Springy Jottings

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Spirit of 1 Malaysia

2011-07-03T17:25:00.002+08:00

YESTERDAY, I was "a" (missing from the published version) witness to yet another example of 1Malaysia in its true form.

A Chinese man, who is a stroke sufferer, was crossing a busy road and there to help him was a young Malay man, guiding him with one hand, and with the other raised to stop the busy oncoming traffic.
After they had crossed the road safely, they parted ways with smiles and no doubt, with satisfaction in their heart.

This is the real embodiment of 1Malaysia. We help each other in times of need and adversity; oblivious to skin colour or ethnicity.

We only see a fellow man or woman in need and we extend our hand without fear or favour.
In fact, 1Malaysia is a concept which we can see in the most unlikely places and situations.
Thus, we are indeed very lucky to be able to experience all these in a lovely country called Malaysia.

CIPLAK,

Penang.

Published on: Monday July 4, 2011

ORIGINAL VERSION

Today I bear witness of yet another spirit of 1 Malaysia in it's true form. A Chinese man, who is a stroke sufferer trying to cross a busy road. Guiding him with one hand, and another raised to stop the busy oncoming traffic is a young Malay guy.
After they have crossed the road safely, they parted way with smile on their face and no doubt, with satisfaction in their heart.
This is the real embodiment of 1 Malaysia. We help each other in time of need and adversity; oblivious to skin colour or ethnicity. We only see a fellow men or women in need and we extended it impartially without any fear or favour. In fact, 1 Malaysia is a concept which we can see at the most unlikely places and situations. Thus, we are indeed very lucky to be able to experience all these in a lovely country called Malaysia.

CIPLAK

Sent on: 3 July 2011

Telling Tales by Various Writers

2011-04-26T18:10:00.002+08:00

Once in a while I get really tired of reading full fledged novel especially those with snail pace plots; example: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez :-P
So, I either start reading Wikipedia (its more entertaining than watching news on TV ok?) or I will read short stories. Lo and behold, I have in my collection of unread books, a compendium of short stories entitled “Telling Tales by Various Writers”. :-)
This is not your typical Top 10 best short stories kind of book cos as indicated at the back cover; “The publisher’s profits from the sales of this book will go to HIV/AIDS preventive education and for medical treatment for people living with the suffering this pandemic infection brings to our contemporary world.” Truth to be told, I felt really good cos not only the illustrious writers contributed their stories for free; I also did my part by purchasing this book using my hard-earned, cold-hard cash. :-)
Anyway, to cut the long story short (else I will deviate from the topic again), there are 21 short stories in this book and their reviews are as follow:

1. Bulldog by Arthur Miller
About a 13 year old boy buying a puppy with sexual twist, in which he “had it” with the lady who sold him the puppy. After that, he thought about the experience every now and then. It is also about the excitement that comes with growing up.
My 2cents: Cougar getting her Toyboy :-P

2. The Centaur by José Saramago
Touches on the life of the last Centaur to roam the Earth after his kind was hunted down by Heracles. Eventually he died after he slipped off the cliff and body split into two; half a man, half a horse.
My 2cents: He ain’t gonna get any date in current crazy world.

3. Down the Quiet Street by Es’kia Mphahlee
About the on-goings at a place called Nadia Street and its eccentric residents congregating to exchange gossips at the on-going funeral procession only to realize that it’s a cover-up for liquor trafficking.
My 2cents: Reminded me of the movie “American Gangster; starring Danzel Washington”.

4. The Firebird’s Nest by Salman Rushdie
It’s about Mr. Maharaj’s marriage to an American lady. Mr. Maharaj is a firebird and the American lady is the rainmaker. Surrounding the whole establishment is Miss Maharaj and her motley crew of dancers (for what purpose I don’t know). One fine day, Mr. Maharaj went crazy and changed into firebird, burning his sister to cinder. Ms. American went crazy and turned into water/rain and the deluge drowned the firebird and its nest.
My 2cents: Salman’s stories/novels are extremely tough meat to chew on. I don’t even know what to make of this story when it ends. Hidden metaphor perhaps? I’ll give Salman 2cents to explain this story to me. :-P

5. Cell Phone by Ingo Schulze
A couple's (Constanze and the main character, I depict here as "A") life is strained when the main character passed his cell phone number to his neighbour, Neumann. This neighbour kept calling A up even when A has moved out from the neighbourhood. Constanze became paranoid when she thought about the possibility of Neumann passing A’s number around.
My 2cents: Obviously written when cell phone is still a novelty item.

6. Death Constant Beyond Love by Gabriel García Márquez
An a$$ politician who is about to die in few month’s time met his love/lust in one rickety village during his electoral campaign. An equally eager father decided to prostitute his young daughter to the politician in order to straighten his own dire predicament.
My 2cents: Morality down the drain.

7. The Age of Lead by Margaret Atwood
Chronicle around the life of Jane and Vincent. Their interaction and comfortable relationship with each other. Never married, moved apart, went out with different partners but eventually got back together. Though I can’t see the relevance of a dead young sailor (due to lead poisoning) from Franklin Expedition entombed in permafrost in this story. Weird enough. :-P
My 2cents: Maybe Jane and Vincent’s life is akin to the failed Franklin Expedition.

8. Witness of an Era by Günter Grass
Captured the conversation between two World War 1 veterans/writers. Vivid description on usage of chemical weapons during the trench war.
My 2cents: Make lots of love, not war. :-)

9. The Journey to the Dead by John Updike
An old man and his touchy friendship with his dead wife’s friend who is dying of cancer. He refrained himself from becoming too close with her just in case she fancies him as well.
My 2cents: Perasan kuat punya orang tua. :-P (literally translated as: Very handsome old man.. hahahaha)

10. Sugar Baby by Chinua Achebe
Its about a guy named Cletus who threw some sugar away to show that he is rich enough to dispense sugar nonchalantly; something which was unthinkable previously.
My 2cents: Wasteful habit. Spank spank!

11. The Way of the Wind by Amos Oz
Strained relationship between a strong willed Jewish dad, Shimson and his weakling son, Gideon; was pushed to the max when the son failed in his maiden parachute jump. He ended up killing himself and in the process, deeply humiliated his dad.
My 2cents: It’s never easy to please the elders especially the illustrious ones.

12. Warm Dogs by Paul Theroux
Future filled with sterile adults and their ideas of purchasing baby to fit their requirements. A couple named Raths got the worst deal when they ventured across the East River; a place inhibited by wild children to purchase a baby.
My 2cents: Never take any chances. Besides, children have the right to choose too.

13. The Ass and The Ox by Michel Tournier
Everyone knew about the scene at the Nativity but the funny part of this story is that it depicted the animated conversation between the ass and the ox and having them as part of the witness to the birth of Jesus Christ.
My 2cents: I’ve never read any story told from a totally different angle like this. Really refreshing.

14. Death of a Son by Njabulo S. Ndebele
A dad powerless against the apartheid, making blank promises to protect his family only to see everything fall apart when his son is killed by stray shootout by white police. To add salt to the wound, he had to buy his son’s body back from the murderers.
My 2cents: I’m so glad apartheid no longer exists. Hail Nelson Mandela!!

15. The Letter Scene by Susan Sontag
I can’t understand this compendium of mismatched letters at all. No review for this one. A lot of intense emotion but I can’t link it all.
My 2cents: Same offer as Salman Rushdie’s The Firebird’s Nest :-P

16. To Have Been by Claudio Magris
Imagine two little representation of yourself sitting on each side of your shoulder talking about “having been” and “to be”. This is exactly what happened to Jerry, a guitarist who can no longer perform due to injuries.
My 2cents: I will kill both the little guys first.

17. A Meeting, At Last by Hanif Kureishi
A cuckolded husband and the wife’s lover met up; embittered and conflicting interests thrust both alpha male into this ring of deceit. Wonderfully crafted short story.
My 2cents: I wonder if this kind of conversation is even possible.

18. Association in Blue by Christa Wolf
All about blue makes me blur. This is evidently the “bluest” story I’ve ever read. Blue sky, blueberry, blur bird… you get what I mean.
My 2cents: Same offer as Salman Rushdie’s The Firebird’s Nest and Susan Sontag’s The Letter Scene.

19. The Rejection by Woody Allen
Kid rejected by premium kindergarten. Egoistic parents went crazy and started bribing every TD and H (Tom, Dick and Harry). Parents went bankrupt and kid is still rejected. End of story.
My 2cents: How much would you do/pay for your kids or to inflate your egoistic self?

20. The Ultimate Safari by Nadine Gordimer
This is really the ultimate safari as we follow a family’s hardship in their quest to escape the bandits which destroyed their home, their journey through Kruger National Park in order to reach the refugee camp.
My 2cents: Love will get us through all obstacles.

21. Abandoned Children of This Planet by Kenzaburo Oe
An old lady who brought together her family during a traditional funeral and insisting on visiting their ancestral home. The story depicts the growing generation gap between the old and new Japanese people.
My 2cents: Close the gap and learn to love those who’re elder than you.

Finally I’m done reviewing all the short stories… whew!!
All of it are nice with exception of 3 which I don't understand at all. :-P

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

2011-04-21T18:04:00.000+08:00

Patience and Perseverance: The Quran states: So [O Believers] endure hardship with beautiful endurance. [al-Ma'arij 70: 5] So, patience is beautiful. [Yusuf 12:84] And God is with those who patiently persevere. [al-Anfal 8: 66.]

Quoted from: http://prayertiming.com/iq/quote.php?nNewsId=23133&nCatId=101

The quote above truly reflects the hardship endured by the main character; a man known as Abdulrahman Zeitoun; in this non-fiction narrative book simply entitled Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.

This book captured the essence of hardship endured not only by Zeitoun (as he is known in the book), but also by his families and friends during and after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina which practically devastated the city of New Orleans in August 2005.

With his family sent to safety and the whole city practically submerged, Zeitoun and his friends emerged as unlikely heroes traversing the bleak watery landscape, helping those in need without fear, favour and definitely with a lot of perseverance and hard work. All went well until those who are sent by the government to assist the local populace arrived and made Zeitoun’s life and those around him a living nightmare.

Suspected as a terrorist (reminds me of the movie entitled “I am Khan” with its quote, “I am Khan and I’m not a terrorist") and jailed without trial; it painted a stark and horrifying truth about America and their paranoia towards anything Islamic after Sept 11. Beyond that, it also unraveled governmental and judicial incompetency on their response to Hurricane Katrina; the very government which embodies the spirit of democracy, justice and civil society torn apart when faced with calamities.

How can Zeitoun begin to trust, respect and love his adopted country anymore after what has happened? Surprisingly, he took it as a test. He regained his faith and most importantly, he perseveres.

As summarized by the Esquire, this book is “a peerless piece of reporting of paranoia, Islamophobia, and an unraveling city”; which is basically the main context of this book.

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) Confusing plot as the storyline shifted to and fro all the time.

Pros:
1) Realistic and scary. You wouldn't want to be in Zeitoun's shoes.

Mama by Terry McMillan

2011-04-20T17:54:00.002+08:00

I wish I can review this novel in a more positive tone. I wish I could do that but I simply can't. This novel entitled Mama by Terry McMillan started off rather nicely but by the time I reached the second quarter of the book, all the slang and mundane family squabbles started to get on my nerve.

I mean no disrespect to the author but this book is supposed to portray the main character, Mildred Peacock as (sic), "the tough, funny, feisty heroine of Mama." Perhaps I didn’t dwell deep into the character or imagine myself in her shoes but truth to be told, the storyline is rather flat and mundane to say the least. Let me quote the whole summary here.

“It ain’t that I don’t believe in God, I just don’t trust his judgment.” Mildred Peacock is the tough, funny, feisty heroine of Mama, a survivor who’ll do anything to keep her family together. In Mildred’s world, men come and go as quickly as her paychecks, but her five children are her dream, her hope, and her future.”

Don’t get me wrong but there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this book. It’s just that the storyline progresses like a soap opera albeit without cliffhanger in between chapters (at least soap operas have cliffhangers ok :-P); and before you knew it, the characters are all grown up and Mildred is left all alone.

So basically you’ll read about how Mildred raised her kids, how her kids branched out by themselves and survived in the big-bad world and eventually how they treated their beloved mother.

I know this review is flat and portrayed a rather simplistic view but it's purely my personal opinion. I’m not sure about Terry’s other books but judging by this one, I don’t think I will read the next one from hers. Period.

Personal rating: 4 out of 10

Cons:
1) Mundane story line. Boring.

Pros:
1) Not sure. :-P

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

2011-04-19T17:37:00.001+08:00

Finding some quiet time in your life, I think, is hugely important. - Mariel Hemingway

In the rush to complete things arranged based on priorities, some things are left behind; and this blog is one of the unfortunate "casualties". However, some turn of event has assured me ample time to play some catching-up by reviewing one of the most touching book I've ever read.

The book I'm talking about is entitled Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. As many of you know, Mitch is a celeb so to speak with his highly readable book entitled “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. I’ve read all of it and his book. IMHO, his books are way better than “Chicken Soup” books because all his books have characters which you can relate to.

p/s: btw, if this posting sounded plain, its because this is an emotional book, so, I have to put on my plain Tom mode when reviewing it. :-P

As quoted in the summary at the back of the book, it is about an unusual request from Mitch’s hometown rabbi asking him to deliver his eulogy upon his death. At the same time, Mitch stumbled upon a pastor (who was a reformed drug dealer and convict); who preaches to his flock from an abandoned church.

Along this unusual journey, Mitch discovered not only the subtle side of his rabbi but also re-discovered the faith he left years ago on his pursuit of achievement and material happiness. Intersperse between chapters are quotes from numerous sources which kind of spices up the flow of the story line.

Essentially, this is a really touching book about God and human relationship which transcends beyond its usual superficial ritualistic façade. It is about discovering oneself beyond historical and theological aspect of religion. It’s about discovering the real meaning of relationship and love. It’s about respect and care about one another. Most importantly, it’s about giving unconditionally and having faith in whatever you do.

This book might not induce the same amount of tears when you watch The City of Angels or I am Sam, but it will make you teary eye nonetheless. But one thing’s for sure, this book will leave an impression so deep that you’ll feel it long after you’ve closed the book.

Personal rating: 10 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) Too many pros :-)

The Call (draft)

2011-03-21T16:57:00.001+08:00

Candle lights on the altar fluttered as she hobbled slowly across the room to close the remaining open windows.
The lazy gaze of the Gods she prayed to seem to follow her every move.
She would welcome the billowing breeze on such warm and humid night but the pesky mosquitoes buzzed incessantly, lavishing themselves on exposed skin at the nape of her neck.
Picking up the cordless phone, she hobbled to her room cold, dark room. Journey made difficult after her debilitating stroke she suffered years ago.
Settling herself on the squeaky bed, she squinted hard and pressed on the keypad.
Familiar ringtone came through the earpiece. She held her breath, hoping that she did not call at the wrong time again.
The ringtone goes on and on, like a malfunction cd, skipping on the same track over and over again.
Eventually, it lapsed into expressionless tone bot requesting her to leave her message.
Sighing loudly, she hung up the phone and looked around the room. The only sanctuary within the wide expanse of the house.
She grimaced when she thought of the days when her children ran around the house, a house filled with laughter, tears and most of all, it was a house filled with life.
Her prayers were not answered. Her repeated calls were conveniently ignored by her children.
Tear blurred her view.

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Importance of grammatically correct english in media release

2011-02-09T15:26:00.000+08:00

ORIGINAL VERSION

Importance of grammatically correct english in media release

I was reading through The Star Online on an article entitled "Our citizens abroad are a patriotic lot; dated Saturday February 5, 2011", when the following sentence caught my attention.

“You can gain experience by working overseas (after the studies), but ultimately we hope you will be return to work in Malaysia."

I am not sure if the statement is genuinely uttered by our Prime Minister or mistake done by the journalist covering the event.

Essentially, grammatical mistake either on e-news or hardcopy should be addressed in subsequent press releases.

One thing's for sure, The Star newspaper is looked up upon by its contemporaries and rivals alike. Millions of readers read and absorb its news on daily basis.

As such, matters pertaining to press statement by our country's leaders should be vetted and proof read before its eventual release as it will not only affect the credibility of the newspaper but our nation's leaders as well.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 9 Feb 2011

Runaway by The Corrs

2011-01-28T15:20:00.000+08:00

There are times in your life when you feel that you don’t have sufficient time even to breath. I’m sure each and every one of us would feel that every now and then.
With the latest hoohaa surrounding the couple who tortured their cute poodle (those are monsters I tell you; monsters with human as their physical front), which does not remotely linked to this post at all – to the endless list of troubles around the world; who doesn’t feel dejected right?

2012 is drawing near and to those who believes in apocalypse; better take hint because it’s already 28 Jan 2011 by the time I wrote this post and just bear in mind that yesterday’s date is 27 Jan 2011. A nice date if you ask me. :-)

Why am I writing incoherent and totally non-related thing here?

Well, no particular reason. I just feel like writing something. There are 1001 things to write or to do but I chose to write things, which doesn’t mean anything at all. The weather is fine by the way; so don’t go blaming the poor weather..hehe. Judging by the weather forecast splayed on the tv screen, I am 99% sure that the weather forecast presented over our terrestrial tv is not accurate at all. :-P

Anyway, while driving around, I stumbled upon an old song in my iPhone (gasp! I didn’t realize that I have that song too you know)… goodness gracious!!

The song is none other than “Runaway by The Corrs”.

I wonder what happened to that quartet consisting of handsome Irish guy and pretty Irish girls. At least this family band can sing, unlike some other family bands which I shall not name over here.

See, I’m deviating from my topic again. As I was saying, this song is hauntingly beautiful with goose bump inducing lyrics. Not only that, if you drive around with that song playing at the background, it is soothing as well. Goose bumpily soothing. :-P

Less talk from me from now onwards, let’s listen to this song, sing along to it or just savour the song as it is. :-)

The Corrs - Runaway (HQ)
Uploaded by wonderful-life1989. - See the latest featured music videos.

Lyrics taken from: http://www.lyrics007.com/The%20Corrs%20Lyrics/Runaway%20Lyrics.html

Runaway by The Corrs
Say it's true, there's nothing like me and you
Not alone, tell me you feel it too
And I would runaway
I would runaway, yeah
I would runaway
I would runaway with you
.
(Chorus)
Cause I have fallen in love
With you, no never have
I'm never gonna stop falling in love, with you
.
Close the door, lay down upon the floor
And by candlelight, make love to me through the night
Cause I have runaway
I have runaway, yeah
I have runaway, runaway
I have runaway with you
.
(Chorus)
.
And I would runaway
I would runaway, yeah
I would runaway
I would runaway with you
.
(Chorus)

Flight Home (draft)

2011-01-09T21:17:00.001+08:00

The hustle and bustle in the cabin interrupted his thoughts. Upping the volume of his mp3 player, he sunk deeper into his seat, cradling the book he reads closer to his chest as he pondered on the hours earlier when he stepped on the flight with light footed steps.

As the songs directory shuffled itself automatically, he heard a familiar tune. A tune which grabbed his attention the moment his ears heard it. It brought him a momentary sense of tranquility despite the din, his book is all but forgotten.

Smile appeared on his weary face as he shifted his thoughts on the welcoming sight of his loved ones back home. It never fail to bring tears to his eyes whenever such thoughts crossed his mind. He, a man considered to be the pillar of strength brought down and mellowed with such emotional effect?

Closing his eyes, patiently he waits, and he played the song repeatedly. Thoughts firmly on the smiling face with that pretty eyes of hers. Sleep overcame him with ease despite the uncomfortable surroundings.

Suddenly he is jolted from his slumber with the bump on the plane landing and patiently he waited until it came to a screeching halt.

On the final day of 2010

2010-12-31T19:01:00.001+08:00

It's the time of the year again for all of us to reflect on the stuff we did the whole year. However, I won't dwell much on that cos that's what everyone will say and it gets kinda boring after some time :-P

So, I'll start this reflection of mine with review of an old movie which I haven't watched before. The movie is entitled "Marley & Me"..
Yup, I know it's an old movie but I hardly have time to watch movie these days :-S

Anyway, the most poignant part (and I daresay the saddest part) is when John held on to Marley's leg while whispering that he's the best dog and everything. Tears just rolled down my cheeks though I suspect it's due to leaky airplane ceiling :-P

What does movie review got to do with near year stuff?
Well, do read on then...

To me, the movie does not only reflect on the relationship between a dog and a man but it can also signify the losses and the immeasurable pain in our heart when we're apart from our loved ones. I won't dwell too much on this also. But on this year end celebration, please spare a thought for your loved ones no matter how far they are. Most importantly, keep them in your thoughts.

Just try your best to keep in touch and bridge the distance no matter how impossible it may sound.

Well ladies and gentlemen, with that, i would like to say Bye Bye 2010 and Hello 2011 :-)

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day!

2010-12-24T11:50:00.002+08:00

It's Christmas Eve and I am feeling excited all over.
I’m not sure why and I don’t care... I feel more excited over Christmas than Chinese New Year :-P
Perhaps it’s the environment or all the fantastical ideas (in my head at least) when listening to Christmas tunes... I wouldn’t have thought that someone in their right sane mind (in tropical country like mine) would be that excited at all...

What will I do on Christmas... hmm... that is something which I have never given a second thought of so far... I think normal stuff like going out and etc... Getting stuck in jam and fighting to get a place at eateries out there... all the usual drill...

All those stuff when the most meaningful Christmas is to spend it at home, with your loved ones within reach (physically or telepathically :-P)...
Perhaps, just perhaps if I’m crazy enough, I’ll wear my winter clothes and turning on the aircon full blast... Sipping hot chocolate and snuggles into my comfy reading chair... reading or just admiring my books... Xmas music playing at the background...

Well, I've just posted a book entitled "Home by Marilynne Robinson"... I loved the song "Home by Daughtry" and now... I just can't stop listening to another song entitled "Home by Michael Bublé"..
See the similarities? All of the above have their core hinged around the word "HOME". So, instead of counting down Christmas, which some people are wont to do, it's better to spend it with your loved ones... perhaps a simple lunch and/or dinner would suffice ;-)

So with that, I would like to wish each and every one of you... A Very Merry Christmas!
A Happy, Wealthy & Prosperous New Year 2011 (I’ve combined both New Year and Chinese New Year wishes into one) :-P

Home by Michael Bublé

HOME by Michael Buble @
Yahoo! Video

Lyrics from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaelbuble/home.html

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky, I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
'Cause this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home

Home by Marilynne Robinson

2010-12-20T13:02:00.001+08:00

Truth to be told, I nearly abandoned this book and kept it till cows come home had not I packed this book together with another new book on one of my biz trips.

The story by itself has really simple plot; albeit a lengthy one. An old dad (Rev Boughton) clinging to the hope of seeing his long lost son (Jack) before he depart from this earth. With this premise, we're introduced to Jack's sister (Glory) who undertook the responsibility of caring for their old dad. Thrown into the mix is Rev Boughton's eccentric relationship with his old friend; Rev Ames (and his family) who took over the church's pulpit upon Boughton's retirement.

