A Sustainable Future

 

National Geographic Magazine is one of my must read reading material of all time. Not only I improved my use of vocabulary and diversify my writing techniques when I indulge myself in the articles, I get myself abreast of all the latest news and updates, especially on environmental discussions.

Recently, I found myself watching the National Geographic Live! Explorers Symposium featured in the Apple iTunes Podcasts. I couldn’t help but agree more with one of the discussions in the episodes – Seafood and Survival by Barton Seaver. He is not a scientist, but merely an observer. As a chef, he realized the importance of a meal to humans – it is where humans get together as a family. As he got older, he came to realize that the seafood he used for cooking has become exorbitantly expensive, and some of his favourite catches were no longer there for harvesting. It was then he said this, “As chefs, we are responsible for creating a demand of exotic food. We are the one who popularized shark fin soup and we are now in control of the natural selection of seafood species.” He believed that it is our duty as the harvester of our natural resources should use our natural resources wisely.

“Sustainability is not about the environment, it’s about sustaining people. We may have used an eco-friendly method to cultivate shrimps in farms, but having a shrimp buffet as a business is not a sustainable method. Sustainability failed on the human part.” He’s right! At the end of the day, we’ll be affected when the ecosystem collapsed. I can firmly say that ecosystem is there to support our living!

In short, we should really take a step forward and look at our dinner plates. You are indeed what you eat, but at the same time, the Earth’s wellbeing is what you eat too! So be responsible for what you consume.

Weekend in Taipei

I spent my weekend in Taipei when my course mates were out on a camp. Don’t worry about them, I’m sure they’re doing just fine with the typhoon passing by Taiwan bringing torrents of rain and some occasional strong wind.

My train trip there was basically sponsored for, to attend the 2011 Taiwan Scholarship Orientation, and since it was the weekends, I asked for an extended stay in Taipei. So on Saturday, I met up with some friends, dropped by one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan. It was YehLiu Geopark (野柳地質公園), located on the North-East side of Taipei, about 45 minutes bus ride away from Taipei Main Station.

Before entering the geopark, we passed by a little town. It’s basically a harbour for deep sea fishermen to dock their boats and sell their harvests to the middle person.

An easy going town indeed!

This dish below was a surprise! It’s known as the ‘sea vegetable’ (海菜) and it’s crunchy…

It’s a geopark because of the stone formations. It’s interesting… but still far away from the Grand Canyon though.

As aforementioned, typhoon was passing by Taiwan, bringing lots of rain and wind. Still, that did not deter anyone of us from going forward. Many put on their rain coats and brave through the strong wind.

Then in the evening, I met up with my UTAR friend who’s doing her masters in Taiwan.

On Sunday morning, I had a short walk to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂).

At 10am, I witness some interesting ceremony where the guardians of the door change shifts. They had to perform some gun-throwing-flipping-stabbing, salutations etc. before the official change of shift actually took place.

By the time the ceremony has ended, some ladies, such as the one pictured below, had fallen in love with the men in uniform… haha

Basically, it was a nice stay, cooling weather but a bit too much of rain due to the typhoon. Still the night stay at Taipei Hostel was quite comfy and it’s very much affordable too! Comes highly recommended the next time you intend to stay in Taipei.

25th Anniversary of Tzu Chi Medical Mission

Today marks a quarter century of Tzu Chi Medical Mission. For the past 25 years, the doctors have served so many people in need of medical care, and the patients were, and still are, very much like family to them.

During the presentation of some medical cases, it showed how much the doctors cared towards their patients. All of a sudden, you see hope in the future. A future where doctors treat their patients as if they are flesh and blood. A doctor who tried their best to save lives and not take fortune and fame into consideration.

Doctors and staffs from all 6 hospitals scattered all over Taiwan came gathered during this magnificent ceremony to present everyone this beautiful hand-sign language.

And after that, a magnificent dinner surprise which took everyone’s breath away…

The best buffet dinner ever! Even the decorations and the colours made everyone smile!

And ice-creams too! I know the food looked VERY nice, but please don’t lick your computer screen okay? =D

Anyways, the day ended very well and tomorrow’s dinner, they’re having special mooncake festival dinner! How am I ever going to slim down with meals like this everyday?!

Uniquely Sabah

Sabah is unique (to me), where no words can simply describe the wonders she holds. So I’ll keep it simple – Enjoy the photos, and hope that you find them unique too.

A millionaire in Jakarta

Simple. Go to the money exchange, hand over RM 350, and be a millionaire in Jakarta.

Jakarta is one of the busiest cities (I’ve been so far), and the traffic jam is horrible.

You see motor and mobil (motorcycles and cars) going around, with the motorcycles weaving through the traffic. If you’re not competent riding a bike in Indonesia, don’t ride one. Nonetheless, travelling by motorcycle is the best way to go around town.

Instead of wearing a helmet, some others wear a cap or hoodie instead.

To be hemat (safe) when you cross the road, you can literally blindfold yourself when you cross. If you observe the traffic before you cross, it’s either you’ll never cross the road, or you’ll get knocked down by a vehicle. The drivers on the street evades pedestrians, not the other way round.

Less traffic lights on the streets means less traffic jam even though the place has high vehicle density. Giving an opportunity for the local people to earn some living.

You pay for parkir (parking) and you pay again for the person who lead you out from your parking slot. They even provided parking spots for ladies.

Lots of gratis (free) stuffs around to lure more people to purchase, and the advertisements on cigarettes filled the TV screen and the billboards along the road.

Shopping malls are grander than ours, with brands not even found in Malaysia and Singapore, and things may be dirt cheap as well. You can get a pirated DVDs as low as RM 1.80 each.

As usual, food here is good, and one of the most popular – masakan padang.

On the other side of the Jakarta Town, you’ll see a different group of people trying to survive on the streets. People who make a living by pushing carts around, selling all sorts of stuffs. Plus, because they can’t afford to buy a car, the carry all sorts of things on their motorbikes and push carts.

And again, because there are more motorcycles on the street, they have motorcycle wash all over the place.

They can’t use money to buy fancy stuffs, so they built them.

Some scenes you don’t see much in the big city of Jakarta…

Family coming together to enjoy.

People repairing motorcycles by the roadside.

Selling of colourful motorcycle seats.

Jaw dropping graffiti art…

And lastly, some other photos to share with everyone:

People here are survivors. They grow up working hard, learning all the street skills we didn’t learn in school. So you think that they’re weak? Think again.