Hotel stay check list

Checklist 

-Sunblock 

-Swimming suit

-Underwear

-Bra

-Mosquito repellent 

-Charger

Layover at Narita- where to camp. Food price

 Narita T1 airport is pretty easy to camp. You can go either to :

a) 5F of the food area before check through security - Sky Food Hall/Court have few seats with charging sockets. Food is pretty cheap there too.

b) After check through security head to 26 Gate, there are few rows of work table with charging sockets/usb ports charger available for use (Knoll workplace sponsor i suppose) . Initially thought this one seems like pay for us, but its FOC. 

As usual go price watching of food. What's not that expensive & good  - udon, ramen, chicken cutlet rice, Lawson/sushi/onigiri (duh) and surprise Starbucks & Macdonalds. The fast food price is not much inflated for some reason.

Had a fantastic ramen for 1000 yen (~RM28). Considered a steal , not super luxurious but taste good , big portion and if you are not that big eater gets some good satisfying slurps of al dente ramen.

New misi : tacoland flight oh my

On transit now at Haneda. Arrived at 11pm+ which is just right at airport shuttle closing time .with 2 luggages in tow, not going to risk taking train. 

Current flight route :

915am klia - 5 hours 

Kl-haneda - 7 hours 

10+pm haneda. Check-out baggage.. Can transit to narita at same night- NOPE. 

Narita-mex city 22 hrs flight @@

Reach Mex city, 3.5hours car ride to Queretaro (company car booked).. 

Gonna a humongous jetlag incoming.

Went down 1F and found its the shuttle bus departure floor i think. anyway bus counter ticket opens 9am to 6pm at Haneda T3 , so don't need bother to go up again. Just book online and chill at the charging area beside toilet. The only issue is going off to toilet and mobility with 2 luggage and one laptop backpack in tow. Security issues and solo moving is quite an issue (if want to be at safest than sorry mode).

1 hours earlier timezone difference from Malaysia it's 1.35am. another 4.5 hours to go , this is doable with D2R just starting. farm or level kill whatever time :)

**update: Stop 5 is indeed at GF, but it need to be accessed from arrival 1F , walk across past the Bus Counter and go down to other side of GF to reach.

Toshiba 220l refrigerator installation

 Ai search, look up some YouTube then order from shopee. Transporter drop at door and solo drag to install. Pretty straightforward. Rm45 saved seems like it. 

Anime-Drama Apr-Dec 25, Jan 26

Rezero - dropped prevoiusly at ep1 . its a good anime , main character have no op skills or power. only death from birth trait. at Indo dec grind finally over. its hotel hopping. Mercure gatot subroto . now artotel casa kuningan the nearest to WM2 , then tomorrow to ascott sudirman hotel.

Bofuri - i dont want to get hurt, so i max out my def. Light ,funny to watch virtual gaming anime. Had S2 but need a break from this for a while.

Rewatch on -The beginning after the end - still a very fine series. thought i didn't finish it. but going to start from ep1 again as its a really fine piece of story and art. 12ep.

Watch my gift lvl9999 unlimited gacha- anime about revenge of a low level human. -- its ongoing. currently now at ep8. - kiv and brb later.

Let's talk about chu - taiwanese drama about sex. interesting but not super intriguing.

Viral hit - S1 - 12 ep . pretty interesting genre . fighting and newtube.

Undead unluck - started at Guadalajara. looks pretty interesting. special skill world blabla

Shadow love - a very solid C drama series - ep38 . acting of both lead actor and actress quite good, good storyline, but its a love story afterall and happy ever after. QRO - Guadalajara

Kaiju no 8   ,nice funny and short. only 1s though . End of Phnom Penh.

Hotel DeL Luna - taking abit long to finish at gym only session, single season. builds up slowly not exactly boring, and have funny moments.

Last of us - pretty interesting story on post apocalytic world due to cordyceps mutation. Very walking dead vibe . 2season still in release

Mashle  S2  - sequel to s1, funny entertaining but the story seems dragged. s3 expected to be coming.

