18 Storey Apartment On Fire

3:00 am on 15th July 2009, 2 residence units at the top floor of an 18 storey apartment in Penang island was on fire. 10 fire engines rushed to the scene but were of no help as the water couldn't reach the height.


The fire danced wildly in the wind. Red hot debris dropped as will.


With the help of the world most powerful flash light, this image captured the details of the building on fire.

The fire was put off at around 4:30am the same morning. 2 units were burned into ashes, no life casualty.

Temenggor Lake - Belum Valley II

School, tuition classes, piano class, martial art class, tennis lesson, dance lesson, computer game, internet chatting, sms-ing, emails, internet "friend-finder"........ These activities sound familiar?

Yes, it equate today's kids every day's life.

Is this a good life style for kids ? ...well, there is no right or wrong answer.

But, today there are still kids live a totally different life style. These kids live in rain forest without electricity, pipe water supply. There is zero modern elements in their world.

So, what are these kids doing everyday? I have no idea. But from their faces, i thought i can "feel" how's their life like.

Pretty and shy.


Two handsome ones.


Three charming ones.


Two cute ones.


Friends.


Morning warming up.


Three brothers.


Kids gang.



Sweet in the hand, from an outside visitor. 2 minutes later it will be on the floor.


Good brothers.


Playmates.


A toy from modern world.


They have to help up too.


A teenager. Has to work, using an "outside" sponsored vehicle. Ferrying visitors.


Elder members around the kids.


A young mother with her love one.


Free up both hands for everyday chores.


Three generations relaxing.


The adults.


Woman also need to do heavy works.


Husband and wife.


Three hunters.


Without any modern elements of city kids. Do you think i missed something in my life? Well, i have a happy
life and happy family. And i love my home. I don't feel i missed anything, do you feel you missed anything huh, city kids?

Monkeys by tails swing,
Brilliant birds sing,

Hum of mosquito, slithering serpent,
Days in a rain forest are days so well spent,

Wood creepers creeping, up the bark of the giants,
Woodpeckers pecking, it never is silent,

Rain forest, rain forest, oh nice to live there,
Listening, watching, breathing the warm air.......

Temenggor Lake - Belum Valley I

Tasik Temenggor, located in the state of Perak, Malaysia. It is the second largest man-made lake. The Belum-Temenggor is the largest forest complex in Peninsular Malaysia, it's as old as 130 million years, older than the jungle of the Amazon or Congo.

Belum has been gazetted as a forest reserve while the rest are open for development and facing considerable deforestation due to logging.

I have digitally recorded some images inside an orang asli (aboriginal people) settlement and surrounding areas ......

Part I

Rafflesia kerrii, Corpse Without Stink

Rafflesia kerrii, Lojing Highland, Kelatan, Malaysia.

Rafflesia, generally also known as corpse flower which got this nick due to its rotting meat or corpse smell.

However, a little surprise as my first personal experience revealed, there wasn't any smell at all. May be it is just this specific species, the Rafflesia kerrii of Lojing Highland, Kelatan, Malaysia.

It has got no true roots, leaves, stems. It is an endoparasite of a type of vine in genus tetrastigma (vitaceae).

See the bending plant that climbing its way up the tree on the foreground? This is the vine, host to the Rafflesia.

Let's look at various stages of the flower development.

Fresh and smaller bud "germinate" from the Forest floor.

Getting slightly bigger.....

.....and bigger.....

......and even bigger....... See the rapid growing of internal layers that force open the outer layers.

At the later stage, the real petals enlarged and matured to expose itself.

And one by one the petals open up. In this picture below, two petals have fully opened while the other three are half opened.

Finally, a full bloom. I don't smell anything, but it attracts insects and flies.

Let's get closer and closer on the flower.

And let's see the ending.