Ever since Lola and I got back from Europe, things have been unbelievably hectic at the office.
There’s the usual backlog that accumulated while I was away. It took me hours to plough through hundreds of emails — both bonafide ones and spam.
Then my 3-year old Sony VAIO laptop went nuts — restarting without warning, giving me the Blue Screen of Death at the most inconvenient time, running out of memory (yes! my drive C is full!), etc. — and almost drove me insane.
A customer who has not contacted us in more than 6 months suddenly informs me that the project we’ve been working on for the past year is finally on and that they want everything concluded in June (!).
Somehow I even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Jakarta, and then, a few days later, to Singapore. Hence, that post about flying to Singapore on AirAsia.
And to make things just a little more ‘interesting’, it’s that time of the year when school children in Malaysia have their midterm exams, so I had to find time to help MyEldest, OnlyGirl and RoundBoy work on the stuff that they’re having problems with, mostly Bahasa Malaysia (BM). It’s getting trickier now that they’ve started doing Karangan (Composition)… I’m seriously considering sending them for BM tuition next sem.
So now you all know why I haven’t posted anything about the rest of our European adventure. And why many of my dear friends have not received any email from me in a long time. I’ve been very, very busy. As in genuinely busy and not just making up excuses. And I’m so sorry, dear friends, that I haven’t been in touch :(
I’ve been so busy, I didn’t manage to book free AirAsia tickets for our holiday next year! AirAsia was giving away free seats to all of its international destinations for travel between 12 Jan and 30 Apr 2009, but booking had to be done 14-16 May. Unfortunately, by the time I was ready to find some free seats, I had internet connection problems. Grrrr!!!
I’ve been so busy that only things I’ve been able to take photos of are a couple of highway mishaps on the way to work.
Here’s one of a mysterious burning taxi (mysterious because there was no sign of any other vehicle involved)…
And here’s one of a collision between a passenger bus and a lorry carrying steel coils. This story came out in the newspaper yesterday and I was glad to know that no lives were lost that day.
Anyway, just to keep you all in suspense, you can look forward to reading, in the near future, posts with such titles as ‘Paris on a Budget‘, ‘Amsterdam’s Red Light District‘ and ‘Missing Stroopwafels.’ I’ve already started working on the drafts but haven’t had the time to refine them just yet.
But for now, I’ve got to get back to that pile of documents that I brought back from the office to work on this weekend… :(
Here are some photos of the twins when they had their first proper haircut at the
barbershop last April. By proper, I mean, without me having to restrain them or sit with them. Unfortunately, they were taken with a camera phone, so please forgive me for the poor quality of the pics.
I must confess I first brought them to the barber’s when they were just a little over a year old. They were so scared of the barbers that they kicked and screamed even though I sat on the barber’s chair with one twin on my lap at a time. As I didn’t want any trauma associated with the barber, I decided to postpone any further trips to the barber shop until they are a bit bigger. And that’s how I ended up giving the twins haircuts at home myself (because I’m the only one they’d allow to go anywhere near their hair), using one of those electric systems with interchangeable “combs”. So if the twins’ hairstyles have not been very proper in their photos before April 2008, you know who to blame :P
The twins arguing on the proper pronunciation of the word ‘excavator’:
Twin 1: Ska-vey-ter!
Twin 2: A-vex-ter!
Twin 1: Ska-vey-ter!
Twin 2: A-vex-ter!
Me: Ex-ca-va-tor…
Twin 1: Hah! Abang pandai! (Big Brother is clever!)
On the way to playschool this morning:
Twin 1: Nak nak kus! (Tak nak school – I don’t want school) Cuti! (Holiday!)
The twins arguing on the pronunciation of the word ‘lemon’:
Twin 1: We-mon!
Twin 2: Le-mon!
Twin 2: Hah! Adik butul! (Adik betul – Little Brother is right!)
As I once said, with kids like these, who needs TV? ;)
My assistant and I flew to and from Singapore on AirAsia yesterday. We went in the morning, had a meeting with one customer, had a second meeting with a supplier, then flew back in the evening.
The flights were on time, the leather seats were impeccably clean and felt luxuriously good, and the flight was so short, it didn’t matter that no free snacks were served on board. But if you feel peckish, they sell nasi lemak and nasi briyani for RM8, a hotdog sandwich for RM7, roti jala with chicken curry for RM6, roti canai for RM5, mineral water or Milo for RM4, among other things. You can find the full menu on AirAsia’s flights here.
The flight was supposed to take an hour but, yesterday, it only took about 35 to 40 minutes. Perhaps we got a good tail wind yesterday. Or perhaps the pilots flew faster since their planes are lighter, thanks to AirAsia’s 15-kg baggage limit (vs the standard 20-kg allowance of most airlines), the RM5 baggage handling fee they’ve started imposing since end-April (RM3 if you book online) and the 7-kg limit on hand luggage, a very potent combination that deters most passengers from bringing too much luggage on an AirAsia flight.
