Scattered Seeds

Whoo-Hoo! I was up Gunung Irau again!

Tattered Beauties

Mountain Clean Up

This is still my favourite mountain, but trekking with 21 others this time really tested my patience. The trek was scheduled for May 28-29, 2007. Simply, I was thinking of a grand feast for dinner when I got home by 7pm (29th May) when all was done. But my estimated time was way off the mark. I got home only at about 12am (30th May).

The most logical way to tell this tale is to follow an almost chronological order of events. However, before the tale is told, let it be known that I wouldn’t have planned this trek had I:
(1) not made a promise that I would take them to Gunung Irau–breaking promises is a bad bad habit;
(2) not needed to train those attempting to scale Gunung Tahan (that includes myself);
(3) not wanted to put Hidayat on trial because he expressed intentions to scale Gunung Tahan.
(4) not been so hard-headed to pull this one off when the odds seemed to be against me.

See, it’s all about me. It’s not really about the other twenty-one nice people (Leon, Nancy, Ikhwan, Farah, Hamed, Aloy, Rita, Arie, Johanes, Nini, Neda, Hanim, Dicky, Kiki, Hidayat, Madiano, Elvira, Rinaldo, Andrian, Arwin, and Sogand) who came on this trek.

expanded stories to come; really! Meanwhile, enjoy an almost a chronology order of events:

I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll only put this down in chronological order:
12:47 22 left Sunway University College by bus; Could have left on time had we not have to wait for someone. Aargh!
13:30 Traffic jam at near Rawang; Oh how I love traveling by bus. Aargh!
18:10 Been raining for the last 2 hours. Arrived at Brinchang, Cameron Highlands. Continued journey to the Bee Farm. Only one van?! I asked for 2 pick up trucks! SMS exchanges with Nee On and Amos.
19:30 Finally start trek after everyone arrives at the starting point.
19:45 Decision decision decision. Choices before starting trek, choices now that the trek has begun.wet & muddier than before.
20:30 TMC wants to scream at Johanes for losing a tent but refrains himself.
00:30 Everyone arrives at campsite. Setting up of tents. Not enough space for all of us. Late dinner. TMC wants to scream at Dicky and Ikhwan for losing Bang Qin’s stove but refrains himself.
01:30 Sound of fireworks at this time of the year? Weird.
04:40 Woke up too early. Went back to sleep.
07:00 Finally woke up. Had Milo, quick bites. Waited for everyone else to wake up.
07:27 Ascent to the peak
08:30 Reached the peak. Could have been faster had I not lingered to take photos.
08:40 Discovered source of fireworks the night before. A family was celebrating a 10-year old girl’s birthday at the peak. The 9-member team trekked up the mountain in four hours, even when it rained.
09:20 Descent begins after clearing up the peak. Garbage bag (weighing about 6kgs!) breaks about 15 minutes from campsite.
10:30 Arrived at campsite; had breakfast, eating Farah’s cocktail sausages. Didn’t know she wanted to eat them. Oh well, never leave food lying around near TMC’s tent.
11:10 Went back to recover abandoned garbage bag. Didn’t have the conscience to leave it behind.
11:30 Campsite clean-up; Filled about 5 big black garbage bags.
12:30 Distribute garbage bags to other trekkers and descent begins. Leon suggests to leave heaviest garbage bag behind. TMC sweeps the pack with Ikhwan; both taking turns to carry the 6kg garbage bag down the mountain.
13:28 Descent goes slower than slow. Feels like the garbage bag got heavier and heavier.
14:15 TMC rushes down with 6kg garbage bag from last position to pole position; and punctures 2 tires along the way.
14:50 Johanes exchanged his garbage bag with mine. His is so very light!
15:03 Nearly gave up on the 6kg garbage bag. Ikhwan talks about missed opportunities with a girl. I’m tired, so I listen to the lover boy anyway.
15:35 Out of Mount Irau; Waits for van; 4 (Hamed, Neda, Leon & TMC) walk down tea plantation (near 2-hour walk!) because the van is just too expensive.
23:00 Arrive at Sunway University College – later than expected.

There are more pictures on my photography website. Hop over there and take a look.

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Related Links:
• Ikhwan @E-1′s Irau Account
• Lessons Farah Learnt on Mount Irau

The Birthday Cake

She wanted a cake to share with all her friends.
And she got what she wished for.
She even got to choose the cake she wanted.
In a bakery, racks were decked with cakes
of different flavours, textures and colours
All on display. All vying to be chosen.
She studied them one by one;
She eliminated those with gaudy colours.
She didn’t want those with strawberries and nuts.
She chose this–
A chocolate cake with the circular chocolate chip deco
With the flower placed outside;
Next to this was something almost similar–
A chocolate cake with the circular chocolate chip deco
But with the flower inside
as if entrapped within many boundaries.
She didn’t choose that.
She chose the one that was so much like her
One as free as she is free-spirited.
One as lovely as her.
And it was a choice well-made.

