It was such a beautiful sunny Spring day on Wednesday, 10 October 2012 that I couldn’t resist the temptation of being outdoor. So I decided to take the bus to meet up with a couple of buddies at Satay Mu Restaurant in Kardinya for lunch.
My hour bus ride to Perth City is usually boring & seemingly long. That day was different – different because of Brian. He was greeting almost all his senior passengers of Kalamunda, chatting & engaging with them. Conversation held . . . laughter felt. Smile gleamed . . . atmosphere brightening. Time just slipped you by when you have fun.
I learnt a few things about him. Coming from South Africa, he has worked & lived in Perth more years than he’s been in Africa. Of some Anglo-Saxon descent, he’s fluent & eloquent like a typical English gentleman. He plays golf in his leisure time & rightly to be living in the enchanted valley of Araluen. He loves to travel & does possess a world of knowledge as reflected in his engaging dialogue.
Araluen Golf Club.Aerial View 9 & 18 HoleBe Mystified by the Enchanted Valley . . . Tranquility away from the Stress & Strain of City Life
He wasn’t driving that day as he was instructing & familiarising Persely in the finer points of their Eastern Bus Route. Persely is new to Perth, having arrived as a new migrant only 6 weeks ago from Britain.
Persely
You wonder what kind of a working day Brian would normally have. Here, if I may quote from the horse’s mouth:
“My apologies for the late reply but this week has been a very testing one, both mentally and physically. I’ve been going to bed at 8.30 pm every night totally drained and exhausted.
The highlight of our week was getting to meet a very interesting person like yourself and a few of my regular senior passengers whom I enjoy chatting to. It’s days like this that I’ll cherish where a few giggles are shared and we as human beings are mindful and respectful of each other regardless of race , colour, creed or social standing.
I try to do my job as best as I can, even though some can be extremely challenging & dissatisfying, I wonder wether I’ve made the right choice in choosing this career path towards my retirement, but then you experience a senior citizen who is courteous and overwhelmed with gratitude after you’ve just set her down closer to home and this is easier on those 95 year old legs that have taken her on many journeys. It’s days like this that makes all the others seem trivial, even as recent as 24 hours ago.
So if that day was the first and last that we met Paul, I’m pleased and glad that we did. I shall continue to read your blog site and be inspired by your literature.”
Beautiful Perth, Western AustraliaAraluen Golf Resort, Rolystone, Western Australia
English: West side of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain Français : Côté ouest de la Sagrada Familia, Barcelone, Espagne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Sagrada Família, Barcelona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
View of the Passion Façade (Western side) in September 2009
It certainly has taken a long time to see it finally opened for public viewing & appreciation. We first laid eyes upon this spectacular structure during our Whitsun Holidays in 1960, when we visited France, Spain & Portugal. This was one sight not to be missed in Barcelona that was a MUST-SEE in our itinerary. Of course, we didn’t get to see the inside!
The building is still under construction so be prepared to see a lot of work continuing when you visit. The interior proves to be more interesting than its unusual exterior.The Sagrada Familia it is a truly magnificent building and an absolute must-see when you visit Barcelona.
HERE HAVE A INSIDE VIEW:
Though construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882, Gaudí became involved in 1883, taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style—combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms.
Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família’s construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War—only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project’s greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026—the centennial of Gaudí’s death
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Describing Sagrada Familia, art critic Rainer Zerbst said “it is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art” and Paul Goldberger called it ‘the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages’.
The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona—over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona’s cathedral, over Gaudí’s design itself, over the possibility that work after Gaudí’s death disregarded his design, and the recent possibility that an underground tunnel of Spain’s high-speed train could disturb its stability.
A good product should be accompanied by good service & customers’ satisfaction.
Undoubtedly IKEA, featuring Scandinavian modern style furniture and accessories, has taken the world by storm with composite warehousing showrooms sprawling on an international scale.They are home decorating specialists providing interior design ideas and homewares, including furniture and accessories for the bedroom, office, children and kitchen.
