In March, Vin and I took a trip out west to Phoenix, AZ to hang out with his cousin Becky and her husband Phil. Coincidentally, Phoenix is where the Chicago Cubs have Spring Training. And even more coincidentally, in March, they have Spring Training games against other teams that do Spring Training there! OK maybe not quite so “coincidentally,” we were there, taking advantage of Phil and Becky’s wonderful hospitality. 😉 We got to spend a lot of time with Becky, but only a couple of days with Phil (he had to go out of town for work, unfortunately). So before Phil had to go off to work, we went to a Cubs game. Phil and Becky lived in northern Indiana (close to where Vin grew up) for a long time, so we’re talking about a family of staunch die-hard Cubs fans, here. So here are some pictures at the […]
Continue readingCategory Archives: Family Pics
On top of spaghetti all covered with cheese
A list of our family’s adventures through this simulated universe. Strangely, this is represented by several methods. Firstly, my thoughts in words and then a host of two-dimensional images configured for the human visible spectrum. Finally the blog itself as a medium of information. Also, sometimes there is cake.
Irfan’s Cycling Saturday
Thanks to Irfan’s Tok and Opah, he now has a brand new bicycle with which he would rule the world. Or at the very least the play area at the KLCC park. Quite eager to try out his new vehicle in the morning, we took a drive to KLCC last Saturday morning. As usual, the queue into the parking lot is atrociously long for the simple reason that the coin machine at the entrance gate sucks majorly. It costs a ringgit to enter the parking lot. It took me a brazillion tries pushing in the 50 cent coins into the slot until they finally dropped in, raising the barricade arm. To KLCC: Get a new gate system. The current one sucks. Or have someone there weekend mornings to receive money with one hand and the gate lever in the other. Additionally, a pox on the testicles on each of the […]
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Squiddies!
The best fried calamari (sotong celup tepung) on this planet, as well as several other planets and moons (including the seafood industry on Europa), is located at the Medan Ikan Bakar FELCRA at Simpang Dua, Sitiawan. The taste and the texture is just right. And saying that the price is very affordable there is an understatement. In Sitiawan, this is where we’d like to engorge ourselves on seafood on special occasions. Last night we went there to celebrate Irfan’s grandparents 34th anniversary. Here are four of the photos from the dinner. …strangely enough, there were no pictures of Atok and Opah.
Continue readingNorthern California: Part V
Here it is, the final installment of our northern california vacation, Part V: The Petrified Forest and more! To recap, we had just gone Seal Hunting and found the (almost) mythical After-Christmas Seals. After running around on the beach with the seals (well, we did the running, the seals just laid there relaxing), we headed back up the little road out of the beach. Along the way, there were small parking areas overlooking some cool rock formations in the ocean. The following are some pictures of the beach. It was quite foggy and cloudy by this time, so the pictures actually show what we saw. Although it was fairly dreary, we thought the view was still beautiful up the road leading away from Goat Rock Beach (where the seals were). As with most of the photos in my blog entries, hover over the pictures for some more comments. Views of […]
Continue readingNorthern California: Part IV
The saga continues with Part IV: The Christmas Seals? Christmas day dawned rainy and foggy in Santa Rosa. When we went to bed the night before, the weatherman had predicted another sunny day. Phaugh! Never trust the weather man! Nevertheless, Vin and I decided we would go on the hunt for Seals (we were told by my former-colleague Don Floyd that the mouth of the Russian River was a good place to find elephant seals). We looked for seals in Eureka and Trinidad with no luck! No ewoks turned up in the redwood forests either. So, after a great breakfast buffet, Vin and I went off to look for the mouth of the Russian River and hopefully some seals! It was still raining pretty heavily though as we drove down the winding road that leads to our destination. [[image:cal66.jpg:Rainy River Road:center:0]] [[image:cal67.jpg:Fog in the distance:center:0]] Finally we get to the […]
