December Round-Up

Been a busy month here & tat's why the non-updates of blog posts. Now it's reaching the end of the year. There's the Bangkok airport closure at beginning of the month, creating much needed business for our KLIA airfreight business, Mahikari Tai Jamboree held last weekend, Thiru's beautiful wedding in Cyberview Lodge Cyverjaya and upcoming Langkawi trip with the Akurians tomorrow...Can't sleep well now....

More posts will be coming soon after I'm back and...

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

Obituary - Yip Kok Choong (1945 - 2008)

This post is specially dedicated to Mr Yip Kok Choong, or rather Uncle Yip to most of us

Uncle Yip was called home by the Lord on 31 October 2008 at 12.25am at the Kwong Wah hospital in Hong Kong after a debilitating illness. A year ago, he was diagnosed with a degenerative illness that affected his motor system.

Despite of the gradual deterioration of his health & capacity to move, he persevered in his work and assumed his responsibilities with as much care and commitment up to his last breath. I believe this is the desire that he possessed to help the society touched many people from all over the world in one way or another. Countless condolence messages came from people from all walks of life around the globe in the memorial blog http://www.yipkc.blogspot.com/ Visits from hundreds of people in the memorial service held in HK & KL last week clearly showed how much he has touched everybody's life in one way or another. This just make me feel proud to be able to know him in person.

Knew Uncle Yip, probably since I'm seven or eight. He was the general secretary of YMCA Kuala Lumpur then & at the same time, being a godfather of sorts to my sis, who has her early deaf educations in YMCA. We still keep in touch even after he moved to Hong Kong to serve as secretary general at regional level Asia Alliances of YMCAs, mainly bcos he's also the husband to my sis's mentor/godmother, Aunty Lucy. There is this special relationship between our family and both Uncle Yip & Aunty Lucy that I can safely say that we're like family members.

Working wise, his reputation is second to none. Well known for spending long hours in office & his life is practically about his works in YMCA. I've heard that even during his last days, he still insists on going to office to attend board meetings....Widely travelled to countries around the world, naturally number of friends spread far & wide too. Being one of the founder members of the YMCA International Deaf HH Camp held every 2 years, he contributed immensely to the deaf society in Malaysia & regional level, not to mention his contributions in other areas such as human rights, poverty eradication etc. I can still remembered those days (my younger days) during the annual Parent Support Group family trips (held for families with deaf children) when Uncle Yip was encouraging parents & children. He always insists on importance of family unity.

Uncle Yip is incredibly down to earth & modest despite holding high positions in office. He loves being around with people & looking for good food whenever he's in town, especially hanging around in mamak or kopitiam in Brickfields. Those kopitiam uncles & aunties in Brickfields will have lots to say bout him. Those makan-makan trips to Tanjung Tualang, Selayang, Port Klang etc & our times with him in Hong Kong shall remains memorable moments to me. Being a joker, he loves teasing people, especially Aunty Lucy with his cynical jokes.

There's a Malay idiom saying "When a tiger dies, it leaves its stripes. When a person passed on, he leaves his legacy behind". That's our Uncle Yip. His works & contributions in his areas of work shall remains as example to be followed for many generations to come. His presence among us all will be sorely missed. And I'm sure God has His plans for him in heaven.

Uncle Yip, may You rest in peace...

Kawe pergi Kelate...

What did u do when ur struggling to cope with stress in a fast paced city? De-stress urself in a slow-paced city with a laidback style, or better still celebrating a happy occasion with bunch of cheerful ppl there...that's what practically happened last month.

Went with several Mahikari Youths to be part of a beautiful wedding of Hock Shai & Li Lian back in Shai's hometown Kuala Krai, Kelantan. Geographically, it's 64 km south of Kota Bahru about 1.5 hours drive by road from the state capital. With wide choices of tranportation modes available, all of us went like in 3 different routes thru Air Asia (that's my group) & Malaysia Airlines by air and another group by car. Upon arrival, Shai arranged for his relatives to pick us up & drive down to Kuala Krai. Our car went to Pasir Mas first for "ayam percik" (a nationwide famous grilled chicken with specially marinated sauce) as someone was craving for it & need it fast. How to know more of a newly found place & its people? Learn of its local dialect from the local people of cos. Took a crash course Kelantanese Malay during the journey to Kuala Krai, thanks to tutoring from Shai's brother. It is well known that the Malay spoken in Kelantan is "kao kao pekat". "Kawe dah lapor, nak make ayam percik. Demo nak make??" (I'm hungry, wanna have ayam percik. U wanna have some?)

