Malaysian Drivers, Tsk Tsk Tsk

You and I know Malaysia is famous for many things - teh tarik, Petronas Twin Towers, orang utans, 1Malaysia and corruption and...Rude Drivers.

After all, Malaysians are a capable bunch.

I know, rude motorists are everywhere.

But, Malaysians...ah, you'll be surprised of how rude and un-courteous we can be.

Here's a list of the things Malaysians do on the road:



Accident? What Happened a?

Ever wonder why you're stuck in a traffic jam without a reason?

In one second, you're driving happily because the traffic is smooth-flowing, suddenly you hit the brake and after a short stretch of traffic jam, you drive on like a free man again.

What happened at the short stretch, you wonder?

An accident, maybe?

Yes. But on the opposite direction!

Almost every driver, I can assure you, will either slow down or brake a bit and turn their heads to see what's going on, like they really care and will help out.

These nosy people are the ones who cause traffic jams. BOO.

Curiosity kills the cat, people. Don't create another accident.



Baby's Joy Ride

I'm talking about Lucky toddlers who first steer the wheels at the age of 2 or younger.

Their daddys just can't wait to give them their first driving lesson.

How sweet...

Sarcasm aside, I was utterly horrified when I witnessed fathers who sat their small babies on their laps while they were driving. Small babies!

Where are the enforcers when you need them!?



Car as Playground

Despite the proactive campaign of buckling up in the car, many parents ignore it.

They let their kids stand on the seat, walk from left to right and jump up and down and treat the car like a playground.

Tell me this, what happens to the kids when the car make a sudden halt?

They go tumbling down like Jack and Jill.



No signalling

Almost all of us don't turn on the indicator when turning into a junction. We're just too afraid it'll drain off the battery power.

One day, my friend was driving on the fast lane at 100km/h, following quite closely behind a car when the driver made a sudden swerve to the left.

To my friend's utter shock, there was a car sitting motionless right in front and he had to hit the brake so hard to avoid crashing into the car that had just broken down.

Now, don't convince me that there were other reasons that the driver didn't see the car in front of him.

He didn't even signal any warning to my friend.

What if there's a car tailing closely behind my friend? Another accident.



Jumping Q

What usually happens is this: The impatient driver would drive pass all other cars in queue and stop right where the turning is, with the signal on (they think it'll work).

Just as the traffic light turns green, he would get so close to your car, you'd just have to give way to him.

Otherwise, your precious car would get itself a dimple (dent).



Beating traffic lights

Oh yes, we do have a habit of beating traffic lights...Even a car which is travelling at 35km/h will speed up to 100km/h just as the traffic light turns yellow. Amazing, ain't it?

Motorcyclists are good at this. I call them the Opportunists. When they see an opportunity (no car at sight), they seize it.

Kudos!



Creative parker

Oh, I see this almost everywhere and I ain't kidding. I hate this particular place where I have to go on Sundays.

It's at Taman Connaught, Cheras. If you're familiar with this area, you'd know the most visited Dim Sum shop there.

I've been there a few times and I seriously do not have a clue as to why so many people throng this shop.

(Pic: Somewhere in SS2, Petaling Jaya: Cars sitting comfortably on non-parking space.

Can't blame them. Their asses are too heavy they just have to park right in front of the shop.)

The customers park wherever they like and even double park their cars just so they can have a lovely dim sum breakfast. To make things worse, the shop owner even places tables on the road itself.

Can you imagine the chaos on that road?

Oh, I bet the dim sum shop owner owns the roads there since they don't have any troubles with the authorities. Get it? Well, money sometimes can buy everything.



Multi-taskers

I'm usually the passenger so I get to observe all the time. I see drivers managing their tasks in the car very well.

The tasks they do?

Dig stubborn gold (nose), munching sandwiches, replying SMSes, answering phone calls, conducting (moving hands) while talking, reading papers during traffic jams, picking up things from the car floor, tie hairs, you name it.

There's one time when I was on the road and this car in front of us was swaying right and left and travelling quite slowly on a fast lane. So, we drove past him and like everyone else, took a glance at the driver.

Walla! He was on the phone!



(What a bummer! This topic was published on The Star last weekend. Shall not procrastinate.)

The Tale of Tenggiri

Sekeping Tenggiri Review


Odd name for a street

Tenggiri is the name of a particular fish in Malay.

