[a bridge over the Pahang river on the new Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan Highway]........ It is the thirty first of May, two zero, zero four and tomorrow we would be on the second half of the year.... It is summer in the northern hemisphere but in Malaysia it is the same for our weather remain the same throughtout the year, with rain and sunshine all the time, except maybe in the month of December to February when the North East Monsoon wind blows on the east coat that bring rain for days making the sea unsafe for swimming.... Well not to worry we have the beaches on the west coast to go for swimming, On the west coast we have those beaches from Port Dickson to Langkawi in the north......With the openning of the new Highway from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan... It would makes traveling from the coast on the west coast to the east coast just less the four hours, so for us in Kuala Lumpur.... It would be our decision where to go for a picnic on the beach.... The east coast at Kuantan would be just two hours away and the same would be Port Dickson.... Come this August this new Highway would be open and It would be great for me since Kuantan is my hometown and with the highway it would be a pleasure to just drive to Kuantan and have a great time at the beach there and back to KL in the evening, which was not possible by the old roads.... To me this new highway is long over due.... We have been independent forty seven years already and only now this new highway is ready... But then what can we say.... It is always like that for the east coast states.... During the colonial era... The states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan was left behind and as such it has lack behind in development from the rest of the states on the west coast.... Well since independent.... things have change but with this new highway I believe that these states on the east coast would see more developments in the year to come.... For one it has great beaches.... With golden sand unlike the beaches on west coast which is muddy and does not have golden sand beaches... But then because it is easily accessible from Kuala Lumpur.... More people goes to the west coast beaches then the east coast beaches and I think this is going to change soon with the opening of this new highway..... So as can be seen good infrastructure means lots to development...... We have decided to be among the first to use this new highway when it open to the public come August this year..... Once it takes nine hours, then seven hours, the five hours, then four hours and now it would just take just about two hours to get to Kuantan from Kuala Lumpur.... What a progress in just less the fifty years..... Great.... I told my dear friend, the Matsalleh from the UK that when he makes his next visit to Malaysia.... I would personally drive him on my classic Volvo on this new highway.... It would be a great day and a historical one too,indeed...... Two crazy old man on a crazy old car,the Volvo classic driving on a brand new roads back to my hometown Kuantan....

Someone shouted... Mouse! Mouse! Mouse! And some would scream and jump up the stools or whatever that are higher and sreeeam... And some would look just as scare.... For God sake!.. Why are this happening when one see a mouse... After all this mouse is just a small creature.... Actually not that bad looking and at time real cute... What make some people react in such way I wonder.... Perhaps it is in their gene.... Well that is us Human being... The most intelligent species of them all and yet we seem to be not that intelligent at all when confronted with a situation when we see a mouse crossing our path... The mouse actually do not care of our present at that space of time and were most probably on his or her way to a picnic some place interesting.... Who knows what's in the mind of this little creature.... Well we human are funny people... We sometime think the whole wide world is only for us and others like the mouse are a nuisance.... Well think again my dear friend, what would be life in this blue marble without those creature... I believe it would be a dull life indeed..... Mouse, Rat or Mice...Well call whatever you like and they really the same in some respect... They are everywhere and so what do we do with them... One thing I know for sure, they do not like places that are spot clean and they love the dirty and untidy places.... So if we do not want their company.... Do keep the places clean all the time and that is what we do to our habitat..... Well sometime they do appear.... Like I had just said.... May be they are on their way to somewhere else.... On a holiday I supposed.... Well do not think that only we human goes on holidays... They do too... I think!!!... Anyway... Let me tell of my interesting encounter with a little white mouse.... Some years ago, a small white mouse somehow got into the bowl of my toilet, the toilet is pink in color and on looking I saw this little creature trying very hard to get out of the bowl.... As we all know toilet bowls have smooth surface and it make its difficult to climb and get out of it.... When I first saw this mouse, it was trying very hard to climb and it just could not do it and in no time it would just drown in the toilet bowl..... So.. Since I do not like it to just die of drowning or by accident of flashing... Personally I do not like killing, anything alive for that matter... It is not in my gene and it never will.. I decided to save it for I always treasured life.... So how do I get this creature out....It is not that easy..... So after thinking about it, I got a long stick and holding one end put the stick into the toilet bowl touching the water.... The mouse began to panic and after a moment it just climb on the stick and walk up and as soon as it get to my hand, it panic again and bit my hand and then jump to safety....And that was the last I saw of this white mouse..... Well I did saved this little creature but in the process got bitten by it.... It is no joke to get bitten by a rat or a mouse... Now it is my turn to worry..... So I decided to get to the nearest doctor since I am worry about being bitten by a mouse....I rush and on the advise of the doctor, I got a jab and that was it... So as you know it is dangerous to get bitten by a rat or mouse, it might transmit disease that are harmful to us human.... So lucky for me I managed to get a jab fast and I believe doing that help me to get rid of whatever disease including the psychology one..... I am happy that I got the mouse out of the toilet bowl and I believed it really did not want to bite me... It was just an accident.... I am glad that I saved a life....That is important to me.... I am happy that I did that and up till now I remember saving this little mouse... This is true story and a life experiences... A small episode in the journey of my life.... Well.. That is life... And now about the story of mouse again.. Another kind of mouse.... I believe we all have a friendly mouse by our side beside the computer now, for without it we would not be able to operate the computer with ease.... With the electronic mouse it makes communicating and interacting with the computer much simpler... Actually the mouse has become a very important part of our computer... It is an extension of ourselves and the computer.. I have a wireless one, as well as the wired one and both are as friendly and I know this one do not panic and would bite me.... The other way may be... In frustration or in depressions we might bite this mouse...It is alright.... It is just another electronic tools... Well that is the story of the mouse.... What would we do without this electronic mouse.... I just do not know and until they find another way to communicate with the commuter.... we all must have a mouse all the time beside us..... The one I am using now is rather cute and I love it.... So life is like that.... We human and the creature had to cooperate if we were to survived in this blue planet of ours.... Look! Look! There is a mouse under your table.... So here are some mouse...... Have a nice day.....

