The Year That Was: 2016

It’s first working and school day of 2017 today (well, at least for us in the west coast; my thoughts and sympathies to those affected by the flood in the east coast). What a year 2016 had been eh. It was a somewhat challenging year with its ups and downs, trials and tribulations, trying, tiring and testing. I couldn’t wait for 2016 to end but at the same time I wasn’t looking forward to another whole brand new year either.

2016 saw continued conflicts, disputes and disagreements which were within human control and natural disasters and catastrophes (which may have been a result of global warming so you could say that we did contribute indirectly to them), heightened Islamophobia and terrorist attacks. Just as I thought we couldn’t possible go any lower as humans, it seemed that no, we were capable of much more cruelty. It seems brutality and cruelty have no limits and some of those caught in wars have had to flee their homeland. I don’t know if they hold think much hope for another new year; certainly if I were in their shoes, I probably wouldn’t even care about the coming dawn of another year. Survival would be uppermost in my mind. I started following some figures on Twitter and Facebook to understand more on what is happening in the conflict areas (not to worry, I still try not to spend too long on boring ol’ FB).

I think 2016 was starting to be a difficult year economically with price hikes from food to petrol. I personally know people who have badly impacted by the economy and it’s sometimes hard to see a light at the end of this seemingly deep, difficult and dark tunnel - if there’s any light in the first place.

I spent more time reading and reflecting and Alhamdulillah, I managed to finish 150 books. I also continue to read the Quran almost every night and recite prayers when I can’t pray.

I took less leave days last year but still managed to squeeze in some trips (three new countries too, syukur Alhamdulillah:

January: Spent Thaipusam weekend in Melaka

February: Flew off to Tanzania and made a short trip to Malawi

March: Went on tandem paragliding at Bukit Jugra

April: Went on a short trip to Port Dickson at the beginning of the month. Flew off to Frankfurt at month-end

May: Visited Luxembourg City before flying to Italy

June: Didn’t manage to make any trip ;’(

July: Flew to Kota Bharu for a day trip in end-July

August: Fraser’s Hill

September: Spent Malaysia Day weekend in KK and Gaya Island Resort

October: Spent Awal Muharram weekend in George Town, Penang, and represented TheOrganisation at Games held in Bali at month-end

November: A day trip to Johor Bahru on the first Saturday

December: Spent Maulidur Rasul weekend in Jakarta with my niece and joined a tour to Iran at month-end

Arsenal somehow managed to come in second in a two-dog race for the top two spot when Sp*ds hilariously lost 5-1 to already relegated Newcastle. A late St Totteringham’s Day but hey, better late than never. We were knocked out of the FA Cup though and I was pretty pissed about that.

I have cut down big on chicken and processed food. I had enjoyable weekend morning walks when I’m at micasa and I participated in the department’s light exercise held almost every morning. I continued to walk a lot (something a person who doesn’t drive is bound to do anyway) and I have taken to having short cat naps during lunch after some reading. I carried my water bottle and a shopping bag daily almost everywhere. My aim is to make better food choices: not buy too much that it leads to wastage, waste less resources and eat healthily. I also resolve to continue being a responsible citizen of the earth.

Anyway, Happy New Year 2017. May the year ahead bring us all much joy, happiness, stronger faith, good health, wealth and prosperity, peace and good fortune. Did you find it a relief to part ways with 2016 too?

Sorry Is Not Enough

I am very sorry that I have failed you.

I am very sorry that I have ignored you and remained in ignorance of your plight.

I am deeply sorry that I have stood by and allowed you to be violated.

I am sorry and ashamed that I have allowed you to continue suffering all this time, fighting to stay alive.

I regret that I have been unable to do much to help you.

I am ashamed that I have been mute, deaf, blind and paralysed and thus couldn’t come to your aid.

I am sorry. Please forgive me, the innocent people and creatures of Aleppo. My ignorance and inaction have led to your destruction. I have failed you, just as I had failed Srebrenica, Gaza, Afghanistan, Yemen and Rakhine State of Myanmar.

