I Have Some Pointers for Tourism Malaysia

I’m lucky to have travelled the world. I love my country but there are many things to be done to make us standout as a preferred travel destination. Perhaps my pointers could be taken into consideration?

1.   Flags – Flag our flags! The government once launched a campaign to flag the flag but I think the government has to strongly impose on this by doing it first. One large flag at Dataran Merdeka is not impactful enough. We have to have plenty of Jalur Gemilangs around the city, large ones, something to be proud about, tourists taking cabs around the city should be able to see those flags, visitors taking pictures must have our flag in the background. This is not only applicable to KL, it should be done around the country. Flag Jalur Gemilang, not states flags. Raise the flags respectably and not too high please so it's photograph-friendly! Are we not 1Malaysia?

2.   Visitor-friendly-shopping-spots – Apart from our gigantic shopping spots like the Pavillion, the KLCC, the Farenheit 88, we should have shopping spots where we don’t have to compete with moving vehicles. A road leading from Galata Kulesi to Taksim Square in Istanbul is about  1km long, exclusively for walking shoppers. Oxford Street in London offers a nice place to shop. Gold Coast and Perth also have this kind of streets where vehicles are not allowed to passby. The shopping experience is different in this kind of places.

3.    WC a.k.a. Toilet – I almost believe that Europeans don’t pee and poop. Why can’t we have that in Malaysia. Why? While water in the loo is necessary, we don’t have to wet the whole floor na? I think the government should launch a campaign Ops Jamb(an). It’s as easy as 1,2,3. Go, Clean and Flush. What’s so hard about that?

4.   Easy Connectivity – I urge people who work in Tourism Industry to travel the city by public transportation. If I were to stay at Cititel and I want to go to the Menara KL.. how la? Say I stay in Sunway, I want to go KLCC.. my only option is a cab and you know the attitude of our cab drivers. We don’t want people to write nasty things about us in their blogs, do we? Jaga air muka sikit.  

5.   Local Food Stalls at Strategic Places – Study what kind of food that’s popular in Malaysia, design kiosks that represent Malaysia, select strategic points and sell. I’d like to suggest Karipap, Goreng Pisang with Kicap Cili dip, Keropok Lekor and our famous Air Batu Campur. In Europe, people are selling Pretzel-like bread in a kiosk, corn in a kiosk.. and these kiosks are mobile. And these can also be photography spots!

6.   Interesting Places – Duh! This point is a no-brainer, of course we need to have interesting places for tourists to go but do we have enough? I scratch my head when my clients want to tour KL. Apart from KLCC, Menara KL and the tamans… where else could I bring them? Not only me, my tourist guide friend also shares the same feeling.

7.   Photography Spots – Very very very important. People nowadays have adopted the Japanese style. Armed with SLR Cameras, they snap photos almost everywhere. Give them the photography spots. In the USA, they have big billboards to indicate that we have entered a different state and people can actually take photos there. Melaka offers a lot of photography spots. Do more.

8.   We need more Bazaars – Ours is the Central Market. Not big enough, not interesting enough. Allocate one place to be our Art and Crafts Bazaar, and make it happening. Music, shows, cafes, entertainment, etc. like the Camden Market and Covent Garden in London, Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Gold Zouk in Dubai, Please… we should have one of this in KL. I think we can make use of the train station near the Dataran Merdeka, that could be a nice place, in my opinion.

Tourism Malaysia needs to do more and the people of Malaysia need to contribute more to make Malaysia an appealing destination. Think interesting, think practicality and we would be desired.  We can learn a thing or two from popular travel destinations the world over. Jangan malas.. do more!

Dah Malas Nak Cakap English

Harini dah masuk seminggu merayau kat Istanbul Turkey.  Mula-mula sampai kira macam bengang juga sebab cuaca panas betul, jalan-jalan ketiak berpeluh (paling benci). Pakai Rexona pun tak guna! Dah lah pandai sangat tak mintak hotel map, ingat kepala ada install GPS ke? Padan muka jalan tak tentu hala, konon-konon nak cari laut, akhirnya laut memang jumpa tapi selepas kaki bergetar macam kena Parkinson. Punya ramai melaut orang kat Istanbul ni... kalau ada jala tebau dari atas, memang lumayan tangkapan. Setakat Kuala Lumpur.. celah gigi Istanbul je. 

Apa yang menarik di bandar yang dikenali sebagai Constantinople ni? Macam jakun jugalah masa mula-mula nampak persisiran Sungai Bophorus tu. Mana taknya.. macam dalam movie je permandangannya. Masjid-masjid besar yang sangat cantik, rumah-rumah stail Eropah dengan mcm2 warna, jalan-jalan sempit dan bertukal takil (faham ke perkataan ni? tak rata.), kira mcm tak pernah nampak kat negara sendirilah. Hari Kedua cuaca dah mula okay. Masa jalan tu ada sikit embun keluar kat dahi je.. takde le sampai  macam baru mandi pagi. Pergi ke tempat-tempat bersejarah, sungguh menakjubkan sampai ternganga. 

