Borneo Games 2008

The Games ended today and sad to say that we failed to reach our target of at least bronze medal. Sabah team finished forth placing but at least it was an improvement from last year edition where we finished last. Personally, I'm not satisfied with my performance for this year Games coz I lost 2 out of 3 matches. I played too safe and didn't take much risk in the games. I lost the 2 matches because I'm too afraid to lose the point and I didn't hit my normal strokes instead opt for a safer but attackable strokes. Maybe the nerves getting out of me. Mentally, I need more competitive matches to get my game going as what I did in practice. At least the score was quite close and it give me hope for next year edition. Overall, I'm happy with Sabah Tennis team performance coz we're very supportive of each other and eager to do better for next year edition. The team are young and improving. I'm sure we'll be able to get at least a silver medal next year. Since we have to play 3 matches (best of 3 sets) within 24 hours, my body really aching right now and I need a very good relaxation massage for the muscle. I'll continue my travelogue in my next post coz now I really need a good rest.

Holiday, Course & Games

It has been quite some time I didn't blog any post. It just that I had a quite hectic schedule lately. After my holiday ended, I have to go for a course in KL early this week and this weekend Borneo Games started (14-16 Jun) and I'm representing Sabah team for tennis. So, I'll continue my travelogue when the Games ended. Since it's a 16 days journey, so it'll a while for me to finish it heheehe.

Tomorrow morning (8am) I'll have my first match. I hope I can contribute a point for Sabah team. Our target this year is to get at least a bronze medal coz we don't want to end up in the bottom two again. As usual I'll play the single slot and year after year I always contribute a point from my match for Sabah team. I hope the trend will continue again this year. Yesterday we had a good practice session together. I think this year team is much stronger than the previous year. I saw the commitment to be the best that they could for the Games. I'll keep you posted on the Games progress and result. Wish me and Sabah team a success for this edition of Borneo Games!

World Heritage & World First

20 May 2008 (Day 5) - Unseen View & Tuuuttt Tuuuttt (sound of the train)

We woke up very early today at 3.30am coz yesterday we asked our driver to pick us up at 4.00am. The only reason for us to wake up this early coz we wanna go to Tiger Hill (30 minutes away) to see the sunrise view of Mt Kanchenjunga which is the third highest peak in the world standing at 8,598m. We didn't even had a shower coz it gets extremely cold during that hour even when we use the hot water. Unfortunately due to the cyclone and overcast weather yesterday, it's really get cloudy this morning and we can see nothing. Finally after waiting for an hour, we saw the sun already rose in the thick of the cloud and we can't even see the beautiful full view of Mt Kanchenjunga from the Tiger Hill as well. We kinda disappointed not to be able to view one of the magnificent place to view the sunrise. As it getting very cold up there, we decided to go back to hotel for breakfast. Along the way, we stopped at two monasteries in Darjeeling town. Since most people here are Buddhists, monastery play an integral part of their daily life. The thing about these monastery in the Himalayan Region is once you enter into one, it feels like you already enter all of it coz the interior and exterior design were almost the same for all (no doubt it's very artistically beautiful). From the statue to the painting, it's all almost the same except a few small things which I'll explain later on in my next post. So, the excitement level of visiting one monastery after another will definitely be in declining mode.
Also along the way our driver spotted a kinda fine view of Mt Kanchenjunga. So, we stopped for a pictures and at least we got to see the view first hand (i attached the picture here). You can see the snow cap mountain on the background and that's Mt. Kanchenjunga. After breakfast, we took a shower then we proceed to Tibetan Refugee camp. The fled from Tibet during the Chinese invasion of Tibet around 1950 and settled at the Refugee Camp in Darjeeling. These people are Tibetan and they just hold a refugee card coz they have NO nationality. Since Tibet is not a country, they hold no passport. They're neither Indian national nor Chinese national. We chatted with a few of them and they're holding a prayer for the monk that died during the riot in Tibet at the time we were there. They're really nice people that fight for their freedom of religion coz China doesn't allow that to happen.
Next stop, we going to ride the famous toy train. They called it toy train not because it's a toy BUT the train is much smaller compared to conventional train. There was drama during the train ride. Since we're going up the hill suddenly the train stop and slide down the hill due to insufficient steam (the train powered by steam). It's not scary coz the train doesn't move that fast but we felt kinda funny for the whole episode. After 30 minutes, the train start moving up again to our destination. We stopped for pictures at Batasia Loop (the most photograph site along the railway) and then proceed to the second highest railway station in the world (stated there) i.e Ghoom Station located at 2700m. Actually I knew it's the third highest after Tanggula Pass (5,072m) in Lhasa-Golmud, Tibet and La Raya Pass (4,313m) along the Lake Titicaca route in Machu Picchu, Peru. The train journey was amazing and we got to know the history of the railway from the museum at Ghoom Station. I'll be too long if I wanna tell you about the history, no?

