Hoppy Chinese New Year...

Technorati tags: Humor, Chinese New Year, Year of the Rabbit, Metal Rabbit

No, it’s not a typo... being that it’s the year of the Rabbit and all.

Original image taken in the Xin Tian Di district of Shanghai, a few days ago

It’s already the second day of Chinese New Year… yeah, this comes a tad later than it should, but Walski just got back from Shanghai last night, and he’s now in Penang with the in-laws for CNY. Plus, he took his time to get some added shut-eye before embarking on this post.

More about the Shanghai trip in another post, by the way.

Walski’s not in to feng shui as such, so he doesn’t know how the coming Chinese new year will pan out. But hopefully, our good fortune, wealth and health will multiply.

Like rabbits…
(the year of the Metal Rabbit, and more, in the full post)

Truth be told, Walski’s not entirely sure where the cliché “multiply like rabbits” comes from, because as far as he knows, rabbits suck at math.

But kidding aside, not only is this the year of the rabbit, but more specifically, it’s the year of the Metal Rabbit. The last time the Metal Rabbit came a visiting was in 1951, which is ironically the year Rob Halford (lead singer for Judas Priest) was born. Making him, of course, a metal rabbit in more ways than one.

Incidentally, Judas Priest will kick off their farewell Epitaph World Tour this year. So far only the only dates announced are for Europe. Walski’s guess, though, is that if they do add any Asian dates, once again Malaysia will probably be given a pass-over. Not surprising, since Malaysia is not exactly the most metal-friendly nation in the region.

And being that we’re not exactly metal-friendly, what good tidings will the year of the Metal Rabbit bring?

Certainly not Judas Priest. Or at least, that’s Walski’s guess. One thing we can look forward to (NOT) is the introduction of restrictions to our so far restriction-free Internet (via The Malaysian Insider). Yes, the Malaysian government has had enough of us citizens shooting our mouth off, and they figured it’s time they started exerting control over what we say. And by extension, think as well.

At this juncture, not much is known about the proposed guidelines, except that

1. Rais "#yorais" Yatim has a hand in it, in some shape or form
2. The guidelines were prepared by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and endorsed by the Cabinet’s Special Committee to Strengthen the Government’s Communications Strategy
3. The guidelines covers how existing laws are to be applied to the Internet

Hmmm... Special Committee to Strengthen the Government’s Communications Strategy. Don't know about you, but doesn’t that have a somewhat communist ring to it? Odd for a country so McCarthyist on the surface.

Walski also reckons that one of these strengthening strategies is to spam all Malaysians with a Chinese New Year message, purportedly from PM Najib Razak (via The Malaysian Digest). Walski happened to get his spam delivered via SMS, courtesy of Celcom. Not once, but TWICE. Which is a nice touch, unless you happen to be in China, or someplace else on planet Earth that entails mobile roaming charges. So therefore, Walski in effect will have had to PAY for the two SMS’s, which he didn’t really want in the first place.

But to be fair, that accidental ang pow to the telcos happened in the old year. And we’re now in the year of the Metal Rabbit, so Walski is optimistic that his luck with unwanted SMS’s will change.

Rabbits, however, as cute as they may be, can be cunning. And in certain strange circumstances, vicious as well.

So what will the Metal Rabbit be like, and what else does the year have in store for us? Again, he’s no prognosticator, and certainly not an aficionado of feng shui. In short, Walski doesn’t know. What he does know is that he does not have a Holy Handgrenade of Antioch handy.

But he does hope that it will be a good year, both personally and for the nation in general. He hopes that there will be less politicking and more action on things that are important. Though that said, Walski’s not really going to hold his breath. Suffice it to say that he will remain optimistic, despite the odds that the politicos will likely continue with what they have been doing non-stop, 24/7 since March 2008.

Some think that the year of the Metal Rabbit will see a snap general election, in a move to consolidate Najib’s mandate to ruin run the nation. Whether or not that actually happens (the snap elections, that is) is something we’ll just have to wait out and see.

In the meantime, enjoy your well-deserved time off work, with family and friends. Regardless of whether or not you actually celebrate the lunar New Year, Walski is sure that you will have a nice time if you want to.

And if you happen to be on the road, please do be careful. The last thing you’d want to do is end up being an Ops Sikap statistic.

So, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nien Kwai Ler… and may the year of the Metal Rabbit bring us health, wealth, and a fair dose of political entertainment for all to enjoy.

Click here for the full post......

Buddhas on parade

Technorati tags: Penang, Wesak Day, Parade, Travels

For many years now, Walski’s been hearing about the Wesak Day Parade in Penang. And for as many years, almost, he’s not managed to catch it, for one reason or another.

This time around, the Mrs & him took the opportunity to go, being that we were back on the island for the long weekend (the Mrs is from Penang, and she really missed her family).

Normally, Walski doesn’t like travelling on long weekends, since that’s a guaranteed way to get stuck in traffic. This time around he made an exception.

And that decision was a good one – it was a rather impressive parade, with some beautiful and interesting floats. Snaking through north Georgetown, passing a number of Buddhist temples, the almost 7km long parade began and ended on Burma Road, across from the Buddhist Association building.

It started around 6pm on Friday, May 28, and ended around 3+ hours later. Walski, the Mrs, and our 2 nieces, pretty much followed the parade on foot, which became for him a nice evening walking-tour of Penang. Yes it was tiring, but well worth it – there’s no better way to see a place than on foot. Much better than by car, where you may miss the sights, sounds and smells you’d otherwise not have noticed.

And for Walski, the added advantage of following the parade was to be able to exercise his trusty Canon G7 camera – quite dated by today’s standards, but still able to take great shots when it feels like it. All of the pictures you see in this post were taken with the G7. Still, an SLR would’ve been better, but Walski makes the best with what he has for now. The SLR’s still on his wishlist, though.

While we’re on the subject of photos, Walski should pre-warn you that the remainder of the post is very photo-heavy, what with our broadband not really being that broad most of the time, and all.

That said, the parade could be summed up in two words – interesting and colorful. 
(route map, and loads more pictures, in the full post)

As mentioned earlier, the parade route took the floats and participants on a 7km trek, beginning and ending on Jalan Burma, passing by the more prominent Buddhist temples on the northern part of the island, including Wat Chayamangkalaram on Lorong Burma, home of the Reclining Buddha.

Click image for a larger view, or here for the route on Google Maps

According to The Star, there were a total of 22 floats, although Walski probably only managed to catch about 12 of those, since we were following the parade from the rear. As he mentioned earlier, the parade had a lot color.

