Langkawi Trip - Part 2 (Pulau Payar)

Here's some more pictures that I took using a disposable underwater camera. The images are a bit grainy due to the film used (ISO 800) but the camera has been proven handy for these sort of activities. It is prudent to keep all electronics stuff away from water especially salt water, but the drawback is that the videocam is also left on board, hence no video on the shark feeding activities *sighs*

on the launching deck at the coral platform

trying to *find* their water feet/fin


lets swim with the fishes

fish feeding time

help!help! man overboard!these are the kind of fishes that we swim with. Don't let the small size
fool you, they still bites.

Shark feeding - they can smell the blood

*theme to JAWS plays in the background*

Enticing the baby sharks to the water's edge

They're coming in for the kill

Feeding frenzy - shark out of water


Teasing Of The Sharks - only to be done by professionals

Langkawi Island Trip - Part 1

Flight tickets for 3 - RM 540.00


Boat Trip To Pulau Payar for 3 - RM 490.00

Sea sickness during the trip - RM ?

Seeing the look on this little snorkeler & the view under the sea - PRICELESS

Solidly Booked Weekends

It’s official. My weekends are now solidly booked from now till the New Year of 2007.

Sneak Peek of what’s in store :

26 Nov – 27 Nov – Penang

2 Dec – 4 Dec - Langkawi

9 Dec – 10 Dec - Brother’s Wedding Preparation

Work trip to Holland ( if approved )

16 Dec – 17 Dec - Brother’s Wedding on the Bride’s Side

23 Dec – 24 Dec - Brother’s Reception on Groom’s Side

30 Dec – 1 Jan/07 - Aidiladha @ Kuantan

I still have the weekdays to fill in now. Wonder what it feels like to be a super busy person like leaders of countries or big corporations, where their calendar was planned years/month ahead.

1 little, 2 little, 3 little ......

The three cousins : Wawa, Aiman & Adam

Mischief Maker. That's right. Don't let the cute smiles and faces fool you. They could stir up trouble faster than you could say "Whatchamacallit"

The three of them would play nicely one minute and fight each other the next. Sometimes, you couldn't tell whether they're playing or having a fight amongst each other. Plus, when they demand your attention, they would do every imaginable action to ensure you gave them your full attention. And don't get them started talking. You won't hear the details because they will talk together at the same time.

But whatever mischief that they're up to, they know that when they turn on their charm, it will melt away the anger that we have within. Love you all.

Master of the House...no more

Our helper has gone back for her month break. That leaves us to do the household chores by ourself. Its back to the old routine we had when we didn't have any help around. Hence everyone has to pull their weight around. Including me.....

rare creature spotted mopping up

A pair of Crocs Sighted

Bandar Kinrara - An astonishing and monumental discovery has been made today in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur when a pair of Crocs have been sighted in the vicinity of the residential area. The area which is located in Puchong, which is also synonymous with its "Buaya Puchong", has been shocked to the core with its discovery.

Reports have been confirmed that the pair have been found by Aiman Hadi Sharizal, 5 whilst playing."Initially, I was curious about the pair when I first saw them. But after approaching, I found out that they are not dangerous and looked cute. I love to see the green on them". The boys parent refused to issue any statement but the father has remarked " Boys will be boys, they simply found out about things and wanted to keep it and take it home"

Incoherent Ramblings have been lucky to catch and document a picture of this elusive creature as the boy would want to let it go from his hold. After much persuasion, he finally relented with this remark,"Please take good care of the pair of Crocs. I've told them to behave for the photo shoot and I want to take them to Langkawi for my vacation"~ Reuters



ps. pics didn't turn out right. Its supposed to be lime, not light blue. This is caused by the flourescent lighting.

Three Weddings and Lots of Open Houses

The end of the year is usually waited with eagerness by school going students. It is usually where the get a long break from school, also a hectic time for parents as they need to plan to fill up the ‘idle’ time. Also this is known as the ‘wedding season’ as a lot of couples decides to tie the knot during the school holidays. Coincidentally, this year end of the year school holidays also coincides with Syawal hence there are open houses invites abound.

This year is going to be a bumper harvest for the clan. 2 of my cousins and my brother would be tying the knot in the space of these 2 months, plus with the invites of open houses, the weekend are solidly booked. (Wonder what it’ll do to my waistline )

1^st Wedding – 12 November 2006 – Fakir & Nurul

About the same age as Achik, but got married earlier. The two used to fight like cats and dogs when they were small, but now Fakir has the upper hand. Now enrolled as an ASP in PDRM, hence the wedding ceremony was held in full Police tradition and him wearing the Ceremonial Uniform.