After that we went to Himalayan Mountaineering Institute coz I'm interested to know the history of mountain climbing in Himalaya. The first man succesfully climb the Mt. Everest was an Indian national i.e Tenzing Norgay. Actually he's a Sherpa from Nepal but Indian government gave him the citizenship. He's the pioneer in mountain climbing in Himalaya and became president of one most influencial climbing institute in Himalaya (I forgot what's the name of the institute coz too much info to remember during the whole journey). Too bad this time around we won't be able to do some serious hiking due to time constraint. So we learnt all the history of climbing and they even found an eagle died at 27,000 feet and brought back at the museum. It's amazing huh? I think the eagle must somehow get lost in wind storm coz i think it's impossible for the eagle to fly that high. Since the Zoological Park is in the same area as the Institute, we took the opportunity see the red panda and snow leopard which are a rare species. We browsed around the zoo for 10 minutes hehehe coz all the zoo are the same anyway, no?

Later that day we hit the town again. This time we went for a horseback ride along the mountain. It was so amazing to be able to do horseback riding on the Himalayan mountain. I really enjoyed the experience. After that, we went shopping again hehehe coz Darjeeling town is really nice place to walk and window shopping. Maybe the cool weather play the part as well. We found out Darjeeling has a Shopping Mall and it's quite nice given the town situated on the hill. Since this is the last night we'll be in Darjeeling therefore we explored most part of the town and eventually we went to the square where there's live performance going on for some sort of concert. We call it a day around 9pm and went back to our hotel. Tomorrow we'll have another long journey to Sikkim.

One Journey After Another

18 May 08 (Day3 ) - Goodbye Sheraton MughalToday we're going back to Delhi coz we had a flight to catch to Bagdogra. That will be our real journey begin. Delhi and Agra were just a stopover kinda like entree. Today we had breakfast exclusive for the suite room stay. The breakfast was really nice. After breakfast we continue sleeping until 1pm. We check out at 2pm before taking a long bus journey back to Delhi. We arrived Delhi 7.30pm and there's no point staying at a 5 star hotel just for a few hours sleep. So we decided to stay at the Incredible Home Stay in Karol Bagh area. The room was clean and comfortable for its range. After dinner we went back to sleep coz we need to wake up at 6am tomorrow to go the airport.

