Destination: Penang-Location Location Location

For those travelling from KL, Sarawak, Singapore and Brunei (thank you so much for coming!), I try my best to put in bits and pieces of information about Penang. While most of my relatives reside on Penang Island today, I grew up in Alor Setar. So, I do not actually know a lot about Penang except how to get to my Ah Mah's (grandmother) place from the Penang Bridge and back again.

My 10 months spent in International College (Bukit Jambul, Penang) were mainly confined in a students' apartment barely 5 minutes away from the school - not much of an outgoing person then.

Anyway, here's a first look at where the event will be taking place, and some suggestions of where to stay.


That island above is Penang Island, situated somewhat West of Peninsular Malaysia with mainland Butterworth and Prai to its East. Further inland and towards the North will be the state of Kedah-where I come from.

The map below is a magnified section of the top right quarter of the island above. The Eastern & Oriental (usually only known as E&O) Hotel, where the wedding reception will be, is located right under that word GEORGETOWN. See it?


For those not considering to stay at the E&O, there are plenty of other hotels nearby.

If you'd like some seabreeze in your face and sand in between your toes, Paradise Sandy Bay, Copthorne and Tj Bungah Hotel aren't too bad. They're about 15-30 minutes away from E&O by taxi.

Now, for those who simply MUST go to Gurney Drive (but seriously, there ARE other similarly or better eating places elsewhere but I'll humor you anyway) The Gurney Hotel and G Hotel are pretty much quite close to your heart's desire. G Hotel is brand new and is literally glued to the Gurney Plaza - quite good shopping there for those in need of last minute touch ups to their party gear. Plus there are a number of cafes there for a late night drink or two. Apart from those two, the Evergreen Laurel hotel is not too bad, so is the Northam AllSuites. In the map above Gurney Drive is roughly between Northam and Evergreen. That's where G Hotel and Gurney Hotel are as well.

Other hotels within the vicinity of E&O to consider are:

Cititel
City Baview
Traders Hotel (Shangri La in the map above)
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (a magnificently restored mansion of a chinese merchant converted into a heritage hotel. A breathtaking work of asian architecture)
The Merchant Hotel

The next map is mainly dedicated to those who wish to stay nearer to the airport. I know some of you have an early flight to catch on Monday morning (19 Nov) after the wedding reception.

This is a magnified section of the Bayan Lepas/Bayan Baru area-bottom right quarter of island. Around this area there's the Vistana Hotel or Krystal Suite or Equatorial.

More to come on Things to Do and attractions along the Feringghi stretch. Later...

-Disclaimer: As I've always stayed at home when in Penang, I do not actually know how good these hotels are. Those that I would recommend (from friends' experiences) are G Hotel, The Gurney and maybe Cititel. Bayview I heard is not too bad too.

Horse Tales

Old tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. Businesses, however, often try other strategies. These include...

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Saying things like "This is the way we always have ridden this horse"
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.
7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
9. Comparing the state of dead horses in today's environment.
10. Change the requirements declaring that "This horse is not dead".
11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse.
12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
13. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat."
14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
15. Do a CA Study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster.
17. Declare the horse is now "better, faster and cheaper."
18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
20. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Homer Back Home

Did anyone come across the news article about Homer Simpson on several major newspapers in Malaysia the last three days? Apparently some college students stole a life-sized model of Homer Simpson used for advertising outside one of the cinemas in KL.

Well, unfortunately these fellas forgot to check for surveilance cameras and was caught on tape, trailed by police and later caught sometime yesterday. Not very smart, huh....

Gee...the news even made it to international news sites.....

I wonder what they were thinking.....what do you do with a 4-ft tall statue of Homer at home??

Meeting the Dressmaker

I stole an afternoon off today (it is after all, Work Hard Play Hard Friday today) to pay a most important visit to a lady whom I hope will weave some magic into a piece of red satin fabric.

That Special Occasion has been at the top of my list for wedding gowns since the first time I stumbled across their website. I spent hours staring at the elegant gowns with exquisite detailing. At long last (after almost 10 months of deliberation), I met Anna at her nice little shop at Desa Sri Hartamas.

We sat down for an hour going through the designs I liked, and eventually she sketched out the PERFECT evening dress. :)....all I will say is that, it will be red satin....

