waste the cost of 1 (or more) human resource when you can easily just set up a PC to do that? One time cost, rather then a recurring cost. There are more 'service' oriented culture I see in HK. More of that later.
That night I had planned to have dinner with my colleague in HK, so a phone call later and off I went to HK office in City Plaza via the MTR (forgot what it means). I ended up late, however, not because the directions given to this place I know not was hard to follow, or I just got lost, but I realised it's cold out there and I had to return to the hotel to grab a jacket. Dinner was uneventful and I didn't do much walking on the first night as I was rather tired.
The next morning I woke up with rashes all over my legs and arms. I thought the bed was maybe dirty, but it looked clean. Eventually. after only returning to Malaysia, I realised that it was because I had an allergic reaction, probably to the air (HK is rather hazy) or the weather (my first winter!). Oh well. Fortunately the itchiness wasn't all that bad until I got back home.
So from my hotel I got to the Causeway Bay station
Then headed to Tai Koo where the office is located relatively above it
Hmm. Pictures look funny. But they are proof!. Haha!
On the way to the office i get to go through this shopping mall and they decided that the 3 blokes who followed that star that lead them to the newborn baby looks like
I personally doubt they're that huge, if they even existed. Ok, i'll not get into the whole farceness of Christmas less I get hauled up by the church. hehe, luckily I live in Malaysia, where things like these don't get the officials attention. :P
Aside from meeting people from the company from various countries, having catered food, the only other thing worth mentioning was that on the Tuesday night during dinner, I had Kobe Beef at a Japanese Restaurant. That meal cost HKD 605!!!!!!!!! Just the beef alone! It it was a small portion! Not worth it I tell you (and I'm living to regret ordering that meal now....But that's another OTHER story...:( )
Then, when we decided to walk the streets to do some window shopping, I decided it was getting to late (it was 9pm me thinks) and I decided to find my own way back. Unfortunately, while doing window shopping, I allowed my 2 chinese educated colleagues to lead and completely forgot to remember signs and roads to find my own way back. After walking along a major street up until I see it linking up to the highway, I realised I was lost. Yes, ME, LOST. A little too late to join the cast but hey, better late then never. So I turned back and lo and behold, I was just heading in the opposite direction. No wonder I felt I was going further and further away. All this time I was wanting to pee too. But no, my pants were dry even when I returned to the Hotel. Not getting something embarrasing here..But wait, I have just the right thing...
Fast foward to Wednesday night, when all is said and done, me along with 3 other colleagues decided to go up Victoria Hill. A cab ride, a tram ride and waiting until night time, I saw
Sorry, pictures kind of fuzzy. Too much electricity used, my camera get's overloaded..:P
Then on the way back...
That's me on the tram going downhill. I wanted to snap a shot of the train going downhill to show the degree of slant, but alas, amateur cameraman ME couldn't do it. I want to blame the camera, but then again, who'd believe it?
The rest of the gang decided to visit the pubs and nightspots nearby so I left them for dead..I mean, left them to return to the hotel. Luckily, me and my somewhat absent sense of direction found myself crossing a bridge, walking through a park, a building and then some before finding the train station. I still managed to get back before everyone else, so....Not lost this time around..hehe
So the training is over and the paid hotel stay is over..What's next? Where the real adventure begins!
When we touched down, I had this feeling since there were 3 of us, one of us is going to have luggage issues. I was right. Luckily it wasn't me, but the other guy (one of the 2) got his luggage delayed and only got his luggage at 4am in the morning the next day. Fortunately, the HK Airport personnel were quick to advise about it and tell him what to do. Such great service!
We took a cab to the hotel. Cab metre begins at HKD 16 for 2KM and each 150 metres is HKD 1.40. (Compared to Malaysia, where it is (should still be) RM 2 for 2KM and then RM 0.15 every 100 metres. I think.) Hence then I assured myself converting back to RM each time I spent would be a nightmare.
Speaking of which, I only brought HKD 700 in cash, when everyone was already complaining HKD 1K isn't enough. So how do you think I fared? Hehehe
Once arrived at the hotel I promptly checked in. I then observed something. In HK, they are willing to commit 1 person, or more, to just stand around acting like human information counters. At the airport, in the hotel, at the subway, everywhere. IMPRESSIVE!! Because the way I see it, why waste the cost of 1 (or more) human resource when you can easily just set up a PC to do that? One time cost, rather then a recurring cost. There are more 'service' oriented culture I see in HK. More of that later.
That night I had planned to have dinner with my colleague in HK, so a phone call later and off I went to HK office in City Plaza via the MTR (forgot what it means). I ended up late, however, not because the directions given to this place I know not was hard to follow, or I just got lost, but I realised it's cold out there and I had to return to the hotel to grab a jacket. Dinner was uneventful and I didn't do much walking on the first night as I was rather tired.
