He Always Makes A Way

These past few weeks have been of quiet contemplation and reflection thus, the silence on the blog front. Mainly because my mind was clouded with many things that were work related. All this roots from my job adjustment. Yes this saga has been ongoing and I believe that it has finally close to a resting point.

So after all the political battles and the lack of clear direction, things have as usual come out in my favour! Yes really it has, they always do! Sometimes I wonder why I was worried to start with but I guess it is human nature to worry about things that are not there or things that are not certain.

I was so worried about how the new workload was going to affect me, and the last thing I wanted was the job to steal time away from the wife and Mojo, especially when she comes out. I would like to be there for every moment, if possible, I know I can’t but I wish I can spent all my time with her. But at the end of the day my workload rather than being added on to was halved. Yes really, halved! Best of all, it was not me who wanted to have it halved, it was taken from me happily. This has to be God, making His way in my life to see things coming for good.

Over the past few days, I heard of some new developments through unofficial channels. It got me not so much worried but just a little concerned. First thing on my mind was Maju and Mojo, and how it will affect my time with them. On one hand it was good for my career but on the down side it also meant myself being neck deep in managerial politics, corporate subterfuge and backstabbing, which honestly does NOT appeal to me. I’d rather be neck deep in dirty Mojo diapers!

Being concerned over this, I just heard today from the same unofficial channel that this was not going to happen for me. This could be viewed as a setback career wise but, I believe it can wait for another day because my job and position will always be there but the time with my Maju and Mojo will never be replaced. I understand this concept and so I do not want to miss a thing at all. I leave this divine intervention again to my Jesus, who always makes a way for me to have what I truly and sincerely desire.

M super blessed!

Bullies

This morning as part of my blog readings, I came across a blog post by one of my subscribed bloggers who was having an issue with name calling. It sort of brought me back to my younger days when I was in school. It might be surprising for some people to know that I was very much bullied at a very young age. If you look at me now, it is hard to imagine me being bullied but you’d probably think that I am a person who was in fact the bully. Well….read on.

I used to be teased and bullied during my early school years because of my small size. Yes, yes I used to be quite small sized when I was in Primary school. I was skinny and short and for that reason I was bullied quite a bit. What made matters worse was my rather unique and uncommon name which resembled a popular local food item. So that became the name that I was associated to for a very, very long time.

I was pushed around, swatted at the back of the head by taller boys when we were in a assembly line (arranged by height of course), and of course pushed. I hate being pushed because I was small and as the Singapore education system would have it, we were required to carry all our textbooks plus workbooks to and from school everyday, resulting in an inhumanely large and heavy back pack. So imagine small boy + heavy bag = high centre of gravity. When an object with a high centre of gravity is pushed hard from behind, it topples. So I did fall down quite dramatically, much to the anger of people behind, who did not see what happened.

So why did I not tell the teacher? Are you crazy? If the teacher escorted me everywhere I would but that was certainly not the case so, I kept quiet. Being from a Christian Brother School, when you progress to Secondary school you’d most likely move to the affiliated “big brother” school, meaning all other kids would move to the same school and that would include the bullies as well.  And so it continued and got worse of course. It got to a point that I could not take it anymore after nearly 8 years of it.

I remember there was this huge guy in my class who kept picking on me. He was almost twice my size and he was evil. From, twisted staples on my chair, to paper bullets being shot to the back of my neck, to the occasional man handling and to the daily naming calling my patience was wearing thin and a monster was brewing inside of me. Then one day, I was so angry and irritated with his antics that I lashed out at him in desperation in front of everyone in class, as luck would have it, there was a bag behind him and when he stepped back to avoid me he tripped and fell hard on his bottom much to everyone's amazement and amusement. The laughs from everyone embarrassed him so much he started to cry!! The loudest laughs came from the other kids who were bullied like me. I did not want to make him cry but, it drove the point home.

My David and Goliath episode became legendary and from that point onwards, no one messed with me, and I was left alone pretty much from a bullying perspective. Life became much better from that point onwards and I was able to start enjoying school finally.

Shamefully, when I left Secondary school and my eventual growth spurt kicked in, I became a bully myself. Yes, I did and now I am sad to admit it, and I do regret it. In my defense I was not the worse bully but I was part of that group. It did not last long as age was catching up and the bully concept was not accepted any longer the older we got. Oh well, I became the person I detested.

