Outrageous!

I was enraged to read in the papers this morning that women in Kelantan working in retail outlets and restaurants have been warned to mind their dressing or face a fine!

Apparently the Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) announced that it would no longer tolerate indecent dressing by women, both Muslim and non-Muslim. Their Public Relations officer Mohd Azman Daham said that under local council by-laws women who “dressed sexily or indecently” could be fined up to RM500. Gee, public relations apparently...I'm sure they have lots of firefighting to do now. Trust these guys to always put the blame on women when it is the women who are in fact the victims of lustful, sex-crazed, horny men.

Perhaps MPKB should also adopt the following ruling:

1. Men who cannot control their urges should stay at home between the hours of 6pm to 8am. They should only leave home to go to work and back to prevent them from falling into sin when its "really not their fault"
2. Men who are "suspected" of having roving/hamsap eyes should be immediately fined on the spot by undercover women spies hired by MPKB. Women as spies because they would know when a fellow woman is being perved on
3. Should some women not obey the above ruling, men who still will bring themselves to look at such shameful and intolerable dressing by women should be equally held responsible and fined for wanting to look. Perhaps they can split amongst themselves the RM500 fine?
4. Fines from men committing such immoral acts of looking at another woman lustfully should be put in a fund to invest in clothing for the orphans. The clothes selected by a "fashion committee" in MPKB along with their PR division will be following guidelines imposed by themselves so as to train the young not to grow up dressing unacceptably (God help us if anyone in the committee is "soft" and has good fashion sense, but that's another story altogether eh).

I'm just concerned that the next announcement MPKB issues would ban women from being of a certain body size, e.g. below a size 10 and less than 150 pounds, if not they might look too sexy for men to "tahan", even with decent clothing. Sigh...

I don't disagree that some women dress too provocatively and have way too little cloth, Mariah Carey has become the poster girl, but for crying out loud, we're all humans with personal rights. Take that away or fine someone for being themselves (within acceptable boundaries of course) and we're back in the days of school uniforms, and the MPKB people Gods. Men should take a good look at themselves before blaming women on such matters...seriously!

The Aryani - Boutique Resort

I do recommend The Aryani for those who just wanna have a quiet getaway on resort grounds without leaving the place (warning : website doesn't do justice to the place). Aryani is a boutique resort in Kuala Terengganu sitting on land owned by the royal family of the state. It takes about 45 minutes to get there from the airport, cabs are easily flagged down from outside the airport or most of their packages come with free pick-up.

The elevated lobby is right next to the Seria Restaurant and they greet you with a refreshing lemongrass drink and freshly fried keropok lekor while you register. From here, you get a good view of the pool (image above) - which is the central highlight of the resort.

Rooms are all villas and there are only 20 of them in total. All rooms have an outdoor bath and the first time I was there, the upgraded superior room also had a sunken bath! It is a very romantic place but can be a bit quiet at night, so if you're not planning to have babies or hot sex, bring a board game, a book or have music available to fill your time.

They only have one restaurant to cater to your dining needs, their 3D/2N package comes with breakfast and dinner, ala carte items are around RM40-50 if you're not on the package. The local breakfast is delicious! The nasi dagang is really good. Dining options outside are not many and you have to take a taxi out to town or nearby eateries (no restaurants, only local huts). They also provide tea time snacks and coffee and tea making facilities.

Nothing much to do in town either, but go to the local market (pasar) in the heart of town and you can get batik material and sarongs, the ride there is about RM15-20, they don't do meters so don't bother, its all standard.

With a view like that from your room, just stay in and leave only to go to the airport. Best thing to do while in Aryani is to hang out by the pool or go for a spa treatment. I recommend the lulur and milk bath. The jacuzzi overlooks the sea and the setting take you back to good ol kampung atmosphere. Staff is respectful and polite.


Go there to totally relax and unwind.

Malaysian traffic

Jam.

In Malaysia that's probably in reference to the traffic situation and not something you put on pastry, preferably scones for me.

Its been hell since the day I set foot back in Malaysia and started work in the heart of KL. Of all places, I was located in the MIDF building at the intersection of Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak. The moment anything connects to Jalan Ampang, be ready to get stuck in a perpetual parking lot. The only movements you'll get are from middle fingers being raised to salute the next driver or from flowery language coming out of otherwise sweet mouths.

The Malaysian traffic has somehow gotten worse over the years, I honestly think there are too many cars out there today. Although prices for cars here are atrocious, people still keep buying them although many really cannot afford one. Traffic also comes to a standstill when it rains. Somehow drivers slow down big time everytime it pours, it doesn't help that a lot of places start to flood. I was over at the roundabout coming from Sultan Samad School to Eastin and it was all jammed up thanks to a swimming pool that formed right at the turning off to Eastin. Water was about a 3/4-tyre deep, I sped thru without stopping. I was taught by someone that you should not pause nor change gear when going thru water (well don't go thru it if its too deep to begin with).

I am so grateful that I have been working out of KL since 2001, I avoid KL and late afternoon meetings there like plague! Even then, seems like the traffic has now slowly crept into PJ, thats the price of development....