As we may have known (if we’re not still too ignorant or self-absorbed or self-obsessed), there was heavy bombardment on Aleppo earlier this week. The Syrian forces had pushed in with the area held by the rebels shrinking. They claim to be liberating the city from the rebels when in truth they have systematically and determinedly been destroying all public facilities: hospitals, schools, and anywhere that may provide shelter to the innocent civilians. They even destroyed bakeries, for crying out loud. I was tearful for the most part of this week and prayed to Allah for safe passage for the civilians. I was sad, I was angry, I was furious that no one seemed to be doing anything. No one, except for the pro-government forces who were relentless in destroying the city. The final straw was the clip of the people saying goodbye, convinced that their end had come.

Who is the terrorist here? The innocent civilians who just want to be left in peace, who want to continue living in the city of birth, who oppose the tyrannical president? Or the dictatorial president who clings greedily, hungrily and blindly to power, never mind that he commits genocide on his own people and destroys his country’s heritage? It was the Syrian forces which bombed Aleppo and then attacked them with chlorine gas??? How low can one go?

Aleppo has been in existence for more than five thousand years. It has seen hundreds of generations building and expanding it. And it took a generation of morons only four years to completely destroy it.

And yet, in spite of this, it’s amazing that there are still heroes there. One such man is Mohammad Alaa Aljalel or the Cat Man of Aleppo who, while himself seeking shelter from the bombings, found a stray cat. To me, it’s just amazing how this hero can manage to keep his sanity, humility, humanity and compassion in the face of fresh challenges and onslaught. He’s the total opposite of the dictatorial tyrant.

I have faith in Allah. I have faith that Allah knows best. The Almighty is in full control and has a bigger plan. The people of Aleppo are now being evacuated. The Cat Man is now safely in Idlid with his cats, Alhamdulillah. I was so happy and thankful that he and the cats are safe but couldn’t help thinking how sad and heart-breaking it must be to have to leave your beloved birthcity, not knowing if you’ll ever be back.

Oh Allah, please protect the innocent souls in Syria. You know best. Amen.

As shitty as 2016 had been at times, I don’t look forward to 2017. How can I when my fellow brothers and sisters are suffering?

P.S. This is another Twitter account of the Aleppo Catman.

Jakarta Trip Photos

Camomile tea for me, green tea for my niece / Inflight meal (didn’t enjoy my noodles though) / The setting sun as we began our descent

The setting sun during our descent

Our apartment unit. There are storage drawers beneath the bed

Bathroom, balcony and the lights of central Jakarta

View from our room. The bottom two photos are of Cosmo Park

At level 10 of Cosmo Terrace. You can see Tanah Abang market building from here. And picture on the bottom right-hand is of the back of one block of Cosmo Park Town Houses

At Plaza Indonesia. The picture in the middle is the DAMRI bus (van, more like) for the service to the airport. I think there are also services to other areas but I didn’t really check

Jakarta, December 2016

I had planned to bring my niece to Jakarta (I had brought her brother and sister there before on separate occasions) and decided to take advantage of the Maulidur Rasul long weekend. After buying the air tickets, I searched for hotels. I was contemplating the guesthouse I usually stay at but decided to find another place and only fall back on the guesthouse if I couldn’t find an alternative. You see, this time, I wanted to stay somewhere really central. Sure, being in Menteng and Jakarta Pusat, the guesthouse is central enough, but I wanted a place where I can walk to places instead of taking the cab and being stuck in the jam. I finally found (after cancelling one hotel at Jalan Lombok) a small apartment available on Airbnb, promptly signed up and booked the apartment.

I met up with my niece at KLIA on Friday afternoon (9 December 2016). We dropped off our bags, cleared immigration and headed to the Golden Lounge (I was offered to upgrade and the amount I offered to pay was accepted). I had a shower first before having my late lunch. We left for the gate at 16:00. We took off on time and settled in for the flight. It was a good thing I ate quite a bit at the Golden Lounge because I didn’t enjoy the noodles with garoupa that I chose for my meal.

