Felt like Tokyo when in Hawaii

 

Waikiki Beach is such a breeze to do a walkabout. The beach is clean, full of shopping malls, beautiful things and people to watch out for. There is also an Apple flagship store just a few yards away from the beach. Imagine going into Apple shop in your Hawaiian blue floral shirt and crocs flip-flop with a straw hat, getting into the grooves of i-this and i-that. The feeling is 500GB vs SPF60, zap on the music and slap on the sunscreen lotion.

Somehow the feeling in Waikiki (not the whole of Honolulu) was not American, it was like walking in the streets of Tokyo minus the population and the neon lights, speaking English but reading Japanese, eating American foods in Hawaii but eavesdrop Japanese chit-chat. 

Strange!?

There are more Japanese writings and Japanese people in Hawaii than, I think, anywhere else in the world outside Japan, per sq m space.

For a while, I was confused, was I in Waikiki or on the beach in Odaiba. Everywhere I looked, there were signboards, flyers, buntings, banners etc all in Japanese.  At one of the biggest mall in Waikiki - Ala Moana Hawaii Centre, almost all their eatery counters have their signs in foreign language, Korean too.

Nevertheless, the beauty of these clusters of island that formed the archipelago, being so divinely protected exclusively by the Pacific Ocean, is blessed with so many natural wonders. Great place to just unwind and not to worry if you have covered any other places in Hawaii. Being in Honolulu alone is all that is - for the time being! 

A Sunday Tea Time Treat - Apple Strudel

 

Merdeka holiday was truly relaxing. Sat, Sun and Mon, the traffic in Kuala Lumpur during the holidays was so free. Getting to places within minutes. So easy that I found too much time to spare, even after watching a few shows on TV, ran a few errands and meeting up friends for meals. Then, I decided to bake - hmmmm...., took out some cookbooks, browsed through them and found Apple Strudel. Oh, that was easy, I thought. Got the ingredients and created a perfect Strudel for a Sunday tea time treat. 

Since I posted these photos on Facebook, I have received many of my friends asking me for the recipe. So, here goes :

Apple Strudels

• 4 green cooking apples
  
• 30g butter
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ cup sultanas
  
• 2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
• ¼ cup ground almonds
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 220℃. Brush two oven trays with melted butter or oil. Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Heat butter in a medium pan; add apples and cook 2 minutes until lightly golden. Add orange juice, honey, sugar and sultanas. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and apples are just tender. Remove from heat and cool completely.
2. Place a sheet of pastry on flat work surface. Fold in half; make small cuts in folded edge of pastry at 2cm intervals. Open out pastry and sprinkle with half of the ground almonds. Drain away liquid from the apples and place half of the mixture in the center of the pastry. Brush edges with egg and fold together, pressing firmly.
3. Place strudel on prepared tray seam-side down. Brush top with egg and sprinkle with half of the combined sugar and cinnamon. Repeat process with other sheet and remaining filling. Bake 20-25 minutes or until pastry is golden and crisp.

This is my experience and suggestions :

• Puff pastry to be moved from freezer to lower fridge (chill room) to thaw. Remove from fridge only when ready to roll. I took 2 pieces out of the fridge, when one made a perfect strudel, the other had softened so much it was impossible to fold and got sticky too, so it got out of shape. But still taste fantastic.
• I took a little longer to make because this was my first time making apple strudel. With this experience, it will be easier the second time. In fact, making this is so easy, within an hour, we can have a mouth-watering dessert with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream. Next time, I can prepare the filling a day before or earlier, then fold it with the pastry, bake it, just perfect for an after-dinner dessert.
• Next time, I may try to use other fruits, like pear, instead of apple. Also, freeze dried cranberries instead of sultanas. Yeah, and maybe use more than 1 type of fruits, hmmm...
• Instead of putting the strudels on the surface of a baking tray, I placed a piece of aluminum foil on the tray, buttered it and sprinkle with flour, then place the strudels on top. After baking, the strudels can be removed easily and save me from washing the tray, just dispose of the foil.
  

175 years famous Sacher Torte, Vienna

Can you imagine having a cake that was made famous in 1832?
People from all over the world still highly recommend it especially when you are in Vienna?
A cake that is famous for 175 years? Unbelieveable.

But I must say, when you are seated in a cafe that reminisce the time of the renaissance, where the Queen has her tea in the garden and pastries are served with “Wiener Melange” (coffee with milk), you know you epitomize the elite group that spurred from the upper lips of the distinguished people who just love fine foods.


