So, Lets get started, now that you are here!

Taking a Ferry ride back and forth from Georgetown to Butterworth at 5 in the morning is not my cup of tea. Meeting Timo on board the "Pulau Angsa and headed back to the Island.

Timo's first view of Georgetown from the deck of the Ferry, soaking it is after a long train ride from Kuala Lumpur.

Big brother meets not so little brother on the ferry too.

On our first sketching trip meeting up wit some Artists from China

Corner of Armenian Street.

Padang Kota lama, the Old Esplanade. This was where my late uncle, the man raised me from infant till I was twelve told me that I had to return to my family in Terenggnau.

The Mixed up Kids.

Meeting with great artists.

Wannabe Artists.

Encounters of the animal kind.-pics.

Rozana's Batik Corner.

I have come to know her ever since i met her husband Hasnul  Saidon, my good friend and often mento at USM. Anyone who can stand as tall as Hasnul deserves my respect. Not the "Iron Lady, but the Batik Sensei. She uses the batik technique as the instrument of her teaching and sharing while at the same time growing  herself to become another Georgetown Center piece fot the Creative.  

Rozana's Corner has taken its root in the Armenian Street Area and I hope in all its wisdom that the MPPP would look into affording her with all the help she needs rather than bury her along what the rest of them. This Street should be declared 'Batik Walk' and more such activities be set up along the street anything and everything that has to do with Batik , onece a week!  This will be where Batik Masters can be invited to share themselves with locals and tourists alike. It will not only bring the street to life but will also give a good reason for tourists to stroll down that area.

If she can come this far in her pursuit, She deserves to recognition and her thoughts and ideas about how the area can grow should be taken with more seriousness. The Penang State Government has an asset to work with in the Arts and Cultural projects in developing the Armenian street area into an 'Zone of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Area". But then again as it is it is not too bad actually, more quaint. This little place is more like a little pearl in the corner of the universe with everything else around her closed most of the time. 

Batik making is as Universal a technique as it can get that allows for creative expression freely regardless if one is an artist, or artistically inclined or not. When introduced tot eh technique remember to not ask what you intend to paint but How! How do you use colored dye and water onto a pure silk cloth. How to get to know colors and what they do when they mix one  with another and how the flow with water to add to depths and dimensions. You can create a rainbow or your own imagination.  

The watercolor quality of the Batik Dye makes it more feminine in nature and mostly soothing  to the eyes if not the Spirit and sensuality. The Batik technique can be found all over the world but mostly in the East as Oil based Art techniques are mostly found in the West. Oil and Water, Iron and Bamboo. the Cosmic Circle of Yin and Yang in the scheme of the Universe.

To be Present even for a second in space and time, totally absorbed in what you do, is worth a thousand years of hard labor and incessant thinking. Like most free style art, Batik can be done spontaneously allowing one's inner nature to come out and express itself without inhibitions or conditioning..Meditation in action, The Power of Now", batik  has the the quality of fluidity. unlike Sumiye, The Japanese Art of Block Printing, Batik is less contrived.

 Size has allot to do with having a great time while painting 

Materials are safe and not too expensive.

Allmost every one loves it

He is Here!

He is here! The kid took a flight from Zurich to Muskat in Oman and then to Kuala Lumpur and then a train ride all the way north to Penang where he took the Ferry across, my son is here to visit his family and relatives. He seems to be doing fine for a Swiss kid who has never been to this part of the world and has the makings of a traveler, a wanderer, perhaps will be doing things and visiting places much more than his father ever did. The first time we were together was in Dubai where I met him personally for the first time and that was blogged in my earlier entries of that period and what a time we had with the oldest, the Captain. Naz had arranged for the two of us to go on a ride into the desert around Dubai via the Arabian Nights tour and we had a blast.
Then the Captain arranged for me to visit Timo in Giswil, Switzerland in the winter of 2010 and there I got to meet his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the rest. It was another epic time for me as a traveler who somewhere sometime in his mind had envisioned what it would be like to be in the Alpine mountains in winter. Read enough novels and your head will be filled with dreams of people and places and willed it strongly enough and you just might find yourself right where you had read about. I strongly believe in the power of suggestion or what is better known as 'auto-suggestion' in the studies made of the human mind. The spirit or whatever one associate that which is one's true nature to be has to be conscious of its power over the mind if not the brain cells themselves. The captain must know his power and authority over the rest of his crew and ship before he can be called a captain, he must come to know who he is first of all in relation to the rest, that he leads, the rest follows.
Most of us will ourselves into achievements and success but seldom do we brag about it to others and treat our way as just any other ways implemented by others in their own ways. However, in sharing, one is almost required to share the whole truth to makes sense of what one is sharing, that nothing happens out of chances alone, you make it happen, that is your birth right as the Yogis of old has pointed out. " You are the master of your thoughts and consciousness, your body speech and mind, your environment and circumstances, these are your basic birth rights being born human with brains".How would your brain cell know what to aim for if you do not coach each and every cell to act towards a certain aim of goal? Who tells the brain cells to set the stage for the body and mind to act under each and every circumstances, every episode and every drama in one's daily lives. You are the Master! The master does not lord over his subjects but direct them towards the right direction, the line of least resistance, the direct route towards success in accomplishing one's goals in life.
 So you 'Sit'. Sit the way the ancients have taught you in order to silence the dual thinking mind and 'yoke' all your energies or Chi into perfect balance and smooth flowing such that every move you make becomes a coordinated effort of the whole being of who you are. When doubts creep into your consciousness in the form of thoughts, dreams and hallucinations you loose your sense of bearing and control over that force which manifest out of you in times of dire need and times of creative impulses. You become dependent upon the externals and often at the mercy of what is out there than what is within. The external world of phenomena is a manifestation of the collective minds, it is the mental super-highway where the most powerful thoughts projected are manifested into what we see as reality and through our lack of understanding we have accepted this to be our reality, the truth we live by and feel comfortable and safe in it, we are part of the whole, everyone else and this too is okay. It is okay for so long as one is comfortable with feeling safe and secure living out life in the comfort zone.
For those who seek to unravel the mysteries of life itself, those who demand answers of the truth in what is reality and such, and those whose path chosen by divine or human effort is much less traveled, the comfort zone is the trap, the quagmire the black hole of life itself; this shackle has to be shattered and the spirit set free. How can you know who or what God is if you do not have the slightest idea of who or what you truly are? Reading the Bible or the Quran or the Gita or the Sutras is of no significance to you when all you are doing is accumulating knowledge, knowledge without the guidance of intelligence is empty like a body without a soul. You may be a mathematical genius but what good would it do if you do not know how to love or feel compassionate or make someone happy? What good is your wealth when all you have is an empty house full of things and stuff while your mind is collecting dust of old age and decay. You die at the end of it all leaving behind things and stuff to be fought over by inheritors while you with tubes sticking out of every orifices in your body lay on your deathbed wondering what is was all about before the final breath.
Even if the mysteries of the Universe itself is being revealed to you at the moment of death what good would it do humanity, after having lived in the blindness of ignorance most of you life how can you be awakened to enlightenment? .
“It isn't by getting out of the world that we become enlightened, but by getting into the world…by getting so tuned in that we can ride the waves of our existence and never get tossed because we become the waves.” 
― Ken Kesey, Kesey's Garage Sale 

