Sunrise at Sungai Lembing

Anticipating a long and quiet (read: dull) Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday at home with the folks, I brought home not only a car load of festive goodies, but also my hiking boots and outdoors gears and a list of hiking destinations. Loads of walking in the bush planned.

So at the crack of dawn of the fourth day of CNY, I headed up to Sungai Lembing Panorama Hill with my cousin L. Just barely 45 minutes drive later I was lacing up my hiking boots at the foothill, all set to hit the trail. It was then I realized that we had forgotten our torch lights. That was just great, wasn't it?

Well, I think Paul Coelho wrote something along the line like this: "If you have dreams, the whole universe will conspire to help achieve your dream." Just as we trod along gingerly in the dark, two kind Samaritan hikers on their way down (I know, were they super fit or super early or what?) gave us their torch lights. Yay! We had got lights! Take it from me; hiking in the pitch black ain't no fun eh.

After a good 45 minutes eco-Step Master, I ended up in the zoo! Now that explained the 236 cars packed into the tiny patch of clearing at the foothill. The peak were packed with hikers, and unfortunately noisy. They were just happy chatting, correction, quaking away loudly. Noise pollution people! Noise pollution!

Perhaps the view was something to shout home for. The morning mist wrapping the surrounding hills, softly and tenderly, as if trying to keep them hill warm in the chilly dawn. In the distance, the Charas Cave stood solemnly, awaiting another fabulous sunrise like the rest of us. Well, unlike us he was quiet.

Then the corner of the sky brightened up slowly. The gloomy black and grey made room in the sky for the cheery tinge of yellow. The sun peeked out behind the cloud shyly. Splashes of yellow and orange and pink and red spilled all over the sky. Everyone was in awe with the magnificent display of colors in the sky that they stopped yakking. Mother Nature is indeed powerful, hypnotizing the yakking lot into a silence state with her charm and beauty. That was truly amazing.

The crowd began to thin. But we stuck around enjoying the serenity of the morning. We were happily clicking our cameras away, shooting ferns and trees in vibrant green as the sun lighted up the peak.

Time to jet. We leisurely strolled down hill. Again we bumped into the zoo of people. Apparently the zoo shifted from the peak to the market food court.

Feeding frenzy!

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Political Farce

When I get lemons, I make lemonade, with a good glug of rum. That's me, always optimistic, always looking at the bright side.

Now, let's look at the sorry state of the country politics. We first learnt of a MP playing Kermit, jumping to the opposition and then jumping back, just a few days later. Next there were more Kermits, three opposition statesmen in the Perak state quit their parties and became pro-National Front government independent statesmen. That led to the state constitutional crisis, with both sides not backing down, both claiming their legitimacy to govern the state. The snowball just gets bigger and bigger. The Perak state Sultan was dragged into the mess. It was brought to the court. Then there was the state legislature convened under a tree. How exciting!

And then there are more. The compromising photographs of a female MP from the opposition were circulated. Another senior wheel chair bound opposition MP was roughed up by a bunch of pro-government supporters right in front of the sacred Parliament building. These are some unprecedented lows of politicking in the country. The whole scene is turning into a royally huge farce. All these are playing out on the press and worse still, on the net, for the whole wide world to see. What an embarrassment?  

Well, is there a silver lining? 

I think there is. With so much exposure, everyone is talking about it. Good or bad, EVERYONE is talking about it. It generated some unprecedented buzz for the country politics among the people, especially the youngsters. This created awareness among them, which in turn would hopefully get them interested, informed, educated and most importantly involved in the country political processes. Better start 'em young.

Told ya, I always see the glass half full, with beer.

How Ironic?

I just came back from a symphony concert at the majestic Petronas Philharmonic Hall, presented by the MPO, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. 

The MALAYSIAN Philharmonic Orchestra. But I could hardly pick a handful of Malaysian musicians in there. It is not a stretch to say that 90% of the orchestra are foreigners. They are called the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Now isn't that ironic?

Then again, how many Malaysian kids get to pursue symphony music as a career and be a part of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, or any orchestra?

Perhaps they should call themselves the Malaysian INTERNATIONAL Philharmonic Orchestra.

Great show nonetheless.

Lunch With A Twist

I made pasta lunch some weekends ago. 

Well it was the usual quick and painless fare of boiling a handful of pasta while throwing some bacon strips, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and a copious amount of coarsely chopped garlic (Oh I love garlic, especially in pasta) into a couple of tablespoons of the ready made red pasta sauce. But this time around, I added a little twist to spice up the meal. I added a few sliced little fiery chilies.

Lunch was ready in almost record time. I was stuffing my face happily, until the chillies set fire in my mouth. Oh boy! It was super duper spicy. 

So a little correction: lunch was quick and painful.

I Wonder

Waking up. Laying in bed.

Sunny outside. The sunlight was filling the room tenderly.

Memory of that morning poured in, like the sunlight flowing in through the window. I was back to the morning where I was laying awake next to you.

I remember the sunlight on your cheeks. I remember the serenity of your slumber. I remember the warmth of your embrace. I remember the scent of your hair. I remember the soothing hum of your breathing. I remember the tenderness of your skin. I remember the sweetness of your kiss.

I remember the beauty in you.

I wonder if you remember about that morning like me. I wonder if you think of me like I think of you.

I wonder...

P/s: Happy V Day.

Happy Belated Chinese New Year

I know! I know! It's a bit, no, it's way too late for the Lunar New Year greetings. Better late than never. Hope it was a warm and lovely one for you and your family. 

I still have not open any of my ang paos yet. I hope the content will be wonderfully and blessfully abundant. 

Happy New Year

So this is it. Here comes 2009. All the best everyone.