Masjid @ Klang town centre on the riverbank

experimenting with shutter speed....

Man United... 1987

while waiting for the game vs Hull... found this old ticket from the same month 22 years ago.... it was only GBP3.20 then... today its ;

East Stand Upper

£36.00 adults

Uncle Lim @ Subang Parade

long weekend, nothing doing, the cinemas were sold out for Alvin & the Chipmunks (goooddd... so I don't have to bore myself with cartoons) and Avatar (this I wanna watch but all sold out).

A stroll at Subang Parade will do.....

they still have the X-mas deco....

and the nasi lemak and assam laksa at Uncle Lim..... not too bad.

in the foyer @ Grand Kemang Hotel, Jakarta

Con te Partiro (I'll go with you)

the rendition from Andrea Bocelli is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcrfvP11Hbo

and with Sarah Brightman is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbN0g8-zbdY

Quando sono solo
sogno all'orizzonte
e mancan le parole
si lo so che non c'e luce
in una stanza quando manca il sole
se non ci sei tu con me
Su le finestre
mostra a tutti il mio cuore
che hai acceso
chiudi dentro me
la luce che
hai incontrato per strada

Con te partiro
paesi che non ho mai
veduto e vissuto con te
adesso si li vivro
Con te partiro
su navei per mari
che io lo so
no no non esistono piu
con te io li vivro

Quando sei lontana
sogno all'orizzonte
e mancan le parole
e io si lo so
che sei con me con me
tu mia luna tu sei qui con me
mio sole tu sei qui con me
con me con me con me

Con te partiro
paesi che non ho mai
veduto e vissuto con te
adesso si li vivro
Con te partiro
che io lo so
no no non esistono piu
con te io li rivivro
Con te partiro
su navi per mari
che io lo so
no no non esistono piu
con te io li rivivro
Con te partiro
lo con te

I'LL GO WITH YOU (Con te Partiro-English Translation)
(E. Sartori - L.Quarantotto)

When I'm alone
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
Yes, I know there is no light
In a room where the sun is absent
If you are not with me
At the windows
Show everone my heart
Which you set alight
Enclose within me
The light you
Encountered on the street

I'll go with you
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I'll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them

When you are far away
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
And yes, I know
That you are with me
You, my moon, are here with me
My sun, you are here with me

I'll go with you
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I'll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them again
I'll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them again
I'll go with you
I with you

Grand Kemang Hotel @ Jakarta

I made the booking for the hotel through Rajarkamar.com and the rate is much cheaper than the published rate. Even though the hotel looks modern, maybe because of recent renovation, the room I was in was a little dated but the bed feels firm.... I normally have problem with worn mattress :). I was told in the new wing are much better but a higher price of course. The room I was in was OK, satelite TV and other creature comforts. The usual tea/coffee making stuff.

Breakfast was a huge arrays of local and international food, even a Japanese counter. Very courteous and friendly staff no complain in that department. If you need to buy general stuff there is a Circle K 2-3 mins walk to the left of the hotel and there is a small supermarket a short walk through the rear gate of the hotel.

The hotel is in Kemang and it could get quite jam packed at weekends as there are quite a few eateries and night spots around the area. Quite exciting if one like the crown and the noise that comes with it. Its quite in the south of Jakarta so its not really suited if you have your meeting in Central Jakarta. Oh.. and the Kemang Mansion is in construction right in front of the hotel so it could get noisy if your room is situated at the front of the building.

Details:

Jl. Kemang Raya 2H Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta 12730 INDONESIA
Phone (62-21) 719 4121 Fax (62-21) 719 4131/51
rsvp@grandkemang.com - www.grandkemang.com

Boer soup

I thought of taking the whole gang out for a meal tonight, but a call from a friend to inform me of my order for the Boer goat meat has already arrived. My favourite... Yummm.

A quick preparation helped by the kids, chuck it all into the pressure cooker and Whalla.... Boer goat soup :) mannnn virtually no fat residue. Serve it with Kopi Luwak and Kopi Toraja... beat that :)

Surprise upgrade

I was booked on the 9.10am flight Malaysian Airlines from KUL to JKT, was surprised to find someone in my seat, the flight was full and the it was very nice of the cabin crew to upgrade me to Business class.

University of life

Somewhere along the university of life one will meet some characters that will stick to one's mind for quite a long period of time.

