Three questions, revisited

In the last few weeks as I was trying to recover from influenza, I have been reflecting how far it has been since retirement from full-time employment. Come this 31st of December, it will be exactly 10 years since I left JobStreet.com. I'm 65 now, not 70, because 10 years ago, the compulsory retirement age was still set at 55 years old unlike the 60-years-old retirement age limit that employees now enjoy without question.

I still remember my last day at work. My colleagues at the workplace had thrown me a farewell and I was asked to say a few words. I was actually at a loss of what to say but at the last moment, remembered a story related to me by the Australian theravadin monk, Ajahn Brahm, in one of his public talks in Penang. He had called it the emperor's three questions.

Three profound questions which had made a mark in my memory. As I told the story to my former colleagues I could sense the room grew so quiet as the 10, 15-odd people turned their attention to me. I would say that was one of the most important stories I had ever told in my life too.

By a curious coincidence, I was at the Mahindarama Buddhist Temple in Kampar Road again last night. The occasion was yet another talk by Ajahn Brahm who returns to Penang regularly at each year-end to conduct either a three-day or an eight-day retreat.

Actually, I wasn't meant to attend the talk last night but I happened to prick the interest of a friend from overseas. After having invited him to attend the talk, there was no way that I could now absent myself from it. I would have to attend and accompany my friend and his family to their first-ever Ajahn Brahm discourse on Buddhism and wisdom.

Although the topic of his conversation with us was on the most important thing in the world, it soon became very clear to me that Ajahn Brahm was talking about the emperor's same three questions. I was surprised. There I was, a few weeks ago, thinking about what I had shared with my former colleagues in December 2009 and here I was at the Mahindarama Buddhist Temple 10 years later in December 2019, listening to Ajahn Brahm telling the same story to me! The emperor's three questions have returned to me, making a full circle, 10 years later. What a coincidence!

So what was the takeaway lesson learnt from the talk? It was simple this: that these are the three important questions.

1. When is the most important time? It is now, not yesterday, not tomorrow. The most important time is now, the present moment.

2. Who is the most important person? The person you are with now. Give your utmost attention to him or her, the person right in front of you, right beside you. If there's no one with you, then you should be the most important person to yourself.

3. What is the most important thing? It is to care for others and to care for yourself. Be kind to others and be kind to yourself.

Post-Christmas lunch

A post-Christmas lunch with some Old Frees at the Penang Club in Northam Road. Glad to have met them again, especially Charn Hong (old Standard One pal from Westlands School days), Nehru and Cheng Hye. In fact, many of us here in this picture were from Westlands School.

Solar eclipse

The talk of the last few days in Penang was that there would be an annular solar eclipse on 26 Dec 2019 and it would be visible in the country. The only catch was that for the peninsula, a total eclipse could be seen only at Tanjong Piai on the southernmost tip of the mainland. In other parts of the country, only a partial eclipse would be visible and the further north one was located, even less of the partiality could be experienced. Thus, I wasn't particularly interested in the eclipse and in fact was saying to people that they wouldn't see much of a difference anyway! From Penang's point of view, it wasn't as if the land was going to be plunged into total darkness at the height of the partial eclipse.

Then unexpectedly, my daughter came into the picture. Messaging me from Kuala Lumpur, she exclaimed that there was an eclipse and she had managed to snap a picture of the sun amidst a thick layer of clouds.

By then too, social media had exploded with other pictures of the eclipse from various locations in the country. Sigh.....there was to be no escaping the eclipse wherever I was. Too many excited people around.

I was on my way home from the island. Whilst driving back, I remembered suddenly that I had a set of neutral density camera filters at home. I had bought them some 30 to 40 years ago when I was still playing around with my Canon A1 camera. Though the camera is all spoilt now and discarded in favour of my present Olympus PEN-7, I was still keeping the old filters, not knowing whether they would come in handy again. Now's the time to find out.

Immediately on reaching home, I rummaged through the cupboard and retrieved the filters. Screwed them together and then attempted to fit them onto the end of my Olympus lens. Incredulously, they fitted and I was amazed. Same 58mm filter diameter, my ND filters and my lens barrel. So it was a quick check of my camera equipment, found everything working and ready to go! I turned outdoors, set my camera to a shutter speed of 1/4000s and an f-stop of f22, and aimed the camera skywards. I was confident that with these settings and the three neutral density filters of NDx14, I was ready to face the sun. The combined NDx14 would ensure that my camera sensors won't get fried. And I clicked furiously away.....

