- Just like we speak Chinglish at home, Filipinos speak Tagalish. In fact, it's very common for Filipinos to mix lots of English into their speech.
- There's English everywhere. Kind of caught me off guard.
- 'F's sound like 'P's when pronounced by many Filipinos. As in, "You're a very good priend."
- There's a whole lot of "Yes sir" and "Yes ma'am" calling, and it takes some getting used to. It's just the service-oriented nature of people, but growing up in North America where you watch a lot of movies about Black history in the US, it sounds like the oppressed Blacks in the Southern states of America from slavery times.
- Around tourism areas, shop workers are always trying to gain the extra peso, but also always willing to give a discount "just for you". I guess it's nothing new.
- In Boracay, joining the Allan B. Fun Tour may cost 700 - 750 pesos for some, but the Filipino price should be 600 pesos.
- In Boracay, it's far easier to ask a hotel to arrange transportation from the Caticlan airport. A little more expensive (325 pesos) but less hassle and saves time. You're on vacation - so act like it.
- Massages in Boracay would run 300 - 350 pesos for 1 hour. But you better have a watch nearby and confirm the end time with your masseuse first. I doubt most of them go past 40 minutes.
- There's something romantic about having a massage on a towel right on the beach... but the romance escapes quickly when sand inevitably enters between hand and back for an exfoliating experience. If you have a choice, do it on a beach chair.
- Boracay has a Bat Cave. And little kids who try to rip you off, overcharging you for a tour and a flashlight. Do it if you really can't find anything better to do with your time.
- According to a white guy who's lived in the Philippines for 36 years, "macano" (means "how much") is the magic word. So is asking "last price?"
- You can get some really cheap and good Filipino booze. Emperador is a local brandy which is dirt cheap, and apparently very good. I bought some, but haven't tried it yet. Lambanog is a local coconut vodka, which is supposed to be pretty gnarly... like fire water. I bought some of that, but haven't cracked the seal.
- Balut, the hard-boiled duck/goose fetus, isn't that bad. Mine didn't have feathers, so I'm sure that made it more palatable. The taste is between a hard-boiled egg and chicken meat - which isn't all that surprising. Worth a go, and not as disgusting as it looks.
- Henna tattoos are really popular on Boracay. But keep you eye on the artist's work before you let him/her work on you. If your design has a lot of detail, remind the artist to make the lines nice and fine. And avoid the guy in front of La Carmela. He's an impatient one.
- While accidentally staying in the red-light district at Makati, it was common to see a fat white guy with two little Filipina by his side. Kind of gross.
- Boracay vendors and masseuses learn how to say "yi1 bai3" and "an4 mo2" to cater to Chinese tourists.
- Boracay is a beach heaven. You really don't need anything but swimwear and sandals. Fine sand and gorgeous clear water.
- We had some bogus flight delays to and from Caticlan <-> Manila. Some BS reasons stating "weather conditions". The weather was awesome. Get the plane going.
- La Carmela had an overwhelming number of staff. Had to hear "good afternoon, sir", "hello, ma'am" until my ears fell off.
- I got a waterproof camera case, and it was great. Still leaked, but reasonably good.
- If you're a decent swimmer, go swim out to a sailboat just for fun. I wanted to do this, and got half way before giving up. I feared getting water into my camera case.
- Nigi Nigi's self-proclaimed "best burgers on the beach" aren't really.
July 31, 2009
Philippines Impressions
Alright, this post was supposed to come out WAY earlier. But after I got back from the Philippines, I got very busy with foosball, work, and other things. Here it is. Just some quick thoughts from my trip earlier in the year - many points specific to Boracay.
July 25, 2009
VIFA Asia Open (July 17 - 20, 2009)
Here's an article I wrote in the August issue of FoosLife Magazine.
===============================
Let's talk about the VIFA Asia Open... in English. This is the largest foosball tournament in Asia, and in the past had brought in a lot of top competitors from across the continent. This year, players represented Malaysia, Taiwan, UAE, India, and Singapore. From Taiwan were Hsinchu foosball pals Jack Huang, Weichung Tseng, and myself.
The 4-day schedule was like so:
Day 1 (7/17): Newbie Doubles, Amateur Singles, 3000 Ltd. Doubles
Day 2 (7/18): Newbie Singles, Ladies Open Singles, Open Singles
Day 3 (7/19): Amateur Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Open Doubles
Day 4 (7/20): Mixed International Doubles, and final matches for Amateur and Open events
You really have to like foosball to embark on a journey where you play 8 tournament events over four days – almost 12 hours of foosball each day. Even so, we still made an effort to squeeze in some sightseeing in the mornings of our tournament, and the day after the tournament ended.
I had few expectations going to Malaysia. “Just to have fun” was at the top of my list. “See Kuala Lumpur” was another, because I’d wanted to go to KL for a few years now. From a foosball perspective, I hoped to do decently well in the Newbie events, have a little success in the Amateur events, and get crushed in Open events. In fact, I was hesitant in registering for the Open events at all because I saw little point in paying money to get eliminated quickly. But since my Taiwanese cohorts were playing, I had either had the choice of playing as well, or sitting around watching them play. Though I normally play with Weichung in doubles tournaments in Taiwan, I told Jack and Weichung to team up for Open Doubles because I wasn’t sure about my participation.
The average level of play common amongst Malaysian players is much higher than that found in Taiwan for one main reason in my mind: passing. New Malaysian players are introduced to the sport by training their 5-to-3 passing first, before worrying about offense. Consequently, just about any Newbie player in Malaysia has faster and crisper passing than any of us in Taiwan. This goes for the UAE and Singaporean competitors too - although most of them are pretty good players already. It can't be understated how important the passing game is in foosball. These players aren’t too shabby offensively as well, but it's the passing that sets them apart from us. I think what the Malaysian newbies and amateurs lack is in the defensive game psychology.
The foosball environment and atmosphere at Breakers differs from other countries in that indoor smoking is still allowed. Breakers renovated and re-organized their layout this past year with improved ventilation over last year (so I've been told), but when you put 40 chain smokers together in any room at one time, you’re guaranteed to inhale a lot of second-hand smoke over the course of 4 days. Some players (guys and girls) will even light up during the 30-second timeouts！ Maybe Malaysia will catch up with the rest of the world and ban smoking from buildings.