Makan in Malay mean to eat and makanan is foods and since Malaysian love to eat all the time, when you are here you would often hear Malaysian say " lets go for makan " ... For eating is a pastime and is part of our culture..... You named it and we have it here.... For Malaysia is a melting pots of the world cuisine especially the Asian cuisine.. It is only in Malaysia, under one roof you could find foods of varieties you would never find in other parts of the world..... True... I am not joking....Just visit any of our food courts and you would be surprised to learn the varieties of food available for eating anytime of the day....Yes! Anytime... Some eating places open twenty four hours... Even the Mamak's [Indian Moslem]Restaurant do.... I can assured you that you would love Malaysian foods..... The next time you visit Malaysia do try the Malaysian foods.... Just do away with your usual breakfast, lunch or what else you have been eating in your homeland.... Try Malaysian and once you are at it, you would surely want more of it.... As for today let me introduce you to one of the meal that I enjoyed.... It is a simple complete meal that originated in China or the Chinese world.... As you are aware Malaysian are a mixed up nationalities.... The Chinese are a big minority.... Thirty five percent of the population of twenty five million Malaysian... Their forefather migrated to this country in search of the 'gold' in the then Malaya and having found it decided to stay and today they are full blooded Malaysian and with them came the Chinese cuisine.... And the Chinese really know how to makes simple food became a delicacy.... One of it that I love is the Chicken Rice or in Malay we call it Nasi Ayam Nasi mean Rice and Ayam Chicken.... So it is simply known here As Kai Fun in it original Chinese..... Anyway it does not matter what you call it... Just ask for Chicken Rice and you would get what I meant as Nasi Ayam and in Malaysia all food are Halal unless otherwise stated, so do not worry when eating at the Mall in the shopping complex or at any hawkers stalls, the food there are all Halal... Well what is a Chicken Rice.... Ok...Let me explain, first we have the Rice which is specially steamed unlike the ordinary Rice that you or me often eat.... It is a special blended steamed Rice and it is served with specially prepared Chicken... It could be roasted, deep fried with honey or just steamed chicken... The the roasted one is usually like any roasted beef, it is golden brown in color, the skin is crisp and tasty to eat, the deep fried one look the same like the roasted one, excepted that it is prepared a different way and honey is coated on the skin and the other one is simply a steamed chicken and it is White in color.... So now you have three varieties of Chicken to go with the Rice.... You may selected all or just one. It is up to you... Anyway it is all good and tasty.... I am sure you would lick your finger for its great taste.... Well.. Thinking of it already makes me hungry.... Together with the rice and the chicken comes the little side dishes, vegetables like sliced cucumber with spring anion, bean sprouts fried with a little salted fish or the like and of course the steaming hot chicken soup is served, in this soup you would find some salted vegetable like cabbage or other vegetables.... And with all these comes the two sauce in small plates, the Soya sauce and the chilly mixed with ginger sauce.... These sauces are a must if you want to enjoy eating Chicken Rice.... And in some restaurant there are add in which you could order separately... But as a whole Chicken Rice comes in a package as I had mention above.... As for refreshment just ask for Chinese tea...... So why wait.... Get going to the nearest food courts.... To sample the Chicken Rice..... But I am sure it would not be the same as it is prepared in Malaysia..... Remember this once Chinese delicacies have crosses racial and traditional barrier of the Malaysian multi racial nationals, the Chinese started it, the Malay has added some of it touch and.... Voila here we have a great Malaysian delicacy.... That only Malaysian knows how to prepare... This is how its looks..... So lets go Makan....

Oh!... What a beautiful Friday morning.... The sky is clear blue with only a patch of clouds on the horizon.... Last night downpour has cleared the haze away.... With such a clear blue sky it sure going to be a hot and humid day.... I was out washing the car and there I saw a squirrel rushing out to play in the nearby bush... The air smell of freshness and the grass are still wet with last night rain.... I love those smell of the day after the rain.... It so refreshing and it remind me of the days when I was living in the Kampong in the forties and the fifties, every morning the air were fresh and because it is normal to feel the freshness then we just took for granted the atmosphere.... Now living in the city, it is different...It is only after a heavy downpour that we get to smell the freshness of the air.... So today is among the few days that we get that feeling of that freshness in the air and I loved it.... It look like we are going to have a great weekend with such whether......

At the mosque last evening where I usually went to pray the Magrib prayer... I notice that there are few and fewer people attending the mosque for prayer.... Yesterday was Friday's night [ in the Islamic system the day start from the evening and not the morning ] and normally it is this evening that we see many people come to pray together at the Magrib prayer.... I wonder where the rest have gone..... Anyway it does not matter to me as to me personally going for prayer at the mosque from time to time should be done from the feeling of the heart... I went there because I felt that it is nice to pray together and in between the prayer time we socialized.... And I guessed that is one reason why Moslem are encourage to go to the mosque to pray together.... By doing this the mosque became a club of a sorts for people like us, other then to pray it would be a place to meet and chat and disseminate information for the common good..... I notice the mosque would be full of people when there are some 'religious' preacher come to give talks.... I have listen to some of these talks and found that it is more of rhetoric then substance.... So after attending a few of these talks.... I felt that it is not worth my time to listen to such rhetoric.... Which to me in the long run do not bring any good to Islam but in a way would create more misunderstanding, thus unhealthy for the development of the pure teaching of Islam..... It is because of listening to this rhetoric that people get carried away and eventually became extremist... And it is this extremist that had tarnished and corrupt the teaching of Islam.... I believe the only way to bring back the true teaching of Islam is for us to follow the teaching that are in the Koran and nothing else.... If we keep believing in the teaching of the various imam and religious leaders then we are bound to be mislead in some ways or others.... For ordinary human are bound to be bias in their thinking, thus we have various version on the interpretation of the teaching of Islam.... It is best that we stick to the true teaching that are in the Koran and interprets its according to the knowledge of our time and not to the knowledge of those that live fourteen hundreds years ago... The teaching of the Koran is simple... In a way it teaches all human to be good and preaches goodness and no violence at all... So to me if we want Moslem to progress, we have to go back to the Koran and practice what its preaches... And stop listening to all the preachers that astray from the true teaching... For Islam teaches are all the good values for the benefit of all mankind.... Islam never preaches evil especially hatred and violence .... It always preaches Love....So as Moslem let us spread Love and only the true teaching of Islam... Only then would Islam prevail......

A scene in the Historical city of Malacca...... Malacca is about three hours drive from Kuala Lumpur, so it would be a good idea if you are on a short visit to Malaysia to make a trip to this ancient city, that was colonized first by the Portuguese in fifteen eleven, follow by the Dutch, then the British and after the second world war saw the Japanese rules for a few years until the British came back in nineteen forty five..... And in nineteen fifty seven it gain its independence as part of Malaya, now Malaysia....

