everyday also (traffic) jam

November jam cos of Hari Raya
December jam cos of Christmas
January jam cos of Chinese New Year

Eversince I'm back for the hols, there hardly seemed to be a "jam-free" day. Driving on PJ roads are enough to make one rant and rave. No wonder all my friends who drive here are so impatient. I'm fast using up the accumulated "patience" levels from Melb.

Quite ridiculous really..
a return trip from Kelana Jaya to SS2 = 40 minutes
single trip from Sect 14 to SS2 = 30 minutes

I don't think I like CNY so much. Driving around makes me impatient (actually the process of "negotiating" for the car also gives me some heartburn). Everywhere's packed with rude obnoxious drivers. I've had my fair share of them esp in SS2. Seems like everyone converging here to get their CNY stuff. Oi go elsewhere la!

You know when they say women are some of the worst drivers? I agree. Esp after one kiasu auntie almost banged me when she swerved into my parking space when i was reverse-parking. Rude and impudent, she was probably on her way to the corner BBQmeat shop to join the queue that stretches out to the five foot way.

Over the past few days, I've encountered the well-known "Malaysian driver", been semi-blinded by some idiots' permanent high-lights and wanted to swear at more drivers than I can recount. They should simply be ashamed at themselves. No common courtesy, jumping queues at all possible opportunities, generally exhibiting hazardous behaviour.

yeah everyone knows I like going yamcha. But its really weird how packed my area gets at night. By that I mean how we still have to go round looking for parking at 1am on a weekday (!)Seems like SS2's becomed the hub for yamcha, with all the char-chan-teng (HK style coffeeshop cafes) sprouting up left right and centre. er..all those ppl no need to work-ar??

Migration..work in KL..?

Something in TheStar today about changes to Australian immigration rules sometime in May this year -- measures aimed at graduates who intend to apply for permanent residency. Which will affect me (if I decide to stay on after graduating). Apparently PR isn't really working out for some of them. I suppose the issues would probably deal with communication and gaining the requisite skills required for one to stay on and contribute to their economy.

All this while, their stance has been "only the skilled need apply". Hence I find interesting this article in TheAge today - "Migrating to a World Without Borders"

...it is already an "entirely utopian" hope that unskilled jobs could be filled without migrant workers. That is because of an apparent paradox: high-skilled economies generate a lot of low-skilled work. Think of the hospital orderlies, hotel staff, waiters, labourers and cleaners needed to run the modern, service economy...These jobs have two significant characteristics: unlike factory work, they cannot be exported to China. And in Britain and elsewhere, the increasingly well-educated local-born no longer want to do them.

Similar to what we discussed in uni last sem. Some things just can't be outsourced. You may outsource your payroll processing to India or Malaysia, but you'd still need someone to be salesperson/marketer in the firm etc. Low-skilled work is where the migrants come into the picture. Even in Malaysia, our unemployment rate isn't that bad and there's jobs available if one's not too fussy. Thats why we depend on foreign labour for construction sites/plantations/maids from neighbouring countries etc. They come in because locals don't want those jobs.

Taking a look at my (working) friends' lives now doesn't make me feel so good about the prospects of working here (KL/PJ). Some work on Saturdays, some don't. But almost all work till at least 7pm on weekdays. After going through the obligatory traffic snarls, its pretty late and all they have time for is dinner/bath/maybe some yamcha. On weekends, some get called back for support work/complete boss's requests. Last weekend on the short trip, 2 of 'em ended up bringing their laptops to finish up some work while the rest of us bummed.

The phrase "quality of life" seems to be an unheard of here. Of course all the parents will say this is a graduate's life etc etc etc. But no point earning all the money and having no time to spend it right? Inherent Asian mentality is : graduate--secure a steady job--get married--secure mortgage--live happily(?) ever after. And thats why few take up courses in the Arts or Humanities. Why?--"cannot find job".

