Paradise, I Am Coming

The date is 7th January 2010. I am looking forward to it.

Land of Smiles, I am coming...

Merry X'mas & A Happy New Year From Hong Kong

Wishes all my readers, family & friends a very Merry X'mas & a Happy New Year all the way from Hong Kong.

Love you all! Enjoy the purple X'mas video I took @ Harbour City ;)

Happy Winter Solstice

Picture courtesy of Delicious Asian Food

Happy Winter Solstice to all my readers, family & friends.

This is my first Winter Solstice out of Malaysia, I will be having a small dinner together with my sister here. Do enjoy the dinner back home. I miss you all so much!

And I will be back in January 2010. First thing that I am going to do is to meet two of my best buddies in KL, I miss their lame jokes a lot. Can't wait to meet up & TCSS and they must bring me to mamak!

See you peeps soon!

Happy Winter Solstice!

She's Having My Baby

Good song to ponder...



What will happen next?

Born Rich

I had just finished episode 38, I was made to know that some of my friends are chasing it back in Malaysia, buying those DVD. It is really quite addictive and I have the privilege to watch this in HD here. More & more people died, not much suspense expected for the final episode this Sunday.

But overall it is quite a good drama, oh ya, it was called "富貴門" or in English it's called "Born Rich". Though the ending will be very much as per my prediction, I will still watch it this Sunday. TVB never fail to capture its audience through its dramas.

In meantime, enjoy the closing theme song by Gallen Lo.



Sleeping early tonight as I will be going to Cheung Chau tomorrow with Josie & Nick. A weekend breakaway from the busy city.

Ciaoz!

新不了情

"Have you ever been blindfolded when you are in love with someone?", a friend asked.

Did a bit of quick thinking and immediately I answered that once upon a time I am but at my age now, I guess I am not. And that simple question inspired me to write a little bit more, and it's a wonder that simple things like this can inspire me to write more.

And the above title, I was asked by someone to listen to that song. Unfortunately I am unable to read Chinese, but when the song was sent to me and I listened to it, I got this weird feeling about love & relationship thingy, all the girls that I am romantically linked with, popped up my mind one by one, pretty weird really.

Now listen to that song and tell me if you are feeling the same way too.

Leadership

Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of the organizational context. However, defining leadership has been challenging and definitions can vary depending on the situation. According to Ann Marie E. McSwain, Assistant Professor at Lincoln University, “leadership is about capacity: the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making, to establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to articulate their own values and visions clearly but not impose them. Leadership is about setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that makes for substantive improvement rather than managing change.”

The above was an excerpt from wikipedia of what leadership means. Over the past years, very unfortunately I have not met much of leaders, managers or even directors who carry the above traits.

Perhaps before we employ one to work, we should ask them the real definition of leadership instead of getting any Tom, Dick & Harry from competitors.

These are just purely my opinions, it is not in any way related to anyone for that matter.

At the same time too, I hope leaders can stop pointing fingers and stop all these rumor-mongering.

Life's is short so enjoy it then only life's good! So go get a life will you?

In meantime, this song got me emo a bit, enjoy the song. I am missing someone...

Food in Hong Kong

It's 4AM in the morning. I had just concluded my project file and forwarded the invoice to client. Doing web consultancy job can be fun but at the same time it can be seriously draining your mental capability after a long day staring at the monitor. In between these long hours, I do take a break checking on my facebook or go for a quick puff.

So enough of my work, I am not going to write a lot this time around and let the pictures themselves do the talking ;)

Phew, actually there's a lot more to go but my eyes are closing. Will try to share as much as I can. And I do miss the nasi lemak back home ;)

Let's hope this weekend not a working weekend for me and I shall be back with more stuff soon!

Cheers!

A Little Update From HKG

Many might regard working here in Hong Kong is a glam as this country is more developed than what we have back home. For foreigner like me, I am considered lucky that I do not have to pay for my accommodation which might cost me a bomb if I were to go out and rent a place.