I am indeed surprise to received an email from my friend who is now working in Bali..... Surprise because normally I only get news from his other half....Not only I get an email from him, after replying like I usually do, immediately, I received a reply soon after that.... Well it look great to get news from this friend of mine... He has spend all his entire live in the hospitality industry and like all old folks, eventually he was retired..... Well like everyone in the golden age, we had to retire whether we like it or not.... Some people just do not want to retire but then that is the way with being employed, when your day comes you have to leaves.... So He left the scenes somewhat reluctant and then with all the times in the world at his disposal, He went to enjoy life by traveling all over the world... And He did came over to visit us in Kuala Lumpur.... As with everything in life, things are not always as rosy all the time, there would be some hiccup in our journey of life... And He soon had to seek employment again..... Luck was on his side and he was eventually asked by a friend to run a known resort in Bali... According to his mail it was just like 'fish getting into the water'.... He was really happy indeed to be working again and I hope that He would continue to be happy like before and have a great time in his new place of employment..... Getting employed again in the golden age is no joke.... He must be someone with special skill to be offered the job.... Well some people are lucky... So that is that about this friend of mine and I wish him luck in his new job.... Have a great day my friend Jer....I share your happiness.....

It rain heavy this evening, it has been hot and humid all weeks long, plus with the haze it has been rather a gloomy week....The heat and haze makes living rather difficult and outdoor activities a no, no, With the blazing heat most people would spend their weekends at the shopping mall which are fully air condition... So if you are in one of these mall, life would be just like in the summer, the temperate climate of the west.... I went to the KLCC mall this weekend and sure enough the place were crowded with shopper and as usual the food courts were full of people enjoying their meals in the comfort of the mall cool atmosphere.... Well that what technology has done to contained the temperature of a space and without this air conditioning it would not be possible to build such a huge mall let alone getting people to patron it.... The KLCC is just about three minutes from my home so to me it is just a place to go for a weekend lunch or just to browse along at those departmental store.... This week at the centre of the mall there was a display of the latest Honda.... I had a look and with the new engine of two thousand c.c. it would makes driving on the highway a pleasure.... Crowd throng the space of the display and it look like the promoter are getting many booking for this new version Honda Civic....That is Malaysian... They all love new cars and first timer to this country would be real surprise to see that the Malaysian roads are always with new cars.... Where has happen those old car gone... I wonder sometime.... With the heat... I notice the squirrels and the frogs that are usually found in drain in front and behind my house are not to be seen.... Where have they gone... Perhaps to some air conditioned mall of their own I supposed to enjoy life just like us.... This rain I think would bring back those birds that are always around after the rain... It would be nice to see those bird chirp and sing, jumping from branch to branch merrily all morning... Happy I guessed that the air is cool and there are plenty of food around to pick up.... And life would returned to normal again at the small garden in front of my house.... Soon there would be those small flying insects and butterfly hovering around doing their job pollinating the flowers and in a way complete the eco system...In nature's way..... It is nice to hear the rain pattering on the roof and the window pane and the smell of the fresh rain and the freshness of the atmosphere.... Nostalgic to me... It bring me back memories of my childhood days living in the house, the roof of which are made of the leaves of the nipah leaves...It has a peculiar type of smell when it rain.... And now there are no more for we no long use that type of roofing material.... Modern they say.... Well it came with progress....What progress... I do not know.... I still love those smell of the nipah leaves.... It so refreshing, so natural.... But now it is different,the roof are made of glazed roofing tiles and it does not smell like the smell of nature anymore...... Progress bring changes.... Well that is life... It is an ever changing world... So lets make hay while the sun shine and tell a different stories to our grandchildren when the time comes... That is the way.... For we are just passing through on this blue planet of ours..... Enjoy.....

You would have notice that I have done a face lift to my blogsite, so as to make it more interesting as well as informative, the picture of the twin tower reflect the modern Kuala Lumpur, a great and clean city in this part of the world.... It is a first world facilities and once inside the Mall at the twin tower, one would be astonished to find that everything that one find in a Mall in western cities are there and more... The more being the food courts that are locate on two floors and it would take years if you were to try to sample all those foods at those stalls.. And for the up class savvy there are great restaurants when various sumptuous spreads are there for those who want to wine and dine in a more sophisticate atmosphere..... It is a bit costly at these restaurant but then you get what you pay and came out of it not only satisfied with a good meals but had an enjoyable time as well... As for the price at the food court, it is not that expensive and affordable to everyone and the foods are great and the eating environments clean as well as pleasing and confortable.... With varieties of food of different culture that makes the Malaysian society.... it is a sorts of a daily food fest....Found only in this great country, the melting pots of traditional foods of all the races that makes the Malaysian, together with the modern foods from the western cuisine and the know fast food of the western world...., the food courts at the Mall should be a must visit for those that visit Kuala Lumpur.... A One spot where you would find all the foods of the Malaysian kitchens......And at my site... You would have notice that I had put a clock telling the time in Kuala Lumpur... This I hope would give some ideas to the readers of my blog, of the Time in Kuala Lumpur at the time of their surfing my blog.... At least I hope it would make them feel like being in Kuala Lumpur or yearn to visit it sometime later.... You have a friend in Me here in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, if you need a friend to show you Kuala Lumpur, my city and city that I love and know very well indeed.... I would love to give my service gratis to any visitor who need to know this city, do get in touch with me so that we could meet perhaps just for a chat over coffee at the KLCC.... Remember that strangers are friends that you have yet to meet... And The only way to have a friend is to be one.... Have a nice day.

Monday again and it look like that nowadays time flies so fast and hardly you realized its, it is already another week....I remember our foster daughter in Italy send in her computer for those check up....Like we human do....If not it would be in trouble, got sick or in the computer world they say it 'hanged' often and it would makes surfing the net miserable..... Well that is the real world.... It is not only us human that got sick.... I guessed that machine also got sick.. Anyway I hope she get back her computer back in good working condition and can start surfing again.... Me.... I am addicted to the cyberspace.... The net has now became a part of my life and it is becoming an extension of myself.... I just could not do without it..... It is a great tool to communicate and since I blog, it has become a place that I put my thoughts everyday, for it keeps my faculty healthy and at the same time help to disseminate information to others, hoping that those information would do others some good, thus making this world of ours a great place to live..... On the world front... The oil price is up again and the war in the Middle East especially Iraq and the Palestine are not getting better, instead it is getting worst.... The same it look like in Afghanistan... Wherever the foreign power try to interfered in the internal politic of a country, it usually get our of control..... Those big powers in the west should understand that it take times for thing to change and political development in any country would only comes at it our pace.... Imposing one's value would not help, in fact it would worsen situation..... The west especially the colonialist has done great damage to the world already in the past when they colonized countries in Africa, Asia and the Latin Americas.... They should have learned that colonization would not solved problems but instead would makes it worse.... According to news that we are getting from inside Iraq and Afghanistan, the situation was better before the those big powers invade the countries..... So what is the purpose of all those war, that have brought above destruction and death, when it look like it is not getting better..... Like I have said before.... The situation in Iraq is in a mess and the invading forces should leaves now and hand over the country to the United Nations to handle it... This is the only way to avoid more bloodshed and bring humanity back to this great and ancient country..... My hope that those leaders in the west come to their senses fast so that more lives could be saved and Iraqi could live in peace again..... Take a pause and think hard on this.... War never solved anything.... But wisdom would.....

