My Visit To Penang In August 2009

Hi,

I have been in Penang to visit my parents since Tue 11 Aug 09 and will be flying back to Spore Thu 20 Aug 09.

Here is a photo of my Mum and I in her room.

I managed to get connected to the Internet through a USB modem and you can see me surfing in the kitchen.

I managed to catch up with my old friend, Yeow Guan, at his optical shop, and made a new pair of spectacles. We knew each other since primary school and went overseas to stucy in Melbourne together too.

Well, good to be back in Penang and eat the local food like Hokkien Mee, Char Koay Teow, Laksa, Apong, Koay Tewo Tng, etc......

David

Mobile Broadband in Penang, Malaysia

Hi,

I am now in Penang, visiting my parents.

As I have been making frequent trips here and wanted to stay connected through Internet, I have decided to explore the use of mobile broadband.

I managed to set it up after some research from my last trip and also follow-up with my Starhub ISP on purchasing a USB modem.

So here I am testing it by do a posting on this blog.

I only paid RM20 for 7 days of usage and it is going to end this afternoon but I can either renew it or change it to a daily usage for RM6 only.

Since I am leaving tomorrow afternoon, I will not renew it but will use the free WIFI at the airport instead to check my emails.

Well, using it for emails is definitely not a problem unless u have a large attachment then it is very slow or appeared to be hung.

Surfing the NET can be slow depending on the site; eg. I could not booked my next trip online as it was too slow and I dare not take the risk in payment.

I was able to msn but video conferencing was lagging to the extent that I cannot hear them but can see them only.

Anyway, for the price I am paying, I am happy to be able to send and receive emails and msn my family. The rest is just bonus to me.

I am using Celcom prepaid mobile broadband and I think it is the best at the moment.

In my research back in Spore, I actually bought a Starhub prepaid mobile broadband at S$99 that comes with a USB modem and S$12 value. I tried it in Spore and it worked beautifully and then I bought a Msian SIM card and inserted into the USB modem and it works too.

So if u are in a similar situation as I am, and need access to Internet for emails.... checkout this option.

I am looking forward to go home tomorrow afternoon as I have been here since last Tue.

Singapore is my home now .....

David

Durian Durian

Hi,

I do not like durian at all until one day, I was introduced to durian puff and then I was hooked....! This happened more than 10 years ago.

But until recently, I started to enjoy eating durian again...... with my dear wife.

We just found this place called Durian Cafe located near our home and we love the durians sold there.

Reasonable price and meet our expectations to-date.

We have eaten their durians 3 times now.

The last episode was when we bought 2 D24 durians for dinner recently......!

Here is a slide show of the dinner .......ha...ha.....

Even my 2 dogs like the taste too!

I scooped a bit of the durian meat on my fingers and let Jack the Beagle, licked them. He held or rather bit my fingers in his mouth and licked them. One of my fingers could really feel the bite from his front teeth...ha...ha.... I actually yelled at Jack!

Maybe I have to buy more to feed Jack and Ruby too....!

So for those who still do not like durians, you really do not know what you are missing......!

David

Happy 44th Birthday, Singapore

My family and I just watched the NDP parade on TV and said our pledge at 8:22pm.

We are indeed proud to be Singaporeans though we have family ties in countries like Malaysia and Australia.

If you want more info on NDP 2009, pls visit http://www.ndp.org.sg/

St. Patrick's 'B' Division Soccer Team - 3rd Placing

Jason's was part of the St. Patrick's 'B' Division Soccer Team that came in 3rd placing; the highest award that the school has ever achieved, apparently.

Congratulations to St. Patrick 'B' Division Soccer Team!

We are indeed proud of his participation and achievement in his CCA.

A Church Wedding

Hi,

Over the weekend, I attended a church wedding with my wife and the pastor gave a pretty interesting sermon or talk on marriage.

Here are some lessons I learned from it.

From his counselling experience, he said that Husbands like to be Respected and Wives like to be Loved.

If the spouses can do this reasonably well, their marriage will definitely last long.

So think about it!

Also, he shared with us what he thinks could be the 5 languages of love and we have to find out which ones is your spouse's languages.

1. Be of service to your spouse; eg take out the rubbish, wash the dishes.

2. Be encouraging to your spouse; eg praise her cooking.

3. Give your spouse quality time; eg go out to together once a week like dinner with a walk by the beach or a movie, talk and listen to each other.

4. Be physical with each other; eg hug, embrace or even just a pat to show you care.

5. Buy your spouse a gift and not only on special occasion.


Your spouse may be touched by either one or many of the above, so observe and show your love accordingly.



I think the key word is communication as all of them involves interacting or doing something for your spouse.

Well, find the time to ponder over it and act on it NOW!

