.... of sickness and being sick.

Falling sick these days is a luxury. One of Your Sincerely's ( YS') siblings was hale and hearty but had a growth on his head and was pestered to take action. As you know, growths on the body are very, very unwelcome and in them lurk suspicions. You cannot live in peace until a biopsy is done and the verdict read out "benign" or "not guilty."

Y S' sibling checked in one of the supposedly best private hospitals in KL and he was probed by one specialist after another. From an ordinary surgeon, to a cardiologist, neurosurgeon, etc.etc. and the list is, of course, proportionate to the bill. ( You may have to be readmitted after seeing the bill. LOL) Being a top notch private hospital, it has to do a good and through job, so the poor patient is passed on to one specialist after another. One may enjoy the relay if he is on Medical Card but certainly not if you are forking out the expenses from your own shallow pockets.

Y S has a soft heart to see his hair shaved and so many tubes and hoses poked into his body since he was fine the day before he stepped into the hospital. Y S was told that he had taken several pints of blood transfusion. When one is hospitalized for curative treatment, the pain is bearable because one is seeking a cure. However, if one is in for preventive treatment, then the pain takes another dimension. However, the former might be too late for some patients and they are always blamed for not seeking treatment earlier. The latter saves life but need lots of reassuring and counseling to be properly accepted. He is lucky to have a good and caring wife to harp on him to get to the hospital. How many of us have such wives? Think.

The moral of it all is to take a breather once in a while and evaluate one's health. Y S even takes time going through the morning toilet ritual. Don't be in such a great hurry to get rid of your waste. It is part of your body, your system. Take a good look, study its colour, texture etc. Look out for any abnormalities and tell tale signs. These are all warning signs of the status of your system. They are like the red lights on your car dash board. Don't wait until they blink, blink and blink. Then it is too late.

Stretched bows were unstrung after a hunting sessions in the days of Robin Hood. Machines have to be switched off and allowed to cool down after use. Human bodies need the same. But, the folly of humanity is that everyone thinks that he is a "superman." Many brag of their ability to overwork (like the overdrive in our cars) . We overstretch our endurance and the damage accumulates and accumulates, waiting for a breakdown. What about maintainance service for the human body. The classic response is "OH, No time." Well, for those who have no time to exercise, they may have to find time to fall sick!

Life is a many splendoured thing. Live on.

....... of ice cream and ice balls.

This is the first generation ice grater Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) grew up with. It is just a sharp piece of blade mounted on a flat piece of wood with two supporters, acting as legs. In the days of old, this was the machine that grated delights to us children. Of course, to the "Magnolia'" "Hargendass" ( I know the spelling is wrong) and " Swenson" generation, this machine is a dinosaur but it is still being used by vendors selling "cendul" and " ice kacang " in remote places.

In Y S' days of dinosaurs, to enjoy a treat from this machine was like having a "Cornetto". The vendor held the grip which is just a piece of wood with spikes to hold the piece of ice with his right hand then he would cup his left hand under the blade to catch the grated ice.

Mind you, the grated ice is as fine as those produced by the modern grating machines these days. The fine grated ice is then pressed and shaped into a ball. It is then held over a jar of red syrup. Then, a ladle of the red syrup is scooped up and evenly spread over the ball of grated ice. This was when we kiddies screamed, " Anuty, more, more syrup lor!!!" The red syrup coated ice ball would then be quickly given to the buyer before it started to melt. It was 2 cents for the plain ones and 5 cents if dashed with, not evaporated milk but condensed milk.

Some vendors, going against all present day health standards would serve their ice ball on used newspapers. We, kids, we sucked the syrup off ice ball from the old newspapers and when the ice ball had melted, drink the iced syrup "laced with carbon" from the used newspapers. o la la delicious. Pssssssti, don't tell mothers about hygience those days !!!


So, there is so much talks and warnings of HINI and a host of infectious diseases, and that we have to sterilize and disinfect our hands. In Y S' days of dinosaurs, which vendors used tongs and gloves? Fancy, how Y S has lived to be 58 this year !!! By God's grace lor.

