The Attention Whore

Only a couple more hours before the countdown, so I’m taking this opportunity to wish everyone a HAPPY 2006!!!  May the coming year be even better and awesome than the past years!!!  I hope we are all looking forward to what’s coming up in the the year 2006.  May it be an even more eventful one than 2005.

As for me, 2005 has been a great one!!!  I know I’m much happier at the end of 2005 than I was at the beginning.  Hope that it has been the same for all of you out there!

So, good bye great 2005 and welcome awesome 2006!!!  Cheers to everyone!!!

Good Bye

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish Jacqueline Wong a safe journey back to Hong Kong.  I know you will be back in less than two months, but in the meantime, you will be greatly missed.

Good luck with life back in Hong Kong!  I hope HK knows how lucky they are to have you.  You’ve been a great inspiration to me and please know, if it weren’t for you, I would never have known all those great things I would have missed if you had not introduced me to Body Jam.  Thanks, babe.  More than I could ever say.

Bon Voyage!!! *hugs and kisses*

It’s PARTY TIME EVERYONE!!!  Yiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!  2006, BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRE-CHRISTMAS DAY

The clock showed 12.03pm when I woke up on Saturday.  HAAAAIIIIIYYYYYAAAAAA!!!  I was SUPER SUPER DUPER LATE!!!  I had planned to record my class in Axis again today.  I was supposed to get up at 9.00am and be in Axis by 10.00am so that I could go for breakfast first, do some studying and relax for a while before doing the class.

RUSHED RUSHED RUSHED ALL THE WAY TO AXIS!!!  Not a good way to start off the day.  I was late five minutes.  Had to set up the tripod, camera and everything, so we started ten minutes late.  The class had to be running non-stop.  No breaks at all except for the recovery track.  Damn tiring!

The ever faithful Juwita was there to help me out again with the camera.  Kak Nita, Shirlyn, Colin, Dennis, Alvin, and Rizal were also there to help out.  Even Kenny joined the class halfway through.  They were SO supportive.  Thank you, guys!!!

And sorry Janis, Lynn and Lillian for causing the BA class to start ten minutes later.

However, if you’re wondering, NO.  The video won’t be used for certification.  The shot was a bit better than the last time but there are still a couple of things that I still need to work on.

Went to The Curve for late lunch cum tea with Juwita.  We wanted to eat at Little Penang Cafe but there were closed for a one and a half hour break.  So we hung out at Kopitiam.  Sembang-sembang till about 7.00pm.

Headed home.  The whole family was there plus grandma, aunt and all.  My uncle and family were also there for a visit.  I stayed home the whole night and went to bed early.  Conveniently forgot that Selina was having a pre-Christmas potluck party at her place.  Sorry, babe.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Woke up quite early for a Sunday.  I was to meet up with Leo in Summit for practice/tuiton with her at 11.00am and then shopping for new gym clothes afterwards.

It was early, so I took my own sweet time preparing to go to the gym and spent quite some time in the shower and getting ready.  By the time I looked at the clock, my God!!!  It was already 10.40am.  Rushed all the way to Summit from Batu Caves.  Was 20 minutes late.  Luckily Leo was not upset.  I think.   So sorry, babe!

We spent about an hour plus going through the choreo for BJ35.  I was super confident that I had memorised the first block.  I have been spending the past few nights staying up late just to watch the DVD to memorise the first block.  However, when I went through the choreo with Leo, I realised that my memory has lost its touch again.  Either that, or I was a bit preoccupied with observing Leo while she was executing the moves till I forgot all that I had studied.  She has GREAT moves, man.

Jeremy came and joined us for a while, but he was busy decorating the studio for the launch this coming Wednesday.  He only joined us for the Hollaback Girl segment.  Jenny and Chooi Yin were also there to help him decorate the studio.

Leo had class at 12.00pm, so I headed off with Jenny, Jeremy and Chooi Yin for lunch.  Chatted over lunch.  Haven’t hung out with them for SO long.  Miss the good old times when we were in each other’s company almost everyday.

