Leptis Magna - Libya (II)

remember this photo i posted earlier?

check out the expression!! haha

anyway, u are right! this is the ancient "si hang" for the Romans! aka TOILET BOWL / 马桶 !!!

The hole in the middle is for u to sit on it and then do your business! but isn't it a little too small? what if somebody's "ekhem" is too big or he missed?? ok ok try not to think about if further else it will disgust everyone!

but it looks so much better than the ancient china dig a hole on the ground toilet bowl u see in the TVB series! haha ^^

These Romans are very developed in their sanitary facilities. Imagine 3,000 years ago they already invented high class toilet bowl, and also not forgetting

THIS

and THESE

they call it, stim bath / sweat bath. aka jacuzzi in modern description.


see how lavish their life during the ancient time.

Moving forward, u will see fine carving on the columns. which u think are normal carving.

but... look at them carefully. the column on the left shows the growth of zigot, embrio, fetus... which means a BABY in the mother's stomach. whilst the column on the right shows the growth of a baby to man. where eventually it will turn to the guy standing on the right end (our tour guide!) bwahaha... just a coincidence that he was standing right there when i took the photo! ;P

more rocks (market place)... where they have their own standard measurements of length, weight for the business (that time they don't have SI units like kg , m etc.)

i think i've seen enough of rocks and fallen sculptures from this place. not to mention that the whole visit lasted for 2 hours between 10pm-12pm. which cause us to melt down and sunburn after the visit.

i shall end this entry with more great pictures.

At the top of the theater! the sky and the sea is so beautiful and the scenery is superb!

it is so great to be here. at least not for the work. just the visit (this tourist spot is basically empty, without any crowds and bunch of tourists)

Lets hope that i do not need to go back to this place anymore! haha!

Leptis Magna - Libya

Sorry about the MIA for almost a month. i was so happy to be home after that Libya working trip. Was a disaster and i realised that the place u wanted to be the most is always home. Although the shopping and outing is also quite important. Especially when something is banned in those country... which i wrote earlier here

during the 13 days of work vacation in Libya, i was lucky to visit this historical place. else, it'll be all work work work!

Introducing... Leptis Magna!
You will be surprised what u will see here, in Libya!!!

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Ok ok not this so-so normal lookin' stele. Leptis Magna is actually a declared UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Standing in front of Septimius Severus Arch!

A prominent city of the Roman Empire! Leptis Magna~~

Forum of Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus is actually the emperor of Leptis. So he is the important guy who built all the things in Leptis Magna and made it the third most important city in Africa. (btw, Libya is situated in North Africa, facing the Mediterranean sea)

but all we can see now are ruins here, yet they are still amazing!

look how beautiful this arc is formed without any steel embedded inside. Imagine how people back in 3000 years ago (1100 BC) have the skills and knowledge to built these!

The fallen off head Medusa!

There are a lot of myths and historical facts for this ancient Roman city. but the weather is too hot that i cant focus on listening to the explanation of the tour guide. Pity him to keep talking about Leptis Magna throughout our whole 2 hours visit.

but actually he is paid to do that :P






The Theatre... the view is great up there!

But first, picture of the day. What was i sitting on?

haha... u'll be surprised!! Look how happy i am! check it out next time!!

(to be continued)

Mystery Revealed!

finally, the days have gone back to routine... i'm again, as usual... busy with work... and alas, time to reveal where i went disappear last 2 weeks!

"SaLLaAm!!" is the first word u should learn when u are in this country. because, it means "hello". yes, just in case u are guessing... you are wrong. i was in Libya!!!

question... where on earth is Libya?! Nobody knows where is Libya. technically speaking, it is at North of Africa, an Arab country. Yikes, why was i sent to Libya? because Libya found oil, and they are the richest country in Africa. and since

OIL = MONEY = RICH

they have the money to develope a town, just like that. Our construction site is about 2.6km x 3.5km, imagine how big the development is!

but look at this place, u really eat sand more than anything else.

besides sand, they also serve mud! this is the construction site next to the office where i spent most of my time rotting there.

And also, not forgetting the HOT sun!! By looking at it, u feel dizzy already!!

The temperature during summer is about 35 degree celcius. Well, u may think that it is the same as in Malaysia, but then it is far worse than u expect. Libya is so much drier and hotter than Malaysia because it has less trees, and south of Libya is Sahara and north of Libya is Mediterranean sea. In fact, once i cross the road at the back of the construction site, it is the sea already!!!

but this is not just it... more to come, about Libya! (they have some interesting historical places to serve, not just sand and mud!)

