Afif Chronicles

[afifcr]

25 June 2016

My brother-in-law who recently finished his studies from UIA have been working in UTM, Johor Bharu as a research assistant. Apparently his final year project piqued the interest of a lecturer there and he offered him the position and to start immediately. In the meantime he’s also been looking for a job at different companies which is a sensible thing to do because you know, he might just get a better offer somewhere else. You know how it is with government jobs, especially contract jobs, you get paid peanuts these days. So he moved to JB and rented a house with his friends there. Last week however he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance after complaining of severe stomach pain. Before you know it he was scheduled to remove his appendix. He was made to understand that they’re going to do the procedure immediately at the Sultanah Aminah hospital that day so he didn’t trouble himself to go to a private hospital which should be covered under his insurance policy. So he waited and did not have anything except water in preparation for the surgery in the crowded hospital ward. Hours turn to days and on the second day he asked the doctor again and he casually said actually he’s 4th on the waiting list and the doctor had to fix somebody else first. All his waiting and fasting for nothing. They should have the courtesy to inform him earlier instead of torturing him like that. So he asked for a friend to pick him up and then transferred to a private hospital. The removed the appendix and stitch him up within hours. There was a debate recently on social media where people were comparing government and private hospitals, how government hospitals are good if not on par with private hospitals. The truth is they are miles apart in term of service, especially speed. Sure you don’t pay much at government hospitals but normally they would make you wait a long-long time before attending you, let alone performing operations on you. Not to mention super-crowded wards and substandard hygiene in their toilets. Therefore it’s no surprise that many people prefer private hospitals over public ones whenever they can afford it or use their medical insurance card. For some, government hospitals are only as a last resort when they have exhausted all other options. Personally, I would like me and my loved ones to get the fastest and best possible service when they are unwell. Hence why it is important to get yourself some sort of medical insurance for rainy days or at least find an employer with good medical benefits. So after the surgery, I drove all the way to JB last Sunday to pick up my brother-in-law from the hospital. It is a long and tiring drive, especially when you’re fasting but it’s one of those things you have to sacrifice for your family. Lucky for me I left for JB late in the afternoon and since I’m driving alone, it took me slightly over 3 hours to reach my destination. After getting my BIL discharged from the hospital, I drove another 3.5 hours home including a quick stop for buka puasa. This week, I went to JB again this time with my family to send my BIL for the follow up. Somehow the doctor failed to show up and if my BIL didn’t have to go to JB anyway to pack up his stuff and move out, my long drive there would be for nothing. So that’s twice in a week I drove 600 kilometers to JB. Since it’s Ramadan and I don’t have much funds to enjoy ourselves we didn’t go anywhere much except to UTC to renew my wife’s driving license. On the way back we stopped at Nilai 3 to buy myself and Adam our baju melayu for Raya. To be honest I don’t mind wearing the same old black baju melayu that I wore for the last two years but then, I thought it would be nice to have the same matching colours with my wife and kids again. We had dinner at the crowded Marrybrown outlet there and head home shortly after.

[afifcr]

7 May 2016

I get to catch Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2 with my wife over the weekend, the sequel to one of our favorite movie of all time. To be honest I'm not exactly all that excited to watch this but since my wife kept asking me to take her to see it I thought why not. For old times' sake. We caught the midnight show at IOI Mall in Puchong. It's been a while since managed to sneak out for a date just the two of us. My in laws were in town so they could look after the kids while we're out. So how was the movie? Only so-so if you ask my honest opinion. It's a continuation from the first movie and explains how and why they got separated from the last scene at the airport. I didn't want to spoil it too much for you but suffice to say they head into their separate ways after that incident. Cinta had her own little art exhibition in Jakarta while Rangga opened a little café in New York apart from writing stuff (books and poetry I think). Cinta had actually moved on after being dumped by Rangga and got engaged with a decent, rich & young businessman. Only for Rangga to swoop in on the pretext of reuniting with his mother in Yogyakarta where they dated at the chicken church. Okay that's enough spoilers for you. To see how their story conclude go and buy their DVD at the stores :) The first AADC was good enough on its own and if they've never made the sequel I'd be happy with it. This one lacks the romance, chemistry and the general sweet factor of the first movie. The first movie had a killer soundtrack while this one pales in comparison. Still it's a good night's date for us. No more sequels please.

[afifcr]

5 May 2016

I've eaten a lot of ayam penyet in my life and they are one of my favorite food ever since I came to know of their existence. Some were really good, with the chicken tender and crispy and the sambal so spicy you got your tongue wagging by the time you finish. Many however are a travesty to fine Indonesian food, the chicken is regular fried chicken and the sambal bland and tasteless. So far you can't go wrong with Ayam Penyet AP although their restaurants are far and few in between now. As good as Ayam Penyet AP is, it doesn't come close to Warung Leko in The Curve. There not only I had the most delicious ayam penyet ever, I also discovered the uber-delicious iga penyet which is basically soft juicy ribs combined with their super-spicy sambal. I mean I have a pretty good tolerance for spicy foods but theirs top the upper scale. You just have to try them for yourself and get lost in culinary heaven. Their ayam penyet is good but their iga penyet is out of this world. It's rather expensive at 18 ringgit per plate but it's worth every ringgit trust me.

