My First Trip to LANGKAWI

This is our accommodation, Awana Resort, and our rented MPVs.

My First Trip To LANGKAWI

It was a rare occasion when one day, one of my friend called and asked me if I want to go to Langkawi. My reply was "Why not, I have not been there before. When will that be ?" The answer I got is 14 Sep 2008. We fly from KL domestic airport (LCCT) by Air Asia to Langkawi. The return ticket only cost RM120 or S$50. We need to book early as it is a promotion rate. So we booked the air-tickets in Jun 2008. We need to drive to Tampin on 13 Sep 2008 and stay a night at our friend's place. Our friend will send us to the airport on 14 Sep 08 and drive my car back to Tampin. Flight time is only one hour. When we arrived at Langkawi, there are 2 MPVs waiting for us at the airport. Our group has 12 adults and 4 children. The rental rate for each MPV is RM100 per day, self-drive. With a map on hand, we made our way to Awana Resort which is our accommodation. The hotel rate is RM140 a night for the non-seafacing.

Some Information & Facts About The Island

Langkawi comprises a group of 99 tropical islands, in the Andaman Sea, lying off the north-western coast of Peninsular Malaysia, about 30 km from Kuala Perlis and 51 km from Kuala Kedah on the mainland. The main island is known as Pulau Langkawi. In addition to the island's many land and underwater natural beauty, Langkawi's duty-free port status has provided visitors with another reason to visit the island.

Landmark of Langkawi

One of the landmark I know at the island is called the Eagle Square. It is located near the shopping area called Kuah Town and it is near the sea. At the Eagle Square, you can see a huge eagle facing the sea. A lot of tourists like to go there to take photo with the eagle.

Seven Wells

Another place we visited is known as the Seven Wells. There is a nice waterfall also near the Seven Wells. As the Seven Wells is located much higher than the waterfall, we only walked up to the waterfall. The water of the waterfall is very clear and cooling. We can see a group of youngster there dipping themselves in the water and sun bathing. Some are in bikini.

At the beach there

We also drove to a nearby beach in the evening for a swim. The sunset at the beach is spectacular.

Finally

I must say Langkawi is a beautiful island to rest and relax. We only stayed 2 nights there. Given us more time, we would have gone to the Pulau Payar Marine Park. It is 19 nautical miles south of Langkawi and encompassess the islands of Pulau Payar, Pulau Lembu, Pulau Segantang and Pulau Kaca. There is marine life there for snorkelling and diving. There are a lot of places to visit at Langkawi, eg Sungai Kilim, cable car, wildlife park, crocodile farm, etc. For those who like to do shopping and eat seafood, Langkawi will be the right place for them. For those who like to drink, a can of Tiger beer will cost only RM1.60 or S$0.66. The wine and liquor there are all duty-free. But there is a limit each person can bring them across to Malaysia.

I find that the people there are all very relax. Everyone has their own job. The island is very peaceful. My sister-in-law told me she been to Langkawi many years ago. When she and her friend arrived at the jetty of Langkawi, there will people come to ask you if you need transport. They can provide you transport throughout your stay. After she agreed to pay the guy to use his transport, he asked her to make full payment to him first. Being a kind in innocent person, she paid him full. After they check-in at the hotel, he took them to a place of attraction. After he dropped them off, he is supposed to come back at a agreed time to pick them up but he never return. When my sister-in-law went back to the jetty on the last day, she saw the same guy there soliciting for business. When she question him, he pretend that he has never met her. Lesson learnt is never make full payment for a job or service that is not completed.

Trip to Southern Ridges 28 Sep 08

Trip To Southern Ridges 28 Sep 2008

This is the second time I bring people to Southern Ridges. They are my friends from the Bucky Group. The first time was with residents from Bukit Batok Zone 4 RC, we walked from Henderson Wave to Alexandra Arch. This time I parked my car at the Hort Park and walked from Alexandra Arch to Henderson Wave.

We started off from the Floral Walk. With its creative arrangements of different floral forms and patterns, its many colours and hues have been designed to excite your sense of sight. After the Floral Walk, we were at the Alexandra Arch.

Alexandra Arch has the shape of a leave. It also serves as an overhead bridge for crossing Alexandra Road. It has colourful lighting at night.

