MikeMmery

My Birthday Celebration & Updates from Hong Kong

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:31:00 +0000

Guys, been neglecting my blog for a bit. Last week practically a busy week for me.

Attended the Asia launch of LG latest Chocolate phone, BL40 at Four Seasons, Hong Kong. Met up with some Malaysian medias & also my ex-colleague, Nicole. The launch was the best LG launch that I had attended so far. It was somehow glamorous for a launch to be decorated with global celebrities like Chi-ling Lin & Nadya Hutagalung.

The press kit given was very well done with an USB drive containing the soft copy of it & product images making updating the blog easier than before.

After the launch, went out with ex-colleague for a shopping & makan around in Hong Kong, good to catch up with Malaysian friends.

Then came my birthday which is a working day for me. My day started at client's office for a meeting then at night my sis arranged a hotpot dinner for me together with some of her colleagues, thanks Sis, Aileen, Jenny, Brian & Allison! The dinner was great!

Then Jenny popped up a suggestion of going to karaoke since it was my birthday, everyone was too shocked to response to her suggestion. Jenny looks like in her 40s but she rocks! Then we decided to go down town to Mongkok Redbox, it was hell of a night thanks to the beer. Thanks people for making it something for me to remember here in Hong Kong.

And not forgetting too, the wishes which I personally thanked each & every one left on my Facebook, SMS & Twitter. So it's back to work again for me, I plan to get it done as soon as possible and if everything is on track, I will be meeting up with my friends in Thailand for a short holiday before I head back to Malaysia.

Jolly time over, back to serious business now! :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:59:00 +0000

This post is specially made to thank all wishes I received via Facebook & MSN. This is the first time I am out of Malaysia on my birthday. And it is those wishes I received kept me warm while I am at foreign soil.

Received a call from Thailand as well and it did somehow brightened up a bit of my day although I know I got to wake up 7AM later to attend a meeting with client. And thanks to a dear friend who sang me a birthday song all the way from Malaysia, my dear, believe in yourself and let's look at the happier and brighter side ya!

I am indeed really happy now... Guess I am gonna have a sweet sweet dream, and pray for me people, cross fingers that the client will give me a big YES during the meeting on my birthday!

Once again, thanks people!

Cuddling Kamasutra

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Never thought that I will miss cuddling so much, something that is free in life but I took for granted at times and now I blardy miss it! It's freaking cold here now, I wish I can be cuddling to get some body heat with my partner.

But cuddling is not always a good thing, I am trying to recall some of my experiences with some girls I got involved with. As I am a bit horizontally gifted, most of the girls I got involved with mentioned that I am so nice to cuddle but the problem is when they fell asleep soundly, I always got my arms trapped and removing it will be an unpleasant and perhaps will wake the girl up. I then end up having pins & needles on my arms the next morning.

Then I bumped into this video on youtube on how to avoid your arm being trapped while cuddling. In another words, it is the cuddling kamasutra. Sounds interesting and I wanna share it with my male readers especially so that you will know what to do when you find yourself in such situation;

I am perfect for cuddling no.4

:)

Welcoming Winter

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:19:00 +0000

Hi people!

For the first time, I can see the sign of winter approaching here in Hong Kong. Weather still as sunny over the day but as night approaches, the day ended pretty early, as early as 5PM, we can see darkness here already. And today, the wind blow is strong, I got a feeling that I will experience some typhoon alert here like the one I experienced here last year.

For friends who are coming over, do remember your wind breaker ya, pretty chilly here as the night approaches. As for myself, I am busy with my work here, doing the final mapping and design for approval, let's say once I concluded the design for the Hong Kong HQ, I will be back to Malaysia, targeting December 2009. If not I guess I will be celebrating my Christmas & New Year here.

It's November and for November boys & girls, happy birthday peeps! There are far too many to list out all here, you know who you are!

And some Malaysian friends updated me that the weather there is pretty wet now, it rains almost everyday I heard, so people be extra careful with everything. And of late, heard many back to back incident in Kampar, 6 people were drowned in less than a week. Just take precaution in whatever you do peeps. Kampar indeed is a very nice little town and I pray that there will be no further incident happening here.

A simple text updates here, not much pictures I can upload as of now. Will do a more picturesque posting later this week as I am joining 15 other medias from Malaysia for the latest LG mobile phone launching here in Hong Kong. I will be covering the event for LG Blog as well. In meantime, LG Blog has some 50 pairs tickets to the Da Vinci The Genius exhibition to be given away. Check out the blog post now! Unfortunately I am unable to attend the exclusive exhibition back home but hopefully I can get my project done here soonest possible and pay a little visit to see Da Vinci's exhibits!

Until then people, Happy Winter!

Halloween Greetings From Hong Kong

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:11:00 +0000

Hmm... Halloween somehow is a big thing here in Hong Kong, everywhere you go, be it malls or stalls by the roadside, you can see them selling pumpkins, costumes, funny accessories, etc.

Not only that, Disneyland HKG got Halloween theme, Ocean Park got theirs as well, Madame Tussauds the wax museum got some scary shits there. It's blardy happening here!

