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It was supposed to be an auspicious date for the Chinese, especially with the start of the Olympics, numerous weddings and any other activities that could be bring prosperity and wealth. My mum decided that the day would also be auspicious to do a 'bercukur' kenduri for all her three new grandchild, Aqeef, Adriana & Shafiq. The majlis was scheduled after Isya' last Friday night, whilst everyone else were watching the Olympics opening ceremony. Initially I thought that it would be like the normal kenduri, only to be told that there would be in excess of 100 guests for the night.

First generation cousins - Wawa, Aiman & Adam

Calm before the storm

Souvenirs for guests

Azhar & Family with Adriana

Desserts

Orang Belakang

Arrival of guests

Makan- makan

The guests starts to arrived at around Isya' and were treated to dinner first before the ceremony. This is a little less elaborate affair than what we had in Pekan the other day. When they started to bring out the babies, I was holding Adi & the camera and since no one knows how to operate a SLR, I had to give Adi to Abang Atan whilst I be the cameraperson.

Atuk cutting the hair of his 3 grandchildren


Tak dapat rambut anak, rambut bapak pun boleh ...


My Aunts with Shafiq

The whole thing ended around 1030 pm, whilst the cleaning up goes on until 2 am. All in all, it was a 'meriah' ceremony, with the gathering of relations and keeping up with developments within the clan,

Then and Now

When I think about when I was growing up, about what I'll be and how I turn up, I can't help myself to hum to the tune of Que Sera, Sera

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera What will be, will be.

but nowadays what I'm hearing from kids are this, from PCD ..

When I grow up
I wanna be famous
I wanna be a star,
I wanna be in movies

When I grow up
I wanna see the world
Drive nice cars
I wanna have groupies

When I grow up
Be on tv
People know me
Be on magazines

When I grow up
Fresh and clean
Number one chick when I step out on the scene

This is where the thinking gap between generations exists. I used to wonder then, why did my dad think differently than me, now I would be wondering whether my sense of thought would make sense for the future generation? Or would i be labeled as 'elders' thinking as per what I felt then? Only time will tell. Now I'm trying to get rid of the PCD song from my head..

Half Truths

Part of my current job duty is to come out with incident / failure reports and mitigation actions on how to avoid the same thing occurring in the future. hence part of the training that I was given is to write a comprehensive report from the word go, leaving no stone unturned. This is the task that I take personally at heart,not only because I would love to do forensic engineering but also to have my thoughts committed and implemented which would affect the operation of my division.

Since the change of management in my department, we all could sense that the focus of the department is more "customer & management" friendly. As of now, every report or complaints received is valid and have to be validated by an official report. Hence I turned into one of those reports churners, which after it has been prepared, reviewed and endorsed I would have no idea of the implementation of the actions as they were whisked away to where the reports were supposed to end.

Along the process, 'improvements' were made to the formats and flow of things to suit the request of the customers up to the point that there's going to be 2 type of reports, a quick prelim and a full report.

But when the management wants to know the finding the reports are watered down in order to preserve the 'relationship' with certain parties up to a point that the presentation is only portraying the half truths, even then certain points silenced, especially all those major 'explosive' points that would get the management knicker in a knot. So why the hard work of trying to unearth the truth only to have it watered down? Have nobody in the organisation have the guts to stand up and tell the truth. There was but where are they now? Transferred out for sticking to their principles.

What's the next step? The truth is out there, only which part are we willing to listen to?

Services beyond the call of duty

A colleague passed this around one day, apparently it was left on his windshield along with hundreds of others one day. The first time reading it, I was like "ini macam nyer service pun ada ke?" Some of my colleagues commented that they have a catchy tagline and we might need to change our departments into something along the line ...

