Archive of time

While missing in Yunnan I discovered Shangri La

2012-01-05T18:25:00.002+08:00

When I was a child, my late grandmother told me that our ancentral origin can be traced back in the mystical mountainous region of Yunnan in China. I never paid any attention then, until one fine day I stumbled upon a travel documentary that showcased the hidden beauty of the region, the colorful tribes roaming the sleeping ancient town and the mystical wonder of those ethereal places. It inspired me and I said to myself "Wow...! I must go there."

My wish did come through. I was enroute the Bolehland from Beijing quite recently and I thought a short stopover in Yunnan wouldn't do me any harm. The first stop was in Kunming the capital of Yunnan which was only a 5o minutes flight away from Lijiang. Lijiang is one of the very well preserved ancient city in the province. The air-view along the way to Lijiang was very pleasing. The undulating terrain, isolated tiny villages high in the mountain, vast fertile lands in a diverse landscape were impressive enough and astonishingly beautiful. Luckily my sanity was still prevail otherwise I would have jump out and parachute off the plane just to experience the bird-eye view of this natural wonders. On a second thought, it was not entirely a bad idea though.

My 2 faithful colleagues and myself ended up spending 5 exciting days exploring the ancient town of Lijiang and her surrounding area. We literally inched ourselves up the snow-capped mountain and almost knocked out by lack of oxygen, braved the ear-deafening roar of Yangtze rapid in the deepest gorge, blended with the local tribes on a horseback, passed through scenic mountains, valley and lakes, paced ourselves slowly on the fine bluestones in the small alleys and traced the small streams that run through the ancient town. That was my kind of travel.

One thing that has lasting impression and really touched my heart was the people I met while in Lijiang. While communication was almost muted, sincerity and warm hospitality became a mutual natural bonding. It is a universal language through good gesture and pleasant body languages. Perhaps we were very lucky to have such good encounters. I do hope those were a representation of the whole local population. I do hope others will have the same pleasant encounters like us.

At the end of the journey, I still could not find and unravel the mystery of my ancestral origin. That elusive family tree can wait. I have the feeling that somehow there is a strong sense of belonging there. That intimate feeling was so real and it was very personal. That wonderful and mystical place has really captured my heart - forever.

Lijiang is a place where minority ethnics and diverse cultures blended in seamlessly and seemed to exist in a much lower temperature as compared to their neighboring Northern highlander.

While other part of the ancient world is facing a new invasion of Western believe and culture, Lijiang is still immune to this threat, well at least in this part of the ancient town. These Naxi old folks are their last bastion in preserving their well-kept tradition and custom.

A communal washing area is a common sight inside the ancient city of Lijiang. Fresh and clean water that runs down from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain radiates through the town in the form of many streams which provide a life-support essential to the entire population.

This local Mosuo girl weaving their traditional pashmina looked suspiciously at me when I snapped this photo. Just like any tourist spot, there were many shops that lined the street in the ancient town of Lijiang and sell the beautiful hand-made traditional handicraft for visitors to burn their pocket.

I just took a deep breath, savored the pleasured moment and enjoyed the spectacular view on the edge of nowhere, close to the top of the snow-capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. At over 4000 meters above sea level, oxygen which was taken for granted in the lowland suddenly became the most appreciated element.

My colleague told me that if he find Shangri La, he will never look back and return to this mortal world again. I asked him whether the above picturesque Blue Moon Valley fit his criteria. He replied..."you have to go to the underworld to get the answer."
Very true indeed :)

The azure color of the lake with a backdrop of majestic Yulong mountain was really awe-inspiring. Actually this almost surreal landscape was not in my original syok-sendiri itinerary, but with a good and willing personal tourist guide, the hidden beauty of the Blue Moon Valley unraveled before my eyes.

While standing on the edge of this rapid section at one of Tiger Leaping Gorge's deepest section I can't help myself but admired the greatness of our Maker. The 3 hours one-way trip across the mountainous region of Yunnan toward the mystical Shangri La that passed through many junctions of Yangtze river was blissfully heaven. This was a place with unparalleled beauty. A place worth exploring.

As Tiger Leaping gorge is claimed to be the deepest gorge in the world, going down close to the rapid and then up again was quite a challenge for some. If your leg or knee is not strong enough, those special carriers were ready to assist. With a small token you can ride like a king.

Along the way to Shangri La, I spotted this nondescript stall selling very potent looking chillis. I was to find out later that those were the hottest chili in China.

No. 1 Courtyard Hotel Lijiang is a traditional five star hotel with a very beautiful courtyard. It was through the kindness of our taxi driver which later turned into our personal tourist guide that took us to this place despite our uncertainty of our final destination (read lost).

It was not my usual fancy to show the condition of my hotel room. This one was special because for the first time in my life I slept on a waterbed. A good love nest for honeymoon couple. A very unusual experience for me.

This is the only mosque in Lijiang right across the road from our hotel. From the main road it was slightly hidden by the dense vegetation. The mosque situated just outside the peripheral of the ancient town on a slope behind the town bus station. Our guide didn't know the existence of this mosque, but my indispensable interpreter and talk person - Mr OCW managed to pin-point this location with laser sharp accuracy.

A nondescript eating place for Muslim tucked away and hidden front he sight of unwary travelers. There was only a handful of halal restaurants in Lijiang and you need a good local guide to pin-point the exact location as there was no apparent signage. I just trust the guide and my gut and I think he didn't bluff as the owner answered my salam graciously.

Mr. Yang (sitting on the far right) and my two travel companions enjoying the warm Naxi hospitality. Mr Yang was so gracious and very generous with his time and made all the effort to accommodate all our fancies.

The traditional yak's dishes for our lunch. The food was simple, fresh and very informal but yet shockingly very tasty. I just have to watch my uric acid level as throughout my 10 days China adventure, surprisingly red meat became my main staple food. Warm Yak milk to compliment the dish will make the whole eating experience sublime.

Lijiang is a place where many beautiful streams with fresh and clear water radiates through the town with small cafes and restaurants offer hungry travelers with their mouthwatering traditional and modern dishes. I didn't get a chance to sit down in one of the cafe beside a stream enjoying a cup of the most expansive tea in the world (Puer tea) because I was so busy snapping photos and got mesmerized by her sheer beauty.

The sun, the moon and open air... what else do we need to get the feeling of freedom while dumping our precious commodity in this open loo. This is the 21st century version of an exotic spa in the middle of nowhere. I thought I never had to experience this unique ancient ritual, but alas the nuclear-hot chili in my dish really had caused me to have another earth-shattering gastro-intestinal apocalypse here. What an experience!

This, in my opinion is the most beautiful and super-clean toilet in the whole province. It should be rated as a five-star toilet. Next time if I accidentally landed on this mystical land and miss the hotel booking I know where to gatecrash. Superb!

An unforgettable urinating experience in the Land of the dragon

2011-12-29T22:47:00.014+08:00

It may sounds a bit weird or perhaps utterly nonsense to have such an exceptional eye-opening experience during my inaugural and virgin trip to the Land of the dragon which somehow has something related with the loo. In fact it is aptly unfitting to discuss this intimate subject matter in an open forum especially in the first paragraph of a would-be epic journey that I will remember in years to come. The loo by itself presented me with a new life perspective and invaluable insight into what our life would be without a toilet.

This time around the visit to this part of the world really tickled and aroused all my senses. I can still smell that signatory pungent odour even when I type this particular paragraph, or at least the smell kept lingering in my subconscious mind, perhaps for the time being until I come across some other form of life-changing moment.

Modern China was a new territory for me. All this while I kept hearing about the Chinese majestic and huge stone walls and gates, the legendary and hidden myth of the many opulent palaces, the serene and splendour of beautiful landscapes, the food, the people and all the unique cultural splendour associated with that big continent.Those vivid images became like a moving wall paper in my head. This time I got to see them all with my own eyes.

At the time of my visit to Beijing- the Northern capital of China, it was quite chilly, dusty and overcrowded mainly with Peking duck eating dim sum. My first impression on this inanimate metropolis was quite monotonous and lifeless. Perhaps because there was not much colour to feast my eyes during this cold season of the year.Or probably I had already embedded in my mind a preconceive idea that all big metropolis are similar - pollution, rush hour, shellfish and lack of warm hospitality.

One thing for sure, Beijing is no more a sleeping giant and really geared up to become another world economy superpower. Everywhere I turned my head to there were new commercial high-rises being erected. These uninviting sight was really an eyesore to me though. Hutong, a collective name that describe traditional and ancient courtyard residences that was build thousands of year ago is fast disappearing to make way for modern but nondescript skyscrapers. I was actually looking forward to spend some time mesmerized myself with the old China, walking slowly in the narrow Hutong alleys and blending myself with the local people. It never materialised. Five days in Beijing was never enough to deeply get to know this place. I should have spent my entire life there to do so.

I think my bladder is quite full now and it is time for me to visit the loo - this time minus the smell of course.

If you can't speak a word in Mandarin or any local dialects of which could be hundreds of them, I am very sure you will have the highest possibility of going nowhere or worst thing get lost. I was quite lucky because one of my fellow companions can speak Mandarin very well (as he should be)- somehow he told me, he himself got so confused and found out it was sometimes very difficult to communicate with the local. That's the way to go Mr OCW and thanks for being a good traveling companion and our indispensable translator!

