What is the name of this plant?

I bought it from the Souvenir shop at the Iskandar Waterfall along the main road between Cameron Highland & Tapah. And according to the seller, it is ONLY available at Camaron Highland!! You can refer from this post.

It's been more than five years. And I confirm it's alive, as you can see from the picture below......it will grows some kind of Gold new "Skin" on the right, and the old is on the left. It's look similar like golden hair.
Today it still grows slowly....

According to the seller, it will grows bigger.....but the one shows on the picture above does not grow. My relatives bought another 2, they grew ! It's about 10mm more!
One of my friend (Mr Kumar) said that it is the "Fern" . You can read it from the Wiki. But I feel that......not really similar on the outlook. What's your opinion? Any idea? Any name for it?

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European Day of Jewish Culture -- Italy

The ninth European Day of Jewish Culture will take place Sept. 7, with the theme "Music."

Italy is consistently probably the most enthusiastic country that takes part -- last year, fully one quarter of the 200,000 people who attended Culture Day events across the continent were in Italy. This year, events are scheduled in some 58 towns and cities in Italy.

The pictures above show events in Ancona in 2005 -- a ceremony in the synagogue and the rededication of the Jewish cemetery after restoration.

The full program for Italian events has just been posted -- unfortunately it is only in Italian....

For events in other countries, check http://www.jewisheritage.org

Jews in Lithuania

From the "Baltic Times"

Fighting to Preserve a Nation's Heritage

By Abdul Turay

July 9, 2008

VILNIUS - When Tobias Jasetas was a small child, his family emmigrated to England. One summer his mother decided to go back to Lithuania for an extended holiday to visit relatives. She took Jasetas, who was then nine years old, with her.
It turned to be one of the saddest decisions made by anyone, anywhere, ever. The year was 1939 and within a few months of arriving war had broken out. The mother and son were stranded in a country under Soviet occupation. The Soviets deported Jasetas’ relatives to Siberia. Then the Nazis came and things got even worse.

Jasetas is now 87 and still lives in Vilnius in a run down apartment with basic utilities. He doesn’t like to reflect on what might have been. He is the ultimate survivor. He lived through the first Soviet occupation, the Ghetto, the murder of his mother and other relatives. He escaped from the Ghetto just before the “Child Achtung” in 1944 when Ghetto children were singled out and slaughtered. He was hidden by a Lithuanian family.
He lived through the second Soviet occupation when Jewish culture was crushed. Today Jasetas is struggling to get by on a meager pension and allowance that he gets from the Lithuanian government as a survivor of the Jewish Ghetto.

However, there is one fight left that that this old warrior would like to see resolved before he passes on. It is a struggle that faces all of Lithuania’s 3000 strong Jewish community, all that is left of a once thriving population.
They want the Lithuanian government and people to recognize the enormous contribution that Jews have made to the Lithuanian nation.

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Radauti Update

Sam Gruber reports that there has been progress made toward restoring the synagogue and Jewish cemetery in Radauti, Romania, the hometown of our paternal grandparents. I last visited there two years ago, when I took these pictures:



I found the cemetery in pretty good shape, compared to others in Romania and elsewhere. The tombstones have extremely interesting carving, the frequent motif of the hand of God breaking the tree of life is particularly vivid. Also, a number of the stones still bear traces of brightly colored paint.

During my visit, I discussed plans to restore the synagogue with Tanya Grinberg, then the secretary (actually the leader) of the tiny resident Jewish community. Tanya died suddenly last fall, and I don't know what impact her death has had on local developments.

Here is Sam's report (also should be viewable on his blog):

Romania: Radauti (Radautz) Jewish Heritage Documented and Posted On-Line

Descendants of the Jews of Radautz in Bukovina, (now Radauti, Romania)
have banded together to work with the local Jewish Community and the
Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania to document the town's
Jewish heritage –including all of the gravestones in the cemetery -
and to make this information available on-line.

See: http://www.radautz-jewisheritage.org/index.html

Since 2005, the group has amassed thousands of photos of the cemetery
gravestones and epitaphs, and these have now been listed in an online
database.

See: http://www.radautz-jewisheritage.org/news.htm

Last year there were tensions between the "outsiders" and the local
Jewish community which produced a flurry of accusations that spilled
into the local media. Now, however, misunderstandings seem to be
resolved, and both groups are united in their commitment to maintain
the historic cemetery and to develop a restoration program for the
synagogue, which is, overall, still in good condition.

