A Valentine for all

Happy Valentines Day everyone. This poem is my dedication to all single people or otherwise celebrating this event today.

Meadows of green,
Where red flowers bloom,
In some of our dreams,
To be the bride and groom. (For husband and wife to be)

As the stars above,
Shining bright and blue,
As the pure white dove,
We wish our love were true. (For lovers)

Streams and river,
Met up to form the seas,
Friendships are forever,
As we sail the seven seas. (For friends)

-wraith~

What a friend

For today’s blog entry, I’m writing something different. Most of the time there are some words that you’ll find hard to define especially if it concern emotions. For example if you were to ask people to define the word love or hate, I bet you will get dozens of all sorts of answers. Well, cutting short on the crappy stuff, here’s my own definition of the word “FRIEND” using body parts as my theme (I know it sounds more geli then it actually is :P) Read on;

What is a friend to me?
A friend is someone who….

will lend you both ears to listen to your concerns,
will use his/her eyes to help you find the right path when you are blinded by problems,
will lend a shoulder to cry when you are sad,
will borrow his/her arms to pull you out of trouble,
will carry you away from danger with both his/her legs in time of need,
will use his/her heart to try and better understand you,
will use his/her brains to help you think when you’re feeling clueless,
will use his/her mouth to give encouragement when you needed it,

and the most important thing is a true friend will never leave your side when you truly need a friend.

PS: I know some of you might be wondering why nose is not included. Its because... I can't think of anything to use your nose with for a friend hahaha. (smell his/her butt???) :P

Bon Odori

Hi all, yup, it’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog. For that I would like to apologize (that is if anyone ever reads my blog ~_~). Life have been busy but mostly all are not on important stuff anyways :P

Ironically, the reason I’m writing now is because I’m down with pneumonia at home bored to death with few things to do. Anyhow to get back on track, recently once again I went to an annually celebrated event in Penang called Bon Odori This event is special as you’ll only find it celebrated in Penang with this large scale. They even went as far as saying it’s celebrated greater then in Japan itself (but I don’t buy that :P, not until I went to Japan and see it myself .. if I ever get that chance)

For those who have no idea what is Bon Odori is all about, in very very simple terms, it’s a celebration to remember and appreciate our ancestors and their sacrifice. Its usually celebrated with traditional dances such as the Soran Bushi (some Japanese folk dance on fishing :P) and in each places, the dances might differ. For example in Penang, they have the Raya Sayang dance and in some Japan prefecture they have their own localized folk dance such as “Tokyo Ondo” in Tokyo and in Shiga the “Goshu Ondo”.

Well, in Penang, mostly every year the Bon Odori is celebrated with the same settings and it’s usually held at Esplanade. What you can expect to find there is usually a large stage at the centre of a field where they performed all the Bon Dances and food stalls surrounding it selling all types of local and localized japan food :P. The dances are usually divided into 2 categories, where they have the usual dances which are repeated a few rounds throughout the evening and in between some special traditional dance and drum performance. This celebration usually starts at 5pm and go on until 11pm at night. One thing you have to take care when you visit this event is to that the traffic are usually murderous (I mean sesak teruk la :P), so it’s always a wise idea to park you car a bit further and walk to the field where the celebration is held.

Anyhow, the whole reason I went to the Bon Odori and for most people also is because at the climax of the event, there’s usually a fireworks performance :). This fireworks performance is usually done around 10pm – 10.30pm and usually marks the end of the Bon Odori celebration. The fireworks itself last around 3-5 minutes worth and is definitely worth the wait :P I will paste some pictures below for your enjoyment. ^_^

No one lives forever

It’s been a month plus since I’ve updated my blog. I guess the lazy habit is kicking in recently or maybe I’ve been spending too much time in facebook, haha. Oh well, getting back to business. Today, I’ll like to talk about the concept of “impermanence” in my own view. Before you point to me and say, “Oh boy, he’s preaching”, I’ll like to say that I was never the kind of person who preaches or is fanatically into religion. It’s just I think this is something which is universally true and worth mentioning, at least to those who want to tinker about it. So let’s get started.

