Ben's Slice of Life

A New Chapter in Blogging

2011-05-01T07:30:00.017+08:00

Hi Friends and Visitors,

It is almost three years since mid-2007 that I start blogging and along the years I learn more about myself, discovered my new passion in photography and made some good friends. However as I'm taking on more job responsibilities, need to keep track with school works and hope to devote more time for family, I find myself seriously short of time and the time seems getting shorter day-by-day! Eventually I found updating Ben's Slice of Life become a heavy burden instead of a healthy venue for self-expression, due to lack of time. Thus, I decided to take a whole new approach on blogging, focusing on thing I enjoy most, which is photography and do away with story-telling.

As the old adage said, a picture is worth a thousand words is ringing so true to me when one has so much to express yet has so little time available. So I'll start a new chapter of my blogging life in Ben's Photo Journal at http://benedictchow.blogspot.com. It is a photoblog where I'll share photos that I taken and cherish since I seriously into photography with Canon 450D in mid-2009 and Canon 7D in early 2010 till present. I hope you will stopping by Ben's Photo Journal and I greatly appreciate your questions, thoughts and opinions as these will help me to grow in my photographic endeavors.

Starting today, I'll not be updating Ben's Slice of Life unless I'm so compelled to. I would like to thank you for your visits and valuable comments to Ben's Slice of Life of these years.

All right see you there in Ben's Photo Journal and cheerio!

Ben

Monday Blues

2011-04-25T19:03:00.001+08:00

Your Monday Blues is getting from bad to worse... when you still wake up at 5 o'clock on Monday morning, walking to the mirror and telling yourself; you love Monday and you love your job, despite it is your day-off! And this scary thing is happening to me!!! Don't laugh at me okay, it is better for me do beat the Monday Blues on a positive note by telling myself I love Monday and I love my job to the mirror than throwing my slippers at the alarm clock right? Otherwise, why not tell me how you beat the Monday Blues, so I can learn some new tricks ;)

Coming to the point, many discouraging things happened to me in the last few weeks. It seem like I'm pounded hard from all fronts; work, study and personal. Most of the discouragements are my own doing for making and not letting go unrealistic expectations for myself and along the way may have upsets and hurts others including someone I like very much. Not only I'm tiring by the discouraging outcomes, I may also aggravated the problems by getting angry with myself for being helpless to turn the tides. There is a point while driving one late night, I felt extremely tired and angry with myself that tears flowing down my cheeks and I felt like wanted crying my heart out but I stopped doing that... sorry dudes if I made you more depress than I am after you read this (blush)

Guess we human are like that, when we set our expectations sky high, thinking if we fall, we will fall on the cloud but we fell into the valley instead and making ourselves and maybe people around us get hurt. I need to learn how to make realistic expectations. I also need to learn how to give up especially on relationship matter... giving up doesn't always mean we are weak or surrender, sometimes it just means we're strong enough to let go or love the person enough that seeing the person happy is all that we need.

Thanks God, that I'm blessed with a great friend that has been contacting me frequently, patiently listening to my troubles and providing encouraging advices to help me keep my sanity in check during these difficult times. Dear great friend, you know who you're and thank you for not letting me walking alone through these difficult times :) I also find comfort, encouragement and reassurance from reading Psalm 23 in the Bible last Saturday that God is my shepherd, I lack nothing. I hope, like me, you will find comfort and encouragement through this beautiful song Psalm 23, sing by Don Moen.

Jesus my shepherd and only provider
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside the still water
He restores my soul

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
All the days of my life
And I will dwell in His house forever
Until the end of time

Jesus my Shepherd and only provider
You make me lie down in green pastures
You lead me beside the still water
You restore my soul

Though I walk through the valley of shadows
I will not be afraid
Your rod and staff are my only comfort
And You'll be with me always

You prepare a table before me
In the presence of my enemies
And You anoint my head with oil
And my cup overflows
My cup overflows with Your love
With Your love

P/s: Flip the cat is photographed by me using Canon 7 D with EF-S IS USM 17 - 55 mm lens at his lovely home in Amsterdam, the Netherlands about two month ago. Flip is a purebred cat and I really enjoy taking his portraits as he is real smart playing cool and emo. Don't know I can folding my arms on the floor as cool and emo like him :D

God will make a way

2011-03-22T19:50:00.002+08:00

The first time I was moved to tears by a song was in late 2007, nearly half a year after father passed away. I don't know what to say and I don't know what to pray during those darkest period of my life. Pain, sorrow and anger have been clamping my heart tightly for nearly half a year after father dead.

That night, tears flowing down my cheek while I was listening to Don Moen singing "I will sing". For the first time after nearly six months my father passed away, I was again able to pray and sing to God again. I will never forget that night how He has healed my heart from all the pain, sorrow and anger that almost suffocate me.

The last two months are one of the most trying periods in my life. Tired, frustrated and stressed are the best three words to describe my feeling after a painful personal incident and continually pounded with overwhelming demands from the class and office. I'm not aware that I'm exhausted until I almost crash into another car on the way home last Friday. It is a scary near missed. My mind and body like stop functioning for few seconds in the middle of a fast moving expressway.

I've been trying hard using my own way finding solutions and overcome problems but I've exhausted myself in doing so. That night, God whispered to me and healed me again through a song of Don Moen "God will make a way".

God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me

He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
He will make a way

By a roadway in the wilderness
He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today

I realized it is foolish of me thinking I can solely rely on my own intelligence and might to make a way out of the many problems I faced. By doing so, I've denied God's right to be my guide and make a way for me out of the wilderness.

You may encounter problems that you could not solve. It can be relationship, money, job or a life and death situation. You're tired, frustrated, stressed or helpless that the way forward seen to be in total darkness. I'm not assuring you of a solution or a divine intervention. I can only urge you to open your heart to Don Moen's song "God will make a way" and put your faith in Him to make a way for you. I also dedicated this song to the people in Japan, may God make a way for you to overcome the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters and heal your sorrow and pain.

Stop Pointing Finger & Start Taking Responsibility

2011-02-13T22:12:00.022+08:00

Some Malaysian ministers and government officials never stop bemused me with their antics. The latest antics were a DG of a religious authority that defended their anti-Valentine day campaign by claiming “Valentine day celebration is associated with another faith and synonymous with vice activities” (thestar, 2011). What is shocking was they have even issued a religious decree that banned the celebration of Valentine day among people of their faith based on the same claim. To add insult to injury, a DPM who should be leader to Malaysian of all faith defended the religious authority and decree by claiming Valentine day is not appropriate from their faith’s point of view (thestar, 2011). It really made my mouth taste bad when I should joyfully said happy Valentine day!

First of all, Valentine day is not associated with the particular faith as they have claimed (thestar, 2011). Secondly, why it is so difficult to address the real problem directly? Why beating around the bushes, and blaming other faith and celebration when the real problem is sex among unmarried couples of their faith and their child that born out of wedlock?! It is laughing stock that others have to borne the blame and took the hit whenever people of their faith could not control their birds and bees, could not differentiate their father from other people father, not as successful as people of other faith or whatever wrong that happened.

Stop pointing finger and start taking responsibility! It is naive to treat people of a particular faith as little children or endangered species as they are forever innocence and need constant protection and whatever things going wrong are because of other people wrong doing or influence. This kind of people that finger pointing, blaming others and not address the real problem is spiritually blind and how a blind person could lead other blind persons? No offense to those who are physically blind.

Nobody owed anyone a living or should be held responsible for other people life, except a parent to their child. Instead of blaming others, why not cage the birds and bees if one cannot accept the fact parent owe their child a living and is responsible for their life. It is a personal choice, a personal responsibility that every individual must take when doing birds and bees and don’t blame others and Valentine day for their own loose birds and bees :P

Well forget the religious zealots and I wishing you happy Valentine day ;) Soul mate is real hard to find ... when you find your soul mate, you will recognize her as a reflection of your own heart. May you find your soul mate for those still single and may your love blossom even more for those already found one.

p.s all photos shown above are not mine. Please click the photo to see their source.

Fabulous Pizza & Pasta @ Thamara Cafe

2011-01-25T22:52:00.013+08:00

I was in great mood for a good ol' pepperoni pizza last Saturday that we headed to Thamara Cafe after a torturous photography trip to Tanjung Piai National Park. The thin crust pizza is hot, crispy and crunchy with generous topping of succulent chicken pepperoni and mozzarella cheese that melt perfectly in the mouth. It was the best pizza I ever had and easily beaten down the typically dull pizzas from fast-food chains.

Not fully satisfied of just having the fabulous pizza, we ordered a spicy tomato pasta with fresh prawns, mussels and squids. The pasta was fabulous but beware that it was real tongue-scorching and not for the faint-hearted! It was so spicy hot that I'm sweating profusely like sitting in sauna after a few bites.

Seeing the happy and satisfied expression of this gorgeous lady reminds me of Virgnia Woolf's famous quote: "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." So did you dine well today?

If you expecting a deep burn in your pocket, you'll be surprise that it only cost less than RM 30 (about SGD 12) for these two fabulous dishes. Kindly bear in mind, before you rushing to Thamara Cafe, that I don't guarantee you the same dining experience that I have, and it is completely feast at your own risk! ;)

Thamara Cafe's address: 14 Jalan Indah 16/7, 81200, Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru (Opposite Tesco Bukit Indah)
GPS Coordinates: N1 28.781 E103 39.839
Phone: +60-16-7171-343; +60-12-7373-103
Facebook: Thamara Cafe
Open: Tues - Sun from 11:30 am - 10:30 pm

Say No to the Ostrich Syndrome

2011-01-23T15:55:00.001+08:00

I'm amused that someone took the pain counted meticulously how many times (twice to be exact) I wrote nasty things about Malaysia and asking whether I'm a Malaysian or American. I'm even more amused when the commenter even used the user name of "ihateyouben", called me a liar, and asked me "don't be like the Christian girl who gives a terrible speech". Several of my friends have asked me to just delete the nasty comments and don't waste time on it.

I'm neither offended with the comments nor I'm feeling guilty for writing nasty things about Malaysia. I'll not delete the nasty comments in my blog and I'll stand firm of what I wrote about this and this.

It is factual that the "Allah" court case in Malaysia was triggered when the then Home Minister of Malaysia prohibited the usage of "Allah" by the Catholic weekly Herald on grounds of national security and to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims (The Star, 1 Jan 2010).

It is factual that there was over 12 hours power breakout in Penang and the then TNB's Penang General Manager has said "the fault was certainly not due to human error" (The Star, 3 Feb 2010).

Most important, I'll not stop writing things I feel strongly about even if it is nasty to some.

It is factual that Singapore, which is about 478 times smaller in size, 8 years younger and without natural resources as compare to Malaysia is to overtake Malaysia as the 3rd largest economy of Southeast Asia by end of 2010. In response to Singapore success, an ex-prime minister of Malaysia said "Singapore will overtake Malaysia because its focus is just on economic growth and there is no social restructuring goal such as fair distribution of wealth between races as we have in Malaysia” (Bloomberg, 11 Nov 2010). My own opinion: what is the social restructuring the ex-prime minister of Malaysia is talking about when hundred of thousands of Malaysians left their family and country, flocking to Singapore, which is 478 times smaller and without natural resources, for job?

Don't be like the proverbial ostrich with the head in sand by simply ignoring the problem and worse of all expecting other to play ignorant and only paint rosy picture all around just to make certain people, organization and country look artificially good. Say NO to the Ostrich Syndrome!

I believe majority of my visitors are discerning readers with strong analytical mind of their own. They'll not simply accepted what other said and written without doing their own due diligence process. I hope you're in the majority and most of all I hope you don't suffer from the Ostrich Syndrome :P

I hope it is not too late to wish you Happy New Year 2011!

p/s Photo of the ostrich was taken by me at the Johor Zoo in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Phalaenopsis amabilis

2010-10-17T23:50:00.005+08:00

Delicate, elegant and serene, I think that is my best three words in describing the Phalaenopsis amabilis, commonly known as the moon orchid, white moth orchid or anggrek bulan (in Indonesian). This flower commonly grace the tropical botanical garden of Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, which it is one of the Indonesian national flowers. It resilience to pest, thrive in low light condition and require little maintenance also made it a popular indoor plant.

These two photos were taken in Bandung, Indonesia during my trip there. These flowers were found on sturdy trunk under the thick canopy of big trees. It was amazing the average size of the flowers were as large as my palm or about 3.5 inches yet still exude the delicate, elegant and serene looks with mild fragrant. The flowers and the good feeling they exuded reminds me that that greatness is not found in power and wealth alone but most important it is the good characters in life that matter.

A boots lay down

2010-10-14T23:35:00.003+08:00

I came across this pair of boots when I chasing the dragonflies in a crocodile farm in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia several weeks ago. I don't know why the sight of the boots laying on the green pasture made me felt so calm and peaceful. Perhaps it reminds me that many times we are so busy making a living that we neglected ourselves, our love ones, our life. I know it is not easy decision and needs lot of courage to lay down ones boots and start making life ... I admired the owner's courage to lay down his boots.

Cewek Surabaya

2010-10-10T23:31:00.001+08:00

Doing super hot coverage at the Surobuyo TV's Third Years Anniversary Celebration @ the Atrium of Surabaya Town Square (SUTOS) sometime in mid-May 2010 :D kekeke. Photo shoots of a competitor in the ML Threesome singing contest with Canon 7D @ Aperture 2.8, ISO 3200, focal length 55mm and no flash. Can you imagine how close I'm to this hot babe ;) just three steps away!!! That is why a DSLR is for, unofficial licensed to get you close to the action even though you're not official photographer :P

It is really difficult to shoots this photo with the right color skin tone and contrast as laser lights, spot lights keep shooting around, and needless to say the most hated volley of camera flashes from those flash trigger happy wannabe. To all the dear photographers, please never ever use camera flash if you don't know how to use it properly as it just add more ghosts to the already ghostly lighting condition :)

She not only looks gorgeous with her cheerful laugh and sparkling eyes but has powerful melody voice too ")

Well, this completed my toughest and first portraiture assignment of Surabaya Girl ;) the only regret was I forget her name and phone number :P

Macroview Care Centre

2010-10-10T08:35:00.004+08:00

Hello friends, hope you have a wonderful Mid-autumn aka Mooncake festival. Okay okay, I knew the festival had passed over several weeks but the fever has not cease from me yet :D I was invited by Robo to be photographer for a Mooncake festival celebration organized by Macroview Care Centre last Saturday. It is little awkward in the beginning as a bachelor like me should not has business there :P but the assignment turn out to be exciting and eyes-opening!

It is really embarrassing to start with as I was late by a whopping one hour that night!!! Good ol' Robo thought I must lost my way again as he called me up while I was actually stuck in the notorious traffic jam of Johor Bahru. Luckily, foods still abundant when I reached there ;) sorry friends, I'm too busy digging my hands into the mountain free flow of foods and forgot to shoot them "D

The Mooncake festival celebration at the care centre not only packed with mountain of yummylicious foods sponsored by the parents but also many exciting performances by the students and teachers. It is real embarrassing that I missed out several earlier performances as I was busy entertaining my tummy first after more than an hour drumming in hunger :P In the photo is Marc, a student of the care centre.

That night, he wow the audience with his skillful electric guitar jamming that many keep calling echo echo echo! Even the teacher was so sporting that she jump on-board and dance along. It is a touching sight as I used to heard many horror stories nowadays of teachers and students quarreled, name calling and even fought each other but here we have a pair of teacher and student that team-up so well to bring joy to others.

Now, came the power girls with their adrenaline pumping rock dance! It is awesome watching their fast motion rock dance. What amazed me was even at their young age, they surely put in practice the real spirit of teamwork. It need lot of trust and practice as a team to put together the fast precisely cohesive movements and they did it so well!

My adrenaline keep surging as another awesome performance enter into action even before I can wipe-off my sweat away.They made me laughed till stomach pain with their creative and funny rock dance using broom, mop and dustpan as musical instruments.

It has been many decades I haven't listen to children song. Listening live to the children singing in their innocence voice and watching their cute movement suddenly made me felt 20 years younger :D

More children joined together singing the song ... don't know what title they sang but I can heard myself humming along with their sweet innocence voice ")

Looking at this cheerful little girl, suddenly made me feel so sad that I don't have a kid myself yet :P It is very good idea to the Singapore government that perhaps they should organize single adults to this kind of children event if they want more babies :D Promoting gathering among single adults likely spark romance but not necessary their desire to have babies :)

The teachers also not a sitting duck as one of the teacher who taught musical class at the care centre sang her high octane song that wow the audience.

The most heart touching moment... a parent showed her gratitude to her daughter during an award giving ceremony. The award is very unique as it was not gave to student that excel in academic score that many typical school do. It is only awarded to student that demonstrated high emotional intelligence (EQ). In this case, the student successfully overcame an undesirable behavior that received recognition and praised by her peers, teachers and parent. It is very high and transparent marking criteria that encourage students not only to be smarter but most important a better person.

The Mooncake festival will not be so successful without the full support of the students and their beloved parents. It is heart-warming to see many parents not only spare their precious time to attend their children event but gave generously such as banners and foods.

The cheerful, energetic and dedicated teachers at Macroview Care Centre that nurture the students to be better person.

Robo told me the care centre started in 2003 with one student and one teacher. They accepted children from the age of two to eleven years old and to-date they have more than 60 students and ten teachers. It is an extraordinary care centre as the focus is not solely on the academic achievement of the students. Their main focus is to help parents to recognize and nurturing their children potential, and to develop them into a better person that able to be independent, with good attitude, gratitude and genuinely care for others. The person that drive this noble idea is not other than the care centre principal himself, which is Mr. Tan (in red shirt).

and his most trusted partner, which is also his wife.

The last event before we call-off the day was lighting up the candles and lanterns. It is a heart-warming sight watching the children gather together joyfully and helping each other lighting up the candles.

Well, that was my first assignment for a children event and special thanks to Robo for the unforgettable opportunity. The Macroview Care Centre is located at a corner lot (opposite Taman Daya 3 Secondary School) of Jalan Nibong 48, Taman Daya, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.

My Thankgiving Moon

2010-09-21T23:50:00.010+08:00

This year mid-autumn festival (中秋節) will falls on 22 September, which is tomorrow. It is a grand festival celebrated by Chinese dating back over 3,000 years ago and held every 15th day of the eight lunar month in the Chinese calender. Many mythical stories were associated with the origin of this festival. The mythical story that captivated my heart most since I was a kid was the romantic legend of Chang'er, a beautiful maiden who swallowed an immortal pill so it will not fall into the hands of an evil king. After that, she was floated to the moon, became the moon goddess and eternally separated from her loving husband Hou Yi. Peoples were then remembered her sacrifices through offering prayer, which eventually became the moon aka mid-autumn festival.

