endroog

Went to the hot spring while on the way to Ipoh the other day. Its a nice place. They have chalets there and run by Federal Hotel Group. Landscape in clean. There’s even a giant octopus at the resort. The place is quite a nice place for a weekend trip but to go out to the nearest town is quite far away. But if you plan to spend the whole weekend in one place, this should be a nice place. You can picnic, play water and go for massage. I love putting my feet into hot water. It kills all the germs that linger between your toes.

I’m standing on water.

How to get there? You take the PLUS highway and exit at Sungkai interchange. You will see signboards leading you to Sungai Klah Hot Spring. You’ll pass by a lot of Felda oil palm plantations before you reach the place.

I have more pictures in my Gimping Photos under the CNY2008 directory.

Second day in Jakarta was great. Reached Mangga Dua by 9.00am. Its just about 20 minutes from our place. Well, this something what Chow Kit is to KL. There’s this shopping mall.. bazaar kind of thing where you can find a lot of things… clothes, accessories, fakes, spectacles, embroidery services, all kinds of beads, you name it. Anyway, I only bought a pair of short bermuda jeans for just Rp9oK. Had Indomie breakfast.

Ok, did I tell you all that.. to me, Indonesian food is just like another malay food. Alright.. maybe my 2 days stint is just not sufficient to eat.. but then the renown nasi padang is just like another nasi kandar. Only that they serve in plates for each dish and its not as hygiene as you thought it would be. Imagine, they put all the available dishes they have in the house on the table and whichever you don’t eat, they collect it back to “recycle”/reheat for the next customer. You only pay for the dishes you ate. Don’t expect the aroma of nasi kandar you always eat in the alleys near your office. You’d be disappointed for generations. The nasi padang we patronised was recommended by a waiter at Cafe Batavia. He said there’s only 2 good nasi padang joint in Jakarta…. Sari Bundo and Garuda. So the one convenient for us to go was Sari Bundo. Another thing is Indomie, an instant noodle which is delicious. I think thats their national food… for every noodle shop there must be indomie in the menu. Bakso indomie, indomie soup, indomie goreng, dry mixed indomie etc….

Eh… went off the chronology of events. Ok… after Mangga Dua, we went to Fatahillah Square by angkut (the tuk-tuk motor bike). There are the various museums… Museum Fatahillah, Museum Wayang, Museum Fine Arts, etc. These are old colonial buildings converted to museum. This is what I wanted to see. After the visiting the various museums, we retreated to Cafe Batavia for a drink. The setting in there is very posh and nice. You should go there if you ever visit Jakarta. After the drink.. went eat nasi padang at Sari Bundo (lunch). While eating lunch, our table was facing a nice colonial building and I was staring at it throughout the meal. Then before we left the restaurant, we asked a waiter there what is that building opposite and was told it is the National Archieve (they call it arsib nasional). Ok good. He even recommended us to visit the place. So we took quite an effort to cross the busy road. Yeah, it was a nice building. According to a picture I saw thereat, it is a fact that there was an awry massacre took place at the backyard of the building a few centuries ago. The locals massacred the colonials, chinese etc.

Later in the evening, we went to the Kathedral in central Jakarta… a gothic catholic church which I believed to be the oldest church in Indonesia. It is a must visit place in Jakarta. At the time when we were there, so happen there was a wedding mass going on and we attended it partially. The church is also a museum in its own right, as the upper level stores artefacts of Catholic presence in Jakarta. But too bad, it was closed that day. Ayoyo.

Its quite weird to me as we’re used to english or chinese mass here and there they speak malay. Let me tell you, I feel very uneasy because chinese are all speaking malay among themselves and chinese traders speak malay to me. It never happen before (except the time people mistaken me for a malay). Its like thing you rarely see here (except my house; i speak malay with Mr Bean sometime). Ok… there are many nice places for wedding photo shooting in Jakarta. Mainly the places are Kota Lama (the Cafe Batavia area) and this Kathedral.

Photo album

Ok… well, went to Jakarta the other day out of frustration for having to miss her so much. Or should I put it like this… free accommodation… why not go for a spin. Even Sean’s dearest herself never been to Jakarta despite being an Indonesian. Alright, my trip had only a purpose…. to see my szer. Imagine not seeing your love one for 2 months….

But then… to tell people I’ve been to Jakarta… I must have pictorial evidence. Hence we’ve visited the National Monument or Monas for short. That tower is simple and in the whole compound perimeter of that structure you can build 2 Petronas twin-towers I’d guess. There’s a museum in the basement of Monas. Models and figurines depicting events from the time of neandearthal period till srivijaya to majapahit to the Dutch and present time are all encased in a behind a glass in wall. After the Monas, we came upon a group of student activists outside Monas. They were marching… striking on some shit and polisi eeerr I mean policemen have to be there to control the situation. These are MPs… military police. Then we walked about half a kilometer to the National Museum only to find it having an exhibition. The museum was closed for the exhibition. There’s a lot of luxury cars parked in the compound. The drivers (ah mats) sitting on whatever that they can rest their asses on. It was a jewelry exhibition going on. No wonder lah. Asked the guy at the door and was told we have to buy ticket to go in. Alright… forget it we told ourselves. I can’t afford to buy jewelry yet.

