Welcoming 2012

As I sit down and do my last blog post for 2011, minutes separate me from the new year. This time, the presence of new year seemed more like just another day. There is no sense of euphoria in wanting to celebrate or do a countdown.

But there is a need to ask myself many questions - questions that I do not have answers to. This is because I have been too busy to think about these questions & too lazy to answer them. However, reviewing these questions are important, so here they are:

1. How has 2011 been? What have I achieved in the past 1 year?
2. What are my life goals now that I have started a new chapter in my life?
3. What are my 2012 new year resolutions?

The Old is Beautiful, but not the New

We visited Piazza del Duomo, the main piazza (city square) of Milan. It is named after, and dominated by, the Milan Cathedral (the Duomo). Indeed, this place is the tourist attraction of the city of Milan.

Through gradual development spanning several centuries, the city square was finally completed in the 19th Century. Back then, it must have looked gigantically gorgeous. In the figure above was a photo dating back to 1909. It should be noted that the piazza was already completed in 1896 and was celebrated through the inauguration of the statue of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.

The amazing thing is that all these buildings are still standing intact today. In today's Duomo, there are many tourists vying to take a shot of the grand ancient architecture. But what spoiled the experience was the presence of many migrants - mainly Negros & Indians - all forcefully approaching the tourists. The former would give you a friendship band for free (but charge you for a fee thereafter) and the latter would sell you a spoonful of bird seeds (to feed stray birds that irritate you).

These useless migrants are the 'new' who spoil the old. With no enforcement in place, the 'new' has ruined the old. They are not only present, but make themselves omnipresent by coming to us countless times. I lost track of their approaches as they exceeded 7 times. The old is beautiful, but the new is ugly. Preserving the physical buildings of the old isn't enough; the latter should be segregated & disposed away, but it takes efforts. I wish the authorities can do something more to preserve the old or risking ruining it.

Venetian-style Stay with a Friendly Touch

Venice is a city that is different from the other Italian cities. Even the hotel room we stayed in differed from an conventional hotel room. Indeed, we enjoyed our stay at Best Western Hotel Olimpia Venezia.

Reasons why Our Stay was Uniquely Different

(i) Our hotel was 10m away from a canal. Only the pavement stood in between the hotel & the 'waterway'. In addition, it was pretty close to Venezia San Lucia Train Station. Unlike other hotels, there was no need to incur additional cost in taking a vaporetto. However, to reach our hotel, we needed to cross 2 bridges, walking approximately 500m.

(ii) The room was beautifully decorated. In fact, this was the most beautiful room that we have stayed in so far. The color theme and wallpapers of our room brightened our 2-night stay in Venice.

(iii) The receptionists, porter and waiters were warm, polite & helpful. The receptionist gave us useful information to kickstart our Venice trip, the porter guided us to our rooms before carrying our luggage up, and the waiters readily served us the moment we stepped into the restaurant.

If I was suggest how I could have improve my stay further, I would readily say - give me another 2 more nights so as to enjoy the beautiful hotel in such Venetian settings.

A Bumpy Start to Our Holidays

Getting from Malpensa Airport to the city of Milan didn't turn out easy. But this was the first time I experienced such difficulty getting from an airport to the city. We arrived at Malpensa Airport at 12.50pm on a Friday. I read that one can easily buy train tickets to get themselves from Malpensa to Milano Centrale. It will take us approximately 50 minutes to travel 35 miles.

However, we reached the train station only to discover the lack of trains. The train workers were on strike, resultin in frustrated and confused tourists. We were directed to queue and buy train tickets that cost €11 per person. But this ticket will entitle us to take a bus that will bring us from Malpensa to Cadorna Station. After a long wait in the cold for the bus, we finally reached Cadorna Station to begin the next part of the unexpected journey - to find our way via the Metro from Cardona to Centrale. That cost us another €1.50.

We alightened from Milano Centrale and it took us some time to get some bearings at this big interchange before we finally found the hotel, which is some 400m from Centrale. We reached the hotel at approximately 4pm, a long 3 hours after our plane landed. We had initially thought of exploring Milan during the late afternoon & the evening, but such thoughts were dashed after a draining and tedious journey to our hotel.

