Message in a bottle

Found this bottle washed up on Balok beach at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa. Unfortunately there was no message inside. 

Have you ever found a message in a bottle?

What would you write in a message before throwing it in the sea?

Lauren's interpretation of the HAZE in Malaysia!

Haze is a hot topic in Malaysia right now - literally. It's the worst haze in 16 years but thankfully it has become a lot clearer today in Kuantan.

Lauren decided to do a drawing of how she sees the haze. Thought you might be interested to see how a 5-year-old interprets this situation!

MALAYSIA COVERED IN A BLANKET OF SUFFOCATING HAZE

It's haze time again in Malaysia and Singapore and Kuantan has been hit badly too. This time every year, fields are mass-burned in Indonesia in preparation for plantation. Unfortunately, the winds blow all the suffocating smoke our way.

The picture at the bottom centre of the above collage is how a normal day looks here. The other three pictures were all taken this morning. It's terrible. It stinks and it's suffocating. We are not going out today.

So much for the super moon tonight. And my poor flowers on the balcony have died.

Views of Kuantan taken from The Zenith Hotel

Kuantan is a small town on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It has been my home for 7 years. Following is a series of photos of my adopted hometown, most of them taken from the very top of The Zenith Hotel.

East Coast Mall describes itself as 'the most happening place' in Kuantan, which at least holds true from Fridays to Sundays when people from the northern state of Terengganu come down to Kuantan for the weekend. The heavily Muslim state of Terengganu hold their weekend on Friday and Saturday. East Coast Mall is here visible from the gym at The Zenith Hotel

As it looks over Kuantan, The Zenith Hotel illuminates in colours of purple, red, green and blue every night

A closer view of the Jalan Dato Lim Hoe Lek/Jalan Bukit Sekilau junction. To the left lies Putra Square and East Coast Mall; straight ahead sits the newly refurbished Darul Makmur Stadium

The stairs from the lobby to the First Floor at The Zenith Hotel light up in a brilliant blue when the sun goes down

Kuantan looks like a burning heap of night lights as the moon hangs high above

View from our 22nd floor room at The Zenith Hotel

Aerial view of part of Bukit Sekilau. The purple and yellow building to the left is the UiTM campus, while the gold dome and blue roof of the Bukit Sekilau mosque is visible in the background. Behind the mosque lies SK Bukit Sekilau. The open ground at the front left is being prepared for a Ramadan Bazaar. The Muslim fasting month begins on 10th July

Menara Zenith towers over Putra Square below. The white building in the distance is Vistana Hotel. Beyond that to the right, just out of the picture, is Teluk Chempedak beach

Jalan Haji Ahmad runs to the left behind The Zenith Hotel. Straight ahead is the residential area of Taman Galing

Restaurant Dish Washer

This lady is a dish washer for this Chinese restaurant in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan. Every day she sits on her small stall and washes dish after dish. She appears to be very happy. Do we sometimes get irritated when doing the same old things day after day, or do we appreciate the fact that we CAN do them?