when the bug bites the girl

In-Di-Ah!

2011-08-09T19:00:00.004+08:00

Namaste!

It's been awhile, eh? Erm, actually 3 months passed by and this blog needs dusting.

Just came back from India - Delhi, Agra, Jaipur; nicely tanned golden brown :)

Red Fort.

India Gate.

Qut'b Minar.

Taj Mahal.

Hope to update more soon!

Good To Share on Cinco de Mayo

2011-05-05T09:30:00.001+08:00

"We tend to pursue happiness by trying to obtain things we lack. That's an iffy proposition, and it focuses all our attention on our own neediness. If we don't get what we want, we may end up feeling victimized, which predisposes us to anger and depression. Kindness and helpfulness, by contrast, generate positive circumstances from within. They give us a sense of efficacy we can't get from trying to control all the forces that impact our lives. Moreover, helping others tends to create one of the most powerful psychological conditions known to humankind: gratitude."

~ Martha Beck

BIM 2011 : Half Marathon - Done and Dusted.

2011-05-03T21:58:00.005+08:00

By virtue of completing my first ever half marathon and earning myself a finisher's medal, I hereby bestow upon myself bragging rights for one year and ... erm, hereby promise I will try better in the next run!

It wasn't as bad as I expected :)

Sweet!

Yeay! Let me savour the moment, don't burst my bubble!

Itchy Feet.

2011-04-21T08:28:00.001+08:00

Hello! :-)

I've been rather busy with work lately - which is good, no? - but my feet have been itching to travel. Real bad, so bad I am beginning to get fidgety on weekends.

It feels like I've been grounded or something, as I have not travelled at all since early March. But I keep reminding myself that I need to have the patience. The closest thing to 'travel' that I'm gonna be in the next few months is getting my passport renewed next month. Grrrr.

Anyway, good things come to those who wait. For the time being I'll get my happyness from books, friends, and hopefully, a 21K medal sometime next week! And a lot of Butterflies in my stomach!!

Here's to adventure! Yours and mine :)

May all your travels be happy and safe.

My Own Private Sukau.

2011-03-15T22:18:00.002+08:00

I was in Sukau very briefly last week.

Did I say I love the place, after my last trip in 2009? I love it even more now.

The highlight this time is our encounter with two herds of elephants during our afternoon cruise. I think this is the closest that I've been with these gentle wild creatures. The babies were so cute!

Cute.

Cuter.

Cutest.

They changed their minds about getting into the river and went back to eating.

Adorable baby.

Well, that's their dung after all that fibrous meal. Elephants eat up to 150 kg of food per day.

Orang utan bridge - we call it Sydney bridge :)

A long tailed macaque on another bridge at Sg Resang.

The resident payau at Sukau B&B.

One thing I've found out and seen on this trip - the passionate people who work tirelessly to protect the wildlife. They have my utmost respect and admiration. The unsung heroes.

I hope to return to this lovely peaceful little place again one day soon.

This is me = happy :) *hearts Sukau*

Thunderbolts and Lightning. (or, I guess I'll just call it the blues)

2011-03-08T06:25:00.006+08:00

Good morning.

It's 6:25 am in the big city and I've been wide awake for the past hour.

It rained heavily earlier and is still drizzling now so I've decided to abandon my morning run today and sleep in a bit. Or, at least that's what I thought I'd do. Could not sleep anymore so I started packing my stuff.

Today is my last day of my short trip here.

I think I am already experiencing ... some kind of 'separation anxiety'? Is that what it's called? No, maybe it's called post-vacation depression? Ah, or simply, it's just the blues. Yupp, I guess I'll just call it the blues :)

Have you ever felt this way after a vacation?

p.s. Not much to report in this trip; half work-half play.

At Tiga on Tiga (My Name is Mud).

2011-02-10T22:10:00.003+08:00

On the 3rd of February, the first day of the Lunar New Year, my wish to go to Pulau Tiga finally materialised. Yeay for great weather that day!

I chose not to go by land (boring) and found a boat operator that offers a daytrip there - the trip was dependent on the sea conditions and was not confirmed until late the evening before.

We left KK at 7:40 am and reached the Kuala Penyu waters just before 9:00 am. Approaching Pulau Kalampunian Damit a.k.a. Snake Island, our first stop.

The jetty has solar panels to power the lights. Cool.

The very 'enthusiastic' group of tourists from China; a couple and a family of 8. Altogether there were 11 of us and I am the local sesat :P

Ugh. I debated whether I should go and walk around looking for snakes after reading this warning. I eventually did go walk a bit, very cautiously.

There were two snakes (maybe more) sleeping under the jetty and that was enough for me.

Does anyone know what that white 'tombstone' like thing is on the rocky shore? The boatman did not know.

Next stop was across to Pulau Kalampunian Besar, which is actually a long sand bar.

Burying my feet in the cool wet sand.

I managed to ask one of the tourists to take this for me. The sun was so bright I had to wear shades! (my fav white tee I *heart* Tabin)

Next we went snorkelling in the waters between Pulau Tiga and Kalampunian Besar. It took the group ages to get themselves ready that the boatman looked at me and shook his head in amusement. Thing is, they were talking (shouting?) so loud to each other we were not sure whether that's just normal or they were angry?

The boatman gave me this live shell thingy (sorry I don't know its name). Took some pictures - so did the group - and let it back into the waters of course because Pulau Tiga is a gazetted area under Sabah Parks. Don't want to get into trouble.

Anyway, snorkelling was AWESOME because I conquered my usual fear and jitters of jumping in the open water. Blocking out all negative thoughts I floated, rather elegantly I'd like to claim and believe, haha! And the boatman took me to see huge colourful Nemos a distance away from where the boat was anchored. I was as excited and grinning as much as I could underwater :DDDDDD

Then the granny in the family (yes, it was three generations) felt unwell and was throwing up so we had to send her to the Pulau Tiga jetty first. Thankfully only five of us decided to continue snorkelling and we went to another deeper area. After some time, it was time for lunch so we headed to Pulau Tiga for a simple packed lunch. I went for a walk along the beach and the resort area while the group took their time for the meal.

Welcome to Pulau Tiga! Survivor Island! Where the tribes had spoken!

Gazetted areas of Pulau Tiga.

If I had time to nap I'd nap here under the tree, on the beach.

Remember these from Survivor? They're weather-beaten already but still intact lah. What were the tribes - Pagong and ... Linguini? No, that's not right.

Any place that has a hammock is okay by me :) I love hammocks.

Relics - two bombs and an anchor.

The island is quite well-maintained I must say. Sabah Park rangers and staff are stationed there so it was all clean and green.

Found someone's recent declaration of love that got washed away. Must be that couple we had seen earlier.

After lunch, 7 of us headed towards the mud volcano which was about 1.1 km away on a short trail. The boatman was our guide (in black right in front) and he was happily bouncing away barefoot, for a reason I found out only later.

Yeay! We reached there in less than 15 minutes. The rest got bitten by mosquitoes. I was safe!

Four feet deep?

This 'caged' area is for a mud spout reserved for facial use only. ('Maskar sahaja. Mask Only')

So, this is the famous mud pit of Pulau Tiga. Looks very much like tempat kerbau berkubang.

Plop, plop, plop, it bubbled softly. Sorta.

The mud was really slick and slippery.

Jump in, folks! (Though you can't really do that because .. well it's not encouraged)

My name is mud. No pics while I was wading through like a kerbau. Inside the pit the mud was actually quite cool, no wonder kerbaus enjoy staying inside. It did have one kind of smell, but nothing awful. Since the pit is right in the middle of the jungle, there were a lot of debris from vegetation around it so that's why the mud is not as pure as the one in Tabin.

My declaration for JM :) xoxo.

So the reason you don't need to wear footwear to the mud pit is that there is absolutely no way you can walk back in them! I decided to walk back barefoot and hand-carry my flip flops. Oh, there is small water tank to wash your hands only, so in your full muddy glory, you walk back to the beach to wash up.

We walked back and as soon as we reached the beach the boatman told us to hurry as the wind was getting quite strong and the seas would be very choppy. True enough, the return leg was awfully bumpy and as much as I tried to hold back the contents of my stomach, I threw up FOUR times about 1.5 hours into the journey. I can't remember the last time I threw up like that. It took us longer this time, almost 2.5 hours due to the choppy waters.

All in all I enjoyed the day very much (except the part when I regurgitated my lunch) and won't mind going again on a whim!

I was determined to leave my mark :) '

I'll be back!

Reza Salleh : You Got Me At 'For Her'.

2011-02-06T12:45:00.006+08:00

This holiday weekend's music supply comes courtesy of our very own Reza Salleh, "singer-songwriter, noise polluter, food addict" :D (his words, not mine)

How did I 'discover' Reza?

I have to admit I don't really follow much of local music industry. It must have been a lucky day for me as I was flipping channels and saw him on TV3's morning show. (Now please allow me to immortalise the date, it was Tuesday, January 18th, 2011. I remember because I journalled it. Epic moment lah :))

When he sang Kasih, I thought, wth, this guy is very good! Then later, after the interview with the comperes and his acoustic rendition of For Her, I was already impressed. A little research followed and I found his FB page, and after listening to Stracciatella, I fell - hook, line and sinker.

I made up my mind to go get his album at Rock Corner when I was in KL later that weekend. REALIZE contains 16 tracks (including two bonus tracks) all composed and arranged by the man himself. There's a booklet insert where the lyrics are, which is great because I can then sing to my heart's content! (in the shower :P)

The more I listen to the album, the more I love it. If before, for some strange reason, I seem to be stuck only with Stracciatella, I now play the whole album on repeat.

Apart from my top favs Stracciatella, Sunsets With You, Kasih, For Her, I also like this one song and its awesome title; What The Hell Just Happened I'm Not Really Sure, which is track no. 4 and captures "his inability to feel, sense and to see the vital things that make you blue". That's like, speaking for the entire male species, no? :P Yes, men, this is a song you never expect to be written about those 'burning' moments when you simply have no idea what happened; Reza has now put his finger on it.

And Stracciatella? Reza said, it's about 'loving someone who doesn't love you back the same way'. Oh. No wonder it resonates.

(By the way, Stracciatella is his favourite gelato flavour. Not mentioned at all in the song. Just a title. So, offer to buy him this gelato if you bump into him, maybe he'll say yes)

When I met him at KLPac the day after the album purchase, I asked him to autograph it for me (fan girl moment, okay). Expecting only his signature, I got more than that! He actually remembered what I wrote on his FB wall and wrote the above! Yes, REALIZE is my very first Malaysian CD purchase. That's so nice and sweet of him to remember, kan? Me = happy girl.

One more picture for good measure. (yeah, that's Twitter in the background)

Monday, June 27th, 2011 - I know where I want to be :) Reza will be performing at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas! Must make that happen. Which means I have to make sure I survive SC-KLM the day before, eeeks!

Okaylah, let me show-off this picture again. If my memory serves me right, my parting words were (to his sister), "I'll continue to stalk him" Hahahahahaha! Sounds so psycho-gila.

In the meantime, it's gonna be Ocean Spanning Sorrow in the Relic That I Live In.

