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Time flies when you're busy. This is the exterior of my new kampung home. From the two plastic stools out there and the whiteboard you can now gauge how large or how small my new abode is. Yes, it is confirmed. I am moving in. I paid RM500.00 yesterday. 

I spoke to my boss on this and she was agreeable but with a condition... she could only get me the funds by mid month, August and asked me to sort it out by extending my current tenancy by half a month and also asking the new landlord to hold the house for half a month.  The current landlord will not extend by half a month... it's a full month or no go. Come on... would you? It's a no brainer but my boss asked to try so I try lah. Then hold the new house for half a month... again... would you? But I tried... as soon as I mentioned  it the new landlord starts with the... now is peak, I'm losing business, yada, yada, yada... I stopped him. So I said... I give you one month now... and the two month's deposit in the middle of next month... deal? He agreed.

Now... the other part... middle of the month is when I get money for the furniture as well. The house is EMPTY now.... that means sleep on the floor... or get a mattress first. I managed to find a 'Chinaman' to bully. There's this furniture shop that I've been to before and bought a small closet from. This chap is a young kiddo... running the family's business. So... I did a 7 Habits on this chap... Begin with the end in mind. He speaks to me in Malay... coz I am at least three tones darker now and with Ayu by my side. He reckons I'm Malay. I tell him that eventually I will need to buy furniture for my staff's accommodation some time end of this year or beginning next year. Middle next month, I need some furniture for my house first which will be paid by the company and I need some prices for the items but I will need a mattress urgently this Saturday and I am paying for it first. I scout out a writing desk, a closet, a bed and a kitchen table for the stove. He tells me the prices then offers... do you need a quotation? I can write whatever price you ask me to. I just gave him the raised brow look and said... I'm not that type. Just give me your best price. How much for the single mattress? RM180.00... originally RM280.00. Done deal... will come on Saturday to pay and pick up.

A simple sofa set costs about RM600.00 which you can get at Cavenzi in KL for RM199.00. When I first started negotiating with this kid he tried so hard to BS me. Then I gave him the... I know I look like an idiot but I am not an idiot look... and went on to 'lecture' him.... I know you get your stock from the mainland and you need to pay freight and barge charges and what not but... most of your furniture are shipped flat-packed and assembled here with the exception of your sofas and antique-type furniture so don't feed me BS.  Then the prices start dropping... I could have bullied the kid further but that's not me... When the price is reasonable and acceptable I will stop. They need to earn a living too. Everyone does... I am just against rip offs. : )

So... tomorrow I will be busy packing. Saturday morning, load everything onto my motorboat... drive over to the new place. Give it a good wash... unload my stuff then go buy the mattress. Hopefully, the TV won't take too long. We have a 'sample' LCD TV which was left to us by our TV supplier which is locked away in the electricity sub-station at the resort. I don't have the key so I didn't bother with the TV earlier as the current place that I am in has a TV so I didn't want to move things unnecessarily. Today, I called the chap who holds the key and told him to mail the key to me as I wanted to take the TV out. Hopefully I'll get it next week.

As you can see I have a garden... I think I should do some cucuk-tanam-ing now since I am deprived from the other type of 'cucuk'-ing and 'tanam'-ing... thanks to a community of goon squads. Next month puasa some more... aiyoh... itu puasa, ini puasa... karavale, karavale... overflowing soon. : )

The Good, The Bad And The Fucked Up.

The Good.

I received an e-mail from my Director of Sales in KL which contained a scanned copy of the official correspondence that they will be sending out to all our travel agents. It states that we will now only open our doors in the 1st Quarter of 2011. It also went on to state that we will open with the swimming pool ready which was originally scheduled for Phase 2. So... at least I now know more. That's the Good.

The Bad.

That's another 5 months of ding-donging around for me.

The Fucked Up.

I am of the same level of importance as the travel agents as my boss does not see it necessary for her to tell me on her own. Just copy me... hmmm... she really takes things for granted and maybe that's how they managed to build a property with no access road and the whole of Langkawi is laughing at us now. More on that later.