This is the second generation ice grater which has made ice grating easier and also toned less muscles on the users. Of course, the third generator of the proto-type comes with a motor which saves much labour. These days, the good old unhealthy but delicious syrup is replaced with an assortment of "coca-cola," " orange cursh," " Sarsi" and what nots? They are served in Styrofoam bowls and plastic spoons, and which further pollute the environment.

There used to be a vendor at the t-junction, opposite the old court house, in Alor Star selling ice balls and "ice kacang." When Y S' kids were younger, they had a fancy for his "ice kacang' and Y would delight his kids with it.

Once, there were rumours about the danger posed by the dye used for the syrup which made Y S asked the vendor not to syrup the "ice kacang" Y S bought. Y S thought of using F & N syrup from home. He took Y S' request insultingly and blurted out : "What ! You think Iam poisoning people with bad dye. My dye is approved dye. I specially bought from only one shop in Penang !!!!"

Those were the days.

....... itchy feet comes home

Who says that the English Language is an international language??? In Eastern Europe , Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) ordered his meals using the sign language and fragments of English as understood by the Polish, Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians and Slovakians.

"This one." ( pointing to the menu ) " Kuak Kuak... chicken.. ok " (Meaning YS wants chicken. )
" Moooo...Mooo... beef.. beef.. ." Of course, almost every one understood "Beer."

Another sign board in German !

Eastern Europe is old and perhaps older than her western counterpart. Communism has kept this part of the world intact all those years from the prying eyes of tourists. After the fall of the Eastern Block, these places of beauty have been opened to all. Thanks to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our passport can gain entry to all the countries in Eastern Europe without any visa ! Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) only wishes to post peculiar sights and sightings because better photographs can be seen in travel web sites.

And this photo is only half of the statue of Marie Theresa, the matriarch of the Hofburg's family and empire and also the mother of Mary Antonnite who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

In Germany, do what the Germans do. Drink lots of beer and eat big, fat and oily sausages.


This is an intricate sculpture outside the German's parliament building..

This is Potsdam, the city of emperors. The residence of Prussian royalty over the centuries. Remarkable for its palaces and refined gardens.

The interior of the Hundertwasser's washroom in Vienna. It is 0.70 Euro per visit or roughly RM 2.80 per wee wee. And this ...... and this ......... is the strangest washroom in all of Eastern Europe.
This is how the Hundertwasser's washroom is advertised.

This is the village of Hundertwasser. It is back to nature. " The straight line is alien to mankind - F Hundertwasser only uses it where functionally dem,ands. Its closeness to nature - its shapes - its colour, these are the principal elements of Hundertwasser village - as unique as it is impressive - an invitation to think."


This is the chain bridge over the Blue Danube of Budapest in Hungary.

.... and who said that the Danube is blue??? It is muddy !!! The fore front is Buda and the further front is Pest, thus you get Budapest.

Again in Budapest, drink red wine like the Hungarians do. "Cheers" "Salute" to life.

This is the front of the residence of the late Pope John Paul II at Krakow, Poland.

This is one of the many Jewish concentration camps during Hitler's mad reign of Poland and the rest of Europe. This is also a grim reminder of racism and fascism can result in.

The sign board that greeted the holocaust victims as their train pulled into the concentration camp.
This is an example of an eclectic architecture of Prague. You see building of several ages and they are all awesomely beautiful.

A view down a quaint village at the Germany's national park - breathtakingly picturesque.

This is a " Pasar Malam" / flea market in Dresden, Germany.

The better half was captivated by the blooms.

This is the castle at Dresden.

What is left of the Berlin Wall. This is the once west side which many Easterners clamored to enter.
This is the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Built in the form of blocks of all sizes and height and haphazardly placed on uneven floor helps to create the uncertainties, suffering and horror that the victims had experienced.

The firing range in the Auschwitz detention camp. It is only 60 to 70 years ago and the youngest of the victims are still living so they come to commemorate the deceased with flowers and candles. A horrific reminder of racism and fascism that Hitler is infamously responsible for. It is a grotesque crime against humanity. Y S' main reason for visiting Eastern Europe is to see this camp.

So, Viva life, one off Y S' bucket list.