…my cuppa iced coffee…

Kota Bharu
Sunday, 20/07/2008

We actually arrived at Kota Bharu on Saturday afternoon after driving around 2 ½ hours from Kuala Terengganu. Along the way, we bought some “keropok ikan” (fish crackers) for the people at the KL office. Don’t you think it odd that people always expect you to buy them souvenirs when you go outstation or travelling? The ladies, especially. Hehehe…

Jangan marraaa yer kakak² kat ofis

We stayed at the Renaissance Kota Bharu, a surprisingly lavish hotel considering its location. No offense to the locals but for a town that size, the hotel is really an extremely pleasant surprise.

6 days of travelling and we were having difficulties remembering what day it was. Sunday is a workday in Kelantan, so having temporary amnesia was almost a blessing. Yeah, it was kind of odd working on a Sunday. We spent the whole day meeting people from the branches and also the agents. Nice people.

We stayed another night at the Renaissance Kota Bharu and drove to the next destination, Alor Setar, the next morning.

Alor Setar
Monday, 21/06/2008

The drive from Kota Bharu took us roughly 5 hours, through hilly but nice scenic routes. The road even spans one natural lake. Quite huge and very beautiful. I can’t remember the name, though. Apparently there’s a resort there if you want to spend some quiet time away from civilisation.

We visited the branches in Alor Setar and one agent in Kuala Nerang. Then we drove Penang.

Penang
Tuesday, 22/07/2008

We stayed at the Gurney Hotel along Persiaran Gurney. A really nice hotel with a really nice view. Our room was at level 29 and I could see quite a distance from the huge window.

We only visited the branches here in Penang since the Branch Development Executive was not around to take us to meet the agents. After work, we took advantage of the durian season and gorged ourselves with the fruit. We only paid RM12 for 6 durians. Cheap, huh? 

Dinner that night was at the hawkers’ centre near Padang Kota. This time we had seafood. Shellfish, to be exact. 6 kinds, if I’m not mistaken. Cooked Chinese style. And nothing left to tell the story except for the shells.

The next morning, we drove to Ipoh.

Ipoh
Wednesday, 23/07/2008

The drive took around 2 ½ hours. Just like in Penang, we only visited the branches here in Ipoh. It was a last minute addition to the tour, so we didn’t make any arrangement to visit the agents.

We spent the night at the Impiana Casuarina Hotel. Nice place. The breakfast sucks, though. The worst croissant I’ve ever seen and tasted for the whole trip. After breakfast, we drove to the last stop of the whole tour (finally!).

Shah Alam
Thursday, 24/07/2008

By this time, I just couldn’t wait to get this whole thing done and over with. Travelling for 10 days non-stop? Definitely not something I want to do very often. Given choices, not ever! After visiting the only branch in Shah Alam and a couple of agents, we finally headed home. Man, I was so glad to finally be back.

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Related post:

• South to East to North to West Tour - Part 1
• South to East to North to West Tour - Part 2

Melaka
Wednesday, 16/07/2008

We spent almost the whole day at the branches that we only managed to visit one agent’s office. The original plan was to visit two, but we misjudged the time somehow. Right after the visit, we drove straight away to Johor Bahru.

The 2 ½-hour drive took us to the Hyatt Regency Hotel - a much much much better hotel than the one we stayed at the night before. Well, it stands to reason since it has a 5-star rating. And the best thing was.. I didn’t have to pay a single cent staying there.

Hyatt Regency, Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru
Thursday, 17/07/2008

We got a bit lost on the way to the branch office. The branch staff who gave us direction was not much of a help too, but we managed to find the place. Spent the whole morning there assisting the staff with the newly implemented system. In the afternoon, we went to a couple of agents’ offices to see the performance of another system.

Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque, Johor Bahru

Around 6:30 pm, we made a move to Kuantan, roughly 300 km of winding road along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was totally dark, even with the full moon. Not to mention there weren’t very many cars around.

