Yummy...BBQ Duck

Seoul - After meetings and after meetings, YJ drop me off the Hotel for freshening up. He later picked me up in his car together with a Park Chun-Han drove for an hour to a remote location that specializes in BBQ Duck. Though this restaurant was remote, there was a constant stream of people flowing in.

We walked to the restaurant reception area to pay up and pick up the cooking utensils, Duck, chopsticks, drinks, vegetables and head towards a sheltered area for cooking. The cooking area was quite make-shift and choose a 'comfortable' area. In 'comfortable', I mean we had to sit on bottle beer crates, and cook in front of the stove ladden with really hot coals. An old man will go round to put the hot coals and clear up the area after guests have finished with their meals. Just one old man to do this stuff.

We poured all the red spicy Duck onto the stove plate and wait for it to be cooked. It was really delicious and hot especially in this cold winter temperature. There was lots of Duck (1/2 duck I was told) and vegetables but the 3 of us, finished the meal without a trace of meat left...Yummy!

Of course, with every good meal you need Soju to go along with it. When we were almost finished, we were so warm that we had to open the door to let the cold winter air in for us. After the finishing our BBQ Duck, we ordered rice to mixed with the left over duck pieces and vegetables - it also taste really good.

This is really Korean style eating and very homey - it was a very special experience.

My 63rd Trip to Seoul

Seoul - Today will be my 63rd trip to Seoul. Manage to catch 3 movies on the flight over to Seoul. Upon arrival the temperature was 10 degree celcius - very cold. After an hour of Limo Bus ride, I arrived at Grand Hilton Seoul Hotel.

Met with my channel partner Bryan Na and Young Jin, and together went to a seafood famous for a particular type of fish - A-Goo. This is a fiery spicy fish dish cooked over a gas stove, so Bryan asked for the dish to be mildly spicy. When the dish arrives, it was boiling red hot - no visible sign of any fish in the soaked sea of spicy chilli. Wah! one dip into the fish and soup - it was very spicy. We were all panting for water...

Fried Silkworm larva

Also tried one of Korea strangest food - Beondaeggi 번댁기, fried silkworm larva, which are a traditional snack. I was told that this is a Korean favourite snack of when in childhood times but lately has been very expensive. After so many trips to Seoul, this was my first time trying this snack - it was an acquired taste. Having the thought of putting fried silkworm in your mouth would turn many away. But the taste gets better after a few rounds of soju and beers...

Bound for Bali

Bali - The tropical paradise of Indonesia and only 2 1/2 hrs away from Singapore. When it comes to tropical gateways. Bali (sometimes called Island of the Gods) is definitely a prime destination. This place is briming with thousands of temples, sparkling beaches and endless shopping experiences. The SQ flight to Bali was crowded mostly Caucasian tourists- only a handful of Singaporeans on board the flight. This will be my 2nd trip to Bali (May 1996), my first was organizing a company sales conference and was held on Sheraton Laguna Resort on Nuasa Dua. Upon arrival, many tourist were queuing up at the VISA-on-arrival. Indonesia has a Visa-on-arrival for quite a number of countries, whereby VISAs are issued when you can arrive in Bali. Singapore passport holders and ASEAN members do not need a VISA to enter Indonesia. I zipped through immigration and was out of the departure hall in just under 30 minutes - this was also a surprise to the driver that was waiting to pick me up. He said that his average waiting time is 1-1/2 hrs. My hotel stay is Hard Rock Cafe Hotel in Kuta, it takes about 20 minutes to reach the Hotel but today the roads was crowded leading up to Kuta because of the 1st Asian Sea Games held around Bali beaches. The stretch of road along Kuta was jammed with people and cars. It was so crowded. I have heard so much rave reviews about Hard Rock Hotel and it is all true. The greetings from the front desk were sincere and welcoming. It was a very different atmosphere and once in your life experience to stay in a Hard Rock Hotel. The hotel compound is large and it took me a while to orientate myself. The room number does not correspond to the floor - room 4008 is on the ground floor - strange! Shopping is all around Kuta and a short distance walk from Hard Rock Hotel. I walked to Kuta Square and Kartika Discovery Mall (the largest Shopping Mall in Bali).

Yummy Seafood!

Seoul - The morning and afternoon were filled with meetings. Evening dinner was memorable - Bryan took YJ and I to a quaint seafood restaurant. This restaurant serves a type of raw fish (sashimi) that I had never hadeaten before - the fish is Jeon-eo (Gizzard Shah). This fish is only available around Autumn (October or November). It is uniquely sliced with the bones - the bones are fine, you can eat the whole slice of Jeon-eo. After a few slices of this Jeon-eo sashimi, I just could stop - it was delicious. You can dipped the Jeon-eo sashimi in wasabi sauce, and wrapped the fish in nice Korean lettuce - uhmm! Ba-shita..

The fish is good either as sashimi or in hot-peppered style, mixed with various vegetables and spices. Also popular is to grill your gizzard shad sprinkled with rough salt and take it with old kimchi.

Another nice dish is live prawns baked in natural salt - (called Dae-ha in Korean). The live prawns is slowly baked live and when cooked it was so delicious.

Natural Salt is different from Refined Table Salt. Unrefined sea salt contain 98.0 % NaCl (sodium-chloride) and up to 2.0% other minerals (salts) : Epsom salts and other Magnesium salts, Calcium salts, Potassium (Kalium) salts, Manganese salts, Phosphorus salts, Iodine salts, .. all together over 100 minerals composed of 80 chemical elements. Refined salt (Table Salt) is 99.9% NaCl (sodium-chloride), (chemical as clean as Heroin or White Sugar) . It almost always contain additives, like 0.01% of Potassium-Iodide (added to the salt to avoid Iodine deficiency disease of thyroid gland), Sugar (added to stabilize Iodine and as anti-caking chemical), Aluminum silicate.

Hiking up Buk-han San - North Korea Mountain

Seoul - The moment I have been waiting for...climbing one of Seoul's popular mountain peak, Buk-han san - strangely means 'North Korea Mountain'. I did not have time to buy a mountain boots so had to do a quick shopping. I bought my mountain boots at Bang Bang departmental store - reasonable at W29,000 discounted from W69,000. Korea is going through tough economic times and there are heavily discounted sales everywhere.

Young Jin drove his car to pick up Kevin at a subway station and off we went to his apartment to drop off my luggages. I check out of Grand Hilton Hotel and will check-into Ramada Seoul Hotel in the evening.

Reach the base of the Buk-han San in no time, parked the car and off we make our trek up the mountain. Unlike my previous trek up Malaysian mountain (Mt. Ophir), this Korea mountain is very rocky with steep climb up the slope - at times 45 degrees elevation. I had to stop many times going up the mountain to rest - it was very hard work and tiring. The mountain boots help but not my jeans - should have worn a loose pants so that I can stretch my leg further going up. At times, my leg just wanted to buckle and give way - it was really tiring going up. But we made it, the view from the mountain was spectacular - it is no wonder Koreans love their mountains and climb hours to reach the peak (in Korean called Baek-woon dae) at the height of 836.5m. It is Autumn, the colours of the leaves were in radiant colours of red, amber, yellow, green and brown. It was a beautiful sight to behold!

Young Jin, Kevin and Ron

We are at the Peak of the mountain, and it took us 3.5 hrs to reach this peak and another 1.5hrs to get down. Climbing down the mountain is easier but more dangerous because of the sharp edges of the rocks - just need to be alert always.

We had lunch up on mountain peak on a gentle slope - JY prepared his hand-made sushi-roll along with small tomatoes, grapes and pickle. It was really delicious and the setting was perfect - the mountain view, the wind, the sight of clounds and the temperature of about 15 degrees with a sushi-roll in your mouth! The Peak is crowded with people but I understand that over the weekend- it is too crowded.

This is the Peak, with the Korean flag....

That's me back to the base of the Mountain (that is in the background). What i notice is that there were many elderly climbers, it was really tough for me but to see so many elderly climbers is enlightening. This have made me conscious of being healthy, moderate eating and always exercising.

Arrive in time for the Big climb!

Seoul - Arrive and took the Limo bus 602-xx to Grand Hilton Hotel. This is my 2nd time staying at this hotel. This is the only good class hotel in this part of Seoul (which is the North of Seoul). The Limo Bus cannot speak much English and not the friendly sort. I thought I heard the recorded announcement that Grand Hilton Hotel will be the next stop, so I alighted but found out from the Limo driver that it is the next stop - he was not too pleased.