I had to head off for Axis as I had a class there 3.00pm.  Kenny had some Christmas arrangements, so I stood in for his class at the last minute.  I guess some of the members there were surpised to see me as they were probably expecting Kenny.  Besides, I was already there yesterday and I don’t normally come in to teach on Sundays.

Met up with Leo in Mid Valley after the class.  There were like, millions and hundreds of people there.  It was jammed just getting into the carpark basement.  I normally don’t have luck getting an empty parking bay when there are millions of other car around, but this time I was a bit lucky.

I was supposed to meet up with Leo in Why Pay More.  Leo had not arrived yet but since there was nothing interesting there, I decided to head off to Studio R.  Texted Leo where I was going.  Waited for her for quite a while there.  When she still didn’t turn up, decided to head to Romp and texted Leo again.  While walking there, Juwita called me and said that Leo was waiting for me in Why Pay More.  Her handphone battery dah arwah, so she called me but couldn’t reach me, so she called Juwita instead and got Juwita to call me.  Silly me.  Should have called her instead of texting her.  It would have saved us the time.  So sorry, babe.  Again.

So, I met up with Leo.  Didn’t find anything nice at Why Pay More and Studio R, so we headed over to the My Dance Shop as Leo said they were on sale.  Both of us each got a top and pants.  50% discount maaa..

I was hungry, so we headed off to KFC (felt like eating chicken) but it was damned full, so we went to Kenny Rogers instead.  Chatted over dinner.  We texted Juwita and asked if she would like to join us as we could wait for her.  She came over with her hubby.  We told her about the sale in My Dance Shop, so we headed over there again.  Juwita got herself two tops and two pairs of pants.  She will them for the gym with her ever-growing tummy.

We walked around JJ for a while.  Bard got himself a new pair of trainers.  50% on sale.  He was very pleased with the bargain and the shoes were quite nice.

Then we headed over to Coffe Bean for kopi and sembang-sembang.  While finding seats, Leo saw Chooi Yin and chased after her.  Waited at the table with Juwita when someone surprised me from behind.  It was Andrew.  And Kenny was there too.  And Jenny, and Brian, and Jeremy, and Chooi Yin, and Hafiz!!!  The whole lot was there!  It was such a pleasant surprise!!!  They were just about to go off, so they only stayed to chat for a while before going off.  Leo, Juwita, Bard and I stayed on for a while longer.  And then it was back to home and bed.

BOXING DAY

Yesterday, Leo had already informed me that she will be team teaching her 10.45am BJ class in Summit with Arnel.  ARNEL???!!!  That’s a definite, CANNOT-MISS-PUNYE-CLASS!!!  For those who do not know, Arnel is a BJ instructor from the Phillipines.  He came tom KL some time last August with Brian for an international fitness competition which he won 2nd place.  It seems he’s in town for a while for a holiday.

I’ve never seen Arnel dance or teach before, so of course I am super interested and excited to check out his class!!!  Who knows, I might learn or pick up something new!  Actually, I just want to check out his moves.  Hehehe..  I seem to have this fascination with Filipino and Thailand instructors.  Not just them, but foreign instructors, in general.  But it’s the Filipinos and and Thais who always seem to impress me.  So, every time if I hear any one of them is in town, I will try very hard to make it if I know they are teaching a class somewhere.

However, I had a problem.  I also have a class in SPK 12.00pm.  If I go for Leo’s class, I definitely won’t be able to make it in time for my class in SPK.  Haiyaaa..  But this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.  I had to go by hook or by crook!!!

This morning, I woke up early again!!!  But I was still five minutes late for Leo’s class.  Haiyaaa..  They were already into the second track by the time I joined the class.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Arnel is actually not very tall or big.  Standing beside Leo, he’s only about two or three inches taller than her.  But it’s the proportion of his body that makes him look as if he’s tall.  So when  he moves, his moves are so damned BIG and CLEAR!!!