Also had the ‘walk under the sword’ and ‘sword cake cutting ceremony’ accompanied with bagpipe band along with the traditional kompang. It was good to see that the preparations for the wedding are done by the community, where the norm nowadays was to have caterings. It rained but not so heavily as per the usual thunderstorm, so for the next wedding next week which is held at the same place, a strong ‘bomoh hujan’ would have to be seeked.

2^nd Wedding – 16 November 2006 – Amy & Ann

When we first saw the card, we were perplexed as the two names are usually girls name. Are we having a ‘new breed’ of wedding here? Eventually we found out that this is the nicknames for the two bride and groom, as you would have different names to different social circle.

3 rd Wedding – 24^th Disember 2006 – Achik & Erna

Pics and story to follow

Raya Open Houses

Too many to mention. Some we could make it to, some we couldn’t , either way appreciate the gesture and hope that you’ll have a blast of a time organising it.

At last…Sanctuary Found

I was walking around aimlessly in a shopping mall near my office the other day, wondering about without any true sense of direction. The mall was not the ‘in demand’ & ‘happening” category but it caters to the need of office workers around the area and has a few gems such as local styled coffee shops as opposed to the overpriced coffee joints and past-issues magazines to weekend flea market and bric & bracs.

I have seen a shop that sells secondhand books but haven’t found a shop that rents out yet until last week. It was situated in between a few dormant shops and upon looking in, I was pleasantly surprised. The books selection is not that broad, but that should keep my hunger or books appeased for the time being. The charges are also not that bad, and they operate on a sell/buyback scheme. e.g. You buy the book at RM 33 and sells it back to them at RM 28 (normally they take a RM5 fee ). This should help in keeping my already overflowing book racks in check. Also I could check the book out instead of buying it outright and finding that it is only so-so and for the rpice of a new book, I could get 5-6 books to read.

Reading is still not that widespread upon Malaysians, and year in year out the Govt. would come up with schemes to make us reads more. And yes, they have also included the incentive in your income tax that books purchases are tax deductible, but a few meets the allowable limit ( me included due to lost of receipts etc excuses, excuses) Hence with the existence of book renting and book exchange clubs, it should help in getting the reading habit off the ground. I hope that my son would also continue his reading habit, as we keep a strict control on other type of amusements and we would prefer him reading rather than spending time in front of the idiot box.

Now I can check out a few books that were on my read list but didn’t make it to the buy list.

Anxiety of Displacement

Changes are hard. Changes are slow to be made. I think its part of our humanity, that resistance would be felt to changes although the results should be benefiacial. Its like learning physics all over again, a mass need to overcome its own inertia before it could move.

And once the changes have been made, we would settle back within our comfort zone. A quick google shows that:

The Comfort Zone is our living, work, and social environments that we have grown accustom too. It determines the type of friends we make or people we associate with. It determines a life style we accept or reject.

Hence to overcome the resistance to change is hard and once we settle in the comfort zone, it would be hard to make us change again.

It has been like that for me yesterday. Everything was fine and dandy, I was adjusting well to the the changes at the new workplace when the news broke. It has always been at the back of our minds that these changes would come irregardless, but when the reality hits us, no amount of preparation or rehersal could make us ready for it. It was like a fire drill, you know what to do and where to go, but when there was real fire and smoke, you lose direction.

So after consultation with friends and those close to me, I would accept the fact that the changes are beyond my control and I would have to take it head on. I know that I have the resilience to adapt to new environment, only in this situation it would be hard as the last move was only a few months ago. So what I would do is to try to manage the change and if things didn't work out, alternative action has to be taken.

C'est la vie.

Aidilfitri Open House 2006

We had our "makan-makan" Hari Raya Open House yesterday. The purpose is to have friends, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbours and relations round our place for one occasion in for the Eid Festivities. We had lined up food ranging from nasi beriyani, ayam masak berempah, daging masak kalio, dalca sayur, acar buah plus assortment of fruits and condiment and kuih raya, killer sambal sotong, chicken satay, and the piece the resistance, meat ball and chicken bolognaise spaghetti by yours truly.

