Lifestyle Designers

The Majestic Mount Bromo of Java, Indonesia

2011-12-02T10:30:00.000+08:00

Mount Bromo (centre) and Mount Semeru (background), both are living volcanos spewing out smoke. Mount Batok, not active, is in the foreground. It was a few minutes after sunrise, the earth has not lifted the blanket of mist yet. From the hill station Cemara Lawang, where I stayed a night, the view is spectacular during sunrise and sunset. I witnessed both.

The Guest House where I stayed, is situated on a hilltop. I had to walk over 30 mins to reach the foothill of Mt Bromo.

Farming at Cemara Lawang.

Beautiful sky during my stay there. At night, it was filled with stars.

A stunning view from my Guest House.

When I left Tanah Lot in Bali, it was noon.

After having a typical Asian breakfast with fried meehoon with egg and coffee, which was part of the deal for a big room in the idyllic setting of Tanah Lot, I was ready to leave Bali.

Cemara Lawang, a hill station in Probolingo.

I didn't read about it and no one told me, but somehow I was so sure that there must be a way to get to Java from Bali. And sure enough, when I asked around, I was told that there is a ferry that frequents Selat Bali, bringing passengers from Bali to East Java and vice versa.

The place to board the ferry on the westernmost side of Bali is a small town called Gilimanuk. I took a bus from Ubung, the central bus station in Bali, to Gilimanuk. The bus fare was Rp30,000 (RM9). It took to the winding road across some mountainous routes in the western-side of Bali, stopped and packed up passengers along the way. The bus journey took 4 hours from Ubung, central Bali, to Gilimanuk. By the time I arrived at the port, it was already dark. For one-way journey, the ferry costs only Rp6,000 (RM1.80). Fortunately, the ferry runs 24 hours a day. The ferry leaves every 15 to 20 minutes. The journey across the Bali Straits takes under an hour. The town where I alighted from the ferry on East Java is called Ketapang.

I asked some locals how to get to Mount Bromo. They told me to take a bus to Probolingo, the town where I will be able to get buses up to the hill station known as Cemara Lawang. The hill station is a pace where all tourists arrive to take a tour of the surroundings. The hill station overlooks Mount Bromo.

It was already 10.30pm in Ketapang, after the ferry ride. I was hungry, tired and exhausted. But I had to move on. It was another 4-hour bus journey from Ketapang to Probolingo. Fortunately, the bus had air-conditioning. I paid the fare of Rp46,000 (RM16). I took my seat, folded the sarong over my head and slept, oblivious to everything that was happening on the bus.

I was traveling alone with my backpack. It was so early when I arrived, the Guest Houses were not open yet.

I would say it is a gift, to be able to sleep soundly on any moving vehicle wherever I may be. No matter how bumpy the road, or how cramped up the vehicle is, or how uncomfortable the seats are, I will doze off.

I think the bus "flew" all the way to its destination. It stopped in Probolingo, a small town at the foot hill. The bus station has a few food stalls still operating in the wee hours of the morning. I was so hungry, I found something to eat. It was another 3 hours before sunrise, and the transport up to the hill station was not available yet. It was cold and I was very sleepy. I asked if I could get onto the van that will be going up to the hill station now as I could sleep in the van. The night was so cold. I curled up in the front seat and slept.

Looking down is the crater of Mt Bromo.

You can go up to the crater from the nearby town or hill station by horse riding.

Mount Bromo is still an active volcano. In Jan 2011, eruptions occurred. In spite of this, the place is considered sacred by the locals who come in throngs to perform worships and rituals. Legend has it that a childless couple was granted their wish to bear children. The payback was that, the 25th child must be thrown into the crater as human sacrifice. Till today, the locals risk their lives climbing into the crater to try to retrieve offering goods, which they believe to have good luck charms.

I stayed a night at the hill station. Instead of riding the horse or taking the jeep that bring tourists for a tour of the vicinity and to the foot of the crater, I chose to walk. I descended the hill station (a back door route, see picture above) and walked the distance on the volcanic sand bed to the crater. It was long walk. It seemed to cover a distance of no less than 3 km. It was exhilarating but astonishingly fulfilling.

I arrived back at the hill station just in time for sunset. It was too cold in the mountains to take a shower, so I just cleaned up, put on an extra jumper and went out for dinner. The night sky was clear and filled with stars. I had eaten at the same little shop since I arrived in the morning, the shopkeeper recognized me. I ordered my food, she cooked me the most delicious nasi goreng (fried rice). I ate it with the sweet black sauce mixed with cili padi. That added that extra fiery zest to my already spicy nasi goreng. I loved it. In this cold mountain surroundings, a hot tea to go down with my food was a call to sanity for my stomach.

The crater of Mt Bromo.

I took my time to walk back to the guest house as I soaked in the serenity of the night. I could count the stars. The place was magical.

The World Eats - Honolulu, Hawaii

2011-11-11T23:01:00.000+08:00

Waikiki Beach with colorful surf boards, Honolulu, Hawaii

One of my pastimes when I travel, either alone, or with someone, is to be able to spend time sitting in a cafe or restaurant - eating. Just that. Eating. And watch the world goes by. No rush, not trying to get to somewhere. Just sit and eat. Enjoy!

There were times when I was so tired, especially after traveling for sometime in a country, going from one place to another. One such places that took my breath away is USA. It is such a big country, and to get from one city to the next, took us long hours of waiting for flights, transiting at different airports, getting on and off planes.

One year when I was in the USA, I was so ambitious, I tried to cover as many places as possible. We got on a Korean Air, after a few hours transit in Seoul, we had a one-day stopover in Chicago. Then, took a flight to Orlando via Atlanta. After playing our hearts out in Disneyland and Universal Studio, we took a flight to Birmingham via Cincinnati. After one week in Birmingham, we took a flight to Honolulu via Atlanta.

That time, I did not know the flight time from Atlanta to Honolulu was 11 hours. It was almost like the flight time from KL - London.

With all the flight hopping and really enjoying ourselves everywhere we were, when we arrived in Honolulu, all I looked forward was a cozy and good restaurant to chill out. We found several great eateries in Honolulu. One that we will never forget is The Cheesecake Factory. It is situated closest to Waikiki Beach. Walk down the main street, you won't miss it.

In fact, The Cheesecake Factory is also located in Birmingham, Alabama. But somehow, this one in Honolulu seem to entice me more.

True enough, the menu is dripping with creative Mexican, Latin America, Japanese fusion food. The drinks are very refreshing and very summer. While sipping the drinks, you will know you have arrived in Hawaii.

Tropical Smoothie, a refreshing drink in Hawaii

Spicy Ahi Tempura Roll USD11.95

Fresh Raw Ahi Tuna with Green Onion, Spicy Soy Sauce, Ginger and Garlic. Wrapped in Nori and Flash Fried Tempura Style.

The Cheesecake Factory tantalizing restaurant menu.

Peter and I having the best time in Honolulu, sat, ate, drank and watched the world went by. The best part is that the tables are placed next to the main street. So, there were hives of activities while we dined.

White Chicken Chili - the sauce has all the right spices, the taste is out of this world.

The White Chicken Chili is a generous bowl of chicken, White Beans, Roasted Green Chiles, Onions and Garlic, Spices and a Touch of Cream. Garnished with Steamed White Rice and Fresh Salsa.


The facade and its name sound more like a delicatessen than a restaurant. But don't let it fool you. The food and service are a class to be reckoned with. This restaurant is packed. You need to wait for a table if you did not make reservation.

The World Eats - Ubud, Bali

2011-11-01T18:09:00.001+08:00

My friend regularly jokes about the "daunting" pastime that I have when I travel - fine-dining on my own. She couldn't fathom the idea of someone eating alone in a restaurant, she would rather starve than to dine by herself especially in a fine restaurant that serves appetizer to main course to dessert. I have never asked her why. It is not my concern if someone chooses to look at things differently.

For me, eating is a pleasure - my pleasure. Taking time to eat, to savor and taste local dishes are the closest you could get to knowing a country's culture and its people. The spices and ingredients come from the land they so love. The ground where they could smell it when the rain soaks up the breath of the earth. The soil where their ancestors have laid their hands and feet. For centuries, this is the land where they toil and sweat for the continuity of life. So, when I eat, I am enjoying the land's abundance. The aroma and the fragrance from the food carry with it the gratefulness and the joy that they too had served the land and served it well.

These are some great places to eat in Kuta and Ubud, Bali.

Made Restaurant in Kuta, serving authentic Indonesian dishes, esp gado-gado.

Warung Aja in Ubud, where I learned to make lemongrass drink.

Bebek Tutu from Warung Aja in Ubud

The best pork BBQ in Bali, available in Ubud

One serving of pork BBQ with condiments Rp25,000

Bebek Bengil (Fried Crispy Duck) at Dirty Duck Restaurant, Ubud

Dirty Duck Restaurant, Ubud

Coconut cake with Ginger Tea at Dirty Duck

Warung food, delicious, local and good price. Total meal price Rp14,000

The World Eats - Chinatown, London

2011-02-12T22:17:00.000+08:00

Wong Kei restaurant in Chinatown, London

As swiftly as we are directed to our table, which some time is shared with some unsuspecting guests already at the table, wham, bang, down comes in our face the ever-prevalent Chinese tea pot and cups. Shoop shoop, each was given the daunting menu, also in our face, and off the waiter goes without leaving an extra welcome greetings.

He will come back in a minute and asks if we are ready. No? Off he goes again, leaving us gasping for our first query about the menu. After the order is made, nonchalantly, the food arrives. Another wamp, bang, and off the waiter goes.

We are always amused by the way the waiters handle their customers here. It is bizarre, but very funny. They all wear black, T-shirt and black trousers. Wong Kei is printed boldly at the back, as if this logo weighs them down as long as they (all of them Oriental) continue to seek their "fortune" in a foreign country.

So, if you are looking for good service, you are in the wrong restaurant. Well, one thing for sure, they don't expect a tip either.

Check out their variety, an expansive menu indeed.

Amidst the adverse comment on their service (which I think they have turned a new leaf this time when I am there in 2011, I noticed smiling faces ...), I have been enjoying the food here in Wong Kei, year after year. And looking at the crowd that occupies all the four floors of the restaurant, how would rate good service vs good food?

Most of the time, when I am in London, I will make an attempt to drop in to this Chinese restaurant that serves no 'nonsense', but will just feed you as what a Chinese auntie or granny will.

Most of the dining hours, the restaurant is busy.

"Eat your food!"
"Eat this! Good for you!"
"Eat more!"

No 'nonsense' dining, they don't even want your plastics.

"Don't waste!"
"Drink your tea, wash away the fat."

If you come to Wong Kei expecting all the following for a good dine out in London, you will leave disgruntled:

Good service -leave this out!
Good ambiance - don't expect any!
Good table setting - not a bit!
Good manners - I think they tried!

For all the unexpected, expect these:

Good portion of food - fill you up so much you can skip two meals.
Good reasonable price - satisfy your pocket, two person for under £9 (tea no-charge)
Good taste - some dishes have good wok-scent, 'wok hei'

豉椒牛河Black bean fried kueh teow £4.40

牛腩河 Beef Brisket kueh teow soup £3.90

The black bean paste fried kueh teow with lots of capsicum and onion is by far the best noodle dish I have eaten. It is one of the must-haves. The kueh teow is not blackened with dark soy sauce, but springy as it is infused with the taste of the 'burnt' wok. That adds to the taste when the ingredients are cooked over such high heat quickly.

So satisfied, we finished everything.

We have tried many other noodle dishes and I have seen Londoners trying out other delicacies, all seemed to look good. But for one thing I wouldn't recommend, don't order char siew (BBQ pork) or siew yoke (Grilled pork), other restaurants, and even those in Salak South and Happy Garden win them hands down.

But what the heck, wham, bang your way to Wong Kei.

The World Eats - Venice, Italy

2011-01-20T13:03:00.001+08:00

This is the whole restaurant. Hardly any more room for big group of diners.
Notice the ingenious way of placing a shelf above the table to place the wine decanter and glasses.

It was Venice, Italy. Many years ago.

We had a whole day on the islands. The best time you could have in Venice is to walk and walk and walk. Enjoy the people, the canals, the loudness of it all. The romance, the scent and the pretty scenery. It was merely shopping and eating. What else would you do in a place that is so colorful and vibrant? Just be merry. To read more about my feelings about Venice, click here.

Then, we stumbled upon an adorable restaurant (I can't remember the name of the restaurant, I tried, something Osteria ...). From its front facade, it was so small, so narrow that when we walked through the door and entered, we looked and discovered to our amazement, the interior walls were just as wide as the size of the door. Right at the rear, which is not to far ahead, was the counter and the kitchen. The tables were made for only 2 diners. A small group would have crowded the place and filled it to its brim.

And yet, we found to our delights, the most inviting food ever. That was the first time I tasted Polenta, a cornmeal mush, a traditional Italian food, even older than pasta. It actually looks like our nasi hempit, or ketupat. But the polenta we had at this restaurant was soft and smooth. Other polenta that I had after that experience, was a bit coarse and bland.

The next first taste I had at the restaurant was the risotto with squid ink. I never knew that we can eat squid ink. The way they cooked it then was so good, I looked out for this dish when I am back in KL. For many years, KL restaurants didn't have such dish with squid ink. Then, later I found that they have squid ink spaghetti. But that was different from risotto.

The most memorable has to be its tiramisu. It was out of this world. I have never tasted so "pure" a tiramisu I could drown in its rum or was it cognac? After that, no tiramisu has come close to that intoxicating taste I had in Venice.

I do believe that taste is also influenced by the atmosphere and the ambiance at the time of dining. This feeling permeates into the food, may it be polenta, squid ink risotto or tiramisu, and this exquisite thoughts had made the food so delicious it edged into my DNA. After all these years, I remember ...

I think, even if I were now sitting in the same restaurant, ordered the same dishes, it would not taste the same as they were 10 years ago!

Polenta, Bruschetta, fried mushroom and something else. Oh yes, those glasses are wine - for lunch.


Risotto in squid ink

The World Eats - Hong Kong

2011-01-11T21:13:00.000+08:00

When I think of a short trip to a tourist city, it should be 5D/4N. Cost should be under RM2,000. The flight should be comfortable with in-flight service, include good food and movies. Flight should be under 4 hours. Stay at a 4-star hotel, close to shopping malls and streets. Also, take a turn around the corner, there's the subway for easy transportation to all the interesting places. I can sleep in. Wake up to lots of things to see and do till late. It has to have a mild weather so that I travel lighter.

With all these conditions, two places will come to mind for a short easy and breezy break. For me, definitely Hong Kong and Bangkok are the cities that will satisfy these criteria.

Cathay Pacific and MAS do offer all-in return flight for under RM700, perhaps once a year. So, you can look out for such offer and book a trip. My choice of hotel is The Cityview Hotel in Mongkok, close to lots of shopping streets and malls, especially eateries. It is a 4-star hotel. Their rooms are bigger than some other 4-star hotels that I have stayed before. The moment we step out of the hotel, just 3 minutes walk, we will get to Ladies Night Market and the Electronic street. Turn left and you are on Nathan Street. From the hotel entrance, 2 minutes to step into Yau Ma Tei MRT station. All these conveniences for under RM300 per room per night.

If you book a Free & Easy package from any travel agent, staying in the same hotel, 4 Nights + Airport Transfer + half day city tour, it could be about RM1,000 per person, twin-sharing. Plus the flight, it is RM1,700 per person. Still a good way to take a 5 days break. Why not?

Then, when you are there, you may want to try out one of my favorite beef ball noodle at Soy Street, close to Ladies Night Market or Sai Yong Choi Street.

The shop apparently has a self-declared title called the King of Beef Balls. I do believe so because the beef balls were so crunchy and fresh that I went there for breakfast three days in a roll. There were just too many choices of different recipes that I needed to try as many of the dishes as possible within the next few days.

So, the first day, we had beef ball with noodle, plain beef ball with stuffing, fish ball with fat noodle. Second day, we had fish ball with stuffing, beef ball with fish noodle, fish skin dumplings. The third day, oh ... we had so many other stuff ... please look at the menu yourself and make your pick.

Everything is just so mouth watering, it has left a deep deep desire that we must go back to the place for another three days of breakfast this year.

You look at the price, they are very reasonable. The portion of the noodles were huge too.

The Awakened Lumbini, Nepal

2010-12-08T00:30:00.002+08:00

Mother with children from Lumbini.

Maya Devi, Prince Gautama's mum, bathed in this pond.

The sardine-packed mini-van which the people from the Indian continent call it a bus, sped into the darkness in the middle of a winter night. The bus was so jam-packed that some passengers were sitting at the steps to the door. It felt like there were 50 of us on the bus which was made for 20 passengers, seated.

There were no street lights. Visibility was narrowed to the lights streaming from the van's two dusty and bugs-infested headlights. I stretched my neck to look over the dashboard amidst the shoulders of some sleep deprived locals, and saw to my horror, how fast the trees were swept to the back. The van must have been speeding over 120 km/h.

Village comes alive.

I squeezed myself between the Indians and the Nepalese, so close I was almost breathing onto the neck of the person in front of me, while the one at my back, probably doing the same to me too. The warmth was comfortable. I was thankful, nevertheless, that after a 24-hour train ride, arriving tired and without shower, at 12 midnight, those body heat had kept me from the torment of the winter cold.

Women cooking in the open.

It was going to be quite a distance before I reached the border, crossing from India into Nepal. So, I decided to keep myself as warm as possible, thanks to all the passengers on the van. Being packed like sardines was a blessing after all.

I was on my way to Lumbini in January, 1998. Just one year after it was declared UNESCO heritage site. Since then, many Buddhists have put Lumbini as one of their pilgrimage stop. Many Buddhists countries started to build temples and monuments with designs and buildings depicting the respective cultures of the country. They would have been completed by now. When I was there, the place was still very quiet and there was only one hotel available.

Activities abound in Lumbini.

As always, I didn't plan my itinerary. I had an idea to take a flight to New Delhi, then to fly back from Kathmandu after 3 weeks of traveling. But travel to which part of the two countries? I didn't know then. I knew only 3 places that I will want to be, ie New Delhi (because the SQ flight stated so), Taj Mahal (that is one of the seven wonders of the world) and Kathmandu (because SQ flight takes off from there). I wouldn't want to go back to New Delhi after three weeks of traveling, so the next best place to come home, I thought, would have been Kathmandu. That was how I made the decision to fly back from there.

One thing I must confess, I didn't know Taj Mahal is in Agra! I only found out after I spent a night in New Delhi. Oh my gosh, Agra is 3 hours by road.

So, how did I find my way around one of the most populated countries in the world, traveling for three weeks, cross the border and found my way home from Kathmandu? I didn't find them, the places found me!

I call this experiences the Sacred Intervention. Especially Lumbini. Read more about how I discovered Lumbini, click here.

Lumbini, is it still the same?

As I look at these photos now, the children could have grown up, maybe in their 20s. Is the village still look the same? Where are the goats now? Are the men and women stacking hays and laugh as they used to?

Will I be making my way to Lumbini again? I don't know. I have left my heart open, I am sure Lumbini will fill in the answer.

The Serenity of Candidassa, Bali

2010-10-21T14:08:00.004+08:00

Candidassa, a beachside village with a Big heart.

Candidassa used to be a village that was far from the maddening crowd. It still is, only that it is quieter now, somewhat forlorn like a hero fallen from grace.

Yet, as the hero that would not die, he picked himself up and continue to show gaiety and strength. It is because of its not-die attitude, Candidassa is luring tourists to its long-alluring stretch of cafes and warungs along the beach. And also, the village has some of Bali's greenest and aesthetically landscaped resort and spa center.

Ari Homestay.

I did not know about Candidassa. That was usually how I travel. I will not know a place until I stumbled upon them. Either some locals told me a place and I would go or over some strange but amazing encounter, I will discover the places. All these lovely places never fail to astound me. One of which is Candidassa.

A resort hotel that is sprawling with serenity and bliss.

I was on the small tour van that picked me up from Amed ( another beachside village on the North Eastern side of Bali, I went to Amed, like my usual travel style, because a local Balinese told me about it - this story, another time). Our destination was Ubud. From Amed to Ubud, it will take about 2 hours. En route, the van, with some passengers, stopped by the Perama Bus Office to check on some administration. The van-driver told us to alight and stretch ourselves or go use the toilet while he checked if there were other passengers to pick up to Ubud.

I have no shorts, so went out with my sarong.