Continue readingNorthern California: Part III
I do feel a little guilty for piling on the pictures but we really did have a good time in northern california. Part I should be subtitled “Rainy San Fran”, Part II is “Eureka! Redwoods!”, and this Part III is really “Avenue of the Giants, a.k.a. You thought the other redwoods were big? Get a load of this!” In our journey so far, we have covered the first three days of our trip. It’s now Christmas Eve and we hang out with Jeff and his family that morning before we take off southwards. Here’s Sarah Kate and Sam, Jeff and Tammy’s children: [[image:cal36.jpg:cute kids!:center:0]] [[image:cal37.jpg:Sam, napping in his car seat:center:0]] [[image:cal38.jpg:Jeff and Sarah Kate:center:0]] [[image:cal39.jpg:Showing off dirty hands from playing horseshoes:center:0]] [[image:cal40.jpg:Sam woke up and needed a cuddle:center:0]] [[image:cal41.jpg:Big smile from Sarah!:center:0]] After our farewells, we head back south down the 101. Unbelievably, the weather held and we had our […]
Continue readingNorthern California: Part II
Eureka!! We finally arrived there!! To Eureka, California that is. We drove the 5-6 hours north on highway 101 until we reached Eureka, and we checked into our hotel with great relief. It was pitch dark, we were tired and hungry, and it had rained the entire drive. The next morning, we woke up to sunny skies and beautiful weather. So we got together with Jeff (Vin’s buddy from La Porte High School, IN) who lives in Eureka, and he took us to see the sights. It was such a beautiful day, we decided to go to Trinidad Head to see if we could spot any seals. Sadly, no seals were to be found but look at the gorgeous view! [[image:cal12.jpg:Vin and Jeff looking out to sea:center:0]] [[image:cal13.jpg:Trinidad Head from the cliffs:center:0]] [[image:cal14.jpg:More Trinidad Head:center:0]] We climbed down a long and rickety stairway to get down to the beach. [[image:cal15.jpg:View […]
Continue readingNorthern California: Part I
For Christmas, Vin and I went roving again…this year we flew to San Francisco, and stayed in Northern California for 8 days. Part I will cover the first few days we were there – these are the days we spent in San Francisco proper (we arrived in San Fran Tuesday morning December 20th, and stayed until Thursday December 22nd early afternoon). The rest of the time was spent driving up and down the Northern California Coast. Here’s Vin sitting and reading outside – picture taken from our room three floors above. Doesn’t he just look so engrossed in his book? I can’t remember now what he was reading on the trip.. [[image:cal1.jpg:Back of Vin’s Head:center:0]] [[image:cal2.jpg:He looks up after I psssted him:center:0]] Here we are on the streets of San Francisco: [[image:cal3.jpg:Vin with I-forget-the-name-of-the-Tower in the background:center:0]] [[image:cal4.jpg:Me with same tower in the background:center:0]] See the big umbrella? The Hilton […]
Continue readingOpah Irfan’s Wayward Purse
We only noticed it when Ain got off the car to buy some drinks in Kuala Kangsar. It was on Ain’s seat, hidden beneath her when she sat. It was a small coin purse labeled Adamas Goldsmith. Wondering when Ain bought the purse, I took it. Irfan saw it and said, “Opah punya.” And within it was Opah Irfan’s driver’s licence and identification card! We called Opah and told her we had her important documents and figured a return to Sitiawan would be in order. But Opah told us to keep going. If we were late, we’d be driving along the East-West highway after dark. We told Opah that we’d send the documents back to her by courier. But when we got to Pasir Mas it was almost 7pm. I didn’t kick in the afterburners because of the dodgy state of the car’s shock absorbers and the weight load of […]
Continue readingDeath In The House
We arrived in Sitiawan two nights ago with Emma and F in tow. Today we head for Pasir Mas. However, upon arriving at Irfan’s Atok’s house we were told of two tragic deaths in the family. [[image:fishies.jpg:Ku Lat and Ku Su:center:0]]Apparently there was a pool maintenance error with Tok Irfan’s fish pond and these two fish suffocated due to lack of water and oxygen. Thankfully the rest of the gang are still alright. They’re all good fish, and friendly too. Tok Irfan laid them in the yard to prepare them for a burial. But before it could be done, a cat covertly crept up to their corpses to chew on them some time after the photo were taken. The obscenity! They will be missed.
