Cheers people !

Peak is finally over. For the past week, I have been spending my time lazing around thinking about the things to shop for Christmas & making my room baby proof. Yeah. Christmas is here soon & the holiday season is in already. Time flies. It really does. Looking back, it’s been a full year since I came to work in Singapore.

On the last night of the Peak, things finally calmed down & the world began to slow down to a crawl. The night in Boat Quay looks peaceful. It’s Monday night anyway. No one is in the mood to party. Everyone just want to have a good rest & sleep.

I had a late dinner at Boat Quay. There’s lots of restaurants & pubs here but not a place that I would regularly go. Its a throat slaughtering price to pay for a plate of mamak mee goreng & a coconut drink but I’m not that bothered about it. The taste is just so-so. I miss mamak food too.

Guess the thing that I miss most from Malaysia will be mamak food. Sitting under the big umbrella in the night, sipping a cup of teh tarik couple with a plate mamak mee goreng or Maggi goreng & chatting with my friends is something that I have not been doing for over a year. Guess I got lots to catch up to do. (^_^)

By the way, below is the entry that I made during the Raya holidays but got completely forgotten. It’s suppose to come in after I complain about that change in the departure location of the busses.

This is before the Raya Holidays. Back from KL in the afternoon bus. Since it’s the Merdeka & Ramandan weekend, I’m expecting a long ride back to SG this week. Managed to catch some cow nap at the start of the trip but spend the entire trip concentrating on the PSP. (^_^)

The bus took a break at one of the rest stops along the highway instead of the usual Yong Peng stop or occasional Ayer Hitam stop. Took a few shots & suspected that the driver will not stop anymore for the rest trip. True enough & this time, instead of the usual 2nd Link, the driver took the Woodlands instead. Really wonder what was the driver thinking …

& I got abandoned by the bus at the Woodlands Customs Checkpoint again for the 2nd time & this time, I’m not the only one. (T_T)

Nothing much changes for the rest of the week & the same routine guess round & round again.

Don’t know where did the bus gone to but I suspect that it got routed back to JB cause I notice some smart-ass Auntie’s who decided to leave some of their things in the bus instead of taking it down at the Customs check point when I exit the bus. How do I notice it? I always sit on the last row & will always be the last to leave the bus. After a good 1/2 hour waiting, I decided to just go back via the No.170 bus or thru the Karanji MRT Station, which ever first.

Come back to my room with 6 buns for a late dinner & an hour later I hear Gucchi & Tammy barking. It went on for a good 10 minutes before I got really ANNOYED with them & left my room to check on them. The last thing I expect to see is my housemate sprawling on all 4 all over the front door. Got knocked out by drinks. I forgot to take picture in the entire commotion. Geez!

Seriously. It’s a really busy time of the year for me right now … I’ll be back next month with more postings before Christmas.

Meanwhile, what do you think about this new theme?

I like the dark SHIT Green colour background. (^-^)

A good year ago I received this email about a wonderful place which, in the email’s own wording “Just after Ulu Kanching before Templers Park behind a Shell station”

It’s like a small place which is very peaceful, serene and calm in the wilderness where you can rest your mind and soul. The pictures attached with the email were awesome. I figure that it must be a great place for photography & holiday as well.

You got beautiful landscape, calm jungle river and a very beautiful Bukit Takun facing the place. The pictures seriously got me wondering. Where is this place? How can you find it so near to KL? Where it is hidden? This place got to be a photography heaven.

There are nice chalets with a wonderful view;

and a very calm enviroment.

So with the name ‘Bukit Takun’ as my only clue about the ‘mysterious’ paradise, I went up to Google Maps via Wikimapia and search. Since I knew Templers Park’s location pretty well, it’s relativly easy to find the Shell station mentioned above. The Shell Station is just located on the left side of the road before the main entrance to Templers Park if you’re comming from Rawang to KL. You can’t miss it as it’s the only petrol station along the entire strech of road.

Now that I knew where this Bukit Takun is, I began my quest to search for the little paradie. Guess what.

FAIL !!! FAIL !!! FAIL !!!

The only thing that I managed to find are a old golf club, few rows of old bungalows & discovered a few new long winding roads. Now where on earth is this mysterious place? Can anyone let me know?

