While picking up Irfan from school in the very late afternoon, we were hit by a great, big thunderstorm the size of a big thunderstorm. There was a point where there was no delay between lightning and thunder. Driving to school, the windshield, which thankfully did its job keeping the wind out failed to ensure the rain slid off fast enough so we can see through it. Even the wipers were useless. On the way back, we had to cross Pandan Indah central to get from the school on the south side to our house on the north side. We discovered that we couldn’t because of flash floods. All the primary, secondary and the secret routes had a foot or so of water.So, we drove went to a mamak restaurant for some roti canai and warm drinks. Below, we can see some water on this side of the main road […]
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Irfan Goes To Space
Here we have Irfan sleeping soundly in zero-gee aboard the International Space Station’s bunk at Low Earth Orbit after a day’s work of repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. Not really. He did, however, have a fun time at the Planetarium, where there was a presentation at the theatre entitled Passport of the Universe. It was narrated by Colin Hanks’ dad. We lay back in the chairs to experience the hemispherical screen projection of the night sky that took us through interplanetary space past Mars, Jupiter and right under the rings of Saturn. Then the virtual camera went into interstellar drive where we finally saw stars began to move accordingly in the third dimension. We also went really fast as we went just short of a hundred parsecs a second to zoom past the stars of the Orion constellation and zip right into M42’s gaseous mass where we saw lots of […]
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Even The Exhibits Mooned Me (With D6 Stats)
Muzium Negara focuses primarily on the cultural history of this magical fantasy realm currently known to the world as “Malaysia”, although some natural history of the land is touched upon. Outside, we were greeted by a number of old train exhibits. In other words, there were more trains here than any one time I’m at the LRT station waiting for a train to arrive. Irfan poses by the Inscription Stone of Terengganu, unearthed at Kuala Berang at the turn of the 20th century. 700 years old, it’s evidence that Islam thrived in that region at the early 14th century. This guy is from my old neighbourhood – The Perak Man. How old is this guy? Take our current year: 9391 Before Guild. Go back about 2000 years we arrive at the dawn of the Common Era at 11391 B.G. Between then and now, we’ve had the Roman Empire, the Dark […]
Continue readingAllie’s 16 Month Birthday
So last Sunday, Allie was 16 months old! She’s one and 1/3 years old. It seems like just yesterday she was just a tiny little thing and now she’s running around, starting to talk, and becoming a real person! [[image:allie450a.jpg:Hello! Like my barrette?:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for added captions Allie now walks and runs confidently, trying to climb everything, touch everything, point to everything, talk about everything. She dances to music, whether it be the stereo or songs in advertisements, or songs we sing. She loves looking at herself in the mirror and in pictures. She can go from lying down to sitting to a standing (and walking and running) without pulling up on anything, by just pushing up off the floor. When she falls down, she stands back up and continues on her merry way (unless it was a hard spill and she hits her head or […]
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Year Nine Celebratory Dinner
Here we are at Year Nine. That means it’s been a year since this blog entry, which is Year Eight. Instead of relaxing at home, or both of us forgetting about it (which has happened before believe you me) Irfan and I went to pick up Ain after work and headed to Midvalley Megamall for an anniversary dinner. We decided on eating at Secret Recipe. I had no complaints because MPH was right beside us. The smell of books always gives me a good appetite. One more year before we reach the decade-mark!
