Previously, on Hishgraphics blog… It has been months since I posted. The last published blog post announced of our entire household’s infection with COVID-19. Sorry to disappoint some readers, but we yet live. The infection did not saddle us with severe symptoms. However, I have not posted for a long time and it is time to rectify that. The reason why I have not posted is because I found it a huge chore to conceive blog posts, formulate the text and prepare images. In the interim, besides the week-long COVID-19 bout, I have been for the last two years suffering from eczema, and last week a doctor diagnosed me with arthritic psoriasis whereby my left knee hurt immensely making it hard for me to be mobile. This has (not had) the effect of making it hard to manage my classes in the previous semesters. I enjoy the classes and interacting […]
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STA: Three’s a Crowd
Star Trek: Thine Own Self S2 E03 Three’s A Crowd *** Stardate: 57930.2 – Sat Dec 06 2380 10:50:16 UTC Starfleet Dramatis Personae Lt. Cmdr. Kodar Tamat, Cardassian engineering officer and mission commander Dr. Thomas Crane, Human medical officer (NPC) Lt. Leahman Barclay, Human conn officer (Semi-temporary NPC) Ensign Sparik, Vulcan conn officer (NPC). Previously on Star Trek Thine Own Self… Into the Mushroom Caves Kodar Tamat, Leahmann Barclay, Thomas Crane and Sparik rush into the mushroom forest in the enormous, presumably the Kom-Rhanok towards the central stone pillar of the enormous subterranean cavern. Presumably they would be able to contact the USS Sienkiewicz. – which is in orbit – from that stone pillar. Thankfully, their hand phasers still work. However their tricorders are limited to a range of 50 metres and the jamming field is still preventing them from calling their starship. Light patches from bio-luminescent moss give the space […]
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Nipah Klasik
We discovered this really neat restaurant recently. The eatery is nestled among a thick grove of nipah plants growing out of a swamp slightly south of Simpang Empat. Besides having food that we found delicious, the actual restaurant was built on stilts over the swamp. Visitors can sit at tables over the water. The water beneath is clean and clear. No bugs bothered us. Though there were some spider webs that Irfan kept his eye on as we had lunch there. Check out the video below for a walk-through of the restaurant over the swamp.
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Lazy Unboxing of Three RPG Starter Box Sets
A couple of days ago I received my order of three tabletop role-playing game starter sets. Three boxes! The Star Trek Adventures RPG Starter Set, Alien RPG Starter Set, and The One Ring Starter Set. I thought I would make an lazy, amateurish video unboxing video of the three games. Here is the video: I hope I DO get to run them soon. Addendum (30th November 2022): SPOILERS – he did NOT get to run them soon.
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Alien RPG: The Mei Mei Scenario
And so it came to pass Irfan and I tried a short, simple Alien RPG scenario for the first time when we were at Pasir Mas. Alien RPG: The Mei Mei Scenario Dramatis Personae Irfan plays Dr. Karmo the medic Anya – perhaps the youngest Alien RPG player in the world – plays Mei Mei the kid Mei Mei was alone, exploring the many dark corridors of the transport ship USCSS Anning Black. That was when she spotted seething dark mass in the shadows of the far side of the corridor. It was one of the alien creatures that had been let loose aboard the ship while most of the passengers were still in hypersleep. It began to creep towards the horrified little girl. She remembered the laser pointer in her pocket and how it used to distract cats. Then, Mei Mei pointed it to the wall beside the alien while […]
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An Aidilfitri in Sitiawan
Hari Raya Aidilfitri was a couple of days ago as we rolled into the month of Shawwal in the year 1443. We were in Sitiawan for the holidays and here are some pics from our time there! Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir & Batin, everyone.
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Old School Mates in Lumut
Not only is it Labour Day here in Malaysia, but it’s also Hari Raya Aidilfitri! It is very rare for our old school mates to meet up when we return home for the holidays. So it was a welcome pleasure to have met up with these dudes in Lumut. We talked about the future of the county, old times, lost friends and growing old. Never thought we would be talking about things like that.
