UEFA 39b - Free n Easy

For my new relatives, friends and visitors, UEFA means Unexpected European Far-Flung Adventure. This one was in March 1996. At this moment still no photos. Perhaps next posting, when we enter Amsterdam.


I wanted to put some photos related to this travelog, but, kwank, kwank, kwang...they were not scanned yet.


In the last travelog, in UEFA 39a, I was writing that from the Heathrow Airport we took the tube to Gloucester to meet my niece, Rin, who was studying there is London. She stayed in Gloucester. It was a very short meeting, as we were in a hurry to catch the Euroline bus to Amsterdam.


Although it was a short meeting but I was happy that we could made contact although, she was from Malaysia, and we were from Singapore, but we met in Gloucester, England. Ain’t that some kind of an achievement.


Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps my daughters who followed us in that trip were a little upset, as we had to made so much trouble, just to meet their cousin whom they were not close with.


Unexpectedly, I am the type who is willing to endure the impossibilities and the undesirables, just for the sake of traveling and meeting family. It has been my personality, to visit families’ members, even if they be as far and difficult a place as Timbuktu. As you have seen in my previous trips, I always had someone to visit.


I had been visiting my first sister, Kak Ani, as far back as since 1967, when she was married and moved out to her own house. I would stay a night with her, doing nothing more important and without any other intentions than just a casual visit. When I was about 18, I took her first child, Eddy, out for a short trip from her house in KD Malaya, which was along Admiralty Road West to Johor Bahru. Rin is her fourth child.


When Kak Ani moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1971, My brother and I visited her family at Jalan Pahang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and stayed there for 2 nights.


In 1984 when I had a work assignment in KL, I dropped by at her house in Damansara and stayed with her for 2 nights, instead of staying in the hotel. My Malaysian colleague would come to pick me up in the morning from her house, to our Diethelm Instrumentation’s office, in Ampang, which was far from Damansara.


Whenever, I drove up for holiday tours in Malaysia, I would drop for a night at her house. Next day we proceed again to Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan and other destinations within Malaysia.


During her son’s engagement, sometime in 1996, we took that opportunity to travel up with her family to the bride’s house in Penang. After the engagement’s ceremony we proceeded to Perlis, up to the border of Thailand at Padang Besar. Then we went into Gua Kelam, Perlis’s famous luminous cave. We also went to the Kuala Perlis, where there were ferry services to Langkawi.


As for this Gloucester detour, it was just one of my passion to travel free-n-easy, on my own without travel guide. I like to stop anywhere I like, then proceed again to next destinations like a wanderer. Well that’s me.


Gloucester was a busy town. The wind was cold, as it was only about 9 am. After handing her some homemade delicacies from Singapore, we bid farewell to my niece, Rin and her room mate, and proceeded with the tube to Victoria.

UEFA 022 – Schipol

This post is the continuation of the previous post UEFA 21 Datuk Adam.


Check it out.......!!!!


Way before that meeting in Paris, with my sister and wife, sometime in early April 1994, I flew to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. It was only a stop over. So I immediately transit to Zurich. Although I did walkabout in Schipol Terminal building, I couldn’t remember any excitement. By the way, it was very early in the morning, probably 6:00 am.






Aerial view from Amsterdam to Zurich was enchanting. I could see the Rhine River meandering from Switzerland, thru Germany, right into the old town of Amsterdam and finally into the North Sea. The Rhine and The North Sea had witness many human intervention of history. It was almost similar to the human intervention of the automated legal requisition reply system in the road and rail system in my office.

Zurich to Heerbrugg was a familiar sight for me, as things did not change much in Switzerland. I went through Flughafen, Wintherthur, St Margrethen, Roschach, Au and finally Heerbrugg.

Hotel Heerbruggerhof was also still the same.

And I had the same Room No 17, facing the train station. Anne the Hotel owner was also the same nice lady. Her husband was also a familiar man. The only difference you would see and hear later in this series is the writer. I let you imagine first what changes could that had been.

This time around, I had to report to the factory on my own, as that was my second visit.
The training room, however, had changed to the red building. Before reporting to the Training Room, I went through the normal welcoming address by the Administration Officer. This time I was issued with tickets for free lunch at the Leica canteen.

The Training Room was at the ground level of the red building. My trainer was once again, Mr Jungker. He offered me his cunning smile and a hard handshake with a rigid grasp. I handed him the souvenir I got from Schipol airport. He didn’t seem to have aged despite after 8 years.

I have told you before, but I just feel like telling you again, that I was really amazed at their Training Room set-up and facilities.

I had a nice table with a pedestal drawer of tools and an anti-static work surface.

-359 words

-Drafted on 07.04.2007

-Edited on 03.05.2007 at 0018hrs

-At Woodlands Avenue 5

Datuk Adam

This is Leica Factory in Heerbrugg Switzerland



The villages next to the factory




This is the TM3000 that was used for monitoring in the underground tunnel.