Last week, I forget which day. I got home late and found that there was no water in my unit. It being late I shrugged it off. The next morning, still no water. Hmmm... something wrong. I brushed my teeth with cold water from the refrigerator.... wow... you should try it. Then I decided to find out if it was just my unit or the whole block. I asked a couple of people that I met and they told me that they had water. So, I called my 'agent' and told her. She said she would call me back. An hour passes by and no call. I called her again and she 'sounds' surprised that the water had not been reconnected. She then tells me some tale of the owner wanting to evict me as he had other prospects. She claims that he can't do this and that she would call him again and if he still doesn't reconnect the water then she will make a report. I have seen the landlord before but never did exchange words. A short while later I hear some noises outside... the water meters are just in front of my unit. I open the door and there was the landlord reconnecting the water. I confronted him.

He said that he deliberately disconnected the water as he wanted me to call the agent. Apparently, she has not paid him the rent and she has not been answering his calls nor answering the messages. Then he say because of that he had to use his money to pay the landlord first. Huh? I thought you were the landlord? He says he is not the landlord but he lets on behalf of the landlord. Messy... now I know why I am paying RM850.00 for a 31feet x 14feet pigeon hole. Anyway, I told him that he should not have done what he did. He could have easily asked me to call the agent and I would have.

I then realised that when I signed up for this tenancy it was meant for a fixed period of two months for which I had paid in advance. I have since been extending month to month with no deposit. SO, they could kick me out anytime and I could disappear anytime... dangerous. I decided that it's time to move. I think I should find a place closer to where I work. 22kms away is ridiculous. So I have been hunting for a new place.

I found the ideal place HERE (click to see pics). It's about 350m away from the property. I e-mailed the guy and the rate was... RM1850.00 per month. I kid you not... Pantai Tengah and Pantai Cenang is prime area so rent is high. I asked around Pantai Tengah... there were a few units but none available at the moment and I was told the cheapest would be around RM1500.00. Then I moved on to Pantai Cenang to look for a place. I found THIS... and it's located HERE. I called the landlord. The going rate was between RM100-160.00 per day depending on season. She was willing to give me a rate of RM1000.00 per month but she could not slot me in for a 3-month stretch as she had taken some other dates as fillers. I checked all along Pantai Cenang... the range was RM1500.00 onwards. Rooms were between RM400-500.00 per month unfurnished. Just a bed. Utilities separate.

Finally, I got a break... on Ralph's recommendation (the tenant in the RM1000.00 unit) I decided to check out White Lodge. According to Ralph they might be able to give good rates for long term. When I got there I asked the chap behind the counter if he had rooms for long term. He said he did have units for long term but asked me why not house if long term? House? If you have houses why not? In fact I was actually looking for a house. He had two units... One occupied and one available but a bit run down. The rate was RM500.00 a month... unfurnished... two-bedroom.

This is the hall. It's pretty small but about the same size as my current hall though this is slightly narrower but longer. Note the door to the second bedroom. I CANNOT enter the rooms without ducking. The top of the door frame is the same level as my brow. They made these houses for people like Miss D and Lian. Hahaha...

This is the first bedroom located on the left of the hall as you enter. Enough space for a single bed, closet and maybe a small desk.

Second bedroom. Same size as the first. I dunno... my guess is probably about 8feet by 8feet in dimensions.

The mini kitchen.

The washroom.

Overall, I think it's about the same size as my current place. I'm sold on this place due to its proximity to the property and for the long term plan where I can use this as staff quarters and take the other unit as well. The logic is pretty simple... If I took a 3-bedroom apartment, which would cost me about RM1600.00 onwards I can only put 6 persons in an apartment, max... and it would be very far from the property. We're talking minimum 15 kms away. So, price per head vs proximity... this is the logical choice. I'll speak to the boss on Monday and hopefully I can move in next month (fingers crossed). Oh... for me... it's 5 minutes walk to the beach. For Lian... 30 minutes if she just woke up and 5 minutes if she has warmed up. Oh, yes... she walks pretty fast for a vertically challenged person. Hahahahaha... this is where the house is.

And before I go... the guy at the reception turned out to be the Director for this place. We got into some chit-chat and and he asked where I worked and so on. I was telling him that I needed a place due to some delays and he said... let me guess... no access road? Never mind... you can fly your guests in by helicopter or bring them in by sea... after all you are a 4-star boutique right? I just smiled but I would have smacked him for being so cheeky. I asked him... how would you know about the access road? He says... this is Langkawi... small place. Apparently, this is quite normal. Even his land does not have access. He is currently using the access at the graces of the owner of the land in front... a Chinese chap.

