Jakarta, Indonesia

The journey of the boy from Sunderland on his Asia Pacific tour continues with a memoir from my travels to Indonesia...

In early April myself and Cindy in our search to discover more of Asia's wonders decided to take a trip to Indonesia. This decision was fueled by the proximity of Jakarta to Singapore (2hr flight) and of course the ridiculously cheap cost of air transport from A-B and back again.

After we booked the trip and as the trip drew closer we were doing more and more research daily on what to see and what to do in Jakarta with an ever increasing sense of worry, as the harder we looked, the more seldom activities inside the Indonesian capital seemed. One website entitled "Get out of Jakarta" highlighted the congestion, pollution and lack of tourist attractions in Jakarta. Most websites such as lonely planet and trip adviser recommended exploring neighboring cities such as Bandung or the 1000 Islands all of which required earlier planning and pro-activeness something which myself and Cindy both lack :) .... So we arrived in Jakarta and decided to embrace the City itself as much as we could and visit the other areas recommended in Indonesia on stand alone separate trips.

When we landed in Jakarta it was late, around 1am and the queue at the immigration was outrageous. What was more outrageous was that there was no queue dedicated to Indonesians. In most other countries I've been to they have fast lanes or dedicated lanes for nationals but not here. What else was outrageous was the way they handle VOA here (Visa Upon Arrival). When the immigration officer was checking my passport he then asked me to pay him around 85USD cash in his hand for my Visa.. At this point Cindy had already gotten through successfully and i asked why Cindy hadn't been charged? His reply was delivered cold like a hit man giving you a bullet to the back of the head "She's Asian". Not wanting to cause a scene or go to prison I obliged him his cash in his hand payment for my Visa and walked through into the airport a little annoyed and very suspicious.

When we left the airport the Taxi's were hovering like flies around shit and one man ran over to us, took our bags and escorted us to a cab without us having asked him. A bit blurry at that time of the morning I questioned the situation but in fear of causing uproar or potential injury (as I'd read lots of online horror stories about Indonesia) I went along with it. He took us to an unmarked SUV and we got in, we agreed a flat rate (which seemed awfully high for South East Asian standards) before the "cab" took off and we went on the dramatic Indonesian highways and expressways towards the City Centre where our hotel was situated near the famous eating area of Sabang.

Indonesian Rupiah - Crazy currency - Money is what makes the world go round they say, it's especially true in Jakarta

Ready to embrace City Centre living in Jakarta and wanting to avoid the posh places I'd be told to go see we simply taxi hopped from one place to another; between Malls and restaurants. The name "Bluebird" becomes a quick friend in Jakarta; air conditioned, cheap and rip off free Taxi traveling.

Like most of the under developed parts of South East Asia; there are lots of bikes and I mean A LOT of bikes. It's cheaper to buy than a car, cheaper to run and with the added benefit of weaving in and out of traffic owners can avoid the monumental traffic jams one experiences daily in Jakarta. Safety doesn't seem to matter or it loses out to necessity and cost.

How to fit a family of four on  Bike

On our travels we did see and found a few places of interest in Jakarta Centre, one place that was interesting but equally as pestering and intimidating was the Antiques Market at Jalan Surabaya. It's approximately a 1KM road full of "antiques" it's really wonderful to see, especially the variety of Java masks and figurines on display. It's a bit unfortunate that this street holds some very talented craftsmen and some very interesting items while at the same time the majority of the shops are owned by very pushy locals who make the overall experience of browsing at the goodies impossible almost the verge of harassment. If you like haggling or are partial to the concept of schadenfreude, you may like to see how low the locals will go to get the sale.

Jalan Surabaya Antiques Market

Right behind Jalan Surabaya we found a really murky looking river with all sorts floating in it, people were washing their clothes in it and while we were looking taking photos a guy came past us and started fishing in it... not sure if he was fishing for food or fishing for gold but either way it took us back slightly; he was however a good sport and posed for the camera :)

City Fishers

In the centre of Jakarta we saw a building, a finger pointing towards the sky and with nothing else to do; we followed it. Soon we came to a perimeter, an iron railed fence that seemed to stretch forever. Eventually we came to a break in the fence at the entrance to a park; the Medan Merdeka Park. The finger we saw pointing to the sky is the National Monument. The monument is very impressive at night, a neon blue salute to the Gods by the Indonesians..