Quite respectable and honourable on the outset but as one got to know these characters one will slowly see the true colours. There is no need to dig deep and the colours itself will come to surface over time and slowly but surely we will realise that that they are full of deceit, self interest, couldn't care less piece of meat.

One could be fooled, but as time goes by, truth prevailed and we could always shake hand, give a pat on the back and say goodbye. No need for anger or animosity, as punishment is not for us mere mortals to decide.

deceit - the quality

of being fraudulentfraudulence

dishonesty - the quality of being dishonest

documents for signature

it was 5pm and the secretary told me that I have a bundle of documents requiring my signature. Yea give it to me I said... and I received a big shock when I saw those thick bundle of papers that I have to put pen to paper...

Danggg... I took me too long to finish it that I carried some to breakfast at a nearby cafe the next morning.

Maybe I can charge some fees on this? NOT

The Valley @ Bandung

Restaurant overlooking Bandung city.. sorry but the atmosphere is too dark to be caught on camera :)

The Valley

www.thevalley.co.id

Jl. Lembah Pakar Timur 28, Bandung, DAGO, Indonesia

(0)22 253 1052

Huize Trivelli @ Jakarta

all my posts on Huize Trevelli:
http://mattingtong.blogspot.com/2008/08/huize-trivelli-jl-tanah-abang-jakarta.html
http://mattingtong.blogspot.com/2009/12/huize-trivelli-jakarta.html
http://mattingtong.blogspot.com/2010/07/huize-trivelli-heritage-resto-and.html




Converted house turned into an Dutch-Indo fusion restaurant.

from the website:

BANGUNAN RESTO HUIZE TRIVELLI menempati salah sebuah rumah asli dari perumahan warga Eropa-Belanda yang dibangun sekitar tahun 1939. Selama sekitar 50 tahun bangunan asli ini telah menjadi rumah keluarga kami.

ATMOSFIR yang tercipta dari interior klasik eklektik, secara harmonis memadukan elemen-elemen kultural Eropa, Jawa, dan Cina. Dari kehangatan dan kenyamanan Roemah ini, kami menyambut kedatangan anda di HUIZE TRIVELLI: Roemah tercinta keluarga kami dan tempat bersantap yang membuat anda merasa “SEPERTI DI ROEMAH SENDIRI”.

www.huize-trivelli.com

Jalan Tanah Abang Dua 108. Jakarta 10150 Tel./Fax.: 021 3865803

Email: info@huize-trivelli.com or management@huize-trivelli.com

The Malays (orang Melayu)

From: http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/malays.htm

"I cannot but consider the “Malayu” nation as one people, speaking one language, though spread over so wide a space, preserving their character and customs, in all the maritime states lying between Sulu Seas and the Southern Oceans."

Stamford Raffles, 'On the Malayu Nation', Asiatic Researches, 12 (1816): 103.

The Malays are the race of people who inhabit the Malay Peninsula (what is today Peninsular Malaysia) and portions of adjacent islands of Southeast Asia, including the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and smaller islands that lie between these areas.

Anthropologists trace the home of the Malay race to the northwestern part of Yunnan, in China. These tribal proto-Malays, or Jakun, were a seafaring people.They were once probably a people of coastal Borneo who expanded into Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula as a result of their trading and seafaring way of life. These sea-tribes, refered to by the Portuguese historian Godinho de Eredia as “Saletes”.”Orang Selat”, or People of the Straits, played a major part in the making of the great Malay empires of Malacca and Johor. The present-day Malays of the Peninsula and coasts of the Malay Archipelago are described anthropologically as deutero-Malays and are the descendants of the tribal proto-Malays mixed with modern Indian, Thai, Arab and Chinese blood.

Malay culture itself has been strongly influenced by that of other peoples, including the Siamese, Javanese, Sumatran and, especially, Indians. The influence of Hindu India was historically very great, and the Malay were largely Hinduized before they were converted to Islam in the 15th century. For nearly two thousand years, the unremitting traffic of traders between the Archipelago and India resulted in frequent inter-marriages along the whole of the west coast of the peninsula, especially Tamils and Gujeratis. Some Hindu ritual survives in Malay culture, as in the second part of the marriage ceremony and in various ceremonies of state. Malays have also preserved some of their more ancient, animistic beliefs in spirits of the soil and jungle, often having recourse to medicine men or shamans (bomohs) for the treatment of ailments.

Parameswara: http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/parames.htm