I Flew on the Lat Plane

This is the "Lat plane" and is AirAsia's 17th Boeing 737-300, featuring characters from famous Malaysian cartoonist, Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid's (better known as Lat) work.

"Everyone reads Lat. The Lat characters portray the colourful lives and unique blend of our multi-racial society. We can’t think of anyone who can portray us better than Lat. Everyone reads Lat, everyone can fly on AirAsia."
– Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia Sdn Bhd

The flight was right on schedule. I departed from Kepala Batas airport last tuesday 3rd of January at 12:20 pm and reached KLIA at 1:15 pm. Their service is really improving.

Related links: Airasia welcomes 17th Boeing

Tags: air asia boeing cartoon

Not My Day

There are some days when everything seems to go your way. On the other hand, there are some days where nothing goes right. Today was such a day.

It started well enough. Everything was going on as usual. I had some work at Alor Star and went down to my car.

I noticed something on my car wiper – a ticket for parking illegally. It was the first time I received a ticket even though I have parked at the same spot on several occasions. That was not a good sign and I said my prayers before setting off.

At Alor Star, my luck got worse. I found that the office was closed for lunch. Last month I had gone at the same time and they were still open. A sign of worse things to come?

Spent nearly an hour at the canteen downstairs. Ate a bun and drank orange juice and killed time reading my documents again and again.

Finally went up around 2:00PM. I was shocked to learn that the lady I was supposed to meet was on leave. The guy in her place was very friendly but of no help at all. He led me to a small room and asked me to wait for another officer to attend to me. So I waited. 5 minutes, 10 minutes tick, tock. After waiting for nearly half and hour, I have had enough and went out. The guy apologized profusely and went to look for the guy supposed to deal with me.

The guy came, sat down, took my documents and asked me to call back the lady tomorrow.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

At the car park, the parking attendant was eagerly waiting for me. She was saying something so fast I couldn’t understand. Then it finally sunk in. A lady had reversed her car onto mine. I ran to my car. There was a small dent in the rear and my bumper was in a bad shape. Lady drivers! Fortunately, the lights were undamaged.

I was so angry but my Yoga breathing techniques came in handy and I took long deep breaths. It took quite an effort to control myself from screaming.

After talking with the attendent, I learnt that the lady was in a hurry because her kid had been hospitalized and I cooled a bit after hearing that. She left her name and the place she worked at but no telephone number and left a stupid request – to meet her at the same place tomorrow.

So I directly went to her office, got her office number and left my name card with the officer in charge there and also left a message telling her that I couldn’t keep the date tomorrow because I had to go Kuala Lumpur.

I drove back to my office extra carefully,(well below the speed limit) after that – you never know what might happen next.

Finally reached my office safe and sound. However, if you think that is the end of my series of unfortunate events, then you are wrong.

I am going to present a paper at the 3rd Annual World congress of the Academy for Global Business Advancement (AGBA). The 3 day event with the theme “Business Entrepreneurship Development in a Globalized Era” is going to be held at the JW Marriot Hotel in Bukit Bintang.

The problem was that my application was approved only yesterday and I haven’t received the letter in Black and White till today – something that is going to keep me up all night. The secretary assured me that it would be in my pigeonhole by tomorrow morning. Also learnt that I have to pay the conference fees from my own pocket and claim for it afterwards – another hassle.

Drove to my friendly neighborhood travel agent to book tickets for tomorrow but when I got there, they had closed for the day. I had actually anticipated that.

So went back to my office and booked online on Airasia.com. God bless them.

I am an optimist . “It could have been worse” I told myself.

What a day! What a day!

Tags: personal conference air asia

Happy New Year

Wishing everybody a very

PROSPEROUS,

EXCITING,

EVENTFUL,

& HAPPY

NEW YEAR 2006

Win a Kenpo Jacket

The way Kahsoon keeps coming up with all short of gimmicks to increase traffic to his blog is really amusing.... And the funny part is that it is working. I guess all of us could learn a few lessons from him.

His latest trick is to offer free stuff. The latest - a Kenpo Jacket.



Of course I know he is not going to give away that great jacket, which costs about US$275. The Kenpo Jacket has an inbuilt fabric control system for the iPod and iPod mini models. It is self-powered, which requires no batteries. It is also machine washable (without the iPod of course).

Anyway, here are my answers to his questions:

1. How many sensor button is there on the Kenpo Jacket sleeve?

ANS: There are 5-button switch sensors for Play/Pause, Track Forward, Track Back, Volume Up and Volume Down.

2. Tell us why you like the Kenpo Jacket and what kind of activity you will wear Kenpo Jacket?

ANS: It looks great and I am a gadget freak.

And I am going to wear it every day even when sleeping until it wears out (Maybe not a very good idea in our hot and humid wheather).

Traditional Bersanding in Johor

Last Saturday we were at Johor again. This time to attend the bersanding (wedding reception)of Hardy and Zaza our dearest friends. And this time my in-laws were in full force. Rahil was there too looking very cute in her Baju Kurung.



Their Akad nikah which made them a legaly married couple, was actually on the 26th of November.

The bersanding is a very important ceremony for the Malays because it officialy announces the marriage. For Malays' it is not uncommon to have it at a later date.

The bersanding was a joint one for Zaza and her elder sister. It was an opportunity for me to observe first hand, some very traditional Malay traditions, which are not that common anymore.

Hardy took me by surprise when he suddenly handed me a bunch of small envelopes and made me his official toll payer. In case you are wondering what I am talking about, read on:

The arrival of the grooms were heralded by a troupe beating the kompang (hand drums). As soon as I reached the gate I realised what he had meant by paying a toll.

It is a fun custom that when the groom arrives at the bride's house, he is blocked at several stages by the bride's relatives and friends and you have to actually pay a "toll". Only when they are satisfied with the amount would they allow the groom to be at the bride’s side. It’s all very playful. As I am not very familiar with Malay customs and not good at sweet talk, I just followed the lead of the other guy - the toll payer for the other groom and smiled my way through and paid money whenever required.

And there were a few "tolls" to pass through - first at the gate, where a bevy of ladies blocked our entry. After that we had to pass through two guys followed by another - older ladies at the doorway of the house. Finally I came face to face with Zaza's mum at the Palamin (throne), where I finished most of the money. In the end I was left with three packets.

It was also Zaza’a parents wedding anniversary and they were led to the Palamin . Suddenly brought tears of happiness on eyes of a lot of people there.

Another custom I was not familiar with was when the two couples took out coins wrapped in ribbons and threw them into the crowd. The ladies were scrambling to catch them. One landed on my arm and I promptly put it into my pocket. Reminded me of the western tradition where the bride throwing her bouquet back before going off with the groom.

Really interesting experience. Took a lot of pictures but left the camera in Kuala Lumpur. Will post them up later.

Related posts: Akad Nikah in Johor

Back to Work

Unlike other people who are still enjoying their holidays, I am back in my office. And up to my neck with work.

Yes, the highway is finally clear. A lot of my colleagues are still not in and I hope they were not badly affected by the floods.

Anyway here are some pics of the recent flood sent to me by a friend.









Saying a prayer for last year's Tsunami's victims.

NEWS UPDATE: 27, Dec.

Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Kepala Batas (Alor Star) is operational again from today morning.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all visitors to my blog

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Happy Holidays.