The Club

There is just something about belonging to a club that gives a person a certain sense of belonging. When you have something in common, its always nice to be able to group together and share experiences with one another. Sometimes a club is formed "unofficially", where it so happened that people who share something in common happens to congregate at the same place until one such day that everyone seemed to know each other. My father happened to belong to such a club. Its something he does every three month or so, and usually when he is there, he will come across people he has met or even some friends from his golf club. You can see a certain camaraderie among them, as they have gone through life threatening episodes in their life and they now resolve never to be in the same situation again.

Despite that, I do not wish to belong to such club.

Place of meeting : IJN, Kuala Lumpur
Common interest: Angioplasty procedures or by-pass surgery

I'll make sure I won't join your club, dad :)

Reminiscence: Madison, WI Prt 3

I made the decision to attend University of Wisconsin, Madison when I was asked by the JPA officer to decide between UW and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. When the placement office at PPP/ITM applied for my university, University of Michigan wasn't in the list. The other two universities that offered me a place were Purdue University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In fact I was later told that initially the placement office wanted to place me at NYU but JPA was not keen on sending anybody to New York city. I have always wanted to attend Uof M and when I went to see the Head of Program, she told me that I should go for it and they will assist me in my application. The only thing is that I need to pay for the placement fee on my own (USD65).

In fact, University of Michigan was the first university to send me a Letter of Acceptance but something in the literature that they sent me prevented me from jumping with joy. It read "...students applying into the School of Business must complete their Freshmen and Sophomore year at University of Michigan..."

Wait a minute.

So, when the JPA officer told me to take both I-20 forms from both UW and UM to a small room and think it over, I basically have less than five minutes to decide something that will shape the rest of my life.

Oppps... again :)

For the past few days, the media was highlighting KLIA's (Kuala Lumpur Internatinal Airport) win in the 15-20 million passenger catergory for the best airport in the world.

However, barely two days after the victory, the airport was hit by massive blackout, apparently caused by a thunderstorm that strike one of power plant supplying electricity to the airport. According to the report, the incident happened during non-peak hours where passenger arrival and departure were minimal.

Anyway, I was reminded of an incident that happened when I was in Madison, WI. The city chief of police proudly announced in the media that Madison went for a whole year without any murder crime. Guess what happened the next day ?

Someone was found murdered.

Reminiscence: Madison, WI Prt 2

The next day we had our orientation with the MSD officers. I can't really recall what was actually being said, except for the spattering of "you have to study hard" and "taxpayer's money". Halfway through, one of the MSD officer called me out (no, not just any officer but the head of MSD LA and waiting for me at the lobby was Pak Long Mail and Mak Long Yasmin. Pak Long was the Counsel General in LA (and an old boy of MCKK) and since I gave them a call last night, they decided to drop by. They were asking the MSD officer whether they could take me out to their place for lunch but to my dismay, the officer told Pak Long that the orientation will provide me with "much needed" information and alas, I was back in the hall after saying good bye to Pak Long and ever stunning Mak Long.

After one full day of orientation, the next day was the moment we were waiting for; our flights to our respective universities...

-to be continued

Oopps...

Apparently, the girl who supposedly scored 19 1As actually managed 18 As (14 1As, 4 As and 1 B). To think that for the last week or so, the media (well, one of them anyway) was trumpeting her achievement. To be fair to her, what she achieved was already quite good but I am so sorry for those folks at her hometown who were putting up buntings and banners on her "19 1As" achievement..

...oopss.

Cost of Living (and retiring)

I drove my father to his blood test at the IJN (Institut Jantung Negara, or National Heart Institute) this morning. Ever since he did his angioplasty last June, he has been diligently going for regular check ups at IJN. I was not around when he suffered his first attack. It was in '97 and I was still in Madison at the time. I only found out about a month later when my mum finally told me.

He has been on a steady regiment of pills for the last ten years and boy, they do cost a lot. To add to the matter, about two years ago, he was diagnosed with diabetes more medication comes along.

Anyway, as I was waiting for my father, I saw the headline about how someone who is 35 years old today would need to have at least RM1.4 million by the time he/she is 55 in order to retire comfortably. Excuse me.. RM1.4 million?

Reminiscence: Madison, WI Prt 1

Somehow, I am more in a very nostalgic mode after watching, of all things, Desperate Housewives :) I am not going to divulge what particular scene it was but suffice to say, it brought back many happy memories of my universities days. I did not keep a journal of my days in Madison so in a way, it's going to be a form of journal for me. Just to make it easier to distinguished from present day posting, I will used italic when I am in my "nostalgic" mode, so here goes.

Come to think of it, it all took place ten years ago.