The tournament schedule can also be tightened up a bit, which should benefit everyone. A tournament event can start anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours late. No earlier, and never on time. On average, we were playing from around 2pm until 2am each day – with pretty messed up meal times. Part of the problem here is that players just show up late. "Malaysian Time", you could say. But they won't start a tournament event until there are enough players. The remedy is to start playing on time (or only 30-mins late) just once. This would serve as a warning or threat to scare players into coming earlier in the future. Another reason for the delay is because the tournament is played in rounds, according to tournament director Raymond Kan. Each event is double-elimination with a winners' bracket and losers' bracket. A 16-team double-elimination event will first complete a 8-match round, then a 4-match loser bracket round, a 4-match winner bracket round, and so on. Each round must be completed before the next round starts. So, each round will last as long as the slowest match in the round - which creates super long delays. Tournament organizer Raymond says this is because some players have table preference, i.e. they must play on a particular table. Pickiness aside, this preference should only appear amongst the top players, not so much for newbies and amateurs. I would recommend to Raymond that games get started as soon as the match-up's teams are set and a table is available, because you never know when a game will run long. This would shorten the running time dramatically.
Foosball is a social sport and, as I've said before, breeds some unique kind of comradery amongst players. Is everyone amiable? No. But there are plenty of players that are, and you can meet a lot of fun people everywhere. I also find that, for the most part, advanced players are happily willing to share tips and techniques to less experienced foosers. This is a reason why joining big tournaments with loads of talent is important for one's personal foosball development.
I guesstimate that a good 70% - 80% of the players at the tournament, regardless of country, was between 18 – 24. In Taiwan, I would say that 90% of players are over the age of 25. With age comes added responsibilities – jobs, families, etc – and reduced dedication to foosball. This confirms what I’ve said for a while now: in order to grow foosball, we need to start from college kids. They’re the ones with the time -- heck, most students don’t even want to spend time on school. More players with time to practice will increase the overall level of play in Taiwan.
As for my personal performances, there were ups and downs. Sometimes you just never know how things will pan out; and more often than not, it’s the luck of the draw. So, here's how my events went in chronological order.
Newbie Doubles // The highest would be set against the easiest competition. Unfortunately, Weichung and I didn't make it far, losing our first match, winning the second, and losing the third. Not quite what we hoped for playing in a Newbies' event. Being our first event of the tournament, getting tossed in without time to practice, and not really knowing what to expect, I think nerves got the best of us. So it was a devastating elimination, but also let us loosen up and play with a "don't care attitude" through the rest of the tournament. I played mainly in the forward position, while Weichung played goalie, as we had always done in the past in Taiwan. In between, we switched a few times as our game fell apart, and as we finished _____ out of ____ teams.
Amateur Singles // After losing in Newbie Doubles, the nerves were gone. I normally tend to find my game in Singles play. Being able to touch the ball on every possession lets me relax and has a calming effect mentally. I don't quite remember how this event went, but I ended up tied for 7th out of _______.
3000 Ltd. Doubles // This event places a limit on the combined ranking of the two players on each team. New players have 900 points, amateurs are below 1200, semi-pros maybe 1500, pros 1800, and masters 2200. Something like that. I might have fudged some numbers. With no previous VIFA points, Weichung and I were the lowest possible 900 points. This meant we could have tried to find pro players to partner up with. But we didn't try hard, and ended up playing together in our best doubles effort together at the tournament. We were quickly discarded in our first game against Malaysia's 7th ranked player Jhin and his partner. But with my defense and offense working from the back, and Weichung's passing and Europin clicking up front, we managed to string together 3 wins before losing our last game. Good enough for 13th place out of ______.
Newbie Singles // Newbie Singles has a lot of the same players as the Amateur events. I went on a string of three or four wins before being put into the losers' bracket by the eventual champion (Hamadi from UAE). That already put me in a position for 3rd place or better. But it wouldn't get better with a subsequent loss to Andrew, a Malaysian I had put in the losers' bracket the first time we met. To find some condolence, that game went to the very last deuce point. Nerve-wracking, but spawned a mutual respect for each other. 3rd out of ______.
Open Singles // Did I really think I had a chance? Nope, lost 2 straight games to elimination. The second match actually went down to the wire in the 5th game (best 3 of 5) where I eventually lost 8-7 against a UAE player. When it gets down to the last point, I guess it could have been anyone’s game. Unfortunately, two losses put me in _____ out of _____ competitors.
Amateur Doubles // Again, Weichung and I only made it again to the third match, and maybe only because our second match was a "can't lose" match against an Indian team. I played goalie exclusively because of some success playing this way in the 3000 Ltd event. It didn't help this time.
Open Doubles // I was iffy about joining this event. Like I said, why pay money just to have my behind kicked? Didn't you see my Open Singles results? I did. But as a last day decision, I still asked Singaporean semi-pro Martin Thong if he was interested in playing together since he didn't yet have a partner. Whenever you play with a more experienced player, you trust them with making the decisions. His use of timeouts, his strategy of playing slower when you have a lead or faster and more recklessly when against stronger opponents worked flawlessly. So, with him leading the offence and me guarding the goal, we went on a unpredictable run winning our first four games. Some of these games were against pairs of Pros, but we held our own. It’s also unfortunate we had to send Taiwanese team Jack and Weichung into the loser’s bracket in our 3rd match. But Martin’s passing game constantly had me shaking my head in amazement, while his snake shot was deadly accurate. As we played, he also gave me defensive tips which went a long way in shutting down strong offensive efforts by our opponents. But our win streak would end on the morning of the next day as we played against a very strong UAE team (who eventually took the 1st place). In the losers' bracket, we took Malaysia's top doubles team to five games before losing 5-3 in the final set. It was an admirable effort by this unsuspecting matching of a semi-pro and a newbie/amateur. So I was pleased with our final 3rd place finish among __________ teams.