When I take the Limo Bus going towards Samsung-dong area (like Renanissance Seoul Hotel or Ramada Seoul Hotel), the driver can speak a little English and much friendly and courteous because the Limo bus belongs to KAL (Korea Air Line).

Upon arrival as usual, Grand Hilton Hotel has a shuttle van waiting to bring me up the little slop for checking-in. I rested and had my own dinner.

Rice eaten by half the world!

Singapore - Recently came across an article about rice and it was so fascinating to find so many varieties of it.
1. Jasmine Rice - Singapore's favourite rice, also know as 'Thai fragrance rice or Thai Basmati rice', this long grain white rice has a subtle floral fragrance. There is also a brown variety. Jasmine rice is originally from Thailand. This is used in our all-time favourite Singapore Hainanese Chicken rice.

2. Basmati Rice - A long-grain with a distinct fragrance that goes well with Indian food. Basmati means 'The fragrance one' in Sanskrit. Also 2 varities - white and brown Basmati rice. This is used in our all-time favourite too 'Brani chicken/mutton rice'.

3. Black Glutinous Rice - Also known as 'Pulut Hitam'. It's steamed and pressed into sweet cakes, or cooked like a porridge and sweeted with palm sugar. Served with coconut milk drizzled over it.

4. Long Glutinous Rice - Thinner and more opaque than short glutinous rice, it's used to make Chinese rice dumplings 'bak chang'. It's also used to make sweet kuih.

5. Risotto Rice - This absorbs plenty of water without getting mushy. Varieties include arborio (the best), carnaroli and vialone nano.

6. Parboiled Rice - Also known as 'converted rice', it combines the nutrients of brown rice and soft, fast-cooking white rice. Rice is steamed before husking, so grains absorb nutrients from the husk.

7. Wild Rice - This is actually grass seed, not rice. But it's more nutritious, with a higher protein content and a pronounced nutty flavour. This expensive grain goes well with poultry but takes longer to cook.

F1 1st night race FINAL today!

Singapore - Finally, our very own F1 race and it will be the 1st night race in the world! I watch the qualifying race yesterday and the cars were zipping past even from my tele.

Melbourne: Greek Restaurant

Melbourne - Joe and I pondered what restaurant to eat for tonite and I said 'Greek'. I never had Greek food and there is an enclave of Greek restaurants. So, we walked and walked looking for a good Greek restaurant. In fact, there was one Greek restaurant that is near the hotel but a nice elderly couple was coming out of the restaurant and informed us that the food is not good.

We finally settled for this Greek restaurant; Stalacities restuarant: 177-183 Lonsdale Street, 03-9663-3316. Greek food has lots of lamb dishes and we opted for a platter of skewed lamb and chicken - it's delicious. Top this up with Pita bread. We also had their homemade bread but it does not taste great. On the whole it was a very hearty meal!

Melbourne: Italian Town

Melbourne - The Qantas flight over was full. We just arrived Melbourne and the weather was very nice. The hotel is right in Chinatown - Crossley Hotel Melbourne (managed by Mercure) @ 51 Little Bourke Street. A boutigue hotel with rooms that are clean and nice. The only drawback is their wireless internet access. We purchase the Telstra wireless Hotspot daypass after the 2nd log-in, we were not able to log-in anymore. Joe had the same problem too - and was on the back of the front manager to solve this problem. It took her close to 2hrs to get in touch with Telstra and still they could not resolve the wireless hotspot problem. So, the hotel had to move us to 3rd floor where they had wired internet access.

Lunch was nearby at Chine on Paramount on Little Bourke Street. The chinese food was normal but overly priced.

In the evening, with a yearning for Italian food, we spoke with one of the concierge of Melbourne Hotel and he told us that the best Italian food is about 40 mins out from our current location and we can take the tram there. There are many Italian restaurants located in this town. So, off we went and boarded a tram to Lygon station.
The tram ticket counter was within the tram itself and we were not sure whether to pay for not. Some ladies standing near by informed us that we have to pay but since we are tourist it's ok.

Restaurant: Il Gambero, 215 Lygon Street, Carlton - 03-9347-5791. The food is really good. It's really worth the trip there.

Check the fuel surcharge

Singapore - When making travel plans these days, it woul dbe prudent to check the fuel surcharges and taxes that accompany the ticket price. High oil prices have inflated fuel surcharges to the point where the add-ons for flights to cities such as Bangkok and Tokyo often exceed the actual economy airfare itself. Skyrocketing oil prices this year have been putting the squeeze on airlines, hitting the bottom line hard.

Happy 43 Birthday Singapore...

Singapore - Today, Singapore celebrates 43 years of Independence. Every year, the hightlights were being glued to the television watching the National Day parade, the march past of the the Guards of Honour, the super sonic fly pass of the F16, and much more...there is much to be thank you for living in Singapore!

I had a great time...

Medicines for a Happy Trip...

Singapore - Travel light but don't leave home without packing essential medical supplies. Always take note of problems that you might encounter from the climate, the altitude, the disease status that requires vaccination. Always plan for every trip.

I always packed medication and it is always in my luggage never need to take it out. Only changed when it is nearing expiration date. When you are a frequent traveller it is always important to check your destination climate and disease status. For vaccinations requirement, you can check my other link.

Mosquitos is a menance even in Singapore too. Traveling within South East Asia, I always need to be aware of malaria, dengue and other mosquitos disease outbreaks.

My medical kit:
Paracetamol (headaches and pain)
Antihistimines (for allergy reactions or colds)
Hydrocortisone cream (insect bites)
Acidophilus (Pro-Biotic)
Mask and thermometer.

Hungry Ghost Festival

Singapore - This festival is held during the 7th month of the Chinese Lunar calendar and celebrated by both Buddhists and Taoists. The hungry ghost festival is a month-long celebration that is perhaps best construed as one that honours the dearly departed.

During this time, it's believed that the souls of departed ancestors and friends are released from Hell to wander the earth for 30 days. If their warth is incurred, they may do acts of mischief, so steps must be taken to appease the spirits before they go on a rampage.

What started out as two separate celebrations among 2 religions became a single entity during the Tang Dynasty when Buddhist and Taoist festivals were merged into one single celebration.

During this month, it's common to find Buddhists and Taoists offering feasts to satiate their departed's hunger and in the process of pleasing them, bring luck and good fortune onto the family. Besides, food, other offerings include joss sticks and 'hell notes', which serve as currency in the afterlife. Burning paper items such as cloths, TV sets, cars and houses also feature into the equation as people believe that such offerings allow their loved ones to lead comfortable lives in the netherworld.

Nuisance knock

Kuala Lumpur - 'knock', 'knock'....I open the door "your shower has problem". No!@#~ 6am......I went back to bed.

I had lunch with my parter at Tony Roma's restaurant @ Mid Valley - which is famous for the ribs. Because they are Halal certified they don't serve 'pork and thus no 'baby back' ribs - this is their signature dish. I had lamp chops - it was just average. They provide free flow of soft drinks unlike Tony Roma's restaurant in Singapore. Many Singapore restaurants do not provide free flow of soft drinks.

KL new Hotel

Kuala Lumpur - Checked into KL newest hotel in Mid Valley - The Gardens Hotel & Residences. Everything of this hotel 'smells' new - you really have a good feeling.....until, their free internet access does not work. I tried many times using all the software and called their IT managers with the same answer - "we do not know what is the problem". I told them that their DHCP server is having problem and not giving me an IP address or there is a cabling problem. When Donny came to my room and tested with his notebook same problem. The hotel changed to another room and the problem was fixed. Despite having this internet access problem, the hotel staff was very courteous and came up to my room many times to try to fix the problem.

Dinner was at Brother Kuan restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong, Puchong - this restaurant came highly recommended. We tried almost everything there is no the menu. Fishball soup (different from Singapore, not soft but with meat within); Roast Duck (this was really delicious served in a tray of herbal gravy), Roast Pork, BBQ Pork, etc...

Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West

Singapore - Today is Father's day and I decided to bring my family to a park nearby that we have not visited before - Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West. It is 21 Ha and located opposite Ang Mo Kio Town library. We brought bicycles, skate scooters and roller blades to enjoy this park.

Our treking through the jungle...

Resting....

Going back to Singapore

Bangkok - After 3 days, we are finally going back to Singapore. It was tiring trip with business appointments everyday. I had breakfast with Joe at 8am @ level 2 cafe and then later at 8.30am - Vic came back to pick us up to his office. The last time I was here - I took the sky train only 2 stations to his office.
Lunch was at the nice Thai restaurant called "i-serve" - the food is good and I believe reasonable priced too.

Off to Bangkok...