One of the important goodies associated with mid-autumn festival was the moon cake. Well, I think you can easily Google about moon cake to know what it is ;) In fact, there was no moon cake left for me to photograph as all accidentally ended in my tummy before I could reach my dslr :P However, it is a lucky day for me as a gorgeous full moon greeted me from high above the serene blue sky when I step out from my office building at dusk. The moon awesome appearance not only reminds me that tomorrow is the wonderful mid-autumn festival but most important to be thankful to peoples who made sacrifices so we live better :)

p/s This photo was taken at Beach Road, Singapore using Canon EOS 7D with EF 70 - 300 mm IS USM lens by handheld. Could you see the cute jade rabbit in the gorgeous full moon? ;)

The Anthuriam Andreanum

2010-09-16T23:40:00.009+08:00

I'm tired listened to peoples bragging the person they admired most. So allowed me to bragged the green dick I admired most :P Oop! nothing R21, 18SX, blue or triple-X rated here :D This photo was taken at the Kundasang War Memorial Park, Sabah, Malaysia in Borneo. The vibrant red flowers are flamingo lily or also known as boy flower due to its fleshy dick-shape spadix protruded from a heart-shape spathe. I prefer its scientific name Anthuriam andreanum, which sound more sexy ;) According to wiki, this flower is native to the wet tropical mountain forests of central and south Americas but is also popular as tropical decorative plant for the gardens or as cut flower. Don't you think they are gorgeous with its red hot heart-shape spathe and charming dick? :D

My Shadow Killer

2010-09-12T23:50:00.005+08:00

I hate flash because they always cast a harsh shadow and killed the natural beauty of my subjects. I hate the intense sunlight even more as it is the mother of photography killer by casting a deep ugly shadow and made even the most gorgeous babe looks dull :P

However, I must be absolutely crazy using Canon's most powerful flash (Speedlite 580EX II) when the sunlight was at its afternoon peak to shoot a gorgeous babe!!! Another great challenge of shooting a beauty under the intense sunlight was even the tiny specks of sweat will be clearly visible and made the gorgeous looking face becomes grime and oily.

It is really bizarre that the solution to killed the ugly shadow when shooting under intense sunlight was to used a flash!!! Well, definitely not the camera's build-in flash as I had tried and failed miserably. You need an external flash that able to provide light intensity control and adjustable flash head to correctly exposed the foreground and background. This photo was taken with the sun positioned behind the gorgeous babe and you can see the harsh shadow of the barricade along the jetty. However, the external flash helped to decreased exposure of the background and make the babe's gorgeous face standout from the shadow. This photographic technique is what the pro called fill flash :) Oop, I'm not the pro okay :D

I put the fill flash technique to the extreme test by positioned the gorgeous babe with the intense sunlight directly behind her and in an open area with nothing to take cover including my dslr. The external flash saved my day from her slap as no deep shadow was visible from her face, particularly under her gorgeous chin :P Thankfully she didn't fall into the water also as the river was infected with sneaking brutal crocodiles :D

All right, my fill flash test report completed and I found a shadow killer at last!!! Special thanks to the gorgeous babe. Her name is Hazel if you badly want to know but don't ask me for her mobile number lol :P All photos taken at Firefly Valley Leisure Park in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia.

How to Love a Girl the Canon Way

2010-09-11T23:30:00.002+08:00

So that is how to love a girl and win her heart. Seen like I've been doing the wrong ways all these years!!! :P

My Little Dragonfly Hero

2010-09-09T23:35:00.023+08:00

The dragonfly never cease to mesmerized me since I was a kid. I use to chase them hot along the stream fringed with thick bushes near my home, after school when I was a kid. Thinking I could soar to the blue sky and see the world with them if I caught its tail. However, I got the caned instead as my parents were in shocked how badly I soiled my school uniform and my total lack of safety sense... what if I am bitten by snake, drowned in the stream or kidnapped by bad guy. I keep chasing after the dragonfly despite the caned until we moved to a new home in my primary four or five. It made me laughed whenever I think about this innocence childhood hobby of mine but also feel sorry to my parents for made them so worry at that time.

I revisited my childhood hobby of chasing after the little dragonfly heroes again after nearly two decades lapsed. This time with a Canon 70 - 300 mm telephoto zoom lens instead of the net. The excitement is still beating so strong like in the 80s when I was the kid that want to fly with the dragonfly. However, I was not caned this time round :) I always think the little dragonfly are the best fighter jet of the insects world with their nimble movements and fierce flights. They give me very strong sense of fighting spirit with their tiny body and paper thin wings soaring high in the blue sky against the turbulent wind. They are my little heroes that gave me the inspiration whenever I went through difficult times.

This little red dragonfly suddenly reminds me of a melodic and energetic song I use to sang every time in my quest chasing the little dragonfly heroes.

Ya! the "red dragonfly (红蜻蜓)" song by Taiwan first boy band "Little Tigers (小虎隊)". Listening to their song is like soaring to the blue sky with my little dragonfly hero again!!!

My Girlfriend is a Gangster

2010-09-06T22:02:00.006+08:00

I took this picture when I first met her at a firefly valley. She looked so cute, innocent and lovely. I know from that moment I'll do anything to protect and cherish her.

However, she is not that vulnerable and gentle as I thought. She walked fast, talked fast and notoriously independence hotheaded gal.

As we know each other more intimately, she started showing more of her true color... she is a compulsive nose picker. She just love picking her nose! However I accepted her as she is.

She later becomes a chronic suspicious and jealous girlfriend that never cease her hunting eyes on my every moves.

Her extreme green eyes monster makes me miserable even just to secretly peep another girl across the street.

Because to my horror, she just dash across the street and gave the girl a slap.

Not even a lake of beers can calm my nerves when thinking about her whacking the poor girl because of me.

OMG, my girlfriend is a gangster! Still, I accepted her as she is because Kak Yasmin said it is the little imperfections that make them perfect for you.

p/s
This is a joke dude and any resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental :P All photos taken at Firefly Valley Leisure Park, Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia.

Heliconia the phony Bird of Paradise

2010-09-04T23:36:00.005+08:00

Heliconias are one of the most elegant and colorful flowers that commonly grace the tropical botanical gardens. The flowers also commonly known as fake bird of paradise due to their close proximity to the bird of paradise. This elegant and vivid colors Heliconia with a soothing green backdrop was taken at Firefly Valley Leisure Park in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. The flower looks like a soaring bird of paradise :) Special thanks to Robo for borrowed his Canon 55 - 250 mm telephoto zoom lens to me.

A Lone Adventure @ Penang National Park

2010-08-31T23:32:00.013+08:00

Everyone talk about Penang or been there before will agree it is a haven for street foods. In fact it is not exaggerating that street foods seen like the only best thing that Penang can offer. Asked them where the best char kway teow, asam laksa or oh chien (fried oyster omelet), and I can have at least a handful of locations in split seconds. Faster than using my Garmin GPS :D

However, almost all drew blank eyes to me in disbelief when I said Penang has one of the best national park in Malaysia! The responds are huh! where? got meh? dreaming kah? you lost your way is it? What a disappointment and so I will let the photos do the talking!

The Penang National Park can be access through its main entrance at Teluk Bahang or the second entrance at Kuala Sungai Pinang (accessible through boat). The main entrance at Teluk Bahang is open to visitors from 7.30 am to 6 pm, while the second entrance at Sungai Pinang is open from 8am to 5pm. I found the main entrance @ Teluk Bahang is the easiest to locate. It is about 30 km northwest or 45 to 60 minutes drive from Georgetown, via Batu Ferringhi, Jalan Teluk Bahang and Jalan Hassan Abas.

The sea view along the Jalan Teluk Bahang is incredibly stunning with pearly white sandy beach, emerald ocean and clear blue sky. It is really hard to resist making a pit stop. However, be careful though, as the Jalan Teluk Bahang is dangerously narrow and winding. You will see the Penang National Park main entrance at the end of the Jalan Hassan Abas.

The Penang National Park was formerly known as the Pantai Acheh Forest Reserve and located at the northwestern tip of Penang Island. The approximately 2,600 hectares park was declared a national park in April 2003 and is the smallest national park in Malaysia. Photo above show the exhibition gallery and forest interpretation center near to the main entrance. The operational hours are from 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4pm daily. Only authorized vehicles (mean their staffs') can park within the national park area. However, I manage to parked my car at a cool shelter place at nearby apartment, free of charge ;)

Don't belittle Penang National Park because of its small size. In fact, the park has the most diverse natural habitats among the national parks in Malaysia. The habitats include mangrove swamps, mudflats, coral reefs, meromictic lake, wetlands and turtle nesting beaches. Yes, turtles are known to lay their eggs here!

There is a fishing village at Teluk Bahang Bay located near to the main entrance. I felt real peaceful sitting beside the white sandy beach, enjoying the ice cream brought from nearby stall and watching the wooden fishing boats sailing slowly one by one into the fisherman jetty.

The more action oriented will not be disappointed too as you can march along the wooden jetty likes Sherman's march to the sea :D The safety nerds can playing safe by strolling along the metal jetty located parallel to the wooden ones :P I believe the panoramic view at the end of both jetties will be stunning, particularly at sunset. Haha, I'm too busy enjoying my ice cream than marching to the sea :D

All visitors need to registered at the reception before enter the park. It is free for Malaysians but I can't remember if foreign citizens need to pay. I'm gung-ho to embark my lone adventure into Penang National Park now! Yes, alone and without guide! Honestly, I'm quiet worry to enter alone as I hardly see other people around except at the reception. What if there are pirates of mangrove swamps, robbers of the hills, venomous serpents, charging wild boars, cunning crocodiles and roaring tigers lurking inside waiting for my priceless possessions and fresh tender meats :P

The approximately 480 meters trail toward Pasir Pandak is a pleasant walk along a clean, well maintained and trees shelter pathway. The tranquil ambient made me feel like walking along the path to the immortal garden of Eden :D It is a perfect stretch for joggers but I hardly see anyone despite it is after 5pm. Perhaps all busy with the street foods and I'm the only dummy there :P

There are several trees shelter rest areas along the pathway. Wow! the perfect spot to escape from the fast pace pressure cooker life of the city. Idea place for the jackpot pundits to meditate for the winning numbers as well :P I'll surely love to have another round of ice-cream under the lovely trees :D

Suddenly several kids from the nearby fishing village running toward me, while I enjoying snapping on my dslr. They excitedly asked me to shoot photos of them and quickly going into their best modeling pose even before I node my head :D They are lovely and cute isn't it :)

One of the lovely kid posing with the monkey-rope. Suddenly, I felt wanna become a kid again so I can ride happily on the monkey-rope. Looking at the kid's genuinely warm smile, reminded me that kids in the rural may not be rich, living comfortably with the best material gifts from their parents. However, they surely living more happily than most kids in the city. I always felt many city kids nowadays are robbed of their happy childhood, under constant pressure to excel in academic and etc just to please their parents, teachers and relatives.

Hurray! I reach the first post known as the Pasir Pandak. The rest area is clean and well maintained but I have no much time to enjoy the facility.

The view from Pasir Pandak rest area is incredibly stunning with pearly white sandy beach and emerald ocean! I never know this awesome panoramic sea view is still exist in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The more well-known beaches such as the Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan are such a disappointment but the Pasir Pandak Beach in the Penang National Park made me totally speechless. The place is a hidden jewel and Penangites are real fortunate as they are not only blessed with one of the best street foods in the world but also one of the best beaches I have ever seen.

Wow! I almost have aftershocks seeing row of houses on stilts in the sea, thinking they are the sea gypsies of Penang :D No, they are not the sea gypsies but offshore fish farms known locally as kelong.

I didn't dwell long at Pasir Pandak despite its incredibly stunning sea view. I need to reach the next post Sungai Tukun, which is about 450 meters from Pasir Pandak. The trail to Sungai Tukun is more challenging as it is no longer man-made pathway from mosaic tiles but earthern trail. The trail is bit slippery and keeping eyes on the countless rootlets protruding out of the ground surface is important to avoid tripping. Feel like, I'm getting closer to the immortal garden of Eden huh :D

A weird shape reddish brown tree trunk at the Sungai Tukun trail. Not sure if this tree undergoing some sort of mutation :D

Another weird rainbow arc reddish brown tree. Hope I'm not getting closer to Alice in the Wonderland instead :P

More challenging path climbing a steep staircase. Wow! I'm like producing a dozen buckets of sweats despite walking under the trees shelter pathway. Must eat dozen more potions of street foods if I manage to escape from the park :P

I safely arrived at the Sungai Tukun hanging bridge after about 20 minutes walked from Pasir Pandak. It is fun walking across the hanging bridge as it sway left-right and-left with loud squeaking sounds that easily made any safety nerds wet their pants :P but it is sturdily built

View from across the hanging bridge is equally lovely. What a romantic place for dating with your beloved beau. However don't go overboard here as there maybe many eyes watching :D

See, I told you there maybe many eyes watching :D It is a security post at Sungai Tukun., just beside the hanging bridge. Well, I didn't saw anybody outside or heard sound from the post but seeing a security post in this remote place is still a welcome sight.

A stunning sea view from the Sungai Tukun beach. Isolated brownish white sandy beach with beautiful emerald sea and clear blue sky in the background. It is a tranquil place to de-stress and unwind the worries built-up like mountain ranges of toxic in the mind. It will be better if no mobile network penetrate this remote place :P It is really annoying my mobile suddenly ringing while I'm in deep mind detoxification here!

Nice view of the rocky outcrop in the sea. It reminds me of John Donne's quote in 17th century that "No man is an island, entire of itself. Everyman is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." It is unfortunate that many Malaysian political leaders and some academics, civil servants & religious leaders still damn naive of this great quote and stuffed their mind with full of racial and religious bigots despite living in 21st century. These are the people that sank the nation just like an island that will never able to withstand erosion by its own. The scary part is these peoples continue to be in denial syndrome and thinking they are the only righteous ones. Done with the pep-talk :D

There are at least seven more posts to cover with the farthest, Teluk Kampi beach at about 4.4 km away! Unfortunately, it is over 6pm and I must return to the main entrance before the day turned dark and the reception file a missing person report :D

I'm really impressed with the Penang National Park as it is clean, well maintained and feel safe with incredibly stunning sea views. The most amazing is there is no admission fee but visitors still be given nice looking tickets and information pamphlet. The Penang state government did a wonderful job for keeping well this hidden jewel. All my worries in the beginning of the lone adventure is unfounded :D

A nostalgic voyage aboard Penang Ferry

2010-08-28T23:35:00.012+08:00

I have been dreaming a tranquil voyage across the emerald water of the sea since I first heard the Pearl of the Orient story from my friends back in the primary school in the late 1980s. Back then, my parent didn't have the luxury to afford my school trip to the mystery island called Penang, one of the most modern state in Malaysia at that time. Now thinking back, I'm perhaps more fortunate by missing the school trip as the story has set-off many of my wonderful imagination as a kid... the longest bridge, the tallest building, the biggest temple, the first electric funicular hill railway, the oldest ferry rides in the country.This is one of my childhood memories that I'm cherish till now.

It is great to be back to Penang, the Pearl of the Orient... this time not in my imagination but real experience! It is greater to realized my childhood dream of a tranquil voyage across the emerald water of the sea!! Now it is greatest to ride the car on my own into the oldest ferry rides of Malaysia, which can trace its history back to the 1920s!!!

My journey start at the Pangkalan Sultan Abdul Halim in Butterworth Town on the mainland. It is a brisk passed through the toll gate during off-peak hours. The toll fee is MYR 7.7 (about SGD 3.3) for motorcar, while different categories of vehicle such a bicycles, motorcycles, tricycles, and lorries have their own rate. Some of the ferries also cater to pedestrians with different fares for adults and children.

Aye captain! after a short waiting of less than 10 minutes, I'm gung-ho to go, driving through a narrow bridge into the pot belly of a ferry. Gusto to the efficient ferry crews, one by one the vehicles entered and parked in an orderly fashion in the lower deck of the ferry. The entire parking exercise took less than 10 minutes! I'm bit nervous at first as the car I drove was rented at the Penang airport and I cannot imagine the penalty if scratch or bump the car while passing through the narrow bridge.

I quickly alight from the car and went to the upper deck after safely parked the car. Aah, I'm bit disappointed as I thought can see how the pedestrians deck look like. I realized the ferry I boarded is exclusively for vehicles only. I didn't dwell in my disappointment and quickly pulled out my dslr and triggered happily!

The photo shows the brightly painted Pulau Angsa ferry berths at the jetty with the Penang bridge faintly in the background. The Pulau Angsa is a twin decks ferry with the upper deck for pedestrians and the lower deck for vehicles. Aiyoh! I should be able to ride on the Pulau Angsa if I'm few minutes late as the passengers are seen just alight from the ferry.

Looking to the north are several fishing boats anchored near to the beach with the Penang Port in a distance background. It is pleasant scenery to see the white sandy beach and clean emerald water despite the area is busy with shipping and industrial activities.

Okay, fasten your seat-belt and raise the sails! Oop, sorry there is no seat-belt and sails on-board :D The ferry is ready to sail after the gates were closed and the bridges raised. The thrill of a tranquil voyage across the emerald water of the sea start beating strong in my heart!

The Butterworth Container Terminal, which is part of the Penang Port can be seen to the north as the ferry crossing the Penang Strait. Penang Port is one of the oldest in Malaysia with her history trace back to over 200 years when Francis Light started the first British colony in the peninsular Malaysia. The port literally bring life to Penang and as it becomes a port of call for ships sailing between the western and eastern worlds, so lively that Penang is crowned the Pear of the Orient in her heyday.

A container ship anchored in the Penang Strait, not far from the port. I'm always curious how life aboard a ship is like. Is it full of adventure that your blood never stop surging and the heart never stop beating wild? Perhaps, I watched too much the movie Pirates of the Caribbean :D

Across the beautiful emerald water of Penang Strait is the scenic 13.5 kilometers Penang Bridge. It is one of the longest bridge in the world, the longest in Malaysia and national icon. The bridge was mooted by Abdul Razak (Malaysia Second Prime Minister) in the 1970s and constructed during the administration of Mahathir Mohammad (Malaysia Fourth Prime Minister) in the 1980s. It is another alternative for travel between the Penang Island and mainland.

Looking west or ahead is Georgetown, the state capital of Penang. The city was founded in 1786 by Francis Light and named after Britain's King George III. It become a city by royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 and ranked 9th most liveable city according to ECA International, 2010. As for me, it is a foods haven that no other places in Malaysia can beat, which is also confirmed by New York Times in 2009 that ranked Penang as one of the top food destinations in the world!

The ferry voyage across the Penang Strait end at the Pangkalan Raja Uda on the island. It is relatively short 15 minutes ride for me but nostalgic with the rich history and beautiful scenery. It is time to crawl back to my car parked at the lower deck.

A ferry voyage across the Penang Strait is worth the time and money. Most important it is a rich legacy that every Penangite and Malaysian in general feel proud of. However, will the ferry rides last forever or it will become a history in the near future? It is some sort of million dollars questionnaire taking into the fact that the second Penang bridge that connect Batu Kawan on the mainland and Batu Maung on the Island is under construction now and scheduled for completion in mid-2012. It will look overkill to maintain two bridges and the ferries concurrently. Deep in my heart, I hope the ferry rides will be continue as long as possible.

Well one of my childhood dream was fulfilled! If it is your dream to ride on the ferry voyage too, stop procrastinating and go for it soon ;)

Treating my Insatiable Belly @ Clinic

2010-08-24T22:38:00.005+08:00

Last week I was seriously admitted to the clinic due to severe Insatiable Belly Syndrome (IBS), while shopping around the infamous Gurney Plaza @ Gurney Drive, Penang. It is totally unplanned event as nobody in his / her sound-mind and perfect physic will want to be admitted into clinic for IBS in the middle of great shopping right?

