Cricket and Life of Luxury

It's the cricket fever. Amidst the high tech and ultra modern buildings that make the city, the formidable forces that sweat and labour behind the contructions always remain anoynymous and hidden.

But tonight outside one of the sport shop at the Marina Bay Shopping Complex, we saw this amazing concentration of people from the sub-continent seated in an orderly and discipline manner watching the match between India and Pakistan. What a sight.

The Marina Bay Sands shopping complex is huge. Known as The Shoppes, it boosted a high-end and luxury shopping destination, filled with renowned luxury brands and designer labels shops.

But amidst all these, it is pleasing is to find a big food court within the complex and best of all it also has a couple of halal stalls. We learnt that the whole Marina Bay Sands complex employs something like 10,000 directly.

Green Revolution

Here in the heart of the concrete jungle, I was walking on a swath of greenery on top of a building. The building is part of building complex that forms Singapore's newest public hospital, the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The rooftop gardens have been built to reduce heat and the impact of carbon dioxide. The hospital recently received a prestigious award for the way it was designed and built - green and energy-efficient. Patients at the hospital can be assured of a comfortable, soothing and healing environment through the enhanced daylight design, good natural ventilation and cooler interior environment.

On the Edge

On this trip to the land of no natural resources but plenty of smart people and innovative ideas, I am staying at their latest attraction - the landmark Marina Bay Sands Hotel which has nearly 2,600 rooms!

I always envy those who have been here before and having first hand experience of being up there on the 57th floor. This is where the SkyPark and the amazing swimming pool are located, offering the most breathtaking views of the city of Singapore. What is even more incredible is that this part of Marina Bay development was an empty piece of reclaimed land just three years ago.

For the next few days, I'll be passing by the Casino next door on my way to place of work at the Convention Centre. That Casino is just amazing, full of overtly rich people, having the most stupefying moment of their lives in parting away with their hard-earned money.

Indeed there are rows of ATM machines lining up outside the casino to feed the frenzy minds and the only winner is the Casino. Last year, the Casino generated 1.7% increase GDP for the country in the 9 months it operated!

Class of 78

When I wiki-ed what’s significant about 1978 – nothing really. The three main things that popped up were Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt, Argentina winning the World Cup and the current Yemeni president came to power.

But for a bunch of 12-years old boys including yours truly, that was the year when a new beginning started, away from family for many years to be sent to lodge in a government hostel in Singapore and attending secondary schooling.

Last year we came together to mark 32 years since we converged as a group at the Brunei International Airport before flying off. This year we decided to do the same and tried to get all nine of us meet again with our spouse. So tonight, the 5th of March 2011, marks the 33 years since that day. Unfortunately one could not make it, but 8 out of 9 is already quite a feat to be able to sit together in one place and talked about the old days.

The five of us were put in Victoria School. Apparently three of Singapore presidents did their schooling there! We were really struggling in the beginning as the environment was very competitive. But with time we improved and clawed our way up. Nowadays, all of us will agree that each have done well in our own ways both in the Government and private sectors. But whatever jobs or positions we hold right now, those sweet years when we were together as young boys in Singapore will forever bind and strongly bond us together.

Still The Unsung Heros

Sans oil, Brunei runs huge budget deficit
Brunei Times. Thursday, March 3, 2011

WITHOUT the oil money, Brunei Darussalam is looking at a staggering deficit of at least $4.8 to $5.2 billion annually based on records of government expenditure and revenue in the past four years.

This is an "alarming image" of how much the country's economy continues to depend on the oil and gas revenue, said Second Minister of Finance at the Prime Minister's Office Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Ibrahim.

It is a matter that should be "taken into serious consideration to ensure the stability and sustainability of our source of income", he said yesterday at a meeting of the State Legislative Council (LegCo) 7th session. The minister revealed this finding as he submitted the motion proposing a budget of $5.8 billion for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

Maulud Nabi

Today is Maulud Nabi or the birthday anniversary of the most important, blessed and influential person ever born in this world - our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

In our small town, the affair was simple but meaningful. After a short dikir presentation, the mass walk or procession across town started. The distance covered was only two kilometers but was still quite an effort.

As usual the procession was well attended, although not truly in orderly fashion (except for the army of course!), was well attended by young and old. It was as if everyone in our town were there.

A New Project Beckons

This year we are embarking on a pilot green project next to our house!

After the plot of land has been cleared back in December last year, grass has quickly grown over and now it looks quite impressive especially after the fence has been installed.

Now what is left is to plant the trees.