Niujie mosque is the oldest and largest mosque in Beijing (996 AD) and was innitiated by an Arabic scholar Nasuruddin. The chinese influence was heavily incorporated - at the first glimpse from outside I thought this was a Chinese temple.

As it was almost past noon, my empty tummy had more command than my head. I was quite pleased to know that the whole surrounding area of the Niujie mosque was lined by halal restaurants. We just gatecrashed into one of the nearest restaurant and the meal here was very

appetizing and tasty.

Tuck in Mr OCW! We didn't realize the portion was that big and even though the three of us were very very hungry that day, still we could not finish and wallop all the dishes. Tapau meh...

It seemed finding a good and halal restaurant was not that difficult after all. That was the only time when I didn't require the service of my mandarin-speaking friend as the signage was written in Arabic. This one was right across the road on the east side of the Tiananmen square, only a few meteres from the National Museum of Beijing. The oxtail soup was marvellous - my friend told me, for me as usual I went for nasi.

This pair of insulated glove permanently mounted on the handle of a moped symbolised the creativity of people in China. Probably the most common sight during winter. I wouldn't try to put my hand inside those gloves though.

I like this photo especially my good-friend pose of which reminded me of the yesteryears in the high school. Leaning against the ornate wooden wall of the Hall of Supreme Harmony inside the Forbidden city, he posed just like a pop yeh yeh stud.

Beijing has a rich history and a fair share of foreign invasions. This big gold jar which meant to contain water for fire-fighting inside the Imperial palace was scrapped for its precious

metal.

The sad remnant of Hutong around Beijing. It was not a good sight to see and I was really hoping the next time I visit Beijing there are still some preserved Hutong that survive the brutal onslaught from Beijing fast modernization.

This almost post-card perfect photo (by my own definition) was taken in the Beijing Botanical garden. The water of the lake was frozen hard and almost ready for some nickampook to ice-skate on it.

As I strolled slowly following the quiet path around the lake inside the Botanical garden I noticed this man gracefully practising some form of martial art. Perhaps a Tai Chi. I sat down and watched this man performing his unique moves until one of my colleagues asked me to join in "ajak le dia bersilat bro"

The day we visited the Summer palace it was predicted to be covered with snow. It never happened (the snow fell two days after we left Beijing). It was ear-biting

cold.

On our first night, after a few hours of self-acclimatization in the comfort of our hotel, we took a 40 minute trailblazing taxi ride north to the Olympic village to see this beautiful architecture called the Watercube. I personally thing this building looks much better in the night and very photogenic too with lot of distinctive curvy shapes.

Another architecture wonder, Beijing National stadium which is also known as The Bird's nest just a few steps away from The Water cube.

Scaling the stone path of the Great wall is not a joke. It really requires stamina and determination. I only managed less that one kilometer and I know age is catching up too. I should have jogged

more.

Another great view at another section of the Great wall. It is the Badaling section of the wall which is quite popular by tourist for its 'friendliness' and considered quite forgiving for an ageing traveller like me.

Uncharted mind clogged by rubbish

2011-12-14T19:00:00.003+08:00

The lone siput babi that slowly inched away on the bonnet of my car one blissful morning must has some powerful dose of aphrodisiac properties that invoked my dormant state of mind. The docile neurons immediately sprung up and erratically scrambled the right signals to activate the brain. The urge to put some life into my long-forgotten blog was irresistibly strong.

The pace of my life has to be dangerously close to the lightning speed, especially during last two quarters of this year. It superseded the sonic boom barrier. I've almost lost count of the passing days. My life has been very hectic but yet very fulfilling. Many things happened which undoubtedly make this life very interesting. Even though I am no longer chasing the rainbow and never intended to, I found the colors of the rainbow are becoming more and more beautiful each day. From my years of observation, I realized that chasing the rainbow can be very hazardous and detrimental to health especially to the aging people like me. The rainbow will come if you are at the right time and right place - God willing.

Despite the momentary lapse of time and I missed all the fun in this wonderful Blogosphere, I can't help myself but wondering - why on earth this slow-pace and interesting creature has to be called by that undeserving name? Which part of the snail resembles a "babi"? The look? The behavior? Or simply because our jolly good nasi-lemak-eating nation found it very amusing to label anything with such a weird name. Perhaps these questions can be addressed in a more academic manner and become a good sociological study in one of our local universities that of late sprouted mysteriously in abundance. Perhaps "The babiness of a lone siput babi" could be a good title.

Somehow, I have to thank that particular siput babi for tickling my brain and become a good precursor for my brain to start wondering again on some rubbish issues. Most importantly I thank that siput babi for making me realize that I still have a blog.

Ahhhhh...no wonder my pinnacle is wilting!

2011-08-23T17:54:00.007+08:00

Yesterday I went to Putrajaya for not one but two reasons. First was to attend a nerve-wrecking high-impact meeting with the very high ranking Gomen officials, and another less important but significant reason was to personally inhale the fresh air of Putrajaya. Despite many tourist buses with full load of eye-pollutants that roamed the area (especially near the Putra mosque), indeed the air was lighter and friendlier to my lung as compared to my sanctuary in Sg. Buloh. It was raining cats and dogs too but that didn't bother me much to cover my wilting head as I know the acid level is considerably low in Putrajaya - average pH of 6.06 (look at the above table). I can only assume that miss Afida of Putrajaya will lead an acid-free life and probably live a thousand years more.

Hard it may seem, it is now scientifically proven that my area, Sg. Buloh has the worst rainwater quality (average pH of 5.47) in term of acidic level as compared to the other sampling areas, which also explains the reason why my head feel lighter and lighter each day as the vegetation up there is getting thinner and thinner. This rainwater result however puzzled me as all this while I though I am living in a safe haven full of oxygen-rich rubber trees, which act as a good guardian against all the bad elements. Looking around me however reveals some sinister fact of which I failed to notice all these years. There are rubber processing factories that whenever in operation emit nauseating odor, numerous laboratories that discharge copious amount of volatile corrosive vapor into the atmosphere, chemical stores (nobody seems to care if there is any leakage or not) and zombies with bad mouth odor that move around aimlessly in the compound. My playground has becoming a dangerous place to be.

Kerteh is a clear winner in this test (average pH 6.41). It has the best rainwater quality. In fact MULAN can save a lot of her water bill by just collecting rainwater not only for her domestic use but also for their consumption too as the pH range for drinking water is around 6.5 - 8. Actually I didn't expect Kerteh to have such a good air quality (which cause acid rain) as Kerteh is very close to a big oil refinery plant that continuously vomiting gasses from its huge distillery that rival any alien cities. I think its location close to the shore with load of gusty wind that blows inland has a cleansing effect to the atmosphere. With such good air quality probably Kerteh is a good place for me to settle down in the future (after pencen lah).

Result from Cheras (5.95), K. brang (5.85), Kuching (6.14) and Pokok sena (5.95) exhibit almost a similar good rainwater quality and can be considered quite normal on a slightly acidic level. They still don't fall below pH 5.6 (a level that is considered acidic). By now the lucky Bloggers must be very happy to know that whenever it is raining in their area, they can simply go out into the rain and wash their hair with the rainwater without worrying to much on using any shampoo to neutralize all the harmful elements.

To conclude my short report on rainwater quality and assuming there is no cheating involve in this experiment, it is clear that most of the sampling areas are safe to live except my area, Sg. Buloh. It is a very sad conclusion but again it is proven that scientific discoveries may change the world views which more often than not are based on many fake assumptions .

Thank you very much to all the participating Bloggers. Your endless sacrifice and timeless effort have made scientific discoveries as interesting as eating budu with petai. Perhaps for the sake of humankind and pure curiosity, we may embark into another bigger scientific endevour in the near future. May Allah bless you all.

Semalam, sembilan belas tahun lalu

2011-08-16T10:49:00.004+08:00

Buat sekian kalinya
Juragan cinta ini ingin bermadah
merayu agar bayu pagi
membisik kepada angin laut China Selatan
membawa ghairah cinta juragan ini
mengulit mimpi permaisuri
nan lama bertakhta dihati

semalam, sembilan belas tahun lalu
juragan cinta menobat permaisuri dihati
meninggalkan pelabuhan solo itu
tidak berpaling lagi
belayar bersama dermaga kasihmu
mengalun seruling bambu syahdu mendayu
bahtera kemudi dilautan api asmara tiada henti

sumpah setia juragan cinta ini
lautan luas sama direnangi
gunung ganang sama dijelajahi
susah senang mainan hidup ini
jika sumpah keramat derhaka sekali
biarlah jasad ini tidak dimakan bumi

dan jika kasih ini bukan milik duniawi
wahai permaisuri dihati
jemputlah jeragan cinta ini
biarpun sekali cuma
mendampingi kamar cintamu
disyurga firdausi mu hakiki

Puisi semarak gurindam kasih sejati
ku tuju buat permaisuri hatiku
sembilan belas tahun mengulit asmara ini
juragan cinta mohon tiada noktah akhirnya
biar dakwat cinta ini kekal abadi

Seriously, it has nothing to do with the itch.

2011-08-12T16:27:00.007+08:00

Finally I managed to break the three month's blog-a-pause. At this juncture I have to make it clear that this unprecedented time-lapse has nothing to do with any superstitious belief or to commemorate any special events but for sure the longest Blogosphere dormancy period by my standard. It is neither a disease nor my ideas getting into a gestation period but a symptom of mood disorder which manifested from an intimate love-hate relationship with this virtual space. Somehow I am quite relieve now to be able to associate myself and start my intimate relation again with this domain and share some interesting stories with my fellow Blogger friends.

