Yloindahouse

2011-12-02T11:52:00.001+08:00

http://s91393202.onlinehome.us/sandra.php

Please Improve on your England

2010-11-22T20:02:00.016+08:00

I was watching RenovAid on TV the other day. It's a home improvement show about redecorating homes of people in need. Anyway this post is not about the show. In this particular episode, the family in need is a malay one, and so they interviewed one of the occupants, who is a malay girl in her 20s if I'm not mistaken. First of all, don't get me wrong, I am truly sorry at her plight, but when she started talking, I'm not sure weather to cringe or laugh. Her confidence in talking, does not overshadow what comes out from her mouth, which was atrocious. Hence the topic of my post this time is about English, or rather the usage or the command of the English language.

I'm not being pompous, but whenever I hear or read, badly spoken or written English, I get very annoyed. It's equivalent to hearing fingernails scratching against the blackboard. I admit I have no idea what is - past participle, connective adverb, conjunction, adjective... heck I don't even know what is a noun. But I do recognise a poorly constructed sentence.

I've obtained an A2 in English for my 'O' Levels, and I don't attribute it to reading a lot of books, in fact I hate reading. Contrary to popular belief, reading is not the only way to improve on your English. So where do I learn and build up my vocabulary if not from reading, you may ask. During my secondary school days, I listened to lots of heavy metal songs... in particular Iron Maiden and Metallica.

"Even though it's reached new heights, I rather like the restless nights. It makes me wonder, makes me think, there's more to this I'm on the brink. It's not the fear of what's beyond. It's just that I might not respond. I have an interest almost craving... Would I like to get too far in?"
(Song: Infinite Dreams, Iron Maiden)

"Run over stiles across fields, turn to look at who's on your heels. Way ahead of the field, the line is getting nearer but do you want the glory that goes. You reach the final stretch, ideals are just a trace. You feel like throwing the race, it's all so futile"
(Song: Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Iron Maiden)

Most people will associate heavy metal with satanic songs, which is further from the truth. Iron Maiden songs are full of lyrical literatures. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". "Flight of Icarus", "Children of the Damned", "Phantom of the Opera" just to name a few. I love analyzing the lyrics, as much as listening to the distortion guitar riffs and double-bass beats of the drums.

Metallica have even powerful lyrics :

"Circle of destruction, hammer comes crushing, Powerhouse of energy. Whipping up a fury, dominating flurry, We create the battery. Smashing through the boundaries, Lunacy has found me. Cannot stop the battery"
(Song : Battery, Metallica)

"Dealing out the agony within, Charging hard and no one’s gonna give in. Living on your knees, conformity, Or dying on your feet for honesty. Inbred our bodies work as one, Bloody, but never cry submission. Following our instinct not a trend. Go against the grain until the end"
(Song: Damage Inc, Metallica)

As you can see, the words of the songs are not the typical feel good words of those pop songs which are often aired on radio. These sentences are properly thought-out and arranged to make a song, and give an impact to the listener. Most popular radio friendly songs these days are played with 2 or 3 chords with lovey dovey words repeatedly, and lo and behold it becomes a hit.

Any-hoo, this post is not about promoting heavy metal, as I mentioned its about using proper English. Speak in a manner that is eloquent, and you will create a powerful impression. Knowing English is not good enough, proper English implies that there is some well defined English. Whereas knowing English only properly implies we don't make a complete mess of how we put it all together.

So make an effort to learn to construct proper English sentences... jangan pakai rembat aje... so till next time... "Taking care, and Keep in Touching"

Juliana standards...

2010-11-14T18:06:00.016+08:00

Juliana (second from right) amongst the 8 with 5As.

About a year and half ago, we decided to live across the causeway, something that we wanted to do for a long time, but put-off, mainly because of our children's schooling and 'standards'. We were prepared to move but we cannot decide how we will schooled them.

Prior to moving, I had a conversation with the President from my former workplace, he's a Briton man from England. Our conversation came up to my intention to live in malaysia, and I voiced my concerned about my children's schooling and 'standards'.

And this I remembered what he said "Rizal, let me put it this way, a degree is a degree... doesn't matter where you obtained it. We have a senior lecturer from Bowling State University, Hawaii... I wasn't even sure if a university from Hawaii can be taken seriously, but the lecturer proved her worth, and certainly a valuable asset in this college. There's also a director who doesn't have a degree, let alone a master, he's a diploma holder, and he worked all the way up from being a lecturer, to now a director.... you see it doesn't matter where you are schooled... a qualification is a qualification... an institution is an institution... I have some lecturers complaining that even though they are local, they still cannot enter any of the local universities... hahaha... so don't worry about standards... it all depends on your child... not the school.".

So the next day, with his words still ringing in my ears, I just took a dive and enrolled them in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Indah... much to the protest of some friends and colleagues. I remember sitting in the school's office, and feeling slightly sad and thinking "what am I doing to my children's future? am I doing the right thing..." and an hour later... they're registered and done.

A month later, and even after a phone call from an MOE officer, telling us about 'standards' again (which by now I'm getting pissed off with the word).... they finally started school. We stayed back after sending them in the school. I parked beside the school, and the school assembly started. The principal went up the stage... and she said "Assalamualaikum...."...and the students jawab "Wa'alaikumsalam..." immediately when she beri salam, at that very moment I knew that I did not make a mistake, this is how I want my children to be schooled. And mind you, this is a normal primary school, not a madrasah nor an islamic school... Eventually, I was impressed that the cikgus and students practise sembahyang hajat together when exams are approaching, they go to surau every Jumaat and they even recite doa before class starts everyday.... at this point, this has become my standards and this is what I want for my children.

As time goes by, another thing I noticed is that they are conversing in malay more, and much more fluently, for which I am very glad. Previously living in the red dot, they were speaking English all the time, up to the point where speaking malay becomes a very tedious and miserable experience for them. Numerous times, I had to remind them to "CAKAP MELAYU!!! KITA ORANG MELAYU!!!"... so many time that at times I even had to use physical force on them. It hurts my ears and heart to hear them speaking english all the time. Now they speak more in malay, and it's music to my ears.

As for these 'so-called high rocket scientist' standards, its just the manure of an uncastrated adult male of a domestic cattle . If subjects are taught in riddles are the 'standards', I might as well buy books of riddles and study them. Confusing questions and 'out of the box' thinking for students are just there to make a simple subject look unnecessarily complex. I consider myself an intelligent individual, but if I cannot do my child's homework, I think there's something wrong with the whole system and its not funny anymore.

We are extremely proud of Juliana's achievement, she studied hard and she takes full credit for her success. Neither has it been easy for her, nor did she get it handed on a silver platter. With Juliana, we do not even need to raise our voice or push her to study... She studied the moment she wakes up, right up to before she sleep. We never had to remind her at all, it seems that she has the learning passion in her. By our 'standards', she has done the family proud, and we are proud of her.... and frankly also by my standard, I be most proud when she Khatam Al'Quran.

last note:
My wife called me with the good news "Ayang Juliana dapat 5A !!!!" her voice full of excitement. I replied "Uh... senang sangat ke?"... I realised later on, that my remarks was hurtful to her and my daughter, almost denying my daughter's toil and hardwork... why am I still the typical arrogant singaporean that I hate?

Pengalaman Mendaki Gunung Nasuha di tengah malam.

2009-12-27T19:08:00.004+08:00

Definition of Night Trekking : "During night trekking you can enjoy the nocturnal beauty of the wildlife. To venture out of home and his natural surroundings to explore something new, a world that was unknown to you."

My version of Night Trekking : "Don't fall... Don't fall... Don't fall and... Please Don't fall."

Kami bermula night trekking pada pukul 10:30 malam. Guide kami adalah Hadi dan Jongko. Sebelum kami berjalan, Hadi menasihati kami "Bila di hutan, jangan bercakap besar dan kalau nampak benda-benda *ehem* jangan ditegur." Alamak, tertelan air-liur aku. Selepas tu kami, Wak Jaafar, Wak Kadir, Hakim, Khairul, Atiqa dan hang bermula lah berjalan menuju ke atas bukit. Mula-mulanya kami berjalan di jalan raya, lepas tu di atas jalan berpasir, lepas tu... eh.eh Jongko stop pulak tengah jalan, menunjuk kami jalan ke atas hutan. Sebenarnya guide kami berdua membawa torch light, tapi tu torch light dia orang aje pakai. Lagipun lampu suluh tak guna sangat untuk kita, pasal bila dia orang jalan, lampu dia orang suluh tu bersepah sepah, mengikut perjalanan mereka, so kita pun tak nampak sangat.

Bila mendaki semak samun tu, Jongko kat depan, khairul, hakim, atiqa, wak jaafar, wak kadir, me dan di belakang sekali Hadi. Aku dalam hati "Jangan lah dia orang ni jatuh, aku ni kat bawah, sekali dengan aku-aku sekali jatuh macam domino." Pendakian nak cakap susah jugak, pasal takde jalan yang clear, banyak semak dan batang-batang pokok. Aku pulak dengan selipar, rasa macam pakai roti perata kat kaki.... asyik nak tercabut aje.

Suasana hutan memang mengerunkan, gelap gelita dalam hutan tu. Sesekali tu adalah kelibat Mr.Posh.. Fatimah Rockers... aku boleh kira nampak 3 kelibat... tapi dia tak stay still, dia macam ada lepas tu hilang, sekejap aje. menampakan bentuk badan. Agaknya imaginasi aku, tapi dalam hutan macam gini memang ada jin-jin dan benda-benda halus ye tak. Tapi tak apa, asalkan dia orang tak kacau aku sudah. Lagipun aku bukan takut benda-benda ni, aku tengah concentrate tak nak jatuh... tu je. Tapi ada satu ketika tu, aku dengar si Hadi ni ketawa macam perempuan, halus dan betul-betul suara perempuan. Aku tak berani nak tengok belakang aku siapa. Aku ni actually seorang Skeptik.. tak percaya lansung cerita hantu-hantu, tapi bila dah terdengar sendiri... nak fikir apa pun dah tak tahu.... buat bodoh sudah... apa-apa pun semuanya ciptaan tuhan.

Anyway selepas meredah hutan, jalan atas pokok tumbang, tercucuk duri, calar kena ranting-ranting tajam, kami pun sampai ke puncak bukit Nasuha. Dia puncak tu ada sebuah batu yang besar betul. dan kami berehat di atasnya untuk seketika. Permandangan Bandar Muar dan Sungai Muar dapat dikelihatan, yang diselubungi mist. Kami pun berborak-borak diatas sambil melihat bintang-bintang di langit. Pokok-pokok yang tinggi menyelubungi bukit-bukit.

Setelah berehat, Hadi pun bertanya "Sekarang saya kasi pilihan, nak jalan senang biasa ke atau adventure?" Kami pun pada mulanya menjawab, jalan biasa ajelah, pasal dah penat. Tapi kita ingatkan, dia orang bawak jalan "Nasi Goreng Biasa", tapi jadinya "Nasi Goreng Belacan" pulak.

Mula-mulanya jalan kat kawasan lapang, yang aku rasa lagi gerun daripada dalam hutan, pasal kat kawasan lapang, boleh nampak pokok tinggi-tinggi, disekeliling. Kalau dalam hutan, gelap aje. Turun dari bukit lagi susah daripada naik. Merentasi sungai air terjun yang berlumpur macam quicksand, kena terjun jurang, berjalan belakang mini waterfall dan kena mendaki pakai tali. Bab mendaki pakai tali tu, aku dah rasa macam nak pengsan, bayangkanlah kena tari diri ke atas dengan badan yang boyak ni. Nafas bukan keluar kat mulut, keluar kat bontot lah.

Pada jam 12:30 malam kami pun sampailah kat Dorm, dengan rasa puas hati, dan lega tiada apa-apa perkara buruk menimpa. Alhamdullilah. Night Trekking adalah satu pengalaman yang tidak dapat dilupakan, apa lagi jika dilakukan dengan ahli keluarga sendiri... seronok, mengerunkan dan memenatkan.

Twilight

2009-12-14T22:01:00.011+08:00

4X says "With all this Twilight craze, I have to write about it. But be prepared its going to be nasty. First of all, I watched the second one first and then the first one. Ok I'm going straight to the point... ITS A BAD MOVIE!!! Not just bad... its really really really bad... The acting are all so bad, and its not just "star wars bad", its worthlessly bad! Come on, Chewbacca can act better than Robert Pattinson.

As for the storyline, what a mess! Ok you tell me, how come Edward can appear as visions for Bella when danger is about to strike her, but when she "die" he cannot sense her... and worst he wants to die??!?! for what? You want to protect her so you ran away, but still looks after her, and then when she "die", he wants to die too. Romeo and Juliet its NOT!!!

And this Bella... Why are guys and monsters attracted to her? Come on she's not hot.. she's more like a weirdo! And not even an attractive weirdo.

And what about Jacob? First he's a nice guy, and all of a sudden he's a werewolf? What happen? Did I sleep during the transition? And why werewolves like to be topless? And when the guys turns to wolves and then turns back, they still got their jeans on? Oh come on!...Vampires with conscience... they don't burn in sunlight, but they glitter like diamonds... werewolves don't need the full moon... oh man the whole story is messed up!!!

Ok Bella, wise up! Go with Jacob, at least he saved you and protect you, and will never leave you unlike that stupid pale-junky-face-drag queen Edward, always whining "Stop Bella! Don't do it! Turn back! Go Home!". Plus Jacob got perfect body.

I don't know, maybe the books are better than the movie. Ok I'm going to summaries the 3rd and 4th part, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Here it goes:

Eclipse : Bella marry Edward, but he wants to make love while she's human. Victoria seeks revenge, create new vampire army. Werewolves team and Vampire Team become friends. Bella wants Jacob. Edward kills Victoria. Bella wants Edward. Edward and Bella marries and make love.

Breaking Dawn : Edward and Bella marry. Bella becomes pregnant. Half-human, half-vampire baby. Edward wants her to abort. Bella say no. Edward say ok go ahead. Bella give birth via C-sect Edward delivers, and makes her a vampire.Baby daughter, Renesmee. Volturi say cannot have half-half baby, wants to kill the Cullens. Edwards say cannot, and they all live happily ever after... the end.

East Ledang

2009-12-11T22:56:00.002+08:00

East Ledang - RM$1.2M (S$497K)
9 Bilik tidur
2 Hall
1 Swimming Pool

Pelajar Sekolah Kebangsaan

2009-11-30T22:21:00.002+08:00

Mengidam Berendam dan Tempat Paling Eeeeriee

2009-11-10T21:39:00.006+08:00

4X says "Kerana kerinduan nak berendam sangat, last sunday kami pergi Air Terjun Kota Tinggi. Actually ada lagi satu air terjun dekat rumah kami, Kulai, tapi tempat tu tak happening lansung. Actually dah banyak air terjun kita dah pergi, dari Kuantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Gunung Ledang, KL... in my opinion, Air Terjun Kota Tinggi paling best dan mudah pergi (2nd best Lata Iskandar - Cameron Highlands). Puteri pun berendam lama kat air sejuk segar. Air Terjun Kota Tinggi ni jadi macam mini Water Theme park jugak tau, ada slide-slide dan boleh sewa water tube.