We landed at 17:25 local time and quickly made our way to the immigration counter. Our bags were out within minutes and we then made our way to the bus station. I know there are direct DAMRI bus services to Thamrin City Mall where the apartment is but was told I might have to wait another hour for it so I decided to take the DAMRI bus to Gambir station instead. It came within 20 minutes and we reached Gambir in 50 minutes. Traffic was heavy but thankfully it was moving.

We walked out of Gambir station and took a cab to Thamrin City Mall. We were unlucky to get a driver who was intent on sticking to 15 km/hour so we were crawling all the way. I was surprised that no one honked the driver for driving like a pensioner. Why, my dad drives a lot faster than that!

We hit a traffic jam at Jalan Kebon Kacang Raya. Friday evening crowd and whatnot. The cabbie dropped us at Amaris Hotel and typical of most cabbies there, didn’t return us the Rp2,000 change although I asked for it a few times. What is it about cabbies over there? Do they think they can merrily round up the fare? This is one reason why I wanted to stay somewhere really central where I can walk anywhere. I still have to take a cab or ride the packed bus if I stay in Menteng.

We asked for directions and after getting lost and asking for directions again, we finally found Cosmo Terrace Apartment. We sat at the lobby and waited for the apartment owner to show up. I had earlier told him that we expected to arrive between 19:30 to 20:00. It was 19:45 then. He finally came at 20:15 and quickly brought us up to his apartment unit at level 28. The building owner is superstitious: there are no 4^th, 13^th, 14^th, 24^th and 34^th floors. The highest floor is level 39 and it took us just 62 seconds to reach level 28. The owner then showed us around the small space: how to work the stove, the washer, the wifi etc. before leaving.

We unpacked, performed prayers and settled down for the evening.

On Saturday, we woke up early for morning prayers and then up again before 08:00. We had a very good view of Jalan Kebon Kacang Raya all the way to Plaza Indonesia and could see Grand Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental, Keraton at the Plaza from the room but what really amazed us was Cosmo Park Town Houses, the residential area right on top of Thamrin City Mall. There are about 76 units of three-storey houses atop Thamrin City Mall, how amazing is that?! The residents enter and exit the area via a ten-storey circular ramp. There are no fences or walls around any of the houses. We stood at the balcony and by the window often looking down at Cosmo Park and marvelling each time.

After breakfast, we left and went up to the Sky Garden at level 37 (if I recall correctly) to admire the surrounding view. We then went down to level 10 to where the swimming pool, Jacuzzi, barbecue area, gymnasium and children playground are. From here, you can also see the back of one block of Cosmo Park Town Houses. I asked one guy and he confirmed that the town houses are built on top of the mall and are ten floors above ground level.

After admiring the view, we went down and out of the building. We crossed Jalan Kh. Mas Mansyur and walked ten minutes to Tanah Abang market. We browsed a few floors and even had lunch at Tenabang, the foodcourt at the market (there’s 10% tax imposed on food here!). I managed to buy a pair of original Crocs (older model but it’s fine) and some dates for Abah. He prefers to wear Crocs footwear of late as they are not slippery and are thick which is good for diabetics.

We returned to Thamrin City Mall and browsed around. There sure are a lot of stalls and shops in the mall. This was the eighth time I’d been to Jakarta and only the first time I’d been in Thamrin City Mall. The stalls sell mainly batik clothes and Muslim clothing. There’s also Hypermart, some restaurants and food courts. One thing I couldn’t stand is that despite notices, people smoked in the mall. Ugh! We bought dinner from the food court (no tax imposed here or maybe it’s already built in but the prices were way lower than at Tanah Abang) at level 3 before returning to our apartment to rest. There was a power trip but the emergency light worked in the bathroom and the AC worked too. Power was restored about an hour later.

