A matter of perspective

A fallen tree or food for the masses? A rotting trunk or fungi haven? A quest for survival or is it just living and making the most of what we have.

The Three Stooges..

The Three Stooges as The GINA calls us. This must the be the very first time the three of us were on a holiday together in our adult life. This is taken at the floating market in Bankok. We were checking out the goods and the 'goods'...if you know what i mean, even the married guy too. Innocent as he may look.

The Tan boys...we look at anything that moves and occasionally the non-moving ones too.

It was a wonderful holiday, exciting, adventurous and at times nail biting. The shopping, the girls, the cheap and nice clothes and stuff, the girls, the food...especially the pork, the girls and the go-go bars. AirAsia added to the drama too with their drama in the air and at the airport...all 7 an a half hours of it. Half an hour short of an insurance claim. Puta madre.

All in all...a wonderful holiday package for the Tan boys and family.

Creating...

As i was busy creating a "wild weekend" for my first paying trek i came across this wonderful intimate moment between these two dragonflies. I'm sure they were not re-fueling or something like that. They just perched motionless on the twig focused on creating the next generation of dragonflies as we...some 20 people, waded through the stream. The oohs and aahs came from us barbarians encroaching on their turf. They were silent and unmoving, kinda like in meditation or maybe they were just focused on their commitment.

Passing of a Matriach

On April 11th, 2006...the Tan family lost a matriach to old age. She was at the ripe old age of 88. My grandmother...to me she was the best cook in the world, to some of us she was love and and patience and also "Don Corleone" as she was in control of things when my grandfather passed away.

She is such a bundle of energy. I never saw her stop doing anything. She would busy herself in the kitchen all day. Cooking this and that. She never seemed to stop. I only see her stopping at 4pm daily...for a spot of tea. Tea was a ritual for our family, a colonial practice from my grandparents days of serving the the mat sallehs at the Maxwells Rest House in Taiping.

She was the strength for the family when we our family went through our bad times. A smallish woman from the Island of Hainan, came to Malaya as a promised bride to my grandfather. Went up Maxwell Hills to work with my grandfather there as caretakers and cooks for the Govt Rest House.

Farewell to a strong, loving & caring woman. A wife, a mother, a grandmother...our ah poh. My ah poh.

ROOTS

An uprooted tree, one of the many sentinels of the forest brought down by the strong winds I can only presume. As I sat on this mighty fallen giant awaiting the very first Eco Challenge 2006 team on April 16 to appear, I was just appreciating it’s magnificence when my eyes were riveted to it’s many outstretched roots and my thoughts were brought back to the topic that has been a source of my anger, my passion and my conversation for the past weeks…our ROOTS!

I view our heritage and our culture as our roots, that which has made us who we are as individuals, as an ethnic group, as a nation and as a people. That which has brought color to this Big Blue Marble as mother earth was once affectionately known through a children’s TV program. It has made our earth more colorful and beauteous.

I am a Malaysian by birth, of Chinese origin I am and proudly a Hainanese or Hailam if you will. My late grandma and grandpa came by boat, junk or ship I know not. That would be another story after further consultation with my father. My late grandparents were from the Island of Hainan. They landed here with their Hainan way of doing things and we the seeds of their love have adopted many a Hainan trait. Cooking by a man is one of them. I am proud to say I have adopted as much and of course along the way much too was lost.

My point is, we should be proud of our roots and not discard them by the wayside and allow those that think they have the DIVINE right or divinely ordained to erase our roots! Erase the way of our forefathers. puta madre!

Embrace your religion with all your heart and soul but forget you not that God created us all unique, colorful, different and beautiful in our own way. Respect each others religious practices and respect your roots.

Inspiration.

I was drawn to this artist carving the Buddha in meditation while in Bangkok. I have always admired the creativity, talent and craftsmanship and not to mention the many hours one has to put in to bring forth such a masterpiece. Even in it's unfinished state one can feel it's magnificence. I surely can.

Such creations inspire me to create in my own way my piece of art. Since i have not the gift of drawing or painting or carving i seek to express my creativity in other forms. As whirlwindwendy has pointed out my skill doth lie in my way with words, i will further explore her observation and i do hope that mankind does not have to suffer for it.

This woman, weather she be right or wrong about her observations has inspired me with her paintings, her creations and has inspired me to put my thoughts to blog. For so long have i soliloquoy in the privacy of my own space. She has liberated me!

Whirlwindwendy...you have been the inspiration.

The first step...

My first step into the unknown world of blogging. As in life there must and always will be the first steps. With the urgings of whirlwindwendy i brave myself and pulled on my trusty timberlands (so far) here i am!

I must say the setting up of the blog itself was a stretch but if whirlwindwendy's words bear any truth...in 10 years time i will not regret this. By which time i will have trekked this earth for half a century.

I shall stop here for my first day.