A Really Long One
This one is gonna be considerably long as I've said. There have been things happening while I was not blogging. Some important but some just so bleh for everyone but me.
Let's start with my dearest mum. As many of you would know, my mum is currently living in Madrid, Spain. No, neither is she running away from me nor is she working. She's there because my step-father has been posted there since 2005 as he is a diplomat (Labour Attache) with the Philippines Embassy / Labour Office in Madrid.
So, you can say she's kind of enjoying herself there but still does minor stuff to help my step-dad. His workers there are silly. They work so bloddy slow I feel like slapping them when I look at them. So is the attitude of these workers in Spain. Mind you the Spanish may just be declared the laziest .. ahem of all Europeans. Nonetheless, I still love Spain.
Going back to what I meant to tell, my mom's gonna be moving again soon. This is sad news for me coz I really love Spain. Anyway, we discussed through sms. She first said it was gonna be hong kong. My step-dad likes it there and he was posted there for a few months in 2004. My mum then felt worried because most of the condos in hong kong don't usually allow dogs. I asked her what other choices were there. There were two other choices - Dubai and Saipan.
I told her the other two were okay. Dubai's a muslim place but its very much foreign so dogs can be kept there. Saipan wasn't that bad but it's really far out in the Pacific Ocean. Refer to the world map and you'll know - its near Guam. After a few days, she sms-ed saying they decided to go dubai. I was kinds happy coz I could explore a new place and see the Burj al-Arab. My mum asked a few friends including the wife of the Malaysian Ambassador in Spain who happens to be mat-salleh/ang moh. They all said dubai was fun and my step-dad does have a few friends there.
Then after two weeks or so, my mum said it was gonna be hong kong. Turns out the Secretary (similar to Minister in philippines) of Labor had kind of reserved Hong Kong for my step-dad so it was kind of confirmed. He's that special ! They just didn't get the job order yet. They still haven't found a place to stay so I'm kind of helping to search online. It's kind of heard coz they need a place which allows pets. They apparently had to be there by january so my dreams of seeing spain again were kind of wrecked then.
That's almost about it on my mum's status. All I have now is to look forward to visiting hk next year. I wanna go to disneyland. Its nearer to home so its easier for mum to come back to kl and to go ONLINE. No time difference so it'll be easier to chat. Yup, she does go online - chanphelicia@hotmail.com. Plus I may get to meet my step-siblings in hk too when they visit from manila.
Well, I'm sure both my mum and step-dad are happy with hk. My mum has all the food and chinese shows she desires while my step-dad who almost hates his posting in madrid, loves hk. He is a total workhaholic. He likes hk coz there's lots of work there compared to madrid. In hk where there are almost 1000 Filipino maids, he has to hand-sign 2500 documents a day. My hands would probably be aching. There's really not much to do in madrid. One word, the employers treat their workers well. They got lots of human rights there in europe.
That's all on my mum. We now focus on me. so vain. Our school's organising another trip to osaka, japan this year. I was so happy when I heard about it. I really wanted to go since it was the last year i could follow the school on an overseas trip. Mrs. Peter was kind of insisting me to go. She wanted me to ask my dad as soon as possible. In the end, I got a straight NO from my dad. Saddening, i know. He said it was too expensive and all.
At that moment, I was telling my self that I would have been in malaysia one whole year without going out. No passport stamps for 2006. Zero airplane rides in 2006 not even to manila. It was horrible. The last time that happened was like back in 1998. I wasn't even gonna go to madrid coz I just went last year and my mum would have started packing if we went.
Sneaky brandon here then decided to ask mum to allow me to go. We discussed over the phone. She wasn't really to happy with it. She was running quite low on $. She also said the price was kinda high and that I've already been to tokyo two years ago. We decided we would take some cash from my bank account and my PMR cash. At the end of the conversation, she wondered what my sis would do all holiday. Its been ages since we were in kl throughout the year-end holidays. Then, this most important convo came up ..
Mum : So, what's brenda (my sis) gonna do when you are in japan ?
Brandon : She has the computer ..
Mum : How bout the whole holiday ?
Brandon : We'll be bored and all but at least we have the computer.
Mum : That's so unfair for brenda.
Brandon : Then what ?
Mum : Maybe you all wanna come over ?
Brandon : I would love too but you're moving rite? You gonna be busy and all.