Heavenly "ayam percik". Still tastes delicious even when it's cold

Arrived 1.5 hours later to find the M'sia Airlines gang waiting at the pre wedding gathering at Shai's house. By 6pm, everyone has arrived & enjoying the tradional Thai dish, "kaojam". The guys hang out with the groom till late nite. The gals went back to a rented house with the bride. Woke up little early & found time to chat with Shai's uncles while waiting for others to wake up. U see, everythin seems to be so foreign in Kelantan even if ur speaking the native Hokkien with the locals there. The local Hokkien seems to have the mixture of some Siamese & Kelantanese Malay influences in it & difficult to understand at first, but the message is still understood in the end..:)

Finally arrived at groom's longhouse style home in Kuala Krai

Having a try of Thai-made Tiger & Chang beers

By 9 am, everyone was ready & moved to pick up the bride. Guys have prepared for any circumstances, posed by the gals at the house. CY even bought his "kachang" (Japanese sword used in kendo martial sports), just in case the "negotiation" turn violent. For this time around, challenges posed are much lighter, compared to other weddings before this. Thank you gals..:) We are made to eat pancakes & drink Milo. All of them added with chillies or certain spicy spices I think. Groom was then made to drink bowl of supersour lemon juice before allowed entry into bride's room.

Am I ready? I Think I am!! Do I?? Probably I do..

The compulsory tea ceremony was held before we went back to groom's home for another tea ceremony & prayer etc. Had nasi dagang & other local dishes, catered for lunch. Hang out for a while in the house before some of us went back to KL. My group went back to the rented home to take a short nap as our flight back home was at night. Had tomyam + Chinese dinner in Kota Bahru before flying back to KL.

Lunch - Nasi dagang & local dishes

Group photo with some of the remaining peeps after wedding

With Mr & Mrs Teo...

Work Work Work

Dunno what am I thinkin about but tis is the first post about my career. Just that, nv wrote about it & so, why not this time? Whenever I said I'm in a freight forwarding industry, people will give that blank stare and the synonymous "Huh?? Freight what?" And my typical answer (simple one as not to confuse them further) will be like "U know DHL or Fedex?? We're somethin like that, just that we're focused more on industrial sector." So, let tis post enlightens u peeps' ehh??

Currently working in this company called Nippon Express Malaysia Sdn Bhd for 5.5 years now, stationed in its KLIA airport branch in the import department. Company quite a big thing in Japan where they're almost equilvalent to Pos Malaysia and there's also offices & agents all over the major countries in 5 continents. Check out the website http://www.nipponexpress.com/ Back in M'sia, our airfreight division is the top forwarder in M'sia for 8 years in the row now. And being a Jap company, naturally majority of our clienteles boast of Japanese biggies & other SMEs. Wonder if there's any commissions of sorts for promoting the company in this blog...hehheeehe

So, the simple process in our department will be like getting the imported goods out from the flights, clear them in customs & deliver to clients asap. Sounds easy, but with almost 250 staffs in KLIA office & almost 70 staffs in import department alone plus volatility of the industry, every passing day is a challenge & of cos, new experiences to gain. Being in a managerial level, nv that I imagine that I could actually practice what I've learnt before. Studied Business Admins majoring in Marketing, it is a wonderful God arrangement for me to practice this on daily basis. Will talk in details in future post. Being a 24/7 company, phones ringing during wee hours in the morning is pretty normal routine. Not to mention also the stress level which can reach up to ur head (to almost explosion level) during peak & critical times, having to attend to multiple demands (sometimes ridiculous) of multinational companies despite of existence of uncontrollable factors in weather, political, economical & other areas.

Of cos there are funny memorable experiences too, besides the forgettable bad ones. Earlier this year, we need to clear a newly arrived dog from Japan & to deliver to its owner in Johor Bahru. Our new Jap manager was monitoring closely due to the dog owner is a MD for one of the major clients. All necessary customs & health documentations were in order with special handling requests were in place as well. All that we were told is its a 4 years old St Bernard and it requires at least air-conditioned surroundings for its logistics. Refrigerated truck is a no-no or the owner's best friend will be freezed to death. Arranged an Avanza though to carry the dog to JB. However when the dog arrived, everybody were shocked & tis Jap panicked. Nv thought a 4 years old St Bernard (let's call it Bernie) can be so huge sized. When Bernie stands, it almost as tall as myself. Naturally the cage was too big to be fitted into the Avanza & arranging a bigger van will take another 2 hours at least. With the humid weather, the logistics will need to be done fast. The best option is to release Bernie & get it to sit in the passenger seat and dissemble the cage. Probably being new to the environment, Bernie was stubborn & not wanting to get into the van. Thank goodness, Bernie finally relented & even agreed to put on seat belt (good dog!!) I could have taken photos of that as it looked cute in it !!! hehehe

There's many more stories later & stay tuned ya....

