Salam Maal Hijrah

Rasanya masa berlalu begitu cepat sekali. Disember hanya tinggal beberapa hari saja lagi dan bayang bayang tahun baru dah pun timbul. Akhir tahun ingatkan bolehlah rilek sikit, tapi terbuzylah pulak. Plan for another exotic middle east holiday pun kena scrape gaya gaya ketiadaan maid untuk menemani the kiddos di rumah. Ikutkan janji agensi tu, kami akan terima replacement maid sebelum bulan ramadhan, tapi sekarang ....... masih menunggu dan menunggu.

btw, untuk kawan kawan serta pelawat blog ini, saya ucapkan selamat menyambut Maal Hijrah. Pada yang ada kelapangan, jemputlah ke rumah , kita minum petang sikit & borak borak pada 25 Disember 2008, dari 3 - 6 ptg di No. 1, Jalan Kent 4, Off Jalan Maktab 54000 K.L (berhampiran dewan perdana felda).

3 Hari 2 Malam

the much awaited break. pangkor here we come ! sebenarnya plan awal nak ke bukit tinggi in sumatra, tapi kerana kuasa veto anak anak, terpaksalah ikut pilihan mereka. perjalanan selama 3 jam agak memenatkan. balik rumah setelah selesai menghadiri jamuan amal pada malam sebelumnya dah hampir 1 pagi. terus bergegas kemas bag sebab nak mulakan perjalanan tepat pukul 8.00 pagi. perjalanan dengan feri ke PIBR dari jeti lumut mengambil masa hampir setengah jam. adiklah yang nampaknya paling excited sebab dia ni rasanya tak pernah naik feri.

bilik kami yang mengadap pantai agak run down dan tak dimaintain dengan baik. rasanya dengan rm 600 ++ untuk satu malam, one would expect a better room. di bali, one can get a very good room for just usd 100 / night. rasanya mungkin ramai setuju dengan saya kalau saya katakan bercuti didalam negeri taklah semurah yang di war war kan. untuk 2 malam penginapan (2 bilik) serta makan minum di PIBR our bil dah rm tiga ribu lima ratus ringgit. aduh !!!! kalau anak 7, 8 orang sure pening !

Anyway it does not really matter as the kiddos memang enjoy the beach. lebih bermakna, we really have quality time together. Needless to say, the beach was superb. pada kekawan, berbanyak sorry sebab tak ada apa apa souvenir - sebab tak keluar pekan pun. we just confined ourselves to the hotel & the beach.

dan beberapa keping gambar yang dirakamkan


(menunggu feri di jeti lumut)



(pemandangan dari balconi bilik)



(opps, orang putih kata sunbathing !)



(and this is geena)



(geena wish to dedicate this photo of hers to kak nana in the far away land)

pening pening !!!!!!!!!!

So the school holiday is here ! pening rasanya melayan kerenah 2 teenage kiddos kat rumah ini. seperti kebiasaan, adik akan kata ' bosanlah abah asyik duduk rumah saja, tak pergi jalan mana mana !. and abang seperti biasa ... ' abah, abang keluar sekejap dengan kawan, nak pergi makan .....'. macamlah kat rumah ni dah tak ada apa yang nak dimakan.

well, nampaknya adik dah ada her own circle of friends now. and since the school break, rasanya dah a few times dia keluar dengan kawan kawan ke klcc, samada ke movie atau nandos(and thanks to her friend's parent yang sudi supervise budak budak tu). walaupun we're a bit relex now, we do keep a constant watch on her, what more, she's only 14. we're less worried for the brother. been a boy, i think he's more than able to care for himself. though he confess that some of his 16 year old friends do smoke, he swear that he has never tried. well, i suppose you just have to trust your heart and believe him. (in retrospect, i've done far worst things at that age!). and abang sekarang dah tak buat port kat klcc lagi, dah pandai venture ke pavillion. katanya ada short cut ke pavillion dari klcc, just a short walking distant.


