My loving wife

Ain’s Birthday By The Sea

It was time for Ain’s birthday once more, and this time I suggested we go to Kuala Perlis after I got off work. It was nothing special as we had regular masakan panas for dinner, although Ain did get the epic ABC as seen below. Also below are photos of the occasion that night. It was small and low-key, but I enjoyed the company tonight. Happy birthday, my love.

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Genesys RPG Core rule book

Genesys Core Rule Book

I saw on Facebook that there was a sale going on back in KL. So I asked for Ivan for help in purchasing and shipping over the Genesys core rule book. Because of my experience in running Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars RPG, I think there would be no problems running this system. Although the symbols on the Narrative Dice are different from Star Wars, the mechanics are more or less similar. However, as I do not have the official Genesys dice yet, I could use the Star Wars dice as a substitute. Genesys, like games such as Savage Worlds and Mini Six, is a universal setting system where gamemasters could adapt any setting, fictional or historical, and any genre to run for their players. Although the basic dice pool rules are the same, there are some differences in the general rules between Star Wars and Genesys. For example, instead […]

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Strrikeforce Enteague

SWD6: Where No Saboteur Has Dreamt Before

Strikeforce Enteague Episode 13: Where No Saboteur Has Dreamt Before Soon after the events of Kinooine, an independent scout named Brett “Bloodhound” Baden joined the strikeforce, after being invited by Drew Greyhelm. As Brett settled into the team, the outpost received a priority message from the informant on Igmalar Ooogle Flutzgle. The message informed them that a new Imperial science installation had been constructed in the Gemone system in the Enteague sector. It was rumoured to be a biological weapon research facility. They had learnt that the Empire planned to test it on the highly-populated planet of Chandrila in the Core Worlds. The planet was chosen as it was the homeworld of Mon Mothma, the leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Once again, Drew assembled a team to travel to the mountains of Gemone, consisting of Brett, the mercenary Force user Athala Navin and bounty hunter Ace Browning Crossfire. […]

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Strrikeforce Enteague

SWD6: Quest for the Weaponship

Strikeforce Enteague Episode 12: Quest for the Weaponship Previously, the strikeforce travelled to Golrath to rescue Drew Greyhelm and Luke Skywalker from incarceration… After Commander Skywalker had departed Enteague Minor to return to his own base, Drew returned to work and received information from Ooogle Flutzgle, his informer in the Igmalar system. The communiqué stated that the Kinooine Pirates had stolen an Imperial EF-76B Nebulon-B Escort Frigate codenamed Weaponship. Drew assembled a team that consisted of the bounty hunter Shanna Toarinar, minor Jedi Ben One-Howel, gambler Scurvy H. Sharky, and pirate Phoenix Avalon. Drew tasked them with contacting a known retired Kinooine Pirate commander in the Velktwarr system. They believed that he would be participating in the Lost Moon Festival there. Vegorr Spaceport Phoenix’s new freighter Firebird landed in Vegorr spaceport on the continent of Eastern Nexyn in the late afternoon. The spaceport was located 17 kilometres north of the […]

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Strrikeforce Enteague

SWD6: Rapid Rescue

Strikeforce Enteague Episode 11: Rapid Rescue Previously, some time after the last Strikeforce mission, Drew Greyhelm and another rebel agent were captured during a mission to Tatooine… Enteague Outpost Commander Dominic assembled bounty hunter Shanna Toarinar, pilot Viveede Briylle Colore, and the gambler Scurvy H. Sharky for the rescue mission. Alliance Intelligence indicated that Drew and the rebel agent he was captured with have been transferred to the molten metal mines of Golrath. The team boarded the Nexus Point, departed from Enteague Minor and made a jump towards Golrath. Imperial Entanglements The rebel strikeforce dropped out of lightspeed near a red-tinged world scarred with craters and glowing magma fissures. As Viveede piloted them closer, Shanna detected a distress beacon from a small asteroid moon. Viveede piloted them closer to investigate. Suddenly, a new group of signals appeared out of nowhere. Three Imperial Customs Frigate come hurtling from beyond the asteroid and […]

