family

Jason Geh - My Journey Around Malaysia & Cambodia

2009-06-08T23:07:00.003+08:00

This is a self-produced music video of my journey around Malaysia and Cambodia. I am a Malaysian musician who's main instrument is piano. I've been playing piano with various band setting for years. I started playing jazz piano after my brief stint with our local jazz great Michael Veerapen.

I pick up the saxophone about a year ago and realize how tough an instrument it is to play. I guess the same goes for picking up any new instrument for that matter.

Places in Malaysia that are featured in this video are Awana, Gua Tempurung, Langkawi, Pulau Payar, Frasers hill, Cameron highlands, and on Cambodia side, Prasat Kravan, Bayon, Tonle Sap, Angkor Wat, Baphuon, Phimeanakes, Ta Prohm and Phnom Bakheng.

This is a song that I've compose, arrange, program and perform on both the keyboards and saxophone. This is going out to the world prompting awakening and for people to realize what is happening around us. The abuse of mother nature, endless strive for meaningless material possessions, famine... how much more can the world take?

The world is heading full speed at the wrong direction but most are oblivious or remain ignorant. The quest for consciousness is at direct conflict with the struggle to survive in this competitive world where more wealth, more accomplishments, more possesions is regarded by society as being "successful" thinking that acquiring those will create ultimate happiness. But the fact is, there will always be another goal to conquer. When are people going to slow down and just "be"?

Here's a quote by author James Endredy for you to ponder upon, "anything that you struggle too much for, you will be afraid of losing".

This video is my way of communicating to the world with a message to be conscious and to make a change. A small stone thrown in lake will cause ripples throughout the surface. What you do matters, however irrelevant you might think.

FRIM Canopy Walk - Warning!

2009-06-07T15:11:00.016+08:00

This article is actually not as alarming as the heading states : ) Just to warn people of Malaysia who are going to FRIM's canopy walk for a hike. For the unknowing, FRIM stands for Federal Reserve Institute Malaysia.
It's located at Kepong and is a great place to bring your family and friends to experience nature. You can basically reach there by 9am and be done by lunch as it's a 45 minutes hike from the base to the Canopy Walk.

The "walk" is essentially a series of planks suspended in the air by ropes. It's a little scary but safe as they are nets on each side of the "walk". My warning is to let you know to buy the tickets at the base and not spend 45 minutes hiking to the top to discover that you can't get on the walk way as tickets are not sold there! And believe me, they won't let you in without the tickets no matter how good your pleading skills are.

There were a lot of disappointed revelers today. Tickets can't be booked online or through phone either. So they you go, for people around the Klang valley, here's my suggestion of a place to go for a quick get-away!

A day at Corus Hotel, Port Dickson

2009-06-01T00:00:00.009+08:00

Harlem Globetrotters live in Malaysia

2009-05-21T00:19:00.006+08:00

I have such a great family ...

2009-03-14T23:03:00.027+08:00

Took the children up to Awana for a night's stay. They are always excited to go places. Noel and Evan woke up exceptionally early as they normally would when they're excited about a trip regardless where, as long as they have each other, their parents and grand parents behind them.
I look at both of them and admire their innocence, the sense of wonder which children naturally possess. People in general grow up loosing faith as they face the harsh realities of life in the urban culture that was condition on to us. A monetary base system that implicitly keeps society enslave in order to survive. A system that is controlled by a few in power at the top. It's hard for people not to become cynical when they are bombarded incessantly by aggression, destruction, discrimination, greed and the unfairness that is happening around us. The majority of wealth in the world is owned by a small group of people living luxuriously while children around the world are dying everyday from hunger and preventable diseases.
We live in a world where people will do whatever it takes to attain power regardless of the consequences impose on others, where those in power will stage attacks on their own citizens to propagate war on the powerless for corporate profits. How can anyone not lose their sense of innocence or to live in peace knowing this alarming facts. Can we be ignorant and pretend that everything is fine just because we're living comfortably?
I believe that everything came from the universe, from the same source but through time, we have grown so far apart. People establish institutions, social classes, religions that divides human kind. People essentially abuse the world and manipulate each other for monetary gains. Can there really be sincerity when the root system that governs the world is base on profits? When the world is a "business"?

With these realities of life present, I feel truly bless that I have such a great family and thank my lucky stars for what i have. Being able to experience love with my wife and children gives me hope and makes life worth living. We strive and struggle to make sense of our existence searching for peace, happiness, love and purpose in our lives.