A decent apartment or flat here would cost not less than HKD10k per month, that is approximately RM5k. What I enjoy most here for the time being is the weather, though sunny it is not even warm, a perfect day to walk around and sightseeing.

So back to my work, it had complications last week. And I had a chance to participate in a regional meeting and I am currently having a savior to back me up on this project. My target to finish this region would be 3rd week of December if they can approve it fast for me, I just hope there will no longer be any delay further.

If I happen to meet my expected time line and get paid at the same time, the first thing that I want to reward myself is a holiday! Definitely I need a break, I need to see beautiful sea, beaches, do some reading by the beach, drink as much beer as I can. This is how lonely my life is here in Hong Kong. I agree with my friend who stays here as well. This city can be very vibrant but also can make one lonely as well.

I can't wait to eat my nasi lemak and hokkien mee. There's so much I miss back home now.

Pray for me, I shall be back soon!

:)

Dear Dad

This post is specially dedicated to my dad.

Happy birthday dude and may you have a blast back home!

It is always known that your son is not doing a very good verbal communication with you as we do share a lot in common especially our temper. The world knows me as a person who can express myself better through writing and in fact, I was motivated a week ago to post up something here but I hold it to today as it coincides with your big day today!

Something from the heart, at times I felt dreaded as well for not being the model son you expect me to be. Well, in valuing success, perhaps we have different definition for that. For you, success means face value in terms of materials gain, wealth, dollars & cents and I do apologized for not being able to achieve the level you are expecting from me.

But, I do have a dream and I do share my dream with my siblings and all I need is support from family members. I hope you can feel my sincerity in this.

On rumors & sayings, I cannot control what those managers had spoken to you. It is unique that we were once colleague and to be frank I am having tough time confronting this. But of recent, I believe I have again prove to you that those rumors and sayings are baseless accusations. If I am not good, I would not have been associated with them for 8 years. There is anger in me to write unpleasant 1001 things about them, but why do I need to do that? The word manager & management came from the word "manage", leaders who cannot manage its people, then leaders should be deemed to be a failure. If people is the failure, leaders should remove them indefinitely as it would make matter worst for the organization, but I do not see that happening.

And dad, do not pressure yourself too much, your age, you should be laid back. As a son, I support you to quit your job! Quit the job and time for you to travel, to Hong Kong to visit me or sis or perhaps next year visit me in Thailand when I am confirm to be posted there. I do not want to pollute this post with stains of the organization you and me know who are them.

So let's make this post not a heavy one, what I try to let you know is that I have plans in mind, but I do not share because it has not been a reality as yet, I do not share does not mean I am not doing anything at all. Trust me dad, trust me...

Again, happy birthday to you!

Love you always,
Michael

My Birthday Celebration & Updates from Hong Kong

Guys, been neglecting my blog for a bit. Last week practically a busy week for me.

Attended the Asia launch of LG latest Chocolate phone, BL40 at Four Seasons, Hong Kong. Met up with some Malaysian medias & also my ex-colleague, Nicole. The launch was the best LG launch that I had attended so far. It was somehow glamorous for a launch to be decorated with global celebrities like Chi-ling Lin & Nadya Hutagalung.

The press kit given was very well done with an USB drive containing the soft copy of it & product images making updating the blog easier than before.

After the launch, went out with ex-colleague for a shopping & makan around in Hong Kong, good to catch up with Malaysian friends.

Then came my birthday which is a working day for me. My day started at client's office for a meeting then at night my sis arranged a hotpot dinner for me together with some of her colleagues, thanks Sis, Aileen, Jenny, Brian & Allison! The dinner was great!

Then Jenny popped up a suggestion of going to karaoke since it was my birthday, everyone was too shocked to response to her suggestion. Jenny looks like in her 40s but she rocks! Then we decided to go down town to Mongkok Redbox, it was hell of a night thanks to the beer. Thanks people for making it something for me to remember here in Hong Kong.

