I Believe

Went to guitar class last monday..didn't want to learn the technical stuff so i requested my guru to teach me a song. Picked a song from the Sing Your Praise To God hymn book, B34 - I Believe. It's a very beautiful and meaningful song. I like it but you know what, i can't really remember how the music goes...budu kan. Will record my guru when he plays it on my next class.

Oh my guru a.k.a Juan is doing part-time singing at Mag's Cafe, Mile 4, Bandar Indah, Sandakan. There are 3 of them, Juan as the guitarist, 1 man singer and a lady singer, serenading style, table to table. Last i was there, requested them to sing 'Antara Anyir dan Jakarta', it's a wow thing! They really nailed it! So if you're happen to be in Sandakan, do drop by at Mag's Cafe every saturday 8 - 10pm.

Now, here goes 'I believe', didnt have the recording version, but i attach together my tabs notes. Hmmm.. hopefully those who knows tabs and chords will understand it. And i'm only starting to learn so any question, direct them to yourself. *Grin*

I Believe

I Believe for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows
I Believe that somewhere in the darkest nite a candle glows
I Believe for every one who goes astray
Someone will come to show the way
I Believe, I Believe

I Believe above the storm
The smallest prayer will still be heard
I Believe that someone in the great somewhere
Hears every word
Everytime I hear, a new born baby cry
Or touch a leaf
Or see the sky
Then I know why, I Believe……

You're My Sweet Pea

A sweet song dedicated to a very sweet person......

Sweet pea

Apple of my eye

Don't know when and I don't know why

You're the only reason I keep on coming home

Sweet pea

What's all this about

Don't get your way all you do is fuss and pout

You're the only reason I keep on coming home

I like the Rock of Gibraltar

I always seem to falter

And the words just get in the way

Oh I know I'm gonna crumble

I'm trying to stay humble

But I never think before I say

Sweet pea

Keeper of my soul

I know sometimes I'm out of control

You're the only reason I keep on coming

You're the only reason I keep on coming yeah

You're the only reason I keep on coming home

Weekend Away in Sukau

After 4 days outstationing in Kg. Gana, Kota Marudu, i drove my car a.k.a mimi to Sukau last friday nite. It was not an easy drive because in the middle of driving, i was fishing fish in the air, in other words sangat mengantuk! Managed hard to stay awake and reached Sukau at about 1030pm. Joni, 4D (in the pic) and Yong were err.. dont know what they were doing when i arrived. But i arrived not only with my bagpack but also with 2 packs of guava juice, 2 bottles of white tanduay rhum and 1 bag of ice cubes, that makes us the popular cocktail drink MINDORO SLING, a trademark concoction of Puerto Galera! During our last trip to Puerto, we sure had a lot of that sling and bing! As usual our bartender in Sukau is none other than Mr. 4D himself lol! Had 4 jugs of slings that nite, it's been a long time since i last hang out with Joni and 4D. Yong was busy that weekend as her family of 15 came over for holiday. Big family Yong! Oh Yong's mum cooked very nice vegetables (adakah kerna lapar?) Oh oh our pusas that nite - mussels.. ai lain, i.e hasil belian di Kota Marudu. Chatted about Natt's wedding and how we are going to get a good band on her wedding days, about how to make money, about each other's updates and so on until 3am zzz....

Lots of fish caught by Yong's (in the pic) family on saturday in Sukau River, those are the 2 biggies, walaupun bukan sa yang pancing, merasa juga pegang ikan basar! Hohoho... Oh there's a new lodge built in Sukau, operating since 3 weeks ago, just beside Sukau River, about RM35/pax/nite (with breakfast). What you can do in Sukau? You can no doubt do river cruising be it nite cruise (5pm) or early morning cruise (6am), fishing is another one, and if you are 'green' people, you can contribute to KAPOK organisation by buying native tree species seedlings from them and they will organise a tree planting session with you in the forests, will be very interesting and fun and jungle rumble! KAPOK consists of several villages in Kinabatangan whom are committed to plant trees for forests rehabilitation in Kinabatangan area. Oh! and not forgetting, you can meet eyes to eyes with Frankie the crocodile, he always around near the river banks. You can see him especially when you hang out at Cede Prudente's Tomanggong Lodge, which is very near to Joni's house. So come on guys be adventurous, be green, go to Sukau!

of fear

it is my enemy yet it is important

for without it, i'm not justified

when it comes, i tremble but i never fall

for its name is weaker than mine

she who understands, has both of us

that is why she is like a mad man

she uses me with great care

she accepts the enemy with great cautious

but she knows....

i will always win, never did i lose and never will be....

love...

and the rain came

you are beautiful no matter what they say, words
won't bring you down.....

Travelling Differently

When i read this, i said 'wow! I agree with this and this hmm not this one'...Let's see some of the travelling-differently-lessons from Paulo's Like The Flowing River.