the new geena



abang new cannon 450D


last week abang said he wanted a his own dsr camera. says he doesn't want to share my nikon D80. well, nak turn down his request at blank point pun rasa bersalah juga, .... what more bila dia ungkit 'kak nana mintak duit nak pergi holiday italy, abah okay jer'. on second thought, i suppose we have to be fair to the kiddos!. well, if only he had requested for a motorcycle, then the answer will be a definite NO. and of course adik pun ada dia punya request ...... kalau abah beli abang kamera, adik nak buat hair treatment and rebonding sekali lagi. well, that sounds reasonable as it only cost us rm 280 at derreck & team.



geena & classmates



abang and geng


sebenarnya awal cuti sekolah dulu memang bercadang nak bawak the kiddos for a short excursion to padang & bukit tinggi in sumatra but the 2 kiddo unanimously vetod the idea. 'buat apa pegi indon lagi. bukan best pun .....' and that sounds very familiar. as a compromise, we'll be spending 3 days in pangkor next week. and sorry kiddos, this year's abah & mama's vacation is still on.

Hello Dad & Hello Friends .....

It was almost 4.00 in the morning when the phone rang. grabbing the phone i realized that i had 3 miss call. half awake, i thought it was from the nurse in the intensive care ward, only to realized that it was from my sister. i must be fairly tired then as I've just finished a craniotomy barely 2 hours earlier (poor child who sustained multiple skull bone fracture with massive intra cranial hemorrhage when a 32 inch tv accidentally fell on her). in between her sob i heard 'baba masuk wad pukul 2 pagi tadi ....deman dan sakit perut macam dulu, dah tiga kali bagi injection ubat tahan sakit tapi tak kurang pun'. oh no , not again , i'm sure he had another attack of acute cholecystitis. yes dad had multiple gallstones and had similar attacks of acute cholecystitis before. the option of treatment was clear - surgical removal of the gallbladder. but taking into considerations of his advanced age, recent coronary artery disease, and his concurrent hypertension and diabetes, he opted for conservative treatment as the surgical risk was fairly high.

after some futile attempts to speak to the doctor in charge, i finally managed to speak to her at 5 in the morning. of course no doctor is please to be confronted at that wee hour. i didn't mean to be impolite, let alone under estimate her professional ability. when i asked her wheather she has started my dad on intravenous cephalosporin and metronidazole ... only to hear her saying ' no, your dad does not need any antibiotics, he just require pain killer and rest'. and by the way in a district hospital like this we don't have expensive intravenous antibiotics. such antibiotics requires approval from a specialist, and there is no specialist in dungun hospital. a little annoyed ... i asked her how would she treat a case of acute cholecystitis then?. her answer was plain simple ... your dad presented with acute abominal pain and I'm treating him with pain killers.

absolutely frustrated with her answer, i blankly told her ... 'look you may be a young and inexperience doctor (just short of asking where she was trained!). if you're unable or not competent enough to treat such patient, then for goodness sake refer him to a centre or a doctor who is capable enough to treat such illness. well, she was still adamant that she was giving my dad the right treatment. 8.00 sharp in the morning i rang up the surgeon on call at hospital kuala terengganu. having introduced myself and before i could finish relating my frustration with the doctor in the district hospital, he interrupted 'okay boss, I'll instruct her to transfer your dad right away under my care. btw, i don't know whether you still remember me. you were one of the clinical examiners in my post graduate exam'.

feeling rather 'uneasy', i asked ana to postponed some non urgent appointments and close my clinic after the morning session. throughout the 5 hours journey, i can't help thinking about dad, knowing that his pain threshold is extremely low. and for 3 straight nights, i was camping in primula beach hotel, the nearest hotel to the hospital. Thanks god, with proper treatment and supervision under the care of my former post graduate student, dad has shown remarkable improvement.