Super cube  - chinese animation. apparently it's highly rated. Cube give protagonist power. 

Young Sheldon  - about big bang theory's Sheldon childhood. Comedy/Sheldonish.

Fugoushoku (Kanteishi) ga Jitsu wa Saikyou Datta - S1 , appraiser skill is overpowered with spirit eye.

Story of Ragnarok S1,S2 - battle of gods and humans, fighting anime.

Walking Dead S11 - E4-5 continue the series

Lost S2 E1  - legendary series of 00 years together walking dead , prison break and amazing race/survivor series

Shangrila Frontier - VR game anime, pretty interesting and no dragging moments.

Big bang theory S3 E15

Dark

Chernobyl

Gyeong song story

Bearking bad

PCSX2 setup on PC

 Its possible to setup PCSX2

Have your game ROM ready to roll.

1. Go to official PCSX2 download installer.

2. Dump BIOS into the bios folder. Find a reliable BIOS file.

3. Set where your ROM file path is.

4. check your controller mapping/setting or use keyboard default.  Launch ROM.

Viola here we go. Relive your younger gaming years. Cheers.

Here is how BIOs file should look like. google up for a reliable source of it.

Employee work life at Khmer land (Phnom Penh)

Swapped mainly to youtube shorts due to easier access via handphone and also by short video recordings.

Life is pretty convenient. Stay is <5min walk to office, with kitchen. Meal voucher can be used anytime of the day = lunch is covered. Only need to work on breakfast - oat / soy /calsome with fruits + simple dinner. Prep meals makes things even more easier.

So far covered , Preah Sisowach Quay - walk along the Tonle Sap river side. Walked all over Phnom Penh within 2-3 km radius. First place, pass by Phnom Wat, go down along the road down to Royal palace, Musuem i think and Wat ounalom , Silver Pagoda and back with sun burn. Surveyed around markets in the area, Lucky supermarkets, Aeon Maxvalue , Chip Mong and Bayon market all in vicinity to replenish cooking groceries.

Unit with attached kitchen makes things easy for cooking, was worried about hotel with no kitchen. Only less favorable thing is no washer in room , but hotel got me covered with 30pcs free washing per week. So what's left.. work , dealing with OTBs and finding way to hold on for next 6 months hopefully. 

Never short of food and plenty to get from road side at cheap too. Exercise daily, gym and IG routines, swimming on weekends where weather permits. Was trying to get to Douglas Hope cruise ship , but yesterday told unfortunately it is now at Vietnam for next 3 months. Pass by on way back to street art alongside the municipal buildings street. Its sort of a cul de sac , very quiet and calm place compared to standard hustle bustle of phnom phen streets.

Next may try to get to National Library on one of those public holidays. The library oddly closes on weekends , so can't try to attempt and get in there. Probably running out of things to do soon.  

Been to Central market (obviously) , Orussey market , Old market and Phsar Kandal. Very similar wet market and indoor market scenes in Asian setting. Not sure how cheap things can be, since i dont need to buy any of these , not yet at the moment. Next is to study and plan out on Siem Reap/Angkor wat trip :) 

Boss man treat for dinner @ Hops PP

  

Num banh chok Trey (Fish) 4k riel 

Num banh chok chicken

Sai Bach Chrouk

 

Fish paste balls with chilli  , num 

   Kuy Teav

 

Rice cracker with floss 

Spring rolls - variety (prawn and pork) 15k riel

Next chapter :KH and hotlink dilemma

 After 1 year + in homeland project they finally rid of me. Next destination Khmerland.

Took too last minute to change my postpaid plan to prepaid cause of 365 validity availability. The postpaid will charge me prorated to the date I change plan. 

Need to call 123 to request and log a case number (day1), day2 is my flight day in evening and called 123 again to follow up on the case in morning. 3rd time called to urge hotlink to expedite at 4pm. At 4.30 pm more or less finally the plan changed. Hotlink said their standard sla for change is 3-5days.. Goddam change plan so hard eh.. 😅

It took a while for the hotlink app to reflect the prepaid changes too. After I tried few times got fed up and log out. Bang got into prepaid mode now. 

