Patong Beach - Phuket Island

Arrived home from work at about 5pm, I hadn’t packed any of my stuff as usual…About 6:30pm I finished packing and 7:30pm took a taxi to Airport…Journey began from Penang at 9:20pm….
Brandon and Jew picked me up at KL Central and arrived at Bran’s house almost 1:00am….after sometimes not being together...so many things to catch up with….few cans of Chang beer and ended up sleeping at about 4:00am…woke up at 5:00am when the booked taxi came to pick us up…

Arrived at the airport an hour before the scheduled flight to Phuket Island at 7:25am….we checked in then went to have our breakfast….immigration check then to the gate…we were late!!!! Discussion after discussion we had to buy a new flight ticket to Phuket Island at 12:45pm and it cost each of us about RM300!!!!

Arrived at Phuket Island about 01:00pm and we took a taxi at a cost THB600….I think we were lucky to met the guy who promoted island hopping trip (Phi Phi-Maya-Khai) and he drove us to this travel agency (believe to be his accomplish) but it wasn’t a waste….the travel agency offered a good price…THB1200 on express boat or THB 1900 on speed boat...we took the THB1200 thinking it’s cheaper and of course it would be nicer to have other people along the trip…buffet lunch is inclusive on the boat, a van will pick and drop you off at the hotel…we then continued the journey to Patong Beach (the most famous beach in Phuket Island) that took about an hour…traffic congestion was not as bad as my trip to Pattaya then and we were amazed with their vehicles…Toyota, Isuzu and Mazda…..these are the only car manufacturer seen around….most common taxis are Toyota Vios….and their cars seems to be well taken care of…however we did see one Proton Satri Neo in Patong later that night..haha…

Arrived at Patong Beach…wow!!! Patong town is situated on the other side of a hill…so the road is up hill then down hill....once we reached at the top of the hill, we could see Patong town…its almost bigger than Sandakan….and the view from the hill top is so amazing….we arrived at the hotel almost 3:00pm and the hotel receptionist told us they were fully booked….no worries...hehe.…we were upgraded (that’s what they call it) to another 3.5 star hotel…the hotel I booked (Patong Beach Lodge) wasn’t bad at all as it has a swimming pool, situated 500m from the beach and all other entertainment outlets with a cost THB650 per night….the hotel driver drove us to the other hotel and wow!! We didn’t expect the hotel to be so nice (Horizon Beach Resort & Spa)…the hotel is situated about 200m from the beach…we were greeted and treated very nicely….Thais are famous to be good in customer relationship....they really are (I’ve experienced it in Pattaya and now in Phuket)…the hotel has 2 swimming pools…we checked in then spent couple of minutes in our room before we started our touring….hehe..

We spent the first day mostly on touring and reviewing….had couple of beers, late lunch and dinner….I think we walked almost 8km touring Patong Beach town…it was funny that we never lepak at Patong beach at all during the trip there…along the beach, there are plenty of thing you could possibly get into….seafood, mini-bar, bistro pub and many more…local taxi “tuk-tuk” were everywhere…some even pimped with great lightning, sounds and seats as decoration for attraction…a “tuk-tuk” can accommodate about 4 people (seat facing each other)…it’s a small size pickup turned into a limousine pickup….however, there was one turn off thing that we notice in Patong town (only in Patong perhaps because it’s status to be the most happening and attractive place in Phuket)…I wasn’t expecting the cost of living was so expensive as I had in Pattaya….a decent meal could cost you about THB100 (RM10) and a small bottle of beer at THB70 in a decent restaurant but THB140 (or higher) in a pub…imagine a decent lunch/dinner (3 dishes) cost us about THB500 – THB700….it’s a great place for holiday though...hehe….the night life in Patong is not much different than Pattaya although I think Pattaya is way more crazy (Walking Street in Pattaya is full of a-go-go bars) FYI, a-go-go bar is where you could see bikini babes dancing on the stage, on the table and even on you…if you brave enough, you might be able to grab these hot asses for your own satisfaction…haha…at about 7:00pm (Bangkok time – 1 hour behind us) we went back to hotel and had our perasmian swimming pool…haha…spent about an hour there (swimming pool closed at 8:00pm) then went out again for single lads night out…yet we weren’t sure where to go…one of the happening pubs (Margarita) was full and the other bars opposites a-go-go bars were full…ada juga si Jew sempat terpegun melihat bikini babes bekangkang-kangkang, lady boys dancing on a table….haha…the Rock Hard A-Go-Go bar is a private pub on the 1st floor so I couldn’t see much what were going on there..haha…we ended up drinking couple bottles of beer at this one decent pub facing the Margarita….we went back to the hotel before midnight and had another go with the beers in the fridge before zzzzzzzzzzzz………

