QATAR AIRWAYS DOHA TO NEW YORK 16 MAY 2017

I met Aksam AbouThahir from Matare, Sri Lanka on 2 August 2012, when I arrived at Doha (the Old) airport. He was working at the Business Class Lounge and our friendship began then and over the years we would run into each other in Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge of the New Hamad International Airport at Doha.
On arrival from Singapore, we met at the Arrivals Lounge and he was proud to show me around this new lounge with various facilities.
As I mentioned before elsewhere, I very seldom interact with other passengers but have had good conversations and learned a lot from various employees of Qatar Airways.

Because my flight to New York was not until 830 am the next day, Qatar Airways and Qatar Tourism had put me up at the Shangri la Hotel, a nice gift indeed.
The uber driver was a Mr Mohammed (one has to get used to this name if you are in a Moslem country!) an unemployed IT engineer from Calicut, now driving Uber in Doha. He had this to say: Pay in Qatar is good, but life is not enjoyable. In the manner of victorian english spoken by most Indians, this meant that there was not many things affordable to do in Qatar in contrast to Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
I was well received by the Hisham Abbas look alike, Adnan from Egypt at the front desk. 

It was also good to have a nice conversation with HANI from Bandung in Indonesia while waiting for the Uber to take me to the Cuban Embassy in Doha in a nice residential district, New Dafna.

The sun was setting as I made my way through to the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba, where I was cordially received by the Ambassador who turned out to be a very interesting man. 

As I was leaving, the Ambassador asked me, tu nombre es hebreo,no? I wanted to be as diplomatic as possible not to enter political conversations, Yes, I am an Oriental Jew (Mizrachi)

to my great surprise, the Ambassador spoke perfect Hebrew!

Early in the morning, another Uber driver (they all seem to be subcontinental people, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka; one of them, yet another Mohammed from Ampara in Sri Lanka, send me a message of thanks to my telephone number!) dropped me at Hamad International Airport, one of the nicest airports in the world to begin long haul journeys!

I went upstairs to the sit down restaurant at Al Mourjan Lounge and helped myself to Uppama and Sambar when Aksam appeared again. He was going home to Colombo that evening but was working during the day at the Al Mourjan. He introduced me to several of his colleagues, including Marcel, the manager of all the Lounges (Al Mourjan, Al Safwa, Al Maha, Arrivals Lounge, F/B Immigration Lounge, fortunately I have visited them all and enjoyed them), Rakesh yet another old hand, now the lounge manager, Sayyid from Al Safwa stopped to say Hello..Anup from Nepal was in charge of buggy transportation and Aadil from Sri Lanka helped me at the gate.  a little chat with Linda, a shona from Zimbabwe, two visits to her country with good memories.
Qatar Airways without doubt is the best AIRLINE in the world, their service begins and ends long before and long after the actual flight.

I eagerly look forward to my long haul flights, and imagine who I would meet, Cabin Attendants, on my side!
This time it was Elphyra from Singapore who has been with QR for five years. She is an accountant by training and hopes to go back to her profession after savouring the world a little bit. Even though the flight was long, 13 hours and 15 minutes I did not get to interact with others.
Usually I do spend time talking to the Cabin Crew and I fondly recollect nice conversations with Maria from Romania, Alexandra also from Romania, Helen from Uganda, Christopher Mellocastro from Goa, Zorica from Serbia and I long to see them again, but I think the company prohibit them from contacting the passengers. So dear friends, if ever you are reading this blog, I want to thank you once again and hope we meet again!

On QR flights to USA, they cross into southern Iran, fly close to Shiraz and Isfahan and after a while you begin to recognize the bare mountains and cliffs and small towns in that isolation.
I think fondly of Iran, the love I had missed, a love instilled in me by my father who lived in Abadan (just now I looked for a reprint of a book called the Jews of Abadan! but it is lost among the hundreds of books at the Blue House)

Once again Sambar, Lentil pancakes.. while looking at Iran ..

Somehow I couldnt work up an apetite, even though the above was inviting, did not enjoy it. On the other hand one and half hour before arriving, Elphyra brought sticky rice and chicken, which was enjoyable.

It was the last of my ten flights with Qatar Airways in fourteen days.. 
when would be my next QR flight? 

CLEANSING OF YOUR MIND IN MALACCA, MALAYSIA

CLEANSING OF YOUR MIND IN MALACCA

I had a delightful time in KL, a quiet one and with the staff at Hilton Double Tree spoiling me, and with a Facial by Anna at Guinot.

