Day02- Beijing 2007

Here we are again, showing here are some pictures from Beijing. I am about to take you through a journey to the Famous Forbidden City of China(紫禁城). The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. Above here is a the entrance to the Great Forbidden City, whereby long long time ago, only the Emporer and his delegates used to walk in and out from these doors/ gates. Well as you can see here now, it's the face of Chairman Mao. After the step down of the Last Emperor, the forbidden city is turned into Palace Museum and later open to the public. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987,[2] and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Everyday, there are hundreds and thousands of people entering through these gates to take a glimpse of what is it like to be inside the Forbidden city!
This is a site map for references......... well I got this from wikipedia.... :P See how far is the palace from the entrace! Well, the front Door is entered only by the Emperor, and Emperess on her wedding day. After that she will never walk out of the palace anymore. If you study the map closely, the back door / gate is actually where all the young beautiful maidens are selected and enter through it. Also, she will not allow to leave the palace too after she enters. Only the maids are allowed to go out through the side doors, (C) to do some chores and running errants. So life in the palace is almost like a prison for the Imperial court ladies! This is one of its court yards. It is definately a long walk from the entrance to this place. Inside there are more of these huge red walls. The yellow roof or Gloden roof is actually meant for the royals only. No peasants or anyone are allowed these yellow roofs! Wow....

As you can see here that the weather is quite pleasant and bright blue sky with no clouds at all. This is considered rare in Beijing these days due to pollution and weather conditions. Well we are lucky to get these wonderful pictures; as the great weather is helping us too. This time is during October, and it is autumn. The tourist guide says October has the best weather in Beijing.

Well I took one of huge doors/ gates picture as I think we can only see these gates in Beijing, China. So much so that we can see these huge doors everywhere. Kind of like a symbol too. The story is that there are 9 rows and 9 columns of these studs so altogether is 81 studs. Interesting! The number 9 is considered as auspicious for the Emperors. Number is quite an important issue here in China, as everything is calculated, even the numbers of pillars, doors, tiles, dragons, trees.... etc.

The picture here shows the Emperor's Court Costume. This is a portrait of one of theEmperor. Here shows the Headgear, Accessories and the Dragon costume.

Here is the Emperess costume. It shows her Head pieces, Necklace, Earings, Jeweleries, etc. These are the formal wear. They will wear these clothes for formal function and celebration.

You can view additional information from here too!

Palace Museum official site
Forbidden City, A Photographic Tour

Cameron Here I come!

First of all, I would like to think that most people would not go for holiday in Cameron Highlands, but I thought, give it a try, support our Malaysian tourism product! Well, it turn out to be so wonderful that I'll definitely never forget the experience and will do it again! By chance I read about it in the net and magazines and we end up driving up there and stayed there for few days. I will strongly recommend all of ya to give it a go... I mean a MUST TRY!
Alright, this is like spring time everywhere, you get to see all these different types of blooms in this Honey Bee Farm called (Er Feng Gu). Take out your camera and start shooting folks!
Well, we went to this Rose Garden whereby you get to see all sorts of potted plants and interesting Roses..... ahh I forgot to mention they have all kinds of Cactus as well. Mind you, don't buy any potted plants from Cameron as the weather down town and up in highlands are very mush different!
I do have to suggests that you guys should visit this Simpang Pulai Boh Tea Plantation as it has the best viewing platform of all. The view is fantastic and also you get to drink some of the favourite teas here. Just some info, when drinking tea, you have to first sip some tea and roll it in your tongue and mouth to taste it before you drink the tea. It is sort of like wine tasting. They call it tea tasting and how they enjoy their cup of tea here! Oh.... do not forget to stop by at the Smokehouse or Lake house to grab some scones with cream & strawberry jam together with a cuppa tea here. YUMMY......... they all serve home-made jams! They serve these around tea time at 3pm. So do not miss this! Trust me it's real good stuff.
Let me show you where we stayed! This is the view from my petite window. Nice place huh! Well, this is the Lake house that we stayed in. Real cool and authentic. I find it really cozy and warm. Will definitely come back here.
So this is the Tudor style room that we had! We got this 4-pole bed, quite huge. Two arm chair, some flowers when we arrive, we actually bought those strawberries! Well, I guess by now you would love to go where I've been right? hehhee.....

