The Malaysia I love is alive but not well....now stand up for love, tolerance and understanding!

The recent months have seen my beloved country take massive beatings on all fronts. Economically, socially, politically and internationally. Our currency has dipped to a 17 year low, our politicians are showing signs of senility and the intelligence of watermelons (sorry, didn't mean to insult fruits), internationally we are losing our standing on everything. Those are things I can't control and it's beyond my reach but what's closer to the ground and to my heart is how we are hurting socially. There are people who are sowing seeds of hatred, racism and intolerance among us. Sadly, the main culprits are our leaders and politicians and like all cult movement, the noisy minority will overwhelm the silent majority.

History has shown that noisy minority are the ones that create chaos while the silent majority suffers. The Nazis, Communist China, Libya, Iran, Iraq and the list goes on. So what is happening to our country, our culture, our people? Have we grown into a hate inciting society? Racially marginalized and alienated? Most of us tend to stick to our own people, our own race and own friends. So much so that we don't know or don't care like we use to. Is that really true?

Being a child of 2 races, we are the epitome of tolerance and moderation. I have seen both sides of my family practice racism on my parents and I myself was subjected to that too. However, the examples of my parents was and still is a shining beacon that I hold true and I hope to pass on to my generations and all those I encounter. We were tolerant and practiced giving and taking. We were sensitive to each others religious and racial needs. We ensured others were comfortable when we practiced our unique needs. We didn't impose or get mad or get violent. We taught and educated and explained. We were patient simply because deep down inside we are decent human beings. We protected each other regardless of race and religion during the Japanese Occupation and The Emergency. We were taught to be decent, kind, compassionate and loving by our elders and by our religion. If your religion tells you otherwise, you'd better question deeply why that is so.

So have we lost all of this?

I worked in a multinational all of life until recently. When in the MNCs I'll be honest to say I didn't interact deeply with other races. I kind of stuck to my own friends. I now work in a GLC where 90% of the population are Malays. Recently we just concluded the month of Syawal or Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. I was invited to so many open houses that I put on 5kg! That is A LOT!! What I wanted to share is that I experienced the hospitality of my Malay Malaysians towards all races. They welcomed me with open arms regardless of who I was. The guided me to an open seat, served me personally and made sure I was well taken care of.

Conversations were jovial, candid and fun. There weren't feelings of corporate obligation (though I'm sure there were some) but just people generally getting together and celebrating a very big occasion in Malaysian culture. I have not been to an open house (personal or corporate) for any celebration in a long while. But this year I attended one almost every day. All I felt was happiness, good company and cholesterol building up!

So Malaysia is alive but albeit not well. While I can't really influence economics, foreign policies or internal policies, I can sure spread the right message of tolerance, understanding, love and kinship with my fellow Malaysians. So speak up and don't let these minority bigots, racist and extremist take over what took our elders and heroes a lifetime to build. I am doing this because my religion teaches me so and because my parents taught me then and am still teaching me now.

God bless Malaysia and all Malaysians.

Shit just got real!!!

I wrote some time ago about my son taking driving lessons. Stalling the car and can't get it to center after turning. Well, shit just got real!!! He got his driver's license....despite still stalling and getting the car to center after turning! Albeit a lot less now. The only consolation is that he will be driving an auto car and not the manual one that he was trained on and took his tests on. So hopefully with modern technology, he won't stall and his car will center automatically.

So my tax dollars are funding a governing body called the JPJ (Dept of Road Transport) that allows my 5 year old to commandeer a 1-ton steel, killing machine while his mind is still all swirling around with hormonal fluids called "Wise-Ass". Ok, he's not 5, he's 18 but to me, the thought of him behind a wheel of a car in a world full of raving lunatics, I cannot help thinking that he's 5. I remember how he was when he was 5, he had the manual dexterity of a watermelon and even then when he was behind his Fisher-Price tricycle, he was always knocking into things because he didn't know or care where the brakes were (the brakes were his legs)!

I haven't experienced his driving yet out of fear. Not fear for my life but fear for his. I don't really know how I will react just yet. I may be the real cool dad that is ok with how his son drives even though he has a pedestrian stuck on the windshield. Giving timely and appropriate advice or...RAVING like a LUNATIC, kicking the imaginary brakes until there's a hole in the carpet, grabbing the wheel or stepping out of the window to kick other cars or bike!!!! I don't know which I'll be and I'm too afraid to find out.

