Bali 18/6-21/6 The Day Tour

I mentioned earlier that this package that we took was a half board package. It means that there would be a limited guided day tour.

The whole of the second day up till and including dinner, we were being shown around the place by a local guide. I think his name was Wyatt.

The first place we went to was to see this Barum and Kris Dance. This is a traditional Balinese play by very skillful female dancers and exceedingly boring male dancers. The females executed pleasant praying mantis' movements while the men moved around like buffaloes.

All in all, the whole thing was pretty boring and I think they (the performers) know it. You see, in the end, they threw in some comedy. One of the men came out with a kris jutting out of his belt like some erected thing and he moved his hips forward and up repeatedly with a silly grin on his face all the time. They also have this tail of a monkey being pulled to the front in between the legs to ... you know.

Yeah, this cultural show was almost a complete waste of time.

























Next we went to some volcano place where you have a restaurant to have lunch in and a view for tourists to take pictures. I think Wyatt mentioned that the volcano first erupted in 1924 and last spew lava in 1964 or something.

















Next, we went to a temple. This temple seemed really old and was completely deserted. I couldn't think of a single reason why we should be here at all. I looked at the guide and he looked like he has absolutely no idea too. Or maybe he has absolutely no interest to enlighten us.

We took some pictures as well.

What do you expect us to do?

Then the guide said he wanted to take us back to the hotel and we should be having our own dinner.

I looked at the itinerary again and I told him that there was supposed to be a visit to some monkey place and dinner was provided.

He screwed up his face looking really surprised and started to call his office. I was impressed with his acting skill, no doubt.

We did not get to go to this monkey place but he took us to a crap art gallery where there were plentiful paintings. The women in the paintings have quite some pronounced breasts. Then we began to notice that everybody has breasts. The men, the children and even Buddha display them prominently in the paintings.

We went for dinner in a Chinese restaurant before we managed to finally get rid of our guide, Wyatt.

The sad news then was that we knew we still have to see him again when he comes to pick us up to go to the airport on the last day.

For your information, cats seemed to be really scarce in Bali. Me and Jeremy Cheong managed to spot only one while Jeradyne spotted two.

Dogs were all over the place.

Flu A (H1N1) - Good Advice from a Singaporean

This source is from Jullie Chin.

Here in this video, you will find very good advice from a Singaporean. Please listen carefully to the wise words.

Bali 18/6-21/6 The Hotel

Hard Rock Hotel, Bali has just got to be the most awesome hotel ever. In the world. In my opinion.


I was kept impressed for at least 48 hours. Everything I saw, heard, and touched impressed me.

Instead of the big lobby that you normally experience walking into a hotel, here is the CentreStage. The watering hole where you drink and party away. Passersby, choosing not to walk in, can enjoy the show watching from the extremely wide entrance without buying drinks. Absolutely free of charge.

In the middle of this huge club with an extremely high ceiling is the large island bar. In the middle of this bar is the elevated stage. 10 feet high! Singers can climb down onto the bar to dance and they frequently do.

Your welcome drink comes in the form of a ticket of which you can exchange for a beer later in the evening when you drink and party away in the CentreStage.

Their reception area is small and informal. Just two medium length counters labelled Reception and Guest Relations. Here was where I got impressed again. The staff are all courteous, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Ask them anything. Information, check-in, check-out, change room, taxi service, outside dinning options, shopping possibilities etc.

All of them can help you out. They have no work specializations. All of them can help in all areas.

And almost all of them are good looking!

You have rock celebrities pictures and memorabilia everywhere you look. Past and living legends.

Slash, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bono, John Bonham, Eric Clapton, Sting, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Kurt Corbain and much more.

Our two adjoining rooms featured Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.

The rooms are clean, tidy and practical. The television set is angled so that you can view lying down on the bed. The bathroom has a metal pole besides the toilet seat for support and house the toilet paper. Anyway something for you to hold on to when you do your stuff.

Nobody need rush for seats at the breakfast buffet. They seat you.

They have a really large free form swimming pool. You can find a sand island in the middle with the surrounding bottom of the pool consisting of sand. Awesome!

There are also many cabanas by the pool that you can rent. The concept is to sleep in your room at night and choose to sleep and relax in a rented cabana in the day.

And yes, you get a free one hour body massage at the spa with a choice of 3 types of oil.

If you think you can sing rock songs; you can make your own CDs right here at the hotel. There will be a fee of course. They too have their own radio station with a wide expanse of glass that you can look in to see the DJs in action.

Just so you know, the Hard Rock Cafe is a separate entity besides the hotel.

I understand now, you have a Hard Rock Hotel in Penang. Wonder how is it.

Michael Jackson Dies

Michael Jackson died early this morning.

Michael Jackson was a genius.

I do not know too much about Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. But Michael Jackson; I grew up listening to his music. (as well as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin etc.).

Michael Jackson was a genius.

One can see his music evolved over the years. His dance styles were unique in a sense that if done exactly by a different person, it would come out differently. As an example, Usher can do whatever Michael Jackson can do. However, it seems different; certainly not with the flair that only Michael Jackson can pull off.

