shadows

Saw shadows tonite, and i turned away. It didn't used to be like this.

Remembering Jerangkang

Jerangkang Falls... one of the many

And so the story begins, 19th-21st Feb, as I travelled to Kuantan, Malaysia, with NTU ODAC on a trekking trip up Jerangkang Falls.

We cleared the Woodlands customs on foot and boarded 170 towards the Causeway; it's actually my first time entering Malaysia this way. We then took a bus to Larkin, warded off several menacing looking ticket touts, took a coach for hours before reaching Kuantan, waited for pre-hired cabs that would take us to the small town near Jerangkang, before finally bumping our way to the place itself aboard a 4WD truck.

Pretty exciting way to travel. All that's lacking is an ox-driven cart.


Walking up from base camp to our camp site


At the camp site, right next to a waterfall.

Then we started trekking through the forest. Didn't expect to have to go through all these rather army-like terrain actuualy. The guys gotta help some of the girls up the trickier part, with mud and all. I'm seriously and quietly thankful that the girls are all good sport and not the whiny get-on-your-nerves kind.


John Doe

At the 2nd of the falls that we stopped at. Higher and stronger waters. Sounds of gushing waters accompanied our lunch of bread, nutella, tuna and chocolate.


Lovely place.. another gentler falls

This IS the place to be at.. wonderful fun-filled waters.


Happy people, happy waters


Falls that exudes joy


All 15 of us.

Really nice people, all except for one who's rather obnoxious and whom i found most irritating, not least in the way which he managed to spoil whatever photos I was taking that he forced himself into.


with heart i step
a foot on her bank
plunge amidst wild sprays
the falls of jerangkang


Camp cook.. pasta.. campbell soup.. sausages.. scrambled eggs..

Nice cosy dinner. Unconsciously avoided doing any cooking by walking around with my important looking camera and taking photos that turned out ugly and blurrish at night.


Calm basin near our camp, where we bathed and washed.


The morning after

I slept out in the open atop a canvas sheet, stars above and alone with the forest next to me. Thankfully it did not rain like it threatened to. All the rest were sleepin in tents, which seeemed rather stuffy to me. Was in danger of sleeping with the obnoxious one too.


Silky waters

Good job for convincing zhuomin to go for this trip with me


Our trusty pair of Teva.. My very much lighter sandals ever since the sole came off more than a year ago. Yeah.. went up the falls without soles.

Respect to Teva.. we made it!


Good old A&W.. Tuesday is Coney Day.. rootbeer floats.. curly fries.. waffles with icecream..

Out of the forest, past the plantations and plunged into A&W. Our trip ended off with an impromptu dinner at JB.

And that's it.. for now.

All my Jerangkang Falls photos: Part I :: Part II

I keep checking back for more pain.
Whatever for?
Is there a masochistic tendency in everyone?
Or is there simply something left?

Munich

"Somewhere inside all this intransigence, there has to be a prayer for peace"
-Steven Spielberg

Munich. Great film. Great tragedy. Great cinematography. Greatfuls? Grateful. and Great fools. Like many have already said, this is spielberg's best film since Saving Private Ryan, and perhaps his most important one ever.

164 mins long, and I didn't feel a minute of it.

And one off the list.


What makes a terrorist? An overwhelming belief in something? What makes a deeply religious christian or muslim or whatever? An overwhelming belief in something too.

A terrorist and a religious non-terrorist. Both have the same level of belief in what they believe in. You find a terrorist's beliefs naive. The religious non-terrorist knows that his god or the equivalent will somehow save the day, gives salvation. Isn't that naive too? If not, how would you know that the terrorist's beliefs are lesser than the religious person's.

My religious friend says she can feel her god's voice talking to her, telling her that everything is planned for. A terrorist says he can hear his god's voice in his head, telling him to declare holy war. What is there to say whose god is correct? Is your god actually doing anything?

If a spark ignite, will your belief makes you a potential terrorist? Think. Then think again.

In my simplistic and humble opinion, religions contribute nothing to world peace.

Five billion people can pray together for world peace and nothing will happen.

munich
fearless
capote
brokeback
walk the line
jarhead
constant gardener
cache

so many.. this is worrying.

up north

off to Jerangkang Falls. may it not rain for the next three days.

be happy

she teeters on the mind like the last drop of pee that wouldn't fall

To the love of my life

I don't enjoy watching soccer in the same room with strangers, for it really gets on my nerves when these so called 'fans' keep blabbering on stuff that they know shit about. And if you can't have an opinion that's not read from somewhere else, i think you really should just keep your mouth shut.

Example of a groundless statement: "What is Benitez doing? He's playing a midfielder in the left-back position!!" - felt like slapping him, and double the slap if he have the cheek to call himself a liverpool fan. John Arne Riise IS a leftback first and foremost.

