Monday, April 24, 2006

Home Sick

Home sick!!! Miss Malaysian food!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Sweden: YES! Norway in a Nutshell: Oslo - Bergen: YES!!!

I have had a rejuvenated Easter by having got away for a short while from England and coming back from my spontaneous excursion to Norway and an explosure to Sweden. I am now more at ease with my present status and am determined to be morefocused on my future with calmness.

Travelling in Scandinavia countries is easy as its public transport is well structured. I am very much impressed by its efficiency and coziness. As youknow, Japan has been my favourite country. But unexpectedly, I have fallen in love into the nature of Norway. The whole country was covered in snow. Along my journey, I enjoyed the views of white and grey mountains with frozen waterfalls on tranquil lakes.

I managed to get a dip of Sweden by commuting four hours by bus. When i reached Goteborg, I learnt that frequent buses were available to Denmark. I could take a 4-hour bus to Copenhagen.

I took a mid-night bus back from Goteborg to Oslo inorder to catch the early train of "Norway in a Nutshell". As a result, i had a fruitful Easter and enjoyed those excellent sceneries of Fjord.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Oslo, Norway; Sweden: ?

I have been looking on the map yesterday and today.

Yesterday was the World Atlas and map on Europe. Studying all possible routes i can make in the future. Have been interested in doing cross countriesbackpacking again in Europe and then go to Middle Eastor Russia or South Africa. :)-

Today, look more in details on the map of Norway and just realized that Oslo is so near to the border of Sweden. So, am pondering of taking train to cross the border to Swedan for a one-day exposure.

Scandinavia Europe

Denmark, Faroe Island, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Going to Norway during Easter

I glanced through some info on Norway and called the Norway Embassy to counter check the void of visa for Malaysian passports. I have got a good impression about the country i would be going to as my enquiries to the Norway Embassy in London were received with politeness and promptness. Somehow, it indirectly reflects the possible friendliness of the Norway people and the efficiency of the country.

Hmm...going alone to a new country.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Money, Money, Money

There was this popular quote of Anita Mui in aCantonese movie: "Ya, money is not everything; but onecan't have many things without money!"

Desi YL Chong said money can't buy love.

Sorry, I think in some cases, Money can also buy love,but of course not "real" love.

Not only girls dream to marry a rich man; but alsomen, especially young guys who have just graduatedfrom colleges and started to feel the disadvanatges in real life desire, hoping to marry agirl from a rich family, ideally a pretty girl withbrains too, who is born with a golden spoon.

Similar issue post by sabrinawstan.blogsome.com
Wed 12th Apr, 2006, Life

Money and Happiness

Still think that money cannot buy happiness?

Think again, according to this article here.

Sad to say, in the 21st century, the scenario goes like this:

Have education= having security of job= having some money= having security in life, knowing that you have backup should there be ‘rainy days’

And of course, with a decent job, when one slowly climbs up the ladder, you gain respect from the community, and you can facilitate things better in life…yadda yadda…

Whether one makes money your main motivation in life is another story. But I strongly feel that we must at least have a sound education as our foundation to propel us to greater heights in the future.

I know there are some individuals who made it without a proper degree. But somehow, I feel if one has the opportunity to pursue tertiary education, one should go for it.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Hugging, Kissing and Rulling

mGf YL CHONG appears as MY FIRST GUEST BLOGGER!

He says it's a serious case of KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE pebble!

This morning's pick is ezy as X, Y , Z. Why not A, B, C?
That's because Desiderata likes going against the flow of traffic -- up the one-way street, and maybe create some harmony along the way when angry fellow Malaysians show me the international peAce sign minus one finger.

I return the compliments with my Guide's Pledge signature.


But sometimes going against the norm can invite trouble with a Kapital T. Ooops, we are speaking English here, so it's Capitol T. Hey, the White House is not in Koala Lumpuh. I know, I know -- we're gettin' there. We o'lay have the tallest Twin Towers in the 'hole widee worlde, yes! I added an "e" to wide because I had foreseen I was adding an "e" to world, so it's being consistent and in abeyance to the twinning concept.

If you LOST Desi up to this point, no worries. wedNURSEdae is a goode time to feel like Li'l Boy Blue as there are many missies around to tend to your hell...ooop, health.

Okay, Da Nu'es: Page 1, theSUN shining not too brightly at some parks...and Da Darkness may envelope quite many parts of the country, or bodies, if the final ruling portended by this initial ruling is as ominous as my Superstar Virgo sailing out of sin-harbour at 4pm on a Saturday, and Desi has replaced one fishy taeler being tied to the pole as the ..nth storey desert Desi&Co for lovelier company. Dang! Or is it Dung! Dunk?