Mum : Dunno, maybe you both can help me pack. It won't be as fun as the last time butt maybe a fun experience for both of you.
Brandon : Sounds good to me (Brandon grins happily with so much joy)
Mum :I'd rather pay for both your air tickets here which maybe almost the same price as your osaka trip. Plus, you can stay here longer. This is not confirmed yet but in the meantime go scout for airfares.
Brandon : Ok, I understand. I'll go check for fares and hopefully it'll be cheap when matta fair comes around.
Mum : Do it fast .. you're slow sometimes (haha)
Let's start with my dearest mum. As many of you would know, my mum is currently living in Madrid, Spain. No, neither is she running away from me nor is she working. She's there because my step-father has been posted there since 2005 as he is a diplomat (Labour Attache) with the Philippines Embassy / Labour Office in Madrid.
So, you can say she's kind of enjoying herself there but still does minor stuff to help my step-dad. His workers there are silly. They work so bloddy slow I feel like slapping them when I look at them. So is the attitude of these workers in Spain. Mind you the Spanish may just be declared the laziest .. ahem of all Europeans. Nonetheless, I still love Spain.
Going back to what I meant to tell, my mom's gonna be moving again soon. This is sad news for me coz I really love Spain. Anyway, we discussed through sms. She first said it was gonna be hong kong. My step-dad likes it there and he was posted there for a few months in 2004. My mum then felt worried because most of the condos in hong kong don't usually allow dogs. I asked her what other choices were there. There were two other choices - Dubai and Saipan.
I told her the other two were okay. Dubai's a muslim place but its very much foreign so dogs can be kept there. Saipan wasn't that bad but it's really far out in the Pacific Ocean. Refer to the world map and you'll know - its near Guam. After a few days, she sms-ed saying they decided to go dubai. I was kinds happy coz I could explore a new place and see the Burj al-Arab. My mum asked a few friends including the wife of the Malaysian Ambassador in Spain who happens to be mat-salleh/ang moh. They all said dubai was fun and my step-dad does have a few friends there.
Then after two weeks or so, my mum said it was gonna be hong kong. Turns out the Secretary (similar to Minister in philippines) of Labor had kind of reserved Hong Kong for my step-dad so it was kind of confirmed. He's that special ! They just didn't get the job order yet. They still haven't found a place to stay so I'm kind of helping to search online. It's kind of heard coz they need a place which allows pets. They apparently had to be there by january so my dreams of seeing spain again were kind of wrecked then.
That's almost about it on my mum's status. All I have now is to look forward to visiting hk next year. I wanna go to disneyland. Its nearer to home so its easier for mum to come back to kl and to go ONLINE. No time difference so it'll be easier to chat. Yup, she does go online - chanphelicia@hotmail.com. Plus I may get to meet my step-siblings in hk too when they visit from manila.
Well, I'm sure both my mum and step-dad are happy with hk. My mum has all the food and chinese shows she desires while my step-dad who almost hates his posting in madrid, loves hk. He is a total workhaholic. He likes hk coz there's lots of work there compared to madrid. In hk where there are almost 1000 Filipino maids, he has to hand-sign 2500 documents a day. My hands would probably be aching. There's really not much to do in madrid. One word, the employers treat their workers well. They got lots of human rights there in europe.
That's all on my mum. We now focus on me. so vain. Our school's organising another trip to osaka, japan this year. I was so happy when I heard about it. I really wanted to go since it was the last year i could follow the school on an overseas trip. Mrs. Peter was kind of insisting me to go. She wanted me to ask my dad as soon as possible. In the end, I got a straight NO from my dad. Saddening, i know. He said it was too expensive and all.
At that moment, I was telling my self that I would have been in malaysia one whole year without going out. No passport stamps for 2006. Zero airplane rides in 2006 not even to manila. It was horrible. The last time that happened was like back in 1998. I wasn't even gonna go to madrid coz I just went last year and my mum would have started packing if we went.
Sneaky brandon here then decided to ask mum to allow me to go. We discussed over the phone. She wasn't really to happy with it. She was running quite low on $. She also said the price was kinda high and that I've already been to tokyo two years ago. We decided we would take some cash from my bank account and my PMR cash. At the end of the conversation, she wondered what my sis would do all holiday. Its been ages since we were in kl throughout the year-end holidays. Then, this most important convo came up ..