Kelate...

Been looking for reasons to visit Kelantan for years & finally got one when Shai & Li Lian is getting married back in his hometown, Kuala Krai this month. Congratulations to both Mr & Mrs Teo !!! Tried hard to look for the place in the map but to no avail. Upon checking in the Net, tis place is located 64km south of the state capital, Kota Bahru. And yes, got to know the famous designer Zang Toi hailed from this sleepy town as well...


Got myself to fly to Kota Bahru by Air Asia at bargain price at RM 159.00 for return trip. I love u, Tony Fernandes & I still thinks ur the best candidate for Transport Minister post in the soon-to-formed new government ehehee. Can somebody suggests non-politician civilians to be allowed to vie for Minister post as well?? Anyway, shall blog bout tis trip soon when the time comes...

B-Day...

Many of u asked how did I celebrate my belated B-day last weekend. What I've done? Nothin much actually...just drinks+B-day countdown with the Akurians, spending quality times with beloved families, futsal with Mahikari Youths, seafood dinner & a surprise gatecrash from the Youths at my home. All done in a simple way. Might sounds boring but it's meaningful.

Was in Mamak Bistro's SS 14, Subang Jaya on Sat nite for drinks with the Akurians. Earlier, Maj, Theva, Nei & myself went for this baby naming ceremony (somethin like a full moon party for baby aged one month old) for Siva's daughter. Congrats to the new father & mother. Baby does look as beautiful as her name, Manushrii Sai. Got catched up with some old skool mates in the same party, some of them were totally unseen for last 10 years. Talked cock, especially bout the coming Langkawi trip this December. Already has our imaginary tour schedule..this getting me more excited waiting for the day. We celebrated my B-day after midnight with teh tariks instead of the usual surprise pranks, thank goodness everybody wanna have a break for now at least....

Baby + gang

Woke up the next day to find my sis getting gung-ho about baking cake. She's pretty into this baking practice nowadays. Mum & bro joined sis to make orange cheese together. Dad & myself gladly made way...not that we're lazy, just that we're more of the food connoiseurs type. We only taste food eheheh. Cake turned out well & it was not bad...Well done sis & keep it up. Next in the menu, chocolate moist cake okay??

In a fishing village near Klang Esplanade with family

Later on had seafood dinner in Klang Esplanade in a Hainanese fishing village restaurant called "Bagan Hailam Seafood Restaurant". Bountiful of seafood served at reasonable price. Our "Sweet & Sour Crab" were quite good. Other than that, nothin extraordinary to enable a repeat trip. Thought day was over until got a sudden call from Hikari, informing of him & "few frens" wanting to visit our house. Little that I knew there's 15 of the Youths came gatecrashed into my home bringing along a Gardenia cake with candles. Hanged out for a while & played game of "Mafia". Although it does looked like a last minute planning, it was a pleasant surprise to see sooo many of u celebrating with me & appreciated the efforts.

Surprise cake

Thanks guys / gals for the company...

Each one of us have an idea of his/her dream birthday celebration be it dining, partying, flying in a helicopter etc. Mine only is to celebrate the day with my loved ones. Type of activity is just secondary in nature. Call me being emotionally old fashioned, out of touch, conservative or whatever...but just tell me what makes a more beautiful day than celebrating one of your most significant day in your life with your loved ones?? Anythin more than that (eg surprises, gifts from your frens etc) are great blessings given by God. And I'm pleased to say it was beautiful celebration each year as far as I can remember. Imagine this, looking at the sight of watching sis & bro arguing over what ingredients to use for the cake, the jokes/stories by old mates, loud laughters by the youths & even just simple sms & Facebook wishes (u know who u are!!)....you just cant stop thanking Him for bringing these beautiful people into ur life. Thanks again to all from the bottom of my heart...

Btw, would like to wish all my Muslim bro's & sista SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI....

Fish Spa !!

It's a trend in Klang Valley now that everybody frequent the fish spa. Originated from Middle East, the fishes ate our dead cells & said to help in healing many skin diseases...been wanting to give it a try for some times & it's only until recently that Ray & myself went to one in Subang Parade to give it a try...

RM 38 for half hour dip, quite pricey but gave in for the sake of having some ticklish experiences..Little that I knew this will be one of my tickliest, most geli experiences ever...First 10 minutes was a session of loud laughings. Thank God we're the only customers around then. By the 15th minutes, we're quite settled down & took times to take loads, loads of photos...By the time of full 30 minutes, legs felt numb but better after a while. Any difference to the legs?? Probably session too short for us to judge...a longer one hour session next time maybe??..Enjoy the photos below:

The sample fish that's gonna eat our legs...nah!! Just for exhibition

They are coming....