We the took taxi to one of the poshest mall in the nusantara. Plaza Indonesia and eX Mall which are situated next to each other. Linked and connected. There we had dinner. Gado-gado and lontong medan. After dinner, went to yet another mall…. Semanggi…. man ….. I’m wondering why shopping mall… but hey… its hot there and malls are the only cool retreat. All kinds of clothes and accessories for both genders. After Semanggi, we back and sleep. It was a tiring day.

Check out the photo album: http://fotologue.jp/endroog#/5465034/5465107

Oh yeah.. I managed to go to Monas on the first day itself. Will update Gimping Photos real soon Stay tuned. This structure is a must when you go to Jakarta and there’s a museum in the building itself. Well, a bit tired today. .

Went to Aquaria last Raya. Man… it was just a so-so experience compared to the Water World in Sentosa Island, Singapore. (eh, am I giving credit to Singapore? oh shit. Haha)

Anyway, here… our guest… should i say Szer’s guest…. Anne (standing next to my mum) all the way from Holland en route to NZ. Szer’s uncle’s neighbour’s mom. Complicated eh.

I found one of the best laksa shack in Langkawi…probably in Malaysia, just next to Casa del Mar, Pantai Cenang. Introduced by a local waitress at a malay eatery when we were looking for laksa for lunch. Laksa Kedah. Laksa beras.

The owner of the stall also operate a water activities stuffs like banana boat, kayaks, sampans etc.

The place is just nice for an afternoon chill out place.

Sipping coconut water had never been better. No additive or preservatives. RM3.00 and its huge. Chelva was too obsessed with his coconut he got no time to pose for the camera. Gee.

So good for laksa that Szer adn I went there for our lunch again right before boarding the plane back to KL. Chelva and sis departed earlier that morning due to flight unavailability in the afternoon.

Went to this Retro American Diner at Plaza Damas yesterday with my Szer after dinner. I though it was just a pub but hell no. The have a gig. Well, this is a really retro. The DJ spins oldies. The gig plays only oldies of 50s-70s.

The joint is just next to Plaza Damas Modesto’s and in fact it can be accessed from Modesto’s. They’re linked. They have ample parking, pool tables, bar, booth seats, sofas among other amenities. The patrons are mostly the wise golden citizens though they’re still young at heart. Youngsters alike also spotted who came over from Modesto’s for a change of music genre. I think we’re the youngest there. Yeah, we’re the young ones.

The place is kinda cosy and and have personal touch.

The lady singer sang Carpenter’s Top of The World when we just sat down. That was enough to make me hooked. To bad they didn’t play any Beatles’ but hey… I asked for Sir Cliff Richard’s The Young Ones and they played. They even dedicated a song to us (i forgot what song was it) and especially for the lady sitting next to me. There was a bunch friends of uncles, aunties datuks & datins who were dancing like no body’s business and they can really twist and shout. No joke. There’s one uncle, who I think is the partner of the business, came over to us asking us to join them for a dance…. no, we refused it ok. We are just not their league. They are some cha cha or tango or waltz or even twist pro. This same uncle said to us “eh listen, this is the song I sang when I chased young girls back then. But now all the young girls are old ladies already.” After that, he went to another table of not-so-young people and we heard him repeating the same thing to them.

No worries. They have all kinds of food and drinks. Beer, stout, liquor, Cocktails, fruit juice, skyjuice, coffee, tea etc. They even have kopi jantan. The variety of food also make this a nice place to hang out though some of the generation X may not fancy it. I know some people will call this place an “old folks home”. Well, if you want decent oldies, this is the place. Oh yeah, when we got the bill, it cost us RM 6.90 for the kopi ginseng plus taxes and we were there for almost 4 hours. Come on, 4 hours of entertainment at 7 bucks at Jade Loong Trendy Kopitiam.

There’s one vegetarian restaurant in Kepong which I kinda like. I dont like to eat vegetarian but then I just like their bak kut teh. Vegetarian bak kut teh. The soup is just very aromatic and it can beat some real meat bak kut teh. Try for yourself. I dont have any picture of the claypot. Hope pictures of newspaper cuttings will do.

Restoran Sayur-sayuran Soon Tet ! Soon Tet.. read that in Hakka dialect.

It was reviewed on chinese newspapers. Oh yeah, the botak guy in the picture is my uncle.

Just a little map I can find to show you direction to this restaurant.

