Dinner at the Saxon Mill

Our friend Jens is going back to Switzerland and we decided to have some drink with him before he leaves. Luiz suggested The Saxon Mill in Warwick. It is actually an old mill over the river that has been converted into a pub / restaurant.

Some really nice views over the river. We took our kids along and they enjoyed it even though it got a bit bit chilly later in the evening. Later on we went in to order the food. It was really nice and comfy inside and the food was not bad either. However, my son was not happy at all and I had to take him out. He was fascinated by the water rushing away.

Here are some pics:

Trip to Marazion and St Michael's Mount

Marazion is said to be the oldest town in Britain and called Ictis during Roman times. Driving through the narrow roads was interesting. The sloping roads are too narrow to allow two cars to pass and cars have to give way to those coming from opposite directions at designated points. We had wanted to visit St Michael’s Mount. Unfortunately we were too late as the castle and gardens are only open till 5pm. However we were able to take some pictures of the island from the shore.






You can apparently walk to the island during low tide using the causeway.




Marazion


The plaque says:

HIS MAJESTY KING EDWARD
Landed near this spot
April 19 1902

Down memory lane in Bangsar

I was going through my old website on Geocities (my first), which has not been updated in a very long time. Reading the stuff I wrote several years ago brought back a lot of pleasant memories. One of the pages was on Bangsar, a suburb on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, which was then our favourite place to hang out. Here is what I wrote with some minor editing (last updated in 2002):

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Think of Bangsar and images of food, coffee and beautiful people immediately comes into my head. if you are in Malaysia and looking for a bite, a drink, a book, carpets, furniture or just want to hang out and watch the World go by... just go to Bangsar. This is where people come to see and be seen.


Clockwise from top left: 1. Jalan Telawi Tiga, Bangsar at night; 2. In the morning; 3. a slimmer me (MBA days), 4. at Bangsar Bowl with my wife-to-be and Rama.

Caffiene addicts are in luck here - There are several cafes you can choose from - Starbucks, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.... You will find these cafes packed even on week days and you know the Asian Crisis is over now (or is it?) - People are flocking back to Bangsar. Well since I first started this page, I have lost track of the places that have closed down and new ones coming up to take their places.

If you are thirsty for a different kind of drink - the alcoholic kind, don't worry, Bangsar has probably the highest concentration of pubs and bistros in the whole of Malaysia. I suggest you try 'Grappa' for a good selection of wines and 'the Roof' for a place with a view. It has got a new "Blue" look now. According to Bangsar regulars, the "IN" or "COOL" places to hang out are 'Bar Flam' and 'Finnegan's'. The most amazing thing is that they are all on one street - Jalan Telawi 3

If you are hungry, you have a wide variety to choose from - ranging from Italian and French to Thai and Indian cuisine and of course modern "fast food."

For those who love sea food, just head for the 'Sea Food Village'. One good point about this place is that it has its own parking for its patrons.

'Jolly Green' is the big food court with a green roof and a car park below. If you happen to be short of cash and can't afford to go to on of the expensive restaurants, go to the mamak stalls inside Jolly Green or ones outside which open up in the afternoon, next to the Sea food Village.

You cannot beat Devi's Corner in terms of price. Try the Butter Nan> with Tandoori Chicken there. They have several types of Tosai too. You can also try their Nasi Lemak there and wash it down with Teh Tarik - which literally means 'pulled tea' or with a glass of Teh O Ais Limau - Ice lemon tea. They recently renovated the whole place and it looks and feels much better now.

Just along the road is the newly opened 'Lotus'. Clean and bright but slightly more expensive than the former. This place is as busy as Devi's.

Another Indian Vegetarian restaurant is 'Madras Woodlands' - the same row as McDonalds. You may miss it as it is not on the ground floor. There is a wide choice of North and South Indian dishes. The food is reasonably priced. I love the VIP meal and the chapati set.