Anyway, my brother has sat in his car and he has brought his instructor and the tester back safely. I guess he's not too bad. So while I need to get comfy (which is probably never) with the thought of my hormonal raging, bad decision making son behind a steel, man-killing contraption , I now need to think about what car to get him. That's right, 80s kids. You didn't get your own car but you bloody have to get one for your kids. The world has turned cruelly for us. I posted this conundrum on FB and got some pretty interesting ideas. There were suggestions to get a Jeep or Land Rover. I was impartial towards getting the old Volvo 244, which is the boxy tank of a car greatly favoured by doctors or lawyers. You know people who carried those square, big-ass briefcases in the 70s that are big enough to carry a small nuclear device or the engine of a drone.

At this point, since I have not experienced his driving, I am not that focused on that. My thoughts are more on the other drivers on the road. Malaysians turn into a different species when they are on the road. Any other times, they can be sweet, nurturing, lovely, God fearing human beings but put behind the wheels of any vehicle, the fangs come out and suddenly it's WereWolf in London meets Fast n Furious meets GTA V! You have a lot of assholes out there! A LOT!!!! I know!! I used to be one of them. I said used to be!!

On top of that, there are scam artists pretending to be authority figures like police, bank officers, etc that are looking to jack your car or worst, robbing and kidnapping. My son is an extremely anorexic boy....ahem....man. I can make him move just by sneezing. While he's a Taekwando black belt, he's one of the laziest one I have seen. "Aiyah fight for what....take la whatever you want. Just leave me my phone."

Should I have leave a GPS tracker on his car with a 24-hour drone watch? Or maybe a bodyguard to be with him for a while. Or maybe get a driver. I know these things will him make as popular as a fart inducing warthog in school but it will keep him safe right? Right??

Sigh.....if I'm like this with my son, I dread the day comes when it's my girl's turn. So if you see a drone flying above any car with cameras on all sides with the driver being a tall, lanky Taekwando master with the body fat of a stick insect, please take extra special care of him and be patient with him. He's my dear son.

Many a Father's Day...

Father's Day has new meaning to me now. In the past, it used to take a bit of a mind boggle to decide where to take my Dad for dinner. It's not that he's a picky eater. It's because he's not a picky eater that makes it difficult. For him, it was more about spending time with us and his favourite person in the whole wide world...his grandson Michael. So to make it special for him and for everyone, I would be cracking my head every year on Father's Day and on his birthdays.

It's been 14 years since he left us suddenly. Yank from us in the prime of him life in my view. I still get angry about that. You see, my Dad and I shared a special bond ever since I was born. We had a very good relationship until I grew up to be an insufferable know-it-all teen. Our relationship suffered as he didn't really know how to be a Dad to a teen and I didn't know how to grow up properly. My family was beset with one tragedy and crisis after another. A typical Tamil movie setting. When you see all of this at a young age, you lose your childhood and grew up really fast. It can be confusing too. You want to grow up but at the same time be a normal kid and enjoy normal 80s kids stuff. Like going to Victoria Music Station in Sg Wang and listening to the latest pop songs (though I couldn't afford the cassettes), eating Jackson Burger in Sec 14. Sneaking into Piccadilly for tea dances at Atria. Going to the movies with the girl you like and your closest friends. My life dragged me kicking and screaming into adulthood.

So I had this gap in my life where my relationship with my Dad was cold. I know he tried to reach out but being a man brought up in the 40-50s in an Indian family, parents were never your friends. They were there to make sure you toe the line and kicked your ass if you didn't. My relationship with my Dad started to mend only after I met my wife. For some reason, from the first time he saw her, he said I will marry her. We were only dating a month then. I slowly started to understand him a little and when I calmed down, he was able to reach out.

When I planned my wedding, I did it on my own. Pretty much like anything I did at that time. My tertiary education choices, my job, my finances, etc. was all done on my own. I didn't consult them much. So when I was planning my wedding without him, he got understandably upset. So I told what I needed him to do, when to get ready and where to be at what time. He was shell shocked that I didn't expect him to pay anything for my wedding. My Dad has many traits and one of them is pride. So when he insisted, I said ok. Hey my Dad wants to pay right? Anyway, I was really grateful to him for that.

At the end of the wedding, he told me he didn't expect me to pull it off and didn't realise how I have grown up and how sorry he was to have missed it. I didn't think I needed to hear it but when he told me he was proud of me, for the first time, I cried.

It was the best hug I ever had.

When he passed, I was very busy with the funeral that I didn't have time to grief and his funeral being on Sept 11 2001 made me more focused on world events. About 11 months later when my father in law died, I realised that I had a lot of pent up grief for both these fantastic men in my life. I was a wreck and my whole life was an emotional mess. I'm pretty sure it made me lose my focus and had to leave my job.

It was the loneliest I have ever been.

