Wednesday, June 29, 2005
29/06/2005
This post here serves as a reminder that today I bade farewell to my dear, dear friends as everyone leaves for their own respectives unis....
"Don't
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eugene
EMAIL: angelic_blue@hotmail.com
IP: 219.95.40.225
URL: http://www.friendster.com/user.php?uid=4014305
DATE: 07/10/2005 08:04:23 AM
bwai bwai la..will miss u! keep in touch!
Posted by Berenice at 9:54 AM
46 comments
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Short flight of fancy....
"She crouched on the floor like a wounded thing, and Dorian Gray, with his beautiful eyes, looked down at her, and his chiseled lip curled in exquisite disdain. There is always something ridiculous about the emotion of people whom one ceased to love."
As quoted from The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
For some particular reason, I find his words to be so true that I sat up the moment upon reading it. Especially so, for the last line of the quote, "There is always something ridiculuos about the emotion of people whom one ceased to love".
It was as if I were exposed of a certain heinous crime or fraud. Could anyone deny the truth of that line? Could you? In fact, would you?
The more I ponder on it, the more guilt I felt. Have you ever embrace emotion with the entirety of your heart in a sole believe of the pureness of all goodness and perfection of everything you thought you hold true to? An emotion so strong, that you are overwhelmed yet unintimidated. So steadfast is your believe that, for a moment, you are capable of converting an entire nation. And in this godly state, you realise that it is because of your love for someone that shot you through this hallucinated state of heavenly wonder.
And you notice that this object of your adoration is flawless in everyway. The way his/her laughter rang out, the way they voiced their thoughts, the way they held themselves, every single detail was so beautifully engineered that it is beyong capturing. So much so that any attempt of such would risk tainting them.
Ironically, upon a drop of a small pin, you lose your religion. Nothing they do could redeem themselves to the former glory you once hold them. As for every single gesture they made towards you, you'd shudder in deep reproach. For hours on, you curse yourself for the terrible mistake of ever deciding to love them. And in that moment it dawns to you that they are the most ludicrous individuals you've met, hence made the lightning decision of never to cross path with them again.
COMMENT:AUTHOR: Vic
DATE: 06/22/2005 07:07:09 AM
HEY!HEY! haha... did not know you have a blog here. Haha.. hope to catch up one day yah?
:D oh by the way.. if you want.. you can come visit my blog too...
http://mysticalmindisme.blogspot.com :D
hope to keep in touch with you.!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Berenice
DATE: 06/22/2005 08:37:04 AM
Take your time ;)
Thanks a lot BTW
Posted by Berenice at 1:12 AM
0 comments
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Taman Negara
I better get this done before the memory of me going there has been totally wiped off.
Let's start off from the jetty, after all the hassle of paperwork is done. It's there that marked the start of the "adventure".
Day 1
The boat that ferried us was a motor-powered "sampan", but a pretty big one at that. I've never been on one before. The journey was a 3-hour boat ride on the Sungai Tembeling. The initial start off was pretty smooth, the view was spectacular. It is not everyday that one is able to be surrounded by lush jungles on both side of the banks. Nonetheless, our journey was hiccuped with 3 unforeseen pauses caused by engine failure. The boatman wasn't very experienced and he had steered us into shallow waters where the rotors hit the bedrocks. That was the first pause. I'm not sure what had caused the other 2 consecutive pauses. But it was a let down each time we heard the engine sputtered and halted. The boatman from the other "sampan" had to turn back 3 times to help us. By then everyone was all nerves and impatience.
We docked at a boathouse restaurant. From there, we were welcomed and briefed. Armed with the directions to our hostels and heavy bag packs we lugged everything including ourselves up the sandy river bank and up a creaky wooden staircase.
Surprise! Surprise! When we checked-in, we were told that our room for 8 was given to someone else! And we've booked a month earlier!! Luckily we were compensated with 2 rooms, each accommodating 6 pax, as shown. Feh.....
The whole ordeal was really pure back to basics. Chickens were allowed to run free in the compound. Hence, everyone had to take extra care of where they were stepping on as chickens defecate anywhere, anytime. And there were a number of cats roaming about. What with the wooden houses on stilts beside the higher bank, it's lifestyle Ala "kampung".
The package that we booked includes board, food and activities. So there was a lot to do. We rested,freshen up, and headed back to the boathouse for dinner. There were quite a number of boathouses moored by the bank. Each offering a selection of food to the tourists. The catered food that we had wasn't great but no one complained either.
