Beautiful World

Deadly Bet!

2008-06-23T00:28:00.000-07:00

It was raining heavily when a 13 year old boy jumped into the 3m-deep water of a monsoon drain to check its depth. It was all about a RM10 bet (less than US $5). Unfortunately, the boy was washed away by the strong current and his three friends who abetted him and witnessed the incident, for fear of trouble, kept mum until interrogated by the boy's parents. The boy was found dead five days later at a mine, a few kilometres from the monsoon drain. Now, who are our friends, I wonder and is life that cheap?

Bowled over!

2008-06-20T01:13:00.003-07:00

When some youngsters asked me to go bowling at the bowling arcade in Taiping, I gladly obliged. Youngsters nowadays don't play kites, tops, marbles, water pistols or any of those traditional games. During those good old days, children often created their own games using whatever resources there were. Children those days were really easily bowled over. With a little imagination, discarded things like bottle caps, cigarettes boxes, rubber bands and even rubber seeds could generate untold fun. A game at the bowling arcade costs RM 6, which is very cheap even by Malaysian standard. I remember my brother making toy guns and swords out of wood when he was in school and there was a specially designed sword modeled after the broken sword of Shaw's mega hit movie One Armed Swordsman starring Jimmy Wang Yu, the Chinese heartthrob of yesteryears, which no one except himself could touch! That perhaps was the most expensive toy he ever had and the cost probably did not come to a dollar! One probably do not need much to be bowled over!

Getting ready to be bowled over!

Bowled!

Petroleum Price Hike Musing

2008-06-17T01:26:00.001-07:00

Each time the price of petroleum soars, the country squirms. When the price of petrol went up to RM2.70 per liter, a 48per cent hike, many other things will be expected to rise with it. Several people interviewed by the local Star Paper said that their monthly income of RM 3000 is already not sufficient .There has been a call for a change of lifestyle and some have proposed cutting down on entertainment and eating out which I believe would be good since with everyone at home, there is going to be more of the getting to know each other session in a family, something that seem to have diminished in this modern world. There will perhaps be more warmth at home and then of course, eating home-cooked meal is definitely healthier. Lifestyle should be changed no doubt, maybe even with drastic actions like the one suggested by the photo below...

Men in Car

2008-06-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

A restaurant worker flagged a passing car for help to save his dying mother. The man had left his mother near the door of their home in the care of his younger brother. He ran to stop a taxi but the taxi driver refused to stop and he had then flagged down a dark-coloured car with four men inside. He begged the men for help and got into the vehicle when they told him that he had to follow them to get an ambulance. They drove to a graveyard instead, beat him unconscious and robbed him of a handphone and around RM500 in cash. Now, those must not be men in the car...

I would, I would

2008-06-15T07:34:00.001-07:00

Dedicating this to Cheng Guan...

It seems like yesterday but years have passed and Cheng Guan, that quiet boy with very few words has blossomed into a young man and he is getting married and in fact, has just got married today! Quiet as he is, one would expect him to have few friends but you would be surprised - He has many friends from his school days and I remember those days when they would go out together to have fun and would often spent late nights together playing cards. He has many friends, that's what I thought but on his big day, many of them could not turn up; some stay just too far away, some have job commitments and some, well, I am not sure why. Perhaps, this is life... while wine grows better with age, the same could not be said about friends. Some people find new friends and place more importance on new people while other would stay put with their old ones, appreciating them as they learn to take them warts and all. As I sit wondering now about Cheng Guan's friends, I wish they are of the latter type. I wonder too if Cheng Guan would be disappointed. As a bridegroom, I would. As a friend, I would. The worst thing about it all is sometimes, disappointment breeds contempt.

The venue: Lee Ong Hoo in Pokok Assam, Taiping...

Friends...

The bride and bridegroom..

...taking centre stage...

...Calling it a night...

June Meme

2008-06-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

Witewood tagged me for a May Meme but I put it off and so, I guess, it's a June Meme now. Here, the particpants will have to answer a series of questions with a one word answer:

Yourself: Calm
Your Partner: None
Your Hair: Short
Your Mother: Human
Your Father: Cool
Your Favorite Item: Cellphone
Your Dream Last Night: Absurd
Your Favorite Drink: Water
Your Dream Home: Warm
The Room You Are In: Comfortable
Your Fear: Sick
Where Do You Want to be in 10 years: Retired
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Computer
What You Are Not: Sarcastic
Muffins: What?
One of Your Wish Items: None
Time: Privilege
Last Thing You Did: blogging
What You Are Wearing: Spectacles
Your Favorite Weather: Cool
Your Favorite Book: Philosophy
Last Thing You Ate: Rice
Your Mood: Normal
Your Best Friends: Mmm..
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Friends
Your Car: Old
Your Summer: Question irrelevant - It's hot year the whole year over where I live!
What’s on your TV: Crystals! (They are ON the TV!)
What Is Your Weather Like: Hot
When Was the Last Time You Laughed: Morning
What is your relationship status: Huh?

