home sweet home...

Am back. After 8 nights and 9 days of travelling from Macau to Hong Kong to Shenzhen to Guangzhou to Zhuhai and then back to Macau to head home. Phew. It was a pretty tiring trip. Lots of walking about as well as sitting in the van.

All I can say for now is that am glad to be back. Am too tired to blog about it yet. Will do so once I've downloaded the pics from my camera. Took about 380 odd. Lots to skim through. Hehe.

Toodles.

am off...

Ahh am off on a vacation. Tomorrow around 3ish I'll be on Air Asia flight AK52 to Macau. Gonna spend 9 days and 8 nights roaming from Macau to Hong Kong then to China and back to Macau for the flight home.

Hope to have a good time. Pray that the weather is good. Take care folks and see you when I get back.

kl tower...

As mentioned yesterday, took my aunt and uncle to KL Tower earlier today. First took them for a banana leaf lunch at Sri Nirwana Maju in Bangsar, KL. Sadly I wasn't in the mood to eat but from their comments it was scrumptious. Gotta make it a point to go there again soon. ;)

KL Tower is located not very far from Shangri-La Hotel or Beach Club Cafe. It is off Jalan P. Ramlee and smack in the middle of Bukit Nenas. I think I was last there in 1997 for my cousin's wedding dinner which was in the revolving restaurant located above the observation deck. Can't really remember much of it except that the view was obscured as it was raining heavily.

Today thankfully the weather was obliging. Although as you can see in the pics later, rain was building up. We got our tickets and headed up to the observation deck. Not really sure how high it was but the tower itself is 421 metres. Pretty impressive I must say. Its the 4th tallest telecomunication tower in the world.

I won't dwell in the history/statistics bit as you can read it online. I have to admit its a pretty impressive structure. Beautiful views of KL and its surrounding areas. Unfortunately the Telekom Tower is too far off so we couldn't admire it closely as I like the design of the building quite a bit. The best view I have to admit is of Petronas Twin Towers. Another beautiful architecture which was once the tallest building in the world.

I'll let the pictures do the talking. Most are taken from the observation deck. There are 12 viewing post with details of what you are seeing posted above the glass. You actually have a personal AV tour as you go round the deck. Enjoy. I'm off to bed. Gd'nite!

afternoon @ batu caves, kl...

Took my unc and aunty around today. Went to have some good lunch at Yut Kee, Jalan Dang Wangi, KL then headed to Batu Caves, KL for a stroll. Think the last time I went there was about 2 years ago for my cousin's wedding. Last time I climbed up the stairs was almost 12 plus years ago! A shame I know being an Indian. :(

Anyhoo it was a great hiking up the 272 steps. Boy did I feel my muscles burn. I needed to stop every 80 or so. Hehe. Not playing futsal often has really made me weak. Sigh. It felt great reaching the top. Felt like Stallone in Rocky. LOL. Thank god the weather was good today. Breezy with light sun. Think if it was hotter I would have just given up half way. Too hot to bother.

Below are some pictures I took. Enjoy.


Tommorrow am going for some Banana Leaf lunch at Nirwana Maju and then to KL Tower and KLCC. Hope to take more pictures then. Gd'nite folks.

road trip...

Been awhile but another road trip to Malacca this weekend. As you all are aware tommorrow is 7/7/07. A unique date that many are calling auspicious and have planned various things around it. From dinner dates to parties to getting hitched.

A whole bunch of us is heading down to Malacca for Devan's engagement to Tasha. Usually engagements aren't that big a deal (at least that is what I think) but Devan has planned a big do. Hmmm or maybe Tasha and their parents are the ones who is making it a big event. Hehe. Think the guest list is about 100 plus and still growing! Devan said about 20 odd are family and the rest are friends (from near and far) from both sides.

Will blog about it more once am back. Hopefully with pictures as well. Cheers folks...

chiang mai pictures...

our hotel with the beer garden by the side...

ladyboy cabaret...

again ladyboys...

night bazaar...

old man n myself at the beer garden...

elephant painter...

elephant ride...


karen long neck women...

coffee shop in the middle of nowhere...

along mekong river...

group shot on the small Laos island...

chiang mai (continued)...