Jakarta - Met Joe, Sam and Yudi for breakfast at 9.30am. The breakfast was good but I was surprise to find there were 'Pork' on the breakfast buffet spread unlike in Malaysia1n hotels, there will definitely be no 'Pork' on the breakfast menu. After meeting the customer - we had to rush to the airport within 2 hours. Yudi drove us and we got there with 1hr to spare - that was good. Still enough time to relax in the Premier lounge. Since Joe and I were going to Bangkok, we manage to change our originally SQ Sing/Bangkok flight by 1 and 1/2 hours earlier.

Pondok Laguna Restaurant

Jakarta - Flew SQ 959 with Joe and it was a good flight into Jakarta. Since it was a short flight about 1hr 35 minutes - the head sets were not given out. So, I watched a Korean movie and read off the English sub-titles - "Once upon a time". Whilst watching, I was intermittently interrupted by a loud and rude laughter coming from a passenger sitting across me. He brought his own headsets and was laughing so loudly that other passengers were turning to see who this idiot was....I was not able to finish the movie.

I stayed at Le Meridien Hotel - a very nice hotel in central Jakarta around US$110 (excludes breakfast). Breakfast is about US$10.

The afternoon was spent preparing for the workshop of which only 10 attended. There was a major street protest and it affected the attendance so having 10 was not that bad. It was held at a service office (Marquue) directly opposite Le Meridien Hotel (very convenient).

After the workshop, we went to have dinner at my old time favourite Pondok Laguna restaurant. There was no intention of going there but because Yudi lost his way to the intented restaurant and we passed by Pondok Laguna restaurant - I told them not to waste time and just have our dinner there. Furthermore, the food is so good and is one of my favourite restaurant.

City changes name...

Bangalore - The Indian IT hub of Bangalore is about to be rebranded as Bengaluru in recognition of the original name of Benda Kaal Ooru - that's "boiled beans town" in the local Kannada lingo. This rather unsavoury name came about when a king named Vira Ballala lost his way on a hunting expedition and was eventually offered boiled beans by an old lady. In recognition of this act of kindness, he named the place Benda Kaal Ooru. The Brits couldn't pronounced Benda Kaal Ooru, they simplified the name to Bangalore. There may still be hope for the Bangalore lobby - the name change is not yet official and must be cleared by the state legislature, the federal government and India's president before the Bengalurians can legally refer to themselves as such. That is why the new airport is called 'Bangaluru International Airport'.

Besides Bangalore, 'Bombay' was changed to 'Mumbai' and 'Madras' to 'Chennai'.
I always wonder when a city or country changes her name whether it is for the better? and why do they changed - could it be due to past colonials rulers who do not care about the local culture.

'Saigon' changed to 'Ho Chi Minh City' - many dwellers and tourist still used Saigon in daily conversation.

The British occupied the country of Burma and when the Military Junta tooked over they changed the country's name to 'Myanmar'. Even the capital was changed from 'Rangoon' to 'Yangon'.

The British also gave the name 'Peking' and 'Canton' but China changed it to 'Beijing' and 'Guangzhou'.

It was fortunate that Singaporeans love their Singapore and Singlish otherwise it will be Singapura or Singapureans...

What Traffic Rules?

Bangalore - There is hardly any traffic rules in Bangalore as far as I can see.

• It is not compulsory for drivers to wear seat belts.
• It is not compulsory for front seat passengers to wear seat belts.
• Crossing cows has 1st priority
• Drivers can cut into the on-coming lanes if there is no on-coming cars. The central divider line is just a guide.
• 2-lane traffic and become 5-lane traffic.
• Cars can cut into other driver's lane without indicating their intentions. The changing lane indicators are just a guide.
• Honning is to tell other drivers to "get out of the way
• Pedestrian should never stand in the central divider line to cross half-way because cars can use the central divider line too. Once we were crossing the road and standing on the central divider line until a heavy truck was coming along on the central divider line, we had to cross back to where we were - it was very dangerous.

Trash everywhere...

Bangalore - Along the roads of Bangalore, there are litter and trash just spewed on the roads. On one occasion, I saw a woman came out of her house and walk a distance and throw and bag full of rubbish on the main road. You will find nice modern buildings and next to it sits a land full of trash. It's everywhere. I will point to Kelvin to look at scene where a man will stand back facing the road, and just pee - it was so common. This scenes made this trip interesting!

We are on our way back to Singapore...

Mainland China

Bangalore - The 3rd Chinese restaurant on this trip was the best - "Mainland China" located at 14 Church Street, Bangalore. The ambiance was nice with Chinese music - the waiters were attentive. Most importantly the food is quite close to authentic Chinese food. The worst dish that we chose was the seasonal vegetables which came in a mushy greeny dish - did not look very appetising to us after the first serving. The prawns and seafood fried rice was really good and tasty top up with some local Merlot red wine.

The bill came up to S$55.

Hyderabad Biryani

Bangalore - We had breakfast with VN at the President Hotel and after which we adjourned with his guys to see the customer. The journey will take us about 1 hr amidst the heavy traffic. We arrived on time and had a good meeting. VN driver dropped us off on the way back at our 2nd reseller office.

During lunch, Jobi and Shirpa took us for a Bryani meal at "Hyderabad Biryani" - known as India's best. "Biryani" is Indian Spicy baked rice. It was so crowded at lunch time - we had to take a queue number. After waiting for 20 minutes, we were served to a table. The portions was large so we order only 3 plates of chicken Biryani for the 4 of us. The Biryani was "heavenly" - nothing I have tasted in Singapore. Singapore version of Chicken Biryani is too oily, unlike this restaurant whereby the rice is steam and the aroma is so nice. Furthermore, the chicken is so tender. The meat that goes into the biryani is marinated with "35 kinds of spices and for three hours". Lunch for 4 persons = S$19 very good value for money.

A Thali meal

Bangalore - After hours of discussion and presentation. Jobi brought us to a Thaili restaurant. In Hindi, 'Thali' means 'plate'. A thali is a selection of different dishes, usually served in small bowls on a round tray. The round tray is generally made with steel with multiple indentations on the plate itself or with a number of small metal bowls known as Katoris on it. Mostly the plate is a big Banana leaf.
A thali consists of a variety of vegetable curry dishes, relishes, a couple of papadams, puris or chapattis and a whole lot of rice. A deluxe variety would include a Pata, a rolled betel leaf stuffed with fruit and nuts. It may also include curd and one or two Desserts. The main plus points of thalis are they are cheap and 100% filling.

A Sumptumous Indian Breakfast

Bangalore - Met Kelvin @ 8.30am for breakfast buffett. Everyday the breakfast spread is different. For BREAKFAST we had..

"Vada" or "Vadai" - shaped like a doughnut made from lentil or potato with some spices served with coconut chutney. Vada and Idli was served everyday at The President Hotel. In Singapore, the Vada has a small prawn and you eat together with green chilli.

"Idli - steam rice cakes (usually eaten at breakfast, white and round shape, and made by steaming the batter of fermerted black lentils (de-husked) and rice, served with chutney and sambar.
"Masala Dosa" - Spicy Dosa or South India Crepe. I had Masala Dosa for breakfast on Thursday. Masala Dosa is made by placing potato masala inside the Dosa and folding it in half.

"Poori" - I had Poori on Friday - these are small round pancakes size rounds of dough that are slipped into hot oil or ghee, where they fill with steam and balloon in seconds. Pooris are soft silk like breads with which curries and vegetables are scooped up.

Roti, anyone?

Bangalore - During lunch, Jobi brought us to Desmond's - a restaurant that is popular with the lunch time crowd for their Kabab and Nann. We had chicken Kabab for starters, tomato soup for myself, chicken curry and spinach (green sambal) to go with the Nann.

The Indians called their bread "Roti" which at times we use this word also at home. My kids know what is Roti. Roti is the name for bread used also in Malaysia and Indonesia. The following are some of the breads I ate in Bangalore:

Nann (leavened bread with poppy seeds) - The bread dough is rolled out and then slapped on the inside of the tandoori, near the top where it cooks very quickly in the fierce heat. It is then flavored with onion or garlic.

Paratha or Prata, meanwhile, is rich, flaky, and flavored with ghee. It can be eaten together with curry or by itself. We have prata for lunch at least once a month and is readily available in every hawker center in Singapore.

Chapati is another leavened bread. It resembles flat discs and has a delightful flavor and chewy texture.

