boon's log 1609.01: Home Sweet Home

Final Destination

Home, finally. There's truly no place like home. There at the airport was IL and Ab - the 2 faces that I would never trade anything for. Pure gold. The last leg of the trip was, to be honest, MUCH better than the earlier one, with reclinable seats! Happyluyah! But it was only just a 3+hr flight. Just enough to catch an episode of No Reservations and then a short nap.


Hong Kong International Airport

The most typical question that people ask me whenever i come back to Penang is, "What is the first thing you would want to attack first - foodwise?" I normally would list the following - boonspot's Top Ten Penang Hawker hangouts:
1. Sar Teow Lor's Wan Ton Mee
2. Innira's Banana Leaf (Now known as Passion of Kerala)
3. New Lane's Char Koay Teow
4. Hai Ann's Hokkien Mee (Burmah Road)
5. Carnarvon St's Loh Mee and Loh Bak
6. Jelutong Market's Mee Goreng/Rebus
7. Kimberly Street's Kueh Chiap
8. Pulau Tikus Market's Lok Lok
9. Pulau Tikus Roast Pork/Chicken/CharSiu Rice Shop (Burma+Cantonment junc.)
10. Penang Girls School's Laksa

I have yet to complete the list since i touched down. Perhaps just 50% of that list. what a shame, ain't it?! :)

Ab started her day school 3 weeks ago. but the school had to shut down for 1.5weeks (10 days) because one of kids contracted Kowsacki and a lot of the parents requested for the school to close and be sanitized - which is a good thing, but that means ~7 over days without school. Some of our rellies asked us to ask for a refund for that 7 days. haha! Anyway, it is a good precautionary measure. Better be safe, than sorry.


Ab's School

She seems to like her new school, pretty okay. I guess it's because the system they adopt is quite similar to that in Goddard, when were in Hillsboro before. A lot of teachings of being independent and sharing among friends and also developing motor skills. Making friends and remembering their names and her teacher's names since the second day at school.


Ab washing her hands with her Korean friend

I had the chance to bring her to school during her 2 week orientation. She cried a little when i left her alone with her friends and teachers, but she calmed and settled down quickly and started eating and playing with the rest of her friends.

We'll see how things go for a few more weeks before we decide whether to keep her there. As what they say at work - we'll have a checkpoint in a few week's time. :)


I leave you with Anthony Bourdain's Quote in No Reservation:Hawaii...

"I happen to believe, if you look deeply into the heart of every great cook, there's a Chinese guy."

boon out...

boon's log 1409.06: Transiting in HK

Homeward bound. And looking forward to it. The past one month was truly stressful both work-wise and non-work-wise. On one hand things were backed up at work due to tight (and unbelieveble) schedules and screw-ups in timelines, while on the other hand, being away from home is not really helping. Skype-ing did not really help either.

Anyways, that month's passed and now i am just hours away from the warm comforts of home - 4 more hours of transit in HK and ~3 more hours in the air. And what else is there to do in HK during a 4-hr-transit other than to eat, right? ;) And what else to eat, if not the famous HK WanTon Noodle and wash it all down with their Iced Milk Tea. Ahh... simply, heavenly...


King's Palace Noodle at the HK Int'l Airport

Especially after enduring an awful 13+ hour flight with Cathay Pacific Airlines. Cathay Pac seemed to have refurbished the interior of their older 747s. All I can say is that it is (very) possible whoever they hired as the interior designer - does not have a backbone (!). The new seats are non-reclinable. Yeah, non-reclinable seats. Instead of reclining, the bottom part of the seat actually slides forward creating a pseudo-reclining posture. Imagine being stuck in that for 13+ straight hours. It is really absurd for anyone to come up with this sort of design. Really, really awful. Apparently it creates more leg-room, but I do not see how anyone would trade leg room for non-reclinable seats.

Anyways, I would strongly discourage anyone from taking Cathay Pac. I would not want anyone to endure this, first hand. I was actually given a choice between SIA or Cathay Pac - but I decided to take Cathay Pac as it was (supposedly) slightly cheaper than the former, thinking that it could not be that bad, plus it can save some bucks.

Well, despite the unergonomic experience, perhaps there is one plus to the new interior - their entertainment system. It comes with an 8in LCD screen and a pretty cool controller system - this may be the only win against SIA's entertainment system.

Even so, nothing can possibly make up for the seats. The seats, man... them lousy seats!

Alright, done with my wonton noodle from "heaven" (and complaining). More blog and pics later.

boon out...