solo trip....

I had a solo trip back to the homeland after my daring trip in CNY. Ving had suggested I pay my parent a visit as we did not visit them during the CNY. Both of us agreed that we need to show Xian and Yun what filial is – one of act was to please your parents….

I had arranged a 6 days leave for the trip. I had booked a fly thru flight from KHH to JHB ( the fly thru was available after my parent booked the non-connecting route last year).

The departure was smooth until I arrived at KLIA2. There is not much information about the fly thru procedure. After I departed from gate, I had followed the sign board and arrive at the transit area. It was a long march…and nothing to stop by to waste any time(which I wanted to do so as the transit time was 2 hrs).
The transit area consists of a baggage check security counter and immigration counter.

I got passed the area without difficulty and headed to the gate. Well, it was as simple as it should be….2 food joints were located at the pier and the food did not catch my attention.

The departure was delayed but yet still arrived at Senai airport on time….

My parents were waiting for me at the arrival hall. My dad health deteriorated over this few years after the stroke episode. I was happy to see him moving around freely.

We stopped by a mamak stall near my brother house for a late dinner. The nasi lemak was so so but yet it was great for an old hag like me who had been too far away from home….

Overall it was a good start, I had a good rest on board, viewed a few episode of “midnight canteen” on Netflix(pre-download ofcoz” during the flight. The in-flight mee goreng which I ordered was substandard. But able to reach the land of spilling blood again felt really good….

when the birthday present is not only an item.....

It is easy when your kids want something, a book, a toy and even a mobile phone. As a father, you just need to reach for your wallet and volla...

After many years of easy give and take, things had gone a little complicated during Xian’s recent birthday…

During a dinner season, Xian had told us that he envies those who build his own computer and he would like to learn the skill and do so in the future. Ving however had told him that he doesn’t have to wait; there is someone in this house who can teach him to do so. Xian had shown an astonishing look and told me that he wanted to build his own computer as a birthday present.

I picked up the skill during my college days but I had opted to buy built up unit later when I returned for my training. As I figured the training might be quite hectic and I would have no time for gaming. I had acquired 2 units in the past 10 years and all of them had failed recent 2 years

Xian's request had pushed me to the difficult part, to build and not to buy….

Well, he had actually wanted something more than a simple desktop. He wanted something that can powered 3 monitors – inspired by the scene in Rogue Nation where Benji played Halo at work….

So we are not talking about an entry level i3 with all in one mother board; it is something at the high end with i7 and GTX10x0.

Well, I had started to read up since then. There was a lot to learn from even though the concept did not change but lots of technical details were updated since then. Over clocking was definitely out of my plan as it requires a good liquid cooling system and the risk of leaking would haunt me everyday. I had some struggle making up the list. Some decisions were easily made and some were not. But the principle was to get components sub par to the best in the market.

After our trip from Malaysia, I had a discussion with Xian again and he had shown determination to build his own unit. I had caught a window between my shifts few days prior to his birthday to do the shopping round. I visited a whole-seller in Kaohsiung and grabbed everything on the list.

During the purchase session, I had asked Xian again “Why don’t we let the seller to help us to assemble the unit, after all it is free of charge”

Well, he had firmly told that he wanted to proceed with our plan.

Handling a few hundred RM component is one thing, assembling a few 1+K RM components together is another story. Anything could happen and I just can’t bear to think about it...

The assembling process was complicated. The casing was mATX and the mother board I bought was ATX; we had to wait for one more day for the replacement. It took us 3 nights to get the mother board LED light to turn on. A further 3 more days to get all three monitor working in surround mode.

Xian did most of the assembled job under my instruction, minus the insertion of CPU and graphic card of course (you should see me shake while inserting both of the devices).

Triple monitor with surround mode is a something new to Xian and me. Not many games support the mode but yet it is an extraordinary experience.

The triple monitor setup requires a table with decent depth to unable a good view; thence I had modified my working desk by adding a keyboard drawer. It extended my desk depth for about 30cm.

While Xian is roving in the world of watchdog2 (Which gave me a severe vertigo even watching him played).; I had added a thrustmaster hotas x and rudder to my gadgets recent few days.

I did a night airfield traffic pattern flight at Kaohsiung airport on FSX today morning prior to my shift and it was amazing…

It was truly an adventure for me; without Xian request and enthusiasm, I would not have the motivation to perform such task.   

Thanz to the birthday boy...

