The wind of change

Like the song, the wind of change is here again. I always think that when a certain event has occured, the wheels have been set in motion for other events to follow. Things could still change in the future but the future are not mine to see. Hence, I will take a course of action which I think would be right for the current situation which I'm in now. Hopefully it would be bring something good for all of us. The decision is mine, the future I leave it up to the big man above.

Lost : Cat-arina

Lost Cat

Beige with white/brown stripes

Green eyes

3 whiskers on each side

answers to the call of 'Miam, miam'

Last seen in the vicinity of LCCT

could also be found in IKEA for RM24.90

any kind soul please let us know caz Adi is pining for it

Fathers day celebration

1. Celebrated Fathers day with the mrs treating me & the clan to lunch at Pizza Uno on Saturday before heading out to do some other chores. Yummy..maybe gained 3 kg due to the hearty lunch...thanks dear

2. Went to the tailor to get the boy & my baju melayu done. This year is golden-ish, as it would double as my sister's wedding theme as well.

3. Can't make it to Ipoh for one of my sidekicks's wedding as I had to be working on Sunday.

4. My parents have gone to Italy (Rome, Venice) before heading to Dublin for yet nother progress visit on my dad's project there.

5. Dip in the pool on Sunday but as usual it was congested, so 1km in 40mins is all that I could manage.

6. Recieved a set of Twilight Quadrilogy from the mrs as father's day present. Somehow I think it was for her to read and for her to justify the purchase. I'm a bit surprised as she's normally not into the horror & gore genre, but the movie must have made an impact on her.

An eventful day - Thursday 18 June 2009

Yesterday proved to be quite an eventful day for me.

1. As I minding my own business driving my way to work using my normal route in a stop & go peak our traffic, I saw this car behind me not stopping in time. I braced myself for impact, but at the back of my head I was thinking, please don't hit my car. The impact was not severe, and having being involved in similar situation I would think that its not going to be that bad. On first account, my car had some scratches which i think can be polished out with the usage of the right chemical and some elbow grease. The other car was worse off, bumper & plate number smashed in, the bonnet was also a bit dented. Seeing that my car was not damaged physically, I decided to exchange contact numbers & details and head back to office.

2. We had some impromptu visit from out northern neighbours. They were in town for some seminar and decided to drop by to see us. I think the session was a very good session and it involves the working level where ideas and inputs were flowing back and forth. True, we have the asean region conferences et al, but that involves top management and everybody was like trying to look good and not telling the whole truth. This working level discussion were more appropriate, but alas with the current trimming of expenditure then, who knows when the next opportunity will come.

3. The dude who hit me called me up saying that he wanted to claim from his insurance the cost of repair. Now it meant that I have to make a police report wrt to the accident as well. Off to Jalan Bandar I went. The report taking was not that long, but to wait for the investigating officer (IO) is another story. Then he wanted me to sketch how the accident happened, which car was where & when. After all that, I still to have my car round the picture hut, with the ulats in tow. They wanted me to send the car to them to be fixed,"Lu bagi lu punya kereta, 2 hari siap, kita kasi kawtim sama itu adjuster mah". I'm seeing Amiaq later to get his input and where reliable to get the job done. Alang-alang dah buat report polis, claim je la....

4. After affairs at the police station have been dealt with, I headed to BJ pool for some unwinding. I took longer than usual to reach the venue. After changing and hitting the pool, my body felt like lead. But after a while the water feel came back and voila, I'm building up speed & distance. At the final whistle, I was no my way to 1975m, which is 39.5 x 50 m laps. The Total Immersion really works. Now i have to improve on my speed work, to meet 1.5km below 45mins.

The day Adi swings to this ...

Updates

Quick updates :

1. School holidays is here but haven't planned anything yet due to a trip away to Kuching at the end of the month. Have to cover for my Unit as 2 members are away for overseas conference. My only overseas trip this year is to Perhentian... huhu ...

2. Went shopping yesterday for the boy's birthday party, managed to get some goodies bag items at quite a reasonable price. Also went shopping for clothes for raya & my sis wedding which should be at the end of the year. Went to KLCC for some more shopping and lunch but couldn't get into Petrosains as they have sold out the tickets.

