09

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year filled with love and joy with family and friends.

[+] CosmicDiary

also introducing

[+] [the feast of minds - memories of tomorrow]

Sri Marathandavar Temple

I had one last road trip left before then year ends. We traveled to the temple of miracles, the Sri Maranthandavar temple near the town of Maran, in the east coast state of Pahang. (Marathandavar means God of the Tree; Maram means tree). The temple dedicated to Lord Muruga is located about 3 hours away from KL and has been one of the most important Hindu pilgrimage centres in Malaysia.

Entrance

This is one of the 2 sacred trees at the temple. The original miracle tree has died and the bark is preserved and embedded in the sanctum behind the statue of Lord Marathandavar.
(the link sourced from this blog shows the apparition of Lord Muruga and his wife Deivanai on the bark of the miracle tree)

Flight of freedom, again :)

The temple itself is built to the shape of an octagon.

The Sri Marathandavar temple has beautiful architecture to be admired.

[+] The story of the origin of the [Temple of miracles].
[+] Two very good guide blogs to many famous Hindu temples of Malaysia [Malaysian Hindu Temples] and [Mystical Temples of Malaysia]

Strawberries!

We interrupt your regular Christmas programming to bring the Attack of the Killer Strawberries!!

Red hot!

Strawberries dipped in chocolate...heaven!

Fried prawns...served hot with chili sauce
This is a non veg blog after all :p

Honey comb
There are a few honey bee farms in the Highlands

We traveled to the coldest and coolest and highest night market in Malaysia,
located at the Cameron Highlands.
(Friday and Saturday, every week from early evening till midnight, Brinchang Town)
Cameron Highlands is the biggest among the hill stations in Malaysia, situated in the state of Pahang on the Titiwangsa mountain range. It was developed during colonial times, the cool climate and ancient rain forests attract many local and foreign tourists throughout the year. It is very famous for its tea plantations, both Boh Tea and Barath Tea own huge tea plantations in the Highlands and famous tea stops among the hills.
And of course, not forgetting strawberries, the ever famous Highland strawberries are grown there. The Highlands also serve as an important source of vegetables and flowers for Malaysia and Singapore.


Suddenly the country seems so small when we can just hop in the car and drive anywhere...

[+] Travelers; Indran, Lina, Kumar, Kamales, Ghost.
Location; Cameron Highlands.

[+] Our first jump to C_H [Ghost_Flickr]

[+] The mystery of Jim Thompson

[+] Wikitravel guide [Cameron Highlands]

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a safe, wonderful and memorable holiday.

Hope that we all take time to...
remember the less fortunate
remember the victims of the 26th December Tsunami
remember the ones who departed too early this year,
from us, from our hearts

remember our roots,
remember the histories,
remember the colors and cultures,
and travels :)

remember our parents,
appreciate them for everything,
love them for making you who you are,
taking care of them,
for they are your existence

remember to say thank you,
remember to hold the door,
remember to help someone
remember to love and show kindness

remember how far we have came in life,
and how hard we worked for it,
so that we can teach others to come up,
and help them to be strong

remember to make that one call,
to say hi, to be that someone,
to make a day happier,
to make a difference

remember to plan for the new year,
to take note from past experiences,
to learn to survive
and to always remember,
there are beautiful tomorrows

remember that I am here,
for you
and for me to remember,
everyone being there for me

lets take some time,
to say thank you to a great 2008
and to anticipate a greater 2009

have a nice time
love you all

gP2008

[#] For everyone traveling this holidays, have a safe safe drive, trip, flight :)
Buzz me if you drop into Malaysia :D
Ill get back to blogging hopefully in the new year, unless of course I get bored of the real world sooner :P

lets go away, 900th post

lets get lost...

[#] 900th post :)

Guess, 3

This will be the final contest for this year.

Guess the name of the (i) City and (ii) Place; where this monument is.

The country is India.

Same rules apply as the previous contests (Guess 1 and Guess 2) for who can and cannot enter. Comments will be moderated.

And all who have guessed will get a Book or DVD of their choice posted to them.

Previous winners may enter again :)

Competition closes on the midnight of 24th December.

*Prizes for all 3 contests are sponsored by the Northern Lexicon Translation Agency.

[[#]] Winners of Guess 2, please mail me your addresses at humanuniverse[@]gmail.com. Or just buzz me in Gtalk or YIM.

4th anniversary

thank you for 4 wonderful years in this electronic world
and a lifetime of memories from the real world :)

this blog, and myself went through a lot in 2008
memories that i will never forget
love and joy to cherish everyday
regrets and pain that will never go away
but i find myself
waking up another day
and many more tomorrows
within them i find my answers
i am still alive
the world is still here
bold and beautiful
what matters is taking a step forward
making someone happy
changing something
being the change
and living your life
may we have another wonderful year
and many more lives to touch
and not a dream lost
love all

[+] Place: Tanjung Dawai beach, Kedah. Travelers; Kumar, Indran, Ghost. Shutter light tracer; Indran.