National Monument @ Medan Merdeka Park, Jakarta.

After a few bits & pieces of sight seeing we were on the hunt for food, good food and Indonesia shares some very fine cultural delicacies with Malaysia; while searching the Ancol Dreamland at the port of Jakarta for food I found the below graffiti which I liked a lot..

If you don't understand my silence you'll never understand my words..

That sums up the sight seeing I did in Jakarta; I know a tiny amount but to be honest we weren't super inspired by Jakarta. I've heard from other colleagues and friends that Jakarta is wonderful and full of delights but unfortunately In my brief time there I didn't see much of this... I promise Jakarta, I'll visit you again.

Now finally onto the food...  :)

Right next to our hotel a few doors down actually there was a wonderful, traditional Indonesian coffee-house called Kopitiam Oey. Kopitiam which basically means Coffee or Coffee House is probably closest in style and atmosphere to a Cafe where light food is served along with a variety of drinks. This place is amazing and worth the detour if you are not staying close to Sabang..although there are a few outlets in Jakarta so it's worth checking first..

Traditional Indonesian Cuisine @ Kopitiam Oey - Jalan H Agus Salim

The menu includes a horde of taste-bud electrifying Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese dishes along with the epically wonderful condensed milk sweet teas and coffees from this area of the world..

Nasi Goreng Sapi - Fried Rice with Beef, Fried Egg & Multi-Coloured Prawn Crackers

Roti Bakar "Grilled Bread" with Strawberry Jam

Ayam Loempia "Chicken Spring Rolls" - and yes, it's the Dutch Spelling...they also were colonialists if you didn't know..

Pisang Goreng "Fried Bananas"

Sambal Goreng Kentang "Fried Potatoes with Chili"

Birdseye View of Teh Tarik "Pulled Tea" - the Indian sweet tea  made with condensed & evaporated milk commonly found in South East Asia

In addition to photo stream of local foods we found some of the best Sea Food I have ever eaten in my entire life at the Ancol Dreamland; the best shrimps, calamari, cray fish and other oceanic treats that are sure to delight both your taste buds and wallet.. unfortunately I'm a shit photographer and couldn't get any decent shots :) Next time I promise.

So other than constant perspiration, eating and visiting the few tourist attractions Jakarta has to offer we didn't do much else.. oh wait, Indonesia is great for shopping too!

Lots of bags - small amount of money = Great

So that was my trip to Jakarta...because I didnt maximize my trip means I have to go again right? ;)

Thx for reading.
¬ Love ¬

The Missing Transformer – Polvorón!

I wonder how many were lured here by the promise of a potentially new and exciting Transformer, a robot in disguise? Only my Spanish and my Filipino associates knew what this post really was about by the title alone…It does sound like a robot though right? No? Anyway..

As a man with an incredibly sweet tooth I’ve always loved cakes, pastries, biscuits, sweets – all the heavenly tasting things that are bad for you. To help satisfy this perpetual craving I’m lucky to be a European. Europe is the home of; Belgian Waffles, Italian Tiramisu, French Chocolate éclairs, English Apple Pie, Dutch Oliebollen, German Black Forest Gateau to name but a few.. a whole plethora of sweet delights. Since I moved to Asia however I have been heavily disappointed by Asian desserts with the exception of Cendol (A Malaysian ice brown sugar dessert).

In my office in Singapore I have many Filipino colleagues, one in particular introduced me to an originally Spanish delight still popular across all of Spain and the ex-Spanish colonies in particular very popular in The Philippines. This delight is known as Polvorón from the Spanish word Polvo meaning Dust. Made from dried powdered milk, butter and flour it has a strong sandstone / cakey texture which causes unbelievable dry mouth but the taste and texture I adore; and now probably class it as my favourite Asian sweet food.

They are so popular in the Philippines there are lots of different variants; original, cookies and cream, coffee and pinipig (which is kind of like polvoróron with rice crispies inside) and the most famous are those under the Goldilocks branding.