(view of the hospital from the hotel room)

while in KT, i also took the opportunity to met some old friends. I called ZA a week earlier telling him that i'll be in town and hope to met up over lunch or tea. well, it turn out to be a real surprise, as within such a short notice he manage to gather 10 of our closest old friends that i've not met since our lower secondary school years. we have so much to talk about .... the memories of the yesteryear were still fresh in my mind , the days when things were very easy, the days when having rm 2 in your pocket make you feel that you were very loaded. and the days when you were the envy of your friends when you rode a new chopper bicycle to school. of course i still remember the days when we were teasing and trying our best to impress the girls. and the untold secret admirers that was kept secret for 30 years. and i feel so touch that despite not seeing each other for 30 years, our friendship and sincerity remained unfazed. and to all, thank you for a wonderful and memorable evening.


(teringat pulak lagu mary hopkins - those were the days .....)


(the makciks, ...opps the cikgu cikgu)


(the grown up boys)


(for the record ... he he he i'm not in the picture))

The Raya Journey

Departed KL @ 3.00 pm on 30/9/08. Apart from a small glitch due to an accident just before Seremban, the journey was smooth and easy. Reached JB just on time for iftar.
Returned from JB @ 6.30 pm on 2/10/08. With the cruise set at 110km/hr, reached KL @ 10.30 pm. Apart from those little kancils and protons with out of place big and noisy exhausts cruising way beyond the speed limit, the journey was otherwise smooth and pleasant. Surprisingly all the mamaks and old town coffee shops along jalan Ampang & Yap Kwan Seng were closed. Lucky for us, the faithful tomyam warongs in kg baru were open for business as usual.

... well, raya is all about getting closer to the love ones.



















suddenly every body miss nana. hope she do enjoy her raya in the far away land. ..... and for amalina who'll be leaving tomorrow, have a safe journey & study hard.

Ramadhan & Salam Eidul Fitril

( iftar di perkarangan masjid al nabawi - 2006)


sedar tak sedar ramadhan al mubarak sudah hampir ke penghujungnya. sedih rasanya nak meninggalkan bulan yang penuh barakah ni. tambah sedih lagi kerana hasrat untuk bertarawih serta bertahajud di malam malam terakhir bulan suci ini di baitullah tidak kesampaian. sebenarnya memang sudah bercadang untuk bersujud di masjid al nabawi dan masjid al haram lagi pada ramadhan kali ini, tetapi terpaksa dibatalkan pada waktu waktu terakhir. bila teringat kembali memang terasa tersangat hiba dan sahdu sekali bila dapat menunaikan solat tarawih, solat tahajud serta solat sunat eidul fitril dengan ribuan umat islam lain dihadapan kaabah. eidul fitri pun dah nampak bayang bayangnya, tapi seperti hari hari raya yang terdahulu, rasanya saya tidaklah looking forward sangat dengan kehadiran hari tersebut.

sebenarnya pada bulan ramadhan ni, malas rasanya nak keluar rumah, lebih lebih lagi pada waktu malam. sayang sangat nak meninggalkan solat tarawih. that explains kenapa semua undangan untuk majlis berbuka puasa saya tolak - antaranya yang dihostkan oleh KPJ Berhad, Lejadi Groups of Company, Tropicana Golf & Country Club. even majlis yang dianjurkan oleh Alumni pun saya tolak, walaupun dalam hati memang nak jumpa sangat dengan member member lama. yang perit sikit nak tolak ni undangan dari Tengku A. dia ni pelik sikit,seperti biasa akan buat majlis pada hari hari terakhir ramadhan. rasanya dah wiser now, don't worry i'll sure find my way.

.... dan semalam puan Azlina dari CIMB called menanyakan samaada nak reserve new notes untuk duit raya.

pada semua rakan taulan serta kenalan, saya mengambil kesempatan ni untuk mengucapkan salam ramadhan al mubarak serta selamat menyambut hari raya eidul fitril, ribuan maaf saya pohon atas sebarang kesalahan.

THE weeding - biar betul !

.....and finally the weeding invitations are all over. thanks god !. believe it or not within the last few weeks, i received a total of 16 weeding invitations. agak sukar untuk memenuhi kesemua undangan kerana ada yang bertembung waktu dan hari. just to share a few of those occasions:-

1.My CEO hosted her son's weeding reception at dewan merdeka pwtc. a fairly grand reception, typical of orang johor. tetamu memang ramai, agak full house. yang tak berkenang sikit, suami dia pulak ambil kesempatan mendendangkan a few songs (kalau sedap tu tak apalah !). from reliable sources she spend about 400 thousand ringgit for the reception.