Mayeb we should have learnt some simple Italian to ask for directions. Maybe we should have read up more to prepare ourselves for such contingencies. Maybe we should have braced ourselves for such long rides. Or maybe it is just our luck.

Fidenza Village - a hidden Italian town

We went to Fidenza Village to do some shopping in Italy. I must say that I did not expect to venture into this small suburb that was deliberately created out of no where, but it was an interesting whole-day experience. It took about 75 mins to drive from Milan to Fidenza Village, a province in Parma. It was a bus load of tourists whose aims are the same as us - to view what Fidenza Village is all about and check out the cheaper factory outlet prices there.

There were more than 70 brands out there, each owning a store in this transquil shopping village. There were brands such as Furla, Calvin Klein, Fossil, Guess and D&G. My guess is that it must be due to the low land lease and cheaper labour costs in the suburbs that allow for such brands to price their goods more competitively. One of my steals was a brand new Levis 506 jeans that cost me € 49.50 (S$85.60), which was 38% cheaper than that of Singapore's prices (assuming that it is selling at S$139). I could have bought more, if I wasn't on a tight budget.

Maybe I should now more on the look out for such good deals now. Or maybe I should stop window shopping to control my monthly expenses.

Job Satisfaction

It's about time I re-evaluate my career switch. Four months ago, I decided to embark on a teaching career, a job that will take me away from the corporate world of business development into the sacrifical nature of enriching children's lives. It took me a lot of courage to do the switch. Afterall, it was a struggle between exploring my passion in teaching & maintaining that high-flier image of climbing the corporate ladder. I chose the former.

4 months down the road, I never regretted that decision. My loved ones & friends were shocked by my decision. Disbelief, coupled with scepticism, were written on their faces. But I held firm to my belief that the decision couldn't have been more correct. While I must admit this job is picking up in pace, I still love the moments when I appreciate the dedication and efforts that students put in, share my goals of seeking new-found knowledge with others and challenge myself to make improvements each day.

What I need to do next is to continue to love my job and embrace the tasks & projects, for I know the commitment I bring into them will eventually add that sparkle to my department, colleagues & students.

Puss in Boots

'Puss in Boots' is a 2011 animation film that bears no resemblence to the french literary fairy tale written by Charles Perrault. The movie story line is a spinoff prequel to the Shrek franchise and it focused on his earlier days.

Puss arrived at a town only to learn that Jack & Jill were around. After staging a failed burglary at the couple for their beans, he managed to escape. In the process, he befriended Kitty Softpaws and was re-united with Humpty Alexander Dumpty. The latter was Puss' long-estranged childhood friend from the orphanage where he was raised. However, Humpty has previously betrayed Puss in a youthful misadventure when Humpty tricked him into helping commit a crime.

Humpty, in his sly self, managed to once-again convince Puss to join them in finding the beans and retrieving the golden eggs. Puss was willing to turn a blind eye to Humpty's previous betrayal & character flaws. After another adventure in finding the magic beans, Puss believed Humpty has turned over a new leaf.

But the truth was that Humpty was his fiend' who remembered every grudge between them & wanted to take revenge on Puss. Humpty sought for wealth & glory through his despicable acts. Puss still continued to believe that his friend is a good person at heart.

I asked myself - how willing would I accept a friend for who he/she is, despite his flawed character? Maybe Dreamworks' characters live in a different world of fantasy.

When a Nightmare turns Sweet

As the nightmare unfolds, I saw myself scrambling in cold sweat. The rest of competitors are just as clueless; they were watching the speaker, prowling for visual cues to 'pin' him down. But he wasn't any ordinary speaker. His speech was one from the Advanced Manual of Interpretive Reading, a speech that no sane soul has even ventured into.

My mind kicked into survival mood as I reminded myself that it's a do-or-die mission. I have never done a '1st evaluator' role in a contest setting before. 5 mins was all I have. To add more time to myself, I was scribbling towards the end of his speech. When we proceeded towards a private room, I was the first contestant to sit down and start scribbling. I shouted to the timer to give us an occasional update on the remaining time. He did, and that forced me to go into overdrive. My final minute was spent re-writing my thoughts into 6 main points on a small piece of paper. That was enough to do the trick, i.e to act confident in front of the audience.

