Dear readers,

I have moved this blog’s content to another domain, however this blog will remain as it is but dormant. I do hope your continuous support will not deter . . .  you can click on the link below to be brought to the new domain

http://www.itsderick.com/
Thank You

always amazing, always stuned! – Rafles school of art, & Iluma at Bugis

Marina Square & Ions at Orchard

Vivo city & Sentosa Island

Esplanade and the wonderful art works

Harbor front! & also the Singapore flier ( went up more than 3 times now but never boring )

Orchard central OC, national library and i now know they have 24 doors on the mrt!

HAHA

nothing much to be said because its always a good experience

wishy washy clean

wishy w ashy new

wishy washy wow

will be back for sure again!

Sometimes it is hard to be able to say that “I am a good person”. But truly has being good is judge as such that it is indeed good, or that the work that is good is seen rather that of the book.  Likely has it been is so far from the fact of a simple grasp of how vast the ocean is.

We live in a world so succumb to the ideals of living that we all forget the very fundamental that is life; us. Having loved, and having seen, is something that once were crucial, not so now.

The day that goes through is sometimes somewhat so superficial that you can at times feel a sense of bitterness that has nothing more to be able to be dealt.  A sense that you are indeed a fish amongst the vast school that swam together in the abyss.

Come to a fact, come to a judgment, and come to be rejected. Harsh but indeed true

Hardship can be court, hardship can be sweet, and so can it be bitter and cruel.

Nice is a word, a feeling and a sense.

I use to love walking through the reserve dam lake; I enjoy the breeze and the sight of the vast space in front of me. I enjoy this walk and I enjoy thinking about what I can and might have done but I cannot not notice the rubbish that are there and the dirt and flit that is so pollutant. Nothing nice is as easy to come these days and certainly at a price.

If the world were to end, if the world were to burn in a fire, I am for one will be glad. Glad that all that is here be gone. It’s so ugly and full of misconceptions that are covered in greed, pride and arrogance.  It is simply something that cannot be healed.

Life

An understatement and an undesirable loss yet it is inevitable

No one sees this and no one listens to the mind, for the mind is the one self; that is you.

The life that we are is a life created by greed, what we need isn’t so the need but rather more of a trouble, why can’t we have a thought and a life that is for our self.

Come  come, let it be and let us be

For we shall be about as free as the wind, if we only let it be

Come come, let it shine and let it be bright

For we shall be about as strong as the heart, if we let it to beat

Come come, let it come and let it be

For we shall be about as smart as the mind, if we let it listen.

Come come, let’s  . . . . .

-Derick Doors

Sherlock Holmes, an up-coming film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional character of the same name. Guy Ritchie will direct the film, while Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin will produce the film. Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham andSimon Kinberg will write the screenplay based on Lionel Wigram’s story and Doyle’s characters. Robert Downey Jr. will portray Holmes and Jude Law will portray John Watson.

Who is who?

 Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. Downey was visiting Joel Silver’s offices with his wife, producer Susan Downey, when he learned about the project Ritchie initially felt Downey was too old for the role because he wanted the film to show a younger Holmes on a learning curve like Batman Begins. However, Ritchie decided to take a chance on casting him in the role, and Downey told the BBC that “I think me and Guy are well-suited to working together. The more I look into the books, the more fantastic it becomes. Holmes is such a weirdo.” Downey also revealed what his wife had to say: “that when you read the description of the guy – quirky and kind of nuts – it could be a description of me.” Downey intends to focus more on Holmes’ patriotic side and his bohemianism, and felt that his work on Chaplin has prepared him for an English accent. Ritchie feels his accent is “flawless”.Both Downey and Ritchie are martial arts enthusiasts, and have been inspired by the bartitsu mentioned in the 1901 story The Adventure of the Empty House. Downey lost weight for the part, because during a chat he had with Chris Martin, Martin recommended that Holmes look “gaunt” and “skinny”.

 Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, Holmes’ ally, a surgeon and a war veteran. Law is not portraying the bumbling fool that actor Nigel Bruce popularized in the 1930s–40s films. Law previously appeared in the Granada Television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in an episode based on The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place. Being a Holmes fan, Law recognized there was material unexplored in other adaptations and was intrigued by Downey’s casting; Law was cast because he had a positive meeting with Downey and concurred the film would have to explore Holmes and Watson’s friendship. Downey believed by emphasizing Watson’s qualities as a former soldier, a doctor, a womanizer and a gambler, it would make for a more interesting foil for Holmes. Law made a notebook of phrases from the stories to improvise into his dialogue. Ritchie originally envisioned Russell Crowe in the role.

 Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, a femme fatale from New Jersey who once outwitted Holmes, earning his grudging respect. In the film, Adler is no longer married to Godfrey Norton and needs Holmes’ help for the case. Downey convinced Ritchie to cast McAdams, arguing she would not look too young to be his love interest

Plot

?

chasing something or someone ( somewhat there )

Bad guy who came back from the dead, practice black magic bla bla bla

Filming

A lot of the action that Conan Doyle refers to was actually made manifest in our film. Very often, Sherlock Holmes will say things like, ‘If I hadn’t been such an expert short stick person, I would have died in that’ or he would refer to a fight off screen. We’re putting those fights on screen.

—Producer/co-writer Lionel Wigram

Extras

According to The New York Post, Downey told Britain’s News of the World, “We’re two men who happen to be roommates, wrestle a lot and share a bed. It’s bad-ass.”

However, with this good news of course comes more bad. The Post’s angle for the piece is that the movie will basically fail now that it’s potentially got a hint of gay. Michael Medved, a former Post movie critic says, “I think they’re just trying to generate controversy . . . They know that making Holmes and Watson homosexual will take away two-thirds of their box office. Who is going to want to see Downey Jr. and Law make out? I don’t think it would be appealing to women. Straight men don’t want to see it.”

First of all, Medved, you need to back up off it. Second, I would love to see them make out. Third, I can think of tons of successful gay movies: Brokeback Mountain, Milk, and Bruno to name a few. Take that!

Sherlock Holmes hits theatres December 25 worldwide

–GREGORY MILLER

h m m m m m . . . . . . ?????

oh well

official trailer

A great christmas Threat i must say HAHA

HELLO Singapore!

yay!

A historical island as it is, truly lives to its heritage as one of the world’s most profound towns. Highly beautiful in nature and as it was ages back, it was a port and so the colonial influence reign eminent in every part and parcel of  this town yet predominantly it is business of the Chinese to expand and to bring the vicinity of its development into realize as seen from the countless rows of Chinese shop lots that are as vibrant and as unique as the people that for generations have traded, settled and expanded their business. It is a vast remnant of a history and it is very much still alive today as i had seen from my sudden trip to the island; unplanned but i m satisfied.

As the history goes: Penang was originally part of the Malay Sultanate of Kedah. On 11 August 1786, Captain Francis Light of the British East India Company landed in Penang and renamed it Prince of Wales Island in honor of heir to the British throne. Light then received it as a portion on his marriage to the daughter of the Sultan of Kedah. Light ceded Penang to the Government of India and promised the Sultan military protection from Siamese and Burmese armies who were threatening Kedah. Light is now credited as the founder of Penang.

Many early settlers succumbed to malaria, earning Penang the epithet “the White Man’s Grave”.

Unbeknownst to the Sultan, Light had acted without the approval of the East India Company when he promised military protection. When the Company failed to aid Kedah when Siam attacked it, the Sultan tried to retake the island in 1790. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the Sultan was forced to cede the island to the Company for an honorarium of 6,000 Spanish dollars per annum. This was later increased to 10,000 dollars, with Province Wellesley on the mainland of the Malay Peninsula being added to Penang in 1800. An annual honorarium of 10,000 ringgits continues to this day be paid by the Malaysian Federal Government to the state of Kedah.

In 1826, Penang, along with Malacca and Singapore, became part of the Straits Settlements under the British administration in India, moving to direct British colonial rule in 1867. In 1946 it became part of the Malayan Union, before becoming in 1948 a state of the Federation of Malaya, which gained independence in 1957 and became Malaysia in 1963.

The island was a free port until 1969. Despite the loss of the island’s free-port status, from the 1970s to the late 1990s the state built up one of the largest electronics manufacturing bases in Asia, in the Free Trade Zone around the airport in the south of the island.