On Sunday, we walked to Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia. I also dragged my niece to Grand Hyatt to visit the H store there before returning to Plaza Indonesia. Oh, before I forget, we went into Grand Indonesia first. We went down to the Food Hall and were browsing when we looked to the far right to the food counters and saw something running on the counter. ‘Oh my,’ I was thinking, ‘could that be a rat?!’ when my niece started saying the same thing. A big huge rat at one of the food counters at the Food Hall in Grand Indonesia! I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if it was at Tanah Abang or Thamrin City Mall foodcourt but at Grand Indonesia! O.O We had lunch at Food Louver at Grand Indonesia. I wasn’t happy with the pulled noodles in tom yam that I bought and my niece said her dishes (she had rice) were too hot even for her palate.

A lot of stores were having their year-end/Christmas sales but as from past experience, we found that most things were still more expensive than in KL so we didn’t shop. I only bought Sangobion at Guardian there (they cost less there as they are produced there and those sold here are imported from Indonesia anyway) and even then questioned why I was charged Rp14,200 for each strip of ten capsules when the price printed on the strip was Rp13,000 (I got my refund back by the way).

It was drizzling when we left but I had my brolly so we huddled beneath it to Thamrin City Mall. We bought dinner to go – from a different stall this time – and returned to the apartment. We spent the rest of the day resting and packing what little we had bought until then.

On Monday, we left early and went to Plaza Indonesia. The wifi was not working at the apartment so we stood outside Star*ucks at Plaza Indonesia and rode on their wifi. I also wanted to check out On Pedder as I wanted to try on Charlotte Olympia pumps. On Pedder is the only store in Jakarta which carries Charlotte Olympia and Sophia Webster and Aquazzura (it also carries Christian Louboutin even though there’s a Christian Louboutin boutique nearby). After that we returned to Grand Indonesia. We had light lunch at Burger King then headed back.

Back at the apartment, we performed prayers and showered. We had earlier planned to catch the 15:30 bus to the airport but decided to leave earlier when we saw the unpromising weather. We left at 14:15 and reached the DAMRI stop at the Mall in less than ten minutes. It was starting to drizzle then. There were seven other people in the bus (more like a van or MPV) and it can comfortably seat ten passengers. The fare was Rp40,000 (the same fare if you board at Gambir but you need to take a cab to Gambir) and we reached the airport an hour later (because the van had to drop off passengers at the domestic terminal first). We dropped off our bags, went to clear immigration and went to browse the duty-free shops.

I performed evening prayers first hence left the boarding gate plane slightly later than everyone else but caught up with them at the airplane. We took off about 25 minutes later than scheduled and landed late at KLIA. My bag came out early but I had to wait for the 22:22 KLIA Transit train then change at Bandar Tasik Selatan for LRT back. Had to wait a while for the LRT at Bandar Tasik Selatan and Chan Sow Lin and then the LRT would have to stop a long time at Cahaya and then in between Cahaya and Ampang stations. In the end, I reached home at 00:12 on Tuesday. I probably should have just taken the KLIA Express to KL Sentral, change for the LRT to Ampang Park and bus back to Ampang. Oh well...

So that was my eighth trip to Jakarta. Will I be back? If I do, you can bet I’d stay again at Cosmo Terrace due to its proximity to Tanah Abang and Grand and Plaza Indonesia. You can even walk to Sarinah Department Store if you so wish.

Senseless

It has been 5 years and 8 months since the Syrian civil war started and it has not shown any signs that it will stop any time soon. In the meantime, millions of Syrians have fled their country, millions have been killed, cities and homes destroyed, families separated, prices of commodities have risen, well, generally all the usual things that take place during a war. There are those who refuse to leave their country despite the situation and I can’t blame them because it’s their country after all and why should they be driven from it? But they have to bear with the bombardment, the attacks, the fighting, fight for survival, dwindling food supply and starvation, cold weather, lack of clean water and fuel, etc.

I don’t know enough and may not be the best person to comment on the situation but I do know that it is all senseless. One man is clinging stubbornly to his power and is doing all he can to do so, never mind that he does so by violently repressing the protests for his removal. Never mind that he has the blood of his own people in his hands and that his country is now destroyed beyond words. Never mind that he has turned his own countrymen against him. He is a stubborn arrogant dictator who doesn’t think twice about massacring his own people, who doesn’t care that he drives his people away from their beloved country, who couldn’t care less that his people are struggling to make a new life in other countries. And don’t forget the UNESCO World Heritage Sites which are all now in danger.

