The Karma-matic Mind

2007 was also a year I had plenty of time to read.  Oh yea, it’s definitely one of my hobbies.  Hard to tell?  Hahahaha….I’m pretty selective with what I read.  I love reading biographies.  I guess reading about something real gets to me.  Its how I take the lessons from these people and put it in use.  I easpecially like football biographies.  I wonder why?

Here are some of the books I read last year: -

1. Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? - Got you with the title didn’t I?  Hahaha…full of fascinating facts about life.  A real joy to read.  Oh, and I still don’t know why…

2. Gerrard: My Autobiography - One of the best football biographies I’ve read thus far.  Honest and direct, just like the man himself.

3. A Season On The Brink - Takes a look at Liverpool’s Champions League winning season.

4. Saint: My Autobiography - The great Liverpool forward Ian St. John.  Details his struggles as well, so there is a lot to take from this man.

5. Thommo Stand Up Pinocchio - Liverpool’s very own Phil Thompson details his rise and fall and rise in English football with such comic it’s hard not to be entertained.

6. How To Win At Fantasy Football - As of press time, my fantasy team is still second from bottom. 

7. Football and Gangsters - Rooney was (still is?) in so much of shite for his rounds to the ‘house’.

8. One Night At The Call Centre - This was a book I bought out of the blue.  It tells a story of 6 indians in a call centre and how life changed for them in one night.  It was an alright read.

9. American Gangster - The movie will be a big big hit if it’s as good as the book!

10. Catch 22 - Never got into the flow of the book. Not my cup of tea even though its supposed to be a masterpiece.

11. The Gamblers - London in the 60s must have been a pretty amazing place to be.  The Clermont set defines luxury and utter stupidity.

So there you have it.  11 books in a year.  Could do better actually.  I’ve got Being Gazza waiting for me so lets hope it’s a good read. 

Wow…a year has flown by.  How time flies these days.  Pretty scary come to think about it.  I’ll be 27 next year!  Putting that thought aside for a minute, let’s take a look at some of the things I’ve been up to this year.

Travelling has been the highlight for me.  What an amazing hobby to have!  Hahahaha…I wished I did more but I’m absolutely delighted with what I achieved this year.  First of was a family trip to Siem Reap in February.  I must say this place was one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen.  The Angkor temples were a class apart and I urge anyone and everyone to go witness this amazing place.  It’s beyond words; it’s just so mystical.  Not to mention, everything is also pretty cheap!  A road trip to JB and a day trip to Singapore, plus a short stop over in Malacca was next on the agenda.  Going on a road trip with the ‘gang’ is always great.  We had loads of fun and we ate like pigs…the usual combination when we are out. 

Then came the ultimate holiday trip thus far…Bali!!! Bali was great because it was my firs trip with my baby.  So glad she could make it.  The 6 days in Kuta, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua and the works were well spent.  Rowena, Aaron and Sam were great company too.  I got myself a perfectly nice tan, only for it to go away within 2 weeks or so after I came back L Shopping for Quiksilver stuff in Legian Street was great too.  And the best beef burger I ever had thus far was definitely in Bali.  Simply delicious!  Our ‘jumping’ picture taken in Nusa Dua will forever be etched in my memory.

Our next trip together with my parents was to Manila.  It was such an unexpected joy.  Manila was not only cheap in just about everything, the food was simply amazing plus the shopping was probably on par with some other major cities like Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.  I could have shopped till I drop by have to ‘control budget’ in front of parents la…Guess clothes were a real bargain when they had sale.  Seafood in Manila must be some of the best I’ve had.  It’s all about eating in Manila and I gained 4kg during this holiday…and sad to say, I’m feeling the after effects till now.  And this trip was in September!!!  Must thank the Chan family for taking such good care of us.

