The real Eco Deck

So I started 2010 with a short sabatical back home.Even tho it was too short for me to sit in lil corners back home to think.I realise I no longer fear being left behind in timbaktoo. Because as civilised as any civilisation may appear. Honestly they are just a bunch of Barbarians. So I pretty much rather stay where the simple people are.

We just reworked the shade for the Sun Deck thats overlooking the canopy...Where we had our wedding 1yr plus ago. The Cotton Linen Shade idea was really nice & romantic at first. then we realise it just didnt work.The day after any stormy night. The tattered bits of fabrics scattered around the area, the storm seem scarrier than it really is.

SO... we decided to build a shade outta living bamboo! It just clicked! Trees have always been natural shelter for animals & humans alike .. its so obvious! why didnt we thought of that earlier! This is genuinely ECO. not only did we not use extra material or chop any wood... the bamboo is actually ALIIVEEE!!! HAH! take that you fakey eco resorts who claim to charge people extra for your biodegradable shampoo????!! I have nothing against their shampoo but using it as a selling point or rather extortion point while the entire resort is built from illegal timber is just so wrong.! Not naming names here. just look out for their shampoo.... I;ve got loads more angst & teeeeeenyy weeeeny bit of jealousy when it comes to the topic of Eco resort & their blaah list of self' -acclaim awards.we'll save it for another day as for today..
its back to conquering the world with 1 less tooth! ( Just removed 1 of my wisdom tooth )

Lesson No.1 2010

On the 1st of Jan 2010. Roses our Manager had her wedding in her Kampung.. Telupid..It was a wet & trecherous drive but it was all well worth it.

We had simple kampung food & took lotsa pictures. She looked really gorgeous & Happy...as always.The simply put together Canvas Gazebo was surprisingly cosy inside. I love those colourful paper tissue streamers.. brings me back to arts & craft class. They've got the Karaoke set going with some serious sound system all hooked up. I bet her Bus load full of friends & fellow villagers rocked it out all night after we left.

According to her its morning prayers, then blessing back home.. then sitting on the "throne" all day for others to take photos with.. hymm & then we got some eggs as a thankyou gift.. its a tradition on muslim wedding.. Fertility perhaps? Since they always seem to have a bus load of brothers & sister.

Its comforting to be at her wedding. That means I'm not a bitch to work with! PHEW! More importantly 1st lesson of the year was clear. Simple can be beautiful & Love is literally in the air if you are willing to see it.

Recap of the Decade

This is the txt I sent to all my dearest friends. So, its the same to you too.
" Before the Christmas cheer diffuse into thin air like my morning fart, Have blessed Christmas & 2010. I don't mean to be late or rude, i know you know i love you!"

With a blink of many eyes,The new "it" word has change from Millennium bug to 2012. This morning, with the accompaniments of the thunderous monsoon storm. I woke up with a random thought hoovering above my head. "Why so much fear of the unknown?" Man kind seem to have survive & thrive for generations but the apocalyptic nonsense always creep up on us in the turn of every century. Strange huh?

From 16 to 26, I've lived to....
Meet some friends that have lasted a decade
Listened to some extraordinary musicians
Talked to some really amusingly weird & inspiring characters
Cant' wait to grow up
Wore some fuck- me pumps ( Excuse me.. its a passing phase )
Got me some mind blowing nookie ( lets hope this ain't no passing phase )
Go through some gut wrenching break-ups
Seen the fall of my super mum
Accepted that my mum is only human
Hate the fact that its time to grow up
Met a great man
Met the great god who created the great man
Married the great man.
Moved to a town I really hated
Learn to love little slithers of paradise in this town
Worked for the best
Learned how difficult it can be to be the best
to see BERLIN & SWEDEN ( Love it, love it , love it! )
Worked with the great man who created a great jungle retreat
Seen 2 heck of a pandemic flu,a giant tsunami & hurricane.
grieve the lost of MJ by secretly trying to moonwalk on a soapy tub
Watch the rise of a new American power
Seen the weather go wonky
Fought for what i believed
served people good food & potion of intoxication
& LAST BUT NOT LEAST - OWN A WORKING MOVING , STILL NOT BREAKING VERY WELL VOLKS WAGEN T2!