Take care!

David

Budget Flights to Penang

Hi,

By now, I have taken 3 budget flights to Penang within a month period.

My first flight was on Air Asia and subsequent 2 flights were on JetStar.

My experience so far, the air crew ( steward and stewardess ) from JetStar are more professional compared to Air Asia crew.

The main difference is that Jetstar offers you aero-bridges at both Singapore and Penang whereas you have to climb down the stairs from the aircraft in Pg airport and then up another flight of stairs to the arrival hall.

Prices seem to be slightly cheaper for JetStar and you have a maximum limit of 10Kg of hand luggage versus 7Kg for Air Asia.

I would take JetStar flights just because of the aerobridge in Pg and the slight price difference.

Please do your own research online and not take my word for it esp on the pricing as there are promotions on and off. Also, I notice that the prices varies daily; eg it is cheaper for me to fly to Pg on Tue and Wed and return on Thu or Fri.

Otherwise, it is still much cheaper than SQ or MH flghts.

Thanks to the budget flights, I can afford to fly home more often especially now that my Mum is not feeling well.

You can also read my earlier posting on my first budget flight at http://pcwthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-first-budget-flight-to-penang.html


Happy Holidays....

David

Kampung Life in Penang

Hi,

My house in Penang is situated next to a Malay kumpung, called Kampung Bahru.

Previously, the roads are sandy and not tarred or concrete but the attap houses are getting modern and most of the residents have motor-bikes or cars. There have been progress and standard of living has improved too, I suppose.

But one of the things that remains unchanged is the roosters and hen are let loose and they like to hang near our house.

There is also a nice playground just next to our house too. When I was a kid, it was a badminton court and I played in it many times.

Well, I have left Penang for a long time and until recently, I would only stay a night or two at our own house in Penang as my family & I would take it as a short holiday too, and stay at one of the beach resorts like Holiday Inn or Golden Sands Hotel.

During my recent trip, I stayed at my own Pg house for about 6 nights to help care for my parents.

So what is kampung life in Penang?

Well, the free and roaming roasters may start to crow as early as 4am and not stop until 6am..!!!

The motorbikes and cars are still returning home as late as 12 mid-night. Similarly, adults and children may hang around the playground until late at night too!

So sad to say, I seldom sleep until mid-night and I can hardly sleep past 5am every morning...!

The crowing of the roosters was really a killer..! Sigh.......

I even recorded their crowing on my mobile to be used as alarm. Also, to let my Dad listen to it as he said he could not hear them....( he is deaf without his hearing aid, actually.... )!

But my wife and son seem to have no problem during the few times we sleep there....?

Only my Mum agreed with me as she was also woken up daily too.

I do not mind if the roosters start crowing at 6am but 4am......sigh......

Once it was as early as 3:30am..... I could not believe it..!!!

And once they only started at 7am as it was raining....?

Anyway, there is no way we can do anything as this is kampung lifestyle.

David

Penang Recent Developments

Hi,

In my recent trip to Penang, I took a few photos of Georgetown in Penang that may interest you.....

This is the new Penang Times Square; just completed and the retailers have not moved in yet. The tower blocks are for residence and we almost bought one....

I have not visited it yet but took this photo from inside a bus.

This is the interior of the Rapid air-con bus, similar to one of our SBS bus. My fare to the city is only RM1 or about S$0.45 only.

The Penangites also paid tribute the Michael Jackson in Prangin Mall atrium but I missed it.

This is a lovely street scene taken from the Prangin Mall car park, using my Sony Ericsson mobile.

So if you have not visited Penang recently, please do so as there are budget flights to Penang and the fare can be as cheap as S$60 both ways on promotion otherwise it may be about S$100-120.

So what are you waiting for...?

David

Mum in LWE Hospital

Hi,

I have to make another adhoc trip to Penang as my Mum was warded in LWE hospital after feeling discomfort in her chest.

I flew back on Thu 2 Jul and returned on the following Wed 8 Jul; about a week to help my Dad look after my Mum.

Glad that my Mum has been discharged and resting at home now.

Here is a short slideshow of her recovering at the LWE hospital.

During her stay in LWE hospital, she made a new friend. This young lady was visiting her aunt, who was placed opposite my Mum in the ward, and started to talk to my Mum as we have just left. Also, I think she noticed that my Mum was feeling very cold and went to have a look at her and she found out that the temperature has been set to 16C by mistake.

Here is a photo of Ai Nee and my Mum.

Ai Nee brought some cheer to my Mum as she was very chatty and a very interesting person as she is now married and living in Japan.

My thanks to Ai Nee.

I will be flying back to Pg on Tue 14 Jul again to accompany my Mum for her follow-up medical appointment.

David