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Sandtroopers on patrol

SWD6: Dangers of the Wastes

Strikeforce Enteague Interlude Contacts in the Dark Episode 3 Dangers of the Wastes Previously, during the mission to intercept critical information from being transmitted by an Imperial Ubiqtorate encampment on Tatooine, Mark Grog the bounty hunter, Steven Waverider the outlaw and Roland Ritcher the gambler meet up with Drew Greyhelm the rebel commando. They all rendezvous with their contact named “Wormie” on Taboon, after which they travel to Tatooine. There, they discover that the encampment is located in the Jundland Wastes… From Beyond After their run-in with the Devaronian scoundrel named Labria, Mark, Roland, Steven, Drew and Wormie procure transport for their desert excursion from Unut Poll the Arcona manager of the Spaceport Speeders. After a short time, Drew and the trio rent a SoroSuub XP-291 Skimmer while Wormie rents a rusty Incom T-16 Skyhopper because he claims that, “It reminds me of Beggars Canyon back home.” All psyched up […]

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Mos Eisley Spaceport

SWD6: Once Upon A Wretched Hive

Strikeforce Enteague Interlude Contacts in the Dark Episode 2 Once Upon A Wretched Hive Previously, three rebel agents from the Cratertown rebel cell on Ord Mantell, Mark Grog, Steven Waverider and Roland Ritcher  headed out on a mission with Strikeforce Enteague commander Drew Greyhelm from Enteague Minor. Their mission was to stop an Imperial Ubiqtorate team from transmitting the locations of their bases and outpost to the Empire. Streets of Mos Eisley Twin suns greet them as they revert back to realspace. Drew’s rebel contact “Wormie”  obtains permission to from Mos Eisley Spaceport to land at Docking Bay 94. As Drew and Wormie pay the port officer, the Ord Mantell trio catch a glimpse of a Twi’lek grinning madly at them from the landing bay entrance. They blink and the Twi’lek vanished like a ghost. Mark, Steven, Roland, Wormie and Drew venture into the hot bustling streets of Mos Eisley. […]

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Cloud City

SWD6: Many Meetings

Strikeforce Enteague Interlude Contacts in the Dark Episode 1 Many Meetings Some time after the abduction of Viveede Colore and Akela T’sing during their mission to Igmalar,  Commander Dominic informed Drew Greyhelm that Alliance High Command had a mission for him. An Imperial Ubiqtorate temporary encampment on Tatooine had discovered the locations of four rebel bases. The locations involved were the Enteague Outpost, the Tierfon Outpost, the Cratertown cell on Ord Mantell and the Outer Rim Communication Centre on Generis. The Imperial Ubiqtorate agents, supported by a platoon of stormtroopers, were waiting for the recall signal for them to relay their information. Drew’s mission was to stop this data from being transmitted with three rebel agents from the Cratertown cell. The trio will rendezvous with him in Cloud City on the gas giant planet Bespin. The team of four would next travel to Tatooine to meet their guide codenamed “Wormie”. […]

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Strrikeforce Enteague

SWD6: Derelict of Death

Strikeforce Enteague Episode 10: Derelict of Death After their return from Tatooine, the team had several uneventful weeks on Enteague Minor. But before long, Drew Greyhelm acquired a new recruit: the scout Akela T’sing. He wore a dusty camouflaged trench coat and a combat helmet with canvas weather flaps down the back and sides. Plus, he was quite a laconic human being. The Enteague Outpost base Commander Dominic informed Drew that they received a wide band Alliance distress call from the swamp world of Igmalar. Drew assigned both Akela and pilot Viveede Briylle Collor to investigate. IGMALAR Viveede piloted the small Corellian Turbocarrier freighter Fallen Angel into the thick, foggy atmosphere of Igmalar. Akela acquired permission to land from Igmalar City Traffic Control. The Angel settled gracefully onto a landing pad. Upon disembarking, Viveede found it strange that no port officers had come out to greet them. The pilot and […]

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Near the university

Final Day, No Water

It is the last day of 2019 and we are spending the night at my workplace again. Apparently a water outage that was scheduled to last less than 12 hours has been extended without any official announcement. Again, we appear to be lucky that my office is basically an apartment building. We had dinner at a nearby favourite restaurant of Ain’s. Before we retired back to the office, I took this photo of the last cloudscape of the year over the Kuala Perlis-Sintok highway.

