picture taken from http://www.pixtravel.net/
the picture was taken by tibor from sweden at the residence of the prime minister of Malaysia during the GOURMAND WORLD MEDIA AWARDS at the palace of the golden horses two months ago.
anak siapa ni wei?
Monthly Archives: July 2006
definately a sign of times
here i am thinking i was being damn clever by making sure that the day i need to go to town, i would be able to meet up with the most amount of people that i needed to meet. after meeting up for dinner with carney, i met ray and ezma, who will fly to perth on friday. now when i go to australia, i will only have two dozen people to say hi to.
anyway, you go girl! doctorate student ah? may you journey towards a permanent head damage be an exciting one:)
you know, there was a time back on campus where my college or coursemates would ring each other up when it’s close to midnight for an hour or two of brain scrambling nasi lemak panas or roti banjir. god knows how we would elude the curfew guards. we’d eat, study, eat, study and chat all night long, night after night after night. sleep came in between but only sporadically for just a coupla hours at a time.
i can’t do that anymore.
i don’t know why. i need by minimum six hours straight of sleep every night now or i will be a walking zombie come the morning. i’m be a royal grouch come the witching hour.
i suppose there are signs. going to loud places at night does not interest me. driving at night becomes dangerous. and as much as my heart still firmly believes that the juiciest of gossips are best exchanged over 1am teh tariks, my brain shuts down as if by automatic, and i’m cast into never never land with or without my pillows and comforters.
definately a sign of times, kan? i can hike for 10 to 12 hours straight in a jungle. i can climb rocks. i can raft. i can dive. but i can’t stay awake after 11pm. tolong, tolong!
overdue asians pictures
oi to you people who suka-suka pegi pose depan camera aku, kenapa tak call ke… sms ke… email ke… to ask me for the pictures hah? now when i’m unloading the bulk of photos that is slowing my computer down beribu-ribu (lemon!) kali ganda, this is what i find…
that one and this gambar…. which i specifically kena marah by the organisers for…:p
ahem… i am expecting a string of ‘thank you’s’ in the comments of my blog for this…:) kesian aku tau, i’ve been on the road and all that, takde pun yang drop me a message to tanya kabar… oh wait, praba pernah call masa aku kat johor… does that count?… isk isk isk… aku dah kecik hati… *sniff!*…
and can someone please tell me who is this?
. . . because of the banyak-banyak gambar yang aku ambik kan, this specific gambar turned out punyalah senget!!! i’m not too sure if the orang is macam tu or the backdrop kat belakang is the one at a strange angle or the camera yang senget semacam… but whoever this is is suppose to email me to take this picture. ah moi ah…. you are thai right? you hover over the picture, right click your mouse and then press ‘save as’ ok…?
sorry la picture kena resize… my photobucket dah nak meletup dah nih…
kop khun kaa…!
get a grip of your dignity and stop all the fighting!
when i first entered upm years ago, the then deputy vice chancellor told us in a briefing, that the university is a place where we seek the truth and disspell the untruth. the operative word in his saying is, i believe, ‘seek.’ through my years as a speaker on behalf on the university, i have been trained to do this. to investigate. to search. to learn.
to understand.
the bako dejavu and a little more…
experience is only as unique as the company you share it with. this is not the first time i’m at bako and i must admit that in the days coming up to this trip, i was pretty bummed out about having the experience any less than the last time i was here. i found out that some people in my group were not physically up to it and i dread that their priority position within the clan would interfere with my experience here. gosh, i was steaming anal about it. i confess that in retrospect, i should not have been to upfront about it.
my working group however, showed me that i was not alone. and although it did little to improve the fact that i did not get to trek as much as i would have liked, it helped to know that i was not the only one that came with a little more rustic expectation. i came so prepared. sunscreen. shorts. amphibious footwear. i knew what to look out for and was keen to discover something new.
i learnt today that there is an importance sometimes, to go back to the same place again to discover something new. no, maybe there is nothing new about the place. but there was definately something new about the air. different people experience things differently with different people. i suppose this is what is meant by that saying that talks about being at the same old place and discovering it for the first time.
