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.

Ok…. a real post now. Just had the exam today and I’m a lil bit free now to sit down and blog. Went to Ipoh last week for the Sky God Day at my dearest’ place, just like last year. And of course eating will be part of the Ipoh trip. The salted chicken was GREAT. Ayam garam.

I was lucky enough to be able to visit some place that otherwise I won’t be able to visit… in KL. Alright, I went to this “roast pig house” to collect 2 roast pigs with my dearest’s mom. I was able to see how roast pig was roasted. There were 15-20 slaughtered pigs hanging upside down, waiting in line to go into the old skool oven. Too bad, I didn’t have any picture of it.

Then, we all went to this heong peng shop… err.. I mean house. Yeah… these people manufacture stuffs in the backyard. Roast pigs and heong peng. I will post some of the heong peng experience in the next post hopefully.

We also went to this soy sauce factory. Pak yau chong. And I was amazed by the processes undertaken to make the pak yau… I mean soy sauce that we all take for granted. Again, this I will blog about it further in the next post as I need to process the pictures first.

Oh yeah, my Szer and I also went to Sungkai hot spring while on the way to Ipoh. It was a nice place. But I can also get hot spring in my hometown, Selayang which is just 20 minutes drive from here. You can swim, take a dip, boil eggs etc there too. Selayang Hot Spring is just 30 minutes drive from the heart of KL.

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. .

I googled for sea transport from Port Klang to Jakarta so that I can visit my Szer everyweek. Cheaper alternative. But here’s what I found at InnCrowd’s website:

Unless you have plenty of time on your hands and don’t mind taking a slow boat to Indonesia, I’d say the best way to get to there is by air.

To get to either Sumatra or Java by ferry, you must first travel to Batam, part of the Riau Islands of Indonesia. From there, there are PELNI ferries to Belawan (port in Medan, Sumatra) and Tanjung Priok (port in Jakarta, Java). PELNI stands for PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia, a state-owned sea transportation company. They have a website where you can check schedules and fares.

The ferry ride from Singapore to Batam is about 45 minutes, and the one-way fare costs about S$25. There are several ferry operators, one of which Penguin Ferry Services has been receiving good reviews for their reliability. You can catch their ferries to Batam from World Trade Centre Ferry Terminal in Singapore.

A PELNI ferry by the name of Sinabung departs Batam at 10.00 a.m. once every 4 days for Tanjung Priok (port in Jakarta). The cheapest one-way fare costs Rp177,500 (about S$35) and the journey takes about 26 hours (i.e. you’ll arrive at Tanjung Priok at 12.00 p.m. the next day).

Its cheap but very time consuming. From Batam also need 26 hours. Arrggh.

Shelter is a basic necessity and second only to immediate medical care on the immediate action list. Set up, make or find temporary shelter. Heat and cold can sap the lifeblood from you very quickly. Wind, rain, snow or other inclement weather hastens the process. You can’t check in at a hotel, so pick the best convenient location for your immediate action shelter, as dry as possible, away from natural hazards. This is simply a place to retreat from the weather while you get your act together. You may stay there or later move to a better location or construct a more substantial shelter.

Place a single opening shelter like a lean-to with the back to the prevailing winds. A simple tent should be situated at right angles to the wind. If the airplane is safe and properly located, use a wing, the tail or the fuselage as part of your shelter.

As inviting as it may be, you may want to avoid the completely enclosed interior of the aircraft in very hot or frigid weather. With minimal ventilation and little insulation it can act as an oven in high heat circumstances, especially if out in the opne. In cold weather it may be difficult to isulate yourself from the cold metal and the minimal insulation and relatively large volume make it difficult to raise the interior temperature without some external heat source. Lack of ventilation will trap moisture which may drip on you if it warms during the day. Punching out windows or leaving doors open can provide air circulation which can ameliorate some of these problems, but the closed fuselage isn’t automatically the best choice, no matter how inviting it may be.

Take advantage of natural shelter. A lean-to can be constructed against a fallen tree using deadwood and layered boughs, a tarp or sections from the aircraft. Beneath the bottom branches of a large evergreen there is often a clear dry area, even in heavy snow. A simple snow trench can be quickly excavated and covered with boughs. The floor of your shelter can be insulated from the snow or ground using seat cushions, carpet, small boughs, dead leaves or other materials which will get you off the ground and trap air. Huddle together for warmth. Do not let any personal inhibitions prevent you from taking advantage of the significant warming effect of bodies in contact.

