Festive Malaysia

Malaysia’s rich blend of Chinese and Indian cultures along with the native Malay makes for a unique cornucopia of festivals all year round.

One of the most exciting Malaysian festivals is Thaipusam, a Hindu festival celebrated in January or February. But be warned, with its body piercing, mutilations and frantic parades, it’s not for the weak of heart. The festival involves devotees piercing themselves as devotion to Lord Muruga, the youngest son of Lord Shiva.

The main event of Thaipusam is a procession of chanting devotees carrying structures known as kavadi which are frames decorated with coloured papers, tinsels, fresh flowers, and fruits. Some devotees are in trance and as penance, pierce their cheeks, tongues, or foreheads.

Thaipusam is best seen in the temple at the Batu Caves near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Devotees carry the kavadi up 272 steps to the entrance of a cave housing an image of Lord Muruga.

One of the most important festivals for the Chinese is the Hungry Ghosts Festival. Like all Chinese festivals, it’s a lunar festival. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th moon which means it falls in August. For several days before the actual event begins, there’s a build up of festivities featuring Chinese opera and puppet shows held at temples and clan associations.

Like so many Chinese festivals, the Hungry Ghosts festival is about honouring ancestors. According to Chinese beliefs, the spirit world where the dead go is in parallel with the living world. On this special day of the year, the gates between the two worlds open and the hungry ghosts wander the world of the living in search of food and perhaps revenge on those who wronged them in life.

During the Hungry Ghosts festival, people place bundles of joss sticks, paper money, and food on street corners. This is intended to appease the spirits of the dead and dissuade them from entering their homes. The paper money known as ‘hell money’ is burnt and the Chinese believe this will help their family members in the spirit world.

For our final festival in this article, we’ll look at something a little more modern – the World Rainforest Music Festival, a concert with a difference. It’s a 3-day event that celebrates the diversity of world music and draws fans from all over the world.

The World Rainforest Music Festival has been held each July since 1997at the Sarawak Cultural Village at the foot of Mount Santubong in Kuching, Sarawak, Eastern Malaysia. The event attracts the talents of both local and traditional musicians along with international performers. In the daytime, the festival features cultural and musical workshop-oriented events with concert performances given in the night.

Malaysia is a vibrant and colourful country at any time but if you arrive there during one of the many festivals and celebrations you’ll be assured of an extra special time.

Reflections: Starbucks

I’m from a multi-racial country called Malaysia. Starbucks Coffee you could say it’s one of the high class coffee shops around this country. I remember my first visit to Starbucks was in Singapore, along with my friend, a few years back. It was on that time, I started to appreciate the taste of the caffeine.

My second visit to Starbucks, I was with my siblings. It was such a funny experience to me as I felt like I’m a nave little girl that knows nothing about drinks and ordered whatever that the title called out to her. As time passed by, my hometown started to march into the new look’, with new shops all around. As I learned that Starbucks is finally available, I was excited enough to take the chance of my siblings came back to home for holiday and dragged them to the store. Frankly, that’s when I started to learn about the quality of everything.

Of all the Starbucks Coffee stores I’ve visited, the only Starbucks that I truly loved is the one in my hometown. No offense! I’m not stating that other branches are not good; but, this Starbucks that I frequently visit is the warmest coffee shop I’ve ever stepped into.

Most friends of mine would say, “Only those who could afford themselves would go to such high class coffee shop.” Literally and indirectly, they were saying that only rich people will go to such place. Certainly, I wasn’t happy at all to hear this. It has been a permanent chip that was installed into their subconscious mind, and that is somehow hard to change the way they’re thinking.

Coffee is my favorite drink. I enjoy every taste, the scent, the touch, and the language that it speaks to my body. Quality of a cup coffee is always important. But, have you ever tasted a coffee, besides the quality, that brings warmth, welcoming, friendly, and comfortable? Well, I’ll smile and say to you, “Yes, I do.” My regular drink is Tall Caf Latte. To me, it’s quite tricky to make a good latte. Although not all the time, the taste of the latte could reach my expectation. Yet, I could still feel warm and welcome.

