FatAndBalding

A sign we saw in Krakow, Poland.

Alko-hole.

(This is another 2 part picture series, Part 1 of my ‘glass’ photohunt theme can be found here)

As i mentioned, my posts this week for photohunt pay homage to the millions of lives who fell victim to Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

During my visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia, we paid a visit to the killing fields memorial there. From the outside it may look like any other temples in the world. Ancient, historic, graceful, peaceful, but step into its premise and you will see immediately what makes it different.

This temple, during the Khmer Rouge regime, was made into a prison camp. People who step out of its premise are immediately shot at without a moment of hesitation. Inside, monks, priests, religious people as well as the highly educated members of societies like doctors, teachers, university graduates, are all held captive. Almost all of whom died under horrific conditions like starvation, disease, torture, etc.

Now, a stupa is constructed in the middle of the temple, holding skulls and some items of clothing from the victims, serving as a memorial to the victims.

My second photohunt entry (My first one is over here) comes high in the airplane as we soared above Cambodia. The clouds and with a sunset as the backdrop was just an amazing view.

Kinds of look like heaven.

Amazing, right?

This is the second part of a two part series of pictures for this week’s photohunt, titled metal. (to read the first part, please refer to this link)

Here you can see me and Kenny standing at the banks of the Danube, in Budapest, Hungary.

These metal shoes here were made as a memorial to the thousand over victims who were lined up at the bank of Danube and then shot into the river. It was said that for weeks after, you could see the river flowing crimson red, with dead bodies floating on the river.

To think what barbaric actions people would resort to.

Pictures like this should serve as a reminder of what mistake people have done in the past, and what lesson we can take from it.

I guess I should explain my abscence from the blogging world. Over here in Kursk, even though Chinese New Year celebration ended about half a month ago, a group of us Chinese students felt it was our responsibility to come together and organize a concert. It has been 3 years since the previous one was held and of course, the stakes are higher just as the task at hand would be as much coarser and tougher.

And ever since November, I’ve been a part of this committee, hell bent on throwing together a concert that would, in a layman’s term, kick some ass.

So last Saturday, finally all the bits and pieces fell together in the form of our Chinese New Year Concert 2008.

My responsibility, on top of throwing together a mini Chinatown, was to see that the event ran without a glitch.

Here are some snapshots done of the ChinaTown.

Basically it consists of several ’stalls’ which serves to explain different facets of the Chinese culture- there’s the Calligraphy Stalls, where you can get your name written in Chinese character; there’s the Lion Dance Spectacular, where you can photograph with the Lion Dance Costume, with my tv playing clips of Lion Dance performances; there’s the Beijing teahouse, where you can learn how to make chinese tea the traditional way; and then there’s the Chopstick shack, teaching you how to use your chopsticks correctly!

The show started off with a lion dance performance by Andrew and Kong, and right from the moment the concert started off, everything went exceedingly well.

Here are some selected highlights of the night,

A 9 piece Chinese Muscial Orchestra, playing a song called ‘qi ji’ or miracle. I honestly thought that the performance was simply the best that night. And it’s also the first time that we showcased such a wide array of talent. Just watch the clip and you’ll see what I mean.

Fan Dance, choreographed by Josephine and Ingrid, was a hit also on the night

Lydia, performed by Ariel, Pek Jinn and Audrey, another amazing performance of vocal prowess

Martial Arts performance, by Ming, Nate, Jack, Nate and Qi Jie

Acapella, by GP, a Kenyan, Brian, a Zambian, and Mex, Diana and Richard, Malaysians. The greatest bit was when GP, Brian and Mex sang in mandarin! Amazing!

Bandbros, fronted by Anwar and Alexis, performing a popular mandarin song, ‘Kai Bu Liao Ko’ made famous by Jay Chow

At the end of the event, I could literally feel a heavy weight lifted off of my chest. But I know all the committee members delivered to their utmost best, and the concert I felt was a huge success. To the point where the Vice dean who attended the concert, told me that this was the best concert yet that she has ever witnessed.

I personally thought that the whole process was a great one, and that I am proud to have been a part of this committee, roughing it out. And Lord knows how bumpy it got at one point or another, but at the end, we delivered.

But of course, I think the stars of the night were those who worked tirelessly around the clock, some having to travel to different hostels to work until somewhere like 10pm, and some who had to miss classes and lectures in order for the concert to take off without a glitch.

This is the first among the series of posts which I will be writing, about my love-it-hate-it relationship with this city that I’m currently living in…

I’ve been trying my best to avoid having to have to blog about this. The truth is, after nearly 6 years living here in Kursk, Russia, I do kind of have a bond with this place. As much as all of us here hate to admit it, I believe we’ll all miss this town once we leave it in another year’s time.

Just to think that when we first arrived, we were greeted by a very unwelcoming sight- a pure, typical, communistic brick building which we later realized (with a sinking sense of horror!) was to be our hostel. When we arrived in April, 6 years ago, it was already the end of winter, but the cold was still as bad. So dragging our 30kg luggages (packed to the last micro, nano-gram), and having spent 6 hours in transit in a horrible backward airport (Tashken, Uzbekistan), arriving to that sight was disheartening.

