Night at Port Dickson Beach, Negri Sembilan

Port Dickson Beach at Night (N02 30.708 E101 49.605)
We had a stop at one of the beach along the Port Dickson Coastal. There were 2 photos I took for sharing...

I took out my tripod, and placed it towards the Port Dickson town. Photo below...

Port Dickson town from far away

I should make use of the Manual Focus rather than Auto Focus! Regretted after I look into the photos...
The next photo was shooting along the beach, which I'm more satisfied compare with the first photo.

The beach was quite crowded that night, I saw some of campers setting up their tent along the beach. It was a nice area to relax...

After hanging around the beach for an hour, we went back to the Resort for rest...that's end our first day at Port Dickson.

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Italy -- Kosher dining in Rome

A kosher cafe in Rome. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Forward newspaper runs a piece by food columnist Leah Koenig on kosher dining in Rome, particularly in the old Ghetto area. In the past few years, the Ghetto has undergone considerable development. The main street, via Portico D'Ottavia, is a pedestrian area, the Jewish grade school has moved into the neighborhood, and many new kosher eateries have opened. (Also Judaica stores).

Koenig mentions several places that I myself have recently sampled. The famous kosher pastry shop is a popular attraction -- it produces the best pastries in town, including a unique type of biscotto that combines spices and nuts.

Non-Jewish friends of mine recently introduced me to the newish restaurant Ba' Ghetto, a meat restaurant whose menu includes Sephardic, Ashkenazic and typically Roman Jewish dishes. When we dined there a few weeks ago, we started with appetizers that included a Roman-style torte of endive and anchovies, plus a Middle East platter of Humus and baba ghanoosh, plus a type of Yemenite puff bread. Two of us went on to cous-cous, while the third chose goulash. (The waiter also brought us a sample of excellent grilled steak.) Wine? We chose a kosher Italian red - but I can't remember which....

We reminisced with the waiter about the time, years ago, when there were no kosher restaurants in the Ghetto -- and only one in all of Rome, a Middle Eastern place called Da Lisa that was near the main train station. I don't think it exists anymore. But the family that runs Ba' Ghetto also has a place near piazza Bologna, outside the city center.

Earlier this month, when I was in the Ghetto to cover the pope's visit to the main synagogue, I grabbed a piece of pizza Romana (a sort of focaccia) stuffed with a little turkey mortadella at the Kosher Bistrot mentioned in Koenig's column. It was OK, but I was astounded at the price -- 5 euro, nearly twice what I expected to pay. The woman at the cash desk was unapologetic. "What do you expect," she told me. "It's all kosher, all controlled."

After the papal visit, I went with a friend to grab a slice at a kosher pizzeria a few doors down from the Bistrot -- it wax excellent pizza and only cost 1.5 euro.

Weng Yin Seafood Restaurant at Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan

Weng Yin Seafood Restaurant (Restoran in Malay) (N2 26.087 E101 51.771) is located along the main road of Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson - Negri Sembilan.

Weng Yin Seafood Restaurant

The reason we chose this restaurant for dinner was because it had a Thumb-up from the Malfreemaps. 
The restaurant was packed of peoples when we reached. So we gonna placed our order asap! :)

All the dishes here was recommended from the lady who took our order...

*  3 Flavoured Fish (Sorry, don't know how to translate in English)
*  Butter Prawn
*  Kung Pao Chicken
*  Tao-Fu mixed with Vege
*  Onion Omelette
*  Spicy La-la Clam
And another two dishes I forgot already....:)
Total eight (8) dishes. Foods were serve in about 15 minutes, I'm satisfied with the service!

Three (3) flavored Fish

Butter Prawn

 

Kung Pao Chicken

Tao-Fu mixed with vegetable

Onion Omelette

 Spicy La-la Clam

Overall the dishes were Delicious!
Especially the Fish! It was very fresh and crispy on the skin. (It's deep fried and added the sweet sour sauce) We Love it very much! The lady said, they are famous with their Crabs, but we didn't order due to one of us not taking crab. We were having our sweet time to finished all the dishes happily!
And the Damage : MYR190.00 for 7 adults and 4 children.
It really Worth second visit!!