What is your take on life? Are you just doing what everyone is doing without question? Have you ever stop from your daily chores, distraction and urgent matters to reflect on what's important?

A short adventure in Maxwell Hill, Taiping

2009-01-30T20:35:00.012+08:00

Took my family to Taiping on the 4th day of the Chinese New Year. Visited the Taiping Zoo in the afternoon and when back to Legend Inn to check-in and have a short rest before heading to Bukit Larut or Maxwell Hill for a jungle hike. That's where our unexpected adventure began.

We were told that the hike up to the peak of the hill would take approximately 45 minutes hence we started ascending at 5pm thinking we would reach the peak latest by 6pm. There were two jungle trails up. One was very much steeper than the other but was actually the shorter way. But we didn't know that. We took the easier and less steep trail but that turn out to be the much longer way.

The trail was not very clear. We could hardly see the pathway due to fallen trees and overgrown lalang that made it hard for trackers. But we knew we were on the right track as we could see small pieces of plastic wrapped around trees from time to time. Nevertheless, there weren't anyone around besides the four of us and we knew that it was going to get dark soon. Our imaginations started to run wild. Visions of us stranded in the middle of the jungle in total darkness full of mosquitoes, insects, spiders, centipedes without food and flash light started filling our minds.

We were very tired but couldn't take a break as we knew darkness was impending. The idea of feeling our way through the jungle in total darkness was enough to cause my alarm bells ringing. We kept pushing one step at a time looking up hoping to see any sign of the peak but our destination was nowhere in sight. To our surprise, both me and my wives mobile phones had reception! So she called the hotel for the emergency phones numbers of the hill rangers. Suddenly we heard shouts from my children who were already ahead of us that they heard some human voices. And to our huge relief, we finally saw an opening to a tar road where two joggers greeted us.

After a short rest, we started to descend via the tar road. It got dark mid-way down. There weren't any street lamps along the way but we knew that we were safe as we were out of the jungle! Be sure to check out my video report above : )

I'm seeing doubles....

2009-01-26T02:40:00.002+08:00

Reunion Dinner 2009

2009-01-26T01:45:00.011+08:00

It's customary for chinese families in Malaysia to have a reunion dinner during the eve of Chinese New Year. This is my family. My wife, Gina and my two boys, Noel and Evan, my mum and dad, my brother and his family. Very seldom we have a chance to get together this way. My brother is busy with his business in Klang, and me with my functions in KL.

This bicycle is ensemble by my brother Ivan, it's battery powered. I had a test ride on it and it was really fun, without the need to do any peddling. Just turn the throttle and off it goes. Any of you out there interested in this piece of machine, do contact me.

School Holidays at Afamosa Resort Melaka

2008-12-10T22:22:00.030+08:00

The children spending their school holidays at Afamosa Resort Melaka. There's basically three main venues to visit at Afamosa. The Water World, Animal World Safari and Cowboy Town. We're here today thanks to their grandparents Mag and Peter, and my wife Gina who always made it a point to take the children somewhere for a quick "get away".

Shots taken at the Water World and Animal World Safari.

A trip to Siem Reap Angkor, Cambodia

2008-10-11T14:38:00.046+08:00

9th October 2008
Gina and me decided to go on this trip to Siem Reap Angkor through friends recommendation. We departed from LCCT on the morning of 9th October 2008. The flight took 2 hours to reach Siem Reap International Airport. We stayed in an AirAsia affiliate hotel called City River. But for those of you who are on a budget can go there and look around for cheaper accommodations. We booked the hotel and transportation in advance as it was a holiday for us and we wanted comfort. We manage to get a good "tuk tuk" driver who spoke English well, very polite and accommodating.

"Tonle Sap" Floating Village
10:00am - As soon as we checked in, Tonle Sap was our first destination. The "tuk tuk" ride was very dusty but did let us have the "feel" of Siem Reap. Along the way, we witness how the villages lived. Makes me wonder how different our own lifestyle and culture are compared to them even we are all humans. They live a simple and rustic life but seem very happy and peaceful. City people have so much luxury equipped with the latest technology, but are we happy?