[afifcr]

10 April 2016

For long hiking trips across the country I would usually carpool with a fellow hiker. I don’t have a problem with driving my own car but since I only have one and my wife is using it for work and other errands, I couldn’t possibly leave her stranded without any mode of transportation. So carpool it is. I have been pretty lucky so far, had no problem getting people to offer me a ride in their cars. I would ask around a week in advance and book my place for the trip. I did the same for my Yong Belar trip but this time the driver has set the fare in advance. 50 ringgit for the return trip to Kampung Raja in Cameron Highlands. Normally we would discuss about payments during the trip or on the way back. There’s nothing wrong with that of course. It’s his car so he set the rules. Perhaps he had had a bad experience with his previous carpoolers or something who didn’t agree with the cost set. I wouldn’t know. As far as I know, we would just agree with any price set by the driver, no question asked. As long as they are reasonable of course. So far that had been the case. My driver (ahem) picked me up at the Sungei Besi LRT station. In the car there’s already another fellow hiker who he picked up near his home in Kajang. I was notified in advance that there’s going to be 3 passengers at the back so like it or not we had to be cramped in the old Proton Perdana back seat for the duration of the 3 hours journey. Ideally I would have preferred more leg and arm room in the car. Realistically, beggars cannot be choosers. We could barely fit 44 people into enough cars for that trip so we had to accommodate everyone into all available cars. That means some cars would have to carry 4 passengers excluding the driver. Fine by me. As long as we get to our destination. If I can endure a 5 hours trip to Merapoh in a tiny Kancil before, this is nothing in comparison. I digress. From Sungei Besi, we detoured to Pantai Dalam in KL since the driver had to pickup another passenger. This one happens to be his long lost school/college friend or something. From the beginning he was accorded special treatment from my driver. He was picked up right in front of his doorstep. Our other passenger was relegated to the backseat because the driver would like to chat with his long lost friend. I doubt he even pays anything for the trip. That’s his prerogative I know but already it sucks. From Pantai Dalam we finally made it to the Gombak LRT station. There we picked up the final passenger to make it 5 in the car. My driver must be in a real hurry to reach Cameron cause he only stopped briefly once to fuel up and the second time to buy some drinks. Although I’ve had my dinner earlier that night, my tummy was grumbling again by 1:00 am that morning. I wished he would stop for supper at one of the R&R along the highway but to my disappointment he just kept on driving. I can’t remember a single trip where we didn’t stop for a drink or supper along the way so again I was kind of disappointed with my driver again. Thankfully we reached Kampung Raja safe and sound. I didn’t have much sleep in the car. It was hard trying to sleep with all the chatter going on in the front seat (wish I had bring my earphones). Plus the fact that there’s too little leg room at the back. Nevermind that. At least he drove pretty fast and it’s only a 3 hours journey. After the hike, we assembled again at SK Kampung Raja where we parked the car. Did I mention how we had to collect 2 ringgit each to pay for the parking fee? I mean we already paid 50 fricking ringgit for the ride and you just had to ask more money for the measly 10 ringgit parking? Ok maybe you’re just really poor. Fine. Anyway I managed to get into the middle pack of the hiking group on the way out. Still we didn’t get to the school’s parking lot until well after 9:00 PM. My driver and his best friend were from the leading pack so they were already cleaned up and ready to go. Unfortunately one other member of the car pool was in the last group that came out of the jungle. After finding out we had waited long for him to arrive, my friend here decided to skip shower altogether much to my horror. I actually coerced him to have a bath and clean up first be he insisted that we leave straight away. That’s how I end up sitting next to that stinkbomb for the 3 hours journey back. As always my driver didn’t stop anywhere for dinner. He and his buddy already had dinner earlier in Kampung Raja but it never occurred to him that his fellow passengers are thirsty or starving after an exhausting day hike. It’s only after I asked him to stop to buy a drink that he stopped at one R&R. Before we leave Cameron that evening, he was quick to warn me that he’s not going to send me to my place. Yes he’s going to leave me at the same LRT station that he picked me up. He does in fact knows that the train doesn’t run anymore at 3 in the morning but that’s not his problem apparently. In the end I negotiated and asked him to leave me opposite of the Serdang commuter station instead. At least I can wait at a mamak there while my wife comes to pick me up. I know it is late it is entirely his prerogative whether to send me home or night. But we have this unwritten rule that if it’s late, the driver usually sends us right to our doorstep. He either had never heard of this rule or he’s just real selfish and unreasonable. I mean I had to bother my wife at 3 in the morning to pick me up. What really pissed me of more is the fact that he readily and voluntarily send his best buddy right to his doorstep in Pantai Dalam. That’s a far longer detour than stopping by my place in PUJ. I know I barely know him in 2 days but that’s so fucked up man. I don’t usually bitch about people I hardly know here but this guy totally deserve it. I know I might just be bitter but he’s kind of a jerk and riding in his car is one of the reason my hiking trip to Yong Belar suck a little more than usual. I know I shouldn’t demand a 5 star treatment when carpooling but the least any driver could do is be reasonable with his passengers. Surely that’s not too much to ask?