Makanan kat Istanbul ni takde rasa ler. Garam ada tapi takde perisa. Yang aku ni memang tak boleh nampak jagung, asal ada nak beli. Jagung kat sini dia tabur garam mcm sapu butter. Terjelir lidah makan, menyesal dua kali tapi esok hari beli lagi. Ada yang jual nasi kepal dalam kepah. Yang ini sedap tapi mahal la pulak. RM2 satu kepah. kalau nak kenyang, habis ler duit. Kita ada try sandwich ikan sardin bakar tepi pantai. RM8 satu.... sedap sungguh.. tapi takde apa pun dalam. Sebab ikan tu fresh ke atau kami yang dah kebulur. Kalau nak cerita pasal makan, teringat roti canai kira mcm nak nangis, rindu. Aku merinduimu.... Akhirnya buah nectarine yang memikat lidahku.

Sepanjang kat sini, puaslah juga berjalan dan meneguk teh Turki dalam gelas ramping (gelas Turki ni special, kalau ketuk kuat-kuat pun tak pecah. Siap ada demo yang agak menakutkan) Walaupun ramai pelancong, Istanbul masih ada isu-isu yang perlu ditangani seperti isu orang Islam yang baca bismillah sebelum meneguk Vodka. Tak tahulah bila lagi nak datang sini tapi alhamdullillah aku dah sampai Istanbul. Kau ada? 

Tentang title blog entry hari ini... senang cakap Melayu je kat sini sebab kalau cakap English pun orang tak faham.


Tak lupa nak berterimakasih kepada tamy sbb dapat snap gambar-gambarku yang gorjes. MasyaAllah!

Bersungguh-sungguh di Hari Raya

Hari ini sudah masuk hari ke 6 berhari raya tetapi saya masih lagi dalam mood tak nak balik bertugas. Ambil cuti sampai hari Ahad dan lepas tu terus terbang ke Istanbul, Turkey, bukan pergi berjimba, saya pergi berkerja. Tahun ini saya rasa bersungguh-sungguh sikit menyediakan hidangan hari raya.Kalau nak makan rumah orang, memanglah boleh tetapi hati suami berharap ada persiapan di rumah sendiri. Nak ada bau kuih raya, nak ada bau rendang melekat kat langsir.

Kuih raya yang saya buat sendiri pun menjadi pujaan anak dan suami (memang pandai dia orang berdua ni mengambil hati saya ni). Saya hanya buat kuih-kuih default hari raya, kuih dahlia, tat nenas, semperit dengan sarang semut. Seronok tengok buah hati saya berdua mengunyah kuih raya malam-malam.  Nasib baik anak bulan tak kelihatan awal kerana saya ambil cuti hari Khamis, jadi barulah nak ke pasar beli barang untuk buat rendang dan segala. Hidangan istimewa di hari raya kali ini ialah rendang daging, lontong, kuah kacang dan ketupat. Mungkin dengar mcm takde apa sangat tapi jenuh juga nak memasak seorang diri. Alhamdullillah everything turns out fine except kuah kacang yang terlebih masam. Masalah dengan saya ni.. saya tak suka rasa kacang dalam masakan so tak tahu macamana rasa kuah kacang sedap. Tapi takpe.. tak  boleh putus asa.. tahun depan cuba lagi.

Tahun ni tak sangat pergi jalan-jalan rumah orang. Itulah kalau mak dah takde, semua orang buat hal masing-masing. Kalau dulu pagi-pagi lagi dah berkumpul rumah mak. Sedih tak dapat beraya dengan mak lagi but at the same time hati gembira tengok anak yang dah semakin membesar semakin faham pengertian raya. Harini pulang ke kuala lumpur dan ingat hati nak sambung raya lagi... :)

get out judging voice!

do you have voices inside your head? I do. it's my own voice (i think) and it always judges. my devil advocate? perhaps. i'm not a fan. Seriously, get out! Originated from my upbringing? couldn't blame the past, could i? But I find it quite tiring to be judging people and situations all the time.  it's not cool and it's not easy to put a break on it. i need to be in a blank state of mind, which is impossible considering that me still breathing. but does this inflict only myself or it breeds in everybody? is this the voice of reason. it stops me from feeling excitement to the max. it puzzles me when people are excited by petty matters or sympathized over minor mishaps or misfortunes. i simply don't. it's hard for me to find anything funny or be amused about anything. My haha moments are mostly my sarcastic reactions, except when Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock are concerned, and I don't like this feeling. I want to be able to laugh to simple jokes. Well i did yesterday when my hubby cleverly said "don't put words in my mouth, put food!". My smiles are so expensive and if I were to live by my smile, I'd be dead broke by now. I keep telling myself to be humble be humble be humble but at the same time this humongous pride in me gets in the way. where do i get this huge pride anyways? pride for sale! pride for sale! any buyer email me. starting today i pledge to bend myself towards humility,maybe that's the way to be more appreciative of the world.