The two new grandmothers, September 2002. Three years ago, Irfan Shafiq was born at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital. Within that three years, he’s given not just his mother and I a lot of joy, but a lot of other people in our extended family as well. We’ll be cutting cake in the next few hours, so we’ll have pictures of that soon. In the meantime, enjoy the announcement of Irfan’s birth (link dead) in the Star Wars Artists’ Guild forums from 3 years ago.
Continue readingTag Archives: Irfan
Irfan on the new desktop
When this blog was founded, Irfan was not yet three years old.
He is now an adult with many more leagues to travel.
Irfan Goes To The Zoo
Last Sunday, Irfan (along with a bunch of family members) went to the zoo! Here’s a series of photos that came out of our little zoo trip. [[image:zoo01.jpg:Immediately after insertion into zoo:center:0]]The crew lead by Irfan walks by the elephant paddock, away from it because he was spooked by the big pachyderms. [[image:zoo02.jpg:Stork lake:center:0]]Irfan and his Aunt Emma with some storks in the background. There’s one bird in flight in the background immediately behind them if you look carefully. [[image:zoo03.jpg:Pony ride:center:0]]Again, Irfan is spooked and refuses to approach a pony, RM2.00 a pop. He preferred to be elsewhere, like… [[image:zoo04.jpg:The jejawi tree:center:0]]…this ficus microcarpa a.k.a. the Malay Banyan a.k.a the jejawi tree. Oh hey, another group photo. [[image:zoo05.jpg:Emus:center:0]]Everyone referred to these as ostriches until we came to the plaque that says that they were emus. The ostriches, we discovered later, were in the the savanna open paddock along with the […]
Continue readingHe Seems To Be Developing A Sense of Style
Yesterday, Irfan and I took a drive to the Ulu Langat district, where it was serene, green and a winding stream shadowed the road for miles. It was just him and I in the car. He was in the back, free to roam. (If he was sitting up front, he’d be belted up and annoyed at the fact.) So there we were driving among the serene greenery, the kampung houses and colourful flowers on the bushes in their yards. I barely heard him grab something from the storage bin behind the parking brake in the centre column. Then he was standing just behind the front seats between them with his elbows resting on either seat. I glanced at him and there he was… wearing a pair of sunglasses I’ve never seen before, looking all badass. It was an awesome moment.
Continue readingIrfan’s Aunt Emma’s Graduation
As was reported in an earlier post, we were all at Universiti Malaya for Emma’s graduation ceremory. Irfan’s grandparents along with assorted uncles and aunts were there for the occasion. They spent the night at Rumah Universiti, booked many weeks earlier to avoid being sold out. I was worried of the day being ruined by thick, smothering haze that’d been plaguing us for the previous two weeks. But like a miracle, the air cleared. Not a bit, not even moderately… it cleared almost totally. So we had blue skies and could clearly around us during graduation day. [[popup:um01.jpg:(thumbnail):Coming down Rumah Universiti:center:1]] After eating lunch in the hotel room, we headed down toward the crowd surrounding the Dewan Tunku Canselor. Irfan was curious about the drains as usual. Because the the crowd hasn’t surged yet, I was on photography detail. Later, to ensure Irfan’s safety, I had to take him in […]
Continue reading
More Like His Old Man By The Day
There were thousands of humans swarming the area before the Dewan Tunku Canseler in Universiti Malaya today. I swear if I didn’t know there were individual consciousness behind the motile meatbags I’d say they were subject to nothing more than Brownian Motion. And so it came to pass that it was Ain’s sister Emma’s graduation convocation today at UM, or commencement, as some of you might call it. Ain, Irfan and I were at the Dataran Canseleri during the afternoon waiting for Emma and my in-laws to be let out of the Dewan Tunku Canseler, the university’s main hall, so we could take pictures, just like the several hundred or so other families that were there today. At this point, the number of people swarming the area was phenomenal. Also because of that the noise level of the crowd was ear splitting. Irfan was running around, weaving in and out […]
Continue readingIrfan’s Birthday Present from ABC TV
Apparently ABC has a birthday surprise for Irfan’s 3rd birthday this year. They’ll be airing the Lost second season opener on September 21st. Hooray! More answers to our questions already, like the fates of our intrepid (or suicidal) mariners Sawyer, Jin, Michael and (especially) Walt.
