If there is a time for real celebration around the world, it definitely is around and during Christmas time! For this writer, travel has been a passion all along; his peregrination has also coincided with being overseas during Christmas time, making it doubly delightful.
Xmas Greetings
It is December 1980 when Ms. Katherine Mitchell at the American Embassy in Berne, Switzerland, hands me my passport with her signed visa stamped on it. Ms. Mitchell wishes me a merry and white Christmas, and happy travel on my bicycle, in a land that was swept by snow, and temperatures dipping below freezing levels on the American east coast. The blizzards and the continous bad weather deprive the author of the joy of pedalling away across America, and the American discoveries have to wait.
A few weeks earlier, when this writer was crossing into communist East Germany (when it was the days of a federal west and communist east, in Germany, nine years before their re-unification), Christmas trees and serial lamps were surprisingly everywhere, along the route from Hamburg to Berlin. The communist shopping “malls” were glorified grocery stores called “intershoppe” where the 1:1 German west-east currency exchange would pale with shop employees asking for dollars, offering five times the exchange rate “under the table”. They would get even better rates with their connections.. “It’s Christmas time, and anything goes, to celebrate the festive days”, they argued.. To make the celebrations grander, the food, the wine, the clothes (east European winter imports) and the gifts were so cheap under the Communists’ planned economy, that with 10 American dollars, one could live like a king for a whole day! Reaching East Berlin, this writer is introduced to state official Helga Bechstein and to Berlin’s Indian news correspondent, Kunhanandan Nair, who serves cooked rice and yoghurt, south Indian style, making Communist Berlin a home away from home.
Perhaps, one cannot experience a more joyful celebration of Christmas, in all its gaeity and traditional style, than at a country that has a great size of its population steeped in poverty. However, Christmastime weaves a magical spell in the Philippines archipelago. The spirit starts with the “ber” months; come September and October, the radio stations are flooded with requests of Christmas songs of Jim Reeves and Cliff Richards to be played. The stations promptly oblige the listeners, kick-starting the celebrations. By November, all the shopping arcades and malls lining the Ayala Avenue in capital Manila and elsewhere are decked up in pleasing ambience, welcoming visitors with the trademark greeting, “Mabuhay”, offering more and more freebies to visitors and customers.. Come December, the city’s coastal thoroughfare, Roxas Boulevard joins in the act, setting up large, pretty lighted lanterns along the road. Mid-December, and one can can see the crowds thronging the mall;Christmas radiates cheer, Christmas gives hope, and more important, gives the spirit of giving.. if the goodies and the freebies at the Landmark and Glorietta malls are not enough, the poor, standing outside the malls, offer value addition in selling gift wrappers and wrapping the shoppers’ gifts at no charge. One newly-married couple goest back to Glorietta, gets a T shirt and returns to the poor packer outside, handing over their Christmas gift.. “Maraming Salamat”, says the packer, profusely thanking the couple. It is night-time and Roxas Boulevard has a special show by school children, singing Christmas carols in English and Tagalog. The little minstels turn lovely entertainers, and the night is filled with smiles everywhere.
Bidding adieu and saying “Salamat” to my Filipino friends at the Gillarmi hotel, spouse Ann and I fly into Hong Kong. At the Pacific Coffee kiosk, a group of “Santa” children greet us, and we push candies into their hands. We board the A21 bus to Tsim Sha Tsui. Nathan Road is busy as usual, with bumpered traffic. Name boards from buildings cantilever across the road that is a shopping paradise for tourists.
The next morning, as we come out of Holiday Inn, we are struck by a strange sight. Nathan Road, that had busy traffic last night, presents a picture of not a single vehicle this morning; as we see pedestrians walking on the driving lanes, our hotel manager informs us that Nathan Road is, for Christmas Eve, closed to vehicular traffic, and converted into a “walking street” for this day.
By the afternoon, hundreds of pedestrians start to arrive at Salisbury Road overlooking Hong Kong’s Manhattan across the sea waters. With an hour to midnight, Nathan is teeming with a hundred thousand cheerleaders. That’s when the fantastic fireworks display begins, across Salisbury Road. The crowd’s cheer rises and rises and we debate if the sound can be heard in China’s faraway Shenzhen city. Wireless-equipped police officials help their colleagues keep abreast of the situation, while ambulances are on the ready, just in case…
As the LCD screen near our hotel starts the countdown, it seems that a million others are joining in, saying, 5,4,3,2,1…..Merry Christmas! All of us cheer and shake hands with each other.. Opposite the Mirador Mansion, school students begin a chorus of carols and the crowd rings an applause.. further away, a group of university students pose with different sized-bells, tapping them in perfect rhythm to play “Jingle Bell” and more…
It is 6 AM and it is day-break when we head back to our hotel. Our mind’s eye registers a most memorable evening and most magnificent night heralding Christmas!
From MJ Krishna, travel writer
Need any additonal info or clarification with regard to the articles? Write to mj.a4friends@gmail.com
“My name is Szymon and I’m a Polish translator for a4trip. Ryanne asked me to describe how it is possible to spend a summer holiday in Poland for only 100$. It is possible, but not so easy as you would think.
First of all, Poland is the country where you can go for any holiday you like. Well, maybe if you like hot and dry areas you should go to Southern Europe. Summer in Poland is actually hot and dry, but I can’t guarantee good weather. The picture of you spending a week in Poland with umbrella is not so not possible. Rain happens in summer.
However, if you choose Poland for your destination, you must choose mountains or sea; cities with their relics or wild forest (primeval too); living large or budget.