Okay okay no worry dudes, I'm talking about the newly opened and absolutely bizarre Clinic Cafe located at 4th Floor of Gurney Plaza. Well, I just love the novelty theme restaurant ... a cafe in clinic like environment. Honestly, I think it is more like a hospital!

Radiant red ambiance with operating theater lights suspended from the ceiling; sitting on wheelchairs or modified hospital beds; eating from surgery utensils; pumping the blood-like ketchup from syringes; watching scores of human anatomy posters and surgery equipment hanging along the walls, and being serve with sweet-smiling nurses in their angelic white uniform... the mock-up hospital is really convincing!

I think any conservative minded human being will surely trembling at the sight of entering a hospital, what more merry around with foods and photos on wheelchair :D Thus, it is the brave souls that this bizarre but novelty theme restaurant is attracting :P

Talking about the meals, there are nothing extraordinary to shout about as most dishes are standard affairs of western and oriental style. However, I think the extraordinary hospital like ambiance is more than enough to provides the fun dining experience, even the foods are just plain ordinary.

I definitely recommended the pit-stop in there not only for IBS treatment but to enjoy the extraordinary ambiance and trigger happy with your camera ;) Perhaps going in there in your patient pajamas and enjoying the cosplay to maximum :P

My Affair with Proboscis

2010-08-21T23:35:00.003+08:00

I've never have a successful relationship with monkeys as they are too mischievous and fast on their feet for me to catch along ... wowow, not the boy-girl-relationship okay! In general shooting a lovely portrait for a monkey is almost mission impossible due to their restless nature. However, I found my exhilarating affair with May when I visited Lok Kawi Wildlife Park ;)

May is not the typical lady you can easily meet on the street. She like others Proboscis Monkeys (Narsalis larvatus) are listed as endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species! Next, her natural habitat can only be found in the exotic island of Borneo, mainly in the mangrove forests and swamps.

Don't you agree May is a absolutely gorgeous lady with long silky reddish brown hair, radiant reddish eyes, elegant short-nose and charming smile? Photographed her graceful portrait was one of the most pleasurable moment in my life!

Okay okay I heard your screaming for the prince charming, ladies! He is Rambo, an incredibly handsome gentleman with reddish brown silky hair, large dangling nose and prosperous pot belly ;) Well, before you jump-in both feet to say Yes!...he is likely not your ideal life partner as male Proboscis are known to be playboy and keep harem of a dozen beautiful short-nose female Proboscis :P

Both May and Rambo are not their real name. You can meet them in their captive habitat at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. I believe, all animals like human deserve their right to freedom and they should not be held in captive environment unless it is the last resort for conservation. Thus, I do encourage you to visit the Proboscis in their natural habitats such as Klias Wetland, Sukau and Danum Valley in Sabah, Malaysia or Danau Sentarum National Park in Kalimantan, Indonesia as show of support for their natural conservation.

Lesson from a Bajau's Canoe

2010-08-17T23:35:00.004+08:00

I took photo of this tiny dugout canoe moored onshore at the Bajau settlement at Mabul Island. I'm really curios how the owner has the faith to left the canoe without anchored and not worry that it may drift away to the open sea. Looking carefully at its condition, it really struck my nerve on the owner giant faith to cross the sea in this tiny dugout canoe.The owner even has prepared a small white bucket, perhaps to bail water out of the canoe should it is leaked in the middle of the sea.

It is unique lesson for me. Yes, dare to take calculated risk and take it to the extreme! What lesson you've learned from the photo?

Sea Gypsies of the Celebes

2010-08-15T19:10:00.008+08:00

It is time to visit the Sea Gypsies of the Celebes on Mabul after an awesome diving adventure at Kapalai! Don't be alarm, it is safe and relaxing walking among them in their settlement although they are known to be fearsome warriors roaming the oceans of Borneo. They're absolutely not the crooks you may have seen in the movie "waterworld" starring by Kevin Costner and definitely a far cry from the Abu Sayyaf terror group that haunting the Sulu and Celebes Sea.

Locally, they are known as the Bajau (or precisely Bajau Laut) and are the second largest indigenous ethnic group after Kadazan-Dusun in Sabah, Malaysia. They are generally a very gentle and shy indigenous people and I was fortunate enough to explored their settlement and photographed their life on Mabul. The photo shows the Bajau girls diligently doing their school work at the veranda. It is heartwarming to see their natural sweet smile as soon as they noticed I'm focusing my zoom lens on them.

Often dubbed the “Sea Gypsies” due to their historic existence as a nomadic seafaring people. Most of them are known to live in the seas of Sulus and Celebes bordering by Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. The Bajau have been moving onshore over time like those living on Mabul. The photo shows a group of Bajau kids strolling along the beautiful white sandy beach of Mabul. Some gave me their curious look, some gave me their heartwarming smile and the girl on the left gave me a very unique peace gesture :D

If you're curios what language they speak, well you can communicate easily with them in Bahasa Malaysia. Many of them are very shy but easily warm closer to you when I showed them their photos from my dslr. It is such a joy when you heard them laughing in excitement looking at their photos. You can raise their laugh even higher with sweets as I learn this trick when a local villager share with me about it.

The ironic scene around the settlement is the Bajau kids generally roaming carefree here, while parents in urban area are scare to death even their kids just standing by the gates. The photo shows a Bajau kid playing the hide-and-seek beneath the house. It is one of my favorite childhood game that I'm still cherish till now. However, how many urban kids nowadays playing this super fun game?

The Bajau on Mabul are generally living in incredibly harsh environment by the urban folk’s standard. Their houses onshore are built on stilts to accommodate the tides and their building material can put any architects to shame. The Bajau have been practicing sustainable construction with renewable materials such as coconut trunks, leaves and woods since a very long time ago and the architects are only start talking about green building now :P Needless to say, their house with zero electricity usage easily beat down any so called energy efficiency buildings by the urban rating agency :P

Some of the Bajau are still maintaining their nomadic, seafaring lifestyle without pipe-water and electricity supply, and only going ashore to bury their dead. This photo shows a Bajau woman onboard her lepa (houseboat). It is on this small humble lepa they called home, where they sleep, cook, shower and fishing. It is stunning to me that the Bajau woman gave me a heartwarming smile as soon as she noticed me looking at her from the jetty. I can sense her strong courage and resilience from her smile despite living in a ramshackle boat under the mercy of mother nature. Ironically, I have never seen a rich fellow smile at me from the luxury bungalows in my life :P

I'm damn lucky to watch the Mabul United in action live! No greenfield, no shoes, no jerseys and no referees, yet everyone are so exciting chasing after the ball under the watchful eyes of the goal keeper.

I doubt the ball can easily pass through the Bajau kid. See the way his solid stand in front of the goal post is liken to Iker Casillas.

Yeah! kicking the ball like Thomas Muller, never mind minus the golden shoes. I doubt any goalkeeper wannabe dare to stand in front of the goal post with such a stylish kick :D

Not to forget the spectators lining along the fence, watching anxiously for their team to goal!!!

Talking about sweets, I strongly recommend you to bring as much as you can with you if you're avid photographer on community life. It is one of the effective way to show your appreciation to the kids after photographing them. No worry if you forget to bring along the sweets, as these can be easily bought at numerous sundry shops on Mabul run by the villagers. Oop! the two kids are not Bajau but visitors.

Which will you choose if given the choices of being rich but living miserably, or being poor but living happily? This question is knocking hard on me after touring the settlement of the Sea Gypsies on Mabul Island. I hardly see genuine smiles among the rich but heartwarming laughs are abundant in the air among the sea gypsies despite their incredibly harsh living environment. I think the sea gypsies probably are happier because not only do they appreciate the simple things that many others tend to take for granted, but contended with what little they have that many others tends to have endless expectations.

The Bajau community on Mabul is very lively and interesting but there is not much time for me to explore every corners and experience their life in greater depth. I definitely will want to come back again to locked-in more memory of their life in photos, perhaps staying few nights together with them if allowed ;) Oop! that sweet looking girl is not Bajau, she is daughter to my tour guide and has been with me visiting the Bajau settlement on Mabul :)

Mabul & Kapalai @ Celebes Sea

2010-08-14T22:51:00.037+08:00

I was held incommunicado last week @ Celebes Sea. Oop! not by the pirates of Celebes :D It is the breathtaking adventure to the islands of Mabul and Kapalai! If you have no clue at all where the hell are Mabul and Kapalai; both are located within half an hour by boat from the world famous diving paradise of Sipadan island in Sabah, Malaysia :)

I'm real fortunate that a friend in Tawau happens to organize a trip to the islands, while I was there last week. We start our journey at 6.30 in the morning in four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle for about 1.5 hours journey from Tawau to a private jetty in Balung.The journey is a real pain in the ass for about 40 minutes as we passing through the palm oil estate in Balung on bumpy, muddy road. It is not a joke, when I have to held my bladder from bursting by tightly squeeze my butt together but the bumpy ride try poking it loose :D Luckily, my bladder control is excellence and I didn't make a embarrassing waterhole in the 4WD :D Still good lesson learned, clear you bladder before the bumpy journey :P

If keeping bladder under control is hard, wait till you got to muster your gut to jump over the crook jetty into the boat :P Okay, I’m just joking.

None of us have to jump into the boat like Tom Cruise, but the shabby jetty did stirred my nerve when I have to gliding down a 30 degree slope wooden plank with my Canon 7D and lens… what if I gliding all the way into the river instead of the boat?! All right, nobody is misguided into the river and all are safe in the boat :D

Ahoy captain! It is another round of bumpy ride but on the sea. The speed boat we riding on is equips with two 200-horsepower engines and can you imagine the speed when the engines are running at full-speed? The boat is like galloping above the seawater and my hair is awfully messed-up! It took us about 40-minutes from the private jetty at Balung to Mabul Island by a combine 400-horsepower speed boat.

Here we passing through a small island called Pulau Gusungan, occupied by a small community of Bajau Laut people.

Here, we passing through Uncle Chang Sipadan Mabul Dive Lodge, a backpacker hostel located on Mabul Island that also provides diving packages for divers tight on budget.

Well, I have to give them a missed this round as we move on to Big John Scuba, which is also a backpacker haven for divers looking for bargain on accommodation and diving packages. We quickly get down to business as we disembark from the boat… to the washroom first of-course :D

The facilities (eg hostel, washroom, changing room, dining hall) at Big John Scuba are pretty basic but generally clean and the lunch are serve buffet style with simple dishes.

Diving and snorkeling gears and even underwater cameras can be rented from them but I think they seriously need to replace / improve their gears especially the diving suits, which many have tears and gouges.

Suddenly, all eyes turn to the young babe ... Wow, she is screaming that her prince charming has varnished into the water and left a diving suit motionless on the floor! The bogus inspector is sceptically standing by the side, thinking the prince must be David Copperfield wannabe... and the guy in blue short is smiling wolf thinking he can be her next prince charming! Okay okay, it is just my wild imagination :P

A refreshment course by a Dive Master is available for the veterans that have not dive for some sometime. Here, our Dive Master and instructor is Rita, a native Sabahan. She is a soft and sweet talking girl… and listening to her during the refreshment course is clear and relaxing. We’re brief for about an hour on the diving gears, ascent and descent, buoyancy control, safety and emergency procedures.

Next, it is time to suit up! Many of the gears are pretty straightforward to don like the mask, snorkel, buoyancy compensator, fins, weight belt, regulators and air cylinder.

However, wearing the wetsuit is a pain in the ass, as neoprene hardly mix with skin and the secret is to wet your body by pouring in freshwater for lubrication as you suit up.

Or you can opt for the shirts and pants like these fellows but don’t cursing under the water when it can be damn cold down there :D The diving suit can insulates your body from the cold temperature of the water, which decreasing as you go deeper, and protect your skin from abrasions and stings. Thus, don’t be stingy to wear it.

See, It can be damn sexy in a diving suit that will charm even the man to peeping at you!

Even though a babe is washing just beside him :P

For the newbie, they are require to learn buoyancy skill in shallow water before allow to dive in the open sea. I hope, none of them will get their head knock-down by the boat.

After the refreshment course and suit-up, we’re heading for the dive at Kapalai island! Wow, it is real hot not only from the scorching sun but the two sexy gals blocking my front view :P

Our boat made a pit-stop at Mabul Water Bungalow Resort supposedly to pick up some Japanese guests. The resort is relatively new compare to other lodges on Mabul and consists of about 15 wooden type bungalows stand on stilts over the water off the eastern shore of Mabul.

Along the journey to Kapalai, we passing through this old oil rig... well it is not there to tap the oil or gas but a converted diving platform and the only one of its kind in the world. It is run by Seaventures Dive Resort and offers budget accommodation and diving packages.

We continue our journey to Kapalai, which took us about 15 minutes by speed boat from Mabul. Kapalai used to be an island lies between the Mabul and Sipadan Islands long time ago. Unfortunately the erosion has taken its toll and turning it into a shallow sandbank and coral reef that form part of the Ligitan reefs.

Nowadays it is occupied by the Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort, which is actually a luxury water village style resort built on stilts over the sandbank.

However, don't let the description deceive you. The underwater scene at Kapalai offers some of the best ‘muck-diving’ in the world with many strange and beautifully ugly critters. Blue ring octopus, mimic octopus, ghost pipefish, wasp fish, and stonefish are just some of the common sights. The sight of Kapalai is damn awesome even above the water.

All right, it is dive time! Our Dive Master, Rita is taking the lead and she is showing us how to roll backward into the water.

Now, our tour guide turns to enter the water. Haha, he seen very nervous doing the backward entry with his hand covering his eyes like he is yelling “OMG, I got no gut to see” :D

No words can fully describe the stunning colorful marine life beneath the crystal clear emerald water off Kapalai. I'm surely looking forward to return there again. Hopefully can add Sipadan in my next trip and not to forget getting an underwater camera ;)

Time for lunch @ Big John Scuba ... next, stalking the Sea Gypsies of Mabul!

Smells Like Hell, Tastes Like Heaven

2010-07-16T23:15:00.003+08:00

Talking about fruits, no fruit other than durian can evoke such intense sensation. You will either love them or hate them instantly; there is no middle ground. It is pretty interesting the love affair with durian can be as extreme as sending a personal jet flying all the way from Macau to Singapore just to pick them up. On the other side, the intense disgust can send a panic stricken crowd running helter-skelter like they are escaping from the burning hell.

The durian smells like hell of sweet rotten eggs and burning sulfur and no amount of colognes and mouthwash can hide its hellish smells that can be unrelenting for days. The wretched odor permeates everything and can lead to ostracism and shame. However, the old saying, “no pain, no gain” is certainly true when you overcome the hellish smells.

I simply love eating durians! In fact, I instantly dribble at the sight of durian. A fabulous durian with yellowish smooth, fatty succulent texture and mildly bitter sweet after taste can send me to seventh heaven :P Not even the fact that I have to keep my mouth tightly shut and refrain from public washroom for days can stop me from the guilty indulgence with durian :P Photo of a durian kampung hail from the small town of Segamat, Johor, Malaysia that cost me about SGD 3 ;)

Well, what is your affair with durian?

Dramatic Sunset @ North Borneo

2010-06-30T23:30:00.006+08:00

This sunset photo over South China Sea was taken at Tanjung Aru Beach, Kota Kinabalu City, Sabah, Malaysia in the North Borneo. The sky looks dramatic and threatening with a small silhouette of people looking out at the giant stormy sunset cloud over the vast ocean.

This spectacular sight reminds me that we have a powerful choice either to be an optimist that sees opportunity in every difficulty or a pessimist that sees difficulty in every opportunity. What does the sight of this photo reminds you?

Nature's Teamwork

2010-06-24T22:20:00.006+08:00

This photo of wild onions growth on the top of a dead wood was taken at Kundasang War Memorial Park, Sabah, Malaysia.

It was amazing looking at how a bundle of wild onions growth together in harmony and turning the dead wood that they growth on into a lively colorful place. Nature can be the best teacher and what has it teach you?

9500 Km across Southeast Asia in 3 weeks

2010-05-19T22:15:00.012+08:00

Looking at my schedule this month, I hope to maintain my sanity as long as I can :P Aaarghh... travel nearly 9,500 kilometers (km) across four countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia) within a period of about three weeks!!!

So far, already covered

1. Singapore (starting point)

2. Surabaya (second largest city) of Indonesia from 6 to 15 May 2010
* Kenjeran Park
* Cheng Ho Mosque
* House of Sampoerna
* Gereja Kelahiran Santa Perawan Maria
* Kebun Binatang Surabaya
* Tugu Pahlawan
* Pasopati Submarine
* Surabaya Town Square
* JS Plaza
* Tunjungan Plaza
* Lapindo Mudflow

Surabaya is so far the best city I love most as it is a vibrant city of 3 millions peoples, liken to a giant bowl of potpourri, hardly sleep but still provides a good balance of fast and slower pace of life to keep sanity in check.

3. Bandar Seri Bengawan (state capital) and Kuala Belait (second largest city) of Brunei from 16 to 18 May 2010
* Plaza Sutera Biru Hotel
* Kampung Air
* Brunei Museum
* Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin

4. Batam (aka Shenzhen van Java) of Indonesia from 19 to 21 May 2010
* Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall

Going to cover in the next few days

1. Jakarta (state capital) of Indonesia from 21 to 25 May 2010 (confirmed)

2. Balikpapan (seaport city in the eastern coast) of Indonesia from 25 to 27 May 2010 (confirmed)

3. Singapore (transit) on 27 May 2010 (confirmed)

4. Kuala Lumpur (state capital) of Malaysia from 28 to 29 May 2010 (to be confirmed)

5. Singapore (end point)

You got to be patient with me to post details of this crazy journey as I'll not be able to do so untill I process the thousands of photos in raw format that will take weeks and perhaps even months.

You bet that hotels are my first home and follow by airplanes for now :P

Grilled Rack of Lamb

2010-05-01T23:31:00.013+08:00

Hi friends, how is your labor day celebration? :) As for me, there is nothing more satisfying than a fabulous dinner after a hard labor day ;) Yeah! heads to Thamara Cafe after a grueling journey of over 350km through the winding rural roads from JB to Muar via Pontian and Batu Pahat, and then return within a day, today.

I'm extremely satisfied with the Grilled Rack of Lamb, marinate to perfection in red wine lamb juice, and embellishing with mashed potato, cherry tomatoes, and Mesclun salad.

The lamb meat stay juicy, tender and flavorful even when grilled to well done. The mashed potato is smooth, buttery and fluffy; the cherry tomatoes give a cool, refreshing bites to smoothen the meaty aftertaste, and finally the Mesclun Salad add an elegant French touch to the already fabulous fine dining experience.

