Malaysia, Sydney and More
25 August 2007 (Randy Gage is a wonderful human being. I am delighted to pass
along this adverture. Be sure to see the invitation at the end. If
you skip to the end you have missed a great deal. Steve Pohlit)
Dear Steve ,
OK, I admit it. I wasn’t feeling too prosperous this week. I just got back from my last around the world trip, and I was sick for most of it.
I’m in need of sinus surgery, but I couldn’t get it done before the trip. What I did get done was dental surgery, two days before I left. So I wasn’t really supposed to make any trips, let alone five flights across all 24 time zones. But I had things booked and people were counting on me, so I went ahead.
Now whether I had an infection from the dental surgery, or my poor sinuses couldn’t take any more of that moldy, recycled airplane air is debatable. But halfway through the trip, I was breaking down. So I guess I have to take some of my own advice and explore my own prosperity consciousness.
Stop one on the tour, and about 12 time zones into it, was Sydney, Australia, truly an amazing city and one I’ve visited at least ten times. The Aussies are such a fun, friendly and ongoing people, you’ll feel welcome instantly. And it’s about the last country left in the world that doesn’t hate Americans, because of president George “Give ‘em democracy or give ‘em death” Bush.
I took Qantas from LA and had a nice experience. For some reason they don’t use the First Class cabin to Melbourne and their Business Class is pretty mediocre, so I’ve been avoiding them.
Happily they do have a First Class to Sydney, and the service was very friendly and accommodating.
If you’re a road warrior who travels for business, I can recommend the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney. Stay on one of the Executive Floors. Even when I’ve been gone six or nine months, the staff remembers and greets me by name. Unfortunately the “I am Angus” steakhouse (which was one of the world’s finest) is no longer there. Ask the staff to direct you to Bambini’s, which is just a few doors down Elizabeth Street, for lunch or dinner.
Order the spagattini with chili’s and shrimp, which is delectably tasty and clears your sinuses at the same time! If you don’t want the sinus treatment, ask them to leave out the chili’s.
If you’re there on the weekend, take a stroll down to “the Rocks” which is located by the Sydney harbor. You’ll find a flea market full of a lot of chintzy souvenirs, but also some cool handcrafts, homemade fudge, and other cool treats.
Look for the little Chinese ladies who offer the chair massages.
Most of them don’t weigh 70 pounds soaking wet, but when they put their elbow into your neck and shoulder muscles and grab you with their death claw grip, you’ll think Hulk Hogan is working on you.
I flew Malaysia Airlines to Kuala Lumpur, which was my first time with them. Not quite up to the standards of Cathay Pacific, but excellent nevertheless. The plane was fairly old, but the seats stretch out for four windows, there are fresh flowers in the cabin, and over 300 hours of movies and shows in the personal entertainment systems.
The service was gracious, friendly, and actually a little too smothering. There were only three of us passengers up front and four flight attendants hovering over us. Every time you go to the lav someone rushes over to open the door for you, they wait by and jump to hold it open when you leave, if you close your eyes for ten seconds they run over and cover you with a blanket, when you stir they run over turn on the light, ask what you want to drink and open the windows, etc. It all sounds very nice, but in fact it ends up making you feel like you have no privacy.
Which you don’t. But I’m giving them bonus points for being the only Asian airline that actually has slippers big enough for my feet!
The meal service was great. For starters the Malaysian Satay, five leaf green salad, and fried seafood with mango salsa were sumptuous. I decided to get out of my dining rut and try the vegetable strudel, which was wonderful. But you must wash it all down with “teh tarik,” a sweet traditional Malaysian hot tea.
If you’ve been a regular reader, then you know all about the wonders of KL. It’s one of the most fascinating places on earth.
And I was excited to get back. Unfortunately by the time I landed there, my body was going on strike, so I spent most of the time in bed.
People had come from all over Malaysia and a few small groups had traveled in from Singapore and I didn’t want to disappoint them. So I gathered my strength and did a 90-minute presentation Tuesday night. Then at the break, I sneaked out the back, and let my team members finish the training.
Fortunately I was staying at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur, which bills itself as the best business hotel and they’ll get no argument from me. When you arrive, the doormen bow and place their hands over their heart, in the traditional Malay welcome.
The architecture, interior design and artwork in the place are stunning. The elevator lobby has two bellmen in white gloves, calling the cars for you. My suite had two large HD flat screen TV’s, a killer stereo system, and a two-level balcony with a built-in Jacuzzi.