I have to admit though. It must be these intimidating sea serpents with tentacles from the darkest abyss of the South China Sea that woke me up from my deepest slumber. For the past three months I had myself so occupied with none other but myself and somehow got lost into another psychedelic dimension. In order not to feel very guilty leaving this blog in the longest solitude mode ever, I think the best thing to do and what most other good citizens of this Bolehland normally do is to give lame excuses or find some poor scape goats. This time I shamelessly put the blame on my broken laptop - the one that broke my heart but luckily not my spirit.

A week before Ramadhan I traveled back to the Keropoklekor land for a short family holiday and some self-defined top secret/covert activities. I met some of my old friends and in one of our important kedai-kopi-tepi-jalan meetings the word 'sutong sumbat' (stuffed-squid) became a topic of heated debate. Normally when we, the nasi lemak eating nation meet our old friends or long-lost schoolmates in kedai kopi the type of topic that top the list would revolve around the family matters such as the current number of kid and future wives, nostalgic and funny school experiences that make us continuously giggling, future business venture that will never materialize etc. Weird as it was, the delectable dish Ganukite called 'sutong sumbat, dominated the discussions.

I then realized the reason we talked so much on food rather on some other serious matters was because there was not much point in talking seriously on any serious matter because it seems nobody is serious these days. We are surrounded by jokers that make fun of each others. Whatever your belief is, religious matters for example are being ridiculed and mocked indiscriminately without any shame or self-respect. The world economy doesn't help either and crumbling down faster than a sonic-boom speed. Even keropok lekor become an expansive commodity. Who knows in the future 'sutong sumbat' won't have any more 'sumbat' (stuffing) to compliment the salty taste of the squid.

After such a long break, I think it is not superstitiously good and nice to indulge in some serious topic to start with. I don't want to talk very seriously at the moment as my mission now is to find out whether there is any 'sutong sumbat' being sold at any of the scattered bazaars around my neighborhood. That is to find the answer to some of our dispute during the old friends meeting while in Ganukite.

...Selamat Berbuka Puasa folk!

Free is always good...come and get them!

2011-05-16T15:37:00.007+08:00

I think many of us are having a similar dilemma or share the same 'problem' as I do. We sometimes failed to realize that our home sweet home, over the years had and could become a good dumping site for many unused usable items laying idle somewhere in every corner the cockroaches can reach . I won't be surprised if we look closely and list down every single items in our house and come out with a good and discernible asset inventory we will find for example an extra rice cooker that was given during our wedding day sit on the top of the shelf, branded handbags from annual mega sales shopping frenzy hidden somewhere in the closet, extra golf set to impress prospective business partner but at the end failed, an expansive-underutilized and problematic maid sitting aimlessly in one corner of the kitchen or even a stockpile of Scud missiles post-Iraqi war at our own backyard as a unique memorabilia. Those unused items and artifacts if left idle much longer will surely degrade, rot, gather dust, reduce in aesthetic value (read menyemak) or even pose a health hazard to us.

With all that scary possibilities in mind and after some poking into my left and right brain, I've come up with a "syok sendiri', bombastic but holistic idea. I've decided to set up a special platform in this Blogosphere with the intention to share the items with you, my trusted fellow bloggers in hoping that those unused items will find another good home, good owner and good use. It is a concept of recycling things and the best thing is they are free (if you don't include your petrol for traveling).

You can have a peek into the new blog "khas untuk Blogger aje" to get the feel of the concept and see if there are items of your interest for a quick grab. It is still in its infancy and any suggestion to make the idea to flourish and metamorph into a community playground is very much anticipated. More items will be added up from time to time. I just have to find the right time to gather all those items and convert them into a photogenic material.

If you want to take one step further though and make this effort a blessed one which hopefully can becomes a future saham in our next life, a sincere donation as a token for those items which can be used for many good causes is very much treasured too. One immediate recipient that come into my mind is a surau in my neighborbood (Surau Al-Hikmah) that is now being upgraded into a KAFA. I hope the work can be finished just before the fasting month. You can bank in your token/donation into the Surau's account and come and get the item(s) of interest and value to you from me.

Those items could actually well be featured in our local lelong scenes or other international auction platforms but I don't feel like doing so because by jumping into that bandwagon this effort will loose it personal touch, exclusiveness and not cool anymore. That however is just my personal opinion.

Perhaps another idea is, other Bloggers can chip in too in this effort by disposing and recycling their unused item through this platform for the benefit of the others. Just email me the details and I will post them in the new blog. I promise I will accept and post anything but please don't dispose your grumpy husband/wife here - those kind of thing if you know what I mean.

Summary of the new concept :

1. Free unused but workable items to dispose/recycle
2. Collect yourself (small items can be posted/couriered but at cost of the recipient)
3. If you feel a bit generous, donate for any good cause (optional and no obligation)
4. Exclusive to our Blogger friends only!

Please feel free to comment, critic and give suggestion to improve this effort. Your endless support, my Blooger friends is very much appreciated.

This is just the beginning and I hope it won't be the last.

The first rainwater test kit

2011-05-07T19:11:00.003+08:00

The first test kit for rainwater collection was safely landed on my table last week, the day after it was dispatched from the land of the hornbill. I was very excited because the samples were all in good condition and had already analyzed the samples. The report will be published here when I receive all the test kits from the other volunteers for all our bloggers to share and talk in office canteen and comment in kedai kopi. This small scientific effort could give some insight on the real condition of our atmosphere.

I am looking forward to receive the remaining test kits from our volunters and thank you very much for taking part in this small project.

It all started innocently enough

2011-05-03T16:03:00.005+08:00

The first time somebody officially asked me about my ambition and I seriously replied with full of enthusiasm to become a scientist was in 1978. Without much thought on the dark secret life of a scientist, that was exactly my answer. I was in standard two at SIS Kemaman, my first year at the primary school after the hijrah from SOS Dungun. The person who asked me that significant question which later influenced the way I think and shaped my future was the bubbly Cikgu Zubir.

At this point, I have to make it clear that my ambiguous decision to pursue that ambition however had nothing to do with the prospect of how many girls I could charm with that bombastic ambition nor that I could change all the zombies into productive monkeys. But it has all the reasons in this world to influence my future romantic journey which took precedence over my entire life.

Oblivious to me at first, that childhood ambition was actually the precursor that endlessly ignite the fire that flamed the greatest love story ever - "cinta monyet di menara gading". The flame never died ever since. As any other great love epic- among others, the place was one of the important settings for this romantic journey to take place. My feeling over the years, subconsciously evolved and influenced by my surrounding, which were diverse in their complexity, unique characters and major players.

1st phase : The setting

The sparkling new laboratory at the deserted new KUSZA campus marked its inaugural opening with load of enthusiasm by scientist wannabes. The first experiment we were asked to take on was on the exciting concept of endo and exothermic reaction of chemicals. As we were still very innocent, ignorance and careless - evidence from the naive faces in the photo, the idea of mixing chemicals that release or absorb energy was very alien and intimidating. The idea of courting and flirting with girls was also very alien and intimidating too. The natural surrounding dictated boys and girls should mind their own business. I hardly knew who were the backbencher girls in the laboratory or even in my class. They all looked very similar to me and I assumed they treated me the same. Teropong iman at that time was still in its infancy and under-developed.

That fateful day however, we saw one of our colleague at the end of the experiment had almost burnt down the whole laboratory (the one at the back who was seen seriously meddling with the Bunsen burner and he was also the one and only ardent fan of Eddie Lawson that I mentioned in the earlier entry - Dharma Kasuma). He lost his eyebrow as well.

My subsequent jihad to Bangi had presented me with a totally new perspective on life and a bigger laboratory to experiment with too. Suddenly the atmosphere had totally changed. Nothing seemed to dictate the way you dress, to whom you should talk to, where you should eat or even how long you could have your leisurely afternoon siesta and missed your important lecture. It seemed like a total anarchy. To survive one had to be strong and of course discipline.

I could not remember what experiment I was doing (in the photograph above) or what was the name of my project partner or in which lab the photo was taken because my mind was not focus as it should be. Luckily I managed to finish all the assignments, thanks to my project partner of whom I still could not remember his name. There were so many distractions. The only thing I remember was how excited I was and so looking forward to go to the biochemistry practical laboratory to do my assignment. For the first time, something had caught my eyes and motivated me to spent time doing my experiment obediently in that particular lab. For the first time I stayed focus. That laboratory was the perfect setting for some serious chemistry reaction to take place. It was irresistibly powerful and I am helpless. I blamed that on my puberty hormone. The jeling-jeling and senyum-senyum process started here.

I later also found out and realized that playing with fire in the biochemistry laboratory could be one hazardous endeavor especially if the fire is so big as what happened to my friend Dharma kasuma. Luckily I didn't loose my eyebrow. But over time I learned to control the flame and harnessed its affectionate power. Life was full of flowers and its smelled nice too. Flamed by unfamiliar but a pleasant feeling, that was the exact time when my teropong iman started to activate.