Being noob w prepaid since I've been on postpaid since eon years ago.. I tried to look for pin to topup.. Which now appears on hotlink app itself. Did topup, burned rm20 to buy hotlink pantas plan, then go to pass and bought 365 validity for rm30. Had to go *100#, then call 123 again to check if my line is active. Luckily the customer service confirmed line is ok. And able to use roaming now for receiving sms.  Time to test here now and then later from PP.

Tldr, call earlier to change plan. Only prepaid hotlink have 364 validity plan for rm30 (1year)

Once plan changed, topup credit. Buy pantas hotlink. Then buy 365 validity plan. If going overseas cal 123 to double check status.

Raki mix

 Bought the Turkish raki - tekirdag that's recommended by colleagues local staff. It's distinct anise seed flavor makes it really difficult to cocktail mix.

So far the best I could do is lemon tea one third, some raki and some apple cider mixed with cold ice. 

2024 pink ballet calendar

 

Elena standard 1 Chinese poem competition

 

Agreement mum and elyssa

 Here

Wife egg tart recipe

 Photo

Ksl parade speech-by Jen

 Hi everyone, and welcome to Thiam Guitar Concert. My name is Jennifer , the emcee for this event, and I am so grateful to all of you for coming out and spending your evening with us as we share some beautiful music with you all. 

We want to say thank you to parents for investing in music as part of your child’s life. It is a time, energy, and resource commitment to bring your child to lessons, to make them practice, and to do so faithfully every week.

Thank you to these wonderful students for working hard, practicing, and for being brave in sharing your music and abilities with family and friends. We am so proud of each of you, and I am so excited to listen to you tonight. 

和风徐徐，阳光明媚，我们弹奏起美好乐章。绿草青青，鸟语花香，我们在这里欢聚一堂。

欢迎来到thiam guitar concert, 我是音乐会的主持人jennifer。在此我十分荣幸能与大家共度这个美好的音乐会，请允许我代表本次音乐会的全体演职人员对各位的光临, 表示热烈的欢迎和衷心的感谢。欢迎大家的到来!

在这美好的日子里我们相聚在ksl esplanade mall

在这里我们要为在场的各位家长奉献一场别开生面的ukulele观摩演奏会 

在音乐会之前，请允许我们在此向大家隆重介绍今晚音乐会的主角，他就是我们德才兼备的thiam老师!

参加今天演出的同学们都是Thiam老师的学生。thiam 老师在任教的....年中，培养了近 .....名学生，这些学生的年龄在....岁至....岁之间，在thiam老师的辛勤培育下，他们进步得很快，分别在..........比赛........奖。

今天，部分学生在这里进行观摩演奏，向老师、家长和在场的朋友们汇报自己的学习成绩，展示他们的艺术才华。

我宣布《Thiam guitar concert ---ukulele观摩演奏会》正式开始:

1.  首先出场为大家演奏的是 thiam guitar senior group, 梦菲女孩, yansi+jingkai, 乐彤组合,  她们今天为大家演奏的曲目是.....，请大家欣赏. 女孩子真是多才多艺

2.  接下来出场为大家演奏的是康乐二校基础班 and Niji five,演奏的曲目是...希望大家能够喜欢。

3. 接下来为大家演奏的是大同华小的学生, 她们今天为大家演奏的曲目是 .... 谢谢几位同学给我们带来的精彩表演

4.    接下来我们有请 sg long 基础班 & 进介班, 她们所弹唱的歌曲是大家耳熟能详的歌曲

5.   让我们用最热烈的掌声请出全体学生, 这首歌，相信大家更不会陌生,

6.   能成为这次的主持,  是一种莫大的荣幸和幸福, 有请敬爱的 thiam 伴奏

7.   请欣赏 jing kai & jace ,  乐曲表现了在...歌唱的喜悦心情。

8.   歌也听了，ukulele也弹了，你们过瘾了吗? 请大家静静地聆听飞跃音符 (Sg long) 优美 ,

9.   掌声在那里? 请大家再次用热烈的掌声欢迎  thiam guitar grade 1, thiam guitar senior

10.   精彩在后头, 最后出场为大家演奏的全体学生, 有请全体学生集中到舞台，共同合唱歌曲"....."