However, be aware of their trappings & extra expenses that will throw you off your wonder!
Thought we were the only unfortunate victims, but since I have come to know of others who weren’t compensated for dissatisfaction & mistakes made by IKEA installers, I thought I should go public for the sake of others thinking high & mighty of IKEA.
Like many people IKEA appealed to our dream of making-over our age-old kitchen. First, their showroom display enthrals you . . . their design pleases you . . . and then their price floors you. Compared to others, IKEA was the thing to go for!
Everything was professionally carried out. We started off with the qualified kitchen designer calling at our home to inspect & measure the lay-out of our old kitchen. Equipped with a laptop, he soon came up with the design to suit our needs. Of course, there was a non-refundable fee of $99.00 to be paid for the service. From this professional visit, the estimated price of $10,000 plus was quoted for the cabinet units required with the specially made-to-order bench top. I must stress that the designer knew full well of our needs & requirements.
We decided & proceeded. After a week or two, IKEA packaged units were delivered to our home. We thought we had the good fortune of securing the ‘excellent’ service of a well qualified carpenter who happened to be a lady newly migrated from Germany. Her installation fee was quoted as $2,340.
The shocking thing was she had only dollar sign in her head . . . kept reminding us that she was very well qualified . . . her time was valuable as much as $100 an hour & “every single cut” she had to make with her saw would cost us $50.00 extra. IKEA kitchen units are all modular type & any handyman could easily assemble them anyway. So you’ve got to make sure, you don’t have to deviate from the design to incur additional costs. Incidental & additional purchases are often unforeseen.
By the way, lest you forget, IKEA’s quoted price does not include all appliances & accessories. Rangehood had to be bought & installed separately by another with the chute opening through the roof.
Vertical blind dangling crookedly from the top. Measurement & installation skill went wrong!
In the process of installation, the vertical blinds of our bay window were roughly handed & when the bench top was finally fixed, the blinds couldn’t be drawn & opened as before. They are touching the bench top surface even now & hanging down as being too long to fit. We complained that we would have to incur an unnecessary expense to refit another set of curtain blind. But this was ignored by IKEA who claimed not to be their responsibility.
Cubical void too small to fit our old microwave oven. Had to purchase another alternative to place therein, as well as an additional IKEA cabinet
Another area of our dissatisfaction & complaint has to do with the size of the cubical void intended for our existing microwave oven. We found our oven too big to fit in. We complained that we had to buy a new one in order to fit. The designer was made aware from the start when he came to measure up. So what happened, we had to buy another modular unit with three drawers specially for our microwave oven, and I had to assemble it myself.
An additional cabinet purchased especially for our old microwave oven
IKEA modular units are never made or equipped to fit kitchen with bay window. Yet, we were assured that there would be no problem. But problem did arise when we were left with two open corner areas, rather unsightly. We had to get another carpenter, who happened to offer a cheaper service to solve the problem. IKEA again claimed no responsibility. That was over $300 drained from my wallet which should not have to incur.
Left corner void of the bay window cabinetSplashback short of measured requirement. Exposed gap beneath the rangehood
Associate mis-measured the size of the required splashback over the cook top area & left us with an exposed area uncovered & unprotected from cooking loil & grease. Again, IKEA would do nothing. Of course, the splashback is an additional area of expense , costing us about $1,000 more. As it was made to order, there was considerable waiting time & delay because of Christmas holidays.
Another area of delay had to do with the made-to-order laminated bench top which costs in excess of $2,300 plus.
Right side of the bay window void
Talking of extras, not pre-warned, are the services of the electrician & the plumber. Apart from having the problem of coordinating them in the whole process of installation, there was this additional costs of $2,200 & $1,000 respectively. Headaches don’t come by cheaply!
Knocking off the wall & cabinets of the old kitchen was going to cost us some $500 extra with the IKEA team. So I got it done ahead separately for just $100.
