I love Vandalism

I drive by this abandoned building something like twice a week, and have done so for at least a year now but only saw this sign about four weeks ago.

The first time I saw it, I didn't have my camera. Aaarghhh!

The second time I drove by it, the battery was dead. Double aaarghhh!!


The third time I drove by it, traffic was going too fast! What a scream.


Finally, a day came that everything was in place. Camera, check. Batteries, check. Traffic situation, conducive. 


Still, I didn't manage to take a good picture. :(


But I so want to mention this sign, and this building!


This building has been left vacant for some time now. It's by Jalan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, just before the left turn going into Jalan Maarof. It had been looking a bit discrepit of late, and maybe even bordering on scary. 

But then again, that's relative right? Scary to some, inviting to 'others'.  Guess someone saw that too and thought an appropriate sign was in order! I love it!!

The first time I saw it, I thought, oh wow, is this where my tax money goes to??? A 'no ghosts' sign??? 

Then I saw that it's a painted cut-out and glued onto a sign. My next guess is that someone pilfered the sign from somewhere else. 

Haha, this vandalism I thought so cute! But I shouldn't say that. Really.
  

Negeri Sembilan ~ a spooky palace?

I was reading about designs on keris hilts the other night and discovered a thing or two about crickets.

Apparently in Negri Sembilan, a cricket is the soul of a house. Which is kind of spooky. Because as it happened, sometime mid last year, we visited the old Malay palace in Seri Menanti in Negri Sembilan.

And guess what landed on my hand as I took pictures outside the palace. Talk about spooky. Haha.

Well, I'm not too sure what it is. I think it's a grasshopper, but then again, I never devoted myself to the science of entomology.

I decided to look at pictures of crickets and grasshoppers, maybe my untrained eye can spot the difference.

Cricket

Grasshopper



Nah, I can't tell really.

Maybe it's the way the hind legs are folded in a grasshopper as opposed to them being open wide in crickets?

And this is the critter that jumped onto my hand as I took pictures. Surprised me the handsome bug, but I recovered sufficiently to take a picture :)

Now, I'm thinking, damn, that might've the palace's soul. If only I'd known. I might have made a wish or something. Can we do that? More importantly, could it grant wishes? I wish! Haha, that would've made my day.

Wat Photivihan, Kelantan - the tale of the purple mangosteen

 

Welcome to the home of the largets reclining Buddha in Southeast Asia!

The second wat we saw in Kelantan was Wat Photivihan. Totally different from Wat Pracacinaram, and again different from the next two wats we were fated to see later the same day. I like this wat for the different trees growing in the compound. This one I'm standing under is a mangosteen tree. There is even a cocoa tree nearby.

Before anyone thinks I am an expert fruit tree person, let me set the facts straight. I DO NOT know my trees, except for rambutans, durians, mango and banana trees. I dont think I can name anymore. Maybe they'll come to me after I'm done writing this piece. It's always like that isn't it. :)

So I'm standing under this tree for shade, trying to make a meaningful picture out of the combination of concrete seats and over-manicured tree. As soon as I clicked on the click button, something dropped onto the ground next to me. I was creeped out of course. I looked down. A dark round thing rolled to my feet. I got really creeped out. I looked up the tree. Nothing out of the ordinary. I looked down again at the dark round thing. Then I saw that it was a mangosteen. Hmm. I should have taken a picture of the fruit. But as I said, I was creeped out. Who remembers anything when they're creeped out except to get away as far as possible as quickly as possible from the creepy place?

Anyway, creeped out as I was, I picked the fruit up. Looked up at the tree. It seemed to smile at me. I smiled back and said thank you. And walked quickly away.

I looked for my travel buddy. He was busy taking pictures. I decided not to bug him and took some more pictures on my own.

Afterwards, when we got into the car, I showed him the mangosteen. I said if I ate it, it would be the freshest ever mangosteen I'd ever eaten in my entire life. Would you like to have some? He shook his head. I said, but what if it were cursed or something? You eat some too, so that at least if we died or something, we'd die together or at least have dysentry together.

So he ate a wedge. And I ate the rest.

To this day, we have not experienced any adverse effects from it.

Phew.

Cameron Highlands - tea, tea, and tea

"We drove to Cameron Highlands Friday 13th November 2009. And visited the Boh Tea Plantation the next morning."

Not that it's in any way outstanding piece of information.

Just that this morning (28th November 2009), I was just going through old messages on my phone and saw a message where I was exchanging texts about driving to Cameron Highlands one of these days.  The most remarkable thing about it (to me) was that the texts were exactly almost 3 months to the date the date we actually went! So cool! :)

I am fascinated by order. He accuses me of being OCD about it. Among other things, but I'll save that for another day.

I love the idea of finding connection between events or actions. Especially when something seemingly so random and isolated can be explained in one way in relation with sometthing else or another or a pattern drawn from it. He says I have the capability of seeing things that aren't there. Fitting pieces that in reality do not fit at all, but just because I want them to. He may be right. But if I can fit the pieces, hey, then I will :)

Anyway, I thought it so cool to be talking about something in future not really knowing when that time would come and then when it happens, it happens in a nice round number kind of thing :) oh hey, maybe it's the number thing that fascinates me :) I'm a numbers junkie :)

This is actually the drive out of the tea plantation. I still feel like breaking out into the song from 'The Sound of Music' and do the twirling thing ala Sister Maria :) when I think of the hills and hills of tea bushes.

This is the tea factory at the end of the road. I was quite surprised to see it. Kinda old and spooky like, Norman Bate's motel came to mind almost immediately.

I guess I was expecting more Sound of Music and tea on delicate china, with hot scones and melting butter. They did have them. Not SoM. The scones and butter but no delicate china! The tea place (and shopping place) was crowded, so we ditched that place very quickly and made our way around the factory. He loves to look for 'pictures'. I just tag along and let my mind wander :) There he is looking for a 'picture'.

I swear I saw a shadow lurking just beyond that broken window pane!! Did I say I let my mind wander??

No delicate china here :) but I think that single rose rocks. Sigh. I need to work on my picture taking skills. All that stuff about composition, lighting, exposure, etc etc etc. I kinda like the reflections on the glass ;)

I guess the term here would be 'burnt sky'? I never think about those things. Too complicated. I rather like the little boy who came into the picture just as I went click :)

This is the front facade of the tea factory. It reminds me of the lego factory in Carlsbad.

I wonder how the locals get their mail. The one there looked like it had been closed for ages. I guess they didnt need snail mail anymore. It's all email now baby! Too bad though.