2. A close friend held his daughter's weeding reception at hilton's kl sentral. a lavish reception with a touch of balinese style. the musicians are flown in from jakarta. well, the music was superb and fascinating. the only problem was so much time was spend on merenjis ceremony as there were so many super vvip's that were invited to perform the ritual. and as expected he spend close to 650 thousand ringgit (enam ratus lima puloh ribu ringgit sahaja) for the dinner reception.

3. Another friend held his celebrity son's weeding reception at dewan perdana felda. since his daughter in law is also a tv personality, naturally there were many artists, singers and tv personalies within the crowd. the music was fantastic, performed by the personals from ntv7 and his talented family friends. yang kurang sikit, ada jugak yang render rock songs - rasanya tak sesuai sangat dengan occasion macam ini. anyway, since he does not have to pay for the entertainment, his bill was about 120 thousand ringgit.

4. An immediate neighbour held her daughter's weeding reception at home. fairly simple and non glamorous occasion starting at 8.00 pm. and as expected from a senior high court judge, his circle of friends were rather limited, thus accounting from the relatively small crowd. any way the reception was superb as we get to know our neighbours.

on a personal note, i do not fancy attending weeding receptions at the hotels or dewan simply because i think it is just a waste of time. imagine wasting 3 or 4 hours for the occasions. and of course it doesn't concur to me to spend a few hundred thousand ringgits for the reception. my ideal weeding reception is always the typical kampung style - come at my free convenient time, spend 15 to 30 minutes at the reception, then off i go !

Such a biggg eater

sometimes i wonder how people can eat soooo much. macam dah tak ada hari esok. of course i can't deny, when one is away from home for 10 months, the first thing they do on reaching home is to fill up their gaster. years ago i also used to be away from home, tapi rasanya tak adalah glutton macam ni. ...... just to recap how our big girl enjoyed her food.

arrived home past noon. barely 6 hours latter she was with her friends at the rows of middle eastern reataurants in jalan damai. the following morning dashed off to nasik lemak antarabangsa kg baru. followed by lunch at kl tower with her fellow african friend and old school mate.



lunch in the air


then of course the regular nightly kampung baru tomyam (one of the best in town i must say)and the nightly visits to old town kopitiam & mamak in jalan yap kwan seng. and not forgeting her asam laksa at little penang cafe in klcc. a wee bit lucky though, she just visited klcc's dome only once since her arrival. and her yearly bbq with friends at home.


the gathering .......


and despite been occupied with her daily practical training at ijn, sempat jugak lunch hopping ke cosy corner at ampang park and legend's di atas braserrie. and not missing the regular week end hi tea's with her bro & sis.


.... says this is her favourite.



guess who's the biggest eater.

and her list of makan goes on and on. i really find it difficult to keep up with her appetite pace - i'm only hopping that i'm not growing side ways !

Malas Malas Malas

The malas syndrome is here again. without fail this syndrome will appear every 2 to 3 months. basically this syndrome consists of:-
1. malas nak pergi kerja (kalau pergi kerja pun mesti cabut awal)
2. malas nak bukak mata - prefer to zzzzzzz sahaja
3. malas nak hang out with kekawan
4. malas nak jawab sms
5. malas nak blog hop or komen kat kg mms
6. malas nak mikir masaalah orang lain
7. malas nak dengar the other half berleter
So what do I do when confronting with such syndrome ???
1. spend most of my time in front of the tv (sampai citer indon pun layan)
2. berangan taking time off for a good exotic holiday - eastern europe ke, south africa ke, syria ke .....
Time malas malas ni banyak pulaklah weeding invitation. antara yang belum terlupa:-
a. July 6, di PWTC
b. July 8, di dewan perdana felda
c. July 20, di jalan maktab 5
d. July 26, di dewan puspanita (dewan dr. siti hasmah)
d. August 3, di Hilton Kuala Lumpur Central
e. August 8, di dewan perdana felda
f. August 10, di pusat belia antarabangsa cheras
apa lagi yang nak update ni ....... ish malaslah !

