More Than Meets The Eyes

"I am Optimus Prime"

The audience in cinema 10 @ GSC One Utama applauded. Really, they did.

The movie was awesome. Really took me back to the old childhood days.

Hmmm, I wonder how much would my Optimus Prime model fecth on E-Bay ? :)

TV Ads

I sincerely wish for this particular advertisment on TV to be removed.

It's just so... corny!

The company is a successful MLM company. I am sure they can afford to produce a much better ad than the one on air now.

The actresses in the ad... oh, so fake!

Congratulations to the MCKK Wind Orchestra

The Inter SBP Wind Orchestra Competition was held last Sunday at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC). Despite coming up third place behind Sekolah Alam Shah and Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak, it was a commendable position considering that the wind orchestra was only recently introduced in MCKK.

Good job boys!

Champion next year ? :)

Which Cinema?

Honey Dearest and I are movie buffs. Really.

It helps that Honey Dearest is rather efficient at booking tickets online, thus ensuring that we would watch the latest release either on its first day or the first weekend.

Even during my bachelor days, I am a regular cineme-goer. Prior to the mega cineplex days, my favourite cinema would be the Cathay Cineplex behind Central Market or the cineplex at Subang Parade (both no longer around now). Occasionally, the Rex cinema at Petaling Street or State PJ would be an alternative to the above.

Nowadays, we would normally watch movies at the Cathay Cineleisure @ Mutiara Damansara. Honey Dearest and I dubbed this as the most "Muslim-friendly" cinema because the Surau is just next to the cinema. This enable us to perform our maghrib prayer and catch the 7.30-7.45pm show!

Down The Memory Lane

Kudos to TV9 for showing some of the tv series from the late 80s/early 90s.

TV9 was showing the drama "Naik Tangga Turun Tangga" while I was writing this. It's fun to see all the cast looking so retro.. (Azwan Ali, a few kilos ago, looking suave in a blazer with t-shirt ala Miami Vice). Hussin Abu Hassan, Aunty Ruby, Arwah Hani Mohsein, Rosnah Mat Aris (sans the blond hair, of course) reminds me of what it was like back then.

Raja Ema is also one of the cast. I can see Honey Dearest giving me that look and laughing at me whenever Raja Ema appears on TV.

Why... heheheh... for me to know and for all of you NEVER to find out...:))

Lessons in Life

The best lessons in life are learnt through personal experience. No amount of theory or case studies can prepare your for the things that you will go through in the course of your life.

I have learned many such lessons, albeit some rather expensively.

Lesson well-learnt.

Club AGM

Ayah wasn't feeling very well that day, in fact he was down with a very high fever since he came back from KB on friday night. However, he has promised to attend the AGM and vote as proxies for of the members who can't attend the meeting. So there we were, driving to the club for the Annual General Meeting.

I started attending the club AGM since the last four years or so. Club AGMs are totally different from the company AGMs. Where company can AGMs normally last not more than 10-20 minutes, our club AGM seldom ends before one p.m. Most shareholders attend company AGM for the food spread. I know this for a fact because I handled a few AGMs for my previous company and its a wonder if any meeting last for more than ten minutes. So much about shareholder activism:)

However, our golf club AGM is totally in the elements of its own. Members are vocal and very passionate about the issues raised at the AGM. I guess unlike being a shareholder of a company, club members are directly affected by the issues pertaining to the club (the more so because many of them can be seen almost daily, whether on the golf course or at the terrace). Over the years, there were many issues brought up and it is actually fun seeing the members putting across their points, sometime to the exesperation of the club president who chairs the meeting. Normally its the same people who speaks at all the meeting; so much so that sometimes these people are voted in as management committees of the club. Walk the talk la..:) Then again, perhaps they were trying to make themselves known, in order to be voted in as member of the MC ? Hmmm...

The First Six

It's been six months since I sat before Honey Dearest's father and professed the "akad nikah"

Six months of living together.

Six months of fun and laughter, of sadness and tears.

Six months of man and wife.

Six months of waking up in the morning and sitting by the bed, waiting for her to open her beautiful eyes.

Six months of looking at her when she gets ready in the morning and grateful to Allah for being blessed with her.

Here's to the many more six months to come.

... and I am enjoying every second of it.

Love you so much, Honey Dearest.

YM

The best thing about the net is the ability to keep in touch with so many of your friends from all over the world.

Just had a very enlightening conversation via the YM (Yahoo! Messenger) with a very close buddy of mine who is now based in Miri. I remember the time during my university years where letter writing was still the main form of communication (handphones at that time - the gigantic Nokia that looks like a brick, on a 010 line) where we would write letters to each other. How time have change!

Result

I got my blood test results from the doctor today.

Coming from a family with a history of the "big three" (diabetes, hypertension and heart problem), the risk for me to get one of the three is quite high. Prior to the blood test, I went to see the doctor for a different reason and I asked her to check by blood pressure. It was quite high and she requested me to do another reading within a week. My second reading was also quite high (only a minimal, insignificant drop) and she asked me to do a blood test.