It is also the name of one street, one particular street in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

Quite an eccentric name for a street, don't you think?

I've lived in Kuala Lumpur all my life, and I swear, I'd not heard of Tenggiri street.

If you think the name 'Jalan Tenggiri' is amusing, you'd be ticklish to hear this: 'Sekeping Tenggiri' (means one slice of Tenggiri fish or Tenggiri fish fillet).

Trust me, I'm still not over that name yet.



Describing a piece of fish

How do I describe Sekeping Tenggiri?

It's flat, tender and certainly raw!

That is describing the texture and shape of a piece of Tenggiri, but it's definitely not fish-related what I'm talking about here.

                                    (pic: Laying down on the King-sized bed while watching TV in the glass room at Sekeping Tenggiri is pure relaxation.)

Trouble finding Sekeping Tenggiri

I'm talking about a property developed into a one-of-a-kind guesthouse on a street that's so difficult to find even when you have your GPS.

Believe me.

We tried finding the street one day before our check-in day and we rounded in the same area for several times, before we finally found Jalan Tenggiri.

Sekeping Tenggiri hides deep inside the chic Bangsar area, quite near to where News Straits Times is located at.

Information on getting there will be mentioned at the end of this blog.

Tenggiri Rooms

Sekeping Tenggiri not only offers stay in a glass room, but also (loft, skyview, courtyard, garden and poolview) room.

Every room is worth the stay, if you appreciate uniqueness.

(L: This window or door on the front part of the glass room opens door to nature surrounding this guesthouse. The glass room 's on the first floor.)

In the skyview room, there's a ladder that leads you up to an attic-like room with a small skylight. So, when you sleep on the bed, you can watch the sky above you through the small, see-through glass.

It doesn't matter if the light in the room is too dim for you to read a book, for you can count on the sunlight that pierce through the see-through glass to give you a clearer vision.

The rooms may look rusty, but they're clean, rest-assured. They're meant to look rusty and raw.

Just look at the unrefined walls and doors and the wood of the room.

The whole concept of rawness and minimalism just breathes familiarity.

(pic: Surrounded by raw brick walls and one crawly plant, this garden exudes great atmosphere for relaxation - Garden Room)

It reminded me of my late grandmother's old 'kampung' wooden house in Johor, without chickens and cats running around the room. Everything looked rusty, simple and raw, yet so cosy.

This guesthouse does house two very tamed dogs with funny names, adopted from SPCA and they are called, "Pulau" (island) and "Ketam" (crab).

I bet the owner has some sense of humour and is in love with Crab Island (Pulau Ketam).



The Glass room

I'm not sure if you remember the lake house in "Lake House" movie, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.

No? The house is completely made of glass and is an amazing architectural work that overlooks a calm lake; utterly amazing and so romantic.

This glass room is something like that. Erm, not that close actually. I guess it's because it's only partially made of glass. As you can see, there's rough, unrefined walls. The glass part only fills the front part.

Yet, I love this room, somehow.

 

    

The air circulating the room smells and tastes like nature. It brought me back to nature; to basic.

Even though I was still in the city, this particular guesthouse kept me away from the hustle and bustle of the city life.

Everything just went slow, allowing me to enjoy and embrace the beautiful surrounding and, life.

In this room, my fiance wasn't the only companion I had. There was a dragonfly resting on a light, a small bee buzzing around the room, trying to escape back to where it belonged and other insects too small to notice.

I didn't get any insect bite, so it's not a must to have an insect repellant.

If you're afraid of boredom and need a form of entertainment, there's a TV and a DVD player.

The Bathroom

I particularly like the bathroom, where the sink is made of cement and taps, of steel? Aluminium? Argh, I don't know...

And the shower area has no roof so you can see the sky perfectly clear.

The toilet bowl or WC sits on top of a wooden platform just next to the entrance. Whether you're doing small or big business, you can always enjoy watching the activities outside and be one with the nature.

But be extra careful when you sit next to the window like I'm sitting in the pic for there's no railing or safety measure to avoid falling off.

If you need to make up, there's a mirror on the wall and also a very bright adjustable light.

Bring your own hairblower if you require one.

The Common Lounge

The Common Lounge is equipped with a fridge and a microwave oven, which means you can buy frozen food from the mall and heat it.