On 7 July 2008, George Town, the historic capital of Penang, was formally inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside with Malacca. It is officially recognized as having a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia and perhaps the world over.

Upon arrival, where i explored the old town, town square and numerous colonial & religious buildings

I took the train from Kuala Lumpur, at 8.00pm to reach at Butterworth Station at 5.00am. I wash Up and waited for the first ferry to take off (i missed it) so i took the 6.00am ferry. When i arrive at the island i had no idea what to do, so i walk along the jetty but soon realize that it was about 6.30am and sun rise is about to happen so i thought what a great way to start the day! watching the sun rise and marking my day in Georgetown will truly begin. I waited and i waited and i waited, on the back drop of the port, with its jetty and the many boats lay at bay, as the skies crack and a shone of light that was the most softest of all orange emerge on the top of the openings amongst the clouds and later from the mountains of Kedah across the straits is where the sun’s golden rays shined through the dark clouds. At that moment, i just felt alive as the day did even though i may not have slept a minute on the train due to the excitement but i was remarkably alive.

I took a look at the surrounding areas, i was at the junction of Church street and at the Church intersection at weld port, and i must admit it did feel as if i was in another place and not asian anymore. The buildings were old, ages and articulated with such detail of its colonizers, British was everywhere and it made it seem so formal as how London was always pictured. I knew nothing of what to do nor of the town. Not knowing anything at all of the place other then the history i learnt; this itself is my first visit to this historical town and i am open to explore it like a mole in a maze.

I walked and i walked just using my instinct that told me intuitively where to turn and where to head, the town came to life slowly by slowly and i just felt i needed to head north, and i was right. I got to the sea front where the town council and town hall were, the fort, and everything that was in memorial to the wondrous time Francis Light had brought to Penang was evident. A rather rich heritage and a beauty that only an experience can render it fitting. I spent an hour looking at the sea and at the foreground of the historical buildings that lay durable against time and a legacy of a wonder of how humanity came to be.

I walked along the inner streets and along the hotels i used to stayed in but never had i realize the sheer heritage value of Penang until now ( tour guided trips sucks) I walked past it, i walked through the cemetery, the schools, churches courts and the many colonial buildings that were a picture of how lovely it might have been then as it was to my eyes then. In the lives today people go through it like it was nothing but for someone like me who have love history and the literacy of human existence is simply without a description to even imitate a feeling i had. It was like the waves hitting the rocks at the stiffest most hostile edge of the cliff, that notion could perhaps describe how i felt.

I walked all the way, i turned into some dark alley just walking and the further i ventured the more i say how the economics were and i soon ventured into a street with stalls, and i found out it was centered around the town market (KL has no market to how i remember it coz i don’t seem to find one other then the hypermarkets) I had my breakfast at the stalls, i took in everything anything that looked nice and i was indeed.

I continued and i was jogged by a sense that realize me that Penang was older then Singapore and it was indeed cleaner then Singapore to say the least or perhaps a lot better than the other disgraceful parts of Malaysia where the flit is about as disgusting  as many mutilated bodies in a hole.

I sat wondering where to go, that was when i realize the majority of the people around me were Chinese and Indians. Back then during the hay day of its glory i do know the economics of this island and many other historical areas are Chinese dominant and with that they brought in their culture and the mix or so call the assimilation process to the locals has even created an even intricate culture that is unique to that region. Hokiens in general and i can see how lovely it was having everyone speaking in the same diaelag and non mandarin. Its like French, simply a beautiful flow. I am Chinese but i don’t speak all the dialags and though i don’t understand hokien it seems that intuitively i could, maybe it’s the Chinese blood in me speaking.

i used Google earth on my mobile to help me locate where i am and as i walked and looking at the map i knew what the place was, and i made my way into some wonderful buildings; The Kuan Yin Temple on Keling Street, i went in to pay some respects (i came to this temple all of the sudden not knowing it was the Kuan Yin temple, perhaps it was a blessing on my arrival for me to have a wonderful time on the island) It so happened they had some function, a coincidence in deed and a wonderful one as i may add.