““According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicity. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous. (quoted by Carol Lynn Pearson in Consider the Butterfly)” 
― Deepak Chopra, Synchrodestiny: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence to Create Miracles

Looking back at 'Work' -

I enjoy the Hans Zimmer pieces especially those movie themes like "Chevelier de Sangreal" a theme for the movie, "The da Vinci Code." The Inception soundtrack, "Pirates of the Caribbean - 4" soundtrack is an awesome piece of music, among others of his works Hans Zimmer is the modern day Mozart. Why i brought up this subject of a great composer one among the few that i regularly tune into when I am writing my blog is because I was discussing about 'giving it all you got and then some at whatever you do no matter how big or small, how important or trivial. I was having this related conversation with a young man doing the dishes downstairs for the restaurant. You will sleep well at night I told him, knowing you have done a good day's work, giving it all you got. Physical labor is a healing process for all kinds of human ailments especially those that have to do with the mind. The mind is busy when the physical body is not active and it is the mind that gives up before the body does in carrying out hard work, or doing strenuous sports; the human physical parts will endure for so long as it has the mind (Brain) to guide it, when the mind through brain fails, the body looses its zest for life.
This day and age sees more and more children and adults alike trapped into the lures of the computerized gadgets that keeps their attention for hours with only the fingers moving while the rest of the body is in inertia,
The study of 'ergonomics', (the study of people's efficiency in their working environment.), has been pointing towards the dangrers of allowing one's physical body to function in only one posture at any given activity for long hours at a time without change of activity to counter or compensate and provide a balance.

"Physical stressors include repetitive motions such as those caused by typing or continual use of a manual screwdriver. Other physical stressors could be tasks involving vibration such as using a jackhammer, or tasks which involve using excessive force, such as lifting boxes of heavy books. Working in an awkward position, such as holding a telephone to your ear with your shoulder, can also cause problems. Repetitive motions, vibration, excessive force, and awkward postitions are frequently linked to ergonomic disorders; however, the majority of "Cumulative Trauma Disorders "(CTDs) or "Repetitive Strain Injuries" (RSIs), are caused by repetitive motions that would not result in undue stress or harm if only performed once. Carpal tunnel syndrome, Tendonitis, Tenosynovitis, DeQuarvain's Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, many back injuries, and several other conditions may result from repetitive motions."
OSU- Safety Training.

