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...

Paris van Java trip

Just returned from a 3d2n trip to Paris van Java, better known as Bandung. Bandung town is supposed to be a retreat for Indonesian especially those from Jakarta as it is set on top of a mountain range, which offers cool and breezy weather. This is apparent when we set foot there, as it looked cloudy and grey like its going to rain but we were assured that it is the norm there especially in the late afternoon. Also Bandung is known as a shoppers haven, with loads of factory outlets and its Pasar Baru.

First stop after checking in the hotel and refilling our stomachs was Pasar Baru. It is a six storey building which offers what most women were looking for, eg kain batik, textile, telekung etc. I think any nusantara women would go gaga in this place. Imagine Pasar Payang in Terengganu or Pasar Siti Khadijah in Kota Baru, then add five more storeys. My aunt was at a loss of words...

Telekung Shop Assistant at Pasar Baru

Decisions...decisions...and after that .. haggle... haggle..bisa diborong satu gedung ni...

We were at Pasar Baru until they closes and god knows how many bags were in the van after it ended. After Pasar Baru, we headed towards Jl Riau to start the shopping at the factory outlets. There were a few outlets there and we started at the Heritage. On the whole, the selection for kids was extremely good with the brands, quality of clothes and most importantly price..in RP or RM...hehe. Once you there, anything above RP60,000 or RM24 is considered expensive as we were spoiled for choice.

For dinner, we stopped at one of the restaurant recommend by Pak Suki, our guide as its near our hotel, Warung Nasi Ampera (masakan Sunda). The taste is almost similar to our cooking, which is better than the last time I went to Yogja, which everything was too sweet for my liking.

Pais Ayam, Sayur Tahu & Cumi Bakar

Gurame Bakar ... enak banget

Impressed by the packaging - takeaway

The next day we went on a trip to the north of Bangdung to Mount Tangkuban Perahu, an active volcano with accessible live craters. The drive up the mountain is about one hour, depending on traffic.

Photos at the edge of the crater

The still active crater- with sulphuric gasses

The other side of the view . . Bandung City

Some of the ole-ole sold at exorbitant prices by persistent sellers

On the way down we passed lots of nurseries and fruit stalls, due to the fertile soil around the ledge of the volcano. It seems that those with green fingers would prosper in this area. Definitely not me.

Look at the size of that and colour

Alpukat or avocados

Lunch was at Sapulidi, a rustic place setup in between paddy fields. They have huts/pondoks amidst the streams and with the cool air, the place was calming & soothing. The only thing that we could do after lunch would be sleeping it off in the pondoks. The menu is a typical Sundanese fare, and quite good too.

One of the huts for lunch

With Pak Suki, our guide.

waiting for the food ...

Adi's enjoying herself

Adi with her travel companion

After lunch, we got into the swing of shopping again, but were hindered by the presence of people, from Jakarta doing their shopping as well. It did not help that it was their school holidays and most of the outlets were jammed packed with people. We went to Rumah Mode, Dago area and sent the kids back to the hotel before going back to the Heritage area for some more shopping.

A point to note is that some of the stuff on sale true rejects or overrun stocks, some of them have dubious origins but good quality, some look like obvious imitations. Managed to get loads for the kids as with brands as Guess, Gap, Next, Oshkosh etc. Not so much for the adults or we have been looking at the wrong places. All in all, an enjoyable trip, maybe worth a repeat, this time the guys would head out golfing whilst the girls shop.

Goofies on Ice

Goofies on Ice. That would sum us today. Or that what people would perceive of us from the viewing gallery. It all started sometime last week, when we were thinking of activities to do during the school break. Somehow this has managed to creep in the conversation and upon hearing it, everyone got excited.

To be frank, the last time I went ice skating must have been during the circa of 93-97, making it about 11 years ago and it didn't look good then either. Ok, I could move from one end to the other as graceful as elephant on skates and it ain't a pretty sight.

The day started with the four of us (Me, the mrs, the boy and his girl next door) heading out to the rink. Everyone were psyched up seeing it would be the first time for the kids. It started as what I could imagine, the slippery feeling on the skates on the ice. The boy was saying that why nobody bother to invent like trainer skates, with two blades on each shoes for better support. That would be a very good idea I presume. I think the first session was about as quick as it could be, the initial adjustment was hard. All of us were holding on to our dear life at the plexi barrier and stayed in the slow zone. After a few breather off the ice, the long coordination came back and most of us could get by from point a to point b without making a total fool of ourselves.