I came down from the van and immediately felt the soothing breeze. I looked around and found that the place was quaint. The breeze was soft, the palm trees lining the walkway was swaying gently, the traffic was slow, I could see a few people lazing out in the shades on their sampans. Little push-cart stalls selling Bakso and sate. Still, it was quiet. As if, the whole world had traveled to Mars and back twice, and they are still lying there in their sarongs, in their sampan, thinking of nothingness.

I like that. I just like it a lot. Somehow, I felt I like to know this place, I like to feel it, rather that just passing it by to go to Ubud. So, I asked the driver what place that was. That was when I knew the little village close to the sea is called Candidassa.

Clean room, attached bath.

Just right opposite the road where the van stopped, there was Ari Homestay. The driver told me that was a good place to inquire for a night's stay. I just said ok, told the driver that I decided to stay in Candidassa and I will take the van to Ubud the next day. That was when I learned that Perama buses allow passengers to have a stopover at the places en route to their respective destinations. No extra charges when they pick you up one or a few days later. You board with the same ticket to your stated destination.

That was great. I thought. And checked in immediately into Ari Homestay, which I found out that it only cost me Rp80,000 (RM28) for a room with a double bed and attached bathroom. The owner, who is Australian with a Balinese wife, happily told me that the room came with a Big Breakfast. so, what is this big breakfast all about? Beaming, he said he is cooking the breakfast himself and it will have sausage, eggs, bread, tomatoes, cheese and beans. I just love Candidassa and the people there, small village, Big heart, Big breakfast.

Having Big Breakfast on the upper patio in front of my room.

Candidassa used to be a very popular tourist beach destination in the North Eastern side of Bali, but since diving and sea sport are made popular in Amed, Candidassa seems to have taken a back seat. Nevertheless, it is one of the sweetest village I have been in Bali.

The entrance to the spa where I had a great aromatherapy massage.

Guest waiting area for the spa treatment.

Throw in a 2-hour aromatherapy massage, facial and body scrub, flower bath and foot bath, all for a mere RM120 (USD40), I was drown in everything beautiful and spiked in perpetual bliss.

Saint-Paul de Vence, France

2010-08-22T18:14:00.001+08:00

St Paul-de-Vence, this is whole village.

It has been quite a while, in fact, almost two months, since I last updated my blog. I must admit that when sometimes I feel like writing, and the idea is brewing, I will start out looking for the appropriate pictures in my iPhoto for the story I am about to tell. Most of the time, while browsing the pictures, instead of deciding on one aspect of the travel destination to write about, I will instead, reminisce the joy being there. As if I am walking through the streets in India, in Italy, in South Africa and in so many wonderful where I left my footsteps behind.

The memories are so vivid most of the times because I spend time walking, observing, feeling the presence of everything that is there at the moment. Even cramping into a bus that is full of people, that is already so memorable.

The village map. That's all to it.

This is the little place I so fondly remember as I go through my pictures. A place nestled between Nice and the French Riviera, close to Cannes, is the small fortress village of St Paul-de-Vence. The village is so quaint and so charming, walking on the cobbled stone becomes a fun thing to do. Marveling at the shops with little doors and artistic display of their goods are a great pastime. Then move around the fort enclosed village to find a corner with small old-fashioned chairs and tea-tables, order a glass of the local wine or a latte and a piece of chocolate fondant cake, a specialty of St Paul.

That will be a beautiful day spent in the confines of the picturesque and peaceful village.

An artistic display of a street name on the wall.

A garden-like entrance to someone's residence.

Shops have artistic display of beautiful items.

A hotel for the discerning few.

Lavender is in abundance here.

Tourists favorites.

Lavender is used in their food products too

Walkabout Melbourne, Australia

2010-06-09T13:10:00.002+08:00

Melbourne sky line

I have been to Melbourne twice.

The first time, in 1989, more than 20 years ago. I could remember the year clearly, not because I still have my stamped Australian Visa in my old passport. It was the year when the Tiananmen incident happened.

I checked into a backpackers hostel in a red-light district. All I could remember seeing when I walked out from the hostel were shops selling all the toys and accessories, including movies in VHS that most parents will forbid in their homes. That was where I was brought to by the bus driver when I told him to bring me to a backpackers hostel. I still have not idea why that happened then. Is it because backpacking wasn't as popular in Australia back in the 80's that there were so few choices or was I taken for a ride?

A shopping mall in Melbourne

It was cheap then, nevertheless. The bed cost only about A$12. There was a courtyard where all of us could watch TV anytime we wanted. So, that afternoon, a lot of the backpackers were gathering in the courtyard and many were showing sense of distress watching the news. I inched closer to the TV, and watched the scenes of the Tiananmen incident happening on TV.

Recently, in 2007. I went back to Melbourne for a walkabout. Well, nothing astounding has changed. Except that there are more backpackers hotels in downtown Melbourne now. How do I know that? It always start from the airport. When you ask the driver of any public transport to bring you to the place you want to stay, you will get a glimpse of how the city is. Because the most popular places to stay among backpackers will give you an indication how the traveling industry has grown over the years.

Melbourne is still quiet and very care-free. It is like you are not bothered with anyone or anything in your surrounding, you just be you. Like the willow in the wind, sway and stay with the breeze. That's how I feel about the city.

Lead Pipe and Shot Factory, what remains is now an attraction of the shopping mall.

There is a very unique shopping mall, it is housed in a historical site. In the middle of the mall, stands a tower that is the remains of the Lead Pipe and Shot Factory. Once it was the tallest building in the city. Even in the mid-50's, it stood six meter higher than the then city building limits.

Lunar New Year decoration in a Mall, Hotel in Melbourne

This time, I was there during the Lunar New Year, so there were colorful display of lanterns and everything Chinese.

This is the best attraction.

It was a really lovely time to spend in the city, just walking and enjoying the breeze. Looking at the wide selections of pastry, just drooled me to pieces. I will usually just sit in a cafe, have a cup of coffee and enjoy the selection while watching the Melburnian play kites, family laughing, street entertainers performing, colorful buntings flapping to the wind. Such great life!

Siwa Oasis, Egypt

2010-04-30T18:46:00.000+08:00

The ancient fortress of Siwa, in the middle of Siwa town.

These photos bring back loads of memory. I am feeling just so thrilled about all the places I have set foot, having flashbacks about the rooms I have stayed at only USD1 in Nepal. Riding the camel into Bedouin villages in Egypt, witnessing the ceremonial slaughtering of the herd of cows for a mass village funeral in Sulawesi. Staying on top of a buffalo shack in the mountains of Nepal and being in Dalai Lama's monastery in Dharamsala without having the slightest idea that that place existed but I was led there nevertheless. Oh, all these are just memories I treasure. In the quietest moments when these flashbacks occurred, they all bring a twitch on my mouth to expand into a smile that exudes the feelings of satisfaction and whole.

Heaps of pita bread loaded on a cart pulled by donkeys.

Looking at the photos taken in Siwa Oasis, Egypt, ignites that feeling of awe mixed with joy and freedom. It is like suddenly there appear in front of me a wide open space with blue skies, trees that have wide umbrella-like branches full of green wide leaves. Stretching right in front is undulating plains of green green fields, while I run across the fields with wide stretched open arms, my small face lifted up towards the blazing sun, feeling the warmth on my lips, my cheeks, my brows, feeling the wind in every cell in my body, and invoke the lightness as if I am taking flight. Yeah, that kind of feeling, the feeling like you have achieved something so great you can just flap your wings and know that you can just take off to the sky and fly.

Olives and dates, palm trees are abundant in Siwa

When I first heard of Oasis when I read about them in my geography books, I thought that oasis is just a puddle of water in the vast dry desert. Nothing in sight, no buildings, no people, perhaps just a few palm trees. Then nothing. Just windy and sandy as far as the eyes can see, just brown sand dune undulating towards the horizon. I thought that was what an oasis supposed to be.

And perhaps I had watched some old movies like the Lawrence of Arabia or Sinbad, where the views of slim curvy-shaped ladies in colorful silk arabian "wrap-arounds" like I-dream-of-Jeannie kind, they all swayed to the beat of the enchanting music while gyrating her steps to get water from the oasis. Then walk seductively with a jar of water over her head, tracing her steps back to her tent. That was what I had in my mind all these years. Funny, isn't it? how I can conjure up an image which is not true but based on what I was shown to believe. It must be the magic of TV.


A mud brick house with beautiful kid beaming from their window

The bus from Alexandria took 9 hours to arrive at Siwa Oasis. If someone comes from Cairo, they will usually break their journey in Alexandria after a 3-hour bus ride from Cairo. It was an air-cond bus so the windows can be shut while the dust and sand piled upon us all the way.

There were not many tourists in Siwa Oasis. Local people ply the route from Alexandria to Siwa Oasis because of commerce, the buying and selling of goods. It was a surprise to find so many fresh produce from Siwa Oasis.

It was truly an eye-opener for me to see so many colorful fruits and vegetables in an oasis. I thought they only export dates and olives. They also supply mineral water bottled by a factory a few miles away from town.

I learned that they have an airport there already. So, Siwa Oasis is more accessible now. Looking for an adventure?

Fresh produce in the market every morning. Bustling activities.

Take a trip to see an oasis and feel the adventure as was so fondly told in all 1,001 Eqyptian tales.

Stonehenge, England

2010-04-19T09:40:00.004+08:00

Stonehenge

Looking past Stonehenge is a beautiful living picture, of sheep.

The public bus that ply the route to Stonehenge

As the ubiquituous white and red double decker bus glided its way into the countryside, the scenery open up to a narrow road flanked by beech trees and coniferous woodland. The bus was quiet with a handful of passengers. The woodland washed the windows with its pale grey wintry air. Only the whooshing release of air from the hydraulic gear that can be heard distinctively from the bottom of the bus gently breaking the freezing silence.

As the cleanly shaven botak beech trees retreating to the rear of the bus, the woodland yawned itself to full view. Till the last of the few conifer trees came to end, Stonehenge, with its colossal vertically erect structure, stood monumentally stoned in the middle of the meadow. Green sprawling field, wide open space invited into view the iconic structure that has baffled men for centuries, lay in its encircling setting.

Mystical.

Mysterious.

Magical.

Stonehenge can be viewed from roadside while driving by.

Entrance to Stonehenge, entry fee applicable

I boarded the train from London Waterloo station for a day trip to Stonehenge in the winter months. Moreover, as I have all the time in the world, I chose to use the special offer for off-peak ride. It is best to buy a return ticket for the cost less to do so. The price is about £30 one-way. If you buy both ways and returning on the same day, you pay about £30 too. The train ride is about 80 minutes. It runs on the track so fast you hardly feel the time. I alighted at Salisbury Station and waited for the public bus which ran from Salisbury to Stonehenge to elsewhere.

There is a Tour Bus that takes tourists to Stonehenge and to visit Salisbury Cathedral all in one day. Only £18 per adult.

Stonehenge was built some 5,000 years ago. Maybe longer. As some experts have estimated that it needed 20 million hours to complete the construction. Some said it was a holy site for healing to take place. Some said it was a scientific observatory. But who built them? And why?

Stonehenge stood menacingly in the afternoon sky.

As I walked on the tarred pavement that surrounds the stones for a closer view, I think I heard the stones guffawed : "ahahahaha .....we are not telling, because you wouldn't believe us anyway!"

Stay & Ride in Bali

2010-04-03T14:04:00.000+08:00

When you see Beauty in everything - you are in Beautiful Bali


Some good accommodations in Ubud


Low-cost rooms and beautiful view of padi fields in Ubud

Hi Mr Tham,

I came across your blog about traveling in Bali alone. I am interested to do that as I have a short break. Do you have any recommendations of places to stay (safe for a single lady) and contacts for transportation?

I would really appreciate your input.


Perama provides easy and low-cost transport to many tourist spots in Bali.

Hi TH

Good to know that you have some time off to take in a little bit of Bali on your own. Truly, Bali is to be visited and enjoyed bit by bit, not in a rush.

It is a very safe place to be. Single women or men. You can walk in the dark and there will be people who are willing to give you rides to places without asking for anything back. I have those experiences.

The choice of accommodation and transport are subject to your budget.

These are a few recommendations :

Use taxi - still very affordable, from Kuta to Tanah Lot, about 1 hr journey cost you Rp200,000

Get a bike to go around some nearby places - about Rp50,000 - Rp80,000 per day depends where you are.

Use public transport such as Perama buses, very good and will bring you to many tourist spots. Eg from Kuta to Ubud Rp50,000. And you get 10% off for your next trip to another destination covered by Perama. Ask around, the friendly people in Bali will lead you to their offices.

I had used local public transport (those crankety vans) but the system is kind of chaotic in Bali, although it is the cheapest mode of transport. I paid only Rp2,000 when I left Tanah Lot, but the van dropped me at a junction to hop on another van (which you won't know what time they will appear), get to the main depot, then take another one to Gilimanuk (I had to get to the jetty to cross to Jawa). But if you have the time, try it, it is an experience worth the time spent.

All places to stay are save. They are pretty good with price. When you take Perama buses, there will be small hotel or home owners who will approach you. You can check the room by going with them. If you take the taxis, just ask to be sent to a reasonably priced hotel. I have stayed at clean room with attached bath that cost me only Rp88,000 (in Candidassa with hefty American Breakfast too, cooked by the friendly hotel staff and owners), anything less will not be suitable. I have stayed in Ubud and paying up to Rp120,000 with breakfast. The price really depends on where you are. More touristic, more expensive. I have also stayed in those which is priced like USD70 per room per night.

But really, Bali is very very safe. So is the world!

Hope this helps.

Do feel free to write again.
Have a wonderful trip.

On Regent Street, London

2010-03-28T20:27:00.001+08:00

This is Ted Baker's store at Regent Street. I was so intrigued with the revolving upmarket dressing room in the center of the upper boutique floor that I had to video it to see its effect. I felt like it is a velvet wall carpeted dressing room with 3-side mirrors, well, if I am going to design a dressing room, it should look like this.

Strolling on the streets of London on a cold wintry afternoon, with blue skies is the best past times. There will be streets where you will find most of the bookshops like Foyle, Waterstones, WH Smith and some smaller bookstores that offer spectacular prizes for hard-to-find books. There will also be streets for world-famous musicals like The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and many more.

For anyone who loves Chinese food, just turn another corner and walk into Soho, one of the most colorful China Town in the world. You will find to your amazement the best BBQ pork (charsiew and siewyok) in London (perhaps, better than the ones you have in Hong Kong). And we will never miss our Chinese style comfort food - the best we have been eating so far - the si chew chao hor, kueh teow with black bean paste, lots of colorful peppers and onions. Like the Chinese used to say, it even takes in the smells of the hot wok.

I think you can just spend your entire day just walking around and getting all that you want from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus to Regent Street.

You can find John Lewis departmental store, H & M. Massimo Dutti, National Geographic Society and many more. There is so much to see, eat and do.

I like walking the streets of London. Taking the tube. Just sit in pubs and order food from the bartender. Yes, you get food, real comfort food, from the bartender. It is like a cafe, only that you place you orders at the bar counter.

Loving London evermore each time there. It has the unpretentious acceptance of everything, everyone, everytime. The diversity tolerance is so apparent esp when in the tube. It is like people from all around the globe are on the tube at any one time. There will be 3-5 languages used in conversation during a 30-min journey. And nobody is *(^%$!! about anybody. You can be all that you want to be.

This is one of Apple Store's ongoing workshop sessions in one of the biggest Apple Store I have visited thus far. This is like a theater. The trainer is going through the Garage Band software. I was amazed with the sound effect of this open "theater".

Apple store is packed. I felt like the whole world was there to check out, iPad? The Macbook and iMac are all turned on. We can access internet at every computer as long as we want. And, it is free.

I like these apps icon. So colorful when they are all hung like drapes on the front window.

Notice the transparent staircase leading up the first floor. This Apple Store is huge. The staircase is like a fashion runway, chic and stunning.

Play On, Johann, Play On!

2009-12-22T17:00:00.002+08:00

Long long time ago, when I was still straddling my bike to school, I will come home and hear The Blue Danube played over my late dad's tailor shop. He may have one of the best hi-fi in the 70s. Blaring out hits of western classical music, ironically, influenced through all the Cantonese melodrama of the silver screens. Imagine Patrick Tze Yin with Chan Poh Chu, the golden darlings of the 60s, waltzing to Johann Strauss The Blue Danube.

The melodic expression through the flare of the dancer's gown, the flow of her sweeping sequins, round and round the dancers will go, the rhythm lingers on long long time after.

When I stood in front of Johann Strauss world famous bronx statue in Stadtpark in the city of Vienna, round and round, The Blue Danube, danced in my head.

We stayed in Hilton Vienna Hotel, Stadtpark is situated just across the street from the hotel. Visiting Stadtpark was not in our Insight Tour Eastern Europe tour itinerary. The day we were on the city tour, I was curious to see a group of Asian tourists walking into the Park. I wondered what was so great about the Park that the group made it as their visiting stop. While our bus was moving, I looked across the garden and I could make out the little bronx statue, a figure I was sure I had seen it somewhere. Immediately, I pulled at Peter's sleeve and asked him to look too. And there it was, gleaming in the morning winter sun, the violin on his shoulder, standing rhythmically astute.

I got excited. Since we didn't have time that day, I told Peter we will wake up early the next morning to take a stroll to the park.

Hilton Vienna had one of the best breakfast spread in Europe. Hot breakfast too. We had our noodles (yes, noodles in Vienna, for breakfast, what a joy, coming from Malaysia!) We were very satisfied with Insight Tour. The hotels were top class and close to the city. Walking distance to many exciting shopping malls and interesting sites.

It was freezing in February. But I wanted to see the statue. This was our last day in Vienna, so I better make the best of the time before boarding the city airport train. The train station is strategically situated just in front of the hotel, so making walking everywhere really convenient. (We took Easyjet : London-Vienna-London)

The Park was beautiful, even in winter. I was astonished the statue was small. I always thought that it will be a big one. I think it is maybe 2 feet taller than me if I were to stand beside it on the platform. Nevertheless, it was very inspiring, knowing that a great musician was once forbade by his own father not to play the violin, and his tenacity has turned him into the Waltz King as we know him now.

Amazing photos at Lantau Island, Hong Kong

2009-12-16T22:23:00.004+08:00

As I walked up the 268 steps to the statue, this is a picture taken with Canon IXUS 860IS, 28mm wide angle lens. I captured the offerings by devas to Buddha. And the clouds open up to receive the blessings too. I like this picture. I cropped it and made it into a black and white shot. It gave it the wow factor.

I have been to Lantau Island many times. Each time when I am in Hong Kong, I will take the whole day to just be in Lautau Island. Waking up late, take it slowly, finishing a hefty crunchy beef ball noodles with all the beef's "spare parts". Order myself a tall glass of Hong Kong lady's panty-hose milk tea, which has a distinctive taste that only Hong Kong can create that so far.

Then, take the MRT to Central Pier for the ferry to the Island. Upon reaching, alight a bus that will take almost an hour to reach the foot hill of the world's largest bronx Buddha statue. (About 2 years ago, MRT has extended its service to Lantau Island, but you still need to take the 1-hour bus to the peak.)

From here, it was a full array of inspirational photo taking.

The last trip was exceptionally art-stimulating. There were plenty of flags planted at the Heaven's Altar (Tian Tan). The Heaven's Altar is the smaller version of the one many tourists will visit in Beijing's Forbidden city. The Hong Kong flags made a significant display enhancing the composition of the pictures.

This one I took it standing at the edge of the Heaven's altar looking up at the Buddha statue, accentuating the sky with its peaceful glow.

This is another picture taken as I walked the trail at the Heart Sutra, 38 obelisks planted on the shoulder of Lantau Peak. It is about 20 minutes walk from Po Lin Manastery. It was only open to the public in 2005. I have been there twice. I purposely tint it to orange so that the silhouette of the person sitting on the rock stands out conspicuously. Thus, adding a sense of care-free spirit.

Noah's Ark in Hong Kong

2009-11-25T22:40:00.004+08:00

Noah's Ark has docked in Hong Kong.

Apparently, it is the biggest replica of the biblical famous Ark in the world today. It opened middle of 2009. When I was there end Sept, I just needed to make a trip there to see it myself. Moreover, taking a trip to Ma Wan island (also known in English as Park Island) where it is located, is in itself a breezy weekend walkabout.