Ah...now that my mind is starting to focus a bit, I remember my poor partner was actually Dr. Asri of the RMC, the guy who endlessly broke the glass test tubes in order to prove that his hand was made of steel.

next stage : the chase

An inordinate fondness for kapcai

2011-04-27T17:23:00.008+08:00

I got my first motor-kapcai after completing my SPM in 1985. It was not because I wanted to join the indigenous mat rempit and terorizing the folk along Jalan Pasir Panjang by 'rempiting' all the way to Bandar KT but simply because I got bored waiting for the offer letter from our local 'menara gading' and have nothing productive to do in order to fill in the void. Those time the word 'rempit' was hardly heard of and biking was still considered a healthy and safe activity because the road was less congested, the lipat kijang skill was well mastered and for some freak reasons it seemed that most kaki motor possessed a 9-cat-life.

The motor-kapcai was a Yamaha Y80 of which I bought (partly subsidized by my father) from my cousin, who upgraded to RXZ 135 which had just hit the market. Instantly the kapcai became the joy of my life. Pantai Batu Burok became my regular lepak place almost every afternoon with my other motor kaki. Occasionally I cruised along the beach alone just to feel the salty breeze slap gently on my face before settling down to stare at the the seafarers passing by in the horizon while enjoying the heavenly keropok lekor. The original keropok lekor and not the one so elastic and jawbreakingly hard which tasted and smelled like a selipar Jepun.

It didn't take that long before my curiosity got the best of me and the kapcai underwent some major cosmetic adjustment and minor body surgery. Under the srong influence of my younger brother and Eddie Lawson's achievement as the world champion in motorcycle Grand Prix, a new 'exzos potong' was fitted to to give the kapcai some distinctive sound identity, a new and bigger piston was dumped into the bored-engine and different size of sprockets were experimented to transform this timid machine into a super-kapcai. The best modification in my opinion that made this super-kapcai looked a Grand Prix worthy was the excessive addition of Nolan stickers onto the body parts.

Despite all the illegal modifications by my father's standard, I'd only involved with only a few minor accidents. One that I clearly remember was that fateful Saturday morning, I sped off with my super-kapcai for my weekly town tour and in such hurriedness and rocket-speed I forgot that the previous day the main road that lead into my kampung was loosely tarred. For a while I think I could easily become a stuntman. The other unforgettable accident involved a cat that had clearly no civic-minded who jaywalked and crossed the road without looking left and right. Luckily both the victims survived with only minor scratches.

My intimate relationship with my super-kapcai continued and flourished further to the ivory tower in Bangi. That was the time when 'Fansasia bulan madu' was the no. 1 hit in my local pop chart and soup ekor and daging merah became a food of envy to any students who didn't have any mode of transportation to reach makeshift kedai tomyam at Bandar Baru Bangi (BBB fasa 1). The distinctive supersonic sound from my exzos potong that echoed nicely in between the hill and Pejabat Pentadbiran UKM had in many occasion caused some dispute among the varsity's Pak guards. Not until they banned the motorbikes from entering the campus which almost caused another student riot that put the end to any sound pollution in the campus.

At the end of my campus year, I was very proud to say that my super-kapcai was still a virgin. During the first 4 semesters not a single awek was shuttled here and there around the campus on my super-kapcai simply because having an awek on a 80cc kapcai (even though a super-kapcai) didn't look cool at all. It was a misfit and considered a taboo and unacceptable by my kaki motor.

My allegiance with my campus kaki motor however was tested to its limit and about to be broken when I entered my third year and some unexpected turn of events happened along the way. I was totally taken off-guard and it happened all of a sudden. Suddenly my teropong iman was activated and I smelled flowers all around me.

But that was another long and interesting story to tell.

Acid rain for bloggers-funded project

2011-04-14T18:27:00.015+08:00

Any piece of information that could save life or improve our quality of life can be considered as important. I consider the information in the form of a bar chart above is very important as it could change our life and the way we interact with nature. I didn't realize its importance until one day I took that piece of bar chart information back home, discussed the finding a little bit with my significant half over dinner, digested the fact halfheartedly, went to bed and had an unforgetable nightmare about the consequences we are about to face in the years to come. Naturally being a self-professed scientist I decided to jot it down in this blogosphere in hoping that this piece of eye-opener may perhaps assist my blogger friends to take some 'iktibar' and probably some preventive measures in facing our bleak future.

In the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis and all the uncertainties that are looming in the air, our weather is responding and continuously changing to match the temperamental tempo of it's surrounding. Nevertheless most of the environmental changes so far seem quite adverse and not so kind to humankind. With all the exaggeration, I predict by the time we achieve our Wawasan 2020 almost everybody in Bolehland will be hairless and more iresisistable than Kojak, suffering constant severe migraine or probably having burn and dented scalp with some holes here and there up our pinnacle.

The reason I come to this concluding remark because the water that is pouring down from the sky kingdom is getting more and more acidic by my acceptable standard (look at the chart - the lowest pH so far is 4.29). It is just like someone up there who happens to suffer osteoporosis and eat load and load of lemon then piss down on you. I don't mind if the taste is like lemon but this one is no way near even the dreadful cough syrup. That data by the way came from the rain that was collected for almost a month perioud at my own office backyard, a place that is surrounded with all the lush green and the air is considerably thin as compare to the other less 'green' area.

Since then I have been thinking. My thought has nothing to do though with my noble idea of converting hujan batu into hujan emas (supposedly to be a top secret project) but it has everything to do with our daily life and future generation. I am thinking and taking the initiative to start a small blogger-orientate project just for the sake of scientific curiosity and a little bit of fun where at the end of the day everybody who participate can also claim themselves a true mother-earth guardian angel.

Thus I am calling all my blogger friends from all over Bolehland to enthusiastically contribute to this small but meaningful project. The idea is to have rain samples from various part of Bolehland so we get a general idea on the severity of this pressing issue or how fast we will become another Kojak. This project will at most take one month (depending on the rainfall). What you have to do is simply send me some water of the rain samples from you own backyard and I will collate the data and churn the results and present it in this virtual realm for us to discuss further. I cannot promise any monetary reward to any good Samaritans out there who are going to participate in this ambitious project but an illustrated presentation of simple correlation between different geographical representative is guaranteed.

If you are interested to be part of this interesting project that perhaps change the course of human history, please email me your address and I will send you a simple sample collecting SOP (standard operating procedure).

Any taker out there?

The story of hujan batu and hujan emas

2011-04-05T17:45:00.010+08:00

I was at first quite reluctant to publish this rather peculiar 'letter'. The letter that was circulated through e-mails and probably spread widely in all underworld domain as chain letters way back in 2009 could get me or anyone who read and circulate it into trouble. Firstly, this may look as very un-patriotic and secondly thousand of nasi-lemak-eating nation after reading this shocking revelation will most probably jump the gun and start the mass migration to the promise lands. The worst thing is, I could be labeled as a person or one of the persons who are forever complaining and whining like an ungrateful clown. Nobody like a whiner, even a clown.

However, as I had some limited experience living in the UK for 4 years and now staying in our beloved Bolehland probably until the end of my day, I found the truth is agonizingly hard to digest. That was because I had just finished a plate of nasi lemak without the normal teh tarik to flush everything down into my gut. After contemplating the fact that this is very relevant to the daily life of every breathing soul in Bolehland and looking at the standard of living we are facing now, so my blogger friends and just to be fair to the original author I enclosed below the above-mentioned letter as original as it is without any editing whatsoever so that I don't distort anybody's mind.

p/s: Read only if you have ample time or when you are not watching any telenovellas. With all the seriousness, this piece of information needs you to think, reflect and re-think and probably realize at the end of the day nothing can be done. I however do not take any responsibility if after reading this very important information, you start to pack everything and buy a ticket to London.

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Life as a Malaysian

The cost of living in each country (especially UK and Europe) based on what you earn in the respective country and whether the standards are higher than in Malaysia.

I tried to point out that many Malaysians always convert and that is why they say the UK is expensive. In fact, the cost of living is much cheaper than in Malaysia.

In actual fact, Malaysians are being conned because for such a rich and resource rich country, the pay in Malaysia is way too low compared to the cost of living and inflation.

One good example is Singapore.

Singaporean’s (average) earns around S$3000 to S$4000 and nearly everything is half the price of Malaysia. E.g. Clothes, computer parts, electronics etc.

But the average Malaysian still earns RM2000 plus and goods are double the price of Singapore. This is the same as the UK. If you earn around 2000 pounds, you can liken this to the person earning RM$2000 in Malaysia. I give you some examples below. Maybe you can understand.

1) Good terrace house

It is more or less the same. If you want a house in KL, it would most probably be in Puchong and not Damansara Heights. So your house would be RM200,000. In UK, you can get a decent new house in Zone 6 (still within the tube) for 200,000 pounds.

If non London, you can get a nice house also for less than 200,000 pounds outside London. The same also applies to buying a house in Seremban, Kajang etc. You can buy a nice house for RM200,000 below.

So buying a house is the same for the local and the Malaysian. Renting a place is the same too or maybe cheaper than in Malaysia (I am Not sure of this). A 2-bedroom flat in London is about 750 pounds (Zone 2). 500 pounds outside Zone 6 but still able to commute to London. A 2-bedroom house in Nottingham is 450 to 500 pounds. A 3-bedroom house in Belfast is about 300 pounds.

2) A car

A good Wira is RM55,000. Most Malaysians have to take 7-year loans and be in debt all the time. If you are earning RM2000 a month, you take nearly 3 years saving the RM2000 with not eating at all just to buy a Wira.

