CAMERON HIGHLANDS HOLIDAY!!

We headed out on a bright and sunny Saturday morning (A day before Hari Raya...hmmm...not too bright, huh??) and were pleasantly suprised by the smooth flow of traffic on the PLUS highway until we got to a "Hentian sebelah" or rest stop, near Tapah. Stuck here for an hour, just to move 200m!!! (Why Malaysians behave this way during the holiday season will be another posting!!) It was a better drive once we got off the highway and started our accend through the trunk road from Tapah to Tanah Rata. It was a great drive up to the top from there. (Maya slept through the entire winding climb!!)

We stayed at the Old Smokehouse Hotel (Pretty pricey but worth it la...) and it was impressive. Built in the old Tudor style with multiple fireplaces and an amazing garden. Actually, as I turned into the driveway of the hotel, it felt like I was somewhere in the UK. (Or pulling into the driveway at Mary's parents in Portloise in Ireland)


The garden was their best asset and Maya just ran around all day, even when it rained.

And then there were the scones!!! Emmmmmm...

The scones, jam and Devonshire cream were seriously the best I've ever had. (RM 8.50 for 2 of them.....good things never come cheap, do they?)

The temperature was a chill 18 Degree C so the fireplace was the place to hang out in the evenings. (The bar had a fireplace too!!)

Oh...almost forgot to mention a very important fact......the food is NON HALAL!! (So all you "bacon, eggs and bangers" people....the English breakfast is a REAL English breakfast!!)

We did do the regular tourist route of the tea plantation, bee farm, butterfly park, etc but we did some other pretty weird stuff like helping a Punjabi bunch of kids with their "amazing race" around Cameron Highlands, lunch at Starbuck's (Why??? Becos it's there??..duh.??) and a full blown "Mutton Peratel" banana leaf dinner!! (Maya loved the papadams!)

Overall, Cameron highlands still has it's charm as colonial hill station and staying at the Old smokehouse did indeed deliver that experience.

MY NEW RIDE!!

Been a while since I did this bloggin thing but I'm back!! hehehe!!

This is my new ride. (Coming soon la..) The Perodua Nautica 4WD 1.5L.

It's a cute 5 seater that handles well, and is ideal for my dive trips to Tioman, etc as well as cosy enough for Mary. (The X5, XC90 and gang are just tooooo hugh!!)

FYI, this unit is a CBU from Japan. (Toyota Rush)

And YES.....I'm still keeping my beemer la........hahahaha!!

GADOH – The movie

Amrit got this DVD at the launch in Laundry, the Curve on Sunday. He brought it over to my place and we watched it over a couple of cold ones.

Directed by Brenda Danker and Namron, it is produced by Big Pictures Production for KOMAS, a Malaysian human rights organization.

Damn! This was an “In your face” movie about racial tension in our schools.

It did play along the lines of the movie, Freedom Fighters. (I had an earlier post on that one) The plot revolves around 2 school gangs (Malay and Chinese with the lone Indian kid stuck in the midst.) and how they work out their differences by the strength of their similarities.
The script was well written and the acting of most of the cast was decent if not good. It is nice to see Malaysians finally saying stuff on the big screen which they say everyday at the mamaks and kopitiams.

It’s truly worth all 70 minutes of your time.

Let me know what you think if you do find time to catch it. To watch the trailer check out their site:

http://komas.org/gadoh.

I think it’s available via download as well.

The Indian Divers + 1 crazy Aussie



Finally got around to posting our dive trip to Tioman. The weather was good and the diving was great. The duty free status of Tioman Island was the best!!! Hehehe!!
The trip started out with the 5 hour drive. KL – Ayer Hitam – Kluang – Mersing. No bemmer this time but instead we had the brilliant CHEVY CAPTIVA 4WD courtesy of my Indian expat buddy, Siva!!

