KL is really a city of abundance...upon coming back, i have a realization that i never had before, that the people here are leading a lifestyle that is well above average...ive always taken it for granted, that all that we have is just basic necessities, never really appreciated the comfort and ease of life, never had to work too hard to get what i wanted...

We have gigantic, over-sized shopping malls here, complete with assortments of entertainment outlet, you name it, we have it...we have eateries by the hundreds, endless different cuisines and dining experiences...we have affordable medical services, affordable cars to drive with fuel that is far cheaper than that of overseas (and yet ppl are still complaining), we are really a blessed bunch...

it's about time to stop all the whining and whimpering and complaining, and appreciate all that we have...

that's why ive decided that the european continent will be my next challenge...the place where standard of living is skyhigh, things are expensive, everything is expensive, ppl struggle to make ends meet, a total contrary to the lifestyle in NZ...

it would definitely be tougher, i will not have the liberty to spend lavishly on goods that do nothing to sustain myself, im gonna be stuck with a bunch of strangers where friendliness is not their forte, extreme weather to say not the least...

Bring it on...


*******


My bday came and went under my very nose, spent some quality time with friends and family who brought me out to celebrate my getting older, and to remind me that i should get settled down, dont leave the country anymore for goodness sake!

i dunno how to tell them that im about to submit application for UK visa...

i got my locks chopped off at Russell under mel's insistent comment that im looking like a NZ barbarian..

went dining and drinking at 1-U and the curve, and discovered some new bars to my utmost delight... :)

ran lotsa errands which involve settling some disputes with Citibank over some unauthorised charges, appointment with my dentist who assured me i really should get two teeth extracted under reasons only which he is familiar of, went to pick up my IC at the NRD, and so on and so forth...

bought some books of M.Crichton and S.Sheldon variety to cover my next few days of boredom...caught up with some TV series addiction...and all the other mundane stuff really...

i really need more life than this...

home sweet home


Gosh, it sure feels good to be home, and i mean it! Having stranded at the Jakarta International Airport for six hours, i kept asking myself during this time why in the whole wide world did i choose to fly with Garuda when we have an award winning national flag carrier of MAS. It didnt help when the staffs tried to dismiss our annoyance of the delayed flight by inviting us to the exclusive lounge for buffet meal...i was tired and angry and cant wait to get out of indonesia...

aww...that soothing feeling of relief when we touched down at KLIA...ive never felt prouder of our airport...it is majestic, it is modern, it is vivacious, it is absolutely world class...i walked amidst other travellers and cant help noticing their nods of approval; Malaysia is really a developed country afterall, they thought...

In conjunction with visitMalaysia2007, there has been much publicity in all major airports and airlines, the two aussie gals who sat beside me in the aircraft were bombarding me with questions, where's interesting? what's the thing to do? what do you eat? what's thaipusam celebration? I havent the heart to tell them not to venture anywhere near batu caves during thaipusam, not if they wanna get groped, or get mugged, or suffocate to death...the entire place would be totally chaotic!

but being a good malaysian tourism ambassador, i found myself uttering: You've gotta witness the celebration! and secretly hope they wont remember me when they're there in the mess...

and it so happened that my swedish friends will be arriving in KL on the 1st of feb, and will be expecting me to babysit them...i guess i will just bring them to the obligatory KLCC and that's it, that's what they expect to find in KL anyway...and then i will quickly suggest them to getaway to one of the highlands or islands or beaches before they begin to hate the city...ive heard stories of travellers finding KL totally unbearable; it's a complete mess and fulls of cars and the air is polluted, they lamented...

on the other hand, having living in KL forever, i must say that the city is growing at a very promising pace, it's shaping the future of the country and im immensely proud of its progress, i cant care much if it doesnt appeal to the foreigners...

way to go, malaysia!

memories of South island


A weka bird that resembles a kiwi bird


Pancake rocks at Punakaiki


Fox glacier


Waterfall@Haast


Lake Wanaka


Alea cried of fear, dreaded the jump


riding the gondolo to the pod

looking down from the pod


the jumping platform, supported just by wire



Queenstown, the adrenaline capital


Mount Cook


The guardian colie


Church of the sheperds


Lake Tekapo


New Brighton pier


New year's eve celebration


crowd gathering at the square


Christmas feast

bali


Gosh, the indonesians are really pissing me off big time, my patience is wearing thin and right now feeling sick in the stomach..

