my postcard moments in Mabul part 2

Location: Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia ...

my postcard moments in Mabul part 1

Location: around Semporna and Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia ...

... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku tidak cemburu
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku tidak menangis
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku puas dengan sepi
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku sentiasa mengerti
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku sentiasa penyabar
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku tidak berusaha
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku tidak berharap
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika aku sentiasa 'ok'
... bukanlah aku seorang manusia

jika takdir tidak menemukan kita
... manusia bagaimanakah aku?

jika takdir tidak menjodohkan kita
... manusia bagaimanakah aku?

jika aku tidak mengingatiMu
...
..
.
 gila lah aku


The dreamer©2013
~minit-minit sebelum pulang

kalau boleh ingin ku kemas bilik itu ...

kalau boleh ...

kalau boleh ingin ku kemas bilik itu
bilik yang utama tetapi tidak seumpama nama

kalau boleh ingin ku kemas timbunan itu
kertas-kertas boleh diguna semula

kalau boleh ingin ku kemas fail-fail itu
menimbun menyemak di atas meja
seolah tiada tempat simpanannya

kalau boleh ingin ku syarahi pemiliknya
kalau boleh aku fahami sikapnya
tidak teraturkah?
tidak pedulikah?
tidak tahukah?

kalau boleh aku tahan kegeramanku
melihat bilik yang tidak tersusun
kalau boleh ingin ku kemas bilik itu
kalau boleh
kalau boleh ...


The dreamer©2013
pmtwu, 11.30pg

Parker Pyne Investigates

Title : Parker Pyne Investigates

Author : Agatha Christie

Publisher : Harper, 2003 (Agatha Christie Signature Edition)

Originally published : Collins, 1934

google image

I have truly enjoyed the serious business of crime and murder of various nature investigated by Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, the two very different yet equally sharp and efficient detectives of Agatha Christie's creation. But this time is the first time I get to know Mr. Parker Pyne, who by profession is not a detective but more like a consultant of the human nature. He runs a business of settling his clients' 'unhappiness' as advertised in the Times newspaper: "Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne, 17 Richmond Street."

Parker Pyne has retired from the civil service's statistics department for 35 years, and from his statistical experience he has studied a whole lot of the human nature. With that kind of knowledge and interest, Parker Pyne and his team set up this business of solving various problems of the people; from unhappy marriage, boredom in life and some other problems of serious nature that comes up in his travelling adventures.

This collection of 14 short stories really is really entertaining and very suitable to read while you are travelling. 

Bunohan (Murder)

www.bunohan.com

Bunohan is a gripping tale of 3 estranged brothers, Ilham, Bakar and Adil, whose fates crossed each other's life and brought them back to Bunohan, their home village in Kelantan. Set in the rural setting of Southern Thailand - Kelantan area, the home base of muay thai (kickboxing), wayang kulit (shadow puppet play),  mak yong and main puteri (traditional musical drama play), this tragic story of love lost between the brothers and their ailing father portrays each man's struggle to overcome the years of estrangement and family issues intertwined with elements of danger, corruption, betrayal and murder.

Ilham, the eldest brother, son of Pok Eng, a shadow puppet master and Mek Yah, a Mak Yong primadona of her time, ran away and went astray after his parents' divorce. A former sailor turned hitman, he comes back to Bunohan after more than 20 years away, trailing Bunga Lalang, a runaway fugitive - the target he is hired to kill by a Thai gangster. By coming back, Ilham also faces painful recollection of the past, especially about his late mother, who was exiled from the village after the divorce.

Bakar, the second brother, was born after Pok Eng married his second wife, Mek Ani. A school teacher, but also a cunning and ruthless businessman on the side, he is the actual 'puppet master' in the story, scheming his way for power and control of his father's and the villagers' land for a lucrative development deal.

Adil, the youngest of the three, is a kickboxing fighter rising to fame in Southern Thai. In a what supposed to be a fight-to-death match in order to settle a debt with a gangster, he was rescued mid-way after getting badly injured by his childhood friend and brought back to Bunohan.

I give a thumbs up for the story. The story of men with scarred souls due to unhappy childhood led them away from each other and resort to violence, physically, mentally and psychologically. It is a story of family relationship and friendship and how violence, betrayal, and greed make a mess out of everything. Yes, it's rated PG-13 so viewers' discretion is advised but it's not as violent and gory as Hollywood's horror and violent movies.

Another thumbs up should be given to the cinematography. I love all the scenes and camera angles in this movie. The view and the background, the angles ... all that I would like to capture as still photos. The dialogues - true to the setting - almost entirely spoken in Kelantanese dialect. The special features in the dvd also includes photo gallery, an interview with the director Dain Said, The Making Of and deleted scenes.

One of my favourite dialogues :

(Between Bakar and Adil)

Bakar : Tanah kita ... ada orang nak beli. Kalau jual sekarang, boleh menolong keluarga kita.

(Our land ... some people want to buy. If we sell now, it could help the family.)

Adil : Keluarga binatang apa?

(What damned family?)

Bakar : Boleh menolong kau juga. Tak perlu kau berpatah tulang bertinju di seberang.

(It could help you too. It's better than breaking bones across the border.)

Adil : Tulang patah boleh sembuh. Masalahnya kau tu! Patahkan semangat orang.

(Broken bones can mend. The problem is you! You break people's spirit.)

There's also a little bit of mystical element in the story, giving the glint of creepy feeling although this movie is nowhere close to a typical horror movie. I think this element is inserted because of the old folk's tale in the traditional community and the spiritual and ritual elements in the wayang kulit, mak yong and main puteri plays during the early days.

Anyway, this is a good work of art. The moral of the story: Life is full of choices. Everything depends on how you choose.

Head on to www.bunohan.com for information of this movie's achievements.

Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park

Location : Tasek Merimbun, Tutong District, Brunei.

Date of visit : 12 Januari 2013.

Brief description :

Tasek Merimbun is part of a geological formation that was uplifted from a shallow sea about 7 million years ago. Home to many species of flora and fauna, it is a kind of low depression surrounded by swamps as opposed to being a typical lake. The water is black due to the presence of peat i.e. fermentation of plant vegetative materials that feed into the lake through the peat swamp. Tasek Merimbun was declared as Brunei's National Heritage Park in 1967 and later on declared as an ASEAN Heritage Park in 1984. This park is under the management of Brunei Museums Department.

Visit on a Sunday and you can cross the bridge.

The exhibition hall inside the heritage park complex.

Nice view of the lake from the complex. 

Inside the exhibition hall.

Location : Taman Kulimambang (Butterfly Garden), inside the Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park Complex.

Visiting hours : Saturday - Thursday, 9.30am - 3.30pm

Brief description:

Established in July 2012, this little garden is said to accommodate about 100 species of butterflies, and there's a myriad of other insect species too. We arrived at this garden exactly 15 minutes before the closing time so we only had little time inside but it's enough.The garden is pretty and nice although quite small. 

Some of the residents.

Nice garden.

This place is a nice place to visit if you like nature. There's a 650km trail called the Banunih Trail where you can track along in about 45 minutes inside the forest and observe tree species, orchids and frogs, among other things. Since we didn't have a lot of time to spent so we didn't cover this trail. 

flora hana

Flowers always symbolizes beauty, peace, love and everything nice. Flowers make people smile. Flowers are the source of sustainability to insects and some other animals. Flowers are always used as a connecting bridge to someone's heart, whether to celebrate a union or grieving a separation by death. 

And flowers are my subject for today ... for close ups!

my postcard moments in labuan