A New Day in Egypt

It was expected, just a matter of time when the inevitable became a reality. The very people that he was championing in his early days were becoming restless and tired of the autocratic rule. As with many despotic leaders, the never ending thirst and hunger for power and money made him to keep his higher ground as long as possible.

But alas the people power was strong and finally brought him down on 11th February 2011. But the most amazing thing was the sight of people cleaning up the streets the next day. Young and all, the people of Egypt now given a fresh start, embraced the new era and put upon themselves to start and help the new nation.

Now the wave of change is spreading across the hard and difficult lands of Arabia. With Tunisa, Egypt and Jordan already making the steps, others such as Yemen, Algeria, Bahrain and even Oman are being challenged daily by their people.

The big message is clear. People are fed up. They need equality. The widening gaps between the rich and the poor have become unbearable and unfair. Not only that but the excessive privileges, cronyism, monopoly of business and lack of respect for the poor and have-nots have made it even more discerning. As satirically described in George Orwell's Animal Farm - all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. How true it is in this world.

The Most Memorable Lane

A father-and-son bonding trip. We thought of going to the Universal Studio but ending up just trolling along Orchard Road. I kept on telling my son that I know this place like the back of my hand. Well.. he was sort of half interested! This is the place I spent many hours and free time when I was sent here at the age of 12. So I felt really irrestible to show him where I used to live. Before heading to the airport I asked the taxi driver to make a short detour to this wooded area close to the shopping haven of Singapore, along Tanglin Road, we entered this most memorable road called Tanglin Hill.

Then it was a short drive to the end of the road to a gated place. The place, a former hostel better known as AKBS, is still quite imposing and felt the same like the last time I left and passed that gate. That was in March 1982, nearly 30 years ago. The place is now deserted and full of big trees.

Rainy Days

First trip out in the year - a short hop to Temasek.

The first month of the year has gone by swiftly. The one thing that January could be remembered for was the relentless rains and flooding.

Our Earth seems to be experiencing an untypical prolong wet period, flooding of mega proportion in Australia for example. Here in Temasek, what seemed to be a few spots of non-menacing dark clouds over the sky became torrential downpour for most of the afternoon.

Nonetheless the place was still very much crowded today. The big news today in the local paper was that about 11.6 million international visitors arriving in Singapore last year, which is a 20 per cent increase from a year before. What is more amazing is the level of tourism receipts which hit a record $18.8 billion, a 49 per cent increase from that of 2009. This is definitely something that every country would like to replicate.

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year to all.

We wish everyone joy, peace and success in 2011.

This is the view at 12 midnight from the 23rd floor at our place of stay. Quite a spectacular sight.

A Year Gone

The last Friday of the month. We went to KLCC mosque for the Friday prayer. The mosque itself is quite interesting, for the sermon it uses multimedia to help convey the message. But best of all the sermon was in English, most fitting as there were many non-locals amongst the jemaah.

The sermon was quite interesting. It touched on Generation Y. I didn't know what Generation Y is until today!

Apparently Generation Y are those who are born between 1980-2000 and are now between 10 to 30 years old. The previous generation is Generation X, my generation, the generation born after the post-World War II baby boom ended i.e. born in the 1960s and 70s.

Generation Y are considered as the most technology savvy generation. They have grown up with all the modern amenities and comforts. They are the luckiest of the generations because they are born during the age of technology.

However they are also the generation who are less likely to socialize in public. They are less likely to be seen in helping or active in local communities or villages. They tend to be missing in action.

Their idea of social networking is through mobiles and the internet. All they are interested in is keeping in touch with their friends by using these model tools. And so they tend to lose the link with their elders, the Generation X. The sermon said because of that they are less guided especially on religious matters and tend to follow the current trend or guided through their social network. It is the duty for Generation X to link up with them and help to bring them back to the guided path.

The Last Leg of our Holiday

It was an early start of the day, woke up at 3 am and off we went to the airport. We had to catch the early morning flight to KL. Most shops at Bali airport were still closed except for a few coffee shops. Nonetheless it was quite amazing to see the presence of so many shops, probably nearly a hundred shops in total. The other amazing thing to see was the presence of a body scanner machine in the airport. We don't have that in our own country!

The flight from Bali to KL took 3 hours. Most people go to KL for food and a bit of shopping. However one thing that always spoil the plot and hope it to be changed for the better is the taxi service.

In Bandung and Bali, even though the taxi drivers are earning less, and in fact just enough just to feed their family, they do duly comply to use the meter. Even if they ask for more, it is not too much and they are very humle and polite. The taxi drivers there normally rent a car for about 190000 rupiah a day which is about B$29. Each ride normally cost B$3. After paying for petrol, they normally earn B$10 to 15 a day.

