Home at last

Newton discovered a long time ago that objects tend to maintain their states of rest or motion in the absence of forces acting to the contrary. Likewise, it is not so easy to get an idle blog up and running again. In any case, I have now returned to the green fields and buzzing mosquitoes of the Soga area, Batu Pahat; home is where the heart is, aneurisms and all.

Had a brief sojourn in London at the end of second year - between May and July - to travel a bit and experience the British summer. Among the highlights - almost getting lost and/or killed while trekking alone in heavy rain on a forested isle outside Berlin, sweltering in the London Underground (and above ground, too) during a dry British heatwave, and of course watching England lose on penalties in a packed London pub =P

My flight back on Emirates Airlines went considerably better than expected - as "Official Partner" of the World Cup 2006 they were able to let us catch reruns of the previous day's footballing action, which off-set my serious error in booking my flight for the evening of the World Cup Final. As it was, I managed to catch The Head Butt and other assorted antics aboard the Airbus A330 from Dubai to Malaysia, as well as the 3rd Place Playoff on the considerably more sophisticated Boeing 777 from London to Dubai the evening before.

The odd thing about Emirates is that they sound pretty tough on regulations ("Maximum one item of hand baggage including laptop") ("Check-in at least 3 hours before departure") but they were really quite lepak when I went for the flight. First they let me check in 90 mins before departure time (stuck train at Hatton Cross and long queue at counter ... not my fault anyway), then they cheerfully tagged and waved on both my cabin bag and laptop, which came to about double the official weight limit anyway. What a cool airline. Plus, they're cheaper too (real reason for switching). Though one wonders why they bother publishing such fussy-sounding rules.

Dubai International Airport is a posh-looking duty-free haven, artificial palm trees and all; the good thing is the terminal layout is pretty straightforward so no risk of getting lost. 3 hours' transit was more than enough to get hold of some Dirhams (very P.Ramlee-ish) and grab a pack of Arabian dates stuffed with almonds. Good stuff.

Have now returned to Batu Pahat; good to see family and friends again, and to ride a good old motorcycle once more. Town hasn't changed much except for a proliferation of food courts in the Cheng Siu area; Batu Pahat folk must have quite an appetite to generate that much demand! Inflation has pretty much taken its toll - nasi bariani is now from RM6 plus 5% Government tax so that's a far cry from the days when I stopped my bicycle by the stall on the way home from school and got the stuff at RM3 a pack.

Now for 2 months of rest and relaxation at home. Theoretically like that-lah.