USA, Grand Canyon: Trail of Time

28 Jan 2015 It was early in the morning, the bus picked me up, exactly as schedule 6.10 am. I was a bit worried, the day before i woke up at 11am. Haha. The day tour cost me USD 90. Lucky the pick up point was just in front of the hotel.

The bus took us to their depot. Then i registered myself and was assigned to bus no 4. I grab some danish and coffee and queue. I sat close to driver as i wanted to seat infront. The driver bawa anjing pulak.. hiah. But then since dlm cage, buat tak tahu dah la.

This tour ended 10pm. It has been a looooong day but worth it. The best part was the bus has free wifi. Awesome kan. Tak la boring sgt sorang2.

The bus make few stop before reached Grand Canyon. First stop was the Hoover Dam. It was huge. Tapi kan.. tak sibuk pulak nak tgk dam kat Malaysia.

Next stop, the old railway  station where we had our lunch buffet. They said buffet lunch was good. Lucky there was wild mushroom rice and veggie. Itulah my lunch.

We arrived Grand Canyon almost 3pm. We have  two options. Walk or take the bus. I wanted to walk the trail but i'm worried to walk alone. Kot la sesat. Its almost 4km and by 5 pm already dark.

As i wondered  alone from Mather Point, i accidently bump into Canadian family that have the same tag of bus number 4. I asked them if they will be walking to Bright Angel Point. They said Yes and I asked if i can follow them. Yeay! 

So this is the glimpse of how the trail of time looks like. Covering 2 billion years of Grand Canyon.

The Canadian  family of 4 had been great company. We chit chat a bit before i said thank you and departed. I felt grateful or else rugi tak walk along the trail.

I slept on the way back to Las Vegas. The bus stop me infront of the hotel. It has been a great solo day trip.

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USA, Las Vegas: What happens here Stays here

24 Jan 2015

Depart KL - Taipei - Los Angles 

20 hour flight seems ok. Thumbs up to EVA Air. Seafood meals always arrive earlier than other pax, in flight entertaiment was ok, seat space seems enough, check in by zone seems efficient  together with meal chart with picture of chicken fish etc for easy meal selection. I think i slept 4 hours je kot. Flight cost RM3170, not the cheapest (china flight is the cheapest) but i prefer not to use any China Airlines. Eva Air is the best interms of timing/duration and safety. Eva Air is one of ten most safest airlines scoring 7 over 7.

Arrive Los Angeles  already dark. Booked hotel near airport with free shuttle just for one night sleep.

25 Jan to 30 Jan 2015, Las Vegas 

Not so good sleep. Heading Las Vegas via Virgin America. Took shuttle back to airport. One hour journey and arrived Las Vegas baby.

Everything in Las Vegas are Flashy. Hap-Pening. Hotel was at the strip makes it easy. 5 nights here was more than enough. Jalan kaki along the strip memang deceiving. Nampak dekat tapi sebenarnya jauh. 13km a day of walk. You can see casino and machine slot everywhere not forgetting  chapel. That's  why there is tagline of What happens here Stays here.

Vegas @night

I took day trip to Grand Canyon, will create on separate post. Also to North Las Vegas factory outlet, Pawn Store and Cirque du Soleil, The Mystere show. I wanted to watch Michael  Jackson  Cirque  du  Soleil  but Mandalay hotel  was too far from my hotel and the ticket cost close to RM600 :(

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USA: Inspiring moment

Blog post  from San Diego :) Finally my feet on US soil. Maybe later i will post about the trip. But at the moment.. before my memory fade and the  feeling gone, i just want to write about moment that inspire me.

While i'm in Vegas, i took a bus to explore the city. I bought one day pass which cost me usd8. I bought tix twice as i accidently lost it on my way to the super famous Pawn Store shop @history channel. Redha je la.

They assumed  you already  bought the tix prior boarding the bus. At one of the stations, one guard came in. His task is to check all passengers  ticket, to ensure its a valid paid ride. This guard started by explaining his task and what going to happen next. He explained clearly and let the passanger decide what option they want to take.

