Penang ~ 21 to 25 Nov 2011

Berjaya Penang Hotel

Accessible from Airport by bus 102

3 nights stay - 21 to 24 Nov 11

Walking distance to Gurney Plaza and the Gurney Food Market

Next to Midland Plaza with a KFC that opens from 10:30am

Strange smell within the room, next to a dilapidated office building.

Wireless access at RM5 per hour. Hotel service is average.

Hero 336 Fountain Pen - Part 2

After pumping Montblanc black ink into the reservoir of Hero 336 pen, I began testing the quality of the pen. Being a China made pen, of course, I wrote some chinese caligraphy. Do note that the nib is fine in thickness, which I think is appropriately sized for chinese characters. It turns out that I am pleasantly pleased with Hero 336 writing in chinese words. The fine nib means that the outflow of ink is highly controlled, this enables the curves and stoppages which are of high importance in chinese caligraphy to be nicely manupulated fully by its nib. Of course being a pen of this price, the smoothness is definetly not present. In fact, it is hard to write. But the deficiency is overcome by the nib capability to control outflow of ink. The medium size nib of Montblanc 146 does allows more ink to be delivered, thus making writing chinese caligraphy slightly difficult. The writing is done in a single piece of paper, thus the paper factor is constant. However, this paper quality is of highly absorbent type.

Waterman Expert II Dune Red

This is a made in France pen bought at Mustafa. Reason why I bought it is due to the deep red body colour combined with black and gold. It has a nice polished body. The nib is medium size. For writing, it is not as smooth as the Montblanc 146 but for the price of the pen, the smoothness is deem reasonable. The length is similar to the 146 and instead of a turn capping mechanism, Waterman chooses to use a push and click closing. The pen uses a converter method of extracting ink. The pen uses Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue ink. It is lighter than my liking. Perhaps I should choose a darker blue ink. But Pelikan 4001 ink is really value for money.

Hero 336 Fountain Pen

Hero 366 Fountain Pen. Made in China with iridium nib. Cost only SGD1.20. Bought at Mustafa. Gold cap with red body. Nib is available only in fine thickness. Gold cap is surely going to be faded in time. Mustafa offered an buy 10 get 1 free incentive. Has a manual pump feed that draws ink to a plastic reservoir. Very light in weight. The carving on the cap shows "MADE IN CHINA" and "Hero (in Chinese) "336"". I have not loaded in the ink.

Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 vs Parker Sonnet

Montblanc Meisterstuck Fountain Pen 146

Lighter than what I had expected. The gold plating on its cap is lighter than Parker Sonnet. But the polish on the body is more shiny than Parker. The gold nib is of M size with the number 4810 carved (understand it is the height of Mont Blanc). The ink pump works by turning the rear of the pen in clockwise motion. It is 6 times more expensive than the Parker. Bought at Bee Kar at People's Park Complex with full warranty of 2 years. It has strong rooted history and Montblanc is the "Rolex" of pen. Depreciated it will be.

Parker Sonnett GT Roller Ball

Matt black. The deep coloured gold is in strong contrast with the black body. Heavier and shorter than MB. Does not need to turn to pull the cap. The closing sound of the cap is nice. Bought it at Popular Bookstore. Overall value for money. Parker has a strong history but the prices can range from a few dollars to hundreds. It makes consumer difficult to associate it with a prestige product. I have owned Parker since High School/College days as it is always easy on the price.

2 of them are good pens, but for working, I have my reliable Pilot V5. Nothing to shout about but always a good workhorse.

Tree Top at Macritchie

15 Oct 11 (Sat) - Park my car at Venus Drive. Weather was good. Underestimated the terrain of the walk to Tree Top. To and fro distance from Venus Drive and Tree Top is estimated to be between 6 to 7km. Good way to loose fat. The last 100m towards and after the tree top requires climbing slope. Good thing I had exercised weeks before this visit. Time taken is about 2hrs and 15 mins on fast pace walking. There was a ranger station with toilet facilities just before the last stretch. The last stretch was a 1 way direction trial. Overall, it is a good walking experience if you like the tranquility of the forest and would want to touch the leaves on top of a tree, which I did.