[The Teh Tarik] .....It has been a great Sunday.... Wake up early today and drove the Volvo classic to pick a friend up for a get together breakfast at a Mamak shop at Ampang Point.... I purposely took the classic car this morning for a drive, just to enjoy the drive in this beau, the only such car in this part of the town.... My friend and his charming wife were delighted to see the Volvo classic.... It was nostalgic to them both, for when they were young this was one of the car that their boss drive to work.... As usual wherever I park this car it draw attention and make those people just like these couple happy this Sunday morning..... Well both of us drove on to our breakfast meet and had a wonderful breakfast of the traditional Indian Apong and of course the special tea with milk that we here famously call the Teh Tarik..... A specially blended tea with condense milk and served steaming hot.... It would not be that breakfast without this teh tarik.... Visitors to this country must try this teh tarik for it is only in Malaysia that it is well prepared and has the uniqueness of been specially Malaysian.... And those that really makes good teh tarik is the Mamak or the Indian Moslem.... These are special breed of Malaysian that once migrated to this country in search of the 'gold' of the Old Malaya.... They make their fortune and stayed and now there are know as the Mamak..... Do visit the restaurant that they operate where special curry delights are served all day long with rice to go.... Another on the menu that I should mentioned is the Mee Mamak.... A sort of a spaghetti or noodle like fried with eggs and mixed with curry and it is delicious eaten steamy hot..... It goes well too with the teh tarik.... Mee mamak is special and if ever you are at a Mamak Restaurant do try this dish... Where only in Malaysia that one could find this special Mamak treat...... Well we sat at the table outside the shop, in the open air and in the cool morning and enjoy our breakfast and of course chat on various subject and enjoy the day meeting friends that come and go at this famous Mamak shop at Ampang Point......

This is the KLCC or the Petronas Twin Tower, the landmarks of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia..... Thanks to Clocklink.Com....I now have a clock at my site and its shows the time in Kuala Lumpur.... Time never waits for anyone...... Have a nice day...

Sonia Gandhi of India, what a great lady she is, a leader who took over the Congress Party when it was on the way toward moribund and turn it back to its former glory.... And when the Congress Party won the recent election in India, the world largest democracy, despite all odds.... And she was offered to be the new Prime Minister of India, She honorably turn it down.... What a Lady, she is not only a great leader but a statesman as well.... A rare one indeed.... When in some democracy some so called elected leader clamor for leadership when the election result are still in doubt.... But she despite being the rightful claim to the post of the PM, decline it for she believe that the Party and the country is more important then herself and that the country should be lead by someone else that would served the PM post better and the person is non other then Dr.Manmohan Singh, the experienced leader of the Congress Party...... By refusing to accept the post of the PM, she has shown to the world that there are other ways of serving the country... she has rightfully chosen to stay in the background and contributes to the success of her party's goal in running India..... She is not only a great leader and a statesman, but to me She is larger then life itself..... I am sure her decision has taught here two sibling, Rahul and Priyanka Vadra.... a Great Wisdom that do not come always in the history of mankind..... The world salute you..... May you have a great life.... May God bless India...

It has been a not and hazy day and because of it I am really felt not that healthy....It has been like this almost a week already and I hope that this haze that has been blanketing the city would go away soon, otherwise it would not be healthy to be outside the house..... That is Kuala Lumpur today.... On the war fronts things are not getting better in Iraq and the Palestine... More and more killing, as though dying is just a game those people play... It look those that has the might are doing the killing of the innocents.... Why must we let all those killing in Iraq, like the wedding party that way bomb last night and the killing at the rally in the Gaza.... Where are humanity.....Do the power that be think that they can solved the problems in Iraq and the Palestine by killing the innocent folks.... I am really sick of the news now... And I have decided to stay away from the TV for the time being to gain my sanity..... Where are those people of wisdom..... Surely there are better was of solving conflict then through killing and killing.... Please take a Pause.... As I have said before those that are killed are someone loved one... What if it is your love one that got killed in the wedding party in Iraq last night and at the rally in Gaza..... Surely it would shattered your life as well.... Please come to your senses, you the Power that be.... This is no way to solved all the world problem... What those people in the Palestine want is an independent state of their own and as for the Iraqi, their country back..... Are these that difficult to solved.... Remember killing leads to more killing and no one would win.... Let us all pray for peace.....

Google News

Well I have being using Gmail for more then a week already and I found it to be better then the other free email address....It has all the features of making writings email easy and fast, like address get recorded automatically, spell check done quick and it remember email that are frequently use fast... Now it is typing just the start of an email address and the rest is easy and in this way one do not make mistake of writing email address.... It look like it is going to stay and out beat the others in no time... I have decided to use Gmail more often now that I am getting use to it.....and hopes to make it as my default email in due course.... What I would like to have now is an icon to put on the desktop and a pop up to show that an email has arrived...This pop up should be different from the one that are use by the other email address..... May be announcing the arrival of a new mail using the blue color which is cool or the green color of nature together with a voice reminding the arrival of a mail.....Great job to those at Google.....Those short advertisement at time help...It is ok with me....Thanks to those that contribute in making this email address so user friendly....

Did you watch the movie Dragon Fly.... It is a great movie and I enjoy it for it give great meaning to life itself.... This is just a thought and since it is a really good movie I would suggest that those that had not seen it, should try to see and learn something above life in that movie.... That is that.... What makes me write about this is the thought that came to my mind on seeing a dragon fly hovering over the flowers in front of my house, like a helicopter, its hover around trying to attach itself to the plants..... It is a beautiful insect, this dragon fly.... Sometime there are many of these colorful insect flying around and at time it got lost and went straight into the house and it would eventually got stuck and die.... It dried up very fast and at time I would pick this dead dragon fly and place it among the dry flowers in the vast.... Immortalised it there among those dried flower..... As part of a deco for us all to admire, the beauty this dragon fly even in death..... What a creature.... With its huge eyes, great wings, long tail and colorful body, nice to watch it in flight.... I am told that those engineers studies the dragon fly when they were researching on the aerodynamics that eventually lead to the development of the helicopter of today..... What a way nature had in the quality of our technology....... The dragon fly.... Contribution to our aviation.......