And what's my plan? Halloween on Saturday, I'm home alone & I got no costume but heck, I am gonna walk down to The Aviator as a hunter, to see if I can get lucky or not, any cutie home alone too???... hiak hiak hiak!

Happy Halloween to all of you & I do hope the guys get lucky ya! ;D

Why My Country Sucks

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:08:00 +0000

The new video circulating around tells what I really feel about my country. I will put up the video later at the end of my post. If you have not know, Namewee, who is a hero to many young people in Malaysia, made a new video to screw TNB, a GLC, a monopoly and one of its kind in its industry.

How many Malaysians have never experience electricity interruption in Malaysia? I doubt there is any. My sister had been in Hong Kong for the past 7 years, she had never experience any of it as far as she is concern. Reason: In Hong Kong, major utilities like water & electricity, do need maintenance therefore the possibility of breakdown is zero! During this few hours maintenance every month, the utility company will advice at least 2 weeks in advance and chose the period when people will be at work most of the time to do the maintenance.

So you tell me, when can Malaysia improve? Even whatever fuck political tsunami or whatsoever, it will make no difference, more than half century gone since independence, I do not foresee my country will go through another half century any better.

To my few friends who migrated and got the other country citizenship or PR status, CONGRATS!!! Hope to follow suit soon! Enjoy the video!

A Month In Hong Kong

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:51:00 +0000

It's approaching my first month here in Hong Kong (HKG). I am not totally familiar as yet but today I am going to share a bit of the place where I am currently staying, my client's office and perhaps some tips if you are visiting HKG anytime soon.

Hong Kong is split into 3 areas; New Territories, Kowloon & Hong Kong Island. The name of the place that I am staying is Tung Chung which falls under the area of New Territories. So I will not indulge further on other areas as I am not that familiar as yet. Tung Chung is the city that is the nearest to HKG International Airport.

From the airport, one can take buses numbering S1 or S56 to get to Tung Chung MTR station. The cost is HKD3.50 which is approximately RM1.30 if I were to treat the rate of Ringgit half of the HKG Dollar. Tung Chung will be the last station on the most West side of the line. The subway services here are pretty easy, not as complicated as I first thought when I saw the MTR mapping.

Most of the time when I mentioned the name of the place, many of my friends would not know where is it. Therefore for easier understanding, normally I will tell them that I am one station away from Disneyland station which Sunny Bay.

So for the past 3 weeks or so, I only had the privilege to loiter around this small airport city. It took me approximately close to 40 minutes HKD18 to get to Central Hong Kong from Tung Chung plus my client's office is in fact in the HKIA itself so I need not travel that much actually.

Tung Chung from my observation is like Mon't Kiara or Bangsar in Malaysia because I can see many expats here, and most of the airlines stewardesses, stewards & pilots will stay around this area. There is nothing much to shout about here and the main attraction here would be the Ngong Ping 360, where there is this cable car bring you up a hill to see the big Buddha & Po Lin Monastery.

And for shopping, I had earlier mentioned about Citygate Outlets where it housed all the factory and warehouse outlets here. If you would like to know more, please check it out here. There ain't much to shout on the food though, most of the time I will just dine in the neighborhood cafeteria or in Cantonese, they normally call it "Char Chan Teng", just like Wong Kok Char Chan Teng (WKCCT) in Malaysia except that the food in WKCCT is crap food, con Malaysian food. Any cafeterias here that you go put them to shame really. Average cost per set meal here would be in the region of HKD28-40. Set meal meaning one main dish and one drink.

Hong Kong is a bit similar like Singapore, the people here do not have the privilege to live in a large house or landed property. You gonna be a multi billionaire if you wanna own a landed property here. So obviously myself, I am staying in an apartment as well. Yes it is an apartment and not a condo and see for yourself the apartment here is higher grade than the condo we have in Malaysia. The name of the neighborhood that I am staying is Caribbean Coast. I do not bother to count the number of blocks but there are many blocks and each blocks are made up with 65 floors. Crazy huh?

And if you think you gotta be a billionaire to own a landed property here, then to own an apartment here you better gotta be a millionaire. I am talking bout the billions & millions in Ringgit point of view. Guess how much the apartment I am currently staying now? A mere 800sqft with the current market rate in HKG, it's about HKD2Mil, that is approximately RM1Mil. A simple calculation, it's a whopping RM1,250 per -square-blardy-feet.

And in HKG, I smoke lesser than I do back home. Over here, there is dedicated, designated area for smokers unless you wanna be fined HKD5k you can opt to smoke anywhere you like.

Hmm... the weather around this time is cloudy and it can be pretty windy at night. If you plan to come around this time, do remember your cardigan & wind-breaker.

Until then, more update soon!

ps: Damn! I forgot to remind you guys to get an Octopus Card, it is a must! Don't ask me why, you will need it!

Updates From Hong Kong

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:25:00 +0000

I had been receiving the same question again and again but I do see the logic behind this question. Being away from home for a long period, it makes sense for friends back home to ask this.

