My Tomorrow's Globe Trot Country

Tomorrow I will be globetrotting again! YAY!!!!

Guess where? Guess lar! Guess, guess guess..... Heheheheh I'll hint - Angelina Jolie? Lara Croft? Wonders of the World?

Am sooo excited, have everything planned. Sunset quad ride, sunrise at XXX, rest & relax at spa, bargain hunting for knick knacks.... can't wait.

OK! Let's go to bed, it's an early day tomorrow - 7am flight!

TAH TAH!!!

Business Travel is Not Real Travel

Been quiet for a while aren't I? Been sick actually, no mood to do much except reading Facebook or people's blog...so far those I've read are quite entertaining and kept me in sanity check from this annoying flu bug. ARGHH!!!!!

To make matter worst, I have to go to Hong Kong for regional marketing meeting (YUP! Business Travel), I mean... it's no fun when you are in a shopping country on a BUSINESS trip and feeling miserably SICK!!!! What the @&$%!

I didn't manage to get anything for anybody, so; don't go make puppy face and have high hope oh me friend out there. Forget about it! BUT luckily for me, UNIQLO was just next door hence manage to get sis stuff, went to Mongkok and got 2x cheapo cardigan (so that I don't feel bad for not buying anything for moi). And as usual, I bought shampoo - ie 3x 1000ml shampoosss... it's cheap there for the brand I wanted (luggage darn heaving after that man!). Other then that?..... Nothing! Nada! Nope! Zilt! Zero!

Hemm.... ANYWAY, Back to my main topic - business travel. I don't care what other people says, to me it will always remain the same - bosan. Despite business travel oversea is a joy to some people, definitely not to me lorr....
For a few obvious reason:


1. Preparation
Business - meant slide, meeting, presentation, work discussion, measurement, numbers, expectation etc etc etc and the list goes on.
Personal - meant what to wear, weather to adhere, sites to cover, shots to take, food to try, people to meet etc etc etc and your heart will be flattered.

2. Dollars
Business - ALL PAID BY COMPANY! (The fastest way to out on weight too!!!) Personal - budget hostel, budget food, budget shopping.. BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET

3. Packing
Business - suits, suits, suits and more BLACK suits
Personal - colours, colours, colours and rainbows BEAMING.

4. Appearance
Business - full force make-up
Personal - everything goes - no make even better

5. Gadget
Business - Notebook, notepad; all to take note of
Personal - Camera, Sony PSP, iPod, Mini notebook; all for entertainment

6. Responsibility
Business - All must be captured, measurement & reported
Personal - NONE!

7. Mode
Business - Touch & Go!
Personal - Look See, Look See



So, business travel or real travel for you?

My Last Day of The Perfect India Trip

Last Day (1 January 2005). Leaving with heavy heart.

Nothing much to say except...

Perfect Trip with a
Perfect Friend at a
Perfect Country hosted by a
Perfect Family

The Weird, Weirder & Weirdest stupendesthing OF moi in India‏

Day 7 (31 December 2004). TRUST ME! Am capable of doing the weirdest thing.

Few things happened in India to me (It's the whole India experience thingy lar - I guess I got the full and real deal). Almost on and of everything; either we saw something interesting, weird or silly things that we did... whatever it is - the memories (ceh wah..... ) was FANTABULOUS. Or perhaps Grace's company was what makes it happened more weirdly....haahahaha..... strangely, whenever I travel with my other traveling kaki, tak jadi pulak.... it's Grace lar - "Ma'am, Jinx? Hahhaha....."

1st Weird Story

We were in Agra Fort, us both with digital camera (Yeah! Back in those days it was a perk to have such cool gadget), you can imagine the attention we've gotten as I mentioned earlier in my 1st India entry. Sooo... we thought we saw everything already; on technology that is... NOTHING else can amaze and impress us (so we thought lar). TUT! WRONG!!!!! As I was saying, we were taking pic in front of Agra Fort and out of the blue, this local India guy came to us asking whether are we are using digital camera and is it SD card compatible, we said "Err... Yes", still wondering WHY lar...funny right question right?

Then he said "Can I borrow you camera, I want to take pic here at the entrance"

We were like "HUH?!?!?!??!"

He continued "I don't have a camera, but I have an SD card, I will use mine instead"

Us " Err....... oooo....... ahhh.... ok?!?!?"

We took out our SD card, pass the camera to him, he slot in his (at this point we half thought he gonna run away with our camera lar (I mean we wouldn't know what to expect maaah.... - human nature!! Full of ill thoughts!). He snap a few pics and return us the camera. We stared in amazement (ofcozzz!!!), he left us and walk in to the fort, we???? BURST OUT LAUGHING! Like that oso can wan ah....!!!! HAHAHHHAHAHAA...... apa-apa laar....