Anyone have any idea? I’m still thinking about this place.

p/s : Photos above are not taken by me. I just hijacked it from the email that I received. Credit goes to the original owner for the great photos … whoever they are. (^_^)

Just a reminiscent of the past. I’m about 9 & just entered Primary 3 when my parents move us to Maluri & finally settled down there. Just a year after I moved there, I’ve made friends in school & stayed with them till we moved on to secondary school. For a reason, I then got myself separated from my primary best friend, White Photo & join up with Potato, a quiet classmate from primary school. Potato & a few others went on to become my only childhood friends which we still keep in touch to date.

Potato is a very quiet person. He’s barely noticeable in primary class simple because he’s just too shy & quiet. Between 1986 to 1992, he’s much shorter then me then but is much rounder than me & hence I nick named him Potato. We entered secondary school upon graduating from primary school & eventually become best friends after my primary best friend, White Photo, turned his back on me. He turned from best friend to a friend bully in secondary school. Sad, cause from then on, I never keep him in contact even though we are in the same school for 5 long years.

For a couple of years, me & Potato spend a lot of time together after school going together to tuition classes. Jalan Kepong then is only a 4 lane trunk road with much lesser traffic then it is now so we used to just walk to the tuition centre at Desa Jaya. A good 1/2 hour walk from school.

As quiet & round as Potato maybe, he is a friend that helped me to discover many things during my early teenage years. He brought me for my first railway crossing. We encouraged each other to venture & explore the place that we lived in & occasionally even venture a little further into the industrial area or the abandoned development hill for some adventure. We spend many hours waking along railways when the KTM Komuter’s double tracking railway was still under construction. Then, we only have our feet & later bicycle to rely on but it’s fun.

The places that we used to venture does not exist anymore. For example, the small railway crossing that we used to cross into Kepong Baru is now replaced by a large overhead bridge for cars. The railway on the other hand have been expanded in to a 4 railways track instead of 2 because of the construction of a Komuter station. It’s now just too dangerous to cross the railway anymore when they completed the KTM Komuter line. You now run the risk of being either electrocuted or smashed to bits by on coming train. I notice that the trains don’t honk as frequently as they do anymore. This may be due to the fact that residential area are being build nearer to railways due to the shortage of land in & surrounding the Klang Valley.

The abandoned development hill that we used to climb (sometimes with our bicycle), is now finally a multi million residential area for the rich. Gone were the old trails left by the heavy construction vehicle with trees growing beside it. The road that we used to walk to Desa Jaya for tuition is now too dangerous to walk all thanks to Samy Vellu. (>0<)

The self fulfilling prophecy story began one day when me & Potato are walking home after school the topic of girlfriends & our future came about. He told me that his mother has, to some degree some ability to read peoples future & reveal a little about my future. Before that, I have went to his house a few times & met his mother. Being curious about my future, I literally pester him to tell more about my predicted future & ask about some of his for comparison. I remember most of what was being told & never forget about it.

We are 14 then & are looking around for girlfriends. Well, what can you expect from 2 hot blooded young boys going thru puberty with too much television influence? What passed through our minds is just one simple question. How come we could not get any … ahem … pretty girls as close friends or just, … well. friends? It’s then that he told me that I will eventually get a girlfriend. Further arm twisting from me made him reveal to me that I will also get married & have children before he does.

But this is not a story about me. It’s a story about him. I did asked him another question. If his mom can tell so much about me, what about his? I didn’t know what made me ask that question but I did remember most part of the answer given. He briefly lets me know what his mom says about his future. Accordingly, he may or may not get married & even if he did eventually get married, it will be a late marriage. I could not recall the part where he said whether if he will have any children so I’m leaving that topic out.

When we graduated from Secondary School & moved on to college, specifically Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC). Potato did not stay long in TARC & dropped out of it soon after. He then moved into the hospitality industry to work while I struggle on between college & work for the next 5 years after TARC. We did not keep in contact for over 2 years until I took the time to look for my secondary school buddies again.

Potato struggle in the hospitality industry for 2-3 years before eventually quitting the hospitality industry & moved back into his family’s business. When I caught up with him again, he relate many stories about the little secrets inside the hospitality industry that’s not known to many of us … including many juicy ones & we have stayed in touch ever since. (^_^)

On & off during the few years before he got married, he did hooked up with a few girl but it all turn out to be bad. For a period of about 2 years, he met a few girls with the biker gangs that he joined up. Hmmm … biker gangs. Well, they are not Mat Rempits but big bike lovers. The type where they own huge bikes like Harley Davidson, Honda Goldwing, BMW & etc. He’s bike is not the best but he did ‘invest’ in a 250cc Kawasaki Ninja of which, the engine sound is loud enough to put him in the same category as these bikers.