Yet I look back to the past 10yrs with great gratitude for god. A few close shave, a few deep cuts & lotsa good people have made me what I am today. I hope i'll never loose that quirky curiosity of a 9yr old as i brace myself like many others on the fast track to adulthood. There's never a better time to be alive.. ALIVEE! ROOOOAARRRRR!!

If you made it to this point, you have made a difference in my last decade.So Thankyou & Happy New Year!

PS : If you don't see ANTON with the babe Mobil..its prolly back in the workshop. Cant promise we'll get you to destination on time, but I can definitely promise you heck of a ride!

Every one had to give it a go. & Puks just couldn't wait to get in.




Even Puks tried to give it a go.

NOO not the BFG.

Just watched the " Redwood – Anatomy of a giant." by National Geographic.
Redwoods are these coastal trees that grow into 400ft giants. They take in moisture from the canopy instead of the roots..cuz obviously its too much work to carry the water up 40floors without a lift. Man its amazing. Even trees in our rain forest don't grow so big. Like all other beautiful things on earth..its depleting fast.

I was brought up by an incredibly spiritual & eccentric woman. If my homeopathic practitioner mother had thought marijuana could ease labor pains, I would’ve been a full fledged mini hippy while I was in her womb. Believe it or not, I’ve never had asprin till I met Anton, I never had anti-biotic till I moved away from home, When I fell, my mum would spit some saliva on my wound & make me believe it has magical powers. Fevers were a treat for me, Not only do i get to skip school, I also get to stuff my face in a freezing watermelon all day long! So, my mum was way cooler than Mary Poppins & her supercalifragilisticexpialidocious jibberish bull.

We grow up listening to Tibetan mantra & hear things like “to attach is to detach” & that’s how you attain nirvana alllllll the time. At that point I was thinking, fuk! If that’s how it works I'm gonna burn in hell for a long long time cuz I could’nt even sort out my Velcro shoe straps.

I was exposed & encouraged to explore the intangible energy & spirituality that nature provided. We were probably the original tree - hugger. After their divorce, she brought me to the park & ordered me to hug a tree because she believed we needed healing. At that point, I was one of those self – conscious teenagers dying to melt into the mainstream & secretly thought my mother was a mad woman. But as strange as it sounds, it was extremely comforting when I finally put my face against the stalwart tree. The security & spicy somewhat earthy notes from the tree bark obviously reminded me of the father figure I missed dearly. So that’s how I developed a certain fondness over big trees.

The scientific version is that there’s ions... cant remember if its +ion or –ion in the Jungle Canopy & Beaches that encourages the surge of happy vibe in us.. hymm quite similar to what chocolate does. My romantic theory is that we are all build with a soul that longs to be one with nature. So till we understand the true blessings that nature provides we won’t stop raping the forest & my guess is that we won’t. I’m glad I’m dying in 50yrs or so. My heart will absolutely break into pieces if I have to watch our planet deteriorate to an ugly state.

Oh Yea, my mum taught me about birds & bees with a beautifully made Karma Sutra docu-movie by Nat Geo too! & hey it worked, at a very young age I understood that sex was meant to be a beautiful exchange of energy… & reserved for a HOT, Keanu Reeves looking Indian man..yea, I find it hilarious too.

(Just in case you are wondering)
Till this day, Anton is still a lil bit freaked out by my mother.

No strings attached

HOOOT HOooooT guess who’s back!? Twinkle the barred eagle owl is back! 8days after the release! Yeeaaha our 3rd attempt & first return. Its so exciting, it was starving.. but in general healthy. We’re so happy for Lalaine. Our chef. Cuz she’s been taking care of it & she was really sad when it was time to release the dude.

He’s pearched himself on his “Fengshui Spot” ..well the usuall spot near Lalaine, behind the kitchen.. no strings attached!3rd day of return. He still spread his wings abit daily around the compound. Hopefully he can start catching some field mice.

Ney, STOP!

Puk Puk has always been a hit whenever we bring him to the retreat. Few weeks back he made friends with a little Dutch boy ,.who's been wearing that same Messi Football jersey for days.But he does look like a football star.