I just don't know why Bangsar has a lot of places with the names of colors - 'Jolly Green', 'the Grey', 'the White Room' and the 'Red Chamber' and so on. I visited the Red Chamber some time back and guess what...I really liked the place, they have created a really cozy ambiance. With sofas, curtains, real cool music - ethnic, arabian, sufi and so on - and as the name suggests, a red colour theme. The best thing I liked was that none of the dishes were above RM20 and the food was really good. Try the Asam Laksa and you will agree with me. I really love the "Little Red Rubies" which is a drink made from coconut water plus milk and few other ingredients. Bad news for Vegetarians, not much for you there.

Just upstairs is 'the Harem' run by the same management. With an Arabian theme you take off your shoes, just lie down and get comfy. However, do not try eating and drinking lying down - you may drip Asam Laksa all over your shirt. The "Shisha" (a type of scented, non-tobacco hookah) is a big hit there. Yes, people actually pay to inhale scented smoke. I noticed something new, there were more girls (dressed to kill) as compared to guys. Anybody got any answers? I wonder if there is some truth to the rumour that there are more girls than guys in the Klang Valley.

If you are into books, there are a few places where you can grab something to read. There's 'MPH' for those with a lot of money, just opposite Madras Woodlands. It has the widest choice, plus mags, stationeries as well as music CDs and cassettes. Then there is 'Silverfish books', next to Devi's. You have to climb up the narrow stairs. It has got a small but good collection of books including used ones.

However, the best bargain can be had at 'City Book Rentals' on the other side of Bangsar. More precisely at 40 Persiaran Ara Kiri, Lucky Garden. That's behind 'TMC super market'. Their rules are simple, you pay an amount for renting books (used). You can then give it back after reading it and then you get back most of the money back. Some really good books there. I got 'Forward the Foundation' by Issac Asimov today for RM20.

Don't be surprised if you suddenly happen to see a lot of people on Sunday. It is because the Pasar Malam or night market is open. Numerous stalls sell every imaginable thing from fake watches to vegetables and clothes. However, its getting tougher to get pirated CDs and VCDs now after the authorities clamed down on the illegal trade.

Just down the road is the 'Bangsar Shopping Complex' or BSC (now Bangsar Shopping Centre). Just a few months back, it was a dead place with several closed shop lots. Anyway most of the goods sold there were overpriced. Will definitely miss the GSC cineplex and the Bangsar Bowl - a bowling alley. Not very crowded and reasonably priced. However, after the renovation it is starting to pull in the crowd. The customers are mostly expats who live nearby. I personally feel that the place is highly pretentious and materialistic but I guess that's how the World is now-a-days.

In Bangsar, you have people spending hundreds of dollars on a single dinner and driving around in Ferraris and at the same time come across beggars as well. You can see the "CD people" packing their wares before the enforcement agencies raid the place. You can sometimes see young kids dead drunk, puffing and partying away like there's no tomorrow. You can see "Mat sallehs" - Westerners with SPGs (Sarong Party Girls) wrapped around their arms.

Yeah! You are right. Who am I to judge?

Bangsar has something for everyone and I am a part of the crowd as well.

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Correction! I was part of the crowd. Wonder how many of those places I named here are still in business?

Blackpool trip 2

Here are some pics from our recent trip to Blackpool.


We stayed at the Travelodge hotel at Preston Central about 20 minutes away.
Comfortable yet affordable.


The Blackpool Illuminations




The Fireworks


Blackpool tower illumination at night


Ferris wheel called the Blackpool eye




Blackpool Tower in the morning


The Ferris wheel "Blackpool eye"


View from the top of the Blackpool eye


My daughter sitting opposite me. She was very brave. Not scared at all.


View from top 1


View from top 2


Sea Gull


My wife and daughter

Blackpool trip 1

One Friday, the 21st, we drove to Blackpool to view the famous "Illuminations" as well as the World Fireworks Championships. For your information, the Illuminations are turned on every autumn and have been a major part of Blackpool’s attraction since 1879.

The fireworks started around 8:30pm and on that day, it was the team from Austria's turn. We stood on the promenade and watched the wonderful fireworks display. Met up with Mozard and family later and a friend later.

