Friday, August 26, 2005
Last Day In Office !!Yeh Yeh!! Today is my last day of work before going to Genting!
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for J, as she still has to work tommorow. However, J's boss will not be in, so hopefully her last day won't be so hectic.
Finally, I have been waiting for this day since I book our trip two weeks ago. I am the easy excited lot, but I am able to sleep before a big trip. I plan to finish up some leftover stuff on my current projects before I go up the hill, so that my bosses won't call me up while I am on a Go-Kart ride. Maybe I should turn off my handphone while I'm on vacation. Hmmm... worth thinking.This will be our second trip to Genting together with Little Skywalker. However, it will be his first trip since he started walking. The last time when we were there, J and I had to take turns to carry our fat son around the whole of Genting until we had muscle ache after we came down. This time, our little son will be on his own feet and will be leaving back his little foot marks all over the hill of Genting.
I snapped a total of 172 photos during our last visit, I am aiming to break that record since I got an additional fresh round of bullets (512MB). Maybe on our next trip, I will be able to
I guess I won't be blogging until next Wednesday since I won't be working until then. Blogging is considered part of my work already since I always do it during Don't miss me or J or Little Skywalker!
Will be back with more stuff from Genting!!
See you guys and gals on Wednesday!!
p/s: Happy Merdeka to all Malaysians
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/26/2005 10:30:00 AM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
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Thursday, August 25, 2005
Sometimes Lightning Do Strikes Twice..It is just unbelievable!! Is only been four days since my last freak ancident at NKVE, and yet, it happened again yesterday evening.
I was driving home from my office during the evening rush hour along Jalan Pahang to Jalan Mahangmeru. Me and everyone else were stuck in a bumper to bumper jam as usual. My usual radio station (MyFM) will not be giving me the DHL sponsored traffic information for another 20 minutes.
I was crawling (moving 1-2 meters at a time) up the second flyover and "BANG!". It just happened out of the clear blue sky! Someone just hit me from behind with a Kelisa! The impact I felt in the car was tremendous. It reminded me of another idiot who hit me from behind (Yes, also when I was driving along a jam-pack road) earlier this year.I was thinking that the impact must have taken down my newly installed, three days old, RM180 bumper. Both of us stopped for a moment, and I signaled him to drive down the flyover before we stopped (I hate those morons who stop anywhere after an accident) at the roadside near the UMNO building. I went down and check out the damage to my car.
To my surprise, my bumper was still intact albeit slightly loosen and tilted downwards. However, the metal that is linked to my boot cover was slightly dented like a wide letter "V". I felt so lucky that I didn't installed a "fake" bumper that will cost me RM80 bugs less few days ago because the mechanic told me those "fake" ones will crack on slight impact while the original ones will only be dented.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the perpetrator’s car. His Kelisa was quite badly damage inside. From the outside, I can see that his number plate was gone, bumper badly dented, even his bonnet cover suffered a full blow. The worst thing is that his car started leaking some red fluid (I presume is fuel) heavily. Obviously his car will not be able to move further without a tow-truck.Both of us got into a light discussion. He is a kind looking Malay guy (probably in his early 30s) and wearing long sleeves office attire like me. I only assume that he works some government department. He is quite soft-spoken and obviously suffered some mental shockwave after the incident. Out of sympathy for the guy, I've decided to let him off the hook from paying my repair bill (which I think might cost around RM80 from my last experience). I told him to settle himself down and try calling a tow-truck. After that, I continued my journey to fetch J.
I called J once I got into my car and informed her about my misfortune and how unlucky she is to be married to a husband like me. As usual, she made sure I was alright and asked me to drive carefully (although the accident was 100% not my fault).
We went to a repair workshop and asked the mechanic to assess the damage repair. They had problem opening up the boot cover because of the dent caused by the impact. After 20 minutes of careful assessment, he told me it will cost RM180 (OMG!) to repair all of the damage as well as prevent any water leaking into my boot area.
A BIG SIGH!
Maybe is my destiny or is just that my new bumper is a bumper magnet. Anyhow, I've decided to ask for a second opinion today just for a price comparison before I make a decision on which shop to go for. J will be driving my car to another workshop that manage all her company's vehicles. Hopefully she can get a better pricing than RM180.I am only keeping my fingers crossed now in the hope that my series of unfortunate events will end after this. This weekend's Genting vacation is certainly going to help my family forgive and forget the accidents that happened the past few days.
Please remember us in your prayers..
p/s: I think everyone (myself included) should get a hold the number of Dr Liew and his mob-squad just in case.. also you can email me for my car plate number in case you wanna get luck :P
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/25/2005 12:59:00 PM :: and invited 5 Blah(s):
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Wednesday, August 24, 2005
NegaraKu Slows Down Again??As the header goes "Negaraku marches with the times", The Sun informed all Malaysians that the cabinet has approved to change the tempo of our national anthem once again. Apparently, they decided to slow it down... last year!
Did you know about this??
I am in a total disbelieve when I read about this. The previous excuse to change the tempo back in 1992 was to make it into more of a marching style instead of the slow and sleepy style. Our so-called Information Minister, Abdul Kadir even admits that most Malaysians are still unaware of this. According to him, the "current" tempo was first heard by the public during the 2003 National Day celebrations.Our Information Minister must be doing one hell of a bad job. It's already after one year since the change of tempo, and everyone (including me and people I know) still do not know about it. I wonder which version is being played when our sports teams win at international tournaments? I wonder if Nicole David knew about this..
Furthermore, what is the reason for the change of tempo this time? Is it like what The Sun has for header "marches with time"? Is this how the government is telling everyone that the economy has slow down? What about the rising inflation rate? Do we need to raise the pitch of some notes in our national anthem to accomodate that?
What a joke!!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/24/2005 03:49:00 PM :: and invited 3 Blah(s):
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Calling Streamyx Users!!
