What is one day...

A day will not end, except by the coming of a night. A night will not end, except by the coming of a day. That cycle constitutes a complete day. 24 hours, by the measure of our clock. That's the will of The Creator.

In four-season countries, the days last longer than nights during summer and shorter during winter seasons. In the northern hemisphere, the day-night cycle can be the whole year; six months of night.

So how do we measure one day then, is it by the hour or by the alternation of a day and a night. If a day is constituted by one daytime and one nighttime, then one day in the northern hemisphere could well be one year, isn't it?

Being a man...Javanese way

We are made to differ, as a person, a group, in origin, in culture, etc. We should celebrate the differences, for it is through those differences that we fulfill the needs of each other.

Nakamora was at Mangku Negara kraton the other day when he learned from Pak Agung, the guide who took him around the sultan palace, that for a Javanese to be a man he should have these five things: (1) wismo, which is building or a house; (2) wanito, that refers to wife, (3) vehicle, which he forgot what was it called in Javanese, but refers to means of transportation; (4) curigo, or suspicion that refers to the need to have weapons as personal defense when attached; and (5) burung or bird. These may just be symbolic of the traits that Javanese man should have.

Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then...

The pyramids of Giza

The title of this post is just the first part of a quote "Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a story teller." It's from Ibn Battuta, the famous Muslim traveler from Morocco in the 14th century. He traveled for 29 years, starting at the age of 20, and covered about 120,700 kilometers. That is a lot of travel, especially during that time when mobility is so remote from the convenience of today.

Travelling is one of Nakamora's passion too, but he may not cover that far neither that long a time. In the little travels that he made, he agreed that travels broaden his perspective on life and enhance his understanding of people, culture, and past civilizations.

The thin multi-story houses in Hanoi, for instance are so to avoid paying taxes for houses that are wider than 20 feet. The seemingly incomplete houses in Cairo, are so to avoid paying taxes too, if the house is completed. Hence the exposed reinforcing bars are there on top of the buildings to show that they are still under construction. To some of Egyptians, the pyramids were built by the subjects out of love for their kings, not by forced labor. These are just a few observations and information that he gathered as examples. There will more for next time, God willing. For now,
he needs to plan for the next travel.

Point and shoot

Holiday trip to some places are good time to educate us on with whom we share the world and how different is the topography from our area of habitats. In fact, according to many views, travel or going places is a better investment compared to buying gadgets and such. Memories increase in value, the experience lasts forever and non-tranferable. Gadgets and other nice to have items don't. In fact,  some of the items are liabilities as they depreciate in values.

During travelling the tendency is to record as much of the scenery by pointing and shooting the camera almost at any point of interest.
Recently Nakamora reviewed all the photos he took and raised many questions to himself. What happens at the edge of the picture. Why the person has no head, etc. That's point and shoot.
He tell himself that next time he need to take more time to compose the picture before shooting. But then, that is not always possible. Perhaps it is better to just enjoy the view, record it it memory, and snap only as as appropriate. Well, in the end, it all depends on the situation and the opportunity of the moment.

Here, there, and everywhere...

A view of Stephansplatz, Vienna

Can one truly claims that one has been here, there, and everywhere when in actuality one has been to the airport, hotel, and airport again but nowhere else here, there, and everywhere? Probably not. But correct to say that one has passed through those places.

That was Nakamora many years ago for work-related travels. Vienna, Monte Carlo, Ljubljana, Paris, Sydney, Seoul, Takasaki, Tokyo, Beijing, Dhaka, and Bangkok are some of his here, there, and everywhere places. Years later, Nakamora tried to recall what was it like in so and so place when he was there. How's the food, the weather, the people, the transport other than the taxi from airport to hotel and back? He neither strolled along the streets nor mingled with the crowd in shopping arcades, etc. He has no idea, no recollection beyond the meeting room in the hotel.

Not anymore. Nakamora really feels that he ought to know more, to see more, including the nearby places that can be reached in a fair amount of time by bus or train from a place that he considers his base. Brussels is only a few hours away by train from Paris. Prague isn't very far from Vienna by bus. Hiroshima can be visited readily by train from Osaka, etc. Well, that's what he is doing now, and he feels that he can claim that he has been here, there, and everywhere; not just passing through here, there, and everywhere anymore...