The next morning I woke up with rashes all over my legs and arms. I thought the bed was maybe dirty, but it looked clean. Eventually. after only returning to Malaysia, I realised that it was because I had an allergic reaction, probably to the air (HK is rather hazy) or the weather (my first winter!). Oh well. Fortunately the itchiness wasn't all that bad until I got back home.
So from my hotel I got to the Causeway Bay station
Then headed to Tai Koo where the office is located relatively above it
Hmm. Pictures look funny. But they are proof!. Haha!
On the way to the office i get to go through this shopping mall and they decided that the 3 blokes who followed that star that lead them to the newborn baby looks like
I personally doubt they're that huge, if they even existed. Ok, i'll not get into the whole farceness of Christmas less I get hauled up by the church. hehe, luckily I live in Malaysia, where things like these don't get the officials attention. :P
Aside from meeting people from the company from various countries, having catered food, the only other thing worth mentioning was that on the Tuesday night during dinner, I had Kobe Beef at a Japanese Restaurant. That meal cost HKD 605!!!!!!!!! Just the beef alone! It it was a small portion! Not worth it I tell you (and I'm living to regret ordering that meal now....But that's another OTHER story...:( )
Then, when we decided to walk the streets to do some window shopping, I decided it was getting to late (it was 9pm me thinks) and I decided to find my own way back. Unfortunately, while doing window shopping, I allowed my 2 chinese educated colleagues to lead and completely forgot to remember signs and roads to find my own way back. After walking along a major street up until I see it linking up to the highway, I realised I was lost. Yes, ME, LOST. A little too late to join the cast but hey, better late then never. So I turned back and lo and behold, I was just heading in the opposite direction. No wonder I felt I was going further and further away. All this time I was wanting to pee too. But no, my pants were dry even when I returned to the Hotel. Not getting something embarrasing here..But wait, I have just the right thing...
Fast foward to Wednesday night, when all is said and done, me along with 3 other colleagues decided to go up Victoria Hill. A cab ride, a tram ride and waiting until night time, I saw
Sorry, pictures kind of fuzzy. Too much electricity used, my camera get's overloaded..:P
Then on the way back...
That's me on the tram going downhill. I wanted to snap a shot of the train going downhill to show the degree of slant, but alas, amateur cameraman ME couldn't do it. I want to blame the camera, but then again, who'd believe it?
The rest of the gang decided to visit the pubs and nightspots nearby so I left them for dead..I mean, left them to return to the hotel. Luckily, me and my somewhat absent sense of direction found myself crossing a bridge, walking through a park, a building and then some before finding the train station. I still managed to get back before everyone else, so....Not lost this time around..hehe
So the training is over and the paid hotel stay is over..What's next? Where the real adventure begins!
And so it begins....Part 1 of HK Trip
I.e. Prologue..
But then again, it's not as interesting as my Raw Deal adventures in Singapore, so I wouldn't really go story like. But I do have more photos and will try to recall as much as I can.
Here goes...
PROLOGUE:
About 4 months back I was asked to volunteer for a 'team' in my company which has recently seen some people 'leave'. I was keen before, but back when it was first introduced in 2005 I was in a sorry state (I think if you check my 2005 entries you'd find out why) so I passed the opportunity then. So now that it's done a boomerang, bandwagon I jump!
Little did I know each new member of this 'team' needs to go through a 'start up' training of sorts and it's only conducted by the 'specialists' in the field. That training is to be done in HK.
What? No dance of joy? I get a trip to HK and no dance of joy? Ridiculous!
Considering the times we are in now, me being in an American company meant that trips like this were bound to get axed. (I have since gone and returned, so you should now that it didn't..) There were 4 in Malaysia going and 2 of the guys have already started to plan to take a day's leave to venture around HK on their own. At first I wasn't keen as I really don't know what I'll do there. I'm not much of a traveller, you see. But as time went by I got pressured into making most out of the opportunity (and since I've gone and returned....You know the drill). I then tried to reach out to one of the guys I got to know via Raw Deal, who, as things have it, is now working in HK, hoping for some free accomodation for that 1 day's stay. Accomodation is expensive in HK, even if you aren't all that picky (Ok, I wasn't ready to stay 3 nights at a 4-5 star hotel on my company and then go backpacking for 1 more night.)
Several weeks past and my SMS to that guy never got replied. Then on a fateful lunch hour last month, he called and asked if I was indeed planning to go. he even offered to host me more than just one day, if I wanted. Flustered, I asked to stay until Sunday (Oops. Training starts on Tuesday and ends on Wednesday. Monday was to travel to HK. Thursday, had I not extended, was to return back to Malaysia. So if I leave on Sunday, it would be 3 full days on my own.). He said ok. So from someone who was suppose to not spend any personal time in HK (compared to the others) i am now the one staying the longest!