Khai Island

Second day…as planned, a van picked us up at the hotel at 7:40am…there were about 6 people in the van with us and the journey took about half an hour to the other side of the Island passing through the outskirt of Phuket City…from Asia Marina jetty, we began our island hopping journey to Khai Island…Khai island is a small size island just about 35 minutes off Phuket Island…We stopped at Khai Island for an hour but me and Jew decided not to swim/snorkeling here…instead we enjoyed bottle of beer each..haha…we then moved to the Phi Phi Island then Maya Island (according the tour guide; Phi Phi Island consists of 9 rock islands and Maya is one of them)….first, we stopped at this one snorkeling destination for 45 minutes…it was quite a view...imagine la kalau ada panah kan..mimang ada suda berapa ekor tu kerapu kana panah bawah balik panggang...haha...because we were 50m to the rock wall, the wave wasn’t helpful at all…you’ll have to be more careful or else you might end up somewhere melakat di batu pasal itu ombak…haha…the last swimming/snorkeling stop was in 5 minute journey and it was nearby the famous beach in the movie titled The Beach made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000….even just nearby the actual location of the filmed beach..it was an awesome experience (according to tour guide, Maya means glowing/shining during a full moon…so they say the sea at the Maya beach is glowing at night during a full moon) After spending 30 minutes there, we moved to main land Phi Phi Island village…here, the goods were cheaper as I would have expected to be in Thailand…hehe..so another beer please!!! The journey back from Phi Phi Island to Phuket Island took almost 2 hours…I even slept during the journey…penat beranang kali...Arrived at the Asia Marina, our van was there waiting….

Maya Island

At night..we went out for the last trying to get a picture or glimpse of the new Hard Rock Café Patong…unfortunately, it is not open for business yet…punya jauh perjalanan kami..haha…we had dinner then before going back to hotel…we stopped for beers at Margarita…really, the place was so happening…full of foreigners and the live band was not bad at all… the bassist were great and the crowds were cool…I think Jew took some video of them playing…

The final day…we woke up before 5:00am and checked out at 5:30am…the hotel taxi has already there waiting for us to go to Airport….our flight back to KL was at 8:15am and arrived at KL at 10:35pm (Malaysia time)….the journey from the hotel to airport was about half an hour without traffic congestion…it was a great days in Phuket Island and sure will visit again next time when ada duit lagi..haha…

Arrived at LCCT KL as expected…my next flight was at 3:25pm so I had about 3 hours waiting….thankfully LCCT has my favourite hot dog 1901 (since when ah?) I ate 3 Great New York Chicken+Ice lemon Tea (great is big so imagine how much I like Hot Dog 1901) After waiting for 3 hours I finally left LCCT KL to Penang and arrived home at about 4:30pm….after an hour and a half of rest, I then left home to go to work again (Junior colleagues could not be left without supervision) arrived at the office before 7:00pm and everyone was happy to see me….the Manager called me for a brief meeting in his room and apparently their probation period had been extended due to some misconduct at work….then discussed couple more things about their progress and performance…at about 10:00pm that night…I think my body was damn tired…I felt like if I were on a boat…thankfully I had plenty of things to do that night so it become easier to ignore…at 12:40am I arrived home, took a shower then straight to bed…..what a day…

That’s it….would I recommend Phuket Island for a holiday? Definitely and ensure to bring lots of money…haha….not much to shop as in classy stuff but so many things you could possibly buy on along the road…even lolok kayu pun ada…also, their english is better than I had experienced in Pattaya..haha…

Have a great weekend chaps!!

Middle of Year 2009..Party Time!!

Hi chaps!

It’s been quite a while huh….

Workplace is pretty much ‘calm’ at the moment when there are only me and manager working….rotating shift although sometimes I kind of felt that I’m the victim to his role by swapping couple of shifts when he fells like doing it…thankfully I’m not much of a fussy person at this kind of responsibility…at least I knew I’ll get paid at the end of the month with ‘extra’…hehe..

