Big Pimpin'

March 20, 2008
Me and some new friends!
We have all heard the expression, "it's who you know".

Well guess what? It's who you know.

Guess who I know? Mr. Chan

Now this may not mean a lot to you but trust me, knowing Mr. Chan is a very good thing. Mr Chan is a very successful businessman. In fact, Mr Chan is one of the most successful businessmen in Malaysia. He owns several hotels, restaurants, and plantations. When I say hotels, I mean massive 40 floor luxury downtown hotels. His best friend is the King of Selangor and he married into one of the most powerful and wealthy families in Malaysia. In short, Mr Chan is a very wealthy, very well-connected, and very powerful man in Malaysia. He is a good guy to know.

I met Mr. Chan in the physiotherapy room at the hospital. He is a 60-something Chinese Malaysian and a fellow strokee. We were both admitted to the hospital at about the same time and we often have similar therapy schedules. Over the last 8 months Mr. Chan and I have become friends. We swap stories and complain to each other about our respective ailments. I'll complain about a nagging tingling sensation and he'll complain about his rotten children.

In truth, our mutual occupational therapist, Zura, often acts as a go between gossip between us. She tells me how he wants to disown his children for refusing to visit or help him. Apparently, he sent all his children at a very young age to boarding schools abroad and doesn't have a very close relationship with any of them. He regrets this but still wants to cut them all off. He is currently debating the pros and cons of taking a mistress as he believes his wife is also rotten and should be cut off as well. I can only imagine what Zura tells Mr. Chan about me.

Our gossiping go-between therapist, the reality of sharing a similar experience, and our frequent but brief interactions at the hospital have all served to build a friendship between two very unlikely candidates.

Mr. Chan has been telling me for months that he has connections all over Malaysia and that he would be glad to do me a favor. This weekend I took him up on it. Cherating is a beach town on the East coast of Malaysia. The East coast of Malaysia is beautiful; white sandy beaches, turquoise water, virtually isolated, mellow surf, warm seas, perfect weather. Awesome!! Cherating is still a very undeveloped place. It is basically a village in a picturesque spot and development has been very slow to take hold. There are very few accommodations. There is, however, the Legend Resort Cherating - and Mr. Chan owns it.

Mr. Chan hooked me up with the executive suite for three nights; Fri, Sat, Sun. The sweet had 2 massive bedrooms, each with a jacuzzi tub the size of a queen sized mattress. Each room had an enormous balcony, one overlooking the ocean, the other overlooking the 2 free form Olympic size swimming pools. There was also a gigantic living room complete with balcony, a dinning room, a full kitchen, a foyer, and an extra bathroom. It was so nice I was tempted to spend the entire time in the suite. In fact, I did spend one entire morning and afternoon lounging on the porch overlooking the ocean. Not a bad birthday weekend for Casey.
The living room
One of the bathrooms


I know that a free executive suite at a tropical beach location is envy inducing so I promise to have a absolutely miserable time this weekend. I mean it, I promise to have a terrible weekend. I promise to be frustrated, confused, irritated, and angry this weekend. I will do our Canadian and American taxes.




What is this? Well crazy Casey was in this picture but she edited herself out of course. This is her latest in a long line of beach sculptures.

View from one balcony


View from another balcony