A bit of tradition

The family on the mrs. side decides to hold a traditional 'berkhatan & aqiqah' ceremony during the last weekend. This was done to preserve the culture and practise of having a doa selamat and to gather the family around. The ceremony consists of the berinai, marhaban, bercukur,berendoi plus makan beradap. There were seven boys for the berkhatan ceremony along with Adi for the bercukur & aqiqah.

The berinai ceremony

After the berinai ceremony

The 'lucky' ones

Adi before the bercukur ceremony

Three generations of daughters


The berendoi ceremony - sedapnye dia tidur

The makan beradap ceremony

After the ceremonies -cupcakes from Hold-That-Torte (ehem ... ni free publicity ni , ada commission tak?)

The ceremony went smoothly albeit there were threats of rain dampening the ceremony. For this function, the cooking was done secara gotong royong instead of catering it out. Its good to see that the together spirit is still there in the kampung.

Reaching for the stars

The boy had the opportunity to meet 'The Angkasawan' today when he dropped into his school. To be exact, have the book that the mrs queued up to buy yesterday, autographed by 'The Angkasawan' himself. The boy could stop talking about how he wants to be one in the future. But according to a friend who happened to be listed in the top 1000 during the selection said, "kalau dah mata empat tu lupakan je lah"... hehe ...

By the way, I was thinking, since the Angkasawan is doing the school circuits now, I think he could contribute to the development of the young. Being a hero and role model to them. In a world today, I think that it is essential for them to have someone that they can look up to. For me personally, I could say that the money spent on the space programme could have been utilised better but now he has to do his bit in nurturing young interests towards science or in life for the matter.

Now I would just reach for the birdies and pars, as my attempts to get back into the game have been proved futile and I have a game tomorrow. Berapa selubang esok? RM2 ..

BA vs JC

I'm not sure how this set of addiction occurs. I think that my first exposure to donuts would be of the home made type and our local version of kuih keria. It means that I don't have any craving for it or would go out of the way to get some. But I did had a phase with Dunkin Donuts during my secondary school, where we would go on outing have have a filled a bag to the brim with their munchkins.

When I went for my studies in the UK, i was exposed to the strawberry filled jam donuts much favored there, plus one chocolate coated custard filled from Greggs, and oh, how could I forget, cheese & onion pasty and savoury roll. Then late last year I discovered JC, where you have to queue to buy up donuts. First impression was made, and the heaven berry have become a standard order on every visit. Then friends told me about BA and found out that it has similarities with JC.

Back to back comparison reveals that most has similar spread of choices. Taste wise BA has caught on to JC. Also BA has a lot more outlets, hence lesser queuing time and its a tad cheaper too. All in all this has been leaning on BA for me. And that is not the only thing, the scale have been leaning on the higher side for me now.... maybe some day they'd come out with a lite-donuts...

e-Filing

This is the second year that I have utilised e-filing for my tax returns. I've decided to do it early this year as from previous experience waiting till the last minute is not advisable due to system congestion (as per my co's performance appraisal exercise). Surprisingly, I found out that the system was ok and in fact fast when I accessed it even from the office. But then again I have a few gripes about it as per the following list :

1. Trying to remember your password from last year was a PITA. The system will try to lock you out after the third unsuccessful try. How could you remember it when you only use it once a year?
   
2. You'll know how much you owed IRB after filling up the form but what you can't see is how much they owe you. Easy in Hard out for them eh?
3. I have jumped into a higher tax bracket for this year and attempts on further reduction s futile. Wonder whether the system recorded all the figure inputted in the event of adjustment to lower your taxable income?
4. Onus of record keeping of the deductions documents is on you and the documents has to be kept for a minimum of seven years.
5. The song that they use too promote it is CORNY ...
   

All in all I think that this is a good move by the IRB to collect due tax. Saves you the hassle of actually filling out and queuing at your local IRB to submit the forms. Just hope that they could change the theme song on the adverts...

Ignorance is a bliss?

Its good to see that parents in Malaysia are more aware about the safety for their kids whilst driving. This was a step in a good direction, as opposed to holding on to your kids instead of a designated child seat, and one of my pet peeves is seeing a reckless parent holding their kid in the drivers' seat whilst the vehicle is in motion.

But one thing that caught my attention during the daily commute today, a concerned parent did had a rear facing child seat installed, but it was in the passenger seat of a car fitted with a passenger airbag!!!!

I think in most cars there are this sticker pasted, meaning DO NOT USE REAR FACING CAR SEAT IN A PASSENGER FITTED AIRBAG, unless there a special switch or sensor that can turn it off. So he's taking a risk of decapitating his child in the event of the airbag sets off. And you might never know when it may go off as the slightest knock to the car in front may have set it off.

Or else save up to buy this car, fitted with eight of these airbags ... hehe ...

Quick Updates

• Had to work away this weekend on a project that I'm supervising. Hence, I've missed the boy participation and subsequent winning as runners-up in his school sukaneka. Better not miss the next sport meet next weekend, so I have been warned by the Home Minister.