Oh, just to side track a bit, while I was in a limbo waiting for his reply, I did try to get my other colleagues in HK to 'host', but I guess it was not meant to be. I have no qualms, however, as you'll find out!
After 8 years, I once again get an opportunity to go to HK. I will however, promise myself to not make that big boo boo 8 years ago and remember that I should at the very least TRY to have a good time even though I'm not paying (all) of the expenses! (For the days I was on my own, I was ON MY OWN...In case someone I don't expect to see this sees this...:p)
Well, time to talk about the trip....(Gotta rack up some post counts!)
But then again, it's not as interesting as my Raw Deal adventures in Singapore, so I wouldn't really go story like. But I do have more photos and will try to recall as much as I can.
Here goes...
PROLOGUE:
About 4 months back I was asked to volunteer for a 'team' in my company which has recently seen some people 'leave'. I was keen before, but back when it was first introduced in 2005 I was in a sorry state (I think if you check my 2005 entries you'd find out why) so I passed the opportunity then. So now that it's done a boomerang, bandwagon I jump!
Little did I know each new member of this 'team' needs to go through a 'start up' training of sorts and it's only conducted by the 'specialists' in the field. That training is to be done in HK.
What? No dance of joy? I get a trip to HK and no dance of joy? Ridiculous!
Considering the times we are in now, me being in an American company meant that trips like this were bound to get axed. (I have since gone and returned, so you should now that it didn't..) There were 4 in Malaysia going and 2 of the guys have already started to plan to take a day's leave to venture around HK on their own. At first I wasn't keen as I really don't know what I'll do there. I'm not much of a traveller, you see. But as time went by I got pressured into making most out of the opportunity (and since I've gone and returned....You know the drill). I then tried to reach out to one of the guys I got to know via Raw Deal, who, as things have it, is now working in HK, hoping for some free accomodation for that 1 day's stay. Accomodation is expensive in HK, even if you aren't all that picky (Ok, I wasn't ready to stay 3 nights at a 4-5 star hotel on my company and then go backpacking for 1 more night.)
Several weeks past and my SMS to that guy never got replied. Then on a fateful lunch hour last month, he called and asked if I was indeed planning to go. he even offered to host me more than just one day, if I wanted. Flustered, I asked to stay until Sunday (Oops. Training starts on Tuesday and ends on Wednesday. Monday was to travel to HK. Thursday, had I not extended, was to return back to Malaysia. So if I leave on Sunday, it would be 3 full days on my own.). He said ok. So from someone who was suppose to not spend any personal time in HK (compared to the others) i am now the one staying the longest!
Oh, just to side track a bit, while I was in a limbo waiting for his reply, I did try to get my other colleagues in HK to 'host', but I guess it was not meant to be. I have no qualms, however, as you'll find out!
After 8 years, I once again get an opportunity to go to HK. I will however, promise myself to not make that big boo boo 8 years ago and remember that I should at the very least TRY to have a good time even though I'm not paying (all) of the expenses! (For the days I was on my own, I was ON MY OWN...In case someone I don't expect to see this sees this...:p)
Well, time to talk about the trip....(Gotta rack up some post counts!)
Friday, December 12, 2008
So far, so good?
Well, I haven't blogged in a while. That's because I spent the whole of last week in Hong Kong, which I have taken photos and 'eventually' will post it up here.
For the moment, here's a quick update:
1) HK was fun and enjoyable. Not without setbacks however, but could easily have had more..More on that much much later.
2) Me as a boy gamer was fed a nice meal in HK...Also more on that later..
3) Liverpool is on top of the league, yet I don't feel all that happy. Must be because past history shows that they've been there before, but not after X'mas....
4) I've unresolved personal issues. Wait, that's always the case, no? haha
5) I'm still lazy with practise. With the current financial situation, spending RM 5K+ on a piano isn't exactly spend thrift and wise...Oh, what have I gotten myself into this time???
6) Work has been....Unproductive. Need to find that zest at work again. Thought I found one then some managerial bloke decides my Kobe Beef is too expensive...Wait, this is again part of my HK experience...
7) It's funny how sometimes you don't really need to know someone a whole lot to be a whole lot nicer to them. I was on the receiving end this time and it's a weird feeling. Again, this is yet another HK story.
Looks like I have lots to tell about my HK experience. Hopefully I'll find time in between beating the crap out of Heroes 5: Tribes of the East to post the pictures et all..No, I shouldn't do all that at work......Really....zzzzzz
For the moment, here's a quick update:
1) HK was fun and enjoyable. Not without setbacks however, but could easily have had more..More on that much much later.
2) Me as a boy gamer was fed a nice meal in HK...Also more on that later..
3) Liverpool is on top of the league, yet I don't feel all that happy. Must be because past history shows that they've been there before, but not after X'mas....