I was taken entirely by how lovely the old can be, i left the temple looking for other sites, i pass though the Keling muslim mosque (keling was an old word used to describe Indians, i would understand why they got their namesake: the locals then could not understand their tongue twisting language that was Hindi and so generize them  all as keling /=pening, malay word for dizzy but today it is an insult to call an Indian, Keling) that area was the Indian area and as usual it had so much tell tale of how they lived their life when they were immigrant from India, working as labor and with the temples and mosque serving refuge they built the town together with the Chinese who were a hard worker of the sun and their long effort gave rise to Georgetown as i saw it now, everyone did play a part then and i could imagine the unity the people did have that is little seen today.

The intricate Peranakan House (Peranakan= chinese malay mix breed culture )

I sat looking at the traffic and from my sight i saw the Komtar tower (Penang’s tallest building and HQ for the Island State Government)  I needed to get there because my phone was running low on juice but it was still too early to get in since many shops were still close. I tried to Google Cheong Tze Fatt Mansion on the maps since many of my friends who came to Penang and had stayed at this mansion had mention of how lovely and how amazing it was. I needed to get to this mansion to find out myself of how truly remarkable it was. It was early so i took a walk from where i was to the Mansion that was not really a stone throw away but i needed to get there at the least to know, guided by my phone, i walked and walked and there i saw this blue house, i read the sign and it was that mansion. My phone ran out of battery just then so i walked back to Komtar as it was after 10am, without reading the fine print on the tour guides into the mansion. Turns out they had only 2 tours, one at 11am and the other at 3pm.

I went to Komtar and was the happiest to see the medusa logo – starbucks! i was up at the public toilet again and changed my cloths. Got in, got my coffee and charged! I had no idea how the world could be without starbucks, Americano! and i was awake the whole day through being all tourist goo goo gaa gaa.

I left at half pass 11, and reach at the mansion again exited to have a look at 12. I was stopped because the tour started and they only has 2 trips in a day. I was pissed for sure and for a while i almost cursed the house! but i went off to another building to where i pass in the morning but i was to dark to be notice but i could remember it was the peranakan house; to get back to that house was a journey. I was loss in the maze of shoplots and the map i followed was well confusing but i manage to get there, all sweaty and wet. The good thing about this is that the tours are at any time just that they guard at the mansion said the peranakan guides were not as through as the one at the mansion who he quote was great.

I paid and i joined the tour. To be frank i paid little of no attention to the guide. I was already amazed by the intricate interiors of the house. It was simple nothing i had seen before, from the ceilings, the walls, the floor tiles, the deco, furniture’s and every space it had, it had so much influence and it indeed showed how rich these peranakan family were as noble Chinese man who married Malay locals but carried out Chinese customs with some Malay traditions infused. They were not Muslims but was rather still Chinese Buddhist ( this happen before Islam came to most parts of the region and that the people then still had a choice) They were alot of gold and a lot of beautiful amazement that were at every corner of the house. It was said the family were from the Chinese emperor’s officers and thus had all the luxury and tradition of the old kingdom, everything in the house was inherited and indeed a legacy it was together with the house it was a very very valuable procession to be shared with the world. It had a building next to the house which was the family temple, where the ancestors all lay on the alter in a specific house only fitting to their travels and tradition, uniquely rich is a heritage i saw to which i bowed 3 times  thanking them for the experience at their house. I left the house feeling every bit satisfied and an honored.

Town areas, Mosque, & Cheong Tze Fatt Mansion

Walking though the streets again, not knowing where to head or do i soon decide to have lunch and at a shop lot, nothing much but i was amazed that everything was cheaply delicious. Hospitality was trully at heart and i can see why everyone were happy, because a simple life, a simple need, a simple like and a simple smile makes the whole world a better place even at the worst of times.

I took in the experience, i did this alone and i love it

I walked back to the mansion but i knew it was still early so i stop for more food, ice kacang ( olden day ice cream just that it was crush ice with flavors ) and cendol. It was simple and it was amazing. The town really rendered classical.

I walked and i got to the entrance of the mansion. I wanted to head to Air Itam town to get up to Penang Hill and to Kek Lok Si temple on the hill but, gave it all up because i thought since The peranakan house was such an amazing house, i thought the Mansion would not have failed me and i could not missed it since i leave later that night.

