Malaysia Happy Traveller

MAS-Air Asia Deal-Winners & Losers

2011-08-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words; it speaks volumes. How true. Recently, Khazanah Nasional swapped shares with Air Asia. This photo of Air Asia CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and I don't even know who he is from Khazanah tells us who is the winner in this deal that pawns away one of our national assets- MAS. The body language of the younger Tony Fernandes putting his hand over the shoulder of I don't even know who he is from Khazanah is so telling in its message of dominance: I AM THE WINNER; YOU ARE THE LOSER!The poor loser is still smiling from ear to ear- moustache, fluttering!

Catch Cheating Spouse

2011-07-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Beware philanderers and two-timing partners! Spotted this cab in Puchong with a bold ad by a private investigator, providing his professional service to track down unfaithful partners.

2011-07-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Amidst the many uninspiring vertical skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur are some of the city's most artfully-designed buildings. The contemporary designs are definitely cool and refreshing and add to the city's verve and vitality. Here are some examples:

The SETIASKY Residence in Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, off Jalan Tun Razak.

The Audi showroom in Jalan Imbi.

Kuala Lumpur's fashion street in Bukit Bintang where you'll find Prada, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Christian Dior, and other international labels of high fashion and haute couture.

NTV7: Your Feel Good Station

2011-06-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

This evening I was watching Ghost Stories on NTV7 and it was showing the silhouette of a psycho going about his grisly business, hacking off the heads of eight victims. At critical points in the story, it took a commercial break with this cheery tag reminder: good feelings coming back right after this. You wonder, a psycho chopping off the heads of eight people, where six victims were children, and you call that "good feelings"? Yes, those guys at NTV7 are telling you, "Don't go away! Stay put! or you're going to miss the "good feelings!" Then, just before the show came back on after the commercial break, the Home of Feel Good NTV7 rubbed it in with another friendly tag reminder: back to good feelings.

Chilling, isn't it?

The following info about NTV7 is taken from Wikipedia:

Natseven TV Sdn Bhd or better known as ntv7 is a terrestrial television channel in Malaysia. It was launched nationwide on 7 April 1998. Its mission is to promote a happier and more enlightened Malaysia. Believing strongly in the provision of wholesome entertainment, good family and community values, good corporate citizenship, and the promotion of national integration, the station works on an appointment-based programming concept reflecting its philosophy of being Saluran Ceria Anda ("Home Of Feel Good", “感覺美好“).

Moi at Musa

2010-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is moi outside MUSA- Kuala Lumpur's latest fashion house located at Avenue K just across the KLCC Petronas Twin Towers. Looking at the pix, I can't blame you for thinking that I'm desecrating this chic "multi-brand" fashion house with my dowdy slacks and T-shirt. FYI, I was accompanying my daughter who has an art and fashion blog at http://berlin-fashionunplugged.blogspot.com. Since I was there I decided to also pop in to have a peek at the designer clothes:House of Holland, Peter Jensen,Cheap Monday; well, they mean nothing to a fashion dinosaur like me, unlike my daughter who went OOOHS and AAAHS over the clothes as well as the prices that are way beyond my shallow pocket. Besides designer clothes there are also accessories, watches and shoes. After trying out the clothes, you could adjourn to Musa's cafe which offers local favourites and selected dishes from around the world.

Peace Is Every Step

2010-04-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Whenever I am in the area, I like to stop by the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association to pick up some Buddhist literature. And I have picked up quite a few gems and they have a special place in my bookcase. One of the gems is world renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's Peace Is Every Step with the subtitle - The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. This is what the blurb says: "Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace".

While the book gives exercises on mindfulness for the individual, what impresses me are the 14 Precepts of the Order of Interbeing.Take the first precept:

"Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not the absolute truth".

I can see why this precept is placed at the very beginning. It's the nature of most religions to be idolatrous or to be bound by their religious doctrines or dogmas that is the cause of inter-religious conflicts.

Teh Tarik and the Corruption Perceptions Index

2009-11-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

When I saw the picture of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sipping teh tarik in the Backbenchers' Lounge of Parliament House recently, I knew why Malaysia is now merrily ensconced in the 56th spot of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

Teh Tarik is after all Malaysia's de facto national drink and the front-page story of the two leaders having their cuppa- politics aside - serves as an unofficial endorsement of the status of the drink in our lifestyle.

Now, how can our leaders be expected to distinguish themselves or make healthy decisions if they make this frothy muddy mix their habitual drink considering the fact that it contains about "six teaspoons of sugar in less than 350 ml"? Not my words, but the findings of Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).

No wonder about 15% of Malaysians over 30 years old suffer from diabetes!