The guys at the branch office told us it would take at the most 4 hours to get to Kuantan. Well, guess what.. We arrived at the hotel around midnight. So that was roughly 5 ½ hours of driving. Damn tiring!

Kuantan
Friday, 18/07/2008

State Mosque, Kuantan

We stayed at the MS Garden hotel in Kuantan. I’m not sure what its rating is. At least 3 stars, I think. Most probably 4. It was a nice enough hotel, I suppose. Although given choices, I would’ve stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, which, apparently, is in the list of the company’s panel hotels. Bummer!

We spent the morning at the branches, where I finally got to meet the people who I only talked over the phone for the past 3 years or so. After visiting one agent’s office in the afternoon, we drove to Kuala Terengganu.

Kuala Terengganu
Saturday, 19/07/2008

For the first time, we managed to reach the hotel while the sun was still up. We stayed at the Grand Continental Hotel, which, judging by the conditions of the rooms and the things inside, is well past its former glory. The hotel definitely needs a face-lift.

Masjid Tengku Zaharah, Kuala Terengganu

We didn’t do much during our stay in Kuala Terengganu. The next morning we had breakfast outside since the food at the hotel sucks. We checked out at noon and drove to the next stop: Kota Bharu.

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Related post:

• South to East to North to West Tour - Part 1
• South to East to North to West Tour - Part 3

I am now in Melaka, the first stop of the week-long branch tour around the peninsular of Malaysia, all thanks to my boss who wants to experience first hand the issues currently faced by the branch staff and also the agents when they use the system to do business.

We left the office around 6:30 pm and after 2 hours or so of driving, we arrived at Mahkota Hotel, Melaka. It’s one of the company’s panel hotels, so we stay here for free. Good, eh? We only stay here for the night, though, since tomorrow afternoon we’ll move on to the next destination: Johor Bahru.

I’ve stayed here twice before and both times were satisfactory. This time, however, is quite a disappointment. Have you ever stayed in a hotel where the tap water resembles orange juice more than plain water? Have a look at the photo below and you’ll see what I mean.

I showed the photo to the girl at the reception on our way out to dinner and requested for a room change when we got back. The new room? Slightly better than the first. Although oddly enough, the 2 single beds are joined together. Sigh….

At least the water is clear.

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Related post:

• South to East to North to West Tour - Part 2
• South to East to North to West Tour - Part 3

I visited the website of the Immigration Department of Malaysia the other day to get the address of its KL office. I found the address, highlighted it, right-clicked the mouse and selected copy. Oh hang on.. there’s an error message. No, no.. it’s a thank you message.

Okay.. so right-click is not allowed. Isn’t that odd, though? I would’ve thought that anything put on a website and not protected is meant for the public.

But then, if the address is not supposed to be copied, what’s stopping me from:

1. Highlighting it and then pressing Ctrl+C?
2. Pressing the Print Screen button?
3. Simply writing down the address on a piece of paper?

I mean, really.. if you don’t want your data to be used by the public, then don’t put it on a website. I personally think the person who did this is afflicted by the ID-ten-T syndrome.

Phone, iPod, Internet, and more.

Apple will be releasing the new iPhone 3G this Friday, 11/07/2008. Termed as “a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser”, it’s definitely a new toy in my wish list (which, of course, is now more than a mile long ).

Want to know what’s new, click here for the technical spec.

A friend of mine asked me to buy a China-made iPhone during my trip to Shanghai. There’s a new model in the market, and looks convincingly like the original iPhone too. Not 100% similar, of course but close enough it can pass for a real one. And if you are a good bargainer, you can easily get one for RMB 700. Yup! Dirt cheap. But of course, there’s no warranty whatsoever. If you’re one of the braver souls in the universe (like 4 of my friends who bought one fake iPhone each), then all I can say is.. may the force be with you.

Having said that, if I want to get one for myself, I’ll definitely get the original. Yes, I admit. I’m not that brave.

But then, did you know that there’s no official iPhone distributor here in Kuala Lumpur? The nearest one is in Singapore. Bummer!