In UK, the average local earns about 2000 pounds. He saves 3 months, he can buy outright a good Ford Fiesta or a Vauxhall Corsa without being in debt. If buying a second hand car, even better. A 1990 Mercedes 190E cost 500 pounds. My 1996 Mercedes E220 cost 2000 pounds. My friend just gave me his 1989 Honda Accord (Auto) for free because he said he could only get 30 pounds for it.

I used it for a few months and decided to give it of for free too. That alone speaks for itself. Even if you are kuli or an office boy, you still can drive a Mercedes or a BM. Yes, kuli’s and office boy’s get paid quite well.

Average temp/office boy in London can earn about 7 to 10 pounds and hour. Overtime is 1.5 times or double. A brick-layer can earn 20 pounds an hour.The same Indon who lays bricks in Malaysia earns RM$50 for the whole day.

Before I became a doctor, I used to be an office boy and I earned near 300 pounds a week working about 70 hours a week. My makan was 30 pounds a week. My rent was 70 pounds a week for a room but I still drove a BMW back then. I bought the 10-year old BMW 3 Series car for 200 pounds. Amazing how an office boy can drive a safe and luxurious car.

3) Petrol.

For a UK person earning 2000 pounds, 89.7 pence a litre/gallon is cheaper than RM1.92 paid in Malaysia. If you don’t convert, it is like paying 90 sen a litre in Malaysia

4) Shopping

20 pounds (which is 1% of 2000 pounds) can buy you 1 week’s worth of groceries in Tesco. RM$100 (which is 10% of RM$2000) can also buy you 1 week’s worth of groceries in Tesco, Giant or Carrefour.

5) Utility Bills

(This is what I pay in UK)

1. Virtually non-stop heating the whole day only 20 pounds a month. Only 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

2. Electricity, I use my electricity maximum only 20 pounds a month.(Only 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

3. My water bill also comes to about 20 pounds a month (Only 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

4. My Internet ? I get 2Mbps for about 25 pounds (Bulldog DSL) (Also slightly above 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

5. Astro Equivalent (NTL cable or Sky) ? 30 pounds per month (Also slightly above 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

In Malaysia, this is what I used to pay

1. Tenaga Bill comes to RM$200 to RM300 a month with 3 air-cons. This

is more than 10% of the RM$2000 earned)

2. Water (Puas) comes to RM$40 (This is about 2% of the RM$2000 earned)

3. Astro RM$100 (if you take Chinese package) (This is about 5% of the RM$2000 you earn)

4. Internet Streamyx 512K RM 88 per month (This is about 5% of RM2000 you earn)

6) Books

A good book is about 10 to 15 pounds in the UK. This is less than 1% of The 2000 pounds you earn. In Malaysia, you have to spend RM$75 to RM$100 for a decent book in MPH or Kinokuniya in KLCC. This is about 5% of the RM2000 ringgit you earn.

7) Education

I think it is about RM$20,000 per year to do a degree in Sunway Monash and about RM$12,000 per year to send your kid to UM, UKM, USM etc. I am not sure about this.

But in UK, it is only 3000 pounds a year to send your kid to a great university. That also, the white man still makes a lot of noise because The grants were taken away. Previously, it was virtually free for the English man to send his kid to university but now, since the grant was taken away, he has to spend 3000 pounds per year to send his kid to university and less money to get drunk in the pub.

Well, if you are earning RM$2000 ringgit, sending your kid to UM to study is quite difficult. If you are earning 2000 pounds per month, you can easily send you kid to university in the UK.

8) Luxuries

Panasonic Plasma TV in Malaysia about RM20,000. If you are earning RM$2000 a month, memang mahal! You have to save 2 years your monthly salary to buy it. In UK, the same Panasonic ironically, Panasonic plasma is made in Japan and Japan is close to Malaysia, so the plasma should be cheaper in Malaysia) is only 2000 pounds. And this is only 10% of the 2000 pounds earned.

9) Health

NHS is free. Though the service is slow, quality is still there. You still can get a top quality by-pass for free although you may have to wait many months. In Malaysia, IJN charges RM$30,000. SJMC charges RM$50,000. GH is free but as many people know, GH and UH have clown doctors.

10) Assessments to local councils

I may pay high council tax but at least my council assures my streets are clean and safe, got no holes (pot holes) on my roads, and they jump and attend to me whenever I call them. When I stayed in Malaysia, I paid my assessment and quite rent but MPSJ (I lived in Subang) told me to “podah” whenever I asked them to come and fill up the pot holes, cut the long lalang, put street lighting etc.

The councils, especially MPPJ and MPSJ, were more interested in eating Nasi lemak and going for 10 teh tariks in a day during office hours and hardly did anything for their residents.

11) Income Tax

My national insurance and income tax also is not wasted. When I was unemployed in 1997, the government via social security paid for my 2-bedroom flat for one whole year and I was given about 100 pounds per week for me and my wife to live on. I am happy to know that one day if I lose my job, I can still claim social security and get my apartment paid and food to eat again for free. It is a good security to know.

All, the list goes on. Here alone you can see, the sterling they earn goes a long way in the UK. So their quality of life is far better in the UK than a Malaysian in Malaysia. It is just that Malaysians are just too content with what they have. But you compare apple for apple. The British just love to complain. They have it made but still they love To complain. Nothing is good enough for the British. The government gives the citizens so much but they still seem to want more and more.

Written by,

Dr Zain Azrai

(update : Somebody pointed out some of the sentences has been 'doctored' from the original script (which later I figured out the reason). Amended)

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What say yu mi fren?

to nuke or not to nuke ?

2011-03-30T14:44:00.006+08:00

To nuke or not to nuke, that is not the question. The question is, how long the mother earth can still breathe and survive the continuous onslaught by the ever-greedy and ungrateful humankind. The earth core is molten and becoming more and more unstable each passing days. She is starting to disintegrate and weaken. The sorry state of our earth spread like a mild ulcer, sporadically evolves into a tumorous state, malignant at first but waiting for the right time and the right precursor to be transformed into a full blown dreadful cancer. Mankind calls this a disaster. This is a natural phenomenon predestined to the aging mother earth, but we ourselves undoubtedly provide and become the catalyst. Civilization is seriously at stake. Probably it is the time. Probably we are due for another mass extinction and share the fatal fate which many million years ago had happened to the ancient dinosaurs.

Going by the current rate it is quite plausible that we are going to witness the Doomsday sooner than what the disillusioned Nostradamus had predicted earlier. This year alone, mother earth shivered and shaken more frequent than ever. Was that not the sign she wanted to convey to us that she is not well or unhappy? We just have to wait and see....and pray that it wouldn't happen in our lifetime.

Not in the far distance, the powers-that-be in our Bolehland is planning to feed the power-hungry nasi lemak eating nation with the ultimate energy the earth can offer. Someone is going to build a nuclear power plant somewhere in somebody's backyard. Naturally and predictably this has already raised heated debate especially in kopitiam and kedai kopi as nothing has been seriously discussed in Parliament yet - that if everybody has becoming very serious these days.

I am of the opinion that we still do not seriously explore all the other safer options and alternative technologies that are available. Even if there is none out there, I still think we should find and try to come out with one. Having said that yes, uranium and all those millions years half-life elements which can generate almost endless energy are not a child's toy that we cannot simply take it for granted and later toss them around recklessly. As radiation is something that we cannot see with our naked eyes and we need special equipments to do so and not everyone can afford it, even at a very minute dosage but continuous exposure to that elements could transform us into a mutant. A mutant with a super brain power is an added bonus but imagine if we are all transformed into a chimeric monkey or perhaps a retarded new species. A total mayhem.

In fact I strongly believe, even if the radioactive dust from the recent mishap in Fukushima does not have the slightest chance to travel all the way across The South China Sea to our Bolehland, some of our countrymen are already exposed long-long time ago to the similar potent dose. It is very clear because you can see a lot of no-brainer bullshitting around as their brain has long gone or shrunken into a pea size. In fact, as we speak the Philipine which is only a few nautical distant from Sabah is already detecting some level of radiation in their Islands.

Some power-hungry citizen wrote in our local tabloid recently and tried to justify the commissioning of a nuclear power plant in our Bolehland by pointed out that the current nuclear technology is safer (please bear in mind that when they built the Fukushima plants many years ago, they have the same mentality) But do remember that hundred years from now the current technology will become obsolete as well. And the recipient to that obsolete technology is not us but none other than our future generation.

I do really hope we can give some thoughtful consideration on the other natural power-generated elements out there. We have abundance of wind, water, sun, tidal wave and even tones of rubbish which if we cleverly exploit and manage them all probably can easily outshine and outdone the nuclear power plant in term of the power output and possible safety hazard . The best thing is they are all free.

The other alternative that I can think of is to consume less energy probably for example by having a candlelight dinner every single night for every household throughout Bolehland. People of Nasi-lemak-eating nation are known for our romance aren't we?

Exploring a secret garden hanging in the sky

2011-03-14T17:24:00.011+08:00

You don't have to hail King Nebuchadnezzar for a special invitation pass to visit his famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon in order to admire the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, or travel all the way to the lost city of Simeria to feast your eyes with one of the marvels. Quite recently I was tip-offed by a self-confess garden enthusiast that there is one right here in our Bolehland. A beautiful and inspiring garden hanging mystically above the ground.

With that very important piece of information, last weekend my entire clan headed to the location in search for the mysterious spot and with the intention to reveal that hidden treasure. The location was no other than One Utama Shopping Center. Yes, you hear me right, the place fondly known by our shopaholic kakis as OU has been keeping the best hidden secret to the unwary eyes for so many years (I have no prior knowledge on the existence of this secret garden as well).