Finally, This is the best destination that I've been...... the Mossy Forest! We join this forest trip as an adventure........... they told us there's this jungle trail that we should try, so I say why not? Oh, trust me on this, we were the only 2 locals in this short trip. All of them were tourists from all over the world!

OK, some briefing for you guys out there.... if you are thinking of those normal jungle trails that has some tiny paths for you to follow... too bad, this is not one of them! We practically go on all fours to get up the jungle trail and go through this mossy forest! So, if you are not fit enough, I guess you should call it a miss...

Inspired by Beijing....

Hah... this is another recipe that I adapted and modified from the original "Beijing Peking duck wrap" version..... :P. Well, I improvised with my Roast Pork (cut into slices) and the wrap made my own with flour..... some ingrdients such as radish, spring onion, seaweed, cucumber, (sambal he bi) dried shrimps, and mushrooms. We had this for dinner and hubby kinda like it. Of course I did add some sauce too!

Tribal Fushion anyone?

Well, went for my first experience of "Tribal Fushion Belly Dance Workshop". Sounds interesting eh? The workshop started from 10am till 6pm in the afternoon. Was really tired, interesting and fun too. It was worth it, love the experience. The whole experience kind of inspires me and I suddenly become more aware of all the moves I have learnt in my routine classes. It is another version of belly dance which I may venture into if I could get the correct muscle to work well. For now, maybe stick to the basic first. Hah....

Our beutiful instructor Sharon Kihara, came from San Francisco, America. She is also one of the Belly Dance superstar that I met. (Well, I attended Kaeshi's workshop too! She is also one of the superstar from New York.) Her moves are so slick and enchanting, wish I could dance a little bit like her. Well, we all did one of her Tribal Fusion Choreographies, and we did some warm-ups which is good. It is all to stretch and loosen our muscles and all, quite interesting fact to know for me who does not do any sort of Yoga, or Pilates..... hmmm... maybe I should.

Any of you interested to see her dance?

Beijing Exotic Food Market - Day 1

This is the so-called "Wang Fu Jing", which is an old well. The above picture is the seal of the well whereby there is a description mention about when it was sealed up. These days it is 'Wang Fu Jin Street' which is a popular tourist destination. This street has lots of famous restaurants and old shops dated almost more than 100 years old.
Yummy Shanghai Small Dragon Bun - "Xiao Lung Bao". Every Autumn, the prosperous crab is in season, so that is why they are promoting this delicious 'Crabby Lung Bao'! This is just around the corner of "Wang Fu Jin street", this is the Famous night exotic food market, whereby there are lots of various food available here. If you are an adventurous foodie, do come along here and tastes those delicious exotic food, I'm sure it taste better than those in 'Fear Factor' series!
Centipede anyone? They come in sticks and they are grilled..... like BBQ!
Grilled Grasshopper please...... they come in 3 per stick. Crunchy!
Well, well... well..... look here is the grill scorpion. They are tiny scorpions, so the poison isn't too bad I guess! So, if you feel hungry in the night after shopping in "Wang Fu Jin Street", feel free to drop by this night food market!

Japanese Tea Ceremony

Went over to the annual Sakura Charity Sale in Penang, whereby it is a charity event that sells Japanese handicrafts. There are other events for adults and kids as well. There is a cultural show, Ikebana demonstration, Japanese Tea Ceremony, Japanese food, Second-hand store, etc.

Well, I was interested in the Japanese Tea ceremony event, so I give it a try. The setting above with tatami, some kind of kettle etc. was initially an indoor tea ceremony set up - inside a temple / shrine / house. A tea lady will politely bow and prepare the tea for the guests.