Then something happened that I have told to very few people. I dreamt about my Dad. He came to me and asked what's wrong. It was so clear that I remember EXACTLY what it was like even after 14 years.
I asked him what he was doing here since he was dead.
He just smiled and said because he felt I needed him.
I told him I missed him and was lost. He smiled and said he was ok and was in a magnificent place.
I asked if he was in heaven and he smiled and nodded. I told him I wanted to see it.
He paused and said ok but I have to keep my head down and not look up until he said so as I was not ready.
So I looked down and let him take my hand. I was climbing these stairs made of huge glass cubes with flower designs on them. I remember thinking if these things could take my weight!

When he told me to look up, I was in the greenest meadow with rolling hills and a mountain in the backdrop. In the middle was a huge attap house and people were laughing, happy and drinking. I realised it was a pub! Like the ones he took me to when I was younger. Only the people were more beautiful and the place smelled incredible! Then people were calling him to join them and just like the old days, he put his hands on my shoulder and said "Hey, this is my eldest son.".

I missed that a lot.

He told me he was happy and fine and asked me to start living and start taking care of my mother, my brother, my wife, my son and my newborn daughter. Not to worry about him. Then I told him, that my father-in-law passed too and he said he knows and will pick him up after he is finished with his paperwork.
I remember asking him "Heaven also got immigration wan ah?"!!

Then he hugged me and walked to his "pub". As he walked away I sensed a presence next to me and it was someone in brilliant white. I don't know who it was but he said it was time for me to go and live. I looked at him and asked him to look out for my Dad. He said he will and when I turned away, I woke up.

I felt an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders! So liberating and happy and I cried and cried. Tears of joy and relief and also sadness.

Every Father's Day now, I think of my Dad in his place. Having a good time, looking out for us from the corner of eye and praying for us while fishing with my father in law.

Happy Father's Day Papa. We will always love you and I miss you terribly. God bless.

Let him Go!! Let him Go! Can't hold you back anymore!!!!

The dreaded has come. My son turned 18 last March and he has passed his SPM or "Ordinary Wizarding Levels" or his high school, depending where are you reading this. For a while he worked in GSC, the popular cinema chain which is probably one of the most popular chains and also the worst in terms of employee benefits. I wanted Mike to work so that he could experience working life in a controlled environment. Pretty much what us 80s kids went through. I worked in the McDonald's. I loved it and I am loving it still! They should hire me as their marketing person.

Anyway he lasted a month and decided that the long bloody hours and ridiculous pay were just...well....ridiculous. Anyway it was for the experience and I think he did enjoy himself. Then it was time to look at college. He did ok in his SPM though he was sad as he knew he could've done better. Could've, would've...well suck it up!!! And sucked it up he did. So we went through a VERY exhausting search for programs, courses and colleges he could attend. We wanted a program that allowed twinning, that had a campus in country and of course conducive for studying.

I personally wanted a college that had less partying opportunity but it was his choice in the end. Finally on the last day of registering, we decided on University of Nottingham in Semenyih. Semenyih to us city folks is a hole! It had one main street and lots of mud infested patches. It took us an hour to get there because of the trunk roads and there was nothing to do there. The most stand out brand was 7-Eleven and KFC. But it was also friendly and the Uni's backdrop was a beautiful hill side.

It was my dream college. Thank God he chose my dream college. I may have whispered it into him...shhh....

Nottingham is one of the better schools in the UK and also globally and Semenyih will only be picked by students who valued a place of education. The entry requirements were higher and the environment will discourage party kids to attend. So it was perfect place for me to leave my son. There was one major drawback however. It meant, he had to stay in-campus for the week and only come back during the weekends, assuming he didn't have any assignments or projects. I thought I would be cool and that to see him be independent would have been a proud moment. It was.

So the day came, when we packed his stuff and headed off to college. We checked out his room, cleaned it together, fixed his pillow, cupboards, toilets, etc. Walked around the college halls and campus. Checking out where the places to eat were, the ATMs, convenience shop, sports complex, etc. It was a good family moment.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to my son.

All was going well. The pride of seeing my son grow up, experiencing the next phase of his life and feeling real excited for him. Then he hugged me goodbye told me he'll be ok. As I watched him walk away, my tear ducts decided it was the best time to empty itself at that moment!! I was tearing so much I almost couldn't see the road. I just kept thinking of that moment because as he took each step away, he was stepping into adulthood. I was there to see it, experience it. The pride of a father and the love of a son was just amazing. I am so happy to have experienced it. Though I did hope it didn't have to mean me crying like a little girl.