The bus ride to Malacca was a blur, the rumbling down the asphalt made oblivious by sleep. When I woke up from my slumber we were already approaching Malacca, and the bus ride is only something just over two hours.

(a very modern bus station in Kuala Lumpur, accessible by Metro)

Malacca Sentral Bus Station has been for me a metaphor of the failure of the Malaysian government to raise the level of living of the Malay people, but how they have managed to make these lovely people dependent and docile. After 50 years of Independence and positive discrimination on their behalf, they are still frying noodles and selling rubbish from China. They are doing jobs that require no effort, most of the time, deeply disengaged from the world around them by their smart phones.

My Uber driver was Nizam, a Military man, who was pleasant, engaging and nice to talk to. I just started with Uber, he confided and I did not speak any English and here I am speaking English, and I have had the opportunity to interact with multiple nationalities, the very same mind broadening experience denied to most Malays, while they are secluded away in their hijab and false sense of uniqueness.

I thought of the dignity of the Arab men in the Gulf countries, they walk with such pride and their women dressed like their grandmothers had dressed, living in tents in the harsh deserts before the Oil was discovered. The Malays in Malaysia are doing the kind of work the immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal are doing in those countries. In Malaysia, intelligent expats aid the intense and goal oriented Chinese (who are decreasing in numbers on a daily basis) to carry out the infrastructure of running the country while titled Malays fill the pages of the newspapers with their political pronouncements and meaningless campaigns in a country considered to be one of the most corrupt in Asia, keeping company with fellow countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos.

As Nizam the Uber driver personifies, Malay people are some of the sweetest people you wish to meet but they are caught up in the Malay Dilemma as Mahathir had defined many years ago.

The outcome is that a foreigner like me can have delightful time in Malaysia. I make the above remarks only as an anthropological observation but not an expression of my sentiment; I am very fond of Malaysia and visit here more often than most people visit their families!

(as friendly as always, LY welcomed me with coffee and cakes)

Arriving at Hotel Equatorial, I was warmly welcomed by the Front Desk manager who insisted that I have something to eat and drink and she sat with me while I had a cappuccino and a chicken pie. I had been given a very comfortable room and entrance into their Executive Club and the next two days turned out to be very relaxing and cleansing to me. A one-hour signature massage at their Spa only helped the matter even more so. Existentialist questions began to fade away, I slept when I wanted and however long I wanted, walked around the town a little but most of the time was ensconced in the hotel.

The breakfast was diverse, and well served and attended. There were many Malay families, looked as if they were on some sort of vacation. There were hardly any foreigners; the staff was ever so attentive.

In the Executive Lounge, the students who are doing their internship from their Hospitality Management courses were delightful to talk to, a Hindu from Bali, another from Mid Java, a local Chinese girl. In fact the staff at Hotel Equatorial is what you want Hotel staff to be: friendly attentive and leave you alone when you want solitude.

 I had also the pleasure of meeting Mr. D, who hails from the local Chetty community, one of the first established communities in Malacca, when the ruler was a Hindu Prince from Sumatra. The club offers a reasonable spread between 5 30 and 7 30 pm and after that one becomes too lethargic to go out to eat!

My good friends of many years, I and A, came and picked me up in time for dinner at an outdoor, popular Indian eatery where I tasted some tender lamb, Garlic Nan and spinach and a chicken curry. Mrs. I is always interested in discovering odd bits of history and this time she introduced me to a book (which I subsequently ordered from Amazon and it is already waiting for me in Miami) about the visit of Rabbi Yacob of Ancona who visited China long before Marco Polo and wrote about it. Rabbi Yacob had visited the Malabar Coast and had seen the thriving Jewish community of Quilon, which Marco Polo had also mentioned. Cochin was not in existence then, but Shingly was, as Cragnanore was then called. I always learn something from Mr. A, a prominent advocate, who corrected my western ideas of Chinese economic imperialism, in light of the Summit in Beijing about the New Silk Route of Commerce. 
Words of Prime Minister Xi reminded me of the words of the greatest Navigator Zheng He who had visited most of the countries involved in the New Silk Route and his method of negotiation in which, you submit to the superiority of the Chinese and in return China does not conquer you but assist you to prosper. Under the Ming Dynasty, China had chances to be an imperial power but they were quite content with the submission of their vassals only in words but not actually being subservient to the Chinese, who left after leaving gifts for their confessed inferiors, rather than conquering them.