This place really lives to its name. I mean in term of its secrecy. The location was so secluded and purposely designed to confuse visitors, it took us 45 minutes in a wild-goose chase to finally figure out through all the labyrinths (read=kedai makan, toilet pit-stop etc) to the hidden lift that lead us to this heavenly sanctuary. It is actually on the upper rooftop of the building and can be accessed via one of the lifts on the New Wing of OU (one situated in-front of HSBC bank on the second floor and another one, for excitement sake I let you guy to use your creativity and find it yourself :).

I can assure you the visit was worth all the sweating and some UV-exposure spending quality time with family. This is the type of place you want to bring your homesick mother or mother-in-law who longed for a serene and lush kampung surrounding. This roof-top garden of 30,000 sq ft. boasts 500 species of rare Tropical and Temperate plants. Admission is free and it open only on the weekend from 10 a.m to 7 p.m. Don't forget to bring along your camera and some sunscreen lotion too.

The garden is divided into many themes. You can get a brochure and a pamphlet at the entrance. This will guide you for a brisk walk through this marvelous garden. I don't want to write all my wonderful experience in this garden as it will spoil your excitement and this garden is supposed to be secret in the first place.

One cautionary remark though, if you want to bring your partner to this blissful and serene place, make sure your partner posses the same plant fetish as you are and doesn't mind exposing him/herself to the sweet smell of nature because you will be spending hours sweating and mesmerized by this natural wonder. Shopping is not advisable to be carried out on the same day.

As this secret garden is also an experimental garden, you will probably see some new plant species introduced to this garden in the future.

Right after the entrance, you will see this small cactus hill exhibiting some arid and semi-arid collection of the world.

My exploration team congregated in fascination and awestruck by some of the plant collection in the garden. Children can be a good candidate for this natural exploration as this garden will promote awareness and the appreciation of plants.

These peculiar plants (far left), Madagascar tree arum are one of the accent plants in this garden. They lead our eyes straight to this spot when we enter this section of the garden. In the background is the weeping willow - the leaves hang freely and move gently by the wind.

Big pergolas and patios provide shade from the raging sun. They provide a perfect place for city dwellers to unwind during weekends.

A cereal crop from Africa, Sorghum sp. can also be seen wilting in the garden waiting to be harvested.

This yellow passion (Pacciflora flavicarpa) fruit hanging down from a pergola among other climbers and vines. This fragrant fruit is used for juice extract and rich in vitamins. There are also purple passion fruits in the garden.

This particular plant, Jatropha podagrica (pokok jarak) shares similar family with the rubber tree (Euphorbiaceae) blooms beautiful flowers. Their sibling, Jatropha curcas is commercially planted for it promising biofuel production.

I didn't capture the name of this beautiful inflorescent, but it can easily become a focal point to any garden landscape.

Multitude array of colors from this cacti make a very pleasant subject to the eyes.

This brightly colored Heliconia lines the garden entrance.

This bizarre flower of a Brazillian Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia gigantea) that shades the pergolas and patios looks very beautiful. But the smell is not that friendly and gives quite a strong scent to the nostril. My little explorers said the smell resembles rotten fish. (erratum : my life partner cum a full-fledged-botanist pointed out my mistake and gave the correct name for this flower - thanks darling)

My exploration team was very happy and looking forward to visit this roof-top hideout again in the future.

Chasing the rainbow

2011-03-10T16:25:00.006+08:00

A beautiful and brightly colored confocal micrograph of leaf midvein from a native rubber species (Amazon collection).
Naturally, lignified cells give higher excitation (auto fluorescent)
Cross section, 20x magnification, unstained, Blue & Yellow filter.

Of late I think I have seen too many rainbows. The rainbows however were not the regular one which normally appear and show-off their glorious colors accompanying the mid afternoon shower. The usual streak of colorful lines in the sky will surely make our day but these abnormal rainbows work the opposite way. They were distorted and monotonous. Whether it was an illusion that lead my eyes to play trick on me or perhaps I was becoming deeply disillusioned by all the insanity created by the lunatics that believed they are immortal. There is no way to tell and no plausible answer to the question. Those are the same lunatics that believed there are gold pots at the foot of the rainbow.

These whole madness somehow had rendered my brain to temporarily idle and at the same time drained out all my creativity. It was not the first time and it won't be the last one either. Fertile ideas got stuck and frozen dead in between my brain cells, unable to thaw themselves and flow flawlessly out as usual. A month of blog hiatus is a testament to this.

Relatively speaking though, I can consider myself quite lucky as my state of mind has not yet reach the level of brain-dead zombie army which is now widespread not only in my own playground but also in the entire Bolehland. Brain drain is not that bad as we can always rejuvenate and re-energize the exhausted cells. Brain-dead on the other hand is a serious malady of a catastrophic level to the whole human kind as the immortal zombies could not and would not think properly. As the brain is dead, they will make decision based purely on instinct sans good judgment.

At the moment I can only presume that my life is going to be more and more interesting from now on. I am accepting the fact that we have to co-exist and reliant to each other. But still there are many who don't want to understand that our life can sometime becomes very superficial. If we think we are smart, look good, rich, powerful etc. there are many many others that are far better than us. The theory of relativity doesn't apply to some immortals especially the zombie army.

I may see many more anomalies in the rainbow but I am preparing myself with a pair of polarized spectacles to pleased my own eyes. At the same time, I will just let all the zombies to continue believing there are actually gold pots at the foot of the rainbow.

Fool if you think it's over

2011-02-11T17:44:00.007+08:00

After a week of being consumed by all the office's nonsense, rhetoric and polemic, at the end of the day the limited energy drained thus making this able body became paralyzed mentally and emotionally. The mental become almost fatigue and zombie-state of mind and the emotion was plagued with all the absurdities unthinkable by all mankind. Vomiting won't clear the clogged brain but at least clear some of the pride.

A getaway from this whole madness perhaps might revive the spirit within. I would appreciate the harmonic journey to some blissful destinations, probably a far away places sans corrupted souls that lingered and shrouding the once-heavenly playground. The idea was to motivate the restful soul and to nurture the congested mind back to its fertile phase. The place may not be very glamorous but fit the criteria of one heavenly sanctuaries. Thus last weekend, the unplanned trip took off - again to the quiet and peaceful Royal town of K. Kangsar.

The great migration to celebrate the lunar year however begun with a telltale swelling of major roads leading in and out of the Neon City with a diverse mode of transportation crawling in a turtle-pace, back to back. The smoking heavy metals didn't move in a Brownian movement but straight and linear lines occupying the limited void in one dimension, following obediently the first Newton's law of Motion. It is painstakingly monotonous. Time came to a standstill devoid of any expression in space.

Perhaps the transition between the two celestial animals may has some effect on the way Nasi lemak eating Nation making their decision especially on mass migration. I could not gauge the mood of each and single soul behind the wheel but trespassing onto emergency lanes was a symptom of incongruent multiple personality disorder a.k.a stress. This peculiar behavior is motivated by a lack of self discipline, disrespect to others a.k.a a sign that the souls are still empty and uncivilized.

But again.... that is life.

A family pose on staircases leading to the no-entry castle sans the eldest which was left behind to pursue his dream to become a man. In the all-man's world, a charming rose apparently blooms very well.

Oblivious to the serene and beautiful surrounding of Istana Kenangan, my two progenies tried to have a peek into their future.

A classic Malay architecture like this is really a heartwarming with a sense of nostalgic feeling from the past that embedded only in ones' virtual memory.

This timeless masterpiece is a good reminder that some thing may change and some don't. Time is the flow of events minding of its own business. It never looks back and never wait for any of us.

Time and time again, this colorful memory will never fade.

This sort of peaceful setting really reminded me of my kampung life. My childhood companions and myself were occupied with all the unthinkable antics of which I believed are now became relics and probably extinct.

Pabila pelangi hilang warnanya

2011-02-05T21:15:00.003+08:00

(Tanjung Bungah - Dis 2010)

Pabila pelangi hilang warnanya
adakah sang suria jemu membuka mata?
atau hilang ceria menyapa duka
membiar awan berteman gelora
menutup sinar kelam menyapa

tiada warna sembunyilah serinya
penjejak pelangi termanggu tertanya
apakah benar sang suria sudah lupa?
membuka mata biar seketika
meninggalkan bayang mengeluh kecewa
tiada bekas tiada berupa

di kaki langit mencari cepu berharga
di dalam kelam penjejak teraba
tongkat sakti pedoman yang ada
tersungkur terjatuh bangun seketika
mengharap pelangi senyum semula

coretan berwarna dikanvas langit terbuka
tiada erti tiada maknanya
jika penjejak pelangi masih lagi lupa
sang suria tidak pernah alpa
dan pelangi tersenyum ada masanya
dan jua tiba ketika

p/s: ilham dan ghairah bernukil timbul pabila melihat penjejak-penjejak pelangi masih bersemangat mencari cepu emas dikaki langit.

