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Iftaar di Miri, SARAWAK

On September 17, 2010

20 August 2010 (Ramadan 8)

My first few days in Miri was quiet. I stayed at Mega Hotel, Jalan Merbau. With no tranport on my own, nothing much achieved and done. En route office from hotel everyday on the yellow and red Miri taxi, I managed to get a glimpse of the city landmarks between the hotel and my new office in Lutong, about 20 minutes drive under normal traffic.

Got to know people at office. Held the first meeting with staff — mainly ladies above forties, again, unfortunately. BUt I had no problem. Work is work and a trust which must discharged fully.

Back to the hotel, I had 2 options for buka puasa today — RM36 iftaar dinner at hotel chatterbox restaurant Level 1 or at a masjid right in front of the hotel. It is called Masjid Jamek Miri aka Masjid lama Miri, with kelas fardhu ain attached. The name is masjid but the status is surau and no Friday prayers performed here. There is Masjid Attaqwa nearby, a much bigger masjid — district masjid rather. I chose option 2 for obvious reasons. BMI is going up faster if you eat at the hotel buffer line, so that is one reason. SOlat berjemaah Maghrib is another reason.

The food at masjid was simple. I joined the queue with other people who came 20 minutes before iftaar time (6:38 pm in Miri, Sarawak). Today, the menu were mee goreng mamak and roti canai, kueh mueh and kurma. Hot teh-o, Nescafe and sirap were the beverages. So many people today. I only managed to get a scoop of mee goreng mamak, a piece of kurma, and half of roti canai with no curry (finished already), and a cup of nescafe susu with a couple of refills. Got seated at one corner and quietly finished my food.

Met few people there. Pak Harun in late 50s was the executive chef in the masjid kitchen. He was from Penang but wife from Miri. He returned to Miri with family 8 months ago to take care of his father-in-law who has been sick. His mee goreng mamak was so authentic with generous serving of taugeh and cucur udang. Cannot be found anywhere else except in Miri and Balik Pulau.

Saying goodbye to Yangon, MYANMAR

By abuadam

On September 17, 2010

In Rambling

15 August 2010 (SUNDAY)

Every good thing must come to end. So is my assignment in Yangon, MYANMAR. Dawood the packers came to my apartment to put things in boxes on Friday and Saturday and I took one-way flight to KUL from Yangon on Sunday at 12:15 noon. The company organized a farewell dinner on Friday night, the second day of Ramadan in Myanmar. Yes we started fasting on Thursday, one day later after our brothers and sisters in Malaysia did.
Saying farewell is not my cup of tea. But I managed to maintain my cool during entire session. First my boss went up to the rostrum saying all good things I have done. Then I went up saying all good things must come to pass. It was a short stay of 22 months in Myanmar but a memorable one. I told them I valued this international exposure and cherished every single encounter in this beautiful country. I had been to almost each and every one of my staff’s home visiting their spouse and parents and children. I have attended many weddings and funerals, Myanmar way. Except for Bagan and Moulamine, I have been to most places such as Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, Pathein, Chaungtha Beach, Bago, Napyidaw, Pyinmana, Inle Lake, Kalaw, Taungyi, Aung Ban, Twente, Tanglyin, Delta area. To the south, I have taken many roads less travelled in the name of work. Dawei, Kanbauk and the dusty road leading to our metering station near Thailand border and Thai border town of Ban-i-thong itself (illegal crossing), to name a few. I have taken numerous flights on Twin Otter and choppers to sites and to our offshore gas platform off Andaman Sea. It was a colorful life indeed in Myanmar. I concluded my speech that I had done all I could in developing host country national staff and now they are ready to take over. Then one of my favorite staff went up and say all the nice things about me. I received a lot of gifts in form of Myanmar stone paintings and cotton materials. Two of my mentees were there also. Myanmar ladies are soft-hearted and I could see they were holding tears. I knew that. The event was rather predictable as almost every alternate month management team of this organization celebrated a departure of Malaysian expatriate back to Kuala Lumpur, in the name of nationalization plan. Except that my farewell took place in Ramadan. So everybody rushed to perform Isyak and Taraweh in one of the room, reserved by the Micasa Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar. Some muslim friends were already wearing baju melayu and kopiah and loungyis (kain pelikat), right from home, ready for prayers.

I would like to take this opportunies to apologize for all my wrong doings, be it big or small, obvious or subtle. I can’t make everyone happy, though I tried so hard. Anyway it is not my business as HR Manager to make every staff happy. And also I would like to sincerely apologize for my wrong doings over the past 22 months in all Myanmar.

Thank you to all. God willing I will return.