For three years I was a Health and Safety Officer, working for three major contractors in the construction industries in Malaysia. For a period of no less than three years i was involved with the construction of the Kerteh and Gebeng Petronas Petroleum Refineries. I started out working for Ibai Bina one of the major construction companies in the East Coast from Terengganu. With this company i was safety officer to the first structure being raised for the present petroleum complex one sees as one drives along the East Coast highway. At night you get to see the fierceness of gas flames shooting into the darkness shedding eerie lights against the hillsides. I was privileged to have been a part of this project as it had many things to teach me what it takes to care for the welfare of a few hundred workers on one site and they came from Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, India and everywhere else, each with ow attitude and idiosyncrasies, there not just o work but to outshine the other guys especially the local management teams, Malays, Indians, Chinese, project managers, and staff; no one likes the word Safety. Safety was spelled $afety.I le4arned my lessons through many mistakes but I made my growth into the Malaysian scene after having just arrived back after being away for over 24 years of my life; I took the Job and was good at it. if I may say so.
I met many great men who were experts at what they do by global standards, men who were flexible but uncompromising when it came to Safety. BACHTEL, Samsung Industries, Lynde and Olyfin Industries, all the men who served these companies I watched and learned from,how they function as leaders in the industry. Most I have developed respect for and some disdain at their performances when it came to what is Safety; the safety of an employee at the job site.I sat in just about every Safety meetings involving the whole site Managers and the Company's Safety Officer. It felt great to be among men! The builders, movers and shakers, at least once in your life; yes I dreamt before to feel like it would be working on a construction site, the red earth and the blazing hot afternoon sun, the little roadside huts and stalls that cropped up along the dirt roads where men took a break and a cup of teh tarik or kopi O peng. I spent three years of my life driving every weekend to and from Kualatrengganu to Kerteh and later to Gebeng in Kuantan. Back and forth and often in the middle of the night and all by myself using the Jerangau Jabur road where there was no lights and most of the way the road is lined with Oil Palm  trees and night cattle crossings or lying in the middle of the road. The things one do to be the man! Only those boys who have driven this road back and forth like me can appreciate what it was like. It was like entering the twilight zone right at midnight and just driving into darkness. This the road that tigers were still found making their appearances every now and then.
I remember one day talking to a United States Coast Guard Officer about why he had to 'Log and tag our boiler and imposed a stop work order.We were at my work place the H&H Ship Services located on the San Francis co Bay water front Hunter's Point Area, 220, China Basin was the address and I was a yard sweeper and garbage man   By the second year I became the  Department and Yard Superintendent  the boys called me the Yard Dog: my mission was to care for those who worked under my supervision. From no supply of gloves and coveralls I asked and received for each of the Yard employees seven pieces of work coveralls that they change daily while working in hazardous conditions.African Americans, Latinos, Vietnamese and Filipinos and last but not leas the red necks white boys.
I survived a punch to my jaw, a knife to my throat and a pipe held to strike at me to wake me up and face the moment as it arose. I became their Safety Officer and mad the turn around for the company from close to being shut down to a multi million dollar operation. The only company along the West American Seaboard that could handle the thousands of Underground Fuel and other Storage Tanks that were required by law to be pulled out and disposed off as their warranty was due or mostly way overdue. Most tanks brought into the yard to be steamed cut cleaned and dispose off had at one or two leaky holes in them, the amount of fuel that leaks into the ground year in year out is incomprehensible. To me then working at this Job was like being in Heaven and Hell both at the same time, thus H&;H. If anything i got out of working with the company it was the fact that I was actually working there! me, part of the"Boys"! on the San Francisco  water front where movies are made every now and then. I hung out at The Bouncer's Bar by Pier 39 and I knew Old Willie, the owner. I worked on the water front as the yard Boss for 6 years, till my family and I moved to Sendai, Japan.
Why am I sharing all these non connected evens in my life? I don't know perhaps, still on the subject of work ethics or it has become another attachment this need to look back and forth and making sense out of nonsense purely to entertain one self with memories while looking to solve what needs to be solved in the future, like what am i going to paint on the wall of the Gala House restaurant which I might be commissioned to do by the owners, the green light is yet to be given after I mentioned the cost. The truth be, if not for my children being here and under the circumstances I accepted to do it as it is the best thing that can happen for us. The Organic Farm at Lintang, Sik Kedah will have to wait. If what i am asking is too much for them then I will have to go to plan 'B' with my son Timo which is doing three large paintings on stretched canvass all set and ready to go.
It is a scorcher! Hotter than and humid and that is what makes it a whole lot more       uncomfortable to even take a walk out of the house, what is one to do? Just blog it all out! Tell it as it was, as it is  and how it will be before it all comes to an abrupt end;. no more tales to tell. 
If one can count how many non related thoughts one has in one day it would be phenomenal! However it is said that looking back into the past too much can stifle one's growth into the future and often causes stagnation of one's creative endeavors. Be as it may, when all else seems to settle down into a routine why not? Why not take a trip or two down memory lanes to awaken the spirit of old, those that mattered when you needed them. those that were benchmarks of your exploits beyond the beaten trails of ordinary man. What good would it do to have lived life to the fullest if you cannot share a single tale of it.

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Vince Lombardi 

I am a Green Bay Packer's fan if you ask me. Ya Hey! GREEN bAY!.

  

Selamat datang Timo! Welcome Timo A Bahari!