2017CNY trip - the return

D9 was the most challenging day; I would need to drive from Batu Ferringi to Bayan Lepas airport. I would have to pass through the Bayan Lepas industrial area during rush hour. 2 routes were available – the balik pulau route and the Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah route. I had tried out the Balik Pulau curvy mountain route and considered it as more risky to drive early in the morning. I decided to do an early start and go through the Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah route. Everything was smooth until I took a wrong turn at a junction along Jalan Macalister; I had stumbled myself into a route near an Indian temple. The next day was Thaipusam and the route was filled with followers. It took me a good 20min to make a U-turn back to the main road.  

I was lucky to make it to Bayan Lepas Airport and made the key drop for the Innova in time.

The flight back to KLIA2 was smooth however I had had a hard time picking up the car. The staff had messed up with the booking and it took us a good 1hr before we hit the road. We took a quick tour around Putrajaya and we later proceeded to the local church at the Jalan Air Panas. The local church there had kept a very very low profile to avoid unnecessary attention from the locals.

We managed to get back to Klang before the rush hour and had a “luxurious” dinner at a restaurant located in Klang Parade.

I had my second Yu Shang dish. Yu Shang was one of my favorite dishes in the past, however the taste had changed. I still remembered during those old days, a master chef would be responsible for the preparation and there was always a red and green packet of spice in the dish. Nowadays, you can get a pack of Yu Shang from the supermarket and DIY in the house. 

I was a little worn off after the dinner….while Ving and my friends preparing for the final packing that night, I had thanked the great one to allow me to execute this daring journey without any major mistake.

We had left my brother in law’s house at 5am and reached KLIA2 before 6…the rest of the flight was unremarkable….

2017CNY trip D7,8 - Penang

I would do whatever to avoid hotel breakfast whenever I travel back to Malaysia. I would rather tried BKT and whatever noodle outside rather than the standard continental breakfast plus nasi lemak. Well, on D7, we had our only hotel breakfast. Simple 3 star hotel breakfast, toast bread, fried bee hoon, fried egg… Nothing to shout but yet a nice one.

We reached the airport 2 hour before the take off. We did our last minute pepper buying tour. GSW had told me that the white pepper is produced by soaking ripen pepper in water until the skin break up(another words is until it is rotten). So he recommended black pepper over white pepper.

The flight was on scheduled and we reached Penang at 11am. I checked out and get our car from rental. After a few meal of food court, we decided to try out some restaurant food. I found a Chinese restaurant near Bayan Lepas. The food was up to the standard. The lady owner had recommended that we took the balik pulau road to enjoy another kind of view. I followed her advice and we had a great view of Teluk Bahang Dam. We stopped over the Batik factory and grabbed some load.

We reached Holiday Inn Batu Ferringi at about 3:30pm. We were given an upgrade by the hotel, instead of the crossing the road Ferringi wing, we were given room at the main building. The environment was great with the beach and lobby.

When the sunset, we had driven to the town for dinner. Penang had changed a lot and most of the major road had become one way. Komtar was no longer the highest building around Penang. Lots of Condos were being built and the price is fairly expensive.

After dinner at the new lane food court, we had stopped by the local shop for some shopping. There was a durian seller nearby the food court and Ving decided to try out the Musang King….Well, a hole in my pocket but still worth every penny; it would be a memorable taste that would last for a long time. (we did it once many years ago; my bro-in law, took me to a roundabout around PJ ..)

I had a dipped in the sea and enjoyed a short relax time on the recline chair along the beach side. I wished we had spent more time in the hotel.

We had done a city tour around George town on D8. Penang is indeed a good place to live; it is definite a good place to enjoy retire life.

We visited Penand Hill and stopped by penang road for a batik sweeping round. The chendol is nice but nothing to shout about. A must visit for anyone that like batik as Ving does are the Sams Batik and Asia co.

Both shop were located at the Penang road. The Asia co is manned by a friendly old Chinese couple; batik is local price and the souvenir is cheap as well. They sell traditional batik.

The Sams is an Indian shop and batik price is 1/2 of the Batik factory. Only thing to shout is the parking fee….We had stopped for 1hr 40mins and the fee was RM20….the most expensive I had paid over the last 10 years….

Gurney drive was one of my favorite spot during my childhood; it had changed over the year and the hawker had relocated to the food court…Food was still ok but I missed the feel of walking along the jetty and enjoying the breeze from the sea.

I hit dreamland early as we had to move out early the next day;the hotel staff had told me that it would be rush hour in the morning along the bayan lepas route….

2017CNY - Sri Aman D5,D6

I woke up and found out that all my ip cams were back online. The only explanation was my router in the 3^rd floor had been touched by the great one…

GSW had tugged six of us into his good old UNSER early in the morning. We had stopped by the orang utan rehabilitation center and crocodile farm before we proceed to Sri Aman.