"Gufha" - A Theme Restaurant

Bangalore - For dinner we decided to stay in the hotel and experience a theme restaurant which was highly recommended. "Gufha" means cave in Hindi and as the name suggests, is done up like a cave, with stone-like walls and ceiling, dim lighting, flame. It was an experience to feel the 'cavey' feeling and it's like being transported to some faraway exotic cultures. There is even a waterfall that flows over a carved face, and stuffed bird toys hang from the ceiling. The waiters are dressed like jungle guides with khaki uniforms, safari hats and guns and the tableware is brass.

This restaurant provides Indian North West Frontier province cuisine. , coupled with gracious hospitality. The entire interiors go along with the gufa theme with tiger print upholstery, elephant shaped tissue holders. The cutlery and glasses are so unique and made of copper, this added to the rustic environment. The restaurant made it so realistic with the sound of the jungle and loud cicardas. We had a huge menu cards to choose our food from, we had lamb ghost with rotis, and some tandoori chicken as appetizers.We ordered "lamb gosht" but the waiters brought out "Chicken Gosht" -we ate a couple of slices and definitely knew that it was not lamb - called the waiter and he had to move the meat chucks about in the gosht to see whether it was lamb or chicken. I told him to bring it back to the chef to verify - he came back and apologize for the mistake. Very quickly a new bowl of "Lamb Gosht" appeared. The "lamb gosht" was tender slices of lamb in a thick creamy gravy with a hint of saffron, was delicious, but very heavy. This goes very well with Nann. Cost about S$61 for 2 persons.

Chinese food again...

Bangalore - Breakfast was complimentary with wide varieties of Indian food. There is a made-to-order egg counter and I ordered 2 fried eggs. Had many rounds of Vada, nicely squeezed mango juice and Bananas. I try to stay away from cut fruits as I am not sure whether the fruits are washed with tap water.

I came back earlier to the Hotel whilst Kelvin continue with the training at the reseller office. At around 7pm, we booked a hotel taxi (Rp 350) to "Three Quarter Chinese" restaurant located @ 22 Church Street. Before we left, I asked the taxi driver do you know whether "Three Quarter Chinese" restaurant - he said "yes and at Church Street". He drop us off at "In China" restaurant - which incidentally is a sister company of "Three Quarter Chinese" restaurant. We were given directions by the security guards at "In China" restaurant to walk about to about 10 minutes down the road, turn right into Church Street to the "Three Quarter Chinese" restaurant . Upon entering the restaurant, there were 2 chinese looking ladies, in fact they are Indians from the hilly state of Nagaland.

The restaurant served 3/4 Chinese food and 1/4 Indian dishes and that gives the name "Three Quarter Chinese" restaurant. The food is much better than "Aromas of China" restaurant. We had vegetables, lamb in chilly garlic sauce, steam fish in ginger onion and soya sauce (this is good and tasty), tomato fried rice (the rice is sweet because of the tomato), Tandori chicken (half of chicken - it was tender and very delicious) and 2 deserts - Treasure Bag (which contains diced fruits in wanton skin) and Warm December (deep fried ice-cream with crushed peanuts). The bill came up to S$52 for 2 persons. It is much better and cheaper than yesterday's dinner.

New Bangalore International Airport

Bangalore - My alarm clock rang in the dead of the night @ 4am. I then need reach the airport at 5am to meet up with Kelvin, whom is going with me to Bangalore. We spent about 1hr the lounge having breakfast. The flight SQ500 left on time and arrive Bangalore at 8.30am. The meals on board this flight were mostly Indian except for one choice of eggs and sausages. I chose Masala Tosai - something different and it tasted quite good.

We arrived at the new Bangalore Bengaluru International Airport - it is still a work in progress but much better than the older airport. This airport is built on 1,616 hectares and modelled after the airport in Zurich, Switzerland, whose developers are working on this project. This International Airport is much further than the older airport. It seems that whenever a new airport is built it gets further away from the city centre. This new airport is 34km outside of Bangalore town, and will take easily 90 minutes from the city centre. My reseller had paid for the hotel car to pick us up at the airport plus sent his friendly engineer to accompany us to the Hotel. I am surprised and thankful. (later when I check out I found out that this reseller had put the airport transfer cost of Rupee 1,500 (S$53.13) on my hotel room - not really nice is it? I thought that it was so nice of them...well I can get a better car for just Rupee 1,200).


The journey to the Hotel took approximately one and half hrs and it was an eye opener coming from an organized city country. At every major junction stop, there were beggers - they look young and so pityful. Half way along the journey, the driver had to make a pit stop to re-fuel and off the road were 2 gas tanks with a sign "India Oil". The service men were pumping diesel without the engines turn-off and collecting rupees.

Another fact you will observe is the incessant honking of honks - my driver does it and everyone does it throughout the journey. The honking of honks could be a signal to 'get out of my way' or 'to keep me awake whilst driving'.

My reseller booked us into The President Hotel located @ Diagonal Road, 3rd Block Jayanagar. This is a 4-star hotel of just 5 stories - it is a boutique hotel. Though it is a small hotel, staff are very helpful, friendly and the ambiance very hospitable. I was checked into a room on the 2nd storey facing the road - the constant horning was very irritating and will cause me not to have a good sleep. I spoke to the duty manager and he immediately change me to the 3rd story facing away from the road. It was much quieter. The room is quite big and decently renovated with a TV in the living room and another in the bedroom. 

Views from outside my room

Pressing of clothes - I called housekeeping iron and ironing board and they do not have one - so I have to send my shirts for pressing. But it is cheap just $19 rupees about S$0.70 per shirt. This is the 1st time the press shirts were returned to me in under 1 hr.

Lunch was on the ground floor at a restaurant called "Isys" - we had buffet with a wide spread of Indian cuisine. I like the 'Naan' (or Indian bread) the best, which was offered hot to the table and free flow. Naan is a round flat bread made of white flour. The buffet cost $225 rupees per person, that is less than S$10 per person. We met some Singaporeans having the buffet lunch and they have been staying in Bangalore at the same hotel for 6 months to 2 years. After lunch, the reseller driver was waiting to drive us to their office for training - though it was a short distance but not conducive to walking.

For Dinner, Kelvin and I hanker for some chinese food so I asked the front desk manager and he pointed me to Isys (which is the ground floor restaurant), which I told me that I will be staying for 6 stays and ain't going to eat at this restaurant for all my meals. He was persuasive and keep insisting that the nearest was about 7km away - but my insistance wore him out and he got me the hotel driver to take us there for $350 rupees. This is for the driver to bring us to the restaurant, wait for us and then bring us back to hotel.The manager told the driver to bring us to Brigade Road where 'there are many Chinese and Japanese restuarants?' When we reach Brigade Road, there are none in sight only fast foood chains - MacDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. So, the driver recommend another location and I agreed. 

This restaurant "Aromas of China" served chinese food - we had Singapore chilli prawns (..what is that?? it taste good and one of the best dishes served), stir fried chinese greens (this was not good as it mixed brocholi, white cabbage, pak choy and asparragus stirred fried together. To my limited chinese cooking knowledge, each should be cooked separately), fried wan tons (basically more flour then prawns and meat), stir fried chicken and mushrooms (nice and delicious), Lo Mein soup, plain white rice and top up with good Tiger Beer. The ambiance is good and clean but the food is average, not worth about S$90 for 2.

SQ and MAS to terminate 26 year shuttle agreement

Singapore - Singapore Airlines is terminating its shuttle service agreement with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) with effect from June 1. The agreement provided for carriers to agree on a common fare to charge customers who turn up at the airport on standby for the next flight. The 2 national carriers started the shuttle in 1982, in response to demand for shuttle-like flights between the 2 cities. However, the progressive deregulation and the ever increasing use of the Internet for a variety of transactions such as booking of tickets and check-in, has changed the travel landscape, removing the need for a shuttle service.

The newly-deregulated market has opened up opportunities for the 2 airlines to offer more frequencies and fare options, which will better serve the needs of the travelling public.

Source: Business Time - May 19,2008

Tiger charges for bags

Singapore - Tiger Airways, the budget airline partly owned by Singapore Airlines will charge passengers for check-in baggage after May 29. Tiger Air will charge S$5 per passenger per flight for a 15kg check-in bag. Travellers will be entitled to 7kg of free cabin baggage.

Free flow chips and soft drinks...

Kuala Lumpur - Upon smooth arrival, too the KL express to Le Meridien Hotel. I like this Hotel because it's centrally located and service is good too. I had a meeting with my channel partners at Chili's restaurant @ Mid Valley Shopping Mall and for a special Chili price you can have FREE flow of soft drinks and taco chips. We had lots and lots of soft drinks and chips, that when dinner time came - I was so bloated that did not really enjoy my food.
Dinner was at a famous Chinese restaurant located at Cititel Hotel Mid Valley.