And not forgetting too, the wishes which I personally thanked each & every one left on my Facebook, SMS & Twitter. So it's back to work again for me, I plan to get it done as soon as possible and if everything is on track, I will be meeting up with my friends in Thailand for a short holiday before I head back to Malaysia.

Jolly time over, back to serious business now! :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

This post is specially made to thank all wishes I received via Facebook & MSN. This is the first time I am out of Malaysia on my birthday. And it is those wishes I received kept me warm while I am at foreign soil.

Received a call from Thailand as well and it did somehow brightened up a bit of my day although I know I got to wake up 7AM later to attend a meeting with client. And thanks to a dear friend who sang me a birthday song all the way from Malaysia, my dear, believe in yourself and let's look at the happier and brighter side ya!

I am indeed really happy now... Guess I am gonna have a sweet sweet dream, and pray for me people, cross fingers that the client will give me a big YES during the meeting on my birthday!

Once again, thanks people!

Cuddling Kamasutra

Never thought that I will miss cuddling so much, something that is free in life but I took for granted at times and now I blardy miss it! It's freaking cold here now, I wish I can be cuddling to get some body heat with my partner.

But cuddling is not always a good thing, I am trying to recall some of my experiences with some girls I got involved with. As I am a bit horizontally gifted, most of the girls I got involved with mentioned that I am so nice to cuddle but the problem is when they fell asleep soundly, I always got my arms trapped and removing it will be an unpleasant and perhaps will wake the girl up. I then end up having pins & needles on my arms the next morning.

Then I bumped into this video on youtube on how to avoid your arm being trapped while cuddling. In another words, it is the cuddling kamasutra. Sounds interesting and I wanna share it with my male readers especially so that you will know what to do when you find yourself in such situation;



I am perfect for cuddling no.4

:)

Welcoming Winter

Hi people!

For the first time, I can see the sign of winter approaching here in Hong Kong. Weather still as sunny over the day but as night approaches, the day ended pretty early, as early as 5PM, we can see darkness here already. And today, the wind blow is strong, I got a feeling that I will experience some typhoon alert here like the one I experienced here last year.

For friends who are coming over, do remember your wind breaker ya, pretty chilly here as the night approaches. As for myself, I am busy with my work here, doing the final mapping and design for approval, let's say once I concluded the design for the Hong Kong HQ, I will be back to Malaysia, targeting December 2009. If not I guess I will be celebrating my Christmas & New Year here.

It's November and for November boys & girls, happy birthday peeps! There are far too many to list out all here, you know who you are!

And some Malaysian friends updated me that the weather there is pretty wet now, it rains almost everyday I heard, so people be extra careful with everything. And of late, heard many back to back incident in Kampar, 6 people were drowned in less than a week. Just take precaution in whatever you do peeps. Kampar indeed is a very nice little town and I pray that there will be no further incident happening here.

A simple text updates here, not much pictures I can upload as of now. Will do a more picturesque posting later this week as I am joining 15 other medias from Malaysia for the latest LG mobile phone launching here in Hong Kong. I will be covering the event for LG Blog as well. In meantime, LG Blog has some 50 pairs tickets to the Da Vinci The Genius exhibition to be given away. Check out the blog post now! Unfortunately I am unable to attend the exclusive exhibition back home but hopefully I can get my project done here soonest possible and pay a little visit to see Da Vinci's exhibits!

Until then people, Happy Winter!

Halloween Greetings From Hong Kong

Hmm... Halloween somehow is a big thing here in Hong Kong, everywhere you go, be it malls or stalls by the roadside, you can see them selling pumpkins, costumes, funny accessories, etc.

Not only that, Disneyland HKG got Halloween theme, Ocean Park got theirs as well, Madame Tussauds the wax museum got some scary shits there. It's blardy happening here!

And what's my plan? Halloween on Saturday, I'm home alone & I got no costume but heck, I am gonna walk down to The Aviator as a hunter, to see if I can get lucky or not, any cutie home alone too???... hiak hiak hiak!