People, I am here in Hong Kong not entirely for leisure, that is for sure. Hong Kong is not a country like Thailand where you can survive with minimal spending. The pace and living standard in Hong Kong is high, it is only logical for you to earn and spend here. So i will update a bit on what I am doing, why I made this move and when all this will be over.

Thanks to my years of networking in the cyberworld, be it blogging, facebooking, twittering, etc, I was requested by a company here in Hong Kong to assist on their website revamping. This is an international company with networks across 18 cities around the world. Unfortunately, their business had grown rapidly that they ignored entirely the importance of web marketing.

So I was given a task to do a total makeover on their website and at the same time advice them on activities to run online. For the past 2 weeks, I had meetings with the owner of the business and was requested to understand fully on their business before they award me the whole project. So in a way, I am sort like a web marketing consultant if you need to give a position to it.

In terms of knowledge on internet, I would say Malaysians are doing better than the people here in Hong Kong. The people here are more practical and more revenue centric kind of thinking and to invest a substantial money onto web, I need to have a certain level of convincing power towards my client. The few days I had checked in their office and I was given a work desk by them. Though in terms of knowledge we Malaysians have the human resource in this area but unfortunately in Malaysia we are enjoying crap internet connection. The infrastructure here is amazing, in terms of bandwidth that makes surfing a pleasure here not to mention downloading & uploading files.

Client's office is in the Hong Kong International Airport (I will talk about in depth of their businesses in another day). I was given a chance to tour the whole airport both Terminal 1 & 2 and Arrival Hall. This airport is massively huge and a lot of walking around, a simple tour can last about 3 hours per session. I had done 3 tours so far and now is in the final stage of getting all the collective data and findings for my analysis to client.

I am supported by designers in Malaysia and dear if you are reading this, thanks for the great support, we can do great things together and my apology for pushing and giving you info on the very last minute each and every time. As for me, I will be doing the copy writing for them. So I am sort like a medium to coordinate and communicate client's needs and requirements to my designers.

In terms of my own revenue, I would say the amount is not what many would assume it is, in short, OK lah, if not I wouldn't have travel so far for this. That amount was pretty similar to what I made during my employment days in XX company.

Then why do I make this move? Firstly, it is the exposure. Not many would have a chance to work and experience how is it like working in Hong Kong. I had a chance to join the sales & marketing meeting recently and I got to say it is totally a fresh experience for me even though I had been working with Koreans for about 8 years. Secondly, this short project of mine if successfully implemented will do good for my resume definitely. And really, it does make an impact. People with overseas experiences most of the time will have its plus points compare to those with local experiences.

So friends out there, you guys know what I had been doing. And of course, during these period here, I do try my best to meet up friends who make their visit here in Hong Kong. With AirAsia, more and more Malaysians will frequent Hong Kong. Next week will be meeting ex-colleagues who will be here for a launching and I will be attending it. The week after, another 3 female friends will be coming for a shopping trip and the following week 2 other friends are coming. So I manage to squeeze my time to juggle between work and leisure here.

My mom and my youngest brother had just gone home today. So it's home alone most of the time for me here and yes I do miss friends back home. I do not miss Malaysia to be frank but I miss my friends who are able to listen to me, to cheer me up when I need to, I miss them a lot! And I do hope I can conclude my project here and meet up with them for a short time in December, fingers crossed! Brothers, pray for me ya!

And for the next year's plan, I will share when the time is right. At the moment, I just want to focus on this project and I cannot afford to flop at this point of time. Ending this long winded post with a photo taken in Elements in Kowloon.

Until then, work aside, I will update more about my life here soon! Love you!

Officially Missing You

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:27:00 +0000

A song I heard last night totally blew me off. Each and every time I listen to some beautiful songs, somehow I tend to relate to my life experiences. This song that I will be putting up later is quite an old song but it only touches me when it was covered by this twin. I had a good look at all their videos and magically only this particular song I felt a connection to the melody & the lyrics. I got it stuck as my favorite number on my iPod now.

I am officially missing somebody, not mentioning names, someone who once had an important place in my heart, someone who is currently 2,511.41 KM away from me. Enjoy the song and the lyric, let's sing along together :)

Officially Missing You (Cover Version) - Janice & Sonia
O.A. Tamia

[Verse One]
All I hear is raindrops
Falling on the rooftop
Oh baby tell me why’d you have to go
Cause this pain I feel
It wont go away
And today I’m officially missing you
I thought that from this heartache
I could escape
But I fronted long enough to know
There ain’t no way
And today
I’m officially missing you

[Chorus]
Oh can’t nobody do it like you
Said every little thing you do
Hey baby say it stays on my mind
And I, I’m officially

[Verse Two]
All I do is lay around
Two ears full of tears
From looking at your face on the wall
Just a week ago you were my baby
Now I don’t even know you at all
I don’t know you at all
Well I wish that you would call me right now
So that I could get through to you somehow
But I guess it’s safe to say baby safe to say
That I’m officially missing you

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Well I thought I could just get over you baby
But I see that’s something I just can’t do
From the way you would hold me
To the sweet things you told me
I just can’t find a way
To let go of you

[Chorus]

Yeah yes
All I hear is raindrops
And I’m officially missing you

What's Left Back Home in Malaysia?

