A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

This quaint town in the countryside of Tanjung Sepat delivers sunrises of grey-blue and gold.

Catch these views while walking along the looong Lover's Bridge. 

The town's folks come in rustic style to buy breakfast and no one blinks an eyelid, only us silly city slickers. Simple comfort food like fried vermicelli and chicken curry accompanied with local coffee "kaw kaw" (thick and strong) costs only RM5.

Food stalls are like little supermarkets with home grown fruits and vegetables.

The earth here must be God-sent. Trees are laden with mangoes that are perpetually in season.

 These huge jackfruits like "tumours" are all "bagged" up to stop the birds and squirrels from getting the first taste.  

Morning glory scaling to the sky,

wooden houses with verandas to sit and chat in the evenings

and sunsets with the tide rolling into the mangroves. 

Ahhh Flipper, how contented your life must be.

BLUE CHRISTMAS

I'll have a blue Christmas without you

I'll be so blue just thinkin' about you

Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree

Won't be the same if you're not here with me.

And when those blue snowflakes start fallin'

That's when those blue memories start callin'

You'll be doin' all right with your Christmas of white

But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas

Lyrics by Jay Johnson and Billy Hayes

First recorded in 1948 by Doye O’ Dell

Adapted version in 2021 by Sassy JAM

 

I’ll have a blue Christmas without the sun

I’ll be so blue watching the monsoons 

Laundry drying around my green Christmas tree

Won’t be the same if the sun is not with me.

And when those fat rain drops start fallin’And the snakes,

 “biawaks” 

and turtles start callin’

Fishes aren't doing all right,

 floods and landslides every where

Cos we’re having a WET, WET, WET CHRISTMAS 🎄🎄 . Click on the 10 second videos to see wild life.     Stranded catfish

  Turtle doing the breast stroke in the kitchen.

   Iguana straddling  in the living room.

     Fish stranded in the living room.

  Snake in restaurant

Our neighbourhood group has already collected housel hold items, food and cash donations for Ulu Langat (above pix).   

For affected families in Taman Sri Muda & Hulu Langat areas.

St. John's Institution old boys have already delivered cleaning items.

When there is a NEED, there is a LI🦁ON ." 

QIGONG “BOOT CAMP”

 Being a bit of a qigong “skiver” I was a little apprehensive about joining 29 very “hands-on non-skivers” in the “boot camp” last weekend. We were at the Zhiren Qigong Holistic Centre 

in Tanjung Sepat, a town about 86 km away from home. Objective of the Zhuge Liang camp was to develop our ability to receive messages through focus and frequent qigong practice in a calm "xu" state. Life is in a constant flux. We need to "reboot." We have to be aware of what needs changing and move in new directions. 

"Boot camp" started with us rising at 4 am for a pre-dawn trek up Bukit Jugra lighthouse on Saturday. 

After a quick toilet visit, we were on our way up. 

The trek was to strengthen our minds as we made our way past many grave yards in pitch darkness. No sneaking with our handphone flash lights. Photos taken on the way down.

 For the Chinese, it is good “feng sui” to be buried on hill slopes and believe me, the Bukit Jugra trail was dotted with these ornate tombs. 

That Saturday was a really dark and stormy dawn as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, just perfect for a walk along the cemeteries! We could only see the light from the light house beaming as it swung round catching the drizzling rain drops.

“Were we being sent a message from beyond?” Thank GODness NO as we reached the light house just as the rain came pouring down. Ahh, the Chinese spirits were WITH US. We took refuge at the look-out point.

Sunday saw us all lined up at 8am for our 60 full squats along the beach front.  

Oh, our Edwin “laoshi” (teacher) was most kind that morning not to make us do our normal 120 squats. 

May God bless him, amen. This was followed by another 45 minutes of “peng qi guan ding fa”   

to harness/accumulate universal qi into our body to improve physical and mental health. The sun did its duty and blazed down mercilessly. Sweat dribbled down our faces, necks, backs and other unmentionable places,  

but who would dare give up with Edwin “laoshi’ upfront droning along and Benz "laoshi" scanning us from the back. When practice was completed, breakfast was at the beach with Malaysia’s most popular nasi lemak (coconut milk rice).

Lectures during the 3 days saw us sitting cross-legged on yoga mats for 2 straight hours each time. The "matcha" little chairs actually meant for sitting were used as our tables instead. 

We were allowed to sit on the ""matchas," but true-bloodied qigong members will hit the floor to show off their skill. “Wah, you so keng ah!” Translated – “Wah, you very amazing ah!” In Malaysia we call this "syiok sendiri," which means an awesome feeling for oneself.  

Hit the pictures to get enlarged views.

"LIFE IS A RIPPLE. 

STIMULI MAKES US GROW, IMPROVE AND UPGRADE" - quote from Edwin "laoshi."