Tagging Ely, Kenneth, Terrence and Liudmila... And a Chinese song for you as you ponder over whether you would take up this meme...

Qi Li Xiang (Orange Jasmine) by Jay Chow...

Food for you!

2008-05-23T23:19:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was at Sungai Petani, a small town up north. I took a bus and at the bus stand, I stopped for a plate of wantan noodles and a glass of blended red means topped with Milo, the latter, I suppose, the town was famous for. Later, towards the evening, Ong and I went out for tea and I had Tom Yam and the former had Loh mee. At night, after watching Jacky Chan and Jet Li in action in Forbidden Kingdom, we went for supper. Ong had wantan noodle and I had Sungai Petani's quaint curry mee. Since I would off for several days to Miri, I have all these South East Asian food laid out for your viewing pleasure... If you forget the oil and the cholesterol, food are a delight. They tease your tastebuds and nourishes! By the way, mee is the local word for noodles.

Here I stopped for my wanton noodle and blended red beans topped with Milo...

Towards evening, we had Loh mee...

Tom yam noodles...

and for supper, we had curry mee...

and wanton noodles...

Eat to your delight!

A Traveller's Tale: Joy is a strange fruit!

2008-05-12T06:50:00.001-07:00

Joy is a strange fruit!

(Pics taken at the foot of Bukit Larut. April, 2008)

If you fancy a dense tropical forest and perhaps, some quietness and solitude too, Bukit Larut is just the place for you. Situated at the suburb of Malaysia's historical town, Taiping, the forest is a feast to the eyes and is ever full of surprises. During my trip there, I chanced upon a strange, unidentified fruit from the forest which was found by a man working at the foot of the hill. That perhaps was a perfect cap for my the trip to Bukit Larut - the jewel on the crown! Who say, a jewel needs to be a diamond!

For more tales, on travelling, check out Travel Pangs.
For more joys, check out Simple Joys.

A Traveller's Tale: No Tea at the Tea Garden

2008-05-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

Walking down Bukit Larut, one may want to take a respite at a little waterfall but nowadays, the waterfall is fenced up! You can just enjoy a view of the waterfall but you cannot get to run your fingers through the icy cold water. Nature is supposed to be enjoyed but there is always some smart Aleck with bright ideas out to spoil the fun! Anyway, fret not. A short while later, you will come to the Tea Garden which is situated at 656 m above sea level. There is no tea at the Tea Garden but it seemed that tea was grown here a long, long time ago when Bukit Larut was first opened by the British, hence, its name. There used to be an Indian family staying in a small house here too back in the 70s and one could buy Coca-cola from them to quench the thirst after a tiring walk but today there is no resident here at the tea garden. A big abandoned wooden house is still around though and it lends a mysterious picture to the hill. Some people say the house is haunted...

A little waterfall...

An abandoned house...

at the Tea Garden of Bukit Larut...

A Traveller's Tale: Green Gems

2008-05-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Taking a walk down Bukit Larut could be tedious. It's a 10 km walk if you choose the tarred road which reportedly has 108 hairpins. The walk would be long and often slow but it could be worth it. It's not just that one could avoid the sudden change in pressure and the nauseating, dizzying feeling of being cooped up in a jeep but when you walk, you get to see the green gems all around you. You just have to look and even on the ground, there are green gems. That is, if you care to see...

Walking down Bukit Larut...

...you get to see Green Gems all the way...

A Traveller's Tale: Enjoying the Clouds and Mist

2008-05-01T07:58:00.001-07:00

In ancient China, I have heard it said that emperors sat and drank tea under the pavilion in the summer palace after a downpour just to appreciate and enjoy the mist and the wind. Well, in Bukit Larut, minus the pavilion and the tea, you can still do that. Never mind if there are abhorring human structures like a hanging bridge that you don't like, you can just throw your eyes at the distance, and lo, you enjoy! There is joy if you choose to see!

Enjoy the mist in Bukit Larut...

