KRTU GanG 2014 year end dinner

On 29/1/2015, the Gang had decided to meet for a year end dinner at Pek Wah Restaurant, KL. The event was attended by almost all of the regular members, with the exception of Francis who was on a business trip to Japan,and Kee who had opted to stay out for personal reasons. As usual, Chan Peng came with his partner, Ah Cheng, as he cannot drive at night due to poor eyesight.
Dennes also brought along Ms Chanya, who hails from ChiangRai and is here for a month long holiday. He is having the best start to 2015!




Apparently Siew and Khoo were regulars at this restaurant since their younger days, so Siew has volunteered to pre-order the best dishes available. We had steam chicken in bacon, stewed pork with buns, stew terrapin in mushrooms, special fried rice with sausages and steam "soon hawk" or marble goby fish, just to name a few. As Chinese New Year is just around the corner, we started off with a plate of "Yee sang" topped with slices of raw salmon. This is a dish only available during the CNY festive season and everyone is supposed to dig in using chopsticks, toss and stirred up all the ingredients at the same time shouting all the auspicious wishes, including "Hole-in-one lai lah, lai pa hole-in-one". The action called "Lou sang" symbolized the beginning of a new year with prosperity and good health! Since this is the first time Ms Chanya has eaten a dish in such a rowdy manner, she must be amused by what she just had; but I am sure she will remember this occasion for years to come.

 Of course, such grand dinner cannot go without rounds and rounds of  "yam seng" or cheers with liquor and wine. For the night, Allan contributed a bottle of Camus cognac and a bottle of "Pears" whisky, Khoo brought a bottle of Martel brandy and red wines from Siew and Chan Peng.
We were told that the bottles of brandy and whisky has been bought more than 30 years ago!

Gentlemen, thanks for sharing the stocks with us. Hi guys...Liquor are meant to be consumed and not as display units in a showcase, hahaha.








Incidentally, tomorrow is the birthday of our beloved captain Alex .



Happy Birthday to You, Alex

So we had also taken the opportunity to celebrate his birthday with a small cake.
We wish him good health and stay young for another 50 years...guys, we need him to book our tee off times!









I think another reason why Siew chose Pek Wah restaurant is because the room is equipped with a karaoke machine. He was itching to start off the session even before the dishes were served. Later, he was joined by Dennes, Alex, Lau, Gan and Ah Cheng. It was surprised to see even Khoo sang a few numbers. Since we were all in the 60+ age group, top hits by Teresa Teng, Chong Sek Choong, Sammi Yip, Lisa Wong, The Bee Gees were the choice of the night. I was coxed to sing the Eagles' greatest "Hotel California" as well. It did not matter whether you were out of tunes or sung in the wrong keys, no one noticed because most of us were half  drunk and we were just having fun! Enjoying the moments!





Finally, we called it a night at around 10pm. For those who had to drive , be safely home. For Liaw and me, we had to walk 2 and 3 par5 to our LRT and KTM stations respectively. On the way, my heart was thumbing hard and my head spinning. I believe Liaw had the same feelings because I had to look back and waited for him a few times when I noticed that he was falling behind. I am sure, we were not walking in a straight line even though we were making every effort to do so. No doubt, both of us had reached our limit!
By the time, I boarded the train, my eyes were so heavy that I was afraid I might slept through till the last destination instead of getting off at Kepong! I hope Liaw found his way home safely as well. To me it was pure suffering, who said the cognac and whisky were so good to drink?????

Last but not least, we would like to extend our appreciation and sincere thanks to the two young men, Low and Gan; for footing the bills. 3 cheers to both of you!

We play hard 9 (golf), we eat hard (turtle) and we drink hard (liquor)....sadly at our age, these are the easiest  hard stuff that we can still do without MACA!!!

Thailand Golf Tour - Ayutthaya, 2020 Jan 13-17

Ayuthaya Golf Tour - 2020 Jan 13-17

After  exactly 5 years on the same dates, we have decided to come back to Ayutthaya for our 1st overseas golf tour in 2020.

Jan 13 - Muang Ake Vista GC.

   After landing at Don Muang airport at about 11.30am, we had a simple lunch on the way to our first golf destination, Muang Ake GC. However, our enthusiasm suddenly dropped after being informed that the course was closed for a local competition. Fortunately, we were told that there is another course nearby, called Muang-Ake Vista GC. It was a blessing in disguise as we found out that the whole package only cost THB700, which is very much cheaper than MAGC. The course is quite flat but reasonably well maintained. Probably a good place to warm up before our next games.

