Sigh...the week's been amazingly tough ...back to back meetings, new briefs, late night meet-ups, griping clients and numerous deadlines to comply for various advisory matters...not to mention preparing submissions for next week ...opposing an application to set aside a judgment in JB, an appeal to be heard in Putrajaya...working 6 days a week...7 sometimes...Sigh...again...

The only consolation is a small do at Coreen's place tonight...nothing fancy, but anything home-cooked is always preferred...well, the present were Sathi (Coreen's boyfriend) Alan Shanmugam (Coreen's younger brother) and wife, Pervin (whom I realised soon after that she was my junior back at High School), Stephen Francis (Coreen's cousin) and wife, Angie, Crystal Shanmugam (Coreen's younger sister), Premela (my purported date) and me...

All of us just sat on the floor as we ate, drunk wine, laughed and jeered at anyone who departs from grip of reason...it was a good way to end the rough day at the office...tomorrow I have to tidy up my court of appeal submissions, do the floors (washing and mop) and catch a flight to JB for a hearing on Monday, all within the next 24 hours...man....I wished there were more than 24 hours to a day...

Well, that's a typical week for me...I can only pray that God gives me the strength and perseverance to toil on... for He has blessed me greatly thus far...I suppose I can't really complain about the circumstances...

Happy Birthday David

This posting is dedicated to my buddy, David Lai. Wishing you a very blessed birthday. I pray that God will bless and keep you steadfast for many years to come, for I have been blessed myself to have met your acquitance and cultivated the friendship we have now.

Quattro, you have been an excellent teammate in operation go go go, master of the AK-47 and flanking partner in my dire moments. It's been a great year having you as a buddy and I hope that this year will present upon you many blessings. I suspect that this year marks the harbinger of many good tidings to befall you.

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. LAI!!

MAY YOU HAVE MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS TO GO...so that I can embarrass you by posting a blog like this everytime September 27th comes nigh...

Vice In Theatres

(Warning! This posting may contain movie spoilers !)


One of the most anticipated rendition of the '84 TV series in movie form... apparently...

Two things: The director SUCKS and the storyline BLOWS!!!

I thought Michael Mann had lost his marbles directing this movie. I met with YB and David (and their missus) last Saturday to catch this one and BY the end of the movie, I was left to wonder whether was it an unforgivable waste of my precious Saturday night...I could have been blogging for example, instead of trying to register the contents of this silver screen version of Miami Vice...I must say, in contrast, directors and produces back then in the 80s knew how to make a cop drama... this movie was slow coupled with a bad script and wasted talents...

The beginning looked promising with Linkin Park's remixed version of 'Numb' played by the DJ and set against a typical Miami night club scene, complete with scantily clad women, drug dealers and of course, the Miami- Dade County Police undercover... then, things started to turn downwards...aside from a brief gunshot scene (2 FBI guys went down at the hands of 2, Barrett .50 caliber wielding snipers), not a single shot was fired after that for the next 40 minutes. During which time, I started to wonder if I should have just stayed home to watch CSI: Miami...at least the Horatio Caine 'gravitas' cuts over edge every time...


It's M-I-A-M-I for goodness sake!!! ... but seems that characters like to go to Havana, Cuba and Barranquilla...not to mention the typical druglord sequence. The scenes are more often than not, relegated to the late evening or night settings... No white sandy beaches with lots of bikini-clad women running around...No Sun. No Pina Coladas...and worst of all, No blood nor thousands or rounds of gunfire...disappointment wouldn't even cut it ...

Jamie Foxx really was under-utilised in this movie...he's job was to put on a menacing, serious cop face...an oscar recipient for 'Ray' but in this one...what the hell?!?!? was he doing?

Whereas, Colin Farrel, the stubbled-face with shoulder length hair didn't follow suit either... Both seemed like they needed a real good shag.. What's with the constipated look anyway? The original Sonny played by Don Johnson was certainly more suave and had more humour than this Alexander-potraying star...geez...what has Mann done??

A heineous and uncessary departure from the original Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs personae... All in all, POOR characted development and a BAD script ruined my expectations of these two characters...
Gong Li's appearance did not spice up this excuse of Miami VIce at all... I chortled everytime she open her mouth...talk about someone in dire need of "Engrish ressons"...but the funny thing is, she seemed to have spoke fluent Spanish in the movie...

