080808

Fatt Fatt Fatt, eight, the auspicious and lucky number for the Chinese.

That's why China mati mati wanted to host the Olympics this year, and having succeeded, accordingly set a propitious time and date for the opening ceremony at 8.08 pm on the 8th of August 2008.

As they say lucky for some . . .


. . . One World One Dream

Beijing Olympics 2008





. . . 238 Couples Tied the Knot in Malaysia




Not so lucky for others . . .

. . . 1,000 homes face power cut after TNB cable explosion

. . . Blogger held for sedition for allegedly defacing the Royal Malaysian Police logo

. . . Medical Council of India will no longer recognise degrees offered by India's Manipal University Kasturba Medical College in Manipal and Mangalore.

. . . My beloved partner suffered gripping chest pains while queueing to pay income tax. I rushed him to hospital where our former Professor took charge. "At this age," he said, "It is far better to treat aggressively rather than ignore hallmark symptoms". From ECG to ward, everything moved like clockwork. Thank god for good friends and our medical school old boys network.

Safely admitted, treatment instituted and chest pains at bay, a quick dash home to get essentials seemed to be a good idea. In true hospital precision, dinner was served at 5 pm while the sun was still up. After a bland but nutritious meal, the patient was in the mood for his latest pastime.

You see you can't keep a blogger down for long. The laptop was one of the 'must haves' to be brought from home. Even the Domino's pizza box came in handy.

We had been looking forward to the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The opportunity to witness the Opening as a guest of the Chinese Ambassador was hard to resist. Now being relegated to the hospital 14-inch telly was of course the painful reality.

Despite squinting through the entire OC, we could see that it was a spectacular show. Completely out of the box. China Boleh!

Kudos to Zhang Yimou, the artistic director, of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame. I don't think Spielberg could have come close.

The dreaded stress test was postponed to Saturday morning. So as foot ware, or the lack thereof, was not a cause for poor performance, I made sure to bring along his trainers from home.

The test involved monitoring of ECG and blood pressure whilst exercising on a treadmill ie. beginning with brisk walking on the incline and gradual increase in pace up to 80-90% of heart rate dependant on age.

He made it!

From shock, fear to relief in a space of 24 hours.

"Discharged" is the sweetest word in the English language.

It was a timely wake up call.

After a lapse, it's back to healthy eating, loosing weight (especially inches off the midriff), exercise, drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep.

And most important of all don't worry, be happy.

Dungun - Jewel in the rough

We ventured into Dungun on the way back from our Redang and Tanjong Jara trip. The new bridge spanning the Dungun River is an impressive structure, cutting travel time for local commuters.

The eight kilometer long esplanade makes a wonderful drive by for makan angin, motor bike racing or a very long stroll. For the most, it is lined by soft Casuarina trees, lanky coconut palms and frail kampong houses.

Jewel in the rough - 8 km esplanade of Dungun

What makes this stretch of coastline unique from other prime beach real estate is the unlikely presence of several islamic religious schools and even an abandoned drug rehabilitation center that enjoy beach frontage land.

Add to that, the Hotel UITM Trengganu run by and for the School of Hotel Management and Tourism takes center stage.

Discard any cliched images of bronze bikini-clad nymphs emerging from the sea. None of that here. Lifestyle here is simple and separate in many ways.

Where the boys watch the girls . . .

. . . watch the boys go by.

Mak Ciks and kids picnic on beach

The Mat Rempits rule the streets without any thought of noise or exhaust pollution effecting the serenity of their beach.

A Trojan horse? A relic from the iron-mining days from near-by Bukit Besi? Japanese invasion landing structure? We never found out what it was.

This flag, however was well known, and a frequent adornment of shops and houses, often accompanied by another blue and white flag.

And so ended our brief visit to Dungun in Trengganu.

Epilogue:

Near Club Med we left the main road, passed the turtle sanctuary, and came across a narrow but long piece of land owned by the Ben Haron brothers. They have plans to develop by 2010. The neighbouring land has been converted into a thriving home stay for tourists.

Dollah and Sandra's pot of gold

Scottish skies

Have you ever wondered why skies look different in different countries?

Even though it is the same canopy enveloping the world?

I have always had an obsession about blue skies and cloud formation. This translates into a passion for taking pictures of the blue yonder where ever I am.