Malacca is undergoing huge expansion, funded by money from China and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chinese upgraded the airport so that there could be direct flights from China!

You would see descendants to rubber tappers who were brought over from Madras, still with their sweet innocent and unsophisticated look in their faces, dining at one of the many restaurants at the so called Little India (a tourist invention)

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The lack of sophistication of an emerging nation is seen in its ignorance of information. To get information about buses to Singapore, a common occurrence in these parts turned out to be difficult. In the end, I resorted to the Internet and booked a ticket, paying 50% more for the privilege, and of course no one knew where and what and how to catch the bus, but in the end I was on board a bus bound for Singapore …

SURPRISING SINGAPORE

SURPRISING SINGAPORE

Singapore usually is in the news when some of its draconian laws are highlighted in the West, much to the horror of the liberated minds. The lack of Space and Time and the rapid growth all turns one off and recently Singapore has been in the news as the most expensive place for an expatriate to live as well as THE right place for an expatriate in the early stages of his or her career to jump start it ahead.

As the bus left the chaos that is Malaysia, and entered the city-state of Singapore, the order and discipline was evident. People dutifully lined up at the Immigration counters, the agents behind were efficient and the bus drivers patiently waited (without spitting) at their designated rows for the passengers to arrive after clearing the immigration and customs.

What amazed me was not the order and discipline, in contrast to the joyous commotion and chaos in Malaysia, but the greenery of the island. The streets are lined with trees, every little space available was filled with plants and trees and shrubbery. For an overcrowded “barracoon”, it was pleasing to enter this city state, drive along the streets, where the traffic flowed smoothly.

In fact, the mind felt calm after entering Singapore and the streets were clean and everything seems to be running smoothly. Chinese people dominated the scene, as were their eateries full of people enjoying delicacies such as Fish Head, an entire restaurant devoted to the soup of that name.

I used Uber and within minutes a young lady arrived in a well-kept car and we had a pleasant conversation. None of the dismissive kind of talks from the shopkeepers and taxi drivers that I remembered from my visits here previously. She is a young mother and supplements her income with Uber. She does not agree, as did several other analysts, that Singapore is the most expensive city in the world. As we were approaching Changi Village, she said, you could eat well here cheaply or very cheaply, with so many restaurants lining both sides of the street.

She let me off at the Village Hotel in Changi and within minutes I was out of the hotel, enjoying the scene of lives being played out on the street, mainly in the crowded restaurants. Muslim representation was few, and you could see young and old Malay women dressed in contemporary dresses.

I chose a restaurant, intriguingly named  Dynamic Café, which was run by energetic Tamil youngsters, who had migrated here from Malaysia. I knew that one million educated Chinese had migrated here fro Malaysia not to include the hundreds and thousands of day workers who come in from Johor Bahru on the Malaysian side each day.

I would have preferred to stay on the Malaysian side of the border but no one could guarantee me whether or not I could reach the Changi Airport in Singapore comfortably early to catch my 10 30 flight with Qatar Airways.

The foyer of the hotel was full of Chinese tourists on group travel; at least they are getting out and seeing the world, which is a good thing to broaden their outlooks. They were somewhat unruly and loud; taking selfie photographs in front of everything, such as the depiction of food, artificial flowers etc.

The hotel is very practical one, so you don’t expect to make any friends with people working there who had detached expressions in their faces. A very stern driver in an old bus drove some of us to the airport, which is their airport shuttle and within half an hour I was at the Terminal 3 entrance.

The Qatar airways check in counter was not busy. A delightful young Chinese lady attended me by the name of Anya and soon I was at the line for Immigration and at the Lounge of Dnata, which is just a generic lounge not worthy of Qatar Airways! One of the attendants at the kitchen area, an older lady was so pleasant and helpful that I thanked her repeatedly.

This is not the impression one has about Singapore, but my one-day in Singapore has really given me something to think about, why and what is happening in Singapore.

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With such pleasant thoughts I boarded the Qatar airways flight to Doha.

THOUGHTS FROM KUALA LUMPUR: KARMA AND MAY THIS HAPPY MUSIC BE WITH YOU ALWAYS MIZRACHI MUSIC OF ISRAEL

TODAY is 11th May 2017, I am in Room 3401 of the Executive Floor of Double Tree Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. I had come to Kuala Lumpur to find solace to my heart, and I made the right decision to come here, as this country is yet another fit into my character.