Ok lets get on with what I enjoyed about the trip. Firstly I have to say that I underestimated the old farts. They were a blast to be with. Cracked pretty interesting jokes and were fun to chat with. Sometimes I felt they were much better travel mates than some of my friends. I guess the diversity of people helped. We had couples ranging from 40s to 70s. Me being the youngest of course. Kinda like the baby of the trip. Pretty good cos I got sayanged alot. LOL. Although I did earn my loving okay. Did the carrying, providing tech advise on digital camera and call roaming and also was the go to guy for photo taking.

Chiang Mai is a very peaceful and beautiful city. Being on the highlands its also cooler than most places. Sadly the weather didn't help much so we missed out on taking scenic pictures. The people are very friendly in the sense they don't hassle you and try their best to oblige. Our hotel was situated right along the Night Bazaar. This is a hit with the tourist due to the vast amounts of goods and how cheap they are. Imagine Petaling Street but with polite traders. ;) We didn't fancy it much but was nice to walk around and people watch. Best part of the trip was chilling at the Beer Garden of our hotel (which overlooks the bazaar) munching on steamed peanuts. Of course with a nice cold brew in hand. =)

Highlight destinations of the trip would be Doi Suthep temple, Maesa Elephant Camp, Long Neck Karen Hilltribe Village (at Chiang Rai), Simon's Dream Cabaret (ladyboy show) and the Mekong River cruise (Golden Triangle). At the elephant camp we enjoyed a show, had a 30 minute ride through the jungle and ended with a slow bamboo raft ride on the river running along the camp. The cabaret was really entertaining, much better than the shows at Gentings. Very creative and entertaining throughout its 90 minutes. The hilltribe village was actually just a small village meant for tourist to see how various types of hilltribe people live. The main draw being the Karen Long Neck women who uses neck braces which gets higher as they get older. You wouldn't believe it but these braces are really heavy. Wonder how these women pull it off.

The Golden Triangle is actually the intersection where Laos, Vietnam and Thailand meet along the Mekong river. It used to be one of Asia's main opium producing areas. We actually stopped over a small island under Laos during this cruise where I had some snake whiskey. Taste very much like tequila. The island is just meant for tourist to stop over and buy some dirt cheap goods like shirts, animal whiskey and souveniers. No immigration checks but you have to pay a fee to the Laos army. Also had some tasty fresh coconut juice.

All and all it was the worst trip I have been on. Food and tour sucked. Have a feeling the Thai tour agency pulled a fast one on the Malaysian tour agency that we used. Wasn't really what we payed for. On top of that our tour guide, although sweet, spoke poor English. The group never had problems like this on their other trips. Sigh. Had to happen when I joined la. Typical ass luck! Alrighty that is all on the Chiang Mai trip. Pictures to follow shortly.

chiang mai...

I know I know. Its a lil' too late to blog about this. Sorry been caught up with a few things and never found the time to sit and type this out. Anyways here goes, a post on my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Gonna be a short one cos I can't remember much of the stuff I wanted to rant about. Hehe.

This short trip of 4 nights was actually a freebie from my dad. He won some moolah via a group lottery and decided to give me a treat. How can I say no to that right. ;) The trip was a self organised tour by my dad's Gasing Hill trekking kakis. They have been travelling all around Asia especially with the help of Air Asia. The idea is to buy their own flight tickets but organise ground arrangements via a tour agent. They had a blast in China (Beijing, Guilin and Cheng De) and Hanoi, Vietnam so I thought why not, even if it were with old farts.

The trip started off good with a wonderful lunch buffet nearby the airport. Had 2 helpings of sumptious pork curry noodles and lotsa small helpings of various dishes. Not really authentic Thai but close to it. It should be a sign of good things to come right? WRONG! After that everything went downhill. First we were dumped at the wrong hotel. We were promised 3 stars but we put into a 2 star motel. Next morning there was a riot and we got moved to the agreed hotel, Hotel Surawongse.

