LAISI

It Is Tough Job Doing A Woman's Job

2009-11-14T01:58:00.002+08:00

Take it from me it is a tough job. How do I know? I just did it for two weeks recently when I had to take care of my 3 months old grandson Adam Hakimi. Adam's mum Ijjah had to attend a compulsory 2 weeks induction course when she missed doing it earlier when she was in her late stage of pregnancy when she was carrying Adam.
His dad had to work as he had almost utilized most of his annual leave. But he will be around to help me look after Adam during the night when he is back from work. I also had the option to send Adam to his day minder in the nearby housing area of Shah Alam but the prospect of having to bundle Adam in the car to take him to the minder was too cumbersome.
The day's chore start from 5 AM or thereabout when Adam wakes up after soiling his diapers. The diaper had to be changed otherwise Adam will feel uncomfortable. After washing him up and a new change of diaper, a small bottle of milk will put him back to sleep. The problem was Adam was not fully weaned off his mother's milk and put on powdered milk. Thought he wasn't breastfed all the time, he was fed with his mother's milk which was kept in the fridge after being expressed. Adam had yet to acquire the taste of powdered milk and never suck with gusto whenever he was fed with it. It is always a game trying to get him to suckle the whole 5 oz of milk per feed. Sometimes he would even throw them up.
Should he go to sleep, I would use the available time to wash up the used bottles before sterilizing them using the recently bought sterilizer. Prior to this sterilization was done by immersing the bottles an nipples in freshly boiled water which I disagree as it was inadequate. So we bought the sterilizer from Kedai Annakku at the Giant Supermarket closeby. I was hoping to buy the smaller sterilizer which could be put into the Microwave oven and heated up. They didn't have the stock and had only this stand alone sterilizer which cost my son almost RM200. Anyway it was money well spent as the unit could sterilize 9 bottles plus all the peripherals in one go. Luckily they had received ample number of quality feeding bottles as gift so 9 bottles were available for use thus reducing the need for frequent sterilization.
While the sterilizer is doing it's work I will do my Subuh prayers. There is no need to shut off the sterilizer unit as it will automatically shut itself off.
Next on my job will be to prepare breakfast for myself as my son Azuan will have breakfast at the office. My breakfast was a simple one as I kept ample stock of bread or cereals handy. Then only will I handwash Adam's clothes which did not really require much scrubbing, followed by my own clothes which needed abit more use of the muscles. They will all be put to dry in the shade of the corridor.
Adam will usually wake up around 9 AM having wetted his diapers and perhaps soiled it too with his poo. It is time to bathe him. A small tub of warm water will be prepared and when the temperature is right, Adam really enjoyed his bath. By the way do you know how to check the water temperature in the baby's tub? Many parents including mums do not know. We use the elbow to test the water temperature so that it will never be too warm for the baby. Why the elbow and not the fingers? Try both methods and you will know the reason.
After drying Adam with his own towels, he will be rubbed with baby's oil, followed by baby's powder. A dash of Amway's baby liniment will be applied to the stomach, back, behind the ankle and soles of the feet will ensure that he will not suffer from bloat. He will be given another feed after being dressed up in fresh clothes. Adam will have another siesta and it is during this time that I will cook lunch.
Since young I was brought up with ikan singgang as 'lauk'. The ikan singgang will be heated up daily to prevent it from going bad however long you keep it. I guess the asam keping, salt, galanggal and gula Melaka in place of MSG are great preservative and the dish not only will last but also acquire a better taste. The ikan singgang can later be fried to give it a most exquisite taste. Only those who have lived on such food can tell or relate to the heavenly taste of fried ikan singgang. Make sure that not much of the gravy is left on the fish otherwise it will result in the popping of the hot frying oil from the kuali.
Should Adam feel comfortable enough and sleep longer, I will use the opportunity to paint.
When the sun is setting down and the evening heat is bearable, I will take Adam down in the pram to the ground floor from the 13th floor where we lived. Adam seemed to loved the outdoor as much and will often go to sleep at the end of the walk.
Dinner will be a simple affair too. Sometimes my son will bring home food for me eliminating the need to have dinner on ikan singgang all the time. It will now be his turn to look after his baby. I can have my rest.
So that was how I survived daily.
Midway through the stay, Adam developed nappy rash. Raw flesh was detected on his bottom. I had never experienced this before with any of my children or grandchildren. He seemed to be defecating too often too which worries me to no end. Could he be having diarhoea? It was time to take him to the clinic. When Azuan returned from work, we took Adam to a clinic somewhere in Shah Alam. A lady doctor by the name of Dr. Indra was on duty. We told her that the baby was suffering from rash and she confirmed it was nappy rash and will be giving the medication for it. The next problem of the suspected diarrhea was a bit hilarious. Dr. Indra wanted to know the frequency of the baby's daily poo and the color of the stool. Since Azuan had been leaving that part of the duty to clean his baby up to me, Azuan looked up to me for answers. When I tried to answer, Dr. Indra wanted the dad to answer as she thought he was the one looking after the baby. When told that I was the one doing it, she started questioning about the where about of Adam's mother and since the mother was not available, where is the grandmother?
Dr. Indra shook her head in disbelief after getting the answer that only the grandfather is avaialble to look after Adam as the mother and grandmother were teachers and couldn't get away from work.
As to the color of the stool, I did bring along a sample in the form of a soiled diaper for the doctor to see. It wasn't necessary as at that very moment Adam did pushed some fecal out with a small grunt. When a nurse took over Adam from his father, she couldn't help noticing and making a remark that Adam's booties didn't match.
The doctor couldn't confirm as to whether Adam was having diarhoea or not and asked us to bring him again if the frequency of stooling was too often. She must have been out of touch with babies as she couldn't tell how many times is too many times.
Anyway since Adam wasn't feeling uncomfortable with the frequent stooling, we didn't bring him back to the clinic and took them as normal.
On another occasion, Adam was having nasal congestion. His discomfort was partly eased by the application of Vicks Vapour Up which eased his discomfort somewhat only to recur after the effect wore off. It was during such times that we our self had to suffer the stress of not having enough rest and sleep.
However happy I was at having my grandson to look after, I was even happier when his mum returned from her course and I did not have to look after him more than the agreed two weeks. During that two weeks I lost 4 kg of weight. A good enough reward for me.
Doing a woman's job is indeed tough job. Just imagine if you have to conceive as well and carry the baby for 9 months!

I Need Your Contact Numbers

2009-11-12T07:12:00.003+08:00

Thief (thieves) broke into my house in the early morning of 11th November 2009. I lost my handphone and all the contact numbers in it. To all of my friends please sms me your contact numbers to my 0199125647 so that I can rebuild my phonebook. Please don't forget to include your name otherwise I may not be able to discern your name unless you include it.
We didn't lose much as the thief only took away a copper jug we bought from Mecca in 1997, my Seiko Kinetic watch, two old handphones including my Motorola and a bottle of water. Well those are the few things we could discern as missing.
Thank you.

Pahang Artists Art Exhibition @ TV3

2009-10-28T01:50:00.005+08:00

After almost a week from it's opening on 21st October 2009 that I managed to get to TV3's Sri Pentas to see the art exhibition by Pahang Artists. Since it was being organized by a fellow blogger Datin Mamasita of the famous blog Mamasita Mamamia, I felt compelled to attend the exhibition not only to lend support for her monumental effort but also to learn a thing or two about arts from the many works of the many fine artists of Pahang. I promised to attend the show on the previous day but a mini gathering of my classmates from the class of 1968 Sekolah Menenggah Sultan Ibrahim Pasir Mas at a friend's house somewhere in Ampang had consumed the better part of the afternoon leaving me with little time to visit the exhibition.
It was a blessing in disguise really as visiting the exhibition on Tuesday 27th. of October 2007 had better offerings than the previous day. For starters Datin Mamasita had promised that other fellow bloggers such as Dato' Jaffar Lamri of Jaff Points and Puteri Kamaliah of Kata Kama would be attending too. I was anxious to meet Dato' Jaffar as my last meeting with him was the first meeting at Kinokuniya KLCC where Awang Goneng had his GUiT book signing which was almost two years ago. Puteri did not attend today's event for some reasons or other, after all she had attended it earlier on the first day. Dato' Jaffar came to collect his precious Ayam Serama painting which he had purchased at his first visit on the opening day.
I was one of the early arrival for the afternoon and Dato Jaffar came shortly after. Here we posed for a photograph with Datin Mamasita being the organizer and one of the prominent artist from Pahang, Osman Limat.

From left to right: Pak Zawi, Osman Limat, Dato' Jaff and Datin Mamasita.

The lobby of Sri Pentas where the exhibition was held.

Dato' Jaff was taking his duly wrapped Ayam Serama to the car when I pleaded to see the painting before he took them home. Dato' Jaff he willingly obliged.

Such is the beauty of the painting of the pair of Ayam Serama which Dato' Jaff bought.

Another great piece at the exhibition was Melombong by Osman Limat or Pak Man as he is affectionately known.

Melombong carried a tag of RM15,000.00. It was later bought by The Malaysian Ambassador to the United States YB. Dato' Jamaluddin Jarjis.

Another exquisitely beautiful piece being displayed. I had requested another beauty from TV3 to pose beside it. See how they complemented each other.

A bit later another great painter by the name of Yusof Gajah came with his wife Puan Zakiah. We adjourned to the cafeteria for some teh tarik. I made the most of the situation to learn a thing or two from the master himself whose single painting could fetch a whopping RM100,000.00. I would be more than happy to receive one hundredth of that for my own painting, let alone RM100K!

Pak Zawi listening attentively from the master himself.

Datin Mamasita took care of Puan Zakiah, the wife of Pak Yusof Gajah. Puan Zakiah was the pillar of strength that supported Yusof Gajah's career as a painter. Read Mamasita's blog to learn more of her contribution to their success where Yusof Gajah had risen from the brink of failure.

The discussion between Dato' Jaff and Yusoff Gajah was so interesting that I had to bring myself closer to know what it was all about.

Dato' Arif Sabri of the popular Sopo blog Sakmongkol AK47 is Datin Mamasita's other half. Here he was seen holding court while Dato' Jaffar, Yussof Gajah and yours truly listened with interest. Dato' Sak as we affectionately called him was the man behind the exhibition as he was keen to help budding Pahang Artists to succeed.

My son Azrin who had been acting as my photographer had a shot of himself with such luminaries as Dato' Jaff, Dato' Sak and Yusof Gajah. Thanks to him because without him I would hardly have any pictures of myself.

At 5 PM we gathered at the entrance to the TV3 lobby to wait for the Bigspender in the form of the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States of America YB. Dato' Jamaluddin Jarjis who happened to be a close friend of Dato' Sak. They had grown up together in Pekan. It was at the invitation of Dato' Sak that Dato' JJ came to the show. Such is the influence of Dato' Sak, the man with the AK47.

Dato' JJ shaking the hand of Osman Limat, the painter of Melombong

Datin Mamasita doing her level best to get Dato' JJ to buy as many paintings as possible. She must have suggested that Dato' JJ buy the most expensive one as a gift for President Obama himself.

Azrin's hand must have trembled so much having to photograph the Malaysian Ambassador with the guests that the camera shook. He was so awed by the moment that a few other guests and even his dad were left out of frame.

Before leaving for another function at Sri Pentas, Dato' JJ mentioned about the possibility of holding a similar exhibition in the US! Wow, that will be great. That gave Datin Mamasita the idea of holding a similar exhibition for The East Coast Artists ( Pahang, Terenganu and Kelantan) in London at Malaysia Hall. Please pray for us all that it will materialize one day. We will need sponsorship from Malaysian Tourisms and other governement agencies of course.

Before I left the premise of Sri Pentas, Mat Noor, the host of Jejak Rasul passed by and I asked for a photo with him which he and his friend obliged. My wife Fatthiyah is also an avid follower of the Jejak Rasul series. Mat Nor is the host of Jejak Rasul.
I left Sri Pentas with a contented heart as on that day I had met so many fine artists from Pahang and learnt so much from Yusof Gajah, another world reknowned artist from Pahang.
The next blog will be about another visit to a private Gallery of En. Hilmi Yusoff, the son of the famous artist from Kelantan, the late Yusoff Abdullah. I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be allowed to visit the private gallery which I did on the previous Saturday in Shah Alam, courtesy of another blogger friend Wan Asmadi aka Sangkelate who is a cousin of Hilmi.

Blogging From Shah Alam

2009-10-21T05:51:00.001+08:00

Many things happened since I came to Shah Alam on Wednesday 14th October. That day itself was my 59th birthday. My wife Fatthiyah celebrated it a day earlier and had a nice dinner on a floating restaurant by the name of Cerana at a place called Pengkalan Datu in Bachok Kelantan. It was really quite a romantic dinner. I should be doing it more often and I like the seafood served there. Though the place is in Bachok, it is much nearer to Kota Bharu.
Azrin picked me up at KL LCCT and he sent me to my other son's place in Shah Alam where I will be taking care of Adam Hakimi. Azrin and family was on his way back to his in law's place in Taiping. Anyway I wanted very much to view the semi D house that Azrin wanted to buy at Subang Alam. Since it was along the way to Shah Alam from Enstek Labu, it was quite convenient to stop and view and perhaps give an idea on whether the place is really worth the lifetime of repayment that he will have to endure.
Subang Alam is a new housing area being carved out of a former oil palm plantation. The developer had maintained the undulating landscape and not resort to flattening of the whole area as is sometimes the case. It was tastefully done befitting a medium end living. Houses in this twenty acres of low density housing area cost anything upward of RM800K.

The signboard infront of the sale office and the show house.

The house that Azrin is buying is the one in the middle.

The proud new owner to be.

Azrin was lucky in the sence he gets to buy a house in the almost completed phase. What happened was the original buyer didn't manage to secure the loan to buy the house and the sales manager of the project offered Azrin to buy the house instead of waiting for the completion of the houses in the next phase which is yet to be constructed. Even as it is the house is expected to be handed the CF sometimes in May next year.

Azrin had a bad experience before this when he bought a house in Bukit Jelutong where the previous state government had carved a section of the forested land adjacent to Bukit Cherakah and alloted the land to developers who had no license whatsoever to d0 a housing development. Things went haywire after the change of the state government and the development of the area came to a complete stop after only the earthwork was done. Even the individual land titles were yet to be obtained and yet the bank which approved Azrin's RM320K loan had disbursed RM200K. When Azrin didn't service the loan, the bank recalled the loan and asked Azrin to settle something about RM700K. Some Islamic loan! Later Azrin engaged the services of a lawyer and the bank meekly agreed to settle for just the amount disbursed plus the overdue interest and the total sum came to about RM240K with Azrin calling the shot on how much initial payment and monthly payment to be paid back. It seemed the bank had disbursed the money without adhering to the proper procedures. They were lucky as the matter was not reported to Bank Negara and were happy to get their money back. Azrin was lucky as his nightmare at last came to an end and not had to pay the RM700K as demanded. Hopefully he will recoup his money when the land title is obtained and the land sold. Now all potential borrowers just beware some Islamic loans offered by some banks could be worse than the non Islamic ones.

My first night in Shah Alam was a relaxed one as Azuan's wife Ijjah was still around.

The next morning we sent Ijjah to the place where chartered busses were waiting to send Ijjah and her colleagues to attend the induction course at Pangkor Island.

Immediatley after that Azuan took me to Sunway to buy some art materials especially canvass as I didn't bring any from home. There were all sort of sizes and grades. It was really fun buying art materials in KL. I bought various canvass sizes from 12" x 12" to 24" x 30". If they would accept credit cards, I would have bought even more as I didn't have much cash on me.

That Thursday evening my wife Fatthiyah flew in and Azuan picked her up at LCCT while I waited at home in Shah Alam. She will be here till Sunday and will fly back to Kelantan on the first flight on Monday. So for that few days I have an assistant to take care of Adam.