Not all countries fell into place in my heart. When I left Brussels last Sunday 7th May 2017, my heart was heavy. I have lived in four European countries and only in one could I say I was happy: that is London, England. I had live theatre to enjoy in the language I loved, good university where I could mingle with the intellectuals who were not elitist, a nice place to stay where I did not feel like an intruder. Sweden, France and Belgium are the other three countries, and in each of the three I felt like an outsider, not fully fitting in, not finding my equilibrium. Each of the countries I had departed with no great regrets.

I left for Doha on Qatar Airways and to their lounges and their hospitality and the sadness began to ebb away.

Today is only my second day in KL and I feel rejuvenated and once again in command of my nationality and cultural identity. It is a paradox of our times that I feel comfortable being a Jew in this Muslim majority country than I did in Paris or Brussels where I felt that the general population did not sympathize with my people. The French PM Vals would make a statement, rather elegant, about not wanting to loose Jews to Israel or America (5000 french jews left France in 2015) but even the educated French, despite their sympathy towards Jews during the second World War, harbour a thinly veiled discontent towards the Jews, whether Israeli or French.

Within four days, my equilibrium had returned and that tells me something, like those 5000 Jews who left France, I too do not belong in France or Belgium for that matter. I feel better, it had come quicker than I thought so I better accept this fact of life: American Indians have taught me, you will come across Good and Bad people, when you are in the company of Bad people, just go around them.

I go around you, oh France and Belgium!

The quickness with which I rebounded also made me realize that there are refuges in my life: certain countries, certain groups of people and certain individuals who inhabit various corners of this planet and on top of it, my intense desire to be part of the story of the people I meet however short an interaction but I want to transact that interaction well, a pleasant one, to leave a moment of sweetness or tenderness behind.

so one needs time and place and people. Qatar Airways and their staff provided the transfer of my senses from Belgium to Kuala Lumpur with a couple of stops in between.

My best friend in Asia, MCY, was there provide the optimism of her life, her view on life without judgement and the enthusiasm for the present undertakings. she doesn't give advice on how to, but allows her students and her friends to express themselves. 

I have felt that the role of a friend is to share time, and also be a refuge.

Lunch today was at TOSCA, an italian eatery in the Double Tree Hotel and surprisingly the food was authentic and tasty. But the conversation was even more important to the soul.

 My Cuban mother said to me during my early years in Cuba, when foreigners come to Cuba they fall in love with a Cuban but you , on the other hand, have fallen in love with Cuba. I thought, I could fall in love with a Cuban but when that love vanishes, the love for Cuba might also vanish. But if I am in love with Cuba, no other person can interfere with it.
I like being in love with Cuba, AND   there is no conflict arising out of it. This is the GOOD PATH, the Indian talk about. When you find the Good path, embrace it, they say.

The Cuban Ambassador was kind enough to spare me a couple of hours and we had a delightful conversation. As another Cuban ambassador, Sr Monzon had told me, she is a star. very knowledgeable and clever, I am happy she is representing Cuba here, and we talked about the welfare in cultural and social sense, of the love we have for the island of ours, we both represent in different fashions.

The dusk was falling, observing it coming down like a curtain over the buildings, obliterating the amber colour of this eternal spring.

I was at the Executive Club, so friendly and  capably run by Atty, She looked tired from all the meetings she has been attending but still I could feel her enthusiasm for the service of the people who come up to this corner of the hotel.

They were serving Pancik Fish as well as Chicken Wings. I poured my self a glass of wine, which was soon refiled by Mr H one of the attendants. 

 As I was sitting looking at the sunset I realized I have to leave tomorrow from this hotel. 

i began to feel a little sad. I told Atty, the Club Manager, I feel a little sad about leaving, you have become like a family to me

It is true, the workers at this hotel, take good care of me and I return eagerly each time and leave refreshed.

More than any other time, I needed this stay at this hotel, ensconced in room 3401, and I feel much better now that I felt just one week ago.

It was a pleasure to meet Mlle EM a hospitality student from VATEL in France.

It is time to pack. May the WINDS bring me back to these shores soon enough so that once again I can enjoy the company of each and every one of my friends, old and new, in Kuala Lumpur.

I leave Kuala Lumpur happier a man than the one who got off the 7 hour flight from Doha.

in the video posted, you can feel the genuine happiness of the people, the togetherness and the feeling of the community. I felt so good watching their videos, they are Israelis, they sing in Hebrew, many of which are prayers that I can recognize. They are of Yemeni origins and I can see, for sure, the resemblance of Yemenite and Cochin Jews..