Now they're all over !!

A view from under...

A first-time visitor looking for ticklish sensation & got more than he bargained for!!!

51 Years of Progress or What??

Our nation celebrated its 51st year of independence recently on August 31. However, recent events of our politicians making fuss over racial issues in public, which completely ignored the feelings of the ordinary people like u and me. Just make everyone thinking where are we actually heading to after 51 years of so-called de-colonisation & freedom of outside interferences.
Not wanting to highlight any particular incident of so-called being insensitive to other races, the question is are we still that shallow-minded despite of 51 years of independence. Come on lahh, 51 years and those people still dont know what to speak & what not to speak, especially when ur in public? Dont ur mum teach u about adab & budi bahasa (manners & decorum)??

Nation building indeed a tough & takes long winding roads to complete it. Historical facts showed it takes generations for people mindset to change & accepting them. It takes 3 centuries for America to recognise the equal rights for the black people, thanks to a certain Martin Luther King. And now, they're having Barack Obama, an African-American as candidate for president. Does this showed our nation is still too young & our people still too naive to recognise equality among people? Will it takes us centuries for our people to start respecting each other like ur own blood? Read an article (cant remember whom) and it said something like "Our skins maybe of different colours but inside us, our blood are of same colour. Our physical bodies maybe different but our souls are one"

Glad that my life was filled with beautiful, colourful people from all walks of life. And I thanked God for letting me having these people in my life. Certainly few childish,stupid statements from some donkeys wouldnt change my thoughts that there's indeed still hope for the us. Hope for people to change. Hope for people for accept. Hope for people to learn to love & respect. And hope gotta be followed up with actions for its to be fulfilled. Question now is what can we do for a start to make a change. As said earlier in my last post, it's all starts from us. We need to make the changes ourselves by practicing ourselves. Learn to respect if u wanna be respected. Learn to care if u wanna be cared for. Learn to love if u wanna be loved. Learn to be considerate if u want others to be considerate towards u......enough said.

August Round-Up

Been a while since last time updating the blog. One blink & August is no more and September is here now. Browsing thru all the happenings in the month & there's Beijing Olympics running for almost a month, the mother of all by-elections in Permatang Pauh, Penang; Jun Tai In Yokoshi training and Merdeka day.

Opening & closing ceremonies were out of the world, as they said. Sparkling performances from athletes from multiple sports awed the world & seems as if they originated from another planet. If Michael Phelps is a country, his 8-gold performance in swimming would have put him ninth in the medal standing. And our very own Lee Chong Wei left reeling from the one-sided badminton final match loss against Lin Dan, missing out on the gold medal & the RM1 million reward. And we will need to wait another 4 years for another hope & aspiration for the precious one. Kudos for him though for bringing back the silver. Usain Bolt, mark this name now for he shall be the next athletic superstar after the legendary Carl Lewis & Michael Johnson. Astonishing world record 9.69 sec in the century dash & it could be made lower, judging from Bolt's comment "It wasn't my best performance". And sexy pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayaeva's hobby could well be breaking world records. London 2012 organising committee members will now be under pressure to match Beijing's outstanding organisational displays. And I'll be eagerly waiting if Sir Alex Ferguson actually coaches the Great Britain football team in 4 years time in Wembley.

And of cos, there's the Jun Tai In Yokoshi training held successfully over 6 days in KL Dojo with then theme "Know Yourself". Special thanks to June & Hon for their efforts during this training and not to mention, Taicho & Vice Taichos'. Personally, it was a tiring journey, having to travel everyday to KL from my working place in airport. However, upon looking at the participants' bright faces, the tiredness just went off. It has been a pleasure getting to share knowledges & experiences with those peeps. There's 6 of them. Put it this way, it was a learning journey for both leaders & members. From the activities & upon observation, each of them has shown potentials to be of someone who can contribute to society and it makes me more motivated & eager to help them to unearth their potential & eventually, getting to know themselves. Apparently, one of the member popped a question "How can I make a difference to the society when the whole world is currently full of chaos & being materialistic?" As Al Gore said in his groundbreaking presentation "An Inconvenient Truth", it all starts from us, ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King & Nelson Mandela started alone & held their beliefs despite of massive challenges & life threatening barriers. They moved & inspired people with their beliefs & actions, even if 2 of them are no longer around. It's about putting into actions what we think is right & no turning back after the first step. The only choice is to move forward.

