The Family Heirloom

Let me introduce you to the car that I've grown up with.


Its a first generation 1975 Opel Gemini Coupe. From the limited information that I gathered from the Internet, this car is the first coupe car introduced in Malaysia (by Opel). The car was proclaimed "Car of the Year" by Wheels magazine in 1975. Apparently the first generation Honda Civic evolved from this model when it was launched in 1997.



The car is still with us albeit hardly being used.

I've had a couple of steamy encounters with some female acquaintance in the car. And before you jump into any silly conclusions, its all due to the air-conditioning not working on a hot rainy day. So when its cold outside and hot in the inside, the windows all get fogged up.

I am glad we still keep the car. It reminds me a lot of my childhood.

Now I am even more glad we kept the car...... I can now claim RM625 rebate and use it on my Vios for petrol money =))

Where does cabin crew stay?

Have you ever wondered where does the cabin crew sleep during long haul flights?

Here's what I found out


Airbus A340

Boeing 747 - 400

Boeing 777

KLM (I think they got a real cozy bed there don't you think?)

Singapore Airline (I would have thought that SQ would have more comfy beds)

AND

.

.

This one I got a shocker

.

.

Ready??

.

.

AirAsia

Talk about budget on a shoe string. Even the cabin crew facilities are not spared :P

The Infamous Hat Yai Bazaar

Update: Thanks to Sz, I finally found out that the bazaar is called Hat Yai Plaza

A trip to Hat Yai would not be complete if you have not visited the "infamous" Hat Yai Bazaar. I have no idea what this bazaar is called (anyone can tell me?) but just tell the Tut Tut driver that you want to go to the market/bazaar and they will drop you off here.

Oh yeah, for those coming to Hat Yai, the current rate for Tut Tut is 20 bhat per person if your traveling within town. You should not be paying anything more then that.

The bazaar consist of narrow alleyways packed with rows after rows of stalls selling items ranging from local food products, clothing's, kitchenware to bags and shoes. You can find many fake branded items here cheap and of reasonable quality.

Be sure to bargain when your here. A good start off point would be 50% lower then the asking price. Do not hesitate to bargain lower or you will be paying a lot more then what the item is worth.

I bought a collar shirt at 150 baht, the offer price was 480 baht (I tend to bargain shamelessly).

To say that the bazaar is a huge maze is no understatement. I lost my way a few times trying to locate the shop that I wanted to go back to a few times.

This picture is taken from the shop I got my 3 pairs of shoes for RM130
Its called the "2nd row shoe shop". Stupid me forgot to take a picture of the signboard.

To be continued......

Hat Yai Trip : Part 1

Say hello to my bus. I said my bus because we chartered the 26 seater bus for this trip. We wanted free and easy so it made sense chartering a bus for the trip. I got a pleasant surprise when Lily told me the price would include a local guide that would be joining us when we reach Sadao (the thai side of the border that we shall be passing through).

The bus we chartered

I must say, despite the looks, the seat was really comfortable

We started our journey at around 1am and reached Bukit Kayu Hitam which is the transit point to Thailand at around 6am. Since we were pretty early, there was hardly any queue. While queuing to have my border pass stamped, I happily took a few pictures only to be stopped later on by an immigration officer. Apparently we are not allowed to take pictures. I was a bit puzzled to be honest since I don't see why we are not allowed to do so.

It was after this shot that I heard a shout "hei! tak boleh ambil gambar disini!!"

And what do you do the first thing you are at the immigration centre? Duty free shop!

I ended up not buying any booze since I could not bring them back tax free due to my short stay there.

Once we pass the Thai immigration point, we met Ah Sun, our Thai tour guide. He is a middle aged Thai Chinese that speaks fluent Cantonese.

We were asked what we wanted to have for breakfast and out of a sudden Lily shouted Bah Kut Teh. I was wondering to myself, "why Bah Kut Teh, I want TOM YAM!". Anyways, Bah Kut Teh it was for our breakfast. That's what I like about personalized tour like this, we decide what to do and the guide just brings us there.

The "no name" Bah Kut Teh shop

As you shall be seeing later on in my blog, I realised that many coffee shops type eateries do not have signboards in Hat Yai. But instead you see banners of all sorts hung all over.

I am not sure if it was due to hunger but the Bah Kut Teh was excellent. Its very mild compared to our Bah Kut Teh's back home in the sense that you don't have as much herbal taste in them. They come in a choice of 2 type of rice, plain white rice or "wu tau" race (yam rice). We also had "Mui Choi Kao Yoke" and Curry Fish. The curry fish was really good and somehow the taste reminisce "Rempah Nanas" (an Indonesian curry fish dish).

Bah Kut Teh

Yam Rice

"Mui Choi Kao Yoke" - That's Cantonese by the way, not Thai

Curry Fish that costs us RM80. They use the expensive "bawal" fish (Tau Tai). So after hearing that I wasn't too shocked from the bill given to us

Thai Teh Ais, taste the same as the one in Malaysia =))

To be continued...............

I AM Officially Back!

Returned from Hay Yai yesterday night.

It was a good break. I think I gained weight as I went on an eating spree but I didn't manage to eat everything that I had in mind.

Shopping was cheap.

Behold my bargaining power.... 3 pairs of leather shoes for RM130 only!!