This was my first time driving a 4WD diesel driven vehicle and man, it had some horses under the hood. We were doing 160km/hr at 2000revs!! (Max revs were at 5000, I think.) It handled the winding road of FELDA NITAR like a pro.
We (Prem, Siva, Adam and I) spent the night in Mersing and crossed over to the island early the next morning. Diving began after lunch.
We did 2 dives on Friday and 3 on Saturday and my gang was certified!!

Let the party begin. Salang is a pretty nice stretch of beach with a bar and a couple of restaurants. We had a good dinner (Siva, our Brahmin diver, ate fish for the 1st time in his life!!! He swears it’s better than chicken!! Hahaha!!) and headed off to the bar. To make the long nite there a short story, the party ended at 3 30 am. (I , of course, had to pay tribute to MJ with some moves la…)
The dive the next morning was just Siva and me. Wonder where Prem and Adam were??? Zzzzzzzzzzz

Overall, we had a superb and much needed holiday. Can’t wait for the next trip!!

Ps. The nonexistent MAXIS signal, no sound of traffic and just the pure sound of wind in the trees and waves crashing on the beach…ahhhhhh.....and then some underwater yoga......

Taiping & Penang Holiday

Managed to carve this holiday out of our busy schedule and we were off!!
The drive up north was scenic on a nice sunny morning and Maya being asleep all the way was a bonus. With daddy next to me (watching the speedometer) and the rest of the gang (Mom, Mary and Maya) bundled in the back, we still had a comfy ride. (Was quickly up to 140 – 160 km/hr when daddy wasn’t looking.)
We spend 2 days in Taiping and stayed at Kamalodge at the foot of Maxwell Hill. (or Bukit Larut) It had a nice pool and was just next to the Lake Gardens.

Parents were at my aunt’s in Kamunting. So…what to do in Taiping??....EAT la…. The food was really good and just like our “Ireland” trip, we looked for all the nice “panddi” stuff. The roast pork for breakfast was nice!!
While my parents chilled in Kamunting, we (Mary, Maya and I) headed north to Penang for a night.

A pretty “classy” night at the E & O hotel. (This is my attempt to copy the E & O "artsy" photo)

Now this hotel was something else. The classic look, the services, the bell boys dressed in Khakis, the “English tea”….. I was looking around to see if someone was going to say, “Hey boy, leave the white lady and child and be on your way!!” hehehe!!"

(Decided on the classic shot!!)

The room was so impressive that we actually spend more time in it then out.

So what to do in Penang???....EAT again la….the “nasi kandar” and “kambing sup” was awesome!!

(Note the "licin" plates in the background!!)

Although our trip was only for the weekend, it was a much needed break.

Now back in the city, I do miss the slow traffic and clean air.

Well....I'll be off diving soon so that a relief!!!

RELEGATED...AGAIN!!!


Well, it's happened again.

Will we fair better in League one? Will we ever see the premiership again?

As Metallica said, "SAD BUT TRUE!!"

At least they can count on 1 Malaysian fan who'll still follow his team as the Saints go marching on!!!!

THE 11TH HOUR

Watched this documentary last night and it had quite an impact on me.

It had all the usual, " How humans are screwing up this planets' resources, how it is just unsustainable and how we drastically need to change the way we do things."

The only difference was that it showed how dependant we are to all these consumer products. How we are unable to move without vehicles, have food without grocery stores or just have fun without man made gadgets!!!

A lot of the blame seems to be going to the Oil & Gas giants like ExxonMobil, Shell, etc, etc, who have recorded a profit of USD 33 Billion last year.

Although I do agree that this is an absurd sum of money, shouldn't we also see that their products ensure we have fuel for the cars we drives and the planes we travel on???

I strongly feel that the entertainment industry is far worst. We pay million or even billions to subsidize entertainers with their extravagant lifestyles. what is their contribution actually worth???

Footballers, NBA & NFL stars, actors and actresses, SEGA, PLAYSTATION, XBOX, etc, etc. What amount of our income goes to stuff like this?????

Our world is slowly becoming unreal.

Humans shed tears for the likes of Liverpool and Man U but barely blink at death tolls of a major disaster. (Unless it's football related!!)