The next day Dalilah Tamrin aka Raden Galoh of One Breast Bouncing came with her husband Saiful to pick up her two paintings. We were very happy to play host to them. They couldn't stay too long as the time given to them to park their car at the taxi pickup point was just half an hour and when the half hour was consumed, the securities called on the intercom to remind us that our guest must leave. Parking is a big problem at this apartment and the securities are too happy to clamp your car should you breach any of the rules as it will mean a fine of RM50 to declamp. I guess it is time to sell this apartment and get my son to buy another better place to live.

Later that night we had Kerp of Let's Go Land came with his pretty fiancee. They will be getting married come March and Kerp invited me over for the reception. Kerp gave me an Italian cap knowing that I collect them.

Being wheelchair bound, the security people allowed Kerp to park his car near the entrance to the apartment. It was kind of thoughtful of them to have a soft spot for such disabled people. So Kerp and partner could stay longer at our place to chat.

The next day was a Saturday. The area near the Shah Alam Stadium had a carnival in the form of Sua Rasa being organized by TV9 and Celcom. Non of our family member bothered to go even though we could hear all the fanfare happening there.

From the balcony of the apartment we could see the goings on at the carnival. Even the singing was heard loud and clear.

When the helicopter hovered to take an aerial shot, I took a shot at it (with my camera of course).

When our two other children Azura and Azrin came with their families, they started litting up the candles on a cake to celebrate my birthday. The grandchildren cried "Wow! So many candles" My children gave me a set of leather belt and wallet as my birthday present.
The grandchildren were eager to blow out the candles and they did just that before going back to their PS2 games which Irsyad had just acquired using his duit Raya to pay part of the cost. They didn't even bother to eat the cake though it was bought from Secret Recipe. Well even the elders didn't eat up much.

The grandchildren just enjoyed singing the birthday song and blowing out the candles, after that it was the PS2 games for them.

After all that was done we crammed into Azrin's SUV and headed for Pantai Dalam for an Open house at Su's flat. Su is a close friend of my daughter Azura. After parking the car it rained heavily and we had to take shelter at the police's block of flats.

I can't resist taking the picture of five of my grandchildren sitting on a bench. Right across the road there was an Indian Resotoran with this peculiar sounding name. Hopefully somebody may not mispronounce it's name.

When the rain subsided, we walked over to Su's flat to enjoy the food served at the hallway of the flat which was abit cramped with the number of guests. Under the circumstances city flat dwellers will have to make do with whatever is available when you are 10 storeys above the ground.

Su in lighter shirt with my Azrin's wife Yanie in black T shirt.

While on the way to Su's flat, we noticed the beautiful murals on the walls of the flat starting from the lift. This is the work of one of the flat dwellers to cheer up the mood of the dwellers on that floor. With that kind of murals, vandals are deterred from defacing the walls with grafiti. The guy who did it must be a formidable artist.

Fatthiyah had her photograph taken with Azura, Lis, As and Irsyad with one of the beautiful murals in the back ground.

We returned to Shah Alam.

It was Saturday night and we were invited to yet another Raya open house at En. Termizi aka Pak Abu and his wife Puteri Kamaliah of the famous blog Kata Kama. The family lives at the Sri TTDI condo in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail not far from Shah Alam. We were abit late and the parking area was already full of cars. Since the function was held at the poolside area, it was easy to locate the place at it was immediately at the entrance to the condo.

Though this is my first meeting with Puteri and Pak Abu, they were such gracious host that we felt so welcome.

The family with Puteri Kamaliah.

Yours truly with Pak Abu in the dark red baju Melayu.

Kay Leeda of the blog Sembang At Kay's was the other blogger at the function. The others who had confirmed attendance such as Raden Galoh, Elviza and Jaflam were unable to do so due to reasons of their own. Elviza was having a Deepavali dinner with a client, Raden may not be feeling well and when I called Dato' Jaffar, he was having a sore throat.

Another picture of the guests at Puteri Kamaliah's open house.

Sunday morning in Shah Alam means Pasar Pagi near the Stadium Shah Alam. This Sunday's Pasar Pagi will be more meaningful and crowded as it is also the second day of Sua Rasa. Fatthiyah wanted to go to the Giant Supermarket next to the Pasar Pagi so we drove over and parked almost near the supermaket. As usual the pasar pagi was crowded with the added attraction of Sua Rasa. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The police showing their more powerful new cars, the Mitsubishi Evos. Hopefully they will be fat enough to catch the many snatch thefts that are occurring almost daily all over the country.
TV9 staff cajoling the crowd to join them for the poco poco dance. Many did and they seemed to enjoy themselves while having an excercise.

The power gliders hovering over the area.

A baby fast asleep while the mum was busy selling her wares.

That eveing we sent Fatthiyah to Enstek Labu. She will be catching the first flight back to Kelantan at LCCT on Mondayand had to be at the airport by 6.45 am the latest. Sleeping over at Azrin's place will be the best way to get her to the airport on time as it is a mere 15 minutes drive away.

While in Shah Alam, I did find time to paint. This is only possible when Adam Hakimi was having his sleep.

The first painting I did was of the white tulips for a friend's wife in Johor Baru follwed by the Flowers of Sanserveria. The second painting is on a 20" x 30" canvass and not meant for anybody yet. Any takers for this painting?

The painting of an autumn scene on the top of this post is a small painting of 12" x 18". It was done in preparation for a painting for Kak Teh of a Choc A Blog fame who promises to send the latest autumn picture of London showing all the golden hues imaginable.

Milik Siapakah Tulips Ini?

2009-10-11T13:18:00.001+08:00

Who owns these tulips?

Sometimes it is hard to part with something that you create. Though it was created for someone else, you feel it is a part of you that you are giving away. No doubt you can create another one but a new creation will not be the same anymore.
The above painting was created for a friend who wanted me to do an abstract. My own understanding is that an abstract should only be done by a experienced painter who has done everything else other than abstract. After accomplishing all the other forms of paintings then the painter deserve to do an abstract. Pak Zawi is a new painter though quite old in age so Pak Zawi doesn't dare attempt an abstract, not just yet.
Now let us see the following paintings.

Do you like them? Can we consider the above creations as abstract paintings? Don't expect the painter to be able to tell anything about their creation as they are my grandchildren ranging in age from 2 to 5 years old with the youngest being Syakirah, elder sister Ayen who is 3 and half years old and eldest brother Irsyad. Maybe I should learn from them on how to do an abstrart painting as they seem to be very good at it.
Anyway I didn't do the abstract as requested but did a painting of the tulips. The first one is with the focus on a single flower while the others are blurred out. The painting was sent to the owner by courier today and hopefully it will reach the owner by tomorrow or the latest day after.
The next painting of tulips is done impressionist style. The earlier attempt was shown to the intended owner and he was very happy with it. Now with one oh his request done, there are two more to be done for him. This is a special project as he had requested for a bigger painting of 24" x 30" which is much larger than the usual 18" x 24" or the 20" x 24" as done for the tulips.
The painting below will be sent to the ultimate owner when the other two are ready.

Colorful Tulips.

Tulips are beautiful colorful flowers. There are so many hues and colors of tulips and newer varieties with a multitude of colors are being bred all the time. They have even managed to breed the black tulips.
Do we know that some tulips are being grown locally? They are grown on Maxwell Hills near taiping where the temperature is quite cool, but the bulbs are still imported from Holland though.
As to the owners of the paintings, I will reveal them in due course.

Nannying Duty In Shah Alam

2009-10-08T08:02:00.004+08:00

Adam with his mum Ijjah.

Pak Zawi will be out of action from the 14th - 30th October 2009. It may not be totally out as I will still have the internet access since I will be staying at my son's place in Brunsfield Service Apartment in Section 13 Shah Alam. The action meant is from painting and gardening. They maybe slightly hampered and of course the gardening will be totally out.

The two weeks in Shah Alam will be spent looking after my 8th grandson Adam Hakimi, my son Azuan's first child. The reason is that his mum will be away for the duration to attend an induction course in Pangkor, Perak.

Pak Zawi being a pensioner, is the only person available for duty will do the job just like what Pak Zawi did for Balkis in Labuan when when her mum had to rejoin college full time. Only difference this time is Adam will be only 3 months old compared to Balkis being 4 months old.

Over the years of helping my sister with her first child and helping my own wife with our children, Pak Zawi has became adept at handling babies. So don't worry about whether Pak Zawi can handle the job of feeding, bathing and changing the nappies. Pak Zawi is an old hand at it.

While Pak Zawi is around KL, Pak Zawi would like to meet up with blogger friends who could make time to visit Pak Zawi in Shah Alam. Just give Pak Zawi a call at 0199125647 and Pak Zawi will come down to the lobby of Brunsfield Service Apartment (not far from Shah Alam Stadium) to meet up.

The Sunday morning market at Stadium Shah Alam is the best place to do your purchase of your kitchen's need. We could also meet up there for breakfast.

In a way Pak Zawi is happy to be going to Shah Alam because it will provide Pak Zawi with an opportunity to meet up with some blogger friends. On the other hand Pak Zawi feels sad to leave the other half all alone by herself which Pak Zawi had been doing for several years before retirement while working away from home. Leaving the small patch of the recently started vegetable gardening is unbearable too. As to painting, Pak Zawi will try to find time when Adam takes his sleep or simply paint beside him while he is resting in his crib or in his pram at the apartment's playing area. Of course Pak Zawi will be free when Adam's dad take over the nannying duty and he is not working.

OK my friends, lets meet. Pak Zawi promise you a cup of tea at least.

Paintings Available

2009-10-05T12:55:00.004+08:00

The Sanserviera (Lidah Jin) (SOLD TO RADEN GALOH)

I have been working very hard to fulfill the request for paintings by my friends. Financial factor has made me broke my own ethics by not adhering strictly to the order of request. For that I unreservedly apologize to you my friends who has ordered paintings from me.
These are the list of people who had expressed their desire to have one or more of my paintings and I will refresh the list to show who have received their paintings and who haven't and the reason for the delay.

1. Zendra Hassan.
She wanted Pak Zawi's first painting and she got it.
2. Mek Yam.
Deferred delivery to January because she wont be back in New York till January.
3. Oldstock
Two paintings Delivered by courier. Should be receiving them today or tomorrow.
4. Zakrey Mohd Nor.
Collected when he came for Raya.
5. Wan Nordin (GUiKP).
Collected when he came to Raya.
6. Tuan Haji Ariffin Mamat (Pakpayne)
His 10 paintings are in KL to be displayed at the coming PESENI Kelantan's Exhibition at Balai Berita KL in November.
7. Dato' Jaffar Lamri.
Delivered.

The following people's request have yet to be fulfilled:
1. U Lee
2. Awang Goneng/Kak Teh.
Waiting for confirmation.
3. Aminah Harun.
4.Dilla Seri Kembangan
5. Zaiton Ghani (Zaitgha)
Still scratching my head on what to draw for an abstract)
6. Teoh Yew Aun.
7. HJ Angus.
Hope you can bear with me for awhile. All orders by my family members has been cancelled as they can wait until all other people's orders are fulfilled.

New orders:
1. Pakpayne - Traditional Kelantan Fishing Boat
2. Zainal Siwar (JB)
The order is for 3 paintings of sunset and flowers of 24" x 30". These size is much bigger than the usual paintings that I have done which are of 18" x 24" and lately of 20" x 24". Need to do new stretch frames for it.

The following paintings are now available. Those who are interested to buy the following paintings please email Pak Zawi at mohdzawi@gmail.com. I have problem in deciding who to offer the painting to. So just put in your request and Pak Zawi will consider who to give. As to the price, just offer whatever you can afford. This is not a an auction so there is no need to outbid each other. It is just a way for me to determine which painting goes to whom.
All paintings are of 20" x 24" except for Heliconia 3 which is 18" x 24".
All paintings will be accompanied by a brief note about it upon delivery to the subsequent buyer.

The Pink Lotus

Sunset At Likas Bay.

The Papayas.

Heliconia 3 (18" x 24")
The White Cockerel.

The Sanserviera
This painting is being framed as I want to use it for the coming exhibiton. It was earlier painted for my son Azuan. He has decided that I should sell it to fulfill some of my friends requests. Should there be a buyer for this painting, it must be agreed to allow it to be shown at the exhibition in November and the price must include an extra RM100 for the frame. Since it is being framed with a double frame, the cost of shipment to an overseas destination will be prohibitive and so only those who are residing in Malaysia is encouraged to buy this painting.

Recently Pak Zawi was given some oil paints by Tuan Syed Halim Jamalullail, a close friend of Pak Zawi. Tuan Syed Halim is also a painter. As a token of our friendship, Tuan Syed or Ayahku as I call him gave me 3 tubes of oil paint of the brand Rowney Georgian which was made in England. Ayahku had been keeping it for more than 2 decades since he bought it when he was living in Penang. He had also lent Pak Zawi The Book of Art to help Pak Zawi to produce an abstract painting for Zaitgha.

Ayahku, thank you for the oil paint.

Hopefully the above paintings can fulfill some of your requests.

This morning Tuesday 6, Pak Zawi has received a text message from Dato' Jaafar Lamri who has received his painting by Pak Zawi. Read about it at his blog Jaff Point.

Back To Gardening

2009-09-29T16:40:00.000+08:00

Do you still remember the last time Pak Zawi did some gardening in this area? The area was turning into a productive vegetable plot when together with another neighbor we cleared the area of shrubs and grasses and tilled the soil to plant various vegetables. We had to stop the gardening because the landowner came with a team of surveyors as he wanted to build his house then.
Now it has been several months and no sight of any building activity and the area is covered with shrubs and mimosa which we fear may harbour dangerous snakes and other pests such as rats.
The need to exercise is another reason why Pak Zawi wants to go back to gardening. It doesn't matter if I don't get to harvest anything, the strenuous work of clearing the place of the luxurious growth of mimosa plants and other weeds will be good exercise for Pak Zawi. A blogger friend who lives on the Island of Pulau Kapas has been given me great advice on diets and all the rigeurs on how to keep fit. Exercise is the most important he said. I must sweat it out beside taking healthy food, food supplements and whatnot. he said I will paint better if I am in the best of health as a healthy mind is only found in a healthy body. thank you Tokuban of The Captain's Longhouse or the Pirate of The South China Sea as he sometimes called himself.
The best way to sweat it out is by gardening. So here I am, doing it again on a piece of idle land in front of my house. If time permits I may get to harvest the fruit of my labour, otherwise I will just enjoy sweating it out and at the same time keep the area free of unwanted weeds.

Hard at work using the brush cutter.

Tried an an experiment to see whether machines can work on there own. The conclusion: Machines need humans to get it working. Only that machines help to make the work done faster with less effort.

how the area looked after a short workout.

How the area looks after another evening of clearing away the grasses and shrubs and use of the changkul to clean weed the grasses.
Today Pak Zawi bought some vegetable seeds comprising of kangkong, bayam, sawi, choy sam, ladies fingers and sweet corns. The idea is to start planting on a small patch at a time without waiting for the whole area to be cleared up. This way I hope to be able to harvest early those vegetables that will be planted earlier.
So about 4 weeks from now I will be harvesting some early crop of kangkong or bayam. It doesn't matter if they are not matured enough, they younger they are, the better.
A few days ago, my former teacher by the name of Chegu Rahman Ali came over to Kelantan to join a dinner hosted by the former students of Upper Six and Lower Six Arts of my Alma Mater. Cikgu Rahman on his return home to Damansara KL, came to Pasir Mas to embark on the train back to KL. The train was the only mean of transport left as every other mean was full. Due to that Pak Zawi and a few friends managed to send him off. At the station Pak Zawi presented Cikgu Rahman with a painting Pulau Pohon Batu Labuan. It was a small gift for someone who had given Pak Zawi so much. For those who attended schools in SIS Pasir Mas, SIC in Kota bharu and MCKK in Kuala Kangsar Perak and knows Cikgu Rahman Ali, see his photo at Pak Zawi's Paintings. Mat Salo of Borneo Blues: A Mat salo's Perspective is one of those who knows him.