Another thing I like so much about him is that he looks so masculine but he’s a great dancer.  Most masculine-looking men here in Malaysia usually look kind of stiff when they dance.  Probably becasue they think that if they dance too ’softly’, they will look very sissy.  But Arnel is SO NOT so.  It’s great to follow a class where the male instructor can groove awesomely (and sexily) and yet still look masculine.  Hats off to you, man!

I didn’t really work out a sweat, as I was there more for observing than for a work out.  Besides, my eyes were on the clock the whole time.  I didn’t want to be late for my class in SPK!  I don’t want Crystal to chase my arse afterwards.  But then, if it’s Crystal, it would be kind of cool.  Hehehe..  She’s a babe!!!  Stay cool, babe!!!

I could only stay till the fifth track.  I was off halfway through the recovery track.  Then off to SPK I went.  The roads were SO unusually empty in KL and almost devoid of cars.  And my class in  SPK even more so.  Only four people were there.  But it was still fun as they were very enthusiastic!

Then it was off to Axis.  There were more people there but it was still a wee bit quiter than usual.  I guess the regular crowd must have headed off to The Curve for the launch there.  The class was a bit quiet but not any lesser enthusiastic than usual.  Fun, again!!!

Headed back home.  Bathed and slept for a while.  Then my sweetheart babe (favourite student maaa..) from school, Aida texted me and asked if I was free to go kopi-kopi with her tonight.  We’ve been on constant rainchecks these past few months, so luckily, this time, I could make it.  Picked her up around 7.45pm.  We went to JJ Wangsa Maju.

Dinner at KFC.  Then kopi-kopi at Delifrance.  Exchanged belated birthday presents and caught up on belated gossips and news.  Walked around JJ till closing time.  Sent Aida home first, then went straight home.

My legs feel sore and tired.  Too much jumping and walking around today, I guess.  But..  I’m on LEAVE tomorrow!  Yahooooooooo!!!  Actually, I’m on leave the WHOLE week till the new year!!!  YIIIIIIIIIIEEEEIHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!

Tomorrow, launch in Axis.  It will probably be super crowded but I’ll just try my luck.  I would like to pick up some tips from watching Riyo and Jacq do the new release.  If I can’t get in, I hope, at least, I can get to listen and observe them.  We are only five days away till we have to do BJ35.  I’m excited, but nervous!  I find this new release a bit challenging.  Takut screw up big time je!

Ok.  Now, bed time.  Guten nacht!

Would just like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends who celebrate Christmas, MERRY MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  Hope all of you will enjoy the jingle bells festivities.  May Santa Claus bring you all the hopes, wishes, dreams and presents that you could ever ask for!!!  Don’t be naughty, or Santa won’t send you any!!!

HOHOHOHO!!!  Wishing all of you joy and happiness too!  Enjoy!!!

This will be a long one.  AGAIN???  Not a surprise..

First and foremost, I would like to apologise to Matteo Cerruti for dissing him in an earlier blog entry.   Sorry, Mr Cerruti.  I can be a b**** at times.  A lot of times, actually.  That’s him in the middle with the great G and a fellow Portugese instructor.  Good-looking fella, right?

Anyway, while I was looking back at the BJ35 DVD, despite not having awesome dancing skills as G Archer and Misty Tripoli, he has great coaching and instructing skills.  Otherwise, I’m sure he would not have made it on the DVD in the first place.  Another thing is that, even though the other two look much more superbly awesome, I’m 101% sure he moves much much better than me!!!  Haiyaaa..

Oh well, that was a lesson hard learnt.  What lesson?  Well, it all started with me shooting one of my Jam classes.  I’m not really going for certification because I don’t really feel that I’m that ready, but I thought that it would be interesting if I could actually watch how I myself conduct a class.  So, that was what I did.

