Ultimate Escapes

Singapore, East Malaysia & Brunei

I'm in Singapore right now & will be traveling to East Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak) & Brunei next week for the Good Friday long weekend. 

Boy, it is hot here in Singapore & it has grown a lot more crowded in the past 2 years or so with a growing influx of Indians. I was told they are talents & labor to fill & fuel future growth. 

That's probably for expansion in the IT & construction field. This country has became a lot more expensive with inflated property prices & high cost of living (on par with Hong Kong & Tokyo!). The truth? I'm liking it lesser and lesser after having worked here in the past. It's now one of the top 10 most expensive cities in the world! How the government is going to keep it a continuing success story for the next 30 years is beyond my comprehension. 

French Polynesia

Now, back to the heat. It'd be great to escape to a seaside resort, I thought. 

Bora Bora came to mind. I love the color of the sea in the French Polynesia. 

Funny how things work sometimes.

Yesterday, I wrote about intuition & telepathy. Today, I am getting another glimpse of it. And here it is! I switched on the TV and it happend that on Bloomberg TV, the program Venture was on & the guest tonight is Rich Keith, chairman of Ultimate Escapes. It's incredible... what one just thought about, it's immediately translating into something you see in real! I then checked out Ultimate Escapes online & found out about destination club. It works like the country club concept. Now, that takes me back to my last trip to Las Vegas & my 2nd encounter with timeshare (1st was Marriott Vacation Club in which I attended & got a $150 shopping voucher as perks).

Las Vegas, Nevada, Utah & Arizona

On my trip to Vegas last year, I was introduced to Planet Hollywood's timeshare property (PH Towers by Westgate) right at Las Vegas Boulevard, next to the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino & Paris Paris. The perk I got out of attending a 2 hour session with a consultant is a ticket to the Blue Man Group show at The Venetian (Hint: If it's still ongoing, anyone interested in getting your complimentary night shows, you may approach the concierge for direction to these sessions. I happened to stay at this hotel on my trip & was approached when checked in & Blue Man Group was the only show which I haven't been then. 

The best show I had seen in Vegas was Cirque du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio though. That was a show I won't mind going back again. It simply is marvelous!) & that's 2 tickets if a couple attends the 2-hr session (which incidentally translates to more than $200 a couple!). I enjoyed the tour of the property very much but I didn't signed up for the deal. I might have if I lived in the U.S. & travel a lot with my family. The fact that I travel solo most of the time doesn't make that a good deal (the suites offered were mostly 2 bedrooms or 3 bedrooms). Plus, I've been to Vegas too many times in the last decade that I don't foresee myself traveling there constantly in the next few years. Las Vegas area is still my most favorite vacation spot in the U.S. though. 

Vegas is a good gateway for anyone who wants to explore Nevada, Utah & Arizona. 

I love Utah for its wide variety of national parks. 

The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Red Rock Canyon,  Zion Canyon, M

onument Valley, Valley of Fire, Death Valley, Glen Canyon & Lake Powell are some of the most beautiful parks I've ever visited in the U.S.  Driving around the huge span of lands stretching from California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah all the way to Colorado & New Mexico is a journey which I hope I'll be blessed with again in the near future. It is the journey of a lifetime! I'd love to hike all the way down to the valley of Grand Canyon, sleep under the stars & listen to the silence of the night with my loved one. It certainly is a most beautifu experience! My friend Richie did that with his wife Doreen last year & I'm dying to read about his journey. Start working, Richie! Richie writes some of the best travelogs I've ever come across. Thanks, Richie! for introducing me to the wonder world of hiking and national parks. Make sure you check out Richie's travelogs!

Back to the Future

My colleague sent me a link (The Cool Hunter) to view a private property owned by the Malaysian YTL's boss today. Upon viewing it, it reminded me of the brief period in my life right after college during which I was passionate about designing homes that I had imagined about. I didn't have any training in this field & even though I had aspired to be an architect, my parents didn't think it a profitable field to be in (which proves to show parents don't always know best ;-)) & hence I didn't get the sponsorship to study it in my undergraduate years. Still, I have had those design concepts in my mind & up to today, I still can remember them vividly. One of them involves having a small pool with a transparent bottom in which anyone below it could look up & see the swimmers. This pool would be in the dining (or rather, breakfast) room one floor up. To date, I've yet seen anything I've imagined. Although, I had seen something I had dreamt about. It was so real that I got a chill down my spine when I saw the views from Hearst Castle (I had dreamt about swimming in one of them!) as well as in the movie, What Dreams May Come!