2nd Weirder Story Morry

As the driver was driving (what else is he suppose to do lar kan), suddenly I SCREAM OUT STOPPPPP!!!! He slam the break (Luckily no car at the back - PHEW!), turn around and asked "WHY? WHAT HAPPEN?".... I said "HP Club" signage on petrol station. I thought it's kinda cute & farrrrnieee (panicked the old driver ofcos - sure bengang punya). I got down and took a pic to show my colleagues that HP ie Hewlett-Packard (where I work) have a petrol station in INDIA (Yeah! For a moment they believed me - FOR A VERY BRIEF MOMENT).

But the driver wouldn't understanding maaah.... right? Hence.... while he was driving, we bumped into another petrol station (NON-HP) and asked whether we want to get down to take some pics, and he asked again for the next one and the next one and the next one - thinking we are into taking pics of petrol station probably. We have difficulty explaining to him ONLY that particular petrol station as it sounded like our company name. He said "oooohhhh... wokey!", seriously doubt he understood us, he probably thinks we weird loh... HAHAHHAHAAA.... but we did laugh every time he stop lar. I ofcos (as usual) got scolding and "chatt" by Grace of my silliness. Heheehhee..... Am Grace's entertainment source.

3rd Weirdest Story Morry Glory

Gosh!!! This is the ultimate weirdest and STUPENDEST thing I did (YET AGAIN! I seriously think the old driver could have gotten a heart attack just by driving me around). We passed by a field of yellow flowers, a really serene beautiful sight... BREATHTAKING. And YES! I again shouted STOP! lar.... not just because it is beautiful but because it is exactly like the scene in my ABSOLUTELY FAVOURITE SHAH RUKH KHAN/KAJOL movie.... Sigh.... a romantic comedy genre (I LOIKE!). Again old driver CONFUSE, hahhahahaha..... poor thing lar. I ran out and insisted Grace took pics of me. Grace asked whether I want to run around the field with my "flowy shawl", I said NO!!!! That would be tooo embarassing (Yeah right!!!). The driver told us that it is mustard field... hemm.... ofcos my camera didn't do it justice lar hence I put my darling SRK & Kajol pic instead.

Oh Yah! The movie? Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride. The movie remains the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema. In February 2010, the film set a record by completing 750 weeks of continuous play in Mumbai theatres. On October 20^th, 2009 the movie completed 15 years of non-stop running. *Proud moment = perasan moment*

We reached New Delhi around 5ish... stop by to do some shopping before heading to uncle's house...

Hyperlink credits : Wikipedia

Great Wall of Jaipur - The India version

Day 6 (30 December 2004). Serious… am not kidding you!

Due to ignorant and lack of googling "expertise" during those "wonder" days, we did not (duh of us!!!) allocate lot more days in Jaipur which happens to have more to offer, so you guys out there, please spend few days (4 days at MINIMUM) in Jaipur - trust me! NO REGRETS unless ofcos you hate architectural buildings or historical stuff lar. I rugi liao lor... And because of this ignorant brain of mind, I have a darn pack itinerary on day 6 BUT I won’t complain as it was KEWL & FABTABULOUS DAY!!!! How I longed to visit Jaipur again! Now with Air Asia, I can and cheap cheap too! Hehehehee… Sounds like AA ads huh.

Our first stop is Jaipur’s very own Jantar Mantar and their’s is in yellow unlike the one in Delhi. I got to know that Jaipur’s observatory is the largest between this two. The observatory consists of fourteen major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars' location as the earth orbits around the sun, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides. Each is a fixed and 'focused' tool. [from Wikipedia]. And MUI took a pic at the sundial… (wow! Normally I get to see the smaller version, to think I actually set on one… WOW!).

Am in AWE!!! Seen this is TV programs before but to think I finally am here… breathtaking! It’s THE HAWA MAHAL or also known as "Palace of Winds". Built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in the form of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu god. This unique five-story exterior looks like a honeycomb of the beehive contains 953 small windows called jharokhas are decorated with intricate lattice work (Out of ignorant, I googled “lattice“ => A structure, such as a window, screen, or trellis, made of or containing such a framework). Apparently the intention was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen, since they had to observe strict "purdah" (Muslim face cover).

The best part is that I always thought it was a building BUT when I “peep” behind, it is only that one layer window. In fact, if you look hard enough, you can see the other side or the sky/window piercing through the front window. Hence to see, it is a “structure” !??! (Still in doubt though, hemm….).

Our 3rd stop - Jaipur City Palace. Sounded big? Well, it is. We eve waited for the Maharaja to walk around which the guide said occasionally he does walk around. I felt like in one of Indiana Jones movie…
:P

There are 2 main places to see :

1) Mubarak Mahal - meaning the ‘Auspicious Palace’, was built with a fusion of the Islamic, Rajput and European architectural styles. Inside is a museum; a variety of textiles & royal formal costumes can be seen here.