I got Madam Funky Mama-to-be-of-a-second-baby (he’s a boy!!!) Juwita to help me out with the camera while I was up front teaching.  Things did not go well.  The mic in the studio did not seem to be working.  Maybe because of all the humidity it has to face with all the instructors screaming into it, it decided to go on MOGOK.  So, as a result, in the video, I sounded like a cat left out In the rain.  I know, I know.  You’re going to say I sound like that all the time, with or without the mic. =P

Second thing was that I never had the experience of seeing how anyone tapes any classes (and I didn’t really ask around that much; so, stupid me!), so I did not know that I would actually need to rearrange the camera and the class in such a way that I could be seen quite clearly while I was being taped.  Juwita HELD the camera the WHOLE time.  The POOR dear.  And she’s six month pregnant some more.  Memang penderaan ibu mengandung.  Thanks so much, babe.  Love ya!  Nanti mintak tolong lagi ye?  Will bring a tripod the next time just for you.  I know, I know.  Why didn’t I think of bringing a tripod in the first place?  Didn’t know that there was even one at home till I asked my dad.  Haiyaa..

So what happened was that, when I viewed the recording, during the first part of the class I could be seen quite clearly as no heads and arms were blocking me from the camera.  However, as the class progressed, all I could see was other people’s heads and arms moving about, my head, my hair and nothing else.  No footwork could be seen at ALL!  For those who don’t know me, I’m quite short.  I was standing on a three-foot-high stage, but the people on the floor could actually overshadow me.  That shows how so not tall I am!

To make things worse, I screwed up some of the choreo.  Well, I did not really screw it up, but more that I forgot.  I thought I could handle the camera being there as I didn’t really plan to send the taping to NZ.  So, I thought, I’m cool.  But I SOOO overestimated myself.  I had barely gone into the first song and then suddenly, I went BLANK.  For 4 split seconds, I froze and then it all suddenly came back to me.  That did not happen once, but twice if not three times during the entire class!  Maybe more..  Tak sesuai..  Memang confirmlar the taping was more for personal assessment purposes.

That’s just the first part.  The worse was yet to come.  After the class, I only watched the first few minutes with Juwita, which was not much.  Kept the video in the bag for another two nights and only last night was I able to view the whole recording.  To tell you truth, the best way I can sum it up is that, I sucked!  It was entertaining to watch myself goof about but it was a real eye-opener on how I should evaluate my dancing skills.  Earth to Azyei : Come back down!  Let’s just say that, my breakout looks like Gandalf’s base, if not even more! =P  And I definitely need to improve a LOT on my instructional and communication skills.  Haiyaaa..

Which comes back to Mr Matteo Cerrutti.  Right now, I feel like a loser for calling him a loser, when actually I am the one who is the loser.  BIG HAHAHA to myself!!! =P  I really need to improve my fitness level and my upper body strength.  My arms are flailing everywhere in the video!  Mr Cerruti, please accept my sincerest apologies.  Who am I to say anything about an international renowned instructor?  Huhuhu.. =(

Hmmm..  So my plan is to try and make it for more BC and BA classes.  Maybe RPM too if my arse can handle it.  Hehehe..  Maybe BP too.  Need to work on my upper body strength.  As I said, my arms flail about like a fish on land.  I also need to work on some of my techniques; majorly, body rolls!  And I will definitely do a couple more shootings of my class to get accustomed to the camera, for further personal assessment and maybe also get other instructors to take a look at them too for comments.

Maybe after that, I can make copies of the tapings and then distribute them to the members for them to laugh at.  HAHAHAHA!!!  So NOT doing that!!!  Sorry guys, you have to find your own source of entertainment elsewhere.

Will talk again later.  Hasta..

Woke up late so many days lately, and consequently, reaching the office late every time.  I’m running out of excuses to give my boss why I’m late all the time.  My colleagues all seem to think that I go out partying every night and coming home late because of those parties.  I’m not really a party-goer but I do actually wish for the stamina for that kind of lifestyle.