There are quaint little shops the moment I got down from the ferry. I took the ferry from Central Pier 2 to Ma Wan Island. On my way back, I realized that taking the ferry from Tsuen Wan is closer to the MRT station and also cheaper. It is HK$20 from Central to Park Island, one-way. From Tsuen Wan, it is only HK$8 one-way.

It was an easy getaway from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong activities, you can stroll freely on the road or just walk by the beach. There are hardly traffic plying the road. I guessed maybe it was a weekday. Many would have left for work.

What I don't understand is the location of the Ark, why is it built almost below the Tsing Yi bridge. It is underneath the highway leading to the airport. Even taking a picture will definitely frame in the bridge in the background.

Felt like Tokyo when in Hawaii

2009-09-12T11:54:00.001+08:00

Waikiki Beach is such a breeze to do a walkabout. The beach is clean, full of shopping malls, beautiful things and people to watch out for. There is also an Apple flagship store just a few yards away from the beach. Imagine going into Apple shop in your Hawaiian blue floral shirt and crocs flip-flop with a straw hat, getting into the grooves of i-this and i-that. The feeling is 500GB vs SPF60, zap on the music and slap on the sunscreen lotion.

Somehow the feeling in Waikiki (not the whole of Honolulu) was not American, it was like walking in the streets of Tokyo minus the population and the neon lights, speaking English but reading Japanese, eating American foods in Hawaii but eavesdrop Japanese chit-chat.

Strange!?

There are more Japanese writings and Japanese people in Hawaii than, I think, anywhere else in the world outside Japan, per sq m space.

For a while, I was confused, was I in Waikiki or on the beach in Odaiba. Everywhere I looked, there were signboards, flyers, buntings, banners etc all in Japanese. At one of the biggest mall in Waikiki - Ala Moana Hawaii Centre, almost all their eatery counters have their signs in foreign language, Korean too.

Nevertheless, the beauty of these clusters of island that formed the archipelago, being so divinely protected exclusively by the Pacific Ocean, is blessed with so many natural wonders. Great place to just unwind and not to worry if you have covered any other places in Hawaii. Being in Honolulu alone is all that is - for the time being!

A Sunday Tea Time Treat - Apple Strudel

2009-09-08T11:11:00.000+08:00

Merdeka holiday was truly relaxing. Sat, Sun and Mon, the traffic in Kuala Lumpur during the holidays was so free. Getting to places within minutes. So easy that I found too much time to spare, even after watching a few shows on TV, ran a few errands and meeting up friends for meals. Then, I decided to bake - hmmmm...., took out some cookbooks, browsed through them and found Apple Strudel. Oh, that was easy, I thought. Got the ingredients and created a perfect Strudel for a Sunday tea time treat.

Since I posted these photos on Facebook, I have received many of my friends asking me for the recipe. So, here goes :

Apple Strudels

4 green cooking apples
30g butter
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup sugar
½ cup sultanas
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
¼ cup ground almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 220℃. Brush two oven trays with melted butter or oil. Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Heat butter in a medium pan; add apples and cook 2 minutes until lightly golden. Add orange juice, honey, sugar and sultanas. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and apples are just tender. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Place a sheet of pastry on flat work surface. Fold in half; make small cuts in folded edge of pastry at 2cm intervals. Open out pastry and sprinkle with half of the ground almonds. Drain away liquid from the apples and place half of the mixture in the center of the pastry. Brush edges with egg and fold together, pressing firmly.
Place strudel on prepared tray seam-side down. Brush top with egg and sprinkle with half of the combined sugar and cinnamon. Repeat process with other sheet and remaining filling. Bake 20-25 minutes or until pastry is golden and crisp.

This is my experience and suggestions :

Puff pastry to be moved from freezer to lower fridge (chill room) to thaw. Remove from fridge only when ready to roll. I took 2 pieces out of the fridge, when one made a perfect strudel, the other had softened so much it was impossible to fold and got sticky too, so it got out of shape. But still taste fantastic.
I took a little longer to make because this was my first time making apple strudel. With this experience, it will be easier the second time. In fact, making this is so easy, within an hour, we can have a mouth-watering dessert with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream. Next time, I can prepare the filling a day before or earlier, then fold it with the pastry, bake it, just perfect for an after-dinner dessert.
Next time, I may try to use other fruits, like pear, instead of apple. Also, freeze dried cranberries instead of sultanas. Yeah, and maybe use more than 1 type of fruits, hmmm...
Instead of putting the strudels on the surface of a baking tray, I placed a piece of aluminum foil on the tray, buttered it and sprinkle with flour, then place the strudels on top. After baking, the strudels can be removed easily and save me from washing the tray, just dispose of the foil.

175 years famous Sacher Torte, Vienna

2009-08-05T17:51:00.002+08:00

Can you imagine having a cake that was made famous in 1832?
People from all over the world still highly recommend it especially when you are in Vienna?
A cake that is famous for 175 years? Unbelieveable.

But I must say, when you are seated in a cafe that reminisce the time of the renaissance, where the Queen has her tea in the garden and pastries are served with “Wiener Melange” (coffee with milk), you know you epitomize the elite group that spurred from the upper lips of the distinguished people who just love fine foods.

When the bus turned into Wien (Vienna as being called in German, which is their official language), our Czech guide told Peter and I that we must try the Sacher Torte, lest we have not set foot in Vienna. It is like saying if you have not tasted asam laksa, you cannot say that you have been to Penang. (Sacher is pronounced sa-her)

It was kind of nice, actually, to alight from the bus and saw Cafe Sacher, which is a hotel that was founded since 1876. I was so fascinated, bewildered somewhat, like everything seems to be in the 18th or 19th century in Vienna. A tiny entrance that has a charming demeanor led us into its cloakroom first. My gosh, they have a cloakroom and a butler who takes our jacket. This service costs us €1 (RM4.50, just like parking your car) per jacket and you must leave it in the cloakroom, jackets are not permitted in the dining lounge.

The Sacher Torte is a soft chocolate cake with apricot jam in the chocolate icing. I am sure there are some secret ingredients that made it to be so world famous and mouth watering. If you buy it off the shelf, it is packed in a wooden box with the Sacher seal for originality. You can buy it at the airport or airflown to your home if you order online.

We wanted to just eat it fresh with “Wiener Melange” and enjoy its hotel ambiance. So, even if the whole Sacher experience costs us about €25 (RM115.00), I must admit that it is uniquely a Franz Sacher's feeling (the 16-year-old young chef who created it 175 years ago). The sweetness and the ingenuity of it will stay at the tip of my tongue for a long long time.

When you are in Vienna, ask every Viennese for the great Sacher Torte, I am sure they will be so glad as to lead you to the famous Hotel Sacher.

10 days in Bali

2009-07-27T15:19:00.000+08:00

Since I come home from Bali, friends were appalled when I told them I was there for 10 days :

"You were alone-ah? Traveling alone, good meh?"
"What did you do, having 10 days in Bali?"
"Bali very small island, what can you do there? 10 days, such a long time."

I was with a group of friends for the first 5 days, then they left and I moved to other parts of Bali on my own.

Bali is a big island compared to Pulau Pinang or Singapore. It is almost 19x the size of Penang Island and almost 9x the size of Singapore. You can find practically everything you want for a great holiday escapade in Bali : trekking, nature walks, mountains, temples, volcanoes, art, shopping, temples, food, organic stuff, temples, biking, cycling, temples, padi fields, 7-star spa resorts, temples, surfing, para-sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, temples......really, everything you want for a good time.

I have been to Honolulu, Hawaii and I was in Kuta, Bali. I would say that what Hawaii is to the West, Bali is offering it to the South Pacific, maybe minus a few G-strings and Biceps. But at a fraction of the cost for Asians, Bali is still the best choice.

I like this description from one of the website about the island which many Balinese are Hindu : "Bali is a society of hamlets clustered around temples. Bali as a culture organism, the villages are its vital organs, and the network of temples its nervous system."

Where did I go in Bali?

Kuta - south : beach resort, sun, sea, water sports, thousands of tourists, constantly jam packed with people, action place.

Ubud - centre : art town, handicraft, creative stuff, organic foods, spa, spiritual activities, yoga, nature walks, great food especially Babi Guling, Bebek Betutu and Bebek Bengil.

Mt Batur - north east : temples, Pura Penulisan, Pura Gunung Kawi (Water Temple), mountainous terrain, restaurants on side of cliffs.

Mt Agung - north east : mountain scenery, cool air, Besakih Temple, lunch en route is best.

Amed - east : beachside resorts, azure sea, hardly anyone around, beautiful beach and lovely villagers.

Mt Lempuyang - east : about 3,000 ft above sea level, a sacred Balinese once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage trek up, with more than 1,000 steps to the summit with 6 temples along the way.

Candidassa - east : beach resort, spa resort, small place but lots of restaurants.

Tanah Lot - south west : temple in the middle of the ocean, great sunset viewing point.

Uluwatu - south : temple perched on a cliff, beautiful sunset and sunrise viewing point.

Sanur, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua - all beachside resorts.

So many things to do in Bali, all alone to enjoy it. Hmmm....so in touch...

Even having breakfast on the beach under a coconut tree, banana pancake with honey, fried egg and coffee + the breeze from the idyllic sea at 7 on a bright and sunny morning, makes it all worthwhile to live.

Quietly, Hear It All - Assisi, Italy

2009-06-14T19:07:00.000+08:00

Winter's sun is always welcome with beaming smiles and wondrous clasp of warmth. Soft glow of shimmering golden brown illumines every path and leads them out of shadow, albeit for the span of a moment in conscious time. It just makes everything seem so sharp and clear, there is not a single detail that escapes its penetration. Like the buds of pansies and violas, that burst out blooming amidst the winter cold. They burst into their glory to become the purple and orange, adding the hope that yes, after all these winter dullness, there are always a mystical charm to look out for miracles in the tiniest works of the Presence. Nothing is by chance.

Winter evening drags a long and wide elongated drape over the facade of the famous Basilica and Convent of St. Francis from the southeast at sunset. It is so quiet, the tranquility sets the tone of heaven, where if you listen intently, you will hear the celestial voices with your senses. The serenity is felt at the level of the heart, where it strides a cord as I recall Dr Wayne Dyer's photo on the cover of his book "There's A Spiritual Solution to Every Problem". He was holding his hands in prayer position, cupping them in front of his mouth, staring out into the realms of all that is. The book is his ingenuity writings based on the famous prayer of St Francis. The thug of the heart string resounded with the chanting of the first verse : Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace....... (Click here to read the entire prayer.)

And there I was, standing at the railing overlooking the Basilica, and felt like Dr Dyer looking out and just felt the openness. I listened to the whispers of the spheres while I took in the golden glimpse of the love emanating from the confluence of a sacred place where a world revered saint spent his life loving what Is.

We just arrived at Assisi, the hometown of St Francis, en route to Venice the next morning. He was born to a wealthy cloth merchant in the 12th century and since then found his "sanity" by forgoing all his wealth and possessions to clear his disillusionment of the world. His renunciation to the Order faced strong family resistance so he was threatened and beaten. Such stories are similar to Prince Siddharta and even in our times, Sai Baba and our most revered Divine Mother, the famous hugging Amma, all went through such times in their younger days where they were all taken as either disillusioned or insane. Well, whichever it is, the divine plans that have been laid out for all of us showed up eventually.

For me, the Plans had me witnessed the sacred places many times without me having to prepare for them. And every time I will return home feeling awe-struck and more aware of the Presence which has all the answers to the purpose of my life.

As I strolled into the medieval town, walking the cobbled stone walkway up to the Chapter House where some of the relics of St Francis were placed. Unfortunately, because I spent so much time watching the sunset over the Umbria region with all the olive trees doting the landscape, I didn't notice that it had very short visiting hours in winter. By the time I went up to the chapel through the town area, I could only take a peak through its grilled windows. The nuns chanted and moved silently inside the chapel and I was told, they were doing the same devotional practice as what St Francis did 9 centuries ago.

The experience was captured and encapsulated in eternity. It has open up more opportunities for me to rest in the feet of the omnipresence and know that all is well. It was like my soul needed to be there at all these sacred places to re-live the lives that were meant to be with full and total awareness of what is present.

It was hush and quiet all the time I was there in Assisi. As tourists, somehow, deep in their soul, even though we have been so used to busyness, making loud noice and rushing around in our daily lives, when in Assisi, the atmosphere was calming, soothing and peaceful, everyone just meditatively slowed down, very infectious indeed. But I know, amidst the tranquility, the Words had been spoken and heard - and deeply cherished!

Visit More Places with One Flight Ticket

2009-06-05T00:28:00.001+08:00

Question :

Is there a cheaper way to fly? How do you cover more places?

Answer :

The way I traveled had always been fun and free. So, even if the places I chose to arrive and then depart were far apart in terms of geographical location, I will eventually find transport and ways to get to the departure point, no matter what. How I get there to the destination, I didn't have a clue, but somehow things always turned up great.

One way to travel, if you have time and many days to spare, is to choose a city to arrive and then choose another city to depart. It may not be a city within the same country, you can choose a city in the neighboring country, for which the same airline flies to.

I have heard of other tourists using a world ticket to cover a few continents making kind of a circle then head home. That may be a better idea too. For me, I do my traveling regularly, it is not just once in a lifetime kind of thing. So, I take my time. Most places I have been back again and again several times, such as India, one of the places in the world that I had been back more than 5 times.

These were just some of my experiences where I took a cheaper way to fly and covered more places as well. If you know of a better way to travel, do share with me too :

India & Nepal

I took Singapore Airlines (SQ) to New Delhi. I covered many places in the northern part of India, such as Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala, New Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, then crossed the border into Nepal on foot. Overland in Nepal, I went to Lumbhini, Pokhara and many more places until finally I arrived at my last destination, ie Kathmandu and took a flight back from there. With such flight arrangement on SQ, I need not head back to New Delhi to take the flight home. Eventhough I paid a little more for the flight, the adventure was worth it.

Indochina

I took a flight to Bangkok. Then took the bus to Nong Khai, the border town where they have now built a Friendship bridge connecting into Vientienne, Laos. When I was there, there were no bridge yet. After covering Vientienne and Luang Prabang, I took a flight from Laos to Ho Chi Minh City. Visited a few places in southern Vietnam, from Ho Chi Minh City up to Dalat and Nha Trang. Later, took a bus to from Ho Chi Minh City to cross the border into Phnom Penh. I was denied exit at the border because Vietnam was not open to free travel yet, everywhere I went, I needed a permit stamp. I did not know that the stamp also indicated my exit point, so I stormed back to Ho Chi Minh City and booked a flight into Phnom Penh. I came back to Bangkok by flight from Phnom Penh and took a flight back to KL from Bangkok.

Now that we have more flights into Indochina and free travel to anywhere in ASEAN countries without having to apply for a visa (I took a visa to Laos and Vietnam then, it was about 16 years ago), I would do it differently.

Australia & New Zealand

I took Qantas then. My flight route was KL-Sydney, stayed a few days in Sydney, then from Sydney to Christchurch. I spent a couple of weeks traversing the South, found my way to Wellington by bus and ferry. Then visited a few places in the North from Rotorua, Auckland up to Paihia, then took a flight from Auckland to Melbourne. Spent a few more days in Melbourne, then Melbourne-KL. One ticket from Qantas covered so many places, and do note that I did not have to go back to the place where I first arrived.

My next trip to Australia, my flight route was KL-Melbourne, Brisbane-KL. I covered Tasmania as well, then took a flight from Hobart to Brisbane, cost about AUD110 one-way.

Europe

I like to stay in London. So, for many trips, I will choose to stop in London and have a few nights there to go to Theatreland. It would be cheaper now to fly to London, after that proceed to other destinations in Europe. Example : I took a one-way Singapore Airlines flight to Rome, toured many places in Italy, then took Easy Jet (for cheap flights in Europe, try easyjet.com or ryanair.com) from Rome to London. That would have been under ₤25 one-way. Then, I took one-way London-KL flight home on SQ again. I may have paid RM300 more to Singapore Airlines for this arrangement but I saved returning to Rome.

A few years back, I took MH flight KL-London-KL. Stayed a few days in London, then took an easyjet flight London-Vienna-London for under ₤55. I found that it was cheaper to fly than to take the train.

Indonesia

My flight route was KL-Denpasar, Yogyakarta-KL. It was cheaper to take a flight this way, I paid less airport tax in Yogya compared to Denpasar. I traveled from Bali to Mt Bromo by ferry then by bus. From Mt Bromo, I went to Yogya on a van which took almost 14 hours. I visited Borobudur the next day and stayed there for 2 nights. Then came back to Yogya and took a flight from Yogya to KL. Thus, saving me the trip back to Bali. There is cheap flights within Indonesia too, you can book it through mandalaair.com

America

I had taken SQ flight to San Francisco, then out Los Angeles, same price, no extra charge. There are plenty of cheap flights in the USA, so getting around is fairly easy. The best I got was on Korean Air this year 2009. My flight route was :

KL-Seoul (on Korean Air) - 5 hours connecting flight
Seoul - Chicago (on Korean Air) - stopover 1 night at no extra charge
Chicago - Orlando (Delta Air) - stayed there 5 days and went to Disneyland
Orlando - Alabama (Delta Air) - stayed a week, paid extra
Alabama - Honolulu (Delta Air) - stayed for 5 days and did a local tour
Honolulu - Seoul (Korean Air) - stopover 1 night at no extra charge
Seoul - KL (Korean Air) - beautiful, just had a splendid holiday.

There was one year I took a flight KL-Newark-KL and back for under RM6000 including 6 days bus tour to New York, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Buffalo (Niagara Falls), no meals but 5 nights accommodation at 5-star hotels provided too. After that tour, I crossed to Canada through Buffalo, via Toronto to Windsor (southern city connecting Detroit). Then, re-entered USA via Detroit, went to Alabama, back to New York to take the flight home.

Purple Nostalgia 紫之忆

2009-05-17T19:52:00.003+08:00

突然想看看以前拍的照片。二十年里所收集的照片真的好多，应该有超过一万张吧。已经注入电脑里的都超过五千张了。以前我用的底片都是专业摄影师拍的那些幻灯片。因为没有存好，所以很多张幻灯片都已经聚了霉菌。

当时玩相机，只是嗜好而已，不过却好认真。去游玩时都会不屈不挠的背著一款那时蛮先进的NIKON 801s, 附带一个 20mm 和一台 28－75mm 的镜头，一个 polarizer, 可以用来把自然的色素线条调净的一种镜框。游山玩水时还扛著一个三脚架，背包里还装著二十卷的菲林。背包好重，可是锺爱摄影的那种心得总是把背包的重量无意间减得好轻。就这样的走遍了好多个国家，喝了好多种咖啡，温暖了无数了阔的心扉，把视野也加深了那种菜根谈的透视，心宽了，思维四海为导因，人生的脚步也如云一般轻松自在的遨游，好写意。

The storm had begun. The torrential rain beating the zinc roof with such force it was deafening. The strong hustling wind whistled through the gaps in-between the wooden houses. They were built on stilts in the middle of the ocean. It shook them so much the houses rattled to its forces. But these were houses built with strong arms and centuries of nomadic experiences. They stood the test of times and of all that weather condition off the coast of Semporna. It is a tiny fishing village in Sabah, which is also the gateway to the world renowned dive site of Pulau Sipadan.

The Sulu Sea continued to roar with the rolling waves, hitting the stilts just below the master bedroom. Between the gaps of the wooden planks that made up the floor, the sound of the waves pushing the sampan against the column was eerie to some, but it was melodic nevertheless. It was pitch dark, nobody was moving. The wind continued to howl, as if there was a terrible thing had happened and nature was mourning its lost. The windows were well shut, but through the cracks, the rain seeped in and licked the wood as if eating up its grains.

Strangely, I felt safe. Amidst all the howling, the rocking and the sound of the wind, in the darkest time of the night, I actually felt cuddly and warm. I was given the best room in the wooden stilt house of a family of 9 members who were the descendants of the nomadic sea gypsies called the Bajau Laut people. The head of the family, who was the father, brought me here to stay with them while I used his boat exclusively for my seafaring trip around the isles off Semporna.

I was offered his master bedroom, the only room in the whole house, for a few days. As it happened, it rained the night and I was enjoying the lullaby while I cuddled into my sleeping bag.

The next morning, I witnessed the most wonderful scene. The water retreated a little and right outside the window, a man with sun-drenched skin and a body of muscle hugging stature, carried a long wood, I guessed it was meant for fishing, straddling it across the sea water. All the houses were built on the ocean floor, so when the tide was high, people who walked in the water looked as if they were walking in the middle of the ocean.