Going first has its privileges. The crowd laughed at my jokes. The crowd took my evaluation as original. The rest of the evaluators had stale jokes. The rest of the evaluators had unoriginal scripts. Thought I could have stretched my evaluation a little longer, it was commendable, given the limited time I had in composing my thoughts. During my 3 mins of performance on stage, I made 3 personal references to his speech, maybe that personal touch got me the votes of the judges.

The result was unexpected - a 1st runner-up. It was beyond my wildest expectations. A first attempt at Division S level against a strong field of seasoned competitors & I truimphed.

Maybe Optimism within a Nightmare will indeed produce light amidst darkness.

An Evaluator's Worst Nightmare

I was participating at the Division Level Speech Evaluation Contest for the first time. For many years, I have been part of the audience, watching the best showing off their skills. To be competing at such a level is already an honour by itself, but I know I wasn't there to make up the numbers. I was there to prove that I can indeed be amongst the best. But it wasn't an easy journey for me to compete at such a level.

The following was how the nightmare turned out:
1. It started off when I recalled that GC, RL, GH have all represented Cheng San, but they have never gotten into the Top 3.
2. I expected only 5 contestants, but it turned out that there would be 6 contestants - 1 additional rival. In terms of statistics, my chances of being a prize winner has just dropped by 17%.

3. Butterflies began to form in my stomach, as I realised that I am up against a strong field. I knew 4 of the 5 competitors. They were seasoned evaluators who have clocked my milage on the stage than me. My % just dropped a few more notches.
4. The nightmare heightened when balloting begins. As luck has it, I was chosen to go first. That's never a favorable position, because the first evaluator always have to rush through his thoughts and crystallise his speech in a short span of 5 mins.
5. The climax was when the test speaker came up and delivered 3 complex and 'cheem' poems as a speech. Titled 'Poems to Inspire Singaporeans: Patriotism, Tolerance and Forebearance', it took the worst form of torture for all evaluators because it wasn't an ordinary speech, but one which was delivered by a passionate poet. It just brought back memories of how I deserved my 'F' for my literature during Secondary School days.

The mightmare has indeed unfolded...

I am not funny

I thought I was born funny. Afterall, I cracked jokes with ease, I often made people laugh and I was the humorous speech champion. On hind sight, maybe my jokes were lame, these people laughed so as to be kind to me and I probably won by fluke.

I thought I was born funny. Afterall, I got into the finals of PA Humorous Speech Challenge. I was my dream to compete on the big stage. But I guessed I subconsciously wanted more; I wanted to do the best and try to win a trophy on home ground.

The truth is often ugly. Home ground advantage stands for nothing, if I do not have the natural ability nor the material in me to see me through. Today was the day I come to realisation that I am far from making people laugh with ease.

To see myself fail on the big stage today - I am beginning to find my failure as funny.

Being Evaluated on Teaching

I often evaluate & teach people. Today, I was being evaluated on my teaching. It wasn't a 3-min evaluation. Afterall, I was evaluated for my entire day's worth of efforts. It wasn't easy - venturing into this unknown of facilitating a class. As much I could have prepared everything, I realised that teaching is an art that needs to be practised in order to be mastered.

The list of suggestions for improvements include:
(i) Assigning students to teams - prior to the lesson,
(ii) Walking around the class on a more frequent basis,
(iii) Using the class resources effectively, such as the speakers, to garner more attention
(iv) Letting students complete their statements before questioning them,
(v) Not giving them the answers too early nor too fast,
(vi) Checking on the students' progress throughout the meetings,

(vii) Not releasing the students too early, especially for the 1st meeting,

(viii) Noting down & rememberin the students names and their contributions,
(ix) Encouraging more discussion prior to issuing the problem statement, and
(x) Giving the students more time to ponder over my questions.

It's a long list of recommendations. Facilitation is different from public speaking. Today has been a draining but fulfilling day. With more classes to conduct, I guess I can only improve. The above list looks daunting, but I guess it's a wake-up call that I am indeed still grappling with a new skill set. As I work on perfecting an item a day, it might take quite a while before I consider myself proficient at this.