For the first time, I’ve spent long hours in a coffee shop. It has been a home to me a comfortable, warm, and peaceful home I’ve always dreamed of. I spend my time reading, writing, going online on my laptop, hang out with friends, and I even made friends with the crew over Starbucks too. Since then, I am the regular customer there, with my regular drink, and my regular seat; I am there to enjoy every moment.

In my opinion, I guess this is what this Starbucks in my hometown has won. The warmest coffee shop I’ve ever stepped into. Believe me, if you ever come to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Land Below the Wind), do step into the Starbucks at Warisan Square. I promise, you’ll feel the warmest and friendliest welcome along with the wonderful drinks.

Have a grande day!

Popular spices and herbs used for cooking

A spice is a flavoring for foods. Spices are made by drying some part of a plant and grinding it to a powder. The most popular spice is pepper. The only other spice that is widely used in the United States is mustard. The most popular spices and herbs used for cooking are paprika, allspice, chili, pepper, cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon and a blend of curry powder. In all, there are hundreds of different spices. It is important to stock such spices in the kitchen, for the preparation of vegetable, chicken or beef curries. Spices can easily be purchased at Indian spice stores, in some of which, recipes for preparing certain curries are also available.

Most of the spices are imported from India, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. There are restaurants where spicy foods are served, but if one prefers home cooking, knowing how to use spices in proper quantities are essential. One of the most important ingredients that is used as a seasoning is curry powder. It is a blend of many spices, such as onion, garlic, ginger, chili, cumin seed, tumeric, fenugreek, cardamon, cloves and pepper. The ingredients are mashed up together and then dried. The color of the finished product is reddish, but it later changes to a golden yellow. When food is cooked with curry powder, it has a rich, golden color.

The first people to use curry powder were the Chinese, but today, we think of curry powder as an Indian seasoning. In Indonesia it is so important, that the word, “curry”, almost means “dinner.” Fish, meat, chicken and vegetables are cooked with curry powder and served with rice. In cooking, just the correct amount should be used, or the food may be too hot because of the pepper and ginger that are parts of the ingredient used in blending the curry powder.

Spices are readily available at Indian spice stores where some of these are rare and exotic.

The spices are reasonably priced and storekeepers are always disposed to helping customers buy the basic variety of such ingredients to take home.

Garlic and onions are also important for any kind of food, specially in curry. Another important spice that is necessary to use in curried food is paprika. It is a tasty, bright-red spice that comes from the seeds and fruit of a plant of the pepper family. The plant grows in many parts of Europe where the climate is not too cold. Hungarian paprika is one of the best known of these plants. The fruits are long and pointed. The seeds and skin of the fruit are ground into a powder, which is the spice.

Traveling to Singapore

I recently traveled through Singapore on my way to a week in Indonesia. This wasn’t unusual – Singapore is one of the major hubs for air travel in southeast Asia, along with Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. I had a few different flight options, and opted for one with a stop in Singapore so that I could have dinner and sightsee with my friend Margaret, who lives and works there. I also booked a hotel room through a web site she recommended, www.asiarooms.com. Traveling to Singapore is pretty easy for most people; here are a few things I learned before and after arrival, which may be helpful to first-time travelers from abroad.

Getting there:

Singapore’s airport is one of the best in the world and is served by a variety of regional and intercontinental carriers, including the excellent national flag carrier, Singapore Airlines. Actually getting there can be grueling, though, since it often involves a long flight. It’s a good seven or eight hours from Tokyo or Sydney, and at least a dozen hours from the biggest European hubs in Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London. I had the misfortune to wind up in an economy-class middle seat for the twelve and a half hours it took me to fly from Paris, and think upgrading would be an excellent idea if it’s at all possible! On this long of a flight, it’s important to stretch whenever you can, remain hydrated, and try to get some sleep to help adjust to the time difference – Singapore is 8 time zones away from either London or the west coast of the US.

Getting in:

For me, entry into Singapore was the easiest part. Like everyone else on my flight who was entering Singapore, I filled out an arrival form before my flight landed. But since Singapore is a free trade zone and has a reciprocal visa waiver program with the U.S., my U.S. passport got me into the country at no cost, with no line, and no problems. The same will probably be true for citizens of many other major trading countries, although I’m sure actual visas will be required for those from some other nations. The arrival form includes a detachable stub, which must be kept with one’s passport and turned in upon departure.

