Beijing, Shanghai-China

I was in Shanghai in Jun 2004 attending a seminar organised by SUN. Being summer, the weather was mild. The seminar was only for 3 days. We extended our stay for another 2 days to tour Shanghai. 

Me and a colleague from Malaysia got a local guide to take us to places of interest. Visited the garment market and the Chinese Garden. Did a lot shopping here especially textiles & electronic stuffs.

Shanghai

Beijing

Beijing

 In another trip, we were on holiday in Beijing in 2005. We visited the Great Wall and shopped for clothing and foot-wear. We stayed at the self-service apartment and use the landlord service to travel in his van for shopping. Stayed there for a week.

Cork-Ireland

A company had organized a factory visit to Cork, Ireland. The connecting flight to Cork is via Heathrow airport. Cork is a small town by the beach but housed famous companies in telecommunication and pharmaceticals. It is a historic town where the famous Titanic depart to New York.

After the visit, our host took us for a countryside tour. The roads are not fully developed unlike England. Our host rented a car and took us to Killarney which is 90km away. However it took us 1.5 hours to travel this stretch due to poor road condition.

I took lots of photos on my digital camera. But somehow the memory cards got corrupted and I lost all the photos collection. 

Cork Town

Cork

 

On the way back to Malaysia, we stopover in London. The next day we rented a car and drove north to Stoke on Trent to buy crystal wares. The town is filled-up with tens of shops selling branded wares. After filling-up the boot, we pack up and drove to Blackburn. Our plan was to visit Clark shops which sell used but still good shoes at 70% discount. Initially we plan to visit Old Trefford in Manchaster. However one of our colleague was worried since we had to catch our flight to KL same late evening.

On the way back to London we stopover at Oxford to visit the famous University & township.

 

Tijuana-Mexico

After the business trip in San Diego, we decide to spent the Saturday in Mexico. Tijuana is the border town of Mexico. It is about an hour drive from San Diego. We rented a car and drove to the border. 

The town is always full of Americans crossing the border to look for cheap branded items. From the immigration check point, we took the bus and spent the whole morning walking and window shopping. We spend most of the time indoors since the weather is rather hot.

Tijuana

San Diego USA

The 4th visit to US was in 2002, 3 months right after Sep 11 attack. Malaysia Airlines flight was full during the period and we had to take the American NorthWest from Singapore. A company had organized a yearly forum for its software customers in San Diego. Since we are one day early, we spend the weekend in San Francisco. 

On the Saturday, we took a bicycle ride across San Francisco Bridge and returning back using the ferry which overlook the Alcatraz. In the afternoon, we rented a car and drove to Pebble Beach - golfer heaven. 

On Sunday evening, we flew to San Diego. San Diego is famous for its zoo. In the evening we were taken to see the Sea World to watch the famous dolphin in action.

After the three days seminar, we rented a car and cross the Mexican border town of Tijuana. Macam Padang Besar lar tu. Took a bus to cross the border. There were plenty of branded & cheap stuff sold here.

Our last days were spent on LA. We rented a car in LA and went to Long Beach to look for a Volkswagen steering wheel. Someone has asked me to look for it while we are in LA.

Before the flight home we stop by to eat Briyani rice which we had missed for almost a week. The flight back to Kuala Lumpur was via Singapore.

San Francisco bridge

San Diego

San Diego

Preparing to cycle across the San Francisco Bridge

Madrid, Spain

Madrid

Arrived late evening on Malaysia Airlines. Next morning, visited a Telco in Madrid. Did not have time to see the bull fight since schedule was very tight and we have to fly to Helsinki the same evening. However, we manage to do some shopping.

Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki

Visited Helsinki after the Spain leg. Checked in one of their hotel in the city. They had placed a bust of some joker right across my bed. I had to hide it in the closet since it kept on staring at me while I was lying on my side. Next day after the official visit to their Telcos, we did some shopping and flew back to London for our next stop.

