Morning Stroll YouTube card

Morning Stroll Along a Canal

There is a slight rise from our housing area up to a tarred path. Apparently many local denizens of Bintong use the path for jogging and bicycling. There are paths on both sides of the canal. I think it is a canal because there is a water lock nearby. The morning sunlight did us good. In any case check out the view during our walk in the video which I took last Sunday, and only completed editing today because [sigh] loads of things to juggle. Yes, it was the Alien RPG session following this stroll that got me in the right leg.

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Dusun Nakawan

Brunch in the Hills

Technically, it was not that far up the hills. Dusun Nakawan was more like “deeper into the jungle”. By jungle, I mean land cultivated as a fruit orchard. It has been a while since we came here, once, to have a drink perhaps. So this fine Sunday, I thought we should revisit it… to have more drinks. Check out the video above for actual moving pictures of our visit there.

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Irfan's birthday gift wrapped

21st Birthday

Once upon a time, Irfan learned how to walk. It was an evening at the 10th floor many centuries ago. He had been trying to stand and walk, I guess, in the interim. Suddenly, he was able to ambulate in what later became his own room, on the brown parquet floor. Some minutes later, he was racing around the round dinner table in the dining area between the hall and the kitchen. Ain was cooking. I was also pacing Irfan though across the table from him. I then stopped at the kitchen threshold and said, “Hi, Ummi!” to Ain, then bolted to continue my orbit. Right on cue Irfan, who was barely able to speak then, also mimicked me. He halted at the kitchen threshold and also called, “Hi, Ummi”. Then we took turns circling the table and calling, “Hi Ummi” to Ain for some time, laughing and giggling. Here […]

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Beside the house is a school

Moving Day Doesn’t Happen Every Day

After months of planning (and years of pre-planning, looking for a house) we finally moved yesterday. Thanks to Ain’s effort in looking for and finding a house that we could rent affordably, is comfortable and convenient for Irfan grandparents to move about and use the bathroom. The last time we moved was eight years ago. We have more stuff this time around. Because at the old house, there was a built-in bookcase, there would be less shelves for us to bring our books over. So I took my fair share of books to my office. This is the first time we live in a bungalow. Here’s hoping for a more peaceful life here.

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One of the two omelettes

August Omelette

Not a lot of things to report, other than I made omelette. This is of course nothing compared to the hundreds (thousands?) of meals that Ain made over the decades. But I thought it has been a while since I made dinner. so here is what it looks like.

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Under the nipah fronds and above a swamp

Cousins Passing Through

And so it came to pass that cousin Razlyn informed us that she was dropping by for a day stop. Her daughters Shahidah and Nabilah (Irfan’s cousins), Siraj – a boardgaming fan, and her were travelling down from Thailand. They were there for a quick vacation by train. Earlier today, they arrived from the train station by the rideshare service Grab. There was a period of reintroduction for Irfan and conversation, then we set a course for Nipah Klasik for lunch. We had more fun conversations about education and family stories and such. After that Ain and I drove Razlyn around to check out Kuala Perlis, Arau, the main UniMAP campus, then headed north to see our old school in Beseri where we both had spent two years there. After that we headed home for drinks and solat. Soon it was late afternoon and it was time for them to […]

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I have been to Port Dickson but I don't remember it at all

A Melaka 2023 Postscript

Previously… Day Three Postscript: Port Dickson Before heading up to KL, we took photos at the A Famosa fort (from a distance), the submarine museum (just the exterior), and stopped for some keria which were super delicious when still warm. Especially in the rain-cooled air. As we headed north for Kuala Lumpur, we passed the Melaka Zoo! That was a delightful surprise. However, we did not stop. When Irfan took the wheel once more, I fell asleep when we entered the PLUS Highway. Apparently I was asleep for almost an hour. When I woke up we were back on the Federal road somewhere in the sticks in the state of Negeri Sembilan. Ain and Irfan were navigating their way towards Port Dickson. It was touch and go because we were running out of fuel. Suddenly a Shell station revealed itself, which we found to be located at the southern end […]

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Irfan, Ain and my night on the town

Build-Up To Melaka Work Excursion

Before the Storm The last weekend we made an officially sanctioned work excursion to Melaka. Gray of KakiTabletop initiated a communication with Pay Fong Middle School in Melaka. From there the school sent me a formal invitation via the workplace. I had been invited to run some TTRPG sessions for the secondary school students for their English Language Week. And Saturday Morning, I was slated to give a talk about the benefits of TTRPGs in language education. Melaka is  even further south than Kuala Lumpur, which gave me pause. After a quick discussion with the home team, we figured that we could pull it off. Plus it would be a new experience for me. The last time I ran games for secondary school students was back in the 1990s. However, because of personal reasons Gray was not able to make it with me, so it would just be Irfan, Ain […]