However, it is with this simple chemistry that Marilynne built her characters with warts and all. From the seemingly perfect Rev Boughton's inability to denounce his fatherly love for Jack despite him leaving them and not returning for his own Mom's funeral; Glory's unsuccessful relationship with her fiancé; Ames grappling with his consistent negative outlook on Jack. All right down to the reasons Jack left his home, loitered and wasted his life before he is able to redeem himself upon meeting Della (his wife).

One point worth noting is that the whole story revolves around Jack (who left again at the end), the supposedly antagonist in this lovingly written novel. Yes, lovingly... First time I used such term to describe a novel. I surprised myself this time :-P

"Home" is essentially a story about family coming together and helping each other to go through various diversities despite any shortcomings.

By the end part of the book (last quarter of it), I was basically glued to the pages as it reveals the realization that old people will eventually leave the world for good (that got me teary eyed and getting goose bumps on flight), the vacuum of seeing your family members leaving the "home nest" one by one; and finally, the ultimate realization that no matter how close a family is, there will always be distances and other priorities in life.

I can go on with all the subtleties and hints ingrained in this novel but it won't do any good because a good book like this is worth every minute of your time to savour.

A really well written story with emphasis on human flaws; strengthening the fact that we humans are sinners and are never perfect.

P/s: The ultimate shocker of this story is revealed at the very end of the novel in which Della is actually married to Jack with a son called Robert. Not only that, Della is a well raised good Christian of Negro descent; a fact almost unheard of during the anti-black movement in America.

Personal rating: 9 out of 10 (really slow opening part)

Cons:
1) Storyline is really too slow; but it picked up towards the end.

Pros:
1) Read my review as above :-P

Have a merry little Christmas :-)

2010-12-02T15:23:00.000+08:00

This is the season to be jolly. Well, jolly good it is because it's the end of the year and you can see Christmas tree (fake or real) everywhere.

Even Starbucks have their oh-so-cute tumblers that basically scream MERRY CHRISTMAS :-D
I’m so lucky to have a few of this year's cutest tumblers (more snowflakes) and proudly using it with glee in my heart and smile plastered on my face.

It is also the time of the year when the best thing you can do is to play Christmas songs and let your mind wander and wonder on the beauty of seeing sky filled with snowflakes and white powdery snow blanketing the whole scenery. OKOK, I know I’m staying in a yearlong hot and humid country but it’s the year end and my mind wanders everywhere; up north and down south in a blink of an eyelid. :-P

So should I look back and contemplate if I’ve completed my 2010 resolution? Hmmm... I don't think I will because I have everything I want and need right around me... family, friends and etc... plus I don’t have a resolution in the first place. In short, I am contented (as of now) and its the right moment to just sit back and savour every moment right till the stroke of midnight on 31st Dec 2010.

Have a Merry Little Christmas everyone :-)

P/s #1: just in case you're still not in the mood, try listening to the following evergreen Christmas songs:

Jingle Bells by Frank Sinatra
Santa Baby by Pink Martini (very cheeky song; this one :-P)
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Barbra Streisand
Silent Night by Nat King Cole

P/s #2: Cute Mister Snowman and Mister Santa guarding my precious bookmarks. :-P

P/s #3: Cute angels pinned on the curtain of the decorative cottage windows.

Airframe by Michael Crichton

2010-11-09T21:35:00.003+08:00

Unfortunately my blog has been left unattended for so long that if it’s a physical entity, spiders and ants will invade and call it a home of their own. An obscene... truly obscene amount of work, travel, study and etcetera sort of helped in relegating the blog to the backseat for all these while. Truth to be told, I am not too happy with letting this passion of mine gone underground; which is the exact reason why I’ve decided to update it before I slip into obscurity again :-S

Anyway, with the latest news about Qantas airline and their A380 flights being grounded due to engine issues, I guess the time is ripe for me to review about this book entitled “Airframe by Michael Crichton”. I have read this book eon ago and usual circumstances prevented me from penning my thoughts about it :-(

Essentially, this techno-thriller is about TransPacific Flight 525 which “porpoises (go Google for the meaning :-P)” while en-route to US; killing several passengers and injuring few more in the process. News about the airworthiness of the airplane frame developed by Norton Aircraft pitches the company into unwanted limelight with potential to “kaput” the company itself.

In the ensuing chaotic moments and finger pointing, enter the superwoman and VP of Quality Control; Casey Singleton who “almost singlehandedly” pushed through all the obstacles (yes, I hear the girl power shout back there :-P) and solved the mystery and discovered the root cause of the incident.

Well, the root cause is none other than a loving papa letting his beloved son fly the plane; which the son is not certified to helm in the first place. So when disaster strikes, the son panicked and went...

“OH NO! Papa papa... what should I do… let me check the guidebook first!”

And up and down the plane goes, throwing everyone like a cookie crumble in an empty container :-P

So ladies and gentlemen, that’s the root cause. BUT, let me tell you. Boring book this is not. It is interestingly written, engaging and most of all, Michael is an excellent story teller, weaving fact into fiction and vice versa; confusing yours truly and no doubt you all out there. Come on... admit that you’re confused too... don’t be shy... heheheheh

Technical details and jargons are limited and explained if it’s really unavoidable. In fact, after reading through the book, I felt as if I’ve worked in Norton Aviation itself. Imagine the details expounded by Michael while writing this book. Reading through all the technicalities are no problem at all, as if Michael lubricated the book with high grade synthetic engine oil. Smooth and squeaky... chut chut chut :-D

Go read it boys and girls... I’m sure you’ll be able to feel the “slipperiness” first hand and agree with me too.

Personal rating: 9 out of 10
Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) "Slippery" and smooth read :-)
2) Enjoyable read up till the last sentence

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

2010-10-15T00:35:00.000+08:00

I’ve always wanted to pen my review on this book which catapulted an obscure author into prominent limelight. This very book endorsed by so many starlets, dignitaries, kings, princes, princesses and yadda yadda yadda…ok, I made the kings, princes and princesses up.. How am I supposed to know what they read? :-P

All I know is, Madonna read it, Oprah read it (or did she?) and countless other celebrities read it...

The book I’m talking about is none other than “The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho”.

The book is essentially a long line of self discovery book written by Paulo Coelho and this being the first made it more meaningful because it helped Paulo to become a well known author the world over.

It is a story about a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago whom had recurring dream and he firmly believes that it is a prophecy and decided to travel to Egypt to find the treasures. As usual in every story, he encounters both bad and good things (including love :-P). This boy Santiago refuses to give up his dream even when the going gets tough. So he ended up enriching himself with his own experiences.

That’s about it boys and girls :-) this book is special (at least to countless of people out there), because of its sheer simplicity and the smooth flow of its storyline. No brain wrecking plots here. Just direct “self-actualisation” or “self-discovery” kind of book.

One thing’s for certain is that, 6 months after you read the book, the impression is no longer there because you would have moved on with other more pressing things in your life. So the point here is, even if it’s the most translated and one of the best selling books in history; you will still little or no recollection after a while about the self-discovery thingy. Period.

As for me, I’ve moved on the moment I closed the last page. :-)

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Trust me, you won't be able to remember the storyline

Pros:
1) Simple and straightforward story

I'll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men

2010-10-09T18:56:00.000+08:00

Ahhh... Boyz II Men's songs are always everlasting with soothing melody promising a night of gentle lullaby with goose bump (good ones) inducing lyrics.
I can't name any favourite songs from the list of discography by these great singers but one of the songs I'm addicted to currently is "I'll Make Love To You".
Well, I do agree that the songs are explicit but damn; you have to agree that the song writer(s) is/are so poetic that underlying hints are being suggestive yet subtly provocative at the same time.
Not to mention Boyz II Men "caressing" your whole being with their melodious voice.
Makes me want to pop open a bottle of fine red wine; relieving sweet and memorable times; oft times with historical significance.
Enough of my rantings :-P do enjoy the song on such a fine Saturday; 9 Oct 2010.

Lyrics taken from: http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/boyz-iI-men-lyrics/i_ll-make-love-to-you-lyrics.html

I'll Make Love To You

Close your eyes, make a wish
And blow out the candlelight
For tonight is just your night
We're gona celebrate, all thru the night
Pour the wine, light the fire
Girl your wish is my command
I submit to your demands
I'll do anything, girl you need only ask

I'll make love to you
Like you want me to
And I'll hold you tight
Baby all through the night
I'll make love to you
When you want me to
And I will not let go
'Till you tell me to

Girl relax, let's go slow
I ain't got nowhere to go
I'm just gonna concentrate on you
Girl are you ready, it's gonna be a long night
Throw your clothes on the floor
I'm gonna take my clothes off too
I made plans to be with you
Girl whatever you ask me, you know, I'll do

Baby tonight is your night
And I will do you right
Just make a wish on your night
Anything that you ask
I will give you the love of your life

I'll make love to you
Like you want me to
And I'll hold you tight
Baby all through the night
I'll make love to you
When you want me to
And I will not let go
'Till you tell me to

A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

2010-09-30T19:54:00.004+08:00

Every journey starts with the first step. In my case, it started off with the first step alright :-)
Walking around the town (on purpose of course) while listening to some of my favourite songs calmed and soothed me despite the intense afternoon heat and relatively high humidity.
Somehow or rather, I kept hearing this song despite the hustle and bustle of the traffic and songs from my mp3 player.
I find the lyric of this song really meaningful... and I'm sure you would too :-)

Lyrics taken from: http://www.lyrics007.com/Vanessa%20Carlton%20Lyrics/A%20Thousand%20Miles%20Lyrics.html

A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces passed
And I'm home bound

Staring blankly ahead
Just making my way
Making my way
Through the crowd

And I need you
And I miss you
And now I wonder....

If I could fall
Into the sky
Do you think time
Would pass me by
'Cause you know I'd walk
A thousand miles
If I could
Just see you
Tonight

It's always times like these
When I think of you
And I wonder
If you ever
Think of me

'Cause everything's so wrong
And I don't belong
Living in your
Precious memories

'Cause I need you
And I miss you
And now I wonder....

If I could fall
Into the sky
Do you think time
Would pass me by
'Cause you know I'd walk
A thousand miles
If I could
Just see you
Tonight

And I, I
Don't want to let you know
I, I
Drown in your memory
I, I
Don't want to let this go
I, I
Don't....

Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces passed
And I'm home bound

Staring blankly ahead
Just making my way
Making my way
Through the crowd

And I still need you
And I still miss you
And now I wonder....

If I could fall
Into the sky
Do you think time
Would pass us by
'Cause you know I'd walk
A thousand miles
If I could
Just see you...

If I could fall
Into the sky
Do you think time
Would pass me by
'Cause you know I'd walk
A thousand miles
If I could
Just see you
If I could
Just hold you
Tonight

Dreamland aka Momoland

2010-09-21T04:03:00.002+08:00

The night is dark, weather is wet,

Enclosed in blanket, the bed is set,

Eyes are open, unsleeping yet,

Pondering about dreamland, I hope to get.

Dream eludes, I wonder why,

Clock is ticking, dawn is nigh,

Lying awake, my eyes are dry,

What should I do? Oh how I sigh.

- by Springy Jottings @ 0352hrs -

On such nights, I will day-dream, night-dream or dreaming while I’m awake or half-asleep or whatever la... and I happen to day-dream about the following:

A magical place filled with all the gentle creatures.
Rainbow and sun shining over colorful wide plains.
Waterfall which cascade down the steep incline, followed by gentle flowing rivers.

Where fishes frolicked and if you’re lucky enough, you'll see white unicorn pack drinking at the side and there will be fairy dust.
Bushes teeming with colorful butterflies and trees with 1001 birds of all feathers constituting the colorful diorama of life.

And in the midst of it all, a warm and quaint little cottage.
Right on top of the small knoll with transparent roof.
With garden filled with colorful buds of tulips bordered by short, white wooden fence.

An old oak tree, old... but strong and stout where there's a swing tied to it.
With the pathway made from cobbled stone... colored cobbled stone.
Two rocking chairs on the verandah with a coffee table in between.

Soft wind billows, carrying with it scent of small potted herbs perched on the verandah.
Rosemary... dill... basil... thyme.

Fire place and chimney, providing warmth during winter and the place to watch snow falling from the sky.
Comfortable double couch beside the French window covered by checked quilts.
And hot mugs of coffee in place.

Aaahhh… sheer pleasure... perhaps I should just close my eyes and dream of this place called Momoland :-)

Prickled?

2010-09-16T14:25:00.000+08:00

The weather was warm and slightly humid when the Son sauntered into the kitchen.

“Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Just sit here and ask while I prepare the dinner.”

As he sat, he realized that his mouth quickly filled with saliva as he sniffed the luxurious smell of herbs and roasted chicken.

Brushing away the thought of the feast he’s about to savor during dinnertime, he looked towards his Mom and asked.

“What is the meaning of prickled? I couldn’t find the exact meaning I wanted from the dictionary nor the net.”

Piqued by such question, the Mom brushed away bread crumb from her fingers and sat opposite the Son. “Hmmm... now that is one really interesting question. So tell me, what kind of meaning are you looking for to be exact?”

“Well, I was at school today and I didn’t see Sara who usually sat beside me. Initially I thought she might be late but it turns out she was absent for the whole day.”

“And then what happened?” asked the Mom looking straight into his Son’s innocent eyes.

“Well, initially I was worried about her getting lost as she walks to school you see. After that, I was worried that something might have happened to her. Like she fell sick or something.”

“It seems that you genuinely care about her then. But you still haven’t told me how the prickled word came about.” enquired the Mom.

Fiddling with the embroidered fringe of table cloth, the Son spoke in hushed tone now. “After that, I sort of imagined that Sara skipped class so that she can play with Tom because his Dad just bought him a new tricycle. She did tell me that she would really love to ride on it you know. And I realized that I couldn’t concentrate in class whenever I thought of it.”

“And when I told Dad about it, he said I’m feeling prickled over something. So what is prickled Mom?”

Clasping her hand over the Son’s hand, she explained to her Son as simple as she could.

“Son, you’re feeling prickled because it shows that you care deeply about her. It is a heartfelt reaction and there’s nothing to be ashamed of ok?”

“But Mom, I feel bad even when I thought about it. How can that heartfelt reaction be good then?” prodded the Son further.

Patting the Son’s head, the Mom smiled as she said, “Well, you feel bad because you assume she skipped class so that she can have fun riding the tricycle with Tom. In other words, getting prickled because it shows that you care for her is good… but it is good as long as you don’t assume anything okay?”

Feeling his own cheeks warming up with the rebuttal from his Mom, the Son nodded his head silently.

“Now now. Why are you having that sour look on your face? Come here and let me look at my precious Son. Just make sure that you don’t assume and clarify things with Sara when you see her back in class alright?”

Nodding excitedly, the Son’s frown slowly but visibly turned into a broad grin. All the while reminding himself that getting prickled is good after all, as long as he doesn’t assume things.

As for Sara, he hoped fervently that she is alright and he can’t wait to see her back in class tomorrow.

My missing thoughts

2010-09-14T17:31:00.000+08:00

Let’s see, I haven’t actually blogged about anything neither significant for the past few weeks nor commented about anything remotely relevant about books either.

These can mean only 2 things;
1. I have abandoned my blogging activity or the site itself
2. I have tonnes of things to do

Lo and behold, the answer is numéro deux!

In fact, I have a few “half-baked” articles/reviews/short stories/thoughts/poems waiting to get posted but I didn’t get the chance to do it.

So please bear with me as I would like to take this chance to rant on about my so called “disappearance”. Besides, I need somewhere to vent my thoughts too you know. :-P

Missing blog entry #1:
I wasn’t able to finish the entry so I’ll just leave it as it is :-D

31st August; Malaysia’s Independence Day has just passed and I was stuck working in foreign land :-( which explains why I only managed to post only 1 entry in the month of August.

I’m having two thoughts here:

1. Should I post regarding my patriotic love towards the country of birth; also affectionately referred as “tanah tumpahnya darahku” which literally translated as “the land where I spilled my blood”?

2. Should I post regarding multiple books I’ve read but couldn’t find the time to scan the covers and to review?

Hmmm… since I’ve not much time to spare, perhaps I should just compile both posts into one entry :-P sounds better right?

Anyway, my country celebrated its 53rd birthday on 31st Aug 2010 and here I am, patting the back of my fellow compatriots/comrades and wished them “Selamat Merdeka” in Bahasa Malaysia before putting our thoughts back into work.

As for the book review; I guess it’ll have to take a back seat for the time being cos time is of essence and I have none to spare at this particular moment :-S

Anyway, Happy Merdeka to all Malaysians! :-)

Do not forget those who toil overseas during this time of celebration!

The Best by Tina Turner

2010-09-09T03:18:00.000+08:00

The month of August is officially the busiest month ever! It is plainly evident that although I have finished reading some new books, I wasn't able to pen my thoughts nor even update my blog :-(
Suffice to say, my blog was neglected and therefore, I managed to pen only 1 review on that month.
Anyway, I do hope I'll be able to do more than whine for the month of September... and what is much better than listening to an upbeat song by Tina Turner! :-P
The song is OLD.. but it has the killer beat and not to mention; catchy lyrics too ;-)
I feel the beat of the song; heck, I think the song is still hot!
By the way, I do understand the meaning of the lyrics.. how about you?

Lyrics taken from: http://www.lyrics007.com/Tina%20Turner%20Lyrics/Simply%20The%20Best%20Lyrics.html

The Best by Tina Turner

I call you when I need you, my heart's on fire
You come to me, come to me wild and wild
When you come to me
Give me everything I need
Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams
Speak a language of love like you know what it means
And it can't be wrong
Take my heart and make it strong baby

You're simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met
I'm stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead

In your heart I see the star of every night and every day
In your eyes I get lost, I get washed away
Just as long as I'm here in your arms
I could be in no better place

You're simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met
I'm stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead

Each time you leave me I start losing control
You're walking away with my heart and my soul
I can feel you even when I'm alone
Oh baby, don't let go

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

2010-08-12T22:25:00.003+08:00

Alamak! 2 weeks?! I haven’t penned any book reviews for the past 2 weeks?! Time really flies when you’re saddled with endless tasks!

Well, I am glad to say that though I didn’t actually pen any reviews within that period of time, I managed to finish 4 books... :-) in which I will pen my review on one of them... (I haven’t gotten around scanning and reviewing my “old” read books yet. Too daunting a task... :-S)

What else could be better than re-starting a book review blog by writing about sob stories? :-P

First and foremost, I have to re-assert the statement that I didn’t cry when I read this book but I merely felt emotional and had wet-eyes on certain chapters of the book... on second thought, why re-asserting all these in the first place. Hmmm… don’t mind me, sometimes I contradict myself… :-P

In this book entitled, “For One More Day by Mitch Albom", we get to read about soapy stories ala Chicken Soup for the Soul all over again. However, instead of one or two pages long, it became a full fledge novel.

In this novel, purportedly tells the story of one down and out; former baseball player named Charley “Chick” Benetto and his chance encounter with his long dead mom.

I wish I can stop reviewing it after that because that’s practically the start and the end of the story itself :-P

However, the juicy parts are the innards.. yummy yummy…

This “Chick-y” guy was once a promising baseball player from a broken family; in which his dad suddenly packed his bag and left his mom to fend for herself and the family when he was a young chap.

He took it rather badly; sort of blamed his mom for his dad’s exit and grew up to become an adult with myriad of problems, which lead him to his eventual suicide scheme.

Somehow his suicide attempt failed and he ended up meeting his long dead mom.

From thence onwards, his mom brought him around his old neighbourhood, walked him thru his difficult childhood and explained things she did to raise the family; including the… jeng jeng jeng… the reason his dad left the family in haste!

His mom then literally helped him back on his feet and back on track before vanishing and Chick regained his consciousness.

In the end, this book is revealed to have been narrated by Chick’s estranged daughter, Maria.

What do I think of the book?

Well, it’s a nice read. Nothing remarkable to shout about but it has all the right ingredients to make the reader weep :-)

Personal rating: 6 out of 10 (mostly on sob factor)

Cons:
1) Not much character development

Pros:
1) Sob factor :-) its a good thing for me OK!

Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

2010-07-27T13:17:00.001+08:00

Quote from the back cover of the book:

A Chinese proverb says, “Falling leaves return to their roots”.

And then, the cheeky side of me thought; what if the fallen leaves are picked up by someone and carried far away from its roots? :-P
Will it grow anew like jade plant which grows right from its leaves?
Perhaps growing up beside the parent tree might not be a good idea after all eh?
Don’t mind me, sometimes my mind wanders…

Sometimes I wonder how often we look back to our childhood reminiscing about the bygone era in which we lived a carefree life without being saddled with endless bills, expectations and so on.

While some will whine, some, like this book entitled “Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah”, captures the essence of a childhood trapped in a never-ending home politics is a gem to be savored.

In this open hearted, tell-all book (which is almost none-existence in Asian culture), Adeline exposes the underbelly of the home politics when her biological mom passed away after giving birth to her. Her dad remarried to a “sophisticated lady” and with her stepping on the wrong side of the shadow, she was labeled as the black sheep of the family.

From thence onwards, she was often subjected to countless exclusion and not to mention humiliation during her growing up years. She literally paved her own road away from the family despite being deprived from what she craved the most; love and acceptance as part of the family.

I will not dwell in the methods she used to “break” from the family but in my opinion, the book is readable but the portrayal is rather one sided.

That is to say that Adeline’s depicts herself as victim from start until the end of the book. I’m not to judge an autobiographical book like this but readers should be neutral-minded when they read this book so as not to pass any judgment without hearing both sides of the story.

Short book review eh? :-)
I can’t comment nor review too much on people’s autobiography right?
Later I kena “tembak” for commenting on other people’s life. :-P

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

2010-07-11T09:55:00.001+08:00

I was in melancholy mood; as in sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness and not a gloomy state of mind, esp. when habitual or prolonged, depression; (am I explaining myself here?-P) (quoted from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/melancholy) when I stumbled upon this book entitled “The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry”.

I’ve watched one movie previously (forgotten the title though.. a dotong mah.. :-P) about a group of assassins who assassinate based on pattern derived from an old cloth making machine, so I thought to myself perhaps “The Lace Reader” will revolve around the same premise :-P

Boy I was so wrong. Don’t get me wrong, this book is a really good read. The book is engaging; the plot and character development/explanation is so good that you’ll end up “creating” mould out of the plots/characters in your head as you read on.

However, towards the end of the book, all the plots and characters you’ve built in your mind came crashing down leaving only doubt whether the ending matches the beginning or vice versa. To put it in perspective, reading this book is exactly like watching the movie “Shutter Island” acted by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Essentially, it is a book about generations of women endowed with special skill of lace and/or mind reading in Salem (infamous for the Witch Hunt Incident). The protagonist of this novel is a lady called Towner Whitney (real name Sophya) who can “decipher” the past, present and future from the lace pattern, particularly the handmade Ipswich lace.

Towner escaped from Salem years ago when she had mental breakdown after her twin sister’s suicide, only to go back to the hood when her beloved great-aunt Eva disappeared. Flashbacks, memories and urge to discover reasons of her twin sister’s suicide brought along confusing blend of fact and make believe into picture.