Happy Halloween to all of you & I do hope the guys get lucky ya! ;D

Why My Country Sucks

The new video circulating around tells what I really feel about my country. I will put up the video later at the end of my post. If you have not know, Namewee, who is a hero to many young people in Malaysia, made a new video to screw TNB, a GLC, a monopoly and one of its kind in its industry.

How many Malaysians have never experience electricity interruption in Malaysia? I doubt there is any. My sister had been in Hong Kong for the past 7 years, she had never experience any of it as far as she is concern. Reason: In Hong Kong, major utilities like water & electricity, do need maintenance therefore the possibility of breakdown is zero! During this few hours maintenance every month, the utility company will advice at least 2 weeks in advance and chose the period when people will be at work most of the time to do the maintenance.

So you tell me, when can Malaysia improve? Even whatever fuck political tsunami or whatsoever, it will make no difference, more than half century gone since independence, I do not foresee my country will go through another half century any better.

To my few friends who migrated and got the other country citizenship or PR status, CONGRATS!!! Hope to follow suit soon! Enjoy the video!

A Month In Hong Kong

It's approaching my first month here in Hong Kong (HKG). I am not totally familiar as yet but today I am going to share a bit of the place where I am currently staying, my client's office and perhaps some tips if you are visiting HKG anytime soon.

Hong Kong is split into 3 areas; New Territories, Kowloon & Hong Kong Island. The name of the place that I am staying is Tung Chung which falls under the area of New Territories. So I will not indulge further on other areas as I am not that familiar as yet. Tung Chung is the city that is the nearest to HKG International Airport.

From the airport, one can take buses numbering S1 or S56 to get to Tung Chung MTR station. The cost is HKD3.50 which is approximately RM1.30 if I were to treat the rate of Ringgit half of the HKG Dollar. Tung Chung will be the last station on the most West side of the line. The subway services here are pretty easy, not as complicated as I first thought when I saw the MTR mapping.

Most of the time when I mentioned the name of the place, many of my friends would not know where is it. Therefore for easier understanding, normally I will tell them that I am one station away from Disneyland station which Sunny Bay.

So for the past 3 weeks or so, I only had the privilege to loiter around this small airport city. It took me approximately close to 40 minutes HKD18 to get to Central Hong Kong from Tung Chung plus my client's office is in fact in the HKIA itself so I need not travel that much actually.

Tung Chung from my observation is like Mon't Kiara or Bangsar in Malaysia because I can see many expats here, and most of the airlines stewardesses, stewards & pilots will stay around this area. There is nothing much to shout about here and the main attraction here would be the Ngong Ping 360, where there is this cable car bring you up a hill to see the big Buddha & Po Lin Monastery.

And for shopping, I had earlier mentioned about Citygate Outlets where it housed all the factory and warehouse outlets here. If you would like to know more, please check it out here. There ain't much to shout on the food though, most of the time I will just dine in the neighborhood cafeteria or in Cantonese, they normally call it "Char Chan Teng", just like Wong Kok Char Chan Teng (WKCCT) in Malaysia except that the food in WKCCT is crap food, con Malaysian food. Any cafeterias here that you go put them to shame really. Average cost per set meal here would be in the region of HKD28-40. Set meal meaning one main dish and one drink.

Hong Kong is a bit similar like Singapore, the people here do not have the privilege to live in a large house or landed property. You gonna be a multi billionaire if you wanna own a landed property here. So obviously myself, I am staying in an apartment as well. Yes it is an apartment and not a condo and see for yourself the apartment here is higher grade than the condo we have in Malaysia. The name of the neighborhood that I am staying is Caribbean Coast. I do not bother to count the number of blocks but there are many blocks and each blocks are made up with 65 floors. Crazy huh?