Yea! My son Timo is on his way from Switzerland to visit his siblings here for the first time in his life and theirs, they have yet to meet! Scary!! Oh well as they say, careful what you wish for and yes I wished for children like these and not to forget the captain in Dubai too. My children have all grown up now, a bit lost still but they are their own  persons, good personalities just as mixed up as their dad's. I am blessed, well for now at least I may still need to look for an old folks home in my old age the way parents have lately been finding out all over the world. I say it now so I don't have to say it to them later in my life when it really does not matter anymore. Scary!
I remember a time in my life when I was growing up in Kuala Terengganu and saw my friend and mentor's children and i saw mine in my mind, how i wanted my children to be in looks as well as characters. The will not be perfect but the will attain to the highest at what they set out to do, no matter if it is at tossing burgers, or flying and aeroplane. I pray for their well being and hope that will find their ways and keep in touch with one another even if they live far apart on different continents. It what the Bahari family is all about, I would like to believe the world is our home and doors and hearts will always be open to welcome us. Wishful thinking, I know and I am discovering it as i get older, sharing and caring has its price and hospitality is due to those who don't really need it, for those who need it usually can't afford it. But then again my family and friends have been more than generous towards me and my children in the past, they are most forgiving and accepting of my "Lifestyle."
I hope they will all three of them have a great time and how i wish for this one time that the Pilot in Dubai would do the right thing by his father and make and effort to be with us at some point while Timo is still here. May i suggest that he get all of us off to Pulau Redang for a weekend along with his wife and her family would be a bonus. But that is a father's wish and perhaps the last wish he will ever ask of his son to make it happen. If Faye his mother could be here than it is worth to die for. This was how i felt when I looked at my mentor the late Datuk Ariffin Zakaria's children when I was a teenager in Kuala Terengganu. Datuk Ariffin was at one time the adviser to the Sultan of Terengganu the Late Sultan Mahmood, father to the present Sultan; I had a great mentor. He told me to keep on dreaming my dreams for one day they might come true and I did and never did stop dreaming. This was the guy who pointed out to me when I was his caddy playing the holes around the Tengku Badariah golf course, that you do not say Bom-ber but bom-mer with the b being silent when you look up the sky and pointing out that a bomber was flying overhead, I was sixteen then and he was the District Officer for the Marang district of Terengganu.
What am I going to do with him when he gets here?!! We will cross that bridge when he finds his way on to the ferry here and I am sure his brother and sister have things up their sleeves already.

We have it in us to become more than Human.

At the end of the day someone will ask you,"So Joe, what have done for yourself after all these years and the opportunities and circumstances that came your way?" How would you be singing your version of "I did it My Way!!" Would there be much regrets? or will say smile and look at your self and say, " Hey I did the best I could. but I guess my best was not good enough, for I was not getting anywhere, nothing ever changes and we keep on being strangers..." quoting a song by Marvin Hayes, was it? Such Is! We are here on loan from our Creator whoever or whatever He may be to each and everyone of us, to perform our part on this stage of life, playing our roles no matter how small or insignificant it may be, to the best of our abilities. We are part and parcel of humanity like it or not for if nothing else we breath the same air and drink the same water that our fellow man and the rest of our ancestors from the beginning of time had drank, recycled naturally or otherwise. Our minds and body are almost identical in its structure for every species has its own DNA codes to live by, none straying too far from its identity except mutants, X-Men!
Yet here we are struggling left and right trying to get ahead of the other guy regardless if kick and toss those that stand in our path like vicious steam rollers crushing all in its path just cause it can do so with impunity and so long as there is the guy at the steering wheel making us do so.We are all of us heroes when we drive and we transform into Michael Schummacher every time we get behind the wheels, little old ladies and even you average Joe becomes Rambo, the potential killing machine. Woe be unto those who overtake us and then cut us off without even a sense to give a signal! or the guy who tailgate us so that we succumb to fear and get out of his fast lane. But you too have your ego to take care of, not easily let some Joe- schmo, simply walk all over you, so the drama sparks off on the highway between two total strangers and sadly a few passengers like wives and kids, who late became statistics or collateral damages. Such Is our lives toady and it gets even hotter as the Heat-wave leaves us almost impossible to think rationally at times.Compounding this with our lack of awareness and consciousness of the fact that we are is such a state we become its victims, we become it food and fodder, its mechanical cog and screw, its grist for the mill; we feed our own nightmares as it feeds on us.
The ancients, meaning great men like the Buddhas and Saints and Prophets and Philosophers have been raking their minds for centuries over this our human condition but few has made everlasting impact upon it to cause it to sway from it present destructive course towards enlightenment or the Awakened state of Being. Not too many of us read anymore anyway and if we do it is mostly about who, what or how to get ahead in this life or bring about the downfall of those who already are ahead of us. An then there are those whose minds does not ever register what it is to contemplate or reflect, to sit or ponder upon his or her state as a human being least of all be bothered with taking any course of action to better the human condition through self discovery; our minds have slowly become lazy and on the road towards petrification ( to make (someone) very afraid
: to slowly change (something, such as wood) into stone or a substance like stone over a very long period of time) just as our bodies are growing old and approaching rigormortis.
 Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death, caused by chemical changes in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate.