My heart goes to Syrian and the innocent Syrians. To the poor children, most of whom are now orphans. To the parents who have lost their children. To the animals who are caught in the war (there’s a FB page called ‘Daily Life of Cats in Syria’ that I follow and Instagram and Twitter accounts. I don’t care if people call me a crazy cat lady; what I know is that cats are not evil but some humans are and they are worse than animals). I wish I can do more for them for unlike Assad, I don’t want to fail them and I don’t want their blood on my hands and conscience.

Who will help you rebuild your country now, Assad? Do you not know the moral ethics of fighting in a battlefield? Do you not know how sacred souls are that you think you can just eliminate lives just like that? Aren’t lives valuable? It is a travesty to kill innocent souls; conversely, it is an honour to safeguard innocent lives, even if it’s little cats >^..^< My heart bled when I saw the tweets yesterday and early this morning. Damn you, Assad, damn you to hell and back.

How much longer is this madness going to last? Until all innocent lives have been wiped out? What is the world doing about it? The United Nations? I keep asking myself what I can do and can’t help feeling helpless and useless. The only thing I can do is to pray that this senseless stupid war will end very soon.

If you’re looking for a cheery blog post today, I’m sorry. I don’t know how we can go on about with our normal lives when there are people dying, starving, being oppressed in Syria, Palestine and Gaza, Iraq, Myanmar and Afghanistan. Allahuakbar. You know best, Allah.

Road To Bali: Second Step

Saturday, 29 October 2016

Game Day! I woke up for morning prayers (Suboh and sunrise are early in those parts) and stayed up. I felt discomfort in my throat – probably because I didn’t drink enough the day before, or I had to drink an iced drink the evening before (as a general rule, I don’t drink iced drinks) or because it was just too dang hot in Bali – and also a lot of wind in my tummy (I always have a lot of wind when I travel long-distance but come on, Bali is only three hours away!). I went down for breakfast at 06:35 (we were told that we would depart at 07:00) but when I reached the restaurant, found out that we would only depart at 07:15. There was a large spread of breakfast from fruits counter to dim sum and chee cheong fun, cereal counter, bread counter, noodles, some Japanese food, local food, porridge and eggs counter too (but of course). I had a small portion of a bit of a few things. We then left and made our way for the various buses ready to ferry us to the event venues. I was impressed to find that the host had engaged the highway patrol to escort us to the venues but even then it took us almost 45 minutes before reaching the first venue, the regional office of Bank Indonesia, where Scrabble would be played. The bus dropped us off and continued on to Gedung Olah Raga (GOR) Lila Bhuana where table tennis and badminton would be played. The women’s volleyball would be played in a building nearby GOR Lila Bhuana.

We had known the day before that we would be playing against Thailand followed by Indonesia and then Singapore. I recognised a few faces from previous Games where Scrabble was played. We started play at about 08:20 (I didn’t note the time although I know we finished our first match around 09:15). Oh before I forget, we had to field eight players: four men and four women. There would be one men’s singles, one women’s singles, one women’s doubles, one men’s doubles and one mixed doubles. So five games with eight players from each country. I was assigned to play in the women’s singles.

We knew that the Thai players would be our strongest opponents and this proved right. They don’t necessarily speak good English but they do memorise the two- and three-letter words. It didn’t help that my tiles were so bad that I had to change them in the second round itself and I had a word rightfully called for not valid so that were two turns that I missed. She also scored a bingo while I couldn’t find a place to put mine. Needless to say, I lost the first game. I was feeling down until I found our men’s singles and mixed doubles lost too. So that was 2-3 to the Thais. I told myself not to feel too down, that we had two more games to avenge ourselves.