And if you think you gotta be a billionaire to own a landed property here, then to own an apartment here you better gotta be a millionaire. I am talking bout the billions & millions in Ringgit point of view. Guess how much the apartment I am currently staying now? A mere 800sqft with the current market rate in HKG, it's about HKD2Mil, that is approximately RM1Mil. A simple calculation, it's a whopping RM1,250 per -square-blardy-feet.

And in HKG, I smoke lesser than I do back home. Over here, there is dedicated, designated area for smokers unless you wanna be fined HKD5k you can opt to smoke anywhere you like.

Hmm... the weather around this time is cloudy and it can be pretty windy at night. If you plan to come around this time, do remember your cardigan & wind-breaker.

Until then, more update soon!

ps: Damn! I forgot to remind you guys to get an Octopus Card, it is a must! Don't ask me why, you will need it!

Updates From Hong Kong

I had been receiving the same question again and again but I do see the logic behind this question. Being away from home for a long period, it makes sense for friends back home to ask this.

People, I am here in Hong Kong not entirely for leisure, that is for sure. Hong Kong is not a country like Thailand where you can survive with minimal spending. The pace and living standard in Hong Kong is high, it is only logical for you to earn and spend here. So i will update a bit on what I am doing, why I made this move and when all this will be over.

Thanks to my years of networking in the cyberworld, be it blogging, facebooking, twittering, etc, I was requested by a company here in Hong Kong to assist on their website revamping. This is an international company with networks across 18 cities around the world. Unfortunately, their business had grown rapidly that they ignored entirely the importance of web marketing.

So I was given a task to do a total makeover on their website and at the same time advice them on activities to run online. For the past 2 weeks, I had meetings with the owner of the business and was requested to understand fully on their business before they award me the whole project. So in a way, I am sort like a web marketing consultant if you need to give a position to it.

In terms of knowledge on internet, I would say Malaysians are doing better than the people here in Hong Kong. The people here are more practical and more revenue centric kind of thinking and to invest a substantial money onto web, I need to have a certain level of convincing power towards my client. The few days I had checked in their office and I was given a work desk by them. Though in terms of knowledge we Malaysians have the human resource in this area but unfortunately in Malaysia we are enjoying crap internet connection. The infrastructure here is amazing, in terms of bandwidth that makes surfing a pleasure here not to mention downloading & uploading files.

Client's office is in the Hong Kong International Airport (I will talk about in depth of their businesses in another day). I was given a chance to tour the whole airport both Terminal 1 & 2 and Arrival Hall. This airport is massively huge and a lot of walking around, a simple tour can last about 3 hours per session. I had done 3 tours so far and now is in the final stage of getting all the collective data and findings for my analysis to client.

I am supported by designers in Malaysia and dear if you are reading this, thanks for the great support, we can do great things together and my apology for pushing and giving you info on the very last minute each and every time. As for me, I will be doing the copy writing for them. So I am sort like a medium to coordinate and communicate client's needs and requirements to my designers.

In terms of my own revenue, I would say the amount is not what many would assume it is, in short, OK lah, if not I wouldn't have travel so far for this. That amount was pretty similar to what I made during my employment days in XX company.

Then why do I make this move? Firstly, it is the exposure. Not many would have a chance to work and experience how is it like working in Hong Kong. I had a chance to join the sales & marketing meeting recently and I got to say it is totally a fresh experience for me even though I had been working with Koreans for about 8 years. Secondly, this short project of mine if successfully implemented will do good for my resume definitely. And really, it does make an impact. People with overseas experiences most of the time will have its plus points compare to those with local experiences.

So friends out there, you guys know what I had been doing. And of course, during these period here, I do try my best to meet up friends who make their visit here in Hong Kong. With AirAsia, more and more Malaysians will frequent Hong Kong. Next week will be meeting ex-colleagues who will be here for a launching and I will be attending it. The week after, another 3 female friends will be coming for a shopping trip and the following week 2 other friends are coming. So I manage to squeeze my time to juggle between work and leisure here.