Why I want to teach

Many people have asked me this question, only for me to brush it off with a diplomatic answer of doing public service to the nation. Deep in my heart, I know I need to have a comprehensive answer to account for my switch in career to teach. Here are the reasons:

1. I want to use this chance to do my Masters. I felt that being in the teaching line - gives me the best chance of doing well in my studies. I can pursue knowledge, gain wisdom and share my learnings with my students. It's a win-win-win situation for the institution, the students and me.

2. I want to do something that is more aligned to my interests. I love to do public speaking. I started my journey on Toastmasters 5 years ago and am still loving the feeling of doing a speech in front of an audience. Putting an interest as a job - is as good as it gets. I get paid for doing my job, which can only motivate me to do work - beyond just carrying it as a mundane task.

3. This institution has similar values with me. For one, it belongs in learning and development, placing much emphasis on the need to carry out Problem-Based Learning (PBL) effectively and invests in conducting a wide spectrum of courses. I believe that it is only through learning that I constantly and continually become a more well-rounded person.

4. There are avenues to pursue my interest. I believe a job is not just an avenue to pay one's bills, but allows for dreams to come true. I have thought of carrying out community outreach project, doing outdoor adventure camps, heading an overseas trip, setting up a toastmasters club, participating actively in sports and even pursuing a PhD. This job becomes a career allows me to possibly fulfil my dreams.

5. I would be adding value to myself. If each person has a value attached to himself and that value is based on his skills set and marketability, I would like to view teaching as an area that would increase my self-worth, whereby I would be conversant in handling sticky situations with participants.

Working on my Feedback

People often carry out their work, without any feedback. Maybe it started since we were young. After we finished our exams, we seldom look back at our papers to go through our mistakes. Is it because we are already given a grade for that performance? Are we so short-sighted that we fail to see that learning from our mistakes will help us in our future exams? Maybe the childhood habit has become a life-long trait of us.

As I scored an 'A' during my Area S1 Speech Evaluation Contest, I know I still needed some feedback. Thankfully, CH voluntarily gave me 2 suggestions for improvement. I thank him for not being silent because his comments meant that he wanted me to get rid of it and probably save me from future embarassment.

Today, I focussed on one of his suggestions - to signpost my recommendations during my evaluation. An example I could use - would be "Next, may this humble engineer give you a suggestion on how you could fly even higher?" Another example could have been, "This was one of your strengths that kept your helicopter high in the air." I learnt that having an analogy at the introduction of my speech isn't sufficient. An effective analogy requires me to constantly make reference to it during the speech so that people can make ocassional connections to subject matter.

My next 'exam' awaits me. With a review of my performance, I now brace myself for the unknown.

What's Next for Me?

Recently, I participated in the PA Humorous Speech Challenge. The objective of the Contest was to provide an avenue for members of the public to do a humorous speech, preferably with elements of jokes in a local context.

Last year was my first time having a go at this national contest. Though I generated much laughter, I was disqualified as I exceeded the time allocated by a mere 2 seconds. My mistake then was not having rehearsed sufficiently and not paying attention to the lighting signals.

This year, I decided to give it another try. My results going into this Contest wasn't as impressive as before. Last year, I was the humorous champion in both Area and Club levels. This year, I only managed to scrap through with a 3rd place during my club contest.

Knowing that my club performance isn't sufficient, I chose to re-write my speech for the recent PA Humorous Speech Contest. This year, there was a strong field of 25 contestants, with several fresh and young faces proving their talent. Giving my best shot, I squeezed some laughter out of the audience, based on a simple and structured humorous speech. That got me into the top 12, i.e. the finals, of the Contest. When the results were announced, that sense of euphoria went through my head, for I have finally achieved what I failed to attain last year.

As I get in touch with my thoughts, what I saw was a mountainous path in winning this Contest. I have become more experienced after completing an Advanced Manual on Humorously Speaking. I know what tickles people. But watching other stronger competitors speak - makes me reflect that my capability and 'weapon' - is not going to be sufficient to get myself onto the podium.