Tang Chik 2019

One unique aspect of Tang Chik this year is that we found our children back home in Penang for the weekend. My daughter came home yesterday from Kuala Lumpur but had to head back there today. Meanwhile, my son returned from the island as is his usual routine. Thus, for a brief moment, a weekend, a Tang Chik weekend, we found ourselves a whole family unit again. This is what Tang Chik is meant to be: a time for families to group together at the end of the year to reflect on a year for its good or its bad, depending on your point of view.

Tang Chik is, of course, the time of the Winter Solstice, the deepest depths of winter when in the northern hemisphere, the day grows shortest and the night longest. In the olden days in China, farmers would have completed their harvests, downed their tools, completed all their thanksgiving worship of the ancestors and be preparing for a reunion feast with the community. That's the Chinese cultural aspect of Tang Chik. In Penang, the festival has become so commercialised that we now mostly celebrate it for the glutinous rice dumplings.

The butcher expertly carving up the roast pig.

It is perhaps observed more faithfully by the clan houses such as the Swee Cheok Tong (Quah Kongsi): a Thanksgiving worship of the deities and ancestors. And what a year it has been for us! When I arrived at the Kongsi House this morning, the worship session had already begun. The centrepiece of attraction was the roast pig which we had laid in front of the ancestral altar. As this was one of the only two occasions that we offer a whole roast pig before the altars, this just shows how important this Tang Chik festival meant to us.

Greeted my cousin at the Kongsi. She stays in Johor Bahru but it has been her routine that for the past 10 years, she's here to pay respects to the ancestral tablet of her late father. It is always a good occasion to catch up with one another.

Young Old Frees

December is surely a chess month in Penang with the Penang Chess Association organising their flagship events, namely, the Penang heritage city international open and the Penang chess league from the ninth till 15th of December. Of course, there were also the Penang heritage city international challengers open and the blitz events too.

I always make it a point to visit the open tournament for a few days in order to catch up with several chess friends, but my main interest is the chess league. This year, The Old Frees' Association was unable to enter two teams because some of the members were unable to commit their time, even for two days. So it was only one team this year, the Young Old Frees. But unofficially, the Free N Easy team was also an Old Frees team although the third and fourth board players were not OFA members. Important though, we still functioned as a group, together. Great camaraderie.

Free N Easy on the left were Terry Ong, Ung Tay Aik, Sunny Lim 
and Chuah Soon Pheng. Young Old Frees on the right: Ooi Peng 
Seng, myself, Chan Kim Chai and Chuah Heng Meng.

Chuah Heng Meng was a great stand-in for our team because our original first board player, Colin Chong, had a bereavement to attend.

As fate would have it, the two teams were paired in the sixth round. Everybody predicted a 2-2 draw but it was not all that plain-sailing. The first two boards were drawn but we traded wins on the bottom two boards.

(Much apologies for the poor quality pictures. My camera lens is spoilt and I was reduced to using the camera on the mobile. As we all know, mobile cameras aren't the best for taking high quality pictures.)

Some comments on the tournament itself. According to the organisers, it was a record number of entries this year with 99 teams. Many of the foreign participants stayed back for the tournament because they didn't have to rush south for the Johor open. This year, the Johor open preceded the Penang open. The Young Old Frees eventually finished in 14 spot while the Free N Easy finished in 45th position. Like the Young Old Frees, the Free N Easy team had quite a similar set of problem as Ung Tay Aik found himself having to attend to a bereavement in his family. Thus, he missed three games.

Wong Yinn Long

Picture credit: Andrew Ooi

When one plays in the annual Penang heritage city international open tournament, the ultimate aim for an aspiring player is to progress to sitting on the stage, a privilege which is only available to a few select participants every round. The number will depend on the organisers. Some years, there may be six players or eight, if there are three or four tables laid out, but for this year there are only four players.

In the sixth round this year, local boy Wong Yinn Long found himself seated across from the top seeded Vitaly Sivuk, a grandmaster from Ukraine. Sivuk had arrived from Johor Bahru when he had already won the Johor open just days earlier and in Penang, he was a favourite to win as well.

Picture credit; Andrew Ooi

But then he was paired with Wong Yinn Long. Playing through the game, I was quite impressed with the way that Wong had dismantled the grandmaster. He dominated the position, quietly pressured his opponent, won a crucial pawn and ultimately then pressed home his advantage. But then Wong, although only 17 years old, is not exactly a green horn in chess. He also a Fide master and a former national champion too (he won it in 2017).