Nothing is forever in this world and that concept holds true to everything whether it is alive or it’s not. You and me even this world will one day end and we should carry this awareness with us in our everyday lives. The problem with most of us is that we tend to forget this fact most of the time we should be remembering it, or we are too ignorant to even care of it’s truth. One way to explain this is our possession. All of our possession is actually just temporary borrowed. We will never possess anything forever. Even the body we are using is borrowed and one day when we die, it’s time to return it. That is why we should not be overly possessive of something we have now because it will not be forever ours. A very true example of this theory is money. People now are getting more and more materialistic thinking and to most of us money is very important. I’m not saying money isn’t important but there are greater things of importance then just money in this world. There are many people who are too possessed in gaining financial wealth that they didn’t realize that they are neglecting many other important aspect of life, and that they can’t really carry all their wealth into their grave.

Realization of the fact of “impermanence” will also make you feel happier. Why is this so? It is because by realizing this, you will know how to let go of things and not hold on to it. A very practical example is your job. Even if you are a CEO/manager of a company today, it does not mean you will be a CEO/manager forever. Realization of the fact that one day your job will end definitely will make it easier for you to let go when the time comes and not hold on to it too dearly and probably making yourself and others miserable. Same goes for everything in life especially to people. We all know for certain that one day our parents, loves ones, friends and even ourselves will die. With this realization, we will better appreciate the moments and time with them now and won’t make ourselves too miserable with grief when they are no longer here because death is part of nature that we all cannot escape from.

I think I’ll stop here before I bore everyone to death with my “preaching”, so I’ll just let you all tinker about this until I write again next time, probability after I’m bored with facebook :P, Ya know, my interest in facebook is “impermanence” too :P

Tips to fail in an interview

Everytime we get tips on how to pass an interview, how to release our most potential charms to the interviewers. But how about when we just go for an interview to test the market, or just to waste time, or just.. going for fun but we do not want this job? Here I give you some tips :

Tip #1
Park you vehicle at the manager's parking lot. You will get the guard waiting for you when you come back from the interview. If the guard stops you before you get to go in, mumble something in spanish or japanese in fast mode and just walk in, not giving the guard a chance to talk. Smile broadly and say you do not speak english.

Tip #2
Be late for your interview. Give whatever reason like my gold fish has just given birth or you couldn't find your lucky teddy bear which you must bring together wherever you go. Take up your teddy bear and use your teddy to wave to them as you say these. And greet them with "Oi Oi".

Tip #3
Forget your notes, forget your glasses, forget your resumes. Better still, forget to bring money and tell them you have to borrow some from them to go home.

Tip #4
Dress your character. If you are a rock person, don't forget the metal chain around your neck. People always like someone with a character. If you have tatoo on your backside, flaunt it.

Tip #5
Delete important files in the computer if you are given a machine to work with. Screw up whatever machine they let you to work on, may it be just a photocopy machine. Press any buttons you like and giggle as you do it.

Tip #6
Eat if you are hungry. Don't be shy. Take out your nasi lemak and eat while they are asking you questions. If you don't mind sharing, do ask them if they want to have a bite. This is to be polite.

Tip #7
If you get bored in the interview room, start to imagine things. You can imagine the interviewers as aliens, or some cartoon character talking, or better still you can imagine them naked. If they are the gender of the opposite sex and they are gorgeous, you will be drooling. However, if they are not up to your definition of attractiveness, you will have a good time giggling.

I hope you get a good lesson from this and may put it into use. Pass this techniques around. It's always good to share.

