233. Finally, some time for myself

Trip Report

Sunday
Well, let's start by summarizing the trip. It was really fun. On the way to our hotel, we passed by a few car showrooms. 2 caught my attention. One was the Jaguar showroom, they have a XJ220 on display and the other is Ferrari. They have the Enzo on display. Gosh, this speaks volumes on the buying power here. :) But then again, they have their Anti Money Laundering Office nearby :D How ironic.

The Ferrari and Maserati showroom. I didn't get a chance to take the photo of the Enzo displayed

The Anti Money Laundering Office - which was near our hotel

This is our first day here, so there was a lot of shopping and massages (at RM40 for 2 hrs, it's darn worth it). The food is cheap and good (not the fancy restaurants la).

A shrine in the middle of the shopping district

While roaming around town, we stumbled upon Hard Rock Bangkok. We decided to hang out there while waiting for my Singapore boss to show up. We had our dinner there. I must say, it's odd to see so many pork items on the menu. Of course, I had to order the Bacon sandwich. :) The live band there was excellent and it wasn't even the house band. Apparently the house band is off on Sundays. They had an promotional offer for Coke. 120 Baht and it's free refills the whole nite and u can keep the souvenier glass it's served in. Of course I had to get that too. :) My Singapore boss and another colleague finally showed up at about 11ish. We stayed till about 12 and headed back to the hotel. I'll spare you guys the SPG stories.

Hard Rock Bangkok

My Hard Rock/Coke glass

Monday
Woke up early and had breakfast. The Taxi won't be here till about 11. So after breakfast we actually walked around the shopping mall next to our hotel. The taxi was punctual and we set off to visit my customer. It was a long drive. about 2 hours or so. Along the way, we asked our driver to take us to some place for lunch. We told him specifically to take us to a local joint, no fancy restaurants. He took a turn off the highway we had our makan in a "hut" beside a river infested with giant monitor lizards. The food was indeed excellent. We had a prawn ommelette, a mixed seafood tomyam, a deep fried fish and a steamed fish ala thai. All for just RM40. What a deal.

The view from our hut and National Geographic Special, these buggers are about 5 feet long

Further along the way, we passed some "paddy" fields with windmills. I asked the driver what are they, he said they're actually salt fields. But he don't know what the windmills are for though.

Pictures of the Salt "mines" and the windmill

After the customer visit, we headed back to the hotel, but along the way, the driver asked if we wanted massage. Of course we did! :) We made sure he understands we want JUST the massage and nothing else. Again, he took us to a dodgy place somewhere in town. It's a tad expensive, at RM65 for 2 hrs, but it was the best massage I had so far. My boss and Wee disagreed. They hated it. Hmmm, there must be something wrong with my taste. Oh well, who cares, I felt good and that's all that matters :P

Met up with our customer for dinner in Bangkok. Went to this restaurant called Somboon Seafood. They even have valet parking. Even the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi came here before. The food was really good as expected. Again, it was a whole load of food. Oysters, Crabs, Squids, Vege, Pork Claws and so on. Some how the pineapple rice was more fragrant than the ones we have here.

Mr Junichiro Koizumi at the Somboon restaurant, there were a lot of Japanese present at the restaurant and they serve sake

After that we adjourned for a little drinking at a local place, didn't get the name. Guess old ppl are not that happening. The Thai Disco in Singapore was more "shocking" that this place.

Early nite as well, have to wake up early tomorrow as the customer we're visiting is further than the one yesterday.

Tuesday
Woke up same time for breakfast and again headed out to see the customer. Today will be a quiet day as we'll be headed straight to the airport hotel after the customer visit. So there'll be nothing going on :( no massages nothing.

Today's driver was a very blur old man. He wasn't even sure where we're going. We had to stop and ask for directions. Gosh. We finally got to our customer's place. After the meeting we headed to the Asia Airport Hotel. When we arrived, we discovered that it's situated on a shopping complex. Much like the Berjaya Hotel at Midvalley or Midlands. But this seems like an IT mall. All all they sell are IT stuff.

Had dinner at a restaurant in the mall itself. The food wasn't anything spectacular except for the pork shoulder. It taste like taiwanese sausage actually. Spent the evening there shopping. but in the end, just bought a mouse pad as nothing else is worth it.

The 30 Baht mouse pad

Everything closed by 8:30pm. That leaves a lot of time at my hands. Good thing there was a thunder storm approaching and there are a lot of planes landing. The only problem is my camera ran out of battery before I could catch any really good shots. Damn it! So what is a guy to do in a hotel room? :) Well, I took the "opportunity" to finish reading Tim Allen's book. It's a really funny book.