It was good to have been able to catch up with news and gossips, getting to know each other better and simply meet with all the other halfs. Also it was good to meet up with families of guys you work with. To those who made the effort to show, we appreciate your appearance especially those who brought 'buah tangan' (you know who you are, and I'm gonna send the bill for my new trousers due expanded waistline to you :-) ) . Most had more than one open house to get to, and manage to make their way to our place despite the difficulty in finding the place. To those who couldn't make it, it was probably the last 'do' that we are goin to have at Bandar Kinrara. The next one, if everything goes to plan, will be at our new place, maybe in about another 4 years time.

The worst thing about organising this sort of thing is the cleaning and tidying up afterwards, and we would like to thank our helpers that made the whole thing easier to handle. Te sad thing about it is that my side of the family couldn't make it due to a cousin's wedding in Alor Star, but in a way it helps us to prepare for my brother's upcoming wedding in December.

Thanks again for those who made it and made the whole shebang a success.

Organised Chaos

That is what I found out today. Some people strive on this. I couldn't undertand why it had to be endured but eventually I knew why. From where they came from, it was worse.

Some might be wondering what is this fella talking about. The thing is this, today we went to get an approval letter for my domestic helper and to change the contact details in the passport. We have been forewarned that it is unruly down there but being told and experiencing it your self is 2 different things.

Things started bad enough when we got there, the line entering the embassy was so disorganised that the guards are basically at a lost to control the crowd. The one of the ulats told us that there are a separate line for women only, and mt mrs. quickly join the line and was whisked in whilst I was left 'terkontang-kanting'. Then I decided to follow suit with the line ' Maaf pak, isteri saya sudah masuk tadi untuk penukaran alamat' and was told to join the male line. There were 2 lines but in the male line we have to endure the pushing and shoving. At last i was let in, but it was the tip of the iceberg.

They have a numbering system there but it was not used. You have to jostle your way up the line and pray that u joined the right queue as if u got into the wrong one, then you better forget about it. There was no information counter, and the info you get is like a jigsaw puzzle, which u have to piece it yourself. But the people queing were friendly and they quickly give some tips on how things operate there.

Being able to get in the women's line, my wife was the second person in line. I went to another counter to collect the approval letter, and upon returning finding that they've were asked to switch counter. They have to scramble and jostle their way to get in front. That is when I saw the guard screaming down his hailer and shoving his baton to a poor man's face as a result of him trying to control the situation. I honestly thought that all this coould be better managed if they've got the numbering and queing system up and running. Was told that the system was inplace a few months back but was not used. To cut long story short, after two attempts our documentation was still deemed not complete we decided to head back home and got everything just in case. We came back later in the afternoon for the afternoon session, and to our surprise the line was shorter but when we ask the guy in front, he said that he's been waiting since 11 am and there's still about 15 people in front. Reason cited, the line is slow moving due to the counter personnel. Finally, we got our turn at about 4 pm and our application is deemed complete.

I was thankful that the system employed at our Immigration Dept was more organised and equal to certain extent You will be served the number only when all your documentation is complete but you know when your turn is about to come. I've been told whilst waiting that even they prefer to deal with Malaysian Immigration than with their embassy. At least it is transparent.

32 and counting

They say that a year older, a year wiser…hmm makes me ponder, does the expression has some ring of truth behind it? How come I don’t feel any wiser then? What have I got to show for the 32 years of my existence? A thinning and graying top, a rounder middle and heavier bottom, that’s showing now. Wonder what I would feel like another 10 more years. The only thing that is acting my age is my waistline, that also is about a year older.

This year my birthday falls on the second day of Eid, and with that I declare it as a public holiday to all the masses in Malaysia. My birthday is sandwiched in between the Sultan of Pahang (24^th October) and my mom ( 26^th October). So this year we had a double celebration, and if we were to put all the candles it would be 90 on the cake.

The age difference between my siblings is as follows:

Me to my 2^nd brother : 2 years

My 2^nd brother to 3^rd brother : 3 years

My 3^rd brother to 4^th sister : 4 years

My 4^th sister to youngest sister : 6 years

Almost everyone birthday would get celebrated, mostly it’s a family affair. I can’t recall the last time we had a birthday party with guests around. I think for my birthday maybe it was in 1985/1986, man that was way long ago. Maybe they had it when I wasn’t around. For me, at least for now, age is nothing but a number.