19 May 08 (Day 4) - Cyclone In Darjeeling
We arrived at Delhi domestic airport around 7.30am and it was so full of people. The airport kinda like 'reban ayam' with no designated gate for boarding. Even the announcement was not that clear. We flew by Air Deccan kinda like Airasia copycat in India. The flight was delay for about an hour coz of heavy traffic and than another hour in the air coz we can't land in Bagdogra due to heavy rain. In the end the two hours flight became three and a half hours. The funny part is, this is the only airline we seen people don't really follow the rule. They simply walk around even when we're about to land.When we landed our driver (Palden) was waiting for us outside the airport. I already prearrange a car and a driver for our 7 days journey in Darjeeling and Sikkim coz I know India public transport is not so reliable. We're so happy coz our driver was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area (i attach our picture together Me, Palden & Neo). The rain just stop and our driver told us that cyclone just landed in Bagdogra and Darjeeling coz along the way we can see a lot of trees fell down on the street. Darjeeling is about 3-4 hours away from Bagdogra (500m) and it's situated at 2100m above sea level. So, there was a very winding and narrow road up the hill. Actually, there are three roads leading to Darjeeling but two of the road was closed due to the cyclone. The driving was really nice coz we drove along the mountain and it's very scenic. Along the way, we stop for some pictures and lunch at Kurseong (KOR-SIANG). The food was not bad maybe coz we're so hungry already. The temperature here was great coz it's cool and windy. I don't remember what time we arrived in Darjeeling but we check in at Viceroy Hotel (one of the good hotel in Darjeeling.... katanya...). the hotel was good BUT the service kinda way below average (not recommended) and we'll be staying here for two nights. After check in, we hit straight to the town on our own coz it's very near to the hotel (we let our driver rest and meet us again tomorrow).
Surprisingly people in Darjelling don't look like Indian at all and they're polite and friendly even though we're still in India territorially. It's really chilly up here as well. After some pictures we went back to the hotel for dinner and then again we hit the town. This time we went shopping coz a lot of nice things they sell here. I felt like wanna buy a lot of things but I don't think we have enough rooms in our bags. People here are not pushy at all (unlike in Delhi & Agra) and it's really convenient for us to browse through before deciding what to buy. We really like this place and can't wait to explore on this mountainous Himalayan region. For now, it's time to sleep.Some History - Darjeeling is made to be a hill station during British time. It was part of Sikkim before British kinda loaned it and eventually it became part of West Benggal state. The people here mostly from Nepali descendant (they called themself Gorkha) and some are Tibetan. Here where the famous 'Darjeeling Tea' grows and the tea is really nice. I can drink the tea all day long. Obviously the main industry here is tea plantation and the 1st flush of a good quality Darjeeling tea doesn't come cheap either. Population in Darjeeling growing at a faster rate and the man made lake that the British built for water supply (good for 10,000 people) is no longer sufficient to cater their population. So, most of people living in town have to buy water supply from a tanker that looks like an oil tanker. During their last election (7 months ago), the separatist party had won and they demanded to be separated from West Benggal and form a Gorkaland state coz West Benggal is too big to care for them in term of road condition, other infrastructures and all. I hope and I think they'll get an independent state soon coz they're not even Benggali. Darjeeling also have the famous 'Toy Train' which is one of World Heritage Structure. I'll tell you more about the toy train on my next post coz we're going to have a ride on it tomorrow.
Note: All the fact I got it from the locals and our driver. I guess it should be more accurate rather than sometime misleading book.

Disclaimer: Since I got a few feedback from you guys about my previous post that smell racism. So, I just wanna stress out here that there's nothing to do with racism. It's just what I experienced and encountered first hand. That was just truly how I felt for the whole thing.

Much Ado About Taj Mahal

17 May 08 (Day 2) - Long Day In Arid Land
We woke up as early as 6.00am to get ready for exploring Agra. After we had breakfast at Taj Bano (one of Hotel's restaurant) it's already 7.20am. Our car and driver have been waiting for us at the hotel lobby. The car was ok and quite comfortable and the driver was friendly.

First stop, I asked the driver to send us to Taj Mahal. Along the way, we can see how dirty the city was. We can even see pigs running around the town (no kidding). Since we have to walk like 200m before reaching the gate, all these Indians trying to sell from chilly to souvenirs. Even worst, they pull our hand in order for us to buy from them. It's a very long 200m walk for us coz they're very pushy. This experience was even worst then I faced in Istanbul and Beirut. Coincidently, at the gate we met with Malaysian family holidaying there and we chat a bit with them and they share the same feeling about India even they went there with a tour package.
Personally, I don't understand what's the hype about Taj Mahal. It's just a building built coz of love. Yeah, it's intricately beautiful and Yeah, it's full of history (isn't all building full of history???) BUT to go to Delhi and Agra just to see the Taj Mahal, I just don't think it's worth it UNLESS you wanna go through what we went through yesterday. I can't really appreciate it that much. It's just another intricately beautiful building just happen to be one of Seven Wonders of the world (isn't it 8 wonders now).
Second stop is the Agra Fort, it's the same scenario all over again. Those Indians trying to sell thing to us and a lot of guides roaming around there persuade us to take them to guide us. They said the place is very complicated to venture and we'll miss out on the history. Come on, I'm not that stupid to hire a guide to know the history coz I can read all that in the book and the place itself was very easy to navigate. Since it's getting very hot in Agra, so we decided to get back to our car as soon as we finished navigate the Agra Fort.

After that, we proceed to lunch but since this morning our driver suggest a few places that we can buy souvenir so we decided to visit a few of his suggestion. We didn't really like what we saw but Neo end up buying t-shirt for his dad. I'm quite worried where we'll have our lunch but thankfully our driver brought us to a very clean and nice place. We had a very good lunch there.
Next stop is Fatehpur Sikri which is 1 hour away from Agra. Since it's so hot (45 C) and we had a full belly so we end up sleeping in the back seat until we arrived at the destination. Once we got out from the car, we can hardly open our eyes coz the temperature and wind were so hot and the land was very arid and dusty. Since we're quite tired and the driver also suggest us to get a guide for this site (actually we don't want any guide at all at first) so we just went along with his suggestion coz it doesn't cost that much for the guide. All my prejudice was right, the guide end up pushing us to buy a few thing at the site. I really regreted having decided to have a guide now. Once Indian always Indian. They're really not worthy of living coz they always wanna cheat and lie to other people. No wonder their country really SUCK.

