Of good weather, suffering and happiness

I picked up this little book from the Triple Wisdom Temple in Pangkor Road during the Chinese New Year holidays. It's a short collection of the teachings by Ajahn Chah (1918-1992) who was a Thai forest monk and meditation master. Ajahn Chah founded the Wat Nong Pah Pong monastery which today has branches in several parts of the world. Anyway, what I want to say is that I am intrigued with this short passage in the book:

In truth, happiness is suffering in disguise but in such a subtle form that you don't see it. If you cling to happiness, it's the same as clinging to suffering, but you don't realise it. When you hold onto happiness, it's impossible to throw away the inherent suffering. They're inseparable like that. Thus the Buddha taught us to know suffering and see it as the inherent harm in happiness, to see them as equal. So be careful! When happiness arises, don't be overjoyed and don't get carried away. When suffering comes, don't despair, don't lose yourself in it. See that they have the same equal value.

So according to Ajahn Chah's explanation, happiness is just a different form of suffering, no more and no less, and they are inseparable.

Which reminds me. I've also read in a motivational book years ago - I can't remember the title but obviously, the writer must have been a follower of Buddhism at heart - that in a similar vein, rain shouldn't be looked at as bad weather. There is only good weather, and the rain is just a different form of good weather. If we can accept that, then there is no problem.

Loop fascination

I was pottering around my pots of plants today and I noticed this rather curious loop in one of my nepenthes plants. Fascinating, eh?

More Chinese New Year goodies

My role in the cake baking process is to hold the camera. I must say that I had a pretty good job because the cake turned out delicious!

Eggs, carrots and butter ... some of the ingredients that went into the cake.

I always say that the crack on a cake's surface reminds me of the Grand Canyon

And finally, a carrot cake is not a carrot cake without a THICK layer of cheese on it. The thicker, the better.

Goldenbuns

Since he arrived on loan from US club LA Galaxy, AC Milan have not lost a game. In fact, Goldenballs is so looked on as the Italian team's lucky talisman that they are urging him to remain in Italy.

According to The Sun, Italy is a superstitious country. People touch things for luck and the players are doing the same with David Beckam's bottom. He is seen as lucky.

Goldenballs has evolved into Goldenbuns :-)

Ronaldo runs amok

I was taken aback this morning when I logged into the Guardian website to be greeted with news that Ronaldo had run amok. Had he done something terribly wrong to warrant such a headline on the website? No, he had only scored two of five goals in Manchester United's demolition of West Bromwich Albion. But for a moment, I thought he had lost his marbles.

Solar eclipse over Indonesia

At about 5pm yesterday, the skies around Bukit Mertajam went dim. Not as dim as total darkness, but dim enough to pass off as a normal 7pm dusk. Reason was, there was a partial solar eclipse. Unfortunately, the eclipse was not noticed from my home because of the cloud cover. So we missed watching the eclipse on the first day of Chinese New Year. Does it mean that we have missed out on ill-luck for the rest of the year? Superstitous people would tell you to remain indoors during eclipses because eclipses foretell danger (and if you let the sky fall on your head, you will have years of bad luck) but I tell you, it's only a natural phenomenon. Nothing more than that. Anyway, I found some interesting photos on yesterday's eclipse:

Partial solar eclipse as seen from Manila

People in certain parts of Indonesia could enjoy the full annular solar eclipse.

Interesting days ahead

Who is right and who is wrong?

According to Malaysiakini...

Chinese new year orchids

Some of my orchids that are blooming during this Chinese New Year:

A Brandenburg morning

Ahh...what bliss to wake up on a Chinese New Year morning with the sound of the Brandenburg Concertos coming alive from the speakers. Yes, Johann Sebastian Bach certainly knew a thing or two about music. He rocked big time during the Age of Baroque and he continues to rock in this modern age.

Festive mood

Since I'm still in a festive mood, I might as well share some very recent photos here:

Our reunion steamboat dinner on Sunday night

Fireworks going off at midnight to mark the start of the Chinese New Year

And of course, who can miss out on these?

Keong Hee Huat Chye

Yes, a happy new year. May the new Year Of The Ox bring personal happiness, wealth continuity, satisfaction, stability, safety, security, trust-worthiness, good neighbourliness, inner peace, physical health, understanding and emotional well-being to everyone, regardless of race, creed, standing or religion. We shall certainly need them in great abundance as we meet the challenges in 2009.

Being ignored can be dangerous

There you go ... another "hint" that there may soon be more political upheavals in the country and this time, coming from Penang. About a fortnight ago, I wrote about this particular Barisan Nasional state assemblyman seen in the company of his Pakatan Rakyat colleagues. It wasn't the first time, mind you.

Later, it was reported in the papers that he was being offered a position in the Penang government’s Freedom of Information Committee. Of course, he had to decline the offer after referring it to his party bosses but I think it was more of a public show than anything else. Today, he's again in the public eye complaining that he was being ignored.

Will he? Won't he? Will he? Won't he? Blow hot, blow cold. Tweedle dee, tweedle dum...

Last-minute pre-Chinese New Year marketing

Today's the eve of Chinese New Year. Went to the Kampong Baru market in Bukit Mertajam this morning at 6.30am. Horrors...no more parking space around the market, so had to park by the roadside. But this is a relief, because it made driving back a breeze instead of having to endure the vehicular jam around the market's main building.