At the Alexandra Arch, we saw a recovery vehicle pulling a white car out from a drain. The engine compartment has been smashed totally. I can see some marks at the tree. Likely that the car was driving at a high speed and lost control. It hit the tree and continued to barrier near the drain. The barrier was also brought down during the accident. From the photos, one can see how much damages a driver can caused if he/she is not careful. I have no idea what is the cause of the accident. But I am quite sure the car is moving at a high speed beyond the speed limit at that road.

After the Alexandra Arch is a long walk on galvanised grill, known as Forest Walk, to the top of Telok Blangah Hill. At the end of this trail is a shelter which has a Geodesic Dome like structure. All 4 of us have different head dress. I have a hat from Australia. Joo Hock has a jockey cap. Monica has a hat from Cambodia and Anna has jungle hat.

From there, we continued to walk to Henderson Wave. Henderson Wave is a bridge across Henderson. It has the shape of a dragon. It is also lighted up at night. The air at the bridge is very refreshing and the view up there is excellent. You can even see the sea when you are up there.

From Henderson Wave, we took a short walk down the slope and stairs to SAFRA Mount Faber. Over there we had our breakfast at Ah Koon. For S$3.80, you get quite a descent breakfast which consist of toast bread with kaya, 2 half-boiled eggs (come without shell) and a cup of coffee or tea.

We then walked along Henderson Road then turned to Depot Road. Near the end of Depot Road is Preston Road. We turned left to Preston Road followed by Forest Walk. We crossed Alexandra Arch again but this time from the opposite direction. We walked pass Floral Walk and to Hort Park.

Hort Park is a place you can spend another hour or two to look at the indoor decoration with flowers and potted plant. It has many beautiful gardens each has its own theme.

Advice from Me :

For those going there,

1. Go when the weather is good.

2. Go as early as you can to avoid the heat. You need at least 3 hours to complete the walk.

Finally, I must take my hat off for our govertment for doing such a wonderful job of providing such a nice place for people to walk, see, take photos, relax, exercise and it is free-of-charge (carpark is not free most of the time). I must also thank Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and National Park. I have been there many times and each time I go, I discover new things.

How To Win Friends And Influence People

How To Win Friends & Influence People



One of the fundamental to success is able to get along with people. This by itself is a difficult task.

Everyday we are faced with so many different people. From your family members, neighbour, colleagues, friends and so on. You may meet new colleagues or new friends at times.

Here I try to share the key points from a book I read about How To Win Friends & Influence People.

Fundamental Technique In Handling People





1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.


2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.


3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.





6 Ways To Make People Like You





1. Become genuinely interested in other people.


2. Smile.


3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.


4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.


5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.


6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.





By Dale Carnegie

Some People You Just Don't ...and the Fact of Life

Some People You Just Don't .... and the Fact of Life

Everyday during our daily life we will be meeting people. Some people you just don't feel like talking to them, seeing them, following them when driving on road, being their neighbour, etc.

Why I say that ?

People you don't want to be their neighbour.

Some neighbours are so self-centred. Everything they do is for their own benefit. I have living in a private apartment, we have limited parking lots. Certain lots are designated for MC members. But some residents just don't care and any how park their car. When come to washing of car, because they have domestic helper and there are 3 taps at the parking area to collect water, very often, I can see some domestic helpers wasting precious water.

Over at my office, we have colleagues sitting near us which can be considered as our neighbours. I have a table fan on my desk. My habit is to on it when I feel warm and off it when I step out of office or go home. Some neighbour will turn on my fan when I am not in office. But the person did not turn it off after using it. Many a times when I step in my office in the morning, I can see the fan is on. It was left on for the whole night, why waste electricity when you don't need it. Worst is sometimes when I came to office on a Monday morning and noticed the fan is left on over the weekend.

People you don't want to follow.

Back in my office, each of us has 2 computer. One is a PC and the other is a laptop with access to internet and can bring home the laptop. I can see some people will leave their computer on when they go home. Why waste electricity when you don't need it. Computer also need to "rest" when you don't need to use it. Why don't people turn off their computer before they go home instead of leaving it on perpetually ?

People you don't want to follow when driving on the road.

Some drivers don't use their indicator when filtering lane or making turn. Everyone is using the roads. We should be considerate when using the roads. To let others know we are filtering or turning, it is best to signal so that drivers behind us will know. It is also safer as other road users will be aware of your intention. Some drivers just don't have the habit to use indicator. These are the drivers I don't like to follow.

People I don't like to talk to.