If you expecting a deep burn in your pocket for this gastronomic dish, you'll be surprise that it only cost RM 20 (about SGD 9). Kindly bear in mind, before you rushing to Thamara Cafe to feast on the Grilled Rack of Lamb, that I don't guarantee you the same dining experience that I have, and it is completely feast at your own risk! ;)

Thamara Cafe's address: 14 Jalan Indah 16/7, 81200, Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru (Opposite Tesco Bukit Indah)
GPS Coordinates: N1 28.781 E103 39.839
Phone: +60-16-7171-343; +60-12-7373-103
Facebook: Thamara Cafe
Open: Tues - Sun from 11:30 am - 10:30 pm

Tangkuban Parahu @ Paris van Java

2010-04-25T23:11:00.002+08:00

A visit to Paris Van Jawa, nowadays Bandung @ Indonesia will not be complete without a volcano run @ the Tangkuban Parahu or literally translated as capsized boat due to its bizarre shape like an capsized boat when view from the City of Bandung.

Tangkuban Parahu has an altitude of about 2,084 m above sea level at its peak and is located about 30 km north or an hour drive through the narrow-winding roads from the City Of Bandung. Geologically, Tangkuban Parahu is an active volcano, which last erupted in 1983. Visitors can still see the steaming gases that continue spewing out from its three craters or kawah in Indonesian, namely Kawah Ratu, Kawah Upas and Kawah Domas, and smell of sulfur that lingering in the air.

Like other majestic mountains in the taboo observance Asia, Tangkuban Parahu is not without her unique fairy tale fondly known locally as Legenda Sangkuriang. According to Neuman va Padang, in describing the local folklore, the creation of Tangkuban Parahu began with a handsome young man named Sangkuriang, who separated from his mother, Queen Dayang Sumbi since childhood and later reunite and fall in love with her, not knowing of their mother and son relationship. However, Dayang Sumbi realized the truth as she caresses the forehead of his lover Sangkuriang, while discussing their wedding plan. Her son has a scar on the forehead since childhood. Realizing the horror of marrying her long lost beloved son but do not want to break his heart, Dayang Sumbi make a condition that Sangkuriang must fulfill in order to marry her. Sangkuriang has to build a lake and a boat by dawn, which they could sail together on their wedding day.

Sangkuriang accepted her condition. His love gave him extraordinary strength to summon the help of spirits and together, they damming the River of Citarum with boulders and mud, and the water rose and begin to form a lake. Sangkuriang then chopped down a huge tree in the nearby forest and began carving it to make a boat. As the dawn is just a moment away and the boat is almost complete, Dayang Sumbi realized his son would fulfill the impossible condition she has thought. She prayed to Brama, the mighty god, to help her to prevent the disgrace of a marriage between a mother and her son. Brama destroyed the dam and Sangkuriang was drowned. Dayang Sumbi in her agony threw herself on the capsized boat, breaking through the hull of the ship and was also drowned.

The resulted crater, where Dayang Sumbi fell through is known nowadays as Kawah Ratu or literally translated as the Queen Crater. The view from the edge of the Queen Crater is awesome with steaming gases spewing out from its crater floor. The feeling of standing less than a meter from an active volcano crater is real exhilarating but I start to hate the 17 mm lens as it is just not wide enough on a 1.6 crop DSLR to fully capture the panoramic view of the huge Queen Crater. Make sure to bring an ultra wide angle lens of at least 10 mm or best on a full frame DSLR :P

The amazing thing for a driving fanatic like me about Tangkuban Parahu is, you can drive into the volcano crater and get your ass steam :P Okay, not into the volcano crater itself but at least close to it. Visitors are allowed to drive to the visitor center, near the Queen Crater at an altitude of about 1,803 m above sea level.

The panoramic view from the visitor center can be awesome beyond comprehension on a reasonably clear day! The amazing experience watching the unending mountain ranges liken to a gigantic sea waves greeting you in the morning glory is real hard to describe. Again, don’t forget the ultra wide angle lens to fully capture the awesome panoramic view!

The ladies and shopaholics may not be amazed by the panoramic views of the Queen Crater and mountain ranges but they will probably turn crazy with the almost unending rows of shopping stalls. Guy, make sure you bring millions of cash, Rupiah lah of course :P as credit cards, not matter how famous it is, will not be accepted here :D

You can find almost all kind of merchandise a tourist can imagine, souvenirs, sweaters, bags, necklaces, precious stones, stationeries, natural skin care products from volcano mud and sulfur ash, natural insect repellants from plants, many kind of medicinal herbs , and et cetera.

For the food lover, you can enjoy local Indonesian cuisines at the row of food stalls, sipping a cup of warming and aromatic bandrek, while continue mesmerizing with the panoramic view of the mountain ranges.

I definitely enjoy the lontong kari ayam (rice cake witch curry chicken) except for the safety hazard posed by the little mountain of cooking gas canisters in front of the stall that made me eating as fast as I could :P

Another round of shopping to help the digestion of lontong kari ayam, feed furiously into my stomach earlier :P Colorful hand knitted scarves, hats, gloves and socks, which you may need it as the temperature at the visitor center of Tangkuban Parahu range between 10 to 20 deg. Celsius, according one of the peddler there.

Fancy for angklung? The angklung is an Indonesian traditional musical instrument made from two bamboo tubes that attached to a bamboo frames that emit unique sounds when it is shaken. I really enjoy the life performance of the angklung by the friendly peddler but still cannot fathom how such a simple looking musical instrument can produce soft and calming beautiful melodies.

Cactus lover will not be disappointed here as well, as many colorful cacti of different shapes and sizes can be found here.

Finally, child lover will not be disappointed too! Of course the child is not for sell and in fact nobody is being sold here!!! I found this child is so cute in her matching pink sweater and hat, dozing silently in the basket, perhap after a bottle of yummylicious milk ;)

Next… On the Trail to Kawah Domas

Hoegaarden On Tap @ La Primeur, Austin

2010-04-17T20:00:00.008+08:00

Sound like I've landed @ Austin, the state capital of Texas for a west wild ride of the great Belgian Beer :P Oop did I say "Beer", so not the wild ride you imagine on a "Bear" okay :D Yes, it is Hoegaarden Time and I need plenty of beer now to suppress my SSS!!!

I've never been so embarrassed for pronouncing word but pronouncing "Hoergaaeden" is such a big joke that raised many eyebrows! Remember, few years ago, I shout loudly to a bartender across the long bar... "Whoregarden!!!"... Wow, all the eyebrows suddenly raised against me, some in awe, some in shock, then all burst into laughter, thinking I'm ordering a garden of whores :P Later, I learned it should be pronounce as who-gar-den AND NOT whore-garden :D

The origin of the Hoegaarden Beer can be traced back to 15th century in the Village of Hoegaarden in Belgium, which still exist today. The unique of this beer start in its brewing process whereby citrus peel, coriander and spices are added in addition to the typical ingredients of water, wheat and yeast.

Well, how does it look and taste? First, I'm shocked when my Hoegaarden on Tap is proudly presented in cold, thick hexagonal beer glass of Full 1 pint (approx. 570 ml), which I think is a typical volume a bladder can hold and fortunately the washroom is just a few steps away :D You can guess the size with my thumb as yardstick... still cannot guess? then read my story first ;)

The beer is unfiltered, giving the beer a soft body, cloudy pale gold appearance with thick, frothy head. Hope I'll not developing double or perhaps triple visions with this hazy monster. I'm a responsible driver hor :P

The Hoegaarden has a distinct smell of coriander, a mild citrus and perhaps banana??? … I think my olfactory system start getting multiple visions now :D

After trying to analyze the smell, tasting it was less of a surprise than I might have guessed. As the coriander seemed to dominate the smell of the Hoegaarden, so did it in the taste as well. The aromatic flavors of coriander and citrus give this beer a very fruity, smooth and refreshing character.

Now you should be able to guess the size in relative to the Tiger Beer next to it right? Surprisingly, I emptied the 1 pint Hoergaaden with ease, no sore throat, no nature call and no multiple visions ;) Well, the above shoot is taken with my right hand holding an approx. 1.5 kg DSLR, while my left hand is holding the monster, in a pretty dark corner of La Primeur, which I hardly able to count my fingers with my naked eyes. Well, you can guess the darkness as I’m using ISO 6400, aperture 2.8 and shutter speed of 1/6 seconds.

Hoegaarden is not a beer that I will drink all night long, but it's a great one to start with. After one or two I will switch over to something a little more bitter, which is good for the pocket too because this beer is not cheap @ RM 28 (about SGD 12) per pint (exclude service charge and government tax).

Come back to La Primeur, well it is not located in Austin @ Texas but in the Mount Austin, a suburb of Johor Bahru (JB) City in Malaysia... so it should be east wild ride of the Great Belgian Beer!

La Primeur is one of the few pubs in JB that serving Hoegaarden on tap. It is proper pub that serving proper beer and cocktails to mostly after-work revelers and accidental beer drinkers (like me :P). The place is a bit crowded on weekend nights but still breathable and the music is bit rockish but pleasant to the ears and best of all, lot of handsome men and beautiful ladies to look around ... haha, I'm not gentle bias right? :P

La Primeur is located at No. 4, Jalan Austin Perdana 3/10, Taman Austin Perdana, Johor Bahru. The nearby landmarks are the Shell and Petronas petrol stations.

Sorry dude, forgot to ask their operation times and contact number but you should not be disappointed if bang into their waterhole on weekend nights ;) but don't curse me if they bang the door shut on you :P

Aging Gratefully

2010-04-09T23:00:00.002+08:00

As a kid, we probably yearn to reach adulthood so we can enjoy all the privileges given to the adults. We probably celebrate our 16 years old, 18 years old and finally 21 years old with great funfair as with each passing number of age, more privileges are given to us, which we often take for granted. What about after 21 years old, 40 years old, 60 years old?

I'm guessing growing older beyond 21 years old or in another word aging is probably not at the top of most people's list of things to be grateful in their life. Some become even more jaded, bitter, depressed, isolated as they age.

What does aging gratefully mean to you?

Holland Bakery @ Paris Van Java

2010-04-06T22:33:00.009+08:00

OMG! Holland Bakery? A Rotating Windmill?? Did my eyes teasing my brain again or I’m really landed in Holland??? I must be dreaming after a long walk @ CiWalk the previous day :D

It is indeed Holland Bakery with her well known signature of windmill and I’m not landed in Holland ;) Holland Bakery is a leading bakery chain in Indonesia and I’ve come across their unique signature of windmills in Jakarta, Surabaya and of course now in Bandung. Although the windmill is not the sole representation of Dutch but no other nations have been associated more closely to it than the Dutch. Well, even the name Holland itself has been often mistakenly refers as the country name for the Dutch, which should be the Netherlands.

The outlet in this photo is located at the corner between Jl. Merdeka and Jl. RE Martadinata. I understand from a sweet lady manning the outlet that Holland Bakery is established since 1978. It is not a Dutch company by the way and the chain is managed by an Indonesian company. Their motto “TERATAS KARENA KUALITAS” (At the Top because of Quality) is clearly reflecting in their pleasant interior decoration and tempting pastries and cakes. Unfortunately, the same sweet lady is not so sweet after all when she requests me not to take photo of their interior. However, she is indeed very polite ;)

Well, I still cannot resist the temptation to shoot my favorite “Toast Slices” touted to be the most fragrant, crispy and tasty toasted bread :P All right, don’t believe everything I say but you got to try it yourself and let me know is a thumb up or a foot ;)

GPS Coordinates: 6°54'25"S 107°36'39"E
Address: No. 68, Jl. Merdeka, Bandung, Indonesia
Opening hours: Cannot remember but sunset time is always best for photography ;)

Tom Yum Seafood @ Thamara Cafe

2010-04-03T22:45:00.014+08:00

It is Thamara time! Nothing beat a seducing aromatic, tongue lashing followed by a pepper-induced nasal drip of fiery hot & sour Tom Yum with mixed seafood during cold heavy shower this afternoon!!! Sorry friends, thought want to reveal more of the ingredient with photos as we savor the fabulous soup... haha, the brain knock-out with steam lol

Next, the chilling blue soda to quench the burning tongue... Wow, the experience is mind boggling... first, on fiery fire and then quick chilling down :D

Seen like the boss cannot resist the temptation as we savor the Tom Yum, and turns to watching the rain instead :P Or maybe he is singing Jo Dee Messina's bring on the rain ... Sshh, don't tell his wife ;)

As usual, I don't guarantee you the same dining experience that I have and it is completely try at your own risk ;) Also, you're advice to call Thamara Cafe to confirm the dish availability should you're going there just for the "Tom Yum".

Cihampelas Walk @ Bandung, Indonesia

2010-03-28T21:44:00.007+08:00

It is great to be back to Bandung again this week since my last visit in June 2009. I’ll not want to miss the Cihampelas Walk or fondly known as CiWalk by local, whenever I’m in Bandung. CiWalk is neither the largest nor the most inclusive shopping mall in Bandung. However it is perhaps the one I prefer visiting the most among the many shopping malls in Bandung.

Getting there from the Sheraton Hotel, where I stay is about 30 minutes ride using a mini van (locally known as Angkut) for Rp 3,000 (less than SGD 0.50). A taxi take about half the time will probably cost you Rp 25,000 – 30,000 (SGD 4 to 5) depending on the traffic condition. You probably laugh at me why using an Angkut when I’m staying in a luxury five stars hotel? Frankly, it is my prefer transport during travel as it is a very good way of interacting with and get an insight to the life of local folks. The journey in an Angkut can be amusing as I was asked several times, standard question of where I came from to hilarious question whether I’m still single, from other passengers. I will just burst into laughter, showing my empty left ring finger and jokingly asked “bisa kenalkan cewek?” (can introduce a girl) :P

The first thing I like about CiWalk is her strategic location in the middle of the famed Cihampelas Street, where girls can perhaps gone crazy and guys gone broke with the abundant factory outlets and stores that lining both sides of the approximate 2 km long street and dedicated to myriad of trendy clothing, shoes and accessories.

A friendly advice to guys is to make sure you bring overkill dose of vitamin M, infinite limit of Platinum C, empty bags and perhaps a trolley should your wife or girlfriend tag along :P Otherwise, just play dumb and ignorant as you’re some sort of hillbilly :D

The next thing I like about Ciwalk is how it manages to successfully walk out of the typical indoor-shopping-only concept and confer a rather pleasant atmosphere all-around, where visitors can either dine, shop, or just relaxing around in a comfortable, naturally breezy and perhaps most importantly, safe environment.

The indoor shopping at CiWalk is a three levels building, which is nothing great to shout about as the selection of shops and their goods are limited. However, what surprises me is the availability of 3D Cinema here, which is manage by 21Cineplex. I wish, I was here at least a month earlier to catch up with Avatar 3D with weekday price for Rp 25,000 (less than SGD 4) only !!!

The outdoor shopping is separated into three main sections. The first section is called “Young Street”, with various dining outlets such as Raffel’s (where you can find many kind of burgers), Es Teler 77 Resto (serving traditional Indonesian cuisines), Shin Men Japanese Resto, Raa Cha (serving Thai cuisines) and smaller eateries such as Tahu Brintik and Blind Café.

The second section is called “Broadway”, named obviously after the famed theatrical productions in Manhattan, New York. This section features the largest selection of dining outlets in CiWalk, such as Pattaya Juice Bar, Texas Fried Chicken, Avenue A Pizza, Le Petit Paris, Oh La La Bistro, Gokana Tepan, Glosis, Tjing Wan Chinese Cuisine, Honeymoon Desert, SoeDoe, Takoyaki, Takiyo, Hunky Dory, Bandung Brownies, Pisetta Ice Cream, Torabika Cafe and Soho Music

The third section is called “Union Square” and it is some sort of CiWalk’s town square, where all the events from musical concert to exhibition and launching of products are held here. There is no shortage of dining outlets in CiWalk including this section, where you can find Baso Malang Karapitan, Platinum, Cafe Pisa, Starbucks Coffee, J.Co Donuts and Coffee, Breadtalk, Pizza Hut, Embassy, Innocence and Score.

It is real hard to make up my mind when there are so many fine dining outlets to choose and I finally end up in Baso Malang Karapitan after surveying for over an hour!!! Don't know exactly how and why I ended up here :D

My first impression of this place is that it is clean and the decor is simple and functional. It looks also like a fast food restaurant. The staff crew work fast and efficient. Taking down your orders is quick and your meal will arrive at your table in minutes. If you are clueless of what to order, ask for the menu or simply try their house special.

So, you will be forgiven for putting on few pounds of weight here as long as you have excess Vitamin M to pay the bill :P No, it is not the meals here are expensive and in fact the price is well reasonable. It is the many selection of dishes that cause the choice between weight control and all-out-war become harder :P I definitely added few pounds of cholesterol after savored the heavy duty Nasi Soto Betawi (Betawi Soup with rice) :D

Soto betawi is one of the traditional dishes in Batavia (Jakarta in modern day). Traditionally, it is served on special occasion likes wedding ceremony. Unlike the other types of soto, which normally have quite clear or transparent yellowish broth, Soto Betawi has a more curry-like flavor due to its use of coconut milk. I am not a fan of Soto, but Soto Betawi is an exception. I find this dish pretty aromatic, spicy and delicious. However, the Soto Betawi served in Bakso Malang Kapitan is nothing to shout about nor it is bad. The aromatic temptation and spicy kick are somewhat lacking.

Overall, CiWalk is a great place for food hunting @ night but you better spend your money along Cihampelas Street should it is the shopping frenzy you're after. My only complaint about CiWalk is the overzealous security here. The present of security guards can be seen almost everywhere in CiWalk and even vehicles entering her compound are scanned, probably for explosive devices. It is a welcome sign for security but annoying for me as I was immediately approached by security guards whenever I draw out my 7D and request me to stop taking photos unless I have the approval letter!!!

I personally think they’re overkill even if their objective is to prevent terrorist from taking photos of CiWalk for plotting terror. They’re doing a disservice to their public relation by prohibiting visitors taking photos and sharing good things in CiWalk. Well, I still found my way of taking the photos ;)

Grilled Striploin

2010-03-23T22:39:00.010+08:00

I'm craving for steak today... been looking around Suntec City Mall during lunch time and none of the food photos display on the board as tempting as the one taken by me @ Thamara Cafe last Saturday ") ... I end-up return to the office with a musical stomach and staring at the "Grilled Striploin" photo as it is my lunch, my imagination run wild as the juicy and tender fat seen melting silky in my mouth virtually and make me drool :P

Yeah, it is the "Grilled Striploin" served with baked potato, herb vegetables and mushroom sauce for RM 16.50 (about SGD 7)!!! I'm regretting now that I didn't taste the viewtronomic dish @ Thamara Cafe last Saturday, for the sake of slimming down :( Thanks to Raymond for being so kind allowing me to shoot the "Grilled Striploin", while he holding back his drooling :D One thing keep disturbing my mind is the other two new steaks introduce last week together with the "Grilled Striploin", all carry the words "New Zealand". Why the the words "New Zealand" is missing from the "Grilled Striploin"??? The boss probably import the striploin from ... eh hem :P

As usual, I don't guarantee you the same dining experience that I have and it is completely try at your own risk ;) Also, you're advice to call Thamara Cafe to confirm the dish availability should you're going there just for the "Grilled Striploin".

p.s Special thanks to Robo for renting his baby Canon EOS 450D with EF-S 18 - 55mm lens to me ;) Photo taken under mixture of fluorescent light and indirect sunlight with focus length 20mm, ISO 400, aperture value of 4, shutter speed of 1/15s and flash off.