It was one of those memorable scenery caught on film. And many of these fantastic shots are made available in my picture stocks with Picture Library, a company who stocks my pictures and offer the copyright to publishing companies. These are some of my grade AAA pictures taken throughout my earlier years of traveling with Fuji Velvia films and a Nikon 801s camera. I carried a tripod, 2 camera lens, a 20mm and a 28-75mm lens. Stuffing up my rucksack were 20 rolls of slides, each with more than 36 exposures and a polariser.

Those were some jaw dropping beautiful pictures I took when I was in Ho Chi Minh City, Semporna, Jugra, Mt Kinabalu, Miri National Park and Angkor Wat. These have been converted from slides to digital. They are available for viewing at Picture Library's website.

Looking back at some of the pictures, I am appalled by the artistic drape of the whole composition of my camera works. It is always astounding to look back at some of the wonderment of my creativity. Also, to reminisce the many places where I had been. The feeling is nostalgic.

重新再看一些以往的摄影著作，真的好惊讶我那时候拍照的心情。可以那么自在的拿著相机，脑海里立刻浮现一个美丽的画面，用相框把视线内的真实框在一个图画里。把生活美化留影。

很遗憾的是，好多的照片不是被霉菌侵蚀了，就是电脑失灵导致全部软件受毁，包括了我所有的照片。所可以挽救的照片历历可数，还蛮好的了, 失而复得。原來的路途雖然跋涉了千里，心情的留步，如今又有照片回憶，是褔吗？褔亦富也。

Soups Recipes

2009-05-09T16:33:00.000+08:00

It is very comforting to come home to a bowl of creamy hot soup, especially when it is pouring outside, cold and wet. After a hot shower, while drying your hair, someone serves you a bowl of steaming hot soup, that will be so warm, for the heart as well as to satisfy your gastronomical desires.

Soup is one of the easiest food to make, fast, light and yummy. If you don't fancy having heavy dinner, do soups.

All my recipes, I modified them from various cookbooks. After making a few rounds, I sort of know how much ingredients I need, what to add, how it will taste if I add this and that. Cooking make me feel like a magician, an alchemist actually, putting things together and create great foods that activate all my 5 senses in one seating :

• see the colors of the ingredients,

• feel the texture of the ingredients,

• smell the natural fragrance of the fresh ingredients,

• taste the ingredients and lastly,

• listen while the ingredients simmer, crack and cook.

Isn't it fascinating? It is really very therapeutic and very meditative to me when I cook.

Lets start by making a simple stock for almost all types of soups. It can be frozen in a 2-cup pack to be used anytime. Sometimes, you don’t even need to thaw the stock, just put in the whole frozen stock into a pot with all the other ingredients, it will melt with the heat.

Chicken Stock

Ingredients :

• 2 big Chicken carcass (or meat if you prefer)

• 2 big onions (with skin)

• 2 big carrot (no shredding, leave skin)

• Few stalks of celery (with leaves)

• Few peppercorn

• 4 liters of water

Clean the chicken carcass and put into a 4-liter pot. Add in all the ingredients without cutting them unless they are too long to fit the pot. Bring to a boil. Then lower the flame to simmer for 4 hours.

Leave to cool. Remove and dispose of all the ingredients. Holding on to a filter, scoop about 2-cup into a plastic bag. Seal them properly and freeze. Makes about 5 packs.

Now, lets see how we use it for some great comfort soups, ie, Pumpkin soup and French Onion Soup.

Pumpkin Soup

1 kg pumpkin
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 onion, chopped
some garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/3 cup coconut milk or yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

I learnt from a cookbook to cut the pumpkin into quarter, brush it with some oil and bake it in the oven. This way, the pumpkin is softened and I can just scoop the flesh with a spoon.

Add pumpkin, stock, water, onion, garlic and cumin. Bring to the boil, about 15 mins. Leave it to cool. Transfer to a blender and process. Return mixture to pot, add coconut milk or yogurt, heat up and serve. (I prefer using yogurt and I garnish it with chopped cilantro to serve.)

French Onion Soup

4 large onions (yellow ones are better, slice them thinly)
60g butter
1 cup water
4 cups chicken stock (in fact beef stock may taste better)
a few slices baguette
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Melt butter in a pan and cook the onions.

Add water and bring to the boil or until the onions are tender.

Add stock, simmer for 5 mins.

Grill baguette slices on both sides. Top with grated cheese, grill until cheese has melted.

Place toast in soup bowl and spoon soup over the top.

I like these soups because they are so easy to make. They make hearty meals too, just add garlic rolls to go with pumpkin soup and toss some salad.

Wallah......! Dinner is ready.

Lake St Clair, Tasmania

2009-05-03T18:33:00.002+08:00

For about a ¼ of my life, I have camped out in the wilderness, really!

It is amazing how I got into camping and love to just touch the trees, marvel in between the pin-like leaves a dollop of rhododendron stretch themselves to reach the sky and watching the clouds pass all over my body at 7k feet above sea level. While I cook my dinner in a leech infested campsite, I can still silently listen to the river flows and where fishes grow to more than a foot long. I can walk in the rain and enjoy the drench of a mix between water from the sky with the mist from the moisture-laden montane forest, while clattering my teeth through the coldness of the wild. Sometimes it gets so cold that plunging myself into the river may be the better way to blend in the temperature. And when the sun is up, I find to my delight, a bed of Blue Lobelia growing in abundance, that would have added up to all the excitement for a tough long-hour trekking day.

Nature is always enticing and leaves me awestruck. While walking through a thick and dense montane forest, I can stare closely into all the little dew droplets hanging absorbingly onto a bunch of drooping mosses - and see my own face, in every droplet! It is so clear like a million mirrors hanging in the garden of Eden, I gasp over the clear untainted reflection, and what do I do? Well, reflect.....

The TassieLink bus with just a few of us onboard from Launceston, stopped at Lake St Clair Park , I looked out the window and saw the trees, I knew I had to alight. There was a pull, a strange feeling that I got to have it - a night in the park.

In the morning, I took the bus from Launceston TassieLink Bus Station, the bus was to head for Hobart via Lake St Clair. I thought that I had enough of the camping sites in Tasmania, I was ready to hit more urban cities instead, so even though I read a little about Lake St Clair, I wasn't that drawn to stay there. But somehow, the bus stopped at the Park Centre to pick up passengers. For the 10-min stop, I took a stroll to the nearby pavilion and I was hooked. I could sense that wilderness calling again, that raw, undisguised and unconcealed connection to mother, her gentleness in the air and her taming of the trees and her calmness in the water ....... oh, I got to stay here for the night.

Quickly, I went into the Park Centre and found that there were cabins available with a bed for me, I ran out to the bus, told the driver my intention, collected my rucksack from underneath, went back to the Centre and paid for the cabin room booking immediately.

It took me a few minutes to walk to my cabin over at the bank of the lake. The place was like a huge camping ground where all the amenities were built around the dorm area. It felt like a self-sustaining village with water supply, bathrooms, kitchen with most of the kitchen utensils and cooking equipment. The cabin had 2 double deck bunk beds, for 4 tenants. The cabins were laid out like those squatters long-house in KL. The kitchen was adjacent to the cabins, while the bathrooms were situated farther away.

It was chilly when sun down. With the toilet situated so far away from my cabin, I had to get up and walk to the toilet in the middle of the night. I climbed down from my bunk bed, put on a fleece, with my eyes half open, wasn't something I like to do if it weren't of my full bladder. Then, walked out quietly because it was so tranquil you can even hear your bunkmate's breathing, the whole place was well-lit so I could find my way even in my sleepiness. But it was the walk to the toilet that jolted me out of my sleepy head when I realized that in the dark, the Lake came to life in its mysticism and magic. I stood like a midget under those mighty trees, they twiddled softly to the gentle breeze, like fiddling something. I put my hands in my fleece pockets and for a while, I stood there and listened, and felt the quietness that was both alluring and seductive. The serenity led me back to my bed and I slept like a prince - it was the 1st day of the Chinese Lunar New Year 2007, and I had a comfortable bunk bed to sleep on!

The next morning, I was up very early to take my time to sit at the lakeside. Doing nothing, just sat on a fallen log, think of nothing, just be the lake, and feel nothing but mother, the one who embraces all her creations.

Then, I thought I will have a scrumptious breakfast. I packed up and walked back to the Park Centre where the restaurant was serving buffet continental breakfast at AUD12 with free flow of coffee. So, I had 2 cups of yogurt, 2 slices of bread with fresh jam and a box of cereals.

The cabin was AUD25 per person per night. Hot shower was available by inserting a coin token into the shower heater. The token was AUD1, available from the booking counter. I was given only 1 token when I checked in, so I can take one hot shower for 5 minutes after I slot in the token. The heater will automatically turn off after 5 minutes. Well, someone who did not take a bath gave me her token before she left, ahem.....so, that gave me a free hot shower the next morning, so so blessed, got hot shower........!

My Future, Epcot Centre, Orlando

2009-04-26T21:41:00.000+08:00

The other day we walked towards our right where the bus stopped to Disney World where we boarded the monorail into the happiest place on earth. Now, as we alighted from the bus, we walked towards the left wing of the huge car parking space which apparently can fill up to 10,000 cars at any one time. Looking up, I saw the sign to Epcot Centre, I followed it all the way through its covered walkway. It took us quite a while to walk the distance before I could slot in my ticket for validation to enter into the Centre.

As I retrieved my ticket and put it back safely into my slingbag, I looked up and was immediately thrown into an awe-inspiring gasp as a huge mammoth steel structure that resembled a round ball the size of a 15-storey building filled up my vision. As I walked closer and read the inscription, I then realized that I can actually get inside for a ride, I got this description from its website :

"Spaceship Earth Attraction is a 16-minute omnimover ride through time and space for Guests of all ages that features approximately 20 elaborately detailed, Audio-Animatronic show scenes that depict the stirring story of human connection and collaboration over 40,000 years—from the dawn of recorded time to the 21st century's internet age."

It was exciting when the omnimover rotated, moved forward and stopped. I didn't expect my "cart" to move backward too, we had all this mind-swirling movements while the omnimover was moving upwards sometimes at an almost 30° slope. But the speed was slow so it was bearable, unlike "The Mummy" experience I had at the Universal Studio, well, that will be our story another time.

During the ride, this was what happened :

"Spaceship Earth Attraction omnimover vehicles—dubbed time machines—are equipped with interactive touch screens that ask you how you would like to live, work and play in the world of tomorrow. Utilizing image capture and face recognition technology, you can then enjoy a glimpse of your potential future self at the end of the attraction."

And that was how this animation was produced. I didn't know that there will be such a video. I was only asked to click a few buttons when I was on the omnimover, so I did. It was so stunning that our faces were captured, recorded and was produced in such a witty story of my future. And yes, those themes were selected by me.

Most of the attractions which are closer to the entrance has futuristic theme, while the rest adopted features from Disney famous movies such as Finding Nemo and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, but they shrunk all the audience instead, me included.

There is also a special attraction where they have built a big part of the park to house a few pavilions bringing in the style, culture and the designs of the buildings to the likes of the those found in such countries like Japan, China, Mexico, France, Germany and many parts of Europe. Not only can we marvel at the designs of the "city", we can even taste the "local" foods at each of the pavilion too. Even the people who are in charge of the respective pavilions dress up like its country's unique culture. So, when you walk into any of the pavilion, you feel as if you are already in that country. Very ingenious!

Cape Town, South Africa

2009-04-13T22:12:00.005+08:00

I did not plan to go to South Africa at all.

I went to Kenya a few years back, so I thought I will go to some other continents instead. But that year I could not get a ticket to somewhere, I forgot which country. I put in my reservation a few months before but still no good news. My travel agent told me just 2 weeks before the holidays that the chances of getting a ticket was slim, would I want to consider another destination. Wow, just 2 weeks before I took off from work and no flight ticket?

When I was running my Interior Design business a decade ago, to travel during Chinese Lunar New Year was a better choice. We usually closed for more than 10 days. Those were the long holidays where people in the industry will not want to start work unless the construction work was strictly urgent. Most of us will just laze around and have reunion meals over and over for all the 15 days of celebration.

So, just 2 weeks before the holidays began and I have no flight ticket! In desperation, I told my travel agent to just let me know which was the destination that I could book within that short time. She mentioned Johannesburg - I said OK. Yes, just OK and picked up a Singapore Airline's ticket a few days later and off I went.

No planning, did not know where to go, did not know where to stay, I didn't know anything about South Africa apart from the word "Apartheid", which was abolished long before I was there in 1999.

I didn't even know there is a place called Cape Town until the plane landed in Johannesburg.

It was 5.10 in the morning when I arrived at Johannesburg International Airport. I got my visitor entry visa at the custom check-point at the airport. When I walked out to the Arrival Hall, to my delight, I found that there were so many brochures and pamphlets giving me details about where to go and what to see. That was my first time reading about Cape Town. I was fascinated by just looking at the photographs and the beautiful places that were depicted in those travel materials.

I thought I would rather be in Cape Town first before exploring the capital. So, immediately I went over to the counter to check on the next flight to Cape Town. Then next thing I knew, I was in Cape Town, touched down at 4.30pm on the same day. In fact, when I came home, I realized that if I could have checked, I would have a stopover on SQ flight to Cape Town via Johannesburg instead, that could have saved me some cash. Anyway, it turned out to be all good!

Traveling in South Africa is a breeze. The travel industry here is robust. There are plenty of local tours to choose from if you do not want to go anywhere on your own. Even looking for places to stay is easy. All you need to do is to pick up a brochure from anywhere in the city, call the number and someone will either meet you or pick you up to the hotel/dorm of your choice. It is not cheap to stay in Cape Town or anywhere in South Africa, a bed may cost you about RM33 a night in a room with 4 bunk beds, so 8 to a room or sometimes more, shared bath and kitchen. (I have stayed in rooms that only cost me USD1 in Nepal, even a motel room in USA with a king-size bed, TV with HBO, a fridge and a microwave oven with attached bathroom, cost only USD18.99 for 2. So, paying anything above RM20 for a bed is considered high price when I go on a backpacking trip.)

Cape Town is one of the world's most beautiful city. Look at Cape Town with its bay stretching to cover the whole city, a breathtaking view half way up to Table Mountain. Certainly one of the most captivating city that I have been. I would love to go back one day.

Look at the Table Mountain in the middle of the town, isn't it majestic, alluring yet so romantic, especially when you sit in the park with a sandwich and a cappuccino, lining its contour with your vision, coloring it with your breath and smoothen it with the tip of your finger while finishing it up with the color of blue and make it stand out sharper. Then, you take a few steps back and marvel at The Creation, and heave a sigh of pride that leaves you spellbound for years to come.

Going up Table Mountain is a must-do when you are in Cape Town. You can either hike up or take the cable car. When you ascend or descend, the interior of the cable car can rotate 360° so wherever you stand, you can take in the whole view of Cape Town. Incidentally, there are only 2 such rotating cable car in the world, the other one is at Mount Titlis in Switzerland. I had been on that Mount Titlis cable car too.

Well.....that is my Cape Town I remember fondly.

And then there is Penguin in South Africa, did you know that? They are smaller but they are cuddly. They lay themselves out in the sun at a place called Boulders Beach. You can take a 1-day tour out of Cape Town to Cape Point and back while you stopover to have a closer look at the penguins at Boulders Beach. It is a very nice drive especially with the perfect weather and perfect temperature as what Cape Town can offer. The scenery throughout the journey is spectacular, you wouldn't want to take a nap lest you will miss some of Nature's best creation.

More about my South Africa trip, read about my camping at Krueger National Park .

Nice, France - nice, just nice...

2009-03-30T18:07:00.000+08:00

If Paris is considered the northern part of France, then Nice (pronounced Nis) is definitely can be considered the south. It has a Mediterranean climate, so you can watch people flying kites in winter. It is breezy and very soothing to just walk along the road, watching the soft rolling waves with stories they carried with them those thousands of years. (Our hotel room was just one street behind this beach front.)

After going on the long and winding road to the French Riviera, taking a breather as we stayed a night in Nice was indeed a wonderful choice. It is because when I was in Nice, I needn't do anything, it was just relaxing, soothing, just enjoy, no fuss, breezy, lullaby, yeah, that kind of wanting to just sit and do nothing, or can't even think of anything else to do.

There was practically nothing else to do except to eat and shop. Lafayette is also in Nice, as big if not bigger than the one in Paris. People thronged the 5- (or is it 6-?) storey high shopping mall throughout its opening hours. It was packed. People were everywhere, from the sidewalk stalls selling leather bags to silk scarfs to all sort of wine bottle corkscrew opener. Just amazing how the wine-drinking people really sit down and think of all the ways to pull the cork out of the wine bottle, some creations were astounding.

The sidewalk cafes and the restaurants served lots of seafood. I observed many people eating many types of shellfish over a steaming black pot, they have another smaller black pot for them to dispose of the empty shells. But I guess, if it were here in Asia, we would have lots of variety, maybe we would have cooked it teochew style, or fry them with belachan or dipped the shellfish into our hot chilly sauce. Or maybe because all the seafood here in Nice were fresh, so it was best eaten by just slightly steaming them over hot water. Moreover, it was winter, so I guess a hot soup base seafood can stay hot longer outdoors.

I like walking in the local market to see their local produce. There were rows and rows of flowers, especially Lavender.

Lavender somehow takes on a suppleness as if you were cuddled in a thousand thread satin bedsheet, smooth and sleepy. Yawn yawn yawn......with the lullaby from the sea in Nice, you sleep in perfect lavender sanctuary so safe you will forever have sweet dreams.

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi

2009-03-24T23:27:00.000+08:00

I was just lucky, I guess, to have such a wonderful weather when I was in Hanoi in November last year. Bach told me that they just had a week of flood, over knee-high water covered the whole of Hanoi after a continuous rainfall for days. It took the cityhall almost a week to clear the debris and mud that flooded the city. Cars were damaged and so were properties.

When I arrived, it was just a week of settling down after the flood. Everything seemed normal to me, if I was not told of the flood, I wouldn't have known. I did notice mud on the sidewalks, but that was like some leftover from construction sites. I was surprised when Bach told me about nature's onslaught.

Hanoi seems to be so resilient to a lot of going-ons or had-beens. And yet so humble and hard-working. It was really relaxing sitting beside Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword) while watching so many people also sitting around enjoying the peace albeit the noise of traffic around it. Everyone was doing something but I did not feel the busy-ness. Someone will approach me and tried to chat me up asking questions, speaking good English, about where I was from, what do I do, where do I lived, what is it like in Malaysia, and finally asking if I would like to get some of his books and postcards. I often like to talk to these sales people, I like the sincerity in them, I like the way they approach a sales and I also like the way they ask questions. They were so friendly, they were really interested to know about me as I would be interested to know about them too. I will look at the products, if I want to, I will buy but if I do not want them, I will just politely decline. The conversation was always smooth and no hassle. Anyway, I always welcome sales talk, I really like to just listen with an open heart, there is always something I can learn from the person who sits in front of me.

I sat at Hoan Kiem Lake overlooking the Tortoise Tower which has its remnant in the middle of the lake. The weather stayed between a cooling 20℃ to 28℃, a perfect temperature to sit outdoor. They have planted a lot of willow trees all around the lake, some have bent so low, they almost touch the water. The willows take to the flow of the wind and just sway softly along as if that is what they are there to do - all day long, just dance to the mischievous play of the wind.

I just sat beside the lake and read Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage". Looking up occasionally to see people walking past and enjoying tea and having lunch everywhere beside the lake. I was impressed with the way Hanoi has built itself to be like a garden city where their citizens can come out to sit and play in the open. I guess we did not have that here in KL, no wonder the scene of people having food in a group at Hoan Kiem Lake fascinated me so much.

Just walking around the lake will bring you to the island-temple known as Ngoc Son Temple, very picturesque footbridge. I did not go in because I was more captivated with the scenery outside the temple. It was founded in the 14th century.

Bach told me later that the Vietnamese don't actually have a religion. So, I said what are they praying in the temples here in Hanoi. He said they are just praying to the ancestors. So, their ancestors become their "god", and this is passed down through generations. As far as he knows, there has never been a good teachings of Buddhism although Christianity has taken root after the war.

And I also learnt another thing, the people have to pay for education in Vietnam. I told Bach that in Malaysia, education is free from 7 years old onwards until we are 18 if we choose to stay on to study. Aren't we a fortunate lot to be Malaysians?