I can't really remembered what happened in the end cause' I fell asleep just about there...when I woke up, guns were already a blazing in the purported fire fight.. not to mention (as pointed out by YB), a major FLAW during the fire fight sequence....MDPD marksmen had taken out 2 snipers where there were supposed to be THREE! So, the audience is left to assume that the other guy chickened out and left the scene before the shooting started...

My comment: Watch it at your own peril and bring a pillow if you do.

Busy week...I barely had the time to have my last meal with Fizan and Mari (pictured on the left) who in KL till Wednesday. Ambe and Sana had already flown back to Male' on Monday.

Fizan is a prominent member of Messrs Shah Hussain & Co. in Male' and specialises in commercial and banking law, with emphasis on offshore and international loan financing (you can find his name when you click on the link above).

It was rather nice to have my Maldivian friends down here. I still remember the Friday on the week before last when the 5 of us were turning round and round trying to find 'Passage Through India', a restaurant set in the heart of KL near the Indonesian Embassy and opposite RHB Bank, which, incidentally serves very good north and south Indian food...rather pricy though, but it was worth it...

Fizan tells me that he will be completing his holiday resort on an island he managed to bid for recently, located in the South Atoll in the Maldives, by the end of next year...I hope to be there in time for its opening to be one of the first patrons of the boutique resort...

I relished the thought of returning the visit Male' next year, even before I landed at KLIA early this month. I really miss the place...and most importantly, the people...

Day 8: Goodbye Male'

September 2nd

Sigh...the day I had dreaded to see during my stay in the Maldives...'going home' day...it's always a bitter-sweet experience to leave my friends to go back to reality...but before leaving in such dismay, I was determined not to let the day be spoiled by my sentimental self...and just so happenned, Aindhy and Michael had made arrangements to take me to Viligili, an island just west of Male', about 7 minutes by dhoni for snorkelling...

We headed to the jetty and bought our dhoni tickets (cost us 3 Rufiyaa per person per trip, which is damn cheap @ Rufiyaa to RM 0.35). While waiting for our dhoni, Ali, our guide, joined us. So, the 4 of us headed out to the island... Ali took us to a marine aquarium at Viligili to look-see...basically, Ali handles marine fishes for the export market (just an idea of how lucrative it is, a butterfly fish would cost USD150...minimum.... excluding shipping and handling).

Aindhy trying to look good underwater

Michael and his antics

I see you!

Ali in action

After a good 40 minutes snorkelling, Ali (picture, middle) led us to the 'Beach Front Cafe' for a typical Maldivian afternoon tea session, complete with murtabak (with fish), French toast and of course....tea.
After stuffing ourselves, we made our way back to Male' about 5-ish. My flight was at 10.20pm, but I hadn't started to pack, so, as much as it was appealling to walk back from the jetty to Aindhy's house to enjoy the sights and sounds of Male' for the last time, we took a cab back home.

The Maldivian and the Maldivian initiated
(Aindhy and me)

So, after saying goodbye to Aindhy's mum, Mdm Husna and their 'family friend' of many years, Pema, we headed to the airport at Hulule. Before we left, Mdm Husna packed me some roshi, gulak and some really hot chilli for my consumption home...it was really sweet of her...

My heart had started to sink even way before our trip to Hulule. I had gotten a little 'teary eyed' as we made our way. By some measure of consolation, Aindhy and Michael sending me off eased the process of departing my home for a week. Thanks to Michael, I could enjoy a late check-in and saved a few more moments to be with my buddies...after all, they made it worth it...would have wanted to say goodbye to Ambe and Fizan too, but I knew they were coming to KL the week after and we were bound to meet up...

After a quick cuppa and our goodbyes and 'guy hugs', I looked back at the Maldivian duo for the last time as I dragged myself to the check-in hall.

So long for now, Male'...I will visit again...

Day 7: Manta Point, Paradise Island

September 1st

Our 2nd day a Giraavaru Island Resort...early in the morning...and we assembled at Planeta Divers for a dive which later proved to be one of the most memorable one in our lives...we were going to see Manta Rays (Manta birostris or Giant Manta) at Manta Point located near the reef plateau of Paradise Island...the trip is approximately 70 minutes from Giravaaru due east...past the Feydhoo Canyon...our dive boat, the 'Reef 2' (pictured on the right) was our transport...a typical petrol powered dhoni...on route...Jutta, our guide gave us our briefing and we were on our way...just laid back to relax and enjoy the cool ocean breeze...heaven!