Got home 2hrs earlier...

Jakarta - Yudi met me again at 8am and he is very punctual. A business ethics very rare in Indonesia where time is like 'rubber'. Sometimes called 'rubber-time'. We had breakfast and quickly caught the shuttle bus to the ICT exhibition. Today is Saturday and the expected crowds will be public, I decided to change to an earlier flight. I tried calling the night before but SQ hot line was busy for hours but in the morning I manage to change to a 5pm departure instead of 7.05pm. The ICT Exhibition was very quiet and many of the booths at the Singapore Pavilion had already packed and gone home. Around the time to leave the exhibition, Yudi gave me a lift back to the hotel in time to change the 2pm limousine booking to the airport.

ICT Indonesia 2008

Jakarta - Yudi and I arranged to meet for breakfast, so I set my alarm at 7am. Enough time for bathe and change for breakfast meeting at 7.30am. The breakfast spread was wide - eggs cooked to your requirements, porridge, sauggages (chicken and beef) and etc.. There are no pork served as Indonesia is a Muslim country. After a hearty breakfast we have to catch the free shuttle bus to the ICT exhibition area. Yudi advised me to have a heavy breakfast because there weren't any good food in and around the exhibition area. The shuttle bus pick-up was at the next hotel - Orchardz Hotel - it was just a 5 minutes walk. At few minutes past 9.30am, the shuttle bus left the Orchardz Hotel. Coming out at the entrance of the Hotel, the bus needed to make a U-turn - it was so strange to see the bus driver assistant getting off the bus and stopping the traffic. This action stopped both sides of the road for a good 10 minutes. The cars were backed up for as far as the eye can see as it was the morning peak traffic. The exhibition called ICT Expo 2008, was located at the old Jakarta airport. This technology exhibition occupied just one hall and I managed to visit all the booths in under 30 minutes. This is the 3rd day of exhibition and the crowds poured in only in the afternoon. There were many enquiries and overall it was a good exhibition. We were afraid that there might be another protest demonstrations around Jakarta on petrol price hikes but luckily it did not happen. In the evening, Yudi took me and another new friend - Lee, to Restaurant Seafood 21 located across the road of Mangga Dua Square (huge departmental store). We had one dish of crabs cooked with pepper and another cooked Padang sauce. The crabs tasted not fresh thus spoiled the dishes. The prawns (Udang) were giant and we had that BBQ - it was tasty. Squid (Cumi) was fried with flour (Tepung). Kangung (a popular vegetable in SE Asia) fried with Balachan but it came with Bean paste sauce. Overall, it's not one that I would recommend to friends. Total damage = S$48.

Night flight into Jakarta

Jakarta - I flew the last flight into Jakarta and arrived at 7.20pm. In just 1hr 40 minutes, I arrived Jakarta. The clearance of immigration was slow as the area was crowded maybe due to planes arriving at the same time. I booked the Golden bird limo for Rp 360,000 - it was a Mercedes limo that took me to the Hotel. This time I am staying at Sheraton Media Hotel & Towers @ Jl. Gunung Sahari 3 - approximately US$86 per night. This is a 5 star hotel but the facade of the Hotel is old and badly need refurbishing. It is a pity that it is part of Sheraton chain of hotels, you would expect that being 5-star and Sheraton that is would have some high standards. The room is sizable but old, the bathroom needs renovating as the tiles were blacked with algae between the tiles.

Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East Park

Singapore - Today, is a public holiday - Vesak Day, a buddhist holiday. I checked the National Parks website and found this park that is close to my home, so I took my family there for some fun. Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East Park (This park is just behind Ang Mo Kio MRT station and was built on the site of a former rubber estate. It was new and exciting to my children because they get to see Rubber trees, Nutmeg trees and Cinnamon trees. This is a small park of 5ha.

My youngest on the roller blade and the 2nd on the bike

An unsual see-saw

The bark of the cinnamon tree is used as spice

Having coffee in a church

Seoul - Young Jin arrived at Ramada Seoul Hotel for a 10am meeting with Kevin Chae. Kevin' used to work with me but now he is the boss of his own company is called Gingos Technology. For lunch, we adjourned to a small restaurant that serve home cooked meals for Won5,000 (approximately S$7.40) per person. There were about 7 simple dishes - pork slices of chili dish, dish of steam egg, soup and the rest of the dishes had lots of chillies and spices.

We went to a church for coffee and tea latte. I love tea so I had tea Latte.

I and Kevin having coffee and tea in a Christian Church

It was a busy trip after this meeting it was off to another meeting and then back to Hotel to catch the Limo Bus to the airport.

Whilst on the way to the Hotel, Young Jin and I were caught in a heavy traffic jam. As I looked out of the window I could see the Ramada hotel so I told Young Jin that we will alight here and walk over to Ramada hotel. It was in fact faster walking to the hotel where we alighted. I booked the 4.05pm bus but the bus only arrive at 4.35pm. I had ample time because my flight was 7.45pm.

Flea market in Seoul - Hwanghak-dong

Seoul - Met Young Jin at 9am and we adjourned to our 1st meeting. The meeting ended on a good note and we went for lunch at this quaint restaurant. This was the same restaurant that I went to on 19 Mar this year. The food is good and very homely so the customer brought me back again.

I read in a travel magazine that it would be interesting to visit one of Seoul's popular flea market called "Hwanghak-dong". It is still within Seoul metropolitan area. There are many 2nd hand goods being sold and the nice thing is that the Korean shop keepers do not harass or hawk their goods as you walk by.

Rows and rows of old, 2nd hand and sometimes interesting trinkets, like this funny sign board.

My 59th trip to Seoul

Seoul - About an hour into Seoul, the flight was a bit rough. But throughout the trip it was smooth. I watch the "Jumper" and the Mandarin movie "Warlords". The warlords was great with good actors - Jet Li and Andy Lau. The "Jumper" movie was a total waste of time.

Upon arrival, I rented a phone, booked a Limo Bus to Ramada Seoul Hotel. I was fortunate to catch the 3:40pm bus on time and therefore need not have to wait so long. It took just 1hr to reach the Hotel. Ramada Seoul Hotel upgraded me to the Executive floor - nothing really special. On the my previous trip, the upgraded me to a suite - wow! that was really special.

Compared to other good class hotel, their prices are reasonable at Won135,000 (S$200) per night. Ramada Seoul Hotel is very central and in the Gangnam district. Similar hotels in this district are charging over Won200,000 per night.

Rice and more rice

Bangkok - My channel partners talked about the record prices of rice, which is one of the staple food for half of the world's population has more than doubled in the past year. Since World War II, Thailand has been the World's largest exporter of rice, and may decide to restict shipments thus worsening a current global food crisis. China, Vietnam, India and Egypt have curbed overseas sales to safeguard domestic supplies and cool inflation. Thailand ships about one-third of the world's exports, may follow its Asian neighbours in limiting sales.

Thailand has 2.1 million tons of rice as reserve stockpile. Thailand produces about 30 million tons of paddy annually, equivalent to about 20 million tons of milled rice. Of that, some 9 million tons are for domestic consumption while a similar amount is for export, and the remaining 2 million tons are retained as safety stocks by the state.

Singapore is a small country and have to import most food. So, I am very grateful for the foresight and mandatory requirement of the Government on rice supplies that Singapore do not need to touch her rice stock pile.

Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said that the current adequate supplies make it unnecessary to draw on Singapore's national rice stockpile. The stockpile is a result of the Government's requirement that all rice traders maintain an amount equivalent to twice their monthly imports. Importers say the stockpile, enough to see Singapore through three months in an emergency, is stored in three government warehouses.

Meanwhile, importers are ensuring supplies remain stable by sourcing rice from alternative sources. Apart from Thailand, major rice importer FairPrice, for example, brings in the grain from Australia, India and Vietnam. It has not stopped looking for other potential suppliers. Singapore imported 326,854 tonnes of rice last year - 60 per cent from Thailand, another 30 per cent from Vietnam and India and the remaining 10 per cent from about 15 countries.

So, if 326,854 tonnes divided by 12 months and multiply by 2 times, would give a stock pile of 55,000 tonnes of rice for Singaporeans in times of emergency.

Checked into Mayfair Mariott Bangkok

Bangkok - The flight from Singapore to Bangkok was good and since I watched CSI and documentaries since I have seen most of the good movies that was available. After picking up my luggage, I approached the AOT Limo Taxi to bring me to Mayfair Mariott Executive Apartment, and it cost me Bht1,200 (the last time I paid Bht 1,100) - due to increase in petrol prices. The only familiarity is the constant traffic jam and it begins from morning till evening - I suppose there are too many cars, narrow and few roads.