In Malaysia, our teh tarik kaki legislators even make sugar a staple food and a controlled item like rice and cooking oil. CAP president SM Mohamed Idris probably hit the nail on the head when he said tongue-in-cheek that "a sugar shortage is considered a national crisis". Sugar, as we know, has no nutrients, and Idris said that it was linked to over 60 ailments such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart problems, osteoporosis, kidney problems and allergies.

Now, you have it. Besides the sugar-induced CPI, I believe teh tarik is probably linked to many other ailments and social ills that are currently plaguing our society.

Perhaps our legislators should introduce a 1Malaysia cocktail of Teh Sabah, daun pegaga(Hydrocotyle or Centella Asiatica) and lemon grass with a dash of Sarawak pepper to give it that extra oomph. This should improve the overall health of the country - socially, politically and economically- and make us the envy of all nations.

Fuyoh!!!

Number Junkies

2009-08-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Malaysian politicians could well learn a useful lesson about the 1Malaysia concept from the many betting shops that dot almost every town and city in our country. Step into any of these shops run by Magnum, TOTO or Pan Malaysia Pools, you’ll see what I mean : number junkies of diverse social, economic, political and religious backgrounds converge at these kedai nombor ekor betting on their hopes three times a week. They speak the same lingo-money. And they have one common aim : to win money.

Ask any number junkie you know, they’ll have some stories to share with you about winning and losing – mostly about winning, of course. Here are a few stories from real winners:

“One morning, I got up and I found an egg under my car. I bought my car number and won first prize.”

“I was taking a walk in the evening when I came across a security pass lying on a kerb. I picked it up and it turned out that the pass belonged to someone I know. I betted on the number on the pass and I won.”

“I was holding the baby and it kept crying and pointing in the direction of a box in the living room. The box had a four digit number on it. The number won me third prize.”

“I went to a TOTO shop and I had no idea what number I was going to buy. I betted $10.00 on a 6-D number I saw on a box in the shop and I won a million.”

Here’s a near-miss story:

“Aunty sold her old jalopy and bought a new used car. She betted on the old car number for two consecutive draws. When she stopped, her number came up third prize.”
Here’s one lucky winner who never stops winning:

“A few years ago, I was driving a pick-up and it plunged more than 20 feet into a ravine. Thank god, I survived. That evening a friend persuaded me to go with him to see a Chinese medium. I had no intention of seeing the medium, but when I got there the medium called me over. Astonishingly, he somehow ‘knew’ about my accident and even said that the deity (Tua Pek Kong) with the long white beard in my house had saved me. He added that I didn’t have to ask him for any numbers because from then onwards I’d be blessed with winning numbers.”

There are countless other stories about winning and losing in this numbers’ game and they range from the pedestrian to the bizarre or supernatural. But one thing is for sure: the odds are always against the better. And there are more losers than winners.

On second thoughts, perhaps this is not the 1Malaysia that the country needs, where the majority are losers. We should instead aim to be a country where everyone is a winner. Then, it’ll truly be 1Malaysia.

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

Hail the King!

2009-07-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

The smell has arrived.

It’s that time of the year in Malaysia when the smell announces the arrival of the king. For the uninitiated (read Caucasian), the fruit attacks the nostrils like some odoriferous fart. In fact, the durian has not been accorded the royal treatment it so rightly deserves by the hotel industry. After 52 years of independence, I think it’s high time the hotels rolled out their red carpets to welcome the king of fruits. Just think of it: the king of fruits is barred from our hotels.

What ignominy!

If this happens in France or some other republics –I can understand– for they have no love for royalty. But this is Malaysia, man, and we Malaysians revere the fruit. And we Malaysians love our king – in fact, we have nine rulers who take turns to be the king every five years. Are our hotels off- limits to our king or Agung? Then, why ban the king of fruits from gracing the hotels?

For the life of me, I just can’t understand how our very own government could allow this affront to our beloved king to continue for so long. Is it because of some colonial hangover that we should protect over-sensitive white noses who simply can’t stand the sweet fragrance of our king- at our expense? Talk about our sovereignty! We can't even take durians into our own hotels!

Huh! - I would like to propose that parliament legislate the law of lese majeste to protect the dignity of this king of fruits. The law of lese majeste could then be used against any hotel owner for barring the king of fruits from their hotel. It could be used for other acts of disrespect like calling the king ‘smelly’, ‘ordoriferous’, ‘pungent’, or likening its smell to ‘damp socks’.

When the law comes into effect, we shall invite Chef Andrew Zimmern (of the Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern TV food documentary) to come to Malaysia and repeat his ‘rotten mushy onion’ remark against our king. We shall then shackle him with durians in the very same durian orchard where he made the offensive remark against our beloved king.