Stamp Inspiration of Cikgu Tan Pulau Babi

2011-01-31T18:09:00.004+08:00

If it was not because of Cikgu Tan Pulau Babi, I might not continue my childhood passion of stamp collecting until now. In a way Cikgu Tan deserves the credit. Cikgu Tan was my mathematic teacher when I was still searching for the purpose of life at SMUSZA, Ladang. I didn't get to know him very well or even to notice his full name. In fact I didn't know where he came from or his place of origin. But what I knew was his usual lepak place called Pulau Babi hence the reason my friends and I called him Cikgu Tan Pulau Babi. In my days and among my small circle of friends, Pulau Babi was normally associated with Muallaf (a convert). The place was a desolated place connected by a dusty road leading toward Hulu Trengganu. At least that was my impression of Pulau Babi.

The subject of pulau in Trengganu is very interesting and until today this subject has never ceased to intrigue me. When one talks or refers to a place named after a pulau in Trengganu we have to be real careful. Unlike the real or true pulau such as the petite Pulau Sekati, or other popular Trengganu archipelago (Redang, Perhentian, Bidong, Tenggol, kapas, Gemia etc.), some of the pulau namely Pulau Kambing, Pulau Rusa, Pulau Kerengga and another pulau that denotes some of the sweetest people in the world i.e Pulau Manis, they don't resemble any floating island that surrounded by water at all. They are all part of Trengganu mainland. Probably these pseudo-pulau share similar fate as Pulau Duyong, which I believed many many Geography years ago was a delta, later connected with the mainland by years of sedimentation.

But lets us not indulge too much about the pseudo-pulau as this entry is meant to bring back my personal account as stamp aficionado.

Actually it was more to do with vengeance. Cikgu Tan was a no hanky-panky type of person. Whenever he came to our classroom, a thick arm-length rattan became his best companion he never left behind. The rattan was just like his twin brother. He was very serious with his job and he didn't tolerate much with people who didn't take him seriously in his classroom. That was what I did that one particular fateful day. In between one of his lessons, while my other colleagues struggling to figure out what was the answer to some of the given mathematical questions, I on the other hand was so busy showing off my first ever stamp collection to my other kaki. It didn't take that long before my first ever stamp album was confiscated by Cikgu Tan and I got one stingy reminder on my face. Weird this may sound, but that particular event was the one that triggered my passion. I think I deserved that fiery-palm reminder on my face too.

Since that day and with full of retribution, I started to gather more stamps and stamp albums. My main source of stamp supply was from Kedai Pok Loh Yunang and Pasaraya Hock Kee Seng (both places are now a history) which became my regular pit-stop before I continued my journey back home after the school hours. But that didn't satisfy my curiosity as most of the stamps were normally imported stamps and didn't feel quite real, not like the one I could peel off from the envelopes. Somehow, those stamps on the envelopes seemed to have their own feeling and very personal.

I then started to join pen-pal club. Those days pen-pal club meant you really have to write on paper (or tissue paper) and sent them in stamped envelope as a mean of communication - no e-mail or face-bug whatsoever. Then there was another joy. Mr Postman came only once in a blue moon to our kampung and whenever I saw this ever smiling Mr Postman came by and delivered bundle of envelopes to my doorsteps I became so excited. This meant more new stamps. I could spend hours, not reading the letter but peeling off the stamps from the envelopes, soaked them in water, dried them off in between pages of a book and waiting patiently for them to dry before passionately arranged them in the albums.

This passion with stamps dragged on and at one time I almost became angau with stamps. It was not the same angau feeling whenever you met your awek of sweetheart but those feeling was really fulfilling. The history of those stamps or the story behind each stamps or who was the last person handled those stamps or to whom and what purposes those stamps were for become more and more fascinating than ever. Perhaps those stamps kept the secret for one of the most beautiful love story ever.

Until today, I don't know what happen to Cikgu Tan Pulau Babi or my first ever confiscated first ever stamp album. That has now become another sweet history of my life and by writing this entry I dedicate my everlasting enthusiasm to Cikgu Tan Pulau Babi...wherever you are.

A strange concept to consume

2011-01-28T12:21:00.007+08:00

One particular hot afternoon, while enjoying my bowl of cendol tapai and almost oblivious to my surrounding by the cendol's blissful charm I hardly paid any attention to a middle-aged man sitting beside me - doing the same sinful deed as me i.e gorging two bowls of laksa utara. Almost too consumed with the food we hardly uttered any word and carried on to mind our own business. Suddenly the man looked up and uttered a few indistinct words to me. At first I ignored him because naturally I don't talk to a stranger, unless if I wanted to sell some funny products from a direct selling company. But the stranger kept repeating saying the same thing as if to attract my attention.

The stranger: "Hari ni tak berapa bagus lah" (Today it seems, is not a good day). Yes, if you haven't realized yet, the mortal is so keen in labeling everything with adjectives. Just to describe the mood.

Me a.k.a cool guy : "...kenapa pula macam tu encik...langit nampak cerah aje..." (Why is that so sir, the sky looks just fine?) I blurted my first starter line which perhaps sounded a bit awkward.

The stranger : "Hari ni saya rugi...kalaulah semalam saya jual mesti dah untung." (I don't make any profit today...I would be better off if I were to sell them yesterday).

Me a.k.a cool guy : Apa cerita? (What is this all about?) I almost said "Apa kehe", but as cool as you might be, you don't throw a casual line like that to a stranger.

The stranger : "Semalam kalau saya jual boleh untung RM5000, saya tangguh hari ni tapi harga jatuh dan hanya untung RM3000 aje. Rugi betul...."(If I were to sell yesterday I would have gain the profit of RM5000, but today I am getting only RM3000...). My cendol suddenly and superficially tasted a bit cheapo.

A strange concept to me. But that is life and life can sometimes presents us with a number of her own version of paradoxes. It may sounds quite tasty though, but you may have to chew it all and consume it in one go if you want to live by that strange concept.

That conversation is still lingering in my ears until today and something to ponder upon, but I couldn't help myself though, who that guy might be?

Jitra mai sabai sabai...

2011-01-24T12:28:00.008+08:00

Parked beside a busy secondary street and covered from the scorching cosmic ray by the shade of perennial trees, this mobile nondescript eating establishment is a place to hang out during lunch time and after office hour. Unlike mat laptop and minah hand-phone that normally associate themselves with imported high street cafes and dominate glamorous restaurants, the people that frequent this place is all moving about in a no-nonsense objective and purpose. This place is for a really serious people who come just to eat. The subject of discussion are cendol pulut and laksa utara, two palatable combination that match each other nicely.

This quintessential eating establishment must be legendary and the owner must be very proud of his origin too. Otherwise he wouldn't come down all the way from the tranquility of Gunung Jerai to the fake world of big metropolitans, bringing along an orthodox way of eating and communal tradition while at the same time promoting a far away place as well.

Din Chot who operates that stall and with a slight Siamese accent told me there are 3 other similar stalls within a 4 km radius from where he is stationed. It seems the franchise is good. Whether this is the sign that our Bolehland is prosperous or a mere adventurous venture, I have no idea. Din Chot himself is probably a nom de guerre and he probably represents a class of Melayu baru motivated by the big city neon attraction and promises.

The laksa is very tasty but slightly spicy by my palate standard. But that doesn't stop me from having a second helping. The star of attraction however is the chendol. It is very difficult to get wrong with anything involving coconut milk. The endless suplly of tapai adds a sureal quality to it. I was told the tapai was supplied by a mysterious mak cik specializing in the art of making that fermented sticky rice. Din chot however is not willing to reveal the identity of this makcik when I asked him the question. Probably this makcik hold the secret recipe for this whole successful business entrepreneurship.

My shallow experience with food tells me that this whole eating experience can be improved especially if they make the portion bigger so that all I can remember after that near perfect afternoon desert is a delicious feeling and inner peace...serenity.

Sabai...sabai...

Are we not one happy nation?

2011-01-16T23:38:00.005+08:00

Let's get straight to the point. Happiness can be measured. That was what the researchers at the Gallup world poll did or at least what they thought recently. They actually managed to quantify one of our innermost intimate feelings based on some criteria of which they believed had a direct correlation on the way people feels.

So where are we on their happiness list? According to the Forbe's list (to prove I don't make and mess things up), our blissful Bolehland ranked 94th out of 155 countries surveyed. This is not surprising at all. The uncontrollable hair-raising cost of living, unnecessary-never-ending polemic and rhetoric by those who are supposed to look after the one who are paying their salary, no bonus for the second consecutive years for the government servants and even the never-ending cutting down of trees and land clearing of which became the catalyst to the global warming might be the reasons why we are considered a less happy nation.

But what surprised me most was our neighboring country, the close relative of tempe-eating nation ranked better than us. I am still struggling by the way how to figure out and digest this fact. The only simplistic explanation was the tempe itself. It is an easy and simple food to prepare but yet very rich in its nutritional value. Just like the tempe, they led a very easy and simple life but yet very contented. Or perhaps they are the one who coincidentally caused so much headache to us that led the nasi lemak eating nation falls below their happiness level. Maid problem is one of the culprits that caused constant headache, as far as the people who suffers maid-deficiency syndrome is concern.

How about the Banglas? They seem to be happier than us too. Their almost submerged country is relatively poor but yet they managed to siphon out millions of ringgit back to their country which at the end of the day manage to buy them their own-version of happiness. And don't forget their natural jolly good nature especially when it comes to flirting and courting our 'gedik' local anak and mak dara.

This list however is still debatable. If you notice, most of the nations which dominate the top list are from the temperate regions where people lives in refrigerator and enjoys their happy hours (HH) from dusk till dawn. Naturally they are cool people. I believe hot and humid tropical weather somehow made our hard-working and fun-loving nasi lemak eating nation sweat a lot. That doesn't help much as the sweat caused us to become slightly agitated and when we bump into each other, we are forced to smell the unpleasant body odor of which lead to the sudden changes in temperamental attitude. Worst still if the survey was done during these odd hours, of which I suspected in the first place. Another simplistic explanation.