Food rated : 4.8/5

Location of Weng Yin Seafood Restaurant

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Ostrich Showfarm at Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan

Port Dickson Ostrich Showfarm (N2 26.778 E101 51.749) is located along Jalan Kemang 13, about 450 meter away from the main road of Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson.

The weather was not so good during our visit. No sun and almost rain...

The entrance fee are : MYR8.00 for adult and MYR4.00 for children and senior citizen. I believe the farm does not have subsidy from the Malaysia Tourism.

I was wondering why it called 'Showfarm'? It's because of the 'Show' in the farm? Please elaborate this if you have an answer...:) Ok, the first Showtime - Monkey Plucking Coconut : 11am - 3pm. Second was Ostrich Race : 11.30am - 3.30pm. (The shows will stop perform if rain). Oh my! The So Called Showtime!!

The first animal we saw...the Goat. Oh! I told myself...please show me something interesting...

Then we had been 'Follow' by a White Peacock...

 

It ran away once we walked close to the Ostrich

Then...we saw the Ostrich! With the signage beside...

Juvenile Ostriches (7-16 months)

A) Male feathers are Black in color & female feathers are Grey in color.

B) They do not have teeth, so it is safe to hand feed them.

C) Ostrich belong to the ratite family. The characteristic of the ratite family is they do not have breast muscle, so they cannot fly.

Once the kids read the 'B', they started to feed the Ostrich...

But her face tell us that, she still fear from the Ostrich bite! :)

The Ostrich from Port Dickson

The second ostrich farm note was :-

Breeder / Laying Bird

A) Female ostriches start laying at 1.5 years old.

B) Laying time is from 8am-10am and 4pm-6pm.

C) After laying, the egg will be collected immediately to avoid any soil contamination.

D) The production of eggs are around 40-90 eggs / season. (1 season = 8 months)

The second farm was not allow to Feed! Maybe the ostrich will attack?! I'm not sure...

We continue the walk, I saw there were Monkeys jumping around on the ground. Kind of funny! I did not get the name of it, cos there's no signage...

The Macaque

Too bad, suddenly it started to rain...what a luck! But the children still Busy feeding the rabbits...Haha!

So we had a rest at the Cafe area. The drinks over here are selling at reasonable price...

Beside the cafe, situated the Souvenir Centre. The write-up and the Egg machine which take care of the Ostrich egg got our attention. Quite a nice knowledge to us...

About 10 minutes later, we continued our tour in the farm. There were few interesting 'Birds' beside the cafe, photo below...

It might belong to the Peacock or Turkeys family

If your weight is more than 120kg, Please DON'T stand on it!

Ostrich Egg

Beside the egg, you can have the Ostrich Ride within the area. But the children don't see any interest on it. Strange? Hmm...

I saw One little monkey which was very interesting! I think I spend most of the time captured this monkey in the farm. It was Cute! Haha!

The Little Cute monkey at PD Ostrich Showfarm

The Iguana looks old...wondering what's the age of it?!

That all about it! Basically, the farm got limited animal to see and the animals environment need to Improvement. Most of the animals are not living in the comfort area. All of this might because of the limited fund from the owner. I felt the entrance fee is not justify with the Ostrich farm, they should make more interesting area and make the farm look more clean. There's always a room to improve!

One of the Decoration in the farm

Location map of the Port Dickson Ostrich Showfarm

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Budapest -- Bob Cohen leads an audio culinary tour

 Me in Froelich's pastry shop in December.

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I've pointed out a lot of Bob Cohen's wonderful blog posts about food, travel and music and link to his blog, Dumneazu.

But now you can hear him -- Tablet Magazine's audio "Vox Tablet" runs a wonderful 10-minute visit with Bob to two of Budapest's most famous Jewish (or Jewish-style) eateries -- the tiny little Kadar lunchroom on Klauzal ter, and Froelich's kosher pastry shop on Dob utca.