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:08:00 +0000

This is the first time I am away from my home country for a long time. To be frank, I felt a bit alienated and trying my very best to cope with the life here in Hong Kong. It is not easy when you had been in a country for more than 2 decades, building your very own comfort zone, meeting friends, hanging out, mamak-ing, the food and suddenly you find yourself in a foreign country minus all these good o' times.

The first few days were a torture especially finding a good place for food at reasonable price and missing those fun with friends back home but I try to minimize those thoughts, focusing and observing the new culture that I need to blend into.

Somehow I really felt sorry for the state of my home country, Malaysia. Over here in Hong Kong, people are so occupied of what they are doing and the locals are really professional about their daily tasks, be it the cleaner, the waiter, cashier or the hard labors. Everybody is fighting for survival, the more hardworking you are, the more rewarding it is. Indonesians & Philippinos are mainly seen as domestic maid here and the local Chinese seems to me to be able to find a living here.

Now back in my home country, being a Chinese, we tend to be picky with our jobs, simply because we are being paid crap salary. We import labors, and these labors subsequently shoot the crime in our country up. We have crap politicians trying to compare us to Vietnam & Cambodia.

And reading news about home, how in Malaysia the Chinese community can fight for its right when the component party that represents the Chinese in Malaysia is being operated by jokers? And yes, I am talking about MCA. Our friend went berserk and sack yet another fella from his team because that fella is no longer seen as an ally (as many said). I do not blame OTK. Yes, he is seen to be a hero revealing the famous PKFZ scandals, but in Malaysia, you cannot work as a lone ranger. The PKFZ thing once revealed, it will nail a lot of those top people who walk the corridor of power. I do not think OTK can survive this fire fighting internally & externally.

Sigh... what happened man? I just a normal Malaysian who wants to see Malaysia like any other developed countries, is it too much to ask for? Can those who walk the corridor of power share their wealth with the people? And damn why my dad is not a politician? If he is, I probably would have better chance to survive and get financial assistance from any banks.

And stop talking bad about Pakatan Rakyat on how PAS, DAP & KeAdilan are having crisis. Fuck! At least those fellas dare to voice themselves up to condemn each other. MCA & MIC, you are seen to be OK with your partners because you watch too much of Jim Carrey's "YES MAN".

Just too much of bad publicity about Malaysia lately. Can't help myself but to rant aimlessly a bit.

Felt better now... Today, I had a chance to work closely with my client in Hong Kong, it had been a good experience for me to be called to join their internal sales & marketing meeting today. Long day but I learned a lot. I am taking a day break off work tomorrow, meeting Malaysian friends here.

I promised no more on "no solution" political issue in my blog, will post more on my Hong Kong life here & pray for me dude, I responded to an interest on getting me a full-time employment in Thailand. Hopefully they can work out a reasonably good remuneration package for me, ciaoz for now :)

Ending the post with a life's good pose taken in Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong :p

Final Day in Northern Thailand

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:27:00 +0000

What a lovely weather now in Hong Kong. A beautiful Saturday and before continuing on my life here in Hong Kong, I wanna finish up the posting on my recent trip to Northern Thailand. For easier track back, please check out here, here & here.

In brief, Northern Thailand population is mainly made of hill tribes people from Burma who came to Thailand to seek asylum during the civil war there. The Thai government recognized these people as the 2nd class citizen of Thailand which means they will not have the privilege like other Thai citizen to enjoy government subsidized benefits, for example education, etc.

Northern Thailand or the Golden Triangle was once best known for its notorious drugs production & dealing. In the past, those hill tribes who seek asylum in Thailand would grow poppy plants to make a living.

All this however change thanks to the royal presence when the late Princess Mother built the Doi Tung Villa. Thai has very strong passion on its monarchy, that is why it is very important for tourists and foreigners to know this point because unnecessary and unpleasant remarks about the monarchy will land them in hot soup. To stress again, never ever poke fun on Thai's monarchy, the King & the monk.

Ok now on the Doi Tung Villa, a summer palace on the slopes of Doi Tung near Pa Kluay Reservoir, which is now open to the public as a museum. The royal initiative also educated on new agricultural methods to stop slash and burn practices. Opium has now been replaced by crops such as, coffee, teak and various fruits. Thus the life of these hill tribes changed so whenever I asked them about the late Princess Mother, they will passionately described her in many good ways. The rest of the property, including the Mae Fah Luang Garden and Mae Fah Luang Arboretum, is also open to the public. Please note that no photograph is allowed inside the Doi Tung Royal Villa.

At the peak of Doi Tung, 1800m above sea level, Wat Phra That Doi Tung is built around the twin Lanna-style chedi. The chedi were renovated by famous Chiang Mai monk Khruba Siwichai early in the 20th century. What was captivating here to me, the two rows of temple bells, pilgrims bang on the usual row of temple bells to gain merit.