My colleague who was supposed to get 3 weeks unpaid leave ended up with 6 weeks unpaid leave (will be back on 29th June)….I couldn’t blame her though after knowing the story behind all the problem she has to endure…at least at this moment, me and the manager are able to ‘neutralize’ couple of bad impressions towards Penang office…

My part time so called business is not good since last month….well, I’ve been busy swapping/rotating work shift without proper pattern of work to accommodate unattended shifts….I’m currently looking for a ‘runner’ and believe me when I say that I have problem with trust…I had couple of candidates but they were not quite right for the job….

Friends…couple of weeks ago, a shocking news hits me….I wasn’t surprised yet it wasn’t expected to be this soon when all seemed to work out pretty good for them…they were one of the known name in Penang music scene since years ago but hey…even world class musicians could have their own agenda…no more “I’m with the band”..ha.ha…

I might be a little too late to share this great news…close friends have finally making their way to the aisle in near time soon…they have been together for couple of years and had just brought their relationship to another level (engagement) on 24th May 2009...look forward to their wedding day next year!! Congratulation!!

Another great news…I’ve just bought flight tickets back to Sabah for this coming Christmas…I had not planned to buy this soon but a day before, I was thinking of another close friend who’s having her wedding ceremony at KDCA at the end 2009 and I don’t prefer to miss this one at all…. Having said that I decided to apply leave and got it approved on the same day!!! So…I’ll be around from 19th Dec 2009 – 3rd Jan 2010….

I’ve been looking and planning at a possibility of another holiday this year…Me, Mr. Jew and Mr. Brandon are planning to go ‘out’ for a short holiday in Italy but so many things have came up without notice...Italy?? You guys really believe that??? I wish I can afford to go there…haha….the truth is, we are planning somewhere around SEA…since Mr Jew has a new pangakosayo colleague…we might go Philippines kan Jew?? Ha.ha…options: Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore…harap-harap Mr Jew sponsor la (FYI: Mr Jew’s wedding budget is RM10 million as he wants to beat the big spender, Tom-Kate’s wedding of USD2.7 million)

Mr. Brandon is coming over to Penang today…Mr. Jew is coming home as well and he has arrived….I have not met Mr. Brandon since Christmas 2008 and Mr. Jew since middle of last month…we are going to have a very small Kaamatan-Gawai belated celebration this Saturday…the event is scheduled to kick off as early as 5:00pm and expected to finish the next morning…we’ll be having BBQ and of course beer...as an event organizer, hope there will be enough supply of beer (depending on how much we manage to collect for ‘dana kehausan’).....Have fun!

Cheers!

Balik Kampung

At this time I might already boarded a plane heading to the KK…or I might have landed in KK and somewhere in KK, hang out with friends...partying, chatting and drinking…

I can’t really tell precisely where I might be for the whole period of my annual leave (22nd Dec 2008 – 4th Jan 2009) I could be in KK, Ranau or Tambunan…earlier this year, I had planned to visit my old friends in Sandakan but due to some complication…I have to bury that plan and postponed to some other time….I haven’t been to Sandakan for over 6 years…the place where I grew up….the place where I learned to be a boy also a teenager…be it good or bad, it’s part of me you’re getting…..

The last time I went back to Sabah was in Jun 2007…which was a waste as I would considered it…I might be a selfish man at some point for not thinking of going back to Sabah although I have plenty of holidays..I might also be one of the guy that you would call, non-patriotic for not going back to Sabah to help our own people and beloved state to develop a better place for living…you call it…whatever you’d like to…I never really had nor having a real homesick feeling as most people would call it…of course I’m missing and worry about my parents and care about them…but thinking of pursuing the “thing” in life and making the best out of you…one must take certain different path and live to do the best out of it…surviving in other people’s territory, into the wild world…least I could do is, not leaving them behind if they require my help or perform my responsibility as we call it…

I’m thankful to have good parents...blessed by their prayers…by mean, God’s will…and blessed with good friends around me….heading back to Sabah to reunite with my family and relatives is always a good feeling…although deep down inside, I’m always worry that I couldn’t do much to ease their life...especially when I’m there observing the real thing with my own eyes…which usually makes me angry…still, thinking of the reality of life…I can’t do all and handle everything as I would wish and hope....