   Of course, to make the game more interesting and challenging, we introduced “Fish” betting when the group of Lim/Alex/Lee/Low played as the 1st flight, followed by David/Allan/Liaw/Khoo on the 2nd flight.

Although Low only played this betting format for the first time, he quickly grabbed the lead with 2 fishes after the first 5 holes. Though he lost back 1 fish on the 7th hole, immediately he caught one back on the par-3 8th after holed out for a birdie from closed to 30 feet. Unfortunately, the new catch didn’t last for another hole! 

Overall, the 18th hole is probably the most difficult and intimidating par-4. Tee off has to be straight through a narrow) opening between trees, with OB to the right and water hazards in front. Alex had the best lucky breaks after his tee off bounced off the buggy track but landed on the fairway about 165yds to the pin. Then he  topped his 2nd shot, but the ball strike the flag stick and landed about 1.5 ft from the hole, where he eventually scored a net birdie to win. Lee drove an absolute perfectly straight tee shot about 140yds to the green, though scored a par but still not good enough to half Alex, who “huat huat” at the very right moment!

   Overall, the package was value for money and very much make up for the disappointment after being closed out from our first golf itinerary.

Dinner.
   We went to a restaurant by the river side, where there was a local guitar soloist belting out oldies of our times. We gladly sing along whenever our favorite songs were played. It was a good start on day 1.

Jan 14 - Ayutthaya GC

  Upon arrival at AGC, we could understand why our tee off time was slotted to 11am.

The course was flooded with golfers from Korea, on golfing holidays during the winter season. The quality of the course coupled with the low golf package, certainly attracts these visitors. Although relatively flat, and very well maintained fairways and greens; player has to be weary of the many water hazards nearby. 

The par-5 hole 18 was especially intimidating. Although  the green is clearly visible on the right side of the tee box but separated by a vast expense of water, so shots had to be played round the pond with absolute precision to avoid the water grave! Lim can certainly testify to his disappointment. His tee off cut across the water surface, looking pretty good on take off but unfortunately the ball flew across the fairway and landed in the next pond! After taking a penalty drop, his 3rd shot landed perfectly about 130yds away from the green. A pitching wedge put his ball about 6ft away from the flag and eventually ended with a bogey. A very good recovery, I must say!

Never miss an opportunity!

Dinner.

   Today we went to an air conditioned restaurant nearby. We were surprised that we were the only dining group there, though the food were delicious and cheap too. Low volunteered to settle the bill, so thanks to him, we had a free dinner lo!

Jan 15 - Bangsai Country Club

Originally 18-hole, but another nine-hole, course C; was added in 2010, making it a 27-hole golf club. The owner must have the intention to make this new 9 different from other courses, so it was created with a link style with undulating and rolling fairways, which are flanked by waste land. Furthermore, the greens are mostly elevated with narrow and elongated putting surface. A welcome change from most of the flattish Bangkok golf courses.
Again we changed the flight members into:

Lim/Low/Liaw/Khoo in one group and David/Allan/Lee/Alex in another. Lim and Low continued their “fish” betting, fighting neck to neck from beginning till the end. The dual ended up all square, a happy hand shake  indeed.

Lunch.

Since we were able to finish our games early, we went to “Ruay Goong Pao “ for lunch. This restaurant is famous for its giant river prawns.

Compared to the last time we were here 5 years ago, the dining area which was built above the water by the riverside; has undergone major renovations. The structure is bigger and built with tall wooden pillars so one can have a clear view of the river and watched those huge barges plying up and

down the  river one after the other. Really not sure why the chairs are replaced with square blocks made of wood?

Walking to the edge, we could clearly see many reasonably sized cat fishes and patin fishes fighting for the prawn shells when they were thrown over the side of the floating restaurant.

The giant prawn cost THB 400 a piece and Khoo happily paid the bill which amount to about THB6000. Many many thanks to Khoo for a wonderful lunch!

After the sumptuous lunch, some of us visited the temples in the “Ancient City of Ayutthaya”. Then the group went to Wat Mahathat, but they left immediately after  being told that foreign tourist has to pay 50baht, whereas the locals only pay 10.

Dinner.

Since we had a heavy lunch not too long ago, for dinner we decided to go to a food court in town. The place has probably more than 50 dining tables in the center court, flanked by about 20 food stalls serving a variety of food. At the back, is a center stage with a local band was performing live.

After having our individual choice of dinners and 2 towers of Chang beer, we can’t help but clapped along or waved our arms towards the band, when our requested songs were played. The mood got higher after more beers went down the throats, or is it because the lady singer waved back in response? 

