When Fortune Smiles

This 2.7 liter 2TR-FE white Toyota Fortuner is consider as a mid-size sport utility vehicle instead of a 4x4. One of the best car I've driven so far, the only complain I had is that the aircon of this car isnt strong enough for this spacious vehicles. We rent this car at the rates of Dhs 1350 for 3days including Oman Insurances. It's fuel consumption for the whole trip is Dhs90 for 470km, quite moderate for a Giant!

I was entrusted to ride this gentle giant, what an honour! Hehehe, If I was to travel with my family I would be last to be given the oppurtunity to step on the paddle. My dad is vastly experience driver in all soil condition (except Desert), My bro is crazy about car & he is willing to drive none stop for 6-8hours (actually speeding) and the worst of all if I drive, my mum would scream like hysteria although I have experience driving almost all over the world & even left hand driving in Tupai. I guess my mum still consider me as the Baby boy... I never seems to be able to grow up in her mind.

This picture is taken infront of my house, a double storey semi-D, Fortuner seems double the size of my baby Jazz but she still seems small compare to my house owner Nissan Armada... with the a**hole as big as this you can even put a casket inside. 9am in front of Ray & Lil's house... With her down wide open she seems like some transfomer Robot.

12pm after crossing the border of Oman... Good Feng Shui back by the mountain facing the sea.

12.30pm... Parking in The Golden Tulip Hotel in Khasab, Oman... Good for parking as well! Not much of a hassle!

3pm... Near by Oman restaurant for lunch... Is really cheap compare to Tupai's food. They accept Tupai's $$$ as well.

5pm- Drive around the off-road Rocky mountain of Oman... A big Side screen, you can miss even the smallest gems.

6pm- Park near the Toilet of the beach... Front or back view, she looks majestics.

Front view... Fantastic wiper & water spray! I was damn scare that those rocks might fall down.

At the mountain! Phewww, I reach the top at last. Quite a powerful car althought it's only 2.7cc compare to her big brother Land Cruiser 4.5cc. I would like to own one, 90k for a new model!.. really need to think twice!

Blue, Red or Green

Cyclone Gonu killed 15 people and left a trail of destruction in Oman. Having peaked as a maximum-force Category Five hurricane on Tuesday, It caused a lot of havoc in terms of high seas, rain, winds and floods. Twelve people were confirmed dead in Oman but the death toll could rise, relief officials said, as flooding was still hindering access to some areas. A disaster relief official in the south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan said there had been damage to roads, infrastructure and houses.

I am not goint to let some storm stop me...

• You choose the green pill, go straight into disaster.
• You choose the Red pill, you dunno what behold you there.
• You choose the Blue pill, I've been there before.

At last I choose the Blue Pill... at least save..

Storm Rider

Muscat residents evacuated as storm clouds gathered. An unusually powerful cyclone has begun battering the coast of Oman with winds of 160mph (260 km/h) and large waves. Thousands of residents of coastal regions and the low-lying offshore island of Masirah have been evacuated. People elsewhere have been told to stay indoors, while schools and public buildings have been emptied to make room for the evacuees. Cyclone Gonu is bringing both strong winds and waves of up to 12m high (36ft), expected to be the strongest in 120years.

Low-lying areas have been evacuated. In the island of Masirah, 230km off the coast (140 miles), 7,000 people have left their homes. In the coastal capital of Muscat, people have been advised to stay indoors and to switch off their power. Schools have been designated as emergency shelters and the international airport is closed. The most powerful part of the storm was expected to hit Oman on Thursday, before moving north across the Gulf to Iran. While crossing the Indian Ocean on Monday it reached the equivalent of a Category Five hurricane - the highest category available.

Just receive an encouraging email from Raymond "you know water was submerged the road but it is never submerged our heart! go go Alan"...

I wont let temporary set back hinder my planning, I have been planning on this week Oman trip for the past month. I know there will be some obstacles but never imagine it can reach this size. I don't feel the need to brag or bluster, but other people may mistake that for meekness. I have nothing to prove, which is why I'm able to flout people's expectations so effectively. But, this time I gonna tell all before I go because I might not live to tell. I miss the Tsunami in Bali but I gonna ride the storm this time... I dont have another 120years left before I can meet her again.

