Gong Xi Fa Cai

Posted on February 23, 2009 | 5 Comments

Gong xi fa cai, or happy new year in Chinese! Sorry we have been lazy lately to update our blog. As most of you know already, we came back home about 2 weeks ago. Getting home was bit of a culture shock, but more of that later. First, we have still some things to tell you. Sasi starts with Chinese!

In the middle of the exotic Malaysian Borneo jungle, we got acquainted with another Malaysian minority which lives in the area: its the Chinese community of Kota kinabalu, at that time they were celebrating the famous Chinese New Year.

Chinese do follow another calendar than the West, the Lunar calendar, where the date of the Chinese New Year matched the dates of our stay in Malaysia. The two weeks celebrations were in the end of January, the actual New Years Day in 26th of Jan this year.

Kota Kinabalu was a very friendly place where more Chinese inhabitant had businesses than Malays, in fact you can see the difference that East Malaysia (i.e. Borneo) was almost dominated by the Chinese while West Malaysia was more majority of Malay.

The celebrations started with the popular Dragon and Lion dances competition in Padang Merdeka Plaza in central KK. This event takes place every year in Sabah province in Borneo with a competition by more than 50 dancing groups from all over the Sabah region. The dancers will form a team of a single color and will be dressed as a lion or dragon. Believe me it´s a hard job!

The teams competed and danced really well, the loud music and drumming, the kids enjoying and the high VIP guests were all impressed, there was lots of fireworks and it seems that the main part that everybody expected was the arrival of Santa (They have a Chinese version of a man in red coming and spreading golden coins or small red envelopes filled with coins that people usually give to children or unmarried adults during the new year festivals. He is supposedly the personification of the God of Fortune or something in Chinese believes.)

Kota Kinabalu gave us the chance to dip into the Chinese culture, even without making it to China. Chinese culture is mostly based about material life, money and what you own is a very big part of life of a person, the more you have and the more you own puts you in a higher level at the afterlife.

Now, this was mostly it from KK, except the jungle trekking and the jungle walking we had and the rain forest climbing. Kota Kinabalu is close to some lovely islands. Only 20 minutes away on a ferry, and we were on some picturesque beaches with azure waters and snorkeling was available but the visibility was not the best due to the rainy season.

Back from Borneo to Kuala Lumpur, the Petronas city, we decided not to stay there for the Happy New Year of Ox celebrations and we took a 2 hours bus ride to Melaka, to old Portugese colony that is nowadays also heavily inhabited by Chinese. The city has kept it charm of the European-Asian mixture.

Melaka was like Venice of the east, with it´s canals running around the city and lovely bridges and cafes serving a mix of Asian/European food. The church in the center was built by the Portugese and it was to me more like a meeting point through the history for all the expats that lived in Malaysia.

Not so far from all this “European” center, you would find the popular Jonker street, a small China Town were you could fill your bags from toys to plastic items to traditional Chinese decoration and it´s the place to try Chinese food specialties like the chicken rice balls, they were just delicious and the place itself the Famosa restaurant located in the middle of the street, which seemed the place to try such a dish had an extraordinary beautiful interior decoration.

The Chinese experience in Malaysia is nothing to regret, I loved it and it gave me a great inside look on tradition, way of thinking and way of doing things in Asia.

As a conclusion, the Chinese new year is a must do on your next year calendar. a real advice from us, go to Borneo and to the Malaysian one because it’s the place to be and it’s just a heaven on earth.

Sasi (with a small hangover)

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Scandalous material

Posted on January 30, 2009 | 1 Comment
Merapi
Merapi

Erupting volcanoes! Boxing kangaroos! An elephant bull in the heath! Prehistoric monsters! What happened to a thief? Are the orangutans drunk? Lunatic rickshaw drivers! Temples in the deep jungle! Secret chambers of sultan’s palace!

This and much more on our Flickr photos! Have a look in HERE (or click the link in the side bar).

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Borneo: like Tarzan in the jungle

Posted on January 27, 2009 | 1 Comment

The ancestors believed that the mountain was sacred and that the spirits roamed the peak, but mainly they feared climbing to the peak due to never coming back. When the British conquerors arrived, they wanted to climb the mountain but the locals tried to stop them and warned them that they will stay in the jungle forever and never come back if they dare to knock on the spirits doors.

Of course, in nowadays Mount Kinabalu is still a holy place for the locals but the Brits and many other people from different nationalities climbed it and did not met any spirits of ancestors, but to experience the beauty of South East Asia’s highest peak and it’s views. A 4092 m of altitude and the experience of a lifetime, it’s a hard way up and costing, as calculated it costs like a 100 euro. Well, we were not that lucky (or stupid?) to climb to 4092 m but we surely made it to Kinabalu National Park and the Poring Hot Springs next to it.

Before I tell you about all this trekking/climbing/wild nature watching details, let me proudly share some facts. We are now in our 10th month of traveling of the trip. We have visited 17 countries and more then 60 cities. Our furthest and Southern most destination was not Australia as many of you have expected, we wished so much to make it there but since we were broke and exhausted, the need to get back to a routine life all played a major role stopping us. So the furthest point was Bali, Indonesia as you have seen in our Flickr pictures.