[afifcr]

19 March 2016

March 2016 was my brother in law’s wedding month. Their love story is a bit complicated because the father of the bride didn’t really approve of the relationship. My BIL used to work with the bride’s father, let’s call him B. When the business goes south, my BIL quit the job thus leaving a sour taste in their relationship. While working there, my BIL had a relationship with his eldest daughter, my new sister in law. When they finally decided to get married, B indignantly refused to give his blessing and wants nothing to do with the wedding including giving his permission as the wali (guardian). My BIL and FIL went through great lengths to get B to play ball but he steadfastly refused. In the had they had to do the next logical thing which is to get married in Thailand. You see according to local Islamic law, if the father of the bride is still alive and his whereabouts is known and he somehow refused to give his permission for marriage, you cannot appoint another person as the wali. Somehow that does not apply in our neighboring country so they all went there to solemnize the marriage and just do the reception at home later. Sure they’ll be fined by the local religious authorities for marrying outside of their district but desperate times calls for desperate measures. It baffles me that in this day and age they are still parents who just can’t let their children be happy and bless their marriage. If this is a western country with western values it wouldn’t be an issue. However since this is an Islamic country, there are norms and rules to adhere to. In spite of that, the wedding and reception went well and everything ran according to plan. We went to his reception in Maran, Pahang and also in my BIL’s place in Tanah Merah. All his siblings and a few relatives came to help including one boyfriend and his brother from Perak. I know they meant well which is to help out with the wedding but it is still awkward to have somebody without any formal relationship sleeping at your place. I mean I wouldn’t think of staying long at my girlfriend’s place for whatever reason. Until I am part of the family, it’s off limits. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. The day after the wedding, half of my family member is down with diarrhea. It didn’t take long to find the culprit which was the reheated ayam masak merah which everybody that got sick ate later that evening. Fortunately for me I have this habit of not eating anything made early in the day and especially yesterday’s food. Today my fussiness is totally justified and damn that felt good.

[afifcr]

18 December 2015

Remember your 11th birthday when you’re feeling meh that only a few people remembers or even wishes you on Facebook? Well I did wish you on Instagram and later on your Facebook. You see, you did have multiple Facebook accounts apart from the one I created for you so I didn’t know which one you actually use. But you mother did pull a surprise later that evening when she invited a few of your friends (the Iyad brothers and Sayed) and celebrated your birthday at Aeon Equine park with that delicious tiramisu cheesecake. Not to mention that lovely wristwatch that she bought you. I hope this one will last a lot longer than the previous one. In case you’ve forgotten I already bought you a present, the mountain bike which has a saddle that’s too high for you to get on? I’m sorry that you didn’t inherit much of my genes in that department though I’m sure there’s enough time for you to catch up. But the highlight of the day must be the moment when I brought you to watch the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awaken at MBO Spark Desa Petaling. I bought those tickets a month in advance in case they are sold out (the hall was only half full though). We departed an hour early that evening but your dad was an idiot and didn’t do his homework beforehand and we took a long detour before finally reaching the cinema. I have no idea there’s only one way to get to Desa Petaling which is via the left exit from KL. And just our luck, it poured 30 minutes before time and we were soaking wet by the time we reached Desa Petaling. Actually we stopped near a building next to highway and I contemplated whether to wait for the rain and miss the movie and take a rain check on it. But I thought, we’ve got to watch the movie rain, storm or shine so I wrapped my phone and wallet in a plastic bag and we braved the rain to get to Spark Desa Petaling. Sure we’ve got a few odd glances from people watching us dripping wet, walking into the cinema hall. And the fact that we were literally shivering cold throughout the entire movie couldn’t dampen our spirit to catch the first of the new Star Wars sequel after so many years. After the movie we rode back in the biting cold night air but made it safely home. Is it the best birthday ever? I don’t know, you tell me. But I did had a good time with my favorite son. Heh, only son.