The Night Before i leave this mysterious place

finally... i'll be going back home.
all the tasks are completed (at least mine is) and all my team members are very eager to go home. time to seek for some relax and relieve after work. And guess what i found here?! wow... i must be lucky! this green bottle looks very familiar, isn't it? but hey wait...

Look carefully what it is written on the bottle!? it is ...

NON ALCOHOLIC?!!

what the... is this a BEER? does it still consider a BEER if it is non alcoholic?
and why on earth does anyone want to drink something non alcoholic whereas it is supposed to be alcoholic?!

Seriously, this baby has the bitterness of beer, but it doesn't have the kick of a beer at all. and the worst is... it made my headache worse! due to the long duration of exposure to the sun and not enough water in the afternoon (and i'm not supposed to drink water in front of these people)

Just cant wait to go home! ASAP!!!

Ughh.... this crazy place!

remember last post what i said about this country? people are only active during night time. and since it is fasting month, the locals are passive during day time when the sun is up. They tend to sleep until noon during this time. Then they will wait for a few more hours for the sun to set, break fast... send in their prayers, and start behaving very actively after 10pm. And they will be remain hyper until 4am, then sleep. the cycle will repeat itself thoughout the whole fasting month.

and the story goes like this...

i was sleeping in the site cabin since last week. yea and they look like this (this can be considered a high class cabin for a Construction Site!)

the thing i'm gonna tell u, nobody will believe what i said, but... it is really true story, kisah benar!!!

i will dedicate this special incident to my blog, it happened on the

"7th September 2008 at GMT +02:00, 02:42am!"

as usual, i was sleeping (who doesn't sleep at 2am? for normal people) being all tired and exhausted for all the late night non stop working since August 25th (and i mean not a single weekend / day off) not to mention the craziest transit waiting for 13 hours at Doha air-port.

sleeping on my hard rock bed in the cabin, i was awaken by very noisy engine sounds, and it was so loud that i thought it was EarthQuake!! (the buildings we are designing here are for Earthquake Zone)... so i thought so.

the noise was so clear because it was happening just OUTSIDE my cabin... i am sure, it was definitely someone cutting grass, using a Lawnmower!! and when i checked the time, it was 2:42AM!! my friend, who bothers to CUT GRASS AT 2:42AM IN THE MORNING?? what is so important to MOW YOUR LAWN AT 2:42AM??

this is totally crazy! people over here! i just cant wait any longer to get away from this country!!!

Snippet of where i am now

just in case anyone is wondering where i am now, these are some of the hints...

Rules and Regulation in this country

1. Men cannot stare at women on the street, else u will be sent to jail. - (stare in the office but not on the street can or not?? meaning women can stare at men here, legally?)

2. High heels are not allowed, for women. (but i saw a lot of heels on sales, multicolour one)

3. NO women shall wear skirts on the street, nor revealing attire. (but why are these on sales everywhere??)

4. During bulan puasa (coincidently it is fasting month for Muslim now), u CANNOT eat / drink / chew gums in public, to show ur respect to Muslim in their Holy Fasting month. (memo was issued by the company to reinforce this rule)

5. Working hours for local Muslims are 10:00am - 3:00pm (5 hours)

Working hours for non Muslims are 7:30am - 5:30pm (10 hours)

(this is a construction site, so working 10 hours is a norm here. In fact, every construction site is about the same. but why the locals' working hour....)

7. People here are only Active during night, since it is rather hot and dry during daytime (summer) But what i mean is REALLY ACTIVE... will reveal in my next article...

so anyone know where i am now?

So much Hassle... all the way!

i've been away for quite some time... just in case u are not aware... i've disappear from Malaysia and gone to somewhere else (still part of earth) to resolve some job issues. this trip is really disaster!! will slowly tell. but now i'm quite happy cos the job is done and issues have been resolved. that's the reason why i can have the leisure to blog here!!!~

long before i've finished blogging about my Europe trip (here n here), now i somewhere else, trapped!!

but first... the best flight meal, ever! (who will know how bad is my condition later)

by the Qatar Airways, from KL - Doha - (somewhere i'm stucked now)

the meal is served from KL - Doha. see what food they are serving for just economy flights?!

