bayan tree - wondering

The bayan tree is not a tree. It's a small forest.

Its multi-trunks, tendril-like air-roots that dangle like vertical beat-curtain from its branches, the parasitic vegetation that twines around its sturdy trunks and branches, the adjacent non-related greens that make up the fringe of the forest, that take advantage of its shade,the canopy makes a perfect roaming and dwelling ground for the the butterflies and other insects.....the birds that perch on it and the various tiny living faunas and floras that make use of its existence to constitute a mini self-sustained eco-system.

And now you put a meditating mind under it.....

it will wonder.....

......yet not beyond the canopy of the bayan tree

seberang jaya - mother

repeating the same anecdote, or telling the same story again and again, is not so uncommon to everybody who wants to dwell in the past. and who doesn't? even our mm lee, the tough guy who sneers at people's slowness in responding to any future challenges, often brings up his old-time gangster story.

beyond this stage - no more old-time stories.... only dear memories to hold on to.

ate in macalister dimsum center. then went over to butterworth, to seberang jaya to visit his mother - an old lady; not able to stand and walk, only able to sit-up on the bed, very hard at hearing(had to talk very loud into her ears), her pupils showed dis-focused attention, facial expression benign and quite blank, wrinkles and speckles spread all over her face, mouth slackingly hanging in there.... all the signs of a 92-year old, who had experienced the restrictions for ladies in the feudal system, the tribulations of the jap occupation, the uncertainties of china modern historical upheaval, the camaradarie of commune times, the remotelness of sailing away from her motherland to another far-way place, the not-so-cosiness of her relationship with her other half, the early departure of him, the bringing up of her 3 young kids(some how), the event that turned ugly on her second son, the happiness of knowing the all her kids got married and bore her grand kids..... and the ever-motherness of her love to the kids and her grand kids and more so to her 2nd son and his family.... knowing deep inside..... nothing matters that much any more....except she still wanted to hold the ang-pow that he and his wife gave to her.

if money can stir up an old mother's heart - she still has the instinct to live on!

penang - halal tausapiah

dawn


bird's eye view from penang hill


kekloksi temple


penang hill tramp


mid-way, penang hill


penang hill, here we come


the old penang


the not-so-old behind the old


mingood hotel


the ferry

Ate in bukit jambul - laksa, char koay teow and wanton noodle. went Kek lock see, a new buddha of mercy statue.

Penang hill, 700 plus m. Journey took 28 min. Still the rustic penang hill. Traffic jam along the road, but not so serious. Went by bayan lepas, green lane, batu lachang, stopped over in Alma mater.

Then looked for himhiang selling tausapiah, passing by scotland rd, gurney dr, packed with traffic, wanted to eat in hawker center, but no carpark. Found him hian in burma rd. but was already closed after 5pm, and closed the next day, since it's sunday.

Ate in ching shan kopitiam opposite him hiang. The service boy did not understand Mandarin for bottled water, so use hand language. Still could not understand, but when told in english 'mineral water', he nodded. But brought a 1-litter big bottle, which baffled him. His daughter said, "you gestured a big one just now, what!"

"I did not. I just gestured a bottle, since he did not understand what i said" he was quite agitated that even his daughter could not understand him.

They had Bakuteh. Totally disappointed that all they got was claypot full of soup and pork-belly slices and beancurd and beancurd sticks... But no bakut(pork rib or pork bones. he confronted the seller who said, that's how they prepared the stuff.

And prawn noodle came a mini bowl costing 5 rgt with a few added strand of kailan and a few pieces of pig intestine.

in the airport - looked for himhiang again - no himhiang. asked the sales lady for himhiang.

she said, they only sell halal tausapiah!

bishan cny market - luck

half asleep, half awake - that's the state of mind that may not afford you to carry on with your life happily. why?

if you are in your sleep, you live in your dream - sometimes happy, sometimes fearful

if you are awake, you live in reality, and you can assert your will power to face any problem.

but if you are half asleep, half awake, you do not have a reference of how to live your life; you would not know for sure whether you are dreaming or living in reality, so you would not know whether whatever you exeprience is worth anything to dwell on..... you are a confused bundle of nerve.

a confused guy is one who lives aimlessly, who lets his animal instinct control him, who flips from a good guy to a bad one and vice versa, at any moment....

there's a lunar new year make-shift market at the empty compound next to junction 8, bishan.

marathon man was looking at the lime pot plants.

he asked the seller, "this plant i bought last year, it's not bringing me any special luck. which plant do you recommend, this year?"

"the dragon ball kumquat will do well this year."

"sure or not, good luck will come hah? why?"

"this is the tiger year, dragon should pair with tiger very nicely... like the chinese saying 'crouching tiger, hidden dragon'."

"ok lah, give me two pots."

- weakling needs luck..... you may say. but who don't?

tampines - cool

can you live under constant stress?

ie, can you live with a problem that lasts forever, or can you live day in and day out with one problem after another. in other words, can you be a politician?

looks like the politicians are immune to problems. they have insulated themselves from problems. how they do it?

marathon man's politician fren, ah mabok smiled when he told in a tampines function the people, "you don't complain about me not building enough houses. sekali, i build many more, and the housing market crashes, everybody will cry father cry mother."

some people cannot really the way mabok smile, they threw eggs on him and hit his face right on.

he smiled wider, "hehehe.... got eggs! i like that. my diet is free eggs..."

now that's cool..... politically cool.