Continuation - Bali Trip

After the Monkey Sanctuary, we moved on to Kintamani Volcanoe. Apart from the breezy wind, it drizzled a little when we arrived. As we got down from our van, we were approached by many sellers selling t-shirts and souvenirs. All of us were hungry. We ignored them and proceeded to the restaurant. I have to say that was a smart move.

Kintamani Volcano

However after lunch and a few snapshots, we decided to leave. It was raining again and while waiting for the van to pick us up, big mistake.......my family decided to open their mouth and asked how much were the souvenirs. In no time they were swarmed by the sellers.

Next stop - Tirta Empul in Tampak Siring.

Before we are allowed to enter the temple, we had to wear sarongs. One pakcik decided to help me tie the sarong. Don't know if he was sincere in helping (because I didn't ask for help) or he was trying to "menggatal". My mom asked for his help to tie the sarong and he turned her down.

First..like this.

Then...like this.

The outcome...tadaaa

After donning on the sarong, we were taken to this place. It was filled with people and all were queuing up for their turns to bathe in this holy water. It is believed that the holy water is able to cleanse away the bad luck and also to cure illnesses.


And where did the holy water come from? It came from this spring. If you noticed the black spots, those are actually the water sprouting out from the underground. This is not a man made spring. It is from a natural source and it has not dried up since it was first discovered.
Next we visited other areas and saw prayers taking place. The Balinese here usually prayed for peace and safety.
From the spot where the prayers was taking place, we saw a big house seated at the tip of a hill. Our tour guide said this house belongs to one of the Indonesia's president. I cannot recall his name though. And that hilltop is actually a breast of a woman, if seen from a top view and that house is actually built right on the woman's breast.From this view, you will see both the breasts. A bridge was built to cross from one breast to another. Amazing..if this was during Gulliver's time, his wife's breasts would need to have a bridge in between so that those tiny people would be able to cross over.

Another death

I guess I should stop grieving. Just when I was to think I should stop grieving, I heard of another death. Teo Beng Hock, whom I do not even know, one who is not even related to me. But I feel for his family. He died while under MACC's custody and his death has been unexplainable.

While I want him to rest in peace, I also wished he would appear into somebody's dream and relate what transpired during his last hours.

His fiancee's words to him on his funeral was enough to move everyone to tears. His sson-to-be mother-in-law was crying uncontrollably. So were his own parents.

I think I have blogged enough about death. Otherwise in time to come, my blog might be turned into an orbituary session.

Pray that justice will be served.

Update on bad news

Well...he didn't wake up. I was told he passed away this morning and the family is donating some of his organs.

Yesterday around 1:30pm I received a call. The doctor had declared him brain dead and moving him out from the ICU. And the family had to decide whether to remove him from the machine. I said to my friend, "miracles do happen, right?"..."Maybe he will wake up."

I had intended to visit him after work that day. But with such news, I wasn't sure if I should wait. I asked permission from my boss to visit him. I needed to bring a colleague with me. I somehow wasn't sure I could do this alone. Thank God..boss understood and agreed. I left office at 2:30pm. So many things crossed my mind while I was driving.

Steven is not a very close friend of mind. And yet to say that we aren't close at all is also not true. We would stay out of touch for months at times. We hardly meet. But each time when he calls, he would tease me and make me burst into laughters.

I remembered when my dad was so sick and admitted to Selayang Hospital. I was there to look after my dad. He came and gave me moral support. He accompanied me to lunch. When he left, the specialist broke the family some bad news. The doctor had told us to bring my dad home. I was completely broken. And I called him. He was the one who advised me on what to do next. He was the one who gave me the moral support.

Yesterday, I would say was one of the worst days in my entire life. I got to the hospital and saw him surrounded by his family members. They were all crying. His ex-partner who was there told me that the family has decided to remove him from the machine but he was reluctant to go. I was dumbstruck....."You mean Steven said he refuse to go?" The guy said no. Steven is brain dead. He is communicating through a medium. Then only I realised there was a medium seated next to him.