Grilled New Zealand Prime Steer Rib-eye

2010-03-21T23:46:00.022+08:00

First time purposely drive for more than an hour including traffic jam yesterday, just to try out a dish :D Yes, I've pre-order the "Fillet of Lamb Loin Grilled" online but it is run-out of stock when I arrived at Thamara Cafe ~~:( Almost want to choke the boss :P Luckily, I'm completely appeased by another new gastronomic dish of the week, the "Grilled New Zealand Prime Steer Rib-eye" with Special Beef Juice, Mashed Potatoes and Mesclun Salad for RM 25 (about SGD 10)!!!

The meat is tender, juicy and flavorful; the mashed potato is smooth, buttery and fluffy; and finally the Mesclun Salad add an elegant French touch to the already fabulous fine dining experience. Kindly bear in mind before you rush to Thamara Cafe at neck breaking speed :P I don't guarantee you the same dining experience that I have and it is completely try at your own risk ;)

Thamara Cafe's address: 14 Jalan Indah 16/7, 81200, Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru (Opposite Tesco Bukit Indah)
GPS Coordinates: N1 28.781 E103 39.839
Phone: +60-16-7171-343; +60-12-7373-103
Facebook: Thamara Cafe
Open: Tues - Sun from 11:30 am - 10:30 pm

p.s Special thanks to Robo for renting his baby Canon EOS 450D with EF-S 18 - 55mm lens to me ;) Photo taken under mixture of fluorescent light and indirect sunlight with focus length 30mm, ISO 800, aperture value of 4.5, shutter speed of 1/20s and flash off. Need to lower aperture to 2.8 next time to bokeh out the distracting chairs, that mean got to burns pocket again :P

Be Bold & Strong in the Tiger Year

2010-02-14T08:26:00.008+08:00

Today is the First Day of the Tiger Year. A year associated by Chinese astrologers with major changes, disaster and turbulence probably due to the natural traits of the powerful and fearsome tigers. What made thing further interesting, it is a Metal Tiger Year, which could provide the steely resolve and determination to overcome the obstacles. Hmmm, personally I take all these predictions as a pinch of salt, as in the end, don't everyone of us are unique individual that ultimately responsible for our own life and the fates of the world, nation, family, friendship and things surround us based on decisions that we made? So, making a better, happy, lovely, peaceful and prosperous Tiger Year start with each and everyone of us ;)

I wish you be bold and strong as the Tiger and the best of happiness, health and prosperity be with you and family throughout and beyond this Tiger Year!

p.s photo of a charming tiger taken by me at the Johor Zoo ;)

Leaving a Legacy

2010-02-05T22:40:00.012+08:00

Today is a very sad day for me as my good friend passed away due to lung cancer and leave four young kids, wife and an exciting business behind. He is 48 years old, never smoke, hardly drinks and a pretty health conscious person. Attended his wake today and it is sad to see a once jovial person and full of dreams lay in silent forever. Will I stop dreaming big and resign to the fate after seeing such a fine person being tortured by a disease that he should not deserved in the first place? No, I'll never ever give up dreaming big and fighting hard after listening to his brother-in-law testimony of him during the torturous five months period after he is being diagnosed of lung cancer.

It is very heart touching to know that my good friend is a strong fighter that never stop dreaming big and fighting hard until his last breath. He even sit for the MSc exam few months ago although in severe pain. He received his MSc degree scroll today in time for his funeral. He also leave a wonderful legacy by raising four pretty fine kids that promised him before his last breath to take care and protect their mummy. I'll always remember you, K'ng for your never die spirit and the legacy of being a wonderful husband, father, friend, boss and student.

p/s The photo posted in this post are not mine and feel free to click the photo to see its source.

Certainly Not Due to Human Error?

2010-02-04T02:00:00.012+08:00

Hi everyone, I've been super duper busy lately and the only available time I have was effectively utilized to meet my dream girl in my sweet dream :P Well, something must had really pissed me off to stay awake at this ghostly hour 2AM exactly to write on my blog!

Reading at the thestar.com, it never stop keep me wondering are Malaysian getting worst mentally??? Quoting the statement given by a Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) spoke person that "THE FAULT IS CERTAINLY NOT DUE TO HUMAN ERROR" when interviewed by the media about the two blackout within 16 hours that last more than 12 hours and has left thousands of residents and business operators from several areas near Komtar fuming mad.

I don't know if the guy know what the hell he is talking about. If it is "CERTAINLY NOT DUE TO HUMAN ERROR", does he mean it is "CERTAINLY DUE TO GOD ERROR" (oop! I must not blaspheme :P) or it is "CERTAINLY DUE TO DEMON ERROR" (oop! I should not fear evil :P). I think it is absolutely flawed for this guy that represent TNB to make such an firmed statement that it is "CERTAINLY NOT DUE TO HUMAN ERROR" for the blackout!

First, has TNB made a thorough and transparent investigation to proof it is certainly not due to human error? If yes, I challenged them to publicly shows their investigation report for public scrutiny. If TNB dare to said a thorough and transparent investigation is not needed. Then I dare to shout to their face they don't have business to proclaimed it is "CERTAINLY NOT DUE TO HUMAN ERROR". Come on, tell me TNB, what is the confidence level in percentage (eg 1%, 50%, 99% or Oop! 110%) that you're certain the fault is not due to human error? What scientific or engineering methodology you used for the measurement to arrived at the firmed conclusion. Don't insult my intelligence by telling me you're using a super duper advance methodology called "SIXTH SENSE" to arrived at the super duper dumber conclusion :P

Second, has anyone in the affected area, come on Penangites! experienced any catastrophic disaster like the earth core meltdown in the movie 2012? Anybody? Hey come on, we don't even experience a tremor at the affected area prior to and during the blackout. Come on TNB, shout to my face, can you blame god or demon for the blackout? Again, you're insulting my intelligence if you dare to proclaimed it is the god or demon at fault :P

Third, if it is neither human, god nor demon error. Then it can be either DESIGN ERROR or MAINTENANCE ERROR. Yes, it is a DESIGN ERROR because where is the BACKUP SYSTEM. TNB, didn't you study or the lecturer taught you RELIABILITY in the engineering class??? Shame on you, if you dare to tell me you never learned or the lecturer never taught you this in the engineering class. Then you have no business in power generation and distribution, which is engineering subject!!! Come on, having legion of generators that kicked in place after 12 hours blackout is NOT CALLED BACKUP SYSTEM lah TNB!

Well, MAINTENANCE ERROR? No comment until TNB dare to make publicly their maintenance records for public scrutiny, which I really doubt they dare to do that for the reason you and me know :D

Oh wait! Don't design and maintenance are under human control??? What the hell then, this guy that represent TNB so confidence to proclaimed it is "CERTAINLY NOT DUE TO HUMAN ERROR"??? Are their design and maintenance work carried out by non-human???!!! If yes, what the hell Malaysian need to paid $$$ to TNB. Non-human don't need $$$ right? :D

I'm wondering why those in position of authority to speak always so hasty to made conclusion that it is not human error, which indirectly mean not their fault. What is so ashamed to admit ones fault, made correction and keep improving as he/she moving forward. It made me really doubt that Malaysia will able to continue progress forward with their super duper dumber denial syndrome!

I think those affected in the blackout at Penang will love this :P

p.s, Let see any super dumber minister or their henchmen will ISA me or worst revoked my citizenship or not :P All photos in this post are not mine and feel free to click the photos to see their source.

Malaysian is Getting Worst Mentally ?

2010-01-16T12:05:00.033+08:00

hi everyone, hope nobody report a missing person for viosben for missing in action for over the last two months. I was in Surabaya, Indonesia for over half a month. Then follow-up by many loose-end to wrap-up and some very unusual turn-of-event in my career that exhausted all my energy and emotion to blog.

One thing for sure is my passion toward photography is still strongly alive. At last, I sold my precious baby Canon 450D together with two EF-lens (18 - 55mm and 55 - 250mm), a wide angle lens, battery grip and tripod at less than half their original price, taking into account I only use these gears for about 6 months and their warranty still alive for at least the next six months. I'm very glad that my precious baby and all her toys is in very good hands.

Now you're confuse isn't it? :D What the hell I sold my precious baby together with all her fancy toys when I said my passion for photography is still strongly alive. You gotta wait for further announcement what I'm up to! ;)

There is also a major career promotion for me this month after a very unusual turn-of-event. Don't get excited as I'm not gonna upgrade into professional photographer. I'm staying on as amateur photographer as it is the passion to lock-in precious memorable moment that keep my passion for photography alive and not money. Sorry, no implicit message or offense to all professional photographers and I absolutely respect your work and contribution to "photosphere" (haha just my short term for world of photography just like "blogosphere" for the world of blogging) ;)

All I can say now is there are more tears involve than sweats that lead to the career promotion :P I'm very grateful that thing turn-up to be very well at the end. I've never expected that there are so much trust in me, even from people who I've never meet eyes to eyes before. I'm not exaggerating that the amount of trust pour in from across Asia Pacific :P It is these trust in me that made my career promotion possible. Now with great trust comes great responsibility! Hey, I'm not gonna upgrade into professional blogger :P Stay tuned as I'll made announcement later what the career promotion I'm talking about. Aiyoh, no, I'm not going to upgrade to politician okay despite I 'm talkative about Malaysia's politic when you see me in person :P

Talking about politicians, I've never so pissed-off in my whole life after reading and thinking about the "Allah" issue in Malaysia! For the Christians that said we should throw in our white tower as it is just a name and doesn't Christ teach us "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also"; You're completely missing the main point what the Herald publisher is fighting for.

Hey, simply put it to you, first they ban you from using the word "Allah" and you give in. Then they ban you from using the word "Adam", who they claim is the first man created by their god and you'll give in. Then they ban again a whole bunch of names who they claim are their prophets or kings chosen by their god such as Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses) Syamuil (Samuel), Dawud (King David), Sulayman (King Solomon), Ilyas (Isaiah), Zakariyya (Zechariah), etc, and you'll give in. Finally, they ban you from using Isa (Jesus), who is also their prophet, tell me straight to my face, ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE IN ???

I'm very sad and angry that because you are an English, Chinese or Tamil speaking Christians and you turned against your brothers and sisters in Christ who can only communicate in Malay and indirectly cordon the devil plot to deprived them "Firman Allah" (the WORD of GOD)!!! Let me tell you this, I've been in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation more than I took taxi in my whole life and even an Indonesian taxi driver laughed to the floor when I told him, the Malaysian government ban the use of Allah by Christian. The ironic thing is he is a Muslim!!!

What you expect your Malay speaking brothers and sisters in Christ going to do with all the "Alkitab" (Bibles), "lagu-lagu pujian" (song books or compact discs) and other hardcopy materials that contain "Firman Allah" (Word of God). Are you literally cordoning the devil plot to push them to burn the "Firman Allah" in incinerator or bury in landfill??? Shame on you if you're one of the Christians that thrown in the white tower and I challenged you to be the first one to defile these Alkitab and materials just to appease those racist and religious bigots. Don't push your brothers and sisters in Christ to defile thing you don't dare to defile.

Now I extracted a paragraph from thestar.com today "Although he agreed that the word “Allah” had been long used in Christianity way before Islam existed, Nazri said: “That’s why I say it is all right in Sabah and Sarawak but culturally, you cannot apply it in a place where Allah has always been Islam’s God.”

Wake-up minister! "Allah" is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "God". It is use by Christians in Arab Saudi (the birthplace of Islam) and it is use by Christians in Indonesia (the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation). Malaysia is neither the birthplace of Islam nor the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, nor Malay is Arabic language. What authority you have to say "you cannot apply it in a place where Allah has always been Islam’s God”. Are you suggesting all Malaysian so mentally worst we'll accept this reasoning with funfair!!! Also, doesn't you agreed that "Allah" had been long used in Christianity way before Islam existed? If yes, then going by the laws of copyright, you should know well who violated the copyright and should be ban from using the word "Allah"!!! Hey, are you suggesting that now we can just open a stall and use the name of Microsoft, McDonald, Intel, Nokia and so on in Malaysia and ban the original owner from using it??? It is the world greatest joke isn't it?

To all mentally sound Malaysian, tell me will you give up calling your father's name which you have been calling for as long as you breath, when someone suddenly order you cannot call your father's name because his / her father use that name??? Shame on you is you kowtow to this brainless person. And to say, we can use this in Sabah and Sarawak and not in peninsular, is he admitted that peninsular Malaysian are so mentally worst to the point we cannot use a word that is literary mean god in the context of Arabic language ??? You better make sure your wife or husband is from Sabah and Sarawak because for sure we have minister confirmed they are more mentally sound than a wife or husband from peninsular :P

To add salt to the wound, when we have a top leader that said "he had been receiving quite a number of messages from non-Muslim friends in Sabah and Sarawak who said there were Christians who felt that things would not have happened in the first place "if we, the Christians, would just not use the word 'Allah'".

Hey! honorable DPM, can you show us the fantastic messages please... best if you video all of them and upload to youtube :D All mentally sound Malaysian, will you regret to call you father's name because someone's father use that name later and ban you from calling that name??? If yes, you better tell me who you're and I'll gonna give you a big kiss (KIck for Simply Stupid) :P

I end my first blog of 2010 with the best joke I heard so far :D

A man came home from work and his children ran to him and called out ‘Ayah! Ayah!’. His neighbor got very upset and said to him, “Can you please tell your children not to call you ‘Ayah’ (father in Malay language)?”

The man asked, “Why?” The neighbor retorted,“Because my children call me ’Ayah’ too.
They might get confused and mistaken you to be their father. Posted by AnSoN

Now let see, if my blog will be bombard with nasty comment from brainless people and threaten to ISA me or not :P

Photo from Abqorian that I admired most. Guess it is a temple or a mosque?

Answer: Masjid Cheng Ho located in Surabaya, Indonesia as recognition to Cheng Ho who spreads his Muslim faith to Surabaya. The world's most populous Muslim-majority nation give recognition to a Chinese who spreads Islamic faith to them ??? This is AWESOME because you'll never see this in Malaysia !!! Last I heard rumor said Hang Tuah has been taken off the history textbook in Malaysia since 1999 because he is suspected to be Chinese descendant (appreciate someone can verify this is true?).

Lastly, to all mentally sound Malaysian. If you're cracking you head to list out your New Year resolutions for the years ahead, I strongly suggest you to list out one thing and put it in the TOP list. VOTE with your CONSCIENCE!!! You know what I mean if you're mentally sound :P

Chiow!
Ben

p.s, all photos in this post are not mine and feel free to click the photos to see their source.

Funeral

2009-10-31T20:20:00.009+08:00

Hi everyone, hope you're enjoying your weekend to the fullest ;) Sorry, I don't intend to spoil your beautiful weekend or add more ghosts to you already ghostly Halloween with this weird title "Funeral". However, when something move me to tear, you better sit tight and pay attention :P

This short film "Funeral" was commissioned by the Singapore Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in April 2009 to promote marriage and family ties among Singaporeans. As I read the title "Funeral", it is indeed mind boggling to associate funeral with marriage in the very first place, which is a huge taboo in Asian context.
What surprised me most is the person that crafted the script and directed the film is an Asian and to be exact, a Malaysian. Wow! I know who is Yasmin Ahmad and I thought I know her style, which is always thought provoking by unapologetically slicing through the skin colors and religious barrier to get the racial unity message across. However, after watching the "Funeral", it give me another insight of Yasmin Ahmad... well, I'll not want to influence your thinking but I hope you'll take time to watch this 3 minutes short film and form your own conclusion ;)

My whisper: Kak Yasmin, I know awards are immaterial to you. However, I still wish to say, "Congratulation" that you've won this year Kancil Awards for your soul touching film "Funeral" and thank you for bringing back the memories of my father, who beautiful imperfections has make our family relationship perfect.

Rediscover My Passion: Photography

2009-10-21T22:00:00.005+08:00

Have you ever waiting and soaking in the chilly rain for day and night just for that perfect moment? If you answer yes, then you probably infected with Acquired Shutterbug Excessive Syndrome (ASES) :D Come across this Nikon ads and its sum up my feeling quite well toward photography ;) However, I not yet reached the full blown ASES :P Have you rediscover your passion?

Jamboree on the Air 2009

2009-10-17T23:30:00.028+08:00

Hi everyone, how is your Deepavali celebration or holiday? :) To my Hindu friends, may your home light up with all the joy and prosperity throughout this Festival of Light and beyond!

It is a busy weekday for me as report related to my three days trip to Surabaya, Indonesia last week need to be send out before end of this week and few more other reports review that coming in at same time really drained my energy. However, today I’m all smile as it is Deepavali, the Festival of Light and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel! :D

What made today extra special was it is the 52nd Jamboree on the Air - JOTA 2009! For those who don’t know what is jamboree, it is a huge gathering typically attended by tens of thousands of Scouts from all over the world, once every four years.

Haha, I’m initially shocked with the term Jamboree on the Air, thinking what the hell the Scouts gonna camping on the air? :D Being a Scout myself throughout my secondary school, I’ve never heard this theme before until today. Now I can comprehend what does a Malay’s proverb mean, like frog underneath the coconut shell :P Another event held concurrently with JOTA is the JOTI, which stand for Jamboree on the Internet. See, the Scouts never run out of idea :D

This morning, I make a visit to a CQ Jamboree aka radio station, which is temporary setup at Taman Merdeka at Johor Bahru. For those who are still confuse with JOTA, it is an event in which Scouts from all over the world speak to each other by means of amateur radio often called ham radio. It is organized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) together with national Scout organizations and held annually on the third full weekend in October. This year JOTA is fall on 17th and 18th October.

My Scout friend, Phil and the two ladies Scouts manning one of the ham radio station. The JOTA theme this year is “Tackle Climate Change Challenge (C3)” and participants who consist of ladies, men, boys and girls Scout with the assistance of ham operators will exchange experiences and share ideas about natural disaster, preparedness for disaster of any kind, use of renewable energy for the radio station and carbon footprints.

The ham radio communication equipments used at the CQ Jamboree look simple but don’t underestimate their capability as these simple looking equipments can put any cell phones to shame, especially in time of disaster :P Okay let see what we need for the ham radio communication ;)

First, we need a pretty long antenna, which immediately put any cell phones to shame already because most cell phones nowadays don’t even have a visible antenna right? :D In order to achieve the 40 meters height from ground level as needed for clear communication without using many metal poles, they setup the CQ Jamboree on a small hill overlooking the lake of Taman Merdeka at Johore Bahru. Haha, does reduce the numbers of metal poles contribute to energy saving and hence reduce climate change? Well you guess the answer lol :D

Anyway, could you guess how many antennas are there? :P For your info, all the antennas use at this CQ Jamboree are homemade aka made by the owners themselves lah :D

Next, we need a switched-mode power supply unit to convert the typical input of 220 Volts from the electricity source to the required output eg between 3 to 15 Volts (adjustable) and 25 Amperes before feed in to the other radio communication equipments. It is just like your laptop adapter lah as you don’t want to blow off your laptop with the direct supply of 220 Volts right? :D

Hmm, I'm thinking they should consider using solar panel as the power source instead of tapping the electricity from the amphitheater :) Not only this use of renewable energy matching with the C3 theme but may also do away with the switched-mode power supply unit right? Any expert can advice?