Continue readingAllie’s 12 Month (aka First) Birthday
Can you believe it???? Allie had her very first birthday, and turned a YEAR old last Wednesday, July 22! [[image:allie312a.jpg:Hellooooooo I’m 1!!!!:center:0]] Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to Allieeeeee,Happy birthday to youuuuuu Many thanks to everyone who called/emailed/sent presents/cards/ecards/facebooked/forummed and even blogged birthday wishes for Allie! It made us all very happy and we thank you for your wonderful wishes. *As always, please mouse over the pictures for captions. This last month has seriously flown by! I’m in-between projects so have been able to spend a lot of time with Allie and her Papa! No pesky work to get in the way! Teehee! And Allie has come so far! She has two teeth now (doubled her teeth total in one month!), commando-crawls forward especially in hot pursuit of Lily the cat, strides purposefully if you hold her hands and help her, and she even kicks […]
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Here There Be Mountains, Ryan
En route between Sitiawan, Perak and Pasir Mas, Kelantan we had to drive across the Titiwangsa mountain range. It was about one hundred kilometres between the towns of Gerik and Jeli, both major population centres that flanked the range where the federal road crosses over. There was a rest stop along the way where we bought lunch, though we did not eat there. Irfan, by the way, had just woke up from a long nap in the car. We drove further down the road to stop the car park of an abandoned army shooting range, which had an abandoned restaurant in front of it. I ate here once. Across the road was an abandoned army outpost which I hadn’t noticed before. While we had lunch Irfan blew bubbles:
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The Monkey-Swamps Of Lumut
What are these monkeys up to? Where do they come from? Do they have insurance? It was late afternoon when Irfan, Ain and I went for a drive toward Lumut. We drove through the little tourist town which was jam-packed with visitors from out of town. It was after all the school holidays. After getting through the traffic jam, we drove to the area beside the old defunct Lumut Hospital where we could walk on the sand, see ferries head out toward Pangkor Island and view frigates at their dock at the naval base. Then from Lumut we headed Sitiawan-wards but took a detour to the Mangrove Park. It looked far better than it used to. The walkways had been extended to other parts of the mangrove jungle and there were lamps everywhere. Everything looked shiny and tourist-friendly. There were lots of visitors that day, even a recently-married couple taking […]
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LOL! PraWNED!!!111
Once upon a time, Atok and Opah told us of a little out of the way place named Bagan Nakhoda Omar, Harbour of Captain Omar in Anglic. Who was Nakhoda Omar and ship did he captain? I’d like to know that as well… On our way to Sitiawan for school holidays, we thought we’d stop there for lunch. It was a warm sunny day, but not sweltering at all. There was a cool breeze coming from the sea and we took a table under the undulating shadow of some coconut trees. We ordered the specialty that Atok and Opah told us about: fried meals with prawns. Ain & I ordered nasi goreng and Irfan the meehoon goreng. While waiting for lunch to be cooked, Irfan explored the area around the food stalls, chasing a small monitor lizard into a pool under the gazebo where most of the tables were situated. […]
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A Sporting Event For Irfan’s School
Irfan handed us the letter from school early this week saying that Friday morning is sports day! The pre-school and Years 1, 2 and 3 classes’ sports day to be precise. The older primary kids will have theirs on Sunday. Early Friday morning, Irfan’s mom and dad was there, all eager to see Irfan in action on the field. His year only had one game, which was pulling a ball across the field with a hoop. Nothing much to talk about there, so here’s a bunch of pictures with accompanying captions. Above: Can you spot Irfan during the initial assembly of short humans? Above: Irfan and friends walks in a column from the assembly area toward the school field. Above: In the very hot sun… very, very hot sun… Irfan’s class 1 Ikhlas during the walk-by. Above: Waiting under the kids’ tent, Irfan traded is now-empty tumbler of orange juice […]
Continue readingAiman Joins Irfan In The Pool
Earlier this month, Irfan’s cousin Aiman came to join Irfan for a quick dunk in the pool. Ain whipped up some bihun goreng with keropok, and off we went to a mini-picnic. Aiman came prepared with arm floats and trunks. At first he eyes the giant bathtub, probably wondering if it was scientifically possible to have a bathtub that big. [[image:2009-03-aiman-swims01.jpg:… but the trunks are a couple of sizes too big:center:0]] Then, his dad, also known as Irfan’s Ayah Long, began submergence procedure. Theoretically, he would not be taken to crush depth. Not even on a lark. [[image:2009-03-aiman-swims02.jpg:10 degrees down bubble:center:0]] Meanwhile, the elder Irfan orbits his cousin, at the same time having his own brand of fun. Splashing water. Spinning in the pool. Couple of other stuff too…[[image:2009-03-aiman-swims03.jpg:It was a nice, sunny day:center:0]] Thanks to Youtube, Irfan now knows the Mark Harris style of propelling yourself through the water. […]
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The Exercise of Vital Powers
Another month, another new year – making this the third new year in two months. What’s a new year – especially Chinese New Year – without a vital trip to the nearby FELCRA seafood restaurant, as previously seen in this entry from a couple of years back. As usual, the highlight of dinner is the fried calamari a.k.a. sotong celup tepung. The crew depicted above is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the squiddies. However, Irfan is easily distracted as shown in the following photo. When the stingrays were done, Irfan fed its gristle to the cats, who as far as we can tell appreciated the food. Above, Ain happily shows off the batter-fried calamari, which is the best we’ve had the pleasure of tasting. The dinner commemorated group of three birthdays and one anniversary, some of which had just passed and some has yet to come.