I don’t know whether I’m just tired and not getting enough rest, or I’m just doing too many classes and exerting my body overtime, so that now I need a break.  I really need to work on my fitness level, but it does not seem to be improving much despite all the classes I do.  Maybe I need to do higher impact cardio workout, like Body Attack?  Haiyaa..  Definitely a no, no, no..  Just watching them do it already makes me tired.  How lar to improve my fitness level?  I really need to find the extra ‘thing’ to push me.  One day, one day..

I guess there are many things that add up to the waking-up-late-everyday syndrome I’m going through right now.  One would be my motivation level.

However, the MAIN culprit is this :

Body Jam 35 (Aiyak!!!  Gambar terbalik!)

I have been staying up late at nights watching and studying the DVD to learn the choreo.  It’s awesome watching the great Gandalf move and teach the Masterclass and its fantastic that he can come up with such a great release, but it is VERY challenging for me to learn all the choreo and practice the verbal and visual cues at the same time.

I have difficulties with the transitions.  Some of the songs, especially in the first block, have no transitions in the music to signal the next combo to come, or even when the step-touches come in.  The second block is a bit better, but still, there are parts you really need to count and I’m such a no-counting person.  I SO depend on the music to help me cue the transitions, but in this release I REALLY need to keep count of the combos.  Haiyaaa…

I do lots of my choreo studying and memorising in the car.  I listen to the CD over and over to really memorise the music and at the same time practice the moves in my mind while I drive.  Sounds dangerous, huh?  Yeah I know, I should be concentrating on my driving, especially in traffic jams because sometimes my mind is focused on the song and not on the road, but so far I’ve never been in any accidents as a result of my studying in the car.  I hope that will never happen.  So guys out there, don’t try it if you can’t do multi-tasking.

The worst part is when I suddenly break into a move while driving in a traffic jam, and the drivers in the car next to me will have this expression on their face which says, "What the hell is this girl doing??!!  Crazy ah you??!!".  Hehehe..  The most I can do to cover my embarassment is to just smile, act like a total lunatic and continue with whatever it was that I was doing.

Anyway, back to the actual story; studying.  The launching date for new releases at the gyms begin this 26th till the 30th.  That means, for my class in Axis on the 31st, I will need to start doing the new release!!!  HELP!!!  I’m still SO confused with the transitions.  On top of that, I’m not sure if I’ve really mastered the moves properly.  I definitely need to meet up with Leo and the other Jammers to practice with them.

And I DEFINITELY need to work on my fitness level.  (Sigh..)

Normally I will attend all the tuitions, but this time, I could only attend one as I couldn’t make it for the others because of work or classes.  That’s a BIG loss on my part because the tuitions really help me with remembering the choreo as the Head Teacher and other Jammers will be there to help out if I screw up with anything.  As I said, my loss.  Will try to make it for more tuitions the next quarterly.

Oh well, I can bla-bla-bla about this for quite a while, but what’s the point?  It’s not as if I don’t enjoy learning the new releases everytime.  I just need to be more focused with my studying.  It’s just that with all the things going on in the office, that’s not happening.  Dah lar minggu depan 29 December, I’m sitting for my PTK exams.  MATI!!!  That one pun, tak study apa-apa lagi!!!  Aiyakk!!!  Camne nak dapat 4???  Lulus bersyarat lar lagi.  Huhuhu…

Happy Birthday to ME!!!  Believe it or not, I’m 30 today.  I know, I know.  I still look like I’m 17.  NOT!!!  Hehehe..  That’s me with the cake my gym mates got for me.  Luckily this one wasn’t squashed like the earlier birthday cake I had in Ichiban with Chooi Yin.  But they told me I don’t have good luck with my birthday cakes because this cake also almost got disfigured.  Luckily they were able to salvage it .  Two birthday cakes in one year!  Yippieee!!!

