BYE BYE MEDAN BYE BYE SUMATERA

Today passed by in a state of tension ... it is my last working day in Mi-k-i-e ... I ran with the head office staff to close bank account ... laptop was finally returned ... cleared paperwork ... and just hang around waiting for 5:00pm ... I kept on waiting but my boss refused to talk to me about handover for the past 2 months and nothing else I could do, right?

I decided for once to skip the farewell email and all that shit and just at 5:00pm packed up and said bye bye to my team and leave ...

I went home and rushed pack the rest of my things, grabbed a shower and waited for Patrick ... we were both on the same flight out ...

At the airport, I realized that the diamond ring WENT MISSING ... but it was too late to head home and find it ... we waited and waited and finally ... the time was right ... it was time to board ... as we were seating apart, I wished him all the best in case one of use had problems with luggage ...

Weird feeling all around ... I have never felt this way ... I usually leave with tons of sadness but here ... I was happy to get out ... and knowing that I am not going to miss the place ... that's weird, right? This is also one city that I never bothered to explore in the past year I am here ... it just never felt right to me

I arrived around midnight, grabbed bag and ran for the exit ... why?

Because I was supposed to get a ride to GPT ... Golden ... Palm ... in Sepang ... for face-to-face interview with a gent PP, the GM ... he sounded like a real swell person on the phone ... oh well, even if it doesn't work out ... at least I get one nice night in a nice hotel, right? Hehehe!

[This is typed on 27.12.2011 based on memory recollections]

Sunday's Appointment Daze ...

[More artwork from Travis Charest]

Okay ... last Sunday in Medan ... got up around 6:00am which was fine because the night before I actually tried to sleep before midnite ...

To my surprise the Patz was online ... asking about breakfast ... said I am waiting for Richie to collect bike ... and he said he was off to Taipan for dimsum ... while Richie is going somewhere else ...




Richie came ... collected n left ... then to my surprise Patz dialled up ... he changed venue n is at the same place as Richie??? I told him no thanks still do not wish to go out ...

In a few minutes ... up drove Mesell ... as it was after 9:00am ... we decided to go to ... JW ... yummy breakfast ...

Patz messaged ... and I said I don't mind meeting as long as no food involved ... he supposedly didn't know Mesell and I were out ...

As he didn't reply, Mesell sent me home ... only to meet his vehicle as she exited ... she called me ... he texted me ..

I rushed to change ... rushed down to meet him ... and of course told him Mesell came to say goodbye ... after all he saw her vehicle!

Then we just hang around n chatted at Starbucks ... and he offered to pay (again!) ... which was really out of his normal character ... he continued to tell his family problems ... mom n dad potential ... and how his younger bro is suffering ... ah well ...

And this still isn't the end of it all ...

He was asking if we should hook up with the Shell woman ... so I messaged her ... and we went to Sun to wait for her ...

And waited ...

And waited ...

And finally up she came .. we waltzed up n down directionless as no one wanted to eat ... there is no movie we wanted to watch ... and no one wanted to shop

We couldn't agree even on a place to sit n drink ... until we finally hit Sour Sally (of all places) ... I didn't touch a drop ... natch! Hated the nasty stuff ... hehehehe ...

So there you have it ... my Sunday from 6:00 am to about 3:30pm!

What a day eh?

Saturday's Appointment Daze!

[All these art are from Travis Charest - check out his different styles from traditional Jim Lee Wildstorm studios house style to his own]

The first 4 hours were pretty blah ... killing time as no one in office ... just finishing filing etc ... handover documentation ... then went for early lunch before I go home ... horrible lunch though

Richie called saying he wanted to look at my exercise bike ... waited for him ... when he didn't show up as he got another appointment ... I ordered McD

Weirdness started ... after near 20 min ... a lady called to confirm my order ... it was totally something else ... once we sorted that out ... it was nearly 35 min before the food arrives!

Patz already said he was tired n didn't feel like coming out ... Mesell said she was going around to check out some wedding stuff for her staff ... so the moment I finished chomping the last bit of McD ... Mesell called n said she was on the way?!?!?!?!?!?

And she had not eaten ... I couldn't take another bite obviously ... so she had soup @ Breeks @ Sun ... then we went to catch Machete ...

