Forgot to mention abt my destination last week. Jakarta and frankly I've been there too many times (this is my 6th in 6 months). Hectic and chaotic but at the same time, if you know your way around, it is quite nice. The good thing with Jakarta is, food is not a problem to me and that's a great thing to have instead of having to be temporary vegetarian like when I was in the States the week before.

Will write more abt this neighbour of ours. Got to go as they are calling the flight and I definitely do not want to miss it.

I nearly did on the way here where the traffice was horrendous from home to KLIA and in the end I reached KLIA 3o mins before departure time. Good thing that Malaysia Airlines provide telephone check-in nowadays.

I'm in the lounge at the TSN airport, Ho Chi Minh City and insya-Allah will reach KL in abt 2.5 hrs. Lounge is nice and decent with a good spread of food. Interestingly, instant noodles are very prominent.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (previously known as Saigon). Despite all the movies I've watched depicting it as an unfriendly place, the real thing is simply the opposite. HCMC is a vibrant city where motorcycles rule the roads - with the rider not wearing any head protection (helmet). To me it reminds me of my kampung folks going around on their trusty ''kapcai'' around the kampung road, a long the ''batas ban'' (the paddy field dividers), and once in a blue moon, a trip to nearby town. Leisurely ''drive'' here is a stroll on motorbikes along the main roads in the city totally oblivious to everyone else.

Anyhow, I also discovered a wonderful restaurant, Satay House - serving wonderful, very authentic Malaysian food and everything is Halal. It's a big yellow frontage unit with unmistakably Malaysian touch throughout (I lost count of the number of Malaysian flags in there). The satay (we only had beef), was wonderful. The fish curry (tenggiri) was nice with the right balance of spices. The sambal udang was also good though slightly hot fare would have given it the oompph. Kangkung belacan was just like home and they''ve ran out of the beef rendang (and we thought we were early - got there at 7pm).

Anyhow, it's at 35 Mac Dinh Chi St, Dist 1, HCM City. Tel no. 8221 727 (and they do deliver to Dist 1 and 3).

I was staying at Sofitel Plaza Hotel and it was only a short walk away.

I'm in LAX. LA Airport.

The Golden Lounge is like a 'canteen' to quote a friend.

Worst ever lounge I've been in.

Though it has got the fastest internet connection in the whole wide world (to me that is).

Not flying tonight.

Stranded in Manila. Had quite an adventure (mental, that is) when after abt an hour on the flight the pilot announced that we are going back to Manila instead of KLIA. They are still figuring out what's wrong with the aircraft. Hopefully I get to go home tonight otherwise it will be another night in this city of .....

Luckily I've got access to the airline lounge, at least I can get something to drink and finally, after more than a year, I've eaten the instant noodle that my beloved always packed for me in my luggage (I only carry hand luggage when travelling). Checked-in luggages are still under the belly of the 737.

Ludicrously, the flight attendant announce "Welcome to Nino Aquino Airport, Manila" - that greeting put a lot of people at ill-ease with Malaysia Airlines tonight, believe me.

I wish they had trained for such circumstances and use a more appropriate greeting. Anyhow, I don't fancy another night here. The experiences (I've had quite a few) in the airport here are simply torturing. And the problem is, the staff are not travelling thus they take their own sweet time in everything; that is EVERYTHING. Oh... you are in a hurry, or you are exteremely exhausted... heh..heh.. tough luck.