 But why can't we transform ourselves into Diamonds instead! What is holding us back from becoming the immortals in our own rights instead of merely food for the hell fire. What is the meaning or our existence other than simply to endure all the pain and suffering throughout our lives and die without knowing why? The Tibetan Vajara, or Diamond thunderbolt cuts through all ignorance when it strikes the darkness that surrounds us, the Sword of Manjushri cuts two ways, it slices through the illusions of right and wrong, good and evil, thus is so with our minds, it is an instrument , a tool at our command and not the other way round, we instruct or direct our thoughts and thus minds to what is to be accomplished not the mind leading us wherever it choose to.as in the case of an egoic mind it becomes negative and often destructive when given full reign.
So what is this Vajra or Thunderbolt, or this sword of Manjushri in us? It is the awakening of our own intelligence.there is no better writng on this tha Jedu Krishnamurti's" The Awakening of Intelligence'" to use as a  guide if one is looking for answers.And as most wise men would suggest the answer is not out there but within you. Look within for deep within you is you tru nature that which is even before you were conceived, or deep within is the Temple of the Living God, or The Divine Spark, or the Divine Breath. Not in words and not in thought, not in any form of action will you find the answers but through the ability to silence all that Is and become one with that which is your true nature and this can be accomplished through awakening your intelligence, through stepping out into the Light of Wisdom, out of the darkness ignorance, So! Read! Iqra"! Study, know who you truly are and not take for granted of what is being told to you or conditioned for your bondage into this realm of Maya, or Delusions..  
Just as the Larva has to break through the cocoon that wraps around it in order to emerge into the light and become a butterfly, so should we strive to break through our own ignorance no matter of what form or condition it is made of. We have to break the shackles that our forefathers' have been made to wear and forge new aspirations to raise to greater heights our vision of who or what our humanity is, we are here for a purpose and it is not to serve the material deities but to discover the Divine Light within each and everyone of us through whatever form or faith, religions or philosophy we may choose to pursue it with; ur goal is Salvation! Freedom! Liberation!. Lesser than this we have merely existed, living like the cattle eating when hungry, sleeping when sleepy and then being led to the slaughter house at the end or our days.There is nothing wrong with that after all there is still plenty of of spaces and air to live by for all of us, the condition is not as critical as yet, plenty of time to ponder about silly matters like who am I and so forth. Let us wait for the next 'slapstick to come by smacking us in the behind to wake us up to some new form of reality or flatten us on our faces, like the Tsunami, or the Missing Plane or the sone who punched his mother for not getting RM20 from her, or the foetus thrown into the toilet bowl at the bus station, or the father who killed his adopted child through abuse. Yes we are all of these at the present moment and most of us are quite proud of ourselves for being human beings.

"Get up Stand Up, Stand up for your Right.
Get up Stand up, Don't give the Fightt!"
Now, you see the Light, Stand up for your Right."
Bob Marley.

 ...

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The Nonsense I share with you....

It has become a habit of looking into the 'Overview" of the status of my blog, like how many hits did i get for last entry! Like all else I have become a seeker of fame, if not fortune, recognition , being accepted as ...ego tripping! It has been a long and dreary hot spell and I can feel it in everyone around me it is in me, but I also see a whole lot of extra tolerances between my fellow man on the streets; if only i could share this at all levels and of races and creed. It is like everyone is a little more conscious of the pain we all feel from the heat and rest of the adversities that we are facing as a whole.
What would i say to my fellow friends and relatives and the stranger on the street except to slow down, ease off the gas paddle and be more aware of where and when you are at, let the other guy have his way, be a gentle man or woman, don't let you r pride and ego take the steering wheel. I would tell my friends to spread the spirit of mindfulness and attention in anything and every thing we do such nothing can cause to add on to pain that is already affecting us. I would say more than you have been giving and ask for lesser than what you really need, feed the other person, make sure that he is not in hunger or in anger, be mindful of those around you and treat all beings with deep respect: they are you.
We each have to heal ourselves, body mind and spirit, only I can heal my "splintered soul", you, yours, there none that can do it for you, you have to awaken to your inner being, your deeper consciousness and transcend what is and become one with what it. You may be the teacher or a carpenter of a screaming baby in the cradle, whoever or whatever you walk is at his moment in life this is what you have to awaken to and act. Become more Compassionate, more Loving, more Forgiving towards the rest of humanity, even the one you dislike most; they too are doing just you are, they too desire Peace and Harmony, Tranquility and the Strength of Unity. Deep in our heart of hearts we all feel the need to slow down and take it easy, we are driving ourselves into the ground letting our mind and ego take reign over our humanity; in some cases worse we are than animals the manner in which we treat each other. Read COSMO! Almost every page tells a horror story, of rape and incest, infanticide and political assassination, religious conflicts and territorial disputes, the scourge of drugs and poverty, prostitutes and corruption; oh what w life we live!
Will we, collectively speaking ever be able to awaken from this, our growing nightmare, that most are too deep in their sleep that they are not even conscious of being a part of it. This is consciousness, the state of being aware of the moment and seeing what is, as it is. I am a Christian, you are a Hindu and I am a Muslim and you a Bahai, a Sikh a Jew, I am who I am, you are who you are, we are like camels in the desert, sheep in the fields ..."All we are is dust in the wind..."
This is what happens when I allow my mind to freely ramble. There is no limit to how i can go on and on about Consciousness and healing and so forth like I am the Buddha, oh well, I am The Cheeseburger Buddha after all and this is my Ramblings, mind doings its thing while outside all hell is breaking loose what with the non stop sound of the traffic, then there is clashes of pots and plates, glasses and the screaming yelling of mothers and daughters, Miyamar and Bangladeshi workers, all doing the dishes after an event involving four thousand, eating. The catering boys came back with all the dirty dishes to be washed and my nephew Husein is in charge.It is warm and clammy and my back hurts like crazy while Kitaro on Youtube plays Matsuri.. This is where I am at while writing this entry. My son Karim left for his Burger stall and my daughter to the Gala House where she does waitress.
The Gala House on Muntri Street and Leith close to CITITEL Hotel is a new place and the owners wants me to a do a Mural on one of their walls. So I am also busy with figuring out how to go about getting it done to my satisfaction and that of the owners. It would be a great project to work with Timo on. The owners wants an old VW "Hippie" Camper painted exact size on the wall making it look like one is sitting out in the open when one is having dinner next to the camp site.So all is not lost as far as this moment goes , I am sharing this with Timo what to look forward to.We worked on a Mural together before while we were both in Dubai visiting number one, the captain. I am sure Timo will enjoy meeting the owners who are young and energetic upcoming entrepreneurs in the Restaurant business in Georgetown. Penang is "Food Capital of the Country", here the people are finicky when it comes to the food they eat,.. at least the last I heard.
Took off for a few to get me three loafs of 'Roti Bengaili' or Bengal Bread famous in Penang if not one of its heritage in the Bakery department. There was alolot of left overs from the catering this evening and i had put aside two bols of curries, a Khorma kambing Mutton Korma and some Dalca or lentil gravy with lots of [potatoes and eggplant.. mm.. yummy when Roti and curryy melts in th mouth. Washing down with carrot milk cold drink. What can i say. it's Penang. So to my son coming from Switzerland for the first time, remember don't be shy when it comes to food, eat!
Now I will go downstairs and join the guys feasting on Roti and curry
Oh by the way...do you think they will ever find out whatever happened to Flight MH370?.

