Colin Charles Agenda

Bangkok is always an interesting place for me. For example, I was at the hotel, and needed to get to Asoke. It was apparently going to take an hour in a taxi, so I was advised to take the Skytrain. 20THB, and 3 stops later, I was at my destination. Win!

Coming back, was of course interesting. I hailed a taxi, and got in, but the first cabbie had no idea how to get to the Intercontinental. So I got into another, and he said the same thing, but had now moved me to another street. I got into yet another taxi, and it seemed like this guy seemed to know, but a little while down the road, he asked for like 500THB. I said no, the meter needed to be used.

He stopped me by the side of the road, to “negotiate”. I said nothing doing, I’d report him otherwise. He started using vulgaraties, so I took a photo of his cab, and told him to fuck off. He wasn’t too pleased, but I know my rights. Found another taxi, and this time, he took me to Siam Paragon, and another hotel completely. I mean, like, what the fuck, this should be easier. I paid him a paltry sum, and ended up getting into yet another taxi, to take me back to the hotel.

How many taxis did I take? Five.

Conclusion? This can be improved. Tremendously. Suddenly, taxis in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, don’t seem half bad.

So, I just came back from watching Star Trek, which I believe premiered tonight. I’m by no means a Trekkie, but I think the movie was great — you don’t need to be a die-hard fan, to enjoy the show.

Some friends of mine, had already seen the movie last week, as it was available for friends and family of the screening company. Both @mikefoong and @thechannelc didn’t notice the Nokia phone quite early on in the film.

But they did, this time around. Coincidentally, Nokia did sponsor the screening.

Does the mind play tricks when it comes to branding? I know most of the James Bond films have Sony-Ericsson phones there. I distinctly noticed the Nokia, but then again, maybe I always notice phones.

in recent times, caught:

• 28 days – just remotely enjoyable, nothing too fancy, she found herself and all…
• underworld 3: rise of the lycans – not seen underworld 1 or 2, but this was most interesting. lots of action, worth seeing on the big screen
• harold & kumar escape from guantanomo bay – left me in stitches, i highly recommend it!

A note to my future self…

I really like to have vacations in private spaces. I value my privacy, and enjoy not having to see screaming kids, et al during meals, or when I lounge on the beach. I also like top notch service.

You can get that with the idea of a “private island”. For me, Nikoi Island, off the coast of Bintan, in Indonesia, hits it spot on. It was recommended to me by Adri, and I can’t thank her enough.

Next up, I definitely want to try out Damai, in Bali, also in Indonesia. Sure, its not a private island, but its got luxury villas, and all’s expected to be well. Looks fun, I can even go dolphin watching!

So, while it might not be a private island, it looks fun. More fun than the Eastern & Oriental Penang, might be I’m sure (which I should add, is another top notch hotel – staying in the Penaga Suite, their butler service was excellent, and the whole place, was exquisite).

People tend to be excited when a Facebook status changes. In fact, Facebook gives it a lot of prominence by embedding it on the start page of your friends.

This Facebook status message thing though, can cause a lot of misunderstandings. If you’re not listed as single, it doesn’t mean you’re in a relationship (it could just mean that you’ve stopped looking, decided to become a priest, celebrate celibacy, et al). Whatever.

For some, it can even cause death. Via The BBC, in Wife murdered for Facebook status:

A man murdered his estranged wife after becoming “enraged” when she changed her marital status on Facebook to “single”.

…
Fiona Cortese, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Richardson became enraged when Sarah changed her marital status on Facebook to single and decided to go and see her as she was not responding to his messages.

I’ve read about breakup’s on Facebook. I’ve read about people’s happiness on Facebook. But this is a first, I’ve read of a murder thanks to Facebook. Waste of a twenty six year old life. Bad social networking.

the days have all gone by very fast, during the last month or so, since i last decided to document my life.

a lot has happened. i think it mostly can be summarised as:

• christmas vacation – fun, broken up in-between for some work in kolkatta, spent some time in bangkok
• trip to penang. discovered the city, ’twas fun, since i had only gone there for food (lots of it) before. nice to know a bit more heritage stuff
• seeing good friends and spending time with them. it was great to hang with jeffrey for the short while he was back from HK (for coming back, he gets special mention)
• christmas party was good – pictures will make it soon…two year bonus even
• hanging out with sk2 and getting to know her (more) has been awesome
• snippets of family time, always fun
• saw Ip Man. based on a true story, completely in chinese, and i actually enjoyed every bit of the show. highly recommended.

highlights… sea of humans during new years eve…

most useful christmas present, a money clip!

receiving the most thoughtful christmas present in all my life – a healthy, dandy breakfast basket… yum

its that time of year where i should really be making resolutions. but maybe, for 2009, i just won’t make them… i’ll focus on a general long-term plan (kind of like the malaysia plans that come out), and see where i stand, every quarter? hmm…

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”

Vince Lombardi

(via someone on FriendFeed…)

A new way to teach your child to get potty trained. Comes in both a boy or a girl version. Correct potty usage of course, gives you a sticker as a reward. I don’t recall reading about (and getting rewarded) for using the potty. Is this Parenting 1.5?