He leaves my home and when he comes back, he will be a man and he will be a guest in my house. Because as he studies and goes into his career, he will strike out on his own. His own house, own job and hopefully his own family. I hope I have given him enough principles, ethics and building blocks to build a man of integrity, of compassion, of love, of confidence and of someone that will change the lives of those around him for the better. I hope he becomes a great person.

For while he will always be my son, he is no longer my little boy. God's speed Michael Sean David.

Is the world you know, real?

I have experienced the lowest point in my life about 6 months ago and it's a new experience for me. You see, I have never felt unpopular, insecure or really sad at what others thought of me. In fact I welcome feedback and look towards improving if the criticisms or feedback were constructive or if it doesn't affect my conscience. So I am always very positive, sure of myself, confidence, cheerful and upbeat. All that changed 6 months ago when I had to leave my company due to me defending my principles and defending someone but was not defended in return because of their own interests. Also there were a couple of diseased rhinoceros waste that affected these changes. But enough of Satan's minions.

Being someone that played by the book and someone who lived by my ethics, I really thought getting a job was going to be easy. I was relatively well known and popular but nothing could be further from the truth. I went to one interview after another only to be shot down because I was too senior or too expensive. The job market was terrible! Little by little my confidence was eroded and was battered. While money wasn't the major issue, it was definitely a major factor. I had a son going off to college soon and of course the bills to be paid. I couldn't imagine how a breadwinner being the top of his game all his career is now facing the ignominy of not being to pay my bills, selling assets or resort to borrowing money. It was something that I worked very hard not to come to.

So instead of wallowing in self pity, I took stock of what had happened and what I needed to do. First thing was to climb off my high horse and get more humble. Years of my success had made me to some extend arrogant. It made me ignorant of the situation around me and made me focus too little on the human factor. So what if I have to sell some stuff? Is that so important?

Next I took stock of my friends. There were those who were there constantly, looking for jobs for me, helping me with odd jobs and just being there encouraging me and keeping me sane. They told me that as long as I needed, meals will be on them. I love these guys. There were those who kept quiet but waiting to see what happens next. They kept a distance in case I succeeded. Then there were those who disappeared and those who kicked me when I was down. What I did was to look at those who were there for me and take stock of myself as to what I did to deserve the kicking I got. Forgive your enemies but remember their names. Haha but I realized that there are areas I gotta change.

Then finally the most important 2 areas. My family and prayer. My family never wavered. Not for one bit. Even my spoiled kids. Yea I spoil them, sue me. They offered to give up luxuries and both of them even offered to go to a lower cost college or the dreaded Form 6! My wife was a constant rock and not once did she nag or got upset. She carried on as usual and worked harder is keeping our finances manageable. My mom was a surprise. I never had to ask anything from her before but like a mother, she knew when her baby needed her. She stepped up too and she was awesome. My cousin KLY and Caryn were just amazing. They didn't need to but they did and so did one of my sis-in-law and my brother. The little things and gestures they did kept us going and upbeat. I see them in a very new light.

Then prayers. Yea shamefully, I got more prayerful when the chips were down. But I got more prayerful. They say you are closest to God when you are at your worse. I now vow to always be close especially during my high times. God didn't let me down. I now think I know why I was given this test. It was tough and it was unbearable at times but I found myself, my family, my true friends and my God. I also realized a lot about myself and I know what I need to do more. So whenever the chips are down, always realize that there are those much worse than us and as long as you stay true to your principles and your spirituality, He won't let you down.

I hope I will be blessed to be there for you when your chips are down as how others were for me. I also hope that my sharing gives you the strength and sanity when the life tries to keep you down. God bless.

Beware!! New hormones on the road

There a few things a parent dread to hear or do. Like when a doctor says they need to speak with you about "options". You know shit just got serious. Or your child gets a note from their teacher asking to meet you or when a child ask you about the birds and the bees. One very common area is letting go. When your child ask to go on a class trip for the first time. Sleep over, go for a movie, take public transportation and finally....driving a car.

My eldest, Mikey will be 18 this year and he is now taking driving lessons. What scares me is that the government sees no problem in allowing a raging hormonal, indecision and characteristically bad decision making teen to be behind the wheels of a 1 tonne vehicle. While my son is a sweet, quiet and funny person, we don't know what they will turn into once behind the wheels. This is the same kid who couldn't navigate his baby walker around the living room. Albeit he was 2 at the time and was interested in anything shinny while drooling all over the place. Still...

When I first got my car, I got into a lot of accidents but they were minor ones and not once did I trouble my parents. Knowing these Gen-y or Gen-z or whatever the hell you wanna call them, they will be coming back to you and expecting you to fix everything. I'm not sure how I feel about that. While I want my kids to come to me whenever they have a problem and to get me involved in their lives, I would limit that to just me giving advice and not involving my money or involving me getting out of the couch.