A picture of the approching thunder storm. Would've gotten a few great shots if not for my dying battery

A picture of a plane (high on the right) coming in for landing in the darkness of nite

Wednesday
Woke up at 4am for our flight. The rest of the day was a blur. Wanted to sleep early, but Sally gave birth so will have to visit her in the Hospital. Pang Kok and her decided to name their child Enzo! I'm not kidding you! Enzo! You know age is catching up when your friends are not only married, they are having kids!!!!!


Enzo resting peacefully in his crib

In the few days that I was gone, Ruyi can stand on her own d. My goodness, they do grow up fast.

232. Back, but busy.......

So these 2 short articles will have to do for now. Trip "report" to be up by this weekend. hopefully I still remember what happened :)

today's FUNNY
===========================

During a trial in a small town, a witness was sworn in with her hand on the Bible - the standard admonitions to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help her God.

The witness was a proper, well-dressed, elderly lady - the Grandmother type - well-spoken and poised. The prosecuting attorney approached the woman and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Why, yes I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, cheat on your wife, manipulate people and talk badly about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the sense to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit, paper-pushing shyster. Yes, I know you quite well."

The lawyer was stunned. He couldn't even think for a few minutes. Then, slowly backed away, fearing the looks on the judge and jurors' faces, not to mention the court reporter who documented every word.

Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Why, yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, has a bad drinking problem. The man can't build or keep a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. Yes, I know him."

The defense attorney almost fainted and was seen slipping downward in his chair, looking at the floor. Laughter mixed with gasps, thundered throughout the courtroom, the audience was on the verge of chaos.

The judge brought the courtroom to silence, called both counselors to the bench, and in a very quiet voice said, "If either of you morons asks her if she knows me, you're going to jail."

[forwarded by Pastor Steve]

today's THOT
=================================

On your mark...get set...go away!

=================================

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$ 20.00
Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by
holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,
"Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you
but first, let me do this.
He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"
And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now, who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it
because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives,
we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt
by the decisions we make and
the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or
what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,
you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE.
You are special- Don't EVER forget it."

If you do not pass this on, you may never know the
lives it touches, the hurting hearts it speaks to,
or the hope that it can bring.
Count your blessings, not your problems.

And remember: amateurs built the ark ..
professionals built the Titanic.

If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

YOLANDA MAYERS

231. Been a Mellow fellow

OK, OK, actually just quiet :P Getting ready for my trip to Bangkok. Need to get as much rest as I can so that this tailend of my flu will go away before my trip. Lest it'll be another blur trip. Guess that means an early nite tonite.

230. Farewell for Tan Sri Tun Dr Abu Bakar Alex Levin Sdn. Bhd. (That's what he likes to call himself)

Thot last nite will be another quiet nite, but was informed of the farewell of Alex. He's leaving for Taiwan today and from there back to the US. Totally forgot about that as was stuck in office till about 8ish. It was nice having him around. He'll be back in Feb 06.

Alex, before and after breathing Malaysian air

Also, Raine has started a pool to see who gets Isaac's date of birth correct. Winner takes all :) The closing date is 22nd Oct. Her due date is 29th Nov. :D

The proud mum to be

229. Raine's B'day

We had a surprise b'day dinner for Raine last nite. The whole of Raine's family and ours were there. To keep the element of surprise, Wee actually took her out earlier to Baskin Robbins for a presumably pre dinner appetizer. He told Raine that they're having dinner at Pizza Hut. She actually believed him. Heh Heh.




Everyone was suppose to adjourne to Soho after that, but I opted for a quiet nite at home. Just chillin with some mags I bought from Kinokuniya.

228. My subconscious mind

Tickle's Original Inkblot Test
Reveal Your Subconscious Mind

Woon Hong, your subconscious mind is driven most by Curiosity

This means you are full of questions about life, people, and the potential of your future. You spend more time than others envisioning the possibilities of your life — things that others are too afraid to consider.

Your curiosity burns with an almost physical need to know and do more. It's only through new experiences that you feel a greater understanding of yourself or the world — which ultimately is the greatest way for you to feel satisfied.

It is possible that the underlying reason for your drive towards curiosity is a deeply rooted fear of boredom. That means that you are probably more susceptible than others to feel like you're falling into a rut when life slows down into a comfortable routine.

You need to make sure you have stimulation in your life — that makes you feel like you're innovating or being exposed to the ideas and experiences that truly inspire you.

With such a strong orientation towards curiosity, you're also prone to a rebellious quality that shows up when you feel you are just going through the motions, and are unable to really influence the world around you. But interestingly enough, your drive towards novel experiences also indicates an openness others don't have, but wish they did.

Unconsciously, your curiosity presses you to learn more, experience more, and get the most out of life.

Though your unconscious mind is driven most strongly by Curiosity, there is much more to who you are at your core.

