Working Nomad

Yesterday I was browsing in the underwear section (men’s) of the KL Marks & Spencers thinking what should I do this humid Saturday night?

So I took a shortcut through Debenhams department store to the Green Man pub to watch the Chelsea v Man U game. So there I was, back in England, sipping my pint of Tetleys (it is just as bad here) and waiting for my ridiculously overpriced Shepherds Pie to be delivered.

I don’t really know where I am going with the post but I’ll say one thing. The Malaysian’s love their English football and their pints of bitter. The place was full of Chelsea and Man U fans but there was n’t one cockney or mancunian accent to be heard.

I am just rambling now! Is this the most pointless thing I have ever said on WN? Must be the beer from last night.

Tomorrow I fly to Bali to meet up with some friends, catch some waves and get my sun tan back.

The e-book is nearly finished so those lucky lucky people should be getting their free copy soon. The rest of ya will have to pay (but it’s bloody worth it).

(If you are watching Wayne get fit soon. Your country needs ya…!)

In a word, no! It sounds crazy but even when I get back to my hotel room at night I am already focusing on the next day. I think about what I am going do and what I want to achieve.

When I first started in the corporate jungle I used get excited about going to work. I remember once working on an I.T. project and being so keen I used to skip my lunch break and work late (for what?!).

I once worked on a project for six months that got shelved at the 11th hour and I remember feeling pretty dejected about it. Six months of hard work for nothing! I know this sort of thing happens all the time but it changed the way I viewed things (so I guess it was positive then!).

The biggest plus about being a Working Nomad is the control factor. If something does n’t come off it’s almost certainly down to me and I thrive on that sort of responsibility.

I am back from the Perhentians now in the Working Nomad’s Malaysian office feeling refreshed and looking slightly less pasty than normal.

I met up with two friends (hi Essex girls!) and we went on an excellent snorkeling trip around the two islands. Being the keen surfer that I am I have never been too bothered about seeing sharks (talking of surfing I borrowed this local guy’s windsurfing board one day, took the sail off and managed to catch a few waves on it. Rock on!)

We went in a boat to Shark Point and surprise surprise there were two reef sharks there waiting for us. Boy can these guys move when they want to! They were n’t big as sharks go (only 6 feet-ish) but seeing then in the flesh and up close and personal certainly made my heart race a bit.

We also saw a huge turtle and swam along overhead for a while which was pretty cool. The water is literally like a swimming pool, it’s totally unreal!

I caught the train back to KL and despite being in sleeper carriage, sleep was the last thing I could do with a chorus of crying babies around me. I think Malaysian babies cry louder than any other.

Just a note about the ebook. I have been swamped with free requests which is cool but the free offer has finished now. Thanks for your interest and support.

This will be last post for a few days as this evening I board a train bound for the Perhentian Islands. I was actually there last year and there was no Internet access on the island then. Part of me hopes there is now access while my sensible (you need a break) half would prefer no access.

I have spent an awful lot of time on the web these last few days. It has n’t all been mindless surfing. Some things are just easier to do (web site maintenance) when you are connected to the web. So now I am going to give you an insight into what I do when I first log on.

It will be no surprise to you to learn that the first sites I look at tell me how much I have earned for the previous day. These are affiliate marketing providers and adsense. I am signed up to a lot of programs so it takes a while.

Then I check my email. My hotmail account for personal and then all my web business accounts. Then it’s the World and UK news from the BBC. I’ll often download the previous night’s 10pm news from the BBC web site. I have BBC World in my room so I have n’t bothered for a while.

If it’s Sunday I’ll see how my football home team Ipswich got on and read any reports of the game from various sources. I then have a look at a few of the forums I contribute to. Now the WN forum, Lonely Planet thorntree, Bootsnall, Webmasterworld and Digital Point.

I will then look at my web stats for the previous day and start to think about what I want to achieve today and then get stuck into some work. That reminds me.

Well I took this rather striking picture today on my way to my work place (Times Sq, pictured behind the wall) because I have walked past it everyday and I thought I would share it with you.

The picture is actually on a wall surrounding the Pudu Prison which has had a very controversial existence. The prison is bang in the middle of the commercial heart of KL and surrounding it are many examples of Malaysia’s modernity (Times Sq, the Monorail). It now looks so out of place, it’s unreal!

They closed this notorious prison down in 1996 not before perhaps 1000s of criminals were executed by hanging (mainly for drug trafficking). It was also the centre for punishment by rattan caning.

The cells are reported to be horrific, each equipped with a window only the size of a shoebox. Ironically, the prison also features murals painted on the walls (by inmates) depicting scenes of tropical nature.