The Classic 'Original' Polvorón

Polvorón will never take the place of a bowl of steaming hot apple pie with custard from my heart but while I’m here in Asia surrounded by nasty Chinese bean paste abominations and Diabetes inducing Indian desserts they will surely quench my sweet tooth without the need for additional trips to the dentist.

Until next time.

Turning 27

Hello friends or foes, we meet once again..

So a couple of weeks ago (May 15th to be precise) I turned 27 years old...officially in the bracket of late 20's..

When you're 20-23 maybe even up to 24 you can put yourself in the "early 20's" bracket, then 25-26 I'd class as "mid-20's" and 27 onwards is the decline.. "late 20's" up to the day of the big 30.

Sitting here typing this really puts things into perspective..30 in three years? Very scary indeed. It's not all grim I guess, I have three full years left in my 20's and I intend to make the most of them... without bringing skydiving into the picture.

I'm not one for big birthday parties, I don't like making a fuss really...how I see it is that yes, it's my birthday but there are probably some 5 + Billion people on this planet who's birthday is not May 15th and the world doesn't stop spinning for them right? In the usual Jack style too.. I'm celebrating one year closer to being old? It doesn't make sense right? Like celebrating watching your bank account deplete or something..

As part of the mandatory celebrations anyone must have on their birthday for me Family is most important, to kind of tie into my birthday my parents and my sister flew from England to Singapore for a week.

To be honest, the most exciting thing about having my family here or the thing I looked forward to most other than seeing them of course was the food here in Asia. I wanted them to sample as much Asian food as possible; and by Asian food I don't mean Curry & Chips..

Cindy teaching the folks to eat with Chopsticks in Sushi Tei - Classic photo :)

The first night they arrived we went for Korean food; Korean BBQ to be precise in Tanjong Pagar. The Korean BBQ went down very well with my old man and with my sister but my Mother did not like it one bit. She didn't like wrapping the BBQ meats in lettuce, she didn't like the seafood pancake or the Kimchi - her favourite part of the night was leaving.

The second night I did the proverbial boyfriend thing and introduced my parents to Cindy. Cindy a girl who always looks pretty really made an effort than evening she had her hair done for the occasion and had splashed out on a very chic dress making her look probably the prettiest I've ever seen her, she cast her spell well and truly on me and on my family that night.. for hours and hours afterwards and even now almost a month on they tell me how much they loved her, let's not mention the comparison to NL here...not yet anyway.

After the introduction we went for Japanese Food at Sushi Tei in China Square, near Chinatown and to my surprise they loved the food. They ate everything from Sushi to Maki, from Chicken Karage to Ebi Tempura and the pièce de résistance they ate Unagi which for those not versed in Japanese is Eel. It doesn't come as a long black snake on your plate but when you know what it is it's intimidating first time round for us westerners. They loved it all. My sister was the most adept at quick gain Chopsticks, in fact she picked it up probably as quickly as I did... my parents were totally hopeless bless them.

To top off one of my favourite nights in a long time Cindy bought me a birthday cake! The first cake I've had in many years..

The deepest, most moist Chocolate & Banana cake ever - Thank you Cindy ;) 

Day 3 - There isn't to be honest THAT much to do in Singapore except Shop, go to Sentosa Island and visit a few landmarks but not of them (with the exception of Marina Bay Sands) have any oomph really. We went shopping and i showed the folks my place I'm staying at and for dinner we went across a bar at Somerset, across the road from the mall the Somerset MRT links into - it's called 5 or something like that but does some of the best bar food I've ever eaten in all my years. Onion Rings, Mini Burgers, Pizza, Chicken Wings all really good - none of this frozen bag from Iceland malarkey you get in most pubs and bars in the UK.

On Thursday we went across to the bar at the Big D for a quick drink and my parents funnily enough bumped into NL which was one of the most awkward moments in recent months but never the less I was very much looking forward to the evening; on Thursday evening Cindy picked us up and we headed over across the causeway into Malaysia and to Cindy's place in Gelang Patah for dinner. We even got my folks the traditional Malaysian drink Teh Tarik and they loved it which I never expected! 