Mum : So, what's brenda (my sis) gonna do when you are in japan ?
Brandon : She has the computer ..
Mum : How bout the whole holiday ?
Brandon : We'll be bored and all but at least we have the computer.
Mum : That's so unfair for brenda.
Brandon : Then what ?
Mum : Maybe you all wanna come over ?
Brandon : I would love too but you're moving rite? You gonna be busy and all.
Mum : Dunno, maybe you both can help me pack. It won't be as fun as the last time butt maybe a fun experience for both of you.
Brandon : Sounds good to me (Brandon grins happily with so much joy)
Mum :I'd rather pay for both your air tickets here which maybe almost the same price as your osaka trip. Plus, you can stay here longer. This is not confirmed yet but in the meantime go scout for airfares.
Brandon : Ok, I understand. I'll go check for fares and hopefully it'll be cheap when matta fair comes around.
Mum : Do it fast .. you're slow sometimes (haha)
*Convo continues on other stuff*
I was so happy after the conversation. I was being so high and all. As for now, its confirmed. I'll be going to madrid on november 10. Anyone who wants to tag along is welcome to do so .. just pay for your own ticket. The booking was easier this time with the help of a family friend, adel.
To all, Adel is the country manager for Lufthansa. I would love to have her job. Sounds so bloody fun. So we consulted her to get the cheapest fare. I thought she would give us lufthansa but she gave us thai airways instead. I would have loved to fly lufthansa. It would have seemed like she was backstabbing her airline but then again thai and lufthansa are both part of star alliance. I've never flown on thai anyway plus they have a new, beautiful livery.
I had actually few other routes in mind to reach madrid. I wanted to try other airlines which I've not flown on. I was however determined not to take austrian airlines as much as possible. Their food and sevice is good but I didn't really like their seat pitch. Their timings suck too. I had too wake up at 4 am last year for my 6 am return flight. If that wasn't bad, the flight got delayed because of snow in vienna and I missed my connecting flight back to kl.
Our asian airlines are better some way or another. I must commend austrian for their service though. They never seemed to stop serving bread and drinks throughout the flight. KLM didn't really appeal to me because I flew with them to manila once. Anyway these were my other choices ..
Lufthansa --> Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt-Madrid
Qatar Airways --> Kuala Lumpur-Doha-Madrid
Thai Airways --> Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok-Rome(stopover)-Madrid
Singapore Airlines --> Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Barcelona-Madrid
Qatar Airways would have been the cheapest but Adel said it might not be safe for us to travel alone. I don't really see why because I don't think that doha's that dangerous. I did think we were obviously gonna fly Lufthansa because we went through Adel but turns out we got Thai.
As for SIA, that would be long way round. There was gonna be two stops plus the SIA flight ends at Barcelona so thinking that they can get connections through Star Aliance it might happen. I personally would do anything to fly SIA if not for the price.
So Thai (TG) it is. Leaving klia on 10 nov at 9.00 pm on TG 418 which is a Boeing 777-200 flight landing at Bangkok at 10.05 pm. I leave bangkok at 12.01 am on TG 942 which is a Boeing 747-400 flight with a stopover in Rome for about 2 hours finally landing at madrid at 1.40 pm on the same flight. The idea of transiting at the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport really excites me. Can't wait to see it. I also hope we'll be able to venture into Rome Fiumicino airport during the stopover. Some sightseeing, plane-spotting and who knows duty-free shopping.
Our tickets are not issued yet. Prices are not confirmed as Adel is trying her best with her TG friend's help to lower it. I hope to receive the tickets at least after the deeparaya holidays. As you can say through my timer, it is only about 15 days before I leave. Gonna be packing soon.
Throughout all this, there have been some bumpy events. I got a call from one of my mum's malaysian contacts in spain, an indian lady named veny whom I got to knew during the Malaysian Embassy Deeparaya celebrations last year. Fyi, my mum's the vice-president of the Malaysian Association in Spain (MAIS). She was asking whether her 15 year old daughter could follow us on the flight to madrid.
I was never quite happy with the idea so I just told her I'll check on it. I discussed with my mum and we decided we would just lie coming up with an excuse which would not allow her to travel with us. Veny couldn't help telling me that her daughter is "small but very BIG" in a thick indian accent so it was very funny. You can just imagine ...
