Two weekends ago, I took the family back to Batu Gajah for "Qingming" or "Ching Ming" Festival. My wife's family members were gathering for Qingming. Qingming is essentially the honoring of ancestors or ancestors memorial day, where family members gathered together to visit, sweep and clean the tomb and grave sites.
During the visit to the grand parents' kampung (a small village), I took the opportunity to take the kids motorbike riding around the old tin mining "wasteland", which practically surrounded the whole kampung.
The "wasteland" of Batu Gajah. Made me feel like I am playing my Fallout 3 game... LOL.
Another pix of the "wasteland" that only scant of vegetation can survive.
The boys (Jordan and Joel) happy as can be to be able to ride on a motorbike... Hahah.
The kids had a grand time. They wanted more but unfortunately, it started raining and we had to head back. When we reached the grand parents' house, we managed to catch an ice cream seller on motorbike. Needless to say, they two boys were screaming for ice creams.
After the ride, back at the grand parents' house, Jordan and Joel had a popcicle each as a reward for behaving.
In the end, it was ice-cream for everyone.... including the grand parents... LOL.
Exactly 10 days ago, a group of friends together with our families went to a waterfall somewhere in the remote foothills of Genting in Karak to celebrate a friend's birthday... sort of... LOL. The place is called Hutan Lipur Lentang.
Actually it was a prelude to a fantastic lunch at a famous restaurant sponsored by the birthday boys, yeah... two birthdays... LOL. We got our families together to let the kids (those of us with kids) experience the "wild". My kids were very excited. They were freaking out when they saw the giant ants foraging in the forest path. Out of impulse, Joel could not help trying to stamp his feet on the ants! I managed to calm him down and got him to appreciate what the ants were doing... i.e. searching for food... LOL.
I had to take this picture... the rocks looked ideal for trials... LOL.
The river was flowing very rapidly... not safe for swimming.
My two boys mesmerised by the flowing river.
Thanks to Uncle Joe, my kids had the paper binoculars to purvue their surrounding with. Blurred as hell!
The guys pointing to the tiny tree growing out from the shadow of the giant tree... :-)
There they go again with their binoculars...
The rain the night before made the river unsafe for swimming.
Fast moving water.
The river, muddy and clouded with sediments.
There they go again.
A view of the picnic site from high above on the paths.
The river flooded, almost overflowing the banks.
The picnic site. Nice and clean.
George, the birthday boy, getting rid of a leech... LOL.
The tent was set up for the kids... but too hot for them to stay inside long... LOL.
All the kids going after the food... LOL.
All in all it was a fun trip. My kids definitely had fun and so did I... :-)
A couple of days ago, my kids were watching the Ice Age 2:The Meltdown animation at home. I could hear them giggling and all three of them were stoked on the part where Crash the possum was flying through the air and singing, "I believe I can fly..." before crashing into a tree in mid flight.
Ever since that day they have been singing, "I believe I can fly..." and could not complete the rest of the lyrics... LOL. Many of us will remember this famous hit song by Roberta Kelly. And I am sure you have continued by humming, "... I believe I can touch the sky..." Well, that was what happened to me. For some reason, I got to humming along with my kids for a couple of days. I could only remember part of the extremely catchy chorus.
So today, on the way home while stopping at traffic lights, I decided to used my mobile phone to search for the lyrics on Google. I showed the lyrics to my 2 sons and we started singing the chorus.
I believe I can fly I believe I can touch the sky I think about it every night and day Spread my wings and fly away I believe I can soar I see me running through that open door I believe I can fly I believe I can fly I believe I can fly
Before long I asked my seven years old son, Jordan, "Do you know the meaning of 'soar'?" He replied that he did not. And so I explained that it means "flying very high in the sky and gliding in the air".
Then just out of curiosity, I asked him if he knew what it meant, "running through that open door"? Without hesitation, he replied, "Go to heaven lah."
I was quite stunned with his reply. It never occurred to me that he could grasp the abstract in such a perceptive manner when he offered his interpretation. I am definitely no literati and have no idea if the interpretation of "open door" equates "heaven", but now, I would certainly give it due consideration if I were to analyze the deeper meaning of the lyrics.
Later, when we reached home, I searched for Ice Age 2 on YouTube and found the above clip and an excellent William Hung rendition of "I Believe I Can Fly".
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