No, this is not a sponsored post :)

Gong Xi Gong Xi !

2011-02-05T12:22:00.006+08:00

Gong Xi Fa Cai dear friends!

Wishing you a hoppity-hop Golden Bunny new year! These are pics from Pavilion taken during my last trip to KL.

Fat, round, white bunny - very prosperous!

They had these drums that you can beat to your hearts content.

This I beat the longest and loudest as did almost everyone else! :D

I loved that the skies were lit up with grand firework displays courtesy of my neighbours on CNY eve; never mind the deafening booms and such.

Good Health and Good Wealth for all!

And The Oscar Goes To ...

2011-02-01T22:25:00.001+08:00

I had plenty of time to kill the past few weeks hence I assigned myself a little personal 'project'.

It's the awards season in Hollywood, so after watching The Golden Globes recently I thought of watching all 10 movies nominated for Best Film and perhaps some other Oscar-worthy noms.

pic : reelmovienews.com

And yesterday I completed the 'assignment' ahead of schedule. Movies like Inception, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours I've watched earlier so these are the ones in the past two weeks. The Oscar nominees for Best Film are :

127 Hours : Director - Danny Boyle

Toy Story 3 : Director - Lee Unkrich

Inception : Director - Chris Nolan

The Social Network : Director - David Fincher

The King's Speech : Director - Tom Hooper

The Black Swan : Director Darren Aronofsky

True Grit : Directors - Ethan and Joel Coen

The Kids Are All Right : Director - Lisa Cholodenko

Winter's Bone : Director - Debra Granik

The Fighter : Director - David O. Russell

In the above category, the film I enjoyed the most for its entertainment value : INCEPTION. (But they snubbed Chris Nolan in the Best Director category, wth?); film that I was pleasantly surprised with : TRUE GRIT, from the Coen brothers. THE BLACK SWAN was very good, more intense than I expected. I am biased with 127 HOURS because of James Franco so no need to ask me :-)

I think the frontrunners are : The King's Speech, The Black Swan, True Grit. I'd love for Inception to rock the boat and win this category - and, who knows, maybe The Social Network will win again? The 'weaker' ones are The Fighter, Toy Story 3 and The Kids Are All Right. The Social Network won The Golden Globes for this category, and history shows that they never give the Oscar to the same film. We'll see.

Best Director : I'd give it to either Darren Aronofsky or the Coen brothers. (David Fincher won the Globe and Tom Hooper won the DGA earlier.)

Best Actor - I pick either Jeff Bridges (True Grit) or Colin Firth (The King's Speech). Pity I have not watched Javier Bardem's Biutiful, he's a fine actor too. Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco gave fine performances too, but realistically they are long shots. Sorry JF love, your time will come.

Best Actress - Natalie Portman (The Black Swan) Loved her since The Professional!

Best Supporting Actor - first choice, Christian Bale (he's just nuts in The Fighter), second Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech).

Best Supporting Actress - I really like 14 year old Hailee Steinfield's breakout performance in True Grit. Some may say she's too young for the award, but remember, Anna Paquin was only 11 when she won for that superb acting in The Piano. I don't know why Melissa Leo got it twice now, the Globe and the SAG.

We'll just have to wait till 27th February for the results!

p.s. I watched The Town too, which starred and is directed by Ben Affleck. A very good movie, I enjoyed it.

A Grand Day Out - KLPac Open Day 2011

2011-01-26T19:55:00.003+08:00

So I found myself in KL last weekend.

This time my Firefly ticket breaks the previous record of being the cheapest ever for a BKI-KUL return trip. Woot! Being a little bit kiasu pays sometimes :P

Having ditched earlier plans to go daytripping I decided to stay in the city and go around checking out books, running stuff and some windowshopping. I am also pleased to say that I ~~managed to drag myself~~ went for a run at KLCC Park for the first time on Saturday morning, followed by a walk at the Lake Gardens on Sunday morning. Most enjoyable! I think BackHome just cemented its spot as the perfect location for me to stay in KL.

Lake Gardens, 15 minutes away - nice place for a walk/run.

Earlier plans for Sunday morning got ditched, hence I had to find something to do to kill time. Fortunately I saw Reza Salleh's tweet about being at KLPac Open Day, so what could be better than to drop by there and stalk him, right? :)) After breakfast I made my way to Sentul (first time ever).

(Note : Me still cameraless, these limited pics taken with my N95)

Yes - slippers, shorts, singlet.

They hung pictures of all KLPac team members. Performances were happening everywhere throughout the day - outside at The Lawn, The Deck, Lobby, Pentas 2, Indicine, Pentas 1 as well as the four studios. As it was an Open Day, one could access all these places for free and take part in the activities and workshops.

KLPac is a favourite place on Google Earth.

Look who's manning the tee-shirt counter? Faridah Merican no less. Both were so friendly! The tees were selling like hot cakes.

When I arrived, this 'performance' was taking place at the lobby. It was titled Green & White, or maybe it was White & Green. The two girls in white were carrying ...er, cardboard chickens?? Seriously, too arty ~~farty~~ for me to understand.

Young KL Singers were superfantabulous! As their last song they sang the BEST EVER rendition of the 1Malaysia song I've ever heard. I had goosebumps on my arms and tears (!!) in my eyes - yupp, they were that good! I think TV should hire them to perform all our patriotic songs.

This is a vocal quartet who call themselves Caipifruta. Wonderful talents who have made it to international stage - they'll be heading to Prague in April. Oh, I fell in love with their rendition of Sting's Fields of Gold. Goosebumps!!

The Sickbay looks more like a lounge. I would not mind :P

Outside at the deck, I enjoyed this improv comedy from AI:IA group, their acting had the audience in stitches! These two guys were the FUNNIEST of the bunch. They performed again at the Lobby stage later to a packed crowd, definitely a favourite.

At The Lawn, I found who I was looking for :). Meet Reza Salleh, a very talented singer- songwriter I just saw on TV earlier in the week. I had bought Reza's album - REALIZE - the day before, and got him to autograph it. His very pretty sister had a booth at the lawn and he was helping her to man it. So, YEAY! mission accomplished! All the rest of the other fun happenings at KLPac were added bonuses. (To get to know Reza and to listen to his songs online, go to rezasalleh.net)

And, this, ladies and gentlemen, is my first Stracciatella at Lecka Lecka :) Yummylicious.

I had expected that KLPac would be a serious place for the arts - I was so wrong. It is serious FUN. Why, I am already thinking that I should be back next year!

Movie : 127 HOURS

2011-01-12T16:22:00.002+08:00

For those who read my tweets, you'd probably know how much I look forward to watching this movie :)

It stars James Franco as Aron Ralston, the Intel engineer-turned-outdoor adventurer who got his right hand wedged by a dislodged boulder and how he (oh this is not a spoiler, by the way) had to cut it off after five days of being trapped in the canyon. His TRUE STORY, happened back in 2003 in Moab, Utah.

Aron is one crazy guy living off adrenaline. Seriously. A memorable line from his book on why he does what he does :

"..and it seemed that he was making sure I was doing them for the

right reasons - climbing not for bragging rights, or the perceived

admiration of others, but because it made me happy."

Does that resonate with you?

I read Aron's book just before Christmas, and couldn't find the movie then as it was just released in US on Nov 5.

Anyway, now that I've watched it, I can now say that this is a very good movie. Not just because of its pacing, gorgeous desert vistas, great soundtrack, bite-size flashbacks and top notch performance by Franco I thought - I enjoyed it mainly because it managed to portray the physical agony, and the tenacity of the human spirit in refusing to accept death as an option, even when it seems inevitable. (Did that sound right?) I probably can't describe it accurately.

Directed by Danny Boyle (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) and music by AR Rahman (also of the same fame), 127 Hours certainly did not disappoint.

I smell nominations galore during the awards season.

Nice and haunting track from Dido and AR Rahman.

Thumbs up. 4.5 stars from me.

p.s. The amputation scene may make you feel queasy.

p.p.s. Read the book :)

p.p.p.s If I have one complaint, I'd say they didn't manage to make Franco scruffy and dirty enough after five days of entrapment.

[Note : I am learning to 'accept' movie versions, usually if I've read the book I won't watch the movie. Maybe that's because I do not want to be disappointed and that I prefer to remember the story as told by the author, not the screenplay writer or director. Then I realised that they're really two different things, one is an interpretation of the other and it's part of the creative process for a different audience. So, yes, I accept that. Thank you :) Liberation!]

Faces and People : Syria and Jordan

2011-01-11T22:28:00.002+08:00

Going through my albums I realised I haven't shared these pictures of the people.

I think most of the Syrians are of fairer complexion than the Jordanians. Or maybe just the ones I encountered or saw.

At Cairo Restaurant, Amman.

"Captain Jack Sparrow", Petra.

Guard at Al Khazneh, Petra.

Donkey owner and me, The Monastery, Petra.

Syrian boy, Damascus.

His sister, Syrian girl, Damascus.

Their friend, pulling a funny face and insisting I take a picture of him.

Three amigos, Damascus. Near Umayyad Mosque.

Juice vendor, Aleppo. The HUGE mug of freshly made mixed fruit juice cost only 50 SYP.

Juice vendor, near Christian Quarter, Old City Damascus.

A friend of the three amigos, inside Umayyad Mosque, Damascus.

Outside one of the churches in Aleppo.

Lost-looking boy at the park in the Christian Quarter, Damascus.

Tablecloth vendor, Aleppo Souq.

Orthodox priest, walking on the Straight Street, Damascus.

Bakery, near Martyr's Square, Damascus.

Traffic policeman, Damascus. Or maybe he was just a guard?

Traffic police, Amman. Love the hat!

Shepherd, somewhere in the desert between Damascus and Palmyra.

Shop where I bought sweets near the Old City.

Othmen, at Schereradze, Souq Al Hamediyya. We bought stuff from his shop.

Lastly, a picture of two ~~thugs~~ bouncers at the entrance of one of the hotels we looked at before deciding where to stay in Damascus. Suffice to say we did not check in here :)

Syria is more conservative than Jordan, though there is no issue with attire like what is usually mentioned in the guidebooks. Short sleeved tees are acceptable, though shorts and sleeveless/ tank tops are probably too much.

After a few days it was easy to identify the non-locals (from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey) as they are not dressed as conservatively as the locals, especially the women.

As you can see, most of them would gladly pose for you - just remember to ask first :)

Go Ahead, Follow Your Joy!

2011-01-09T22:16:00.003+08:00

The best way to love life and yourself :)

Eat the damn chocolate cake!

Eat Pasta Run Fasta!

2011-01-04T17:00:00.002+08:00

Today's motivation to run comes from this :

Eat pasta, run faster!

Double knot laces.

When fatigue arrives, be proud. The race is tough, you are tougher.

Everyone feels pain the last 6 miles, suck it up!

Day 4/116.

Numbers 11 and 12, Respectively.

2010-12-30T18:33:00.008+08:00

The week before Christmas I made a short trip to KL and managed to squeeze day trips to Seremban and Ipoh.