Its all part of growing up to be frank. The events leading up to my "uprising" has somewhat defined a part of me and a principle of mine which I still hold on to and that is, "never let anyone take advantage or take me from granted". Of course the regretful bully that I became taught me compassion and control which I have eventually come to master. Looking back, I doubt I will be the tenacious person I am if it had not been for that huge guy who bullied me non-stop.

M 

Back to Work

The first few days have been a rollercoaster of sorts. When I sent out my “out of office” notice last week I received a call from my CEO who was expecting to speak to me the following week when he was in Singapore regarding a job change; “a promotion” he called it. First off, I was surprised he called me as it was the first time he did that, on my direct line, and next was this promotion. I knew it was a spin off something else but I was happy to be singled out for it. Praise God for His favor.

But honestly who does that!??? Dropping a bomb like that just when you are about to go on a much needed holiday. Its seems almost sadistic. You guys might be thinking, eh promotion, what is there to be worried about? Well I did say it was “a spin” so it was not that straightforward, sometimes it never is.

So I tried as much as possible to block this “promotion” out of my mind when I was in the Maldives but it kept creeping in till my wife said “"Ok, lets talk it out”. Smart woman that one. The thoughts did plague me a few times after our discussion but the draw of the island was too great.

So now that I am back to work, the usual stuffs hitting the fan and there is so much to do and as expected “the spin” is on maximum load. For me the maintenance of sanity is key in these trying times. Thank God, for my support structure of my wife, friend and God. But what has kept me sane other than this are the fading memories of Maldives which have been immortalized in the pictures I have captured. Here is one of my favorites in HDR:

 

 

Imagine this vision in front of you as you lie on a four poster bed, with a good book in your hands. An endless soundtrack of crashing waves is playing in the background with some Mozart or Norah Jones on top playing on CD just for an additional mood.

The gentle warm sea breeze is wafting in your open villa door but its cool inside thanks to air conditioning. The love of your life is next to you and this vision of a lifetime in front of you…….

Ahhhhhh…….I am relaxed now…are you? How can you not be!

M still sane.

Where does the time go?

There are so many things that I need to blog about but the time, the time. Over the past few weeks I have been blogging regards to some random topics but there is some big news to share and I am still devising the blog post in my head. The news is huge so I want to put it in a way that I can look back at it memorably. So the reasons are selfish. :-0

I have been so occupied with the many happenings at home, office, church and life. But the biggest time sucker has been my recent obsessions with the show “Lost”. Yes it is a silly excuse but its real, the show that I have avoided watching for some reason or other has got me. I guess personally, I wondered how long a show that involved a bunch of guys crash landing on a island could sustain interest. But after 5 seasons, its cult type status is there and it is still one of the most torrentted shows on the Net.

So eventually I took the plunged and downloaded Season 1 which intrigued me so much that I commenced on an ultra marathon of sort of Lost. Within a few weeks I have reached the end of the 3rd season and about to commence on Season 4, much to the irritation of the wife who constantly tells people that, “He is lost in Lost!”

Other than Lost I have to say my time is more precious than ever, and this period has been one off amazingly good news, yes I will share this big news soon (I promise) and pretty lousy news, not for me personally but its saddening to hear. I will not share the bad news as it is pointless. It sort of explains the posting absence, as the feelings inside are so mixed, that expressing them would be flat and hollow. The best thing to do is to quote and read scripture, so I have.

Psalms 91 has been a close friend of mine, not for the swine flu as previously posted but for general protection of my very human heart. It has kept me sane in an insane world and strong when I should been weak and comforted when I should have been scared. Its is real refuge when there is no one to turn to.

Just uttering to myself “A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near Me.” makes the difference.

M under His wings.

Sex Education

Growing up in the 80s, sex education was just being introduced as part of a school’s curriculum, and looking back, I think the educators who were tasked with this did not have much of a clue of what to teach without becoming too pornographic. From some of the articles I have read here and there in blogs and forums, looks like we are still clueless.

Being from the good all boys Catholic school, when the fact that we were going to attend a session on sex education came to light, we all got excited because some of us though we were going to watch porn! Of course there was no porn but it was pretty darn close. It was a shocking audio (I repeat audio only) of a snippet from Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, the part on sex education. Yes you heard me Monty Python! For folks who don’t know what this is, do a search with keywords “Monty Python Sex Education” on You Tube and you will be shocked at how this could have been something used in a Sex Ed session for pubescent boys! If you did a search I want to re-iterate it was audio only, as I love my alma mater.

