Movida Restaurant & Bar

Are you a beer drinker who are looking for a watery hole to quench your thirst after a hard day's work in a new, cozy environment where beers are priced below their competitors in PJ? Look no further.

My friend, Paul, invited me to join him and two other acquaintances for some beer in this new watery hole recently. He said the beers there were cheaper than those in Merchant Pub, Armada Hotel. Let's check them out.

Location

 

It's situated at this new commercial hub called Center Stage in Section 13, PJ. where you can find retail outlets, restaurants, pubs, hotel, and designer suits all under one roof.

Exterior View Of Movida 

This establishment, unlike many others, wasn't enclosed although it's air-conditioned. There ain't a resident band but I saw a DJ inside.

In Spanish, movida means party or social gathering.

Beer Prices At A Glance

 

It cost RM55++ for a tower of Carlsberg drought and RM100++ for two, i.e. RM7.25 (inclusive of GST and service charge) which I think is a steal.

 

RM 38++ for a bucket of Carlsberg (5 bottles) and two buckets for RM 70++ which works out to be RM8.12 per bottle (including service charge & GST).

 

If you think of bringing your female companions to drink here and want to save some money if they prefer drinking Margarita or Blue Lagoon , go there on Tuesdays after 8 pm. Why? Ladies nights, that's why.

Foreign Employees

Just like many service outlets you patronize nowadays, employers are forced to "import" foreign workers since many locals have shunned front-line jobs like this. Movida had employed 20 or so Bangladeshi and Filipino workers at this establishment.

With The Exception Of

 

These two cashiers as pictured and a manager are Malaysians. I chatted with this cashier (on the right) for quite a while to get to know her better. It was her second day on the job. To be honest, I liked her.

Will I Come Back Again?

You bet. If you can find a watery hole as cozy and beers priced  cheaper than this one, please let me know, okay?

What Has Islam Got To Do With Sport?

Farah Ann Hadi

Farah Ann Hadi, a Malaysian gymnast who did Malaysia proud by winning 4 medals (2 gold, one silver and one bronze) at the ongoing Singapore 25th SEA games was in the limelight two days ago on social media.

Source: Malay Mail

It wasn't just about her achievement but also about some Malay Malaysians giving her a piece of their mind. According to those moralists, she had committed a "sin" in Islam by exposing her awrat (intimate parts of a body in Arabic) wearing  standard approved leotards in the competitions.

Will Malaysia Become A Taliban State?

One of the persons who came forward to defend her was the daughter of the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia (Mahathir Mohamed), and social-political activist, Marina Mahathir.

In replying to the question two days ago at a panel discussion at the Cooler Lumpur Festival, she said: “No, I don’t think we’ll be a Taliban state yet. We’ll be a stupid state first.”

Where Do I stand On This Issue?

If I were you, Farah, I would have asked those morons to go and fuck themselves.

 

 

Sarong Woman

Recently the Road Transport Department of Malaysia yielded to an outcry aroused due to a security guard who abused his power and acted like a religious policeman insisting a Chinese Malaysian woman to wear a sarong when she was in the process of transferring the ownership of her car at one of the offices. The Deputy Director apologized and subsequently transferred the guard to another section according to a newspaper report.

Who Was The Sarong Woman?

Her name is Suzanne Tan, She uploaded images of her on her Facebook post earlier but was later removed.

Credit: The Star Malaysia

What's wrong with her clothes? Well, based on the conservative dressing codes, her pink skirt was too short; a few of inches above her knees and hence it's considered as indecent exposure. See that?

I don't know about you but this kind of indecent exposure certainly won't arouse my sexual desire at all.

Then, how about if she were to dress in a long sarong like this?

Credit: Alibaba

Nope, that won't conform to the dress codes either although I would love my girl to put on this sexy and fashionable peacock sarong.

The Dress Codes Of The Public Transport Department For Visitors

So what are the codes? In English, the codes stipulate that:

Visitors must dress in clean, tidy clothes that conform to the practice of the Malaysian society.

Wear appropriate dress shirts, T-shirts with collars, shoes, long pants, long skirts that extend below the knees especially when dealing with the departments on official businesses in the premise.

Visitors are prohibited from wearing indecently and too revealingly such as: skirt's hem that is above the knee level or short pants; sleeveless shirts; tight pants or skirts; and sandals.