We had a short break before resuming for the next game against our hosts, Indonesia. They had some sweet black tea and coffee and some local delicacies but I didn’t have any of the latter as my tummy was still unsettled. I continued to drink gallons of mineral water throughout and even during the match. This time around, we did better and won all our games. 5-0. The Thais won 3-2 again against the Singaporeans. We had another mini break and because it wasn’t even 11, we agreed to finish the last game before lunch instead of playing it after lunch. This time, we won 4-1 against the Singaporeans (I was holding my bladder towards the end from all the water I’d been drinking!) and the Thais won 3-2 again against the hosts.

It was a good thing that the captains met after the opening ceremony the previous night and agreed that the winning country would be determined by the total number of wins and not the number of wins overall. So we won because we won 11 games out of 15 and although the Thais won all their matches (3-2 for all three matches), they had only a total of 9 wins out of 15. Phew, what a good thing the captains had agreed on this beforehand.

We then broke for lunch and as it was already Zuhur, I decided to perform prayers first. I was shown to the prayer room by the person in charge of the Scrabble game. After that, I went back up to the first floor for lunch. The badminton, table tennis and women’s volleyball players also had their lunch there. After lunch, we had some photo session before boarding the bus to GOR Lila Buana to support our table tennis and badminton teams. My, I can say that Indonesia are a good host but I couldn’t help feeling like I stepped into the 1960s when I walked into GOR Lila Buana. From the outside, it looked grand but it was anything but that inside. It was a sauna-like suffering for us after playing in AC comfort and it didn’t help that our table tennis team quickly lost to the Thais. After table tennis had ended, we went up to the badminton courts to watch our mixed badminton pair which was still playing. We lost the final set and last match against the Thais. After that, we left the court and building and walked over to watch women’s volleyball in the other building across the car park. Again, I wasn’t impressed with the dirty surroundings and the state of the building (yup, you guess it right: straight out of the 1960s again! They must have built the two buildings together!). And again, we watched as our team lost – to the Indonesians this time. News filtered through that our bowling team won though so together with Scrabble, we managed to be in second place overall. The Thais were just three points behind us in third place. Talk about cutting it close!

We made our way back to the hotel and arrived at 17:05.

Tonight was the closing dinner and the venue was by the beach. I don’t know why islands are hot and the occasional breeze didn’t help much. The food was OK but ran out quickly and it wasn’t replenished immediately. The performance by the Malaysian contingent had just finished when we felt big fat raindrops and before long, we had run for the nearest shelter which was the restaurant where breakfast was served. After some time and it became apparent that the rain would continue, we made our way to the grand ballroom. The rain had petered out by then but the seats at our tables by the beach were no doubt already soaked through. I felt bad for the hosts and only hoped that the rain didn’t spoil the chairs too badly.

The other three countries continued with their performance before the winners for each category of games contested were announced and called upon the stage to receive the trophy. There was another round of photo taking session before we retired to our rooms.

Sunday, 30 October 2016

There was a city tour planned for today and we were first told to be ready by 08:30. I found out during breakfast that we would instead leave for the tour at 09:30 so had a leisurely breakfast with my mates. It was already hot and bright when we left. My throat felt slightly better today but I was starting to have running nose. This heat! I didn’t bring my hat so I decided to don the cap provided to our contingent. We reached our first destination half an hour after leaving the hotel: Garuda Wisnu Kencana or GWK Cultural Park. It is devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu and his mount, the mythical bird Garuda. We arrived in time for the 10:00 Barong dance. I must say I was annoyed with some of the audience who encroached into the performance area just to take selfies. Seriously, what the heck?! Some dancers were in creepy masks and as they neared the audience, I caught a whiff of their body odour and smelly costumes. Well, it was blazing hot and humid after all.

After the dance, we went up some steps to Vishnu and I peeked around the corner to see Garuda. I’m not big on statues so I wasn’t at all impressed and refused to take pictures except for the group photos of all participants of the Games. I refused to go down to see Garuda to pose in front of it and stood with two Singaporean women Scrabble players. Before long we discovered the rest of the group had left via a separate exit and we rushed out. Fortunately, I managed to find the way to the parking area and boarded the bus I rode in earlier. The buses were about to leave to pick up the group from atop the hill. Oh well. As long as I didn’t miss it altogether and had to find my own transportation to the next destination... I wouldn’t recommend going to GWK: it was still a work-in-progress and I wasn’t at all impressed with the park.