That’s the whole gym gang that came last night to surprise me on my birthday eve.  Surprise!!!  Best best best!!!  Love ya love ya love ya!!!  There’s Sulin, Clement, Raymond, Shirlyn, Claire, Vehn, Alvin, Alton, Farah, Jenny, Juwita, Andrew, Kenny, Dennis, Colin, Shah, Kak Nita, Esquire, Leo and Anthony.  Roland and Kento were there too but they didn’t make it in time to be in the picture.  Thank you guys!!!  This has been the happiest birthday eves I’ve ever had!  Especially as I was surrounded by such great friends and company!!!  Some couldn’t make it like Kak Mas, Kak Tina, Osman, Cecilia, Alex, Joey, Nick and a few others, but their thoughts and wishes mean the world to me!

These are my Summit buddies.

Haa!!!  Roland and Kento made it for this picture!

We took many more pictures.  Some siap syiok sendiri and took pictures of themselves while birthday girl watched helplessly as they fully utilised her camera.  Huhuhu..  You all giler glamer lar.  Give chance lar for me to be in the limelight!!!  Hehehe..  I will try to upload the rest  later.

My birthday presents from the gang!!!  The card with the Diva Princess title on it (Andrew’s work!!!) was by all the gang along with the ethnic, exotic ear rings.  The green bracelet is from my twin sister and soulmate, Juwita.  The purple one is from the funkiest elder ’sister ‘ I’ve ever had, Kak Nita.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  (Hugs and kisses!!!)

And these here are cards and a present from my work mates, Maz and Suria.  Just got them this morning, first thing when I came into the office.  Bestnye kat office pun ada orang ingat my birthday.  The exotic designed circular object is a purse mirror.  Sesuai untuk wannabe diva princess macam I!  Hehehe..

Thank you everyone for wishing and for making this a special day for me and sharing it with me.

Before I forget, CONGRATULATIONS babes and guys!!!  If you think you were a wreck, you should have seen Juwita, Leo and me getting butterflies for all of you.  We couldn’t be more happier for all of you!!!  You’ve survived the gruelling 3-day training!  Now you will need to face the class and the PEOPLE!

You guys rock, man!  I’m sure there’ll be a major earthquake coming on soon.  But don’t take my word for it.  I’m sometimes known to be an ARSE KISSER!!!  MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

GO BODY JAM THE WORLD!!!  Congratulations again!!! =)

If my boss ever finds out where I went yesterday, she’ll never ever give me leave again.  Told her I’m going off for the day for another reason but actually did something else.  LIAR, LIAR, DIRTY LIAR!!!  But I didn’t regret it for a second.

The day before, Leo told me that Riyo informed her that Clark, a Body Jam instructor from the Phillipines, will be having a class at FF The Curve 1.15pm.  As I had missed the earlier classes with the foreign instructors, I really wanted to check out at least one class with one of them.

A few days back, Juwita and I did go to SPK for the Body Jam Masterclass to check out their moves; Arnold and Clark, and also all the other Jammer trainees.  However, watching them (the Phillipino instructors) move is not the same as experiencing a class while they are teaching.

So when Leo told me about the class, I didn’t hesistate at all.  I’m definitely going to be there whether I have to be at work or not.  So, I made it, through some hard effort.  And I did not regret it.

Clark is a really great dancer.  You can see that he has a strong street influence in his dance moves, but as a Body Jam instructor, I’ll give him the thumb ups.  I definitely have a long, long, long way to go before I can ever, ever be or move like that.  I hope I will still have black hair and still have teeth when that time arrives.

After Clark’s class, the Jam gang (many of them came!) hung out in IKEA for lunch.   Lillian from Poland, Makoto from Japan and Clark joined us there.  Later that night we hung out at The Curve and had a long chat with Clark at the Starbucks there.  Lillian and Makoto had to go off earlier.  We had many questions to ask and many experiences to share with Clark.  He had some great advice for us to be better Body Jammers.  Thanks, Clark!