Anyway, I have not seen him drive yet but in his first lesson, he stalled the car...A LOT! He complained the steering wheel was too hard to turn and after turning it didn't come back to center, the manual gear stick was not easy to change and the clutch was a nightmare. Hopefully that will become smoother as he progresses.

In that time, if you see some car getting stalled all the time, not turning well or not centering after turning, please be patient and do look out for the driver. He is my son.

Globe trotting III

Today, we look at a summarized view of the US, Italy and Japan.

US - LA, San Francisco, Vegas, San Diego and Seattle
We self drove with 2 large vans and about 18 of us. We spent a lot of time on the road as we wanted to cover as much as we can in 12 days. Our family spent a week in Seattle with our oldest and dearest friends, The Fongs.

People : Very friendly and helpful. We saw random acts of kindness as someone bought a homeless couple dinner from McD. LA was a little scary but we didn't stay that long at night. Only to watch a Lakers game at the Staples Center!! Folks in general are pretty nice.

Service : Service is amazing! People are extremely courteous, helpful with us, efficient especially at the check out lines and very patience. Restaurants, fast food, shopping, airport, The Magic Kingdom, we had a great time with the service folks. If you return a purchase, not only do they not treat you like a criminal like here but they kept apologizing! They apologized that their product was not up to my liking! I was so taken over, I almost wanted to take my purchase back.

Food : Food is very western of course. Burgers, meat chops, fries, pasta. You know the usual stuff. Some are good, some not so. The McD is better simply because they include bacon! But I find our KFC better. The portions are bloody huge though. So we usually share. Mikey went to a chap-fan place called Panda Express and selected 3 dishes and rice. His serving could have served 3! Asian food is also aplenty so no problems here, if you start craving for something Asian.

POI : I need a few postings to do this. Many, many places to go. SF was our favourite. We also visited the Grand Canyon and saw the Hoover Dam. Absolutely breadth taking! Took a game at the Staples Center. Was at Hollywood Boulevard, Walk of Fame, Chinese Theatre in LA. Of course Disneyland and Universal Studios. Drove by the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown and Ghiradelli's in SF. Vegas was just the sight and of course the amazing Grand Canyon. We took a helicopter ride to the bottom of the canyon for our river cruise. Seattle was more relaxed for us. It was a very calm and serene time of our holiday and we hung out at the local spots like Snoqualmie Falls, downtown Seattle and of course the Microsoft campus.

Shopping is amazing too. We got to shop at Gilroy during the Black Friday sale. It was crazy!! We were also at Barstow, Desert Hills, North Bend and Seattle Premium Outlet. The American brands are amazingly cheap, so we did go crazy! Best feeling ever!!!


Italy - Rome, Pisa, Florence, Venice and Milan
This was a couple's trip with my cousin and his wife. We went on a tour and spent quite a fair bit of time on the road as well.

People : The Italians are a very talkative bunch but not the most friendly towards foreigners I thought. Still they will reciprocate when you speak to them. We went towards the mid of Summer so the weather was extremely gorgeous and I guess that put people in a good mood.

Service : Not the friendliest bunch as not the most patient. They get snippy if you take too long to decide or try on too many stuff. Since we were on a tour, food was pre-arranged so we didn't get to see too much of the restaurant staff's natural habitat.

Food : As it was a tour, we didn't get to choose what we ate. We had lots of pizza and pasta. Some were good, some forgettable. Highlights were a lobster pasta in Milan, Florentine steak in Florence and a Penang restaurant in Rome.

POI : Similar to the US, this would have taken many postings. It's a country that is cultural, religiously and historically rich. It was the center of Western civilization at one time and is now the head of the Catholic Church. So we got to see many sights from Ancient Rome and churches. Every city had it's own glamour and sights. My only advice is to take it slow, spend more time there and to please buy a ticket to see the mural of The Last Supper by Leonardo DiVincci in Milan.

Shopping : This is the place to buy all the Italian brands as they were cheap! Yea we went crazy. My only problem is that they don't have shirts my size because all Italian men apparently look like models! Best place to shop was in Milan's outlet called Serravalle. But downtown Milan and Florence were good too. We didn't get to shop in Rome though but we were told it was more expensive. Leave some space and cash for Rome's airport! Good duty free stuff there as well. While it's cheaper, you may not get the style or design you want. But shopping is shopping!!!


Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya
We travel with the whole village this trip for a Winter experience in Japan. There were almost 25 of us and it was our largest group so far.