Jeff Ooi has convinced TM's management to meet up with more people, especially bloggers and TM's client living in Klang Valley.Anyone who is interested in participating in the discussion can email Jeff to book a place.
Hurry!! Dateline for registration is on this Friday, August 26.
Too bad I will be at Genting for my vacation.
Anyway, I still hope something good will come about after the discussion that will benefits Malaysians as a whole as we position ourselves in the IT-age.
Thanks and Good luck to Jeff and co. !!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/24/2005 01:58:00 PM :: and invited 2 Blah(s):
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Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Of Flag and Patriotism...Is that time of the year again where everyone is told to fly a flag in order to show their spirit of patriotism to our country (and enriching cronies in their flag business)!
Flipping through the newspaper today, I can see our Information Minister (Abdul Kadir or something) is upset because not enough flags are seen on buildings and vehicles on the road this year (read here and here). According to him, it has been a Malaysian tradition to fly a flag beginning on 17th of August every year, and not 31st.
Since when did it became a tradition?
J got a flag from one of her colleague whose husband works in Nestle. There is a Maggi label printed on the flag. So I guess it must be some free gift that they are giving out for this month with any purchase. My friend who works in a government department gave me one (to be sticked on car) because his department got all these free flags handed out by the government.Both the flags are, of course, given to Little Skywalker as his new toys. He likes to wave it around frantically like his father showed him. The problem with him doing so is that he occasionally waves it too close to his face. The flag will almost (and sometimes do) graze his face and his eyes. To avoid injury to his eyes, he sometimes closes his eyes while showing his patriotism to our country.
I (like many other Malaysians) are sick of our so-called ministers (or sinisters), in their self-acclaimed style of showing patriotism to the country around this time of the year. I mean what if I don't fly a flag? What if I just don't like to fly a flag? Does it makes me less patriotic? If someone wears a shirt with a "Jalur Gemilang" on it while snatching other people's purse on August 31st, should we pardon him as he is such a patriot?
I cheered and supported our badminton team, our squash team, our bowling team, our once F1 driver whenever they are on TV. I am proud to be a citizen of a developing country, and help contribute to the economy in our own little way. We designated a portion of our monthly budget to eat at steakhouse, to shop a little extra stuff, to travel a bit within the country and to donate to some charitable organization. I am even driving a Proton Wira for crying out loud.So don't tell me I am not patriotic just because I don't have a fetish of putting up a flag on the eighth month of each year.
To me, these hypocrite ministers (most whom are not worthy to be) can go fly a kite for all I care!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/23/2005 09:20:00 AM :: and invited 4 Blah(s):
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Monday, August 22, 2005
"Highway Robbery" At NKVEIt was a highway robbery for me last weekend at NKVE!
I was driving with my brother's car behind me around 11pm, on our way back from a dinner my brother threw in Klang. When I arrive under a flyover between Subang and Damansara, I could see some pieces of stuff scattering all over the highway road. At first I thought those were plastic stuff from a car accident or something. It was not until a car in front of me got his tyre over one of the piece and it went up flipping in the air for a few seconds and drop back on the road that I realise those were metal stuff.
I was driving about 80-90km/h and trying to avoid the metal scraps on the road. Unfortunately, I missed one (damn that one) and it got caught in my left-rear tyre and launched off the back of my car, and managed to take my whole rear bumper along with it. When it happened, J and I only heard a loud sound as if some metal hitting against the bottom of my car.We thought it was just that until we sense that one of my tyre was going flat and started getting bumpy. I stopped the car at the side and went down to check on my tyre. I was damn shocked to see my bumper missing totally with some of the wires (presumably tied to the reverse sensor) left tangling at the back of my car.
Another shocking revelation came to me when my brother (who also stopped his car) told me that my bumper actually hit his car and left a small black rubber taint on his bonnet. He thought I've hit someone's bumper off. It was not until he saw my car's ass that he realised that the bumper belongs to me!
Anyhow, both of us managed to replace my flat tyre within 15 minutes and got on our journey home. When my parents were told later (by my brother) about the incident My parents told him that we could actually called the number printed on the NKVE ticket and someone will come and change my tyre for us and even tow us if necessary for FREE! They've been in a situation before along the PLUS NS highway in their Pajero and got one of the tyre punctured. Trust me, you do not want to change a Pajero's tyre alone.
No offence to the highway patrols, but I think I can manage to replace a tyre. But is good to know that the highway patrols are ready to help in the case of an accident. At least I know my toll money had contributed to something that is beneficial to my family. So KUDOS to PLUS highway patrol! My parents even bother to call up the NKVE people to tell them about the scattered debris along that area since they know I am totally not in a mood to do that.And guess what? The damage cost me a neck-slashing price tag of RM474. The price includes replacing a pair of new tyre (Dunlop imported) - RM135 each, four wheel balancing - RM24 and one original bumper - RM180. I still need to go and purchase a new set of reverse sensor later. Sigh!
I only wonder if PLUS will agree to pay for my damage??
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/22/2005 11:40:00 AM :: and invited 5 Blah(s):
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Friday, August 19, 2005
Of Asadi and YakultLast Saturday was the first time we visited the pasar malam near our house because we wanted to stay home and watch the Summer Concert on 8TV. Normally we will go and have a nice dinner at our usual steakhouse.
Upon arriving there, I saw a lady just opening her boxes of slippers to be laid out on the table. I saw this eye-catching orange slippers and J saw it too. Since my slippers are giving me rashes due to unknown reasons, I've decided to buy it (RM10).It was not until I reach home and took it out that I realised that the slippers are from Asadi, the famous brand I've been hearing about on the MyFM everyday. The pair I bought was "Asadi Ultra Lite" and it has an official price tag of RM10.90, so I guess I saved 90 cents.
As I was trying out the slippers at home, Little Skywalker got intrigued (by the striking orange I geuss) and was yelling to try them on. Obviously we need to oblige since he is the "King of the House" nowadays. He tried it on his hands and later on his feet. I think he is just too anxious to "put himself in my shoes/slippers". After trying on and taking some shots for 10 minutes, he decided to give up and have his Yakult drink.
