tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61943202009-07-12T16:43:40.859+08:00Part I-Blog of a biped.... run run run; Part II - Walks in the Forests...lekowalanoreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1162484893992347682006-11-03T00:25:00.000+08:002006-11-03T00:28:29.606+08:00

lekowala.wordpress.com

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1161095525196759892006-10-17T22:26:00.000+08:002006-10-17T22:32:05.196+08:00

Why read the book when the documentary was so easy to watch. I screened this National Geographic documentary of Guns, Germs and Steel for my students. I really enjoyed the first part so much that I brought it home and carried on with the next two episodes. The book still sits on my shelf, 10% read. It was interesting reading but the font size was just a little too small. Perhaps I will pick

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1161095026090009312006-10-17T21:37:00.000+08:002006-10-17T22:23:46.153+08:00

I managed to finish this book by the Sentinel, Chokher Bali (Sand in the Eye), a couple of weeks ago. Reading Tagore is like sitting under the shade of a tree and counting the leaves in the wind. Add sunflecks that dance on the ground. Sultry.The story was arrestingly beautiful and the characters so soulful. It was so easy to slip into the minds of the characters once you started reading.I

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1157555167593270022006-09-06T23:00:00.000+08:002006-09-06T23:06:07.686+08:00

sunset_national day 2006.JPG Originally uploaded by lekowala. These are the moments that cannot be bought. I am rich (Ladybug's words echo in my ears). The words ring true for me and jen. We've never been materially rich and we just shared how many choices we made in life were the same since our childhood. They were almost always stupid choices, well stupid to most other people. But

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1157427149564549202006-09-05T10:51:00.000+08:002006-09-05T12:15:00.260+08:00

Finally finished this book by Romain Rolland, who was described as a "teacher, pacifist and loner". Its taken so long thanks to marking.... &$#$@%^. Finally I am finding some semblance of the tranquil and quiet that was with this short break... but fleetingly. Reading reminds me of saying the Rosary which I used to do on a regular basis despite being an angsty pundeh of an adolescent. I

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1157299676513740292006-09-04T00:02:00.000+08:002006-09-04T00:07:56.706+08:00

Josh, Sue and Matt Originally uploaded by lekowala. Thanks for bringing the fossil over to Singapore! It sure can't beat the Natural History Museum in London but at least it had the wow-factor. The guides were really good and Jen really learnt quite abit and was an earful after that. In my usual unsystematic way of museum walking, I flitted from on exhibit to the next. This pehaps is

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1155096675973239362006-08-09T12:06:00.000+08:002006-08-09T12:11:15.980+08:00

senna alata Originally uploaded by lekowala. Senna alata was once cultivated in the kampung for its medicinal properties. The crushed leaves could be used against ringworms. This plant can really light up the day. Its got such a unique habit and those inflorescences make a show of themselves protruding out handsomely.

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1155096064735648492006-08-09T11:56:00.000+08:002006-08-09T12:01:04.743+08:00

action.JPG Originally uploaded by lekowala. Matt getting into the act as well as he mimics everthing his "ge ge" does.

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1155095986783463332006-08-09T11:54:00.000+08:002006-08-09T11:59:46.880+08:00

josh_action.JPG Originally uploaded by lekowala. Kids are watching too much power rangers. But they seem to like doing the kungfu moves so much, its quite entertaining

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1150895745905551932006-06-21T21:08:00.000+08:002006-06-21T21:16:03.126+08:00

In Sungei Lebam, Desaru, Joshua held a firefly in his hand. He exclaimed "It was quite warm but it didn't burn my hand"."Just about 100% of a firefly's light is given off as light.By comparison, a normal electric bulb gives off only 10% of its energy as light, while 90% is wasted as heat"Read here for more Firefly Facts

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1150822412973730262006-06-21T00:50:00.000+08:002006-06-21T00:53:33.080+08:00

Picture0043 Originally uploaded by lekowala. This spider has been immobilised by the wasp's sting and is going to be eaten alive very slowly perhaps by her larvae. It is interesting to note that the sting is an evolved adaptation of the ovipositor so only female wasp and bees sting.Picture taken last year at the Macritchie Board Walk after exiting from the Tree-top walk

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1149858777641820462006-06-09T21:09:00.000+08:002006-06-09T22:12:57.906+08:00

Where's Billy Originally uploaded by lekowala. There's a goat under that pile of kids. I remember I was just surveying the school compound when out of the blue, this kid came running to me from 20 metres, carrying a goat almost as big as himself and asking a "fataw". That scene is running in my head. If I may offer a metaphor, that moment was like a beautiful snowflake formed at the

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1149518145327409752006-06-05T22:32:00.000+08:002006-06-05T22:35:45.346+08:00

Sound Horn Originally uploaded by lekowala. My fav sign in Tamil Nadu, on the back of every truck, bus and van. The din of the road greets you in the morning and wears off late into the night.