Cindy and I cooked my parents some Chicken with Broccoli & Mushrooms in a Soya Sauce, Tamil style Marinara Shrimp and Asparagus wrapped in bacon with mountains of white sticky rice. They ate up ever last morsel of food.. earlier before dinner I had told them even if they didn't like it they were obviously obliged to eat it but they assured me they loved it and I believe them to my core; it's the only time my family gets quiet; When they are eating!

The following day (Friday) me and my folks took a flight out to Phuket in Thailand and Cindy hadn't come along as she had originally got the dates confused with her girly trip to Bali, not that Bali is for girls just that she was going with a girlfriend of hers - just to clarify :) At the last minute my Dad insisted Cindy come along and I agreed wholeheartedly and we booked her a last minute flight, she got 1 day's short notice leave off work and flew across to Phuket the following day. I don't want to spoil the Phuket trip for you all so I'll make a separate blog about that sometime.. it takes me so long these days with long working hours to do anything productive outside of the work place so God knows how long it will take but it will come :)

So.. after a few time fast forwarding days in Phuket (you know those days that the hours just fly by as if someone had your life on fast forward?) we arrived back in Singapore with about 12 hours to kill before my parents flew back to the UK. I used this time wisely; clearly on the hunt for more food and took my parents to my favourite white-man restaurant in Singapore; Fish & Co. We ate fish and chips and although a mockery to the Fish lots we can acquire from Grangetown Fisheries round the corner from my folks house we sat and were merry as if I was back home. 

Thank you for coming to visit me on my Birthday, Thank you for being a wonderful Father, a wonderful Mother and a wonderful Sister to me. I love you all very much and count the days until I see you again. Last but not least thank you to Cindy for being so lovely, for cooking the best Chinese food my parents have ever eaten and for being so adorable my family now seem to love you more than they do me! :)

Left to right: My sis, me, Cindy, The Old Man and the Old Lady finishing up our Japanese adventure with a can of Asahi

P.S - How awesome is it when your mother flies 13,000 miles to see you and offers to Iron all your work shirts for you? :)

Best Mother 2012 Award Winner - Mrs Karen Smith x

Until next time...
Peace

The Master has left the building...

Amazing People #1 - Chris Chi-Hong Tang

Good Evening everyone..

It's 8.15pm on Sunday the 13th May 2012, I'm writing to you from the hard semi-comfortable wood IKEA chair in the living room of my place in Singapore. In front of me I have a double shot Cappuccino from The Coffee Bean (like Starbucks only not quite as good for those who haven't heard of it), my personal laptop from which I am writing this message, my work laptop as I've done some heavy overtime this weekend for the Big D as I'm on leave all next week and my unconscious roommate Enrique half naked face down on the sofa recovering from two days of excessive alcohol consumption.

I'm feeling rather melancholy writing this blog but I need to endure this sadness to give thanks to a wonderful human being; the human being in question today is a gentleman known to many as simply The Master, by his English name Chris Tang and his Chinese name Chi-Hong Tang.

After more than 10 years of traveling in excess of 200km a day (yes you read correctly, 200km a day!)  working for the big D in Amsterdam Chris' last day in the business was 23rd April, another attrition in a long line of amazing people I had the pleasure of working with in the Netherlands. I never fail to fall into this pit of melancholy when someone I've known leaves this business but the pit is deeper when it's someone I directly worked with, someone from my old team for example like Marijn, Shirley, Katarina, Jelena, Jenny, Eva, Jeroen, Kitty, David and now Chris...

It's a long standing tradition that when someone leaves the Big D (I presume also the broader corporate world where emails are the foundation of your work communication) they send out a big email thanking everyone, some do the corporate thing even in farewell emails and others do very non corporate things which always amuses me. The man in question wrote a truly sincere email with no hard grudges and no sly comments towards the business which is always easy and tempting to do I should imagine..

The Master - one of the most sincere people I've ever met..

I'm making this blog to say thank you; Thank you for holding my hand in the corporate world for those first few months.. When I was new I asked so many questions, so many questions so many times and I could see stress and frustration on the faces of most, when I couldn't ask anyone else or when I was obviously struggling in silence Chris was there. He taught me how to work with the system (and how to trick it). He taught me how to communicate with the customers and how to communicate corporately with peers and stakeholders. Although I'm only a ground worker, a low level employee - I owe him a lot, without him I doubt Id be here in Singapore today.

