Into The Wild

The camping plan was a success…....2 days and 1 night camping trip at Teluk Duyung, Penang National Park

I, Jew and Hendry left the house at about 9:00 24 April 2010 to the nearby coffee shop called “Bali-Bali” for a breakfast…after breakfast, we headed straight to Penang National Park office at Teluk Bahang where most trails start off...it was already about 11:00 when we arrived at the Penang National Park office for registration….at the registration counter, I was told we couldn’t stay overnight at Pantai Kerachut no more…there were already about 80 campers at the camp site and it was more than the daily prohibited number…apparently there was a school program going on there…we were a little saddened but then decided to go to Teluk Duyung @ Monkey Beach…Looking at the trail map, it is about 2.2 Km distance of 1 and a half hour journey….Pantai Kerachut is about 3 Km distance of 2 hours journey…the entrance and its first 1 Km trail has now been developed….well, there was no office and nor trail built (tiles) 8 years ago…the journey began at about 11:30 and managed to reach Teluk Duyung less than the predicted duration…

At Teluk Duyung, there was also a school program going on as well so the camp site wasn’t empty…I think they’ve got about 30 students…we found a good spot to put up our camps as it has great access to the beach, sea and nearby bamboo shelter equipped with decent bamboo shelf and of course a place to do BBQ…it was about 14:00 when we had our lunch…I brought cooked rice from home so this helped to ease the lunch preparation... punya membuka selera lunch ni kali..makan nasi + sambal bilis dalam tin +ikan black bean (touse) + jagung dalam tin + beer…we spent the whole afternoon resting, chatting and did some small chores….we collected enough dried woods for the BBQ and fire at night before it was dark….the night before at home, I bought a crate of beer so me and Jew had already drank 12 cans off 24 cans…the other 12 cans were our main drinking water that afternoon at Teluk Duyung…whilst drinking and chatting, we observed those students making their lunch preparation….they spent hours to cook and finally at 16:00 they’ve finally got their stomach filled with food …there was another group among us at the Teluk Duyung camp site…we realized it was not an ordinary group later that evening when we were resting and swimming in the sea….looking at the flag, it looked like a PAS meeting…a secret meeting??

Just when it was about to get dark, we lit up the ‘ungun api’ I prepared earlier….it was awesome! I have not had the chance to do it as I used to when I was actively into boy scout during my early years…I still got the touch pula...hehe…we took turn taking bath and I really love having bath there…there’s a big gallon of water which was really cold and refreshing…it was night time after we had taken our bath and each of us did what we were meant to do…I did the BBQ, Jew with his instant noodles and Henry had earlier taking care of the fire and charcoal for BBQ and he kept our 'ungun api' to its best….we had instant noodles as appetizer followed by BBQ chicken wings along with our main course of 1 litre Chivas….desert would be dried fish in black bean (Touse) plus cigarettes…prior to dinner we had to go through a panic moment..I’ve predicted it was going to rain but we did not expect it was going to be that scary….Jew had to run for his camp when a strong wind came to the shore...we had to carry all the stuffs outside back into the bamboo shelter especially the BBQ set…thankfully it wasn’t long and we survived the ‘hurricane’…Jew’s camp almost thrown off by the strong wind…it was quite scary being at that situation…those school students were of course panicking and ran to save their own camps…we spent the whole night chatting about life...It was interesting night for us to catch up with each other…discussed couple other personal stuffs with a bottle of Chivas, 2 bottles of coke, some side dishes at a windy surrounding…a nice place to let your mind forget about work…I guessed we went to sleep at almost 2:00 the next day (Sunday)…personally it wasn’t easy for me as I kept hearing this wild/stray dogs wandering around looking for foods….I even heard the sound of bones being crushed in their mouth…the sound of their footsteps wandering around our camping site…I finally managed to get sleep when it was almost sunrise...but had to wake up early as the sun has gone high up heating my camp from the inside….huhu…

The next morning....we had instant noodles for brunch until 3 fellas arrived by boat asking us to empty the shelter for their oncoming customers whom to have a picnic there….we decided to pack all our stuffs and headed back…I think we arrived at the national park office at the predicted time of 1 hour and a half this time….spent almost an hour at the office’s porch...I even took a bath before we headed back home for an actual lunch at 14:00 that day…it was quite a tiring journey but I think we’ve achieved our objective...spending time together out of the ordinary (stay at home)….we have discussed and made another plan in near time soon to really go to Pantai Kerachut and this time we will make a reservation…hehe…


* I look a little darker since my return...

