A slap to my compos mentis...

HE VIOLINIST: a true story

A man was playing the violin at a subway station in Washington DC one cold winter morning at rush hour he was playing complex bach pieces as people rushed about ignoring him. A middle aged man stopped for a few second then hurried along to his appointment. A woman tossed a dollar into his violin case without stopping and walked quickly away. Another man stopped, listening intently he leaned against the wall then looked at his watch and walked quickly on his way. A three year old boy came next, he stayed the longest, enthralled by the music but his mother dragged him away and he resisted but lost in the end. The same thing happened to three other kids, clinging in vain to their independence. Their lives were controlled by parents who had no time. 

In the 45 minutes the violinist played, only six people stopped to listen for a while, four children were dragged by their mothers, twenty gave money, then walked away quickly. He collected $32 in all. When he finished playing, there was a deafening silence, the rush hour had ended and no one noticed him, no one applauded. He walked away, feeling happy. No one knew he was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world playing one of the most intricate pieces with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars! Two days before his subway concert, he performed at a Boston Theater where seats averaged $100 each and the tickets were all sold out. Joshua Bell playing incognito in a subway station was organized by the washington post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. 

One conclusion was - at the ʽwrongʼ place at the ʽwrongʼ time beauty is unseen, we are blinded by tasks the same beauty that awes a crowd grappling for a seat and paying a fortune. How many times do we fail to see what children see so clearly because we have too many promises to keep, then we regain our vision back momentarily at the ʽrightʼ place at the ʽrightʼ time. What is right and wrong are mere perceptions, the heart is often controlled by circumstance. Spaghetti at a street joint can taste better than at a five star place but we do not know it we become blind when the mind takes over the heart.

...as always, we are blinded with our own mind that prevent us to see the truth and beauty of life...

Lonely Planet - COPENHAGEN 18SX!

Warning: 

This posting contains 18SX materials! 

If you are below 18 or may upset you, 

please continue surfing some where else...

City of Copenhagen or København is a major regional centre of culture, business, media and science in Scandinavian. It's 14-minute from Kastrup Copenhagen International Airport. Copenhagen is considered as one of the world's most environmentally friendly cities with the water in the inner harbour being so clean that it can be used for swimming...yeah, and you can see the bottom of the canals clearly!

...a grand and busy central station...

...because Copenhagen is too close to the airport, you can see the airplanes crisscross over its sky... 

Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Danmarks Nationalbibliotek og Københavns Universitetsbibliotek 

(The Royal Library, The National Library of Denmark and Copenhagen University Library)

The Royal Library in Copenhagen (Det Kongelige Bibliotek) is the national library of Denmark and the largest library in Scandinavian keeps all works that have been printed in Denmark since the 17th century and holds nearly all known Danish printed works back to the first Danish book, printed in 1482. The library was founded 1648 by King Frederik III.

...Nyhavn  or New Harbour is a popular area in Copenhagen, Denmark with both locals and tourists. Starting from the memorial anchor at Kongens Nytorv, the street is lined with many bars and restaurants facing out to a picturesque harbour. It is the starting point for various canal tour excursions, and is located near Kongens Nytorv, at one end of Strøget, and near the royal residence, Amalienborg Palace. Nyhavn was built by King Christian V in the 1670s, and is thus the oldest part of Copenhagen harbour. The oldest building still standing is from 1681, at number 9. Hans Christian Andersen, the famous author lived at Nyhavn 18 for some years...

...Amalienborg Palace  is the winter home of the Denmark queen, Margrethe II and Danish royal family. It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard and in the center of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederik V. Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Castle burnt down on 26 February 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in... 

...the statue of King Frederik V facing the Marble church...

...Frederik's Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The dome rests on 12 columns. The dome was modeled from St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City...

...the 18SX section...

...The statue of The Little Mermaid (Den lille havfrue in Danish) sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbour at Langelinie and it is a Copenhagen famous icon and a major tourist attraction. The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre and asked the ballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913. The statue’s head was modelled after Price, but the sculptor’s wife Eline Eriksen was used for the body because Price did not agreed to pose nude. The Copenhagen City Council are planning to move the statue to Shanghai for the duration of the Expo 2010 - from May to October. This statue has been damaged and defaced many times since the mid-1950s for various reasons, but has each time been restored.  Actually, the original statue is kept at undisclosed location by  the sculptor’s heirs...  

...me no vandalised this little missy mermaid...

...missy mermaid...

and...whoooopppppsssss...

Lonely Planet - MALMO

Malmo is a short train ride from Copenhagen Central Station. It just takes barely 30-minute to reach Malmo Central Station passing through Kastrup Copenhagen International Airport. A great opportunity to get to Malmo if you visit Copenhagen. Actually Malmo was my last minute destination when I planned my break a few months back and it just 30 minutes away from my dream to visit Turning Torso and cross the Oresund Bridge! Architectura is always fascinating me but because I am not good at drawing, I have to abandon my dream of becoming an architect...instead of I've become a mad scientist...hahahaha...

...a rather small railway station...

...a bridge near the harbour...

...the Oresund Bridge from the Western Harbour...the bridge that connects Malmo with Copenhagen is one of the world's longest and most beautiful bridges, and it is the longest suspension bridge in Europe...with 4 km long undersea tunnel on the Denmark water and 8 km long bridge on the Sweden side services both trains and cars...

...the Malmohus Castle or Malmo Castle is the oldest Renaissance castle in Scandinavia, with well-maintained, modern settings and historical exhibitions. 

