霉

昨天下午下班时，突然间来个倾盆大雨。
在犹豫着是否要在办公室待久一点儿之际，
不管三七二十一，一支箭地奔上车子里。
当然，身子是被淋湿了些许。

想一想，还要不要到银行bank in支票。
既然刚刚也就弄湿了一身，
再和雨水共舞一下子也无妨。
我也就驱车前往旧街场的汇丰银行。

雨是小了点，撑着伞下车去了。
咦……好像有点不妥。
遥控器好像出了问题。
按了几次，门就是没锁上。
嘀……好的，锁上了。

搞定一切后，也该去拿车，然后回家去。
糟糕……遥控器再次失灵。
显然的，不是电池的问题。
那是什么呢？

站在车子旁，使力地按。
五分钟过去了，就是不能。
虽然，可以用车钥匙开门，
但是，我知道随之而来就是那刺耳的警铃声。
我可不要就此引起路人的注意。

人有三急，先去Mamak档借用洗手间。
然后到Kopitiam避雨。
点了杯咖啡乌，热的。
拨电给家人拿后备车钥匙过来。

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2008年，也快结束了。
没什么偏要在这个时候，遇上了这样的倒霉事件？
或许，我该换个正面角度去看看。
霉运来了，好运还会遥远吗？

才上个月罢了，就被问到今年有什么愿望是达成的。
我的答案——今年密集地出国旅游！
3月去了越南北部；7月在柬埔寨；11月到西爪哇。
当然，那些没实现的，不告诉你。
我会挪后到明年，再去努力。

还有少过半天的时间，2009就会来临。
先在这里，祝大家“新年快乐！”
再借用星光三班《星光祭》里的咒语：
Teman baikku, kamu harus semangat!

I'm your host

This is just another update on my Couchsurfing experience. I was quite busy hosting different CSers during the first 2 weeks of December.

I'm always happy about it as I get to meet people from different sides of the globe. Having the chance to understand different cultures was the main motivation for me to join Couchsurfing.

1st - 2nd Dec 08: hosted Ayesha & YiXin (Singapore)
This young couple from Singapore showed how adventurous they were during the college break. No proper travel plan. Just to travel until they were broke. They were so amused of how the bean sprouts being eaten in Ipoh. This reminded me of Shiling's comment about the bean sprouts.

Ayesha - Yixin - me - Kit

1st - 4th Dec 08: hosted Kit (Canada)
It was my 2nd time hosting Kit in Ipoh. The very first time I met her was way back in August. She was going to end her exploration in Asia soon. On the way to KLIA to catch the flight to Japan, I hosted her a few nights. She had a day trip to Cameron Highland with my mum and mum's friend.

4th Dec 08: hosted Sandrea (Malaysia) 
My first time meeting up with a fellow CSers from Malaysia, Johor to be more precise. She is an activist and just started the job as the special assistant to one of the state excos. She had spent 6 months in New Zealand with the working traveller visa before that.

5th - 6th Dec 08: hosted Alar (Estonia)
I didn't spend much time with Alar, just a little bit of chit-chat. He arrived late in Ipoh from Lumut and left early the next day for Cameron Highland. Coincidentally, he met my next guests - Anian & Mathias during the bus ride.

10th - 12th Dec 08: hosted Anian & Mathias (Switzerland) 
They came to Ipoh at the right time when all of my sisters were back in Ipoh. Hosting them made my place so happening and brought in much cheers. My sisters and cousin went white water rafting with them too. Later, my sister, too, became the host of them in Subang. 

Anian - my bro - Mathias

12th - 14th Dec 08: hosted Peter & Maria (Russia)
They were out all the time, so I didn't have much time talking to them. It might be the language barrier also that made me couldn't know more about them. They had a free ride to Penang with my friend - Sam, after that.

Tangkuban Perahu

Welcome to Tangkuban Perahu

Mt Tangkuban Perahu, meaning the flipped boat in English, is an active volcano and at the same time is seen as the symbol of Bandung. The name has something linked to the 'Legend of Sangkuriang', about how a disobedient son kicked his boat upside-down and turned into stone.

we're finally there after a very long journey

wanna have a horse ride? or scarf made of rabbit fur?

