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A Note to My Brother

February 22, 2013
My brother turned 23 two days ago. 
Happy Birthday !

This is a short post for my top list reader, my brother, a silent reader from the start : 

Homestay : Doodle Travelogue

February 17, 2013

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Hello !



Note : I've finally finished my doodle travelogue for the home-stay program. This doodles are mainly on my summarized experience while I was there. It's just a rough fast doodle, ignore my hand-writing. Enjoy ! I had to make a clickable link below to the page because of the 9 pages post of illustrations. 



Book : Life of Pi - Part 2

Later I read the book, it took me 2 weeks. I read Chapter 92 : Floating Island , on the 2nd last day before finishing it off the day after. Although I love the whole story, this particular chapter attracted me the most. By far, the book is a long version of the movie, the detailed part. I am thankful for reading it after I watched the movie because if I didn't, I may not find what I was searching for. 

This part is only rationally acceptable if you were just as curious as I am about what the Floating Carnivorous Island meant, because my main purpose of digging it deeper is to understand the chapter. The book version differed a bit than the movie, there was a scene of Pi met another survivor on a boat , a blind French man, they became friends after being alone for so long , but Richard Parker ate the man brutally out of hunger. Pi then became devastated , he said " Something in me died then that has never come back to life ". 

The Floating Island : 

I asked myself, if those animals were the representation of the survivors in the shipwreck, then what was the meaning of the island? I then come across David T. 's detailed thoughts and it was all just clear to me. Here is the combination of his findings and many more other reviewer's thoughts. I only focused on the chapter 92 alone.

Summary :- 

Pi - Human
Richard Parker - His inner self 
Floating Island - Religion/s 
The boat - Faith (Belief in God)
Survival Manual Book - Kitab 
Sea & Sun - Harsh Realities 
Trees - Clergy , Rabbis, Imam, Priests, etc. 
The main carnivorous tree with the tooth - Highest Pope , Imam, etc
Meerkats - Followers of the Religion 

To stay on the Island - To give up on finding the meaning of life and just cling to religion. 
To leave the island - To find something to answer those questions and be closer to God.

In the open sea, Pi found an island, the island offered food and shelter, it gave comfort. On the island, along with the trees, there are thousands of meerkats. At night they cling to the trees to save their life from the acidic land, in daylight they come down and continue living. After a while Pi found out that the island is carnivorous, it eats the living that stayed on the island. If he choose to stay and forget civilization, he will eventually be eaten by the island. If he leaves the island, he will need to fight for his life to survive. But he chose to leave.

Message :
That's how it is. When Human faces a spiritual crisis in life, religion seems so comforting, a claim that it makes us closer to God. While practicing everything that the religion teaches us, we somehow forgot to understand the meaning of it. We let some questions unanswered. Although religion can lead us to God, can nourish us spiritually, it doesn't give us the main answer to our spiritual questions. Staying forlorn in a religion can kill us slowly from the inside, we will then left feeling empty. Because we can't understand the reason of everything. 
The main message is to set on a journey and find God, to have faith and to learn to understand in much deeper risky ways instead of just following the path.

Movie : Life of Pi - Part 1

February 15, 2013
I took a month to actually be ready to write this, since I watched the movie in January, and decided to read the 428 pages novel written in 100 chapters , so I would have a better understanding. The lack of knowledge in translating hidden meaning from a story *if there are hidden meanings, lead me into making extra effort in reading other people's reviews, and thoughts - all over the world. My favorite was from David T. , whom helped me to understand 'The Floating Island' chapter, by far my most favorite part in the story. 

The book is about India, religions, a zoo, a shipwreck, and survival. 
Stories in a story. 

At time when Yann Martel wrote the book, he said he was having a minor existential life crisis. He wrote 2 books before Life of Pi but did not became bestsellers. He started to question about his sole purpose of writing and even considered to get 'real job'. This is normal for people who choose to live a life as a full-time artists or writers. 

Which then after spending 13 months in India, in 3 trips : in second trip was mostly on practical research on the book and the third time to tidy up details of the stories, he published Life of Pi. Read how he wrote the book here.

When I watched the movie, I fell in love with : 

1) The idea of the freedom to talk about various religions so openly. 
When questioned about it, Pi just asked what s wrong in wanting to love God, no matter in which religion ? I loved it because I always felt the same about how the world is separating religions in quite a harsh way when the sole purpose of each religion is to devote oneself to God/s. 

2) The visual effects, the movie was so beautiful, vibrant, and colourful. 
It reached my ultimate standard of a great movie. The way they portrayed India was so beautiful , the scene with the swimmers in the crystal clear French swimming pool was interesting, the scene with the whale and glowing planktons was breath-taking, and not forgetting the floating island. I was wonderstruck. The color scheme and lighting was almost too perfect, and this statements came from the person who just saw the 2D movie once ! Those scenes keep on playing over and over again in my mind. That's how good it was. 