3. Home PC conked out on me, maybe need new HDD as the current has been quite problematic, anyway its $$$$ flowing out

4. Managed a 1.2 km swim this morning after 3 weeks layoff the pool. First time back in the pool after my open water certification. Now thinking of a dive trip before the season closes. The easiest would be Tioman in July. Any takers?

5. Would be travelling back to Kuantan this weekend for some quite time, missing out on the excitement of the XTerra and photo shoot chances... not in the mind of competing as not in the fit category yet.

6. A step on the scale confirms what I fears the most .. need to loose to additional weight else I wont look good in my next dive trip and would be mistaken for a whale shark?

7. Need to brush up on my short games, driving and iron shots are better now up to a point that my regular kakis suspected me of going for some secret training with a pro. That remarkable improvement ke? If only I could keep up with the 1 up 1 down, & my score would really be reduced.

Open Water Certification - Perhentian 23-25 May 2009A

After three years of setting the dream, me & jools have finally manage to prepare ourselves mentally & physically for our open water PADI sccuba certification. With the help of Man, a newly certified instructor himself, we went for discover scuba at Cheras pool (refer to prev post) and have set a date with Abg. Mie at Fauna Reef Dive in Perhentian.

We set foot on the island on Sat 23 May 2009 around 2 pm and was told that we couldn't do the skilss due to a storm aprroacing. Hence everything starts on Sunday morning, with open water skills dive 1 & dive two planned. The first one was to test our skills against the required skills and at first it was odd to do thhose thing in the sea due to the waves and current. In the afternoon we were taken to join another group of divers to D'Lagoon where these videos are taken.

Controlled descend to 9m - using rope

Finning - notice that our body is still slanted and not streamlined and were corrected on subsequent dives

Bouyancy & Getting comfortable in the water

The nest thing to do is to get more dive time for me to improve my bouyancy & confidence to get to fishlike. Where to next? Tioman or Redang or the ultimate - Mabul? ...

Mother's Day 2009

The last week have been quite a hectic week for me especially on the personal front. The boy have been transferred to his new school somewhere nearer to home and we are monitoring his progress. So far, he's progressing OK and the transition of morning to the evening session may have not yet hit him full force. He's on revision as the new school have scheduled exams this coming week, so hopefully he can cope with the change of environment.

I've started to increase my physical activities to at least as per what it was, at least three physical activities in a week. Haven't been doing much due to the dodgy right knee . Managed to see the GP and prescribed anti inflammatory+pain killer+calcium supplement. If thing didn't work out then may need to see a specialist. I have been keeping high impact activity to the minimum though and adding up the low impact ones. Hopefully it can curb the ballooning weight issue and came down to my usual range.

Mother's Day weekend are spent like this : 

Dinner with Laili & Wan including the whole brood at Delicious at MVM after crossing out the usual suspect of eateries in the quest for something new and it wasn't disappointed with it. Nice ambiance and food selection along with beverages that hits the spot. Not forgetting the usual BA donuts as appetizer ..

Breakfast in bed with me preparing pancakes for the whole family..initially we thought to have brunch at The Loaf but the boy wanted pancakes as according to him , it was tradition to have breakfast in bed with pancakes on Mothers Day. The Loaf have to be done sometime dear OK..maybe only the two of us...

Went to my mum's for lunch as we have missed out on dinner last night due to the planned dinner out. Had rendang itik (first time trying it as a spicy dish instead of the usual peking duck style). Not bad, the gamey flavour was not that apparent due to the way it was cooked. The only thing about it was my brothers had so much the night before that they only left some tiny portion for me... ;-) hehe ...

Also the mrs gave me a book for me to read. According to her it was quite good coz I saw her reading it, on loan from her friends. The review? Watch this space.

I think it's still not too late to wish all the mums out there Happy Mothers Day. I salute you guys as I think i don't have it in me to do a fraction of what mothers would do and can do ... 

Illegal driving..

When are you at fault at anything you do behind the steering wheel even though you have complied by all the rules, buckled up front and rear, driving below the speed limit, stayed in your lane, stopped when the light is AMBER, no illegal u-turns, not being involved or god-forbid started an accident? In fact, by the time you started driving you are already commtting an offence?

