Going Home (03-Dec-08)

The moment saying goodbye to colleagues was quite hard. The ladies cried too much… was contagious… my eyes were drenched too.

Back home, finally… the trip from Kyustendil till I arrived at home consumed 26 hrs… tiring.

The flight from Kyustendil to Frankfurt was fine. 2 Bulgarian seamen besides me had their mini fiesta on this 2.5 hr journey. They played music with their mobile phone and drained their half liter whiskey bought from the duty free shop (they ignored the warning given by the stewardess).

The flight from Frankfurt to Singapore was a disaster. Lufthansa was using the aging Boeing 747-400 for this 11.5 hr long flight. I was given the seat on the last row, which was against the wall and cannot be reclined. I had to sit straight up through out the journey. Worse there was no screen (entertainment) in front of me (unlike the Boeing 777 or the new Airbus 340), boring! And the flight was packed!!! I won’t choose Lufthansa for this route in future.

Birthday

Wow… this year I received many birthday greetings from family, friends and colleagues… no one could guess my age right except my secretary – she ordered a cake with writing on it reads “Happy 28th Birthday”.

Reputable Lufthansa

My flight back home on Wed is scheduled to have a stopover at Bangkok. Worrying the prolonged siege of Suvarnabhumi Airport would change the schedule, I asked my colleague to inquire further info from Lufthansa.

Surprisingly, the feedback was Lufthansa would divert the route to Phuket Island (Thailand) and assume no further responsibility to send me to the final destination Kuala Lumpur. They offer to reimburse my air-ticket if I’m not satisfied with this arrangement. What the heck’s this reply? It doesn’t sound like the reputable airline that I’m familiar with.

Probably I will change my flight to Singapore and purchase an additional ticket to Kuala Lumpur. This would be not so fine… because I have to collect my luggage and re-check-in again, and to pay overweight AGAIN!

In fact, the logo of Lufthansa has already given the hint “There’s no better way to fly.”

Mumbai

BBC live broadcast of this terror attack occupied most of the airing time since yesterday night.

Just recall my short stay in Mumbai in Jan-06. The city has not much to offer to the tourists. The hostel where I was staying was just a stone’s throw from this landmark Taj Mahal Hotel (which was targeted in this attack). Offering the panoramic views of Arabian Sea and the Gateway Of India, the hotel was apparently frequented by the riches and elites. Elegantly dressed guests hopping in and out from the big luxurious cars, world famous fashion brand like LV and Gucci have their products displayed on the windows…

A few km away, the Chowpatty beach is lively at night. Locals spend their leisure evening strolling along the beach. The water is seriously polluted (but no awful stink), swimming is not recommended. A small food court to serve some snacks, a mini manually operated London Eye (ferries wheel) to cheer the kids, vendors are selling tea, groundnuts, corns… people is just satisfied to enjoy a serene evening hangout.

(manually operated ferries wheel)

On my way back to the hotel, an uniformed young man tried to strike a conversation with me. He managed only a few English words. Only I knew that he was asking me to snap a photo of him with my digital camera (such case happened quite common in India, especially in the rural area), with the beautiful night view as background. Technically it was not easy in the night time, to please him, I snapped one (of course no background can be seen).

Not far away… some homeless people were preparing their sleep on the bench, under the chilly starry nights… not only old folks, kids too… shivering. What an eye-sore in the city, and the Taj Mahal Hotel was just like a complete different world.

The grand Victoria Railway Station buidling was huge… I had never seen a public toilet with so many urinals. The sea of passengers flooded every corner. Somehow there was lacking of discipline and control in this railway station. Very often the overloaded wagons force some passengers hanging outside of the trains. For the convenience to the foreigners, we were allowed to enter the railway station before the office opening hour, and foreigners were allocated separate windows to buy train ticket. This saved lots of hassle to queue up with the locals.

Thailand Political Unrest (again…)

Ever since the Thai people succeeded to topple their Ex-Prime Minister Thaksin from the office, Thai people seemed to gain good experience in organizing massive protest. They are calling for a change, crying foul of corrupted politics… The unstable political situation has shaken foreign investors’ confidence.

After the successful temporarily occupying Government House some months ago, the opposition party is launching another wave of protest and besieging the Parliament and the airport. This morning news said Bangkok Airport is closed, and all flight schedules are cancelled. I hope it won’t affect my flight back home next week because it is scheduled to stop over in Bangkok before en-routing to Kuala Lumpur.

