Syukur Kepada Allah...

My second child, Kak Ngah obtained straight A's in her PMR result announced today. As a father, I can only thank Allah for this achievement and to Kak Ngah, congratulation on this excellent result. What is even more important is to use this achievment as a cornerstone for a bigger one. In life, a real achievement is not measured by the grade that we obtained but how much effort and perseverence that we can endure in all of our trials and tribulations. All good things come from Allah..and all things good or bad in this transient world will come to an end someday..when bitterness reaches it's peak...sweetness will follow...that is a sunatullah for those who can persevere for the sake of Allah...

Gondai Jr Turns 9 !

On August 4th, Gondai Jr turned 9 years old. This time around my other half decided to organise a small family gathering celebrating this event on August 5th and also to invite the newly wed Abangah and his bride to our small home in BJ. We prepared some food and specially ordered nasi dagang from Trengganu Kite Nasi Dagang shop in TTDI Jaya. I also invited my sister from Kajang to attend and I also told her that we could have join birthday celebration since her daughter's birthday also falls on August 4th.



My small home in BJ was really packed with my family members and also their children. In fact, I am also a 'grandfather' now as my eldest brother's daughter, Kak Long, has a 1-year old daughter since late last year.


Everyone except my eldest brother was present. He has to attend a kenduri held by his neighbour thus missed the event at my home. Nonetheless, the joint celebration was so happening and I wish I could have this again from time to time.


With so many children and teenagers at my home at one time, I also took the oppurtunity to show my nephews and nieces some classical guitar skill that is still in me. I played them few Tarrega's pieces and also my favorite Blues tune in E-Major. I think they might have appreciated it judging from the full attention I received, short of standing ovation :-))


Event like this sometimes makes me missed my late parents. I know that my parents would be very happy to see how their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are still in close contact with each other. Despite our busy schedule, we still managed to meet each other in a very joyous occasion. I really hope in the future I could afford a better and spacious condition to have a big gathering like this, Insha'allah...

Two Weddings and Two Hectic Weekends

"Dan kahwinkanlah orang bujang (lelaki dan perempuan) dari kalangan kamu, dan orang yang salih dari hamba-hamba kamu, lelaki dan perempuan. Jika mereka miskin, Allah akan memberikan kekayaan kepada mereka dari limpah kurnia-Nya, kerana Allah Maha Luas (rahmat-Nya dan limpah kurnia-Nya), lagi Maha Mengetahui" An-Nur Ayat 32

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My two weekends were really hectic but nonetheless exciting. In fact, the busy schedule started on Friday 20 July for on that day there were two akad-nikah ceremonies for which my family and I had to attend. The two akad-nikah were for close relatives. One, is the son of my eldest brother and the other one is the daughter of my first cousin.



The first question that one would ask is why two akad nikah on the same day ? well, the answer is all about the number 20-07-2007 itself. I guess, the chosen date is obviously easy to remember and it also fell on Friday. Nonetheless, as a compromise and also to let relatives to attend both ceremonies, the first akad-nikah was conducted on Friday after the Asar Prayer and the other one was after the Isyak Prayer. Syukur, Alhamdullillah. Both ceremonies went well.


My nephew whom I always refer to as Abangah, is now married to Azren from Ulu Bernam near Tg Malim. Abangah was born when I was still in secondary school. How fast time flies ! I can still vividly recall on how he as a baby, liked to cry so much. However, as he grew older, he became a quieter person and did not talk that much unless being asked to. As for my niece Dazy, she was born when I was still in primary school. Her mom was very close with my late parents as she used to stay with us for a short while when she was studying in KL some years ago, when I was about 4-5 yeas old!

For Abangah, I was asked by his mom to help in taking the photos of his akad-nikah and wedding as they did not engage any professional photographer. I accepted this request with glad as this would give me the opportunity to help out with the events and the same time practice my skill. For the ceremonies, I chose my Tamron 17-50mm and Tamron 28-70 as the main lens as I wanted to travel as light as possible. Of course, the Canon Speedlite 580EX would be the main source of light as the ceremonies (akad nikah and bersanding) will be done in doors.





I was thinking that if they were still alive, both of my parents would be very happy to see the wedding of their second grandchild. Normally, my late mom was a very spirited and organised person when it comes to kenduri or wedding events. My late father was also a very noble person as he liked very much to organise kenduri and to invite neighbours and relatives to come. Sometimes I just felt my father just needed an excuse to organise a kenduri. We used to have 3-4 kenduri a year when both my parents were still alive. That's the time when the whole family and relatives would come together to help in the cooking and also in other things. I guessed being an ex-cop, my dad like the idea of people getting together and help each other in a noble cause. In addition, I think that's probably another way for him to get closer to our distant relatives.