Perhaps I'll get sucked into this routine of "life", where time passes and before you know it, you hit 40 and realise "OMG what did I do with the last 20 years??", suffer a mid-life crisis and grab a backpack and head off for a long-dreamt of trek of Asia. Whatever happened to making more out of the routine? Picnics at the park on weekends (hardly plausible in Msia though - think robbery/snatch theft/snoop gangs etc)? Taking some time out for community involvement aka volunteering?

Fortunately, I'm not 40 yet, nor am I in a mid-life crisis. But fact is, I'll be graduating in a few months time. DIMIA's decision (abt immigration) might help me decide. But for the moment, I'm still undecided about staying in Melbourne or coming back. Or even heading off to another country.

The article from the Age is quite apt, although thats interposed with a British perspective. In uni, one of the first things they teach in economics is the circular flow of goods and services. Add labour to that now. Imagine living in a borderless world where you go where your skills are in demand. Everytime you move from one place to another, you pick up new skills/experiences and add to your "value". But this's probably for the "skilled". And only for those who choose to do so.

Can't recall where I've readup on being a "global citizen". Could be in one of Kenichi Ohmae's readings last sem. Although citizenship is held in one country, the individual is as at home in other countries as in his/her home country. I guess thats what I want to be.

Unlike some friends, I've never said Malaysia is a bad place to return to. Friendly folks (well, mostly), fantabulous beaches and good food. On the downside - terrible traffic, uncivil folks (no sense of common courtesy or graces), erm..increasingly unhealthy situations in local governance and abit more. But mainly its the work culture I'm uncertain of.

Perhaps some good Sarawak laksa might sway my decision =) or perhaps exposure to more "fantabulous" beaches next month (Pulau Manukan/Gaya??).. still have 6 months to decide.

Last weekend - Port Dickson

Bummed in PD last weekend. My oh my we almost couldn't believe our senses when we caught a glimpse of the "new" public beach (the one facing Petronas ard 4th Mile Jalan Pantai). Clear blue sky, greenish (!!) sea and amazingly a glistening white sandy beach!

Kinda surreal, since PD as we know it has a deserved reputation of "dirty water dirty beach". So... quite a surprise. The local government has finally decided to do something bout this place.

New sand in certain stretches of the beach..

(no blue skies 'cos this photo was taken the day after)

People: Lorraine, Joe, SiowPing, Samuel, Di, HauWei, LiKai, SiewWeng, Joanne, Chris
Location: AnCasa Resort AllSuites, Jln Pantai
Activities: Sleep, watch tv, bummm, rayau-rayau look for snacks, bummmm sommore hahh

All in all, a very lazy break with the buddies. Time constraints meant we couldn't go far hence ended up in PD. Took a 3 bedroom apartment for RM388nett.

AnCasa professes to have a "Balinese" theme in its decor. Overall, I'd say this place's quite a decent place to stay - clean, sufficient space, (fairly large) rooms, ample parking.

3 bedroom apartments at AnCasa comes with:
~ 2 queen 2 single beds
~ 3 bathrooms
~ an (empty) kitchen with fridge (funnily there were signs banning cooking, plus they supplied coffee/tea and cups/saucers but NO spoons/stirrers)
~ living area plus dining table
~ enough chairs
~ balconies (can bummm there, watch sunset or sit there pok-pek)
~ airconditioners in the rooms

They don't have a private beach of their own. But a side door next to the pool leads to the public beach.

PRO: Stalls along the public beach provide ample supply of mamak food/drinks. We dropped by for some burgers & kelapa (fresh coconuts)

Background shows one (of many) apartment blocks of AnCasa, foreground are the mamak stalls. Perfect for someone like me "yamcha anywhere/anytime" :P

Walk walk walk along the beach..



Me with some of closest kaki-kaki (buddies) -- this time quite literally.