1. Those without tix can immediately exit the bus at the next stop

2. Those without tix can buy the tix now from the machine inside the bus

3. The rest to show the tix facing up

The way he explained all the process was very respectful and tactful. This is like his everyday task. He can just entered and ask passanger to show tix and those without tix, he can just issue the summon. No need to say much. 

But he choose to do it differently. Giving second chance to those without tix.

Then there was a man without tix. He respectfully requested that man to buy tix at the machine  and offered his assistance on how to buy. The man did not have enough money. Few cents more and guess what.. he gave that man few coins. Once purchased, the guard explained the validity of the card to the man, instead of being angry and nag to the man. He choose to be kind and remain respectful.

What he has shown was inspiring. He show consistency in his act. He walk the talk. He not just talking, but his action reflect what he just said. His talk is consistent woth his action. Wow! This is his everyday task. He can just issue the summon. No need to do so much. But how he handle the situation frm the very beginning until end was inspiring  and i can see, it's  effortless. It's inside him. He was not struggling or pretending. 

This guard has shown me how to become a better person. I do not know if the guard action has impact the man without tix. But surely  it's  impact me in a BIG way!

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Offended?

by Fa Abdul, freemalaysiatoday.com January 11

This reader is tired of how offended most Muslims in Malaysia are over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons and decided to share her own experiences.

When I was 7, my Chinese classmate gave me a chicken sandwich during recess one day. It tasted real good. The next day she told me it was pork. She did not care much to apologise for her mistake. I asked my Ustazah at school what would happen to those who consumed pork and she blatantly said, “Kalau makan babi gerenti masuk neraka jahanam” (Anyone who eats pork is guaranteed of going to hell). I was furious at my friend. But no, I did not carry a rifle to her house to kill her.

When I was 13, I was enrolled in a school located in a small Malay town – Kulim. Some of my agama classmates started calling me Hindu Pariah. Since I am of Indian blood, I was always ridiculed and asked to leave the religious class by the Malay Muslims. I was embarrassed. I was thoroughly offended. But no, I did not carry a gun to school to seek revenge.

When I was 18, I met a super hot lecturer while studying in Regent School of Economics, KL. He had nice things to say about how wonderful I was and how amazingly gorgeous I would be if only I removed my headscarf. He said the headscarf was an insult to my beauty. I smiled and never spoke to him ever again. No, I did not shoot him for messing with my faith.

When I was 25, a neighbour of ours gave us copies of photographs showing Lord Murugan with tears of milk flowing down his face in one of the temples in Penang. He claimed to have witnessed it himself and urged us to follow Hinduism as it was the true religion. I took the photos, looked at them one by one and returned it, thanking him for sharing it with us. And no, I did not visit his home with a gun in my pocket.

When I was 34, a cousin rang me up to share his newly found theory on Islam, Prophets and God. He spoke of the lies in Islam. He ridiculed the Prophets as people who invented the words of God. He questioned the existence of God. I told him he had a very interesting point of view and ended the conversation. I know he was also spreading his new beliefs to others in the family. But no, I did not carry a gun to finish him off.

I am now 40. I recently went out on a date with a handsome hunk, an expat from Germany. He persuaded me to try beer. When he failed, he got me a glass of red wine. “Take a sip, just a sip,” he said in his gentle half-seducing voice. I ordered a Coke instead. Funny but the Coke tasted pretty good. Later that night, I found out my Coke was spiked. Damn, looks like I will be heading to hell for a second round. But no, I did not kill him off either.

Anything can be offensive. Any topic. Any conversation. Any piece of art. Any book. Any thing. The thing is, everyone is offended by something. Even the notion that it is okay to seek revenge when you are offended is well, offensive. But this is exactly what our world has turned into – a very sensitive lot who are offended by anything and everything. But does that make one condone a killing spree? Nothing condones murder. Nothing. Even murder itself.