Maldivian dive instructor and South Afircan Liz Gomes was there to ensure we had all our safety practice in place...the dive was simple enough...just enter the water, go wait at the 'Manta cleaning station' at 13 metres on a flat plateau for the Mantas to come get their bodies 'cleaned' by cleaner fish of sorts...to remove any unwanted barnacles and stuff growing on their skin...

What we had to do at the 'Manta cleaning station' was to wait ...and wait...for those magnificient ocean gliders to descend upon us...

Lo and behold...like out of oblivion...these heavenly creatures emerged...1, 2 , 3 and finally, a 4th joined in the orgy of Mantas, all swimming around each other, occassionally breaking formation and interacted with each other again...one of these babies must have spanned at least 5 meters!!
The Mantas' dance was just mesmerizing...I was so captured by them...I started to drift closer and closer to their space, until Jutta pulled me back by my fin...it was just awesome...makes you think of God's amazing creations...
Then, one of the gentle giants came closer to us...as if curious with the entourage of air-breathing creatures we are...they glided just right pass our heads...the picture above depicts how close one of them came...check out the remoras at the base of the other one...
I think we stayed there for almost 20 minutes and my camera shutters were never idle...I really wanted to remain down there forever!!

Day 6: Diving at Giraavaru

August 31st ...Merdeka Day in Malaysia!!! ...but the Independence Day celebrations back home were of no consequence to me...for we're going DIVING!!!!

We went to Planeta Divers, the dive centre at Giraavaru Island Resort ...after breakfast... to get signed in... shore dive...out on the Giravaaru house reef, just a few steps away from the dive center... Planeta Divers is managed by Jutta Andreini, whom I thought resembles Cameron Diaz...he he....assisted by Elizabeth Gomes, also a dive instructor (incidentally, her ex-husband is Nuno Gomes, world record holder for a 318 meter dive) and Latheef, a local dive instructor...

Jutta Andreini, aka Peter's angel vs. Cameron D.

(any resemblance??)

Liz Gomes

Latheef

After our shore dive, we did another dive in the afternoon at Feydhoo Canyon...about 45 minutes due-east from Giravaaru Island... again, I noticed that the coral bed was quite depleted...just little patches of soft coral here and there...a haunting reminder of the 2004 Tsunami...there were quite a number of hawkesbill turtles at the dive site... lion fish, BIG ones...oriental sweetlips and a school of giant trevally in the ... we mostly hung back near the hangover at the wall...current was negligible but I was slightly disappointed with the visibility though...thanks to the rain the nite before...

Hawkesbill Turtle
Lionfish

Day 5: Giraavaru Island

August 30th. Just a day before this, I was encouraged by Aindhy's mum to go out of Male', since Ambe's wedding (which was held on the 31st of August in Male') would take up a lot of their (meaning, most of the ppl who knows me) time and it would not have been worth it for me to be there, since I've had yet to see the rest of the Maldives...basically, I was told that "you haven't seen the Maldives yet if you're stuck in the city"...in fact, Aindhy's mum suggested Meeru Island Resort, which she could have gotten free accommodation for me.....

Well, on this trip... "friends from home, away from home" was a new experience for me.. diving stories coming up soon...

Ambe and Sana in KL

It took a couple of newly-weds to bring the Maldives to me...when it was just barely a week since I left the paradise place...Ambe' and Sana, whom had been married 2 Thursdays ago in Male'. I was pleasantly suprised to receive a call from Ambe on Thursday, telling me that he and wife had just touchdowned at KLIA...the couple is spending a week in Malaysia for their honeymoon!! A little introduction, Ambe's working for the government on a 6+ year bond. He's the academic director of ABM (Academy Business and Management Training) in Male'...whilst Sana is also working for the government holding a job at the Marine and Fisheries Department in Male'. I had just started recollecting 2 Wednesdays ago when I rode pillion on Ambe's bike, going from house to house, passing out wedding invitation cards...even followed our friend to his tailor to retrieve his new suit...

