Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

During my very first trip to Taipei, Taiwan, thanks to my friend, I got to visit the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. This monument made of marbles and concrete was completed 4 years after the death of Chiang Kai-Shek in the year 1975. The memorial hall is located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei and is surrounded by a park, stands at the east end of Memorial Hall Square. 

The front of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

The back entrance with the Chinese character 大孝門, which means Gate of Great Piety

The main base and perimeter wall of the memorial hall were constructed with marbles.

Huge valuable pieces of marbles surrounding the hall which is also good materials for temperature control.

Panoramic view from the memorial hall with National Concert Hall (right) and the National Theater (left)

Inside the memorial hall stood a bronze statue of Chiang Kai-Shek

Close-up view of the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-Shek

The octagonal roof rises 76 metres above the ground and is covered with blue  tiles. The octagonal shape picks up the symbolism of the number 8, a number traditionally associated in Asia with abundance and good fortune. (Wikipedia, 2014)

We were lucky to be able to watch a short marching/duty replacement routine by the security army

Read More

Stockholm Day and Night Part 1: Gamla Stan

It's been a year since my trip to Stockholm during the winter 2012 in February. As an introduction, Stockholm, was founded in the year 1250, and has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Stockholm is the largest city in Scandinavia. As part of the Stockholm Day and Night series, I would like to introduce my readers on Gamla Stan (means 'old town' in Sweden) of Stockholm. Gamla Stan was built on the central island and has been the core of Stockholm. The town dates back in the 13th century consisting of medieval style alley, cobbled streets and archaic architecture.

No. 38 unit at the Gamlan Stan has been transformed into an old style 7-Eleven convenience store 

I was surprised to see 'The Body Shop' as well in this old street

A souvenir shop selling various creative T-Shirts

One of my favorite... 'I Love Swedish Girls' T-Shirt

Explore the old and one of the narrowest alley in Gamla Stan, the Mårten Trotzigs Gränd alley

Up next along the Gamla Stan, you will be coming across the oldest Church/Cathedral in Gamla Stan which is the Storkyrkan.

one of the common beautiful sight of the clock tower at the top of the Stockholms Domkyrka and Storkyrkan

 Day and night photo of the tower of the Stockholm Cathedral

Around the middle of Gamla Stan is the famous Stortorget aka the Great Square in English. Stortorget is the oldest square in Stockholm, the historical centre around which the medieval urban conglomeration gradually came into being (Wikipedia, 2013). This is the main attraction in Old Stockholm City.

Stortorget is the location of the Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset), which houses the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Museum, and the Nobel Library. It was built in the year 1773–1776.Stortorget is the location of the Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset), which houses the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Museum, and the Nobel Library.

Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset). It was built in the year 1773–1776.

The present well on the square was also designed by Palmstedt and built in connection to the new Stock Exchange Building. It dried up in 1856 due to land elevation.

Around the Stortorget Square, are the famous buildings with 'numbers' each with their special story behind.

No.3 was built by the merchant Hans Bremer in the 1640s The building today is called Grillska huset ("The Grill House") after the goldsmith Antoni Grill, who immigrated from Augsburg to Sweden in the 1680s during the era of Gustavus Adolphus to found the Grill Dynasty

I couldn't find any special story behind no.6 except for its peculiar roots around the wall. The current house  is a souvenir shop.

Number 20 with 82 white stones on, is the Ribbinska huset ("House of Ribbing") or Schantzka huset("House of Schantz"), which are occasionally said to symbolize the heads decapitated by the Danish king in 1520. The house was, however, built no later than 1479, when it appears in historical records. Currently, the house serves as a café cum restaurant.

At the Stadsholmen ("city island"), which is also in Gamla Stan, is the Stockholms slott or Kungliga slotted (Stockholm Palace or the Royal Palace). The royal palace is the official residence of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

This is the view from the Western Row..ever wonder why there were a small crowd gathered at the entrance of the palace?

everyone was waiting to see the King of Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf to exit the palace. The King of Sweden was inside the limousine Volvo. Probably the shadow at the backseat. 

Old cannons were arranged in front of the entrance

The East Facade of the Royal Palace of Sweden

Up next Stockholm Day and Night Part 2

Read More

The Hidden Gem of Penang: The P. Ramlee House

After about 1.5 month hiatus, I’m back again! Not from any overseas related travel but nevertheless I am going to blog about this little known place but famous nationwide especially among those who were born before the mid 80s. Yes his name is none other than P. Ramlee with his museum/house Rumah P. Ramlee or known as P Ramlee House.

Here’s a little note about our famous national star:

Born Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh, Tan Sri P. Ramlee was born on the first day of the Eid festival (or better known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri Pertama), which fell on 22 March 1929. His father, Teuku Nyak Puteh, was a sailor from Aceh. He attended Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Melayu Kampung Jawa (Kampung Jawa Malay School) and Sekolah Francis Light primary schools. Next he went to the famous Penang Free School secondary school. Both Sekolah Francis Light and Penang Free School were my alma mater as well.