And some pretty interesting floats – including one that was a reenactment of Buddha’s temptation while under the bodhi tree.

Walking just ahead of this reenactment, was little Siddharta, the boy prince who discovered the suffering of his people, outside the comfort and luxury of the palace he lived in. And boy, what an adorable kid they found to play the part!

One of the more unexpected floats, as far as Walski is concerned, was this one, which essentially was a live performing troupe atop a float. He reckons they were singing Buddhist devotional songs, but since they were singing in Mandarin, Walski couldn’t be absolutely certain.

To their credit, though, they performed pretty much throughout the 3-plus hours that the parade took, from start to finish (Walski caught them a few times along the way, and they were performing with gusto each time).

Water – a representation of purity in Buddhism – featured quite prominently in the parade. Throughout the almost 7km route, volunteers were handing out bottles of mineral water to those who participated. In a number of the floats, priests were splashing water, as a sign of blessing the devotees who patiently lined the streets.

In fact, a few of the floats had water features, including one that Walski thought was pretty cool visually.

And no, it’s not the middle finger that the little guy’s sticking up into the air… Admittedly, at a glance, that’s what Walski thought, too.

Speaking of little ones, the kiddies got a chance to participate as well…

… including being part of the smallest “float” in the entire parade.

Walski’s not very sure if this was counted as one of the twenty two floats participating, or not. Neither is he sure if these two were included in the count.

But all kidding aside… the parade wasn’t just participated by Penangites and Buddhist associations from around Penang – it had a little bit of an international flavor to it as well.

Not quite sure where this group originated from, but Walski reckons that some of them were Tibetan Buddhists. The orange cap is kind of a giveaway. Or he thinks so, anyway.

All in all though, what makes a float parade memorable, if not for impressive floats. Like this one – with all the lights on.

And this one – perhaps one of the most impressive – the Dragon Float. The lighting effects on the float did make it look as though it were levitating down the parade route (which, of course, it wasn’t).

On a lighter note, towards the end of the route, Walski would have thought that the parade would have ended just after the Penang Buddhist Association temple on Jalan Anson, at this place…

But that was not to be – the parade continued on for another kilometer or so, veering off Jalan Anson onto Jalan Macalister, before turning into Lorong Madras, then back onto Jalan Burma, where it ended approximately half a kilometer further down, back to the point where it started, three hours earlier.

Nirvana, as Walski understands it, is a state of being – the ultimate for a Buddhist – and not a coffeeshop, or any other physical place…

Walking with the 2010 Wesak Day Parade last Friday, along the streets of Penang, did bring back some memories from many years ago, when Walski was a member of his school’s marching band (he was a bagpiper, believe it or not), which participated in the 1978 and 1979 Pesta Pulau Pinang.

But that, dear readers, is another story, for another time…

Click here for the full post......

Offbeat Travelogue: Back from Hell... err, Dull... err, Hull

Technorati tags: Humor, Offbeat Travelogue, Hull, Dull, Hell

As chance would have it, just when Walski finally found some time to post something 3 weeks ago, the call to travel came up once more.

The trip was a 2-week tour of duty to the UK… second time this year. This time around, it was to Hull, on an intra-company work assignment. The corporation Walski works for acquired this UK engineering company, and he’s been sent to carry out some work there.

The only problem – it was a surprise trip. Was only informed about this assignment 3 days before he was supposed to depart. Yeah, such is the fun and adventure that Walski encounters in his hectic life.

This post got started at the Dubai Airport Terminal 3, while he waited for his connecting flight – about a 9-hour layover, all told. As with his previous trip to the UK earlier this year, Walski decided to fly Emirates, since the airline flies into most major airports in the UK, apart from those around London. The destination airport this time being Manchester International.

The nice thing about Emirates is that you can almost be guaranteed to board an aircraft with an in-seat entertainment console in all classes. The not so nice thing is that, the damned thing may not work as expected all the time.  
(Hull and the no-show green man, in the full post)

And this is true of any airline, not just Emirates. Walski has this knack about being assigned a seat with a less-than-optimally working entertainment console on these long-haul flights. One time, the audio just didn’t work. Many other times, only one channel decides to work (and it wasn’t the headset that was faulty either).

This time, what happened was that the audio for Walski’s console was mapped to the seat adjacent to his, and vice versa. So he had to plug into his neighbor’s jack, and his neighbor had to plug into Walski’s. You can imagine the criss-crossing of audio cables across the two seats.

Fortunately, the guy in the adjacent seat was a nice Arab gentleman and he took all of this in stride. We even had a good chuckle over the sound jack mix-up.

Then on the second leg of the journey, the headset had the right channel busted – but at least this time around, Walski managed to get a replacement. No problems.

In any case, this part of the post was written in his hotel room in Hull, UK. For those of you who don’t exactly know where Hull is, Walski’s provided a map illustration below (courtesy of Google Maps).

Those who follow the Barclay’s Premier League undoubtedly have heard about Hull, but probably don’t know where it’s located in the UK. Well, it’s about 150 kilometers away from Manchester Airport, via the M60 and M62, and finally the A62.

About the title… Hull is definitely not the most interesting nor exciting place in the UK. In fact, Walski’s been told that it’s consistently been rated as one of the Top 10 worst places to live in the UK. It’s not the crime, nor the lack of shopping – in fact, shopping is about the most exciting thing you could do.

Despite being a university town, Walski could find fuck all to do. The weather – which was rainy and tepid (hovering around 5 to 8 deg C) – didn’t help him get into the mood either. One would have thought that with all that time on his hands, Walski would’ve been able to get some blogging done, right?

Wrong…

When it wasn’t work, it was catching up on work from KL, and when it wasn’t that, it was getting some sleep. As Walski’s Twitter friends will attest to, he didn’t even have time to Tweet very much. But there is one thing that Walski thought was rather amusing and kinda cool (apart from the weather).

Well, he did press the button and he did wait… but no green extraterrestrial man appeared. Not even green Earthmen. False advertising? Yes, folks – that’s just how boring Hull is. Even the green man didn’t bother showing up…

Kidding aside, Walski’s quite sure that this sign isn’t peculiar to Hull, and can probably be found all over the UK. But it was new to Walski, who thought it was kind of novel.

Fortunately, work kept Walski occupied most of the time, so the 2-week stay in dull Hull didn’t seem all too bad a drag. Oh, and the wonderful English-version Kit Kat bars helped, too.

If you’re wondering why there isn’t much more Walski has to mention about Hull, it’s probably because there isn’t really that much more to mention.

