Wednesday, July 22, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR

Last Thursday evening, I flew Malaysia Airlines flight MH081 to Kuala Lumpur. This flight was originated from Narita. It was a full flight but most of the passengers were joining from Kota Kinabalu.
B777-200 is a comfortable aircraft even in the economy class. I did enjoy the flight but I did not like the dinner. I opted for fish in sweet and sour sauces with steamed rice but it was unappetizing. The fish was very soggy as was the broccolli.
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On arrival at KLIA, I checked in the KLIA Pan Pacific hotel for a night. This 5 star airport hotel is just a few minutes walk or less than a minute buggy ride (provided by the hotel) from the main terminal. This hotel has 441 rooms and suites which are designed to exceptional standards.


Complementary mineral water and a chocolate pack
The room's 32" LCD TV
Coffee and tea making facilities Luxury bathroom with complete amenities.
KLIA Control tower view from my room.
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I was supposed to stay at the Kuala Lumpur Coronade hotel in Bukit Bitang where I was to meet my business partner on the second night. However, this hotel was fully booked. I was told by my travel consultant that all hotels in KL city were fully occupied because of the Middle East holiday traffic. She managed to secure a room at the Capitol hotel just a few minutes walk to the Coronade.

The room was small but comfortable with basic amenities. I didn't expect too much from a 3 star hotel anyway.

Bukit Bintang area with Sungai Wang Plaza on the right, a shoppers' paradise.
Lot 10, for upper class shoppers
In the evening, I found that a section of night market just at the corner of the hotel
The night view of KL Twin towers from my room.
Jalan Alor, the open air hawker center of Bukit Bintang, a popular dinning place for the tourists.

RM9.70 for this cup of milk tea and a bowl of "fish head" bee hon soup.
Durian and Mongostin are now in season.
On my return trip, this taxi driver refused to use the fare meter but wanted to charge me RM15 from Bukit Bintang to the KL Central station where I could catch the Express train to KLIA. I decided not to use him and took the Monorail service instead, costing only RM2.10.
At Bukit Bintang Monorail station
A comfortable ride since it was not the rush hour.
The KL Central bus stop. The fare to KLIA is RM10 per head and RM8 to the KLIA LCCT (Low Cost carrier Terminal). It usually take an hour plus (depending on traffic). I preferred taking the KLIA express train as it took only 28 minutes and cost RM35 one way.
"HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY to KLIA". I did not realized that KLIA is already in the 11th year of operation.
It was a B737-400 for my Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu flight. I believed Malaysia Airlines has closed their "Flight Kitchen" for good since the catering uplift was done by LSG Sky Chefs. The brunch served on-board the B737 was much better that the B777. I had satay and fried rice. I was surprised that the meal came with "Ferrero Rocher" chocolate.
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It was a tiring trip but worthwhile as I managed to close a good deal.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

PUH TOH TZE TEMPLE

One of the sight seeing spot for Kota kinabalu city tour is Puh Toh Tze, a Buddhist temple, located off the Tuaran road just 20 minutes from the city. This temple was built in 1980 with the traditional Chinese roofing and structure. There are ten large statues of deities adorn the temple with the Goddess of Mercy, Kwan Yin, standing tall at the main entrance to greet visitors. The laughing Buddha A giant bell at the walkway in the temple
My friend, Miura san making a wish.
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The Puh Toh Tze temple opens daily from 08:00 to 17:00. Visitors can tour this temple on their own. Taxi from the city centre is approximately RM15 - 20 per way.

Monday, July 6, 2009

TANJUNG ARU BEACH

Tanjung beach is located about 10-15 minutes drive south of Kota Kinabalu city. It is a popular place for the locals especially during weekends when faimlies and friends come together to relax, swin and enjoy the sea breeze. There are many hawker stalls, serving a variety of food. Last week, after visiting a friend at the Tanjung Aru Beach Resort, I drove over to the beach to buy some young coconuts. I was surprised that I have to pay to use the carpark (on a public beach?). I have actually not visited this beach since the local government last upgraded the area. The beach was quite empty since it was a weekday. I noticed that the pavement along the beach clean and well maintained.


The coconut stall - the current price is RM3.5 each

These are my favourites: steamed sweet corns and peanuts.

The durian stall The view of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine park's islands from the beach front.
This is one of the best place to watch sunset in Kota Kinabalu.

Friday, July 3, 2009

BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER

26 June was my wife's birthday. I greeted her with a bouquet of flowers and a chocolate cake. In the evening, we celebrated the occassion with a simple Japanese dinner at "Hana" in the City Mall
Teriyaki beef set
Tempura set
Agedashi tofu The bouquet of flowers was later transfered to a vase

Thursday, July 2, 2009

THE BIGGEST INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER IN MALAYSIA

It will be a bad day if the DSL of this modern continues to blink when I start my computer. It means that I will not be able to connect to the internet. This has happened many times after I bought the broadband package from TM NET, the biggest internet service provider in Malaysia years ago. In the past when this happened, their customer and technical services crew could rectify the problem within 48 hours. Last Friday, 26 June, the same problem occurred and I called their customer services for help. As usual, they instructed me to do the several steps, like switching on/off the modern and enter certain technical codings to the selected pages. However, it did not work and finally they gave me a "Report Number" and promised to rectify the problem soon. Nothing happened after 2 days, I called them again to inquire about the progress. I was told to wait as they were looking into the problem. It was a long frustrating "wait" as I was unable to read newspapers and communicate with my friends throughout the world. No body in their customer service center could tell me exactly when the connection could be restored. After presurring them every day over the phone, finally on 02July, a local TM net technical staff called my house phone at about 09:30 and inform us that he would check the telephone line in their "station". Just like that, at about 10:45 same morning, the DSL light stopped blinking and I got the connection.

TM Net claimed to be the strongest and biggest Internet broadband provider in Malaysia and yet it took them almost a week just to check a telephone line.