Cameron Highlands

Went for a weekend trip to Cameron. Stayed at the nice Bala's Holiday Chalet which had a nice tea garden. Not too fancy, but soothing and calm. First day was up to Mount Brinchang, where the highest road in peninsular Malaysia is. It had a nice viewing tower, and had at all for myself for about 5 minutes, before 5 full load of cars of other tourists came barging in! But anyway, the drive up to Mt Brinchang was just excellent. The view of vast huge hills of tea plantations was definately worth it.

I was enjoying the silence when they started coming and shouting at each other eventhough they're 1 feet apart. What the hell were these people thinking?! I drove long distances to enjoy a break from the noisy city, and these guys just wreck everything up. If I wanted to hear people shouting, i'd go to KL, not Genting! Pfftt.. Anyway, after that, went to stroll around the markets around Kea Farm: rose farms, honey farms, flower farms, etc. It just seemed like a normal weekend trip to the market for me, just with some different looking vegetables.

Music Studio at my fingertips

Just found out my office actually has a music studio. Drums, electronic piano, keyboard, shakers...only guitars are missing and need to be brought personally. This I feel would be a good opportunity to play everyday and improve my old and rusty skills.

Back in Malaysia

Guys, I'm back in MY. Just in time for the festive Eid celebrations. Had loads of fun gobbling loads of food and having laughs with family and relatives. Its good to be home.

Rome

I was a bit turned off when first arriving at Rome. The airport didn't seem much compared to KLIA or Schipol, the train to Roma Termini was old, had bad ventilation, and even worse, had engine problems and our travel stalled for about 20 minutes in the middle of nowhere. Though I really enjoyed the magnificent view of the Alps during the flight. We also made reservations at a bed-and-breakfast, which we had problems finding because it had no signboards at all. It was the kind of hostel without any reception, the entrace was like entering any normal apartment with doorbells on the outside shared by 8 other neighbours. It exterior was horrible. To my surprise, after going in, it was excellent. It's called Alberto & Maria Hostel, which had really nice rooms, comfortable beds, big enough bathroom and a kitchen. Maria (who was very friendly and warm) gave us a good map, tips, brochures...everything we needed to know and what to do in our 2 day stay. Excellent.

We arrived late in the afternoon, went out at 4 p.m headed to the Colleseum. We approached it from an amazing elevated view of Via Labicana. By the time we were inside, it was almost sunset. The strong orangish/yellowish colour from the sun shined perfectly on the Colleseum, and it was just jaw dropping. Next, a walk through the Roman Forum, then back to grab a cheese pizza and ate it on the street overlooking the Colleseum. It was almost dark, and the illuminating lights shooting at the Colleseum was a delightful view. Then, walked along Via dei Fori Imperiali and passed Capitoline Museum and all the other ancient buildings along the street. Every footstep was with awe, wondering how such amazing structures could exist 2000 years ago.

Next morning, we went to St Peter's Basilicca and afterwords, we spent the whole morning queueing for the Vatican Museum. As you may have already heard time and time again, Sistine Chapel is an amazing piece of work. The art was alive, moving, in 3D, jolting out like you're touching you, and you're touching them. All the neck ache was worth it, I don't think I'll ever see another beautiful interior of any other building again. I also met up with a long lost good friend. He and his lovely friends bought me yummy pasta for dinner and we had an amazing conversation to catch up. Time was unfortunately very short, and hope to see Lukas again, somewhere...

Colmar, France

Colmar without doubt is one of the most beautiful small towns I've ever seen. I enjoyed it not only because I got to visit my sister there, but also because of its vibrant but yet peaceful surroundings. I stayed at my sister's studio at Avenue de Fribourg, and started wandering around very early in the morning before the sun came up. No people were present except for a man cleaning the streets and a cafe owner preparing to open shop. The temparature wasn't too cold, light and brisk just the way I like it. It was quiet and peaceful, nothing to be heard except birds chirping, and there was smell of fresh baked bread. I knew it was going to be a start of a very good day. I had the opportunity to see the whole town wake up.


Walked through Rue Turenne and found Petite Venice (or little Venice - the most romantic spot in Colmar most people say). Then carried on forward to Place de L'ancienne Douane, Place de la Cathedral, Place de la Mairie, Place des Dominicans, all breathtaking squares with magnificent display of beauty. Every building and every street in Colmar is different and has its own unique surprises. Eventhough its a small town, so many little details impressed me that I needed to walk very slowly to appreciate every one of them. The buildings are in different shapes, form and colour. Some are green, blue, orange, pink...you name it, made me feel like I was in lego land. Some are marvelous and meticulous in architecture. Some have edgy, crooked and un-even shapes which makes you think you're in some kind of cute cartoon. Awesome. All these mixed wonders fusions Colmar into what it is. Bumped into a couple, overhearing them converse in Japanese. I say to the guy "Ohaiyo, nihon no kata desu ka?" (Morning..you're japanese?). He just replied "hmm" without any facial expression. I probably was intruding their privacy and joy, so I let them be.

Continued further to Place D'unterlinden. It was 9 a.m by the time I reached there, just when the Unterlinden Museum opened for entrance, so I went. I was at awe seeing the 13th to 15th century art work, especially the one's by Martin Schangauer. Some of the engravings needed to be under very dim light, to protect it from its delicate and vulnerable self from very old age. It also has various collections and paintings, sculptures representing renish art from the end of the middle ages to the Renaissance. Coming out from the museum was another surprise. The previously empty town, was suddenly filled with groups of tourists from Japan and Britain. Everybody had the look of a cheerful 5 year old. Many of the Japs brought their own drawing pads and paint brushes, sat in a corner...and painted.


Next was to the house where Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was born. Yup, the dude who sculptured the Statue of Liberty. Neighboring this is Pfister house and also the oldest house in Colmar. Then, went to Place Rapp, Bruat Fountain - monument of the commander of the french fleet (also work from Bartholdi). Next to this was a nice water tower. By 11.30 a.m, I covered most of Colmar (on foot), and enjoyed every second. Went back to my sister's place, then did the whole round again, this time together with her.

Learning to ski

My first skiing experience...and I loved it. Had a one hour session with a skiing instructor to learn the basics, and the rest 4 hours was just pure fun. I must say, I didn't do bad at all...I fell twice trying to do some stupid stunts, but everything else was just fine. Check it ouuut..


Anyway, since it wasn't winter, we cheated a bit by skiing in De Uithof , an indoor skiing/snowboarding/ice-skating/wall-climbing/other-sporting dome. I love skiing, but it really is an expensive hobby, especially for a Malaysian myslef, the nearest skiing slope would probably be somewhere in Japan...ouch!

Say hi to the Malaysian Olympic Skiing Team (and their cute coach)

Starting fresh..

I recently had my own blog at my own server using a free domain service. The free domain is having problems, and I really don't have enough time to administrate the server no more, so blogspot is the best next alternative I know.

If i have the time, i'll try and migrate my old blog entries. Have fun ..(or not)