As one of the guys at the office there said, Hull’s dull because it is literally at the end of the motorway. After Hull, it’s pretty much some country side, then the English Channel. So anyone coming to Hull does so because he or she IS coming to Hull. It’s not one of those places you pass by and say, “Hey – cool place. Let’s stop here”.

In all likelihood, though, Walski will probably return to the end-of-the-road city called Hull. At some point in the near future, he’s quite certain.

So, sorry once again for the long absence… Walski knows that a lot has been going on in Malaysia, and he' has managed to keep up with most of the goings on. The good, bad, ugly and even stupid.

Think of this post as the start of ending this decade with a bang… on the blogging front, at the very least…

Click here for the full post......

A Nine-Inch Pilgrimage of Nails

Technorati tags: Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, Singapore, Pilgrimage

Based on the title, it’s probably not the kind of pilgrimage you’d have thunk. But it’s one that Walski is looking forward to immensely.

Walski has been following the career of Trent Reznor – the creative genius behind Nine Inch Nails – ever since the very first NIN album, Pretty Hate Machine, way back in 1989.

Trent is almost exactly a year younger than Walski – to be exact, a month and a couple days short of one year. And this, the first ever concert in Singapore (like hell they’ll ever be allowed in Malaysia), will also be the last.

Dubbed The Wave Goodbye tour, this will probably be the last tour for Trent. Well, for a while, at least. He’s catching up on the years. And while 44 is nowhere near what anyone would consider old, touring the world performing the kind of music that he does is another kettle of fish altogether.

Walski, while a tad disappointed, fully understands.

Musically, NIN has also kinda toned down a tad over the years – still really cool and intense, but perhaps a teensy weensy bit subdued compared to the days between Broken and The Fragile.

But it’s all still good. No, make that still excellently good.

And this, it would seem, will be Walski’s last chance to catch Nine Inch Nails live in concert. At least for a while, until Trent decides that simply making music doesn’t cut it anymore.

For this pilgrimage, Walski has to thank one person – his best friend, the one and only Lord Panda. This pilgrimage was a birthday present from the guy. Only because he knows how big a fan Walski is, and that up till tomorrow, Walski has never had the opportunity to catch NIN live.

And you can bet your bottom rupiah that Walski will be reporting on the concert in the coming days… 
(tickets still available, and more, in the full post)

If you, like Walski, have never seen ‘em live, here’s something to look forward to, if you’re making that road trip down south. And tickets are still available, if you haven’t made up your mind whether or not you wanna go.

The video above was captured during their concert in Perth, Australia, in March this year, featuring musicians from Dillinger Escape Plan. It’s not immediately known if Trent’s going to invite any guests for tomorrow’s show. But that’s like a bonus, if it happens.

What’s more important is getting to see NIN live. As this will be the last time you’ll see them live for a while, if you think you like Nine Inch Nails and would like to see them in concert, this is your last chance. For a while anyway.

Walski has waited a good part of two decades to see NIN live. Another 20-some hours of waiting time is something he can live with.

Truth be told, though – Walski can’t friggin’ wait… and what better way to describe this trip tomorrow, other than call it a pilgrimage.

Click here for the full post......

Promises kept and broken

Technorati tags: Reflection, Promises, Promise Kept, Promise Broken

In one of the most interesting weeks, from a political point of view, some of you might have wondered why the silence here at myAsylum. Despite the silence, Walski has been observing the happenings at the UMNO General Assembly – the expected, as well as the strange and unanticipated. But for now, Walski will keep these thoughts percolating for a while.

And there’s a good reason for it.

Earlier this week, someone close to Walski (more so to the Mrs.) passed away, succumbing to the Big C. It was very sudden, although we somewhat expected last week that the person’s health had visibly deteriorated in a short span of time.

Because of this fateful event, Walski had to go away to attend the wake and subsequent funeral. And because he had to go away, a promise he’d made couldn’t be fulfilled. This post, however, partly fulfills another promise Walski made.

Walski does have many thoughts about this tragic passing, but we’ll leave that for a later post. It’s the wee hours of the morning where he is, and the only time that can be spared to do this.  
(one promise kept and the other broken, in the full post)

As he often does, we start with the positive.

Promise Kept – Cicak Cobain: Sedap?
The bassist for Ben’s Bitches, Gordon “CK” Lim, earlier this week announced the release of his solo project, Cicak Cobain. Walski had promised CK that he would help promote the album, and this is the promise fulfilled.

Well, partly. For now, it’s more of a mention. There will be a few more posts on Sedap? coming up soon, once Walski’s back into the swing of things.

A couple of things that Walski should also mention. One – the album artwork was designed by avant-punk artist Mun Kao, whose works you may have seen on the web, or in real life. He’s one artist that Walski thinks will go pretty far. Second – the entire album (consisting of 15 tracks) can be downloaded, for absolutely nothing (except for bandwidth and your time) from the Cicak Cobain page at Disarseter Records, either individually, or as one “big ass” zip file.

Promise Broken – “Readings” for March 2009
For a long time now, Walski had wanted to attend the “Readings” sessions, done once a month, at Seksan’s in Bangsar. Equally as long, he’s wanted to meet Sharon Bakar, whom for one reason or another, Walski has always managed to not meet.

This time around, as an added incentive, Walski’s good friend The Lord Panda himself wound up being one of the featured readers. And Walski thought that at last, he would be able to go. Walski was also supposed to help out with the Panda Head Curry? performance, since Walski is a sometimes-collaborator, after all.

Alas, for reasons you now already know, once again, a raincheck has to be taken. Walski hopes it goes well, and that everyone attending has a good time. He apologizes profusely for alluding to the fact that he was going to attend. Because in truth, he really wanted to.

But to somewhat rephrase a well known cliché, life is like a game of Russian Roullette – you never know which chamber’s loaded.

In life, there are sometimes unpleasant duties to perform, and one of those duties is to be there for family when they are in need of emotional support.

Like during that one final journey a member of the family has to take… the last journey from home, to a destination unknown. 

Click here for the full post......

Top 10 Reminders I'm back in Malaysia

Technorati tags: Humor, Top Ten, Malaysia, Reminders

Re-Post Note: Due to some glitch between Windows Live Writer and Blogger, this post got over-written by a latter post. What you're reading is a re-post. Thank goodness for backups...

Yes, sports fans, Walski's finally back home, after being away for 3 weeks in the UK. The journey back to KL (via Dubai) was mostly uneventful. Our flight out of London Heathrow was delayed about an hour due to a runway de-icing exercise (causing traffic backlog), but the flight itself was quite pleasant - 2 movies, half-an-hour's nap... one happy traveler.