In fact, all the characters introduced into the plot revolve along Towner’s life; two characters worth mentioning are:

1) Her mother, May, who appears to be her mom in the beginning only to negate all that in the end. Meaning that she’s not her mom after all. GASP!
2) Her twin sister, Lyndley, who lived separately from Towner since young only to be reunited and killed herself when she stumbled upon Towner in a boat together with her crush, Jack LaLibertie. However, at the end of the novel, even this fact is not true, because apparently Lyndley is a twin Towner never had because she died immediately after birth

See, I told you this book has quirky ending. In fact, it is so quirky that I had to re-read the ending part twice just to make sure that I read the right thing. Well, I bet everyone will do the same if they read this book.

This is a neutral book review because it is complicated to begin with and my hats off to Brunonia for writing such a compelling book with such a refreshing albeit twisted ending :-P

I do agree with The Washington Post’s quote, “Gripping… a marvelously bizarre cast of characters (living and dead) in a uniquely colorful town”.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) A complicated read. I had to slow down in order to grasp the flow of the story

Pros:
1) A novel with real good twist at the end

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

2010-07-07T16:01:00.000+08:00

First and foremost, I’ve to admit that I’ve been a slog in updating my blog with book reviews. But then, I need to work to earn a living you see :-P (I hope that explains everything). Anyway, I think I’m getting better at speed reading.

In fact, I managed to finish (on average) a 300pager (plus minus) on a one way 3hours flight (excluding transits); that is after deducting off the sleep, the lunch, the toilet visit etc etc etc (I find that etcetera makes me sound more intelligent :-P).

So, here I am, stuck at transit terminal typing the latest book review on a book entitled “Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton”. It should be noted that this same book was previously published as “The 13th Warrior by Michael Crichton”.

“Praise not the day until evening has come; a woman until she is burnt; ice until it has been crossed; beer until it has been drunk” – Northmen/Viking’s proverb

Praise to Michael because this is the kind of book which I actually enjoyed reading. Suspense, thriller, gore and grime all blended together ala tutti-frutti. I don’t know whether to believe references quoted conspicuously as footnote as you read thru the book but Michael did say that “sic”; “the references in the afterword are genuine. The rest of the novel, including its introduction, text, footnotes, and bibliography, should be viewed as fiction.”

This book is supposedly written with reference to original manuscripts/travelogues penned by Ibn Fadlan with sprinkling of ideas taken from Old English epic of Beowulf.

In this book (criss-cross between fact and fiction), we follow Ibn Fadlan; a refined Arab courtier; a representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad; on an off-tracked adventure.
He was supposedly sent as an embassy of the Caliphate to the king of the Volga Bulgars but was sidetracked when his badly timed (or sheer bad luck) visit to the Northern wild lands resulting him to be chosen as the 13th warrior; hence the name of the book.

In this book, the Vikings in the Kingdom of Rothgar in the Land of Venden are being spooked, mercilessly slaughtered and cannibalized by “apparitions” in the black mist. Despite being hardy and brave warriors they are, these Vikings are no match for the unseen and “shall not be named” enemy. Hence, King Rothgar’s son, Wulfgar, trekked and sailed all the way to seek help from a hero named Buliwyf to wipe out this menace from their land.

To cut the story short, the 13 warriors grabbed their gears, ate; drank, frolicked and copulated all the way to their destination :-)

When they finally met the creatures in the black mist for the first time, they fought full heartedly and managed to beat them back; only to see the reappearance of the creature in the form of “the glowworm dragon a.k.a Korgon”; which is basically a bunch of horse-riders with fire torch riding as a horde.

Our warriors fought hard and even went deep into the enemy’s territory to complete the annihilation; however, they’re able to do it only when they ventured to the underwater cave/lair to kill the “Big Momma” of the enemies :-P, thus, throwing them into disarray.
Buliwyf and many of the warriors are killed in the end, and our protagonist, Ibn Fadlan escaped with a great story under his belt. End of story.

Whew, I’m so relieved to be able to pen this book review during my transit hours. So, I shall start reading another book after I log off, and hopefully I’ll be able to find time to write another book review on my journey home to “tanah tumpahnya darahku” :-)

Gonna board my ferry now... TATA…

P/s: I’ll be baacck… (voice-over like Terminator)

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
None that I can think of

Pros:
1) Good description on the Viking’s way of life. I enjoyed the description of their crude lifestyle which somewhat pales in comparison with the “refined” lifestyle of the ancient Asian cultures
2) Michael managed to blur the line between fact and fiction seamlessly. It is a truly enjoyable read

Ai Hen Jian Dan by David Tao

2010-07-04T18:39:00.000+08:00

I have to admit that understanding Chinese songs is never my forte… however; I have soft spot for great tunes and poetry of Chinese songs; though I have to read the pinyin version slowly in order to sing the song.

I bet this is an old song cos as what I’ve said, I’m not particularly updated in Chinese songs arena. However, this song is so beautifully written, the tune is so melodious and of course, the singer, David Tao has the perfect voice to carry the song that I felt so attached to the song despite the language barrier.

I’ve attached the translation here as well… so, light up the scented candle, steep a cup of fragrant tea, sit back, close your eyes and enjoy the song… :-)

Lyric taken from: http://www.jpopasia.com/lyrics/24161/david-tao/ai-hen-jian-dan.html

Ai Hen Jian Dan (Loving/Love Is Easy) by David Tao

Romaji: Ai Hen Jian Dan

wang le shi zen me kai shi
ye xu jiu sh idui ni you yi zhong gan jue　　
hu ran jian fa xian zi ji　
yi shen shen ai shang ni zhen de hen jian dan

ai de di an tian hei dou yi wu suo wei　
shi shi fei fei wu fa jue zhe
mei you hou hui wei ai ri ye qu gen sui　　
na ge feng kuang de ren shi wo

I LOVE U　
wu fa bu ai ni
BABY　　
shuo ni ye ai wo
I LOVE U　　
yong yuan bu yuan yi
BABY　
shi qu ni

bu ke neng geng kuai le　
zhi yao neng zai yi qi zuo shen me dou ke yi　
sui ran shi jie bian ge bu ting
yong zui zhen cheng de xin rang ai bian de jian dan

ai de di an tian hei dou yi wu suo wei　
shi shi fei fei wu fa jue zhe
mei you hou hui wei ai ri ye qu gen sui　　
na ge feng kuang de ren shi wo

I LOVE U　　
yi zhi zai zhe li
BABY　　　
yi zhi zai ai ni
I LOVE U　(yes I do)　　　
yong yuan dou bu fang qi zhe ai ni de quan li

ru guo ni hai you yi xie kun huo
Oh No　
qing tie zhe wo de xin qing ting
ting wo shuo zhe ai ni
(yes I do)　
wo ai ni

I LOVE U　　
yi zhi zai zhe li
BABY　　　
yi zhi zai ai ni
I LOVE U　(yes I do)　　　
yong yuan dou bu fang qi zhe ai ni de quan li

Translation: Ai Hen Jian Dan

I've forgotten how it started
Maybe it was because I had some sort of feeling for you
And suddenly, I realized that I
Already love you deeply, really quite easily

I don't mind love's dark heaven and earth
I can't choose between right and wrong
I have no regrets regarding the love I've already followed
That crazy person is me, oh...

I love you, I can't not love you baby
Say you love me too
I love you, I'll never be willing baby
To lose you

I can't be happier, as long as we're together
Doing anything is okay, though this world is always changing
I'll use my most honest heart to let love become easy

I love you, I'll always be here
I'll always love you
I love you, oh yes I do
I'll never let go of the right to love you

If you ever have any troubles, oh no
Please stick to me, I'll listen; listen to me say I love you
Yes I do, I love you

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho

2010-06-21T19:34:00.000+08:00

Well, I don't profess to have knowledge about Bible, not even skimming on the surface... thus I will hold back my acid tongue when I review about this book :-)

In this book entitled “The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho”; it has a rather deep and heavy religious tone, which explains on the sensitivity of reviewing such book.

According to Wikipedia, which I quoted as per se:

The story is based on the story of Elijah from the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings Chapters 17-19). The focus is on Elijah's time in Zarephath (in this book named Akbar). Much has been added to the simple Bible story by Coelho, including Elijah witnessing the sacking of Akbar by the Assyrians, Elijah's journey up the Fifth Mountain itself (said to be the dwelling place of Baal), and Elijah's falling in love with the widow to whom God sent him.

As with other books from Paulo, this story touches on realizing your own potential and also the ability to overcome obstacles and boundaries to do what you think as right; not to mention to attain the level of spiritual awareness and finally, to engage in a meaningful and powerful relationship with God.

In my opinion, this book sounded slightly like historical novels or to put it into perspective, it sounded like the book entitled "Zipporah by Marek Halter" in which Paulo literally breathe life into historical personage and cleverly interlinked all those messages he would like to convey on it.

Well, it’s not easy to review books which touch on religion, so this will be it :-P
Yup, you read that right... this is all I have to say about this book :-)

If you would like to read more about Paulo's book, you can try to buy ONE first, read thoroughly before you decide to buy the rest :-D

On the hindsight, I still prefer “Zipporah by Marek Halter” compared to “The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho”. At least Marek did not impose his ideals on his book like what Paulo did in all his books (*hint hint*).

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

2010-06-18T00:14:00.000+08:00

According to the Daily Mail, this novel entitled "Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton" is "fast-moving, gripping". Yes, I would agree to this statement but the only thing which I consider as "fast-moving, gripping" is my bowel movement after a hot laksa soup... and definitely NOT this book :-D

On a serious note, this book is purportedly found as complete manuscript in Michael's files after his death in 2008; and it is somewhat based on a memoir written by the protagonist in the novel, Charles Hunter entitled "Life Among the Privateers of the Caribbean Sea".

Truth to be told, I don't really plan to write this review in such a way that it sounded downright negative, but I find the plot this book too shallow and do not reflect the true genius of a seasoned writer like Michael.

It seemed to me that Michael wrote this book after watching Pirates of the Caribbean movies (starred by the enigmatic Johnny Depp :-P). Well, let’s see... I have summarized the following "characteristics" found in almost all pirate novels.

1) Bad @$$ captain and crew
2) A ship full of sail & cannons
3) Equally bad @$$ enemy
4) Treasures
5) Sea fight
6) Etc etc
7) Oh, not to be missed... Kraken!

This book fulfilled all the abovementioned points; plus minus a bit more; and sadly, that's all about it.

To summarize everything, this book is about a band of privateers (not pirates OK? :-P) of the early British Empire lead by Charles Hunter launching a bold mission to attack a Spanish stronghold called Matanceros, which is zealously guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla. To cut the story really short, they had to go thru a lot of planning and hardship before they eventually succeed in their plan. Boring right? :-|

Yes, that's my expression throughout the book :-| not even once did the storyline managed to pique my attention. As befitting this book; in my opinion; the reader might as well watch the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy. At least those movies have cute casts and corny but funny dialogues.

Personal rating: 2 out of 10 (the worst among all Michael's novels)

Cons:
1) The plot is too darn predictable. Read only if you have nothing else to read.

Pros:
1) Purportedly based on actual events and real life figures as depicted in the epilogue.

Better Man by Robbie Williams

2010-06-16T20:36:00.000+08:00

This is probably the busiest month ever. I only managed to finish one and half book. I'm stuck at work.. actually not only that.. I have my plate full with other stuff as well... :-S

I have written some partial book review which I will post when it's done... But on this particular day, this song kept playing in my mind...

Apt lyric in this flawed and imperfect world.. don't you think so?

Lyric taken from: http://www.lyrics007.com/Robbie%20Williams%20Lyrics/Better%20Man%20Lyrics.html

Better Man by Robbie Williams

Send someone to love me
I need to rest in arms
Keep me safe from harm
In pouring rain

Give me endless summer
Lord I fear the cold
Feel I'm getting old
Before my time

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doing all I can
To be a better man

Go easy on my conscience
'Cause it's not my fault
I know I've been taught
To take the blame

Rest assured my angels
Will catch my tears
Walk me out of here
I'm in pain

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doing all I can
To be a better man

Once you've found that lover
You're homeward bound
Love is all around
Love is all around

I know some have fallen
On stony ground
But Love is all around

Send someone to love me
I need to rest in arms
Keep me safe from harm
In pouring rain

Give me endless summer
Lord I fear the cold
Feel I'm getting old
Before my time

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doin' all I can
To be a better man

Every Day I Love You by Boyzone

2010-06-06T00:01:00.003+08:00

I know, I know.. too many song postings instead of book reviews… but let me assure you I have many book reviews coming along :-)

You see, sometimes I can be a man with few words. When that happens, my mouth will be clamped shut (doesn’t look like a clamped clam though :-P); and I’d rather convey my words in either literature form or I’ll select a song which best represents how I feel at that particular moment.

Since I’m having some sort of mental block now :-S; I thought of this particular song, which I played and sang while I made bruschetta for pot-luck party.

In my opinion, this song is filled with a lot of isi-isi tersirat (hidden meanings), in which only those who really “feel” the song will be able to understand.

Are you the one who truly “feel” this song? Or do you listen just for the sake of listening?

Lyric from: www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/boyzone/everydayiloveyou.html

Every Day I Love You
I don't know, but I believe
That some things are meant to be
And that you'll make a better me
Everyday I love you

I never thought that dreams came true
But you showed me that they do
You know that I learn something new
Everyday I love you

'Cos I believe that destiny
Is out of our control (don't you know that I do)
And you'll never live until you love
With all your heart and soul.

It's a touch when I feel bad
It's a smile when I get mad
All the little things I am
Everyday I love you
Everyday I love you more
Everyday I love you

'Cos I believe that destiny
Is out of our control (don't you know that I do)
And you'll never live until you love
With all your heart and soul

If I asked would you say yes?
Together we're the very best
I know that I am truly blessed
Everyday I love you
And I'll give you my best
Everyday I love you

Here Without You by 3 Doors Down

2010-06-03T23:17:00.001+08:00

This is one of my all time favourite songs.

I mean, who wouldn't like a song like this. The beat is smooth and consistent, the music is in perfect harmony and most of all, the lyric touches your heart so much that just by listening to it brings you to another realm altogether.

Sometimes (just sometimes), it is true when people said songs are poems with tunes. Those who wrote this song truly know their stuff.

Immerse yourself in this song; close your eyes, listen to the music... but perhaps the most important aspect is to "understand" the lyric.

Better still, "feel" the song "flood" your whole being... as what I’m doing right now as I typed in this entry.

Lyric taken from: http://www.elyrics.net/read/0-9/3-doors-down-lyrics/here-without-you-lyrics.html

Here Without You
Songwriters: Roberts, Matt; Harrell, Todd; Arnold, Brad; Henderson, Chris;

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same
But all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight it's only you and me, yeah

The miles just keep rollin'
As the people leave their way to say hello
I've heard this life is overrated
But I hope that it gets better as we go, oh yeah yeah

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it's only you and me

Everything I know and anywhere I go
It gets hard but it won't take away my love
And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done
It gets hard but it won't take away my love, whoa

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it's only you and me, yeah oh yeah oh

The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho

2010-06-02T00:55:00.003+08:00

*CAUTION: Drama King “hijacked” the body of this normally sensible; hot-blooded; Homo sapiens of male species*

*NOTE: The following descriptions have been dramatized for greater effect, so throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder before you read the following book review*

Countdown begins...

*toot* FIVE...
*toot* FOUR...
*toot* THREE...
*toot* TWO...
*toot* ONE...
aaaaaannnd… ACTION

Aiyoooo!!!! Another book about self discovery!!.. I don’t want I don’t want I don’t want!!!...

In this book entitled “The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho”; we’re introduced to the first hand experience gained by the acclaimed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and his road towards self discovery!

BING!

Another self discovery book?!

Wait a minute, this is not just another book, this is Paulo’s first book. His numero uno masterpiece.
But since this is a self discovery book, what else can you glean from the book besides discovering yourself?

Don’t underestimate this self discovery book because this book teaches you exercise programs as well…
Yes ladies and gentlemen, besides discovering yourself, you get free exercise programs :-) (I’m not joking here… to be explained later :-P)

I’m deviating far from the book review :-P

Well, this is the first book from Paulo, in which he wrote about his journey towards self discovery.
It is basically his personal diary on his pilgrimage road trip between France and Spain after being told by his MASTER (ala MASTER YODA), that he has more to learn about life. I assume the conversation goes like this:

Paulo: Master, finally I’ve finished my learning. Can I go now?
Master: No Paulo, you still have a long way to go.
Paulo: Why Master? What should I do?
Master: Silence Paulo! You talk too much! Listen to me. Go tag along with one mentor. Listen to his advice for he will help you towards achieving your self discovery.
Paulo: Yes Master. Thank you for your guidance and advice.
*He bows took his knapsack and left the place*

He then went on to tag himself with his mentor, who told him to listen to him no matter what. No matter what what? I don’t know what’s what in this what what.

So in this journey of listening to his mentor no matter what, he encounters his own demon, his own fear, developed his own exercise program and transformed himself to a person who supposedly understands about life.

I think my review is boring! Yes, it is boring... as boring as this book!

This book is so boring that I had to watch Braveheart just to uplift my mood…
It is only with cries of FREEDOMMMMMM by William Wallace that I managed to break the spell.

Anyway, boredom is only part of the “torture” of reading this book. This book is filled with so many quirky advices that I almost mistook Paulo as Dr Phil :-P

In fact, I was so tempted to put matchstick between my eyelids to keep my eyes open and had to super-speed read thru this book!

On the hindsight, no need to waste your money to join gym membership for some yoga programs. By buying this book, you get the following:

1. Read other people’s self discovery and pretend that it uplift you to another realm or experience a total paradigm shift.
2. Quirky advise which sounded sinisterly like your buddies when they’re loaded with booze.
3. Best of all, EXERCISE PROGRAMS!

If you don’t believe me, I dare you to go and buy this book.

Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…

See, this is NOT… I repeat... NOT A BAD BOOK…
N-O-T (space) A (space) B-A-D (space) B-O-O-K

Personal rating: What rating?

Cons:
1) What cons?

Pros:
1) What pros?

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith

2010-05-31T19:51:00.000+08:00

I know I posted quite a number of songs in this blog.. but hey, sometimes I do feel chatty; moreover, this is supposed to be a blog about personal reflections too.. :-P

I do balance my life with books, music, gym and etc.. lest I become dorky if I surround myself with too many books.. on second thought, that’s not a bad prospect after all.. hmmm, I think I contradict myself here :-D

Anyway, I was driving back from work on Monday, 31st of May 2010 :-), when I heard this song playing over the radio… I know this is a rather old song and the movie’s ending sucks big time but listening to the song and “digesting” the lyric after all these years is truly an eye opener.

The lyric is so well written that I felt that I must post it up considering the moment of inner peace it accorded to me as I listened to this song amidst the hustle and bustle of the crazy zig-zaggy traffic.

I think I’m making myself incoherent… never mind… just listen to the song and savour (truly savour) the lyric like what I did :-)

Lyric taken from:
http://www.elyrics.net/read/a/aerosmith-lyrics/i-don_t-want-to-miss-a-thing-lyrics.html

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure

(Chorus)
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Lying close to you
Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together
And I just wanna stay with you
In this moment forever, forever and ever

(chorus)
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss

Well, I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just wanna hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time

(Chorus)
Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
'Cause I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah
I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna miss a thing

Requiem by Robyn Young

2010-05-31T12:15:00.003+08:00

Whew, finally I’ve finished reading the last book (of a trilogy) written by Robyn Young. Not that I’m complaining because I only have good words for this book :-)
For the uninitiated, Robyn took 10years in total to research, compile and write this trilogy.
As mentioned in my earlier blog entries, the trilogy started off with the book entitled Brethren followed by Crusade and this is the last piece of the puzzle.
Initially, I felt daunted when I picked up this book based on the weight and the sheer thickness of it. But, when I read it, the story just flows forth and I felt the connection and irrepressible urge to continue reading it till the end.

In this book entitled “Requiem by Robyn Young”; Will Campbell is back in action again.
But age has crept up and he's a matured (see, I used "matured" instead of "old" here :-P) and seasoned warrior back to Europe after their horrific losses to the hands of the Mamluks, which lead to fall of Acre.

Hand picked by his predecessor to lead the clandestine organisation called Anima Templi (established to promote peace between all major religions) within The Knights of Templar, he failed miserably in his assigned tasks when he let his hatred towards King Edward of England go to his head and went fighting for Scotland (alongside William Wallace) instead.

The Templar on the other hand forged an alliance with King Edward to secure a base of their own.
His own estranged daughter, Rose grew lusty and decided to embroil herself in an unlikely affair with King Philip of France and getting pregnant in the process.

That’s not all; Robyn managed to twirl all the conspiracies, murders, revenge and whatnot ranging from assassination of Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Benedict XI; to appointment of Pope Clement V allegedly done by King Philip's implacable minister, Guillaume de Nogaret.

If these intrigues are not intriguing enough, Robyn also infused the eventual downfall of the Knights of Templar and how those warrior monks are tortured to extract confession and burnt at stake in the end.
As for our protagonist, Will Campbell, he plays mostly on supporting role this time and as all good stories go, the protagonist will live happily ever after and it is the same with this book.

Just read the review above and I’m sure you'll notice the complexities of the storyline.
So my review is not complete (not even 1%) as it provides just a small scope within the multilayered complexities.

The beauty is that Robyn managed to infuse historical events with imaginary characters seamlessly.
Thus reading thru this book is like peeking thru historical events unfurling before your very eyes.
Reading historical happenings via novels like this is much palatable than learning thru mundane and boring history books
:-P

No pros and cons needed but I would like to say that this is definitely the best serial I’ve read so far :-)

Go Go Robyn GO!
Btw, pls do leave your comment if you happen to stumble in this blog of mine ya :-P

*for those reading this entry, don't mind me. Sometimes I can be thick-skinned too :-D*

Personal rating: 10 out of 10 (for a beautiful ending on such a beautiful and memorable day :-))

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

2010-05-28T05:28:00.004+08:00

Some songs are goose-bump inducing not to mention addictive.
Here I am, updating my blog at 5-plus in the morning cos I can’t get this song out of my beer laden brain (Original Japanese Asahi Super Dry mind you..hehe).

Thanks to the hilarious introduction to this song in the afternoon, in which I literally laughed my @$$ off due to some smart-alec (from Vietnam), who embedded his glamour photo as the album cover :-D (no joke), I’ve been listening to this song for like n-times now.

Not because of Miley Cyrus (I’m serious :-P) but it’s because of the beautifully written lyric!

Wait a minute! Am I insomniac? I hope not :-S

Hope you’ll enjoy the song + the lyrics as much as I do :-)

Lyrics taken from: http://www.elyricsworld.com/when_i_look_at_you_lyrics_miley_cyrus.html

When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

Everybody needs inspiration,
Everybody needs a soul.
A beautiful melody,
When the night's are long.
Cause there is no guarantee,
That this life is easy.

And when my world is falling apart.
When there's no light to break up the dark,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore.
That's when I, I, I look at you.