4) I've unresolved personal issues. Wait, that's always the case, no? haha
5) I'm still lazy with practise. With the current financial situation, spending RM 5K+ on a piano isn't exactly spend thrift and wise...Oh, what have I gotten myself into this time???
6) Work has been....Unproductive. Need to find that zest at work again. Thought I found one then some managerial bloke decides my Kobe Beef is too expensive...Wait, this is again part of my HK experience...
7) It's funny how sometimes you don't really need to know someone a whole lot to be a whole lot nicer to them. I was on the receiving end this time and it's a weird feeling. Again, this is yet another HK story.
Looks like I have lots to tell about my HK experience. Hopefully I'll find time in between beating the crap out of Heroes 5: Tribes of the East to post the pictures et all..No, I shouldn't do all that at work......Really....zzzzzz
Friday, November 21, 2008
Not so many weeks ago...
I actually, finally, made it to......
Batu Caves!!!
Now, for those unfamiliar, Batu Caves is somewhat of a tourist/religious place on the outskirts of KL, where I've been living all my life (and now too even though I'm technically in another state) which being a KL-ite, I should have been several times before in my lifetime.
But me being me, I've never, I mean, not ever, set foot on that holy ground until now..Or in proper timelines, 20 days ago.
This place isn't really big, but it does have a really big statue supposedly in gold (at least it looks like it, though I can't fathom why on earth humanity would waste so much gold on such a big thing, which makes me belief it could just be the colour...). Now in case I myself forget when I was and what I did there, here's some photo evidence (and no, I didn't do no photoshopping since really, I don't know how....yet...)
That's me in my overused Lord of the Rings T-Shirt..Which I got free from Comics Corner...hehehe. Oh, The pidgeons were to busy scurrying for food they ignored me as a potential toilet....:P
That's the statue I was talking about. Now as you can tell, thanks to non-existent special effects, I look smaller than the statue. Really, I'm bigger.. I mean it.. Really..No, don't believe?? Dang....I did try....:p Oh, notice the step all the way up? That's the main 'tourist' thing, climbing the stairs. I was there with a friend, so was this bunch of primary school kids. Unfortunately taking photos of random kids I know not off may result in some paedophilia trigger somewhere on the internet had I posted it so I decided to not take any of their photographs as proof. You'll just have to believe me that there were these kids around. Why are they so important that I had to mention them? Wait for it....
Oops. Said it too soon. I did catch them on the background of this photo. I repeat, that was unintentional (now where's that sod of a camera man I relied upon to take my photo WITHOUT the kids in it...Gonna give him a good hiding!) In any case, I'm right at the bottom, preparing my ascend and these kids were already running up the stairs. Now, it's just 272 steps, so surely it's not a problem. (yeah right. Tell that to the fumbling cameraman going there with me!)
Much like the story about the hare and the tortoise, the hare (those pesky school kids) ran quicky up the summit while the tortoise (Me. My friend couldn't run even if he wanted to, haha!) slowly went up one step at a time at an appropriate pace. While I didn't really required any stopping (it is really just 272 steps after all...), we did end up taking some breather so that the other 'young man' can catch up...As for the kids? needless to say, much like the tortoise eventually catching up to the hare and finishing first, the kids ended up puncturing midway top half as I expected. Wisdom does come with age sometimes....hehe
Now this was me right after the steps. I don't look tired one bit (shhh). As for the other guy...well...How many times can I use him as a target of ridicule in one blog entry (err, plenty..But in real life I'll probably get 2 girly slaps, 1 chick kick and a Widow's Peak to boot, since he like's Victoria so much..:p). Anyway, the cave looks quite impressive and there are several Hindu idols/gods to worship ( I think, I maybe wrong since I didn't really find out for sure). We venture deeper into the cave and here are 2 more photos of the view from within.
Oh wait, what's this?
Well, I guess it's nice to see a relative even in these places. Unfortunately being related and all, it knew I had no food to offer hence the disappointed look away..:-(
After we were glad we 'conquered' Batu Caves, we decided to take an unplanned visit to the caves next door, aptly named dark caves (I think. haha). Now this was a cave which is riddled with bat poo (I don't recall the proper term, too bad) and cockroaches and it stinks, but we figured since we're unlikely to ever make a trip to Batu Caves for the rest of our lives, might as well. It's a paid tour by the way. RM 35 for an educational trip. Again, thanks to the poo and the roaches, do not venture if you can't take the perfume...I mean, fume....:p
The cave was nice and all and we were given a quick lesson on caves and why over time the cave turned into what it is now. Luckily they allowed us to take pictures at one spot inside the cave. They call it the 'air-cond' area. That's because this part of the cave is smallest in diameter and with a nearby entry to the cave provides air that fizzes through the cave more quickly there than anywhere else we get a really cool breeze constantly. Hence the temperature there is lower. Oh, more photo..