Some obligatory sunset photos::



this's the view from our balcony


a new addition to my "sunset in Malaysia" collection

At night.. gluttons we are. After polishing off a heavy chinese seafood dinner (cheap cheap!) we ended up back at the pasar malam ard 4th Mile Jalan Pantai (next to Petronas). Bought more food and headed across the road to eat SOMMORE at the beach. From dinner to supper. No break in between =)

Joe & Lorraine

eh..some ppl are missing from this pic..

The "new" PD beach is trash-free at the moment. SiowPing and me ran along the shore for awhile in the dark -- no trash, no cut glass etc. Come back in 6 months, I'm sure the beach'll be back to its normal status le.

Some random pics::

A "norm" on our trips -- Sam can always be found in front of his beloved tv

HauWei..

We had to leave early the next day. S.Ping had a flight to catch in mid-afternoon..

The usual..settling of sums

Another usual..getting ready for our annual photo (oops I've got no copy of that)

So that was it.. end of a trip which I believe is first/last time where we're all back in KL.

Amusing letter

Look what I found from TheAge this morning -- "Brother, can you spare your name?"

Am back from trip, blog later. Tonight going for the first lo-sang session of CNY '06. Everyone's back!

Just logged in to Monash's allocate system (for semester timetable) -- I'll prob have 2 days in uni, majority of time in Clayton campus instead this year..

Road trip to Kukup, Johor (pics)

This post's waaaay late. Finally photos are up!

Who: LiKai, Samuel, Kimberley, Thomas and Di
When: Sometime over a busy weekend last month

Left KL, stopped by Melaka for a late breakfast (plus pick up Thomas) and then to JB for Kimberley's birthday occasion (a quick case of drop by, blow cake, sing the birthday song and scramble to Kukup before it gets dark)

Here're some of the shots:

Stopping by in Melaka basically means dropping by for this --

Now how does one get to Kukup? And why Kukup you might wonder? Kukup is the village nearest to Tanjung Piai - geographically the southernmost tip of mainland Asia (more on Tj Piai later). Since we've "road-tripped" our way to all other Peninsula states, it was about time we made it to Johor.

To get to Kukup, you don't have to go all the way down to JB. Exit the North-South Highway at Pontian. From Pontian, look out for the signboards to Kukup. Or just head right to the end of Pontian town and turn left. None of my maps show the way in detail, but there's only one road so you won't get lost.

How does Kukup look like? Refer to photo below (er I never said I was a good photographer, so ignore Samuel looking blur)

The photo doesn't show much - simply because there isn't much. Kukup town is just that - one main street, some shops on one side and the bus stop plus the blue immigration office on the other. You know you've reached the end of the road when all you see is the in-the-midst-of-construction customs complex. Oh there's also the salty sea smell to guide you.

Now where'd one stay?

This's how Kukup mostly looks like. Houses on stilts they say, what I'd add is "concrete" houses on stilts. Most tourists (majority are Singaporeans it seems) stay in purpose-built holiday homes on one side of the village. They pay for a "package" which typically includes accomodation, bbq meals (pretty sucky imo cos its just those sotong balls, chicken wings, fried rice etc third-rate stuff), a boat ride out to kelong, and some entertainment of karaoke facilities and mahjong equipment. These packages range from RM70-90 i think.

Us? We ended up at the other side of the village - the side where the kampung people live. Parking at a particular spot in the village meant we were layaned by a very enthusiastic uncle to his er..hotel is an exaggeration. To his house actually, which doubles up as one cos its got extra rooms for visitors.

We stayed the night at this place - if you're not fussy, this's the real deal. More "kampung-like" than those concrete places and less noisy (no being surrounded by your neighbours belting out "I Will Always Love Youuuuuuuu" in the middle of the night)

This room's only RM60. Comes with air-con, TV, clean etc. I suppose its more than decent for that kinda price. You'd have to book in advance to get rooms at the tourist side of the village. Most are maxed out during the school hols.