Speaking of Yakult, I personally prefer Vitagen myself, but Little Skywalker is hooked on Yakult since my parents bought his first one. They claimed is better, but I still buy vitagens (and some Yakult) at home. Ever since he learned how to suck from a straw, he's been hooked on Yakult. He drinks at least one or two bottles a day. I really hope he can get hook onto something that is cheaper like Milo or Nescafe.FYI, J has been asking me about this post which I have saved as Draft since Monday. I refused to tell her about the content. She must be very anxious to read this now. I also hope to get some free supply of Asadi slippers and Yakult drinks since Jason got his free T-shirts from Body Gloves.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/19/2005 04:20:00 PM :: and invited 2 Blah(s):
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Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Washing Dirty Linen In Public
I am watching “Desperate Housewives” in a stretch on DVD. I never watch interesting TV-series on TV because I hate the waiting period in between episodes.I am particularly intrigued by an episode ("Guilty") related to stress of taking care children. Sexy mums aside, one of the housewife is living with four kids, also with a husband who is always working overseas. She has to take care of everyone and everything at home.
Due to the stress of taking care those four monkeys, she got hooked on some medication that was meant for hyperactive kids. She found out that those pills gave her more energy and strength to keep herself going. There was even a scene where she was handed a revolver by one of her friend (who shot herself earlier) in her daydream.
After the dream, she freaked out and ran off to a nearby field to calm herself. When her friends (other housewives) came to talk to her about how great a mother she was, she was in denial because she felt that all the other mothers did better and not complained at all.
That was when both her friends told her, one of them say she was out of her mind everyday when her (one) daughter was small, the other told her that she spend her children’s bedtime crying by herself.
Three of them finally came to a BIG resolution, which is to share their common hardships instead of pretending that everything is hunky dory.
“Washing dirty linen in public” is never condoned in our culture. We seldom share our problems with friends, neighbours, not even within the family. Everyone just want to appear trouble-free and non-chalant in front of one another, probably to induce jealousy of others.
Look at westerners, they have all kinds of social groups to discuss and discuss, be it alcohol problem, drug abuse, pregnancy, housewives, poker night etc. This is the kind of practice that we should cultivate. People share a lot of stuff in common than we think. There is no harm done in sharing and discussing something we call “life”.
It is because people who don’t share and discuss that we are having all kinds of conflicts in the world.
Blogging open a whole new world for people to share their experiences. Through blogging, I have learned so much thing J and I have in common with other families living in town. We have also learned many things from other people including child birth, demise of spouse, losing a child, ways to tackle girls, how to get free branded t-shirts, good recipe, good vacation spots, great food spots.. and the list goes on.
The world is not just about me, myself, we, us and ourselves!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/17/2005 10:01:00 AM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
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Monday, August 15, 2005
Art Of NegotiationI participate in many negotiations in my daily life. When I wake up in the morning (especially Monday), I have to negotiate with myself whether to call in sick, EL or to drag my lazy ass up to work. When I want to take a vacation, I have to negotiate with my bosses for leave. When I get a project, I have to negotiate for a longer dateline. Even when I go to the loo, I need to negotiate in order to get in first with a "let me first or else.." look.
All these negotiations seem to come natural to me. However, negotiations with a 1-year old toddler seems to be wearing me down day by day. I think my life will be shortened by a few years (luckily my number's not up for a long time) just by participating in daily negotiations with Little Skywalker.
Ever since Little Skywalker starts to develop a passion for walking, he loves to walk around in the house, outside the house, up the stairs, following people to the toilet, at the pasar malam, on the playground etc. albeit still in a drunken way. I have lost count on how many times he had fall down on his ass or knocked his head on something. Luckily he is a hard-headed guy (literally) with a meaty ass. Otherwise, he will be rushed to hospital few times a day just for head and ass trauma alone.Due to the fact that J and I (I mostly) want to bring him up in a more civilized way as compared to Asian way (where children get their "no pain, no gain" treatment), we tried our best to negotiate (or sweet talk) with Little Skywalker instead of shouting at him. Trust me, it really takes a lot of patience and self-control to negotiate with him since we were brought up the Asian way.
Every evening, we have to negotiate with Little Skywalker so that he gets a short nap around 7-8pm so that he won't be so restless at night. This are often successful attempts unless he slept through a whole afternoon in my parents' place. With him napping, J and I can do some housework without him following us (like a puppy) around the house. Other negotiations including asking him to pee and to poo, such negotiations normally ends with giving him some snacks or turn on his favourite theme song on TV.
The most difficult negotiations I've had so far with Little Skywalker is to ask him not to climb up the stairs standing. After many unfruitful attempts, I have finally came up with the idea of keeping him at the lowest step of our staircase. However, that idea still requires me to accompany him side-by-side. So far, the idea still works but I don't know how long it will last.To convince Little Skywalker to stay or walk within the confine of the living room is another big hurdle for us. We try to keep all his toys (mostly our stuff that he likes to play with) in the living room but it doesn't help. We use the evil-box (TV) as the main attraction to no avail. He still prefer to follow one of us to the kitchen, to the toilet, to the laundry area, to outdoor area, upstairs etc. although one of us is accompanying him in the living room.
Negotiating with Little Skywalker normally involves excited expressions and exclamation phrases like "Eh! Look at this!", "Look at the fan!" , "Bird bird!", "Let's go gai-gai", "Come come! got honeystars!", "Got Mum Mum!", "Look at the TV TV!", "Got ga-ga upstairs! Dark dark don't climb!"... and the list goes on and on.Well, J and I will certainly need to brush up more on our negotiation skills as he grew older and learn how to speak his mind. I would certainly hope he can talk me down one day because that would be the day he earned his own independence and my chance to retire for good.