Idil Fitri With Pak Zawi

2009-09-24T12:35:00.001+08:00

Our Hari Raya Day always begin with the prayers at the surau near the house. We used to go to the Mosque but lately, we felt the congregation at the surau is better because they comprise of our immediate neighbours and we know them all except for the younger generations who comes back only during Raya.

Azrin making last minute adjustment to his son Irsyad's samping.

Haji Deraman always ride his trishaw to the surau. At 80 years old Haji Deraman is still quite healthy. His wife rode in the children's car instead of riding along with him as they usually do.

Before the prayer begins we did the tahmid for about half an hour until the prayer started at 8.30 AM.
The prayer will begin soon. As it is only two 'rakaat', it was only a short prayer followed by the sermon by Ustaz Zawawi. Ustaz Zawawi is an Azhar, Egypt graduate and he also led the prayers. For the past one month of Ramadhan, Ustaz Zawawi had led all the 'terawikh' prayers at the surau.

Irsyad did his prayers at the back of the congregation as his prayers is only an initiation and at 4 years old, Irsyad has yet to learn about the actual prayer.

Mak Jah is one of the oldest female in attendance. Pak Zawi recorded Mak Jah's picture here lest she may be to ill to attend next years prayers. Nowadays Mak Jah had to pray while sitting on a chair.After the prayers, we did the family photograph. Azuan and family was over at his in law's place so he wasn't in the picture.

The first visitor to arrive was Haji Hussin's family. It was quite a large group and we will be joining them to the mother in law's place next.

They were the first to sample our delicacies of ketupat, rendang, satay and whatever have we.

The bigger girl is Leen and she is a star. She represents Malaysia in gymnastics. Her younger sister will be following in her footsteps soon.

Later my wife's pupils came cycling all the way from their village.

After that we all trooped to my mother in law's place. Here we had the taste of great Satay Baung ordered all the way from Kg. Baung, Kota Bharu.
One for the album with the grandma for my children and great grandma for their children.

Another one for the album. This one was taken at my sister in law's home next door to the mother in law's.The next stop is the uncle's home. When my wife's family was living in this home, Pak Zawi had his wedding here.

My daughter Azura had a new look this Raya. Here she is seen posing with her cousin Haleeza and sister in law Yanie.

Azura posing at the resort like home of Uncle Kamal.

By afternoon, Irsyad and his sister Syakirah was out. Another sister Ayin slept on the couch. This happened when we were at my sister's place.
We started the next day with a visit to the sister in law's place in Kota Bharu. A PSP was the center of attraction with Adam in control. The rest looked with envy.
Azuan and wife Ijjah joined us on the second day's visit to Kota Bharu.

Of course they are in control back home at Pak Zawi's place. Pak Zawi's PC and notebook are their's while their father's netbook are tucked away safely out of their reach. The PSP is of no interest to them anymore. At 4 years old, Irsyad can navigate his ways to UTube to look for Mr. Bean for himself and Gummi Bears for the sisters.

The visit to eldest surviving brother was also done on the second day.

On the third day of Raya, we had a surprise visit from Wan Nordin of GUIKP's fame. Wan brought along his wife Azura and children.

Wan had notified us that he would be arriving at 5.00 PM and he caught Pak Zawi with his pants down when he arrived at 4.00 PM. What happened was, the expected traffic jam from Kota Bharu did not happen and Wan saved an hour of precious time.
Wan made his choice. He chose 'The Old Building In Kota Bharu' among the many that Pak Zawi offered to him to choose from. To see the choices that he had, please visit Pak Zawi's Paintings, a blogsite dedicated to show what else but Pak Zawi's paintings.
Wan forgot to take the painting so Pak Zawi called Wan on the cellphone to stop by the roadside and wait for Pak Zawi to deliver the painting.

While sending Wan's painting, Pak Zawi's friend Zakrey came with his family. He had reserved that painting of The Traditioanl Chinese House of Kelantan which Zack prefers to call as Rumah Tepi Sungai as the village with all of that kind of houses were located on the river bank of Sungai Kelantan.
Zack's wife Rohani and son with Pak Zawi's wife Fatthiyah. Zack's daughter was busy with Irsyad watching Mr. Bean on Utube.
That was in a nutshell, this years Idil Fitri with Pak Zawi. The coming Idil Adha should be merrier as everone of my children will be home. Pak Zawi and wife is really looking forward to Idil Adha.

Celebrating Idil Fitri and Launching of A New Blog

2009-09-18T08:12:00.006+08:00

Idil Fitri will take a new meaning for my family this year as most of the family members will be home except for Azini in Labuan who has made a decision to come back fro Idul Adha. Azuan has been backfrom Shah Alam since a few days ago to be together with his wife Ijjah who had been home almost 2 months ago afer delivering son Adam Hakimi. Tonight will see the arrival of our eldest daughter Azura who will be leaving KL around noon and Azrin with his family will depart his father in law's home in Taiping around the same time. It has been awhile that my family has been able to be together for Raya. Hopefully the coming Idil Adha will be a full gathering as everyone has set their mind to come back again for that festival as it is considered a more important celebration among Kelantan moslems where a sacrifice will be made.
To all my moslem readers, Pak Zawi would like to wish you a Happy Idil Fitri and pohon maaf zahir dan batin. Maaf jua di pohon sekiranya Raya messages via sms and internet was not replied or reciprocated.
If you are around Pasir Mas during Raya, do drop by at Pak Zawi's humble home at PT26, Jalan PamAir KADA, Kg. Mekasar,Pasir Mas. Please call 09 7903785 or 019 9125647 to ensure that we are home to receive you.
Pak Zawi has prepared some home made ketupat daun palas to serve you beside the normal fare of satay (available only on first day of Raya).

Pak Zawi has launched a new blog called Pak Zawi's Paintings at http://mohdzawi.blogspot.com. This blog will showcase all the paintings by Pak Zawi. Zendra Hassan has given Pak Zawi the idea to use the new site to sell Pak Zawi's paintings. That is a good idea really wort considering. Thank you Zendra.
The blog will aso be used to record who owns my paintings and their approximate location so that my future generations will know where to locate them should they want to buy back the heritage from Pak Zawi. Hahahaha some whimsical thinking.
Once again Pak Zawi and wife Fatthiyah would like to wish all readers of LAISI, Selamat Hari Raya Idil Fitri.

Danny's Ordeal In London

2009-09-15T08:40:00.004+08:00

The blood must have drained off from Danny Foo's face so much that must have made him look ashen pale. That look of shock was not missed by Janet Susan Kent who was disembarking from the same tube coach with Danny at Charing Cross Station. Janet whom Danny guessed to be in her early fifties, inquired if anything was wrong with Danny. Danny while still in shock replied that somebody had picked his pocket and his wallet which was placed in his front hip pocket was missing. This was big trouble for Danny as in the wallet was his Credit card, Debit Card, student card and also his Malaysian identity card. Big trouble Danny thought as he won't be able to exit the station without his train tickets and he will be fined for not being able to produce the ticket. The fine will not only be expensive but there is no way that Danny could pay for it without any money on him.

Janet had a son who once was in a similar predicament while studying in a foreign country. Someone had helped his son and now she felt it was time to payback the good deed that the good Samaritan had done to her son.

Janet immediately asked Danny to list what items he had lost in his wallet and check his rucksack to see if his passport was intact. A loss of his Malaysian passport would only mean bigger trouble but fortunately for Danny, it was still there. So was his phone which was in the other pocket.

Together with Janet they walked to station's office and Janet being a local, her explanation was accepted by the authorities and Danny was able to exit the station without having to pay any fine. Just imagine how it would have been if Danny was alone. They may not even believe him.

Janet's help did not end there. With Danny penniless and having lost all his cards, there was no way for Danny to get going. She then took Danny to the police station to lodge a police report. The first thing that the police offered Danny was a phone to make calls to the cards company to block any transaction on the cards. How I wish our police would do the same to people who happened to experience similar situation in Malaysia. It is important that you keep a list of all the cards you have so that you can easily report them after losing them but never keep the pin numbers written and place together in the same wallet. You must also be able to answer all the security questions when they want to verify you so better don't take the security question lightly.

Having done all that with the local bank, Danny called home to his mum in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia to report the loss on the supplementary credit card given by them. Now all the cards that were lost will be useless to the thief. The thief will get nothing from Danny as there was not a penny in the wallet as Danny had just used the last 10 pounds he had in the wallet to pay the deposit for the room key at a hostel earlier. The only other thing of value could be the meal vouchers from Mac Donald which was good enough for three meals. Danny was actually going to the ATM to withdraw some cash. The only item of value was just the wallet itself as it was a good wallet.

Janet then took Danny to a cafe and ordered a pot of tea for both of them. Janet knew that a cup of tea could calm Danny's nerve and allow him to get over the traumatic experience faster.

Recapping the incident, Danny remembered being bumped by a group of people in the coach upon reaching Leicester Square Station as Danny was standing at the exit since his stop Charing Cross was the next stop. It was at the time of being bumped that the pickpocket had done the sleight of hands to pick his pocket. It was about 4 PM that evening and Danny wanted t visit the museums around Trafalgar Square when this thing happened.

In his two years of studying law at Cardiff University which was three hours drive South West of London., Danny had been very careful with his things especially the wallet. He would always carry them in the front pocket of his trousers and constantly feel for them with his hand to ensure its safety. Danny also never carry more than 15 pounds in his pocket. Any bigger purchase will be paid via the debit card or the credit card. So there was no necessity at all for him to carry any bigger amount of money.

Danny had graduated from Cardiff University in 2008 and was at the tail end of his stay in England. His mum and dad attended his Call-to the bar at Middle Temple in London recently but he opted to stay on longer to do a tour of England to see the other cities which he had never been to before he leave England for good. On this tour so far he had done Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and was currently doing London before doing Gloucester next.

It was while having tea with Janet that Danny called his friends who were residing in London for help. The first friend, a Brit, was out of London and wouldn't be able to help much. The second friend was a Malaysian who agreed to lend Danny 50 pounds and also help to buy the train ticket online for him to continue with his journey. Buying the tickets at the station would be too expensive and without any credit card, it was impossible for him to buy online.

Before parting, Janet insisted that Danny take 10 pounds from her to allow Danny to move around in London while waiting for his Malaysian friend to lend him the money and collect his train ticket from him. Such was Janet's kindness. To Danny, she was Godsend.

Danny had repaid all the loans that was extended to him and even the ten pounds that Janet gave him. As far as Janet was concerned, she had repaid the good deed of the person who helped her son while Danny still owe his debt till he finds another person to help.

To Janet Susan Kent, on behalf of Danny's family and Malaysians we would like to record a word of thanks for helping a complete stranger in distress.
Hopefully we all could learn a lesson or two from Danny's ordeal in London.

Here are a list of things Danny want to share with us:
1. Keep a list of the card numbers in another place.
2. Never keep the pin numbers in the wallet.
3. Keep some money elsewhere other than the wallet so that you can have access to some monies if your wallet get stolen.
4. When riding a tube, try to sit down and if you have to stand up, try to lean against a wall or something. Avoid standing at the exit unless you are arriving at your station.
5. Never assume that it will never happen to you. One day it might happen so better take note and be prepared.

My New Paintings

2009-08-29T08:00:00.010+08:00

7mmediately after considering the first painting done and having it delivered by courier to Zendra in USJ, I started on several new projects. With encouragement from friends especially my mentor Cikgu Mazeri Othman @ Deen, I felt the urge to hone my skill further by attempting to do a portriat of my grand daughter Balkis and also of a landscape of a traditional Chinese wooden house located not far from my own home. It was indeed an ambitious attempt and I could feel the folly of doing a portrait and lanscape using oil which I have never tried before.
Thus far this is what I have produced which of course is far from being successful. Well I will keep on doing it till I get the feel that they were done. Then only will I stop doing it. Whatever the outcome, my daughter Azini has agreed to keep the portrait of her daughter and my friend Zack from Seremban has declared his intention to have the painting of Rumah Tepi Sungai without even seeing the sketch. Some people just have the confidence in a new artist like Pak Zawi.
These are the the product thus far.

Balkis

Rumah Tepi Sungai

After finding that I could not complete the above two paintings, I started on painting more still life based on the heliconias. I called the first one Heliconia 2 and the second one Heliconia 3. My wife has decided that she wants Heliconia 2 to keep in the house. At last she has found the confidence to hang my painting on the walls of the house.
Heliconia 3 will be up for sale to finance the purchase of new canvass and oils for new projects. Hey Pak Zawi survives on a small pension and has just enough to live by. There is not much room to splurge on such things though it is now considered as my passionate hobby. Thanks to zendra who has parted with her fortune to buy my first painting of Heliconia. When I saw the other paintings in her gallery which she bought from Bali, Pak Zawi immdediately offered to replace the painting with Heliconia 2. Zendra declined as she had from the beginning decided that she wanted Pak Zawi's first painting with warts and all. Well it was her money and she can decide whatever she wants to buy with it. See the other fine paintings in her collection here.

Heliconia 2
Heliconia 3

Feeling the positive vibes in me, I began painting The Yellow Catleya based on the photgraph of the orchid I found at my good friend Tuan Haji Azmy Omars's house in Pasir Mas.

Yellow Catleya.

These are the people whom I have painted for and will be painting for:

1. Zendra of USJ (Delivered)
2. Mek Yam of New York (completed but yet to deliver)
3. Oldstock of Johor Baru ( Landscape - started)

4.Zackrey Mohd Nor of Seremban (started)
5. U Lee of Toronto Canada
6. My daughter Azura of Amanputra Puchong.
7. Awang Goneng of London
8. Aminah Harun of Subang Jaya - heliconia
9. My son Azuan of Shah Alam.
10. Yanie my daughter in law of Enstek Labu.

11. Dilla of Seri Kembangan Selangor - Catleya

12. My good friend of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (10 paintings!)

13. Dato' Jaafar Lamri of KL - Fishing boat.

14. Zaiton Ab. Ghani of Seremban - An abstract

15. Azini, my daughter in Labuan - balkis (touching up)

16. Teoh Yew Aun of USJ, Selangor - nature

17. HJ Angus of Johor Baru.- Sunrise of KB water front. (I must go and watch it one day)

Hey that is quite a list. So please don't feel disappointed if you find Pak Zawi has not updated LAISI and couldn't find time to visit your blogsite. Pak Zawi will be fully occupied.
Selamat berpuasa to all my moslem friends.

Should there be anybody else interested please email me mohdzawi@gmail.com and indicate to me what kind of subject that you prefer. No portrait of yourself please as I wont be able to ensure you will retain your age. Pak Zawi can also be contacted at Mobile: 019 9125647 Home: 09 7903785.

This Is A Real Shocker!