Kuantan City

Many cities were developed around the coast or near river banks. For Kuantan, the early chinese immigrants had settled near river banks and possibly conducted trades from there. The photograph shows a building dated 1929, located at Jalan Mahkota, Kuantan. Makes me wonder why nowadays, why building does not indicate the date of completion as part of its facade. Is this due to a shorter lifespan of buildings?

Kuantan ~ St. Thomas Church

It was a simple church, probably with long and rich history. The bench was still made from timber and very well weathered. The philosophy of simple religious life hold strongly in this church. There was prominent statute of Mary facing the road.

Kuantan ~ Berjaya Mega Mall

The mall was probably the biggest in town, though many shops were close. Shops include Parkson, Giant, Popular bookstore, MacDonald, KFC, some Japanese sushi restaurants, Kenny Rogers Roasters and many small shops selling video, games, clothes, shoes etc....

It was located next to MS Garden Hotel. After settling my gifts and lunch, I walked from Berjaya Mega Mall to Shahzhan Inn and passed by St Thomas (Roman Catholic) Church. I have asked direction from a Cantonese speaking petrol pump attendant. Generally, I found that local Chinese are quite helpful.

DOW JONES

The Dow Jones finally went back up to 10,015.86 on 14 Oct 09. We are out of the Recession Woods! Hoo Hooo...

Kuantan ~ Restoran Chilli

I had a high time finding a chinese restaurant. Fortunately, there were several chinese shops that remained open. Among them was a shop selling drinks and snacks. I bought a can of drink and casually asked the old lady for direction for a chinese restaurant. She had recommended a Restoran (malay for restaurant) Chilli that was opened around noon and from evening.

The restaurant was not difficult to find from the direction given. It was air-conditioned and I proceeded to ask for good food to be recommended by the lady owner. Her reply was every dish in her restaurant was good as she had been around for 12 years. I ordered rice with beef & ginger and a cup of chinese tea that cost me RM6. A cheap and good restaurant comparing to RM42 spent the day earlier and RM9.50 for MacDonald quarter pounder meal for lunch. It was also halal certified, so there was no pork. There was malay family breaking fast and had their dinner. Something which I think make business sense given the population ratio.

Throughout the evening, I was worried about getting taxi for the next day given that the town was having festival mood and there wasn't many taxi seen around the hotel which I stayed. If I had stayed near Berjaya Megal Mall (eg MS Garden Hotel), there would be better chance. Couple with the fact that I could not speak proper Malayu would mean that I would be a lamp to be slaughtered if I tried to ask from the hotel. I casaully asked Aunty Chilli whether it was difficult to find a taxi on Hari Raya Puasa, she said yes. I proceeded to ask her to help, she replied that she had a frined (a boyfriend of her employee) who was a taxi driver. She called and using her fluent Malayu, she tried to ask whether I could book a taxi for the whole morning. Unfortunately, he was relutant as many Malay would need to visit the mosque in the morning. But he was willing to give a lift for RM30 to the airport from the hotel. I immediately agreed as I did not wish to miss my flight back Singapore and stayed another night. For travellers who are in trouble, you could always buy a simple lunch or dinner from her restoran and seek her help. She was conversant in mandarin, cantonese, malay and possibly English (never tried). She was always willing to help, but give her some time to settle her busy orders from customer.

Restoran Chilli is located on Jalan Besar, Kuantan City (Approx GPS location is Latitude 3.807021, Longitude 103.329388).

Kuantan ~ Astronomy

Canon 14mm / f4.5 / ISO 1600 / 30 sec exposure

I was finally able to get a clear sky at night on Swiss Garden Resort & Spa. I did not however, bring a tripod for the trip and had to make good with whatever was available. Fortunately, I was able to find a mini football goal post and used that as my temporary support for camera. Camera noise was substantial due to the high ISO.

Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque Part II B&W

Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque, Kuantan

Night View - ISO 400 / f5 / Exposure 1/3 seconds / 50 mm f1.8

Day View - Canon 50mm f1.8

Spectacular View of Kuantan City

View of Government Office

Dawn on Hari Raya - Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque (The row of white tents were festive stores). The field was wet because of rain fall on previous night.

Kuantan River

Another View of Kuantan River

Tremor

For the first time in Singapore, I felt a tremor. I was sitting in my office in Punggol when I sensed a bit of left-right shift. A bit of giddiness was also felt. I started looking at the time on my computer, it was 6:19 pm. While many reports were filed on tremors, this is the first time I can feel it. I suppose it must be a hugh earthquake in Indonesia.

Shahzan Inn Room

A view of the standard room ......

and the toilet (without long bath).

and the yellow pillow.

Shahzan Inn Kuantan

Shahzhan Inn was probably a 2-3 star hotel. It was probably built in 70s or 80s as the furnishing was quite old. When I stepped into the room at the Inn, it was a separate experience althogether. The room had a paint smell within it. Good thing is that the window is fully openable and once in a while, I have to flush out the stale air. Likewise the pillow case was yellow probably due to many times of washing.

It is important to ask from the reception for a high floor. I was staying at 11th storey and was able to enjoy the spectacular scenery from the windows. This was the only consolation out of a hotel that was priced closed to RM160 per night. It was raining on the night of stay and due to festival, there was nothing for entertainment, other than the constant fire cracker noise from local residents beyond midnight.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan

A picture of what a standard room looks like.....



and how it looks from the balcony . (The sea can be seen from the far right corner beyond the trees)

Kuantan 18 - 20 Sep 09

It costed me RM247 a night at the resort. It is in a class on its own. When entering the room, I noticed a sweet scene. The room was spacious although it was not a sea view one. It was not a problem because the beach is just in front of the resort. The trip from Kuantan airport to Swiss Gardnen should cost between RM45 to RM50 and would take about 20 minutes.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, at the point of my visit, had complimentary shuttle bus service that bring guest from the resort to Kuantan town (Berjaya Megamall) at 11am and 2pm, and returning by 4pm. In my opinion, the 5 hours trip to town was defintely sufficient, if the aim was to see what the town could offer. I had asked the receptionist the charge for booking a taxi from the Resort to Kuantan Town and was informed that it would be RM60. I suppose that amount would include the resort commission.

The water at Balok Beach was murky and not exactly clean. This was because further down the beach, there was small river that was presumably taking discharge from villages in the vincinity. It was as murky as the one in Vung Tau, Vietnam. The sand from the sea was also dark coloured. Nonetheless, there was a swimming pool for guest in the hotel.

Breakfast was reasonable and of the same standard as any other Swiss Garden Hotel. As I did not venture to road side restaurants, I went to the chinese restaurant within the hotel for dinner. A plate of fried rice and duck meat with satay sauce cost RM42 (including tax and service charge). The strength of Wi-Fi in the restaurant was stronger than in the room.

Overall, the experience at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa at Kuantan was pleasant.

Kuantan ~ 18 to 20 Sep 09

The flight took off from Changi Budget Terminal at 12:25pm and reach there Kuantan Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport in 1 hour. It costs about S$202 for to and fro flight. The plane from Firefly, ATR72-500 had a twin propeller. The cruising height was 17,000 feet at speed of 480 km/hr. The trip from Singapore to Kuantan was quite bumpy due to cloudy sky, but the trip back was fine due to good weather. A good thing about Firefly is that it serves passengers a small cup of juice and a small piece of cake even for a hour flight, somthing you don't find Tiger Airlines. This was not the first time I travelled in a propeller airplane.

Impression on Vietnam V

It was raining while I was travelling on a boat in Mekong River. On the bank of Mekong River were simple houses which had been there from 1 generation to another. It is a tradition in Vietnam for generations to live under one roof.