The bottom line is, we can actually decide our own happiness. If we mind our own business and talk less about others, that will slowly and surely lead to happiness. This last paragraph however has nothing to do with this entry and that is exactly what I have been struggling to do and practice for the past few days.

Guys, let's us do this together... If you're happy and you know it clap your hands...

trust me...I am a dokter

2011-01-12T23:10:00.002+08:00

For the past few days, I had this rare opportunity and personal pleasure of spending copious hours looking back and trying very hard to figure out what I had gloriously achieved the previous year. The search, it turned out was getting harder because unlike others, I don't have the wish-list to begin with in the first place. After some times, I then realized the answer I was looking for could not be found anywhere else because in order to measure the success in life, which is very subjective, ones has to really bankrupt the mind and subjected themselves to be fooled by this superficial world and prosthetic life.

So naturally when I received a suspicious looking brown-stamped envelope from a really suspicious organization of which I'd never heard before, I though my lucky star was really shining and I hit the jackpot.

I was auspiciously being nominated as "a leading scientist of the world 2011"! That was one mouthful accolade. Still in an euphoric feeling, I was not sure if my colleagues in Kebun getah sekangkang kera would be impressed by this 'unsangkarable' news. But I was pretty sure my kampung folks will surely celebrate this outstanding world achievement with at least nasi kunyit ayam panggang for months - and wayang kulit thrown in as well.

In fact I'd almost called our local news and mainstream tabloids for an inaugural press statement. This great news will surely make a headline and beat any news about our local artists personal affairs.

But hey hey hey...wait da minute. After an elaborate but free consultation with uncle Goooogle, my 10 minute fame and the journey into stardom (and perhaps a Dato'ship) suddenly and momentarily short-lived and evaporated into thin air. No wonder the letter smelled like a fish. There was really something fishy about this whole affair to be honest. First, how could such a supposedly prestigious organization didn't even bother to at least write my name correctly. They can just simply consult uncle Goooogle and make some effort to write my name properly. Secondly, why should I send them a cheque with the amount similar to a year salary of a scientist in Bakino fraso - if there is one exist- just to get this pseudo-award. What a shame. That was really an insult and really put me off. Suddenly the glamorous life, self-glory, and fame become so cheap.

This is another clever scam among many other form of scams out there, lurking in disguise knocking on each door of unwary pseudo-scientists and others for that matter. Those who work only for glory will easily fall prey for this type of scam. No wonder this whole world become so congested with so much confusion lately. That doesn't include con-men disguises as clever connnnnsultants who do more damage than good with wrong advices and recommendations.

I then searched my soul again for any traces of triumphant feeling and any thought left just to make my good-self smile. None. Life is full of contradiction.

You know what...I should frame the letter and then write a will to my great-great-great grand children to auction it on eBay- 300 years from now. Who knows, somebody might be fooled enough to buy this piece of paper that who knows has already fooled thousand.

Drive away, leaving a year behind

2011-01-05T17:38:00.004+08:00

When I first got my official Bolehland driving license, I was just finished my compulsory Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination and the world around me had just started to spin slowly. People didn't talk much about the freaking global warming phenomenon or crazy Bolehland petrol price or the greedy inflation engulfing every working citizens or how to secure government tenders. Those were very alien. We were talking about how to nuke Mars and invade Pluto. All those nonsense things. Life was easy without the worry to buy Paracetamol every now and then.

It was December 1985. Unfortunately, I didn't get the license the first time though. It seemed the tester didn't impress with my elegant and well-polished driving skill. He thought I was showing off and perhaps drove the test car better than him. At one point, while driving for the second trial from Jalan Bkt Kechil downhilled toward a T-junction of Jalan Hiliran, I almost cruised all the way passed the road and jet-skied in Sg. Trengganu. I sweared I could see some wet spot on his pant later on and I could listen his swearing on his way to the toilet.

You see...I've never attended a driving school before. It was not compulsory that time to attend a driving school prior to a test. In fact attending a driving school (that time) was not a trendy thing to do, as almost all my peers received their driving license without being told how to shift a gear and steer the car safely into a parking lot. Of course...they got their license after numerous attempts and endless humiliation by the testers. I didn't blame them as it was a monsoon season and the paddy field were well flooded, ready for a second paddy season and they spent most of their time steering buffaloes in the fields.

I, on the other hand fine-tuned my driving skill in a more elegant way. My father used to have a beautiful Volkswagen Beetle (type 1). It was painted red. Whenever he came back from work, the whole kampung folk knew it was his car approaching as the unmistakable supersonic sound of the car could be heard for miles. Even though red is not my favorite color, I still asked my father for a spin in his car and the whole pokok nipah along the river trembled every time I negotiated every sharp corners all the way to Kedai Buloh. Kedai Buloh was my pit-stop for a refuel with a pint of ketum-powered sugar cane drink.

One fine day, after getting sure I was not lacking in any way to impress the tester one more time, I finally went to take the test. I was not sure whether it was the magical power of ketum a day earlier or the tester really really impressed with my antics, at the end of the day I came back home and sung "one way ticket...one way ticket to the blues..." with a temporary driving license (photo) and bragged about my test-driving adventure to my colleagues, whom at the time were still having difficulties navigating their buffaloes in the leeches-infested paddy field.

Even after I got the license, I still didn't have the courage to venture far away from my kampung. That was until I started my adolescent life at my first ivory tower and met my future wife-to-be and Kuala Lumpur was never quite the same again without seeing a green classic Peugeot 404 cruising its highway every weekend.

Oh...I've just realized I've been driving around without a valid driving license for a while as unbeknown to me, it had already expired... and melted in my wallet for sitting too long in my comfy office chair.

What a fantastic year!

Are you man enough?

2010-12-31T23:54:00.007+08:00

As the year draws it last curtain, I am feeling excited and contented at the same time. This however has nothing to do with the recent success of our courageous Harimau Malaya smack-downed the Garuda or the prospect of having another year with loads of meaningless meeting.

This is partly about my relentless urge. In January 2009, I had a resolution. For a man who used to play golf at least three times a week and almost alternate day spending time on the golf range, a two years hiatus was among my biggest achievement. Now I have to agree with some of my earlier critics, G.O.L.F -Golongan Orang Lupa Family. Not that I am discouraging this wonderful sport. Everything is good if done in moderation, golf included. But with many "kaki hantu" around you, it is not that difficult to be possessed.

As the clock is ticking and the new Christian calendar is approaching I am feeling a bit worried and my anxiety running high as well. This mixed feeling has something to do with the yearly mass pilgrimage of our younger generation to the many hot spots around our city in Bolehland for a celebration. Of course there is nothing wrong with congregating among friends and watching dazzling firecrackers on display, but usually some chemistry will spark and chain reaction will follow. If the randy pubescent hormone is not balanced properly we are going to witness another catastrophic consequences in the next eight or nine month later, in fact in the next thousand years. The result from the same phenomenon we had already experienced this year. Some even believe that this is a fertile breeding season for our own species. I really hope not.

This is just a reminder. A reminder is also a fardhu kifayah (unlike fardhu ain, fardhu kifayah is always misunderstood as fardu-tak-payah by many).

Anyway, with positive attitude I am really looking forward to the new exciting year. I hope this new year will bring many more happiness, self-improvement and success to us, the nasilemakeating nation.

Inflation, fuel price hike, no bonus, everything naik....who cares anyway. We the nasilemak nation are man enough to face all those small hurdles in life. We are the ONE maaaa...

p/s: ...too excited rambling about my re-solution and the breeding season I forgot to write something about the photo. Next time kot...

A usual suspect with an unusual request

2010-12-27T14:31:00.003+08:00

If a man wants to live an easy life, then it is sensible to steer clear of certain issues or particular behaviors. Getting involved and bogged down with many demanding 'cawangan' for example is obviously not a very stylish lifestyle these days. Your bill will be mostly spent on Paracetamol I suppose.

But the greatest taboo of all is having to fulfill a promise you do not wish to promise in the first place. It is a landmine only politicians having gut and talent to navigate through safely.

The question is. Is a man judged by his deed or by his words?

As I was having my leisurely cuppa one afternoon my luvly-jubly significant half secretly approached me from behind and whispered romantically to my ears. Was it a primal hint? It was still quite early I thought...or was it Friday already?

"Dua-dua anak kita dah tunaikan janji dia darling...bila nak tunaikan janji kita pula?"

I smiled and not to be accused of trying to give lame excuses, I tried to compose suitable options. Actually, I didn't remember giving any promise in the first place.

"Ada ke kita janji" - now it sounded a bit stupid. If anything a man always tend to forget, promises top the number one in their easy-to-forget list. So under no circumstances, I don't want to argue on this.

"ye le... Dulu masa bagi motivasi dan semangat yang berkobar-kobar sebelum exam, macam-macam janji..." my luvly-jubly significant half tried to invoke back my faded memory. The blissful marble cake almost choked me.

I am a scientist and not a politician ...and never want to be one.

"... Tengok lah. Insyaallah kalau gomen bagi bonus 12 bulan". As far as I could remember, that was the most creative answer I've ever come up with.

But no worry my dear sons... Deeds, not words shall speak to me.