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Intersections in Real Time
The counter ticks up for Ain every year on January 22nd, which makes this the thirteenth year I’ve been around her to hear the counter tick. This year also marks first year Irfan contributed to his mother’s birthday card. We, including Cik Ma and Cik Su, travelled to The Mines to consume some chicken at Kenny Roger’s Roasters. However, there was a chicken shortage there. So instead we invaded Nando’s instead for some peri-peri chicken. In conclusion, I loved the peri-peri sauce and Ain did not. More for me! Happy birthday, Irfan’s mom.
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Ye Olde Good Widow Village
Breathing a little mountain air is said to do one good. So we decided to saddle up and head uphill… so we can inhale lots and lots of mountain air. 4,000 or 6,000 cm³ per inhalation, I should hope. Soon after, we found ourselves at the little mountain village of Janda Baik because of a friend, who has a tract of land up here upon which he’s made a campsite with lots of trees, split-level terrain, a simple gazebo, an artificial creek and waterfalls cutting across the site… and a natural stream across the path from his land. It’s still a work in progress, so there are still lots to build. But it’s good enough for me. Irfan, of course, enjoyed himself and said he’d love to return. And when we return, we shall bring in tow: a tent, a couple of sleeping bags, a torchlight and some delicious consumables. […]
Continue readingIrfan’s Parents: Year Eight Together
Twelve years ago Ain & I met. Four years later, we got married. Strangely enough this year we remembered our anniversary. As opposed to being reminded by Atok Irfan when he wishes us happy anniversary at night. Happy eighth anniversary, Ain. May we still have each other’s backs and make each other laugh for as long as we live. (And maybe some time after as well) Earlier tonight we celebrated with a dinner outside, compliments of Emma: [[image:anniversary2008_00.jpg:Shane… it’s your T-shirt!:center:0]] [[image:anniversary2008_01.jpg:This time we have Irfan in between:center:0]] [[image:anniversary2008_02.jpg:Are these guys twins or what?:center:0]] [[image:anniversary2008_03.jpg:Gesturing for some reason at the camera:center:0]] Now it’s back to getting Irfan to do his homework…
Continue readingA Letter To The United States
I don’t usually write long letters nowadays thanks to the internet, which allows you to communicate immediately to family and friends with concise information almost everyday, if need be. This has the result of never requiring to long letters to tell other people the various things that happen to you in a single long document. Recently I’ve had to write a pretty long email to Irfan and Alya’s Atok and Opah who are still in Ohio playing with little Alya. I should try to summarize the email here, however I will just let you read an excerpt from it. From the Federal Highway we decided to take the Sprint elevated highway that would cut across the University Malaya hills to PJ. As we went up the highway a speed sensor tagged the car in front of us at 65kph. It moved sideways into the left lane and slowed down. The […]
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