All in all, my this trip there had opened up my eyes in a lot of ways; Thai's culture, its way of living, its food and the home-stay in village had been a great experience for a city boy like me. God willing, I will love to visit it again during the Songkran festival. For those who are seeking advice on this area, do email me, I will try to assist as much as I can :)

As for me now, its my first week here in Hong Kong, the first few days always been exciting when you bump into a new place & new environment, but as time passes, I start to miss friends back home. In Hong Kong, long stay here is not easy, the moment you step out of your house, you start to burn a hole in your pocket so can guess that I most probably home most of the time, or perhaps just go around the neighborhood for a walk. I am currently home alone for a few days here. I am invited for a post mid-autumn celebration party tonight @ the Hong Kong International Airport World Trade Center, was there last night and the view was amazing, will try to snap more pictures & upload it to my Facebook.

Oh ya, not forgetting too, taking this opportunity to wish all my Hindu friends & readers a very happy Diwali, I am so gonna miss the food! Ciao!

Day 4 - Northern Thailand

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Continuing from Day 3, quite drunk the night before, woke up about 10AM on Day 4. Washed up, cleaned up, my host brought me to this famous stall that sells "Som Tam" (the popular Thai Salad). We packed quite a bit of this and went again to Pip Uun house again. The day started with brunch, on top of the Som Tam that we bought, there were beef soup, Bah Kut Teh and some real spicy chicken. And again, we drank beer. We finished about 6 bottles of large Leo beer, then Pip Uun planned to bring me to a local waterfall, my wrong for not taking the name down, but the whole journey been something new to me.

In Thai, we can see a lot of pick-ups, so I had the chance to ride on one. 7 of us in a pick-up, along the way we drank and drank and drank. Beer is cheap like I mentioned in my few posts earlier. Reaching there about 3PM, we hang around, we brought food and beer, so it was sort of a picnic for me, I cannot even recall the last time I had picnic, perhaps it was back when I am still in my primary school days. It was fun!

On our journey back at about 6PM, we stopped at a hot-spring, bought eggs meant to be boiled in the hot spring, enjoy the landscape with beer, and I had never drink so much of beer in my life. My friends in Malaysia knowing me, recognize that I am not a beer-man but somehow in Thai, the beer tastes better, most of the beer I drank was quite mild and smooth.

Then came dinner time, we went to my host cousin's place, the guys cooked for us, we had great food and by now we probably had our 3rd dozens of beers. After the dinner, I took my last picture which was the image of the moon but the night was not over as yet. We changed and the plan was to bring me to a local disco.

We went to the one & only BM Disco in Maesai, nothing much to shout about, it is about the same kind of disco we can find in Hatyai or Chiang Mai, DJ dance numbers interval with performances.

It was one great night! We reached home about 3AM that night, fun!

OK, now day 5 coming up!

Before signing off, would like to share this masterpiece song with you all, you need to understand Mandarin & Hokkien to catch the creativeness of the song. Enjoy!

Day 3 - Northern Thailand

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:55:00 +0000

So back to my travelogue, day 3 in Northern Thailand.

During my stay in Thailand, I am having a rather healthy body clock. Slept around 11PM and woke up 8ish every day. Unlike my days in Malaysia & Hong Kong. I can't sleep last night until 4AM, crazy. That is the problem when you live in big city where the city never sleeps, filled with entertainments.

OK, let's not sway away from the main agenda here. On day 3, woke up at my usual 8ish. Showered and my host decided to bring me to the "Assistant Head of Village" house. In other words if the head of village is President, then this guy would be the VP. Before that, we went for the Thai laksa again as breakfast, then on her motorbike we traveled to our destination.

Arriving at the house, there were many people there already. The guys would be busy making man-made fireworks while the ladies will do preparation for the prayers in celebration of mid-autumn.

Knowing that I am a no-help to them, I just kaypoh kaypoh look see look see only, ample of food and beer throughout. This continues until about 4PM. Then head back home for a shower and quick rest anticipating for the big night.

Waking up, my host already prepared home-cooked stuff for me. While I am doing my dinner, she was busy decorating the exterior of the house with lanterns, it had been a long long time since I seen lanterns hanging around the house - very warm feeling :)

After dinner, dressed up a bit, we proceeded to the temple. I did not take much pictures there as its weird because it seems that I am the only one snapping pictures. Most of the pictures taken was along my journey to the temple. There was a stage where performances will be held. Girls in their traditional costumes from different tribes performed. My host told me some even sing Burmese songs as most of the people in Northern Thailand are Burmese immigrants escaped to Thailand during the tribe-wars in Burma many years ago. Fireworks & chanting can be heard. Many people also bought the big big lantern, where you make a wish, stick it on the lantern and let it rise to the air (this can be seen in Malaysia as well) but I have never seen so many lanterns being released at a go, the sighting was simply amazing but too bad I was too captivated that I did not take a shot of it. As the crowd grew larger, we decided to leave the place as some kids were tagging along with us.