Ramadhan is ending...

Well-consummated iftar

Truly, time flies.. Only a few days ago Nakamora thought fasting started, and suddenly today it is ending in about three days. How swift.. It could be so because of the many events, of global nature, that occupy the airwaves, and brain waves too. The continuing search for MH370 somewhere in the Indian Ocean, the World Cup in Brazil, the ill-fated MH17 in Ukraine, the onslaught of the innocence in Palestine/ Gaza by a party that Nakamora refuses to recognize by writing the name.

On a personal scale, this Ramadhan is different. Extremely rare that Nakamora patronizes the many bazar Ramadhan to buy food for iftar. The sky-rocketing price, the lack of food quality, and the difficulty for parking dampened his spirit. Some, or most of the food items, are priced beyond value for taste.. and some were not even prepared properly to deserve the names they are given. This reminded Nakamora of a stall at a food court in Tanjung Malim that sells nasi lemak. The dish lacks all the main ingredients to deserve the name nasi lemak. It has no ground nuts, no cucumber, and no sambal ikan bilis, or rather sambal ikan bilis full of onions and no anchovies. The owner has the chick and no remorse to call his dish nasi lemak. But there are still people having breakfast at the stall, just as there are still crowds, albeit smaller in size compared to previous years, at the bazar Ramadhan. Perhaps, we have become apathetic and indifference...

Happy Eid to all Muslim readers...

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

The title of this posting is that of a popular Western movie, which is Nakamora's favorite genre. It has been used in many instances to describe exactly that combination of events when they come in a package. That was what happened in Nakamora's recent trip to France.
The good - in a train into Paris from a town called La Rochelle a gentleman gave away his seat by taking Nakamora's own three coaches upstream so that he can sit next to his wife. Similarly a lady willingly moved around to another seat to let her seat be used by his wife.The bad - it was a hectic trip with very little breathing space. The ugly - he was not reminded, but it happened. His guard was not adequate. Nakamora was a victim of the latest 'football' trick used by the pickpocket community of Paris. He was extra careful after that...

Virtual in reality

It is a tiring journey, being in a plane for over fifty percent of a day. Amsterdam Schipol airport is 13 hours 10 minutes away from KLIA by the midnight flight. Arriving at Amsterdam just as the sun breaks through the horizon. Lucky that the airport has nice waiting areas, open to passengers of all classes, secluded from the main thoroughfare where other passengers are departing or arriving. Not all trees there are real, but the prerecorded background sound of a farm area, birds chirping, ducks quacking, give it a sense of reality. A nice place to rest before boarding the  next connecting flight to his final destination. Nakamora has just to be aware not to fall asleep there, like others also in waiting.

A Tale of Two Turtles...

It was about three weekends ago that Nakamora released two turtles into a lake. They have been staying in an aquarium of sort in his house under the care of his wife. Kuru-kuru and Kuri-kuri, the name given to the two turtles, must have been very happy to be in the open waters, many thousands times the size of their home in Nakamora's house; the place they stayed for over a year. They don't know that they are known as Kuru-kuru and Kuri-kuri, of course, unlike other pets such as cats. The lake, Tasik Komanwel, is just nearby the sports stadium at Bukit Jalil. There are many turtles in the lake; must have been put there by others like him, Nakamora thought.

Kuru-kuru, or was it Kuri-kuri, crossing Lake Komanwel

As he drove away, after spending some time beside the lake to ensure that both Kuru-kuru and Kuri-kuri are safe, images of Kuru-kuru, or was it Kuri-kuri, swimming away to the other side of the lake, the manner in which they climbed out the bucket as he lowered it into the water played in his head. He wondered how natural it was for the turtle to swim away, to be at home in the lake, even though they have not been swimming before since their home in Nakamora's house is so small. It is an intrinsic, in-built ability, he thought. He felt happy, and satisfied. Satisfied in the thought that his wife, and even more so himself, agreed to release them. Happy in the thought that the turtles will have many more varieties of food, much wider space to play around, plenty of nice spots to sleep and rest or sunbathe. They will in time meet others; and probably share their experiences too..