Not talking about Merdeka (Independence Day) in August could be seen as doing injustice to the country. August 31 was the date & went to Curve the nite before for the countdown party. Honestly, the response of the nationwide celebration of the 51st Merdeka this year is rather lukewarm. No more Merdeka ads on TV, with the exception of Petronas. Hardly seen any cars flying at least the mini-national flag on road. Cant blame the people though, costs of living is increasing and we're seeing never-ending political circus going on in the local scene. And the frustrating part is no one seems to be bothering looking at the needs of the ordinary people, especially the middle class group (which forms the largest income group in the country). Who will have the mood to celebrate then? Anyway, we observed the fireworks & here posted a photo of it, which hopefully signify a spark in the local scene in the next 3 months before end of the year.

Chelsea is Here !!

Top EPL team, Chelsea (or rather Chelski) was here in KL last week as part of their Asian tour. And I was there to witness them played against the Malaysian national team in Shah Alam stadium, Selangor. Let me clarify here that this does not mean being a traitor for watching other team, besides your favourite team plays. People just dun understand & jumped the gun asking questions like "Ei !!! Ur an Arsenal fan, why the heck ur watching Chelsea game!!!??" Let me tell u ppl out there, my heart & soul is always for Arsenal but tell me how many times u can watch world class football stars live in actions here in our own backyard. It's the love of the "beautiful game" that pulled everyone making their presence to the game. Bet that most of the 60,000 fans present were not Chelsea fans though.

It has been a while since the last time stepped into a stadium. There, I went to Shah Alam on Tuesday evening together with my baby sis (just back from Canada) and 2 Tai's sidekicks Hikari & Tony. Ticket costs us RM83.00 each & settled into seats overlooking the entire field. Tip for newbies to a stadium on your first visit: Spend big on the tickets & u will never regret on the views ur bound to have..:) Chelsea came with their first team players, with the exeception of the injured Didier Drogba. Cech, Terry, Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Shevchenko, Anelka & many others...they are all there.

Match Preview:

Nothing to talk about actually. Even a six years old would have correctly predicted the outcome for the match. All the footie fans wanna see are the Chelsea players to show glimpses of their skills, some goals and of course the Malaysian players (who comprises of Under 23 players with mixture of experienced elders) to show them "Malaysia Boleh" spirit with fighting performance. Put it tis way, Chelsea is here for global marketing purposes besides warming up for coming season & Malaysia to accomodate the Blues with a match during their tour. Period

Match Highlights:

Chelsea players took some time to warm up & nearly shocked with a near miss by Malaysian player, Amirul Hadi in the 2nd minute. After that, it was Chelsea all the way, gaining possession for almost entire duration of the match. Deco, particularly was impressive & nearly scored with a subline volley, only to be denied by an acrobatic save by Malaysian keeper, Helmi Eliza. Expect to hear more from him in the coming EPL footie season. Goals from Nicolas "Le Sulk" Anelka & Ashley Cole wrapped up the game for the Blues. The fantastic show by Malaysian keeper, with some superb saves kept the scoreline down & respectable for the national team.

Match Review:
Despite showing some silky skills, Chelsea players clearly were not playing at their best. Probably the horrendous pitch condition caused the Blues to hold back to avoid injuries. Even at half pace, Malaysian players were simply no match to their world class counterparts, exposing the huge gap between the standard of both teams. Nevertheless, the fearless performance shown by the Malaysian players was to be admired. The defenders & goalie could proudly said they had a decent match. At least Scolari said it was a good warm up match, with the locals giving his players a tough time. All the locals need are more match exposures to gain better match temperament & improve on their understanding.

Expect more EPL teams to hop over here in near future. Never mind they're here for the $$$, but what the heck? EPL is now the most popular & commercialised football league in the world, thanks to supports rendered from people at this part of the world. The teams ought to be here in South East Asia at least to show their appreciations to the fans.

Teams before the start

The fans in droves

Now that he got the ball, he's wondering where to go next...

Michael Essien making his run from his own area

Baby sis & me

Ronaldo Leaves United

Stumbled upon these videos in Youtube, referring to the recent speculation of Ronaldo joining Real Madrid. Freaking funny if ur a footie fan, no offence to the Manchester United fans though...enjoy !!!

Operation: Ray's Surprise

Prime Target: Raymond Choy
Mission: Surprise Party+Holy Water Festival for the B-boy
Date: 28th June 2008

Venue: The target's base in SS 14, Subang Jaya

Executioners: Fellow Akurians + moles in the target's circle (his gf+parents)

As stated above, the mission has successfully taken place in the designated place of execution, thanks to the support of all involved parties, either directly or indirectly. At the time of this blog is written, it is reliably said that the target has yet to recover fully from his still-shocked mind from the sudden ambush; just like George Bush pondering what & how it hit him after 911. Not goin to waste time to get into details of what went on during the operation. 2 blogs has precisely explain the details of all the happenings before, during & after the operation and u ppl stole some of my lines. Too much duplication then if I am to explain again... Just check out the target's blog http://www.reimondsblog.blogspot.com/ or Majidah's http://whereinsoever.wordpress.com/. So to u both, I demand 5% royalties for promoting ur blogs here. Not asking too much rite?

