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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Dakar Rally 2010

This year's 31st running of the Dakar Rally is being held in South America for the second year, instead of the traditional African route. The reason is - growing issecurity and possible terrorist attack concerns. This year's race began and will end in Buenos Aires, covering a looping 9,000 kilometers between Argentina and Chile over 14 stages. 362 Teams began the race with 176 motorcycles and quad bikes, 134 cars, and 52 trucks. The race is just over halfway completed now, the winners expected to cross the finish line on January 16th.
Below - several photographs from the first half of the rally.

Spain's Gerard Farres Guell kicks up sand with his Aprilia during the 4th stage of the Dakar 2010 between Fiambala, Argentina, and Copiapo, Chile on January 5, 2010. Spain's Marc Coma won the stage, France's David Casteu took the second place and France's Cyril Despres the third. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

The Volkswagen Touareg of South African driver Giniel De Villers and co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz of Germany attends the symbolic start of the Dakar 2010 in Buenos Aires on January 1, 2010. (ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP/Getty Images)

Poland's Krzysztof Holowczyc in his Nissan passes race fans on a hillside during the Dakar 2010 between Colon and Cordoba, Argentina, on January 2, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Chile's Francisco Lopez Contardo guides his Aprilia through water during Stage 1 of the Dakar 2010 between Colon and Cordoba, Argentina, on January 2, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

People watch Nissan's Jean-Pierre Strugo and co-driver Yves Ferri, of France, splash their car through a river crossing during stage one of the Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally 2010 in Rio Cuarto, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

France's Jean Claude Mazet falls from his KTM during the 2nd stage of the Dakar 2010 between Cordoba and La Rioja, Argentina, on January 3, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Manuel Jamett of Chile climbs a rocky road on his Yamaha motorcycle during the sixth stage of the Dakar Rally 2010 from Antofagasta to Iquique January 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen)

BMW's driver France's Stephane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret cross a valley during the seventh stage of the Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally 2010 between Iquique and Antofagasta, Chile, Friday, Jan. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Russia's Leonid Novitskiy crosses dunes in his BMW during the 7th stage of the Dakar 2010, between Iquique and Antofagasta, Chile, on January 8, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Volkswagen's Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz, of Spain, compete during stage six of the Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally 2010 between Antofagasta and Iquique, Chile, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Helder Rodriguez of Portugal rides his Yamaha motorcycle during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally from Antofasgasta to Copiapo, January 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer/Pool)

An aerial view shows the site where a Robinson 44 helicopter crashed in Fiambala, Catamarca province, January 4, 2010. The pilot, co-pilot and two reporters who were following the Dakar Rally sustained injuries when their helicopter crashed, local media reported. (REUTERS/Gendarmeria/Handout)

China's Wenmin Su rides his Jincheng past cheering onlookers during the 4th stage of the Dakar 2010 between Fiambala, Argentina, and Copiapo, Chile on January 5, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

The Dakar encampment is seen during stage five of the Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally 2010 in Antofagasta, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Frederic Le Floc'h)

Foggy clouds cover part of the area where the 5th stage of the Dakar 2010 between Copiapo and Antofagasta, Chile, is taking place on January 6, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Yamaha's rider Argentina's Alejandro Patronelli climbs a dune on his quad bike during the seventh stage of the Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally 2010 between Iquique and Antofagasta, Chile, Friday, Jan. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

South African Giniel De Villiers drives his Volkswagen during the 8th stage of the Dakar 2010, between Antofagasta and Copiapo, Chile, on January 10, 2010. (NATACHA PISARENKO/AFP/Getty Images)

Italy's Silvia Giannetti falls from her KTM during the 5th stage of the Dakar 2010 between Copiapo and Antofagasta, Chile, on January 6, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

France's Cyril Despres crosses a wide plain his KTM during the 8th stage of the Dakar 2010, between Antofagasta and Copiapo, Chile, on January 10, 2010. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

SOURCE:
The Dakar Rally Official Website
Dakar 2010 at Wikipedia

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Macroview Care Centre at Eden Eco Farm(Part 2)

The Macroview Care Centre Children Summer Camp continued their activities on the second day to Eden Eco Farm, Saleng - Johor. (Link to the first day evening event)

I was late in the morning to follow them to the farm. When I arrived, I missed the introduction and the farm education for the children conducted by the owner - Mr Steven Seow around the Farm, so I just had a walk alone in the 20 acres farm...

After I visited the whole farm, the children started their 'Water War' at the small field! That was the moment I Love to capture!

Busy filling up the water to their toys

Then they started the Shooting!!
Some were running, shouting, screaming...happy and fun!

Hunting for target...

He was happy that someone Miss it!

I missed? Oh! Let me shoot again!

You must really be careful of this boy, he got the whole bottle of water!

The session last for about an hour then follow by the game organized by teachers...

Everyone was wet! Rule of the game...

After a while, everyone was jumping into the small pool beside the main building of Eden Eco Farm. All the kids love the pool because of the Slide, haha!

The owner of the farm and his employee were taking care of the kids from the slide.

Mr Steven Seow (right) - Owner of Eden Eco Farm of Saleng.

Mr Tan (Principal of Macroview) guiding the kids from slide down

All of them (the children and the teachers) were having so much fun over there! Especially at the pool...

The session last about 2 hours, some of them are totally exhausted....

Let me have a rest...

And some of them not even wanna get out from the pool...

I still wanna play! Let me jump into the pool...

I noticed many elder children and teachers were trying to convinced him to being discipline about 'Times up', but I doubt they success....

I like to mixed with all the kids around, not just because of rejuvenation...but soaked myself into the pure and happy moment in this peace of Nature Land...