Turtles can outlive him, he thought. Turtles can live for a hundred years or more. Perhaps 100 years from today the lake will be full of turtles. It may come to be an attraction - a zoo of turtle, a turtle territory, a sanctuary. And Nakamora smiled to himself, contented with the thought that he contributed to that future, and two of them have spent one percent of their lives in his home...

Consolidation...

Many years ago I thought that it is better to separate different topics in several blogs, hence I have more than one blog. But with the labeling facility coming into being that would not be necessary anymore. Postings can be labeled accordingly, and as result passive blogs can be avoided. Hence postings at my other blog "Don't Throw Them Away" which was started in November 2007, will be gradually migrated to this blog. The blog is about traditions, knowledge, experience, culture, and heritage and how we can benefit from them...

Old things tend to find uses later, they tend to be recycled and become useful again. This is not just for material things, but also for concept, philosophy, and fashion....

Keris Making (Wavy Blade Daggers) -- A Dying Art / 12 Nov 2007

Keris making at a cottage industry in Terengganu

Making keris (wavy blade daggers) in Terengganu, Malaysia... looks simple, but there are a lot of scientific principles underlying the age old traditional method for making keris... forging, tempering, etching... the tools look equally simple, but they are able to be perform the task of producing a beautiful keris used to make the keris... it is a dying art, no one to pass on the knowledge to; youngsters no longer find such a 'career' or vocation attractive...

The games of life...

A bowling alley

Nakamora was at a bowling alley recently, passing time away while waiting for something more useful. It turned out that it was a worthwhile time 'wasted' anyway. He played around a few mind games in his head.
As he watched the bowling pins fall, some fall only a few while the more seasoned player fell all pins in one hit, a question struck his mind - what use could the skill in targeting the balls in real, everyday life outside the alley be? And he couldn't answer that question. But as usual he try searching for answer by formulating alternative questions or posing the same question to other games.
Swimming, archery, shooting, horse riding are sports the skills of which can be used in some situations in life, in a dire situation the skill developed for swimming can be used to save life, for rescue operation, etc. He searched his mind and still fail to see the use of bowling. In fact more games in similar class make way to his head including soccer, tennis and the like. Could he be wrong?

Hello again...

At times, knowing the presence of a follower, the least expected that is, can be a motivator to continue what you have been abandoning, due to the lack of internal drive. Such is the case with this blog, and hence this posting after a very long lull period.
A lot happened last weekend. Meeting friends and relatives can be a morale booster. Your presence is acknowledged and the fact that others can still recognize you and remember your name after a long absence is refreshing. In the midst of doing your own things, you tend to forget others. Gatherings such as the one last weekend can put you back on track.
MATTA Fair 2012 is yet a gathering, but of different sort. Tens of thousands potential travelers and tourists were there, including Nakamora and spouse. How else can we see our brethren in other parts of the world go about their lives and to see the wonders of creation and to be humbled by it. Sampling of culture in the form of stage performances, to whet the 'lets travel' instinct, were also at hand at the Fair.

An Iranian perfromance at MATTA Fair 2012, 9/9/2012, PWTC

The first sunset of 2012

Almost  sunset, captured at Pantai Gelora,  Kuantan.

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What's in an abbreviation...

We use abbreviations a lot. With sms or texting the short form of everything becomes handy. But not every short form carries the same meaning. The photo, complete with the typos, intentionally made, I believe, is a case in point. It was taken near the Segambut eateries area, Kuala Lumpur; not in any other town in the east coast of the Malaysian Peninsular.

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A space away

Taking a break, spending time away where one can be detached, to some extent, from the usual routine, is refreshing. The sound of waves, unobstructed views, colorful fishes and sea plants, and the leisurely pace all cooperate to instill a relaxed feeling, allowing time for self re-discovery. Should have this more regularly I guess...

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Time travel - spatially...