Looking back at all the plannings prior to the big day, frankly it was the best surprise party plan we've came out with in years which I thought Sun Tzu will be very proud at. Hold a minute...did we actually plan surprises before this year? For these recent surprise thingy for our clan members, we got foam sprays, super oily whipped creams with cakes, water...just can't imagine what comes after this....If ur looking at tis, Ray...it's all started in Pangkor and yes, u got ur due...:) Hope u enjoyed it & etched in ur mind for a long time. Whatever way we do it, all being done as the way it used to be long waaaaayayyyy back, just like the old days. No ill intentions, no ulterior motives, just plain, old fashioned pranks for our beloved frens to have memorable moments. Meanwhile, just enjoyed the photos taken & for those still unaffected of surprise thingy...beware...:)

The group photo

The cake...simply heavenly delicious

The executioners + the prime target

The warzone, full of debris

Oldies Song - I Cannot Like Mehh??

Many a time I was questioned about my love for oldies songs. People actually found it weird for a person in his twenties to have great liking for oldies whereby I should be rooting for hip-hop or R&B. And oldies are meant only for oldies...My answer is simply "Why can't I?". My handphone caller tunes contains of Stevie Wonder"I Just Called To Say I Love You", Andy Williams "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and Shayne Ward "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". My customers thought I was in my forties due to this song choices and my younger colleagues told me to change the tunes for God's sake.

Can't really recall when I started liking those oldies songs. It's probably due to following my parents to many karaoke outings with family frens in my younger days. It's simply because of the originality of the songs & the singers' passion in singing the songs, comparing to the songs today which sounds more or less the same and the singers are almost sound alike. The 60s, 70s and 80s are my top picks for the greatest decades of history of music.

How not to love these evergreen songs which their catchy tunes will keep playing in your head the moment the songs are played. Those will probably be playing on radio for many lifetimes to come. Think of Cliff Richards "Beautiful Sunday", Beatles "Let It Be", Carpenters "Top Of The World", Louis Armstrong "Wonderful World", The Cascades "Rhythm of The Rain", Beach Boys "Kokomo", Bee Gees "Night Fever", Willie Nelson "Always on My Mind" and many others. Push slightly forward to the 80s and we're still enjoying the memorable choruses of songs like Richard Marx "Right Here Waiting", Atlantic Starr "Always", James Ingram "Just Once", Bryan Adams "Everything I Do, I Do It For You", George Michael "Careless Whispers", Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You", Lionel Ritchie "Say You Say Me" etc.

Cover version songs are considered safe bets for most singers today as they are previous hits which can serve as passports for them to penetrate many different age-groups. Although there's many cover version songs by top singers today, personally only barely few actually sing better than the original singers. Dan Fogelberg "Rhythm of The Rain", Jordan Hill "Too Much Heaven" and Shayne Ward "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" are my top three picks of being better than their predecessors, bringing new breathes & dimensions into the songs. We have many versions of "Unchained Melody" but tell me who can actually sing better than original version by The Righteous Brothers? You may think Air Supply & Mariah Carey's version of "Without You" are the best but wait till you listen to Harry Nilsson, the original singer. Who dare say Jessica Simpson is better at singing "Take My Breath Away" than Berlin.

With this, let not question my love for oldies anymore. Try listen to these songs in YouTube & get to appreciate their uniqueness & originalities. Enjoy !!!

Petrol - A Necessity or Luxury?

Just something to laugh about & make u feel better while pumping ur petrol. Might not be funny for some though...

Aftermath Next??

After March 8th 2008, June 4 must be the second most shocking day for most Malaysians in 2008. Petrol prices was increased 78 cents to ridiculously RM2.70 per litre while diesel prices skyrocketed to RM 2.58 per litre, up RM1 from previous price.

I've been bombarded with forwarded emails for whole day, with emails stating of how we were actually cheated by government, how our petrol price can be controlled etc etc. Honestly, those stuffs just don't strike me anymore. Why the cry over split milk? Not that government will turn back its decision despite of the massive outcry by the rakyat, the actual kingmaker who chose the government of the day. In fact, the increase is unevitable, being in line with the increasing world market price of crude oil. We all knew it's going to happen but the rate of increase apparently caught everyone in a shock.

In one report, Idris Jala, MD of Malaysia Airlines said there's actually more than enough of oil supply in the world at the moment but the rising prices are works of speculators. Being an ex-Shell guy added more credentials to his statement. There's some Soros' out there making hell of a profit & there's no one seems to care about stopping this (increasing prices) It's coming....it has happened & nothing we can do to stop it. We just need to move on. The magic question now is - how are the ordinary citizens (that's you & me) goin to move on from here???