Again, the activities end with the laughter & joyful from the children and the teachers...See you all next year!

I will blog about the Eden Eco Garden in my next post.

Related post of Macroview Care Centre :
* A Day At McDonald's Skudai, Johor Bahru.
* Macroview Care Centre, Taman Daya - Johor Bahru.
* Mid Autumn Moon Cake Festival at Macroview Care Centre
* Macroview Care Centre 13th Children Summer Camp (Part 1)

MY TRIPS - Home

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Poland -- Fascinating article on epitaphs in Bialystok Jewish Cemetery

Tomasz Wiesniewski opens the gate to the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Bialystok, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

by Ruth Ellen Gruber

The online "Jewish Magazine" publishes a fascinating article by the scholar Heidi M. Szpek about the epitaphs in the Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery in Bialystok, Poland.

Called "In the Bloodshed of Their Days," it explores how tombstone epitaphs provide a vivid picture of the people buried there, and thus shed light on the life of the community -- both the good times and the bad.

As I translated each of this cemetery's inscriptions, I read of the character and qualities of the Bialystoker Jews, of "perfect and upright men" and "modest and God-fearing women". On their tombstones are also words of praise for great rabbis, scholars, and charitable women. Old age is recorded as a triumph, especially in the case of an Abraham son of Israel who lived to be 102 years old. What history Abraham must have seen and experienced from 1830 to 1932, the century and more of his life! (Image 2) Occasionally, the lesser qualities of the deceased are remembered, as one father wrote of his daughter: "Her mouth ceased from (its) evil tongue" – she gossiped!

These inscriptions also hold details that were sadly normal to life in a world a century ago in Bialystok, Poland. Inscriptions remember women who died in childbirth, especially in the cold winter months, women who died before they could marry, and a man who barely experienced the joy of fatherhood before his untimely death. And then there are the tombstones of children. Perhaps the most heart wrenching inscription is that of three sons – Chaim Lejb, Shalom Shechna and Israel Abraham, aged eight, six and four, who died in a fire in March of 1908! How did their father, Asher, and their mother endure this loss? Such deaths, though sad, are not unique to Bialystok; they were part of life without the comforts of the contemporary world.

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Szpek, a Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Central Washington University (Ellensburg, Washington), is currently writing a book on the Jewish epitaphs from Bialystok. She spent three years translating all the epitaphs in the Bagnowka cemetery, the only Jewish cemetery to remain in Bialystok. Over the years she has worked with Tomasz Wisniewski, who has dedicated the past quarter century to documenting Jewish heritage in eastern Poland and who has been my own guide to Bialystok.

In Bialystok, Poland's Jewish cemetery on Wschodnia Street, the black Memorial Pillar that stands at its center is a blatant visual reminder of hatred vented in the past. The nearly 50 tombstone inscriptions that speak of "the bloodshed of the days" also bear subtle witness to Jewish persecution in the years 1905 onward. But of what value is this knowledge? The answer no doubt depends on the individual. For some people these tombstones might bring awareness that this entire cemetery - not just the tall, black Memorial Pillar – is a memorial to the "bloodshed of the days" in Bialystok's past. For others the knowledge imparted by these inscriptions fosters remembrance of the very personal world of Bialystok Jewry, a world at times gentle and loving, a world at times sad and violent. But for me, in particular, these horrific phrases, combined with a woman's name, a father's name, a child's name, with words of love mixed with words of grief, and a date, remind me of specific incidents in Bialystok's past. Together all these words also remind me that I am not simply translating words cut into stone. Rather as I translate I feel – if only for a moment – a touch of the anguish experienced by those of Bialystok's now 'lost' Jewish community, those perceived as 'the other' by past generations of Russians, Poles and Germans. In this brief moment of my anguish, an indissoluble desire is implanted in my mind and engraved on the tablets of my heart - that past hatred may not bequeath to us a future legacy of hatred and anguish.

Read full article

The memorial to the 1905 pogrom, Bialystok cemetery. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Macroview Care Centre 13th Children Summer Camp (Part 1)

Macroview 13th Summer Camp - 17th & 18th December 2009.

The Centre practice the Children Summer Camp every year, the activities normally will be going on for the 2 days.

I was at the Centre on the first evening during their Charity Fund Raising 2010 Event. Everyone in the centre will help to prepare some handicrafts, goodies and others...parents of the children also contributed their clothes, daily necessity and many many items...
You have to pay for every items and food in the event that night at the minimum cost.

Some handicraft items from the children and teachers

All the children from the centre were helping to sell something for the charity. It made this situation became special, where Everyone is helping each other to Achieve the same goal! Impressed!

And I was pestered by one of the boy who ask me to buy the pack of 'Fish Ball' from him. He was following me for more than 2 hours...Haha! That was Great! (I bought it...)

Children selling some toys to help the centre to raise the charity fund 2010

This was the popular stall (above) which selling tit bits, and there was some Serious negotiation going on! :) (Tit Bits ponsored by the parents)

The Handicraft table. Where all the collection items are made.

The two sweet ladies who help the event of that night

I also noticed there were many plants for sale display at one corner. All of the plants were sponsored by the parents...

Beautiful plants for sale

Teachers and parents also bought some items during the event, because the cost display over there were too attractive to resist!

Some Teachers busy negotiating and some were busy selling...

Too bad, I was TOO late to grab the used Microwave (below)...if I'm not mistaken, it's only cost MYR30.00.

Corn also available...

I was happy to see all the children playing around the their laughter, really make my day! Some of them were having fun between the area! Nice atmosphere!