Lakeview House

Remember I was telling you about the new home I bought in Johor? Here and here. πŸ™‚

Mom and Ashley moved in April 2010. I finally got to see the house myself two months later, when I came back for a short break. May was such a busy, busy month for me. Especially since I was pulling off the PLRGold: Blowout launch then.

I am so, so, soooo proud of this new home. For one, I bought it with my own money and effort. πŸ™‚ Secondly, this is truly a house we can call our own.

Hmm… this is withstanding the fact the house is, in actual fact, a liability, since we’re occupying it ourselves. No matter, there will come a time that I will be in the business of real estate. And I will have a 100 properties like this. With money going into my pockets, rather than the other direction. My final frontier in the financial game.

Alright for now… pics time!



Holiday in Pangkor



25th – 27th June 2010.

When I saw the weekend holiday package at http://summerbreak.com.my/ it came about the right time. I could use a little weekend getaway. So I rounded up my friends for the trip: Foo, Gerardine Tan and Desmond Ong.



The Summer Break Volume I tour was organized by Youth Asia. Since the cost of the travel was subsidized by the Tourism of Perak, for only RM380 we could enjoy:

– 3 days 2 nights stay at a 5-star hotel (at least that’s what the website said when I saw it)

– welcome dinner + 2 breakfasts

– bus travel from and back to the Subang Airport

Since the idea of this group holiday travel conceived originally from the yearly Leisure Camp my scout troop used to organize last time in school, participants get to do anything they want once they arrive in Pangkor. The whole idea is leisure and relax.



Well thing was, this became too much like the Leisure Camps I’ve been to last time. TOO MUCH, haha.

For one, it was NOT a 5-star hotel. Far from it. LOL I should have known. From the looks of it, more like a 3-star hotel. With premium price and terrible room service to boot.



Not to mention the horrid bathroom. I spent one hour trying to take a bath because the cold water knob didn’t work (only the hot water knob worked) and the technician took forever to come.

But the company I was in made up for the cons. πŸ™‚



Foo introduced us to the “girls next door”: Li Yi, Selina Ng, Christine Lee and ETeng.

The first night we were here, we had our dinner in the open field. Would you believe the name of the place? Joetan. lol

There was dancing and I got myself into a one-on-one breakdance battle against another dude, who has got impressive footwork and toprocks. Got a little hurt, and definitely got very dirty doing power moves on grass. Was out of touch as it was a long time since I was breakdanced, but I’m glad I could bust some windmills out.

So next day, we went for jungle trekking. But the morning started with some “kerja amal” (voluntary work). Haha, it was a good con job from the hotel management to get tourists to clear the place. We could use the warm-up nonetheless.



This was also the first time we went jungle trekking… in a tractor. More like jungle tractor, heheh!



Even after the jungle trekking, our group decided to become more adventurous and we took our own journey deeper to the other side of the beach.



Unfortunately, the surprise leech attack stopped our extended jungle trekking journey. πŸ™ The girls were screaming and the leeches started falling from the top of the trees! I was the only one lucky enough to escape without a pesky leech on me. πŸ˜›

So yeah, that killed our adventurous spirit. LOL



Next up in the evening, we hit the beach! My first time riding a jet ski too. And guess what? 30 seconds into skiing, I was capsized. Good thing I was still near the shore. *cough* damn salt water



Played football on the beach, napped under the coconut tree (sounds like what you always read in a typical Internet Marketing sales letter?), getting hit by roaring waves… aaah πŸ™‚

Night came, and we played foosball… room match! Room 144 vs Room 146! πŸ˜€



This is like “high school” for adults. We even went to the beach at night. Played some lighting effects (forgot the name), and Truth or Dare. lol



The holiday won’t be complete without the “magic vending machine” though. Something only our group of friends will know better. πŸ˜‰



Until the next group vacation together, perhaps? How about year end? πŸ™‚

Semmy & Imelda’s Wedding in Jakarta

My third time visiting Jakarta, Indonesia. And I must say, I enjoyed myself here more this round! πŸ™‚

17th April 2010: Touch Down

Even though there were 6 wedding invitation cards sent to Malaysian marketers, only Elle and I answered… and yep, we were the only ones from Malaysia showing up for Semmy‘s wedding. πŸ™‚

Danny Baskara and Agung were there at the airport to pick us up and we settled in their office apartment, Apartmen Semanggi (Central Jakarta). Elle insisted on taking over Danny’s room since it’s more comfortable, so I wind up with Agung’s room… which meant sleeping on the floor LOL

To spend the first night in Jakarta, we ate at Jimbaran and also met up with other Indonesian Internet Marketers like Dee Ferdinand, Padro and Ferry.



Late into the night, we watched the movie “The Book of Eli” at the Grand Indonesia cinema.



The show is set in the a post-apocalyptic future. A massive war took place 30 years ago that rendered the entire world into ruins, and everyone was back to the stone age. Natural resources are depleted and water becomes a premium.

The hero, Eli (Denzel Washington) travels to west and carries a book, The King James’ version of The Bible, and protects it with his life. Very thought-provoking show, you must watch if you haven’t!