A hazy Dubai skyline captured on the flight home

Okay, the luggage decided that it wanted an extra day in Dubai, but other than that, the trip home was pretty uneventful. Fortunately, it was a trip home, and being that we (the Mrs & Walski) made the conscious effort to not overpack, we still have most of our clothes at home.

And then, it came time to experience for ourselves that we were finally back in Malaysia...
(the Top Ten list, and more, in the full post)

Top 10 Reminders that Walski's back in Malaysia

10. Wet Public Toilets
One of the things that Walski will miss about the UK is the lack of trepidation whenever he walks into a public toilet.

9. People working behind counters hate their jobs (and show it)
Somehow, the term "customer service" is one that is generally absent from the vocabulary of folks working behind the counter. In some cases, "thank you", as well. Okay, it's improved over the years, to be fair, but still not a ubiquitously enjoyable experience.

8. Wet, and smelly, Public Toilets
Bad enough that they're wet, but somehow the smelly-ness is one key characteristic of Malaysian public toilets that somehow no disinfectant can overcome...

7. Lanes are a figment of the Malaysian driver's imagination
Driving in the UK was truly a pleasure - not even the motorway delays, queues, the M1 closure (more on that in a separate post), or the long distance traveled (over 1,600 km) took away the joy of driving. This is another area Malaysia and Malaysians can do with some improvement

6. Crappy radio, complete with totally annoying deejays
Somehow, and not being sexist here, all female Malaysian deejays have really whiny voices, and the male ones try too hard to sound cool (and fail miserably). Walski used to deejay on radio while in college, and he knows a lousy announcer when he hears one... most Malaysian deejays fit this bill, unfortunately. And the lack of good music just makes radio in Malaysia intolerable...

5. Waking up to 30 °C rain
Rain that you can go out and frolic in... without getting pneumonia... Joy!

4. Wet, and smelly Public Toilets with no tissue, toilet paper or soap
Is further elaboration really necessary?

3. Manageable hair
For some strange reason, the humidity helps the hair stay manageable. Every day in the UK was literally a bad hair day for Walski.

2. Crappy TV (Astro really leaves a lot to be desired)
One of the nicest things in the UK was the TV. Not just the Sky cable service, but even the free terrestrial TV... and when they say adult-oriented entertainment after 8pm, they really mean adult-oriented. Not the G-disguised-in-R-rating like in Malaysia

... and the Number 1 reminder that Walski's finally back in Malaysia:

Democracy and Due Process are still two concepts totally absent from the Malaysian vocabulary.
Yes, Walski's talking about Perak... and you'll definitely be hearing lots more thoughts from him on this one...

Yes, folks... it appears that Walski's finally home.

Click here for the full post......

Snow + Unpreparedness = Chaos!

Technorati tags: Travels, UK, England, Heavy Snow, Chaos

Sorry for the silence this past week. As some of you may be aware, Walski's in the UK for some work-related stuff (plus a short holiday afterwards). It would have been an excellent trip, except for a couple of unexpected things happening:

• Walski came down with the flu - which is totally not fun when it's an average of 3 down to -1 °C
• After recovering from the flu, Walski developed a nasty tooth abcess (inside the gum), which, in addition to the obligatory throbbing toothache from Hades, caused one side of his face looking like Rocky Balboa on a bad night in the ring. This time Walski had no choice but to resort to some anti-biotics (and thank God for the British NHS), something he usually avoids, unless absolutely necessary.

And then, it started to snow.

Bridport in Dorset, South-West England, where snow is not something you normally see

Heavily - the most snow south-eastern England has seen in 18 years or so. How's that for timing, eh, luv?

Which is something Walski actually wanted (badly), since it's been over 10 years since he's seen white stuff - and there's truly nothing more beautiful than to watch snow fall. But don't tell that to the Brits, though.

Strangely enough, the last two days of snow has literally brought England to a grinding halt. Granted, it's the coldest winter in 18 years. But being this unprepared to cope with heavy snow is something that Walski has found rather dumbfounding.

It's one thing if it started snowing in Kuala Lumpur all of a sudden. But London? 
(large amounts of snow in London, and more, in the full post)

London, apparently, doesn't have enough infrastructure put into place to cope with heavy snow, like it's seen in the last two days. BBC reported all kinds of public transportation problems around London - buses unable to run, and even some parts of the Underground going out of service!

And you can just imagine the kind of mayhem it must have caused. London relies on its public transportation system for it to function properly. Yesterday and today, services were still not running 100%, and it is believed that nationwide, the economic cost of the 2-day snow-a-thon has breached £1 Billion! And that's probably the last thing that the British economy needs right now.

Granted, the Brits can be really whiny sometimes, but there are valid grouses abound that the way critical transport services responded to the adverse weather has left a lot to be desired.

Stoned cold Monday in Bridport...

Fortunately for Walski, the work part of the trip has finished, and he is merely chilling out with the family for the next couple of days, before heading back to KL. His biggest worry now is that the flight will be able to leave on time.

Or at all.

Oh, well... let's not count our worry-chickens before they're hatched, eh, luv? We'll surely cross that bridge when we have to. Which is in about 48 hrs time or so.

Click here for the full post......

To Nirvana and back again...

Or how Hanuman bitch-slapped Walski into starting to blog again...

Technorati tags: Hanuman, Yogya, Borobudur, Indonesia, Art, Ramayana, Travels

It had to happen. The writer's itch was starting to get unbearable. And then Hanuman came along and settled the score. Walski writes once more.

But as usual Walski's getting ahead of himself. First, Hanuman has got to be put into perspective. And it happened a few weeks ago when Walski and the Mrs were on a short vacation to an idyllic smallish city called Yogyakarta.

The trip to Indonesia this time around was part-work and part-vacation. And with the Mrs along on the trip, as she's never been to Jakarta, nor has she been to Yogyakarta, the main focus of this post. And it's in Yogya (or Jogja) that Walski met with Hanuman. Who bitch-slapped Walski. But more about that later.

BOO! This mask adorns one of the walls of the Kraton Ngayogyakarta

Not much more can be said about Jakarta, however, except that it's a great city with a horrendous traffic problem. And the traffic is perhaps one factor that would deter Walski from choosing this metropolis as home, if push came to shove. In any case, Walski's written about the Indonesian capital before in a previous post.

