#vacation

LADIES IN BLACK

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Here we were, in the middle of the ocean, on the fringes of the beach, postcard pictured setting… amongst the thousands of people. Then, suddenly… (change to next scene…music builds to a slight cresendo…especially the violins creating suspense. Ah…yes… suspense).

(big horns blowing)…Then suddenly, out of no where…appeared these unusual looking women…(suspense ends with the sound from a triangle hitting its note. “ting!).

Did they come from the distant future through time travel… or did they come on a space ship? In the distance, we could see a grey and orange object that resembled what looked like a spaceship, as people gathered around it to get a closer look.

The grey and orange object that resembled what looked like a spaceship.

These three women – all dressed in black, with special secret service issued shades (sunglasses), all of a sudden, appeared in the middle of the ocean (20 meters from the beach). They communicated with each other in a strange language which most people around here could not understand. For those that could grasp what they were were saying, could only make out a little bit. These women were speaking that language, yes the one that some universities accept a passing mark grade of 5% out of 100% to do law. The English language. They spoke the high end version, from the U.K., His Majesty’s version. And they spoke very lady-like, prim and proper.

The women in black.

As they appeared in a location quite close to us, we could make out who was in charge – the boss.

The boss, the leader. She had a device that hung from her neck…they all did.

I heard the boss say that their mission was to rescue a young princess in pink from the evil clutches of what is known as the “IdiotBox”. She said that if they played their cards right (Go Fish), they will be able to rescue the young princess in pink. It was a dangerous mission. One that is filled with advertisements, reaching out to your subconscious, inviting you, asking you, telling you to buy…even if you don’t have the money, things that you don’t need. How do you pay for this? Why friendly credit, of course. They are friendly provided you make the payments on time.

Somehow or another, they succeed in their mission to rescue the princess in pink (no idea why the location is in the sea).

They get the princess in pink to use special yellow floats to keep her steady above the surface of the water while waiting for their rescue vehicle to come.
We can see the boss using her special device to provide their location to their rescue vessel.

Within minutes, their rescue vehicle, disguised as a run-of-the-mill, type motor-boat; appeared.

They spotted their rescue craft.
The princess in pink told them that she did not want to leave them, that she wanted to be a part of their team.

The Ladies In Black’s mission was to rescue the princess in pink and put her on the rescue craft. They would not be following her as they would then move on to their next mission. The princess in pink insisted, they resisted. She insisted, they resisted even more strongly. The princess in pink said, “I am a princess. I command you to accept me”. They told her that if she joined, she would have to leave her princess-ness behind and follow orders just like everyone else. She agreed. Princess’ honour.

The rescue craft leaving without the princess in pink. It could not wait too long for risk of being exposed and the mission jeopardized.

They gave a pair of standard issue Oakley shades to the princess in pink. Now, she became one of them.

The rescue craft leaving without the princess in pink. The princess in pink relinquishes her pinkness and puts on the shades (you can see her with the shades on).

Till the next thrilling episode…

L.I.B.eraton i the name of the organisation the ladies work for.

Having fun. I thought up of this story and penned it at 3.17am in the morning. This may lead you to tell your own 3.17am fun stories.

NOTES:
1. The story is fiction.
2. “The boss” was one of the hotel guests, the same as us. She seems a very nice lady.

BEACH, WATER, SAND, SUN, HATS

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Once we settled our things in our room at the hotel; we went to do what we came here to do in the first place: go to the beach. Walk in the sands and the water, as the ocean gushed in, bringing with it heaps of soft sand.

Jeannie wasted no time in gathering treasures from the beach, rocks of all forms, shapes and sizes. Wherever she goes, she must pick up bits and pieces of nature. She picked up large maple and other leaves, acorns on our trips to the U.S., Europe and Australia; shells of all shapes, sizes and colours from previous beach holidays. Today, it is rocks. She has a keen eye for the beauty of things that escape my attention.

Here, the Batik Influencer is sporting a straw hat, something that she may incorporate in her fashion ideas perhaps?

A little ball of green weed that fought to keep itself on the beach. With it each incoming wave of water from the ocean; it was getting to look more difficult. However, it fought gallantly even though the odds were stacked heavily against it.

All smiles, definitely.

Corus hotel is many years old, and it shows it. Our room is very comfortable, with two king size beds, good view of the ocean and full room amenities. There’s a swimming pool and and a games room for indoor games.

A new edition to her collection.

All these things that she picks up and wants to bring home with us. I say “No bringing any of this stuff back”. Somehow or another, I will find her new found treasures or collection in our house.

Another nice pic. The setting sun bursting through the clouds, bouncing off onto the waters, creating flickering sparkles as the waves move.
The water feels good…sooo good.

The sky as my background: Perfect.
The magic lamp?

A postcard style picture of our hotel (yellow in colour). The hotel is many years old, and it shows it. Our room is very comfortable, with two king size beds, good view of the ocean and full room amenities. There’s a swimming pool and and a games room for indoor games.

A scene from one of those panama movies.

She’s happy. She’s got a bounty full of “treasures”.

Nice picture.
On our way back to the hotel as the sun went down.

Back in our room. The view from the window was lovely.

Stitching(?) / S-Penning an essay together. Could be described in the normal normal way, but…

A nice corned beef sandwich prepared by the Batik Influencer. She is an expert in food and is also a great chef in her own rights..
Relak la brudder ( local slang) for take a break and chill.

One of the treasures Jeannie found on the beach. She immediately came up with the idea of this natural and beautiful pen-holder.