Remember I wanted to conquer all 14 states in Malaysia? So, a day-trippin' I went to two more states - Negri Sembilan, and Perak.

Remember also that I do not own a camera? (Still considering, that.) These limited pics were taken using my Nokia :D Sufficient-lah hor, to prove that I've stepped foot there. I felt silly trying to snap myself with my handphone so no ~~vain, at-arm's-length~~ self portrait here, folks! :P

Ini Stesen Keretapi Seremban. Tiket KTM Komuter dari KL Sentral berharga hanya RM6 untuk perjalanan selama 1 jam 20 minit, departs every hour. Or was it every half-hour, I can't recall.

Ini Padang Dataran Seremban (something like that), kira di tengah bandar lah. Saya berjalan kaki dari stesen keretapi, took the left. Jauh juga lah berjalan pada hari tersebut.

Ini Bangunan Dewan Undangan Negeri. Cantik-kan senibina Minangkabau? Ia terletak di atas sebuah bukit kecil, kena jalan sikit lah baru boleh nampak.

Church of the Visitation, also di tengah bandar.

Batu Peringatan untuk 'perwira2 kita yang telah gugor' during the wars. Terletak di atas bukit, tepi bulatan depan Bangunan Secretariat (gaya senibina kolonial) yang lama.

Ini dia bangunan kolonial tersebut. Sekarang apparently it's the Library. Tapi the time I went was Hari Ahad so it was closed. Not sure if it's in operations anyway since it was quite sunyi.

Berdepan dengan roundabout atas bukit itu, ini salah satu dari pintu pagar Istana Hinggap (macam istana transit lah). Surely a palace with all those gilded gates.

Masjid Negeri, letaknya kawasan bukit juga, berdepan dengan Seremban Lake Gardens.

On the way down the hill, kelihatan kuil Hindu yang kira agak besar jugalah compared to the KK ones. Ini di sebelah kompleks Seremban Parade, di mana terletaknya Parkson Grand, di mana saya telah sempat meluangkan masa rehat-rehat dan erm, membeli-belah. Sebab tengah ada sale :P

Disebabkan ada masa lagi, saya sempat menaiki bas ke pekan diraja Seri Menanti yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 45 minit dengan tambang RM3.50. Malangnya, istana dan muzium Seri Menanti terletak jauh terpelosok 7 km dari simpang jalan utama. Jadi niat saya terpaksa dibatalkan. Kira ambil gambar ini sajalah. Boleh lah kan. Menariknya perjalanan bas ini, I got to see the 'countryside' and villages. I also noted a few signboards for 'megalithic sites', where a few small obelisk-like stones can be seen (not to be compared with Asterix's). Tentunya ada archaeological value, tapi sayangnya kurang maklumat.

On another day I made the Ipoh trip :

Ini pula Stesen Keretapi Ipoh, sebuah bangunan lama. I took the ETS dengan tiket berharga RM30 sehala, untuk perjalanan 2 jam 13 minit (according to the announcement la). Keretapi ETS ini sangat selesa, bersih dan masih bau plastik. Maklumlah brand new (launched in August), and probably sebab tiket mahal ~~sikit~~ banyak.

Bangunan Ipoh City Hall, berdepan dengan stesen keretapi. There was a small park in between, sadly not scoring high on the maintenance.

Ipoh got its name from a tree, did you know that? I didn't (what's new). Anyway, inilah pokok Ipoh.

Sebuah Batu Peringatan for our fallen warriors during the wars. I did not expect to see these kind of monuments in Seremban and Ipoh.

This is St Michael's Institution. It looked very very grand I tell you, complete with a beautiful green padang, boleh main cricket. Or maybe even croquet (?). Apparently Dato' Michelle Yeoh went to this school.

I forgot the name of this church. Lokasinya dekat Perpustakaan. A kind contractor undertaking the upgrading works gave me pedestrian directions to go to the city centre.

Saya rasa, restoran makanan segera ini sangat cantik facade-nya. Not sure about the inside.

Bas ~~publik(?)~~ awam di Ipoh mengingatkan saya kepada bas PUT atau TUT atau Luen Thung di KK. Yang besar jenis lama tu.

Saya berjalan-jalan tanpa arah tujuan tapi tidaklah sesat sebab agak mudah mengikuti jalanraya utama. And I realised that Ipoh has very interesting shop signboards like the above. Masih ada lagikah orang yang menggunakan perkataan 'saudagar'?? Not since I last read our history book in school tentang Kesultanan Melaka.

What about this one? Direct to the point. (No equivalent phrase in Malay) :D Yang pasti, itulah merchandise yang dijual oleh kedai tersebut.

Saya ingin berkongsi gambar ini dengan Ms TutyFabregas. Rasanya kedai ini tidak membayar apa-apa jenis royalti kepada kelab tersebut :)

Setelah penat menapak perimeter bandar Ipoh, saya singgah di kedai Lou Wong untuk mencuba sajian ini; iaitu Ipoh Hor Fun (the chicken broth was superb unlike the one in that franchise kopitiam) dan tauge gemuk Ipoh yang terkenal itu. Tauge tersebut hanya dicelur and tossed in sesame oil and soya sauce. Kuantitinya terlalu banyak untuk satu orang, dan saya bukanlah peminat tauge, jadi saya tidak pun menghabiskannya (wasteful I know). Harga keseluruhan amat murah, mata saya terbeliak dan saya hampir terjatuh dari kerusi. Untuk dua sajian ini saya bayar RM4.50, dan untuk minuman air mata kucing ais hanya RM1.30.

Dengan dua lawatan ini, dapatlah saya menutup tirai perjalanan saya untuk tahun 2010, dengan jayanya I must say. Terima kasih kepada kawan-kawan yang memberi informasi yang membantu saya in all my travels :)

So, tinggal dua negeri lagi untuk ditawan, iaitu Kedah (technically already-lah if you count Langkawi but I want to step foot on the mainland) dan Perlis. Belum tahu lagi bila, tapi surely dalam perancangan.

You two just wait - I do you next :)

Happy New Year, lovelies! Selamat Tahun Baru!

Nota Kaki :

(i) Inspirasi untuk memblog dalam semi-BM ini datangnya dari mendengar ulasan perlawanan bola sepak semalam di TV1 (Tahniah, Harimau Muda Malaysia!). Buat pertama kalinya saya mendengar istilah 'hantaran lintang' dan 'hantaran pancang'(?) dan lain-lain. I have no idea though, I had to think for a while. Terima kasih kepada guru BM saya di sekolah, usaha cikgu tidak sia-sia jugalah sebab saya rasa saya masih boleh ambil kertas SPM dan lulus dengan distinction, paling teruk pun C3 rasanya :P

(ii) Blog ini ditulis tanpa bantuan Google Translate, okay :)

Don't Let It Be Nothing.

2010-12-29T09:31:00.001+08:00

And this : life is the train, not the train station. - P. Coelho.

Live High, Live Mighty.

2010-12-24T22:59:00.007+08:00

Hey :D

December is flying by so quickly, don't you think? Appraisals, closings, holidays, Xmas, New Year etc etc all cramped into the final month. How ever the year has turned out for you so far, let's all pray that the coming 2011 will be a better one for us in many many ways.

Anyway, dearies, my simple wish for you this season :

Have yourself a

Merry Little Christmas

Happy Holidays,

and

Let's welcome the New Year with

Love, Hope and Good Intentions.

AudJMx

Wet and Wild in Tabin Wildlife Reserve - Part Deux

2010-12-13T14:12:00.001+08:00

I managed to salvage these from my camera's memory card, and some are from my handphone camera :

View half way towards Tabin on a gravel road - my kidneys and their friends had a smashing good time.

Fresh elephant droppings/shit/dung just that morning - which was why Stephen said we have to go out for 'elephant-hunt' the same day.

Seladang footprints, or should that be hoof prints? We didn't see any though.

My favourite tree - the majestic, elegant Kompassia Excelsa - or locally known as the Menggaris, a.k.a. the honey tree / tualang / tapang.

Carved tree-trunks serve as pillars in the reception building.

My River Lodge. Mine was the furthest from the rest; all the units to the left and right were unoccupied.

Super-cozy room. Loved it!

View from my balcony at the back. The lodges are nicely spaced away from each other.

Eight seemed to be my lucky number for the day. I was seated 8F on the aircraft, given lodge No. 8, and joined a group of 8 people for the weekend :-) Niiiicceee! (okay not including the camera incident)

Boardwalks join the river lodges, the Sunbird Cafe and the Hill Lodges on the other end.

Reminder.

View of the river and the Otter Deck from the cafe. Apparently the river otters don't come out during the rainy season. But they showed us a short video where the otters were soooooo adorable!

This leads to the Hill Lodges. Where ever you are in the resort, the bustling river can be heard. Very peaceful.

Green Initiative.

Short briefing from Stephen before our safari starts!

The very last picture from my camera :-) At least it was a happy one! And off we go!

After the heavy rain, before discovering my camera was soaked. That's why I was still smiling. Taken using my Nokia.

I don't remember what we were stalking here - maybe it was the bearded pigs.

At the Lipad mud volcano pit - the earth spouting some mud out. Not much. It has no smell and is not hot.

Morning walk and birdwatching on our last day.

Can you tell I'm still on a high a week after Tabin?

Wet and Wild in Tabin Wildlife Reserve

2010-12-10T19:52:00.015+08:00

Hey :)

*Haha, please don't conclude anything based on the title above :P *

I've been trying to muster the inspiration to blog for the past few days but alas, my muse is missing in action.

Anyway, before this weekend looms I'd better get it done a.s.a.p. This trip almost did not materialise but thankfully, thanks to the graciousness and kindness of friends I made it there. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my little heart.

Well - I can sum up the weekend in one word - FABULOUS. Totally above my expectations. Despite the weather (what's a rainforest without the rain?), we had the most amazing wildlife experience that made me think twice that perhaps, I may be needing more of this Jungle Jane adventures in order not to be too excited! (Note to self : More jungles, please)

Oh. My camera died on me after getting soaked in the rain. That's the short story. So some of these pics are courtesy of my fellow travellers in the same group :-) They're a really fun bunch and know how to have a good time! Some pics are too big to fit in, I need to resize them later.

After check-in, briefing, lunch, settling-in, and afternoon tea, we started our safari right up till dinner time.

The next day, we had a very early start to head towards the Lipad Mud Volcano, followed by a trek to the Lipad Waterfall. Got our certificate hand-printing session in the afternoon, followed by another night safari after dinner. The following morning was also an early call as we went birdwatching.

Yupp, we had a full schedule.

Pacat-check : clear.

About to start our trek towards the mud volcano.

Stephen, our guide, is a walking jungle encyclopedia. He was spouting common and scientific names for trees!! There are so many interesting things in the jungle! (And I thought I already knew enough. Obviously a delusion :P) Pic : RAA

View of the mud volcano from the fifth level of the observation tower. The spouts were small, apparently it depends how much mud that the earth wants to spout out.

I did not jump in :( so I just did a facial spa :))) It did feel smoother later. We filled some bottles to bring back :) Everyone had dirty muddy hands hence not many pictures were captured here.