I met up with them on Friday, to have dinner...after going on a hunt for Bangsar Seafood Village, which we couldn't find (which we thought has ceased business), I was left with little option...so, I took them to 'Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant' ...we ordered...well, I ordered 5 dishes, including chicken cooked in Thai style, sambal calamari with petai and sambal belacan stir friend kangkong...something a little Malaysian for our happy couple...incidentally, this trip is Sana's first to Malaysia...later, we adjourned to my apartment for tea and my mum's hospitality...We hooked up again on Saturday...my mum had promised Ambe and Sana to bring Sana to a chinese sinsei to look at her ear pains...

Later, the 3 of decided to do a movie, 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend', an Ivan Reitman direction....which I'm sure Aindhy would be familiar with... after the censorship board's going-thru the reel, there was nothing much to rave about...plus, the acting and humour was dead..much like the fish I consumed in the Maldives...I thought Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman were a bad paired choice...I mean...who did the casting anyway??

Day 4: Diving Day - First - Embudhoo Canyon

August 29th. Aindhy had arranged for me to go for a local dive... So, early in the morning,...the same routine...get up, wash up and eat more roshi@@!! I had to leave early to the dive centre, operated by 'Sea Explorers Diving School'. There, i met Hameed (the instructor) and Ali (divemaster) (Hameed is the fellow standing in the picture on the left)... I was told that we were going to the dive site known as 'Embhudoo Canyon' located near Embudhoo Kandu, an island located 40-minutes by dhoni, south-west of Male'... from the namesake, Embhudoo Canyon got its name by a rock formation lodged between an inclined on a wall, hence, a canyon between the rock and the wall...

Seen in the picture on the right is Niels, a dutch-expat on a certification dive towards open water diver certification... basically, a wall dive...but what i was looking at were the clear blue space in the sea... unlike west Malaysia which houses dive sites in greenish water, the sea in the Maldives sits on the Indian Ocean and is generally less salty around the islands... water was really nice....

However, it was sad for me to observe the barren condition of the sea floor and the coral bed...after the Tsunami of 2004, most of the coral bed were simply washed into oblivion...i noticed this from my first plunge... which then explained why the pellagic life were not as abundant as I thought it would be.

Soldier Fish

Wrasse

A pair of Oriental Sweelips

Day 3 : Getting Familiar with Male'

August 28th

I had wondered again into town to get a better orientation of the capital city. I was walking along near the north-west side of the island when I was approached by Shareef, a local merchandise and souvenir retailer at Gloria Maris who promptly gave me a tour of his selection of hand-painted T-shirts, wooden-scalled Dhonis (traditional boats) and a whole barrage of accessories including sharks' tooth and mother-of-pearl. I had no intention to get anything at that point in time, so I decided to scout around for some diving packages...


I then discovered that diving prices in Male' were not cheap.
An average dive is around USD50, exclusive of boat rental charges, ranging between USD 12 to USD20 per hour!!!! That did it! I decided to leave the diving package hunt and bargaining to Aindhy and his friends, so, I continued scouring the city when great enthutiasm, thinking of how this small but dynamic little place was starting to grow on me. I mean, people were casual in their ways, unlike Kuala Lumpur.



After feeling satisfied and a little hot, I decided to return to Anbuge to wait for Aindhy for lunch. After he left for work, I took a long nap...it had been raining since 11am and the weather was just TOO fine to resist having some good quality slumber...When Aindhy returned, we had a very late tea (about 6pm) at home. Man...it was like dinner... we had some "gulaK" which are these round pastry balls with tuna inside, more Roshi, some triangular looking pastry which looks like a Samosa, but with tuna inside (I forgot what it's called over there).


Later, we decided to stroll out in the evening for dinner. We eventually made our way to "the Lighthouse", a small but lovely little restaurant serving pasta and mediterranean food. When I saw 'Nasi Lemak' on the menu, I presumtiously remarked that they served Malaysian food here. Embarrased after I was told by Aindhy that it is a Sri Lankan origin, we only ordered tea and dessert. Aindhy's friend, Afrah joined us for a cuppa soonafter.It became apparent that we overdid the evening tea thing and decided to return to "the Lighthouse" another day for dinner.