I am not a drug smuggler, and will just note for those who are that in Singapore, as in most of southeast Asia, the penalty for drug smuggling is a mandatory death sentence. Just a piece of trivia to keep in mind.

Money:

Singapore is a commercial hub, so it’s easy to change money at the airport. I had Scottish pounds sterling,

Regional tensions in Southeast Asia

The history of Interstate tensions in Southeast Asia has been prevalent since independence; interstate tensions are conflicts between countries which have resulted in either military invasion or inability to agree on political issues. The main causes of interstate tensions can be separated into two broad categories- political differences and ethnic-cultural divisions. Under political differences, there are three main factors- firstly, security and sovereignty concerns, secondly, the immediate political context of a country and its foreign policies priorities and thirdly, the role of leaders which directly influence the direction of politics in the country. Under ethnic-cultural divisions, the main factor will be the division of ethnic-cultural groups under colonial rule. Historical animosity, in this case, is not taken into context as it is itself a result of both political differences and ethnic-cultural divisions, and a form of interstate tension. In my point of view, interstate tensions in Southeast Asia since independence are more a result of political differences rather then ethnic-cultural divisions.

For a start, interstate tensions in Southeast Asia since independence were a result of ethnic-cultural divisions. This is evident in the case of the Mindanao Muslims in the Philippines. Interstate tensions between Malaysia and Philippines arose because of the unnatural displacement of Mindanao Muslims into Christian-majority Philippines when they were in fact had a much closer relationship with Sabah which shares the same religion under US colonial rule in 1989. As a result, Sabah’s chief minister Tun Mustapha provided a supply route of weapons and military training camps to aid the liberation of Mindanao Muslims causing Malaysia and Philippines to be in conflict. Similarly, interstate tensions between Thailand and Malaysia arose because of the unnatural displacement of the Pattani Muslims into Buddhist-majority Thailand when the Pattani Muslims had closer ties with Malaysia. Like the situation in Sabah, separatist movements to liberate the Pattani Muslims were formed in Kelantan such as National Patani Liberation Front (BNPP) and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) which caused Thailand and Malaysia to be in conflict. In the above two cases, interstate tensions were a result of ethnic-cultural divisions due to the unnatural displacement of communities under colonial rule.

However, ethnic-cultural divisions were not the most important factor in interstate

Thailand as a Tour Destination

Thinking of Thailand as a tour destination? Think exotic, oriental, majestic and more!

Thailand’s boundaries stretch to neighboring regions of Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian Ocean. The exciting Eastern city of Thailand offers immense scope for sea, air and road travel, the holiday plan usually dependent on a tourist’s budget. Its four main regions, namely North, Central Plain or the Chao Phraya River Basin, North East (Korat Plateau) and South Peninsula live up to the true meaning of ‘thai,’ literally meaning free and denoting the same in its multicultural diversity that happily coexists with its diverse inhabitants.

Agriculturally rich, with paddy fields dotted landscape that make room for heritage palaces and famous temples alike, modern Thailand comes as a pleasant surprise for the global traveler: natural beauty of many beaches and islands, innumerable shopping bargains and vibrant festivities of carnivals and shopping centers that offer wide variety in local foods and gourmet cuisine, exotic hill – tribe villages and ancient ruins all contribute to Thailand’s cosmopolitan air as a tour destination.

Thailand as a tour destination: its many exciting activities and pleasures.

Buddhism is the main religion in Thailand with the King of Thailand revered as the supreme monarch and also the patron of all religions embraced by the people. Thus, Thailand has religious tolerance woven into its social fabric and respects people of all races. This multiculturalism makes Thailand a hot favorite as a tour destination for the global traveler with add-on visits to nearby cities like Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Butterworth and other major southern Thai towns being part of an avid tourist’s list. Places of tourist interest in Thailand include Phuket, Koh Samui, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Chang and Koh Samet while provinces like Krabi, Koh Libong, Koh Hai provides great photographic memoirs of Thailand as a tour destination.

Living in London on a budget

One of the most difficult aspects of living in London is the accommodation. If you’re not prepared to spend at least 400.000 buying a property, you better look for the right rental.