Puk's is usually a bunch of madness & but discovered that's because he doesn't speak Hakka/ English / Cantonese / Malay / Chinese. He speaks DUTCH! duh?! everytime "Messi" puts his hand out to say "Ney,Stop!" Puk's sits down calmly,watch & wait for his next command. as he stroke the chubby fuzz ball & speak ..in dutch to him explaining "Im just gonna pluck this giant pokey palm fruit for you". & So they happily played into the Sunset. or at least till Puk's got tired of eating palm nuts.

Looks like I'll need to take dutch classes soon.

WRONG!

Kopi Duit : Money for Coffee or Loose change that you give to people to buy yourself some convenience. ( Nowadays that loose change can get em Hummer with a Latte on the side. )

2009 is wearily coming to an end. I had a really hard time sleeping last night. Cuz this is the time I set tight deadlines, Hoping to cramp in as much as possible before the finish line. I really want make that New Years day Moet worth every bubble my RM350 can get me. I mean I don't want to look back & tell myself .. great! I've achieve nothing in 09'. & I'm just gonna go down the street & make another copy of my 06 'new years resolution.

But by lunch time today, I realize sometimes I get so caught up by the routines, that i think its wrong as a bunny shagging a duck to not want anything! Think about it, isint' wanting less the new wanting more? ( sorry, I write with annoying riddle sometimes after my double shot espresso )
Its amazing how during recession, the Asians stock up rice & instant noodles,while the Europeans take a holiday if they are fired. Most of them actually told us.. "well, its not as if I can find a job if I'd stayed back there in the cold grey weather." What is it that's in your milk that gave you people that incredible EQ??

most Malaysian enslaved themselves to the 9 - 5 job with a steady income, pay their "KOPI Duit" avoid paying the proper fine. & work double during recession. but most amazingly they've gone abroad to drink that same milk & not learned anything. . .all im saying our perspective is so fixed within the box. But then I guess to be fair,We just could not afford to be like you guys due to the weak Ringgit..Unless you want a sabbatical with the cannibals in Papua New Guinea. Ok now I know why i slog while you swing in the hammocks.

But in any case I've decided wanting less will be my new wanting more by say 2020 instead of 2010.....I've decided as much good as Oprah is doing, Sending some cute designer dude to "declutter" my life wont work..he's too cute not to be gay.Oh n that scary blonde woman who's telling you to sort out your finances??.Hello!!? Ms I'm so frugal I need a 500usd dollar spray tan to maintain that glow!..nice try Winfrey!

Time to let go

Twinkle* twinkle* little owl
hope you dont end up like a roast fowl.

We’ve decided its time to let go of Twinkle, the owl. Hopefully he doesn’t go back to Jun’s village. Lalaine’s really attached to him. But yup, the bird belongs to nobody, definitely not to us. So see you when I see you*

Flashback in a jiffy:

Jun’s got chicken,

Twinkle loves chicken,

Jun shot it

Jun say you take or I eat.

So we took.

The Babe Mobile

VW Combi Refurbishment Updates... The body work is done, we're ready to rock soon,Guest coming after September should be able to check out our pimped out ride !

All that chrome parts shopping & speaking mechanics language to some old chinese man. - I feel like Megan Fox from transformers for awhile "all anton said was - NOT!!

Btw I crashed his white 4wd truck.Yea, the truck that he tells you guys to wait for by the roadside.Its fixed now. Lost control in mile 8. Went into muddy ditches. crashed the bonnet & 1 head lamp. Anton is obses about how his belongings have to be in pristine conditions. I splurge on a Paul Smith wallet for him once..and its still..well PRISTINE cuz its still in the box. SO as you might have guessed, He went absolutely mental on me.

So im no Megan Fox. & I guess I wont be allowed to drive the combi too.

Crocodile Dundee

Compared to a normal size lizard.

Compared to Anton's Hand.


So we finally caught the lil guy who's been shitting all over our Dewan (The conference hall). but we didnt expect him to be this big. We knew it was lizard's doing cuz he keeps announcing his arrival proudly along with his trail of "Gold nuggets".But HECK! this guy is the size of a baby crickey! Ohhh mate, luk at dat beeeUuutiful creychah(If you havent' seen Steve Irvin before - Translation "baby crocodile,look at that beautiful creature ) Its stuck to our glue trap.so too bad. It's gonna die!muahahhah!