Zimbabwe Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

After visiting a number of embassies in a number of countries, I have a collection of mixed feelings on how some governments portray themselves overseas. Speaking of my own embassy in Kuala Lumpur, The Zimbabwe High Commission, I am so proud of the staff there. It’s always a cool feeling to be at the embassy, a feeling of being at home in a foreign country. The staff at the Zimbabwe Embassy in Kuala Lumpur are the best one can wish for. Professionalism is defined by these delegates who welcomes you and attend to you and assist you with the warmest of hearts. Bravo Zimbabwe Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. We are proud of you.

A Ride to FELCRA...

What a beautiful morning it is today with the temp- eratures very tolerant and the skies partially clear. We set to go to LUMUT or somewhere near LUMUT but on the way we discovered my friend's bicycle was behaving funny.

We decided to take an exper- imental route hoping to cover as much distance as we can to punish our muscles and Abdel's stomach which is bigger than mine. Here is where we ended up .... in a village called FELCRA.

It's a well organized settlement and for us coming from Africa and knowing the true meaning of what a village is, this was just nice. First Check on the road to the village. This kind of roads they call them Kampong road meaning village roads. The grass by the road sides is well manicured and the palm plantations just make you smile all the way.

My Chadian friend was telling me that this qualifies to be a Highway in his country. In my country too this is by far a road of high standards.

The beauty of this route lies in the vegetation along the road. Palm plantations, Banana Plantations, natural forest and the green grass all purifying the air. I can tell you the air is just clean even your nose will be smiling while breathing.its rare to see my Chadian friend smile at nothing but today he was just beaming from ear to ear. Look at his amazed face.

Because of all these the ride was smooth and like we were cycling on a flat road. we didn't feel the exhaustion because our senses of tiredness were pre-occupied by the beauty of nature. God is Great.

The path is mainly up hill as we approached our unknown destination. Amazing, my Chadian friend can sweat at nothing. Even breathing makes him sweat hahahahha, but today he was not even shading a single drop of sweat. He was enjoying as much as I was. We could see one or two people in the palm plantations once in a while, one or two cars passed us the entire ride. you can imagine how clean the air is no cars no people only healthy trees and two Africans.

As we arrived at the manned security gate we were amazed by the security guard who welcomed us in good English. I was itching to put my average knowledge of Malay language into practice but i had no chance. This man was up-to it and we gave a chance to practice his English. It was nice. Coincidentally The security man we met has a brother working in My country Zimbabwe and has been there for nearly 2 years. He couldn't hide his joy in meeting a Zimbabwean in a Malaysian village. It rare i can tell you this. He gave us a brief but full history of the village and let us through to and wished us well. I wonder why most Africans say Malaysians are not welcoming. My Chadian friend can testify, we have had great receptions everywhere we go, people waving at us on bicycles and young kids mobbing at us. its a great feeling to be welcome.

We entered the village and believe me its not anywhere near a village you imagine. Well structured, well built, well organized houses, well kept grass and roadsides. Not even a single piece of garbage did we witness along the roads. Its a clean village and the people were wonderful. All of them smiling at us and waving. This is when we met our new friend, the young ever smiling guy who gave us a tour of the village. We cycled from one end to the other, and explored all corners.

Abdel was ecstatic about the Mosque. Its a marvel in the middle of the village. He was saying if it was in his home land it would be a land mark. after riding for well over an hour around the village we decided it was enough and we turned our backs on the village. BUT we had another surprise, our second friend, we call him abang. A cycling enthusiast like us but he is more professional. He attacked us from behind. With the speed he approached us we knew what to expect. We knew even before he can near to us that he was a good cyclist, his bike was four or five times more expensive than ours and he was in full cycling kit. We exchanged greetings. THEN he took us for a ride which was an experience for my Chadian friend. Off road, through the thick palm plantations, across pools of mud and dirty water, make shift bridges and a dirty road. Hahahaha it was fun for me having taken part in a more challenging race weeks before but it was scary for Abdel who had his first experience through a Malaysian Palm Plantation on a bike with a stranger. Before we knew it we were back in our own territory. The short ride summed up our wonderful day and believe me, we enjoyed every bit. For those of you who have never seen what a tired Chadian look like, here is a tired Abdel at his house seconds after arriving. Another day ......... another ride, next stop LUMUT 60 Km from home to the BEACH ....... Watch this space for trips around Perak.