Later that nite, the 3 of us took a stroll to the Presidential Palace, home of the President of the Republic, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, whose been in power for the last 27 years. There's even an official website for the President (click here). It's the biggest residence in the whole island, but would pale in comparison if one were to take a drive to Kenny Hills in Kuala Lumpur. After taking a good look at the mansion, we continued on to the pier, where I saw the fish market (empty in the nite though) , the MSEX (Maldives Stock Exchange), the President's Office and of course, the President's jetty (No. 1).

As we continued, Aindhy showed me around some more...
On the left, you can see the "Peoples' Majlis", which basically is Maldives' house of senate. Laws are drafted in the Law Commission of Maldives and later to be debated and passed here...

I learned from Mazlan that lawyers in the Maldives are governed by the Law Society which, incidentally, is not established under statute... it was interesting to talk to Mazlan about practice over there.

Day 2: Getting to know Male'

August 27th, Sunday...a working day for Maldivians...Aindhy and I woke up by half past 8am and had a typical Maldivian breakfast of 'Roshi' (much like chapatti but a little more oil in it) and 'Mahsoni' (a preparation of dried-flaked tune with cocunut shavings, onions, a little bit of chilli and a dash of salt for taste)...very nice one@@
It was up and away for Aindhy...off to work...Aindhy works for UNICEF (United Nations Childrens' Fund) and is in the Communications Division which is located at the UN Residence in Male'...working hours are from 9.00am to about 3.30 to 4.00pm...talk about long hours...NOT!!....he's so fortunate...sigh...back home, 7.30pm would be only half the day for me....did I also mention that Aindhy has a 1 1/2 hour- lunch break? :)

After I left Aindhy to go about his work, I took a stroll on the streets of Male'...the first place I went was south side of the island, where the pier and the 'swimming hole' is (that's where I had a swim with Aindhy and Markukh later that day) (seen below)...you can also notice the seawall which was constructed by the government of Japan as a token of friendship and cooperation between the people of Maldives and Japan...it stands over 3.5 meters from the waterline and was responsible for preventing the capital from being obliterated by the 2004 Tsunami (Click on this link to read about the repercussions from the wave). Construction of the seawall started in 1998 and was completed 2 years later in 2000...

Seen below, is Male's only national football stadium... Galolhu Dhan'du....


The National Library and Art Gallery...a landmark that Aindhy told me to look out for everytime i wanted to navigate back to his house...it's directly opposite his street....i missed it a couple of times or more....evertime i passed it, i asked someone and they would point me to it...and I'd pass it again, and the next person points me in the opposite direction...until i realised I had passed it repeatedly and never realising I was passing it@#! was beginning to think that Maldivians were practical jokers who preyed on Peter Cheongs... ;P

I got back about 11nish...then, found out that Mr.Hussain Shihab, Aindhy's dad (seen in the pic above with me), incidentally the State Minister for Ars of the Maldives was coming to visit and have lunch with us! Was honoured that he wanted to see me before he left for Sri Lanka for an assignment....
Aindhy's mum, Mdm Husna and Pema...whose been staying with them for many years now, whooped up a tantalizing grilled mackerel, curry tuna, served with rice and salad... Aindhy walked back from work..well...I went to fetch him...er...on foot.....:)

Aindhy had to return to work...but was back by about 4...and we (Aindly, Markukh and me) decided to go for a swim in the 'swimming hole'...yours trully could not help it but took his trustee digital compact cam (encased in a waterproof housing), fins and mask and snorkel ... I admit, I REALLY looked out of place (that's why ya ain't seeing any pictures of that over here)...practically, everyone sneaked a glance at me at some point in time....we bummed into Yaseer as well...I had met him when he was in Malaysia for studies...we call him the "God of Adventure"...

After we got back to Aindhy's place, we got dressed and met up with Liu, Aindhy's friend ("just like one of the guys", as he terms it) to have dinner at the Food Garden, which overlooks the sea and across to Hulhule, the airport island...

Later that nite, we all dropped by Zanzibar, restaurant and coffee place, where Aindhy's sister, Shani worked (if you ever get a chance to be in Male' try the 'Zanzi-burger' ... he he) Mazlan swung by later for coffee... it was really like how the 3 of us used to hang out when we reading law together at HELP Institute those years....

Well, after a sumptous dinner and a cuppa, we retired back to Anbuge...where my bed awaited me...more to go the next day!