This place is called the "Floating village". As the name implies, people build and live on wooden houses at the side of the river "Tonle Sap". They have floating schools and restaurants around the massive lake which seems like a sea due to the size. One thing caught me by surprise was a young village girl who took a photo of us while we were walking to the boat. And when we returned after the boat ride, she was trying to sell us our photo that was engrave inside a plate. Pretty advance and innovative for a village girl, you reckon?

Lunch

2:00pm - We had our lunch at a restaurant at the infamous Pub Street called "The Soup Dragon". This street is where all the pubs and tourist will hang out during the night. It's a famous place due to one of Angelina Jolie's movie that was shot at "The Red Piano restaurant" at the other end of where "The Soup Dragon" was located.

Sunset at Phnom Bakheng

5:00pm - This is where tourist fly around the world to witness the sunset at the top of Phnom Bakheng. There's a photo of it below. You'll be the judge : ) One thing's for sure, tourism in Siem Reap is most definitely thriving. Along the hike up to the temple, there are traditional bands jamming away. The musicians are actually land mine victims that are raising money for charity.

Dinner

This is our first time in Cambodia and wanted to experience their local dishes. Most locals recommended "Lok Lak" (Rice serve with beef) and "Amok" (Unique local curry with fish or shrimp)which was really tasty. We had our dinner at a restaurant called "Dead Fish". What a name, rite? This and most restaurants at or near Pub Street features "Apsara" dancers every hourly as light entertainment. One thing worth noting is that commerce is done in US Dollars and meals at restaurants could amount from 8 to 15 dollars for two, depending on your selections.

We walk around Pub street, settled down for a beer at "World Lounge" just in front of "Red Piano". The street was inundated by tourist with a traditional 10 piece band droning their brand of music away on the side walk. Their music is very repetitive with melody taken by the string player. We called it a night after the drink.

10th October 2008
Angkor Wat

We started our day at 7:30am as we were told there's a lot to cover. The driver took us to Angkor Wat as our first destination. The other temples are quite near one another but not near enough to walk. Still need a driver to fetch you from one temple to the next, unless you rent a bicycle. You can actually hire a day tour guide to take you around all the temples to illustrate their history for US25. I notice there were also some local tour guides that can converse in Japanese, German and even French.

Angkor Thom - Bayon
Angkor Thom is a huge area that has many temples. The main temple being Bayon.

Prasat Suor Prat & Ta Keo

At this point of time, we were really tired. Climbing the steps of the temples under the hot sun for hours. I guess we should be lucky that it didn't rain, as it's the raining season.

Bapuon & Elephant Terrace

Srah Srang & Banteay Kdei
The amount of times we have been solicited to buy T-shirts, souvenirs, fruits etc from young children who seem to enjoy selling. When I got back to KL, I got still hear "Please buy from me sir", "Please buy something", "Bangkok Mango", "Hello sir, you want buy scarf"....

Prasat Kravan & Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm is among the most unique temple I've seen, with old trees thriving on top of the temple. With that, we've finally ended our mini tour of Siem Reap temples and head back to our Hotel.

That night, we had our dinner at "Moloppor Cafe" which is a cosy little pub/restaurant next to our Hotel. The price is reasonable and their "Amok shrimp" was utterly awesome. After dinner, we went back to "World Lounge" for a beer before retiring.

We came back to KL the next morning. In conclusion, it was a good experience. I'm glad Gina arranged and booked this trip for us. I will make it a point to travel on a more regular basis. ~ Jason

Mum and Dad's 40th Anniversary Dinner

2008-10-05T23:24:00.004+08:00

Evan's 7th Birthday @ Genting Highlands

2008-09-14T14:07:00.026+08:00

Our dear Evan is now 7 years old… gosh how time really flies.. so we decided to go for quick getaway..to Awana, Genting Highlands. It was fun but tiring as we played table tennis in Gohtong Jaya and then to outdoor theme park and indoor theme park.. I must say that now with the kids bigger, we managed to go for many rides like the roller coaster rides, pirates train ride, bumper boat and many others… However, dear Evan did not reach the height for the bumper boat and Bumper car… heh heh.. Poor dear.. I knew he was trying very hard to hide his disappointment, but he said, “I’ll grow much taller next time!!” Noel on the other hand is now able to go for all the rides… so our friend had a superb time..

At night, we managed to get ticket to go for Tony Orlando concert… a very entertaining mixture or songs like Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Beatles medley and many many more..

Weather was wet and cold and when we took the skyway at 10.40pm, the wind was very strong that I was sneezing throughout the whole day..