Next weirdness ... Patz texted her ... to find out if she is with me ... WTF?!?!?!??!

After the movie, we had an early bye bye n went home ... for more weirdness to come??????

A mix bag ...

A tense morning ... as I waited for the Malaysian time 10:00am interview ... sitting in my office ... all alone ... thank goodness ... the call came through slightly after 10:00am ... thank goodness ... and to my surprise, it was a really nice chap ... Pascal sounded like Francois ... and hospitality being what it is ... he said he knows Roberto, Francois slightly and even Jean-Marc Michel ... what was odd was he kept pressing to know why JMM left Constance ... I declined to say ... because I do not know him ... and most are speculation anyway ... so this is me learning restraint ... finally, right?

Yaaaay! There is hope for me, after all! Hehehehehe!







But wait ... in the afternoon, I received a few emails from the Seychelles brigade ... one is from Sed's wife ... where she mentioned that she will be seeing soon again in Sey ... I asked who ... she said me ... as that's what Sed told her?!?!??!?!

Then Sed got online and we went through a few issues via Skype ... that seemed to be positive ... and I really hope we are successful in getting his dad's company to invest in our dream ... I really would love to launch our own successful hotel chain aimed at upper 3-star range ...


Fingers crossed ...

But wait ...

There is indeed more ... I got a call from a KL number ... and it's Jules ... her client activated the account again ... I guess whoever they thought they had from another recruitment agent didn't work out ... after 2 weeks or so ... we had a chat ... Jules just doesn't seem that focus ... really odd ... still she seemed pleased and hoped we can meet in Penang or KL but she will process my application for the client ...

So that is happening as well ...

But wait ... there is still more ...

On a lark, Patz and I decided to rush for the 5:45pm movie at Sun ... Insidious ...

Then we ran up with Jerni ... who brought along Christine ... Burnz ex-secretary who is home chilling ... after working somewhere else for a few months and not liking it ... Mik's alumni, eh? Hehehehe!

They also brought along a lady from Palembang ... quiet ... demure ... but overall pleasant as welll ..... we had a nice time at Pizza Hut munching n slurping away ...

Nice makan session ... again ...

For lunch, Hans/ Riddies/ Doors/ Cannes and I went out ... and the ladies selected Hermes Palace for a basic buffet ... to my surprise it was Rp27k nett and but 2 get 1 free ... so it was like less than USD2.50 ... hehehe ...

It was at the rooftop ... hot ... what to expect?

Food wasn't aces ... obviously ... but for that price? It was a great menu - soto ayam, fruit cake, coffee pudding, pasta salad, chicken, fried corn fritter, 2 local spicy stuff, fried rice, fried noodles, fried koay teow, veg w sausage and veg standalone ... cut fruits too!

Good, right?

Then at night, Eng and gang ... went back to the same road ... except we did the roadside thingie ... to my surprise ... it was the shop I went looooooooooong time ago with Keong, Ang n Merlz ... the eel shop ... the company was great ... the eel wasn't!

After that, we headed to Cambridge ... and had a yummy savory doughnut ...

On the way back, I pigged out a Big Mac ... hahahaha ... my current weight that night? 89kg .... aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Dad's Medical Update

[Artwork is from Salvador Larocca]

Today about the only thing on my mind all day long is my dad's appointment with surgeon from 7th Day Adventist - what's the outcome?

They gave him different medication for his neck and said 1 more week to see if surgery is required

And as he has been cutting off his blood dilution meds, he said he decided to go and do his tooth ... bleed and painful ... but he is ok ... thank goodness!

So I do need some good news ...

Mesell called me up and said to go for dinner ... and we went to Selat Panjang!!!!!!! Awesome!!!!!!!! Finally we are doing the local!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's basically ... a street ... with many kopi tiam ... each one selling the same few things ... nasi ayam hainam ... and a few shop selling porridge ... we went to the largest and most famous ... it was ... nice ... but not that special ...

Then we walked the streets ... and tried some kueh and the crispy ban ciang koay ... cheese n margarine dripping out of each end ... hehehehe!

Patz was not around ... that's why the Shell woman wanted to go out ... she didn't want to listen to his "boasts" is what she claimed ... ah well ... to each his own, eh?

Best part we are done early and home before 8:00pm - how awesome is that?

Father's Day ...