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TIme to head home

Year’s End Vacation 6: Heading Home

The next morning after breakfast, we packed up and said goodbye to the hotel apartment. The strawberries needed to be finished off as it was getting mushy. I can still remember the smell and the taste of the berries. We headed off with both vehicles in a convoy, but we stopped at the Kea Valley Farm complex where fresh produce was sold. Because of the traffic, I had to drop them off while pointing out an empty parking spot for Atok. Then, I spent nearly 30 minutes driving in a traffic jame down the mountain back towards Brinchang and forced a u-turn to head back to Kea Valley. I met up with Irfan who was waiting for me up front at the complex. Because we had no idea where the others were, we waited for them at the junction where we would be able to spot them emerging from the […]

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We turned towards a side road

Year’s End Vacation 5: Evening Exploration

After Atok and Opah rested for the evening, we set off to look for a place that Ain once visited 30 years before: The Boh Tea Plantation. We followed the map up a hill to the north of Brinchang. It was a hillside path which allowed for only one car to pass. Unfortunately, more cars were driving in the opposite direction. We had to part in small alcoves by the hillside to allow them to pass. We also had to jump from alcove to alcove when we could. Soon, the flow of oncoming cars had dwindled. The reason for the outflow of cars, we soon discovered, is that the plantation had closed for the day. I was also looking for the Mossy Forest, which the map indicated was on this particular route. I took a side road and found the way up to the Mossy Forest. We did not advance […]

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They tasted sweet

Year’s End Vacation 4: Strawberry Picking

Immediately after the tea plantation foray, we headed out towards another type of farm. There were many strawberry farms here. We selected one on the phone map but the horrible traffic jam pushed us towards another direction. The farm we stumbled across while navigating the twisting roads on the hillside was quite an impressive one. More than a strawberry farm, it was a full on orchard that sold everything from roses to herbs to unidentifiable (to me) local wild flowers. To pick the berries, we had to pay for plastic containers. Only with the containers were we allowed to pass through the inner gate, and climb up the stairs to a higher level where the strawberry greenhouses were. Check out the pictures below. Photo Gallery The fragrance of the greenhouses was unforgettable. We left with two containers of strawberries and three jars of strawberry jams. I never thought I would […]

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It's us

Year’s End Vacation 3: Tea Farm

The next day after breakfast at the hotel, we set out for one of the nearby tea plantations. Following the phone map, we headed south. Ain wanted to see the Boh plantation, but we shall see. Atok and Opah holed up at the visitors’ building of the plantation where there was a cafe while Irfan, Ain and I headed down to the plantation after purchasing tickets. One thing was certain: the view was spectacular. Here are some of the photos of our time there. Most of them can be clicked on for a larger view.

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Looking for a late lunch in front of our apartment

Year’s End Vacation 2: Arrival

It was two days after we arrived at my hometown… The next day Atok lead the way towards Simpang Pulai with his car. After that, I took the lead en route to Cameron Highlands. Our handheld maps informed us that although it was only about 75 klicks from there to Brinchang, it would take us over three hours to get there. Surely the devices calculated wrongly. Perhaps, the data it had access to was in error. Unfortunately, the map was correct. When we turned into the junction towards Brinchang, a jam had begun. We also caught sight of the structure that Irfan photographed with my phone. I was at awe at the climate-controlled farm on the hillside. I thought it was the only one of its kind. Little did I know dozens and dozens of such farms pepper the landscape on either side of the jammed up road en route […]

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Lunch panhandler

Year’s End Vacation 1: Sitiawan

After a couple of weeks planning for it and applying for leave, it was time to execute the end-of-year vacation plans. We exited the highway near Selama and proceeded towards Taiping using the Federal roads. There was a convenient new road from Taiping to Changkat Jering. We stopped for lunch at the food court at that town. There was a cat who asked for food at the restaurant. Later, we headed for Beruas. It was quite a long winding road to reach Beruas from Changkat Jering, but soon we found the turnpike into the new West Coast Expressway which would theoretically be a faster route to Sitiawan. The WCE Sitiawan exit was near the original (and once upon a time, the only) road to Ayer Tawar. We had dinner with Atok and Opah that evening. The next day we went to the Aeon Manjung mall. I could not locate a […]

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