2009-09-02T08:20:00.002+08:00

I can't believe my eyes when I opened my email recently. He had not been to my site for sometimes and when he came, he was surprised that I have turned into a painter of sort. Immediately he ordered 10 (ten) pieces. That is right TEN PIECES of whatever that I have and those that I have yet to paint.
Wow! I have promised other people too and with his ten pieces, I will have a lot more to work on. There is also this art exhibition being organized by Puteri Kamaliah at Balai Berita in KL this coming November specially for members of PESENI Kelantan that I wanted very much to put a piece or two to show to the world.
The order is from a close friend and I know all these while he had been buying and dealing in art pieces but they are art pieces from established painters and command prices in hundreds of US dollars! After a few emails to and fro, I have agreed to do them for him including those that he requested: paintings of cockerels. Now that is a real challenge to paint a cockerel.
He said he will buy anything other than portraits. Fair enough since I am not a portrait artist and that is proven when a portrait of my grand daughter Balkis is yet to be considered done despite her mum's insistence that I get it done before she comes back for the next end of year break. She and family lives in Labuan. That's still along way to go.
This buyer provoked me into naming my price and cautioned me not to be shy of naming my price. Well I am not an established artist and my paintings will always be affordable to anybody who loves my painting. Just give me an offer and I will not disappoint you. Just keep my work hung on your wall and Pak Zawi will be very happy.
On top of that he wanted the paintings to be framed in good frames. That will add at least another RM100 to the price. One consolation though, he will allow me to use some of the paintings to be displayed at the show with his name as the buyer. So I will have to put a tag Sold to Mr. ....... ..... and of course no price will be displayed. The price of Pak Zawi's painting will always remain confidential between the buyer and the seller unless it is auctioned off publicly, one day maybe.

Meanwhile the name of the new buyer will remain unknown until the day of the art exhibition. If you are keen to know who bought them, please attend the show at Balai Berita KL at a date that will be announced soon by Puteri Kamaliah.
To those who have requested for my painting, don't worry all promises by Pak Zawi will be honoured. Just give me a bit of time. I will get it done.
To commemorate Merdeka Day Pak Zawi finished painting a pink water lily.

Pink Water Lily

Another painting in the works is that of a basket of mangosteen.
Manggis, my current project.

Should you want me to paint one for you, just email me at mohdzawi@gmail.com and tell me what kind of subject that you want me to paint. If i can do it I will do it but of course you will have to wait for your turn as the list is growing every day. Please pray that I will remain healthy as long as possible so that I can fulfill all of your requests before I lose control of my hands due to whatever ereason. As to the price, just make me any offer and I will accept.

Tok Sangkut Benevolent Fund

2009-08-27T14:10:00.000+08:00

Remember what I wrote in Doing Our Bit For Charity? To recap I mentioned about setting up a benevolent fund to help the beedy in a small village called Tok Sangkut in Pasir Mas Kelantan. To get the fund moving Cikgu Mazeri Othman @Deen who is also from the village has donated a painting with the title of Buah Seto Tok Ma. The beautiful painting was auctioned off and Puteri Kamaliah of the famous blog Kata Kama had won the bid after outbidding Oldstock of the blog Just Observations... For your information only the two of them bidded for the painting.
That sale cost Puteri Kamaliah RM600 which can be considered a small amount for getting so much pahala in the next life. On top of that she got herself a beautiful painting by Deen which was delivered to her via a courier company and should be in her keep the latest by today. Hopefully she will be very happy with the purchase as she bought 2 for the price of one, one of which is the pahala which only God knows how much she will be rewarded. The painting will be a good investment as Deen rarely sell his paintings as he is building up his own gallery in Pasir Mas called Heritage Gallery. Buah Seto Tok Ma was displayed at Heritage Gallery before it was delivered to the new owner in KL.
In this great month of Ramadhan, it will be extremely great to give out to the needy.
In his latest posting today at his site Exploring & Relaxing The Countryside Deen tells us of his 16 years old brother who is diagnosed with a defected valve in his heart. Read more details at the site. To meet part of the expense to have the operation done at IJN KL, Deen may have to sell some of his paintings to help his father pay for the cost of the operation. Even by selling his paintings may not be enough to pay for the cost. I will tell you more about how much is needed for the operation once I get the information from him.
Now there is all the more reason for you to chip in to help the boy live a normal life. Please help in whatever way you can.
More updates later....

I Consider It Done

2009-08-17T15:20:00.001+08:00

Heliconia Flower

That is how the painting looks as at this time when I am making this post. I consider it done and I have signed it dated August 09. I consider it done and should there be any touch up it will be quite minuscule. That is my first painting.
If you remember when I place it in my previous post, this was how it looked.
It was then still incomplete although the basics were already there but it was not finished.
Now then it is done, it will be ready for collection by Zendra of Kuala Lumpur. To make it easier for her to collect, it will be sent to Shah Alam via my son Azuan who will be returning to Shah Alam on Sunday 23rd of August. So Zendra please contact Azuan at Brusfield Service Apartment Shah Alam to collect the painting. I am really grateful to Zendra for her willingness to own my first painting which really inspire me to go on painting beyond the first one.
The next project will be a landscape as per the picture below. It is a typical Chinese house in Kampong Tepi Sungai not far from my own house. I really love the serenity of the place. Let us hope that I will manage to paint something as close to the one showed in the photograph.

Painting has given me immense pleasure. Hopefully my friend Dato' Jaafar Lamri or Jaflam of Jaff Point will not wait any longer to start painting as Dato' is an avid art collector.

My New Hobby

2009-08-12T10:22:00.006+08:00

Colorful fishing boats at Pulau Gajah, Pantai Sabak.

With the interest in blogging beginning to wane, I decided to pick up a new hobby to fill up my abundant free time. Time is one luxury that a retiree like me could have. Often times such times are wasted doing nothing. I might as well use it to paint. Not house painting which is something I do only once in at least after five years when the house paint begins t fade. The kind of painting I have in mind is oil painting on canvas.
The interest on oil painting was rekindled when I saw some oil paintings of the Japanese carps normally known as kois by Chegu Mazeri Othman at his mother's house in Kg. Tok Sangkut. The desire to own one of the pieces by him was curtailed when he said he isn't selling them since he will be using them to fill up the walls of his new house. Infact he said he is still working on many more since he will be making a part of the new house as his personal gallery. Frankly I wont be able to afford to pay for his paintings as oil painting is quite expensive since the materials used are themselves expensive. A meter of the canvas can be had for about RM40. The oil paints are as much as RM9.00 for a 70 ml tubes for the lower quality ones. The frames for a standard size painting can set you back for another RM40 at the least. The most important element is the time it takes for the painting to be finished.
I had the opportunity to observe members of Persatuan Seni Lukis Kelantan (PESENI) as they were having a painting activity at Pantai Sabak, Kota Bharu. Here En. Ismail Kadir an established water color artist was seen putting the above sight of a berthed colorful fishing boat to paper. En. Ismail is an authority in water colors and is often invited to display his works overseas. Soon he will be going to Beijing for such a function.

Beside En. Ismail, there were other artists doing the painting of their favourite subjects before them. One of the painter is a young boy who share his father's hobby. With his father's guidance he will grow up to be a fine artist one day.

One of the finished job.

An artist hard at work.
A close up of his job.

Chegu Mazeri was also at the site though he wasn't painting as he had to attend class that afternoon. I was there to meetChegu Mazeri as I had requested him to buy me some materials for painting. Mazeri had brought along a piece of stretched canvas for me to paint on. Since this is my first go at oil painting and without any experience whatsoever, he asked me to use a recycled canvas that he had used on one side. Beside that he had also purchased for me some tubes of 70 ml oil paints and brushes of various sizes. Since I wont be using those made of hog bristles, he bought those that were made of nylon hairs. He also handed me a bottle of linseed oil to dilute the paints. The oil paints were of red, light green and blue colors. Noticeably absent was the yellow and white colors which I will have to acquire later when the stocks of the dealer is replenished. A few days later I managed to get hold of the yellow and white color. I defintely needed the yellow as I was intent on painting the heliconia that grows in my garden.

After sketching the heliconia flower on the canvas, I started applying the signal reg oil paint on the canvas.
This was followed by the yellow color.

Next I added a leaf blade to fill up the empty part of the canvas. followed by some details comprising of some dark blemishes on the red petals. Some hues of green was later added to the yellow part.
The remaining paints on the tile piece as as the pallette was mixed and used as part of the background colors.
That is how the painting is compared to the real thing. My wife who had been very skeptical about my ability was quite surprised at the result as she had never seen me draw anything before. At least she will now be more supportive of my painting endeavours.
I consider this as the finished product, a rush first job done in less than two days. Now I will have to wait for my mentor Chegu Mazeri to tell me how to improve on the painting. Personally it is really an amateurish job and I will need lots of practice and guidance before I can really produce something that I can be proud of.
Anyway I consider the work as not bad for an old artist doing it first time at a ripe old age of 59 years.

Europe Here I Come - The Final Part

2009-08-09T10:35:00.009+08:00

The Last Days In Europe
Our last few days in Europe was spent in London. We have done the city with Wan Hulaimi as our guide and we were extremely happy with his performance. After 3 years at the job and with almost 30 years of living in London, Wan Hulaimi is more than capable to do the job with information flowing like an encyclopaedia. Awang Goneng as he is known in the blogsphere, did his research well.
It was a free day on our last day in London. POTO travel had kept the slot free for us to do our own things in London. For those who were keen to explore the seedy side of London's Soho, they had ample time to see it.
My friend Nick Habgood of Azini Capital came over to the hotel to have breakfast with me. Who would ever think that a Pak Zawi from faraway Pasir Mas, Kelantan would have such a friend in London? It was a first meeting after knowing each other via the internet. Nick looked dashing and trim in a white shirt and grayish tie. A fine specimen of a fit and healthy person who loves to cycles. Nick will be holidaying in Italy on a biking tour at the end of the year.
Nick left us to go back to his office so we said our goodbyes and he took the tube. Even for a Londoner, Nick had to carry along a printed map of tube routes and location of our hotel prepared by his secretary. How convenient things are with the internet.

How Pak Zawi would wish to have a body like Nick. Some 20 years ago, Pak Zawi may have some semblance of that look.
We had requested Puan Zainida to arrange an outing to Madame Tussuad. This is the beautiful side of Puan Zainida from POTO Travel, she willingly obliged. Here she is collecting money to buy the ticket to Madame Tussuad.

We bought the tickets at the hotel counter at a discount of 5 pounds each. Despite the discount we still had to pay 22.5 pounds (RM135). Do you think you would pay such a price to visit a wax museum in Malaysia?
We walked to the tube satation quite a distance from our hotel. Again Puan Zainida bought group tickets for us.
Can't remember exactly how much the ride costs us.

The group entering the tube station.

We just follow the herds.

Ample signage. We constantly checked to see that we were on the right platform.

The train arrived.

Here I am infron of Madame Tussuad somewhere near Baker Station. I have to remember that station lest we get split and had to go back on our own.

Tell me which is the wax model?

How about these two? Would you make the mistake of thinking the man is the wax model?

The wife was so happy to have a picture with a singer, any singer will do and the singer turned out to be no less than Julio Iglesias as pointed out by Ee Lynn of Combat Loaded and Mission Ready!. Thanks Ee Lynn.

My friend Haji Fuad posed with the wax model of one of the most expensive actress in the world, commanding USD24,000,000 for the movie Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts. As of this writing Reese Witherspoon is on top spot grossing a whopping USD29,000,000.

Just look at the crowd in one of the halls of Madame Tussuad.

The other half found her heartthrob Salman Khan from Bollywood.
Even the wife a Pee Em was overwhelmed by the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, what more if it was my wife. This is the nearest she could get close to him, a wax model.

Tommy Yew of Kangaroo Island, Australia pointed out that I was with Nicole Kidman, a doll like film star even in real life. She was so tall. Now you know why I won't date her, she was just too tall for me.

Whoopie Goldberg doesn't seem to attract much crowd. She was always available to be photographed with.

You have to be a bit aggressive to have a chance to photograph yourself with The Incredible Hulk, there were just too many people waiting to place themselves in the clutches of the hulk.

I told Audrey Hepburn to go easy on the cigarettes. Mentioned to her that Government of Malaysia always reminded the people of Malaysia that smoking is bad for health. The reminders seemed to fall on deaf ears thus wasting all the government's effort and money. I doubt that Audrey heard me.
Aha! Lewis Hamilton the F1 Champion of Team McLaren-mercedes. I wonder whether his dad was around in Madame Tussuad too.

The tennis legend Boris Becker. He is so tall. no wonder he could serve aces so easily.

Boxing geat, Muhamad Ali in his heydays. How else can I get close to him. Thanks to Madame Tussuad.

We didn't meet her Majesty the Queen when we visited Buckingham Palace. Our Guide Wan Hulaimi told us we could meet her at Madame Tussuad. Here she was in finest regalia accompanied by her husband Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh. The royal couple was gracious enough to have their photograph taken with my wife maintaining a discreet distance form the Duke.
The Beatles continued to attract numerous admirers who wanted to have their photograph taken with The Fab 4. I have to be contented with photographing them with other younger fans. The Beatles were of my age.
The lock of hairs were unmistakable of Farrah Fawcett who died recently of cancer. Mekyam of New York corrected me that this figure was of Britney Spears (Thanks Mekyam). In Malaysia Britney Spears appears in advertisements to promote Toyota Vios. I was so impressed that I bought one.
Margaret Thatcher better known as The Iron Ladies was once the prime Minister of Great Britain. Here she is seen with the iron lady from Malaysia

Fatthiyah with the 43rd American President George W. Bush. During his term he invaded Afghanistan and and Iraq.
Tony Blaire was the Prime Minister of Britain from 2nd May 1997 to 29th June 2007.

Mahatma Gandhi.
President Obama was amused when this girl perched her feet on his table while pretending to be a President of USA.
Fidel Castro of Cuba when he was healthier.
John F Kennedy or JFK as he is better known was the 35th President of USA.

Jiang Zemin was the President of The People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003.

We skipped the Tunnel of Horrors but we did the Time Tunnel instead. We were transported through the Time Tunnel by sitting on a moving chair that will turn around to face the was figures wherever necessary.

William Shakespeare will not ring any bell if you didn't study English literature while in School.

When London was devastated with the plague, the figures of dead mean in bull cart, depicted the era.

I cant relate the above two pictures.

Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist but I remember him more for A Tale of Two Cities.

The above wax figures depict the modern psychedelic eras of the 70s from the film 'Goldmember' a movie by Austin Powers. Tommy Yewfigure figured that the girl with the afro look was of Beyonce Knowles the former lead singer of the once popular Destiny's Child group. In the film Beyonce played the role of Foxxy Cleopatra. (Thanks for the info Tommy)

The best seemed to be reserved for last. When we exited the Time Tunnel we were rewarded with the sight of the wax figure of MM or Marlyn Monroe.

Rumours had it that MM had and affair with JFK when they were alive.

My wife was more interested with Lady Diana. While in France we entered the tunnel where Lady Diana was killed in a motorcar accident while trying to escape the paparazzi hounding her for photographs. What a tragic loss for someone so loved by the public. Monuments in memory of her were found in Hyde Park.

It rained when we exited Madame Tussuad. Here the group was seen waiting for the rain to subside before we could proceed to Baker's Street Station to start our journey back to the hotel.

The Statue of Sherlock Holmes, a detective character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was too attractive for me to resist. During my school days I have read most of the stories about this sleuth, well at least all the books about him that was available in my small school library. "It was elementary my dear Watson" was the popular catchphrase of Sherlock Holmes.
Going down the escalator to the train's platform.

On the train. Most of the members had the somber look knowing that we have just seen the last of London as tomorrow we will be going to the airport the first thing in the morning on our journey back to Kuala Lumpur.

At Bayswater we still find time for some last minute shopping for souvenirs. Things were definitely cheaper here than at Oxford Street. For those intending to go to London, save some money for shopping here.

Holliday Villa is a hotel chain owned by Malaysian owned ASB group. We only had fond memories of our stay here though I have read report of poor service at the check in counter when a roomed bought on the internet was deemed as not available. Make sure you double confirm your booking. Should you face any problem, do not hesitate to ask for the manager who is a Malaysian. He will help you out.

The Lagenda restaurant will make you forget that you were in London. Most of the food you missed from home is available here. You will wake up from your dream only when you have to pay in pounds at the cashiers.