We have now started the way back up. Passing by the Malaysian Borneo (Maiku’s favorite destination) then heading to the KL, my favorite, and then the City of Angels aka Bangkok, which will be our last stop before we head home on 4th of February. Home to Finland!

But let’s not talk about that, there is still lots of experiences to tell and share before our journey home.

Malaysian Borneo’s biggest city is Kota Kinabalu, which means one of Air Asia’s destinations; we flew there from Jakarta and stayed at the best backpacker’s lodge ever, Kinabalu Backpackers. It was a small place run by a lovely young Chinese Malaysian couple. Borneo is magnificent, unfortunately Maiku got fever (again!) at the first 3 days which stopped most of our action – well the weather wasn’t our best friend either, this time of the year tends to be rainy. Floods!

But not to fear, nothing stopped us before and nothing will now, and so we decided to visit the jungles. I am no Tarzan but it’s worthy trying. So we took a bus ride to Sandakan, or the exact location will be Sepilok Orangutan Sactuary. Orangutans, as we discovered, are very shiny and gentle animals, it takes lots of patience to see one and be able to take close up photos of them.

We then decided to take a daily tour to meet the funniest monkeys ever, Mr. Nose Monkey and his family, the Proboscis monkeys which only exist in Borneo and live in the wild in the deep of the jungle. Guess what, we took a small boat (I had to face my water fears) and spent a great day with our expert guide Mr. Aji , tracking the lovely wild nature. All details come in Maiku’s future post, stay tuned: she will shock you!

It isn’t over here; in my next post I will share with you the experience of a lifetime, have you ever imagined me playing Tarzan, well 50 meters above ground and walking on a rope…

Sasi (Borneo,Malaysia)!

P.S: Have you seen a flower called Rafflesia? Biggest flower on the globe, pictures will be brought to you on MaikuSasi.com!

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To the monkeys

Posted on January 26, 2009 | Leave a comment

About half an hour before Jakarta, the views from train window changed from lush green rice paddies to shackles, trash and more trash. These slums and shackles accommodate thousands of dwellers, who have moved from countryside to the capital in hope of better life and jobs. I think it would have been better off in the rural area, where you can at least grow your own rice and vegetables.

Kids playing literally in between of the train tracks while their mums washing laundry on really dirty looking water sources – which probably serves also as drinking water wells. Fathers (if around) collecting garbage like plastic bottles and cardboard to sell, to get some money to buy food. I assume there would be days when the family stays hungry. Not a chance to school or medical care, not a chance to get out – unless some miracle happens. It doesn’t.

The contrast to the central Jakarta is huge: sky scrapers, fashion boutiques, good cars. For us, Jakarta was mainly just an unavoidable destination to fly out. So the only day we had in there, we had already earlier decided to use for a zoo visit. I had read from Jakarta Post daily that there was four white tiger cubs been born just few days before, and also I wanted to see the Komodo Dragons since we didn’t had a change to visit the island itself.

To get to the zoo, you have to take a city bus. So we were waiting for one in the bus stop, and when the right number arrived, Sasi asked the money charger if it goes to the zoo. “Yes, to the monkeys”, he confirmed happily and had a little monkey imitation dance as well just to make sure. When we had to change to another bus, Sasi asked again, and this time both him and the money charger (different guy obviously) had the monkey dance. It seems Indonesians like monkeys the best.

The zoo itself was a bit shocking sight what comes to the living standard of animals. By development country measures, it is actually rather good, but the Third World zoo standards are far from the European ones. Having said that, the living conditions of the animals in the cages were far, far more better than countless human beings we saw during the trip.

Some of the much-liked monkeys seemed quite apathetic, just sitting and staring, some even begging for treats. Same with most of the bears except the ones which were neurotic. Orangutans lied on their backs looking like extremely drunken hobos. We also wondered if the Komodos were tranquilized. Thinking back, it seemed as the whole zoo would have been high. Apart from big cats, which seemed mostly irritated and bored.

We didn’t first find the white tigers at all. I even learned the word in Indonesian when asking directions to ‘harimau putih’. At last, there was one male. But no cubs or their mother. I had assumed though that they would be out in public since they were still so small. I was disappointed anyway. But then Sasi wandered a bit further and came back to me eyes glittering: you have to come here fast!

He had managed to find the care-keeper of the tigers, and had agreed with him to take us to see the puppies. So backstage we went, and he rolled up a plastic cover of one cage. And there they were, four cubs and their mother. The cutest little things ever, pure white and fluffy, shining blue eyes just barely open. They couldn’t yet walk properly since they were only about two weeks old. We were not allowed too close not to disturb the nursing mama, but even from a bit further and behind the bars, it was still the experience of a lifetime.

Sorry about the bad picture quality, had to take them obviously behind the bars and without flash.

And the names of the little ones?
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono named after four Indian white tiger cubs Ayu, Asri, Kasih, and Sinar in Ragunan Zoo.
“Kasih is to love others, Ayu is beauty, Asri is for the environment, and Sinar is a light of kindness,” President Yudhoyono explained about the meanings of the cubs` names.
The four tiger cubs, consisting of three females and one male, were born in the zoo on December 26, 2008.
ANTARA News

(Indian? I guess the daily means Bengal tiger.)