Kids had fun splashing and swimming the next morning as weather was good… It was our dear Evan’s 1st time going on the high slide with Noel, and yes, I’m so proud of him, now 7 years old can try out more stuff with fear, but do it anyway !!! That’s our baby…
~ Gina

School Holidays at Eagles Ranch Resort, Port Dickson

2008-08-22T15:17:00.013+08:00

Another School Holiday trip to Eagles Ranch, Port Dickson. We had great fun here with all sort of activities, like go karting, horse riding, canoeing, swimming. Beach, jungle trekking and many many more..

Their accommodation comes in all sorts of variety like Band Wagon and Tepee Tents, Kampung Style and etc. We stayed in the Band Wagon as you can see from the pictures very nice… inside, there is a ladder leading to some sort of an attic or play area for the kids.. who fell totally in love with it. They treated it as a tree house!!!
Horse riding was the best!.. It was a worthwhile experience on the short 20 mins trail where we were brought out to the jungle and the beach and the kampong houses .. nice to be so high… trotting and the horses were great… I was left to ride the horse by myself without any leash.. it was a wonderful feeling! Expensive but yes, life is so short…. Everyone should try it once in their life. Looking forward to the next fun trip together..

School Holidays at Gua Tempurung

2008-05-28T18:14:00.031+08:00

WOW! School holidays again..
A caving trip to Gopeng, Perak..Sneak preview of how big the cave is... IT's the largest limestone cave in Malaysia.. full of beautiful staglatites and stalagmites... each having their own unique formations and names..
Started our adventure about 9.45am.. and it was a true warm up of our legs.. going up and down steps... easily more than 1000 steps.. to the Top of the World...had some fun in the wind tunnel and there was one gigantic stalagmite called the Rocket.. and yes.. it was super HUGE and shaped like one too!
Here, you can see Jason and kids taking pics with a stalagmite... just beside it was one shaped like a "roti canai"... honestly, you have to see it to believe it!..
It was after this that we took the of route trail.. into the wet-river Indiana Jones trail... yikes... it was super cold and super dark ... and yes, rather dangerous... We had to practically, submerge our bodies fully into the water to crawl from one hole to the other, sometimes having to crawl on all fours, slide, squeeze into some Rat hole... oh.. it was frightening for me for some of the stunts.. but the boys were HEROES.. esp Noel.. They were so brave and went through some of it by themselves... We're so proud of them.. We even spotted a poisonous big green spider.. that was feasting itself on the special shaped cockroaches!! and yes.. BATS! plenty of them.. so i heard that we were stepping on all their poo poo's.. which i refuse to even think of.. Outside the Caves, were some lovely scenic views..
Think this is the first and the last we'll ever go there again... heh heh.. at least not for a very long time to come.. Once is more than enough!

Best Pianist in Malaysia

2008-05-22T22:40:00.001+08:00

Evan's Sports Day

2008-05-15T14:17:00.000+08:00

What a day! Our little Baby is now 7 years old and running for the Red Team for Sports Day in the Kelana Jaya Stadium. Boy, the stadium was filled with parents and children of all ages and oh, it was so colourfully decorated with colourful balloons and uniformed children... Opening ceremony was so grand, starting with the school band, scouts, red crescent, girl guides... blah blah... and the march in procession by the participants..a lovely sight to behold...

Here we have Evan, eagerly waiting for his turn to RUN.. and YES!!! VICTORY!!! He won a gold medal!! It meant so much to him and he was so very proud of it that, he slept with the gold medal in his hand... :)
Evan & Noel's School Sports Day!