MAS tambah penerbangan ke Yangon, MYANMAR mulai September 2010

By abuadam

On August 28, 2010

In Travel

Semenjak AirAsia menyerang Yangon, MYANMAR dengan penerbangan tambang rendahnya setiap hari mulai Jun 2010, MAS mula terasa bahangnya. Laluan KUL-RGN (Yangon ialah nama baru bagi Rangoon) yang sebelum ini hanya popular dengan pelancong bisnes (business travelers), kini semakin kencang dengan pelancong kasual (leisure travelers) dan tidak boleh dipandang sebelah mata oleh strategis MAS.

Justeru itu, MAS membuka kedua-dua matanya dengan menambah penerbangan KUL-RGN setiap hari. Sebelum ini hanya 5 hari seminggu sahaja. MH740 berlepas dari KUL ke Yangon pada jam 10:05 pagi dan MH741 berlepas pulang dari Yangon ke KUL pada jam 12:15 tgh. setiap hari. Masa penerbangan ialah 2 jam 30 minit dan kadang-kadang 2 jam 45 minit.

Selamat datang ke Yangon, MYANMAR.

Welcome to Miri, Sarawak, MALAYSIA

By abuadam

On August 24, 2010

In Travel

18 August 2010:

Early MH flight to Miri was an aging Boeing 747-400. Seated at 19A seat, I could see clearly stained metal patches on the wing, over the scratches window. The engine made some rattling noise when taking off but quietened down when cruising. The sky was cloudy but no rain. Most passengers felt asleep the entire journey over South China Sea, 33000 feet above at the speed of 800 km/h. After 2 hours 15 minutes I could see the shoreline with rivermouths full of muddy waters from the interior of Borneo. The plane was circling a couple times along the shoreline beneath which are at one side green plains and zig-zagged rivers and at the other side are muddy beaches. The pilot Jeff Azman went on air saying some problem at Miri Airport which did not concern us. He managed to land safely eventually. Airport terminal was a straight line building with 2 or 3 contact piers, just like Yangon International AIrport. Immigration was a breeze as I presented my intenational passport to the officer behind the counter, and she stamped the ‘visa’ on a blank page which allows me to stay up to 90 days on social visit to Sarawak.

Unlike Yangon arrival, nobody was waiting for me. This is my home country Malaysia and I was expected to know this country well. People speak my language and eat my foods, so whats the big deal. That what my new company thought, when I called them last week to tell them of my arrival date.

I went thru typical airport arrival procedures — immigration checkpoint, collect baggages, custom checkpoint, greet&meet area. After custom checkpoint, I exited to the greet&meet area. At your left there were many car rental counters and one of them was a taxi counter. Bought a coupon here, only Rm20 for 15 minutes drive to Mega Hotel in downtown Miri. Took and presented the coupon to the waiting taxi queueing for passengers outside the arrival hall. No taxi touts at this airport.

It took about 15 minutes from Miri Airport to Mega Hotel in the city center, along tree-lined boulevards.

Welcome to Miri, one of the youngest city in Malaysia.

Guangzhou Baiyun Airport to Shenzen by bus

By abuadam

On July 10, 2010

In Travel

June 2010:

If you are in Guangzhou, you should not miss Shenzen, the youngest city in China. There are many ways to get to Shenzen from Guangzhou. The most common advice is by train from Guangzhou East Railway Station. But Last June 2010, we took a bus ride from Baiyun Airport, a service provided by Baiyun Airport Express. The coach is spacious and clean. En route you can enjoy many Chinese cities, towns and villages along the highway. You can buy a ticket at the ticket counter at Baiyun Airport and wait for the bus outside the airport terminal (I think at Gate 7 Arrival Hall). There many buses from the same company going to different destinations, so make sure you go the right boarding place. You must buy a ticket prior to boarding. The fare was 88 Yuan one way. The journey took about 3 hours with one quick stop at Shekou, just before entering Shenzen city limit. In Shenzen, the bus made a final stop at Bagualing Road. From here we took a taxi to our hotel near Louhu. A the final stop, beware of many touts waiting for the bus to arrive. When we got down the bus, they rushed to assist us with the luggage. TIPS: Hold your things to yourself and just pretend you know the way even though you do not know. Stay cool and pretend talking to somebody on your mobile as if there is somebody is coming to pick you up even though nobody is coming. After a while these touts will go away and you can find a real taxi — colored red and silver. The place the bus finally stops is in fact a small decent hotel operated by the same Baiyun Airport Express. The hotel lobby serves both as a ticketing office for the same bus going back to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, and the entrance to the hotel. To get to the lobby, go around the building and enter through the main entrance. There was a clean toilet at the lobby if you need to ease yourself. You can hail a metered city taxi from the main road right in front of the hotel lobby to anywhere in Shenzen. Again don’t forget to add fuel surcharge to the amount listed on the meter. Welcome to Shenzen everybody!