amusing facts about kb

two amusing facts about kb:

1. it's easy to get connected.
I am quite amused. the only connection I find between kb and my regular lifestyle is that I can get connected almost anywhere. a pleasant surprise!

here I am sitting at a yet another hole in the wall kopitiam, which is playing latin music! and it has free internet sevice! wireless.

2.all goods are marked up by about 200%.
apparently, sellers' attitude is "wanna buy, good. don't wanna buy, never mind." of course they are not yellow, if you know what I mean.

(pause)

I find that i've been spending a lot of time at kopitiams lately. that's the thing about working in malaysia in this industry. lots of waiting around.

misery in KB

I HATE KB. It's official. Words cannot describe the extent of my irritation right now. So I can only rant. 

First of all, I've been dreading this trip for days and days. I think it's a waste of time. Granted there's work to do, people to meet etc etc. But really, the potential reward seems less than the sacrifices. I guess I'll have to wait till later to be sure, but I think I'll be right.

Secondly, the traveling is a somewhat time-wasting affair. Imagine this: I shuttled from SIN to KL, arriving at KLIA at 1630 hrs, only to wander around for naught till my next flight to KB at 2130 hrs. The only redeeming factor being the wireless connection at LCCT, through which I was able to blog nonsense via my PDA phone.

Third, after braving the shaky flight and arriving at KB at 2230 hrs, ready to whisk back to our hotel and fall into our expected warm beds, we were faced with an empty parking lot. Turned out that the driver who was supposed to pick us up had just left his office and had even lost his way on the way to the airport! His excuse: he's from Perak and was new here. 

Later on, after what seemed like forever, he took us to this nice, bright hotel with a big lobby and a nice decor. I felt better. But my happiness was short lived as we soon discovered that he had taken us to the wrong hotel! No wonder there was no reservation as promised. 

By then my dad is super mad and threatened to just cab our way there if he didn't know his way. But we got back to the car anyway (an embarrassing affair, what with lugging our stuff out of the hotel and back to the shoddy car) and headed to the right hotel. Which was right beside the pretty one. 

Now this was NOT a hotel. It's more like a motel, or worse, a backpackers' inn. I actually saw a backpacker's van parked right outside. I had a very bad feeling.

True enough, when I returned to the allocated room, I was somewhat shocked and very disgusted. Shady. Very shady. It's by far the worst room I have stayed in. Way worse than the budget hole in the wall thing I had in Genting some years back. 

Here's a picture of the room for effect.

And yes, that IS ALL. Not angle trick or anything. Right beside the two tiny beds is an even tinier toilet, which I shall try to show below.

I would totally put up more pics but the internet connection is so slow and unreliable I'm afraid to lose all my content if I try to be too adventurous. 

Anyway, if you can see, the shower is right beside the toilet bowl, which means you shower right onto (or into) the toilet bowl, which is beside the miserable porcelain bowl they call a sink. Above the sink is a plain glass for mirror. There was also no real soap given. 

If that's not bad enough, check this out. The towels had random, shady looking hairs on them. BOTH OF THEM!!! I was scared and dried myself off with my own clean garments. What the hell was that about?!

I called my mom and ranted for twenty minutes. 

This is what you get when your host is el cheapo. It's not about being ungrateful or anything, but I would gladly have paid for my own accommodation. We expected to do that anyway and have something more decent in return. 

Sigh. I miss home. 

And guess what, my "organised" dad has yet again surprised me by saying that it's possible we might have to stay another night (luckily at KL this time) and will only get back home on Friday morning. 

I need to get my flight changed. NOW. 

Bloody hell the meeting tomorrow has better be fruitful. 

One redeeming point: at least there's free, working internet. 

 

blogging at lcct

okay I am officially bored. am waiting for my next flight to kb later at 2130 hrs at a coffeeshop, pretending to be busy working on something on my pda phone.

thanks to free wireless at lcct, I can share my boredom with my few measly contacts. so knock yourselves out people.

I have many things I can blog about, which I will do when in the comfort of having my laptop on later. meanwhile, I shall be contented with sprouting nonsense with uncapitalised words (too much of a hassle to use caps when typing on miniature keyboards).

a funy story: I was so bored today I found myself observing a random fly who was preparing to attack my dad's uneaten doughnut.
so there it was, perched on the railing, waiting for the right time to attack. and in the short ten seconds it was there, I noticed a couple of things: first, the fly doesn't look as disgusting as we make of it. second, as much as we associate flies with being dirty and unhygienic, it is actualy capable of simulating what seems like an act of personal hygiene.

since I refrained from seeming like a crazy person and have thus not videotaped the encounter, I shall now attempt to recount what I saw.

first, it lifted its back legs and rubbed them against its wings in a circular motion, just like we would if we were washing our faces.
next, it lifted both its hands and rubbed them together, as if it were washing its hands.
then, as if realising my stare, it stoped for a split second and being flew off.
I was kind of facinated.

okay you may laugh now.

and then he's gone

Perkin's Obituary Message 

My dearest Perkins, 

I knew you were the one for me since the day I held you at SPCA Coquitlam and you instinctively tapped your long tail on my leg to the rhythm of the music. (Okay I'm exaggerating here, but let me be).

You were the fattest, most senior cat there and they said that no one wanted you. Well, their loss; my gain.   

I brought you home and since then you've been a constant companion, the most human-like cat there can ever be. 

There are so many memories. You've braved the 20-hour flight from Vancouver to Singapore, and the one-month quarantine in that tiny cage with your equally fat brother, Gallie. You've thrown your tantrums when I left you at home on my business trips. You've proven to all my friends that cats are capable of loyalty and extreme affection. 

Everyone loves you, and they will always remember you. 

So rest in peace my not-so-little pillow. We will always love you.

There will never be another one like you. 

Love you always,

Joy2

http://www.singaporepetobituaries.com/PETOBITUARIES_107.html

I've been preparing myself for this for some time now. In fact, I haven't been the only one. Those who love me enough have been exercising some hard lovin' by reminding me that he's old and one cannot expect him to live much longer. And really, I thought I've prepared myself quite enough. I knew I would be sad, but I didn't think I would cry. But I did. Well no, I didn't just cry. I BAWLED. Like a mad woman. 

I guess I felt conflicted. On one hand I'm glad his suffering has come to an end. It's for the better really. No one should be living when one can't eat, can't sleep, and can hardly breathe. Yet, it's still so painful to let go. 

Thanks to little Jane the broadcaster, everyone who knows Perkins (and who're on facebook) is now aware that he's gone. Thank you to all for your messages. I am fine and Perkins is the luckiest cat in the world to have so many people care for him. 

And here are pictures of my beloved kitty for your remembrance. 

He thinks he's a model

He's forever sleeping - in style

Sometimes he reads 

Other times he falls asleep while studying

Now let's witness how creative Perkins can get with his sleeping positions:

Okay and then there were too many others...

I guess I'll leave them for another time

Bye bye Perkins. I love you.