This year I’ve chosen the option with lakes, rivers, forest, wild animals and reeaall economical budget. So, lets start:
1. First of all, we don’t count travel costs. Let’s say you’re starting in Katowice (capital city of Silesia).
2. Holiday destination: Kostkowice – village near Zawiercie in region dotted with Jurassic rocks and stones. Travel costs from Katowice to Kostkowice (80 km): by car (Daewoo Tico 4,5 litres per km) – c.a. 17 zł [1$ = c.a. 3 zł]; by bus: c.a. 15 zł; by bike – none.
Hospitality
There is only one full legal way to spend a night in Kostkowice. It’s scouts’ camping place. The place was founded by government for scouts only, but Poland has changed and since 1989 everyone can be guest now. You can rent a wooden hat for 18 zł per person. There are also tents for rent, which of course costs less, but I don’t remember how much. However, if you have your own tent, you have to pay just 8 zł per night.
The wooden hat we used to live in. It was a little bit dirty inside, but cheap.
3. Food
In nearby town called Kroczyce you can have a great dinners just for 20 zł (soup and second plate). Dinner time in Poland is between 13:00 to 16:00, but restaurants are open from 9:00 to 22:00. Some other prices (if breakfast and supper you make for your own of course):
bread: c.a. 2 zł
cheese [Hochland Gouda]: 3 zł (7 slices)
bottled water 1l: 1,50 zł
So, lets get the costs together. Two way travel costs (up to 5 people in Daewoo Tico, yes it’s true): 34 zł + hospitality: 18*6 = 108 zł + food and drink per day: c.a. 40*7 = 280 zł. So, for 7 days you need to have 422 zł with all costs and we have 140 $. It’s more than 100$, but just subtly.
Lovely sunset and balloon.
One of the three lakes in Kostkowice/Dzibice
The Jura Krakowsko – Częstochowska” region.
Mirów / Bobolice. One of the medieval castles in the region. Little river, where you can spot a beavers family. We've seen them couple of times, but unfortunately we didn't make a good photo (they are black, like to bottom of the river)
Peter van der Lans is the brains and force behind Pulau Pangkor.com, a detailed site dedicated to helping tourists and locals alike find their way around the lovely island. Peter is a true fan of travels, for he is also the webmaster of 2 other sites: Bicycle Adventures and Yangshuo Travel Guide.
Adline was in Australia recently for the Silk Ikats of Central Asia exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. My fellow travel writer, Adline brought the travelling exhibition from the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia where she is an Assistant Curator. The exhibition runs from 2nd July to 11th October 2009 and showcases 50 exotic and colourful robes and textiles, wall coverings and jewellery made through the complex process of dyeing and binding. What’s unique is that the colours of the ikats are obtained from natural resources like saffron, indigo plants, crushed cochineal insects and skins of pomegranates.
Adline unfolds a silk ikat after removing it from the packaging.
Adline prepares the stand which will hold the robe.
Charlotte Davy, senior exhibitions registrar, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Rezad Adnan, operations officer from Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia and aka Adline's hubby =), position a robe on a plinth.
The robes and textiles are all in place in the exhibition.
Visit AGNSW’s Flickr for more colourful pictures! Do make a date with the historical ikats if you are in Sydney, entrance fees are $8 for adults and $5 for concession and members.
* Pictures, captions and details of the event courtesy of Adline.
People around the world can now read our posts, thanks to our wonderful team of translators who stretched out, reached them and spread the good word around in various languages! Let’s take a look into who works behind the scenes, those multi-lingua walking dictionaries :)
Maria Noel
Maria Noel is our Basque language expert. Born in Argentina, she is now a History professor and Basque language teacher and plans to further her studies in Mythology and Ancient Religions. Certainly a great addition to the team, Maria is a proud mother of a 10-year-old boy and a 4-month old girl. One who has travelled quite extensively to Spain, Basque Country and England, Maria has ‘travelled’ and ’seen’ even more by working for the team!
Jessica
Jessica is one passionate translator. Doing Chinese Traditional translations for us, she found translating so enjoyable that she quit her job to concentrate on freelance translation and has no regrets since! Jessica has an MA in Children’s Literature, loves reading and travelling and hopes to travel around the world one day.
Ahmed Amin
Ahmed Amin, our Arabic translator, is one very busy man. He does business administration and tutoring, and we are lucky that he still manages to find time for us! Working in the UAE, Ahmede is currently on vacation in Egypt. His trip would surely be a interesting experience to share with us when he comes back.
Stefan Petkes
Stefan Petkes is our Romanian translator and proud father to Andra, his lovely 14 month old daughter.
Rei
Rei is our Japanese translator who has lived in the US for the past 8.5 years. She has many years of translating, 6 years to be exact! She has worked mainly with theatre and film, doing scripts, letters and reviews. Truly a ‘woman of words’ :)
Emma Cazabonne
Translating our sites to the romantic language of French is Emma Cazabonne. She is an Emma of many trades! She has written a book titled “A Light to Enlighten the Darkness: Daily Readings for Meditation During the Winter Season”, paints rocks, teaches English and tutors French via Skype. If you want an image immortalized in a unique way, send her a picture and she can paint it on a rock for you! Check out her site.
Liang Qin is our Simplified Chinese translator, working for a busy company in China and is also a part-time freelance translator. She used to live in the UK and has an Msc in Applied Psychological Research there. She traveled a lot in Britain and loves the beautiful view there, however is upset to having had no time to looking around in the Europe. She also likes Chinese cooking and Chinese music. She is hoping to travel around the world and making more friends, and letting more people to know about China!