That problem was gone but a new one arose. I was told that two of the nephews and nieces of my mum's friend wanted to follow. We kind of just know these two rascals as we see them like sometimes once a year or so. Mind you they're not that modern and all and their upbringing's different. They're the rough ah beng ah lian, cina cina type if you get me. I was shocked at that coz I would have to handle these menaces on an almost 20 hour journey in an enclosed 'metal bird'. Though they were not confirmed they had a huge chance of following.
In the first place, I was wondering why they bothered visiting madrid. It is so not their place so they wouldn't enjoy it. Its not like you go out and it's all joy and fun everywhere. You move around using public transport to see art generally i.e. buildings, parks, museums etc. Not to forget, you should embrace the european diet. They would even be staying with us which is even worse. Without doubt, this comes at quite a cost and less privacy. Me and my mum were bitching (lol) about them hoping their plans would not push through.
Last week, my mum was told that they would be following and staying on for two weeks. I felt my world crumble then , nah too dramatic. We were all shocked. She then inquired whether they would seriously enjoy and how they would go home since we wouldn't be bringing them. She didn't get much of a reply while Adel didn't even say anything when I was talking to her. Again we're unsure of their status but hoping it won't come through. This is what I call hukum karma - from indian girl to these two rascals. I can't believe I used that many paragraphs to bitch about cinacina punya orang.
Enough of spain and we come back to another school trip. Mrs. Peter had 'declared' that all the librarians not going to japan should go for the pangkor trip. The Pangkor trip is actually Mdm. Mano's 3C class trip but we were allowed to tag along. I asked my dad whether I could go so he said yes since it was only about rm 300. Those who would be going are yoong jie, krystal, caryn, nee ling, kai li, melissa, may ling and ka mun. I succesfully pulled in jiam and denise to go to since we needed more people. We are gonna go on november 3 coming back on the 5th. Staying at some place called seaview resort I think.
Don't tell her this but I'm really hating what that someone who is the 'leader' for the trip is doing. When she put us all into teams and team leaders she made it seemed like we have to be nanny's and big shot facilitators. Its supposed to be a leisure trip so why bother. We just kind of watch though I'm just gonna to nothing else but tell them I'm your group leader with jiam. That's all.
Then it came to the rooming. She put me in a room with arthur chia and connecting rooms with hari kumar and yoong jie. Why arthur chia !! When she told me about it during english class, I shouted a big "NO" that even people around had to tell me to calm down. I'm probably gonna be dragging my bed or mattress whatsoever to the other room away from arthur. Eww ..
That would be the end of this 'very long' post. Wish me luck with all my grouses here. I'll have more pictury, topical posts coming up though they may be rather long ..
-tata-
To all, Adel is the country manager for Lufthansa. I would love to have her job. Sounds so bloody fun. So we consulted her to get the cheapest fare. I thought she would give us lufthansa but she gave us thai airways instead. I would have loved to fly lufthansa. It would have seemed like she was backstabbing her airline but then again thai and lufthansa are both part of star alliance. I've never flown on thai anyway plus they have a new, beautiful livery.
* Non aviation enthusiasts can skip this part *
I had actually few other routes in mind to reach madrid. I wanted to try other airlines which I've not flown on. I was however determined not to take austrian airlines as much as possible. Their food and sevice is good but I didn't really like their seat pitch. Their timings suck too. I had too wake up at 4 am last year for my 6 am return flight. If that wasn't bad, the flight got delayed because of snow in vienna and I missed my connecting flight back to kl.
Our asian airlines are better some way or another. I must commend austrian for their service though. They never seemed to stop serving bread and drinks throughout the flight. KLM didn't really appeal to me because I flew with them to manila once. Anyway these were my other choices ..
Lufthansa --> Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt-Madrid
Qatar Airways --> Kuala Lumpur-Doha-Madrid
Thai Airways --> Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok-Rome(stopover)-Madrid
Singapore Airlines --> Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Barcelona-Madrid
Qatar Airways would have been the cheapest but Adel said it might not be safe for us to travel alone. I don't really see why because I don't think that doha's that dangerous. I did think we were obviously gonna fly Lufthansa because we went through Adel but turns out we got Thai.
