Money, Money, Money.....

Money, money, money
Must be funny, in a rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny, in a rich man's world

So - I knew I was going to be in a tight spot after the trip with the flight tickets as well as the hotel bills.

What I didn't count on was:

a) Mobile Phone

My mobile phone getting stuffed up, requiring me to send it back for repairs. But its still under warranty and if it was just a software problem like the guy said, it shouldn't be that much of a problem

b) Laptop

The other laptop (the ACER, while I'm using the DELL) has been acting up. The WiFi has been giving problems but I think I managed to fix that but I have no idea how. Simple matter, no worries. No money involved - just a little bit of time and patience.

c) XBOX 360

Last night, the 360 gave problems as well. It now shows an Error Screen with a code of E 65 when I turn it on.

After searching online, found out that it was a hardware error. There is a Its still under warranty, which means I qualify to get it replaced. The problem is, the shop has got to send it back to Singapore via FEDEX. I was told that its going to cost me RM 250 for shipping and there are Customs fees to be factored in as well.

Isn't this just fucking great?!?!?!

It's just the opposite of Midas! Everything touched seems to end up "dead". Although some of them didn't require any cost in terms of money - it just fucks up my mood.

Just when I thought of putting some of my money to getting that 2 GB Sandisk M2 card I saw at the shop the other day. I guess if its money that has to be spent, its money that has to be spent. But I don't like this feeling at all. Of being broke, yet with more expenses and bills adding up. Urgh.

One of the most important events of the Phuket trip was left out in the last post.

I actually bumped in the VP of my department at the airport. And he was heading to Phuket with his wife and 2 young daughters as well. I will be the "target" of his jokes when I get back to work for sure.

Once upon a time, before I got promoted, he was the newly appointed VP for that department. He had a one-to-one talk to get to know the staff better. Then, I got news of my promotion and left. And he had a brief chat with me again, saying that it would be a loss to the department for me to go.

Then, when I started in the new department, we found out a few months later he was VP as well. He rounded up all of the management team and had a chat with us. During that chat, he jokingly said that there was no escape from him, adding that even by going to a different department, I would still have to face him.

Now, with this encounter at the airport, I wonder what else will come up during our management meetings. But all that aside, he's a nice, friendly man.

Managed to salvage some photos of the Phuket trip from the digital camera.

At the hotel - 1st Night

Jungceylon Shopping Mall - Fountain Show



Kata View Point - View from the top of the hill



Fantasea



Chang & Eng - We're known in Phuket too! And we see the world in pairs!

Golden Kinnarree Restaurant - Entrance



Golden Kinnarree Restaurant - Partial Interior





Golden Kinnarree Restaurant - Interior Deco



Golden Kinnarree Restaurant - Interior seems to stretch for miles



Palace Of The Elephant Theater - Entrance



The whitest and brightest shop at Fantasea - Blinding!!!!!









The interior is no different - plus they sell gemstone covered sculptures and such




Patong Beach



Patong Beach - Huge dog sculpture



Patong Nightlife - Blur photo, but it wasn't me



The hard to find in Malaysia - Spider-Man 3 (Black) action figure

The Twist - Day 4 - Shopping Once Again.....

We had the ABF – American Breakfast. Coupons were included. I pigged out on fried rice, fried eggs, sausages, toast, lots of coffee, pineapple and orange juice. Yes, they didn’t serve bacon today. Just when I thought I was getting sick of the bacon. They sure love their pork. They use pork in lots of their cooking, even at Burger King.

Some last minute shopping before checkout. It was our last day in Phuket. And again, we went to Jungceylon. I got souveniers for some of the guys at work. I was planning to get them beer holders but I had no bloody idea they were so expensive. Truth be told, I was on a budget in the first place, there was no way I could afford expensive gifts.

And I finally got the pouch that I was eyeing. Not exactly the same, but it’ll do. It was a fanny pack with a bottle (whilst the one I originally wanted had 2 bottles included but also cost double the price. It was a different brand).

Some observations while I was there.