And then, more Pho for me. This was the first bowl of Pho when I arrived in Hanoi after getting the train ticket to SaPa. I sat down for something to eat. Looking around me, almost everyone ordered the same bowl of noodle. Since I could not communicate, I pointed to the bowl of noodle the person in front of me was eating, and then raised my index finger to show that I wanted 1 bowl. The shopowner nodded his head. A few minutes later, I was served a delicious clear soup Pho with duck meat. I asked the person sitting in front to take a photo of me eating Pho. Hahaha, tried to make friend while eating.

This last photo showed that these are all the "luggage" I had for my 5-day trip to Hanoi, SaPa and BacHa. A small pack and a sling bag. Oh yes, and my Somerset Maugham's engaging read.

SaPa, Vietnam - I don't know but everything was given

2009-03-21T17:07:00.005+08:00

I have so many travel stories to tell, looking through my photos, I sometimes have no idea where to start. Which story to tell first or which photos to show first. By the time I scroll through my photos, the pang of writing has gone.

But today, I told myself I must write something. So, I thought of my Hanoi trip and I want to share with you the way I travel putting all my trust and faith in the power that moves the clouds and stops the rain.

I was given a free ticket from Citibank to travel to 4 places, ie Guangzhou, Hanoi, Krabi and Bangkok. But I can only choose 1 destination. Until today, I still do not know how I got the free ticket from Citibank, I do not hold a Citibank-AirAsia Credit Card so I got no clue how it arrived but I wrote a letter of gratitude to Citibank for the generous offer. Thank you once again!

I chose Hanoi because I have been to all the other 3.

As you can see already, traveling is Me. I live, breathe, travel. So, after coming back from Bali, after about 2 weeks traversing the length of Bali to Jogja in July, I said to myself last year 2008, that I will perhaps rest for a while before embarking another long journey to USA in January 2009. But as my destiny has it set, a free ticket arrived in the mail in late September for me to take flight again. I said YES, of course, and immediately called to confirm my travel to Hanoi in mid-November. I can do so because I need not apply for leave or wait for my leave to be approved, that's the best part of my life - freedom!

And with freedom, there comes the trust and faith in all things possible.

No itinerary, no plans, don't know where to stay, don't know where to go, don't know what to do, don't even want to find out how to get from the airport to town etc. But when I told friends I had confirmed my trip to Hanoi, most of them kept recommending that I must go to SaPa.

"Aiyoh, you must go to SaPa, many people, even the locals, told us that it is a very nice place to go."

"So, did you go there?"

"No-lah, we have not enough time, but I heard verr-ry nice, go-lah! Next time when I go to Hanoi again, I will have more days, then I will go to SaPa."

So, I hear ye, I hear ye. Where is SaPa? Don't know. How to get there? Don't know. Where to stay? Don't know.

I did not even check online or try to find out more details. I just took the flight ticket, went on board and knew that the pilot will know how to fly the plane to land safely in Noi Bai International Airport.

There I was, arrived safely in Hanoi on a beautiful Friday 14 Nov 2008. Breezy, cool and dry weather, temperature about 20℃, just excellent. I found to my delight there was a local bus direct to town at only VND25,000 (RM6) one-way.

While I was on the bus, I tried to ask for direction to the train station. I just remembered someone told me that to go to SaPa, I can go by train. But, where is the train station? Don't know. So, I got to find out, but nobody spoke English on the bus, not even the girl who was supposed to be the "Customer Service Officer". She could speak a little English, so little that she did not know the word "train". Somehow, I knew she understood me but she could not verbalize her thoughts, she tried to explain, speaking in Vietnamese, I looked at her, blank. Oh, my lord. Now, I did not even know where to alight. I kept watching for sign. I looked to the rear of the bus and saw some Caucasian backpackers, I thought I will ask them later or where they stopped, I will alight with them too. But I kept watch on the "Train Station" signage, nowhere in sight. The bus kept going......

Finally, the group of backpackers with their inseparable Lonely Planet Guidebook started moving to the front of the bus, the bus stopped and they all started to alight, I quickly straddled forward and alighted the bus with them, thinking that they may be looking for the train station too and I can go with them. The Vietnamese girl waved frantically at me, I looked at her while the bus was about to move away. She kept waving at me and kept muttering in Vietnamese. I sensed something was not right. I just knew that she was trying to tell me that that was not the stop to go to the train station. I was in a dilemma, I looked at the bus inching to move on and I looked at the Caucasian backpackers, I quickly threw them a question whether or not they are looking for the train station, they replied no. I got it, I jumped back onto the bus again. Thanks to the girl!

Wow, that was an adventure by itself. I got down from the bus finally, thanking the young woman who so kindly helped me to stay put in the bus. Even though she did not give me the direction, she had just started off my trip in Hanoi with the most pleasant and sweet charm of her smile.

I went into a hotel close to where the bus stopped and when I asked for the direction to the train station, I was given a name card with Hanoi city map printed at the back. The woman at the counter roughly indicated where the railway station is, I used that small name card and found it, after walking for about 1 hour, asking several people on the way there.

I got into Hanoi at 9am, walked to the railway station and got a 9.55pm train ticket to SaPa on the same day. So, what am I to do for 12 hours? I just walked in the city until I boarded the train that night.

The train stopped at Lao Cai the next morning at 6am, a border town that has a custom check point into China. The train ticket cost VND98,000 (RM26) one-way on a hard-seat coach. After arriving in Lao Cai, I needed to take a van (taxi) to SaPa which is another 40km into the mountainous route leading to the villages of the northern Vietnam minority tribes. I paid VND40,000 (RM10) for the taxi fare. Later, I saw the locals paid only VND30,000 (RM8).

But then, this is where the power that moves clouds and stop rain started to put the pieces together. On the van, I befriended 2 very friendly young Vietnamese men, Bach (pronounced Back) and Ha. As we begin to know each other better, I learnt that Bach means "One Hundred" in Vietnamese and Ha means "The River". So, suddenly I was sent One Hundred Rivers, it may mean 100 ways to whatever....

It was a miracle to have Bach and Ha coming into the van at 7am, sat beside me and we started to chat. By the way, just think of it, how many people in Vietnam (minus all the travel guides) whom you meet can converse well in English? And who turned up in my life? Bach.

He spoke perfect English and fluent too. Both Bach and Ha were going to SaPa to do photography. They loved to take photographs as a hobby. It was a weekend, so both of them got together for a weekend photo outing to SaPa, and.........I happened to meet with them.

I ended up sharing a room with them, VND160,000 (RM42) for a room, so each paid about VND53,500 (RM13). We became buddies, we walked around SaPa together, I got myself an interpreter too, for Bach is an excellent buddy. And Ha just loves to laugh together.

I had a great time, we had great meals together, I followed them to BacHa, another village-town famous for its Sunday minority tribes market. Now, I don't know BacHa, I have never read about it, but I got to go there because of them.

Bach and Ha came back to Hanoi one day earlier while I stayed on in BacHa. When I got back to Hanoi, I arrived in Hanoi at 6am, I had until 7pm to catch my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. Bach and Ha asked me to call them when I was back in Hanoi. I did. And both of them, each on a motorbike, took me to eat the best original Pho (pronounced as Fer) in Hanoi. They zig-zag through the streets of Hanoi and after about 15 minutes ride, we ordered 3 bowls of large Pho in an old noodle shop I-don't-know-where but with unbeatable taste of Beef Pho!

Pho is usually served with thinly-sliced beef or beef balls in clear soup with rice noodles strips that taste like kuay-teow but much softer. Oh.....best.

And ...... being photographer themselves, they took my picture. Ohhhh......such a great picture of me eating Pho in authentic Vietnamese style.

We had a really extraordinary bond, all 3 of us. Like we had been in each other space before. We talked about so many things, we sipped tea at the roadside like the Vietnamese do while we chat. It was just wonderful.

We kept in touch through email. And here I extend to Bach and Ha my sincere hands clasped in the strength of fath for the most unforgettable bond of friendship!

Now, who could have put all these together for me? Hmmmm.....I wonder.

I don't know...

Disney Magic Kingdom - the happiest place on Earth

2009-02-01T01:02:00.067+08:00

This is truly the happiest place on Earth. When I first heard about Disney World many years back, I thought, well, it is just another theme park. Then, 5 years ago, I went to Disney World in Tokyo and I had my first taste about this magic kingdom. I had a great time then. I did not, however, felt that much of the well-known caption - the happiest place on Earth, the "happy" and "magical" feeling as how Walt Diney put it somehow wasn't ticklish enough. I just enjoyed myself nevertheless. It was very cold in Tokyo when I was there. I had my thick jacket and all those clothing on while I ran around going through all the rides and games and 3-D visual shows.

This time I wanted to experience the BIG one, where everyone seems to tell me that if you have been to the Theme Parks in Orlando, you would have seen it all. Well, I wouldn't say that, I still want to go to the one in Hong Kong, because I believe each has its own uniqueness and magic.

But I would really want to say that in Orlando, the 3 theme parks I chose to visit for 3 consecutive days, were huge. The magnitude of the theme parks blew me away. I couldn't imagine how big that could be, but having so many theme parks here in Orlando, that has made it the city of the world's greatest theme parks, no doubt about it.

I walked and played so much the 1st and 2nd day, by the 3rd day, I was almost worn out. So tired. Imagine being in the adrenaline flow beginning on day 1 starting off at 7am, back in the hotel by 11pm. Then, start all over again the next day. It was like magic overdose. So, the 3rd day, I kinda paced myself and not get over excited. Well, that being said, you see, I cannot not get excited over all the games and the rides, because they were all so visual. They got into all my senses. How can I not get into it when I was enclosed in a space shuttle while I zoomed into light years riding my life zig-zagging into the meteorites and crash landed on Mars, that was senses stampede!

The first day, I chose Disney Magic Kingdom, with all the fairy tales with Mickey and Minnie inviting us into the park at 9am, its opening hour. The 2nd day, I chose Epcot Centre (the one with the huge Clobe), the futuristic city where I get to go into all the things we could think of in this millennia. Then, the 3rd day, I chose Universal Studio, where all the movies came to life, especially surviving the tornado in the movie Twister.

At the Universal Studios, we met with one of our favorite characters, the zany Simpsons. They even have an exhibition and a lot of memorabilia for the first lady of comedy of the sitcom "I Love Lucy" fame.

Before I signed up for this package, the travel agent suggested taking the 7-day 5 theme parks package. Fortunately, I did not. For me, 3 theme parks for a 5-day visit was already good enough. I needed the extra 2 days to breathe and get my head in normal order. I was so spun, I needed my bearing to stand on earth again.

We arrived in Orlando after having a day in Chicago. It was freezing. Chicago was -10c when we touched down. We got to find our own hotel, which we got one downtown at almost RM600 per night. But it was good, everything was within walking distance. The best was we managed to get 2 tickets to the current much talked about musical "Wicked". It was funny, entertaining and a fun-tastic show. Well, watching broadway in Chicago was really chic. Try it the next time when you are here.

We took a Korean Air flight, so it went to Chicago via Seoul. My flight schedule is KL-Seoul-Chicago-Birmingham-Honolulu-Seoul-KL. We will be boarding about 10 flights to get to all the destinations. This schedule is great because we get to stopover for a night in Chicago and Seoul with no extra charge on the flight ticket. Only need to pay for our accommodation.

Christmas 2008 with Hot Italian Sausages!

2008-12-25T13:12:00.000+08:00

I had a merry-licious Christmas Eve. I made Hot Italian Sausage with thyme and mustard mix.

I decided that I will stay home for Christmas Eve, have my own best meal, tuck into a warm Christmas-feel movie on Hallmark for a wonderful year end slumber. So, in the morning, I checked out some recipes and saw this browning dish that feels so warm and comfy on the page of a cookbook. Yes, this is what I will make instead of turkey and mince pies.

I tried out this recipe for the first time. So easy to make and taste fantastically delectable. I bought Hot Italian Sausages and fresh thyme. I already had milk, olive oil, egg and flour at home to make the batter. The recipe asked for mustard seed. I thought I will be creative and used a pack of mix fenugreak, mustard, fennel seeds to add that funkiness to the taste. It turned out superbly delicious! The Italian Sausages were hot, the batter was spiced up with fresh thyme with the seeds, it was like eating sausages with salted fluffed oven-baked crunchy pancake.

I changed the recipe a little because I like some stuff so I added more instead :

Hot Italian Sausages with Fresh Thyme and Mustard Mix

Makes for 4 persons if you have appetizers and desserts, if not, 2 is hefty but it is alright ......

Preparation 30 minutes.

Cooking Time : 40 minutes

2 big onions, cut into wedges

5 huge Hot Italian Sausages (I like it hot, it adds a tinge of taste! You can choose any sausage.)

(or 8 small sausages)

Olive oil - enough to drizzle over the onion and sausage

for the batter

100g plain flour

1 egg

300ml milk (sometimes 250ml is enough, try it to see if batter is smooth but not thick)

2 tsp or more of mix mustard seeds (preferably with fenugreak, usually packed for making dhall curry)

1 tsp of fresh thyme leave (I think I put in more than this because it smells so good)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200c
just arrange the wedges onion into a non-stick baking dish (9 x 12 inches or any size that can fit in all the sausages you bought with space in between after you have arranged them)
arrange the sausages on top of the onion, then trickle over the oil and roast for 20 minutes
while the sausages are roasting, make the batter. Sift in the flour into a bowl. drop the egg into the centre and beat in the milk a little at a time until it makes a smooth batter. Stir in the mustard and thyme and season.
Pour the batter into the sausages and return to the oven for 40 minutes until the batter fluffs, looks golden and baked.

Enjoy ...... Merry Christmas 2008!

Cesky Krumlov - Czech's world best historical destination!

2008-12-10T23:10:00.001+08:00

In Nov/Dec 2008, the National Geographic Traveler magazine rated the best historical destination and they named one of the places in Czech Republic, and it is not Prague. Guess ..... it is the UNESCO listed medieval town of Cesky Krumlov.

Just as I wanted to write about this place, I found out this timely information. So, if you plan to go to Czech Republic next time, see if you want to put Cesky Krumlov into your itinerary. (By the way, the magazine also selected our very own Georgetown, Penang and Melaka as their best historical destinations, google it to find out.)

Cesky Krumlov is a very cosy place, with its well preserved castle, church and all the township still conjure that medieval feel, I kind of like walking into the time when the king's horses and the king's men couldn't put humpty dumpty back together again - that kind of feel! We were there having lots of time to walk around the town and can pick up our lunch if we want.

The bus was not allowed to enter into the place so it has to be parked a distance away. All of us walked into this walled-city built like a fort. Those were the times when they were afraid that there will be a midnight onslaught from another town, those knights and slayers with swords and bows and arrows, burning oils and shooting fire into the sky. But now it remain a town that has preserved everything but the brutality of that era.

Walking in the town gave this movie-images, maybe I have read or watched too much kings and knights story.

Very peaceful indeed. We had a great time walking into those little shops that serves coffee and ice-cream in winter. And knick knack shops selling what-else, but knick knacks. Cafe was just a reminiscence of those old romantic Audrey Hepburn movies where they sip some coffee and talk about love the whole summer sitting outside a cobbled-stone paved walkway, while Gary Grant looked into her eyes and promised her all the world while stroking her satin-glove clad hands.

Beautiful, just beautiful .........

Borobudur - gateway to unconditional Love!

2008-11-29T12:45:00.002+08:00

Borodudur has been calling me for a long time since I started traveling more than 2 decades ago. Looking at those photos of the 7 man-made wonders of the world then, I always wondered why have I been to see so many wonders of the world but still not Borobudur which is the closest to Malaysia. I guess because it is so close, I tend to want to go furthest first.

So, I was counting the places I have left my footprints and noted the following world wonders :

Leaning Tower of Pisa
Great Wall of China
Eiffel Tower of Paris
Angkor Wat of Cambodia
The Pyramids of Giza
Taj Mahal of India

Then, there is the Garden of Babylon which is no more in existence. And finallly, there is Borobudur. There are, however, many ancient monuments that are not listed but they are as magnificence in the way they are built as those listed ones. They have always left for us subtle messages about our universe. The deep emotional feelings you will get when you close your eyes and open your hearts, you will definitely feel the presence of unconditional love.

Borobudur emits the same effects of unconditional love as you climb through its 10-level of symbolic enlightenment passages. As you would circumambulate the galleries and terraces at every level, you will feel without doubt the peace within.

There are not a lot of guest houses within walking distance from the Borobudur complex. There is a Manohara Hotel which has rooms from Rp400,000 onwards (RM140), but you get to walk into Borobudur anytime during opening hours and a special permission for house guests to also include a sunrise walkabout. If you stay in the resort-like hotel, you get to go into Borobudur compound without having to pay extra for the entrance ticket.

The entrance ticket (or you may call it the conservation fund) is USD11 per person for 1-day pass. I can use the ticket to go in at 6am when it opens and stay throughout the day until 5pm or I can re-enter anytime.

I checked into a Lotus I guest house with room costs only Rp60,000 (RM15) with a fan, a Queen-size bed with an attached bath. If there are 2 of us, we can share the cost. Very affordable, shoe-string budget traveling at its best!

No written record that can confirm how old is Borobudur but many claim that it dates back to the 8th century, almost the same time as Angkor Wat. It is a very fascinating structure with 1,460 bas-reliefs on its walls depicting cause and effects at the lowest level, Jataka tales (stories which Gautama told the people after he gained enlightenment as the Buddha) at the middle levels, and the highest few levels are in circular design, going round without beginning and end. Isn't that what life is? It never ends, just got to repeat all the stuff and issues until we learnt it, I guess that is what enlightenment means.

I got myself a bicycle and I rode to visit other places in the vicinity while I also enjoyed the foods with such delicacies like barbecued duck, soto nasi (rice) with chicken and a cup of 3-in-1 chocolate - all for Rp9,500 (RM2.50). Well, great food at a fraction of what we can get in KL.

Travel Wear

2008-11-08T19:21:00.002+08:00

Question :

What are some of the things, especially clothes, you pack when you travel?

Answer :

This is a very wide open question. What I pack depends on where I go. And also over the years, I began to pack more lightly but yet dress in more style, even when I backpack, compare to my early traveling years.

When I began backpacking, I was only 21 years old. The simplest the better (but not necessarily lightest), because travel budget was a big co

ncern. The more I travel, the least I carry because now I know how to choose light clothing and buy better quality fleece shirt and winter wears.

You may need to consider a few things before you pack or buy traveling stuff :

which country are you going to?
what is the weather?
what type of accommodation will you check in?
what are the main tourist attraction?
how many days will you be there?
are you going to other places apart from this?

Lets begin with - which country and what is the weather?

You can check it out before you start packing. This is very difficult to generalise. It really depends what you will be doing when you are there. Example, if you decide to go to Nepal but not to the trekking range, then you may not need so many stuff. Or some may go to Indonesia which is usually warm throughout and go up to Mount Bromo, which is very cold even during the day. Or you may want to go to Tasmania in summer/spring, but it is cold in Cradle Mountain. So, decide where you want to go and we will discuss from there.

For me, I always choose clothing that are light even for winter wear, acrylic is light

, thermal wear is light too. Most of the countries I went except those in South East Asia, are very dry, humidity is low. So, most of the clothes I can wear for 3 days before washing them. I bring my own powder soap detergent. Most backpacking hostel has clothes line but has no clothes peg, so I bring my own.

These were the only "luggage" I had when I was in Hanoi for 5 days. I only carried a knapsack at my back and a sling bag in front. Very easy for me to get around anywhere I wanted to go. When I got tired, I just sat in front of Hoan Kiem Lake in central Hanoi close to the old Quarter too, and had a wonderful time in its 20 degrees temperature and a cooling breeze. But Sa Pa was very cold at 1600m above sea level, so I got a zip-up jumper too. Read more about my recent trip, next article in my blog.

What are the main tourist attraction you will be visiting?

If you are going to a place that has a lot of religious followings, such as India, China, Europe, Thailand, and mostly throughout South East Asia, I always respect the places I visit. So, I wear long pants, cotton and light, wherever I go. I don't know if I will enter a religious place or not, so to safe from packing thing I don't need, I pack all long pants and shirts, no shorts for me except to sleep. By the way, packing button up shirts are lighter than T-shirts, and plain cotton pants are lighter than jeans even when it gets wet.

If you are in Bali, bring sarong. You will need sarong to enter a temple even if you are already wearing long pants. You will need to wrap it around from your waist down for men and women.

Where will you spend the night?