People : I think the Japanese people are the friendliest, most humble, helpful, courteous, etc. I can go on and on with all the expletives. They so helpful that even if they didn't know the answer, they will find someone who does. Also many Japanese folks don't speak English well, though they read and write ok. Another observation is that they are very, very clean. The streets are spotless and even their cement truck and garbage truck is in immaculate condition. We passed by a garbage truck and it didn't smell! How do you do that?? The weird part is that, it's so hard to find a garbage can!

Service : Because of the people's attitude towards others, the service industry is one of the best I have experienced. Everyone is smiling and chirpy, to a point sometimes it's creepy. I don't know if it's the anime thing or something they put in the water but restaurants, shopping, airport and immigration were all very good experiences for us.

Food : I love Japanese food so I had no complaints whatsoever. Though it's interesting to see that they eat very unlike us. The famous restaurants serve a specialty food. For example, a famous ramen restaurant will only serve ramen. Same for sushi or tempura. City folks love ramen as it's fast and quick. In the outskirts they serve in a bento. So you have a variety of dishes. Japanese food however, has very little oil and fat so great for weight watchers. However, their rice is incredible! So be careful that you save on fat but stock up on carbo!

POI : Many cultural sites to visit. We had a great time visiting temples, food streets, cultural villages and the Bullet Train and Toyota museums. My highlight was the samurai class that we took and Mt Fuji. We only managed to shop at 1 outlet, Gotemba in Kyoto and prices are pretty good. However, we bought more snacks back and many, many different flavours of Kit Kat.


So that ends my 3 part summary. I may decide to write in detail of the places that we visited. If you have any such requests, drop me a feedback. Sayonara, Ciao, Chai Chien, Good bye, Choi Kin and Au Revouir!

Globe Trotting Part II

Continuing my holiday destination reviews:-

Hong Kong & Macau
People : Everyone is rushing in HK. To work, to play, to eat, etc. They walk everywhere and walk really quickly. People are generally friendly but they are also very direct and they will tell you off if they see the need. But it's a very structured and disciplined society and after the SARS outbreak, very clean as well.

Service : Up and mid class places have very good service especially retail outlets. Restaurant, not so much. They may not be rude but they are not particularly friendly either. Other places are very efficient though no one really talks to you.

Food : OMG! This is my fav place for food. Absolutely amazing. Everything is good but not cheap. You can eat street food or restaurant and it taste great. Fav food are Typhoon Noodle under the bridge, seafood at Sai Kung and dim sum anywhere. Macau has some Portuguese food and was better than China but HK is still my fav.

POI : SHOPPING!!! Great places to shop as fashion is trendy though may not always be cheap. Can check out Stanley Market, Ladies Street, Electronic Street and Tsim Tsa Tsui. Victoria Peak is also my fav place to hang out. I also love Repulse Bay, Ngong Ping 360 and of course Disneyland, where you will experience a Cantonese speaking Mickey. Symphony of Lights show at the Avenue of Stars is also amazing. In Macau, people are only interested in the casinos. If gambling is not your fancy, there are many shows you can go to. There is a particular good 3D show called The Bubble Show that you can check out.


Taiwan - Taipei only
People : Generally friendly folks but English literacy is kinda low. Every signboard is in Chinese. So felt pretty useless. We got separated from our families and needed to call them and my batt was flat. Someone in the streets heard us and just loaned us their phone. I thought that was pretty amazing. Prob didn't know it was an international call. Haha!

Service : Everyone's busy so they are not particularly friendly Only at the Taipei 101 Tower did we see some smiles. Food, hotel, bus and subway stations, smiles are pretty rare there.

Food : There are so many night market and so many varieties of food. Just amazing. However, you need to know where to go because not everything is good. We tried their minced beef rice, beef noodle and a place called Ah Choong mee suah. These left a good impression on us. Fishball and oyster omelettes were horrible!!! Pls avoid if you are traveling alone.

POI : Good places to find bargain stuff and fashionable as well. There is a Yeh Liu Geopark and a village called Jiufen. Must visit. The Chiang Kai Sek memorial was enjoyable for me and you gotta see Taipei 101 Tower.


London & Paris
People : People on the street were a lot friendlier in London than Parisians. Everyone is saying "sorry", "excuse me" and "good morning, afternoon, etc". Getting around was easy and folks were very helpful.

Service : Funnily, restaurant people in London were not as friendly as those in Paris. They were more surly and more curt. Those in Paris were chatty, smiling always and patience since we needed help with the French menu. Those in retail outlets were also pretty friendly and helpful, both places.