We left GWK and drove to Tanah Lot. We were told by our guide that it was an hour’s drive away and most of us dozed off along the way. It was hot and bright outside, not unlike a siesta time. We arrived at Tanah Lot about 70 minutes later and went to have lunch at a restaurant. The food was mediocre, inadequate and unsatisfying. After lunch, we walked to the Tanah Lot temple but we couldn’t walk up to it. Fortunately here the sea breeze was more abundant. We spent some time here and I walked to explore the interesting landscape around shaped by the elements.

We left just before 15:00 and drove to Krisna Oleh oleh Khas Bali, a shopping centre where we bought some souvenirs to bring back. And a good thing too because we discovered later that evening the prices in Kuta were a lot higher. Some of the participants really shopped so we had to wait for them to finish. We finally left at 17:20 and made our way back to the hotel. Krisna was less than 2.5 km away but we were caught in the stupid traffic crawl near the airport and all the way back to the hotel. My mates agreed to meet at 19:00 for dinner – I argued for 19:15 instead.

After dinner (at the restaurant where we had breakfast), we walked out. We split up and Rehdy and I walked up to Hard Rock Hotel. He bought a t-shirt there (who knew guys take a long time to try on t-shirts too?) and then we walked along Jalan Pantai Kuta before finding a place offering massage. Vincent had a foot massage for Rp75K on the day of arrival and we managed to find a few places offering it for Rp65K. we left at 22:45 and walked back to the hotel.

Monday, 31 October 2016

I went for morning walk at 06:00 and walked along the beach to Citadines Kuta Beach Bali before turning back. I then walked south past my hotel and up to Patra Jasa Bali Resort & Villas where I could see the runway of the airport. I spent some time looking at the planes queuing up at the runway, at the approaching plane, at the boats and other people out and about before returning to the hotel. I had decided to have a late breakfast and after reading and showering, went down for breakfast at 09:40. By now, I had gotten sick of the same food on offer and was at a loss as to what to have for breakfast.

I returned to the room to find my roommate had already left and finished packing. I read until I felt drowsy and took a short nap. I got up at 11:30 and performed ablutions before leaving the room. Went down to the reception to check out, had my bags stored in the luggage room and went to find a room I could perform prayers in (our Secretariat maintained four rooms for those on later flights to rest, store their bags and performed prayers etc).

We had to wait for two people on our flight to make their slow waddle to the bus and only left the hotel at 12:50 (we were supposed to leave at 12:30). I had already checked in online and went directly to the counter to get the boarding pass and drop my bag. I had some food and water and decided not to go in yet. I only went through the security check and immigration at almost 15:00 and made my way to the gate.

We took off on time and I spent the flight finishing my book and starting a new one. We landed at KLIA at 19:10 and as my normal practice, I went to perform prayers first before going to the conveyor belt. I spotted my bag from a distance and ran to get it and just about made it for the 19:55 KLIA Express train to KL Sentral (I thought the train was at 20:00 so it was a good thing I hurried).

So long Bali. I don’t think I’d return for the third time though. You are just too blazingly, blindingly, unbearably hot for me. One thing though, I was amazed there were no mosquitoes at all!

Road To Bali: First Step

I was in Bali over last weekend, representing TheOrganisation in Scrabble at the Games. There were two tournaments held to select the players and the few of us then had to undergo practice sessions to determine the ranking – yes, we took it very seriously indeed. After all, we were the champions for the previous two times when Scrabble was contested and we wanted to ensure we defended the trophy. After we had finalised the players’ list and ranked them, we then had twice weekly practice sessions after office hours (well, we were given time off for the practice sessions). I was tasked to play in the women’s single category and had to practise with my sparring partner who was assigned to play in the men’s single category. I missed two practice sessions when I took leave returning from KK and Gaya Island and when I had to attend a meeting.