1. Avoid museums
If you are in a foreign city, what is more interesting, searching the present or the past? Obviously, museums are important but they require time and objectivity - you need to know what you want to see, otherwise you'll thought that you've seen important things, but actually you can't remember what they were.

Comments: I still go to museum, but i prefer zoo hmmm espc. unique-looking ones. Still, these 2 will be last resorts in any travelling plan. But what's interesting to visit is the Killing Field Museum in Phnom Penh. Let's do it pengulu gang!

2. Hang out in bars
Bars are the places where life in the city reveals itself, not in museums. By bars, i don't mean discotheques, but the places where ordinary ppl go have a drink, ponder the weather, and are always ready for a chat. Buy a newspaper. If someone strikes up a conversation, however silly, join in! You cannot judge the beauty of a particular path just by looking at the gate.

Comments: Bar? Hah, always!

3. Be open
The best tour guide is someone who lives in the place, knows everything about it, proud of her/his city but does not work for any agency.
Comments: Cautious as well for con-man/woman oh and those who you met in bars and actually work there.

4. Try to travel alone or - if you're married-with your spouse
It will be harder, no one will be there taking care of u but only in this way can you truly leave your country behind. Travelling with a group is a way of being in a foreign country while speaking your mother tongue, doing whatever the leader of the group tells u to do and more interested in group gossip than in the place you're visiting.
Comments: I've thought about travelling alone or with my partner, i'm sure it'll be so much mixed feelings of fun, panic, cautious and proud (in a good way).

5. Don't compare
Don't compare anything - prices, standards of hygiene, quality of life, means of transport, nothing! You are not travelling in order to prove that you have a better life than other ppl. Your aim is to find out how other ppl live, what they can teach you, how they deal with reality and with the extraordinary.
Comments: I once met with 2 ladies from UK who've been assigned by their boss to go to a very remote spot in Kalimantan for work - 3 nights plus 4 days travelling to and fro by 4WD and boat. We met up for dinner and all the way dinner, they complaint, and i could not believe my ears when they compared Kalimantan with UK! They even compared Asian breakfast and English's. What the hell was that? So a'ah no no compare.

6. Understand that everyone understands you.
Even if you don't speak the language, don't be afraid. Some ppl think that if they travel alone, they will be lost and be lost forever. Just make sure you got the hotel card with you. If worst comes to the worst - flag down a taxi and show the card to the driver.
Comments: If you stay in backpackers lodge, they dont have hotel card. So get the exact address.

7. Dont buy too much
Spend your money on things you wont need to carry - tickets to a good play or match, restaurants, trips. Nowadays, with global economy and the internet, you can buy almost anything without having to pay excess baggage.
Comments: I agree but still i buy stuffs..lol. This caused me a frustrating 'poket belubang' experience till i can't do what i so much want to do - watch a live Muay Thai boxing match. Hukhuk..

8. Dont try to see the world in a month
It's far better to stay in a city for 4 or 5 days than to visit 5 cities in a week. A city is like a capricious woman: she takes time to be seduced and to reveal herself completely.
Comments: Visited 4 cities in 12 days in 2005, punya men panat! Yeah don't do this, it's stupid.

9. A journey is an adventure
Henry Miller used to say that it's far more important to discover a church that no one else has ever heard of, than going to Rome and feel obliged to visit Sistine Chapel with 200,000 other tourists yelling in your ear. By all means, go to Sistine Chapel, but wander the streets too, explore alleyways, experience the freedom of looking something - quite you dont know, but if you find it, will, you can be sure, change your life.
Comments: My close friend, Joni, treat her holiday as an adventure. Whenever she tells a story of her journey, it's something unfamiliar but it never fail to amaze me. Got the priviledge to join her in the adventure and yeah i enjoyed myself so much! Let's do it again Jons.

Travelling Light

How do we feel belong to that country when we travel? I always like to find a specific place or an area to hang out and just be a 'local'. Aren't we all do?! I thought so. In Bangkok, Khao San Road is a street that is filled with bacpackers lodges, shops, food stalls, shirt stalls, illegal roti canai stalls, bar stalls, pad thai stalls, breakdancers, internet cafes, bars etc etc. Just like Bangsar in KL, Malate in Manila, Bar Street in Siem Reap and Kuta in Bali. Nevertheless, apart from all the busy-ness of the tourist place, it's nice to just hang out in a small cafe and watch the busy-ness, watch the locals talking and negotiating, order their local drinks and food and of course hang out with one of the great people in my life i.e. close friends. I read Paulo's Like The Flowing River, he has a very fine opinion on how we should travel and i agree with him most of the time. Will write about it in my next post. I include here khaosan link, for infos and perhaps for your next travelling plan.