This is just the beginning with the impending aftermath of a national level inflation, as predicted by economicians & politicians. Tenaga Nasional has increased its rates of electricity supply. Coupled with the continued rising prices of rice, all basic stuffs in our daily life will bound to cost more with some parties will take full advantage by increasing the prices unnecessarily. The "roti canai" I had for breakfast near my place in SS14 Subang yesterday, now costs me RM1.10 each !!!! Being in an airfreight forwarding industry means I'm in the frontline of the worse hit affected industries. Trucking costs increased two fold in a space of a day. One full tank for a 40-footer trailer now costs RM750.00. Airlines has given hints of increasing fuel surcharges within a month. The most painful truth is being tied to contract agreement with customers, we're unable to divert the increased costs back to them.

Back to the question, it's time to sit down & lists down the things in order to negate the inflation. Let me think about it & share with all next time...

Zhuhai Hop Over

Day 5

We took a charter bus to the Macau bordergate to cross over to Zhuhai. The trip to the mainland from the bordergate is more like hopping from one shopping complex to another. Custom clearance was surprisingly efficient & doesnt' take much of our time. Over to the mainland gate, named Gongbei Port, we were greeted by Angela, the tour guide in charge. We booked tis package tour for one day to bring us to the local tourist destinations plus meals. She looked relieved when she learnt we understand Cantonese, her mother tongue as she looked struggling with her grasp of English.

Even unidentified beings need to follow the local regulations

First stop is the Fisher Girl statue, the city's symbol just like St Paul Ruins to Macau. The statue is composed of granite & 8.7 metres high, placed at the seaside. Stopped over at a local seafood restaurant for seafood lunch. Continue with the visit, we went to the great Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Memorial Park in Zhongshan, somewhere outskirts of Zhuhai city. Here stands Dr.Sun's birthplace & one of his many residences around the world. Besides is a memorial museum, with impressive collections of his works & stories of the his entire life. With great, detailed explanation of each significant event of his colourful life, we spent almost 2 hours to travel back in time & browsed thru the stories. Little that I knew Dr.Sun has a Malaysian second wife.

The life-sized statue of a great icon - Dr.Sun Yat Sen

Next is the underground shopping complex, situated just under Gongbei port at the bordergate. There are several hundreds of shops, many with goods targeted at tourists - clothings & shoes, jade & other jewelleries, electronic gadgets, imitation stuffs etc. We was told to bargain at all times & to bargain hard. Thank goodness Cantonese is the first language here, otherwise wonder how am I goin to bargain in Mandarin!!!! Bought some clothes at RMB50 each & only that, cos other stuffs are similarly priced to the one in KL. It's almost dinner time by the time all finished their 2 hours shopping. Brought to tis seafood restaurant nearby with impressive designs from the old Qing Dynasty era.

Entrance to the Qing Dynasty restaurant

Grand dinner served, total of 10 dishes excluding deserts

Finally checked into tis 2000 Years Hotel in the town. No, it's not the age of the hotel but the name is. Comfortable room with great showering experience. Never I've seen a showerhead as big as a human head. Imagine when u have hot water sprayed to ur entire body at full blast and u just need to stand still without moving an inch....Taking shower is never this satisfying!!! The tour guide recommended all of us to undergo sessions of Chinese massage at one of the local health centre to pamper our tired bodies. First hour is a reflexology session. Dad & myself were then brought to a private room for body massage. The natural next thing to do is to remove our clothes. The masseuses stared at us as if we're goin to have a nudist-style sessions. We were then told no clothes need to be removed as they will do it with us fully clothed. I was like"Huh? What the heck?? Massage with clothes on?" Then, the masseuse probably pressed my "sleeping mode" nerve that had me dozing off almost immediately. Next thing I knew is the session was over & total charges for 2 hours of session - RMB80 (great bargain there

Day 6

Checked out early the next morning after breakfast to visit the Royal Meixi Stone Archways. This is built in remembrance of Chen Fang, a local born who's the first Chinese consul in Hawaii. Had one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the famous Guangzhou face-changing performance. The question of how the heck the fella did it at such fast pace will remains a mystery for long times to come. Too bad the movie file too big to be uploaded into this page. We went off early to avoid long queues at customs bordergate. Once arrived at Gongbei bordergate, came about the typical scene in any Chinese customs office. Thousands of people just stand still queuing up waiting for approval to get across the border. It was Sunday & everybody probably hopping over to Macau for some weekend gambling games. Took us almost 2 hours just to get thru the Macau customs. Rushed on time to the airport for flight back home.