 Do you know what is the answer when beer is mixed with nice music? Well, just take a look at the video below for clue!

Jan 16 - Wangnoi Prestige GC.

Young Low had to leave us for a romantic redzevou with his wife to Pai, north of Chiangmai and Liaw had also decided not to join us for personal reasons; so we were able to tee-off in a “Jumbo Flight” of 6 (David/lee/Lim/Alex/Alan/Khoo).

WPGC is a very challenging course, with water hazards running, on both sides of the fairways almost on every hole. Furthermore, the greens are relatively small and guarded by high lipped bunkers in most cases. Definitely not easy to hit low scores for any casual players. This could also be one of the reasons that the course was quite empty even though Thursday was a sport day but in terms of golf package; it is still expensive compared to the last 3 courses that we had played. 

Khoo was given 2 strokes per hole to join the “Fish” betting game, true enough he took the advantage to equalize  and blocked the winner in a few occasions. He even won a “fish” by scoring net birdie on hole 13, unfortunately the fish escaped from his net immediately after.

By the time we finished the 17th hole, only Allan still held on to his 1 fish advantage. As soon as we reached the 18th tee box, it took some time for us to grasp what lies ahead. This  is going to be a really really tough hole. There are water left and right and  in front of the tee box, in a u-shape guarding the fairways.  That’s not all, there is a waste land with couple of fully grown trees right in the middle splitting the fairways into two. A good tee off is absolutely critical. Lim and Alex took the right fairways, Allan’s ball eventually found the water on the left, Khoo’s ball did not crossed the water hazard in front, whilst David’s ball landed in the waste area. Lee has the best shot in the middle of the left fairway.

Allan must have felt the pressure and knew that he had to put the next ball on the green to avoid a double bogey. True enough, after taking a penalty drop, he topped the next shot which found the water again. Apparently, Lim found water on the 2nd shot, whilst David’s 2nd shot still land the ball in the waste area about 170yds from the green. Since there was nothing to loose from, he took out his 5 wood and hit the 3rd shot from the waste area, which he said has never done before.  As if god of golf was with him, miraculously the ball found the green about 12ft to the hole. Lee has the best chance of putting his 2nd shot on the green from about 150yds away. With a 7 iron in hand, the approach was almost perfect, unfortunately the ball flew just about 2ft off the right of the flag and rolled down the elevated green. He did well to chip the ball to about 5ft from the pin, but missed the winner when the ball rolled just inches by the hole.  At the end of those grueling 18 holes, nobody caught any “fish” at all; even though Alex had the best score!

With 6 players in the game, it’s really tough to find an outright winner for a hole, coupled with the tough course conditions; the “fish” could easily slipped away in no time.

Dinner.

We went to another restaurant near the river side. Since we already had a few rounds of good local foods, we decided to order just a few simple dishes to go along with a plate of seafood fried rice. I think the management was a bit disappointed that we did not order giant fresh water prawns, which looks like a must order dish judging from the tables nearby. Who cares?

Jan 17 - home sweet home.

Since our flight departs at about 6pm in the evening, after a sumptuous breakfast at the baan; we still had plenty of time to do our last minute shopping at the wet market, which is about 10 minutes walking distance. Then we had lunch at the food court of a shopping center, more shopping before arriving at the airport about 3pm.

Accommodation.

I believe all of us agreed that Baan Bussara is a perfect choice for the 5 days stay in Ayutthaya. The rooms are clean and neat, the breakfast prepared by khun Pu; is excellent and portion is big on Asian Standard. The lady boss, khun Nud, friendly and helpful, oh ya!

I especially like the design of the baan, where rooms are arranged in a row with plenty of airy space in front . The breakfast area has just the roof over the tables, absolutely good place to gather and chat over a cup of coffee, which are provided FOC all day round. Definitely one of the cheapest home stay we have experience to-date. Only set back is probably the shortage of massage centers nearby!

The lady boss

Summary.

Total spending for the golf tour, which includes Accommodation/ Transport/ 4R golf package/ Caddy Tips/ Meals:

Finally.

We must thank Khoo and Low for generously paid the 2 dinners, thus partly accounted for the relatively low expenses.

David deserves a very big thank you from all of us for his tireless effort to plan and organize the tour.  Despite a few unpleasant encounters, he had done a marvelous job to ensure that everything runs smoothly so we could just sit back and enjoy our holidays! 

So here’s to David....”krob khun mak mak krab”!