....Flowers are the keepers of our joy.... Say a sign embossed on a plate.... Yah... Flowers are great.... It came in many size and color, what would be life without those beautiful creation.... Flowers lighten up those that are sick.... It bring glory and smile to those that get it as a gift on a special day.... It brighten up a room when it is arranged and display in harmony with the rest of the things.... For live would be dull indeed without flowers.... I guess that everyone associated with flowers, right from the growers to the seller and the deliver boys and the receiver are touch by these flowers..... We see flowers everywhere, just sit on the lawn and gazed at those grass and look closely and you would surely find some tiny flowers, magnified it and you would see the beauty of this tiny flowers.....It is alive and some like the 'touch Me not' plants with its pink tiny hairy flowers are so sensitive that if one touch its, it would just pretends to die and after a while if left alone it would return to it original form... There are flowers that only smell at night.... When night comes it would bloom and it smells would spread far and in the Malay world this flowers is call 'sundal malam' and some associate it with the spirit that roam and wondering in the dark... But I love this flower, whatever it is call together with the 'kenanga' in front of my house which smell all days and nights, it just keep the atmosphere fresh with its sweet fragrance ...The special sweet smelling fragrant that only nature could provides... And then it is the flowers with its nectar and it smell that brought the birds and bees and the other insects to complete the circle of the eco system that makes our world... Its is the colors of flowers that makes our world so cheerful and lovely.... Elegant... Beautiful.... Making our habitat such a wonderful place to live and enjoy..... The flowers... How can we live without it..... So the next time you see flowers, do care for it and if you touch it, do it tenderly for it is a delicate living things that needs love and compassion just like we human do.... Cheer up... And be happy......

Sometime ago a friend said this to me regarding soldiers that goes to war...." Which is better.. To be a live chicken or a dead hero"... Well what do you say.... Let take a pause and think of all those people that are involved in the war now in Iraq or in any other parts of the world..... The dead heroes would be returned home in coffins or body bags and then are given a hero welcome and then as time passes... they would eventually forgotten.... That is the real world... The families of all those heroes whose life was shattered would continue to feel the lost of their sons or daughters forever...The hero that came back in coffin or body bag.... That is the reality....But for those that chicken out and did not take part in those war would be still alive and kicking and would continue to walk this earth and their family would be able to continue to live and enjoy life...... So let take a pause and think hard on this subject.... Is getting killed the only way to solved conflicts... I personally do not know the answer....May be it would be better to be a live chicken then a dead hero.... At least the live chicken would be able to continue to live... But those heroes are gone forever..... Well I would leave this at that and at the same time pray for all those lost soul.... May they be given a place in haven.....Amen....

Politic is the arts of the possible.... That is what they say and I believed it.... Like today.... The American and the British say that they would leaves Iraq if the Iraqi did not want them.... If it is true and they meant what they say, then it is the best news of the day..... Surely no sane Iraqi want the invader and the occupies to be in their country now or later.... The sooner the better for everybody.... As we witness the presence of the occupier forces are unwelcome in Iraq.... there would not be peace as long as these occupies forces are in Iraq and at present the majority of Iraqi resent the presence of these outsider in their beloved country.... No one country want to be colonized.... So the best things for the American and the British is to leave Iraq and hand over the task of rebuilding Iraq to the United Nations and the United Nations should request other nations to send in their troops to help in maintaining order for the time being until the election and a new elected government is established in Iraq... No troops should come from any of the present occupier group.. So there would be no single soldiers from the USA and Britain and the others that are there now...... I believe this is the only way accepted by the people of the New Iraq...... Let give peace in Iraq a chance..... The longer the present occupier stay, the more lives would be lost from both the occupies and the Iraqi..... Leave away all those egos.... It is better to be alive then a dead Hero.....There are already many dead heroes now and it has shattered the life of their love one and others as well... And the dead hero would soon be forgotten... Remember nowadays people have short memories... But those alive would be still breathing and would continue to enjoy life and their families and loved one happy.... Let face the reality of today's world.... Let us face the fact and act accordingly.... No one is going to loose anything but more to gain from the end of this war and carnage in Iraq..... Lets give peace a chance.....May God blessed all of Us.....

Indeed a great day....It is Friday again and I have just received a long email from our foster daughter who live in Italy....It was indeed a touching letter and its inspired me.... Reading through it I cried... For it really touches me....Deep inside of Me...I am indeed glad that happen.... It is a rare moment indeed and this letter really make me feel good.... Real good.. Especially on this day of Friday.... A great day for us the people of the Books.... Thanks Joan for those thoughts of your... As usual I printed it so that my other half could read it .... It is a rare moment like this that we at this age are fortunate to be blessed with such wonderful people near and afar... Making our life so wonderful and beautiful.... Thanks again my dear for those wonder of words that makes your email comes to live.... Just a day ago I talk about the wonder of that breakfast and I supposed that we have indeed enjoyed that kind of breakfast or at least the coffee that we have had that morning and in between those sips of the hot steamy coffee our minds would roams wild, thinking of our love one near and afar and those friends that continue to make our life so meaningful.... Like that Mat Salleh in the 'Great' Britain, whose email make me want to laugh and surely He would laughed at this and wonder why I put the apostrophe on both side of the word Britain.... Well I really do not know why it is 'Great' Britain and sometime it is referred to as the UK 'United' Kingdom.... Perhaps Paken could explain this..... Let leave this at that until we find an answer.... Let me turn to a book I am reading now 'The Malayan Trilogy' by Anthony Burgess, that bring me back to the days of my youth... The page came to life as I read it and in one instance the History teacher was telling the pupils about the Industrial Revolution and that industries are important for the well being of humankind..... He say that it would give the people more good things in life and they could enjoy life.... A Malay boy reply that in the Kampong [village] they are already enjoying life, so why must the have this industry... The teacher reply that the industry would produce things like shoes, fans, and the like had to be made....It is not like the coconut, and the fruits that would fall from the tree.... If you want shoe someone had to make it and that is an industry..... Well the boy continue saying that before they built road, we could walk bare footed but now with roads it is painful to walk on it.... The teacher said that the roads are for the cars and not for walking.... So the stories goes.....Interesting Eh!! The mind of the simple folks in the kampong....Yes when I was growing up in the kampong, we have no need for shoe to go wondering in the jungle... We have no need for car to get to the town... We just walk... In fact we all walk to school everyday without complain.... Now they have school bus taking children to and fro school... Well that is progress I supposed.... Sometime I wonder.... We keep producing things... Some of it we do not really needs... And we still keep producing and life did not seem to get better but instead became more complicated... So where do we go from here.... I wonder..... Lets have a cup of coffee.....Remember!!!
Perhaps drinking this cup of coffee would help to improved the life of those hard working farmers in Africa and the Latin Americas.... those simple folks whose life style have remain the same.... and still growing coffee so that we may enjoy those cuppa of good coffee.... Be thankful that they did and for that let me give thanks to all those hard working folks out there, whoever and wherever they are.... Thanks for making our life so wonderful...

