Passion and comfort
Excitement and stability
Spontaneity and consistency
Newness and trust
Balances to be made and found
Bringing my ideals to the ground
Of reality
Is it too much to want it all?
Is it too much to refuse to fall
Victim to hope’s demise?
Surely there must be a compromise….
-T
~January 20, 2010
What happened to my dreams,
Where I used to imagine were in the clouds?
What happened to my faith,
Where I used to see His face in the clouds?
What happened to my voice,
Where I used to speak and sing to the clouds?
What happened to the joy,
Where I used to find in the clouds?
-T
~written in December, 2009
The words echo throughout the town
En masse the people stop to pray
Where has the voice gone? From whence does it come?
Do they all believe in the call?
Will these boys become men if the time came for them to stand
for honor, country and Islam?
Amidst the words, the voices, the prayers
Where am I?
Where do I stand?
Where is my Father, Lord of all?
-T
~written in December, 2009
Yes, it is already February…and I’ve yet to post events from the end of the year. 2009 ended and 2010 started with a big bang and chaos, but now that it out of the way leaving smooth sailing for the rest of the year. 😀 (One can hope!)
My next few posts will be an attempt to update on what’s been going on the past couple of months….
I’ll start with the FIFA Cup Championship held in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City. We’d had tickets for a few months for this and so it was nice for the event to finally get here. We saw the 3rd/4th place match between Korea and Mexico, which was quiet. Then, the stadium came alive for the final match. It was an interesting event to see Emiratis cheering for Barcelona and then to also catch the enthusiasm of all the Argentinean fans as they cheered as well.
A good time!!!
More to come…
-T
_I, Alex Cross_
Well, when you read a couple of heavy books, especially when traveling, it’s always a relief to read something light. I’ve become a huge fan of the electronic books, despite a bit of pain at the costs. Still, when I’m traveling, it’s so much easier and lighter to carry around my little iPhone than to pack a bunch of books to keep myself busy.
So, one of the books I’ve downloaded in the contemporary category is another James Patterson novel with the Alex Cross character.
It’s a fairly engaging story with the mystery of a serial killer who has ties to the White House. Through the sub-characters and of course continuing development of the main characters, I was entertained enough throughout the story. Though, I may have to stop reading crime thrillers as I had already guessed who the killer was by mid-way in the story….
Anyway, a good light read to distract the brain for a few hours! 😀
More books to come…
-T
_Paradise Lost_
Back in my college days, I took a course called “The Lyric” where we studied poetry. For most of my life I’ve had a weird relationship with poetry in that I write it, but hated to analyze others’ poetry because maybe they just didn’t mean all that we say they did. However, I’ve always enjoyed an epic poem with Homer being amongst my favorite reads.
During this course, I was introduced to the likes of Blake and Milton. After studying Blake, I wasn’t so inclined to give Milton a try, but years later I met someone who spoke with great fondness about _Paradise Lost_. So, I thought someday I’ll give it a try.
When I got my iPhone and the release of the Kindle was being discussed, I considered what it might be like to read a book electronically. It didn’t seem like a bad idea since I often get bored while waiting in lines or at a doctor’s office, etc. and could easily read something on my phone.
Thus, I downloaded _Paradise Lost_ thinking I would have to get through it if I got bored at times. While it took me some months, I found myself eager to read it while waiting in the car wash lines, in airports on my travels, on the airplanes, etc. Milton took me on a journey of rediscovery of the beginning of man’s time and his exile from paradise.
The language was beautiful and the story one of great love and sadness.
This book has contributed to some of the inner peace and new joy I’ve found in my life and I couldn’t be more content with having read it at last. I might even read it again in paper version. 😀
More books to come…
-T
_Dreams From My Father_
Some time ago, my friend said that she was reading this book and that she thought I might like it. When the Presidential elections were happening, I found myself frustrated by President Obama’s ticket as representative of the African-Americans. Of course, I admit that I didn’t really know much about anything related to the candidates except that I wanted to see a woman make it and was more of a Senator Clinton (now Secretary of State Clinton) fan than an Obama one.
Time passed and I became more interested in knowing who this man is whom Oprah Winfrey actively chose to support and whom the country of my nationality was putting so much hope and faith into.
So, what better time to read than whilst traveling?
It took me a bit of time to make it through the book, but I found it overall very interesting and eye-opening. I feel as if I know President Obama a little bit better and yet even less at the same time.
Still, I related to his struggle to find himself having grown up in a white community, but not really belonging. Then, finding himself not really belonging to the African-American community either until he went back to his roots and learned his heritage and culture. While I envied his long years of history that as an African-American, I also found that I was felt inspired to start bringing out the adopted Asian-American history so that others can also find a way to relate and connect as I was with this memoir.
Of course, our struggles and realm of understanding greatly differ. I will never be the President of the United States, but there is also a struggle that unites us whether or not I ever meet the man of the book.
So, overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it as a good read. Not because he’s the President of my country and not because he’s an African-American man. But, because it speaks to those who have mixed identities and struggle to find themselves in this crazy world.
More books to come…
-T
Feeling refreshed after a good long sleep, I awoke ready to explore outside of the city for a little bit by visiting the Batu Caves. It’s a mere half hour bus ride from the city centre to the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur to climb 272 steps to the caves that hold a Hindu shrine. I don’t really know much about the history, but Phyllisse recommended that I see it and I figured it was a good chance for me to get out and explore on my own a bit.
While finding the right bus was a bit of a challenge, I did eventually find it and made it out to the cave. It was an interesting experience and while I think the monkeys are perhaps the main attraction to the area, I’m told that the attraction is really the shrine and the Thaipusum festival draws quite the crowd (which I thankfully missed by a week as I’d hate to visit anywhere with thousands of other people…).
After seeing the caves, I ventured back into the city centre and enjoyed Chinatown a bit more.
In the evening, I met up with Phyllise for dinner and she showed me around Bukit Bintang area, which is part of the Golden Triangle section of the city. This area is known as the main shopping and entertainment area where you might find more of the pubs and tourists.
While I really enjoyed getting to see the city of KL through the eyes of a couple of local ladies, I was happy to be escaping the city for my next destination in hopes of seeing a bit more of a quieter and natural-side of the country.
More to come…
-T
PS More pictures to be found on main website.