Trip to Mount Kinabalu (Part III)

Rise and shine, today is the big day, the day where we will travel to Mount Doom on Mordor to destroy the one ring and save the world, Oppps, sorry. I mean today we will finally climb up Malaysia’s tallest mountain, Mount Kinabalu. Local time 6:30am. We set out to eat our breakfast at the Mesilau resort. It comprises of toast bread, two eggs, one sausage and some baked beans. For drinks we have coffee, tea and a cup of orange juice. After eating our breakfast, almost all of us went to do our “big business” before gathering up at the meeting point for the climb. We were also provided with our packed lunch from the Mesilau resort. (Inside the pack are satu ketul fried chicken, one egg, two cheese sandwiches and satu biji orange) At the gather point, we were introduced to two of our guides, Jasirin and Duis who provided us some explanation before the climb and also distribute us our tags (climbing permit). From there also, some of us purchase our tongkat sakti to be use for the climb which cost us RM3.50 each. I’m really thankful I purchased one because it really helps a lot during our climb.

All geared up, we are now ready for the big challenge. Oh, before that, we did unload some of our luggage for the guide to bring up (being the lazy people we are :P). It cost us RM 8:00 per Kg but the rates are between RM6:00 to RM 7:00 usually. Maybe inflation caught up with porter services also huh? :P. What I have in my bag after that was just my raincoat, medicine, my packed lunch and two bottles of water. Ok let’s climb the mountain. Local time: 9.30am. The first kilometer was a breeze and we cleared it within 45 minutes or so. Then, we took a brief rest at one of the rest stops there; I think it’s called the “Bambu Shelter”. After drinking some water, we continue our journey and it’s descend from here all the way down. This one kilometer or so downhill was the easiest trail for our upward journey. Soon we were thinking of reaching Laban Rata by 3:00pm, little did we know what’s in store for us later :D. After crossing a bridge (Jambatan Gantung Kipuyut), the trail suddenly turned to ascend.



This is where our nightmare starts. The trail going upwards was steps and rocks all the way. It was taxing to our body and somehow or other, the weather is getting colder now. We reached somewhere at kilometer 4 before we decided to take a break and regain our energy with chocolates bars and salted water. After a much needed rest, we continue upward with a slower pace. Somehow like nearer to the eye of Sauron, the harder it gets, the sky started to rain. Thank god we have our raincoat with us. Without wasting time, we put on our disposable raincoat and continue to push upwards until we reach “Lompoyou Shelter” where we took another break. Local Time around 12.45pm.



After taking a short break around 10 minutes, we continue climbing again until we reached “Layang-Layang” intersection. This intersection was the joining of the Timpohon trail and the Mesilau trail (Mesilau trail was the one we took. It was longer then the Timpohon trail by 2.2 kilometers or so but it’s easier to ascend and the scenery is much more beautiful compared to Timpohon trail). Reaching here around 2.30pm, we realized our dream of reaching Laban Rata before 3pm was far from happening.






From Layang-Layang to Laban Rata was only two kilometers but boy, these two kilometers are killers. The air is getting thinner as we ascend and it’s all big rocks to climb from here not to mention the freezing temperature and strong wind blowing at us. It was a torture. We’re making very slow progress from here, almost taking an hour plus to cover a kilometer or so. We practically walk 10 to 15 steps before resting for a minute to catch our breath. If the coldness doesn’t kill you, the wind will. Actually the wind is worst then the cold. I can still bear with the freezing temperature but as the cold wind blows on you, you’ll feel like you’re being frostbite to death. Local time 5:00pm.







“Are we there yet Mr Frodo, I can’t take it anymore”. The rain never stops and my hand has lost almost all it feels because I’m not wearing any gloves. Not to mention, I’m only wearing a T-shirt and a short pants. If not for my raincoat, I’ll be frozen in my tracks especially when the wind blows. “Another half a kilometers to go” as we practically dragged ourselves up the mountain. “Are we there yet?” “No, we’re not”. Another 20 minutes, “Are we there yet?” “No we are still not”. An hour passes, and we finally saw the first sign of Laban Rata rest station. It was like heaven, after our long climb for we finally reached our rest stop.

