Why do?

Why do:

• we see some Malaysian engineers put their safety construction hats on the rear dashboard of the car, but not on the empty seats?
• we see some Malaysian motorcyclists wear their jackets front to back?
• we see some Malaysian motorcyclists wear their ponchos without buttoning up, thus getting wet? What's  the purpose of wearing it in the first place?
• some Malaysians greet their friend by saying "makan" when we meet at the restaurant when clearly the person is eating?
• some married ladies make it an obligation to match-make singletons?
• some married people have affairs yet they are curious why some people remain single?
• some married people have affairs yet they tell single people "Getting married is the best thing in my life". Really?
• we have to put up with morons at work?
• we have weirdos at work?
• we have to put up with annoying relatives?
• they say forgive and forget. Forgiving is fine, but if you forget about it, are you not bound to make the same mistake in the future?
• we celebrate birthdays yet dread the fact that we are getting older by the year?
• they censor words like "beer" on the Malaysian radio and TV, but put "arak" as the subtitle?
• people say newborns are cute, when all newborns look the same?

Marvellous Egypt

The land that is full of mystery, full of ancient artifacts. Once the most powerful, prosperous and civilized nation in the world has a myriad to offer. There are immeasurable words to describe the Arab Republic of Egypt. Above all, the sense of warmth by the Egyptians makes this place the best of all 12 countries I've been across Europe to Australasia. I am full of adoration to this African nation. Sadly, as I can't take longer annual leave, my visit to Egypt was just a week's stint to two main cities - Cairo and Alexandria. Here, I shall pen on what's within my favourite city - Cairo.

This bustling, populous city is filled with colours of life. There are numerous activities at corners of the streets, from bullock carts pulled by donkeys to jalopies congesting the busy traffic. Indeed it's a chaotic city with honks 24/7 yet its vibrancy is unique as compared to cities like Paris and London which are also hectic and congested. As an avid photographer, I find myself capturing shots after shots here. I remember having almost similar experience while backpacking in New Zealand back in 2009, but New Zealand offers abundance of beautiful nature, whereas Egypt, especially Cairo offers a combination of many facets - its ancient history and architecture, the diversity of its people, the atmosphere and just about everything else surrounding it.

My favourite places of interests

1. Khan el Khalili - a place not to be missed

One of the most interesting places to visit is Khan el Khalili. You could get a sense of what medieval times would be like by walking along this traditional bazaar. There is ample on offer from the traditional Egyptian clothing Galabya (i hope I'm spelling this right), scarves, water pipes (Shisha), glassware and brass ware to spices. The bazaar is huge that I  think you'll probably need a whole day to cover most of the parts. The layout of this market resembles a huge maze with many narrow alleys to walk on. Hence, while shopping, you'll have to remember a landmark otherwise you might get lost.

Besides walking along these labyrinth narrow alleys, the next thrill is bargaining with cheeky, tricky but friendly sellers. Any bargaining skills will come in handy here as prices are not fixed from one shop to another. It's interesting to see how some of the shop owners lure you to buy one thing after another - they can be very persuasive! Personally, I enjoyed capturing shots of this medieval bazaar and watching sellers lure customers with their unique talents. The hustling and bustling of the place with abundance to offer even to non-avid shoppers makes this bazaar a place not to be missed. 

2. Giza and its pyramids
 

Touring Egypt would not be complete without a visit to the majestic and mysterious pyramids with its formidable Sphinx located at the Valley of Giza. Pyramids were built as tombs dedicated to Kings and Queens of ancient times. I stood feeling small in front of these enormous and magnificent creations, and it made me admire the skills that ancient Egyptians had to built such creations. Indeed their knowledge was well ahead of their civilisation. Entrance fee is 60 L.E

3. Egyptian museum
 

Another must destination. In fact, in my opinion, it's better to start your journey here before heading towards the pyramids as it'll give you a better picture of the history behind it. It will also make you appreciate more of what this ancient historical land has to offer. A guided tour is also available within this enormous museum. The museum is divided into various sections, such as a section dedicated to Tutankhamen's treasures as well as what else - mummies! You will get to learn how mummification was done and how colours were produced. The Egyptians were the first people to produce colour technology that last eternally - and it's proven all over the museum! No doubt, the ancient Egyptians were really gifted with many skills and highly intelligent people. Entrance fee is 60 L.E

4. Mohamed Ali Mosque and Citadel of Salah Al-Din

Cairo is known as a city with a thousand minarets. Call for prayers can be heard almost everywhere (even in the shopping mall!). Many of these are historical mosques built during various Islamic reigns. The most striking to me is the Mohamed Ali Mosque which is located within the area of Saladin's Citadel. The mosque is strategically located on high land.