Debora Perricone
Debora Perricone is 28 years old, lives in Turin, Italy and is happily married :D She is a freelance translator and also works for a company. She graduated in Foreign Languages and Literature with a thesis in Cinema History and Criticism. She loves cinema, English and North American Literature and traveling.
Matthias Heining
Based in Bavaria, Germany is Matthias Heining. He now wants to visit Malaysia after getting enticed by a4 trip! He is one who loves talking for hours, hates bad exchange rates, loves “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, dislikes unfair people and enjoys working with Linux and Unix. He seems to be a truly colourful character!
SunYoung (Sophie) Henderson
SunYoung(Sophie) is our Korean translator who currently lives in Canada. She has travelled through most of Asia, Europe and Canada so far! Her favourite travel spot would have to be amazing Laos. She found every part of Laos incredible, relaxing and very beautiful. She loves travelling and seeing the world. She hopes her next adventure will take her to somewhere in Central America or Africa!
Ehsan Forghani
This is Ehsan Forghani, our Persian translator and aged 21 years old. His biggest goals in life are to be a great music composer, mastering English and developing computer games. He plays the guitar and loves it. He’s says that he’s not a very talkative guy, studies computer science and wants to pay tribute to the people who helped him in this duty: Mr. Hadi Forghani, his father and his friend, Moeen Tabrizi.
Melanie Mosqueda
Melanie Mosqueda is our Tagalog translator. A registered nurse with a BS in accountancy, Melanie started doing translations when she volunteered for the UN. She is now learning Norwegian and very soon, she could be our Norwegian translations too!
Vanessa Martin Quintana
Our Spanish translator is Vanessa Martín Quintana . A true fan of languages and art, she has studied translation, interpreting, film and indology and is also a coach in Neuro Linguistic Programming! She currently works in Munich as a freelance translator and media designer. She loves India for its romanticism and also for her love of Tantrism.
I have heard wonderful tales about this place but non of those stories could prepare me for the awesome experience I had.
This was a place I chose for our honeymoon and after much persuasion, my wife agreed. Research followed and then Matta Fair. We managed to book a return flight tickets from Kumming for about RM 930.00/person minus airport tax. From Kumming we need another connection flight to Li Jiang which cost about 600 Yuan/person. Need not worry though about not able to book the ticket. There are plenty of flights.
Before departing from Kumming, we were approched by tour agent promising a value for money tour. For the first timer, please do not get convinced. Normally, one would feel unsecure about where to go. That’s understandable. There are plenty to choose from as we discovered as we went about at Li Jiang there are many cheaper tours. Overall, we estimate, we would have save about 1000 Yuan/person for 10 days trip if we did not agree to the Kumming tour agent. After coming out from Li Jiang airport, proceed to left about 50 -100 metres and there are plenty of taxi (100 Yuan). Ask for KFC (only one). It’s at the front entrance to ancient town of Li Jiang. There itself got plenty of tour agents and also nearby to many hotels and guest houses. Please stay at the ancient town guest houses. There are traditional, old but renovated houses. One can experience the lifestyle, hospitality and they are in the heart of ancient town.
Li Jian, The World Heritage
Li Jiang ancient town is about 800 years old. It’s a world heritage was only discovered recently. I shall not go into that story. Let’s focus on the trip. The architecture were mesmerising. Felt Iike going through time travel. The air is fresh but dry. Sunny on most days and with little rain there is non stop activities in the open. The canal from which water flow from mountain is clean and plenty of fishes. It’s one of the uniqueness of this place. During the nights there are plenty of very happening pubs and discos all were in ancient town. They actually converted the old houses into pubs. It’s more happening than our Telawi Street, Bangsar. Then again it’s too happening for both of us so we took of to other places.
Li Jiang old town
Next is shang-ri La (Chung Tein). The journey took about 8 hours. Along the way we stopped at La SI Hai (Lake) for some horse riding. The event cost us 600 Yuan/person for about 3 hours of boat ride, horse ride up the mountain and some tea sampling. Pheew! what a relief when it’s over. Oh no. not that it’s a bad trip. We actually enjoy it. it’s just the horse ride cost us some back pain. The view – spectacular and the ride enjoyable for first timer. Prior to that we went boat ride on the lake and saw some wild ducks and one white bird which look like a crane. After that we stop at an open field and had the locals bake us some some fishes with baby dragonflies. It’s delicious. A must try. Felt like cowboy living a free and carefree life.
Horse riding at La SI Hai (Lake)
Before we go up the mountain to Shang-ri La we have to stop to visit a rock in the middle of Chung Kiang river. They called it Tiger Leaping Gorge. Legend has it a tiger upon been chased by human reached the river bank and with no place to run leaped with all its might to the rock and then over to the other bank to escape. Must be super tiger. The river is more than 50 feet wide. It’s a place I will not recommend. To see that rock, we have to walk more than 2 km one way. The journey back we just took a rickshaw ride (40 Yuan). Too tired already.
The Early Spring
The journey up shang-ri La was filled with beautiful sceneries. During our trip, it’s the start of spring. The flowers were not there yet. The best time to go is Autumn. The place is fill with rainbow of flowers and plants. Still our journey was interesting. We get to see Sakura flower, high plateau grass plain, yaks, donkey and horses running freely and locals with tents in the open. Imagine watching a movie about olden days Mongul. Shang-ri La town has nothing much to offer accept there is also an ancient town like Li Jiang but not as beautiful and happening. We had the opportunity to sample local food. Please ask your guide to bring you. They are nice and the beef(yak) cook with chili is awesome. A warning to those not able to eat spicy food. This dish although very nice is too spicy even for a chili padi eater like me. Also try the Yak milk. very nice.