Another day... Hot and humid and hazy... It look like the atmosphere is full of those polluted particles that modern day people call the haze... It look hazy and with low visibility... Many explanations have being given by the authority as to why we have haze how.... One of the reasons that they say is because of open burning in the island of Sumatra.... I simply do not understand.... for open burning for agriculture purposes have being going on for decades... It has been a culture of those farmers since the time of our forefather, that they burn the land to clear forest or under growth for farming.... Moreover it is good to the land itself... Those burned woods and soil add to making the soil more fertile and suitable for planting short terms crop and getting good harvest without the uses of chemical fertilizer.... It has been like that all the time that we could remember but there was no haze then.... We would have clear blue sky all the time and if it look hazy.... It is usually in the early morning and in the evening and it is not haze but mist... That give the atmosphere the coolness in the tropic... I remember when I was growing in the forties and the fifties....The morning were usually with mist and it is cool and nice... It really nice to wake up in the morning to the misty atmosphere....With the shrub and grass covered with dew.... Clean dew on the grass and those plants smell good and fresh... but now there are no more those mist... Where are they gone... No more clean dew on the lawn... What has happen to our world..... I love those green and the soothing smell that came with it... No matter how long you look at those green of all shade of color, you would not felt any uneasiness but it is different with other color especially red, it would surely makes you tense and uncomfortable as well as uneasy.... For green has been our comfort since times....Our home from the primitive one to the most modern in today's world are always with greens, either those that are natural or that are artificially made.... It reflect our closeness toward nature and hence our vary own survival depend of the those greens that supply us all those oxygen the we need to survived on this blue planet.... It is the green plants that convert all those carbon dioxide that we human and other living creature give to mother earth into oxygen....And gave us back in order for us to continue living on this planet.... I love green...A color the I grew up with, the trees, the grass, the leaves, the shrubs.... And in the tropic, the shade of greens are many....so even though it is green,there are varieties in the Green.....So it is never the same, green is nature, that is part of us human...Our original living habitat.... So beautiful those green... Lets keep it at that and enjoy life.....For now, for tomorrow and for the future....

Received an email from my Mat Salleh friend in the UK.... This Mat Salleh is more then a friend... Let call it a foster brother... He refer himself as Paken and I guess he got use to this name when he was wondering in Indonesia... Padang to be specific... where he live at a PakAji's resident, whose charming wife would sometime cook for this white man and according to him by chance he introduced the baked beans in tomatoes sauce,the breakfast beans that we normally take with eggs sunny side up... that are common where the west was once the master of the land they colonized.... With toasted bread and black coffee, it makes great breakfast.... So he got a few tins of these baked beans and introduce it to PakAji's wife..MakAji, another western dish, that not only look tempting but as well good to taste... Moreover it is a simple dish that could be set up in mere minutes.... MakAji was delighted and indeed happy but then according to my friend Paken... this baked beans in tomatoes sauce are hard to find in Padang... So it look like that MakAji had to find another ways to make this wonderful new dish, so she decided to experiment with the local beans and eventually... Voila, she got it and named this new wonder food as, a special delicacies... 'Kacang tomato Pakken' after the Mat salleh that introduce this special to the PakAji's family.... What started as a canned baked beans now has became a know special in Padang.... Thanks to Paken... The crazy mat salleh that went to Padang in search of knowledge,stayed there for a year or so and in the process introduced this wonder food to the PakAji charming wife, MakAji..... Recently after a lapse of years, Paken decided to pay a visit to his foster uncle PakAji in Padang and to his surprise found a new brand baked beans being sold in the market in Padang and this can food stuff is branded as 'Pakens baked beans special'...Well so the story goes.... So what are you going to have for breakfast tomorrow.... Me..Surely baked beans with two eggs, fried sunny side up and perhaps some sausages and two pieces of toasted bread with my usual black coffee.... Tempting is it not!!.... I am hungry already thinking of this wonder breakfast of baked beans..... Well Paken would be smiling reading this and I guess his breakfast would be the same as mine tomorrow morning... Baked Beans... Well it is an easy breakfast to do,just open a can of baked Beans, fry your egg as you like, placed it nicely on a plate, scoop a couple of spoonful of those steamy baked beans, put it beside those sunny side up eggs,and voila...Your breakfast is ready to enjoy....With toast and a cup of black coffee... You should be enjoying this wonderful breakfast.... That is the story of Paken in Padang... It is a sorts of a true story but some of it I just make it up.... to make this story more interesting..... When you are next in Padang,Indonesia... Look for the MakAji baked beans... Who knows you might find some.... The Indonesian are good with beans.... They invented the nutritious Tempe from Soya bean... now eaten by million all over the world... My grand children love those tempe... So have a Good Breakfast of this Baked beans.... come tomorrow morning... Have a nice day.... Enjoy.....

Welcome to Gmail

Thanks to google, now I could blog while doing other things on the internet.... I am trying this at BlogThis!.... I have started using the Gmail and found it very interesting and so it look that it going to stay as one of my main email address.... I like the way the mail are chained together, making it easy to follow its development but I am not sure how the spelling check work... I hope it would works like writing blog but it did not.... I think those at gmail should fix this thing so that it is easy to correct grammar.... Another thing that I find not working is when I write email address on the send column, the sample of the email came out but when click, it did not appear on the column,so I have to type all the email address so what is the purpose of this email address that appear as we type... I hope gmail could fix this as well, so that like other email address I do not have to type the email address but click at the correct address that appear... Well these are teething probleml and I am sure it would be fixed up and we would be on our way experiencing a new way to do email....Like Blogging... The Gmail is going places I think...Its concept is new and is simple and user friendly... I love using it and have introduce its to friends.....