After this audio, which to be honest left students utterly confused as they were not prepared for what they heard, we proceeded to repeat after the teacher words like “Penis”, “Vagina” and I can’t remember what else. Then the talk steered toward the subject of pre-martial sex, and the possible consequence of unwanted pregnancies (sexually transmitted diseases were not that much of a “mainstream threat” at this point so not discussed) thus leading to the subject of abortion, where photo stills of fetal remains were shown to again shock us rather than educate us. I really can’t remember if condoms were mentioned at all but after 20 years, what I have said above remains in my memory.

So verdict, is this proper sex education? Then again what is proper sex education? Why do I say that we are still clueless?

With the recent AWARE saga which I tried to ignore but was unable to because of Twitter and the constant barrage of blog posts on the subject, one thing that was brought to light was its Comprehensive Sexuality Education Program. Before I go on, I will say I have tried to find the complete contents of this program but was not able to but in my “research” these 4 points below seem to be all I saw and basically the basis of the uproar! I do concede that I do not know if these 4 points from the Instructor’s guide is small percentage or the entire crux of the program but it any case it is worrying for me as a to be parent. So with all the caveats here they are:

1. Pre-marital sex is neutral
2. Anal sex is neutral
3. Virginity is a state of mind
4. Sex is fun

Perhaps the only point I can agree with is point 4. but having said that we need to remember that the audience here is impressionable and pubescent teenagers. Of course the most ridiculous is point 3.  Virginity only becomes a state of mind when it is lost and the guilt sets in. Let’s be honest when we lose it (that is before marriage) we all felt a sense of loss and thus trying making it a state of mind is just a way of justifying it. I am not saying that we should stigmatize teens who have lost it but rather than giving them this guilt and which could eventually lead to a “lose” lifestyle they need to be able to return to self respect and worth. They need to learn and not take these acts lightly.

Sex is an intimate subject, which should not be approached in the same way as other “civic” driven concepts. Like say drug addiction, where someone from SANA come and gives a talk or a presentation.

For parents or to be parents who read my blog, make up your own minds but, based on this my opinion is that this form of Sex Ed, cheapens the virtue and the importance of this act. Sex Ed at school is just one of the avenues where our kids can learn it is ultimately the choice of parents to show them the proper virtues and meaning of self respect.

M IMHO (gosh yet another caveat)!

Heightened Hearing

It's really strange my hearing which used to be a little off has become super acute. After years of listening to Metallica and Led Zeppelin way too loud on really bad earphones as well as going to the live firing range without earplugs during my Army days, my hearing has always been; "Sorry can you please repeat ah?"

However in the last 2 weeks my hearing has become much more acute and I am starting to hear things more clearly. Nothing escapes me, such that I can even hear a bug walking on the floor! Yes it's bizarre but true. This past week alone I have Baygonned 7 bugs on different occasions two of which I was woken from sleep up by their scurrying!

Another manifestation was when I was on sick duty at home with the wife. She would be asleep in the bedroom while I'd be TVing in the living room. I could hear every time she woke up to go the bathroom or whatever, mind you the living room and the bedroom are not exactly near each other in my longish house.

Finally the things that go bump in the night. You know those things. I am hearing them too. This one is frustrating because I will hear it and say "what was that?" moreover, I am getting startled more easily and by more things much to the amusement of the wife. At least I make her laugh which is always good.

So what going on? I have always had 20/10 vision which is much better than normal vision and now I have hyper hearing. Looking on the bright side of things I think God is renewing my youth.  That would explain the errant pimple last week. Hmmm I think I am on to something. Perhaps I can use my new found powers for good like Superman. So come on Uber Strength what you waiting for, your holding us up.

Have no fear, Super Majimo is here.

M Smiling  

The Unknown, Retrenchment, Roaches & Silly Molos

The past few weeks have been revelatory for the wife and me. We are venturing into the unknown as we grasp with something new. It is exciting but sometimes scary but mostly exciting challenging sort, for me personally. I guess that is part of life’s journey or shall I say rollercoaster without sounding too much like Mr Keating.