Besides Scrabble, the other games contested were bowling, women’s volleyball, mixed badminton and table tennis. There was also executive golf for the senior people. The games were all agreed to at the previous Games (similarly, the games for next Games were already discussed and agreed to at the just concluded Games). We were given sport attire – four t-shirts (each to be worn during the opening ceremony, game day, farewell ceremony and city tour), a pair of track bottom, a cap and a pair of shoes. This wasn’t my first Games though it has been a while since then.

We flew out to Bali on Friday, 28 October 2016, by various flights. My flight was at 08:50 and I left home right after morning prayers. Abah sent me to Ampang Park and I rode the LRT to KL Sentral (50% fare discount for journeys between 06:00-07:00, nice!). I had checked in online but couldn’t print the boarding pass so I obtained it from the KL CAT and dropped off my bag. I took the 06:30 KLIA Express and was there before 07:00. After meeting up with two of my other teammates, I went in to clear immigration. There were a lot of other travellers too which surprised me somewhat. As I had time to spare, I took the aerotrain to the duty-free boutiques to browse. I’m quite broke right now (story of my life of late) so I could only browse and lust.

The flight took off on time and it was pretty full. There were a lot of Indians on the flight, perhaps celebrating Deepavali there? We landed at almost noon and I quickly made my get away. Cleared the immigration then waited for our bags to emerge. I then discovered that the small water container provided by the airline broke in my handbag so I had to go to the washroom and dry it out as best as I could. Harrumph!

We finally emerged out (a team member was subjected to a random search while another’s bag had broken during the flight) and were greeted by a representative of the host. We then boarded the bus to the hotel. It’s a newly renovated hotel not far from the airport but the traffic! It didn’t help that the road was narrow and only has two lanes, one going each direction. It was a bright hot sweltering day.

We were given a little welcome drink (the mug was big but the content was pitiful) and collected some ‘door gift’ before collecting the card keys to our respective room. My room was on the first floor (second floor to them, how American) and right at the very end of the corridor. It was a twin room with a balcony but didn’t face the garden and pool. The room felt how no matter how much I fiddled with the AC control and after hunting and feeling the wall, I finally found the luggage area and wardrobe – in the bathroom! What a strange place to put your luggage and have a wardrobe. I mean, won’t the condensation spoil your bags? Or did the hotel designers thought the steam would help keep your clothes wrinkle-free? After some time sorting out my things, I went to join the others for lunch.

I decided not to go with our team captain to check out the venue where our Scrabble games would be held when I heard it would take about an hour each way to get there and return back to the hotel. Plus it was simply just too hot to be venturing out. So I agreed with the other two lady players that we would have a practice session later in the afternoon. I returned back to the room, performed prayers and ironed my scarves. I also changed beds after deciding I couldn’t possibly sleep in the first bed (I hadn’t trashed the bed yet and my roommate hadn’t arrived either). I once spent sleepless nights in a hotel room because the AC was situated such that the cool air didn’t reach me and I wasn’t about to endure that again. My roommate arrived shortly after ;) she had a big suitcase that couldn’t fit into the luggage area so she decided to put it beside her bed. She went down for lunch and I made my way to NAN’s room and they were just about to start practice too. We played for two rounds as we needed to get ready for the welcoming ceremony.

After showering, I went down and walked to the beach to watch the sunset. Luckily for us, this side of the island afforded good views of sunset. I didn’t spend long there before hurrying back to my room for evening prayers and getting ready for the welcoming ceremony. The Malaysian contingent had to don the sport attire provided: collared t-shirt, wind cheater, track bottom, socks and sport shoes. The welcoming ceremony was held at the grand ballroom and after some Kodak moments of the senior management of the four participating bodies of the various contingents, we were ushered into the grand ballroom. Ah, AC relief at last!

We had buffet dinner and were kept entertained by songs performed by a group. Finally the speeches began and the performance continued with local dances. The ceremony ended around 10 p.m. and we made our way back to our rooms. We had an early start the following morning. The captains of the various sports had to stay back though to trash out the finer details of the respective competition.

To be continued