The installer left a lot of uncleared rubbish & dust . . . gosh my time for clearing them was not considered. This was expectedly part of the service which was not rendered. She said her vacuum cleaner was out of function.
We told the kitchen designer that the wall cabinets must all cover right up to the ceiling. But when assembled & done, there was this gap which would be good hide-out for dust, cobweb & insects. Another additional cost of $240 was incurred. (Below: Picture on right)
Sealing the ceiling gap cost additional $240
Where is the service?
The onus of responsibility rests entirely with the customer!
You deal with IKEA at your own risks!!
Last but not least, we started the IKEA project in the first week of October 2011 & it didn’t finish till March/April 2012 . . . a considerable delay & inconvenience.
In business, goodwill & image take a long time to build
It takes great expenses too through advertisements
Preservation of them will indeed be most important
Lest competitors & ill-will come along for the kill.
Official flag of the United Malays Organisation (UMNO)
Pernas Twin Towers
In a flashback to the days when we were in school & college & even at the university, we can remember fondly how we used to refer Malaysia
as the “Golden Chersonese”. Life was beautiful then, peaceful & harmonious in kind & nature. We didn’t have any “humbug” political slogans to instil that in us.
Then May 13 in 1969 civil racial riots & commotion struck upon us with great fury out of the brewing political storm of defeat, changing the political, social & economical landscape forever.
Hypocrisy & greed will not breed prosperity nor will they generate any posterity in longevity!
For the last five decades, the diverse southeast Asian nation of Malaysia has given economic benefits to its ethnic Malay majority, a policy of NEP (National Economic Planning) that was initiated by the ill-fated PM Tun Razak, who died of cancer, with weighted benefits in favour of the Bumiputras (the so-called sons of the soil). In this, you might have been born in Malaysia but you are out of political & legal consideration as one of them. Yet the ruling controlling party, UMNO in the Alliance, readily accepts other foreigners & confers them the Bumiputra title so long they are of Muslim faith & pledge allegiance to UMNO (United Malay National Organisation).
In line with the US media flagship of CNN, Malaysia has its own CCN representing Corruption, Cronyism & Nepotism which dig deep into the coffers of the Treasury, laying rampant waste & mismanagement while consolidating the power of the UMNOputras.
Seemingly, the gleaming Petronas Twin Towers aim high into the sky in the Malaysian capital city Kuala Lumpur. However, its economic wealth from oil resources has not benefited the overall population – need I say benefitting only the Bumiputras.
Amid Malaysia’s population of 28 million, comprised mainly of Malays, Chinese and Indians, the official religion for all purposes & intent is Islam, although constitutionally it’s free. Religious funds are freely available for Mecca pilgrimages, and the building of exotic mosques in virtually all nooks & corners.
Economically, Malaysia’s Chinese has long been a dominant force to reckon with. After the fateful day of May 13, 1969, the ruling component party of the Alliance government in all haste & rapidity implemented its NEP, the national policy aimed at increasing the slice of the economic cake for the ethnic Malays – the Bumiputras. It was stipulated to be at least 30% for a period of 30 years – but that period of time might just as well stretch on to 300 or 3000 years. Seemingly unfulfilled as far as the greater Malay majority goes, the NEP has largely enriched people with UMNO connectivity. How the national policy is being implemented is grossly questionable.
The 30 years of stipulated time frame for raising the economic level of the ethnic Malays has come & gone, but nevertheless still exists without constitutional rights. As long as the UMNOputras are secured politically and in power, the benefits will persist rightly or wrongly. Chinese & Indian entrepreneurs freeze while foreign investors flee.
The fundamental growth of the economy has always been attributed to the Chinese entrepreneurship, and to a lesser extent the Indian minority. History texts have been manipulated & changed to prove otherwise. This is laughable like denying that the Holocaust never happened or that the Nanking massacre to be a figment of the Chinese imagination. The fact is the aim has been forcefully there, but the target has been missed.