London is the second most expensive city in the world, just losing for Moscow. Believe me, finding a flat, or a room in London is a tough job, and expensive. With what I pay here for a single room, without living room and a tiny kitchen I could have a 3 bedrooms flat in Brazil.

London is divided in zones, if you get a tube map, you’re going to see that there’re 6 zones, the first is the area for all London top attractions. Town centres, museums, Thames, best parks, and usually where the best companies are settled. To live in zone one having a flat for yourself, one bedroom, you’re going to pay an estimate price of 300 a week. To live in Covent Garden, one of the most charming areas of London, you’re going to spend an average of 1400 per month. If these prices are too much for your budget, you can live in London for cheaper, sharing a flat with someone else, a bunch of people from all over the world, or choosing for zones 2, 3, 4 It gets cheaper as far as you’re from the centre.

I moved 9 times in 2 years here. I lived with all kind of nationalities, people from Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Vietnam, Philippines, Portugal, Italy, Africa, France, Lithuania, Switzerland. I lived in Fitzrovia, paying 240 per month and living with 20 people, and in zone 2, having my own room and living with another 2 girls for 500 per month. The options are infinite, and it all depends on the kind of life you want to have.

Here are some tips you’re going to need when deciding where to put your suitcases.

1rst: Live in the reality that your money can pay.

Realize! You’re not going to find a miracle flat, central location, brand new with huge spaces for cheap. The furniture usually is not very new, carpets are all over the place, the colour of the wall is probably not your favorite, flats here are not as bright as in a beach. If it’s a house, the garden is probably very small, and you can easily see your neighbor’s garden (it means: no privacy!). You’re going to find carpet in kitchens, bathrooms without window, bedrooms with very small ones, and the storage area is usually shared with more people than it can support.

2nd: Where to look for:

If you are looking on the Internet you can easily find web sites that provide lists of houses for rent, one of the most famous

Travel destinations: Kapas Island, Malaysia

Imagine spending your vacation on a small island in Malaysia. Kapus Island (which means Cotton Island) is one such destination you can choose where you have exotic scenery and white sandy beaches. This is a preferred weekend destination by the locals, but during the week the beaches are not crowded at all. This island is also home to several world-class resorts where you have luxurious amenities at your fingertips.

Kapus Island is a short boat ride from the village of Marang in the South China Sea. The island is only tiny, measuring 2 km long by 1 km wide. There are two strips of beach facing the mainland and the rest of the island is forested, providing a natural habitat for all kinds of birds and animals. The colourful reefs along the beach are home to a wide variety of marine life. Here you can see pufferfish, parrotfish, clams and larger species such as giant eels and rays. Snorkelling is a wonderful experience on this island. The waters are always calm making swimming a one of kind experience.

While most visitors do come for the sun and the sand, you can’t miss out on the other activities Kapus Island has to offer. These include taking a trek through the jungle, scuba diving, taking a tour around the island by boat at sunrise and canoeing. The atmosphere is quite laid back.

Even though the official language is Bahasa Malaysia, English is widely spoken. Although the island is isolated, there are excellent telephone communications. You can make international calls from your hotel room and there are phone booths all over the island that accept both coins and calling cards. It is not mandatory that you add a tip to your bill at the hotels, resorts and restaurants, but it is widely practiced. The tap water is perfectly safe to drink, but the hotels do provide bottled water for the guests.

The currency used on Kapus Island is the Malaysian Ringgit (RM) and sen. Most establishments do accept traveller’s cheques and credit cards. If you do exchange your money for Malaysian currency before you leave home, you are only permitted to bring RM 10,000 into the country with you. The electricity runs of a 240 circuit, which means you will need to have an adaptor if you want to bring any of your small electrical devices with you, such as a hairdryer. The only health risks you need to be aware of and be vaccinated for is yellow fever and this does not apply to all areas.

Enjoy a spectacular retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the larger centers when you choose to visit Kapus Island. Here you will find a retreat like none other where you are surrounded by crystal clear waters and white sand with the sun shining down on you every day.