One thing I noticed was that there were no A-class vehicles (I believe Perodua Kancils and Kelisas are A-class vehicles). People either rode “kup chais” or drove cars. There was nothing in between. So what kinds of cars were there if there were no Kancil/Kelisa sized vehicles? People drove cars like Honda Jazz, Honda City, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Honda CRV, Toyota Soluna, Toyota Soluna Vios (yes, that’s what its called in Thailand apparently), Toyota Corolla Altis, Toyota Camry etc.

Yes, everyone drove Japanese branded cars there. There were Mitsubishi Lancer taxis as well. Funny thing though, there weren’t that many luxury cars around like Mercedes Benz or even BMW.

So what does this all mean? Are Malaysians that poor that they needed to make small sized vehicles for most of the population? Or are the other Japanese-branded cars overpriced? Something to ponder about.

The movies at the hotel were also great. I don’t know if it was cable or free TV but I managed to catch some movies that I haven’t seen before while I was there. We managed a movie marathon on the last night that we were there:

• Superman Returns (Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey)
• The Man (Samuel L. Jackon, Eugene Levey)
• Babel (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi)
• Music And Lyrics (Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore)

Not only were the movies new, they were uncensored too! Except for certain parts in “Babel” example where the Japanese girl (Rinko Kikuchi) flashes her pussy to the strangers. The other thing I noticed is that nudity in Babel (again Rinko Kikuchi) was blurred out. It looks kinda weird, but at least the continuity isn’t affected.

By now, you’re probably wondering what twist I’m referring to. Like all M. Night Shyamalan movies, there’s always a twist to his stories.

Notice there's no photos in any of the posts about the trip? Why? What a twist!

As I was saying, we got back today – and as I was about to copy the photos that I took on my camera phone to the PC, the phone restarted by itself and now, I can only get a white screen! Nothing else works!

My phone is officially fucked!

I will probably need to bring it back to the shop tomorrow to see what can be done. In the mean time, I might probably have lost all photos and messages that I have not backed up.

Fuck!

The Twist - Day 3 - Shopping.....Again

We had the ABF – American Breakfast. Coupons were included. I pigged out on fried eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, lots of coffee, pineapple and orange juice

On the 3^rd day, we decided to check out all the other shops that lined the streets as well as the beach. The place sort of reminds me like the suburbs when I was in Melbourne. Small shops, lots of restaurants and pubs.

It rained and we had to take shelter at one of the restaurants for the rain to stop.

I was told that I could get T-shirts for cheap in Phuket. And they were cheap, except that they didn’t fit. They really should start making bigger T-shirts. They are a tourist destination after all!

Some of them have some really interesting graphics and slogan/statements but my favourite was:

I don’t want a F*c*ing massage, taxi or suit. Thank you very much (one of my favourites)

I found this absolutely great because we were walking around most of the time, and the streets were lined with massage parlours with the girls waiting outside, Bangladeshi/Pakistani/Middle Eastern tailors with the tailors waiting outside and at every corner, people would shout out if we wanted to take a taxi.

The t-shirt is genius! Except the geniuses who came up with it didn’t think it make it in bigger sizes.

However, I ended up with nothing but got some gifts for the girls at work.

We went to Jungceylon (again!) and I was finally convinced to get the Spider-Man 3 figure by Ryan. Also got myself a multi-purpose pouch which I’ll be using for my mobile phone.

The Twist - Day 2 - Phuket City Tour and Fantasea

We had the ABF – American Breakfast. Coupons were included. I pigged out on fried eggs, bacon, sausages, potato salad, toast, lots of coffee, pineapple and orange juice.

Our guide came and took us for the Phuket Town tour on the 2^nd day. Among the stops were the Cashew Nut factory, a gemstone factory and the last stop was the crappy shopping mall in the middle of town.

The Cashew Nut factory was an eye opening experience. I never knew that the cashew nut came from a fruit and there’s only 1 nut sticking out of each fruit! I also didn’t know that the Cashew fruit could taste so good. They were selling the juice of the fruit mixed with soda which turned out to be a Zappel-like concoction, called Cashewy. Nice!