The last and final display was on the 28th. Wonder who won the competition.

Here are some short clips of the fireworks:

Coombe park again

We were supposed to go to Liverpool along with our friends Nana, Mozard and their kids last weekend but we cancelled our trip at the last moment because it turned out that the reason we wanted to go - the British musical fireworks championships were in October not this month.

So we decided to pay a visit to nearby Coombe Country Park instead. We had fun and unlike the last time we had visited, the flowers were blooming.



Rahil also rode on a donkey for the first time in her life. She looked cool but I could see her gripping the support on the saddle real tight.




Forest path


Swan


Wild flowers

We had a real scare when Nana's daughter Yana had an accident while playing at a special playground in the park. She slipped and hit herself. She was in real pain and couldn't even walk. All of us were really worried. We rushed to our cars and drove to the NHS walk-in centre in Coventry city centre as fast as we could. We left them there and later learnt that they had to go to the hospital at Walsgrave because the walk-in centre didn't have x-ray facilities.

Was really relieved when we learnt that it was not serious and she didn't break any bones.

Kopi Luwak

In case you didn't know, the logo of Sun's Java programming language is a steaming coffee cup. In the US, Java is a slang for coffee. Java is also the name of an Island in indonesia, where it's capital city, Jakarta is situated and they do produce a lot of coffee there.

Of the coffee produced there, the most famous happens to the "Kopi Luwak" known as Civet coffee in English. It is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $120 and $600 per pound.

So, what's so special about this coffee?

Well, it is extracted from the coffee berries that have been eaten by the the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The excreted partially-digested beans are then harvested and processed for sale. Read how it gets it's unique taste in New Research Explains Structure, Taste of Kopi Luwak Coffee.

Want to go for a beach holiday

Even though we are technically on an Island, it's been nearly a year since I went to a beach or seaside. I don't know why but I have always been attracted to the ocean and one of my most memorable vacations was to Redang Island off the east coast of Malaysia with a few friends. Since then, I have visited several other Islands in Malaysia and neighbouring Thailand including Pangkor, Langkawi, Penang and Phuket. These islands are among the ideal Beach Holidays listed on Dialaflight.com. This UK based company is one of the leading independent travel company offering flights, hotels and travel ideas worldwide.

I was really excited reading about the various beach resort holidays listed on the site. They have loads of useful travel information. Dialaflight.com is also a great place to look for cheap flights and holiday offers.

If you are thinking of exotic beach holidays, do visit the site.

Neo-Nazis arrested in Israel

Gang member giving the Nazi salute (ynetnews.com)

In what has got to be one of the most amazing stories to come out of Israel is one about an Israeli neo-Nazi gang that had carried out attacks on religious Jews, gays and drug addicts.

These youths had "Nazi tattoos and allegedly celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday". Quite unbelievable considering that they would have been killed if Hitler was alive. They belonged to immigrants from Russia who had been allowed to become Israeli citizens under its law of return.

Read the full story in the Time site: Arrest of Israeli neo-Nazi gang shocks Jewish State and on the Associated press site: Police: Israeli Neo-Nazi Ring Busted and on ynetnews.com: Olmert on neo-Nazi gang: We failed as society

Sherwood: the Living Legend

When we visited Sherwood Forest in Nothingham for the Robin Hood Festival early this month, I pledged my support for Sherwood: the Living Legend. This is a bid to win up to £50 million from the Big Lottery Fund's Living Landmarks: The People's Millions competition.

This unique project involves over 15 organisations in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire with a vision:

To transform Sherwood Forest into a world-class sustainable destination and inspirational community resource, within which current and future generations can live, learn, play and prosper.

This unique project is hoped to become a catalyst for regeneration in the Sherwood area. At the centre of this project will be the Heart of the Forest - a new visitor complex built with cutting-edge sustainable technologies, which will be linked to the ancient forest by a tree top walkway. Check out the amazing artist impressions of this proposed building.