Final:

尊敬的各位家长及同学们。今天的演奏观摩会到这里就要结束了，在大家的配合下我们取得了预期的效果，同时我们也通过这场演奏会看到了明天的希望。

尽管我们的演奏还不够完美，技法还不够娴熟，但我们从中得以了锻炼，今后我们还要继续努力，强化训练，提高技艺。

让我们再一次感谢各位的参与与支持。

今天的演奏会至此结束了。

今晚的thiam guitar concert音乐会至此结束!

谢谢大家!

再见!

晚安!

That concludes the Thiam Guitar concert! Students, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful performances with us. Parents, family, and friends -thank you for spending your evening with us.

-------------------------------

第1轮抽奖又到了万分紧张的时刻，由请thiam 为我们抽取今天的第1份大奖。

没有抽到的不要气馁，大奖在后头呢!

Accident motorbike and car

 Since returning to Malaysia office been crazy busy. Issues tenders and house works etc.. One Friday I got into accident. Was driving the lil axia on my way to work.  Lorry uturned very fast and had to hit emergency brake and hit the motorbike in front. He seems to have small cut on his left wrist. Elderly Chinese man wearing construction suit. He check his motor and me  to inspect his body for injury. Nothing visible and asked rm500 settlement. Being 6am in morning I agreed. Next on same day his daughter start contacting asking for hospital fee, motor repair fee can't cover and compensation when he can't work due to injury.

Contacted friends and lawyer. Normally it should settle outside below rm300. This amount being the saman if you go report polis. And by right the settlement stops when party a paid to party b. So this becomes more like a blackmail. The accident report should be made within 24hr.

Went to lodge report and explained on the accident. The police station will file a report and transfer me to traffic department to get statement. Sarjan there will record statement and explain on saman rm300. Since car is also damaged he say we should capture photo to claim for repair (suppose the motor claim). This should be done within 2weeks of report time during their operating hours. Then buy the report for rm4 at the traffic police station.

In summary :

Settle outside below rm300. (I make a mistake of being too sympathetic)

Lodge report if other party want to pursue further claim. 

Pay summon rm300. If settle outside fee paid and then lodge the report, Sarjan explain that he will request to return the settlement fee and reporter can claim car or motorbike insurance of other party.

Wife told if driving car that don't insure you.(during register can put more driver) then another rm300 charge to car insurance.

Hole this info helps others as well. Been driving almost 20 years and first time lodging accident report. 😔

Retrospection - post Serbia trip

Looking back it's been 7 months. Been quite an experience and some time away from home. Really looking back to be home - family, food and ambience. Not to say that balkan is not good, Serbians are in general very polite, strong, passionate and warm people. Probably the few place in the world where its good enough that there is no real Chinatown if it's to be compared anywhere else which i didn't see until over time staying here. 

Now looking at statistics , since sitting here at A08 Belgrade departure gate, waiting for flight to Istanbul let's go a little into the numbers. Arrived at Serbia W3 June and leaving W2 Jan , about 7 months duration here. 

By tracking spent about RM4.5k all in all , not inclusive of claimable expenses. Rental is pretty crazy in Novi Beogard , A Blok area is about 45ish Eu per night range , only good thing is i got a good deal on one room apartment with separated bath and kictchen area at Belville which is much better than what most people got i think.  4.5k / 7 months = its about RM660 per month. 660/30 =  RM 22 per day which is not too shabby in Europe region, but also considering that im home cooking most days and don't splurge unnecessarily on restauran food which can get pretty outrageous high. Will need to compare if this is viable in Malaysia as well haha.