The answer is, when your driving lisence has EXPIRED !!!!!!

Just realised today that my driver's license has expired since the beginning of the month. Have been renewing it two years once, so I might be forgiven by overlooking the fact the its expired on 1 May. So all this while, all the driving I did would be deemed illegal and I would be at fault from the law point of view in case of any automobile accident in invovled with irregardless whether it is my fault or not. Come to think of it, I have done KL-PD without even realising that I'm an illegal driver . All sorted out now..

Thermally irritated

"Thermally irritated".Borrowing a phrase from a friend..which sums up nicely the weather now.

Last weekend was spent in Pekan, which was a nice and relaxing weekend. Consumed loads of food especially satar and mertabak mengkasar. Was told by an uncle that I looked "berisi" ... so don't know whether its a compilment on my new physique or a subtle way to say that I've gained some kgs...

The boy was having a bit of temperature on the way back from Pekan and true enough when I sent him to school on Monday, he vomitted twice before even reaching the school gate. My initial thinking was that he was faking it to cut school, but then again common sense prevail and I took him back home and got a two days rest. After abang was better, adik showed similar symptoms and the cycle starts again up to the point that the mrs had to take a day off to look after adik.

We are in the midst of changing the boy to a nearer school in BK rather than BJ. This is due to the fact that SKBJ is going ahead with their initial plan of creating a two schooling session in June 09. The last time they tried this was a week before school reopened earlier this year, but the plan didn't go through due to protests from parents at the eleventh hour announcement. We thought that if they going to implement it, it is going to be next year but then they are still gpiong ahead with their plans. So we have to do what we have to do.

The long weekend was spent with family functions and wedding with the customary makan-makan. I think I consumed more than a weeks calorie intake int he past three days, and with no aerobic exercise for the past week, it will all be accumulated in the waist. The biy entered his first sparring karate championship, returning with hadiah saguhati. At least he managed to score some points up to tie match. His opponent went on the be the runners up on his age group.


Hectic days are coming ahead, with work related trip for the next two weeks and a personal fulfillment trip of underwater breathing later on this month. At the end of the month, the school holidays starts with loads of weddings and not forgetting a break for the family on the boys birthday in June. Oh ya...Mothers day coming this next weekend ... traditional breakfast in bed with pancakes or something new this time round?

My first time breathing underwater

Nope, I haven't develop any ability to breath underwater akin Heroes or have some wizard charm up some thingy-magic-spell on me, but Saturday 18 April 09 was the first time I tried SCUBA diving (albeit in a pool).

Me & my partner in crime have long planned about getting our diving license, but somehow or rather the plan have been at the back burner. Until about a week ago when he told me that he had already arranged a tryout for us.

So when the day came, we met up with Man & his mrs and went for our first ever scuba experience. The session starts with the basics on equipment, diving theories, etiquette, what we should achieve during our first time in the water and exercises and manouvers . After that we hooked up all the equipment and changed and was ready to go.

The first hurdle was to get your water confidence, as breathing totally through your mouth take some time to get use to. After that, we were told to immerse our head in the water just to get the feel of it. When the first immersion takes place, I was having difficulty controlling my breathing, most probably due to the normal practice of swimming, where we inhale through the mouth and exhaling through the nose. Doing this will get water in your mask at no time.

Once we have settled down at 1.8m, we were asked to do some exercises. The weightlessness prove a difficult thing to handle initially what with the feeling of the only was to safety is up. After a while, it kinda felt cool being underwater and once you have relaxed, your breathing will also be more relaxed. After the initial exercise has been completed, we were asked to swim around and I tell you, despite being able to swim freely, I still find it difficult to control my self plus with the gear on my back.

Once I manage to get the hang of it, we were told to descent further to 5 m depth. This is where I felt like I can't do it as I was having problem of regulating the pressure in the inner ears. I think it took me a few tries until I was comfortable being at 5m depth. After a while we realise that our air supply has came close to the limit and was told to ascend. Only then that we realised that we have been underwater for 1 hour 15 minutes. I think it was an achievement for myself.


So the next step for us is to book a date for our open water license, which may take place in June 09. Watch this space.

ps..no photos..my compact was out of commission and d dslr is too bulky. Phone was in d car then...what a waste...

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....