This time I am staying at Mayfair Mariott Executive Apartments- located at 60 Soi Lang Suan, Lumpini. Never stayed in an Executive Apartment before so decided to try it out. I booked a 1 room apartment about Bht 4,900 (US$122) - but the hotel upgraded me to a 2 room apartment because it was fully booked. The 2 room apartment is huge about 1,000 sq feet - dinning area, living area, kitchen (fully equipment with refrigerator, washing machine and dryer, dish washer, microwave oven), 1 guest room, guest bathroom, and master bedroom with attached bathroom. It was just great - I might stay here the next time. The convenience is that it is just 6 minutes walk to the Ratchadamri BTS (on the Silom skytrain line) or Chitlom Skytrain (on the Sukumvit line).

I had meetings and dinner with my channel partner, and then back to the Hotel.

Another Budget Airline bites the dust...

Hong Kong - Budget Carrier Oasis Hong Kong airlines has shut down its operations on 9 April, after being in service for just over 17 months. The airlines has made headlines by offering one-way fares to London for as low as HK$ 1,000 (S$177), taking on Cathay Pacific Airways on some of its profitable routes. That is just 20% of the standard fares of its rivals, but is was losing money on the flight.

Rising oil prices have been blamed, along with higher landing fees at Chek Lap Kok, Asia's 3rd busiest airport. Oasis will make it the 4th airline worldwide to shut down within 2 weeks after a 73 per cent surge in fuel costs over the past year. US carriers ATA Airlines, Aloha Airgroup and Skybus Airlines have all ceased operations since March 31.

On my way home....

Tokyo - Woke up early 6.30am when my alarm rang both on the bed side alarm and my handphone. Outside temperature is around 11 degrees centigrade with light drizzle. Took the 7.30am Limo bus (which arrive on time), bound for Narita airport. I soon arrived at the airport @ 8.45am and it was good that I was early because the immigration line was so long. I always try to be at the airport at least 2 hrs before departure, it gives me enough time to relax in the ANA lounge (SQ uses ANA lounge) and have some good soba noodles. ANA has a spacious and well equipped lounge with full business area that has ample personal computers for you to work on with integrated printing facilities.

The SQ 637 to Singapore was full with every seat from my visible eye is occupied. This is the 1st time I had to sit at the window seat because there were no more aisle seats more than 5 days ago when I made my booking. It was a bit wierd as I am very used to seating aisle but it is ok - 7hrs and I will be back home.

Raining in Tokyo

Tokyo - It was raining when I stepped out of the lobby and it was fortunate that the Hotel provided complimentary use of their umbrellas. The temperature was cold - after a good 20 minutes of walk I arrived at my meeting place. The meeting went smoothly, nothing out of the ordinary.

I met Terry outside the Toyocho metro station, we took the Tozai line bound for Mozen Nagacho station, which was 2 stations down. I like sushi and she brought be to a very nice sushi restaurant, it was very cosy. We sat at the sushi counter and was served by the Chef (who is also the owner). The meal was really good and the sushi just melt in your mouth. The best sushi was the Chef trademark and he instructed us not to dip into the soya sauce. Wow, it was so delicious - Oishi des. This sushi had a taste of ginger, shallots and tinkle of lemon on it. As we sat at the sushi bar counter, Terry went down the line of seafood and we literally ordered everything there was.

It was really good to get to know Terry more and insight into Japanese business and culture. Thank you for a delicious and i think very expensive meal. I took the metro to where I started, and walk to back to the hotel.

Need to catch the early Limo bus at 7.30am, off to bed.

Back again in Tokyo

Tokyo - This tip will make it my 23rd trip to Japan. I managed to catch 2 movies on the flight to Tokyo. One is Shanghai Red (which is in Mandarin), the setting was in Shanghai. One of the places in scene was St Regis Hotel, Shanghai - that is the hotel I normally stay in Shanghai. Acted and produced by Vivan Wu.

The other movie was The Great Debaters - a true story about US south where deep discrimination against blacks, and the debaters from a small black college took on Harvard University and won. Two actors Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Denzel Washington is one of my favourite actors - an intelligent, deep thinking and passionate actor.

I arrived Tokyo @ 6pm and the weather is nice at around 12 degrees centigrade. The immigration installed biometric systems which I had to put 2 index fingers and that a camera that took a photo of me. Apart from this, the process was quite fast. The Hotel I am staying is Hotel East 21, because it is not one of the popular hotels, the Limo bus frequency to this hotel is low. I had to take the Limo bus instead to TCAT and then took a taxi to the hotel. The starting fare for the taxi has increased from Y600 to Y710, maybe due to the rising petrol prices.

I had dinner @ Inaba Wako restaurant serving Tonkatsu (Breaded Pork cutlet) located walking distance from the Hotel. My Tonkatsu (200g) set meal cost Y1,350 - it is a nice and delicious meal. This restaurant does not accept credit card so I had to pay by cash. I should have paid by credit card for the taxi fare because I am down with Y5,000.

Cars in Japan

Tokyo - I always wonder why many Japanese do not drive and car sales are declining in affluent Japan. It is also surprising that Japanese car markers sales are rapidly expanding in the US and overseas markets, but sales back home continue to slide every year. Since the peak in 1990, Japanese car makers' domestic sales have dropped 31% to nearly 3 million automobiles in 2007, even as their exports rose 30% to 5.8 million vehicles.

One of the reasons is the higher petrol prices.

Secondly, Japan's graying population. Unlike their parent's generation which viewed cars as the passport to freedom and higher social status, the Internet connected Japanese youth today look to cars with indifference (accordingly to Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association). Having grown up with the Internet, they no longer depend on the car for shopping, entertainment and socializing and prefer to spend their money in other ways. The feelings among youths in Japan felt that cars were unnecessary and even uncool because they pollute and cause congestion, also mass transit is inexpensive and reliable.

It has been found that young men don't require a car for commuting but may want one for hanging out with friends.


Reference: WSJ, Feb 29, 2008

A busy day..

Seoul - A packed schedule of meetings was arranged for me, starting at 9.30am and it all ended at around 1am in the next morning.

The lunch was at a traditional home, the first floor is used as a restaurant and the upper floor as their living area. There were 3 basic furnished rooms with a low dining table in the center and we had to sit on the floor. The meals were traditional Korean dishes - lots of side dishes of different types of kim chi. The main dishes were spicy pork and fish serve with hot rice.

low dining table

China surpass US in web dominance

Beijing - No.1 again. I did an article once about China being No.1 and now the news that China has become the world's largest Internet market. The first nation to unseat the United States in worldwide Web domination.

China has 220 million internet users at the end of 2007 verus US, 217 million. All this means that e-commerce will soon take off in China with its huge Web population serving a potential customer base. China is already the world's largest factory. Besides exporting to the world, China will also be buying goods and services from the world.

An additional note is that 23 per cent of China Internet users access the Web from mobile devices. The nation is leapfrogging in technological advancement, consolidating its position as a superpower in more ways than one.

Ref: ST Mar 18, 2008

Back to Seoul

Seoul - Flew on SQ on the latest 777-300ER with Video on demand. The VOD system had lots and lots of movies. I watched 2 movies - "August Rush" because my son just went and watch this movie, and also read good reviews about this. August Rush was an endearing movie about an 'orphan' musical genius boy that found his real parents. Freddie Highmore is the young lead actor - he is exceptionally good actor.

The other was a Robert Redford movie "Lions for Lambs" - a politically inclined movie about ambitions, sanity and the war in Afghanistan. You need to put on your thinking cap when watching this movie.

I am staying at Ramada Seoul Hotel @ Gangnam. During this stay, I was upgraded to a suite at no cost - which was really good. The bathroom was big and had a Jacuzzi as their bath tub. I immediately prepare the Jacuzzi for a nice hot bath - my first for a hotel stay. The suite had a living room, a personal computer, two 42 inch LCD TV (one in living room and bed room).

The weather was nice around 15 degrees celcius and windy. Whilst waiting for Young Jin - I had my dinner because I was ravish. Looking through the menu, the Ox tail soup sound delicious to me so I called for room service. I had Korean style ox tail soup before so the delivered meal was nothing out of ordinary and as expected delicious. When we finished our meeting, we had a Sashimi dinner - so me it was supper but to Young Jin it was his late Dinner. I amazed myself that I can still stuff food down.

