Cuti-Cuti Malaysia - Penang Aug 2008

For the school holidays, we have decided that a trip up north to the pearl of the orient is called for. Most of the itinerary is filled with makan-makan agenda...hehe...

The trip up north starts on Monday morning and it was raining all the way. Managed a pitstop at Sg Perak, before continuing and diverting to Kuala Sepetang for the famous mee Udang Banjir Kuala Sepetang. The shop is located by the road side and indicated by this sign :

Besarnya udang.. ada dekat 9 ekor..

Kulit udang lepas makan... hehe

The menu there is quite simple- you can order any variation of the mee, eg- mee/kueyteow udang with gravy, or fried, also nasi udang. Two sizes are available, RM 6 for udang bela (about 15 medium prawns), or RM 10 for udang laut (with about 9-10 big prawns).

The first night in Penang, we went for the compulsory DVD hunting at Feringghi. I guess the ops are getting stricter now, we managed to get into 1 shop, browse for a few DVDs, paid for it and then walk out. After about 5 mins, it was nowhere to be seen along with the other stalls. Talk about being efficient.

Another *must stop* place tat we went is the roti canai daging in Lebuh Argyle. How does it fare?

Lip smacking good...

Also not forgetting a dose of Udang Merah...

Enough about the food, I think recounting it made me guilty of all those calories...

Other places that we went to was the Snake Temple and Butterfly Park. The last time I went to the Sanke Temple was when I was small, abt 8-9 yrs old. I remember that that the place was crawling with snakes, now the snakes are on the altar. Plus they have gone a bit commercial by photographing tourists with snakes for the upkeep of the temple.

Aiman in front of the Temple...this is a boys only trip, the girls are squeamish about slithering snakes

Snakes on the altar .. pit viper

After the snake temple, we went to the Butterfly Farm. The last time we were here was when Aiman was abt 2 1/2 yeras old, and he was squeamish abt butterflies then. Adi did fare a little bit better, infact the squeamish was non-existent up to a point that she'll smack all the butterflies flying near her...

Lunchtime for Butterflies...
Mana ada takut...


Posing Sakan

We also had the opportunity to test the ATV at Tg Bungah, it was quite easy that even Aiman could drive it (under direct supervision).

Aiman on the ATV

We also felt that adik is ready for her first pool experience...

Ready to hit the pool baby...

Waterbabies

On the whole, the break was what the doctor ordered. truly enjoyed myself in the company of loved ones. Now wondering, when could we do it again?

Numb3rs

There had been three fatalities in my division for this year, not at once but about two months apart. Every time it happen, people would be on a witch hunt to pinpoint it to anyone who is directly responsible for the incident. Or if the 'blame' would be taken by this department or the other, up to a point various versions of 'truth' are available. But one thing that was left most of us who's doing up the year end reports of the accidents in shock up to the extent of being freaked-out was the fact that all the three deceased has one thing in common :

They all share the same birthdate (same day and month, different years)
~ twilight zone theme playing ~

condolences to the families
~ be safe in whatever that you do~

Reversal of Roles

The boy had just finished his Formative Examinations, and he decided to give the parents a taste of the exam, his style. So what would you get when a 7 year old boy sets the question and the parents answering it.? You would get this .....

The comment was like, even a kid could do better ... hehehehe ... jangan marah dear ...

080808

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