Yup. That's the poor bloke who got conned into being the scapegoat of all my snipes on this blog entry. Thank you for volunteering. It was nice of you to go through all that and end up becoming target practice. At least the pidgeons avoided you too!
After we exited the dark cave, which, by the way, is called so because if we we to lose our torchlights inside the cave we would be in pitch dark. Really pitch dark. Ok, so dark cave visited, Batu Caves conquered. Next?
Time for me to pitch a trip to Gua Niah, the world's largest natural cave ( I think....haha!)
So who's interested??
Batu Caves!!!
Now, for those unfamiliar, Batu Caves is somewhat of a tourist/religious place on the outskirts of KL, where I've been living all my life (and now too even though I'm technically in another state) which being a KL-ite, I should have been several times before in my lifetime.
But me being me, I've never, I mean, not ever, set foot on that holy ground until now..Or in proper timelines, 20 days ago.
This place isn't really big, but it does have a really big statue supposedly in gold (at least it looks like it, though I can't fathom why on earth humanity would waste so much gold on such a big thing, which makes me belief it could just be the colour...). Now in case I myself forget when I was and what I did there, here's some photo evidence (and no, I didn't do no photoshopping since really, I don't know how....yet...)
That's me in my overused Lord of the Rings T-Shirt..Which I got free from Comics Corner...hehehe. Oh, The pidgeons were to busy scurrying for food they ignored me as a potential toilet....:P
That's the statue I was talking about. Now as you can tell, thanks to non-existent special effects, I look smaller than the statue. Really, I'm bigger.. I mean it.. Really..No, don't believe?? Dang....I did try....:p Oh, notice the step all the way up? That's the main 'tourist' thing, climbing the stairs. I was there with a friend, so was this bunch of primary school kids. Unfortunately taking photos of random kids I know not off may result in some paedophilia trigger somewhere on the internet had I posted it so I decided to not take any of their photographs as proof. You'll just have to believe me that there were these kids around. Why are they so important that I had to mention them? Wait for it....
Oops. Said it too soon. I did catch them on the background of this photo. I repeat, that was unintentional (now where's that sod of a camera man I relied upon to take my photo WITHOUT the kids in it...Gonna give him a good hiding!) In any case, I'm right at the bottom, preparing my ascend and these kids were already running up the stairs. Now, it's just 272 steps, so surely it's not a problem. (yeah right. Tell that to the fumbling cameraman going there with me!)
Much like the story about the hare and the tortoise, the hare (those pesky school kids) ran quicky up the summit while the tortoise (Me. My friend couldn't run even if he wanted to, haha!) slowly went up one step at a time at an appropriate pace. While I didn't really required any stopping (it is really just 272 steps after all...), we did end up taking some breather so that the other 'young man' can catch up...As for the kids? needless to say, much like the tortoise eventually catching up to the hare and finishing first, the kids ended up puncturing midway top half as I expected. Wisdom does come with age sometimes....hehe
Now this was me right after the steps. I don't look tired one bit (shhh). As for the other guy...well...How many times can I use him as a target of ridicule in one blog entry (err, plenty..But in real life I'll probably get 2 girly slaps, 1 chick kick and a Widow's Peak to boot, since he like's Victoria so much..:p). Anyway, the cave looks quite impressive and there are several Hindu idols/gods to worship ( I think, I maybe wrong since I didn't really find out for sure). We venture deeper into the cave and here are 2 more photos of the view from within.
Oh wait, what's this?
Well, I guess it's nice to see a relative even in these places. Unfortunately being related and all, it knew I had no food to offer hence the disappointed look away..:-(
After we were glad we 'conquered' Batu Caves, we decided to take an unplanned visit to the caves next door, aptly named dark caves (I think. haha). Now this was a cave which is riddled with bat poo (I don't recall the proper term, too bad) and cockroaches and it stinks, but we figured since we're unlikely to ever make a trip to Batu Caves for the rest of our lives, might as well. It's a paid tour by the way. RM 35 for an educational trip. Again, thanks to the poo and the roaches, do not venture if you can't take the perfume...I mean, fume....:p
The cave was nice and all and we were given a quick lesson on caves and why over time the cave turned into what it is now. Luckily they allowed us to take pictures at one spot inside the cave. They call it the 'air-cond' area. That's because this part of the cave is smallest in diameter and with a nearby entry to the cave provides air that fizzes through the cave more quickly there than anywhere else we get a really cool breeze constantly. Hence the temperature there is lower. Oh, more photo..
Yup. That's the poor bloke who got conned into being the scapegoat of all my snipes on this blog entry. Thank you for volunteering. It was nice of you to go through all that and end up becoming target practice. At least the pidgeons avoided you too!
After we exited the dark cave, which, by the way, is called so because if we we to lose our torchlights inside the cave we would be in pitch dark. Really pitch dark. Ok, so dark cave visited, Batu Caves conquered. Next?