When the bus turned into Wien (Vienna as being called in German, which is their official language), our Czech guide told Peter and I that we must try the Sacher Torte, lest we have not set foot in Vienna. It is like saying if you have not tasted asam laksa, you cannot say that you have been to Penang. (Sacher is pronounced sa-her)



It was kind of nice, actually, to alight from the bus and saw Cafe Sacher, which is a hotel that was founded since 1876. I was so fascinated, bewildered somewhat, like everything seems to be in the 18th or 19th century in Vienna.  A tiny entrance that has a charming demeanor led us into its cloakroom first. My gosh, they have a cloakroom and a butler who takes our jacket. This service costs us €1 (RM4.50, just like parking your car) per jacket and you must leave it in the cloakroom, jackets are not permitted in the dining lounge.

The Sacher Torte is a soft chocolate cake with apricot jam in the chocolate icing. I am sure there are some secret ingredients that made it to be so world famous and mouth watering. If you buy it off the shelf, it is packed in a wooden box with the Sacher seal for originality. You can buy it at the airport or airflown to your home if you order online.

We wanted to just eat it fresh with “Wiener Melange” and enjoy its hotel ambiance. So, even if the whole Sacher experience costs us about €25 (RM115.00), I must admit that it is uniquely a Franz Sacher's feeling (the 16-year-old young chef who created it 175 years ago). The sweetness and the ingenuity of it will stay at the tip of my tongue for a long long time.

When you are in Vienna, ask every Viennese for the great Sacher Torte, I am sure they will be so glad as to lead you to the famous Hotel Sacher.

10 days in Bali

Since I come home from Bali, friends were appalled when I told them I was there for 10 days :


"You were alone-ah? Traveling alone, good meh?"
"What did you do, having 10 days in Bali?"
"Bali very small island, what can you do there? 10 days, such a long time."

I was with a group of friends for the first 5 days, then they left and I moved to other parts of Bali on my own.


Bali is a big island compared to Pulau Pinang or Singapore. It is almost 19x the size of Penang Island  and almost 9x the size of Singapore.  You can find practically everything you want for a great holiday escapade in Bali : trekking, nature walks, mountains, temples, volcanoes, art, shopping, temples, food, organic stuff, temples, biking, cycling, temples, padi fields, 7-star spa resorts, temples, surfing, para-sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, temples......really, everything you want for a good time.


I have been to Honolulu, Hawaii and I was in Kuta, Bali. I would say that what Hawaii is to the West, Bali is offering it to the South Pacific, maybe minus a few G-strings and Biceps. But at a fraction of the cost for Asians, Bali is still the best choice.


I like this description from one of the website about the island which many Balinese are Hindu : "Bali is a society of hamlets clustered around temples. Bali as a culture organism, the villages are its vital organs, and the network of temples its nervous system."


Where did I go in Bali?


Kuta -  south : beach resort, sun, sea, water sports, thousands of tourists, constantly jam packed with people, action place.


Ubud - centre : art town, handicraft, creative stuff, organic foods, spa, spiritual activities, yoga, nature walks, great food especially Babi Guling, Bebek Betutu and Bebek Bengil.

Mt Batur - north east : temples, Pura Penulisan, Pura Gunung Kawi (Water Temple), mountainous terrain, restaurants on side of cliffs.


Mt Agung - north east : mountain scenery, cool air, Besakih Temple, lunch en route is best.


Amed - east : beachside resorts, azure sea, hardly anyone around, beautiful beach and lovely villagers.


Mt Lempuyang - east : about 3,000 ft above sea level, a sacred Balinese once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage trek up, with more than 1,000 steps to the summit with 6 temples along the way.


Candidassa - east : beach resort, spa resort, small place but lots of restaurants.


Tanah Lot - south west : temple in the middle of the ocean, great sunset viewing point.


Uluwatu - south : temple perched on a cliff, beautiful sunset and sunrise viewing point.


Sanur, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua - all beachside resorts.


So many things to do in Bali, all alone to enjoy it. Hmmm....so in touch...

Even having breakfast on the beach under a coconut tree, banana pancake with honey, fried egg and coffee + the breeze from the idyllic sea at 7 on a bright and sunny morning, makes it all worthwhile to live.