When I look at you,
I see forgiveness,
I see the truth.
You love me for who I am,
Like the stars hold the moon,
Right there where they belong.
and I know im not alone.

Yeah when my world is falling apart,
When there's no light to break up the dark,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore,
That's when I, I, I look at you.

You, appear just like a dream to me.
Just like kaleidoscope colors,
That cover me,
All I need,
Every breath that I breathe,
Don't you know you're beautiful!

Yeah

When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
I look at you, Yeah, Woah.
You, appear just like a dream to me.

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

2010-05-19T12:56:00.000+08:00

Note: This is another novel about spiritual awakening from Paulo Coelho.

As what I’ve mentioned earlier, I bought all published book (at that particular time) from one author and Paulo is one of them. So please bear with me while I try to dissect the intricacies linked to these spiritually filled books.

Supposedly, these kinds of books shouldn’t be read based on the face value. It is supposed to be “understood/misunderstood” and “grilled” until you get the BING moment.

As for me, I don’t dwell too much on such things because it is tiring to analyse (or over-analyse) on certain books to get the isi-isi tersirat.

This book entitled “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho” (a mouthful mind you, it’s like reading the title with your mouth full of meatballs :-P), is one such novel.

In essence, it is about a scholar named Pilar who’s frustrated by the endless cycles of her life.

This scholar who hasn’t even stepped outside the big bad world to earn money is complaining about endless cycles of her life! BAH!

Before I jump straight to conclusion and analyse in my own perverted way, I shall hold my horses and continue to review this book with an open mind.

PATIENCE, PATIENCE!

Anyway, going back to the story; this Pilar girl got bored with her university life and wanted to seek some greater meaning to her existence within those supposedly endless cycles.

She got her break when all the sudden, her former crush who’s now a handsome and well respected spiritual leader cum miracle worker contacted her.

She saw the chance for her to break free from the cycles and decided to follow him thru his journey via sacred sites in the French Pyrenees.

However, the catch of this journey is that the guy will finally have to choose between her (as lover) and answering his spiritual calling.

This means that the tension of their love, her longings towards him and the feeling of loving but not being loved is constantly played between these two love-birds.

It is with these difficult conditions that the BING moment of the novel came as we discover the divinity and the power of love under such strained condition.

The novel does not have a happy ending because they parted with the guy answering his spiritual calling and Pilar ended up checking into a convent.

I guess this novel’s title depicts Pilar’s sorrow when she is confronted with an unfulfilled love.

So what do I think about this book?

Truth to be told, I don’t remember much about this book or any other books from Paulo.
I had to speed read most of his books before I can pen any review; which is why I don’t dwell too much on one book trying to seek out the hidden meaning and getting headache in the process.
I still need to work to earn bucks for a living u know :-P

On the hindsight, the prospect of experiencing unfulfilled love can be a painful affair and bravo to Paulo on his ability to capture its essence in written words.
And to re-read such novel again after such a long time enables me to fully understand the hidden meaning in its simple but beautiful storyline.

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) No character development. As with other books from Paulo

Pros:
1) Refer to the comments above :-)

Lunch?

2010-05-17T17:36:00.004+08:00

The time is 11.45am sharp.

He stood up to stretch his stiff body and took the opportunity to glance nervously around. He realised with a shock that he is right in the midst of a hive filled with various activities.

There are some who walked to and fro with sense of purpose in their stride, while some stared blankly into their computer screen filled with coloured rows of highlighted numbers.

From far, those minute looking digits and characters look sinisterly like fire ants, the fire ants he used to burn with joss stick back at his kampong house.

Shaking his head to clear off this irrelevant reverie, he sat down with a thud on the somewhat uncomfortable, squeaking chair.

He sighed inwardly and thought of the luck he got so far in securing his current position.

As he turned and stared at his computer screen, he realized that his mind is totally blank and could not comprehend the numbers displayed on the screen. Those stagnated numbers kept on blinking like constant heartbeat, taunting him repeatedly.

He closed his eyes, obscuring his vision momentarily. Despite this, the floating numbers remained in his view, burnt into his mind like a charred emblem. He rubbed his eyes hard, swirling the numbers and saw splitting stars at the back of his eyeballs in the process.

Slowly he reopened his eyes and glanced at the wall clock again. He noticed that the minutes arm nudged slowly but surely, time now showing 11.55am.

He nervously shuffled his feet on the carpeted floor, feeling the carpet’s roughness through the sole of his shiny leather shoes. He silently wished that he could take it off and free his sweaty feet from the confines of his shoes.

Slowly he extended his neck above his cubicle wall like a tortoise emerging from its shell. Again he looked around. The place is much calmer now and the bustle of activities he saw earlier has thinned considerably.

His palms grew wet and clammy with anticipation. He fidgeted on his chair, the squeaking sound now louder as the place grew quieter.

He jolted when he felt someone tapped his shoulder and asked him, “So, how was your first day at work? OK so far? Would you like to join us for lunch?”

With that, he felt a true sense of relieve and happily accepted the lunch offer with a smile on his face.

When I See You Smile by Bad English

2010-05-16T19:49:00.004+08:00

I know this is an "old-school" song but I kept hearing this song in my head as I slug through a REALLY LONG QUEUE.
In fact, the queue was so damn long that I officially wasted 5 hours of my life (in total) standing like a statue while waiting for my turn.

Anyway, I kept humming to this tune to keep myself sane during those hours, which are filled with:
1) Crying children
2) People jostling/trying to cut into lines
3) Arguments in local languages which I can't understand; not that I care anyway
4) Aunties and uncles pushing my back and indirectly accusing me of not pushing the person in front of me (fortunately they stopped when I turned and gave them "THE STARE")
5) etc etc etc :-S

Hope you'll enjoy the song as much as I do :-)

When I See You Smile by Bad English
Lyrics copied from here

Sometimes I wonder
How I'd ever make it through,
Through this world without having you
I just wouldn't have a clue

'Cause sometimes it seems
Like this world's closing in on me,
And there's no way of breaking free
And then I see you reach for me

Sometimes I wanna give up
I wanna give in,
I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you, baby
And everything's alright,
everything's alright

When I see you smile
I can face the world, oh oh,
you know I can do anything
When I see you smile
I see a ray of light, oh oh,
I see it shining right through the rain
When I see you smile
Oh yeah, baby when I see you smile at me

Baby there's nothing in this world
that could ever do
What a touch of your hand can do
It's like nothing that I ever knew

And when the rain is falling
I don't feel it,
'cause you're here with me now
And one look at you baby
Is all I'll ever need,
you're all I'll ever need

Chorus

Sometimes I wanna give up
I wanna give in,
I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you baby
And everything's alright,
everything's alright

So right...

When I see you smile
I can face the world, oh oh,
You know I can do anything now
When I see you smile

Oh yeah
Baby when I see you smile
Smile at me

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Have a heart for the disabled

2010-05-12T15:25:00.003+08:00

MOTHER’S Day is supposed to be a joyous occasion but reading your report “Son wants probe on mum’s amputation” (The Star, May 12) on the inability of the amputee’s family to take care of her breaks my heart.

My mother suffered a debilitating stroke years ago and it is indeed an uphill struggle to take care of her and my aging father at the same time.

What makes things worse is the existence of improperly designed infrastructure as well as the public perception which does not take the elderly or the physically challenged people into consideration.

Generally speaking, infrastructure in Malaysia, be it buildings, roads or even sidewalks, are not disable or elderly-friendly. Not only does it inhibit the mobility of the disabled person but also care-givers. There are many
examples which I can draw upon but some of the most serious ones include the absence of wheelchair tracks, tracks barely wide enough to turn a wheelchair in and those without side bars.

As for the general public, there are sympathetic and helpful people who go out of their way to help the unfortunate ones, but there are also others who couldn’t care less.

Everyone will eventually age or fall sick, so please be courteous to those who are not as fortunate as you are and it is hoped that our Government will take the lead to improve the infrastructure.

CIPLAK,

Penang.

Published on: Friday, May 14, 2010

ORIGINAL VERSION

Be courteous to everyone

Mother’s Day is supposed to be a joyous occasion but looking at recent newspaper report (Son wants probe on mum's amputation; Wednesday May 12, 2010) on the inability of families taking care of their disabled mother breaks my heart.

My mother suffers from debilitating stroke years ago and it is indeed an uphill struggle to take care of her and my aging father at the same time.

To compound to this struggle is the existence of improperly designed infrastructure as well as perception from the general public, which does not take the elderly or the mobility challenged people into consideration.

Generally speaking, infrastructures in Malaysia , be it buildings, roads and even the side walks are not disable or elderly friendly. It does not only inhibit the mobility of the disabled person but also the caregivers. There are many examples which I can draw upon but some of the most acute ones would be absence of wheelchair tracks, tracks barely wide enough to turn, those without side bars, or too steep even to the person pushing from the back.

As for the general public, there are sympathetic and helpful people who go all the way to help the unfortunate ones, but there are some without conscience in their act and manner. There is no clear line to draw upon in this matter but it is surprising to see how intolerant we have warped in this supposedly fast paced environment.

Everyone will eventually age or fall sick, so please be courteous to those who are not as fortunate as you are and it is hoped that our government will take the lead to improve on the infrastructures moving forward.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 12 May 2010

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

2010-05-10T23:57:00.002+08:00

In this novel entitled “The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho”; we’re posed with the evergreen question of whether human is born to inherently good or bad.

To further “cement” the implication of good versus evil, Paulo even picked the following quote from Bible as the opening act.

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
And Jesus said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is God.”

Luke 18:18-19

Come to think of it, even Santa decided to join in the fray by asking if we’ve been naughty or nice every single year :-P

But then, it’s not Santa we’re talking about here because Santa doesn’t write a book and Paulo does. So here’s the book review.

In this story, Paulo wrote a readable tale about human interaction and how human react to fear, greed and temptation. All of these happened in a really tiny village called Viscos. To cut the description short, it is a small, peaceful and quaint town (though dying a natural death) where everyone knows everyone.

However, this sense of peace is soon shattered by the arrival of a stranger; who have lost his whole family to an unfortunate kidnapping incident. He offered the knowledge of hidden bars of gold (11 bars of unknown purity and weight; but we assume it to be pure 999% and standard 1kg/bar :-P) to one lonely lady called Chantal Prym.

The stranger will divulge the hidden location on condition that the village people sacrifice one of their inhabitants. After some deep consideration, Ms Prym decided to break the news to the fellow villagers hoping that they will stick together and will not sacrifice anyone for the gold bars.

Her sense of assurance was shattered when the villagers decided to sacrifice one old lady called Berta for the gold. Ms Prym went all the way to dissuade the villagers from committing such sin and in the end, no one died and the twisted stranger realized that human have both good and evil in them, it’s ultimately a matter of choice.

I have to admit that Paulo should stick to stories like this (as well as “The Alchemist”) with “isi-isi tersirat” (hidden meanings) which shows us the dark and bright side of being a human. In my opinion, the lure of this novel is its subtle infusion of values which enable the readers to relate the “experiences” mentioned in the storyline better.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Not much character development. Paulo doesn’t dwell much on this department. Instead, he targets on the message he intends to convey to his readers.

Pros:
1) Readable storyline albeit with a rather predictable ending.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2010-05-07T18:00:00.002+08:00

The bookstore’s aircon blew at full blast and the weather outside is stormy with a sliver of sunshine at the horizon when I picked this particular book amongst hundreds of books lined up side by side in the store.
OK, I made the stormy weather up :-P the weather was fine and I was pleasantly surprised (priceless moments) as I shopped for books :-)

Anyway, back to the book review :-)
When I read the opening of the book entitled “One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez”, I was mesmerized. The opening lines are rather “flavourful”, which, I take as a beginning of a great story ahead.

I read the novel with gusto until I reached the part about the 3rd generation of the Buendía family living in a small jungle settlement (which eventually grew in size and prosperity) called Macondo; founded by their patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía.

After that, I closed the book gently, threw it on the table, lay down on my bed and slept off.

When I woke up, I don’t even want to touch the book anymore. In fact, this book will have the honour of being placed amongst my list of unfinished books. Why? (do allow me to explain again :-P)

Cos I find that the story is mundane, boring and repetitive; so much so that it felt as if I’m listening to never ending trance music.

Even the very sentence “…as Arcadio/Aureliano faced the firing squad...” was repeatedly mentioned throughout the course of the story-telling.

When I said I’ve reached the story about the 3rd generation, it is not over yet, no no no, in fact, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is about SEVEN GENERATIONS altogether, and truth to be told, I'm happy I stopped reading after the 3rd generation cos I don't think I can last till the 7th :-P

It is essentially about the patriarch and his group of explorers leaving their hometown and journeying thru thick jungles before they decide to establish a small settlement by the body of water, way out of the closest civilisation. After that, strange and unusual events happened repeatedly throughout the establishment, often inflicting misfortunes to José’s family first before it spread to the rest of the community.

I don’t know about the rest of the readers because some people claim that they had life changing experience after reading this book. Others associated this book with Colombia’s progress in broader perspective.

But as for me, I find this book a “tough meat to chew on”; hence, I don’t enjoy reading this book as much as I wanted/tried to.

P/S: Make no mistake; because the writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a 1982 Nobel Prize winner for Literature; thus, he has his share of solid fans and critics. I would consider myself as a critic and not a fan for sure.

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

1421 The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies

2010-05-05T08:35:00.001+08:00

First of all, I don’t care what the historians, philosophers or whatnot said about this book. I love this book for a really good reason. Period.

This book entitled “1421 The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies” is a sensational book because it courted heated controversies with its bold claim that China discovered the world hundreds of years earlier than the Europeans.

The implication is immense; courting both supporters and detractors shouting/screaming from both side of the fence. And in the middle lies people like me :-) People who’re open to ideas no matter how crazily it sounds.

This book essentially rewrote the world history so to speak. According to Gavin, Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty; during its epoch, gave royal approval/proclamation to its naval officers (sic) “to proceed all the way to the end of the earth”.

As far as we know, Chinese civilization flourished thousands of years ago and with this book; coupled with evidences (pseudo or otherwise) spread across continents; not to mention, photographic evidence inserted conspicuously within the chapters makes this book an alluring read.

Gavin, a retired British submarine commander wrote most of the opening chapters explaining on the progress of the exploration using longitudes and latitudes; which are basically Greek to me :-P (meaning I don’t understand those explanations).

Therefore, I conveniently skipped those parts and concentrated only on items I understood; and I savour those with great relish and satisfaction.

I have to admit, I wasn’t a book reader until then. In fact, according to my old self, the very idea of picking up a book and read it is a sheer waste of time and money. I held on to my belief until I saw this book.

THIS BOOK IGNITES MY PASSION FOR BOOKS!

I realized that by reading a book, it transported me to an unachievable realm; which transcends the physical barrier.

By reading a book, I can be a hero of olden times, carrying shield and sword as I rush into battles.

By reading a book, I can learn new words, “see”, “touch”, “feel;” and learn new things.

And I owe all these “experiences” to this very book.

Although this book is disclaimed by various critics as utter b*llsh*t (in harsher terms), I held it close to my heart because without this book, there will be one less book reader in this world.

So, to me, this is DA BOOK! :-)

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

2010-05-04T08:42:00.001+08:00

I hate to say this but I have to admit that Nicholas Sparks writes really good love novel :-)

I first read his novel entitled “A Walk to Remember” and it leaves me with a lot of goose bumps and near to tears (near to tears only ok.. not crying out loud :-P)

He still have that kind of hold on me in this book entitled; “The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks”.

It is a love story about a battle scarred ex-Marine; Logan Thibault finding a photo of a smiling lady half buried in the sand during his service in Iraq. The photo not only became his lucky charm but even his compatriots believed in the “charm” of the photo itself. So much so that they either scorn or stick to him during his service there.

When a “boys day out” with his best friend, Victor ended in tragedy, he embarked on bus number 11 journey (journey with both his legs la :-P; yes, he walked all the way from Colorado) accompanied by his loyal sidekick, a German shepherd named Zeus to look for the mysterious lady in the photo.

He finally found the lady named Elizabeth (a divorcee with an active and cute son) at Hampton, North Carolina. Attracted to her, he decided to keep his mouth shut (a bad idea) about the photo and the real reason he walked across the country. Chain of events (especially with Elizabeth’s over-possessive ex-husband) leads the whole fantasy love affair spiraling down the drain.

Nicholas wrote the story with such suspense; especially at the end chapters that I had to keep flipping the pages at 3am in the morning even though I had to work the next day. Why? Cos I had to find out who died in the end; and believe it or not, you can only find out who’s alive and who’s dead right at the very last page. I won’t tell you the spoiler cos it will spoil the suspense :-P

Buy it if you wanna know the ending :-P

So far I’ve read only 2 novels from him and I am looking forward to read more novels from him... ummm... at least after I’ve finished reading the pile of unread books :-P I'm a compulsive book buyer you see :-)

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) I seriously had “panda eyes” reading this novel. Thanks to excessive amount of espresso and my super concoction, I managed to plough thru my work the next day :-S

Pros:
1) For the first time, I flipped thru love novel with similar enthusiasm as thriller novel :-)

Prey by Michael Crichton

2010-04-29T11:58:00.003+08:00

Have you ever thought about microorganisms you inhale day in, day out?
How about the itch at the back of your neck as you read this blog entry?
Are you really sure that the air you breath is clean? The itch is harmless?
Why don’t you reach back and scratch that itch... just do it before you continue to read this posting… :-P

Which brings us to the review of this book entitled “Prey by Michael Crichton”; because miniscule particles are not as harmless as it seems.

Published in year 2002, this novel is based on tale of misguided bunch of scientist creating nanobots based on genetically modified E.Coli bacteria for Department of Defense. Pushed into the main storyline is our protagonist, Jack Forman who used to be a top notch artificial software programmer until he was booted out for revealing his boss’ under-table dealings.

Being a house-husband and his wife (who works as VP for Xymos, a nanorobotics company) as sole breadwinner pushed him to the brink of emotional roller coaster as he suspected his wife for having an affair behind him (clues: very tight clothes, late night bath before sleep, late night phone calls and wearing those “f*ck-me-heels”).

Things started spiraling down when his kid was afflicted with severe rashes only to be cured instantly when they loaded her into MRI scan. He was then offered by his ex-boss to work with his old gang of programmers to rein in a swarm of escaped nanoparticles, which shows obvious sign of evolving, reproducing, self-sufficiency and the ability to learn and innovate.

Wait a minute... this is boring book review... what am I doing writing a formal book review!!
Crazy me… let me restart…

Ahem…!

This book is about a bunch of people trying to rein in a bunch of escaped nanoparticles originally designed for military purposes. So basically it’s about human against a swarm of nanoparticles with intelligence!

So did we (as human) wins?

Of course we win, we always win due to our ingenious; think-out-of-the-box intelligence. The team of protagonist in the novel smoked, lured, tagged (not individually-lah of course), tailed, before finally bombing the swarm’s hideout.

In the end, the swarm is not the only problem they have because some of the “smarter” swarm has found a way to co-exist symbiotically with humans!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, some of the particles decided that living inside a human host and propagates via kisses (or something else not mentioned in this book :-P) is the best way of surviving amidst the land of crazy Homo-sapiens.

But of course, our heroes in this book will not let this happen without crossing over their dead bodies. So they combat back with more particles; which is bad for the symbiotic particles but harmless for human; and after that, they bombed the place to smithereens to complete the annihilation.

What do I think about the book?
Hmmm… I think I got smarter after reading it :-D

I can now talk about the potential harm of tweaking stuff on minuscule level without considering its future consequences.
It would be like introducing vector A to kill vector B only to realize that vector A is harmful to the environment and will go on to kill vector C, D and E.

Told you I’m smarter now...hehehe…

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Sometimes long winded explanation on scientific stuff; which is essential to the progress of the storyline but drags the pace of the story itself

Pros:
1) Ingenious assimilation of family problems with technical mumbo-jumbo in one action packed storyline.
2) One of few novels I’ve read with citations to actual thesis/dissertation/white paper on actual researches done.

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

2010-04-20T11:45:00.004+08:00

"Once upon a time, there was a prostitute named Maria"

Grabbed your attention didn’t I? :-D

Don’t blame yourself. It’s a perfectly normal reaction because that’s how Paulo’s novel entitled “Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho” grabbed mine as well :-) not one, but twice!

What a grand way to start a book about prostitution.

Why it is titled “Eleven Minutes”? Why not “Twelve Minutes” or “X Minutes”?

If the title bugs you as how it has bugged me, the explanation (as what our protagonist, Maria “discovered”) is that on average; it takes only ELEVEN minutes to complete the whole act of copulation and yet people are obsessed with it. Now you learnt something new eh? :-P so go ahead and time yourself... hehehe...

Now back to the book review :-)

Contrary to what you read in other review sites, this book is not “porn-ish” enough to be categorized as porn, nor lurid enough to be lumped together with “Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk”.

In this novel, our pretty heroine; Maria suffers from her first unrequited love and determines that she will never trust anyone with her heart again. A chance encounter on her trip to Rio promises her an opportunity to leave her Brazil homeland to an "adventurous trip" to Switzerland.
From thence onwards, our heroine was pushed into sleazy limelight; working first as dancer and then as prostitute by night and voracious book reader by day.

The difference between Maria and normal prostitutes (as depicted in the novel) is that Maria is constantly on the search for the “sacred sex” and not the “wham-bang-thank-you-maam” kind of experience.
She “endured” the job and accumulated enough money for her trip home only to defer her decision when she met 2 guys of different persona.
A painter named Ralf Hart; who lost interest in the sexual part of the relationship and on the lookout for “sacred sex” himself. And a guy simply named Terence; who drove Maria out from her usual sexual experience and embark on a dangerous ride towards pleasure of sadism and masochism.

So who does Maria chose in the end? Sacred sex or S&M? Read this review until the end if you wanna know the spoiler :-P

If I’m a naïve girl reading this book (this is only an assumption :-P), I might be convinced to try and seek out the “sexually filled self discovery journey” befitting Paulo’s theme in this book. Just joking :-D

In my opinion, plot of this novel does not deviate far from Paulo’s consistent theme derived from his hit-selling “The Alchemist”. Books by Paulo (at least the ones I’ve read) tend to favour the prospect of self discovery. In this case, "Eleven Minutes"; though packaged in the world of prostitution and sex, does not disappoint. The only plus point is that the reader gets to peek into a world rarely seen from the sexual workers’ point of view.

So after reading this book twice (as mentioned earlier), perhaps I can start to pen my own book which starts off with:

“Once upon a time, there was a gigolo named xxxx” :-P

Spoiler ahead:
So, who did Maria chose in the end?
Ralf Hart of course! Who would want to get tied up, candle wax dripped on their skin or spanked all the time :-D

P/s: Thanks to this “porn-ish” book, I went on to create a “mini-library” of my own with catalogues of books I’ve read and books I’ve reviewed. In fact, this is the only book that I read twice without realizing it (once in paperback, once in e-book).

Personal rating: 6 out of 10

Cons:
1) I think it sounded too Disney-like albeit with sexually charged promise of “living happily ever after”. So reader should be open-minded when they read this book.

