Singapore visit

It has been quite some time now since I last visited Singapore; certainly since the younger girl came along, we have never visited the 'red dot'. So, last Friday, we drove to Singapore and stayed three nights.

The drive to the 2nd link was pleasant enough; there was only a very short stretch where the highway was under repair, and traffic was reduced to only one lane. Immigration was quite smooth apart from the fact that since the car I drove has never been in to Singapore, I needed to get a 'Autopass'; which is basically a prepaid cash card. This card is used to pay the toll and even parking in shopping malls. Quite efficient indeed.

We did the touristy things, such as visit to the Zoo, the Science Center, Sentosa Island, shopping malls. All in all, pleasant.

One thing for sure, everything seems to be more orderly in Singapore compared to Malaysia. One could easily find clean washrooms, whereas, those at PLUS R&R are smelly and dirty. It cannot be that Malaysia is lacking in human capital or resources, since we should have more that the tiny 'red dot'. But, i guess, it has more to do with how we utilise what we have.

Tukun Perak - the Aftermath

The distance from Penang jetty to Tukun Perak is some 160km, a journey that took 8 hours. We departed at about 10am, and finally reached the destination at around 530pm. The journey itself was quite uneventful; weather was good and the sea waves hardly noticeable, which fortunately was the same throughout the whole trip.

There were 9 of us, excluding the crew. The 'crew', was just the captain and his assistant.

On arrival at the tukun, the boat was driven about 50 meters or so from the rocks. chugging along at a very slow speed, all of us were scrambling to cast out our poppers as near the rocks as we dare to, and reeling in the lure, creating a ripple and popping effect, which in turn will cause the targeted fish to attack the lures.

The target were the GTs (Giant Trevally), a very strong fighting fish. Once hooked up, this fish will use it's broad body to prevent itself from being reeled in. The position of the body is such that leader's poundage below 50lbs will easily get cut. And if this happen, not only will you lose the fish, you will also lose your lure!

Some photos of the trip..


The 'Tukun' or outcrop, around which we anchored for 2 days.

Ernest carrying the biggest catch of the trip which also gave him the biggest fish fight of his life!!

Two of a kind, almost the same size..

Sunrise from the bow of the boat.

Hard at work popping their lures.

The catch at the end of the trip.

I personally would rate this trip as one of the most successful ever. The objective was to get GTs'. And the unexpected bonus was the size of the catch. Around most fishing spots, the largest would probably be around 10kgs, but on this trip, the largest was well in excess of 25kgs.

It was a good trip.

Tukun Perak

After a rather long break, this weekend, starting at around 2am on 9th Nov, it will be a solid hard core deep sea adventure.

Early Friday, we will drive to Pinang island for the long boat ride to a place called Tukun Perak. Apparently, it is an outcrop somewhere west of Perak state. i have never been there, but the targets are GTs, mackerels, and other hard fighting fishes. At night, we will just anchor somewhere and hope for mild wind and milder waves. We will also be doing metals jiggings, poppings and at night, bottom fishing/bashing.

I will be going with my Banax Kaigen, and maybe at least two other reels along with the usual arsenal in the optimistic hope of landing the elusive big one.

By the time we get back to USJ, it would be sometime late Sunday night, or even early Monday morning.

Hopefully, will have some impressive photos and equally impressive freshly caught fishes for dinner. Meantime, still dreaming of catching the big one....

The Rules of Marketing

Got this through email.. have fun..!!

THE RULES OF MARKETING

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!”

*That’s Direct Marketing.*

2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and you see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and, pointing at you, says: “He’s very rich. Marry him.” -

* That’s Advertising.*

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: “Hi, I’m very rich. Marry me” -

* That’s Telemarketing.*

4. You’re at a party and you see gorgeous girl. You get up, straighten your tie, walk up to her, pour her a drink, open the door (of the car) for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say: “By the way, I’m rich. Will you marry me?” -

* That’s Public Relations.*

5. You’re at a party and you see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says: “You are very rich! Can you marry me?” -

* That’s Brand Recognition.*

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” She gives you a slap on your face.-

* That’s Customer Feedback.*

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” And she introduces you to her husband.-

* That’s demand and supply gap*

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you could say anything to her, another person intervened and tells her: “I’m rich. Will you marry me” and she goes with him. -

* That’s competition eating into your market share*.

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you could say: “I’m rich, Marry me!” your wife arrives. -

* That’s restriction from entering new markets*.