So... there you go. My thesis for this week. Hahaha...

Alone...

Photo by Botakeu

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Edgar Allan Poe

The Dim Light

The Dim Light, originally uploaded by botakeu (busy & very slow).

...
They say in time the dreams begin to fade
They say it seems that time is relatively late
And so I hold out even though the light is dim
I go my way, and I'm never giving in
...
Ode To The Future Past - Defer Christine Rains

Char Kway Teow, Spaghetti Bolognese & Len Chee Kang

Char Kway Teow is a fantastic dish... the Penang Char Kway Teow that is... no need for me to explain what it is all about, just click on the link and read what Wiki has to say as it has a pretty good interpretation.

Last night, after picking Ayu up from work we stopped by a stall for some food as she had not eaten the whole day. She ordered herself a 'Char Kway Teow'... the kind she likes... I didn't order anything but when her food arrived I change my mind and ordered myself one... the kind that I like. You must now be wondering... what's with the 'she likes' and 'I like' right? Well, hang on... we'll get there soon. This stall prepares a few variations... including the halal and close to original version. So I ordered from the guy... Char Kway Teow Udang (Shrimps)... he looks at me and points to Ayu's dish and said THAT is Char Kway Teow Udang... you want Kway Teow Goreng Udang... I just agreed and he walked off and I started laughing out loud.

We'll have to rewind now... forgive me but it is necessary. Back when I was in Kuantan, there was a day when Ayu said she wanted to have Char Kway Teow. Vistana Kuantan  does a pretty decent Char Kway Teow so I ordered one for her. When it arrived she just looked at it and said... this is not Char Kway Teow. And this led on to a heated debate. She claimed that Char Kway Teow is supposed to be wet and with gravy. So, me being the foodie I tried to explain to her that it is Cantonese Kway Teow that's with gravy and that it's white in color. She insists that I am wrong. She says that all Malay Char Kway Teow in KL has gravy. I wouldn't know because I always have the authentic non-halal topped with Chinese sausage version. I tried to use logic next... Char Kway Teow is Hokkien and it means Fried Flat Noodles... it is of Chinese origin so I know what I am talking about. She insists that I am wrong... and that Char Kway Teow is of Malay origin. She said that I was only saying that because I am Chinese... it matters not whether I am Chinese or not, I believe in facts and I am trying to teach you what is factual... she was adamant. It went on and on and I gave up to avoid things getting 'ugly'. I ended by saying... when we meet your dad we will ask your dad... ok?

That fine day came and we were driving when I asked her to ask her dad. So, she did... her dad started laughing and said... technically the Malays don't have anything to call their own... everything is 'borrowed'... I think 'plagiarized' is a better term... so he explains to his daughter that Char Kway Teow is indeed a Chinese cuisine but the Malays have their variation which is with gravy. Her dad went on to say even noodles are Chinese.

Fast forward to why I laughed... the close to original version... the dry version which I ordered is called Kway Teow Goreng Udang but the plagiarized version is called Char Kway Teow... Duh!! Shouldn't it be the other way round? Ayu is not the only Malay who lays claim to this dish being Malay... 

Len Chee Kang... is a Chinese dessert. It is primarily of lotus seeds (len chee) and dried longans. The commercialized variations have peanuts, jelly, white fungus, sea coconut, attap seeds, lychee and many others. This too has been plagiarized to be Malay-sian... and they call it 'Lai Chi Kang'... just because it has lychees in it. Okay... whatever makes you happy.

Malaysians are a misinformed bunch in general. We can't really blame them for being misinformed but with today's available technology, we certainly can blame them for remaining misinformed.

This comes down to education and MOST IMPORTANTLY the source of that education. If your source is contaminated then all is lost... same applies to religion. Let me give you some simple examples... 