I got there, bought my ticket and went in. I was told that i was not allowed to take pictures but only the outside facade. I was a plain house if i can say the least.

Another ad hoc trip to the other end of the island- to Batu Ferringi! First time there

I waited for the rest to come, and was greeted by Eric the tour guide of the house ( I suppose he was the house keeper) he was somewhat stuck-up if i can say so, he was Chinese but spoke a fluent British accent and perhaps body language to it too. He knew the history well and had mention all the feng shui elements of the house, If it wasn’t the stories he told of the house and Cheng Tze Fatt, who was a wealthy man who was success like many Chinese immigrant who came penniless and rose to power, a story from rags to riches. He had many wives and the mansion was for his 7th wife noted to be his favorite. But like all rags to riches story they all end in tragic as when the man pass on, and so will his empire. The family was broken up and it trembled.

The house was a pity to my opinion, none of the furniture inside were from the original house and so the experience was not as rich as it was intended to be, but it was still history and it had happened and i went through the courtyards inside it. I left a pity note in the guestbook but i left in despair of the house’s dark sorrow history of its downfall.

I walked again. . . .  to the bus stop

I wanted to head to Air Itam since it was at 4pm

the first bus came, not knowing where it was heading

and the next came by, heading to Batu Ferringi

I dont know why but i hop in the minute it stopped. I am heading to the beach and i am going there!

I had no idea how the Batu Ferringi was so i took the bus to the end and was chase out . . . . .

i walked and ended up at the beach! and boy it was lovely. From the mountains of rocks and the hills of apartments and hotels that were dominant in the area, the area was on a clift and everything was built on it thus having a sense of being suspended from the sea as the degree to the sea was remarkably near, but it had not lost any of it amazement. I myself when i have the money, i will buy one beach bungalow at that are overlooking the sea; i could imagine sitting down at the beach bench at my balcony having tea as the sun sets on the edge of the sea that roars the edge not far away.

I was dreaming because i was sleepy, and at the beach i met Indonesians who thought i was some reporter, (accurately blogger) so i took pictures of them having fun. i sat down for while looking at the far edge of the sea and taking in the sounds of the sea into my ears, as i close my eyes the natural sounds were intense and peaceful . . . . ( i think i dozed off here)

I woke up and ran out from the beach up the narrow alley i took down, i needed to catch the bus back so that i could make it for the 7pm ferry across the straits. I needed time to wash up and time to charge my phone. Dinner was in the making (what to buy, what to eat!) Luckily the bus was on time and i was also unfortunate- it was full. ) I stood all the way to the port. The whole journey back i looked back at the town and of how wonderful it was and was indeed fitting to the name: The pearl of the orient. Precious as it is in its trade, it is also of its legacy.

At the port, i got down running up the stairs and to the alleys with shops at the sides, no hawker food but i saw tau sa (nutty cookie like balls) i got a box and water. And i was in time for the 7pm ferry!

as the ferry moved i looked back at the island, the sun was setting behind the island. I was greeted in the morning by the sun from the hills across the sea, and the sun bid good bye from behind the hills of the island.  The island solemnly seeps into darkness of the night.

The journey back to the main island as i bid farewell to the heritage island, & Butterworth Train Station

I was early for the train and i realize i did everything i wanted to do which was to experience a legacy and i did it using my senses, i had not felt so fulfilled in my entire life since i had no order, no rule, no guides just simple intuition and it indeed made me feel alive.

For in which you seek, you may not see it;

but you can feel it, that is true.

enroute to Penang.

I know its ad hoc but oh well

It is said that:

It is not Authority that is truth, but rather the truth is the Authority.

~a post coming soon~

Mark this date and time: 12hr 34 minutes and 56 seconds on the 7th of August this year, because that day is a unique day for lucky people who are still alive on that day.

On the time and date will be 12:34:56 07/08/09, which reads

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

You can get 12345678 in recent years but you have to wait for 1000 years to get 1 to 9. This will never happened in our life again!

How cool is that!

A new chair or so. . . . something for you to check on your bum and it so happens to be called ibum created by Tomomi Sayuda