Little Litterbugs

"Keep Malaysia Clean"
"Think before you throw"

There is a never-ending barrage of the above channeled to us through our government sponsored television adverts and campaign posters about 'keeping Malaysia spick and span', yet it seems that the efficacy of the abovementioned remains somewhat of a mixed bag.

What I find more disturbing is the sight of school-going children dumping their garbage around their school yard and around the bus-stops.

I sometimes wonder what they ever learn in school, or more mind-boggling, what kind of values their parents have been instilling in their kids.

Unfortunately, it's not just the little ones guilty of this, but even educated adults as well. I was once told of a lawyer who even declared that is his 'right to dump his rubbish wherever he pleases' as we pay taxes to have the council clean up our streets. I don't see this as doing justice to our road sweepers.

While Kuching can certainly claim the spot for being one of the cleanest cities in the country, this habit is becoming entrenched. All too often, I see drivers who wind down their car window and dump their rubbish onto the streets, with a carload of kids. So much for homegrown values.

Trip to Bako National Park

Having been jungle trekking in the past and scaling some of the not-so-tall hills and mountains of Sarawak, I had been thirsting for a similar adventure so I asked myself, “Why not go to Bako?”

 

We had been planning this trip for a long time, way too long, and before we knew it, all the hostels and lodging were all snapped up for the weekend, so we went for a day trip instead.

For those who don’t know much about Bako National Park, the national park is the oldest in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak and is located some 29 to 30 kilometers from Kuching (see picture below), the capital of Sarawak. My pals gathered at my place on early Saturday morning at around 6.30am before meeting up at Thompson Corner for a hearty breakfast of kolo mee to keep our energy levels high for the trip ahead. I had been gaining some weight for some time (extra 15 kilos the last time I checked, may be higher now) so this is the perfect moment to get in shape.

Bako National Park is one of the nearest national parks to Kuching, and getting there by car or bus should be a no-brainer. The second phase of the journey however requires visitors to travel by boat.

It is possible to charter a motorboat at the national park terminal at Kampung Bako and it costs RM 47.00 per boat per way, for 5 persons.

The boat trip was quite scenic as we were greeted by views of the kampungs and fishing boats of the fishing village along the way for the first 5 minutes of the boat journey, followed by several stretches of mangrove swamps.

The boat trip was a lot shorter than I had initially thought. As we were nearing the park’s jetty, we spotted some of Bako’s top attractions; walls of sandstone and limestone, crafted by wind and water over thousands of years.

This is of course, not without getting a spectacular view of Mount Santubong, which is said to resemble the profile of Rajah Brooke lying down. The photo below was taken from Teluk Assam, near the jetty. Legend has it that there was once a princess named Santubong, who was cursed and turned into a mountain.

It is not difficult to get around the park as most areas are accessible via trails which are properly maintained. The elevated plank walk shown below allows visitors to have a good view of the mangrove swamps.

*To be continued in Part 2

After Four on One

Sorry, I couldn’t resist writing such an apparently misleading title, but I like how the numbers ‘four’ and ‘one’ come together.

The first day of the year had a rather unusual opening.

I woke up at 11.45pm, just in time for lunch.

It was also the day Leonard, my twin, was due to fly back to Penang after a week long holiday back here in Kuching. Was I sad that he had to leave so soon? Not at all, he’ll be back for Chinese New Year.

To kick off with the celebration, we had lunch at this new joint called ‘After Four’, a place known for its cozy atmosphere, good food (huge variety, they claim to have ‘more than a hundred’), free wireless internet, and of course, its distinctive orange-coloured theme, making After Four really stand out of the crowd.

Speaking about variety, you’ll be spoilt for choice the moment you flip through the menu. Unlike other food joints here in Kuching, which are either ‘too cheap or too expensive’, you’ll always get something here that is ‘just right’.

I had a bowl of Cantonese Noodles, which, for only RM 5.50, is indeed deserving of praise, due to it’s generous serving.

Cantonese Noodles

The picture above doesn’t do justice to the actual size of the bowl. Aaron, on the other hand, had the Cantonese Rice in Basket (shown below).

The Four ‘No’s

In church, we are often reminded of the Ten Commandments, but at After Four, you will see the ‘Four No’s’ prominently displayed on the outside. That comes as no surprise, as After Four has obviously set their sights on the Muslim market.

Huh? What’s this?

Haha, maybe they should have added a ‘No Cats and Dogs’ to their list of ‘no’s.

===END===

Welcoming the year of the Tiger

The time now is exactly 12:02 am, 1st January 2010. As I am sitting here writing this article, I am overwhelmed by the very thought that time has passed so quickly. Only less than five minutes ago, my computer’s clock read ‘11.57pm, 31st December 2009’. That was the last time I would ever see the ‘2009’ in the date column of the date-time display.

Last year was the most eventful year in my life, as it marked an important milestone in my life as I emerge from academia, and enter into the world as a working adult. 2009 was perhaps a year of many oddities; a year than began with a rough ride, from the moment I was ‘struggling’ with my thesis, till the joyful and unforgettable family moments during the Christmas season of 2009.