God Willing

God willing I will collect my winning money of RM1.2 million at the end of this week!

I'm so going to enjoy the RM1.2 million for the rest of my life...a nice house of my liking, appropriate car(s) to move around, pay all my debt and of course travel around the globe to see the world we're living...

A very nice dream! Punya angan-angan melampui batas...not a fault to have a dream ba kan..hehe...God willing...

Do you know how irritating it is being phoned in 3 times in 4 days just before 12pm??? I don't mind if calls coming from office or families but 3 times in 4 days?! Are you kidding me??? Do they have a season or something like that to phone people around with 'great' offer?!!

The stories goes like this...Monday at about 11:30am when I was asleep...a Chinese lady rang in introducing herself calling on behalf of CitiBank sub-co with this great deal of offer...rather than paying monthly credit card charges with no benefit, they've got this new deal of paying credit card charges for future saving...doesn't it sound just interesting..I decided to get off my bed and listened to her saying...an amount of money will be credited to my CitiBank credit card on monthly basis and after 9 years of doing so, I'll get a cheque of the actual total amount of money I may have paid within 9 years plus 20% interest!!! I refused to accept the offer several times with my reasons..I've just cleared my CitiBank credit card outstanding balance recently and looking into this offer it may not be that bad..yet what's the point of having zero outstanding balance if I start to charge the card on monthly basis for something I didn't use...let's say at this moment it may not harm me financially but shit happens without notice...one fine day I may lose to temptation and end up charging the credit card for something I could have avoided...and thinking of 9 years paying credit card debt what's that to be called as great offer?? Although I have said it clearly I do not need it as I find it not helping but the lady kept on with her 'sweet talk' and after careful thought of its T&C..I decided to say the word but I'm so going to cancel within few weeks...the unnecessary charge will then be refurbished into my credit card!!!

Wednesday at almost the same range of time just before 12:00 noon...an Indian lady phoned in introducing herself from an insurance company formerly known as AIG on behalf of Reader's Digest....I've expected what she was about to tell me and straight away I said..I'm not interested but she didn't give up..she insisted to explain its policies and benefits etc before I make a decision...I listened to her explanation then at the end of it (after almost 10 minutes) I said I've already got an insurance and I don't need insurance no more...I wonder what kind of training she's gone through, she was so adamant that the policies is way better than most policies out there and it is always better to be covered by multiple insurance....I asked her what's the point of having 2 or 3 insurance if none of these are actually being fully utilised annually...well, few months ago I've received a 20% ROI cheque from one of my insurance provider as I've never claimed anything within its 3 years coverage and am still paying as I blog...did you see the point of having couple of insurance when the existing insurance never even being touched or utilised...it's rather another burden paying an extra expense every month....I then remembered that I once got an insurance from AIG which I cancelled after 2 months as I didn't think beneficial for me...even if I were involved in an accident or admitted to hospital (touch wood), would you go calling each of these insurance companies claiming for money...yes I would but don't you think it's more convenient to have a single insurance policies that could cover your requirement and effectively beneficial to you and families....it may sound like I were to become an Ah Long claiming insurance money from these companies and get frustrated when the process being delayed...they should have prepared a better introduction and targeted people who doesn't have life insurance at all..something like have you insured you health or family members..if yes or no then proceed with another questionnaire before wasting their time with no win situation prospect like me...this time I was very rude by saying something like I'm not interested at all although the offer is great..I'm covered and don't need to waste money to pay for another one....