Food throughout the whole trip was crap. We never had any real Thai food. Had tom yam twice and both tasted like chilli water. Our roadside stalls make much better tom yams. The regular fare was chinese food. I mean it would be ok if the food was tasty but these were really crappy chinese dishes. Yes the seafood and veggies were fresh, but their cooking skills left much to be desired. On top of that the portions were small and it was the same crap over and over, even if the restaurants were different. Not really a good thing especially after a long day of roaming around.

Then we were taken to so many stupid factory outlets. First it was wood, then silver, then jade, then dried foods, then leather, then silk. OMG. Enuff already. I know la these are what they survive on but c'mon. After the first 2 factories most of us got rather fedup. Getting on and off the damn bus. Arrggh. And most of the items weren't really cheap. We get similar staff back home at a lower price.

Weather in Chiang Mai wasn't that favourable either. Out of the 5 days, 4 were wet. At times so wet roads were flooded and the mountains all fogged up. Plus not to mention the traffic congestion. Sigh. It was the wrong time of the year to head there. Should have gone about 1 month before. At least then we could have enjoyed wonderful sceneries.

Alrighty, think enuff of bitching about the trip. Will continue later on what I enjoyed as well as some pics. Better get back to work. Cheerio. =)

poopster is back!

Hey folks. I'm back. Hope you guys didn't miss me. All 2 of you! Hehe. So relieved to be back. It was sadly an uneventful vacation. Gotta be my worse to date and I hope not to have any more like it. Will bitch blog more about it later. Too tired to rant now.

Gonna chill for now. Adios.

few more hours...

In about 4 more hours I'll be off to Chiang Mai. Hope Air Asia doesn't delay our flight. Last thing I wanna do is get stuck in LCCT wee hours of the morning. Especially when I didn't get much sleep! Hope the weather is good there.

Take care all and see you in 5 days.

Bye bye Sunshine! =)

going for a break...

In a couple of days I'll be off for a short break. This time around am heading to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Been checking some web sites and looks like its pouring cats and dogs. Hope that isn't true. Sigh. Would be a waste to be on vacation and have it be a washout. This particular trip will be on my old man since he won some 4D money. Hehe. How can I say no to a free trip right?! Especially when its been like 9 months since I last went overseas.

Haven't really packed yet. Guess will be doing it just before the flight. LOL. Nothing like last minute packing. Anyways even if I did forget anything I could just buy it at Thailand cheap. Can't wait to have all the yummy Thai food. Plus heard the views are to die for. Am sure to snap lotsa pics and post em' up here.

Ok looks like time to head back home. G'night folks!

pangkor pics!

Finally got off my lazy butt and downloaded the Pangkor pictures. Enjoy! =)

picture of my resort...roti anyone?!view from my room...sunshine...beautiful sunset...me and my smug self...view of the private beach...

india pics...

guide, driver, co pilot, my old man and mua...

the majestic taj mahal...

agra fort...

aarti on river ganga...

yummy apples in kullu...
hills at manali...

river beas...

lotus temple...

india trip...

Its been too long since I came back. Kinda forgot all I wanted to rant about. LOL. Anyways I'll just spew out whatever I can recall.

Firstly India was definately NOT what I expected. Thought it would be more modern but was sadly mistaken. No insult intended as I know its backwards because the fucking politicians just enjoy the money for themselves. Its just sad that a country with so much potential is stuck in a rut. Only time will tell I presume or maybe someone as influential as Indira Gandhi crops up. Problem is whoever it is will be assasinated. LOL. Too many enemies out there trying to keep their comfortable life in check.

During this trip we manage to get alot done albeit extremely tiring and hours and hours on the damn bus! Freaking 120kms take about 4 hours. Arrggghh. The agony. Firstly we conquered all the typical tourist spots. The Taj Mahal. Agra Fort. Amber Fort. Lotus Temple. Rose Garden. Indira Gandhi Memorial. Ganges River. River Beas. Rock Garden. India Gate. Hmmm can't recall if theres anymore but we practically covered all the locations we visited. Our trip was from Delhi to

Then we had the highlands trip which covers Shimla, Kullu and Manali. Here we managed to ride the Toy Train to Shimla. See apple trees and eat dirt cheap sweet crunchy apples in Manali. Got to head up Rohtang Pass which was one hellave experience. We had to ride up in ponies to as high as 3978m. There was supposed to be snow but it wasn't cold enough, we only managed to get slush. The coldest at that time was about 2 Celcius. We were freezing our ass off as most of us didn't have the right gear. Brrrrr. Thank god for a hot cup of brew coffee sold by the natives right up top. Hehe.

