Selamat Gawai Dayak 2012

Wishing all my Dayak friends a wonderful and joyous Gawai Celebration.


And to everyone else in Sarawak, have a good break.

From Russia With Love

Those who are my Facebook friends would already know about my recent trip, but I thought I'd just post a few sample photos of my most interesting four days in Moscow. I was there to participate in a conference, but I managed to make time to take in some of the sights.

Let me start with the structure that most people would associate with Moscow - St Basil's Cathedral in the Red Square ... or as some would call it "that church with those crazy coloured domes" ...

Fig 1: Comrade Yong in the Red Square

Next is a view of the Kremlin, which is where the President works and presumably lives. You see only one wall of the Kremlin, this one bordering the Red Square. On the left side of the picture, you can also see Stalin's Mausoleum.

Fig 2: One side of the Kremlin

This rather grand building, and six other skyscrapers like it, were commissioned by Stalin,and have been referred by others as "Stalin's Seven Sisters". Built between 1947 and 1953 in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, they are pretty impressive - even today. The one you see below was once the Hotel Ukraina, now the Radisson Royal Hotel..

Fig 3a: One of Stalin's Seven Sisters (Radisson Royal Hotel now)

Here's another of the Seven Sisters.

Fig 3b: Another of the Seven Sisters

The next building I'd  like to share is the Bolshoi Theatre. I regret I did not get a chance to attend a Bolshoi ballet performance, but I did get to visit it one evening, and took some nice photos.

Fig 4: The Bolshoi Theatre, home of the world-famous ballet company

I also went to Arbat Street, one of the popular shopping areas of Moscow, and found it alive with street arts and music and culture ...

Fig 5: Arts and Music and Culture on the Street

There are so many things to see in Moscow, but I hope the few photos above whet your appetite and make you consider making a trip yourself. Although transcending the language barrier was sometimes a challenge, I found most Russians were generally very friendly.

Fig 6: Welcome to Moscow

The Meaning of LIFE

God created the dog and said "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks by. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog replied, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

So God agreed.

God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty year life span."

The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?"

And God agreed.

God created the cow and said, "You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life and you want me to live for sixty years? How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And again God agreed.

God then created man and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But man said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back - that makes eighty, right?"

"Ok" said God. "You asked for it."

So that is why for the first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit near the door of our house and bark at everyone.

Friends, LIFE has now been explained to you.

Memories of AURORA HOTEL

A very short post today. I'll simply lead you down memory lane ... Remember what used to be at the site of the current Hotel Merdeka in Kuching? If you can picture in your mind the old Aurora Hotel, then you are definitely a child of the 60s or 70s ...

Is it all coming back now?

Now for a little bonus - this is the design of the Aurora Hotel luggage tag. Ever seen it before?

Over to you ... Share with us your memories of this hotel and its various facilities.

Life Lessons

I found this article and thought it was interesting and insightful. Certainly worth a read.I don't necessarily agree with all of her points, but I still find them good to reflect on. Anyway the piece was written by columnist Regina Brett who is 90 years old, and from Cleveland, Ohio.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.  It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1.   Life isn't fair, but it's still good.


2.   When in doubt, just take the next small step.


3.   Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.


4.   Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.


5.   Pay off your credit cards every month.


6.   You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.


7.   Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.


8.   It’s OK to get angry with God.  He can take it.


9.   Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.


10.  When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.


11.  Make peace with your past, so it won't screw up your present.

12.  It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13.  Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14.  If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15.  Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16.  Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17.  Get rid of everything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18.  Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19.  It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is totally up to you and no one else.

20.  When it comes to going after what you love in life, never take no for an answer.

21.  Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.  Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.   (* Website Jaga's note: I don't suggest the guys follow this one too literally *)

22.  Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23.  Be eccentric now.  Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24.  The most important sex organ is the brain.

25.  No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26.  Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27.  Always choose life.

28.  Forgive everyone everything.

29.  What other people think of you is none of your business.

30.  Time heals almost everything. Give time.

31.  However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32.  Don’t take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.

33.  Believe in miracles.

34.  God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t.

35.  Don’t audit life.  Show up and make the most of it now.

36.  Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37.  Your children get only one childhood.

38.  All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39.  Get outside every day.  Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40.  If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41.  Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42.  The best is yet to come.

43.  No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44.  Yield.

45.  Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.   ”

Condolences to Malcolm Chng and Family

We wish to express our deepest condolences to our friend Malcolm Chng Seng Chai ("Ah Chng" to all his buddies) on the passing of his beloved wife Jessica Kuek Siok Hoon. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time, brother. Take care.

Memories of the Tikam game

Do you remember these games that used to be available in so many shops that we used to frequent as kids? For five or ten cents, we picked from a set of sealed slips of paper, peeled them open to reveal  a number, and then we would check against the main "board" to see if our number had won any prize.

The board came in many shapes and forms, like this next one where the actual prizes were hanging off the board.

And here's yet another version ...

I checked on the Web and it seems these games were called Tikam Tikam, but I really can't remember if that was what we referred to them in Sarawak. What I do recall is that the act of  picking one or more of those slips was called "pok" (literally "hope" in Hokkien).

What else do you remember about this game and phase of our childhood ? Do share your memories.

Mini-Gathering in KL

Got this brief update from our buddy Cyril Moa ...

"Ho Boon Chiang was in town last weekend. Kuan C K, Leong K F, myself met up with him at Solaris Dutamas, Publika. We had dinner at the foodcourt and later adjourned to a Dessert Bar to have chocolate cakes, banana cakes and tiramisu. It was yummmmmmmy !!!!!!! Of course, we moved on to have some beers later on."

together with this attached photo ...

Gathering on 27 April 2012

Black and white must be the day's fashion :)

Looking cool, guys !

First of May

Here's a tribute to the Bee Gees, and especially Robin Gibb who has awakened from his coma but is still in a serious condition. We pray for his recovery.

Enjoy ...