Just before jumping into the river after the mud volcano. Pacat-check : clear. The water was so refreshingly cold!

Group photo with Stephen. Pic : RQ.

My cert with mud hand print. Eh, Dato' Michelle Yeoh was also here before (last year?). Her cert is displayed at the reception.

View from my bed. The room was superbly cozy I did not feel like getting out of bed while it rained :)

View from my balcony - directly overlooking a river! Love love love the sound of the flowing waters. This was taken during the rain.

After the rain the river looks almost perfect for white-water rafting! And yeah, it's always teh-tarik brown.

Our premium sighting - a Bornean Pygmy Elephant :))))))) right at the resort entrance. Pic : RAA.

Later, his family - altogether 5 of them - decided to join him. The little one was so cute!! Pic : RAA.

The Flying Lemur aka Colugo. It did not fly though as it was starting to rain. Pic : RAA.

Those are the highlights of wildlife we saw - oh, we also saw the Sun Bears!!! However we were so excited and the bears were too, no one managed to capture a decent picture. We also saw black gibbons, leopard cats, civets, mousedeers (greater and lesser), various birds, butterflies and of course insects.

I really had a wonderful time in Tabin - it's the perfect weekend getaway. One day I will return for another jungle session - hmm, this time with a waterproof camera.

I Love Tabin! :)

The Island Run - PBIM 2010

2010-11-23T20:35:00.022+08:00

The past weekend was spent in Penang, for me to strike out the last of my running events this year from my 2010 to-do list.

I could not help but pose like this :P Kit collection was a breeze as I went there early.

Getting my chip activated after collection.

I don't have any pictures during the actual run as I decided to leave my camera behind rather than risking getting it wet. It's not waterproof ;P unlike some people's camera. So hopefully I'll get some 'water-proofed' pictures sent my way soon.

It rained and rained. Anyway more story later hopefully with the pics.

And, what's a visit to Penang without indulgences right? Didn't eat as much though, my appetite was quite restrained, rather strange I thought - half the time was spent resting and napping.

I was determined to try out Nasi Kandar Line Clear after missing it on the last two trips.

The queue spilled out to the street. Patience is a virtue. Oh, and it was very hot. As in steaming-dripping-sweat hot day. An it's-so-hot-I-wanna-jump-into-the-river day. Typically, I wilted and melted. Thank God for interesting people-watching.

All for this plate of 'mess'? Serious food here. Memang sedap. Ended up eating it again on Sunday :) Sadly, my limited appetite wasted half the plate. Proof that I can be such a glutton sometimes. Dessert was at Penang Road Famous Cendul later, I needed that sugar boost!

Late dinner at Sup Hameed at Penang Road. I don't eat sup ekor, but this was also serious stuff. Had it with two slices of bread.

Indulgences eventually require Eno to the rescue. Thanks to the 7-11 cashier who gave me a free Pepsi World plastic cup. Stayed in Tune Hotel, no such thing as a glass provided. Oh if you look closely on the cup on left background, that's a topless Torres painted in WC colours. ~~Delicious?~~

The rain and getting wet was worth it? No sleep?

Finisher's medals - yeay! One was mine and the other was my Hobbes' :)

My weekend was most enjoyable; and I am so happy I've completed my 4 runs as planned this year.

Next, planning for 2011 :) Come join me!

Syria : The Whirling Dervish in Damascus

2010-11-15T23:35:00.003+08:00

During a dinner at a restaurant in the Christian Quarter in Damascus, we had the privilege of being entertained with a whirling dervish dance.

I have seen this dance many times on TV's travel channel; this is the first time live, and it was a lone dervish. He performed a few sets of the dance, and spun so fast it was amazing that he didn't lose his balance or trip or feel giddy.

Each dance was to the tune of (Sufi?) music - which I find haunting- and ended abruptly with a loud stomp on the floor. The skirt swirled and billowed perfectly it seemed like it was either made of a stiff material or starched to perfection.

Although it was understood that the dervish dance was put up for the tourists, I thought the dancer was in an actual trance as his expressions and his eyes appeared so. He has to be, right? I don't think they can just perform the dance 'for show' only.

The information for the captions below are sourced from here; and there is a whole load of further information on dervishes and Sufism out there in the great big world of Google.

"The whirling dervish dance originated in Konya, Turkey, inspired by the songs and teachings of the poet Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, who lived from 1207-1273. Rumi was a Sufi, a branch of Islam that started in the 8th century. Sufis assert that through their religion they are brought closer to the heart of all modes of belief. Rumi himself was moved to begin dancing in dervish fashion after meeting a holy man known as Shems of Tabriz. The dance, in which he spun incessantly, was done in devotion to Allah and the organic powers of the universe. While he whirled, he repeated the name of god until he fell into a trance state of deep worship".

"The whirling dervish is known as a Semazen. Dervish itself means doorway to god or enlightenment. Sufism is derived from the word for a rough, woollen cloak, its material designed to diminish the superficial pleasures of worldly existence. Mevlevis are the order of Sufis that perform the whirling dervish dance, refered to as the Sema. The leader of the group is called the Sheikh; he often stands in the middle of the room, representing the sun, while the other members dance around him in imitation of the cycles of the planets. The repetition of god's name is the Zikr".

"Whirling dervishes sport a conical hat and a white shirt and skirt. The skirt is made of billowing material that flows out and around the dancer as they spin. The headgear symbolizes the need to seal off one's ego in order to connect to god and the universe. The skirt represents a shroud but also the sky, which is revealed as the dancer removes their black cloak and begins the journey towards spiritual enlightenment".

"As they whirl, always from right to left, thus in the motions of the blood circulating around the heart, the Dervishes hold their hands in a unique position. The right hand is lifted, palm-out, towards god and his gifts. The left is palm down towards the earth, to both draw forth its sustenance and to deliver god's gifts of the spirit to humanity. The dancers usually spin to the sounds of a reed flute. The flute symbolizes how human pain (the holes in the flute) can be transformed into beautiful music and a source of celebration".

At the end of his performance, the dancer - hot and sweaty - changed out of his attire and into his daily clothes. Maybe after this restaurant he's off to another place for his next show.

To sum up the experience : fascinating. Made me wish that one day I can watch a big group of dervishes perform the dance in perfect unison. Preferably in Turkey.

Jordan : Petra, A Rose Red City Half As Old As Time*, or (alternative title) I Love Indiana Jones

2010-11-10T23:22:00.007+08:00

Ever since I watched Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, one of my all-time favourite movies (along with other Indys) ever, Petra has been on my bucket list.

I voted for it to be listed under the New Seven Wonders of The World a few years back - can't imagine any one not doing so.

And just like Angkor Wat, it took a foreigner to rediscover this lost city - in 1812, a Swiss explorer named Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, gained access to this area disguised as an Arab.

Entrance is JD38 for a 2 day pass. From November onwards, all rates will be increased. Yeah, my name was spelled wrongly. Meh. I realised it later at the gate when they scanned the ticket.

We had an official park guide assigned, you can also go on your own if you wish. Going with the guide on the first day was good - you get to ask questions and all that.

We walked and walked and walked under the hot sun. Total distance of the main route was 4 kms. In front on the left are the Bab As Siq Triclinium, which looked like square blocks.

The ticket is inclusive of a horse ride from the gate to the Siq, however we did not take it up as we were told that the handlers practically demanded baksheesh afterwards.

The sun was blindingly hot!

The moment I was anticipating most - entering the Siq!

The Siq is about 1.2 km long, with cliffs soaring up to 80m.

On the sides are rock-carved water channels which serve as irrigation system for this ancient Nabatean city.

On some parts the rocks capture and 'reflect' the afternoon sun giving it a warm red glow. I think, rocks do can glow, right? What I mean is, the sun made the rocks look even redder.

The shaded parts were cooler.

When I got a peek of the Treasury ('Al-Khazneh'), I got really excited. *hippity hop*

Cue the Indiana Jones theme ... * da da da da, da da da *....

(orchestra please)

Closer and closer ....

Ta da! And there it stood in all its glory - the Treasury. Petra's most well-known facade, and its pride and joy. Elaborately carved and decorated, Hellenestic-inspired, built around 1BC.

View of the Siq from the Treasury.

Close-up of the two middle columns - see the left one? The 'patch' in the middle is apparently the only repair that they have done to the ruins. The rest are as it is.

The urn which adorns the Treasury in in bad shape as it got shot at by those who thought it contained treasures.

You can see the bullet marks here and there - like chicken pox scars.

Underground chamber of the Treasury - closed off as they have not fully explored the place.

Read.

Here are some pictures of the ruins of other main buildings carved out from the red rocks. The whole city was built by the Nabateans out of individual blocks of rocks. Earthquakes and wind erosion damaged some of them.

Some entrances were buried in sand, indicating how deep the ground level had been thousands of years ago.

The steps symbolises the stairway to heaven - so these were tombs.

The Palace Tomb.

Close-up of The Palace Tomb.

The Urn Tomb.

The Obelisk Tomb - this was not as red.

One of the Triclinium - I think there were three? (Duh).

Qasr Al-Bint - it was closed for restoration works.

We reached the end of the main trail near Qasr Al Bint, the Main Temple, and decided to take the donkey up to the Monastery ('Ad Deir'). I could not possibly imagine an uphill walk/trek (I so did not believe it is 800 steps up) that late in the hot afternoon. After much haggling we managed to get the price down to JD5 per person.

This was taken by Julie - I think after my first fall off the donkey. I was quite shaken since the cliffs on the side looked bloody scary. Did I mention I fell off twice? !@#$% Technically twice. The second time the donkey guy managed to stop me from falling off the sliding saddle; I blame the loose front girth. I wanted to dismount and walk up but the guy said he'll walk beside me and lead the donkey so that made me feel a little better.

This was taken on our way down on foot from the Monastery. On the way up, our donkeys had to go under this rock, with inches to spare.

Me and Julie and Julie's donkey; I can't remember if this was taken before, during or after the ride up. I think it was after.

At the Monastery - just as grand as the Treasury though not so intricate. Afternoon is definitely the best time to come up here as the sun is shining directly onto the building. I don't know why my bandana was poufy like that.

Tired feet and extremely dusty shoes. The long long walk back to the entrance was worth it though, and we still had the next day!

I love Petra, with all its ruins and sand and red rocks.

As I write this, I am listening to the Indiana Jones (*hearts* Indy) theme, and find myself wishing that I can look up to a blue sky like this again one day.

Good night, time for bed.

*taken from John W. Burgon's poem Petra :

"It seems no work of Man's creative hand,

by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned

But from the rock as if by magic grown,

eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!

Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,

where erst Athena held her rites divine;

Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,

that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;

But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,

that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;

The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,

which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,

match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,

a rose-red city half as old as time".

Syria : Found and Tried The Fool

2010-11-04T20:45:00.000+08:00

The other night I watched Bobby Chinn traipse around in Aleppo and Damascus (he also went to Bakdash), and one of the dishes he tried was the fool, or also spelled as ful or foul.