Both are favorites with locals (and a five-minute walk from my apartment).

I vividly remember my first visit to Kadar, back in about 1990 or 1991. I was taken there by the  Peter Wirth, an architect who has carried out restoration work on several synagogues in Hungary and also produced a photographic book on Jewish cemeteries in northeast Hungary. (He won the Europa Nostra award for his restorations of the synagogues in Apostag, in the 1980s, and in Mad, in 2004.)

With Peter that first time, I remember I ordered the solet -- cholent -- with goose leg, a specialty. Kadar is not kosher and even serves sholet with pork. But for many local Jews it is a ritual to go there to eat solet on Saturday. One Saturday lunchtime my brother Sam and I shared a table with a man and his son eating solet -- and we then ran into him later at the Rabbinical Seminary synagogue, where he was the gabbai...

Poland -- new visual resources

Tomek Wisniewski has set up a YouTube channel where he has been posting both current and  pre-WW2 images of Jewish sites, both photographic and film.  (He also shows some non-Jewish sites.)

Greece -- Arrests in Hania Crete Synaogogue Arson attacks

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The BBC reports that arrests have been made in the two arson attacks this month that serious damaged the historic Etz Hayyim synagogue in Hania, Crete. In custody are a Greek man and two British men -- waiters in local restaurants -- and two Americans are sought.

The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens said [that], according to the police, the men are aged 23 and 33 and are nightclub waiters in the seaside town. Police said they were arrested after a 24-year-old Greek man confessed, our correspondent added. The British men have been offered assistance by consul staff on the island.

Read full story HERE

Meanwhile, the synagogue blog continues to carry updates, including some reflective pieces by Tony Lerman.

Eastern Europe -- Initiative to protect mass grave sites

Marker at the site of mass execution/mass grave in Kremenets, Ukraine. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

A international initiative to mark, document and protect sites of Holocaust mass execution and burial is under way, and at a conference in Berlin this week groups taking part urged the German government to become involved.

The American Jewish Committee news release announcing this was not very clear about just what this was about, but one of the participants said that specifically, there is an initiative to persuade the German government through its war graves commission to pay for in general memorializing mass graves and in particular sealing the mass graves opened during research carried out by the French priest Patrick Desbois. Agence France Presse, in its article about the initiative, said Desbois's group Yahad-In Unum ("together" in Hebrew and Latin) already receives about 500,000 euros ($700,000) in funding each year from the German government.

Philip Carmel, the director of Lo-Tishkach, an organization tasked with documentive Jewish cemeteries and mass grave, took part in the conference. He told me that

“There is no better way to combat Holocaust denial and to learn the tragic lessons of the past than to physically mark the last reminders in all these thousands of towns and villages across eastern Europe that they all had living and vibrant Jewish communities and that they didn’t just disappear without reason. This in some way would mark an appropriate act of closure of our direct duty to the victims of the Holocaust.”

Here's the American Jewish Committee press release:

January 20, 2010 – Berlin – An international initiative spearheaded by AJC called today on the German government to join efforts to seal and memorialize mass graves in eastern Europe. The appeal came at a news conference hosted by AJC’s Lawrence and Lee Ramer Institute on German-Jewish Relations in Berlin.

“It is time to seal the graves.  It is time to commemorate the victims. It is time to rescue wherever possible the histories and memories of those whose lives were brutally extinguished,” said Deidre Berger, Director of AJC’s Berlin Office. She added that time is running out to solve the issue before the last witnesses and survivors die. The news conference took place one week before the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

A coalition of Jewish and non-Jewish NGO leaders outlined the incomplete level of information on Jewish mass gravesites, pointing to the lack of protection for thousands of sites in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The difficulties of the local Jewish communities in addressing the issue were described by Rabbi Pinhas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow, and Rabbi Yaacov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine.

Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC’s Director of International Jewish Affairs, urged the creation of a German government-led task force to survey the problem and create a comprehensive approach to seal, protect and memorialize the gravesites.

Participants at the news conference stressed the important work of Father Patrick Desbois, President of the Paris-based Yahad in Unum, in documenting the sites and bringing the issue into public focus in recent years. Father Desbois has collected testimony and documented more than 400 locations in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine where German death squads shot and killed primarily Jewish victims. Romas and Soviet communists also were victims.

Father Desbois said that a war does not end until all the dead are buried, calling it an imperative to bury the Jewish Holocaust victims in Europe. He added that it is difficult for Europeans to have credibility solving international conflicts if it can not find means to bury its own dead.

Stephan Kramer, Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, underlined the importance of cross-national reconciliation and education in working on solutions for memorializing the mass gravesites.  In talks with Ukrainian government representatives, Kramer said they indicated a willingness to create the necessary legal framework to deal with the issue of mass graves.

The President of the German War Graves Commission, Reinhard Fuehrer, stressed the moral responsibility of Germany to address the issue of the neglected grave sites, indicating the commission will take a role if it is given funds and a mandate by the German government.

Phil Carmel, Executive Director of the Brussels-based Lo Tishkach, responsible for mapping Jewish cemeteries and grave sites in Europe, said it is urgent to address the issue before the remaining markers and clues are lost completely. The best protection against Holocaust denial, he said, is visible graves and gravesites.

At the news conference, support for the initiative also was voiced by Christian Kennedy, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues; Jiri Cistecky, of the European Shoah Legacy Foundation; Kathrin Meyer, Executive Secretary of the International Holocaust Task Force on Education, Remembrance and Responsibility; and Paul Shapiro, Director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Poland -- Wroclaw synagogue: restoration of interior complete

 Photo from Gazeta Wroclawska newspaper. Click HERE

Gazeta Wroclawska newspaper reports that the restoration of the interior of the historic White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw has been completed. The article is in Polish (it translates with Google translate) but also runs pictures you can see by clicking HERE.

The synagogue is to be rededicated in May. The article states that interior furnishings will be installed in April.

I posted previous information on the restoration in December -- click HERE.

Laguna Condo Resort at Port Dickson

2 weeks before, I was trying to book a hotel at Port Dickson. After 5 to 6 hotels I called, all fully booked! Until I called this Laguna Condo Resort. There were 2 units available, every unit has 2 bedroom (with air-conditional), 2 washroom, a living hall and a kitchen. So I made a reservation with them and requested the 2 units side-by-side, but the girl said they cannot provide both units on the same floor because of "Fully Booked". Without a choice, we agree to have one unit on the fourth floor and another unit at second floor.

They will 'text' me through my Cellular Phone for me to bank-in a MYR50.00 for the reservation, I agree and waiting for '2' days! I'm started to suspect...why they need 2 days to text me the bank account number...seems like they are not serious about the customer reservation, I think to myself...

On the day (26th December 2009), 2 families were happily drive towards the Resort to have a 2 days 1 night holiday at Port Dickson.

Once we reached our destination - Laguna Condo Resort, we felt a bit disappointed of the 'Rundown' outlook! But no choices, because the hotels nearby almost fully booked on this festive season. It doesn't matter, we check-in and we drove out the resort to search for some excitement around...

The rundown outlook of Laguna Condo Resort - Port Dickson

We went to the Blue Lagoon Beach and I will blog about it in my following post...

Went back to the resort around 6pm, to have some rest and will be out for dinner. Then we noticed, the two units we got are slightly different setup...one with grilled and the other don't. And one unit short of pillows, so I called up the office to request the shortage and the girl told me : 
"Please look around what are not complete in your unit, I will prepare and bring it over. Because after 7pm, the office will be close and there will be no maintenance guy around until next morning !!"
I was totally SHOCKED! No more maintenance after 7pm?! What if anything goes wrong with the electricity, you gonna wait till morning! Oh! My goodness! This was the WORST Resort I ever stay in my life!!
Ok...we stayed!