What's next for me? Do I give up? Do I persereve only to fail? Maybe I should scramble to find new weapons to fight for the summit. Or maybe I should understand that at least I have even dreamt of such an ambitious thought...

Meaningful Reflections?

Today, I attended a course titled 'Encouraging meaningful reflections through reflective journals (RJs)'. I am excited over the authority of being able to set questions every day for the students to answer. I am intrigued over the directive of requiring students to reflect through the day's learning. I am fascinated to know that I can read the thoughts of 25 students.

Beyond all the initial enthusiasm in deciding students' fates and grades through their RJs, I am blessed to have a job that stays close to my faith - a practice of self-reflection, a routine of writing my posts and a belief that this is for my spiritual health. This job not allows me to blog, this job wants to teach people how to blog effectively and get paid for it. 

Whilst others might have grown sceptical after reading boring / blunt / bad entries, I am filling myself with enthusiasm as to how I can shape the habits of students in my faith for blogging. Maybe other facilitators are tired about reading mindless entries by students. Maybe they are finding it difficult to sieve out the better responses from the students. But what enlightens and yet entangles me today is the following statement - "What I am looking out for in my students’ RJ response will determine the question that I actually set".

As I reflect on the higher-order level, I ask myself - Is the process of recording my thought process sufficient? Have I been blogging intelligently over the past few years? Or maybe I should just ask myself - what was I looking out in my own response that sets me out to blog?

My Little Success at the Toastmasters Arena

Last year, I experienced some moments of being at the summit by winning both the Humorous Speech and Speech Evaluation Contests at the club level. This year, I participated at both segments of the contest at club level, but only achieved 3rd and 2nd position respectively. Maybe the playing field was of a higher level, maybe I could have deproved, maybe it was meant to be wake-up call.

The top 2 from each club progressed to the Area level. Last year, I was the winner for both segments and had the opportunity to represent my club at both segments of the contest at Area level. I became the Area's Humorous Speech Champion, but I only achieved the 1st runner-up position at the Speech Evaluation segment. I was beaten by KO who was 1st runner-up at the club contest.

This year, my standards probably deproved. As I was 1st runner-up at my club's Speech Evaluation Contest, so I only had a shot at redeeming myself at the Area's Speech Evaluation Contest. After a hard fought contest, I beat my club's Speech Evaluation champion and came in 1st. Maybe I wasn't as humorous as before, but today's little success meant that I was probably still an expert at critising people. The success in an ironical manner meant that I am still good in a not-so-good manner.

When Common Sense doesn't Prevail

Sy and I travelled to Langkawi for a 4D3N holiday. We stayed at Frangipani Resort and Spa, which is located conveniently at the fringe of the more popular Pantai Cenang beach. Common sense tells me that it would save money to take that occasional taxi to reach places not accessible by foot. Sy and I never rented a car before, especially when it's going to be a hotel stay for 3 consecutive nights, unlike holidays with hotel-to-hotel changes every night.

However, the cost of taking a taxi is high. We found that out when we took a 15-min taxi ride from the airport to our nearby hotel for MYR 20. In the end, we rented a car (Perodua Kancil) for a day, costing up to MYR 109 (MYR 90 for the rent and MYR 19 for the fuel).

Ironically, renting a car doesn't burn a hole in our pockets. If we had not rented the car, the cost of the taxi fares would have escalated our holiday expenses. The breakdown of the costs is as such: MYR 56 to the cable car (2 x MYR 28 each for a one-way trip), approximately MYR 60 to Kuah town shopping centre (2 x MYR 30 each for a one-way trip), MYR 6 for a dinner outing at Tomato Restaurant.

In addition, it gave us the convenience of not having to wait for a cab, the luxury of having to not lug our shopping throughout the day, and the mobility to explore the island.

We challenged our conventional thought of not renting a car. We re-studied how we can better achieve cost savings through a car rental. Maybe we should always be open to new ideas and never accept the norms as a steady state...

Scaling the heights in Langkawi

One of the main attractions in Langkawi is that of the Cable Car. Unlike the cable car we have in Singapore, this one starts from the base of the mountain to a height of 700 metres. Though I have not tried out Singapore's cable car, the monotonous & short sky ride from Habourfront to Sentosa doesn't seem to be worth my efforts, even during my free time.