His sisters and mother were all crying. Even my colleague who went with me, who knew not of this man also could not contain her tears. Her sister asked if he is willing to donate his organs to which he agreed. And the family kept persuading him to let go.....they assured him that all will be well taken care. The siblings said they will look after their mom.

Steven is not married but has 2 daughters aged 8 & 4 with a woman. The "wife" was there. She promised to look after their children. She said.."I know these are the 2 whom you loved the most. Don't worry I will take good care of them". With that the "wife" went out to the waiting area and brought the 2 girls. She told them to hug Daddy and to call Daddy.

Then she served tea to his motherwhich usually in a Chinese tradition, it means accepting the person into the family. In this case it is considered she has been accepted as a daughter in-law by the family. Her sister was telling him what has just taken place.

Then the medium speaks again. The medium said not everyone is here. There are a few more people which he wanted to see and he named them. I waited for a while more and then I walked to him and spoke a few word to him. I stroke his arm and it still felt warm. Then I left.

It was and still is very devastating to me. I wished I had stayed longer. I wished I had said more things to him. I just cannot believe he is gone.

Rest In Peace, Steven. May God bless your soul. Amitabha.

Bad news!

I wanted to continue to blog about my Bali trip today but I couldn't. Just a few minutes ago, I received a call. The caller said, "Susan, I have bad news for you". I held my breath, not daring to breathe.

I have been receiving nothing but bad news lately.

Exactly 3 weeks ago, my colleague, a bachelor who lived alone died in the wee hours of the morning from a heart attack. What a shock that was. I woke up at 6:45am only to receive an sms from another colleague at 6:50am informing of his death. He called this colleague of mine at 4am asking for prayers as he said he had chest pain. A few minutes into praying, he was gasping for breath and shrieking in pain. Next was silence. My colleague rushed to his house. Shouting aloud his name when he got there, the whole neighbourhood actually woke up. He used the neighbour's balcony and climbed into his house, only to find the house in darkness. When he got to the bedroom and turned on the lights, he was already gone.

2 weeks later which was actually just a week ago, MJ died. When a friend called me at 7am that morning to break the news, I was neutral. I didn't feel anything. Then slowly when I drove myself to work, I cried. Geez...MJ is gone...forever. He was looking forward to his comeback. Even the title of his tour explains. "This Is It Tour". Adding salt to the wound, the radio stations were paying tribute to him, airing all his numbers. It made me more sad when I listened to You Are Not Alone, my fav number. Till today, I still cried when I read about him. All the news that were slashed on to him were meant to tarnished his image and these culprits certainly did a good job.

2 days ago, my aunt came down from Kelantan. She had not been well and went for a check. The hospital found a "growth" the size of about 5cm on her liver and told her they do not know what it is and said to come back again 3 months later for another check to determine if the "growth" has differ in size. Hate to say this...but heck...WTF...?? Anything can happen in 3 months! Do we wait and go back 3 months later and then to be told that this is end stage cancer? What is this doctor saying?? It's a human life here....geez.....Anyway, she is here for another check and will be getting her report tomorrow. From the look of the scan, it doesn't seem good. Pray that there is cure to her problem. Pray that a miracle will happen.

Back to the call which I received a short while ago. A friend called to inform that our friend collapsed during a meeting at his office today and is now in a coma. It seems chances of survival is very slim. There is blood clot in his brain. He is in ICU now. I must make a visit to him tomorrow. Pray that he will wake up.

Just about a month ago, my neighbour passed away. Every morning I will pick up his daughter and send her to school together with my son. They are both the same age. I can see all his 3 children have very good relationship with him. If he is not working outstation, he will take his children to the market, and fetch them back from school. He died of a heart attack in outstation. When I received the call at 2:30pm on that faithful day, I told my mom...no..it can't be true. Maybe my son had heard wrongly. I said pray that it was a mistake. When I got home that evening, I saw canopies already been set up outside his house. What more could that mean? He has 3 young children. The oldest aged 10 followed by 9 and 7.

God.....why is this happening? It feels like some kind of punishment to me. Will I have to be here to watch my friends slowly depleting one after another? Please...I don't think I can take anymore of these.