What's that? Well, it's a slow cooked mash of fava beans, flavoured with lemon juice, olive oil, paprika and cumin. I managed to have a taste of this dish in Aleppo, in one of the shops located near the Christian Quarter. There is apparently a very famous shop in that area where locals queue as early as 7 am to have it for breakfast, but we did not know where it was located as by then we had given up using the LP map for directions :P

Since I really wanted to try this dish, I settled for this shop.

The counter - I have no idea what the name of the shop is. If you want to know if the shop sells fool, look if they have a copper pot in front.

Stern looking man in an old picture - I am guessing he might be the owner or the person who started this shop.

The fool is cooked inside this huge copper pot that's shaped like a huge jug. I think this one is almost empty as it was already early evening.

This is how it looks like - served with bread, and a side of raw onions and mint (? I did not know how to eat these hence left it untouched). Doesn't look that appetising, huh?

How did it taste like? It is an acquired taste, for sure. Sourish, a little spicy with a creamy, oily texture. The beans added some bite. I kind of enjoyed it after a few bites. If only I was hungry then, I could've finished off the whole serving, but I wasn't, and the bread was a lot.

Come to think of it, I was rather unadventurous with the local food on this trip. Part of that was due to budget reasons, and in a way it's also because we were not familiar with what to order or look for.

The cheapest and most common choice? Falafel wraps. The best falafel for me was the very first one we had in Damascus, near our hotel, for 15SYP I think - it was hot and freshly prepared. After a few days, falafel fell off the popularity chart as our tastebuds started craving for something else.

Mmmmm, now I wish I can find falafel here.

Breakfast at Tiffany's Baghdad Cafe

2010-11-01T10:20:00.001+08:00

On the way to Palmyra, we stopped for breakfast at Baghdad.

Yeah, well not Baghdad in Iraq, but Baghdad Cafe, Syria, about 135 km from Damascus. I think it is run by two brothers and their families. Tourists usually stop here for a drink and washroom break.

Our breakfast - at an inflated tourist price of 250SYP. They make their own bread, yoghurt, cheese and jam. I remember that the cheese was extremely salty. Eggs from the hens they rear. This is the standard Syrian breakfast which was not to my tastebuds actually; I find it too bland.

Accommodation is available at the back, an oddly-shaped building with domes and walls made of mud and straw - 2 units of bedrooms with sharing facilities. Though I don't see why anyone would want to stay here overnight. The family stays here and they are self-sufficient. Goats, chickens, olive trees, water. Except, maybe they have to buy flour for the bread.

An Arab desert version of a scarecrow, to scare away foxes which prey on their chickens. Oh that's Julie in the background. Sand and stone left right centre - it really felt like it was in the middle of nowhere in the desert.

The cafe was featured in the Guardian UK's travel section last August. So, of course, after this kind of write-up and exposure, a lot more tourists will come to know of this place, a 'destination' on its own?

Its door covered with stickers of all things travel.

We also stopped by the roadside when we spotted shepherds with hundreds of sheep. Confession : touching that mule was scary. Haha. I was afraid it might kick me!

The closest we got to Baghdad? Not that close actually, it's another 152 kms away to the right, yet there was already military presence in form of checkpoints manned by armed soldiers/guards. And I was surprised to find out how close we were to other places - you can also do a day-trip to Beirut from Damascus.

I just felt like jumping while crossing the road - the shepherd must think I am mad :)

I enjoyed the long journey through the desert - our van was very comfortable, the weather was super-fine, the skies cerulean blue, the road in good condition and just seemed to go straight without any turnings.

No - I don't miss the breakfast. Give me nasi lemak anytime.

Jordan : The Dead Sea, Which Tasted Most Foul

2010-10-28T20:18:00.006+08:00

Ever since I saw Ian Wright and other TV travellers floating in the Dead Sea, I have always imagined what that would feel like.

On the Jordan side, you can access the Dead Sea through the private beaches fronting the resorts; or you can go to the public beach like we did. We were brought to the Amman Beach, a 'public beach' that has all the facilities, with an entrance fee of JD15 *vomit blood*

From top of the slope. The other side is Israel.

Plastic chairs are available to sit and rest on the beach.

The beachside is actually on a gentle slope. Up there as you enter they have all the facilities - showers, lockers, nice swimming pools, restaurants, souvenir shops - the usual.

It was quite shallow until about 20 metres out.

Yeay! I am floating! Try as you may you can't sink. Erm, in the beginning I floated around and then managed to splash the water onto my face - waaaaa, it stung like crazy! And when I tried to wipe the seawater off my face some went inside my eyes and that was horrible. A little bit of water got into my mouth as well and boy, it tasted AWFUL. Undescribable taste, but undeniably foul. I got out of the water and went to stand under the shower for a while. What a relief! So yeah, do float gently and elegantly to avoid what I experienced.

With friends Sue and Bachlan, who pretended to be reading something; we should have had some props. Oh, if you have cuts or nicks on your body they sting 100x so if possible make sure your skin is flawless when you bathe in the Dead Sea. Afterwards, your skin feels like it has a very light, almost slimy film clinging on it. We later got out and continued swimming in the pool; refreshing and lovely on a hot day, and after all that saltwater!

Other bathers. Men can go topless and ladies can wear bikinis here; no biggie.

To cover yourself in the black mud costs JD3.

Crystallised salt on the beach. I took some for souvenir :). No need to buy dead sea salt.

Feet Shot.

One more to-do ticked off the list.

Except maybe, one day, to float there again on the Israel side.

Syria : Minding the Language

2010-10-26T10:30:00.002+08:00

For the first time, I thought that maybe those Kelas Bahasa Arab many many years ago back in secondary school may finally have some use during the Syria-Jordan trip.

In truth, sadly, I remember only remnants of it; very very little, negligible, except for the numbers; I can remember them and can count from 1 to 8 :-P.

Okay enough school stories. Knowing the Arabic language is definitely an advantage when travelling in the Middle East.

In Damascus' Christian Quarter, we found this beautiful copy of The Bible, The New Testament, printed in Arabic.

The shopowner was kind enough to let us browse through it - though I don't really know what to look for since I could not read it.

This has an interesting story - I was exploring Aleppo on Sunday morning and walked into the Syriac Catholic church where the mass was halfway. I stayed on and experienced my first ever mass in Arabic! It was almost ... surreal. After the mass ended I asked a gentleman there whether there was a bookstore in the Church for me to buy some books or stuff. He said there is none and the markets are closed too, and promptly asked me to wait as he will ask the priest! Long story short, I was introduced to the priest who invited us inside the rectory and into his office and presented me with this small maroon Bible.

The New Testament.

Guess why I put up this picture?

(i) to show the number plate (I know my Arabic numbers, ngeh)

(ii) it's a Proton! (why are we always excited to see a Proton overseas?)

I thought - wouldn't it be nice to be able to read this?

This seems to be some kind of award or royal recognition.

At the Umayyad Mosque.

You can find a few street signages like these in Arab and English. This area was where we wanted to head first in Damascus but we could not find it and the taxi driver ... well, did not know either.

There are a few English adverts posted in the Christian Quarter - I am guessing more expats live there. (Exchange Partner??? ;-P)

Well, amidst those there are 'clever' signboards like this - with pictures! You definitely know what they're selling :) By the way, these shops are equivalent to fast food outlets in Syria since they do not have any Western food franchises.

Learn the numbers, and some useful phrases - that will help a lot in your travels.

Jordan : On Mount Nebo, Where I Glimpsed The Holy Land

2010-10-23T17:30:00.002+08:00

My Bible knowledge is far from fantastic, so I had to go read a bit and be reminded of the importance of Mount Nebo.

According to the final chapter of Deuteronomy, Mount Nebo is where the Hebrew prophet Moses was given a view of the Promised Land that God was giving to the Israelites. "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho." (Deuteronomy 34:1). Source : Wikipedia.

The late Pope John Paul II and current Pope Benedict XVI both have visited Mount Nebo in 2000 and 2009 respectively.

Please enjoy the pictures I have taken at this beautiful place :

A short walk up a gentle slope. Entrance fee JD1. Elevation approx 2,680 a.s.l.

Read.

Understand.

This commemorative monument to mark the visit of Pope John Paul II in March 2000 welcomes all visitors.

Taken from one side.

And from another side.

And yet another side.

A close-up.

I think those are events/organisations commemorated on the tiles.

I only noticed these later - names on the lower part of the memorial.

A temporary (I am guessing) tent which houses ...

... this huge piece of mosaic floor dating from 4-6 A.D. which is in very good condition.

Restoration and upgrading works on the remains of a church and a monastery on the highest point of the mountain. So it was off limits to visitors. I think the Memorial of Moses is here? Archaeological excavation is still ongoing.

Mount Nebo and Memorial of Moses is under the custody of the Custodia di Terra Santa (Custodians of the Holy Land), as with other Holy Sites in the region.

But I am guessing this is the main highlight :

The spot where Moses looked out to the Promised Land.

You can also see part of the Dead Sea faintly in the middle of the picture.

A picture of Pope John Paul II's visit in March 2000.

Bethlehem - 50 km away.

Jerusalem and Mount of Olives - only 46 km away.

It's crowded with busloads of tourists and pilgrims.

We looked out to the vast landscape too. It was a sunny hot morning but still bearable.

This round stone was once a door in ancient times.

Noticed the tree had some kind white ribbons tied on its branches.

Taken from the book 'The Life of Peter The Iberian' by John Rufus.

View of the landscape on the right side of the mountain.

I tried taking a few shots of myself with the Serpent Cross scuplture in the background but kept on missing something (like my head or the cross). Finally asked a girl from another group to help. The sculpture was created by Italian artist, Giovanni Fantoni, and is "symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified".

Patience patience - there were so many people wanting to take photos at this particular stone signage. You had to wait for your turn. Thankfully everyone was polite and patiently waited. So while waiting I took pictures of other people.

My turn came :) thank you.

Mount Nebo is a beautiful peaceful place. I am thankful I have stepped foot here.

Damascus : The Public Bath of Courage

2010-10-22T09:30:00.001+08:00

What's hidden behind this curtain?

I wish I had more pictures to show here, but this is the only one I have.

So, where does this entrance lead you?

Well, behind this curtain, there is a door that leads to Hammam Ammoonah.

To enter you need to ring the doorbell and then after verifying you're a female they'll let you in. Oh, this is a women's hammam so it's off limits for men. The door is not even marked nor is there a signboard or a signage, we actually almost missed it the first time.

From its pamphlet :

Built in the 12th Century A.D., this authentic public bath was formerly known as "Hammam Shooja" (The Public Bath Of Courage) until the late 18th century when it was renamed to its present day name. During the Ottoman era, Hamman Ammoonah was classified amongst the cleanest public baths in the city of Damascus; however it was completely neglected in the later periods. In an endearing effort to maintain its hereditary value, we have fully restored and renovated this historic space with our personal touch, hoping to provide you with an authentic bathing experience.

One of the to-do things in my list was to try out a hammam.

The experience at Ammoonah?

For 850 SYP, you get bathed, body-scrubbed, foot-scrubbed, rubbed and massaged. Plus a bar of soap, a bottle of shampoo and scrubbing pad, and refreshment.