I was having dinner with Ayu and her family at a Thai restaurant in Kajang... one of those Thai-Malay restaurants and one of the dishes that they had ordered was the Kerabu Mangga (Thai Mango Salad/Yam Ma-muang) and when it came Ayu's mom started complaining... because it did not have tomatoes... she exclaimed, what kind is this? It should have tomatoes, bla, bla, bla... I was thinking to myself... ummm the authentic kind? But... they all chorused in agreement. So I attempted to correct them and said that it doesn't have tomatoes... but no... mom knows best... so I shut my mouth up. Som Tam has tomatoes as far as I knew. But what do I know right? Would you believe that they even tried to teach me how Yong Tau Foo should be like? Hello? My mom's Hakka for crying out loud! Sigh...

 

Ayu likes Spaghetti Bolognese... so one day I took the trouble to cook her some... the authentic stuff... all fresh ingredients... she didn't like it and to top it off she insulted me by saying that this is not how it is supposed to be... Excuse me? I was visibly upset... she knew it... and she explained herself... you can't blame me coz I am used to eating the other version... her version is tomato paste and puree only... yeah, cheap fast food versions. I could relate to what she explained so I cooled off. The benchmark is important...

Now the benchmark story... I had an employee who was crazy over one of my other employees. They were lovers. One day she comes to me... and innocently tells me... Along (which means eldest brother, they all call me that)... I really love him. He is the best... I looked at her and said.... I thought you said he is your first boyfriend?... Yes he is and he is the best... Huh? Ok... My dear girl, how would you know that he is the best when you have not experienced anyone else? What is your basis of comparison? What's the benchmark? To cut a long story short, she eventually dumped him. No... I am not mean... he was already taken and two timing her.... with her eyes wide open or shut. 

Most parents here don't realize that their children by default idolize them and every word that comes out of their mouth is accepted as 'the holy grail'... parents here have a habit of lying to their children and feeding their children with nonsense for fear of admitting to their children that they do not know. And we then wonder why they become rascals. Like I said... there is nothing wrong with being misinformed or not knowing something but it is very, very wrong to stay that way. If your child asks you something that you don't know admit that you don't know but please do go and find out and then inform them... NOT lie to them! This is how religion gets distorted... if you ask questions and the 'teacher' does not know how to answer you they feed you with the 'You should not question God's will' bullshit. WTF?

Anyway... Ayu's food experience is all screwed up and from a contaminated source. Well... not just the food but... she's smart and intelligent so reason and logic is easier to modify as opposed to taste buds.  So I have been trying to re-educate her on how food should look and taste like... it's tough because EVERYONE has that 'my mom cooks the best' disease.... I think we should all just grow up and accept facts as facts. If Mahsuri is of Thai descendant then just accept it.... and if Hang Tuah and his consorts are of Chinese descendant, so what? So what? If it is true, it is true... what's the big deal? How does it change anything today? Why jump up and down and start to foam at the mouth? False pride? Of course some may say.... oh, you're just saying all this because you're Chinese... well, I'll have you know that my grandfather is a Burmese. So what? I am a bastard... that's a fact. So what? Many things I do are not my own ideas but I am mature enough to tell you it is not mine... and not just plagiarize it.

Facts are facts... it is just that.

So before I go... is Roti Canai Malay-sian? If we're thick skinned enough to claim it is Malay-sian then maybe we can explain why Roti Canai which literally means Rolled/kneaded Bread is not rolled  nor kneaded but actually hand -tossed... so, we should then call it Roti Tebar (toss/cast) right? So... instead of being misinformed... be informed here.

TGIF...

Revert...

This is dedicated to all my friends and colleagues out there who have been and are still using this word in the wrong context... just like I did despite me knowing the meaning but sometimes when everybody does something you tend to end up following the majority. I was corrected... strangely I can't seem to recall by whom or how... but I have a strong suspicion it was my ex-boss.

I had written an e-mail to Telekom Malaysia on Tuesday, stating that I had difficulty registering for their 'Online' service as the system kept saying that my account had been registered but I don't recall registering. They replied this afternoon and one of the sentences in the response read, 'We hope the above revert to your query' and another 'Before we could do so, please fill in the attached form and revert back to us at tmonline@tm.com.my'. First of all, assuming the use of the word is correct in the first sentence it should then read 'reverts to your query'... anyway... My friends and colleagues have the habit of stating in their written correspondences... 'We will revert to you shortly' or something along those lines.