For a reserved conservative guy we also shared a few moments talking about ladies, very differently from how we talk about it back in Sunderland but I'll also remember his comments "Dangerous, dangerous for your heart this one" *smiling to myself*

Chris, if you are reading this thank you. Thank you very much.

I dont want to diminish the impact my other colleagues and friends who I've lost along the journey also had on my life, those mentioned earlier... Marijn Baaij, Shirley Hooy, Katarina Bekavac, Jelena Dzida, David Peeters, Eva Latozinsky, Kitty Long, Jeroen Lantzendorffer, Mila Costa, Perla Romero, Peter J Harrison, Ulrika Quaison, Jenny Bergman, Carla Bowe, Mauro D'Errico, Fred Drenth, Rianne Van Schie, Dieuwke Swain.. all of you, have helped me on this journey they call life in one way or another and you know you have. If I hadn't given it before you will always have my eternal gratitude and a place in my heart guys (except you Marijn, you only have my gratitude - I know you'll call me gay if I give you the last piece).

Ex-Asia Team Colleagues - from Left to Right - Katarina, Chris, Wei Wei, Dieuwke, David and Mila

Chris and the others, I wish you all the best for the rest of the journey they call life and I'm sure what you do or where you go you will be succesfull as you are some of the finest people to ever walk this earth.

Love you all (except Marijn)

TGM

Penang, Malaysia

Hello to friend or foe reading this Blog,

Another blog post detailing my travels around this beautiful planet; this chapter reveals all and nothing of what happened when I visited the Island of Penang for the first time. Accommodated by Air Asia; Asia's low cost airline and now with a thirst to see more of Malaysia I ventured with the beautiful Miss Cindy Ng Mei Yuin to this simply wonderful part of Malaysia.

Cindy had worked for DHL and for CEVA Logistics in Penang and had lived here there for about 10 years, she had been so keen to show me this part of Malaysia since we first met; more than willing to indulge her we arranged to stay for a long weekend with an ex-colleague of hers called Rajesh. Rajesh is similar in height to Cindy and of Tamil descent but a Malaysian through and through; she is married to a very photo shy (but cool) Irish guy called Chris. Chris and Rajesh met in Penang about 15 years ago when Chris was sent by his Irish based company to help set up a new business unit in Penang. Rajesh met Chris by having a white-man hungry friend who was chasing Chris but Chris found Rajesh first and so far like a fairytale they have lived happily ever after. Chris is now MD for this company and through the fruits of capitalism has a beautiful three story house near Batu Ferringhi (Foreigners Rock) the North of Penang. Through the long standing friendship of Cindy and Rajesh we managed to hitch a ride so to speak in Chris & Rajesh's beautiful place for the weekend..

An old Land Rover with the over exposed Malacca Strait in the background

Upon meeting Rajesh it was clear why her and Cindy were such close friends, she is a wonderful person but upon meeting Chris I was unsure. He was very held back at first and trying not to stereotype typically not Irish or the Irish I was used to anyway. Being from Sunderland and by nature having a strong regional accent and Chris being from Ireland we both have a humorous subconscious "telephone voice" we put on when meeting a stranger for the first time. Chris and Rajesh took us to a bar somewhere in Upper Penang Road and after a few beers my phone voice wore off as did his and any holding back he was doing, conscious or subconscious was gone and he fit right into my textbook definition of an Irish person which is a one word definition; Awesome.

After a very late night on the Friday, we slept till early afternoon on Saturday and took a leisurely stroll along Batu Ferringhi beach, once of the impact spots of the 2004 Tsunami. We chilled at the Bora Bora beach bar smoking sheesha and drinking beer until the Sun set then took a stroll in the rain to a nearby Punjab BBQ restaurant and ate to our hearts content, the food was outrageously good.