They say that all that glitter is not gold. Beneath the seeming reduction of dire poverty, the economy is no doubt stuck in the “Midway” syndrome with the financial coffers drained and bankruptcy looming in the not too distant future. Malaysia with its rich resources has been lagging behind the rest of its southeast neighbours, and glaringly behind the city state of Singapore.
Blatantly, the incumbent government is to be blamed – it has to go. Enough is enough! Racial quotas in education, home ownership, business & trade participation and a whole long list of negatives must go to allow the economy to flow & grow. Greater participation by all will benefit the country overall.
What Malaysia needs is a “mental revolution” to avoid treading upon the riotous road of “Arab Spring” or whatever. It’s been jokingly said that Malaysia hasn’t got a Prime Minister. It’s got a “Crime” Minister.
There are others: one in Perth, Noranda and one recently opened in Victoria Park at The Park Centre. This particular one at Maddington is the pioneering one to begin in Western Australia just over a year ago. Its success has encouraged the franchisor to operate more & more salons for people’s convenience.
They are a team of hairstyling experts committed to provide no-frills professional haircut at an attractive low price of $10 . . .
irrespective of male or female, young or adult.
I found a great number of boys & girls having their cuts.
Slot Payment Machine where you get your ticket
No appointment is required. Feed your $10 bill into the machine slot to get your numbered ticket and wait for your turn. There’s a number clock on the wall indicating the current number that is being served.
The name “Quickcut” is kind of ambiguous, for the service is certainly not a quickie job. You’ll get the satisfaction of getting all due care & professional attention according to your needs. For example, I often get rejected when I ask my barber to trim my eye brow. But “Fade” the sweet pretty hairdresser from Taiwan gladly obliged me.
These professional hairdressers are all recruited from Taiwan speaking mainly Mandarin & Taiwanese Hokkien. Sponsored by the franchisor, they are here on a two-year working visa; 5 or 6 of them in this salon all living together in one house. They are young & pretty in their early 20s.
As reported re the origin of the business:
“We started off with a humble little shop in Taiwan (Tainan province) in September 2006 and within 4 years, we have a whopping number of 100 shops all around Taiwan and became the biggest brand in Taiwan. In December 2009, we started our first shop in Australia (Sunnybank Hills Shoppingtown in Brisbane) and planning to set foot on more shops all around Australia.
F10 Quickcut is a new concept of hairdressing, focusing on haircut alone and doing it well. Providing professional, hygienic, entertaining and economical style cut for everyone without the need of making any appointment.”
“Style Cut for $10”
NOW! HOW IS THAT FOR COMPETITION WITH OUR LOCAL HAIRDRESSERS IN TERMS OF PRICE & VALUE!
USA Gas Service Station Beautiful Kuala Lumpur Malaysia . . .
One juicy piece of news has just come to my hearing. It’s from a friend who frequently travels between Perth & Kuala Lumpur. It is not as though I have had no such news before, for I lived in Malaysia for a greater part of my life.
Born & lived there, I am a Chinese by descent but now an Australian by consent.
Back in the 70s, even in a lesser known town like Ipoh to the north of Kuala Lumpur, prostitution though strictly illegal in Muslim Malaysia, flourished in no small measures under the guise of massage parlours, bars, girlie barber shops and private residential areas. As long as the police were/are in the coffers of the seedy operators, the show went/goes on undiminished & unperturbed.
Prostitution is as old as mankind. The scenario in South-east Asian countries as elsewhere is no different. I remember Taipei in 1970, right across from our hotel room window, loomed flashing signs of “VD Clinic/Hospital”. In Ipoh, men often talked of “tiger show” performances by the then infamous Rose Chan. New arrivals from foreign lands always command & demand more for their services. In keeping pace with the whims & fancies of demanding customers or clients, seedy operators are constantly flashing out new schemes of services.
However, this is one attracting scheme which was unheard of in the past. Hailed as the “ultimate loyalty program”, the promotion of ‘free sex’ is based on a number of cumulative ‘cash wash’. Such a roaring loyalty trade, however, is not remotely legal. Recently, a car wash & brothel in Kuala Lumpur was questioned over its questionable loyalty scheme, when the police caught wind of its operation.