Mamak Dubai

One man's garbage is another man's treasure, see things from another perspective. This restaurant is patronize by mostly low class Indian & Pakistani Labours but it's the closest things you have for a mamak stall. Sometimes I really thrist of Teh Tarik, but right now I can only satisfy my urge with a makeshifted one..

They dont called it mamak here... simply known as Ravi's Restaurant. There are some similarities between msia & dubai are their teh tarik taste and all of the workers there are from Indian but not their others menu. Food sold in this restaurant is more tradisional indina while msia is mix with local culture even chinese... After all 40% of the population here is Indian... 4million of 10mil (only 2mil are emiraties). My mum sure dare not to eat nor drink here because she always said those Mamakies never wash their hand after pees...

Red Carpets Greetings

Last Friday 19may2007, I was waken up around 3.45am by evil7 to take his GF (Guardian Forces) from Dubai International Aiport. It was really hard waking up in the wees hours of the day, I wonder how I manage to stay awake like this for few years in Cyber Cafe.

This scene, remind me of 18sept2006, the 1st day me & evil7 touch down on this ground after gruesome 14 hours flight from Msia to tupai. Thanks to JIM for choosing Gulf Air as it's 30% cheaper than others airline, I was able to stopover in Bahrain AIRPORT & Oman AIRPORT!!! Not forget another trip back to Msia also GULF AIR also courtesy of JIM, this time took us 20hours and visit Jakarta AIRPORT!!!! FYI; is normally takes 8hours for direct flight for KL-Tupai flight!

On 18sept2006, we are really tired after 14hours of flight from Msia! We just hope we can get a HOT SHOWER & SLEEP!!! Guess wat! JIM send a Pakistani Driver who doesnt speak a word of English to pick us up! THis show us, how much the APPRECIATE US!

After an hour of travelling in the van driven by Speedstar Michael SueMakai of Pakistan, I almost vomit! Then it took the driver another 30minutes to call someone to open the apartment door for us. The guy, a malay safety officer just show us the living room and go back to sleep, IT was around 6am then. Me & Evil7 look at each other in disbelief!!! We are treated like trash! I never ask for RED CARPETS welcome but at least give us some basic necessity!

The same day 8am we went to work in the van driven by Suemakai but this time full of people. But my stomach was damn hungry, as 8am is 12pm in msia. I havnt has anything to eat yet! The whole day nobody cares if I have eaten anything or not! I was damn hungry! Because I was based on site, I cant travel out to eat .

I did ask 2 Msian Indian where to eat, but they say they are going home to eat as they have car and they left me at site. Then I ask a chinese Msian where he eat, he say he got meeting then he left me again. I can sense that they dont want me to join them, as I am a noobs there I didnt make a fuss out of this matters. Then I ask a Indian accountant for food and he become my best fren at site since that day. His name is Arafat, he real nice & naive guy or I said honest!

I really hated those guys, especially the 2 msian Indian but I've learn to forgive. I really wanted to revenge for the way they treated me but after some cooling down; I come to realise that if i revenge than I would be like them or even worst than them as they show they really "kurang ajar" thus bring shame to their parents. From that day onwards I decided to help those friends who just started out in Tupai because I dont want them to go through the same suffering I been through!

"To Err is Humane, To Forgive is Divine".

Baptism of Sand

It was around 10.30pm... I was tired physically and mentally after some really tough badminton session so I decided to drive through the sand. I thought it was okay, as there are tyres marking in the sand and the sand was seems shallow and compact with dim lightings. I was Sstuck.... My initial thought was "X&*%$@.... Oh God! Not Again!!"

This is not the first time I got stuck in the sand. A month ago, I stuck my yaris into the sand but manage to push it out with evil7 in the driver seat. This place is just about 100metres from my house, again I S.O.S ---> evil7.

This time we failed badly, in fact we dug ourself deeper into the sand.. I was like "Oh! Shit... how am I gonna work tomolo!!! We Msian got no experience driving in the desert so I gotta ask my German housemate for favours... I felt really bad as it's almost 11pm and mostly people are going to bed as tomorrow is a working day.