Friends ..

The Friendship Dilemma


What do you consider in a friend? How do you choose friends? Who is your friend?

Sometimes I find it difficult to define my criteria for choosing friends. In most cases they are new people I do not know about. In some few cases they are people I have known for a long time. The most important thing is I consider only people I have something in common with as friends. But who really is my friend ?

A friend is a person that someone likes or knows. People who are friends talk to each other and spend time together. They also help each other when they are in trouble. Friends are people that can be looked up to and trusted. A friend is one who admires a person's skill and helps or encourages them to make the right choices.

People sometimes call their closest friend their "best friend." If a person become very good friends with someone, they are called their boyfriend or girlfriend. This means that they like them very much, and have formed a relationship. Women often use the word girlfriend when referring to their close female friends.

I have taken the trouble to look for articles which might best help identify and keep good friends. You might be interested in going through who knows you might get one or two things to take with you.

Join a club with people who have common interests.

You don't necessarily have to have a lot of common interests with people in order to make friends with them. In fact, some of the most rewarding friendships are between two people who don't have much in common at all, but if you have something in common with people, it can make it a lot easier to start a conversation and plan activities together.

Use the web, but get out! You can join any group or just start your own. If you don't know of a specific topic, try searching for just a location. It's a great way to meet new local people! Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are great way to meet new people and learn more about the people you meet.

Join a sports team. A common misconception about this is that you have to be really good at playing a particular sport in order to make friends with others on the team, but not all teams are so competitive. As long as you enjoy the sport and support your teammates, joining a local team with a laid-back attitude could be a great way to make new friends.

Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way for people of all ages to meet others. By working together you build bonds with people, and you might meet others who have a passion for changing things the way you do—a common cause.

Talk to people. You can join a club, go to school, or go to church, and you still won't make friends if you don't actually talk to people. By the same token, you don't have to be involved with an organization to talk to people, and any time you talk to someone, you have a chance at making a lasting friend. You can talk to anybody: the clerk at the video store, the person sitting next to you on the bus, or the person in front of you on the lunch line. Don't be too picky. Most conversations will be a dead-end of sorts--when you may never talk to that person again, or you just remain acquaintances--but once in a while you'll actually make a friend.

Make eye contact and smile. If you have an unfriendly countenance, people are less likely to be receptive to your friendship. Be approachable by not squinting (get some glasses), frowning or appearing blankly deadpan, such expressions may look troubled or disinterested.

Start a conversation. There are many ways to do this; a comment about your immediate environment (The weather is a classic: "At least it's not raining like last week!"), a request for help ("Can you help me carry a few boxes, if you have a minute?" or "Can you help me decide which one of these is a better gift for my mom?") or a compliment ("That's a nice car." or "I love your shoes."). Follow up immediately with a related question: Do you like this warm weather? What kinds of gifts do you normally buy for your mom? Where did you get shoes like that?

Make small talk. Keep the conversation light and cheery. Even if you're complaining about something, make sure it's something you're both dissatisfied with, and emphasize the positive—how such a situation can be avoided in the future, or alternatives. Bounce a few words back and forth for a little bit.

Introduce yourself towards the end of the conversation. It can be as simple as saying "Oh, by the way, my name is...". Once you introduce yourself, the other person will typically do the same. Remember his or her name.

Initiate a get-together. You can chat your heart out but it won't get you a friend if you don't open up the opportunity for another conversation or meeting. This is especially important if you meet someone who you aren't otherwise likely to meet again. Seize the day!