Lepas tu kita pergi pantai Desaru ... macam dah lama tak duduk kat pantai sejak pindah sini. Boleh cakap pantai Desaru ni ada standard jugaklah, luas dan air pun jernih jugak... tak payah pergi Terengganu kalau nak air jernih. Tapi sini ombak kuat jugak, tapi boleh lah mandi kat tepi-tepi. Cantik, Luas dan Bersih pantai ni.

On the way nak balik, kita orang pass by Johor Kota Lama. Tempat tu sungguh mengerikan, pasal banyak nya kubur. Ada muzeum menceritakan kisah Johor Lama.

Kota Johor Lama pernah menjadi kubu kuat kerajaan Johor Lama. Ia juga pernah menjadi medan perang antara penduduk Melayu setempat dan pihak penjajah ketika itu. Kota ini sebenarnya dibina pada 1540, sewaktu zaman pemerintahan Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II (1528-1564). Kota ini adalah benteng pertahanan terbaik di sepanjang Sungai Johor. Setelah kejatuhan Kesultanan Melayu Melaka pada 1511, Sungai Johor menjadi pusat pemerintahan dan kubu pertahanan untuk menghadapi musuh Portugis di Melaka.

Tempat tu ooooooh super scary tapi cantik, pasal kampungnya betul-betul tepi laut. Bila nak masuk kampung johor lama tu, road satu lane dalam hutan-hutan dan kubur banyak sekali, kiri kanan depan belakang banyak kubur. Tempat paling eeerie sekali, kita dah jalan satu malaysia, ini tempat paling mengerikan. Orang-orang kat sana agaknya dah biasa, tak tahulah nak bayangkan kalau masa malam, macam mana agaknya rasanya....

Whazzz uppppp dude...

2009-11-06T08:02:00.004+08:00

4X says "Aiyoh... manyak sangat kerja loh... kepala pening loh... sampai blog ni pun dah berlapuk, sebulan tak update. Bila nak update pulak gambar kat camera ni pulak tak boleh upload, cucuk USB aje, PC ni akan restart, so gambar raya, orang datang, orang kahwin, semua stuck kat camera... so ni update sikit...

Interview diri sendiri (nilah soalan yang biasa orang tanya kita):

So apa perasaan anda sudah tinggal kat JB dah nak dekat 4 bulan?
Oh seronok sekali, kadang-kadang tu rasa macam tak nak pergi kerja, tak nak keluar rumah... hanya nak duduk rumah aje. Sayang sangat nak tinggal kan rumah."

Bagus sangat ke tinggal kat sana?
Oh memang bagus, pada pendapat saya, udara kat sini, terutama pagi-pagi macam lain sikit. Rasa macam clear, kalau kat di sg udara macam sesak sikit, pasal banyak sangat flat so blocking angin agaknya.

Selalu pergi mana kat sana?
Kita ni sekarang suka pergi Pontian, makan tepi laut, dalam 20 minit dari rumah kita. Lepas tu biasalah, beli barang kat Jusco, Angsana, Giant, Tesco... tempat-tempat yang dulu kita selalu pergi pada hujung minggu, tapi sekarang boleh pergi tiap-tiap hari. Cuma sini takde pantai yang dekat rumah kita, so kalau nak mandi kena pergi air-terjun Kulai, atau Kota Tinggi. Lagi satu kita orang ni hobby suka cari Show House, mana-mana jumpa aje kita masuk. Kalau nak rilek kan otak, boleh bersantai kat Puteri Harbour, duduk tengok boat. Kalau bab makan tu, tak payah cakap, tengok kira-kanan, mana-mana aje kedai makan(halal).

Apa yang korang miss kat SG?
Oh banyak benda kita rindu... ERP, Multi Storey Car Park, Lift, Bil Air/Electric mahal, New Water, seksa cari kedai makan halal... dan macam-macam lagi.. hehe.. ok seriously, pantai yang dekat-dekat dan swimming pool merata-rata.

Kalau di JB pulak, apa yang tak bagus sangat?
Lack of sense of urgency... hehe...

Tapi kawan saya tinggal JB, di Condo Datin Halimah lain pulak pengalaman dia, dia kata jalan raya selalu sesak, ada peragut banyak... ?
Lah kawan awak tu duduk kat dekat Larkin, daerah sana memang sesak sikit so pengalaman dia mestilah lain daripada kami. Kat mana-mana negeri pun, ada daerah yang 'hot' dan ada daerah yang 'cold', sama macam kalau kita tinggal kat Geylang tak sama macam kalau kita tinggal kat Orchard kan.

kalau ada apa-apa lagi soalan, tujukan kat tag board...

Gosip-gosip artis

2009-09-28T21:54:00.014+08:00

Majalah URTV - Edisi Raya September 2009

Sekarang ni hangat berita seorang artis yang kacak sungguh, yang sering diganggu pelakon wanita, yang namanya tidak boleh disebut tapi ramai yang kenal kerana namanya yang semakin meningkat, dan juga badannya.Setelah di soal siasat oleh wartawan kami, akhirnya gadis itu, yang bukan sunti lagi, mengaku dia agak teruja sekali bila berada di sisi artis kacak itu, tetapi bukan kepada artis itu, sebaliknya kepada ayam masak kari yang sedang dimakan artis itu.

Ini pula kisah seorang artis veteran yang telah berjaya mengurangkan berat badan dengan mengamalkan memeluk daun pisang dan melekatkan daun pisang itu ke muka apabila berjumpa pokok pisang. Amalan ini sentiasa diamalkan oleh artis veteran ini, sungguhpun ditegar keras oleh para saintis kerana ia akan menimbulkan masaalah buang angin yang beralutan,

Gambar ini yang telah diambil oleh wartawan kami, menunjukkan artis yang terkenal ini melakukan perkara yang tidak disangka-sangka. Kerana marahkan sangat dengan daun-daun, beliau cuba berdialog setelah berkali-kali daun-daun itu tidak mengambil peduli. Setelah disoal siasat, artis itu berkata, daun-daun itu masih tidak mahu meminta maaf kepadanya sejak peristiwa skandal tahun lepas.

Artis wanita ini sekali lagi cuba mengoda, kali ini dengan seorang YB, bernama Datuk S. Dari raut wajah Datuk itu, beliau sedang berfikir jauh memikirkan, bukan terhadap artis wanita itu, tetapi sedang memikirkan resepi baru untuk memasak sayur-sayur yang dipegangnya itu. Artis wanita itu pula mengaku teruja sekali dengan lauk yang bakal dihidang oleh Datuk S.

Wartawan kami telah berjaya membongkar rahsia kisah
seorang artis yang sungguh kacak rupa-rupanya seorang gay.
Gambar yang ditangkap ini, di sebuah pub di kota singa,
menunjukan hubungan mesra mereka yang berjaya mereka
sembunyikan selama setahun. Kami mengharapkan pasangan ini insaf dan kembali ke pangkal jalan.

Sepasang lagi pasangan artis yang gay telah ditangkap oleh jabatan mencegah maksiat baru-baru ini. Mereka terpaksa mengaku mengenai hubungan mereka selama lima tahun itu setelah ditangkap berdua-duan di playground. Mahkamah telah menjatuhkan hukuman sebat kepada mereka berdua, tapi
atas permintaan mereka, hukuman sebat itu akan dijalankan sesama mereka.

Untuk gosip-gosip artis yang terlanjur dan seterusnya, belilah edisi keluaran bulan Oktober, dijamin berpuas-hati. Tingkatkan prestasi, kurangkan controversi.

The grass is greener on the other side

2009-09-26T21:07:00.005+08:00

Syurgawijr - No.21 Nusa Idaman Presint 5

Tamanbahasa - No.32 Bougainvillea Precinct

Yloindahouse - No.4 Horizon Hills

How to reach here...
By Bus
Take bus CW3 dari Jurong East Interchange, $4 fare
Turun kat custom 2nd Link chop passport, naik balik bus terus ke Jaya Jusco.
Bila sampai, call kita datang ambik.

By Car
Go by 2nd link Gelang Patah, turn in Johor, and then Bukit Indah.

Selamat Hari Raya 2009

2009-09-23T23:16:00.003+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya Tahun 2009.

Hari Raya pertama untuk Puteri, beraya bersama Atuk.

Pertama dan Terakhir

Atuk bersama Anak Terakhir (Rizal) , Cicit Terakhir* (Khuzaimah), Cucu Terakhir (Puteri), Cucu Pertama (Norliza), Anak Pertama (Sarah), Cucu Pertama (Zohri).

Anak lelaki Pertama (Kadir) dan Anak Perempuan Kelapan (Rehana).

*cicit terakhir untuk sekarang... Insyaallah, ramai lagi akan datang...

Iftar, Iftar dan Iftar

2009-09-13T23:56:00.003+08:00

Iman says " Hai kengkawan... minggu lepas, kita iftar di sana sini. Pertama sekali pada sabtu lepas kita orang pergi rumah Wakdir. Fooh menunya - Nasi Kuah Rawan, sambal sotong, paru, bagedil... tu lah abah punya favourite menu. Abah cakap ayam goreng mak eton sedap poweerrrrr!!! dia cakap dia tak pernah rasa ayam goreng macam gitu punya sedap. Apa agaknya resepi mak eton... Terimakasih kepada krew TamanBahasa.

Juliana says "Pada esok harinya pulak, kita dijemput iftar di Taman Seri Austin. Kita dapat juga berjumpa dengan kak Aivi dengan tunangnya. Wak Ibu Anne masak pun poweerrrr jugak! Dia masak ikan keli sambal, pengat pisang, dan macam-macam lagi. Abah cakap dia tak pernah rasa ikan keli sambal macam gitu punya sedap. Apa agaknya resepi wak ibu anne... Terimakasih kepada krew Taman Austin."

Nadhirah says " Pada hari Sabtu pulak kita punya turn jemput orang datang iftar kat rumah kita di Horizon Hills. Wakdir family, Bibik family, Kak Yan family, Kak Eti dan abang Is datang untuk berbuka bersama. Mama masak Tom Yam dan ayam goreng, dan lain-lain mereka bawak macam ikan keli, sambal kerang, sotong Jusco, kuih-muih.. penuh satu table. Terimakasih semua datang ke rumah kami."

Puteri says "Hari ni pula, kita orang semua pergi rumah Wan dan Aki. Kita berbuka di Ayer Hitam pula. Macam-macam lauk juga Wan masak bersama Kak Husna, yang balik dari Mesir. Dia akan melahirkan anaknya lagi 2 bulan. Tu lah cicit pertama Wan dan Aki. Abah cakap Wan punya epok-epok sedap sekali, apa agaknya resepi Wan buat epok-epok power!!!!. Terimakasih krew Ayer Hitam."

Mama's Viva

2009-09-05T14:22:00.006+08:00

Some guys give their wife flowers, some guys give them diamond rings, expensive clothes and lots of cash.

Sadly I can't afford all that during our 12 years of marriage..... so I bought her a brand new car... a gift for our wedding anniversary.

Perodua Viva 1.0 Auto @ RM$34,400 (S$14K)

Tanggal 31 Bulan 8

2009-08-31T18:06:00.006+08:00

Tanggal Tiga Puloh Satu Bulan Lapan
Lima Puloh Tujuh
31-8-1957

52nd Malaysia National Day
"Satu Malaysia. Rakyat Didahulukan. Pencapaian Diutamakan"

Merdeka!

Tanggal Tiga Puloh Satu Bulan Lapan
Sembilan Puloh Tujuh

31-8-1997

12th Year Wedding Anniversary.

"Satu Keluarga. Anak-anak Didahulukan. Kebahagian Diutamakan"

Visitors from Singapore

2009-08-09T21:56:00.001+08:00

Hari ini kami menerima ramai tetamu-tetamu dari Singapura. Abang Kadir, Kak Eton, Hakim, Atiqa, Eti, Is, Yan, Herman dan juga Wak Sam, Nurul dan Adi.

Sambil tu wak dir sempat juga membawa keluarga wak sam ke rumah Nusa Idaman no.32. Iman telah diberi tugas dari wak dir untuk memotong lalang kat rumah dia... hehe

Terimakasih datang ke rumah. Nanti kita barbeque ok.

Second Link

2009-07-31T21:43:00.004+08:00

4X says "So here we are finally, nearly 3 weeks living in the suburbs of Johor... My dream of living in malaysia, finally realised... and surprisingly my commuting everyday to and from sg and my has been smooth. Early morning I set off at 7:30am and reaching my work place at 8:30am... an hour's drive. Actually car lanes at the checkpoints (sg and my) are relatively empty in the morning and evening, but motorcycle lanes are packed and long queues most of the time.

My fear of commuting in jams everyday, is finally laid to rest. From Horizon Hills to Keppel Road is always smooth (120kmph), but from Keppel Road onwards there will be slight slowdown (70kmph), but once I reach ECP its smooth drive again all the way to work. In fact, if not for Keppel Road, I think I can reach work in 40 mins. Of course, it's a little costlier to drive from Second Link, but because of cheaper malaysia petrol and no monthly season parkings, plus cheaper food and parking anywhere in johor is free, I think it balances out the toll charges. In fact, driving in on the bridge and gelang patah expressway gives me peace of mind and serenity.

With regards to the First Link... well I don't want to talk about that... that way is a nightmare, starting from Angsana all the way to the sg checkpoint. You can get stuck for an hour if you take the first link path in the morning. It's cheaper, in fact no cost at all, but it will cost you your time.

So for me, Second Link will be the best way for me during the weekdays, but if I need to go Sg during the weekends, I'll take the First Link, because that's the time when Sgreans go to Johor, and I'll be at the other side of the jam.. haha...

Goodbye 424... Hello 4/3

2009-07-17T23:32:00.004+08:00

3X says "So this post could be the last I'll send from Singapore... or rather from my house in Woodlands... So what shall I write? Talk about moving... feelings... anxiety... excitement.... I don't know, I didn't feel any different, most probably because I'll still be commuting to and fro everyday, so other than sleeping in another country, I'll still be making a living here. The house I live in will be different, but work will be the same.

But the kids will have a more different life, and they definitely had some sad touching moments with their classmates at school, being the last for them today. They had cards made for them by each of their classmates and even teachers, and as I read each one of them, it managed to pull some tear nerves.

Anyway, we all are excited to live in a suburb... away from city life, hdb life and minority life.
I don't think we will miss this country much... its just 20km away, a 10 mins drive bring us back anytime. If you wondering how am I gonna survive crossing checkpoints everyday, actually when I finish work at 5:30pm, I reached the house at 6:30pm via 2nd link, less traffic but higher tolls, but I'll save a little on petrol (buy only my) and no need for hdb season parking.

Anyway, do visit us, when you passing by... we open our gates to you....

Puteri dan Md. Khuzaimah

2009-07-13T20:35:00.001+08:00

-- Post From My iPhone

2009-07-04T19:34:00.001+08:00

Kunci rumah dan Car Card Access.

Mop satu rumah.