The tea ritual is interesting because starting from the preparation of tea until the end when the guest drink the Macha, every step or move has a meaning and order to it. Every single move is necessary and there is not a single unwanted gesture at all.
The guest will have a sweet cake to taste first before drinking the Macha. The "Macha" is different from "Ocha" because there is some froth in it whereby you can taste the actual taste of the tea.
Above here, the picture also shows the "Tea picnic set" for the Autumn season. There is a box which can keep all the tools to prepare the tea. So this set allows one to enjoy the "Macha" wherever they wish. There is actually a special Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter individual set. Marvelous isn't it?

Beijing Here I Come! - Day1

A visit to Beijing was an interesting and valuable experience for me. As an individual who is interested in culture and traditional aspects of live, this trip had actually inspire lots of thoughts into my understanding of the Chinese culture and values.

The picture here shows the "Temple of Heaven". A wonderful architecture.... the whole building is made of wood except the roof tiles, then again there are no nails on this building and particularly unique due to its beams and columns are all made of each individual tree trunk, also all are similar in sizes, and height. Wonderful isn't it? When we arrive that day, it was raining in this autumn season. Funny thing is , beijing having a morning shower is like rarely happened at all. So you can see the sky here is so blue and beautiful! That's how I manage to capture a good picture without any enhancement!

The purpose of this temple is that it was used to pray the gods in heaven and also to pray the forefathers of the emperor. So this is actually where the emperor pray centuries ago......

As you see, no one else was allowed to pray here except the emperor!

This picture is taken outside of the temple of heaven whereby there is a huge park/garden that most people of Beijing, China come to relax and having their leisure time during mornings and evenings.... there will be different groups of people having their choir singing, some dancing, some playing games, chess... etc. Most of them are old folks who hangs out and "lepak" along the long corridors that leads you to the Temple. This corridor is about 5 meters wide and over 300 meters long.

Here's a small group of ladies doing thier singing cum acting, well there are lots of people there actually watching them.... telling me about Chinese being shy in public?!?!!

Pausing for a moment...

He's consciously snoring away while I lie awake in the middle of dreamland. Annoying and frustrating, still the sound of sleep could not inspire me more to dream. A new kind of delusional dimension came to me and I realised that the world is changing faster than I thought it would be. I became more and more realistic at the moment. A sense of belonging has become blurred and the readiness to jump has overwhelmed.
Flashes of lights from the thunder soared and triggers the unsuspected notions in me. The path changes and plunged into the wild deepest darkness that I could feel and was aware that the surroundings were too dark and deep. Bewildered and scared but full of excitement gush through my nerves giving it a surreal form of happiness. These emotions are real, being so real that I could feel it in me at that moment.
The thought of jumping out of the darkness did not occur to me. The adrenaline rush from head to toe, indicates the splash of blood oozing from beneath became so hot that I do not intend for it to end. The dream had nearly come to an end, the intention of ending it does not exist. The silence of the dream had me impatiently stirring over and over, the sound of sleep had awaken me again, this time round the dream had faded, the bewilderment has ended. Soaring rain exists the tapping sound from the windows are clear. Again, the awakening, the intensity of the midnight rain had been fiercely knocking on the windows, the roaring rain had begun to show its density of movements. The wild night has begun in real, and I am still subconsciously dream and recall of what I had been through...... the pausing moment ended and I am still trying to sleep.

Cool Restaurants....in Tokyo!

Came across a book about cool restaurants in Tokyo. It is not a cook book but instead it is an interior reference book. Well it introduces a lot of interesting restaurants with some recipes as well. There are about 25 restaurants and here are some of the websites that you can have a look.

http://www.wondertable.com/

http://www.create-restaurants.co.jp/

http://www.soho-s.co.jp/

http://www.masumoto.co.jp/
http://www.foodscope.co.jp/
http://www.chanto.com/
http://www.foodworks.co.jp/
http://www.ginza-hajime.com/
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/570/restaurants.asp

If you ever travel to Tokyo, don't forget to stop by these places to eat and enjoy!