[afifcr]

17 August 2015

Have I told you that we’ve got a new Senior ICT Manager? After decades long tradition of hiring expats for the position, the management decided to try a local one this time around. First impressions — she was very different from the previous senior ICT managers. More livelier, chattier and more inclusive in her management style. She didn’t waste time bringing in a wave of changes and naturally not all are happy with the new things that she introduced. Me, I was not spared from the revolution that she’s bringing. A few weeks into her reign, she asked me to get involved with the school’s Google Sites webpage. I hesitated at first thinking of the extra burden to my already busy work schedule but after much persuasion, I relented and accepted her offer. So far it’s been good the project. Sure I had to squeeze an extra hour or two every other day of the week for the webpage but they’re quite manageable, at least for now. I’m that kind of guy who doesn’t easily quit when facing a challenge (unlike John hu hu). One thing I noticed, my new manager likes to eat. A lot. She regularly treat us with lunch either at the office or at the restaurant next door. And she paid it all with money from her own pocket, not a penny from the school coffers. How noble and generous of her. Today we had a little christmas luncheon at a hotel in Seri Petaling. The initial plan was to have dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant somewhere in Ampang but after half of the department staff bailed because of various excuses (mainly the remote location), we changed to Seri Petaling. The food was nice and we had secret santa sessions, lucky draws and goodies bags. Yes everybody got all the items showed in the picture above thanks to our new boss and also the director of Learning Technology. I don’t know whether they got some vendor to sponsor or pool their own money but we are surely touched by their generosity and thoughtfulness. Of course there’s a little note at the goodies bag that says we were to return all those nice gadgets should we ever leave the company but I don’t care. It’s the thought that counts. Thanks boss!

[afifcr]

14 November

Once upon a time, my mother lived together with my brother, her wife and their two lovely kids. It was an ideal arrangement. My brother just got married and had kids. He just got posted as a teacher in Kajang. His wife is a homemaker. They can’t afford to buy a house just yet and instead of renting a house somewhere, living in with their mother(in law) seems like a sound idea. The thing about living with your mothers is that you tend to get into fights after a while. I know because I used to live with my mother two along with my wife and my little kid when we didn’t make much over a decade ago. As expected we got into a fight. Well my mother got into an argument with me, about something trivial. That’s what happen when you see each other too often. Honestly, 3 days is the maximum you should stay with your mother. After that prepare for some heated exchange or sour faces. Anyway I digress. Back to my brother and his wife. One day my mother got into a heated argument with his daughter in life (that’s my brother’s wife, let’s call her Yam). And at the heat of the moment, my mother kinda slapped Yam’s face. Well, according to my mother it was a gentle tap. According to the victim, it was a full blown slap. Needless to say Yam got really upset and demanded my brother send her and the kids back home to her mother right away. And that’s why my brother did. My mother didn’t get to see Yam or her grandchildren ever since. Days passed and my brother now can finally afford a place to call his own in faraway Rinching. My mother helped my brother to look for that house in the beginning. She even left some of her stuff there in case she comes by to visit. After the incident however, she never really got the chance to. Until about last week when I went to visit my brother’s place to return his bike. My mother upon hearing the plan decided to tag along. In all honesty she just wanted to see her grandchildren because she misses them so much. We arrived right on time, before 5:00 PM because that’s when my brother said a buyer was going to see the bike. When we got there, the gates was locked and Yam is nowhere to be seen. We waited over an hour before finally giving up. I even bought a bucket of KFC as a token of gratitude to share with Yam and the kids. Since my brother said to come on time and there’s a buyer waiting, Yam should have known better than to go out somewhere at that exact time. It is obvious to me that my brother warned his wife in advance of my mother’s arrival so that she can be prepared (i.e ran away as far as possible). She has no plan to see my mother. When I called her she said she’s somewhere in Seri Kembangan on the way home. Said she’s stuck in a jam (in Seri Kembangan on a Sunday) and will be late. She further instructed me to leave the bike and the key in the post box. After waiting for an hour, we decided to visit the nearest mosque to pray since it’s already time. After that while I was making my way home, mother asked me to turn around and try visiting my brother’s house again. To nobody’s surprise we saw my brother’s car in front of the house and Yam probably just arrived home. I bet she just hid somewhere a couple of blocks away until we leave. So I did the right thing and asked to push the bike inside. Then I told Yam that my mother would like to see the kids for a while which she somewhat agreed. My mother was nearly in tears then we she finally get to see and hug the kids. Yam meanwhile decided to make herself busy inside the house pretending to find the bike’s key or something. After about 5 minutes or so, my mother said goodbye to the kids (in tears of course) and Yam pretended like she didn’t exist and told the kids to come in. We left the house with my mother sobbing uncontrollably. Was my mother guilty of slapping her daughter in law’s face then? Probably yes. Did she repent and tried to make amends to her? About half a dozen times already I think. Somehow Yam made it her mission not to forgive mother and carries her vendetta up until now. I don’t know whether because she’s still young (she was married in her teens, not even 20 years old yet) or she’s just being mean and immature. Or is it because my brother is to timid to advise his wife to act more becoming of her age today and status as a daughter in law. Whatever it is, my mother is pretty upset about the whole affair and she made sure everybody in the family knows about it. If I were in my brother’s shoe, I’d give my wife a good telling off and smack her into her sense. Well, I won’t literally hit my wife (never did) but I would have done something to ease the tension and eventually make peace with everyone. He went out of his way to spread the words of God to strangers as far away as Pakistan and Korea but couldn’t even advise his own wife. I don’t know dude. You’ve got to get your priorities in order.