18th April 2010: Grand Indonesia

Hung around in Grand Indonesia in the day time, since the wedding function was only at night. πŸ™‚



While we were at Grand Indonesia, I did my last-minute shopping – got myself a Polo Explorer cologne and a tie to go with. Basically to replace my stolen cologne from my last travel back in January.

It didn’t cross my mind at that time… but I actually bargained at the departmental store – and it worked! Got 50% off for the tie, and saved a 100,000 rupiah on the cologne. The only exchange is that the sales person keeps the cash and it doesn’t reach the cashier’s registry. Hmm… corruption at its best in Indonesia. Hehehehe! ;-P

Semmy & Imelda’s Wedding

This is what we came for. The function was at Klub Kelapa Gading, about 45 minutes away from Central Jakarta. It’s actually closer than it sounds but because traffic here is massive – 10 times worse than that of KL’s – it will appear that it’s so near yet so far. :-\



See that shine? Yeah, that’s the handsome me. πŸ˜‰ *eleh, perasan*



So yes, Semmy’s big day! Was also my first time seeing Semmy’s wife Imelda even though I’ve known Semmy since 2006. Semmy sure picked the right and gorgeous girl! I’m envious ;-P But hey, congratulations my man! You earn it! πŸ˜€



Me and Elle. My first time seeing her wearing a dress, LOL probably coz every time I see her we’re always wearing casual (we’re just staying one block away from each other) she was veeeery gorgeous that night too! For the record, she helped me pick the cologne and the tie! Thanks! πŸ˜€



Me and the Indonesian crew – Danny, Ferry, Agung.



L-R: Elle, Ferry, Agung (doing the “Semmy Smile”), Danny



L-R: Imelda, Semmy, Elle, me, Danny



L-R: Elle, me, Dee, Jodie



The new couple threw some gifts from up the stage, and Danny caught one of them! I got mine from the reception – so here we are posing with our souvenirs. πŸ˜›



A videographer placed the mic in front of me and apparently we supposed to give a testimonial on either of the couple, haha! So… just talk good stuff about Semmy! πŸ˜€



CONGRATULATIONS SEMMY & IMELDA! SEMOGA BAHAGIA DAN ABADI! πŸ™‚

P.S. Oh hey, on our way out of the place we saw these πŸ˜‰



Secret Orange Roshan has been discovered!

And to drink some wine to end the merry night!



19th April: The Kopi Luwak Episode



So the story goes like this, that these animals “The Luwak” from Sumatra. They eat these red, ripe coffee cherry, shit them out… and then people like me drink them. Hence Kopi Luwak.



Okay I know the details sound gross; I was disturbed too when the coffee was made by the waitress in front of me. My Indonesian buddies insist though.



Hmm… this is like deja vu. Very much like when the Ambuyat was made in front of me when I was in Brunei.



I gotta hand it. Even though I’m not a coffee lover, it tasted good! πŸ™‚ I think the Kopi Luwak would have sold more if they didn’t make up such a gross story. But then from a marketer’s standpoint, perhaps it wouldn’t have been half as successful without an interesting story like that.

They also brand it “the most expensive coffee in the world”, which I have a hard time agreeing to. Again even though I don’t appreciate coffee, I’ve already known of coffee and coffee beans that are more expensive just back in Malaysia, let alone other parts of the world.



Agung doing the “Semmy smile” again. πŸ™‚ Wanna know how the “Semmy smile” came about? During the wedding, Semmy was anxious so when he smiled, it was funny. At least we think so πŸ˜‰ And since then, the term “Semmy smile” was introduced! πŸ˜€ *eeEEEeeeee*



Danny and Brokencode. Did you know that Kopi Luwak is also the same place Agung met up with the other marketers in Indonesia? πŸ˜‰

Sliding Down From 7th to 3rd Floor

Still at FX. We decided to go try the slide out. πŸ™‚



Did you know that Danny and Brokencode were very scared to try this out? ;-P HAHA! But in the end they did – and we’re proud of them!



*well actually there’s nothing scary of it, don’t let the installation intimidate you* the slide lasts less than 10 seconds.

Can’t believe Vince Tan actually chickened out when he was here months ago. HAHA. Wuss.



Agung’s turn.



Now Danny. He fainted by the time he reached the bottom of the slide. LOL



Again don’t let the installation of the slide intimidate you! πŸ˜‰

Karaoke!!!

They sang mostly Indonesian songs. But by virtue of knowing Bahasa Malaysia, I could follow along πŸ˜›



Die Settlers Von Catan!



I brought the board game here too! So Elle and I taught Ferry, Agung and Danny how to play the game… and we played one long round since it was our last night in Indonesia. πŸ™‚

LOL it started out friendly and later, yep a lot of “true colors”, cut throat-ing and “blackhatting” as Danny and Agung pointed out, started to happen! And yeaaaa… I won! Wah weeee…! πŸ˜€



LOL Agung demands a rematch… we shall see when they come to Malaysia this early May! πŸ˜‰

20th April: Go Home!



I enjoyed myself more in Jakarta this time around! Before this, I admit I was looking forward to coming back home even before I left for Jakarta! LOL because there’s little places of interest in Jakarta (or so I thought) and I couldn’t help but make an unfair comparison to Bali.

But I was wrong. I really enjoyed myself more this time around – and I know I have to be back again… Padro’s and Dee’s are next on the wedding calendar!