The Wake up Call.

A mammoth gathering of Malaysian Muslims at Putrajaya, the administrative capital just ended this evening and it was attended by the Prime minister and other dignitaries. To date this is the most positive religious move that the Muslims in this country have made towards not only for the well being of the beleaguered nation but for the missing Jet Liner that is still haunting every caring citizen of this country. Yes it was awe inspiring listening to the Doas or prayers beseeching the Lord to intervene in our lives in these trying times where there is so much political and religious if not racial animosities, unsettled accounts of corruptions and social ills that has befallen this nation of late and off course the saga of the MAS flight  MH370 brought it all about; this is our eye opener, this our wake up call.
This the meaning of a collective spirit at work where all present has one thought in mind and that is to ask for what is best for the nation from the Creator, The Merciful, The Compassionate. It is our surrendering to His Will and our submission to His intervention in what we as humans are in quandary, lost for answers and lost in our ways towards one another. It is a collective spirit kneeling before the All Mighty to ask for forgiveness for all the transgressions that has been wantonly committed by us as citizens of this nation disregarding human as well as divine laws in order to feed our insatiable hunger for greed and power.
I sincerely hope that all the rest of the citizens of this country who are non Muslims will take this as a good example and follow sooth with their own forms of worship and prayers towards bringing back stability and justice to the country, to bring Peace and harmony among its mixed racial groups and to awaken the minds of the wealthy and the poor, to bring awareness to all the fate of this great country. We are fragile, we need to unite in our collective spirit and hammer on heavens doors for our deliverance as we have found that we cannot do so on our own. No matter how a skeptic we are or how jaded our minds are in this day and age when we cannot locate a jet liner despite all that we claim to posses as our knowledge and information technology, we have failed and we need help; the world needs help. The final source of help that man can turn to is his Creator, God if you want to call Him that Allah if you are a Muslim.

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi
 “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” 
― Francis of Assisi

Allah. It all starts with Him – the universe, humanity, and our own conception – and it all comes back to Him in the end. There’s no victory without Him, no progress, no peace. Strengthen your relationship with Him in the easy times, and you will find Him beside you in the hard times.” – Wael Abdelgawad

Tat Tvam Asi - That you are.

The Essence of Life is Formless. I am the objectified form of who I have thought myself to be. Getting in touch with the formlessness of who I am can be achieved by being present in the moment, being in touch with my inner being, my breath, my bodily movements and comforts or discomforts; I gradually find my formless self through the process of elimination of who I am when my mind cease to play a dominant role of creating stories of who I am. By inhabiting the body you become absorbed into the spaciousness of your being Giving attention to your body helps to create the space between you and the external influences of the thought and senses created conditioned phenomena. The feeling of the aliveness of your body within is where you find the stillness that is home to your 'Intelligence.You are the awareness and everything else are conditioned patterns, mind and thought created; be the awareness, become formless and express yourself from the formless state of being , just like a mirror.
"I want you to have the fullness of life." Jesus said. Once you know the fullness of life that is here now, that fullness in essence is the inner wealth you have that will eventually manifest into your life, you feel already wealthy living in the present moment, external abundance follows in time. True freedom is freedom from the mind, True happiness can be found in being aligned with life it is to be found within who you are, I am that I am. To be in touch with the deeper I, to feel alive this is the true source of your true happiness.Most of us live our lives like zombies walking around in our daily lives with not object in mind other than the need to eat and survive no matter what the cost is to ourselves or to others. We live like robots some of us, being conditioned to perform our most basic instinct for survival, however more and more of us are getting in touch with our true state of an awakened being free from any form of conditioning. we are getting more and more aware of who we truly are by our willingness to explore and experiment with our lives where old views and arcane wisdom are no more conditioning our minds
Collectively we will move forward in this awakened state letting go of that which is no more valid for where our thoughts and consciousness is concern, this is our collective wisdom manifesting from years of looking in and out of ourselves in relation to the rest of humanity. We are becoming more critical if not analytical in our choice of  the way we look at ourselves and how we view others such that we no more accept at face value what is before us. We are more alive in our interactions with the rest of humanity as we get to know better how our own mind and body works, we become less discriminating and more accepting allowing for the weaknesses of our selves and others to be played out without being judgemental. We are now becoming more sympathetic and compassionate towards the needs of those who are in need and in the process becoming more caring and sharing without any hopes for returns.
This is the road of salvation for humanity, this is the way that we need to pursue if we are to create a positive impact upon what we as a whole face in our global relationship and in our interpersonal communications. Looking into our hearts we see where our thoughts originate from and the deeper we look the closer we find that we are the whole, we are humanity itself, expressing ourselves and manifesting our visions for the better of mankind and the planet. In our quest to getting to know our original nature we have come close to being a part of the collective whole fully aware of our destiny and what it takes to transcend all our trials and tribulations as we live out our allotted time. We are no more like cattle living day to day waiting to become food and fodder at the end of our time. We have the way to become manifested in spirit and our spiritual manifestations are the result of formlessness, not being attached to any signs or symbols, religious or otherwise, it is the collective spirit of the divine that is inherent all of us humans, "For the temple of the Living God is Within You.." Zat aku, Zat Allah" or my essence is the essence of Allah...I Am That, I Am. orTat Tvam Asi (Sanskrit: तत् त्वम् असि or तत्त्वमसि), a Sanskrit sentence, translated variously as "That art thou," "That thou art," "Thou art that," "You are that," or "That you are," 