Sunday ... father's day ... I was deliberating if I should join dad for church or not ... I asked him tactfully what's the program ... and he said aside from service ... there would be tea ... and rehearsal ... so I know if I go, he would skip that ...

Or is this just my own lame excuse?

I do want to be a more dedicated Christian ...

Lunch was simple. We didn't do anything fancy but as it was hot, we went to Gurney. Edwin & his parents were at Xuan Xin ... so we decided to try Wong Kok HK ... downstairs as it has less of a queue unlike Kim Gary ...

After eating, I understand why ... friendly but over-rushed staff service ... average to below par food ... average pricing ... I won't be going back if I can help it ...

Then I caught up with Edwin for a movie ... Green Lantern .. kinda ehhh ... for me ....

Then we just hang out n catch up on news ... especially his business ... I was checking out IPAD 2 ... but they had so many outstanding orders that they were not taking any more orders ... ugh! Suckz!

Many cuties sighted at the Ipad shop though ... hehehe ... Switch!

O yes all the artwork are from different people ... Silvestri ... Starlin ... Cohn

Flight back to Medan tomorrow morning ... bed time!

How dare they do this!

It's Saturday and I started this on a tense note as I was not sure who would pick me up but thank goodness Riddy and Doors came through because when I came downstairs there was Fais ... and to my surprise, Ants chomping away (as usual)



So while that was not bad, the worse was when I replied the email on my final working day. Grp HR said they would release me later not earlier. So I replied that fair enough, I will serve full notice of 60 days. Guess what? Without checking facts, she replied that it will be mid-Aug and made that end Aug!

I mean, WTF?

I zapped back that it is Jul 5th cos I handed in my resignation 6th May. Some people ...

Anyway with that as a downer, I decided to go to Sun for meeting Churns and through to expectations, from changing movie to lunch, she arrived more than 90 min late

Anyway (2) I went to the movies later with Patz ... the Hole ...



Other than that, it was another dinner at Duck King before we all waltz home. I am happy that there is 24 days to go before I headed out of Medan. Life here is not just boring but annoying yet again

Just now I went downstairs and there's no more drinking water ... again!

Ugh!!!

Back to Medan n ...

I am becoming lazy ... I just went to my BLOG on the mainpage and was shocked at the fact that I didn't check the colour of the alphabets I am using ... so it looks so light and difficult to read ... to all those who have been following and suffering ... A BIG SORRY from me to you ...

This morning was another stressful day ... tried to sleep until after 1:00am but not sleepy ... and then the kids were running all over the place in the corridor until some other guests came by to sush them up ... then I keep on drifting awake before 5:00am ... and for once the last 30 mins seemed to literally crawl by!

Surprisingly taxi was not difficult to catch at 5:30am in Geylang ... no hookers about though ... hahahahaha!





After getting my boarding pass, I thought to go in and shop a bit ... to my surprise, aside from eating shops, most are still closed! UGH!

And to make it worse ... as I board the plane ... guess who was seated directly in the row in front? "So-called Chef Kay!" Of course we pretended to be civil ... and as expected he was saying he came back from Barcelona this time around ... and that he is sooooo busy ... whatever!

I am just so glad to be back in my room! 25 days to go and it's BYE BYE BYE PT Bee Bee Eh ... hehehe!

Back tp Sey Day 2 Part 2

Okay ... this posting is to be read from bottom to top ... why? cos it was a bottoms up kind of day ... this is Sey ... we drink n drink from lunch right up until past 10pm ... long live Seychelles! Hahahahaha!


Posing after lunch but before cake cutting ceremony

Glorious food cooked on the spot after christianing!

Posing outside the church at the grotto

View from the grotto towards the mountains - glorious right?

Group pose with preacher after the ceremony is completed

Back in Sey Day 2 Part 1

The morning came and we all rushed to get ready for church. Baby Suhail looks happy at the prospects of being splashed with water hehehe! Here's a photo of the morning weather that greeted us as we exited from the house





















A short taxi ride beyond Victoria, a right turn up a tiny slope and BANG we are at the church with a gaggle of others. It was a beautiful building though. The following are a few snapshots as we proceeded into the church

Back to Sey Day 1 Part 2

Sed's came by and we zipped about to his home ... another lovely view! Then we went to town and did a few errands before his mate, Mars drove him to office and me to CERS. At the gate, to my surprise, was a Nepali on Security duty

Met up with D ... ran into the Indian staff he had who is always talking about leaving ... caught up on the gossip about who is around, who has left, who is on the way out ... and the latest ... the Korean GSM who went missing while out on the beach ... and her head was recovered minus body! Damn! What is Sey coming to ...