Next, we need an antenna tuner or antenna tuning unit (ATU) and strictly speaking I still don’t understand what it really does even after listening to the explanation by an Elmer and Wiki about it :D Oop! Elmer is a person who teaches and nurtures the neophyte ham radio operators.

We also need a transceiver, which is a device capable of both transmitting and receiving radio signals, so it is like your cell phone. Again, it size easily put any cell phones to shame right? :D

Wow! this is really a vintage device probably from World War II era :D It is a telegraphic key to send Morse code. You can literally hear the sound tu tu tu tuuu tuuu tuuu tu tu tu as the knob is pressed down. Did you know what does the sound means? :D It mean Sierra Oscar Sierra. What still don’t get it? Then you better just call 999 :P

I’ll prefer to use this one, a radio microphone whereby you can just speak into it instead of tu tu tu around :D

Okay now let start propagating our voice on the air :P Wait, there are some basic rules that should be followed:
• All radio operators must operate their stations strictly in accordance with their national licensing regulations, which in Malaysia is regulated by Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC);
• Stations should call "CQ Jamboree" or answer Scout stations calling to establish a contact;
• Any authorized frequency may be used. It is recommended that stations use the agreed World Scout Frequencies;
• The JOTA is not a contest. The idea is not to contact as many stations as possible during the call;
• All participating groups are asked to send a report of their activities to their National JOTA Coordinator (NJaC) after the event, which in Malaysia is coordinated by the Scout Association of Malaysia;
• NJaC's are requested to send a National JOTA Report to the World Scout Bureau, for inclusion in the World JOTA Report; and
• Finally be gentle and no lewd or abusive words (added by me) :P

First, tune in to the desire frequency. I’m hoping they will accidentally tune into some top secret communication such as the traffic police operation to pinpoint their speed trap locations :P Unfortunately it is not possible as they are only allowed to tune into the bandwidth allocated to them :D

Next, say “Hello, here is nine whiskey two juliet juliet romeo listening”. Haha that is my buddy call sign :D and inviting other CQ Jamboree to respond, say “CQ Jamboree CQ Jamboree CQ Jamboree this is nine whiskey two Juliet Juliet romeo calling CQ Jamboree”

We waiting for about 10 minutes and all we listen is the noise and some foreign radio broadcast. Some folks already sweating and some busy with their brunch (breakfast + lunch) as we waiting for someone to respond.

Suddenly I was shocked by a loud cracking voice from this speaker! The size of the vintage speaker is almost like a car battery box, which put any cell phone speaker to shame :P Not sure it is another vintage speaker from World War II :D Hey, we received a respond from Indonesia!

We respond back after they identified themselves, say “this is nine whiskey two juliet juliet romeo your signal is 5 by 9 (that mean their readability is perfect and the signal is extremely strong)”

Continue say “my name is Bravo Echo November, we are Scout troop from Johor Bahru, Malaysia, how do you copy, over”. Well, you can continue bragging until the cow come home is they respond back your signal report is 5 by 9 :D

Okay, don’t just bragging about the cow :D you’ll need to note down the communication details, which will be your report for submission to the NJaC.

Now you’ll understand why I say the ham radio equipments that consist of four main parts (an antenna, ATU, transceiver, microphone and speaker) will put a cell phone to shame. See they can call as far as USA, Russia and Norway without passing through the Telcos and slap you with massive phone bill later :D

Another notable thing about the ham radio operators is not only they know how to use these equipments but also hand-on to repair the malfunction equipments on the spot like this microphone speaker.

Thus, don’t be surprise their equipments and tools can match up with the plumber man as it is part of their always be prepare spirit anyway and anytime especially in time of disaster whereby their ham radio equipment maybe the only solution to make distress call when commercial communication networks such as land lines and cell phones are damage or overloaded. Talking about cell phone, you’ll not be able to use it in remote area such as jungle don’t you but ham radio can :D

Watching the reaction of the boy Scout making the ham radio contact is as much fun as looking at those equipments :P Seen like he is waiting anxiously for someone on the air to respond :)

Well he get it, probably a sweet talking girl Scout that quickly send him hiding behind the equipments for some secret talk :P

Another cute boy Scout that seen not impressed for getting a guy on the other line talking about the cow :D

Even adult also enjoys communicating on the ham radio. This is Daniel, he is both a Scout and ham radio operator. See his all smiling face probably striking a conversation with a sweet talking lady Scout on the sun, trees and lakes... C3 talks :P

Now, this is one of the best recognition for the investment in time and money by the ham radio operators. Colorful Scout insignias awaiting them after they demonstrate completion of the JOTA by submitting the report to NJaC. These Scout insignias are awarded and cannot be bought hor :P

I think the most important lesson I learned today is the use of international radio telephony spelling alphabet or also known as NATO Phonetic Alphabet. I used to spell my name as Britain England Norway whenever I spoke on the phone. Now I know the correct way to spell my name according to the NATO Code is Bravo Echo November :D So what kind of code you use to spell your name on the phone? :)

Special thanks to Phil aka Bohausiaw, my blogging buddy for getting me to the JOTA 2009. Okay my report completed, how did you copy, over? :D

How is Your Breakfast?

2009-10-04T11:39:00.004+08:00

Hi everyone, how is your weekend going on? Eaten too much mooncakes is it during the Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday? :D Hope you're not overly indulge with the mooncakes even for your breakfast this morning :P I almost did because I'm in horror after reading the label that most of the mooncakes that my family recently bought will be expired in early November! okay okay still has about a month to go, maybe I'm too kiasu but I definitely don't want to have the mooncakes as my breakfast :P

I enjoy my "do it yourself" (DIY) muesli this morning :D I don't know it is qualified as muesli? I basically prepare the oat paste using the Quick Quaker Oats with hot water and then let it chill in the fridge below 4 deg.C for about an hour. This made the oat paste thicker, firmer and cool refreshing. The oat paste is then garnished with dried banana slices, dried apricots, apple crisp, black raisins, strawberries and grapes. Well my taste bud could be different from you, so don't throw me the shoes if you find the taste weird :D

No satisfied with the DIY muesli, I top up my breakfast with a green apple to keep the doctor away :P

How is your breakfast this morning? ;)

Johor Zoo - A Hidden Gem?

2009-09-26T17:05:00.007+08:00

Hi friends, how is your Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration or holiday? Hope you have good outing, good reunion, good food and good rest ;)

Did you visit any zoo during the holiday? No? :D Well, I visit the Johor Zoo to complete my self-imposed assignment on Johor zoological photography :P

I believe life in a zoo is not the ideal life for any animal as it deprived the animals on display, a life intended by the Creator. However, I also personally think zoos are necessity for the preservation of animals that would most likely extinct in the wild as human progressively encroached and destroyed their habitat in the name of development. If zoos were eliminated completely, many species probably would go with them as history have proven that human hardly coexist peacefully with animals in the wild. So it is a hard choice to love or hate zoos like choosing either side of a coin :P

Mentioned about Johor Zoo, I believe many will draw blank eyes as whether it exists in the first place? :D For those who visited the Johor Zoo will most probably raised their eyebrow with nothing great to shout about particularly if one likes to compare against the world class zoo in neighbouring country, Singapore, which is just less than an hour drive away. However, with the adult entrance fee of RM 2 (about SGD 0.80 or USD 0.60) for the Johor Zoo as compare against the SGD 18 (about USD 13) for the Singapore Zoo, I can’t complaint much do I?

Well I’ll not post any photo about the Johor Zoo’s facilities but just photos I taken on the animals there. So you are my judge, whether the RM 2 entrance fee is value for money? ;) As usual, all photos taken raw with no photoshop :D

Who say only human know how to enjoy sunbathing? Mr. Iguana (Iguana iguana) proof animal know how to enjoy sunbathing and with a cheeky smile too! :D

Not only animal know how to enjoy a sound sleep, this Mr. Camel (Camelus dromedaries) enjoy to the maximum until his tears drop :P

Who say only human has s3xy eyes and charming beard, Mr Tiger (Panthera tigris) proof his has the s3xy eyes and charming beard, if not better than human too :D

Human equate baldness with ugliness but not with animal, Mr Snake (Python molurus) proof he poses the most striking charm with his bald head :P

Human can be deadly racist but not with animal, Mr. Snakes proof the point!

Human paid for makeup to looks elegant but not with animal, Ms Cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus) proof she still poses the elegant look without to pay for it :P

Who say animal is always behind bars in the zoo, Mr. Myna (Acridotheres tristis) proof that point by standing proudly above the bars :D

Human think white hairs are bad omen for aging but not with animal :D Ms. Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) proof aging can be graceful with white hairs! :P

Who say only human know how to be pampered with spa therapy, Ms. Chimp (Pan troglodytes) proof she know how to relax and refresh with spa therapy too and without to pay for it!

Who say only human know about eating humble pie, Mr. Macaque (Macaca nigra) proof he not only know it but eat it with style... looks deep into his eyes and hair ;)

Can human looks s3xy with long neck? Haha, Ms. Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) proof long neck can be s3xy weapon for animal with a *grin* :P

Man can be bias against dwarf but Mr. Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) proudly said “a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself” :D

Okay, visit my PhotoStore for better viewing pleasure and let me know if the RM 2 entrance fee worth the pay ;)

Getting there:
Johor Zoo is geographically located at N1°27.518' E103°45.127' along the Gertak Merah Road. Entrance fee is RM 2 for adult, RM 1 for children between 3 and 12 years old and free for children below 3 years old. Open daily from 8am till 6pm.

No parking fees as there is no official parking space available in the first place :D Just follow the crowd to park along the Gertak Merak Road, beside the zoo. As least many cars will received summon should you received one too :P

Visit Robo's blog should you want to know more details about Johor zoo ;)

Ben's PhotoStore

2009-09-16T22:50:00.003+08:00

Hi friends,

I’m aware sometime you might felt I’m talking Oop writing granny story :D and hopefully no one has suffered heart attack for reading through like the never ending words :P Now, Good news for those, who loves to enjoy a wordless moment and just want to pamper your eyes with colours of the world. With that in mind, Ben’s PhotoStore is born!!!

Here you’ll find familiar images that you saw before in my blog and as well new images that is not link to any post. All images displayed here were carefully selected to provide pleasure to your eyes ;) Just click on the upper left corner of each thumbnail and a larger image will pop up to give your eyes the maximum pleasure :D

I apologized in advance for disabled some functions such as adding comment as I intend it to be a no-frill site, which you can just relax and enjoy the images.

You can access Ben’s PhotoStore easily through the horizontal navigation bar located at my blog.

I’m thinking of adding more interactive function like “Buy Print” for those interested to get a fine quality printout of the image delivered to their doorstep. Any fund received from this “Buy Print” service will be used to finance more adventures to collect and cherish the amazing colors of the world ;) However, it is just an idea at the moment until I can think of way or maybe you can provide me your opinion how to make it hassle free experience :)

Thanks to Dante Araujo for providing the amazing template. Thank you in advance for exploring and comment ;)

Pantai Kalampunian @ Tip of Borneo

2009-09-13T17:30:00.014+08:00

The first sight of Pantai Kalampunian is absolutely tranquil. Miles of white sandy beach complemented by turquoise-blue and crystal-clear ocean are certainly not enough to describe the breath-taking sight that is presented to me as I standing at Tomanggong Kurantud, the highest viewing point at the Tip of Borneo. Click the above pic to see larger panoramic view of the Pantai Kalampunian ;)

Pantai Kalampunian is a pristine strip of beach that forms the western border of the Tip of Borneo overlooking the South China Sea. It is relatively secluded and unknown among the tourists as you hardly see people flocking to this heavenly beach even on weekend. However, I suppose that will change sooner or later as more and more people flocking to the famous Tip of Borneo. I can only hope that this heavenly beach will be preserves as development taking place.

Standing at the fringe of the turquoise-blue waters, I really count my blessing to finally be able to see, up close and personal, the very beach that has made the Tip of Borneo and probably the entire Kudat Peninsula famous.

Walking along the white sandy beach is an awesome sight to behold as many eccentric objects can be seen such as this doggie head overlooking the turquoise-blue ocean. It is actually a huge wooden log that probably washes ashore from another place.

A graceful nature masterpiece sighted on the white sandy beach. It is probably a decays coconut husk. I don’t know why the thought of aging gracefully suddenly flashing in my mind as I viewing close-up through my camera eyepiece. Yes, I scare of aging :P but there is no escape from it but do we have a choice to aging gracefully? Hmmm, the coconut husk probably can provide the answer :P

A small boat anchored lonely off the Pantai Kalampunian on the turquoise-blue water with the azure blue sky as the backdrop is a humble yet elegant sight to behold.

We didn’t see the owner of the boat; in fact the boat was drifting there the whole afternoon with no other people in sight except the four of us and some local children playing at the beach. I have never come across such a confidence person that can just left his/her probably livelihood unattended for such a long time. It is such a contrast to us urbanite that will never ever dare to left a belonging unattended even for a second. This incidence really taught me what does it really mean by “living a worry-free life” :P

We’re pretty disappointing at first when we heard that all chalets at the Bay View Home Stay are occupied. As it is the only nearest accommodation we ever know, we probably have to leave earlier and give up the sunset because driving back in total darkness is not a risk we want to take, bearing in mind there is no street lights for about 40 km all the way to Kudat Town. However, it is a blessing in disguise as with the help of the owner at Bay View Home Stay, we found a cheaper accommodation by the sea ;)

The chalet that we stayed is about 2 km away from the Tip of Borneo, which is built by a local villager. Unfortunately I lost the pakcik’s business card but you should be able to contact the pakcik through the Bay View Home Stay contact at +60-13-8682-112. The room rate per night is RM 70 but subject to change by the pakcik hor ;)

The chalet is made of natural materials that can be easily found locally such as wooden logs for the foundation and pillars, bamboo strips for the walls and nipah leaves for the roof. It is equips with a queen-size mattress, two pillows, a mosquitoes net and a lamp running on kerosene for the night. It is a very humble but clean accommodation.

Electricity is such a luxury here as it is only available from 7pm to 12pm as the villagers rely on generator set to power up. We later found out that the pakcik has purposely go to Kudat Town that day we stay in, which is about 40 km away to buy the fuel in order to power-up the lighting and water pump for us as his family normally don’t use it for themselves.

Unfortunately the generator set malfunction at about 8pm and the pakcik immediately assured us he is repairing the generator set. So we resorted to bathing naked openly in outer darkness!!! Oop okay it is partially naked but a very thrilling experience as there are many first: First time bathing in open air under the starry sky with no door and wall; First time bathing at the groundwater well that I’m so afraid at first to fall into it; First time bathing with the chilly night wind keep blowing at my already trembling cold body; and first time bathing with a toad sitting at the well watching my ... hehe :D

The generator set again kicking lively at about 10pm! Needless to say, we’re pretty touch with the pakcik’s hard work as his determination to get the generator set repaired despite lack of resources really put even some five stars hotels to shame!

What make this chalet extra special is that it is the only one (maybe within a radius of 10 km from the Tip of Borneo) that is sitting right in front of the heavenly beach of Pantai Kalampunian ;)

Sitting at the open yard in front of the chalet and gazing toward the turquoise-blue horizon of the South China Sea is such a tranquil moment.

A great place to escape even for a heart broken kid :D

And go for wild wild swing to swing away all the troubles to the vast South China Sea. Luckily he didn’t swing himself into it :P

There are few stalls selling seashells along the roadside at Pantai Kalampunian. The ironic thing about this stall is they have a WEBSITE despite the place lack of electricity!!! Another ironic thing is, we found out that all the seashells selling by the stalls here are imported from neighbouring countries as there is strong enforcement here that banned the collection and selling of any form of local seashells. Many of the seashells sell at the stall is really eyes opening...

Such as this Sand Dollars (Dendraster excentricus) with a unique five leaves shape carved onto it by nature;

Chambered Nautilus (Nautilus pompilius suluensis), which is restricted to the Sulu Sea in the south western Philippines, after which it is named;

South Pacific Flat Stars (above) and Natural Knobby Starfish (below);

and these cute white corals that look like sea cucumbers :D

Apart from the myriad shapes and colours of seashells, freshly caught fishes are also easily available here. So don’t leave your barbecue gear get rusty at home lol

Not to be missed when you strolling along the Pantai Kalampunian are the abundant fresh coconut drinks! In fact, it is not exaggerating to label Kudat Peninsula, where the Tip of Borneo located, as a coconut heaven :D Coconut cultivation is one of the most important industry in Kudat Penisula that a Pesta Kelapa (literary translated as Coconut Fest) is held here annually between the first and second week of September.

And finally don’t miss the jagung susu bakar (literally translated as grilled milk corn). I found out one of the romantic moments here is sitting under a coconut tree with your beau and slowly savouring the sweet jagung susu bakar as like you are savoring an ice cream tube, while enjoying the sunset at Pantai Kalampunian :P

I have left my footprints here... what about you? ;)

To be a Respected Malaysian

2009-09-09T23:24:00.010+08:00

Tekkaus, my fellow Malaysian blogger recently posted an account about his bad experience encountered a group of Indonesian teens in the Facebook that gang up to blasted him with every hatred words they can conjure and even threatening war because he is a Malaysian!!! I fully agreed with my friend that he has every right as fellow human to upset.

When I look through those war mongering facebookies ... they are just at their teens ... TO BE CLEAR, I never cordon this type of silliness but Hei! this kind of people are not restricted to any particular nation and in fact, in every nations including Malaysia.

I can forgive those foreigners that anti-Malaysia for being ignorant of our nation, culture and social fabric. However when you have fellow countrymen condemning you even after 52 years old of independence... then this is very hard to forgive ... Don't forget there are Malaysians till today, who vows to shed blood of their fellow countrymen in the name of race and religion!!! Let learn to respect and accept our fellow countrymen first and we'll earn the respect and acceptance from the foreigners.

Today is 09.09.09, what a perfect date!!! ;)

p/s 10.09.09
My fellow Malaysians, no matter how frustrated you're, I call on you NOT TO unfairly stereotype all Indonesians have a hand in this silliness or with anything unpleasant. Don't we already suffer enough of unfair stereotyping in our own country from race to religion? If you're not convinced, I hope the message below from an Indonesian will open your eyes.