Keep it up son!
Translation: Mum-mum (food or something that can be put into the mouth), ga-ga (something that bites which may or may not exist in real world)
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/15/2005 11:32:00 AM :: and invited 7 Blah(s):
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Friday, August 12, 2005
Password Disclosure Policy?? OMG!!
I have a friend who just asked for my advice on the latest policy implemented in her office. It seems that the IT guy (boss's son for that matter) has asked everyone to disclose their Windows login password and Email password to him in a form he given out under the pretext of some standardization exercise!I must admit, I am absolutely a top-of-the-line liar myself if I were to be "forced" into a bad situation myself, or when I have the devil working behind my back. Before my friend told me about his official intention of implementing the policy, I already told her what will be the excuse that he might be using. And BINGO! He did exactly what I had in mind.
"EVIL MINDS THINK ALIKE AS WELL!"
Given the boss's son bad record of intruding other people's privacy, I have advised my friend to write down fake passwords. She instead told me that she planned to tell him that she forgot the password. My evil mind spins a few rounds and I told her that if she did that, he will do a reset on all her password and subsequently force her to write down the new password as well. Few minutes later, she came back with exactly the same answer from him. Talk about EVIL!
Actually, I am quite familiar with her office network system as I was brought in by their boss to set up their system. The one thing I failed to implement was the policy for mandatory password change every few months, similar to what I have in my office because I think they will not like it. But I do go to their office now and then to check on their system, I do not need to go through the boss's son. I outrank him!
So in order to find out what kind of dirty scheme his son is planning behind his father's back, I asked my friend to put down fake passwords. If the son asked, she will say that is her mistake for the mix-up and have every excuse to query him for attempting to login using her ID and password. Hopefully this will be enough to cause a brouhaha enough to attract the attention of his father without my intervention.Otherwise, I will definitely have to alert the boss!
What do you think?
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/12/2005 10:50:00 AM :: and invited 9 Blah(s):
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Thursday, August 11, 2005
Of Haze... Mask... and StarwarsEveryone in the office is crazy about the haze. Since we have close access to surgical masks used by surgeons when they perform surgery, everyone got themselves at least two or three.
I was quite reluctant to wear any mask when I go out for lunch as it is quite troublesome. Nevertheless, I kept one myself just in case.
The mask made me wonder what kind of mask should I get for Little Skywalker in order to protect him from the crazy haze... below are various choices available to me (Click on picture to see larger image)
Don't think he can take the weight on his little neck...
Look like a big old tin can on his head... so, NO!
This is nice... but too white (easily dirty)... and he probably have to take it off when he speaks...
Definitely THIS ONE! Comes with oxygen supply, tinted glass, helmet, black and shiny... only one word... COOL!!
I am off to town to find the mask cum helmet for him in while. Hopefully I don't choke to death on the way.
Wish me luck!!
p/s: Why can't Jedi wear mask instead of the lousy cape??
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/11/2005 03:00:00 PM :: and invited 2 Blah(s):
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Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Will Be Dying On...May 18th, 2071 (Thursday)
After reading Lilian's recent post, I've decided to calculate when I will die. As you can see, I won't be dead for another 66 years or so. That is not the worst part, I've asked J to calculate hers and it turned out, I will be living old and alone for 14 years without her by my side. After some tweaking to the parameters (from Normal to Optimistic), J will still leave me alone for at least 3 years.This is totally depressing!
I've always thought that life expectancy for men is shorter than women based on global statistics. Hence, I am very happy because I will leave sooner than J and hopefully everyone I know. I prefer to be the one in the coffin (touch wood!!) than the one giving the eulogy while holding my tears ( I am a pretty sentimental guy :P ).
I don't like the idea of living alone and I don't expect to live with my son or daughters after they are well pass 21. Hence, I will have no where to go but live alone in a big palace that I've built after years of hard work. Maybe my driver will live with me, and a butler maybe to take care of my old bones. A pretty private nurse would be nice, but she might kill me before it's time.
Talking about eulogy, I often wonder what will people say with me lying in front of them not able to shout back. Below is what I think Little Skywalker would say (since J will be ahead of me):
We gather here today to celebrate the life of Egghead, my father, as well as the beginnings of his new life with my mother, J in heaven.I know the three Nobel prize thing is a bit of an exaggeration, but who knows? I might be able to buy myself a fake one. However, I certainly hope some doctors or scientist will come up with a cure for in-grown toe-nail very soon. I have been suffering from it (both toes!) for almost a year now since I do not want to have my nails removed. Sad story...
He was a role model, a provider, hardworking and loving. Dad, you were a role model, one even certain professional basketball players would marvel at. You worked hard throughout your life to provide through sacrifice, a good home environment to your wife and everyone in the family for 68 years. You led through example, with your kick-ass attitude at work, as well as caring father and friend in the family.
His life-long work (cure to in-grown toe-nail maybe?) earned him three Nobel prizes as well as countless awards and recognition. I believe his achievements will benefits the future generations in the years to come.
He laughed and cried, yelled and praised, smiled and scowled. He ate and drank (non-alcohol of course). He bore pain.
These are just a few of the many things Egghead did in these 34,000 plus days here on earth, helping and touching the lives of many people, widely gaining friendship and respect. But the most important of his talents to me was being my daddy and my best friend.
Come to think it, I still have a long life ahead of me. I do hope to spend every minute with J, Little Skywalker and everyone close to me. I hope someone (crazy) out there might write a bibliography about me after I am gone (with great help from this blog) so I will not be forgotten. I am no Mozart, Ghandi or Lincoln, but I certainly outperformed them in my own way.
Live life to the fullest!!
p/s: I am just writting this for no reason with hands on a wooden table. If God can grant me and J another few hundred years or so, I don't mind. No offence to the dead and those alive intended.