However nowadays, the spirit of gotong-royong is slowly diminishing in our culture. Most people will tend to engage a caterer to organise events be it small or big. Yes to some extend engaging a caterer simplifies many things from setting-up tents to serving the food to the guests, it will actually result in less collaboration among neighbours and also relatives. When I was a kid, I still can remember how we prepared the wedding of our close relatives. We sometimes spend 2-3 nights at the relatives homes just to help out in many things. We sometimes event slept almost everywhere possible as the house will be so crowded with people. But one thing for sure, event like weddings or kenduri will make us closer to each other. As for my brother, he also engaged a caterer for Abangah's wedding. Yes, the caterer was actually very good as they brought at least 15-member team to prepare food, serve the guest and also cleaned up after reception was over. However, I did not feel the same feeling and camaraderie of a real kampung wedding as before. Well, I guess this is the price of development and progress that we have to pay. The most important about wedding is not about how big and fun was the wedding ceremony and reception but how can we ensure the marriage will last forever and bless by Allah. Marriage is about responsibility when a man and a woman surrender thier freedom to become a husband and a wife. May Allah bless the newly wed Abangah and Dazy !!!

Reflection on Life

I had a business meeting in Genting Highland last Friday. It was a joint operation committee meeting between the company and one of the IPPs. At the same time, I was fortunate to be able to rent the company's holiday condominium at Awana Country Club for a two-night stay. It is a 3-bedroom condo facing the Awana Golf Club and equipped with two Jacuzzis which never got used anyway by us.


The meeting was held in a very friendly atmoshpere albeit at times, the IPP voiced up their disappointment on some issues related to the commercial agreement which in their opinion, is a kinda double whammy for them to follow. However, my boss being the chairman of this committee, quickly pointed up that this particular meeting was meant for discussion on technical matters related to the day to day operation of the system and any matters on commercial arrangement should be discussed in a separate forum. The IPP knew this but as they said it, they would like this 'commercial / technical' matters be known to all JOC members so that they are aware of it. In fact, I also did not know about this particular issue until this meeting.

When I attended the PROGEM course in Kuantan, we were reminded of the famous Lord Denning Judgement on the role of utilities. I am apprehensive that if we are always to choose the arbitration method to solve our differences, we could get trapped in a situation where the judgement will no longer tip on our favour. I hope this is not going to happen and hopefully some sort of peaceful solution can be reached. After all, Sun Tzu says that the biggest victory is actually when you don't have to fight a single battle.


The meeting date also coincided with my birthday. I am one year older now and getting closer and closer to the inevitable. Being raised in a low income family where my late father was the only bread winner, celebrating birthday was never heard of in my family when I was little. Even until now, I am not very enthusiastic of celebrating my own birthday but I think my other half is very upbeat in celebrating the birthdays of our children and she always reminded me of these important dates! About a week ago, we celebrated the birthday of my other half and I gave her a 3G Nokia Phone as a gift. My other half keeps asking me what kind of birthday gift that I like to have but until today I am not able to conjure up anything!!! I guess, I am more of the giver type than an acceptor :-))


During our stay at the company's condo. I had the opportunity to watch a DVD entitled "The Irrevocable Truth" which stars Al-Gore, the former VC of USA. This is actually a very good documentary on global warming issues. Al Gore being the narrator of this documentary, lucidly explain in layman's term the effect of global warming and how we as humans, can collectively help to prevent such calamity should this phenomena is left unchecked.


Before watching this video, I know very little on issues surrounding the global warming and never really bothered to think beyond what the impact it could bring upon us. As Mark Twain said it, ' it is not the thing that we don't know that gets us into trouble but the the thing we know that ain't so'. In fact, the unusual weather pattern that we are experiencing at the moment could be attributed to this phenomena. I strongly recommend that each of us watch this video to get a quick lesson on global warming although some critics in the US said that the video is a launch pad for Al Gore to get into the race for the Democrat Party Presidential candidate. Whatever it is, the video is worth the time watching...

Perhaps, the trip to Genting Highland will never be completed without the visit to the theme park. Yes, that was what we did on Saturday. I could see all my children relished this moment and I think given an option, they would probably want to stay for another day or so. But all good things must come to an end and we ended the theme park adventure at almost Maghreb time much to the joy and laughter of all of us.