The ride was a pleasant one through the pan-Borneo highway. We had made multiple stop along the way and we reached Sri Aman late in the afternoon.

We had stayed in GSW bungalow. It was a great night with all the sharing and laughing. Both of us share the experience of doing housemanship during the doctor shortage era. Housemen were trained to become all rounded medical officer and later distributed throughout Malaysia. Medical officers were the core for the medical service. The story is different nowadays; 20% of the houseman quit and many of them got extended.  

We had enjoyed a good city tour on D6 and left Sri Aman after the Sunday church gathering. GSW is current the elders for the local church.

We left Sri Aman at 3pm; a church senior had sent us back to Kuching.  

We had put up in the Jinhold Service Apartment which is nearer to the Airport. There is a shop lot nearby with a few food court. We had ordered a load of food from various hawker store...

2017CNY trip - D4 Cat city cont....

D4 was a relaxing day, we had an early start. Breakfast was average; “Kolok Mee”(as is Gan Lao Mian->dried noodle) and Sarawak Laksa. The Laksa was curry base with shrimp as it main ingredient. Indeed the taste was different from what we have in the west.

GSW had taken us to the Sarawak cultural village after the breakfast. The village is well maintained and a good source for understanding the traditional living style of the Sarawakian.

We left at noon and enjoyed a grand seafood meal at a restaurant (Teo Seafood), near the village. Standard Ye Har Hai (Fish, Shrimp, Crab) dishes supplement with drink to you drop coconut juice.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the forest museum and cat museum. During the tour, I had called up CTBO airasia and the staff told me that Xian’s baggage is still in limbo.

The dinner was a memorable one; GSW had taken us to “the.Dyak”; a restaurant famous for Iban’s food. GSW told us that the Jani Kasam pork was actually pork buried under ground for 1 week before it was taken out and made into dishes. The dishes had a particular smell....acceptable but I won't give it a second try...

Luckily tempuyuk was not available at that time (not durian season). the.Dyak is a good restaurant if you ever drop by Kuching.

We had a quick tour at the supermarket next to the imperial hotel and found that food price had gone up significantly compare to 2 years ago.

It was an easy day for me….thanks to GSW and his brother in law, they had given us a good tour around Kuching.

2017CNY trip - D3: Cat City

I got up at 4 and wake up the rest of the team. There was a couple who served in our church that participated in our trip. The trip become complicated as I had to charter a 7-seater rather than a sedan. I managed to get an Innova from Hawk and surprisingly the drive was smooth with acceptable pick-up. We arrived at KLIA in time and there was a 30 minutes window for us to have breakfast at the mamak store around the gate.

The flight was smooth and I grabbed a good nap on the flight. I had pre-informed GSW about my plan of getting passport renewal at Kuching.

GSW is my classmate in medical school. He is a Sarawakian who completed his housemanship in Kuching and proceeded to Sri Aman for his medical officer service. He had later opened his own practice in Sri Aman. His wife is a dentist and they shared the same building for their private practice. I had met him during our graduation anniversary and he had invited all of us to pay him a visit at the calm town of peace. I however decided to be the first to do so….Frankly said, I had never been to Sarawak. It was a good time to do so as GSW promised to give me a good tour.

In the past, the west Malaysian would need a passport to enter Sarawak and nowadays, you just need the IC. However, I was curious when I saw many passengers queuing in front of me at the immigration that taken out their passport. I got my answer when the immigration officer took my IC and started to fill up a form. Those who shown their passport had a more express entry; the officer just scanned it and let them passed. It was like 10 secs vs 3 minutes….

GSW and a serving brother were waiting for us at the exit. He had borrowed a 13-seater minibus from the church to take us around the city. After a quick lunch at the local food shop. We were taken to the local UTC for the passport renewal.

The process was really fast and we got our passport in 40 minutes (not from the time that we paid up, but from the time we entered). Grace from the great one….We proceeded to Sarawak Museum and small city tour before dinner.

We had dinner at a local steak house and enjoyed a good time with some local church members (most of them were GSW relative…).

I had booked a 3-room service apartment at Imperial Hotel. It was a good bargain (those who are interested can search for A-10 Imperial Apartment) for a group of 6. It is well furnished and maintained with 3 room + 3 bathroom. It even had a washing machine.

Everyone was worn off after the 2 days intensive trip. It was a relief for me as I had settled the passport issue. The rest of trip was planned and I don’t ha