In any case, we got into Jakarta on a Wednesday evening (December 3rd), and made our way into the city quite painlessly, as it turns out - it was around 8pm by the time we left Soekarno-Hatta International, and the workday macet (Indonesian for 'traffic jam') had sufficiently subsided.

Work, for Walski, was most of Thursday, the following day. Not much to comment about that, except that it was work. Fortunately, though, the meeting wasn't far from the hotel, so we were in and out within reasonable time.

The real adventure, and the main focus of this post, only happened the following day - Friday - the day the Mrs and Walski flew out of the hustle and bustle of Jakarta, for an appointment with the relative serenity that Yogya had to offer.

When it comes to traffic, compared to Jakarta, whatever Yogya could muster simply pales in comparison...
(Yogya, Borobudur, and of course, Hanuman, in the full post)

But this trip was not to pay hommage to Indonesian traffic woes. Rather, our journey to Yogya had two main purposes. 

The first, was to visit the famed Borobudur temple, the gigantic Buddhist shrine from the 9th century.

Borobudur - a breathtaking monument to ancient feats of engineering

The temple is said to have been constructed by the architect Gunadharma, serving the court of the Sailendra dynasty. It consists of 3 groups of levels - the bottom two square, and the upper group circular. The three highest levels consist of stupas arranged symmetrically in a circle, decreasing in number as one ascends. In each of these stupas, which are perforated, sits a statue of Buddha, each one with a different hand gesture.

The three groupings of levels culminate with a large stupa at the top, now empty, but believed to have housed a large statue of Buddha. Our tour guide mentioned something about the statue sitting in a museum someplace. Walski has read elsewhere, however, that when Sir Stamford Raffles discovered Borobudur in the 17th century, the main stupa was already empty, and is one of the mysteries surrounding the ancient monumentous temple.

Grouped together, the top 3 levels are known as Arupadhatu - or, the world of the Formless - otherwise known as the 3 levels of Nirvana (or so the guide told us).

Stupa-fying... the 3 circular levels that make up Arupadhatu

Nirvana? Yes, folks, been there, done that... 

The one thing that kinda ruined the otherwise superb Borobudur experience was the peddlers of souvenirs, and other overpriced trinkets, that persistently swarmed Walski and the Mrs on our way out. Here's a bit of advice if you're ever thinking of visiting - on your way up to the temple, don't even indicate to any of the peddlars that you'll get something from them later. Not even body language to suggest any such thing. 'Cause they'll be there waiting once your on the way out. And literally swarm you.

The second reason for chosing Yogya was art. Yogya is home to one of the most prestigious fine arts institutes in the region - the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia, or ISI), which has produced a number of well known contemporary artists over the years. 

Actually, Yogya apparently has around 130 universities (of all sizes and varieties), and is also the home of the Universitas Gadjah Mada, one of Indonesia's better known universities. In short, Yogya is very much a college town, full of youth and aspiration, combined with a very deep sense of history.

As Walski may have blurted out at some point in the not so distant past, the Mrs and him are into art, and we have a reasonably not-so-modest collection of our own. And so the trip was also to try hunt down some good art pieces. 

Our haul? Ten pieces by various artists - four of them from WH Kabul, a rather well-known batik artist, and the rest were oil on canvas pieces from a few artists. On the right is one of the batik pieces from Kabul that Walski got while he was there, called "Surrealis". If you ever visit Yogya, do try to visit Mr. Kabul's gallery. Our guide told us that WH Kabul has been dubbed the "Picasso of Java". And truth be told, some of the pieces in his gallery are truly stunning.

One of the things that Walski noticed was that the works of the artists that we saw while in Yogya were very unrestrained, and quite uninhibited - no subject matter, it seems, is taboo.

"Ruang Gerak" by I. Made Wirata
(an oil on canvas piece that's now in Walski's collection)

Walski has always believed that the less social restraint, the better art can flourish. In that respect, it's not surprising that the fine arts flourishes better in Indonesia than it does in Malaysia. Malaysian artists, Walski feels, tend to self-censor and restrict themselves to what is "safe". This limits the dimensions an artist can explore. It's also no surprise, therefore, that a number of budding artists have opted to leave the country for a less contrictive social environment.

"Harmoni" by Plato
(oil on canvas, also part of Walski's collection)

"Tentang Mimpi-mimpi Utopia di Kota Asap" by Indra Setiawan
(oil on canvas, another piece in Walski's collection)

And apart from a small minority of loony religionist (yes, every country has 'em), the majority of Indonesians accept multiculturalism as a reality of life, and are a very accommodating and tolerant lot. If it weren't for the endemic corruption, Indonesia would probably be way ahead of Malaysia economically.

There are many things that Indonesia shares with Malaysia, culturally and historically. Take the ancient monuments of Borobudur and Prambanan, for example. Both these ancient sites obviously underline the long historical ties the entire region has had with the Indian sub-continent. While in Malaysia, history seems wont to be re-written to irradicate that entire epoch, the same cannot be said about Indonesia. It's historical heritage is something most Indonesias are very proud of - particularly those from Java, the center of the Majapahit and Mataram empires of old.

Speaking of heritage, one other thing that Malaysia and Indonesia shares - elements of Hinduism in our cultures. Specifically, when it comes to performance art. Even more specifically, Walski is referring here to Ramayana - that ancient Hindu love epic, an important theme to the traditional dance performance art that both countries share.

And a performance of Ramayana is a definite on any tour itinerary to Yogya. Walski's trip was no exception.

Rama, Sita and Lakshmana - three of the main characters in the epic classic Ramayana

The performance capped day two of Walski and the Mrs' visit to this city, after a day's worth of Borobudur and art hunting. And it is at this point that Walski should introduce you to one of the more interesting - and kick-butt - characters in the Ramayana story...

Enter Hanuman, the mystical monkey deity figure.

If you are familiar with the Ramayana storyline, you'll know that Hanuman was one of Rama's helpers in the quest to regain Sita from the clutches of the demonic Ravana. What was performed was, of course, an abridged version of the original epic, which spans several books. And which, if performed faithfully, would have made an otherwise wonderful evening of Gamelan an arduous fidgety snooze-fest.

But that was definitely not the case with the performance that Walski saw. The almost two hour performance breezed by, almost. Thanks to the grace of the dance troupe, peppered with some light moments involving Hanuman's side-kicks, a group of young performers playing the role of the deity's monkey soldiers.

Hanuman, for some reason, stuck in Walski's mind. And is partly responsible for why you're reading this blog post.

Perhaps it was because this character was the most mischievious of the good guys. Or maybe it was simply because Hanuman simply kicked butt. Demon butt, no less.

