Triscribe

Author: Y C

  • En Route ….. still

    I thought after thousands of miles of traveling I know pretty much most of the “finer print” stuff related to travel. I was mistaken. Apparently, under the code “G” for group, everyone under that code must travel together. So in my case, me and my wife with the plane tickets in that group needed to check-in and board together. We didnt’ know that until B- needed to stay back in Malaysia. I thought I’d just go ahead use the ticket and reschedule B-‘s portion. Bzzzt, thank you for playing. So spent the day scrambling to find tickets back to Taipei.

    Thank God for JetStarAsia, which I think will really compete head to head with AirAsia operating out of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. It is now much cheaper to fly into and from Singapore Changi to destinations supported by ValueAir and JetStarAsia. So much so that there’s no need to fly into KLIA as the bus tickets from Singapore’s Golden Mile on Beach Road costs no more than US$7.50 to KL’s Puduraya. There’s about a dozen or so bus lines that do this trek and lots of people use it. You can save hundreds of dollars just by doing that if you’re willing to deal with the inconvenience of a 5-6 hour bus ride into KL. I am.

    Having said that though, my trip last night was a real pain in the ass. Thought I was buying a Grassland bus from KL -> Singapore but found that it was really a ticket for Eltabina Ekspress. Well, the bus was okay, decent shape and not too full so I was able to lounge out for the bus ride down. It was getting to the Singapore’s customs that became a problem. I got stuck behind a bus load of Thai migrant workers. The individual time for custom’s to process them took about 5-7min each. I was standing in line for about 30+ minutes. Just enough time for my bus driver to leave me there at Singapore customs’s in Woodland. I was pissed needless to say.

    Luckily there were plenty of taxi’s at 5am there and I was dropped off at the nearest MRT station. For SGD 2.90 I traveled from there to Changi Airport. One of the cheapest, cleanest, efficient and worry free trip one can take anywhere. Trip took about an hour with the two transfers along the way.

    Now I’m banging away at one of the many free Internet terminals here…. can’t focus on the technical writing I need to do so I’ll just have to flush this day, relax and go with the flow. Next week will be a doozy — faced with having to move my office, apartment into a new place without B-‘s super efficient packing and cleaning skills. And having to finish some deliverables….

    Thank God for coffee… I’ve fallen off the wagon. Oh well. Such is life.

    BTW, based on the news reports, the New Orleans Katrina disaster seems totally off the wall. Is it worse than it reads? Tsunami devastation we’re talking about there? FEMA another disaster of a Federal Agency….

    Laters,
    =YC

  • Changi Airport is awesome

    Thanks FC for the nice message. We got out of Typhoon Talim on JetstarAsia, the no frills airlines that reminds me of Southwest. Trip was a bit bumpy but the flight was pretty much empty. B- and I are hanging out in Terminal 1 at Changi Airport which is 24 hours and very cool.

    It’s about 3am and security came around with 2 fully armed (with automatic weapons) police checking ID and just making sure that the folks who belong here, belong. We’ve got a couple more hours to blow before getting onto the Singapore MRT and to Orchard Bus Road area to take a bus up to KL.

    All in all, a very interesting and unique way for us to spend our first year’s anniversary! 🙂

    =YC

  • Beat the Typhoon!

    This year typhoon season has come fast and furious to Taiwan. Latest Typhoon Talim and another (Nabi) right behind it is bearing down on us. Here’s another graphic of the storm tracking.

    Meanwhile, B- and I are rushing to get on the first flight out of here to make an appointment with the US Embassy in KL end of this week. Originally booked on MAS direct to KL on Sept 1st but due to Talim, we’ve had to reroute ourselves to Singapore on JetstarAsia then bus it up to KL a day earlier. Hope we can make it!!!

    Why all this? Our spousal visa application is due. It’s been quite the stressful time. Wish us well.

    =YC

  • Ying or Yang?

    Jism... hmm hmmm good for your dog???

    Lost in translation? It’s a beauty. 😀

    =YC

  • I’ll be on radio!

    The Taiwan expat community is starting a new radio station. The former ICRT here has become localized. So the expat folks are starting WWRN (World Wide Radio Network) which will go life on the FM dial September 1st. My show will be on the air tomorrow at 12 noon Taipei time (12 midnight EST). I run it through Windows Media Player. If that doesn’t work well (it doesn’t for me) then in WMF, you need to Ctrl-U and input http://wwrn.mine.nu:8000 and it’ll work.

    Let me know how it is 🙂

    =YC

  • Kim Il Jong’s blog

    A friend showed this to me. It’s pretty hilarious read. Mark of a bi-polar, multiple personality person or just plain genious :).

    Kim Jong Il (the illmatic)’s Journal

    Also for those investor types, check out Investor Simulator.

    =YC

  • It’s summer doldrums

    So global warming is the real deal….Scorching hot all around the world.

    This past few days in Ipoh, even the locals are complaining that it’s been really unbearable. And I thought it was just me. Lamenting about the lack of I-infrastructure here, making it difficult to get online without finding a nearby I-cafe. There are some nice ones. Currently borrowing my cousin’s Streamyx system. Satisfactory.

    Some days I just need to vent and wonder why. I”m tired, hot, and over-stuffed (from the non-stop eating), over-socialized and just need some time alone. I’ve got to get some paperwork out for the latest PMBOK 2004 rrevisions and then tomorrow, 6:30am ride to KL for two meetings, one with the US Embassy and then another in Petaling Jaya. Doing it without wheels will be challenging as M’sia has become a motorized country – like California. No wheels? SOL.

    It’s been good to visit family here and getting to know M’sia again. As I get older, I realize that all the times that I spend with my family here are the happy times for me. Family is important. All the rest, I leave it in God’s hand.

    =YC

  • Ipoh and another year under the belt

    Back in the clan hood this past week. Came over for a number of reasons. Mostly to attend a conference on IT Project Management. You can find out more about it from the Mastering IT Project Management: Best Practices in Asia Pacific brochure

    Met quite a number of important people associated with Malaysia’s Cyberjaya program Multimedia Super Corridor. The Multimedia Development Center is again pushing hard to the world companies. It’s an impressive area and definitely reminds me of Silicon Valley but with nicer palm trees. While a nice achievement, there’s still a lot of work to do and more push to speed up development to be world-wide competitive, not just SE Asia or ASEAN competitive.

    Also taking care of some personal things and then head back to Taipei next week. Reacquainting myself to the food again. A lot of nice things :).

    Cheers,
    =YC

  • What state are you?



    You’re North Dakota!
    You are rather remote, and even inaccessible to the average person. While many would thus describe you as stuck-up, to you it seems more like you’re just stuck. When no one is looking, you yearn to engage in 19th-century European political subterfuge. When looking for peace, head for the garden. But please, be extremely careful around wood-chippers.

    Take the State Quiz
    at the Blue Pyramid.

  • What animal are you?



    You’re a Giant Squid!
    One of the most shadowy and dark figures in your community, you sometimes are only known by what you leave behind, and what others say of you. With this murky and mysterious rap, you’ve become one of the most pursued and pondered people of your populous. You’re exceptionally large and even more lanky. You’re really into those suction cup baby-on-board signs made for cars.

    Take the Animal Quiz
    at the Blue Pyramid.