The mosque is even more stunning from inside. I like the cool, marble foyer and the beautiful arches with antique lamps hung from above. The dome is huge and is supported by four main pillars each with names of the four renowned Caliphs. There is also a lavish, brightly lit chandelier in the middle and many small windows surrounding it. The grandeur of this mosque can be felt from afar even at night as it stood lighted majestically high above. Entrance fee is 50 L.E

What you should try


1. Mingling with the locals

In the beginning I thought language would be a barrier, but the Egyptians proved me wrong. They are friendly, tricky (some), cheeky, helpful but above all warm. One thing I notice is that the locals, be it female or male, like to strike conversations on anything. I befriended one in the city centre after asking for a favour and we end up talking for an hour about many things from places of interest to differences in our country's education system. I even got a tip on how to cross the road like the locals. (Till now I'm amazed at how daring they can be when crossing the busy roads.)

2. F&B

Before I visited Egypt, I read that when it comes to food, the country is known for its bread. They have many types of bread and let's just say I enjoyed having it. As for other food, personally, I find it a tad dry, but then food is a pretty subjective matter isn't it?

However, the best pomegranate juice I had was at one of the stalls in the city centre. It cost EGP3.50 per cup which is reasonable considering that it was fully concentrated and simply delicious!

Next is the chocolate ice cream cone I bought at a very congested bakery somewhere in the city centre. It cost EGP3.00 and it' was yummy. Another was at the lower ground of a mall called Stars Centre (if I'm not mistaken and if I heard the tour guide correctly, it's in Nasr City) - anyway, the ice cream parlour is called Gelateria Roma (perhaps it's an Italian franchise?) Everything offered looked delicious, so fickle minded-Beware! The price is slightly more, something like Baskin Robbins or Haagen Dazs' standard but worth a try.

This trip is a little different from my usual travels as I usually backpack. However, touring with two local tour guides (from MISR Asia Travel) who were both pleasant, understanding and patient (especially with  an inexperienced Malaysian tour guide (from POTO Travels) and all the whims of some of the rest)  made the journey more interesting and memorable. Having said that, I think Egypt with all that she has to offer, will make a worthwhile travel even for backpackers...which got me thinking...I might revisit to see other historical places such as Abu Simbel, Karnak and many more in the future. Egypt, with God's Will I shall be back!

*On the whole, POTO Travels is a reasonably-priced tour agency that offers many interesting places. It was my first time taking this agency and I have heard many good comments prior to it. Unfortunately, I guess I was just unlucky to get an inexperienced tour guide this time. Having said that, I will still recommend people who are interested to go with this agency...but perhaps you have to do a check on the specific POTO's tour guide as I heard other guides are okay.    

Er...Zine al Abidine Ben Ali - Is it That Difficult to Pronounce?

There are many ways we learn. We learn from our teachers, friends, counterparts, through experience and we learn through media. Media is an influential medium of education besides functioning in many other ways. Media helps to link one society with another through common issues. Media spreads and inculcate values upon us - Western values upon Eastern nations, moral and ethics, materialism, individualism and the list continues. Next media entertains us through various means of communication and to corners of the globe. Media also acts as surveillance.

What is the surveillance function of the media? It means media provides news and information to the society. Thus, one can learn a lot from media. People who work in the media industry must be aware that their role is vital towards a society. They must be aware of the functions of the media otherwise the media would not function to its fullest. 

 

Sadly some of our local English radio stations do not play the surveillance role. Firstly, it's the annoying way some of the announcers speak as they try to emulate American accent. Next is the fact that they can't even pronounce certain common words correctly. Once I heard a DJ mispronounce "eyebrow". A ridiculous mistake from an English-language radio station. Just a few days earlier, there was a bigger mistake. This time by a news announcer who was at her best to sound American, but was struggling to pronounce Tunisia's ousted leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's name. Next was about Hariri and Lebanon. I was perplexed that she can't even pronounce Lebanon correctly. You'd think that these news announcers would have done their homework before going on air! If she can't even pronounce a simple country like Lebanon, I wonder if she can pronounce places like Krygyzstan and Tbilisi.

