Miri Musings

II write this as I stand outside MS Read waiting for the missus. Not ready to wander around by myself yet & something to keep me occupied. One interesting thing to note now is that there is no longer any money changer in Bintang Mega Mall. No reasons given. Everyone here doesn't know why. "Saya tida tau" is the standard answer. Although Miri has developed drastically compared with us infrastructurally. It still lags behind in terms of the service industry (unless you're in a major hotel), and free public internet is super super slow here, even by our standards. Now, we have to go back to the stone ages & stop by the money changer as our first stop upon arrival. This was like 20 years ago, what gives Miri? This must have been recent as last week people were thronging here & no one complained about it when they got back. 

Three hours later... I now sit at a reflexology joint, not to get a massage but to sit & wait for... Yes you've guessed it, the missus. I'm done going round the mall. In fact done going round aimlessly after getting kambomambo's skin care products. You sissy boy! I managed to use your membership card & they even have a freebie pack thrown in.'Nice' lady even tried to convince me to get some product for myself. Unfortunately she wasn't convincing enough or she only rub rub the product on my arm via a cotton pad. That's not gonna cut it.

Now I've convened to Starbucks for the remainder of the day. I'm seated at the corridor entrance because I felt too cold in the main area. The only drawback is my iPong can't latch on the free WiFi long enough to run internet. Tried the iPad mini & still no go. Boo! I did bring an Android device with me which might work, but since I've already started composing on my iPong with no connection to save it online, I might as well continue here for now, since I've got a few things to get off my chest about this trip. Remember I mentioned earlier about the lack of currency exchange? Well, apparently there is an enterprising individual at this shop who is taking advantage of the demand. I'm not sure how much he is getting from this but he's charging a decent rate at 1 ~ 2.52 exchange rate. I didn't take advantage of this service opting to go plastic all the way but as I watched the ensuing throng of people desperate to start spending, I couldn't help but wonder if this is all legal. It is after all a tiny shop selling watches & knick knacks. Where is he getting his money from to cater for all the demand? Apologies for the poor quality of the image as it was taken in the fly on my camera phone. I know, I know, an ipong6 plus with OIS would've produced a better result. 

Here Starbucks has decided, like Mabohai, to give me a new name. Btw the red velvet cake is a little hard & the coffee is so so, our beribi branch is better. It is extremely annoying sitting here right now, on the table opposite of me, the guy is breathing like he's snoring. Maybe he's asleep with his eyes open because he appears to be doing his assignment on a laptop with his lady friend. Then there's the family in front of me with the screaming baby. It doesn't help with my headache right now. The initial loveliness of the streak brunch at Kenny Rogers roasters earlier is but a fleeting memory now. Oops making a move now.

Just arrived back home. Now at Neptune seafood restaurant for dinner. Short trip? No, I've been on shorter trips before just to collect prescription glasses & coffee. Incidentally, I "carpet tripped" & got a new pair of prescription glasses. This old man now has to use multi-focals & they're not cheap if made back home. I wasn't intending to get anything but this offer was too good to refuse. A pair of Red Bull Racing frames with Nikon lenses for the princely sum of RM1.6K (reduced from nearly 2K). Seems pricey till you consider the frames are the latest design & the Nikon lenses are multi-focals. Back home that price is for the lenses alone! This is an unplanned purchase which eats into the ipong6 fund but in my defence, this was my only purchase made other than the cost for brunch & the obligatory coffee. Will have to return in a few weeks time, bodes well with my approved 4 day leave in 2 weeks time.