Hi. I have finally succumb to pressures from all of you to open a face book account.
The last straw is someone telling me that even her grandma and Cecilia Eng have face book accounts. So i have just opened one.

I'm still waiting for my work visa to be approved before going to Australia.

Hi all,
happy belated chinese new year.
Heard news that S'pore CitiPhone is one of the top 5 centers in our global ranking for 2008.Congrats to all of you on a job well done! In 2007 I remember we were short listed in the top ten in Sep 07, but we did not do too well in Nov and did not make it into top 5. I did promise Jonathan we will get top 5 in 08. Unfortunately or fortunately I left by Sep but you guys continued to push for good results and now you have won it. I'm happy to see this result. I didnt think we pushed for the good results with this in mind. I for one, must have forgotten about the promise and i certainly did not remind June etc about the promise to jonathan when I left.

So, you all must have gone for the good results for the sake of providing good service and for the pride in your work . Thats good. Getting such an award is a bonus.

I met with some of you over the CNY period and I hear that our service levels have been very good. Single digit ASA on many days . Thats really really good! Keep the good news coming.

I did not travel in Jan. Was at home eating healthy food and doing home improvements
chores. And was also doing some consulting jobs.. paid by the hour and for 3-4 hours a day type. I connect more with our PPTS now.. just realised what a wonderful PPT existence is. We should all work towards PPT existence!

I'm also now finalising a 3 month contract in Australia to do some call center work
there. Taking a break from my home improvement chores. Promised wife I will come back to it after 3 months and she is going along to make sure i come back!

Ok, will keep you all posted on whether I do end up in australia eventually. In mean time, keep the ASA in single digit!

Hi all, happy new year. My best wishes to everyone at citiPhone, past and present.

Henri, Jo, Claudine, thanks for your comments.We can certainly do a jungle trip for those interested but it should be after March. Rainy season now not good. If we go, sure to end up with more leech stories.

My trip with Kelly went well. We took a bus to KL and walked into china town looking for a hotel. Found one, pretty decent except toilet walls not very sound proof. Can hear neighbour's toileting routine in the morning. We came back to same hotel on our return and got a better room. First one was RM80, second one was RM100. World of difference, toilet walls thicker.

From KL we took a bus to Lumut and from there a ferry to Pangkor island. Its still very rustic and i find the beach better than penang and langkawi. A smaller, cheaper version of phuket even. Bus from KL there costs only 20+RM. and we stayed in budget hotel (got air con, got toilet attached)at Nipah bay that has lots of backpackers and nasi lemak warungs overlooking the beach. Cheap accomodation and cheap food. But we also had a nice dinner at a restaurant whose tables are all set on the beach at night. good mix of fine dining and warung dining available.Sea activity also good. nice snorkelling on nearby islands and we even kayak across ourselves and though its full of local tourists, we still managed to find some secluded beaches around the two islands opposite nipah bay.

Comes back to my belief that there are many nice getaway places nearby and sometimes we spend too much money and time going to more high profile places when there are nice places in our own backyard.

Have decided to stay in s'pore for rest of Jan. home needs maintenance work. My pond leaked, so have to do some major repairs. And the garden and garden patio also needs maintenance work. not to mention the big red ants making their home in my garden. the fun part is burning their nests. smell of roasted ants quite nice.

Oh ya, i also managed to join the managers for the farewell dinner get together for Cecilia Eng. Now that she is retiring, we can expect her to look more radiant, have rosier cheeks and looking as succulent as ever.

Hi all. I'm back from India. Had a terrific trip in the Periyar Tiger Reserve.Did not manage to see a tiger but we certainly heard one attacking the elephants in the middle of the night . Eventually the herd of 7 elephants including a baby came into the open and was feeding just below the slope where I camped. It was a very special moment watching 7 elephants walking towards us.

I'm now in Malaysia with my daughter Kelly. We are on a bus trip to a few places and having good bonding session.
Julia is not on holiday, so I'm taking kelly first. I think not many fathers get to do a road trip of this nature with one kid at a time.I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Hi.
I was back in office recently to talk to Venkat about CitiPhone. Good to see all of you. Also good to see the green board. Nick was also having his birthday celebration. But as usual, I am never included in office parties. I had to crash it.

Thanks for your interests in the aunties' trip. Yes, alchohol can be included. Private arrangement. But at this moment, that trip is not possible due to rainy season. As for the enquiries on fishing.. Pat.. i dun throw up. Even if i do,
i swallow it back. Its all about pride!! And Jensen, I will let you know if the fishermen go again and if there is space on board. As you know, I dun organise fishing trips , so if I get invited to make up the numbers, I will let you know.

I was in Laos earlier this month with my wife. We visited a small town called Vang Vieng. Its beautiful. Our hotel which costs US50 a night overlooks the river and across the river, is an entire limestone karst landscape . Very scenic and relaxing.
Highlight in this place is to take a rubber tube and float down the river over a distance of 4km. and along the river are pubs where you can get off your rubber tyre tube to drink, get high, and do a tarzen swing/ flying fox into the river before continuing with your tubing journey. And the massages costs only between S$5-8 an hour.I even had my haircut there from a road side barber. other tourists took picture of me on the barber chair.

Next sunday i will be going to chennai to attend a friend's wedding. Therafter will do some trekking with long san at one of india's tiger conservation national park.
3D2N- good chance to meet a tiger. And since long san looks juicier than me, i know I will be safe. Do not worry for me.

Endau Rompin and Fishing Trip Pictures

hi, good to see that many of you have read my update on the UAT trip and thanks for your comments. And yes claudine , I do have screen shots but the photo editor has been busy lately. He will update asap.
As for the aunties' who are interested in doing this trip, no problem. I can modify the program a bit to customise, no shopping still, but can throw in an asli cooking class for you all. Then go home can impress family with some asli dishes!!

Any way, in between the time i went to Laos in the first week of Nov, and the jungle trip, I also went for a 3 day 2 night deep sea fishing trip in the seas off bintan.i've never stayed on a boat for 3 full days and wanted to see how I can cope with a sedentary fishing life. also to understand how people like dylan can be so obsessed with fishing. well, i enjoyed it very much, we caught everything from squids to groupers, to rays to sharks and even the prized mackeral. i learnt alot about fishing techniques and practices. My only regret is not being able to land a dolphin. We saw them, but they only chased away all other fishes but did not take our bait. i was told they were too smart to be hooked. but being the optimistic person i am, I was hopeful right to the end.