Busy...busy..

For the last three years, I was fortunate enough to have a General Manager in the plant to help out in many things. He being an English was able to easily step in when there is a need, especially when dealing with foreign customers.

Unfortunately, he has decided to seek for greener pastures and moved on.

So, until i have someone capable, i will have to take back some of the workload.

Such in life...

Beware....

darling husband,

Before you return from your trip I just want to let you know about a small accident I had with the pick-up truck when I turned into the driveway. Fortunately it's not too bad and I really didn't get hurt, so please don't worry too much about me.

I was coming home from the mall, and when I turned into the driveway I accidentally pushed down on the accelerator instead of the brake. The garage door is slightly bent but the pick-up fortunately came to a halt when it bumped into your Ferrari.

I am really sorry, but I know with your kind-hearted personality you will forgive me. You know how much I love you and care for you my sweetheart. I am enclosing a picture for you, so you won't be too surprised when you get home.


Your loving wife.

PS: Your girlfriend called.....

Jet lag...

It has been almost 10 days since i got back from the rather extended trip to the USA.

I thought that if i do not sleep at all on the return flight, from JFK New York to Bangkok and then to KLIA, some 24 hours, by the time i get to my own bed, i would really be dead tired and will be able to sleep.

Well, not quite..

The past week has been quite OK except at around 8PM at night. For some reason, that seem to be the time when my brain will switch off, the eyelids get really heavy, speech starts to slur, and things just become a bit blurry.

I think I am starting to get back to the local time...

Rental Cars

Perhaps one of the more enjoyable perks when traveling overseas and having to drive rentals is the fact that one gets to test/drive cars not normally available. This is suitably amplified when the country visited is the USA. To use taxis would be extremely prohibitive, and rather inconvenient. So, what to do apart from getting rentals?

Forgetting the fact that the steering wheel is on the left side of the vehicle, and they drive on the right side of the road, driving in the USA is relatively easy and rather sedated. Most drivers are courteous (with the exception of drivers in the Big Apple) and willingly overlook mistakes one may make when driving in not so familiar settings.

On this recent two weeks in the USA, the rentals were a Gran Marquis, a Grand Prix, Ford Fusion, Madza 6 and a Ford Edge.

The Edge is a mid size SUV, with a V6 engine.


The Edge from the side..


The cockpit of the Edge

The rear end....



The front...

Not so 'nice' hotel....

Perhaps i should have been more careful in selecting the hotel for the nights in New Jersey...

When i entered this neighbourhood, and passing houses that one would normally see on American TV shows where the police car is tearing down the street with sirens and flashing lights, i sort of thought, 'where the heck did i book myself into for the next two nights!!??'.

On the web, it seemed like a nice place, newly refurbished (so they claimed).

anyway, i am here...The room is OK, but the surrounding is a different matter.

Didn't quite felt safe to go out for dinner, so, ordered chinese fried rice...

This is quite a large portion, and since i didnt take lunch, it went down quite fast...



The name of the chinese restaurant is Golden City of East Orange, New Jersey. It comes with two packs of soya sauce, two packs of duck sauce and two fortune cookies...One of the fortune cookie says 'The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness'...profound.

Two more nights...

Will be flying to New Jersey later today. It has been a long trip, too long when you are are traveling alone.

Te meeting at Polaris lasted until about 4pm. Felt a bit hungry, and decided to get an ice cream. So, drove to one of those 'iconic' brands, Daily Queen. Got a mid size ice cream. It was not too bad..



Unfortunately, only took the picture after i finished the whole thingy...!!

Made In Israel

The hotel where I stayed in at Denver has something that is not likely to ever be allowed in to Malaysia.

It has towels Made In Israel....!!

Rocky Mountains National Park

With time on my hand, and nothing much else to do, the Neverlost GPS system from Hertz car rental said that one of the local attractions in Denver is the Rocky Mountains National Park, about 2 hours drive away.

So, i left the hotel at 8AM, and drove some 300 miles back and forth and now, voila, i have visited the Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado. One can drive around the whole park, and there were many camping grounds, lakes and rivers for fishing, and surprisingly at for such high altitude, there were a lot of water related activities. There were a lot of big SUVs pulling speedboats, and trailers/campervans.

The most amazing thing about the whole park is how the visitors care for the environment. Obviously, the visitors are all doing their part to ensure cleanliness and simply enjoy the natural beauty of the place.

Some pictures.....


It would seem in the winter, all this will be covered by snow...


Imagine the whole landscape white with snow...



There were rocks everywhere; wonder whether that is why it is called the Rockies...

Dinner in the room

Perhaps the most unpleasant part of traveling alone is wondering what to eat and where to eat.

Look at my dinner last night...



A pack of Savoy biscuits, and a microwavable bowl of wild rice complete with chunky beef pieces!!

Bon appetit...

JFK to Rochester, flight DL6149, 26 Aug 2007

The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 1225pm; but true to form during the summer months, most flights at any US airports will face delays. And this flight was delayed until almost 2pm.

After we took off and was climbing to cruising altitude, the Captain came on over the PA and announced that we have to return to JFK. It would seem there was something loose on the wing and it was flapping... The silence that descended upon all on board was absolutely deafening.

After circling for some time, and getting clearance (supposedly) to land, we landed without any hitches. We could see fire engines trailing us all the way until we came to a full stop. There must have been at least 5 fire trucks tracking the plane.

Once we stopped, technicians were climbing onto the wings to check and presumably, tighten whatever that was flapping..

then we waited for some 1 more hour to have the plane refueled.

All in all, another chapter of my travels in the USA....