Brilliant Piece by Unwanted Citizen (Product of The System)

Greeting fellow Malaysians, My name is Mohd Rektal bin Saiful.....

Read more on this poignant an funny piece by Product of The System here

Datuk Seri Azizah resigns....

OK, this came as a shock in a way. The fact that she has to resign to make way for DSAI somehow shows that the Sept 16 is not as convincing as the way DSAI wants it to be, at least in my opinion. However, it can be some plus points since they can "try" to dismiss nepotism with wife and daughter as MPs.

Gosh...all this are too much. I need a break.

Hmmm....

It's August soon. The month of independence, supposingly. The latest development seems to dash the hope of seeing a united Malaysian, with the buzzing talk on Malay unity; it also seems like the nation is moving to theocratic state as shown by the recent development cox it will be possible.

Should I worry?

Prime Time News on Killing Spree

UPDATE:
Read Anil's post on the madness of nuclear energy and 12 dams here

ORGINAL:
Prime time news really can kill me. Last night when I was having dinner with my manager, the restaurant showed the prime time news and I was nearly having heart attack.

Sarawak is going to build 12 more dams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With Bakun in progress, Sarawak really need that many dams? I mean freaking 12 leh!!!! Bakun alone will provide 2000MW and the 12 combined will provide another 5000MW (0r 4000MW, couldn't remember as I'm boiling that time.....).

If the need is justified, then of course, build as many as you want after considering the effect to the environment but I really doubt there's any need of 12 more dams. I might be wrong but as far as I know, the Sarawak electricity supply is always on the good side (or maybe I just compare to Sabah, which tops in the list of the worst).

So, if this is the last effort of someone in power to snatch and run as many as they can, this should be stopped right now.

Or else, it will be DAMned.

Mon Dieu

Toyo and Apdal should not be allowed to stay in Malaysia. They are racists to the core. Of course many others in BN too. However, to blatantly display their stupidity and racist tone is definitely unforgivable. Nuff said. Sigh~~~nak cuti blogging sikit pun nggak bisa.....

All Out

OK, with regards to the Anwar's case, which I don't think I wrote any here, it's becoming more and more puzzling, the DNA thingy.

It's about people who asked Anwar to submit his DNA sample. Strange huh? First, you have people like Home Minister to ask him to do so, by using the "buat-marah" startegy, if you are innocent what are you afraid of?

Then even the country's top leader Pak Liar joined the chorus to echo the same thing. Wow....national top leader leh....

And then now we have the father/family of Saiful, the alleged victim joining the choral speaking team.

Guess who will it be tmr? I guess they'll start interviewing "so-called neutral normal citizen" in national prime-time TV and air they "rehearsed" answers.

Oh...they did that already?????????? Haha....

Eventful Week Ahead

OK, I mean work wise. So will be less post I think.

However, I think the country will churn out more news definitely. I hope it'll be less idiotic or comedic. Spare us from the shame.

Sadis - Afgan

Nice voice.

Yogyakarta - Prambanan Temple

After the disappointing weather in the morning at the Borobodur, I decided to give the temple another shot but this time, I will go to the Prambanan Temple. Borobodur is actually a Buddhist site while Prambanan is a Hindu influenced temple.



Some parts of the temple was in restoration stage due to the previous earthquake.

Religious sites often offer some kind of serenity, no matter which religion, be it a temple or mosque, a church or chapel. And my walk around Prambanan extended till late evening, just nice to have dinner before proceeding to the Ramayana Ballet show which was spectacular with the stage with Prambanan as the background to the show.....

Youth is The Next Best Thing - Pics from Prambanan

It all started with the pic above. The little gal with the red color hooded jacket is contrasting with the background of the dark aged colored of the Prambanan Temple.

And of course, when they notice they were being photographed, they asked for a proper one haha!!! Nice cute pose only the youngsters nowadays capable of.

Not one, but two....