Speaking of movies, The Matrix is one which I had a sense of deja vu. The plot is very similar to some ideas which my sis & I had explored & talked about (aka parallel world) a few years before it was released in the cinema. It may well be the time the author wrote the book. I'm not sure, never did check. But, I do believe some kind of telepathy does exist in this world, as with intuition. I've a good sense of intuition about some major events in the world. One day when I'm ready, I'll write about them. It is something which I can no longer deny that is inherent (despite my early attempts to shrug them off), but I can't based them on any facts nor can I predict nor prove how accurate they are either. It is simply this feeling of knowing (& sometimes, uneasiness) which arises out of nowhere. Spooky, isn't it?

The tie that links architecture & The Matrix is my innate preference for futuristic designs; any design that is out of this world & ahead of its time per se. It does not have to be anything out of Star Wars or anything that is from E.T. It may be something like Sagrada Familia or something like Guggenheim Bilbao. I do like some of Wright's works as well. It often brings me joy to get a glimpse of the future & through some of these (be it movies, gadgets, concepts, thoughts) inventions, I get the lucky feeling that I've been transported through a time machine. It might well be a case of back to the future!

What dreams may come

My life has not turned out anything like I had ever envisioned, back then in my teens & as recent as 2 years ago. It is a lot more colorful, a lot more unique & a lot more unmanagable. It has brought me to the entire world, brought me through riches & poverty, & brought me through heaven & hell.

My dreams have not turned out anything like I had ever imagined either. They were a lot more unrealistic, a lot more unexplainable & a lot more x-files. I had dreamed about being a Victorian lady in the "ice age", about being a bird taking flight, about living in the sea like Mark Harris in Man from Atlantis & about meeting upfront with Jesus & God (after being haunted by the Devil, in dreams, that is).

My love has not turned out anything like I had hoped for either. They (no, not he alone) have been themselves & brought me to the depth of my soul & humanity. They have appeared & left which in turn brought me to another new level of awareness about what love is all about & how deeply I can love a person. They have brought me joy and they have brought me tears. Most importantly, they have brought love into my life. And for that, I thank everyone of them.

My world has not turned out anything like I had ever thought about either. When I was young, I do not think about the laptop, about digital camera, about the iPod, about the iPhone and about the internet either (& these were the things I thought most in the last 10 years or so).
I have not thought about traveling, about jumbo jets (747 and now A380), about Virtual Tourist and much less about my websites & about blogging (the word didn't even exist until recently)!
As recent as just a few weeks ago, I have not thought about solar energy, about nanotechnology & about MP5. Now, I am beginning to think about them.

Yet, all my life and through many others, I have been taught about control. Control your budget, control your temper, control your life. Perhaps control is not such an appropriate word, manage would be a better one. So, we plan on managing our retirement, we plan on managing our relationships and we plan on managing how our lives will turn out to be. Especially now, today in the world. Survival of the fittest depends a lot on how you manage. President Obama is attempting to manage the sliding world economies, as with all the other leaders. Warren Buffet is managing his huge portfolio of investment to prevent it from falling off the cliff! And, I am managing my thoughts to prevent them from going into depression!!!

Wait a second, didn't I just write about control the first 4 paragraphs a few mins ago? Did I learn anything from my own life? Is there anything in life that turns out the way I had ever envisioned, imagined, hoped or thought about? NOPE!

So, I give up control (or manage) or plan a future. No, not just last year but for the last 10 years. By doing so, it has taken me to areas beyond my comfort zones, places beyond my map & people beyond my discriminatory self. What a life it has been & what dreams may come......................


(P.S. You think losing your job, losing your home and losing your sanity is a big problem? Well, let me assure you, I've lived through those worries back then about a decade ago & as recent as yesterday. I joked with my sis about this crisis most are having just last month! "It's nothing new, I've lived with it for 10 years", I said . And her joking reply was, "you are way ahead of time, sis"!

My point on this is that life doesn't have to end there simply because one is depressed or one is finding it hard to cope. It goes on as long as you allow it to go on. This crisis in the world has brought about one good thing as far as I'm concerned. In the past, I heard many lamented that they didn't have enough time on hand. Many had not seen their family, relatives or friends for a long long time. Now, they move back home to live, they stay with relatives or they look for friends for help. That in essence has brought people together. That is the greatest thing that has arised due to this crisis! And I thank God for it!

Back to the basics of what a society should be... we live, we laugh (try, ok?) & we love!

