Marang nostalgia.

Marang nostalgia.

another view taken across the pool towards the river with chalets on the other bank. it never tired me to come here over and over again. it is the one place i find myself so at home and at peace with seemingly everything. my children loved the place, they have the pool, the beach, the sea and the river but most of all, they loved it because there is so much space. there is nothing much that was done to enhance the space; it was as natural as it could be. no trees were cut during the construction, no earth works, and chalets were inserted rather than imposed onto the site. architecture played the background role whilst nature was put to the fore.
...and why not?

Morning at Marang Resort and Safaris.

one of those rare mornings that i do not have to depend on an alarm clock. i can't even remember when it was that i last heard so many different birds chirping away breaking the silence of the morning. it wasn't even six yet and dawn was still a few minutes away. yet my eyes were already wide open, the air was almost sweet and i felt so refreshed. i have to get up and suck in more of the fresh air and if i sit outside on the verendah of my chalet on the planters chair, i could view the break of dawn slowly bringing this world to life. As the rays of light spread across the vast ocean before me, i couldn't help but notice the calmness of the sea so pristine no diamond could have been cut to equal it. i wanted to freeze this moment in time, at least in my mind and keep it with me forever. but i have to do so many things and the first is to perform my solat subuh, after that i have to be all over the 64 acre resort to witness the phenomena of dawn. of course i could have spread it over a couple of days which i intend to anyway but each day is unique with its own ochestration and blending of sounds, smells, colours, textures and shades.

looking at the restaurant sitting on the water's edge bathed in the morning rays of light with a near perfect reflection from the river makes me wonder if given the chance to re do the resort would it still be the same or would it be different and if it were, how much different. i wouldn't know...all i know is that i have put my passion and my soul into this one and if given another chance, i would still put in my passion and my soul except it would be more.

sam

Friday Mar 11, 2005
This morning at 8.30 am I took my 10 year old son to the sports centre here in Alor Star for his TaeKwondo test from blue to dark blue belt. Since this is the first time I ever attended tests of this kind, I wasn't even sure which colour comes first. All the time the mother had been taking him for the classes and tests and this time because she had to pay a visit to critically ill uncle of hers, I had to do it in her place. It was kind of uneasy for me at first because there were so many parents most of whom were quite friendly and, of course because they have never seen me before, many asked which one was my son. I suddenly felt that maybe I have not been spending much time with my son; I should be his source of encouragement and clearly here, one would notice that it was the mother who was the motivating factor. This must change I decided to myself and after watching him in the test, I was really quite impressed. His movements were well co-ordinated and confident and I am quite proud that in my eyes, he appears to be quite good (not being a pugilist myself, I wasn't sure how to judge it). Nevertheless, I was impressed and proud.
So in order to motivate him further, I decided that I will take over the role from my wife from now on. in fact I have even decided to get myself enrolled. For one, it will help me keep fit, though there's a nagging feeling now, a few hours later, that I may not even make it past the yellow belt and my son will most probably get his black belt before he is 12! Well, we'll see how it goes. It could be fun though, breaking my back and a few bones, you know.

Whilst working on an upgrading project, I couldn't help but notice what an amazing foreground this wakaf/gazebo made against the backdrop of the setting sun. It is so mesmerising standing there looking at it that I almost forgot to go home.