My first day in Sabah will be filled with parties…we have a plan for a small kind of reunion at one of a famous karaoke centre in KK…heading there once I arrive in KK later in the afternoon…afterwards, I’ll be joining my big bro to a BBQ party at one of his friend’s house in Putrajaya…several of his friends are my friends as well (childhood friends in Ranau before we moved to Sandakan) few hours ago I was amused (smiling) by both of my siblings when they were asking who’s going to fetch me at the airport…then 2 of my friends were asking the same question followed by their offer to fetch me…I rarely tell my friends or family if I'm coming back...having said that, I have not felt this kind of feeling for quite a time…another friend was jokingly asking me to jalan-jalan at Centre Point later in the evening (funny and cute because she will be there with her friends…it’s a perfect "coincident" meeting each other..hehe..) it seems that lots of people are looking forward to see me…thanks and very much appreciated…unfortunately I had already plan for a friend to fetch me…F.Y.I… me and Jew will be boarding the same plane from Penang…Fabian who had recently moved to Sabah couple of months ago is fetching us then proceed according to plan (lunch then Karaoke-drink)…usually, I will be the one who will contact and remind them that I will be arriving at this and that time then request their favour to fetch me at the airport....

"Hi wel..[smile]" if you recognize me k...then "Sudah makan?"..I'm sure I will reply "Hi..belum..kau mau belanja?[smile]" hehe...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009! Had a great holiday chaps!

I felt guilty...

My rough agenda pada hari ini yang membuatkan saya berasa 11 jam menjadi 4 jam....but it was fun though..I love my job and work..hehe..

*time has been rounded up based on actual events

5:45 AM - Arrived at the office
6:00 AM - Checked and Replied e-mails..e-mails..e-mails
6:50 AM - New staffs arrived at the office
7:00 AM - Consulting Customer (remote in and spoke to customers)
8:00 AM - Resumed Training
9:00 AM - Development Work (discussion)
10:00 AM - Training Exercises
11:00 AM - Consulting Customer (e-mails) and Development Work (discussion)
12:00 PM - New staffs off to lunch break
12:05 PM - Development Work (Chasing progress and Unit Testing)
12:45 AM - New staffs came back from lunch break
01:00 PM - Resumed Training
02:00 PM - Training Exercises
03:15 PM - New staffs left the office
03:00 PM - Consulting Customer (e-mails) and Development Work (discussion)
04:00 PM - Development Work (Unit testing and discussion)
04:30 PM - E-mailing...e-mailing..e-mailing
5:15 PM - I left the office

* I'm grateful that I'm used to the habit of not having lunch (I had breakfast) but pity me for not having a moment for a cigarette the whole day...huhu..

I felt guilt....I have 2 works orders and 3 issues tracking (software life cycle procedure; fault-fix-test-released) allocated to my team, 1 customer's issue that require investigation...new staffs require guidance and monitoring.....

I told my team (developers) that I might come to office tomorrow...around noon perhaps...to catch up with the above matters...

This is going to be the last part of my periodic holidays of the year 2008...I will be on annual leave again tomorrow and next Monday (12th and 15th)....

As usual, the manager called and he always had the sense to know that I was still in the office, working...we discussed about the current pace of the new staffs...I told him that I can't really speak at that moment (internal matters) so suggested that I will email him details, later once I have time..thankfully, he understood that I've been really busy....juggling between training, support and development works...so he told me to email him once I have time to do it....I will, I said to him and then I told him that I'm going to participate in the Penang Starwalk 2008 this Sunday...he was laughing and jokingly asked me to share the experience with everyone in the company later once I got back (seeking sponsorship..hehe..)...we both laugh...then suddenly the 2 developers and my successor who were there heard the news, they were also laughing....huhu..

On the week after next week...that's the real holiday..I will be in Sabah for 2 consecutive weeks....in case any of you see me and recognize me..do not hesitate to say "hi wel..[smiling]" and I will certainly reply with a simple "hi.. [smilling]"...

Holiday mood..

Hi peeps!

Just a quick post....starting on today onwards, I will be enjoying my holiday...