Yoga Ban

A top Islamic cleric in Malaysia said may ban yoga for Malaysian Muslims, saying the practice is engaging “Hindu religious elements” during exercise which is contradicting Islam and eroding their Islamic faith. Obviously they have no clue at all what is yoga, but somehow relates this exercise which is nothing more than a physical healthy pursuit to the religion threat.

How I Wish…

Came to Skopje last Friday, I don’t want to, but I have to leave Bulgaria for a few days due to the expiry of my working permit. I stay in a small family-run hotel (I always oppose to spend >EUR100 for a night in a 5-star hotel, even though on company cost), my room is <20m2,>

C’est la vie

The main construction works of this project have been completed now, our office starts retrenching manpower. 2 colleagues have left this week, a few more will follow, including me (within the next 3 weeks). Office is getting roomier gradually. A mix feeling of joy (going home), sadness (goodbye to colleagues) and uncertainty (next job) is emerging in the office. That’s the nature of our freelance contract – job’s done, bye bye with a handshake from the employer “Thanks for your works, we appreciate your efforts!”

Racial Issue

Extracted from Malaysiakini, showing the protest of some racial fanatic against the nomination of a Chinese woman as the head of a state institution linked to the economic management and development of the state of Selangor, the PKNS, of which the post has been traditionally assigned to Malay.

Congo Unrest + Rwanda

The plight of tens of thousands refugees fled eastern Congo has concerned me a bit… traced back to the Rwandan Genocide incident in 1994 when mass killing of Rwanda's Tutsis by Hutu militia. This unrest has provoked the tense between these 2 tribes again. Recently we are discussing about the project in Rwanda. I was told Rwanda is like Switzerland in Africa, in which aspect I have no idea. If the unrest is worsening I really have to think twice to work there, though I wish to see gorilla and visit the nearby Serengati (Tanzania).

Wider Spread

For the first time the Chinese government acknowledged the abuse of Melamine is found infiltrated into wider sectors, mainly on the animal feeds. Eggs are found contaminated, chicken too of course, fish and pig and all poultries are highly risked. What should we eat then? Turn to vegetarian? Worried about overdosed pesticide? What about genetic modified crops?

US Presidential Election

A big show. Both candidates have been campaigning months, traveling to almost every state, giving speeches repeatedly, debating opponent’s policy… the whole campaign is consuming billion of dollars. This election aptly boosts the weak economy in the US amid of financial crisis. I didn’t pay attention on what they have promised… I think Obama will win. Do you observe that when McCain is giving speech, he likes to stamp the podium with his fists?

Youngest F1 Champion

The nail biting F1 race in Brazil was trully entertaining. The last 2 rounds had almost sunk my heart when Vettel surpassed and pushed Hamilton to the 6th position, which he would barely lost his driver champion crown to Massa. Fantastic, at the last corner of the last round, Hamilton managed to overtake Glock in a split second, this clip was not clear on the live telecast. Ferrari team was jumping wild and screaming loud, the frame suddenly turned quiet when the screen showed Hamilton was back to 5th position again which granted him just additional 1 point to claim the driver champion title. Yahoo!!! The atmosphere of disappointment immediately enveloped the Ferrari camp… I keep laughing till now…

Losing Confidence

Was a little disappointed that the pressure from the opposition party is diminishing lately to exert greater pressure to the government.

The outcry to overthrow the incumbent government has forced the present Prime Minister to announce his stepping down in the next election, and his successor would be the present Deputy Prime Minister, Najib, if nothing goes wrong.

The recent statement of Najib has placed his political stand is parallel with the main opposition party leader Anwar, of which they both announce the present advantages enjoyed by the Malay and the New Economy Policy which is said harboring the cronies of the politicians have to be liberated gradually.

Najib’s announcement has been deciphered in mixed reviews. Some said his action is governed by expediency, to save the losing votes and halt the threat from Anwar in this very moment. While the optimistic comment is that Najib has foreseen the urgency to integrate the citizens of all races. The 2nd comment definitely won’t please the fanatic groups. Personally I don’t believe this idea would be realized too, considering the present political structure is more racial orientated rather than the benefit of the country.

The delayed action of Anwar to oust the government has granted the ruling party sufficient time to re-position themselves and exert different strategies to counter the attacks, it has also shaken the confidence and faith of the middle voters.

