Note on photo above: Choc Albatross was sitting around a pile of sand in an Orang Asli community.
And never would you find a more unlikely trio. And yet each so perfectly balanced in their own chaotic energy that they cancel out each other’s potency.
Note on photo: And this nawaby looking butterfly was its companion.
And this is exactly what happened last weekend when I was in KL to celebrate my Big 30.
Note on photo: I encountered the same unmarked butterfly in FRIM. The photo Record 3 is not the same butterfly as the one in the swinhoei photos.
I went over to visit The Bear of The Past, whom I’d known for 10 years. In order to prevent The Bear from mauling me back into the memories of The Past, I decided to bring shooting/photography buddies who would decidedly prevent any 2 person scenarios where forced flashbacks were likely to occur.
Note on photo above: The Royal Assyrian wouldn't cooperate. It's one beautiful butterfly!
I sent out at least 10 sms-es to people from various everywhere, including Mushroom who wanted to travel, Dr Plant who likes to go to KL, Alien from KL who doesn’t mind going back to KL, the trio of girls I hang out with on a regular basis who only go to KL to shop … and The Boy.
Note on photo above: This butterfly wouldn't stay put. It eats on the move.
And everybody had something else on… except The Boy.
So it came to pass that The Boy, The Bear and The Butterfly were fated to be in the same car driving on a highway in KL with The Bear muzzled up politely upfront in the driver’s seat playing old rock favourites, The Boy in the backseat tapping the Butterfly on the head persistently, giggling to himself like a mad man, completely and pointedly ignoring The Bear and The Butterfly ready to fly out from her front passenger seat to take her chances with the hard asphalt road.
Note on photo above: I can't ID this damselfly. And don't want to just slap it with a wrong identification with lousy guesswork.
The Bear’s purpose was blunted. I had written a lot more about this purpose. But realised 3 days after drafting the blog entry that it didn't mean anything to anyone. Not The Bear. Not to me. .
Note on photo above: The red spot on the wing makes me hesitant to say that this is the Fenestrella.
To sum it up neatly and then forget it again, I finally saw him accurately as the person that he was and is with all his strengths and all his flaws without the childish veil of knights in shining armor. But I also saw this through the perspective of an irrelevant entity, watching a nostalgic black and white movie.
For it seems that the best of things never happen with the ones gifted and attuned with understanding, but with the ones that claw and scrabble at the gate, that talk at you with strangled muffles through a screen… the ones that can never get close enough to even seem human.
Note on photos above: Why did the tail-less chicken cross the road? To distract 3 men from their winged subject.
And the best of situations are given under the compulsory condition of such uncomfortable sieges. While the impossible lay somewhere beyond the practical realm of reality, lingering just a sliver off from within reach, flitting into and out of presence like the butterfly.
Something to behold. Never to be held.
Note on photo above: I got leech bites. The stockings were not sheer enough. Sigh. Also photo of the friendly staff at MNS.
Enough of all that human interacto- blah blah.
This time in KL, I didn’t go to the usual FRIM region. Acting upon a KL-ite’s recommendation, we traipsed around an Orang Asli village near Gombak instead.
A stream passes along the small village and it was here that I got my second and third leech bite (the first was in FRIM. I didn’t get bitten in Langkawi, Endau Rompin or Sarawak… how cool is that? The forest has been merciful).
LC handed me some tobacco to put over the bites. You’d be surprised at how effective it was. The bleeding stopped almost immediately and it didn’t itch during the night either.
Note on photos above: Check out the fire over which the locals cook Lemang... a type of tasty glutinous rice.
KL’s weather was just as variable as Singapore’s. It rained quite heavily on both shooting days. But unlike the dead silence in the fields here after a heavy downpour, the patches of sunlight don’t take long to be re-speckled by butterflies.
Stopping by various small cul de sacs of wild vegetation, we could already spot 3 different species of skippers skipping around in the wet weeds, 1 very large iridescent topside-blue restless butterfly and your ubiquitous yellows, browns and rings.
