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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We haven't played together for a long time

Alien RPG: Hope’s Last Day Part 1

It was a Saturday morning and we had just completed a walk along the canal near the house. I asked Irfan if we could try out the Alien RPG. So I grabbed my gear and set things up… Dramatis Personae Dr. Westerlund, Xenobotanist (Irfan) Dr. Westerlund is a botanist assigned to Hadley’s Hope, the colony on the moon Acheron, which orbits the gas giant Calpamos. His task is to monitor the Botany Stations at various locations on Acheron, which might some day One dreary morning, he receives an alert from Botany Station 2 in Demeter Valley 30 km away. As per security procedure, Deputy Marshall von Oy accompanies him, driving out in an NR-9 ATV. Botany Station 2 The uneventful drive to Demeter Valley takes 30 minutes over shadowy skies and black soil. Meanwhile a Company shuttle arrives from off-world with a Weyland-Yutani senior officer; von Oy monitors the arrival […]

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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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It's Irfan the Intern again

BM Course at LEAD

There are a number of courses that I had to take upon being appointed as permanent staff at the university. And I had three years to take them all. This week I was scheduled to take a Bahasa Melayu course. It was a great course as we talked about things I loved, like sociolinguistics, language drift, history of the language and such. The lecturers who would deliver the course were my colleagues, Zaki, Jannah, and Noriha – who once played Rayha the Linguist. The BM course was to be held at LEAD. And I seem to recall knowing an intern who works there. Click on the images below for a larger view:

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Irfan the intern

Interning at LEAD

It seemed as if it was only five years ago that we were stressing out finding a kindergarten for young Irfan. We were in our car, scouting all the pre-schools in Pandan Indah with the questions, Would we be able to afford it? Is it safe? Will he pick up bad habits from other human younglings? A blink of an eye later, here he is doing internship at the Centre for Sustainable Academic Leadership Development (LEAD) at UniMAP. His first foray into the working world, after some years studying across the highway from the university with three of his cohorts.

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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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Declare your action!

Work Excursion to Melaka

Previously… I was invited by the English Department of Pay Fong Middle School in Melaka to run RPGs and give a talk during their English Week programme. With my RPG gear in tow and Ain and Irfan as my support team, I was ready to for the events in the next few days on behalf of UniMAP. Day One: Year Zero Mini (2023-07-27) Because we were due be at the school after lunch, it allowed us time to recuperate from the drive the previous day. The storefronts along the beachfront road were closed except for one Indian Muslim restaurant, so we had lunch there. After Zuhur/Asar jama’ prayers, we headed there to meet with my contact there, the English teacher Kelvin. Thankfully, school traffic was not as jammed as the previous day. We easily found a parking spot. Then we went to the school’s language lab, where I ran Year […]

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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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Ain & Hisham in Lumut

Hari Raya Haji 1444H

For Aidiladha, we returned to Sitiawan where Ain made nasi minyak and ayam masak biryani. Here are some photos of the first day of Raya in Sitiawan. Click on them to expand. After taking photos, we went for a drive to Lumut. For the first time in a long while we pulled over and walked at the promenade (See photos). It was peculiar. Vacation season, but not a lot of humans at the pier as it usually is. Because of a medical emergency, we could not go visit the folks I wanted to visit this time around. We spent the second day of Raya at the Manjung Hospital. It was physically and mentally exhausting. In any case, we got to speak to the Middletown team via Discord early on the second day – which also wears away at my somewhat weary soul. So long since we were able to meet […]

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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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Jejawi and Salak Perdana teams

Rania Pre-Aidilfitri Visit

It is the day before Hari Raya. Based on our annual Eid schedule, we will be spending Aidilfitri in Pasir Mas. On the eve of our journey, we received visitors from Rania and family who will be spending their Aidilfitri Day One here up north with Farid’s family. It was great that Nia and Irfan had some fun together. Next day, we will depart for Pasir Mas in the evening, passing over the mountains overnight and hopefully arrive in Pasir Mas before Subuh.

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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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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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