Glorious seafood @ Damansara

Kuala Lumpur - Today I will be staying at Le Meridien KL Hotel located at Sentral. Just 28 minutes from KL International airport via the KLIA express. The rates of Le Meridien are RM570++ per night whilst at Hilton KL Hotel (next door) was RM$200 per night more. Well having stayed at both - the rooms at Hilton KL Hotel are much bigger and also their service is much better. Hilton KL Hotel has a concierge at the Sentral station that will help you with your baggage and checking in.

The last time I stayed at Le Meridien KL Hotel, there was a similiar concierge service but was told today by the front desk that they discontinue this service.

One of the reason I like about Sentral location, as the name implies - it's very central - all the trains run through this location - KLIA Express, Kotra, KL Express (formerly Putra) and LRT.

Dinner was at a remote location in Damansara @ a seafood restaurant called "Pantai Seafood Restaurant". The food is very fresh, very delicious and for 5 people it cost RM$380. The most expensive dish was the Mexican Geoduck prepared in Sashimi and cooked in soup costing RM$200 - not really worth that much though - maybe with the Mexican tag, the seafood restaurant can charge more. The most interesting dish was Marmite Crab. If my recollection is correct, Marmite is used as a spread on bread. I did asked many times, marmite? marmite crab? Ok, why not...let's try. It's not that bad actually but I still like other variants of crab dishes like salted egg crab, etc.

High Flyer

Singapore - Singapore Flyer will be the World's largest observation wheel when it opens sometime in March. You can expect an exciting ride.

This flyer is taller than the London Eye and it gives you a stunning bird's eye view of Marina Bay and downtown Singapore as the air-conditioned passenger capsules reach the wheel's apogee - at a height equivalent to a 42-storey building. Each capsule can carry 28 people.

The Award Dinner @ Restaurant Litoral

Macau - Today's conference agenda was half a day. Immediately after lunch, at 1pm we had arranged for a city tour for the delegates. The tour includes the various sites:

The 1st tourist site was to view the Lotus flower in full bloom,The coach then drove to the 2nd location, drop us off a distance and we had to walk up to the Ruins of St Paul, Na Tchaa Temple, Section of the old city and Mt Fortress

From the famous Ruins of St Paul, we took a walking tour to Senado Square (this is the main city square), situated at one end is the Leal Senado Building, Sam Kai Vai Kun, Kuan Tai Temple, Holy House of Mercy Cathedral, Lou Kau Mansion (visited a typical Chinese courtyard house compound), St Dominic Church,

Then off to A-Ma Temple, many people had offerings, seek blessings and gifts to the gods....

The last location was on the island of Taipai, crossing the bridge from Macau to Taipai was great as it was a clear sky - we stop by Taipai House museum and then to the popular Chio Heong Yuen bakery (oldest bakery in Macau) - there were free cookie tasting for all visitors. For all delegates we had arrange a free gift of a box of Almond cakes, after which the coach drove pass by the Venetian Casino and back to the Hotel

In the evening, the Partners Award Dinner was held at Restaurant Litoral.

Visiting the two-storied Litoral was stepping back into olden Portugal. It occupies one of the districts typical old shop houses on the street that used to front what was once a bustling waterfront. Not far away is the spot where the first Portuguese landed on Macau’s shores. The restaurant’s proprietor, Macau-born Manuela Ferreira, opened Litoral in 1995 with her husband, carefully guards her recipes, many of which have been passed down through generations in her family. She says she uses the wok to cook many of the dishes served here, which contain both Portuguese and Chinese ingredients. In fact, Ms. Ferreira says even she eschews commercially prepared foods and makes many of those ingredients herself, like the traditional shrimp paste that is a time-honored tradition in these parts. Ms. Ferreira was awarded a Medal of Honor by the Macau SAR government for the contribution to tourism her efforts represent. Mouth-watering dishes like stuffed squid, clams in garlic sauce, Macanese style duck rice and creamy serradura, washed down, naturally, with Portuguese wine or pitchers of refreshing sangria, not only make Litoral a favorite among Macau’s local community, but keep alive a gastronomic tradition that is unique to Macau.

The set menu for 30 pax costing MOP$ 350 per person:
Garlic Shrimps
Roast Portuguese Sarsage
Cod Fish cakes
Chicken Rice Soup
Curry Crab
Mixed Salad
Macanese Saffron Pork
African Chicken
Grilled Short Ribs
Dessert
Coffee or Tea

Fat Sui Lau Restaurant

Macau - After a hearty breakfast, it was a pack full day of conference at Vitoria Room III on level 2 of the Hotel Royal.

After the conference was over, it was free and easy for the conference delegates. Some partners wanted to join us, so we went to Fat Siu Lau Restaurant @ Rua da Felicidade No.64. They currently have 2 restaurants, the other opposite of Kun Ian Statue. Since 1903, many celebrities and politicians have frequented this infamous Macau dining spot. The atmosphere of this European-style venue is appropriate for business gatherings. Fat Siu Lau restaurant is in the oldest restaurant in Macau. The food is good and delicious but pricy compared to similiar menus. We tried their famous grilled king prawns, curry crab (the crabs were so small compared to Singapore chilli crabs - furthermore they charged twice as much). They were able to charge a higher price due to the restaurant ambiance.

Good Portugese Food

Macau - For lunch, we went to Restaurante Platao, a nice Portuguese restaurant in Senado Square (Central). This restaurant is very quaint and located off the busy street of Senado Square walking towards St. Paul's Ruins. Today's weather was great around 15 degrees Celsius, so we decided to have lunch outside in the open-air. The food coupled with the ambiance was great. We had chicken, stewed lamb shank, baked rice and Sangria for drinks.

What is Sangria? Sangria, is a wine "punch" with its traditional heritage well rooted in Spain. Typically, Sangria is made with red wine, fresh, seasonal fruit and a bit of bubbly water or citrus flavored soda. While Spain is heralded as the creator of Sangria, countries all over the globe have adapted the recipe to make a fruit-filled wine beverage that is refreshing and easy to drink with a wide variety of foods.

The welcome dinner was held at Macau Tower, 180 Lounge & Grill restaurant - there were 25 people attended this function and the food was well prepared and delicious. This was a private function.  A set menu prepared for all and cost MOP$300 per person. The ambiance was great - we had the whole 59th floor booked and the view of Macau on that day was clear so we were able to see as far as the eye can see.

The dinner menu was:

• Bacon wrapped Prawn Salad
• Tomato Bisque with Basil
• Stuffed Chicken Breast with Wild Mushroom
• Star Anise Cream Caramel
• Coffee and Tea

Start of the technical conference

Macau - After making sure that everything at the technical conference was 'clock work'. Tania, Donny and I went to settle the payment for the coach services. The tour agency was Grayline Tours and the office was just a walking distance from where we are staying. They are very professional and ensured us that there will be a English speaking guide since many from our conference do not speak Mandarin or Cantonese.

We were hankering for food and ask Grayline where to find good Macauese food and was told to go to Senado Square. We walked up and down the street but found no restaurant. I later realized that many of the good restaurants are in the lanes off the main street.

A lady was standing at a cross junction handing out flyers of her resturant, since we were hungry we took the flyer and followed her. The restaurant was downstairs and had to take a flight of stairs down and looking around there weren't many patrons on that day. Well, surprisingly the food was good and tasty too.

After lunch, we headed back to Royal Hotel to refresh for the evening activities.

After dinner, we went to a Karaoke Bar called 'Club Ruka'. The taxis plying Royal Hotel were few and we had to wait a long time to complete the group by packing 4 at a time into a taxi to Club Ruka. In spite of the directions to this Club Ruka, one taxi got lost along the way. Not many were singing and after a while it was getting a bit boring so we left. We discount with the manager since we left early and paid about MOP$900 for drinks and Karaoke room rental.

Go Go Cart...

Macau - Early in the morning Tania, Chee Chien and I set off to find the best Portuguese restaurant in Macau. We visited the 2 best restaurant and fortunately were located near by each other. Both restaurants are near the famous A-Ma Temple.

We were outside Litoral Restaurant contemplating which restaurant to choose and here in an instant a lion dance performance right in front of our eyes. Some Chinese would invite the lion dance troupe to officiate the opening of the restaurant or office just after Chinese New Year. Whilst we were looking earnestly at the performance - one of the troupe boys started to light the fire crackers and throw. While in a instance, we ran far away from the scene - it was a loud crackling and paper were sprewed everywhere. Fire crackers have been banned in Singapore for many many years, so seeing this was surreal.

Restaurant # 1 - Litoral Restaurant @ 853-2896-7878 - the grandeur of this stylist restaurant made us choose this for our awards dinner on 28 Feb.

