There’s one lucky newborn baby and mom living in Malaysia. The mother, a 31-year-old Malaysian woman, added excitement and drama to an AirAsia flight from Penang to Kuching this past Wednesday when she gave birth to her bundle of joy while the plane was still in the air.
Shortly after the baby was born, the plane landed in Kuala Lumpur. The aim was for the emergency landing to occur before the baby arrived but obviously the baby had other ideas.
Giving birth in flight, with the help of a doctor who was on board, has landed this mom a jackpot of free flights on AirAsia for life. The airline has also bestowed these riches to the newborn.
Can you believe the luck? Just two days old and already a budget traveler to envy. Think of all the nifty vacations this kid will be able to go on. AirAsia, a budget carrier, flies all over Asia and to the United Kingdom.
In a way, this is also like being granted lifelong companion fare status. If either mom or son want to travel with a friend or relative, they could offer to pay a portion of the companion’s ticket in order to share the wealth and have a steady stream of traveling pals.
Happily, mother and son are doing well, even though, the birth was 11 weeks premature.
Mingthein posted this picture to our Flickr group page a few years ago, but I’ve only just now stumbled upon it. Karen Walrond wrote in her Gadling feature, Through the Gadling Lens, about shooting cities at twilight, and she also covered cloud and sky photography just prior to that.
So it seemed fitting to post this, a picture from Kuala Lumpour that effectively used the techniques featured in both of Karen’s articles. I’ve never thought of exposing for a distant cloud. Way to go, Ming!
Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!
People give me tips on where to travel whenever they have been some where they think I would like. A friend of mine jumped out of her chair in the middle of a sentence, remembering a place she went this past weekend. She fetched a certificate from the Hocking Hills Canopy Tours, saying, “This was great.”
From the description of the tour, and from what my friend said, it proves that outdoor adventure and thrill can be found in Ohio, a state where a lot of it is flat as a pancake. The scenery of Hocking Hills thrills me from the ground. It’s perfect for hiking, biking, and roaming around in glorious woods. Being hooked onto a zip line for a tour that soars through trees at treetop level sounds awesome. This is the stuff of the Amazing Race. There are skybridges, rock cliffs and rappelling. There is a two for one deal. My friend said I should take my daughter. I think I might.
There is another canopy tour I have been on that’s a far cry from Ohio. At the Forest Research Institute in Malaysia in Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve not far from Kuala Lumpur, you don’t travel through the trees on a zip line, but by hiking on a series of suspension bridges set high in the leaves and branches. There are many trails to explore with your feet firmly on the ground as well. I went here with a friend of mine. How much I perspired has been erased from my memory–kind of. What I do remember is the lushness and beauty.
Thaipusam has passed and I’m wondering where I was. Back in November I planned to write a post, but it was too early. Now I’m late. But, considering that this festival is probably the most astounding event I’ve ever attended, consider this is a lesson in religion and culture–and perhaps some politics. The first year I lived in Singapore, one of the few countries where the holiday is celebrated, I blearily got out of bed 4:30 a.m. to head to Little India to catch some Thaipusam action. I had no idea how far people would go to prove their devotion. Intense is putting it mildly. This picture is just the beginning.
As with many aspects of Hinduism, this holiday, celebrated between the end of January or beginning of February, depending on the Tamil calendar, is a bit complex. Here’s the condensed version. As with many religious holidays, Hindu and otherwise, Thaipusam celebrates good winning over evil. In this case, the celebration commemorates the birthday of Lord Murugan (also called Subramaniam) the youngest son of Shiva and Parvati, as well as, his victory over the evil demon Soorapadman when he used the lance given to him by Parvati to vanquish the demon’s powers.
To give thanks to Lord Murugan for his banishment of evil, and for any good that has come their way over difficult times, some devotees will carry a kavadi a long distance to a Hindu temple. In Singapore, devotees start at one temple and walk three kilometers to another. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, folks start off in the city and walk several miles to Batu Cave. At the cave, there are 272 steps to navigate to reach the entrance. (photo by nina.bruja, Flickr to right.)
A kavadi is typically a large metal frame decorated with colored paper, flowers or fruit. Some couple the carrying of a kavadi with piercing their bodies and/or faces with steel rods. Others will do things like hang oranges off their backs with steel fish hook like contraptions. Others will pull a kavadi that has been attached to their bodies with hooks. There’s more than one way to show devotion.
This festival is not just for devotees, others participate as well. There are food vendors, people selling trinkets, folks going to the temple to pray, and the devotees’ entourage of friends and family who offer support and help.
As squeamish as I am, I was amazed by the lack of bleeding by these piercings. Even when the steel was removed, I didn’t see any. People fast to purify themselves and to get ready for this, plus they psych themselves into a trance-like state in preparation for the piercing. Men are mostly the ones who go for major piercings. I did see some women pierce their cheeks.
It would be great to have a smell function so I could send the scent of the flowers, coconut milk, candles and incense your way. I can’t think of any other experience that is as much of a sensory overload as this one.
One detail I found quite interesting is that, although this holiday originated in India, it’s not widely celebrated there. The government, from what I understand, is not thrilled with it. One of the reasons it’s celebrated in Singapore is partly because of the large Tamil population there and the fact that Singapore believes in fostering religious freedom. Here’s a YouTube video that captures the essence of what happens in Singapore during th event. I’ve also been to Batu Caves, but months after Thaipusam. There were still remnants of kavadis.
When I was looking for information to let you, the Gadling reader, know what events are going on in the world to make the world a nicer place in honor of Human Rights Day, I found web pages that could not be displayed and information from years past. Even the UN Web site page where this logo is from is from last year’s announcement. It’s easier to find out information about St. Nicholas Day. (I guess they are related, come to think of it.)
I did find out that the Human Rights Day walk in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that was scheduled to happen today, Dec. 9, has been canceled. The logistics might have been nightmarish? Still, there is an event in the Central Market that sounds interesting. There’s a lip-reading of the Declaration of Human Rights (even this link is 9 years old) and stage performances. I do think there are events and talks going on in various parts of the world, but people who are busy promoting human rights may not have a lot of time to update Web sites, or the organization isn’t prominent enough to show up at the top of the list in a search. I’m just saying. If you know of something, pass on the news.
Now that you know it’s Human Rights Day tomorrow, smile and play fair–not that you wouldn’t anyway. We can all do our part.