In the desert, shade is vital. Surface temperatures may be as much as 40 degrees hotter in the sun! The surface is where heat is retained and given up. Temperatures can be up to 30 degrees cooler 12 - 18 inches below or above the surface. Temperatures in desert climates can also drop as much as 40 degrees, sometimes more, at night which can take you well below freezing during winter months. Prepare your desert shelter with these extremes in mind. In the desert it is best to work at night or early morning when it is cooler and rest during the hot daytime temperatures.

A large plastic trash bag or two can make a very effective emergency shelter or poncho. To use, hold upside down and go to one of the corners (bottom corner, but now on top), drop down about eight inches along the crease, and using your knife cut a slit or hole only big enough for your face. Pull the bag over your body so that the corner rests on top of your head and your nose and mouth sticks through the hole. Pull another bag up from your feet for more coverage, since most aren’t long enough. If you can, stuff the bags and your clothing with dry leaves and such for added insulation, but be careful not to introduce any unwelcome pests into your improvised shelter.

This was taken at the War Remnant Museum downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. That old man in red behind me is the man in the next picture. Here at the museum I eavesdropped his conversation with his friends/family about the days he had in Vietnam during the war. He was an officer… a captain/major or something that orchestrated covert operations. Then the indoor museum, there’s one picture depicting a parachute jump off a plane. It was taken from inside the plane and you can see parachuter flying mid-air. Our old man here told his friends that he was in that jump… pointing at the picture.

The next day at Cu Chi.. I saw him yet again but this time he was invited to do a briefing to us, tourist… about the war and the operations that took place at or near Cu Chi. I could hardly understand what he said because he pointed at the map showing us here and there… from where the operation started etc. Zoom here zoom there… the calvary attacked from here, the airborne landed here.. arrghh and all that military jargons. Anyway, I can’t blame him. He had time constraint.

After the briefing, we headed straight into the tunnel area after accessing a modern underground bypass. Our tour guide said we must first greet the Cu Chi people (mannequin dressed in Viet Cong black combat “pyjama” attire) before going into their turf.

As we proceed into the place, our tour guide suddenly cleared some dried leaves and revealed one of the many tunnel doors.

Creepy eh?

He asked a gwailo lady to try squeeze thru the small door. She didn’t manage to go into the hole probably she’s frightened or maybe her breast are big that there’s obstruction. I don’t know as I was standing quite far away.

Then we came across a broken tank. That old man in sunglasses is Bronnie. He’s a Canadian from Calgary and he was wearing a Mutiara Taman Negara, Pahang t-shirt.

I suspect our tour guide used to be a soldier or Viet Cong because when he showed us how these booby traps work… there was much anger in his face. I think he hated the Americans or the Frenchs. There are 6-8 type of traps in display.

These are the stuffs the people in Cu Chi used to make their food and this one is a rice grinder. I tried a hand on it. Nice. Now I like the dance move of this. Spread your hands in circular motion.

Ok. Here comes the tunnel. Part of the vast underground network that is accesible to the public.

It is broadened for tourist. The real tunnel is very small because Vietnamese are generally smaller in size.

“Second floor”. Climbed up from a lower tier. Quite stuffy in here as there’s too much of people suddenly. Too bad we are not shown the kitchens, bedrooms, war rooms, armoury etc. It was just plain tunnel crawl… about 100 metres.

“Before we depart, we must say good bye to the Cu Chi people!”said the tour guide. So Szer and I took a picture of this as a remembrance of the Cu Chi people.

According to our tour guide, Cu Chi should be pronounced “khou chee”. Go an google/wiki on Cu Chi Tunnel if you wanna learn more of it. At last I’ve visited this tunnel since learning about it when I was a kid.

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.

Look at the chaos on the roads. I know this picture dont show clearly how chaotic it was on the road. That two caucasians waited for quite sometime before crossing and they gotta run.

This is a fast food outlet. They sell burgers. This is not a number shop or jackpot lottery shop.

The seafood we had at a place called 3T .

Before we hopped into a bus to head for a day trip to Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnel. The noodles i’m eating is “pho bo”. My Szer had pork chop rice. See that plate of rice with cucumbers, tomatoes?

At nite, we had mice for dinner. I think its paddy mice. BBQ grilled mice.

Monitor lizard. Black in colour, yellow patches only the already scally skinz. BBQ grilled cicak.

Need I say much more of this menu? It has a picture of a dog.