Nadhirah dan Puteri kat living room.

Toilet masih virgin, belum dicemari.

Barang rumah next week sampai.

Penjaga gate rumah.

Don't forget our address:
Horizon Hills no.4 Jalan Ambang 4/3

Jangan datang rumah woodlands, Korean family tinggal kat situ.

Address baru

2009-06-25T18:34:00.001+08:00

Horizon Hills, Jalan Ambang 4/3 No.4
Insyalla'allah kami akan berpindah ke sini.
Duit sudah di bayar, kunci dapat 1st July.

--

ost From My iPhone

Melaka - 12 to 15 June 2009

2009-06-18T21:48:00.018+08:00

Melaka... - "Tak kan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia"

Menara Taming Sari

Dah beli tiket, kita beratur.... tak sabar nak naik roket!

Up... Up... and Away! ... tingginya boleh tengok satu Melaka

" Menara Taming Sari - 360 degree viewing tower - 110 meter - 66 passengers - 7 minutes. From a height of 80 meters, the ride offers you a spectacular and panaromic view of Historical Malacca City and a far with a host of interesting sights such as St Paul’s Hill, Independence Memorial Building, Samudera Museum and the ship, Flor De La Mar, Malacca River, Dataran Pahlawan, Pulau Selat Mosque, Pulau Besar and the Straits of Malacca."

River Cruise Melaka

Dah beli tiket, kita beratur lagi... tak sabar nak pergi cruise !

Melaka river cruise 45 minit... tengok Mai ada OngPutih!

"The Melaka River was a key reason behind what Melaka is today. The beautiful past of this great city would not have been possible had its was not bestowed with a river like this. It other words, the Melaka River significantly shaped the history of this land. A cruise through this river is an exciting way to explore the whole city, its historical sites, the scenic beauty of the place and the simple, yet absorbing, life of its people."

Puteri berada di Pantai Puteri

Ni tak payah beli tiket... tapi beli goreng pisang dengan air kelapa, lepas tu rilek tepi pantai. Ada pasar malam, menjual udang galah, ketam, ayam goreng.... semua siap goreng.

Eye On Malaysia

Dah beli tiket, kita go Round and Round we go... 5 pusingan!

Mama senyum tapi dalam hati takut.

"The "Eye on Malaysia" is the largest transportable viewing wheel with 42 air-conditioned gondolas-the first ever in South East Asia. Measuring at a height of 60 metres (20-stories high), the "Eye on Malaysia" weighs 400 tonnes. The 21-spoked wheel is supported by eight legs and is anchored down by two water tanks filled with 60,000 liters of water. Visitors will be able to view up to 20 kilometres in all directions from the "Eye on Malaysia". A ride on the "Eye of Malaysia" lasts 12 minutes.

Dengan MyKad, harga tiket kita semua half-price !

First holiday with Puteri... We Love Melaka!!!

Bersama Wan dan Aki

2009-06-12T21:01:00.001+08:00

Kita balik kampung untuk seminggu, untuk bersama Wan dan Aki.

-- Post From My iPhone

Johor rumah sewa 4

2009-06-07T14:31:00.001+08:00

Casa Amira

- Post From My iPhone

Brother and Sisters

2009-05-31T19:06:00.008+08:00

Puteri bersama kakak-kakak dan abang yang tersayang.

Puteri says"Hai kengkawan, kita sekarang dah umur 1 bulan. Kita bersyukur telah dilahirkan dengan selamat, dan ingin berterimakasih dengan Mama kerana membesarkan Puteri dalam perut selama 37 minggu, dan meneran 10 jam untuk keluarkan Puteri. Tapi bila Puteri keluar dan balik rumah, tak nampak abang dan kakak-kakak, dengar-dengar dia orang kena chicken pox so dia orang balik kampung kat Ayer Hitam. Lepas tu pulak Kakak Nadhirah... Syukur semua-nya dah sembuh, dan syukur juga Puteri tak kena gigit ayam.

Sekarang ni kan, Puteri asyik ikut abang-kakak, mama dan abah pergi Johor aje. Sejak lahir sampai sekarang dah macam-macam hotel kat Johor tu kita duduk. Lepas tu kan, dah macam-macam rumah kita pergi, kat Nusa Indah, Nusa Idaman, Nusa Bestari, Horizon Hills, Bukit Indah, Taman Setia Indah, Taman Seri Austin... Puteri tidur aje bila dalam kereta, dan bila kena dukung sana sini. Tapi kan bila kat rumah atau sampai rumah aje, Puteri asyik menangis aje, tak syoklah kalau tak jalan-jalan, boring dalam bilik.... hehehe.

Oklah Puteri nak tidur, dah ngantuk... bye...

Kakak Puteri, Nadhirah

About me:
"Nama saya Puteri bte Md.Rizal. Orang selalu tanya kenapa Puteri? Saya ni kerabat diraja ke? Sebenarnya Abah saya yang letak nama tu sebab dia suka tengok cerita dulu-dulu. Saya tak kisah orang nak panggil saya Puteri ke, baby ke, adik ke, saya tak kisah. Orang cakap hidup cuma sekali...so kita enjoooyyyy......."

Rumah Sewa 3

2009-05-25T23:09:00.001+08:00

Horizon Hills, Nusajaya
Golf & Country Club facilities

-- Post From My iPhone

Rumah Sewa 2

2009-05-24T09:34:00.001+08:00

Taman Nusa Bestari
Bestari Regency 2

so bila kita pindah?....
bila rumah kita dah ada orang sewa...

- Post From My iPhone

Rumah sewa Johor

2009-05-19T19:10:00.002+08:00

Rumah 2 tingkat sewa bulanan RM500
RM500 = SGD210
Post From My iPhone

Kampung Boy (teaser 3)

2009-05-17T23:06:00.003+08:00

3X says "Di kampung, ada seorang budak nakal yang nama-nya Ajis. Dia ni macam gangster kampung dusun, selalunya dia akan bersama dengan 3 orang gangnya dan dia adalah ketua. Dia orang ni pergi kelas agama bersama aku kat Masjid Laut tiap-tiap malam Sabtu, dan selalu buat kacau. Dan kerana aku paling pendiam, dia orang ni selalu target aku. Pada satu malam tu, aku tengah duduk dalam masjid menunggu class nak start, tiba-tiba 2 budak-budak ni, satu Ajis dan gang dia, bergolek bergaduh dalam masijd, depan mimbar. Aku tengokkan aje, tak kuasa nak tegur atau buat apa-apa. Dah puas dia orang bertumbuk, tendang terajang Ajis pun lari keluar. Dia kembali dengan separuh botol kaca, yang aku boleh dengar dia pecahkan. Aku pun dah tak boleh handle lalu aku terus lari keluar. Selang berapa minit, si lawan Ajis tu keluar dengan badan muka dia dah luka dan berdarah. Mereka pun berlari keluar tak kembali.

Selepas kelas tamat, aku pun nak pulang, tapi sampai kat gate, aku terdengar si Ajis pekik "Eh Kau ada bilang Ustazah kita bergaduh ??!!!". Aku tak jawab lansung, lalu lari pulang. Sampai pertengahan perjalanan, aku terjumpa si lawan Ajis yang berbasikal. Aku tengok rupa wajahnya memang dia dah nak terkam aku, si Ajis pulak berlari dari belakang aku, rupa-rupanya dia orang dah kawan balik, lepas tu cari mangsa. Aku pun lari lintang pukang berlainan arah mereka, dan kerana kawasan kampung ni gelap bila malam, aku dapat elakan mereka, dan bersembunyi di dalam peti ais yang rosak. Bayangkanlah pukul sepuluh malam, dalam gelap, aku sembunyi dalam peti ais yang lagi gelap. Selepas 10 minit, aku pun berlari pulang ke rumah.

Sejak hari tu, bila aku nampak mereka kat kampung, aku akan elak kan diri. Mereka sebenarnya suka steam gam bersama-sama, dan aku pernah nampak dia orang sedang menghidu gam dalam plastic kat belakang masjid.

Beberapa tahun lepas, aku terjumpa si Ajis kat Tampines Interchange, sedang menuggu bas. Saiz badan dia dan rupa wajahnya tak lari lansung, sama aje. "Eh Ajis, Apa khabar kau sekarang?" aku menyapa dia. Mula-mula dia tak kenal aku, "Eh kau dulu tinggal Bedok kampung kan?", dia tanya aku kembali. "Ye lah, aku dulu kau kejar lepas belajar agama, kau ingat tak?". "Aku tak ingat... Eh kau ni makin gempal lah... betul aku tak ingat masa kat kampung dulu". Yang kelakarnya, selepas dia cakap gitu, dia terus pusing dan terus berjalan, tak senyum tak beri salam, macam orang nak cabut. Berkata aku dalam hati... aku bukan nak bantai kau.

(banyak sangat nak cerita, tak tahu bila boleh habis)

Sedutan cerita - Kampung Boy (teaser)

2009-05-17T00:37:00.003+08:00

3X says "....Di depan rumah pula, adalah rumah keluarga Imah, kawan baik kakak aku. Halaman rumah dia pun besar jugak, dan mereka mandi kat perigi di rumah tu. Pada satu hari, waktu pagi, aku ikut mak ke rumah Imah, dan biasalah sebagai budak-budak, aku pun tak tahu duduk diam. Mak dan mak imah berbual di dapur, sambil aku turun naik tangga, pergi hall, masuk bilik tidur, explorer satu rumah. Aku pun masuk kat satu bilik tidur, yang ada 2 katil, aku tak tahu siapa tidur kat situ. Aku masuk lalu baring kat satu katil. Sambil aku baring, ada seorang budak perempuan, yang umurnya aku rasa muda sikit daripada aku, masuk kat dalam bilik tu. Dia tak berkata-kata, cuma diri aje depan aku. Aku pulak takde rasa takut atau apa-apa. Dia diri aje tercegat kat depan aku. Selepas tu aku pun turun ke dapur, dan cakap dengan mak, "Mak tadi ada budak perempuan kat atas, dia tengok ijal aje". Mendengar aku cakap begitu, orang-orang tua kat meja semua terdiam. Lalu mak mendukung aku, dan kami pun beredar untuk pulang...."

....dah nak masuk 10 page....

Sedutan cerita - Kampung Boy

2009-05-15T21:20:00.002+08:00

3X says ""Ijal... balik mandi", Mak berteriak dari luar tingkap dapur. Aku yang sedang kyusuk sekali menangkap spider di belakang rumah, di celah-celah semak dan buluh-buluh yang sekelilingnya ada 2 atau 3 batu nisan, enggan berganjak. Geng tangkap spider aku, Johan dan Buti, anak-anak jiran aku, pun sedang menyangkung mencari spider dari bawah semak pula. "Nanti Mak sekejap aje", aku berteriak balik. "Eh Johan, aku dapat Kang lah", kata aku dengan penuh kebanggaan, menunjuk Johan spider aku. "Taklah ni bukan Kang, ni Buk aje, kau tengok taring dia pendek sangat" kata Johan, potong steam aku. "A'ah lah Ijal, ni Buk lah", kata Buti confirm. "Ijal!!! Kau balik sekarang jugak, mandi, dah petang ni, kalau tak, Mak pergi sana eh!!!"... "Ok, ok... dah nak balik ni !!!"... mulut aku berkata tapi mata masih kat daun-daun yang berlipat, masih mencari spider Kang aku. Belum sempat aku beralih kat semak lain, "Gedebuuuukk!!!", alamak bunyi apa tu, aku pusing ke kiri... Alamak! Mak campak batu lah, besar pulak tu.......... (untuk selanjutnya, tunggukan terbitan buku oleh TamanBahasa Publishing).

Brother Safe

2009-05-11T22:42:00.003+08:00

3X says "I don't get it... there's a lot of things in this life that I don't get, and this one ranks top ten at the moment. No names will be mentioned, but I don't think it will matter, you'll know who I'm referring to.

Ok he escaped last year, and presumably just captured this year. If I'm from another world, and I seen that headline, I would thought nothing of it. But then after hearing all the news, and painstakingly going through customs which takes forever everytime, the longest was like nearly 6 hours, I'm like "Huh?!@#!@#?!!"

Ok let's do a recap in a nutshell : A 48 year old man, who has a limp (I repeat a limp -ergo not effectively using a pair of legs -ergo not as fast as a normal person), manage to climb out of a small window in a toilet wall, and somehow evade securities in a really well guarded area with barbed wire fences, climb up a tall wall, run through a forest, all this while, dogs and police chasing after him immediately, and he disappeared... yes after all that.

And a few days later (I repeat a few days, not the day, or the next day itself), he swam (with a limp) across the sea to the other side. All this while, the army and the police and coast guards everywhere, working overtime, guarding all the longkangs, even cemeteries, patrolling all along the coastline, with his pictures pasted everywhere, the whole island (maybe world) has seen his face and looking for him, and he escaped.... yes after all that.

And now a year later, not a few weeks later, or months later, he is "presumably" caught at a place not further from where he escaped. Presumably he is living in a small village selling burgers at night, and I'm sure lots of people whom he met would recognise him, and he lived like that for a year... yes after all that.

Relief? Happy? Good job? Crucial Information leads to capture ?.... Huh?!?!?! are you serious???!!! Are you kidding me???!!!

My advice is, don't lock up this man... use him to your advantage, obviously he got skills, determination and perseverance. Pay him lots of money, give him a good status respected job... if he has a very good paying job, and an interesting job for him to keep his mind occupied, with a respected rank... he will be able to take good care of his family, he will be less grumpy and will wise up and do his job really well. A high ranking job in the army or home security will be most appropriate for him, obviously even commandos or any elite forces will not, cannot and have not done what he has done.

You lock him up again... he soon get out again, and generate more malu again... and then I don't get it again.

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T16:30:00.002+08:00

Selamat Hari Ibu kepada semua

Ibu-Ibu, Ibu Mertua, Ibu Angkat, Ibu mengandung

Impian Puteri

2009-05-03T08:02:00.002+08:00

Puteri Bte Md Rizal

2009-04-27T23:12:00.004+08:00

Birth... no matter how many times I've witnessed my wife giving birth, I still will not know how it feels like. I can see that she is suffering, and I know it's the most painful physical body function to experience, and each time I feel helpless., standing by her side. Apart from standing there, with words of encouragement, I'm practically helpless and useless.

On 22nd April, the day started like any other day, except that Juliana and Iman, are both out of school due to chicken pox. By afternoon, Yati was bleeding more and more, and so we had to leave the children at home by themselves (something we have never done before), to go KKH. Upon reaching, we were directed to the labour ward, and a doctor examined her. Even after telling him there were a lot of blood, and asking to be induce, he said its early labour signs and ask us to go home and wait.... we went home.

6pm that same day, she had more bleeding, and the pain got intense, very intense. By 8pm, we told the children they had to stay at home by themselves, and we had not much time to explain to them what to do, and we told them to just sleep, and hopefully by morning, their sister will be born.