Since we were in Bandung, how could we miss the chance to visit this place? In fact, it was the only tourist attraction that we went to. Of course, we didn't hike up to the crater area. Fortunately, we had Pak Ari there to be our chauffeur. He drove us there, passing through the forest.

lotsa 'climbing'

the viewing hut; unknown snacks

It's very cooling up there; right time to get away from the heat. Due to the smoke from the volcano, it's quite hazy. Yet, it made all the pictures taken there look nice. Again, this place gave us much opportunity to show our photography skill.

paparazzi wannabe

Pak Ari was the only one among us to have the guts to stand so close to the crater and squatted down as seen in the picture below. For this, HC claimed 'His balls is bigger than mine!'

Pak Ari, squatting very closely to the edge

one of the 2 active craters

We spent time exploring the place and taking pictures. When we thought that it's time to leave, the rain poured. Worse, we were not with Pak Ari at that time. So, we couldn't get into the car and got to hide at the road side stall. Not to mention, we were all soaking wet; in such a weather. We couldn't reach Pak Ari's phone as the coverage was very bad up there. No choice, but to wait.

When the rain wasn't that heavy anymore, we decided to rent the umbrella and look for Pak Ari. Just as MH & Vid stepped out the stall where we sheltered, we saw Pak Ari walking towards us. Opps, wrong timing.

the car was there but couldn't get in; sheltered from the rain

Then, we started the long journey back to Bandung. All wet, sting and hungry!

An artist

Every one of us is born to be an artist.
We are gifted with a blank drawing paper and painting tools.
We draw, we paint and we colour it.
The piece of art resembles our lives.


Some takes only a little time to get it done.
And use the rest of the time to perfect every details.
Some makes a lot of changes in between.
Some could only complete it when bidding farewell to this world.


For me, I would say I'm still at the pencil sketching stage.
I don't mind taking however long to complete.
Because I know it would somehow be done one day.
And, it would tell every stories of my life.

Bandung Snacks

Clockwise from top left:-

• Durian Ice Cream
  
• Bubur Ayam Mang Oyo
  
• Mie Bakso
  
• Martabak
  
• Savoury with Rum
  
• Ginger Soupy Dessert
  
• Mie Yamien
• Sweet Potato Balls
  
• Batagor
  
• Brownies Panggang / Brownies Kukus
  

Sundanese Cuisine in Bandung

On the way up to Mt Tangkuban Parahu, the symbolic and active volcano in Bandung, the traffic was very congested on the opposite side (towards Bandung). According to Vid, it's because of the large crowd spending the weekend in Lembang. As such, everyone was rushing back to Bandung or Jakarta on the Sunday. 

We stopped by at this restaurant for lunch. It's a random choice as it's had passed the lunch hour for some time and we had no info on any particular restaurant. Thinking about it, it's actually my first experience of Sundanese Food.

Warung Nasi Saung Pengkolan

the interior decor

I've forgotten most of the food that we ordered. I could only think of:- Gurame Goreng (Fried Gurame fish), Sate Kelinci (rabbit-meat satay), Patai Bakar (roasted petai) & Tempeh. It wasn't a bad lunch after all, yet, there's not much to talk about other than nocticing the flies around us.

our lunch...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, before going back to Jakarta, we had another round of Sundanese food for lunch. This time, we went to the food place that was stated in the Wikitravel guide. It's in fact a famous eating outlet in Bandung. I think, sticking to a travel guide wasn't something bad after all.

Kedai Ma'Uneh

I learned something new. Pepes. It's a way to prepare and cook the food. Marinate the meat, fish, eggs, tempeh or tahu with different kind of spices, then wrap them with banana leaves and roast. We ordered a few Pepes dishes. The food was better than what we had yesterday. Good job, Wikitravel!

the food stall

lunch... with different kind of chillies

Berhati-hati di jalan raya!

Very Hot Manadonese Food

Location: Restoran Beautika Khas Manado

We were introduced to Manadonese food by Vid in Jakarta. The place was kind of like any mixed rice shops in M'sia. But, the dining area was so much classy and with air-con. We chose whatever dishes we wanted at the stall near the entrance.

All the food looked delicious and named clearly. The number of chillies shown beside the name of the food indicated how spicy hot of the dishes. However, we didn't interpret that correctly.