Restaurant # 2 - Lorcha Restaurant, tel: 853-2839-1016 @ 289, Rua do Almirante Sergio. This is a much smaller restaurant, thus was not suitable. Instead we had lunch there. The food was really delicious. The only cons about this restaurant is that they are very impatient when you are almost finish with your meal - they keep asking you to settle the bill. I dislike this because we were considering deserts and then coffee but they want to 'turn' the tables quickly and was not professional about it.
As I have told friends coming to Macau to set customer service expectations low so that you will not be disappointed. You will enjoy good food and entertainment with mediocre service. The Macau economy is booming is so fast that the service staff are not thoroughly train in etiquette and customer service. Good customer service in Macau is a rarity and not a norm.
We also visited the A-Ma temple which was just walking distance away from Lorcha Restaurant. I will also be visiting this temple again during the day-tour on Thursday.

We went go-carting located at Estrada de Seac Pai Van, on the island of Coloane. You have to cross the bridge to get over to Coloane from Macau Peninsula. Macau is made up of 3 islands - Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane.

Go carting was very fun despite just 10 minutes. I went about 5-6 rounds the track in the cold light drizzle. My hands were numb at the end of 10 minutes. It was exhilarating going round the bends at 40-50 km/hr.



After dinner, as we were walking around Golden Dragon Hotel - there was a sign that says "Bowling Centre". Chris immediately wanted us to play, so we walked down this dark alley into a deserted 'shopping centre' and down basement to this bowling centre. The bowling centre facilities takes you back to the 80's but nevertheless we had good fun.

Transit HK to Macau

Macau - I was considering flying directly to Macau International Airport or to HK International Airport and then having to take a jet foil to Macau. Taking the former is much easier with no hassle of a ferry across to Macau. The adventure 'streaker' chose to fly to HK International Airport. Since I am just passing through to Macau - the process was seamless and smooth. HK and Macau had work out the process perfectly.

Upon my exit from the plane at HK International Airport - there was sign for Fly/Sea transit passengers with no need to pass HK immigration at all. I had purchased the turbojet tickets on line - it took me a while to get the booking complete because the booking process was not very clear.

The jet foil to Macau was choppy and very foggy - so the captain had to slow down the jet foil twice. It was so foggy that you could not see pass 1 metre. Upon arrival at Macau Ferry Terminal - passed through Macau immigration (which was a breeze) -you had to pick up your luggage. I actually walk out of the immigration area but abruptly turn back in - the immigration officers understood and wave me to the luggage claim area. The luggage claim area was an obscure area on the far right hand side.

I waited outside the Ferry Terminal for Hotel Royal shuttle bus. There were so many shuttle bus from all hotels. I think a hotel shuttle bus terminal should be built as it was a mess outside the ferry terminal especially if you are staying in smaller hotels. Bigger and luxurious hotels had bell boys waiting just outside the Ferry Terminal to guide to their business like the Venetian, MGM, etc.

I have stayed at Hotel Royal in December 2007 - I did liked the front desk folks and the room was clean and modern. So, I chose to stay here again for the channel partners conference to be held from 25-28 Feb. By 24 Feb, all the channel partners will arrive.

Visited the Macau Tower to make welcome dinner reservation on 26 Feb @ 180 Lounge and Grill - I booked the entire floor.

Reflections of Macau Tower

After much discussion with the asst. manager on the arrangements - together with Chee Chien we visited the infamous Hotel Lisboa and also her twin Grand Hotel Lisboa. The casinos were packed with many people - mostly from Mainland Chinese with cash to spare. We were hungry and had lunch at Noodles & Congee Corner Restaurant of Grand Hotel Lisboa.
After losing money at the slots, we decide to watch the show on the centre stage. As the night was still young - we adjourned to a pub and disco at basement 2 of the Royal Hotel. After 2 rounds of drinks and it was not very happening, we decided to call it a day....

Singapore hosting Youth Olympics Games 2010

Singapore - The inaugural Youth Olympics Games (YOG) to be held in 2010 boiled down to 2 countries - Singapore and Moscow, Russia. This YOG will features athletes from ages 14 to 18 and will be held once every 4 years. Today, is an exciting day because the 105 IOC (International Olympic Committee) members will vote on who will get to host the inaugural YOG in 2010.

I was up watching the live news announcement by the IOC President Jacques Rogge in the evening and when they announced the Singapore won the right to host this event in 2010 - I was so happy and proud.

Singapore epitomises Youthfulness as we are a small and young nation.

Congratualations to Singapore on winning the first Youth Olympics Games 2010 to be held on 14-26 August 2010.

Chikungunya Fever

Singapore - As of February 5, 2008 - 13 probable cases of chikungunya fever have been reported. Of the 13, 11 were from the Indian sub-continent. All 13 live or work around the clive street - Little India vicinity. There were admitted to isolation and management at the CDC.

What is it? Chikungunya fever is an acute viral disease caused by the chikungunya virus and is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito, usually the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same dengue causing culprit.

In most cases, it takes up to seven day (sometimes up to 12 days) for a person infected by the virus to fall ill. This is characterised by the sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, joint pain with or without swelling and lower back pain. Occasionally, a rash may affect the trunk and limbs.

These symptoms can last for between 3 to 10 days but it is not uncommon for the joint pain to persist for weeks or months. Since there is no cure for chikungunya, treatment involves mediation to treat the symptoms (e.g. fever and pain), lots of fluids to prevent dehydration and plenty of bed rest. The disease usually goes away on its own.

Reference: http://www.moh.gov.sg/ and http://www.nea.gov.sg/

Reunion Dinner

Singapore - What is Reunion Dinner? At Chinese New Year, a reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the immediate family get together for celebration. It is customary for the married sons will go back to their parents home to celebrate the Reunion Dinner.

My friend, Yudi - an Indonesian Chinese living in Jakarta will be driving back to his father home in Palembang for reunion dinner - that is about 12-14 hrs drive. Wow! what patience he has...

Around this time in China, it will be the biggest migration of people the world has ever seen -around more than 10 million people are going back home for their reunion dinner. Because of this year's bad winter storm in China, many travellers are stranded at train and bus stations. This happen to be China's worst winter storms in 50 years. At Guangzhou station alone, more than 200,000 travellers are stranded with no hope in sight of making the audous journey back home for the reunion dinner.

In Singapore, 2007 has been a good and prosperous year - people are having bigger bonuses and are willing to splurge on their Chinese New Year reunion dinner. This year most expensive reunion dinner at $5,888 a table offered by Hua Ting restuarant in Orchard Hotel.

This nine-course meal will be prepared by the Hotel's award winning master chef Chan Kwok and boasts of top-grade ingredients in its dishes.

• Live Australian lobster "lo hei" yu sheng
• Roasted golden suckling pig
• Double-boiled supreme hai fu shark's fin in shark bone cartilage soup
• Sauteed sea whelk with seasoned greens and preserved olive in golden cup
• Braised Australian dried abalone (10 heads) with top grade fish maw and fa cai
• Steamed live Pacific mouse groupa or live double-headed wrasse so mei in superior soya sauce
• Braised noodle with fresh scallop in XO sauce
• Double-boiled bird's nest with rock sugar
• Chinese petit four
• Costing: Singapore dollars 5,888 for one table

It cost so much, maybe the Chef has to sacrifice his reunion dinner to spend it with the dinners...

Lo Hei - toss up yusheng!

Singapore/Malaysia - Arguably Singapore and Malaysia invention of tossing and mixing up the yusheng (raw fish salad). You will toss the dish as high as possible which shouting "Lo Hei" and other auspicius phrases at the same time.

It is a Singapore's urban legend that four "Heavenly Chef" of Singapore restaurant - Chef Sin Leong, Chef Hooi Kok Wai, late Chef Tham Yui Kai and late Chef Lau Yoki Pui created the Lo Hei which is now enjoyed and a must have for many families in Singpore and Malaysi during the Chinese New Year. The 4 Chefs met each other and became friends at the old Cathay Restaurant and introduce the dish in 1963.

Lo Hei yusheng was traditionally eaten on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, which is known a "ren ri" or every man's birthday. But nowadys, it is eaten throughout 16 days (including the eve). When I was in Kuala Lumpur, we had Lo Hei - 2 weeks before Chinese New Year.

Here are some ingredients that do into yusheng, and their significance:

• Raw fish: Represents increasing abundance
• Peanut crumbs: Represents a household filled with gold and silver
• Peanuts: Represents eternal youth
• Plum sauce: Represents a sweet life ahead
• Crackers: Represents the entire floor paved with gold
• Lemon (or Lime): Represents fruitful year
• Oil: Represents a smooth year glistening with wealth