Some people just like to complain and make negative remarks about things they came across. These are the people I don't like to talk to. Some of my colleagues just like to complain about their work, the people they need to deal with, their boss, etc. Well you can say it is a mean for them to air their view or relief their stress. But I find that they are negative and focus on others or outside instead of looking at themselves and look inward in terms of what is wrong with himself or how can he change.

Finally...

No two persons are the same. We also need to accept the fact that different people has different thinking, behavoir, habits, attitude, etc. Instead of complaining about someone being unfair, not understanding, lack of wisdom, etc, why not just accept the fact of life.

The Art of Healthy Living (1)

The Art of Healthy Living (1)

Use it or lose it. Sounds familiar ? 60% of adult don't get enough exercise. Yet no one is too old or too out-of-shape to benefit from regular exercise. And it is not as hard to get started. The first is simple : try walking !

It is easy, cheap and safe. And a brisk walk burns as many calories as running!

Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Go for a quick walk on your lunch hour or coffee break.

Walk part of the way to work.

For part of each session, push yourself til you are breathing hard.

As little as three 10-minute periods of moderate activity each day can make a big difference!

It is an established fact that compared to other diseases, the incidence of hear diseases is 3 times higher in case of people who live a sedentary life. The incidence of heart diseases is noticed to be most nil in case of those who exercise regularly or who are engaged in manual jobs.

I will exercise at least 3 times a week. Every Wednesday evening I will practise Qi Gong for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Every Thursday I will play badminton from 7pm to 10pm. During weekend, I will go for 5km run and sometimes swim at my place if the weather is good.

Your health (and future) is in your hands.

Story of Help Smart

Story of Help Smart



There was an old farmer leaving with a wife and 3 sons. He is quite rich at the time because he has 17 cows. One day he told his wife : If I died, you are to give our eldest son 1/2 of the 17 cows, the second son 1/3 of the 17 cows and the youngest son 1/9 of the 17 cows, with killing the cows. The wife does not know how to divide them according to what her husband wanted.



One day, the old farmer died, the widow was totally lost. Fortunately, she knew of a volunteer who leaves in the village. This volunteer has been helping people for many years. When she approached the volunteer, he to told her : That is easy, I have a cow with me, take my cow with you, your problem will be solved. The eldest son gets 1/2 of 18 cows, that is 9 cows. Your second son get 1/3 of 18 cows, that is 6 cows. And the youngest son get 1/9 of 18 cows, that is 2 cows. The widow also did not know that after adding 9 cows, 6 cows and 2 cows, the total is 17 cows. So she has an extra cow and decided to return it to the volunteer.



Everybody was so happy, not longer after the volunteer got back her cows, the cow that belong to the volunteer gave birth to 2 calfs.



The moral of the story is that we can be helping people, but with limited resources, we must also learn to Help Smart like the volunteer. In this case, he gave one cow to help solve a problem. In return, he get back 3 cows, how nice.

Vocation with a Cause - My First Trip to Cambodia

Voation with a Cause - My First Trip to Cambodia

As per what I have said earlier in my blog, I try to travel to a country each year where I have not been to before. Each place I go, whether it is for the first time or not, there will be new insight and new lesson to be learnt to share.

I was in Cambodia from 9 to 13 Jul 2008, with my wife and 14 other of my volunteer friends. I called it the vocation with a cause because it is also an overseas service project cum holiday. This is my first trip there and I hope to go back there again. We were there to build a new classroom for a school, give away cloths, shorts, bags, stationary, tip-bits to 2 ophanages and tour Angkor Wat, Bayon and some other historical sights.

Introduction

We booked our own air-tickets through internet with Silkair as early as April 2008. Each air-ticket is about S$320. Some booked in May 2008 only pay about S$280. We know a local tour guide in Cambodia, he book the hotel for us and got us a 20-seater mini-bus. The charges for the whole package is S$458 per head for twin sharing, inclusive of 4 nights stay at 5-star hotel, tour at Angkor Wat & Bayon, city tour, USD20 entrance fee to Angkor Wat and all meals. I should say what we paid is very reasonable.

As for our service projects, we brought with us about 400 kg of things for the children and adults of Cambodia. At Singapore check-in counter, we supposed to pay for excess baggage but Silkair was very kind to waive it because we said we are bringing the old clothes for the poor in Cambodia. We managed to raise USD4,200 to build one classroom in Cambodia.

(to be continued)