HUGGING AND KISSING IN PUBLIC
"Freedom or indecent behaviour?"


'The students should be given freedom to live but
there was serious infringement by the Datuk Bandar
of the two students' fundamentallll liberty and constitutional rights.'
- Lawyer S. Selvam

'So, they should be given fredom to live as they like?
The coonstitution allows all citizens to do that
(hugging and kissing) even by the roadside, in public park?'

'In England, those acts ....."

:

:

- Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim


DESIDERATA:

:If you want aMORE, please rush to the nearest 7ELEVEN nigh you. Repeat offence, Dang/Dung/Dunk!!!



No kissing please, we are Malaysians!

PUTRAJAYA: The local government has the power to establish by-laws to prosecute citizens who behave disorderly in public, the Federal Court ruled yesterday.

Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, together with Federal Court judges Datuk Alauddin Sheriff and Datuk Richard Malanjum, unanimously held that the Datuk Bandar of Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) was correct to charge two students for behaving indecently by hugging and kissing at Kuala Lumpur City Centre Park.

The court ruled that Section 8 (1) of the Park By-Laws, the section invoked by the Datuk Bandar to punish persons caught behaving indecently in public was constitutional.

Following the ruling, two students, Ooi Kean Thong, 24, and Siow Ai Wei, 22, will have to defend themselves against the charge levelled against them at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall Court.

Their case is fixed for mention on June 1. Both had pleaded not guilty to committing the offence at the park at 5.20pm on Aug 2 2003.

If convicted, they could be fined not exceeding RM2,000 or jailed up to a year, or both.

Ahmad Fairuz said the (Federal) court's answer to constitutional question referred to them, whether Section 8 (1) is ultra vires the Local Government Act 1976 and infringed Article 5 (1) of the Federal Constitution (relating to freedom of life) was in the negative.

The two students had challenged the validity of Section 8 (1) contending that the Local Government Act 1976 which is the parent act governing local authorities did not empower the Datuk Bandar to make local by-laws on matters of decency.

They alleged that they were given a summons because they refused to bribe the enforcement officers. In January last year, the two officers pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in the Sessions Court and their case is pending.

Counsel S. Selvam, for the students, submitted yesterday that the Datuk Bandar had failed to consider the fact that Malaysia is a multiracial country and that the act of hugging and kissing is an expression of love which should be encouraged.

"The students should be given freedom to live but there was serious infringement by the Datuk Bandar of the two students' fundamental liberty and constitutional rights," he said.

Ahmad Fairuz said: "So, they should be given freedom to live as they like? The constitution allows all citizens to do that (hugging and kissing) even by the roadside, in public park?

"In England, those acts are acceptable to the people in that country but is kissing and hugging acceptable to Malaysian citizens? Is the act according to the morality of the Asian people?"

:
:
:
A parallel to yesterday' snippet titled:


is the following from theSUN web edition:


Heavier TV watching may mean earlier sex for teens


NEW YORK
(Reuters Health): Certain teenagers who watch more television are more likely to become sexually active than those who spend less time in front of the tube, a new study shows.

Dr. Sarah Ashby of the University of Wisconsin School of Public Health in Madison and her colleagues found that, among a group of 4,808 boys and girls younger than 16, those who said their parents strongly disapproved of sex -- nearly three quarters of the group -- were more likely to start having sex in the following year if they watched two hours or more of TV daily.

The findings, appearing in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, support the hypothesis that "kids who are at overall lower risk of initiating sex may be more influenced by things that they see," Ashby told Reuters Health. For teens who don't sense parental disapproval, she added, "the cat is already out of the bag." Parental disapproval in itself did indeed cut the risk of kids becoming sexually active -- 12.5 percent of these teens started having sex, compared to 24.1 percent of those who didn't feel their parents disapproved of sex.

Among kids who sensed parental disapproval, the more TV they watched, the greater their likelihood of becoming sexually active -- up to a point.

:
:
:


DESIDERATA kindly invites my ER to add fuel and water to the above goings-on.
His wee cuntriBUtion is a reprisal from his bookie of pomes of knotti ditties, please note today I'm takling lots of liverties with the Queen ...oops, add 's English!:)
If you find my Posting a TORMENT, wait until DARK when You're Caught In The PARK!



If Truth Be Told
(Not the first time/dime...)


In a land not far, far away
So near you hear its heartbeat every day

Once the minister of television declared
“We’ll manufacture a local series to outclass Dallas!”

After decades and much murky water
Had flowed under the Bridge of Scandals

Leaders continue to exhort of the populace:
Don’t watch blue movies or VCDs, it’s a social evil.