The bossy lady who appeared to be the one in-charge explained the services - first a sauna, then you bathe (hot and cold water available, not shower), followed by scrubbing, bathe again, rubbing, then bathe again. It was still kind of confusing at first, maybe they expected you to know what to do and where to go?

Ooo-er, this is not for the bashful. They don't call it the Public Bath of Courage for nothing! One can strip buck naked, or opt to leave your undies on for modesty. They do provide you a towel but that comes straight off as you enter the bathing area.

Inside (the reason why no cameras are allowed, except in the sitting area) there were women in assorted sizes, shape, colour, all subjecting themselves to the skilled and experience hands of the Hammam staff.

You definitely need a HUGE DOSE OF COURAGE for this, it is one thing to get naked and another to undergo the seemingly barbaric scrubbing.

The lady who does the scrubbing did so with such vigour and enthusiasm that I felt my skin probably got scrubbed off together with the layer of dead skin and dirt that's caked on it. OOWWWWWWW! was my reaction the first few seconds. After I got used to the level of pain (yes, just a little bit, after that it was tolerable) I find myself trying hard not to giggle and laugh out loud :) Yeah, it got kind of ticklish, haha.

The scrubbing lady was built like a 2-tonne truck with huge strong arms (think wrestler!). There were two of them and I thought, hey which one is gentler? She scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and pulled my limbs up down and to the sides - I switched off, stopped myself from thinking and feeling anything and just allowed her to do her job.

Now I know what piece of meat feels like. As I lay face down on the wet floor, face literally millimetres away from the surface, I saw the water flowing with bits of dirt with it and thought : where does all this water flow out to? Is this floor clean? Is the scrubbing pad clean? What if it's dirty? (horror!) Is she laughing at my body? What does she think of those callouses on my feet? My toes!? How many thousand bodies has she scrubbed? And yadda yadda yadda my brain asked endless questions.

And during all these, other girls are entering and exiting the bathing area. I think all of us were quite conscious of being naked/almost naked, best thing to do is lower your gaze and maybe try to avoid eye-contact? There were some tourists just like us, and we exchanged amused looks throughout.

Once you're done you exit the bathing area and go to rest at the elevated sitting area while they serve you drinks of your choice, hot or cold.

This gives you a chance to recover from the shock and horror, check out your limbs and body for bruises or signs of abuse, and hey! There is none! You aren't even beet red after all that scrubbing. The skin does look clearer and feel much smoother. No pain no gain? You bet.

You know what, after this experience, I'd go to a hammam again in a heartbeat. If they only have them in Malaysia that's affordable.

And the scrubbing lady must look like a wrestler for maximum effectiveness :)

Syria : Where We Slept

2010-10-21T12:30:00.005+08:00

In Aleppo I told myself that I should go check out this Baron Hotel even though we did not stay there.

After not finding it on the night we arrived, the second morning I walked around again and located it - just one block away from where we stopped looking. Duh.

Why the 'fascination'? Well, apparently it's some kind of institution in Syria/Aleppo, being the first proper hotel in the country in the early 1900s. Before that travellers had to make do with caravanserais; lodging houses or rumah tumpangan.

And, according to Wikipedia famous people who have stayed here include :

Lawrence of Arabia who slept in room 202; King Faisal who declared Syria's independence from the balcony in room 215; Agatha Christie who wrote the first part of "Murder on the Orient Express" in room 203.

The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria's former President Hafez Al Assad, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (the founder of the United Arab Emirates), and the American billionaire David Rockefeller. Other notable guests include Dame Freya Stark, Julie Christie, Mr and Mrs Theodore Roosevelt, Kemal Attaturk, Lady Louise Mountbatten, Charles Lindbergh and Yuri Gagarin.

Alas, the hotel has succumbed to the ravages of time and the lack of maintenance. Whatever grandeur it had before is gone. It looks creepy really, and would be a perfect location for a slasher-horror movie and murder-who-dunnits.

The facade looks .... urm, grubby? Or maybe it's meant to be like that. After all, almost all other buildings were sandy brown. I think it needs some good old scrubbing and hosing down.

The main floor is above road level. One can easily miss this building because it looks so insignificant.

The gate, which is again, does not stand out. Maybe it did during the early years.

The original name carved onto the main entrance - Baron's Hotel, 1911.

Affiliations with European clubs and associations adorn the sides of its entrance.

A big thermometer on the outside wall. I am not sure if it was still working.

I did go inside and saw an old fashioned reception and concierge counters. They also had a reading and smoking room, decorated in the style of the 20s. Old maps hung in the lobby were very interesting. Did not take any pics though. This picture of the bar I took from the outside through the huge open window.

While on the subject of hotels, for the first night in Damascus we stayed in Al-Mahata Hotel for 1300SYP for a double/ac/ensuite, inclusive of breakfast. And it's always good to find a place where the manager/owner speaks English. It can be extremely frustrating you know.

It is funny that the only hotel picture I have of Al-Mahata is of the lift?? I remember I snapped a few. *scratches head* Well, the lift was uber cool cos it did not have an inner door, so basically you are in a 'dumb-waiter' kind of lift. Oh dang, I do not know how to explain it.

Then we moved on to Al-Kindi Hotel, for 800SYP/dbl/fan/ensuite. Supposedly a one star hotel, even a half-star it is not. We continued to stay at Al-Kindi throughout - location-wise it was good, too lazy to move out and also it it is within our budget. The room is not pretty, it is basic, small and old - definitely not for everyone. But it did have 400+ satellite Arab channels :P! One thing we were kind of pissed with was they charged us an extra 100SYP for storing our big bags when we travelled light to Aleppo.

Ugly signboard for Al-Kindi Hotel. We also checked out another hotel nearby which offered the same rate - and that one had a gangster-looking guy at the entrance. Maybe he's the bouncer. There was one at the door every time we passed by.

Please lower your expectations two levels, and then by one more. Their star rating is not like ours. Again, I did not take any pictures of the ~~cubicle~~ room.

Room No. 8. Why I have a picture of the key and not the room is weird.

In Aleppo we stayed at Hotel Radouan - a most spacious double room, with a balcony! - located right next to the Clock Tower and the Library. We were offered a rate of 800SYP. We went to check out the nearby Al-Gawaher first (LP recommended), however it was more expensive.

The location is in Bab Al-Faraj area. Yes, it is spelt that way, don't snicker.

Ask for Room No. 18 to get ...

... this view. The Clock Tower during the day - pic from the balcony.

Night time. I can see this from my bed.

The good thing at Hotel Radouan? Syrian hospitality from the owner, Ammar, who had two gorgeous kids doing what kids do best .. creating havoc, haha (okay, I exaggerated). He offered us tea, drinks, nuts, nibbles, huge salads etc ... and even cooked our Indomie for us! (Because we were cheap and fed up with the bread).

Taken before we left Aleppo - with the Ammar family.

So that's our short lodging story in Syria. Don't worry if you arrive without any booking, it is certainly possible to get a room even during the peak season, just that you have to walk around a bit to look for one that fits your budget.

Damascus : How To Treat Yourself on A Tight Budget

2010-10-20T23:05:00.003+08:00

Because earlier today, 20.10.2010, it was extremely hot, I am inspired to write ... an ice-cream post.

When we were in Syria, trying to stay within budget, we only allowed ourselves one luxury. And that's ice-cream.

In particular, the ice-cream at Bakdash, located within Souq Al-Hamediyya.

Never a lull moment. Its walls are adorned with old pictures as well as pictures of famous people (we guessed) who have been there. There was even a picture of the King of Jordan if I am not mistaken.

You can order after getting a seat or at the counter. Getting a seat can mean waiting, though not for too long.

Well, actually our first ice-cream was from another shop, with no English name. It's located in the first few ' blocks' of the souq so on a hot hot day, when we saw ice-cream, we went in and had some.

First Shop Ice Cream - Puddings in the cold cabinet.

I had this. Yummy.

Julie had this. Light and quite yummy too.

Then, in the following days, after discovering Bakdash, we ~~devoted ourselves totally and pledged undivided loyalty~~ had eyes for no other :P

Only 50 SYP! The Arabic ice-cream costs 75SYP.

It has its own cutlery that's marked 'M.H. Bakdash Est 1895. Damascus Syria'

Don't be startled when the pounding starts! This is to make the Arabic ice-cream (Hey, that's Freddie Mercury, we thought!)

Sometimes there's two of them - The Mighty Ice Cream Pounders. I thought, whoa, if I did this daily I'd get those defined biceps I've always wanted! :)

This is how the blocks of ice-cream look like before it is savagely pounded. Afterwards they look like Swiss rolls after crushed pistachios are sprinkled on.

Tried to pound the ice-cream, and an excuse to take a picture with Freddie Mercury :)

A staff cutting portions off a bigger block of ice-cream.

The perpetually busy pick-up counter, that's manned by at least ... 5-6 people at one time? Understaffing issues don't exist here.

View from outside - look at that melting yumminess in the foreground!

I found it strangely addictive. Is it the finest I've ever eaten? No, I don't think so. But there is something about the taste that is different from franchise ice-cream. Maybe the ingredients are all organic, local and natural? And maybe because it was always always very hot in Damascus :)

Yummy.

Last day treats : the one on the left is a strawberry vanilla cone I think, and the one on the right is the Arabic ice-cream. I think the very last ice-cream was a take-away cone? Or was that the day before?

Anyway, I would recommend Bakdash as a must-go, must-eat in Damascus even though we were told by Othmen the shopkeeper that they are not actually The Best; they are like number 3 or 4. Number 1 is located somewhere else in another part of the city.

I'm not picky about rankings, so to me Bakdash is No. 1 :).

A most valuable discovery on a hot day.

Damascus : Ancient. Very Very Very Old.

2010-10-20T11:30:00.003+08:00

So, just how old is the city of Damascus?

Truthfully, at first, I thought maybe it is more than a thousand years old. Then I found out later, according to my good friend Google, the city has been around since 6300 BC. Other findings suggest that it dates as far back as 9000 BC! Mind boggling, my imagination is stumped.

Historians do generally agree that Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

We stayed at a few minutes walk from the Old City area - which made walking to the main bazaar, Souq Al Hamediyya, a breeze.

UNESCO World Heritage Site status accorded in 1979.

Landmarks and signages.

Souq Al- Hamediyya, the main souq/bazaar. It's a looong walk to the other end.

As with other Middle Eastern souqs, there are many many many things on sale. From clothing and footwear to fabrics and crafts and of course, souvenirs for tourists. Many Arab tourists - from Lebanon, Jordan - flock to Syria to shop because it is the cheapest country in the neighbourhood. We likened it to our own MY-SG relationship :)

Snack cart - breads and pastries.

All sorts of tableclothes and other things to dress your tables with.

Statue of Salladin near the Citadel entrance.

Covered ladies - there's many and I learnt about the differences in how their cover-up or wear their robes/veils.

Tea seller at the entrance of the Souq.

Sand art in bottles. They're really skilled.

What are these? Fridge magnets.

View of The Western Gate.