It is a contrast in KL and has been like that for a long time. Not all are like that though. The bad one set their price right away as you enter the taxi.

In one of the most outrageous incident I encountered was when going from KLCC to go on a 1.5 km ride, the taxi driver asked for RM28! The next one asked for RM15. I could easily jumped in and just weno for it. But I was not in a hurry and if we all want to teach these taxi drivers a lesson, just leave them. As I was leaving them the two taxi drivers were still trying to convince me and claimed that there were traffic jams everywhere. No sooner I found another taxi which uses the meter and the trip only cost RM8 ringgit! .

In front of the Pavilion shopping mall, one could see lots of taxis lining up by the roadside just waiting to rip off the next customers. These taxis are asking for at least RM20 to RM30 for any destination.

And so if ever we want to stay in KL, we like to minimise the use of taxi. This time around we are staying at Prince Hotel which is just across the Pavilion, a real superb place to stay.

Most Expensive Coffee in the World

We made a stop at what looks like an empty car park surrounded by forest. It was still raining.

We made a short walk along a well-paved path in the forest, with umbrella in one hand and the mind not knowing what to expect next.

We reached a spot and incredibly there we found a few nicely built huts, shops and lots of tourists. This is the coffee brewing and tasting house. We found this to be quite innovative of the people here in making what seems to be just a spot in the middle of a coffee plantation to be a very attractive tourist destination.

Here we were seated in a simple hut on the edge of the hill and given a number of cups of coffee and tea to taste.

Obviously the special one, the Luwak coffee is not free and had to pay 30000 rupiah per cup. It is quite a special coffee. Luwak coffee is said to be the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between US $100 and $600 per pound in the international market.

Although it tastes quite similar to the local coffee, the coffee beans come out from the digestive tract of a squirrel-like animal called locally as Luwak. This animal selects and feeds on the best coffee beans and the leftovers which are collected to make the Luak coffee are the undigested beans.

This is what is written in Wiki...

"Kopi luwak or civet coffee, is coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world."

A Most Touristic Spot

Along our routes, we were interrupted by a number of religious festivities along the roads and mass rituals around the temple compounds. The people here are strongly religious. They had just observed their biggest day early in the month and for the rest of the month continued to make offerings to their gods.

On the other hand this place relies almost entirely from tourism for its economy. When I looked at the town map, there were lots and lots of "H" symbol on the map indicating location of each hotel.

Literally there are hundreds of hotels, villas, restaurants, spas, shops and so on just to cater for the tourists. And what goes with it are hundreds of taxis and transport vehicles for foreign tourists. At the same time this is made worse by the domestic visitors from nearby Surabaya and even as far as from Jakarta who come here in their own cars or shuttled by buses.

The problem is there is only one dual-carriageway connecting the main tourists spots of Nusa Dua, Kuta and Seminyak. So there are always traffic jams along this road all day long and could easily takes more than an hour to reach any destination. So it is preferred not to make many road trips and just stay in one spot. The Aussies tend to stay at Kuta. The rests mainly stay in areas around Nusa Dua, Sanur and Seminyak. Taxis are very cheap though, in our case our villa provides free transport if the journey is within 10 km.

Sightseeing in Bali

Today was a rainy day, raining almost all day long from the moment we started our trip in the morning.

Bali is in the middle of the rainy season. The rain caused traffic to snarl almost along the way. The drive uphill to reach Kintamani took two and half hours. That was quite a long drive and luckily the kids were fast asleep most of the time.

On the bright side the route was quite scenic and the climb was gentle to reach the final elevation of almost 1500m high. Along the way the roads were lined with endless rows of shops selling local craftmenship from the famous Bali wooden furniture to silverwares to standard tourist items. We couldn't imagine how would they be able to sell all those items as there couldn't be that many tourists coming up here.

One of the most unique stop was to view a most spectacular paddy terrace on a hilly landscape. It's not the harvesting season otherwise it would look even more beautiful. To be here in the middle of this paddy terrace and in the cool surrounding hilly area does give quite a peaceful and ambiance feeling.

The most famous one known worldwide is the one in the Philippines which has been declared a world heritage site. This one could easily be considered for that as well.

We reached our destination, Kintamani, in misty and cold setting but as usual crowded by sightseers. This is supposed to be the most scenic view to experience in Bali, the sight of a large volcanic crater complete with a large lake. The last time an eruption occurred in Bali was quite awhile ago in nearby Gunung Agung in 1963 killing thousands of villagers.

All the volcanoes on the Bali island are still active, currently quiet waiting for the next time for them to suddenly become alive again. It can't be that long as some other active volcanoes in Java have came alive in the last few months along with many other volcanoes and earthquakes along the plate margins, signaling we are in the middle of an active period of plate motions.