As such, we ordered (stupidly):

• Cumi Woku Belanga - Calamari (3 chillies)
  
• Ayam Isi Dibulu - Chicken (3 chillies)
  
• Daging Paniki - Bat meat (3 chillies)
  
• Pepes Cakalang Bakar - Fish (3 chillies)
  
• Bunga Pepaya - Stir fried papaya stems or leaves (1 chilli)
  
• Pisang Goreng & Sambal - Fried banana & fish sambal
  

(Clockwise from top left: Fish - Chicken - Calamari - Bat - Papaya)

Fried banana & sambal

The highlight would be the Bat meat. The meat tasted like any other smoked meat, be it pork or chicken. The wings part was like very soggy fungus. Anyway, it's very hot............. As hot as the other dishes.

the Bat...

Everything was so spicy hot until our taste bud couldn't functioning well anymore. We kept on drinking the teh hangat (warm tea) hoping to cool down our tongue.

The fried banana was the only thing I felt nice because it wasn't spicy. The sambal was different. It's more like the fish paste.

Angelina Jolie & Shu Qi (舒淇) wannabes!

再次踏足Jakarta

Fel:"Jakarta nice meh?"
Sorry Fel. I gotta disagree with you about that. Jakarta is not bad actually. What made you so afraid of going back to Jakarta?

I was asked whether this year resolution has been achieved.
My answer's 'Yes', seeing that I had traveled quite 'regularly' throughout this year.
Nevertheless, a few targets haven't been hit. It's no big deal.
Overall, I'm more than happy and satisfied with everything happening to me this year!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

相隔3年，我又在Jakarta留下脚印。今年，我已经是第三次飞出大马了！先是4月份独自到越南北部；7月份与健华结伴到柬埔寨；现在到印尼爪哇西部。请容许我在这里打一下广告：谢谢你，亚航。让每个人都可以飞！

Jakarta某区街景

这次的旅伴有大学同学——MH和HC。我们3人分别从吉隆坡及新山启程，在Jakarta会合。我们都以探望在Jakarta工作的Vid为由，再“顺便”到Bandung（万隆，西爪哇省府）游玩。感谢Vid，除了让我们几个大男生在她的家借宿几宵外，若没有她这位印尼人带队，我们就没有机会看清楚这个城市、尝到更多道地美食。

3年前的回忆，只停留在那比吉隆坡糟糕些许、且跟曼谷差不多的拥挤交通；因为交通法令漏洞而出现的‘专业Hitchhiker’；还有，就是每次到购物广场，都要被搜车、搜包包。虽然说是为安全着想，但有时候我也在想，这会不会‘想太多’了呢？

读万卷书，不如行万里路。旅游能让大家开拓视野，这是千真万确的！几天下来，我又对印尼这个与大马称兄道弟的万岛之国，留有新的印象。原来，这里的超级市场是没有Halal和Non-Halal区之分；原来，印尼人比大马同胞更有礼貌，难怪大马一直被人笑说‘第三世界的服务’！

服务最有口碑的德士

（虽然翻译成闽南语，非常不雅‘听’）

很遗憾的，我们找不到当红新闻人物——美国侯任总统Obama曾就读的小学。还以为可以在该学校大门前拍照留念，回国后向大家炫耀一下。事与愿违。驾车在该区兜了几圈，就是找不到。地图上也没表明该学校的位置。要不然，这次的旅程会更有意义。

West Java 之旅

Wonderful Moment - 美好时光

It's time for me to do another trial run of translation.
I know I'm still not up to mark yet. 
Give me more chances, k? 
Practice makes perfect! Right?

Dedicated to all my beloved friends!!