Like in this one scene, where Hanuman faces the horde of demons that worked for Ravana, kidnapper of Sita. Part of this sequence was one of the more acrobatic movements in the ballet performance, and came towards the end, during the battle to regain Sita. 

Hanuman overcoming Ravana's demon army - singlehandedly

Walski thinks that Rama and Lakshmana had it easy - they had bows and arrows. Hanuman, on the other hand, had to do the physical fighting bits. And that acrobatic part in the picture above was something quite spectacular (hint: count the number of feet touching the stage vs. the number of performers).

The ballet performance ends with Sita passing the test of holy fire, which is not the end of the original Ramayana epic. In the original epic, Sita later falls out of favor with Rama, and is exiled for a second time. But that makes for a non-happy ending, and so very rarely do you see the entire thing performed as per the original epic.

There is a reason why Walski keeps on mentioning Hanuman in this post. Well, Walski had this apparition, upon his return to Kuala Lumpur. It happened, in fact, a few nights ago, after a very long day at work.

Hanuman appeared in Walski's dream that night, as fierce and rambunctions as Walski remembered him in the ballet. But instead of Ravana's demons, Hanuman's target this time was yours truly.

Walski was thoroughly bitch-slapped by the monkey deity. No butt-kicking, just bitch-slapping. Throughout the ordeal, all Hanuman did was grunt unintelligibly. Something about writing, or other. Clearly, the guy was pissed off with Walski. It was only right at the end that Hanuman spoke. Loudly and clearly.

Start blogging again... or else!

And then Walski woke up...

Okay, but so what if Hanuman didn't actually appear in Walski's dreams? Fortunately, Hanuman never reappeared anywhere, and presumably is still in Yogya somewhere, lurking around before his next performance. 

But wake up Walski did.

Walski announced his decision to quit blogging during a time of duress and weakness. And again, he apologizes for how it was done. But there's a lot left to be said, and not having an avenue to channel the thoughts in Walski's head, in the long run, would probably not be a very healthy thing. 

In truth, he needed a holiday from real life, and the trip to Yogya did provide that respite. And having reached Nirvana, and living to tell the tale, is a big deal, Walski supposes. Plus, since being back from the trip, Walski's managed to sort a lot of other things out. Enlightenment kinda helps put things into perspective.

So, yes, boys and girls, Walski's back. Finally.

And this time around, Walski's got Hanuman on his side...

Click here for the full post......

City of Jakarta

Technorati tags: Travels, Jakarta, City Of Jakarta

Just a quickie post to let you folks know that myAsylum will most likely not be getting updated much this week.

No, Walski's not on a blog strike. Actually, he's out of the country - for work, and not because he's had just about enough of Malaysia (of which he actually has just had about enough). Unfortunately, the internet access is not as accessible as he'd like it to be. Hence the potentially no-update week for this blog, Walski predicts.

Walski is in Jakarta this week, for a few meetings supporting the Indonesia operations of the company he works for.

The KLM aircraft "City of Jakarta", which Walski took to get to...
Where else? Jakarta!

Quite by coincidence, the KLM Boeing 747-400 he took to get here was a plane named City of Jakarta. Did you know that it's cheaper to fly KLM to Jakarta than it is to fly to East Malaysia on MAS? Strange, ain't it?

This is Walski's first time in this humungous city - and boy is it big! Walski was told that the population in Jakarta is something like 20 million people, or something crazy like that. Not quite as populous as Shanghai, though (27 million or so), but pretty damn big nevertheless.

He'll be taking pictures along the way, naturally, but the updates may not be forthcoming. Not this week anyways... there's work to be done, and unfortunately, Walski can't get Internet access in the hotel room. Hopefully there'll be some play time on this visit, too... but if not, there's always next time. With the Indonesia operations set up, Walski will probably be coming over more often.

So, don't worry... it's just a short hiatus - and it's actually kind of nice not to be full frontal with the crap that's happening at home for a few days...

But if Walski does get a chance to update, it'll be a bonus... Peace, folks!
(that's it, you've reached the end of the full post)

Click here for the full post......

Gunfight at the KLIA Corral...

Technorati tags: Gunfight, KLIA, Security, Royal Malaysian Police

Walski's currently in Kota Kinabalu (or KK) attending a couple of meetings. The real bad news is that the hotel he's staying at doesn't have internet access - a real bummer for travelling business folk, and a big bummer for this one blogger. This post, therefore, comes to you courtesy of the Warisan Square Starbucks...

Getting to KK requires one to fly thru KLIA...

In any case, to get to KK from Kuala Lumpur, unless you travel on the cheap, you typically would have to fly out from KL International Airport (KLIA) - which, to be fair has garnered quite a number of worldwide awards. And quite frankly, KLIA is really not a bad airport. Except for the toilets - but then again, that's a perennial Malaysian problem.

Being a frequent traveller, however, two recent news items have kinda gotten Walski a little disconcerted. The first is the incident of how a Dhaka-bound passenger managed to get on board his flight with a knife - not sure however if we're talking Swiss Army or bigger size, but knives are a definite no-no on board. Granted, these things do happen, and to their credit, Malaysia Airports has suspended the security officer on duty, pending an investigation.

But it's the shootout story that got Walski a little rattled... now, everybody can become armed robbers...
(how secure is secure, and more, in the full post)

KLIA, however, is not to blame, in this case, Walski feels. Quite frankly, it would be very difficult to screen traffic in and out of the airport area, unless you do what Tokyo Narita Airport does - there, they stop every single vehicle coming into the airport area, and subject each vehicle to security inspections. As far as Walski remembers, they've been doing that since day one, due to the protests when the airport first opened way back when.

A case like this, however, does highlight the fact that the Royal Malaysian Police have really done a lousy job in keeping crime down, particularly in recent years, evidenced by the alarming rise in crime, and in violent crimes, specifically.

The news report doesn't exactly state at what time of day the robbery took place. Another question that crossed Walski's mind: where were the traffic police who are supposed to be stationed at the departure (and arrival) area?

It really makes Walski wonder sometimes - how is it that with the stringent gun laws we have in this country, so much armed robbery is taking place? Yeah, okay - they're mostly probably smuggled from neighboring countries where firearms are more readily available.

Or is there some truth to the allegations that organized crime (as this case has been classified) is being "protected" by members of the very same organization that's supposed to be keeping the country safe? Are incidents like the shootout at KLIA acceptable "collateral damage" - implicit arrangements so that organized crime is kept alive and well for purposes that escape Walski's understanding?