Formula 1 – Superb Ideas!

I’m not a big fan of Formula 1, but just enjoy the crowd when making jokes with colleagues. There is not a team or driver I like particularly. Since most of the people support Ferrari and Schumi (ok, he has retired), naturally I have to support the opponent to demise the red team spirit. Good that Hamilton (McLaren team) is leading by 7 points on the driver championship now.

I couldn’t figure out how F1 hypnotize the diehard. It’s not a sport in my opinion, just a driving race circling the circuit for 50ish rounds. I do agree the drivers need extreme high concentration… what else? The same title and function, the F1 driver could earn astronomical figure, while the ordinary taxi and bus drivers are making pitiful.

After watching Malaysia has the first F1 circuit in South East Asia, of course Singapore “must” also have one with a good idea of night race. I felt like being cheated by Singapore F1 organizer. Why? They advertise “night race”, I was expecting the race should be run in pitch black environment… that would be damn exciting! In fact the street race was brightened up like day time.

I wish any Africa country would organize a safari race in future… imagine a school of elephants cross the track, the cheetah or leopard jumping out suddenly biting off the hands, chasing by the raged buffaloes… hmm… exciting… more exciting than rollercoaster.

Tabloid

On 04-Oct-08, we arranged a gathering for all of our staffs in a local restaurant. It was fun… of course after some drinks it was getting wilder… Unexpectedly a journalist from local tabloid came in and made a short brief interview. This is the report…


(Translation)

The team of Mr.Hans-Dieter Spiegel from company SAG chose to chill out at Pizzeria “Bordeaux”. The representatives of the management personnel who are coming from different places all over the world were noisy and happy and they have proved that who can work hard also can have a glorious fun.

Teoh from Malaysia was the attraction of the party with the complicated steps and movements on the dance floor. For him they say that he is the brain of the German company. He is not married and he is looking for a Kyustendil girl who will fascinate his tender soul.

Bart from Scotland in a distinguished way gentlemanly made advances to the female attendance of the table.

The owner of the elite restaurant Emiliyan Angelov was looking for the comfort of his elite guests in a skilfull and professional way.

USD 700bn Rescue Plan

So excited to watch the live telecast of the US House of Representatives voting on the USD 700bn financial rescue plan to the ailing financial sector. Apparently the proposal didn’t convince 1/3 of the congressmen. Somehow the majority has the opinion that measures have to be taken to cease the deteriorating US economy, which threatening globally.

Guess the published economy statistics this week have deepened the worries of some congressmen. Dropping of payrolls, home sales continue diving, climbing of unemployment etc have definitely persuaded some voters shifting their stands.

In fact no one could tell if this astronomical figure is sufficient to revive the teetering economy. I was expecting the US share market would leap high immediately when the news announced. It wasn’t, but pointing downwards? I couldn’t understand why.

Personally I doubt this decision would improve the status quo, I do think it would ease the breath of financial institutes. But how long would the effect last? The speculators would be please to learn that fresh capital to be injected into the market and it’s a great opportunity to gain fast money again.

What I hope is… the share market would stabilize to save my investment.

Where Is Your Conscience?

Have been observing the tainted milk case in China. The Melamine which has been detected and “known” in the production and to the authorities surprisingly was not curbed in the very early stage. What a shit bureaucratic and corrupted system. The head of the Chinese agency that monitors food and product safety has resigned amid the scandal. Does it help?

This case certainly tarnishes the image of China food products, “unsafe” and “poor” will be labeled. To the people add this Melamine into the milk, where is your conscience?

Photos Uploaded - Hungary

Photos of Hungary trip are available in my Travelogue.

Damn Lehman & AIG

The recent financial storms are staggering… Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy, the turnabout rescue of AIG by the Fed, the merger of Lloyds and HBOS, Russia stock market shut for 3 days after plunge, Morgan Stanley is in talks to sell part of its stakes… any one of these news would have shattered the financial industry in the normal days, but they all happened concurrently within a week.

To prevent the disastrous financial turmoil worsening, US swiftly introduce measures to rescue the teetering global markets, with Central banks inject huge capital to reinstate the confidence of the investors. Major share markets bounced back today, how long would it last? If the root problems are not tackled, the effect would fade soon.

The present financial system has to be monitored and controlled, short selling should be curbed. The share market is not a safe heaven for investment, but a huge gambling pool instead.