Since it's very hot, we decided to call it a day and head back to our car. Unfortunately, the car broke down and we have to wait about 30 minutes for a replacement car. We head straight back to the hotel coz I'm tired of this city and never wanna go anywhere else except our hotel. It was a relieve finally we're in our suite room. The exceptional service in the hotel doesn't end yesterday. We have a butler to prepare our bed for a night time and provide us nutrition for our good night sleep. They prepare us a few local herb for digestion and almond in the water for the skin and hair etc... They even have aromatherapy for us to sleep better. The butler can even prepare a bath for us. I really like their service and never wanna go out from here.

Dinner time, we went to try another restaurant in the hotel i.e Bagh e Bahar which served quite a nice food with kinda live band performing. After dinner we try to book a train back to Delhi for the next day. Unfortunately, all luxury train seat to Delhi was taken. I don't want to share a seat with a pig on the normal train. So, we got no choice other than taking the long bus journey back to Delhi. After that, we went back to our room and sleep coz it was a very hot day we had. I'll continue with our journey on my next post. ciao....

India Oh India

16 May 08 (Day 1) - Dark Day In Dark Cities
We started our journey from KLIA when my brother sent us to the airport with another car (remember the car that got stalled the other night) from Seremban around 6am. Me and Neo kinda excited to start our long journey ahead. At the airport, suddenly I got called from my brother that the car got stalled AGAIN!!! Thank God it was after he sent us to the airport but still I kesian him have to wait for my dad in the highway.

We touched down Delhi around 11am (Delhi time) and I felt that I wanna go back to KL straight away. I hate India so much, from the people (very rude and full of scam), the city, the weather and the environment. It's really a DARK country. At that time, I kinda regret my decision to fly to Delhi just for the Taj Mahal. First, for a big capital city like Delhi, the airport really SUCK!!! and SMELLY as well. Even though now the airport under construction for being upgraded, I don't think it'll be even close as good as KLIA. Since we went there during summer, so there's nothing much we can do with a very hot (40 C) and arid weather. Indian people are VERY EXTREMELY RUDE and even at the immigration, they just THROW back our passport to us. If I wanna tell the bad attitude of the Indian, I think I can write a dedicated post just for that. So, I'll just summarize my first hand encounter here.

RUDE encounter (after immigration) - Since we decided to go to Agra straight away from Delhi, we try to buy a taxi at the airport to Sarai Kale Bus Terminal coz there's no more train leaving to Agra until the next morning. The Indian at the taxi counter scolded me for giving him the wrong Rupee note and shooed me away. It was a total shock coz I don't even understand what he wants in the first place. DAMN Indian!!!!

SCAM encounter - After we got the taxi, I asked them to go to Sarai Kale Bus Terminal coz I knew there's a lot of bus leaving to Agra there BUT the taxi driver have ANOTHER idea. He told us that we can't buy bus ticket at the Bus Terminal (contrary from what I read) and FORCED us to go to the 'Travel Agency' to get the bus ticket. Since we kinda trapped in the taxi, so we just go along with his suggestion. At the Travel Agency, they try to sell us their package to Agra that'll cost us Rs14,000 (RM1,100). I said NO WAY. Then he tried to persuade me to believe that all the bus ticket was sold out. He even ask me to talk on the phone from 'konon-konon nye' the person from the bus counter that told me all bus ticket to Agra was sold out for the next FOUR days. I just couldn't believe it and you STUPID INDIANS can't fool me that easily. In the end we refused to take whatever they offered us even my heart kinda racing a bit coz we're being outnumbered by the STUPID INDIANS. I just remain cool and ASK our taxi driver to send us to the Bus Terminal no matter what. On the way to the bus terminal, our taxi driver suddenly stop and REFUSED to send us there and he asked a tricycle to send us instead (which we have to pay again). Since it's doesn't cost that much and we just wanna get out from the taxi, so we decided to take the tricycle and get to the Bus Terminal as soon as possible. STUPID INDIANS!! I HATE THEM!! No wonder they're sooo dirty and smelly.