Thursday and this time it was before 11:00....surely I was asleep and I had a very nice dream when my mobile was ringing...a Malay man called in introducing himself on behalf of some travel agency company..I didn't remember the company name but I did remember the company is working together or supported by the Malaysian Tourism to encourage Malaysian to travel with great deal of offer for holidays...I lied by saying I've got membership with other travel agency and I love what they're offering me so I'm not interested to have another membership card or deal...he tried to persuade me with its benefit but I insisted that I'm not interested and I've got things to do...he gave up and I went on continue my tidur-tidur ayam...

I'm not sure what's going on here...as if they've got this season pula...3 calls in the same week!!! why not a call telling me that some old billionaire hasn't got heir to her/his money and I've been so lucky to be picked up as the sole heir...why not a call telling me I've been selected as the Reader's Digest grand prize winner of RM750,000.00!!! God willing...

I'm so looking forward this weekend...me and Jew have already planned to go for a short camping trip at Pantai Kerachut....God willing, others will join in...weather to be cloudy and windy so tidak la hangus tebakar bersantai di pantai...It's my day off today and next Monday so I've got couple of planned things to do today or so like...renew my bike's insurance and road tax, shopping for tent+sleeping bag+camping gears, buy DVDs, clean the house, go to car workshop for a check-up...maybe I'll buy a crate of beer for the camping trip as a day-to-day drinking water....we already got a litre of Chivas to help us go through the night at Pantai Kerachut..hehe...

Have a great weekend chaps!

New Moon 2010: 2nd Quarter

How was your Easter? Did you have great time?

Easter (Friday and Monday) was a bank holiday in UK & Oz so did the office here in Penang...me, Jew and Joel had a decent seafood dinner at Bukit Tambun (Restaurant Gee Seng) , Seberang Perai on Saturday.....we haven't had dinner together like this for a while, having said that it was timely for us to get together but it wasn't the same as before....we used to go to this place years then with Brandon and Fabian..back then I used to eat a lot...I couldn't remember the exact moment but this year I seem to have less appetite for food....well, I always favour and love seafood...we had crab curry, butter prawns, steamed fish and of course a vegetable...we thought it may cost us over RM100 but it wasn't that much...no extra rice and dish afterward (cost us about RM80) We returned home then we ended the night with cold beers..that's a must!

It was coincident the long break fell at the end of the month when my bank account has got a top-up, I didn't have to wait longer to move my ars and get out to spend on DVDs! I finished up 19 DVDs from Friday - Monday (The informant, Ninja, Astro Boy, Daybreakers, A Christmas Carol, From Paris With Love, Sherlock Holmes, Shutter Island, 14 Blades, The Blind Side, Julie and Julia, Precious, Alvin & The Chipmunks, New Moon, Swordfish, Jackal,Saturday Nigh Fever, There's Something About Mary, Dance With The Wolve and lastly Defendor) Have already watched some of them at cinema but re watched on DVDs felt better and of course the likes of Swordfish, Saturday Night Fever, Dance With The Wolve and Jackal - I couldn't resist to not buying the blue-ray DVD...was looking for many more old movies like Gone With The Wind and Sleepless in Seattle...I'm so going to buy new stock this weekend!

Weeks and months have passed and it seems to be very fast...we're entering the second quarter of year 2010 (following my employer financial year, not sure yours though) I'm sure each of us has had ups and downs during the 1st quarter and I'm quite grateful that I managed to go through with good results at the end of March! Good financial stats, peaceful work environment and good health to start the 2nd quarter...thanks to the never ending prayers (parents) and God willing...I could slowly see myself achieving those targets I have planned earlier this year...about to achieve 1 of them in near time soon!!

Jew in action (Earth Hour)

Bless the Earth! We had another Earth Hour last month and I felt great about my participation (with Jew, Joel and of course Husky) I text some of my friends thought that could spark the spirit a little bit..making it more exciting! Wasn't it exciting to know someone's thinking of you when there's a world event going on?? If only I were working on that day, I would not have felt the excitement, would I? Can't we have a day without mobile/text?? That'll be interesting....Earth Hour at my house was held at 20:00 - 21:30 hours...too early tapi inda apa sebab ada cold beer menemani..haha...my hair is getting longer; have not planned on cutting just yet...

Wel has just woke up (sebab tu rambut ada belahan siring sikit..haha..)

May you have a great day!