As expected besides the sights we gotta enjoy the food. After all whats a vacation without filling ya tummies with all the local goodies. We made sure though that we ate in decent restaurants or hotels as we didn't wanna get diarrhea as well as drinking only bottled water. Plus point is you could find bottled water almost all over India. We had tonnes of yummy stuff like briyani, chapatti, tandoori, naan, dosai, idli, uppuma and all sorta curries and vegetables. The best I must say is their veggies as they were always fresh and wonderfully cooked. They maintain the crunchyness as well as sweetness. Not like over here where most are just overcooked and have lost all identity. We also managed to taste some local beer which isn't all that bad, some good mango and pomegranate juices and simply delightful masala tea.

Overall I would say its a good one time experience. Don't think I will be heading there again except maybe to visit Goa or Kerala. Thats about it. I'd skip the rest of the South since I couldn't even digest the North properly which is supposed to be so much better. Guess certain culture differences is hard to accept plus I'm kind of a bitchy traveller. Hehe.

I'll be posting some pictures up later on. Damn thing doesn't seem to work right now. I have about 300 plus of em but don't expect me to have all of them up. Toodles folks...

home sweet home...

I'm back folks! Phew. After 15 days of travelling. It was a tiring, exciting, irritating and interesting trip I must say. Got about 300 odd pics on my digicam and hopefully will be able to load em for all to share. Will blog more about the trip and my impressions of India once I recuperate. The flight back has really taken its toll on me. It was almost 12 hours of flying and transits before we reached KLIA. I'm beat! =(

off to india...

Whoopie! The time has come. I'm off to India for the first time for about 15 days tomorrow mornin'. Hopefully it'll be a good adventure/experience. Going back to my roots so to speak. Maybe find myself a bride or something. LOL. Will post about the trip once I return. Wish me well folks!! =)

vacation time!

Ahhh after some time I'm soon to be off again for a long vacation. This time I'm heading to India with my dad. Will be concentrating on the North. Will be following a tour organised by a family friend. Think its gonna be about 16 of us out of which we personally know 6 of em'. Hope the group will be good. Not some typical old bags. Hehe. The tour will visit about 3 hillstations, the city of Delhi, Agra for the Taj Mahal and Jaipur for all the majestic castles. Am praying it won't be raining since its the tail end of the of monsoon season in India. Also am praying I won't get any tummy problems as I've been advised by many to be careful over there. Gotta pay attention to what I drink and eat.

Hmmm its gonna be about 1 week plus before I'm off. Getting all excited di. Can't wait. Hope this week goes by quick! =)

delayed post: krabi and phuket...

Sorry for the delay folks. Was caught up in a few things and forgot about updating my time in Phuket, Thailand. Not really much to say since we didn't spend that many days there. Spent half a day at Krabi and then moved on to Phuket where we spent about 1 and a half days. Krabi is province in south of Thailand at the shore of the Andaman Sea. Not really sure how far it is from Phuket but it took the ship about 2 hours or so. As Krabi did not have a proper port/dock, we actually anchored a kilometer or so off the beach. From there the ship arranged fisherman boats to take passengers to a few locations. Since it was a short trip, I opted for a ride to Poda Island which is off Krabi for some beach bumming. I was very pleased with my choice as Poda Island is simply breathtaking. Its a small island very near Krabi. There is nothing there except a small wooden restaurant and nature. What more could you ask for. We went very early (9am) as well so the island was deserted. Sadly at about noon the boats with tourists started coming in and the calmness gone. Before that however we had a great time bumming around. The sand was nice and soft and the water crystal blue. It was great for snorkelling but we didn't have any gear. No worries though as you could see the fish as you walked along the shore or swam. I really miss the calmness I felt on that island. Sigh. If only we had something like that off Malaysia.