Mixed International Doubles // The Mixed International event is a random pairing of an international player with a Malaysian player. I didn't really have any expectations here, because it was the last event to play after a long four days. I matched up with Andrew, the young Malaysian I lost to in Newbie Singles and we just had fun with it. We lost against a strong first team, then took two matches before falling to Jack Huang (Taiwan) and his partner Melanie (right after they knocked Weichung and his partner Natalie out of the tournament). We had a chance to win after taking the first game in a best-of-3, but we weren't playing as strong after dinner as we had before the dinner break, and this game offered little room for errors. But encouraged by the fact that we had no expectations, we had nothing to be disappointed about. _____ out of _____ teams.
And that's how the tournament unfolded. I'd be slightly surprised if any readers got this far, but I hope a few of you did. Overall, my offense was mediocre. My pull shot was big when it needed to be, and my push-kick was working sometimes and failing at other times. At the end of the day, it was strong defense that gave me a chance.
A fantastic learning experience, and just an all-round fun time. I would recommend this trip for anyone as long as you can put in the long hours.
Let's talk about the VIFA Asia Open... in English. This is the largest foosball tournament in Asia, and in the past had brought in a lot of top competitors from across the continent. This year, players represented Malaysia, Taiwan, UAE, India, and Singapore. From Taiwan were Hsinchu foosball pals Jack Huang, Weichung Tseng, and myself.
The 4-day schedule was like so:
Day 1 (7/17): Newbie Doubles, Amateur Singles, 3000 Ltd. Doubles
Day 2 (7/18): Newbie Singles, Ladies Open Singles, Open Singles
Day 3 (7/19): Amateur Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Open Doubles
Day 4 (7/20): Mixed International Doubles, and final matches for Amateur and Open events
You really have to like foosball to embark on a journey where you play 8 tournament events over four days – almost 12 hours of foosball each day. Even so, we still made an effort to squeeze in some sightseeing in the mornings of our tournament, and the day after the tournament ended.
I had few expectations going to Malaysia. “Just to have fun” was at the top of my list. “See Kuala Lumpur” was another, because I’d wanted to go to KL for a few years now. From a foosball perspective, I hoped to do decently well in the Newbie events, have a little success in the Amateur events, and get crushed in Open events. In fact, I was hesitant in registering for the Open events at all because I saw little point in paying money to get eliminated quickly. But since my Taiwanese cohorts were playing, I had either had the choice of playing as well, or sitting around watching them play. Though I normally play with Weichung in doubles tournaments in Taiwan, I told Jack and Weichung to team up for Open Doubles because I wasn’t sure about my participation.
The average level of play common amongst Malaysian players is much higher than that found in Taiwan for one main reason in my mind: passing. New Malaysian players are introduced to the sport by training their 5-to-3 passing first, before worrying about offense. Consequently, just about any Newbie player in Malaysia has faster and crisper passing than any of us in Taiwan. This goes for the UAE and Singaporean competitors too - although most of them are pretty good players already. It can't be understated how important the passing game is in foosball. These players aren’t too shabby offensively as well, but it's the passing that sets them apart from us. I think what the Malaysian newbies and amateurs lack is in the defensive game psychology.
The foosball environment and atmosphere at Breakers differs from other countries in that indoor smoking is still allowed. Breakers renovated and re-organized their layout this past year with improved ventilation over last year (so I've been told), but when you put 40 chain smokers together in any room at one time, you’re guaranteed to inhale a lot of second-hand smoke over the course of 4 days. Some players (guys and girls) will even light up during the 30-second timeouts！ Maybe Malaysia will catch up with the rest of the world and ban smoking from buildings.
The tournament schedule can also be tightened up a bit, which should benefit everyone. A tournament event can start anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours late. No earlier, and never on time. On average, we were playing from around 2pm until 2am each day – with pretty messed up meal times. Part of the problem here is that players just show up late. "Malaysian Time", you could say. But they won't start a tournament event until there are enough players. The remedy is to start playing on time (or only 30-mins late) just once. This would serve as a warning or threat to scare players into coming earlier in the future. Another reason for the delay is because the tournament is played in rounds, according to tournament director Raymond Kan. Each event is double-elimination with a winners' bracket and losers' bracket. A 16-team double-elimination event will first complete a 8-match round, then a 4-match loser bracket round, a 4-match winner bracket round, and so on. Each round must be completed before the next round starts. So, each round will last as long as the slowest match in the round - which creates super long delays. Tournament organizer Raymond says this is because some players have table preference, i.e. they must play on a particular table. Pickiness aside, this preference should only appear amongst the top players, not so much for newbies and amateurs. I would recommend to Raymond that games get started as soon as the match-up's teams are set and a table is available, because you never know when a game will run long. This would shorten the running time dramatically.
Foosball is a social sport and, as I've said before, breeds some unique kind of comradery amongst players. Is everyone amiable? No. But there are plenty of players that are, and you can meet a lot of fun people everywhere. I also find that, for the most part, advanced players are happily willing to share tips and techniques to less experienced foosers. This is a reason why joining big tournaments with loads of talent is important for one's personal foosball development.
I guesstimate that a good 70% - 80% of the players at the tournament, regardless of country, was between 18 – 24. In Taiwan, I would say that 90% of players are over the age of 25. With age comes added responsibilities – jobs, families, etc – and reduced dedication to foosball. This confirms what I’ve said for a while now: in order to grow foosball, we need to start from college kids. They’re the ones with the time -- heck, most students don’t even want to spend time on school. More players with time to practice will increase the overall level of play in Taiwan.
As for my personal performances, there were ups and downs. Sometimes you just never know how things will pan out; and more often than not, it’s the luck of the draw. So, here's how my events went in chronological order.
Newbie Doubles // The highest would be set against the easiest competition. Unfortunately, Weichung and I didn't make it far, losing our first match, winning the second, and losing the third. Not quite what we hoped for playing in a Newbies' event. Being our first event of the tournament, getting tossed in without time to practice, and not really knowing what to expect, I think nerves got the best of us. So it was a devastating elimination, but also let us loosen up and play with a "don't care attitude" through the rest of the tournament. I played mainly in the forward position, while Weichung played goalie, as we had always done in the past in Taiwan. In between, we switched a few times as our game fell apart, and as we finished _____ out of ____ teams.
