What Financial Crisis ?

On Christmas Day, as early as 10am, visitors/shoppers are already rushing into the shopping complex next to the KLCC. Its shop, shop, shop and by 11am, the food court are already full with people and tables and chairs became a premium ! Its business as usual in Kuala Lumpur. Merry Christmas.

The World's Most Travelled Felines ( by road of course )

Ginger and ChiChi is undoubtedly the world's most travelled cats ! They are the proud holders of the most prestigous Platinum Card Frequent Traveller. Momo ,Karupin, Black and Saroo, only managed the Basic Card category coz they do not have much opportunity to travel and more homely by nature. Ginger and ChiChi travel every week on weekends on the 300 Km trip to and fro from KL to Malacca without fail for the past 4 years. By now, their total road trips can be equated to travelling at least 5 times around planet earth and 18 times around the moon, if they can get there in the first place !

PS : Momo and Karupin also known as the terrible twins ( Persians with Jet Black coats ) there is no image of them since there they are black, and would appear only as 2 black blobs and if lucky, we can notice their eyes only ! ) They are the perfect tag team chasing away "intruders" ( Ginger ) should she step in into their territory.

Black is of course not really black but with a tinge of yellow coat and Saroo is a regular tabby but small sized and can be playful at times. But they are all special with personalities of their own.

Catching the Rainbow

Back from work one day, it was raining heavily - intense rain for ten minutes or so. Pretty sure that some parts of KL may be flooded due to flash floods. Traffic will build up creating massive traffic jams which happens quite regularly after a heavy downpour. The months of october thru december will see the thunderstorms in the late afternoons. But most of all, it is quite unpredictable; so most motorists will try to beat the jams by leaving their place of earlier when they sense that, a heavy downpour is coming their way...most of my friends do that anyway. However, there are many other geniuses who thinks alike and this would create a "pre- traffic jam" before the actual anticipated jam. So far KL has initiated a number of flood mitigation projects of various scale in the city, but the flash floods do prevail knowingly at some other locations ! Looks like chasing the rainbow, an exercise of futility. That is one expect of life in Kuala Lumpur for the working population. And for those waiting for taxis during, after or before the storms...be wary, there will be few taxis willing to take you on board to your destination. And occassionally you will see a pretty rainbow in the sky...that makes your day !

PS : Dateline Tuesday 21st October, 2008

Left the office at 5.45pm towards the usual route which on average would take me around 4o minutes to be home. By this time, the rain had transformed into a mere drizzle. Encountered the expected traffic jam. But this time around, it was a massive, massive jam. Arrived home at 8.33pm which is slightly under 3 hours ! No rainbow this time around. Maybe it is about time to move out of KL.

Putra LRT ( now Kelana Jaya Line ) at Off Peak

It was at 8.15pm when I boarded the LRT ( rapid rail transport ) from Gombak bound for Taman Jaya Station, 20 stations away. Boarding was easy with less than ten passengers sharing the 2 coaches. I should be at my destination in 40 minutes flat. I even carried a book to kill time, if need be. It was only after the 4th station stop when the numbers swelled with standing passengers, each minding their own business. Some passengers closed their eyes, others sleep and the younger ones looked stoned listening to their mp3s; mostly they looked tired even though it was a Sunday night. At the Pasar Seni Station, a number of passengers boarded, one of them a sixty something, tall Sikh man and having to drag his feet as he came staggering in and appeared to be limping slightly. Dressed in a long sleeves green batik with white flower motives, he appeared dazed, glassy eyed and unsteady as the train lurched forward on its intended journey. He must be drunk, perhaps after a drinking session with his buddies downtown. My suspicion was confirmed when before arriving Universiti Station, he started mumbling as though talking on his cellphone, "everything is okay,.....em don't worry, I am coming back"......flinging his free arm to one side, and the sheer force of this reflex action unsteadied him again. Indeed he was drunk and the smell of drinks was evident enough. By this time there were only a few standing passengers left and I was almost reaching Taman Jaya Station to meet-up with a friend. And I noticed that the Sikh man whom I initially thought was limping had only his right shoe on ! He must have lost the other pair ! That must be the reason for the limp. As I walked down the station, I can't help but hope that he would find his way back home, wherever it is. And I hardly turned a page of the book that I brought along.