A neighbourhood kebab shop that was crowded all day. It opens very early by 7 am and closes after dinner time. Found out later they sold kebabs made of organ meats - no wonder the crowd seemed endless.

A beautiful courtyard restaurant - it didn't look much from the outside though. This one had some sort of royal recognition at the door.

Another neighbourhood shop - a bakery that sold the cheapest pastries! Simple but filling.

Flat breads are baked in a traditional oven.

Shisha/nargileh/hookah paraphernalia sold from a 'sunken' (below road level) shop lot. Never tried it - I can't get my head around the hygiene issue.

At the other side of the city, you can see a mixture of old and new. Some old buildings are left to rot. Literally.

The walls looked like they're made of mud, wood and straw.

Al-Merjeh - Martyr's Square. A landmark that is quite close to the backpackers' favoured area. Apparently the immediate area is city's red light area too?

The National Museum is closed on Tuesdays. Duh. But we did spend time at another building across which had the Silk Road Festival 2010 Exhibition.

This outdoor area displayed bits of ruins and other artefacts was closed off for some upgrading/restoration work.

I enjoyed the Silk Road Exhibition - small and simple, yet interesting. And because they had things to sell that we can buy :)

Another beautiful cosy courtyard - at the Al Rabie Hotel. If you want to stay at a place with character, this is a good choice. A backpackers' haunt, thanks to LP. We did not stay here as it was beyond our budget. Peak season.

I am guessing that these are bits of ruins; instead of putting them back together they are simply arranged as part of the landscape decorations along the road.

I love this white gate and its columns that indicates that you have arrived at the Christian Quarter.

A water wheel atop Pizza Bab Kissan.

Along Medhat Pasha, towards the Christian Quarter.

Obligatory foot shot.

Anyway, Damascus is not all old-city. On the 3rd day, our kind driver brought us up Mount Qaissoun to enjoy the sunset, and, oh boy, the view was awesome! The city is freaking huge, and we totally did not venture to the more modern parts. And the sight of this mountain at night? Like a whole mountainside covered in fairy lights! Unfortunately I did not manage to capture this with my camera, I think a fancy camera (read : DLSR) is needed!

Time to save for a new toy, perhaps?

Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan : Where I Stood On the Bank of the Jordan River

2010-10-14T17:00:00.005+08:00

This was the closest we got to Israel.

Yupp, right on the other side of the Jordan River is Israel.

We visited Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, a holy site where Jesus Christ was baptised by John the Baptist. Bethany is located within a military zone, guarded by armed soldiers at the entry/exit point as well as within - well there was one soldier at the river, he looked quite bored I must say so there must've been no action or misbehaving tourists so far :P

I must say that the Israel complex looked much better than the Jordan side. We did not see anyone, save for two persons doing some kind of maintenance work at one far end.

We were warned not to look or say anything or even wave to anyone on the Israel side - if any one were to call out or say something to us, we were to ignore them completely. I don't know what the soldiers would do to any one who failed to comply - the guide did not mention. Thankfully, I thought, no one was on the Israel side - out of friendliness some one might just forget the warning and wave to them!

There was some walking involved under the hot sun. Hmm, I think it was less than 20 minutes one way.

The Bethany 'complex' - we were ferried on a bus from the Visitor Centre to the Baptism Site, and each group has to be led by a tour guide. Buses left at every half hour if I remember correctly. I do remember the abundance of flies - yes, as in lalat - probably from the farming/agriculture areas nearby.

That's our guide on the left ("You see there, that's Jericho. You know Jericho? Jericho! You must know Jericho!" - duh), and Sue (traveller, on RTW trip) on the right. The trees on the sides are some kind of willow trees, according to the guide.

Dipping my hand into the water - yes, I maintained perfect balance and did not fall into the river, much as I would like to just to find out what they'll do with me, haha. And it was a very hot day, a dip would've been heavenly. Okay, that thought is definitely not appropriate at a holy site. Sorry, my bad :X.

I guessed this contained Holy Water from the River. I did not have a bottle with me. No one did I think.

Prior to this trip, I did not read much on the history of the Baptism Site *shame* unfortunately, but the guide dispensed enough general facts about the site. So any inaccuracy here is due to my ignorance.

Pilgrims started coming here in the early ADs. The actual Baptism Site has been excavated only recently in 1996 (following Jordan's peace treaty with Israel in 1994) and identified based on early writings by pilgrims which said that there were marble steps leading down to the baptismal spot. More than 20 ancient sites have been found so far.

The three structures are remains of chapels built during the Byzantine era. The one on top of the hill in the background is the Church of St John, where there were some remnants of mosaic and marble floors.

The steps are said to be made of marble.

View from another angle.

A short description.

Early pilgrims etched crosses onto the stones to mark their pilgrimages.

After centuries, the river no longer exists there and has meandered its course nearby. The River Jordan is now not so much of a river, more like a winding murky green stream in the middle of a desert. Apparently it winds so much from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea that it is 130 miles long instead of 60 if it were to run straight.

Message from the late King Hussain.

Towards the river.

Ermm. Yes. This is part of the river.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Bethany mid-last year (I didn't know that, I thought this was the previous Pope) accompanied by HMs King and Queen of Jordan, as depicted by this tiled artwork.

The Greek Orthodox St John the Baptist Church which the Pope laid the foundation stone during his visit.

I love the bright blue skies here. Yes it was hot and dry.

I think the guide said that other side is Jerusalem.

And that's the city of Jericho.

So here my feet in red selipar rested for a while on the east bank of Jordan River.

I kept imagining how it was like in Bethany thousands of years ago when the people lived and moved around in this hot and dry desert conditions.

Made me shut up and think for a while.

Down the Dusty Old Roads : Syria and Jordan

2010-10-12T16:55:00.004+08:00

Wow.

I just realised my last post was exactly one month ago.

Anyway, just got back last night - 3 flights, over almost 24 hours - and am still trying to shake off jet lag and the tiredness.

For the last two weeks, I've been traipsing through Syria and Jordan with Julie. I don't know where to start; need some time to sort out pics. Some highlights :

exploring the Old City in Damascus
ice-cream at Bakdash, Souq al Hamediyyah
ruins, ruins and more ruins - Palmyra, Krak de Chevalier
unexpected gem of a place - Malloulah
visiting Mount Nebo and Bethany Beyond The Jordan
floating in the Dead Sea, Jordan
falling off donkey at Petra

Shopping at the souqs - so many things, too little time.

At Mount Nebo.

Ecstatic in Petra!

At the end of the Siq, approaching Al-Khazneh, the Treasury.

Will write more soon. Later, alligators!

Any Way The Wind Blows.

2010-09-12T17:43:00.008+08:00

Some time back, chatting with a friend about travelling, I realised that not everyone wants to go to certain destinations.

What I mean is, each person feels differently about where they want to go.

For myself, I don't feel the attraction (yet) to go to places like China, Japan, Korea, amongst others. Africa? Maybe just Egypt and Morocco. I'm not saying no, it's just that there are places which are out of my current Top Ten list.

The friend did not feel the desire to go to India. And my initial duh reaction was, how can you not want go to India? Instead, he wants to do New Zealand. And I go, oh okay, I don't feel like going to New Zealand. Not yet, at least for now. So I understand what it means when you don't feel the 'pull-factor'.

If I had all the resources - time and moolah - right now, I'd want to do Spain, Turkey, Italy, Morocco and some other old places.

Then again, I might change my mind in the future, so don't hold me ransom over this post :)

I still want to go to New Zealand, okay. One day.

Think About This.

2010-09-11T15:11:00.002+08:00

"Suppose Earth's history were charted on a single year's calendar, with midnight on January representing the origin of the Earth and midnight December 31 the present. Then each day of the Earth's "year" would represent the 12 million years of actual history. On that scale, the first form of life, a simple bacterium, would arise sometime in February. More complex life-forms, however, come much later; the first fishes appear around November 20. The dinosaurs arrive around December 10 and disappear around Christmas Day. The first of our ancestors recognizable as human would not show up until the afternoon of December 31. Homo sapiens - our species - would emerge around 11:45 p.m. All that has happened in recorded history would occur in the final minute of the year"

- New World New Mind, R. Ornstein & P. Ehrlich

We see, then, where we are in the scale of things.

Lost.

2010-09-07T15:10:00.005+08:00

Can't wait to get lost :)

Soon.

Merdeka v. 53

2010-08-31T00:01:00.000+08:00

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan to all Malaysians!

Image source : here

I'd like to share what I call my lagu-lagu semangat; they are not your typical patriotic songs, but whenever I listen to them I feel ... the semangat :)

Faizal Tahir - Gemuruh. I first heard it as the theme song to a singing reality show. Then I read somewhere that this was written with the Angkasawan project in mind.

Ella - Standing In The Eyes of The World. Theme song for the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. I think, sadly, that was the year when we Malaysians were very much happier and spirits were at an all-time high. I loved the Raise Your Flag campaign.

Ella - Gemilang. I love the chorus here, very sing-a-long and lighters alight kind of vibe. Lagu wajib during motivation training.

The next two weeks will see us enjoying lots of Public Holidays - happy people we are!

Videos : all from Youtube.

Wander On.

2010-08-30T12:24:00.001+08:00

I want this as a poster.

I Know What I Did ... This Summer?

2010-08-25T21:19:00.002+08:00

Hello :)

Lack of updates I know, as I've been staying put at home since returning from my Sibu weekend. No travelling plans till October so I've been spending time falling back into routine and also kicked off some personal projects that have been on my list for a long time.

So bear with me while I share with you my non-travel stories ya?

I've made the kitchen my second territory a lot more often now. Cooking is fun, especially when you don't go by the rules :) Two of my attempts which I remembered to take pictures of before I devoured them:

Green Papaya Salad, Som Tam.

Noodles soup deluxe.

Books - I tried reading new authors like Orhan Pamuk and Jonathan Safran Foer. And got my second Khaled Hosseini (wonderful writer!)

I had a Paul for years and didn't remember until after the World Cup!

Currently reading this. Eye-opening facts about our food.

In short : Eat Food. Not Much. Mostly Plants.

This is for later.

From the library.

Running/walking has taken a backseat in this prevailing bad weather (a convenient excuse, really) but I try to make it up by doing a lot more house chores and lifting my puny colourful dumbells. My motto - better than nothing :P

Recently we had the AirAsia Sale, MATTA fair here in KK as well as the various MAS promos. I just bought one ticket for next year, since in my case I really cannot take the risk of purchasing tickets on a whim anymore. I hope you guys got some good deals! And the ticket I bought hopefully will bring me to :

Resources from my local library.

Finally tried my green tea from Lao. Very fragrant.

My first taste of goat's milk; recommended for those who are lactose-intolerant. It works! So I can probably get my calcium intake from this.

And, this weekend I'll be busy with my new little project, codenamed "Tick" :)

Y'all have an awesome weekend ahead now ! :)

Sibu : (Again) 2010

2010-08-14T16:51:00.001+08:00

Who would've thought I'd return to Sibu again within a year of my last visit?

This time I was there to attend an old friend's wedding - which was very interesting as she is a Melanau and the groom is from Valencia, Espana.