Amateur Singles // After losing in Newbie Doubles, the nerves were gone. I normally tend to find my game in Singles play. Being able to touch the ball on every possession lets me relax and has a calming effect mentally. I don't quite remember how this event went, but I ended up tied for 7th out of _______.
3000 Ltd. Doubles // This event places a limit on the combined ranking of the two players on each team. New players have 900 points, amateurs are below 1200, semi-pros maybe 1500, pros 1800, and masters 2200. Something like that. I might have fudged some numbers. With no previous VIFA points, Weichung and I were the lowest possible 900 points. This meant we could have tried to find pro players to partner up with. But we didn't try hard, and ended up playing together in our best doubles effort together at the tournament. We were quickly discarded in our first game against Malaysia's 7th ranked player Jhin and his partner. But with my defense and offense working from the back, and Weichung's passing and Europin clicking up front, we managed to string together 3 wins before losing our last game. Good enough for 13th place out of ______.
Newbie Singles // Newbie Singles has a lot of the same players as the Amateur events. I went on a string of three or four wins before being put into the losers' bracket by the eventual champion (Hamadi from UAE). That already put me in a position for 3rd place or better. But it wouldn't get better with a subsequent loss to Andrew, a Malaysian I had put in the losers' bracket the first time we met. To find some condolence, that game went to the very last deuce point. Nerve-wracking, but spawned a mutual respect for each other. 3rd out of ______.
Open Singles // Did I really think I had a chance? Nope, lost 2 straight games to elimination. The second match actually went down to the wire in the 5th game (best 3 of 5) where I eventually lost 8-7 against a UAE player. When it gets down to the last point, I guess it could have been anyone’s game. Unfortunately, two losses put me in _____ out of _____ competitors.
Amateur Doubles // Again, Weichung and I only made it again to the third match, and maybe only because our second match was a "can't lose" match against an Indian team. I played goalie exclusively because of some success playing this way in the 3000 Ltd event. It didn't help this time.
Open Doubles // I was iffy about joining this event. Like I said, why pay money just to have my behind kicked? Didn't you see my Open Singles results? I did. But as a last day decision, I still asked Singaporean semi-pro Martin Thong if he was interested in playing together since he didn't yet have a partner. Whenever you play with a more experienced player, you trust them with making the decisions. His use of timeouts, his strategy of playing slower when you have a lead or faster and more recklessly when against stronger opponents worked flawlessly. So, with him leading the offence and me guarding the goal, we went on a unpredictable run winning our first four games. Some of these games were against pairs of Pros, but we held our own. It’s also unfortunate we had to send Taiwanese team Jack and Weichung into the loser’s bracket in our 3rd match. But Martin’s passing game constantly had me shaking my head in amazement, while his snake shot was deadly accurate. As we played, he also gave me defensive tips which went a long way in shutting down strong offensive efforts by our opponents. But our win streak would end on the morning of the next day as we played against a very strong UAE team (who eventually took the 1st place). In the losers' bracket, we took Malaysia's top doubles team to five games before losing 5-3 in the final set. It was an admirable effort by this unsuspecting matching of a semi-pro and a newbie/amateur. So I was pleased with our final 3rd place finish among __________ teams.
Mixed International Doubles // The Mixed International event is a random pairing of an international player with a Malaysian player. I didn't really have any expectations here, because it was the last event to play after a long four days. I matched up with Andrew, the young Malaysian I lost to in Newbie Singles and we just had fun with it. We lost against a strong first team, then took two matches before falling to Jack Huang (Taiwan) and his partner Melanie (right after they knocked Weichung and his partner Natalie out of the tournament). We had a chance to win after taking the first game in a best-of-3, but we weren't playing as strong after dinner as we had before the dinner break, and this game offered little room for errors. But encouraged by the fact that we had no expectations, we had nothing to be disappointed about. _____ out of _____ teams.
And that's how the tournament unfolded. I'd be slightly surprised if any readers got this far, but I hope a few of you did. Overall, my offense was mediocre. My pull shot was big when it needed to be, and my push-kick was working sometimes and failing at other times. At the end of the day, it was strong defense that gave me a chance.
A fantastic learning experience, and just an all-round fun time. I would recommend this trip for anyone as long as you can put in the long hours.
Malaysia Impressions
In this segment, I'll post about some things I noticed or found interesting during my stay in Malaysia.
- Love the Indian food, but probably had a little too much. Don't worry, I had regular bowel movement 97% of the time.
- Although Malay is the official language in Malaysia, English is abundant and spoken by everyone.
- Most taxi drivers are fairly friendly and talkative, and you can learn a lot about a place by talking to its people.
- Catching a cab requires a bit of knowledge and patience if you don't want to be taken for a ride, figuratively speaking. More than half of the cabs will not use the meter and will charge you twice the meter price to get to your destination. How and where you hail a taxi will also determine whether you can use the meter. If you're in a crowded area, like the Puduraya bus station, getting a metered taxi is near impossible. I probably turned away 8 cabs wanting 15 RM for a 7 RM ride, before settling on a 10 RM price. But if you're in a rush or don't mind overpaying, go ahead with a vocal price. Taxi prices in KL are amongst the cheapest in all of Asia, and they're in the mist of a price hike (effective August 1), which should see rates increased 1.5x. Sounds like a lot, but considering cab prices have been fixed for 10 years, I guess cab drivers should feel guilty into trying to earn a little more.
- Just like with Singapore, the mix of Chinese, Indian, and Malay is interesting to me. They get along far more harmoniously than any 3 races in Canada.
- Overall, things are cheap here. Food in particular. You can have a decent meal for less than 10 ringgits.
- "Lah" seems like an ending word for Chinese, but its common for any Malaysian to tack it on at the end of a sentence. So you may see some tourist t-shirts like the ones below. Not completely unlike the Canadian "Eh".
T-shirts Lah - A lot of the foosball players I met are between the age of 18 and 24. They're much more like Canadian young adults than Taiwanese young adults (who I find to be too protected by their parents). Of course, there are still plenty of FOB-ish Chinese around Malaysia.