Pros:
1) Insight into the world of prostitution

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

2010-04-16T16:08:00.000+08:00

Excerpt from the main opening of the book entitled “The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton”.

Satan is glad – when I am bad
And hopes that I – with him shall lie
In fire and chains – and dreadful pains

- Victorian Child’s Poem, 1856

You know you’re in for a good ride… errrr… a good read when you have Michael’s book in your lap. His book is thoroughly enjoyable and is often irresistibly delicious to read. So much so that forsaking your sleep to turn the pages and read seems worthwhile.

Written in 1975 (way before I was born :-P), this book is what I would categorize as one of the most readable book despite being written mostly in Victorian Era’s speech and slang. Unlike "DBC Pierre’s Vernon God Little" which read like a choked carburetor, this book is such a joy to read that I felt somewhat smarter in Victorian slang after reading it :-)

Great example (from the book) would be:
“Pierce asks him the question, see, but he shows no interest in the matter, he plays like a flimp or a dub buzzer, or a mutcher, no interest or importance, and this because he don’t want the skipper to granny that a bone lay is afoot. Now the skipper should have done, we went to a lot of trouble on his account, and he could have put down on us to the miltonians, and for a pretty penny too, but he hasn’t the sense, otherwise why’d he be a skipper, eh?”

Catch no ball? Explanation’s in the book :-) So if you feel like knowing what’s afoot in that particular paragraph, then don’t hesitate to grab this book ASAP.

Now back to the review :-)

With Victorian era England as the backdrop, this novel is about a charismatic but enigmatic protagonist named Edward Pierce, who assembled a “crack team” in their attempt to steal the shipment of gold transported monthly from London to France in order to support the Crimean War.

Crucial foundation of this robbery is to get their hands on keys to the heavyset safes used to keep the gold shipment. This is easier said than done because each of the keys are located and safeguarded by different personnel at different locations. On top of that, multiple levels of security are added to make the shipment as safe as possible.

Though faced with various impossibilities, our anti-hero managed to plan and execute it flawlessly until his main accomplice “turn nose” on him.

The story was told from various point-of-views; in which, primary “voice” is uttered evidence during court proceedings (when they were finally caught but Pierce managed to escape in the end and Agar was sent to Australia in exile). As the story progresses, Michael managed to infuse additional information and clarification on customs, slang and bits and pieces related to Victorian era England, which made the overall read an enjoyable one.

If I were to imagine the book as an ice-cream, then the taste would be rum raisin... my personal favourite... :-) tasty and you’ll definitely feel sated long after you’ve finished the book.
Frankly I don’t know what I am trying to say here... hehehe... aiya... cincai la... :-P

Personal rating: 9 out of 10

Cons:
1) I couldn’t find any flaw with this novel. No wonder it was adapted into movie starred by the good looking old man :-) Sean Connery (I haven’t watched the movie yet though)

Pros:
1) An enjoyable read. So much so that I have “panda eyes” as I read right till late night :-D

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

2010-04-12T18:54:00.006+08:00

What a f*cken sh*tcase book. The problem with this f*cken book is that it is filled with so many f*cking words in its f*cking paragraphs that I think it should be renamed as “The Greatest F*cken Book” ever.
This book is so thoroughly laced with profanities that it should be placed behind bars lest the minors read it.

Despite these f*cken profanities (pardon me but I’m getting hooked by the sound of it now :-P), it emerged as a surprise winner for the Man Booker Award 2003. Surprise surprise indeed :-)

After such an interesting opening, let us move on to the boring part of the book review; which is the book review itself. Hey, I didn’t say book review is cool & fun... in fact, it is hard to do you know... sob sob sob (Drama King took over again :-P)

What can I say about this book? Hmmm… let me think… ummm… (Give me some time here, I’m trying to sound intelligent now :-D)

Told from Vernon’s point of view, this book is about his misadventure starting from the small town of Martirio (where he lives with his widowed mother). Vernon’s friend, Jesus Navarro killed his schoolmates before turning the gun on himself. As for Vernon, he is the unfortunate soul to shoulder the dishonorable title of a scapegoat in a town lusting for revenge and retribution. Fearing for his life, he goes on a run to Mexico only to be caught by the police.

With this fact, his “fate” as a fugitive and accessory to murder is sealed and his lifestyle came under intense public scrutiny often with hilarious effects and anecdotes.

After an intense and highly charged court prosecution; when it seems that all hope is lost (here’s the spoiler :-P); he is saved by none other than the sh*t he shat when the murder happened. Yes, you heard that right, they found the class paper he used to wipe his a$$ and prove without reasonable doubt that he has a solid alibi, thus ending the speculation that he’s the accessory for the killings.

So what do I think about this book? Truthfully? Please read on then :-)

Besides being filled to the brim with profanities (as mentioned earlier), this book is laced with even more Texas jargons and slang that reading without stumbling (or re-read) seems impossible.
The flow of the story is not “flow-y” enough to be enjoyed. Think of it like driving a car with chocked carburetor or clogged fuel injectors.
In fact, I have difficulties finishing this book despite it getting great reviews (not to mention accolades by being crowned the Man Booker Winner for 2003).

So without mincing my words, I HATE this book!

It is supposed to be a satire about everything and anything American but the joke about killing your classmate touches on raw nerves.
In my opinion, the satire falls flat and depiction of the dumb-dumb Vernon who supposedly represents the angst ridden youth of America is so out of tune and thoroughly misguided.
As I read this book, I could feel my hatred growing for such an obnoxious and downright stupid character of Vernon.
If these facts did not deter you from reading this f*ucken book, I don’t know what else would. However, if you insist on buying this f*ucken book, please read thru the front, mid and end section before you part with your hard earned money.

Personal rating: 4 out of 10

Cons:
1)I thought the review is filled with negativity? Still not enough to deter you from buying it? :-P

Pros:
1) What is good about the book? Hmmm… perhaps the boldness of DBC Pierre of taking such a topic and satirised it to his whims and fancies.

The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho

2010-04-09T21:12:00.004+08:00

Paulo Coelho. The famous writer the world loves and most well known for his book entitled “The Alchemist”. I have to admit that I was a compulsive book buyer when I first started. I tend to buy all books from one writer at one go. BIG MISTAKE :-(

I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way; so ladies and gentlemen, please do not buy books compulsively (especially from one writer at one go) because writers are like engineers too… they have “mood” when they work.. opppsss... write. :-P

Therefore, some of the novels might be appealing while others would be appalling (depending on their mood :-P). One such novel which unfortunately fell in the latter category is entitled “The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho”.

Of all the books from Paulo, I like this THE LEAST! I wouldn’t want to divulge on the details but as per the summary at the back of the book, which reads as follow:

“Why do we destroy the things we love most? This is the question Paulo Coelho faces as he confronts his past. On a forty-day quest into the starkly beautiful and sometimes dangerous Mojave Desert, Paulo and his wife, Cristina, encounter the Valkyries, strange warrior women who travel the desert on motorcycles.”

Great promise nonetheless. But as I read thru the book, I came to the realization that this is a book about Paulo’s journey towards self discovery! I was so disappointed with my book selection that I had to force myself to slug thru the book.

Imagine reading thru the book about something so detached from your consciousness that there is no linkage whatsoever.

I kept cursing myself that I’ve wasted my blood & sweat money over another book which I can’t enjoy in the first place.

If someone were to tell me to look into my soul and evaluate my past, present and future after reading this book, I would advise the person to go back, drink some wine (or hot milk or whatever drink you prefer la..), take a good rest and talk to me tomorrow. :-)

Personal rating: 4 out of 10 (for the effort to record his journey of self discovery)

Cons:
1)What is there to glean from especially if the book is about another person’s self discovery? To learn from his/her experience? If the answer is YES, then I would suggest you (yes, you who read this review) to talk to the elders and learn a thing or two from them from first hand point of view.

Pros:
1) N/A

The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri

2010-04-08T15:55:00.002+08:00

Onions... I was chopping onions for omelets the other day during my short reading break when I stumbled upon a linkage... a revelation so to speak.
Plot of this book entitled “The Death of Vishnu” by Manil Suri is so similar to onions. Why onions right? Well, let me explain :-) (I love explaining you know :-))

Like most of the Asian writers, the storyline and characters grow in tandem with each other, thoroughly entwined and there is no way to review the book either from generic or holistic point of view. It is therefore really hard to review these books without losing the essence itself.

As such, I have no choice but to revert to the tried and tested method of reviewing only the main characters of the book as initially done in this blog for “Evening Is The whole Day by Preeta Samarasan”.

To put it mildly, I will “peel” the characters apart akin to peeling onions one layer at a time :-) see the linkage now? Brilliant eh? Hehehehe… Okok... basket case here... :-P

Main character is Vishnu, as the title suggests and as we read on, we’re introduced to the rest of the families staying in one particular apartment in the midst of Mumbai city.
These families are then brought into focus one after another and how they are linked to the others. Without further ado, here are the characters/families in the book and their interactions:

Main character; Vishnu:
A runner or odd job man hired to serve the families staying in the apartment. His “home” is at the ground floor landing of the apartment.
He is despised but tolerated by the families there. He lays dead/dying on the floor landing but is ignored by the rest of the families. In this novel, his ethereal body “walks” up from floor to floor passing (or rather bypassing) all the events surrounding his mortal life.
This book is basically the recollection of Vishnu’s life experiences with respect to his mother, the Pathaks, the Jalals, the Asranis, the Tanejas, Padmini and other “ikan bilis” (anchovies) characters.
Padmani; the whore/lover, in my opinion, is the most interesting part of the book… so much so that I’ve allocated a slot just for her :-D)

The Pathaks and The Asranis:
Not on friendly term with each other. Both strives to outdo each other; even to the extent of claiming who took care of Vishnu the most (in truth, both have this love-hate relationship with Vishnu instead). Wife of both families often argued (amongst themselves and with their husband) over trivial matters.

The Jalals:
A dysfunctional Muslim family, in which the husband is actively seeking explanation for everything and ended up disillusioned over his alleged revelation that Vishnu is a God reincarnate. The son, Salim who fell in love with Kavita (The Asrani's daughter) and eloped though Kavita dropped the idea midway and returned to the family.

The Tanejas:
Their relationship is the epitome of an arranged marriage. The story follows on the way they were introduced to each other, how they moved onwards until the shocking news when Sheetal was diagnosed with incurable cancer. When she finally succumbed to her disease, Vinod became a recluse, shutting himself from all the cares of the world.

Padmani:
The whore who managed to twist Vishnu to spend his every cent on her (I kept wondering how Vishnu managed to get the dough to seek Padmani out on regular basis :-P). Her grip on Vishnu is so strong that Vishnu "borrowed" one of the tenants' car just to drive her around and Vishnu nearly went crazy when he discovered that Padmini has gone without a trace on one fine day.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Too many layers within the storyline. Perhaps a good thing but I grew weary of such a complicated read :-S
2) Hard to review this book without dropping most of the details.

Pros:
1) Manil is able to portray the interaction between different layers of the society via the make-believe apartment dwellers.
2) Not only that, he managed to compress the complexities surrounding the touchy issue of religion in such a nice and presentable "package".

Touching Story

2010-04-06T10:19:00.002+08:00

Sometimes information sent via internet can yield surprising results.. for example, I received the following story in my mailbox the other day and it sounded “sinisterly” like excerpt from Chicken Soup for the Soul thingy.
Whatever the reasons, my eyes glistened and my soul is comforted knowing that somewhere out there, there are still kind souls like you and me :-)

Without further ado, please enjoy the following story:

I arrived at the address where someone had requested a taxi. I honked but no one came out. I honked again, nothing. So I walked to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets..

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'..
'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.
'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.
'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.

'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?
What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

p/s#1: If any of you know who’s the writer, please let me know so that I can place his/her credit here. Thanks.

p/s#2: someone emailed me the link to the story. thank u so very much for the link... this is Captain Thank You saying thank you and not Ciplak Me saying thank you :-) so thank you and thank me for confusing you with countless thank yous.. :-P

Source: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cabbie.htm

This from the pen of inspirational writer Kent Nerburn. The story is true and happened to him in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the early 1980's. At the time he was working as a driver for the Yellow Cab company and worked what he called "the dog shift" overnight.
The story was originally published in a book by Nerburn titled "Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace" and published by Harper, San Francisco.

The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim

2010-04-05T23:59:00.001+08:00

How often do we see a book written about Japanese occupation on Korean soil? It is almost the same as the review I wrote about the Aztecs (click here); which means that it’s almost rare for someone to pen a fictional novel based on such “touchy” issues. Thus, when I saw this book entitled “The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim”, I didn’t even hesitate to bundle it up and bring it back home with me.

The storyline is about a young woman who fights for her future in a Japanese occupied Korea. Simple introduction nonetheless but it opens up with even greater promises in the first few chapters only to go downhill after that :-(

In its barest essence, it is about a privileged nameless daughter whose dad is a famous and aristocratic calligrapher simply known as Han. Initially despised by his dad, she remained nameless and only known by the make believe name of Najin Han.

As befitting the aristocratic families of ancient times, family ties were strengthened via arranged marriage. Thus, when his staunchly traditional dad arranged for her marriage to another aristocratic family of great lineage, her mom rebelled and sent Najin Han to serve as companion to a young princess in the dying imperial Korean court.

This sets precedence to chain of events in which her dad, mom, brother and the rest of the characters are embroiled in one hardship after another; trying to live their lives hanging between traditionalistic and modernistic approach in the midst of Japanese forced occupancy. Najin Han eventually got married but separated from her husband only to be reunited towards the end of the novel.

In my opinion, the background of this story is good as it introduced us to the ancient Korean customs and how it interacts and grow in tandem with the harsh occupancy of the Japanese regime on Korean soil.

On the other hand, continuous and on-going reference to Jesus Christ (seriously no offense meant here) peppered ubiquitously on every little thing and subjugation of fate to Holy interference sounds to me like an evangelists at work conveyed via the backdrop of historical fiction.

Personal rating: 6 out of 10 (note the "tone" of my review and you can basically judge the allure of this book)

Cons:
1)Read the review especially on the final paragraph.

Pros:
1)Read the review especially on the second final paragraph.

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

2010-04-03T00:14:00.006+08:00

Some songs can be just plain addictive.
I have played this song continuously for so many times that I practically lost count... no joke...
Try listening to the song yourself and I bet you will get hooked to it as well...

Well, either you like the song itself or you like the lyric...
As for me, both must match... it won't do if they have crappy tune but good lyric and vice versa right?

So, as I listen to the song repeatedly, I crooned to it as well... I sang and I sang all the way from work to home...

Some people say I have Frank Sinatra's voice... hahahahah... OK... not a funny joke :-P

Here's the lyric extracted from: http://www.elyricsworld.com/

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor
Reachin for the phone cause I can't fight it anymore
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

Another shot of whiskey can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothin at all
It's a quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
I just need you now
Ooo, baby, I need you now

P/S: I wonder if you do agree that songs can sometimes evoke feelings you never knew you had... what crossed your mind as you listen to any particular song?

Lost in translation: The Lovely Bones became The Broken Bones

2010-03-30T12:05:00.005+08:00

Caution: Drama King took over the normally sensible gentleman today :-)

Ladies and gentlemen, I have watched the movie purportedly adapted from the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
I practically cried (not openly la of course.. :-P) when I watched The Lovely Bones.. In fact, I was practically on the edge of being hysterical over the movie!

It is in short; an utterly, completely, grossly, starkly, egregiously RUBBISH MOVIE.

Watching the movie breaks my heart. I kept wondering how can someone twisted the storyline so badly that it felt like they’ve re-wrote the whole book altogether.
I can’t even explain the magnitude of disappointment rushing thru my veins as I watched the movie; comparing the images captured via my eyes with the make-believe images in my brain gleaned from the book.

Nothing’s right from the start and I was so tempted to stop watching halfway thru the movie but my persistence and being an ever-optimistic person; I braved on.
Up till the end, I thought they will at least let Mr. Harvey die the “right way (as in the book)” but NOOOOOO… they even took that “comfort” away and twisted that last itsy-bitsy part.

I think my aversion on book to silver screen adaptation is rightly justified and concretely cemented after watching this movie.

To those who plan to watch this movie, please don’t read the book before or even after the movie.
Or better still, read the book and discard the intention to watch the movie altogether.

As what my dear friend quoted aptly:

Lost in translation: The Lovely Bones became The Broken Bones

P/s: At least they selected really good and convincing actors and actresses for this movie. Kudos to them.

Earth Day 2010, 27 March 2010 @ 2030hrs

2010-03-26T10:28:00.001+08:00

Guess what, I’ve written about the same topic exactly one year ago… and come to think of it, this blog is officially more than 1 year old :-) Yippee!
It has been a sweet journey penning my thoughts in this very blog..
Not about personal stuff but at least I get to share what I like best.. reading and talking nonsense :-P
On the other hand, I do hope that I can find the time to scan, crop and review all the books which I’ve read previously (before blog sphere was created :-P)

Oh.. Earth Day 2010 is back! Date and time? 27 March 2010 @ 2030hrs.
This time with a vengeance because the hype is everywhere.
It’s touted as an event which will help to create awareness on the Earth’s climate change.
For those who “feel/care deeply” about this Earth Day initiative, please visit the following website:

http://www.earthhour.org/About.aspx

On a more personal note, I won’t be switching off all my electricity for one hour. In fact, I’m adamant to stick to what I’ve said last year.
To me, this is a good initiative (as an awareness campaign) but it is a hyped up plan nonetheless.
I refuse to participate in the influx of herd mentality simply because I believe the initiative has lost the real meaning over the years.
People will take it at face value that by switching off electricity for one hour/year, we’re already doing our part.

But the truth is deeper than that. Example of things which you can do to help conserve our Mother Earth can be done via one of the following personal initiatives (I do practice what I preached):

1. Do not use cadmium based batteries. Discard all batteries at allocated recycling centers instead of chucking them in your dustbin.
2. Use your own shopping bags. Minimise/eliminate the use of plastic bags.
3. When buying takeaway food from roadside, bring your own containers or tiffin carriers.
4. Use energy efficient light bulbs and electrical appliances.
5. Use as less resources as possible (water, electricity, food and etc).
6. Et cetera.. et cetera…

Don’t feel bad if you’re not following the “in thing/trend”.
If you feel that you’ve done your part to help Mother Earth on daily basis, then be at peace with your own conscience and so be it.

So there you go. Earth Day is coming and the choice is up to you :-)
Happy Earth Day ladies and gentlemen :-)

The Art of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

2010-03-24T20:00:00.005+08:00

People tend to say “do not judge a book by its cover”. But here I am saying otherwise especially for this book entitled “The Art of the Samurai (Hagakure) by Yamamoto Tsunetomo”.
It is a hardcover with cloth material as its cover (nice, eye-catching orange coloured cover); plus there’s a sliver of book marker sewn into the book itself. Notice the bottom right of the end cover :-)

I have to admit that the title is really enticing too as it touches on bygone era when code of samurai rules the Land of the Rising Sun.
To be frank, I haven’t actually finished the book because:

1. It is a non-fiction. So I kinda get bored after some time :-P
2. It touches on the art of being a samurai. So the reader would have to reinterpret the meaning in the book based on their own understanding.
3. Please refer to Item #1 :-D

Okok, I admit that I’m being bias with this book but I can’t help it. I don’t seem to be able to finish any non-fiction book at all.

Those non-fiction books which I managed to finish (I can count using my fingers mind you) is either really thin or highly readable book like “1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies”.
I’m deviating from book review again :-P

For the uninitiated, this book is written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo; a samurai and a former retainer for Nabeshima Mitsushige; one of the countless ruler of ancient Japan.
It is one of the most important works in the era of feudalistic Japan where code of honour is above everything else.

This book captures the essence of bushidō (“The Way of the Warrior”) in which one will have to prepare himself in such a way that it would be an upmost honour to serve and die for his lord.

In the same breath, it can also be noted that the person who embodies the true spirit of bushidō will live his/her life as though he/she was already dead.
Wait, I can hear the song by Kris Allen – Live Like We’re Dying playing in my head now…hehehe..

Back to the book :-P
While the idea of living like a dead man (no pun intended) might seem like a foreign concept nowadays, it should be noted that the concept of bushidō is seen as an honourable practice during the age of feudalistic Japan.

Thus, as with any historical non-fiction book/literature/codes/laws (Example: The Code of Hammurabi which I’ve read but not finished as well :-P), this book capture the ideal and concept of practices which might be relevant on those bygone era and might not be applicable to our modern lifestyles.

So, it would be up to the reader to reinterpret the meaning of the book based on their own understanding (as mentioned in Item #2) ala Sun-Tzu; Art of War.

p/s: I hope I can be spiritually calm enough to absorb the hidden meanings of this book one day.

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

2010-03-17T23:15:00.000+08:00

"These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous lifeless body had been my life."

Notice the bolded, underlined, purplish font at the first sentence? If not, please scroll up now and then scroll back here to read the rest of the reviews :-)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is the much talked book by Alice Sebold entitled The Lovely Bones. When I first started to read the book, I kept wondering on the reason of the title’s selection. The “bing” moment came when I reached page 320 of the book when the actual word “lovely bones” is used. Before I rant on aimlessly, which I wont to do, let me move to the review of the book.

Truth to be told, I was a bit apprehensive when I picked up the book. That’s mainly because the excerpt at the back cover and the opening of the book is exactly the same, word-by-word. No synopsis like usual books. Zero. Nada. However, the story starts earnest once I’ve read thru the first “hurdle”. The storyline gets even more complicated after that as Susie watches her family torn apart and then back again, which can be summarized as follow (I will conveniently mention only the Salmon family members):

· The main character, Susie Salmon who was lured into an underground cabin. She was subsequently raped, murdered, dismembered and chopped up by George Harvey. Her spirit refused to let go and watches over everyone from her own version of heaven where she met the bunch of girls murdered by George as well.

· Her dad, Jack Salmon who couldn’t really overcome the fact that her daughter’s dead. He strongly suspected that George Harvey is the killer but unable to prove it.

· Her mother, Abigail Salmon has an affair with the detective, Len Fenerman. She then moved to a winery at California to cool things off and lives her own life. Only to join back her family when her husband, Jack Salmon had heart attack.

· Her sister, Lindsey Salmon who lost her virginity under an overturned sampan to her boyfriend/fiancé/husband, Samuel Heckler in her bid to grow up. Her dad voiced out his suspicion on George Harvey to her and she broke into the murderer’s house to look for evidence.

· Her brother, Buckley Salmon who gradually learnt that her sister is dead. He sometimes sees Susie’s spirit when she watches over them. Buckley is the only person who has the balls to “screw” her mom when she came back after leaving her family when they needed her the most.

· Her grandma (I like her grandma the most :-)), Grandma Lynn, an alcoholic, fast talker, expert jabber, eccentric mother of Abigail who moved into Jack’s home when Abigail left the family.

· Not forgetting Ruth Connors who was touched by Susie’s soul as she departed the human realm. Susie came back years later to possess her body and make sweet love to Ray Singh; who happens to be Susie’s main crush at the back of Hal Heckler’s motorcycle repair shop.

