Went Labuan for meeting about two weeks ago. Only two days one night, but had the opportunity to stay at a luxurious hotel in K.K. Pan Pacific Sutera Hotel, or better known as Sutera Harbour.
It's my first stay in a 5-Star hotel, and man it is really nice and luxurious. The way the room arrangements are designed is clever. It makes the place looks even bigger than it already was. I think there are more than 800 rooms in the entire hotel. But the rooms are just ordinary, nothing too fancy. Looks a little bit like the Redang Beach Resort.
My room is the golf view room. Only for normal executive. Better ones are overlooking to the harbour. I can see mountainous range from my room, but can't see Mount KK because it is on another side. K.K. is a beautiful town because of these mountains. But sadly I had not the chance to walk around much. It's business trip.
The best thing is the harbour. Magnificent view! There are yachts & boats docking at the harbour, and that's why it's called Suteral Harbour. Many visitors went for sea trip, especially the Japanese, Hongkies & Taiwanese. They are the majority of patrons there. I just utilize the few hours before departure to have a stroll at the harbour. The water is crystal clear (to my surprise) and can see tropical fishes swimming in the water.
Nice one, but I guess I'll never come and stay unless it's a paid trip.
Lately found out some cheap lager beers in Miri. Why is it cheap? Seludup loh what else... Coincidently when I ask for beers in a sundry shop, the tauke soh asked me which beer I want so that she can retrieve them from the store. I was surprised because usually it's displayed in the fridge. So I ask, smuggled? And from then I know haha...
However, she only sells two brands. One is Tiger Beer, which we normally know. And another brand is Oranjeboom, an imported Dutch lager. I googled it, and yeah, it is some premium beer also. Not the Cap Palang kind.
How cheap? Three Tiger Beers (325 ml) for RM10. Normal price is around RM6.50 a can. How about Oranjeboom? Man, it's like drinking Cola; RM2 a can! Is it even cheaper than tax free zone?
I'm not a good drinker, and neither am I an alcoholic. But since it's cheap, guess I''ll stock more at home...
Been out of internet since I moved out from Grand Palace Hotel. My new place has no internet access, and I don't plan to subscribe one unless I found a housemate to share. RM88 a month! Hardly at home, why would I do that?
Actually there's a Coffee Bean just next to my company's main lobby, and I can choose to come to office to suft the Net during weekends. My company provideds WiFi service too at the lobby area. But don't know why, I couldn't connect to the internet although I'm connected to the network via WiFi. That's why I've been out of Skype & blogging for the past month. Additionally, really have not much time left for that also..
But now, thanks for Dell's service desk; the problem is rectified and I'm back online. Hope I don't get disconnected anymore!
In my high school years, I bought a lot of cassettes. A lot of them. But now they are all dumped in the drawers untouched for a long time. During this trip home, my mom moved the things to a new cabinet and that was when I saw all those good albums in the drawer.
Dr.Alban's 'One Love' album was the first cassette I've ever bought. That was in Form 1, when I was 13. Under a friend's recommendation, I tried out this album. I still remembered it costs me RM13.90! It's disco music, and why is he using the name doctor? Because in fact he was a dentist turned artist from Sweden. Not really a bad album for my virgin purchase.
Then came albums like Boyz II Men's 'Cooley High Harmony' and Ace of Base. I don't have the hit single 'All That She Wants' from Ace of Base, but I have this album which includes the single 'The Sign'. And who else can beat Boyz II Men in the Billboard? Whoever doesn't know the song 'End of the Road' must be a freaking nerd!
When I was in Form 4, I was then more into alternative music. Because I think pop music sucks, boyband sucks; they are only commercially packages artists, not songwriters. Supergrass, Blur, Kula Shaker, etc; COOL. But Oasis was my favourite band! Their music is cool, and what's even cooler is their attitude. The Gallagher brothers never stopped giving you surprises by their sarcastic remarks or criticism. Sing Ngibk and I talked a lot about this band, coz' we both loved them. Oasis is no doubt the coolest band on Earth, at that time. Liam seldom plays any instrument, and Noel is the soul of Oasis. All these great songs came from his production.
It really brought back so much memory to me. And now I'm bringing these albums with me to be played with my car stereo. Lucky me I havent' changed my cassette stereo to a CD player! Hah!