You can have a peep of Taiping town too if you care...

Even the leaveless trees are a delight!

There are joys if you care to see!

A Traveller's Tale: Bukit Larut Surprise

2008-05-01T07:25:00.001-07:00

Surprises abound in Bukit Larut! Cendana Bungalow or what used to be called The Hut has been renovated and privatized. Tourists can still stay there for the night I supposed for I saw a group of people being served dinner there at night. Then, there was also this nursery there where you will have to pay RM 1 to enter to watch hyacinths and tulips but if you are dying to watch the blooms, you'd have to go in December. Spare RM 10 if you are bringing in your SLR camera. And if there is not enough of surprises, there is also this hanging bridge in Bukit Larut which I heard was built perhaps two years ago and which I just laid my eyes on. I truly think the nursery and the bridge are an eyesore! Surprises are not always sweet!

A visit to the hut...

A hanging bridge and an eyesore...

A Traveller's Tale: If you love to go a Wandering...

2008-05-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hiking in Bukit Larut...

If you love to go a wandering, it ought to be in Bukit Larut! That reminds me of the popular song, The Happy Wanderer or Der fröhliche Wanderer or Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller. Thise song's original German lyrics have been translated to several languages and the English lyrics were written by Antonia Ridge. American Milton DeLugg wrote its famous arrangement and has thus been sometimes falsely credited as the composer of the song. In life, I bet there are lots of false credits but what the heck! Just enjoy this!

A Traveller's Tale: Giant Ferns!

2008-04-30T03:01:00.001-07:00

Bukit Larut is a heaven for nature lovers. As a schoolboy, I had been told by a teacher that there were giant elephant ferns in Bukit Larut and these plants supposedly could be found in New Zealand,too. I have seen them in Penang Hill too and today, I'd tell the younger generations too: There are giant ferns in Bukit Larut. Happy viewing! God's gifts to mankind ought to be passed on to the younger generations!

A Traveller's Tale: Scouts in the Mist

2008-04-26T07:54:00.001-07:00

Bukit Larut is such a quiet place. If you are taking a stroll in the evening and you happen to hear the swings in the playground swinging and the happy laughter of youngsters ringing in the crisp,cold air, your hairs may start to stand on ends especially if your eyes have from afar actually caught sight of the scouts who are beginning to march in the mist... With the proper setting and an overactive mind, people tend to think of ghosts...and in Bukit Larut, someone would have probably told you already of a British lady who haunts a bungalow there...

Scouts in the mist...

A Traveller's Tale: Going up Bukit Larut

2008-04-26T07:18:00.001-07:00

Going up Bukit Larut is easy! You just have to pay RM 6 for a to and fro ride on a jeep. If you fancy a walk, do so but that would be a 10 km walk which may take up to three hours. The jeep used to be a drab black and smaller too very unlike the Black Maria that transports criminals but these days, the jeep are really colourful, bigger, more spacious and therefore more comfortable. On Saturday, when I went up the hill, there was an unusually bigger crowd. It was the Sultan of Perak's birthday, a public holiday and school children and tourists alike were out on an excursion. Joggers were in full gear and they normally walk up the tar road or little paths up to as far as 2 km before they turn back. The school children especially would probably break up the quiet and peace up there! One would probably not get what one seek for!

A jeep at the waiting kiosk...

School boys and girls waiting for a jeep to take them up the hill...

A Traveller's Tale: Stoned!

2008-04-25T23:38:00.001-07:00

They are nothing like Uluru, Ayers Rock, that is, the large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia which is listed as a World Heritage Site but these few pieces of rocks which form naturally outside Tempinis Bungalow in Bukit Larut are a beauty to look at. I pretended I was in Stonehenge and yes, stones, lifeless as they are, fascinates!

Outside Tempinis Bungalow in Bukit Larut, Taiping, Malaysia...

A Traveller's Tale: White Tempinis, Red Tempinis

2008-04-24T01:06:00.001-07:00

Tempinis or what the British called Treacher bungalow is situated at 3750 feet above sea level. It looks white when you approach it but if you care to explore and see, it is red on the other side. A friend of mine couldn't help expressing her surprise when she saw my shot of the lovely bungalow. I didn't know it is red! She exclaimed. If only people see!

White Tempinis...

Red Tempinis... Tempinis's especially large living room...

Looking out of the window of one of the four bedrooms...

Bathroom attached to one of the rooms in Tempinis...

What used to be a fireplace in Tempinis...