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1149491002753985072006-06-05T15:00:00.000+08:002006-06-05T15:03:22.836+08:00

Classroom under tree Originally uploaded by lekowala. The shade under the tree was where the first class was held 15 years ago. Classes are still conducted under the tree for the older students. I'd describe the place as idyllic, no rushing about and the people smiling more than the average joe and jane in Singapore. The mud paths less threatening than the streets of Denver and the air

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1148400570107373412006-05-24T00:06:00.000+08:002006-05-24T00:13:33.800+08:00

ubin house Originally uploaded by lekowala. This is the view from the kitchen and also the verandah on which we slept on. Curled up in the sleeping bag, listening to Cicadas, breathing fresh Ubin air, which was curiously sweet from the lalang (Imperata cylindrica) I guess... Of course some uncle had to delete his sms at 530 in the morning (and not in silent mode some more). I actually

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1148399810635432492006-05-23T23:54:00.000+08:002006-05-23T23:56:50.763+08:00

stove cat Originally uploaded by lekowala. Okay this cat isn't bio fuel. Its just warming itself in a kampung kitchen in P. Ubin. The animals there really make themselves comfortable everywhere. I was there for an overnight training camp in some villager's house. Felt like a city slicker... damn pai seh.

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1146491283774044722006-05-01T21:30:00.000+08:002006-05-01T21:59:56.333+08:00

Okay just finished the Gora book. I took about a month plus. I thought that was quite long but gee the days just fly by these days. Thanks to the long weekend, I indulged and set aside time for this most thought provoking book. Tagore's characters have a way of representing themselves as though they were all a part of the reader, that's me I guess. In the end the story is about love and the

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1143128280033916152006-03-23T23:18:00.000+08:002006-03-23T23:38:00.080+08:00

I got this book "Gora" by Tagore at the end of the weeklong break and read about half of it. Its been said to be Tagore's masterpiece. It's really been fine reading, easy and smooth, full of essence, like a "kretek" if you will. The writing flows like a river and is tedium-free.Got another book as well - "Tagore Birthday Book". Let's see for my birthdate, the entry reads - "God loves man's

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1137815154806262492006-01-21T11:45:00.000+08:002006-01-21T11:51:23.176+08:00

Ramayana_anime Originally uploaded by lekowala. Someone passed me this yesterday and I just watched the first disc. I was really intrigued by the epic when I first read the novelised version; now this, an anime version that commemorates the 40th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Japan. Tagore was a great lover of Japanese culture. Before WWII, he wrote a series of

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1135361487864697672005-12-24T02:11:00.000+08:002005-12-24T02:15:21.756+08:00

Polymesoda expansa Originally uploaded by lekowala. Maybe I haven't been trudging about the mangroves as often as Otterman or Inertia-is-a-sin recently but for the first time, my attention turned to the bivalve*-strewn mangrove floor. I must have lost my habituation to a forest surrounding or walking aimlessly gave fresh perspective. I found this rich manifestation of life hard to

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1135010391313022982005-12-20T00:39:00.000+08:002005-12-20T00:39:51.363+08:00

sighting.JPG Originally uploaded by lekowala. A simple lunch with wife and kids (ball and chain) at Changi Village turned out to be really quite something and we only managed to reach home at 6pm. We were walking past some coffeshops at the breezy and leafy Changi village when we spotted Otterman by chance at a kopitiam concentrating on reading some manual before a meeting. The place is

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1134841358613053422005-12-18T01:42:00.000+08:002005-12-18T01:42:38.673+08:00

butterflies for now Originally uploaded by lekowala. "In our highly complex modern conditions, mechanical forces are organised with such efficiency that the materials produced grow far in advance of man's capacity to select and assimilate them to suit his nature and needs. Such an overgrowth, like the rank vegetation of the tropics, creates confinement for man."The next few sentences are

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1134583105873882382005-12-15T01:36:00.000+08:002005-12-15T01:58:25.946+08:00

A lonely pilgrim spreading the message of peace in East Bengal:Winston Churchill called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi a "half-naked fakir" and in response, Gandhi (or affectionately Bapuji or Ghandiji) said "yes, I am trying to be both". And seriously he was. He was educated as a lawyer and called to the bar in London. He tried in every manner to be a "proper Englishman" and even tried to raise

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1134104371335568342005-12-09T12:59:00.000+08:002005-12-09T13:44:01.026+08:00

shadows Originally uploaded by lekowala. "It is only when the Creator, who abides in the region of light, conceals himself, that we see his Creation...There are seekers of truth that would tear away the screen and go over to the lighted side - that is they want to see the Creator separate from his creation - and nothing can be so empty as the maya [illusion, the material world, physical

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194320.post-1134063890394796862005-12-09T01:44:00.000+08:002005-12-09T01:44:50.443+08:00

Streetvendor.JPG Originally uploaded by lekowala. We were in a taxi in Bangkok and Josh and I were staring out into the sidewalk as the taxi ambled forward in the jam. Along one road, this man was cooking. It seemed he was mindfully lost in the motions that he probably carried out daily; the noisy traffic didn't seem to break the tranquility or was it a kind of loneliness that was the

lekowalanoreply@blogger.com0