Time for me to pitch a trip to Gua Niah, the world's largest natural cave ( I think....haha!)
So who's interested??
Monday, November 17, 2008
Mamma Mia!
Watched it last Saturday. It was funny in the sense it was a movie I wasn't all that keen to watch but I seemed destined to watch it anyway. Over the course of a month since it came out, I seem to be in a position where I would be and then I wouldn't be watching it. But now I have. So what's the verdict?
The verdict is that it was an entertaining movie. Not because I am an Abba fan, I'm not. I only know 1 of their songs by heart and it isn't even their most catchy tune. I have no idea why I know that song. All I could remember is that my elder brother about 16-18 years ago had the lyrics and since then I've more or less still remember the lyrics. Which song? 192116518 2018152116518.. hehehe...
Why the movie was so entertaining was for several reasons:
1) I believe the biggest reason is because I've always wanted to write a musical. Ok, want and actually being able to do it is 2 completely different things. I always toyed the idea of telling a story with just the songs. I would turn my life into a musical if I had better way with lyrics but no thanks to my poor command of English, I always find myself repeating the same old lines. Which is boring, since the music always seems new. (ok, the music seems new because I can hardly recall the previous ones since they were all impromptu).
2) The young woman playing the daughter of the lead actress had such a great voice. Reminds me of the time I felt so buoyed by hearing female choir singers. But this was just one person. Still, I guess i'm a sucker for good voices, or at least, voices that appeals to me. I'm sure my mom would never like Amy Lee, but I admire her voice to no end.
3) The movie was a no brainer to some extent, though it did have an interesting dialog. I didn't enjoy watching Pierce Brosnan try so so so hard to sing in tune however. He did managed, but you can tell he was in pain. hahaha.
Now my problem is getting Abba out of my head. Some of their songs can be quite, timely and it doesn't help me when I need to have my mind thinking about other things.
Time to listen to Tragic Symphony again...:p
The verdict is that it was an entertaining movie. Not because I am an Abba fan, I'm not. I only know 1 of their songs by heart and it isn't even their most catchy tune. I have no idea why I know that song. All I could remember is that my elder brother about 16-18 years ago had the lyrics and since then I've more or less still remember the lyrics. Which song? 192116518 2018152116518.. hehehe...
Why the movie was so entertaining was for several reasons:
1) I believe the biggest reason is because I've always wanted to write a musical. Ok, want and actually being able to do it is 2 completely different things. I always toyed the idea of telling a story with just the songs. I would turn my life into a musical if I had better way with lyrics but no thanks to my poor command of English, I always find myself repeating the same old lines. Which is boring, since the music always seems new. (ok, the music seems new because I can hardly recall the previous ones since they were all impromptu).
2) The young woman playing the daughter of the lead actress had such a great voice. Reminds me of the time I felt so buoyed by hearing female choir singers. But this was just one person. Still, I guess i'm a sucker for good voices, or at least, voices that appeals to me. I'm sure my mom would never like Amy Lee, but I admire her voice to no end.
3) The movie was a no brainer to some extent, though it did have an interesting dialog. I didn't enjoy watching Pierce Brosnan try so so so hard to sing in tune however. He did managed, but you can tell he was in pain. hahaha.
Now my problem is getting Abba out of my head. Some of their songs can be quite, timely and it doesn't help me when I need to have my mind thinking about other things.
Time to listen to Tragic Symphony again...:p
Monday, November 10, 2008
YES!!!!!!!!!
I've finally gotten a soft copy of Schubert's Symphony no.4 in C minor "Tragic"!!!!
Listening to it as I type....This is going to be a lifesaver in my times of troubles....And what troubling times indeed it is...
Now I need to get my hands on Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 20 in D Minor. Bizet's Farandole (proper copy). I should be able to complete another CD of angst recovery, similar to my Evanescence CD.
Hmm, I might live after all.....hahahaha
Listening to it as I type....This is going to be a lifesaver in my times of troubles....And what troubling times indeed it is...
Now I need to get my hands on Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 20 in D Minor. Bizet's Farandole (proper copy). I should be able to complete another CD of angst recovery, similar to my Evanescence CD.
Hmm, I might live after all.....hahahaha
Monday, November 03, 2008
Interesting developments at work...
For those who were clued in, I'll mention it here quickly. I am not retrenched (yet)....I've seen enough information that makes me feel somewhat secure of my not too distant future, so all's good so far.
HOWEVER.....Aside from knowing I will have a job for the short term, I've noticed a drastic change in the atmosphere of my office.
It started on 2 fronts. One is a strained relationship with a colleague of mine which I believe is due to irreconsilable differences. Now that's fine with me, but let's keep business, business, please?