- I swapped my Panasonic LX-3 lens cap to a modified Ricoh LC-1 according to the instructions here, and I'm stoked it worked beautifully. Just awesome. But perhaps not something most point and shoot photographers can appreciate.
- Somehow Malaysia - both in KL and the Cameron Highlands - feels familiar. Maybe it feels a little too close to Taiwan. Or maybe I've traveled to too many Asian countries that few things are eye-openers anymore. Been there, done that.
MALAYSIA! (Truly Asia)
Hey Folks,
Back from an 9-day, 8-night trip to Malaysia. I wrote most of this posting while waiting for my flight at the airport to describe how my trip unfolded. The main reason for going to Malaysia was to compete in the VIFA Asia Open foosball tournament, held at Breakers bar in Desa Sri Hartamas just outside of Kuala Lumpur. But of course, I wasn't going to buy a plane ticket and do no sightseeing along the way. The first part of the trip was with two foosers, while the last couple of days were with two of my ex-coworkers.
Anyway, on with my ramble.
DAY 1 (Thurs): After 9 hours of travel, we arrived late at our hotel around 10pm. With empty stomachs, we found a cheap Indian restaurant close by. This would be the first of my five visits to that restaurant. Roti Canai for 1 RM, chicken and lamb satays for 0.70 RM each. Darn cheap, and best of all, very tasty. Then we took a 10-minute taxi ride to Breakers just to see what was up. Slept around 3am.
Nasi Kandar Penang Indian Restaurant
DAY 2 (Fri): Headed out at 8:20am and got stuck in the stagnant morning traffic, arriving at the Petronas Twin Towers at 8:45am. Online sources had told me that they start handing out tickets for a free 10-minute visit on the 44th floor bridge (between the two towers) at 8:30am. By the time we got there, there was a huge line-up and we gave up waiting after 4 minutes. So we elected to take some photos of the Petronas outside and walked to the KL Tower, which provides an even higher view of the city, and a skyline which includes the Twin Towers themselves. The weather was hazy, but it was still worth the 38 RM entry.
Petronas Twin Towers by Day
KL Tower
We made a quick stop at our hotel, then went to the tournament site around 2pm for Newbie Doubles, followed by Amateur Singles and 3000 Ltd events. We left around 2am, and had a late meal, including Malaysia's famed Bat Kut Teh, along a night market-like street. Eyes shut at 4am.
Foosball at Breakers
Bat Kut Teh
DAY 3 (Sat): Canceled all morning tourism activities to get more shut eye, and registered for the day's tournament events at 1pm before getting a quick bite across the street. One important thing to note when playing foosball tournaments is to avoid overeating, which prevents getting into a sleepy lull during the digestive period. We played Newbie Singles and Open Singles, skipping the Ladies Open Singles wedged in between. We called it a "early" night, sleeping at 2am.
DAY 4 (Sun): KL visitation sites were the Central Market and the Islamic Arts Museum. It's amazing how fast you can get through a museum when you're in a rush. Got to Breakers just after 1pm, but the doors weren't even open yet. Someone must have slept in. Finally, when they did open, around 2:30pm or so, I had Amateur Doubles, then Open Doubles. Left Breakers at 3am and in bed just after 4am. Do you see a re-occurring pattern here?
DAY 5 (Mon): Last day of the tournament, so it started later in the day. We were up and out around noon and headed to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Independence Square (Dataran Merdeka), the Masjid Jamek Mosque (which we couldn't enter due to a dress code), the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Petaling Street, the National Museum, and finally to Breakers again to finish Open Doubles and played Mixed International Doubles. We got our prizes at 1:30am, and smoked some shashi before going back to the hotel.
Sultan Abdul Samad Building
DAY 6 (Tues): A 2-hour bus ride brought us to the historical city of Melaka (Melacca). We followed a walking tour I found online to learn about Malaysia's past as a colony of Portugal, Japan, and Great Britain, and finally its independence. Truly a worthy day-trip to make if staying in KL. Arriving back in KL around 9pm, we still found time to stop again at the Petronas towers for some great night shots. That night, my ex-coworkers arrived in KL at our hotel, and I moved over to their room because we had to get up early the next morning. The foosball guys also had to catch a flight early the next day as well.
Melaka Panoramic
St. Paul's Church, Melaka
Malacca Sultanate Palace, Melaka
DAY 7 (Wed): The three of us slept through a 4-hour bus ride to the Cameron Highlands - the highest region in Peninsular Malaysia, and a good 10 degrees cooler than KL. After checking into the Strawberry Park Resort, we joined a small agricultural tour where we were introduced to the farming sector which covers the highlands. We were taken to farms for chrysanthemum, water cress, strawberries, multi-crops, lettuce, and cactus. We also did some strawberry picking from a hydroponic crop. As the day progressed, cold symptoms were becoming more and more apparent.
Farmland on the Cameron Highlands
More Farmland on the Cameron Highlands
DAY 8 (Thurs): We started the day with a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel, and soon headed on another tour. On the list were a Rose Centre, a butterfly farm, a BOH (best of highlands) tea plantation, a bee farm and a Buddhist temple (both of which there are plenty of in Taiwan). In the afternoon, more Indian food and a visit to a clinic for my cold and asthma, and a rest stop at the Starbucks before boarding our bus for a 5-hour commute back to KL.
DAY 9 (Fri): After a terrible night's sleep, I was up at 5:15am and on a monorail at 6:15am making my way back to the KLIA airport. 9:45am at the time of writing this, and on the plane ready for take off.
More on Malaysia impressions coming soon...
Back from an 9-day, 8-night trip to Malaysia. I wrote most of this posting while waiting for my flight at the airport to describe how my trip unfolded. The main reason for going to Malaysia was to compete in the VIFA Asia Open foosball tournament, held at Breakers bar in Desa Sri Hartamas just outside of Kuala Lumpur. But of course, I wasn't going to buy a plane ticket and do no sightseeing along the way. The first part of the trip was with two foosers, while the last couple of days were with two of my ex-coworkers.
Anyway, on with my ramble.
