standard

is it good enough to be close enough?

Morocco - Sahara

At 55 degree, the desert can be so hot yet so cool at the same time. We even saw mirages. The drive to the desert brings us dangerously close to the Algerian border. Our Moroccan guide briskly mentioned the tension along the shared border. We never doubt what his said, but wondered how easily he can wave aside the matter. We saw many guarded checkpoints along the road. The armed guards were stationed in the middle of the desert with nothing within a tens of kilometers and they have NO vehicle. It makes me wonder how did they managed to get there in the first place.

The sand dunes in the deserts were pristine. Miles and miles of smooth brown sand. Tracks made were quickly erased by the wind. We mounted our camels and set sail across the sea of sand. The surefooted camels have only 2 toes!

"hump."-cj

"hi!"-cj

"the sun is setting. good riddance. "-cj

"i starting to see creamy chocolate ice cream everywhere."-cj

"on top of the highest dune."-cj

"shadow."-cj

"Berber dinner."-cj

"on three legs they stand. their last legs are tied to prevent them from escaping."-cj

"sunrise from the mountain range along Algerian border."-cj

"the sahara express."-cj

the eventual blister in the netherland was worth it.

morocco - all natural

The 4 day road trip was utterly draining. Hours are spent in a car watching the driver tackles the winding mountain roads. My heart skipped a beat as he made sharp turns dangerously close to the cliff edge. Along the way, I caught many landforms that I could recognize from my geography textbook. I made a subconscious comparison with Singapore's plain landscape. The kasbahs are the earthen houses build in the past with smalls doors and corridors that joins the 3d floor to the 2nd floor of another building.

"Dades Gorges."-cj

"Valley of the thousands Kasbah"-cj

"once upon a time, there was a river."-cj

"Koutoubia Mosque."-cj

"watch tower's bird's eye view."-cj

"Desert in Majorelle Garden."-cj

"Zen in Majorelle Garden."-cj

"i left my heart in Morocco."-cj

Morocco - Djemma el Fna

Morocco. The messiest and most exciting place i have ever visited. Fantastic as it is, it marked my first step into North Africa. Unique, totally lacking the comfort of Singapore and Europe, it is the perfect off the beaten track kind of travel to rough it out. Marrakesh, the capital of Morocco and some smaller countries up through in history, managed to fight off the effects of modernization and maintain the old rustic charm.

"souks."-cj

"you wont believe the crowd at 1am."-cj

La Place de Jamaa L Fna, filled with snake charmers, water bag mans and storytellers in the day, will entice you with the sweet amora of authentic Moroccan dishes in the evening. It bustles with life till the wee hours of the morning as I pigged out at the food stalls get myself drunk with fresh orange juices (3Dh). Always remember to carry exact change. If you pay 200Dh for a meal at 120 Dh, be prepared to give a 80Dh change.

"fresh orange juice a respite from the African heat."-cj

"the antennas are still there! look how juicy it is."-cj

"there are hundreds of food stalls in Djemma. food lover this is ur paradise."-cj

"couscous. reminds me of nasi briyani"-cj

"heavenly spread."-cj

Full of tourist traps, the souks is the place for the adventurous. They have everything from gypsie styled dresses, bags,baskets,jewellery and slippers!! Prices are all negotiable. Even marked prices are negotiable. Damn, I got fooled once. Good thing for me. I met a French girl whose bf is a Moroccan trader. She told me the local prices for the individual goods. Volia. Information is King. Armed with it, I went into the souks again this time even it out with the vendors. Prices of scarfs, beginning at 250Dh, got mercilessly slashed to 30Dh. Pottery at 280Dh went for 30Dh. Clearly the tourist inflation rate is 900%. Wikitravel clearly didn't know it better when they mentioned that prices are divisible by 3. The vendors, though uneducated are shrewed businessmen. Eagle eyed, they can shop a tourist from metres away. A quick assessment and they will swoop down on him. Like the meek clueless lambs, the tourists will soon be slaughtered and their sheep brains served as a delicacy at the Djemma el Fna.

"sheep brain."-cj

"heads up."-cj

Apparently, your attire counts too. With big SLR cameras and expensive watches, you are marked. While negotiating, money shouldn't be shown too early in the game, else they will snatched it away from your hands and the deal and your fate are more or less sealed. Negotiation are like a game to them, they enjoy it. So get yourself a good deal, give them a hard bargain and have fun at the same time.

"sentry duties. they are sharper than the guards in Singapore Detention Centers."-cj

simply exciting.

morocco

back in 10days..

one year

We went to Paris to send jw off. As we bade farewell to him, we watched with envy as he walked into the crowd. Everyone wants to go back home and he happened to be the first to do so. Looking back at the past year, I began to appreciate the opportunities that were presented to me, the envious position I am in, the independence I have gained, the childish moments, the loneliness, the exposure to new cultures, the chance to travel, the free money.. etc.. Really, I should have nothing to complain about. The only regret is not to be able to see the people i love. Namely my family, friends, her, her, that her, the other her, another her and another other her.

"death of Innocence. murdered by Time." -cj

I apologized if this dreamy schoolboy tone diverge from my usual cynical self, but i deserve to cling on to every moments of innocence. whatever's left.

bygone

why don't i feel any post exam exuberance?

loch ness

The Loch Ness, a deep freshwater loch, extends for 37km into the Highlands of Scotland. The dark waters can be explained by the black sea bed. However, all the mysteries that lie beneath the placid surface of the dark waters, which rises 15.8 m above sea level, cannot be explained. Charles the Great set forth, unarmed, on a personal mission to hunt for the elusive Loch Ness monster. He refrained from affectionately calling it Nessie, least it soften his heart at the crucial moment when he is about to sink his teeth into the monster's neck. Or he can just break its neck with his bare hands. Prepared to fight to the end, he boarded the Jacobite Loch Ness Cruise, equipped with the latest underwater sonar technology..

"sleepy hollow."-cj

"strength."-cj

"ruins of a stronghold."-cj

"reminds me of a those picturesque shots on a calander."-cj

"diagonalize matrix of natural elements."-cj

"trebuchet. fire! "-cj

"damn i didn't screwed up this one. the volcanic movement rocked the frame.."-cj

"Ruins of Urquhart Castle."-cj

nothing stirred beneath the loch. it must have felt the awe-inspiring commanding aura of Charles the Great...

magnanimousness

damn, this is a really longest word to type on a sms.. and i couldn't get the spelling right the first time round. and you wonder why i even used that word? Don't. just repeat after me..

mag-nan-i-mous-ness.

exam

well again. its exam week. i'm actually glad it is finally here. exams usually comes with a lethal cocktail of mixed feeling for most. but i can tell you an honest truth. i'm really glad that it is finally here. i had wondered what is it exactly that i am happy about. is it that i'm finally able to go back to singapore to meet my family friends? or is it that it is the going to be the end of one hell of a year? or is it the upcoming trip to morocco? i guess all these do add to the general good feeling. but the one thing that made me really happy.. i have made good friends here. they bring out the good in me. the good which was hidden by the shadow of rationality. the rationality that had served me so well before had made me doubt my humanity. it made me wonder if i had been doing good things with a hidden personal agenda because it is the right thing, or was it because i genuinely want to make other people happy?

now i know. a friend helped me figured it out one morning at 2am. thks.