Next is way up to Fei Lai Si. A small remote place top of mountain to view Mei Li Snow Mountain in the morning where it will changes colour from white to gold. We stopped at at about 4300 metres above sea level to play with snow. Apart from that, there’s nothing much to see. The journey is miserable after that. Imagine 40 KM of bumpy road. They were doing road repair and it’s already 7 years and still on it. When we reach over destination, It’s more misery. Road was rotten and muddy. The hotel water taste like mud water and there is nothing much to eat. The morning was filled with mist. Cannot see more than 50 feet. So no mountain at all. After that it’s another 40 KM of bumpy road back.
Mei Li Snow Mountain
Back at Li Jiang, we were ragged and tired. Li Jiang ancient town is too busy, so we decided to stay at Shu He. Another ancient town with 1200 years history. Of course our nice quide brought us to sample dried pork rib. Another awesome meal. It’s a must try. Located near new town market.
Shu He was totally out of our imagination. It’s tranquil, beautiful and the people is most pleasant. We finally felt at home. In fact it’s so nice, my wife do not want to come back to Malaysia. If you need any help, just ask your guest house owner. He/she will make sure all your requests are met and will go all out to make you feel at home. Our host treated us to some tea, brought us to pick cherry and help us arrange for transport. The place is safe. No worry at all.
If you are there, take a bicycle ride (15 Yuan) to Bai sha, 1400 years old. It’s 20 minutes ride fill with beautiful country side scenery. And if you are bored, take a taxi(20 Yuan) to Li Jiang and have all the fun clubbing. There are pubs at Shu He but not as busy and noisy. It’s most relaxing here.
You can rent a bike to Bai Sha
Anywhere in Li Jiang or Shu He, try out their grilled squid (4 Yuan). Very nice. Pork and beef is common but not chicken. Rare and expansive. Beside, who want chicken when there is plenty of yak.
“Yong is such an adventurous guy. I knew him for more than 5 years, love to listen to his trip stories to East coast of Malaysia, and how he deal with his printing customers too. I must say, the Li-Jiang trip is amazing. Enjoy!” Said Pin, a4trip.com
One thing good about the a4trip.com project is, you meet up with great passionate people always. Pearly, the owner of a very comprehensive website ‘My-Island-Penang.com‘, just shared with us about her Blog Award! Check it out!
January 12, 1981 gave me my finest moment of fellowship. I was concluding my bicycle tour girding the globe, when in New York’s John F Kennedy Airport, I met a special boy. This “boy” was 60 years of age; at the Pan Am airline terminal, official Ashok Parekh and I exchanged notes and realized that we had our founding education at a common alma mater. While I went through the six years in Chetpet, Ashok had his “forms” in George Town, where our School was serving from, those days. The discovery that both of us were Madras Christian College School, made the day truly memorable for Ashok and I.
It would be another 28 years before I would make it again to John F Kennedy airport, flying across the Atlantic. The London- New York flight on Kuwait Air is truly a pleasant surprise; sometimes the cheapest fares come with the greatest service!
Before leaving Chennai, a call from America’s East Coast is another surprise; it’s from Sri Raghavan, younger brother of classmate Murali Dharan. Sri is also an MCC School alumnus, from the class of 1983 and this junior boy invites me to his home across the Hudson river in New Jersey state.
When we used to be kids and were growing up, our elders would say, “My! How you’ve changed!” New York’s change has been good and bad from this writer’s perspective. The highway linking the airport and midtown New York pales in comparison with the baddest ones in the north of my home town, Madras; in the 28 years I have been away, the connecting road in New York does not seem to have been topped or tended to; the rocky ride makes me toss on the bus seat. After an hour it seems better, when I realize that I have only become used to the bumps and pits enroute!
The spirit of MCC School’s fellowship has not changed, though; Sri and I are meeting after 30 years and we get going down memory lane. This “boy” is today a leading vacation and holiday consultant, placing clients at the best accommodations at the best holiday centres around the world. Sri also knows every square inch of New York City and he guides me to all the lesser-known sights that are as lovely as the famous ones. In addition, at their 17th floor apartment, Sri’s spouse, Mt. Sinai hospital’s radiologist, Dr. Arati plays a great host(ess), and the two days speed away just like that!
India’s largest Bank is also among the world’s biggest. State Bank’s prudent lending has made it the market leader, steady in a world of topsy-turvy financial markets, especially America, where the hitherto “largest” banks started seeking State largesse and the “best” banks simply went bust!. In this scenario, if an Indian bank does creditably well in the U.S., it is due to top class leadership. My visit to State Bank’s American headquarters is all the more memorable; heading the institution is 1971 MCCSian, Pradeep Kumar. Pradeep hides his banking acumen with his disarming smile and talks about his days at School, the cricket matches where umpiring was a permanent fixture for this pint-sized achiever, nicknamed, “thatha” (old man) by class mates!
America has changed; it has changed the names of our boys living there. Sriram Bhuvaraghavan has shortened to Sri Raghavan. His brother, Muralidharan Bhuvaraghavan has simply become Murali Dharan. At Nashville, Tennessee, classmate Sundaram tells me about his friend, R.Kuppuswamy who used to be called “Kuppu” by friends. Kuppu R, has become Westernised; his official name is now Dr. Cooper! However, one name change tops it all. A 1967 alumnus, based in Texas, tells me about his years under Head Master Mathias and about his illustrious batch mates. He finally adds that his name in School was Gnanadorai David Sathiaraj, and that he changed it to David Raj. I wonder why he dropped the wisdom (gnanam) and the very truth (sathia) from his original name?