Quietly, Hear It All - Assisi, Italy

Winter's sun is always welcome with beaming smiles and wondrous clasp of warmth. Soft glow of shimmering golden brown illumines every path and leads them out of shadow, albeit for the span of a moment in conscious time. It just makes everything seem so sharp and clear, there is not a single detail that escapes its penetration. Like the buds of pansies and violas, that burst out blooming amidst the winter cold. They burst into their glory to become the purple and orange, adding the hope that yes, after all these winter dullness, there are always a mystical charm to look out for miracles in the tiniest works of the Presence. Nothing is by chance.

Winter evening drags a long and wide elongated drape over the facade of the famous Basilica and Convent of St. Francis from the southeast at sunset. It is so quiet, the tranquility sets the tone of heaven, where if you listen intently, you will hear the celestial voices with your senses. The serenity is felt at the level of the heart, where it strides a cord as I recall Dr Wayne Dyer's photo on the cover of his book "There's A Spiritual Solution to Every Problem". He was holding his hands in prayer position, cupping them in front of his mouth, staring out into the realms of all that is. The book is his ingenuity writings based on the famous prayer of St Francis. The thug of the heart string resounded with the chanting of the first verse : Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace....... (Click here to read the entire prayer.)

And there I was, standing at the railing overlooking the Basilica, and felt like Dr Dyer looking out and just felt the openness. I listened to the whispers of the spheres while I took in the golden glimpse of the love emanating from the confluence of a sacred place where a world revered saint spent his life loving what Is.


We just arrived at Assisi, the hometown of St Francis, en route to Venice the next morning. He was born to a wealthy cloth merchant in the 12th century and since then found his "sanity" by forgoing all his wealth and possessions to clear his disillusionment of the world. His renunciation to the Order faced strong family resistance so he was threatened and beaten.  Such stories are similar to Prince Siddharta and even in our times, Sai Baba and our most revered Divine Mother, the famous hugging Amma, all went through such times in their younger days where they were all taken as either disillusioned or insane. Well, whichever it is, the divine plans that have been laid out for all of us showed up eventually.

For me, the Plans had me witnessed the sacred places many times without me having to prepare for them. And every time I will return home feeling awe-struck and more aware of the Presence which has all the answers to the purpose of my life.

As I strolled into the medieval town, walking the cobbled stone walkway up to the Chapter House where some of the relics of St Francis were placed. Unfortunately, because I spent so much time watching the sunset over the Umbria region with all the olive trees doting the landscape, I didn't notice that it had very short visiting hours in winter. By the time I went up to the chapel through the town area, I could only take a peak through its grilled windows. The nuns chanted and moved silently inside the chapel and I was told, they were doing the same devotional practice as what St Francis did 9 centuries ago. 

The experience was captured and encapsulated in eternity. It has open up more opportunities for me to rest in the feet of the omnipresence and know that all is well. It was like my soul needed to be there at all these sacred places to re-live the lives that were meant to be with full and total awareness of what is present.

It was hush and quiet all the time I was there in Assisi. As tourists, somehow, deep in their soul, even though we have been so used to busyness, making loud noice and rushing around in our daily lives, when in Assisi, the atmosphere was calming, soothing and peaceful, everyone just meditatively slowed down, very infectious indeed. But I know, amidst the tranquility, the Words had been spoken and heard - and deeply cherished!

Visit More Places with One Flight Ticket

Question :

Is there a cheaper way to fly? How do you cover more places?

Answer :

The way I traveled had always been fun and free.  So, even if the places I chose to arrive and then depart were far apart in terms of geographical location, I will eventually find transport and ways to get to the departure point, no matter what. How I get there to the destination, I didn't have a clue, but somehow things always turned up great.

One way to travel, if you have time and many days to spare, is to choose a city to arrive and then choose another city to depart. It may not be a city within the same country, you can choose a city in the neighboring country, for which the same airline flies to.

I have heard of other tourists using a world ticket to cover a few continents making kind of a circle then head home. That may be a better idea too.  For me, I do my traveling regularly, it is not just once in a lifetime kind of thing. So, I take my time. Most places I have been back again and again several times, such as India, one of the places in the world that I had been back more than 5 times.