I went to Sibu town with my mom and passed by the old Lau King Howe Hospital. The hospital had been demolished and now it's a vast empty land with a small park overseeing the riverside and the shipyard (ya, as usual the SMC favours man-made parks for reasons only they know). Saw a long string of kites flown in the sky. Curious, I pulled over and had a look.
Apparently there are two men dressed in "Cultural Festival" t-shirt who brought and flew the kites. They joined small kites one by one into a long string of kites. I didn't see them do it, because they were almost done when I reached there. Had a try to hold the string, and it was estimated to be at least 5 lb in force. There were altogether 150 kites joined, with some fishy wind tunnels joined at the end. The sky was clear but still I couldn't see the end of the kites high up in the sky!
This young lad was somehow forced by the two men to hold the string. He wanted to have a try but in the end the men asked him to hold it firmly and do not quit. Haha, so he had to happily hold it while others come and have a look. The string was tied with a knot and put around his waist, so he manged to be more stable and firmly stood on the ground.
At least now I've found a good purpose of one of the man-made parks in Sibu.
Since moving to Miri, I have had doubts of what kind of house/room I'd be able to rent in a small city like Miri. Friends tell me that to worry I shalt not. Different questions come into my mind, e.g. what kind of housemates would I get, is it easy to find a place to stay, how much would that cost, would I be able to move into the new place before my stay at hotel expires, etc. That had been mingling in my head long before I came to Miri.
Initially, my uncle recommended a double storey detached house in Pujut 9, just a few roads away from his house. The family had migrated to Melbourne a few years ago, and leaving the house vacant since then. It's an averagely old detached house, but clean up job will be done if I agree to be the tenant. Out of the 4 rooms, 2 are actually locked to accomodate the owner's belongings, e.g. piano, etc. Master bedroom is vacant, and another single room. That's why the rent is cheap, only RM500 for the entire house. It's considered to be furnished, and comes with air-conditioners. Kitchen ware are a little bit old and unused for some time, but they are still workable. I was grateful and agreed to take up the place since it's within my budget. The yard was big and I could have the chance to keep a pet dog! And so, yes I said.
Somehow that night in the hotel, I became hesitant. Hesitating about taking up such a big house just for myself. Although I intend to let out the other room for someone, but what if I could not find one? There are only two rooms, and where can my friends or family stay if they come to Miri? The house is an end lot in a dead end street, with only 4 neighbouring houses. It's quite an established neighbourhood and my uncle said it's always a safe neighbourhood. But it's a double storey. When I'm upstairs, I don't know what is happening downstairs; and vice versa. There are trees around the house, would someone hide there at night? Is there sufficient lighting in the house? Is it brightly lit by the lamp posts outside?
The next morning, I told my uncle my intention of looking for another place and he agreed. I actually have another option at that time; a RM800 single storey terrace in Senadin. It's fully furnished and quite a nice place, but definitely it's way off my budget. There are two tenants in that house now, and they are moving out unless I agreed to share the house with them. I don't mind that, but if possible I would like to have a place of my own.
So I was in a dilemma and continued to search for a house in Miri. Most of the houses that I've found are either too highly priced or not furnished. I do not want to commit myself to buying too many appliances; if possible I would want a furnished house that is reasonably priced. That proved to be a challenging task, in an oil town like Miri.
Then, I found this place.
It's in Senadin, similar design with the RM800 house I've found earlier. It's also fully furnished but lower priced than the former. I quickly called up the number and asked to have a look. After I've seen the place, on the spot I confirmed taking up the house. The owner is a businesswoman residing in Bintulu. So, we managed to sort things out and she had the house cleaned last Friday. I got the keys from her yesterday, and I will be moving in next weekend. Senadin is notorious for break-in, but I have no choice. It's a place where Curtin students stay, something like Section 17 in P.J, my previous place. The house is really nice and cosy. Simple and functional. Not a big house, so I don't feel so scared staying inside. The rental is a little over my planned budget, but I might let out a room for someone. It's 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms. So I will still have one room as guest room. See how first, it depends on the overall expenditure for the first month. If I think I can still afford it, then I will make it into my private place. That's even better. Just hope that everything would be fine and safe. The neighbours are Chinese families and I do hope that it shows itself as a better and safer place to stay.
Indeed, God is a provider. In His own time, with His own plan.