227. A weekend in KL
Saturday

Did managed to go down to KL despite my illness. Diorrhea slowed but nose was having a marathon. I was supposed to pick up something from Sunway, but I'm too sick to bother. Besides, I'm sure I can get them to send it to penang. We reached the Hotel at about 6:30ish. Decided to just chill and have dinner at a ramen restaurant in the lobby. It's pretty good, but bloody expensive. Good thing we're just at the lobby. Halfway thru dinner, I had a diorrhea attack. Had to rush back to the room.

We adjourned to The Matrix to meet up with Vincent and Danny and their respective partners. We managed to catch up and played a few rounds of pool before Arif called Chong.

Since we're just about done with Matrix, we head over to Sunway to meet up with them. They have this new "mamak" place at the Sunway Food Court now. After some chit chat, we adjourned for a drive. Post drive, we went over to a 5 star restaurant near the Sunway Extreme park. Well, when we arrive at the place, I realised that it's called "5 Star" not rated 5 star. Phew!

Went back to the hotel, winding down was interesting. We watched Sumo Wrestling till abt 6am. For once, I have someone explain to me what is going on. Previously, I would've just dozed off. But after understanding who's who and what's wat. It's a tad intersting. But, i'd rather be watching something else.

It was hard to sleep, my nosey was full of mucous. Nice.

Sunday

Arif and Jane was kind enough to pick us up from the hotel to go over to KLCC. This is the first time we actually had time to hang out. Usually, there would've been a big group and it would've been hard to get to know people better. Ann was there as well and after some "probing", she found out that Arif graduated from the same Uni. Gosh! talk about a small world. Other interesting info, Jane is also from Penang and lives a few streets from me. She also knows a lot of my college mates and still keeps in touch with them.

Well, all good things must come to an end. It was a good weekend despite the illness. But I reckon it's because of the illness that I was more passive. :) Good thing too, otherwise, I wouldn't have made a few new friends.

The drive back was rather mundane. At least till the midspan of the bridge. My car started to tremble and cough. Gosh, must've been my damn fever and flu. Managed to nurse her back home. Turned her off and took a quick shower before turning myself off.

______________________________

My Random Thots:

Hmmm, just when you think everything is going well, life throws you a curve ball. Oh well! Strike 2, no worries, I still have one more to go. Even then, there's always next year. Life goes on.

226. I didn't even eat anything!

How come there are things to "purge"? My goodness. Took some medication as the lau sai didn't stop. Wonder if I'll feel better in the afternoon. If not, I reckon I'll call the trip off.

225. Lepaking before Yew Peng flies off..........

...............to the land of the rising sun. We just hung out a bit last nite, though he was anxious to get back home coz he hasn't packed yet. Of course we dragged him out as late as we can. Heh heh.

Diorrhea will be the order of the day. Been going to the loo a couple of times today. Probably from the mamak food last nite and bad lunch I had today. :( Hopefully I'm well enough tomorrow for the drive to KL.

224. I'm slightly nerdy!

No! Really! I have proof!





________________________________

My Random Thots:

Recently my face has become very oily. I think I'm reaching puberty. Wonder when my voice will break :D

223. Yikes!

Anthony is leaving today so we had a little gathering last nite at The Grand Bay Cafe. We stayed till 1:30am and I'm a bit tired and groggy today. Also managed to get my hands on a taser. Won't keep it for long though. Will get rid of it soon :)

This is a link to a video of a police officer getting shot by a Tazer in back.

A website that sells advanced tasers



A shot of the Tazer

222........

Saturday

After work on Sat, rushed over to E&O for a talk by Tun Lim Chong Eu on the current state of Penang and her future. Went over to One Stop to buy some DVDs and shopping for a new PC. Bought a couple of DVDs.
1) The Longest Yard
2) Crash
3) Initial D
4) Lost - The complete 1st season

Anthony's Bro, Alan is celebrating his 1st wedding annuversary with a BBQ at his house. Think I'll head up to Batu Ferringhi to get more DVDs since it's cheaper there.

Was up at Batu Ferringhi and thot I'll have a quick bite at Nando's first. The off to shop. Found the DVDs i was looking for. Initial D: Stage 1 Disc 6,7,8,9,10 & 11. Then also bought Rob Thomas' CD. Ran into Belle there. That was a surprise.

Headed over to Antz's place for the BBQ. After that to Soho to meet with Seng and Wee.

Sunday

Went over to KB for a movie fest at Chong's place. Finished The longest yard. Nice show. Crash on the other hand was a bit disturbing. Basically it's a show about bigotry.

Then went over to Autocity to meet Jack and Ann for dinner. Of all the days to go there. They were having a Moto GP show there and it was packed! Darn! Oh well, since we were there already, we decided to stay longer to avoid the jam. We headed over to Secret Recipe and hung out till closing time.

221. Mikey's Funny

It's been a long time since I featured an article from Mikey's. This is a good one.

Mikey Today's "FUNNY"
===========================

Many years ago in a small village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender.

The moneylender, who was an awful, mean man, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag.

Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field.

What would you have done if you were the girl?

If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.

What would you recommend to the Girl to do?

Well, here is what she did ....

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

[forwarded by Johanna Kenaga]

Today's THOT
============================

Honor is a gift a man gives himself. (A woman, too, of course...)

=======================================

220. My Stash of Cash

The Govt announced that the RM1 coin will be taken out of circulation on Dec 7th. So here's my stash that I've accumulated over the years :)

219. Calvin & Hobbes

218. Tranquility

Spent Sunday evening at home watching F1 with Wee, Seng, Raine & Edmund. Ordered pizza as well for snack. Ferrari had a "strong" finish of 10th and 12th at their home grand prix at Imola. Sigh. Gone are the days of their dominance.

Got bored staying at home, so went to town to meet up with Jack, Anthony, Ann and Jia Li. Went to Haagen Daaz and then wanted to go to Bed, but we were wayyyy underdressed for that. So we went over to Sega instead. Gosh, everybody was so dressed up at Bed, even on a sunday nite.

Monday was equally uneventful. Worked in the car a bit and and just lazed around at home after that.

Wonder what today holds :) so far, so quiet!

Stayed home and just chill out. Seng bought back mee goreng for supper, after that I retired to my room and thought I'd catch up on my reading. Too many things on my mind. Clouded.

Another good excerpt from Tim Allen's book:

"The older you get, the more you realize there are fewer absolutes in the world and more perspectives. Stereotypes do describe the more common occurances, but not always."

__________________________________

My Random Thots:

I can remember back when I see things in black and white. Absolutes. Right or wrong. One action can only be right or wrong. But now, there are shades of gray. It's a new "language" that I've learnt. Interestingly, it has helped me to be more sympathetic. A side effect of this is it makes forgiveness easier.

217. BBQ again

We had BBQ at Howe's place at 7:00 last nite. It was a small gathering and the food was awesome. The Beef steaks and Lamb are standard issue, but on top of that we had prawns, salmon, squid, salad, dips (made by Raine), corn, sausages, sweet potatoes, bla bla bla. What was amazing was the cream caramel dessert made by Cheryl and the chocolate cake by Mabel. Yummy. Everybody brought a bottle of wine and that means there's plenty to go around. Phew! Howe also brought out his box of cigars. Gosh!

After the food, Dan brought out his box of chips (Casino Chips not the snack) from the states. And Mandy was nice enough to go and buy us a few deck of cards. Casino Howe is open for business :) No money was involved but chips of course ;)


A scene from last nite of the knights of the round table

After that went over to Gurney Plaza's Sega to meet up with the guys and hung out till about 2 and off to Green House for supper. That was heck of a nite. Found out that I now have 2 new nick names. BB Ham and Widescreen(aka 16:9 or Plasma). Neither are complimentary. :(

Oh, tonite is also the end of the month of the hungry ghosts.

Sunday
Me will spend today quietly to prepare for work tomorrow.... ....maybe not :)

216. Black out!

I didn't realise how dependant I am on internet at home. It seems that there's was a problem with Steamyx last nite and it affected (at least from my own "research") my whole resident area. The dumb thing is, I thought it was my dumb PC's wifi card (coz it happened before) until I took out my laptop and realised that even it can't get online. Spent the rest of the nite cleaning the room, watching Rockstar: INXC and catching up on my reading. Suited me just fine.

Today work was nothing to shout about. Was bored, so decided to leave office earlier and accompany Wee and Raine to the hospital for their routine check up (Hey! I was bored ok). They asked if I wanted to go in to the room with them to see the ultra sound scan. I was taken a back by the question yet I was curious to see what ultra sound scan looks like. I could wait until I'm married and accompany my wife, but I'm impatient. So I went with them into the Doctors room.

After the first few lines of conversation between the good doctor and Raine, I realise my mistake but they've already locked the doors and 2 nurses are standing guard at the door (I'm not making this up). The nurses are also blocking the chair I'm seated in so much so that I can't even stand up without rolling over her leg (again, I'm not making this up). Well, after all the milk and position questions, we finally move on to the movie show. It was interesting this ultra sound scan. I could hardly make out anything on the screen while the doctor blabbers away about how his thigh bone is 5cm, his head is how big and he weights 1.1Kg, that's his liver, here's the heart. To me, it was all border line white noise :P OK, that I exaggerated.

That was an experience. Well, at least now I'll be better prepared when it's actually my turn :P It's nice to see them so excited about their new baby. Makes me wonder............

In the evening, went to Soho with Wee. Old church friends are meeting for Sup Kambing at Penang Road. Guess I shall drop by for a while. It was good to see the whole bunch. Brought back memories. Giden paid for all the meal coz it was his b'day treat. :) Too bad I wasn't hungry. After that, went back to meet Wee and finished off the nite at 3am.


Outing with old buddies from church