Continue readingIrfan Goes To MIAT
Today Irfan’s youngest aunt, his Cik Su F, enrolled in MIAT. In three and a half years, she will be graduating with a Diploma in Aviation Maintenance Technology (Avionics), with a bunch of skillset that should be more marketable in the aviation industry than my old Licenced Aircraft Maintenace Engineer (Yeah it’s LAME, I know) with Rotorcraft Airframe and Engine specialisation. Irfan was there. Some pictures were taken. Here they are. [[popup:miat01.jpg:(thumbnail):Ain & Irfan:center:0]]The main hangar of MIAT, with Ain trying to carry a heavy Irfan. Safety first… Albino gorillas second? Charmed quarks second? Click on the thumbnail above to view larger image. [[image:miat02.jpg::center:0]]As Cik Su F was undergoing the registration process, Ain takes a break from sitting within the Multi Purpose Hall and Irfan takes a break from running around and sweating a lot to take a picture. [[image:miat03.jpg::center:0]]Ain and Irfan sip ice tea from the MIAT cafeteria right […]
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Eid Mubarak from Sitiawan
Eid Mubarak, and Selamat Hari Raya from Irfan Shafiq, Khairul Hisham and Nurul Ain. Here are some family photos from the morning of the first day of Aidilfitri. Present are Irfan’s grandparents and the family of his Opah Ngah. Unfortunately, Tok Irfan wasn’t feeling to good earlier in the morning. He went for a check up at the clinic and discovered his blood pressure was low. So what did the doctor tell him to do? Go back home, eat as many of the Aidilfitri food as he can. If only the rest of us were that lucky. 😉
Continue readingMaryland – Part II
As promised, here’s Part II of our trip to Maryland. Aside from fishing, during the day and a half we spent there, we ate our fill in Maryland’s pride and joy, the Maryland Blue Crab. Dean and Dolores who live in Crisfield, MD, live in a house where the back yard opens out into canals which lead to the Chesapeake Bay. So they almost never have to actually purchase the blue crab. Each household is allowed 2 crab pots which they toss into the canal behind their house. Amazing what some chicken wire, a dead fish, and a few hours in the waters of the Chesapeake will get you! It’s like magic – the crabs crawl into the pot and they can’t come out! Read on for more blue crab adventures, but if you are squeamish, the truth is we do eventually get to eat the crabs. So yes, there […]
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Pre-Aidilfitri at Pasir Mas
As was blogged earlier, three days before Deepavali were spent at Lubuk Tapah, Pasir Mas. Not only were there the pre-Aidilitri preparations going on, but they were also getting ready for the wedding of Ain’s cousin some time after the festivities, which Ain & I will have to miss. What is there to report at Tok Bah and Tok Ma’s house? I really like the solok lada at dinners. Irfan hoarded all the pillows in the house and buried himself under them. Biscuits were baked (picture below). It rained quite a bit, which was pleasant. We didn’t even leave the kampung in the day, knowing full well that the traffic in the town of Pasir Mas would be horribly jammed because of the balik kampung season. Irfan discovered the joys of Cartoon Network on Astro. Here are some of the pics. Irfan smiles for the camera at Tok Bah’s […]
Continue readingMaryland – Part I
Hisham’s reminiscing has prompted me to finally take action – all this summer I have been procrastinating making some family related entries. Vin’s family had several family-related occasions and I have been meaning to blog them. Rather than doing them in chronological order, I am going to organize it a little differently. In early August, Vin and I traveled to Maryland first to Bel Aire to visit with Aunt Joan and Uncle John, then to Crisfield to visit with Aunt Dolores and Uncle Dean. Our visit with Aunt Joan and Uncle John was short and amounted to a quick lunch with them, but stay tuned, there will be more on them in upcoming entries. In Crisfield, Dean took Vin and I fishing. For the second year in a row, I went fishing with Dean and Vin, and guess what? For the second year in a row, the girl beat the […]
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