Food : What can I say? London bad, Paris gorgeous!!! We only had one good meal in London, on board a ferry opposite the Eye of London. Almost every food we had in Paris was amazing. From the Nutella Crepe to our Foir Gras. There was a fish place that didn't really get me going but everything else was absolutely gorgeous!

POI : Too many to mention! The favs for me, British Museum, Tower Bridge, Greenwich Meridian Line, Stonehenge, Big Ben, Bath, Eifel Tower, Notre Dame, Seine Cruise, St Michael's Fountain and Louvre.


Continuing to Part III........

Globe trotting

I am blessed to have had the ability to globe trot a little. Every year end, I plan a holiday with immediate and extended family members. They will include my cousins and my in-laws. So since my posting about our trip to Australia, I have had the pleasure of visiting Greater China, Korea, London & Paris, Italy, US West Coast and Japan. So how does a Chindian take all these different cultures? As someone that comes from 2 cultures, we are typically very interested and sensitive to the cultures of others. There are many difference as to the folks in these different countries. So I have compiled and summarized based on the criteria of friendliness of people on the street and service folks, food, shopping and places of interest. Let's start with:-

Australia
People : Folks are typically friendly but I think they don't like Chinese folks that much, especially in Melbourne. Brisbane and the Gold Coast seems more ok. They don't voluntarily help you but they will if you approach them. Some reluctantly, some more helpful. The Asian community are very helpful towards other Asians though.

Service : Retail folks are very particular about the time they close. Most close at 5pm (What's up with that!!) so when you walk in at 4.45, they give you that exasperated sigh and stare and are typically unhelpful. Then again only us Asians will enter a shop just before it closes. I have not seen an Aussie do that. As for food, it will depend where you go to. Some up places are more tolerant, mid class not so.

Food : There is a lot of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian food in Melbourne. So if you get tired of all the ham, bread, cheese, pasta, burgers, you have a lot of Chindian comfort food. One of their burgers made my list of comfort food and that's something they call The LOT. It has...the LOT. Meat, bacon, ham, fried egg, more bacon, etc.

Shopping : I think most folkd don't come here to shop. I've not seen any good shopping places. Maybe it's just me.

POI : Gold Coast's theme parks are for those who haven't been. Surfers' Paradise is nice and decadent, though full of Chinese retailers now. If you are into animals, take a 2 hours drive north to Sunshine Coast to visit Australia Zoo or Steve Irwin's Zoo. In Melbourne drive along the Great Ocean Road to Grampiens National Park and stop at small towns along the way. Philip Island is a good visit, stop by a Chocolate Factory and also the Twelve Apostles. City wise, is like any other city though the Yarra River is quite picturesque.


China
People : I say this with all objectivity. Most folks are loud, boisterous, dirty and rude. They knock into you, spit everywhere and children will pee anywhere. If you want the toilet, just follow the smell. Hygiene level seems to have been set to medieval times. Not every toilet outside of Beijing has modern plumbing. In the 21st century!!! We found a toilet with feces on the wall!! Like this person was during a mural or his a$$ exploded or something!!!

Service : They are more friendly and very attentive as most city restaurants and up market shopping places goes by a rating system. Airport service is also very efficient.

Food : For me, this really sucked!! The food we had was not as good as back home. Really bad. If you followed the tour food, God help you. We had some good food like Peking Duck and a meat BBQ buffet place. But mainly was not too my liking.

Shopping : It's shopping haven. Knock offs and non-branded stuff are cheap if you don't mind the quality. We bought some non-
branded stuff and some of them were quite good in quality.

POI : This is the place to be. You history coming out of your ears! We went to the usual palaces and temples and of course the Great Wall. My highlight was the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an. Absolutely amazing!!! China has also many beautiful sceneries.


Korea
People : Pretty ok. Friendly folks and they speak English. Didn't have any incident in memory.

Service : Very friendly folks. Even those who sold hot choco and churros in a cart, were chatty and friendly. Since most meals come with side dishes, most folks are patience with our constant refilling of it.

Shopping : There are some duty free outlets in the city and the airport for tourist. Snacks are worth buying and so are cosmetics. Everywhere else is more pricey.

Food : I love Korean food. They BBQ, Kimchi soup, grill stuff, the rice and the ox tail soup. Every meal was good for the Chindian palate.

POI : There are some history but not much and nothing beats China anyway. So they turned their attention to their dramas and K-Pop. Touristy places are sets for movies like Winter Sonata at Nami Island and Mount Sorak and something called All In. Pretty creative.