Then when everyone has adjusted to the ice, things were really moving along. The boy could groove to the music played, me could glide as ackwardly as I could, the mrs and the girl next door could actually let go off their hands of the barrier. I didn't know that we sweat a lot on the ice, probably due to the higher ambient temperature here but that would be better than a red nose or numb ears.

All in all, it was an enjoyable time out. Would we do it again? Dunno, depends on how soon I forget about the sore bum...

Harga minyak naik lagi - 40%

Pergh....minyak naik lagi...kali ni 40%, nak buat macammana ni... nak kena ubah gaya hidup?

Now, where's my bicycle?

ps. went out to fill out d mrs car just now, the queue was about 750m with 3 layer of cars, the second station has ran out of petrol and the third, after about 1/2 hr wait manage to get to the pump, swiped my credit card and put the nozzle in only to get RM 0.12 as the petrol has ran out at the station and as per reports, nationwide. Not planning to wait another 1 hr and be disappointed again ... have to pay the 40% increase ...

P Ramlee The Musical

At last, I managed to get some tickets for the show after missing out on the first one. It was not easy to find the 'range' of prices considered appropriate with the appropriate timing of the show, but nevertheless it was better than nothing.

The second edition of the play has a new hero and one of the heroines, in fact Musly Ramly does looks like and sounds like P Ramlee. The play took us from the earlier days on P Ramlee right up to the end. For those who grew up after P Ramlee has passed away, this is sort of a Clifford Notes of his life journey.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable show. The sets were excellent, the actors were great and it ended in a standing ovation! A remark from a friend who had watched the earlier edition said that this one is even better better due to the likeness of the lead actor. To me it was worth the wait, in fact maybe even worth for a second viewing?

Congratulations Achik & Erna

Shafiq Emran

My SIL had just given birth to a their firstborn, a baby boy last nite. From my brother, both mother and baby are in good health. Would be dropping by later on this evening to check up on them.

The tally for grandkids in the Shamuri clan now stands at 2 girls & 4 boys. The girls are so seriously outnumbered because as of now pun Wawa has been complaining of being bullied by Aiman & Adam, wait till Aqeef & Afiq had grown up then I think there would be serious trouble then .. hehe but then again I have been warned not to discount Adi, I think she could more than make up for the boisterous boys.

Congratulation again to Achik & Erna.

P-h-i-l-o-s-o-p-h-y

I saw the boy watching the Spell-It-Right (SIR) program on tv the other day day just before we were about to have dinner. I saw that he was really concentrating on watching it as what he would have done when he was watching his normal cartoons. So during dinner I asked him about what he had watched and he said that if there is a similar program in school he would like to give it a go.

So there I was shooting some words to him for him to spell, until at one point he said " Baba, those were so senang kacang lah" (Dad, that was so easy-peasy). Ok then then I start moving to three syllable words and find that he can grasp the concept of breaking the words into smaller chunks and starts spelling it.

Fine, it must have been a fluke for him. Then I decided for a more difficult words :

Me : " OK, if all those were so senang kacang then how do you spell philosophy?"
The boy : " p-h-i-l-o-s-o-p-h-y, philosophy" akin to the responses on SIR.

Me & the mrs looked at each other with our mouth wide open in awe. Next time this week I'll make sure he's not going to miss the SIR. This is one program that have piqued his curiosity and made him wanting to learn, and its good if they could come out with similar programs for the young instead of the monster bashing, kungfu fighting, talking creatures that we have now.

Happy Mothers Day

A Special Mothers Day Dedication

For a special person




Lots of love,
From all of us

ps - Special Treat - Pancake Breakfast in Bed

It's getting hot in here ...

The boy was hospitalised for 3 days due to spiking high fever and dehydration. We noticed he was under the weather since soming back from kampung on Sunday, and we thought this was due to overexertion as when he was there surrounded by his groupies, they were left to roam around the compound as everyone was busy preparing for the ceremony. We took him to the GP on Monday, but when his situation worsens overnite, we decided that a visit to his pediatrician was warranted.

Whilst the peadi was examining him, he noticed that the boy's lung also warrant some monitoring, hence he ordered for the boy to be admitted. We were half expecting this but a bit reluctant initially because the hospital is quite a bit away from home so it was decided that I would stay with the boy overnite whilst the mrs attends to Adi.

So to the hospital we go .... and after some intensive treatment, the boys was discharged today. It was so good to be home he said as he was pining for his sister. Me, I was pining for my bed....

On a sad note, a friend has just lost his mother today due to a prolonged battle against renal failure. Al-Fatihah and condolences to the family and may god bless her soul .

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.