[afifcr]

1 November 2015

One fine Sunday afternoon, I was making my way to Pandah Indah in KL to buy some IT equipments for my customer on my bike. My cheap secondhand Modenas Krisstar bike is not exactly in tip top condition. The engine sounded terrible and the piston is making this loud knocking sound whenever it’s running. Why don’t I fix it? Well the cost naturally. Last time I did an overhaul of the engine it cost me over 700 ringgit. Therefore as you can see, I dread the thought of spending another 700 ringgit fixing my bike just to do it again 2 years later. So I kept delaying and postponing doing something about my bike until that fateful Sunday afternoon when it died on me somewhere in the middle of Pandan Jaya. Lucky for me the bike went dead just next to an LRT station. So I slowly pushed my bike aside and parked it near the station. Since it’s near Kampong Pandan I had only one person in mind to call — my good friend Fadzir Aziz. I didn’t have any luck the first 5 times calling him though cause he didn’t pick up the phone but as I was mulling leaving my bike overnight at the station and picking it up later, my call got through and Fadzir came to the rescue. He pushed my bike with his to his place and then drop me off at another LRT station. I shudder to think what would happen to my bike had I left it in Pandan Jaya overnight. Most probably it’ll lose a tyre or two. Fadzir Aziz is a fine example of a friend in need. I don’t have many of those but I’m sure am glad of the ones I have. So now I’m left without a transportation mode to work. I had this contingency plan in my head though. To borrow my brother’s bike who had just been posted to Sabah. He was kind enough to let me borrow his bike so that evening my wife and I went to his house in Rinching and took the bike home. It rained all the way from Rinching to Taman Puncak Jalil and since I didn’t bring any rain coat, got drenched through and through. Am I ever going to fix my bike? Most probably not. I doubt it’s worth the cost. I’d rather buy another bike altogether. I had applied for loans from a few banks this week and let’s see which one got through.

[afifcr]

1 September 2015

Can you feel the pressure in the air? I certainly can. It was nearing the end of the summer break, lots of work yet to be finished. At the same time most of the IT staff have yet to utilize their annual leaves. So they took it on the last few days before the school reopens. Did I mention there’s still lots to be done? It all comes to poor planning in my opinion. We have about 2 months to get ready. We could have got things moving as soon as the school closes. There should have been a timeline of things to done and when you should finish it. The new equipments and computers should have been ordered ages ago and arrives early so we can set them up within the 2 months summer break period. But no, due to bureaucracy we only got most of the new stuff on the last week of the holiday. And they expect us to get them ready next week. 2-3 weeks of work to be done in less than 4 days, what do they think we are? Robots? Still in spite of all that, we still managed to finish most of the jobs assigned to us. Even if it we had to stay back till late in the evening to do it. Even if it means we had to forfeit some of our remaining annual leaves. Yes our holiday rights were literally robbed from us. I can still remember the abject feeling of having to let go one annual leave and furthermore forced to come to work on your day off all because of the poor planning on the management’s part. Let the record state that I truly detest being forced to come to work on my day off. I fucking swear it won’t happen ever again. I’m not paid well enough for this kind of shit.

[afifcr]

17 July 2015

Hello hi, it’s been a while.

