This is a sign I came accross in Auschwitz, Poland, at the etrance of the concentration camp of Auschwitz I, translated literally into: "work shall set you free/will free you".

No doubt, this is a paradox, since almost none of the people who saw and read this sign were ever freed.

You know how somedays everything can seem like a deja vu? Like as though you're repeating a page of your history? Well, today definitely seemed like it.

On the journey to Ming's place this evening, I came across this poster- a Jazz Rock concert, featuring acts William Kennedy, Jeff Lorber and Dave Koz from the United States and Russian musician Sergei Chipenko, in a trans-atlantic jazz performance. Frequent readers of my blog would know how BORING our lives here in Kursk are, so knowing that some international acts are performing in this town here, a 6 time grammy award nominated artist no less (Dave Koz), me and my friends are jumping with the idea of attending the concert, of course.

But what striked me as familiar was this flyer here.


If you read my earlier post here titled 'Political Frenzy', you'd realize that it's the flyer of the SAME COMPANY that was pasted on another poster, this time, on a poster for a clown show...


Anyway, the weather was nice, sun was out, and a walk through a park is exactly what is needed. It was spring, yes, and yet with these fallen leaves here, you might even mistake it for autumn.





Then I saw these parents and their children out Which gave me another flashback to this post I did, titled 'Autumn in Kursk', with a similiar view.


A grandpa was also bringing his pet dog out for a walk...


Not unlike a picture I snapped of an old grandpa with his pet out for a walk a few months back.


So the menu for the night are Nasi lemak- savoury rice with fried chicken and sliced cucumber served with sambal.


A little reminiscence of a dinner he did a while back in this post, titled 'The Great Escape'.


For drinks, we had 7up which Ming spiked with his vodka.


For dessert, I made Lek Tau Suan with Yew Char Kuay, a traditional chinese dessert.

(This is the first part of a another 2 part picture series, Part 2 of my 'glass' photohunt theme can be found here)

I seem to have a knack for being one of the last ones when it comes to Photohunt assignments... But anyway, people say that it's always better late than never, right?

This week, for 'glass' theme, I pay homage to the millions of lives who fell victim to the Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. As you read in my previous posts (here and here) you'll have realized that I visited Cambodia last year in August during my summer holiday. What was supposed to be relaxing holiday turned out to be an eye-opening experience for me. Cambodia as a country is rich with culture and history and the people there are as courteous as they are kind.

Of course, in order to really understand a country you need to dwelve into the country's history, including the past.

As you all know, in the not to distant history, Cambodia was under a communistic regime held by the world famous dictator, Pol Pot, who estimated to have killed at least 13 Million lives, including Cambodians and foreigners alike.

This is a picture taken in the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. What used to be a school, was transformed overnight into this disgusting prison surrounded by barbed wires. This here is a classroom, now lined up with rows of rows of nameless faces, the victims of Khmer Rouge. All that remains now are these pictures of them, behind these glass frames.








As I left the museum that day, I said a silent prayer to those people and prayed that never again will these events occur.

When I found out that today's topic is 'Party', I thought, hm... no problem there! If you've been reading some of my previous posts you can note that not only am I the party animal, I am one heck of a party planner too.

But what I want to share this week is a party of a different kind. Earlier last month, a group of international students here in Kursk, Russsia organized a party for the orphans here in one of the orphanages. We raised our own fund and bought present, gifts, surprises, games and many, many performances.
Group Photo
You can read about the report on the party in detail, with more pictures and video clips here in my previous post. click here!

The best thing was to see how the children enjoyed themselves as well, singing, laughing, clapping along to the performances, and taking part in the games. Our months of hard work in planning and raising the fund was really worth it.

Here, I took a picture with some of the children there.

This is the first among the series of posts which I will be writing, about my love-it-hate-it relationship with this city that I'm currently living in...

I've been trying my best to avoid having to have to blog about this. The truth is, after nearly 6 years living here in Kursk, Russia, I do kind of have a bond with this place. As much as all of us here hate to admit it, I believe we'll all miss this town once we leave it in another year's time.

Just to think that when we first arrived, we were greeted by a very unwelcoming sight- a pure, typical, communistic brick building which we later realized (with a sinking sense of horror!) was to be our hostel. When we arrived in April, 6 years ago, it was already the end of winter, but the cold was still as bad. So dragging our 30kg luggages (packed to the last micro, nano-gram), and having spent 6 hours in transit in a horrible backward airport (Tashken, Uzbekistan), arriving to that sight was disheartening.

The sight inside almost made me want to scamper back home to my family...

The advertisement and brochures had described what I presumed would be a fairly attractive hostel. However, what greeted me and my roommate were peeling wallpaper, 2 sad looking beds, one study table, and another sadder looking cabinet. To top it off, we had to share a toilet and bathroom which looked too poisonous to use.