These were just some of my experiences where I took a cheaper way to fly and covered more places as well. If you know of a better way to travel, do share with me too :


India & Nepal

I took Singapore Airlines (SQ) to New Delhi.  I covered many places in the northern part of India, such as Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala, New Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, then crossed the border into Nepal on foot. Overland in Nepal, I went to Lumbhini, Pokhara and many more places until finally I arrived at my last destination, ie Kathmandu and took a flight back from there. With such flight arrangement on SQ, I need not head back to New Delhi to take the flight home. Eventhough I paid a little more for the flight, the adventure was worth it.

Indochina

I took a flight to Bangkok. Then took the bus to Nong Khai, the border town where they have now built a Friendship bridge connecting into Vientienne, Laos. When I was there, there were no bridge yet. After covering Vientienne and Luang Prabang, I took a flight from Laos to Ho Chi Minh City. Visited a few places in southern Vietnam, from Ho Chi Minh City up to Dalat and Nha Trang. Later, took a bus to from Ho Chi Minh City to cross the border into Phnom Penh.  I was denied exit at the border because Vietnam was not open to free travel yet, everywhere I went, I needed a permit stamp. I did not know that the stamp also indicated my exit point, so I stormed back to Ho Chi Minh City and booked a flight into Phnom Penh. I came back to Bangkok by flight from Phnom Penh and took a flight back to KL from Bangkok.

Now that we have more flights into Indochina and free travel to anywhere in ASEAN countries without having to apply for a visa (I took a visa to Laos and Vietnam then, it was about 16 years ago),  I would do it differently.

Australia & New Zealand

I took Qantas then. My flight route was KL-Sydney, stayed a few days in Sydney, then from Sydney to Christchurch. I spent a couple of weeks traversing the South, found my way to Wellington by bus and ferry. Then visited a few places in the North from Rotorua, Auckland up to Paihia, then took a flight from Auckland to Melbourne.  Spent a few more days in Melbourne, then Melbourne-KL. One ticket from Qantas covered so many places, and do note that I did not have to go back to the place where I first arrived.

My next trip to Australia, my flight route was KL-Melbourne, Brisbane-KL. I covered Tasmania as well, then took a flight from Hobart to Brisbane, cost about AUD110 one-way.

Europe

I like to stay in London. So, for many trips, I will choose to stop in London and have a few nights there to go to Theatreland.  It would be cheaper now to fly to London, after that proceed to other destinations in Europe. Example : I took a one-way Singapore Airlines flight to Rome, toured many places in Italy, then took Easy Jet (for cheap flights in Europe, try easyjet.com or ryanair.com) from Rome to London. That would have been under ₤25 one-way. Then, I took one-way London-KL flight home on SQ again. I may have paid RM300 more to Singapore Airlines for this arrangement but I saved returning to Rome.

A few years back, I took MH flight KL-London-KL. Stayed a few days in London, then took an easyjet flight London-Vienna-London for under ₤55. I found that it was cheaper to fly than to take the train.

Indonesia

My flight route was KL-Denpasar, Yogyakarta-KL. It was cheaper to take a flight this way, I paid less airport tax in Yogya compared to Denpasar. I traveled from Bali to Mt Bromo by ferry then by bus. From Mt Bromo, I went to Yogya on a van which took almost 14 hours. I visited Borobudur the next day and stayed there for 2 nights. Then came back to Yogya and took a flight from Yogya to KL. Thus, saving me the trip back to Bali. There is cheap flights within Indonesia too, you can book it through mandalaair.com


America

I had taken SQ flight to San Francisco, then out Los Angeles, same price, no extra charge. There are plenty of cheap flights in the USA, so getting around is fairly easy. The best I got was on Korean Air this year 2009. My flight route was :

KL-Seoul (on Korean Air) - 5 hours connecting flight
Seoul - Chicago (on Korean Air) - stopover 1 night at no extra charge
Chicago - Orlando (Delta Air) - stayed there 5 days and went to Disneyland
Orlando - Alabama (Delta Air) - stayed a week, paid extra
Alabama - Honolulu (Delta Air) - stayed for 5 days and did a local tour
Honolulu - Seoul (Korean Air) - stopover 1 night at no extra charge
Seoul - KL (Korean Air) - beautiful, just had a splendid holiday.

There was one year I took a flight KL-Newark-KL and back for under RM6000 including 6 days bus tour to New York, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Buffalo (Niagara Falls), no meals but 5 nights accommodation at 5-star hotels provided too.  After that tour, I crossed to Canada through Buffalo, via Toronto to Windsor (southern city connecting Detroit). Then, re-entered USA via Detroit, went to Alabama, back to New York to take the flight home.