• During the work trip, manage to catch up with the Eastern Kerandutz chapter. Hehe, some things still don't change eh? Message to the central chapter & King Kerandutz, buck up or your leadership will be challenged. BTW, did the 'candy' worked? if it's not up tp expectation, there's always the 'cane' with traditional preparation, hehe..

• Got a new toy, well not exactly a toy but a new accessory. Plug in your orifice type of thing but could be used publicly. Wonder why I didn't get one of those earlier. (To those who got the wrong idea, it goes to show how 'clean' your mind are)

• Managed to catch up on my reading. Had been on a 'local flava' phase for a while.Sometimes it just nice to be able to finish up a book without holding on to it for too long. What's the next phase I wonder?
  

Tell me where you get your body from

Baby where u got your body from,
Tell me where you got your body from,
Baby where you got your body from,
Tell me where you got your body from,

~I got it from my mama ~

~I got it from my mama ~

~I got it from my mama ~

~I got it from my mama ~

If the girl, real fine nine out of ten,
She fine just like her mama,
If the girl real pretty, nine out of ten,
She pretty like her mama.

Habis tu papa dia dapat apa?

Ni anak angkat you ke? Grrrrr....

Hooked on the stupid box

I would have to admit that being a proponent of no satellite tv at home, the choice offered on terrestrial tv was somewhat lackluster. Rarely would I follow any show, except for the Ghost Whisperer (JLH...drool). But nowadays I found myself waiting up every Wednesday for Actorlympics TV. An impromptu show where there are similarities with the Whose Line Is It Anyway(which I prefer the British version) albeit with a local touch. Some parts of the gigs have left me bursting at the stitches.

It just amazes me that Afdlin & Co can just think on their feet and perform along seamlessly episode after episode. And their guests actors would also add color to the show. Nice one Afdlin & keep up the good work.

So which one is better, JLH or Afdlin?

Trampled by a giant

No, this is not about a human or being of great size, more like a faceless giant corporation. As per previous post, somewhere near my neighborhood, a new hypermarket was opened. Naturally, we would patron the hypermarket as it is near to us as the others were about 5-1o km away. But as we progress along, we found out there were some differences in the prices of similar item and range of product carried in between these hypermarkets.

I'm not the one who would blindly stick to a brand, as long as it provides a value for money for the quality offered. Also I'm not rigid in the sense of brand loyalty or premise of purchase but do keep an eye upon the so called deals offered.

Imagine to my dismay, one shopping trip ago that a necessary item bought at this particular hypermarket were offered at the same price but upon reaching home only did I realized that the quantity was reduced. I mean, come on, you project yourself as a pioneer in price reduction, but in this case it was the same price for less quantity. Not only this particular item, but on the whole where some things that we need are priced slightly higher. Also most of the item on offer were on the Purchase with Purchase scheme, meaning that you would have to spend a minimum amount in order to get the 'savings'

Better change your tagline to, same price, same brand but lesser quantity (20% less to be exact)

Quick updates:

Haven't be able to update the blog regularly due to work schedule, hence this all-in-one updates :

• Been on the road too much for the last 1 month. I have clocked in 3000 miles / 4800 km driving distance in one month. This meant that I have gone through half of the recommended service interval, which normally last for 4 months on average. Now looks like a visit to Amiaq is on the horizon, which by the way I still owe him for the last servicing.

• The mrs will be starting work on Monday after two months maternity leave.

• Took the boy to a specialist ENT as he’s been complaining about pain in his ear. This has been going on since 2006, but visits to the GP & so called ‘pediatrician’ haven’t been able to solve it. What the doc did was removal of some stubborn ear wax, did a quick scan and declared that his ears are ok. But what concern him are the tonsils, which have been noted in the boy’s medical records. He has suggested tonsillectomy, the removal of the tonsil, a common procedure nowadays. So now seeking second opinions from qualified & trained doctors among friends plus well informed parents about taking up this procedure. The boy had so many ‘medical procedures’ and ‘unwanted/not needed’ body parts removed than me and he’s only 7.

Unlike this guy who had a major part of his brain missing yet he's still able to run the 'greatest nation on Earth'

• Latest in Adi’s development milestone, she can now ‘oohh’ and ‘aahh’ along to our conversation, which makes her part of it. As if she’s contributing to the conversation. New pics of her included below.

• Went to Keranduts Inc gathering, meeting called by none other than HM King Kerandut himself. As per Keranduts tradition, no significant others were allowed, as it was a boys nite out only. Some of them I haven’t met since leaving school and how time flies during the session.

• The Boy took his karate test and managed to be upgraded to Green Belt. Way to go Boy, we are proud of you.
• 

Karate Kids

At a crossroad

I am in a dilemma,
on which path to take,
the path forward,
is something that I would wish for,
for going through it would also brings innovation & advancement,
But its not something that I should rush into.

The path on the left,
would just leave me in the stream,
just enjoying the odyssey to the next destination.

To choose the right path,
would be leading into the grand living,
also serenity associated with it.

Alas I know,
all the three path I could not take at once,
hence please provide guidance,
on which path to take,
because it will not only affect me,
but everyone around me as well.