I ensure you at that moment, my first thought was- I GOT SCAMMED!

Thinking back, there were really a lot of moments which can only be described as bitter-sweet. There were the highs, and of course the lows.

Anyway, to better introduce you to Kursk, Russia, a city situated in Western Russia, very close to the border of Ukraine, you can do some reading up here- in this wikipedia link.

Even though I've always described Kursk as a boring, God-forsaken town (sometimes out of spite, sometimes out of fondness), really you shouldn't take my words for it. The main (some argue is THE ONLY) tourist attraction here is located not too far from the city centre, and really not too far from where my current hostel.

As you approach it, you get to see tanks after tanks lined up, serving as a reminder to the people, of the war which just passed. For your information, it is generally agreed by historians world over that the greatest tank battle in the world took place right here in Kursk, Russia, in a town called Porkhovka. And it was also widely believed that this tank battle in fact was a great turning point in the course of the history during the Second World War. You can read more here in this wikipedia link.

I also notice Russians have a certain fondness towards their-so-called 'eternal flame'. No, not the song, but literally flames which perpetually burn. Non-stop. 24/7. Period. I'd like to think it's because of their pride over the richness of their natural resources like petroleum and natural gas and so forth...

Here you can see an eternal flame, burning with the Kursk Victory Gate in the background.


This here is a picture taken of the Kursk Victory gate, in front of which is a statue of a General who led the Soviet Red Army against the German Front during the Second World War.

This here is a picture of the the upper church of the Trinity Monastery, or at least the remains of what it used to be.

Before the war it used to look something like this-
A magnificient Baroque cathedral, which looked as magnificient as the wikipedia article described it to be.

Too bad that now, only the three-storey belltower remains.

There are more storied to tell about this cathedral but I guess I will just reserve some for my next big 'Tolko U Nas V Rossii' post. Which, by the day, translates into 'You can find it only here in Russia'. Heehee!

Also, before I end this post, I really couldn't resist snapping this picture-
What do you think it looks like? Comment away!

Ask anyone who's been to Western Europe, to countries like Germany, Austria and others, and they can tell you how distinctively different their sausages and hotdogs are from the ones they sell here in Russia or back home in Malaysia. The texture, the flavour, the taste... they're worlds apart! And you can get them really cheap too!

This time around, a wiser me decided to 'ta pao' (pack home) some sausages from Austria- the last stop of my European trip, and make delicious hotdogs out of them.

Ingredients needed are sausages and buns!

Fry them up in a non-stick pan.

I fried up some diced onions, made some potatoe salad. Also make sure you have chilli sauce, mayonnaise, and also mustard.

This is the end product. It didn't look as pleasing as I hoped it turned out to be, but it was delicious!


Compare it to the one I had in Oslo. Amazing, right? And the lady was kind enough to put 2 kinds of dressings for me, potato salad dressing at one end, and shrimp salad dressing at the other. It was certainly a mouthful!

As the days tick closer and closer to the 23rd of January, I can't help but feel a rush of excitement. For the 3rd year in a row now I'll be going off on another european trip, this time a new list of countries that I have never been to before.

But my travel plans will only be revealed in a later post, so shh....

Anyway, 2 years ago, around this time (late January 2006), I embarked on a bus tour of to a few European countries. Starting off with St. Petersburg, the bus took us to Finland, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and then ending up in France, the City of Love. Until today, my memory of that trip to Paris, France still remain vivid in my mind.

But anyway I'll be sharing some tips with those of you who either will be visiting, or plan to visit France sometime in the future.

The ATTRACTIONS:
We started the day with a visit to the Basilica of Sacre Ceur, an amazing cathedral built on the montmarte hill. Imagine the construction for this building started at 1870's! The best thing was from the top of the hill, you can have a bird eye's view of Paris in all its glory. Of course, The Eiffel Tower can be seen crowning the skyline at a distance. There is this saying, there isn't a spot in Paris that you wouldn't be able to see the Eiffel Tower.

But really, if it were up to me, I'd BUILD MY HOUSE in front of the Eiffel Tower if I was allowed to!

We visited Eiffel tower around 8pm at night. By then, they had a shining display, where thousands of fluorescent bulb light up at once, then goes off totally, then shines again as it goes shining shimmering splendid. It was breathtaking. Too bad once we arrived at the 2nd floor (the peak was closed off due to renovation), it started to snow. I couldn't get a good grip on my camera because I was shivering all the while.

Another good option is to take a boat trip along the Seine River at night. It was sooo romantic! They played soft romantic music in the background, and around you you see all these magnificient grandeur that is Paris. I fell in love with Paris that moment itself!