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STA: Breaking Out
Star Trek: Thine Own Self S02 E02 Breaking Out *** Stardate: 57930.0 – Sat Dec 06 2380 0931 UTC Starfleet Dramatis Personae Lt. Cmdr. Kodar Tamat, Cardassian First Officer and mission commander Lt. Leahman Barclay, Human conn officer Dr. Thomas Crane, Human medical officer Non-Player Characters Ensign Sparik, Vulcan conn officer – shuttle pilot Lt. Annete Metaxis, Human bridge conn officer – B shift Dr. Marjukka Suuronen, Human chief medical officer Dr. Arnaaluk, Human medical officer Chief Inés Ortega, Human transporter chief Captain Vosgal Toor, Zaranite commanding officer of the USS Sienkiewicz Last time on Star Trek Adventures: Thine Own Self Captain’s Log. Stardate 57319.68. The USS Sienkiewicz has been dispatched to the New Kamchatka colony. With us is Mr. Lionel Morikawa, a Federation diplomat who will be mediating a dispute between the Federation colony base and the native species of the planet, the Zrasu. Although the mission is predicted to be a uneventful, my […]
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STA: Spirited Away
Star Trek: Thine Own Self S02 E01 Spirited Away *** Stardate: 57929.9 – Dec 06 2380 0851 UTC Starfleet Dramatis Personae Lt. Cmdr. Kodar Tamat, Cardassian First Officer and mission commander Lt. Leahman Barclay, Human conn officer Non-Player Characters Ensign Sparik, Vulcan conn officer – shuttle pilot Lt. Annete Metaxis, Human bridge conn officer – B shift Chief Inés Ortega, Human transporter chief Captain Vosgal Toor, Zaranite commanding officer of the USS Sienkiewicz Lionel Morikawa, Human diplomat Several months has passed since the mission to the Melpomene Sector. The 2381 new year is just around the corner. The Saber-class USS Sienkiewicz’s mission is to escort the Federation diplomat Lionel Morikawa to Porticullis III. There, he would mediate a dispute between the New Kamchatka colony and the local Zrasu species, who has developed a slow version of the warp drive that could only reach warp 1.5. Presently, the bridge crew is Lt. Annette Metaxis […]
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Two Lines
It has been almost two years since the pandemic officially kicked off in the country. After many mutations, the former denizens of the Tenth Floor (now in Transitory State) are now infected by the virus. At time of writing, there has been 440 million infections and 6 million deaths worldwide, while in Malaysia there has been 3.5 million recorded infections and 33 thousand has died because of it. Now we are part of the statistics. We are thankful to have been triple vaccinated, so the symptoms have not been as severe as they could be. For me I have been experiencing fever and sore throat, especially at nights. As such we are all now in a 7-day home quarantine since our first day of infection, while monitoring our vital stats to be submitted to MySejahtera twice daily. Here’s hoping for the best.
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A Book Writing Project on Pulau Pinang
And so it came to pass that I was invited on another project. This time we were to write and edit an elementary-level English language school book for Perlis. The team consisted of workplace colleagues and a selection of Perlis’ primary school teachers. We had to produce both English and Bahasa Malaysia books, so we split into two groups. Like the previous month, we headed to Pulau Pinang to do our work. On the First and Second Day… I mostly worked, except for when we had to dine together as a team. We stayed at Copthorne Orchid Hotel, at Tanjung Bungah and the view from the hotel was gorgeous. Check out the photos below. Also, in the early evening after my work was done for the day, we went for a stroll at the beach. Previously we were unable to bring Irfan along as he was stuck in his polytechnic […]
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A Translation Project on Pulau Pinang
And so it came to pass I was invited to participate in a project for a team of researchers at the university. My role there was to translate and edit the document they wrote from the research they made. Day One On the first day, we went off the PLUS Highway and took the old Federal road from Gurun all the way to Butterworth, then swung about to take the Penang bridge towards George Town. But before we went to the town, we had brunch at the nasi kandar cafe at USM. Ain thought that USM could be a great place for Irfan to further his studies. Later. Maybe. InshaaAllah. After some photos taken at the university, we headed downtown to Cititel Hotel where we checked in. Later that day I started my translation work with the research team. Day Two On the second day, we had quite a big […]
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Wherefore Art Thou, Art Card?
I am so excited to receive this package today. It is something I ordered from Shopee. I have been looking for this in million print shops here in town. None appear to have them in stock any more. I am a proud owner of 100 pieces of A4-sized, 260 gsm-thick, white art card. This is because I had been trying and failing to print out my paper miniatures. I also found that the only place that I definitely knew stocked art card had folded* (or moved). In short, I am so happy. *No pun intended.
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Picnic by the Bendang
Yesterday, a group of colleagues organised a trip away from the bustling metropolis known as Kangar (mm-hmm) to nearby Pokok Sena for a picnic in the sticks. By sticks, I mean the beautiful, recently-launched Loqsakri Agro Farm. First we rendezvoused near Arau along the road to Jitra. Then we formed a convoy towards Jitra, then Alor Setar for brunch at a local kopitiam. After picking up Faten, Zaki led the way towards Loqsakri. The agro farm was welcoming, beautiful and was not even finished yet. There were bamboo huts constructed beside a little canal that separated the landscaped guests’ area and the bendang (the rice field). Although the sun was blazing above, the wind was a cooling, soothing force to be reckoned with. We appeared to have visited just as the padi was at the most vibrant shade of green. The owner of Loqsakri is a cordial, welcoming person who […]
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Anya Surprises Irfan
Irfan was feeling pretty exhausted physically and emotionally having to study at his college. Well, everyone feels that these days especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has petered out this last few months. So, we thought we’d give Irfan a happy surprise by NOT letting him know that his cousin Anya was coming to visit. Here is the moment, as he was walking to where we usually waited with the car, he realised that we had extra visitors with us: After the meeting everyone went to have dinner at Irfan’s school cafe. Three Days Later… That was three days ago. Earlier today, Irfan and Anya had even more fun at the college car park with a catapult. It shot a plastic rotor toy with blinking lights into the air and, well here’s the video: It was one of the best moments for Irfan living at the school, he told […]
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Anya the Co-teacher
So Anya came over for a visit. I was teaching an online class when they arrived from Selangor. Young Anya entered the room, so I invited her to help me conclude the class I was teaching. This is what happened: Yes, we talked to the students about facehuggers.
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