Kueh Teow with fishball + crabstick, with a bun (tactic to make u full, fast), fruits with salad and vanilla cake as dessert! what else can u complain? and not to mention i asked for red wine and they gave me a small bottle, look at the left corner (but of course it taste like @#@# of course)

they have another rice + curry chicken option but i am just curious why Qatar airline can serve KuehTeow (a local malaysian food!?) not to mention it really taste nice!

MAS u totally need to improve what u are serving for your customers. being the Malaysia official airline, u need not to just get best service awards 1 2 (which i don see much), but also to provide good food. (what people demand on a plane) i rather pay some money to buy food on a Airasia plane than suffering from the souless food MAS served on plane. (not to forget Airasia's tasty hotdogs n nasi lemak)

to be continued... ...

The Bundestag - Berlin

Berlin is the city i will never forget even though it has been long since i visited. Besides the lovely places i blog about it earlier (here), Berlin has much much more to offer.

One of the must go place is the parliament house of Germany, the Bundestag.

look and the queue and u will see how much effort others will pay to go into Bundestag and have a look. we spent for more than an hour to get into Bundestag. not to mention those tourist in teams cutting the queue.

anyway, forget about the pain, trust me, it is definitely worth the effort to visit Bundestag!

when u are in Berlin, if u have never been to the Reichstag dome, u can never consider urself to have visited Berlin. Reichstag dome is the the iconic glass dome located on top of the parliament house. Look at how amazing the Reichstag dome is.


Up here at the dome, u can view 360 degrees of Berlin city! see the top of Potsdamer Platz. and some of the views of Berlin city, notice the Brandenburger gate?























Inside, you will be amazed by the structure itself. How mankind can actually built this thing, without any columns at the center to support the dome. (the umbrella handle kind of thing is not holding the floor above). so u wonder, how the dome stands up itself? this is when engineers should feel proud of themselves!












see, when u reach the top of Reichstag dome, nothing is supporting the floor), just the fairy's aperture on top of my head!!

more views of the Reichstag dome.

such a relief after queuing for such a long time, but the experience we had inside the Reichstag dome is simply unforgettable. the picture is taken after i exit the parliament house. observe the queue behind... still so much people waiting to get in! under this red hot sun!

Reichstag dome is open to public without prior registration, also without any administration fee. That makes another reason why ppl congest that place all time!

Opens daily from 0800 - 2400 (last admission is 2200)

for more details, refer to this address:
http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/parliament/index.html

Berlin BerlinA!

Berlin is the capital of Germany! a place u will not regret to travel to. i have already fallen in love with the city when i reach there. their buildings are so magnificent! (mind me, i'm a structural engineer, of course i will fall in love with great buildings/structure) ^^

Introducing the Potsdamer Platz, right at heart of Berlin. you will never miss these symbolic icon in Berlin. Surrounded by numerous glass framed structure, with a spaced truss at the centre of the surrounded buildings. feel amazed when u are there!

Popular tourist attraction, consist of malls, restaurant, hotels and casinos. English speaking cinema, plus a film academy and a film museum. Even IMAX, and the Sony Center is here! dont forget to drop by Potsdamer Platz when u are in Berlin!

Next, lets look at The Berliner Dom, largest cathedral in the city. It looks exactly like those imaginary buildings u can only see in games, like Final Fantasy!!

I just feel so relaxed and happy when i'm here. lawns to sleep on...

(Just ignore the tower cranes above!!!)

All the flowers are so decorative and lovely until i cant resist taking photo with them.

One thing i like about European countries is they pay a lot of attention to small details, like this one. If u don't look closer, u wouldn't know that it is a building under construction. Look carefully!

They just cover up the facade of the building with the "curtain" imitating the exterior appearance of the building after completion. Don't you just feel amazed how they make things more beautiful!?

Another thing is the authenticity of the local attraction. If it is a tricycle, it is really a tricycle generated by bio energy.


Also, not to mention their food too.... hahahaha!! does anyone know that the Germans love MEAT. and i mean PIG MEAT PORK!!! almost everywhere u can see pork meals. even the hotdogs are mixed with porks, if you are not aware.



























And of course how can u forget the famous German beer!!! tell you, they really taste different! the aroma is simply indescribable. and the kick is always there.

So, now... have u fall in love with Berlin, yet?