Revert means... 'to return to a previous state' and not what was written in the sentences above... which should actually be answers, return and get back respectively.

Now that you have read this, you are duly informed so please correct yourself from hereon. Thank you. : )

A Sunset, A Moon & A Star

A Sunset, A Moon & A Star, originally uploaded by botakeu (busy).

This is directly from my Flickr page and uploaded here... something I shot today. Chasing the sunset can be very, very frustrating as I have found out. This was shot from Tanjung Rhu beach. I went out there as it seemed as it would be a good sunset but as we can see I was wrong... there must have been a lot of clouds over at Thailand and the Andaman sea. A 22km drive and no sunset... sigh... then another 22kms back. But anyway... click on the picture then click on it again for a larger view and you can see the star at the top of the frame and the crescent moon slightly below it.

This was shot from the same spot at 55mm whilst the above shot was wide at 18mm. My 18-55mm lens can only go f/22 at 18mm but at 55mm it can go f/36. At f/36, with long exposures the lights have a nicer 'sparkle'... the smaller the aperture, the more 'stars'/points you get on the sparkle. Click on the picture for a larger view and see the lights on the ships especially the ships on the left and right.

Night photography is a lot of fun too but here in Langkawi there isn't much to shoot in the night. This is when I miss KL... lots of lights... lots of tall building and interesting architectures. Maybe when I go back to KL... and that too if I have the transport now that my car is here... sigh...

Presbyopia

Let me see... I was first diagnosed with Presbyopia some years back... I think it was in 2002. And I was diagnosed by a Professor... and I recall him saying it was unusual for me as I was in my very early 30s then... and he said people don't get this till much later on. He then gave me a prescription for my spectacles. I took the prescription to the optician. The guy looked at it and asked... is this for you? I acknowledged and he asked... are you sure? I ask... why? Then he looks at the prescription again and notices that it was from the professor.... he says, Oh, professor... can't be wrong then... but this is very unusual. Anyway... I developed presbyopia at a 'tender' age. It's getting worse now... getting old... now I have to hold my phone farther and farther away when I read sms-es. Sigh...

Gecarcinidae...

Yes... that's a picture of a crab... an out of focus crab and the cleanest crab I have ever seen in my life. So what? Right? Well... I'll let that picture sit in your thoughts for awhile.

It's Sunday. I'm bored. I woke up later than usual today as I slept at 4:00am last night fooling around with some photo processing. So, I decided to go to Gunung Raya, Langkawi's highest peak at 881m. There's a small hilltop resort there called D'coconut Hill Resort... apart from that, NOTHING else. So, why go? Like I said... bored and I thought I'd just check it out and maybe get some nice scenery shots. Moreover, I read that up... so I'd better verify it. It's about 15kms to the top I think and took about 20 minutes. The road is not that good and frankly I felt a bit uneasy driving up as there was evidence of landslips... and maybe being alone was part of it.

When I got to the top I saw the resort... no point posting pictures here...  you can follow the link to their website to see for yourself. I arrive there and there are some cars parked outside which I can count with just one hand. I didn't bother going in. There is a tower there which will give you a 360° view.... otherwise your view is restricted to the south. I made a quick look around and left as the clouds were forming and it was starting to drizzle.

On my way down is when it happened... a Gecarcinidae/crab ran across the road in front of me. And if it still hasn't dawned upon you... the crab above is nestled in grass and NOT mud. I was like... WTF!! I stopped the car, quickly grabbed my camera and caught that shot before it ran off. It was about here where I saw it. I have heard of Land Crabs but at over 2000 feet above sea level? Who would have expected this? I never ever thought I'd ever see this other than on National Geographic.

Lucky right? Want to tumpang my luck? The number for crab is 0654... Hahahahaha.

Back to the verification... there's nothing to do up there. If you're looking for a nice cool getaway with lots of bedroom lambada planned out then this is the place for you as there is nothing to do there and of course if you're interested in some really cool sunrise and sunset shots then this is a cool place. If you want to go up there just for the view and some photos I recommend you hire a motorcycle as it will be more convenient and you can pullover whenever you fee like it for some shots.