Batu Ferringhi just before Sunset with the Penang mainland in the background

Waking up on Sunday morning I had an urge to go out with the DSLR and to do the tourist thing of taking photos. I'm adventurous with my Camera after paying nearly 1000 GBP for it I feel obliged to be but unfortunately being adventurous doesn't mean being good.

Penang is rich in culture; Indian, Malay, Chinese and Thai sprinkled with a bit of British from the Colonial days. With the Asian cultures comes beautiful temples, the Reclining Buddha temple is an assault on the eyes:

The Reclining Buddha in Wat Chayamangkalaram Thai Temple - Penang

The Wall of The Reclining Buddha Temple - Covered in mini gold plated Buddha's donated by people

Me & Cindy outside the The Reclining Buddha Temple

Across the road from this beautiful Thai temple is a Burmese Temple with equally beautiful and splendid scenery, a plethora of breathtaking colours and culture for you to feast your eyes upon:

Buddha Looking Down Upon You

Two monks giving blessing

The largest Buddha I've ever seen

Probably the most famous of all the Temples in Penang is the Kek Lok Si Temple which is Penang Hokkien for Temple of Supreme Bliss, it's located in Air Itam and is the largest Buddhist temple in South East Asia. It's simply massive and full of photographers joy.

A Chinese lantern in the Kek Lok Si Temple

A line of Buddha's 

Chinese Text across the wall of the Kek Lok Si Temple

On the last day of my first trip to Penang we checked our Georgetown and Gurney drive:

Penang Parking Meter near Georgetown

View from the end of Gurney Drive with Penang Mainland in the background

The trip was a total tourist trip; I feel a bit sorry for Cindy as I just wanted to constantly take photos. The other thing great about Penang is the food! It has the best food I've eaten so far in Malaysia; it is food heaven! Some shots to either turn your stomach or get you salivating..

Assam Laksa

Mixed Fruit Rojak

Char Kway Teow (a bit out of focus - was messing with the Macro lens - sorry!)

For my facebook friends; all the pictures from my first and second trip to Penang are here: Click Here

Thanks for reading all, speak shortly.

TGM

Romanian Speed

Forgot about the following useful information below that I acquired during my Christmas trip back to Amsterdam. One night in the Blues Brothers coffee shop I was with Danny and two randoms from the UK. These geezers were long time acquaintances of Danny's, they were cross European couriers. They were based in the London and collected and delivered cargo across various destinations throughout Europe.

Getting paid ridiculous amounts to their testimony to drive across Europe? Countless transshipment stops in Amsterdam? Sounds awesome right? Well they frequently have to drive through the evening and sometimes for days on end but fear not, these long distance drivers have a cure for petty tiredness..which they call Romanian Speed.

It's not illicit, narcotic or illegal.. and it keeps you up all night with ease laughing in the face of fatigue and slumber.

Ingredients are:

- A tablespoon of Nescafe Original Instant Powder / Granules
- A can of Diet Coca Cola

 

Instructions:

- Take the spoonful of coffee granules and chew rapidly

- Wash down with a diet coke drinking it as fast as you possibly can.

- Give 10 - 15 minutes for the Caffeine to kick in.

Having not tried this I cannot guarantee it works however these two guys were adamant it was superior to Pro Plus. I guess I have to put a disclaimer here NOT to try the above (unless you are crazy of course) especially if you have a dodgy ticker.

There you go; Romanian Speed information for all the long distance drivers out there.

Malacca, Malaysia

Melaka in Malay or as the Colonialists called it; Malacca..

So just back from the Christmas break and just before the Chinese New Year Rush (which, believe it or not Is a big thing in Asia....) me and Cindy decided to go to the wonderful city of Malacca on the west (well it’s central west-ish) of Peninsula Malaysia.

This was to be my third city visited in Malaysia, the 1^st being Cindy’s current place of residence Johor Bahru or JB as the locals call it and the 2^nd being Kuala Lumpur although we didn’t really go to Kuala Lumpur we kind of went to this weird Bermuda triangle of Kuala Lumpur only known to civilization as “The Curve”…will tell you all about that trip another time..