Slideshow of Malaysian Service Stations & Tourism in their Various Promotions . . .
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
For one operator caught, more as a “window show case”, others just go more underground. In fact, I was told that Muslim Malays are allowed to have sex with prostitutes under the guise or pretence of multiple or trial marriages. Devious or not, the ingenuity of men to suit his own convenience & pleasure will always come up with “legally acceptable” schemes.
Essentially Islamic Malaysia
As reported by the Malay Mail:
When authorities raided the operation, they found nine Vietnamese women in the back of the building and storeroom, all without proper working permits. The women and the operators of the car wash were immediately detained and taken into police custody.
Authorities are still investigating the situation. Prostitution, as mentioned, is illegal in Malaysia.
In Europe as far as I can remember in the 1950s, “legal” prostitution took to operating in specially condoned areas like Reeperbahn in Hamburg (there’s even a new place on the Kiez ‘Reeperbahn’ right next to McDonald’s). In the Netherlands, authorities condone brothels in the interests of civil & social order. There are several permitted or tolerated areas of sex shops in Amsterdam, and you’ll find sex customers “sex-window” shopping openly. Sex industries are in operation in Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, Hamburg and others in Europe – and no doubt in the US.
What of the sex scenario in the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore?
“Sex-window” shopping areas exist in Kalgoorlie, the Australian mining city in Western Australia. And in Perth, sex shops are also a common sight.
The question is: Should sex operation be made legal at all?
How would authorities cope with prevailing sex-slaves & human trafficking in Asia?
As an orchid lover, I have grown a fair bit of them when in Malaysia. Over here in Western Australia, I came to discover over the abundance of the tropical Vanda Miss Joaqim the world of Cymbidium & Cattleya (my fondest among others) is quite different.
English: The orchid, Singapore’s national flower, photographed at the in the , . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Singapore, no other orchid is more worthy than Vanda Miss Joaqim to be hailed as its national flower, being the first registered plant hybrid from Singapore itself. This is apart from the abundance & beauty of Vanda Miss Joaqim. It is relative easy to grow & propagate such orchid & I found that the best fertiliser for it is a mixture of old urine & water.
Vanda Miss Joaqim
Tropical orchids & others have a great variety of colours, but white is rare. Conjure in your mind, as if by magic, the beauty of white – pure & graceful, elegant, classy & delicate, and a colour to match all colours. White orchids are popular in orchid bouquets & arrangements, weddings & all exceptional functions.
White orchids in nature are pollinated by insects that are active at night, such as moths. Some of the white orchids are fragrant at night, adding to their allure.
While out shopping today at the once-a-month Saturday variety market in Kalamunda, Western Australia, I came upon a very rare white cymbidium. It hasn’t any tint of other colours – truly pure white. I just couldn’t believe it and could not resist the temptation of owning it.
According to the grower, it was grown from seeds – very original and even yet to be named. Any buyer can have the honour & the privilege of naming it. Now, what greater appeal more can there be?
Well then, here’s a picture of this precious white cymbidium orchid, which my wife Lilian got the pleasure of naming it as DREAM SNOWFLAKE “LIANN”:
Picture taken at night – Pure White Cymbidium (Dream Snowflake “Liann”)
Qinshihuangdi3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)First emperor of China Qin Shi Huang, from zh wikipedia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Legend: Great ships sent by Shi Huang-ti filled with young men & girls in search of the immortal medicine
Men’s quest for immortality has long been in existence. In ancient China, Emperor Shih Huang-ti (Qin Shi Huang), a formidable figure known to have united China & obsessed with the flight from death, was said to have sent 500 young men & 500 young women to the island of Japan in search of the illusive longevity herb. Not finding it & for fear of being beheaded, these young men & women did not return to the palace. They decided to stay on, married or inter-married with the aborigines. That, as the legend has it, is the origin of the Japanese race as we know them today.