P. Ramlee was an all rounder which include film actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. Due to his contributions to the movie and music industry and his literary work, he is often considered the icon of Malay entertainment in Malaysia, Singapore, and Sumatra (especially in Aceh due to his ancestry). Some of his famous work includes ‘Pendekar Bujang Lapok’, ‘Hang Tuah’, ‘Anakku Sazali’ and ‘Nujum Pak Belalang’ which won him best Asian Film Award.

Sources: Wikipedia, 2012

Situated at Jalan P Ramlee (formerly known as Caunterhall Road), the P. Ramlee House is was actually built in the year 1926 and was several times been renovated and restored by the National Archives. Exhibitions include his diary, personal memorabilia, boat, bicycle and other personal belongings such as musical instruments which were part of his stardom life.

This is the house whereby I walked passed by nearly every day during my years in primary school, SRK Francis Light, which was also the alma mater of P. Ramlee. Nostalgic!. 

That's me during my countless visit to this traditional wooden house of P. Ramlee..on the left is my friend from Singapore.

This is an old sampan used by the late P. Ramlee to move around the river perhaps or during the flood as the place of his residence often hit by flood during heavy rain and monsoon season. Yes I have experienced that as well.

An old bicycle belong to the late P. Ramlee which was used as his mode of transportation at that time

Read More

The Fort A Famosa: Malacca's Pride

A Famosa, the famous name for one of the oldest surviving European fort in Asia situated in Melaka (Malacca). From what I have studied in the history class, the A Famosa was built by the famous Portuguese admiral Alfonso de Albuquerque after they defeated the Malacca Sultanate in the year 1511. Unknown to me until now, A Famosa actually means ‘The Famous’ in Portuguese. The fort changed hands in the year 1641 when the Dutch defeated the Portuguese. The gate was renovated in the year 1670 with a logo ANNO 1670 on the gate’s arch which represents the Dutch East India Company.

In the 19^th century, the fort changed hands again when the Dutch handed it over to the British to prevent it from falling into the hands of Napoleon? Hmm interesting facts although I have never learned about it in the history class. Since the maintenance of the fort was quite costly, the destruction of the fortress was carried out in the year 1806. Fortunately, during the demolition period, Sir Stamford Raffles, who is the founder of the Singapore intervened it because of his passion for history. Thanks to him, the current gate, Porta de Santiago is what part of the remaining A Famosa.

The pride of Malacca, The Porta de Santiago of Fort A Famosa

More close up shot of the Porta de Santiago

The back view of the gate of A Famosa from the rear

The logo of the Dutch East India Company

A close-up shot of the wall of A Famosa, consumed by time~

                    

The old inside view of the A Famosa, 

And that's me with the left cannon of the A Famosa

Read More

Pilgrim's Rest: An Old Gold Mining Town

Fancy visiting an old gold mining town? There’s one in South Africa. South Africa is not just famous for diamond mines but also gold mines. Old is Gold. The place is called Pilgrim’s Rest (Afrikaans: Pelgrimsrus). Sounds like some pilgrimage’s hotel eh? It is a small town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa which has been declared a national monument. Pilgrim’s Rest was the location of an emergency mint during the Second Boer War. This mint struck the famous and extremely rare Veld Pond

Historically, it was officially declared a gold field in September 1873, As expected, the town suddenly grew to 1,500 inhabitants searching for alluvial gold. Towards the end of the 19th century claims were bought up and underground mining started by the company known as TGME. However in the year 1971, the mine was closed down in 1971 and the village sold to the government as a national museum without any apparent reason. But Transvaal Gold Minings Estates, currently part of the listed company of Simmers and Jack (please google it, I have no idea about this company), started gold mining again in 1998.

Fortunately, the town’s original architecture remains largely unchanged since then, because the town was declared a National Monument in 1986.

Source: Wikipedia, 2012

An old general dealer shop, Bourke & Co. which was opened at that time for general trading

An old cafe

For you to enjoy the cool atmosphere

An old post office to cater the miner at that time

Do visit Scott's Cafe for Pancakes and Souvenirs

On the left: A backpackers' Hostel, On the right: A horse cart for the rich

Ever wondered the kind of tools used for gold mining?

An old assay furnace

If I am not mistaken, this is a water pump during their times to pump water into the mining tunnel

That's an ore bucket

Some photographic history of Pilgrim's Rest

Another mini furnace

An African kid demonstrating on how to deal/push the mining cart

an old gold cart with the rail together

They even have a mini game machine. That is the  The Big Six Gambling Machine, The Gaille Eclipse

A museum collection of vintage cars 

An African lady (momma) performing the balancing act. She was selling delicious macadamia nuts. Mind you, the mommas are really pro in this kind of balancing act. You can actually see many of them in the streets. Instead of using their hand to carry some huge stuff, they balance it on their head 

An old pub/bar for the miner to enjoy their drinks. Did you notice that on the right hand side of this photo, there is a collection of foreign bank notes? That was in year 2009. I guess by now there are even more notes 

Instead of me getting a souvenir, I gave the bar, RM5 as a souvenir with my signature 

with this mark i left, I really hope that I will be able to return to Pilgrim's Rest again sometime in the near future!

Read More