DAY 1 (Thurs): After 9 hours of travel, we arrived late at our hotel around 10pm. With empty stomachs, we found a cheap Indian restaurant close by. This would be the first of my five visits to that restaurant. Roti Canai for 1 RM, chicken and lamb satays for 0.70 RM each. Darn cheap, and best of all, very tasty. Then we took a 10-minute taxi ride to Breakers just to see what was up. Slept around 3am.
DAY 2 (Fri): Headed out at 8:20am and got stuck in the stagnant morning traffic, arriving at the Petronas Twin Towers at 8:45am. Online sources had told me that they start handing out tickets for a free 10-minute visit on the 44th floor bridge (between the two towers) at 8:30am. By the time we got there, there was a huge line-up and we gave up waiting after 4 minutes. So we elected to take some photos of the Petronas outside and walked to the KL Tower, which provides an even higher view of the city, and a skyline which includes the Twin Towers themselves. The weather was hazy, but it was still worth the 38 RM entry.
We made a quick stop at our hotel, then went to the tournament site around 2pm for Newbie Doubles, followed by Amateur Singles and 3000 Ltd events. We left around 2am, and had a late meal, including Malaysia's famed Bat Kut Teh, along a night market-like street. Eyes shut at 4am.
DAY 3 (Sat): Canceled all morning tourism activities to get more shut eye, and registered for the day's tournament events at 1pm before getting a quick bite across the street. One important thing to note when playing foosball tournaments is to avoid overeating, which prevents getting into a sleepy lull during the digestive period. We played Newbie Singles and Open Singles, skipping the Ladies Open Singles wedged in between. We called it a "early" night, sleeping at 2am.
DAY 4 (Sun): KL visitation sites were the Central Market and the Islamic Arts Museum. It's amazing how fast you can get through a museum when you're in a rush. Got to Breakers just after 1pm, but the doors weren't even open yet. Someone must have slept in. Finally, when they did open, around 2:30pm or so, I had Amateur Doubles, then Open Doubles. Left Breakers at 3am and in bed just after 4am. Do you see a re-occurring pattern here?
DAY 5 (Mon): Last day of the tournament, so it started later in the day. We were up and out around noon and headed to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Independence Square (Dataran Merdeka), the Masjid Jamek Mosque (which we couldn't enter due to a dress code), the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Petaling Street, the National Museum, and finally to Breakers again to finish Open Doubles and played Mixed International Doubles. We got our prizes at 1:30am, and smoked some shashi before going back to the hotel.
DAY 6 (Tues): A 2-hour bus ride brought us to the historical city of Melaka (Melacca). We followed a walking tour I found online to learn about Malaysia's past as a colony of Portugal, Japan, and Great Britain, and finally its independence. Truly a worthy day-trip to make if staying in KL. Arriving back in KL around 9pm, we still found time to stop again at the Petronas towers for some great night shots. That night, my ex-coworkers arrived in KL at our hotel, and I moved over to their room because we had to get up early the next morning. The foosball guys also had to catch a flight early the next day as well.
DAY 7 (Wed): The three of us slept through a 4-hour bus ride to the Cameron Highlands - the highest region in Peninsular Malaysia, and a good 10 degrees cooler than KL. After checking into the Strawberry Park Resort, we joined a small agricultural tour where we were introduced to the farming sector which covers the highlands. We were taken to farms for chrysanthemum, water cress, strawberries, multi-crops, lettuce, and cactus. We also did some strawberry picking from a hydroponic crop. As the day progressed, cold symptoms were becoming more and more apparent.
DAY 8 (Thurs): We started the day with a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel, and soon headed on another tour. On the list were a Rose Centre, a butterfly farm, a BOH (best of highlands) tea plantation, a bee farm and a Buddhist temple (both of which there are plenty of in Taiwan). In the afternoon, more Indian food and a visit to a clinic for my cold and asthma, and a rest stop at the Starbucks before boarding our bus for a 5-hour commute back to KL.
DAY 9 (Fri): After a terrible night's sleep, I was up at 5:15am and on a monorail at 6:15am making my way back to the KLIA airport. 9:45am at the time of writing this, and on the plane ready for take off.
More on Malaysia impressions coming soon...
July 15, 2009
Crazy Foosers...
Alright, I've been neither here nor there with posting on this blog. It's been frustrating me, but I've been just too lazy to do anything about it.Right, so back to foos.
From February through May, I spent a great deal of time organizing and planning Taiwan's first international foosball tournament, sponsored by Carlsberg Taiwan. The Carlsberg Cup was a two-day event with 70 - 80 participants; a few of them from overseas (Malaysia, Hong Kong, and expats from Canada and the US). After all the hard work, I was pleased to see that everything went really smoothly. Here's the tournament summary, photos, and videos from the event. The only thing I could complain about was my personal performance at the event. But it's alright, I don't really mind.
In order to further promote foosball and the Carlsberg Cup, a few Taiwan Foosball Association guys went on local radio stations to interview about the sport. I went on Taiwan's only English radio station ICRT. You can listen to my interview by going to the TFA website and scrolling down to the bottom. You'll see a picture of me. Click Play. Of course, by the time you read this, that interview may be gone.
At the start of June, I put together the first TFA FoosLife foosball eMagazine. It took a lot of hard work to get the first edition out, but the result was well-received. It's a monthly magazine that is distributed to friends of foosball, and contains articles in both English and Chinese. Here're June 2009 and July 2009 Editions.
In June, I bought a used Tornado foosball table from a friend. In fact, the photo for this posting is of my table. It's in good condition, takes up substantial room in my little suite, and will hopefully make me a better player. I've been frustrated with my game lately. But anyway...
Tomorrow, I leave for Malaysia. I'm participating in the VIFA Asia Open foosball tournament. It's a huge event, with players coming from all over in Asia (UAE, India, Taiwan, Japan, China...). Four days of grueling foosball -- unless I get eliminated quickly, then it won't be so grueling. Wish me luck. After that, I'll have a few extra days in Kuala Lumpur where the tournament is held, a day in Melaka (historical city of Malaysia), and the Cameron Highlands. Should be a fun trip. Foosball's the reason for going, but I probably put equal weighting on the adventures of travel.
So... that's it!
Foos on.
June 16, 2009
Olympus Launches Micro Four Thirds Camera
Now we're talkin'.
