We had a blackout as a result of a massive afternoon thunder storm yesterday. There was no power throughout the area where I live. My car broke down yesterday too and the mechenic told me it would take at least three days to fix the whole problem. I take good care of the car and have it checked out regularly. Hence I was surprised to learn that the whole engine system needs a overhaul. The dealer is not the one I normally go to and I don't want to get taken for a ride. But my regular dealership told me there were at least eighty cars at the moment lining up in the garage waiting to be fixed. Wow how did all those cars manage to get into an agreement and decide to go on a strike. Naturally I was not estatic when I got home only to find the air conditioner has ceased to work for a long time. Anyway, in time like this when there was absulutely no modern amenties around, I took Pretty for a "walk" along with his inseparatable dear ol'friend Mr. Mirror. To prevent him from flying away, I put him on a leash. He does not seem to enjoy being treated like a dog and tried everything his little bird's brain could think of to escape from the leash. But it's for your own benefit and mine too, baby. I spent the rest of the time staring at the darkness

After an 18-hour long flight and subsequently being stranded on a plane for nearly three hours due to inclement weather in Newark, I was so ready to go home. Finally got home around 12 o'clock last night and hummed to myself a "sweet sweet home" lullaby and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Two weeks went pretty fast and it's never long enough if you are with family and friends whom you haven't seen for quite a long time. When some of the kids saw me and took a good look at my hair, they jokingly remarked,"Wah! The weather in Malaysia is that hot la." Kids! They were referring to my newly permed hair done in KL. But seriously the weather in Malaysia is so insanely hot that even my hair can go haywire. I don't know how the locals manage to stay cool during the heat wave, but one thing I noticed is that: many of them wolf down hot chili peppers even in this stifling scorching heat, the ones make your tongue go numb and your mouth on fire. Their reasoning is: hot chili peppers make you perspire more which in turn will take the heat off your body thus cooling you off. Another secret to stay cool which they gleefully divulged to me---try Durian. Durian is also called the stinky fruit because of its distinct strong smell many find extremely unpleasant. My friend Steve once told me Durian smells like Chanel #5 to him. To me, however,the smell is almost like a piece of meat gone bad and the taste of it is even worse. The pic shown is taken at my friend Bruce's house which was permeated with "Chanel #5". Please be considerate, absolutely No burping please. Until I can embrace the heady smell of "the king of all fruits" my friend, my only weapon against heat is the good ol fashion way of taking showers several times a day and stayed in an air-conditioned room as much as possible.

I am in Kuching right now. Kuching is also called the Cat City since the name means cat in Malay. It's the capital city of Sarawak, the largest state situated on the island of Borneo. The weather is extremely hot and you can't possibly go to sleep without air-conditioning. For those who long for a comfortable life with a relaxed pace, Kuching is definitely a place to be. Noboby seems to be in a hurry and taking things slowly is not something to be frowned upon here. To me, Kuching is a city in transition and a mixture of the raw and refined. Except for the spawling real estates, nothing has really changed since I was last here five years ago. For the past few days--actually ever since my trip started--I have adopted a lifestyle of a piglet: eat, sleep and eat some more then go back to sleep again. Hospitality here is just incredible. Every night I was treated to a colossal dinner. I haven't weighed myself yet but the seemingly carefree lifestyle has taken a toll on my waistlines. It's very nice to meet the old friends and family/relative back home and too see the younger generation blossom. It's good to be back.

Royal Bintang Hotel in KL
I arrived at Singapore around 6:10am local time and I was exhausted. The 18 hour trip should be a pleasant experience since the executive economy seats of Singapore Airlines proved to be more comfortable than those in business class in most airlines. But this trip turned out to be anything but fun. Ask any traveller, nothing is worse than being stuck in a airplane with a bawling, irritating and unpleasant critter, let alone three of them. Whenever I was ready to sleep, the boy would start crying then the girl would act up and scream at the top of her lungs. Crying babies should never be allowed to fly, nor should be their parents.

Nevertheless I reached Singapore's Changi International Airport safe and sound. I had no time to admire the state of the art amenities the world's best airport has to offer nor did I have the pleasure to check out the nice duty free shops. I had a mission: I had to catch the 6:50am flight to KL and my SIA flight was delayed by nearly forty minutes.

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