Sunset at Pantai Cenang

Photography is about capturing the moment and allowing others to see what you want them to see... or what you would like to reminisce on in future. However there' only so much that can fit into a frame and sometimes the picture does not do justice to the real situation. For example... a sunset. The beauty of a sunset is not in the sunset itself but the surroundings of the sunset. In a good sunset, the hues can travel all the way to the opposite side for as far as you can see. If you have the normal kit lens like most people do then it is impossible to capture everything in one scene unless you invest in a super wide-angle lens or a fisheye lens... either one will set you back no less than RM2.5k... and we're talking 3rd party lenses. So... poor man like me won't  be having any for along time.

However, despair not... thanks to technology you can now take several photos and 'stitch' them up into one panoramic view using Photoshop. As you can see from the sample I took today... it is beautiful... and this is just the tip of it. Maybe in due time when I have the opportunity, I will post a better one . By the way, this is 8 shots taken in portrait orientation and merged into one.

If and when the resort opens... sunsets will be a daily affair for me and a key selling point as the restaurant and bar is facing the beach. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Oh... and by the way. Google Analytics is up and running properly again. I fixed the problem. There were 7 visits to my blog yesterday... : )

My Flickr Pictures...

Someone requested for a copy of the picture that I posted yesterday. In case you didn't know... you can download those pictures yourself from my Flickr page. You can access my Flickr page by clicking on the link located on the right side of this page, below the 'Recent Comments' column or you can scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page and see the 9 most recent posts and click there. Once you're in my photostream, look for the picture you like... then at the top of the picture there are some options to choose where you should look for 'All Sizes' then click on it to download the size you want. I'd give more specific instruction but Flickr recently upgraded their layout and I am not sure which layout you will see..... OR... just click on the picture... duh!!! But not all pictures are linked to Flickr... only the good stuff.... :P

Feel free to download and use as your wallpaper or as your personal dart board... all that I ask is this...

1. If anyone compliments the picture... please give me due credit and say that this botak took the picture.

2. If anyone criticizes the picture, PLEASE, PLEASE say you took it!!!

LOL...

Oh... and most of my pictures are uploaded at a res of 1068 x 712 which is a 25% crop of the original and should be more than sufficient for most screens unless you use a full HD screen like me.... chewah... LOL.

Miles and miles of heart...

Today, the 7th of July is my mom's birthday and also a memorable day for me. They say that there is a first for everything... and rightly so too... in my entire 21 years of full time employment, this is the first time that I have not received my salary. As I blog this... the money is in my account but it won't be accessible till Friday. So, if I can't use it then technically I have not received it. If I remember correctly the law requires that an employer pays their employees no later by the 7th of each month. In this context I would assume the law meant 'clear for use' and not bank in a cheque by the given date. My claims for two months have not been reimbursed and my EPF not credited since I started with them.

Alarm bells ringing no? Yeah... if it was just anyone else then yes. I took this job knowing that there would be some risks. I checked with my colleagues who have been with the company longer... they say that so far this is the worst case... they have experienced all this before but it was cleared every three months or so. So far this is the longest... from January they say.

On Monday, when I still did not receive word on my pay I called the boss and asked what's happened? I was told that the big boss would be in the office on Monday to sign the cheques but he didn't turn up. Apparently, they were summoned by the co-owner to discuss a meeting they were going to have with the banker on Tuesday. This meeting was after the involvement of the VVIP that I mentioned last week. So, Wednesday  is  when he will sign the cheques it seems... ok... what can I say?

So... yesterday evening... curious on how things went I sms-ed my boss...

Me: No news?

Boss: No bad news but will need some time for the CEO to work it out.

Me: As long as you, Big Boss and Dato are acceptable with the resolve then I think we're all ok. Are you?

Boss: With all the money invested in, why would we not. We are looking at the best interest of the future of the hotel by taking a loan with the lowest interest rate thats why we rather go through all this hardship to get it. We are not the type of business people that just grab whatever come along and let the hotel die of natural death in the future.

Me: Any indication when we can start?