A Traveller's Tale: Bungalows up a Hill

2008-04-24T01:04:00.001-07:00

Somewhere, I read Bukit Larut retains a colonial atmosphere with its quaint bungalows and English gardens. I am not very sure if the garden there qualifies as English garden but years back,I liked to wander among the well tended dainty dahlia gardens. Indian residents did a good job tending them but alas they were gone, and so were the trademark dahlias, these flowers now, replaced by other hardy plants like hibiscus or cannas . The houses occupied by the Indian families are also now vacant and appeared deserted but there is still a quaint little Hindu temple tucked away in a corner. Other bungalows left by the British are however still available for rent and one could put up a night stay there at about RM 150. Bukit Larut received the highest rainfall in Malaysia and at approximately 1250 m above sea level, the weather is cool and crisp sometimes, making a night stay there an unusually great experience. Nature's gift to mankind is indeed insurmountable!

Bungalows, bungalows up a hill...

A Traveller's Tale: A Quiet Respite

2008-04-23T07:29:00.001-07:00

One of the great benefits of staying in Taiping, my beloved hometown is when you want some real peace and quiet, you can just walk up 10 km or if you prefer, take a jeep up through the 108 hairpin bends to Bukit Larut. Founded in 1884, this oldest hill resort in Malaysia, used to be called Maxwell Hill,after the British Assistant Resident in colonial Perak, William Edward Maxwell. Just last Saturday, I went up this hill for a one night stay at a bungalow there, Tempinis.There are a few quaint bungalows built by the British here and this one, someone said is haunted! I thought it just take some thoughtless words to disrupt the peace I am looking forward to...

Go up Bukit Larut for some peace and quiet...

Get mugged!

2008-04-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Mugging is not merely about a robbery in the street. If you are talking about model mugging, it could even be fun! Model mugging is in fact, a form of self-defense training that prepares women and men too, for real-life attack situations, a concept founded by Matt Thomas after his classmate, a female black-belt holder was raped. He had researched over 3000 cases of assaults against women and had then came out with techniques to fight back in real life situation. Get mugged now, won't you!

Mugs of a different kind...

An Emily Dickinson's poem

2008-04-12T00:41:00.001-07:00

Just the other day, I helped my niece moved house.There were so many things to be moved and some of her belongings, most notably a bed and two big mattresses were given away. The mattresses reminded me of of American poet , Emily Dickinson's poem, There's been a death in the opposite house:

There's been a death in the opposite house
As lately as to-day.
I know it by the numb look
Such houses have always.

The neighbors rustle in and out,
The doctor drives away.
A window opens like a pod,
Abrupt, mechanically;

Somebody flings a mattress out,--
The children hurry by;
They wonder if It died on that,--
I used to when a boy.

The minister goes stiffly in
As if the house were his,
And he owned all the mourners now,
And little boys besides;

And then the milliner, and the man
Of the appalling trade,
To take the measure of the house.
There'll be that dark parade

Of tassels and of coaches soon;
It's easy as a sign,--
The intuition of the news
In just a country town.

I was led to believe that mattresses used by people who had just passed away would be thrown away... something you'd probably not do if the mattresses are as beautiful as the two below...

A Fishy Sex Story

2008-04-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I read about a 30-year-old mother of three. I still think it was a peculiar piece of news. Now, the woman who worked as a salesgirl in a hypermarket was blackmailed by a boyfriend whom she had been going out for the past few months after separating with her husband. She had lodged a police report that she was blackmailed into having sex with two men. It was a choice of having sex with them or having a video clip of her and the boyfriend having oral sex distributed to the public. Now, isn't that fishy? In situation like this, wouldn't you rather be blackmailed? Is there any difference at all if you have chosen not to give in to the blackmailer's demand?

Expensive Bra

2008-04-05T04:59:00.001-07:00

At the Triumph Ultimate Support Exhibition gala launch held at 1 Utama, Kuala Lumpur, recently, a 805 gm crystal bra worth half a million ringgit stole the show. The bra features hand-sewn diamond-cut crystals from Swarovski and took over 250 hours to complete. At such a price, now I wonder if a man would stay for the night with a woman or would he just run off with the bra after slipping it off her?

Joy is a beautiful roof above the head!

2008-04-03T08:45:00.001-07:00

Joy is having a roof above the head, the more beautiful the roof the better! Chris sent me a set of photos of a beautiful house via e-mail which he claimed was a private home in Malaysia. I would die for just the garage and the cars in it!

For more joyful photos, visit Simple Joys!