We were transfered by bus to Terminal 3 of Heathrow airport. At that time the City of London was still asleep. Despite that, Terminal 3 was already alive with people waiting to board their plane to various parts of the world.

Here's the proof that we were really at Heathrow.

While waiting for our flight on Gulf Air to Manama, Pak Zawi befriended Phillip Smeed, a Briton going to work in Manama, Bahrain. Phil works for Commercial Management Consultants Ltd, England. I promised Phil I will include this picture of us together in this post. I hope phil will get to read this as i have emailed him about it. Who knows we may bump into each other again sometimes in the future.
We were on our next leg of the journey home after a 2 hrs stopover in Manama. We still had a long way to go. The ground speed of 527 mph done by the Boeing 777 seemed to be too slow as I have seen all the movies on board. I saw Slumdog Millionaire an award winning film by Danny Boyle twice. The film won 8 of the 10 Academy awards it was nominated for.

The plane's flight path showed we were close to home.

Some forms had to be filled upon arrival due to the H1N1 epidemic. The excuse of not wearing my spectacles allowed me to let my other half to do the form filling. All I had to do was sign the form.

Waiting for our baggage at the baggage carousel in KLIA. Thank you Allah, all our begs arrived safe and sound. The European trip will always remain fresh in my mind. It was an enjoyable trip.
The next trip to Europe will be to Eastern Europe.

Doing Our Bit For Charity

2009-07-26T10:10:00.000+08:00

Buah Seto Tok Ma (Grandma's mangosteen)
Click on the picture to go to the blogsite where the painting is being put up for auction or click here to go to the same site.

The above oil painting was donated by the painter Chegu Mazeri Othman or Deen as he prefers himself to be called. He gave away the painting so that it can auctioned off and the proceed will go to 'Tabung Kebajikan Tok Sangkut' (Tok Sangkut Benevolent Fund) whose purpose will be spelt in detail at the site.
I first met Deen at his mother's home when I visited Kg. Tok Sangkut to hand over some monies collected from my ex classmates when we had a gathering of ex students of the Class of '68 Sekolah Menengah Sultan Ibrahim Pasir Mas, Kelantan. You can read about the event here. We collected some RM600 ringgit to donate to a single mother with three children whose husband was drowned while fishing in a paddy field due to an attact of fits. Read about Deen's plea here.
To ensure that a sustainable benevolent fund can be set up, I have persuaded Deen to donate one of his many paintings that he had been working on for use in his new house (still under construction as of this writing) which he aptly named as Villa Heritage. The proceed from this first sale will go towards the purchase of more materials for painting such as oil paints, canvas and frames. Only high quality materials are used by Deen. The new paintings by Deen using these materials will be further auctioned off to provide a continous income for the fund. Thus your support to buy this first painting and subsequent paintings will be extremely appreciated. After all it will be for a good cause with the purchaser benefitting too by owning a great painting by Deen.
Deen has a Diploma in Music/Art, a BA (Hons) Geography (USM) and an MA in Heritage Studies (UMK) and has set his mind to do his PhD in 2010 which is something doable given the hardworking person that he is.
He was recently appointed as the deputy secretary of PESENI Kelantan (Persatuan Seni Lukis Kelantan) at its recently held Biennial General Meeting on 25th Julai 2009 after joining the association barely a week before that.
The first time I saw Deen's painting was at his mother's home which he has developed as a homestay. Two of the paintings were of koi's, another of a heleconia and the other one was of bamboo stems. I was really impressed by his paintings since they were very much to my taste. Somehow I can't find the pictures of those paintings which I took during the visit.
Deen invited me to see more of his newer paintings which he was collecting to decorate his yet to be completed Villa Heritage. Here are some of them including some that was still working on.

Deen with one of his favourite painting at his rented home in Lubok Jong.

Buah Seto Tok Ma which is currently being auctioned.

A close up of his favourite painting.

The folowings are some of the new paintings he is working on. I guess they are all done by now as this pictures were taken quite sometime ago.

For those who love fine works of art and some money to spare, please visit Tok Sangkut Benevolent Fund to bid for Buah Seto Tok Ma at the reserved price of RM500. The bidding can be done openly in the comment column or if you want to do it in private, you can do it via email at the given email address.
Let us do our bit for charity. Rest assured the fund will be put to good use and the use of the fund will be regularly posted to show the beneficiaries and the amount collected and spent.

The Lady From Kafe Dakoh

2009-07-17T13:17:00.004+08:00

Too many things happened during the past 2 weeks and I was hard pressed for time to do my next post. I am having a dilemma as to what to post next. If I were to post the last and final segment of the European Tour, it maybe sometimes before I can post the next items which will end up with being overtaken by events and left not posted. Delaying the last segment to a later date maybe better as some of you might be bored with them by now.
In a nutshell these were some of the major happenings since my last post.
- Met Maria of Kafe Dakoh
- Attended the opening ceremony of Program Penempatan Pekerjaan Peringkat Negeri Kelantan Tahun 2009 by Y.B. Dato' Mazlan Mazlan, Deputy Minister of Human Resources Ministry.
- Went to Shah Alam to see my latest bundle of joy, my eighth grandchild Adam Hakimi.
All of the above three deserve to be mentioned as part of happenings that deserve to be recorded in the history of my life.
Now I am back home in Pasir Mas so I must start with posting a new post should I want to get one done. I have decided to start with my meeting with blogger Maria of Kafe Dakoh.
It was her Europe Here I Come - Part 8 that first establish us as a new blogger friend. Knowing that she resides just across the border in the often turbulent district of Narathiwat in Thailand adds to my curiousity of what a 25 year old American doing down there. Visiting her blog Kafe Dakoh added a new puzzle as to why she is so addicted to the bygone era of Hang Tuah. Another knowledge that she frequently visited Kota Bharu for lunch gives the possibility to know her more and perhaps learn something about this humorous lady who is as old as my youngest daughter.
Though she mentioned that she was going to KB for lunch, I was unable to make time to meet her that week. Only on her subsequent visit that we managed to meet for lunch but read here how the meet nearly failed to happen.
We have agreed to have lunch in Kota Bharu and since her co worker Robert from the Philippines who usually drive to Kota Bharu will not be coming, she will be coming on her own via the immigration checkpoint of Takbai, Thailand. According to her it is just half an hour van ride from the town of Narathiwat. She mentioned that she could be in on the other side of the border across the river in Pengkalan Kubor by about 10.30 AM. Well and good, I said I will be there to pick her up so that she doesn't have to ride the bus.
By 10.25 AM I was there at the Malaysian side of the immigration check point. Having given her my car registration number,car make and colour, I thought she would be able to find me in a jiffy. For me to spot an American lady in Pengkalan Kubor will be chicken feed. 10.30 went by without any sign of any American be it male or female. Waited for another half an hour before I decide to perch myself on a specially made viewing point tat gave me a clear look of the river and the town of Takbai across the river.

This is the jetty where all arrivals by passenger boat arrive. I can easily spot her arrival.

This is the view of passenger boats plying across the river bordering Thailand and Malaysia.

That is the jetty on the other side of the river as far as the eyes could see.
Using a 200 mm zoom this is what I could see.

Then this vehicle ferry crossed the river and I thought she may have used this ferry to cross the river and would thus be using the other immigration check point. I rushed over to the other side of the small town but there was no sight of anybody looking like an American.
Then only it dawned upon me there there is a one hour difference between Thailand and Malaysia. What is 10.30 AM to Malaysian is just 9.30 AM to the Thais. OK I will wait till 10.30 AM Thai Time. 11.30 AM came and there was no sign of Maria. After giving her another 30 minutes of grace, I decided to to go home. A few kilometer down the road I saw a cyber cafe. I decided to check my mail because I know for sure she would have emailed me something if she were unable to come. The cyber cafe had many computers mainly used to play games by the kids in the area. Most of them were the low end types with slow processors. It was only after changing to the third computer that my emails managed to load. I saw no mail from Maria, meaning she didn't cancel the trip. I decided to check her again at the jetty.
When I reached the fate to the immigration and custom complex I saw Maria in her stetson hat clutching a plastic packet of the 'cendol' drink.
She entered my car and immediately she revealed the reason for her late arrival. She realised too late the difference in time zone. The van ride that usually took half an hour took much more than that. The reason? It was the durian season and the van driver went to every small roads to pick up fares of durian sellers with durians to sell in Takbai.
When I asked her how she managed to handle the durian smell in the van. I was surprised to hear the answer that she loves durian and could withstand the smell.
On the way we stopped at a Buddhist temple because on her previous trips she never had the chance to stop at one. Here Maria gave one of her manly pose.
Since I had only a piece of 'roti canai segera' for breakfast, I was on the point of starving. Maria suggested that we have Banana Leaf rice for lunch,which happened to be my favourite too. We stopped at Meena's Banana Leaf Restaurant in Jalan Gajah Mati. Ahhh just the right place for me to get the owner of the restaurant to test her Tamil which she profess to speak as she was a student of Classical Tamil at Berkeley University back home in California. Berkeley is not the Berkeley School of Music that many Malaysians had been to to study but this Berkeley is the rival of the famous Standford University and both are located in the Silicon Valley in California. Maria hailed from St. Jose.
Both of us must be starving as we had second helpings. It has been sometimes since I had rice at this place. The fish curry is out of the world and so is the 'ayam goreng kichap' (chicken fried in soy sauce).
The Indian guy who owned the business later told me that her Tamil was definitely the classical Tamil better than his own low class Tamil.
Next we moved to KB Mall where Maria wanted to buy an alarm clock. She needs such a gadget to replace the alram provided by her handphone which came back without the alarm after a repair job.
The first stop was a camera shop since she needs to look around for a video camera. She needs to know the price before buying one. I suggested that she buys one with a build in hard disk as the other tape or mini DVD format is getting out of fashion and too cumbersome to use. She will buy one after her parent's consent and perhaps share the expense as most of the videos to be taken will be sent to them for their viewing.

Maria looking at some of the handycams available at the shop.
Later we saw an activity at the concourse of the shopping complex. Y.B. Dr. Ng Yen Yen was due to open the Mega Sale 2009 for Kelantan. Her arrival was greeted by the din of the loud chinese drums and cymbals interspersed with kompang beat. Accompanied by a group of boys dressed in monkey costumes, she was led to the stage where the boys performed a monkey dance with music provided by a local ensemble of musicians using recycled contraptions such as large plastic pails and earthenware urns. They manage to produce splendid music led by the local 'serunai'. This is definitely a great show for tourism. Unfortunately there were not many tourists around to benefit from the pageantry. What a bloody waste. I guess it is the usual reason of insufficient publicity by the people who is supposed to publicise it.

YB. Dr. Ng's arrival was greeted on arrival by the troup of boys in monkey costumes.

Maria obeserving the spectacle from the balcony above.

Among the VIPs on stage being entertained by the monkey dance was the rep from Narathiwat Thailand.

On the top floor we found this shop with the name Tentative Computers. Maria was amused by the name use and asked met to take a shot, Yeah it was tentative business too as they have either close down or moved to another location. Should you want to open up a business, make sure you find a good name with anappropriate meaning otherwise you may end up the way the business was named.

Always game to try on something, the lady from Kafe Dakoh triend her hands as making some noises on the urns. Well she did managed to produce some sound.
On the way back to Pengkalan Kubor we stopped for a drink of coconut water. Pure coconut drink with no sugar added. It was bliss.
We stopped at another temple popularly known among tourists as the Reclining Buddha. It is purported to be the longest in this part of the world.

The older buildings though in a stage of degradation seems to attract Maria's attention most.
After that I just gave Maria my camera as I wanted to see what really is seen by her eyes. Here are some of them.

Details of the murals on the wall of the reclining Buddha.
An ancient urn from China which is used to burn the incense.

Now which is it? The pillars or the statues?

More murals.
The dragons on a roof top.

At another temple we saw a wooden building in an advance stage of damage. This one really caught her fancy and she went of a frenzied spree of photography. I dont really know what went in her mind.

The building from afar. It was beautiful once but it is losing is luster. Being made of wood, it must be very difficult to maintain and repair.
On the way back to the jetty, Maria talked about her life's experience after she graduated from School. Her parents had given her the choice to do her post graduate studies or to see the world and study from the life university before coming back to pursue her higher studies and later perhaps become a lecturer at her Alma mater. She had chosen the later which has taken her to Japan, India and Kuala Lumpur before landing a teaching job in Bankok Thailand. The dirty air in Bangkok didn't help her health much and she was offered another teaching job in Narathiwat at the same pay making it very affordable for her as the cost of living is very much lower in Narathiwat.
From her eyes she let her parents see the world via volumnous emails which her parents made into hard copies and compiled them. Numerous pictures accompanied the emails. It was a win win situation because her parents refused to leave their heaven on earth as they thought they are living in the best place on this planet so why should they leave their place even for a short while?
Soon her parents will be seeing streams of videos when Maria manages to gat her hand on a video camera.
See more of Maria at her site Kafe Dakoh named after the sweet smelling coffeee being brewed on roadsides in Cambodia. Muslims traveling in Cambodia must beware that Kafe Dakoh is brewed in lard.

Europe Here I Come Part 9

2009-07-08T17:34:00.007+08:00

LONDON, ENGLAND.
I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Wan A .Hulaimi and his wife Zaharah for their hospitality during our short but meaningful stay in London. To the both of you, your kindness will be forever remembered. Soon after taking care of us Wan Hulaimi entertained another blogger friend by the name of Mat Salo. Please read his take here. I promise you another great read, so please take a peek.
The photo below was taken at Hotel Holiday Villa, London.
L - R: Wan A Hulaimi, Zaharah, Fatthiyah and Pak Zawi (In case you don't know yet)

Coming to London from Brussels, Belgium created a certain excitement in me. Not only that this was going to be my first time setting foot there but because I would be meeting certain people whom we would be meeting for the first time or at least the first time after four decades. For the first time I will be meeting my new friend Nick Habgood of Azini Capital London whom I have known after he made comments on my blogsite. If you have time read about it here.
The reply from Nick was positive when I wrote him an email prior to my trip to London. He asked me for the day when I would be free while in London. We agreed to meet for breakfast at Holliday Villa where my group was staying. Punctuality was the trait of an Englishman and Nick stepped into the hotel lobby right on the dot at 8.00 AM. Nick, if you read this, thank you for taking the trouble to meet me.The slim and fit Nick Habgood compared to an out of shape and unfit Pak Zawi. For your info, Nick is an avid cyclist and will be touring Italy on a road bike to follow the track of The Tour of Italy. He will be doing the ride this year. Enjoy your ride Nick.
Another person that I would be meeting in London will be my old classmate whom I have not met since we left school at the end of 1968. We have been in contact again after he read my blog and we have agreed to meet in London to reminisce about the old days. Unfortunately my friend is publicity shy so I wont be mentioning his name or post his pictures on this site.
On the day of our arrival in London, there was a 'Tahlil' being organized by Malaysians in London at Malaysia Hall not far from our hotel. My friend had asked me to bring along all the members of my group as there was plenty of food for the 'morey' after the 'takzirah' by Ustaz Erfino. Initially many intended to attend the tahlil but by the time we left the hotel, there was just me and two other elderly ladies. We walked to Malaysia Hall. Ustaz Erfino delivered a very interesting 'takzirah' on mixed marriage and the problem of conversion. Ust. Erfino is also a blogger. Please visit his site here.
My friend came from work so he arrived later. After 4 decades, we finally met again. He looked splendid and seems to be in the best of health. How nice to be meeting again.
Enjoying 'nasi himpit' after the 'takzirah'. There were so many extras that they asked me to take a couple of them back to my friends. Ustaz Erfino is at the extreme left.