9pm we reach KKH, and we requested to be warded to the labour ward, no more asking the doctor. By 10pm, she was examined and by 12pm her water bag was broken by the doctor. But no, she cannot deliver yet, the baby's head is still too high, and we had to wait. By 2am, the pain was getting too unbearable for her, and doctor suggested taking the epidural. By 3pm, the epidural was administered to her spine, and she was calm, not feeling the contractions and pain anymore.

By 6am, the cervix was fully opened, and the baby's head had came down, and its time to push her out. But because of the epidural, her sensations from the waist down was gone, and she could not push the baby out. By then we can hear the baby's heart beat getting slower and slower, which means that the baby is in distressed. But a mother's love is strong, and she mustered all her strengths and all the energy she had, and begin pushing the baby. Its a miracle where she find the strength. And so an hour later, at 6:45am, Puteri came out into the world. And so after nearly 10 hours in the labour ward, I saw the most beautiful thing I ever see in my entire life. I've seen and gone through the other 3 deliveries before, but this one really makes me teary, and I fought back the tears, its a guy thing, act macho.

I love my 3 other children, and thankful for them, but this time, at that moment when she came out, I felt so at peace and so thankful for her presence... its like I wanted her and needed her so badly in my life. Like all my worries and fear just disappeared, and everythiing will be ok and I really got very emotional. Immediately after everything is settled, I leave and drive off home. In the car, while I'm alone and driving, I cried non-stop. Feeling so very thankful to Allah.

I have THE utmost respect for midwives who everyday witness and orchestrate the childbirth process that comes in everyday in the delivery ward. Doctors... not so much, they always have this "higher" pesona, and have cold stare/look, that doesn't gives me much confidence in them. Midwives are experienced nurses and will pretty much give you any answers you have about childbirth, as they have seen it all and done it all, and I have more confidence in them than doctors.

One thing I can't explain about myself is, I do not feel disgusted, quissy, nauseus at all seeing all the blood and gore of what went on down there... I really feel nothing... and I keep asking myself... am I sick? am I heartless?... that's why I say, as a father/man I will never know what type of pain and suffering my wife and any other women in the world went through during childbirths...

But I know and seen that its hard... really really really hard... and I sincerely hold this words dear, to all women, and especially to my wife and my late mother, "Syurga di bawah telapak kaki ibu", a statement so true for all mothers.

Sengatan Ayam

2009-04-22T08:10:00.001+08:00

Latest Update : Juliana also got Chicken Pox

Varicella

2009-04-21T19:48:00.004+08:00

haiii.... apa ajelah... tengah sibuk nak tunggu Puteri keluar, si abang dia ni pulak dapat Chicken Pox.... kalau kena bulan depan ke, tahun depan ke takpe jugak... ni kalau baby dah terkeluar, macam mana aku nak separate kan dia orang ni.

Tapi as long baby dalam perut, dia safe tak kena jangkit, pasal mak dia dah immune. Chicken Pox ni betul-betul selalu salah timing, dulu bila Juliana dalam kandungan, mak dia pulak kena jangkit, lepas tu Doktor "Badigol-So'od" kat clinic pulak, suruh pergi abortion pasal cakap nanti baby boleh cacat. Macam nak kena penampar doktor muda tu, Alhamdullilah Juliana besar ok aje.

Ayam oh ayam... kenapalah kau gigit si Iman ni...

Marina Barrage

2009-04-19T23:13:00.013+08:00

We were at Marina Barrage last Saturday. I have no idea what place is this, but the kids have been there for school excursion. And really I have not heard anything about this place, so I just followed the signs leading there.

Well, apparently, after explanations from the wife, the barrage is actually a Dam (hmmm... a Dam in sg, maybe thats why I don't give a damn... hehehe no pun intended). The kids love the place, and we got mama to walk-walk to get Puteri to come out.

Anyway, there's nothing in sg that I find fascinating or breath-taking, but that place is quite impressive (I can't believe I said that). Nice view, open spaces, interesting info gallery, water park... ok I'll be back....

Impian Puteri

2009-04-14T20:45:00.002+08:00

Puteri Bte Md Rizal
Date of Arrival :
24th April 2009

by Caesarean section

Takan Hilang Melayu di Dunia

2009-04-13T21:59:00.003+08:00

Nama-nama melayu asli :
Dara, Teruna, Aduka, Puspasari, Arjuna, Melati, Kencana, Seri, Kasih, Chinta, Kenanga, Damaq, Kesuma, Intan, Nilam, Ayu, Mayang, Chantik, Chempaka, Embun, Endun, Hendun, Damak...

Kalau dapat go back in time, I will re-named my children Dara (juliana), Indera (iman), Kenanga (nadhirah)... yeah...yeah... most of you think... "eh.. eh.. kuno-nya, mana ada orang namakan anak dia orang macam gitu"... tapikan... apa salahnya... think about it.

For me, my parents gave the best malay names for their children : Sarah, Kamisah, Kadir, Ramli, Rashid, Raniah, Ramlah, Rashidah, Rehana, Salinda, Rizal.... just look at those names, there's no western sounding nor arabic meanings to their names... purely melayu.

I wished our malay society will be brave enough to use back those names at the top. Seriously, don't you think Arjuna, Nilam, Damak, Mayang.... is such a cool name....

Atuk Video 2009

2009-04-07T10:54:00.002+08:00

Small Party at Jalan Batu

2009-03-29T20:56:00.001+08:00

Birthday cakes for

Nadhirah

Md Ilham

--Mak Minah
Post From My iPhone

Futsal

2009-03-23T21:21:00.005+08:00

3.7X says "Siapa cakap main futsal ni tak penat, memang cakap bohong... Penat jugak seh!!! Even though I played for 15 minutes, badan dah cannot take it. Bila malam baring atas katil, bini kat sebelah mengerang contraction, aku pun mengerang jugak kepala lutut sakit.... hehehe..

Anyway, fun jugak main bola dalam gelangang sankar tu. Rembat aje sana sini, bola tak boleh pergi jauh. My team "Red Devil" satu pun tak datang, so aku terpaksa import players dari Jalan Kayu. Dapat score satu dengan tendangan tonjol pun jadi lah.

Rooney dengan Steven Gerard berpelukan...

Zetty dengan bola, tapi tak tahu nak buat apa dengan bola...

Tapi yang game paling best ialah match Bollywood dengan Hollywood. Bila start aje Yan dah tampar bola... apadah... dia ingat ni volleyball ke? hahaha... Oja kali ni dia tak brutal sangat, actually aku tunggu jugak dia nak terkam orang... hehehe... aku paling suka bila tengok Oja main sport, seronok sangat dia berlari, dia penat pun dia masih ketawa. Ada yang ada skill jugak macam Atiqa, Nor Shah (tunang Udi) dengan Odah. Dia orang ada juga cari position dan bila tendang ada aim sikit. Odah dengan kaki berbalut dan jalan bertempang pun boleh berlari laju dan tendang bola... powerlah that girl!!! Semangat perjuangan bersama keluarga, itu yang mulia. Kaki sakit takpe... janji dapat bersukan bersama orang yang tersayang. Odah I salute you!

Tengok tu Nor Shah dah position depan gol, tunggu orang passing.
Baguslah Nor Shah, looking forward to seeing you join our family games and telematches in the future..

Score tak penting, yang penting semua happy.

-- Post From My iPhone

Birthday Girl

2009-03-20T19:32:00.000+08:00

Nadhirah , 20th March, 7 years old

Celebrate at Dorsett Hotel, JB
-- Post From My iPhone

Walking Down Memory Lane....

2009-03-17T20:37:00.010+08:00

3.7X says "Innalillahi wa innalillahi rajiun. Semoga ALLAH mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh Allahyarhamah Hajah Muslimah... makcik ku, dan jugak kepada makcik-pakcik ku yang lain yang sudah pergi. Betul-betul cakap, I'm still not sure what connects me to some of my relatives. But it's not my fault. I'm the last of the first generation of HMS family. So I didn't grow up with my parent's siblings. I didn't get to see them get together during their Hari Raya or Weddings or family gatherings. This got me thinking about what's life in the past? starting from my parents...

Dari cerita dari arwah mak, their marriage was arranged by Pakcik (mak's brother) when she was 14 yrs old. Then they lived through the Japanese occupations (or was it before they married) dan dia kena pakai macam lelaki untuk elak dari jepun time perang. And I heard some stories, that they lived at Pulau Skijang (or something like that). Bapak cerita in his younger days, he use to cycle from Singapore to Batu Pahat, and the journey would take him a whole day. I like to hear stories of that era, because other than the story above, I know nothing else.

But I like to know even deeper, like the first moment bapak jumpa dengan mak. What did he feel? Where did they meet? Was it love at first sight? Did they courted ? How did they buy a house, did they built it themselves? And how did my parents siblings get together? Did they have family sports day or gatherings ?

So how did they raised a big family? Were these children chaotic in the house? With no PCs or TVs, what did they do for fun? Running and jumping around, wrestling? I'm sure Kak Long being the eldest gets the biggest headache, handling all her younger brothers and sisters.
Imagine, wak dir, wak ram, wak atid, playing wrestling, while kak long and kak ngah were helping mak with the cooking, while bapak is working, and the whole house riuh-rendah with all the other younger sisters, maybe kak cik was playing masak-masak. I remember someone told me, if not wrong, that there was actually another brother, before or after kak long, who pass away (I'm not sure).

And I would like to go even deeper than that. Mak always tell me stories about her Bugis ancestors... She use to make me memorise from Othman bin ... all the way to Penghulu Bachok, Penghulu Saper, Laksmana Bintan. What kind of people are they like? With ranks like that, are they really powerful people, do they have weapons and have they killed anyone? And what about the Jawa people from bapak's side, his grand dad's name is Maon Sari. I'm not sure if that's a malay name, but it sounds really ancient.

You see, I only have questions upon questions, and not actual stories to tell. And I can only imagine what life was like for them, in their early days, and what life had been. There's no way to see all of it like in a movie, even if Hollywood produced them, it would not even be accurate.

So I encourage all my abangs and kakaks, if you see the younger generations, like anak-anak saudara, or cucu-cicit saudara... ceritakan kepada mereka, bagaimana hidup berkeluarga zaman Atuk/Nenek dulu, dan pengalaman membesar bersama-sama. I'm sure they love to hear it, and will in turn tell them to their own children and grand-children.

My favourite picture in my family pictures collection.

The best family story-tellers are Kak Long and Abang Atid, and recently I learn from Abang Atid, that they, Abg Kadir, Abg Ram and him actually wanted to named me Iskandar, which is a mix and match of their own names collectively. (hmmm... I don't get it too... hehehe)

Batam Trip 09

2009-03-10T19:40:00.022+08:00

3.7X says "Our weekend getaway journey started at 7:30am in the morning, had to drop off the kids at Tampines first and pick up the 'golden' couple. Anyway we arrived at Harbourfront carpark at 8:30am, amidst the heavy rain. Met the rest of the 'golden' couples at harbourfront, Yan/Herman and Noor/Rashid, minus Eti/Is (-kalau aku Is, aku buat bodoh sua dengan kerja...).

So we board the ferry, WaveMaster, at 9:20am, punyalah ramai orang nak pergi Batam. Journey takes us about half-an-hour, luckily nobody uweek-uweek. Lepas chop passport, I waited for the rest in-front of the custom building. Di sinilah, aku berjumpa seorang jejaka yang sungguh menawan sekali. Jejaka itu memenggang kertas bernama "Nur Diana". Setelah kami semua sudah berkumpul, jejaka tampan itu membawa kami ke van. Dan didalam van itulah dia meng-introduce-kan dirinya... "Haiii... Nama saya Louise, sayalah tour guide awak".... Fooooh... suara dan badan sungguh power sekali... Aaauuwww!!!.

Louise memperkenalkan kami dengan tempat-tempat di Batam, dan membawa kita ke Jembatan, yang menyambungkan Batam dengan pulau-pulau kecil yang lain. "Di sini kalau nak beli pulau, memang murah... cuma $500 sing dollar aje"... Kita semua "Wahh! betul ke, murah-nya" kata kami semua sungguh kagum. "Hah itu dia pulaunya"... dia menunjuk ke sebuah pulau kecil bawah jembatan yang tak sebesar gelangang badminton. Kurang asam kita semua kena tipu tertipah!!! Pandai buat lawak 'mat' Indon ni ye!!!

Di atas jembatan, wak wak ramai menjual udang dan ketam goreng. Tengok macam rasa kesian pun ada, pasal mereka datang berlari ke kami, dan semua menghulurkan juadah mereka untuk kami beli. Kerana tak sampai hati, kami membeli ketam dan udang goreng dari mereka, murah jugak $30,000 rupiah (macam $3-$4 sg dolar aje). Kami bergambar, dan disinilah jugak Yati yang sedang mengandung 7 bulan, bergambar dengan jejaka tempatan batam. "Pinjam sekejap ye..." Louise berkata, sambil memeluk Yati dari belakang.... (see earlier post picture).

Dari situ, kami dibawa untuk tengok baju di kedai Polo, makan tengah-hari nasi padang dan minum Avocado juice, membeli belah pulak di shopping Mall (tak ingat pulak nama), selama 2 jam. Kalau soal time tu tak payah cakap, aku confuse, lambat sejam Batam dari SG, or vice-versa, kalau bab soal duit pulak, lagi aku confuse, berpuluh-puluh ribu rupiah bila convert jadi berapa sen aje, apasalah taruk banyak sangat '0' kat duit, nak step kaya ke?

Selepas itu semua, kami pun dibawa ke hotel kami, iHotel di

Nagoya Hill. (aku rasa ni hotel Apple punya, iHotel... iPhone, iPod, iMac... get it?). Class betul hotel ini.

Bilik besar, toilet besar, wangi jugak, bersih, ada whirlpool, swimming pool, SPA... boleh kasi 5 star jugaklah. Sambil berenang sorang-sorang, baru teringat, kalau ada budak-budak ni, mesti seronok dia orang bermain-main kat pool. Takpe next time, boleh bawak mereka kat sini.

Selepas relax kat hotel, time petang kami dibawa ke kedai keropok/jeruk, kedai souvenior/Polo, dan seterusnya makan petang di Queens seafood restaurant.

Kerana ketiadaan budak-budak, kami terpaksa menjadi budak-budak. Berkayuh kereta air, di Queen seafood restaurant punya fish lake.

Makanan seafood - Ketam, Gong-gong, Udang, Ikan, Lobster bertimbun-timbun. Dan sambil kami berjuadah, kami sempat jugak menyambut hari lahir Herman, dengan menyanyikan Allah selamatkan kamu.

So basically that's what we did at Batam (dah realise dah tulis terpanjang sangat, tangan pun naik penat typing). To cut long story short, kita semua had a good time, without our children in tow, we all act like we honeymooners, padahal semua dah tua, kalau cakap baru kahwin takde orang percaya.

So in a nutshell, Herman jailbreak his iPhone sampai pukul 4pagi kat hotel, Yan, Bibik, Herman and Me pergi massage kat hotel SPA malam-malam buta nak dekat midnight. Rashid dan Noor banyak beli botol madu dan Yati nasib baik tak terberanak. And of course... our ever charming tour guide, who is very witty and funny, Louise (or is it Luis?), who doesn't like Inul (not surprise), with his 'tight-raisin-revealing' shirt who made our trip memorable. Fun and Laughter from Singapore to Batam and all the way back. Viva Batam!!!