Damn Lehman & AIG… made me lost in my investment!

Spirit

I came back to the hostel (in Budapest) late night on Friday, met 3 Norwegian young men in the same dorm. Seriously they asked if I felt safe in this hostel, I replied absolutely yes. “No no no… I don’t mean security… I mean if you observe any spirit in this grungy building.” They showed me a photo taken in the room, with 1 suspicious blurry white spot on it, apparently that was no mirror reflection. Anxiously they explained acc’ to the Norwegian folklores, the white spot indicated spirit was present while the photo was taken… They were disturbed… grrr…arrhh….

To pacify their concern, I convinced them I had never heard of such case in the hostel. Acc’ to the Chinese folklores, the spirit would avoid naked body. I suggested they should sleep in nude to scare off the uninvited. But I didn’t tell them what if the spirit was a gay?? They end up went out for weekend happy hour and returned the next morning.

I like these 3 guys… so funny and friendly.

Hungary - Bits and Pieces

Have just returned from Hungary 1 week trip yesterday. Probably I had visited Prague and Rome earlier and over expected the same from Budapest, I was slightly disappointed instead. I don’t mean Budapest is not interesting, the city is just lacking of monuments or structures or tourist spots that could drop my jaw.

Budapest was a combination of once 3 towns (Buda, Obuda and Pest) till 1873.

Budapest boasts the 1st underground on the Europe Continent. The Metro wagons are though not new, but absolutely efficient, so as the other public transportation means.

I was staying in the tourist area 1 block away from Danube River, of course most of the restaurants and souvenirs were over pricing, easily EUR 15 for a simple meal. Some distance away less touristy, a meal between EUR 5-8 could be dealt. I really missed the goulash soup!

As usual, gypsy was not welcomed by the Hungarians, the same comments I heard from Bulgarians.

The radio stations were suck. Boring music!

Some huge shopping malls to fulfill shopaholic, it seemed to be always crowded. The sales was going on and I bought 2 shirts, 2 shorts and a pair to shoes with great discount! I wanted to buy more but I know my knapsack could fit in no more.

I bought some salami from the market near to the hostel. Later on I found the same salami at Tesco for almost ½ price! The money is 1 thing, but I didn’t like the feeling to be slaughtered!

People are so friendly, especially in the scenic town Pecs. I loved their smiles.

Waiting For A Change

The return of Anwar to the politics on 26-Aug-08 and becoming the leader of the opposition coalition (People’s Justice Party) has granted him a step forward to topple the incumbent government. While the ruling party (mainly UMNO) is nervously holding their seats tight, the Prime Minister still couldn’t control his dogs giving racist talk publicly of which dangerously humiliating the Chinese ethnic and destabilizing the social integrity. It definitely aggravates more hatred to the government!

Anwar vows to seize power on 16-Sep, 2 weeks from now. Most likely the PM won’t hand over the power easily, reckon he would dissolve the parliament and push for another election again (last election was 08-Mar-08). This option will be both time consuming and costly, of course eventually paid by the civilians’ tax.

I’m waiting for a change… to better or worse, no one could tell, but at least the government has to understand the meaning of democracy.

Amy Winehouse - The Ska Ep

Oh no... Amy jumps into Raggae. Well, the songs are not bad but Raggae music is not my taste. I can't play it while working. The beat is disrupting my concentration.

Recently

Virus Attack
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My notebook was again attacked by virus since last Friday. Spent the whole weekend to try rescuing my data, was so mad because I couldn’t watch Olympic volleyball final matches on Saturday. Grrrr…. I believe there is still a virus hiding well like Bin Laden, and execute Taliban ambush occasionally.

Olympics Closing Ceremony
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Spectacular! The performances were excellent (except the singing session). Was interesting to note the 8 minutes performance of the next Olympics host – London, emphasizing the urban life of metropolitan. The modern dancing was a stark contrast to the cultural theme of China. But, why Leona Lewis? David Beckham is still the iconic sportsman of UK, luckily Victoria was not present.

Travelling
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I prefer backpacking.
My ex-colleague opted biking around the world for 6 years.
The new project intern hiked all the way from Germany to Spain.
No matter how… travelling is fun! Can’t wait to go to Hungary next Friday!

