Saying Hello From The Land Of 3 ASSES

Yeah... but not those stinking ASSES hahaha..

Hi Steemians.. my name is Sabri - from the land of Sun, Sand And Sea - the 3 S'es that everybody loves :-D

I am from Malaysia, which recently has became quite famous - for all the wrong reasons... *sigh*  You might have read about the missing flight MH370, flight MH17 which was shot down in Ukraine and the most recent and hot - one of the biggest corruption/theft scandal involving the theft of at least USD4B from a wealth sovereign fund 1MDB.

Like I said, famous for all the wrong reasons LOL.  Yes the flight incidences were no laughing matter but I believe you understand what I was laughing at :-)

Now, more about me as the subject of this post.  I came from a very remote place called Batu Kurau in one of the northern states in Peninsular(west) Malaysia named Perak.  Residence of Batu Kurau consists mainly of farmers.

Rustic little town of Batu Kurau

Batu Kurau sits at the foot of mountain ranges which is still roamed by tigers, tapirs, deers, a few types of primates, wild boars and many others.  In the days of my great grandfather, the villages were sometimes being "visited" by elephants.  They were, by nature, gentle and shy but their size and appetite could proved to be too much too handle.  Quit often they would scratch their bodies against the farmers houses after feasting on banana trees and other vegetations.  Imagine the horror :-)  Elephants are no longer around.  At least, no longer seen by farmers who hunt dears and rattan harvesters(for lack of a better word).  I believe they have moved further into the virgin forest.  Malaysia has the oldest rain forests in the world, mind you.  Older than the amazon's. 

As time pasts, population grew bigger and hence the need for more farm lands.  The highlands are very fertile. From this hills, flow gorgeous streams and waterfalls.  Farmers would grow bananas and durians on the lower parts of the hills.  Durians from Batu Kurau are regarded as the best in the country.  To some, it tasted like rotten onions.  To it's lovers, durian is very creamy, like a very rich custard, sweat and almost sinful heheh... in Malaysia, Durian is regarded as the King Of Fruits.

Currently in season.  Average of about 1.2KG/fruit.  USD1/KG

What a good fruit looks like on the inside.  Hmmm YUMMY!!!

Now, it has not always been a village "boy"for me.  I grew up in Ipoh, about 100 KM from Batu Kurau.  Only after my father's retirement from the Police force, that we moved back to his home town.

I have had my fair share of city life having lived in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Melbourne and Newcastle.  Back in the days when I was a student, then as employees of a few international banks, insurance companies and trading firms.

Trained in banking and insurance but was never interested in paperworks :-)  I found my passion in beautiful things which made me left everything and jumped straight into retail starting with Hugo Boss - as a junior sales staff.  From there, I moved on to higher end products in audio visual products, watches and jewellery.  My education did help me to move up very fast in the hierarchy but I really jumped into the trade blindfolded, so to speak.  How high end?  One of the watch brands that I dealt with has a men's watch costing about USD1M - back in year 2000.  And we sold it!  Sweet... :-))

High end retail took me places.  It came to a point that I was traveling every fortnightly and the thought of going to the airport was so "troubling".  Going through the whole process was no longer fun.  I was attached to a Swiss company based in Singapore overlooking the regional retail business of a high end French Jewellery brand.

I like Singapore but was so stressful living in a city state that is so tiny.  I didn't know what to do on my weekends.  I missed my leisurely drive around Kuala Lumpur.  Kuala Lumpur is quite a big city but is surrounded with waterfalls, cool highlands and the sea - all can be reached within an hour's drive.

So I packed my bags(well, one whole four wheeler actually) quit my last job Singapore in 2004, and moved back to Malaysia.  have not been employed ever since.  I chose to work from home doing whatever I can.  I trade forex online, I do internet marketing, I do commodity trading, I do business consultancy, I brew my own Vape ejuice and sell them to friends, I blend my own essential oil based therapeutic body and facial oils (plan to sell them too) and in between all these, I cook for friends and families as a hobby.

Perhaps, I should write about these various topics.  We'll see :-)

So there you go guys.  A bit about me and I am glad to become part of this new family.

Cheers,

 Sabri

p/s - I'll write about the 3 S'es soon :-)