The numbers, though not as bad as thought it'd be, doesn't really put me in the pink of health and there are certainly many areas that I need to work on.

A lot of things certainly need to change...

Well Done Cagers!

Congratulations to the MCKK Cagers basketball for winning the Piala Hamdan Tahir for the fourth time in a row. The Piala Hamdan Tahir is the ultimate trophy for the inter residential school basketball tournament and the Cagers has really stamped their mark by lifting it for the record of 12 times since its inception.

Even way back when I was in MCKK, it always amazed me on how dedicated these basketballers are. For most of us playing for college, the training session starts about two or three months before the tournament (be it at district or state level) and the team would be disbanded once it is over. However, these group of dedicated athletes would begin their training the day the school starts and last day of training would be the last day of school. Despite having the state and district level tournament to play for, these cagers only have one goal in mind : to lift the Piala Hamdan Tahir.

In 1992, the Piala Hamdan Tahir was held in Sekolah Tun Fatimah, JB (together with the Piala Perdana Menteri - English and Bahasa Malaysia debate championship). Despite my promise to my parents to stay in KL and attend tution for my add maths (a lost cause I would say) while they perform the Hajj, I managed to coaxed the tution teacher to postpone my last two sessions to another date and managed to convince my aunt and cousin that it is important for me to be in JB for the PPM/PHT. There were some ulterior motive to be there as well but since I am now happily married to a TKCian, I'd rather not elaborate on that! I took the night train and arrived in JB just in time for the semi final game against SEMSAS. Our English debating team had earlier lost in the quarter finals but our BM team will be competing in the semi finals later that day. The cagers won the semi final, and will face RMC in the finals on the last day of the tournament.

The PHT Finals... MCKK vs RMC. Gosh, this was almost 15 years ago so I can't really go into details but suffice to say, the atmosphere was magical. We were shouting ourself hoarse and was on the edge of our seat for the better part of it. However, when the final whistle blew, all of us stormed into the court. After a very long wait, PHT is coming home to Kuala Kangsar.

1992 turned out to be a good year. We made it to the finals of the PPM BM debate and in August '92, at the Dewan Muktamar Pusat Islam, we lifted the PPM, again after the absence of so many years.

My Langkawi Escapade Prt 2

We boarded the Air Asia flight which was only half-full. The weather was great during the flight and we landed in Langkawi as scheduled. Upon disembarking and collecting our luggage, we made our way to the the car rental counter where a friend of Hafiz waited for us to hand us the car key. I initially reserved a Proton Wira, for a very good price, but we were told that only the Nissan Sentra was available and since we are friends of Hafiz, we got it for the price of the Wira. No complains here !

We drove the car to the Kg Tok Senik Resort, using the map handed out by the Tourism Authority at the airport as our guide. Not a great map to begin with, but this being Langkawi, I am quite sure we'll not get lost. After missing a few turns and having to stop at a petrol pump for directions, we finally reached the resort.

The resort was quite lovely, with its authentic malay village settings. It was really a wise decision to rent a car as the rooms (or villas) are scattered all over hilly terrain, overlooking the paddy fields. We got to our room, which is quite spacious and fashioned after the traditional malay houses. The place was incredibly calm and peaceful and pretty soon after unpacking, we felt asleep.

My Langkawi Escapade Prt One

It all started when Mr Tony's airline advertised in the papers for free tickets in conjuction of his airline's fifth annivessary. Honey Dearest and decided to pick Langkawi as our destination and she went ahead and purchased it online. We managed to get free fares for both ways and lnl had to fork out the tax and surcharge etc. May 16th - May 18th was the date we chose, for the sole reason that it's before the school break.

May 16th, 2007...

We made our way to the airport on the Star Shuttle bus from Subang Parade at around 1.00pm for our 4.10 pm flight. There were only 5 of us on the bus (with a capacity for 40+ passengers) and it makes me wonder how this fella can sustain such operation. However, after chit chatting with the lively driver (while Honey Dearest took a nap), I found out that the bus line actually belongs to a very big transportation company. Ok, now things make more sense.

Updates

My honey dearest gave me a journal for me to pen down my thoughts about two months ago. At that time, I was bitten by the creative writing bug and was in the midst of coming up with a plot for my ever elusive "great Malaysian novel". Anyway, just like my previous attempts, the novel got stuck at the "character naming" part.

I used to enjoy creative writing (I have been known to use my creative license rather "creatively", heheh) and I have volumes of short stories from my school and university days. When I first got my laptop, I thought that I could finally complete my own novel. I guess not... yet.

I have been quite tardy in terms of updating my blog, to the extend that friends and families have been calling me up to ask whether I am still blogging. I guess that certainly puts me in the not-so-disciplined blogger. That's why I have resorted to penning some of my thoughts in the journal that Honey Dearest gave me and later I can post it online.