And three!!!!!!!!!!! They were such a bunch of young, energetic cute gals looking forward to a bright future ahead!!! And of course they enjoyed themselves with their school holiday!!!

MCA making news again???

OK... MCA finally making some news again. Well, even small prawn SAPP did cause some ripples with the no-confidence vote so MCA, as the so-called 2nd biggest component party in BN alliance, have to make some noise and be in the news right? If not, how to "maintain" its position right? Somemore with Star as their mouth-piece, it's not difficult to so lah.

This time around, Dr. Tan Yee Kiew the previous Deputy Wanita Chief resigned from MCA. Some quarters may say no big deal lah..like Ong Ka Chuan did. Well, in a way, anything that happen with MCA is actually no big deal also. Cox they dun have a say in BN so, even if suddenly Yen Yen become MCA President, I think also no big deal. Why??? Yeah...with women as the party leader etc etc but even as the Women Minster in Pak Liar's kitchen cabinet, ah Yen Yen still has to fighting for attention with another Special Minister in PM office mah. What big deal?

Of course, to a certain extend, the news of Ong Tee Keat finally making the decision to go for top post is bigger and I am not saying this because Ong is a male and Yee Kiew is a female. I am not sexist. But the fact that Ong is always known as the lone ranger from the A Team - B Team tussle made the whole thing a bit interesting. Of course, not many ppl wanna challenge him lah with only the Chua's seems interested to make a comeback; Soi Lek after being defamed with his taped sexual escapade and Jui Meng after being let off into political wilderness.

The sad thing is that you will notice that the MCA thingy is really no big deal. Just look at news coverage on it. You can guess how many Malaysian citizen is interested in their election in October as compared to the one in December?

But of course, speaking of interesting, I guess nothing beats the interest in the Vice President post in UMNO. 11 interested leaders (of course, we know what are they interested in, I mean the REAL interest) in 3 seats available. Wow...

Anyway, interesting months ahead and I haven't even start with the magical Sept 16 yet lah.......

Yogyakarta - Borobodur

Something is wrong when the sunrise trip starts at 500am in the morning, which haven't include about an hour drive to the destination. So, a word of caution here. No sunrise can be seen in Borobodur unless you stay in the hotel inside the Borobodur itself. The centre only open at 6am so only those staying inside get to see the sunrise. So much for exclusivity huh?

And when the morning comes, it's very cloudy hence the pictures were all gloomy and grey. Of course my mediocre photo taking skills didn't help much too.

It will be nicer with less cloud and bright sunshine and the blue sky, which unfortunately didn't happen that day. Sigh~

Stupa with the gloomy sky at the back. It's morning mind you!!!

This is the stupa with the Buddha statue which everyone try to touch the palm in order to get some good luck. But the guide gave a sniff out of it by saying that it's not fair since foreigners will get all the good luck since they have longer hand to reach the Buddha's hand inside the stupa. The guide scores full mark with his frankness. Haha....

Then at the top of the Borobodur temple, there were a group of youngsters in 18-22 years old range looking for foreigner to chat with...in English. They were a group of students of an English community college on field trip and their trips were organized in such a way to encourage them to talk and practise their English with tourists. I think that's a good way for them to practise.

They were young and eager to practise their newly-acquired language. And I think they had an assignment of such as well.

Of course, there were so many local kids around, maybe it's the school holiday, my guess. Smile!!!


Nice place but I wish the sky is brighter and bluer haha... In terms of the temple itself, it's very impressive and once you know the story behind the restoration and how the recent earth quake destroyed some part of it, it made it appeals more to me. Physical-structure wise, I think it's not as interesting as Angkor Wat but I guess it's not fair to compare in such a way since Angkor Wat consists of a few temples with different style and kingdom.

I Am Confused.....