On the serious note, I also got a call from my boss telling me the passing of Danial's sister on the same day. I was a bit shock but not totally as I already knew the condition of Dan's sister having had a conversation with him about few weeks ago. Sometimes, we may feel that we have lot of problems in our lives but what Danial has endured for the past few months makes our problem so insignificant, to some extend. I hope he will be patient enough and redha on what Allah has planned for him and we can only pray for the soul of his sister to be blessed by Allah always...Amin

My Lucky Day...

We were at the MidValley Saturday morning for a quick weekend outing. At the same time, I was also looking for an oppurtunity to browse through any Laptop PCs on good deals with a desire to get one if the price is right.



Currently at home, we are still using a very old PC (Pentium 3 733MHz) purchased when I was finalising my thesis way back in 1999. Along the way, this PC has gone through several times of upgrade e.g., hard disk, RAM, CD-Writer and many more albeit the only thing haven't changed are the motherboard and the processor itself. With only the children using it to access the Net and sometimes to finish thier school assignments, I don't really see the need for a new faster PC as I also have a notebook from the company for my official use. However, increasing work on my photoshop has prompted me to look for a laptop as I don't feel quite 'at home' to use the official laptop for other use and the home PC is just too slow for graphic processings.

As usual, we prefer to be there early to avoid parking problem and also, to grab early bird discount if needs be. There was a Canon Camera 20th year celebration promotion being held at the concourse level of the mall.



Loads of Canon items such as DSLRs, lenses, printers were on display and some on promotional sale too. I approached a kiosk with Canon EF lenses on display and asked the rep to get the 70-200mm f4L for me to test out with my 350D which I fortunately brought it along. I fired few shots using this lens and needless to say that I was impressed with it's performance particularly on the IS (image Stabiliser) usefulness. I enquired about the price and it is priced at whopping RM4350.0 with two free gifts. One of the free gifts was a miniature Canon DSLR with telefoto zoom lens attached and the other one is Canon EFS Work III, a hardcover book of all Canon lenses which I think worth at least RM150 for the kind of quality it has.


Actually, I really want to have this book but the book is not for sale unless one buys any Canon DSLR or lenses on display. I persuaded the rep and told him to sell the book to me without me having to buy any new DSLR or lenses. After all I said, the 70-200mm is out of stock and I would not be able to buy it still :-)) He then asked me what kind of Canon DSLR I am using at the moment and after I listed down my gears and all the Canon accessories I have bought before, he relented. He quitely said to me that he will give the book for FREE provided and I fill-up a form (survey form). Without hesitation I said yes and got myself the book for free !!! For a second I was feeling like a pro-photographer being treated like that :-}



I was overjoyed to have this book since now I can have the time and more info on future Canon Lens I wish to acquire. After getting the book I proceeded to level 3 of the mall which housed the IT Centre. I straight away went to one of the shop selling Laptop computers and quickly enquired about the Twinhead 12' Notebook with Intel Core Dou Processor, 80GB Disk, 1GHz RAM, CD/DVD Burner and other standard items.



After some research on 12' Laptop, the Twinhead is so far the cheapest in the market and I already made up my mind to get this one for my personal use after getting some advise from my other half who is an IT Consultant by profession. After a bit of negotiating, I bought the laptop and I can only say how satisfied I am with its performance particularly with the graphics. In addition, the notebook is priced as per "PC-FAIR" price and I think it is very reasonable considering the next alternative, Fujitsu 12', is more than 5K in price.


Well, this blog entry is from my new laptop. Now, my conscience is very clear about doing personal things on my PC. Yes, I have to sacrifice my personal saving for this but nothing beats the feeling of knowing that we are not abusing what is entrusted to us. I thank Allah for the rezeki that HE gives us to allow for this to happen..Amin..

Busy Saturday...Going Hi-Tech

I have to admit that I am not a TV programme enthusiast.The number of hours I spend watching the TV is at most 3-4 hours per week, on my best week. Nonetheless I do like to watch TV series such as CSI, Loss and Sports programmings once in while when I am not tired enough to watch it after my hectic day. I really like to watch those series in a very slow pace, sometimes 3-4 days just to finish one episode and thats why I actually bought the DVD series instead to suit my watching habit.



Although I am seriuosly lacking in time for watching TV seriously, I do got fascinated with the technological advancement of the TV particularly with the LCD screen TV. In fact I was so fascinated with this seemingly new technology, at least to me and my other half, that we bought one on Saturday and have it installed attached to the wall just like in the store ! Really, this was not an impulse buying as I was already have planned to buy it before but kept delaying it as the price was not so attractive enough at that time. In addition, our old 20'' Sony TV is already beyond its life span as the color scheme and tone is already out of order and probably beyond repair as the conventional TV now is becoming obsolette, hence made the purchase of a new TV almost inevitable. Just imagine, the similar 32'' LCD would cost close to RM6000 2-3 years back and I bought it for below RM4K! Throw in with one Video Component Cable, 1-S-Video cable and the cost for the swivel wall mounted bracket with installation, the price is still below RM4.5K nett.