Next on the agenda was Hong Kong and Macau!!!  I was pretty excited with this trip.  It was my first time to both places.  I’ve heard so much about the notorious Hong Kong sale that I just had to experience it for myself.  And disappointed I was not.  Manila was great but Hong Kong was pretty much better. I blew quite a fortune on shopping but it’s all so worth it.  Let me give you an example.  I bought a pair of Tough jeans and cargo pants there.  I came back and checked the price at both the 1 Utama and The Curve outlet.  It’s a new limited edition arrival here and it cost RM460.  Would I have bought anything that expensive?  Most definitely not!!!  I got mine in Hong Kong for RM150 Nett.  Now who wouldn’t blow a fortune shopping in Hong Kong!!!  Bought a pair of shoes from Acupuncture as well and they are really comfy.  Keeping it for CNY though.  I also blew a fortune having some shirts and pants tailor made.  The TVB function was pretty awesome.  I had a really close view of the live show and even walked next to Macau tycoon, Stanley Ho.  His Rolls Royce (number plate HK1) is by far the biggest car I’ve seen!  Visiting the Jumbo Kingdom, Ocean Park and shopping in Tung Chun were definitely the highlights.  I will do Disneyland the next time with my baby of course.  Food was…too much!  I had good food practically everyday.  Cow’s ligaments (ngau kan) and roasted geese (siew ngor) was on the menu every time.  Hing Kee Restaurant in Nathan Road is pretty awesome. 

Macau would be ideal for only two things – gambling and womanizing (prostitution).  The place is filled with casino and late night entertainment (or should I say all day) on every corner of the street!  I stayed at this place called The Venetian, a majestic new hotel.  Thus far the most beautiful hotel I’ve stayed in.  The whole city itself is a 30 minutes tour.  Food wise, I thought Hong Kong was way better.  I did gamble a bit and obviously lost but no harm done.  I don’t gamble big anyhow.  We stayed for only a night but I don’t think I would want to stay any longer than that.  It wasn’t a bad place but it just didn’t interest me that much.  We were supposed to visit Shenzhen too but we canceled at the last minute due to bad reviews from right about everyone in Hong Kong.  Pick pockets and snatch theft are rampant there and with such a big entourage we decided against going.  Flying business class to Hong Kong was a great experience for me.  The satay on board MAS was really really good.  I owe so much to Wong and Billy for this trip and they have my utmost gratitude for it. 

The yuletide season called for another holiday.  This time round, I drove down to Singapore with Vin Nee and her two friends, Pei Siang and Esther.  What a blast we had!  The Gallery Hotel we stayed in was fabulous.  I loved the décor and the location of the hotel itself.  It’s a 3 minutes drive to Clarke Quay and it’s so centrally located.  The only thing I couldn’t understand was how come there weren’t any MRT stops nearby.  Anyone who says they can’t seem to buy anything in Singapore has either drove to JB and thought it was Singapore (which is not possible) or landed in Uluwatu airport and thought it was Changi.  I was in Bangkok, Manila and Hong Kong and I still think the Singapore sales as well as its variety was up one notch.  I did an amazing amount of shopping (for my CNY obviously) and must say was really happy with my purchases.  Only regret?  I didn’t buy the new limited edition Ralph Lauren polo tee.  That was really nice (the one with the GB, USA, France, Italy and Japan flags).  I would recommend you to shop at Vivo City to avoid the crowd at Orchard.  You get basically the same things there while it’s huge and spacious and air conditioning in Singapore is very much needed.

We went to this place called Pump Room in Clarke Quay and it’s a very nice place to chill out with a great live band.  The lamb cubes were delicious as well.  Hahaha…how not to grow fat with all the food I’ve been eating?  We did the Christmas countdown in Velvet but hell it isn’t the same as our beloved KL Velvet.  I know I’m no expert in dancing but Singaporeans generally can’t dance.  That’s sad since they have 3 really good place in Zouk, Velvet and Phuture under one roof.  My second visit to Sentosa Island after 20 years was also great.  I enjoyed the luge ride very much and once is definitely not enough!  Managed to meet up with my cousin sis Claudia too so it was a great trip all around.

So much for my travel exploits in 2007.  I hope to travel more in 2008 and already have a few dates jotted down.  The usual suspects hope to hit Bangkok some time end of August and we might squeeze in a trip to KK before that.  End of the year, if money and weather permits, I would like to hit Boracay Island with my baby.  Let’s hope everything goes as planned.  Can’t wait for 2008’s travel files!

One of my brother got married over the weekend.  7th July 2007 to be exact, the date everyone was rushing to get hitched.  I was involved from the get go.  I had to be, in fact we had to be.  We were the ‘heng tais’.  We were sworn to a brotherhood.  We grew up from boys to men together (although some of us are not quite there yet..kekeke).