Dinner at the Gala House on Muntri Street.

"The Gala House" located on Muntri Street and Leith another recycled establishment from the old into the new giving it a heritage image. Has a great ambiance reminece of the good old days of Mutri Street when it was more subdued if not colorful in its character.

IA couple of young enterprising getting together to launch their concept and ideas and not mention good food and mellow times, another 'Roadside attraction in the culinary map of Georgetown. nearby are all the cheaper or budget Hotels and not too far from Cititel. 

My daughter doing what she does best, her training in life, people, serving and being excellent at it to the joy of every customer; no school cant teach you this, this is her internship. Good Luck guys! and by the Lord's Grace may you excel.

Nice walls! great Interior concept, must be a story why the VW head at the counter. 

My girl has grown into a woman now.

Nice people when you get to know them.

Yes! My new English friends! I think we are in love forever!

Stop Whining and Moaning says the Lord!

Going on the twelfth day of the missing Jet Liner, all out efforts are being made by every party concern and those whose interest are also at stake- the surrounding nations whose borders may have been compromised in its control of its own areal territories. Or the fact that such an event happens and is still a mystery to the young and old in this countries, people are hooked on into the event through the Internet and the Media services,;watch what you say and if you don't know keep your opinion to yourself and...pray. Perhaps it will take a divine act to solve this 'miracle'.

My son Timo will be here on the 27th. of this month, we will have a great time getting to know the rest of his kith and kin, the Malays, the Chinese and the Hindus members of my family bloodline. Maybe not all of them but whoever i can get him to meet while he is here, or i could just run him off into the jungle and hide him there telling him that he is now Tarzan learning all about organic farming at the foothills of Lintang!
As soon as he arrives there is a project that he will help me work on, it a Mural Painting in an upscale restaurant where Marissa is presently waitress run by some cool young guys. Tonight I am to sit and work out what they have in mind to go on to the walls and I will also work out with Marissa as to how we are going to go to KLIA to pick up Timo. Well the way I see it the Bus is the best bet, it takes us all the way to Putra Jaya where we can put up at Marissa's place if it is still available. Go to the Airport in a car and pick up Timo. Cannot see any other way like driving to KLIA ans so on because I don't think i will enjoy the drive too much in this hot weather and will need to borrow a car or worse rent one; I don't think my Kancil can handle this one.These are just passing thoughts about what is to come and I am sharing them here just because they are there in my mind and needs to be let out; you got a plan, so to speak. Workaholics comes in all shapes and sizes and we all are subjected to it in one form or another, I tend to over flood my mind with thoughts which will lead to worry and then desperation...What if?! Oh Man!! Man! this is too much! I cannot handle this anymore! I tend to overwork my mind into taking on too many 'quadrants' as the military calls in attempting to make my life simple. I try too hard perhaps in trying to choreograph my future moves as to how i can maximize its creative impact upon those who care to share my trip in life.
Stop whining! Look to your Lord for he is All Knowing and Merciful.Be humble and grateful for His favors that you have enjoyed life better than most and be thankful that you still yet have the chance to repent and relive life as it should be. We have almost forgotten of how we say thank you to one another. How we show our gratefulness through acts of charity and compassion towards others selflessly.Being grateful is a human virtue just as Love is or Compassion is; these are the immeasurable virtues that man has and that separates him from other species. The Chinese has his altar in his home and the premise where ever he works  and every day he offers the incense to his chosen Deity. he lays apples and oranges and sometimes eggs and sweets before it. This is what my friend Ah Huat the Auto Air conditioning Shop owner does at his place: this  is his way of saying thank you to the place and the environment and the spirits residing within it. It is quaint practice to the skeptic but a token of faith to my friend; that there are things that can be beyond his control and that there things beyond his scan. .
My Muslim friends and relatives would reply"Alhamdullilah!" whenever I ask them how their health be. Their reply simply means With Allah's Will, praise be to Allah! I am fine, than you.By this very virtue we become more strong and passionate about going on doing His work, for most as a road to redemption, a journey of reconciliation, or giving up that which is mind consciousness, and living the consciousness of the Spirit within us. Awakening of the Spirit within towards the light of Intelligence and Awareness is the process we have all been striving to accomplish throughout our adult lives if not earlier..To be liberated from this veil of ignorance being shed upon us by our own lack of understanding is every soul's motive for living knowing it or not, being aware of it or not. If we cannot do much for the fate of the Nation, a simple prayer would do Breath! Don't be afraid to care.
So, when he gets here Timo will have a ride of a lifetime ! Talk about future and culture shock, he will need good shock absorbers. But if he can surf the waves here he will catch a good ride and enjoy what most will cry for where he comes from. This is all i can think to say about looking forward to being with my son who has never been to this country. This is a nation going through some trying times and I hope my son will fit in all the same despite his Swiss background. If he keeps an open mind and accept everything without judgement he will be enlightened with this journey he has chosen to make, it is a very brave choice and i am as always proud of my children.