We flew into and out of Changi Airport’s Terminal 1, so it was a pleasure roaming around the airport while waiting for our return flight. Even if we didn’t roam around, the free internet terminals and free wi-fi would have been more than sufficient to keep us occupied.
My only grouse is the schedule of AirAsia’s KUL-SIN-KUL flights, which is not as flexible or as early as Malaysia Airlines (MH) or Singapore Airlines (SQ). As of this writing, the flight schedule is as below:
KUL-SIN
AK123 0950-1050 hrs
AK127 1950-2050 hrs
SIN-KUL
AK124 1120-1220 hrs
AK128 2120-2230 hrs
But with AirAsia’s return ticket (from RM400) at about half the cost of MH and SQ (from RM890), it’s still a very irresistible option.
The KL-Singapore route is said to be one of the most lucrative routes for MH and SQ, and a 34-year-old agreement kept away other airlines from flying this protected route all this while. Then came AirAsia’s Dato’ Tony Fernandes, who tenaciously fought tooth and nail to get the right to fly the same route. AirAsia finally got the nod to fly the much coveted route in October 2007. (Side note: If only AirAsia would fly the KL-Davao or KL-Cebu routes soon!)
Another alternative is Jetstar, which offers fares from RM8 one-way — before taxes and other fees, of course — but their schedule is a bit too cumbersome for me. Their KUL-SIN flight is at 1635 hrs (4.35 pm), with the return flight at 1505 hrs (3.05 pm), thereby making an overnight stay mandatory.
If you don’t like flying, or have budgetary limitations but have 5 hours to spare, then by all means, take the bus. The North-South Highway that links KL and Singapore is very well maintained, ensuring a smooth and comfortable journey. Buses that ply the KL-Singapore-KL route are very comfortable and tickets can cost anywhere between RM30 (standard economy buses) and RM80 (luxury double-decker buses, with movies, snacks, wi-fi on board) for a one-way KL-Singapore ticket. The return ticket usually costs the same, but in Singapore dollars. Tickets can be booked online or you can buy them at the Pudu bus station.
Taxis are also an option which I haven’t tried before, so I have no idea how much the fare costs. And by taxi, I don’t mean the red-and-white taxis you flag from the roadside in KL, but the ones in Pudu bus station.
Then there’s the overnight train from KL Sentral (KL Central Station) to Singapore. Click here to see some photos of the various room and sleeper berth options. Round-trip tickets cost anywhere between RM19 and RM131.80. Schedules, photos, and even online ticket sales are available at KTM Berhad’s website.
The final option is driving, which can take a bit more than 5 hours, if you factor in one or two toilet stops and at least one snack or meal along the way. If you do take this option, try not to go across the Causeway, which is in perpetual gridlock. The Second Link would be a much better alternative and can easily shave off 30 minutes to an hour off your journey.
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UPDATE! (1-Dec-08)
AirAsia now flies the KUL-SIN-KUL route 7 times daily. Schedule as below:-
KUL-SIN:
Depart – Arrive – Flight
0730 (KUL) – 0820 (SIN) – AK 121
1000 (KUL) – 1055 (SIN) – AK 123
1245 (KUL) – 1335 (SIN) – AK 129
1500 (KUL) – 1550 (SIN) – AK 125
1700 (KUL) – 1750 (SIN) – AK 131
1950 (KUL) – 2050 (SIN) – AK 127
2125 (KUL) – 2215 (SIN) – AK 133
SIN-KUL:
Depart – Arrive – Flight
0855 (SIN) – 0945 (KUL) – AK 122
1130 (SIN) – 1225 (KUL) – AK 124
1405 (SIN) – 1455 (KUL) – AK 130
1615 (SIN) – 1705 (KUL) – AK 126
1820 (SIN) – 1910 (KUL) – AK 132
2140 (SIN) – 2240 (KUL) – AK 128
2250 (SIN) – 2350 (KUL) – AK 134
Tags: AirAsia, Jetstar, KL, KTM, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore, Singapore Airlines, Travel
You see it everywhere these days — that ubiquitous “PayPal Donation” button. It’s scattered throughout various sites all over the Internet, some tiny and discreet, some more conspicuous than others.
Is it tantamount to begging? Or is it akin to payment for services rendered? After all, maintaining a website is time-consuming — coming up with new ideas, writing, rewriting, posting relevant photos, finding relevant links, taking or looking for the appropriate pics to go with the posts.
Plus, there’s the cost of registering the domain and paying for the webhosting. Of course, the cost for these two have gone down a lot in the recent years. But at the end of the day, cost is still cost.
What do you think?
That button works, by the way ;)
Tags: PayPal, PayPal donation
