a strangely colourful ship

Papa asked to speak to you on the phone from yesterday. Mama won't answer, so Papa can't say hello for christmas. Papa has working pretty hard for the last two weeks. A picture for you- Papa was at the port again today watching the loading on the conveyor belts at the bulk terminal. A drab Sunday morning....

made in china

ep-1 does candids.

monsoon bahkutteh

In a bahkutteh shop on Main Street Kuantan (that would be Salt-Fish Road) a few weeks back. A cold and dreary morning.

Papa would post a morning shot from a dim-sum shop but there doesn't seem to be any dim-sum shops in Kuantan for the morning. [Papa has found one dim-sum shop open for the night though. Go figure.]

Kuantan morning

Papa was in Kuantan again this week. It grew from a supposed one day outing to a couple of days of work. So Papa ended up here Tuesday to Thursday. The bright spot was that Papa thinks the monsoon may have ended earlier (only maybe its taking a breather - Papa doesn't know right now yet). Papa hopes for sunlight and no rain- its about time to go to some remote places, which Papa wishes he could take you.

View just outside the hotel after check-out on Thursday morning. Blue skies...



The hotel is new and better than its surroundings suggest...Papa can walk to the various state departments and other POI. 5 minutes from the State SEDC, 8 from Sri Pahang, 3 to the surveyor, 1 minute to shops nearby...

Papa will be here again next week to shop for some land in nearby Gebeng to build a silica-manganese mill. (its sort of like a steel mill-except they use electric ovens/furnaces instead of coal furnaces of the usual steel mills. So lots of electric juice needed.) Silica-manganese mills are common in China but in South East Asia , Papa believes only Philiphines has got one. They seem to be a necessary and integral part of the steel industry, and so currently Malaysia exports raw manganese ore to China and then imports processed manganese back for use in its steel mills. Not too bright huh?

(Consequently Papa thinks for reasons of national interest, Malaysia should have one. Papa ihas been hinting and is going to promote this to the Pahang Government.)

Then Papa will be going to some other place to scout for land again, but for agriculture.

monsoon in the jungle

At the edge of the jungle. There is a hill in the short distance, which is part of a gazetted area of Chini. Papa hopes we can restore this plot of land to forest or jungle. Its was a drizzly day , very beautiful and dull at the same time. The denuded tree trunks hint at the richness that once was on this plot. Papa didn't do the clearing- it was cleared by illegal miners a couple of years ago.

Chini Lake: pier in transition

Papa popped over to the Chini lake yesterday out of curiousity. The resort seems to be in a state of suspended animation for renovation works. So there seem to be no rooms available , and the canteen (can't call it anything else) is not there anymore. The sole Indonesian worker we say didn't have a clue as to what was happening on site. Papa notice pilings for a jetty/pier. The wooden jetty is to be replaced by... guess what?


The upgrade was depressingly "concrete"- with each "improvement" inflicted on the lake, an intangible "something else" is taken from it. Even my not so environmentally sensitive buddy said,"This is not environmentally sensitive. Its going to look out of place."

Papa took a shot of the wooden pier before that too is gone. It was a hot lazy afternoon, no activity in sight.

Mama on strike again

Mama is keeping you away again for the weekend. Everytime Mama does something wrong, Mama hits Papa a second time by not letting you see me. Papa doesn't know what to do , dealing with Mama, its like an episode of Twilight Zone mixed with Hotel California.

So Papa will post something instead.


This is on the busy Main Street of Kuala Lipis. You can check-in into what seems to be the premier Hotel in town, the centrally located Hotel Central. Mayhaps life in K Lipis would be such that you could never leave....

fishes in the stream

Where Papa went (near Gunung Besar Hantu) , up the reaches of the river (name already forgotten), the water was crystal clear and not much more than a stream. Lots of fish playing under the dappled shade of the trees overhanging the brook. A gunny sack of Kelah was sitting in the waters, must have been caught by the campers nearby. Loads of bees and a lone black butterfly sitting on the salt licks of the gravel stones on the riverbank . All very friendly , Papa could get within inches of the single butterfly and the bees.

Papa hasn't figured out whether Gunung Besar Hantu means Big Ghost Mountain or Loads of Ghosts Mountain. But at close to 5000 feet, Papa does not intend to climb it. This is a beautiful place, maybe because it is little known and barely accessible, you have to use a 4x4. to get to this area. Papa may return to this place, but in the meanwhile Papa has a ship to catch next week.

volcano in Ipoh

Papa zoomed into Ipoh on Monday and in between things, decided to have lunch. Chicken rice in Ipoh, an old-timer shop, how to go wrong? Well Papa was wrong! Papa had to order an extra glass of chinese tea upon the second bite. So, we won't mention the name of the shop

Too much, much too much MSG. Three hours later Papa still couldn't shake off the effects of the MSG, Papa had to pull off the road on the way back. Papa got crossed-eyed, watching the wipers flicking across the screen instead of watching the road. Rain was heavy heavy, Papa couldn't see anything. MSG overload on a cold rainy evening.

So. On Wednesday morning, Papa was in Ipoh again. Not being the type of person who learns from his mistakes , Papa decided to try another old establishment. And Papa decided to have dim-sum, which comes with a risk of MSG. No less than at the volcano of Ipoh, Fohsan ....

Now in a spanking new building (which opened just last month).



Photo of Papa's colleague across the table.

Short verdict: Actually, pretty good. New dim sum recipes (new to Papa at least). and surprise! Very little MSG.

On the way back from one of Papa's trips.

travelling papa

Papa was caught in a very heavy storm on the way back to KL the other day.One could hardly see anything in the driving rain. Travelling on the twisty bits of the Karak highway was no fun in a pickup truck. Things, including pickups, can and do slide around.....

cannot resist.....

some more photos