Aiman's Sukaneka 09

The obstacle course

Farah Iskandar

Tahun 1

March past

Calm before the storm

Smiley feet

When is it my turn?

Nearing the finish line

2nd placing

Extortion & Barbarism?

Received this from a friend in the ex-school-mates-group.

my nephew first former in SXS

beaten up this morning

some form 4 seniors tried to extort money yesterday but he didnt give

this am around 3, someone covered his face with pillow

then, they whacked him. probably used belts as well

he panicked & almost suffocated to death

as old boys we need to show our displeasure of these events

these cowardly act of barbarism need to be severely punished

Public canning & expel from SXS. Regardless who's sons they are.

Police report should follow if not.

brightest kampungs boys are sent to SXS to make them great men

would we dare to send our kids there only to be called to identify body at mortuary? 

Now this is something for us to ponder about. Speaking from the point of view that we have gone through it, the ordeal might prove to be too much for the boy to handle. Granted the ragging and bullying from seniors are the expected norm during our days, extortion and personal vendetta to the point of suffocating and assault during sleep is unheard of. Looking from a parents point of view now, I would not want this to happen to my son or him being the one instigating it.

So what form of punishment should be doled out to the culprits? Eye for an eye? For me, if an assault occurs and it was proven than expulsion from the school is warranted without a doubt. Public canning - could be utilised to get the message across that even though some might view it as medieval. I have personally been publicly canned and suspended from the school and it has in a sense reminded me of the grey area between right and wrong, granted what I did didn't cause any bodily harm to others.

Now I'm having second thoughts about sending the boy away to boarding school if and when the time comes ...

Action filled weekend

The last weekend of the March school break was filled with activities.

Saturday started with breakfast at the banana leaf place, then there was the wedding run, one near my mum's place and one of the Mrs colleague near Kuala Pilah. On the way back, we made a detour to Bangi to check a place out but it was an unsuccessful venture.Maybe next time with proper info. Next stop was the Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon. The sad thing is that I didn't manage to get any shots of the hot air balloon as : 1. it was hot 2. loads of people 3. improperly dressed 4. it was hot 5. disorganised organisation. We left about an hour later and even then the balloons were not afloat yet. Only after we manage to clear the traffic did we saw the balloons taking flight. Bummer.

Sunday was spent in the pool with 10 x 100 m laps done for me, would be more if not for the distraction. Then a quick trip back before venturing out again for some shopping. We are actually looking for a tricycle for Adi, but didn't find any that suits her. During the browsing at TRUs, someone came to me asking whther the boy would want to be in a competition, saying that 'kalah menang dapat hadiah, just besar atau kecik'. The boy tested his luck and to my surprise he came out top. Congratulations Aiman.

The NERF shoot out competition

First prize winner

Mee & Nasi Ketam Juru

The venue :-

The dishes :-

Different view :=

Future Ketam Lovers


The one who had the most :-)

I was told that I contributed to the faster rate of extinction of these delicious, juicy, sweet, succulent crusteceans.. ;-)

March school holidays trip

The March school holidays starts with a KL-Melaka-KL-Penang trip. First off was a visit to Melaka for a wedding and some serious belly filling food time.

First off after the wedding was to the Melaka Zoo. It was a good eye opener for adik as she got to see animals close up. Too bad the elephant ride was not available or else we would have a jumbo of a time on one. We 'cheated' a bit by going on the tram due to the time and energy constraint but neverthe less managed to stop at animal that pique adik's and abang's attention.

After that we headed to Umbai for some ikan bakar. This time around maybe we got the wrong shop as the food was so-so. Couldn't remember which shop was the one visited last time. But I think adik & abang had a great time if not for the food for the kiddy rides.

A beginning of a new routine?

Yesterday I tried swimming at Pusat Akuatik Bukit Jalil. The last time I was there was during the 98 SUKOM where I waas involved as part of the utility crew stationed there and I don't know how to swim back then. Thinking back, I remembered watching in awe at the size and scale of the pool complex, with three pools in. Also the underwater viewing chamber for the TV crew to capture the diving shots. It was awesome.

Now that I can swim *meaning moving from end to end with great effort no to drown* the pool seem a lil bit smaller than I used to remember. At least there the have separators for serious swimmers whos doing laps and the general public who's learning to swim. At least you could do laps uniteruppted and depending on your own skills rather than knocking about into those cross pool swimmers, which is normally the sace where I normally swims. 

