7 Most Quiet Places on Earth

I was reading Forbes Traveller yesterday, and happened to chance upon an interesting article. Well, as the title of this post suggests, yes; it highlights the now atypical locations that offer us peace of mind and getaway from the hustle of life.

I've picked out quite a few; I hope that these pictures will be able to offer you serenity as it did me.

Loch Lomond

Briefly; Its name inspired a traditional song that captures the romantic spirit of Bonnnie Prince Charlie (phew, that's a long one, lol) . The name loch, gives away its identity as a Scottish lake; the only sound you’ll hear here is the soft “moo” of a highland cow.

Cape Cod

Briefly; Known as the 'Promontory of Vinland' by Norse voyagers, it was a landmark for the early explorers. Quotes F. Murray Schafer, "The ocean rumble, is the sound which above all others gives us the most delight."

Gobi Desert

Briefly; A rain shadow desert formed by the Himalaya range blocking rain-carrying clouds from reaching it. A landscape where the horizon is so big you can see the curve of the earth, the only thing you might hear is the rustle of feathers on the 10-foot wings of lammergeiers—if you may, vultures—as they float endless circles.

Muir Woods

Briefly; Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, CA, Muir Woods is a park which caters to pedestrians for outdoor activities. Home to some of the world’s largest trees, redwoods over 200 feet high, John Muir—founder of the Sierra Club—became a conservationist when the sound of a stream rushing by stunned him. Instant conversion. Wow.

Hawaii National Volcanoes Park

Briefly; Hawaii is said to have been named for Hawaiʻiloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. Inside the cones of volcanoes on it's Big Island, scientists have actually measured zero sound levels. No sound at all.

Hoh Valley

Briefly; One of the few temperate rain forests in the world, and also among the largest. The Hoh is home of the “One Square Inch Project,” a fight to preserve just a single inch of landscape from human sound. "Keep that one inch quiet", says founder Gordon Hempton; and the silence will radiate out for thousands of acres.

Anza-Borrego

Briefly; Quotes park intepreter Michael Rodriques; "Anza-Borrego is only four hours from 20 million people; yet there’s no place where you’ll find solitude like this. This is a place where you can experience quiet—real quiet.”

A Devil Hunter's Mid-Autumn Festivals

With the Mid-Autumn's festival round the corner, I happen to see every night my neighbor's kids playing with lanterns, clearly enjoying themselves.

I reminisced when I was just their age; sweet, innocent kid I was back then. Grandma used to tell me stories about Chang'e and Houyi, as well as the origins of the mooncake. I used to beg her to tell me every year, and Grandma would go, 'Haven't I told you already last year? My oh my... you're more forgetful than I am', and would begin her story with a smile.

After the story, I'd go play lanterns with my brothers and cousins, who would come to my house for that rare opportunity to play with fire, legally. Back then there wasn't any electronic lanterns that we have today, we just either had the colorful paper ones or those bigger ones made with wire, shaped according to your favorite cartoon character or animals, etc.

My brothers and I, being the elder lot; called ourselves 'The Mint Men'; as we had the right to hold matches and candles, we'd quickly replace our cousin's lanterns with fresh candles when theirs looked dim. We had a mantra, 'The Mint Men, risking their lives to save YOUR tang-lung', before replacing the candles. Our cousins used to stare at us blankly whenever we said that, and beleaguered us to hurry 'save' their lanterns.

And sometimes, we'd go burn some wax into the anthills and do all sorts of crazy stuff. Come morning, with candle wax all over the floor, my mother would ask us to remove the wax with a scraper. 'If the floor isn't clean, you're not allowed to play anymore next year', she'd go.

Then, as I grew older, I stopped playing lanterns, instead I went to parks with girls to watch the lantern parade, and after that I'll bring her to do stuff that people do during dates. I remember every year a different girl, and Grandma would shake her head everytime when she heard of my diversity in girls.

Looking back, it's been many years since I last celebrated Mid-Autumn's with her, so I've decided that I'll do so this year. I'll pester her again to tell me the stories she used to tell me, while slipping back into my role of a 'Mint Man', this time 'rescuing' my nephews and nieces lanterns from 'dying' out.

Have a wonderful Mid-Autumn's Festival, everyone.

Happy 51st Independence Day

Similar to Kav, I, too have been neglecting my blog for almost a fortnight. Ideas have been evading me lately, and those creative juices have stopped flowing for god knows how long.

The few weeks a lot has really happened, with Anwar winning in a landslide, with an interesting prequel 10 campaigning days round my area; as well as some rough moments in my life. Things haven't been working as I thought they'd would, I'm currently dealing with the cold, harsh reality. Ok... maybe that's a bit too much.

This is just a quick update, herein which I'd like to wish all the readers of 'For Tony Redgrave'; Happy 51st Independence Day, do have an enjoyable weekend ahead.

Hopefully, we'll get to hear some good news from the budget as well tonight.

Falling Sick

It seems that the pressure from work, the frustration of not getting what I planned, myself still not able to play the new song, my ever-worsening case of insomnia, and the viruses that's flying everywhere at my workplace has caused me to fall sick.

I hardly fell sick during my schooldays, I used to have SIS (super immune system), there was once when both of my brothers fell sick during a trip and the 3 of us were stuck in a room; but I remained unfazed with their germs and viruses the both of them were so eager to spread.

But now, things are different; I noticed that this time is the worse of all the times I was sick, with the throbbing headaches, coughs, running nose, sore throat, back ache, damn; I feel like an old geezer.



I hate being sick.

The Shopping Chronicles of Tony Redgrave - Chapter 1

Shopping, is nothing new to me. But, whenever people see a single, young guy doing some recreational activity in search of a suitable product to purchase, well, things... tend to happen.

Thus, begins the shopping chronicles of Tony Redgrave, and his (mis)adventures of shopping.

Today, I went over to the shopping mall just opposite of my workplace to get some stuff, herein which the stuff was toilet paper and a bottle of mouthwash. Now, before you start going, 'Typical male, cannot live without toilet paper ah?'; let me clear a few things first.

First of all, I had run out of supply for about a fortnight already, and secondly, I don't just use it for, ahem, well, you know what I mean. I do use it to wipe stuff, 'stuff' here means, err... you know, other stuff, damn; in short it's a cheap alternative to tissue paper. There, now that wasn't so difficult.

As I was saying, after work I walked over to the shopping mall and went straight to the supermarket which was located at the lower ground. I didn't wanna waste time, so I directly asked a salesgirl where they put the toilet paper. She looked at me, and with a giggle pointed me the direction. What's so funny, I thought.

Regardless, I marched straight to the place, and took the cheapest brand of the whole lot (even that costed almost 10 bucks) and collected the mouthwash not so far away. I paid for my stuff, which costed almost 25 bucks, and I wasn't given a plastic bag for the toilet paper, as there wasn't a bag that big, and there was a small plastic ear that I could hook my fingers, thus I slinged it over my shoulder.

For some unknown reason, the walk home felt longer, and I heard giggles, and there was even a kid asking his mum, 'Why is that 'koko' carrying toilet paper?'. I scurried out & when I was just about to cross the road the damn plastic ear snapped and the toilet paper fell on the road.

I almost got ran over a car just to pick it up, the car stopped just right in front of me; the driver looked at me one kind before speeding off. And a motorcycle whizzed past me not long after, missing me by inches.

The worst part, as I was walking into the company's car park I saw IJ-girl, and she looked at me, and the toilet paper that I 'kepit' under my arm pit. Great. She must be thinking that I'm the type that can't live without toilet paper.

A befitting end to chapter 1 of my shopping chronicles.