The big bikers are mostly about 40 years & above. Somehow, they always have young chicks in their 20s tagging with them. for joy rides. How did they got & meet these chicks, beats me, but that’s how Potato met his future girlfriends. In a nutshell, not only that the relationship with the biker girls turn out bad, it made him poorer. Disappointed with life & the relationships he is in, he finally took the advise that we gave him & concentrate on his family’s business.

So how is Potato nowadays? Well, we don’t meet up as regularly as we used to but I do know that right now, he is managing his own business well & is probably working hard right now. Good for him. (^0^)

His mother’s prediction did came true. I got married & have a kid before he does.

30/09/2009 : 8.44pm : Had my first earthquake experience today. At 6.30pm for about 5 minutes, I think the tremor is felt for the first time. For now. I’m now back safely in my rented room. I’m still thinking about what happend. Will update more later when I’m settled down.

I never imagined that a routine trip from KL to Singapore would be very eventful during the Raya Holidays. It sucks & wears me out. All that I described below happens in chronological order.

So many things happens within that 1 hour, I realised that I’m having a serious adventure with the Malaysian public transportation system rather than a routine trip back to work. I wonder if it is because of inefficiency of the system or because the Malaysian public transportation just got from bad to worse? or just me being careless ??? It reminds me alot about the scene that on one episode of Discovery Channel on the Shanghai Bus Terminal.

First, what’s so regular about my routine travel schedule. Buy ticket at least a couple weeks in advance & come travel time, go to the agreed departure place & board the designated bus / train to my destination. A few hours later, I’ll arrive at my destination.

Since I got back to Maluri early & the bus is only due to leave at 4.30pm, I got mom to drop me at the Kepong KTM Komuter station at 3.30pm so that I can get to Puduraya on my own. 1 hour is more than enough to get to Puduraya station. After for the Komuter for 15 minutes & watching 2 trains to Rawang passed by, there’s an announcement that the Komuter train to KL will be late by 40 minutes. Feeling unsure if the announcement is correct, I check with the counter to see if the announcement of delay is wrong. Hell scream in with joy when KTM confirmed that the delay IS for 40 MINUTES. I don’t have 40 minutes to spare. (@_@)

I immediately got my refund & get a cab to Pudu immediately. Had a good chat with the cab uncle & paid him some extra tips for the good ride. Besides, I don’t want to grapple with more coins in my pocket so I just let him have the change as tips. Reached Puduraya 15 minutes later & hmm … there don’t seemed to be lot’s of busses & traffic at Puduraya when I arrived. Things looks good so far. RM15 well spend. (^-^)

I then rushed over to the counter to find out the number of the bus departing for the day. The moment the lady says the bus departs at Bukit Jalil (BJ), my jaws dropped straight to the floor. (Hell screamed with even more joy & is having a great party celebrating their success)

What the … ! (@o@)

Bukit Jalil is a good 10-15 KM away & it’s already 4pm ! Judging from my experience with KL traffic, how in the world will I be able to get there in 30 minutes ! For that 1 minute, time stopped & images of me going back to Kepong for another night & returning to SG only the next day is already flashing at the speed of light through my mind. Then she told me that there is a shuttle bus to BJ just right in front of the station. (T_T)

Still in disbelief & shock, I boarded the shuttle bus (after being told 5 times & lead to the bus) & managed to hop on my bus at BJ just in time for departure. I’m one of the last passenger to board the bus. I even got into the wrong seat but the calm seat coordinator dealt with the other passanger. (@_@)

I’m not informed about the changes of the departure place. I almost screamed that the lady over the counter cause I’m totally not aware of the changes & only found out about it 1/2 hour before the bus departs. When I asked when was the changes made she told me that I should be aware cause it’s about a week since they made the change. With a jaw dropping face, I told the lady there’s no way I would know about it as the ticket are brought at least 3 weeks in advance & brought in SG. Who will actually call the bus company to check every now & then to see if there is any changes in the departure location? As far as I know, many don’t. Many will just check the departure & arrival place & time during the purchase of the ticket & let it be untill the day they made the trip.