Life Monopoly

End of the month Community Chest : -

A day in the life of a superhero

Miss N Osyrep Orter (MNOO):

Here we are, in front of SuperHeroes Inc, where all the SuperHeroes(TM) worked. Let's see if we could find someone that we could talk to. Hey, that's the super famous, Mr Dependable. Hey, Mr Dependable, do you have a minute?

Mr Dependable ( MrD ) :

Sure, I could spare some time for you. Wadda you wanna know?

MNOO :

We saw you leaving the office a few minutes ago, then you went back in as fast as you went out. Is that a rescue mission, some damsel in distress, a town attacked by giant monsters ?

MrD :

Ohh, that....hmmm.. how do I put it, I was about to undertake a task as per assigned by my sector head but then as soon as I set foot out, the task was revoked and I was instructed to be back at the SHInc.

MNOO :

I see. So you have some sort of command structure here. Can you take us through your hierarchy ?

MrD:

Sure, we got the Powers-That-Be, which forms the I-have-the-Power group, then the Grand Powers, Chief Powers and General Powers, which I am in. So I report to the Chief Powers, they to the Grand and the Grand to the PTB.

MNOO :

So it must have been an important task to have one revoked in a matter of minutes?

MrD :

Oh yeah, totally. I was asked to standby...

MNOO :

To standby, for what, care to elaborate ?

MrD :

Standby for the PTB man... that is the best job around. I mean, you got all your tasks revoked and you are asked to be waiting at some uncertain location in case the PTB has any questions for you. I mean, the questions asked are normally a life-and-death kinda of question, national security etc, restricted access, eyes only, top secret etc if you get my drift ....

MNOO :

OK, meaning that you were called off your assigned task for something more important.. Gee.. what a great job you have MrD...

MrD :

Yeah, it was awesome...like I could sit around all day pretending to be busy coz I'm on standby, not that I want to but I have to be prepared to be summoned by the PTB at any time...so yeah, its cool... never have I thought that a piece of paper in hand and during your walkabouts around the office puts you in the same league of the Grands, man...

MNOO :

Wait a minute, does that mean that you were called off an actual task and were asked to do nothing except for looking busy? If thats the case, that would be a waste of resources right where actual action could be taken and lives would actually be saved. Ouch... hey did you just lasered me?

MrD :

Sorry about that, my firing trigger seems to be misfiring today. Need to go to the SHInc lab to attended to it. Do not underestimate the importance of the standby duty man... got to go, see you around

MNOO :

There you have it folks, Heroes called off assigned duty to be put on standby. Ouch..da*m it MrD, it hurts..Miss N Osyrep Orter, sigining off infront of the SuperHeroes Inc Head Quarters.

MrD (from afar ) :

Sorry ......

Adi's new do & Mention in 'Mainstream Media'

1. Adi's New Do

Adi got a brand new do yesterday, in keeping up with the tradition of 'mencukur jambul'. I was given the task to ensure that Adi was cleanly shaven as it was done as cautiously as possible to avoid hurting her delicate head. The results ? Have a look for your self :-

Muka bulat, mata bulat , rambut ... takde ...

Mini-me

2. Mention in a mainstream media

Your truly was having lunch @ Bangsar the other day and was walking towards BV when I was stooped by two ladies. Initially I brushed them off, thinking that they were soliciting funds of some sort of charity organisation. Then they told me that they're doing a piece on whether the internet & SMS had influenced the recent general election. Being intrigued and seeing whether they would skewed the response from 'a man on the street' I decided to participate. This was the piece as published on NST Sunday 16 March 2008. They took my pics but didn't use it.

ST Online » Focus 2008/03/16

Surf’s up with Net power

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WHILE some thought it annoying, others welcomed the flood of SMSes that “beeped” throughout the election period.

In addition to this “new” source of news, they also relentlessly surfed the Internet for “unbiased” news.

Cecilia Anthony Das, 33, was one of the thousands who clicked through various political websites, hoping to learn more about the March 8 elections.

“I sat in front of my computer for as long as 14 hours a day, since nomination day. I would start as early as 9am and only stop at 11pm. I do read the newspapers but I don’t rely on them 100 per cent. I read a lot of political articles on the Internet, but I had already decided who to vote for long before switching on my computer,” said the lawyer.

“Although I received hundreds of SMSes throughout this election period, I was doubtful about their authenticity, especially since most were jokes and rumours. However, they did make you think.”

Sharizal Shamuri, 34, said the Internet provided unbiased reports on political matters before, during and even after polling day.

“The alternative media definitely affected the general election this year.

“The public got to view the situation of the country from their homes.

“I lost count of the SMSes I received. I read each one of them but some of them were not credible. They were sent just to stir things up,” said the engineer from Kuala Lumpur.

Das and Sharizal joined thousands of Malaysians who were surfing the Net to gobble up news and information about the general election, especially on polling day and the following day.

For instance, the New Straits Times website received 970,000 visits from midnight on election day to midnight the following day.

A spokesman for Jaring, the internet service provider, said the NST traffic increased threefold from 30 megabits-per-second (mbps) (the total information flow over a given time) on normal days to 96 mbps during the election weekend.

He added that traffic related to polling, which included registration and results, increased by more than nine times during the announcement of the results compared to the previous week.