Something needs to be done to overcome this. We rely on the media to educate us with vast amount of information. The question is how can the media act on its role as instrumental surveillance to the public when the people within the industry are not credible enough to provide?

Is it Right to be Magnanimous?

Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers once said that to become a better person, we need to have magnanimity - to rise above pettiness, to forgive and forget people who have wronged us in the past. Without forgiveness, people say things would linger.

However, isn't it normal for us to feel anger, disgust and even abhorrence to those who had wronged us in the past and left us scarred? So how do we simply forgive those who never repent? What more forget?

Most of us have had deep wounds within us at some point in our lives. It takes time, a great time to heal deep cuts. Some of them take longer than we expect. Yet, when it heals, it imprints a scar on us eternally - for a reason. A scar is the history that we carry with us forever. It reminds us of the pain we went through in the past and the strenuous days and nights we went through to heal that wound. So, why should we simply forget what caused the scar?

Yes, we should not linger but move on. Yet memories have a way to emerge when we least expect it. Perhaps forgiving is the most sensible action but forgetting is not. Part of who we are today is due to our history. Hence, one can never forget history because those who forget it, are doomed to repeat it.

It's Not Me, It's the Nanny

I came across an interesting article in the papers recently. It was pertaining to a book review on parenting written by an 85-years old scholar from a prominent college in the United States. Parenting is not in my list of reading preference but something within the article caught my eye. It says that a baby boy will conjure up being unfaithful to his future partner as acceptable because of his complicated relationship between his nanny and  mother.

Wow! Good news for the guys. Now there is a new excuse to add to your many promiscuous behaviour. Forget "It runs in the genes", "Things just happened" or "Men are born hunters", now you can blame it on your nanny! It makes me wonder if this 85-years old man lives a promiscuous life or is simply...senile. 

The Majestic Station Hotel - Ipoh, Perak (Malaysia)

I accompanied someone to Ipoh, Perak in December for the weekend and stayed over at the Majestic Station Hotel which was built in 1917. The hotel is situated on top of the old Ipoh railway station. It has a classic outlook due to its Moorish architecture with a unique elevator. The hotel has a long stretch of corridor with lamps hung from the ceiling. There are few tables and chairs in front of each two units so that you can enjoy a cuppa with a view of Ipoh in front (the hotel overlooks the Ipoh mosque and a garden) or just have a read, with the wind blowing.

The unit I stayed had twin beds inside, a telly (with no cable channels!) and a tiny cute table with two sofa opposite. The furniture within are also antique and reminds me of P. Ramlee films. The floors are in two-colour checkered patterns but a tad dirty. It would look better if they scrub the floor a bit..but perhaps it's part of the "classic" look. I recommend to whoever that is planning to go, bring your slippers with you. Also, if you are a net junkie, you'll have to bring your own broadband as there's no internet connection within the hotel. 

The hotel food is hmmm...edible (if you are really hungry!) I opted for outside food on the second day there. There's a restaurant just downstairs within the railway station or one can take a 5-minutes drive to a nearby mall for better choices. 

Prices for Majestic Station Hotel starts from RM88++ for deluxe and RM138 for family room. Overall I'd recommend this hotel to those who would like a taste of the olden days. For a classic and antique hotel, the prices are reasonable unless you  enjoy higher end hotels such as E&O in Penang.

It's a New Year and a Revamp of My Old Blog!

I will no longer be blogging on BEING ME anymore. I've decided to make a revamp of my blogging.  This is part of my resolution for 2011. I don't usually make New Year resolutions because sadly only 50 percent of my resolutions work. Probably because I had too many on the list. So, this time around, I'll stick to a few:

1. I shall not skip my weekend gym sessions as much as I had in the past ...and shall cease having the delicious chocolate shake across the gym right after!
2. Increase my Korean-language vocab and understand the language better.
3. I shall not procrastinate on certain matters as in the past.

Now we've only been in the first week of 2011, but so far it's been going quite good.  I just received a promotion two days ago after coming back from a short holiday. Also, bonus is around the corner ... Wohoo! and finally, I've qualified for this optional programme whereby I can take 3 months break starting from 2012. Yippie! Perhaps I should take that programme next year and revisit Egypt. I'll have to buy a good DSLR  camera before that :)

May 2011 be a blast!