My old classmate came to the hotel again the next day as we had promised to have dinner together. It was while he was parking his car that I received a SMS. Wan Hulaimi and his wife Zaharah were at Malaysia Hall and wanted us to come and meet them there. Since my friend know Wan and Kak Teh too, I asked him to come along.

Meeting Wan Hulaimi and Zaharah at Malaysia Hall. My wife Fatthiyah played the role of photographer. Wan paid for the dinner though they were not eating them with us. Wan had asked the canteen operator not to accept our payment, which the operator enforced to the T.
Now it is time to see my take on London in pictures.
We didn't know who was going to be our tour guide in London until Puan Zainida the tour leader from POTO Travel mentioned that it would be a Wan Hulaimi, a Malaysian living in London for the past three decades. To that I let off a shriek blurting out "Hey that's my friend Awang Goneng!" to which Puan Zainida said 'But he is young". Why? Why can't an ancient looking man from the ulu of Kelantan have a young looking friend in London? This is the internet age. Anything is possible.
So on the morning of 4th June, we rode the bus for a city tour of London with Wan Hulaimi as our guide.

A young looking Wan Hulaimi with information at his fingertips was the perfect guide for us. Stories flowed out in perfect Malay bereft of any Trengganu slang. Typical of us people from the East Coast of the Malay Peninsula when we speak we can't or avoid our slang like the English with their Cockney..
The tour began with the Malaysian owned casino under renovation at the end of the street at the T junction where Hyde Park was located. Turning left we were shown this hanging point in the olden times. Convicted criminals were hung in public as a show or entertainment.

We passed by Marble Arch. Marble arch is now located at one of the entrances to Hyde Park. It was relocated there from it's former site near the Royal Palace because of the palace's enlargement. Close to it is the speakers corner. Sad to say it wasn't a Sunday morning otherwise I would forgo the city tour just to experience the speaker's corner.

I wonder if the above is the Mansion House the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London? Awang Goneng said it wasn't though it may look quite like The Mansion House. The statue is the famous Eros at Piccadily Circus.

The London Cabs. They are the black cabs and further in front is the white cab. Of late there is seems to be a war between the black cabs and the mini cabs due have been stealing passengers from the black cabs. The mini cabs can only pick up passengers via a phone request and not pick up passengers from the road side. The mini cabs charges a lower fare.
The Bush House is home to BBC World Service. The lease will expire in 2010 so BBC staff will be leaving soon. Kak Teh of Choc A Blog was once trained here for 12 years by the BBC. No wonder her English is more English than the normal Malaysian English.
It is rumored that London School of Economics may purchase Bush Building to expand it's campus.
There are many monuments in London. Since we were just passing by and I couldn't recall what this monument is for, we will have to wait till Awang Goneng responds to this post.
This is interesting. This war veteran is attending court today. There must be a hearing. Our guide from london enlightened us that he is Brian Haw, an ex serviceman and war protester. Read more about him here: http://www.parliament-square.org.uk.
Lawyers moving into the Royal Courts. Opposite to it is The Middle temple, one of the Inns of Court, where barristers train.
Wikipedia says Punch Tavern is the largest pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 8,400 leased, tenanted and managed pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Sorry for the blurred image. The bus window wasn't clear enough.
Awang Goneng said there is always a demonstration somewhere in London for whatever causes, this one included. I think you can make it as a vocation in London, a professional demonstration.
At the end of this road is London Bridge. My grandchildren wouldn't be singing about this bridge if they knew that it wasn't much of a bridge.Anyway if your address is No 2 London Bridge, then it will be noticed. Of course there is also The London Bridge Hospital to be associated with.

The Tower Bridge is different. It's presence is definitely felt.

The Tower Bridge is a draw bridge. The middle span can be lifted up to allow ships to pass through it.

This is the London Dungeon. You are advised to enter at your own peril. Those with a weak heart better beware.
Youth made up the bulk of the patrons. This is what Wikipedia says:

The London Dungeon is a tourist attraction, based in Tooley Street, London, near London Bridge rail station about various tortures from the Medieval Age. It recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a grimly comedic, 'gallows humour' style, which attempts to make them appealing to the younger generation. It uses a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides.

It opened in 1976, initially designed as more of a museum of "horrible history", but the Dungeon has evolved to become an actor-led, interactive experience that draws visitors from far and wide. The Dungeon is operated by Merlin Entertainments, which also operates Madame Tussauds London and the London Eye.

The odd shaped building is a green building which is the City Hall, HQ of Greater London Authority & London Assembly. The design of the building is such that it uses minimum energy, water and material to build and maintain it.

What remains of the old London Wall. It is nothing in dimension compared to The Great Wall of China
The Hung Drawn and Quartered. This building was named after the most barbaric form of torture on convicted criminals. Seach the net to read more about it. I can't bear to read it myself even though it was done in The Middle Ages.
A souvenir shop near The Tower of London.
This old building is where jousting shows are held. This is also the entrance to The Tower of London, a Heritage Site.
One for the album. See, we were there.
She wanted one with our Tour Leader Puan Zainida too. A husband just do what the wife tells him to do.
Children hanging around to enter the Tower of London.
That's the London Eye. Their's is permanent. Malaysia spent millions for a temporary Kuala Lumpur Eye.
Who says The Sphinx is only in Egypt?

Parliament House.
This building is considered to be the most expensive building in London. So says our guide. The building has rooms for parliamentarians to rest.

The Westminster Abbey
The intricate design on the door.
More details above the door.

My eyes caught sight of the sun dial. The one on the right showed 11.00 AM. Quite an accurate time as an hour later Big Ben chimed for 12.00 Noon.

"Look at that..." said the guide. Pak Zawi wasn't looking as he was distracted by other sights such as this man of the cloth passing by.
The London pillar box was a distraction too.

All the more so if it is an antique car.

Of course if it was a 'long cool dame' Pak Zawi would be distracted too.

The guide was pointingto this building, pray tell me what building is this? The Library where Maria of Kafe Dakoh spent the whole of her time while she was in London? The building is the Dean's Yard located behind Westminster Abbey.

I know this statue is of Oliver Cromwell. Wikipedia says:
Oliver Cromwell (born April 25, 1599 Old Style, died September 3, 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.
I sure did miss riding this open top bus as shooting from its top means better sight then thru the near opaque bus window.

This group is on hunger strike. I doubt they will die of starvation as being alive is always better than being dead. I wonder if anybody heed their call.
The men plus a woman in deep discussion
They must be memorizing their lines before facing the camera for a shoot.
She was looking suspiciously at me. Could they be actresses memorizing their script too? No actually they are government servants reading their briefs while enjoying the sun during their lunch break. "We would enjoy the sight better if they were wearing their briefs instead of reading them" said Awang Goneng.
The entrance to No 10 Downing Street is now well guarded after the last spate of bombing.
Won't you be intimidated by such a show of armoury?
The women of WWII. What does this memorial depict?
"If this is Trengganu....." Wan Hulaimi seems to be saying.
We saw this sign.

Is this the Scotland Yard? No it is just part of the Royal Horseguards.
If it is a souvenir shop, it is a must stop for everyone.
Youngsters in colorful costumes doing ceremonial guard duty.
At least he is in the shade and has a seat to sit.

Selling tickets for an evening of stirring sound and pageantry BEATING RETREAT a floodlit military spectacular by Her Majesty's Guard on Horse Guards Parade. That is what the poster said.

The Clarence Bar
Trafalgar Studios. The on going show is The Last Cigarette. We just walked by and not even look at what was being staged.
The Admiralty Arch on the Mall that leads to Buckingham Palace. Only the monarch and her hubby can ride in a coach in the central gateway, on their way to St Paul's Cathedral.

Behind those vehicles was the Trafalgar Square. Old photos may show people feeding the pigeons. They are no more there as they are banned from being fed there. The pigeons didn't dare come because a predatory bird is keeping watch. A Mayor of London just couldn't stand the litters from bird poo.
Such stretched limousine could be a waste of road space. How many passengers do they carry?

Here is another one.
Bicycles could be more convenient. Given by the way the bicycles are locked with wire lock, security of a bicycle seems to be a big problem here.

This archway is the entrance to the former Colonial Office. They are now the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

This is changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.
Yay! We were there too.
With Wan Hulaimi
The vastness of the ground in front of the Royal Palace.
The Barclay's Bank
Back to Malaysia Hall. They were performing the Friday prayers. There was no more space for Pak Zawi. Being a 'Musafir' or traveler mean I can do it in the comfort of my room later.
The dining hall was quite small but the food was very good.
These were the prayer times in Central London. If you observe the prayer time for Maghrib, Isyak and Subuh, you will be surprised at how little time Londoners can go to sleep. Fasting during suct times will be a loooooong day for you.
We spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs along Oxford Street.
Marks & Spencer is a must for most visitors to London.
Thistle Marble Arch while other shops have the sale signs to attract buyers.
It was a tiring day. We went back to the hotel. In the evening we spent sometime at Hyde Park again.
Some pictures are not shown here. You can view all of them here.

Europe Here I Come - Part 8

2009-07-01T16:58:00.007+08:00

HYDE PARK, LONDON.

I have heard of Hyde Park in London since my school days. The knowledge about the speakers corner in Hyde Park kept me dreaming that one day I will get to witness it if not participate in the banter with the speaker. Unfortunately when we were in London recently, it was not a Sunday when the speakers corner was on.
On arrival in London our bus took us to our hotel in Bayswater area passing by Hyde Park. It was not far from the park.
The next morning I woke up early for the Subuh prayers. This is the view from my window with the sun rising.

Later I chance upon the sight of two hot air ballons and I photographed it against the sphire of a nearby church.

I can't be wasting time in the room and I need to use as much of my available time in London to see things. Getting out of the hotel, I felt the cool and fresh morning air outside. Moving towards Hyde park I saw this neighbouring hotel beside Holiday Villa being extensively renovated. It's The Blakemore.

The area where we stayed was known as Leinster Gardens. Walking on there was this restaurant being offered for sale. Business must have been bad for this restaurant that it had to close down. If you have the money you can buy over this restaurant to sell nasi lemak which will surely sell. A niche market can be secured when the wealthy will come to gamble their wealth away at a new casino being constructed less than 50 meters away will follow their nose at the smell of freshly cooked nasi lemak. All the more so if they are from Malaysia or Singapore. The casino is owned by a Malaysian company.

The building under renovation is a new Casino in London being built by a Malaysian Company. no prizes will be given for the correct guess as to which company is involved. They were allowed to renovate the building but on the condition that the facade of the old building is maintained. Only the inside of the building was torn down. It was definitely a great architectural and engineering feat.

A grand looking building
The local authorities had to take care of all people especially the mentally impaired person and so the roads had to be painted with the instruction to Look Right when crossing a road even at the traffic light. Note the color pencils being used to decorate the walls surrounding the building under renovation.
This man was out early on his bike to excercise.

The sight of this London bus showed how useful they are for advertisement. It moves around the city for all to see.

Entering Hyde Park via Lancaster Gate, I saw this map of the park.

It was around 6 AM and the park was quite deserted except for a few people jogging or walking their dogs.

The statue of a man riding a horse looks interesting. Made the mistake of not reading what was written on the plaque. Later I found out that it was the statue of George Watts Physical Energy. Behind this statue there is a story that no reputable tourist guide would want to repeat. Bribe your way if you insist to know the story, who knows the guide maybe tempted to reveal the story.
Another angle with the rising sun behind it.
The dog's poo can be deposited here. Did see a man collecting his dog's poo and deposited them in this receptacle. No wonder their park is clean.
A dog on a long leash.
Now again the instruction to look left and right before crossing a road. Bicycles can only be rode in their designated lane in the park.
Walking across the park I reached the other side where the Royal Albert Hall was located. I was amazed by the sight of another structure at the fringe of the park. This structure as told by blogger Atok from Reading was the Prince Albert memorial.

For other cluster of statues were constructed at the four corners of the fence depicting a certain story. From the keyboard of my reliable source himself this is what he wrote:

The clusters of statutes around the Albert Memorial depict 'colonial people' in various parts of the globe. There's probably someone to represent you in Kelantan there, Pak Zawi, and Mekyam in Noo York. Victoria was the Great White Queen and Empress of India, remember? In days of waning empire and setting sun, the satirical magazine Private Eye once said that the Albert Memorial was the rocket, pointing skywards, in Britain's space programme.

The intricate embossed murals and design on the Prince Albert Memorial.
The details.
Here is the famous Royal Albert Hall where our late Sudirman Haji Arshad once performed and was crowned as Asia's best performer beating Anita Sarawak of Singapore and many other well known Asian performers. Dato' Siti Nurhaliza had performed here to a packed paying audience. Recently a play The King And I was staged here and in the play 2 children of blogger Atok from Reading, England acted. Read Kak Teh's take on it here. Backtracking into the park I saw this juniper flower/fruit which from my blurred vision I initially thought to be birds.
The insignia on the ground indicating The South Flower Walk. All dogs must be kept on lead when going inside the walk.

Lavenders were flowering when I walked along it. Luckily Mek Yam of New York wasn't anywhere near otherwise she would be tempted to grab a bundle for her home decoration.
A solitary pigeon perched on a branch. According to a reliable source by the nickname of Awang Goneng who had been living in London for more than 3 decades, it is a wood pigeon which had migrated from the countryside. Their numbers are increasing at the expense of the London feral pigeons and the Federal Pigeons included.
A squirrel moved towards me expecting to be fed. I am sorry I brought only my camera with me.
He looked at me with one eye.
Spotted another one later at another side of the park. Maria an expatriate teacher in Narathiwat, Thailand said this squirrel must never be fed but 'they should be hauled into the air and waved around like cat toys and they would make a beautiful sight' . 'Those cute eyes are pure evil' she added further. Couple that with the comments from Awang Goneng, I do believe her. Only the devil of a squirrel can survive in a city park of London. Read the reasons for that at Maria's blogsite Kafe Dakoh here.
Singnages aplenty to show you the way.
Suddenly I heard the sound of big birds flying. When I looked up I was just in time to record these four birds flying. U Lee and Ee Lynn said they were the trans migratory Canadian Geese visiting London. U Lee should know as he lives in Canada. How did Ee Lyn knows? She lives in KL. I know she knows because Ee Lynn loves nature and she is a member of Malaysian Nature Society.

Despite of their beauty, Awang Goneng said they are great bullies. Well when you are big and powerful, being a bully seems to be the order of the day all the more so when you are the migratory kind who will just fly away after commiting a crime on the local populace.
When I zoomed in only 3 came into the frame.

Later in the evening after our guided tour of London, we had time to revisit Hyde park. I wanted to share Hyde Park with my other half. Now I have an assistant to put on record of us as to have been to Leinster Garden, London.

The other half wanted a picture of her too but right inside the park. Now the children and their children will know for sure that she had been to Hyde Park, London.
We reached Kensington Palace. I guess for a fee it is possible to tour the palace.

Can you read what it says?
We couldn't cover much of the park that afternoon as my wife was still feeling the pain from the broken toe nail as a result of running the 15 coaches length of ground in Brussels. So we headed home to the hotel.
On the way back we saw this solitary old gentleman wearing an Italian cap sitting on a park bench. He must be dreaming of how his life would be if he were to live in London and spend the rest of his life there. The weather maybe nice for now that it was the beginning of summer. How will it be if the weather turns hot? Worse still is whether he can withstand the harsh cold winter? Will he have enough money to live in expensive London? Let us just leave him to himself to continue with his dreams. After all dreams are free. Remember Tennyson's 'The Lotus Eaters'?

Europe Here I Come - Part 7

2009-06-28T22:00:00.004+08:00

I WAS ARRESTED IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

I never expect them to be scanning our luggage as we were just going to ride a train and not a plane. Anyway they did just did that and arrested me for having them in my luggage. I didn't realize it was an arrest until they asked me to sign certain forms which I didn't even bother to read. I was in a hurry and wanted it to get it over as soon as possible because the train was already in the station and ready for boarding. Read on to know what really happened to me when we were in Brussels, Belgium.