Also there has been news in the air about retrenchment and to eventually see the axe coming for some selected guys who I work with closely is tough. I understand the rationale behind it but the idea and the knowledge that something like our jobs that we sometimes take for granted can be changeable is awakening. BUT for me, I know lah; nothing can come near me, as I am protected, just like how I am from the swine flu. It may sound strange to some but its true, just need to apply it.

As for roaches and silly molos, I think they fall into the same paragraph. In case, you wondering what a “molo” is, it’s my terminology for a bozo. I do not want to pinpoint my encounter with the silly molo (as there have been a few) in question as it is pointless but know that I am not deterred or derailed. And since we are on the subject, I also had an encounter with roaches two nights in a row that I have been a little tramatised. I was actually woken up from my sleep by its scurrying and eventually Baygon-ed the buggers. Now I can’t seem to shake the idea of roaches from my mind when I sleep, thus leading to a string of sleepless nights.

But God-incidentally, I saw this yesterday from The One Thing, as quoted:

Psalm 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.

God “gives His beloved sleep”. Who are His beloved? You and I! Because we are in Christ, we are His beloved. (Ephesians 1:6, 2 Thessalonians 2:13)

So there is no need to face these sleepless nights brought about by worry or fear because it is not worth much or it is in vain without Him being in control. I may have temporary success on my own but permanence can only be achieved by casting my cares to Him and letting Him handle it. So there; it has been cast and I am letting go now of ALL things!

M Free

Real Reason for Easter

When you think Easter, you see colourful rabbits, beautifully painted Easter eggs which are hidden and hunted by children. Not sure how these practices and symbols got attached to this day but to me Easter is so much more.

It is a day to rejoice because Jesus has resurrected from the grave. He who knew no sin became the embodiment of sin for us that we will be saved. Not just for a time but for forever; we are sin-free.

It has no hold on us and we are removed from the bondage of guilty, pain, anguish, suffering, etc. With His finished work we can boldly enter into a land of undeserved favour, superabundant blessings, complete wholeness, never ending grace and complete righteousness.

This is what He did for us, and Easter is a yearly reminder of the price that God paid for us. As John 3:16 goes

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

But be of good cheer and rejoice that even though He died three days later he rose from the dead. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Taken from 1 Cor 15:54-57

M Rejoicing

Camera Shy

It's funny but something really strange has happened. I've gotten what I like to call "camera shy" but, not in the conventional sense. This term is associated with being shy to have ones photo taken. Well I do not like that either but in most cases I am the fellow behind the camera.

So for me "camera shy" meant, the shyness of walking around with a large camera snapping pictures as I walk along. Huh? But you see in a place like SGP this activity is now preceded by strange looks and basically an uncomfortable feeling.

This never used to bother me and I would just be snapping pictures without caring who or what was looking my way as long as I got the picture I wanted I did what I wanted. Often times I did get chased off because some people thought I was "invading" their privacy. Of course I would never do that but SGPoreans are getting hyper sensitive or wait is it me that is hyper sensitive?

This should somewhat explains the near 20 day lag in 365. I will catch up and I will get over this silly shyness.

M overcoming

8 Proven Ways To Make Life Better

Here are some easy and proven ways to improve your everyday life. I am not a motivational speaker but just an ordinary guy living in an extraordinary world. So stop sitting back and watching life go by cease the day.

1) Stop thinking of yourself as the reason why things are the way they are. Self blame never got anyone anywhere. Forgive yourself, dust the dirt of yourself and start looking ahead.

2) Do something that you always wanted to do. Don’t just ponder about it or think about it. DO IT, take action! If it is a new hobbies start it, now!

3) Forgive the people who have wronged you even if you are no longer in touch with them. Just forgive them in your mind and let go of that baggage.

4) Start a diary or a journal or even better blog to capture the great reasons why life is great. No matter how tough things get, never focus on the negative, look for that bright spark make an entry. Looking back you will remember only the good and never the bad.

5) Go hug that special someone, and keep trying till they hug you back. If you are married hug your spouse, if you are a kid hug your sibling, if you are an only child hug your best friend. If you have no friends: read 6). Idea is to make someone else feel special.

6) Get in touch with that old friend who you enjoyed spending time with, find them through Face book, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, even try the phone book. But find that person who made an impact in your life.