I departed for the United States on 20th January 1996, which happens to be my 21st birthday. How often do you get to celebrate your birthday twice ... I departed in the morning of the 20th and arrived in LA, also in the morning. I couldn't really recall the flight (it was a 21 hour flight, with a stopover in Tokyo, thank God) but I can remember vividly the moment the MAS flight landed at LAX. There was excitment in everyone's face and we were like "Finally, we are in the US of A"

In fact, we almost did not make it to the states. We were scheduled to fly off in batches in January of '96 but towards the end of November '95, the US was experiencing a government shutdown (fiscal crisis, Newt Gingrich, the works...) and among the casualties were embassies all over the world. We were not able to get our Visas and in fact, our sponsor (JPA) were contemplating of sending us for the Fall session. Luckily the crisis was able to be resolved and we were duly issued our visas. Talk about close shave.

If I recalled correctly, there were forty of us in the flight; I was among the 12 to be shipped off to Madison, WI while the rest were sent to places like Wyoming and Montana. We were to have our orientation for two nights before we depart on the domestic flight to our respective universities. I can't remember the name of hotel we stayed but what I remember is that, upon checking in, a group of us actually went to the nearest news store and purchase various adult magazines! That night, we went to Ralph's, a supermarket located nearby and I purchased a phone card to call home.

-to be continued

19 1As ? What's Next?

It was recently published in the Malay dailies that for the last SPM examination, a girl from Johore achieved another record-breaking 19 1A, beating the previous record of 17 1As (or was it 18?), set also by another lass from Johore.

First of all, I never knew that much subject existed in the SPM exams. Even way back in koleq, the nine subjects we took (ten, if you include English 1119) were wee bit too much for me. Even with the nine we took, the aim was to score an aggregate of less than ten. Not many of us were thinking about straight A's, except for the few who actually believed they could and they did. Yes, even with that, I managed to overshoot by one point.

So, were we less smarter back then or the exams are much easier?

Also, what is it that they put in the water in Johore ?

Signs of Aging.. Part I

I was down with fever since last friday and it was then that I realized how much I have aged.

You see, way way back (yes, way way back) if I have a fever, I would take two dose of Panadol and voila, the next day I would be A ok...

... but off late, I am still feverish on the third and fourth day, only to recover fully on the fifth. Statistically speaking, my recovery rate is down by 400% (did I get that right ?) and that's not good.

Innalillah.. The Passing of Mak Lang Barirah

Barely three months into the new year, I have lost two very close relatives.

Mak Lang Barirah passed away on saturday morning, March 3, 2007 after a long bout with cancer.

Mak Lang is the mother to my cousin, Intan who is also a regular blogger. Check out her blog at http://melopong.blogspot.com/

I visited arwah Mak Lang at Hospital UKM a few months back when she was warded at the Makna cancer ward. Despite all the adversity, arwah Mak Lang displayed some admirable fighting spirits.

Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohnya dan semoga ditempat bersama para-para solehen dan syuhada. Amin.

Syukur Alhamdulillah

(taken from an email I sent to my close friends, moments ago)

Dear all,

To be honest, the last few weeks ni wasn't the best of times.... work-wise that is. The only joy I have in a day is waking up in the morning next to my beloved wife and going home after a #@&*$!! day at the office,to my wife again.

Today is no different.

However, I received a call from her today.

She just got back from seeing a doctor.

Something about two lines.

Something about four weeks.

Something about November 7, 2007....

insya Allah, I will be registering someone at either koleq or TKC in 2020...:))

In Pursuit of HAPPYness...

On Saturday (Feb 24, 2007) I went to watch "In Pursuit of Happyness" at Cathay cinema, Mutiara Damansara with Honey Dearest. During our courting days, our normal haunt is the GSC at Mid Valley (due to the proximity to our offices) but of late, we have been frequenting the Cathay at Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara. I guess being a new cineplex, the layout and seats (yes, the seats! Check out the generous legroom) are much more user-friendly. Being close to Ikea, Ikano Power Center, The Tesco and The Curve is also another plus point.

Enough about cineplex.. back to the movie..

...the movie touched me in very personal way, because honestly, I can relate to what the main character, Chris Gardner (played wonderfully by the ever-talented Will Smith) goes through, albeit on a lesser scale. I knew that the movie was about the struggle of father to bring up his son (played by Jaden Smith, Will's son) in the face of economic difficulties but I never expected it to hit home in such a way. I have been though many moments that was potrayed in the movie and to see him succeed in the end only strengthened my resolve that the things I am going through now are just setbacks.

RapidKL

A lot of people has been wondering about my obsession with public transport, especially the RapidKL bus system.