Incoming access from overseas users also doubled.

A spokesman for Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) said the highest Internet traffic recorded on election day was from the central areas of the Klang Valley.

And particularly so from Brickfields, Cyberjaya, Kelana Jaya, Wangsa Maju, Klang and Putrajaya.

“Internet users in the central areas alone utilised 17gb (gigabyte) of internet bandwidth. The highest Internet traffic was recorded around 4pm,” she said.

Mobile phone operators too saw an increase in SMS traffic on election day.

A spokesman for Maxis said the increase in voice and SMS traffic on March 8 came close to matching traditional high-traffic seasonal events such as New Year’s eve —the busiest day for voice and SMS traffic.

“Our SMS traffic increased by 31 per cent and voice calls by 27 per cent on polling day, compared to a normal day.

“SMS-based news alert services were also popular, with a large number of customers signing up for election updates and results.” Maxis, which has a subscriber base of over 9 million, serviced 600,000 customers who accessed the Election Commission (EC) link from their mobile phones.

This data service enabled customers to check on the contesting parties in their voting area and polling centre locations, through a link which connected clients to the online EC website.

The Maxis spokesman added that although this service was also available during the 2004 general election, only 500,000 subscribers took advantage of it then.

Celcom saw an increase of 0.5 per cent for average daily SM usage during the election period from Feb 24 to March 8.

A spokesman for Digi said: “We noticed an average increment of five per cent for SMS traffic leading up to voting day and a 15 per cent increase on polling day, compared to with normal day.”

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Now Listening To

Hujan - Bila Aku Sudah Tiada

A song from one of the latest local offering - not bad for an independent band. Request from a fren...sorry JD, that day don't have it on me so can't BT... muahahaha... sendiri mau sendiri cari la...

Minor updates

1, My immediate boss was transferred to another department today. So all of us in the unit has managed to chip in for some going away present, which was well received. Something profesionallly done yet have the personal touch. Good luck in your future undertaking boss and thanks for the mentoring, nurturing, guidance and words of encouragement all this while. Words could not express our thanks and gratitude to you.

2. The election fever is at its highest today. Tomorrow all the eligible Malaysian would be casting their votes for their choice of the government that they want. Please vote and let yourself be heard otherrwise you might just as well suffer in silence.

Image from here

3. Steamyx suck man -for the past few days have been experiencing poor service plus connection to my fav sites have been throttled. The office connection was even worse ..... Grrrr ...

4. Adi is more responsive nowadays plus her patterns have more or less been established. Some new photos :-

Me : Bi, which part again of her that looks like me? Most of her features looked like you je...
Mrs : Adalah, the receding hair je ... hahahaha

Yang Mana Satu

Yang Mana Satu
Idaman Kalbu
Tidak Tertahan
Menanggung Rindu
Mungkinkah Jauh
Hingga ke Bulan
Atau Dibalik Dacing Yang Biru

Kalaulah Aku
Jadi Temanmu
Kroni Mengkroni
Serah Padaku

Kalaulah Aku
Jadi MPmu
Minda Rakyat
Aku Cuci

Oh Tukang Timbang
Aku Tak Sudi
Hai Tukang Roket
Mata Hitam Turun Ke Hati
Aku mencari biar berpadan
Asal dihati Dapat Berkenan

Inilah dia, yang dicari-carinya
Mainstream Media, Aku Yang Punya
Ini Orangnya, Idaman Dara,
Internet Ada, Blog Pun Ada

Oh Sungguh Susah, Cari Pasangan
Tak Mau Yang Merah, Biru Pun Bukan
Hati Dah Bosan, Tidak Berkenan,
Sebab Perangai Semuanya Tidak Siuman

~ sing to the tune of Yang Mana Satu - P Ramlee & Saloma ~

Yang Mana Satu ek?

Election day dah dekat

Got it from youtube. Hillarious!

Sums up the sentiment nowadays.

Here's one I made earlier

I've been thinking about how to remember Adi's birth, especially to capture the things that she has when she's small. I meant like foot or hand print that we could look at years later and say that how small you were when you were born but it will only be a print. So in looking high & low, I've came across an imprinting & casting for the lil one hand and feet.

The box - available from Mothercare

The box and the salesperson said that this is an easy to do, safe for the baby and 100% foolproof. Imagine how I felt when I botched up the first attempt (not feeling so clever then). The thing that pisses me off is that I followed all the instructions to the t, plus including my own set of failsafe methods only to botch it up. Grrr....

Luckily, the supplied kit has more than enough material to cover for the failed first attempt. After becoming wiser, I have in fact manages to get 3 castings out of the remaining material with the luxury to choose from in case I screw up again.

The whole process is quite lengthy as the time needed for preparation and letting the plaster set. From experience, I knew that this is one process that cannot be rushed in order to achieve the highest possible quality my skills (and luck) would allow me.

Pointers to those who would like to try this, ensure that the container for the mold would fit the subject nicely, too big then it would be a waste of material and too small you wouldn't get all the details. Also, the imprinting material sets quickly, so better for you to mix a small batch and cast the mold rather than mixing it all in one go.