Guess, 2

Winners: manisha, milady, stpdsor, brocasarea, jeevan, karthi, anitha, nachi, ne, arv, neha

This is the second quiz this month, since I'm so in love with December.

(i) Guess which movie the following lines are from - title, actors.
(ii) Name A very famous song from the movie - title, artist.

I would rather have had...
one breath of her hair
one kiss of her mouth
one touch of her hand
than an eternity without it.

Should be very very easy if you're a movie buff. And definitely NO CLUE this time. :P Oh btw, its an English, Hollywood movie.

Remember BOTH questions must be answered.

The Prize will be: A DVD or Book of your choice mailed to you :)

[#] I'll moderate the comments for this post, Everyone who gives the correct answers will get the prize.

Contest closes exactly 24 hours from now (Malaysian time 3pm /GMT +8) - 19th December - Friday (wherever you are :)

[#] My immediate friends in Msia and the Chumma Travel gang is not eligible to participate. As well as the winner from the previous contest. Sorry :p

Best of Adventures: Adventures of the Year

[a must read!!!]

This was the price, finally. The planet can look small, and an adventure exciting. You can chart out detailed routes and plan to cover thousands of miles and many months. It can all seem so straightforward and plausible. But then you find yourself in one particular place at one particular time, and the world feels as vast as it is. You wait to find out whether you're going to die.

[read full] [180degrees.com]

[+] Read All The Adventures [NatGeo Adventures of the Year]
[+] 2007 Adventures of the Year

why?

december. why?

Down to Earth

end credits from Wall-E,
featuring the song Down to Earth by Peter Gabriel

[#] a fine, fine movie. so much to admire, so much to learn :)

tied travails

sometimes we wonder
if buildings can indeed be the identity
of cities or countries

and in another moment I would like to make a biased generalization
saying that
this would indeed be the only towers that represent a culture of modernity
with a touch of familiarity
giving a strong identity to the city and country
the twins are tied so close to the hearts of the citizens that we cant sever it
however way we look at it
in whatever moments of humanity
we see the struggles of a nation
birthing a monument of splendor
of excess beauty
with nothing to compare with
and among the mindless fractured modern cities around the world
I see scrapers rise from sand and stone
but none has the character or life or soul
of this fantastic existence

and from a distance in time
I see how the towers of 9-11
has become an identity of change and fear
of hope and eternity
how changes can happen
as radically as any building could be
smoldered to the ground
and among the rubble's we find
our voice to speak against tyranny
among the dead souls
we find no solution
for the reason
of majestic buildings
that changes history
that changes the landscapes
of the modern era

and reasons are what we live for

[#] a calm Sunday in busy KLCC, travelers Vj and Ghost. PC Fair 2008 sucked major!
[#] the post title is actually derived from the blog title of Ramya. thx da :)

Many Miles

during the days of remembrance
a moment of retrospection
a deluge of memories
drains your life
makes you
stop

[#] Niki hit 20000 km today...in 5 short months. How many memories the car share, how many more to discover. I hope I dont stop walking the roads... :)

Xmas at the Valley

Xmas at MidValley Megamall

hey! :D

Framed...Circled? Sphered!

the one tree i really like
made of ribbons

And this is at The Gardens, the decor was really good...

and it was a huge huge cage!

yeh...now you know where I live! :D

this the season to scare your children silly

...at the Valley...tralalalalaa la la la... :D

[#] Xmas decors is a big craze at local malls. And since the tree at KLCC turned a dud this year, I think MidValley and The Gardens shopping mall did good for this season. Hope one day I get to see the Rockefeller Center tree :)
[+] Travelers Velan and Ghost

Of Driving

This could be rated as one of the most pressing matters in the world today; Driving with your parents (and grandma). And its going to be a very long drive. I woke up this morning to find all my CDs missing from the car! No more Nusrat, no more Atif, Maroon 5, Bocelli, they even took away my Dalai Lama chants...oh come on. And there's a lot of CD's with no name...which I'm gonna presume are really really sad 70's and 80's Tamil songs...

I really dont mind the driving part, its a pleasure to take them along and knowing they would be happy to travel as much as I am, but music always puts me in a spot during these times. And I will do anything not to switch on the radio during drives with family. Because at moments you least expect there will be a bloody radio show about arrogant children who don't take care of their parents, or something about marriage, work, etc. And along with that will be some free advice from grandma about marriage, etc. We cant talk back. Probably I should just shut my eyes my ears and drive!

Come to think of it, this is equivalent to an astronaut puking in his suit. You cant dont anything but absorb everything that comes your way. What can be worst?

Strangely, I think parents driving their children would say the same right? :P

Whats your driving experience with family?