3) The idea of telling stories in a story and letting audience choose their own story. 
After being spoon fed for over 20 years plus when we watch stories, a movie with a little twist is like being given a smart phone when all we used before was a normal mobile phone. It is interesting and addictive, not a must but a bonus. 

4) Symbols & Hidden Meaning. 
Again, I love hidden meaning, but I am not well-equipped with the ability to decipher the codes. It's a long learning process. Having a story like this give me a spark that trigger my mind to explore the unknown. When I watched the movie I knew it talked in codes, it was just too odd. Animals, religion, the floating island? What makes a salable movie is not combining animal and religion and by all odds, floating island in the middle of the open sea. 
There must be something else. 

So that was how it all started.

PS : Part 2 is my rambling thoughts on the meaning of some portions of the story, after a month of digging into various explanation. If I don't share it somewhere, I might explode ! In spiritual way, I found out that having a guide to decipher unknown things are the most blissful cheat-code anyone could ever find. If I choose to only watch the movie and read the book, I might not know a lot of things that I want to find out. Searching for guides are the best decision so far. For that, thank you Allah.

Doodle : Random Updates

February 14, 2013

Hello,


This is my doodle book for the previous Homestay Program in Pahang : Day 1 , Day 2 , other.
I haven't finish the touch-ups process, so I can't share the stories just yet.

The Sleepyheads stickers are still available , if you are thinking of decorating your own doodle books with my little sleepyheads stickers.

Small round : RM 1 each - Big round : RM 2 each - Rectangular : RM 2 each

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PS :

Anyhow, I am currently nominated in Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference & Awards (MITBCA) category : Tourism Photography & Arts Blog.  If you enjoy my traveling stories, photos and doodle travelogue, please vote for me !

How to vote ?
  • Click on this link.
  • Login using your Facebook account.
  • Find my blog's link : azreenchan.com
  • Click "VOTE"
Thanks in advance :)

Little Things 64 : Travel Thoughts

February 13, 2013

My heart pounds lightly when I read other people's stories on their traveling experience. Random tweets on never-ending interesting places annoy me. Countless pictures of different exotic destinations fascinate me. 

It is a daily fight.

A soft reminder to myself, not to be triggered by the world too much.
Take my time to explore in my own pace, my own way and my own money. 
Make it worth-waiting.

Running is not a way of living. 
Leaving reality is not a way of surviving. 

Don't count.
Don't compare.

Embrace your own life experience.
This is my little exploration stories.

MITBCA : Vote

February 12, 2013

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Hello !


How was your holiday ? I bet it was fun ! I stayed at home for 3 days in a row and had a massive headache last night. I guess I need to be in open space every once in a while to keep healthy. My holiday had been productive so far but who would want to read about other people doing works on their holiday, right ? 

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Anyhow, I am nominated in Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference & Awards (MITBCA) category : Tourism Photography & Arts Blog. Thank you so much for the nomination ! If you enjoy my traveling stories, photos and doodle travelogue, please vote for me !

How to vote ?
  • Click on this link.
  • Login using your Facebook account.
  • Find my blog's link : azreenchan.com
  • Click "VOTE" 
That's all !
Thank you for our supports & love.

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Here are my random doodle practice on holiday :
Both are random instragrammer I stalked on Instagram.
Mine would be tagname : azreenchan. 



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Homestay : Day 2 : Kmpg Peruas, Raub

February 11, 2013

Hello !


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Day 2 :

Home-stay Kg. Kuala Medang :


We woke up early in the morning and had a nice breakfast with our host family, before we started our outing. Our first destination was local little food factory. With a warm welcome, they showed us a demonstration on how they make Sambal Hitam and Mi Sanggul. It was my first time on tasting those Sambal Hitam, and I loved it ! We brought back home a bottle of Sambal Hitam and a packet of Mi Sanggul as complimentary gifts from them. 
PS : We finished up the Sambal Hitam in 5 days and I just made my own Mi Goreng Basah today using those Mi Sanggul - and it tasted good ! Or so I thought , plus my mom said it was nice too. 


Later, we had an interesting ride on a 4WD pickup truck to get to a local camp site near the river and a deer farm. I saw a huge spider while everyone was focusing on those shy deers. It was quite interesting to see them feeling much safer if we were separated by the wire fence than being together in open space. 
PS : Those deers ate banana ! A lot.