My first fitting is on September 1st. I am bursting with excitement!

"Bantal Busuk"

That literally translates into 'smelly pillow'. In our culture, it refers to that item from your childhood that you just cannot do without...

It could be a blanket, a certain old toy or perhaps a lumpy old pillow that one simply MUST have, safely tucked away in bed.

For me, it is the 'sarong' in which I slept in as a baby. It is still in good shape right till today, thanks to Mom who never believed in washing machines and painstakingly hand washed all our laundry when we were young. Now, with a machine, I would place that 'sarong' in a laundry bag for delicate clothing.

So, what's yours?

Recently Watched: Saving Face

A 48-year old Chinese widow in America, suddenly finds herself pregnant. On top of that, there's the daughter - pretty, successful and suspiciously single. If you liked The Joy Luck Club, you will probably enjoy Saving Face.

Butterflies Away

I hardly slept last night. Kept waking up, checking my clock in anticipation of the day ahead. The first sight of the faint color of dawn in the sky through my window blinds got me out of bed almost immediately. Well, on other days I would be making up all sorts of excuses in my head just to catch that few extra minutes of snooze time..

But my day turned out surprisingly okay...it was GOOD, in fact. My project review turned out great.....I left the conference room feeling very pleased indeed. Only then did I realize how stressed I had been all weekend.

I left the office today with all the butterflies that were wrecking havoc in my stomach earlier all gone. Felt light as a feather....head in the clouds...

It was a nice cool evening with the breeze stripped clean and fresh by an earlier drizzle. Just one of the little things in life that I think we all should appreciate...a good ending to what seemed earlier like a bad day.....priceless. :)

Not So Famous...but Worth Checking Out

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - A heartwarming tale of 4 best friends and a pair of seemingly magical jeans!








Pieces of April - A young girl living in seclusion in an apartment building discovers her oven stopped working on Thanksgiving morning. In an effort to roast her turkey, she seeks help from neighbours she hardly speaks to and learns about their lives, their dreams and friendship. Well, in our Malaysian term - 'semangat kejiranan'..hehe

Recently Watched: Berbagi Suami

"Berbagi Suami" literally translates to 'sharing a husband'. A thought-provoking film about polygamy in Indonesia's society and different views on it told from the perspectives of women of different social classes.

To Worry Is To Care Is To Love

This weekend isn't all too good. I spent most of the time worrying about work. My head was filled with questions and scenarios and trying to find solutions from late Friday last week and that lasted through the weekend. This was because on Friday afternoon, I received an email detailing some issues offshore on the drilling rig and I have to provide some feedback.

It did not help that Fabian is away at the fabrication yard for 2 weeks (Destination this time: Labuan) so while I hibernate at home alone, I just continue to ponder, worry and get stressed out!

I mentioned my state of mind to my Angel in a text message, and she replied "You worry because you love the job...you care."

Strange reply. I never thought of it that way...I just worry because I am afraid something bad might happen if I give the wrong information...or perhaps I just worry too much?

Oh well...anyway by noon today I managed to sort my head out and send out a reply. I'll just relax a little now...enjoy the rest of my weekend...whatever is left of it now....

Recently Watched: Letters from Iwo Jima

"Letters from Iwo Jima" is a film set during World War II. It tells the tale of the famous Battle of Iwo Jima. I am sure most of us had come across the scene of American soldiers disembarking onto a beach into a battle in World War II. Refreshingly, this movie unfolds the tale from the perspectives of the Japanese soldiers waiting on the island.

The title actually refers to a bag of letters, which was discovered buried on the island, written by the soldiers caught in the losing battle against the Americans.

Overall, I find it a good movie, although a little draggy at some points. But well worth watching.

Read more about the movie here.

Happy Father's Day

I am very proud of my dad. He was, and probably still is, one of the most loved and respected teacher at the school where he used to taught. He is retired now and whenever I come across someone from St Nicholas Convent Alor Setar, who knows me and my Dad, she would ask "How is Mr Han doing?". Dad has wonderful people skills, and he has the gift of making everyone around him feel at ease.

I am probably being biased, him being my father. But I think he is the best Daddy in the whole world. A loveable husband too as I once came across a birthday card from him to Mom, so secretly slipped into her closet.