About this time around last year I have just received my bonus, just a few days before Eid. While I didn’t have time to shop around much, having a some extra money in my pocket sure helps make my Eid a lot brighter and merrier. This year however, our bonus didn’t come in until a week after Eid so many people including me had to make do with whatever we had. Meaning unless we saved some money beforehand we’re left with only our meagre monthly salary to use for Eid. Fortunately for me, I made some extra money from my side business during the fasting month. Therefore I was not completely broke just before raya. My friends or colleague at work however was not so thrilled to celebrate raya nearly broke. The domestic and maintenance people especially had it worst. I guess you might say it is prudent to save up a little for days like these. I don’t know their story so I’m not going to judge them or anything. We purposely applied for our leaves a few days in advance so that we could skip the notorious annual balik kampung traffic rush. We left the city 3 days early and as expected traffic was smooth all the way home. I’m especially grateful for the newly finished 2 lane road near bukit Tujuh in Pahang. That saved us at least an hour of driving. The rest of the city folks who left later than us, even the day after was not so lucky with traffic. I heard horror stories of 12 hours drive to get to their hometown. That’s just the way it is. This year it was my turn to celebrate the first day of Eid in Pasir Mas first so as always we stopped by overnight in Tanah Merah. Our annual Eid routine goes like this: morning prayers in the town mosque, visiting the dearly departed at the local cemetery and then gathering at my mom’s place. In the afternoon my siblings and I went to Pasir Pekan near Kota Bharu to meet up with my dad and as always his wife. As much as I’d like to erase the bitter memories of the horrid things she did to us, I’m constantly being reminded by Mother and Matok especially as well as my siblings and other family members. It’s like they’re making sure that I never forget. That’s right. Sure I can forgive her but I’ll never forget. She single-handedly got my Dad, her own husband fired out of spite and practically ruined her life and my parent’s life and marriage. That said, whenever I meet her I tried to be as polite and civil as possible. If I were to go mental I did what she did to us then I’m no better than her. This year my big sister brought her family home to celebrate Eid here. You can never be too sure with Lina. One day she’ll say she won’t make it home this year but before you know it she and Zaidi would show up at our doorstep. On Raya eve this year Zaidi suddenly asked me to tag along on join him to go shopping in Wakaf Che Yeh, a popular shopping destination in Kota Bharu. I didn’t have the heart to say no so I just went along with him. Now like I said, I don’t have much budget to splurge on anything this time around so I thought I’ll just go sightseeing in Kota Bharu that night. To my surprise, Zaidi bought me several pair of clothes although at the market. In the end I’ve got as much stuff as he did that day. As much as I like free stuff, I don’t really feel comfortable owing people so much favour like that. Yes free things are good but they usually comes with string attached. Anyway I don’t want to fret too much about that and just accept his generosity as it is. Just like before Raya, we decided to go back early as well after Raya in anticipation of heavy traffic on the road and highway. I wanted to leave as early as possible in the morning but you know how it is with women. We didn’t leave until well past mid day. As a result we get reports from social media of massive traffic crawl in many places especially the usual suspect in Kuala Krai, Bentong, Karak and Gombak. I had to take as many alternative roads as possible to avoid the jam. Even after that, we didn’t get home until about 11 hours later. That’s it, next time I will make sure we leave home before sunrise.

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19 April 2015

When I was small I used to go to Penang and stay with my paternal grandmother during the school holidays. I’ve always had mixed feelings about going there. Bored because there’s nothing much I can do for a month. Excited because we will usually go to the Penang Fair at the end of our stay. That was a long time ago when I was small. As I grow older I see a lot less of Penang. And when my grandmother passed away 14 years ago, that was the last time I visited the island. Since she’s gone, I have little reason to visit the place. She’s the only immediate family member that I have living there. I’m not so close with the others. Fast forward last week, my grandmother had two more sisters — Tok Bibik and Tok Bik Nab. Bik Nab had been ill for some time now and she passed away last Tuesday. As her nephew, my Dad was compelled to come visit. That’s what people usually do anyway. I know he’s in a dire financial situation right now so when he asked me whether I would come along for the visit I didn’t have the heart to say no. So last weekend I took my family and Dad to visit Penang again after so long. I had some idea that going north is expensive. You need 200 ringgit minimum for transport alone if you’re going by car. And that doesn’t include food and other expenses. More if you ain’t got any relative to stay at. Still, I didn’t mind that much since I thought it’s about time I visit my distant relatives again. Plus Tok Bibik is so old now, who knows when will I see her again. I had fond memories of Tok Bibik. She was so nice when we went to her house and stayed there for weeks during the school holidays. Halfway through the trip Dad told me he had to go back to KL the same evening. Said he had a very important appointment tomorrow with some big shot about a project. I tried to persuade him to stay at least for the night but he’s having none of it. Since he’s so adamant, I can’t do much about it. He’s known for that. We took the ferry which was over an hour late. The ferry service to the island had gone from bad to worse over the year according to the locals. That evening, 3 units of ferry had broken down and we had to wait in line for the 3 remaining ferries to arrive. I swear that’s the last time I’m gonna ever take a ferry to Penang island. We were greeted by Mak Cik Ani, Uncle Rahman and Uncle Nizam and his family. We had dinner, went to see Tok Bibik and Dad left shortly after. That’s less than an hour after arriving. I hope you better get that project Dad cause I’m somewhat disappointed with you for this. Had he’d known that Bik Nab passed away earlier I didn’t think he’d even come. Anyway we stayed overnight in Lengkuk Pemancar. We’re planning of visiting Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera) and a few other places the next day. Uncle Nizam suggested we visit Road Walk near the stadium first before going to Penang Hill. It’s a little market which sells a variety of goods including food, produce, antiques and other common market wares. I’m not so keen of going thinking that the queue at Penang Hill would be very long if we go late. But we went there anyway since Uncle Nizam insisted that we do. In the end my wife did all the buying while I just look around. Actually it was the kids who nagged her to buy stuff for them. I knew exactly that would happen hence the reluctance to visit any kind of market while on holiday. LOL. Penang Hill has changed much after my last visit when I was small. They’ve renovated the place and also upgraded the funicular train to a spacious and air-conditioned one. The waiting time is also much shorter and we got from the ticket booth to the top in less than 30 minutes. On a clear and sunny day we should be able to see much of Penang island from up there. Unfortunately it was cloudy and hazy when we got there so there’s not much to see really since visibility is quite limited. We walked around the place a bit and went down about an hour later. Sure there’s a couple of restaurants and an owl museum up there but I’m pretty sure they’re expensive and not worth it. Next stop we visited the famous Hameediyah restaurant downtown for lunch. Some of my Penang friends recommended that we eat there and I have to say they were pretty good. However my Penang neighbor insisted that Deen Nasi Kandar is even better so I guess I’ll have to try that next time. After lunch we walked around a bit trying to find the Penang Street Art. There’s about 9 of them paintings all over the island but we only managed to find 2 in the hot afternoon sun. Since time is limited and I doubt the kids would manage, we didn’t try to look for all of them. Maybe some day when they’re older or when we are there alone just me and my wife. So that concludes our short visit to Penang. I wished I had more time to visit and see more places and spend time with my far away family. Maybe next year, we’ll see.