At last, we arrived at Sarai Kale Bus Terminal after more than two hours drama on the road (which actually just 20 minutes from the airport). At the bus terminal we observed that Indian are extremely poor. The condition of bus terminal is REALLY bad. It's like we're in a pig farm or something. It was dusty, unimaginably dirty and smelly coz Indian will urinate everywhere there. We're quite surprise even as dirty place like that we saw a women wash her kids cloth on the dirty tarmac of the bus terminal. How can it be hygienic coz it's like you do your washing in a pond of urine BUT that's INDIA. My decision was right coz there were a lot of bus leaving to Agra and we can just easily buy the ticket in the bus itself. So, we decided to wait for an air-conditioned bus coz the one without look so bad. Once the AC bus arrived, it look just about the same as the one without except with semi functional AC. It's still quite hot inside during the 5 hours journey to Agra. It was so uncomfortable but at least we're on the way to our destination. We arrived Agra around 7pm and we have to take a tricycle to our much anticipated hotel coz I already booked a room at Sheraton 'The Mughal' Agra. It's one of the luxirious hotel 5 star hotel in Agra. I just can't wait to get there and rest coz it has been a long and torturous journey so far. Still, the tricycle driver had ANOTHER idea. I asked him to send me directly to the hotel BUT he went and picked up his friend in turn tried to sell another tour package to us. I refused everything and he went and picked up another friend of his to sell another tour package again but this time I told them that I'm not interested and I just wanna stay at the hotel the whole day on the next day.

At last we arrived at arrived at the luxurious Sheraton Mugal and we felt relieved after all the unexpected incident along the journey. From today experience, my expectation was very low regarding the hotel service (even it's 5 star) BUT we been treated like a KING. Since I'm a Platinum card member of Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), they automatically upgrade us to a suite room. It was expected coz I always been upgraded to a suite room for all SPG group of hotel BUT they sent us to have a check in at the room itself. They don't even ask for my credit card for deposit. The room was really nice and they even have a full body massage chair. The decor and furnishing was very amazing and it's even better that suite room that we stayed in Le Meridien in Bangkok, KL or KK. They even have a complimentary wine and snack bar for us. All of sudden, we felt relieved and don't even want to get out from the hotel. It's like an oasis in the middle of the dessert. I'll tell you more about the hotel in my next post coz we stayed two nights there. You can check out the website at http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=422
to have an idea how we felt during our stay there.

Indeed we didn't go out that night coz I can never imagine eating at a very dirty place outside the hotel. So we had dinner at one of their restaurant i.e Peshawri. The ambiance of the restaurant was amazing and the Indian food served was very nice and clean. I don't mind that it costs more rather than I'll have a diarrhea for the whole week by eating outside.

Since the next day we planned to go to Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri etc so we decided to hire a car and a driver for one whole day from the hotel to bring us around. I had enough of Indian public transport and scam that'll pop up along the way. I rather pay one time more rather than being conned from one after another. After I did all the car booking with the hotel, we just spend the night on the massage chair in the room and sleep like a baby coz it has been a really long journey and we're extremely tired by now. By the way, we need to wake up early tomorrow coz we hired the car from 7am to bring us around. I'll tell you what happen on Day 2 of our journey in my next post. ciao....

Welcome Home!!!

Hi everyone. It has been weeks since my last blog and what was an amazing journey that had been for me. Since there has been a few request for me to blog my last travel experience, so I'll blog it in a few episodes coz it's too much to tell in just one take. I'll start the first episode in my next blog hehehe.

Here I'll tell you what happen after I came back in Malaysia on 31 May 08. So, I can do the prequel later on hehehe. Since I arrived Kuala Lumpur from Delhi at 7.40am (which is almost 1 hour delay with the perasan 'five star' Malaysia airline tu), I went straight back home to sleep and rest. Later that day, I went to KL to buy some stuffs and met a few of my friends. I end up having dinner with Alie, Malis, Adrie and their kids at Paddington Pancake, The Curve.

After that, I went to Fadli new house at Laman 38 (which cost RM70K to renovate). They (Fadli and Raz) still do the paint job inside so I willingly watch them paint the house without helping for couple of hours hehehehe. Then I went back home to Seremban which I arrived around 1.30am. I need to get a good rest coz I really lack of sleep and rest these couple of days. Then the next day I went back to Tawau to start working again..... to be continued (in prequel) heheheh