Also comes with this --

where one can watch the sunset or just bum at night playing cards or something

Our neighbours.. kinda quaint eh

There isn't much to do in Kukup. Here's some of what we did:
1. Walk around - point and go "yukkk" (at least thats what I did when I saw this)

Thomas and Sam going on and on about sea-slugs/snails?, sea-rats, sea-ham etc etc (go figure). And yeah there's plenty of rats running around under the houses/walkways. And yes, they can climb. Y-U-K.

We also saw ---

Sea-snake??

2. Walk around somemore
You might see this temple around - 3 flights of stairs for a view of Kukup.

3. Enter one of those seafood restaurants facing the sea, view a quick sunset..

photo taken near where they're building the new customs complex

4. If you went on a ride to see the kelongs or Pulau Kukup, you'd arrive just in time for dinner

5. Eat!

Seafood's pretty fresh, at a decent price.

That was about all we had time to do, for the day. Night was spent playing cards and sipping on some wine made from dragon-fruit (apparently a Kluang product, retails for RM40 a bottle at grocers in Kukup).

We went to Tanjung Piai the next day.. will post later since this post's way long. Oops have a flight to catch in a coupla hours time. I'll be back next week..

What to see/do in Sibu?

Am heading to Sibu this weekend for a coupla days. Googling "what to do in Sibu" and "Sibu attractions" haven't really given me many ideas.

Actually this is a return-to-hometown trip, 'cept this's the first time in almost a decade since I've been there. Parents' hometown would perhaps be more apt. Have been looking forward to all the food:

~ kampua noodles (though its also available in Taipan) -- more authentic in Sibu, plus they don't put so much char-siew

~ Laksa -- er, Taman Megah has a stall offering decent Sarawak laksa if anyone's ever interested

~ "tiang-piang-ngu" (darn, Foochow dialect's kinda diff to translate) -- something not available outside of Sibu (?). Actually I don't even remember how it tastes like but knowing my mother, this's prob something we'll eat right after we get off the plane :)

~ kom-piah -- wanna eat it freshly baked for once (cos everytime i eat this, its only after its travelled the hundreds of miles back to PJ hence is cold and hard and tasteless)

~ paku (a kind of vege/fern) yeah I like this, and its also not available in PJ/KL

~ tang-yuen (I remember the black sesame filling ones I had on the last visit, complete with syrupy soup?)

~ Sugarbun's fish burger (believe it or not before Sugarbun opened in Peninsula, we used to crave for this. Err.. a long time ago, it seemed to taste alot better in the large 3-lot Sibu Sugarbun outside Tanahmas hotel) its prob still there..

~ bamboo clams (unappetisingly described as "worms" by one review) apparently its quite a delicacy in Sarawak.. have eaten it before in S'gor though..

Phew quite a long list, and maybe more. OMG the amount of things we'll be stuffing into ourselves over the few days..mother seems to already be planning for what we're having each meal hehhe ie "tiang-piang ngu" on the first day, then on third day,so we'll get to eat it at least twice. Breakfast go "pa-lak" (their slang meaning "market/town") for kam-pua etc etc etc.

Now the other question -- whats there to do?? Being in Kuching would've meant I'd get to visit Bako/Damai or something. But Sibu..?? An express boat ride upriver doesn't sound so agreeable now that I (think I've) sighted the crocodile last week in Muar. Erm the mighty Rejang River is known to be home to massive crocs (i've learnt they're called "bai-yak" in hokkien?). Imagination working overtime le.. Prob go Kapit/Sarikei/Mukah haven't decided yet.

There isn't enough time to do much of the nature/bio-tourism thingy, nor enough time to get to Kuching and back (travel time's too long). Options are prob just the Sibu town, and maybe a ride to Bintulu and back? So far I've gathered the attractions incl the 7-storey pagoda, Tua Pek Kong Temple (which I'm not very interested in seeing that I'm a Christian), Jubilee Park..

Suggestions anyone? I'll be there for 4 days.