The mixing of the porcelain plaster is also quite tedious for you to ensure a good result, no air pockets and a smooth finish. Please observe the instruction in doing layers on casting, rather than pouring it all in one go. Point to not is to use a flexible container for the mold as it would facilitate the removal of the mold and ensuring that you did not break any digits off the cast.

The results?




I think I did OK. Well not in the league of professional/amateur artist but I should be able to preserve Adi lil hand & feet in 3D for our memories.

Changes..

Changes are an inevitable part of life. We see changes everyday and adapt to it. But for a certain few things, we would like to see no changes at all. As a creature of habit, we like to create a comfort zone around us and would like to control this comfort zone so that minimal changes affect it. But sometimes, we have to accept the fact that changes have to happen and whether we like it or not, adaption has to made to it.

These adaptation and ways to cope with the changes would be different to everyone. How do you react to changes that affect you directly or indirectly? There's no rules or logic condition to be applied as each changes are unique. A change too fast too soon might have a detrimental effect to a person likewise too slow too long. Anyway, how we react to the changes would affect our lives as well.

Even if we are mentally prepared for the change, but when the time comes, it still going to hit you like more than you were prepared for. So whether we like it or not, there's always a time for a change.

Loteri Halal

We decided to take another stab at the loteri halal again. Hopefully this time brings a better luck to us. Maybe the god of fortune is in a good mood during these festivities to bless on us or maybe he's to busy entertaining other more affluent offerings from those who would want to be in power when Malaysia Decides on Mrach 8. All in all I hope it would work out well.

With the water mains pipe issues and dipping into the lottery pool activity, money has been flowing out like water from my bank account into someone else's, sengkek oi bulan ni....

Feels like listening to this ...

Time to cast your votes

It's official. The election day has been set on the 8th of March 2008. Now we could see those who's contesting promising the moon and the stars, whilst most still fail to keep promises prior to being elected during the last election.

Now we will see the scare tactics, discrediting of nominees and personal attack on the candidates. For me, the whole thing is like a big circus. The build up to it was dramatic, then they will fall flat during the delivery.

Most countries have change government a few times but that is a rarity in this region. Maybe a wind of change is coming. Vote wisely.

Misery Loves Company

I returned home today to a big surprised. My water bill comes to almost RM400. Was thinking, wow, we sure used a lot of water this month since the birth of the girl. But almost RM400?. On the bill was a handwritten note with a phone number by the meter reader. A call to him reveals a method to detect leakage and when done, sure enough the meter was ticking even though no one is using water in the house.

A check with my brother who had similar case before said that he spent close to RM1K to get his pipes repaired. So judging by that I should set aside a similar amount of money to get it repaired. Oh boy, misery sure loves company.

A well deserved break

or so I thought...

During the Chinese new year break I have managed to :

1. Got my hands on the original Transformers More Season 1 DVD, hence giving the boy a chance in understanding the Transformers Series in depth, short of buying the guidebook, as to what it is about rather than the 'movie' which kinda lost me

2. Catch up on a few movies which I had, which turns out to be a blood-bath-fest. Never in my life I feel that the movie industry has really pushed the envelope on 'realistic' blood spatter, where decapitation is the highlight of the movies... urgghh... puts me off blood for a while

3. Made plans to have a mini reunion for the east coast members of my school (there's only 4 of us there) but had to be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances

4. The sleeping pattern of the newborn is still not fully established, which have left me red-eyed and tired during the day. Wonder how I'm gonna cope next week when work is going to be full force.

5. Loads of old wives tip (petua) on the newborn. Some rather dubious, some rather obvious. The thing is that there are so many medically trained elders that you were left wondering what good a MD that your doc has. Also a lot of stuff were sourced for the newborn with money and time spent on it, but when it come to applying it, it was like, "cuba sikit je dulu, kalau tak mujarab cuba benda lain plak". I was like WTF??? Wanna try or not? If don't want to try then why ask to seek in the first place? Should I play Doc and try everything even though it would upset the elders?

6. The work than I brought back hasn't been touched. Sigh... need to do overtime to meet the dateline....

7. On the up note, my time of changing the baby has improved. Now need to challenge the best of the best pit crew. Anyone seen my stopwatch?

Rant over. Catching up some zzzz....

Now Listening ...

Hujan - Pagi yang gelap

Spectacular Family

It means that 3/4 in the family member are wearing vision correction device a.k.a spectacles. Why 3/4? Let's count :

1. Me
2. The mrs
3. The boy?

The boy had been complaining lately that he couldn't see what the teacher wrote and the blackboard and as a results some of his homework is not copied. Which prompted us to go to an ophthalmologist to have his eyesight checked. The results? This is one of the results where a higher number is not preferable, and his is higher than mine!!!! And he's only six going on seven.

Anak Bapak - with his chosen glasses

Home photo therapy & Airlock Issues

Baby Adi (that the correct spelling deemed by the boy) did another blood test for her bilirubin count today. Initially when we check out from the hospital, it was 175 umol/l, when she was admitted it was 225, when she was discharged it was 209 but today it was 275, on the rise again after 2 days. Seeing this, the peadi wants her to be put in the hospital again for photo-therapy.