Gina

Chinese New Year 2008 @ Langkawi

2008-02-13T20:21:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since the 4 of us went on a trip. Gina got a special rate at Berjaya Langkawi Beach & Spa Resort. Even with a 50% off, it was still kinda of hefty. Two things worth noting if you're thinking of putting up there during your visit to Langkawi. Firstly is it's distance from Kuah town. Secondly, the chalet is located up hill in the forrest and you need the shutter service to take you back and forth to the lobby.
Two main places we visited was the Cable car ride to the mountain top and Pulau Payar about an hour by ferry. Heard a lot about this Island but it was a bit disappointing. Wasn't what I expected. Water wasn't very clear, rubbish here and there and very wavy which makes it hard to snorkel as you'll get a terrible headache if you do. Noel and me ended up floating at sea which was kind of fun till both our heads started spinning after awhile. From that point on, it was bad. Had to get up to shore and lie down to feel better. The experience I had in Krabi was much better. I'm really amaze how people can work at sea. Some people was reading while the boat was moving left to right. How do they do it? Saw two guys relaxing on a yacht moving up and down. What's the fun in that? I was trying my level best not to humiliate myself and my family by throwing up on the ferry.
What will you do if you just rented a car and before it reach the petrol station like just a 100 metres away, the car stop out of gas? Would you give the people a good piece of your mind or would you still stay tolerant? I leave it to you to ponder.
Cable car ride is worth going. I wonder how much they spend building it. You get special rates if you're a Malaysian. It's similar to the one in Genting Highlands but this is very much higher and there are not many poles in between the cable. It's basically one long cable connecting from bottom to the top. One advise is not to look down when you're on it. Scary! Winds very strong near the mountain top. It's something that you do once but not do it again. Kinda like going to Cameron Highlands. Only fun the first time but try going there a second time and you'll be asking yourself why you came.
Well, the bottom line is the kids enjoyed themselves. I wonder when we can go for another trip together again. Oh how time flies, how fast they grow!

YEAH!!! The three of them showing OFF what fun they have had together!!!

Kids at Saujana

2007-12-19T17:18:00.000+08:00

OOoooo.. I had superb fun today.. Weather was superbly cool and nice.. birthday pressie from my dear hubby.. a night stay in Hyatt Saujana... Gave the kids a surprise not telling them where we were going... and you bet, they were kissing us and saying thank you when we got there... they just loved the idea of swimming and cycling.. and spending the day there..

They sang a birthday song and cake cutting and packed and go... ha ha.. poor boys... they wanted to stay so badly.. but the night is just for the dear Father....

We had lovely seafood dinner... yum yum.. at LA LA Chong Restaurant... and had fun talking and talking about the old times.

11th Nov 07 - Bright Kids Kindergarden Annual Concert

2007-11-12T03:23:00.001+08:00

Evan's kindi Graduation Concert held in Tropicana Golf Resort.
Our little show off... did the welcoming speech with such grace, clarity and he did so fearlessly! There he is... being a mock Doctor.. speaking in Mandarin, and the both of us not understanding a freaking word he was saying... then the Chinese dance.. and finally graduating...

A day at the Zoo

2007-10-15T17:51:00.000+08:00

School holidays at the Zoo.. Very tiring, J and I realise that we're getting older by the day...walk also half dead.. and the kids.. we cannot understand where the energy comes from..
This is a funny sight to behold.. Our ever cheeky rascal Evan decided to check this camel out.. he was feeding the poor camel with all sorts of leaves.... and the camel don't seem to mind it.. He just kept complaining that the camel does not take bath... it stinks!
We managed to take a quick pic.. just in time... b'coz, it was just a instant later when it started dropping bombs of shit.. right in front of us.. and the kids exclaimed..... " Oh POOH..... how rude!!! YUCK!!!... Almost all the crowd Zooomed away....

19th Sep 07 - 10th Wedding Anniversary

2007-09-20T16:10:00.000+08:00

Hmmn.. .. the both of us had a romantic holiday up in Frasers Hill.. which we have not visited for more than 10 years.. Golly.. the place has dwindled... think it'll be the last time we'll ever go there..... nothing much to see or visit no more..

10 years... of marriage.. lucky for me, hubby says it seemed only like a few years has gone by ... hah! Funny, we enjoy the times we have quietly together yet, we miss the children's bubbly nonsense and chattiness... it was soooooo quiet there that you could hear a tiny little pin drop....

School holidays at Camerons

2007-05-31T18:16:00.000+08:00

We had so much fun here staying at the Equitorial.. weather was so cool... air so fresh...

3 of us up on the Boh plantations..

2 naughty boys up on a hill, one had no front teeth and the other was super freakin cold..

Gina & Jay

2007-04-25T00:33:00.000+08:00

Our first gig together... BNI's annual dinner.. function.. seems like our PROM night picture huh? :)

My two boys

2007-04-07T17:03:00.000+08:00

My favourite pic taken after their swimming lesson in our condo.. in D'sara Perdana... As usual, Evan just cannot resist any food or drinks in his hand.. always eating...

Isabelle's birthday

2007-04-02T12:38:00.000+08:00