We play futsal on artificial grass under floodlights.....Why????? Toooo hot la in the day time!!! Too busy working to make money la!!!

I do agree that I too spend a considerable time of my day to "make ends meet" but are my "ends" too far from reality???? Do I really need to renovate my house??? Do I really need another car????

Well, the answer for me as of yesterday is NO!!

Me and Mary, for the benefit of Maya and her generation, are going to start to do things different from today. This is our plan and hopefully, it will be adopted by my buddies too!!

1. Reduce the use of lights, fan and AC.

2. Use my balcony to plant food. (My mom used to do this in our garden in Klang so I don't see why I can't do it.) Plants that can be grown are chillies, herbs, brinjals, tomatoes, etc, etc.

3. Spend more time together with my family and friends without TV and other gadgets.

4. Play outdoors more. (I do play tennis and my diving does get me outdoors too.)

5. Eat organic and buy products that are from sustainable sourses. (Fish, furniture, etc.)

6. Get my condo to have recycling facilities for plastics, metal and glass products.

7. STOP SPENDING MONEY ON LUXURIES!! (Yup! I'll just keep the beemer as the one and only luxury item!! But it's already 9 years old so I doubt it's a luxury item any more!! Hehehe!!)

Well, that's all I can do for now but I'll be looking into other means of reducing my "Carbon footprint" on this planet and will keep you guys updated.

"SAVE THE TREES, SAVE THE WORLD!!!"

DADDY FOR A YEAR NOW!!!

Maya turned 1 on the 25th of March and it just made me want to look back to see how far I’ve come from the crazy sailor boy to being a responsible “grown up” daddy.

My artsy “bachelor pad” is now a multi colored theme park where you can just name a color and I’m sure I have it strewn across my living room floor in the form of a ball, block, etc, etc.!! My chairs and tables have “fenders” (Like the rubbers tires around a tug boat!!) for collision protection and my plain, light purple, velvet sofa has so many food stains that it now resembles some exotic animal!! Gone are the cool table top decor....replaced by stuff that is either chewable, washable or throwable!! I do occasionally get to see my IKEA carpet...or glimpes of it when the toys are put away......

That my living room, version 2009.

What about my bedroom, version 2009??? Well, it depends….Is it the room that used to be my bedroom or the “spare” room that I’m in now so that my snoring doesn’t wake up Maya???? Yup…just like Southampton…I got relegated too!!! Hahahaha!!

The TV, version 2009??? Channels available have drastically reduced to channels beginning with 6xx. Honestly, I find POCOYO and THE YOUNG EINSTEINS pretty entertaining!!

My precious Beemer also now comes with a 2009 baby upgraded version. Baby seat with all boot space taken up by the pram. The 2009 version also comes with rattling accessories (multi colored, of course) and massively annoying, nursery rymes emitting, electronic devices!!

So…a full year of a constantly changing baby, constantly changing schedules and constantly changing lifestyle….opps...almost forgot....and constantly changing nappies!!!!

The reward…..

That SMILE!!!

My little "nutcase" (That's what I call her as she is usually hysterically happy to see me when I get home everyday!!) and all that she gets up to!!

I believe this parenthood thinggi is gonna be a great ride!!!

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

I was fortunate enough to be sent for free training by MISC/PETRONAS recently and I just wanted to share something pretty simple yet facinating.

The presenter made this statement about how people have varying reactions to taking on responsibility for their failed actions. These reactions fall into 4 categories in declining levels of conviction:


1. To Quit.

(Example: My job screwed up so I quit!!)

2. To Deny.

(Example: Who said my job's screwed up? it's fine.)

3. To Blame.

(Example: My job screwed up because of that other fella la!!!)

4. To Justify.

(Example: My job screwed up because of the economy la....it was sure to happen!!)

You can see this phenomenon in the newspapers with our politicians all the time.

It was also interesting when I actually looked at some of my friends and realised that most of the time, their actions fall into these 4 categories too.