I suggested to him that we gonna do our own at home photo-therapy as we had friends who did that with comparable results with what the hospital could achieve but with another big advantage, the baby stays at home. He was reluctant at first saying that for one, to his knowledge no one does the renting out of the equipment, certainly not his clinic and two, it might not be as affective as doing it in the hospital due to the fact that as parents we actually care for the child, if he/she as much as twitches let alone cries we gonna take her away from the light. In the end he agreed subjected to a daily blood test. Fine, at least there was a compromise.

I've seen the way they did it in the hospital, where the babies are just 'patients' to them and if they doesn't conform to the hospital regulation of feeding time, sleeping pattern then it too bad for the baby. Also they have this tendency that even if you brought your own EBM, the wold rather go for the baby formula because it is easier and convenient for them. No way I'm gonna let them have another go at Adi again plus it would be hard for me to travel every now and then to the hospital to check and relay updates back to base.

So with the info given by a friend, I called up the clinic which contacted the mobile photo therapy company. Within minutes, they return my call and says that their rep would come to the house in 2 hours to set up the equipment and the necessary instructions. At the appointed time, the rep was in the area with me fetching him from our designated rendevous and show the way. The equipment was actually house in a large hard shell suitcase, akin to the one you would take for a holiday. Setting up was quick and he showed me, with the help of a doll, on how to do it. Confident that I could do a much better job than those 'trained' nurses in caring for my child, and it seems easy enough.

After feeding her, we prepped her up and put her in the equipment. At first Baby Adi was crying, but as we comforted her, she slept through her first 3 hours under the lights without much issue. Then it was time for feeding and cleaning but this time it was harder as she was awake, probably due to the adequate rest of the prior session. I then put her to prone position, much to the chagrin of the other half and orang2 tua, but if that makes me a bad guy, so be it as I wants my baby to show some improvement for the test tomorrow. Then she relaxed with adequate time for me to catch some shuteye. Then I woke her up again for some feeding and cleaning and she was comfortable for the 3rd session. The rep says that normally they would recommend stopping the treatment at midnight so that the minder could get some sleep for tomorrow, but I think I'm gonna go the whole yard for the first day to maximize on getting a noticeable reduction if not arresting the rise of the serum bilirubin for tomorrow's blood test. Its 1:25 am and I wonder whether I should continue the treatment or call it of for the day.

Baby Adi under the limelight, eh bluelight

On another note, they say problems always come in pairs. When the mrs. found out that there was no water in the master bedroom toilet, my thoughts were like, great, another unscheduled water cuts. We had this problem a few times for the last few months so maybe its time to write in to SYABAS and make an official complain. But then there was water in the kitchen and the rest of the bathrooms, so I was stumped. Suddenly I recall this situation when I was small, and my dad used to relieve some trapped air in the pipes and this could block the water flow, so I gave him a call for some guidance before setting off to work. It showed some promised but then the water flow stopped completely. I decided to check out the tank above the ceiling and to my surprise the tank is almost empty, making my problem bigger than it was. It showed that I have a trapped air bubble in the main feed to the tank and this warrants help from "its gonna cost you RMXXX brigade".

I was adamant not to call them yet and I think this problem could be fixed. Since the storage tank was quite empty, it made the job easier. I tried to bleed the main feed to the storage tank, but that proves easier thought of than done. Then I decided to let all the pipes in the house to be empty of water and would rush water in from the main pipe in. It worked when I started to hear gurgle of air through the main feed to the storage tank and water actually starts to flow in, albeit in the complimentary 'rust' tint from SYABAS. Wonder whether they are in cohorts with these water filter guys.

So far, the water supply was all good and dandy, I managed to save probably 2 x RMXXX, got the bluelight up and running and Baby Adi going through her course of treatment. Not bad for a days job, maybe not to Superman's standard, but hey, at least I don't have a weakness to bluelight. Maybe to green cryptonite I suppose ;-)

Ady's back

Got the call today from the clinic, apparently Ady could go back today due to improving condition and lower bilirubin count. Everyone was excited especially the boy. And when she got home today, she spent most of her time sleeping. She must have been feeling better I suppose. Alhamdulillah.

Of highs and lows

Baby Ady's bilirubin counts were getting higher today, hence the doctor ordered her to stay in and undergo photo treatment. Pity her, her brother and especially the mrs. Leaving your 3 day old daughter to the hands of the nurses would be daunting . Even the boy was crying before he went to sleep, pining for his sister.

Hopefully she can recover and be with us again soon.

On another note, I have registered her birth with the JPN, hence she is officially and legally known as Adriana Hani Sharizal.

Welcome Adriana Hani

Ok, sorry about the 'live' update part, was caught up with the moment and decided that attending to the mrs and the girl was way more satisfying than trying to update this.

The delivery was scheduled at 1:30 pm, but with all the necessary pre-op precodeure, the mrs was only wheeled in at 1:50 pm. As she was wheeld into the OT, the spouse has to wait outside. SJMC has a strict no spouse allowed in OT, due to histories that husbands have fainted during the procedure and need more attention than the mother and baby themselves.