Honestly, I can’t wait for the day when hotels like the Hyatt, Hilton, and Sheraton will open their doors to guests bearing the thorny fruit. It should even be mandatory for doormen to give the durian bearing guest a royal salute – or at least a slight nod as a mark of respect. It should even be de rigueur for durians to be served at hotel buffets or banquets – during the durian runtuh season, of course.

Hail the king!

Reading Keruoac in Redang ?

2009-06-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

Off the road.

Here I am in a hummock reading Jack Keruoac's On the Road at Redang Lagoon Resort on Redang Island. Talcum-white sands on sun-kissed beaches, crystal clear turquoise water teeming with marine life; why, even Jack Keruoac is a distraction!

Sorry, Keruoac. I'm putting the book away. I'll have to finish the rest when I get back to the mainland.

Alas, it is only for three days and two nights! That's what the resorts here offer: 3-4 night stays. It's simply not the place for backpackers or independent travelers. You sign up for a package that covers the following: full board and snorkelling trips. Thus, I make full use of my stay, going on organized snorkeling trips and diving just outside the resort.

Okay, Pulau Redang is one of the nine island jewels that form a protected marine park, about 45 km off the east coast state of Terengganu. The other islands are Pulau Lima, Pulau Paku Besar, Pulau Paku Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Besar, Pulau Ekor Tebu, Pulau Ling and Pulau Pinang.

To get there, you could take a one-hour flight by AirAsia from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to Kuala Terengganu and then proceed to Merang Jetty. You could also make an eight-hour road trip by bus or car from Kuala Lumpur via the Karak Highway and the East Coast Highway. The Shahbandar Jetty in Kuala Terengganu town also operates ferries to Redang and the nearby Perhentian Islands. If you are going to stay at the Berjaya Redang Beach Resort, Berjaya Air operates daily flights to Redang from Subang Airport. Berjaya Air also flies from Singapore's Seletar Airport.

Virtual Real Estate

2009-06-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

Off the road.

I took an evening off yesterday to listen to Internet Marketer Sunny Tan's enriching talk on how to make a living selling virtual real estate - online, of course! The talk was peppered with useful information on how to create marketable websites, outsourcing, traffic generating, buying and selling websites or blogs.

Organized by Internet Marketing guru Dechen Lau, the monthly talk was held at his business address: Power Success Marketing Sdn. Bhd. No. 3, 2nd Floor, Jalan USJ, Subang, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel: 603-5631 4899.

Spiritual Food, Anyone?

2009-05-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

Tuck into your meal in a clean, unpretentious and, if I may add, spiritual ambience for an incredibly rock-bottom price of RM 2.00! Yes, you read right; it's only RM2.00for a plate of rice that comes with three vegetable dishes. For drinks- plain water or Chinese tea- pay 20 sen and it's unlimited free refills.

Yes, that's what they are offering at Four Guang Vegetarian Fast Food in SS 25/23 Taman Mayang.

And why spiritual?

Well, you'll eat amidst the strains of non-stop Buddhist Amitabh chanting, and a tele repeatedly showing a monk giving a dhamma talk.

Spiritual food, anyone?

Take the LRT and get off at the Kelana Jaya station. Then use the pedestrian bridge to cross over to the other side. It's a short walk from there. If you're coming down the LDP from the Sunway toll, turn left into Taman Mayang right after the St. Ignatius Catholic Church.

Walkabout in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown

2009-04-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

A visit to Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown in Petaling Street is always worthwhile. The best way to explore the place is by walking. Here’s my record of the sights and sounds of Chinatown:

The thoroughfare along Petaling Street is a haven for bargain hunters who are looking for imitation branded bags, shoes, clothes, watches, and fashion accessories. The rule of the shopping game here is to haggle over the prices.

On the corner of Petaling Street and Jalan Sultan is Kwong Woh Tong, a chain store selling traditional Chinese herbal teas and the popular herbal jelly called Gui Ling Gao. The herbal teas come in two flavours, sweet and bitter. A bowl of the black Gui Ling Gao, which is made from a concoction of herbs and tortoise shell powder, costs between RM7.00 and RM8.00. It is usually served chilled with sugar syrup or honey to sweeten the taste. This black jelly is also reputed to be a detox and helps to relieve the body of its heat.

A stone’s throw from Kwong Woh Tong is the Purple Cane Tea Art Centre. This tea chain store sells mostly teas from China. The highest price tag is RM2,800 for a cake of ten-year-old Red Tea.. The store also sells teapots, reference books, tea drinking accessories, music, snacks, and hampers. If you want to learn the art of preparing and drinking Chinese tea, the store runs various training programs for adults and children. Purple Cane Tea Art Centre is at 11, Ground Floor, Jalan Sultan. (Tel: 603-20311877).