Yes, I am one of them/us.

ONE DAY IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, TRULY ASIA 10 MAY 2017

 I chose the right place to come, to get away from the conflicts and confusions in Brussels and Miami. Here I can be myself, don't have to put up any facades and don't have to worry what other people think of me: it is fun to be thought of as a Nepales guard on day off or a Bangladeshi working at the innards of a five star hotel!
I am staying at the Double Tree Hotel by HIlton in Jalan Tun Abdul Razak and the people at the Executive Club had organized a very nice room at the 34th floor for this much needed sojourn to calm my mind.
The day began with grey skies and the rain drops left over from the torrential rain the night before, but it held the promise of a bright day ahead, which it was to become.

 The breakfast was at the Club where Idlis and an excellent Tomato Chutney awaited. I also tasted the local noodles and fried rice, but the star of the show was Idli with tomato chutney.

I was in a hurry to finish reading this fascinating first novel FEVER DREAM nominated for this year's Booker Man International Prize, this thrilling story by an Argentine Jewish woman writing in Spanish, living in Berlin. Good Luck to Samanta.

 It is only short walk along a busy road, trapped as it is in construction and buildings heading up to the sky, one gets the view of the iconic KLCC building.
The roads were less but than normal and as I passed the Chinese Temple, I realized the reason. Today is Wesak day, a Buddhist holiday which is celebrated in Malaysia.

 appropriately after paying respects to Lord Buddha, I walked on to this shopping anamoly called KLCC shopping Centre. Domestic and indentured workers having their day off and also gawking tourists from India in their awkward fitting clothes, a conglomeration of nationalities predominantly from this region of the world, a plethora of asiatic faces into which I blend in nicely.

 Who are the people who buy COACH handbags and REMOWA luggage trolleys? I decided to enquire. Malaysians individually, especially those who visit KLCC are not in an economic position or emotional disposition to be attracted by these luxury goods, but I was told that Malaysia has the cheaper prices than the other places in the region, so their main customer group is from China. Prices for both the items mentioned above were 100 USD more here in KL than in the high street markets in Miami, for example. Ah well, to each his own.. to satisfy their own desires and go after them

 The best bookstore, a rare commodity in this mercantile illusion that cradles every city in Malaysia, KINIKUNIYA is at this building as well. Nice to see Murakami's new collection of stories about Men without Women, I made a note of the appropriateness of the title! I will get it from Amazon.com and it will be waiting for me and I look forward to reading this last offering from Murakami Haruki..
A well written with great enthusiasm by an aviation geek by a British Pilot for BA also attracted attention and i will also get that from amazon.com

 Like many parts of the world, especially where there is a higher proportion of immigrants, intellectual life takes a back seat, Malaysia is no exception but over the course of the years of visiting this lovely country, I have made friends with some good calibre people and I was waiting for my best friend in Asia to join me for lunch, as I was longing to eat some South Indian food and KL is a good place for it.

 The various food courts at KLCC, offers a fantastic array of food from various parts of this region. I was looking forward to a Rava Masala dosai from Saravanna Bhavan and it was not disappointing.

 Ana has been running the GUINOT clinic at KLCC for more than ten years and I had not seen here in a while. The facial today was just superb and I have already made an appointment for my next visit! Felt so good after the simple Facial and the various creams from France!

Eating is the national pastime, restaurants every where and now they even have food trucks and the food is so reasonable and almost always tasty. It is a foodie place and destination.

 Looking back at this scene as I cross the bridge towards the hotel always bring a nostalgia, saudade.. FOR IRAN.. for someone from Karaj.

Back to the refuge of the 34 the Floor and a glass or two of Sauvignon Blanc from Oz, and they had the usual offerings: prawn fritters, banana banda and also some tofu prepared thai style

 The power of Internet. I had to answer queries about visits to Curacao, as well as American musician's query about their first visit to Cuba.
I had not caught up with the sleep, and soon the sleep that knits ravelled sleeves of care as Shakespeare said, was at the door..

 Early morning brought hopes and tender feelings and a quiet morning of meditation and thoughts and thinking about my friends all over the world and also the discovery of some new Mizrachi music from Israel.. 

Malay style fried rice with chicken prepared me for the rest of the day
that is how I spent my first day in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, TRULY ASIA