Enjoy this photoblog people . . .

Evening cotton clouds over city bypass to Edinburgh

A Windy cloudy day - Isle of Skye

A good day over Edinburgh Castle

Blue on blue - River Ness, Inverness

Loch Ness - Urquhart Castle ruins

Reflections of Eilean Donan Castle

(my favourite pic)

Gloom and doom of Fort William

On the A8 to ?

Forth Road Bridge on the Firth of Forth

(Get it? If not ask Dollah)

Lunch view in a St Andrews restaurant

Silhouette of Ruins under St Andrew skies

The Renowned Carnoustie Golf Links

The real thing - The painting

Another Golf Links

An English...oops, I mean a Scottish country rose garden

Coastal Portobello, Edinburgh - 2200 Hrs

Oh Redang in the sun. . .

Tioman 1977

It has been years since we visited the islands of the east coast of Malaysia.

The ori band of brothers - Fareeda, Haris, Dollah & Fadzil

A band of brothers, after final medical exams in UM, decided to head on to Mersing to catch a fishing trawler to Tioman, the island featured in the 50's Hollywood blockbuster Bali Hai. What better way to R & R before a life-long career in medicine?

The eighties found us driving down to Port Dickson with religious zeal every Sunday for a day of windsurfing. Once you got the hang of it, (one full day of hoisting sail, losing balance and belly-flopping back into the water does it), it literally was a breeze. Feeling the wind in your face and all muscles working to keep balance was a most pleasurable feeling of power and freedom I could imagine at that time.

We continued these weekend forays with the windsurfing gang for almost three years. The beaches of PD then were actually oil slick-free, and camping overnight was MAINS-free (the JAIS of Negri Sembilan lah!). Then Rastam came along and enjoyed the beachy lifestyle with other water babies. I liken Rastam's birth (a 2-hour labour) to him windsurfing out into the world. You see, I had windsurfed four months into my pregnancy. I guess he had early exposure to the sport. (Look out for photos which will be posted if and when retrieved from dusty archives.)

Environs of Aryani Resort

The six-hour drive from KL, not including stops for meals and leaks, was basically sleep-time for the passengers allowing space for the driver to do his thing. Driving up and down the Merang road in search of Aryani Resort, our destination for the night, was hampered by faded signage and worn memory. Fifteen years of monsoons had taken its toll. No face lift, no maintenance and no pride seems to be the hallmark of our culture. Albeit the natural environs being rustic was fodder for a photographer.

Redang Laguna Resort 2008

Redang in 2008 turned out to be a different experience. The original band of brothers were three in number this time with Dollah's partner Sandra making up the foursome. Two new brothers joined our pack in Redang. Eddie, the batik designer and his hunky son, Nick, a chemist who puts his knowledge of OH chemicals to good use when the lights are low.

Jumping onto the ferry to Redang Laguna Resort was no walk in the park either. I can come up with a new ethnic joke: How do you get 300 mainland Chinese tourists, 10 French, 4 Czechs and 6 Malaysians into 3 fishing boats? . . . with a cacophony of noise and it's not funny. That's why God invented the MP3 player.

A waiting game. . . Food at last!

Next came the dreaded check-in rush. Those averse to endless loud jabbering thought the smart thing to do was to have lunch first. Lo and behold, the queue had beaten you to it again. Kiasu ma!

You would think that one could find refuge underwater, snorkeling. Wrong, even with a breathing apparatus applied to ones' mouth, some human beings still manage to talk and shout.

This aging hippie with the coral

So if you can ignore the homosapiens, Redang still retains its allure of pristine white sand, crystal clear blue water, coral reefs and tropical fish. I never woke early enough to catch the sunrise but even at 0720 hours it was mystifying.

Sunrise at 0720 Hrs

So my friends, all you need for an island holiday these days is a high tolerance for noisy people, a trusty MP3 player and a strong ability to shut out an annoying outside world.

But that's what its all about these days isn't it? You pick up the newspaper and read about corruption in Proton Perdana maintenance, sodomy and convenient resignations. Thoughts of migration start resurfacing, writing letters to the newspapers or the next best thing in ones control - blogging.

Wall of ikan bilis

But thinking of the colourful fishes in the sea inspires me to start batik painting instead and block out the crazy world we live in.