the Tower

dah lama teruja nak ke kl tower, tapi kenapa tak pernah pergi ?. alasannya belum ada kesempatan waktu ( ish ish ish memanglah a lame excuse !). the tower is so near yet so far away. terfikir jugak, kalau aku dah pernah sampai ke eiffel tower di paris, milad tower di tehran, berlin tower di germany dan cairo towel di egypt, tak kan kl tower yang dekat ni pun tak boleh sampai.


a view of kl tower from our garden


so, last sunday we decided to visit the tower. tak sangkalah pulak ramai bebenor pelancong asing di situ sehinggakan nak dapat parking pun susah. entah apa event yang mereka promote, ada pulak bazaar di dataran tower yang menjual perbagai cendera hati dan makanan dari middle eastern countries. rata ratanya pelancong pelancong tersebut sangat terhibur dengan cultural show yang dipersembahkan.




and since it was lunch time, we decided to have our lunch dekat restoran berputar di atas menara. nasib kami baik, sebab masih ada kekosongan tempat di restoren tersebut. forget about the deco which is a bit off, for only 12 euro, one get a very lavish buffet with a live entertainment and a fantastic view. kalau kat europe 12 euro tu boleh dapat kebab dengan mineral water jer. and honestly this is what i like about our beloved malaysia - cheap & fantastic food (lama lama boleh boroi perut ni !)


pemandangan dari restoran berputar menara kl. sikit sikit gayat adalah !





suasana dalam restoren agak meriah dengan kehadiran pemain pemain bolasepak negeri kedah yang sedang celebrate kejayaan mereka selepas memenangi perlawanan akhir piala malaysia pada malam sebelumnya. tapi tak adalah pulak nampak pengunjung restoren minta autograf mereka. ish, kalaulah yang dine tu pemain permain Arsenal .......

AMSterDAM ... here we come !

masa dinner malam khamis lepas, rj @ fdm tanya samada aku nak ikut dia ke amsterdam. entah kenapa, secara spontan aku kata okay. rj kena attend training session kat headquarters dia selama dua hari. esok petangnya aku collect ticket kat KLM office di park royal and there we goes .... 3 days latter we were on our way en route to amsterdam. ish ish macam tak percayalah pulak, decision nak pergi amsterdam dibuat on the spot. nak balik kampung pun mau fikir seminggu. of course isteri aku thought i was joking bila aku bagitahu dia 'i'm off to amsterdam in 3 day's time'. sebenarnya aku dah pun 2 kali pergi amsterdam, pertama in 1986 dan kali kedua semasa bercuti bersama isteri & anak-anak pada tahun 2003. btw, terima kasih kak p**h kerana belanja makan malam tu.

penerbangan terus ke lapangan terbang schipol selama hampir 12 jam agak meletihkan sebab aku masih meneruskan tugas on call dua jam sebelum aku mengambil erl ke klia. dah memang begitu selalu, time aku nak pergi bercuti, masa tu lah pulak banyak kes. on arrival at 5.00 am, cuaca dah terang benderang sebab dah masuk musim panas (summer). seperti kebanyakan negara eropah, sistem pengangkutan awam di sini sangat komprehensive dan mudah. kami mengambil shuttle service yang di sediakan oleh pihak hotel yang terletak hanya beberapa km dari lapangan terbang. selepas check ini, kami keluar semula untuk explore the city.

dari schipol airport kami menunggu bas untuk ke schipol oost sebab rj nak kena beli something for his friends di klm shoppe. punyalah lama tunggu barulah ada bus. tak tahulah pulak syarikat bus ke laluan tersebut sedang melancarkan mogok. yang bestnya mereka ambil penumpang tapi tak ambil tambang. kalaulah malaysia airline atau airasia buat mogak macam ni kan best !. kita memang bernasib baik sebab on the way balik ada pulak a beautiful young dutch lady yang sudi tumpangkan kereta dia, kalau tidak tak tahulah berapa lama nak kena menunggu.