The person that came to my home and helped installed the TV for us is a malay man in his late twenties. From him I know that the sales of LCD/Plasma TV is really increasing in Malaysia. He also told me that one day earlier before I bought the TV from him, there was one housewife who bought three LCD TV's for the cost of nearly RM24K ! That's what I call luxury beyond comprehension !



Whatever it is, I am really thankful to Allah for given me the rezeki to get this new technology installed at home finally...Amin

Trengganu Kite !...Black & White

While in KT, I took at least 300 photos in color. However, I converted few of them in monochrome and some came out to be quite nice. The pictures include images of the Masjid Terapung in Ibai, portrait of my nephew and also Gondai Jr having a splash at the swimming pool. Here they are for your viewing pleasure...

Trengganu Kite !...Sightseeing Day

One thing that I noticed during this trip was that there were so many cars with Singaporean plate numbers. I was told by the hotel reception staff that the hotel was fully booked especially with the Singaporean Malays as they also took advantage of the long holidays in the republic. On Sunday morning after Subuh prayer, I was looking through the glass window overlooking the South China Sea and suddenly noticed that the sun was about to rise. I quickly gathered my camera and told my other half that I want to go to the beach immediately to capture the morning views. These are what I captured through my lenses.


As it was still very early in the morning, there was practically nobody on the beach except for the kampung folks and several local fishermen going about their business. I also brought along my tripod and set it up quickly for a quick photography session alone by the beach.


Our Sunday was quite hectic with visits to relatives and sight seeings around KT town with my sister in law acting as our tourist guide. Although we have been going to the Masjid Terapung near Ibai for so many times, this is one place that I never fail to visit each time we are in KT. I took many photos using this beautiful mosque as the main object and one of them was used as the background for Gondai Jr's photo on the run.


I also tried to snap some night photos of Masjid Terapung but accidentally I forgot to reset the exposure compensation of the 350D and hence result in slightly overexposed image.


The late evening photo of the masjid however, is quite OK and enough to compensate for the failure of its night scene taken earlier.



Another favorite place especially for my other half's shopping need is Pasar Payang. This is one place that I think all women especially of the Malay origin would love to patronize as many shops here carry latest design of silk fabrics way below the price offered in KL. A bit of bargaining and negotiating skills are required here if you want to get a good deal. Speaking the local dilect will definitely help but we left the bargaining work to my sister in law as she is very good at it. However please be warned that this place is always overcrowded especially during holidays and with such a poor ventilation system one can get exhausted and dehydrated pretty quickly, physically and financially :-))


We also spent sometimes at the newly open Trengganu Equestrian Club (TER) near Ibai about 3 minute walking distance from the Masjid Terapung. Near the entrance gate of the TER, many locals espscially kids were seen engaged in the 'miniaturised speed bike' race. I have seen this type of small motorbike in KL and I was totally awed at how fast this little bike can actually run. I also feel that the standard of living among the Trengganu folks has probably gone up in the last couple of years to allow them to engage with such an expensive recreational activity.




We visited the Muzium Negeri in Losong and enough said that although the museum is the largest in Malaysia as far as it floor coverage, there are not much artifacts on exhibit to live up to that status at present. Who knows, maybe in 2-3 years time, things could change for the better.


If anything that I find very encouraging about KT nowadays is on how well the keropok lekor business is doing. My sister in law took us to one of the delicious keropok lekor shop at Seberang Takir with the intention to buy some. Unfortunately, we were greeted with a big sign of the word 'Habis' at the entrance. I guessed the owner of the shop has in fact anticipated the rise in demand and quickly ordered a properly printed signage to get his message across to all customers !


There are so many images and memories from our latest homecoming to Trengganu that putting them in this blog would be impractical. But perhaps, the visit to my other half's ailing aunt at Seberang Takir was the most solemn but nonetheless very meaningful to us. We just hope and pray to Allah for her well being and perhaps we should be able to visit her again next time in much better health and condition...Alhamdullilah..Amin

Trengganu Kite !...The Journey

The last time we made our annual 'homecoming' to Trengganu was during Aidilfitri of 2005. My other-half was born and raised in Trengganu before she left home to enroll at TKC and later to the states for her degree. Since both of my in-laws have already passed away more than a decade now, our trips to Trengganu have reduced in frequency over the years for the obvious reason. Nonetheless, we always try our best to make it a point to come back at least once a year so that our children will be able to know part of their roots and also, to strengthen the family ties among my other-half's siblings and their children.