The first activity for us that day (night) was a night walk. From the boathouse, we boarded a boat that ferried us across the river, over the other side of the riverbank. Finally did we realise that the side where we stayed is not the forest reserve. The park itself is on the other side of the bank. There we were brought to the jungle fringe, and as we shone our torches, we saw glimpses of light being reflected. Lucky us, we managed to spot the Sambar Deer. Enthusiastic, everyone excitedly flashed the torches around hoping to find some other wild animals. There were insects to be spotted everywhere. And on the request of the guide, we grouped together and switched of our torches, experiencing total darkness. It was calming and daunting at the same time. That few minutes was so quiet and so serene yet you couldn't even see your own fingers no matter how near you wave them.
For me, the highlight of the walk were the sky. The night sky had never been prettier. The sky was filled with stars and so many of them too. That was the first time I saw so many stars on a night like that. Simply breathtaking.
Day 2
The day started fairly early. Once everyone had their breakfast, we all jumped into the boat and headed for the park again. We headed off for jungle trekking and a go at the Canopy Walk which, according to the Guinness Book Of Record, the longest ever. Gosh, I must say even though I am scared of heights, I went there and did it! While standing on the walkway a.k.a hanging bridge, you will have the best views of the national park's flora.
After the Canopy Walk, off we went to go on with the jungle trekking. It's an enjoyable hike and, thank God, no leeches. I was in disbelief, food for thought, there are no mosquitoes in the jungle. Our guide, Angie let us in on what to do when we're lost in the jungle. As well as the many varieties of food we can forage from the forest. It's amazing to check out the abundance of herbs our jungle have, truly truly treasurable. We found the Tongkat Ali tree, Sarsipirilla tree, Camphor tree, Kacip Fatimah plant, trees which produces latex used as adhesive...the list goes on.
Though tired, we headed of to the Orang Asli village where we had a glimpse of what their lifestyle would be. It's interesting to 
see them living in the jungle without the many amenities we all take for granted. Yet, they love it there. A tribesman, Burman, demonstrated how to make fire and using the blowpipe. He brought out some fresh honey in comb for us to taste. We were the most lucky people that day, to be able to chance on tasting the rare Tualang honey. It's very precious as the Tualang tree only flowers once every 5 years!
We got back to the boathouse restaurant for lunch. And we were off on the "sampan" again, this time, headed for the rapids shooting. Wowie! With 2 other boats ganging up, boy, were we in for a water fight! The guides, using an oar, attempted to outsplash other boats as the boats took turns ovetaking one another. We, tourists chipped in as well, some even brought along containers to be filled with river water so they can sabotage the passing boat. Others created splashes by dipping their hands into the water as the boat was moving. Soaked!
As we clamed down, the boats moored up a sandy bank and everyone got off for a dip in the river. I went rock hunting though and found me a nice rock with multiple layers, each with a different colour. After a while, we headed back for a shower and dinner.
Day 3
There was no activities that day since we were checking out by noon. We packed our stuff, had breakfast and hopped into our ride. This time a 2-hour boat ride. An hour faster because we were headed down stream.
That was the end of our short "adventure". We brought home a wonderful experience and huge amounts of respect for nature. Wonder where we are headed next...hmmm.....
Posted by Berenice at 1:43 AM
0 comments
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Pierced
I used to have two beautiful, smooth and soft earlobes until the day I had the silly notion of me being prettier with pierced ears. Bad, bad mistake.
Through out history, ear piercings are the most common form of piercings ever. A simple search on the internet proves it. Let's see, for primitve tribes, they believe that demons and spirits can enter the body through the ear. That's the purpose of earrings, they have the MAGICAL power of repelling demons. WOoOo...*eerie*
As for sailors, they believe that with piercings they have their eyesights improved. Gahahaha..learn from Superman, sea urchins! Kryptonite works, not earrings =P ERm..where was I? Yea, and to pay for a Christian funeral as well if their bodies were to wash up some where. How would the inhabitants of X Island know? The poor, poor sailor. He'll end up being left out in the reincarnation cycle just because of two earrings. I weep for the sad soul.
In the deep jungles of Borneo, ear piercing is a sign of Adulthood. The parents would give their children earrings to be worn on they reach puberty. Now, this, this kinda makes sense doesn't it? Prove that living in the tropics makes your mind function better.
On the 12th of November 2001, YERP, right after Sept 11 happened, I got my ears pierced. A few weeks from then, it got infected. It totally grossed me out so i'd happily tossed away the rings and let it heal. Back to basics.
Okay, a few years passed by, on 27th February 2005, what did i do? Yeap, i'm an airhead alright. Off i went and had 'em repierced. Two months later, I noticed them lobes weren't healing as it should be. A quick check reveals the horror of horrors. The chances of getting it is maybe one in a zillion. My right ear was infected not because of the current piercing but the previous piercing. Damn! Who would have imagined the old wound reopening! Now, on my right ear, I have one piercing for the earring to go in and two "holes" for it to come out! Oh, my beautiful beautiful ear lobes!! They are all ruined! Ruined, i tell you!
Argh..Oh the pain of the darn solution...*runs off to hide*