memandangkan the following 2 days rj will be busy dengan training session dia, jadi sebelah tengah hari kami buat perancangan untuk explore the city. keretapi dari schipol station ke amsterdam sentraal mengambil masa 20 minit. so apa specialnya amsterdam !!!!. 'the sex capital of the world' (sorry tiada gambar gambar XXX untuk diupload kerana this time tak pergi red light district), 'bandaraya basikal' , 'bandaraya bunga turlips', 'bandaraya terusan air'.


the presence of hundred of thousands of bicycle in the city is very interesting and unique. no wonder susah nak jumpa warga amsterdam yang berperut boroi sebab mereka burn the calories dengan berbasikal


bandaraya amsterdam juga unik dengan terusan terusan air yang cantik (airnya agak kotor jika dibandingkan 20 tahun lalu). amsterdam merupakan banyaraya eropah yang sangat senang untuk explore - untuk first timer pun confirm tak sesat. pada musim summer amsterdam adalah merupakan tourist city. secara amnya orang belanda adalah seperti warga switzerland - sangat peramah, very helpful dan tourist friendly.



windmill - lagi trademark of netherlands. looorrr teringatlah pulak lagi windmill of my mind !




and thank you puan azlina & suami, theo (opps lupa nak tanya nama islam dia) yang sudi menerima kunjungan kami ke rumah mereka serta belanja makan kat restoran morocco tu. seronok dapat berbual dan mengenali orang muar yang dah lama menetap di holland ni. dia ni memang peramah. dan terima kasih juga kerana sudi offer kami tinggal di rumah mereka. jangan lupa yer, kalau balik malaysia give me a shout !




dan masa summer begini ramailah yang akan bersantai menikmati cahaya matahari di dam square.



sebenarnya niat kami untuk ke amsterdam square untuk menyaksikan game holland dengan italy dalam perlawanan pembukaan mereka pada EURO 08, tetapi disebabkan terjet lag maka terpaksalah redha dapat tengok 2nd half game saja di hotel. negara Eropah memang fanatik dengan eufa euro cup .....bandaraya amsterdam memang dihias indah dengan warna oranje.



bunga turlips , satu lagi trademark netherland. walaupun dah masuk musim panas, turlip buds masih lagi boleh didapati di kedai kedai khusus di bandaraya ini.

well, the only thing i miss about amsterdam is the tram .... kenapalah kena tukar warna yer ....warna oranje dulu kan cantik jika dibandingkan dengan warna biru !

Tahniah & Selamat Berjaya

Memandangkan seorang kenalan yang juga merupakan seorang dj radio akan dinaikkan pangkat dan bertukar ke Miri, maka kesempatan pada hari cuti wesak digunakan untuk meraikan beliau. it's more of get together over high tea rather. ingatkan nak berkumpul di menara Kl tapi ada pulak yang gayat. Marriot Putrajaya is a good option with it's good food, nice live music and polite crowd tapi jauhlah pulak. finally ended up kat Nikko. adik memang suka bebenor tiramisu kat Deli Lobby lounge Nikko tu. Lagi pun Nikko is only 5 minutes away from home.













and pada semua, thank you for joining us. maaf kalau ada kekurangan. Pada kak Diva tahniah kerana dinaikkan pangkat dan selamat memulakan tugas di tempat baru.

Tribute To The Teachers

May 16 ... teachers day ! So what ! come to think of it why do people nowadays emphasize so much on the special days ....teachers day, mothers days, nurses day, labour day, fathers day .....and all the donnowhat days !. In my good ole days, i don't think anybody borders very much on the so and so days.

Come teachers day, i bet every body would give a good account of their teachers. Do I have fond memories of my teachers ? - of course I do. Well, some are worth mentioning here.