Thanks those people at Blogger for this new interface.... Well like any new changes we all have to start getting use to it but somehow I still love the old way.... I guess we human takes time to adapt to changes... Anyhow it look great and I would get use to it.... On Blogging I have been blogging for almost a year already and enjoy everyday when I blog.... I get feedback from all over the world and recently received one from a lady in St.Petersburg in Russia.... It was indeed great to know that people of all walk of live enjoy reading my blog... to me it is a win win situation.... I love to write and was hoping that it would in a way contribute to the literary world and of course as information for all... For what's are information and knowledge if we did not share with our fellow being.... I am indeed indebted to those people at Blogger for making blogging so simple and in doing so has made this world of ours so small.... The cybespace our new frontier where we could communicate across continents in mere space of time.... time and distance are no longer a constrain in getting in touch or just to disseminate information for our common good.

It is Sunday again.... Well I went for a drive with my Volvo classic....And at the parking lot at a local Mall a young couple smile at my classic and we soon got into a conversation... They were admiring this classic and the husband ask me what year was this car made.... I told him it is nineteen sixty six..... And He reply that He was born in that year.... Great... My Volvo is now thirty eight years old and so is this young man.... He has indeed time travel and gone back in time to the sixties......We talk and soon strangers became friends,... all because of this classic..... They were rather impressed with the condition of this car.... look just like a new car and when I showed them the engine.....They were delighted with excitement to see such a beau.... A simple engine that was invented some forty years or so ago by the Swede.... Remarkable... It so simple compare to today's engine.... The Volvo classic engine is so neat compare to the cramp engine of the present cars of it size...... It was indeed a wonderful encounter at the basement carpark..... Happy that I could show this young couple the car of yesterdays years and enjoying doing it.... Indeed vintage cars have a place in our life.... It makes life interesting....Not only for the owner but as well others that admire it.....

Well... last night I stayed up late to watch the American senate special sitting on the subject of the happening in Iraq.... It was indeed good for democracy and it show the way democracy is working for the American people.... For the world it is another thing!!!.... Where is democracy in Iraq...... I wonder........ As far as I am concern this prison happenings in Iraq could be sum up in this Malay saying nasi dah jadi bubur translated into English 'Cooking rice, the rice has turn to porridge' and the sitting in Washington is like this saying menegak benang basah translated into English 'Trying to make a wet thread to stand straight'.... Well that is that and it is history now..... We all can only hope for the best.

The happening in Iraq regarding the prisoner sadden me.... Disgusting, outrage, inhumane, barbaric, uncivilized, insane.... I guess that's are some of the words to describe those atrocity committed bye those soldiers in Iraq..... Treating those Iraqi worse then animals.... Even animals have animals right..... What then for us Human.... It seem those who took part in this despicable act should not be considered as human.... To me they are worse the every evils that we have come to know.... Making it worse is that it came from the so call people in the civilized world in the west... America and the UK.... Who have been championing human right and yet its own people under their own nose committed this inhumane act...... So what now...... What has become to all those young soldiers, do not they believe in God anymore or are they all evils in the uniforms of the US and UK military...... Sad indeed for the world when countries that professed to be civilized stood so low and committed these act in this century...... What a shame and I believe this would be a really black mark for the invader of Iraq and just like the holocaust.... It would be remembered by all in the years to come as a black day in the history of humanity especially for the Iraqi....... What can we say when leaders are not responsible for their act.... They just put the blame on the few that are caught but they themselves should accept the blame and act accordingly... No amount of apologies or compensations could undo these despicable act.... I believe that this would also be a black day in the history of the USA and the UK..... This already happen.... Lets hope that it do not happen again..... Where are the UN and the Human right people... And the Geneva Convention.... Those leaderships that are responsible should be brought up to the court and see that justice is done....... And let us pray that these incident would never happen again....... We are human are we not!!..... Just take a Pause and think what would be our feeling be if those that are tortured are our love one......They are someone's loved one...... Then we would really understanding the feeling of those that suffered so much in Iraq now........ My sympathies goes to those the suffered..... Let us all pray for peace......

With the episode of the Bank passed..... And that we have to face such incident from time to time..... I just took it easy.... Went to the source bank and put my Plan B into action and hope that this part of the history of my life do not repeat itself...... And to forget about it.... And surely I have learned from it.... A new info, to broaden our knowledge and with that brought new wisdom to me..... To go living and enjoy life....In passing......

I went to the bank today to withdrew some money.... It was from my personal trust account...... Normally the service was quick and I had no problem of getting my money but this time the bank personal especially those that approved such withdrawal did not want to accept my signature.... They say that it is not the same with the invisible one on the bank book..... They keep insisting that I sign again and again and continue to say that it is not the same..... Of course it is not the same, how can two signature of a person be exactly the same..... As far as I know it is the concept of the signature that is important, since all signature would differ a little from the time you start using a signature... They keep saying that they would not give me my money although they had my Identity card and my driving license to check Me as the true owner of the account and the boss, a Women keep saying that my signature is not the same.... So I show her more of the my signature on a piece of paper, I repeat putting my signature in front of her and yet she still did not want to accept and at one instance She had the cheek to suggest that I put an 'a' so that my signature look like the one on the bank book...... What a crazy idea asking me to forge my own signature.... It look like this senior officer do not understand what a personal signature is.... I keep telling her that I had use this same signature from the age of eighteen and now I am sixty four years old....... Surely the signature change a bit...... At last she insist I put a thump print on the withdrawal paper, of which I did and she gave the go ahead for the withdrawal........ I believe if the boss is a man, this would not happen.... Something in this lady's boss that I felt is not right...... Especially her attitude and refuse to acknowledge that I am an old man and I do not believe that I look like a cheat or a liar..... Well I really got depressed with the attitude with this lady boss, since this is not the first time that I use this same bank...... I had no problem before..... Anyway I got my money and decided never to use this Bank again...... Does not senior bank personals get training to handle people and have some common sense.... This boss seem not to have any common sense at all..... They got all the proof that I am the real owner of the account and yet just because my signature is slightly differ from the one in the book.... They reject my withdrawal.... And only after some exchange of explanation and my thumb print did they give the ok to the withdrawal.......It wasted my time and of course the Banks time, for it takes almost half an hours to do just a small transaction.... I guess that we old folks has got to be extra careful when we put our signature on paper.... Since it differ from time to time and when we have such stupid bank personal like the one I encounter today, then we would be in trouble of not getting our money when we need most...... So after this incident I went to the source bank where I open my trust account and had my thumb print include beside the signature.... so that in future I would not encounter such incident again..... I hope.... And that they have more senior bank personals that are intelligent and have some humane in them..... Well as we age and the society began to change.... We would be facing more and more 'new' procedure and I believe as not to get depressed, we old folks should take its easy, for it is still not the end of the world.... and that the present boss in the bank would eventually get old and would probably face the same problem when they are in their golden age.... It is a vicious circle..... Life is like that........ What I hope that these young bosses would have more wisdom when dealing with the public especially with people like us.... in our golden age...... As for me I am glad that this happen now and because of it....I had put into action my Plan B for this type of withdrawal...... To survived in the ever changing world we have to be smart..... So to all my dear friends in the golden age group.... Do take it easy for we still have got lots to learn in this ever changing society.... Well life goes on..... With another interesting episode to share with the world..... Have a nice day......