Truth be told, I'd rather take the public transport anytime of the day rather than driving to work. However, the nature of my job does not seemed to allow it.

I was back at the office on Wednesday after the four day Chinese New Year break. There was one payment due from one of my client in KL and being a very good client, the cheque is promptly available on the 15th of every month.

So, instead of driving to KL, I decided to take the bus. It was a slow day anyway, so I boarded the No. 608 local bus (green line) and swithced to the T81 inter-city (blue line) to sentral. Took the LRT at KL Sentral to KLCC, had lunch with my buddy Deen , pick up my payment, did a little "market intelligence" at the aisle and repeated the whole LRT-T81-608 routine. Was back by three p.m.

.. and I throughly enjoyed it :)

Xinnian Kuaile

Xinnian Kuaile, Gong Xi Ging Xi..

I am pretty sure my three semesters of Mandarin classes at UiTM would certainly allow me to speak beyond Chinese New Year greetings but due to lack of practice, this is all I could manage. Of course I remember all those important "ayat" (read: lame courting lines) but when Honey Dearest already by my side:)

Anyway, I've been wondering this for quite a while already. According to my year of birth, I was born in the year of the rabbit. However, if I remember correctly, my BIRTHday (which is in January) was before the Chinese New Year, so techinically, I should consider myself born in the year of the Tiger, right ?

.. help!

Window to the world

I decided to shift my place at the office to the one next to window. Not that I have a magnificent view of KL skyline (does looking down the roof of shophouses and makeshift factories count) but with the latest development at the office, I need to some change of view.

You see, two very key staff left the company.

The office seemed a bit emptier now but hey, business goes on.

I can't pretend that I don't see it coming, in fact, I am surprised that they lasted this long.

I wish them all the best in their future endeavour.

As for me, it just mean that I have to work harder. I do, after all, own this company.

Innalillah.. The Passing of K.Miah

Exactly one week ago, a close relative of mine passed away.

She was at my wedding in Sg Buloh and though she lost some weight, she did not look like she is down with any illness.

She was hospitalized for almost two weeks at the newly-opened Ampang Hospital and was in the ICU throughout. Her intestine actually burst open but unfortunately it was too late to contain it as it spread to the lungs, causing infections. She was practically on life support and at 10.15 pm on January 31, she passes away.

May Allah blessed her. Amin.

I am 32 :)

I turned 32 years old last sunday.

At least, for this year, I can strike off one item from my "to do" list...

... getting married before I age another year. Heheh..

Anyway, I do believe that age is just a physical indicator for the wear and tear of the body. Somehow, deep inside I still feel like I am 26.

Then again, I could say that I still feel 24 or 28 but frankly, I can't really remember what it was like when I was really 24 or 26 or 28.

In denial ? :))

Four

Its finally over.

I actually had four receptions for my wedding. I would prefer to just have one but unfortunately, as far as my parents are concerned, this is the only wedding they will have as I have no other siblings.


The first was of course the nikah on December 8th, 2006 at Hutan Percha and the reception at Dewan Bistari, Ayer Keroh on December 9th, 2006.

The second was the reception held on my side at Desa Moccis, Sg Buloh on December 16th, 2006.

The third was held at Pengkalan Chepa on January 1st, 2007 for my relatives on dad's side in Kelantan.

The final one was held on January 20th, 2007 (also happened to be my birthday and also on Ist Muharram) in Masjid Tanah Melaka, for you might have guess, my relatives on my mum's side.

Cukup la tu...

The First Four Weeks....

Today, Friday January 5th 2007 marks the fourth week of marriage...

...and I am loving every moment of it.

One month and counting

I'll be married in.... less than a month from today!

Late last week, my honey and I went to the Kelana Jaya government clinic to take the HIV test, which is compulsory for both of us (Selangor and Melaka has made it mandatory before permission can be obtained). The last time I visited a government hospital for anything was way back in my old MCKK days... though I could have sworn that whatever ailment I professed, they normally dispense the same type of medicine. It seemed to work, so I have no complain there !

Anyway, there must have been like one hundred people waiting to see the various doctors but all in all, it took us merely half an hour from the time we registered to the time we were handed our result. Not bad... not bad at all..

On Tuesday, with all the forms filled up, I went to the Pejabat Agama Islam Shah Alam to obtain the "Kebenaran Berkahwin untuk Lelaki diluar negeri/negara". Quite a mouthful but what it was all about is basically me getting married outside of my "qariah" or place of residence. Since i have to have two "saksi" to attest that, yes, I have never been married before, I decided to ask Rizal and Amran to come along. Two hours later, I have in my hand the "kebenaran" and I am on my way.... in less than a month :)