Bought a second hand bike at 12k rsd, used for about 5 months and sell off again at the same website Kupujemprodajem at lower rate of 8k rsd. Pretty convenient to slash down 15-20min walk to 10 min ish daily so its probably worth it, and in addition makes easy commute on weekends for groceries.

Not too sure what's next, will i be travelling more or have the opportunity to stay on in Malaysia projects as much as possible at least for next few years. This is at least the strategy im opting for years ago - second wind stance. 

There are things that worked and don't. Electric pots are genius for traveler's but only useful for light cooking since mostly are non stick glazed surface that can easily get damaged. Going from asia to Euro/non asian region its best to bring some dry condiments, worked really well. My sambal chilli 2 bottles lasted till last day here. Would be good to ready some small tools for cooking such as mini cutter/portable blender etc and possible some dry spices which might be a rarity in overseas market. 

Jackets - bringing a spare would be sufficient and for winter season its actually necessary to bring that armor thick jacket i've kept in wardrobe ,hmm i think mum's house wardrobe for 10s of years. Practically impossible to use in Malaysia, but for winter it'll be more comfortable to have it. Else match and pair long sleeves or jackets that can wear together to be comfortable. Over packed jackets for this round, i brought 4x pieces which is comsuming too much baggage space in the bag.

Learnt basic oven baking, roast chicken, how to clean , salt brine for juicy meat and freeze store cooking meat. Prepare one pot meals and batch cooking preps. Learning to use frozen corn, frozen peas as good source of nutrients, balance out food nutrition for the body and make own food as much possible. Tested out how to make chilli oil, how to prep lemon sugar (honey probably better option) for ease of use. So much to learn in this area from IG and chat GPT. Solo baked my very first cookies that turned out great, and all in all practice frugality even in foreign environments.

Weekends noon here (night in Malaysia) spent on video calls, teaching kiddo BM which yield some small results. Hopefully it can help her out and keep on continuing, CEO approved this. 

Used up 1x shoe throw there, 2 pairs torn socks and one torn tracksuit. All left behind in Balkan.

Laying foundations for the years to come. I guess thats more or less about it, its more or less boarding time. Let me enjoy my Maxi packed and discounted pita bought the night before that. Signing off.

 

Jan 5- Quiet day at Belgrade office

Since today, hmm actually past 2 days are very quiet days in 2024 in office. Just taking time to ponder about in office. Basically not much people here;  most either took leave ,  some showed face a little while in office and dissapeared. 

It's now end of 6th month and entering 7th of my journey in Balkanland. ending soon.

Bought my bike here for ease of travel 29-July, initially thinking that i can't drive with M-land license here. Apparently i can like <1 month later. 

For 11K rsd the quite new 2nd hand bike was bought at KupujemProdajem aka local mudah.com where people sell and buy 2nd hand stuff.   Spent another 600rsd for the red bike chain from the chinese market at Blok 70.  1 week after use, one of the pedal actually fell off , signs of lack of use by previous owner and needed to go for repair at Iron Bike's near Blok 70 or Local wet market as well to refit/lock it back and check air of both tyres. There goes another 200 rsd fees.  It's first 1 year life as bicycle is really easy, just sit tight in garage i guess. Now i was working it hard everyday to work haha. In total the cost was 11+ 0.6+0.2 = 11.8 k  rsd investment. 2 months later, i discovered that petrol stations have bicycle pumps with correct size to pump tyre at any time so this is also another good things available publicly. 