The Gemstone factory seemed vaguely familiar. Then I remembered we had gone for a tour like that the last time we were in Bangkok. A huge place with precious stones and jewellery. The only thing different this time around was the free iced drinks after the tour.

The final stop (because we told the guide we wanted to go shopping while he was trying to get us to go to Phi Phi Island and other beaches) was somewhere in the middle of Phuket Town at a place called FJ Robinson’s. And that place was absolutely shit! Sure, they had a KFC there. After looking around at clothes and stuff, I decided to check out the toy section. A poor selection if you asked me. There wasn’t that rare black Spider-Man figure although they did have some of the others. Shitty. And I can back it up.

It’s fine if you don’t stock “rare” Spider-Man 3 action figures, but when a place like Carrefour in Jungceylon sells PSPs and Playstation 3s. Yes, my friends, you read that right. Carrefour sells PSPs and Playstation 3s in Phuket. FJ Robinson Mall – you suck!!!!!

I think we stopped at Jungceylon, but I can’t really remember now. Because I remember having Burger King on one of those days.

The only time we took transport was to and from the airport, as well as for the trip to Kamala Beachto visit the “Fantasea” Theme Park on Day 2. There was a live show called "Fantasy Of A Kingdom" that was highly recommended by our guide and it was voted "Best Attraction"

It was a theme-park with enormous buildings. The show that we went to watch was the “Fantasea” stage show. Tickets were 1600 Baht per person including a pre-show buffet dinner at the "Golden Kinnarree" Buffet Restaurant. The buffet started at 6:30 pm while the main show at the "Palace Of The Elephants" Theater started at 9:00 pm. The show was alright, the air-con just right but the seats were pretty cramped for tall people.

The show was supposedly a cultural/historical show but there was a magic/illusion act in the middle. The 2 "magicians/hosts" were looking for volunteers to assist with the trick. And then they kept picking on this poor petite looking girl who assisted in the first trick. At first I didn't think much of it. But as I watched on, I realized that the girl must be one of the planted performers in the audience. Thank Christoper Nolan's movie "The Prestige" for that.

True enough, she was selected to do about 3 different tricks which included sawing her into half and the disappearing act amongst other illusions. Best thing to do to get a better understanding, would be watch "The Prestige" starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Come to think of it, that movie kinda spoils what magic is all about.

The Twist - Day 1

We just got back from Phuket earlier this evening. The trip was tiring but kinda fun. My feet are aching all over now from all the walking that I’ve done. I don’t remember ever walking so much. Not since I was in Melbourne.

Didn't think I could do but I survived 3 whole days with no Internet. Good thing I've had a TV to keep me company. I must say its not that I didn't try to get Internet access though! Tried at the airports but the so-called WiFi didnt' work. I needed to get the usernames and passwords.

We were staying at the Patong Bayshore Hotel in an area called Patong. It was on the West side of Phuket Island, about 45 minutes from the Phuket International Airport.

The weather was generally fine throughout the 4 days we were there. It only rained pretty heavily on the 3^rd day. Walking was our main mode of transportation.

The first thing we did upon arriving was to look for something to eat after checking in. First meal in Phuket – Subway! Come to think of it, the prices are pretty expensive. I don’t know if its because Patong’s one of the more expensive areas. A meal at Subway cost between 200 – 250 Baht. That’s about RM 20 – 25. But it was the footlong submarine sandwich. Most of the fast food outlets charge that price for a set meal. While we were there, we had Subway, Burger King and some Pizza place.

Then it was back to the hotel for some rest before heading out for dinner at one of the many restaurants along the main street. Then, it was a short walk to a shopping mall called Jungceylon, about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. It was already late, so we didn’t have much time to look around.

Some sports shops were having sales of 10% – 80% discount on sports wear, shoes and other stuff. I did, however, manage to find a rare (in Malaysia) black costumed Spider-Man 3 action figure. Sold out in Malaysia, but I was still hesitating to get it.