Continue reading
Excursion to KLCC
Today we went to KLCC for a picnic. Irfan, as usual, went straight for the extensive playground they have there, running up and sliding down the play structures. Later, I got to do what I haven’t done in a long time: spend an hour at Kinokuniya browsing and reading the first few chapters of several books, including Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Even read through the Marvel Spider-Man Encyclopedia. As usual I took a some photos, and here are some views of Irfan playing outside, and some view inside Suria KLCC. Inside Suria KLCC Mall
Continue reading
KLIA June 2005
Their time in Malaysia had come and gone. Vin and Sila left the country, back to their own lives in the United States last night. It had been a fantastic month, and we were all saddened by their having to leave. Irfan, on the other hand, took it well. Even after the evening claiming his Ayah Cik’s luggage as his own, Irfan waved his goodbye to my sister and brother-in-law without any fuss. Even this morning, when I asked him, “Ayak Cik mana? (Where’s Ayah Cik?)” Irfan cheerily replied, “Ayah Cik naik kapal terbang. (Ayah Cik got onto an aircraft.)” Here are pictures from last night sad event. Here are some general pictures of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport taken without flash and with long exposure.
Continue reading
A Stay At The Hilton: Another Photojournal
For the last year or so, after sending Irfan to day care, we drive to work together. After the construction of Hilton KL Sentral, we drive past it every morning. Sometimes we wonder if we would ever get a chance to spend a night at the newest and state-of-the-art hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Then suddenly last week, newly-weds Sila and Vin booked us on what would be a 2 night stay there. After their honeymoon in Redang we were to rendezvous with them at KL Sentral. Soon after, we were enjoying the air-conditioned, luxurious rooms of the hotel. Here are pictures from our awesome stay at the Hilton. Here we are settling down into the hotel room. Irfan warmed up to the bathtub immediately. He had to have his Ayah Cik Vin around for him to fill up the tub with tepid water, before he takes a dip in it […]
Continue reading
Sila’s Wedding: A Photojournal
Herein lies a selection of pictures of Sila & Vin’s wedding.
Continue reading
KLIA May 2005
11.15 pm was Sila and Vin’s arrival time at KLIA from Cincinnati, by way of LA and Incheon. We went with two cars, because Sila’s message was quite explicit: “Need empty car boots, we got lots of bags”… or something to that effect. Here are the pictures of the KLIA excursion, which was a fun excursion. Heading back home, all the cars experienced various technical problems… at about 1.00 am. My car tyre’s sidewall bulged threatening us with a flat in the middle of nowhere, Abah’s car’s radiator red-lined and driver’s door window got stuck in the down position…. Those weren’t fun.
Continue reading
Irfan As A Star Wars Planet
Irfan has a planet officially named after him in the Star Wars universe. Specifically, a gas giant in the Vaxal system. Third planet of the system, with seven moons orbiting it. How did it come about, you ask? Thanks to a friend of mine named Gary Astleford, a freelance game writer. He landed a gig writing a Star Wars RPG article for Paizo Publishing’s Dungeon / Polyhedron Magazine (Issue 106, cover date January 2004) and he asked me if he could use Irfan’s name in the article. So, now Irfan is an official planet in the Star Wars universe, since Paizo Publishing at that time is a Lucasfilm licensee for Star Wars RPG along with Wizards of the Coast for the d20 incarnation of the game. Yay. Here’s the scan from the part of the magazine with his name on it. Thanks Uncle Gary.
Continue reading
Ain’s Graduation Aug 2003
In August 2003, a thousand families flocked to Universiti Malaya to see a family member graduate. Ours were there to see Ain graduate (with a 11-month old Irfan in tow), finally getting her bachelor’s degree in Economics. What I didn’t know was graduation events can have some pretty exciting moments too. Like the time the university guards blocked the road to let the graduates travel from their staging ground at the Bangunan Peperiksaan to the where they were supposed to receive their scroll at Dewan Tunku Canselor. Out of the dozens of vehicles blocked, a single biker tried to run the blockade, right before the thousands of people there. So the guards grabbed hold of the perpetrator and pulled him right off his bike as he passed them. Other guards dragged his bike. They forcibly returned him to where he was with the rest of the waiting bikes and cars. […]
Continue reading
Irfan the Water Baby
At two and a half years old, Irfan has absolutely no fear of water. Unbidden, he will kick off his shoes, run to the edge of the pool, do a little sing and dance routine (seriously) and jump right into the deep end with a big splash. Recently he started using a child’s life preserver, a full body jacket now, not the small arm band things you see him wearing here, which sprung a leak last month. Every weekend he goes nuts whenever he learns that we’re going to air lompat, which is his term for the swimming pool. I guess I’m quite grateful for his lack of fear for water. It would be quite easy for him to learn to swim later on. Here are more pictures of Irfan the paddler from way back in January 2005. Click on the images to expand them.
Continue reading
Picture of a Second Birthday
Last September, Irfan celebrated his second birthday by eviscerating a cake as seen in the attached image. This year perhaps we’ll celebrate his third by watching Firefly. But he better not aim to misbehave.
Continue reading