I leave you all with a quotation from Samuel Ullman : -

Youth is not a time of life—it is a state of mind.
It is not a matter of red cheeks, red lips and supple knees.
It is a temper of the will; a quality of the imagination; a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a tempermental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over a life of ease.
This often exists in a man of fifty, more than in a boy of twenty.
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart a love of wonder;
the sweet amazement at the stars and starlike things and thoughts;
the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what comes next, and the joy in the game of life.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

In the central place of your heart there is a wireless station.
So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, grandeur, courage, and power from the earth, from men and from the Infinite—so long are you young.
When the wires are all down and the central places of your heart are covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then are you grown old, indeed!

Samuel Ullman (1840-1924)

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Iklan Raya Petronas 2006

Selamat hari Raya Aidilfitri 1427H/2006

In light with Eid, I would like to wish all those who celebrates Eid-Mubarak and to those who didn't to have a great festive season. This year we'll be celebrating it in KL first before adjourning to Pahang.

On behalf of my family, I would like to say this " Maafkan kami sekiranya terdapat kesalahan yang dilakukan samada secara sedar atau tidak serta halalkan makan minum".

Have a great one everybody.

Happy Deepavali

Happy Deepavali

I would like to take to wish all my friends Happy Deepavali for this year. May you have a great festive season and try not to gorge down on all those nice food in one seating.

Whilst we were filling out the greeting cards to be sent out to friends and acquaintances, my son was also busy doing up one for his friends. Upon finishing he came over and proudly shows it :

Bless him, sometimes we were astounded of what a 5 year old could conjure.

BTW, here are some Deepavali adverts for us to share and ponder upon. Happy Deepavali to all.

Tales of 3 Buka Puasa

International Islamic Art Museum (IIAM)

Set in the café of the IIAM, the Ramadhan buffet spread is a mix of Middle Eastern dishes such as lamb kofta, Lebanese bread, humus, falafel, moussaka and local dishes. The food and setting of the place was wonderful, with just the right number of people seated, unlike some outlets which would maximize their floor space during Ramadhan buffet.

Their chef is also of Middle East origin, hence all the dishes are as authentic as they could be. From what I gather, they rotate the set menu. Noted dishes for that particular day was their sup tulang ( two thumbs up), roasted lamb, grilled salmon ( lurve it) plus the rice dish (couldn’t remember the name) and otak-otak was excellent.

The dessert spread ranges from local dishes such as sago gula melaka, bubur kacang, various local kuih to puddings, baklava, cakes and fruits.

Overall, the buffet spread is not that extensive but the quality of the serving top notch. Would recommend it over the normal off the mill buffet.

Bagan Seafood, Tg Harapan

Every year, we have this arrangement with another couple to break fast with seafood galore. This year is no exception, and when they mooted they idea, we quickly agree on the date. All the arrangement has been set even down to the special table, where they gave us a long bamboo chairs instead of normal ones so that we could sit back and relax after gorging down the food.

Menu is as per usual – 2 kg of crabs, 1 kg of prawns, lemon chicken, mixed vege, tofu, kerapu & kalian ikan masin. There are some kuih buffet thrown in for starters. ( all this is for 5 adults and 3 kids ).

The trick is to have the kids fed first, and after they’re full, they can go wondering about while the adults enjoy the food. They say that the proof to the pudding is in the eating, and I believe almost everything was cleaned off the table.

Crab shells

Pride of India, Desa Sri Hartamas

My sidekicks and I decided to have a small, last of the month breaking of fast. Having read good review about the place, we decided to give it a try. The day was set on Thursday, 2 days before the long festivities break.

The atmosphere was set to offer an authentic Indian restaurant, with see through windows to see what the Chefs are doing. To my surprise, the place wasn’t packed and it offered a serene atmosphere to have your food and enjoy the conversation. The buffet spread is not that extensive, but what they lack in number the made up in quality. Free flow of poppadums and nan bread kept being sent to the table, along with refreshment.

If I recall correctly, they have some sort of soup (similar to rasam), with raita and some salad with cottage cheese, choice of briyani or plain rice, vegetable bhajee and pakora, chicken jalfrezi, mutton rogan josh, aloo goobi, fish, fried brinjals and dhal, with assortments of kuih and fruits with ros gulla (an Indian sweet dessert – sort of ladoo immersed in syrup). Made me miss breaking fast in the UK.

I was told that they rotate the menu and in some of the days they would have tandoori chicken, palak paneer and gulab jamoon. Would definitely recommend the place for those seeking some sort of spicier buka puasa fare and also some place quiter than the overpacked and overprice offering at most hotels. And at RM22 nett, it is a steal.