Reached London late evening and since we had not eaten rice for several days, visited the Pakistani Briyani.

San Francisco USA

My third visit to US is in 2001. It was an annual gathering for software customer held in San Francisco itself. Over the weekend we rented a car and travel south to the famous Gilroy Outlet Center  .

 

Hotel where the Conference was held

Toronto-Canada

Niagara Falls

During the stay in New Jersey USA, we used to travel to place of interest. We normally stayed in camp grounds since we cant afford hotels for the 7 of us. Among the places we went to is the Niagara Falls. Falls scenery from US side is not as beautiful as the Canadian side. We drove over to cross the border to Canada. We spent the day taking photos and visiting places within the vicinity. We spent the night at the camping ground. I had bought a two room tent which could be folded & fit nicely in our Ford car bought for US2,500. We also brought cooking utensils to warm the food. Normally it had been prepared at home and heated up once we were at the camp ground. Power point is always available for the power.

Photo above are with office mate Rohaizah doing her Master Degree in Rochester University. We stayed 2 nights in their place and drove to Niagara next day.

NewJersey, NewYork, NewEngland, Tennessee, Virginia, WashingtonDC, Florida-USA

My second visit to USA was in 1996 when I was posted to New Jersey for a one year training at AT&T Office.

It was the first time for the family. We left Malaysia on one Friday afternoon and reach New Jersay Sunday, some 36 hours later. It was very tiring even thouh we took business class for the journey. Me and my family of 5 children lived in Red Bank exit 109 of Garden State Parkway.

View Larger Map
     

The house was a double storey townhouse in the countryside in New Jersey. It is one hour drive to New York City.
     
Three of our kids go to the local school. The yellow bus and food served at school are free in US. Bought a second hand Ford for US2,500. It was still in good condition until we sold it at the end of our stay. I only had to change the battery once.

Our weekly routine was garage sale souvenoir hunting. We bought used but still good items for souvenoirs. Most household items and toys are at bargain prices. At the end of our stay, we brought home to Malaysia a container (20 footer) full of these stuffs.

During the stay we normally spent weekend with friends from the embassy, bankers in New York City. Sometime they come over to stay the weekend at our house. In summer, they used to organize overnight camping trip. We spend camping in New England, Hershey and New York upstate.

While in US we took opportunity to travel to Disneyland Florida, Niagara Falls in Canada, Boston in New England, Delaware, Washington DC, Virginia, Tennessee and New York City. In most of the trip, we put up tent at the camping ground so that the kids can run around.

In one of a separate trip in Dec, we rented a van and drove all the way south to Tennessee to meet up with friends and then convoy to Disneyland Florida. Spent 3 days there visiting all the 3 theme park of Disneyland.

Washington DC

Niagara Falls

Makkah, Madinah Umrah

Did my umrah in 1995. It was unplanned. One fine day my brother in-law (bro) requested me to accompany him for a jab in a clinic in Selayang. He had planned to go for umrah with some ustaz. I accompany him and asked myself why not I also have a jab.

Upon getting home I asked wifey if I can join the group for umrah. trip Since I still have some money claim from my US trip last month, use the xtra fund to buy air ticket on MAS. We did not use the agent. The trip was done during Ramadan. My bro took Saudi air and the ustaz use another airline. I arrive early and had to wait for bro. While the ustaz will arrive the following day. We took a cab to Medinah. Checed into a guest house and later visited Masjid Nabawi. The next day we met the ustaz.

After couple of days, we went to Mekah. Stopover for Mikat and don the white robe. Upon reaching Mekah, we performed the umrah ritual ie Saie and Tawaf. Once done I put back my standard clothing and conduct the standard ritual for the rest of the stay. Being Ramadan, the Arabs are very generous giving away food for breakfasting. Occasionally I would join them in the mosque.