Fortunately, no one was killed in the process of the robbery. But getting hurt by gunfire is definitely no fun either, and 5 people were casualties in this instance.

Walski, by the way, couldn't help to snicker a little at what was written in the Malaysiakini report, right at the end: "The incident did not cause any flight delays".

And in particular, Walski's also pretty sure that the armed robbers' flight was pretty much on schedule, too. Now, if only the airlines could give similar guarantees.

Click here for the full post......

Sudan Quickie

Technorati tags: Travels, Sudan, Khartoum, Politics, Danish Cartoon Controversy

Updated from Dubai @ February 28, 8:38am (Malaysia Time), 4:38am (Dubai Time): Updates to this post can be found in the full post. Forgive the sloppiness - sleep depravation does that sometimes.

Original post:
Knowing Walski, you may have thought that this was about something sexual. Not in Sudan, tho. Unless you have a death wish, or can't find anyone else anywhere in the world to get hitched. Sudan is quite a strict Islamic country, although not as anal about it as Saudi Arabia is.

Anyways, Walski managed to cut short his trip by 24 hours, so he's now en route back to KL. Blogging live from Khartoum International Departure Terminal, incidentally. This is a different terminal from the one he departed from a year ago, and is much nicer.

Somewhere in the city of Khartoum earlier today...

Walski's purpose coming here was to pursue some control & safety system maintenance contracts, and it basically involved doing a presentation to one of the oil operating companies here. Pretty much similar to the last trip, except this was for a different operating company.

The presentation went very well, and the ensuing discussion indicated that they were quite keen on what we had to offer. Some next steps before any contract can be realized, but that's to be expected.

Walski's apologies for not blogging more on this trip, but truth be told, the trip here really took its toll on him - 10 hours waiting in an airport is not something Walski would recommend even to his worse enemies, despite Dubai airport being one of the better places you would want to have such a long layover.

Well, he's got a flight to catch pretty soon, so this post ends here for now. Updates later from Dubai... there was something interesting that happened in Khartoum today, by the way - which you may have heard about via Al-Jazeera... later, folks!
(sleep-deprived update from Dubai, in the full post)

Post update:
In Khartoum today, Al-Jazeera reported that Sudan president Omar al-Bashir addressed around 10,000 protesters, protesting against the Danes for the recent controversial Muhammad cartoon reprint.

CNN and BBC mentioned pretty much the same thing in their respective reports.

Walski was nowhere close to where the march took place, but you could hear police sirens throughout the morning (while Walski was presenting). The protest march also explained why several roads were blocked off in Khartoum, primarily along Nile Street (where Walski's hotel was), the road along which several Sudanese ministries are located.

Sudan, if you didn't know, is one of those countries sanctioned by the US - purportedly over human rights abuses and the never-ending Darfur conflict. In addition, several other European corporations have placed Sudan in the don't-do-business-with category. Among these corporations, Siemens and ABB.

The impact, from an Oil & Gas perspective, is that a lot of equipment currently installed at the various production sites are suffering from lack of maintenance, due to the fact that the original vendors can no longer do business in Sudan.

Khartoum is far enough from Darfur (a district/state within Sudan, which in itself is the size of France) that you can never get a straight story from any Sudanese. Unfortunately, Walski wasn't there long enough to get to know any UN people, to get their perspective. But what you hear from the international press isn't pretty.

In any case, the net effect is that not a lot of reputable systems can be supplied into Sudan, and for existing equipment, spare parts and services can be a problem.

Malaysia, however, is quite active in Sudan, particularly in the Oil & Gas industry, and there are numerous Malaysians working in the various Oil & Gas production operators in Sudan. The biggest investor in Sudan, incidentally, is China. South Korea, too, has a lot invested in this African nation - Hyundai has a Sudan-localized range of cars labelled under the GIAD brand.

Walski may or may not have mentioned this before, but the Chinese character for problem is a combination of the characters for the words danger and opportunity. While doing business in Sudan may not be politically popular with the US (hence the danger part), opportunities to bridge the gap abound in this country. Malaysia has done quite well, through Petronas, in this respect. What Walski understands is that Petronas has, over the last decade, invested several billion USD in Sudan, all of which has been fully recouped.

Whether or not the Sudanese government is using the profits from their Oil production to fund the Arab militia in Darfur is hard to tell. Just like Malaysia, the Sudanese government has a strong grip on the local media, and so the news that travels into Khartoum denies any involvement by the Sudanese government. One Malaysian UN worker did mention, however, that the attrocities in Darfur, as heard via the international media, is usually exaggerated. Whether or not this is true, Walski can't tell for sure. There is definitely a large-scale humanitarian problem in Darfur, that's quite certain. What isn't quite certain is the Sudan federal government's contribution to this problem, if any.

But the rally yesterday against the Danish government and media, coupled with the strong rhetoric from President al-Bashir, certainly isn't winning Sudan any new friends, particular from Europe. But as long as China, South Korea, and other countries, Malaysia included, keep development money coming in, winning new friends is not a priority for the president.

Until, of course, the big investors start pulling out, or when the oil runs out. But that is not going to be for a long, long time yet. Like many Middle Eastern and African Arab nations, God has blessed Sudan with all kinds of rich mineral reserves. The number one problem in Africa, however, is the intense rivalry between tribes. The real root of the problems as far as Sudan is concerned is no different. Tribal conflict, just add politics... and the ensuing troubles can last generations.

Not unlike Malaysia, actually, if you think about it. Where it all starts from an "us against them" tribal thinking. While the definition of tribal may be a little different, it's still tribal. Underlying the problems, is the lack of political will to do the right things the right way, without pandering to special interests. But the perception of the politicians, by and large, is that these special interests are the ones that keep them in power. And so the cycle continues, and continues to escallate.

Well, enough of the sleep-deprived commentary... Still another five and a half hours to go before Walski boards his flight back home to KL. And it seems as if Dubai airport never sleeps. It's around 4:30am local time, and it's still as busy as when Walski arrived several hours ago. And pretty much as busy as it was when Walski came through here a couple of days ago.

He'll be back in this part of the world at some point later this year. The opportunities in Sudan, sanctions and all, are just too good to pass up. Despite the fatigue from these long layovers, which end up being more tiring than the actual flights.

Later, folks. Walski's probably gonna crash for a bit. Failing which... shop!

Click here for the full post......

Transit Lounge Lizard...

Technorati tags: Travels, In Transit, Transit Lounge, Lounge Lizard

This post comes to you four time zones away from Kuala Lumpur. Hint: It's still in Asia, and rumor has it that this place has the world's best duty free shopping...