As I gaze with bleary eyes at my computer screen, working tirelessly to complete this brief article, amidst the thunderous claps of fireworks seen illuminating the sky, I am consumed by one stark reality; the year of the tiger has come. My year, so it spells a certain significance to a tiger like me, but not so much as an excuse to excel only once every twelve years!

The year of the tiger holds many mysteries, uncertainties and to those who are willing to work hard for a better future, the year does hold many promises. My resolutions, my life, my future. Perhaps, in another 12 years, when the next tiger comes by, I will have a word to say about the tiger of today.

 

===END===

Now Everyone Can Eat, and Ride?

“Now Everyone Can Fly!” (Yeehaa!)

How right they are. It used to cost so much more to fly around the country, and even more to fly out of Malaysia.

Then came Air Asia, and the rest became history.

The coming of Air Asia solved the problem of air-travel, which for many Malaysians like me, was rather expensive at times.

Then came another company, that for obvious reasons, gave me an impression that it wants to help prepare us Malaysians for some kind of impending famine or something.

With the wordings ‘Food Asia’ so prominently emblazoned on the red awnings shown above, it’s hard not to imagine that we might soon witness the rise of Malaysia’s (and the world’s?) first ‘low-cost’ food eatery, right? Hmmm, let’s find out…

A quick look at their website (www.FoodAsia.net, duh!) reveals an assortment of mouth-watering delights, from our local Sarawakian Apam Balik to the not-so-local Philippines Mee Hoon. I think they’re quite right about the pricing though; you can get just about any dish for RM 4.00 and below, and dessert for RM 3.00 or less. Finally, a place to get some decent food without burning a hole in your wallet. “Now Everyone Can Eat!”

And if that wasn’t enough, wait till you see this…

“Now Everyone Can Ride!”

===END===

Twas the Night before Christmas

It is a quiet night, tonight, on Christmas eve, that I have decided to write a little something on my blog. Tomorrow is Christmas day, the day I had long been looking forward to, with eagerness and joy, yet I am somewhat overwhelmed with a feeling that something  is not quite as it used to be. Maybe, just maybe, I’m getting a bit sentimental.

When I was a kid, some 15 years ago, Christmas was the happiest day of the year (besides Chinese New Year), and Santa Claus was real. As Christmas day got nearer, I was the one who usually dragged the Christmas tree out of the store room, and before you know it, a fully-decorated tree complete with those blinky lights would be standing tall and proud in that one corner of my living room.

As a kid, I didn’t really care that Christmas had always been about the celebration of Christ’s coming into this world, for at that time, all that mattered the most was who got the biggest, or most expensive present under the tree.

Today got me thinking, and thinking hard about the true meaning of Christmas.

Have the times changed.

Now much older and wiser, I have come to realize that Christmas day, as special as it is, is not about Christmas trees, Santa Claus and his merry elves, presents and all that we were led to believe in. Christmas is about renewal. The renewal of vows and promises, and commitments that we make to ourselves and to those whom we love and care for, for the betterment of the year to come.

As we embrace ourselves to meet the challenges of the year ahead, let us all, in the spirit of this joyous occasion, wish each other a blessed and merry Christmas.

 

===END===

Burning & Building Bridges

Recently, while checking for updates in Facebook, I came across an interesting posting by a good old friend of mine. It is as shown below:

______________________________________________________________________________________

In Pursuit of Happiness
Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 10:26pm

Don’t let someone become a priority in your life,
When you are just an option in their life …
Relationships work best when they are balanced.

Never explain yourself to anyone,
Because the person who likes you doesn’t need it,
And the person who dislikes you won’t believe it

When you keep saying you are busy, Then you are never free.
When you keep saying you have no time, Then you will never have time.
When you keep saying that you will do it tomorrow, Then tomorrow will never come.

When we wake up this morning, we have two simple choices.
Go back to sleep and dream, or wake up and chase those dreams.
Choice is yours…

We make them cry who care for us,
We cry for those who never care for us
And we care for those who will never cry for us

This is the truth of life, it’s strange but true
Once you realize this, it’s never too late to change
Don’t make promises when you are in joy

Don’t reply when you are sad
Don’t take decisions when you are angry
Think twice, Act wise

Time is like a river, You cannot touch the same water twice
Because the flow that has passed will never pass again
Enjoy every moment of life

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The rules to a happy and fulfilling life are not difficult to understand, but obviously difficult to put into practice.

I personally find the first paragraph particularly interesting:

”Don’t let someone become a priority in your life,
When you are just an option in their life
Relationships work best when they are balanced.”

It is not uncommon to find that people whom you thought were friends choose to send you right down to their ‘priority stack’, for some ‘mysterious’ reasons.

I’ve had a classmate from my primary school who doesn’t write to me, and I only get a response from him (if any), after ‘building my half of the bridge’.

The irony of this matter is that while this is a simple rule to understand, very few people actually take it seriously. In other words, these apparently simple rules are often taken for granted.

Obviously, if they don’t take you seriously, or at least, they choose to have you ‘blacked-out’ of your life, who can blame them?

Be happy, just burn down the bridge.

 

===END===