Poor maintenance of the garden

I noticed the floor SANK at many area around the building! I wondering will this become dangerous building and threaten to human life??

The floor sank...

I realized why we CANNOT get the side-by-side unit because we are the ONLY unit available on that floor! The rest are all abandon units! Some of the doors and windows even broken! Many units also have the 'Notice' attached on the main door...It shows, this is the area where peoples already Give Up for their investment!

The Notice on the entrance

Why the town council doesn't take any action on the building? Like I said, it can become a threaten to human life? Or there are so Lose about this? Or...maybe all because of the Great Kampung (Villagers) Spirits and the Typical Malaysian Attitude!

But inside the apartment, Everything were OK! It was clean. As you can see from the photos below...

The Living Hall

The Kitchen

The room with queen bed

The Bathroom attached to the room above

Another room with 2 single bed

During night time, there were no 'Lights' on the corridor! Only the lights from our unit! It was looks like HELL to me! Never see the security guard patrol around, No Security!! No privacy!! Bunch of youngster from outside ramp their bikes around!
Oh! no! I stayed in the Hell!

The corridor without lights

So I have to get some Tiger beer to keep me company for that night! We locked the door before midnight, full of worries because of the kids around...Totally NO holiday atmosphere at all! And wish tomorrow sunlight come as soon as possible!

At Last, we made it! Haha! 
I noticed there are few abandon houses just opposite our units, it looks really like a Haunted house to me!

The abandon houses in front of our unit

Roots are everywhere on the wall

We packed our luggage at the Fastest speed and Check-out! During check-out, I found out the employees here are only Part-time workers! Oh! I never step in to this "Hell Gate" anymore!

What a experience to us!

If you Love your family or friends, please stay away from this So Called Resort at Teluk Kemang of Port Dickson!

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Walk in the Farm - Eden Eco Farm of Saleng, Johor

Continue from the main post.

We started our relax walk from the left of the building, there was green everywhere...we came across this Passion fruit garden.

Passion Fruit

"Passiflora edulis is a vine species of passion flower that is native to Brazil and northeastern Argentina (Corrientes and Misiones provinces).^[1] Common names include Passion Fruit, Maracujá/Maracuyá (South America), and Lilikoʻi (Hawaiian). It is cultivated commercially in frost-free areas for its fruit and is widely grown in India, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, California, Florida, Haiti, Hawaii, Australia, East Africa, Israel and South Africa. The passion fruit is round to oval, yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit can be grown to eat or for its juice, which is often added to other fruit juices to enhance the aroma." Source from Wiki.

Follow the path, we came to the back of the main building...


There were many type of plants, but I only can recognize the corn (below)...

Don't worry about this big area to explore, you can have a rest anytime at the area below...

I attracted by the small animals beside the rest area...where the tortoise pond, cattle ranch, duck pond and many more...

The Bull from the Cattle Ranch

The duck pond

The turkeys

After the duck pond, we came to an area looks like a function hall and it also serve as a basketball court...


I like the Dragon Fruits area, as you can see the photos below...




There are also many type of flower around here like the photos below...but I'm not sure with their name...


Then the path lead us to the 'Worm World'. I'm not really dig the worm from the soil, but the 'small creature' below got my attention!
I think they are from the Lizard family...


The rabbits was Cute! They are in the Rabbit Farm just next to it...


We took almost an hour for the tour, it was a pleasant walk in this scenic farm. During the night fall, all the path will be lighted with this unique kerosene lantern...oh! I love it very much! Never expect to see this type of lamp after so long...

Kerosene lantern at Eden Eco Farm

Mr Steven said, it has nice ambience around the farm during night time! I agree...

Please visit it if you happen to be around this area, it's nice! And I will find a suitable time to group with few friends to have a night at this Eden Eco Farm.


For contact and location, please refer here.

Related post :-
* A Paradise within the City - Eden Eco Farm of Saleng, Johor

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