UEFA 021 - Datuk Adam


Sometime in March 1994, my Sales Manager proposed another training for me in Wild Heerbrugg factory in Switzerland. Isn’t it fabulous?


Yes it was an Unexpected European Fabulous Adventure.


This time around, the training was on Wild TM3000. This was the first series of electronic motorized theodolites that was used in the tunnel monitoring, which made its debut in 1992.


These theodolites cannot be operated manually. Every movement is controlled by motorized gears which were activated by joystick.


There were many tunnel monitoring projects in the pipe-line for monitoring of Underground Trains stations. Thereby, there will be an increase in the usage of the motorized electronic theodolites. Therefore,it was time for training on servicing and repair.


By 1994 Wild Heerbrugg Ag, had evolved to Wild Leitz Ag and finally to Leica Ag. The name changed after a merger of Wild Heerbrugg with Leitz GmbH, Cambridge Instruments UK Ltd & Leica Ag. All I knew it was Wild Heerbrugg who had the majority shares.


As the result of the merger, the diversification became wider. We were then involved in industrial measuring instruments and cameras.


I went to meet John Richards of Siam Travel at Beach Road, to arrange for me the best option, so that I can see as much of Europe, within that stipulated time. I told him that my wife and I also wanted to visit my sister in Paris. Then, I wanted to cross the English Channel in a train via the new underground tunnel from Carlisle in France to Dover in London. Finally, we wanted to fly home from London.


John proposed KLM, which will takes us to Amsterdam. Then a free domestic flight to Paris. John worked that out very intelligently.


John Richards was a very nice man and jovial too. Once John, I and another colleague Donald Andris were together and we cracked jokes after jokes that we laughed our stomach out. John came to our office quite often, as his company was our corporate travel agent. Our office staff travel quite often to various places as we were a regional office.


Many times, I just called John to arrange a ticket for me to KL, Kuching, and Brunei, and it was delivered to my home at night. It was that easy and hassle free too.


One week later, my wife and I came out with a brave plan. We told John that we want some modification to his original plan.


I was to fly on KLM first to Zurich via Amsterdam. From Zurich I would traveled by train to Heerbrugg. At the end of my training, I was to take a midnight train from Heerbrugg to Paris, to meet my wife at Charles de Gaulle Airport on a Thursday morning.


On the other hand, my wife was to fly one month later, on Wednesday night reaching Paris in the early Thursday morning, with transit in Amsterdam. John said,


“Datuk Adam, that’s no problem. I can fix it.”


All praises to God Al-Mighty, he made the plan worked smoothly. It was a first time for me at Charles de Gaulle Airport, and first also for my wife. Yet, I wonder, how come we were so daring to make a date there.


In addition, my sister was all so willing to meet us at the Charles de Gaulle airport.
All 3 of us, my wife, my sister and I, had no hand phone. We praised God again and again, that we met quite easily in the airport arrival hall.


===========will be continued===============
~drafted on 07.12.2006
~edited on 19.03.2007
~at Woodlands avenue 5
~21:30 hrs

UEFA 020 - Versailles

UEFA 020 - Versailles

Next day, George drove us along the highway with Sedrika and Adrian. Along the way we passed by the Orly Airport. The highway was empty except with some shrubs and flowers in the centre median. There were no huge trees by the road shoulders as compared to the roads in the heart of Paris.

Soon I realized that we were visiting the Castle of Versailles. George told us that it used to be the residence of Napoleon Bonaparte the Great. I must say it was majestically beautiful. The doors and ceilings were very high and there were chandeliers lamps all over. There were, I think, hundreds of rooms. The castle tours only took us to some of the rooms opened to public.

Photography was not allowed.

Outside the castle was even more majestic. The garden was very vast and was decorated with elaborated species of flowers. Tiny fir trees accompanied the flowers at a sparse interval.

I think the castle was on a hill. Down at one side of the garden were palm trees and pond. Beyond the palm trees was a huge pond, which looked more like a lake. Beyond the lake were tall bushy trees faintly visible through the mist. On the other side was grass verge. Beyond the grass were some tall and bushy trees. Perhaps oak or elm trees.

On both sides, it was like an endless infinity beyond the mist. We could not see the fences or boundary walls. The Castle of Versailles is really very huge and the garden is blissfully vast.

Next day, George and Bettina went with us to tour Paris before sending us off at Gare de Lyon, for our return train trip to Geneva.

My wife and I had a little rift, when we arrived at Geneva. She was silent to my many suggestions. I became easily hurt by her silence, as though, she was ignoring me, or not happy with my plans or perhaps she was homesick, thinking of our young children back home. Though, I tried to tolerate, but, her complete silence just got me to my nerve.

Due to that incident, I cancelled my Jordan tour plan. At the ticket confirmation counter, I made a request for an immediate connecting flight to Singapore, without checking out in Amman.

Everything was arranged, and we were safely in the Royal Jordanian plane going back to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur.

440 words

~drafted on 10.12.2006

~edited on 19.03.2007

~at Woodlands avenue 5

~21:30 hrs

The End