Yummy!

Buddha Jump Over the Wall.....

Went over the moon to have this dish cooked and prepared.... not by me though... by a private home cooking chef. Well, he did a good job to prepared this "Buddha Jump over the Wall" dish. Funny name but well, it actually consists of 3 dishes. First, the whole pot of double boiled soup includes ingredients such as...
1. Ginseng
2. Dry scallop
3. Sea Cucumber
4. Pig leg's Nerves/ Muscles.... I think!
5. Black chicken... suppose to be very good for health!
6. Turtle
7. Shark's stomach
8. Shark's fin
9. Chinese herbs
Mainly there are 8 main ingredients which is good for health... and quite heaty food as well.
We all felt our body tempreture heat up after drinking the soup.
This double boiled dish are being cooked for at least 4 hours. All pure ingredients... as I say We all went over the moon...........LOL.

Well I took a pict with the chef..... quite an eccentric person I would say, we had a wonderful evening then, and ate some fish, vege and dessert too. Interesting meal I would say. :)

The World needs LOVE...

Every now and then I observe all the living beings in this world and came to realise that we all need LOVE. The world is lacking Love......

There are less people showing and showering Love and more and more people becoming greed, angry, stressed and envy of other people. Where is the Love? Is Money more powerful than love? There are more people suffering these days..... they can be rich or poor no matter, as Love is given not take.

Even kids these days are not as cheerful and gay as before. In the olden days, people are more relax and contented in thier lives. They see the world has a future. They view their lives differently. Now, our world has better technology, our kids are brighter, we have modern houses, but why our lives are not as rich as before? The poor and the rich are all suffereing from Lack of Love! Is it that our world is not a better place like it use to be? Is the world going to end? Are we still preaching for the world's end or are we making it a better place?

Are we destroying our lives, or are we enhancing it?

Are we complaining and blaming or are we lending a helping hand?

Where are our principles of live and order?

Many people are thinking that as long as I manage to live happily then I would not care about the world, as long as everything else works orderly then it will be fine. Well, personally I feel that is a selfish thought. Happiness is not forever, if the people around me are happy I will feel happy too. If they felt being loved, I will be happy too for them. Love is given, not take.

Mother's love is natural, beyond mother's love then that's something we should share.

I vow that I will do my part in this world stage. I will not hide behind doors and do nothing to share this love to the world. I'll play a small tiny role in this world stage and contribute some Love to this world and make it a better place. I've learn that complaining and blaming has no solutions. People knows very well to complain but never help to solve, I will stop complain and start to lend a helping hand. To be able to give is a blessing.

Why am I sunddenly so inspired? I have recently watch a movie 夜·明Road To Dawn(2007). It is about the brief period of time when Dr. Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) visited Penang. He was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader often referred to as the "father of modern China". His personal plea for financial aid at the Penang Conference held on November 13, 1910 in Malaya, helped launch a major drive for donations across the Malay Peninsula, an effort which helped finance the Second Guangzhou Uprising (also commonly known as the Yellow Flower Mound revolt) in 1911.

In Penang, the Penang Philomatic Union which was founded by Sun in 1908, has embarked on a heritage project to turn its premises at 65 Macalister Road into Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Museum.

His undying wish to help the nation has inspired me to start thinking about others and the whole wide world.

The beauty of Movements!

Was in the middle of the lesson while I thought of exploring the Movements in photos. Well, Sabrina did her best in all the shoots, while me and Joey were flipping and tossing the piece of cloth! I kinda give it a go on a few test shots and this is what I've got! Well it's interesting to explore new stuff and drop all the use of photoshop for a while. This is what I call AAaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttttttttt.................

Act 10- Express your LOVE...

Bedak kid was around today at the mall, he was with his mum shopping for the coming festive season, the mooncake festival just around the corner. I am going to prepare for the festive season too, as it is a custom to send the mooncakes for the elders.