Whether he can keep up the momentum and take his success against Sivuk to a logical conclusion at the Penang open, that is, by winning the event, remains to be seen. But by playing on top board and then winning against a tournament favourite, that is already an achievement. It must mean something both to him and the Penang Chess Association that has backed him up in the last few years.

[LATEST: The boy achieved his first International master norm from this tournament. Although the title is still far, far away and there are still two more norms and a rating requirement to fulfil, it means that he has the potential to progress further in playing chess.]

[Event "11th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2019 (Open Category)"]
[Site "Red Rock Hotel"]
[Date "2019.12.12"]
[Round "6"]
[Board "1"]
[White "Wong, Yinn Long"]
[Black "Sivuk, Vitaly"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2298"]
[BlackElo "2588"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.12.09"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MAS"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.f4 e6 4.g3 d5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Ne5 Nd4 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Be3 Nf5 13.Bf2 f6 14.Nf3 b6 15.c3 Kh8 16.d4 Rb8 17.h3 c4 18.Nd2 Bb7 19.g4 Nh6 20.f5 Bd6 21.Qf3 Qc7 22.Rfe1 Nf7 23.h4 b5 24.a3 a5 25.Re2 Rfd8 26.Rae1 h6 27.Nf1 b4 28.axb4 axb4 29.Bg3 Rbc8 30.Bxd6 Nxd6 31.Ng3 Re8 32.g5 bxc3 33.bxc3 Rxe2 34.Rxe2 Ne4 35.Nxe4 dxe4 36.Qg4 Ra8 37.Bxe4 Bxe4 38.Rxe4 Ra1+ 39.Kg2 Qb7 40.Qf3 Ra2+ 41.Kg3 Qd7 42.g6 Kg8 43.Re2 Ra5 44.Qb7 (see diagram) 44...Qd6+ 45.Kg2 1-0

December moon

The last full moon of the year. This month's full moon fell on Monday, the ninth of December, but I was greatly surprised that even two days later, on the 11th evening, the full moon was still just as round. Impressive!

Gold medallist, 30th SEA Games 2019

The Negaraku sounded out proudly this afternoon for chess at the 30th SEA Games in Subic Bay, the Philippines. Congratulations to Yeoh Li Tian for winning the gold medal in the Rapid Chess tournament!

[Event "Rapid Chess, 30th SEA Games 2019"]
[Site "Subic Bay, Philippines"]
[Date "2019.12.03"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son GM"]
[Black "Yeoh, Li Tian IM"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2641"]
[BlackElo "2294"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. Nc4 Bd6 8. a4 c5 9. h3 Nd7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bd2 Nb8 12. Nh2 Nc6 13. Ng4 Be6 14. Nge3 f6 15. Nf5 Qd7 16. Nce3 Nd4 17. Nxd6 cxd6 18. b4 cxb4 19. Bxb4 f5 20. c3 Nc6 21. Ba3 f4 22. Nc4 f3 1/2-1/2

This draw was offered by our player from a position of strength. Li Tian has no fear of 23. Bxd6 because 23...fxg2 wins easily for him, eg 24. Bxf8 gxf1=Q+ or 24. gxf3 Bxc4 and 25...Qxh3.

Here are Li Tian's games from the second to fifth rounds which were played yesterday. Because of the odd number of players in this event, he had been given a bye in the first round.

[Event "30th SEA GAMES (MEN RAPID CATEGORY) 2019"]
[Site "Travellers Hotel, Subic Bay, Philippines"]
[Date "2019.12.02"]
[Round "2"]
[Board "4"]
[White "YEOH, Li Tian"]
[Black "NGUYEN, Anh Khoi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2294"]
[BlackElo "2248"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.12.02"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. Nf3  Nf6  2. g3  b6 3. Bg2  Bb7  4. O-O e6  5. d3  d5 6. Nbd2  c5  7. e4  Nc6 8. Re1  Be7  9. c3 O-O  10. e5  Nd7 11. Nf1  b5  12. h4 b4  13. h5  bxc3 14. bxc3  h6  15. N1h2 Qa5  16. Bd2  Qa3 17. Ng4  Rfb8  18. Bxh6 Qxc3  19. Rc1  Qa3 20. Bg5  Ba6  21. Bxe7 Nxe7  22. Qd2  Qxd3 23. Qg5  Kf8  24. Nh4 Qh7  25. Nf6  gxf6 26. exf6  Ng8  27. Bxd5 Ngxf6  28. Bxe6  fxe6 29. Rxe6  Bd3  30. Rxf6+ Nxf6  31. Qxf6+  Kg8 32. Rxc5  Rb1+  33. Kh2 Qd7  34. Rg5+  Kh7 35. Rg6  Bxg6  36. hxg6+ Kg8  37. Nf5  Rh1+ 38. Kxh1  Qd1+  39. Kg2 Qd5+  40. Kh2   1-0