As we were walking along the stretch to the temple, people are enjoying singing, dancing & boozing regardless of age, size, gender or race (it looked a bit like San Pedro celebration in Melaka). I even danced with aunties and strangers, they will buy you beer even if they do not know you, it was really a warm feeling. There is also a corner where girls with fair complexion will dressed up in traditional costumes, they do allow you to dance with them but with a small fee of 10 Baht. Nice! Imagine the Malaysian girls charging RM1 for a dance in the club, it will never happen, Malaysian girls at times act too high class (majority but not all) :P

We ended the night boozing till wee hours at the VP house. He was really happy as this is the first time a man like me from foreign country goes to his house and celebrate with him. Thanks Pip Uun!

To be continue - Day 4.

ps: I spotted a brand new factory outlet at the mall near the place I am staying in Hong Kong, check it out here.

Greetings From Hong Kong

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:10:00 +0000

Arrived here this morning. Weather been favorable, cloudy & windy but a little bit too dry to my preference. Caught a flu and bleeding from the nose, it gonna take a bit for me to adjust to the weather here.

Got my prepaid SIM and my HKG number, I already updated my Facebook profile, you guys can get my number there.

No intense update today as my flu kills off my mood to blog, gotta take a good rest as I am heading Wan Chai Exhibition tomorrow to catch up with some Malaysian friends.

Adios for now! Hope to get well and enjoy my days in HKG ;)

Day 2 - Northen Thailand

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:53:00 +0000

Continuing from my earlier 2 post, this trip to Doi Tung had been an eye opener for me in a lot of ways.

On the 2nd October 2009, I reached the Doi Tung point at around 8PM where my host came & picked me up to her house. The place that I stayed is very comfortable, cooling & peaceful. Dinner was prepared and since it had been a long long traveling day for me, I opted for a good rest instead of going anywhere.

Next morning, woke up at around 9AM, went to my host's sister house. Had my breakfast which is similar to our Malaysian laksa, just that it is spicier served with minced pork & pig's blood cubes. It is really yummy!

Then we went visiting around the village, I am really touch with the warm reception of these villagers. Each & every house we went, there were food & drinks. It is like a whole day long feasting session. And not to mention plenty of beers. Beers are dirt cheap. A dozen of big bottles of "Leo" beers cost me about 500baht.

Practically my second day, I eat, eat & eat... drink, drink & drink... in short, I am drunk.

My 3rd day in Doi Tung, this is somehow the most important day for the people here. Then only I realized that they actually considered mid-autumn as their new year celebration. There are plenty of new years in this part of Thailand actually. In October they celebrated the mid-autumn in a big way, then in November, they celebrate "Loy Kae Thong" which to welcome the winter, then the Thai too celebrate the common new year celebrated worldwide on every 31st December and somewhere in April they will celebrate Songkran.

I shall continue the 3rd day on a separate day, gotta take an early rest because I am heading to Hong Kong early tomorrow, my flight will be 7AM.

While I am away, the best medium to keep touch with me

songm@hotmail.com (Facebook & MSN)
mikemmery (Twitter & Skype)

Do add me ya!

Here I Am

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:12:00 +0000

I am supposed to update on my mid-autumn celebration in nothern Thailand. However, I am browsing & surfing aimlessly. There seems like a blockage on my mind, the laziness to touch up the photos got over me.

I will be leaving in about 2 days time, all of a sudden I am missing that someone dearly and reading one of the latest post of my dear friend on how a song had touched her, somehow I also touched by this particular song as well at the same time. It sounded beautiful and it is indeed a great song, I miss you!

Here I Am - Air Supply

Here I am playing with those memories again
Just when I thought time has set me free
Those thoughts of you keep taunting you

Holding you
A feeling I never outgrew
Though each & every part of me has tried
Only you can fill that space inside
So there's no sense pretending
My heart is not mending

Just when I thought I was over you
Just when I thought I could stand on my own
Oh baby, those memories come crashing through
And I just can't go on without you

On my own
I try to make the best of it alone
I'd done everything I can to ease the pain
But only you can stop the rain
I just can't live without you
I miss everything about you

Just when I thought I was over you
Just when I thought I could stand on my own
Oh baby, those memories come crashing through
And I just can't go on without
Go on without
It's just no good without you...

Backpacking Travelogy to Northern Thailand

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:50:00 +0000

I had just got back from my trip to the few part of northern Thailand. Will try to share my experience with those interested to visit the place. In fact, it was my second trip there. The very first time was part of the incentive trip with some dealers. Back then, it was pure tour guided trip and visited some major tourist attractions.

This time around, I am doing a backpacking. My destination is actually Doi Tung under the Mae Fah Luang province, about 20km from Mae Sai. The most ideal way to get to the place is of course flying to Chiang Rai which means you either fly direct to Bangkok from KL before taking domestic flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai.

