October Trip 1

October is already coming to its end. It's the 31st today - and yes, it's Halloween again. 31 is a significant number to all Baskin Robbins ice-cream lovers too!! Hurry to the nearest BR parlor and enjoy that 31% discount. I hate the standing in line, but it's a pretty good deal especially when you are buying for sweet lovers in a household like mine.

I need to also make a quick dash to the market and get Nissa's pumpkin. She had googled the steps on how to carve a pumpkin. Me go get the fruit and let's hope both father and daughter will somewhat figure out how to get it done. It's not so much because of Halloween or anything. We just want her to get her hands dirty sometimes, and take a break from that PSP thingy. So if the labu thing menjadi, we'll have a little pumpkin to put outside the door tonight. Kinda late to start having one...but for suka-suka sake, what the heck.

With the end of October arriving in matters of hours, I had noticed my days slipping by even faster. Pejam celik, pejam celik, December will make its way and we'll have a brand new year ahead us.

October was indeed a busy month for me. Hari Raya celebrations, work travels, deadlines, kids' exams etc, filled up the October schedule. From Port Dickson to Kota Marudu to Hangzhou and Shanghai, I must say my calendar couldn't have looked more "prettier". There will be more busy days ahead, affirmed during my laborious meeting with clients yesterday. Tak pe lah, "busy" means good money for the company and it helps keep everyone's spirits high too. One step at a time, that's how we'll brave our upcoming days, I guess. In the meantime, enjoy these of pictures from my Kota Marudu adventure trip. Hangzhou and Shanghai..up next :)

Had the opportunity to walk on this jambatan gantung across Sg Kg Simpangan in Kota Marudu. It swayed like nobody's business ok!! Rasa naik boat lepas cross

Look Mom...NO hands!!!

Kota Marudu's top brass - YB Anita (middle) & her officers, catching up as they waited for the Minister

Bridge is 480meters long. The old bridge was swept away by flood waters last January.

The local kids...exotic look they all ni :)

Haa.....you can tell a local when you see them on the bridge. Dato Max siap boleh buat 100 dash lagi!!

The 2nd jambatan gantung...spanning across 2 rivers in Kampung Lempadak, Kota Marudu

After my walk up and down the bridge. It's 980 meters long. So in total dah jalan almost 3km that day on two jambatan gantung!!!

House by the river (errr...don't get me wrong...rumah yg lagi cantik kat town ader banyak...yg ni kat tepi bukit & tepi sungai)

KFC tersergam megah

Look how precise folks in Kota Marudu are..accurate to 1 decimal point!!! Mana nak cari precision like this 1Malaysia???

"Nǐhǎo ma?"

"Nǐhǎo ma?" or in English it means “How are you?”

Yes, I’m home, arrived save and sound around 9.00pm last night. It was a good break for us both. Mission to spend some “us” time together was somewhat accomplished. Unlike my previous trips where RT was the main mission, this Shanghai and Hangzhou vacation did not see me going in out shops buying stuffs. It must have been the cool fall weather that put us in the right mood to walk round unhurriedly, covering the unbeaten tracks of the cities.

And that was how the five days was spent - walking around, stopping to feed fish at the lakes, visits to museums and sitting around allowing time to slip by, as we watched throngs of people walk pass us.

Pagoda on West Lake in Hangzhou

Will share more pictures in the upcoming postings. As for now, it’s back to business as usual – where deadlines and task lists are attributes in the game plan.

Away on ......ehemmmm

Am going to be away again. This time for the long awaited holiday with Abe, kinda like a honeymoon thing..heh..heh.

Our flight is this afternoon. Will be spending 2 nights in Hangzhou and from there on to Shanghai. Will try and post entries from these places, should the wifi permits doing so.

This song by Frances Yip - Shanghai Beach is to set us in the right mood for our autumn rendezvous in both cities...heh..heh :) Enjoy....

Sayonara peeps, stay cool and see you next week :)

Away on Assignment

Salams to all. Sembang has been quiet for a while. Reason nye...ahh alasan serupa - busy at work, busy beraya and busy tentang macam-macam.

I had wanted to write about raya do's and raya visits. Unfortunately, a few other tasks had taken priority. So, sepi lah jadinya Sembang, sounds so cliche kan...but that's the hakikat nya.

I am away again, on work assignment and this time to Kota Marudu, Sabah. My team and I arrived here late Monday night and will be heading home tonight. Like the girls said, it's nice here, but we miss the polluted KL air. Yah...same goes here. Can't really say if I miss smelling the smog and viewing haze outside my office window. But I surely miss my girls and the 4 cats and 3 lil' kittens (ahhh...despite the disbelief of some, yes I am now more berani with the felines..heh..heh...dah jadik granny kan!!) and miss Abe jugak lah (chisss...corny nyer kan??)

Those who have been following me on FB have been getting teasers of my adventures here in Kota Marudu. The bumpy rides, the walk across hanging bridges, the very friendly and kind locals and the "mee banjir" - I will write about them soon, InshaAllah once I get the chance to do so. Just bare with me if the stories are rather old, but I do have interesting pictures to share.

Tungggguuuu yea....

Okay this will be it for now. The clients have arrived and gotta go and brief them with updates of the event here. Bye for now....

Anak-anak 1Malaysia kita

New Mom

She's a mommy!!! Furry is a now a Mommy. Delivered three lil' ones early this morning. Looking still tired, but she sure looks ready to start this new phase in her life :)

Innalilllah....