On the morning (well early afternoon) of Saturday 13^th January 2012 we jumped in her Civic, that’s right folks a Honda Civic and a nice one it is too, with the 2 Litre V-Tec engine, even has flappy paddles but she won’t use them because of the fuel consumption; doing her bit for the environment I suspect. On paper it was 2 hours or so to Malacca but as it always is the case with these type of car journeys it always takes longer than planned. Nevertheless the sun was shining, we had a full tank of fuel and wallets full of Ringgit, nothing was spoiling.

On the road to Malacca..

After the joyous road trip and getting slight lost in the early meters of the city centre we finally reached Malacca. Cindy had booked us a fantastically located hotel right on the main street in Malacca “Jonker Walk” and we were both in need of a bit of a break, those post Christmas Blues one gets when they realize they have to wait another 365 days for those festivities. Malacca is a rich city; I don’t mean rich in the context of wealth but in the context of culture, cuisine and history. This is where Stamford Raffles negotiated and acquired the Island of Singapura (Lion City) now known as Singapore in 1819. The Baba Nyonya’s (15th and 16th century Chinese immigrants in Indonesian Archipelago of Nusantara and Malacca] it also has elements of other colonialists such as those efforts of the Dutch and especially the Portuguese.

Originally built in 1521 as simply a chapel known as Nossa Senhora da Annunciada (Our Lady of Grace) or the Nossa Senhora da Annunciada (Our Lady of the Hill). The chapel was built by a Portuguese fidalgo or nobleman, Duarte Coelho, as an act of gratitude following his escape from a storm in the South China Sea.

The City is also known (as many Malaysian cities are) for their wonderful variety of food on offer, the variety and diversity in cuisine here also stems from the several invasions the Malaccans experienced by the Colonialists but also by the heavy Chinese populations inhabiting Malaysia. I did nothing but eat from the minute I arrived in Malacca to the minute I left, the calories consumed in 48 hours was simply   unquantifiable and thank fuck for that; I really do not want to know!  Below is a selection of some of the wonderful dishes I got to sample during the weekend:

Pai Tee - Seafood, Turnip, Chili Sauce in a crispy Nacho like cup

Baba Curry Mee

Cendol - Malaysian Brown Sugar based iced dessert dish

Portugese Egg Tart

After you have been in Johor Bahru it’s evident that Malaysia is made up of many nationalities, many , races, creeds, colours and religions but the three that stand out most are the Malays the Chinese and Indians. The Chinese have a huge influence across Asia and no less in the City of Malacca.

Chinese Pots in Jonker Street

Not only was it my first time in the wonderful little City of Malacca but it was also my first Chinese New Year since my move to Asia in August last year. For 2012 it was the year of the Dragon and a year of prosperity. I witnessed a spectacular show of the Dragon chasing the ball of prosperity through Jonker Walk right through the middle of the bustling night market; I also got to witness a display of Chinese musical accolade only moments after the passing of the Dragon which was also very beautiful and special to see.

Serenaded by a wonderful Chinese Orchestra - not the blurry face of death in the background :)

In the main stretch of Malacca (Jonker Walk) was a woman with no arms (lost below elbow) doing calligraphy. Yes, that's right no arms and yes doing calligraphy. She was doing customized pieces for passers by without a fixed price, cheap Singaporeans giving her 5 Ringgit for work. When I saw her in action and the amount of effort and human love she put into her work I had to get one done; I gave her 40 Ringgit for my piece.. To be honest, I don't exactly know what it says, my Chinese could do with improving somewhat but here it is in progress below:

I now have this piece framed on my wall

The current marketing and advertising slogan of the tourist board of Malaysia is “Malaysia Truly Asia” and from what I’ve seen so far it seems very similar to Singapore, notably less developed yes but similar in the sense it is a conglobation of cultures living together in harmony each bringing their own diversity to the nation; there are a few gems I saw in Malacca from Jonker Walk itself which contains some amazing food, colours and people, to the Mr. Malay statues, the Cavanthe Art Café, the Geographer Café, the beautiful and unique architecture 

Jonker Walk @ Chinese New Year

If anyone is visiting Malaysia, especially either the Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur areas you need to set aside a day or two to see and sample Malacca; what a wonderful place.