We made our journey on Saturday morning on the eve of Chinese New Year celebration. As expected, the traffic was a bit busy especially along the KL-Karak highway enroute to the Genting Sempah Tunnel. You can see how busy was the traffic in the photo shown here.

Luckily, the weather on Saturday morning was a bit wet thus the journey was quite pleasant and not too hot and sticky especially at this time of the year. We made few stops along the way and noticeably the rest areas along the East Coast Expressway were also crowded with people heading towards the east coast.
At the rest area, we took the opportunity to stretch out from the tiring journey and especially so for Gondai Jr. You can see how happy he is getting out of the car and jumping and running around with joy !
After few more hours on the road and also a few more stops along the way, we finally made it to the Grand Continental Hotel in the middle of KT close to 7.00PM. GCH will be our home for the next three nights. This is probably our most preferred hotel in KT as its location is perfectly suitable for us. The family room rate is quite reasonably priced on top of its spaciousness and most importantly we only have to get one room for the whole family. The hotel is also located very near to the beach and the surrounding neighbourhood is mixed with modern buildings and also old kampung houses. In fact just behind the hotel, there still exists one dilapidated house reminiscing the old nelayan village where it was once before. I managed to capture this scene of which a modern building stands side-by-side with an abandoned home. The image is almost surreal as the photo was taken using morning sun and clear sky as the light source.



Oh yeah..we also prefer this hotel because it has a small swimming pool on the third floor much to the delight of the kids. Well nowadays, only my son will really enjoy this facility as his three othe sisters are already teenagers and prefer not to swim in the public as they used to be doing not so many years ago. Time really flies. For all you know, the children are already becoming young adults and soon, they will also leave home. The pool was facing the sea and as you sit by the pool, you can actually feel the sea breeze blowing into your face. What a delightful place to be !

Long Holidays and off to Trengganu

We will be taking a break this CNY in Trengganu. I don't see that I can write while on the road and for everybody reading this blog, Happy Chinese New Year,and insha'allah I will start writing back and possibly with some holiday news from Trengganu once I am home again next week...

Picnic, Barbeque and Family Value

On late Saturday morning, we went to my eldest brothers' family barbecue and picnic by a small river near his orchard in Sg Choh Rawang. He has been planning to organise such event for quite sometime but due to our busy schedules, it is not very easy to get everyone to be present for this important family occasion. Both of my parents have already passed away for several years and event like this is critical to us in maintaining strong family bond. Unfortunately, my elder brother Pak Ngah and his family were not able to make it due to a prior engagement. Well, as humans, we can only plan but Allah will decide the consequences.

The picnic area was nice and private located near a small bridge. Basically, we were the only people there for a picnic and setting-up the BBQ fire was completed in less than ten minutes. The river is flowing with crystal clear fresh water and basically potable.


My brother's plantation land is located at the foothill of Sg Choh's highest point. Location wise, his plot is better than mine as he has a small river flowing and easily accessible by car. In addition, he has been very hardworking and busy in planting-up a lot of fruit trees and also rearing 'ayam kampung'. Thanks for the time he has for no longer attached with any employer at the moment. He has also built a kinda shelter like a small house complete with a small kitchen and bathroom and most importantly a clean place to perform the solat.

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I also took this opportunity to try out the snapshot of 'water-flowing' effect with my Canon 350D. However, the weather was not particularly amicable for a perfect photographic experience as the cloud was still overcast. Nonetheless, I snapped few photos of the flowing water and actually did manage to capture the 'angelic' effect though not as stunning as the photos you can see in any photographic magazines.



There were abundant of food be it homemade or barbecued. My other half prepared honey-marinated chicken barbecue, a recipe which I believe she likes to prepare for occasion like this. The children really enjoyed the 'party' as they spent at least 3 hours dipping in the cool river. I was not in the mood of taking any dip in the cool water and preferred to spend my time tweaking the camera and looking for the best angle possible. Actually, I snapped close to 300 pics and still have not finished editing or even printing them.

Before we left the picnic area, my brother took us to the neighboring orchard using his 4-WD. It was only about 3-4 minute ride up the hill but the I was so surprised that actually there is an orchid rehab-garden there complete with one Indonesian gardener manning the whole thing. I took some pics of the orchids but again, not as good as any pro-photos as I have yet to get a good macro lens for this. Mr CD, how about donating me with one of you macro lens ?...:-))