The other stems from the fact that with the recent changes in my company, knowledge of what's to be can be both powerful and dangerous. Where I sit, as a large group, we are one. But on a smaller scale, I'm dwarfed by a larger team of 4 women who's boss is also a woman. Oh, I'm a one man show with a female boss too. A different female boss. As their boss is located in KL (mine's in Australia, btw.) they got news of the changes first. When the first person came in, she was shivering and ended up giving me some idea of what was told. Me being me, that's as far as it goes. I think she was reprimanded by the other colleague (see above) to not discuss it as it wasn't public knowledge yet. Now, I've been expecting these changes for awhile as I've been clued in as much as I can by my boss in Australia. So I kinda expect this to happen. Not so much of a news to me, the new's I'm to hear from my boss later in the afternoon was by far more....intriguing.
So they go about not talking about it but in their casual conversation they didn't have a problem hinting it left, right and centre. Take top and bottom too. Or maybe I was just sensitive. In any case, my boss calls and while what I can say now is that I was told I'd be safe and I was told I'd be joining the bigger team soon as a new construct of sorts. Jolly good news...Until recently, that is. But what I didn't know was that the other team's communique was of a lesser extent. They know about them and that's it. They know not about our larger larger group and it's fate. I do. So it made sense for me to not allude much but just plain keep my mouth shut.
But I couldn't. The news was so big for me I had to talk. So I went to talk to a senior manager in my company (yes, as senior as it can go where I am based) and spilled my beans. A good 30 minutes later it wasn't so bad but I still was a little sore. Oh well, change sucks. Get use to it..
Then a few days later, their boss called for a meeting which at first didn't involve me. Now, I'm used to them doing things without me. As bad as it feels, if it ain't my problem, don't get involved. But it turns out the meeting was to find out if one of them spoke to me about what they know and obviously the boss is not happy. And, that colleague of mine (see above, haha!) later hinted they think I spilled elsewhere. Which I did, but only to someone of a much higher level. Is that wrong? Funny though, I'd have my boss tell me things too, no? They're not the only ones with access to the news, you know....
So I denied it and acted dumb. While the official announcement was still a way to go, the team gleefully incorporated what's to be in their casual conversation. And they have the cheek to want to find out who told me??? Gosh, I'd have to be dumb AND STUPID to not find out at the rate they were going. Wait, probably being dumb wouldn't help. Deaf, maybe...
So I got pissed and started alienating myself that day. Just that day.
Since then, I keep getting this feeling they've convened and decided to treat me as I have. Now I'm feeling more and more alienated from that bigger team than before. They'd talk, ask random questions and I'd never get involved. I sometimes try to join in, but it feels so uncomfortable. They would talk across the room but all that's been said is for everyone but me..
Now, I wouldn't give 2 hoots if we were still going to be 2 different teams of a larger department. But in a very near future, we will be ONE BIG FAMILY. I already feel like the bastard son. Now, that's bad business.
Maybe I'm just sensitive. I've alienated myself before but I've not felt that they cared. Now it seems like it's up to me to do something about it.
I'll have to wait for news about the new construct to know what my next steps are.
So much for me predicting them would leave the team first, since they've been complaining about their work since the day I joined. Initially I figured everyone's got complains, but....Anyway, I still feel I'll last longer than any of them. But changes have a way of fast tracking plans...
In any case, it's not the first time I'm left on my own. Story of my life. Get used to it.
Oh, just want to mention that there are actually 3 certainties in life. Death, Taxes and Change.
HOWEVER.....Aside from knowing I will have a job for the short term, I've noticed a drastic change in the atmosphere of my office.
It started on 2 fronts. One is a strained relationship with a colleague of mine which I believe is due to irreconsilable differences. Now that's fine with me, but let's keep business, business, please?
The other stems from the fact that with the recent changes in my company, knowledge of what's to be can be both powerful and dangerous. Where I sit, as a large group, we are one. But on a smaller scale, I'm dwarfed by a larger team of 4 women who's boss is also a woman. Oh, I'm a one man show with a female boss too. A different female boss. As their boss is located in KL (mine's in Australia, btw.) they got news of the changes first. When the first person came in, she was shivering and ended up giving me some idea of what was told. Me being me, that's as far as it goes. I think she was reprimanded by the other colleague (see above) to not discuss it as it wasn't public knowledge yet. Now, I've been expecting these changes for awhile as I've been clued in as much as I can by my boss in Australia. So I kinda expect this to happen. Not so much of a news to me, the new's I'm to hear from my boss later in the afternoon was by far more....intriguing.
So they go about not talking about it but in their casual conversation they didn't have a problem hinting it left, right and centre. Take top and bottom too. Or maybe I was just sensitive. In any case, my boss calls and while what I can say now is that I was told I'd be safe and I was told I'd be joining the bigger team soon as a new construct of sorts. Jolly good news...Until recently, that is. But what I didn't know was that the other team's communique was of a lesser extent. They know about them and that's it. They know not about our larger larger group and it's fate. I do. So it made sense for me to not allude much but just plain keep my mouth shut.