· Last but not least, George Harvey who murdered Susie and many others with almost similar modus operandi. He moved out of the neighbourhood when he found out that the Salmons suspected him. He was not caught by enforcement officers but was killed when a large icicle dropped on his head and he fell into a ravine as he approached and spurred by his latest victim at a bus-stop. What a way to die for a serial killer.

This is the kind of book which I think hardly belongs to any genre. I’m not a categorically correct person but I think it’s NOT a:

Thriller
Example: Susie Salmon was killed and chopped into pieces. The only body part found is her elbow dug up by the neighbour’s dog.

Suspense
Example: Susie’s sister broke into the murderer’s house to look for evidence on behalf of her dad.

Action
Example: When Jack ran to the cornfield when he sees flashlight in the middle of the night, assuming that George Harvey is on the prowl again. Only to be whacked by Brian (Susie’s best friend; Clarissa’s boyfriend) this resulted Jack having to undergone knee surgery.

Whew… I finally managed to finish the review :-P
What do I think of the book? Ummm… do read the pros and cons. Else it will be too long to be considered a book review :-P

P/S: The movie will be shown in Malaysia really soon! Can’t wait :-)

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) Really slow moving book. In fact, I nearly gave up reading the book at the front part of the story.

2) I still can’t grasp the reason Abigail moved away from the family. It might just be me or the reasons are not really solid in my opinion.

3) George Harvey died an easy death. Almost too easy.

Pros:
1) Characters developed over series of life experiences and over time. So patience is a must when reading this novel.

2 )Touching story (certain chapters only). Pity the dad. I get emotional when the dad recounted happier days living with her daughters.

Bragging rights :-P

2010-03-12T12:30:00.004+08:00

First of all, let me clarify that I’m not trying to glorify my blog entries nor promote any particular author :-)
BUT, let me soak myself in happy mood and allow me to brag because something exceptional happened on 9 March 2010 @ 10.50pm.

As usual, I will pen my book reviews based on my own personal perception.
However, on this particular day, after I’ve reviewed the book entitled “Hannibal Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham”, something happened to my blog entry in the middle of the night!

To be more precise, I received multiple sms-es from my dear friend on an earth shattering news (at least for me :-P) regarding my blog entry!

I jumped off my bed and when I checked the comment column, I was shocked to read comment from the writer himself!!!

I mean, what are the odds of a prolific and well known author going to a puny “syiok-sendiri” (translation: self-loving) blog like mine to note his appreciation?

I practically jumped and hopped around my study room upon reading those comments. No joke!
I’m still on cloud 9 and it is indeed an honour to be recognised by the author himself :-D

Thanks so much to David for his comments!
And not forgetting... thanks to GracieMei for waking me up in the middle of the night with the breaking news! :-)

P/s: now I have something to brag about… hehehehe

Hannibal Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham

2010-03-09T18:00:00.000+08:00

I can’t believe that I’m finally penning my review on this book after years of neglect. The book is slightly yellowish due to environmental exposure. In due time (perhaps after hundreds of years); this book will cease to exist altogether. You might perhaps think what the hell am I talking about here :-) so, let me explain (I sure love to explain and come up with excuses...hehe)

The thing about this book is that it left me with such a profound thought that I can’t help but to marvel at how thorough the Romans are in erasing the very bit of history related to the Carthaginians.

This book is a fiction loosely based on the life of Hannibal Barca; one of the world’s greatest commanders (not Hannibal Lecter; the human steak eater mind you). The Barca family lived during the time when war is the only constant thing in an ever shifting landscape of military supremacy.

Most of the historical novels I’ve read tend to favour the big wigs as the centerpiece. However, with this book, we’re introduced even to the minnows and how the war affected their families, friends and their rise and fall within the war party led by their enigmatic leader; Hannibal Barca.

Hannibal stamped his presence in the face of history by commanding joint forces of various races and beasts, regions and states over the Alps in his attempt to destroy the infant Roman Republic.
He managed to win wars along the way until he was back-stabbed by his own empire’s refusal to commit more resources to complete the annihilation of the Romans once and for all.

The author wrote this book with such clarity that I can “feel” the anticipation before and after the war; even on the way they rouse themselves to face a certain death. Gore and glory intermingle in their quest to remain victorious over their foes.

Carthage’s eventual downfall led to the complete destruction of the very trace of their civilization by the Romans, which brings us back to the reality of the first paragraph.

In other words, how did Hannibal’s name survived through the ages?

We have a saying in Malaysian language (peribahasa Bahasa Malaysia):

“Kalau gajah mati meninggalkan gading, harimau mati meninggalkan belang, manusia mati meninggalkan nama”

Don’t worry, I will translate it word-by-word (without grammar correction… just for the sake of it :-P)

“If elephant die leaves tusks, tiger die leaves stripes, human die leaves name” (grammatically incorrect version)

P/S: There’s unconfirmed rumour that Hannibal’s quest will be adapted into silver screen acted by Vin Diesel... I hope it will come true… yahoo!

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) It would be a better experience if anyone who bought this book has some basic knowledge on the ancient warfare.

Pros:
1) Realistic point-of-view. It is like you’re looking through the warrior’s own eyes. The anticipation, the pain, the hunger and the eventual release via death.
2) Refer to the review or read the book itself :-)

The BBC National Short Story Award (2009) by Various Writers

2010-03-01T02:00:00.001+08:00

After reading countless books depicting various themes and genres on thick; full length novels, I’ve decided to take a breather (another one after the sensual stories earlier :-)) and decided to read short stories instead.

I’ve read quite a number of short stories but the one that I can really recall is entitled “The Minority Report” written by Philip K. Dick. The main reason is due to the adaptation of the short story into full movie starred realistically by none other than the enigmatic Tom Cruise.

To cut the story short (metaphorically speaking); I didn’t want to browse around for short stories for too long. Thus, I bought the collection of best short stories for 2009. And in this case, I’ve selected the winners of The BBC National Short Story Award for 2009.

This book consists of 5 winners/writers and they are:

· Naomi Alderman; Other People’s God
· Kate Clanchy; The Not Dead and the Saved
· Sara Maitland; Moss Witch
· Jane Rogers; Hitting Trees with Sticks
· Lionel Shriver; Exchange Rates

Below are reviews for each of the stories mentioned above; and I promise you it is going to be a short review as befitting the story itself :-P

Naomi Alderman; Other People’s God
Story about a Jew named Mr. Bloom who bought an Indian God idol, Ganesha into his home and started to pray to it. His whole family then followed suit and felt “bestowed” by the newly introduced deity.
However, their neighbourhood rabbi came to know about it and in order to bring Mr. Bloom back to the “right-path”; he smashed the idol into smithereens. Thus, turning the ever gentle Mr. Bloom into angst filled person.

Kate Clanchy; The Not Dead and the Saved
There are no names for the characters. The Son is playing “The Son”; The Mother is playing “The Mother” and so on… if you get what I mean ;-)
It is basically about a terminally ill “Son” and the “Mother’s” tumulus relationship in which “The Son” is trying to live a separate life and “The Mother” is always there by his side to support him throughout his struggle with his illness and his life.

Sara Maitland; Moss Witch
This is a really strange story because at the start of the story, we’re introduced to the legend of the Moss Witches and by the end of the story; even I tend to believe that Moss Witches really exists.
It is about a bryologist who ventured into a moss filled jungle and stumbled upon a Moss Witch live in action. The bryologist was astounded by the knowledge of the Moss Witch as she rattled and muttered common and scientific names of various genera of mosses; from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered species.
However, the sweet story ended when the Moss Witch murdered the bryologist as he attempted to take some moss samples in front of her. She then stuffed the bryologist’s body with various mosses before instructing “them” (the mosses) to overtake the body and to grow as fast as possible; thus erasing the very trace of the murdered bryologist.

Jane Rogers; Hitting Trees with Sticks
I’m taking a really simplistic approach here but rest assured that this is another beautifully written short story from a perspective which I’ve never “experienced” before.
The gist of this funny story is about a suspected senile old lady who ventured out to her garden to check for her shopping items only to be locked out of her own house in the process. Out of place and no place to vent her anger, she grasped the garden broom and whacked the old tree in her garden.

Lionel Shriver; Exchange Rates
What would you do after you’ve dined with your dad? Who will pick up the bill? Is it the son’s responsibility of the father’s?
In this heart-warming story, the dad picked up the bill but then requested the son to provide free service to cash out his check and convert the currency in the process. However, due to currency fluctuation and in-depth anger of the son over the feeling of being short-changed by the currency exchange; the son remitted the conversion rate lower than the dad’s expectation.
His satisfaction over the deal ended prematurely when his dad passed away shortly after he sent a nasty email to his dad explaining about the short change.

Personal rating:

No rating but it is indeed a different set of genre compared to full length novels. A refreshing read indeed.

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

2010-02-23T14:00:00.003+08:00

I consider the Chinese New Year week as my most productive holiday ever because I managed to finish 3 books within that week.

But since I’m such a lazy slog, I’ve decided to pen my thoughts on the books one after another; taking my own sweet time of course

With my mp3 player blasting “Second Chance by Shinedown”; here I am penning my next review on a book entitled “The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton”.

Yes, the book is old. As old as I don’t know since when :-P I’m lazy to Google for the publication detail :-P

Anyway, here’re my thoughts on the book:

Book review
I guess most would have read the book.

So I will keep the review as simple as possible. It is a nice fast paced read compared to some of the books from Michael.

The plot revolves around the recovery activity of military satellite which crash landed on a small town in none other than USA (Piedmont, Arizona).

It purportedly carries with it some extra-terrestrial microorganism which quickly clots the blood of exposed life form on Earth.

This triggers a covert operation called “Wildfire” (manned by 5 selected individuals; each expert in their own field) on top of the already covert operation to retrieve, identify and neutralize the threat before it spread.

Their only hope lies on identifying the natural body resistance of two surviving inhabitants of Piedmont known as Peter Jackson and Jamie Ritter.

So, did they succeed in their quest while remain stuck in ultra secretive, ultra-secure underground facility?

After much actions and nail biting suspense, it was discovered that the extra-terrestrial microorganism changed into benign form and did not harm any lives in the end.

P/s: I finally Google-ed about the book and found out that I read the book 41years late :-D

It was published in 1969 and I think it was probably written during the height of Cold War/Space Race between USA and USSR :-)

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) Fast paced read. A real page turner :-)

2) Description of the ultra secure facility is a real eye opener, especially on the methods taken to ensure no contamination of subsequent secure chambers

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - We must not become the region’s imitation hub

2010-02-23T10:30:00.001+08:00

MALAYSIANS have definitely moved towards the higher income group as seen in their use of branded goods. However, it remains to be seen if the items are genuine.

“Habitual fake goods vendor held,” (The Star, Jan 15) and “Loco about Coco’s brand,” (Sunday Star, Jan 24), are rather disturbing.

A stroll through tourist spots will reveal fake goods displayed prominently on shelves.
Our enforcement officers should be commended for their efforts to nip this problem in the bud.

However, efforts should also be taken to educate the public against buying imitation goods.
Imitation samples and notifications of penalties awaiting imitation goods traffickers should be placed at all entry points.

Imitation goods will not only destroy the creativity and prestige of the brand but also indirectly affect the image of the person using it. Let us not mar our country’s image by becoming the imitation hub of this region.

CIPLAK,
George Town.

Published on: Tuesday February 23, 2010

ORIGINAL VERSION

Proliferation of fake goods

Malaysians in general have definitely moved towards higher income group with outward display of wealth projected via usage of branded goods.

However, it remains to be known if the items in use are genuine or otherwise.

With newspaper report “Habitual fake goods vendor held; published on 15 Jan 2010” and comment from Dzireena Mahadzir entitled “Loco about Coco’s brand; published on 24 Jan, 2010”, the negative trend is rather disturbing indeed.

A simple stroll across well known tourist spots in any Malaysian cities will reveal fake goods displayed prominently on shelves or countertops.

In fact, proliferation of fake goods have reached even to the local night market scene and seen as a norm nowadays.

Our enforcement officers should be commended for their continuous and relentless effort to nip this problem at the bud.

However, effort should also be placed to educate the general public to refrain from buying imitation goods.

Imitation samples and notifications announcing penalties awaiting imitation good traffickers should be placed at all Malaysian entry points.

It should be known that imitation goods will not only destroy the creativity and prestige of the brand but will also indirectly affect the image of the person using it.

Let us not mar our country’s image by becoming the imitation hub of this region.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 19 Feb 2010

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!

2010-02-18T15:04:00.003+08:00

By the time I penned this entry, Chinese New Year would have entered its fifth day.
I started writing this entry on the eve of first day; that is during the reunion dinner day & haven’t posted it up till now :-P

Reunion Dinner
Why I like reunion dinner?

To me, Chinese New Year doesn’t “feel” like Chinese New Year if there’s no reunion dinner.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that food have to be abundant nor families extended all the way until “cucu-cicit” but the real essence of reunion dinner is the effort to have a proper dinner together.
In fact, it might be the only time families come together and see each other to chat (or gossip; or compare) with each other.
Good or bad, this is the kind of practice which I hope will last for the years to come.

First day, second day, third day…..
No entries for all the days mentioned above as there were too many activities (sleeping is one of them :-P)..

Fourth day….
I think it’s not a good day to write anything due to superstitious sound of (according to different Chinese dialects):

· Si/See (Hokkien)
· Seí (Cantonese)
· Shì (Mandarin)

But since I’m not the real superstitious kind, I have decided to pen my thoughts on the 4th day of CNY.
*I didn’t finish my entry on this day as well :-D*

And now on the fifth day….
To all my family and friends, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO YOU… :-)
I know it’s rather belated but we have 15days of Chinese New Year celebration so I can still wish each and every one of you from 14 Feb onwards :-)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!
HAPPY HOLIDAY!!
May the year of the tiger brings roaring abundance of health, wealth, peace and prosperity to my family and friends :-D
*I’ve highlighted the standard portion of the Chinese New Year greetings*

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Improper road planning

2010-02-09T17:43:00.005+08:00

ORIGINAL VERSION

First of all, I would like to commend on the opening of additional lane on Penang Bridge and also the smoothly tarred road along the Jelutong Expressway.

However, the smooth travel stops the moment road users exit the bridge and head towards the Bayan Lepas area.

In fact, all the road users will have their smooth journey interrupted by the bottleneck at the exit point near the N-Park condominium.

The main reason of the bottleneck is the existence of a pedestrian overhead bridge which reduces the traffic from 4 lanes into 2 lanes within a span of 100meters.

In fact, this very pedestrian bridge affects the traffic flow of both sides of the road depending on the day-to-day traffic condition.

From what I noticed, most of the accidents happened directly or indirectly due to the bottleneck effect.

If the pedestrian overhead bridge is indeed underutilised, please scrap it off and expand the lanes to match the traffic from town or bridge direction and vice-versa.

This will save the state government or the traffic planning department from wasting their resources by conducting traffic survey only on appropriate and suitable areas.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 9 Feb 2010

The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin by Susan Stephens

2010-02-08T10:21:00.002+08:00

Precaution: These are not a serious reading materials :-)
P/S: I am going to copy and paste the general synopsis on 2 different book reviews :-)

General synopsis
We see a lot of reviews on mainstream books in newspaper columns, magazines, talk shows and etc.
However, after some time, I grew bored and restless after too many thick novels; written on diverse topics and plots.
Thus, I decided to take a breather and read love novels instead.

NOTE #1: notice the usage of plural term here “NOVELS” :-D
NOTE #2: These are not the usual love novels. These are love novels with “LOVE” as in making love and loving each other in it.

Seriously speaking, lurid imagination prevails when I stumbled upon (and bought) titles like “Capelli’s Captive Virgin” and “The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin”.
With those eye-catching titles, I’m pretty sure parents will beat their kids silly if they stumbled upon those books hidden underneath their pillows :-D
Anyway, without further ado, here are the reviews (I purposely omitted the names and generalize the storyline) *drum rolls please*:

The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin
Note: This is the England Rugby series as evidently shown by the England’s Rugby Rose emblem on the book cover.
It’s about a new-to-the-trade singer getting the ultimate exposure via wardrobe malfunction ala Janet Jackson in a major rugby competition presided by the ruthless billionaire (he’s a rugby fan).
The ruthless billionaire with scars (both physically and emotionally) sweeps her off her feet and whisked her to his private castle in Italy.
The lady (again a fast talking lady) slowly changed the gloom atmosphere of the castle and after another usual stuff mentioned in Note #2, they go back to their separate lives and refrained from keeping in touch with each other.
In the end, the lady managed to heal the ruthless billionaire’s emotional scar and they got married to each other.

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

Capelli's Captive Virgin by Sarah Morgan

2010-02-05T16:37:00.003+08:00

Anyway, without further ado, here are the reviews (I purposely omitted the names and generalize the storyline) *drum rolls please*:

Capelli’s Captive Virgin
In a nutshell, it’s about a fast talking lady (or rather a lady who talked and asked too much) looking for her sister who’ve worked with a ruthless divorce lawyer but absconded with the lawyer’s brother for an uninhibited sensual (or sexual *gasp*) escapades.

The lawyer whom hinted about free sex in practically everything he does (surprisingly he wasn’t sued for sexual harassment at all) challenged the lady to step in and take over her sister’s tasks at a private island owned by the lawyer.

Usual stuff ensued (refer to Note #2 for details :-P).

They go back to their separate lives after that and refrained from keeping in touch.
In the end, the ruthless lawyer had a change of heart; love prevails and they got married to each other.

THE END

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

2010-02-04T16:10:00.003+08:00

This is essentially an all American story.

The storyline is so simple that everyone who reads the synopsis at the end cover can basically draft out the overall plot in his/her head.

It is a story about a boy meeting up a lonely, dorky and goody type girl.

The boy initially disliked the idea of being around her or even to keep her company but they ended up falling in love with each other.

BUT THEN… jeng jeng jeng… there’s a twist in the storyline… *as usual :-)*

The girl is dying and the guy can’t do nuts about it…!!

Though Nicholas Sparks wrote this work of fiction on such a simplistic approach, he did it with bravado and managed to weave sentiment, emotion and breathe life into the characters. This is definitely a slow read but I find that the pace is just right for the character build-ups.

The progression of the couple’s relationship is so entwined that when the ball drops (figuratively speaking) towards the end, I had goosebumps all over and got all teary eyed.. I’m not joking.. :-S

This is a real tear jerker kind of book and little wonder it was adapted into silver-screen. I haven’t watched the movie though; perhaps its because I’m still having doubts over any mushy-mushy novel to silver screen adaptation after the disastrous “P.S I Love You” flick.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (points accorded by the sentimental side of me :-P)

Cons:
1) Slow pace of the novel can be a turn-off
2) Novel is based on a common plot which reads like the “Sup Ayam Untuk Jiwa (English translation: Chicken Soup for the Soul)” stories :-D

Pros:
1) Tear jerker :-S managed to make me have goose bumps and all teary eyed

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Respect each other's religion

2010-01-14T11:10:00.000+08:00

ORIGINAL VERSION

It was not long ago when I penned a review in my blog on a book entitled Tamas by Bhisham Sahni. In a nutshell, it is considered a modern classic book for its no-nonsense description of religious brutality inflicted on everyone prior to the partitioning of India and Pakistan.

As I read the book, I could not help but to draw parallel view and marvel at the multicultural diversity of our beloved country. From holistic point of view, Malaysia is really an epitome of a nation consisting of different race and religion whom contributed to the development of the nation one way or the other.

While this does not mean that recent incidences will lead to an all out religious struggle, we should nip all these uninhibited religious fervour at the bud. There is no doubt that the proprietors should be brought to court and dealt as severely as allowed under the court of law. But it is also worthwhile to look into the policies and circumstances to ensure that such incidents will not be repeated in near future.

However, it does remind us that although we are living in the 21st century, the stark realities of depressed religious fervour are very much alive in each and every one of us. As one stand-up comedian once said (I forgot which stand-up comedian said it though); “religious wars are fought to determine who has the best invisible friend”.

I truly believe that every religion only preaches peace, love and understanding to us.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 13 Jan 2010

Crusade by Robyn Young

2010-01-12T17:05:00.000+08:00

I can be a really lazy slog at times and those who're close to me will know that by heart :-P
Case in point is the review of this superbly written book entitled Crusade by Robyn Young.
It doesn't matter that I’ve finished reading the book MONTHS ago... but the point is that I’ve finished reading the book back-to-back from the prequel book entitled Brethren.

In this Templar’s sequel, we’re brought face-to-face with Will Campbell and his band of friends yet again. In the first book, Will is still an adolescent thrust into the countless webs of intrigue but managed to survive relatively unscathed. In this book however, Will has ran out of his string of good luck. His range of trouble is diverse as exemplified by the following summaries.

· From a group of greedy merchants wanting to restart the Holy War by plotting to steal the holy Muslim relic known as the Black Stone
· The return of his childhood friend, Garin de Lyons (under the employ of King Edward I) to extort more money from the clandestine organisation of Anima Templi
· Sultan Baybars closing in to identifying Will as the person who ordered the failed assassination attempt on his life
· Courting danger by contacting his fellow Anima Templi brethren in Egypt, the high ranking Kalawun in order to avert the all out Holy War
· To the final masterstroke in finding out that the child he thought he sired is actually fathered by Garin

This is only one side of the story because on Baybars and Kalawun’s side, the strings of counterplot are equally complicated due to the fact that his subjects are itching for an all out war themselves.
Both Baybars and Kalawun had to twist and chop (really chopped!) their way to quell the fire ignited by those who seek to overthrow and flush the remaining Franks from the Holy Land.
I will not divulge too much for the sake of brevity in my book review. But let it be known that this is indeed a good read.

As what I’ve mentioned in the prequel, this book can stand equally well on its own.
So, readers need not worry about the reading sequence (though it is advisable to do so :-)).
The sequel after Crusade (yes, there’s a sequel) is entitled Requiem (I haven’t bought this book yet :-P)

So to save the trouble of reading thru mismatched sequence, here is the lineup.

*drum rolls please*
BREATHREN followed by CRUSADE followed by REQUIEM (to be reviewed)

P/S: *wishful thinking*
I adore you Robyn Young!! (In case you stumbled upon my blog :-P), you’re a real star in putting so much effort in writing the trilogy.
10years (research, plot and etc) to write a book is a real big feat. Hats off to you :-)

http://www.robynyoung.com/index.html

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
I seriously couldn’t find any fault with this book.
Though I get a bit worn out after reading too many books about war :-P my bad... not the author :-)

Pros:
I’m too lazy to write the pros of this book (brazenly stated in the first line of the first paragraph).
Read thru the review or better, buy the book and enjoy the multi-layered complots and maze of deceits; all deliciously written and packed in an equally tasteful trilogy (I’m thinking about food now... yummy yummy :-D)

Beers :-)

2010-01-12T16:35:00.000+08:00

How many types of Beer are available to drink?
Here are the different styles you may come across at our stores or your favourite local brew pub.

Ale - originally liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation, as opposed to beer, which was made by the same process but flavoured with hops. Today ale is used for all beers other than stout.

Alt - means "old". A top fermented ale, rich, copper-coloured and full-bodied, with a very firm, tannic palate, and usually well-hopped and dry.