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Ayutthaya Golf Tour - 2015 Jan 13-17

Editor's Note: it was unfortunate that the full contents were accidentally deleted while updating the post.  20.Feb 2020

Qzone Boutique Hotel - front yard

Fresh River Prawn at Ruay Goong Poa Riverside Restaurant

Golf to the South - 2014 Dec 16

16 Dec 2014 - Tiara Melaka GCC

First of all, our thanks to Francis Lai who had kindly given us 8 golf vouchers, which he won during one of his tournament; for us to play at Tiara Golf Club, Melacca. We left KL in 2 cars at 6.00 am and arrived at Ayer Keroh about 1 1/2 hrs later. After having some pau and tim sum at our favorite coffee shop, we were all eager to tee off at 8.30am.

Although some of us had played there quite a few times, except Francis and Lim; all others somehow did not find the rhythm to score. Despite playing to one of the best scores of the eight, Francis was his usual self trying to play down his good score on luck and continuously asking for strokes from his targeted opponents. Unfortunately, no one fell for his trap!

We had a sumptuous lunch at the club, with 2 bottles of red wine contributed by our ever 'loudly' Siew, who somehow also managed to get Francis to foot the bills. Thank you once again Francis and Siew....you are our savior!

Whilst Francis, Siew, James and Liaw left for home after the game, the other die hard gang of 4, comprising Dennes, Lee, Alex and Lim continued the journey south for another 2 games in JB and Singapore.

17 Dec 2014 - Sembawang Country Club, Singapore

Actually, the focus of this trip was to replay SGC because about 3 years ago when we came here, we only managed to play 9 holes as the course was undergoing reconstruction on the first nine. We were told that the whole course will have a total facelift once the whole project is completed. Our eagerness to play here was further excited by Lim, who could only stand and watch by the sideline due to increment weather when he was here recently with other KRTU members on the inter-club games. He has said in many occasions that we must come and play this course because it appears to be one of a premium class golf course comparable to KLGCC.

Since SGC is very closed to Woodland, we have decided to stay near the causeway. We found Grand Sentosa Hotel in Taman Sentosa, Johor Baru.

Grand Sentosa Hotel is a three star hotel located within a shopping mall. Quite unique in that sense. It cost below RM150 for a twin shared room with breakfast. Furthermore, the location is ideal. Besides the variety of anchors in the shopping complex, there are also many seafood restaurants, foot reflexology and body massage centers nearby. By night, there is a row of food stalls serving Chinese food on one side of the road and Malay food on the opposite side. These food stalls are just within walking distance from the hotel. 

With the intention to avoid the traffic on the causeway, we had our breakfast immediately when the hotel cafe was opened at 6am and was on the road about 15 minutes later. To our frustration, we were still caught in the traffic jam for nearly an hour. From what I see, the jam was mainly due to the fish-bone traffic dispersing system within the Immigration complex for Malaysia and Singapore. Fortunately, our tee off time was booked at 9.09am, so we still have some time to warm up on the chipping and putting greens.

a barrel of sand bottles for filing up divots

True enough, SGC has gone through a complete re-turfing, there is not a single place that resembles what we had seen previously, which was planted with cow grass. The first view really impresses us! Unfortunately, we came at the wrong time again. Due to sand tiling on the green recently, the greens were even slower than those in KRTU. As such, we don't have much fun during the round, especially Dennes who has many unkind words to say after a disastrous day. I think more and more he is becoming a grumpy old men !

18 Dec 2014 - Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club, JB

HHGCC has won numerous awards for being one of the best golf course in Malaysia for a number of years. We were not disappointed, but having a good score needs a lot of patient  and skill in putting because the greens are either undulating or has a gradient. The speed is almost doubled than what we played at Sembawang so it is not surprising to make 3 putts within 10 feet!

2 holes deserve special attention:

Hole No. 2 is a tricky Par 5 with two creeks bisecting the fairway coupled with a lateral water hazard running the entire length on the left. This is definitely a thinking hole. For an 

average golfer, even with a good tee shot, it would take another long shot to carry the second creek. Then there are myriad of bunkers that guard the elevated green!

The 18th is one of the unique finishing par-5, where the green is almost circular in shape guarded by water which run all the way on the right from tee to the green. Both Alex and Lim found the watery grave with their approach shots, while I managed to 2-putt for par. It was a nice feelings to end the day.

Although all of us scored above 90, I believe we still want to come back to play this course again. 


More photos.....

https://plus.google.com/photos/107889453367436801158/albums/6099222540153715553?authkey=CLXr7_m50runjQE