Example II: "Sissoko is crap. Why was Hamann sub-ed in for Alonso instead? Now they got two who can't play a pass." - Sissoko had a great game, if the idiot is too blind to realise. Alonso was and had been off-form for the past 3 matches. And without Hamann, there wouldn't have been no European Cup no. 5.

And ladies.. just because you've once watched a game whereby a particular team won, it doesn't give you the right to call yourself a FAN of that team, especially if you can't name or recognise anyone from the team.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a long journey, the two of us. We've had our fair share of ups and downs throughout the years. Sometimes, there were drab affairs, but more often than not, there were sweet sweats of so many passionate nights. Tender and faithful adoration i have for you, though i beg your forgiveness for the occasional clenched fists and shoutings. Day after day I long to see you my love, however far apart we may be. I swear to always cherish you, and to love you for many and many a year to come..

Happy Valentine's Day, Liverpool FC.

clouds

 

to look at fluffy clouds
i wish i am a bird
flap my wings and fly
into the deep blue sky

on life

As is ever so often, we understand life,
only on the brink of death.

John Doe [1981 - still kicking]

jumbled

feeling vaulted at home. caged in the heart. like lens without light. words without a voice. feel it. can't get it out. unwritten memories of tomorrow. hold a pen. its hollow content. write black on black. nothing can be read. empty brackets. fill in my blanks. in search of bliss. saw but not seen. felt but not held. to look yonder. hiding sunrise. shielding moon light. across the road. the meadows green. and cow grazes. shadows in flight. see me running. yet out of reach.

cold november rain

lost. shall i stop what i find bliss in?
i remember this familiar feeling clearly
nice, but just not.



suddenly, knee pain.

i think i'm moody.

step back. step back. let it go.

breathe deeply.

sunset

evening of flitting joy was it
or was it only i that hope
as, down the riverbank we walk

you seemed, lost in your thoughts
over your heart, a patch of
sombre clouds

is it beautiful still
that sunset in your eyes, colored
in black and silent white

The return of God

Robbie Fowler returns to Liverpool.

Couldn't believe it when i saw it on the Liverpool website. Read it three times. I really even asked myself whether it's April Fool's day.

Our prodigal son is back. A little older, a little fatter, a little slower, but still revered.

the one they call a female dog. in plural.

I feel sapped of energy. The mind doesn't seem to be functioning properly lately.

Software bitching: Mozilla Firefox is seriously slower than Internet Explorer. Tabbed browsing please, microsoft. stupid dinosaur.

Food bitching: I can't remember the last time i finished a loaf of bread that i bought in hall. This current loaf has got 9 slices left and expires in 2 days' time. However I'm going home tomorrow morning. So if i were to not waste the bread, I'll have to stuff myself with it and nutella over the next 12 hours.

Laundry bitching: Laundry is a bitch.

Narcisstic bitching: I signed up for an account at livejournal.com just so that i can post photos at their sg_snapshots community site. It's a decent photo-whoring site. Put a nice photo there and nice members will post polite comments like "wow", "ooohhhhhh", "nice shots". I like the thrill of receiving comments on my photos, and it secretly puts a smirk on my face when no one's looking.

School bitching: Buried up to my tits with schoolwork, if i have a pair of them to begin with. sometimes i wonder if i should really squeeze everything into 3 years.

CNY bitching: visiting of relatives!! the ultimate bitch. in need of salvation.

my life

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	6.8
Mind:	7.3
Body:	8.8
Spirit:	8
Friends/Family:	3.8
Love:	2.9
Finance:	4.8
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Totally shagged out.

shadows

Shadows hover dark and cold
Shadows grim and haunting me
Not the pebbles I once tread
Now it's stones with jagged edge

Each step i walk cast in black
taste the numbness sole to soul
shadows block the lights ahead
over my footprints, i trip

i am strong

From Ikai and Steinhaus, "Some Factors Modifying the Expression of Human Strength," Journal of Applied Physiology, 1961, we learn the following: "The maximal pull of forearm flexors was increased and, in some instances, decreased in predictable fashion by a loud noise, by the subject's own outcry, by certain pharmacologic agents (alcohol, adrenaline, and amphetamine), and by hypnosis. Significant average changes ranging from +26.5% to 31% were observed." The authors suggest that the normal human inability to exert oneself to one's physiological maximum is the result of "acquired inhibitions that in turn are subject to disinhibition by pure Pavlovian procedures, by anesthetization of inhibitory mechanisms, or by pharmacologically induced symptoms serving as stimuli for disinhibition." In other words, you're always capable of great feats; it just takes a crisis for you to actually perform them.