Human ants

Sun 29/12/09 KLCC

Looking down the Councouse

Shopping corridorsWhile waiting what seemed to me like hours for mother and daughter to finish the shopping at a department store on the 4th floor I strolled along the busy shop corridors taking in the sights, sounds, smells and the shoppers going about their businesses. Feeling a little tired from all the aimless walking along the endless corridors I stopped to rest my restless legs. Leaning against the railing and without being aware of what I was about to do I looked down the concourse to the ground floor.

From where I was standing on the 4th floor I saw and imagined the hundreds of frenzy shoppers as small dots scurrying about in different directions. Then along the 4 levels of corridors I also saw more dots on the move in random fashion as if oblivious to each other's presence. The dots are of course humans but I couldn't help imagining them as a colony of termite soldier ants going about their business. Then the endless lanes of corridors with the intermediate column supports reminds me of  the multitude of compartments in a termite nest.

The huge crowds of shoppers, all rushing about in a frenzy with single-minded purpose of grabbing the best buys do behave like ants hungrily feeding on their captive prey don't they?

Hanging bicycle

Sat 28/11/09 Batu 14 Hulu Langat

Wall painting of a bicycle

I was strolling by a shop in Batu 14 Hulu Langat when I spotted what I first thought was a bicycle hanging on the wall. Beside the bicycle was a wash basin and below somebody had placed some potted plants on the floor. "Is this someone's idea of parking his bike?", I remembered being amused by the absurd idea. Looking around I noted that there was ample space for the any cyclist to park his machine the conventional way.

As I stepped closer to the shop I realised that the object on the wall wasn't a bicycle but a painting of a bicycle. It looked so realistic. Couldn't tell what medium was used to paint the bicycle. The person who created the realistic painting surely has artistic talent and imagination. The painting belongs to a bicycle sale and repair shop and obviously it is the shopkeeper's idea to advertise his trade.

Morning hike to the Broga Hills

Sat 28/11/09. 7.30am. Broga Hills

The view seen from the hill topI have heard about the beauty of Broga Hill but never made the trip there in my whole life. Broga Hill is the name given to a hill side located not far from Broga town, a one street nondescript town in Negeri Sembilan, about 17 km from Kajang and 10km from Semenyih. If not for the sign board at the entrance to the town the first time visitor from Selangor Kajang wouldn't know that he is stepping into Negeri Sembilan territory.

Mist in the backgroundMy daughter Amy tracked up the hill last week with her friend and the friend's mom. After returning from the hike she was full of praise for the beautiful landscape and the clean mountain air. After hearing so much good things said about the hill from Amy I decided that I should at least investigate her claims. So this morning I decided to drag myself out of bed at 6.30am and together with the dear wife and daughter, the three of us drove to the hill in the Kancil.

We arrived at the foothill at 7.00am. There is a Chinese temple and a stall selling organic food at the foothill. There were some cars parked in front of the temple. Thus other people had arrived there even earlier than us. When I looked up the paved terraces cut into the hill side  I saw groups of people trekking up the winding slopes and also doing morning exercises.

Steep trail up the hill For the first time visitor like me and dear wife, the view of the hill side and the valley was magnificent. The clean morning air was crisp, clean and invigorating, certainly so much more refreshing than the polluted air of Kajang.
  
There are many steep and winding tracks cut along the hill side. However all the tracks are paved with bitument thus suitable for the general public to walk. At first the various tracks starting from the foot hill up to the summit look intimidating and dear wife  expressed her reservation whether with her weak legs she could make the climb to the top.

Start of the trail up the hill With my assurance and encouragement dear wife held onto my arms and the three of us began the descend slowly and leisurely on foot. In the beginning due to the exertion we had some difficulty breathing comfortably but as the climb became more familiar we were able to adapt our breathing to the climb. Bit by bit and stopping at intervals for rest the three of us finally made it to the summit. The summit is just apiece of flat land cut into the hill side. Beside us there was already a party of middle aged men and women doing exercises at the summit. We stayed at the summit for about 10 minutes doing some limbering and light calisthenics.

The view from the top looking down to the valley and the temple below was beautiful and breath taking. The presence of the morning dew and mists added to the beauty of the picturesque landscape. It reminded me of the mountain landscape of Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands.

Rocky hill slopeThe descend was not as strainous as the ascend, although by that time all of us were sweating from our exertion. While descending we changed our normal way of walking by walking backwards and sideways.

After we got back to the Kancil I suggested that we ate at Semenyih for breakfast. dear wife said she wanted to buy vegetables and meat at the wet market. So the three of us then decided to head back to Kajang.

It was a happy trip for all of us. Definitely there will be more treks up the hill in future.

Rainy days are here to stay

13/11/09. At a KL construction site.

The ground was soggy due to the overnight rain. Some of the soil at the bottom of the ground beam formwork had been washed away by the rain leaving gaps between the earth and the beam soffits. The contractor will have to lay crusher run over the soggy wet soil in order to build up a clean and stable platform to lay the rebars.  The sky looked down cast and I wondered if that was a sign of impending rain..... Rain is always the bane of the building construction business ....