IQ Test Survey

Somebody asked me to do the Tickle IQ Survey. Upon finishing the test, I was astonished with the results. Does a few minutes of your time taking the test and the result could determine the state of your Intelligence Quotient? Do anybody actually go out and compare their IQ? Would the ranking have any reflection on how you would fare in real life? What good does the test do anyway? Lots of questions, springing loads more question. At the end of the day, anybody cares about your IQ?

State of Perpetual Haze

What’s a good topic to talk about everyday? Most people would rant about the weather, whether is too hot, too cold, too rainy, to dry etc. It would not fail as an ice breaker to start a conversation going on. And why not? Since it is a common factor to all living in the same locality. For the past 2 weeks, Malaysia has been besieged by the haze due to open burning from our neighbour. This situation has been happening for the past X years, and every time it happens, our elected government would make a big hoohaa regarding this. But it keeps repeating year in and year out..

Now the most followed after index is the Air Pollution Index next to the key bourses. The magic number is 300, where it would be declared as a state of emergency and everybody gets the day off. I pity those who have respiratory condition. Some of them have been reported to flee to other country where the smoke would not reach them and vow only to return once it cleared.

For me, I’m seething to the point that smoke is coming out of my ears – better not as it will worsen the haze – but I definitely feel something had to be done. We are inhaling secondhand smoke people! Maybe our CSI could get the sample of the haze, synthesize them and know where exactly they came from, and slap them with a big fine that they’ll think 100X to commit open burning. Some radical suggestion is that we nuke them to kingdom come, but since we’re so close with them the radioactive fall out would affect us as well. Others would be erecting giant fans and blow the smoke back where they came from.

It goes to show that all our actions have consequences, even though it would be minute and far away from us, it might become major and closer to somebody else.

Balik Kampong for Buka Puasa

With both parents being born and raised in KL, my only experience of a kampung life is when I visited my relations in Kampong Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Being in an urban area, it hardly qualifies as true blue kampong as it’s flanked by the development in KL e.g. KLCC, Vision City and the edge of the Golden Triangle. There’s no stream that you could swim in or bushes where you could play combat in. The Klang River ran beside it, which hardly qualified as a river due to the level of pollution, more like a big drain. You could still have an adventure but it mostly has to be the urban type.

I still remembered my mum’s advise, when looking for a partner find somebody with a kampong so that at least your offspring could experience the kampong life. Luckily my nearest and dearest fits the bill as she hails from The Royal Town, Pahang.

The house was built by her grandfather, being a typical traditional Pahang house. The design has been modernized with zinc sheet roof instead of attap roof, some of the part has been strengthened with bricks but most of the original features are retained. The house is spacious, could accommodate at least two badminton courts in the common area with plenty of space to spare.

The house sits beside the mighty Pahang river, where one could spend an afternoon dozing off in a hammock facing the river with the breeze blowing, watching the river lazily flows into the Pahang Estuary. During the dry season, sandbars would appear and you could actually walk to the middle of the river on foot and the water would only be ankle deep. The atmosphere is calm and cool, with chirping of birds greeting you in the morning and the sounds of crickets and toads could be heard at night.

The compound of the house is big, with parts of it being kebun for variety of plants such as pomelo, dragon fruit, corns, sugarcanes, coconuts, rambutans, durians, mangoes, bananas, quinine, longan etc. There’s a coop for chickens with the big rooster, 1 ½ times bigger than the normal rooster, ponds for fishes such as red tilapia, keli, patin, baung where they would be caught and grilled on special occasions (sadly their numbers have diminished due to theft). The grounds are extensive, and if there’s a get together would be filled by kids running around until they tire and they do not tire easily unlike the adults. My favourtite pastime would be lounging on the hammock facing the river, with a good book in hand and slowly reads and the day would just pass on blissfully.

Oh BTW, they have this wonderful murtabak known by the name of Murtabak Mengkasar. It’s has been featured on Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan previously and several national newspaper. Is been said that even the Sultan buys from there. A word of warning thought, in Ramadahan, you have to call in or otherwise be prepared for an hour wait just to get your orders (walk in). It’s different from what you could get from anywhere, hence made it a point to have it almost everytime we went back to kampong.

Signboard of the place

Customers queuing for orders, have to take numbers

Busy preparing orders