The boat was travelling at a modest speed. For a brief moment when the boat passed by a house, I could see a mother with her children seating at the balcony on the ground floor. The sound of the boat might have attracted their attention and the mother quickly encouraged her children to start waving at us, knowing very well that we were tourists. The wave from these children were sincere and 1 of the girl, about 4 to 5 years was so enthusiatic that she waved and sent french kisses at us. I waved back to reciprocrate our friendliness. It was a memorable sight and I could never forget it.

A few thoughts went through my mind. Firstly, of course that Vietnamese from villages were friendly. They had shown their warmth to passing visitors. This was not the only time that Vietnamese had shown their simple hospitality. While travelling in Saigon river back from Vung Tau, I had the opportunity to go above the cabin and to the open deck of the hydrofoil. Again, a family of boat people were waving at me/hydrofoil while we speed passed. (Note: This doesn't mean that criminals do not romp the street of Ho Chi Minh City or for that matter any other urban cities)

Secondly, I was thinking that people were borned with different fate. The girl would have a life very different from children borned in Singapore. The life would not be filled with computer games, stress from school works and attending supplementary classes .... Life in a village was simple, seating on the balcony waving at passing boats and probably listening to stories from her mother. Her life would be different from a child growing up in an urban city with constant emphasis on competition. It also makes me think I have my own destiny to fulfil. There is role that I must play in the society and contribute. I was thinking what if I was borned in that house along the bank of Mekong river, I would have a different path of life.

Finally, if she was borned 40 years early in the same village, her life and fate would again be different. The war would have changed the course of her life. Perhaps, there was destiny and fate among each and everyone living in this planet.

Impression of Vietnam IV

Vietnamese Food ~ The fact that the country is surounded by sea and has a rich hinerland has given rise to a range of food variety.

We had tried eating place frequent by locals to those flavoured by foreigners.

We had chance to go to a Vietnamese wedding and tasted local shark fin, roasted pig, local prawn salad, porridge in chicken stock and chicken. The chicken was impressive because it was not rear in commercial farm where chemical was injected to improve productivity. It was a "kampung" chicken. The meat was tender and sweet. It was a simple dish but I like it. The bride's brother was a local cook and we have the honour to taste some of the best local dishes.

We went to Quan An Ngon restaurant in District 1 base on recommendation. It was recommended by a friend before I set off. There were many tourists, some even had guide books. The resturant was filled with tourists and we had to wait for 5 minutes. The environment was good and have a feel of french colonial building. We had no guide book and ordered 3 dishes and rice. The 3 dishes were vegetable(I think it was stalk of water chestnut with garlic), grilled beef and noodle with pork. The vegetable was nice, but grilled beef was overcooked and stiff. We did not appriciate the noodle with pork because I did not like dishes that were cold with no soup. I did like the banana shake that I ordered, it tasted good. Overall, I think probably did not know what was best in the restaurant and it could have been better if there was a guide book. We spent about 160,000 VND (total for 2 persons). 1 more advice, fish maw sauce is an acquired taste, do try it for a feel, but it was something I would not try in large quantity.

We also had the opportunity to taste pork noodle soup (Vietnamese Pho) from a local food outlet. The pork noodle had other internal organs which I did not like. Overall, the soup was tasty and there was a good serving of vegetables. The vegetables were served raw, we always make sure that we soaked them in the soup to kill the bacteria before consumption. As we did not speak vietnamese, we have to use finger to indicate what we want. It costs us 48,000 VND (total for 2 persons). 1 more local practice, the seats were low, so it was almost close to squatting while eating.

At Ben Thanh market, we also ordered a beef noodle soup. It cost 40,000 VND (total for 2 persons). The beef was nice as it was not thick slice and the meat was tender. I could remember the stall owner gave up some raw green vegetable, it tasted good but I could not figure out what it was.

On our night at Vung Tau, we went to a seafood restaurant because the sea side town was famous for sea food. The nice and pretty receptionist at Cap St Jacques Hotel recommended Lan Rang Restaurant for close proximity to the hotel. The ambience was romantic but the wind was too strong (as it was just next to the sea). The decoration of the restaurant also fantastic and we thought it was expensive, surprisingly it was reasonable priced. We ordered a red snapper that was steamed and also egg plant cooked in garlic. Both dishes were good and highly recommended. The fish also came with rice paper, vegetable and noodle, so we tried to fold it into vietnamese styled roll and eat it. But I still prefer eating the fish plain, as it bring out the taste better. We spent close to 250,000 VND in the restaurant.