...a famous landmark of Malmo and Sweden...the Turning Torso is Sweden's tallest building and the tallest residential building in Europe...at 190 metres, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, Turning Torso consists of nine cubes with a total of 54-storey with a 90 degrees twist from bottom to top...

 

Lonely Planet - BERLIN

I longed to go to Berlin because of two things, the first one is the Berlin Wall that really fascinated me when i was in primary school and another one is the gate that separated West and East Berlin, the symbol of Cold War. Yeah, Berlin really changed a lot after the reunification and became the capital city of Germany.

...the Brandenburger Gate from the west (West Berlin)...

...the Brandenburger Gate from the east (East Berlin)...

...the Parliament House...

...a glass dome in the centre of Parliament House...a great place to see Berlin in 360 degrees...

..The Berlin Wall at Niederkirchnerstr. (Niederkirchner Street)...one of the sections in Berlin that you still can view the remnants of Berlin Wall and this one is the closest one in the city centre...the wall here is the outer layer of the Berlin Wall...

...now it just the remnants of Cold War that separated the ideology: Marxist and Capitalist...

...the line seperated east and west..

...yeah, you are dead man if you try to cross the line for freedom...

...the concrete coffins as a remembrance for the dead, the East Berliners and the Jewish (holocaust)...

...and along the Berlin Line, there are walls (wooden one) with all the events took place during the cold war...

...and now some sections of the wall become 'canvas' for the artists..

...the communication tower for ddp and tvB...the fourth highest freestanding structure in Europe also known to Berliner as Lanky Lady...

[my photo album here]

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Wishing my family, friends and bloggers

a happy Chinese New Year 2009

May the Year of Ox bring a lot of wealth, happiness and joy to everybody all year round.

Cheers!

The Fainted Imam...oh no!

I was talking to my colleague on my brief visit to Turkeye and one of the topics was the food that I have for my dinner on the first night in Istanbul. The one that really make me drooling was stuffed aubergine called Imam Bayildi, one of the most celebrated of all Turkish dishes. A light, succulent and truly scrumptious dish – part of Turkey’s wide array of ‘zeytin yağlı’ (with olive oil) recipes. It is perfect for a snack, as part of a table of mezes (small plates or starters), or as an accompaniment to a full dinner.

...aaarrrggghhh...i almost fainted when tasted this dish...there are two versions: vegetarian and another one you can add minced meat/chicken...

Not only does it taste yummy, but it has a rich story to savour. Imam Bayildi literally means “The imam fainted”. It is said that an imam (Muslim priest) swooned with pleasure on tasting the dish. This is the story you will hear repeated right across Turkey. It may have medieval roots and usually eaten cold, fit the prescriptions of the dietetic theory of humors that was the basis for medical theory at that time. So, I was lucky not to faint when tasted the dish, which was really heaven! Heheheheheh...

Okay, i have cooked it just now and will be my lunch for tomorrow at the office. Best eaten with bread and i am going to have it with garlic & coriander nan bread and fresh lettuce salad...can't wait for tomorrow to taste my Iman Biyaldi!

...another aubergine dish, baked with mashed potatoes...yummy...and actually there are 160 dishes on aubergine alone!

...lamb patty baked with mashed potatoes...so delicious!

...stuffed tomatoes with minced meat...

...chicken stew...

...beef stew...

...accompanied by crusty bread that absorbed the flavour of extra virgin oil...uuummmmmppphhh...

...and washed down with this famous tea...hot apple tea...a sweet mixture aroma of yellow, red and green apples...heaven!

So here the recipe...

Imam Biyaldi

(serves 4-6 but for me only one heheheheh...)

You need these...

2 - 4 medium aubergines (eggplants) 2 medium yellow onions, chopped 150ml extra virgin olive oil, must be very virgin one! if no virgin not nice...hehehehe 2 garlic cloves, chopped 3 - 6 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped a cup of chopped fresh parsley salt and pepper to taste 2 teaspoons sugar a juice from one fresh lemon

So what to do...

Sauté the onions in a little extra virgin olive oil. Add the garlic, tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushy. Cut the stem ends from each aubergine. Make 3 lengthwise slits, almost from end to end, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes, after that wash and drain excess water. Spoon the onion mixture into each cavity of the aubergine. Arrange aubergines in a baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of extra virgin oil OR you can arrange the aubergine on the baking dish and layer with the onion mixture, make it two layers at least. Bake the covered dish in preheated moderate oven (350 F) for 40 minutes or you can slow cook for 60 minutes, or until tender. Serve hot or as they do in Turkey, cold with yogurt and fresh garden salad.

Enjoy! and make sure you don't faint...

Lonely Planet - SCARY MERRY ATHENS

Yeah, really shocked to see those skinned-off lambs' heads at the meat section of Athens Wet Market. Must be nice to make lamb head curry...hehehehe...The wet market really interesting in term of 'wet' because you will see that it was really wet especially at the fish section...just like the wet markets in Malaysia!

...helloooooooo, take me home, take me home, please! hehehehe...

...well, not all sections were wet...the dried fruits and nut section...

...sweets and coconuts...

...dried herbs...really cheap...

...hehehehe...you can fiind the scary skinned-off lambs' heads here...

...and this is typical around Athens...popular rounded sesame bread...

...plain but so fresh...aaarrrggghhh, so nice one...i fall in love! ...to the bread not to that auntie...hehehehe...and have eaten a few...

...and also all sorts of nuts...from pistachios to chestnuts...

[will post more pics on Athens soon]

[my photo albums here and here]