I can still recall vividly in my mind Johann first word "OH! JESUSsss... you dont stand a chance pushing this car out with our strength"... Again, my moral was being crush into pieces by this cruel but true words.

We went back to our house, found some iron chain and tried to pull the car out using his lancer but the chain broke together with my heart :( The chains purpose was for gym equipment instead of pulling car. It was made for human muscle but not machine... I am really an IDIOTzz!!!

This is how deep my tyre got into the sand... After numerous attempts to pull the car out failed and got stuck deeper and deeper. I felt like giving up. It was so embarassing when every car that pass by look at me as the idiot driver, as it's not enough that I have to get my frenss into sandy messy and figuring out next course of action. I really wanna dig myself into the sand and hide my head in there...

Then come Saal a UAE national, just of the age of 20 living opposite of this place. He gave us some suggestion, helps us push the car and even go the distance of kneeling down and dug the sand around the wheels. The locals never give us a good impression of their personality as they are known to be racist and arrogant. But this kid really changes my whole perception of their races, he thought I was china man but he came to help as well.


We tried pushing the car with three people, we tried pulling the car with another car, we tried dug out the sand around the wheel with out bare hand and we tried putting some bricks behind the wheel for some grips but nothing seems to work, it was almost hopeless…

Our Last resort... four of us take turn to jack the car up, dug the sand using our bare hand under the wheel and insert some bricks under the wheel… After an hour of hardship. y0! We got the car out... Thanxxx God! Is amazing that only in time of needs do we united, no wonder there are so many trial and turbulence in this world.

Ten Lesson Learn that Night

1. There is no short cut in life.
2. Don’t Assume (Ass U & me),
3. Don’t think calm sand is no quick sand.
4. Don’t always follow the path of others, it might not be yours.
5. Friends are angels without wings. Only in time of needs, will you see they real form.
6. Don’t condemn a whole race simply because of a few bad apples.
7. You represent your country, races and family. Everything you do will reflect how others think of them.
8. Be patient and think you will see the light. We are given brain to solve problems not to mourn.
9. Get a cell phone with torch light; you never know when you gonna need it. (w810i got a very bright torch ligh!!!)
10. If God got you into it, God will get you out of it. Trial and hardship is God’s tutorial to enhance us. Anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
    
    
    

Jazz Jazz Jazz

After I finish fooling around with Yaris... I dump her hahaha :D

Yaris doesnt seems to be able to satisfy my HUGE Needsssss

y0! This is my new Girl Friends... Jazz.

Exterior

• Jazz is more powerful with her v-tec engine
• more oil savvy than Yaris, after 100+km of travel the tank still show "Full" unlesss the indicator is spoil?
• Better suspension system.. with the silk smooth road in tupai.. they need some everest high speed bump to slow your down.
• Better suspension system come with better handling... now I can take sharp corner like Judy f1!
• The most important of all, she is sexier than Yaris... maybe I just got bored with Yaris.. :p

Interior:

• Jazz is more spacious... better for after skool activity!
• Better sounds system at the "moment" as I havnt "Boom" her speaker as I did to Yaris...
• Interior of Jazz also of better quality than Yaris...
• She also come with RPM with Yaris doesnt has..

Gotta thanks Yaris for satisfying all my lust all this while. As nobody likes to be a rebound partner so I dont intend to make Yaris suffer longer as my dream is always Jazzzzzz!!! But Yaris do has her strength too... As a newer product, she does come with few good attitudes:

1. With her lighter body, she is a fast car if there are less passengers.
2. For visual purpose, interior light will automatically switch on for a moment when you enter the car or once you stop the engine.
3. There will beeping reminder when you didnt put on your seat belt or your front light is off.
4. She is like a mobile cupboard with a lotta drawer!
5. Her Speed metre and fuel indicator are located in the middle of the front dashboard instead of the driver side enable better concerntration on the road.
6. I heard that her elder sister Yaris Sedan is more spacious but I havnt try out yet!
7. Last but not least... she never fails me for this 63days being torture by me.

Thank you!!! Adios...