Most backpackers Inn do not supply blankets and pillows, especially places I visited in India, Eqypt, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, South Africa and many more. Some places like Australia, you have to pay for pillows and blankets (some provide pillows for free but never blankets). So, always pack your sleeping bags. I don't bring pillow. If pillow is not provided, I will use my bag.

Since you will be crawling into your sleeping bag, you may want to bring extra sleeping clothes for warmth, if you are going to a place that is below 10c.

Bali - Romantic Sita Spa Package, you will drool...

2008-10-13T18:08:00.000+08:00

I have never been to Bali.

Many friends were surprised when I told them that, "What? You mean you have been around the world but you have never been to Bali!?"

In July this year, I finally got the chance to visit Bali. And I drooled over it. I loved it so much I vowed to be back next year.

I have heard so much about Bali from friends, read rave reviews from Travel Magazines. When I was in the Interior Design business, some of my clients told me to look for Balinese designs. Of course I did learn a bit about Bali, but I have no idea what is there that captured everyone's heart and perhaps.....soul too.

Until July 2008, I know what being Bali-ed means. I was totally head over heels with the people, the culture, the food, the lifestyle and the sacred devotion to mother nature that is so widely practiced by the Balinese people. Amidst all the bustling activities in Kuta or the arty-scenes in Ubud or the nature-infused highlands surrounding Mt Agung, you will find everyone in Bali devote their time to prayers. You will notice little square bowls made of all natural leaves and flowers adorn their streets, their shops and the interiors of their houses. Most houses are intricately landscaped to blend in with nature.

I was in Tanah Lot Temple grounds. There is only 1 hotel in the Temple grounds, others are within walking distance away. So, when I stay inside the Temple grounds, I don't need to pay entrance fee everytime I walk into the park.

The hotel rates is very reasonable. I paid Rp200,000 (RM70) for a night's stay in a room meant for 2 persons. The room is with attached bath, a king-size bed, tv and chairs. Like a junior suite room but minus all the 5-star glitters. Very simple setting but nice. Breakfast is included.

I was the hotel guest, so I got a special price for a 3-hour Balinese spa. Let me share with you this, it will drool you over, the package is called Romantic Sita, it includes :

Foot flower bath
Balinese traditional full body massage
Lulur Sinta full body scrub
Flower bath
Cream hair treatment (include head and shoulder massage)
Foot massage
Herbal tea with ginger

Normal price USD50 for 3 hours.

I got all the above for only USD35. It was so relaxing and rejuvenating, I still think about it after so many months.

Traveler's Check, Cash or Credit Card?

2008-10-08T21:47:00.000+08:00

(I have been asked many times questions about how to travel wisely especially about things to bring, hotel stay, places to visit and ground transportation etc. I will write a series of these things and post them periodically with all my other stories here in this blog. Enjoy the read. If you have things you want to know about traveling, do write in to me and I will provide the answers through my traveling experience....... not from what you get in travel guides. Well.... the guidebooks are all great, I just prefer to travel with my open heart ... and an open mind.)

Question :

When you travel, is it better to bring cash in local currency, Traveler's Check or Credit Card?

Answer :

I travel using Credit Cards and a little cash in local currency.

However, how much cash you need depends on which country you will be visiting and where you go. If you are going to Nepal and trek the Annapurna Range, then credit cards are useless. In South Africa though, credit cards are used wherever you are, even to the National Parks and when you pay for your trekkings, they all accept credit cards for any amount.

My first backpacking experience was to New Zealand via Melbourne and en route Sydney. It was about 20 years ago. Credit cards were not issued that easily then. But Traveler's Check was the most raved about international exchange document. The setback was I need to pay commission when I buy the Traveler's Check and pay again another commission when I en-cash the checks. There are banks who don't charge commission for en-cashing the checks, I just got to look out for them. It was not so much of a problem, the main reason I stopped using Traveler's Checks after my first backpacking experience was because .....I had hard time trying to sign on so many pieces of the checks when I could not move my fingers, they were so numbed in winter, I can't move the strokes to sign my name.

That was the first and the last time I ever carried with me Traveler's Checks.

Credit Cards are still the best money exchange tool, why?

they are save and easy to carry;
they are accepted worldwide;
you can use first then pay later;
exchange rate is sometimes better than the rates you get from the foreign country;
high credit limit so you don't have to worry if you need more cash than you budgeted;
you can get cash when you have finished with the local currency and you don't have other available currency to exchange, you can fall back easily on your reliable plastic;
you can en-cash it easily, just produce it to a bank officer and he will give you cash without charging a commission** (but you will need to pay finance charges to your issuing bank);
it saves you from exchanging too much local currency where you don't use when you come home (imagine having too much Laos kip or Vietnam dong or Kenyan shilings).

**I was in Cairo and I had used up my Egyptian pound. I was alone. I wanted an early flight home but all flights were full. So, I had to stay in Cairo for a few more days. And my credit card got me the cash at the same exchange rate, no commission.

**I was in Sri Lanka and spent all my Sri Lankan Rupees, because I did not know that I need to pay airport tax. I took it for granted that the airport tax was already paid with my flight ticket. I did not have US Dollars and to my horror, that was the day when Malaysian Ringgit was suspended for forex trading, remember that day in 1997? I can't pay my airport tax, which means I can't get on my flight. And you know what saved the day? I en-cashed my credit card. Long live the plastic...

Important note :

Please call your issuing bank and let them know where you will be with your credit cards and how long will you be staying there. Always do this before you travel, and you will be rest assured of your payment going through once your cards are swiped.

Sacred prayers in Lourdes, France

2008-09-17T20:19:00.002+08:00

Recent week, we got a lot of news from the Vatican where the Pope went to Lourdes in France for the annual pilgrimage where Bernadette saw Mother Mary's apparition 150 years ago (1858). I was there once, and I was totally enthralled by the grotto. I don't why, I am drawn to sacred places like this without actually knowing about it. Other "Christian" pilgrimage places I have been led there were Fatima in Portugal and Mount Sinai in Egypt. I think I have got more, but these are the 3 most significant. And also, I remember I went to Virgin Mary's holy house in Turkey where she spent her last remaining years. Cool eh...?

You can see in the pictures that pilgrims drink the water from the grotto. They made the tap very easy to reach and drink from. Then, some will take the water in containers and big tub to take home. In that little town of Lourdes, they even made small Mother Mary figurine as plastic water container for you to take water home too.

It was a very serene and peaceful place. I prayed with all my heart in the chapel up above the catheral.

Bing! **A Very Starry Cafe in Kuching

2008-09-16T15:08:00.001+08:00

I have been to Kuching before, but most of the time was mainly for traveling and visiting national parks and beach resorts. These 3 years were different, I added business to my leisure pursuit, so meeting friends, closing deals and also continue to enjoy the leisurely swing-along lifestyle down-under.

One place to hang out, where you MUST go, really, MUST - is a to a cafe called Bing! Everytime I am in Kuching, I can't help it but drop by in Bing! for a cuppa and chat with friends. Sometimes for lunch, then we left, and I will come back with other friends for coffee and cakes till evening. Dehyana, Jaime and Jennifer were there with me once and for 3 days we were in Kuching, we dropped into Bing! everyday for 3 days.

My friends and I loved Bing! because of its ambience, big leather 3-seater sofas with ottomans, and huge borneo hardwood coffee table, designers stand lamps and table lamps, cane-weaved arm-chairs and most of it, they have the most funny, bubbly, outrageous, friendly, laughing and caring maitre'd (waiters and waitresses). One of them I always like to talk to is DeDe! He makes one of the warmest smirk, likeable, charming and fun, you will definitely like to know him. When you are there, say "HI" for me.

I was there again last week, and DeDe had the most shining hair-do, straight, no-nonsense, but shines like satin-silk. I told him when he put down his hair, he looks so gorgeous. I can't help but to take a picture to show you his great looks.

In the photos, the top one was Chiew Chin and Mariam (this photo taken about 2 years ago), where we had fruits smoothies (blackberry and strawberry) and their famous melt-in-your mouth tiramisu. And also, my pic with DeDe 2 years ago, his hair was shorter then.

The bottom pic was Hian Ling, me and DeDe just last week, we had their new coffee concoction : the Rhumba - chocolate cookies blended with coffee and chocolate topped with choc bics.

I can't resist, I got to order the Oreo cookies cheese cake, OMG, I was in choc-heaven!!

Kuching Food you can't get in KL!

2008-09-12T19:01:00.005+08:00

I took some pictures of some foods I had in Kuching last 4 days. These are some you may want to try the next time you are there :

3 layer teh c peng

Yes, it is called such and spell this way too. It is special because the bottom-most layer is palm sugar (maybe same as gula melaka), the next layer on top is milk and then tea is added later. When it is served, you will see 3 layers until you stir it. And it taste natural gula melaka and strong white tea. Very natural taste for those who like gula melaka. Some even serve 7 layers, you can try that and let me know.

Curry mee Kuching style

Very simple, like the curry we had in KL but it has some special spice we may not get here, will try to find out what they are the next time when I am there.

Ba-chang

Mary bought me some ba-chang (glutinous rice wrapped in triangular shape with leaf). Notice the ba-chang leaf is fresh, not the sun-dried ones we used to wrap here. And the ingredients are ground nuts and minced meat, and lots of condiments.

Sarawak has very unique plants/vegetables where even the names baffles me. They have bidin, looks like our paku-pakis but softer in texture, cooked with belacan too.

And their Sarawak laksa is every Kuchingites favorite recommendation. I totally immersed in its laksa, love it. Will get some pics to show next time.

Lemongrass Chicken

2008-09-07T18:19:00.001+08:00

This is a very easy dish to make for dinner. Look like a lot of work, but it is not. My cooking is about feelings, so if you really ask me how much to put into a dish, I really don't have a perfect measurement. Pastry and cakes, we need to be accurate with the measurement, but when it comes to Asian cooking especially for dinner with rice or noodles, I play it up with my feelings.

It is like how many stalks of lemongrass I use for this dish? Depends on how sweet the smell I would like for this dish. So, my advice is, be in a great blissful mood when you cook, and you dish will turn up according to your mood. Really, believe me! It works for me anyway....that is why cooking is so easy and simple for me and I truly like it.

If I am ever going to write a cookbook, I may as well call it Agak-Agak, because all my Asian Delights, apart from sweets and desserts, are all according to my feelings and yes, I always agak-agak (estimate) the amount of ingredients I need.

Lemongrass Chicken

Serves 2 or 4 with other dishes

Preparation time : 20 mins

Cooking time : 20 mins (longer if needed for tenderness)

Ingredients :

1/4 Chicken - cut to bite-size pieces

Oil for cooking

Lemongrass - 8 stalks or more (roughly chopped)

Shallots - about 10 or more

Ginger - how big? up to you!!

Belacan - powder, about 2 tsp

Turmeric powder, about 2 tsp (next time I should use fresh Turmeric)

Chili paste - up to your palate

Star anise and clove - up to you!!

Water - how much? depends how thick the gravy you want

Blend lemongrass, shallots, ginger, belacan, chili paste and turmeric powder until it becomes a paste. Add a little water if it is too dry, especially if you use chili powder.

Add star anise and cloves to the hot oil for flavor. Add in the blended paste. Fry until fragrant. Add in the chicken. Fry until the paste has covered all chicken pieces. Add water to your preference. Leave to boil. Then, turn to medium heat and continue boiling until chicken is soft. Season to taste.

Note : if no shallots at the time of cooking, you can use onions. Next time I cook this dish again, I may want to try with other spices, like leaves, such as daun ketumbar and other daun-daun and see how it taste.

Laptop dies while I catch up on the beat!!

2008-08-18T16:40:00.001+08:00

Many things had happened since the last update on my blogsite. First, my laptop had finally refused to boot up in May 2008, and all my files and photos are stuck in the hard disk drive. Got my friend to transfer all to an external hard disk.

In fact, 1 Jan 2008, my laptop was so invaded by virus, it abducted all (yes, I mean ALL including all my photos) my files to cyberspace. When i turned it on, it was empty, totally new as if I had just purchased a new computer. But I was ok, files gone just got to start all over again. Maybe I just needed that to write with my "new" evolved mind with "new" English terms and words. So, I was happy with a new lease of writing style rather than to refer to my old ones.

Then, I went around looking for a new computer to buy, after about 2 months of anlysis, I settled on getting an iMac. Amazing creation. No CPU tower, just the screen, a mouse and a keyboard. All with just one 3-pin plug and wallah, save so much space and so user friendly.

Now, need time to work on the new softwares. Working to get all my works on iWork, a software similar to Windows but 100x more creative and slick!!

Will talk about my adventure with Apple later.

Then, I went on my sojourn - 2 weeks from Kuta Beach in Bali, to Mt Bromo in Java and then onward journey to Joyja, then an hour motorcycle ride to Borobudur. All without prior knowledge of where to go and what to expect. None at all, no hotel bookings, don't even have an itinerary where to go. Just got a ticket that flew me to Denpasar and a ticket to fly back from Jogja to KL. That's it!! And it turned out to be so beautiful!!

Then, to my favorite country, India, for another life changing connection.

Phew......missing in writing but this is it, just squeeze myself to do some update on my blog.

In the meantime, lets enjoy life.....

Solo fine dining treat in Brisbane!

2008-05-15T22:34:00.001+08:00

After more than 2 weeks traversing southern Australia, from Melbourne trekking into Grampians National Park to taking the ferry across the Bass Straits into Tasmania, then walking and trekking and staying in lodges at National Parks, cooking my own meals and having all the fresh air and fresh seafoods, I just needed to rest.

So, when finally I got on the plane to leave Hobart and flew into Brisbane, I told myself I am going to take a good rest in Brisbane for 3 days before taking the flight back to Kuala Lumpur. And lo and behold, once I said that, I arrived in Brisbane almost midnight. All the shops were closed and the streets were deserted. Hardly any cars in downtown Brisbane. I was trapped. I did not know where to go to find a place to stay. I don't plan my trip, you see, not like most people who book their accommodation way ahead of time, most backpackers traveling in Australia did the same, they plan ahead and book their dorm-room early so that when they arrive, they will tell the van driver where they want to go and they are dropped at the dorm's doorstep.

So, I thought it will be easy for me to find a place to stay. But I did not have the slightest idea that even dorms can be filled up too, especially in Brisbane. I experienced the fully booked situation when I was in St Kilda, a beach resort town about 30 minutes away from Melbourne, then I had to turn back to Melbourne carrying my rucksack the whole day, only to put it down when my shoulder almost gave way and I had to stop at a cafe for lunch. But that time was because St Kilda had their music festival, so everyone flocked there to watch and be merry.

I never thought that Brisbane will be the same - and in the middle of the night too!!

When I was dropped off in the middle of downtown Brisbane, I walked with my rucksack, looking for dorm. No map, don't know where to go, no one to ask, and it was dark, 12 midnight!! So, I just walked, and my rucksack got heavier and heavier. After about half an hour walk, now 12.30am, I found that the road I had taken leads to no dorm but to some factory area, got to turn back to town. Then, for another 30 minutes, I found a dorm operator but it was full, heck!! Walked again, now the rucksack is eating into my flesh. Found another backpackers inn, also full. Already 1am, walked some more, this time I was beginning to yawn, found a bench and sat a while. Saw 7-11, aha, it will be a good place to ask. Dragged myself up and walked towards the 7-11 store. Oh, great, a Chinese guy on duty, maybe he will know where I can find a place to stay, now already 2am. When I spoke to him, I realised that he could not understand English well, he tried his very best to listen but he could not get my message, I gave up, I spoke to him in Mandarin instead, then realised that he is from mainland China and he just started work. Oh well, 2.30am. Walked again, now feet began to feel heavy and body is tired. I took a corner and suddenly remembered that the van just passed this place and dropped 2 passengers to check into a backpackers inn, I hurriedly walk towards a well-lit building. Prayed, pushed open the door, it was 3am, prayed again, and ask for a dorm bed. The guy at the counter, obviously very oblivious to how I tired I looked, or maybe he is so used to see backpackers looking worn out, he did not answer that there is a dorm bed available, he just stated the price and assumed I to "seal" the contract. Of course, I was relieved, at 3am, I checked into a room, climbed onto the bed above a double-decker bunk, did not even bother to take my shower, don't even know who are the people snoring below me and at the next bunk beds - I lay my sleepy head and my very very heavy body and slept like a log...zzzzzzzz.....

I woke up late in the morning, washed up and headed to town for a sumptuous fine-dining treat. My image consultant friend eyes and ears popped out after hearing my story, "Aiyoh, you can go for fine dining alone? In Brisbane!?!?!?" I said why not, I enjoyed myself the way I wanted it, great! Love the foods in Brisbane. Very breezy town and I just walked in the shopping streets all 3 days, sitting most of the time enjoying a cup of coffee and a piece of delectable chocolate cake, yummy...yum yum!!

The Faces, The Phases - Taj Mahal

2008-05-11T23:06:00.003+08:00

I suddenly have a strong desire to want to find out actually when was the year I went to India for the first time. I went looking for my old passports, which I still keep all of it since my first one. The passports have all the dates of my travel over the past 20 years. Looking at all the stamping on all the pages by so many different customs all over the world left me in an awe-inspiring state. I am thrilled that over so many years, I have carried out my dreams to travel the world and defined my destiny so clearly.

Having found my date to India, which happened in Jan 1998, 10 years ago, I also found the article I wrote to my friends when I came back from my trip then. I extract some passages and keep the essence as pure as it was written that 10 years ago. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the way I expressed myself through my writings then. Eventhough some of the words I may have used differently now if I were to re-write, but I like to leave it that way because that was how I felt 10 years ago and it was all good :

"India - a place where living survived and the survivors thrived, a place I would love to go back again and again to bathe in the vast plain of romanticism and adventures. Especially the Thar desert which I had missed this time......."

"I was in Agra for the Taj Mahal, the most romantic building in the world. I just finished reading the book "A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth before I embarked on my journey. When I was standing on the pavement overlooking the river at the back of the Taj Mahal, one scene from the book came gushing back at me. It was the scene where a boy who is pursuing literature and love reading poetry tried to woo the girl of his dream by taking her on a boat (sampan) ride on the river over sunset. While they were rowing through the river, he showed and explained to her a king who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his queen who died during labour. The Taj Mahal was built with marbles, emeralds and semi-precious stones. The monument now stands as a testament to his unrelenting love to his wife. As what Rabindranath Tagore, the 1st Bengali recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, wrote in Hindi about Emperor Shah Jahan's heartfelt grieve when it was built :

....was to preserve forever your heart's pain....

That at least a single, eternally-heaved sigh

would stay to grieve the sky.

Though emeralds, rubies, pearls are all ...

But as the glitter of a rainbow tricking out empty air

and must pass away,

Yet still one solitary tear ...

would hang on the cheek of time

in the form of this white and gleaming Taj Mahal.

"After this, I visited the Fort/Palace where King Akbar Khan built and resided during his reign. This palace now lies overlooking the Taj Mahal which is only 1 km away. From here, I went further south to small village called Fatehpur Sikri. This was the place where the same King actually built his palace but abandoned it and moved to Agra just one year later. So, now in Fatehpur Sikri stood his old Mosque in a square and a huge palace. It was worth a visit. But no one knows why he moved out in just one year."

Wow, you see, that was my feelings of Taj Mahal 10 years ago when I first visited it. Now, if I go back, I would have a totally new experience because "you don't step into the same river twice" so said Buddha.

Is there a problem?

2008-04-22T15:50:00.001+08:00

My friends and I watched Dr Wayne Dyer's talk on DVD entitled "There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem". Also, he has written a book with the same title.

In his presentation, he brought forth and expounded on the ideas of 2 very great people who had lived in our times. I reproduce here the 2 great works, one is from a famous prayer of St Francis of Assisi, another is Mother Teresa's Final Analysis :

St Francis of Assisi :

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

The Final Analysis
by Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Malaysia, is Heaven!

2008-04-14T12:41:00.001+08:00

(I got this picture from Louise Hay's website, thank you Louise!)

I have been to so many countries and seen that, done that kinda good life. Yet, whenever someone asked me what country I like most, my answer is always Malaysia. I like many of the cultures and living styles I observe when I am in a foreign land. In America, I like the freedom they have, the big servings of food, and the great opportunity for success for anyone who is willing to go the extra mile to get it. Also, it is genuinely profitable to work on your own copyright in everything you do in America and it can really go big, for example, writers and songwriters are so fortunate to get their rights intact for life.

