HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 !

See - learn to see, and then you'll know that there is no end to the new worlds for our vision

Hear - there is nothing better than music as a means for the upliftment of the soul

Smell - the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories that we use it so little

Touch - it teaches us that life depth and contour, makes our sense of the world and ourself three-dimensional

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

The Legend of Sweeney Todd

The legend of Sweeney Todd began in print and lives again on screen ... very soon (this coming January 2008) .... read on !

The book start with this clause :- "Ladies and Gentlemen .... I have to state that Mrs Lovett's pies are made of human flesh !" This shocking announcement provides the stunning denouement to a narative first published over a period of four months in the winter of 1846-7. This marked the beginning notorious career of Sweeney Todd, soon known to legend as the 'Demon Barber' of London Fleet Street. A true early Classic British horror !
Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (UK and International version)
Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (USA & Canada Version)

Can't wait for the movie now ...... Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs Lovett (Directed by Tim Burton)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !

Its that time of year again ! Eventhough we don't have white Christmas in Malaysia every year but the atmosphere is no less interesting. Lights, decorations, gifts, shopping and celebration is everywhere.....just look around and you will deem to find something interesting and while doing that enjoy the decorations around too !
Mid Valley turned into Fairy Tale land this Christmas !
Cute decorations over at The Gardens, KL !
The giant Christmas Tree over at KLCC shopping Mall ... huge and tall !
A princess dream turned reality at The Pavilion.
Cute Frosty the Snowman greeting all Malaysian "MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR"
During each moment we are aware of something peaceful and beautiful, we water seeds of peace and beauty in us. Merry Christmas !

Happy Winter Solstice

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE ! Today is winter solstice day (every 22 December) ... according to us - chinese, this festival is even bigger than Chinese New Year ..... supposed to be the longest night in the chinese calendar. People eat Tang Yuen to keep their body warm during the cold month of December.
Its round in shape because the we believe that its symbolized harmony in the family = Tang Yuen !

We used to make Tang Yuen with no fillings but as we go by we've been spoilt with choices of Tang Yuen filling .... balck sesame, peanuts, red bean, etc.... YUMMY !

Of course, for us its not only Tang Yuen for dinner tonight but with fish, chicken and all sorts of vegatable to make the whole dinner complete !

The ordinary arts we practice everyday at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest !

Live & Loud Music KL 2007

1 Dec 2007 - Turn on the Pop (Live and Loud Music KL 2007) at Bukit Kiara Equestarian Park.
What a night ! with performing artistes like : Whitney Houston, Shaggy, Elliot Yamin (International) ; Jaclyn Victor, Anuar Zain (Loacl) singing from 3pm till late ....

The party really started at about roughly after 9pm when the more popular artistes performed ... started off with many local singers like Jaclyn and Anuar belting out many pop tunes to pleased the crowd ......
The group of local singers belting out pop songs like "That's what friends are for"....

After the local singers left the stage, next came Shaggy....with his favourite Jamaican style reggae ! ... the crowd went wild during his performance.

Last but not least .... everybody waited for the whole day for this, and at about 12:30am came on stage, our diva forever Miss Whitney Houston ! ... she looked good on stage, belting out her greatest hits like Greatest Love of All to the later My Love is Your Love .... its quite obvious her drugs problem did affect her vocals to some extent .... but above all that, she did saved the best performance for last .... its the song "I Will Always Love You" that everyone remembered and brought back home with them. Nobody can do that song better than the original singer herself !
Whitney in two of her outfit during her performances .... she even did a number with her daughter !

We will wait for her to come out with her album next year !

Out and About in Yogyakarta (Jogja)

My last stop in Indonesia before heading back home - Yogyakarta ! Its a very sunny day indeed and everything was good, started the day with yet another Kraton (palace) in Yogyakarta. Apparently the king himself still lives there ! Not much excitement over at that place but just ok to start the day off.

After the visit to the main Kraton in Yogyakarta, we stop by briefly at the Water Castle (that was once the majestic kingdom of the kings) .... it looks like buildings in Greece to me lah ! .... see for yourself below .... does it look similar to the houses in Greece ?

Volcano eruption is very common in Indonesia and just to prove that we went over to mount Merapi (the volcano that is still active and will still erupt anytime) You can see the dried up lava from the pictures .... cannot imagine how big this is until you are actually there !


Its quite a relaxing day as we even got a chace to do some shopping in town in between our visitation and sightseeing. Went over to Malioboro street to get some bargain stuffs .... lots of souvenirs, T-shirts at very reasonable prices....heaven for the shopaholics !

After the hectic shopping that we did, finally headed to the famous beach in Yogyakarta - Parangtritis (translated into english as a sharp knife = "parang" to be exact) to enjoy the sunset of Yogyakarta. We saw the sunrise in Borobudur and now its time for sunset in Parangtritis beach and the sight not dissapointing at all - very beautiful with cool sea breeze and cocunut trees swaying .... what a way to end the night with !



It was a good holiday and a great way to re-charge myself....away from the busy KL life and schedule. No e-mails, No stress .... absorbing to the nature of things as it is !

Recapturing the sense of wonder - All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today !

......ooops ! forgot about some miscellaneous photos that i took, the 4 star hotel that i stayed in - Jayakarta hotel (about 20 minutes to the key shopping area in Jogja - Malioboro Street) Very nice surrounding in the hotel, with swimming pool and nice facilities !

Other miscellaneous picture of Yogyakarta the city from old kampungs to high street !

Amazing Borobudur

Borobudur - the biggest Buddhist temple in the world ! Another world heritage (and its even older than Angkor Wat) ......

The temple was built in 3 tiers, each reprensenting a different meaning or stage in a person's life. Many stupas found all over the temple with seated buddha statute in them and if its correct, there should be 72 of them (but due to illegal activities of selling these historical items, many were stolen, destroyed or un-found).


The Amazing Sunrise at Borobudur ! Look at the sea of clouds under the shining sun ..... definately worth to get up as early as 4:00am on that day to see this.

Not forgetting the hotel that we stayed in. Its inside Borobudur park, so we can get up early to catch the sunrise .... Hotel Manohara !

The Bodhi tree - a symbol of the buddha's presence.

The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world !