Boss: I know and understand that you and the sales people are in a lot of uncertainty at the moment but if we can get through the first time, there is no reason why we cant now. But anyhow, if any of you should feel that its too risky or its not worth hanging on i do honestly understand. I have my dilemma too, all of you are hand picked by me and i trust all of you on the success of the hotel. I do worry that you all may not be able to hang on but like what i say, we need to look at the long run of the

Boss: I am not telling you all that i want to lay anyone off so dont get me wrong. I am merely being honest and so hope that you all will try to understand and hopefully, stick by us to see the opening of the hotel which will be by end of this year hopefully with the swimming pool and the ground floor of phase 2.

Me: That's all the assurance that I needed. Thank you. We will open together.

Hmmm... hit a raw nerve... any typos in there are as is.

Ok... my boss has very little management experience. Maybe she's managed a handful of people but nothing in my capacity. So we have to excuse her lack of understanding in many areas. Maybe I should suggest that she enroll herself for the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People... then maybe she could have saved all of us the misery. If she had been proactive and seek to understand what our concern were and then address those concerns we wouldn't be uncertain would we? Habit #1... Be Proactive... Habit #5... Seek to understand before being understood... Habit #6... Synergize.

I guess that's why I am going to run the place and not her... as I have said to many of my colleagues... actually you don't need to attend the 7 Habits thingy... all you need to do is watch the movie The Replacements. All you need is miles and miles of heart... and everything else will happen naturally.

So... what would you do? Persevere or abandon ship?

My Prayer...

My Prayer..., originally uploaded by botakeu.

I was feeling down so I decided to take a 20 minute drive to the beach and try to catch the sunset again. I managed a series of 30 second long exposures since I now have 2 ND8s in my bag. Stacking the ND8s produces a purple cast but that can be corrected in Post Processing as I shoot in RAW. I did a two-step correction. The first in ACR and then Auto Color Correction in PSE8. The correction was pretty spot on as I had a few shots taken without the filters for comparison. Choosing one to post here was quite difficult as they were all nice in their own way. Even though just minutes apart, those minutes make a world of a difference in colors and hues. I chose this as this was the closest to the end of the sunset without losing the mix of colors.

The title of this picture has to do with my feeling and thoughts as I sat there watching the sunset. My thoughts were... TWILIGHT... to most that would relate to Stephenie Meyer as Eclipse opens in cinemas in just a few days time. For me it was the lyrics... When the twilight is gone... that's the opening line to the song 'My Prayer' by the Platters. It then reminded me of my late father, may his soul rest in peace.... it's been 2 years and 1 week... and my mom has been calling me daily for the past one week... so she must be feeling it too. Tears ran down my cheeks as I hummed the song in my head... memories of how we used to sing together to these songs... from 8-track cartridges to records to cassettes and CDs.

My Prayer - The Platters
When the twilight is gone and no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone you come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay while I pray

My prayer is to linger with you
At the end of the day in a dream that's divine
My prayer is a rapture in blue
With the world far away and your lips close to mine

Tonight while our hearts are aglow
Oh tell me the words that I'm longing to know

My prayer and the answer you give
May they still be the same for as long as we live
That you'll always be there at the end of my prayer

Ok... My Bad...

I thought it strange that I suddenly got ZERO hits on my blog since the 14th... but... that's what Google Analytics reported. Could it be that all my readers called and/or e-mailed each other to concert an effort to simultaneously stop visiting my blog? Cannot be LAH....

Then it occurred to me that I had change the layout and design to my blog and I had also used a different template. That also meant that the tracking code embedded in that template is probably gone too. So, I checked... yeah... it was gone. So I have re-embedded the code... I think it should be fixed now. I should know by tomorrow when I check the statistics again...

My bad... :P

Back...

Sunset At Telaga Harbour, originally uploaded by botakeu.

I'm back... actually I didn't go anywhere. Just didn't feel like posting anything. It's exactly 3 weeks now since my last post and that 3 weeks I lost all my readers as per Google Analytics.  As they say... out of sight, out of mind. I had zero visits since the 14th... all the more reason not to post daily... after all, I'm posting this mainly for myself. In the past 3 weeks I have been trying very hard to stay sane with my photography. The picture above is my favourite... I took this after receiving my ND8 filter.

Let's see what happened in the three weeks... let me try and do a quick recap.

