Earth moves...

How could I forget to mention the earthquake in Indonesia on the day I landed at KL?? It somehow slipped my mind. Everyone were worried back home since I was so close to the incident. It was in the middle of the night and I was completely jetlagged and tired after a 24 hour long flight, I just slept through the whole thing. The next day, I was told that people felt the jolt in KL too and were ready to evacuate the building if it got worse. I had to convince my folks back home that everything was fine and I was safe.
Its indeed very sad to see nature strike twice at the same place. Its heartbreaking to see people's suffering and distress and makes one think how does nature choose one from the other.
Anyways, the aftershocks are still keeping folks back home on the edge. Everyday I talk to them, this would be the first question.
I am slowly coming out of my flu and it is getting better by the day.
I started cooking the travel kootu yesterday and I ended up adding more water than necessary. So I added some noodles to it and made it into a veggie noodles. It was delicious. Have some leftover for today.
Need to plan something for the weekend. Will do it tonight. May have to work tomorrow.
Read about a website called http://www.ohmynews.com . This is a korean based company where every citizen is a journalist. Found it very interesting.

Will be back soon...

Malaysia - Truly Asia

I am back to blogging after a long break. I realized that if I try to blog at the end of every trip, it becomes too much of a write-up and I eventually get lazy. So I decided that I will try to blog on a day-to-day basis when I travel and discipline myself to pen some thoughts even when I am not travelling. Let me see how far it goes this time.

I am back in Malaysia for a 2 week stint. You might be thinking what I mean by "back". Yeah, I never got around to blog during my last trip to Malaysia. I do have the write-up half complete but I decided that I will publish it later.

This time I came on Eva air with a stopover at Taipei for 3.5 hours. My cell phone and calling card gave up on me so I could never call back home to tell my beloved that I reached Taipei safely. She was worried sick and I could call her only after I got to the hotel in Kuala Lumpur(KL). Got a good earful from her but I was helpless. Thats when I realized that how much ever I consider myself connected with cellphones, VOIP, Internet, International calling cards etc. etc., if the planets align, nothing can help you. The passengers around me were coughing and I was so worried that I could catch something contagious. True to my worries, I did came down with a severe flu as soon as I got to KL. I am now 3 days into my trip and I am suffering from cold, sore throat and fever. Got another earful for getting sick.. You know from whom....

Since I was here at KL in January for 2 weeks, I knew what facilities are available for me at the hotel. Its actually a fully furnished 1 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen. So I decided to cook this time for my evening food. To my luck, my uncle visited me just as I was leaving for KL, and he offered me advise on how I can cook during travel. So I brought some essentials with me this time and cooked my first offshore dinner. Its called the infamous "Travel Kootu" with potatoes, onions, Cauli and tomato boiled in water with sambhar powder and salt. I could not have asked for a better dinner. It was just amazing. I still have some veggies left so planning to cook today evening too. The hotel has a rice cooker. I brought some rice from home so I can cook rice and have it with kootu and yogurt.

I have been strictly told to get some thoughtful gifts this time. Last time I took a refrigirator magnet of KLCC tower and 3 DVDs with me. So I decided to shop during the weekend.

Like last time, I brought my VOIP(Voice Over IP) phone with me and hooked it to the broadband connection at the hotel. So I call back home for free and they can call me for free. When I am at work, I get the voicemail as an attachment to my email. The technology is just amazing and I should thank my manager for introducing me this technology and also paying for it. Thats right.. Its my business line phone so the company pays the monthly charges for the phone.

I have resolved to work-out this time. Once I come out of this flu, I should work-out.

I need to get back to the hotel and rest now.. Will come back soon with more thoughts..

Until then.. Ciao...