Visitors are advised to follow the dressing rules in the Public Transport Department, Visitors who violate the rules will not be allowed to enter.

Credit: Public Transport Department of Malaysia

To be on the safe side, I would advice women who deal with the department to wear burqa like what the Taliban women do; something like this:

Credit: news.bbc.co.uk

Do You Want To Know How Clean Or Dirty Public Restrooms Are In Malaysia?

If you are interested in knowing the conditions of public restrooms in Malaysia, look no further. This is my firsthand account of some of those I had used over the years

.

Kuala Lumpur 

If you are interested in knowing the conditions of public restrooms in Malaysia, look no further. This is my firsthand account of some of those I had used before.

Kuala Lumpur

Bierhaus is a pub at a residential area called Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (abbreviated as T.T.D.I.）. The restroom was clean mainly because there were only a few customers at that time. Do you really need a urinal and a flush toilet bowl to answer the call of nature? The toilet papers were not put in the dispenser.

 

This restroom, which was designed for handicapped persons, in a fast-food outlet was clean and spacious.

The photo below shows one of the uni-sex restrooms in a pub called Thai Club was dirty; the management cut cost by not providing toilet papers and the seat of the bowl was missing.

Customers threw trash on the floor since there was no trash can. Always remember to bring along your own toilet papers when you feel like quenching your thirst or eating there.
By the way, the name Thai Club is misleading since you can hardly find a Thai girl there. However I saw many Vietnamese women there either accompanying male customers for a fee or soliciting.

The restroom next to the reception area of Kuala Lumpur International Hotel is reasonably clean although the hotel was pretty much run-down. Again, do not be misled by the name. It is not even a 2-star hotel.

Same old story. This restroom in a coffee shop at Taman Melawati is filthy and wet. I had to stand on the elevated side of the floor to take this photo since the left side was flooded. Did you forget to bring some toilet papers with you again to do number two?

The two photos below show a restroom in a government general hospital. The water pipe was leaking and the maintenance staff tried to stop the leak by tying a piece of cloth round the pipe. Why couldn't they fix it properly? Sorry, no sign of toilet paper.

Belakong, Selangor

I found this coffee shop restroom at Belakong disgusting. I could not flush the toilet since the handle of the cistern was damaged. The tiles were stained as you can see.

Do you see the plastic pail on the floor? You are expected to use the water in the pail to flush the squatting toilet manually after you are done with your business. The trash basket was hung on a valve next to the cistern. Toilet paper? Forget it!

Petaling Jaya, Selangor

The two photos below show the same restroom, which was quite shabby, of a mini-mart at a residential area called Taman Magah. Someone forgot to turn off the tap when I was there. I turn it off after I had done number one.

A lot of times you can judge a place by checking out its restroom like this one. Right! It's a restroom of a coffee shop. A urinal is the only thing you can find here. Dirty, to say the least.

This one wasn't that dirty but the toilet seat was damaged and toilet papers were not provided.

 

Bukit Tinggi, Pahang

What you see is what you get in this coffee shop restroom. Does it look familiar to you? It was filthy but you need to ease yourself in this place, what choice do you have?

 Shah Alam, Selangor

I went to view the latest models of Mazda in a big Mazda showroom at Glenmarie, Shah Alam. As usual I inspected one of the restrooms and found it to be very clean. I wish all the coffee shop restroom could be like this. But it remains a dream until now.

 Your Verdict?

I am a Malaysian and I feel ashamed to show you all these especially for tourists who visit my country.However, I have got to tell it like it is in order for those who intend to travel to this country to be psychologically prepaired.
So after you have explored the restrooms, what's your verdict as comparing to those in your country?

What Happened To This Abandoned Proton Savvy?

What Is Proton Savvy?

I know the name sounds weird. What has the word "savvy"to do with a car, right? For those of you who are unfamiliar with Malaysian-made cars, Proton Savvy is a 1.2L petrol-engine-powered subcompact partially designed and by Proton using Renault engine. You can read up the details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_Savvy.

Abandoned Vehicles In Malaysia

If you,as a foreigner, stay in Malaysia long enough outside of the tourist belts, it's not hard to find abandoned motorbikes, cars or even trucks at some residential areas or near some workshops. Personally I didn't see even one in Singapore through my 8 years of living there.