He came up to me and showed me what he had bought, I saw some toys and an electrical lantern. I was teasing him that he couldn't carry a proper lantern and had to play with an elctrical one. LOL.

Well, he call for his mum and he told me, "You know, it is not that I couldn't carry the lantern with a candle inside, it's the concern of my mum that I carry an electrical one!" and then he hugged his mum tightly as to defend his mum's wish.

At that particular moment, I am touched to see how he express his love towards his mother. I then realise we seldom express our love to those that love us, we kind of give it a hint or two. We even did not mention it or express it often to let the other person feel how much we love them. Especially to our parents and love ones, even our siblings are important! We normally exagerate our hate and express less of our love, weird don't you think?

I seldom hug my mother and father....

I seldom hug my grand parents...

I seldom hug my husband /wife...

I seldom hug my kid...

and why is that so?

I hug my doll.

I hug my pet.

I hug my girlfriend /boyfriend.

I hug my friends.

and why is this so?

Act 9- Playground time...........

It was a bright sunny day when I was strolling along the park... and saw Bedak kid with some of his pals and Camry the dog! He was playing at the playground, running around and shouting with his friends.

I walk up to him and say hello, he ask me to join them, I was like no way... too old for that kinda fun. He was looking at me weirdly and said, " You are too old for fun? Are you sure? My mum plays with me all the time! You don't look older than my mum!" Well I said, "Kiddo, I stop running around long ago, coz I tend to sprain myself a lot..."

After a moment, some of the kids actually run and fell in front of me, I was like OUCH! I picked him up and he said thanks and continue running like nobody business. So this was how I used to be but not anymore.... how come?

We are so scared about falling and getting ourselves into trouble and scared of doing lotsa things. So these are what the grown ups worry, they tend to think too much until there's no point of having fun anymore. Is this what it is all about.... growing old and become serious?

After the meeting with Bedak kid, I realised that there are so many things in this world for us to do and to live and we have to stop being scared of all things and make measurable precautions for certain things only and not like stop having fun oursleves and being paranoid all the time like stop falling. We cannot be perfect, if one is soo perfect then misfortune will follow.

Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.

Dr. David M. Burns

Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault.

Dr. David M. Burns

Skiing Trip!

First ever skiing trip in Korea Skiing Resort. (Well this happens in Dec 2003) Years ago.......

Cold like never before, being tough wearing those rented ski jacket and gloves and the sking gears! Interesting experience but although it's cold like hell out there, but I'm sweating too.

We kinda had a 5-10 minutes lesson on how to use the equipment, pretty fast.... but well I did not fall though as I was going like 5-10 mph......... hah! You know we had to climb up the hill and skiing down was like 5 minutes........... climbing up with those gears is killing! Just an experience only so I kinda enjoying the whole thing without further exploiting the upper hill!

Well after all this......... I was telling everyone that I might try ski boarding too........ and all of them were like " OMG.... you serious? Wait you'll twist your waist and fall into two, maybe end up fracture or something like that! " My goodness, see how supportive everyone are to me these days! Do I really look so fragile?

Anyways, I didn't try it, but if I were younger then, I would have tried.... EVERYTHING!

You only live once, and your guts get lesser when you grow older........ too bad, I have more concerns now so I have to think twice before doing any stunts!

My Favourite Hollywood Star!

Audrey Hepburn (4 May 1929 - 20 January 1993) was an Anglo-Dutch actress of film and theatre, a fashion icon and humanitarian as well. She has inspired a lot of people during her time and even now.

I have watched some of the movies that she had casted in too.

Broadway production of Gigi (1951)

Roman Holiday (1953) as Princess Ann, the role for which she won an Academy Award.

Sabrina (1954)

Funny Face (1957)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

The Children's Hour (1961)

My Fair Lady (1964)

From 1988 until her death in 1993 she served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador (which is what Angelina Jolie is doing) and was honoured with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work.