i dunno, maybe that's just their nature, but sometimes i just wanna lay on the beach and read my book, peacefully, please...I havent sat down for five minutes and this dude brought me a drink, and before long, a lady started massaging my back and another woman groped for my hand and started giving me manicure, dont think i didnt protest, but it was fallen on deaf ears, they just dont take 'no' for an answer...

so in the midst of all this happening, i thought it'd be a good idea to announce that i havent any money with me (i really dont), and kinda expect them to shoo off and leech on some other tourists (there are hundreds around me)...but no, they continued servicing me, asking me to pay them later...

then came the vendors selling bits and pieces of everything, shoving everything right in front of my face, and talking nineteen to the dozens at the same time..i was like: cant i just read my book in peace? i ended up buying some necklaces and bracelets and owing everyone hundreds of thousands rp...(yeah, it sounds alot right? haha)

the same thing happens when you walk on the street, i was forcefully 'invited' to browse at all the merchandises that they have to offer...and what really annoys me most is that everyone seems to gang up on you, cornering you so that you have no where to go, willing you to get as many stuffs as possible...i was earlier ripped off into buying three t-shirts for 300000rp, i havent realised i was actually paying rm40 for a cheap balinese t-shirt until i got back...

enough is enough, really needa get outta here asap...


p.s. They have krispy kreme doughnuts here in bali now...yummy...

Kuta, Bali

hmm....really dont know where to begin...all my yearning for a tropical weather when i was back in NZ has been realized...and no, im not grateful for it...i wanna go back to NZ!!!

i know, grass is always greener on the other side, but i cant stop loathing the place upon arrival at the airport and being slapped in the face with heat waves and all the humidity and moisture as if you're in a sauna or something...it's been nearly a year since i last perspired...and i dont miss it...

and really, being in bali amidst tonnes of aussie tourists really didnt help...i envisaged having the beach totally to myself and being able to lay back and relax (i thought it was off-season) without touts harassing me and endless solicits pestering you into getting a two-weeks tattoo and rojak and shit...

alright, i cant say i havent totally enjoyed myself...first of all, the nzd i have with me can really stretch a long way around here, and of course, with my bargaining skills (still learning), i find that i can cut costs here and there easily...

to begin with, i managed to get a nzd12 accommodation which isnt all that bad....fine, is not five star, but who need it when you're backpacking?

I also managed to struck a deal for scuba diving yesterday for usd60, hehe...you'll never get that price in ozzy or NZ...later im gonna get a surfing lesson at the beach and thinking of a little bit of shopping in the evening...apparently Stussy and Ripcurl is having some kinda sales...up to 90%..i know, it's all bullshit...not gonna risk getting some imitation here for the price of a genuine merchandise...

on the whole, im not committed to doing all that touristy stuff here, it's not like i havent already seen all the major sightseeing places like monkey forest and endless temples...would really like to do the komodo island trip though, the dragons have always fascinated me in animal plantes...but it's really kinda costly...usd300

the fact that im gonna be back to KL soon and jobless really aint all that appealing and promising...needa think of a plan soon, pronto...


May God be with me...

Wellington --> Paparaumu --> Waikanae --> Palmerston North --> Fielding --> Bulls --> Rotorua --> Auckland


It's been all good fun, but my hitchhiking expedition has come to an end...Met up with LeeSan in Auckland and she brought me to BurgerFuel@parnell for a hearty meal of burger and shakes...the size of the burger is like two whoppers from BK, but really, it is nothing like BK, fresh meat, exotic sauces, definitely a better deal...

we then headed for one of the bars in town for some drinks and some cathing up...she's gonna be hanging around auckland for a bit to save some bucks and to do more traveling thereafter...i was telling her that once she gets her NZ passport and throwaway her malaysian citizenship, she can be working anywhere in the world...NZ passport can be really valuable...

there we go, my kiwi challenge has so far been a success, and im anticipating to challenge a new country...bring it on!

The hitchhiking frenzy continues...


Queenstown --> Wanaka --> Fox Glacier --> Franz Josef Glacier --> Greymouth --> Punakaiki --> Westport --> Murchison --> Nelson --> Blenheim --> Picton

yeah, im back to picton, currently waiting for the ferry to get me across cook straits to Wellington...