All the reviews are in chinese hope you can find someone to read it for you if you dont know chinese. I can’t read chinese myself. Sorry.

Business hour:

Daily
9.00 AM - 3.00 PM
5.30 PM - 10.00 PM

Closed on Monday

Address: 19 Jalan 14,
Desa Jaya, Kepong,
52100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603-6275 6564 (call for reservation… well, just in case bak kut teh finish)

The next time you go to an unfamiliar place for a meal, remember these few tips.

Look around at other restaurants in the area. See if there’s any particular shop with more patrons and those with no patron. this is important because there must be something wrong with that restaurant.

a. The place could be a cut-throat place
b. The food could be lousy
c. The service they render could be shitty

I went to a Tee Huat (Klang) Bak Kut Teh Restaurant in Gohtong Jaya yesterday with my Szer. We went to Genting and had our dinner before heading back to KL. It was raining heavily when we reached Gohtong Jaya. So we decided to eat steamboat. As we’re looking for a decent to have our dinner, we saw a bakuteh and why not bakuteh on a cold rainy evening?! Hmm… so we parked right in front of the restaurant.

But then, eh… there’s no patron at all there. We’re the only customers. To think of that at dinner time (8.08pm) and how can other restaurants have half of their premise occupied if not overcrowded and i suspected there must be something amiss. Maybe the bak kut teh here is not nice to eat… but Szer insist that we try it.

Well, the taste of a good thick bakkutteh soup is there and just that they put a lot of pepper. Its like you’re drinking pepper soup. We asked for stomach and intestine and rib meat, vege, and yaucharkuay (deep fried ghost). The waiter said there’s no more stomach. Ok then, just rib meat and intestine. When the dishes served, there’s no intestine. What the fuck. How can a bakuteh shop thsi big have got no intestine and stomach. This is a very common stuff you’d find in any bakkutteh dish.

Asked the waiter, and she said “Oh, no more instestine too. Sorry, we forgot to inform you.”. I was like !@#$%.

After we finished the food, sat there to enjoy some hot chinese tea. It was good. Bla bla bla bla bla… we chatted for almost an hour plus and then the bill came.

RM51.50 !!

• 1 pot of bak kut teh for 2 persons (with only rib meat, golden needle mushroom and dried beancurd-taupok)
• 1 plate of vege (polisang yau choy)
• 1 yauchar kuay (deep fried ghost)
• 1 chinese tea sachet (Kam Kuan Yin/Thit Kuan Yin)

Thats all.

The portion for two is the same as we can get in Kepong. Woooh…..wait… this is fucking  expensive. We’ve been conned. Tiu lor….

Went to this eatery in PJ Sec. 17 for dinner yesterday. One thing, there’s a ample parking and its not congested like bangsar. Its located in a low-cost flats area.

The nasi lemak is just so-so barely edible to my standard. Of course the nasi lemak in hometown is wayyyyyy better. But there are a lot of people patronizing the restaurant. Maybe the western food is good. I should go there again and try their western grill.

Oh yeah, there’s another eatery located at just the next row of shopshouses to this joint… Food Foundry. My Szer said numerous blogs stated that FF’s mille crepe is good. So we bluntly went there on Wednesday and man……… the one Jason Mumble brought us to in Melaka is better. But then, their pasta is delicious. I had a beef steak but they are not very generous. The steak is just a big as ramly burger’s meat. A few leaves of vege and a slice of tomato. Not even some fries. WTF. I don’t fancy that place.

Is there any food that is good in PJ? Cheap, delicious and generous portion.

SIMPLY BREATHTAKING !!! The caves are spooky at times but heck, who cares. Gua Ular is the best. More pictures come up very very soon.

For more info, go to:

my Szer’s

Daniel’s

Gerald’s

This is a temple me and my Szer visited on a day trip in Vietnam. This is a must for every tourist to Ho Chi Minh City.

Well, Cao Dai (a.k.a. Dao Cao Dai or Caodaism) is a syncretist Vietnamese religious movement with a strongly nationalist political character. Cao Dai draws upon ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization (including a pope) from Roman Catholicism. Its pantheon of saints includes such diverse figures as the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, and Sun Yat-sen. It was founded in Vietnam by Ngo Van Chieu in 1926.

It was a Saturday afternoon. Worshippers going to the templefor prayers.

In 1919 Ngo Van Chieu, an administrator for the French in Indochina, received a communication from the supreme deity during a table-moving séance. Chieu became the prophet of the new religion, which was formally established in 1926. Caodaists believe this ushered in Tam Ky Pho Do or the Third Period of Salvation, a period marked by direct revelation between heaven and earth. Caodaism is the Dai Dao or great religion of this period.

A Cao Dai army was established in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Indochina. After the war the Cao Dai was an effective force in national politics; it first supported, then opposed, Premier Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1955–56 Diem disbanded the Cao Dai army and forced the sect’s pope, Pham Cong Tac, into exile.