However, due to budget constraint, I took the direct flight from KL to Chiang Mai instead. Thanks to AirAsia, my one-way ticket to Chiang Mai was about RM150. Getting to LCCT had always been a headache but thanks to the new service by the KLIA transit, I took the option of traveling with KLIA transit train from KL Sentral to Salak Tinggi then commute the free bus ride to LCCT, all in total only cost me about RM12.50 per trip.

Reached Chiang Mai @ noon, 1PM to be exact. From the international airport, I opted for a taxi ride to the Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Station. The fixed rate for my ride to the bus station cost me only about 150Baht. Upon reaching the Arcade Bus Station, I felt like a total stranger as it was crowded only with local, many gave a strange stare but very fortunately I manage to find someone who can speak an "OK" English. She guided me to counter No. 5, I bought the ticket for Chiang Mai en route to Maesai. The ticket cost me 212Baht. To make it easier for me, the ticket teller remarked on my ticket that I will stop at a place called Doi Tung. Since my bus will only be taking off at 3PM, I managed to bump into an internet cafe that serves some really bad food. After that particular session with the cyberworld, I am totally lost touch with it for about a week and I realized I am ok to be apart from Internet actually :)

The bus trip is good though long. It took me 3 hours to reach Doi Tung. Upon reaching there, it was already about 8PM. My host came and pick me up.

I will share more about the rest of my trip tomorrow :)

Stay tune!

PS: Today I also want to wish my very special brother a very happy birthday! Hey Ah Rim, Happy Birthday to you ya!

Blogging From Thailand

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:38:00 +0000

Howdy peeps?

My current city now is Chiang Mai, Thailand. Quick update if you don't mind. I am not able to upload any photos as now because I am currently at some restaurant that provides internet service.

I won't be in Chiang Mai for long. Currently I am surfing while waiting for my bus to Chiang Rai, another 3-4 hours of ride. It's been a long day today since 6AM. Thanks to Roy Lim who fetched me all the way to KL Sentral.

From KL Sentral, I took the KLIA transit to Salak Tinggi before commuting via bus to LCCT. I would say the package is worth of it. The whole journey took me slightly less than an hour. Reached LCCT about 8ish. The flight was @ 1020hrs and reached Chiang Mai @ 1230hrs local time.

So, I guess I will be off from the blogosphere and internet world for at least a week because the internet facilities in Thailand are pretty poor.

So I would like to take this opportunity to wish every readers of mine a very happy Mid-Autumn day tomorrow ya! Enjoy the mooncakes, light up more tang-lungs.

And not forgetting too, let's pray for the victims of the earthquake that we Malaysian felt a couple of days ago. The death toll had since increase to an estimated 1,100 deaths. My prayers to them.

Gonna miss you all.

Hugs & Kisses!!!

Earthquake & Tsunami Warning

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:59:00 +0000

UPDATES: A regional tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre immediately after the quake but the alert was cancelled at 7.31pm.

Most of us here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia felt the tremors! I was in a building and everything in the office was shaking!

My first time experience and to be frank it's pretty scary. Until now I still having weird feelings on my legs. Whoever thought this kinda thing will happen in Malaysia?

Upon checking the web, it's confirmed that there was an earthquake of 7.9 magnitud in Southern Sumatra, Indonesia. Freaking 500km away from us and we felt it! And now there is a regional tsunami warning issued out. More details here. So friends in Georgetown & Port Dickson, avoid the beach ya!

And the scene at KL Monorail @ Chulan station.

Everyone is talking about it now... but there is absolutely no education on this... from what I know, for survival - don't panic, get any filled water bottle and hide under the table.

Phew...

Back To School Days

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:37:00 +0000

I felt like I am back to school days. You know those school days when the school will invite your parents to school after the mid-term examination to collect report cards.

Somebody read my blog and called my dad to complain that, "hey your son is writing this this this, la la la", yes it did pissed me a little as my parents called me up to remind me as a 30 years old man to avoid writing about it but I am too weak to feel angry as I had been sick since last Saturday.

Straining my relationship with my family will only come to one conclusion - you making things worst than ever! I will not want to mention names here, but as saying, "Siapa makan cili, dia terasa pedas!"

I mentioned one post earlier, I meant happiness now, I want all well ends well, no threat, no forcing. You can't force me to see someone that I do not want to see right?

And for the people that felt offended reading my post, there is a red X button on the top right of the screen if you are Windows user, and if you are MAC user, there's always one on the top left corner. Nobody ask anybody to read this blog. If I am writing nonsensical stuff, you can choose not to read it, go and read more interesting stuff, now get out of here lamers!

Ok, ciao outside and medicine time now!

The Plan

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:25:00 +0000

Well, I am unwell for the past 2 days ever since I am back from Genting to cover an LG event up there. Really hope for a speedy recovery as I am flying to Thailand this Friday for a week, then back here to Malaysia for few more days before flying off to Hong Kong (HKG) to spend my remaining days & months of 2009 there.

This will also be the very first time that I am out of the country for a long time and to be frank I am really anticipated about it. What I will miss most of course my family & friends here and not to mention the food here.

