MALAYSIA'S TOURISM AMBASSADOR

Jean Todt Is Tourism Malaysia's Ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Jean Todt, the former executive director of Formula 1 Ferrari, has been chosen as Tourism Malaysia's ambassador for a year.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen told reporters that the appointment letter would he handed over to Todt in Paris, after an "An Evening With the Honourable Minister of Tourism", here, tonight.

Asked why Todt was chosen as the agency's ambassador, Dr Ng said: "Because Jean Todt is well known internationally. He believes in Malaysia. He has a wide network of friends."

Dr Ng said Todt, who was also the fiance of Ipoh-born international actress Datuk Michelle Yeoh, applied to join the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme and received the approval letter last month.

On her visit to Europe, Dr Ng said besides Paris, her delegation would also be in Amsterdam and London to promote the MM2H programme.

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Hokay.....

If well known internationally and having a wide network of friends is Ng Yen Yen's benchmark in justifying the appointment of Jean Todt as the Tourism Ambassador, I would like to suggest a few other names to be considered as well.

1. Kofi Anan
2. Madonna
3. Jackie Chan
4. Metallica

Believe me, those guys above are more well known internationally than Jean Todt and have a damn whole lot of friends, (plus screaming fans and groupies as well).


Having mentioned that, I am sure Ng Yen Yen has already considered this appointment carefully and thoroughly. And I am sure she'll deserve a loud cheer from us Malaysians when this `Jean Todt investment' yield profitable returns of billions of RM in one year time.

*Akula tepuk dahi.*

1ST BIKE RIDE

My love called me at the office to inform that our stuff has arrived from Malaysia.

Akula's Love One : Barang dah sampai. Diorang tengah unpacking. Pinggan mangkuk, kristal, barang makan semua ok. Tak de yang pecah.
Akula : Tak penting semua tu. Basikal ok dak?
Akula's Love One: Apala..... yang itu pulak tanya dulu.
Akula : Ituler yang paling penting. Yang lain asal sampai sudah.
Akula's Love One : Yelah. Basikal you ok. Tayar je lembik sikit.
Akula: Roger and out. Rajin-rajinlah mengemas.

So, yes, I did asked about my mountain bike first. :)

Last Saturday, I went for my first ride in Geneva. After much coaxing, my love one finally agreed to join me. We took off at 6.45 am, riding the back roads toward Versoix. It was a cold, cold morning. (Its so cold, I even thought that our ears has turned blue). Cycled over the Geneva - Lausanne highway and continue to ride passed a bison farm/ ranch (Thats right. Theres a bison farm/ ranch right in the out skirt of Geneva. If you dont know what bison is, just Google it.)

After 3 hills and 5 kilometres, we had to stop since my love one was not feeling well.

Akula : Huh. Pehal lak ni?
Akula's Love One : Semput, tak de stamina. Rasa nak muntah.
Akula : Cheh! Apara...kat Malaysia, 20 km selamba je. Siap pecut jauh lagi. Satu Putrajaya round keliling.
Akula's Love One : Ni dah lama tak exercise. You tak pelah, joging tiap hari.
Akula: Okler, jom balik, tapi ambik gambar dulu. Nak masuk blog.

Akula's Love One: !&!!&#@**#@*& (Censored). Hoi Cik abang! Ni tengah letih ni!
Akula : Jap la! Satu gambar je.

Here is the pic .

I have to turn my back (trying not to laugh) so as not to piss off the already tired and pissed off love one.

We (actually ... I) made it home, safely, after that. :)

SUNSET IN GENEVA

Pic captured with my trusted Nikon D70S, a dinosaur, in the ever evolving digital SLR camera world.

I noticed that here, at least within my circle, whenever theres an opportunity to take photos, everybody elses whipped out their D90s. Which in a weird way, made me think of those scenes in old cowboys movies, where every cowboys (Clint Eastwood included!) whipped out their 6 shooters. Thats exactly what I pictured in my mind. Honest!.

Not that I was embarrassed. Rather, sometimes it makes me feel that maybe its time to upgrade my SLR. After a lot of surveying, I think its not dirt cheap, but its affordable, especially during summer sales, where prices drops giler-giler.

But with pics like above, it looks like I am staying with the faithful D70S which has served me well over the years.

At least for a little while more.

MALAYSIAN POLITICS AND VIAGRA

A friend of mine asked me this the last time we met.

Akula's friend : Whats your take on Malaysian politics?
Akula : I really think our politics is like a man on Viagra.
Akula's friend : Hehe, why is that?
Akula : Well, its obvious that all parties concerned doesn't have the will and stamina to go on. Lack of visions and the continuous harping on past glories, which for me, put them out of touch with people's current concerns and issues.
Akula's friend : I can't see the connection with Viagra.
Akula : Itu la pasal. Non performing men who has passed their glory days needs Viagra to radically and aggressively stimulate the you know, ......... erection. Its the same for political parties, they need to have a Viagra of radical and aggressive issues to stimulate and prolong their political lives.
Akula's friend : *Laughing his ass off*.

AKULA WAS HERE : SHOPPING HEAVEN

I was invited to attend a function last Saturday in Bern which is about 2 hours drive from Geneva.

My colleagues told me that since I am going to bern, I should proceed to Aarau (which is about one hour drive from Bern) for cheap and discounted Bally stuff at its factory outlet there.

The thing is, I usually don't give a shit about designer labels stuff. My limited knowledge about these things are usually confined to the notion that they are overly priced and expensive. My love one of course was beaming and I swore I noticed her eyes lit up when she heard about this.

So anyway, off we went to Aarau in search of that Bally oasis. I have to mention here that I just bought a second hand black 2005 CRV which I received last Thursday. My love one couldn't stress enough how the timing of the delivery was perfect for our first road trip in Switzerland (and of course, I am sure, the first of many visits to that Bally outlet).

We arrived at the outlet at about 10.00 pm. Of course, there's a lot of shoes, handbags, leather jackets, and all things Bally, but after going through the store, none actually caught my interest. Maybe I am not a Bally person, I dont know, but I happily gave it a pass. Price wise, yes, its cheap. That is, if you think a CHF 299.00 shoes with a price slash of the original tag of CHF 900.00 is cheap, then of course this is a shopping heaven.

After a while, I was bored and went out of the outlet since those leather smells were knocking me senseless.

While pacing restlessly outside the Bally store, I noticed that there were other factory outlets in the vicinity which sells sports goods and bicycles. I immediately breathed a sigh of relief and offered thanks to the Almighty for saving me from the boredom. Now, THIS, was a shopping heaven for me. Ended up buying Shimano and Fox jerseys, bike shoes, and a few shorts. Browsed through the bicycle factory outlet to check out the price of road bikes, which I found rather expensive, even with the price cut.

Needless to say, both me and my love one left Aarau happy that day.

For different reasons obviously.