In my opinion, the cable car, costing MYR 30 (SGD 12.30) is probably the most enjoyable thing-to-do in Langkawi. The base station is conveniently located at Oriental Village, which comprises of a variety of touristy shops. The journey is more than 1,700m long in terms of distance traveled; it comprises of the middle station at 650m and the top station at 700m. Besides the breathtaking view at each of the stations, one can also experience the steep climbs, especially during the final ascent towards the middle station. In some way, the latter gives that roller-coaster feeling, giving us a dose of adrenaline each. Amidst our stay at the summit, we also managed to take photos at the curve hanging bridge.

Maybe it was the scenery that makes me happy. Maybe it was the feeling of being at the top of the world that makes me high. Maybe it was the feeling of escaping from the humidity at the base station that makes me cool. I guessed little joys like all these - adds up to form the happiness within a holiday.

Little Fockers - Laughter in a Sequel

'Little Fockers' is a sequel to the movie 'Meet the Parents' which was produced back in the year 2000. Back then, the movie produced much unanticipated laughter from a crowd who could connect easily with the plot. This time round, the plot was thin, the jokes were half-baked and laughter was barely in sight.

Maybe it was because jokes, such as how easily adults were scared by the pet lizard did not appeal to an audience like me. Maybe it was because the audience nowadays are harder to please. Maybe what appeared as jokes to them didn't come across to us as jokes.

Recently, I participated at the Club's Humorous Speech Contest. Though I spent much of my time re-writing the contents of my slapstick-like speech titled 'Voting during Courtship', I did not make the audience burst out in any sign of an audible laugh. Only through reflection and defeat did I come up with 4 learning points. I figured that laughter comprises of:

(i) Warming up the audience sufficiently, and hence it does not help that I went first onto the stage as part of the draw of the lot,

(ii) Using previous jokes to enhance the current jokes, and hence kudos to other contestants who used me promptly to lighten up the audience,

(iii) Making jokes more light-hearted and easily comprehensible, as Singaporeans are a stressful bunch of people who doesn't try to think too much into your contents, and

(iv) Making simple noises, instead of the usual jokes (e.g. 'tan, tan, tan, tan' created some laughs).

Just like how this movie has turned out, maybe I need to reflect on my recent performance. Whilst I was easily amongst last year's Division S' best, my sequel, released on 31-Aug, only got me a 2nd runner up placing.

Pura Tanah Lot - religion runs deep

Pura Tanah Lot is a living evidence that religion runs deep. There are so many temples in Bali - many of which were built centuries ago. 85% of Bali's population believe in Hinduism. Religion can be seen in all facets of their daily lives, rangin from the way they start their mornings with offerings to the belief that gods aid in their rice production.

As for Pura Tanah Lot, it was founded by a high priest Danghyang Nirartha who fled from Java to Bali in the 16th century due to the rise of Islam. During his travels, he was attracted to a light emanating from a point on the west coast where he stopped and meditated. Locals became entranced with Nirartha and began studying with him.

However, a local leader became jealous and challenged the high priest. Not bothered, Norartha simply moved the place where he was meditating to the sea, thus giving its name - "Temple of the Land in the Sea". He tossed his sashes into the waves, which became transformed into venomous sea snakes; they supposedly dwell in caves located in the base of the temple. The sacred snakes are considered as living guardians of the temple and prevent evil forces from trying to enter.

The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast and definitely the most commercialised one. It's also mentioned that each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast.

Today, whilst I learnt about the history of the temple, it must be said that people don't. The venue has become the subject of a zillion pixels and an cultural icon for photography during sunset. History was there for us, but are we just too blinded by other sights to embrace how history came about?

Learning Bahasa

I thought that since I will be traveling to Malaysia and Indonesia for short trips in the future, it is only useful for me to learn the Bahasa language. I'm assuming that there are little differences between Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia. Here are the list of words that I have learnt during my short trip to Bali:

pantai = beach

danau = lake
warung = food stall

daging = meat

babi = pig

daging babi = pork

tisu = napkin

kacang = peanut

air minum = bottled water
lulur = body mask
dewi = goddess
gado-gado = steamed / salad vegetables tossed in peanut sauce

Tourist Activities at an Active Volcano

Mount Batur (Gunung Batur) is an active volcano located at the center of two concentric calderas north west of Mount Agung, Bali, Indonesia. A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption.  The south east side of the larger 10×13 km caldera contains a caldera lake. The inner 7.5-kilometer-wide caldera has been dated at about 23,670 and 28,500 years ago.