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

CSI for the young

Some of you may think that CSI began around the year 2000 with CSI Vegas. I am a big fan of the show and it's spinoffs. I still follow it today and have downloaded the series. However, as I was watching the show and the antics of my kids and nephews and nieces, I realized that CSI started at a VERY early stage for us Gen-X kids. As a Chindian, it would also mean that I have the universe's most disciplined parents. This does not mean that they are very disciplined in what they do. It means, they will discipline your a$$ for every wrong thing you do. Sometimes even when you haven't done it.....yet!! That's how strong these genes are.

So we had to be very creative in how we hide the evidence of our wrong doings. I feel that we would have made excellent CSI officers as we would know where to look for said evidence and what to make of it. The Gen-Y and Z? Forget it! When my son and nephew was 7 years old, they were very into Pokemon. One time while they were watching Pokemon, we gave them their milk for the night. They set it down next to them and as all accidents are attracted to toddlers, one of them spilt his cup. They looked at the spilt milk, said "Oh-oh", got up, moved to another location and continued watching.

If it was us and we did that, they would need forensic experts to separate our mangled corpses! How time has changed. During our time, we would become CSI to hide said evidence of the spill. I would have sat on it to absorb the milk while my cousin will distract anyone nearby. We will then proceed to get new pants for me while he walks behind me to hide the milk stain. I will change while he's the lookout. It's important to change into something of similar colour so as not to invite questions. After that, we have 2 options with the stained pants. We could hide it and throw it and feign ignorance when asked about the pants. OR we could frame my brother. Either way, it would have been done meticulously so that nothing points back to us.

Now of course, our kids volunteer information to us. Like when they dropped their phone or knocked something over. I know what you are thinking. Why in the world would I give my kids a handphone?? The answer, so that they won't bug us! That in itself is a new social world to us. We can't punish them for coming to us and admitting their wrongs. So you smile, tell them they did the right thing and to be careful in the future. Anti-climax right??

All said and done, the chances of us getting away with it was really low. Our parents still found out and half murdered us. So why still do it? Survival man! It kept us on our toes. But looking at the situation now, we could learn a thing or two from our kids and they could a learn a thing some of our CSI skills to survive.......as long it's not to con us!

A lot of catching up

It's been a while since I last posted. I just wanted to give you a quick summary of what has happened. Our children has grown up and they are now entering 18 and 14 respectively. Which gives us a whole new world to work with. This is new territory for my wife and I. How to deal with 18-year old teen who has that irritatingly know-it-all mentality but you know he is just as dumb as a door nail. How do you know when to let go, when to slowly reel it in and when to yank it like there is a Florida Marlin on the other end fighting for dear life.

Then there is female puberty kicking in with my daughter. Coming in from all sides that you feel like a lone space fighter being attacked by tiny hormonal Cylon space fighters coming from everywhere! Not a pretty picture. My son just completed his O-levels which is similar to high school finals and he now stands at a crossroad of what to do with his life. As a Chindian parent, which means we have the strongest education genes in the universe, college is a must. However, I am open enough to accept Chindian gut wrenching fact that he won't be a doctor, lawyer or engineer or accountant. I mean it took tons of morphine and valium to stop me from ripping his spleen out so that he will have to take up medicine to cure himself and law to sue me.

So as he sleeps until 2pm everyday and wakes up watching Anime (let's come back to that, what the hell is up with this Anime crap??), I am left wondering if he has any blinking idea of the path he wants to take. Scarily it seems there isn't any sense of urgency from his exterior. That would mean there is a plan right? WRONG!! His mind is a blank. IF I had to sell his mind right now, it will fetch a very high price as it's hardly used!! So I will have to figure this out for him but I am trying to figure it out WITH him and not FOR. Wish us luck!!

There is my princess. I took a sabbatical from work to spend some time with her. She is having problems with her school work. She's not doing well (or as well as we expect) and she seems to be exposed to some crazies in school who think that faking suicide is cool and a great way to get attention. Don't get me wrong, I am very sensitive to teens who are genuine depressed or deprived. I'm talking about attention whores who fake it.

Anyway, I got to spend time with her and to understand her more. Hopefully I was able to help and she now understand us a little bit more. She is very bright and has a fantastic sense of humour. She is also musically inclined (oh she took up drums! How cool is that!). She, however, is painfully shy and has the attention span of a gnat when it comes to books. It's like "Ok, this math problem needs you to look at the diameter of the circle and HEY I remember One Direction having a song about that! Let me turn on YouTube."

Yeah she's really into One Direction, Taylor Swift and some other teeny boppers. She just started her Anime phase though. I am hoping to curb it before it becomes terminal.

So that's us these past few years. WE have taken trips to China, Korea, Europe (Paris, London, Italy) and Japan. I will share some insights to all about that. So until next round.....Have a great 2015, God Bless and take care.