My mom and my youngest brother had just gone home today. So it's home alone most of the time for me here and yes I do miss friends back home. I do not miss Malaysia to be frank but I miss my friends who are able to listen to me, to cheer me up when I need to, I miss them a lot! And I do hope I can conclude my project here and meet up with them for a short time in December, fingers crossed! Brothers, pray for me ya!

And for the next year's plan, I will share when the time is right. At the moment, I just want to focus on this project and I cannot afford to flop at this point of time. Ending this long winded post with a photo taken in Elements in Kowloon.

Until then, work aside, I will update more about my life here soon! Love you!

Officially Missing You

A song I heard last night totally blew me off. Each and every time I listen to some beautiful songs, somehow I tend to relate to my life experiences. This song that I will be putting up later is quite an old song but it only touches me when it was covered by this twin. I had a good look at all their videos and magically only this particular song I felt a connection to the melody & the lyrics. I got it stuck as my favorite number on my iPod now.

I am officially missing somebody, not mentioning names, someone who once had an important place in my heart, someone who is currently 2,511.41 KM away from me. Enjoy the song and the lyric, let's sing along together :)

Officially Missing You (Cover Version) - Janice & Sonia
O.A. Tamia

[Verse One]
All I hear is raindrops
Falling on the rooftop
Oh baby tell me why’d you have to go
Cause this pain I feel
It wont go away
And today I’m officially missing you
I thought that from this heartache
I could escape
But I fronted long enough to know
There ain’t no way
And today
I’m officially missing you

[Chorus]
Oh can’t nobody do it like you
Said every little thing you do
Hey baby say it stays on my mind
And I, I’m officially

[Verse Two]
All I do is lay around
Two ears full of tears
From looking at your face on the wall
Just a week ago you were my baby
Now I don’t even know you at all
I don’t know you at all
Well I wish that you would call me right now
So that I could get through to you somehow
But I guess it’s safe to say baby safe to say
That I’m officially missing you

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Well I thought I could just get over you baby
But I see that’s something I just can’t do
From the way you would hold me
To the sweet things you told me
I just can’t find a way
To let go of you

[Chorus]

Yeah yes
All I hear is raindrops
And I’m officially missing you

What's Left Back Home in Malaysia?

This is the first time I am away from my home country for a long time. To be frank, I felt a bit alienated and trying my very best to cope with the life here in Hong Kong. It is not easy when you had been in a country for more than 2 decades, building your very own comfort zone, meeting friends, hanging out, mamak-ing, the food and suddenly you find yourself in a foreign country minus all these good o' times.

The first few days were a torture especially finding a good place for food at reasonable price and missing those fun with friends back home but I try to minimize those thoughts, focusing and observing the new culture that I need to blend into.

Somehow I really felt sorry for the state of my home country, Malaysia. Over here in Hong Kong, people are so occupied of what they are doing and the locals are really professional about their daily tasks, be it the cleaner, the waiter, cashier or the hard labors. Everybody is fighting for survival, the more hardworking you are, the more rewarding it is. Indonesians & Philippinos are mainly seen as domestic maid here and the local Chinese seems to me to be able to find a living here.

Now back in my home country, being a Chinese, we tend to be picky with our jobs, simply because we are being paid crap salary. We import labors, and these labors subsequently shoot the crime in our country up. We have crap politicians trying to compare us to Vietnam & Cambodia.

And reading news about home, how in Malaysia the Chinese community can fight for its right when the component party that represents the Chinese in Malaysia is being operated by jokers? And yes, I am talking about MCA. Our friend went berserk and sack yet another fella from his team because that fella is no longer seen as an ally (as many said). I do not blame OTK. Yes, he is seen to be a hero revealing the famous PKFZ scandals, but in Malaysia, you cannot work as a lone ranger. The PKFZ thing once revealed, it will nail a lot of those top people who walk the corridor of power. I do not think OTK can survive this fire fighting internally & externally.

Sigh... what happened man? I just a normal Malaysian who wants to see Malaysia like any other developed countries, is it too much to ask for? Can those who walk the corridor of power share their wealth with the people? And damn why my dad is not a politician? If he is, I probably would have better chance to survive and get financial assistance from any banks.