......... It is the forth of May and it is already almost have a year into the year two zero zero four, see how times flies.....So fast.....I guess that when we do not care for time, it flies just like that..... You wake up in the morning, do all those little things that had to be done, to keep the house in a proper order, keep the cars clean, tends to the small garden and voila it is already twelve thirty or almost twelve thirty according to the clock on my computer..... It is always like that when I while away my time... Fun... When you have all the time in the world...... Have a mice day........

One of the best thing in life is freedom, freedom to think and do what you like.... I guess that man have been seeking freedom from time in memoriam.... The moment a child is born..... He or she seek freedom.... freedom to move, freedom to voice and the freedom to choose..... We continue to seek freedom..... But then at birth we are subject to indoctrination by our parent and they want us be in their own images in every respect.... So they keep to subvert our little brain with knowledge that they held as gospel truth... And in no time as the child grow up,certain program are embed in their little mind and eventually would last their entire life...... I believe we should only inculcate good value in our child as they grow.... Not those value of hate......This is the only way we could create a better human being for the next generation.... All religion teaches us to be good and give love all the time.... No religion teaches it follower to hate...... So if we all follow the true teaching of religion or faith we all would not be fighting in the name of religion.... For religion are not force unto us, we have a choice...... So let us follow the true teaching of our religion and continue to give love.... For only with love we could continue to live in peace and harmony in this planet that we share together...... So when we whisper God's message in the ear of the little one..... We should whisper love all the time.... In doing so the child would grow up to be a good human being......Thus contribute toward a better world for our species in the years to come..... God created Love.... So let us give love all the time......

Well at last I received an email from my dear friend in Malacca.... That guy that love to go on to the open sea and fish all day in his great boat.... He has many boats and is on the way of building a marina of a sorts on the sea front facing the straits of Malacca.... An adventurer indeed, full of zest and energy of a young man..... We had the opportunity to taste those fish that he regularly caught on his regular trip, we were invited to dinner at his home some time ago..... It was indeed a sumptuous meals prepared by his charming wife.... We have been have problem getting connected in cyberspace..... but the last few days I tried and tried and eventually I got a reply from him on my Yahoo site..... Great we are now in communication on cyberspace, a place that I love to wonder and enjoy visiting the various sites in cyberspace...... In his first mail to me he describe his adventurous journey from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca on the eve of the long holiday period this weekend..... The journey that would normally take 'toll to toll' just about one hour and to Malacca about two hours, took him six hours..... On the top of those clog highway and had to drive in a convoy all way from KL.... He had an overheated engine which eventually stalled..... But then like all great adventurer my friend Al is a man of great ingenuity, he managed to get the car going.... but without the most important ingredients of a good drive..... the air condition unit... it stop to work.... perhaps because of over work during the five hours journey from KL and it decided to take a break.... It did took a break without informing my dear friend Al.... And because of it he had to endure a heated journey to his home in Malacca..... and arrived in his great home like what He say... like a 'sotong kering' dried cuttle fishes...... Well that is life..... That's what make life interesting and plenty of tale to tell your grandchildren later on.... I told him in a reply to his mail that he is lucky to have his charming wife by his side at that time.... otherwise it would be worst.... driving without a companion to cool you down when you heat up is indeed an unfortunates time....so you are indeed lucky to have her at your side on that day..... when usually driving home is always in the cool comfort of you car.... but Al.... this is the real world and it is like that..... I guess it is because it is not a perfect world, that we all enjoy living in this blue planet and hope for the best , but the best does not come always..... So enjoy while the sun shine, for the sun do not always shine in the tropic.... where we make our home..... Malaysia a tropical paradise and you Al live beside the sea, which most would want to but just could only dream..... I envy you for that.... But then not everyone are as lucky as you... As for me I am indeed contented to live in my present home in the city... A home that I call a 'Pondok' Hut in English...... In a way to remind me of my past..... and at time try to relive those great time of our youth in the kampong........ where life is much simpler.... No air condition.... No car..... Just walk around and enjoy the good life.....

It is the first of May, a public holiday in this country and with Monday and Tuesday are holiday as well, city folks are heading toward other cities and holiday resorts for a weekends getaway with their family..... The highways to the north and south of Kuala Lumpur are clog with traffics heading toward their destinations out of Kuala Lumpur.... It is always like this when there are long holidays..... With prosperity come a new life styles and so are these new culture of holiday for these generation.... Unheard of before...... There was no such thing as going for a holiday when I was growing up in the forties and the fifties...... School holiday are when we would just go out camping with our friends in the scout movement on weekends.....We would go on a weekend expedition to near by countryside in search of adventure, we would band together, with our haversack on our back and in the scout uniform we would hike to those areas around our home town, usually just around a radius of about twenty kilometer away...... We would camp the night at the beach or beside rivers and enjoy the night life under the clear blue sky and the twinkle of millions of stars..... We would build campfire and sat around singing scout songs, drank hot coffee and ate stale biscuits.... At time when we are lucky to catch some fish or other seafood, we would grilled it on the hot amber at the site of the camp fire....It was nice to eat all those fresh seafood..... We would sit and sang all night and get to sleep in the tents and woke up with the morning sun........To see the sun is already up and the sky blue with patches of white clouds..... We normally would have breakfast of simple bread and jam or just some fried rice which is made of the left over rice that we had for dinner, coffee or tea and then out we go in search of adventure in the woods nearby....Hiking...Climbing hills or when we have a canoe....Would paddled up stream to catch crab..... We would built crab trap's made of bamboo and with baits of soil fish, would lay the trap on our way up stream and then on the way back would pick those traps with live black crabs in it...... which we would feast at lunch or dinner.... Sometime we would meet fisherman returning with their catch in the early hours of the morning.... and the left over are for our taking, free.... We would take want we want and then grilled it over open fire and enjoy those free meals of sea foods..... And then late on Sunday evening we would pack our things and head home, well satisfied with our weekend holiday........ That was then.... Now children would go on holiday with their parents..... just like what happen on this long weekend's holiday....... The roads are jam with traffics heading to... No where!!.... Or some where!!... Looking for adventure.... Just like we did before in those bygone era of our childhood.......