Batam hottest couple

2009-03-08T21:33:00.003+08:00

Awww.... such a charming couple... how did this happened?... well whatever happened in Batam, stays in Batam... A picture says a thousand words, I leave you guys with your imaginations....

-- Post From My iPhone

Pertunangan Ajan - 1st March 2009

2009-03-03T20:05:00.002+08:00

Hantaran dari pihak lelaki.

Pukul 10 pagi kita dah sampai rumah odah, untuk ambik Ajan dan Aiz. Kita pergi rumah Mak Mee untuk mengambil lauk pauk kat Chai Chee Drive. Boleh muat pulak tu semua tong-tong nasi dan periuk lauk pauk kat kereta Chery, sampai tumpah-tumpah kuah kat dalam kereta. Pulak tu, rumah Mak Mee tu takde lift, foooh dari tingkat 4 naik turun tangga, macam nak meletup buah pinggang hang angkat tong-tong nasi dan lauk-pauk. Tapi worthit, pasal makanan semua sedap-sedap.
Wak Atid pulak pukul 11 pagi dia dah suruh orang semua cepat-cepat makan. Ingatkan dah nak naik bas, actually pukul 2:30pm bas akan sampai. "Ah lekas-lekas, cepat-cepat"... excited betul bapak pengantin tu. Ketua tadika - Herman pulak sibuk discipline kanak-kanak kat rumah dia. Berserak satu bilik. So pukul 2pm, selepas speech dari Wak Dir, dan Wak Atid (dia pun ada speech jugak tau), kita semua berangkat dengan hantaran naik bas air-con ke Holland Drive. Jauh jugak perjalanan... seronok naik bas ramai-ramai sekeluarga. Khalfan pun ada jugak, tengok tu gambar, seronok dia angkat hantaran sekali (ehem.. ehem... next in line). "Khalfan, when is your turn?" aku tanya... terbeliak biji mata dia... hahaha kelakar mat arab ni.
Sampai di rumah tunang Ajan, bermula pantun-memantun. Ajan berpantunlah, siap dengan script sekali... tak pernah aku dengar orang nak tunang berpantun sekali, bersemangat betul.

Selesai berbincang pihak lelaki kat hall, upacara memasang cincin kat pengantin pompuan pulak. Kali ni Nek Cina Mak Minah, yang menyarung cincin kat tunang ajan. Gembira tengok wajah nek cina tu, terharu agaknya dia dapat menyarungkan cincin kat tunang cucu dia.
Bergambar dengan keluarga Mak Minah, this is Singapore, a multi-cultural family.
Begitulah, majlis pertunangan Ajan dan (aku lupalah nama tunang dia). Kami mendoakan hingga selamat ke jinjang pelamin, dan seterusnya kekal ke anak-cucu. Semoga me-ramaikan zuriat dan me-ramaikan lagi ahli keluarga HMS. Amin.

-- Post From My iPhone

Sports day 2009

2009-02-28T21:51:00.001+08:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Pertunangan Aivi, Mount Austin, JB.

2009-02-16T19:45:00.005+08:00

Perkhemahan di depan rumah Taman Mutiara
Jamuan makan di majlis pertunangan. Waduhhh!!! Daging kambing punyalah lembut dan sedap sekali dong!!! Air mata kucing pulak fooooh punyalah sedap!!!! Apa lagi 3 kali tambah lah.
Rombongan tunang Aivi berarak dengan seragam warna ungu seluruh keluarga.
Hantaran-hantaran dengan treasure chest. Stylo betul lah.
Selesai majlis, bergambar beramai-ramai dengan ahli keluarga.
Setelah majlis Aivi bertunang, bakal-bakal pengantin (Wak Don dan Wak Atid) pulak sibuk membeli-belah di Angsana.
Masing-masing mencari barang untuk majlis tunang/kahwin anak masing-masing.
Wak Atid mencari baju untuk pertunangan Ajan pula.
Ingat semua mesti pakai baju MERAH untuk 1st March.
Selesai membeli-belah kami makan di Kenny Rogers, Angsana.
-- Post From My iPhone

Email from Aivy

2009-02-04T23:06:00.004+08:00

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:40:12 -0800
From: aivi_shah@yahoo.com
To: rizal71@hotmail.com

Dear 0m ..

huh! banyak tul eik soalan..mmg mengalahkan reporter ..nak jawab mana 1 eik?? haha ..

Nama dia Mohd Farriq ..orang JB gak, kat Taman Perbadanan Islam ..

kitorang kenal since sekolah rendah ;) pernah satu sekolah agama (satu kelas) ..tp v xsuke dia sbb dia sgt nakal & suke sgt menyakat v ;( pergi primary school naik satu bas sekolah ...

Then sekolah menengah lak ..sekolah kitorang dekat ..v kat SMK SETA, dia kat English College (EC) ... pun kebetulan naik satu bas sekolah ... yet kitorang kawan cam biasa ...

After school, still kawan even v dah g KL smbng blajar ... Then kitorang terputus hubungan selama 5 tahun ... Bile v dah keje ...v still xjmpe dia excepts 4 my parents yang mmg baik ngan dia ... Raya Haji tahun lepas i jumpe dia smula & kitorang exchange phone num ...

FYi, me & him x bercinta pun ...tp everything jadi suddenly ;p dah jodoh k0t ;p kita orang sebaya tp dia tua bulan, besday dia on January ;) Dia bisnes sendiri ...kire tauke daging kat pasar borong ...

so, 0m amacam? dia bleh pass test x? hehe ...

ur bel0ved niece,

aivy ...

Cerita Cawan

2009-02-03T19:57:00.008+08:00

3X says "All of us, have explored the Internet as far as we can go. Even though I think I've seen it all, there will always be something new that's shocking. The reason I said this will be clear as soon as you search for 2 girls 1 cup in Youtube. There are hundreds of videos related to that, it shows the reaction of people around the world viewing the said video. From celebrities, to grandmas, to friends, to family members... And it's hilarious!!! Luckily the actual video is not posted in youtube.

If you need to laugh, and really laugh out loud (me and wife spent hours laughing at them), view the videos of their reactions. And if you start wondering what they watching, that made them go psycho and berserk, just stop wondering, because what they watched is not worth it for you, trust me, I've seen it and I got the same reaction. (even describing it to my wife, and without seeing it she was gagging.)

Final warning, DON"T GO LOOKING FOR THAT VIDEO, IT'S NOT WORTH GETTING TRAUMATISED FOR LIFE!!!

The Original People

2009-01-27T20:31:00.017+08:00

Some of the highlights while holidaying in Rompin and Kuantan

Orang Asli di Tasik Chini

(anak-anak orang asli yang comel sekali)

Kami bercuti dari Rompin ke Kuantan. Di Tasik Chini, kami menaiki bot untuk mengelilingi tasik yang luas, dan mengerunkan (for me). Di tepi-tepi tasik orang asli (keturunan Jakun) ramai tinggal di sana. Pemandu bot kami pun orang Asli, nama-nya Robert, dan dia cerita tasik tu ada naga bernama Naga Seri Gumum (macam loch ness). Lagi satu ceritanya, tahun lepas bulan August, ada pelancung dari Australia ternampak seekor ular yang sebesar drum-minyak, di tepi tasik itu, dan lagi satu cerita-nya ada sebuah batu yang besar sekali, lenyap dari tengah tasik itu.

Robert membawa kami to one of the orang asli kampung. Even though kita tahu orang asli tinggal with no electricity, no computers, no TV, no internet, but to see it up close is surreal. Macam museum, tapi bukan museum, memang orang asli tinggal macam gitu, rumah-nya takde dinding (macam mana nak romen?), mereka masak tidur kat rumah memang macam gitu, anak beranak, dan kengkadang, Robert cakap harimau dan binatang akan berkeliaran di waktu malam. In one of the family, I noticed his wife, even though has an orang asli look, but is very good looking with a sweet face. We also get to try their weapon, sumpit which is very fun but deadly, can really kill if kena.

I saw them selling sumpit and tongkat ali herbs (*ehem... cik jaafar beli satu packet *ehem), and I was wondering why would they have a need for money. I mean if they live like that, what use is the money for? I don't think they have bills to pay or go supermarket to buy things, right? Another thing I noticed, I think they don't like visitors, because other than Robert, the rest like not so friendly. In one of the house, I smile to one of the man, but he didn't smile back (probably he don't like me looking at his wife.. hehe).

Pengalaman yang tak dapat dilupakan, apabila kami sampai ke Tasik no.5 menuju ke no.6, hujan turun dan membasahi kami di atas bot. Kesejukan dan muka pedih kena air hujan.

(bergambar sebelum hujan turun, lepas tu camera semua masuk bag)

Laut Western Malaysia
Laut-laut kat sebelah West Malaysia, memang hebat. Kalau nak compare East Cost/Changi dengan Rompin/Kuantan punya pantai, macam compare apple dengan pineapple (kecil dan besar). Even though bukan first time kami berada kat sana, permandangan laut tu memang very magnificent. Luas-seluas-luas nya. Pantai kat SG ni, macam jalan 5 tapak dah sampai laut, tapi kalau pantai kat sana, kena jalan nak dekat 100 metres (atau lebih) baru sampai laut, dan kiri-kanan horizon betul jauh dan lebar. Masa musim tengkujuh ni, ombak laut memang seronok. The coast is really magnificent.

Malaysia never stop to amaze me.

(Khairul memang marksman dengan sumpit, tapi dia tak kasi beli)

(tengok no.4 Lubang Ular - Snack Hole... haha aku takleh angkatlah... ada Twisties dan potato chips ke... haha)

Adegan benggang semasa makan tengah-hari dari Tasik Chini ke Kuantan di kedai makan. Tengah kelaparan, abang Bro datang ambik order.
3.6X : "Abang brother, kat sini ada jual makanan apa ?"
Bro : "Ok kat sini ada jual Nasi Ayam, Nasi Lauk, Mee semua ada"
3.6X : "Ok kasi kita Nasi Ayam 5 pinggan."
Bro : "Ah Nasi Ayam takde."
3.6X : (dalam hati) "Aku bedal budak ni kang... baru dia cakap ada"

Tasik Cini

2009-01-26T12:09:00.001+08:00

Lake Cini, sejarah naga dan anaconda.

Bot persiaran 6 tasik.

Perkampungan Orang Asli Tasik Cini

Sumpit weapon orang Asli

Banglo orang asli

-- Post From My iPhone

Rompin Beach Resort

2009-01-24T21:02:00.001+08:00

Di tepi pantai

Swimming pool resort

Udang galah

Wak Jaafar belanja dinner udang galah goreng dan masak sambal

Udang galah goreng power

-- Post From My iPhone

1st spelling test

2009-01-21T18:53:00.001+08:00

First spelling test, 5 / 5 Teriffic!!!

Dusty.... you fat cat!

2009-01-19T22:08:00.006+08:00

How many humans needed to hold down Dusty to give him a pill?.... Ans :4
Yes, it took 4 humans to make him swallow a tiny pill for his yearly deworming and vaccination.
We took him to the vet to get his yearly jab : Feline Enteristis / Feline Rhinotracheitis / Calci Virus Vaccination and Deworming. He is not sick or infected, pets are like humans too, they have yearly vaccinations to keep them healthy.
It was funny to see the lady vet trying to inject him. The needle could not penetrate his skin and she had to look for a sharper needle. Thick skin lah lu!
And this cat after being held by 4 people to make him swallow a pill, will spew it out. His body was held, his head was held, his mouth was held, and he still manage to spit it out. Eventually he swallowed. The vet said, that he is too fat, which shocked us, because we thought he looked normal.

Snippets

2009-01-16T21:54:00.006+08:00

Short updates in the house of Yloindahouse...

Iman - Menangis kat KK hospital pasal dah confirm dapat baby sister. Crying uncontrollably in public because cannot accept the fact another girl in the house.

Nadhirah - Balik sekolah menangis pasal gigi tercabut kat class. Mintak belas kasihan dengan teacher. Dah tak cute lagi. Chosen to be Class Monitor.

Juliana - Crying about.... well always crying about something, big sister tapi still cry baby.

Yati - Naik crowded bus, tapi takde orang offer seat... crying inside.

3X - Tall, dark and handsome as usual.

Dusty - Short, white and handsome too.

I pronounce you man and wife....

2009-01-13T19:58:00.002+08:00

3X says "Recently an ex-colleague came to visit us at work. After the usual formality of asking what's going on with our lives, she said that now she's going through a divorce. Well, we were shocked at her news - I was thinking 'too much information', just say ok enough lah.

Well, the story goes that her husband likes to 'smack' her for years, and the last straw was when he strangled her in front of their children. Since then she left home to leave with her parents. He did try to get her back home, but she said she's had enough and that's it. I didn't even dare ask what happen that brings about this.

After listening to her story, it got me thinking the whole day. Mostly the thought that, for some women their lives is at the mercy of the man they marry. I know that married couples fight and sometimes words and actions can become out of control, but to 'lay a hand' on the person, for whatever reason, is simply wrong.

Maybe I have a few daughters already, and when I hear this kind of thing, all of a sudden I got very angry, and worry for their safety. Hopefully they find a good man for their husbands, I know its still too early to think about it, but 'kelap-kelip' my eldest daughter is 10 yrs already.

Anyway, I normally don't like to think about bad things and 'what-ifs', but IF any man, husband or not, lay a hand on my daughters, I swear I KICK HIS ASS and ask her to leave him.

Start of Primary School

2009-01-06T22:24:00.005+08:00

Kakak Puteri has started primary school.
Over Excited and Over Enthusiastic.
This little girl is not shy at all, she's making friends with any student she meets.

Gurindam Jiwa

2009-01-03T20:25:00.002+08:00

This is the song I had to sing that night. Listening to the original song, I think I really 'butchered' the song. Well, Mat Metal and Gurindam Jiwa can't mix.

HMS Family day games

2008-12-28T21:29:00.007+08:00

This has got to be the most tiring family day ever. We were break up to our respective blog groups, and my team was bro Jaafar(Nor) and Shira.

1- Scavenger Hunt (Penat Level 8/10)

Teams were asked to complete a list of 10 items, ranging from soiled pampers to sea-shells to hairy legs with sand. It was easy at first, but then it got to "get a picture of you kissing Ronald McDonald". What?!!! McDonald is 10 miles from the camp. I had to separate from my team mates while I went looking for that stupid clown to kiss. I got half-way, nearly fainted and found a sign and I think thats enough for me. Bro J and Shira went looking for the other stuffs, and even found a soiled pampers from the trash can!!!

2- Sea Water (Penat Level 11/10)

Teams are then asked to fill up a big bottle of sea water collected using the mouths only. What??!!! Ok never mind, all scrambled to the sea, and everyone had the "sweet-taste" of sea water in their mouths. But once I got to the bottle, I can't stop bursting into laughter, and the whole sea water spew out to the ground. Seriously I can't stop laughing at myself. I took a mouthful, and when I start thinking "What the hell am I doing?" I laughed and my mouth got empty. I did this too many times, and when I saw Abang Atid vomiting uncontrollably, that was it for me, I surrender!