Bigfoot – It always stays just outside the range of scientific proof

One of the most widespread and controversial creatures of dubious existence is Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, in reference to a hairy, bipedal hominid being. This being is usually described as 8′ to 10′ tall, sighted in remote wilderness areas of the United States and Canada, the Great Lakes, the Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountains, mainly over the last 300 years. It is said, that this humanoid creature has been seen in the forests of northeastern New England and the southern United States. Contrary to other monsters, this being is not a single specimen, but researchers have found at least a few thousand of them reported in different places during all the time, including nearby military areas.

There is a slight misconceptions between Bigfoot or Sasquatch, and Yeti, who lives in the Himalayas, and the Abominable Snowman, a Tibetan primate-like popularized by the Western press in 1921 after a visit of the reporter Henry Newman to the Himalayas. However, there is a controversy related to Bigfoot, with some researchers and witnesses claiming that this creature can be found in most countries around the world, but known regionally under various names, otherwise, it is believed that creatures like Yeti, are closely related species.

There are many reports describing a Sasquatch as the American being, but seen in China, Russia, Malaysia, Hawaii., Australia, and even in the mountains of South America. Like the other creatures of cryptozoology studies, scientists reject the possibility of the creature’s existence. Unsubstantiated folklore and hoax is usually the verdict given for skeptics, due to the lack of bones, body or other evidence, in addition to the widely divergent descriptions by witnesses. They describe the monster as a 7 to 10 feet tall bipedal creature; this is 2 to 3 meters, but looking like an ape, and sometimes like a man.

It is said that Bigfoot is of a strong build and broad-shouldered, whose body is covered with short shaggy fur or well defined black or dark brown hair, although some other witnesses report the creature having rust, reddish, sandy or silver fur, with large eyes and a pronounced brow.

Recently, some cryptologists claim to have found evidence of the Yeti in the Himalayas, after the bones of a hand were discovered in a Tibetan temple, preserved as relics. This discovery brings back the alleged relationship between Yeti and Bigfoot, in which case if the Yeti exists, Bigfoot should exist as well. In fact, scientists say there is no evidence of such a creature in the United States, but various Native American artifacts has been presented as circumstantial evidence for the existence of Sasquatch, including some dated between 1500 BC to 200 AD, as described in a text from 1877.

Sasquatch is the American Indian name for the “Big Foot” creature that so many people throughout the United States have seen. All scientific data put aside, mostly everyone that has seen a glimpse of Big Foot remembers an odor some described as the smell of rotten eggs or sulphur.

There is a website that describes this and numerous other creatures of Cryptozoology in detail. The website is called: Unknown Creatures, and may be found at this address:

http://www.unknown-creatures.com

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright © 2006

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Reflections: Hometowns

I spent about 15 years of my life in Miri. These were the early years, the development years and the vast majority of my childhoods memories involve this town.

Miri is a bustling city in Sarawak, which is part of East Malaysia. It is about two hours drive from Brunei, and a two hour flight from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

My parents still live there. My father opened a clinic there earlier this year, after twenty or so years working for a multinational company. He was originally from Balingian, a district sort of in between Sibu and Bintulu, two other towns in Sarawak. My mother was originally from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, and most of her family still lives there. We gather in Kuching every Christmas to celebrate.

Miri isn’t very big by any standards. It is driven by natural resources – oil, gas, timber. It is a fairly rich town. There is a strip of beach with a few mansions – I privately call this Millionaire’s Row. These are the homes of the timber tycoons. Palatial and imposing, they represent the hard work and determination of their owners.

For all its commerce and industry, there is also a quaint side to Miri. There is a strip of land between the ocean and the river, where the Shell company houses are. There are no fences here – unlike the rest of Miri – and all the houses are white. There are lots of trees. Also here are the Piasau Boat Club, and the Miri Golf Club. It feels a little colonial. It’s linked to Miri proper by a bridge, and it’s almost like stepping back in time when you cross it. We used to bring our dog Spot to the beach there, he barked so loudly when we crossed the river. He died a couple of years ago, and is buried at the beach that he loved so much.

My first love (so what if it was puppy love) happened here. I have so many memories of birthdays, friends, family … and the food! The best Sarawak laksa ever can be found Miri.

I don’t know if I will ever return permanently. I have grown apart from my childhood friends and they are probably not only on different pages from me, but in another book altogether. I will always remember Miri fondly though, I grew up there and it will always be my home town.

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