So to those who :

• might be needing the services due to circumstances you're in at the moment
• just curious about the services
• would want to render your 'services' as well, ala...you know who you are , just ada brani ke? ...

could call the number and see how they could accommodate to your needs and requirements...hehe...sepeat-cepat sebelum Harian Metro got wind of it and decided to do an expose about it...

disclaimers :

• the writer does not know the authenticity of the claim of the services nor whether it was as a prank, nor has he ever called the numbers up
  
• the writer is not in any way related to this, it was passed on by a Tuan Haji, hence the writer has faith in what has been related
• the alleged place of the distribution of these flyers were in the capital of the state with nine districts/provinces
  
• the writer holds no responsibility whatsoever about the consequences of those who called up the numbers after reading about it here...caveat emptor..
• This is posted as to enlighten us about claims that this services do exists and they are taking it to the next level

Mari gi menebas..

No, not the 18 holes type of menebas, this is the true sense of menebas... my parents have a kebun up in Behrang, where they planted durians (D24, D144, Emas Johor & Udang Merah), mangosteens, rambutans anak sekolah, cempedak, nangka etc. since 1996. They have been going up there on average of once a fortnight, but this is the first time after so many years that I had been there.

Previously they have engaged some locals to look after it, but after a while when the returns have not been as what they expected, they have terminated the service. Hence the call up for all their children to help out in clearing parts of the kebun.

Port lepak

lama dah x racun ni...berat nak kena tebas...

Calon Peladang Berjaya 2008

Alamak...ni boleh turun saham ni...

Potential axe murderer?

Durians

There's a stream running across the kebun.

Looking back, I could see that most of the trees that I have planted back then have started to produce fruits, but it might be a better yield if we have someone who tended the area frequently. This is due to its locations, where the monkeys have actually harvested the area before we got there. I think wight a few intesive tending session, the kebun could be restored to it full potential.

The hasil : half a basket of mangosteen, some rambutans and one acceptable quality of durian. Maybe the next trip would be more bountiful.

Shooting Wild Life

No, not the Safari Hunting type of shoot. Plus the 'wild animals' are not even remotely wild. It started off on YM, with the excerpts below (or my version of it, nick changed to protect the identities).

selipar : wei bro, ko balik kg x dis w/end? leh join kitorang di shooting wildlife?
kasut : siang ke malam? klu malam nye nak ikut la, x tau la plak sana happening ;-)
selipar : bukan wild-night-life yg mcm tu la... ni d real one ni
selipar : menatang mende yang ada?
kasut : birds, flamingos etc & kerbau...
selipar : tu mana wild tu....

In the end I manage to join selipar for the photo shoot... we started off early in the morning to secure the lighting and places but upon reaching the designated site, it was devoid of any life whatsoever (next time better study the migratory patterns of the bird dulu ok...hehe)

anyway, it the session did not go to waste as there are some sceneries to be captured...

eh...where are the bikini clad girls here?

busut ketam paya

ketam...goreng pun sodap

point to self :- check on the setting before shooting cause I only realised when doing post processing that the pics looked granier due to being set at ISO 1600 ... grrr

For Sale

Due to expanding waistline & family, I have to let go of one of my cars and get a people mover. We have actually decided on the people mover, only now we have decided which car to let go. With a heavy heart, we have decided to let go of the red car instead of the black one and would be putting it up for sale soon.


A little detail about the car ; Honda City 2004 1.5 iDSI, good fuel economy ad I once did the calculations it came to 13/14 sen/km (that was when petrol was RM 1.92, now 40% more). Comparable to P2 Kelisa.

Mileage : 79k km
Interior : Beige Leather

Comes with standard accessories, eg ABS, dual airbags, CD player, tinted. All service done by Kah Motor.

Point to note, have some dings and scratches as per normal usage ( by the mrs ... " Didn't know how it happened, it wasn't there when I parked the car").

Price : Negotiable

If you or someone you know happen to be on the lookout for a frugal car but without the compromise of the space and comfort, you can consider this car. Just drop me a line before I put it up officially in the classifieds.

Happy Birthday Dear!

Happy 3Xth Birthday my Dear!

Glad you enjoyed the lilies...

Bored beyond words

This is what you do when you are called for a meeting on Sunday :

Maybe should have taken up physics again, just for the fun of it!