[Event "30th SEA GAMES (MEN RAPID CATEGORY) 2019"]
[Site "Travellers Hotel, Subic Bay, Philippines"]
[Date "2019.12.02"]
[Round "3"]
[Board "1"]
[White "CUHENDI, Sean Winshand"]
[Black "YEOH, Li Tian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2386"]
[BlackElo "2294"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.12.02"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. d4  d5  2. Bf4  Nf6  3. e3  c5  4. Nd2  Nc6  5. c3  cxd4  6. exd4  g6  7. Bd3  Bg7  8. Ngf3  O-O 9. h3 Nh5  10. Bh2  Bh6  11. O-O  Nf4  12. Bxf4  Bxf4  13. Re1  Qd6  14. Qe2  Bf5  15. Bxf5  gxf5  16. Ne5  Nxe5  17. dxe5  Qh6  18. Nf3  e6  19. g3  Bg5  20. Nxg5  Qxg5  21. h4  Qh6  22. Rad1  Rac8  23. Rd4  Rc7  24. Qe3   1/2-1/2

[Event "30th SEA GAMES (MEN RAPID CATEGORY) 2019"]
[Site "Travellers Hotel, Subic Bay, Philippines"]
[Date "2019.12.02"]
[Round "4"]
[Board "3"]
[White "YEOH, Li Tian"]
[Black "GARCIA, Jan Emmanuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2294"]
[BlackElo "2384"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.12.02"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. Nf3  Nf6  2. g3  g6  3. c4  c6  4. Bg2  Bg7  5. O-O  O-O  6. d4  d5  7. Qb3  Qb6  8. Nc3  Rd8  9. Na4  Qxb3  10. axb3  Na6  11. Bf4  Bf5  12. Rfc1  Rac8  13. Nc3  Ne4  14. c5  f6  15. b4  g5  16. Be3  Ra8  17. b5  Nxc3  18. Rxc3  cxb5  19. c6  b4  20. Rcc1  Bc8  21. h4  h6  22. Ne1  e6  23. hxg5  hxg5  24. Nd3  Bf8  25. Bd2  bxc6  26. Rxc6  Rd6  27. Rcc1  Rb8  28. f4  Bh6  29. fxg5  Bxg5  30. Bxg5 fxg5 31. Ne5  Bb7  32. Rf1  Rf8  33. Bh3  Rxf1+  34. Rxf1  Bc8  35. Rf7 Rc6 36. Rxa7  Rc2  37. b3  Kf8  38. Kf2  Ke8  39. Bxe6  Nc5  40. Bf7+  Kf8 41. dxc5  Rxc5  42. Nd3 Rb5  43. Ke3  Bf5  44. Kd4  Rb6  45. Bxd5  1-0

[Event "30th SEA GAMES (MEN RAPID CATEGORY) 2019"]
[Site "Travellers Hotel, Subic Bay, Philippines"]
[Date "2019.12.02"]
[Round "5"]
[Board "2"]
[White "ARUNNUNTAPANICH, Tinnakrit"]
[Black "YEOH, Li Tian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A88"]
[WhiteElo "2023"]
[BlackElo "2294"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.12.02"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. d4  f5  2. c4  Nf6  3. Nc3  d6  4. Nf3  g6  5. g3  Bg7 6. Bg2  O-O  7. O-O  c6  8. b3  a5  9. Bb2  Na6  10. a3  Rb8  11. Qd3  Kh8  12. Rad1  Nc7  13. d5  Na6  14. Nd4  Bd7  15. Rfe1  Nc5  16. Qc2  Qb6  17. e3  Rbe8  18. Rb1  Rc8  19. Qd1  cxd5  20. Nxd5  Nxd5  21. cxd5  Rc7  22. Ba1  Rfc8  23. h4  Ne4  24. Bxe4  fxe4  25. h5  Qc5  26. hxg6  hxg6  27. Ne6  Bxe6  28. Bxg7+  Kxg7  29. dxe6  Qe5  30. Qd4  Kf6  31. Kg2  Rc2  32. b4  a4  33. b5  Qxd4  34. exd4  d5  35. Rb4  Ra2  36. Rxa4  Rcc2  37. Ra7  Rxf2+  38. Kh3  Kg5  39. Rh1  Rf8   0-1

Li Chun (立春), 2020

With Chinese New Year in 2020 falling early on 25 Jan next year, it is perhaps timely for me to write about next year's Li Chun (立春) now, even before we get to celebrate the Tang Chik festival on the 22nd of this month.