I wasn't sure when a compact micro four-thirds camera would be on the market, so I bought my Panasonic LX-3 earlier in the year. I don't regret that decision as the LX-3 produces some great photos. But this is certainly exciting news, and my next camera may be a micro four-thirds since I'm turned off by DSLRs' sizes. But I'll wait until they've worked out the kinks.
Article: Olympus Launches Micro Four Thirds Camera
I wasn't sure when a compact micro four-thirds camera would be on the market, so I bought my Panasonic LX-3 earlier in the year. I don't regret that decision as the LX-3 produces some great photos. But this is certainly exciting news, and my next camera may be a micro four-thirds since I'm turned off by DSLRs' sizes. But I'll wait until they've worked out the kinks.
Article: Olympus Launches Micro Four Thirds Camera
June 10, 2009
Everything Foosball...
A lot of my spare time recently has been spent on foosball related activities. And the normal person would ask, "How the heck can you spend a lot of time on foosball?". Well, I'll unravel some related stories in a few postings (hopefully). For now, I just want to say that our company has purchased a Torpedo foosball table. It's a knock-off of the Tornado tables found in North America. Quality-wise, it's close enough. At least good enough to practice on and sharpen up my skills.
Now, maybe I'll be spending as much time engaged in foosball activities at a table as the time spent on foosball activities away from a table.
Now, maybe I'll be spending as much time engaged in foosball activities at a table as the time spent on foosball activities away from a table.
May 19, 2009
Rest in Peace, Mischa
I received word today that my ex-coworker and friend, Mischa, passed away from lupus at the tender age of 25. It was just 3 months ago she was getting ready for the Chinese New Year vacation when her body started malfunctioning and her immune system turning on herself. Soon after, she was in a coma and underwent multiple surgeries to address various complications. But in the end, never having the chance to come out of her coma, she lost her battle.
Mischa was a beautiful person inside and out, always putting on a big smile as she manned the front desk at our office. Learning that she has had to ensure so much turmoil in her family, it's amazing that she could always show up to work with so much energy and enthusiasm, and immediately make everyone feel better. She was one of the kindest souls I've had the pleasure of meeting, and she will be missed.
Mischa, rest in peace.
Mischa was a beautiful person inside and out, always putting on a big smile as she manned the front desk at our office. Learning that she has had to ensure so much turmoil in her family, it's amazing that she could always show up to work with so much energy and enthusiasm, and immediately make everyone feel better. She was one of the kindest souls I've had the pleasure of meeting, and she will be missed.
Mischa, rest in peace.
April 04, 2009
PHILIPPINES!
Following Singapore, we spent 6 days in the Philippines.
When planning for this trip, personal Filipino consultants CS and RT both said not to bother spending too much time in Manila, and to go to Boracay and Tagaytay instead - so we worked our Filipino visit around that advice.
Jan 30 (Fri): Our 3.5 hr flight brought us to Ninoy Aquino International at 6:25pm. We got special VIP services, having "EdlC", retired Chief of Police where the airport is located, picking us and giving us a ride to our hotel - because he's CS's family friend. In Singapore, we chose to stay in the Red Light District. In Manila, our luck would have it that our hotel was also in the Red Light District of Makati (the financial district of the Philippines). If seeing old fat white guys with two little Filipinas at his side is your cup of tea, you'll fit right at home. I don't want to get into the details of our hotel, I'll just say the photos of Citadel Inn Makati hide its age very well. Not wanting to venture too far from our hotel at night, we just walked around the surrounding area and had dinner at Filipino fast-food roasted chicken chain Andok's.
Jan 31 (Sat): To kill a bit of time in the morning before meeting a friend in the afternoon, we headed to Alaya Center, a huge mall complex in the Makati area - spending most of our time trying and buying filipino foods.
View from Our Hotel Room
In the afternoon, we met with my highschool friend LF who took us to Tagaytay. Tagaytay is city about an hour and some South of Manila, and most famous for its Taal Volcano. With LF being local, we took her on one of her most touristy experiences in the Philippines. We went down to Taal Lake, took a boat across to the volcano, and rode on donkeys up to the end of the volcano's mouth, in which sits another little lake. An expensive round trip, but if you can look past the steep price, it's a fun little excursion. The boat rides there and back get really wet and windy. Getting back to shore, we went to Tagaytay Highlands, which is golf resort and country club where LF's family owns a unit. Tagaytay Highlands gives a great view of Taal Volcano, unfortunately, we arrived late and it was pitch black. After dinner, we returned back to our slummy hotel and retired for the night.
Taal Volcano's Crater
Leaving Taal Volcano
Feb 1 - 4 (Sun - Wed): An early morning 50-min flight put us at Caticlan from where took a boat to Boracay. We checked in at La Carmela de Boracay which is a cozy retreat with a beach out front. Boracay's White Beach is often placed in discussions about the top beaches in the world - and the clear blue-green water is breathtaking when you see it for the first time.
White Sands Beach
For the next 3 days in Boracay, we...
... did a 6-hour boat tour around the island (included some disappointing snorkeling and a decent lunch)
... had massages on the beach every day
... went for strolls along the beach (White Beach)
... got henna tattoos on the beach
... suntanned on the beach
... slept on the beach
... swam
... rented scooters and
... bought local goods
Sunset on Boracay
A lot of our time was spent eating too! Seafood buffets, Mexican food (just a snack), thick flavorful milkshakes (at Jonah's), Nigi Nigi's "Best Burgers on the Beach" (which probably weren't really), great giant prawns and a terrible steak. Sitting at a table on the beach at night with a cool breeze and your feet playing in the sand below really gives that feeling of being on vacation.
Feb 4 (Wed): Back in Manila, EdlC unexpectedly picked us up from the airport again, and took us on a quick city tour of Manila hitting up the Manila Zoo, SM Mall of Asia (2nd largest mall in a country full of malls), Manila Bay, Fort Santiago (drive-by), Manila Cathedral, and San Agustin Church. I also tried balut - boiled duck embryo. The one I ate wasn't all that disgusting looking - like, you couldn't see the half-chick - and it's
We ended our trip with another dinner with LF before calling it a night leading up to our early morning flight.