THIS, by the way, is an excellent tiger site.

Maiku, who loves tigers.

Ps:
On isot valkoiset tiikerit karanneet,
on kadonneet jäljet länsituuleen.
Ja rukous kiirii moskeijaan hiljaiseen kun
isot valkoiset tiikerit katoaa pimeyteen.
-Dingo

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Obamania and mango trees

Posted on January 21, 2009 | 1 Comment

Congratulations, Mr. President.

A few hours ago, I watched Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony in a hostel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, alongside with about a dozen of international backpackers. All but one of us were non-Americans.

“And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.”

In BBC’s programme, there was a report from Obama’s ancestors home village in Kenya. They were celebrating wildly to have their “own” American president. But Kenyans are not the only ones claiming Obama as their own son. Indonesians also think him as theirs: Obama spend four years of his childhood in an elementary school in Jakarta. He also has Indonesian step sister and more than 50 Indonesian step cousins. Indonesians happily remark that Obama is the first ever American president who has fallen out of a mango tree!

So the whole Indonesia is now suffering from Obamania. If there was plenty of knick-knack obamabilia street sellers in Washington, so there was in Jakarta: t-shirts, hats, mugs, fridge magnets and patches with his picture, DVDs, even an Obama action hero figure! And if that was not enough, it is now a trend to name new-born sons as Obama, Barry or Obambang (the former favourite of Indonesian boy names was Ryan or Rian after the Manchester United football player Ryan Giggs – don’t ask me why HE was the football hero in there, I don’t know).

Obamania, of course, is a world wide phenomena at the moment. For many, more important than mango trees are the fact that he has first-hand experience of racism through his family and more still, he has woken up on a prayer call from a minaret as a child, even if he is Christian.

“We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.”

hope

He has managed to unite not only the Americans but also the globe. It is incredible how he has turned people to put their hopes to one man. Obviously the mankind is waiting for a new Messiah to follow, and Obama is an answer for prayers of many. He is truly the President of the World. But he certainly has now an enormous, gigantic task ahead. a loads of promises, and I hope they won’t be empty talk.

“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.
And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.”

While watching the speech with fellow travelers, I have to confess I was holding back tears. And judging by the faces of others around me, they felt the same. It felt like an important moment of history, and a turning point. Economic crisis, climate change, wars and injustice. He truly needs to be an action hero to battle with all of these. And also he has a great task ahead to ensure the Arab world of his intentions. Muslims are still cautious and wait for his responses to his promises.

“–our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.”

I am also waiting. He has promised a lot, and we will see if he has strength, wisdom and, first and foremost, will to act. When Britain’s Tony Blair was elected, there was huge expectations. He didn’t fulfill them but failed miserably and was the second hated politician in the world after George W.

It is obviously a bit naive to think that one man could bring a huge difference, but it is heart-breaking to see the hopes of the people from Jakarta to Jenin, from Kathmandu to Kinshasa. I wish -  no, I pray -  that Obama can fulfill at least a part of the promises. It would be too harsh if he fails badly in the hands of powerful lobbers of US industry and conservative right wing religious idiots. I think people would loose the last of their hopes for better then.

So what lies ahead then? Astrologers and fortune-tellers have answers already. Born in Aug. 4 1961 Obama’s star sign is Leo, which is a symbol of power itself. According to an Indian astrologer, his numbers are 2 (from Jan 20), 4 (from his birthday) and 8 (from 4+4, the 44th president of USA), which signify as leadership, happiness and success, and that he is also born under the stars of common sense, pragmatism, and also extraordinary communication abilities and charisma. Well, that all we know already.

A Chinese numerologist also calms down those who feel anxious of 44th president. In Cantonese, the numbers 44 are phonetically similar to words ‘die die’. However, numerologist Weng Shi Ming says that Obamas unique year of birth makes him immune to the effects of 44. He has been born in a symmetrical year, an “upside-down” year which is the same if you rotate it upside down. 1961 was the last of this kind of years until 6009… Obama also takes power now when the Chinese new year is on the hand, and the coming year is the year of ox. Ming says this is no coincidence, since ox points to a person who is a born leader.
- So, coming to power this year is definitely a good year to Obama, says Ming according to a Malaysian daily New Straits Times.

Hope so.  Meanwhile, lets grow more mango trees. Who knows what significance them have for the future politicians…

Maiku
(All quotations from Barack Obama’s Inauguration Address, according to The New York Times)

PS. I lke the fact that even if Obama is a charismatic leader, he is so obviously a human, too. He makes mistakes, and he also adores his beautiful wife and daughters. There was this funny little anecdote about his daugther Malia, 10, in the newspapers: she put more pressure to him to have a good speech. – It better be good, she said to daddy.  And what he does? The first thing after the speech, he turned to Malia: “Was it good?” It shows clearly in the TV. I don’t know what she replied but if I answer for her, it would be “yes daddy, it was good”.

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