3- Water Bomb (Penat Level 3/10)

Water bombs filled with sea water are placed in the circle. Team members are named 1,2 and 3. And when the number came up, scramble for one and throw to the other team, The ones who got wet will be out. Difficult to judge this one, because by then everyone was almost wet, so its difficult to see who got hit.

4- Name Game (Penat Level 2/10)

This game is strange but fun. Kak Long and Kak Idah put up a curtain of canvas, and teams on either side will shout out the name of the person in-front. Kak Long kelong a few times, accidentally said out the name of the person in-front. I think no strategy needed, just luck and memory of the other person's name. Nak kena kenal sedara then can win.

5- HMS Beauty Contest (Stress Level 8/10)

Well dress up the male team member and see who is the pretty one. I think this game will be talked about in years to come. I was surprised by the sporting-ness of the males who were dress up, I think they like it. My team, Bro J was the victim, thankfully he is very sporting. Placed some cups into his singlet, and put on some make up and some flowers for him, I feel like his pimp!!! I never in a million years will thought to see the day, Khairul and Hakim, both not showing any shyness when displaying their 'feminine side'. I think for 2008, this is the time when I laughed the most. They all look good, even better looking than their sisters!!! Yam, Abg Atid, Fuad, Hadi and Bro J, I have to salute to you guys for being one of the best Mak Nyahs in the East Coast.

6- Don't forget the lyrics. (Stress Level 11/10)

This one is actually a performance show, and you sing one of the selected songs that you picked. Our team got Gurindam... something and another one, I can't even remember. Both songs I have no idea. I got a lot of help from Odah, Kak long, Kak Minah, Abang Ram and Wak Sam for the lyrics and rhythm. I want to make it into a rock version, but its impossible. Again Khairul surprised me... he actually dance and sang. Anyway the other teams, had great choreography and there's one who I can't stop laughing at, Faiz and the gang, who needed help from the audience but got backfired. His own father, Abg Atid, didn't give him any support... hahaha... that was hilarious.

Well thanks to Herman, Odah and Wakdir for creating this great games for our family. Lots of memories for us to keep, as we bond and got closer to each other. And till now, taste of sea water, Ronald McDonald lips, gurindam jiwa, visions of Khairul and Hakim is still haunting my mind. (Laughter and Fun Level 10/10).

Penang

2008-12-26T16:04:00.001+08:00

Snake Temple

Aerial view of Penang

New World Park

Night Market Batu Ferringhi

Atas Ferri

-- Post From My iPhone

2008-12-25T21:42:00.001+08:00

Chomp Rasta aka jeruk haven

Komtar

-- Post From My iPhone

Bukit Bendera dan rumah P Ramlee

2008-12-24T10:08:00.001+08:00

Rumah P Ramlee

-- Post From My iPhone

Pulau Pinang

2008-12-22T18:49:00.001+08:00

Copthorne Orchid Hotel, Pulau Pinang
Join us, we will be here up to Friday.

-- Post From My iPhone

Solving the Rubik's Cube

2008-12-20T00:05:00.005+08:00

The Rubik's cube... the most frustrating puzzle that has ever been invented. I'm sure all of us have tried to solve it, and got frustrated. Sure most of us can solve only 1 side of the cube, but never for all 6 sides.

So I got into researching, and began playing with it. And I discovered, just like life, solving the cube, has to be planned. You need to solve it in stages, and see where the next piece will go, and just like life itself, every move have a 'cause and effect'. We think that we solve one solution, unknowingly, that move will cause something else to change.

One of my top 'things-to-do' in life, such as learning to drive, starting a family, learn to speak japanese and patois (yes I find jamaica fascinating)... solving the cube is one of them. Now after practising and studying it constantly, I can do it around 3 minutes. It takes a lot of memory power and logic. In the video you can see my method is solving it in layers, and that's the only way I know how. Also the video is 3 times the normal speed, so I did not do it that fast.

It does get addictive and I can spent hours mixing it up and solving it back again and again (the wife threatens to throw it away, as she says I'm obsessed with it). I just find it so satisfying when I see all the colours lines up. So if you like to learn how to solve it, come see me and I'll teach you... but be prepared to get frustrated in the learning process, but just like in life, never give up and practice makes perfect.

Puteri

2008-12-19T18:31:00.003+08:00

5th Month Scan.... Puteri tunjuk buntut... takde 'bird'

iPhone part 2

2008-12-13T22:34:00.003+08:00

After having my iPhone for nearly 2 months, I officially declare that it is a good device. Normally I don't recommend new IT stuffs, like upgrading to a faster Intel processors, or more memory, or anything Apple, heck I even tell you to use Xbox, and forget about Xbox360 or PS3. But this is different, the iPhone is really a mini computer, very customizable and 'tinkerable'.

I must admit the first time when I got it, I hate it so much. I even thought of sending it back (seriously I did). Why... because I was so used to my flexible Dell Axim PDA WM5 that does video, and have lots and lots of programs for free, whereas the iPhone relies solely on iTunes, and that means its gonna cost money to get it, and the programs are limited. Another reason, is the phone functions are somewhat limited, seriously you can't forward SMS, how stupid is that. And even though it has a camera, you can't use it to take videos.

But that's all before I knew about 'Jailbreak'..... And after it's jailbroken, suddenly it became like a computer..... and more. Let me brief you through my iphone's home now: the (jb) ones is the programs you can install only if you jailbreak your iphone.
First row:
Boss Prefs (jb): With this you can turn off everything, 3G and Edge, which is important, because you can get billed unnecessarily for using 3G and Edge. And cellular data is expensive... serious!!! around 50cents per megabyte.
Camera: the standard issue program for taking pictures.
Video Recorder (jb): this is not standard issue, you need to jailbreak to get this program. This is video recording from the camera (320x240) to quicktime movie file, very good!
Second row:
Photos, Calculator, Notes, Contacts : standard issue programs
Third Row:
iPod and App Store: both standard issue programs
AppShare (jb) : this is how I get my 'programs' (notice its in quotes), I will kiss the programer for it, for without this my iPhone will be super boring.
Dtunes (jb) : another great program, basically you type any song title press Go, it will search for you and download for you right into your iPhone (superfast), and its yours.
Fourth row:
Air Sharing (jb) : transfer files to the iPhone using WIFI.
MXTube (jb) : I will definetly kiss the programmer for this too. I used it so often, basically it will search for Youtubes videos and download it to your iPhone, and you can view it anytime.
Orblive (jb) : This one will stream videos from your PC hard disk to your iPhone, and it works very well, no frame drop at all, video and audios sync perfectly.
Radio (jb) : This will stream radio channels from around the world to your iPhone.
Bottom row :
BiteSMS (jb) : use this instead of the standard SMS program, because this will do forwarding SMS and landscape keyboard typing. Works great!

This is only from my 1st home, and I have a total of 5 homes. And 2 homes are full of games. The games are OpenGL, which is good for 3D. The graphics are way better than a Nintendo DS, and as clear as a PSP. RealSoccer and Asphalt4 looks great. Besides games, I can play guitar and drums too, sounds exactly like the real thing.
Some other (jb) worth to mention are : Cydia, Winterboard (customise home), Blogpress (post to blogger), Mplayer (play movies). RDP (remote to my PC), and lots more.

The iPhone is not for everybody actually, if you just want a phone, don't get this, but if you are a tinkering type like me, and wants a small computer plus phone, then its for you.

Tanjung Piai

2008-12-10T22:43:00.002+08:00

Resort - Kukup - Fisherman Village - Naik Bot- Kelong- Taman Negara - Suspension Bridge - Board Walk - Pontian - Gunung Pulai - Pekan Nenas - Museum Bugis (pictures taken with iPhone)

Tanjung Piai Resort

2008-12-10T19:47:00.002+08:00

Tanjung Piai

Bayangkan tidur di atas laut, buka tingkap nampak laut yang luas dan bersih.Dengan permandangan yang sungguh peaceful. Keluar pintu aje boleh keluarkan joran dan terus memancing. Itulah Tanjung Piai Resort.

2 tahun lepas kita berada disini bersama Wakdir sekeluarga (http://ylo72.blogspot.com/2006/03/tanjung-piai.html). That time resort baru tu sedang dibina, dan kami menginap di bilik lamanya. Sekarang terperanjat kami bila sampai dan melihat resort baru tu sudah siap. Fooh cantik sekali lah. Boleh cakap indah khabar... lagi indah rupa. Kita ingat nak duduk sini 1 malam aje, tapi syok sangat sampai tak nak balik, so kita duduk lagi satu malam. Pulak tu kakak kat counter kasi kita discount for second day... so sebab tulah tak jumpa you all pada Hari Raya Haji.

Room Ratenya murah aje :RM120 - SGD$49 aje... mana nak dapat loh... waterfront view for fifty dollars aje. Untuk sesiapa yang suka memancing I am calling you all to come here.
Odah/Herman, Kak Long, Kak Idah/Abang Roslan, Faiz, Ajan, Abang Atid, Kak Cik/Abang Saadon atau sesiapa yang suka memancing atau suka duduk atas laut... Jom pergi sana, carikan van I drive you all here, only half an hour from Singapore, tak jauh langsung!!!! 50 dollar aje untuk bilik besar, 3 katil lagi!!!

We plan to come here every weekend.

Activity :
- Makan seafood kat Kukup
- Melawat Taman Negara/Kelong (untuk rm5 sorang, dia bawak tempat-tempat ni naik bot!!! Kita lima orang, aku tawar rm20, sekali dia mintak rm15 aje... hehehe).
- Pancing kat luar bilik aje, memang digalakan memancing di sana
- Menenangkan jiwa, jauh dari bandar
- Duduk tengok laut pun dah syok!!!
- Pergi Museum Bugis / Museum Nenas
- Jalan-jalan di Pontian
- Air Terjun Gunung Pulai

Pick one weekend, Let's all go there!!!

Where are we?

2008-12-09T18:43:00.002+08:00

Teka kita kat mana?

Puteri/ Budiman,Mawi

2008-12-04T19:11:00.002+08:00

Kak Inah kat KKH bersama gambar scan adik Puteri/Budiman

Sudah 5 bulan, but jantina belum clear.

Very active baby, bila scan tengok dia bermain-main dalam perut.

Dusty's Xrated Pose

2008-11-30T23:12:00.000+08:00

This is Dusty doing his 'thang'.... rilek one corner brader!

Kita tak position dia macam gini, ni memang kengkadang dia suka pergi kat corner, lepas tu just sandar aje kat dinding, lepas tu mengangkang. Budak-budak terpekik-pekau kat dia cakap tak malu, dia buat bodoh aje. Nasib baik dia ni bukan orang, kalau tidak ni dah jadi gambar porn... hahaha.

iPhone 3G

2008-11-23T23:00:00.008+08:00

3X says "Today's lesson is on the Apple iPhone 3G. I got this 2 weeks ago, sign-up for the 2 year contract with Singtel iPhone plan which is, $49 for the iPhone and $77 for the iTwoPlus plan. Let me tell you, this has got to be the most useful device I've ever owned. Basically an iPhone is this : A camera phone, a widescreen iPod and an internet device with rich HTML email and web browser.

The first day when I brought this home, I Jailbreak it myself. After its "jailbroken" it opens up a massive amount of functions to the phone. And for info on why and how to jailbreak:http://sleepers.net/2008/09/06/why-jailbreak-iphone/

Let me tell you what I can do, other than phone/sms functions, with the iPhone now, (I have the 8gb version): Web Surfing - full desktop web-browsing, Emails (yahoo, gmail, Exchange for work), Instant Messaging/VOIP (msn, yahoo, irc, skype), Youtube player (and downloading), Mp3 player, Video Player, Games (very good 3D graphics), Google Maps (street directory), play the guitar, piano, drums, Ocarina (this one very nice instrument), read the News.... whatever the internet can give you. And all this... Anywhere and Everywhere there's WIFI.

Check out its functions here:
http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/features/

I have all the music albums I want, movies I can watch, surf the web, answer calls/sms, play games and musical instruments, camera and video capture... all in this one device. This has become my companion ever since. The plus point for me, is the availability of the applications for the iPhone, the Apple ones at App Store and the 3rd Party ones from Cydia. Together the collection is massive, all for.... *ahem* for free.

Check out theApps Store, for the applications/games you can use for the iPhone here:
http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/appstore/

and the available 3rd party softwares (Cydia):
http://www.appleiphoneapps.com/tag/cydia/

So just ignore the Sony Ericson Experia, the Samsung Omnia, the LG Dare and the Nokia... the iPhone is the best!!!

Primary One Orientation

2008-11-20T21:31:00.001+08:00

Nadhirah says "Hai Kengkawan, kita tahun depan, akan masuk primary school - Si Ling Primary School. Same macam kakak dan abang kita. Tapi dia orang tahun depan sekolah pagi, kita aje sekolah petang sorang. Kita kan seronoklah tengok sekolah tu, kita pun dah buat kawan bila orientation. Kita orang tour toilet, classroom dan apa-apa ajelah kat sana. Tak sabar seh nak start sekolah."

What's in a name...

2008-11-18T22:20:00.000+08:00

3X says "'Rizal' that's the name I was given by arwah mak. Originally it was supposed to be 'Budiman' (not sure whose idea it was, I think it was Abang Kadir, according to her). Then she heard the name 'Rizal' on the radio, while listening to a sandiwara, and I guess she like the name so much, and so I was given that name (pheww....nasib baik).

For my fourth one, I guess, I would be doing the same. 'Puteri' - the TV series about a girl living with friends, and her love life. I like the name 'Puteri' very much - signifies malay culture and tradition. Not so much the meaning - Princess, or meaning of royalty but more towards the meaning 'the daughter of'. Her full name would be Puteri bte Md Rizal, or Puteri Rizal (I like that very much).

When naming your child, I guess we have to factor in with regards to their future and their given name. Would it be difficult for them to carry it their whole life, would it be subjected to humiliation or would their friends make fun of their name. It wouldn't be fair just because we, the parents like it, and so, we assumed the rest of the world would accept it or like it.

Actually, Juliana and Iman do have a friend called Puteri, and I like the way they say it, when they mentioned her name.

So I guess Puteri it is if its a girl....

Kalau lelaki... hmmm.... maybe Budiman ???

3 Hari 2 Malam

2008-11-05T21:51:00.001+08:00

3 Hari 2 Malam
Ni lagi satu cerita mengenai cuti-cuti malaysia, tapi taklah se-sempoi macam Destinasi Bajet macam kat 8TV, ni around middle range sikit. Kat channel TV9. A travelogue magazine about budget travel that takes the audience on “off beaten tracks” to explore new tourism spots in and around Malaysia, essentially exploring “ where you can go within a 3-day-2-night breakaway”.

http://www.tv9.com.my/Shows/Episodes.aspx?MenuID=2&MasterID=51&ShowID=448&TemplateID=1&EpID=14289&VideoID=10962

I just love this kind of info-tainment.....