Its actually a beautiful saturday morning (I wrote this in 5/5/07) today and under any normal circumstances, I would drag my Honey Dearest to the lake for a morning walk. Apparently my twice weekly gym routine only last me for a month and whatever motivation I got from talking to Aizal and seeing his 30kg weight loss in two years simply... poof... into thin air.l

I am spending his weekend (and the following four) attending the Kursus Asas Agen Kastam (KAAK) at the Wisma SFFLA in Port Klang. All forwarding companies are required to have at least two members of the staff with the certification and in fact, we used to have three. However, two of our certified senior staff left rather abruptly and with only one left, I decided to take the course myself.

The KAAK is not exactly cheap; RM1,200 for SFFLA members and RM1,500 for non-members. It comprised of lectures, quizzes and finally, a comprehensive exam to be held in July. This is certainly a good business forSFFLA (Selangor Freight Forwarders & Logistics Association). Based on my rough calculation, it stands to collect almost RM100,000 per session for 90+ students. Deducting the RM40k-50K plus for lecturers, food, course material etc, the association can easily net around RM50k!

Sunday Morning Coffee

Sunday mornings usually means having breakfast at home with the whole family, reading the sunday papers and turning on the Astro to watch whatever is on.

However, today is a bit different as at the time of writing, I am having coffee with Honey Dearest at Starbuck@The Curve, while waiting for the 11.30am screening at the Ciniplex. Its acually nice to have a routine switch once in a while, no matter how simple it may be. In my twenty minutes or so of being here, I spotted a few celebrities leisurely strolling (Daphne Iking, do look GOOD in the flesh:) and saw a few friends too.

I wish we have more shopping malls like The Curve where one do not feel so confined as we may feel in our typical urban mall.

Okay, times up. Gotto go to the movies :)

Another Election

The whole country now turns its attention to the constituency of Ijok, where another by-election will be held due to the passing of its representative.

Whadda ya know.. almost overnight, roads are being re-surfaced.

Hmmm..

Election Fever - N.08 DUN Machap, Melaka

It so happened that Honey Dearest's hometown, Hutan Percha, is part of the DUN Machap, where a by-election will be held on April 14th. The passing of the late YB Dato' Poh Ah Tiam has left the seat vacant within days, the whole area was transformed almost instantenously. Suddenly, road resurfacing work become a norm around the constituency and lamp post appeared out of nowhere to lit the road. With a few Felda settlements within the constituency, most of the road borders the vast rubber and palm oil plantations and without street lights, the night drive can be nerve-wrecking, hehe!

Down The Memory Lane

Last Saturday, on the way back to my wife’s hometown of Hutan Percha, we decided to take the inner federal road by exiting the NS highway at the Seremban toll due to the congestion. Upon entering Seremban town en route to the road leading to Tampin, I said to Honey Dearest, “Why don’t we pass by your old school?”

I vaguely remember the way but I told her that let me try to see if I can still trust my memory. I turned left, passing the A&W drive-in restaurant on my right and headed up to Wisma Negeri, where at the roundabout we took a turn, passing the Istana. The road is quite different from when I was there last (instead of the old quaint two lane road, it is now four-lane) until we reaced the traffic light at the army camp and a signage to the left that said “Jalan Tunku Kurshiah”.

“Honey, what ever happened to Jalan Dato’ Siamang Gagap?”

Anyway, our intention was to just passed by the school but once we were at the gates, we looked at each other and said almost instantaneously, “Jom, let’s go in!”

Entering the gates of Tunku Kurshiah College evokes many memories, not just for Honey Dearest but also for myself. You see, way back when I was in primary school, one of my cousin was a student at the venerable institution and almost everytime on our way back from our kampung in Masjid Tanah, we would drop by to see Kak Long and passed her the lauk that my aunt prepared for her. At the rate of going back to Masjid Tanah every one and half/two months or so, I am guranteed to passed by the gates and drive up the corner hill at least 6 times a year. By then, I could remember all the names of the houses (Selindang Delima, Mahsuri, Siti Zawiyah, Tun Fatimah and Mahsuri – how about that eh ?:) and could essentially make my way to the canteen blindfolded. We would park our car next to the field and would have our small picnic with Kak Long.

It was only years later when I was in MCKK did I visited TKC under the pretext of “exchanging information on the prefectorial system of single-sex fully residential school” and things were almost exactly like how I remembered before. Little that I know that, 14 years on, I would marry a Selindang Delima girl from TKC.

We drove past the Headmistress’ house and on seeing all the hostel building, Honey Dearest’s eyes lit up as she showed me her hostel etc. Since it was a Saturday, there were many parents visitng their young ones. We drove past the Great Hall (supposedly haunted) and of course, the canteen. She showed me her classroom and the library. It was nice to see how delighted she was as I am sure she had many many wonderful memories here as I had in MCKK.

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.