Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tell-A-Tale (Part 21): Seindah, Sekeping Serendah

The trees, like the longings of the earth, stand a-tiptoe to peep at the heaven.

These little thoughts are the rustle of leaves;
they have their whisper of joy in my mind.

Let me think that there is one among those stars that guides my life through the dark unknown.

Once we dreamt that we were strangers.
We wake up to find that we were dear to each other.

It is the little things that I leave behind for my loved ones, great things are for everyone.

The trees come up to my window like the yearning voice of the dumb earth.

You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that for this I had been waiting long.

In the dusk of the evening the bird of some early dawn comes to
the nest of my silence.

The waterfall sings, "I find my song, when I find my freedom."

The movement of life has its rest in its own music.

The flaming fire warns me off by its own glow.
Save me from the dying embers hidden under ashes.

It is the tears of the earth that keep her smiles in bloom.

We live in this world when we love it.

The best does not come alone.
It comes with the company of the all.

(all verses taken from Rabindranath Tagore’s Stray Birds under PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS)

Note:

To be able to experience the greatness of nature is a rare treat these days as wilderness has evolved to streams of cables and blocks of concretes. But nature has its glorious ways of getting close through masterpieces of our times and before. Rabindranath Tagore’s Stray Birds is one such example that really captures the inner voice which yearns to be in touch with nature. His interpretation of the correlations between nature and the human spirit is just amazing! A personal favourite of mine. On a more local scale, the artistic retreat called Sekeping Serendah, situated in the small town of Serendah offers a chance to be with the (mild) wild, in style. These two masterpieces, combined with the company of a group of most excellent friends (and pan-seared foie gras) made my weekend retreat a beautiful one. Hence, Seindah, Sekeping Serendah.

Sekeping Serendah’s website:
http://www.serendah.com

Parts of the most excellent company:
Lyrical Lemongrass
FatBoyBakes

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

A most excellent piece to go with most beautiful photos. An utterly evocative package. :)

Now, I suspect after this triumphant trio of posts (LL and FBB too) there will be a bull-rush of folks rushing to make reservations for SS. Hahaha.

Tummythoz said...

Agree with LfB. You 3 shd be grandly awarded for the forseeable spike in SS's bookings.

Ciki said...

love the water-color effect of the last photo!You can write manual on "how to be discrete yet artistic" .. hehe..
lovely poem :)

Selba said...

Beautiful pictures :)

sc said...

really beautiful place, guess it's a way to enjoy nature at a truely comfortable style! thanks for sharing :)

fatboybakes said...

hahha, this is why i have to rush to post first.... after seeing your pics, ppl probably go PTOOOI, APA NI when they go to my blog...
GORGEOUS. as i said, SS flers should pay you.
ah, at least for the youth of today, SS is a happy term....not like in the days of yore at austwitzch

Faye fly said...

aiyo y ur outdoor photos also damn pretty !! i like tat pic...leaf peacefull enjoyin sunbath ^^ may i get original size for my desktop wallpaper? my email tfie_l@hotmail.com

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

omg..seriously still using your kit lens ar?..really beautiful la ur pics..do u use photoshop though? or its the good ol' picasa?

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the conversation we had in SS where we said that Tagore would have been perfect in that setting. Instead, who woulda thought that FBB's impassioned rendition from Les Miz would also find its place among the fallen leaves in Sekeping Serendah.

BEAUTIFUL photographs, sweetie.

choi yen said...

Try to book this place on Aug/Sep but fully book until Dec liao...sigh~~

PureGlutton said...

Breathtaking photos :-) No wonder the place is booked out till December!

Live2Talk said...

Excellent shots! You bought the beauty of that place to us with your amazing skills with the lens :D well done sweetie!

J2Kfm said...

wah. the shots look splendid.
your photography skill on par with some pro. :)

thanks for sharing. a relatively unheard of place to me.

backStreetGluttons said...

Its good to know you have mother nature at heart , tho of course you need father development to dine & wine like you do, &

goodolde bsg to remind you in case you fogit

HairyBerry said...

kenny, thanks for the compliment, dude! tagore's a genius!

haha, perhaps it's time we go cuti-cuti malaysia, eh? ;)

tummythoz, we'll do our best to help boost local tourism! :) time to build more glass houses! haha!

cumi & ciki, thank kew! i lurve that photo as well. it really shows the meaning of a holiday. free and easy. ;)

selba, hey, thanks for stopping by! and thanks for the compliment! :)

sc, no prob! :) quite environmental friendly too, i must say. do check out da place! :)

fatboybakes, aiyoh, your photos are good also lar. luckily that day got sunlight. if not, sure cannot get the pics i wanted. hehe...woah, you very creative lar. can relate this SS to that SS. respect!

faye, thanks for the compliment!! that was a random shot that i like very much! ok, will send you the link to the original size! :)

HairyBerry said...

joe, yupe, still using kit lens. no money to get a better lens lar..haha! and nope, not using photoshop cos it's too complicated. picasa pulak cannot do text. so, the best choice is acdsee! :)

lyrical lemongrass, yeah, i remember that part too! and we had so much fun shooting the fireplace hor? heheheh...well, thanks to fbb's recommendation, i MUST watch les miz when they come to town!

and thanks for the compliment too, sweetie! :)

mimi, try weekdays! i heard it's cheaper and not so packed as well! actually, i took friday off just to go to sekeping serendah...hehe... :)

pureglutton, thanks for the compliment! :) and the fact that there are only a few houses made booking even tougher! haha!

live2talk, thanks sweetie! i was really inspired by the architecture and the lush greeneries surrounding this place. oh, and the company of friends as well! :)

j2kfm, woah, thanks for the compliment, dude. but i'm no pro lar...haha!

i think there are similar places in perak as well. i would really lurve to go to taiping lake garden just to take some shots! :)

backstreetgluttons, with the current credit crunch, i think i'll need to find a quantum of solace in mum nature and let father develop to recover. meaning less d&W and more a&W. dat oso not cheap.

you will always be an inspiration and reminder, team! :)

Miss Tam Chiak said...

oh mine oh mine, these pictures are simply gorgeous! its so difficult to find experience the beauty of nature now... time to wind down... :)

Christine said...

these pictures are gorgeous..the place look great too..what slr model do you use? tot of getting one by this year end..any suggestion

ling239 said...

i like the photos!!
especially the one on a leaf with lots of lubang one...^_^

Unknown said...

amazing!!! i love all of them... such a good eye... my favorite, the leaf... :)

ai wei said...

love ur photos! the color, the texture are all well-blended~

Rebecca Saw said...

Beautiful words,gorgeous pics!
Enuf said.

Anonymous said...

Came back here just to look at the pics again and re-read Tagore. Sigh... :)

HairyBerry said...

jaime-la-nourriture, thanks for the compliment! yeah, i agree...we are drifting further away from nature as we get busier in life. we should make time to visit her once in awhile. :)

christine, glad you enjoyed the pictures!! :) i'm using nikon d40x but i think the model has been discontinued. canon 450D sounds like a good choice! do check it out! :)

ling239, happy that you like the pics! after looking at my pictures again, i realise the leaf with lubangs reminds me of cheese...hehe

mikky, cool, the leaf is one of my faves as well! :) and thanks a lot for the compliment!! :)

ai wei, thank kew, thank kew! :) sekeping serendah was definitely inspiring! and quite cooling as well! :)

thenomadgourmand, thanks a lot for the compliment!! i really enjoyed taking pics at sekeping serendah. cool place!

kenny, awwww, thanks for visiting again! :) dontcha just Tagore's way of putting nature in our everyday lives? i'm always humbled by the beauty of Stray Bird... :)