Amber Beer - ale with a depth of hue halfway between pale and dark.

Barley Wine - dark, rich, usually bittersweet, heavy ales with high alcohol content, made for sipping, not quaffing.

Bitter - the driest and one of the most heavily hopped beers served on draft. The nose is generally aromatic, the hue amber and the alcoholic content moderate.

Bock - a strong dark German lager, ranging from pale to dark brown in colour, with a minimum alcoholic content of about 6 percent.

Brown Ale - malty beers, dark in colour and they may be quite sweet.

Burton - Strong ale, dark in colour, made with a proportion of highly dried or roasted malts.

Christmas/Holiday Beer - these special season beers are amber to dark brown, richly flavoured with a sweetish palate. Some are flavoured with special spices and/or herbs.

Dopplebock - "double bock." A stronger version of bock beer, decidedly malty, with an alcoholic content ranging from 8 percent to 13 percent by volume.

Hefe-Weizen - a wheat beer, lighter in body, flavour and alcohol strength.

Ice Beer - a high-alcohol beer made by cooling the beer during the process to below the freezing point of water (32 degrees Fahrenheit) but above that of alcohol (-173 degrees Fahrenheit). . When the formed ice is removed and discarded, the beer ends up with a higher alcohol-to-water ratio.

India Pale Ale (IPA) - a generously hopped pale ale.

Kolsch - West German ale, very pale (brassy gold) in hue, with a mild malt flavour and some lactic tartness.

Malt Liquor - most malt liquors are lagers that are too alcoholic to be labeled lagers or beers.

Muncheners - a malty, pale lager distinguished from the darker, heavier Munich Dark beers by the term "dunkel".

Oktoberfest/ Maerzen/Vienna - a copper-coloured, malty beer brewed at the end of the winter brewing season in March.

Pale Ale - made of the highest quality malts, the driest and most highly hopped beer. Sold as light ale or pale ale in bottle or on draft as bitter.

Pilsner - delicately dry and aromatic beers.

Porter - a darker (medium to dark reddish brown) ale style beer, full-bodied, a bit on the bitter side. The barley (or barley-malt) is well roasted, giving the brew a characteristic chocolaty, bittersweet flavour.

Stout - beer brewed from roasted, full-flavoured malts, often with an addition of caramel sugar and a slightly higher proportion of hops. Stouts have a richer, slightly burnt flavour and are dark in colour.

Sweet Stout - also known as milk stout because some brewers use lactose (milk sugar) as an ingredient.

Wheat Beer - a beer in which wheat malt is substituted for barley malt. Usually medium-bodied, with a bit of tartness on the palate

Enjoy... now you know what you are drinking... hic... hic

Tequila

2010-01-11T14:19:00.000+08:00

What is Tequila?
First the history: Tequila was first distilled in the 1500-1600's in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Guadalajara is the capital of Jalisco and the city of Tequila was established in about 1656. This is where the agave plant grows best. The agave is not a cactus as rumoured, but belongs to the lily family and has long spiny leaves (pincas). The specific plant that is used to make tequila is the Weber blue agave. It takes 8-12 years for the agave to reach maturity. During harvest, the leaves are cut off leaving the heart of the plant or pina which looks like a large pineapple when the jimadors are done. The harvested pina may weigh 200 pounds or more and is chopped into smaller pieces for cooking at the distillery. Tequila was first imported into the United States in 1873 when the first load was transported to El Paso, Texas. In 1973 tequila sales in the US topped one million cases.

There are two basic types of tequila, 100% blue agave (cien por ciento de agave) tequila and mixto. The 100% blue agave tequilas are distilled entirely from the fermented juice of the agave. All 100% agave tequilas have to be distilled and bottled in Mexico. If the bottle does not say 100% blue agave, the tequila is mixto and may have been distilled from as little as 60% agave juice with other sugars.

Grades of Tequila:
* Blanco: 100% agave tequila that is un-aged and untreated with additives.

* Reposado: 100% agave, "rested" tequila that has been stored in oak between two months and one year.

* Anejo: 100% agave, aged tequila that has been stored in oak at least one year.

* Mixto blanco: mixto tequila that is unaged.

* Mixto reposado: mixto tequila that has been stored in oak between two months and one year.

* Mixto anejo: aged mixto tequila that has been stored in oak at least one year.

* Joven abocado: mixto tequila that has been treated with additives to achieve an effect similar to aging.

Gin

2010-01-10T14:17:00.000+08:00

What is the origin of GIN?
The first confirmed date for the production of gin is the early 17th century in Holland, although claims have been made that it was produced prior to this in Italy. In Holland it was produced as a medicine and sold in chemist shops to treat stomach complaints, gout and gallstones. To make it more palatable, the Dutch started to flavor it with juniper, which had medicinal properties of its own.

From Dutch courage to William of Orange
British troops fighting in the Low Countries during the Thirty Years' War were given 'Dutch Courage' during the long campaigns in the damp weather through the warming properties of gin. Eventually they started bringing it back home with them, where already it was often sold in chemists' shops. Distillation was taking place in a small way in England, but it now began on a greater scale, though the quality was often very dubious. Nevertheless, the new drink became a firm favourite with the poor.

The formation by King Charles I of the Worshipful Company of Distillers, where members had the sole right to distil spirits in London and Westminster and up to twenty-one miles beyond, improved both the quality of gin and its image; it also helped English agriculture by using surplus corn and barley. When King William III - better known as William of Orange - came to the English throne in 1689, he made a series of statutes actively encouraging the distillation of English spirits. Anyone could now distil by simply posting a notice in public and just waiting ten days. Sometimes gin was distributed to workers as part of their wages and soon the volume sold daily exceeded that of beer and ale, which was more expensive anyway.

The Gin Riots
The problem was tackled by introducing The Gin Act at midnight on 29 September 1736, which made gin prohibitively expensive. A license to retail gin cost 50 and duty was raised fivefold to 1 per gallon with the smallest quantity you could buy in retail being two gallons. The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole and Dr. Samuel Johnson was among those who opposed the Act since they considered it could not be enforced against the will of the common people... They were right. Riots broke out and the law was widely and openly broken...
About this time, 11 million gallons of gin were distilled in London, which was over 20 times the 1690 figure and has been estimated to be the equivalent of 14 gallons for each adult male. But within six years of the Gin Act being introduced, only two distillers took out licenses, yet, over the same period of time, production rose by almost fifty per cent.

Respectability, High quality and Patronage
The Gin Act, finally recognized as unenforceable, was repealed in 1742 and a new policy, which distillers helped to draft, was introduced: reasonably high prices, reasonable excise duties and licensed retailers under the supervision of magistrates. In essence this is the situation, which exists today. These changes led to more respectable firms embarking on the business of distilling and retailing gin and it became the drink of high quality, which it has since remained. Many companies established themselves as well-to-do manufacturers, often becoming patrons for major enterprises; one such was the sponsorship of the attempt to discover the North West Passage 1829-33: the attempt failed, but the expedition did establish the true position of the North Magnetic Pole.

Gin had been known as 'Mother's Milk' from the 1820s but later in the century it became known as 'Mother's Ruin', a description perhaps originating from the earlier 'Blue Ruin' of the prohibition era in the previous century.

Vodka

2010-01-09T14:15:00.000+08:00

What is the Origin of VODKA?
Vodka is a drink, which originated in Eastern Europe, the name stemming from the Russian word 'voda' meaning water or as the Poles would say 'woda'.
The first documented production of vodka in Russia was at the end of the 9th century, but the first known distillery at, Khylnovsk, was about two hundred years later as reported in the Vyatka Chronicle of 1174. Poland lays claim to having distilled vodka even earlier in the 8th century, but as this was a distillation of wine it might be more appropriate to consider it a crude brandy. The first identifiable Polish vodkas appeared in the 11th century when they were called 'gorzalka', originally used as medicines.

Medicine and Gunpowder
During the Middle Ages, distilled liquor was used mainly for medicinal purposes, as well as being an ingredient in the production of gunpowder. In the 14th century a British Ambassador to Moscow first described vodka as the Russian national drink and in the mid-16th century it was established as the national drink in Poland and Finland. We learn from the Novgorod Chronicles of 1533 that in Russia also, vodka was used frequently as a medicine (zhiznennia voda meaning 'water of life'). In these ancient times Russia produced several kinds of 'vodka' or 'hot wine' as it was then called. There was 'plain wine' (standard), 'good wine' (improved) and 'boyar wine' (high quality). In addition stronger types existed, distilled two ('double wine') or more times... Since early production methods were crude, vodka often contained impurities, so to mask these distillers flavoured their spirits with fruit, herbs or spices.

The mid - 15th century saw the first appearance of pot distillation in Russia. Prior to that, seasoning, ageing and freezing were all used to remove impurities, as was precipitation using it in glass ('karluk') from the air bladders of sturgeons. Distillation became the first step in producing vodka, with the product being improved by precipitation using isinglass, milk or egg white. Around this time (1450) vodka started to be produced in large quantities and the first recorded exports of Russian vodka were to Sweden in 1505. Polish 'woda' exports started a century later, from major production centers in Posnan and Krakow.

From acorns to melon
In 1716, owning distilleries became the exclusive right of the nobility, who were granted further special rights in 1751. In the following 50 or so years there was a proliferation of types of aromatised vodka, but no attempt was made to standardise the basic product. Types produced included: absinthe, acorn, anisette, birch, calamus root, calendula, cherry, chicory, dill, ginger hazelnut, horseradish, juniper, lemon, mastic, mint, mountain ash, oak, pepper, peppermint, raspberry, sage, sorrel, and wort and water melon! A typical production process was to distil alcohol twice, dilute it with milk and distil it again, adding water to bring it to the required strength and then flavouring it, prior to a fourth and final distillation. It was not a cheap product and it still had not attained really large-scale production. It did not seek to compete commercially with the major producers in Lithuania, Poland and Prussia. In the 18th century a professor in St. Petersburg discovered a method of purifying alcohol using charcoal filtration. Felt and river sand had already been used for some time in Russia for filtration.

Vodka marches across Europe
The spread of awareness of vodka continued throughout the 19th century, helped by the presence in many parts of Europe of Russian soldiers involved in the Napoleonic Wars. Increasing popularity led to escalating demand and to meet this demand, lower grade products were produced based largely on distilled potato mash. Earlier attempts to control production by reducing the number of distilleries from 5,000 to 2,050 between the years 1860 and 1890 having failed, a law was enacted in 1894 to make the production and distribution of vodka in Russia a state monopoly. This was both for fiscal reasons and to control the epidemic of drunkenness which the availability of the cheap, mass-produced 'vodkas' imported and home-produced, had brought about. It is only at the end of the 19th century, with all state distilleries adopting a standard production technique and hence a guarantee of quality, that the name vodka was officially and formally recognized.

After the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks confiscated all private distilleries in Moscow. As a result, a number of Russian vodka-makers emigrated, taking their skills and recipes with them. One such exile revived his brand in Paris, using the French version of his family name - Smirnoff. Thence, having met a Russian émigré from the USA, they set up the first vodka distillery there in 1934. This was subsequently sold to a US drinks company. From this small start, vodka began in the 1940s to achieve its wide popularity in the Western World.

Cognac

2010-01-08T11:00:00.003+08:00

What is Cognac?
The wines of Poitou, La Rochelle and Angoumois , produced from high quality vineyards, were shipped to Northern Europe where they were enjoyed by the English, Dutch and Scandinavians as early as the 13th century. In the 16th century, they were transformed into eau-de-vie, then matured in oak casks to become Cognac... That was the start of the adventure for a town, which was to become the capital of a world famous trade.

Cognac is a living thing. During its time in the oak casks it is in permanent contact with the air. This allows it to extract the substances from the wood that give both its colour and its final bouquet.

Aging is indispensable if an eau-de-vie is to become Cognac. It takes place in casks or barrels that hold between 270 and 450 liters. The natural humidity of the cellars, in which the casks are stored, with its influence on evaporation, is one of the determining factors in the maturing process. With the balance between humidity and dryness, the spirit becomes mellow and ages harmoniously.

Making Cognac is the work of the Master Blender. Applying strict control, experience and intuition, he subtly blends eaux-de-vie of different ages and crus, producing a Cognac that through the years will not only retain its own personality, but will also keep a place in the heart of the consumer.

Whisky and Whiskey

2010-01-08T11:00:00.001+08:00

What is single malt?
Single malt is so-called because the malt comes from a single distillery. It is a whisky refined by a single distillery, using malted barley as the only grain ingredient. Each distillery has its own distinct taste, flavour and style and single malts bear that. Some world-renowned single malts are Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Glenkinchie and if you move into the rare varieties, PortEllen, Dalmore, Glenfarclas, IsleofJura, Knocdhu, Lagavulin,Laphroig, Macallan, Oban,Taliskar, Cragganmore. Enjoying a single malt is a connoisseur’s job and you have to learn to be one. A single grain, as distinct from a single malt, is a grain whisky made at one distillery, while the single malt is made with barley.

What is Blended Whisky?
Blended whisky is a mixture of single malt whisky and ethanol derived from grains. Developed for those who could not stomach the strong taste of whisky, it is a combination of malt and grain whiskies. First distilled and bottled by Andrew Usher in Edinburgh in the early 1860s, it turned out to be softer, lighter and more palatable.

The character of the whisky is determined not only by the proportions of malt and grain whisky, but also by the ages of the individual whiskies and the manner in which they are combined to bring out the finest qualities in each other. Most whisky drunk across the world is blended whisky. Famous Grouse, Bells, Teacher’s, Whyte & Mackay and Johnnie Walker are a few that are well-known.

What is the difference between Whisky and Whiskey?
Alcohol, malted or not, made from grain which is produced in Scotland is called WHISKY, while it is called WHISKEY if it is produced in USA or Ireland. American whiskey is called Bourbon and is made from grain. Bourbon is at least 51 per cent corn or maize.

Scotch whisky is generally double distilled, while Irish whiskey is generally distilled three times. Wheat whisky is the rarest whisky. Rye whiskies are mostly
popular within the US . Scotch whisky is whisky that has been distilled and matured in Scotland for at least three hours in oak casks.

What is the difference between Scotch, Irish, Rye and Bourbon Whiskies?
Scotch Whisky is whisky, which has been distilled and matured in Scotland.

Irish Whiskey means whiskey distilled and matured in Ireland.
Whisky is distilled in Scotland from malted barley in Pot Stills and from malted and unmalted barley or other cereals in Patent Stills. The well-known brands of Scotch Whisky are blends of a number of Pot Still and Patent Still whiskies.
Irish Whiskey distillers tend to favour three distillations rather than two, as is general in Scotland in the case of Pot Still whiskies and the range of cereals used is wider.

As regards Bourbon Whiskey, the United States Regulations provide:

(i) that Bourbon Whiskey must be produced from a mash of not less than 51% corn grain;

(ii) that the word 'Bourbon' shall not be used to describe any whiskey or whiskey-based distilled spirits not produced in the United States.

Rye Whiskey is produced both in the United States and Canada but the name has no geographical significance. In the United States, Rye Whiskey by definition must be produced from a grain mash of which not less than 51% is rye grain. In Canada, there is no similar restriction. The relevant Canadian Regulation states: 'Canadian Whisky (Canadian Rye Whisky, Rye Whisky) shall be whisky distilled in Canada and shall possess the aroma, taste and character generally attributed to Canadian Whisky.'

Canadian Whisky is in fact often referred to simply as Rye Whisky or Rye.

What goes better with Whisky - Water or Soda?
Whisky is preferred with water more than soda as soda is carbonated water and it kills the taste of whisky. But real connoisseurs of whisky like to have it neat or with water on side or with two cubes of ice.

Introduction to Alcohol

2010-01-07T12:04:00.002+08:00

I received an interesting forwarded email from my friend on alcohol and details not generally known to common people. Thus, I've decided to put this as part of my blog entry :-)

What is Alcohol?
Alcohol is obtained after breaking down natural sugar of grain into C02, ethanol or ethyl alcohol and residual content. Yeast from grains and vegetables changes the sugar into alcohol. From the cheapest beer to the most expensive wine or after dinner liqueur, all alcohol is made with the same fermentation process.
The different colours, tastes, potencies and flavours come from the different fruits or vegetables used as well as the additives, by-products and diluting substances employed during the fermentation process.

Why should you never drink on an empty stomach?
Experts say eating food before drinking retains alcohol in the system where it is absorbed slowly into the blood stream... This gives the liver more time to break the alcohol down. Otherwise, it is directly absorbed without being broken down into simpler compounds into the blood stream. This can be harmful for the liver and general health. The kick comes when the alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream directly and slows down the central nervous system. The absorbed alcohol blocks some of the commands the brain sends to the body; hence the reflexes and reactions are slower.

Does drinking water before or between drinks help you hold your drink better?
Dehydration causes your blood volume to go down and alcohol will cause it to go down further. So make it a habit to drink enough water before you go out for a hard drink. Experts say in case of alcohol consumption, the bigger you are the better it is. Big people have a larger quantity of blood, so alcohol they take in is more diluted as it mixes with the blood.
Women are generally smaller than men. They also have proportionately more fat and less water in their bodies and so the concentration of alcohol in their blood is higher for the same amount drunk.

p/s: Do read more for further details.. hic...

Senses and Reflections

2009-12-30T12:20:00.003+08:00

Once in a while, you listen to some songs and find that it magically transport you to another realm in which experiences, memories and everything will rush in as a flood of compressed information.

That is exactly what happened to me all the time when I listen to songs. There’re no songs in particular but each song is special in its own sense.

To me, emotions evoked when we listen to songs are just an extension of one of our human senses. I am thankful that I am endowed with healthy senses; all five of them (the sixth sense is still unproven so I will leave it as it is :-P).

Certain smell, taste, sound, touch or sight will evoke a totally different experience.
Thus, we should always try to take our time to inhale deeply, taste slowly, hear carefully, touch tenderly and look closely in most if not all of the things we do.

It is simpler to write and rant than done. I have that kind of dilemma all the time as well :-P. Though, living a fuller life would be up to the individual’s terms and pre-conditions.

Life is too short to live on the fast lane for way too long. Even rats need to rest for awhile during the supposedly hectic “rat-race”.

To all, whoever and wherever you’re from:

Bonne année! Bonne chance pour tout!
Bienvenue dans une nouvelle année 2010!

p/s: Nice, meaningful songs are meant to be repeated and savoured word by word :-)

Zipporah by Marek Halter

2009-12-27T00:19:00.004+08:00

I finished reading this book on the dot during the midnight of Christmas Eve right before Christmas Day (2359hrs on 24 Dec 2009). Now on the final hours of Boxing Day (2359hrs on 26 Dec 2009), I decided to pen my thoughts on this book entitled Zipporah by Marek Halter. Truth to be told, I bought this book YEARS AGO… and if I recall correctly, I bought it about 4years ago and I managed to finish it because I am in the mood to finish my books before end of the year :-)

Most of the people would easily associate Moses as the one who lead the Israelites over the Red Sea and away from the whips and tortures of the Egyptian Pharaoh. But, the billion dollar questions are (in literal terms only); how did he do it and who are the people who supported him along the way?

It is in this sense that this book is written. It is written about the person(s) who supported Moses when he is still a runaway; when he has nothing to offer and when he was a lost soul himself.

Zipporah, a Cushite; herself is an adopted daughter of the wise sage of Midian on the slopes of Mount Horeb called Jethro. Wise beyond her years, she trusted and believed earnestly in the meaning of her dreams so much so that when she saw Moses, she knew instinctively that he’s the person who appeared in her dreams.

Along the way, she became the wife of Moses and gave birth to two sons named Gershom and Eliezer (who unfortunately died a horrible death during the stampede of the Israelites). Zipporah herself was treated as an outcast by most of the escaped Israelites despite being Moses’ wife.

Despite all those mistreatment on her, she remains steadfast in her conviction towards Moses’ greater purpose in life. Moses received the well known Ten Commandments whilst Zipporah was murdered by her estranged sister on her way back to Midian.

This is indeed a good book written on people “behind the scenes” on Moses’ ascend towards spiritual awakening and I am surprised it took me so long to finish this book itself.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Great story telling on the background of Moses' life

2) Recommended book for Christmas Day :-)

Pros:
1) None

Countdown to 2010 :-)

2009-12-14T15:59:00.002+08:00

It is nearing the end of Dec yet again and as usual, the gaiety of the moment brought along with it a sense of closure of the year we’ve had for this splendid year of 2009. I’m sure many have made and broke their New Year resolution but that is not the reason not to rejoice.

After all, New Year resolutions are not something carved in stone; even if it is; then too bad, we can’t achieve it, so no point pondering and waste the valuable brain juices to conduct post-mortem over what went wrong and etc. We’re “designed” to walk forward and we can’t even turn our head all the way back, which means that somehow or rather, our focus should always be aimed forward.

As of now, I’m listening to some Christmas songs over lunch and it never fails to give me goose bumps so much so that I had slight tear my eyes :-) not a bad thing though cos it is not an everyday event that simple songs can really touched our heart or I daresay, our soul.

I’m not sure about the rest of the population but every time I heard Christmas songs, I tend to imagine myself sitting on a comfortable couch by the window with my loved ones, firewood crackling at the background providing warmth throughout the house; me holding a mug of hot coffee (I prefer coffee more than chocolate :-P) while watching snowflakes falling from the sky. But then, this is Malaysia and we only have dry and rainy seasons. :-P It is not bad to stretch our imagination on things like this once in a while though.

So, the clock is ticking and the end of the year is around the corner. There’s no need to rush things off and work like mad to clear whatever tasks you have in your inbox.
In any case, set simpler resolution for next year (2010) and if we hit it, then its good.. if not, just move on :-)
Life will be less complicated in that way :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all..
Hope you’ll have a pleasant and splendid HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

p/s: I’ve “targeted” so many books I wanna buy for year 2010 :-) can’t wait…

The Star newspaper – Opinion Section - Restore the old buildings

2009-12-11T13:04:00.001+08:00

ORIGINAL VERSION

Malaysia is a nice place to be in because she is bestowed with many grand buildings; both old and new ones.

However, when we browse through most of the Malaysian travel brochures, the focus will only be on modern, state of the art buildings and some cultural events.

This brings into mind the state of grand buildings scattered around inner sanctum of Penang Island.

We can see nice architectures built on an entirely different era and thus, it exudes an aura not present on most of the modern structures.

However, most of these old buildings are now under-utilised and left in state of disrepair.
Our government should take cue from countries, which promotes both the old and the new architectures alike.

For example, at Yokohama Prefecture, Japan, they have the Akarenga Sōko and at Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan, they have the Nishin Goten along the canal waterway.

These buildings are restored, refurbished and converted to serve a totally different purpose than it was originally built for.

As such, there should be more concerted effort to spice up the buildings along the Penang jetty terminal instead of leaving them as it is.

CIPLAK,Georgetown.

Sent on: 11 Dec 2009

Star gazing

2009-11-30T17:16:00.005+08:00

Do you still remember the time when you were young; gazing up the night skies only to see it blanketed by thousands of glittering stars and an equally bright moon?
I used to remember when I was really young, I had this dream of building a house with glass roof ala greenhouse by the body of water so that I can lie down and absorb the overall atmosphere.