传说中那个美丽小村庄
There's a small beautiful village
在遥远被遗忘的远方
Located far away
背着行囊驰骋在草原上
Traveling across the grassland
路虽颠簸 心充满温暖阳光
Though hard there's always warm sunshine

清澈眼眸和微笑脸庞
Clear eyes and simles
在雨季午后更加明亮
Even brighter after the rain
小小心愿只是美丽的衣裳
Nice clothes being the only desire
原来 简单的幸福在你身旁
Simple happiness is always there

一起共渡每一刻美好时光
Spending every wonderul moment together
微笑一直在我们脸上
Always having the smiling face
永远没有烦恼也没有悲伤
No worry and sadness forever
许个愿一辈子快乐飞翔
Wishing we could fly happily for all time
当想念我就歌唱
Just sing it out when you think of me
这样我会陪在你身旁
For me to be at your side

一起共渡每一刻美好时光
Spending every wonderul moment together
微笑一直在我们脸上
Always having the smiling face
永远没有烦恼也没有悲伤
No worry and sadness forever
许个愿一辈子快乐飞翔
Wishing we could fly happily for all time
当想念我就歌唱
Just sing it out when you think of me
手牵手 看天空 一起闯 快乐的天堂
Together we explore the happy heaven

Bon Voyage, Kenny Chew

Kenny has finally gone back to the US to continue his Phd studies. What‘s supposed to be a 3 weeks long break has eventually become a 3 months longer vacation. What’s more with the change of citizenship in a blink of eyes?

I would think he’s not going to forget all the hell he had to go through. It’s definitely a turning point in his life journey. Sincerely hope that he’d leave all the negatives behind and working hard to achieve what he wants!

Max - me - SC - Kenny

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

人才流失，这码事情听得多了！但是，往往就觉得它是那么的遥远，似乎对自己嘎不上任何关系。或许，我有自知之明——因为，我不是人才。

现在，眼看着自己的最要好朋友，因为签了一份蛮霸道的合约，而需要放弃马来西亚的公民权，并效忠新加坡去了！没办法，他是人才嘛！要不然，我也可以跑去修个博士学位了！

我的好友，忽然换了个身份，感觉好像少了个朋友的同时，又多了一位新朋友。霎时间，人才流失，好像跟我搭上了关系。

从各种媒体得到的结论，不外就是说这会造成国家缺乏相关领域的专才，对经济影响有多大。另一种声音，就振振有词地说这些人才是怎样被边缘化，不得不离乡背井、在异乡落地生根。

这样的争论，有如‘先有鸡还是先有蛋’般的问题，答案莫棱两可。

对，向‘钱’看的话，到国外打拼一段日子，固然可以拥有一笔可观的存款。或者，就一些人所言，到外面的世界转几圈，无非是为了开拓视野、当着是人生历练。这也没错！

但是，可别忘了我们在童年时许下的承诺——对社会要有贡献。因此，在外头流浪的时候，千万别忘记家在何处！还有，游子们，记得要多回家啊！

我是幸运的

Today is my lucky day!

I attended a roadshow hosted by UBS Software this morning.  It's just a seminar regarding its recent version upgrade of the softwares. Nothing much to talk bout it actually.

However, the highlight of the day -- I won an 1GB iPod Shuffle! I was the sole winner of the one and only one lucky draw of the day.

Why no CASH??? :-)

Long Weekend

The SG Citygal, aka Shiling, was in KL.
As such, it became an excuse for me to be in KL.
It's been almost 3 months since the last time I was there.

Friday evening, I drove down to KL after work.

I was given the task to pick up the Citygal.

Ok, I know it's weird to ask an Ipoh-mali to do that.

No choice. The most reliable KL folk - MH couldn't make it.

The others? Busy with 'meetings'!

You know la, the market is so bad now...

Haiz, dunno why am I finding excuses for them.

The 1st night, met up with Dhar & KQ.

Ate some not so nice HK style cafe food.

Then went to have some beer.

Chit-chatted a bit and called it a night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, started around noon time.

While waiting the arrival of the 2 KAF slaves,

me & Shiling went to eat some Shanghainese snacks.

Then, window-shopping at Pavillion.

Then, Japanese Mocha drinks.

Then, the 2 - Mabel & Dhar arrived.

Another round of eating - Italian food.

Next, watched movie - Mamma Mia!

My 2nd time & Mabel's 3rd.

After the movie, we shopped for MH's house warming present.

Next, started calling the others for dinner.

Dinner place decided - Banana Leaf Rice @ Nirvana, Bangsar.

4 of us + Xtie + KQ + David + David's gf.

Later, moved to Alexis for desserts & drinks.

Of course, with the red carpet entrance of WW.

We chit chatted until the curfew started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, very relaxed.