Before the above happenings we were on the bus entering Brussels. Brussels is the capital of Belgium, a country which most Malaysians may not know much. I guess we know too much about the other European Union countries but not Belgium. The only certain thing I know of Belgium is they are into steel industries and produce guns. When I was a manager of Felda Taib Andak in Kulai, Johor which was made famous by the popular singer Mawi and later when I was in Felda Sungai Tiang, I had the use of guns supplied by Felda to all their managers. The guns were made in Belgium. When I mentioned that Belgium is famous for gun making, Eddy the German bus driver concurred with me and volunteered that Belgium is the poorer cousin among the European Union countries. Anyway they have made Brussels the administrative capital of the European union so it can also be considered as it's capital.

We will only be passing through Brussels for some shopping. Just passing through Brussels can be considered as a sin if not a crime. At least two days is required to see Brussels. The old buildings and architecture is something not to be missed and you need more time to really enjoy this old vibrant city.

When we neared Brussels we saw road widening work being done. Another lane is being added. That indicate a bustling traffic and a growing population of cars.
This is how the fringe city of the city of Brussels appeared from the highway when we entered it.
We stopped at the Atomium in Heysel Park. Yes we were there but we didn't have time to really see it and go inside it. This icon of Brussels is what The Eiffel Tower is to Paris. This 102 meter tower is in the shape of a single iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. From the top sphere you can see the city of Brussels. Read more about it here.
All the time we had was to take a group photograph.. We could not wait longer as some members (the female side) didn't do their thing when we did the last pee stop. As such they were carrying a half bladder full of waste water that have no where to be dispensed around the atomium area. So we had to move on.
Gorgeous architecture.
The obelisk at a round about reminds me of the one in Istanbul Turkey.
The traffic in mid city is getting heavier.
Well pruned trees lining the streets will add beauty to the the street as well as make the street cooler during summer.
Beautiful cathedral.
Kids
Is this a river or a canal? With waterways around there will definitely be a boat cruise to enjoy.
Modern sculpture
People walking down the streets.
How do you make a profile of the people? These seems to be of Arab stock.
A modern arch amid old buildings.
There was no parking area for the bus so we alighted somewhere near this landmark building which is The Marriot Hotel to regroup later when the bus comes back to pick us up.

Can't make up what this grand building is. Somebody please help me.
An anonymous person told me it is a big Chinese Restaurant as indicated by the Chinese words should you click on the picture to enlarge it. Thank you anonymous. Xplorer said it is the Bourse with a chinese restaurant near it. I think the Bourse is more like it. Thank you Xplorer.
Unlike in Malaysia, pedestrians will cross only at a zebra crossing.
A pedestrian mall
Crowd queuing at a fast food outlet.
An election going in Belgium and this van is pasted with the faces of people running for election.
My first sight of the Grand Place or the Market Place.
Look at that building!
And that one behind me.
Some artists with their work being displayed and for sale.
One of them busy at work. The weather was fine and cool and very conducive for a productive day.
Wow! Look at the details.
More of them.

Road side cafe with many tables still empty.
fabulous chicks. KBguy will definitely love this pic. Lim do you think the Chinese babes can be any cooler than this?
Our own ladies taking a group photo wile waiting for clues as to which direction to go.
Souvenir shops of course!
Many of us missed this figure of Van Gough thinking it was just another statue. He had been in this position for quite sometime and I was waiting for one kind soul to put in some coins to make him move. To me the bottle of drinking water and the coin box was the giveaway even though he was so still that he was really like a statue. The sight of the chain anchoring the coin box indicate that he must have experienced a snatch by a theft sometime in the past. I guess this kind of performing art is tougher than most others like busking or playing a musical instrument as a way of making a living. Pray tell me what do you call this kind of performing art?
Victorinox swedish knives. They are definitely sharp. I lost the one I bought in Phnom Penh when I was at moving house from Gua Musang.
Were they giggling at the sight of the peeing statue? That's the Manneken Pis and is seen as the symbol of the French and Dutch cohabitation in Brussels. What a laugh. Anyway it is an icon of Brussels and people will come to this point to have their photograph taken to show the world that they had been to Brussels, Belgium.
The Manneken Pis.
My other half was fascinated by this melting and flowing chocolate.
A complete stranger came and offered to be photographed licking the chocolate together. Pak Zawi made a poor work of it as both of them were too faraway from the flowing chocolate. Anyway the moral of the story is a complete stranger of vastly differring culture will not mind being friendly if you look and act friendly.
Tuan Haji Fuad and Tuan Haji Mustapha had their lunch first before joining us for shopping or just window shopping.

At last we bought our chocolate to be taken back to Malaysia.
Hotel Amigo not far from the Grand Place. A night at this hotel will cost you a minimum of Euro 199 (about RM915).

This lady was viewing the pictures she had taken. Just like me, she must have been taking the pictures of the same building several times over. What can we do when a different angle gives the building a different meaning to our sight.

This girl decided to have her face immortalized on canvas. Her friend was egging her on. I didn't wait to see the result but I guess the artist must be really good to be able to work at the Grand Place.
I first saw this two wheeler at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I approach the guy on the contraption and asked him how easy it is to learn how to ride it. He said there is a computer in the vehicle that will detect any tilt and thus correct the tilt by moving forward or backward thus keeping you upright. You can ride this contraption for a fee. I din't bother to ask how much as our Euros was fast dwindling. Mekyam of New York said this machine is a Segway Personal Transporter (SPT). If you are the lazy to walk kind, get one and in no time you can get yourself bloated up due to lack of excercise. Pak Zawi is guilty of this crime even though he doesn't own an spt.

We boarded our bus again for the final leg of our journey on the bus with Eddy. The last journey was towards the central station in Brussels. Pak Zawi was given the task of collecting contributions from all members to be given as tip to Eddy. Eddy had been with us for more than a week had been spending a lot of his own money for expenses which is only claimable upon his return to the office. He said he doesn't mind accepting any amount in any currency. So all those loose coins in Euros and Swiss francs went into a plastic bag which Eddy gratefully accepted. We still want to keep our pound sterling for use in London.

We alighted from the bus not far from the railway station. There was no way for the bus to get anywhere nearer. So we will have to lug our baggage.
Eddy thanked us all for the tip. Above all he thanked us for the friendship. He had been a great friendly driver. He and me had been joking all the way. He jokingly appointed me as his assistant driver and I called him boss. Later he felt awkward when I continue to call him boss until I told him that in Malaysia we call everybody 'boss'. Even the head of department call the office boy 'boss'. Maybe that is how we created the little Napoleons in Malaysia. After that he understood why I call him 'boss'.
The check in into the railway station.
The waiting before boarding. It was after this boarding that my trouble with the law enforcement began. Before boarding we had to scan all of our luggage. I never thought anything will trouble me until the officer manning the scanner monitor asked me to see the two knives in my bag. I had to call my wife to come and find the knives as she was the one who packed the knives. We didn't bring out 2 but 3 of them. All three were locking knives. The smaller one was brought all the way from Malaysia and the two newer ones were bought in Titise Germany. As I said ealier we thought nothing of the knives as others had also bought knives and one of them even bigger knives and in more numbers than mine. The only difference was that they bought swiss army knives and the bigger knives were in the form of kitchen knives usually used by chefs. Of the 3 knives the two knives bought in Titise Germany was the offending items as they were said to be too big to pass off as a pen knife. It was slightly larger than the one I brought from Malaysia although they were of the same shape.
I thought it would end in confiscation and I would be allowed to board the train. I had experienced similar situation when I was boarding a plane and forgot about the pen knife in my hand carry luggage in Beijing. No it was not so. Another officer by the name of Van Hallen if I heard it right took me to a lady officer and she said something in their own language which of course I didn't understand. After that I was taken to a room and Van Hallen had my details recorded in a form after asking me a few questions.
The mistake I made was not buying the Swedish knife which I wanted to give to my son who had celebrated his 30th birthday on 6th June. Instead of buying a Swedish knife I have opted to buy a locking knife because of being a cheapskate with a limited budget. I bought the locking knife because for the price of a swedish army knife I could get two locking knives, one for him and one for myself. To me the locking knife is better because it is useful to have when you go for outdoors which my son loves to do. He once went on the Head Hunters Trail in Sarawak.
Now back to my situation with the law in Belgium. Van Hallen had asked me to sign on the forms which he had filled and I didn't bother to read as time was fast running out. He said the two knives will be confiscated and returned the smaller one from Malaysia. I pleaded for exchange with one of the confiscated one which he laughingly said he can't allow. Then he said "You are technically under arrest. I should have handcuffed you". The crime? Trying to smuggle dangerous weapons! They are only slightly larger than penknives.
Oh my God! To be arrested and handcuffed while on holiday in Europe? It would make a nice picture and item to blog, I thought quietly to myself.
When we went out of the room, my group was no where in sight. Van Hallen helped to direct me to the boarding gate and on the way we met my other half lugging all the suitcases with the help of Puan Zainida of Poto Travel. Puan Zainida was definitely a good tour leader. She had not abandoned me. On that score alone I would love to have her to lead my group again should we go on another tour with Poto Travel.
Upon reaching the train, we didn't know which way to go to to reach coach number one. Initially I ran to the right but reversed upon seeing the numbers on the coach which read 16 after the fifteenth coach. Oh dear coach 1 which was our coach was 15 coaches away. That day I ran the length of fifteen coaches lugging my luggage in one hand and smaller bags and camera in one hand. My other half was doing the same. I have not done any running for the past 7 years! Imagine me doing it for the first time. I was breathless. Later my wife showed me her broken nails on her toes as a result of the run. Poor wife! I must make up to her for that.
When we reached coach one, we were breathless. Somebody had to lift my luggage for me. When I managed to get myself seated, I regained my breath and promised myself to pray to the Almighty for sparing me from a hear failure.
The train soon pulled out from the station.

Those pictures above showed how my other members looked after the ordeal. Here is how I looked.
Happy to be on the way to London.

We reached St. Pancras International Station, London on time. The bus driver who was supposed to meet us there was nowhere to be seen and we had to wait for him. Later he came with a banner reading Boto Travel and was looking angry muttering something incomprehensible because he had been waiting for so long outside the station. I think he was late and he made the ruse to cover up. What was he doing waiting outside in the bus?
Disembarking from the train at the newly refurbished St. Pancras International station.

The time in London. It was evening.
The waiting in St. Pancras International Station London.
Everything on time.
Collecting our baggage on arrival at the hotel
Holiday Villa in Bayswater area is owned by a Malaysian company.
Waiting for the lift to our 4th floor room at the hotel lobby. The minuscule lift can only take 2 persons at a time with luggage. We had to experience similar sized lift in Lucerne, Paris and now London.
After settling down in the room, we found that the room was very stuffy and hot. A draft of cool refreshing air entered the room when I opened the shutterd window and we felt more comfortable. Later I heard a member complaining of the warm room and asked for a room with air condition only to be told that air condition was only available in the suites.
There was no free wifi in the hotel. Wifi is available at a fee which can be paid online. Internet fascilities was avaialble at the lobby at the rate of 1 pound per 20 minutes. The rate is cheaper at cyber cafes at the rate of 1 pound per hour. I decided to delay my postings till I reach Malaysia.

Europe Here I Come Part 4

2009-06-14T17:08:00.004+08:00

Mt Titlis and Lucerne/Luzern Switzerland

Other peaks as seen from the summit of mt. Titlis.

The trip to Mt. Titlis was an optional trip meaning it wasn't included in the tour package. We had to pay an additioanl Euro40 each to enjoy the cable car ride up to the top of this mountain. At an altitude of 3020 meters or 10,000 ft, this mountain top enjoy snow all year round. Initially there were a few members who wanted to stay back and not join the trip but when the day came everybody was onboard the bus heading for the mountain. I guess being cooped up in the hotel room or roaming around the city of Luzern or Lucern as it is also known on your own ain't the better choice. The bus ride took us to the mountainous region of Switzerland.

Mt. Titlis is located near the town of Engelberg. Engelberg can be reached via road or train. The train ride will take about an hour. We were on a bus tour for the whole trip so of course we took the bus. When we reached the mountains only then that we experienced hairpin turns to reach this Alpine paradise. The bus ride wasn't as gut wrenching as the Raub - Kuala Kubu road via Gap, so none of us including the baby experienced any nauseating experience.

When we reached the cable car station, only four other busses were already there meaning the crowd have yet to arrive.While waiting for our tour leader to purchase our tickets, I scouted around the area and saw this beautiful clear stream discharging its waters into the nearby lake.

Love the sight of this chalet very much.

Our group waiting for our turn to ride the firt cable cars.

The view of the lowest level of cable cars.

There were four cable car rides in all. Three levels to reach the summit and the last one was to go down the other side of the summit to reach the skiing station.

The first section was from the base to the first station on the slope. The car for this section can accomodate four adults and upon exiting this one we had to ride in another bigger ones to reach the next level. This car can accomodate as many as 20 adults and the operator will ride with us and he has the duty to put on the music to keep us in the groove. On the day that we rode his car, he was playing Santana's music one of which was the famous Black Magic Woman. The huge wheels turning the cable to move the cars.
Engelbert town as seen from the cable cars.

The tracks on Titlis. I guess they are meant for skiers and trekkers, not common tourists like us.

First things first. We have to record that we were really 10,000 ft up on Mt. titlis.

That done I went to grab a chunk of snow and took a bite of it. Now it is confirmed that ice on top of Mt. Titlis tasted the same as the ones back home in Malaysia. if only we had brought along a bottle of syrup, we could be enjoying 'ayer batu kepal' like we did when we were children. Back then 'air' was spelt 'ayer'. Me taking a bite of snow.

We were on th etop of the world.

The other half in front of an igloo.

Tuan Haji Zakaria from Perlis reenacting his 'bersanding' in an igloo on top of Mt. Titlis.

A trueblue Kelantanese with his 'semutar'. Mekyam of new york has noted that this is history in the making as I must be the first man to wear a 'semutar' on the Alps. How great is that?

Jubilation after ascending a 10,000 ft mountain albeit with the help of cable cars. remeber a certain tourism minister fron an Asean country ascended to base camp of Mount Everest in a helicopter. Same difference right?

Some of the ladies in our group taking a group photograph.

To go to the skiing station requires another ride down a slope and cost another 9 Euro a person. I decided to forgo the ride as any slippage may result in a swelling of my joints and the trauma may put me out of action entirely. So forget about skiing, I am not going to do it.

There were more arrival of tourists and the mountain top was getting crowded. We did some body slides down a small slope. Doing these childish acts seems to enjoyable again when you are approaching 60's.
After that we headed for the cable car stations for the return journey. The first cable car down was a Rotair. It is considered the first rotating car where the riders can see a 360 degrees panorama when the car rotated. Since it was becoming cloudy, there was not much to see outside and our attention turned to Ana the car operator. I was eating some 'kerepak sagu' brought all the way from Malaysia. I gave Ana two pieces and she ate it.

She had this ecstatic look at the taste of the kerepek. When asked if she wanted more she said "Yes! Only that I feel ashmaed to ask for more" Of course I gave her more.
The bus ride back to Lucerne was a quiet one as most of us were enjoying the sight of the landscape. Some were still playing the experince of being on top of Mt. Titlis on their mind.
We had lunch in our room and did the solat for both Zuhur and Asar.
At 2.30 PM our local guide Rosemary came to take us for a walking tour of the city of Lucerne. This tourist city of 60,000 has all the old buildings intact. Switzerland was fortunate in that it was not involved in any wars and all the buildings reamain for all to see and enjoy.
Rosemary in dark glasses explaining to the group about Lucerne. She was very knowledgeable and very professional in her dissemination of information. Unfortunately I was easily distracted by many things around us such as the passing city train below.