At 2:45 pm, 28January 2008 Adriana Hani was born. I was introduced to her about 15 minutes later. Quick check reveals that she has all 10 toes and fingers, quite a good size at 3.32 kg, 40.6 cm with an AGPAR score of 10, has a great pair of lungs as most importantly is a GIRL! After a more thorough check, I was able to 'iqamat' in her ears before handing her over to the nursery staff for cleaning and warming up. Her features was more on the mrs side of the family, with me wandering whether they got the right baby or not as her eyes were just slits. Even the nursery staff has to double check with the OT staff that they haven't mixed up the baby.

Baru lahir dah pandai posing

Macam anak patung Jepun

Yang ni macam Shin-Chan plak

At about 4:30 pm. I went back home to do the 'cleansing' of the placenta, along with picking up the boy from school so that he would be able to go to the hospital. I think among all of us, the boy was the one who's really looking forward for the arrival of his sister. He was really excited and was talking about things that they would do together, oblivious to the fact that his sister would need about 4-5 months before she can play along with him.

Welcome to the world Adriana Hani Sharizal.

Ok peeps, we have a live feed

Checked in at a temporary room in the hospital, waiting for the preparation. BTW, this is the free wifi courtesy of SJMC. What we could do now is wait and hope everything would be ok.

Wouldn't know if I could do a hourly updates, maybe I'll just update the important timelines. The rest macam malas nak report. Soon-would-be mom anxious, me just taking it as it comes, waiting in anticipation for my bundle of joy in pink.

Till further updates

It's here today ....

1 more day ...........

1 more day 2 go

image from

2 days 2 go

more days 2 go ........

image from

6 days and counting

6 days of waiting in anticipation, lots of things to think about, lots of things to do, self preparation to make, physically & mentally .

So right now, I'm gonna take things easy and pace myself till the day comes.

Issue with a pussy

I've got some issue with a pussy at the moment, before anyone of you get any ideas, it's the real pussy with four legs. Lately a white stray cat has been encroaching our kitchen through the window trying to find scraps of food, up to the extend of uprooting the garbage. Tired with the antics, I've decided to put up some netting on the grill to prevent it form getting in.

So off I went to the hardware and after getting the required materials, begin to work on it. Up the netting went, covering 2/3 of the window. Once the work was done, I got the thumbs up for the effort. So the proof of the pudding is in the eating right? What better to test the newly put up barrier that enticing the cat in. I was expecting that she wouldn't figure out the way in but I was dead wrong, In minutes, she managed to enter the kitchen through the windows. Twice. Grrrr... No wonder the coin the term cat burglat

Been outwitted by a four legged creature, what's next?

First Day of School

First day of school! I meant the real school not like kindies and the ones that are excited more are the parents from what I observed. Parents are the ones who would queue with their child and eagerly awaits the nest instruction from teachers, whereas the child would be absorbed in his/her own world, anxious to survive the day rather than savour the experience of being in a new place and meeting new friends.

Also I found that some parents are a bit insensitive in the sense that they were hogging the tables at the canteen during the first year recess. Granted that you would want to save a seat for your child, but if theres five of you in the family at least get up and clear the table. Also wouldn't it be better to let them find their own way around the canteen with newly made friends. The least you could do it get up and clear the space for them to sit. Instead some of them have to sit on the floor or anywhere available to have their break.

It also brought back memories of my first day in school. Blackboards, chalks, long yellow ruler and feather dusters for dishing out punishments. Wonder what the boy will remember about his first day.

Toys for Boys

I got the boy a miniature RC Helicopter for Christmas as I thought it was a cool toy (definition of cool toy : the ones that dad can play too). I was drawn to it rather than the bigger ones as it can be played indoors and the parts are mostly unbreakable, hence even when it crashes at the hand of inexperienced pilot, the craft would come out unscathed. The heli even came with its own rechargeable battery to keep the weight down and to ensure that with even a small dimension it can still fly around. Wonders of technology eh?

It took some time to master the art of flying it, as long as it stays airborne the two of us are contented. Brings back the memories of Airwolf.

Can we fix it, Yes we can!

I took some time off this time off the year to clear all my annual leave and also to run some errands wrt to The Boy's schooling matters, the impending arrival of the bundle of joy and also to do outstanding year end cleaning and repairs around the house. Of all those, the one that I dread was calling up a plumber to have a look at a slow flowing wash basin that has been there all the while but never get around to fix it.

You see, plumbers are a different breed than the rest of us. They are in their own world and one thing for sure they will make every job look and sound impossible to do without the help of someone from UTK & some C4. The thing with modern day plumbing is that most of it are concealed into the walls, with only bits accessible. I have looked at it one day thinking I culd DIY but then decided that its best for professionals to have a look at it and bracing myself for the day.

As we know, the white van trade has the most lucrative payrate irregardless the location worldwide. The chap came and looked and starts with, " Bang, this one kena kasi jolok sikit, kasi clear itu sumbat dulu. For that I need to charge you RMXXX. Kalau tak boleh, then kena potong itu paip and kasi tengok apa barang ada dalam. That will cost you a further RMXXX."