7) Spend time with your family. If you have kids, children spell LOVE as T.I.M.E., if you are not married spend time with your parents over a meal. Never neglect the people we often neglect the most.

8) Make each day count. Wake up each day thanking God you are alive and proclaim that this will be an awesome day. Sounds cheesy I know, but it works. If you try it and stick to it, I assure you; you will see better days and will surely benefit from it.

M

Don’t Talk to Strangers

You know the world has gone upside down when you see conventional wisdom going down the toilet. Perhaps not conventional wisdom but common sense. In conjunction with the SKM the “Hello Campaign” has been launched, with the tag line that goes;

 Go say “HELLO!” to a random stranger, make a new friend and show the true spirit of humanity!

 

The above goes against the advice of my parents and Rick Springfield which has been hammered into my head since I was a kid. Come on lets be real, while I am not so much against the idea of being friendly but this is quite forced lah. To be honest while it might brighten up someone’s day or totally freak them out, the idea is somewhat cute in a stalker kind of way.

So the next time someone comes up to you says “Hello” just say “Hello” back only if the person is wearing a bright yellow t-shirt, as part of this campaign, if not start running the opposite direction.

M amused!

Cocoon

We all take for granted the roof over our heads. It cocoons us from the elements and all nasties. Having lived in relatively old houses for all of my life, has been a privilege of mine. But with older houses comes roof leaks, floor leaks (this one is new: whereby water from the ground water table overflows and seeps upward!), and other structural issues.

Today the roof @ JK is leaking, actually it has been that way since the cats in the roof incident, and in an effort to safely remove the cats, the roof was compromised and is now leaking. After the recent heavy downpours, we came home to a flooded bedroom, yes it is leaking in our bedroom.

So in an effort to find the source of the leak a hole was made in our roof, a gaping hole in the bedroom showing the innards to the roof. So temporarily lost is that cocoon feeling that we all should have when we are sleeping that we often take for granted.

Sometimes, the little and insignificant count so much when they are gone. To be fixed.

M glad the end is near

Singapore Kindness Movement

 

Remember this fellow?

He is back with the kick off of the Singapore Kindness Movement with the aim of  encouraging Singaporeans to make a positive commitment to gracious living through simple acts of kindness in their daily activities. In a bid to be more a more gracious society.

Yes yet another loathsome public campaign to better ourselves. Singapore is well know for it campaigns, no spitting lah, no littering lah, save water lah, have just 2 babies in the 80s to now have more babies lah, speak better English..oopps. In a sense these campaigns have sort of transcended from being about basic human cleanliness to campaigns driven toward Nation building. But now with this campaign well I must say it is a little step backward and shows how little we have learnt.

I am sure having another courtesy campaign would be an admission of failure so we have this Kindness movement, from which the tenets are the same as the 80s courtesy campaign. But serious do we really need this? I think Singaporeans are decent people, of course we are not perfect but….that should not be the aim ya!

M wondering

Ah Dush!

That is the sound you will hear when an actor in an Indian movie hits a villain. Of course this is followed by the villain flying a ridiculous distance or somersaulting from the punch. This is one thing I remember as a kid growing and watching these fight sequences, not to mention the victory dances that follow. The one below is a classic.

Of course, things have changed since this jaded clip, but the far from reality theme has not changed. Here is one more recent video with an actor called Vijayakanth.

I remember this guy well from my childhood as he resembled a close friend of mine. He has gone the way of some mega actors and actresses by entering into politics. I am told by my Indian colleagues, that by entering politics he can continue being an actor.

M LOL!

Emmaus

It took me a while to find the place that I would like to end of this dream escapade. The wife said, “Eh your dream thingy is quite …....” I answered, well it more for me to take some time to think of places I would like to go that is all. So as planned today is my final stop, so I had to make it count.

So where?? Bora Bora? Machu Picchu?? Tibet?? Paris??. I settled on this…picture taken by Jared

Does not seem much right, well this is Emmaus Road. When the tomb was discovered to be empty by Peter, another two of His disciples were walking on this road and were conversing about the recent events, as He drew closer. Their eyes were restrained so they would not recognize Him.

He asked them what they were talking about and they recounted that they believed in a man called Jesus who they believed was the redeemer but He was condemned to death and was crucified. From this point began what would be the most amazing bible study ever! Imagine the Son of God himself expounding the meaning of the Bible from start to end?