Gelato
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Sis told me that she prepared some gelato for a country club, particularly served for Malaysia Prime Minister on flight some days ago. She just sent me an overjoyed message that the club said the PM was impressed and wanted to see her. Regardless how true it is, she is encouraged.

Next Project
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This is the latest hot topic in the office, Manager has started planning the infrastructure for this new project in Rwanda though he is not officially assigned yet. In fact, the whole organization in head office is not clear - who would be the boss? who would be recruited? material transportation? infrastructure etc.? I have not committed myself to Rwanda, at least not now. Would like to take a rest and settle some personal matters before starting next project.

Visa To Hungary

Am planning to visit Budapest early next month. Learned from the unpleasant experience being rejected on-board during the last trip to Italy, this time I want to be sure of I won't encounter the same problem.

Yesterday, I was right, the instinct response of the Hungarian Embassy (in Sofia) officer insisted I do need a visa to visit the country, of course without checking his data. After explaining to him Malaysian passport is valid to any EU country without visa for 90 days (as stated on Hungarian government webpage), he asked to call him the next day to confirm the same.

This morning my colleague contacted him again, he admitted no visa is required.

Where is the professionalism? Tired with such attitude!

Olympics Events

Upset… the best hope of Malaysia in badminton men's singles game failed to snatch gold medal. Well, silver is by far the best in our history.

Why swimming event is contributing so many (34) medals? 100m and 400m are fine, why do they need 50m and 200m? Most of the contestants in the 3 shorter distance categories are similar. Maybe FINA will develop 4x50m relay, 150m, 250m… in future to increase gold medal counts of traditional swimming empires.

The basketball games with NBA are interesting. Great shows of slam dunk. I Love This Game!

Jamaica clean swept both men's and women's 100m dash, defeated entirely and severely shook the USA.

Some games' rules are unfair to the athletes. Minor accident/ mistake during execution is like a death penalty, no chance to save the mistake. For instance gymnastics artistic – vault, the average score of 2 trials is counted. But on track & field, hammer throw, triple jump, shot put… are given several trials and the best score is taken.

Swimming events so far have contributed the most world records. Swimmers claimed the Speedo LZR swimsuit made the trick, which was termed by CNN as 'technological doping'. I believe the advance "biological doping" plays greater role.

'Conversion to Islam' Forum

The Bar Council of Malaysia has decided to hold the forum 'Conversion to Islam' despite encountering strong opposition from the ruling government and Islamic organizations. The objective of the forum is to discuss the religion Islam and its status in accordance with Federal Constitution, for instance the conflict between the federal and Syariah court.

An angry crowd of 300 Muslim protestors gathered outside Bar Council headquarter demanding that the lawyers group halt its controversial forum, condemning it is destroying the social harmony and 'challenging' Islam status in the country.

On one hand the Prime Minister recently urged to hold more dialogues to encourage harmony interaction among the different racial and religious communities, on the other hand the Deputy Prime Minister himself expressed his "worry" that this forum might ignite misunderstanding, anger and tension in our society.

Malaysians have been keeping silence so far, not because we are tolerant, but it is forbidden to discuss such sensitive issue in the public. The politicians make use of this 'advantage' to threaten and suppress the others. The relevant issues are getting more and more complicated, but no one is able to untie the knot. How could we achieve greater integrity if we couldn't understand and treat with equal fairness to each other?

Olympic 2008 Opening Ceremony

I skipped from my working desk at 3pm local time to watch the highly anticipating Olympic 2008 Opening Ceremony. The live broadcast has 2 narrators speaking in Bulgarian unceasingly from the beginning till the end (gosshh… they showed no sign of tiredness). Their voices shadowed the actual scene, the music and the cheers on the background were vague, I couldn't feel the atmosphere!

The show was no doubt high quality, but it doesn’t mean really entertaining. History and the cultures were the topic of the show, was a little bit "heavy". Other than the spectacular 2008 drums beating, rest of the programs are kind of lacking of upbeat rhythm (possibly because I couldn't hear the music clearly).

Each performance involved lots of people, far too many in my opinion. All performers were just an ant size in this huge stadium. I was expecting some sort of gigantic features parade with clean swift simple choreograph instead.

The Appeal – John Grisham

Just finished reading this latest novel - The Appeal - of John Grisham. It is boring instead, no climax and he simply wants to deliver the message that judiciary is influenced by politics and business. No unexpected plot, the introduction of the book tells the whole story.