The South-East wall of the inner caldera lies beneath Lake Batur. Historical eruptions have been characterized by mild-to-moderate explosive activity sometimes accompanied by lava emission. Basaltic lava flows from both summit and flank vents have reached the caldera floor and the shores of Lake Batur in historical time. The caldera contains an active, 700-metre-tall stratovolcano rising above the surface of Lake Batur.

Sy and I had a scenic lunch - with a view that overlooks the volcano. Entry to the town is 4,000 Rp per person and was included in the tour package. So was the buffet lunch. There was no rush as we weren't part of a big tour group, and I must say it was a highlight of our holiday, as the scenery was iconic - with sharp contrasts of greens, blue and grey in the background.

The first historically documented eruption of Batur was in 1804, and it has been frequently active with at least 20 more eruptions since then. The tour guide did tell us that this is an active volcano and the most recent eruption was in 1997. But a look at all the tour brouchures reveals an trekking tour to the centre of the volcano to see the sunrise. The trek starts at about 4am.

What astonishes me was that an object that can cause massive destruction and deaths to oneself could be turned into a major tourist attraction. Maybe tourists can just lured by the spectacular views, whether upclose or afar. Maybe it is part of people's bucket list. Or maybe beautiful things in life are always filled with danger.

And if so, that could be the reason why some go to the extreme to experience those dangerous beautiful moments.

The Barong Dance - good vs evil

Sy and I watched the Barong Dance, which is one of two most popular dances in Bali. We were brought there as part of a full-day tour package we signed up. Thankfully, it was the 1st item on our itinerary, else I wouldn't have the energy to decipher the artistic elements within the dance.

The Barong Dance narrates the fight between good and evil. This dance is the classic example of Balinese way of acting out mythology, resulting in myth and history being blended into reality.

The story goes that Rangda (bad), the mother of Erlangga, the King of Bali in the tenth century, was condemned by Erlangga's father because she practiced black magic. After she became a widow, she summoned all the evil spirits in the jungle, the leaks and the demons, to come after Erlangga. A fight occurred, but she and her black magic troops were too strong that Erlangga had to ask for the help of Barong.

The Barong (good) is a strange but good, mischievous and fun-loving shaggy dog-lion. It came with Erlangga's soldiers, and fight ensued. Rangda casted a spell that made Erlangga soldiers all wanted to kill themselves, pointing their poisoned kris into their own stomachs and chests. Barong casted a spell that turned their body resistant to the sharp kris. Finally, the terrible Rangda retires and good has truimphed again. (However, note that Rangda seems too powerful to be defeated and has not been killed.)

In reality, there is always the GOOD and the EVIL. And both of them are constantly fighting for our attention. And it's nearly a clear cut case that the GOOD will truimph. Just a look at history and you find millions killed due to wars and thousands displaced due to corruption. Sometimes, it becomes unclear who the good and the evil are. With deceptive looks & mannerisms, the world seems a difficult place to live in.

Maybe the Barong Dance is a reminder that the world is just a stage - everyone is an actor. To enjoy the play, you just have to act better than the rest.

Bali - an island with ironies

Bali is one weird island.
It is so rich in culture and yet filled with Westerners.
It is bustling with tourists and yet you can find corners to rest and retire.

Rich in Culture

Stone carving is Bali's most durable art form, mainly because the average stone statue isn't a convenient souvenir. Stone carving appears in set places in temples, though I was amazed to find stretches of stone carvings on natural rocks along the river bank. Stone carvers tend to stick to the tried and trusted, such as bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the Ramayana.

Western Culture

Go to Kuta, Legian and Seminyak. Head into any restaurant or the beach, and you will be outnumbered by the number of Westerners there. It could be due to the burgeoning tourism trade, it could be due to the beautiful beaches, but whatever it is, many tourists are finding this stretch of the Bali beaches very attractive.