If you've discovered that the person you're talking to has a common interest, ask him or her more about it and, if appropriate, whether they get together with others (in a club, for example) to pursue this interest. If so, this is a perfect opportunity to ask about joining them. If you clearly express interest (when? where? can anyone come?) they'll probably invite you. If you have a club, band, church, etc. that you think they might enjoy, take the opportunity to give them your number or email address and invite them to join you.

Ask them out for lunch or coffee. That will give you a better opportunity to talk and get to know each other a little bit better. A good way to extend yourself is to say: "Hey, well, I've got to go, but if you ever want to talk over lunch or coffee or anything like that, let me give you my number/e-mail address." This gives the person the opportunity to contact you; they may or may not give you their information in return, but that's fine. Maybe they don't have time for new friends—don't take it personally! Just offer your contact info to whoever seems to be potentially a good friend, and eventually somebody will get in touch.

Don't do anything to pressure someone into being friends with you. Never chide acquaintances for failing to invite you to a party, for example; don't call someone repeatedly or stop by uninvited (unless you have established that stopping by unannounced is o.k.); and refrain from overstaying your welcome anywhere. In general, take friendship slowly, and don't try to force intimacy to grow quickly; the move from acquaintance to friend can take a long time. It's understandable to want more of a good thing, but try to err on the side of less. If you are not sure about the pace of your new friendship, check in with your friend and ask directly. Too much, too fast can be scary or intimidating, and not everybody is able to say "Slow down..." - instead, they may run the other way!

Be a good friend. Once you've started spending time with potential friends, remember to do your part (i.e. initiating some of the activities, remembering birthdays, asking how the other person is feeling) or else the friendship will become unbalanced and an uneasiness or distance is likely to arise.

Be reliable. If you and your friend agree to meet somewhere, don't be late, and do not stand them up. If you're not going to make it on time or make it at all, call them as soon as you realize it. Apologize and ask to reschedule. Don't make them wait for you unexpectedly; it's rude, and it is certainly not a good way to launch a potential friendship. When you say you'll do something, do it. Be someone that people know that they can count on.

Be a good listener. Many people think that in order to be seen as "friend material" they have to appear very interesting. Far more important than this, however, is the ability to show that you're interested in others. Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them (their names, their likes and dislikes), ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them. You don't want to be the guy or girl that always has a better story than anyone else or that changes the subject abruptly instead of continuing the flow of conversation. These people appear too wrapped up in themselves to be good friends--"one-ups-man-ship" is a put down.

Be trustworthy. One of the best things about having a friend is that you have someone to whom you can talk about anything, even secrets that you hide from the rest of the world. The key to being a good confidante is the ability to keep secrets, so it's no secret that you shouldn't tell other people things that were told to you in confidence. Before people even feel comfortable opening up to you, however, you need to build trust. Be honest about yourself and your beliefs, and don't gossip about others or spread rumors or they will think you like stories better than friends.

Be there for the person. You've probably heard of fair-weather friends. They're the ones who are happy to be around you when things are going well, but are nowhere to be found when you really need them. Part of being a friend is being prepared to make sacrifices of your time and energy in order to help out your friends. If a friend needs help with an unpleasant chore, or if he or she just needs a shoulder to cry on, be there.

Choose your friends wisely. As you befriend more people, you may find that some are easier to get along with than others. While you always give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes you realize that certain friendships are unhealthy, such as if a person is obsessively needy or controlling towards you, constantly critical, or introducing dangers or threats into your life. If this is the case, ease your way out of the friendship as gracefully as possible. Preoccupy yourself with other things, such as a new volunteer opportunity, so that you can honestly say that you don't have enough time in your schedule to spend time with them (but don't substitute their time for time with other friends; they may notice and become jealous, and more drama will ensue). Cherish those friends you make who are a positive influence in your life, and do your best to be a positive influence in theirs.

In the begining .....

Life without experiences is an empty life. We all learn from our life experiences. Our past helps us to overcome the present and prepare for the future. Every new day is a life experience, for simulating never cease but only begin. As we are born Tabula Rasa we grow up by filling our empty selves with these experiences. In the beginning it was me and God. Now its ME, YOU and GOD .... Let the journey continue........