And to my brothers - Rim & Chong, don't worry I will be back!

What prompted me to do such decision to leave? Am I not worried leaving a stable job in LG and venturing into something that I am totally green about it? Yes, I am especially seeing my bank account decreasing day by day. But at 30, I looked at what I had achieved in LG, I told myself I had enough, I rather stay happy & healthy than to seek & fight for something that I do not foresee that I can achieve there. Happiness play a key role to my decision, and last I heard my junior who I had been working with close to 2 years leaving too! So to the public reading my blog, I should not talk much bout my ex-company, it does not require a genius to understand the culture and work-like there. Brother Jeremy, I wish you the best in your undertakings, been a pleasure to work with you.

So what's my plan next? Travel only? Nah... I am taking up a job of website revamping in HKG, submitted my quotation, been shortlisted and will still need to do my presentation to client and hopefully can beat the rest of competitors mainly from HKG. Should the project be awarded to me, I will be there to coordinate the implementation up to the execution stage.

Since it is the last quarter of 2009, HKG allows Malaysians to stay up to 90 days, meaning I can at the same time celebrate my X'mas & New Year there, an opportunity that I do not want to miss. I will also be meeting up friends in HKG & Macao (Josie & Sexy, see you people soon!). Plus, will have few friends visiting HKG during my stay there, Deric & Alan, see you guys there!

And this period will also be the best time for me to be a bit slimmer. I somehow lost weight each & every time I travel, the place I am staying in HKG will have all the facilities like gymnasium, swimming pool & jogging track. Must be disciplined enough to look better myself!

For those who want to contact me, sorry peeps, I will be suspending my maxis line before flying off but rest assured I will share with you guys my HKG number on facebook ya! And for friends who want me to help them buy stuff in HKG, email me and visit my other blog @ Shop With Mike, I will try my very best to get it for you all ya!

And cross fingers, hopefully I can spare time to visit China, got my China visa standby as well.

I shall be back in February 2010 just in time for Chinese New Year here. And what's the plan ahead? I am seeking a full-time employment job or perhaps a joint-venture in Bangkok, Thailand. Why Thailand you may ask? Well, it's complicated and remember earlier in my post I mentioned, happiness is the key.

Till then people, more updates on my travelogue!

On Blogging & Friends

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:19:00 +0000

I had recently received 2 special notes from 2 different friends on how I had inspired them to start their own blog. I am grateful for those comments and to be frank I have never thought that I had made such impact on blogging especially among my friends.

Come to think about it, I am now entering my 5th year of blogging and it had been the better platform for me to express myself better. And through blogging, I had made many new friends, be it readers or people I met during some gathering. The name MikeMmery had been a part of me, people who know me through here would recognize me by that name although going back my 600 over postings here, the name itself had a significant meaning to me, but I had since moved on.

Introducing The PurpleV Heart authored by Cynthia Chen. In fact, the chemistry I had with her is mainly through the cyberworld, despite that, she got to know me better through my blog and had been at times a very very loyal listener to me on my very personal stuff. Thanks for the nice words you dropped on facebook and I am glad that you started your own blog as that will draw me closer to your world. And babe, I MISS YOU!!!

And yesterday a very dear ex-colleague of mine, Ms. Seow, had started her own blog as well, check out Blog with miee. And Ms. Seow, thanks for giving me the chance to be part of LG Life's Good Blog family! Thanks for listening to my suggestions and put LG Electronics as the first electronics company in Malaysia to start its own blog, it's a feat that I am very very proud of! And keep the blogging spirit alive ya!

Time to go, till then... c u peeps soon!

Gary Cao vs Justin Lo (Real Footage)

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:41:00 +0000

Malaysia BOLEH!!!

This happened last night when Gary 曹格(Malaysian singer) whacked Justin 侧田. This is one hot news. Check out the video below;

Chinese Guy Loves Boobies

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:29:00 +0000

Some may feel offended by him, some call him racist but like it or not... he made his money with his videos and made millions laugh with his offensive videos.

With his cool sunglasses and crazy Chinese accent, I find Peter Chao is more hilarious than offensive--and that's why he's taken the YouTube vlogosphere by storm. Find out why he's featured in today's Who's Who on YouTube.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

I particularly like his "Chinese Guy Loves Boobies", it's very frank and yes which guy doesn't like boobies? Enjoy the video & chao outside mothaf**ker!

Serena Williams, Kanye West & Emmanuel Adebayor - September Jackasses

songm@hotmail.com (MikeM) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:31:00 +0000

So what the above 3 celebrities have in common? I officially award them the September Jackass Awards. They better go for anger management therapy with Dr. Buddy Rydell.

See for yourself, then you tell me if they are jackasses or not.

Adebayor Malicious Stamp On Van Persie

Serena Williams sayings "I swear to God [bleep], I'm taking this ball and I'm shoving it your [bleep]"

As for Kanye West, the video was somehow disabled by YouTube due to copyright issue. He's such an ass, how can he did that to Taylor Swift?

Talking bout anger management.... Froossswaba!