In Europe, everything is so well organised, so well planned, most of the countries are having only very low population and people are free and having lots to eat. Weather is great and you can drink water straight from the tap. Everything so squeaky clean especially in countries like Austria and Switzerland. Generally, to stay there and work and meet friends is just kinda lifestyle you may wish happen there.

I like countries in Africa and the places in the Indian continent too. The diversity of cultures and people and religion, makes it more a melting pot of love, care and tolerance. I can just sit and eat out with their food and drink the water they drink too. As for me, I am safe just walking and mingling with the people and eating and drinking as they do.

Still, I like to be home in Malaysia.

Recently, I had a friend from Kashmir, but he does business in Puttaparthi, a place which is close to Bangalore in the state of Karnataka. He came over for a visit and he stayed a few days with some friends in Melaka. Just 3 days before he left, he stayed over at my place in Kuala Lumpur. He was in KLCC, twin tower, China Town and many more shopping malls in the city. I left him, as he would like, in Masjid India, a place where it is fondly known as Little India here. And he found so many stuff which has great pricing and so beautiful he had to buy more for his friends and relatives at home.

I brought him to some eatery and while we had our sumptuous spread of foods over the 3 days, he kept telling me that the food we pay here is so cheap. A bowl of noodles here with prawns, vegetables, fish cake and more condiment for only RM4 (USD1.20). He said that he would have paid over 200 rupees (RM17 = USD 5) in restaurants in India for the same food.

The difference I felt about prices for food as comparison in India and Malaysia is that when I am in India, I eat mostly capati, idli, tosai and rice with curd or little meat. I paid for very little to fill up my stomach because those foods are cheap. So, I did not really notice about paying a bomb for a bowl of noodle, for example. Although there are plenty of restaurants serving foods in that category, even if I have paid so much for lunch, I would not have felt the pinch anyway.

In KL, we are paying less than RM2 (USD0.70) for a litre of petrol, over in India, they are paying 54 rupees (RM4.80 = USD1.70). I think we still pay the lowest price of petrol here in the world. In London, when I was there early February this year 2008, I noticed the Londoners are paying almost 1 pound 20 (RM7 a litre!!!).

He was using cash to buy things, so I asked him why didn't he use his credit card? I told him here in Malaysia, we use credit card for almost all our purchases, including monthly payments for utility bills etc. He was shocked to find out that we are not charged additional for our use of the credit card facilities, I said yeah, it has never occurred to me that the banks will impose charges for cardmembers, for merchants, yes. He said that in India, credit card companies charged cardmembers for every transactions too on top of what they already paid as subscription. And knowing now that we can even settle our bills through credit cards, he was appalled.

Well well, our facilities here are just so great, rethink our feedback to our country, from ungratefulness to gratifying thoughts, aren't we blessed in Malaysia?

Thanks to our country's (Malaysia) administration.

I, a Chinese Poet

2008-03-31T19:50:00.001+08:00

(Click to enlarge to read Chinese as jpeg file, I design a beautiful poster with the poem.)

I found my old scrapbook and found some of my wonderful writings from my teenage years through to my years of under employment and then to my years in juggling business with my innocence. Quite a wide span of life experiences.

Reading my works, I feel very gifted. A born gifted writer, poet and perhaps even a Chinese Scholar in the past. I begin to feel that I know the Chinese language way before I was born. I attended English Catholic school from primary through to secondary. And yet, I had this urge to learn the Chinese Language when I was 8 years old. Then, I pestered my father to send me to night clasess to take up the Chinese language subjects as would a normal Chinese School student. So, I am reading geography in Bahasa Malaysia and speaking fluent English with teachers and class/school mates in the morning government school and read the same geography text in Chinese in the evening classes, likewise for all the other 8 subjects (I think it was 8 subjects.)

And then I grew up loving the Chinese language while I, of course, flourish with my English as well. But my Chinese language takes a softer approach in all my writings. And really, look at my poem I got it published in Sin Chew Jit Poh more than 15 years ago, I am astounded with my own talent, really!!

I translated it the way I feel it now, so all will be able to read. (I could sense like I went back 15 years ago, a deja vu feeling, about how I could have felt when I wrote this poem then, amazing-eh, like I have never left!?) Enjoy!!

舞者

弯腰伏着
在芬香的国土上
有一盏阳光照来
双手点着伸直的脚尖)
一个钢琴音符跃出
一只手划过一边彩虹
一只手摊开添上色彩
脚在地平线上一横
扫出汪洋追逐天空的狂欢
纤纤的身子一娜一个转
风吻着海鸥游过瀑布
穿过山河
冲过海浪
脚趾再一点
捉一朵云绕着山腰打了一个结
耸一耸肩举手
小心翼翼的把太阳放到地平线上
再弯腰
拉着余晖晶莹的长袍
慢慢的放到离沙滩不远处
歇下来
低头看那些微细的沙
片刻
风也停止了

那种希望
在久久不息的“啪啦啪啦” 声中
得到了答案

Dancer

bending, face down
on the fragrant soil of a beloved country
a stream of sunlight beam through
both hands touch the outstretched feet
leaps a musical note from the piano
hand briskly sweeps open a rainbow
another hand vehemently brushes it with colors
on the horizon, a leg frantically draws a mighty curve
storms the sky as the ocean race it in a frenzy
a sensual body seduces and turns
wind pushes its lips to the seagulls and swings almighty waterfall
speeds through the rivers
pushes through the waves
tip at the toe
catches the clouds and tie a knot at the waist of a mountain
shrugs the shoulders, raises the hands
carefully places the sun at the horizon
again….. bending
towing the cloak of the shimmering dawn
slowly places it on the shore, not faraway
rest
bow, take a closer look at the glistening sands
at the split of a second
the wind dies

all the aspirations
in that long awaited thunderous “clap clap clap”
the answer is certain

Creative Dinner within 90 minutes

2008-03-27T21:23:00.002+08:00

I will find time to cook dinner, because it is very fun to do so. Sometimes, it may be a little too late to start cooking, and sometimes the mood is just to relax and try something from some quaint restaurant or just eat out. But I will always find the time to cook myself and be creative in the kitchen. I have tried marinating fish with cincalok (fermented shrimp paste) and corn flour, then fry the fish until fragrant and crispy. Real taste of kampung in its most creative way!!

And this evening, I have a thought I will try something new too. Deciding to be a 1-day vegetarian, I think of some ways to make my vegetarian meals a bit exciting. After watching a chef cooked mushroom last night on AFC (Asian Food Channel), he caramelised them, and he used it for grilled steak. I found that interesting, about the caramelised mushrooms. So, I tried it with some tofu instead and it came out a beautiful vegetarian dish.

Roast Tofu with Swiss Brown Mushroom

1 box Tofu

1 box Swiss Brown Mushroom (sliced)

Fried shallots

Olive oil

Sesame oil

Butter

salt

Rice wine

I mashed the tofu with a fork in a glass baking dish, spread it out, and add fried shallot, sesame oil and rice wine, while I sauteed the mushroom with olive oil, salt and butter. Leave them to caramelise on low heat for about 15 minutes or until very fragrant. Then, pour the mushrooms onto the mashed tofu. Use a fork to mix them a little. Bake or set to roast if you are using a convection oven for about 20 minutes. (I think next time I will try to roast it longer!)

Taste terrific!!

And I also cooked French Bean Sprout, instead of using SoyBean Paste, I fried it with garlic and a pack of Feiron (which contains wakame, soy, spinach, pearl and ABM mushroom). I just add in Feiron without mixing it with water, just fry it dry with the French Bean Sprout, very high in iron and calcium.

The next dish is Butter Lettuce sauteed with fermented bean curd and chilies. I added in rice wine too.

A highly ingenious vegetarian dinner!!

Cross the Bass Strait with Spirit of Tasmania

2008-03-17T18:48:00.000+08:00

Many friends have missed the splendid serendipidity of sailing across the Bass Strait. The enchantment of the night sky and the ocean will keep you awake to fill up your spirit with the wonderment of the vastness, empty yet so fulfilling. Even when you sleep, in your dreams, while the ship sails into the middle of nowhere, just the laps of the sea and the whistling of the wind will keep you in your merryland to drool with a smile.

Many friends have asked me how I get to Tasmania. When I told them there is a ferry service from Melbourne, they all responded in bewilderment. Is there a ferry? No, it is actually a ship, like those cruise to nowhere kind of cruise ship. It is about 7 storeys high, with most of the lower decks for vehicles. Upper decks have beautiful and comfy sofa lounges with TV, video, games arcade, children play rooms, gaming lounge.

I particularly like the fine dining cafe (it's not big, so I don't call it a restaurant), where they serve steaks, italian pastas and a good choice menu with starter, main courses and dessert, wine and cocktails too. There is another bigger space, it is like food court, but they have 2 rows of buffet lines serving pasta, savouries and meat dishes with buns and cold cuts. I took the buffet, well, I really like the fine dining menu but I think it is odd sitting in a nice lounge in a ship doing fine dining alone, I kind-of decide against it, so went to have buffet which of course is much cheaper. I can fill up my plate for less than AUD10 (I think it is less than AUD10, I could not find my notebook now, perhaps when I find the facts, will amend it later).

While on board, I had all the time to read up the brochures and plan my itinerary around TAsmania. There is an office known as "Tourism On Board", you can even buy travel tickets and bus packages here. I bought my TassieLink ticket here.

So, instead of taking the flight from mainland Aussie to Hobart and miss the joy of sailing, do consider the next time you plan your trip down under. By the way, it costs me only AUD101 one way, the seat is like those in the airplane (see above pic). And the time of sailing was 11 hours. I boarded the ship at 8pm and arrive Devonport at 7am.

(By the way, my flight route was KL-Melbourne, Brisbane-KL, so I took a flight from Hobart to Brisbane on Virgin Blue for only AUD110 one way, will tell you the story next.)

Well, one thing I discover to my thrill is that, I thought Bass Strait is a small little water canal, like the one at Dover, England, dividing Australia mainland with Tasmania, but it takes 11 hours to cross it with a ship that sails at 27 knots. Now, that is a far!! But so much more enjoyable on the ship - oh, by the way, it saves me a night's stay in Melbourne. The next writing will be on the backpackers places I stayed while on my trip there last year in 2007 February.

So cute!!

2008-03-14T13:49:00.000+08:00

Send this eCard !

I found this cute e-card at the above website, so appropriate, it just expressed in such brilliant colors my thoughts and feelings about you guys log-in to my blogsite and read my writing. You know, it is such a great inspirtation, and all your comments and encouragement have given me the lift to spread my wings wider when I fly. I thank you!!

To watch the display of the card, please click on "Play".

Bratislava - Slovakia, a country where scuptures' breathe

2008-03-07T13:01:00.000+08:00

I know, I have been missing for almost 2 months now. Since I posted the last thought on Dec 28, 2007, I left to India for almost 3 weeks. Came back and did some work for 4 days, then flew to London for another 3 weeks vacation to Eastern Europe and Britain too.

Then, I came back after a rejuvenating sojourn, and have so much good fortune, the business appointments kept pouring in. Today, I decided to take a half day off to take in some good breath and have some time to write too.

So, here it is, some cute pictures taken in Bratislava. The top 3 pics are essentially the Top 3 sculptures in Bratislava that are the most photographed. The one in focal black and white, is my personal pick as one of the best known chef in the world.

Lots of stories to tell, especially my backpacking experience to India (again, I know, I just like India, the diversity in everything is always pulling me back to its embrace again and again, and I am not complaining.) And then some more extra travelling tips in Europe to share.

My Oprah Moment!!

2007-12-28T18:44:00.000+08:00

I had a high fever last evening, well, not the first time, but each time I got it over with just a wet towel over my forehead. I got this body back to normal within a few hours, without drugs. By the way, I have not taken any medicinal drug these 7 years, not even cough syrup or panadol. Because I know how this body works and becoming more aware about the works of loving universal energy, I know that body cannot attack.

So, I am just inspired to share this thought today also because I watch Oprah this morning about Bob Greene’s Best Life Plan.

I am always been asked questions like, I have migraine, what can I take? I have high blood pressure, what can I eat? I have this, what can I do to eliminate this? I have that and how can I get rid of that? But you see, we cannot separate the brain from the kidney or the joints with the heart, it is all put together by one mind. As I watch Oprah show this morning, even being obese, astoundingly, it is not about food.

I watch Oprah’s show as often as I can. I will turn it on while I prepare my day’s work. So, while watching or walking to get my stuff, I will sit, take a glance or listen to it while I am picking up a document or something.

I have my days filled with inspiration because of Oprah. To see so many people who came on her show changed and transformed because of just one idea!! Some of the more touching stories are those who used their lives to serve others and live their dreams.

Oprah had a few shows about “This is the year to …..”, previously it was “This is the year to unclutter” , this morning, they had something about “This is the year not be fat again.” It is about being the weight we want, slimming down, of course.

As most of Oprah’s fans would have known, she went through her dieting and losing weight like a yo-yo. Her weight went above 330 lbs (150 kg) at one time. She tried several methods but she thought it was food. Through the years, she met Bob Greene, her personal trainer and an Exercise Physiologist, then she look seriously into her life and realized that her abusive and destructive childhood actually were the underlying effects of her obesity. She said in the show that she did not realize then that she was building a wall, and that wall was FAT!! This wall/fat will hide her shameful past, and so she thought.

I remember on one of her show, a woman who was weighing at over 450lbs (204 kg) told the audience that “I did not inherit obesity, I inherited depression.” And that was her turning point – just one idea!! (Idea never left its source – ACIM)

This morning, with Bob Greene on the show, he introduced his “The Best Life Diet” book. To check it out, you can go to thebestlife.com website to see the list of energy foods to take and the exercise required for a healthy lifestyle. But one very good strategy is that you can put back all the foods you like (but not the quantity) after you have successfully worked to the body size you desire.

And talking about living our dreams, Bob Greene has been talking to people about what to eat and what not to eat when he was only 8 years old. Very annoying, ya? at that age, talking so much, in our society, he will be scorned off very often. And look at what empire he has built? Obviously and very aptly, followed his consciousness – the Best Life Diet!! (For friends who still ask me what is their purpose in life, look back……)

So, in Oprah show this morning, there was a woman named Alicia, after having her first child, she bloomed to 267 lbs (121 kg) with a height of only 4’11”. She said that when she sees others who are bigger than her, that makes it ok for her be big too. Fast food was in her every day meal. She felt miserable, so she was not exercising, she had no energy, so she chose working as a cleaner so that she need not meet people. The rock bottom came when she went to a radio station for an interview, and she was told she was just too big. (I like what Caroline Myss, a medical intuitive, said “he is under heaven’s order to tell you this…” so true.) Alicia has lost 137 lbs (62 kg) by following Bob Greene’s best life plan.

Another woman, Julie Attic, was at 270 lbs (123 kg). Loneliness led her to eat to fill up!! She was also feeling miserable and low in energy. Until one day she hits rock bottom and saw a sign when she was reading an article about Oprah’s being real about her weight loss. She was on a flight home and the article was the inflight magazine. And now she walks out on stage120 lbs (55 kg) lighter. Also lost 9 sizes dress, now she is wearing size 4. I don’t know what size 4 means, but she looks terrific!!

Bob Greene has these 3 questions to ask for anyone who decides to take control back :

“Why are you overweight?” Think about the answer, go deeper emotionally, it is never about foods.
“Why do you want to lose weight?”
“Why have I not been able to maintain my weight?”

Check it out at http://www.thebestlife.com/.

I looked at the women walking out onto the stage with more than half their body size gone, my mouth was left agape, my eyes wide open and I leapt in victory with them!! Amazing, how changing one thought can change everything!!

Christmas in warm and sunny Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2007-12-24T13:00:00.000+08:00

I am in the mood for Christmas since last Saturday. I just went to some shopping centres in town and spent my whole day browsing at beautiful things. The atmosphere was so buzzing with happennings, people buying gifts for loved ones, shops brightly lit and everyone is beaming with smiles, so giving and happy. Amidst all the buzzing around, yet I felt blissful and serene. Looking at a somewhat 50-year old man holding his wife's hand watching the fairies dancing in the centre court at Mid Valley, I could see from his facial expression, he loved it, he smiled all the time until the show ends. Hmmm....such a loving expression!!

The picture on top is taken from Pavillion, the newest shopping mall in KL city centre and the bottom pic is taken from centre court Mid Valley, the largest shopping mall in KL. Both giving us the spirit of Christmas at its best. I am very amazed at Mid Valley's decoration, I notice that they run on a very different theme from the rest of the shopping malls. Instead of just building a huge christmas tree, they did a fairyland, with elfs and little flower buds. So extraordinary and so magical!! I was 100% immersed in the fairyland, like little kids being in awe with every tiny things that could spred its wings....

Merry Christmas everyone!! Love you to the vastness of the ocean!!
Have an amazing New Year 2008!!

Eye-popping performance - Shenzheng, China

2007-12-11T11:40:00.000+08:00

I took a short trip with Peter in Oct this year. I thought of just taking a 5D/4N vacation to some place and I found that it only costs about RM1,660 to have a trip flying with Air Asia to Macau. The travel agency planned this trip with bulk purchase of Air Asia tickets many months ahead and sell the package complete with accommodation, entrance fee to selected tourist attraction spots, transport and full board (B,L,D). The trip was called South River Delta and it covers Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzheng, Hong Kong, then back to Macau for the flight back.

One very awe-inspiring event was when I watched the evening performance in Splendour of China in Shenzheng. They had almost 500 performers and run the 1 hour show with fireworks, lazer lights display with real-life animals as big as elephants and horses running into the atrium while the riders waved their flags and do stunts while the horses galloped swiftly across the atrium. The magnitude of the show is so great, imagine that all the beautiful performers are specially selected from all over China. All to be of almost the same age in their early 20s, height and body to be of the same size and shape. The girls and guys are amazingly tall, so that they all will stand in commanding stature when they are performing on stage. The glitter and the glamour were outstandingly eye-popping. Go and watch it yourself, worth every single sen!!

By the way, the tour price was very reasonable. All of the world for only RM1,660, oh and it includes visa fees and tips too.

22 years - Macau revisited, Zhuhai a bonus!!

2007-11-30T23:18:00.000+08:00

Macau is definitely a very mixed culturally rich place to eat, enjoy and be merry. I like the cobbled stones roads which still exist after so many years.

I was in Macau some 22 years ago. That time tourism was already booming especially the casinos. There was only one which is then the biggest, most talked about casino in town. That was the first time ever I watched the Moulin Rouge show called "Crazy Horses" with all the artistic female dancers in nude, they performance was well crafted. The choreography was immaculate, the props and lighting were marvellously synchronized and what can I say, their bodies to die for, hey, what the heck, I was only 20 years old.

Returning to this place now gives me the breath of steel bars, concrete and bridges. Macau is now architecturally inspiring. The hotels, especially Venetian Resort Macau which house the casino and hotel, took my breath away with its luscious design and overwhelming spaciousness. I was in awe with the spacious ambience in the casino, the magnitude of its sheer size is astounding.

No wonder Macau is called the "Monte Carlo of the East". Really fascinating!!

22 years ago, I remember the tourist guide took me to the Pearl River Delta bordering Macau and China then. I could only view from this side of Macau over to China with its Chinese Flag flapping in the air, she pointed at the flag which is hardly visible and told me that is China. Oh well, that was then Malaysian tourists' attraction in Macau, I think.

Now, we just need 20 minutes from downtown Macau city to conveniently get a stamp on my passport and step over to Zhuhai, China. How time has changed and closed the gap between cultures and countries, super, isn't it??!!

(Info from website :

Located in the Xianglu Bay, Sculpture of Zhuhai Fisher Girl is the symbol of Zhuhai. It is 8.7 meters high. It was designed and built according to a beautiful local folklore. The Sculpture of Zhuhai Fisher Girl and the Lover’s Road along the seashore constitute the tourist attraction of "Fisher Girl & Xianglu Bay”, one of the “Top Ten Tourist Attractions of Zhuhai”. )

Listen! I am Angry - young adults speaking up!!

2007-11-27T19:14:00.000+08:00

Last week we organised a 2-day Youth Leadership Program for young adults by D'Utama Advanced Toastmasters Club. We got the original materials from Toastmasters International where we conduct training with games and practices to enhance leadership skills and communication skills. We covered topics such as How To Organise Your Speech, Your Speaking Voice, Your Body Speaks, How To Use Words to Enhance Speeches and etc.