She is born a star, as will always be. She'll stay true in the hearts of the people that she's touched even if it's through the movies. In 1999 she was ranked as the third greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.

Zipping Away......

Recently we had lots of fashion shows...... I do not know why it all falls on the same month! Coincidence maybe? :P

Well, glad it's all over! The Backstage goes havoc before and during the show due to ( ZIPs ) problem! I do not know why it all happen at that particular period of time.... not earlier when we had rehersals but just minutes away! WOW.... This only happens when it happens... no reason stated.. all double checked before but well some mistakes but some are really destine to happen! I guess we all learn our lessons and luckily no one noticed anything... like usual it's a success!

Congrats to all that work hard for this to happen! Well you can see who's who on the picture above! The show has to go on no matter what...... thank god nothing serious happen back stage! I think I do pray hard enough! Hah!

Hope that the show will make the students gain more experience in the fashion field! The more show one attends the calmer they'll be. Everyone will admit that the more they participate in the show the more they will gain, the accuracy and the time management will improve!

So here goes another episode of the Fashion show ordeal!

Like I always say, work hard, play hard! That's the way of life! :)

World of Anime.

Before I start to blah blah............. Happy Mederka Folks! It's the 50th and going strong... so keep it up! "Gemilangku Malaysia"

I have been following the series of Naruto since 2 years ago... and still keep on doing so. I would say this is one of my favourite anime so far. The main character, Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, unpredictable adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition, as well as to become Hokage, acknowledged as the leader and strongest of all ninja in the village. The above picture is Sakura Haruno, one of Naruto's acquaintance. Well this is their sensei Kakashi Hatake, The name "Kakashi" can be written in kanji as 案山子, which means "scarecrow". Kakashi is one of my favourite character in the manga and also Sasuke Uchiha as well who is also one of Naruto's acquaintance. If you would like to have a peep at this anime you can check this link: http://www.crunchyroll.com/showseries?id=2112 Alrite folks, this is another Anime that I like........ mostly I love the way they draw the anime character. It is soooo....... japonais. Look at the eyes and hair! Well she is called "Jigoku Shoujo" or Hell Girl. The story of this anime is not as interesting though. Well, you can check this link to find out more. http://www.jigokushoujo.com/top.html

Golden Eggs!

All right people.... I have successfully make the golden eggs! It takes lots of patience and time to create this , but it's all worth the try! It is a wonderful idea for a party. I have clean the egg mould properly before making the "Golden Eggs". LOL
Well, how does my golden eggs look? Impressive huh! I have made these golden eggs jello with longans. ( Dragon eye )
Another version of my Longan (Dragon eyes) jello pudding!

Sunset in Bakheng Hill

Before I start describing where this place is, I would like to mention that why we choose to go to Cambodia as our ideal place for Honeymoon. Well a lot of people would go to a more enchanting places or a romantic island, but me and my partner prefer some interesting place that we never been before and we can do some sight seeing and relax and reasonable price as well. So we choose Siam Rep in Cambodia. We did not go to Phnom Penh at all, which most tours do, both of us spent a week in Siam Rep only as we would like to venture Angkor Wat only. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992.

Before I kept bragging about, the first stop that we went when we were in Siam Rep was to experience this intense hill climbing to watch the beautiful sunset. Well it was worth it! Look at those people that were climbing to gether with us!
Well, this is how the steps up the Bakheng hill looks like! Interesting isn't it? I was feeling like Lady croft myself! Mind yourself those trees by the side, the trunks all had sharp needle-like long torns!
The thing is despite all the tourists going up and down the hill, there's this group of Cambodian band, playing khmer music.
Beautiful sunset! The sunset was really enchanting. Both me and my hubby will never forget this wonderful experience. You have to be there to experience this captivating view. Although the crowd of people is considerably immense but there were peace and silence when everyone watch this breathtaking view.
Well, look at the amount of people there waiting to watch and capture the Sunset!
Phnom Bakheng at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century. This picture was taken after the sunset. It was around 7pm in Cambodia.