If America has given delicious cupsful of MCCS fellowship, Australia, Down Under, seems to vie with it with an equally tasty treat. There is a small joke we boys used to hear at School. Our teacher, Albert, used to tell us that in Australia, people celebrate Christmas only in summer. Perplexed as we were, relief came in the teacher’s answer; December is summertime Down Under!
Thinking of Mr. Albert’s question, I laugh in my seat on Emirates Air flight from Auckland, New Zealand, as the bird prepares to touch down in Sydney Australia. Spouse Ann and I in the past weeks, have been criss-crossing the two countries by plane. All along, it has been no-frills budget flights where we have to pay a tidy sum even for drinking water on the plane. However, Emirates’ food and refreshments are “on the house” and we experience true heaven in the heavens.
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Airport is connected directly by rail to the city and its suburbs. However, the Sydney CityRail extracts its pound of flesh for this facility. Boarding the train, we go to visit the famed Opera House, and the cost is 15 dollars for a ride of 11 kms. However, from the Opera House, our train journey to suburban Macarthur station is almost 50 kms, long, and the fare is just about 5 dollars. It is funny when you pay three times the cost for a journey that is only a fifth of the distance of another! In fact, our train stopped at the Airport station during our long journey to Macarthur. I point this anomaly to MCC School classmate Vinod Daniel. This Divisional Director of the Sydney Museum jumps to defend Sydney CityRail as tolls and charges being necessary for availing of development facilities. At the Daniel residence in Sydney, Vinod and I have a big laugh about it, though regretfully at my own cost!
It has been Vinod who has been inviting me to Oz (as Australia is also known) all these years. It is only now that I have really made it. If Vinod is delighted with his visitor from Madras, spouse Shanti enlivens the evening with her grand dinner, where Alan Isaac & Leonard Ponraj (1978) and Vinod Kumar (1981) make it a great MCCS reunion; the first meeting of a soon-to-evolve Sydney OBA chapter.
With Suresh @ Adelaide Cricket Oval
Adelaide, South Australia, is a city of splendid churches that compete with the famous cricket oval. Classmate Suresh Gupta, who moved from Madras’ Anna Nagar to Adelaide’s Burnside Town, is a structural engineer. Suresh is already very popular with the Adelaide Indian community, continuing on his trait at School. You could name an Indian and Suresh would almost definitely be his friend in the lovely city. Suresh drives us to the Oval, when he points out a fact about the road we are riding on. “It’s called the Million Dollar Way”, says Suresh, explaining that every year, all the money is earned by the City authorities as fines levied on speeding, law-breaking motorists! He also points out to passing “road trains”, huge, very long trucks.
Crossing the fountain pond, we enter the Oval. A thrill passes through our bodies as we pose in front of the Sir Don Bradman Stand. Later in the evening, we enjoy the lovely beach and then drive to suburban Burnside, Suresh’s home. We first stop at the Burnside Library, where novels by Indian writers line along with a surprising variety of Tamil language books. Tamil is the language we guys speak in Madras. Of course, English is still King!
The Gupta residence is all cheer. Here, at the doorway, a divine, elephant-like “Pillaiyar” image seems to bless all. Every day, the Gupta family has a few curious visitors asking about the significance of the “deity”, while Suresh’s folks tell them that it is this “Pillaiyar” that is the Lord protector in Hindu mythology. It is now late evening and Ramaa readies dinner and sets the alarm for her kids (and us) to wake up in time after midnight to view, live, the Indian Premier League cricket match being beamed from so far away. Morning is yet not born when Suresh drives us to the airport for us to get on the next plane to Melbourne. When I leave for the boarding gate, I thank this “boy”, nicknamed “bull dog” at School.
With Jerry (2nd Right) at Bangkok
We are now a group of five and on our way to Rangoon, Burma, and have just flown from Malaysia and touched down on Krung Thep’s Suvarnabhoomi (Indian name, meaning “golden earth”) International airport. This Krung Thep airport is an architectural marvel. By the way, Krung Thep is how the people of Thailand refer to their capital city, Bangkok. Now, Suvarnabhoomi airport is huge and confusing and my classmate Venkatachalam asks me how we are going to spend the night before boarding the flight to Burma. Well, I assure him that Bangkok, the magnificent city is brilliant at night and hence its nightlife is not to be missed. I also assure him that travel and sightseeing have been arranged, thanks to a mail I had earlier received from a School Junior, who promised to meet us when our flight would land in that unearthly hour. True to his promise, this “boy”, Jeremiah Moses Jefferson is there, waiting for us. He arranges for a taxi to the city, hosts us to a sumptuous midnight dinner, shows us shopping malls, the dancing halls and the karaoke spots, before reaching the airport “flyway”, an elevated highway that would soon connect the airport directly to the city; an ambitious, long flyover project designed by his Company, Siemens. As the night hours gradually change to early morning, our taxi zips back from the darkness into the shining lights of Suvarnabhoomi airport. As our plane takes off and flies north by northwest, we smile at the events of the night; the Bangkok experience may have been brief, but Jerry, with his infectious laughter was one “boy” whose fellowship and companionship made sure it was “super” for all of us.
Text & Pictures by M J Krishna. The author is an alumnus of the1978 batch of the 174-year-old Madras Christian College School.
Need any additonal info or clarification with regard to the articles? Write to mj.a4friends@gmail.com
I was invited by my friend to watch this documentary ‘Enjoy Poverty’ by Renzo Martens, in 22nd International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Renzo’s way of defining poverty touches everyone who watch the movie. The clipping neon sign in the movie, sarcastically turning everyone into quiet and start to think after the movie.