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4 April 2015

First thing first let me wipe some of the cobwebs on this blog *sweeps-sweeps*. There, much better. For once I won't apologize for not writing so long here. Why should I? If I'm absent from here it either I'm too pre-occupied with life. Besides, I do blog over at afifplc sometimes (like once a month). But I digress. This weekend I brought my family for a weekend getaway in Genting. The last time we went there was last year when I brought the kids to play at the Genting Outdoor theme park. This time around there's no more Outdoor theme park because they're replacing it with Fox 20th Century theme park due to open next year. So we went to the Indoor theme park instead this time. After about an hour ride from home, we reached First World Plaza where the theme park is located. Today, much of Genting Highland (the top part) is one big construction site. You see building being built everywhere, construction workers, lorries, muddy roads, the usual stuff. Also this time I parked right under the First World Plaza unlike the last time where I parked a long way from the theme park thinking they would charge a bomb for the parking fees. Actually parking under the hotels there is absolutely free. I should have asked the first time around. I was expecting a lot of rides and things to play in the indoor theme park but I was mildly disappointed. There were only 9 rides and 6 of them are off limits for children above 126cm so my eldest (Adam, 11) could only ride 3. That said, my two younger daughters enjoyed themselves thoroughly riding the rides over and over again. Adam and I were less enthusiastic about the rides and we were quite bored waiting for them to finish. RM30.20 for just 9 rides is rather expensive in my opinion. So they threw in free entrance to the Ripley's Believe it or Not exhibit. I've watched Ripley's on TV before but unlike the TV show, this mini exhibit was far from interesting. There were too little to see and the place is just too small. No wonder they gave people free entrance with the theme park ticket. RM30.20 for children is for walk-in tickets. If you buy online (minimum 2 days in advance) the price is just RM22.30 per child and RM23.70 per adult. Overall, I think the theme park price does not correlate to the number of rides we get to ride. It's obviously quite expensive, just like everything else in Genting. You'd be better off bringing your kids somewhere else. This time around we checked into the First World Hotel next door. Last time we didn't and I had to drive home late at night after a tiring (but fulfilling) day at the outdoor theme park. Fortunately I can get a good night sleep and rest at the hotel first before leaving tomorrow. The normal rate for the cheapest room at First World Hotel is just RM50 on weekdays but for weekends and public holiday they cost RM283 per night. Yep, big difference. The only way I can enjoy that ridiculously cheap room is by either leaving our kids home or let them skip school and come with us on a weekday. The hotel room is quite small anyway. Two single beds, shower bathroom, no fridge or balcony. It's quite cold up there so you don't really need any air-cond. To save money we brought a little bit of supply and ration and made our own dinner and breakfast in the hotel room. Our little camping stove came quite handy in time like these. Our choice of menu is limited only by what we brought along. Will we come again? I don't know. Maybe after the new theme park finishes and only if the price is not too steep. I have a feeling that the hotel prices are gonna go up once that new park finishes. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

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12 January 2015

After being delayed by the nationwide flood by almost 2 weeks, my number 2 finally started her first day at school today. Fortunately for us we were not affected in any way by the flood since we lived in Selangor so we were long ready for the new school season. Actually Mia went to an orientation season a week earlier to get accustomed with the school environment and also take an evaluation test. And since Mia had been to a kindergarten since she was 5, she had little problem adjusting to school life. Her mother did wait around for a while on the first day until school finishes. Check her out during recess on the second day and by the 3rd day she was already fine on her own. Besides, she has her big brother Adam Farihin to look after her (hopefully). Mia already made a few friends in 1 Cemerlang when asked. After school she went to religious school (Kafa) just like her brother. Back in my days I go home and sleep after school. Now that both my kids are in the morning season, we had to wake up half an hour earlier at 5:30 am every weekdays you know, to prepare for stuff. My wife had to cook breakfast and lunch for everybody and I had to send the kids to school before leaving for work. The kids need to be at school before 7.10 am so I left home at around 6:30 and leave for work before 7:00. 30 minutes may not seem much but as you get older, every second of your precious sleep time counts! So kids, remember when you're older and wiser the sacrifice your parent made for your education and your future well being in general. Remember that every time you feel like talking back to your parent or getting pissed off over trivial matters. Your parent did more for your than you can ever pay back for.