In Parliament, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said his ministry received CRUCIAL information indicating demonstration will be staged on Monday and this was based on "two political speeches, two blogs and two SMS (text-messages)"

Now....I am confused. I thought his boss said just days ago that bloggers should NOT be trusted? And now the minister made such an important decision that caused inconvenience to so many people by the mega-roadblock based on two blogs? Hahahahaha....

In a mature democratic country where a government servant has to be accountable and responsible for his action and its consequences, he has to quickly resign but sorry lah joe.... we are in Malaysia. It'll be flip and forget. Sigh~

Accomodation in Jalan Malioboro, Yogyakarta

OK, those who know me know that I am a cheapo who likes to stay in cheap accomodations. My record is a USD2 for a single room without bathroom, Jasmine Lodge in Siem Reap, Cambodia. However, for my defense, I find that my penchant for cheap accomodation is not pure price indeed. I look for something special and unique about the place and in the end, you will find the charm of these places are way much better than the generic feel and outlook of those luxury hotels. Having said that, I never say luxury hotels are to be despised in fact I love them. It's just that I can't ALWAYS afford a higher priced accomodation now. So, yeah... back to the core of it, I am a cheapo haha....

OK, after splurging myself staying in Ministry of Coffee for 2 days, I moved down nearer to the main street of Yogyakarta, Jln. Malioboro. My 1st stop is this charming little homestay lurked in one of the alley along Jln. Sosrowijayan called Dewi Homestay. Apparently the lady-in-charge is Dewi and she's a nice and warm lady.

it's about RM30/night

Yes, some may say it's scary-looking haha.... The mosquito-netting I guess. The toilet is covered by the white sheet instead of the normal door. The window? Better not cox it's actually a wall. Creative interior design?

The door to my room. There's actually a story behind it; the day I moved in, it's the final match of Champion League between Chelsea and MU and there was a giant screen erected near to Dewi Homestay!!! Since I need sleep for morning excursion to Borobodur the next morning after that, I decided to move to other place. But I checked in and showered already so how much do I have to pay? Dewi said, no need. I can leave!!! Just like that!!! So, I bought a bottle of mineral water from the kitchen area and when I wanted to pay, Dewi was nowhere to be found. I shouted her name and tell her I wanna pay for the water, she just shouted back asking me just put on the table. Wow...yeah, I know tat's not a lot of money but still....

So I moved to another place, this time it's Bladok Losmen and Restaurant, another lovely place also known or its resturant.

this one is about RM50/night

Simple, with nicer toilet, with door this time! But the best is yet to come!!! Cos Bladok actually comes with a swimming pool!!!!!!!!!!!

See... that's what I call charming!!! Yes, you saw it right, the pic above is showing a church at the back of the hotel. And yes, churches exist in Yogyakarta though it's predominantly Muslim town.

And of course, the "best"est is yet to come!!! To me, the best accomodation is Setia Kawan Losmen which has nicely decorated rooms at the same price as Bladok sans the swimming pool though. But the deco and styles are there and it's really worth it. The air-cond room is just slightly more expensive, about RM70 if I remember correctly.







The room complete with tribal traditional art deco all over the wall and ceiling comes with air cond as well!!!!

If you are interested in Setia Kawan, make sure you make booking ahead, which I didn't. They are ALWAYS full.

Crater in Papandayan, Bandung

UPDATE

OK, I made a mistake. Papandayan is not in Bandung. It's in Garut. PT corrected me on that. Haha...cos he did all the research and not me. Thanks PT. We indeed spend about 3 hours in a car to reach there from Bandung!!!

I guess this is what they call "membuak-buak".......

No no no...... I didn't ride that up but it was actually owned by one of the trader who came from over the mountain that we saw on the way up.

The steam coming out from the crater was piped to a power station to generate electricity.

I was so excited looking at this as my line of job is steam related. I even asked the driver to stop to check what brand of one of the steam trap they use for the drainage. Stupid me!!! I'm on holiday lah!!!!!

Steam bath or sauna anyone?