Upon getting notification of my departure, again went back to Kupujem to post advertisement and sell off the bike. Luckily i got a buyer that is looking for a training bike for his son. Sold at 8k rsd ,selling price was 74 Eu or about 8.6k rsd but i gave the buyer an offer that i hoped to closed the deal immediately. Which is pretty good price. Either this or probably left this bike in office garage to rust and rot for 10 years+ haha. Transaction happened on 29-Dec, one week or so after i got my notice. Efficient shit turnover i guess :)

All in all actual used period was actually 5 months. 11.8k - 8 k  = thats 3.8k cost for 5 months use. Not so bad actually,  3.8k / 5months = 777rsd per month. Thats coverts back to about rm34 per month. So thats about RM1.1 per day ok la cheaper than taking busese here which i never got around to try actually. Close enough from my previous guesstimation. Return for use value is pretty great, i didnt go too far with this fella considering trying to preserve durability , my stamina-interest diminishing after 20-30mins ride and weather quickly changing to winter soon but its still great to bike to work cutting 15-20min to-fro-work commute to  <10min daily one way.

The question will be what's next after this. Well, go home first i guess.

Poutine - the canadian snack

Clearing stock, here is another recipe thats easy fast and delicious. Only few ingredients. Apparently poutine is like a national dish in Canada. Here is what google yields of its origin:

Poutine, a Canadian dish made of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. It first appeared in 1950s rural Québec snack bars and was widely popularized across Canada and beyond in the 1990s. Poutine may be found everywhere from fine dining menus at top restaurants to fast-food chains.

Ingredients: 

-either potato to slice and make fried, or frozen fries

- curd  , replaced with cheese i have on hand.

- gravy i had from previous roast of chicken, thicken and add soy sauce some flour to thicken. this one could have been more diluted to reduce saltiness.

- variation  - added some slice of sausage and half of diced yellow onion. (loved the onion additional flavor).

Bake or Fry potato which ever way to cook it up. I used oven, just dump frozen fries inside preheating oven for 10-15 mins while i get busy on other things. Set 175 C for the fries 18min add sausage slilces . At 5 min left, drop in yellow onion into the oven to bake as well slightly. Gravy leftover just drop the teared chesse slice into gravy and nuke it in the microwave for some hot sauce and melted cheese goodiness. Drizzle on top of fries, sausage and onion mix and serve hot.

Sidenote: being asian, not a simple drip of gravy goes to waste. I nuked gravy together with one slice of white bread from my freezer. Tools to clean up gravy :)

                 

 

Polento Wheat Cookie recipe

Another first time to wrap the end of the year. Baking cookies, never done it myself before. ChatGPT baking, here goes. For the sake of clearing up what ingredients i have on hand.  Going with no baking soda type recipe.

Ingredients dry mix:

- 1 cup polenta, add generous amount of sesame seeds

- 1 cup wheat flour , add mixed mueslie wheat and dried raisins 

                                         

Ingredients wet:

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened in microwave oven

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 1 large egg

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract replaced with cocoa + Jacob coffee mix 

- Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. use ikea ceramic plate for placing mixed dough .

2. In a bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until smooth.

3. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing well.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the polenta, wheat flour, and a pinch of salt.

5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until a dough forms.

6. Gently fold in the soda water until well combined.

7. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking plate sheet, spacing them apart.

8. Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of a spoon or your fingers. Yes finger pressed cookies, uneven shaped original.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. 18 min works great. First prototype batch too thick cookie, its better to have flatter dough to get crispy cookies.

10. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mixed Chilli Oil - my recipe

Due to the problems at work, i need to start clearing my stocks and ingredients. Suddenly saw my bag of dried mala chilli. Here goes, chilli oil experiement or what i called now the chatGPT/Internet/IG cooking.

                            

Remove the top of chilli , remove seeds. Crush the chilli to finer pieces (no processor or blender) so its all hand work. Heat an almost one small bottle of oil (target storage). Fry the chilli on low heat.

Chop and mince up some garlic 4-5 cloves, only had  yellow onion , so 1 slice and diced it goes. In it goes.

Had some cumin leftover, in it goes. 

Add some paprika powder, add some sugar and salt.

Toss in generous amount of sesame seed. I got half a bag from prometer just not long ago =.=

Turn to high heat, fry till brown and fragnant. 

Turn low or off the heat. Add some soy sauce to the mix.

Let cool. There the chilli oil ,which turns out pretty good. Will try this out with peanut butter for the noodle flavor bomb recipe.