[#] The competition is still on at the post below, please do take part. There will be alot more this month and next, its my 4th blog anniversary on the 20th :D

Guess

AMMU won! Ok...that was a real effort...and she got the whole thing correct...with flickr, google earth...it took her 2 days! I'm amazed. :D

This is the Bandstand in the Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bangalore

where on earth is this photo taken?

I want the name of the city and the place and the first person to correctly guess this will get a book of their choice mailed to them :)

Clue: In a city in Karnataka
Want:
Name of City
Name of Place this structure is...

[+] oh btw...this is post 888, 8 is a very lucky number... hence the competition.

Robin Williams

and you wish he never stops... :D
A true genius.

[via: The Movie Blog]

LOL!

[#] How true, how true :D

Lata Bayu

Its so good to wander, coz there's heavens to be found :)

But it was not an easy task...

it needed some heavy duty lifting...

and searching...

and goofing around...

before heaven is found

The Lata Bayu waterfalls.
(Lata Bayu loosely means Cascading Breeze / Breezy Cascades? :p )

symmetrical evolutions

majestic beauties

and mysterious creatures...

Rest of the snaps at [Rain Forests - Malaysia]

[+] Lata Bayu
[#] Travelers Vj, Indran and Ghost

Rainforest, 2

On the road again...

[+] B32 and N32, Semenyih to Kuala Klawang, Selangor to Negeri Sembilan. Beautiful hills, reserve forests and beautiful waterfalls. The waterfalls are actually littered all along the route. Larger falls are deep in the jungles.

Cosmological Nomads / Moving

Finally I've started packing, cleaning the apartment to move out. I will really miss this place, the quiet night hills and memories. I'm moving to somewhere a zillion time busier but who cares since its all relative anyway. Its a new dawn for me, with renewed spirit and I foresee a lot more travels in the future. I love this nomadic nature of life and I really want to travel.

Just like a few months back, I'm on a mission. It looked impossible in the beginning, but when I make it happen the world will seem a lot more easier to live. Making it happen is hard, but its almost done. I am proud with myself for starting it.

In the photo is my model B17F Flying Fortress (build by Bob and myself 3 years ago). It stands testimony of what could have been, what can be achieved. But people change and I have no regrets now. Especially today, I have no regrets at all.

I have accepted the fact that there are some out there who cant see who I really am. I was ready to give everything, because I was already sacrificing alot along the years. The cold long years where I suffered enough to write my pain here. No one knew except the very few. But life is not a thesis, it doest summarize anything. It just shows where you stand. So there are no place for stupid people, there are no place for anyone who still delineates humans according to religion and race. Its just colors and fake magic. For me, what is precious is life, love, family and voices, languages and cultures. Grand cities along majestic rivers. I will find someone who shares my dreams.

It takes a good while to come to accept the fact that we need to drop people off at unscheduled stops along the long road to the end. To salvation, to Elysium even Valhalla. The end must be grand, it must be big and it must mirror your struggles. No one taught me this, I learned it myself, just like I learned life for the past 29 years. People taught me to slow down, to stop and to die. I wont accept that. And I really hope in time they accept that also. Its a big world out there with an equally big, chaotic and uncharted future. I want to live the moments, but I also want to see tomorrow. And right now I have good friends with me who share my dreams and good friends who showed me I can do something without stopping for others who decided to rot. My teachers are my God, their words is my religion and my journey is to fulfill their aspirations as well.

I'll end this with some lines from Bob...

Just like them planes ready to fly,

Just that we don't have them, runways.

To Bob: It was a good journey bro and now I wish you all the best in life. But I'm not recharting the past anymore this time, so it is the end. The rocket ship is ready, we dont need runways bro, we dont even need clearance, we just make it happen. God Speed.


[+] A long while back I wrote a much bleaker future for this cosmological nomad; [Silence is the future for the cosmological nomads]

Shabir / Alaipayuthey

Alaipayuthey - Shabir

[link back up! all hail free domains! :P]

[#] A very good Tamil song by Singaporean artist Shabir. The song is from his bestselling 2006 Album of the same name. Shabir has recently launched a new album called TraffiQ (urban Tamil compositions ?) which is airing strong on the local radio stations.
[+] Shabir.Com.Sg

Violations

[#] downhill, tirumala hills, ap, 2008
[+] click on the image for a bigger version

Mumbai, 3

[removed]

[sourced: Editorial Cartoons by Michael Ramirez]

[#] Took a while for me to come to my senses, a thank you to Nachi and Milady for the fine reasoning (do read their comments). I've removed the cartoon.

[#] This ed-cartoon has many meanings. What I see is a lawless country, where sanity is dead i.e. Pakistan. And from their fractures, its neighbors are paying a heavy price.
[#] The terrorists want attention, and dirt. They cant have dirt, but attention they get everyday from the media. What we don't have to give them is any reason, logic or rationale for their actions. We can condemn them and their ideologies, we write about them and we never forget.