Atok bowls

Rainy Day at the Mines

The day after the bird park visit, there was another thing that Irfan wanted to do with his grandparents – which was to bowl. Actually the previous day we did attempt to travel to the bowling alley at Midvalley but the arcology was jam-packed with cars, so we instead went birdwatching. However, on this day we decided to see if the bowling alley at the mall known as the Mines Shopping Fair was good for a game. It was, so there we bowled. Only Irfan, Ain, Irfan’s Atok and I played, though Irfan’s Opah had a go during one of Ain’s round. One stand-out characteristic of the Mines Shopping Fair is the canal that runs through the mall itself. There are boats with which a visitor could be brought out to the lakes, either to the north or the south of the mall. Only Irfan and his granddad took a […]

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Allie’s 23 Month Birthday

And Allie is now another month older. She was 23 months old last Tuesday, and now is not even a month away from her second birthday! How crazy is that? It feels just like yesterday when Allie was born and now, look at her: [[image:allie668a.jpg:Wearing her trademark barrette:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions It does seem like this year is flying by really quickly. Can you believe that we are almost done with June? Half the year is done already! Allie has been growing like a weed, and absorbing everything around her. In this past month, we had our usual trip to New Jersey for work, but we also got to meet up with Amy and Jef in Philly, and Allie had a lovely playdate with their son Reza. We also met up with Min and Aida, and Allie had a playdate, with Aida’s son Casey yesterday. It’s […]

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Happy Father’s Day! (Backdated)

This is a backdated entry in honor of Father’s Day. I managed to pick out some gifts for Vin (seen below) and Allie and Lily got together and sent Vin an e-card. In keeping with last year’s theme, Allie models Vin’s presents: [[image:allie638a.jpg:Take me out to the ballgame!:center:0]] Vin got to play in his Father’s Day baseball game, but Allie, Lily and I stayed home since Allie had slept in. Can you guess what Vin’s favorite baseball team is? [[image:allie633a.jpg:Toddler hat:center:0]] [[image:allie634a.jpg:Cubs dress:center:0]]  [[image:allie635a.jpg:T-shirt with bear logo:center:0]]  The bear logo is important as Allie loves all the shirts and hats that Vin and I have that have the actual cubs bear on it (and not just the “C”). She growls at it. So now she has some clothes that she can growl at when she goes to Vin’s games or goes to Chicago Cubs games with her Papa! And here […]

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An unforgettable experience

An Exploration of the Aviary

Atok and Opah came a-visiting for the school holidays, and one of the places Irfan wanted to go with them was the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. It was quite huge and housed many species of birds, most of which are free to fly about under the park’s netting enclosure. Sure, there were a number of cages which housed lots of the wilder birds, but the amount of birds walking, flying, perching and eating among the visitors were just astounding. Because it rained earlier in the morning, Irfan wore his Atok’s hat just in case it rained again. The hat stood by constantly in Atok’s car for emergency usage. Irfan later became a perch for a couple of colourful birds. He was happy the birds didn’t poop on him. Ain tried to fend off a bloodthirsty pack of crowned pigeons. Will the fence hold if the ostrich attacks? Irfan thought nervously. […]

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Irfan and Aiman

Subang Airport Pickup

After 10 days back in Pasir Mas, Irfan’s Cik Ma returned to KL by way of the old Subang Airport, which is now the new “Subang Skypark”. It seemed to have transformed from a musty warehouse airport into a 21st century shopping mall airport. Doors opened automatically for us and stuff! There were two banks in the building accessible from the inside! (Not that we had any cash in them.) One of those new-fangled Starbucks coffee shop too, which probably has coffee! Irfan posed before the Skypark’s big screen computer display of the inbound and outbound flights. His Cik Ma’s flight is on there, speeding closer to the airport. Also, someone has a new digital wristwatch. See? Wristwatch. Also, someone met his cousin Aiman who also came to the Skypark to see Cik Ma. Finally, the cousins rode on their Cik Ma’s trolley. Why? Because it’s cool, that’s why. I […]

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Emma at the Restaurant

The Ting Sisters

It’s now 2010, and it’s exactly 30 years since I first met Teik Sing in Standard 1. We were a year younger than Irfan is now. They’re back on vacation from Sydney and we went out to meet them at their old place in Puchong, where we first meet Ashley’s new sister Emma Grace. Both had the sniffles so Ashley opted to stay at home with his Aunt Ivy as we all went out to grab a bite. But Emma appeared to take a bit of a shine to Irfan during the ride to the restaurant. Ashley was waving the inked illustration I made of her as a present as Ain took a photo. Obviously she waved it too quickly. Emma grabbed on to Irfan’s hand at the restaurant, then fell asleep most probably exhausted by the runny nose. Hope we get to meet them again before they leave for […]

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