26th Nov - Half Day
27th Nov - Off Day
28th Nov - Off Day
5th Dec - Off Day
8th Dec - Off Day
12th Dec - Off Day
15th Dec - Off Day
22nd Dec 2008 - 2nd Jan 2009 - Off Day

After all, I still have 2.5 days balance of holiday...my manager has told me that he will discuss with the management, to bring my balance of holiday for the coming year...and I just can't wait year 2009 as there are so many great news regard to workplace.....

27th Nov - I have an appointment with a friend somewhere around Penang; I offered him my help to have a look at his laptop..there seems some problem since weeks ago when it was infected by virus...he had sent for a service but according to him....most of his application would not load properly..performance issues....etc..

Have a great day!

Save the coins..save the world

Officially, today is my first day off in the year 2008..2 weeks ago, for the first time since 1st Jan 2008, I applied a day off on 27th June 2008..Last month I'd mentioned about my day leave/holiday in 22 Days 22 Nights which I had never ever yet applied..now I did.. Actually I wasn't planning to apply any but I received a call from my sister saying she's coming to Penang with my other half-brother (he's being taken care of by my mom's sister since he was born..due to medical incompetency to have a baby)..he had just received an offer for a course at UiTM Arau, Perlis and due to register tomorrow 28th June 2008..however..on Monday, my sister again sent a text message saying they may not come this Friday..What!!!! She explained why...then I called my half-brother asking more details of the story I've just heard from my sister.. he is waiting for the result of his application for a 5 years course to be a teacher expected to be released on 1st July..the course is complete with a degree course.....compared to the offer he has received in UiTM, this is far more assuring and promising....the course in UiTM is a diploma course...well he had just finished his SPM....therefore, I have an extra day for my weekend!

When I was doing the merging and compiling my Radio.Blog earlier, it came to my mind to count how much coins do I have..again, I have nothing to do or planned to do other than the Radio.Blog..so why not doing it? a'ight.... then when I started counting..grouping..partitioning etc...I became lazy to continue because at the same time I was doing the Radio.Blog as well.....I decided to just send them to a bank..Anyway, I'd always send them to a bank after about 3 months..either as permanent saving or temporary saving..temporary saving maksud dia kasi masuk terus p ATM then cucuk kad..ha..ha..this had became my habit since 1 year ago...keep as many coins then save them in my saving account....there was once I saved 4 months coins and the amount was surprisingly huge..it was over RM350....perhaps because most of the coins I kept that time was a 50 cent coin...another way of saving juga kan...save the coins save the world..LoL..this time I managed to go over RM250..aha..mostly 10 cent..not bad juga la..Later tonight..we're going to have aramai tie session...Mr. Jew has just came from Sabah (last Sunday) so he brought with him couple of bottles of his Family business in Ranau, Sabah..that is Lihing (Sabah Rice Wine)..I'll update you guys later on his Lihing..Enjoy your evening and weekend!!

22 Days 22 Nights

Is that my lucky number? Is that a 4D number? What does it means? Well... I am actually entitled to 25 days of holiday leave in 2008 (it was 22 days last year..) Until this moment, I have never applied for leave, not even a single day..since the 1st January! My Manager has been asking me several times these past few weeks.."Walter...do you want to apply leave next Friday..next week..next month...?" Those 3 days were missing because the company has a policy of a non-declared holiday for Malaysian staffs and if in case, the HQ (UK) is on holiday, Malaysian staffs are asked to take holiday but it will be deducted from our remaining balance. There's an option really, either you want to work or not. So, it depends on your work loads you're having at that moment. Having said that, I'll be on leave next Monday (UK Bank Holiday) and currently I managed to finish all my outstanding works..(atleast am happy to leave my "anak-anak buah" to do their own thing..). I understood and got what my Manager fears the most. It happened last year when the management asked me to finish my balance of holiday (15 days) before the end of 2007 which I did within a month (December 2007)..December 2007 was a month of honey moon (trip to Pattaya & Bangkok..sleep and eat)..I only worked for a week then holiday till early 2008! Wasn't that awesome! Ha..ha..so, this time around I think the management is trying to avoid the same incident..(I'm the only senior staff left..)

I have not had any plan yet but I think, most probably I'll end up in Singapore at the end of September (Kalu ada duit la) during the F1 Night Race. That's that and nothing more. I have this target actually to travel all over SEA before I hit the age of 30 ...... if God's will and financially stable I might again travel to one of the SEA country...(Borneo masuk ka dalam SEA country..:P)