How far is the truth, your guess is as good as mine!
In ancient Egypt,the Egyptians took to mummifying dead bodies as the way of preserving the dead by embalming & wrapping them up in cloth.
However, such dead were never nor could be resurrected.
Apparently in February 2009, 60 Minutes on CBS News mentioned that according to one scientist it might be possible to live up to 500 years with the advancement of medical science & technology and replacement of body parts. A year earlier than that,Aubrey de Grey ofMethuselah Foundation, mentioned this: “Within 30 years, humans could be immune to diseases, unaffected by the ravages of aging, and able to live to 150 or perhaps 1,000 years old”.
Medicine and biotechnology may soon begin advancing more quickly than nature can find ways to kill us. “Ultimately,” Bryan Appleyard for Cosmos Magazine, writes, “the forward movement of technology will outstrip our own forward movement through time, and death, the old enemy, will have been vanquished.”
It is a known fact that the Bible contains many biblical figures such as Abraham & Noah living for hundreds of years, but since the Great Deluge (the Great Flood) men’s living age has been drastically reduced.
Whether immortality is attainable or not, no proponent can live long enough to be proven right or wrong!
The irony is, whatever faith you possess, everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.
On a more pleasant note, let’s have a look at this interesting video of
Rita Hayworth/Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly on “Staying Alive!”
Could these dead figures be revived to do such a contemporary tune made famous by the Bee Gees?
Qin Shi Huang (2001 TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Origami crane folded from one uncut square of paper Français : Grue en origami, pliée avec une seule feuille de papier non-coupée (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
. . . the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes & figures.
As featured in my preceding article “Beautiful Life on the Drive”, Won Park the owner & master of origami, actually made a living out of this traditional Japanese art. He does so characteristically unique with featuring the American dollar bills & displaying them in various shapes , sizes & forms.
Bending, twisting & folding he creates life-like shapes in stunning details.
Won Park is invariably known as “Money Folder”.
Be amazed by his creations!
One Dollar FishOne Dollar – ButterflyOne Dollar – CameraTwo Dollars – Battle TankTwo Dollars – Chinese DragonOne Dollar – CrabOne Dollar – DolphinTwo Dollars – JacketTwo Dollars – SpiderOne Dollar – ScorpionOne Dollar – BatOne Dollar – Toilet BowlOne Dollar – PenguinOne Dollar SharkOne Dollar – JetOne Dollar – Hammer Head Shark
ISN’T THIS WILD & AWESOME?
He lives in a converted garbage truck! You have to look at
his place . . .
It’s said that life is a journey not an destination. It follows then
to make its journey a new & exciting one each day . . . filled with enthusiasm, exhilaration & emotion of meaningfulness.
In the past, men had chosen to live in caves or tree tops to ensure physical safety. With the progression of time, men have come to live in the manner we are now in. Basically for most of us, we live a sedentary life . . . same home, same place & same town. Nothing exciting, nothing changing.
We become accustomed to life as we live it.
It’s a changing world we live in. With globalisation, changes are inevitable & growing faster than we can keep pace with. Change is refreshing & exciting. Fixation drags you down to the abyss of boredom.
Creative living is what I am advocating and you don’t have to be rich & famous in order to achieve that. Creative living takes on a convention of deviating from the norm & having a positive outlook. Life is not like a “frog in the well” that knows not that life can be swell!
In my blog archives, you’ll find articles on people living in weird structures, converting old aircrafts to unimaginative home living, living in boat houses or building on tree tops. The possibilities are plenty & certainly very affordable & adventuresome.
How about waking up each morning in a new environment with new aspects of life, adventure & new enriching experiences? Here is somebody who’s taken to the wheel, converting an old garbage truck to a great living quarter. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
From the womb to the tomb, we are constantly on the roam,
and ultimately leaving behind all our worldly possessions.
Here, at least, Won Park, a master of origami, owner of this unique living structure, is carting all his personal possessions with him wherever he goes.
Paul Chong's Blog 