Moving inside the rest house, the temperature immediately rises back to a bearable degree. Ahhhh, finally I can rest my aching body. We reached Laban Rata at 6:00pm and after dumping all my luggage at the nearest empty table we can find, I went to the counter to settle our check-in for the stay at Gunting Lagadan Hut later tonight. After that’s done with, it’s time to hit the dining area while we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive (three of us reached Laban Rata while 7 more of our friends were separated into small groups). Our dinner there is a buffet style as there is a selection of two meats, two vegetables, some jellies and tea and coffee for drinks. Not exactly a 5 star buffet but more like an all you can eat canteen food. Even when we reached there, some of the dish is almost finished up. After filling my stomach, I drink a few cups of tea while waiting for the arrival of our friends. The first sign of them was at 7:00pm as they walk in to the rest station obviously fatigued. After taking their rest and dinner, it’s almost 8:00pm and the Laban Rata rest stops closes at 8:30pm. We have to depart to our overnight dorm soon. The hike up to Gunting Lagadan Hut was in pure darkness and we have only our torchlight to guide us on our way. It was just a 300 meters hike up but none a less, it’s a taxing one.

Reaching Gunting Lagadan at around 8:45pm, it’s almost time for the place to close down again for the night. All huts and dorm will silent out, as they put it at 9:30pm. What this means is all lights will be out at 9:30 and we are all required to be silent after that time. This is so all the people can get enough rest for the hike early next day at 2:00am. After taking a super fast shower (the heaters for the showers are supposed to auto shutdown at 9:00pm also), we all went to our room to rest for the night, or at least tried to rest. My room consisted of a two double decker bed and all the rooms here are fashioned in the same style. Seven of my friends sleep at another small room with four double decker bed as two of us sleep at a separate room. It’s like sleeping at a bunk dorm. There are comforters at the bed but trust me, with the coldness; you won’t be getting any sleep if you’re not wearing two sweaters, a glove and socks. It is the best if you have a sleeping bag as that will be able to provide you with some comfort from the cold.

Turning and restless for the whole night, I honestly didn’t get any sleep at all. Partly it was due to the cold and partly it was the anxiety for the hike tomorrow. Local time 10:00pm. It was around 12:30am the next day when the first sound of rain begins. It was a heavy one from the sound of it. The rain continues to fall and it never stops. We were suppose to wake at 1:00am for the hike to the submit but as the rains continues, so was our hope destroyed. The rangers has closed up the submit trail due to the bad weather as the water build up from the submit has cause a path of water to run downward the trail like a waterfall. Any climbing attempt now will be a suicide as you would probably be rushed away with the water from the submit. Local time 3:00am. All hope of making our attempt to the submit wasted, we went back to bed but as usual, I only managed a 30 minutes nap until 7:00am.

Waking up in a very very cold morning and with a disappointed look at our face, we packed and prepare our descend to Timpohon Gate. The irony is that it’s still raining heavily at this time. Our descend was another adventure by itself but I’ll leave that tale for another time. To be continued……or maybe not :D.

Shop for Kampung Adidas

Before we went to Kinabalu Park, we stopped at a small town, Tamparuli to have our lunch as all of us were starving. After our lunch, I asked our tour guide, Jason where can we get the so called "Kampung Adidas" as I heard the shoes is going to help in hiking. Luckily, the shop is just next to the coffee shop that we had lunch.


This is the old tyle grocer which we hardly see today.

We were lucky as the shop has stock enough for all of us. At first, some of us still refrain from buying it. But come on...it's only cost you RM4.50 per pair. You can't even buy a pair of slipper nowadays. So, everyone buy it at last. (Although all of us didn't wear during hiking as we felt it's not comfortable after tried on it. :p)

Weird thing happened when we paid for the shoes. The shopkeeper put the shoes in a Carrefour plastic bag. At first I thought maybe the shopkeeper is lack of plastic bag, but everyone of us also get the carrefour plastic bag... I started to wonder is the shop sponsored by Carrefour?

Carrefour plastic bag given by shopkeeper.

Finally we got our "Kampung Adidas".. haha :D


Kampung Adidas at RM4.50

And now it's inside the store room.


Do you know why it is called "Kampung Adidas"? This is why