Bahasa Pasar SG dan MY

2008-11-03T21:22:00.001+08:00

Orang melayu SG ada bahasa pasar kita sendiri macam "gerek", "jantan kabinet", "bubble (atau buih)", "step" - if use in a sentence :

"Kurang asam, boss aku tu, jantan kabinet, aku tengah gerek-gerek makan kat kedai kopi, sekali dia talipon pulak, terpaksa aku bubble girl aku, kena balik kerja, kesian dia, asyik kena buih aje. Boss aku tu memang step rajin, time makan pun nak suruh kerja".

Di Malaysia pun dia orang ada sendiri punya language, cuba fikirkan apa maksudnya.

"Boss aku tu haprak betul. Satu kali tu aku pergi makan sebelum masa makan, alamak kantoi lah. Dia nampak... mengamoklah, aku dah macam nak kuak lentang kat situ jugak pasal terperanjat. Salah aku jugak, aku ingat lagi sempoi makan kat sebelah kerja, patut gi jauh-jauh sikit..."

Destinasi Budget

2008-11-02T19:11:00.004+08:00

Destinasi Budget
Program berbentuk ‘infotainment’ yang menampilkan Hos sebagai perantara dan jururcakap yang akan membawa audiens menikmati percutian dengan perbelanjaan yang minimum diseluruh destinasi percutian tempatan. Untuk mengekalkan ciri-ciri percutian jimat (Budget Holiday) Hos akan diperuntukan dengan perbelanjaan sebanyak RM300 di setiap destinasi.

Be sure to watch the episode 7 - Pulau Redang (a different way to tour the island). Notice the underwater video they capture, very clear lah can see the colours of the corals and fishes.

I salute malaysia TV, they actually put all their local shows on their website for free. Entire episode and seasons, for free. This is one of their very informative program.

Malaysia Stations :
TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9

Melaka Re-Re-visited

2008-10-27T20:05:00.012+08:00

3X says "As usual, wherever we go we never plan. So saturday morning, we set off to Johor, the plan was just to stay at any budget hotel in JB, or at least Mersing, sekali after Tuas checkpoint, and after the toll booth, I took a wrong turn, KL highway left turn, Johor right turn, and I thinking usually the left turn is going to JB, I took the left turn which we end up at NS highway heading KL. Too late to turn back, I just thought, what the heck, let's go to Melaka. So without a camera (the pics in this posts are all taken from the internet), we head to the most historical negeri in Malaysia.

When we arrived in Melaka, we scrambled to look for any budget hotel. And because it was a super peak period, all the hotels are full, and by the way, all hotels are charging at 'Super Peak' rates, which goes up to 70% of normal rate. We panicked for a while, stop to eat kuih first, then went to every turn to look for a hotel. Well, we nearly give up, then we found RS Hotel, located under the bridge... and lets just say, lets not talk about the rate.

After dinner, we headed off to Mahkota Parade. The roads are full of Singapore cars, and we found that Melaka has become a very 'happening' place since the last time we came (last year). There is Eye of Malaysia (dah siap, tapi road belum siap), Menara Taming Sari, hip shops everywhere, and traffic was super busy. We went to Mahkota Parade, and we met Jeff Timmons (singer from '98 Degrees' boyband). He was promoting his new album, and he was singing on stage, and getting down to the people, taking pictures, and at one point he was standing infront of us and singing at us. (Damn it, no camera!!!). The wife was so star-strucked, don't blame her, he is really a handsome dude. Anyway, not everybody in Melaka knows him, so the welcome he got was very mild, no screaming girls and not much applause for him. I was wondering, why come to Melaka to promote his album, obviously the wrong part of town. It was cool to meet a celebrity, who sang with Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey, and best friend to Nick Lache/Jessica Simpson. We were a fan of 98 Degrees during the boyband era.

So the next morning, we set off to A Famosa hill, which is a must if you are in Melaka. I've been here in every stage of my life, when I was young, a teenager, an adult, a husband, a father... The kids been here before, but they didn't remember, now they are asking a lot of questions, and learning some things about the place. While I've changed a lot, this place never changed a bit. (Damnit!! no camera again to take pics of this place now). The big 'tablets' in the St.Paul's church was really awesome (I've never noticed before).

The next place was of course, the 'benda kapal macam pirate punya time'... tak ingat plak nama dia, dah pergi berkali-kali tak tak tahu tu tempat apa...hehehe. I think maritime museum, kalau tak salah. Anyway, harga masuk rm3 adult, rm1 kanak-kanak, so we let the children go in themselves, while we wait outside/below. They had a lot of fun, as they climb up the ship, and spend some time by themselves on the ship. They've been there before, but they forgot, and now it's like something new to them.

So after crusing everywhere, inside kampungs (one thing we noticed melaka got a lot of tanah perkuburan, every kampung sure got one), (actually looking for anywhere that is free entrance... hehehe), we went to Hang Li Poh's well, atau Perigi Raja. This is where they pour poison in the well to kill the Portugese army. Apprently, a lot of chinese people come here, there's a temple beside well. Anyway, driving off the place, we found a short cut, that has less traffic to the Ayer Keroh.

Then there is a new attraction, Menara Taming Sari, which we didn't go, it was full of tourist buses, cars, and also the wife would get sick if she go up, and the kids would not like it.... (Ylo says "ye lah tu excuses aje, kemut sangat, mahal lah apelah... tak mampu tu cakaplah... 3X says "yelah... yelah... next time kita naik ok, hotel dah lah kena ketuk, so kena save sikit, bonos belum dapat").

Then in the afternoon, we went to Masjid Tanah, and along the way we book a resort, Klebang Beach Resort, which is behind Mak Bibah's house, and right in front of a tanah perkuburan. It's a nice cosy resort overlooking the Klebang sea. Very nice rooms, free WIFI (which is good, strong stable signal) and it has a swimming pool, perfect for us. Its RM140, which is reasonably priced.... and RM115 during the not 'Super Peak' season.

We met Mak Bibah at her shop, and talked to her for quite a while. "Kenal tak?"... "Oh Rizal"... ingat pulak dia... She's really a sweet dear woman, and she directed us to places to eat and tell us about her well-being, daily-routine life, her customers, the people in melaka, her shop and tell us where to eat the best asam pedas restaurant. While talking to her, we found her very endearing, and she has a lot to talk about, as she tells us about melaka and her life. We saw about 3 kids (around 5 to 7 years old), clearing her house compund, sweeping and clearing the rubbish, whom she says "budak-budak tu rajin bersihkan rumah"... bless those kids.

To tell you the truth, seeing her sit there alone in her shop and living alone in the house, really makes me "rasa sayu". Makes me think, that while we go on our busy life, with our family, going places, she sits in her shop alone everyday, living a quiet life. Incidentally, she said, she would not live with anybody, as widows and young woman offered to rent one of her room... she rather live alone. We gave her our phone number, and told her anytime she wants to come to Singapore, just call us, and we come and fetch her and bring her around.

We also went to Pantai Puteri, road masuk dalam lepas Masjid Tanah, and after Makam Hang Tuah (anyway kat makam hang tuah, I get the kids to read aloud "TAK MELAYU HILANG DI DUNIA", told them hang tuah wants us to speak malay, if not malay will disappear). There is a very very long stretch of road beside the Puteri beach, exactly like Pantai Batu Buruk, and the best part is, ada Pasar Malam, exactly also like Pantai Batu Buruk, makanan pun sama murah. Kebanyakan RM1 aje. Bagusnya, dia tak tutup pukul 7 malam macam kat Trengganu, dia stay on sampai malam. Mak Bibah cakap hari minggu dengan isnin aje ada pasar malam kat sana.

After that we spent the rest of the time in the swimming pool, walking beside the Klebang beach, and after checking out, we bid farewell to Mak Bibah at her shop again, and she kirim salam to orang Singapore. Along the way, surpisingly, we met Ayangz and Skaseik's car parked at the road side. We made a Uturn and met Wakdir and family, who were going to visit Kak Eton's relatives and Mak Bibah. They invited us to go together, but we were too sunburnt (and smelly from recycled clothes) to join them for hari raya visiting. We were glad, Mak Bibah is getting more visitors to see her.

Well, that's it for our long weekend getaway, which were as usual unplanned and unpredictable. Going anywhere without a plan, can be traumatic and stressful. Not knowing where you go, or where you end up, but for us, its the only way we know how to travel. Happy Deepavali!

I'm not Mat Rock, I'm Mat Metal

2008-10-20T22:07:00.003+08:00

3X says "Today's lesson is on Heavy Metal. I grew up listening to Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Kreator, Destruction, Anthrax, Megadeth, Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Dark Angel, Sepultura, Exodus, Testament..... and when I was a teenager, every single night I dreamt of playing Raining Blood by Slayer, in a concert. I am not a Mat Rock.... I'm a Mat Metal.

The songs I listen to are not ROCK , these are Heavy Metal. The difference is like night and day. Let me show you the difference.

Rock is : Kiss, Motley Crue, Van Halen, ACDC, Poison, Cinderella, Twisted Sisters, Quiet Riot, Ratt, Saxon, Rush, Vixen, Scorpion, Def Leppard, Aerosmiths, White Lion, Whitesnake, Guns & Roses.... and I hate all their songs, and I DO NOT listen to these type of songs, in fact I hate Rock genres, i rather listen to High School Musical (really). Rock bands tend to look and dress like drag queens, and their songs are usually about 'loving Rock and Roll', girls and making love, and in every album they produce they'll be several love song - for sure.

Metal bands tend to play more heavy riffs, and contrary to beliefs, their songs are not all about devil worshipping, but their songs do have destructive themes, - like killing, deaths, destruction, war - nothing about love, its mostly about the evil that man do. But whatever it is, for me the lyrics of the songs is not what I'm into when listening to these music. It is the RIFFS - the guitar riffs, that is what I'm addicted to. The distortion sound of the guitar, playing in unison and harmonics. When I listen to a great riff, I can feel my head really swell up.

Well if you dare to give it a try, listen to this classic metal song, its Creeping Death from Metallica. To you it may be noise, stupid and just plain rubbish, but to me its ranks up there beside the feeling of ecstacy, its an epic symphony. I've listened to this about a thousand times in my life, and not once I get bored of it. Incidentally, name me any one of Metallica songs, I can sing for you the whole song, all their lyrics are embedded to my brain (inspired to write this post, because Metallica has just come out with new album - Death Magnetic, and listening to it right now).

Accidentally in Love - Yloindahouse

2008-10-16T23:57:00.006+08:00

Song : Accidentally in Love
Original by Counting Crows (OST Shrek 2)

Use Audacity (freeware) software to do multiple audio recordings. Here's a tip, record playing guitar first, then record drums (you can hit anything - table or boxes, it doesn't matter as long got beat), then record singing, then record backup singers or extras. Hope you all enjoy the music video!

Love Beneath the Desert Moon

2008-10-12T21:47:00.003+08:00

Beraya di Ayer Hitam

2008-10-11T09:05:00.002+08:00

Raya bersama Dusty

2008-10-07T19:12:00.001+08:00

Dusty says "Hai, Selamat hari raya kepada semua, maaf zahir dan batin terutama kepada yang telah datang ke rumah. Macam-macam reaksi kita lihat pada pengunjung rumah. Ada yang nervous, ada yang tak faham kenapa kita tinggal dalam rumah, ada yang ambik gambar kita... hehehe macam-macam.

Macam Kak Ida bila dia datang, dia nervous bila kita jalan bawah sofa... hehehe. Anak-anak Mamat pulak, Ayu, Aishah dengan Danial, sampai takut bila nampak kita, kesian dia orang sampai menangis ketakutan. Anak Yan pulak, Aniq, mulut dia penuh dengan bulu kita, macam mana tu? hehehe, lepas tu dia pergi kat tempat makan kita, nak makan Friskies... hehehe. Kak Ana pulak, kita tak payah buat apa-apa, kita tengok aje dia dah terpekik... hehehe.

So kepada semua, jangan takut dengan kita, kita tak pernah mencakar atau mengigit sesiapa pun.... cuma hobby kita suka bau kaki orang aje...hehehe.

Raya kat Ayer Hitam

2008-10-03T21:45:00.004+08:00

Iman says "Selamat Hari Raya semua. Kita dari hari Selasa, kita dah balik kampung kat Ayer Hitam. Pak Long dan Pak Su sekeluarga dah kat sana, untuk teman Wan dan Aki, so kita third family yang sampai. Mak Ngah sekeluarga pulak sampai hari raya pertama pada sebelah petang. So tahun ni, dapat berjumpalah semua adik-beradik mama pada hari raya."

Nadhirah says "Raya tahun ni, dapat jumpa Syafiq anak Pak Su dan Mawadah anak Mak Long, yang kedua-duanya umur genap setahun. Cutelah kedua-duannya. Tak sabar nak ada adik bila main-main dengan dia orang. Kita orang pun seronok dapat main bunga api kat kampung dengan sepupu-sepupu kami pada malam hari."

Juliana says "Wan tahun ni masuk sedap-sedap lah, so Abah makan macam orang tak makan setahun, sampai bila malam hari dia asyik pergi toilet aje, dan juliana pun tengah malam sampai muntah-muntah. Tulah, makan banyak sangat. Maklumlah dah puasa sebulan, so kita orang makan macam nak balas dendam... tapi ni lah balasan nya... hehehe..."

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI.
MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN.

Lupa berpuasa

2008-10-03T21:44:00.002+08:00

Iman says "Kita puasa penuh, tapi satu hari tu kita termakan gula, tapi bila teringat, kita tak buang, kita carry on makan kasi habis, lepas tu kita carry on puasa. hehehe"

coming soon 3X + 1 = 4X

2008-10-03T21:43:00.002+08:00

Yati says "uweeeeek!!! uweeekkkkk!!! uweeekkkk!! Hai semua... uweekkk!!! Apa Khabar?... uweeeekkk!!! kita kat... uweeek!!! sini... uweeekk!!! sihat-sihat aje!!!... uweeek!!!"

3X says "ok lah takpe-takpe, you tak payah bebual, biar I aje cerita. Satu block boleh dengar dengan you punya 'uweeeekk!!' So 3 campur 1 lagi, nombor 4 tengah masak kat dalam ketuhar. Sekejap lagi siap lah tu. Ni semua berkat doa yang budak 3 tu, asyik nak adik, nak adik, sampai merayu kat mak abah dia. Hah ni kan dah menjadi dah doa dia orang. Alhamdullilah, tuhan dah kasi rezeki, kita tak boleh cakap tak bersyukur ye tak.

Untuk nama budak nombor 4 ni, kita ingat nak kasi korang nama kan, so bila nak dekat keluar nanti, kita nak suruh each family cari kan nama, lepas tu kita vote ramai-ramai, dan nama paling banyak vote, kita kasi namakan the last person of the 2nd generation of Hj Salleh family. Ok."