A bicycle with a baby carriage in tow distracted me.

The briefing in front of Bucherer was where the Rolex and other quality merchandise were being sold.
A Rolex is synonymous with Switzerland thatis quality watches. A few of us bought their watches at this outlet as the selection available are wider though the price maybe higher than back home. Pak Zawi will make do with a Seiko Kinetic as it has been keeping good times both in Malaysia and Europe. What more can I ask for in a watch?

One of the staff initially told ma that I can take photograph inside as long as they are not of the watches. Another staff later told me I can't even take any photograph. Anyway the Saworski crystals were already taken and they allowed me to keep that.
The beautifully painted restaurant.

Riverside cafe and hotels.

Colorful flowers always make a patio great looking.

The Chapel Bridge is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe as it was built in 1333. The bridge which span the Reuss River in Luzern is 204 meters long. Due to a freak accident involving a boat in 1993, it was gutted down by fire some years ago and it was rebuilt using wood. Many old paintings dating back to the 17th fcentury found on the bridge were also destroyed.
One of the paintings that survived the fire.

Fast flowing clear blue water of the Reuss River passing right through Lucerne.
Swans and ducks thrive on the river. (Thanks to Ee Lynn for correcting me that they were swans and not geese)

Riverside cafes
A stretched limusine (a Mercedez no less) for a newly wedded couple infront of a church in the city.

Pak Zawi captured the occassion on camera.

There are other bridges nearby. Pedesterians dont have to go far to cross the river to theother side of town.
The final briefing before we were allowed to go on our own to roam the city as it wasn't very far from our hotel. Shopping was the order of the day.

The group photograph on the steps leading to the river and bridge. Pak Zawi is of course behind the camera.

I saw this girl playing this instrument. Can anybody name it? Mekyam correctly noted it as a Swiss harp. The side profile clearly shows the harpsicord like strings on the instrument. Awang Goneng gave it more specific names. The little girl ran away when I tried to photograph her.
A girl enjoying a quiet smoke caught my attention.

This couple must be exchanging phone numbers. Finally on the way back to the hotel, the other half stopped to buy some souvenirs. I was surprised to see an Asian face manning the counter. My initial guess she was a filipina. I was totally wrong as she was from Thailand and had been here since 9 years ago. I asked her if she married a local. She said no, still single and available. Any bachelors heading for Lucerne, please look her up. An Asian beauty stands out like a shining star among the caucasians. If you know a few words of the Thai language, the ice can be broken faster.

The next post will be about Paris.

Europe Here I Come Part 6b

2009-06-24T13:38:00.001+08:00

Amsterdam, The Second Part.
Due to the many pictures that I will be using to illustrate this post about Amsterdam, I am splitting the post. This is Part 6b, the final post.

This is Wim, our local guide in Amsterdam. Beside his native Dutch, he speaks German, English, French and a few other languages fluently. Wim is full of knowledge with information at his finger tips. Above all he is very witty and most jokes were about himself and he certainly knows how to take care of the sensitivities of others especially the German driver. If the driver was a Dutch, the German would have been the butt of his jokes. Wim is divorced from his wife and lives in the same block of flat with his ex wife. He said that often made his wife jealous and angry whenever he brought his girlfriend to his home. He considers himself poor and made use of the many loopholes in the system to enjoy a comfortable life. Earlier he gave us a younger age but at the end of the tour he owned up to the lie and announced his actual age. POTO Travel certainly employed the best guide for the Amsterdam tour. His only mistake was when he went to the wrong Artemis Hotel in the city and not the Artemis Hotel which was in the outskirt of town where we stayed. Anyway Wim caught up with us at the diamond factory. At the factory Wim managed to pick up the brains of a few of us to determine our basic profile to prepare himself on how best to handle our group. That is a professioanl guide for you.
After having lunch of half a chicken shared with my other half at a Turkish restaurant in the shopping area of Amsterdam, we boarded the bus heading for Zaanse Schans, in the north province of Holland. This place has a number of well preserved historic windmills and houses.

We were scheduled to be taken to mosque in Holland and Wim did manage to arrange with the official of a mosque for our impending arrival. Due to poor time management, the visit to the mosque was cancelled. Somehow along the way we spotted a mosque almost hidden by trees surrounding it.The entrance fee to the village was included in the package so we didn't have to pay it ourselves. At the entrance, two photographers were at the ready to photograph us individually. Our photographs will be mounted on a card with pictures of the village and would make great mementos at Euro 10 per pic.
Pak Zawi chose to shoot the photographer instead.

The sight of a small boy in an extremely large clog being photgraphed by his mother caught my sight.

This pretty lass was being photographed in an even bigger clog.
In the woodenshoe workshop, the group was given a briefing on how a wooden shoe is made.

This shoemaker showed us how a shoe is made with his machines. Oakwood was used for making the wooden shoes.
The traditional way was done using this gadget to slice off a small piece of a block of wood in this large 'kacip' like contrapton. It was a tedious excercise and machines were later invented to hasten the process to just a few minutes based on a ready mould.
Even chiseling the inside of the shoe is done automatically and the workmen even had time to make phonecalls. Similar routine were performed for other groups including the phonecalls. Now I know the phone isn't even connected as it was just a dummy.

The finished products on display.

An intricately carved pair of shoes.

This one is even more unique. It could serve as a weapon much worse than the stilletos.
Next we moved off to the cheese making factories.

This girl demonstrated on how a ball of hard cheese is made into slices ready for cooking. Later we were offered to bu the cheese with the slicer included. Can we generalise that most cheese lovers are overweight?

All the cheese you will ever want.
The windmill is of course the main item to see. Windmills in its traditional form is used to generate the power through it's system of gears to pump water froma lower elevation to a higher one. This is how farmlands were kept above water level otherwise it will be flooded. Another main use is as a grinder to grind grains. We had to pay extra to visit the inside of a windmill.

We were in Netherland! The windmill is the proof.

This is a typical Dutch house.
While walking around we saw these two birds flying.
As if on cue, they landed in the canal quite close to us. They are wild ducks!

Floating houses quite similar to the 'rumah rakit' along the river bank of Kota Bharu. The only difference is the 'rumah rakit' in Kota Bharu sits on bundles of bamboo poles which needed to be replaced after a few years. Later plastic drums were used instead. Another difference is the raft houses in Hollands are not exposed to the vagaries of bad weather whereas in Malaysia, the water level will rise several meters during the monsoon and even the best ropes used to tether the 'rumah rakit' may snap or the anchor points maybe uprooted sending the houses adrift towards the river estuaries.
We were on the bus again moving towards Vollendam, a fishing village along the lakes formed when the dikes were constructed.
We saw a new house being constructed and was really amazed to see the amount of insulation required to keep the houses warm during the winter. The roofs were highly raked to allow the snow to fall off during winter.
Even the smallest of space was used to plant pretty colourfull flowers for landscape.
A seemingly sophisticated bike.

The statue of the Dutch lady made Fatthiah looked very slim in comparison.
The beauty of the lakeside with the fishing vessels berthed along the jetty.
One for the album infront of this giftshop by the name of Keko.

The shopowner (assumed to be one) is a friendly lady who entertained many of our requests including a discount. We found the merchandize on sale here to be much cheaper than in Amsterdam and the quality was better.
When we reached home, we found that this was one of the things she regretted for not buying, the wooden tulips. Ladies, don't make the same mistake as my other half did.

Another one for the album.

On the way back to the hotel we had to pass through the city of Amsterdam again. We saw this sculpture.
A stop at Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam was a must as somebody among us had to buy a T Shirt at all the outlets of the Cafe. I bet she missed the one in Manama, Bahrain when we first stopped enroute to Europe.
The Holland Casino is just nearby to Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam. Don't miss it if you think you are lucky enough that you can recoup all your travelling expenses by having a binge at the casino.
Since I wasn't interested in any Hard Rock Cafe merchandise, I was left free to do my own things.
A lovey dovey couple passed by.
This young lady had to wait for her friends whose bike decided to drop off its chain that drives the whhel's sprocket.Here the friend had to catch up and was amused when I took a shot of her.
We returned to our hotel.
There was no adult movie on our TV at the hotel. It was not that they were not available but we had to pay for it. It would be our last night in Amsterdam.

The sun rose early in Amsterdam. Well it was around 4.22 am that the sun rises. Subuh was at 2.17 AM. I rose early to catch the rising sun.
This is how the hotel looks at the beginning of daybreak. This hotel is in a new neighbourhood. Among others in the neighbourhood is IBM Holland and Price Waterhouse Coopers. PWC should be on every body's lips now as it is involved in the audit of the PKF scandal that is going to cost the people of Malaysia a big fortune and at the same time make some people very rich.

Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Just to let you see how nice is the inside of the hotel compared to the ones we had in Luscerne, Switzerland and Classic Hotel of Paris.

This stork waited for me to get ths close before flying off to the other side of the pool. How cheeky.

This is Francisco from Nicaragua. He is a very friendly waiter at the hotel and we struck up our friendship at first sight.
Time to hit the road again. This time we were headed for Brussels, Belgium.
The ladies were ready on the bus.

New buildings at the outskirt of Amsterdam. Above is Hotel Holiday Inn.
The rural landscape of cows and pastures.

Some bridges.
This tunnel reminds me of the tunnel in Paris when Eddy the driver mentioned that was where Princess Diana and her lover died in an accident trying to run away from the papparazi.

We saw these magazines again at another pee stop on the way to Brussels. This is what I regretted most for not buying them while I had the opportunity. The customs in KLIA didn't even bother to ask me to stop for inspection. I could have brought in a couple of them, the extras could be given to my friends in Malaysia.

Europe Here I Come - Part 6a

2009-06-23T10:50:00.003+08:00

Amsterdam, Holland.
There are too many pictures for this post so I have to break them into two parts, Part 6a and 6b.

Beside the wooden shoes or clogs, Holland is symbolized by the windmill. I will always remember Holland for Xaviera Hollander the author of The Happy Hooker who wrote a book mostly about her profession as a prostitute as she was from Holland.

The people of Holland prefer to call their country as The Netherland but of course it would be easier for us to refer to this country as Holland. If you recall it, most of Holland is below sea level meaning any breach of their dikes or any rise in the sea level will render most of Holland to be underwater. With the global warming up and ice at the poles melting very fast, that catastrophe remains a possibility sometimes in the future.
We left Paris in the early morning heading for Amsterdam the capital of Holland.

Along the way I saw this signboard informing motorists of the interesting things that can be sighted in the area, such as wild deers, the wood and I cant comprehend the other symbol, I asked Eddy the driver on the possibility of sighting a wild deer. Immediately he sighted one and pointed it out to me. If it was in Malaysia, that deer would have been dead meat ready for cooking. But not in Europe where protected wild animals are really protected not only by the government but also by the people.

We reached the toll and I saw Eddy paid the toll. It amounted to something like Euros80. Quite a big amount but then this is the only toll so far. Malaysians will be able to boast that we have the highest number of tolled roads per city in the world.
This is also a windmill or the wind turbine. This kind of windmill generates electricity which is fed to the national grid.

At a rest area we found this colorful flowers. Mekyam said they were the azaleas.
A building with Brick In The Wall on its wall reminds me of a blog by the name of Another Brick In The Wall which is a social political blog. Read it if you like sopo blogs.
It was a holiday in Europe and people were moving about to holiday somewhere. Since Holland have many water bodies such as lakes and even the sea, jet skis are the in thing for those who have them. Others brought their mobile homes and bicycles are always seen hanging somewhere.

When we stopped for lunch, we saw this father and daughter doing the same. She was having a banana while our group (below) ate whatever we brought along.

This bridge reminds me of either the Penang Bridge or those new bridges in Putra Jaya.
Amsterdam is straight ahead.
before we reach our hotel, we sighted a windmill and that really excites me.
This is our hotel Dutch Design Hotel De Artemis, Amsterdam.
Lounging around before getting the keys to our room.
Puan Zainida of Poto Travel distributing the keys to our rooms.

We were supposed to have a free time but since our hotel was located outside the city area, some of us decided to pool resources and collect enough money to convince Eddy to take us to town in his bus and later take us home. Thanks to Tuan Haji Mustapha for taking the initiative. It was indeed a very wise decision. A win-win situation for Eddy and us. Me and my wife was the last to be informed of the arrangement and can you imagine how fast it took us to dress up since everybody else were already waiting in the bus?

We sighted thousands of bicycles being parked here. I tell you this was just a section of them. It seemed that this was near the central station and rail commuters will park their bikes here before taking the train. Come another working day they will pick their bikes and go to their respective offices.

A sinking ship?

Its the Nemo where somebody had this idea of creating a science center based on a sinking ship. I don't really know much of what there was in this Science Center. From afar we could see people sun bathing on the deck of the 'ship'.

A cathedral I presume.
Shopping areas. Souvenir hunters will be contented to be here.
A tourist bus seems to be a normal sight in Europe.
Fridge magnets anyone?
These policemen obliged when I asked for a photograph with them.
Tourist taxi. A ride costs Euro 10 for half an hour using leg power.
This pretty lass pedal one of the city taxis. Here she is waiting for customers who have booked her taxi. She had been to KL! Can't recall her name though.Two buskers doing their bit.

The inner lanes. Somewhere behind this lane is the Red Light District. A write up by a VTer about the redlight area. The area may be reformed into a shopping area by 2015 so if you want to see it as it is, better visit Amsterdam now. The area is also famous for it's coffeeshop where you can buy and smoke cannabis freely. Is this the Parliament House? A reader commented below that it is the Central Station in Amsterdam. Now we know why the many bicycles were parked around the area.

Our official tour of Amsterdam started the next day with a visit to a diamond cutting factory.
Free drinks were provided at a place outside the factory so that guests can wait for their guide to take them for a tour of the factory.
Our guide is a handsome yaoung man by the name of Teddy. Teddy is an Indonesian and has been with the factory for 12 yers.
A craftsman at work

Ain't that a beauty?

Another gen in gold. Don't get carried away as it wasn't photographed from the chest of a lady.
Some rings when the flash didn't fire.

As seen under the flash. How beautiful the ring looks on the finger of a young lady.
In the middle of the sales pitch, Teddy was interrupted by the arrival of the factory's management staff. They have come to give Teddy a bouquet of flowers for being his twelfth year with the company. Teddy must be a successful salesman.

A world of contrast awaited us upon exiting the factory

A Honda Civic Hybrid where electricity is partly used to drive this 1300 cc Honda Civic. The non hybrid uses the 1800 cc engine which only petrol driven.
The old and trusted Morris Minor which should be about 40 years old now.

The next part of our tour is the canal tours.
This is where we take off.
Most of the passengers were from our group except for a few others.
Just like Paris, there were boat houses lined up on the river banks with a backdrop of beautiful buildings.
Three roses and a thorn waiting for their boat on a bank.
I wonder if DHL makes deliveries by boats too in Amsterdam. 'Yes they did' said CvG a reader of this blog. He mentioned that there are bicycles on this boat which were used by the staff to deliver the consigments to their customers. What a great way to deliver parcels. The boat itself is a great advertisement.
An apartment for sale. This is a posh area of Amsterdam so if your pocket is deep enough, you may make inquiries. A 95 sq meters of apartments costs something like Euro 460,000 which translates to over RM2.27 million. (Thanks to GvG for the info)
This can't be a boat house. Effort are being made to curb the construction of such houses as they are not really a boat house.
Faces of Amsterdam.

A dame with large ear rings
Two elderly ladies
Netherlands welcome people from countries they have once colonied such as the Indonesians or Surinams.
The serenity of a canal devoid of houseboats and and other moving conveyance.
There is much more to see of Holland and it will appear in Part 6b.