When planning for this trip, personal Filipino consultants CS and RT both said not to bother spending too much time in Manila, and to go to Boracay and Tagaytay instead - so we worked our Filipino visit around that advice.
Jan 30 (Fri): Our 3.5 hr flight brought us to Ninoy Aquino International at 6:25pm. We got special VIP services, having "EdlC", retired Chief of Police where the airport is located, picking us and giving us a ride to our hotel - because he's CS's family friend. In Singapore, we chose to stay in the Red Light District. In Manila, our luck would have it that our hotel was also in the Red Light District of Makati (the financial district of the Philippines). If seeing old fat white guys with two little Filipinas at his side is your cup of tea, you'll fit right at home. I don't want to get into the details of our hotel, I'll just say the photos of Citadel Inn Makati hide its age very well. Not wanting to venture too far from our hotel at night, we just walked around the surrounding area and had dinner at Filipino fast-food roasted chicken chain Andok's.
Jan 31 (Sat): To kill a bit of time in the morning before meeting a friend in the afternoon, we headed to Alaya Center, a huge mall complex in the Makati area - spending most of our time trying and buying filipino foods.
In the afternoon, we met with my highschool friend LF who took us to Tagaytay. Tagaytay is city about an hour and some South of Manila, and most famous for its Taal Volcano. With LF being local, we took her on one of her most touristy experiences in the Philippines. We went down to Taal Lake, took a boat across to the volcano, and rode on donkeys up to the end of the volcano's mouth, in which sits another little lake. An expensive round trip, but if you can look past the steep price, it's a fun little excursion. The boat rides there and back get really wet and windy. Getting back to shore, we went to Tagaytay Highlands, which is golf resort and country club where LF's family owns a unit. Tagaytay Highlands gives a great view of Taal Volcano, unfortunately, we arrived late and it was pitch black. After dinner, we returned back to our slummy hotel and retired for the night.
Feb 1 - 4 (Sun - Wed): An early morning 50-min flight put us at Caticlan from where took a boat to Boracay. We checked in at La Carmela de Boracay which is a cozy retreat with a beach out front. Boracay's White Beach is often placed in discussions about the top beaches in the world - and the clear blue-green water is breathtaking when you see it for the first time.
For the next 3 days in Boracay, we...
... did a 6-hour boat tour around the island (included some disappointing snorkeling and a decent lunch)
... had massages on the beach every day
... went for strolls along the beach (White Beach)
... got henna tattoos on the beach
... suntanned on the beach
... slept on the beach
... swam
... rented scooters and
... bought local goods
A lot of our time was spent eating too! Seafood buffets, Mexican food (just a snack), thick flavorful milkshakes (at Jonah's), Nigi Nigi's "Best Burgers on the Beach" (which probably weren't really), great giant prawns and a terrible steak. Sitting at a table on the beach at night with a cool breeze and your feet playing in the sand below really gives that feeling of being on vacation.
Feb 4 (Wed): Back in Manila, EdlC unexpectedly picked us up from the airport again, and took us on a quick city tour of Manila hitting up the Manila Zoo, SM Mall of Asia (2nd largest mall in a country full of malls), Manila Bay, Fort Santiago (drive-by), Manila Cathedral, and San Agustin Church. I also tried balut - boiled duck embryo. The one I ate wasn't all that disgusting looking - like, you couldn't see the half-chick - and it's
We ended our trip with another dinner with LF before calling it a night leading up to our early morning flight.
February 24, 2009
Going to Singapore?
Here's my list of resources that can get you started...
My Singapore Map lists a bunch of places we visited as well as my walking routes.
GENERAL SINGAPORE LINKS
SINGAPORE CITY
A list of places to visit or pass by:
LITTLE INDIA
GEYLANG
SENTOSA
SEEING NATURE IN SINGAPORE
OTHER WALKING TOURS
The Inn Crowd has some other resourceful walking tours. You can start from their recommendations and cut out whatever you don't care to see.
OTHERS
Of course, if you want to learn more about Singapore before going, you should get onto some online forums, such as VirtualTourist and TripAdvisor. And if you're ever so lucky as I had been, you might meet someone kind enough to give you a wealth of knowledge. So my last note on Singapore is a big Thank You to my new friend Tania, who spent a lot of time answering my questions in great detail. Thanks bitbit.
My Singapore Map lists a bunch of places we visited as well as my walking routes.
GENERAL SINGAPORE LINKS
SINGAPORE CITY
A list of places to visit or pass by:
- The Art House (1 Old Parliament Lane)
- Botanic Gardens early morning to view orchids
- Chijmes (30 Victoria Street)
- Clarke Quay
- Elgin Bridge for skyline photos
- Esplanade Park
- Fort Canning Park
- Merlion Park
- Orchard Road for shopping
- Raffles Hotel (1 Beach Road)
- Parliament House (1 Parliament Place)
- Peranakan Museum
- Ritz-Carlton Singapore
- St. Andrew's Cathedral (Saint Andrew's Road)
- War Memorial Park
LITTLE INDIA
GEYLANG
- The Inn Crowd's Food Safari at Geylang
- The Inn Crowd's Geylang Serai, Joo Chiat, Marine Parade, and Stadium Cove Walking Tour
SENTOSA
SEEING NATURE IN SINGAPORE
- Sungei Buloh Wetlands Website
- Singapore Night Safari Website
- The Inn Crowd's Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Kranji War Memorial, The Singapore Racecourse & The Night Safari Tour
- Official Pulau Ubin Parks Website
- A Virtual Tour of Chek Jawa
- The Inn Crowd's Pulau Ubin & Changi Village
- Pedal Ubin Guide
- Jurong Bird Park
OTHER WALKING TOURS
The Inn Crowd has some other resourceful walking tours. You can start from their recommendations and cut out whatever you don't care to see.
OTHERS
Of course, if you want to learn more about Singapore before going, you should get onto some online forums, such as VirtualTourist and TripAdvisor. And if you're ever so lucky as I had been, you might meet someone kind enough to give you a wealth of knowledge. So my last note on Singapore is a big Thank You to my new friend Tania, who spent a lot of time answering my questions in great detail. Thanks bitbit.
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