Guessing Game - Jump of joy or Kneel of a worship?

Time is not a factor in places like this

Macau Bem Vido #2

Continuing from the first part, we checked into tis Beverly Plaza Hotel in the Macau town area on Day 2. The room not as grand as Venetian Macao but equally comfortable. Took a shuttle bus to the newly built Macau Fisherman Wharf & had lunch in a Shanghainese restaurant inside. Our hotel is stone throw away from all the major casinos. Here, we have the locally owned casionos such as Grand Lisboa & Fortuna. There's also MGM, Wynn, Sands - the major Vegas chains are all here. It's been years since the local government stopped the monopolization of the local gambling business from a certain Stanley Ho (one of Asia's richest men) & opened up to the international chains. No wonder tis place called Vegas of the East. Anyways, in 2007, it's reported that Macau has overtook Las Vegas as the no.1 gambiling destination in the world based on $$$ turnover.

With bro in Fisherman's Wharf

For dinner, went to tis Wong Chi Kei restaurant situated in Senado Square, which serves the signature wan tan mee. They even got their own website: http://www.wongchikei.com.hk/ The restaurant is famous throughout Macau & HK for its technique of making noodles with the bamboo sticks - a century old traditional Cantonese style. The prawn dumplings were filled with super fresh medium sized prawns. Truly delicious & a must-try for any noodle lovers. For supper deserts, we tried to search for tis "tong sui"(sweetened soups) shop. After 1 hour of walking, finally found it at secluded corner (can't remember the shop name) Here, we have their specialties; sweetened water chestnut soup, wheat, black glutinous rice, sweet potatoes & other unknown desert. It was a tantalising treat with generous servings of ginkgo in almost all soups in huge bowls. Bills came up to about RM 200.00 for 10 of us, with each bowl costs RM 15.00!!!

Braised wan tan mee with shrimp dumplings from Wong Chi Kei

Great array of "tong sui"

Beautifully lighted Macau Tourism office building in Senado Square

Day 3

We had this half day tour on a hired coach with a local tour agent with the first stop at St. Paul's Ruins, which I descibed as the symbol of Macau. With the legendary landmark as the background, photo session is a must. Nearby is the Macau Museum, which showcased the history of Macau's early days. We were then brought to the A-Ma temple, St Francis Xavier church & had Portugese lunch at Dumbo restaurant. In between the places, went to the famous Macau pastry shops, situated strategically near the tourist attractions. There are 2 household names for pastries, "Choi Heung Yuen" & "Koi Kei". You will always see the 2 shops situated not far from each other anywhere in main Macau streets. I was told almond cookies is a must-buy for souvenirs while others such as pineapple cookies, peanut candies, egg cakes are not to be left out either. Having a thing for pastries, I just can't help but to try out & buy each packet of these cookies from the 2 shops. My personal opinion is "Koi Kei" has slight edge over its rival as its cookies are more tastier & had more varieties of cookies. So, do hop over to any of those 2 shops if ur in Macau.

My one resolution before this trip is to check out the famous Portugese tarts & see if it's taste is as good as claimed. Tried the ones sold in few shops & mind u, the taste of the tart in it's birthplace Macau (i guess so) is really out of the world. The egg portion in the tart is soft & tender unlike the one sold in KL which is more like a jelly. So, when we eat the original version, it felt as if the egg melted in our mouth. Talking about the currencies used, most shops here actually accept 3 main currencies, Macao dollars (MOP), HK dollars (HKD) & renminbi yuan (CNY) & most cash registers had the daily rates set in them. So, if the price of the item costs MOP15 & when we give HKD20, we will receive changes slightly more than MOP5 based on the daily rate.

Bro & myself went out on our own at nite, setting ourselves to prowl the whole Macau streets while the others tried their lucks again. Started walking after seeing off the others in Wynn casino but we decided to go back to Senado Square for dinner in Wong Chi Kei. It was drizzling & there was a procession going on in the square since it was Good Friday. Tried my best to go in front to catch glimpses of the people but the crowd was too huge. After filling our hungers with wan tan mee, pork chop buns & sui kow soup, we explored every corner of many connecting streets around the square. Little that we realised we actually walked as far as reached the St Paul Ruins again. Truly majestic sight of the landmark at night. A must-visit place in Macau at nite. Walked back to our hotel using the long way in order to see more of the town at nite. Along the way, there's beautiful display of lights on building of Grand Lisboa Hotel & Casino, entertaining magical fountain performance outside Wynn & also stopped over for dim sum supper at a Taiwanese shop.

No photo is complete without the Macau icon at the background - St. Paul's Ruins

Stanley Ho's Grand Lisboa Hotel & Casino

Musical fountain at Wynn Macau

To be continued...