I would have liked hanging out with Arnold also and getting to know him, but he had already left for the Phillipines at an earlier flight in the morning.  It was nice meeting you guys!  Good luck becoming great Body Jam trainers!!!

Sunday, 11th December 2005, Ichiban Restaurant, Wisma MPL, Jalan Raja Chulan.  That was the bestest and most fun time I’ve ever had this year with my gym mates.  Lots of good food and absolutely great company!!! Didn’t count how many people came but if I can remember rightly, they were : Juwita, Leo, Jenny, Anthony, Andrew, Kenny, Jimmy, Farah Hani, Kak Tina, Claire, Brian, Sulin, Colin, Alton, Chee Ling, Yeaw, Alvin, Justin, Janet, Sean, Hafiz and of course, the birthday girl, Chooi Yin and the soon-to-be-birthday-girl, ME!!!

I couldn’t remember laughing so much in my life.  I think our stomach muscles had to work overtime that night with all the food we were eating on top of all that laughter.   Check out some of the photos at http://www.picturetrail.com/azyeisha.

It was such as blast!!!  I had such a great time, guys, despite the squashed birthday cake and all.  (And whose fault was that???!!!)  Let’s do it again soon!!!  Maybe for New Year this time!

No, did not go there for a holiday.  Had to go there for work.  But I did bring my mom and sis, Nani along with me.  So, they had a nice break while I was on field work.

We left Sunday afternon.  We drove there; my sister and I.  I drove for the most part but when I was sleepy, Nani took over, but only on the highway.  She doesn’t dare drive my car on normal roads or heavy traffic.  It’s good she came along.  I don’t think I would have been able to drive all the way on my own.  Next time I will need to teach myself to do that.  Will have loads more outstation trips where I will need to drive alone from now on.

We stayed at M Suites.  Somewhere along the stretch opposite Danga Bay.  Nice place overlooking the sea, but the sea was not a nice view to look at.  JB’s coastal area is so dirty.  I wonder that the City Hall people are not doing anything to clean it up.

The first night we were there, we went out for dinner with Sam and one of his friends at this place near Danga Bay called Singgah Selalu.  Luckily Sam stays in JB now, otherwise I would be totally lost finding all those places I had to go to.  After dinner, sent my mom and Nani back to the hotel and then Sam picked me up and showed the roads to the places I needed to go to.

Thanks to Sam, I did not lose my way at all.  The following day, I found all the places without any problems.  Everything was a breeze.  No hitches whatsoever.

Did all my visits in JB and then we headed off to Kluang.  Got lost getting to our destination.  Malaysians so do not know how to give directions.  I had better luck asking this Chinese uncle, who’s Malay was so Chinese, than asking this Malay guy, who could not distinguish between a roundabout and a T-junction.

The Chinese uncle was able to point out prominent landmarks which were so clear and precise, we found our destination with no problem at all.  Thank you, uncle.  My mom, Nani and I were vey entertained by his accent.

The Malay guy was hopeless.  He needs to get lessons on how to give directions to strangers who have no idea of the town’s layout.  He told us to take the right turn after two traffic lights.  We found the first one, but we never met the second one.  Patah balik lar namanya.  Thank God the Chinese uncle was more resourceful.

Finally made it back to KL.  It’s so tiring driving all the way.  Nani only drove from a bit after Pagoh to just before Senawang.  Sempat tidur dalam half an hour jer.

All in all, it was an interesting experience.  Have not driven for long distances in quite a while.  Have driven up to Ipoh a couple of times, but that was back in 1999.  My body is not as physically up to it now as it was then.  Oh well, the good younger days.  Not that I’m that old, but I’m that old.  Hehehe..

Now, it’s back to the office and work.  Today, I spent almost half the day blogging about all that I want to blog about because my boss is away on field work for the day.  Tomorrow she comes in, and my nose will be in paperwork again.  Oh well, enjoy the little freedom while it’s still there.  Hasta..