But then, I grew up and the older I get, the more I realized that as we dwell into the hectic day-day rat-chase, the less we look up the night sky to admire the beauty of it all.
Viewing it from the eyes of an adult differs from the time when we saw it thru our naïve minds/eyes.
As an adult, all things material will supersede the simplistic approach towards admiring the handiwork of the super-stellar explosion of galaxies millions of light years away.

In fact, when was the last time we lie on our back and stare up with the surrounding environment enclosed in perfect harmony?
As a matter of fact, how many of us really took our time off to take a breather?

Watching the twinkle of stars made me feel small and with it, the feeling that we’re but a mere dust in the midst of galaxies.
It might just be me but in my opinion, nature has its own way to put an awe even on the greatest manmade superstructures.

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa

2009-11-04T12:06:00.011+08:00

This novel by Eiji Yoshikawa entitled Musashi has been republished no less than fourteen times, produced as feature film seven times, presented on countless stage plays and has been often made into mini-series on few of Japan’s nationwide networks.

So, it is a humbling experience to read such a gem first hand without being tainted by numerous adaptations floating around. I am unable to put too much of my thoughts about the book because this is an epic to begin with. Plus, this is the kind of book which book reviewers are at loss of words because it encompasses the very essence of life and living of another culture. This literary gem is so profoundly good that penning review and giving points will seem like an act of sacrilege to the sanctity of the novel itself.

This novel is about the life of Musashi Miyamoto and his journey towards becoming a legend/epic personage. The novel began with the aftermath of the battle of Sekigahara when Musashi was still known as Takezō Shimmen. His life was depicted as an angst ridden boy trying to grow up and made it big in the adult’s world while trying to become an accomplished samurai along the way. But as fate has it, Takezō (and his contacts around him) are embroiled in the circle of fate and karma until the beginning of his reemergence as Musashi Miyamoto and his ultimate transcendence as the master of swordsmanship and completing works which affects the very essence of the Japanese culture.

Do allow me to divert a bit because the review of this novel will not be complete without explaining on the significance of Musashi Miyamoto in helping to sculpt the unique Japanese culture.

For the uninitiated, Musashi Miyamoto published one of the most famous works of the Japanese bushidō (“The Way of the Warrior”) that date from the first half of the Edo period. The bushidō literature is called “Gorin no sho” which roughly translates as “The Book of the Five Rings”. His bushidō concept drew parallel comparison with Yamamoto Tsunetomo; another bushidō master of roughly the same era who published his bushidō concept called “Hagakure” which roughly translates as “Hidden among the Leaves”.

The main differences between these two works are the bushidō concept itself. For Musashi Miyamoto, the most important thing is not readiness to die, but winning. Where else Yamamoto Tsunetomo emphasise that the idea on readiness to let go of one’s life at any moment is the soul of bushidō.

This brings us back to the novel, which was beautifully sculpted along the life of Takezō Shimmen /Musashi Miyamoto albeit with slight dramatization or something to that effect. The beauty of this novel is that it sort of “explained” on his journey towards greatness and the change of perception from a humble beginning to become one of the great folklore heroes in Japan. Takezō Shimmen /Musashi Miyamoto practically came back to life and was given flesh, blood and soul in the hands of prolific and well-loved Japanese writer; Eiji Yoshikawa.

In my very humble opinion, this is the kind of hardcover that everyone should have in their book collection. The storyline is written in such a way that it “flows” from one chapter to the other. The linkage is so finely done that turning the pages and reading the paragraphs will elicit a feeling of being transported to the era when swords and honour reign supreme.

I’m so glad that that someone translated such a fine book into English language :-) An absolute must read. Period.

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) None

Pros:
1) Too good. Read the review itself :-)

Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden

2009-11-03T08:00:00.001+08:00

“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation. They shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and will not show mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle.”

- Jeremiah 50:41, 42

Paragraph above is quoted from the Old Testament; Book of Jeremiah and serves as the opening of this novel entitled: Lords of the Bow.

In this sequel to Wolf of the Plains, we're brought face-to-face again with one of the greatest conqueror in the world; Genghis Khan. The opening of this novel depicts the brutal inter-clan war afflicted on Mongols who refused to join the alliance. Virtually the whole clan is decimated; which proves the point that Genghis will stop at nothing to achieve his goal; which further shows that he is indeed a very determined, enigmatic and persistent leader.

It is also during this point of time that he was brought face-to-face with a soothsayer who apple-polished his way up the rank to become one of the close aides to the Great Khan. However, The Great Khan is not a person who pushes ahead without careful planning and is indeed a master strategist.

In fact, in this book, we were introduced to the fact that Genghis made careful and calculated planning befitting his stature and daunting his enemies into submission such as the usage of coloured tent (ancient "war traffic light" system consisting of red, white and black tents) to daunt the enemies into submission.

He is also not afraid to utilize more advanced war technologies available at that time; deception and even flooding the whole plain just to starve the inhabitant of Xi Xia into submission.
This novel ended with Genghis Khan taking over the empire of ancient China; thus fulfilling his desire to overcome the power that divided his people.

The post notes are helpful in shedding some lights on inner workings of the tribes on the plain and historical notes which wasn’t mentioned in most of the historical books.

Two events which had me thinking on the ultimate brutality of wars are:

1. The skeletons of the combatants in battle of the Badger’s Mouth littered the ground around that place for thirty miles.

2. Up to sixty thousand young girls threw themselves to death from the walls of Yenking rather than see it fall to the invader.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) True-like description of Temujin/Genghis Khan and the people around him.
2) Learnt that it takes a whole lot of sacrifices to achieve such greatness as Genghis.
3) Another lesson in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Meritocracy in Malaysia (not published)

2009-10-16T17:11:00.000+08:00

It is disheartening to see our top scorers begging for a place to further their studies. I am not sure which is a better option, to continue serving the country of their birth; which does not appreciate them in return or moving out to seek new horizon or greener pasture so to speak.

There must be something wrong with our current policy because we provided almost free education from birth up till end of secondary school only to see their hopes dashed and other nations conveniently offered scholarship to lure our top talents out from the country.

Somehow, our policymaker must have realised these fundamental issues pertaining to our top scorers but chose to close their eyes towards their plight.

All the talk about meritocracy is nothing substantial unless drastic steps are taken to rectify preferably from top down. We cannot achieve Vision 2020 (is it still our vision?) with brain drain happening right in front of our eyes.

CIPLAK,
Penang, Malaysia

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Revisiting Jelutong dumpsite (not published)

2009-10-15T17:07:00.001+08:00

With reference to the article “Smells like clean spirit; The Star Lifestyle section; 26 May 2009”, I would like to highlight the condition of dumpsites in Penang Island particularly the one along the Jelutong Expressway.

It is an eye opener to see that New Yorkers are making progressive and sure steps to convert the biggest wasteland in the world into a recreational park in 30 years time.

Even our neighbouring country, Singapore has converted their wasteland into a marine/recreational park as highlighted in an article entitled “Dump wonderland; dated 16 May 2009”.

In local scene at Selangor, news entitled “Building paradise from wasteland; dated 4 May 2009” painted a stark picture against the effort done for dumpsite at Jelutong Expressway.

For start, Jelutong dumpsite has been in operation for more than 40 years serving millions of Penang ’s inhabitants but as with everything, there is a limit for a place to take the amount of waste generated by Penangites.

However, it is disheartening to see that instead of cutting down the dumping activities around the over-capacity dumpsite, the state government have decided to revive it into another cash cow by allowing even general public to dump their waste there for a fee as reported in “Fee for dumping; dated 29 April 2009”.

For the record, this dumpsite has far exceeded its capacity and in fact, it has over-extended into the secure region around the sea area, leaking leachate into open sea and harmed the surrounding environment.

On several occasions over the years, especially during dry season, massive fire happened via direct or indirect means too.

This indirectly placed the surrounding area at risk and not to mention the lives of our brave fire fighters called in to quell the fire.

What are the proactive steps taken by MPPP or the state government to address this issue?
Instead of dragging their feet and a whole lot of promises, stern actions must be taken knowing that we are not only harming the environment but human lives as well.

CIPLAK,
Jelutong, Penang.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Maintain the road signs as it is

2009-10-15T16:56:00.001+08:00

ORIGINAL VERSION (I didn't keep the published version)

I would like to continue from the article entitled “Leave road signs alone by LOKE MAY LING of Petaling Jaya; Opinion; 24 July 2008”.

As a true blue Penangite myself, I am truly appalled by the notion of establishing road signs with languages ranging from Bahasa Malaysia , English, Chinese, Tamil, Jawi or Arabic. In fact, I agree full heartedly to the suggestion posted by Ms Loke in displaying road signs only in Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Imagine the consequences if non-Penang residents and tourist were shown road signs cramped with 4 to 5 languages in one board. It would not only create unnecessary confusion but might also interrupt the view of traffic users.

How about Melaka? Are they going to establish road signs in Bahasa Malaysia , English, Chinese, Tamil, Jawi or Arabic plus Portuguese language considering the fact that they have significant number of Portuguese community there?

Thus, I beg the Penang State Government as well as the Ex-State Government officials to be considerate and think over the whole scenario in-depth before jumping into the UNESCO site listing bandwagon prematurely. No doubt we have to work extra hard to ensure that Penang is not to be delisted 3 years down the road but cramping 4 to 5 languages in one road sign is definitely not a good way to kick start this plan.

CIPLAK,
Penang.

Published on: Sometime on July 2008

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Take Bahasa Malaysia across the borders, too

2009-10-14T10:00:00.002+08:00

WITH reference to “New award for BM development” (The Star, Oct 7), I would like to commend the effort by the Government to propagate thelearning of Bahasa Malaysia among citizens.

We should not rest on our laurels but expand the usage of BahasaMalaysia, particularly when the call sign of the day is 1Malaysia.

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, being the guardian of our national language,should play a proactive role in disseminating the progress of the languageoutside of Malaysia.

The British Council (UK), Alliance Française (France), Malaysia-GermanSociety (Germany) and Japanese Language Society (Japan) providelessons for their respective languages.

They have centralised and structured learning programmes linked to theirrespective ministries in their home country. Each centre works as a mirrorimage to the other with standardised syllabus and internationallyrecognised certificates.

Besides enabling foreigners to learn their respective languages, thecentres also act as snapshots on their country’s culture.

Thus, to expand the usage of Bahasa Malaysia, we should not alwaysconcentrate on language expansion within Malaysia. We should think outof the box and welcome foreigners to embrace our language.

It is a long shot, but let it be known that the effect of such a forward movewould indirectly be the pride of us, Malaysians, as we will then be knownas native Bahasa Malaysia speakers.

CIPLAK,
George Town.

Published on: Monday October 12, 2009

ORIGINAL VERSION

Take Bahasa Malaysia to the next level
With reference to Nation column entitled “New award for BM development” published on Wednesday October 7, 2009; I would like to commend on the effort by the Malaysian government to propagate the learning of Bahasa Malaysia to its citizens.

While English is undeniably the lingua franca of the world, we should not rest our laurels on the need to expand the usage of Bahasa Malaysia particularly when the call sign of the day is 1Malaysia.

However, to present the award for BM development on home turf will not have the same effect as the participation would only be confined to Malaysia.

In my opinion, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, being the guardian of our national language should play a more proactive role in disseminating the progress of the language outside of Malaysia.

Few examples on dissemination of foreign languages in Malaysia are British Council (UK), Alliance Française (France), Malaysia-German Society (Germany) and Japanese Language Society (Japan).

These centers have centralized and structured learning programs linked to their respective ministries in their home country and are internationally certified.

Each center worked as mirror image to the other with standardized syllabus and internationally recognized certificates.

Besides enabling foreigners to learn their language, these centers also act as a snapshot on their country’s culture at the same time.

Thus, to expand the usage of Bahasa Malaysia, we should not always concentrate on the language expansion within Malaysia.

We should think out of the box and welcome foreigners to embrace our language and our culture in one go.

It is a long shot but let it be known that the effect of such forward move would indirectly cement the importance and pride of us Malaysians as we will then be known as native Bahasa Malaysia speaker.

CIPLAK,
Georgetown.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Only fair that stores wrap books in plastic

2009-10-13T16:40:00.005+08:00

(I didn't keep the ORIGINAL version)

I REFER to “Only country to wrap books in plastic?” (The Star, July 22). It seems almost noble if we allow shoppers to browse through books and not seal them in plastic.

Much as I love to enter bookstores that do not seal their books, I also understand the reason behind this. Bookstores are a business, and it is also an undeniable fact that no one wants to buy an old and crumpled book.

I have seen many instances where readers bend books as if they’re reading a newspaper only to put it aside if they like what they read and pick up a new, sealed book.

I am an avid reader and I keep my books in good condition. So, to see the public treating books this way is almost sacrilegious.

As such, I think bookstores are doing the right thing to seal their books. Besides, we can always request assistance from the salesperson in the store at any time.

CIPLAK,
Jelutong, Penang.

Published on: Thursday July 23, 2009

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Living the true meaning of Merdeka

2009-10-13T16:36:00.004+08:00

COMMENTS by our Deputy Prime Minister as quoted in your report “Sincere friendship leads to unity” on Aug 18 struck the right chord at the right time.

Aug 31 is around the corner yet again and despite countless joint celebrations, open houses and revelry in the name of national unity, we miss the real intention behind those festivities.

We have heard countless times over the mass media that we, the young generation, do not understand the true meaning of Merdeka any more. While it might be partly true, the blame should not be one-sided at all.

In fact, the meaning of Merdeka has warped into a miasma of ideals and perspectives with no right or wrong answers. Some political leaders have branded those who do not fly the flag during Merdeka celebrations as unpatriotic. To me, the meaning of Merdeka should come from the heart and not from action alone. I can vouch that even though I do not fly the national flags on my car or in front of my house during the National Day, I am a true Malaysian at heart.

I proudly declare I am a Malaysian when I am overseas. My closest friends are not confined to one race or religion. We have been friends since childhood, treat each other’s family with great respect and we can sit together to discuss any issue – sensitive or otherwise – with open hearts and great understanding.

Our DPM said it very clearly when he urged all of us to forge meaningful friendships with each other regardless of race and religion. Such a friendship needs to be nurtured from young.

CIPLAK,
Penang.

Published on: Thursday August 20, 2009

ORIGINAL VERSION

UNITY THROUGH FRIENDSHIP

Comments by DPM in the article entitled “Sincere friendship lead to unity”; published on 18 August 2009 is apt and struck the right chord at the right time. 31 August is around the corner yet again and despite countless joint celebrations, open houses and revelry in the name of national unity, we missed the real intention behind those festivities.

We heard countless times over mass media that we, the young generation does not understand the true meaning of “MERDEKA” anymore. While it might be half truth, the blame should not be one sided at all. In fact, the meaning of Merdeka has warped into miasma of ideals from countless opinions and perspectives with no right or wrong answers. It was not long ago that some politician dictated that those who did not fly the Malaysian flags during Merdeka celebration are deemed unpatriotic. To me, the meaning of Merdeka should come from the heart and not from action alone.

I can vouch that despite not putting up flags on my car or in front of my house during the National Day, I am a true Malaysian at heart. I pronounced my country’s name proudly when asked about my nationality when I was abroad. My closest friends are neither confined to one race nor religion. We spent great times together from childhood onwards; treat each other’s family with great respect and we can even sit together to discuss about any issues; sensitive or otherwise with open hearts and great understanding.

To achieve this state is not easy and our DPM has stated this explicitly in his speech when he urged all of us to strike up meaningful friendships with each other without regard for race and religion. To me, advice will remain as it is without effort from each and every one of us. The hurdle to foster such friendship is on personal level and need to be nurtured from young onwards.

To all my closest friends I called “machas” and “brothers”.

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY and HAPPY MERDEKA!!

CIPLAK,
Penang.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - I am CIPLAK

2009-10-13T16:29:00.003+08:00

Besides penning book reviews, I do write to The Star newspaper - Opinion section on various issues as well. I've never posted any of these articles anywhere else.

However, I’ve decided to post these articles here so that I can keep a list on items which I’ve sent to them.

Happy reading. Cheers :-)

P/S: - By the way, my nickname/call-sign is CIPLAK. So if you see this nick in newspaper, it’s me :-) unless someone else hijacks it :-(

The Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury

2009-10-07T11:45:00.001+08:00

First of all, I have to admit that this is a hard book to pen my review. Though the main idea of the book is simple, it took me quite some time to put my thoughts into words. In fact, I’ve actually finished reading the book quite some time ago and I’ve lagged in adding this book in my blog list. :-/

IMMORTALITY.

This very word sums up the overall plot for this book. What would we do in order to achieve immortality? The prospect of treating aging just like a disease instead of a natural phenomenon seems like an allure too good to be true. However, if we see from the multitude of cosmetic advertisements bombarding our mass media each day; their main selling point will always be anti-aging or reversal of aging process. Billions of dollars are spent each year on such experiments/gimmicks. As such, it is not surprising that a lot of people would kill each other just to get a taste of that as the plot of the book suggests.

The story started off at Portugal in 1750 when the Prince of San Severo – Raimundo di Sangro accuses Marquis de Montferrat as an imposter and did his best to pry the secrets harboured by the fake Marquis who barely escaped the pursuit leaving the fuming prince with new kind of obsession and would stop at nothing to get his hand on it.

After the incident at 1750, the story was fast forwarded to year 2003 at Baghdad, in which an army unit tracking Saddam’s cronies accidentally stumbled upon a fortress and made startling discovery on a hidden, state-of-the-art lab where gruesome experiments conducted by Saddam’s regime under the cloak of legitimate scientific research using actual human being instead of lab rats.

When the regime was torn asunder by the coalition forces, the brilliant scientist involved in the despicable experiments called “Hakeem” fled; carrying with him the vengeance and urge to tweak and complete his research. The only symbol/clue left behind is an Ouroboros – the tail devourer – a circular symbol of a snake that’s feeding on its own tail; thus forming a circle.

From this Ouroboros trail, a geneticist called Mia Bishop, her daughter, her long lost dad and a renegade CIA agent is drawn into the affluence of action and conspiracy. Thus, from the starting point at Portugal to the actions at Middle East, we’re brought into the roller-coaster ride packed chapters and page turning adventures.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) Sufficient breather in between all the actions. Good action packed book.
2) Far fetching idea on immortality but it is a refreshing twist if we consider the possibility of looking at aging as a disease instead of accepting it as an unchangeable fact.

Siege of Heaven by Tom Harper

2009-10-06T14:50:00.001+08:00

“Siege of Heaven”. By reading the title and The Cross splayed at the front cover, I was immediately drawn to the prospect of reading about another round of Crusade War. I think this is a trilogy and I’ve inadvertently bought myself the final book without realizing it in the first place.

This book is about a spy called Demetrios Askiates (I’ve double checked the spelling :-P); who was sent by the Holy Roman Emperor to the front line to joust the lagging group of crusaders from Antioch and proceed to secure the crown jewel of Christendom; Jerusalem. But the plot is far from simple because each of the powerful kings & lords involved in the war including the Holy Roman Emperor himself has hidden agenda of their own.

In this novel, Demetrios was a war-scarred person and wanted nothing more than going back to the gleaming city of Constantinople to be with his family. However, his wish was dashed when he received directive from the Holy Roman Emperor to assist their ambassador to complete the routing of powerful kings and lords from their seat at Antioch and move on to Jerusalem.

Unwilling but unable to turn down the directive, he slogged ahead only to find that his estranged son-in-law has also joined in the Holy Roman war-party and also pulled his beloved daughter and grandchild in the process. So, as what we locals said in Hokkien (direct translation); “khi pun si; bo khi pun si” = “go also die; no go also die”. :-)

Demetrios did stumble and enlist a feverish preacher/pastor called Peter Bartholomew who laid claim on finding the Holy Lance. Surprisingly, Peter managed to rouse the peasants despite in-fighting amongst the nobles. Though in the end, he died after pulling too much of his trick (Example: Peter claimed that he was bestowed with the spirit of invincibility) and walked across burning fire to prove his dare. This and much of the strange events accompanied our main character on his journey across the burning inhospitable plains and desert.

The overall storyline is told not far from the perspective of Demetrios and I have to admit that the war description is rather detailed and true to the condition exerted on the war-party/pilgrimage during that era. The end part was rather brutal in which the carnal fiesta, massive plundering and unrestricted carnage afflicted on the citizens of Jerusalem made me think about the dire consequences of adhering to the mob mentality.

Unthinkable is an understatement at best!

Personal rating: 6 out of 10

Cons:
1) A bit lost in the beginning. I presume it is because I bought the last book of the trilogy. :-P
2) I find that Demetrios did not play much “active” role in the novel. He is more like a follower than a spy or a leader.

Pros:
1) Very good description on the war scene. Surreal and engaging especially on the final capture of Jerusalem.
2) Amplifies the fact that war is never a good thing.

Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly

2009-09-30T13:13:00.003+08:00

I was really looking forward to this book because the prospect of reading about imminent catastrophic solar event linked to the Seven Ancient Wonders is really small. Not many authors dare to thread this line and fictionally link all these SAWs together. Perhaps except Matthew Reilly.

I’ve read 1/3 of the book and truth to be told………..

It is an utter disaster of catastrophic proportion!

The more I read, the more my brain tried to link between the sequences in the book with Mario Bros/Bomberman/Donkey Kong video games! I’m not joking or under influence of alcohol when I wrote those statements. Read more of the review before you decide to jump the gun.

From what I read so far (Note: The following summary is based on 1/3 of the story), the book is about a group of ultra-super-duper commandos from the most elite commando team in the world; the cream of the crop, best of the best, cream of society, cream of the cream, crème de la crème, pick of the litter, privileged class, smart set, the elite, the finest, the privileged, upper class, upper crust; converge to find seven pieces of ancient artifacts and piece them together before the solar event which will spell the end of the world.

Not only that, this team of the “creamiest of the creamiest” had to forge ahead and compete with 2 other groups of national representatives from USA (who else) and European Union; who coincidentally are represented by their own set of “creamiest of the creamiest” as well. So, the question now is who is more “creamy” and would first get their hands on the coveted SAWs?

I’m under no pretense to praise this book but this is a really good RPG/GAME BOOK! It shouldn’t be in the THRILLER SECTION at all..!! Beats me on why Borders decided to stick the “Mystery/Thriller” tag at the back page. It is really misleading. They should have sold this book at Toy”R”Us as it’ll fit just right in.

Read at your own peril because it is too “game-ish” with multiple levels, traps and enemies to overcome before they can succeed. The best part is; the book comes with illustration for each level... (It’s true... I’m not making this up); just in case the reader cannot comprehend the level of difficulties/traps faced by our ultra-super-duper gang.

Sigh… why o’ why I bought this book in the first place :-( I’ve wasted my hard earned money on yet another truly painful book to read and I’m wondering if I should slog on to finish it.. Sigh sigh sigh :-(

Personal rating: 2 out of 10 (for the effort and writing the book in the first place)

Cons:
1) Please refer to the review

Pros:
1) Please refer to the review