A short walk from the din of Petaling Street is the Old China Café, which occupies the premises of the seven-decade-old guild hall of the Selangor and Federal Territory Laundry Association. From the outside, you see the big bay windows of old.

Step inside, and you’ll be taken back to the past, with portraits of founding members and their descendants displayed on the walls. The shophouse still retains many of its original features such as the swing door and the back door with its wooden bolts.

The Cafe serves Nyonya food, a cuisine of the Peranakan or Straits Chinese, descendants of early Chinese-Malay intermarriages, whose culture is a fascinating hybrid of both traditions. Old China Café is at No.11 Jalan Balai Polis (Tel:603-20725015).

Catch the Putra LRT and get off at the Pasar Seni station.

Art Comes to Brickfields

2008-12-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

Ask anyone, what comes to mind when they think of Kuala Lumpur’s Brickfields. For most, it would be the Little India along the main Jalan Tun Sambanthan; YMCA; or Buddhist Vihara. Those interested in the fine arts would tell you about the famous iconic Temple of Fine Arts. Now, hold your breath…

A new icon of the arts has come to Brickfields - Wei-Ling Gallery.

The gallery is located in a prewar building on the edge of Brickfields that looks like it is trapped in a ‘time warp’ making it stand out from the ugly commercialism that is taking place in the surrounding area. For many years the building has been the office of Jimmy Lim, Wei-Ling’s father, the internationally respected architect. In 2004, this building was gutted by a fire that the famous architect said ‘obliterated forty years of personal and professional history’.

As I stepped into the gallery building, I saw Jimmy Lim discussing some work with someone in the midst of the colonial era antiques that lined the walls. I realized the immensity of what the father and daughter (with Yohan) have done: creating this ‘time warp’ in Brickfields that’s preventing this street of prewar buildings from falling off the edge.

I walked up a narrow flight of stairs to the gallery that is laid out on three floors. Standing on the first floor Perspex flooring, I was bathed in natural light coming in through opaque glass walls. The whole gallery, with its wood floors and bridges, is airy and spacious. It engendered in me a feeling which resulted in an unhurried pace that made me spend about an hour in this gallery – soaking in the emotions of the artists’ artworks on display.

The gallery marked its opening on 17 September 2005 with its 18@8 exhibition. Since then, it has become an annual event showcasing the works of contemporary Malaysian artists and from the region. This year’s 18@8 features nine artists each producing two artworks in response to the theme of Vice and Virtue. The results are 18 pieces of artworks on display from 13 October 2008 to 13 November 2008.

Wei-Ling Gallery is located at No. 8, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.No. 8 Jalan Scott, Brickfields. Tel (0): 603-22601106/7

Cute Fish Spa at the Central Market

2008-11-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

Sitting cross-legged for twenty minutes or more can cause numbness with needling sensations that makes you feel as if red ants are running all over your legs.

However, it wasn’t the needling sensations that I experienced when I visited the Cute Fish Spa at Kuala Lumpur’s Central Market. Several people were already sitting around two pools, dipping their legs in the water for what some might call fish reflexology or therapy: tiny spa fish, probably 5-7 cm long, nibbling at your legs, supposedly removing your dead skin cells.

I paid RM5.00 for a ten-minute treatment. First, I tried the pool where the fishes were tinier (When they become bigger, they are moved to the bigger pool). As my feet suffer from some numbness, I was not as sensitive as some other visitors who were tickled pink.

After close to 9 minutes, as if to warn me my time was up, I felt something like a teeny electric shock on my left foot. I stepped out of the pool to have a last minute encounter with the bigger fishes. The nibbling was harder and I was a tad anxious they might ‘bite’ off a little more than they could chew.

The operator would not tell me the name of the fish used at the spa except that they were spa fish from Taiwan. A handout claims the fishes are toothless, they help to remove only dead skin cells, micro-massage (nibble), and improve blood circulation.

As the fishes are toothless, like the famed Garra Rufa species from Turkey, they should be safe. A check on the Internet confirms that these are not the Chin Chin fish from China, which are often marketed as Doctor Fish, the moniker originally reserved for the more expensive Garra Rufa. Unlike the Chin Chin, which eat one another, the Garra Rufa are toothless and can only grow up to 6 cm long. The Garra Rufa have also been scientifically proven to have the ability to rejuvenate the body and there have been cases of people who have been cured of their dermatological disorders such as Psoriasis.