The water is quite cold due to the weather, tasted soapy and there was this ringing like crickets underwater, plus the entrance fees is RM4 which to me is exorbitant but on the whole it was OK. Just a point to note that the shower & changing facility could have been better. 

Who knows, maybe this could be the start of a new routine for me .. need more of low impact exercise as the right knee is still recuperating... at least I managed 8X100m laps yesterday...trying hard to push it to 10x100m laps soon.

Kerja, kerja, kerja, makan

My work schedule for the march and April are packed with visits and audits to out of states site, so much so that I have to go away for at least 2 nights once a week. Talk about trying to fulfill someone's KPI and us as pawn were asked to be mobilised at their whim and fancy.

Anyhow, a silver lining is that everywhere where go we are setting up ourself for some new culinary delight. For instance, the recent trip to the east coast, where we were invited to dinner at one of our colleague's house. Mansion by KL standard that was. Built on a 1.5 acre of land, he has a fish pond almost half the size of an olympic pool plus a kebun of similar size to boot. The house is set right at the back of the land, so you got a long drive to the residence. Given that the land and labour is quite cheap there, he managed to save up and do everything bit by bit untuil what he has it what we saw. And if we were to emulate him here, I think it would set us back a 7 figure amount.




And after we finished dinner, we manage to get to White House Coffee for some supper. The toast bread and homemade kaya was good, but thier speciality was the half boiled eggs. Plates after plates of the egges where dished out in perfect consistencies. It was a highly guarded secret so much so that I was told off not to take photographs of the kitchen.





So where next? Kuantan, Pasir Gudang, Alor Setar, Pulau Pinang, Kampar, Manjung, Melaka, Kuala Terengganu etc, etc......

Tipsy at 5pm in the park

I managed to get back to home early yesterday and took the two kids out to the park. Whilst I was there, I noticed this groups of students, still in their uniforms occupying one of the gazebos there. At first glance it was a normal sight, just a groups of friends hanging about in the park after school. What caught my attention was the fact that some of them are smoking, lying on the bench speaking loudly and that there was puke on the floor in the gazebo and what seem to be an almost empty bottle of liqour in the midst of them.

They were oblivious to the fact that they were drinking and smoking in public, on a public ground where children are around them. I was contemplating of telling them off straight, but i was there holding the girl. I got to talk with some of the parents there and they told me that a call to our friend in blue was made almost 20 minutes ago but none came to disperse the group.

This is a not a shocking revelation to me, where I have witnessed this sort of thing during my stint abroad, but to see it happening here is sad. Maybe they should be exposed to the fact about juvenile smoking and drinking and what it can cause them in health in the long run. I guess that the late tween was a time of discovery to them but it would be a waste to see our youth going to the path of self destruction.

I told the mrs. about it and my intention of telling them off, but was warned that I may not be around as much as her in the taman and she feared the retribution of the group. With all that is happening, we are turning into a scared community, scared at the sight of gangs on motorcycles, loud and drunk youths at parks and scared at the sight of a person on a motorcycle in case it turns out to a a snatcher. Maybe its time someone up above addresses this issue instead of fighting about power and positions. 

Third time a charm ?

I was enrolled in a career development plan at my work place, which entails my competency to be assessed before I could move on to the next stage. This is the third time I'm attending it, with the last two brought unfavorable results to me. The thing with this assessment is that the manner that the assessor quizzed you about things, it going to make u feel at the end of the session that you are so small and insignificant, which make you wander why you bother to join it in the first place.

So the third the charm? I dunno... I wouldn't get my hope high first in case it would be crushed to pieces later....

In recovery (and pain)

I had a session of kick about with my former schoolmates and their former uni mates in town last Friday. The thing is, I have injured myself by being tackled during the game right on the shin below the right knee. When it happened I can manage to  finish the game and start the next one for a few minutes until I resign in being the keeper.

Now I walk like House MD with a noticeable limp. Someone commented at my age I should not take up contact sports anymore but to be content with low impact such as golf full time. The thing is this is not something that I have the craving for, in case anyone needs to know I'm crap in sports especially the ones that involves skills such as dribbling past an opponent etc. I'm more into the running or swimming kinda of person, where you just need yourself to do it but once in a while its nice to join in the camaraderie. 

