Solo-Yogjakarta Trip - Part 1

It was a spontaneous decision, my parents have asked me before to follow them to Solo, but due to work commitment I haven't been able to confirm with them. With only 3 weeks to go, I decided that it might be a good break to join them on this trip. The purpose was for me to get to know my relations there, as I'm the only one who haven't visited them as the rest of my siblings had done the trip.

Day 1 - Solo

The trip started with an early flight from LCCT direct to Solo. The 'Now Everyone Can Fly' airline does only 1 flight per day. Somehow the night before I had an overdose of caffeine, so I couldn't get a wink of sleep until the designated time of wake up at 3.30.

Pics above taken at the Antique Market, Solo.

At the Kraton Mangkunagaran, Solo.

Traditional Javanese Joglo Architecture

Picture of the Javanse Royal Family - pinjam kerusi je....

Gamelan at Kratan Mangkunagaran Solo

Aiman & The Lion Guardian of the Kraton
Lesehan - Pecal lele, burung dara goreng, gudeg, gurame bakar...sadly no bebek goreng

After 'muter-muter' session in Solo, we headed straight to Yogjakarta which is about 2 hours drive away. Arrived at the designated hotel only to find out that the travel agency had somehow f***ed up the accommodation arrangement, instead of a break in between, they have booked consecutive nights in Solo, hence our arrangment to spend the night in kampong has to be changed.

Day 2 - Kutoarjo (kampung )

My grandfather had three wives, the first one passed away leaving him a son, he couldn't stand the second one (also a son) so he left for Singapore, worked in Johore, then came up to KL and met my grandmother and had 7 offspring, which my dad is the eldest.

The son from the first wive had passed away, but his offspring lives in Jakarta. The son from the second wife lives in Kutoarjo, about 2 hours drive away from Yogjakarta.

Paddy fields along the way

Weighing scale used in Indonesia - these were the norm in Malaysia about 20 years ago

Tempe - staple food of the Javanese

My cousins - Mas Tegu & Mas Aris

The Clan
My dad & his step brother
Enjoying a moment on a beca
Your friendly bakso keliling man - the arrival of the tamu from Malaysia might have made his day or week, where he sold 22 bowls of bakso in one sitting

The whole clan

Power rangers - it's an eye opener to see the kids play, even though there's a language barrier, they managed to get along nicely with using action and gestures - a truly universal language

The trip have been an eye opener for me. From my point of view, their houses are all made of bricks with roof tiles / atap genting, where in our standard it was rumah mewah, but to them it is the norm and most basic of houses. They have to do loads of works for a meager return just to ensure their survival. Most of my cousins are on KB (Keluarga Berencana) where every family is limited to 2 offsprings, also due to the fact that they cant afford to have more than that. I wish that we could have spent the night in kampong, just to soak in the atmosphere. My cousins did say that they wanted to visit Malaysia, but the process of getting their passport would cost them almost half of their monthly income, this is due to the presence on calo (middle man) with their commisison in between (the cost of renewal in Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia in only Rm25)

Will continue in part 2....

The last minute rush

As a self confessed procrastinator, I waited until the last minute to do these things :

• renew my driving license
• submit my tax return form
• change some currency for the trip I'm taking tomorrow
• packing for the above mentioned trip
• clearing up some outstanding things at work

All was done today since I'll be away when most of it are due, hence today is the last window for clearing it up. But in my haste, I managed to forget some loan repayment, which meant that it has to be settled when I got back later( with interests arrgghhh )

This trip wasn't really planned, but since my parents asked to accompany them to visit some relations and I'm the only one who haven't done the trip. Considering the week that I have been through with the doctors visits and numerous blood tests, situation at work etc, I'm kinda looking forward for this trip. I have no expectation whatsoever for this trip, but hopefully

But after the break, work schedule would be at a breakneck pace again, with meetings and inspection at the northern region, courses and paper presentation etc....

ps. went to Times warehouse book sale and got a few interesting title to read. Its on from 26 April 2007 - 2 May 2007, 2nd Floor Plaza Hamodal, Section 13, PJ.