After spending 10 days, I decided to come back early for Hari Raya celebration. My bro and the ustaz stayed until Eid. My earlier plan was to stay in Mekah until Raya.

Rome, Genoa, Venice-Italy

Spanish Steps

Piazza Navona

Visit Marconi R&D office in Genoa, Italy in 1995. We took the train from Rome to Genoa. Genoa is in the north west part of Italy close to the border of Switzerland.

On the way back to Rome, we stopover at the famous city of Venice. It is a 2 hours drive to this watery town. After a night stay and a ride in its gondola, we flew back to Rome.

In Rome we visited the famous site of the Coleseum, the Vatican City and other place of interest. There are lots of fountain here. We took home some smoked cheese which I dispose after some period of time. Cheese untuk tikus saja.

Istanbul, Turkey

Bosphorous ferry ride

While I was with R&D department, I had the opportunity to visit Turkey R&D in Istanbul. Me and Dr Rahman was assigned to scout for talent and new research prospective from an R&D Institute in Istanbul. Over the weekend, our host took us to visit the famous Instanbul. We visited the famous Bosphorous. We took a river cruise along the river Bosphorous which link the Red Sea and Sea of Masmara.
Istanbul is full of historical and interesting places to visit. We also went to Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque and the Bazaar and Haga Sopia Museum. The Grand Bazaar has thousands of shops and miles of covered passageways.

Food is a luxury since Briyani is plentiful.

Kristiensen-Norway

Kristansen Cafe

Had a seminar in Norway. It was a small fisherman town called Kristiensen. From Malaysia, had to stopover in Copenhagen for the connecting flight to Kristeinsen. The connecting flight was served by a propellor plane since the trip was only half an hour and there are not many passengers on this sector. Had seafood for dinner. Nothing to venture here. Next day we spend whole day in the seminar. Left for Copenhagen next day. Bought a Bodumn tea set for the wife at Copenhagen airport.

Los Angeles & New York

Prior to developing IVR System for our office projects, we were on technology shopping for voice cards. We visited the parent company developing the technology in the Silicon Valley USA. Later we were brought to visit their customer and developer using the voice card in LA and New York.

It was my first visit to USA and was in 1994. The trip took us to San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and New York City. Being the first visit to US, we took the opportunity to visit places of interest. While we were in LA, we spend whole day in Universal Studio. In San Diego, we went to the zoo and sea world. 

Then we flew East to New York to visit a customer in New Jersey. Over the weekend we visited Statue of Liberty and Central Park in Manhattan.

Universal Studio

Johannesburg-South Africa

Apologize since no photo is available. We were supposed to catch a flight back to Malaysia from Malawi in the morning. However due to the late flight of Malaysia Airline during its leg from Brazil to Johannesburg, we were provided accomodation in a hotel in downtown Johannesburg. Friends told us Johannesburg is quite famous for its muggers. Upon boarding the bus, announcement was made to the hotel guest not to wander the streets since they were unsafe. We spent the whole day in the hotel. The next day we were on our way to Malaysia.

Lilongwe Malawi

Took Malaysia Airlines to Malawi right after the visit to SriLanka. We were there to survey to develop a billing system for our subsidiary. Malawi is in South Central Africa. 

The flight took almost 12 hours. Need to transit in Johannesburg and catch a flight to Malawi. Majority of the population are Muslims. The office were sited in Linglongwe. The weather was mild. There were not much to see here. We stayed only for 3 days.

 

Malawi

Colombo-Sri Lanka

Visited Colombo, SriLanka to study for the development of a billing system in 1994. Colombo is a developed city by the sea. The place was on high security due to constant attack of Tamil Tiger on public places. We met some Colombian Malays. Plenty of tasty food here. 

Bought lots of tea since they are famous for it. Three days after I left Colombo, the hotel which we stayed were bombed by the rebellions.

SriLanka is popular with its natural sea beaches. It is famous for its blended tea of various flavour and eye-catching packaging.

Colombo