For two years, Dutch artist Renzo Martens travelled around Congo, from the capital of Kinshasa to deep into the interior. Employing a casual film style, camera in hand, he makes his way around the poverty-fighting industry in the post-civil war country and regularly appears onscreen himself. He films UN peacekeepers in their SUVs providing security for an international company so it can mine gold; corpses of gold-digging rebels surrounded by Western photographers, white relief workers happily taking pictures of the recipients of their emergency aid, with their logo on every canvas tent they hand out; a large landowner at a photo exhibition looking at pictures of his day labourers, who don’t even earn enough to feed their children. It all amounts to one conclusion: poverty is there to stay, and “fighting it” is an industry from which the poor benefit very little. Martens then launches a self-styled emancipation programme: he teaches the Congolese poor that “images of poverty” are their country’s most lucrative natural resource. Under Martens’ guidance, local photographers start photographing malnourished children instead of wedding parties. He mounts a neon sign in the middle of the forest that reads “Enjoy Poverty,” so that the poor can reap its financial fruits as well. The local population dances frenetically, but in the end, adversity won’t be held at bay for long.
After a long trans-pacific flight from the US in January 2006, unwind I did when I stopped over at Singapore and travelled to the Malaysian capital. I was told that a grand temple along the sungai batu, the rocky river, needed to be visited. I missed the grand event at the sungai batu temple where the world’s largest Hindu idol of Karthikeya would be installed and consecrated. However much I looked forward to attending the divine event at the cave temple, I had an itinerary of further travel towards Thailand, and it was just a peek that I could afford, promising to visit this spot soon.
Towering idol shines in the setting sun
Every following year, Kuala Lumpur was on my pit stop, but the visit to the temple along the “rocky river” did not somehow materialise. However, resolving to make it during a recent tour of Asia, we hit the road to the cave temple. As we arrived, in front of us was the gleaming, golden 130-foot statue rising to the sky and seeming to rival the green canopy of the rocky hill behind.
Climbing the 272 steps leading to the inner sanctum of the temple, I take another flight of stairs below; The six abodes of Muruga are well-depicted along the cave walls, while stalacites and limestone suspended from the top act as “thoranam”, decorative pieces. The Palani “winch” to the right vies for a tasteful depiction with other images of pilgrims with “kavadi” on their shoulders. I walk up another flight of stairs beyond, when I hear descriptive superlatives from other visitors, one, a group of tired and puffing Russians who exclaim “beautiful, beautiful” when I ask them about the place. Another Malaysian couple look obviously Mohammedan, and say they are making it to here from distant Kota Kinabalu to see Balasubramanya and be blessed with a child. As we go further up to the grand sanctum of the Lord with his consorts, Valli and Devasena, the childless couple open their bottle of milk and hand it over to the priest for bathing the holy images with the milk, later. Prayer pooja time is between 8 A.M and 1 PM, and again between 4 PM & 8 PM, the priest informs us, also going to the history of the shrine, set up un 1891 by a devoted Thambuswami Pillai, a Tamil trader who noticed that the cave entrance was shaped like a spear, the divine weapon of his Lord Muruga. Pillai went on to find a magnificent abode for the divine. As the history is narrated, sunlight streaks through the top opening in the cave, lighting up our area.
When we climb down, the Russian lady walks down stiffly in pain, helped by her friend to balance her in the steep flight of steps below. .She smiles nevertheless and says that this trek is definitely worth the strain. Another lady briefly stops when an entrepreneur with a golden python offers to place his pet around her; there is some trepidation, but she goes on to wear the reptile around her and boldly kisses the reptile’s mouth when asked to do so. “Great”, she squeals.
It is evening and the towering idol shines in the setting sun. The temple photographer, Murugan, is equipped with a Nikon D 70 digital camera to take pics of desirous visitors. Murugan is from Chennai, India and loves working here, though he laments that almost every visitor has a camera or a cellphone-cam and so only shoots 10-20 portraits of pilgrim customers. Murugan also informs that the towering idol is coated with a special golden paint from Thailand, like the Buddhist pagodas. As I move on, a large group of Thai monks enter the complex; one of them opens a small bag of rice and the rest take a handful each, to feed the large group of pigeons in the temple complex.
We go further along a pond where an image of Lord Hanuman, the monkey God stands. Another visiting group opens a bag of bananas; simians appear from nowhere, and the bag goes empty in a minute..
It is sunset time, when the temple bell tolls below, and the Ganesha enclosure is lit up with the multiple lamps held by the priest, as pilgrims rush to the sanctum. Two musicians play the strains of Kungumam, Mangala Mangaiyar Kungumam, a Tamil film song dedicated to Muruga’s mother, Meenakshi. The notes are a bit faltering from the nadaswaram, the reed-wind instrument, but I guess that the Lord would grant small mercies for this errant musician. As also, for the shoe-clad, cigarette-smoking visitors on the holy premises…
It is a dark sky when we return to the capital city centre. The bus to Melaka is waiting for us. We board the upper deck and survey the bumper-to-bumper traffic jam in front of us. We look back, in our mind’s eye, thanking the pioneering efforts of Thambuswami Pillai for building a pilgrim centre that has, for over a hundred years, been blessing the faithful and giving visitors a truly enjoyable experience. We will make it again to the Batu temple, hopefully for next year’s Thai Poosam festival, we promise…
The author adds:
One thing that slipped mention was about a volunteer at Batu Caves, in 2005. This man was from India, on a short tour of Malaysia, when he reached the Batu temple. The tall Murugan statue was taking shape at the premises. Seeing some restoration activity at the temple and also noticing that volunteers were carrying buckets with bricks in them and climbing up the steps to hand the materials over to the site supervisor upstairs, this visitor from India, who had then, just recovered from surgery, decided to join the volunteers. He asked for a bucket and bricks, made the long, steep climb up the 272 steps and handed over the construction materials. “This was the minimum I could do as thanksgiving to Lord Muruga for my return to good health”, says this man, a legend himself, in Indian cooperative banking circles… he is M.Balasubramanian, Managing Director of the Chennai-based, government-owned, Repco Bank..