But I couldn't. The news was so big for me I had to talk. So I went to talk to a senior manager in my company (yes, as senior as it can go where I am based) and spilled my beans. A good 30 minutes later it wasn't so bad but I still was a little sore. Oh well, change sucks. Get use to it..
Then a few days later, their boss called for a meeting which at first didn't involve me. Now, I'm used to them doing things without me. As bad as it feels, if it ain't my problem, don't get involved. But it turns out the meeting was to find out if one of them spoke to me about what they know and obviously the boss is not happy. And, that colleague of mine (see above, haha!) later hinted they think I spilled elsewhere. Which I did, but only to someone of a much higher level. Is that wrong? Funny though, I'd have my boss tell me things too, no? They're not the only ones with access to the news, you know....
So I denied it and acted dumb. While the official announcement was still a way to go, the team gleefully incorporated what's to be in their casual conversation. And they have the cheek to want to find out who told me??? Gosh, I'd have to be dumb AND STUPID to not find out at the rate they were going. Wait, probably being dumb wouldn't help. Deaf, maybe...
So I got pissed and started alienating myself that day. Just that day.
Since then, I keep getting this feeling they've convened and decided to treat me as I have. Now I'm feeling more and more alienated from that bigger team than before. They'd talk, ask random questions and I'd never get involved. I sometimes try to join in, but it feels so uncomfortable. They would talk across the room but all that's been said is for everyone but me..
Now, I wouldn't give 2 hoots if we were still going to be 2 different teams of a larger department. But in a very near future, we will be ONE BIG FAMILY. I already feel like the bastard son. Now, that's bad business.
Maybe I'm just sensitive. I've alienated myself before but I've not felt that they cared. Now it seems like it's up to me to do something about it.
I'll have to wait for news about the new construct to know what my next steps are.
So much for me predicting them would leave the team first, since they've been complaining about their work since the day I joined. Initially I figured everyone's got complains, but....Anyway, I still feel I'll last longer than any of them. But changes have a way of fast tracking plans...
In any case, it's not the first time I'm left on my own. Story of my life. Get used to it.
Oh, just want to mention that there are actually 3 certainties in life. Death, Taxes and Change.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Random thought when I can't sleep
What happens if I get a heart attack and I've got only moments to reflect on my life? What would I have been happy to have done/not done and what would be my regrets?
Regrets:
1) Not leaving my legacy of the musical pieces in my mind. I should really start writing them down but procrastination and a severe lack of theory is making it tougher and tougher. Not to mention I think because I'm stil keeping them in my mind for so long, I have lost the ability to make new ones, as I keep going back to my previous melodies/themes.
2) Not having visited Gua Niah, which frankly speaking is the only real place I want to visit. Mainly because it is/was the largest natural cave in the world and it's right smack in my own country (though seperated by the South China Sea).
3) Not finding someone to love who will love me. For the man that I am and the woman that she is.
4) Having my parents live past my life. This I believe is the worst thing a normal child can do to their parents. Normal because a child that is already doing drugs, crime and what not would have done worse and those, somewhat isn't normal anymore.
Joys:
1) Not having to go through yet another heartache, after heartaches. Lazy yes, but then again, I'm not known to be able to handle my emotions anyway.
2) Being able to claim my insurances having only paying for it for about 1 year. Hahaha..Too bad I can't use any of the money.
3) That I have survived the urges of being evil and being materialistic. However as long as I still live, I will continue to fight against these influences.
Hmmm, looks like I have fewer joys than regrets..
Need work...Lots of work..
Regrets:
1) Not leaving my legacy of the musical pieces in my mind. I should really start writing them down but procrastination and a severe lack of theory is making it tougher and tougher. Not to mention I think because I'm stil keeping them in my mind for so long, I have lost the ability to make new ones, as I keep going back to my previous melodies/themes.
2) Not having visited Gua Niah, which frankly speaking is the only real place I want to visit. Mainly because it is/was the largest natural cave in the world and it's right smack in my own country (though seperated by the South China Sea).
3) Not finding someone to love who will love me. For the man that I am and the woman that she is.
4) Having my parents live past my life. This I believe is the worst thing a normal child can do to their parents. Normal because a child that is already doing drugs, crime and what not would have done worse and those, somewhat isn't normal anymore.
Joys:
1) Not having to go through yet another heartache, after heartaches. Lazy yes, but then again, I'm not known to be able to handle my emotions anyway.
2) Being able to claim my insurances having only paying for it for about 1 year. Hahaha..Too bad I can't use any of the money.
3) That I have survived the urges of being evil and being materialistic. However as long as I still live, I will continue to fight against these influences.
Hmmm, looks like I have fewer joys than regrets..
Need work...Lots of work..
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