Bustling with the tourism trade

Bali experienced 2 bombings, the first in 2002 and the second in 2005. Many would have thought that Bali's tourism trade would be affected. However, Bali received 2.57 million tourists in 2010, an 8% increase year-on-year. Australia is Bali's #1 market. There are hundreds of sleeping options within Kuta and the 2 adjacent areas, Legian and Seminyak. I was caught up in a traffic jam in Kuta, but it's said to be common to have those intense and stressful jams. Thankfully, I was in a taxi - minus all the touts, dust and motorcycles.

Serene at Sanur

Sanur is often saddled with the moniker 'Snore' and while it's true that the relaxed pace locally can take some people a while to appreciate, it's also true that this has long been the locale for people who prefer things simple and unhurried. It's a very relaxed alternative to Kuta, with a fraction of the hassles. I stayed at Sanur for 3 nights - and experienced how peaceful it can be. It turns out to be those beach resorts where locals view life a tad slower and simpler, one can read a private time at a public beach and pubs are a rarity along the busiest stretch of Sanur.

Finding His Identity in the sequel to Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom was recently released on 26 May 2011 and I had a new experience watching the 3D version of this movie in a JB cinema. [Cost for a weekend blockbuster: MYR 21.] Everything was fine, though I wished there was English subtitles instead.

The movies centred on Po, the Dragon Warrior, who was trying to find his identity. Who is he and what does his past consist of? Whilst there were many comedical moments throughout the movie that would pleased the young ones, the plot consists of a deeper thought focussing on the search of his identity and inner peace.

The search of his identity comprises the need to know his past - where he came from, who his parents are, how his younger years were like, etc. But it came to a point where Po realises that his past does not define him as much as his present choices. Life is very much the same - it defines who you are, but does not determine who you will be. One has the power to shape his/her future, and in the case of Po, he chose to be the Dragon Warrior and save China.

The search for inner peace was initiated by Master Shifu who wanted to further Po's training. Po masters it after he discovered his past, understood the present and decided to shape his future. He then returned to Gongmen City to confront the murdering peacock. Life is very much the same - people find happiness and peace all the time, only to fail to understand that sometimes, it will come to you - as long as you focus on doing the current things right.

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is an American road movie whose plot is about a family trip to a children's beauty pageant. Whilst it is small in terms of budget, the amount of meaning brought through the movie is plentiful. My focus today shall be about the dysfunctional family's obsession with winning.

The star of the movie was a little girl called Olive. Her father was a failed motivational speaker who depended on his friend's leads in making it big. Her mother, Sheryl, was a divorcee who was trying to piece the family together. Her uncle, Frank, was a failed scholar who lost his job and attempted suicide. Dwayne was an unhappy teenager who chose to be mute by choice until he accomplishes his dream. Her grandfather, Edwin, who used to sell heroin, was full of vulgarities.

Each of the characters wanted to succeed very much. But when one by one, they failed, their disappointment and frustration showed. One of the final scenes was that of Olive trying to compete. She has the dreams of participating at the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty contest, she qualified for it, they drove for days and rushed her to the contest scene, but when the competition level is way higher than what they anticipated, does she (i) quit and save the embarassment, or (ii) persevere on to witness her dream unfold?

I thought one should always persevere on, regardless of whether he/she wins. For it is not the happiness that comes only after the win, but it is the journey of living the dream that translates to joy. Someone once told me - the opposite of success is not failure, it is giving up. Success doesn't come only after you achieved the dream, success has already been achieved with each little step (or even failure) I take. Today, I feel at ease with each little ray of sunshine I made everyday.

Are these my answers?

I see myself as an aviation specialist who is passionate in sharing his experience so that people around me can continue to love aviation - as it enables people to connect to people in other parts of the world and see beautiful sights throughout the globe.

I value growth and learning opportunities. I have seen myself wanting to gather more information and pick up new skill sets, ranging from signing up for courses to volunteering for new assignments. I value building connections and communications. I have seen myself leading teams in achieving common goals through synergising their team bonds and improving their their intra-team co-operation.