For those who despair, do not! Ask for help from whoever you know or even do not know. Life may still shower you with blessings you've never considered before. For those who have the ability to help & are willing to, this is your greatest opportunity in life! Only when we are able to ask for help & give help do we experience what humanity is all about. That is when you are truly given the most precious gift of your life! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my personal friend Nancy for all her help, support & encouragements. Thank you very much, Nancy! You are the best friend anyone could have asked for!)

Shanghai "Affairs"

I left Shanghai a month ago after a 2 year stint there. To be precise, the first 4 months was spent in Beijing instead of Shanghai. Didn't like it much in Beijing, so I left it after my initiation into the Middle Kingdom (aka China). Some of my friends (esp. the westerners) love Beijing more than Shanghai for its culture & "chineseness" (if such a word exists). For me, I'm more suited to the lifestyle in Shanghai. After having set foot on all the provinces of China (by 2008), I personally think Hong Kong may be where my future home will be. Nonetheless, I like Shanghai very much but think it has a lot of rooms for improvement to catch up with the world. What my stay there had thought me was life is good but can be better. As anyone who has lived in China for a short period of time (anything > a year) knows, life is carefree & exciting if one doesn't have to deal with the bureaucrats. Most of the time, we do even if you are just staying at a friend's home! There is the 24-hour window period of reporting at the police station. Make sure you do it! Else... (Unless u are staying at a hotel, in which case, the hotel will do it on your behalf.) Once this is done, you don't have to deal with the authorities as long as your visa is valid. So, that's the good news!

Here are the rules of the game (for anyone foreign who's interested in living in China):

1) If you are not posted there for your job, the best way to enter China is firstly as a tourist, for about a 2 week span (max) to sample what life is like here or what China (& Chinese) is all about. Remember it is still a sample and your unique experiences will determine if you'll come back here for future visit. I do not recommend going there for more than 2 weeks unless you are Asian & has a clear idea what Chinese societies are like. There are many factors that are unique to Chinese alone (for example, culture, food, way of living, way of doing business, even way of greeting! & time of the day when one has his/her meals!). As a tourist, I had not known most in China eat Lunch around 11.30 am! That's very early where I come from (and for that matter, it's also another Asian country).

2) When you decide you'd like to live in China and experience Chinese lifestyle, if you must go and have no idea what to do in China, the best way is to enrol yourself in the university (be it Peking University (北大） (PKU) in Beijing, Fudan University （复旦） in Shanghai or Xiamen University （厦门大学） in Xiamen) to take a class in learning Mandarin. If you want to live in this country, you do need to learn Mandarin (also known as Putonghua). Otherwise, it is very difficult (though not impossible) to go around and enjoy your stay to the fullest. I did that precisely and was taking classes in both PKU & Fudan. For learning environment, PKU is superior although its facilities are not as good as those of Fudan & Xiamen U (that translates to unbearable temperature in the winter). PKU is however the most famous & prestigious university in China (ok, perhaps those from Tsinghua University （清华大学） & Shanghai Jiaotong University （交通大学） will argue otherwise).

3) Make sure you love Chinese cuisine or if not, at least love to cook yourself. In Beijing and Shanghai (& many of the coastal cities in Eastern China), you probably won't have much trouble getting other types of food. Vegetarians won't have to worry if you don't mind cooking yourself. Vegetables are plenty and cheap to buy from supermarkets. Check Shanghaiist.com for a search of the best restaurants around Shanghai or what's happening in Shanghai. Alternatively, you can also find some info about many Chinese cities on my site.

4) When first arriving in China, if you happen to meet a good taxi driver who also happens to understand you in English, make sure you take down his mobile (cellphone) number. This will prove to be very helpful for you in future, be it if you are caught in the rain (or snowstorm) or are planning on going to the airport or planning on day excursions to surrounding areas. Good drivers who understand & speak English are hard to come by in China. I don't have much trouble with transportation or moving around as I understand Mandarin (can speak & read fluently) even before I arrived here. That's because I've had at least 10 years of exposure to the language before I ventured here!

5) Make friends with the locals, be it at the hotel, where you put up, or where you have your meals. They will prove to be your best source of orientation into this complex & fascinating society. I made some of my best friends here in the short 2 years I was here and because of them, I enjoyed my stay here very much! (Thank you, James! Thank you, Wuben!)

The above are some of the issues concerning living in China. I had been relative lucky and encountered many Chinese natives who had made my stay there pleasant. In my 2 years there, I've successfully ventured to even the most remote part of China (Kashi in Xinjiang Province, for example). That, I think, constitutes the most amazing part of my stay here in China!

Today's read: China's giant step into nanotech (Guardian), Google "Feeling Lucky" in Chinese market with new MP3 search (Shanghaiist)