As per requested, went to A&W for brunch.

It's because there's no more A&W outlets in SG.

Next, Karaoke session @ Neway, One Utama.

Just 4 of us: Me, Shiling, Mabel & Xtie.

It's fun although we couldn't sing well!

Around dinner time, we all visited MH's new house.

His family held a house warming party.

We were invited as theis guests.

Few rounds of food until we were so full.

Then, it's time for me to hit the highway back to Ipoh.

So did MH & Shiling.

They're going to Ipoh craving for food.

2 hours later, we were in Ipoh.

1st round, the famous Snow Beer in Ipoh Old Town.

Highlight: the waitress here used PDAs to take orders.

We too ordered fried clams (lala) & calamari besides beer.

Met up with MH's colleague - WS.

Non-stop discussions on Ipoh food.

Before going back to my house,

MH wanted to hunt for the prawn mee near Central Market.

Unfortunately, the stalls wasn't open that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Went back to old town again on Monday morning.

This time, we had the hawker food as breakfast.

Chicken floss hor-fun, taugeh & popiah.

Me & MH then went to work.

Shiling was left to explore old town all by herself.

At noon, I met them again.

Together with WS & my friend SC,

we then headed to Kuala Sepetang,

a small town near Taiping, for seafood lunch.

Food ordered:

Assam fish, fried baby crab, fried fish, octopus, 

刺螺, seafood tofu, oyster noodle, etc...

When back in Ipoh, 

we went to the famous drive-in taufufah.

No reason for them to miss this whenever in Ipoh.

After resting for a while, it's dinner time.

Location: Gourmet Square.

Food ordered:

Grilled stingray, fried mantis shrimp, curry mee, etc...

Not enough, tong sui street was the next stop.

Chilled out a bit while tasting the desserts.

There's a incident happening.

However, we left the place without finding out why.

Unlucky for the 2nd time.

The prawn mee stall was closed again.

This time, Shiling was the one craving for it.

Too meet her demand, we went to Oldtown Kopitiam.

What a day full of food!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday breakfast: Bak Kuk Teh.

It's Shiling's die-die-must-have meal.

As such, MH got to miss the Lucky's seafood porridge.

Next time la!!

Then, I bidded farewell to 2 of them.

& MH went to collect all his buah tangan for family & colleagues.

Egg tarts, kaya puffs, salted chickens, heong peng, etc...

What a long weekend!

Happy Two-Five

Gathering Minutes

Location: Gourmet Square, Canning Garden

Date: 27/09/08, Saturday

Time: 7.00pm ++

Present: KH, Max, SC & Kenny
Absent: Unknown

Topic of the day: To celebrate KH's 25th Birthday

Proceedings:

1. Food ordered:- Curry Mee, Chilli Crab, Fried Mantis Shrimp, Popiah, etc.....

2. Dicussion on Kenny's recent change of citizenship; M'sian -> S'porean

(Conclusion: Unhappy, but left with no choice)

3. Weird experiences with S'poreans.

4. Carried on with no-points chit-chatting.

5. Gathering adjourned at Gourmet Square, but continued at Ice-Cream Cafe.

table for 4 please......

Updates on Couchsurfing

I had received another request from a Couchsurfer, Marco. He’s an Italian Punk-Rock musician and will be coming to Ipoh some time next month. I replied to him saying that I would be able to host him so long that it’s after my trip to Jakarta & Bandung. His reply to this: ‘hope to see you soon.’

Of course, I did browse through his profile on couchsurfing.com. His description of himself really caught my attention, especially this line:

… have no desire to go back to Italy. I want to go anywhere and I want to help like-minded people to have a place to crash …

What a cool phrase! I do hope to be as magnanimous as him! So 豁达 (fut da) & 潇洒 (siu sa) ！

Having such a liberal & unconventional mindset wasn’t what I’ve been trained for. Although a very small part in my heart telling me to be like that, the reality set in and I have to resume to my role. The reason: my body and soul have been brainwashed for nearly a quarter of a century, to face up to the challenges in reality.