Li Chun or Jip Chun, as it is more commonly called by the Penang Baba Nyonya community, heralds the actual start of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar. This is the day of the Coming of Spring; when the season is deemed to have turned and Spring is accepted to have begun officially. Astronomically, the sun is calculated to have crossed the 315° longitudinal line in the sky.

The celebration of Chinese New Year Day will vary every year but invariably, Li Chun falls on the fourth day of February although there are some occasions when it is observed on the third day of February. For instance in 2021, Li Chun will fall on the third instead of the fourth.

For next year anyway, Li Chun will fall on 04 February 2020 at 5.05pm. Although it is still 63 days away, it is never too late to prepare for its coming. As usual, my household will ensure that the family rice bucket is filled up with a bountiful supply of uncooked rice to signify abundance for the year, and a new piece of the Chun character (春) is pasted on it. And that's it done for yet another year.

I've been writing about Li Chun in this blog since Year 2007 and you can still read them here:

Li Chun, 2019
Li Chun, 2018
Li Chun, 2017
Li Chun, 2016
Li Chun, 2015
Li Chun, 2014
Li Chun, 2013
Li Chun, 2012
Li Chun, 2011
Li Chun, 2010
Li Chun, 2009
Li Chun, 2008
Li Chun, 2007

Dangerous junction

This is the Tingkat Muhibbah 7/Jalan Jernih junction in my quiet neighbourhood. In the past few years, this dangerous junction has seen a fair share of accidents, some serious and some not quite so serious, because motorists and motorcyclists tend to forget their traffic rules and speed right across from one side to the other.

Traffic along Tingkat Muhibbah 7 has the right of way and traffic along Jalan Jernih are required to stop at the junction first before turning right or left, or going straight across. Problem is, people tend to ignore this traffic rule or not notice the junction at all.

Previously, I had known of a fatal accident occurring right here. Somebody must have got killed because one day, I noticed joss sticks being burnt by the road side. But that was about six or seven years ago. Nevertheless, I had always tried to remind friends, especially if they are the drivers and I'm a passenger in their cars, to be careful when they approach the junction.

Just last week, I learnt that there was another fatality here. On Friday, a motorcyclist had been knocked down. The injuries must have been very serious because he was warded at the hospital in Bukit Mertajam. Unfortunately, he never recovered and passed away four days later. It was heart-breaking or his mother. She was beyond consolation at the funeral. Sad, indeed.

(As an afterword, there is another similarly dangerous junction in Chai Leng Park. I've sped across it once before before I realised its danger. Luckily, there was no on-coming traffic from either left or right. It was so easy to miss the junction at Lorong Kurau 1 and Jalan Kurau, but today I am very careful when driving there.)

The BM hill

17 Sep 2019

This clump of earth had stood outside the town of Bukit Mertajam since time immemorial. Although the 541-metre high hill is at Cherok Tokun and is the focus of trekkers from dawn till dusk, people everywhere refers to it simply as the BM Hill. It's an iconic landmark of Bukit Mertajam. When travelling along the highways and expressway, seeing the hill appear in the distance means that home is nearby and fast approaching.

I remember really first noticing the BM Hill in 1973 when I joined the volleyballers from Penang Free School and supporters on a bus journey from Butterworth to a school in Bukit Mertajam for a state-wide school competition. At that time, the school had a very formidable volleyball team and they were sweeping prizes all around in the state. On that bus trip, I got to see the hill loomed ahead of us for the first time. Yes, you guessed right, that was the first time that I was visitng Bukit Mertajam on mainland Province Wellesley in all my 20 years! Fancy that.

22 Sep 2019

Of course, nowadays I stay in Bukit Mertajam and I get to see the BM Hill all the time. Every time I leave the house, there it was to my right, the foothills being about two kilometres away. I can't remember the countless times that I had focussed this hill in the sights of my camera or mobile phone.

Last September when the haze was at its height, I rued the fact that the hill was shrouded by the haze. From the direction of the railway station in Bukit Mertajam, there was nothing I could see whereas in better days, the hill could be seen in its magnificence: a clump of overturned earth with the sun peeking out during sunrise.