After about 7 hours or so in Krabi the ship continued its way to Phuket. We reached their deep sea port around 7pm or so. After having a good dinner at the ship we followed some of the passengers on a trip to Patong Beach which was supposed to be the best place in Phuket for night life and shopping. Its also one of the major places that was hit by the tsunami recently but when you go there now you wouldn't even realise it. Everything is all cleaned up and back to normal. The only signs would be the tsunami evacuation notices and the dumb tsunami photos and shirts sold by the traders. Now the shopping isn't much to shout about as whatever pirated stuff they had there was cheaper in Malaysia anyways. The night life was pretty interesting I guess. Not what you would expect but it works. They had this street with about 200 odd bars side by side. The bars were little small ones with a bar table, some barstools, some tables and chairs and not to mention some Thai ladies to please the men. All the bars were practically the same and they seem to do pretty well. Patong Beach was a let down of sorts because it was too touristy plus not to mention sleazy. I guess it would've been better if I went with my mates instead. One thing I did like about Patong were the massages. Oooh la la and they were pretty cheap as well. Had some good massages there. Both that night and the next evening. We headed back to ship about midnite or so. Wish we could've stayed longer as things picked up as it got late but the ship was like 40 minutes from Patong.

The next morning we joined another tour arranged by the cruise. This time it was to an elephant safari, followed by Wang Talang (which is a famous precious stones outlet) and Wat Chalong (one of the most famous temples in Thailand), then some Thai buffet lunch, before heading back to Patong for a couple of hours. Out of which we only enjoyed the elephant safari, the temple and lunch. It was a great experience riding an elephant up and down rough terrain. For such a huge beast they are really agile and tough yet give out a nice fuzzy feeling. Its nice to see how Thai people especially the mahouts taking care and respecting the elephants. After the elephant safari we headed out to Wang Talang. This was a waste of time unless of course you were looking for some precious stones. We spent like 30 minutes there and headed to have our lunch. This was another highlight as the buffet setup was amazing. I've never seen so many selections before and majority of them were of yummy. There were japanese, chinese, indian, western and god knows what other cuisines layed out. Most of us took the oppurtunity to stuff ourselves silly especially after the exhaustion from the elephant ride and heat. After stuffing our faces we headed to Wat Chalong. This temple is known to be touristy as its the most biggest and ornate monastery around. I must say the architecture is really beautiful not to mention the tonnes of lovely Buddha statues inside. Would have enjoyed that part of the trip more if the weather was cooler but it was just too hot to hang about. Plus we only had like 30 minutes or so. Nothing much to blog after the temple though as Patong in the day is worse than at night. Its just meant for shopaholics. Nevertheless I did take the oppurtunity to enjoy another round of massage. Hehe. Nothing like a good rub down. ;)

All and all I enjoyed my short stint at Thailand. Although I think I would have enjoyed Pattaya or Bangkok more. Maybe next time for a full vacation and not via a cruise. More time on land then. Alrighty, time to have my beauty sleep. Gotta wake up early tommorrow to get hold of my PSP! Below are some pictures we took in Thailand. Gd'nite...

cruisin'...

I know I know its been awhile. Sorry la been too busy after getting back to post about it. As the few of you (actually just 3 but a few sounds bigger) who read my blog knows, I recently got back from a 5 nights cruise via StarCruises onboard their Superstar Gemini with someone special. Unlike most Star Cruises, this was via Port Klang (instead of Singapore) and it went up Straits of Malacca stopping along the way in Langkawi, Krabi, Phuket (the main destination) and Penang. Not going to blog about Langkawi and Penang since I've been there and done that and it wasn't much to shout about. Plus due to the heat I didn't even get down at Penang. Did get off at Langkawi though as the option of getting two duty free 1 liter bottles of liquid gold (whiskey) was hard to pass. ;)