2) Chandra Mahal - Currently is the residence of the descendants of the former rulers of Jaipur (Remember me mentioning waiting for the Maharaja, ahhhh… Didn‘t manage to see him though). It’s not THAT BAD, as the ground floor is allowed for visitors where a museum (YUP! Another museum) is located that displays carpets, manuscripts and other items that belonged to the royal family.
My favourite - Pritam Chowk / Green Gate, also called the Leheriya (meaning: “waves”) gate, in MY absolute FAVOURITE COLOUR green colour suggestive of spring…PWEEEETY.

NOPE! It’s not the end of the day as yet, for we head to the 4th and LAST stopover (Tiring, believe me!). And luckily we did Amber Fort as the last stop especially since the “FORT” is SUPER DUPER HUGE!!!!

It consists of 2 forts, Amber Fort at the bottom and Jaigarh Fort on top overlooking Jaipur. The greatest of the maharaja empire.

I half felt as if I was at Great of China; not that I have ever been there before lar… REALLY! Look at the “wall”, the GREAT WALL of JAIPUR it should be named. Can you see the wall over the yonder? It’s small but still visible… amazing. And the square thingy at the bottom is the play area (garden lar) for the maharaja family - lucky them!
The sad thing is that it has been abandon despite that is it turned to a tourist site, you can feel the ancient abandonment feeling creepy down your neck (at certain small pathways) - mysterious & thrilling.

Oh yah! As it is a tough climb, you can actually take the elephant or camel ride up, looks fun but I decided to be macho honcho and climb up lar - aside from the fact the elephant smells awful :P No hard feeling yah Mr. Elephant! Hahahahhaha… I do need to give them due credits though, thus Mr. Elephant Sir & Mdm. Camel, say “CHEESE”!!!!!

One thing one need to take note is of its carving in Sheesh Mahal, hall of mirrors whose beauty beyond words. It is also considered as one among the best architectural of Jaipur. Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors) received Global recognition thus; y’all globetrotter - GO! GO! GO!
As I thought that’s all we were covering in Jaipur, we saw from afar a palace built in (on?!??!) water. Apa lagi….. We screamed - STOOOOOP!!!! And asked the driver (min English remember) what is the name; he said Jal Mahal, we can’t swim/boat over, hence we took a pic lar…. Jadi lar, better then nothing kan.

Anyway, this Jal Mahal ie water palace is located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake. And I remembered, dreaming I’m a princess living in the water palace and only visit the town by boat during festive season. Ofcos, there must be a prince to rescue me from my evil step mother lar… else what’s the point of dreaming kan? Kan? Kan?

OK! OK! Abit tired by now, but we pulled all our mighty strength to get some souvenirs from the city, I bought 4 beaded sandals, hemmm… happy! But just about then, we caught this little malnutrition boy selling balloons. HONESTLY, am not sure how to react, the scene stuck in my mind till now. I manage to take a pic to show my siblings how lucky we are. Till now, I will remember to count my blessing (or reminded me-self hard!) and be grateful of what god has given.

As the moon appears we make our last pic stop at Albert Hall, NO! Not the one in London! I found out (via google) that it house a zoo, a greenhouse, an aviary, a museum and a sports ground. Rugi tak masuk man!


2D1N in Jaipur is definitely NOT ENOUGH!

Hyperlink credits : Indiasite, Wikipedia

GOODBYE Old Car, HELLO New Car!

BYE-BYE Iswara... will miss you!

YEAY! Finally, gotten it 3 weeks ago.... still feel brand new but with diminishing excitement as the days go by.

ARGHHH!!!! Last week I found a TINY PAINT SMUDGE on my new car, must be the silly car parked next to mine in office car park lar... sooo DOINK wan! Who ask to open too wide & hard....sooo INCONSIDERATE! Nowadays I make sure I'll park my car at the end ie next to a wall or even an expensive car, somehow they tend to take care of their cars better.

I also noticed water marks on my front screen, THUS sending it to Toyota Service Centre this Wednesday for "medical check-up" (might as well lar as I've hit 1000km already mahh), and I will be out of car for half a day. Sigh...

Despite all this, am HAPPY nevertheless.

Ahh..... few friends asked me about my plate number as they "looking forward" to buy "lottery", I told them that my old plate "kena" few times before hence am retaining the same number. It's kinda my lucky number as it's my birthday number (3rd July - *hint hint*), my road name/number (Jalan 3) and my house number (37). How lucky can you get right?!?!

THANK YOU GOD for blessing & giving me wealth to purchase and health to drive around.

Perhaps.... road trip in Malaysia soon? Hemm......

:D