Achik's Wedding - Reception on our side

The theme was purple & white. Everything has to be decked in the official colour or will incur the wrath of the BOSS! It was a very long day, fortunately the weather was fine until the function ends (or was it due to ASP Mamat's singing?) I was on usherer's duty on the day. The turnout was about 80%. To all who has made the day possible, we would like to express our hearfelt gratitude for all your assistance in making the day a success.

Pelamin

Setup for guests

Calm before the storm

Kompang boys

Makan Beradap - notice the videocameraman determined
look to capture the ceremony in all its glory

Mr & Mrs Boss

Tea & Coffee Corner
The couple & friends

Malu-malu plak dia!


p.s. Happy 3rd Birthday Adam Nuqman

The groom on pot cleaning duty

Last but not least, welcome to the family Erna!

Congratulations Achik & Erna

Duduk dua sejoli,
Atas pelamin berseri,
Dihias intan baiduri,
Sebagai raja sehari.

Direnjis-renjis dipilis,
Ditepungilah tawar,
Hai beras kunyit ditabur,
Disiram si air mawar

Solemnation of the marriage

The Happy Couple

'Bersanding' Ceremony

Pasangan Sedondon

ps. Happy Birthday to Angah
Attack of the Saliva Brigade

Friends- Old & New

My schoolmates have setup this email-group, where it is for keeping up with the hapennings of everyone regardless of distance. Some of us are in the country, some out of the country, some has announcements to make and even work as a sounding board to some. This is the closest that we have been since leaving school in 1991. Some of us have not even met since then. Even though we've organised annual gatherings, impromptu teh tarik session, buka puasa or sahur session, its hard to gather everyone together and by the virtue of technology, the cyberspace is the only place where people could keep up with the latest happenings either through email or IM/YM.

A few friends have goods news to share - eg addition to the family, new job at a new place, impending wedding and also the sad news - eg. loss of a child, parents, siblings. A few has some issues pertinent to life to get second opinions from, maybe a free medical consultation from 'in-house' doctors, share (KLSE) tips, networking, which business to venture in etc. etc.

In retrospect, I have been pondering about what constitute a friendship. Imagine someone whom we are close to at one particular time could act / feel like a stranger now. Things that were in common years were just memory kept in the annals of time. And somehow new friends could felt like they have been your best friend forever.

I read somewhere that a good friend would stand by you through thick & thin but a great friend would go through it with you. So to all my friends of the past, present and the future, lets cherish what we have.

TheThin Blue Line

No, not the Rowan Atkinson / BBC Comedy (The Thin Blue Line) Variety

But more of these type of the *eagerly anticipated* blue lines

After trying for more than 3 years, we are excited and thankful with this result. Our son now is 5 years old and longing for a baby/companion (so do we) hence this news comes at the appropriate time. It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for the past 2 years (anticipation, hope, frustration) but thank god it has materialised now.

*Alhamdulillah*

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.