I said fine, but managed to bring down the price after some haggling. Hey, thats part of the culture here right? They'll quote you something then you try to reduce with some haggling and at least tried to get some discount off. For one, they know that you mean business and the other reason is that the significant other will see that you seem to be in charge of the situation and you got it under control and that will score you some brownie points.

After some time, he came back to me saying that there was something lodged in the pipes that he can't removed even after cutting the pipes. "Bang, itu lantai mau kena hack, potong itu pipe, kasi keluar itu barang, pasang baru punye pipe, tampal balik itu lubang and siling baru, That will cost you a further RMXXX" I said," Every costing that came out of you seems to be RMXXX? Did your teacher taught you until that amount so that it'll be easy for you to count or is it a prerequisite of being a plumber to quote the magic number of RMXXX?"

After some more haggling, we reached a figure that was agreeable by both parties but then he said that he needed to go and buy some stuff and have his lunch break. His buddies would come around after lunch break to finish up the jobs. Typical, do a halfway job, then cite that you need a coffee/tea/lunch/smoke* (*choose which ever applicable) break and get somebody else to finish up. To cut the long story short, off he went for his break and his buddies came back to finish the job. Where is the true and honest Bob-the-Builder when you need him. " Can we fix it, yes we can with RMXXX!"

In the end, the Mrs got what she wanted, which is a fully functional* (it was functioning before, only the dv/dt of the flow was a little off to according to her charts, love you dear, mwahhh!), the plumber got his dues and me, a burning hole in my wallet. RMXXX, that's the figure I'll teach my offsprings to quote for duit raya/birthday gifts/angpows etc. to patch the hole back.

The day I got itchy hands....

Probably I was watching too much Spooks and got carried away with it, so today whilst attending a telephone call, I decided for no unbeknown reason to emulate a lock picking scene with some paper clips. As luck would have it, the paper clip broke in the keyhole, leaving me with one unlockable set of drawers. Grrrr...

Then when I got home, my son has taken delivery of a set of Gundam action figures which require self assembly. He managed to assemble most of the robot himself, and was waiting for me to finish it. Upon seeing the instruction which was written in full Japanese but has some pictures as a guide, I was impressed with his effort. As I was trying to figure out how to assemble it, I managed to snap off a small part which had to be superglued back on. Double grrrr.....


ps. We did an 'Honest Abe' today. I mean the mrs did it. We realised that an establishment that we had lunch on last Saturday not charged us for a dish hence we made a trip back and corrected it. Hopefully the big guy would chalk it up as one good deed.

pps- Welcome Aqeef Nuqman to the Shamuri Clan on 1702 24 December 2007. Pictures would follow suit.

A Twist At The End

Haven't been updating this blog for a while due to some unforeseen circumstances with a twist that had happened. It had us in shock in a while, but as the saying goes, when the going gets tough the tough gets going. One thing for sure is that it will take us a while to give full trust to anybody outside our circle of trust.

Chance / Community Chest ?

In line with the monopoly theme, I have gotten a phone call today that could have been classified as Chance / Community Chest. It goes something like this :

Caller : Who's this?
Me : I dunno, who is it that you're looking for?
Caller : Oh, this is Z**a from E*A, did you enter our contest the other day?
Me : Yeah, but I didn't get any notification so I assume that my entry did not go through.
Caller : It did, & you have won 4 pass to see I Am Legend at G*C M*M.
Me : Oh, thank you.

This is like the third official win for me from E*A. It was unofficially 4 times but they decided not to accept me as I have won before. Normally I would be jumping in joy with the win, but I have decided not to attend but to give it out to a friend who could utilise them better. The only drawback is that the winner has to collect the tickets in person, so I still have to go there to collect it for him. Enjoy the show, I*am & way go go my trusted Treo!

Board Games

Image from here

Remember once that the word games means physical activities? It is either spent outdoors or indoors but it always involve physical exertion such as running, climbing, jumping and etc. Not like today where the term game means sitting in front of the telly with hands permanently glued to the controller of a video game console.

Bought a Malaysian Edition Monopoly for the boy last weekend. Ever since that he'd been bugging me on playing it with him. So far, we had one quick game and another extended game, in which he manages to procure the most prime location of real estate and actually built houses on it. The intention us buying the game was actually to teach him the concept of money but the way he's playing the game is like a duck to water. While the adults are busy buying all the plots that we landed on, he coolly waited until he could get a suitable plot and develop it. And in those prime areas, the return are so much better, hence he's raking it in. Could he be the next Trump in the making?

Deciphered!

Now I understand why so much work was poured into encryption and the same amount spent to break any encryption. The sense that you have if you could use coded words and left everyone else baffled is priceless. But what if someone manages to decipher what you were saying? Then the code is useless and you have to move on to the next encryption technique.

Our 'parental' codes have been deciphered by the boy up to the exact meaning of it. Dayyumm! How could he decipher it so easily? I mean he's just 6. I guess 6 years is a little too long to use the same codes. Now need to learn new ones soon. like Safayafa rafasaya mafacamfa nakfa mafakanfa nafasifa lefamakfa. Or better still, habla espanol or parlez francais?