As for SIA, that would be long way round. There was gonna be two stops plus the SIA flight ends at Barcelona so thinking that they can get connections through Star Aliance it might happen. I personally would do anything to fly SIA if not for the price.
* You can start reading now *
So Thai (TG) it is. Leaving klia on 10 nov at 9.00 pm on TG 418 which is a Boeing 777-200 flight landing at Bangkok at 10.05 pm. I leave bangkok at 12.01 am on TG 942 which is a Boeing 747-400 flight with a stopover in Rome for about 2 hours finally landing at madrid at 1.40 pm on the same flight. The idea of transiting at the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport really excites me. Can't wait to see it. I also hope we'll be able to venture into Rome Fiumicino airport during the stopover. Some sightseeing, plane-spotting and who knows duty-free shopping.
Our tickets are not issued yet. Prices are not confirmed as Adel is trying her best with her TG friend's help to lower it. I hope to receive the tickets at least after the deeparaya holidays. As you can say through my timer, it is only about 15 days before I leave. Gonna be packing soon.
Throughout all this, there have been some bumpy events. I got a call from one of my mum's malaysian contacts in spain, an indian lady named veny whom I got to knew during the Malaysian Embassy Deeparaya celebrations last year. Fyi, my mum's the vice-president of the Malaysian Association in Spain (MAIS). She was asking whether her 15 year old daughter could follow us on the flight to madrid.
I was never quite happy with the idea so I just told her I'll check on it. I discussed with my mum and we decided we would just lie coming up with an excuse which would not allow her to travel with us. Veny couldn't help telling me that her daughter is "small but very BIG" in a thick indian accent so it was very funny. You can just imagine ...
That problem was gone but a new one arose. I was told that two of the nephews and nieces of my mum's friend wanted to follow. We kind of just know these two rascals as we see them like sometimes once a year or so. Mind you they're not that modern and all and their upbringing's different. They're the rough ah beng ah lian, cina cina type if you get me. I was shocked at that coz I would have to handle these menaces on an almost 20 hour journey in an enclosed 'metal bird'. Though they were not confirmed they had a huge chance of following.
In the first place, I was wondering why they bothered visiting madrid. It is so not their place so they wouldn't enjoy it. Its not like you go out and it's all joy and fun everywhere. You move around using public transport to see art generally i.e. buildings, parks, museums etc. Not to forget, you should embrace the european diet. They would even be staying with us which is even worse. Without doubt, this comes at quite a cost and less privacy. Me and my mum were bitching (lol) about them hoping their plans would not push through.
Last week, my mum was told that they would be following and staying on for two weeks. I felt my world crumble then , nah too dramatic. We were all shocked. She then inquired whether they would seriously enjoy and how they would go home since we wouldn't be bringing them. She didn't get much of a reply while Adel didn't even say anything when I was talking to her. Again we're unsure of their status but hoping it won't come through. This is what I call hukum karma - from indian girl to these two rascals. I can't believe I used that many paragraphs to bitch about cinacina punya orang.
Enough of spain and we come back to another school trip. Mrs. Peter had 'declared' that all the librarians not going to japan should go for the pangkor trip. The Pangkor trip is actually Mdm. Mano's 3C class trip but we were allowed to tag along. I asked my dad whether I could go so he said yes since it was only about rm 300. Those who would be going are yoong jie, krystal, caryn, nee ling, kai li, melissa, may ling and ka mun. I succesfully pulled in jiam and denise to go to since we needed more people. We are gonna go on november 3 coming back on the 5th. Staying at some place called seaview resort I think.
Don't tell her this but I'm really hating what that someone who is the 'leader' for the trip is doing. When she put us all into teams and team leaders she made it seemed like we have to be nanny's and big shot facilitators. Its supposed to be a leisure trip so why bother. We just kind of watch though I'm just gonna to nothing else but tell them I'm your group leader with jiam. That's all.
Then it came to the rooming. She put me in a room with arthur chia and connecting rooms with hari kumar and yoong jie. Why arthur chia !! When she told me about it during english class, I shouted a big "NO" that even people around had to tell me to calm down. I'm probably gonna be dragging my bed or mattress whatsoever to the other room away from arthur. Eww ..
That would be the end of this 'very long' post. Wish me luck with all my grouses here. I'll have more pictury, topical posts coming up though they may be rather long ..
-tata-
posted by Brandon at
11:24 PM
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