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8 to 13 October marked our grand tour to Cambodia. In these 6 days, we encountered joys and laughter, shocks and burns (sunburns). Besides the famous Angkor Archeology Park, Pub Street, Traditional Markets, Museums and Temple’s visits, we have headed off the beaten tracks to a rural area, 1 hour bumpy drive from the Phnom Penh city, for visiting an under-construction school, namely Kumomo School.
The Kumomo School construction is sponsored by NGOs and partially by the Kumomo project from 1.com.my. At the same time, the Kumomo project has managed to sponsor 19 members to visit the fascinating SiemReap and adventurous Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
The lucky 19 members include
The tallest YowChuan, supposes to be our leader, but always missing in action. YowChuan’s gf, Ammie, hates sunlight, and spends most of the time indoor while Ammie’s sister, SokTeng, who was usually guarded by Ammie was successfully escaped at the last day during the Royal Palace visit.
Yong is the first one who dares to crunch on the deep fried insects. Yong’s sister, Elaine loves to try out all the Cambodia foods except the insects. Yong’s gf, HueyChin, only talks to Yong and Elaine most of the time.
Weikiat, our talented web programmer, was always serving his lovely gf, Foong. Foong was always happy except when Weikiat was slightly lost attention on her in the crowded Phnom Penh bus station.
Lily, always look likes 18 year old, although she is married and with two kids, and her caring husband is always carrying her orange bag whenever they visited in Cambodia. Next are our little couple, Cybie and Jason, who enjoys taking photos of all the things in front of their sights from insects to light bulbs. Last and not least are Daniel and his talkative gf, SiewLing, who both need to eat more in order to sustain a healthy weight.
And finally are guy who seldom has the chance to taste others’ foods beside those has been ordered. Watching couples exchanging their food each others in the half way of dining, I always think of they are so lucky to try two tastes in one meal. :)
Here we go… Nicholas, who always maintains his best photogenic post in front of camera, is our photographer, KeeKong, Pin’s buddy, has the best stamina in the group. XiaoMing, Eric’s buddy, had suffered from sore throat since the first day. Marcus, our replacement tour guide, has taken the lead for guideing the big group and lastly, I , ChinSeng, didn’t bring camera to Cambodia, except pen, paper, water and foods.
Stay tuned for the anecdotes on our grand tour to Cambodia!
Last month, Yichin and the little-monster-packaging team were busy sending out the soft toy to the people who has helped in the a4trip project. Rumors came to us that some took a snap during their trip and cause some delay, while few naughty one was hidden at the Post Office and refused to surrender themselves to their new owner. Luckyly, no report of missing soft toy so far :)
“”Carropi” has arrived in Oregon in fine shape and there were four BEAUTIFUL postage stamps of Malaysia’s birds and plants on the outside of his box. THANK YOU so much! We are adding the stamps to our collection. That was a very thoughtful and fun gift. Carropi is hanging near my computer, so he can remind me that I should quit playing stupid computer games (I am addicted to “Zuma” and “Mah Jong Solitaire”) and do something better,” said Barbara
“The package wouldn’t fit into my mailbox, so the postman knocked on my door. My dear mum who’s wary of strangers didn’t want to answer the door, so it got sent back to the Kelana Jaya post office. I booked a cab and went to pick it up the next day. I went to at least three different counters, before I was sent into the bowels of the post office, where thousands of letters seemed to await their fate. There, a postal officer rummaged through some steel drawers before he found my package, which was quite ’safely’ hidden. Glad to report the toy’s now safe in its new home. My son Amir named his new friend Kashi,” said Adline
Penang oh Penang… The so-called heaven of Chinese delicacies… Of course what I mean here is the delicious Penang street food. “When one talks about Penang, we think of FOOD FOOD FOOD nothing but the food. Yes, that’s one of the main reason why people come to Penang. We have undeniably the best food around in my opinion, every corner, every hawker’s char koay teow I eat, I taste no difference because to me, they all taste the same, which is delicious! But Penang is more than what meets the eye. Since I’ve started reading up about history, culture and more things about Penang, I feel even prouder to be a Penangnite. It has everything you can ever dream of (I don’t mean to brag). Good cheap food, nice people, beaches, hills, rich heritage and culture. Anything you wish to have under the sun!” Said our Penang writer, Sharon Ong talking about her hometown.
We’re glad that a passionate writer, Sharon Ong from Penang is now joining a4trip to introduce her lovely hometown to us. “When I was first invited to become a member for a4trip, I was very very thrilled indeed! I was super excited that I was jumping around telling my family and couldn’t stop being all happy and excited. You guys do the thing I’ve always dream of and love doing. Two words. Travel and Write.”
A fun loving girl who love travel, love eating, love trying something new, love socializing, love writing and many many more. With her outgoing personality and her love to her hometown, I’m sure she is the best candidate for our Penang travel guide.
“I guess what I like best about my hometown is not only the availability of food in every corner at any time but also the kind of life I can choose to lead here. I could have chosen to work in other cities but I chose to come back to penang, because one, my family is in Penang and two, despite being the industrial base and gearing for more development on the island, Penang still gives one a choice to lead a rather laid back life, unlike other cities where everyday is rush hour day. I love the fact that everything is so close to each other, my working place is 8 mins drive from my house, biggest shopping mall is 15 mins from where I live… every place is within reach! And there’s no toll involved! How superb is that :D I love Penang, I definitely *HEART* it. Best state in Malaysia with everything under the sun, hands down!”