Walked to Security, chatted w Simi and noticed new faces everywhere even in HRD ... chatted some more with Simi ... saw Fraze n the Seychellois IT ... then headed over to Kell's house

We had a lovely time going nuts with the 2 boys ... good thing they remembered me after a few moments thinking over ... then I had to piggy back them ... one at a time was fine ... until they both jumped me ... my left lower back and shoulder ... muscles are badly stretched ... sigh! Had to put some lotion on it

Quiet dinner with Kell n D ... more chat n D drove me home ... to yet another dinner at Sed's

The above photos are from Kell's FB - thanks Kells!

All in all, a nice day 1 in Seychelles

Back to Sey Day 1 Part 1

Almost a year to the day I left Seychelles for Medan and I am back again ... the new timetable for flight is terrible ... we left Singapore at 1220am ... 20 min past midnight on a Friday morning ... and arrive 3:30am in Seychelles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The airport of Singapore is what it is ... but the plane ... sigh ... hasn't changed one bit ... old, smelly blankets are still there ... and the best part is though it was about 1/3 full ... I had this huge lady sitting behind ... every time she moves, the whole place bumped ...


As expected, upon touchdown, wonderful immigration queried me on the reasons. I gave him my return tickets etc and he still wasn't satisfied. I told him I am a guest at Sed's and he said that must be a foreigner cos that is not a local name. He even asked if my friend is married to a local! Geez! That's not the way to go if one is dealing with tourists! In the end, he asked his supervisor to call Sed. And they asked him in English if he speaks Creole ...

As they finally stamped my passport and I made my way out ... only did the Senior chap come over and wished me good holidays! Kinda bad first impression already. Thank goodness Immigration was completely hassle free ...

I spent the remainder of the morning at Sed's aunt's place. It was nice of her to put me up for the night and even made a huge breakfast for me - 2 egss and 4 triangles of ham sandwich ... not that I could finish it all ... the 2 photos are taken from the wooden balcony outside of my bedroom ... as I couldn't really sleep due to jet lag and adjusting to the time zones ...

After that, it was a matter of waiting for Sed's to come and pick me up before I zip around the country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY ON THE WAY ...

After a stressful May 2011, I am glad to finally fly ... yesterday I was zooming out of Medan to Singapore ... checked in at budget zone of Hotel 81 ... hang out doing nothing much ...

Today cannot wait until I got to the airport ... because it is almost time to board the plane to Seychelles ... yes ... I am actually a bit concerned as I have been there 3 times and each time it was wonderful ...

Sure hope I will not be disappointed ... hehehe!

[This entry is typed on 29/12/2011 in GPT Malaysia based on memory]

A Poem from my 90s writing phase

[In the 90s as I went to uni and initially after graduating, I was really into writing ... even enrolling in a distance learning writing course ... I found this "masterpiece" ... on an envelope when I was cleaning my childhood room]

ADIEU TO ALL THINGS WONDERFUL ...

There is pain & sorrow in the stars tonight

There is great sadness bogging down the autumn winds

Wherever my glance fell so too does my heart

In the lakes both great and small

In the rivers both wide and narrow

Everything begins and ends with you and yours

Take this smile and not the frown

Take this laugh and not the anger

May it sing forevermore with each passing of the days

The glitter in your eyes the twitch of your lips

The wave of your hand the sweetness of your voice

All this I shall treasure when all else is gone

[Lame?]

Weight Chart Update

Weighed myself this morning ... didn't lose even 1 kg in May 2011 ... reason? Sigh! Lacking in self-discipline. What's the point of every year saying I will be healthy when I just stressed myself unnecessarily?

Diet - I tend to eat little for morning, proper meal at lunch and overeat at night - so it means I need to spread out with at least some cereal for breakfast, half portions for lunch and max 1 portion for dinner - Jun 2011

Exercise - I need to do at least 1000 arms, 400 waist, 2000 steps - Jun 2011