Let me start off by talking about the ship. This was the first time I went on a cruise and I must say its a wonderful way to travel and spend your vacation. Not much thinking is needed as the majority of your time is on the boat. Great for relaxing and pigging out. Sadly the cost would deter most. The experience of being in the open ocean and enjoying the breeze is something not to be missed. Especially when you can sit out on the deck, enjoy your dinner with some drinks and stare into the darkness. You can't really put it in words. The ship I was on was rather small compared to most cruise ships. I think it holds about 800 passengers. Which is a good thing as the passenger to staff ratio was smaller. This in turn made things very friendly. The Superstar Gemini had a very nice family vibe going and they made you feel like one of them. The staff on our ship comprised of people from 20 nations. Majority being Fillipinos. The bridge crew of course were mostly Scandinavians. Guests are mostly from Australia and New Zealand. Only like 5% were from Singapore or Malaysia. This is good as I find most Asians too shy/private and that would make situations akward and boring. The Aussies made it more friendly and cheerful although some of them do get out of hand after a few drinks and you wish you could slap them across the face. =)

Most would expect the ship to feel claustrophobic, stuffy and swaying about but surprising its not. First its not shaky at all, not once did I feel woozy. Plus they make very good use of the space. All major locations (dining area, the lounge & theater) were very spacious and comfy. The rooms were not bad either. They used mirrors to make everything seem wider. To cut cost I opted for a inside stateroom (windowless) and it wasn't that bad. Only downside for not having a window is I didn't know when it was morning or night. Hehe. Since I was on a holiday it didn't really matter actually plus I had my trusty mobile to remind me. Maybe next time when I strike it rich I'll get a balcony room. I'm sure that would be so much better. Imagine having breakfast or some drinks at the balcony looking out to sea. Peaceful and serene. The rooms all have similar amenities. Theres a TV with about 5 channels, a writing table, closet, personal AC control, multiple lights to set the mood, bath robes, ice bucket, cups, kettle and a daily supply of mineral water, coffee packets and tea bags. All the linen and towels were of top quality. Even the loo had very good water pressure and temperature. All to make your stay as comfortable as can be.

Now lets get down to the most important part, FOOD! *Droool* I still crave for some of the goodies I had on the ship. Everytime I went for a meal there was something to binge over. From something as simple as fruits (which were always fresh and sweet) to baked mousakka. Everything was freshly made and extremely tasty. They also provide a good variety of breads. Something I really miss during my days in US. Plus the desserts. OMG. There is always about 8 varieties of something sweet, colorful, creamy or moist. Their tiramisu is simply to die for I tell ya! The only downside were the drinks. Only water, tea and coffee was complimentary while cocktails, juices, mocktails or beer need to be purchased. Now that wouldn't be bad if they actually sold them at market price or duty free (being on international waters and all) but NOOOO. They actually charge almost 2 to 3 times more. Arrrgghh. Captive market my ass. That was the only let down from the whole cruise and due to being on a strict budget it can really hamper ones mood.

Being on a ship to many can be really boring. Which I would agree unless of course you are going with a bunch of mates or with someone special. Its NEVER for going solo and don't really hope to pick someone up. The ship however does try to organise activities practically every hour except from 2am to 6am, whereby you're expected to be asleep of course. Now the activities can be a toss. Some people might find it fun while others would think 'Huh?'. Now I say this because I felt that way. LOL. Events like line dancing, sudoku challenge, bingo and karoake don't really rock my boat. I did however enjoy the movies shown at night as well as the stage shows held. If you're a health freak theres always the gym and swimming pool. Plus if you walk around the mid deck 5 times it would equate to 1 mile. Which isn't all that bad. Theres also a library with a pretty decent collection of novels and 2 desktops where you can get online (at a price of course). If you have money to spare you could always head to the spa. Which I bet would be lovely.

Yaaawwn. I think I've crapped enuff about the cruise and its getting pretty late. Gotta wake up for work tommorrow. I'll blog more about Thailand when I get the chance. I'll leave you with some pictures taken while on the ship. Gd'nite folks!

welcome folks...

drinks with the capten...

superstar gemini from a fisherman boat...

catchin' some Zzs on the deck...

off port swetenham (sp?) in penang...