Pinkan Miranda Karamoy (not verified), Manado — Fri, 09/11/2009 - 4:42am
Dear Editors, Please post this message. "shame on you" to my fellow Indonesians who hunted Malaysian nationals in Jakarta. Where is your manner fellow Indonesians? Malaysian nationals in Indonesia are our guests. Even though there were some Indonesian people who were tortured in Malaysia, we still have to show our dignity and respect our guests. This is a moment in which I am even more ashamed being Indonesian. Some of us have showed to the world that Indonesians are uneducated, emotional, envious, and vindictive people. I want to ask my fellow Indonesians, do you think without Pendet dance, angklung, Kuda Lumping and Rasa Sayange, Malaysia tourism will die? NO, it will not. I believe that Malaysia tourism will move on even though they do not use our keris, batik, and reog. Do you want to know why? Because the truth is, most tourists do not give a damn about pendet, angklung, or kuda lumping. It is true that there are some culture enthusiasts who go to exotic places and learn the culture. However, in reality, these group of tourists is only 0.000001 %. Most people, when they go for holiday, they choose a place that can give them comfort, safety, and most of all they want to be respected. I deal with tourism industry for years. And I know, that we, most Indonesians have failed to give what tourists need. Let me give you some examples to open your eyes fellow Indonesians. A group of female Taiwanese tourists recently complained to me, that while they stayed in Jakarta, many men stared at them inappropriately with their wild eyes (mata jelalatan). I believe this is a problem with education. Looking beautiful women is fine, but staring is disrespectful. These Taiwanese women were afraid, especially having heard about the Riot of 1998 where Chinese women were sexually harassed. Another example is again, another problem with the failure of education. I often receive complaints from tourists about how Indonesians can be overly friendly. It is true we have to be friendly, but being overly friendly is another matter. Some tourists complain that they feel their privacy is somehow invaded when my fellow Indonesians interrogate them with a lot of personal question. In the case of being friendly in a normal and appropriate way, seriously, we have to learn from other people. On another matter, we are often too busy thinking that we have exotic culture and unique arts, however we score zero in terms of delivering basic needs for our guests. Think fellow Indonesians. These basic needs are not kuda lumping or keris. They could not care less whether the humping kuda lumping is originated in Indonesia or in Malaysia. I seriously beg my fellow Indonesians. Behave. We do not have many tourists now. Yet, we still want to chase away the Malaysian nationals. The Australians do not want to go here anymore after Bali bombing, people from Chinese descent countries are too afraid to come because of the image of "Indonesian rapists", now we are alienating the Malaysians. I can only say to Malaysian people, I apologize for the behavior of my countrymen. I am ashamed but nothing much I can do.

The Tip of Borneo

2009-09-09T00:15:00.015+08:00

Standing at the edge of a cliff with both arms stretching out like an eagle ready to fly; feeling the ocean breeze wraps around me like tender fingers cuddling through my hair; watching the bizarre symphony of colors changing as the sun slowly disappears into the horizon; mesmerize by the ocean waves below me crashing melodiously against the rocks... Hmmm am I dreaming? No, I am not dreaming! It is real and I experience this first hand. Never in my life, have I comprehend “tranquility” until that day I stand at the Tip of Borneo ;)

The Tip of Borneo or Tanjung Simpang Mengayau as Malaysian call it; is situated in the northern-most tip of Borneo. It is located in the Kudat peninsula, about 220 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu. Tanjung Simpang Mengayau in Malay language literally means 'tip of lingering junction' as it is here that the South China Sea lingers and meets the Sulu Sea flowing from the east. Moving northward from this area, one can reach the southern part of the Palawan Province in the Philippines. However, according to local folks, Simpang Mengayau is actually derived from the words, Sampang Mangazo in the local native language of Rungus people. Literally, Sampang Mangazo means a junction where a battle took place.

According to Rungus folklore, this was the site of a fierce battle fought by their forefathers, defending the Rungus territory against invading pirates from the north. Local folklore claims that pirates often frequented this area, attacking and looting innocent villagers who lived nearby. The villagers decided to join forces and defend themselves. Hence, it is name Sampang Mangazo and became an ideal spot to observe the arrival of pirates and foreign ships. The brave Rungus warriors stood guard here and kept the pirates at bay.

Today, the highest viewing point at the Tip of Borneo, is name after Tomanggong Kurantud, a renowned warrior and chief of the Rungus people, who signed an agreement of cooperation with the British North Borneo Company in 1881 in return for peace, development and prosperity in the region. History also claims that the fleets of famous explorer Ferdinand Magellan, on its voyage to circumnavigate the globe, stopped here for forty-two days to repair their ships!

Our journey from Kota Kinabalu took approximately three and a half hours drive. It is a pain in the butt but disappeared immediately upon reaching the gateway to the Tip of Borneo :D As we walk toward the tip, the sun is slowly moving toward the horizon of the sea and turning the landscape into a dramatic colorful stage. I still remember vividly how my heart beating so fast at that time, afraid that I’ll missed the spectacular natural shows of colors and walking as fast I could to the Tip of Borneo! Well I couldn’t run with my back weigh down with the bulky photography gears :P and bearing in mind that the nearest distance our car can reached from the ultimate landmark is about 250 meters away!

We reached the most recognized landmark of the Tip of Borneo, the Giant Bronze Globe with the Jalur Gemilang (Malaysian National Flag) flying high and strong. The wind here is very strong and possibly the reason behind the fast changing cloud pattern. The sky continue plays it dramatic shows of natural colors as the sun moving closer toward the horizon. I have the feeling of stepping at the doorstep of heaven seeing everything surround me were so vivid in blue and white skylights ;)

Hmmm, one tip for those with long hairs or bunch of hairs; tie your hair nicely and tightly if you want to look cute and pretty amidst the strong wind here :P

Some of the visitors seen to meditate or maybe praying for lucky numbers as they touch the Giant Bronze Globe :P We did not linger here for long, as we need to move quickly to the ultimate landmark of the Tip of Borneo ;)

I move quickly down the rather steep cliff to the rocky outcrop that forms the Tip of Borneo. A guy in his somewhat cowboy suit is fishing from the edge of the rocky outcrop. How I wish, that I have a fishing rod with me at that moment. It is indeed a strategic place for fishing as one is literary incommunicado here with no mobile network penetrates this place and not many will dare to climb down the rather steep cliff to fish here.

Hmm the guy seen having an unlucky day as no fish is seen caught by him as he is packing up for the day. Maybe the strong wind scares all the fishes away :D or maybe he is another Jiang Tai Gong, fishing without a hook attached to it :P

Hurray, I reached the ultimate landmark of the Tip of Borneo! The view of the rocky outcrop that extends to the horizon where the Sulu and China Seas meet is incredibly scenic and stunning at sunset.

The ocean before me is roaring melodiously as the wave crashing against the rocky outcrop. The sky continues to tantalizing my eyes with the symphony of colors that no word can describe how awesome the natural wonder can be. There was tranquility and peace all around.

Seeing the sunset at the rocky outcrop is simply heaven! The photos are raw hor means no photoshop cheat :D

Haha thinking of catching the sunrise the following morning, but Oh gosh! I over slept as I only sleep sometime about 3 am. Thanks to a hot, humid and windless night but fortunately no mosquitoes :D It is about 7am when we catch the morning view of the Tip of Borneo, bearing in mind that the sun raises between 5.30 am to 6 am here!

This is actually the farthest visitors can go. Going beyond this point is at your own risk! I defy this notice and go down to the rocky outcrop twice!

Now looking back at the cliff of about four storeys high, I am stunned how I made the climb at yesterday sunset. I do not aware it is so high and steep at that time, especially when I climbed up the cliff after the sunset, yesterday. Hmmm the heavenly sunset must has cast a hypnotic spell on me :D Now looking at the cliff, it make my blood chilling :P

In the distance, you can see the Pulau Kalampunian lighthouse built in 1925 and still standing proud! The lighthouse has an elevation of 28 meters and range of 15 nautical miles. The Pulau Kalampunian lighthouse is a reminder to the mariners of this treacherous coastline and past shipwrecks. Today, the lighthouse serves as a guiding beacon to passing ships.

My friend’s nephews, Gevice and Ronald were caught red-handed marking their names at the cliff and Ouch including mine! Luckily, it is just temporary marker by stone carving and will disappear overtime or after a rain. Otherwise got to whack their butt for messed up the wonderful nature here :P

The Bronze Globe and the Jalur Gemilang as seen clearly on daytime. It is a must photograph landmark for visitors arrived here ;) Not sure when this landmark is erected but it was officiated on 10th July 2004 by the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Musa Aman.

The three musketeers: Dennis, Gevice & Ronald. Dennis is our F1 King aka chauffeur :P while Gevice and Ronald made this trip so lively and fun. Without three of them, this incredible trip will not be possible ;)

The rear portion of the Giant Bronze Globe is showing the map of the world with location of the Tip of Borneo marked with an arrow.

The Jalur Gemilang is first hoisted on this site during a stormy afternoon on 29th August 2002 by Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat, the Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Environment, Science and Technology at that time.

The flag reminds me that Malaysian is soon celebrating 46 years of Malaysia formation on 13th September, after untold struggle by our nation founders and people from all walk of life. I wish, I had that strong sense of patriotic pride in me as I watching the Jalur Gemilang flying high and strong. However, after 46 years, we still has long way to go to truly celebrate the spirit as one Malaysia, not until the day when justice and governance in this beautiful country are no longer based on racial and religious lines.

Some nicely built shelters also act as viewing points at the Tip of Borneo. It is a awesome point to get a commanding view of the beach and ocean surrounding the Tip of Borneo. A tranquil place for a nap after walking around the Tip of Borneo ;) Well, I have no comment about other activities that might took place at this secluded place here at night :P

Each of the shelters is equip with information board about the name and history of the Tip of Borneo as known to different peoples such as the Rungus and Hakka.

Okay, fancy staying at the Tip of Borneo? ;) The nearest accommodation is the Bay View Home Stay, located right at the main gateway to the Tip of Borneo. The home stay is well maintains. I cannot remember how many huts they have there but it is wise to call in as least two week in advance to make reservation. The owner can be reach at +60-13-8682-112 but don’t held me responsible if they couldn’t be contacted hor :P

Oop, you can consider left your mobile at home as there is no network coverage there, while I’m there :P So check with the owner about latest mobile network coverage there should you are a safety nerd or simply worry about your love one at home. In another way, good and legitimate place to hide from your irritable wife, girlfriend or boss :P

One of the huts at the home stay facing the scenic Sulu Sea. This hut can accommodate up to four persons and is priced at RM 100 per unit without meal (price subject to their revision hor).

Don’t worry about wandering to the wilderness for bathroom at night as it is attached with each hut. The bathroom is pretty clean and well maintain as I checked through them :P However, it can be noisy at night as the place is run on generator set to power up the lights and table fans. So consider bring along the earplugs should you love to stay here :D

An interior views at one of the huts. The setting is basic with two double beds on each side equip with mosquitoes nets, pillows and a table in the middle with a mirror and table fan. Yes, you read correctly, it is table fan and no air conditioner. Good luck to you if it is a windless night :P No hot shower either, so you can enjoy the Uuh.. and Aah.. of the cool shower at night :D

As for meal, you can cook it yourself at the designated place such as at this common hall located in the middle of the home stay. Good venue for group gathering and karaoke session!

Well, if you are lazy to cook, feel free to drop in at the cafeteria located less than five minutes walk from the home stay. It is just located right in front of the home stay’s entrance and open from 7.3p am to 8 pm. However, expect the price for meals and drinks here to be on the expensive side as they need to transport almost all the provisions from the nearest Kudat Town, which is about 45 km from the home stay.

The cafeteria also equip with public toilet and shower facility but expected to paid between RM 0.20 to 0.50 (price subject to their revision hor) depending on what type of business you are going to do inside there :D For your information, this is the only public toilet in the entire Tip of Borneo, so don’t leave your money with mobile phone at home, unless you are trained to do business behind the bush :P

Unfortunately, we are not staying at the home stay during that night as all the huts were snapped away. However, it is a blessing in disguise as we find a cheaper accommodation and the only one (maybe within a radius of 10 km from the Tip of Borneo) that is sitting right in front of the white sandy beach of Pantai Kalampunian, which facing the pristine blue South China Sea :D More details in my next posting ;)

Verdict
There is not much else to do here as there are no mobile network and very limited electricity and potable water supplies, except to look at the heavenly sunset view, white sandy beach and pristine blue ocean on a fine day. What makes this place extra special is that it is not crowded with hordes of tourists. Its distance is perhaps too far for many people. But that is a blessing in disguise. With not many other people around, there is nothing more enjoyable than sipping a glass of fine wine while enjoying the tranquility but you will have to bring your own wine hor :D

If you have the time, an overnight stay is recommended as a day-trip would not leave you much time and you would have to rush back after a long drive here.

Getting there
Tip of Borneo is about 220km or 3 to 3.5 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu. Drive north towards Kudat. It is about 30 minutes from the signboard of Bavanggazo to the junction of the Tip of Borneo. From the junction it is another 15 km or 20 minutes drive. The road from the junction is only partly paved and about 10 minutes drive will be on unpaved road. You will pass by many coconut trees and sporadic village huts, but just follow the signboards and you will not get lost.

Consider to rent a car at Kota Kinabalu, should you love to explore the place at your own pace and it is cheaper than guided tour. Otherwise just enquire from your hotel receptionist for contact of guided tours. Most guided tours also include visits to Gombizau bee farm, Sumangkap gong-making factory, and the Bavanggazo or Maranjak longhouse along the way, which I’ll cover in another posting ;)

Unduk Ngadau Grand Final 2009

2009-08-23T08:50:00.007+08:00

Okay, for those who knew about Unduk Ngadau, I knew this post is awfully late for more than two months and is not acceptable in this lightning speed of IT age :P Well don’t you agree it is better late than never exist ;) If you don’t know what is Unduk Ngadau, then you’re landed in the right place at the right time ;)

Unduk Ngadau is one of the most celebrated events by the Kadazan and Dusun during the Kaamatan Festival that kick-off in early May and last till end of the month. The origin of Unduk Ngadau can be trace back to the legendary beauty Huminodun, who sacrificed her life to save her people from severe famine. It has been held annually since 1960 as part of the Kaamatan Festival to select a maiden among the Kadazan and Dusun, who would resemble and carry on the ascribed personality of Huminodun (beauty, wisdom and compassionate). Therefore, the Unduk Ngadau is not the typical beauty pageant as the winner is not selected based on physical attractive per se but also combination of Intelligence, Emotional and Spiritual Quotients ;)

This year Unduk Ngadau Grand Final 2009 was as usual held at Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA) Hongkod Koisaan (Unity Hall) on 31st May. However, the numbers of beauties increased by five persons to 41, hence more intense competition this year!

Roger... get ready for some nose bleeding with the beautiful sumandak :P Okay, I better stop writing essay now and let you enjoy the beauties but sorry hor, I couldn’t shoot the entire 41 contestants due to intense competition with other photographers on limited photogenic spot and the difficult lighting condition.

Rounnah Beb Robert Sylvester, who represented Tenom

Joanne Bernadette John, who represented Beluran

Sarimah Bt Tangkungon, who represented Pagalungan

Lydia Binti Binidik , who represented Kemabong

Sheron Olga Fedilis, who represented Sook

Rachel Martinus, who represented Inanam

Jacqueline Monalisa, who represented Banggi

Roziyanah Bt Mutang, who represented Sipitang

Lynnestherwenns Masuin, who represented Kudat.

Deizi Sebastian Mojinu, who represented Labuan

Elsie R Marius, who represented Tanjung Aru

Elinna Masuin, who represented Likas

Fredericka Camilla Richard Daut, who represented Tuaran

Joanne Kimberley J. Majalap, who represented Penampang

Pearl Dianne Petrus, who represented Kota Kinabalu

Appey Rowena Januin, who represented Papar

Has your nose bleeding? :D The Unduk Ngadau last for two rounds. The first round saw 41 contestants were reduced to 15 after a self-introductory and catwalk session to showcase their traditional costume. The second round saw the 15 contestants further reduced to 7 after a grueling question & answer session, whereby each contestant picked a sealed envelope that contain questionnaire ranging from cultural identity, to economy and tourism. This is the hardest part as their IQ, EQ & SQ were put to gruesome test in front of thousands of spectators !!! There is no helpline they can call like in the "who want to be a millionaire show" :D

Have you make up your mind??? Okay, okay to be fair to you, we'll judge by the physical attractiveness here :P Now... the verdict!

Oop sorry, he is not the finalist :D Cannot remember the Sabahan singer name but he sang very well the Dusun songs, while awaiting the judges to make their verdict.

Another Sabahan singer with melodious voice. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to her name.

Now... the real verdict!!! Row of beautiful pyrotechnic fire-up as the verdict on the winner of Unduk Ngadau Grand Final 2009 is announce.

The top seven finalist (from left) are Elinna binti Musiun (7th place, Likas); Jacqueline binti Joseph (5th place, Keningau); Joanne Kimberley J. Majalap (3rd place, Penampang); Appey Rowena Januin (1st place, Papar); Pearl Dianne Petrus (2nd place, Kota Kinabalu); Flina binti Rutum (4th place, Tamparuli); and Fredericka Camilla Richard Daut (6th place, Tuaran).

The three musketeers :D

Appey Rowena Januin is an eighteen years old student from Tomui Village, Papar and has won the 4th place of Miss Sabah 2009 just a month before she is crowned as Unduk Ngadau 2009. Cool huh !

If you're wondering how I manage to get so many close-up shoots... haha the the pic above should provides you some clue :D I've never feel so exciting in covering a public event prior to this Unduk Ngadau Grand Final 2009. There are many hiccup in the beginning as the place is so crowded and it is real hard to shoot a decent photos in the hall with poor lighting condition and without tripod.

As my friend and his nephews sitting comfortably at the mezzanine floor watching the big screen from a distant; well I'm not a sitting duck and literary playing a guerrilla game with the security to get closer to the stage :D My persistent pay off that I manage to snake my way to the spot reserved for photographers with official pass issued by KDCA, which is just immediate behind the judges' seats! A few chaps try to follow my footsteps but were chased back by the security because they obviously show-off their point-and-shoot cameras and some even with phone cameras :D Well they forgot that I'm using a Canon DSLR with zoom lens and battery grip that make my camera looks awesome big and me, the wannabe look like a professional photographer :P

Haha, luckily I'm not lost among the crowd, while playing the guerrilla game with the security :D So, who want to follow me for next year Unduk Ngadau Grand Final 2010 ?! ;)

Portrait of Dusun Children

2009-08-16T14:30:00.004+08:00

I never have the experience in children photography until that day, my friend offers to bring me to visit a group of Dusun children and their Sunday school teacher in the relatively remote Bingkulas Village at Membakut, Sabah.

When we arrived there, the Dusun children and their Sunday school teacher are busy preparing for a Paina performance that they’ll perform in the nearby Church. Paina is a dance of the Dusun from the Membakut area. It is usually performed during thanksgiving celebrations to the rice spirit following the rice harvest and at social gathering.

It is a memorable experience for me as not only I’ve a great time taking photos of the Dusun children in their simple and yet elegant traditional costume; I learned about their down-to-earth, gentle and graceful manner.

The child in her 12 years old looks graceful in the traditional Dusun costume called sinuangga. The gold trimmings called siling and the betawi gold buttons made the otherwise simple looking black costumes become elegant. I’ve to admit that, at few times I really forgot these Dusun children are simply children of 10 to 12 years old by looking at their highly cultured manner.

I later learned from their Sunday school teacher that the children have been trained meticulously for nearly a month for the performance that will last for about 15 minutes only. It sounds a tough training regime for a child. However, looking at their smiles, I can feel strongly their sense of determination and self-assurance to give their best performance.

The boy also in his 12 years old, wearing the traditional Dusun costume called gaung, embroidered with the gold trimming called siling and betawi gold buttons. The hand woven headgear called siga complete the elegant costume.

The Dusun is one of the largest indigenous group in Sabah, which share similarity with the Kadazan. Traditionally, their lives are simple, dependent on rice cultivation, hunting and some river fishing. Nowadays many are also in the public services such as teacher. Although many of them earn less money as compare to other group, generally they do not feel that they lack anything and their lives are free and easygoing.