Emotions were on a high that day.  Couldn’t see it but we all felt it.  We were of course happy for Peng Hoe (Bong) and Rosalind (Rose).  But we knew it was time we moved on, evolved, take the next step in life.  I have nothing but utter respect for Bong.  Him making the big move showed a lot of courage and strength, something that I hope to learn from him.  It’s time we look forward to the challenges ahead.

I woke up pretty darn early that morning.  I was the driver.  The substitute driver more like.  Azlan was suppose to drive his mum’s Jag but our Jap bro couldn’t get an earlier leave out of Chiba.  A damn shame if you asked me.  We were missing one of our bros.  The Jag on the other hand was a nice change of speed.

Seeing Bong in the morning getting all dressed up and ready to role out made my heart sank.  Our bro is going to get his wife…how cool is that?  We did the registration bit first in the morning, hence it was a mad rush for time since usually people register on a different day. 

The banging of the door bit was quite something.  Since Rose is from Malacca, the relatives stayed at Summit Hotel.  14th floor to be exact.  So what did the ‘chee mui’ decide to do?  Asked us to climb 14th floors in 5 minutes plus collect all the stick pad along the way.  Great, we were all dressed up and now we have to sweat.  We were about 20 seconds late so the punishment was to do push ups.  We didn’t really have a good Project Manager in Jee Sheng…darn it he took the lift to the 10th floor!

The second part of the ‘roadblock’ involved drinking some really messed up drink.  I couldn’t be bothered with the negotiation so I finished a bottle by myself.  The rest of the bros shared the other bottle.  Finally, it was time for Bong to bang the door and call for his wife to open the door for him.

And when the door finally opened, Rose looked absolutely stunning.  You should see some of the pictures they took of her…beautiful.  What a beautiful couple they both make….

An absolutely long overdue post on my Siem Reap trip…

I had a blast in Siem Reap and I would recommend anyone to go visit the place simply because it’s cheap and it’s beauty is out of this world.  The Angkor City was definitely the highlight and for those wo love to drink and drink and drink…a bottle of Absolut is only USD9 and a Jack will ONLY set you back USD9.40…brilliant.

I never expected Angkor Wat to be what it is and I’m so glad I decided to tag along on this trip.  It is definitely one of the wonders of the world.  I can’t understand how this sort of engineering could be achieved at that time.  Things we build today wouldn’t even last 10 years let alone a thousand!

Restoration work is an ongoing thing there but certain parts of the main Angkor Wat will be closed to public starting next year so I would really encourage anyone to go have a look.  I may want to return one day to visit the smaller temples and travel the outskirts.

To sum it up, Siem Reap is worth a visit if you ain’t got the dough to do Europe just yet…

I love the weather in Chiang Mai! Wish KL had that weather every day. Shopping is good too but not as cheap as Bangkok. Of course, Bangkok had more choices too. Girls in Chiang Mai are definitely fairer and prettier but not necessarily hotter…hahahaha. Massages in Chiang Mai are soooo cheap and pretty good. Had this Burma girl do my leg and it was absolutely fantastic!

Besides shopping and temples, there isn’t much to do in Chiang Mai itself so we took a day tour to Chiang Rai and up the border of Myanmar and Laos, or more famously known as the Golden Triangle. Visiting the Tribal center was also an eye opener where you get to see and experience the way of life of the hill tribe people. There are about 4 or 5 different tribes there (Karen longneck, Akho and I can’t remember the rest). Crossing the Mekong river to Laos was also great.

On our 3 1/2 hours drive back from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai, we passed by some really old school trunk roads and unfortunately, we saw a car that crashed by the roadside. The Avanza was pretty messed up, 4 occupants, 2 sons and parents. They were just crawling out of the car when we passed by. Naturally, we went down to help. The driver was hurt real bad, I’m sure he has internal bleeding. The mother had a cut just above the eyes, the father was bleeding profusely form the head and the other son was pretty alright.

The worst thing about all this, when I arrived at the wreckage, the car radio had this song on - Daniel Powter’s Bad Day…so ironic, I felt goose bumps! To my suprise, the ambulance came within 10 minutes…which was lightning fast because we were in the middle of no where!!!Such efficiency these Thai people I tell you.

On the last day in Chiang Mai, I actually did some self-walking tour around town. Visited a few temples and took a couple of nice pictures I think. I felt sad having to leave Thailand and be back in KL. Sigh…KL holds nothing for me now.