My dad at my brother's wedding. Still looking great in his sixties

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY PAPA ! LOVE YOU ALWAYS...

Have a Good WiiKend

It's the world's fastest selling game console and it "beat the pants off Sony and Microsoft" (read the article in Fortune here)....the new toy by Nintendo - W i i.

I received that as a present from Fabian for my 30th birthday and life was never the same since. Well, for starters our friends keep finding excuses to drop by to play. And I spend night after night either trying to beat Mr Yuri on TV or biting my knuckles watching Fabian trying to beat someone else. Okay, to those who never heard of Wii, I think I should offer some explanation...hehe

Wii, like Sony's PlaystationTM and Microsoft's XBoxTM consists of a console and controllers. The main difference with Wii is the wireless controller that is able to sense its own location in 3D space. The console senses the controller via Bluetooth. So if you are playing tennis, you hold the controller in your hand and swing it like a tennis racquet. Here are some snapshots of the console at home...I managed to get a good shot of the tennis game in action.Our favorite set of games is the Wii Sports, which consists of tennis, boxing, golf, baseball and bowling. At the top spot is of course tennis - this Nintendo game is GENIUS! It is sort of like the real thing, except that you are indoors and well, your racquet is a plastic electronic bar...:)

Take a look at Fabian and Julian in a boxing match!
I can't wait till my Dad comes to visit. I am waiting to challenge him to a game of tennis...:P For those interested, do check out the Wii official website for videos of other ames in action.

Everything by Michael Buble

I was driving one night and then this song started playing on the radio and I thought to myself....wouldn't this make a nice wedding song ? Listen here

You're a falling star,
You're the get away car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play you're coy, but it's kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you,
You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.
And I can't believe, that I'm your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you,
You make me sing
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you,
You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're every song, and I sing along.
'Cause you're my everything.Yeah, yeah

Visit Penang Year 2007

It is June. November is about 4 months away. Hmm..

I think I have most things covered for the wedding. I've got the wedding gown, which is the most important (I think....), got the hotel dinner sorted out and guest list is ..well..slowly building up. I am rather surprised (pleasantly, of course) how good the responses to our invitation have been from those based in Miri. At the beginning we thought turn-out will probably be small because of the distance to travel from Miri to Penang. But actually, a little less than half of the total guests will be travelling from Miri !! And they are actually taking this chance to visit Penang at the same time. So I suppose this is our small part in promoting tourism in Penang...:)

But it really touches our hearts to realize just how far people are willing to travel just to attend our wedding reception. It is just nice to know that.... :)

The Ultimate Girls' Nite Out

As a follow-up to the whirlwind of a trip we had in Bangkok for Angie's hen's night (the bride's version of a bachelor's night), Angie decided to retun the favour (I helped plan hers) by volunteering to master-mind the whole event when it came to my turn. So hen's night for yours truly found its venue in swanky Singapore.
I remember exactly the day when Angie offered to be the planner and I said "Ok, why not.." and moments later she sent me a test message which read;

"I FOUND A MALE STRIPPER! A REAL LIFE ONE!!"

I nearly fell off my seat facing the beach in Kota Kinabalu (I was transitting waiting to go offshore the next day) and the pretty sunset suddenly started to look scary.....what had I gotten myself into??!! I hope she was joking with that text message....I REALLY HOPE she was...

Anyway the hen's night did happen in Singapore. Rach flew in from Manila, Wid and Bern from Miri and I took a bus from my brother's apartment on East Coast road. I was already in Singapore for the musical Phantom of the Opera (<---pretty good, by the way..).

It was a very good trip...the shopping, the eating.....but of course, the highlight of this trip was the night itself. Angie found a nice place that offered nice comfortable little rooms for events (at Boat Quay, email me for details if you are interested). I think it is a great concept - the rooms had comfy chairs, tables and food came with the package too. And oh, they also offer all sorts of games to encourage people interaction and such....very interesting.

We all had matching tops with sparkly words (they custom ordered that online, how creative!) ironed across the front - I had "BRIDE" on mine. Hehe...

So what did we do that night? A lot of FUN....and LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH....and the rest....well, that's for us to remember (don't think we can ever forget!).

A big thank you to Angeline, Widdy, Bernice and Rachel for the kind effort ... HUGS! That was an experience of a lifetime....*wink*