Virtues of Thrift

Angah pegang, Along suap, k? (You hold, I serve, agree?)
The older brother, Along, said to his younger brother, Angah, while giving the cup of ice-cream he has just bought. He was to hold the small spoon for doing the serving acts. With only one cup of ice-cream they have to resort to sharing. Only minutes ago the mother gave the older brother just enough money to buy a cup from the fast food outlet nearby, under her watchful eye. She looked like one who can actually buy bucketfuls of ice-cream, but may be doing so out of need to train the kids to have just enough, and not getting everything too easily.
It seemed that synergy or win-win partnership has been practiced even by the young. Even perhaps by us, unconsciously or naturally, when we were young. But as we accumulate our age, it gradually becomes unnatural, and we have to re-discover it in order to practice it once again. We give it new expanded meaning: synergy, win-win partnership, smart partnership, cooperation, etc. It works, but not all the time since one important ingredient must always be part of the deal, and sometimes that ingredient is simply lacking or non-existent. That ingredient is trust. Angah trusted that Along, in holding the spoon, would be fair in serving the ice-cream. Along trusted Angah that he will not be running away with the only cup of ice-cream. The mother also helps the cooperation to work, by acting as an arbitrator, if the partnership did not work; and the kids knew that.
On the first serving of ice-cream by Along to Angah, Nakamora made his way to the escalator towards the parking lot. Another lesson today, he talked to himself, and he was grateful.

Roads of Life - Bumi Kenyalang

Nakamora was in Kuching, Sarawak - Land of the Hornbill or Bumi Kenyalang in Bahasa Melayu - recently. While there he didn't hear any sound of hornbills though. The one he thought he noticed was actually an inanimate metallic sculpture. Definitely, sculptured hornbill is a mute. Except for solid cats gracing the island of a roundabout in the city center, Bandaraya Kuching (City of Cat) is devoid of cat.
An afterthought told Nakamora that expecting to see the namesake of any place or city nowadays are not reasonable. It is a legacy or a reminder of what once was there, not what it is supposed to be now.
While driving from Kuching to Kota Samarahan, via Jalan Tabuan, to take the ferry to cross Samarahan River to go to Asajaya, Nakamora didn't fail to notice the prevalence of roundabouts along that road. At least eight of them dotted that 25 km stretch, an average of one for every 3 km; and they are big. A large one has a diameter of typically more than 200 m, longer than the width of a soccer field. Those who are frequenting that area, where UNIMAS and UiTM are located, must have been familiar with each of them, Nakamora thought. Familiarity is overly important as road signs, being barely legible or even visible from a comfortable driving distance, unless traveling at bicycle speed, can easily be missed. The signs are placed low and right smack at the mouth of the road. Missing the right spoke means adding extra distance, which can be up to 700 m; and this is one mistake that Nakamora could not avoid repeating, at least once for every roundabouts.
The ferry plying the river can take on board about 18 vehicles at any one time. Two units serve this river. While one is discharging passengers and taking on board another, the other is doing the same at the terminal across the river. The operation looked nicely in sync.
The Kota Samarahan - Asajaya road from the terminal has an inherent, but effective, speed restraining system. Drive fast, like what Nakamora is very fond of doing, and the vehicle will wobble up and down, and could be sideways too. The wavy road simply humbled him, but he didn't mind as he wanted to savor the beauty of the countryside. The occasional roadside stall selling Sarawak durians, dragon fruit plantation, and pineapple plantation too. This particular road is dotted with mini bridges crossing small rivers. Nakamora passed no less than 20 of them. He released a sigh of relief and satisfaction as finally he reached his destination - Kampung Semera.

Lifefull of Deja Vu

How many deja vus have you experienced?
Hmm... for me life is deja vu, most of the time.
Nakamora not too happy with that response, but he put up with it anyway. After all he is his friend, and he will tolerate that.
When I first set foot there, I recall it was as if I have been there. The black stone of Glasgow buildings, chimneys jutting out to the sky, strong wind, fish and chips with salt and vinegar, and hangovers by the roadsides. That was the first time I experienced this deja vu thing.
Pictures you saw or the brochures of the university that you read before going there could've influenced you. Nakamora tried to deny his friend the claim.
May be; but after finishing my study, I returned home. The plane descended above the oil palm plantation heading towards Subang International Airport. It was deja vu again. The warm and sweet greetings "to our visitors we wish you selamat datang; to Malaysians, welcome home" of the Malaysia Airline stewardess sounds familiar.
Nakamora barely heard what his friends said. He was drowned in his own thought. It was as if this meeting and that particular conversation has taken place before. May be that was deja vu for him too.