After the communist takeover in 1975, Cao Dai was reportedly repressed by the government. Centers of worship were established in Vietnamese refugee communities abroad, however, and by the early 1990s Cao Dai was reported to have some two million adherents in Vietnam, Cambodia, France, and the United States.

Today, Cao Dai adherents may number as high as 6 million, at least according to Cao Dai sources. 2 The headquarters of Cao Dai are at Tay Ninh, near Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

In its beliefs, Cao Dai draws upon ethical precepts from Confucianism and theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, with some influence from Catholicism. It is a very syncretistic faith, and proudly so. According to one Cao Dai follower and author:

“That’s the reason God has founded Cao Dai, in order to bring harmony to different religions. And the principle of Cao Dai is that religions are not different and if we take enough time to study deep –deeply enough in each religion, we would see that they have one same principal, if not identical principal.”

The noble effort of CaoDai is to unite all of humanity through a common vision of the Supreme Being, whatever our minor differences, in order to promote peace and understanding throughout the world. CaoDai does not seek to create a gray world, where all religions are exactly the same, only to create a more tolerant world, where all can see each other as sisters and brothers from a common divine source reaching out to a common divine destiny realizing peace within and without.

The supreme being is Cao Dai (”High Tower”), a Taoist epithet for the supreme god. Cao Dai is regarded as the same supreme being honored in all major world religions, but the term Cao Dai avoids gender, personality or other earthly attributes. God is represented as the Divine Eye, an eye in a triangle, which appears on the facades of the sect’s temples and in followers’ homes. It is a left eye, because God is Yang, and Yang is the left side.

Cao Dai’s saints include such diverse figures as the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, and Sun Yat-sen. These are honored at Cao Dai temples, along with ancestors.

In Cao Dai, the purpose of life is peace within each individual and harmony in the world. Cao Dai followers also seek to gain religious merit and avoid bad karma.

Cao Dai beliefs about the afterlife are derived from Buddhism. Those who have gathered too much bad karma during their lifetime will be reincarnated in negative circumstances, which may include rebirth on a darker, colder planet than this one. Good karma leads to rebirth to a better life on earth.

Salvation is freedom from rebirth and the attainment of nirvana or heaven. “The ultimate goal of CaoDaists is to be reunified with The All That Is, to return home.”

Cao Dai draws upon occult practices from Taoism and includes communication with the dead in séances. This has been outlawed by the Vietnamese government, but Cao Dai leaders also say that it is no longer necessary.

“We don’t see the necessity to have séance any more because we have direct communication from the Supreme Being to people by returning inside to our heart to see the Supreme Being in there.”

Cao Dai encourages obedience to the three duties (between king and citizen, father and child, husband and wife), and five virtues (humanity, obligation, civility, knowledge, reliability) of Confucianism.

Cao Dai’s organization is patterned after that of Roman Catholicism, with nine levels of hierarchy including a pope, cardinals, and archbishops.

Worship involves group prayer in the temple, elaborate rituals and festivals.

Similar to the division in Theravada Buddhism between lay Buddhists and monks, Cao Dai offers two ways of practice its adherents. 6 Esoterism focuses on meditation, with the goal “to progressively eradicate the inferior self and develop the divine element within the self, reaching toward oneness with the Supreme Being.” These are priests of Cao Dai, which can be men and women. Exoterism is the form available to laypersons living a normal family life. These are expected to:

1. cultivate the Confucian duties and virtues (see above)
2. practice good and avoid evil
3. observe five Precepts: do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not get drunk, do not sin by word.
   practice vegetarianism at least ten days per month, to purify one’s body and spirit and to avoiding killing living beings
4. participate in worship to the Supreme Being through four daily ceremonies, at 6:00 a.m., noon, 6:00 p.m., and midnight, with at least one ceremony per day at home

Asked a Vietnamese to take a picture for us and this is what he took. Despite the bright LCD screen where you can see what you’ll get, he opted for the viewfinder and clicked the shutter button. The funny part is that before the shutter and flash open, he already started to pass the camera back to me and at the same time the flash just “chik chak” and this is the result. Arrrgghhh.

My lovely gf, Szer.
Coming next on my installment of my Ho Chi Minh trip is Cu Chi Tunnel. Stay tuned.

Bibliography: http://www.religionfacts.com/a-z-religion-index/cao_dai.htm

me and my Szer

The first picture I took at the War Remnants Museum.

Szer insisted that we must take a picture with this odd-looking plane. Actually, it is the camo paint that make it looks odd.

My favourite picture at the War Museum. Here, it is actually the prison side of the museum. The building is a former prison.

At time of war, everyone objected it. Like what we saw about Bush’s Iraq terror war.

The main entrance of the museum. I dont know how to pronouns, haha.