ah, and i finally got an okay picture of me with the sea stack. i was squinting so much in the one last year! for those of you who have never been to these parks of malaysia before, bako is the oldest national park in the country, although it is one of the smallest. its major attraction lies in the seven different types of vegetation that exists here, all within the park’s compound. you’ll need a permit for come into the park, which you can get from the forestry department in kuching. there is no road leading to bako. you’ll need to take a boat, but that’s part of the fun…
i had good company here today. and a boatman who gave us the ride of a lifetime! we took almost half an hour to get to bako and just about five minutes to get back. he was swerving under bridges on purpose and practically bouncing the vessel over open water… and he was laughing at us the whole way! but you see, this is something only the people who were with me on that tiny boat will be able to relate to, and reflect upon, and laugh about. ha!
i’ve always told people that the best way to avoid seasickness is to get lots and lots (and lots and lots) of wind.
if you are ever on a boat to satang island, sit right at the first seat at the front of the boat and ask the boatman to spare no mercy when it comes to the acceleration pedal. the sea around the satang-talang area as open water and the wind is as fresh as it gets.
satang island has a secret. it houses a turtle hatchery and its keepers are rather brutal towards media exposure to the place. i can’t blame them. exposure means increased visitations. increased visitations means increased pollution, and human tampering with natural turtle nesting grounds.
so if you’re going to come here, be good and be warned. the keepers can and will put a strict watchful eye on you. the only creatures really welcomed here are the hawksbill, green and occasional olive ridley turtles. i’m totally okay with being second benched where it comes to this place. after all, this place belongs to the turtles, not to human beings.
oh, and you should also know that smoking at the wrong places is an offence in national park areas, even if it is the open water. smoking is considered open burning here so remember to check with your guide if you need to take a fag. some of the dudes on the boat lit up and were kindly, and yet firmly told that they can’t do it. some goes for any national park, i believe. some of the vegetation are so fragile, bush fires can occur with just the slightest spark.
okay confession, i illegally crossed into kalimatan, so this post is technically categoried as ‘malaysia’ and ‘indonesia’ :)
that little stump jeff is holding is a border marker. we are at borneo highlands. don’t worry, for the most part of it, we are legally in sarawak. 3,281 feet above sea level.
technically, standing behind this board also put us on illegal land. borneo highlands looks over a vast rainforest via a 600 foot – drop cliff. so no, i did not get to run across the border, meet the locals and come back with some cheap tikar or tembikar indon.
see this picture, i had to get up at 5am to capture this. if you are ever up here, you simply have to drag your ass up at 5am and come up to this lookout point for the sunrise. when the air gets heavy with dew, a mist falls upon the rainforests below and from up this cliff, all you’ll be able to see is an ocean of clouds and bits of treetops. it really is something worth waking up for. the sunrise itself is in the other direction but you’ll completely forget the fact when you get this view. sayang la, my wide angle is not wide enough for the whole shot tapi ni pun jadi lah.
bring a windbreaker because the wind is kinda strong in the morning. and then as you make your way back to the resort, the sun climbs and shines onto the golf courses. your camera, if it does not mist up, will just go nuts!
walking with edward…
this is totally a candid fluke shot. i was focusing on him giving a talk on the tourism center when suddenly he struck a split second pose and i got it! he’s talking about someth about spying i think… woooooooo…….
so here is that scandalous shot. hey, that looks good on you… the orange colour, i mean… hahaha… woooooooo…….
a bugle player we picked up. more on him soon. woo hoooooo…!
why does being here make me feel like a hippy?
there is a difference really, between attending an event, a party for that matter, on one’s one capacity versus for work. i attended this year’s rainforest world music festival, for work, oh well… somewhat for work. i played backup. but still kira kerja and still kira the people i go with pun orang kerja jugak.
you see, letting loose for me requires the right crowd. okay la, orang kat festival ni memang gila2 and brings madness to a whole new height of blasphemy when it comes to conservative malaysia, tapi i am still surrounded by people who i will need to work closely on a professional platform with.
so here i am. the experience would have been completely different if i were here with a proper group of friends. or given a proper party-ing capacity. to tell the truth, world music is just so-so for me. i would much rather be at a rock concert. i’m not very sure if a lot of the people here would tune in to these sort of music if it were say, playing on the radio. but there is atmosphere here, and i believe that this is what all the excitement is all about. lots of people giving the impressing to other people that it is fun, as so the effect ripples on.