Thank god she’s smart enough to take a second look at the ticket & realise that the date of purchase is almost month ago & called the driver at BJ to wait for me to arrive.

Back in SG, I’ve spoken with some friends who had experienced the same problem. What ever that happened (except for the Komuter) seemed to be common. They will change the departure location a week or so before the actual departure date without informing those who brought the tickets weeks in advance. The experience left them worried about missing their transport that they resorted to call the bus company 1 day before the departure date to ensure that they have the place right.

I think I may have to do the same thing in future. Now, instead of the bus operators providing us a good service, we as the consumer have to take our own due diligence steps to ensure that we know where to board the bus. Way to go Malaysia !

Thought I’ll share a little about my experience travelling back to KL from Singapore by train. We should take our kids for an overnight ride in the train. They will thank us for the experience.

I could not take any pictures at the Woodlands Train Customs checkpoint as the by-law forbids it. I wanted to take some but chickend out in the last moment considering the fact that Singapore (SG) are pretty strict with their enforcement. Besides, my A200 is a little too obvious & the Singapore Immigration Officers will come after me with their cuffs & batons high up in the air the moment I took the giant out.

Geara Doga looks exited to be photographed at the Tanjung Pagar Train Station. He look forward to the train ride.

Here’s the train station. I think the station is very much the same since the colonial times. Maybe some updates but I doubt the KTMB will do anything further to the building. The reason is not because for conservation of history but it’s more like they are short of cash (or just not bothered).

I’m actually very surprised with how “Malaysian” the station is. Every corner that I turn to, the station looks absolutely Malaysian. The air & feel of the place & the familiar KTMB sign & their typical (i don’t care a damm about you atittude of the) staff.

The place feels so Malaysian right down to the loo … (T_T)

Which I highly suspect is of the same standard as the Malaysian washroom as well … & I thought KTMB in Singapore, for the sake of competition & customer service will do something better about it … (T_T)

Yep, it’s the train station itself. Just a little note, the 2 tiny little orange brick block on the train’s platform is the actual Immigration counter. That’s how the Malaysian Immigration looks like  & in case you’re wondering, I’m not even in JB. Welcome to Malaysia. (^_^)

In the Singapore~Malaysia ride, you will check into Malaysia first before you exiting Singapore. Travellers beware ! You will not get a Malaysian Immigration entry stamp on your pasport in this station. Because of this weird-non-international compliance protocol, travellers crossing Malaysia & Singapore border have been charged in court for illegal entry in both countries because of the missing documentation. TO cover your ass, make sure the the Customs officer stamp  the entry stamp on your boarding pass since every non-Malaysian needs to have one. Keep an eye out for the warning in this unusual immigration practice. The warning is there in the station. You’ll just have to find it. God bless those who can find & read it. Ok. Enough cautioning. (^_^)

If you decided not to board the train from SG, you can always board it from JB. See that little sign showing which direction Singapore is? (^_^)

If you are early, you can spend some time to have dinner & do some shopping at City Square Shopping Complex which is just 5 minutes walk away from the train station.

The JB Train Station (also an old colonial building) looks a little spooky & out of place in the night considering the fact that the JB Iskandar Immigration complex & City Square is just right next to it.

Blame it all on the lighting. There’s hardly any street lights outside the station itself. Maybe the movie makers will want to make some horror train story there. Fits the old building criteria well. (^_^)

Here’s the sleeping bunkers inside the train. It’s the 2nd Class Sleep coach. Cost RM45 for the Lower bunk & RM39 for the Upper bunk if you’re boarding from JB to KL or the same amount in SG$ if you’re boarding from Singapore. [TIP : If you board from JB, it's 2.4 times cheaper.]

Lower bunks are recommended for those who gets motion sickness easily. (^0^)

The upper bunk is smaller & the window is even smaller. However, there’s enough room to sit up & the bunk is sturdy enough to support people well above 100kg (^_^;)

I have not tried the higher class coach but from the look of the pictures in the KTMB’s webpage, it does look luxurious enough. Will put up a post on it when I got the chance to sleep in it.

The bunker bed, with the curtain closed is actually pretty cosy. The mattress, although not thick, is pretty sturdy, comfortable & clean. There’s really nothing much to do after I got into the train & crossed the customs. Although there’s a cafe in the train (YES, there is a “CAFE” in the train), it’s not open for the midnight ride.