Sceneries can evoke many memories and imaginations. Memories of days past: idyllic village, carefree chores, backwardness of surroundings, quiet and abandoned looking country roads. Imaginations of what the future may look like: modern, bustling cities, rushing crowds, people glued to their gadgets.
The world is not developing uniformly, some develop faster than others. Thus, travelling from one place to another can bring us back to the days past and take us to the future to give a glimpse of what the neighbourhood come to be in the future. Time travel, undertaken spatially.
(Jetty to Samosir island at Parapat)

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Travel the World for...

The mobility of peoples and goods, and information, has tremendously increased with the advent of modern transportation systems. It can be disrupted, severely in some occassions, as we have witnessed in the past week, but in general a lot more peoples and goods are moving from one place to another, for one purpose or another.
Some travel for businesses, others for holidays, or combine both. Nakamora's travel in the past week was of the latter type. In the process, he got stuck in Dubai, stayed three days in Vienna, and spent the weekend in Prague before due to fly home.
Still others travel the world for medical treatment, hence the term medical tourism; for recreation, hence recreational or sports tourism. Still another class, Nakamora thought, are those who travel, or being made to travel, for a living. A construction worker he met in Dubai mentioned that he has worked in a construction project in Malaysia in Bandar Baru Bangi, in Penang, and in Klang, along with a host of other countries. As he looked up at construction workers next to steel bars, scaffolds, and reinforced concrete columns at construction sites in many cities he wondered how many buildings have that worker be involved in, and in how many places has he travelled. He must have his own views and viewpoints of the city; views that are different from us altogether...

Someone's Loss...

is someone else's gain. Disruption in air travel due to the Icelandic volcanic ash costs airlines millions of dollars in lost revenue and due to extra operational costs incurred in the logistics of relocating and pacifying stranded passengers. Leaving passengers on their own or just giving them minimal treatments can tarnish image and long-term businesses. In fact, Nakamora opined that, the ability to effectively and efficiently handle situations like this is the hallmark of professionalism and service quality, of airlines or any other ventures.
On the other side of the equation, hotel industry at the city where passengers are stranded records bustling business. Occupancy rates jump. But, this is not the whole story. Would be travellers cancelled their trips, taxi cabs loss passengers going to the airports or to the city, some passengers chose to stay put at the airport, etc. There are losses, but who else gained?

Accidental Tourist

Being thrown into an unpleasant situation can turn out to be a pleasant experience; an opportunity waiting to be exploited. That was what happenend at the start of the weekend as Nakamora travelled to Europe and stranded in Dubai.
Planes were grounded as ashes spewed into the atmosphere by the explosion of Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland drifted into the air. Most airports in Europe, including Flughafen Wien was closed.
Unsettling the wait as it was, staying at a hotel courtesy of the airline gave good opportunity to wander around the city. Doesn't matter the lack or absence of clothing for change and unshaven for three days, moving around Bur Dubai and other places gave a good introduction to the city for future exploration. It feels like an expensive city, especially when the extended stopover was not in the budget.
The temperature was hot, around 33 deg. C, but the air is dry and occassional winds at some parts of the city can be cooling. Cafes with shawarna-based burgers and all kinds of fruit juices with inviting names like "fifty-fifty" and "abadi," which is a combination of two or more fuits with or without icecream on top, are abound. Spending time in one can be a nice eating experience.
Overall, it was an interesting time; but could have been much better if it was planned, Nakamora made his assessment. He hopes to come again, but not due to a stranded flight.

Whitechapel's Fish and Chips

What is it that make you frequented an outlet? One is preferred over another. This restaurant serving traditional fish and chip in Whitechapel, London obviously is an answer. The treatment you get is one that can be remembered and cherished.
He is cheerful, treats every customer as close friends that needs attention,. It makes coming to his place an enjoyable experience; enter with a hungry stomach, leave with your spirit uplifted.
"Take a seat, i'll bring it to you," he said respectfully in casual manner.
While you are at your seat other customers enter the premise. All are greeted as if they are long lost friend, and they enjoy being treated that way and reciprocate. The shop may be have been operating there for many many years, serving local customers that the owner knows well. But he must have known so many to be at that level of interaction with them.
If I were in that area again in the future I would definitely not miss coming to that outlet serving that traditional fish and chips.