1. Cikgu Wan Mustapha (my standard 1 teacher)
- his son, wan farid was the class monitor. every time cikgu comes into the class, the monitor will stand up, acknowledged and says 'murid murid semua berdiri, selamat pagi ayah' ...and follows my the rest of the class.

2. Cik Gu Yahaya
- I was in standard 4 when the late Cik Gu Yahaya taught us mathematics. A very strict and ruthless teacher I would say. Even his name send shock tremors to the class. He would just point to any student to come forward and solve the mathematical problems on the blackboard. with the ratan always in his right hand, one is sure to get a token on the palm if one can't solve the problem. then automatically, you'll be sent to stand up on the chair. but he was also quite considerate as he would always give you another chance .... a second mistake however will see you on the highest peak in the class (standing on the table!). I do recall, whenever my name was called to approach the blackboard, rather then wasting his time, i would automatically spring up to stand on the table. I learned that by doing so, i always spare the mandatory canning - wow, clever me !. and of course a very common sight to see ... before the maths period was over, 90% of the students in the class will either be standing on the chair or table. needless to say one of the regulars on the table is now a professor in statistics at universiti kebangsaan malaysia.

3. Miss Ng (geography teacher when i was in form 2)
- a young, pretty and sexy teacher from Ipoh who always wear the shortest miniskit!. somehow whenever she came for the class, all the boys will rush to be seated in the front rows. and once the class was over, Arief will always hold a press conference ..... goes like , 'well, today she wears a pink colour undie' ... followed by a moment of Ooooooo and deep silence

4. Cik Gu MN
- a young teacher, graduate from one of the teacher's training college. a form 2 history teacher cum warden. somehow he was always up to something and honestly i find him very irritating. when we were in form 5, he must be in his early 20's. this is one teacher who always think that he was the smartest, strict tak bertempat and very very annoying. unfortunately, i was caught on at least a few occasions - skipping prep classes, lompat pagar keluar malam from the hostel and painting graffiti. he was the one who recommended and insisted that a group of us be awarded the honourable public canning. and he was also the one who recommended me and MRM to be suspended from school for 2 weeks - and that was less then 1 month before the MCE exam. and it's still fresh in my memory when he called me and MRM to his room and said.. 'i bet my last dollar, that both of you will never go far and i'm not surprise if both of you tak jadi manusia pun'. well, i'm glad we proved him wrong .... at least i'm not a pest to the society and dato dr. MRM is an adviser to the prime minister on energy section !

LABOUR holiDAY

well, a short break for the first of May. the decision was rather late, thus despite taking the budget airline, the fare was not that cheap after all. the initial plan was to redang or tioman, but for reasons i still find hard to comprehend, we end up in langkawi. no regret really.

I can't exactly remember when was my last trip to langkawi. perhaps 10 years ago !. but i do remember taking a mid day flight and the hotel was perhaps 15 minutes away from the airport (honestly didn't remember the hotel's name). attended the opening ceremony at 3.00 pm and presented my paper just before the break at 5.00 pm. after a quick snack, i rushed back to the airport to catch the last flight home.
by the way this trip was the first for my 2 teenage kiddos.

.... and adik on arrival at langkawi airport - i gathered she was fairly excited


thought of visiting the under water world but as advised by the receptionists at the hotel, the cable car ride was a far better option . and there goes the kiddos and the maid in the cable car


and the scenery at the summit was just breath taking. and the aura and phobia of walking on the hanging bridge !


needless to say, visiting the mahsuri mousoleum was a must for the visitors to langkawi.


and of course the attraction of the beach. lots of places to hang out and unwind along the cenang beach at night - very much resemble the night life in kuta beach in bali. a lot of good restaurants serving good seafood and western cuisines. but alas, the tomyam was a mere disappointment!

and can't blame the maid - wow dia pun nak melaram !


and finally, that was me in langkawi.


Summary:-
verdict: a good and well deserved short holiday
Shopping: fantastic (at least i got 3 pieces of ralph laurent shirt for only rm 500)
Food: the restaurants were fairly good, clean and affordable
Setback: adik merajuk sebab tak jumpa cari starbucks to get her ice blended mocca