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18 December 2014

It was that time of the year again for my company’s annual dinner. Actually we rotate between an all expense-paid trip to a resort or theme park somewhere and an annual dinner. Last year we went to Pangkor so this year it’s an annual dinner. This year’s theme was Stars of Bollywood night. Since I didn’t want to spend a hundred ringgit for an Indian dress that I would only wear once, I borrowed one from an Indian friend instead. The venue was the fancy Shangri La hotel in downtown KL. Upon arrival we get to collect our lucky dip which I got a lousy Pyrex bowl. The food was okay I guess, an array of Indian and western fusion buffet. There were performances and dance while we dine. The highlight of the night is none other than the lucky draw of course. Some of the prizes include an LED TV, a couple of Android and Apple smartphones and also a return trip to somewhere in India. I don’t know if I’ve told you this before but I’m like the unluckiest person in the world when it comes to lucky draws. I never win anything (good). And that evening wasn’t any different. The luckiest guy in my department got himself a lousy steamer, that’s about it. I don’t know whether to be suspicious or I’m just jealous but somebody in admin got a smartphone for her lucky dip and also got herself a nice lucky draw present as well. Either she’s really, really lucky or she made her own luck (if you know what I mean). Hmm, very suspicious indeed. I guess it is only natural to be jealous in a lucky draw especially when you won nothing. There’s only so much presents they or the suppliers can sponsor and there’s bound to be disappointments. Still I hate that empty, disappointing feeling and I wish my company would do a CIMB and give everybody a decent lucky draw present during their annual dinner. Yes my wife’s company actually give everybody a nice little electrical appliance apart from the expensive grand prizes during their annual dinner. Strangely enough that was the first and last company trip/annual dinner that her company had ever organized. Maybe the ran out of budget after that #LOL.

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12 December 2014

When my wife started following me hiking, we went up the popular Broga hill trail in Semenyih. Back then she was not very fit and was out of breath even only at the foot of the hill. We had to stop a few times so that she could rest and catch her breath before going up again. That was then, a dozen mountains later my wife is not a hiking noob anymore. Any mountain I do, she can do it as well. We even climbed the difficult Gunung Nuang together last time without any fuss. So when I went up Tabur East again this weekend, I thought my wife is more than ready to try this moderately challenging hill. Yes the climb was steep, there were sharp rocks everywhere and she didn’t go as fast as I did but she managed to complete it without any problem. Definitely a much better improvement than that first time in Broga. Seriously, I think now there’s no mountain high enough that she can’t climb. So proud of you babe, that’s my girl!

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9 December 2014

For three days I went to an ACSP (Apple Certified Support Professional) training in Wangsa Maju. It was fully sponsored by my company who's serious about getting their IT staff skilled and certified. Wangsa Walk Mall is about 45 minutes away from my house including the morning traffic rush. Actually since I leave home around 9:00 AM, the traffic has considerably eased so there's not too much traffic to go through. Plus did I mention I was riding my bike? If you've been to Wangsa Walk Mall before you may encounter an Apple authorised reseller store on the 1st floor called Futureworld. It's painted black inside and you can't miss it cause it's located directly in front of an escalator. There's a small training room inside where I learned some basic to intermediate Apple Mac OS X lessons in there. I found out we paid top dollars for the training, a few thousand ringgit per head. Still the training center didn't have the courtesy to supply us with any breakfast or lunch or even drinking water for the entire 3 days training sessions. Totally unacceptable. In my entire working career this is the first time I go to a training session and didn't get served anything. Much cheapskate. So my colleague and I had to fork out our own money to pay for lunch and sometimes breakfast and tea the entire time. Aside from Subway, most of the eateries inside the mall is way too expensive or over our budget. Lucky for us there's a few reasonably priced restaurants outside the mall. We had lunch at Restoran Pucuk Di Cita just opposite the mall. The training session itself was pretty okay I guess. We finished the 400 page text book in 3 days each time going home around 5:00 PM. The trainer sped trough his condensed slides hence why we finished so fast. Besides, we were already familiar with half of what was taught. So the only thing left now is for us to sit for the tricky ACSP exam some time next month. The pass rate is not really high at 20% so we really got to study hard before the test. And the only time I get to do that is at work. Let's hope my boss give us some time out to study or something.