The Children Of Húrin

05/5/2007
To some extent I have always known the Middle-earth stories of Tolkien even without reading them. I suppose I have been spoilt by the various adaptations. I have not seen the Jules Bass animated version of The Hobbit, but have read the David Wenzel‘s abridged version in graphic novel form (it has really beautiful drawings!). Then, there are movies to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings; I have watched the Ralph Bashki’s 1978 animated version, and, more recently, followed the development of Peter Jackson’s adaptation that fits within the action-packed genre more than anything else.

David Wenzel’s art from The Hobbit

But when I found out that The Children of Húrin, a new book by Tolkien was being published posthumously, I started reading his earlier works (this was to be my 2nd attempt; I tried reading Tolkien when I was too much younger to be able to digest Tolkien’s language. But that is another story for another day). April 17 was the release date; I read The Hobbit in a jiffy and enjoyed it even though some parts were rather too episodic for my liking. Then again, it is a children’s book. Soon after, I started on the mammoth (at 1000+ pages!) The Lord of the Rings. The plan was to complete it (and The Silmarillion) before my copy of The Children of Húrin reached my hands. Alas, it was not so.

I was with Frodo when he was introduced to Strider at the Inn of the Prancing Pony, and I was torn between two books. Since I was at an inn, Frodo is now taking an extended rest from his journeys with the ring. I admit, I was caught in the tide of the publishing event (through news reports on the Internet) of Tolkien’s new old tale, written some 99 years ago. I was curious to find out how Tolkien’d hold up in an age when a magician boy has captured the imagination of millions. I was surprised that despite the fact that over 150 million copies of The Lord of the Rings had been sold, The Children of Húin had an initial print run of only 500,000 copies of the regular edition worldwide, plus 20,000 copies of a DeLuxe edition in the UK and the USA to feed the appetite of Tolkien’s fellowship of readers. Last I heard, the publishers went back to press to churn out some 200,000 copies more. The article “The Children of Hurin facts and figures” at the Tolkien Library website is a good read.

I’m one of those with the DeLuxe edition. I’m not a book collector of prized versions, but it’s just that I couldn’t care for the cheap version; the paper quality was a turn-off. I suppose it’s part and parcel of modernization, and the quality one gets is what one pays for. Though exorbitantly priced, the DeLuxe edition is a thing of beauty. The weight that comes with the heavier and smoother paper stock does psychologically help enhance the reading and appreciation of the story (to me, at least).

I am not sure how modern readers will take the story written in a somewhat archaic style. For instance, in the first chapter one has to go through the dense and confusing genealogies and geography of the First Age of Middle-earth. The story begins thus:

“Hador Goldenhead was a lord of the Edain and well-beloved by the Eldar. He dwelt while his days lasted under the lordship of Fingolfin, who gave to him wide lands in that region of Hithlum which was called Dor-lómin. His daughter Glóredhel wedded Haldir son of Halmir, lord of the Men of Brethil; and at the same feast his son Galdor the Tall wedded Hareth, the daughter of Halmir.”

That can dissuade a whole army of casual readers. By pressing on through all that may seem strange and alien at first is to be rewarded by a truly engaging, impressive, and to a certain extent, surprising story. In it’s bid to rope in more customers, amazon.co.uk has published the entire first chapter of The Children of Húrin on it’s website. Go ahead, read it and see if you are drawn to the story.

I have since finished The Children of Húrin, but I am hard pressed to write about the the story lest I reveal too much in the telling and bring darkness upon the joy and pleasure of reading. Suffice it to say, The Children of Húrin is nothing like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. It doesn’t have little people, lyrical songs nor cheerful episodes. It’s a much darker than the earlier tales. And for that, I am surprised that there exist a tragedy of such in the legends of Middle-earth. And also, I am surprised (perhaps those who have read The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales will not find it so) at the depth of Tolkien’s overall design of the history, and geography his fantastical world. And for that, I have grown more appreciative of the man and his work (and he has many).

But for now, I shall return to the Inn of the Prancing Pony from whence I left off.

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update 22/5/2007
Awesome! I’ve just learnt that Harper Collins, the publisher for Tolkien’s books will be publishing a deluxe edition of The Silmarillion i November (enough time to save enough money to place an order for it to have enough time to arrive just in time to be my Christmas present to myself). Here’s hoping that it’ll match the design of the current deluxe editions of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Children of Húrin just so my library will look impressive with the few Tolkien books that I already have.