So, go to Central Market’s Cute Fish Spa, pay RM5.00 and have 10 minutes of leg-dipping-sole-tickling good, healthy fun.

Literary Beehive in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

2008-11-27T06:32:00.000-08:00

Here’s a little secret that’s slowly growing and breaking down the walls around it to go into the wider public domain. Tap this into your PDA. Better still, tattoo it on your arm where you won’t miss it.

I’m talking about a monthly reading group that’s called Readings@Seksan. A few months ago, I stumbled upon this wonderful literary beehive in Bangsar through Facebook, and soon I was invited by one of the organizers, Sharon Bakar, to attend. Since then, whenever I’m free, I’ll make a beeline to Seksan to join in the literary buzz.

Seksan may not even be a familiar name among most locals. Google the name, and you’ll find that it’s a professional landscape and architectural design house. However, on the last Saturday of each month, this design house in Bangsar is transformed into a micro-mini literary festival which gathers writers and book lovers for an afternoon of book readings, poetry recitals, music and wine. Yes, what’s a literary festival without music and a little spirit?!

Here there’s that casual, informal, sit-back-and-relax atmosphere where you really sit up close with the writers and poets of the day. You could either sit on wooden stools - yes, even these stools have a casual air about them - or curl yourself up on straw mats as you imbibe the outpourings of the writers, poets, and musicians.

Okay, just to give you an idea what you’ll get when you go to Readings@Seksan. I was at the October 08 session and three Malaysian writers, fresh from their readings at the Ubud Writers’ Festival, were on hand to read from their novels: Chiew- Siah Tei (Little Hut of Leaping Fishes); Preeta Samarasan (Evening is the Whole Day); and, Shamini Flint (The Seeds of Time). Fantasy writer Glenda Larke, author of The Isles of Glory trilogy, also graced the occasion with her presence.

If the readings get a mite serious or erudite, there’s always a singer or poets from Poetry Underground to perk you up. Last Saturday was no different : the Poetry Underground members emerged from their warrens to display their brand of performance poetry, while local singer-songwriter Reza Salleh put the audience in a romantic mood with three self-composed love songs.

So, have I got you interested? Go to Facebook and get an invitation from Sharon Bakar.

An Evening at the Central Market Annexe, Kuala Lumpur

2008-11-15T23:39:00.000-08:00

5:30 P.M. I see an artist sitting cross-legged on his art shop floor dabbing paint on a canvas. He is making a copy of an original piece of abstract painting. Meet Abdul Ghani Ahmad who has been painting for over 20 years. His business card says: MALAYSIAN WATERCOLOUR ORGANISATION, ARTIST NATURE & ABSTRACT. His art shop, which is on the ground floor at the Central Market Annexe, is a showcase of his two-decade-old passion.

6:20 P.M. I step into the century-old wood-panelled lift that takes me to The Annexe Gallery to watch TIKAM-TIKAM: MERDEKA! MERDEKA. MERDEKA? This public event was part of the EMERGENCY FESTIVAL! celebration which the brochure describes as an 11-day ‘explosion of histories, images, narratives and sounds from the first Malaysian Emergency from 1948-1960’. Three speakers (economist Tricia Yeoh, law professor Azmi Sharom, and political scientist Dr Mavis Putucheary) get together in this chance-game of tikam-tikam , randomly reading their personal (his)stories about Malaysia with Merdeka as the starting point.

7:30 P.M. One-hour dinner break. I browse in another art shop, visit an art exhibition on Journey into the Mind, which displays artworks by mental patients of the University of Malaya Medical Centre, and have a light dinner at Bau Bau Café. I order a bowl of curry noodle and a glass of special lemon grass tea and settle myself on the balcony overlooking the Klang River. Then I notice café owner, social activist, writer, and film-maker Hishammuddin Rais sitting across my table. What do I do? Fish out my camera, of course, and have my photo taken with this prodigal son who returned from a self-imposed 20-year exile in 1994.

8:30 P.M. It’s back to the Annexe Gallery to watch a play : New Village People and Pineapple Rice. The play recounts how the ‘lives of two good friends change forever when they are forced by the British army to leave everything behind and start afresh in a New Village during the Malayan Emergency’.

What a delectable evening! I have chatted with an artist, visited an art exhibition, sipped lemon grass tea on a balcony café, rubbed shoulders with a famous personality, attended a reading, and watched a play – all that in four-and-a-half-hours! And, there’s more. But that will have to be another evening.

Skip the Annexe and you miss the ‘Art and Soul of Kuala Lumpur’.

The best way to get to the Central Market Annexe is to take the Putra LRT and get off at the Pasar Seni station.