I managed to find someone to cut the grass for RM150.00. Unfortunately, on that day he could only manage  to finish 30% (he took too many breaks, I watched him)... so I paid him RM100.00 and made an appointment for him to return the following week on his off day to finish it. Come Friday, he doesn't turn up nor does he answer my calls. He works here at my apartment block and when he sees me he tries to avoid me, thinking I might approach him. Well, I won't... I can only provide opportunities... it is up to you to utilize and maximize these opportunities. Sad to say... most Malays and forgive me for going racial here but it is a fact and even Ayu agrees... most Malays can't see past their nose. I then call the other group who wanted to slaughter me with RM400.00... now they change their price and say RM700.00 so I politely told them "Go fuck yourself!"... then they asked me what was my offer... I said RM400.00 is max or forget it... they never did call back. I checked at the machinery store here. That grass cutter costs RM399.00. So you know what's going to happen next right? Don't the Malays have a Malay version of the Aesop's fable, The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs? Sigh... everything has to be fast and/or a lot... greedy and lazy. Terrible sex lives they must have.... and I pity the Malay ladies.

Aah... this is what I got while trying to catch a sunset.. almost 2 inches long and about 2mm deep... lots of blood. No jab was necessary as per doctor nor stitches... just some dressing.

Then the car again... cost me another RM1320.00. From drive shaft problem to bearing to disc brake. Sigh...

Last night, I called the boss. She seems very jovial despite having not paid my salary yet. I guess the bigger boss will sign the cheque on Monday. It seems they managed to escalate this problem of ours to a very, very VIP... I'll give you a hint... the co-owner is the Ex-Deputy Minister of Defense... who was the Ex-Minister of Defense? Well... so my boss seems very positive and so I feel a wee bit better.

Last but not least... the juicy part of Malaysia Boleh. I have been here for 3 months now. Ayu has been living at her place for the same amount of time... and me here at my apartment also for the same duration. We decided on this arrangement to preempt any 'unwanted incidents'. Last night after I had sent Ayu home and had left her place after a drink and some chit chat, she was visited by 'the goon squad'. Brazil had just gotten their ass whooped so the 'goon squad' was probably waiting for the next match with nothing else to do. The 'goon squad' is akin to the Western's neighborhood watch which we call Rukun Tetangga. The main reason these 'goon squads' exists is for the safety of the residents of a particular housing estate but here in Boleh Land they're more interested in who's getting into whose pants.... especially Muslims where they will cause a big hoo-ha and have been known to get physical on the male. I have no problems with them doing their checks but I have a problem on how they do it. They came after I left which was almost 2am. They didn't identify themselves but had asked for Ayu and her brother's IDs which is actually unlawful. If you intend to raid with  the suspicion of khalwat (closed proximity) then the party has to be of 4 persons which in this case only 2... and legally you must have the presence of the police... apparently there was another dude quite far away walking up and down with a stick in his hands so I assume there should have been another idiot at the back of the house. They... well not they,  just one of them... who seems to be the 'whistle blower' was not happy with the fact that there was nothing immoral going on.

Unhappy, he asked... who is the tall guy who comes here all the time? Where is he?  

So Ayu replies... that's my BF... is there a problem? Yes, he comes here all the time to pick me up and send me to work. 

The calmer guy who seems to be the religious officer was okay and said... well, if that is the case then okay... I think you know what we mean.

The whistle blower was still not happy... are sure he's left? Is he inside? 

Ayu said... Yes, he left.

Still not happy, he asks again... you sure he left?

No dude... not only does my car have auto-start, I have since installed an auto drive feature as well so it can drive itself away. Duh!!!

This is what we do with our time. If you are really interested in the safety of your neighborhood, you would know who we are and what we do and our relationships within the first week of us moving in and not come knocking on our door three months down the road. And if you were smart enough you would have checked with our neighbours on what our patterns are and my pattern is that the front door is ALWAYS OPEN AND THE GRILLE UNLOCKED WHENEVER I AM THERE...I know I look like an idiot just like you but looking like one does not make me one.

Next week, Ayu and her brother will be in KL for their sister's engagement. I will be here in Langkawi. I have half a mind to stay over at Ayu's place and since my car will be parked outside and we have the World Cup Semi-finals on, as sure as God made little green apples the 'goon squad' will come and poke their nose where it don't belong... and it would be nice if I had members of the press in the house with me to observe their conduct... no?