to give due credit, some of the performances are pretty darn impressive. i never knew one could play the instuments they did (violins and some other string instruments…), dengan kaki la, upside down la… and the soulful expressions the did as they sang songs that sounded like gibberish to me… but the expressions they had!!! i would not have gone screaming mad over it, but to gaze upon the expressions… i think that was the RWMF moment for me.
but hey, saw a coupla drunks throw up, a bunch of strippers and a whole lot of very happy people. i’m in hippy-land, or as close as i will ever get in this country:)
the name patpong came from the patpong family, which owned a strip of the land that lay between the roads silom and surawong…
i picked up this at a second hand bookshop in chiangmai, just before i left thailand just a coupla weeks back. i figured that since i’ve experienced the country, i owe its literature an exploration too.
yea, i know that it is written by an american. i almost put down this book for a local writer. but something about the subject matter intruigued me. i doubt that a local would be allowed to write on it. oliver told me that he has read the book and agreed with the reviews that i heard about it: shamelessly honest.
the book is about prostitution in bangkok, specifically in patpong.
anyway, i started on the first two chapters weeks ago and then i put the book down. entah la. bosan. terlebih descriptive. i only picked this book up again after i was done with ‘angela’s ashes.’ i figured, since i bought it, i might as well give it another chance.
the thing is, the nature of how the book is written tends to jump from being draggy to being light to being just downright mengada. nevertheless, i have to applaud one thing: it leaves you with a feeling of curiosity, wondering what will happen next.
Though the Vietnam war may have boosted Patpong into the entertainment industry, Thailand’s reputation as a sex paradise took off on its own at the war’s end. Germany arranged cheap charter flights. Holland organized sextours. As Taiwan and Japan grew prosperous, their males flew in too. ManyAmericans from the war chose not to go home. The saying was that there were no MIAs in Vietnam; in reality they were all MIBs–Mischiefing In Bangkok.
~ chapter one
also, i there are some parts that might be a little too far out for me to believe, but this is a non-fiction book. this book is kinda like a research diary and documents the life of the researcher, the problems she encountered and how she felt at those moments. which really makes the far out bits pretty amazing, considering.
the researcher needed to write a disertation on patpong prostitution. she met them. their pimps. their lovers. their families. their hometowns. it really has an interesting conclusion, though bits of boring writing. lenguh tau tak baca yang meleret2 ni. entahlah, i like this book, but i tak suka this book.
the researcher brings the idea of prostitution and empowerment together, suggesting a liberating notion to the world’s oldest profession. she contextualises the marriage of these concepts in a society where women are considered second class, resulting in a revisiting of one’s perception on prostitution, given the circumstances. while so many people feel that a majority of women are forced into prostitution against their will, this book reveals that there is more to gain than money in this trade, the most important being strength and independence.
something fresh for worn out prostitution debates, no?
would i recommend this read? only if you are an activist. i have to agree with the reviewers here. the book is shameless – which in the right frame of mind, is not really a bad thing. i have to agree with oliver though that parts of it is a little embarrasing to read. but it is honest and i doubt that the researcher would be able to create the crudeness of the situation any other way.
i went to the first night’s performance of the kuala lumpur music festival. the venue was istana budaya. the theme was ‘world, ethnic & fusion.’
i was informed just two hours before the show. i almost did not go. i was tired from my trip to johor and i’ve not slept for more than six hours straight in… let’s see… two weeks already, i think.
but i went anyway. don’t ask me why.
i went to the first night’s performance of the kuala lumpur music festival. the venue was istana budaya. the theme was ‘world, ethnic & fusion.’
first up was the chungmyung art troop from korea. they did the thwirly thing with their hats while banging on drums and gongs. yang ni saya takde gambar because the motions dah la laju, the lighting was no good and everything came out a blur. all i can say to describe it is that nampak macam they all will pening giler by the time this number was over. hee.
kulintangan group from sabah
next up were the kulintangan boys. down side first, they were so at the hujung belakang of the stage. not that i got bad seats tapi susah nak ambik gamber. up side, i have immense respect for the two front boys who played the caklempong-like instruments. they played it so quickly and in sync with a mean rendition of ‘gadis melayu’ which got the crowd excited.
aseana percussions band
‘excitement’ however, was more of aseana’s game.i have to talk about two particular guys in the group – the chinese guy who stood at the very right of the stage (not in picture – aku kena block by the speaker la) that night who was incredibly semangat when he performed, and the gandhi lookalike who played the tabla.