If you're running out of drinking water, you can always get a refill at the common lounge. Hot water's also provided.

Since there's no dining table in the room, you can head to the poolside common lounge to have a bite and a drink while watching Astro (satellite) channels on TV. There's no Astro in the rooms.

If you're not a couch potato, you can grab a book or magazine to read there. There's a variety of books and magazines to choose from, I think. I'm sorry for the uncertainty, but I didn't have the time to explore the lounge, so I can't provide you more info on the reading materials.

There's another option, get connected to the Internet with wifi access.

There's another reason for you to hang out at the dining area. You just have to see the lights that are made of recycable items like food cans. They look exquisite, in a way.

Food Alert!
Be warned, you may have trouble finding food along Jalan Tenggiri, but there's one or two restaurants and cafes just two streets away, I think.

A Must - Transportation

This is a place that requires a mode of transportation (car or motorcycle) to get to and to get out of.

But, if you really don't have much choice, you can always walk from the nearest train station, Abdullah Hukum LRT station for about 5mins (according the Google Map info) or maybe more (my opinion).

Don't expect all taxi drivers to know the way and I'm pretty sure most taxi drivers do not have a clue where Jalan Tenggiri is.

So it's safer to print out the map to Jalan Tenggiri to show it to the taxi driver.

There's a bus stop right after you've reached the main road, which is around 15 mins walk.

Tenggiri Details.

Address: 48, Jalan Tenggiri, Taman Weng Lock, Bangsar, Petaling Jaya

GPS: N 3° 7' 17.8062" E 101° 40' 9.7422"

For further details, visit http://tenggiri.com/

For reservations, do it at http://tenggiri.com/ or call +6017 2075 977

For photography, there's a RM100 surcharge.

To Get There

1. Head west on Lebuhraya Mahameru toward Jalan Sultan Salahhudin 1.1 km

2. Keep right at the fork 950 m

3. Continue onto Jalan Damansara 500 m

4. Take the ramp to Jalan Travers 300 m

5. Keep right at the fork to continue toward Jalan Travers 180 m

6. Keep right at the fork to continue toward Jalan Travers 200 m

7. Keep right at the fork and merge onto Jalan Travers 700 m

8. Continue onto Jalan Bangsar 750 m

9. Keep right at the fork 170 m

10. Slight right to merge onto Jalan Maarof 300 m

11. Turn left at Jalan Tandok 350 m

12. Continue onto Jalan Kurau 500 m

13. Turn left at Jalan Sepat 54 m

14. Turn right at Jalan Tenggiri

Destination will be on the left 160 m

(Google Direction)



(All photos and texts are copyright reserved -z)

Over a Broken Hp

I was pissed, so was my mom.

She was even pissed-er than me because her handphone (my Sony Ericsson 580i that I no longer use) had stopped functioning, for...the third time? I think so.

The screen's gone blank, again.

She was so pissed with her handphone that she threw a little temper tantrum in front of me, a victim of this unforeseen situation.

I hated it. I despised to be in this situation, especially when I'm innocent! When I've got nothing to do with it.

Why do I have to go through this over and over again, just because she can't control her emotions? God.

Must she go ballistic over a broken handphone? Was that crucially necessary?

She asked me to fix her problem. No, wait. She didn't ask...she commanded.

Me? Really?

As much as I'd love to help her, I just couldn't. It's beyond my knowledge, my capability.

I'm not a handphone technician. I'm just a handphone user.
I'm not even familiar with my HTC's apps since I started using it last year. So....you get it, right?

But, I don't.

I think I never will comprehend why she has to sweat the small stuff, the trivial stuff, the mini, miney, little things.

She could have had made the right choice, of not hurting my feelings, but she chose to be a brutal lioness and tore me into hundreds of pieces for no reason!

I hate seeing her torturing herself over some useless piece of junk, that we could just pitch it into our junkyard and sustain a good mother-daughter relationship.

Sigh...We often let our emotions cloud our judgment, don't we? And we end up being regretful.

Sometimes, you never get the chance to say you're sorry. 

I'm a forgiving type, so it's OK if she never says 'sorry' for I know I hurt her more than she's hurt me.

And, I've not said "I'm sorry" too.

So, let's just give and take.

As an old-age Chinese saying goes, "There's no overnight hatred." (I hope I translate it correctly)