Have I told You how much I love You?...

Just in case you feel like I do not care about you as much as I used to...know that you are always in the deepest corner of my heart where the Divine Spirit resides, You are the light of my life.

You have Love in your heart for others and they Love you, cats dogs, horses and hamsters.

You have your mother's smile and her inner strength, like her you too are special  in my life.

You are cheeky and mischievious and you know how to pull my strings and push my buttons, but I know deep down you will always be my little girl; your happiness is my happiness.

So, "Sail on Silver Girl, sail on by....your time has come...to shine..."

let all your dreams come through, worry not for I am right behind you...

Sometimes we say more by not saying anything.

"Asked if Zaharie's background as an opposition supporter was being examined, the senior police officer would say only: "We need to cover all our bases".

Malaysia Airlines has said it did not believe Zaharie would have sabotaged the plane and colleagues were incredulous.

"Please, let them find the aircraft first. Zaharie is not suicidal, not a political fanatic as some foreign media are saying," said a Malaysia Airlines pilot who was close to Zaharie. "Is it wrong for anyone to have an opinion about politics?"

Co-pilot Fariq was religious and serious about his career, family and friends said, countering news reports suggesting he was a cockpit Romeo who was reckless on the job."
"Cockpit Romeo," ," Pilot was not suicidal, not a political fanatic." Even his close friends comes out to testify to his character and the media makes sure it is well written to evoke for better sensationalism.

"The disappearance of flight MH370 has baffled investigators, aviation experts and Internet sleuths since the plane vanished from civilian air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing".- The Malaysian Insider
“The Malaysian government may play with his political membership with the opposition party, but I think it’s got nothing to do with this. I hope to let the families of the passengers know their lives were in the hands of somebody good,” he said..

Doomed airliner pilot was political fanatic: Hours before taking control of flight MH370 he attended trial of jailed opposition leader as FBI reveal passengers could be at a secret location. Mail Oline -The Daily Mai

Now we use a more removed expression, "Doomed airliner, sounds a little more sensational if not dramatic! Anything 'Doomed' is sure to capture good audience!

The Indian Ocean is one of the most remote places in the world and also one of the deepest, posing potentially enormous challenges for efforts to find wreckage or the flight voice and data recorders that are the key to solving the puzzle. – Reuters, March 16, 2014
Investigators are puzzled over Malaysian military's inaction in responding to an unidentified blip on their radar screens that was later said to be the missing flight MH370, the New York Times reported today.
So mush for our best of technologies and unlimited intelligence gathering expertise, the sea is too  deep! The best we can offer right now, at least we offer something in our expert opinions! The sea is too deep indeed!

"The newspaper said police sources confirmed that the 53-year-old captain was a vocal political activist, and were probing into the probability that he would have been profoundly upset by the court ruling.
And if so what would he hope to gain by disappearing with the plane and over 200 passengers?Anwar I brahim will still go to Jail unless his appeal to the higher court is successful. Why does he not just flies into the Twin Towers if he is really pissed? Now that would make it all worthwhile, make it an unmistakable statement of one's discontent to the world.

"Yesterday, police searched the veteran pilot's home in Shah Alam, where he keeps a home-made flight simulator." (What is wrong with that? if he can afford one, more power to him, although a Jacuzzi would have been better...
It is perfectly normal to look into the Pilots backgrounds and search for any telltale evidence that would help to solve the mystery of the missing flight without making it looks like they are suspected criminal already? The Media has become the judge, Jury and executioners in most instances of media coverage in this country if not globally...

                                                                              

And so the Saga of the Missing  Jet Liner continues with more twists and turns making for another mini series of political intrigue as each and everyone armed with their gadgets to scrape every bit of information to feed the hungry masses looking for simple truths. We are kay poh chee, or busybodies by nature and with insatiable need to be heard. At the end of the day the story is not about the missing plane anymore but theories of conspiracies and political and religious shenanigans. From heroes to suspected villains in one week, the life story of pilots now takes center stage.  Last but not least, how do we pin it on Anwar Ibrahim? 

May The Lord, May Allah have mercy on us all if our lives is being run by the politicians and the media. This when we learn to say less and become observers without any attachment to what transpires but purely as witnesses to our own follies.