Karate Kid - Green to Blue

Aiman had graduated from green belt to blue in karate. He manage to overcome his pain in his right hand due to being caught in the door a day earlier. Next step...purple, 4 stages of brown and then black...

Aiman is 7

Happy 7th Birtday to Aiman Hadi.

We were planning a modest do for him, but after recounting the numbers again we come to a conclusion that we could never do a modest do.

Birthday boy monkeying around

Courtesy of Hold-That-Torte

BEN10 cupcakes... no surprise which were snapped off first

Adi oso sibuk blowing candles

A lot more pics opportunity were missed coz we were busy with entertaining the guest, big or small. We would like to thank those who made it and the presents and would like to apologise for any shortcomings during the event.

eg- Uncle, asyik lagu ni je, lagu numehameha tu takde ke... hehe

Handicap and strokes

Was in a meeting at a different department and when I returned back to my cubicle there was a tube of golf balls left on my table. No notes from who it was from, hence I couldn't thank the person who left it. Upon closer inspection ...

Could it be from one of my kakis who have seen me play? :-0

Today, I was able to join a friendly competition today organised by mybenz.org. This is the second time I joined them. The piece de resistance was a hole-in-one prize of B170, but I managed to drowned the shot...must have been a water seeking ball...Anyway, I managed to return home with a Cleveland Launcher Fairway Wood, a little bit different than the usual toaster/kettle/dvd player/coffee maker prizes that I use to get. At least it was worth the entrance fees but not scoring any brownie points with the mrs as it is of no value to her...may need to brush up a lot more for the LCD TV/double door fridge...hehe

The boy posing with the newly won club.. he thinks its for him...

On the road again .. part 2

This time it's to Kuala Terenganu. The last I was here, the old airport was still there and the new terminal is still under construction. Now the sight that greets visitor is the all new terminal building. As work was scheduled to be a whole day affair and I was booked on the last flight out from KT, I managed to get sometime to visit the new and controversial Masjid Kristal.

For me it was an unnecessary building as it was situated on an unmanned island, hence making it ineligible to be used during Friday prayers. The makmum that makes up during the prayers were mostly tourists like me. Wish it could be utilised better in the remote part of Terengganu, where development is still wanting.




ps :- got some order of keropok lekor up to the point that I had to check the keropoks in.. but was told that the ones I got was one of the better tasting ones in KT. Thanks guys for taking us to the keropok place. No pix tho as battery ran out

On the road again

My work schedule will take me on the road again. I don't mind travelling as it broadens my perspective as well as letting me experience new things but too much travelling could be stressful too. Just got back from a town down south, where its famous for its rail station cafe. Work went over lunch and the guys brought us to one of the town famous railway cafe's. The lunch crowd was there but the service was prompt. The piece de resistance was the toasted/steamed bun with generous fillings of butter and kaya, so much so that we had it for appetizer and dessert.. :-0

What's left of the so many plates of buns

Mee rebus - delicious

After work was done, my golfing partner & I headed towards the local golf course as we had some time to spare. It it a 9 hole walking course and known to the local as the "Commando Course", but we had the help of some local caddies to carry our bags and give us pointers too. Felt like a professional golfer (but it was not reflected on the scorecard). The course was tough with the first two holes got me. After some adjustment then I managed to salvage my score.

Owh, before I forget, my friend had the cheek to ask for a discount on the green fees only to be told that we have to be introduced by a member to enjoy the guest rates. He then asked whether any member would mind to introduce us so that we could get the discount and cited some names from the register book. The clerk actually said that she need some confirmation and proceed to call someone and to our surprise he agreed hence we got the discount! Thank Er*c O*g for the intro, he must be wondering who the hell that he's introducing eh...

Need to get some R&R now, have driven for a total of 380 miles/ 7 hours today, and need to get up early for another trip to the East Coast tomorrow (luckily by flight...)...another day away from the office and home, and the boy's birthday is tomorrow...sigh...