And stop talking bad about Pakatan Rakyat on how PAS, DAP & KeAdilan are having crisis. Fuck! At least those fellas dare to voice themselves up to condemn each other. MCA & MIC, you are seen to be OK with your partners because you watch too much of Jim Carrey's "YES MAN".

Just too much of bad publicity about Malaysia lately. Can't help myself but to rant aimlessly a bit.

Felt better now... Today, I had a chance to work closely with my client in Hong Kong, it had been a good experience for me to be called to join their internal sales & marketing meeting today. Long day but I learned a lot. I am taking a day break off work tomorrow, meeting Malaysian friends here.

I promised no more on "no solution" political issue in my blog, will post more on my Hong Kong life here & pray for me dude, I responded to an interest on getting me a full-time employment in Thailand. Hopefully they can work out a reasonably good remuneration package for me, ciaoz for now :)

Ending the post with a life's good pose taken in Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong :p

Final Day in Northern Thailand

What a lovely weather now in Hong Kong. A beautiful Saturday and before continuing on my life here in Hong Kong, I wanna finish up the posting on my recent trip to Northern Thailand. For easier track back, please check out here, here & here.

In brief, Northern Thailand population is mainly made of hill tribes people from Burma who came to Thailand to seek asylum during the civil war there. The Thai government recognized these people as the 2nd class citizen of Thailand which means they will not have the privilege like other Thai citizen to enjoy government subsidized benefits, for example education, etc.

Northern Thailand or the Golden Triangle was once best known for its notorious drugs production & dealing. In the past, those hill tribes who seek asylum in Thailand would grow poppy plants to make a living.

All this however change thanks to the royal presence when the late Princess Mother built the Doi Tung Villa. Thai has very strong passion on its monarchy, that is why it is very important for tourists and foreigners to know this point because unnecessary and unpleasant remarks about the monarchy will land them in hot soup. To stress again, never ever poke fun on Thai's monarchy, the King & the monk.

Ok now on the Doi Tung Villa, a summer palace on the slopes of Doi Tung near Pa Kluay Reservoir, which is now open to the public as a museum. The royal initiative also educated on new agricultural methods to stop slash and burn practices. Opium has now been replaced by crops such as, coffee, teak and various fruits. Thus the life of these hill tribes changed so whenever I asked them about the late Princess Mother, they will passionately described her in many good ways. The rest of the property, including the Mae Fah Luang Garden and Mae Fah Luang Arboretum, is also open to the public. Please note that no photograph is allowed inside the Doi Tung Royal Villa.

At the peak of Doi Tung, 1800m above sea level, Wat Phra That Doi Tung is built around the twin Lanna-style chedi. The chedi were renovated by famous Chiang Mai monk Khruba Siwichai early in the 20th century. What was captivating here to me, the two rows of temple bells, pilgrims bang on the usual row of temple bells to gain merit.

All in all, my this trip there had opened up my eyes in a lot of ways; Thai's culture, its way of living, its food and the home-stay in village had been a great experience for a city boy like me. God willing, I will love to visit it again during the Songkran festival. For those who are seeking advice on this area, do email me, I will try to assist as much as I can :)

As for me now, its my first week here in Hong Kong, the first few days always been exciting when you bump into a new place & new environment, but as time passes, I start to miss friends back home. In Hong Kong, long stay here is not easy, the moment you step out of your house, you start to burn a hole in your pocket so can guess that I most probably home most of the time, or perhaps just go around the neighborhood for a walk. I am currently home alone for a few days here. I am invited for a post mid-autumn celebration party tonight @ the Hong Kong International Airport World Trade Center, was there last night and the view was amazing, will try to snap more pictures & upload it to my Facebook.

Oh ya, not forgetting too, taking this opportunity to wish all my Hindu friends & readers a very happy Diwali, I am so gonna miss the food! Ciao!