When I went to Senadin to collect my house keys from the landlady today, I spotted a nice housing estate just a few streets away from where I will be staying. It's named the Greenville （翠林花园）.
The entire housing estate consists of not more than 50 houses (at the moment), and I think it's still under launching because I saw one of the houses made into a showhouse for patrons. There is some construction still going on, which
likely is the 2nd phase of the project; and most of the built ones are under some minor renovation by their respective owners.
These are double storey terrace. Estimated about 25" x 65', it comes with 4 rooms and 3 bathrooms. Quite standard for a higher range terrace house. I am drawn to the houses mainly because of the design. Miri has a lot of detached houses, but mostly are not so trendy in architecture. This is one housing that I find better in design and physical looks. And the neighbourhood is arranged in an o rderly manner that you have a feeling this neighbourhood is well taken care of, ensures high level of privacy and quality living. It resembles the luxurious gated community found in Kota Damansara, although still lacking in some sense.
I don't know who the developer is but the workmanship seems up to par. I had the chance to sneak into one of the houses because there were some workers doing painting job. The owner was not in, the gate and main door were unlocked; so I just went in to have a look and took some photos. No surprises though, apparently it's a minimalist design and simple. Not bad, indeed.
I don't know how much these houses cost, but very likely it's around RM25k ~ 35k. Residential units in Miri are not cheap, or should I say all things in Miri don't come cheap.
The holiday has begun. A 10-day long Gawai Festival & DYMM Seri Paduka Agong's birthday fall on the same week.
Gawai falls on Friday & Saturday; and so a replacement leave is made on Thursday.
Agong's birthday also falls on Saturday; so another replacement leave is made on Wednesday.
That's my company's policy for replacement holiday. And if there's 3 days of public holidays or more within the same week, the remaining two working days will be bridging holiday, i.e. forced leaves. You have no choice except to go offline from work, unless your boss requires you to come back.
Unfortunately, Sarawak government had declared the subsequent Monday as another public holiday, which means the bridging holiday becomes three days! And I have to take three days of annual leaves for this festive season even though I've just started work two weeks ago.
Ruginya... This is unplanned and I have no choice but to go home again. Most of my friends in Miri are all gone for vacation or gone home... Luckily I've already found a new rented place to stay and I'm going to move in after the Gawai break.
Therefore, I'm officially negative 3 in the number of my annual leave.
I've never driven a Proton Gen-2 before. But I've heard from others that it is not a powerful sedan, nor is it fun to drive.
Now I really know what they mean.
My company allocated a company car for me during my first 21-day arrival in the company, and I'm so grateful to this. I don't have to commute to work in a taxi and it has helped to reduce my expenses. Why wouldn't I be happy, since it's even bigger than my SLK (Small Little Kelisa)?
But then again, Gen-2 is really another crap from Proton. Here's what I think of this car:
1. It feels heavy, literally in everything about it. Heavy when accelerating. Heavy when opening the door. Heavy on the clutch.
2. The windscreen wiper and signal light control are reversed. Although I know it's British style, I just can't adapt to it. I have to think which way to flip before I give the signal light.
3. The seat is spacious but it's too high. So, I have to slant the seat.
4. The key is in one big chunk, inclusive of the remote control. It's not ergonomic at all.
Sigh... Hope VW is going to team up with Proton real soon.
Finally, I've gone to Miri after a 3-week break in between. It took less than an hour to fly from Sibu to Miri in a 52-seater Fokker. The weather was good, except it got a little shaky when reaching Miri.
My second time to Miri, the first just a few months back when I came for the interview. Nothing too exciting about this city, which I think it's more like a town in fact. Got to explore the town more and I believe I have to learn to love this place since I am already here. A happening place? I hope so.
Tomorrow's another rest day before I start my new job. I'm going to walk around a little and explore the foods and people around the vicinity of the hotel I'm staying in - Grand Palace Hotel. It wasn't so grand after all, but it's comfortable enough for me.
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
Recent Comments
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neelrahs said:
So nice!! =P. Wanna go there and stay also! Borrow the boat and drive out. ahaha....how much 1 night ah?... read more
on Pan Pacific Sutera Hotel, K.K -
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neelrahs said:
You have been tagged!! Look here http://sharleenw.wordpress.com/ read more
on Those Good Ol' Albums
Haha. Good lo, can online liaw =P. then can continue to blog. ahhaa. I thought u say dell service desk... read more
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