TV cerita

2008-10-03T21:42:00.007+08:00

Iman says "Hi kengkawan, kita orang kan, suka tengok cerita Puteri kat TV lah kat Suria. Kita suka tengok telatah Kamala, Pak Badar dan Roslan. Si Puteri tu kita tak favourite sangat, oklah dia cute tapi takde personality sangat. Tak macam Kamala, kelakar lah dia tu. Last episode season 9 tu, si Roslan nak kahwin Nadiah atau Puteri, tak sabar nak tengok season 10. Roslan kahwin Nadiah lagi bagus, so Helmi boleh kahwin Puteri, baru betul."

http://tv3.com.my/Shows/MainHighlight.aspx?MasterID=188&ShowID=502&MenuID=1&TemplateID=1

Nadhirah says "Lepas series Puteri habis, Suria tunjuk Impian Ilyana pulak. Cerita series ni pasal budak pompuan dalam kehidupan harian dia. Si Helmi tu pun ada jugak, tapi dia jadi orang watak lain, kat cerita tu dia jadi Rizal, yang cuba nak pikat Yana. Dia tu kalau berlakun asyik nak pompuan aje, tapi pompuan tak nak dia... hehehe. Tapi abah tak favourite sangat tengok cerita tu, pasal dia orang suka cakap mat saleh mengada-ngada. Meluat dia cakap. Tak hip lah abah ni."

Juliana says "Bulan puasa pulak, kita tengok Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan. Percaya tak, kita, iman dan nadhirah, tengok sampai nangis-nangis tau, bila tengok apa jadi dengan Qaseh, kesian dia. Laki dia tu weak in the brain betul lah, kena pulak dengan mak mertua bengis macam rimau. Last-last dia mati kena cancer, kita orang semua tak boleh angkat. Kita orang nangis tau."

3X says "Prison Break season 4 dah start tau, for those yang follow up this show, dia orang semua dah escape Sona prison, so sekarang dia orang work together to get The Company. Lisa, Michael Scoffield punya girlfriend, rupa-rupanya tak matilah. So dia orang asyik romen aje, tapi cerita ni violent betullah. Every episode mesti ada orang mati kena bunuh. I think this season must the finale, takkan nak break prison aje kan."

Cakap MELAYU !!!!

2008-10-03T21:42:00.006+08:00

Iman says "Hi everybody, guess what Nadhirah did today. She very naughty lah..."
3X says "Cakap MELAYU !!!"
Nadhirah says "Hey, Iman why you say I naughty, you also very naughty you know..."
3X says "Cakap MELAYU !!!"
Juliana says "Yeah, this Iman and Nadirah always playing tricks on each other, and very noisy...."

3X says "CAKAP MELAYU !!!, ni lah yang aku asyik marah kat dia orang, kat sekolah satu hal cakap english, ni kat rumah pun step anak mat saleh, asyik nak speaking aje, meluat aku. Degil pulak tu, aku marah dia orang suruh cakap melayu, lima minit kemudian speaking balik, alahai naik darah dibuatnya. Bila cakap melayu pulak, merangkak-rangkak cakap, macam baru belajar bahasa melayu. Aku ni bukan apa, kita orang melayu, mesti cakap melayu, kalau tidak nanti hilang identity kita.

Dulu aku ada kenal ni satu kawan kat camp, dia cakap omputih slang rabak, tapi bila cakap melayu dia cakap 'I'm not familiar lah talking in malay', kepala hotak hang, baru belajar kat australia setahun dah slang macam mat saleh. 'Hey belacan, sedarlah diri tu', foooh tiap-tiap hari aku paksa dia cakap melayu, dia tak nak jugak, sampai dia menyampah kat aku, aku pulak meluat kat dia.

Not that I'm against studying english or mandarin or tamil or whatever language at school, but when you are at home with your family, atau bebual dengan orang melayu cakaplah bahasa kita, the language that you are born with.

So korang tiga ekor ni, abah tak kisah korang tengok cerita omputih, dengar lagu omputih, cakap dengan kawan kat sekolah omputih, tapi kat rumah atau bila cakap dengan mak/abah - CAKAP MELAYU!!!'

F1 Singapore

2008-10-03T21:40:00.005+08:00

3X says "hmmmm... a sport watching cars go by... yeah sure I don't think I want to sit through it... seriously, just watching cars racing, I see that everyday while driving to or from work. Whats all the fuss? and Singapore is hosting it? When were we interested in F1 racing? hardly any news on our national TV or newspaper. So why spent so much on that sport? We don't even have a national F1 driver. What?... tickets are hundreds and thousands of dollars??? hmmmm... why? I don't get it.

Anyway after all the hype, it finally got to me, and I sat down to watch the race on TV live. Never an F1 fan, I mean on the Discovery Channel, it shows that the real driver of the F1 cars are computers. The brakes, acceleration and corners are all controlled by computers, in short, the cars are remote controlled, so I'm not really sure the role of the man in the driver seat.

Anyway, after watching the start of the race and watching the cars go round and round, I still didn't find it interesting, even when Renault crash didn't raise my eyebrow. Its only when Massa drove away with fuel pipe, then I started getting glued to the screen. Yes! its a human sport after all. Well... well.. well.. it is also proned to human mistakes... I guess that what makes a sport a sport... human errors... like in soccer or any other sports. One single screw up, and the whole team falls apart.

Well, another thing the race in Singapore has taught me... damn, after seeing all those lights, I sure don't feel guilty when I don't switch off my lights at night anymore. (save electricity... yeah sure).

The Extremists

2008-10-03T21:39:00.004+08:00

3X says "While surfing the Internet, I came across some interesting articles about some extreme American family. Well the first is about this family who goes to the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq, and what they do is they bring banners and pickets to the funerals and shout... well you have to see the videos. Its very amusing and I'm not sure how you will feel, but... not really sure how I would comment about them... well if you want to know about them you can google "The Fred Phelps Family"... here's some videos related to them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpBYZZx-Qs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3PyoUPcobA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEqlcxW8aS8&feature=related

Another extremist, is an episode of Trading Spouses, I think its shown every saturday on channel 5. This shows is about switching the mothers to another family. This is what happen if you have a one track mind, and not open to the world around you. I think society can forgive you for leaving a wife like this.

here's the first part, be sure to watch all ten parts, it gets scary towards the end, reminds me of the exorcist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0lVCvX8lXc

Stopover Island part 1

2008-06-21T21:10:00.000+08:00

3X says" hhhmmm.... dah berapa banyak pulau kita dah collect dari tahun 2003 - Pinang, Kapas, Langkawi, Redang, Ubin(pun pulau jugak ye tak), Tioman dan yang terbaru Perhentian. Stopover Island omputih cakap. Gereeeek! jugak pulau ni.

8 June - Kita start drive dari 4am. By 5am kita dah kat Machap tunggu yang lain-lain untuk sampai. Bila semua dah sampai, kami teruskan perjalanan kita yang mengambil masa 12 jam untuk sampai ke Besut. Foooohhhh... 12 jam bayangkanlah, Wakdir dengan cucu-cucunya macam mana agaknya keadaan dalam kereta.

The last time I remember I drove for 12 hours, ialah bila first time pergi Pulau Pinang. Nak cakap penat drive tak pulak, penat duduk tu ada lah. Tapi pergi Penang, at least expressway straight aje, yang tak boleh tahan tol, kalau drive sebelah timur pulak, drive kena main potong-potong, tapi bagus nya tak payah keluar duit bayar tol.

Anyway sampai Besut, nasib baik ada resort (rm100), bagus jugak sebelah laut, Demong beach, sampai je aku sorang mandi lautnya. Lautnya jernih sekali, punya lah cantik dan bersih. I think the best beach I ever swim in the east side of Malaysia.

9 June - Kita pagi-pagi dah bertolak ke Jeti, untuk naik speedboat ke Pulau Perhentian Besar. Nasib baik bukan feri, kalau tidak anak-bini aku semua dah muntah. Actually sebelum sampai, otak ni asyik ingat Pulau Redang, hmmm... mintak-mintaklah macam Pulau Redang. So bila sampai, of course lain lah sikit, lain pulau lain permandangan ye tak.

Kedai-kedai dan tempat chalet kat Perhentian dekat dengan laut, macam kat Tioman. Anyway, aku tak sabar, sebelum checkin aku anak beranak dah terjun laut. Sekali ada puffer fish lah... kelakar ikan ni, bila dah kembung dia tak boleh buat apa-apa, so dia terapung aje kat atas laut, kena tunggu 'gas' dia habis.

Lepas makan tengah-hari, kita orang dibawa ke macam-macam tempat untuk snorkelling. Foooh puas betul, macam-macam tempat.

Nampak sharks, jelly fish, turtle... semuanya dekat-dekat, depan mata aje. Aku rasa aku yang nampak ni semua dulu, pasal aku yang selalu terjun dulu. Fooooh... kalau nak describe pasal marine life ni, rasa tulis tak guna. Bila snorkelling ni, ibarat macam kita tengah terbang, tengok permandangan luas kat bawah dasar laut, the feeling is very 'high'. Ada satu tempat snorkel ni, dia punya 'padang' coral punya luas, dan berwarna-warni, aku macam tak nak balik ke darat. Bila nampak jelly fish atau turtle tengah berenang depan mata, cantik betul.

10 June - Pagi-pagi kita selepas breakfast, kita dibawa ke Pulau Rawa, bersebelahan Pulau Susu Dara (pasal nampak macam payu dara...hehehe). Orang dulu-dulu ni apa-apa aje dia orang namakan pulau, Dayang Bunting lah, Susu Dara lah, Kentut lah.

to be continued.

XBOX - the ultimate media machine

2008-05-30T23:37:00.000+08:00

3X says "For today's lesson, uncle would like to tell you more about this piece of technology, that I find to be one of the most useful piece of appliance for your home, and doesn't cost much. Its the XBOX , and not those new 360 types, those are crap. I'm talking about the original XBOX games console.

So why do I classify this as one of the most useful tech, while there are a lot of other new and latest games consoles out there. For one simple reason - you can turn it into an ultimate media player for your home. You see, out of the box, the Xbox is just another games console - you slip in an Xbox DVD game, and you start playing, that's all. But once you do some modification to it, it turns into something else.

The keyword here is, modding it. Some people hardmodded it (which you send to 'some shop' for it to be installed with a chip - could set you back at $80 - $150), and there are some, like me who soft-mod it myself, using a PC and hotswapping the hard disk to install linux.

Ok so what do you do after that? Here's the good stuff - XBMC.
Read here on how to do it
Here's what you can do with it
Very useful scripts that turn it into a living room computer
here are just some of the links, there are lots out there, just google it

Other than playing Xbox games, I streamed my video collections to the Xbox, and XBMC played it perfectly, never a glitched during playback everytime. I changed the hard disk to 160gb, and it's more than enough to store the games, movies, songs, pics locally, and bring it to the hotels, and plug it to the hotel's TV. You can streamed youtube, comedy central, football channel, apple trailers, any media from the internet to it. Read more about XBMC http://xbmc.org/.

You can get a second hand Xbox at cash convertor for just $99, and I even bought the dvd remote at just $8. Trust me, no other console, no matter how latest and new and expensive they are, that can do this.

whats up.....!

2008-05-20T23:34:00.002+08:00

3X says "Maef lah dah nok sebulang ujang tok upded. bukang ape den tengoh sibok sangot sampo nak habaq pung susagh. asyik menukar computor je, sekejap pakaik apple, sekojap pakaik pc, ntah apoh-apoh ajolah project tu.... jadik kak bawoh tu noh, lantak lah koang baco sebulang purnamo punyo cerito. baco bismilah dulu scroll sampoh kat bawoh tu noh...."

Pompey - FA Cup Winners

2008-05-18T21:51:00.003+08:00

FA Cup Winner - Portsmouth FC

3X says "Harry Redknapp deserves the win. He deserves this recognition. He got his dreams. He is the number 1 manager... For he's a jolly good fellow! ok granted the goal for them is the result of a bumbling error from Cardiff's goalkeeper (tangan banyak butter agaknya), still a win in this game is THE FA Cup Winner, and goes on to Euro for the UEFA cup next season. This final was a no brainer, Cardiff hardly put up a fight, I think David James also got bored at one time, all their shots are like american football, mostly over the post. Kanu also got at least 2 or 3 more chance but failed to go in. Wembley Stadium roars for Portsmouth !!!!!

Latest news (nasib macam kentang): Two medals "kena kebas" from the winners... alamak! main penat-penat, member balik takde proof menang... hehe...

The Contender Asia - Muay Thai

2008-05-12T21:50:00.003+08:00

http://www.contenderasia.com/

3X says "I am so hooked on Muay Thai, or rather the reality TV show The Contender, where 16 Muay Thai fighters fight for the US$150,000 prize. There's of course Thai fighters, US, UK, Sweden, France... and even this 1 guy from Singapore. hmmmm... I thought its the Asia edition, how come no Malaysian, Indonesians, or even Japan or Koreans?

Anyway, I was addicted to the series, and having missed it from AXN, and rather than have to wait for week after week from Channel 5, the next best thing is to download the whole series. (hint : VeohTV got the whole episodes).

My fav is Yoddi, and of course John Wayne Parr. These guys, even though they are tough as nails, fight each other to a bloody pulp, yet... they can still be friends and they turn soft muffins when they are with their mother or family. Yoddi was kissing his mother like a small child, but in the ring, I think he can kill people with his kicks and punches, and he is the World Champion. The chemistry between them is what makes the show interesting.

Mark Burnett really know how to make TV shows that show the human side of any competition. Rather than focus on only fights, he combines "Survivor" style human interactions with Muay Thai. This sport is very violent and deadly, but seeing the fighters in their vunerable state and emotion when living together, you can't help but feel for their friendship and lifes.

This was filmed in Singapore, and it was amusing that the background of interviews, are like at HDB car parks, in front of our longkangs, and I think because of lack of cinematographic places, they keep showing our busy PIE, CTE, BKE roads... hilarious. Anyway hope they'll be a season 2 soon.

YODSAENKLAI IS THE CONTENDER ASIA

Apple Exam

2008-05-10T21:48:00.002+08:00

3X says "Well after making the company pay $4k for the course, now is time to take the exam for it. And after persuading the boss to pay for the exam (around $300), and making a promise that I will pass it, and sounding so confident, and even cocky, by saying that I will pay the company back twice the amount if I fail... lo and behold... I did failed... getting 68% out of the 90 questions. The passing mark is 73%, and after doing the calculation, discovered I'm only short of 4 correct answers.

So the week after the boss came and asks... "So exam pass or fail? If you fail, I'll kick your ass!"... I said, holding my head "I think you can sack me already" and showed him my result slip. He laughed and said "Good luck explaining to HR... hahaha".

*sigh* ...... what to do... study a little harder next time, and retake the exam... maybe if I fail again, they will really sack me.... hahaha (very dry laugh).

Mother's Day

2008-05-04T21:47:00.003+08:00

M... is for the million things she gave me,

O... means only that she's growing old,

T... is for the tears she shed to save me,

H... is for her heart of purest gold;

E... is for her eyes, with love-light shining,

R... means right, and right she'll always be.

...a word that means the world to me.

Kami ingin mengucapkan ke semua "fatimah rockers" yang telah beranak penak sempena hari ibu ni.