At 6.30am, the place was already bustling with activity. People making last-minute shopping, snatching up whatever foodstuff on display. Don't ever think of buying prawns. At RM80 per kilogramme, it's like eating cholesterol-laden gold. Luckily my family's not into prawns at Chinese New Year.

Anyway, here are some random snapshots of the market this morning:

Customers patiently waiting for their turns at the chicken stall

Roast pork or roast poultry, anyone?

Grabbing at veggies

Useless Penang Bridge cameras

What's the use of installing so many cameras at the Penang Bridge when they are of no use to people who want to check the traffic condition there? More pertinently, do the people in charge of the cameras aware that none of the cameras are working?

Penang Bridge third lane may be partially opened

Since the beginning of this week, I've been noticing that the Butterworth end of the Penang Bridge expansion project was undergoing some significant changes: a short stretch of the road was being tarred.

And when I was whizzing home yesterday, I saw that motorists were already being allowed to drive on the third lane during the final half kilometre or so of the bridge. That's good news.

I'm only hoping that by tomorrow, the Penang Bridge authorities will do more by opening the third lane after the toll plaza. If they can allow motorists to drive on part of the third lane, it will definitely improve on the traffic flow at the bottleneck and give users a very welcomed Chinese New Year present!

UPDATE: Well, driving over the Penang Bridge this Friday morning at 6.30am, I see that there is potential for the stretch between the toll plaza and the 1.0KM mark to be opened. Only question is, when?? Anyway, the bridge authorities had reduced some long stretches of the bridge, particularly from the 5.0KM mark to the 7.2KM mark, from double lanes to a single lane this morning. Unless they remove the barriers soon, it'll be anyone's guess how much this will inconvenience motorists and contribute to this morning's jam.

A lesson from Barack Hussein Obama

When Barack Hussein Obama won the Democratic Party elections, I went: "All right"; when Obama won the United States presidential elections, I said to myself: "Okay". All a matter-of-fact acceptance that there would be a new guy in the White House.

But it was only after I watched the Obama oath-taking on 20 Jan 2009 that the significance finally struck me. it wasn't only Barack Obama standing on the podium taking the oath to be the most powerful man in the world.

It was more than that.

It showed the world that the United States could open up by electing a non-white American as its top executive. It showed the world that in the United States, their people could rise above race to choose the most capable man as its top executive. It showed the world that in the United States, it is possible that bigotry can fail. It showed the world that in the United States, supremacy of one race over another is a myth.

Now, if only this can also be recognised in other parts of the world with sizeable minority populations. Like here.

Harry Belafonte's Carnegie Hall vinyl records

Way back in December - I think it was around 20 Dec 2008 or so - I took part in a contest on the NYLVI website. It was a very simple contest. All I had to do was to place the NYLVI logo on my blog, link it to their website and then inform them. The prize? Five lucky winners would get a vinyl record of their choice.

Today, I received my prize through the post. All the way from the United States. I have to thank NYLVI for the prize. Greatly appreciated. All the weeks of waiting anxiously for the parcel to arrive because I would be going on leave soon. I went out for lunch and when I returned, my heart skipped a beat. A parcel was on my table and inside it, the Belafonte At Carnegie Hall double album.


As I write this entry, I'm listening to the album and I'm enjoying it immensely. It's a wonderful album which must be listened and appreciated. And although I've also a copy of Belafonte's performance on compact disc, there's nothing like listening to the richness of the sound on vinyl. Somehow, in spite of all the faint background pops and crackles, I felt the atmosphere was better, a warmer performance sonically, clearer even. There were differences between the album and compact disc. Additional tracks - Take My Mother Home, Man Piaba, All My Trials, Merci Bon Dieu - which were not available on the compact disc.

Getting my hands on this double album also means that I now own both of Belafonte's performances at that famed venue: At Carnegie Hall and Returns To Carnegie Hall. The latter was bought by my father. I'm only following his footsteps to appreciate one of the world's great folk singers.


NYLVI is a marketplace for buying and selling vinyl records, structured to reflect the world's major music scenes. NYLVI makes it possible for people to discover local music on vinyl in order to support local independent artists, labels and record stores. NYLVI is a service operated by FAV Labs, a Norwegian company co-founded by Henning Kjølgård, Ivar Lien, Thomas Stenumgård and George Graham on 1 Feb 2008.

Penang's Free WiFi launched

Sometimes, I think there are too many people in Penang who are bonkers. They see threats in everything. Like, for example, they see health threats from the Free WiFi service that has been launched in Penang despite there being no conclusive proof of dangers from such electro-magnetic waves. These are the people who should not own television sets, these are people who should demand that satellites be removed from the skies, these are the people who should not own microwave ovens, these are the people who should not own mobile telephone units, these are the people who should ship out and stay on a desert island.

Ha ha .... of course, I'm being a little irrelevant here. But seriously, I'm all for the Free WiFi service that the Penang government has been pushing through. And I hope to be at the Bukit Jambul Complex tomorrow to sign up for it. Free Wifi may not be available in Bukit Mertajam yet but I want to show the world - or at least, the bonkered ones in Penang - that I'm prepared for it and I'm embracing it wholeheartedly.

The future's in the past

All I can say about this photo is that Israel has sown the seeds for the future.

Flying Penang to Macau

Not more than five minutes ago, I noticed on the AirAsia website that the low-cost airline has announced direct flights between Penang and Macau. Looks like there'll be three or four weekly flights between the two cities. Quick, visit AirAsia now to place your booking on the inaugural flight on 1 Mar 2009.