I am Toastmaster member for almost 12 years now. I had conducted Youth Leadership Program many times over the past 12 years. This time, however, I facilitated the first day program thus doing ice-breaking and getting the participants to be ready for a leadership game the next day.

In the first morning when the young adults gathered, they seemed to be sitting in their own seats and keeping real quiet, not looking at each other. Being school going young adults, they open up and became talkative and playful just in about an hour.

So, to kickstart the program, I ask everyone if they know why they are there. Astoundingly, more than 7 out of the 13 students do not really know why they are there, let alone knowing what the 2 days are all about.

Some who seem to know thought that it is about learning the English Language, 1 or 2 are told that it is communication skills workshop but don't really know what it is. Only 1 out of the 13 students knows that he is there because he wants to learn to be able to speak confidently in public, well, that will give him a full 9 points out of 10, bravo!! (In fact, I want to get to know this young man more, to see from what family background he is brought up in to be so "knowing" about what he wants.)

These are students from 11-17 years old. On that bright sunny day, there is this particular 15-year-old girl whom I am impacted the most by her answer. I ask her if she knows why she is sent there, she said she did not know, her parents just wanted her to come, because it is school holidays. So, I ask her if she want to come herself, the answer is no. Then I ask her how did she feel? She said that she is angry. So I said, did you tell your parents you are angry? No, they won't listen anyway, she drops her head and retorted softly, but I could hear her.

Nevertheless, at the 2-day program, I could see that she enjoyed herself anyway, because after the first introduction, she sort of blend into the group and made the most of the 2 days. At least that was a pleasure to observe.

The point is this : if we were allowed to express our anger and being loved the way we are and being accepted as we are, that could have saved us from the beginning of the growth of, say, maybe even liver cancer starting at the age of 15. (Check out Louise Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life" or click here for her website.) And we always thought that some degenerative diseases happen when we are 60 or older, and we can't imagine that the growth could have started that long ago in the past - when we are not allowed to speak up and suppress our thoughts (or in this case, anger)!!

Caroline Myss, a medical intuitive (click here for her website), in her ground breaking audio series and book where she expound on the subject of our "Sacred Contract", she mentioned an observation when she was in a little village somewhere in the middle east. She was in a wedding ceremony where the bride and the bridegroom sitting side by side receiving all the blessings from well-wishers. She saw that the groom was smiling happily looking at his bride whom he probably had her through some arranged marriage. But the bride held such sadness in her eyes, it breaks the heart of people who could sense it. It was like someone being forced into a contract she never wanted to sign. And Caroline said that it is a sign of the beginning of cancer.

So, is it time to really look within, where did I started hating someone, where have I started being angry, over what? when did it happen? For that young 15-year old girl in the Youth Leadership Program, the anger was already etched into her "memory disk". No wonder sometime we did not know how on earth we snap at each other over a parking space or an A4 size paper? Huh...??

While I was making Spiced Plum Squares

2007-11-25T22:17:00.000+08:00

While I was preparing the ingredients for the Spiced Plum Squares, grating the orange zest, weighing the flour, rubbing in the butter, and getting the sweet smell of cinnamon, in my mind I was happily running back to my days when I first got the hang of baking.

I just wonder how on earth I got my hands in baking when I was in my primary school days, perhaps 10 or 12 years old (got to ask my mum one of these days)? I remember I baked banana cake (my speciality then) and my aunts loved them, it was like so "famous" it went to become the "talk of tinseltown". And I will be so perked up and proud of my "creation" that I went on to try out other recipes. How did I get into the baking frenzy when I was so young, in a small little town called Teluk Intan, Perak? I wonder.

My mum does not bake although she cooks for the family, she only cooks those dishes which were passed-downable ones, like usual steam fish, black sauce chicken, stir-fry vegetables and usual Chinese family stuff. But I went on to bake banana cake and I don't know what else I baked but the most memorable one was the banana cake, yeah, I could have baked chocolate cake too.

I remember I got a big round plastic pail (yeah, it was a pail), a big long wooden spatula (it was long because I was small then, don't rememeber if my mum bought me all these utensils or I just rummaged her kitchen for anything that I use to whip). I put the ingredients in the big round plastic pail, I sat down on a wooden stool, and put the pail on another wooden stool and held the pail in-between my legs. Now I remember I held on to the pail so hard my thighs hurt because I needed to mix the ingredients - flour, butter and sugar before folding in the crushed banana. It was a very tedious job, it was in the 1970's, so imagine I was young, no electric mixer or any other electronic baking equipment, I stirred until my tiny hands went numb. Then I rest for a while and whisked again, I think I could have stopped and rested a few times before the mixing was done. Come to think of it, quite comical then. And no one taught me to bake, not my mum, not anyone, I just sort of picked up the fun of cooking all by myself.

But the funniest thing I could remember was the crushing of the banana, I just thought they looked kind of mushy and sticky- no wonder it sticked in my memory for such a long time.

Talking about evolving consciousness, I think perhaps I was a chef some past embodiment, so I can pick it up so easily at so young an age and without much supervision or coaching too.

Well, that was really a nostalgic time for me while thinking what I did when I was younger and whisked up this Spiced Plum Square recipe one morning.

Recipe for Spiced Plum Square

2007-11-25T12:41:00.000+08:00

This is a very delicious Tea Time Treats.

Someone loved it so much, she asked me if I can make it, wrap it pretty and sell it as any pastry shop would.

Well, this baking has commercial value after all.

Enjoy this afternoon treat with tea or coffee - with friends of course!!

Spiced Plum Square
(Recipe from Comfort Food, published by Quadrille Publishing Ltd)

Cuts into 12 squares
Preparation 20 minutes (I took more than 1 hour)
Cooking 20 minutes (I like really brown ones, so 35 minutes is good)

150g/6oz butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing
300g/10oz self-raising flour, plus more for dusting
50g/2oz caster sugar (I use brown sugar)
finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
about 150ml milk
700g plums, stoned and quartered
50g butter
50g light muscovado sugar (I use brown sugar)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
icing sugar, for dusting (I use Nutrifresh instead, less sweet)
cream or crème fraiche, to serve (I eat it with ice-cream)

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Lightly grease a 23x33cm/9x13in Swiss roll tin (I use Pyrex microwaveable glassware, sometimes the cake tin too.) Cut 100g/4oz of the butter into pieces. Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the chopped butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in the caster sugar and orange zest. Pour in most of the milk and mix, using a flat-bladed knife, to form a soft scone dough, adding more milk if it seems too dry.
Form into a ball with your hands, but don’t overhandle. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to the same size as the base of the tin (when I first tried this recipe, I used a roller pin to roll out the dough, after that, got a little lazy, I put the whole ball in the centre of the baking tin and press it to spread it out evenly). Lift the dough into the tin and gently press in.
Scatter the plums over the scone dough and dot the remaining butter on top. Mix together the light muscovado sugar (I use brown sugar and it taste great too) and cinnamon and sprinkle over the plums. Pour the orange juice over the top.
Bake for 20 minutes until the base is golden and the plums bubbling and juicy.
Remove from the oven, dust with icing sugar, cut into 12 squares and serve with cream or crème fraiche (I don’t know what this is so I prefer to eat with ice cream).

Olive Restaurant, Genting Highland

2007-10-20T12:55:00.000+08:00

I heard so much about this Award winning Restaurant that I told myself I must try it.

And I am suggesting that you do too. The foods are made with such exuberance they look like they were prepared with sing-along salsa beat, hot and steaming passion, bodily contact with fiery sensual demand, so aptly stated that when the foods are presented, they are all filled with extreme scintillating pull and bootsy cry of "eat me eat me......."

The calzone is made with freshly rolled out dough and ingredients, baked to perfection with the dough so smooth and soft that it sort of crunchy on the surface yet melts in my mouth. The fillings is sour/sweet/tomato-rish and cheesy, very enticing for the taste buds. It is like trying to measure up to the taste that is both childish and wild.

We had white wine and ordered another meat dish, I forgot if we ordered beef or lamb, it tasted really divine but it was the calzone that stood out, so I could remember it well.

We had an appetizer, 2 main courses and a dessert, plus 2 glasses of wine, total bill was RM250.00. Worth every single sen. Go for it!!

Trevi Fountain, Rome

2007-07-11T18:32:00.000+08:00

I cannot resist Italy. Cannot. Just don't even suggest I color it off from my luscious world map.

When I hear Tuscany, I go wild with the images of empty meadows, olive gardens, medieval buildings, pasta, wine and Mona Lisa (??!!?) and all the merriment of the people with big hearts there. And please don't tell me that risotto is rice cooked so chewy like overnight cooked cheese, I will take a parang and chase you into the Florentine river and dip you into Minetrone con pesto.

Rome is like a huge open museum, wherever you turn, you step into a history so filled with intriguing merriments and mastermind wonderments that it sets you to want to listen to the whispers and laughters that are left in the remaining walls and fallen stones.

Trevi Fountain is such a wondrous creation to match our creator's divine brush of the color of life. Listen to the 3 coins in the fountain, and hear all of us returning to exclaim in its most mystical draw of heavenly beauty. Oh my heaven, when I first saw its magnificence and grandiosity, I was so awe-struck no Italian gelato can take my eyes off it.

Take it from me, go to see Trevi Fountain at least once this lifetime, you will be mesmerised.

Venice, Italy

2007-06-13T18:36:00.000+08:00

I love love love love love love love Italy. I have been to Venice twice and loved it more. The first time I was there, I saw the most beautiful, clean, uncluttered, white-glazed fullly rounded moon ever. It was so bright and it was so low to the horizon, I didn't need to even look up to see it. It was winter and the sky was so clear, not a bit of particle or a leaf of dusty cloud, it was just miles and miles of clear dark sky. I could not imagine then there could be such a clearly defined moon in its entire glory could hang in the air like that. That experience was like 15 years ago, but it was edged into my mind so clearly, I could describe it even now. I remembered I held tighter to my jumper and coat, while I basked in the light and the chill of the winter air, so crisp and cold yet I felt so warm and cuddly.

I went back to Venice 5 years back and loved it more. This time I had more time to explore and I went walking over its many bridges to many small connecting islands, just shopping and enjoying the best foods Italy can offer.

I love Italy for its life. It is always so bubbly, so loud, so authentic, so real, so human, so living. it is like enjoying life as it is, say it as it is and just be who you are. People are beautiful there, they take their time to make up, dress well, have time to pamper themselves. I love walking in the streets and just have a cup of coffee while I marvel at all the happenings.

I remembered at one occasion, when we were having lunch on the island called Murano, which is an island about 20 mins boat ride awat from Venice, their speciality is linen weaving. It was a crisp cool winter afternoon, the sun was brimming, so you could imagine the people on the island hanging out their clothes to dry, with their bedsheets in white and blue and towels in red, pillow case in yellow, all hanging out in the yard, over their windows, while the wind plays with them, all the colours seem to be flipping in the air, it makes a great picture. (I took some pictures but it was all in slides, I got to find them to convert them to digital format before I can upload them here.) But in the meantime, just imagine, it was the loveliest sight. Moreso, when you could smell the floral scent of the detergent in the air, it sort of remind me of those white linen hung out in the kampung in my younger years, the kind of scent that never left you........so much reminiscence.

We went to a restaurant where they served us lunch with so much food beginning with appetiser to main course to dessert. Then it was the Italian way of going full throttle even on lunchtime -- the yum seng time with wine. We were served bottles after bottles of wine, the great enjoyment wasn't so much the drinking, it was the friendship, the merriment even the those who were eating at the next few tables want to us to join them. And they will raise their voice and laugh and talk in Italian, I could not understand, but who cares about language -- happiness need no explanation!! Oh, my goodness, when I got on the boat to go back to Venice, I was tipsy. I think it was drunk in their joy not the wine..........

Recipe for Bread Pudding

2007-06-11T17:50:00.000+08:00

This is the first time I tried this Bread Pudding recipe from my Periplus cookbook. When I first got Periplus cookbook, I was in South Africa. I was staying in this Backpackers Bungalow (in Johannesburg, a lot of Bungalows with private swimming pools are converted to Backpackers hostels, very clean and with well-equipped kitchen, sun-deck near the pool and very private), I went out for dinner at the nearby shopping supermarket. It was just walking distance, less than 5 minutes walk. I was fascinated with the display of foodstuffs and all other things in the supermarkets, then I saw a very brilliant way of promoting an item. Right beside a shelf which display, say cake baking stuff, they will have a vertical shelf displaying items that are used for baking, such as spatula, whisking spoon etc. So, when customers pick up the baking ingredients, they pick up the utensils as well.

At this corner where they display lots of cooking materials, they too display the cookbooks. That was where I referred to one cookbook while looking at the displayed ingredients. There I had a better knowledge on how the ingredients are used in cooking while I browse through the cookbook. And so happened the one cookbook I took was from Periplus (in South Africa the same cookbook is published by Woolworth, I kept using the name Periplus because I found out later when I came back to KL, the cookbook is sold in KL under the Periplus label).

I changed some ingredients and name as I put the recipe together, and it turned out superb. I must pat my own back for having baked a scrumptious Bread Pudding. Here goes the recipe :

Dried Fruits Bread Pudding
(serves 4)

5 slices of white bread
30g butter
¾ cup mixed dried fruits (more if desired)
4 eggs
2 ½ cups milk
1/3 cup caster sugar ( ½ cup if you desire less sweet)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (can try with nutmeg too)

Preheat oven to 160º C
Remove crusts from bread. Spread slices with butter. Cut slices diagonally in half. Place half the bread, buttered side up, in a 1.5 liter ovenproof dish. Top with mixed dried fruits, and remaining bread, buttered side up.
Whisk eggs, milk and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Place dish in a shallow baking dish. Pour in enough hot water to come half way up the sides. Bake 1 hour or until set and light golden. Remove dish from water immediately. Serve warm.

Ba Duan Jin Qigong - The Least Energy for The Best Effects

2007-05-31T13:04:00.000+08:00

For these 7 years, I have learnt that I can maintain a well balanced immune system, hence maintain excellent health, through SEED concept :

S Sleep and rest well
E Exercise regularly
E Emotional stability
D Diet

What all of us can provide thus far, is D - Diet through great Nutritional Immunology products and the knowledge of the Science of Nutritional Immunolgy (the relations between nutrition and our immune system.)

Then, we went on to learn about spiritual healing through conscious creation, such as learning about our chakras, energy and mind. (all these in ACIM)

Having done that, we are resting well too, through meditation and being joyful and peaceful all the time.

So, we have been doing the 3 things from SEED concept.

Now, I am fortunate to have met a qigong sifu who is all too willing to teach me the Ba Duan Jin Qigong. There are so many qigong techniques in the world, and I have been seeking and searching, finally, this happens to resonate with me. As always, since I am doing it, I email to all my friends who want to practise it too.

The qigong exercise is called BaDuanJin Qigong. Only 8 steps. I practised it after watching the Sifu performing the exercise on a VCD. I realised that I perspire more than I walk for the same amount of time which is 30 minutes.

My heartbeat, when I do brisk walking, is at 30-32 beats per 15 sec. Now, just by doing these 8 steps qigong exercise in my living room (under the fan), stretching and breathing, repeated the steps 10 times, my heartbeat is at 30 beats per 15 sec. I am burning calories already.

When I first did the exercise, my body heats up so much that I got a fever the next day. Mild one, so I drank a lot of water and took a rest, body temperature subsided in the evening.

I am impressed, so I wanted to learn the proper steps and perfect my posture. And so happen, the universe got me to meet the sifu himself. He is the one who appears in the VCD through my friend. It was my friend, Mr Goh, (64 years-old but still energetic and runs an Insurance Agency with so many agents under him) who introduced him to me.

Sifu is Mr Sam Siew Tong, he is 74 years old, looks so great and jovial. He has been teaching this qigong for more than 30 years. He started teaching at the carpark in Tong Shin Hospital. He is also a Chinese Physician giving holistics advice in a Chinese Pharmacy in Cheras. He has a huge followings after these 30 years of teaching. He has groups even in East Malaysia and Brunei. He is also a Vegetarian Cooking practitioner, so good that he even teaches the art of cooking vegetarian meals and so publish his own cook book too.

In the above pic, Sam SiFu is in white explaining the benefits of Ba Duan Jin Qigong to about 20 friends who came to my apartment to listen to his talk and then proceed to learn the exercise.

To return the Sifu joy of teaching, we gave him RM120.00 for 3 sessions at 2-hour each. He said we should be ready to practise after 6 hours of lessons.

Recipe for Macaroni Cheese Bake

2007-05-10T18:27:00.000+08:00

I like to cook my dinner. Because cooking is so simple and pleasurable. I find cutting vegetables and the preparing the rest of the ingredients very therapeutic. The creation is very satisfying, especially seeing it rise and simmer and browning and crispy and it smell so tantalising. It is like all the goodness of a day's work are turning into something so wonderfully tasteful, and can be eaten too.

Cooking for dinner sometime takes an hour or more. But sometime it takes less than 30 minutes. Look at this recipe for Macaroni Cheese Bake, it takes only 30 minutes to prepare and baking time is only 25 minutes. While it is baking, I will take my shower and rest, the oven will go "tiing" and you know your dinner is ready. So, I sit back, turn on my Astro, sometime light some candles, turn on the air-cond and enjoy an evening of casual dining at the comfort of my home.

Having a peaceful evening is just so simple. Moreover, I always know my time, when I will be back home and I make sure I make appointment for myself to relax and enjoy my very own evenings - and I have lots of them, hehehehe!!

Macaroni Cheese Bake
(Serves 4 if with other dishes, serves 2 if this is main course)

200g macaroni
Butter for frying
2 medium onion, chopped
Some bacon chips
¼ cup flour
2 ½ cups milk
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 ½ or more cups grated cheddar cheese
Canned tomato puree (optional – to top with cheese)

Preheat oven to 180º C.
Add macaroni to large pan of boiling water and cook until tender, drain (Tips : add salt for taste and a little oil so that macaroni won’t stick.)
Heat butter in a large pan; add onion and bacon. Stir until fragrant, add flour and stir for 1 minute. Add milk gradually, stir until mixture boils and thickens. Simmer over low heat for another minute. Remove pan from heat. Stir in nutmeg.
Add pasta and 1 cup of the cheese to pan. Stir until combined, spoon into a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. (Or you may want to add a cup of tomato puree to add to the taste.) Bake for 20 minutes.

Your Biography is Your Biology

2007-05-09T16:53:00.000+08:00

"Your Biography is Your Biology." Caroline Myss, Anatomy of the Spirit

I have read many books by Caroline Myss. I started reading her books when I got my hands on one entitled "Anatomy of the Spirit". Then I got another one entitled "Why We Don't Heal and How We Can". After that, I found another book also by Caroline entitled "Sacred Contract". All 3 books tell us about what we were meant to be but didn't. We were meant to be powerful and know how to heal ourselves, but we didn't. We were meant to live a happy and rewarding lives but we didn't. We were meant to co-create loving and joyful relationships, but we didn't. So, the silence from all the hidden fears such as anger, depression, jealousy etc will somehow gets blown up and became cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, joint-pains and so on.

I love the way Caroline puts it : "Your Biography is Your Biology"; which simply means that if I had cancer, that is my "biology", so I should go back and look seriously at my "biography" and heal it from there. That is the cause of all that surfaced. There are a lot of real study cases in her books where I can relate because I see it in myself too. Before any degenerative health matters turn up in my "biology", I better spruce up and re-write my "biography". Am I too stressed up? Am I angry over a phone call? Do I make judgment about selling? Am I seeking approval for things my heart yearns to do? Am I conforming to society because I am afraid of being left alone? So, I work on these issues everyday to be The Peace I am seeking.

Recently I saw some of her CD collections at MPH. There were a few where she read from her 3 books. I am amazed to find that she has another few collections which she recorded in front of live audiences. And the subject she expounds is very simple yet very profound. One such subject is Self-Esteem.

The 2 CD collections, one is on the subject of Self Esteem. The other is about Essential Guides for Healers. Each of this collection contains 4 CDs and they each run a 5-hour lecture.

I have listened to the 1st one "Self Esteem - Your Fundamental Power" and this is what I got in my own words :

When you walk into a boutique, your self-esteem is already hanging on the rack, shouting at you to get it. (means, what your self-esteem is, you will choose the dress and colour and look of the choice of your "self-esteem".)
Her definition of self esteem : Self Esteem is Your Spirit in Action!!
When everyone has high self esteem, we will not need to have wars and take over countries to fill the void.

Well, I have listened to the CD once, I am going through them a few more times, as I picked up the notes, I will write what come to my mind then.