The area is spotted with huts and you can find some tasty rice treats along the way such as the Lemang, a glutinous fragrant rice snack cooked over a fire and eaten with spicy chicken (see pic below):
Farm fowl roam free around the premises and even on the roads, mingling with an assortment of half-domesticated strays. The people who live in these huts are extremely friendly and very photogenic.
Now I would write more. But I'm going to bed. There will be a Part 2.
Is the title of the 2-page essay son finished, after 2 days, on Macbeth. An effort interspaced often with side trips to Facebook (I'm just checking to see if any of my English class mates are on -line now, so chill!).
The premise, that the gender roles of Macbeth and his wife are reversed for most to the drama, is an interesting one. I just wonder if he came up with it by himself or was the idea borrowed from an on-line website.
Interesting use of words too. Had to rewrite a couple of passages in which he describes Macbeth as 'freaking out.', or that Macbeth is a 'wimp'. More intriguing is, is this a window in to his view of men & women? Have wondered as of late, if son is channeling the thoughts of his less than enlightened uncle, Pound Salt on this matter.
First snow on La Cité, which means that, while Bixis are stored for the season, Alouettes are coming home, and...
ILLUMINATI's back whipping their favourite target: One Random, current rank Captain.
Big week-end on the conspiracy fornt.
My anonymous benefactors contacted me again through a flash drive left on the bus. The content was interesting: the CV of a Tunisian Security Guard, phone numbers and contact to a nearby shopping mall plus a couple of photos, including a CCTV snapshot. Noted everything down and disposed through the usual channels.
Still confused about the Serena Williams-lookalike in a thong picture's significance in the Game...
Of course, this small win was compounded by the fact that my ATM card has been gobbled up. Hopefully a minor setback and not a prelude to me fleeing the country in the middle of the night...
AND I almost lost a couple of days of vacation because I thought it was more logical to split a 7-hour block (as I lost a day and half-an-hour from last year's Happy-fun-Exile) into 2 workable 3,5 hours since by union rules, a work day is supposed to be a minimum 4 hours of work. But Union & HR didn't seem to be on my same logic plane. It took a lot of convincing (and putting the phone away to cover the sounds of my teeth grating) to get the message through.
To quote Xander: "And the fun just keeps on leaving..."
Could be worse, I guess, could be Tiger Woods. What? Too soon?
Hmm, DRAGON SCALES? This is a weird draw. Clearly it's an indication that I need to "Suit Up!" in order to prepare myself for the fight.
At least the stakes are less personal this time around, which is a big plus.
The holidays are in full effect, so tell us: What's your favorite holiday song? Bonus points if you share it with us!
Even though I am goyim, I love Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song.
CINNAMON SWEET POTATOES WITH VANILLA
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
Cook sweet potatoes in salted water until tender. Cool slightly, then peel. Place sweet potatoes in bowl of blender with other ingredients. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Adapted from a recipe in the November 2009 edition of Prevention.
It takes strength to be firm,
It takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse,
It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.
First Clinton did, and Now Tiger Woods. Not all human beings are saints. I admire them both for what they are. I don't know politics, but I like Clinton's charisma. I don't know golf, but admired his sportsmanship. I don't bother what these incidents mean to the family. Everyone knows it would be difficult. But that's a family problem.
It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of the world and say
"Ever since I was elected President, I've tried not to do this kind of thing," he told Morris. "But I just slipped up with that girl."
"I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves."
By admitting what was rumored, they both showed their mettle to stand up to the situations.
Icons are to be looked at and not down upon.
CREAMY TURKEY AND NOODLES
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, sliced
1 cup baby carrots, sliced
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp each dried thyme and parsley flakes
2 cups milk
4 cups cubed cooked turkey
4 cups turkey broth
1 cup frozen peas
4 oz dry egg noodles
In a large saucepan, saute onion, celery, and carrots in butter until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour and seasonings. Gradually add milk. Bring to boil and cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thinkened. Add turkey and noodles. Add broth. Stir. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add peas and continue heating until noodles and vegetables are tender.
Adapted from recipe found at www.tasteofhome.com.
Unbelievable....
I thought this place was exclusive....
