Malaysian Road Trip - Yeah (x3)

With a couple of days to spare we decided upon a mid-week road trip. Armed with a car and an insatiable appetite we ventured north towards Penang with a customary stop through Ipoh. Ultimately, it would be a journey in search for for Chendol and Kuih sound-tracked by the likes of Ke$ha, Chris Brown and Pitbull.

As you can see, it was mostly driving and eating. I remember driving up to these parts of Malaysia when I was a child and eating a crap load and always wanting to go to Komtar shopping centre. Years later, happy to say, not much has changed. Thanks for the trips lad!

"Ain't no mountain high enough" - Marvin Gaye

Home Sweet Home (Part II)

Departing Taipei with less than 2 hours of sleep and a belly full of delicious Din Tai Fung generally indicates a successful trip. With the bulk of the crew heading back to Hong Kong I was lucky to have found myself a travel buddy to keep me company on my AirAsia flight to Malaysia. Despite being afforded luxury of not sitting next to a complete stranger the majority of the 4 hour flight was spent sleeping. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur just after 8:30 am and I was generously offered a lift from LCCT back into Central KL as well as a quick snack in Petaling Jaya. It feels good to be back in Malaysia!

First two nights were spent at Swiss Inn just off Petaling Street which was convenient but not so comfortable. The final nights were spent at Furama, Butik Bintang and a customary night spent on my friend's couch (I've become a professional couch surfer). My time was spent catching up with old London faces, relatives and of course, eating periodically at every waking hour. Hawker food around Bangsar, Petaling Street as well as delicious sit down meals at Green View and Loong Foong. Unfortunately during our Malaysian Road Trip I had missed out on kuih which meant I obsessively spent my days searching for it around KL.

I definitely have an affinity with Malaysia. I wonder if I could live and work here for a while? In any case, I've probably put on 5 kgs in the last few days and need to get out of here ASAP! I miss the caramelised pork from Seng Kee already ...

It was all white, everything

I don't think I'll ever tire of visiting Taiwan. Another weekend trip to Taipei to celebrate a friend's Birthday at the Godskitchen 2F White event.

Excellent weekend - although a little heavy on the partying. Pleasant surprise. Met somebody this weekend who also, by coincidence will be on the same flight with me to Kuala Lumpur. So begins the start of two weeks of travel. Bliss.

"We can make fast or we can make it last" - Lupe Fiasco, All Black Everything

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I sit in an unfamiliar, well lit conference room. The air conditioning unit humming in the background on full blast. The door opens and HR drops two ledgers on the desk. "I'll give you some time to read over the contract. Then if you're happy, please sign both copies". Momentary panic, I was about to give this company the next x years of my life. It's a strange feeling when you see a monetary figure on piece of paper. This figure is what this company values you at, this is how much you are worth to them on a yearly basis. I'm Yours!

There I sit, not completely enthused to sign the contract, I wonder if this will bear any influence on my time here. Despite the hesitation I am looking forward to starting work. I sign and leave the office that will soon become very familiar. Provided I pass the UK and Australian Background checks (I have no reason not to) I am now a Hong Kong employee!

I had wasted almost half of 2011! This was undoubtedly the period I was waiting for, to travel around Asia. I have a little bit of time between now and my tentative start date of the 8th August. Work has estimated a 3 week Visa turnaround, secretly I hope it's a little longer just so I can spend more time abroad. Flights booked. See you back here in August!

Tick tock.

Who would have thought that being unemployed required full time attention. It has been a busy last few weeks. My interim time fillers of Yoga, Gym and Cantonese Lessons has been put on halt. I find it hard to catch my breath and despite not having a daily routine I find myself constantly busy. I have been helping my previous employee setup a Hong Kong client and in between part time work have been studying and attending interviews.

The weather here hasn't been so obliging. 'Amber Rain' warnings and high humidity makes wearing a suit uncomfortable and guarantees perspiration immediately leaving any air-conditioned area. That being said, I haven't been completely deprived of spare time and have finally started watching The Wire - I'll be in Baltimore if anybody needs me!

Macao or Macau?

Hanoi

This post has been sitting in the drafts folder for over a month which explains the inactivity of my Blog. It had been over 5 years since I was last in Vietnam - it was one of the more enjoyable sections of my 3 months around Asia. The details of this trip would be a little different. For one it would be significantly shorter, a weekend as opposed to an entire month. Secondly, the locale would be different. North Vietnam, Hanoi as opposed to Saigon.

Flying out on the Friday night we stayed two nights at the Hanoi Sofitel Metropole an exquisitely fashioned hotel with a French Colonial flavour. Food wise, I found Hanoi a little disappointing, especially compared to the delicacies of Saigon, Da Lat and Nha Trang. (Although, this was probably more a case of not knowing where to eat). Night life was good without being outstanding and we were overwhelmed by the multicultural representation at the local haunts: Press Club, The Red Room, Tay Ho Hotel and Phuc Tan.

Sour note, experienced dramas with (temporary) missing peoples and aggressive Taxi Drivers, other than that, an excellent trip where we managed to check out the following:

Snake Village - served King Cobra blood and meat.

Hoa Lo Prison aka The Hanoi Hilton.

Sofitel Metropole

Unfortunately missed out on the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum as well as Halong Bay - I might just have to go back!