Meanwhile, they yumseng till the break of dawn
And under the cover of darkness chieftains plundered
Yet others plucked the flowers
Off under-aged virgin girls.

Politicians and court jesters are so creative
This land needs no fiction writers
‘Stead of soap operas, TV offers wayang and sandiwara
Their juiciness surpass the wildest Image-ine of the CollinsSis

There’s the saga of one with millions headed Down Under
Apparently he’d not heard of cheques or Amex
Poor chap – onetime a graduate teacher - he landed up in court
He hardly understood “that darn’d bastard immigration form” in Inggeris.

Then another made a girl full of body
Claimed the fruit was donated by a best friend
Well, in typical Asian cheer, the reluctant host must not decline
The guest’s bosomy generosity in any kind.

Live episodes entertain the people more than Hollywood’s Dynasty
Proving true blue that “Fact is stranger than fiction”


When naked Truth is revealed, sometimes ingenuously concealed,
Of under-cover trails and trysts in KL’s penthouses.
When lesser souls are caught in similar bind with their pants down
In cheap lodging houses, or even just holding hands in public parks
They charge the poor blighters with khalwat (close proximity)


While upper classes continue to frolic with impunity cum immunity.

The above (lust pub'ished half a decade ago?) was prompted by the many instances of “public scandals” involving leading Malaysians which hogged both local and international media headlines at the time of occurrence; any decent Malaysian must at one time or another have bowed his/her head in “shame” for the graphic details of the “homosexual or sodomy” acts being described in public. And a semen-stained mattress being hauled to court as an “exhibit” – what a way to progress sex education! If I were to write in prose about the politics of my home country, and the shenanigans of the players of those “interesting” times, it will be certainly going into territory “where angels fear to tread”. I’d rather be with angelic company than risk spending solitary confinement in a cold, dank cell (with most likely other political animals for cell-mates to boot!). Putting down in verse some of these episodes allows for some freedom of speech, and the release of pent-up outrage and indignation at the goings-on. Poetry provides writers with a medium to test greater “intellectual” latitude. May we be blessed with leaders who can appreciate poetic communication, especially of the satirical kind.

I:
S:
A:
men.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Meeting people from different parts of the world

My colleagues asked me:

"Hei, where wil you be going next?"

"How much have all your travels cost?"

Okay, okay, after my trip to Norway, I would like to get some rest to cool myself down.

How much have my travels cost? Well, fortunately i enjoy backpacking ~ budget travel. I don't like to stay in a five-star hotel. I prefer to stay in backpacker hostels and have conversation with those lodgers from different parts of the world.

Last February, I went to Germany to visit my Japanese girlfriend whom I met in Bangkok four years ago. Wasn't it amasing? My Japanese girlfriend and I had yet to meet since we last met in Thailand and four years later we finally met each other again in Germany. We were both in Bangkok the first day. I took a ten-hour journey by train from Hatyai in the border of Thailand and Malaysia. I had to get a double-bed room after having walked around with carrying a back-pack. All single rooms had all taken that particular day. Moreover, Bangkok is a popular tourism spot. When I was finally get a double-bed room after a long wait for the previous tenant to check out, I went out to walk around with curiosity of the new place. Then, I saw a Japanese girl who was carrying two huge back-packs and yet a bag hung in front of her chest. Since I personally overcame the difficulty of getting a room and yet she was carrying so many luggages, I offered her to stay in my room since I had an extra bed. So, that's how our connection had started. It's really amazing! Besides her, I have known two of her Japanese friends who flew from Nagano, Japan to Bangkok to meet her. One of her Japanese friends has become a close friend of mine.

During the Chinese New Year three years ago, I received a couple whom I met in Thailand. The guy was a South Korean and the girl was a Japanese. I brought them around in Malaysia. About one year later, when I visited Japan, the South Korean guy attempted to fly to Tokyo from Busan to meet me and his Japanese girlfriend. Regrettably, he couldn't make it last minute as he was requested to stay in the office. However, I received a surprise morning call from him before my departure from Malaysia to Nagoya, Japan. During my stay in Tokyo, his girlfriend received me with warmness and introduced me to her uncle and aunty. They thanked me for having received her in Malaysia.

I encountered four Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar respectively in Sukuthai, Thailand. They were doing their Masters course in Buddhism Philosophy. Until today, we still remain in regular contact. I have known one more monk from Nepal through their contact.

It's the universe

Don't envy me for having had chances of travelling around. When I landed the Heathrow Airport, England in Europe (the Western region) from my country Malaysia in Asia (the Oriental World), I have found that anywhere in the world is about the same - human behaviour, social problem, capatalism....What makes the difference is one's inner peace.