Travel Tips

So it's visit Malaysia year, 2007. And the whole world is invited. Lot's of fantastic locations are in abundance throughout this great country. But for the regular globetrotter, sometimes your dream holiday doesn't usually turn out to be what you had expected. So to make thing's as memorable as possible, I've come out with a list of travel tips, that may be of use to the avid traveller out there.

Because as we all know, immersion into a whole new culture is all part and parcel of the travelling experience, chances are, maybe you could be faced with a language barrier in that particular country or you could get pick-pocketed or something even worse. Let's face it, we all want the vacation to be fun and everything to be going according to plan and all, but as they say, prevention is better than cure. So do take some safety precautions when you're out there on your next holiday.

• Make copies of your important travel documents like the passport for example, keep a set at home (so that someone back home in your country can access them for you in case of an emergency) and another copy probably uploaded onto your email inbox (this way you are able to access it from anywhere in the world and print them)

• Do a research of your destination country. What languages are spoken there? Do you need to get hold of a phrasebook, which, believe me, comes very handy and the locals will love you for your effort.

• Find out the telephone numbers and the address of your Embassy in that destination country.

• And if you're planning to stay connected throughout your travel with your mobile, make sure that the bills are paid (no point of taking a phone with no credit...) and don't forget to get the relevant roaming codes as well.

• It's always a good idea of not travelling alone.

• Try to invest in getting a proper money belt for you to store your wallets, purses and passports , rather than placing them all into a normal bag. Also keep small change in your pockets, not in your wallets, because it's not a good idea to be flashing your fully loaded wallet just to get a couple of coins out.

• Assuming you lose or your travel documents are stolen.... don't panic. Stay calm and locate the nearest tourist police station and make a report. This report is essential in order for you to proceed to the next step which is, contacting your Embassy to assist you in getting a new set and also help you with the insurance claims, if any.

Choosing Lights

You've put in your innovative and creative ideas, not forgetting the financial stress you've had to put up with in making up or renovating your house, So what is left in bringing out the best in your home? I for one think, it's got to be the lights.

Lights are my favourite, when it comes to bringing out the best in a home. Our eye depends on them, be it something natural or even artificial. If these lights are used correctly, it would make a world of a difference in your home, adding excitement and warmth to the interiors as well as the exteriors.

What I would suggest is to list down each area of your home and it's activities that surround the particular room. If not, you might end up having too many lights that don't fit it's purpose. Address these sort of questions first, to help you decide :

• What sort of activities take place in this room?

• Are the plug points, switches adequate in this room?

• Am I going to place something here, that needs focusing from a light source?

• Do I need to use a adjustable, direct or indirect, bright or plain background light?

• Which is the best fit or use?

• Do I need motion sensors?

These sort of question really helped us when we moved in to our new home. In the beginning it seemed so complicated but being me, the inquisitive creature I am, I watched a lot of home decoration programmes on TV and boy, did they help.

Actually, planning is an essential tool that we use in our daily life's, and if it is used productively, the results can be some what, satisfying.

My parting words - Lights come with different sorts of persona and mood effects, choosing the right light for your home in the end, will show your taste and lifestyle !

In The Spotlight

This is something very special for me. It's called a meme. Thanks to my great friend, Ev Nucci, I've been given this great opportunity to be part of this great team.

Ev Nucci at My Life is Murphy's Law (voted best blog of the day) tagged me for a meme which was started by Christy over at Christy's Coffee Break. Rules about this is pretty simple and you are able to find them right here.

This is a true friend who, from the very first day I visited her blog, made me feel appreciated and I can't forget that. Maybe in our last birth, we were best friends? Ev has got five blogs to her credit and owns a consulting firm, where does she get the will to do all these great stuff? In some ways we both share some great similarities, Ev has three beautiful boys and I have two boys and a baby girl. And we both have a child with special needs. Visiting her blog is so entertaining. It's filled with so much of laughter and a pride of a great mom and loving wife.

Christy on the other hand, is a visionary for me. Her blog is so friendly, which is sometimes hard to come by as most would want to associate with you based on 'how many links you have' or your page rank on your site.

These are the interview questions I chose :

When did you start blogging?
Well actually, it all started by chance. It's been two years and six months now since my youngest baby girl, Ayesha, was born with a syndrome referred to as Charge Associated. So after six operations thus far, financially my wife and I, were somewhat in a situation as most of our resources had drained out. Being the man of the house I had to get my hands dirty and leave my day job and rather concentrate on couple of other stuff that would eventually generate more for us to keep our family going.

And out of those avenues, one was to generate a future income through the Internet. So on March, 2007 I started my first blog - Nihal's Anything and Everything and another month later I began my second blog - Cars. And come July this year, I hope to launch another blog, specially for my baby girl, Ayesha. So basically, there you have it, it all started last two months ago. But what I didn't expect to get from the blogging world was the tremendous friendship which is out there.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want to have with you?
Wow, this is simple, all I need is Me, Myself and I. Ya, right!! First I would hope that it's an island like Phuket in Thailand (with no Tsunami's, of course). God, my wife and I simply love this island. Anyway, the first thing I would need is my family. Without them, I wouldn't have faced the obstacles that has thought me valuable lessons in life that in return has made me react to life in a more focused manner. I wouldn't have learned all this if I didn't have them.

The second, would be my parents and my immediate family. This is another part of my life which I can't be without. There are no words to express the gratitude I have for my immediate family. Sometimes, I believe that I am here today typing away, it's all due to their guidance and love that has never found an ending. So definitely, they're up there in my wish list.

And finally the third, my life would have been so different if I didn't get this. So, third on my list would be, the computer. Imagine this last three day's I was without a Internet connection, I felt so helpless and lost. I had so many things on my mind but just couldn't do anything about it, like missing out on things, example's like this; What lesson I missed from Ev's post today, has Bonnie posted another marvelous joke, did Christy come out with another fantastic idea, and so many others. So, being stranded on a island (hope they have good butler service with lot's of yummy food ...... all for free!!!) these are the three that would be tops on my wish list.

What is your worst quality?
A lot of us don't like talking about the bad in us, we would prefer to exhaust ourselves in expressing how good we are in this and that. This I think is a common face we humans go through.

Anyway, as for myself, I think my worst quality is waking up! Boy, I just love to sleep. I thank God for inventing sleep (ha ha, really). Once my head hits the soft warm pillow, I get into a world filled with so many wonderful dreams, so, that explains why I have a problem waking up?? I worry to wake up and reality hits right smack into my face and everything beautiful turns gloomy and dark.....

These are my friends, whom I will be tagging :

Gurushabad
Beth's a Bettie
Inspirational Awareness
Got2BeGreen
Fleurs Du Mall
Pond Perspective
The Talking Fingers on the Web
Under The Sun
My Life As It Is
Teri Teri Quite Contrary

This has been a great experience to share. Once again, thanks Eve. It's time now to see who will complete them as well. Don't worry you get to choose your questions and it's all there at Christy's Coffee Break. Have fun guy's !!