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Twice tested, twice failed

Two More Lines

So for the second time, I have contracted COVID-19. I was infected the first time last year. It seems this time the effect is a bit more severe compared to the previous time, with my body temperature reaching 38.1° Centigrade for over two days. Even after registering with the MySejahtera app and applying for Quarantine Leave from work, things went on as usual. I ran online classes – thankful that my wits are still holding up. The only blow was that my friend Dan (and Star Trek Adventures player over Discord) was supposed to come for a visit. Because of this, he was forced to cancel. All in all, I think I have to monitor myself for Long COVID. How will this infection affect me in the long run? Has it been affecting me neurologically? I have no idea. Addendum: Ain too became infected the day after I was. We […]

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Hari raya aidilfitri in Pasir Mas

Hari Raya Puasa 1444H

We departed home evening two days before Raya, and travelled our usual route over the mountains. We stopped for dinner at the Gurun rest stop. The food was not bad. Then Irfan pointed the car east and headed towards the mountains. We took our time. Irfan carefully manoeuvred us around a traffic accident site near Baling, then we stopped for a shut eye for at least over an hour at the Gerik junction rest stop. After sleeping I got some coffee and roti telur and took over from Irfan at around 3 am. We ignored the Panglima Bayu junction and headed for Tanah Merah. It was almost dawn, so we pulled over after the new elevated road for sahur. After that, Ain drove us all the way to Pondok Lubok Tapah. Then Raya happened – among other things.

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All in

First Visitors of 2023

Our first visitors for the year were Teik Sing, Michelle, Ashley, Emma and Ezra. Day One As mentioned before, Teik Sing and I have been best friends since we were 7 years old at ACS Sitiawan. Here we are decades later – with homes timezones apart – still being friends, talking about ideas and stories, old and new. I wish I had the resources to someday visit his home and talk shop there. Because Ain had to take care of her parents who had been visiting since last month, Irfan and I went to their hotel to greet them. Coincidentally we were using similar models of cars. First of all, we went to have some lok chin along the Kuala Perlis shoreline. We talked and the kids got to know each other some more. En route back to Kangar, we stopped at Kota Kayang Museum, but it was about to […]

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Some guy in batik shirt

Anya in Alor Setar

It’s not every day Anya headed up north. So it was great to hang out with them when they came up north for the wedding of Ayah Cik Farid’s cousin. The wedding was held at Hotel Seri Malaysia in the middle of the city. Because Tok Bah and Tok Ma were staying with us, we all went for a jaunt to Alor Setar for the day. Here are some photos of the excursion:

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Irfan's Great-grandparents' house 01

Our Grandparents’ House

By “our”, I mean Sila’s and mine, on Atok Irfan’s side. As children, when Sila and I balik kampung, one of the locations we would go to was to visit our grandparents. We would sleep over with our parents here, celebrate Hari Raya here with cousins, and it used to be surrounded by fruit trees. Coconut trees were of course plentiful, but there were mango, papaya, rambutan, jambu air and even nam-nam trees. We used to pick and eat the fruits off the trees. Some required a galah for us to reach, but some were accessible to us. Under the house, I used to fish for ant lions. Sometimes, I used tall grass or weeds. But sometimes, I used an actual live kerangga. There used to be a well behind the house, but early on when I was still a youngling, they built a proper bathroom. They also reared chickens and […]

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Hisham and Ain at Ana Burger

Year 22: An Anniversary

It has been twenty-two years since we got married. Nothing to report other than a family dinner. Earlier that morning we had breakfast at a new place that appeared from the abandoned site of an old. Located in front of a nearby orphanage, it has become our new go-to place for breakfast. Their nasi kerabu is delicious with a lot of very fresh chopped vegetables. That evening, we had dinner at Ana Burger. Here are the images of the event:

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The home team

Two Decades of Irfan

It seems incredible. Our son is twenty years of age today. Where did the time go? Oh, I forgot. Time was sucked in and consumed by the singularity known as the Covid-19 quarantine, also known as the plague year. In any case, our mic testing, Vietnam roll making, galactic smuggler offspring has been alive in this space-time continuum for two whole decades. In any case, here are some photos of the celebrations tonight.  

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Mokti and Lepak King

Kangar Jaya After Dark

Tonight we went to scout the new township of Kangar Jaya at Seriab. We stopped for some ice cream at Mokti’s Signature, located beside Lepak King. Sometimes (well most of the time) there are no messages behind my posts, just pictures which I thought are pretty enough to be posted.

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