A Tourism Brand called Bali

Bali...here we go. Most people would do the other way round. Bali first and then Bandung for shopping. Bali is a short hop, takes over an hour to reach, in what could be the busiest time of the year on the island.

Bali is probably the most famous tropical island in the world. Most Europeans, Aussies, Japanese and Koreans know or heard about Bali. It has grown into a real beach hot spot that the number of tourists have grown year after year. Last year alone over two million landed at the airport. And there are now over 30,000 hotel rooms available.

We are staying at a villa, a different concept of a holiday stay compare to the traditional hotel room or apartment.

Here one could rent a multi-bedroom villa equipped with its own pool, kitchen, a cook, wifi and so on. The price is quite variable, from those that are comparable to hotel to ones that are quite luxurious. Our place is called the Bali Dream Villa.

In Bali, we opted for van rental complete with the driver. One could get this on arrival at the airport and the van/driver is at your disposal all day long. For us it costs 350,000 rupiah which is about B$55 for 10 hours including driver and fuel - that is ridiculously a very good deal!

By the way, most villas provide free pick-up from airport (if you informed them early) as well as sending you off for the return trip.

Paris of Java

Third day in Bandung. Famous word from the taxi driver ...macet ... meaning traffic jam.

The past few days were public holidays here and people took the opportunity to go out and this was made worse by many folks from Jakarta driving all the way in their own cars to spend the long weekend here.

We passed along Jalan Cipaganti, an old-tree lined road, which contain quite a number outrageously luxurious houses. It is hard to imagine that these big houses, also along other famous roads, in their hundreds are to be found here. They are however mostly empty but guarded and with tall walls. They are owned by the upper classes who called these their second homes but live in Jakarta or overseas. Some of these houses are leftovers from the colonial era but renovated to modern design. Some are are converted to business, mainly restaurants and factory outlets.

Indeed during the early twentieth century colonial era, Bandung was known as "Parijs van Java" or the Paris of Java. The nick name was given because of the city's European atmosphere. That was the culmination of Dutch colonisation that lasted for some 350 years from the 17th Century.

"While the city still has some European heritage, the European feel has since then been replaced by more local colors. The name, however, is still frequently invoked to bring back the memory of the good old days when the city was a beautiful high land resort town of less than 200,000 population." Nowadays Bandung is a bit crowded, two millions to be exact, whereas the surrounding metropolis has an additional population of five millions.

Another favourite hunting place for shoppers is a place located in Sukajadi ironically called Paris van Java or PVJ. It has an European style market place. The place was crowded when we went there. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes to be found although the goods are more expensive compare to factory outlets.

City of FO's

The city of factory outlets. Bandung nowadays is the centre of shopping for Indonesians. Apparently it is also a favourite shopping spot for many KL city dwellers with many daily flights are now servicing the route.

It used to be only famous for its leather and shoe industry, but soon became the capital for jeans and now is the centre of almost everything. There are many outlets to choose, all are always packed with shoppers. The famous ones are along Jalan Riau, Jalan Cihampelas and many more.

The goods are mainly of export standard, with some still showing the export price tag. For comparison the selling price is a fifth to a tenth compare to the tag price! So they are real good value for money.

Holiday on Java Island

An early start to the day for a week long holiday. We set off at 5am in

what would be a whole day journey to reach our destination.

In the era of online booking and cheap fares, what was initially a well-planned iternary turned out to be a nearly non-starter as airlines started changing their schedule in the last minutes. In the end we managed to re-route our flights, not easy especially this is the busiest travel period of the year and seats are difficult to get. So we ended up flying to KK on RBA first, flew to Kuala Lumpur on MAS and finally on AirAsia to Bandung.

Bandung is the third largest city in

Indonesia, after Jakarta and Surabaya. So there are literally millions of dwellers here. Imagine there are more than 150 millions people living on the island of Java, cities like Bandung are where a large portion of these people could be found.

Bandung used to be the un-official capital and homes of the Dutch colonials in the last few centuries when they rule the country. The main reasons were this place sits up in the higher and cooler grounds, surrounded by extict volcanoes and there used to be a beautiful lake here. And it is not too far from Jakarta (or Batavia as it was known then) to escape the heat and the hustles and bustles of that commerce centre.

Nowadays Bandung has grown considerably, no longer quiter as it used to be, but it is still a favourite weekend or holiday destination for people from Jakarta. As like this time of the year, all the hotels are full and the place is packed with visitors, as well as tourists, going for the cheaper food and shoppings.