The Happy Planet Index on a map

Found this interesting page on the University of Leicester website. Titled "A Global Projection of Subjective Well-being: A Challenge to Positive Psychology?", it shows the global projection of subjective well being (SWB).

It was based on the Data on SWLS from The Happy Planet Index, a study by Marks, N., Abdallah, S., Simms and A, Thompson, S. (2006). London: New Economics Foundation.

According to their findings, the countries with the top three Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) scores are: 1. Denmark, 2. Switzerland and 3. Austria.

Malaysia comes at 17, even higher than the US, which is at 23; Australia (26) and UK (41). Does that mean that Malaysians are a happy lot?

US Military Campground FamCamp location guide

AllStays.com has relaunched an enhanced version of their Military Campground (also known as FamCamps) location guide in the US. These Military Campgrounds provide lower cost camping options for military, veterans and their families. They are much cheaper than even the normal campgrounds and RV parks with some camps offer rates as low as $3 a night.

The site lists over 200 of these sites by placing them on a United States map (including Alaska and Hawaii locations) using Google. You can zoom on the sites as well. Clicking on the site which is represented by green tents, bring up more information. This includes location, contact number, number of sites, seasons of operation and link to websites (if any). Should prove useful to members of the US armed forces and their families.

The amazing Caribbean

If you say "Caribbean", the first thing that comes to mind is Reggae music and Bob Marley in particular. His songs really had a big impact during my younger days. I would definitely love to pay a visit to his hometown in Jamaica.

Many people have the misconception that the Caribbean is a single country. Actually the Caribbean islands are a chain of islands 2,500 miles long enclosing the Caribbean Sea.

I am not really sure, but someone told me that there are 31 countries in the Caribbean and no two islands are quite the same. Each has different historical beginnings with their own culture and speaking diverse languages. Even the geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies from one place to another. Whereas Trinidad, the birthplace of Calypso music has tropical forest and hilly areas, the Island of Aruba has a relatively flat terrain with a dry climate and desert landscapes. You can say that there is something for everyone in the Caribbean .

Car boot at Lea Marston

Yesterday we drove to Birmingham to Mozard and Nana's place who then took us to their favourite car boot at Lea Marston in North Birmingham. Check out the North Birmingham markets and car boots site here for more details.


I have to say that of all the car boot sales I have been to, this is probably the best so far. Lot of choices and real bargains. Take a look at some of the stuff we bought there:


After the bargaining, we were really hungry. So off we went to Mozard and Nana's house where they quickly cooked up a few delicious dishes for us. We also learnt how to drink (and appreciate) tea the Chinese way.


Here's Mozard playing his new toy and my son was totally impressed (well, his daddy too actually).

Meeting Robin Hood - Episode 2

Some more pictures from our trip to Sherwood forest last Sunday.


Great story tellers




Rahil invited to join the orchestra


She's playing the tambourine


Dads with the kids


Now the mum's turn


An old oak tree int he forest


The jousting arena

We left without watching the jousting tournament as it was extremely hot and I was having a splitting headache.

We dropped by our friend Amruls' house Nottingham. He had cooked spaghetti and had baked a chocolate cake for us. Yes! It was as delicious as it looks.

Meeting Robin Hood. Episode 1

WARNING: Loads of pictures ahead

Last Sunday we drove to Sherwood Forest, Edwinstowe, 20 miles north of Nottingham, on a convey along with Nana and Mozard's family and another Malaysian family.

The Robin Hood Festival is an annual event and it ran from 30th July - 5th August 2007 and we were able to visit on the last day. Fortunately we arrived early because the park was soon packed with people. A lot of people had to park by the road and walk to the park.

It was a very hot and bright day - the hottest since we arrived here in the UK. I am not sure but someone was telling me that it the highest that day was 31 degrees.
Phew!

























More pictures coming up.

Dreaming of the Caribbean

I didn't have much knowledge about the Caribbean before. My sister's mother-in-law bought a holiday home over there and was telling me of the wonderful sunny beaches there. This led me to do some research and I was amazed to learn that the there are some 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays in the area.