In The Begining

I found this abandoned car in my neighborhood at least 10 months ago. Obviously it was involved in a rear-end collision and was parked in front of a workshop. However no car body repair was carried out since it was there.

10 Months Later

Recently I noticed someone had stolen all the alloy wheels leaving the car sitting on 4 bricks and many of the car parts were gone You can see it's in a sorry state as shown in the pic below.

Why Not Make A Police Report?

If you have ever made a police report in Malaysia, you will know how time consuming and frustrating it was. By right the city council should have towed this car away to a junk yard after failing to contact the owner over a period of time,

Domestic Water Consumption Charges In Singapore & Malaysia

Singapore

After Singapore achieved its independence in 1965, the country faced a real or imaginary threat from its neighboring country, Malaysia, to cut off the water supply whenever there was a conflict between the 2 nations since Singapore relied heavily on Malaysia to import water from. However, for the past 20 years or so, the Singapore government under its very capable leaders had spearheaded the strategic planning and investment in research and technology to turn its weakness to strength and had earned international recognition in water management; and was emerging as a hydrohub, according to PUB.

This diagram shows how residents in Singapore get their clean water. I know many people don't give a shit about how and where they get their water from especially the rich or dirt rich who substitute plain water with branded "mineral water", milk, fruit juice, beer, liquor every single day or pay a very steep price for a bottle of so-called mineral water at fancy restaurants, pubs or nightclubs.

(Diagram taken from pub.gov.sg)

In the Lion City State, the Singapore national water agency,  Public Utility Board (PUB) charges domestic water consumption based on cubic meters per month and a 2-tier rates, i.e. up to 40 cubic meters and above 40 cubic meters.

The bill includes the water tariff, water conservation tax, water borne fee,  sanitary appliance fee, and GST. Details of which can be found here: http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTariff.aspx.

consists of the water tariff, water conservation tax, waterborne fee and sanitary appliance fee . - See more at: http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTariff.aspx#sthash.DasffETp.dpuf

The monthly water bill consists of the water tariff, water conservation tax, waterborne fee and sanitary appliance fee . - See more at: http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTariff.aspx#sthash.DasffETp.dpuf

The monthly water bill consists of the water tariff, water conservation tax, waterborne fee and sanitary appliance fee . - See more at: http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTariff.aspx#sthash.DasffETp.dpuf

The monthly water bill consists of the water tariff, water conservation tax, waterborne fee and sanitary appliance fee . - See more at: http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTariff.aspx#sthash.DasffETp.dpuf

Malaysia

So how is the situation in Malaysia which is well blessed with lots of rain and catchment areas? I ain''t gonna go into details but suffice to say, Malaysia doesn't even come close to what Singapore has achieved in terms water management and technology.

I have no idea how much water did you consumed per month on the average but let me show you the most recent household water bill below. Sorry, it was printed in Malay only.

In my case, a household of 4 just consumed 36.1 cubic meters. What was the damage? RM 16.75 (S$ 6.05 or US$ 4.44 based the on current exchange rate as at June 8, 2015) after deducting the water bill subsidy of the first 20 cubic meters of water.

If you were to use the same amount of water in Singapore, you would have to pay S$57.91.

My Experience With Malaysian Cab Drivers

+

I don't know what you think of cab drivers in Malaysia but here are my first-hand experience in recent months.

Most of the cab drivers were Malays and a majority of them were either middle-aged or senior citizens. All the cabs I took used the fare meter but if you are a foreigner, that might be a different story.

I suppose most of you who have used the service of cabs didn't strike up a conversation with them. In my case, in order for me  to understand their daily life as cab drivers, I tried to walk a mile in their shoes by asking them questions.

I had taken 6 pics of the drivers but I just show you 4 of them here. The first pic is a driver in his late twenties and upon entering his cab, I could smell cigarette odor. I guess he just finished smoking before I flagged down his cab. I didn't mind since I'm a smoker.

The other 2 were middle-aged men (pic #2 & 3) while the last was the oldest (pic #4) at 71 years old.

For those of you who have been ripped off or have complaints on their bad service, you can always call the hotline or contact Land Public Transport Commission or SPAD (Suruhanjaya Pengangutan Awam Darat) in Malay (pic #5). Make sure you have all the relevant info. For more details on SPAD, read this: http://www.spad.gov.my/about-us/scope-power 

.