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/10/2005 03:31:00 PM :: and invited 3 Blah(s):
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Skywalker vs. Staircase
Our Little Skywalker likes to climb up the staircase at home. However, both J and I need to keep an eye on him every time he does that. He tends to turn and look behind after a few steps, and that made him vulnerable to falling down due to imbalance (and also the narrow steps we have at our home).Somehow he doesn't climb up the stairs so often at my parents' place where he can walk around in the house freely without restriction. Due to the nature of the furniture arrangements (and furniture) in our own house, we always restrict him access to certain area namely area around my low, squarish with sharp edges and big coffee table, in front of the TV (which sits on a low TV stand) etc. It seems like every where he goes, we will call him back. Maybe that's why he prefer to climb the stairs instead.
Yesterday, I came up with an ingenious way to keep him from climbing up the stairs.First, I show him how to sit on the bottom step of the staircase with both his legs on the floor. Then, I start tapping my feet on the floor while I made "a-capella" rhythmic sounds. It goes something like "Bom... Chii... Bom... Chii..." and slowly evolved to a fast rhythm "Bom Chii Chii.. Bom Chii".
As he listens, he started to emulate the feet tapping act at first. Although he cannot follow my pace and one leg after another, he still enjoy following my act. Few minutes later, he started humming sounds like "Zii.. Zii... Zii". Before you know it, we've been at it for about half an hour before started to get bored and continued his stairs climbing.
He managed to surprise (terrified would be a better description) us yesterday as he attempted to stand on each step of the staircase. His new performance will be a headache to both J and I as now we have to keep both eyes on him anytime he goes near the stairs. As he stand, he even put both his arms in the air as if to show off to his parents not knowing we are scared to death looking at him standing like a drunk man.We really can't wait until the day when he can stand and walk steadily...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/10/2005 09:38:00 AM :: and invited 0 Blah(s):
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Monday, August 08, 2005
Husband (60) vs. ex-Wife (32)If you thought that my previous posting on the couple who was 20 years apart was weird. Take a look at this!
Zaki, 60, married Nor Hayati Yahaya, 32, in May this year but he divorced her last month.
He has since applied to the Syariah Court to declare the marriage null and void.
He is also seeking a court order to stop Nor Hayati from disturbing or threatening him on the issue, including the use of the mass media by her.
I am not here to judge, but it is really weird that someone will marry another one who is 30 years her senior. According to Malaysiakini, Zaki claimed that he had received various threats from Nor Hayati, who, among others, allegedly asked him for RM10 million. If the claim of RM10 million is true, at least the "short" marriage made sense.
FYI, the Zaki mentioned is a highly decorated politician in our country and he already has a wife. How else do you think anyone would pay attention to his divorce?
For those who is considering polygamy out there... remember to think twice!!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/08/2005 04:37:00 PM :: and invited 1 Blah(s):
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Genting.. Here We Come!!
Yeah man! Just submitted my leave and had it approved instantly!Is quite a risk though booking in advance for our Genting trip (second one this year). I had to ask my sister to book for me on Sunday as I do not have any phone lines (not to mention broadband) at home. I just cannot wait for J's boss to make up his mind on whether to keep to company open or closed during their company trip.
So J and I and Little Skywalker will be heading to Genting again on 28th and coming back on 30th. We are quite lucky as the triple-room package for 29th is nearly fully booked. I think we are one of the last ones to get it. We book our accommodations at our usual hotel (Theme Park Hotel) and our usual package (Fun!Fun!Fun!). I fully recommend this package to small families with children as you are entitled to buffet breakfasts, outdoor theme park passes, return Skyway ride, free bowling game and many other discounts too. Gee.. do I sound like a Genting promoter :PWe decided on this trip after lengthy discussion due to the following:
- The weather is nice and cold at Genting (I know Cameron is cold as well, but what fun can Little Skywalker have there?)
- We have a day of rest before and after the trip (good planner huh?)
- Little Skywalker (hopefully) will experience more fun as compared to our previous trip because he is walking now
- Genting is the most cost-effective place to spend our money as much of the accommodations and stuff are heavily subsidized by gamblers (which we are not part of)
- I am more confident now in driving my Wira up as compared to the first time where I thought it might break down (touch wood!)
Who knows... maybe we can plan a gathering for bloggers at Genting in the future!!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/08/2005 03:50:00 PM :: and invited 6 Blah(s):
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What A Long & Eventful Weekend...
In addition to missing Jason's little gathering, J and I didn't really had a great weekend. You can see how sad Little Skywalker was when we told him :POur Saturday was nearly ruined by the stupid seminar where I listen to almost identical presentations that I've heard about a month ago. What a total waste of time! And I was thinking that something beneficial might came out of it after dedicated a Saturday to it!
However, we did went to Jusco (again..) and got Little Skywalker a little toothbrush. Apart from that, we finally got ourselves the old 24-tin carton of 100plus. It was then that we figured that inflation has finally caught up with us. It is like RM3 more expensive than the last time we bought it. Our last two visits to get it was unsuccessful (they were selling 1.5L bottles instead), and now we know why! Since I am quite environmental friendly and do not like having all the plastic bottles at home, we got the tin carton anyway.
However, we were very lucky as Little Skywalker was very "guai" and did not cry for a single bit throughout the whole evening. He was happily standing in the trolley while I pushed him around Jusco. The one thing he failed to do was went "yeehaaa!" on that wild ride. He also got a chance to ride on some "super-bikes" that was on sale there! Kinda cool looking!Oh yeah... did I mentioned the haze that was going around? It finally spread to our place on Saturday evening. It was so bad that we can even sensed the burning odor in the air. That was the reason we chose to eat in Jusco (indoor) instead of our usual steak house (outdoor).
Sunday morning was no better, the haze remained and ruined my plan (again) to bring Little Skywalker to his favorite playground. He was so undecided on what to play last time around and I thought he could be better in decision making this time around. But the haze just has to ruin everything!