All the Couchsurfers that I hosted so far are generous minded as that. Like Ota the Czech for which I had my first experience of Couchsurfing, decided to retired from working despite only in the late twenties; Kit & Francesco, both taking some time out of works and studies, joined some soul-searching camp in India. All of them share a same goal: to step in to different territories and meet people. This is the same to the two Couchsurfers I hosted recently: Shar from Nevada USA & Simon from Uruguay

Shar is an American Fine Art graduate. After working a few years, she decided to go to Australia to work part time and earn enough for travel fund and for her graduate studies later on. She is a very polite and well-mannered person. Too bad, I didn’t have much time showing her around Ipoh. Luckily, both my sisters were in holiday that time and they had fun doing white water rafting in Kampar.

Simon, a skilled photographer, on the other hand, has not called a place home for few years. He has just begun to tour around half of the globe. It’s going to be another 2 years before reaching the final destination – Turkey. At the end of his trip, I am sure he would have met up and befriended with more than a hundred of Couchsurfers and locals in different coutries. I wish I could be like him; just leave everything behind for awhile and forget about the sense of belonging (归宿感) for a short period.

I am really looking forward to be hosted by any Couchsurfers in the future. Who wanna join me? However, I do feel weird to tumpang at some strangers’ house. This is something I need to get away with so as to happily enjoy the true spirit of Couchsurfing!

Mamma Mia!

昨天，去戏院看了《Mamma Mia!》这部改变自著名音乐舞台剧的电影。该音乐剧在全世界都引起热烈回响，得到很多热爱剧场表演人士的青睐。因此，被拍成电影，是蛮令人期待的。

对于我来说，这剧本的主角，不是演员，而是ABBA组合的经典音乐。他们的音乐，自小就有机会接触了。每当听到他们的歌曲，都能勾起儿时的回忆。

电影里唯一美中不足的地方，就是把我最喜欢的《Knowing Me, Knowing You》这首歌曲给抽起。我非常肯定，舞台剧版本是有这首歌曲的。因为，在看舞台剧时，我对这首歌留有最深刻的印象。

在戏院和剧场观看的不同之处在于，戏院里的观众不会随歌起舞，跟着唱、跟着跳；在剧场里，有点像在看一场演唱会，掌声此起彼落，有时候也来个大合唱，蛮疯狂的。

我是在伦敦看这舞台剧的。非常记得那天是2005年7月16日，毕业后离开英国的前一天。除了我，那时还有Chris、Vid和Shiling。因为每次都买不到票，所以等了好久都还没看这音乐剧。离别在即，票再贵也要看，怕以后没机会。

也因为这样，看完这部电影后，忽然想起很多在英国的片断。有喜的、有悲的，还有其他甜酸苦乐的。随之而来，便幻想着，如果当初不这样、我那样，现在的我会是怎样的呢？

想得太远了，便问自己：‘我对现况满意吗？’我的答案是：满意，（虽然还有些许的不如意）。既然对现在的生活满意，我也不该再想过去了！我常常就是这样把自己从‘白日梦’中引回现实当中的。

没有过去的经验，就不会‘打造’现在的我。我可以有更好的过去，但是我能笃定我现在会更好吗？‘God knows！’这会是大部分人的答案吧！

The Khmer Way XIV

旅途上，我们都想一切顺利，不想有任何不开心的事情发生。但是，难免会遇上一些不愉快的。通常，我们会埋怨它使我们的旅途蒙上黑点。往正面去想的话，我们为何不把它当成‘遗憾美’来欣赏呢？假以时日，他很可能是我们回忆里，最耀眼的一颗‘亮点’！

I had a bad impression of our Tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh. He was doing a good job. But, everything vanished when he ‘begged’ for extra tips on top of the payment we were supposed to pay, at the end of the ‘rental’. We did tip him, however, unwillingly.

inside Central Market

We were actually thinking of taking a photograph with him as remembrance. But, we thought: forget about it la! Forget about him too!

Tipping is not something oneself could ask for, but to earn it! We too tipped the tuk-tuk driver & guide in Siem Reap for the wonderful job they had done. Even if we didn’t tip, they shouldn’t have begged for it.

Wat Phnom

Oh well, it’s a whole new ‘tipping’ world that I have just encountered. Luckily in Malaysia, it’s still uncommon to tip.

Was it the tourists, especially the Westerners, to be blamed for ‘blooming’ the culture of ‘tipping’ or the art of ‘begging’?