There is also more to the place than just bright sun and white sandy beaches. There are more than thirty major islands to choose from in the Caribbean. Each with it's unique culture and attraction. They have something for everyone. As for me, when people used to mention the Caribbean, the first thought that comes to mind is always reggae music and the place where it was born - Jamaica. Though I mostly prefer rock ballads, I love reggae music too and have always wanted to visit the place Bob Marley was born. Jamaica is also the home of several other different musical genres such as ska, dancehall and ragga among others. Would definitely love to visit Jamaica and experience the musical culture there.

Another place I would love to visit in the area has to be Aruba, which has a totally different history and culture than the other islands. Even the vegetation is totally different with desert landscapes as compared to other tropical Islands int he area. What attracted me was the Island's slogan of "One Happy Island."

Going to the Microsoft MGX - get special rate at resort

Are you part of Microsoft's salesforce or you are one of those lucky guys who got invited to MGX (Microsoft Global Experience), one of the must-attend Microsoft events?

Initially it was supposed to be held at New Orleans but has now been moved to Orlando. According to a report by ZDNet, an estimated 14,000 people attend MGX.

Anyway, if you are one of those guys going there for the event, you are probably looking for an affordable place to stay. Well you are in luck as International Plaza Resort and Spa in Orlando, Florida is offering a Microsoft MGX Special Rate of only $119 per night.

This luxury hotel is located within walking distance to convention center where the MGX is being held. Another great news for tech people (I don't like to use the word geek) is that there is free wifi access throughout the resort. Of course you won't be spending all the time at the event. if you would like to visit some of the popular theme parks nearby, the resort provides complimentary transportation.

That really does sound nice. Now here's hoping that Microsoft sends me an an invitation.

Hotel reservations online

When you make your travel plans - either for leisure or business, make sure you take into consideration where you would be staying at the same time. I have heard some horror stories of friends who forgot that they would be traveling to a place during the peak holiday season and had not booked a hotel before hand. You can only imagine the problems they went through.

If you are looking for great prices on the places you want to stay, you might want to visit HotelReservations.com. Now planning and booking your trip can be done conveniently over their site. They have offers at more than 70,000 properties worldwide. This includes Cheap Hotels, motels, resorts, B&B's, condos, vacations rentals etc.

They assure their customers the best prices through their Price Guarantee. They promise that if you can find a place at a lower rate available for the same dates and the same hotel, they will, at our choice, either match the lower rate or cancel the reservation without a cancellation fee after verification.
Right now they are having a Summer Gas Rebate. All you have to do is book two nights fill up the form and you get back $30.

Coming to the website, it's quite impressive. You can actually choose the web site in your language and currency. This indicates that this site is targetting customers from around the World - a Global website. It's convenient too. For example if I am in UK and wanted to book online, it would be tough if the prices were quoted in US dollars.

On the site you can use their advanced hotel search facility to search for hotels by address, by amenities as well as Zip Code (post code). A search for hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia gave me a really amazing list to choose from. You can sort these 'Special Internet Rates' by Best Value, Quality, Price and name.

Great site. Will definitely use it when I travel next time.

Ikea in Coventry

Artist's impression of the new store

As a long time fan of Ikea, I was really excited when I heard that they were going to open a store here in Coventry. This store on Queen Victoria Road, is the first one to be built in a City centre shopping area. Work started on the site on 15 May last year and is scheduled to open later this year.

The building will be seven storeys high, three of which will be for parking and another three for stores (with a store space of 24,000 square meters).

Ikea's decision to open a store is a boon for Coventry which has seen a exodus of businesses and public services leaving the city in the past few years. The new store is expected to create around 1000 new jobs here.

Right now, they already have a small store open at 2 Croft Road, CV1 3AZ.

Would definitely love to work with them. Since they are recruiting, I thought it would be a good idea to send in an application too. Unfortunately, have been rejected twice.

Guess I will have to send in an application again. Check out the Ikea Coventry site.

Tags: ikea coventry

Related links:
- Going to Ikea for food
- Ikea Kitchen Planner
- IKEA the Right Choice