When she was asked about what she like about her hometown, excitedly she said she loves all the food around Penang and every places she wish to go is within reach. Every Penangnite is proud of their varieties food. For all the food lovers out there who crave for varieties of good food, Penang is the best place!
If interns are like a box of chocolates, you will never know what you will get! When they first came to work, we don’t really know what will happen in the next three months. Let’s see what they have done…
They eat a lot
again…
and again…
They get nervous during presentation.
But, this will not stop them from sending messages at work…
We work hard and they play harder
Not enough with that…
and again…
If you know anything good about them, post it here. I may be wrong. They will be back to school after tomorrow, so don’t wait, say it now. Agnes, Eunice and Yichin – if you have anything to defend to say about yourself, we would love to hear from you too.
If you are asked for your postal address from Yichin earlier, the little small monster are probably on their way to your house now, struggling their way by air, sea or land – here is a little hint of what would be knocking your doors soon. Thanks again to the gift-sending team for this little surprise.
If your friends are going to Macau, I bet you would love to see them coming back with two hands of the craving portuguese egg tarts. I got this news from Agnes that her sister went to Macau. After much lobbying by me and her sister, Wannie was forced agreed to buy us some gifts.
After a week long waiting, I was surprised to see a plastic bag full of travel guides and maps of Macau on my desk yesterday. Thanks Wannie, it is yummier than egg tarts, we love it! Thanks.
The “untouched” Domino. What are you guys waiting for?
What is the first thing that our birthday girl, Yi Chin do? Obviously, she seemed to be interested in the BBQ saused chicken wings very much!! Look at her smile. ^^
WOW… what a big pizza feast for Yi Chin’s birthday!! Looks yummy… we really can’t wait to start eatting actually… Without a cake, substitute with the pizza, we sang two languages of birthday songs to wish her a happy birthday.
Left or right? Which is your favourite? The left one is spicy sauce while the right one is BBQ sauce. Tell you all a secret… Yi Chin’s favourite is BBQ sauce one.^^
Again… What are you guys favourite? Left one is BBQ flavour and right one is Aloha Chicken. Both looks delicious!
Looks like the one who took the pictures like pizza very much…Ikan bilis sambal or Seafood flovour?
Above are all the interns that having internship at 1.com.my and dm1.com.my.
We took a group picture before tucking in… Underneath the smile, we all are craving for the pizza!!! Especially Jing Kai!! haha…
oooohhh…… finally can start eatting. Everyone were busying about eatting the pizza but still… “sensitive” to the camera when shooting. Yi Chin, what are you looking at?:)
All the guys are also “sensitive” to the camera too. But wait…where was Marcus?! Don’t worry, he was doing the camera man’s job. Thank you, Marcus!!^^ Where’s Pin? He couldn’t attend Yi Chin’s birthday because he had have lunch with his parents. Where’s Wan Ching? Same with Pin.^^ Where’s Yow Chuan? He’s been missing for a few months… haha, just kidding:P… He is busy with his work.
Last, we all wish Yi Chin’s birthday wishes come true!!^^
We arrived at the hidden place at 11am. It is easier if you’re taking the Jalan Bangsar road, heading towards KL city. You’ll pass National Museum and KTM headquarters on your left, and you can find the lost, but remarkable place to visit – Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.
The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia is one of the world’s youngest museums. This 10-years old, South East Asia’s largest museum of Islamic art houses almost eight thousand artifacts. These range from the tiniest pieces of jewelery to one of the world’s largest scale models of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.
Unlike most other museums, IAMM hosts not just collections from Persia and the Middle East, but also artifacts from Asia, particularly China, India and Southeast Asia. Forgive me, I’m not going to describe each item here. Adline guided us on an hour tour with detail briefing on every gallery. I’m not going to repeat that again (even if I do, I can’t be as good as Adline), buy yourself a ticket (RM12 per person), drop a visit to the museum any time from 10am to 6pm. Shown in the picture is one of the oldest mosque in Kampung Laut, Kelantan.
I particularly like the Qur’an & Manuscript Gallery on the first floor. The collections include treatise on the Prophet Muhammad Ottoman Turkey, marriage certificate of Iran, and many others. Adline showed us the amazing gold-printed cover page of each Qur’an and told us some of the oldest collection there are acquired from Malay Sultans.
Ikat – literally meaning ‘tie’ or ‘bind’. Don’t miss the textile gallery. Lot of interesting Ikat are on displayed, including Limar, Patola, Munisak, etc.
Just like IKEA, the museum restaurant serves middle eastern cuisine when your leg complaints. Opposite the restaurant, where you can find the museum shop with wide variety of crafts. Well, I must admit, it is one of the most interesting museum shop. The logo of the museum is a Kufi square, and this is embedded in most of their souvenir beautifully – don’t miss it!
Check this out! The handy guidebook IKAT is written by Adline. There is also a guidebook of the museum – RM9.90 each.
Enough for the museum, I can’t wait to introduce the best tour guide of the day, our friend Adline – Working mum & freelance writer. Next to her is Marcus!
This is Pin, with Adline. Too bad, Adline had to say good bye to us in rush for her next meeting. There are about 12 galleries here including Achitecture, India, China, Malay, Jewellery, Arms & Armour, Woodwork, Coin & Seal, Metalwork and Ceramins Gallery.
Vanessa Martin Quintana