With the 'age factor' taken into account, I think it will be a slow recovery for me this time around. On the plus side,  it will give me  bragging  rights about being injured during a futsal match, instead of say ballroom dancing...hehe

The Big 10

What’s a 10? It’s a number that came after 9 and before 11. It’s the start of the double digits, famous numbers for footballer, maybe a number that I want my golfing handicap to be and the month I’m born in. But the number is extra special for me this year as it marks the 10^th year anniversary of our marriage.

 10 years might be long to some, might be short to some but to me it had held some precious memories. It has its ups and downs, sweet and bitter, happy and sad and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.

 This year, I have planned something special for the mrs, some time away together, a theatre and dinner, a *special* gift that would help the mrs getting out and about if I’m not there. The only thing is that our wedding anniversary coincides with Valentine’s, hence dinner plans would be exorbitant.

 Happy 10^th Anniversary My Dear ….

1 x 5 = 5, 2 x 5 = 10…

The boy surprised us the other day. He called the mrs saying that he had stood up in front of his school assembly and recited the multiplication tables. I was surprised when I heard about it, as I was in the thinking of he has some issues about performing in front of a crowd. He managed to complete the recital and he was so excited about it, telling us that he was one of the few boys in Year 2 who had done that. The rest were students from the upper years.

 

He said that he wanted to go up again when the opportunity arises again. Hopefully it will be the start of a good thing for him.  

Bringing home a stray

When I was samll, we use to bring back stray cats back home, but my mum will have none of it .. & I always tell the boy not to bring bcak home any animals that he may have found. Until this day .. we were back in Pekan and I was enjoying (suffering more like it) my 6km run when I spy something in the middle of the road. Upon closer inspection I found out that it was this  ....

Updates awaiting!

It has been a while since the blog is updated ... too many things, too short of time.. will do it in the course of the week....now need to sort out my materials...

OMG! Fungus Attack ..

OMG! The horror of being attacked has finally been validated! The picture tells it all... sedeynye ..

Couldn't imagine that the sepakers could also be infected by fungus. My trusty Mission 73C now dead after more than 13 years. 

Now have to consider a dry cabinet for my lenses, well at least the current ones ( The Minolta Sigma 70-210mm f3.5-4.6 is beyond rescue).  Now the question is how to replace ?

God Bless The Plasticines

Sometimes I wonder, what goes on in the mind of a child. How did I react to the same situation when I was small, as I often felt that any instruction would go in one ear and out the other for the boy. Simple instruction would take a few pushes before it being implemented, up to the point of testing our patience.

The latest case in hand, we specifically instructed the boy to order his name tag from his class teacher along with giving him the money to do so. The money has been lying on the dresser for days before he actually took it to school today. 

When I got back from work today,I expected him to tell me about him ordering the name tags but what he told me in return astounded me. He told me that he didn't order the name tag but instead of telling me he spent the money on toys or stationeries, he just said that he put in in the 'Kanak-kanak Plasticine' fund.. Initially I was bursting in a fit of laughter bu then I realised, even a child knew what the Palestinians is suffering and willing to part with his money to help them. God bless.....

Blowing bubbles

Teringat lagu masa kecik2 dulu :-

Saya suka main buih sabun,
gelembung bulat, cantik berkilat,
bila ditiup angin sekawan,
terbang tinggi sampai ke awan.

Sabun taruk air,
kocak-kocak jadi buih,
ambil buluh, celup tiup,
buih terbang sayup.

Abang & Adik enjoying a session of blowing bubbles ...

Please let me out baba

When I grow up, I want to be a model

Bubble blower

Tangkap adik, tangkap bubble tu

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Langkawi 2008

This year we have decided to revisit Langkawi. The last visit was in 2006 and we did 'unadventurous' stuff, so this time around we planned a laid back trip. Planning the trip was a task in itself as the accommodation that we have requested was not available and all other were full. Even calls to local travel agents were not well received as that was the peak period on their calendar.

In the end we managed to get accommodation, albeit not the first choice, an overpriced transportation to help us moving around not to mention the level of service and price sucks during the peak season.

So this time, the most adventurous thing that we did was going up the cable car. We actually when there twice, the first time the queue was so long that it almost reached the gate. The ride up as quite scary & windy, and they have built a new suspension bridge spanning across the mountain range range with a spectacular view. Plus they have got some petting animals in the area, hence the kids could play around.









Overall it was an OK trip, but really need a break after the trip..hehe..