Platform Products

Technology greatly extends human capability and effectiveness in doing works. It also makes possible the propensity of our mind to move forward or backward in time and pick up matching activities. Thus, the kids in us, adults, can remain so and be entertained so. The adults in kids, viz. the urge or rush to grow up and do the things adults do, also to some extent can be fulfilled.
Nakamora saw an adult playing FreeCell and Solitaire games on his laptop while at an airport lounge the other day. He was oblivious to his surroundings. He was immersed completely in the game. Isn't kids like that too? We were like that when we were kid; if we can still recall. That person playing computer game at his laptop was not the first one that Nakamora saw. he has seen it before, elsewhere. But the current thought occurs to him only at this occasion.
Think of the mobile phone. It's now in the hands of kids just graduating from kindergarten. Isn't mobile phone an adult-oriented product?
That perhaps is a trend that is going to become ever more familiar with new technology products. They no longer answer the needs of any particular age groups. They now serve purposes that are defined by their users. User-defined purpose product that can be useful to all, irrespective of any age groups. If we can borrow the concept underlying the phrase 'platform technology', then these products are actually 'platform products'.

KK in Perak

Whereas KK in Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, in the Peninsular it stands for Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of Perak. It is a nice town, easy to drive around, and everything seems to be within reach. Everything reasonable that is; food, rest area, place of attractions, etc. Direction to the KK Swimming Pool is generously placed at various part of the town. The Masjid Ubudiah, just next to the Istana, is within walking distance, by Western standard, but only a short drive away, by the local standard, from the riverside food stalls. Perhaps the high humidity here in Malaysia makes the local populace prefer the comfort of an air conditioned car to walking even a short distance to move around.
Not very far from the the town center is Kampong Sayong, well-known for Labu Sayong - a specialty pottery. Access to the area is by a narrow and winding asphalt road. It may seem isolated, but once inside the atmosphere of a traditional village is obvious. The pottery is synonymous to the village, it is quite unique in design. In fact several pieces of Labu Sayong are also used as landscape components for the Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery.

Land Below The Wind

The left and right sides of the road from Magellan Sutera to downtown, where the Centerpoint, the Wawasan, Philippines Market, and the riverside stalls and markets are located are busy with constructions. Huge hotel and commercial complexes will be a feature of this area in the future. This trip is a bit special as he was also able to take a photo of Kota Kinabalu, or KK as it is affectionately known, coastline as the plane approached the airport. He has been wanting to do that for quite some time; but some things just have to wait. The last time Nakamora was there was two months ago. But then it was only for a while, most of the time was spent traveling to Kudat and the Tip of Borneo. The return trip, by bus, take a good 6 hours or more. The long ride nevertheless was an enjoyable one.
He has seen quite a bit of this part of Malaysia. Sempoerna, Sipadan with beautiful diving spots. There is also a sea weed research station somewhere along the ride by boat from Lahad Datu to Sempoerna. The water is blueish, clear, and peaceful.
It was in early 2000 that he went to Danum valley. It was Ramadhan. Taking a 4WD from Lahad Datu again to the middle of the Danum Valley, where a resort is located, at the late hour of the day their path was crossed by two pigmy elephants, perhaps on their way going home, wherever that was.
Taking the ride on a small bus through the Crocker Range from KK to Tenom was also an experience that is hard to forget. The journey is filled with beautiful sights. Tenom can be reached by train from KK, and the journey would have taken less time, but the service was closed at that time.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Yes. Nakamora believes that.
So, he takes many photos whenever possible; and he started using it in the last posting at this blog.
But he thought a picture cannot be left alone to do the talking. The 1000 words, constructed by the viewer may not be what he wants to actually convey, and the original intention of the photo being there can get twisted. Hence, a picture need to be accompanied by some texts, words of the one who put the picture there. At the very least there ought to be a caption.