Roughing out(thats what my two fellow travelers will say) at the backpackers is not everyone’s cup of tea, esp. if one is so used to the comfort of a hotel plus service. But with food and fuel hike at its peak, my suggestion to put up at the backpackers during our trip to Brisbane sounded like a smart move.

The first sign that it was not a smart move came from the cab driver. Before dropping us off, she shook her head with disapproval and asked us repeatedly whether we would like to go someplace better. We shook our heads and take what the devil has to offer. 

We were left to drag our 20kg travelling bag up a flight of stairs to the reception and check-in counter. An American African, called himself Moses greeted us with a wide smile and a set of white teeth.

Pretty nice looking right? Some travelers have been staying in this place for months, working for 3 hours daily to get their free stay. We were given a quad-sharing room,  just next to the reception.  There were two double-decker bed, that comes with mattress and pillow. If you need a blanket, just another AUD1.00. Especially with a fan just above your head, you need more than just a blanket to keep warm. 

A British girl, about 20 years of age was there before us. She left a visible shilling in the middle of the bed, slightly covered with a piece of her clothing, trying to test our honesty. We likewise kept our suitcase locked at all times. With all the going-ins and out and people talking in the wee hours of the morning, we hardly slept a wink. By then we had to be up to check-out and catch our coach to Gold Coast. 

Imagined us being picked up by some handsome young whites!!! Honestly, some young guys invited us for a night out when they found out we were staying at the same backpackers. If we were 20 years younger, hmmmmm……….. Anyway, I love Brisbane: the Botanical gardens, the famous Story and Victoria bridge where its opened to pedestrians; the Queenslander Clubhouse, the Treasury building, walk the famous Roma street or ride the free City Bus shuttle….. One day is too short to enjoy everything Brisbane has to offer. Definitely going back there again.

Boats anchored at Victoria harbour

  A Nepalese house nestled within the Cultural & Arts Centre

Angkor Wat reflections

“I have wondered all my life, and I have also travelled.The difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment”-Hilaire Belloc.“

Now where was I?”, I wonder.  Oh yes… the 6-km city. Its not everyday I get a free flight and hotel stay with breakfast thrown in. In fact hardly, unless it’s some contests I’ve won.  Lucky charm must have crossed my zodiac star. I was  in Siem Reap with my boss and about 20 delegates from Malaysia for the Annual International Rubber Conference recently. One of the participants suffered a slip-disc at the last minute. Despite some earlier apprehensions as I was the only rose among the thorns, I threw caution to the wind. With so much being written and talked about, nothing is like seeing the place with your own eyes.  Don’t let the “long walk, the climbing, the heat” stop you from visiting this ancient ruins, a UNESCO heritage.  I called it a 6-km city because Siem Reap is such a small place but rich in histories, ancient sites, a shoppers’ paradise and handicrafts. From the tuk-tuk to riding pillion on a motorbike, to taxis or even public bus is at the snap of a finger. The commercial center from  banks, government offices, hotels or restaurants is confined within the 6-km radius. If you are going during the hot season, be prepared with masks or scarves to cover your nostrils. The choke-filled air is quite bad. But if it rains the night before, then going sight-seeing in the tuk-tuk for US$2 per ride or US$8-10 for a whole day, is a breeze. If you intend to enjoy your visit to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, buy a three-day ticket. Some who went there with children finds it a drag. Under the shady trees, there are rows of stalls selling local coconuts or drinks to quench your thirts, food for your growling tummy or browse through the many well-crafted silk tablecloth, shirts/T-shirts and souvenirs if you need to rest your tired legs.In the outskirts, besides Angkor ruins, there is the Tonle sap (Floating lake), a heart-wrenching experience for me, the silk farm, Land Mine museum and the Cultural village. Besides these, the town has many things to offer :the National Museum, Royal garden, Asia craft and gems center along the Pokambor Ave. Many food stalls lined the roads. If you are in the vicinity of National Museum , drop in at the Borey Sovann or Chaopraya restaurant for your food. Most tourists take their meals here. There are a variety of choices, from local to western food for US$2.99 to US$5.99. From the Angkor Holiday hotel where we stay, it was walking distance to the Centre and Old market. After 8.00 pm. you can visit the night market where you find more handicrafts and souvenirs. Along this same street, Sivutha Ave, there are some night spots such as Jasmine Angkor or Blue Wave bistro for karaoke or enjoy a few drinks watching scantily clad dancers.

And don’t forget to taste their French loaf. One of the best. Can be found in most of the food stalls. That must be a legacy inherited from the French, who occupy Cambodia in the 19 Century.