It's sad leaving south island really, ive had such a good time down here...

When you gotta go, you gotta go...


*****


oh yeah, i did the nevis high wire jump, saying that it is fantastic is an understatement...

It's gotta be the scariest and craziest thing that ive ever done in my entire life...i was standing there at the platform, looking down towards the shotover river, and i couldnt do it...in the end i hesitated for a full ten seconds or so before i took the leap of faith...it was really embarrassing, because everyone just took the plunge without thinking at all...

apparently you shouldnt be thinking of anything when you got to the edge, you just gotta jump!! the longer you wait, the harder it becomes, your rational mind will start telling you that it's not a good idea to jump off the platform, are you crazy?? it didnt help that i was one of the last person to jump off (im one of the lightest) and to see others jumping off and screaming their heads off...

but really, i totally recommend it to anyone who's gonna visit NZ, this is the REAL DEAL!!


i might do another jump in Bali...we'll see... :)

Queenstown


yoohoo, ive made it to queenstown at last!! for the past few days ive been hitchhiking like a madman, journey as follow...

Blenheim ---> Kaikoura ---> Christchurch ---> Rakaia ---> Geraldine ---> Lake Tekapo ---> Queenstown

stopped by in Christchurch to visit Yasutomo and Julius and had a good reunion time, drinking and talked bout the good times when we were traveling together...

i must say im pretty proud of myself, even more so when the folks who picked me up told me that im the first asian that they've seen hitchhiking, and they praised me for my guts and efforts...'pride', i told them, is the only thing that prevents asian from hitchhiking, and of course, afraid of losing their precious life...

anyhow, things went on pretty smoothly, the guy who took me in today stopped his car voluntarily without my arms sticking out and offered me a ride...talk about God's blessing!!

while im saving a whole lot on transportation, ive just coughed out nzd500 to do bungee jump, white water rafting and milford cruise for the next few days...

im excited to bits to do nevis bungy jump....134m, highest in the world!!

more to come once ive done the leap of faith!!

stay tune

You would think that summer time should be a time when you can spend most of your time outdoor and take advantage of the prolonged daylight (16h) and the ideal weather...not so...

for the past few days we have been hit with a cold spell where the southerly wind reigns...everyone here is always talking bout the wind, the wind speed, the direction of the wind and its magnitude, because the new zealand weather is pretty much determined by the wind factor...

So geographically, what's south of NZ? Antartica...yeap, the current carries the wind that is blown across the ice all the way here, and hence what do you get? ICY wind...literally...

On new year eve, people gather around the town centre, wearing layers of pullovers, jumpers and sweaters, standing there in the cold, and enjoying themselves immensely...we were getting ourselves prepared, drinking and watching LOTR2 on national television at home...(yeah, the kiwis are very proud of the LOTR trilogy)...the good thing about Kiwi TV is that, when they show films that has a sequel, they always show them in consecutive days or weeks...for eg. I saw the starwars (1-6), LOTR(1-3), matrix (1-3), Harry Potter (1-3) and others on telly...that way, you will never miss anything...alright fine, ive become a bit of a TV junkie here...dont get me wrong though, there're heaps to do around here, well, didnt i mention the cold spell? :)

sorry for the digression, so everyone was standing chilling out at 7 degrees, while we were in our cozy house, and suddenly, the power snapped and we had a blackout...we waited for 10 minutes and decided that's it's gonna take a while, so we put on some clothes and join the folks in town...it was 10pm...

the streets were in pitch darkness, the town were full of noise but u can hardly see anyone...what a day to turn off the power!! we saw some folks juggling fire sticks, some street performers beckoning to passers-by to come closer, and lotsa food stalls...

Some band by the name of ÁBBAlicious' were playing on stage...yeah, you can have a good idea what sorta songs they were singing...the atmosphere got better when another rock band took over...everyone was entertained, and rightly so, most ppl were kinda pissed by now, anyone can play on stage and no one would so much be bothered...

Midnight came, we counted down, hugged, kissed, cheered, wishes were exchanged, saw the firework, very much entertained, and then lamented: another year has begun, has JUST begun, in fact...

after singing Auld Lang Syne with some band playing bagpipes, we headed back...

well, Happy new year everyone!!

p.s. would love to show some pic but the cd is not working right now...bummer!!