Classic Optimus Prime and the Michael Bay 2007 version

I was curious. I went to Michael Bay’s website and looked at the new Optimus Prime. Goodness gracious! There’s absolutely very little resemblance to the Optimus Prime I’ve come to love from the classic Transformers comics I used to read when I was a young teenager. I grew up on Transformers. I was there when it all began in the comics way back in 1984 (though I must admit that I initially bought the comic because Bill Sienkiewicz, a favourite artist of mine, did the cover to issue #1). After the comics came the cartoons. I watched them (almost) religiously. Anyway, everything Transformers is still so clear to me.

Transformers issue #1; cover by Bill Sienkiewicz

I like the study, solid feel and bright red of the classic Optimus Prime. It was as if he was a shining beacon of hope. I can’t even begin to gather my thoughts on this new version. The colour is more blue than red. Aargh. It’s not that I don’t like blue, but it just seems so wrong. Even Megatron looks wrong. Stop messing with my childhood memories. At my age, I can understand the need for change to suit a whole new generation of fans. And I do champion change. There should be injection of new life into old franchise every once in a while. That’s a given. I wouldn’t want the Transformers to become simply a cult favourite, almost lost or forgotten. Yet, somehow I cannot seem to accept the drastic changes made to Optimus Prime, or Megatron and other characters for that matter, for the upcoming Michael Bay’s Transformers movie.

Because of the movie, I think I now realize that I am more a classic Transformers fan than I thought I ever was.

Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi illustrated by Tomislav Torjanac

I have never publicly (until now I guess) let people know that I enjoy picture books; although one might have been able to deduce such of my by the number of children’s book I buy. I am not a serious book collector, so I don’t particularly go on a hunt for these “illustrated art” books. However, I do keep an eye on artwork that catches my eye every once in a while.

Most recently, I stumbled across the illustrator named Tomislav Torjanac. I’ve been wanting to read Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi, and I was surfing the Internet when I came upon Tomislav’s webpage that featured a few illustrations for an upcoming illustrated edition of the book. I was drawn (no pun intended) to the fluidity and engaging perspectives in his artwork instantly. The book’s coming out only in September 2007 and I can’t wait. From his website, I also found out he illustrated James Joyce’s The Cat and the Devil. Sadly, it’s in Croatian. But if ever an English translation comes out, I’d be the first in queue to buy it.

I threw the mako towards the stern from The Life of Pi by Tomislav Torjanac

I don’t stumble across unknown artists all the time.

Sometimes I’m out looking for a book, and I know there’s an illustrated edition. So I just look for the best illustrated editino that suit my fancy at that particular time. So sometimes in my searches, I am spoilt for choice; so much so that I don’t know what to do. A few months ago I was looking for a nicely illustrated edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and couldn’t decide on the classic John Tenniel woodcut art, the elaborate line-art of Mervyn Peake, or, more recently, the lush watercolours of Helen Oxenbury. What did I do? I didn’t buy any of them.

Helen Oxenbury’s artwork for Alice In Wonderland

Sometimes I have no choice. For instance, C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia is illustrated by Pauline Baynes. That’s the author’s choice artist, and, luckily, I quite like the drawings. But sometimes I’m not attracted to the artwork. Take for example, Alan Lee, the illustrator many Tolkien fans have come to love. I suppose it’s a matter of preference; Alan Lee, though undoubtedly talented, is one of those artists whose watercolour work hasn’t really caught my eye. I remember looking very closely at Tolkien’s artwork when I was reading The Hobbit, but I sort of skipped the illustrated pages in The Children of H·rin. One of Alan Lee’s artwork that appears in The Children of H·rin, Beleg Departs Menegroth, can be found at the Tolkien Library website.

Sometimes I hunt for an artist’s work. There are so many illustrators I admire, and when I know that there’s a book one of those artists illustrated, I’d hunt for them. The books don’t need to be necessarily have to be first editions or the sort. After all, I just want to get my hands on the artwork. I remember how excited I was when I got my copy of Mary Blair’s I Can Fly. Two days ago, I just found out that she illustrated a children’s song book, and one of these days I’ll hunt for it.

Mary Blair’s I Can Fly

It’s not hunting season just yet, and The Life of Pi isn’t coming out ’till much later in the year. I suppose I’ll visit Tomislav’s website and enjoy his illustrations for now.

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Illustrations for The Life of Pi ¬ 2006 Tomislav Torjanac; used with permission.
Illustrations for Alice in Wonderland ¬ Helen Oxenbury.