Bas reliefs on the South-West gallery

boat people in Tonle Sap, “Floating Lake”

Tawau is a coastal town on the south-east coast of Sabah. There are a mixture of migrants from Indonesia, majority Bugis.  Despite sounding like some backward state(sorry for the pun), we visited Semporna with its famous floating restaurant, pearls and fishing wharf. It is a  gateway to the numerous islands, in particular Sipadan island.  We were cautioned  against going for safety reasons unless we get a tour guide.Aside from that, we visited their Palong houses,wooden stilt houses on water at Tanjung Batu(the name was derived from the hills with rockfalls). It has made a Chinese man into a millionaire. The hills are still standing.  

Many families have been living there for years. Despite their “unhealthy way” of doing business, most of the houses are well-maintained and furnished and the people live peacefully despite many who are migrants, having made their home here years ago.

On our way back from Tg. Batu, we enjoy the breeze of the sea, with a fantastic view of the Perairaan Toulson, an entry & exit point for those from Indonesia which is about 10 minutes drive from Tawau town.

 Our hosts  feted us with their local specialties, namely soto(chicken soup served with nasi impit, chicken meat, fried peanuts, cutlet and coriander) and gado-gado, a mixture of blanched & fresh vegetables, eaten with sate sauce.

 Tawau town boasts of the famous Central market where there are fresh seafood and assortments of cheap, dried and wet foodstuffs and their Sabah kopi with tongkak asli(not ali). Then there is the famous Sabindo Seafood Court Centre where you can feast your palletes with fresh prawns, sotong, fish…….at very reasonable costs.

One thing is sure. Fresh and cheap seafood. Tawau lives up to its name.

I love Tunku Halim’s stories - eventhough it is fiction but many aspects of his tales can say to be taken from situations around us. Some we hear but never really seen with our own eyes. He makes it so real and frightening that I would not want to dabble in, even if I am very much tempted. There are so many good ones but here it is, my 3 favorites:

44 Cemetery Road

It’s so common to hear the young people say, ‘It still don’t know what to do” or “I’m undecided”. They are at the prime of their life, death seem so distant. But when we crossed the 50s, 60s or 70s time is precious. Sleep elude us, sometimes comes unexpected and you find us nodding off at odd hours of the day. If only I could be young again, if only I could live forever, never growing old. If someone offers you the magical potion for the exilir of life, would you take it? Tunku Halim offers you that if you follow him up that hilly road……..

Four numbers(5328) for Eric Kwok

I don’t know about the Indians and the Malays, but I can vouch for the Chinese people. They can be obsessed with NUMBERS. When it comes with buying a car, the number plate is very important. Why? My boss drives a BMW, his wife drives a Peugeot. “If someone is tailing me”, he says, “the first thing he will read is “my number plate”. So imagine if your number plate has numbers “444” that rhymes like “death” or “9” that could mean “dog’s life”? Sooner or later, bad luck sure come lah. When it comes to the date and year of one’s birth, your house number, date for one’s wedding, the Chinese tends to take this seriously. It could make or break your success in life. But when it comes to buyng empat ekor all races are the same. Their purpose is “to get rich”. Find out whether Eric’s number came out in the draw…..

Night of the pontianak

Tunku Halim’s book “44 Cemetery Road” brings back so many tales I heard and watched when I was growing up. Among the toyos and orang minyak, one of them was the Pontianak show I watched over at my friend’s place. The black and white T.V screen makes it scarier. When the show is over, usually around midnight, I run home for my life. That is what Azman did. Got into his car and drove like a lunatic to get away from ………Pontianak is coming, pontianak is coming. And don’t think the cross or amulets you wear or the Quran you hold can ward of Tunku’s Pontainak.

Mersing Jetty, Pahang.

My colleagues and I cruising to Maritime Park &Pulau Renggis for our snorkelling experience

For R5 you can camp here, surrounded by sand and sea and sunshine while enjoying a round of drinks.

22 primary school pupils slapped for failing to turn in their homework - quote.

How to discipline students?

During my days in school in the 60s and 70s discipline is taken very seriously. With 40-45 students in a class to teach with some parents expecting our teachers also to be held responsible for our discipline, it is no laughing matter.Let me share with you some methods the teachers and headmistress used during our time.

When they talk too much, give them a slap or stuffed chalk (used during the early days) into their mouth. If they still continue their unacceptable behavior, grab their ears and rattle their heads until “screw loose”. When they don’t do homework, send the book flying out the door. When you can’t decipher their writing or exercises smeared with ink, use a wooden ruler and knocked on their knuckles until swollen. When they can’t sit still or go about disturbing others, cane their legs or their buttocks. When they forget to bring their books, write out 1000 times “I must not forget to bring my book”. When they are late for school, shut them out. When they don’t pay their school fees, “Don’t come to school”. When they come in with unkempt hair, cut off their “crowning glory”. When they forget to bring their PE attire, make them run round the field in their uniform.