Due to the haze, we continued sleeping until around 10am. Oh! How I love Sunday morning. And you know why? Because this is the only day of every week that J and I really get to see the cheerful and fun Little Skywalker!! Our daily hectic routine (which includes Saturday as well because J has to work half day) is not easy for Little Skywalker as he has to wake up (or being disturbed) around 6am every morning. Hence, Sunday is the only day where everyone get enough sleep and wake up happy.
He is a real darling on Sunday morning. Three of us will spend at least half an hour stretching our lazy ass in bed and listen to Little Skywalker talking and mumbling. We really enjoy his company at his best mood. That half an hour of Skywalker really put our whole week of stress behind us instantly.Something unfortunate happened late in the evening though. Jenny was out to opposite our house to "ta-bao" our usual dinner, but somehow she felt dizzy and was about to collapse. Maybe it was fate that made her came back and took her phone with her before she went. Or else, I can't imagine what would happen.
She called me and I just took off with Little Skywalker in his bike (just kidding). This is the first time I am driving without J and with Skywalker sitting at the passenger sit. We did not get a baby's car seat (how regret was I), however, I managed to reach J with one hand on the wheel and another hand holding Skywalker still. Little Skywalker was good at first but started to climb about within minutes. We managed to get J into the car and got her to a clinic later. Little Skywalker was very understanding as he did not move about and sat quietly with J on the way.The doc said J has a very low blood pressure (90/50!) and she needed to drink more water and should not rush into something after sitting or lying down for too long. He said he cannot do anything to bring J's blood pressure up as he only know how to bring it down (such nonsense). He only gave her some pills for her dizziness and one day MC upon my request.
J felt better when we arrived home. Maybe is the haze that is doing something to her, or maybe is her monthly thing. We tucked into bed early but I still wake up a few times in the middle of the night to make sure J is still OK. I bet she must be wondering why did I waked her up a few times with all sorts of excuses. Kinda worried that she might fall into a coma somehow :P
As I said, a long and eventful weekend to remember...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/08/2005 02:01:00 PM :: and invited 2 Blah(s):
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Missed Jason's Little-Super-Gathering
Since Jason changed the date for the gathering to Friday (I would prefer Saturday ideally), I was planning to attend. J was not even aware of my plan as I was still anticipating "unforseen circumstances" that might pop-up.
And how true is that! My boss told me that I had to attend a full day seminar on Saturday (8.30am to 4.30pm). Sigh! What kind of "sick" people organize a full day thing on a Saturday. I was thinking if we came back late from the gathering (as I expected it to be), I can wake up late on Saturday morning.
So there goes the plan... Sorry to Jason as he probably changed the date due to my request (ahem)...
Looking forward to the next gathering though...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/08/2005 10:09:00 AM :: and invited 0 Blah(s):
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Friday, August 05, 2005
A Second Wife For Me? Hmmm...OK. I know is not even legal for me as a non-Muslim, but none-the-less it's worth debating.
I read about an ex-military officer who got acid all over himself after a fight with his wife over his request to get another wife. The male victim (30) was married to his wife (50) ten years ago. His wife was a widow back then with nine children (it is not clearly specified whether any of the children was born out of their marriage or her previous one).
The man also admitted to beating his wife up (out of anger apparently) after she refused to meet up with the would-be second wife (20) before the alleged attack. (Why isn't he being locked-up for this??)
The wife was being remanded by the police and subsequently brought to court over the alleged attack on her husband. Following the incident, the man still insist of getting a second wife despite obvious disapproval of his first wife (Islamic law requires the man to get approval of his wife before committing polygamy).
If my calculations are correct, the guy actually married a 40 years old woman at the age of 20. What a huge gap in age! Although it has been said that love knows no boundary, but I just cannot imagine myself being married to a person twice my age! In the old days, she would be old enough to become his mother already.
J and I got hitched for more than two years already. Since then, we've had our fair share of disagreements and arguments, but never a case of physical abuse. FYI, we were born on the same year, and just two days apart of each other, and in the same hospital (KL Hospital) as well (SPOOKY!). She subsequently moved to JB due to relocation of his father's job.
After two and a half decades later, we met up between JB and KL (at MMU Malacca campus) when we pursue our tertiary studies. I first saw her while she was staring blindly into thin air on her balcony in the girl's hostel when I was helping a classmate to move her electric piano to her room.
Maybe it was love at first sight? I was introduced later to her by her classmate, who happened to be a friend of mine. I managed to get her phone number later (also through a friend) and called her out to a date to Jusco nearby. We actually walked 15 minutes to Jusco and back on our first date as the bus services in Malacca wasn't that efficient back then.
After that, we've been going out ever since. We kept in touch through letters and phone calls (cannot even imagine how much it costs) during our semester breaks and holidays. I traveled quite often to JB during our courtship and her parents are very nice people to allow me stay at their place.
After our graduation, J began her work in JB while I started in KL. It is quite hard to maintain a long distance relationship, especially given J's looks and personalities. Due to work constrain, it is getting harder and harder for us to visit each other. We thought it might be better for both of us to work nearby. I know it would be asking too much of J to get her to come to KL unless we are both really committed in the long run.
This went on for more than a year until we finally came to a decision to get married. It might seem hasty to outsiders but we have been discussing about it for a long time. However, the first step was to get a job for J in KL. As luck strikes, my boss was looking for an account executive for my parent company. As my boss trust me a lot, I managed to get his attention in hiring J. My boss and I actually flew down to JB (on his way to Singapore and a sponsored trip for me) to meet J for the first time. With the "well-oiled" mouth my boss had, he managed to tipped J's scale towards working for him.
Our plan went well with J resigning from her big audit firm few weeks later and came to KL. She was living with me (in separate rooms mind you) in my parents' place. While she get used to her new working environment, we planned for our next big step - marriage and buying a house.
We managed to squeeze our implementation of the plan within a few months with help from both parents. We moved in to our house and married on the same day and started our life as husband and wife. All these seems quite natural to us although we are relatively young compared to other people around us when we got married.