The sight inside almost made me want to scamper back home to my family…

The advertisement and brochures had described what I presumed would be a fairly attractive hostel. However, what greeted me and my roommate were peeling wallpaper, 2 sad looking beds, one study table, and another sadder looking cabinet. To top it off, we had to share a toilet and bathroom which looked too poisonous to use.

I ensure you at that moment, my first thought was- I GOT SCAMMED!

Thinking back, there were really a lot of moments which can only be described as bitter-sweet. There were the highs, and of course the lows.

Anyway, to better introduce you to Kursk, Russia, a city situated in Western Russia, very close to the border of Ukraine,

you can do some reading up here- in this wikipedia link.

Even though I’ve always described Kursk as a boring, God-forsaken town (sometimes out of spite, sometimes out of fondness), really you shouldn’t take my words for it. The main (some argue is THE ONLY) tourist attraction here is located not too far from the city centre, and really not too far from where my current hostel.

As you approach it, you get to see tanks after tanks lined up, serving as a reminder to the people, of the war which just passed. For your information, it is generally agreed by historians world over that the greatest tank battle in the world took place right here in Kursk, Russia, in a town called Porkhovka. And it was also widely believed that this tank battle in fact was a great turning point in the course of the history during the Second World War. You can read more here in this wikipedia link.

I also notice Russians have a certain fondness towards their-so-called ‘eternal flame’. No, not the song, but literally flames which perpetually burn. Non-stop. 24/7. Period. I’d like to think it’s because of their pride over the richness of their natural resources like petroleum and natural gas and so forth…

Here you can see an eternal flame, burning with the Kursk Victory Gate in the background.

This here is a picture taken of the Kursk Victory gate, in front of which is a statue of a General who led the Soviet Red Army against the German Front during the Second World War.

This here is a picture of the the upper church of the Trinity Monastery, or at least the remains of what it used to be.

Before the war it used to look something like this-

A magnificient Baroque cathedral, which looked as magnificient as the wikipedia article described it to be.

Too bad that now, only the three-storey belltower remains.

There are more storied to tell about this cathedral but I guess I will just reserve some for my next big ‘Tolko U Nas V Rossii’ post. Which, by the way, translates into ‘You can find it only here in Russia’. Tee-hee!

This is my first photohunt post from this domain of mine!

For this week’s theme- Party? Seems like you’ve arrived at the right page!

This past winter break, two friends (Kenny and Jackson) and I embarked on a 2 week backpacking trip around Europe, visiting most of Eastern Europe’s highlights.

Of course, this being Eastern Europe and all, how can we not PARTY, right?

We first arrived in Oslo, Norway, where we stayed with Martinka, a Slovakian currently studying and working in Oslo. Here you see us, there’s a Slovakian here, a Norwegian, an Italian, a Spanish and of course, me and Kenny partying! I’m already red in the face. Can’t help it. I’m not a drinker!

We brought a bottle of Smirnoff, Russian Vodka, while Martinka whipped out its Czech counterpart, a bottle of Becherovka.

Next stop was Krakow, Poland, where we hung out with Barbara and her friends. Also had a wonderful time there.

Here, we tried the local Polish beer, Tylskie. I must say, being not that big a fan of beer, but Tylskie was by far the best one that I tasted during my trip (and believe me… I tasted lots!)

We then stopped by Katowice, a small industrial-based town in Poland to visit Tomas, who dropped by Kuching, my hometown during last year’s summer break.

He took us to Beerhalle, a beer brewery that brews its beer fresh on the spot. Of course, had to taste the beer right?

We parted with Tomas and next on our tour was Czech Republic, where some say is the world’s best when it comes to parties and beer. There we met up with our friend, Martina. We had another party of our own, at a chinese restaurant.

In Prague, we tasted more beer, including Pilsner Urquell, which has been dubbed as the world’s best beer,

Krusovice, Budweiser and many many more!

Next stop was Hungary, Budapest, where our friend Andraas and his girlfriend Bogi invited us to dinner with his friends.

In this clip, Andraas served us with traditional home-made Goulash, which his mother cooked especially for travellers. And it was DELICIOUS!

Of course, me being an avid food-lover and cook-extraordinaire, decided to make dessert. Want to know what I prepared? Here it is- a slice of apple crisp (baked fresh from the oven) with a scoop of napoleon ice cream on top.

Of course, this being Eastern Europe and all, we had to drink! Here in this clip,
Bogi introduced to us the meaning of ‘fire-water’! Haha! Or more commonly known as Palinka, 40% alcohol! Which burns your throat (and kills all your microflora) as it goes down!

Like I said, I’m not a drinker. And 5 minutes later, my face was flushing red, my ears burning and my head wobbly. But Jackson took it the hardest! About 15 minutes later he was asleep! Knocked-out by the wrath that is Fire-water! Muahaha!

It almost felt like my whole trip was a never-ending, international party. I must say it was quite the experience. And I loved every minute of it!

Happy Photohunting to you!