Of Health, Fitness & Weight

As per my previous post, Comfort Food, I was made aware that I need to control my fitness level and weight better. Being in a different work environment, it's kinda hard to maintain regular exercise regime due to the time limitation. Anyway, realising this, I have embarked on a fitness program to increase my cardiovascular fitness and also part of my weight managment program.

Officially, I started the program at the end of March, after recovering from my bout of fever, and somehow there's some progress as per pictorial evidence (still 3 kg from my target of 70 kg), also I'm recording measurement of vital stats for records :-)


As part of the program was increasing my cardiovascular fitness, I managed to get my hands on a Heart Rate Monitor, to ensure that I working out in the correct HR Zone, optmising my cardiovascular workout. Hopefully I can post more improvement in the near future.

p.s. - Not trying to be like the Spartans in 300, just a nice flat tummy....


p.p.s. as per previous post, I have been having these low grade fevers for a few days in the past month. Normally the temp is just around 37-37.2C, hence a visit to the GP was made and he referred me to a specialist. A series of test was done and they couldn't pinpoint if there's anything *seriously* wrong with me. I'm due for another round of tests next Tuesday, so hope that will be given the all clear then. The doc also ordered that I cut down on the cardio for a while to give the body chance to recover plus keeping me on medication. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Pulau Perhentian - Part 2

After putting it off for some time, I managed to scan the disposable underwater camera's pictures. Being an al-cheapo camera, I knew that the pictures would not turn up perfect, but those that did was pretty ok ( maybe need to invest in those underwater casing for digital cameras soon).

Coral Fishes, where we moored our boats

Poisonous Anemone - house of the clown fish (Nemo)

An anchoring point left by a boat

A pair of turtles - male & female

Turtle swimming gracefully

Charlie's Angel

The mrs. finding her water feet

Syakirin & Jools

Jools & Jaz

Me & Aiman

Jools trying not to drown

Yours truly

The snorkeling trip proves to be a great outing activity where the whole family members can enjoy. I just wish that the authority would maintain and check development around the marine park as this could conserve the corals for the future generations. I have seen uncontrolled destruction of corals which would leave the sea bed as barren and dead as the desert, with only remnants of the majestic corals left.

Wonder when the next trip is going to be :-).

Hooked on HEROES

Being a 'no-satellite-tv-at-home' proponent, I sometimes miss out on supposedly good tv shows and need to rely on local tv channels to show the reruns, obviously several months late or 'durian' dvd's. But with the age of information, one can do wonders if you know where to look. Had downloaded the whole of Season 1 - Heroes from a friend and started to watch it. And boy was I hooked, basically I spent about 3 episodes/day.

What made the storyline interesting is that some of the don't know that changes are happening to them and they have a new found ability. They were like normal human being coping with their normal life and to some these new found abilities actually burdens them.

It made me wonder, if we were given a choice of superpower to choose from, what sort of power should we choose? For me, it used to be invisibility, where I could get anywhere unnnoticed (but it might turn me into a perverted voyuer). Or invincibility? It's kinda of hard to decide. What say you?


ps. The mrs. is having a mini 'school reunion' at our place tomorrow. Now I wish I can teleport myself somewhere to escape from the session :-) ( just kidding, Bi!)

Al Fatihah...

Heartfelt condolences to the family of Faizal, a nieghbour of mine who passed away on Tuesday during his posting in the UK. From what we heard, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia's and succumbed to it after a very short hospitalisation. Arrangement has been made to bring him back to Malaysia. To Umi, Sabrina & Adam, semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat dan ditempatkan dikalangan orang yang soleh dan beriman.

Grrrrrrrrr....D**n Mat Motor

There I was, minding my own business, on the way to send my mrs. to work, joining the main artery road towards KL when I saw, in my driver's side mirror, a motorcyclist swerving in & out of traffic. Thinking that he was a bit too fast to be swerving in & out, I saw he was struggling to control his motorcycle and then suddenly, BANG....he hit my side mirror, become unbalance on his scooter but manage to regain his balance and without any signs of remorse or even any form of apology...leaving me with this .....

The mirror bit has been ripped clean of the plate, lying somewhere on the KL-Seremban highway, just off Sri Petaling exit. The damage is estimated to be around RM 400 (chop shop) - RM 1000 (new) as they don't just sell the mirrors, but the whole motorised assembly. I was hoping I could source only the mirror by itself, but it would have to be quite an effort. So in the mean time, I could revert back to the boring old side mirrors (lucky I still kept those).