the chinese guy reminds me of one of the performers in the balle-balle group – semangat main and oblivious of people’s opinion. i mean, surely they have played and performed a zillion times already, tapi they look so fresh, so happy. not that the others in the aseana were not as energetic (quite the contrary, actually), tapi this chinese guy dari start of the performance already looks like he was high on something.
and i am always tertarik kepada gandhi lookalikes in minimalist dhotis. in the above picture, he is standing left-most, but this is a bad angle for gandhi comparison. complete dengan specs lagi, beb! i keep thinking that this would be how gandhi would look like if he joined a hippy band. haa.
chungmyung art troop from korea
the koreans come on stage again after that. no more fancy hats, they brought out their drums and gongs. the thing about their performance and instruments, is that it is supposed to represent four elements of nature – cloud, rain, thunder and lightning – or so that the emcee announced to the audience. memang macam ada roars of weather, tapi i can’t really tell what was what. i could make out a rhythm but i can’t make out a rhyme. does that make any sense?
the performance itself, the syncro, the style, the artistic expressions, was nothing short of amazing.
saharadja from indonesia
the final band that night hails from indonesia. yang ni banyak strings – i saw acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, that round sorta besi or aluminium based guitar (pardon my ignorance), an electric violin… saharadja’s sound would have been stunning if not for the long day, week and month that i am attempting to crawl out of. i think timing did not do justice to the band. had i been offered any other given day, with a coupla drinks and some friends, i’d definately have them perform for their soulful and slightly rock-ish brand of music.
all four groups came on stage for the night’s finale number. by then, head-banging was an understatement to describe my state of mind. the dose of music had been overwhelming – which on any other given day would have been awesome. the bands were great. i saw excellent performances and i have no doubt that a great number in the audience had a fabulous evening.
i hope i won’t be this screwed up for the rainforest music fest this weekend.
i drove home with my radio off. i just need rest.
when it feels as if everyone around you is out to get you, and you’re cold and tired and hungry, all it takes is just one word of kindness to bring a tear to one’s eye.
he does not know it, but hj saadon was that man.
i wandered aimlessly through the jostling crowd. the chatter of adults, the giggle of teens and the screams of children difused into a whirl of meaningless messages. amber bulbs and florescent lights blur before my eyes. my camera hung around my neck, its bag weighed my weary shoulders. i had been working – walking and shooting – for fourteen hours straight, the last three hours as part of a media mob. i’ve just been unrightfully told off by a person who unknowledgably fired a criticism in the wrong direction.
and maybe he was simply promoting his wares, he saw the ‘media’ tag twisted around my neck and said i looked tired and offered to belanja me makan. he asked if i have ever had ‘nasi ambang’ before and as i mumbled a negative in response, he beckoned me a platter of rice with an enormous piece of chicken and squid and cucumbers on it – a platter huge enough to feed five people! the platter sat on a folding table in front of his stall and wrapped in a piece of plastic. ni lah nasi ambang, he showed me proudly. mai, pakcik belanja makan. his wife and daughters smiled.
i declined the offer. he insisted. i told him i needed to finish my work and that i might come back later.
i think he and i both knew i wouldn’t. he said okay anyway, gave me a smile that did not have a hint of spite of malice in it. my heart broke. i walked away before he could see me cry.
nasi ambang
some kinds of kindness is most appreciated in reflection. and maybe a touch of regret. maybe i should have stayed and eaten to show my gratefulness – but then again, i am unsure if it is a gesture he would understand. maybe it is important for me to know that he does not need to understand – that offering me a meal was genuinely an act of altruism and kindness to a weary-looking stranger, something which is in his nature as a person. maybe it is important for me to understand that there is always, always something bright among a sea of darkness – and that is all it takes for me not to give up on humanity. and hope.
if you cannot be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.
view from my window tonight.
others may call this out in the middle of nowhere. i call this another weight on your conscience. you might not feel it yet. but it is there. and the more you abuse me, the more weights i shall add.
i am more patient than you think.
he who angers you, conquers you.
and i will not get angry. the more stunts you pull on me, the more chances i get to prove to you that you really can’t win all the time.
for heaven hath no fury like a woman’s wrath.
one day, it will all come back and haunt you. the clock has already been set in motion and you know as well as i do, there is no more turning back.
i. am. not. going. to. give. you. the. pleasure. of. my. absence.