An online slideshow of the synagogue, built in 1879, showing the need
for repairs can be seen at:
http://www.radautz-jewisheritage.org/Radautz%20Temple%202005/default.htm

The synagogue, which is listed as a protected historic site, has
recently been included in the "Action Plan for the Protection of the
Jewish Heritage" adopted by the Romanian Government. A good portion of
the costs for restoration, for which planning began in 2007, will be
covered from this source. Additional funding for the project will
certainly be needed.

Cologne Jewish Museum Problems

Plans for a new Jewish Museum in Cologne are experiencing problems.....

Cologne Debates Building Jewish Museum in City Center

Deutsche Welle, July 17, 2008

Plans to build a Jewish museum in Cologne are being put to the test. While originally supporting the idea, the city's mayor is now not so certain any more that the winning design is the best one to build.
The city is home to the oldest Jewish community north of the Alps and still has significant remains of the old Jewish quarter, including the ruins of a mikwe, or ritual bath, just in front of Cologne's city hall.

That's why this particular spot was also chosen as the location of a future museum. A design by Saarbruecken-based architectural firm Wandel Hoefer Lorch was overwhelmingly chosen by an expert jury.

It all happened so quickly that members of the private foundation planning to pay for the construction said that it hadn't collected any of the 20 million euros ($31.7 million) needed.

They might not have to hurry.

While Cologne's conservative Mayor Fritz Schramma had originally voiced enthusiastic support for the plan, he's since backed away from it.

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Shi-Hua Bak Kut Teh, Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru

Shi Hua (Wah) Bak Kut Teh (N1°29.865' E103°49.182') at Taman Permas Jaya is one of our favorite!! It's located at the junction of Jalan Permas 9/3 and Jalan Permas 9/5, just next to the Jusco Shopping Center Permas Jaya.

We usually visit it on Sunday morning and always pack of peoples! The average time for the foods to serve is 15 minutes, for me.....it's still acceptable. :)

This is what we order normally, the pork is gentle, my family love it very much. And they maintain the standard of the food all the time!

Prices are reasonable. Less than MYR25.00 for the above meal.

* Shop name corrected from 'Shi Hua' to 'Shi Wah' Bak Kut Teh. (30th Nov 2008)


View Larger Map - Map of Shi Hua Bak Kut Teh, Permas Jaya

Bak Kut Teh at Johor Bahru :-
* How Yu Bak Kut Teh, Permas Jaya, Johor
* Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh, Tmn Daya, Johor Bahru
* Soon Lee Bak Kut Teh, Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru
* Soong Huat Bak Kut Teh, Taman Desa Tebrau - Johor Bahru
* Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh, Johor Bahru*

Bak Kut Teh at Muar :-
* Leng Kee Bak Kut Teh, Muar, Johor

Bak Kut Teh at Kulai :-
* Sze Hwa Bak Kut Teh, Kulai, Johor*

Bak Kut Teh at Pekan Nanas :-
* Tong Heng Bak Kut Teh at Pekan Nanas, Johor.

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Vilnius and Lithuania -- NYT article

Here's a nice piece in the NY Times about Jewish Vilnius. A predictable "roots search" piece, but nicely done.

Frugal Traveler blog, July 16 08

In much of Europe, the Old Town is the only town that matters. Centuries-old stone houses, crammed into shoulder-width alleyways that swerve at random and wind uphill toward ancient churches dedicated to forgotten saints — this is, to many of us, what Europe is all about. But Old Towns often give me pause: Will the quaintness mask a lack of vitality? Is it a museum for tourists, or a place where locals live, work and play? And if the Old Town is boring, will the New Town — the less-densely populated, less charming sprawl outside the medieval city walls — be any better?

In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, I needn’t have worried. Its Old Town is easily my favorite in Europe (sorry, Dubrovnik), a vast, fun web of alleys lined with elegant, straight-backed buildings that reminded me of Scandinavia. (Danes, I’m told, see them as very Russian.) Modern-day pilgrims — women sporting severely fashionable bangs, men who’ve mastered geek chic — flock to the 18th-century neo-Classical Vilnius Cathedral in the heart of the Old Town, not to pray but to hang out in the broad piazza. From there, they proceed up glossy Gedimino Prospect or cobblestoned Pilies Street, perhaps ducking under a low, concealed archway to grab a beer or three at one of the innumerable courtyard cafes.

It was in one such cafe that Regina Kopilevich sat across from me last Thursday and asked the question I had been waiting a lifetime to hear. Placing her hand atop the pile of papers in front of her and opening her clear blue eyes extra wide, she leaned forward and said, in slightly accented English, “Would you like to know your name?”

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