I once attended a canteen open for parents in my son’s school. I was shocked to see the behavior of some students. They go about in groups of 3 to 4. They walked through the classes and started kicking the tables and chairs for no obvious reasons except to be NOTICED. And that is in full view of parents. What more can the teachers do? No wonder they have to call in the police to help solve indiscipline.

Have you been a victim of unfair discipline or are you the teacher who melts out discipline. Share with us your experience.

Judy has me tagged. Sometime backI submitted a 600 words contest on “Must women give up their jobs to be good parents” to qualify for a free one day seminar organised by eHomemakers.

I am all for woman who sacrificed their jobs, some high paying careers for their children. You don’t want to look back and said, “I should have spend more time with them etc….”. And a part-time job would be ideal too. Of course there were times I told my husband he should have work for his business man father so that I too can be a SAHM but….

Some of you have the luxury of being a PTWM, SAHM, TTWM. Sadly I don’t. Before I even finished my last piece of exam paper, I had to hit the street to look for a job. So except for the holidays that I looked forward to and the annual leave, most of my life is spend working, working and working. The day God send Adam and Eve to till the ground, instead of having a life of luxury, both man and woman got to spill sweat to enjoy the fruits of their hard labor(for woman - labor pain).

The only occasion I did part-time work was during my schooling days, if that is considered part-time. Its not juggling between baby sitting and work. Rather its juggling between schooling and earning some pocket money to pay for my school fees. I have neither position nor title in my years as a worker but I could write a whole book on the Many faces of Malaysian bosses.

The names given to each of these bosses defines whether he is a favourite among his/her staff. We have the Square head, the Fish in the glass tank, the Mamak, the China Ah Pek, the Kopi kaki, the Monk, the Egostic, James Bond and Hally Berry. We even have the Power Crazy lady boss. I remembered Anita Bruzzese who wrote “45 things you do that drive your boss crazy and how to avoid them”. I could write a possible sequel to that : “45 things you do that drive your staff crazy”. Who would want to read such a book? The bosses would be quick to point a finger at us and said “”you are the not-so-stellar worker, the stupid worker who could not write a proper letter “. Like Anita was quick to mention “if you dread going to work, you may need to stop blaming the boss and start seeing yourself as part of the problem” -quote.

For a mere RM3 during the 70s , you have to face a lady boss who is all sweet and loving on the line with the male clients, and turned into stepmother as soon as she hangs the phone.

If you have a boss who has not has his morning fix of coffee, pray your intercom does not buzz. You are in hot soup.

But not all bosses fall into the naming category.We have the exception - the boss who always sees the good side of you. The boss who does not keep scores and the boss who treats you like just like family.

If you have anything that you like to share on what type of boss drives a worker crazy, any personal experiences, I would like to hear so I have tagged the folllowing:

1. Alice

2. LeePing

3.Firehorse

If there’s any work under the sun that can be consider ‘light’ work, I would definitely say WRITING. It doesn’t involve hard labour e.g like gardening, under the sweltering blazing sun. Another example baby- sitting. It’s a 24/7 job to be always on the alert, keeping your eye on the baby, even if the baby is sleeping. What about office job? If you are a good worker and in boss favor, life is pretty good. Otherwise, your stress level goes up and down like a bouncing rubber ball.

My office boss have read some of my articles published by TheStar daily, so he loaned me this book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. He thought I should read this book to further help improve the way I write with the Right stuff and to unblock things that gets in my way. So here I am starting what the book say “My morning pages” - 3 pages a day.I let you know if I fail to keep the pages turning…….

Today is Chang day, the Dragon Boat festival for the chinese. Even though we dont pray, my mum used to pak chang(wrap rice dumpling) for us to eat and give to our relatives and friends. Now she’s too old to carry on making this delicay, so I thot’ its time to show off my skills, after years of observing my mum doing it.

My chang leaves and the strings to tie the chang are still lying around somewhere in my kitchen. That is called procrastination. Last Saturday I was all fired up to carry on the family tradition of making my own chang, with my favourite flavors and whatnots. But a scout at the night market for the ingredients put a stop to any hope of me sampling some nice changs. The prices for the nuts, mushroom and even the salt eggs have escalated. Hoping to get a taste of the chang from my office colleague, I was disapponted. She thought the same, ” Do it after the chang festival, when the prices of things drop”.

These days it’s so easy to get recipes to make chang, if you are first timers:

http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=1384