Other highlights include:

the Twelfth Century Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris

The Arc de Triomphe,
built by Napoleon's man for him but only finished constructed 500 years after his death

A stroll (window shopping) down the Champs d-Élysées

Getting yourself lost in the maze that is the Louvre


Sneaking a shot of the Mona Lisa (cough... cough...)

a day trip to Versailles, the homes of past Kings and Queens

a visit to Moulin Rouge for a cabaret extravaganza

Not forgetting also, a day at Paris Disneyland. Man, I felt 10 years younger, walking in Disneyland to the tunes of 'Under the Sea' as we entered the themepark. I had such a great time I didn't want to leave!

Here we are posing at adventureland, in front of the Pirates of Carribean ride. Did you know that the Pirates of Carribean originally started as a ride at the Disneyland themepark? It was only later that they decided to make a movie based on its success.

Here is Mickey, signing a fan's autograph. I coudln't give a mickey (couldn't care less) about Mickey at that time because I was busy running from one corner of the theme park to the next, trying to get into the queues to some of the rides that they had.


The FOOD
French Fries do NOT originate from France, contrary to some common believes. My last year's visit to Belgium revealed that.

Croissant in France is amazing. It's funny that something as simple as a baked loaf of flour can taste sooo good. We had it for breakfast every single morning without fail. It was crunchy on the outside and heavenly soft in the inside. Plus when you serve it warm with jam spread... you'll guaranteed to have a Culinary Orgasm!

Knowing me, a budget traveller, I cannot afford eating each meal at just any restaurant. But we did, however, promised ourselves at least ONE good French meal, complete with appetizers, main courses, dessert and wine!

For the first time in my life, I got to taste escargot, or snails. Surprisingly? They were delicious! The flavour of the herbs combines nicely with the soft texture of the snail and it goes down smoothly with a sip of wine...


(I don't know about you, but I'm slobbering now...)


The PEOPLE
French people are a proud lot, in a good way. They are proud of their language, proud of their country, their unique culture and everything else French. And I love that about them. On the streets, it is extremely hard to find a French who can verse in English, but either way, they will stop and help, and some went to the extent of physically pointing the said area on the map.

A tip for people planning to visit France- go online and ask around, you can definitely find a list of words for basic survival in France.

Until now, I've got it memorized, 'Excusez moi? Parlez vous Anglais?' (Excuse me, do you speak english?)

The ACCOMODATION
You probably can research about this on yourself. We unfortunately stayed in a 3 star hotel located quite far from the city centre. However, recently I found this website which lists some Paris bed and breakfast, called B&B Paris. Through the website, you can find some information about some choices of accomdation in Paris. And I agree with what they say wholeheartedly, it's not only an accomodation, but the experience that count. People catering to your need, serving you delicious breakfasts... sigh... You can't beat that.

Hope that helps with those of you who yearn to search for a Bed and Breakfast options or Hotel Paris.

The CONCLUSION
Go to Paris with an open mind, and you'll enjoy your trip. I did, and I hope this brief guide can help you guys.



au revoir!

Growing up, I remember playing all these little board games. I used to be really good in mastermind, ‘fei ji qi’ (airplane chess), and Go boardgame.

Then again, there was my all time favorite, the Chinese Jungle Chess set.


Oh man, looking at this picture brings back old memories. Honestly? I’ve totally forgotten how to play the game! But for those of you who never knew it to begin with, there are basically 8 animals in this board games, and they are all ranked as the following, from the ‘strongest’ to the ‘weakest’.

8 - Elephant (Chinese: 象; pinyin: xiàng)
7 - Lion (simplified Chinese: 狮; traditional Chinese: 獅; pinyin: shī)
6 - Tiger (Chinese: 虎; pinyin: hǔ)
5 - Leopard (Chinese: 豹; pinyin: bào)
4 - Dog (Chinese: 狗; pinyin: gǒu)
3 - Wolf (Chinese: 狼; pinyin: hǎng, láng, lǎng, làng)
2 - Cat (Chinese: 貓; pinyin: māo)
1 - Mouse (Chinese: 鼠; pinyin: shǔ)

For example, elephant can ‘eat’ the animals ranked lower than it, just as lion can ‘eat’ tiger, and leopard and dog and so on… Well you get the picture. Your goal is to lead your herd of animals across the board game, leaping across mountainous terrains, traps, rivers and rival animals to reach the other end!

The only odd part is that somehow, the mouse ‘eats’, of all things, the elephant… And for the longest time afterwards, I always had this misconception that somehow in the wild, mice feed on elephants.

Oh well… maybe they do.

But if there’s one board game that I wished I had mastered back when I was young, it would definitely be Backgammon. Good thing there’s this website which allows you to play online backgammon with people all over the world. Turns out it isn’t too late yet for me to start to play backgammon now, even at age 22! Haha! This website lists all the possible tournaments and apparently you can even play to win money!


How about playing backgammon online for a living? Now that's a profession even I would never have thought about.

What about you guys? What were you favourite childhood board game?