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Mi Sanggul & Sambal Hitam Demonstration :



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Deer Farm




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Our second : Homestay Kg. Peruas, Raub

We started our journey to the next Kampung in Raub after lunch and Zohor prayer. It took about an hour or so, to arrive to the destination. I had a short nap in the van and I saved my iPhone's battery for my use that afternoon, later we found out that we can't reached 3G in the area. Being an internet junkie *well, most of us were , I learned to survive without the net for a day :D 
PS : I survived no internet for almost a week while I was in Beijing. 

After enjoying a nice tea-time : Ubi Keledek with Gula Kabung and Pisang Wap , we walked around the Kampung. We went to the famous chalet called Chemerkau Chekas Hj Mustapa and saw their signature attraction : Kampung Joy Ride , a special vehicle using empty oil barrels that supposed to take us tour around the village that afternoon. But we missed the ride, maybe next time ?

We also visited their famous waterfall : Lata Jarum. When I arrived there, I was excited to see the exact spot of the previous pictures I saw in their website. The water was so cold and refreshing. The area was surrounded by green rainforest all around. It was getting dark, I wished we had stayed longer.

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Visit Lata Jarum & Pulau Chekas






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Accommodation & Facilities :
We stayed in a small comfortable chalet next to the river.
No internet connection , no 3G, no WiFi , yet.
Night : There were a nice cultural show by village kids , BBQ and karaoke session.

Contact :
En. Amran bin Hj. Husin
011.1102.4660
amranhusin@gmail.com
Homestay Kg. Peruas

For more info , visit :
Go2Homestay

Homestay : Doodle

February 10, 2013
I'll post my doodle's from the home-stay experience soon.
For now, please enjoy my long posts on the writing & photos version :D
Thank you ! 




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Homestay : Day 1 : Kmpg Kuala Medang


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Hello !


Last weekend I was lucky enough to join Blogger's Day Out with Pahang's Homestay Program by Tourism Pahang. 

Being adopted by random families for a short length of time is not new to me. This was not my first home-stay experience, I joined several home-stay programs with Rakan Muda in Pahang ( Kuala Lipis & Janda Baik ) while I was in Uniten and also to Japan (Fukuoka) while I was in my school years.  This would probably be my forth or fifth time. 

In this program I went to :

Home-stay Kuala Medang, Kuala Lipis
Home-stay Kmpg. Peruas, Raub
Home-stay Kmpg. Sungai Pasu, Raub

Along with other famous bloggers : Lily ,  RaW ,  Fiey Ahmads , Fahd & Zara. Meeting them was an eye-opening experience, they shared many little stories and tips from their journey. Each blogger got their own style and ways to travel & share their stories. Although I am more to silence and solace while  traveling, with them, I was triggered to join in the little society : and boy they were a LOT fun & louder than they seemed on the first day :D

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Home-stay Kmpg. Kuala Medang, Kuala Lipis, Pahang.

DAY 1 :

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Food Galore :

Lemang To' Ki in Bentong

Our delicious lunch.

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Boat Ride

The boat ride experience was by far the most exciting activity on our first day. It was one hot sunny afternoon when we first take a ride off to the other small kampung : Kuala Serau . It took about 10-15 minutes ride to arrive there.

We were also given a chance to feed fishes in the river. Countless fishes snatched fish pallets hurrily when I lowered down my hand in the water. Cold and slippery fish's skin, thank God I am not afraid of fishes! 

On our way back home, rain started to pour down lightly.
It was one great experience, having to ride a boat both in hot and rainy time.

How tall can the river goes


Lily & Fahd

Our boats.



Little Things 63 : Curious

February 08, 2013

People make a decision to change,
despite the risks and never-ending doubts.

For some, out of curiosity,
some driven by dreams,
and for some people, they longed for an adventure of the unknown.
Behind the fear of those blurry visions of the future,
Hides something they actually longed for.
Hope to make changes, to explore life's mysteries, and to create stories.

Human.
A curious creature, indeed.

Little Stories 38 : Fifth Day

February 06, 2013

It's the fifth day in February. 
I checked my Maybank2u account ,   balance : RM 92.80 .

How does everyone else surviving ? 

It's becoming a routine, on the first week of each month, going down to the basement parking lot to take out all the letters and bills in the letter box. A personal joke, telling myself that it's a strongest motivation to go to work everyday : Check your letter box and you'll just have to go to work.

Five days and many bills later,  my bank account is almost empty.

Please don't whine, 
please don't whine.

It's amusing how responsibilities can change you. 
Maturity is like a layer of skin in creating someone that is not you. The thicker it gets, the harder you'll recognize who you truly are. You will eventually forget who you were before those layers of skin.  There are just bigger things in life other than you.

Anyway, thank God I have my doodles to help me survive !

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Upcoming post on the sponsored trip with Bloggers
by Tourism Pahang