When it comes to girlfriends, job satisfaction, salary or even life as a whole, they either QUIT, DENY, BLAME or JUSTIFY but seldom actually take responsibility.

The faults are blamed on God, the heavens and stars, fung sui, other people, fate, work commitments, money or lack of it, etc, etc but rarely do they say, "Hey, that was my fault so I'm gonna do something about it to fix the problem!!".

This post is just for you guys to think about the next time you have to explain a mistake or failure. Try not to rely on the 4 categories above and see if you can make a difference by your own actions!!

Let me know if it works!! Hehe!!

...SAINTS GO MARCHING ON!!!

We won 2 in a row!!!! hurray!!!!

Yeah..yeah..we're not in the big leagues but a win is a win, right???

Ipswich on Tuesday so let's see if we can make it 3!!

FEELING SAD n SICK

This is how I felt this morning after a chat with my wife on the current political situation in Malaysia.
She is a foreigner and it’s so hard to explain our sad and sick politicians.

What am I talking about? Well…..

1. The UMNO youth demonstrations with racist comments, shown live on Bernama TV.

Yup. They had signs “INI TANAH MELAYU, BUKAN TANAH SINGH!!” (THIS IS MALAY LAND NOT FOR THE SIKHS!!) in full view. Not even discrete!! She was asking me why the ISA was not used on these guys as it was inciting racial hatred.

2. Police reports made against Karpal Singh by UMNO youth all over Malaysia.

I remember trying to make a report about an accident in Klang at the PJ police station and the cop said I couldn’t. I had to report it in Klang. She wanted to know how these guys can make reports about something in Perak in another state?

3. MP in Kedah states his reason for quitting is that he and his family have been threatened by BN.

Police report? Protection from the police? No….he disappears. “If an MP can’t trust our police force for protection, what about us normal folk?” she asked.

4. UMNO Youth leaders say “By any means necessary”. Murder, Bloodshed, Genocide????

She asked me how far they would go. I’m afraid to answer. Really.

5. Police officers charged with murder have their faces covered ALL the time.

Since they’re handcuffed, I guess their police buddies helped them bundle up? I recall the police not allowing defendants in other cases to cover their faces. (Although most try sooooo hard with their T shirt, newspapers, etc.) “Even if they’re found guilty, what if they are secretly released and are back it the police force? Will anyone know, since nobody know what they look like?” she asked again.




She was comparing our current situation to that of countries in Africa....only good thing here is that we've got oil, so money and jobs are ok...for now.

As I was left with no answers, it really made me sad to think how far we've come socially and economically only to have daft politicians send us back to the racial riffs of the 60's.

If this is the path that our political scene is taking us, I’m really getting worried for the safety of my family and friends.

Will all my vocal friends disappear too?? Will supporting a certain party be considered treason?

Will the "Truly Asia" slogan means we become like other Asian countries like Cambodia, Burma, Laos and Phillipines with incapable and corrupt leaders?

MALAY or ENGLISH??????

I’ve been hearing this issue of Maths and Science being taught in English and it’s getting pretty tiring.

I really don’t get these education ministry fellas…

Let me break it down in my usual point form on what the problem is and how to tackle it:

The problem

1. Level of proficiency in English in Malaysia is on the decline.
2. Children in rural areas don’t speak English at all.
3. Lack of teachers who speak good English.

The solution

1. GET BETTER ENGLISH TEACHERS!!
2. TEACH ENGLISH MORE OFTEN!!!!

I mean, why mess about with Maths, Science and other subjects. Just put in more hours per week for English lessons.

During my backpacking days, I’ve met so many backpackers in India, China and Indonesia who were teaching English as part of some volunteer program. Get these guys over here la!!!

Leave the primary schools subjects in Malay while concentrating in making the kids really good at English as a subject on it's own and when they get to secondary school, teach the technical subjects (Maths, Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, etc.) in English.

Then we’ll finally get somewhere!!

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - THE MOVIE

I watched this movie over the weekend and was truly impressed.