After a shaky but comfortable 8 1/2 hours (including the time spent crossing the borders), I finally arrived at the KL Sentral Station. The arrival hall is really quiet except forsound our foot steps . The whole city must still be sleeping …

… on the other hand, from the look if it, the passengers of train are not the only one’s who are at KL Sentral at wee hours in the morning.

Something surprises me after taking the train ride back for a few times. The trains are actually on time! Give & take 15 minutes, the train usually arrives at KL Sentral about 6.30am everytime. I have to admit that I’m satisfied with the train service in this aspect. To a certain extend, it’s much better than the bus ride back to KL. For a start, I don’t get harassed by either taxi drivers or bus ticket sellers when I arrive at the station. It is more quiet in the train compared to the bus.  The only real down side of taking a train is the long hours (i.e. it took twice as long as a bus ride)

I then took an early KTM Komuter (train again) to head back to Kepong. I always appreciate the fact that Kepong is well connected to the KTM Komuter line. Makes my life really easy when I’m back from SG. The unfortunate part is that the Komuter trains are always never on-time (even with a 15 minutes allowance) & the seats are also badly arranged & cramped.

Arriving at Kepong Station, I took the usual route, 20 minutes walk, past my former schools & back to my parents house where I’ll then pick up my car for the weekend.

I don’t remember when’s the last time the street looked so peaceful to me in the morning. I have not walked or taken a proper look at this place for many years. So much & yet so little have changed for the past 13 years since I left secondary school.

Back from KL in the midnight bus. Long ride back to SG this weekend. Wanted to sleep but as usual, it’s not very comfortable to sleep in the bus so I’m half awake all the time.

Lonely walk back to my room. Camwhore a little. Kinda look like a scene from Blair Witch Project. To date I’ve not watched the movie. Scary movies are .. well scary & boring.

Checked into my room in Jurong East at 6am. Things are as the way I left it since Friday morning. Will take sometime to unpack the my things.

Hungry. It’s breakfast time anyway so I cook a pack of noodle with whatever remaining hams that I have in the fridge. Need to go to shop for hams, eggs and sausages again. I’m out of stock.

Camwhore again at the lift to my rented room. It’s funny to look at yourself from the point of view of the security camera. It’s also interesting to see how your black tee turn into either dark green or dark blue under the security camera.

Nothing much changes in my weekly routine. Wake up in the morning, report to office & work till late in the night, go back, sleep & repeat the whole cycle again the next day. Such a mundane life. Pathetic. That’s why I always look forward to Friday. That’s when I really go home & spend some time with family. That’s how the night scene is nearby my rented place.

Here’s the regular trail that I use to walk to the MRT station every morning.

Here’s the usual cross junction that I pass by everyday & night.

Had KFC for dinner at Jurong Point. I’ve have this permanent craving for KFC fried chicken. Some how other fried chicken just won’t satisfy me. Just love the whole fried chicken combination by KFC. Got to have it at least once a month. Sometimes, I really think the reason KFC did so well is because of people like me.

Had lunch at this Korean restaurant a few streets away from my office. It’s called Manna. This is the restaurant that Rain came to have one of his meals when he’s in Singapore sometime back. Nice food, great selection & lots of typical Korean side dish that usually come for free. Free cause we’re paying thru our nose for the meal.

The only complain about the restaurant are the horrible PRC waiters. They NEVER smile & always seemed to throw & flung the plates around. Good thing most of them are made of steel.

I have the fish set for lunch that day. Wanna guess how much it cost? Lets just say I’ll never bring my mother there… maybe once & she’ll never sat her foot in there again. (^_^;)

Had Tully’s sandwich for dinner this week again. My personal favourite; Classic club sandwich toasted on wheat bread with broccoli cheese soup. That mecha is from the Gundam series. I’m not very sure of the name but it’s one of the 6 in the set that I got that day that feature most of the mecha in the “Char’s Counter Attack” movie. I’ll feature all of them eventually.

Had Burger King for dinner on Friday along the way to Tanjung Pagar train station. I’ve decided to take the late transit train from Singapore to JB at 10pm this time regardless of the cost instead of rushing for the 6pm train.

Geez. I’m talking more about food in this post than anything else.

(T_T) My life here is just so boring …