Location? Location? Location?

The Meritz Condominium - a stones throw from KLCC Twin Towers

Condo facilities

Location? Location? Location?

That's what they all say about real estate.

What's wrong with a two-bedroom, 1390 square foot apartment (with 2 car park lots) smack in the center of the golden triangle of KL, opposite KLCC, 3-minute walk to the LRT station and shopping at your doorstep?

Shops, LRT & restaurants in vicinity

Apparently there's a lot more to it as I discovered.

Supply is far greater than demand. It's a tenants market today and for a long time more to come it appears. Next to almost every condominium stands a vacant site waiting for building approval, in the process of piling works or ongoing masonry works. Whatever the stage, the potential tenant will question the noise level, dust and traffic access. The owner on the other hand finds it hard to disagree when the apartment is not rented for those very reasons.

So it goes on. These days you are considered lucky if you can show your apartment to one or two potential tenants a week. This means you are in the preferred zone. I know of owners who have yet to have the first viewing since hand-over of keys six months ago. Sometimes extras are a bonus, but an extra car lot (at RM30,000 a shot) can also be a liability.

Before

After

If attempts at rental fails, the obvious alternative is putting up the treasured real estate for sale. All sorts of emotions and justifications are tied up in purchasing a property. For the children, for investment, to live in etc etc. So letting go is doubly painful. Being detached is very difficult.

Room with a view

Agents act differently when a property is up for sale. They take pains to point out all the flaws, from flooring to ceilings, toilets to kitchens and how everything needs to be upgraded. Then to crown it all: the final value is the size of the dirt, the house being worthless. The whole exercise succeeds in crushing ones sense of home pride. You feel like you have been living in a ghetto all this time. The local real estate scene is nothing like what you see on the British reality shows where an informed, professional realtor shows off a house, highlighting strong points and ways to deal with possible problem areas. Perhaps ours lack training, professionalism and ethics?

Meritz by night

If you hold on to your keys, rather than leave them with the agent, you get a chance to meet potential tenants. This is by no means a social event. Most clients are business-like, in a hurry to view the long list of properties selected by the agent during their lunch breaks or weekends. The single bachelor types usually know exactly what they want. To the Northern American client or those expatriates who have been exposed to that lifestyle, a dishwasher is the most essential requirement, as they seem to be helpless at a sink.

Poolside view by night

Couples come in all shades. Italians, Spanish, Eastern European have a simpler approach to life. They yearn for peace and quiet and foremost, a sunny pool. All else more than meets their expectations.

Master bedroom

Mat Sallehs with Asian wives abound. You have the 'man of the house' who checks out the kitchen facilities, master bedroom and bathrooms himself and makes all the decisions. The softies are queen-controlled, if you know what I mean. Then you have the super queen-controllers who are arrogant, self-absorbed and rude to boot. Thank goodness its a two-way arrangement. The owner has the right to refuse too.

Real estate agents are a different kettle of fish. You have the silent drivers who merely drive their clients to and fro without offering any useful information to either party; the over enthusiastic agent who suggest that owners will turn cartwheels if requested; the over-familiar agent who takes a fancy to your stuff and then have the gall to ask the owner if they could have it.



Eventually the tide turns.

You get a call from the Agent informing you of the good news that your apartment has finally been taken. Next comes the clincher.

"Are you sitting down"? asks the Agent Provocateur.

"Tenant wants: a baby cot (ok fair enough they have a 2 year old kid), 2 sets of bed sheets, kitchenware, crockery, cutlery, a DVD player, another TV for the master bedroom and Astro service."

"Oh yes, also to pay for monthly Astro rental and a part time maid service (twice a week; Tuesdays & Thursdays). BTW could you also throw in a mop and cleaning fluids & materials. That's all". I can imagine his smug smile "Gotcha!"

"Are you sure that's it? Do I have to feed them as well?" I quipped feeling relieved and dismayed all at the same time.

"No need lah. Heheh" chuckles the Agent.

Don't be surprised if you have to go through all this again in a year. I have it from reliable sources, one of the more chatty roving tenants, who admitted that they do this every time their lease is up so they can have a taste of Malaysian property.

That's what it takes to rent an apartment these days of globalisation, global warming, fuel hikes and property glut.