A good first day of our holiday in Port Dickson.

Jeannie, in top form, feeling the ocean at her feet and the sifting sands, sort of crumble away as the waters rush back to the ocean.

HOLIDAY AT THE TWIN TOWERS

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Bouwsema & Atkinson families

It was a very relaxed morning. The scene was a bit laid back. Maybe, due to it being a public holiday. Whatever it was, it was good.

The weather was not too hot. However, it was still humid.

Laura had made arrangements to meet a fellow Millikin University student, who had arrived in Malaysia on a holiday a few days ago with his family. He was at the university for a semester and they had kept in touch ever since.

Their arrangement to meet was at the KLCC Shopping Mall, which is part of the Petronas Twin Towers – once the tallest building in the world. We, Jeannie and I offered to drive Laura to the Mall. The mall was expected to be crowded because of the holiday.

We got to the Mall at about 4.00pm. Getting a car park space was surprisingly easy. We got one almost as soon as we got into the building.

Laura was in contact with her friend, found out where they were at the mall, gave our location and finally met.

From Right to Left: Isabel, Lucas, Vera, Manon, Peter, Sacha, Jeannie, Laura, Youri and me (Alan)

Youri and his family are from the Netherlands. They had just come back from the island of Borneo after a short visit. They visited the town of Sandakan in Sabah. Sabah at one time was referred to as “North Borneo”. It is one of the 14 states of Malaysia. The states of Sabah and Sarawak which make up East Malaysia; are on the island of Borneo. The other 12 states make up Peninsula Malaysia (or West Malaysia).

It was tea time. The Bouwsema family were game to try local food. One of the best places that offered local kuih (cakes), pastries and drinks was “Nyonya Colours”. Jeannie is undoubtedly the food expert (besides being the renowned Batik Influencer). She, Laura and Youri picked out a variety of the kuih and currypuffs, probably a little bit of everything that was on display. As for drinks, local coffee and tea in the various offerings were ordered. The exceptions were: Lucas had soda (Coca-Cola) and Laura, plain water.

We got to know each other a little bit better. Peter is an Operations Director for an international manufacturing company and Manon works at Flight Control (Ground). It is exciting work where she directs aircraft or helps them maneuver between and around other aircraft and land vehicles on the ground. Their children are in various levels of education. Youri wants to be a pilot.

Manon and Peter. Peter is looking at the beautiful view through the glass roof at the centre of the KLCC shopping mall.

“Saint” Peter (his halo is behind him) enjoying Malaysian  delights. “This is what I call a currypuff”, at least his facial expression says it.

Expert with the chopsticks.

Lucas, a penny for your thoughts? Manon is about to try a different kuih with Vera.

The Bouwsema family made bookings to visit the Petronas Twin Tower Skybridge on the 41st floor and the Observation Deck on the 86th floor later that evening.

So, what’s next after tea? We did the most natural thing – planned for dinner. Manon and Peter were keen for more local cuisine. They wanted dinner to be at the Mall so they could be in time for their visit to the Skybridge and Observation Deck. Jeannie suggested we dine at “Serai”, a restaurant that offers both local as well as western cuisine.

We headed to the restaurant which is located in the Signature food court area. To get there is easy. At the entrance of the food court, you turn right and Serai restaurant at the end of it, about 150 meters walk. Jeannie helped make a reservation for 10. The head waitress said that they do not usually accept reservations. However, they would make an exception for us.

We then, had about an hour before dinner on our hands. We split up to shop at the places we were most likely to intertest us. I did a quick tour to the IT (everything technology) section. I am quite keen on the idea of getting the Insta 360 X3 action camera. I want to explore fun, action simple cameralogy, sort of a new hobby to alternate with journalism, perhaps. The X3 is a great improvement from the X2 model I had 2 years ago.

I started heading to the restaurant with 15 minutes to spare before time. It was easy to find out reserved table as Peter, Manon and Jeannie were already seated there.

One of the first things that caught the attention of some of us at the table were the large mirrors on the ceiling, above our table. Very interesting. What an easy way to take selfie pictures! Place our smartphones on the table and start tapping the camera shutter button.

My dinner – Mamak Mee Goreng, with strips of fried egg, vegetables and other condiments; served on banana leaf. It was as oily as it looked. It was as delicious as it looked, too. Squeezing the small lime (top, 11 o’clock on the plate) added just that tinge of uniqueness to the taste. Not only did it look delicious; it tasted delicious, too.
From what we’ve been told, Peter is quite the selfie expert. Here, in this selfie or “wefie” picture taken by him, he shows us that he is an expert at selfies. This is a beautiful shot worth keeping.
From Right to left, starting with Peter: Peter, self (Alan), Manon, Laura, Youri, Sacha, Lucas, Isabel, Vera, Jeannie.

Everyone, cameras…er I mean phones with camera mode on, on the table.

Look up everybody. You can see the top of the Petronas Twin Towers from here. (No, you can’t 😏) People around us must have been wondering why we were so excited, looking up the ceiling. 😁😂

It was a good thing that the service at Serai was good and all our meals were served quite quickly. We all enjoyed our meal and had a great time getting to know each other more.

Alas, the time came when we had to go our separate ways. The Bouwsema family had a high speed lift or two to catch for the next leg of their holiday visit to Malaysia. In the next few days, their holiday expedition would include a trip to Georgetown, Penang and Taman Negara (National Park) in Pahang. We wish them the very best for the rest of their holiday vacation. We look forward to meeting them on their next trip to Malaysia. Or, we visit them in The Netherlands.