As another example, nobody can execute moves exactly like Bruce Lee. Nobody else has that attitude.

Michael Jackson has made some choices which did not turn out so well. Doesn't everybody?

I will always remember him.

Michael Jackson was a genius.

His Thriller studio album is the best-selling album of all time. The album was released on November 30, 1982.

May he rest in peace.

Chill Out Fridays@3rd Mile Square-Number Two

So it is happening again tomorrow. This would be the 2nd time. I was there the 1st time and I think the atmosphere was great.

Sitting arrangement is alfresco. This is quite pleasant. They cordoned off the place for you so that you will not have any cars driving pass you 2 feet away. Just pray that it won't rain.

CanonMalaysian Pauline Wong would be there for sure.

Bali 18/6-21/6 The Journey

We booked our package via a franchisee of Reliance Travels quite near my home in Entrepreneurs' Park.

The price for the first 3 pax was RM1229.00 per and the fourth one was RM210.00 more. The 1st 3 were three weeks in advance and the fourth one 3 days. This program was a half board package.

We flew off via Qatar Airways.

Everybody has heard of Qatar. But where is this place really.

Qatar is an Arab emirate in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise the Persian Gulf surrounds the state. An oil-rich nation, Qatar has the second highest GDP per capita in the world.

Have you seen an airline boarding pass before?

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The plane was a Airbus A300. Movies on board were aplenty. The flight time of just under 3 hours would be comfortably enough for at least one movie.

Recognise Ann Hathaway?














When you are bored, you can look out the window.

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Or fool around with your fingers.

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The airline uniforms were horrendous. They should kill the designer.

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The air stewardesses were nowhere near our Jackie Leow, Noraini Ibrahim and Cindy Wong. The former two joined Canon from Cathay Pacific and Malaysian Airlines and Cindy left us for Singapore Airlines, I think.

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Qatar has a population just shy of 1.7 million people. And the fact that the male:female ratio of 3.5 may have something to do with the quality of their air stewardesses. You see, a large portion of the people in Qatar are expatriates and they are mostly male.

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We too came back by Qatar Airways.

Bali 18/6-21/6 The Beach

Bali is not a small place.

Bali Island is not just bigger than Singapore Island. It is much bigger.

The hotel we stayed in faces the Kuta Beach. This is one of the many beaches where tourists converge.

Early morning on the second day, being an old heck like me and can't sleep much, I went to the beach to looksee. The beach is unobstructed both sides for as far as the eyes can see. Show you? Left side and right side. You can tell that the beach is pretty shady for two reasons.

The beach faces west and these pictures were taken in the morning. There are also quite a few trees on the beach to provide shade for picnickers and vendors.

So, is this a good beach? Well yes and no. This beach is suitable for surfers and non-surfers should go somewhere to fly a kite. This place has very consistent 3 foot waves suitable for yeah, you know. For swimmers, they actually have flags to tell you to yeah, you know. Anyway the sea has quite a bit of stones and it is certainly not pleasant to wade in. The sand was so-so. Not exactly pure white and powdery.

Okay, so if we do not go into the sea, would relaxing by the beach good?

Okay lah. However let me tell you. Do not encourage your boss to go there. There by the beach, you would have to keep saying no to so many vendors. Surfboard rental, surfing lessons, mats rentals, buy hats, buy T-shirts, buy sarong, buy souvenirs, buy drinks, buy food, massage, braid your hair, draw your caricature, manicure, pedicure, paint your nails, and more ..

After saying no so many many times, your boss may come back and out of habit, say no to everything you ask for. Beware!

Anyway, I came back to the beach in the afternoon with some relatives of mine. Here are some pictures. How I envy such good looking people.






















Jeradyne did the mani and pedicure and painted her nails. Using my money of course.

Stanley's Back

I wish I have a photo shot of my back to show you. Stanley's Back. Just like a album cover of Geri Halliwell's Geri's Back. (tried, but can't find the picture.)

Just came back very early this morning from a few days away in Bali Island. It may come as a surprise to you but I really do have got quite a lot of work to catch up on. I have not even had the chance to look at the last few days' news. You can't called them news anymore, can you?

And yes, like Wong Choon Heng said, Nadal is not competing for the Wimbledon Trophy in view of injury. Damned!

Will update when able.
















Levy Li Su Lin was our last year's Ms Malaysia Universe 2008.

A Hiatus not amounting to a Sabbatical

Definitions of hiatus on the Web:
suspension: an interruption in the intensity or amount of something
a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)

A sabbatical year is a prolonged hiatus, typically one year, in the career of an otherwise successful individual taken in order to fulfill some dream, e.g. writing a book or travelling extensively.

So I will be taking a hiatus.

I will be away on a short holiday and shall try my best to be away from any computer and any Internet connection.

I know some of you will miss me and some hope that I won't come back. I shall endeavour to disappoint the latter and reconnect with the former by early next week.

See you later, alligator.

Don't forget your toilet paper.

How about some pictures of 23 year old Megan Fox for you guys to drool over.