To respect the privacy of the event I'm not posting their wedding pictures. There was a very merry entourage all the way from Spain comprising of the groom's family and friends; we dubbed them The Spanish Armada :). (they made a great batch of sangria, and not every Spaniard cares about futbol!)

Most of the time was spent catching up with old friends and you know what they say when you're having a good time - time really flies!

Aboard ATR72-500. MasWings. The last time I was on board this type of aircraft was to Mulu. There was probably about 15 of us on the flight from KK.

Refreshment. Very basic, really. Same thing on the way back, but the sandwiches were not nice.

After lunch we went to the river as they need to perform some traditional Melanau custom for the newlyweds. This involved putting together some soil, seven leaves and nails. This is a picture of the bride and groom.

Later we stopped by the Iban longhouse at Kg Sungai Aup for the benefit of the Spanish visitors.

We were welcomed by the Tuai Rumah; it was quiet as most of the occupants were out to town or were resting.

Posing at the window of the longhouse :)

After the longhouse we went to Taman Bukit Aup. I think I suffered from heatstroke and decided to stop just before the top of the hill summit. Gahhhhhhh. I was melting under the sun! No hat, no sunblock, no water --> I wilted very badly.

Sunday morning at the Central Market - look at these chickens for sale! All bundled snugly, and surprisingly well behaved.

Buah dabai - I kind of liked this the last time and bought some to bring back.

Didn't do much else and the next thing you know it's time to fly back. Bye Sibu!

Good To Share : Robin Sharma

2010-08-10T20:43:00.005+08:00

I'm back to reading some non-fiction recently.

And because I ~~like~~ love lists, this was timely. Read and accept what is applicable to you :). Or at least, think about it. Not rocket science at all.

My education continues.

You can really Lead Without a Title.
Knowing what to do and not doing it is the same as not knowing what to do.
Give away what you most wish to receive.
The antidote to stagnation is innovation.
The conversations you are most resisting are the conversations you most need to be having.
Leadership is no longer about position - but passion. It's no longer about image but impact. This is Leadership 2.0.
The bigger the dream, the more important to the team.
Visionaries see the "impossible" as the inevitable.
All great thinkers are initially ridiculed - and eventually revered.
The more you worry about being applauded by others and making money, the less you'll focus on doing the great work that will generate applause. And make you money.
To double your net worth, double your self-worth. Because you will never exceed the height of your self-image.
The more messes you allow into your life, the more messes will become a normal (and acceptable) part of your life.
The secret to genius is not genetics but daily practice married with relentless perseverance.
The best leaders lift people up versus tear people down.
The most precious resource for businesspeople is not their time. It's their energy. Manage it well.
The fears you run from run to you.
The most dangerous place is in your safety zone.
The more you go to your limits, the more your limits will expand.
Every moment in front of a customer is a gorgeous opportunity to live your values.
Be so good at what you do that no one else in the world can do what you do.
You'll never go wrong in doing what is right.
It generally takes about 10 years to become an overnight sensation.
Never leave the site of a strong idea without doing something to execute around it.
A strong foundation at home sets you up for a strong foundation at work.
Never miss a moment to encourage someone you work with.
Saying "I'll try" really means "I'm not really committed."
The secret of passion is purpose.
Do a few things at mastery versus many things at mediocrity.
To have the rewards that very few have, do the things that very few people are willing to do.
Go where no one's gone and leave a trail of excellence behind you.
Who you are becoming is more important than what you are accumulating.
Accept your teammates for what they are and inspire them to become all they can be.
To triple the growth of your organization, triple the growth of your people.
The best leaders are the most dedicated learners. Read great books daily. Investing in your self-development is the best investment you will ever make.
Other people's opinions of you are none of your business.
Change is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end.
Measure your success by your inner scorecard versus an outer one.
Understand the acute difference between the cost of something and the value of something.
Nothing fails like success. Because when you are at the top, it's so easy to stop doing the very things that brought you to the top.
The best leaders blend courage with compassion.
The less you are like others, the less others will like you.
You'll never go wrong in doing what's right.
Excellence in one area is the beginning of excellence in every area.
The real reward for doing your best work is not the money you make but the leader you become.
Passion + production = performance.
The value of getting to your goals lives not in reaching the goal but what the talents/strengths/capabilities the journey reveals to you.
Stand for something. Or else you'll fall for anything.
Say "thank you" when you're grateful and "sorry" when you're wrong.
Make the work you are doing today better than the work you did yesterday.
Small daily - seemingly insignificant - improvements and innovations lead to staggering achievements over time.
Peak performers replace depletion with inspiration on a daily basis.
Take care of your relationships and the sales/money will take care of itself.
You can't be great if you don't feel great. Make exceptional health your #1 priority.
Doing the difficult things that you've never done awakens the talents you never knew you had.
As we each express our natural genius, we all elevate our world.
Your daily schedule reflects your deepest values.
People do business with people who make them feel special.
All things being equal, the primary competitive advantage of your business will be your ability to grow Leaders Without Titles faster than your industry peers.
Treat people well on your way up and they'll treat you well on your way down.
Success lies in a masterful consistency around a few fundamentals. It really is simple. Not easy. But simple.
The business (and person) who tries to be everything to everyone ends up being nothing to anyone.
One of the primary tactics for enduring winning is daily learning.
To have everything you want, help as many people as you can possibly find get everything they want.
Understand that a problem is only a problem if you choose to view it as a problem (vs. an opportunity).
Clarity precedes mastery. Craft clear and precise plans/goals/deliverables. And then block out all else.
The best in business spend far more time on learning than in leisure.
Lucky is where skill meets persistence.
The best Leaders Without a Title use their heads and listen to their hearts.
The things that are hardest to do are often the things that are the best to do.
Every single person in the world could be a genius at something, if they practiced it daily for at least ten years (as confirmed by the research of Anders Ericsson and others).
Daily exercise is an insurance policy against future illness. The best Leaders Without Titles are the fittest.
Education is the beginning of transformation. Dedicate yourself to daily learning via books/audios/seminars and coaching.
The quickest way to grow the sales of your business is to grow your people.

The Only Way is UP.

2010-08-06T17:46:00.000+08:00

Move over, Indy. Here comes Russell.

He should be the new poster boy for adventure :)

"With my Wilderness Explorer GPS, we'll never be lost!"

Happy Friday (+ weekend) everyone!

SHAPE Night Run 2010

2010-08-03T08:22:00.004+08:00

My very short weekend in KL was for the SHAPE Night Run 2010, my 3rd event for the year.

Here's some pictures to tell the story :

Arrived just after 6 pm, via KLIA Transit and Nadi Putra bus. As expected, the atmosphere was kinda festive - music, booths, etc.

My first ever experience using a Portaloo. Claustrophobic! Just like on planes.

A clown doing what he does best - clowning around.

Goodie bags galore - pink for ladies, red for the men. As long as you finish you get one.

I wish I had them roller blades!

These friendly kids wanted to camwhore so I obliged :)

'Official' pic?

Waiting - not long afterwards they started the warm up session with instructors from True Fitness. The upbeat music was from BEP and we wound it down with Jason!

MCs - Jay, I-don't-know-who, and Ferhad. I think they ran the Fun Run 5 km.

Pole dancing! Thankfully more of the athletic kind, rather than the erotic ;P Crazy limbs. Very strong core.

No mantra this time (the ink wouldn't stick) so I had my pink ribbon instead.

Waiting in the pen.

Off we go!

Crossing the bridge towards the UFO-like PICC and around it.

The first marker I noticed. I don't know who that is, I just snapped a pic and ran on. And ran and ran and...then walked. From 4km onwards I adopted a walk-run strategy. The night was cool from a nice light breeze. We ran past buildings and bridges, no pics though.

One more!! It's so close already! We had to go around another building for the final 2 km. I was almost cursing.

Posing with my goodie bag and cert - didn't even bother to wipe my sweat, haha. Later I found that I was covered with a thin film of dust all over. Hmmm.

Impromptu 'friends'; took pictures and then they said 'See you next year!' and I said Penang! Penang! :) We laughed.

Goodie bag was okaylah - pink towel, pink razor, 6(!!!) small bottles of CLEAR shampoo, apple snack, Perskindol, TruDTox, a can of Revive, 2 granola bars, NTFlam, Rilax, vouchers (Kenko, LabSeries, Juiceworks, True Fitness, Mierica). Bottle of water and green apple after the race.

Good Things :

good accessibility.
goodie bag! :)
(warm) water stations every 2 km I think - but no isotonic.
good markers, traffic control, marshalls.
smaller crowd :)

Not So Good Things :

weird flag off. A non-event.
'Aunty' doing part of the emcee-ing. Huh?
no cheering teams.

Overall I had fun and definitely want to be back next year!

"You Are The One Who Is Falling"

2010-07-28T09:29:00.004+08:00

This from the BP spill in the Gulf Coast.

Maybe because we are not affected, we don't care much, or at all.

But imagine this in our backyard. That'll surely make us sit up and and take action. To a 'lesser' extent, we are facing our own 'spill' - that proposed coal plant in Lahad Datu. The EIA consultants can go audition for Keystone Kops or something.

No Coal Sabah's actual tweets from the EIA Panel meeting yesterday:

It has been pointed out that animal & bird species that do not exist in Sabah are in the EIA report! Consultant said, "I have to check".

"There is no risk on health of the communities" - calculated over 70 years. Actual statement from EIA experts slide!!

"Kg Sinakut, is d community which will have d most affect, IF ANY" says EIA Consultant Pararunding UKM. IF ANY, wake up so called experts!!

"Fish will not be significantly affected becoz they can swim away" says EIA EXPERT!! Wow!

Credit : mmccllcc. Song : "Falling" by Von Tilley.

"When hands are joined, no one can point fingers"

- Jason Mraz, xoxo.

Movie : Inception

2010-07-24T19:46:00.005+08:00

No Spoiler Ahead.

Quote : 'Watching Inception is like striking a match and setting your brain on fire.'

I must say that this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie and actually made me go and read up on its own inception (heh). Written, directed and produced by Christopher Nolan ('Dark Knight'), development started ten years ago and he waited until he was ready for a big-scale movie and spent much time refining the whole project.

Yupp, you get superb quality when you don't do rushed-jobs :)

I was never a Leo Di Caprio fan, although I know his acting chops are excellent. I may just change my mind. The cast was perfectly cast (duh sentence), editing was superb I thought and there's none of those typical excesses in the script nor in the visual feasts.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Arthur 'The Point Man', my favourite character. He also has some of the coolest scenes. I have a soft heart for geeks like that :) Nice to see him in a sci-fi adventure movie.

These scenes were wayyyy toooo coooool! Smoothly executed.

Anyway, don't take anyone's word for it - go watch!

Monk (Not The TV Show)

2010-07-19T12:34:00.003+08:00

This is one of my favourite pictures. As in the ones I took myself.

At a glance, the monk looks like he's floating above ground. The phrase that came to my mind was 'the Lightness of Being'.

This one too. A monk in contemplation.

Just like the rest of us, sometimes :)

Location : Phou Si, Luang Prabang. May 2010.