11/7/08

The Khmer Way XIII

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum 波尔布特战争罪恶馆

it was just a normal school

the victims... may they rest in peace

the interrogation room

the leg cuffs

limited space in the cells

the wooden lockup cells

one of those equipment used to torture the prisoners

not the Roman Ring... but the Gallows

the grave

The Killing Field @ Cheuong Ek 杀戮场

the Pagoda

the clothes found on the dead bodies

remind us of 'how cruel the human can be'

click on the image to read the story

the tree witnessed the tragedies

where the bodies were buried under

me

916

今天是，公元2008年9月16日。
是马来西亚成立45年的纪念日。
也是全马来西亚子民等待“好戏上映”的日子。
在野联盟团队，是否能终结巫统的霸权政治？
安华能不能成为新的首领，组织新大马政府？
这些，自308以来，都是每个人所关注的。
不过，到现在，一切‘只闻楼梯响’。
普罗大众也只有‘观热闹’的份儿。
亲国阵的，高兴之际，也在揶揄‘反对党’。
民联的支持者，虽失望，但还存有希望。
对于政治冷感的，这些都无关痛痒。
国家大事，都不管我的事！
对我来说，这当然是我的事。
因为，马来西亚是我的国家。
它是属于每一位马来西亚人。
没有一个人，可以把它占为己有。
过去，联邦政府的政策，都旨在分化各民族。
各家自扫门前雪，成了本国人民团结的象征。
和睦且融洽地相处，只是挂在嘴边的口头禅。
向外国朋友说：“马来西亚，真实的亚洲。”
也只不过是在舞台上，让大家看到：
我跳我的、你跳你的、他跳他的。
我感谢308，让我重新认识我的国家。
马来西亚，并不单单是由三大民族组成。
现在，每每听到‘三大民族’，心里都不爽。
西马的政治霸权，使半岛原住民的声音没被听见。
东马的一切，从来就传不到西马人的心中。
突然间，我感到很羞愧。
很多看似理所当然的，其实并不竟然。
历史，可以解决831或916的争论。
可是，许多人却把它看成是‘先有鸡还是先有蛋？’
答案，很可能就不了了之了！
不管怎样，现在国家有难，匹夫都有责任。
黑白两边，到底哪一方才是维护正义的？
站在灰色地带，静观其变。
这样的选择，你又觉得如何呢？
政治圈子里，不应该只有政治人物。
每个人都该在那圈子里，找到立足之地。
因为，人民才是老板!


P/S: 

今天也是农历戊子年八月十七日，我的农历生日。

还以为，可以有大件事让我纪念这一天！

到最后，还是事与愿违。

Say 'NO"!

The Khmer Way XII

我在想，我会不会重游我曾经去过的外国城市？英国境内的城市，先不说，毕竟那里曾是我短暂的‘第二个家’；与马来半岛为邻的边界城市，如合艾或新加坡，也不说，因为去了无数次。算一算，我到现在为止，只旧地重游过曼谷、雅加达和香港。我能否再回去柏林、佛罗伦萨和暹粒？唯有看缘分啰！因为，世界那么大，还有很多陌生国度在向我招手啊！

I miss Siem Reap; I miss the Tuk-tuk driver - Mr Trung; I miss E8ightrooms & its staffs; I miss Ly Hong telling us the stories lie behind each Angkor site; I miss the road side hawker food; I miss everything that I've heard, seen, tasted, smelled, touched or 'breathed' in Siem Reap. It's a lovely city!

The Royal Palace

I'm now in Phnom Penh. It's just like another Hanoi or another Bangkok. There are more foreigners here. (I've been seeing many Caucasian guys together with local girls) All the restaurants here serve mainly Western food and just a little bit of Khmer food.

Independence Monument

Why was I disliking this city so much? Was it because of the unpleasant bus journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh?

10/7/08

The Khmer Way XI

Expedition to the famous Angkor Heritage Site - 3rd Day: Part F

Lolei 罗蕾寺

long-abandoned temple

hope it wouldn't collapse

Bakong 巴孔寺

typical long way leading to the main building

the main building

closer view

the holy guards

me & Kin Wah

Preah Ko 神牛寺

after restoration

cows - the master

so fierce