Oh yeah, got bruised while I had my full body massage (The girls was skinny but damn strong).

More to come when I manage to edit the pictures and write on them.

Hat Yai Here I CUM

Will be leaving to Hay Yai, Thailand in approximately 3 hours time.

Hopefully I shall have some nice pictures and stories to share when I am back this Sunday night.

Everyone have a good weekend there ya

Double Whammy

As I was driving home earlier, I saw queues stretching at least a few hundred meters from the petrol station. Many of them in Kanchil, Wira and with their children inside.

The government announced an increase in fuel prices today. The price of petrol is now up 40% and diesel a whooping 64%.

On top of that electricity tariff will also be raised up to 20% for residential households and 26% for commercial outlets.

For me, this increase is painful. Painful not because I cannot afford the hike but the fact that many of the poor will suffer from the spike in oil prices. Most of the cars I saw queuing at the petrol stations are not not luxury cars but the average Proton's and Perodua's. With the price increase I will still be going on my short trip to Hat Yai. I will still be having great food there and buy gift for my friends and family but come tomorrow, many of the lower income group will have to, stop buying clothes for their child, stop visiting their parents back at the kampung because its too expensive to travel and stop all the small luxury that they may have in their daily routine.

I know a patient of mine that only earn RM600 a month. He has 5 kids that are still schooling. He lamented on the increase of rice recently. They no longer eat white rice but the cheap broken rice that are sold at the shops because most of the kids need to get new school uniforms. With the increase in oil prices, their 8 year old Wira needs approx RM100 for a full tank. That's 1/6 of his salary. How can this family possibly survive?

Even if this group of people do not have cars they will still be reeling from the knock-on effect of an increase in oil prices. Public transport may increase and for sure price of commodities will go up. Again this group of people will suffer while people like me would still be having our dinner at restaurants albeit at a more expensive rate.

Whats worse, the government plan to do off with subsidies by August (although they will give a 30 sen discount off market rate). This will see oil prices going even higher in the coming months.

*shrugs*

Petrol Price At Market Levels By August?

I think the most anticipated piece of news that many of us will be waiting for tomorrow, would be the announcement for the newly revamped fuel subsidy scheme.

According to Domestic Trade Minister Sharir Samad, the government plan to eventually increase petrol price at the current market rate but subsidies would still be handed out based on an needs-based system. We should have a clearer picture on what this need-based system is about tomorrow.

This is really bothering me. On one side, I am all for an increase in petrol price IF the savings by the government is channeled correctly towards a better infrastructure and education system but an increase to current market price? That would mean that the current petrol price which is at RM1.92 a litre would be eventually raised to almost RM4 a litre come August. I think this is ludicrous since we are are still a net oil exporter. This would be alright if the government scrap car import tax but I doubt that would happen.

Anyhow I am still keeping an open mind. Lets hope tomorrow's announcement won't be too much of a jolt to the system.

Graphics Sourced from www.malaysiakini.com

A Car That I Won't Want To Call My Own

Went to have my Malaysia-Thailand border pass done today.

Whats a border pass you might ask?

Its a travel document that one can apply to enter Thailand for multiple journeys and is valid for 6 month. However you must be a Malaysian resident that residing in the state of Perak, Perlis, Kelantan or Kedah for more then 3 years.

While I was driving back, I spotted this.......

I was like... huh? Whats those stuff stuck on to the back of the Pajero??

So I tried to overtake the car for a closer look......

The back of this car is virtually infested with mini-figurines!!!

You see Mickey Mouse at the top? WTFreak??!! Whats the owner thinking of here. Imagine you taking your girlfriend on a date with this car. I would rather walk!!

This is where the number plate is suppose to be but instead we got figurines ranging from hello kitty to ultraman stuck on it.

God save me if I got a car like that......

Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar

As blogged before, I went for a short trip to Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar a few days back. We had about 30 students from Gujarat, India visiting and one of the highlights of their trip to town was a short tour around the Istana compound. Normally outsiders are not allowed to enter palace grounds except for official functions but we manage to get consent from the palace authorities.


Kuala Kangsar is the royal town of Perak. This is where the Istana Iskandariah is situated.

Istana Iskandariah is the official residence of all the Sultans of Perak who have been installed since its completion in 1933.The palace is named after Sultan Iskandar Shah (1918-1938) who initiated its construction.



Istana Iskandariah is located at Bukit Chandan on the left bank of Sungai Perak upstream from Hilir Perak on the site of the former Istana Negara which was built in 1895 by Almarhum Sultan Idris Murshidul'adzam Shah (the late Sultan (in 1887-1916). It occupies an area of 10,435 square meters.


The design of the palace is based on the architecture of West Asia which is famous for its pointed arches and onion-shaped domes. The building is rectangular in shape and faces the sunrise and the river.

The roof is designed with one main dome in the centre and four subsidiary domes, one on each of the palace.

The palace is of there storey. The ground floor houses The Royal Dining Room, two Audience Halls, Reception Area, the Royal Rest Chambers, Ladies' Cloak Room, Aide-de-Camp's Office, Music Hall and the Royal Council Chamber.

Next time your on your way up to Penang, you might want to just drop into Kuala Kangsar for a half day trip.