The cinematography (correct ah my spelling????) was superb, great storyline and very "indian" in it's coincidences!!

The visuals of the slums of Mumbai was as real as I remembered them when I was there years ago. The background of the begging children and their operations were so real that I actually had trouble sleeping that night.

It had all the ingrediences of a great Hindi movie (Love story, fights, drama, vulgar language..in Hindi, of course) and I guess bagging a couple at the Golden Globe Awards didn't hurt.

Do get your hands on this movie. It's worth your time. (And the "DVD 9" is pretty good, if you know what I mean!! hehehehe!!)

SO COLD IN IRELAND

The land of Guinness and leprechauns…at a nice and chill 3 degrees Celcius!!

That’s where I spent Xmas and welcomed 2009.

It began with a rather uncomfortable 13 hour flight to London followed by the usual mess of having to transit through Heathrow Airport. The fear of being deported for being mistaken for a Tamil Tiger or an Islamic terrorist was always on my mind. I made a conscious effort not to say words such as Bomb, Terrorist, Jihad, Islam, etc.
Having cleared immigration, I was off to Dublin via BMI. (British Midlands Airlines) A short uneventful flight and we landed in Dublin shortly after an hour of being in the air.
It was great to see Mary and Maya at the airport. There was my bundle of joy, wrapped in a huge bundle of clothes. It was freezing cold!!! We left the air port and headed into the midlands. ABBEYLEIX, COUNTY LAOIS…HERE I COME!!!

The following 2 weeks was a thrilling ride through the culinary delights of Irish Cooking. I can honestly say, I would have easily consumed an entire pig during my stay over there. The pig came in various forms, everyday. Ham, Bacon, sausages, rashers, white pudding, black pudding (Can’t say what it’s made of…eh hemm), roast, etc, etc.

My favorite was Mary's mom's signature dish....BACON n CABBAGE with an onion sauce.

And I, being from Malaysia, a beautiful muslim country, LOVED all the piggy stuff!!! HELL, YEAH!!! The only HALAL food I had over the 2 weeks must have been the “Thosai” that I made for everyone with my mom’s famous Onion Chutney!!

Next on my Irish Food Safari were potatoes. The Irish consume potatoes the way we, over here, have rice. Loads of rice here, Loads of potatoes there.

They came in one form. Mashed.

And for one night only, by special Xmas request, they came baked!!

Now don’t get me wrong, just like the pork, I loved the mashed potatoes but after a week or so, I needed my chilli!! My Malaysian Indian “powers” were fading fast without chilli. I didn’t care if it was Thai Chilli, Indian Chilli or even the English CURRY. I needed some spicy fire!!

My chance came when I was asked to make some Hainanese Chicken Rice at Una’s. Chicken with dark soya sauce, rice cooked with chicken fat….but wait…drum rolls please…fresh CHIILLI, ginger and garlic dip!!!
I made some power chilli that, as Mary said, “Would put hair on a WOMAN’s chest!!!!”

Hehehehehehe!!! My batteries we recharged.

It was time for desserts. YUMMY!!!

Loads of homemade cake, puddings, biscuits, pies, etc. Mary's mom outdid herself with an awesome Xmas fruit ice cream pudding. Just when I thought desserts couldn't get any better, Mary made a "Jamie Oliver" Birthday cake for me.

2 chocolate sponges with rasberry and cream and topped with molten chocolate!!!!

Finally I was ready for the most important part of the holiday celebrations.

The drinking.

Now you’ll have to understand that the Irish don’t have many exportable natural resources so GUINNESS, BAILEY’S and JAMESON’S are pretty important economic commodities. I did my fair share in contributing to that part of their economic sector over the duration of my 2 weeks stay.
The pubs were old and cold. The drinks were smooth and my holiday was getting smoother.

So there you have it….good company, good food and great drink. Good Thanni and great Pandi!! (Tamil for drink and pig!! hehehe!!)

What more can you ask for from a holiday?

Overall, it was a fantastic, rejuvenating and much needed break before I take on the challenges of 2009.