Purple Nostalgia 紫之忆

  突然想看看以前拍的照片。二十年里所收集的照片真的好多，应该有超过一万张吧。已经注入电脑里的都超过五千张了。 以前我用的底片都是专业摄影师拍的那些幻灯片。因为没有存好，所以很多张幻灯片都已经聚了霉菌。


当时玩相机，只是嗜好而已，不过却好认真。去游玩时都会不屈不挠的背著一款那时蛮先进的NIKON 801s, 附带一个 20mm 和一台 28－75mm 的镜头，一个 polarizer, 可以用来把自然的色素线条调净的一种镜框。游山玩水时还扛著一个三脚架，背包里还装著二十卷的菲林。背包好重，可是锺爱摄影的那种心得总是把背包的重量无意间减得好轻。就这样的走遍了好多个国家，喝了好多种咖啡，温暖了无数了阔的心扉，把视野也加深了那种菜根谈的透视，心宽了，思维四海为导因，人生的脚步也如云一般轻松自在的遨游，好写意。


The storm had begun. The torrential rain beating the zinc roof with such force it was deafening. The strong hustling wind whistled through the gaps in-between the wooden houses. They were built on stilts in the middle of the ocean. It shook them so much the houses rattled to its forces. But these were houses built with strong arms and centuries of nomadic experiences. They stood the test of times and of all that weather condition off the coast of Semporna. It is a tiny fishing village in Sabah, which is also the gateway to the world renowned dive site of Pulau Sipadan.


The Sulu Sea continued to roar with the rolling waves, hitting the stilts just below the master bedroom. Between the gaps of the wooden planks that made up the floor, the sound of the waves pushing the sampan against the column was eerie to some, but it was melodic nevertheless. It was pitch dark, nobody was moving. The wind continued to howl, as if there was a terrible thing had happened and nature was mourning its lost. The windows were well shut, but through the cracks, the rain seeped in and licked the wood as if eating up its grains.


Strangely, I felt safe. Amidst all the howling, the rocking and the sound of the wind, in the darkest time of the night, I actually felt cuddly and warm. I was given the best room in the wooden stilt house of a family of 9 members who were the descendants of the nomadic sea gypsies called the Bajau Laut people. The head of the family, who was the father, brought me here to stay with them while I used his boat exclusively for my seafaring trip around the isles off Semporna. 


I was offered his master bedroom, the only room in the whole house, for a few days. As it happened, it rained the night and I was enjoying the lullaby while I cuddled into my sleeping bag. 


The next morning, I witnessed the most wonderful scene. The water retreated a little and right outside the window, a man with sun-drenched skin and a body of muscle hugging stature, carried a long wood, I guessed it was meant for fishing, straddling it across the sea water. All the houses were built on the ocean floor, so when the tide was high, people who walked in the water looked as if they were walking in the middle of the ocean. 


It was one of those memorable scenery caught on film. And many of these fantastic shots are made available in my picture stocks with Picture Library, a company who stocks my pictures and offer the copyright to publishing companies.  These are some of my grade AAA pictures taken throughout my earlier years of traveling with Fuji Velvia films and a Nikon 801s camera. I carried a tripod, 2 camera lens, a 20mm and a 28-75mm lens. Stuffing up my rucksack were 20 rolls of slides, each with more than 36 exposures and a polariser. 


Those were some jaw dropping beautiful pictures I took when I was in Ho Chi Minh City, Semporna, Jugra, Mt Kinabalu, Miri National Park and Angkor Wat. These have been converted from slides to digital. They are available for viewing at Picture Library's website.


Looking back at some of the pictures, I am appalled by the artistic drape of the whole composition of my camera works. It is always astounding to look back at some of the wonderment of my creativity. Also, to reminisce the many places where I had been. The feeling is nostalgic.


  重新再看一些以往的摄影著作，真的好惊讶我那时候拍照的心情。可以那么自在的拿著相机，脑海里立刻浮现一个美丽的画面，用相框把视线内的真实框在一个图画里。把生活美化留影。


很遗憾的是，好多的照片不是被霉菌侵蚀了，就是电脑失灵导致全部软件受毁，包括了我所有的照片。所可以挽救的照片历历可数，还蛮好的了, 失而复得。原來的路途雖然跋涉了千里，心情的留步，如今又有照片回憶，是褔吗？褔亦富也。