And now imagine yourself walking this same road…..its mind blowing, hair standing and probably will be the most moving experience I will probably look forward to encounter.

M back on the road!

Ireland

Still sticking to all things mystical, Ireland is a place that I will have to go in this lifetime as many times as possible. There are so many things that I love that are from this little island (not so little actually; 3rd largest in Europe) that going there is an obvious choice. Land of leprechauns, four leaf clovers and ….

U2; yes this “little know” Irish Band which is now safe to say the biggest band in the world hails from this place, not mentioning many other wonderful acts as well. But more U2, whose impact on my life has been profound. My iPhone will always have at least one U2 album and no matter what playlist I may have there is bound to be one U2 song.

Swirling clouds tumble as the storm begins to calm, settle, breathe in the moment, then break through the smooth, light head to the bittersweet reward. Unmistakably Guinness.

Picture by MikeNeilson

Poetic right, well I believe it is and to me, drinking it is poetic as well. Probably my most favorite alcoholic drink in the world. If I had a choice to drink just one type of drink this would be it! Oh yes it will have to be a Guinness Draught not that bottled stuff. Its velvety texture feels glorious in your mouth till the very last lingering drop, it’s pure beauty, nectar of the gods. Its making me thirsty just thinking about it.

How can I end off without an amazing Ireland picture well here it is. This picture taken by Glenbourne At Home called Among The Wicklow Hills is the same place where the movie P.S. I Love You was filmed.

M dreaming

Mont Saint Michel

Next stop is north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River in Normandy, to where you will see this. Mont Saint Michel is a medieval Benedictine Abbey and steepled church that occupies most of the 1km-diameter clump of rocks jutting out of the waters of the English Channel.

What's place special is that it's connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide, making it inaccessible, and revealed at low tide, giving this place a mystical quality. Now of course, there is an actual road to the mount.

I am not sure when my love affair with this place started. Probably, a random image I saw on a NatGeo ad which caught my attention but, it has stayed with me. I was unable to find a good non-HDR picture, to convey my awe for this place but this is a pretty good picture by Mark W Harris.

M dream voyaging

Seattle

Next stop...yeap as the picture shows it would be Seattle. Having had the priveledge of travelling to quite a few parts of the US, this is one place that sort has a magical appeal to me for quite a few reasons (as trivial as they may sound).

First is the picture above, its a HDR shot taken by Surrealize which shows the city skyline and Mount Rainer. The picture is real and though there is some HDR merging to show the full detail which the human eye can see but a camera can't and he does it so well.

It's the birth place of Jimi Hendrix and where Nirvana was formed. So musically this city is quite revolutionary and its not limited to just this. There are large influences of music that stemmed from this city, just too many to mention.

Mount Rainier, of course. Another great picture by papalars.


Seattle somehow brings me back to my travels in Tasmania, it has the good mix of water, city and mountains. Not to mention the fact that is just a hop away to British Columbia, Canada. And with Hollywood's love for this place in shows like Sleepless in Seattle, Frasier and Grey's Anatomy. This would be a good second city stop. What do you guys think?

M still dreaming.

Karakoram Highway

Picture taken by pmorgan

My first stop on my imaginary journey is the highest paved international road in the world. It has always been a place that I have wanted to go, not an absolute need but just an awesome place to just sit and go "WOW!" I mean just look at it!


The Karakoram Highway connects Kashgar, China and Rawapindi, Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 m/15,397 ft. Interestingly it is also referred to as National Highway 35 or N35. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is also referred to as the "Ninth Wonder of the World."

My attraction to this place was mainly due to the fact that this is a rather unheard of part of the Silk Route thus the sense of adventure was there. But the desire was cemented when I came upon the Lonely Planet guide for this place while browsing at some bookshop. Looking at the pictures I was struck with utter amazement of the magical scenery, and said to myself "Ok I got to see this with my own eyes!"

So where to next.....

M getting there

Runaway!

Ever felt like running away? Just packing the stuff up, grabbing the wife and heading to someplace where no one can find you? Yes today is the day I feel this way. Just want to escape all the usual usuals.

Since blogging is a means of escape let me go on a mental trip, you are welcome to join. Hmmm where shall I go first?

M dreaming….

Picture from http://www.alltelleringet.com/