Another notable trait of Dusun is their tolerance to other belief, culture or religion. Well, you’ll never heard the term Sino-Malay or Sino-Indian, but the term Sino-Dusun is widely used among the Dusun as they truly give due recognition when two peoples of different origins married and nobody will be the master or slave of the other. This may explain why Dusun is generally non-confrontation, peaceful and happy people.

Looking at the portrait of Dusun children that I took and the good traits that I knew about them, I truly admire their parents concerning the upbringing of their child. I'm definitely looking forward to learn more about the culture and virtues of the Dusun people ;)

Back to School @ NUS

2009-08-15T19:25:00.007+08:00

Hi everyone, how are you doing this week? :) It is a lively week for me as it is the beginning of the first semester for FY2009/2010 at National University of Singapore (NUS). It is good to being a student again as it make me feel younger :P Another good thing is I’m pursuing my postgraduate degree at NUS. Thus save me the hassle of fighting tooth and nail to register for modules that usually happened at undergraduate level due to the larger number of undergraduate students :D

All I need to do, is just log-in into the modules registration system, clicked on the modules I want, voila... i’m registered! There is even a live feed of how many students had registered for the modules at the point of time and where you stand. Thus it give you a feeling of how kiasu you’re :D

It bring back the sweet and sour memory of my undergraduate years, whereby I used to be on extremely high alert in every beginning of semesters of any announcement for modules offer, their class and examination schedules; then made superfast analysis to made sure no schedules crash of the modules that I would like to take and then rush out to meet the lecturers, sometime waiting outside their office for hours to sign-up :D Now, I’m a being pampered a lot :P

Another funny thing is I’ve been joking to my colleagues at work, hey I’m a student!, whenever they suggest we go for some classy lunch and all eyes will stared at me stunned and then sympathetic but still not one willing to sponsor me a lunch...what lah heck :D

School Camp @ Membakut, Sabah

2009-08-09T21:10:00.012+08:00

Hi everyone, how is your weekend :) ? It is a long weekend for me as I’m celebrating Singapore National Holiday! Yes, today 9 August 2009 is Singapore’s 44th birthday and I wish all my Singaporean friends and those live and work in the Lion City a Happy National Day ;)

I’ve the opportunity to visit Sekolah Menengah (SM) Saint Patrick, a rural secondary school located in the District of Membakut. The school is about 80 km or 1.5 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. You must be curios what the heck a 30 something chap back to school mean for below 18 years olds :D

It is an unofficial photography assignment from a school teacher there, who happens to be my friend’s brother in-law. I received the honorable assignment as I’m the only chap with a big DSLR camera known to them and probably the only one with such a big shoot in the whole of Membakut :P It is an exciting moment holding the big shoot roaming around the school and the camp site, with the school boys and girls so cheerful to have their photos taken :D

SM Saint Patrick started as a Christian missionary school in 1967, with Reverent Father P. J. De Wit as the first principal. The school started with a simple building for classrooms and teacher quarters that provide primary one to secondary one education to local natives’ children.

I’m pretty surprised to learn that the teachers in the early days of the school are volunteers from the American Peace Corps, who also task to train the local teachers to teach English, science and mathematics. Unfortunately nothing much is knows about Reverent Father P.J. De Wit, other school founders and the volunteers from Peace Corps. However, their willingness to leave the comfort of their homeland and come to this foreign and once isolated place and serve and make the local community life better is a courageous and heart touching act for me. I really hope one day their good works will be documented, lest we forget.

Today the school provides education to about 200 plus students from secondary one to five, with Mrs Elizabeth Mak as the principal. Apart from classrooms, office and canteen, the school is also equipped with a fully air-conditioned library cum computer laboratory.

A multipurpose hall that accommodates two badminton courts.

A lovely garden created by the teachers and students.

Now the battles of the flags!!! :P It is pure luck for me that my visit to Membakut is coincidental with their annual school camp. I used to participate actively in every school camps, since primary four until I left the secondary five. It is been nearly 14 years since I last step my foot in a camp site. Thus, I didn’t hesitate at all when the teacher offers to bring me to the school for a tour and photos shoot of their school camp ;) The school camp is attended by their students from different uniform bodies such as Saint John Ambulance, Red Cross and Scout.

Looking at the row of tents neatly setup, bring back to my memory the exhilarating experience when I’m so carefree setting up the tents, building racks for shoes and cooking utensils, tables, chairs, watch towers and perimeter equips with gate from simple materials such as bamboos and ropes. The best part is when I became the watchman at night to fend off those seniors that might come to do some naughty things to the juniors such as applying toothpastes on their private parts and at same time scare about any ghost that might show up :D

Looking at these two poorly setup tents gave me a stark reminder how in the past I used to soaking under the rain for hours when the tent we poorly setup knock down by the heavy rain :D The students are real lucky as I heard later there is no rainfall throughout their camping duration.

Another stark reminder for me that teachers always get the VIP treatment :P See they have such a solid poles and high-roof tent with nice table and chairs :( No wonder my friend and his brother in-law become teacher! :D

Yay, come the cooking competition!!! Poor lady, she is enveloping by the haze and some more got to kneeling down blowing up the fire :P If the teacher don’t give her 50% marks in advance, then he is really cruel :D

And these two fellows gave me a peace for not report to their teacher that they are horseplay with the blue egg, while the lady mate suffers with the cooking task!!! Okay okay, peace to you guys :D

Wow cooking the scrambled eggs with bamboo split. It is indeed an indigenous idea. It remind me of a failed experiment during my secondary school camp, which I ended up with a charred rice after cooking in a bamboo tube :D

A fabulously presented dish of purple and yellow color sweet potatoes. I already hungry just by looking at them :P

Another fabulous dish consists of sardines with fried eggs and fresh chillies. They’re indeed environmental conscious even at such a young age. See only natural leaf is use as platter!

This is the Lord of the dishes :P Hinava, Tuhau or ? aah I cannot remember what is inside there already :D

So, if you’re wild guessing who are the genius behind the three winning dishes... treng teng teng!!! It is them :) A million apologized boys and girls, somehow I lost your name :P It is really heart warming to see these students are close knit and work well with each other despite from different background :) If Malaysian politicians able to think as simple as these kids when come to inter-racial relationship, then we’ll enjoy less political mud-slinging.

All smiles and thumbs up for the camp!!! ;)

My Hero - Madam President Cory Aquino

2009-08-01T21:20:00.012+08:00

Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco Aquino
(January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009)
Photo by Lilen Uy

Although I'm not a Filipinos and still a kid when she is in power but I do read many great stories about Madam President Cory Aquino. By being the first female president of Asia, united her people despite losing her husband to assassination, bring the country back to the path of democracy through peaceful way and battling bravely against the torturous colon cancer were great courageous acts and inspiration to mankind. I fervently hope those Malaysian politicians and government leaders will look unto Madam President Cory Aquino as the example how Malaysian really need people's heroes that stood up for justice & humanity AND NOT champions of race, religious and political mudslinging aka "politik kampung".

Dear tita Cory, may your soul rest in peace and comfort by God.

Passionate, Lovely & Best Blog Awards

2009-07-31T22:11:00.011+08:00

I've received multiple awards from Borneo Falcon recently. Thank you as the awards are the best recognition of your appreciation on my blog ;)

I don't wish to pass on the rules created by the awards creator but I will not stop you to follow those rules should you wish :P What most important for me is I want to let you know I appreciate your passionate effort in making your blog so lovely and best that I really enjoy reading and learning from you ;)

I hereby announced the five recipients of the Passionate, Lovely and Best Blog Awards from the discerning hands of Ben .... come clap your hands guys & gals :P are

1. My Trips by Robo
2. Phil's Stuff by Bohausiaw
3. An Asian Traveler by June
4. Malaysia Asia by Junior Hogan
5. Foodie & Travel Bug by Mei Teng

For those not on the awards list don't be disappointed yet. You already have my respect and appreciation the moment you start blogging and I eagerly look forward to learn more from your blog ;)

For the awards recipients, let me know if you want the html code for the awards and I'll be very glad to assist you upload to your blog. Just drop me the message k ;)

Cheers!
Ben

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

2009-07-26T08:29:00.016+08:00

It is hectic times for me last week due to several work commitments that rushing in all at once. If not for my buddy flying all the way from Kota Kinabalu to dragged me out to the field on the weekend, I could be the next victim of karoshi :P Well, I literally gone into incommunicado by shutting dead my laptops and mobile phones for the whole Saturday :D Yes, your eyesight is correct that I used “s”. I use two laptops and mobile phones much like a cowboy holding two smoky guns in his hands :P

I’ve a awesome de-stress day last Saturday as we headed to Suntec City for the Heritage Fest Singapore in the daytime and later to Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay and Merlion in the evening. It is also the first time I enjoy myself to the fullest at the concourse of Esplanade for a marvelous live musical performance and the night photography around Marina Bay. It is also the longest time in my lifetime that I had walked or stand within a single day, approximately 11 hours. Thus, if you think guy don’t have endurance for marathon shopping and photography... you can count me and my buddy as the rare species then :P All right, let get back to the Durian :D

Nicknamed the Durian by local folks after the spiky foul smelling but immensely popular tropical fruit, the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay is probably the most daring piece of architecture in the tropical city state of Singapore. Why the Durian? Because its twin domes which are clad in glass and metallic sunshades looks very similar to it.

Officially opened on the 12th October 2002, Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay is the national performing arts center of Singapore. Esplanade’s crown jewel is its world class 1600-seat Concert Hall designed by world-renowned acoustician, the late Russell Johnson. The Concert Hall boasts superb acoustic features, which include reverberation chambers and an acoustic canopy that allows the hall to easily adapt to various music styles without a drop in sound quality. The Concert Hall is one of only five such halls in the world with similar state-of-the-art acoustic features.

The Esplanade also has a 2000-seat Theater which covers four levels of traditional European opera houses whereby its unique horseshoe shape allows a more intimate setting between the audiences and the stage. There are also two main studios namely the Recital Studio and Theater Studio, and other smaller performing venues, which provide flexible space for small-scale performances, rehearsals and other arts related activities. More on the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay can be found in the Wikipedia.

I felt the Durian somehow mutated into an alien spaceship at night :P The best place to catch a commanding view of the twin domes with its full splendor of Durian spikes is at the Singapore Flyer. The walking distance from the Esplanade to Singapore Flyer is approximately 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I don’t have any energy to walk there that night after a 11 hours marathon walked and stand :D

There is also the Esplanade Outdoor Theater within 5 minutes walking distance from the Durian, which is illuminates with glowing indigo lights at night.

Fronting the 300m long scenic waterfront along Marina Bay and against the marvelous backdrop of Singapore Flyer at night, the Esplanade Outdoor Theater hosts a range of free performances to the public from music to dance and theater. Yes, it is free! Do check out the performing schedule before you landed both feet there :P

The panoramic night view of the Durian and the Esplanade Outdoor Theater illuminates in glowing indigo light with Marina Mandarin, Pan Pacific, Mandarin Oriental, Millennia Tower and Suntec as backdrop. Taking this photo from the Merlion Park, which is located across the Marina Bay waterfront, is really a challenge due to strong wind that night and I couldn’t deploy a tripod here due to large crowd of peoples at the waterfront platform of the Merlion Park to watch the Singapore National Day Parade rehearsal.

I also pampered myself to the fullest that night with an amazing jazz performance by Fusion FM at the Concourse and to top it up, it is FREE! Fusion FM was created to explore the fusion music form. Yes, “fusion music”. I have never heard this type of music before :P

The amazing team, comprising Xian Yang who plays the erhu;

Naidu who plays the cajon; and

Tony Shen who plays the piano.

Erhu is a Chinese traditional musical instrument that can be traced back more than a thousand years ago. It has a long neck and a hexagonal body made of wood and covered with the skin of a python. Historically, the strings were made of twisted silk, but are now more often made of metal. The bow used to play the erhu is made of horsehair strung on a stick of bamboo. In performance, the erhu is held in the player's left hand and supported on the left thigh while the right hand moves the bow. More about erhu can be found in the Wikipedia.

Cajon have a history that can be traced back to central and West African slaves from Peru, as well certain regions in Cuba; it is believed that cajon was created in the 1800s on the coast of Peru. The type of cajon that was first used in Peru was actually a wooden box or crate that was commonly utilized for harvesting fruit. Slaves in Africa relied on the crates as a drumming tool and later developed the cajon from the simplest fruit harvesting wood crate design.

Cajon is now popularly identified with Afro - Cuban music such as the famous rumba, as well as Afro - Peruvian style music. More about cajon can be found in the Wikipedia.

Piano, one of the widely recognised musical instrument in the world, need not introduction lol However how many of you know the origin of piano? Don’t know? Then head to Wikipedia for answer but don’t forget to come back :P

Now you see why I called it amazing. An erhu, a cajon and a piano that each originated from totally different culture, were melding together that night to delivered the inimitable sound as they perform a selection of jazz standards including the Summertime, La Vie En Rose, Besame Mucho, Casablanca and Moon River.

Prior to that night, I have never thought about the differences between a live musical performance and listening or watching from a recording.

First of all, I realized that live performance offers a three-dimensional form of human expression, one that cannot be replicated in the same exact form in a recording.

I can feel strongly the passion of music in the air coming from the musicians.

Looking close at their unique face expressions is an art in itself :P

Needless to say, the venue at Concourse provides a laissez faire environment (no stage and no barrier), whereby ones can stay as close as he / she likes to the performance. That explains why I enjoy myself to fullest at the Concourse that night, to the performance itself and photography as I stand less than 2 m from the musicians.

All right that is all for now about the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and the superb performance by Fusion FM. Video recording will be uploaded later. Yes, again your eyes are not playing the trick. I recorded their performance that night and it is legal and free! :D

The Singapore National Day is coming soon on 9 August 2009 and as a permanent resident of the Little Red Dot, I wish all my Singaporean and SPR friends a Happy National Day!

Angalang & Magunatip

2009-07-20T07:40:00.006+08:00

Lo and behold, Angalang, the dance of Murut warrior arrived!!!

The Angalang dance was performed by a solo male dancer in full Murut’s warrior regalia. The male dancer is wearing a loincloth embroidered with colourful threads called aba puputul, which is wound around the waist and passed between the legs. The jacket made of puputul tree bark with red and black motif is called babaru puputul. The headdress decorated with the beautiful long feathers of the Argus pheasant called tupi sinulatan complete the warrior regalia. Not to be missed are bones tied to the red strings hanging on the neck that clearly proclaimed “don’t play play with me” :D

In the olden days, Angalang was performed to celebrate victorious battles and successful headhunting party! Yes, you read correctly “headhunting party” :D

The Murut people were warrior headhunters and their reputation struck fear in the hearts of their enemies. Collecting heads of enemies as trophies, or for buried in paddy field as token for bountiful harvest, or beneath a bridge to ensure it last forever and most important as dowry for the newly betrothed bride to proved his manhood were part of the Murut’s customs and spiritual beliefs. Of course the practice of head hunting has stopped, but the celebration to the Murut’s brave spirit has not.

Nowadays the Angalang is performed during social occasion such as wedding and festival likes the Pesta Kalimaran (Murut’s harvest festival).

The Angalang dance start on very serious steps with the dancer eyes looking stern, without a single smile, holding firmly on his shield with his right hand and wielding a spear cum blowpipe with his left hand that can be a deadly weapon when use with poisonous dart.

First, look down the earth for enemy hiding among the bushes.

Next, look up the sky for enemy hiding above the trees.

Now look straight and he spotted your head :P

A loud and eerie battle cry of “Yiiiii” was sound out and he gonna delivered a deadly dart lol :D

Binggo!!! A trophy head for his sweetheart :P

Another Murut warrior jumped out and scout around for head :O

Oh NOOoo! He spotted and aimed the deadly dart at my cutie head *( Hey cut the head but don’t mess my hair :P

Now see their bloody smile for they collected trophy head each and time to head home to redeem their beloved sweetheart.

Wow, what a beautiful and lovely smile of a Murut maiden seeing the bridegroom returned with the trophy head as dowry for the wedding.

Another beautiful and lovely Murut maiden, smiling for the triumphant returned of her bridegroom. No wonder the Murut warrior die die also want to cut-off my cutie head :D

But my bride is lamenting at home lol :P

Now let celebrate the triumphant headhunting party with Magunatip !!! The "Magunatip" word is derived from the "apit" word, which means "trapped".

In this dance, the dancers show their agility and dexterity in jumping and putting their feet between the clapping bamboo poles without being trapped!!! It is a dance of happiness that was performs after the powerful Angalang.

This dance does not accompanied by any instrumental music because the rhythmic clapping and stamping of the bamboo poles produce a loud, harmonized, beat and interesting sound or rhythm. Thus it is also called the bamboo dance.

Later all the guests were invited on stage for the torturous but exciting Magunatip dance. They start on the slow tempo to lure everyone in.

Then the clapping speed of the bamboo will become faster and faster and FASTER until everyone keep jumping frenziedly with loud groaning of Oohs and Ouchs. It is aka to catch-my-legs game :D

You’re curious about their lovely costume? The female dancers wear costumes known as pinongkolo which is elaborately embroidered with colorful tiny beads. On their heads is an ornate headpiece called salupai, which is made of long beads in front, strands of smaller beads, flowers and two beautiful long feathers of Argus pheasant at the back. A beautiful necklace consist of colorful tiny beads called rarangkol completed the costume.

I’m extremely awed with the simple yet graceful traditional costumes and dances of the Kadazandusun, Bajau and Murut peoples. The dancers not only delivered marvelous performance but taught me an important lesson “if only peoples of different religions and skin colors willing to understand and steadfastly uphold the unity in diversity, then we will be able to appreciate and cherish each other unique differences truly”. What about you?

All right this marked the end of my posting for Monsopiad Cultural Village ;) Coming Next .... Oop let you make the wild guess first :D

Limbai Dance of Bajau

2009-07-13T23:55:00.015+08:00

After the Sumazau and Sazau of Kadazandusun tribe, we were mesmerized with another simple yet elegant dance called Limbai. It is a traditional dance of the Bajau people from Kota Belud area on the west coast of Sabah and is often performed during social occasion, particularly wedding to welcome the bridegroom as he arrives at the bride’s house.

A beautiful sumandak with the traditional Bajau’s gold ornate headdress in the shape of a ship called sarempak.

The Limbai is dance in pair with the handsome man put on a headdress called tanjak, a brilliant indigo high collared satiny shirt called badu with Betawi buttons decorating the front and the white satiny trouser called suar. An embroidered scarf called selendang is tied around his waist.

The graceful lady wear the brilliant yellow satiny blouse called badu sipak, which has flared and slashed sleeves, with contrasting green colour fitted sleeves inside. A flat cloth-covered collar-ornament decorated with stylized gold leaves called mandapun accentuates the neckline. Her brilliant red full-length skirt called olos berangkit is adorned by beautiful woven panel of bunga kapas (cotton flower).

Another lovely couple dancing the Limbai.

The graceful rotating wrist movement is a trademark of the Limbai with the music accompanying the Limbai is called the Bertitik. The instruments usually consist of a Kulintangan which is a set of nine small kettle gongs and three hanging gongs and two double headed drums called Gandang.