Walski, the Transit Lounge Lizard...

And the journey doesn't end here - it's a 10 hour layover, then another 2 hours flight to the final destination, which is another time zone earlier than where Walski currently is.
(where Walski is going, and more, in the full post)

Okay, okay... Walski's in transit at Dubai airport, en route to Khartoum. This is Walski's second trip to Sudan in as many years... and once again, it's because he's chasing for business.

If you recall the last trip (late April 2007), the routing was kinda crappy. It's a bit better this time around, since Walski doesn't have to transit somewhere else before heading for Khartoum (it was Doha that time). And will come back thru Dubai on the way home.

The problem with this trip are the long layovers in Dubai, to and fro, plus a lot of wasted time in Khartoum itself, no thanks to a customer who couldn't confirm the appointment until very the last minute, where we had to include some just-in-time buffer...

In a nutshell, Walski left KLIA at 2am Tuesday morning, and doesn't return to KLIA until Friday at 9pm (Malaysia time). And in the process, will spend more time travelling, than in Khartoum meeting with and presenting to customers. Well, travelling and lounging in transit...

Like a transit lounge lizard... minus the cheezy muzak, plus other lounge lizard amenities....

Click here for the full post......

Offbeat Travelogue: Operation Laksa Quest

Technorati tags: Offbeat Travelogue, Penang, Food, Laksa, Lorong Selamat

Top Secret Communique from Global Laksa Command Center:

Agent Walski - we note with dismay your findings on the quality of product found at New World Plaza. Your mission, should you except it, will be to make your way to the location downloaded to your GPS device, and find the good stuff. This message will self destruct in 5, 4, 3,...

BURRRP!

Nevermind.

Saturday, February 9th - Walski's last day in Penang - and his last chance to redeem the lost glory of Laksa, whose reputation was tarnished by rogue Laksa-makers one day before. It so happens that the location downloaded to Walski's GPS-cum-mobile-cum-lots-o-other-gadgets was none other than the best place in Penang to find good Laksa. Lorong Selamat.

Okay, there are quite a number of places around Penang where you can get decent Laksa. A few places along Penang road, Balik Pulau, Ayer Itam... but for Walski's tastebuds, there is this one place smack in the middle of Georgetown, nestled between Jalan Macalister and Jalan Burma.

Rumor/Legend has it that this particular Laksa vendor onced served a tour of duty in a Singapore hotel for a food showcase some years back. Okay, every Malaysian (Penangites, in particular) knows that Singapore food pales in comparison to what you can get in Penang (some even say it sucks). But to be selected to be part of a showcase in a Singapore hotel, you really gotta serve good Laksa.

And so, coordinates downloaded to the GPS, car gas tank full, and tummy on empty, Agent Walski proceeds on his quest to find the best Laksa in Penang... and this time, unless Global Laksa Command was lying, the Laksa should be linger-fickin' good...
(the quest for the Laksa Holy Grail, and more, in the full post)

Traffic in Penang, on Day 3 of Chinese New Year, was considerably heavier than the past couple of days. And is usually the case, you see lots of out-of-town cars, primarily from KL. Yes, it sometimes seems like the entire peninsular descends upon Penang whenever there is an extended holiday. This time around, as Walski mentioned earlier, he and the Mrs decided to fly up instead of drive, and travelled around the island courtesy of his sis-in-law's vehicular contraption...

But if you know your way around Penang well enough, you can actually get from point A to point B quite painlessly, using the less travelled roads that snake thru the island, particularly around Georgetown. And so, without much pain inflicted, Agent Walski and his entourage make it to Lorong Selamat, where the Laksa Holy Grail lay in wait...

And wait we definitely had to - 40 minutes, to be exact - to be able to enjoy our bowls of Laksa. This particular stall is so well known, they actually had to take that long to be able to fulfill the backlog of orders. And this was way, way after lunchtime (it was around 1630 hrs, to be precise).

The surroundings on Lorong Selamat had definitely changed from the first time Walski was introduced to the place many years ago.

It used to be that the tables for the Laksa patrons were in a cemented open, shaded space immediately behind the stall. The Annexe shown in the picture above is a new addition - and definitely makes the place look cleaner and more appealing. Behind the Annexe is an old mansion, which together with the annexe now forms the kopitiam where patrons can sit in comfort while they wait for their laksa. Which in Walski's case, took around about the 40 minutes the Laksa guys said it would... okay, it was more like 35, but who's counting?

Some things, however, are worth the wait. And after the debacle of the day before, 40 minutes seemed to pass rather quickly. Ah.... finally... the Laksa Walski has been looking forward to.

Good Laksa, as a minimum, needs to have thick-ish soup. And the thickness comes from the fish bits. The Lorong Selamat Laksa, as a bonus, not only has ample fish bits, it actually comes with chunks of fish. Chunks, Walski tells ya... chunks!

A good Laksa meal (or any Penang food orgy) needs one important accompaniment - a nice drink or desert. For Penangites, there are two popular choices - either Ice Kacang or Cendol. Okay, there are a few others, but it's usually these two that get the thumbs up. For today's quest, it was Ice Kacang for Walski.

And so, after a disappointing day before, and after getting instructions from the grand poobahs at Global Laksa Command Center, Walski finally managed to fulfill this Laksa fix for this trip. And it was a great treat... The only problem Walski has whenever he visits the Pearl of the Orient is having to resist eating every other minute he's there... Apart from the nice beaches you can still find here, making Penang a beach paradise, the multitude of food styles, and more importantly the great tasting food, makes Penang also a culinary paradise... Which can be a problem for Walski. Let's just say that he puts on the pounds a tad too easily...

But as is with most things in life, even good meals have to come to an end... But let's just say, as far as this mission was concerned, it was definitely one worth going on... and not too expensive, either (even for the notoriously more expensive Chinese New Year period, food-wise, in Penang).
Laksa - RM 4.00
Ice Kacang - RM 2.80
That indescribable good feeling after a satisfyingly tasty meal... frickin' PRICELESS!

Another day, another great food adventure... and with this small mission successfully accomplished, Agent Walski now looks forward to his next trip up north to Malaysia's food paradise. Which he hopes will be sooner, rather than later...

Walski's post-Laksa fix fulfillment footnote: Walski's thanks to bloggers Ktemoc, Lucia, and Pah Nur for their "where-to-find-good-Laksa" suggestions... and yes, all those places mentioned do have their merits, and they do pretty decent Laksa (Walski's tried every single one of them at least once before)...

Click here for the full post......