Then came the first rains finally, on 25 Sept, that began the process of sweeping away the dust from Sumatra. Mind you, this was a few days before the start of the annual Nine Emperor Gods festival which is celebrated in the country but never more so than in Penang.

25 Sep 2019

The accepted story is that the nine-day festival brings a lot of rain every year and there is not one Nine Emperor Gods festival where Penang and the northern part of the peninsula is deluged with heavy rainfall. This year wasn't any different and it was a welcome climate change for the residents here with cool days and even cooler nights. The power of the Nine Emperor Gods, I told one e-hailing driver in Kuala Lumpur recently with tongue-in-cheek.

As I mentioned earlier, I can't remember the countless times that I had taken a picture of this hill with my camera or mobile phone. More so with the clearing of the haze, the sky is seen in its splendour. There are days when I simply stop the car by the roadside just to gaze up at the hill. Here are some of the better recently-taken pictures.

26 Sep 2019

1 Oct 2019

6 Oct 2019

8 Oct 2019

11 Oct 2019

16 Oct 2019

27 Oct 2019

28 Oct 2019

28 Oct 2019

30 Oct 2019

30 Oct 2019

1 Nov 2019

7 Nov 2019

19 Nov 2019

20 Nov 2019

24 Nov 2019

26 Nov 2019

27 Nov 2019

Wedding

We've been achieving a fair bit of local travel this month. The weekend before last had seen us travelling to Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Tinggi by chartered bus in the company of some new-found friends - newly-found to me anyway, as my wife has known them for quite a while already - and several monks from the Nandaka Vihara meditation society in Bukit Mertajam.

And last weekend, 10 of us from Penang had flown to Johor Bahru to attend the wedding of my wife's cousin's son's wedding. A perfect excuse for her extended family members to get together. It's true what people say about relatives, once grown up, to come together only for weddings and funerals. This was the happy occasion: a wedding. At our age, no more a wedding of siblings or cousins, but now a wedding of siblings' or cousin's children.

We all had a fine time in Johor Bahru. Apart from my wife's first uncle from her father's side (grandfather of the groom), also present were her first and second aunts, fifth uncle and scores of cousins from Penang and overseas, plus their children. And so for one-and-a-half days, we travelled together, ate together and enjoyed ourselves together. We were billeted in two apartments at 1Tebrau which my wife's cousin had booked for all 10 of us.

Bukit Tinggi

Our final sight-seeing stop was at the Berjaya hill resort at Bukit Tinggi. As this was a place that we had not visited before, it held some considerable interest for us. The cool, cool weather was the obvious attraction. Plus, it had been drizzling lightly as the bus was making its way from the strawberry farm at Genting and this added some wetness to the place.

However, it is to be noted that the replica Colmar Tropicale there is as fake as the showcased French village at the Ba Na Hills on the outskirts of Danang, Vietnam. Still, if you can ignore this fakeness, there are things to keep you busy. Believe it or not, I was mesmerised by the three swans.

From the Colmar Tropicale, we were then transported to the replica Japanese Garden. There was an initial climb up a long flight of steps followed by a 100-metre walk before reaching the entrance into the attraction. I've always have a liking for nature, and my impression was that the Japanese Garden was so much more interesting than the replica French village. Others, of course, may harbour a different opinion.

 

Batu Caves revisited

Our third visit to Batu Caves, but this time with new-found friends and the monks from the Nandaka Vihara meditation society with whom we had followed down from Cherok Tokun in Bukit Mertajam. To recap, we had gone to Dengkil and then Malacca before heading back to Kuala Lumpur.

After checking out from an overnight stay at the Hotel Royal, where we didn't get any opportunity to enjoy the facilities because we arrived so late the night before and leaving at eight o'clock the next morning, the chartered bus took us to Batu Caves.

While the monks went climbing up the 272 multi-coloured concrete steps up to the caves, we chose to have a quick breakfast of puri and ravi thosai at one of the Indian restaurants, after which I suggested a visit to the Hanuman statue. No climbing but a casual walk of about 100 to 150 metres. Before not too long, the 15-metre tall green statue of Hanuman loomed ahead of us. We spent a few minutes in the temple before heading back to the bus.

Next destination was a visit to a strawberry farm at Genting Highlands. Initially we were undecided whether to go in or not, but the farm turned out to be quite fascinating, not so much with the pathetic-looking fresh strawberries - the ones in Cameron Highlands are better - but the flowers within. Quite worth the time spent there for the blooms!