Just before I sign off I’d like to formally introduce all readers of this Blog to the lady in my life; the beautiful Malaysian Miss Cindy Ng:

Cindy in the centre of Malacca

In November last year while working for the Big D at our Tuas site in the west of Singapore close to the Malaysian Border a girl used to walk back and forth from the office of our 3PL and WMS company IDS past the entrance for the Diageo employees, I thought she was very pretty but thought also she had one of those faces, the boys will understand if I say one of those faces with “fuck off” written on it. Being the shy boy that I am I wrote a note and placed it under the windscreen wiper of her car telling her I thought she was very pretty and asking if she would like to go for dinner one day, signing off with my phone number and my email address and to my surprise I got a text back that evening saying she would love to go for dinner and as they say everything else after that is history. Four months later we’re still seeing each other and she’s the first one I’ve cared about this way since NL. 

It’s funny the fact Cindy actually saved me from that feeling you get when you go through a hard end to a relationship, the feeling that you will never find anyone to replace the previous one. I’m very cautious about using the L word after what happened with NL so I’ll refrain as long as I safely can but right now I’m writing this sitting in the passenger seat of her civic with the laptop on my knees glancing over at her every few words with a very strong urge to tell her I do, I need to be strong and keep the barrier up a little longer…just a little...

If you're unlucky enough to be my facebook friend; For a full set of pictures Click Here

Chrismast back in The Dam

First of all apologies for blogging about the past, It's the first of April and I am very much of aware of that bu I've been trying to find the time out of my busy capitalist life style to get on here..

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the New Year; we all know start as you mean to go on..should imagine a lot of you were extremely drunk when 2012 crept in as is the usual way to celebrate the most overrated time of the year..anyway, less negativity throughout the rest of the blog I promise.

..So it is the 27th year of my life as 2011 becomes 2012...sh*t...27? Slowly but surely creeping up to the big 30 - which scares the shit out of me but once some very intelligent  man once said "Time waits for no man" and they were not wrong. Alas.. onto my adventures below:

Singapore -> Amsterdam -> Sunderland -> Amsterdam -> Singapore 

So, a 14 hour flight back to Amsterdam but at the time to be honest I couldn't have cared if the flight was 140 hour I was desperate to get back to Amsterdam. Four months in Singapore and I was missing Europe as a whole never mind my special little friends at the Coffee Shops; luckily for me Claudio was on the same flight, we had both convinced our bosses it would be beneficial for us to work from Amsterdam over Christmas..ahem it in fact left us with more annual leave for 2012 and also to be back in Amsterdam was simply priceless; evenings spent in the clouds in the beautiful little city I used to call home..

The old hangout...Blues Brothers 

My time back in Amsterdam over the festive period was of mixed emotions; main emotion for me was that I had missed this dirty little windy city and its attributes both positive and negative and that I was indeed happy to be back, very happy. The second emotion was that of Sadness, Sadness that I didn't live here anymore; I spent two full years here, straight from University, I started to become a man here, I met wonderful people mainly inside work..which is where the sadness really kicked in. After the Big D made it's reorganization announcement last year the office where I had so many happy times has taken on a metamorphosis of depression, solitude and has this swamp like negative atmosphere induced by the simple fact the wonderful and diverse pool of people who made Customer Service what it was will soon go, May 31st and the entire CS Operations in Amsterdam will cease it exists. 

I am so thankful that I got to spend two years here; yes it was hard work; late into the evenings and on throughout some weekends but without all the strife I would not have meant the scores of wonderful people who aided me on my journey in life and the journey from boyhood into manhood.

Below a few pictures of some of the great people I miss..

Claudio Claps (Left) and Marijn Baaij (Right) - The Handsome Duo 

The lovely Serbian Jelena Dzida

The beautiful Slovakian Erik Linhartova - before you ask, no I didn't..

Rebecca Smith (Left) and Diedre White (Right)

The Epic wonderful and perpetually lovely Dieuwke Swain - hope she doesn't get offended but kind of my like my substitute Mother away from home :)

"Do not dwell on the past, do not dream to the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment" - Buddha

If any of my old colleagues or friends from Amsterdam are reading this, thank you for everything and I will see you again :)

Thanks for reading...
TGM