Singapore - KL - Tanjung Jara

Tuesday's road trip started off from the Shangri'La @ 8.30am, and we reached Tanjung Jara Resort at 7pm, stopping by KL for lunch.


1 Audi RS4, 1 Subaru WRX, 2 Porsche GT3s and our big ass Ssangyong Stavic. We were lagging behind most of the time. To make matters worse, we had to repair a flat........

Our return trip back to Singapore was uneventful. The "super car" convoys had already departed way before we did, and we de-toured to Sepang race track before we came back to Singapore. The only highlight of the return trip, was that we ran into the traffic police twice..... I think its a conspiracy....

Of time

Haven't had much time to myself until lately. I signed up for gym (finally, again), made improvements to my parents' multimedia capabilities on the telly (HDD player), bought Nabaztag (a fad), increased my appetite, bought clothes online..... many things I either had no time for or simply couldn't care less to do.

Given all that, I still have a long list of things I intend to do, and I think I'll have to spread them out evenly before I overdose on self-indulgence.

More updates soon. Meanwhile, I leave an assortment of photos from the past few months' absence.

Shanghai
Birthday

The passing......

So much has happened these past months since leaving my job. I've been doing some travelling, meeting up with long lost friends (you know who you are).

So by the end of the month, I would have to actually decide on a job offer, and sort of re-start myself in this direction. It seemed to be an easy decision, but right now, I'm having 2nd and even 3rd thoughts about this whole affair. To me, its an attempt not to go somewhere where I do not belong, nor to a company which couldn't care less about my well being. I'm getting really tired of excuses.

Wish me good luck :)

Whacked in Kuala Lumpur

In a few hours, I will depart from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. Might be seeing this place more often in the future I guess. (my only gripe is the internet connection :p)

This time round, I wasn't scouting for photo opportunities, therefore there aren't any. I did bring my camera along, but it's still packed nicely in my bag. I promise to give it more action the next time I'm out.

On hindsight, the amount of alcohol I had on this trip was more than what I had in the last 3 months... and I only spent a week here. I attribute it to the fact that I had friends who were really good drinkers here. But the major factor is that I got to drink with Francis again. I remember not so long ago, we were drinking beer from 6pm all the way till 3am the next morning..... its a small pity that he won't be doing this again for a long long time to come. For those of you who know him, go find out why. :)

Many thanks to Fahim, who let me put up at his place for a few. It is distinctively in better shape than the last apartment he had in Singapore. Fahim is a nomad. I've known him for seven years, and he's been traveling from point A to point B as far as I can remember.

Here's to the friends (Cheryl, Thomas, Colin, Lola, Sue Lynn, Yew Jin, Juni) I made on this trip. We'll catch up real soon, and thanks for making this a memorable one.

Cheers

Dreams of Moscow

This was supposed to be written up much earlier in September, but I never got around to doing it till now. :p

Arrival in Moscow was a drag... all because of the rain. Rain, in 10 degree temperature, with heavy winds, is not a joking matter. I was somewhat stranded for about an hour before I was even able to hail a taxi to the hotel. On hindsight, I enjoyed the weather, and almost frowned whenever I saw the sun!!

I won't talk about work this time round, as there really isn't much to mention. Out of the whole trip, I only managed to visit central Moscow once, and I did a lot of walking (i mean kilometres worth) Taxis are still expensive, actually more so than when I was there a few years back. Price haggling over the fare hasn't changed much too. :/ The Subway is convenient, but woe to me, most of the place I am at, entailed at least a 700 metre walk to any station. Once you make it to the Subway, trains are like 1 per minute.

I don't speak Russian, maybe "this", "that", "I", "you" "here", "there", "left", "right", but that's just about it. So, when I stick my head into the "hole" in one of their convenience shops, I usually come out having my neck in pain, if I am trying to buy anything other than Coke or cigarettes....

Overall, Moscow is getting more expensive and more crowded. Given that people all over Russia come here to get a better living, its not surprising. I managed to catch some dinner with my friend (previous colleague), and he says the same thing too. His hometown is in St. Petersburg, a fair sized city, and his rent in Moscow has been increased 3 times since I last saw him.

The most memorable thing I did this trip, was walking 1 full kilometre to McDonald's..... following the road signs. It was near my hotel (not so near I found out, 3 kilometres), somewhere after Leninsky Prospekt. I have the photos of my little "trip". Let me find out where I put them, and upload them later.

Photo links to Flickr

The Korean Connection

October came and went, and I spent 3 weeks of it in Seoul and Busan. I loved the weather there (its fall), and the many conveniences you could experience while living there: like the abundance of convenience stores, availability of vending machines, free internet within the hotel... the list goes on.

I did find time to catch up with a few friends in Seoul, go window shopping, visit the bazaars in Busan and take some pictures. One thing I still noticed in Seoul, was how inconvenient it MIGHT be in Seoul, when you don't speak Korean. Most people you meet on the street would try to runaway the moment you spoke that incoherent, multi-faceted, guttural sounding (at least to them) language. The younger ones would try (I sincerely applaud their effort), however, but some still fail to understand.

Travel through the extensive subway was still good as ever, with the additional of more stations than when I was first there. The only gripe I have, is that the outer lying subway stations closed at about 10.30 - 11.00pm, which made late night outings pretty difficult this time round (I was living in an area just outside of Seoul.

The only regret I have is not being able to take more pictures. :(

http://www.flickr.com/photos/james_chuas/sets/72157602832083586/

3 weeks in Korea

Just woke up in Busan... its 11.30am. One of the few off days I am allowed to have throughout the 3 weeks I am in this country.

I haven't really been taking pictures, but I'll upload the few I took later. 3 more days and I'll be back in Singapore. Now I've got to go get changed, go out and take some serious pictures.