One and a half year later, Little Skywalker came in to our lives. He brought us more joy and colors to our lives (not to mention nine months of suffering and subsequently 20 years of upbringing). We are now a small happy family trying to make it out in the big city. However, we do plan to move or migrate to a better environment (namely Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand or Japan) once we acquire the means to do retire for good.Given all that we've been through, (I don't know about J) I certainly do not have the slightest thought of going for a second mistress more so second wife (if I become a Muslim). I am not saying that I do not respect the teachings of other religions, but I certainly encouraged all men to be faithful to their spouse till "death do us part".
After all, I just cannot believe that a single man can share his love equally with more than one woman. To me, if you are not prepared to commit to a single person, I guess you are not prepared for marriage and a family.
Furthermore, if men cannot stand a woman committing to two men, why are we expecting otherwise?
What do you think?
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/05/2005 12:00:00 PM :: and invited 3 Blah(s):
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Thursday, August 04, 2005
No More Cruise Vacation...
We just got the news that J's company trip has been changed to Batam instead of a cruise trip to Langkawi and Phuket as was previously decided.Incidently someone (who is not even going herself) went and told J's boss about the possibility of Tsunami near Phuket! That little nosy comment of hers scared the hell out of J's boss and he decided to go elsewhere instead of a cruise. Sigh (angrily)!
What kind of nonsense is this?
The worst is yet to be over. The latest change to Batam was not well received by the staff. To date only seven people (out of almost 50+) registered for it. As a norm, all staff are required to deduct their annual leave for the company trip as the company will be closed. Staffs who are not going will also have their leave deducted.
We personally don't mind to have J's leave deducted as we can plan a vacation for ourselves. The problem we have now is whether the company will be open or not during the Batam trip since majority of the staff will not be going. Most of them are lobbying for the company to remain open during the Batam trip.
I've already have a backup plan for this, that is to take J and Little Skywalker to Genting (for the 2nd time this year, the last was in April). I have checked online for room availability for Theme Park Hotel and it is running out soon. I am in a total dilemma as to whether to place a booking or not.
I really hope that J's boss can make a swift and responsible decision on this very soon. Or else we will be sitting home with no where to go if the company is close.
Bad enough that our cruise vacation dream is gone, now this pulak!
Long sigh...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/04/2005 04:31:00 PM :: and invited 1 Blah(s):
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Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Kluang Trip - Part 4: Aftermath
Finally we are back from our very long trip to Kluang (total of close to 7 hours). Didn’t realize the stress until it hit me after I lie down at night.We were back around 4.30pm after some speeding drive along the PLUS highway (average of 120kph) by yours truly (please do not report me in :P). Everyone was tired, but Little Skywalker slept true the entire journey. What an angel he is!
However, the whole weekend is not over yet. There is one last item left on our weekend agenda, and a critical one – shopping for a work pants for myself. Please keep this to yourself as I made hole right between my butt as I was squatting down to pick up something for Little Skywalker (which he threw on the floor) while we were picking him up from my parents last Friday. I only had two pairs of working pants (minimum required to make through a week, but not according to J).
So we had to go to Jusco again to get it before I go back to work on Tuesday. We left Little Skywalker with my parents since they were headed to the same destination later as well. J and I (along with J’s brother – he is here for a week for his holidays) went back home and had a shower as well as unpacking our luggage.
After settling everything, we went to Jusco and had our dinner at “The Chicken Rice Shop” there (our first visit). I will definitely recommend everyone to go there for a nice and full meal. And Curry Chicken is a must have! Too bad I didn’t have enough memory left to capture the dish after using a total of 256+128MB for the whole Kluang trip.
After a sumptious dinner, we went and got my pants, together with a new shirt (a first since the two shirts I got from my uncle when I started working 4 years ago) all from JohnMaster. I am a loyal customer of JohnMaster by the way, all my 3 previous pants are from them, as well as my cool black suit. It cost about RM200 for the two items, but hey, who’s complaining? I guess they will last me another 2 years (for pants) and 3 years (for shirt). Do the math!
We met up with Little Skywalker later and continue our run to the supermarket to get him some yogurt and digestive cereals. After that, we headed straight for home.
Little Skywalker slept on our way home again (takes him like one minute to close his eyes after we got into our car).
After a long weekend, we finally tucked ourselves to bed.
Good night…
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/03/2005 02:32:00 PM :: and invited 2 Blah(s):
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Kluang Trip - Part 3: The Morning After
We had a real good night sleep in an air-cond room at the ground floor while the rest cramped themselves upstairs. J and I were given VIP treatment by the host mostly due to the fact that they love Little Skywalker so much (wink!).
We woke up around 8am nonetheless to avoid being labeled as the lazy family. Folks around Kluang wake up quite early although is a Sunday. Back in KL, we would sleep till 10-11am before lifting our lazy butt off the bed.Our breakfast was homecooked mee-hun by J's granny with some biscuits etc. Little Skywalker was very happy as he was able to eat the same breakfast with everyone else (rather than his usual breast milk and half-boiled egg). J's parents offered to feed him while we had our own breakfast. J's parents are very good with kids as they take care (babysit) of three children (all of them J's nieces) back at home.
After breakfast, we decided that we will be going home around 1pm as everyone else is staying back for lunch. Little Skywalker was having less fun because his "friends" were still asleep upstairs. J and I brought him outside the house so that he won't be bored. He walk near some plants granny planted around her house and started pulling out some of them by the roots! J and I quickly stopped him and tried to "put" those plants back in place in the hope that granny doesn't find out (wink!)
After lunch (mostly leftovers from previous night's dinner), Little Skywalker had his bath while we made preparations to head back to KL. We slowly loaded our stuff to the car along with some local food stuff given by granny.We bided farewell to everyone and started our journey home. On our way back, we went by a new house bought by one of J's uncle. It is a single storey semi-D and cost about RM500k including renovation costs. I personally was quite surprised to learn about the expensive properties that were on sale in such a small town.