I am a Muslim who isn’t offended by what Charlie Hebdo did. It was tasteless. It was no art. It wasn’t funny. But I did not hate them for it. Just like I do not hate Salman Rushdie. I simply do not agree with his point of view, that’s about it. I believe God awarded us with the ability to think and rationalise our behaviours for a reason. If we choose to hate everyone and everything that does not fall into the perimeters of our beliefs, we could end up hating lots of things.

Condoning the Charlie Hebdo murder in relation to their insensitive work of art is an unconscionable, sub-human way, disgusting at best and bigoted at worst. If you expect others to act and speak a certain way, or assume others will be as kind or compassionate as you, if you’re offended when they don’t rise to the level of your expectations, you will almost always be offended or on the verge of it. Instead, allow people to be human. They are, after all.

“We should be too big to take offence and too noble to give it.”

- Abraham Lincoln

Fa Abdul is producer/playwright @ Big Nose Productions

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Sleeeeeeeep

I need to sleep early. As early as 11pm. But these few weeks, i've been struggling to keep  my eyes shut.

Body extremely  tired but my mind is restless.

I don't  want to be late. I love being early to work. It's  like having a great start for the day.

Add a cup of coffee..

Perfect.

Good night all.

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u look like my next Mistake

behave

bɪˈheɪv/verb 

         
1. act or conduct oneself in a specified way, especially towards others. "he always behaved like a gentleman"

synonyms:

conduct oneself, act, acquit oneself, bear oneself, carry oneself; rare comport oneself, deport oneself

2. conduct oneself in accordance with the accepted norms of a society or group."‘Just behave, Tom,’ he said"

synonyms:

act correctly, act properly, conduct oneself well, act in a polite way, show good manners, mind one's manners, mind one's Ps and Qs; be good, be polite, be well behaved

Life is less complicated when you follow rules and behave. Well, it's easier said that done. It seems impossible to me as I always being tempted to make the wrong doings. When you repeat a mistake, it is not a mistake anymore, it is a decision and perhaps a lifestyle.

The young intern at the office introduce me the word YOLO.

YOLO is an acronym for "you only live once". Similar to carpe diem, it implies that one should enjoy life, even if that entails taking risks.

This is so contradicting kan.

2014 : a Year to Remember

HaHaHa

Happy New Year!!

Twenty Fourteen was memorable in both ways, good and not so good. It was meant to be for me. Like what people always said - Things may well get worse before they get better. I don't think any of us will forget twenty fourteen. 

This was what i wrote on 1 Jan 2014

I can feel that in 2014 the the road will get bumpier, the road will be windier and perhaps the light is getting dimmer at the end of the road. I have to be strong. I have to be brave. I have to wear my gladiator suite. 

I decided to step back, put down my gladiator suite and walked away. It was not easy but somehow at that moment, I gained some clarity on why I must do it. Even at this current moment, I'm very clear on reasons and intentions made. You just know when it's time, before it turns sour.

I'm happy that I left in a good way. It may not perfect, but we didn't hurt each other. We chose to be kind and left the unnecessary behind, unspoken. We still communicate through emails and at the moment I'm helping out to wrap up 2014. I'm more that happy to assist without any expectation in return as I believe for those thirteen years, I want to remember that you have treated me good. In other words, it's me saying thank you very much :)

I did not travel much as things have gone haywire. Perhaps 2014 meant for me to stay foot to clean up. No new country visited as I'm too lazy to do research. As a result, only Maldives that really meaningful and no more Australia after this, I think. But, as always, I'm grateful.

Jan/Feb - Perth, Australia

April - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

June - Maldives

Nov - Gold Coast, Australia

Dec - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Dear 2015, 

Please be better.

Thank You.

Contractors

It's true. No matter how much money you  willing to pay, they're THE BOSS. Your request is at the contractor's mercy.

It's  interesting what i found over the internet about  them. No need to explain.

It's  not easy to find a decent contractor. They have strange work ethic and you have to adjust to fit in to their style and of course one step ahead with plan B.

You can be one of them, no professional certification required :D