To the Mat Motor (WPW *7*7) who inflicted this damage, I hope what comes around goes around...

ps... I might need help to trace the plate number & slap him some lawsuit for property damages
( or send some muscles to bash the daylight out of him )

Pulau Perhentian Trip

For the last school holidays, Jools & Me have planned a family trip to Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu. This is to cater for the kids, whilst the parents could do things at our leisure. But prior to the trip, I was struck down with the flu, but still went ahead with the plan regardless. March was considered a off peak season where the seas have calmed down a bit from the annual monsoon, but was told that the best time to go there is during April - September.

We left KL on Thursday 18/3/07 at around 7.15am in Jools brother'S Naza Ria. The whole drive towards Kuala Besut took about 6 hours, under the guidance of GPS. This is my first time using a full-blown GPS with autorouting and I'm impressed. Now how do I get it past the mrs. without her knowing? (looks like it's gonna be a trade off between in-car DVD or GPS).

The posse at Kuala Besut Jetty for lunch

The boat ride to Pulau Perhentian took 30 minutes by speed boat, mind you some of us in the party regretted having a heavy lunch. Nevertheless what awaits us at our designated accommodation managed to take away the sea sickness.

The chalet at Fauna Resort

The kids was so excited seeing the fine, white sandy beach that everyone wants to have their change of clothes so that they could hit the beach. The tiredness from the long drive was soon forgotten. The chalet is located at Teluk Dalam and the beach there was shallow.

Making sandcastles

Crystal clear water

Bluish and shallow beach

Inviting for a swim

The first day was spent on the beach in front of the chalet. The second day we have arranged for a snorkeling trip at various spots on the island. We are guided by Lim@Cheng & what an outstanding guide he was. There's not a lot of pictures taken during the trip using our digital camera for the fear of wetting it, but I've bought a disposable underwater camera and now awaiting for the prints. (It'll be in part 2)

Testing out snorkeling gear

The snorkel boat ride

One of the snorkeling location, the boat looks like floating in mid air

We've been taken to a spot where's the depth is about 8-10 meters deep, and you could see the seabed and all its inhabitants clearly. Colourful fishes swam around us, with various shapes and hues. Theres a spot near Perhentian Island Resort, where the clown fish (nemo) could be seen i their anemone. They also took us for turtle watching, where it was really exciting to see the majestic turtles swimming about without any care in the world of people snooping about taking their pictures. We were also taken to Shark's Point, where the black tip sharks swims in between us. The sharks proved to be too fast for us to even snap a picture of them. Part of me felt anxious knowing that there where at least five sharks near us at any one time and they would easily out swim humans and they are strong and sleek creatures. And the snorkelling was fruitful too, apart from seeing the magnificent sea inhabitants that we came for, Jools amhaged to find a watch and snorkeling gear as well. ( He found it, but Lim was the one retrieving it )

I felt that the trip to Perhentian was great. Where could you find the pristine, white, fine sandy beach, untouched corals and sea life, crystal clear water. Wouldn't mind doing it again. There no feeling of being rushed, no land based motorised transport on the islands and you have to bet by the water taxis / boats. Also there's not a lot that you could do at night except enjoying and soaking up the nature.

We left Perhentian on the first boat out Saturday and we headed towards Bachok, where Jaz's aunt lives. The journey took about 3o mins from Kuala Besut. The ladies have set on shopping in KB, so the dads have been left to be in-charge of the brood. The house was set facing the sea and nicely done, ala resort. There a big compound so the kids was let loose there and we managed to walk about on the beach. The host were very warm and hospitable, welcoming us to their home. To Hans & Makcik *, thanks for having us. We headed back to KL at around 3 pm, reaching home at midnite with stops along the way.

Resort style bungalow

Facing the sea

Plenty of shades and coconuts

Wakaf to relax

Look dad! A Starfish!

Aiman & Kazima

Hope that I could make it back to Perhentian again. Now planning to go back for Open Water certificate sometime in June/July. Cant wait to organize it.