We made no stop on our way home (3 hours) and Little Skywalker slept through the whole journey just like when we came.
I forgot to mention that one of J's aunty managed to give Little Skywalker a "botak" hair-cut after our big dinner with the help of three cousin distracting him with various food and stuff.
Notice the different hair style??
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/03/2005 11:15:00 AM :: and invited 3 Blah(s):
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Kluang Trip - Part 2: The Big Dinner
After some gruesome driving under the hot sun for almost 3+ hours, we arrived at the small little town of Kluang. Kluang is located about 8km from the Ayer Hitam exit along the North-South Highway. The trunk road leading to Kluang is in surprisingly well condition to the extend that I can drive at 100kph. There was a beautiful looking secondary school situated along the road leading to town. I didn't see such nice school being built near my area, not fair!We finally arrived at J's granny's (maternal side that is) house at 4.30pm. J's parents have already arrived two hours earlier from JB while the rest of the relatives are not here yet. J's parents were very happy to see us (actually happy to see Little Skywalker more than us) as they have not seen him for the past two months. J's granny was even more excited as she has not seen our boy since she stayed with us for the first month after J's delivery.
Everyone was ecstatic when they saw Little Skywalker walking around (albeit in a drunkard manner). They took turn to carry him as well as holding his hands while he tour the large porch area. The rest of the family were seen starting to lay out tables and chairs. Oops... did I mentioned it was a house catering dinner instead of a restaurant? Although I would prefer to dine in a restaurant, but catering offers more of a kampung feel to it.
The satay man reached our place around 5pm to start his preparation while the food caterer arrived half an hour later. There was no waiter provided, hence, all of granny's daughters (all seven of them) started laying out the food and drinks on the table. Some of them were busy preparing fruits and deserts namely water melon, duku langsat, jelly, cakes etc.J and I took Little Skywalker for a stroll at the roads around the house. He was quite excited with the new environment, unlike the busy streets back home. He likes to look at flowers and birds. He would follow the flight path of a bird religiously as soon as he catches sight on one. To me, is just another good trick to distract him when he starts yelling or crying :P
Dinner time came, all the family members started eating first so that they will have time to entertain the guests who are coming later. Instead of eating, Little Skywalker walked towards the ice boxes which are holding all the can drinks covered with ice cubes. He spent the next half an hour playing with the ice cubes and serving can drinks to people who asked. J and I quickly had our lunch (albeit two rounds) before Skywalker get bored with his "bartender" business.As we were having deserts with Little Skywalker, guests have begun to arrive. We had to retreat back into the living room (where the TV is) while the guest occupied the seats outside. I was suddenly appointed the official photographer of the event as Jenny's aunt (the original photographer) brought her camera with a dried-out battery. Since I was the only one who had a camera and an extra battery, I accepted the job.
I went round each table and snapping photos of strangers (every one of them didn't knew who I was actually). Some of the pictures I took were quite funny with people stuffing their mouth full and yet want to keep talking. There were more than 50 guests or so, which is quite the norm here because most of them are neighbors who lived near by.
Little Skywalker was busy playing and entertaining other kids from our relatives. He was the youngest of them all, hence the centre of the focal point. All the other kids round him up and started playing with him. He was very excited with everything that is going on. We were afraid he would be scared and cry as he always does when he got too much attention. Luckily, he didn't. He was mixing well with all the other kids with ease as though they were his peers.Come to think of it, he is quite the lone gun at home. Everyone is at least a few decades older than him back in KL. Although everyone at home talked to him often, but I don't think anyone of us is offering such fun and enjoyment to him. Maybe is time to make him a sister or brother? Or is it better to put him with a professional babysitter where he can enjoy the company of kids his age? Food for thought...
Finally, we came to the highlight event of the evening - cake cutting. J's aunties brought out the cake they bought from a famous cake house nearby. We were surprise to find out that the cake was three-tier. The last time we ever saw such a cake was during our own wedding, and that was not even a real cake! The top and the bottom tier was made out of lemon while the center piece was coffee, all of them coated with lemon cream. Looks delicious!Granny went back to her room to put on additional make-up for the camera before she appeared in front of the cake. As usual, everyone present sang her a birthday song before she blow out all the seven candles (guess how young is she?). After she did a ceremonial cut on the cake, all her family members took turn to pose and take photographs with her. Although I was the busy photographer, our family managed to take a photograph with her as well.
Granny has seven daughters and three sons (lost count of grandchildren), and all of them were present. It took almost half an hour and nearly all of my SD card capacity to complete the photo session (all daughters, all sons, each family, friends etc.) before anyone got a bite of the cake. Little Skywalker enjoyed the cake very much and we were happy feeding him more and more.I continue to do my photo rounds around the house, snapping photos of everyone before they took off. I could see some of them were already on their way "high" with all the beers and cigarettes around. For me, I do not like to be in a state where I loose control of myself. But hey, I am not here to judge! If they are happy and no one got hurt, is fine with me. However, I would prefer if Little Skywalker follow his father's footstep in the matter of alcohol as well as tobacco.
All the guests had almost left around 11pm. We were busy cleaning up the mess they left behind. Little Skywalker was beginning to give us his "half-eye-close" sleepy look after he totally let his hair down for an entire evening. We were subsequently assigned to a air-conditioned room for the night. Although they said someone might come in and sleep on the floor later (while we slept on the bed), but no one did and we got the entire room to ourselves.For the record, I think we were the only ones that slept through that night as everyone else were still awake and chatting in the living room. I woke up around 4am to tone down the air condition and I could still see lights and hear people talking in living hall. I bet J's family really had a lot to talk at such rare gathering.
For Little Skywalker, he only talked in his dreams...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 8/03/2005 10:30:00 AM :: and invited 0 Blah(s):
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