The service is gracious and immediate for anything you need. The room service waiter actually gave me his card and instructed me to call the hotline and ask for him by name for anything. If you’re going to be sick on the road – this is the hotel you want to be in.
KLIA bills itself as the best airport in the world, and that gets no argument either. The shops there have just about every great designer in the world, it’s well signed, spotless and friendly. It really is a model of how to run an airport.
If you go through there, find the little massage place in the wing where the tram lets you out for international departures. I got a 45-minute reflexology treatment that totally reinvigorated me for my flight to Hong Kong. That was on Cathay Pacific, and shockingly, I have to say wasn’t as good as the flight I had on Malaysia Airlines. Not that it was bad; it wasn’t. But you expect so much from them if it isn’t spectacular you’re disappointed.
They made up for it with a great First Class lounge at the Hong Kong airport. I took a shower and changed clothes, caught up my emails and had a nice dinner in there on my layover.
Then on the flight from Hong Kong to London, they were back to their usual extraordinary service. Unfortunately it wasn’t fitted with their newest seats and interior, but the food, amenities and care were up to par.
Fortunately I had a few days in London to recharge and heal before my event. And fortunately one of those was one of the five days of summer they’ve had this year. I walked around Piccadilly, ate lousy British food, and just relaxed.
The London event went great. A good crowd even though the tube line to that area was shut down that morning with no notice. The attendees were fired up and excited about achieving prosperity.
I also discovered one of the best-kept secrets in the UK this trip – a band called “Never the Bride.” Of course I say best-kept secrets, but that’s probably outside of England.
Because Roger Daltry has called Nikki Lamborn the lead singer of the group, the best female vocalist since Janis Joplin. And he has a good point. Nikki has a hauntingly beautiful raw sound – a mélange of Janice, Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morrisette and Stevie Nicks.
There’s a tribute disc to Led Zeppelin called Encomium, featuring artists like Sheryl Crow, Hootie and the Blowfish, Stone Temple Pilots, and Blind Melon. Never the Bride does a cover of “Going to California” that is the most soulful interpretation of a Zeppelin song you’ll ever hear. Head over to a music store or Amazon.com and pick up that disc and the group’s regular albums, the self-titled “Never the Bride” on the Atlantic label and “Surprise.”
Heading home from London I was on British Airways. Once again, I can’t complain. They had lie flat sleeper seats, great food and pleasant service. But next time I really want to try Virgin and see how they have raised the bar.
So all told, it was a great trip. I have to take better care of myself and schedule my travel accordingly. But if you’re going to travel sick, there are worse ways to do it.
I have my sinus surgery next week and looking forward to a perfect bill of health. Then I’m celebrating with short vacations in New Orleans and a Cirque du Soleil fest in Vegas.
I’ll check in from one of these places.
Before I go, I wanted to alert you about a special opportunity that could be important to you. I just received a message from Derek Gehl of the Internet Marketing Center, who has convinced his elite team of eBay PowerSellers to let him put their proven success system down on paper, so ANYONE can use it to achieve life-changing income on eBay.
Now you should know, I’m not talking about selling junk from around your house or scrounging stuff from flea markets and reselling it on eBay. This is the same system his eBay experts are using to teach their students how to build their own successful eBay businesses. Many of these students are making $1,000 to $10,000 a month on eBay — within a matter of weeks.
Anyway, here’s where the ‘opportunity’ part comes in…
Because this is the first time he’s released this system to the general public, he needs more people who can “testify” that his system actually works. So if making at least $100,000+ in your first year is something that interests you, I’d like to invite you to check out a “review copy” of his new eBay profit system and give it a try.
And because he has so much confidence in this system, he’s willing to let you test-drive it absolutely risk free for a full 30 days — for only 99 cents!
He’s banking on the fact that you’ll be up and running and making big profits on eBay in the next month or so, and will write him a nice testimonial that he can put up on his web page when he rolls out his full launch of this system to the public.
And if not, just send it back and it won’t have cost you anything. So I think it’s definitely worth a look on your part.
You can take part by going to:
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I’m sweltering in the humidity here, but it’s good to be playing softball again. Have a great week!
-RG
PS RS is for Randy Gage. Click Here for his marvelous newsletter which is FREE
P.S.S. How would you like to work with Randy. “I Do” Yes that is completely correct. I am part of Randy’s team and proud of it. My last meeting with him was in July in Orlando. Look at this venture and see if “you get it” Click Here Now
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