For those who love spicy food, do remember to try the Vietnamese Green Chilli, it was hot and good. For the record, we could not decide/find what to eat on the first day and we ended up trying KFC chicken. It was totally bad and costed us more than 80,000VND. Do not try it, unless you have no other food.

Vietnam was influenced by the french. Look at the french loaves. It is more commonly found than the flat piece of bread.

Impression Vietnam III

A statue of Lord Jesus at Vung Tau facing the sea



A local Catholic Church along Mekong River


A famous landmark of HCM City, the Notre Dame of Vietnam. The building survived the Vietnam war.

According to Wikipedia, About 6-7% of the population in Vietnam is Catholics. I was surprised to see the number of Catholic Churches in the area around HCM City. Vietnam is still a socialist country and I suppose Vietnam Government is tolerant on the religion beliefs of its people. Sound of the church bells was heard at 12 noon. I could see locals praying the church when bus passed by. When I read the history of Vietnam, I realise that the ex-South Vietnam President Mr Ngoh Dinh Diem played an important role in encouraging the rise of Catholicism in Vietnam. He was a devoted Catholic.

The majority of Vietnamese was still Buddhist due to tradditional roots. Many local businesses and hotels have buddhist alters displayed clearly.

An indian temple near the hotel where I stayed

Impression Vietnam II

The traffic in the heart of HCM City was a nightmare for the novice. Vehicles continued to move in both the left and right direction (to the pedestrain) even though the lights have turned red. On the first day, we were stressed trying to cross the road. However, we learned and became smarter at the end of first day. After that, I moved through the traffic with confidence. The trick is called anticipation. You must alow the cyclist and driver to anticipate your move. Move slowly and stop when necessary. If you can see the cyclist, he/she can see you. Just move cautiously so that the driver can anticipate your path and enable him/her to steer clear of your path. Also, do look the other direction to anticipate any motorcyclist going against the traffic (yes it happens).

Look at this lady trying to cross the road holding a sleeping toddler. She managed to cross the road. We crossed immediately after her with ongoing traffic.

Impression Vietnam I

In HCM, Buildings were built with narrow width (front) and a long back. The division of land seems to minimise frontal exposure. I wonder why.

Except for windows at the top, many lower floors have windows sealed up. I guess it is to prevent transmission of noise from the street. The constant honning sound from motorbikes and cars is a real threat to a peaceful sleep. We did not hear street noise from our hotel in HCM, which was totally sealed with no windows.

This building was trying to add another level after completion. I saw a few owners doing just that probably due to extension of business or family size. Hopefully the owner has considered additional loads due to the extension.

Look at the pink building. It has really a small front. But the back is sufficiently long. I wonder whether anyone will feel clustrophobic. It has nice balconies and a beautiful roof.

Hotels I Stayed in Vietnam

Nhat Ha Hotel

252 Le Thanh Tong Street Ben Thanh Ward District 1

Ho Chi Minh City

(Very Near Ben Thanh Market, 2 nights)

Cap Saint Jacques Hotel

169 Thuy Van Street

Vun Tau City

(Beach is just across the hotel, 1 night)

Both hotels were booked through tnktravelvietnam.com. A good and reliable travel agent base in Vietnam. It proves that asiarooms.com is wrong when they informed me that Cap Saint Jacques Hotel was fully booked. Note: For tnktravelvietnam.com, I have to pay 3% service charge which was still cheaper than asiarooms.com.

tnktravelvietnam.com is highly recommended for Vietnam hotels.
Both hotels I stayed in were able to suit my needs and they were hassle free hotels.

Vietnam Trip 22 Nov - 25 Nov 08

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - 22 Nov 08 to 24 Nov 08

Vung Tau - 24 Nov to 25 Nov 08