A call came in on my BB and it was from Mom. I gave my salam and I could sense something was not right on the other end. Mom asked where I was and told here that I was on my way to PD.

She broke the news to me after that. It was my Mak Lang. She had left us this morning, no illness nothing and she's gone. Inna Lillahi wa Inna ileyhi Raj'oon. As a Muslim, apa jua ketentuan dari Nya we have to redha.

I asked Mom when would the funeral be and she told me after asar. Okay....I did some mental calculations, I'd still be able to make it there after completing my tasks in PD.

Mak Lang Enab as she is affectionately known was my late father's cousin sister. Their kampung houses in Juasseh Kuala Pilah are just next to each other. Arwah Abah used to tell us their mischievous stories during their younger days, and Mak Lang was very much in the picture. They cari ikan in the sawah, they jumped into the taliair (which in locals speak known as bondar) and most of all, I remember his stories about how loving Mak Lang was towards my Abah and his other siblings. I remember tagging along Abah to kenduris at Mak Lang's kampung house when I was young. Each time she wanted to marry off her daughters, she would personally come to our house in Seremban and inform Abah. At times Abah was the spokesperson at her children's merisik or engagement dos. Obviously Abah was very respected by Mak Lang and family.

Our families are very close. Each Raya without fail we'd go visit her in her kampung house. As age caught up and it was no longer safe to live in the kampung house all by herself, she moved to Seremban with her youngest daughter. But Mak Lang would without fail open up her kampung house to receive us during Raya. She said she wants the cucu cicit to experience Raya the kampung way. Eat rebusan and lemang, just as how she and arwah Abah experienced their festive Raya those days.

And with me, the bonding is even more special. It was Mak Lang's mother who helped look after me when I was a toddler. Her mother gave me this name "Intan" and till today, that's how I am known to these folks. When both Abe and I first got married, he was so pelik when he heard the ladies calling me by that name. It was "Intan" this and "Intan" that. Frankly speaking I was rather embarrassed by that name too, but I played along as I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

This Raya when we visited her, she complemented Abe saying that he was so good looking. I replied saying, "Ahhh tuo dah tu." and she said, "Iyo lah...lae tuo lae lawa lak de" (translation - more tua more good looking!!). Of course she had us in chuckles by her comments and I think Abe is going to remember those good moments with her sampai bila-bila.

Alhamdullilah...jenazah Mak Lang telah selamat disemadikan in Seremban yesterday after Asar. I rushed from PD after my meeting ended. Unfortunately I got lost somewhere in the taman where her house was. And, I didn't make on time to see her for the last time. Tak pe lah...my prayers are always for her. I was told she wasn't sick or anything. She complained of stomach uneasiness the night before after berbuka puasa enam and the next morning she passed away.

Alhamdullilah Allah telah permudahkan segalanya buat Mak Lang. Semoga roh Mak Lang dicucuri rahmat dari Nya dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang yang beriman, InshaAllah.

Hot..Hot...Hot

"Hot" wasn't just with the weather. Heat on the grounds of Bagan Pinang is very, very hot too. I was there yesterday and will be there today and tomorrow. Yikess....I don't like it at all being right smack in the place where all the by-election campaigning activities are "flaming".

The centre where our program is conducted is in a kampung where at one corner the GREEN Moon has made base. And down the road, the BLUe Scale has proudly declared as their strong hold. Security is very tight. The police will not compromise with anything and anyone, I suppose. Tepi simpang tiga ader Tok Polis, bawah pokok pisang ada dua tiga orang, kat gerai tengah minum-minum (I presume tengah taking a break lah kan...and not curi tulang..oopsss) pun penuh satu table Tok Polis.

What I am seeing in this small seaside town now is so different from what it was many, many years ago. Hotels and beautiful resorts line the beach front, and it kinda gives me that "proud to be from Negri" feeling. Still, PD has a longgggg way to go should it envision itself as other popular beach destinations like Bali, Gold Coast or the Florida Keys.

Had it not been for my program, I don't think I'd be heading for PD. Not for the beach, nor for the election campaigning (ohhh lagi lah tidakkk). Why? The reason is simple...there's nothing in PD. Pantai Teluk Kemang where as a kid I used to swim from morning till sun down, is now dirty, crowded and polluted. And on weekends, if one is not lucky, the traffic crawl could stretch many kilometers long. So tak pe lah, I'd do my beach bumming else where.

I do hope this by-election will give PD a new future. Who ever gets to secure the seat, please look into the potentials of PD. Plan and develop it well, not haphazardly putting up high rise, and forgetting to preserve the beauty of this beach town. Most importantly, with lots of sincerity in the heart, do the place good and not for the reaps of good RM awaiting. The locals may have forgiven what happened in the past and generously now allowed a second chance. Accept the trust given by the people and let's position PD on the "correct" map where it should have been!!

Fly Robin Fly

We could have just continued sleeping this morning. After all it's a Saturday and my back still ached from yesterday's back and forth drive to Port Dickson. There was a slight change of plan in Bagan Pinang. The event was postponed to next Tuesday. Some technical glitches, I was told. In a way, I was glad as that would give me sometime to catch up with the girls during the weekend. Although both Farah and Nissa have gotten pretty used to my no show on weekends, that heart sick feeling of mine is very difficult to ease. So when I got news about the postponement, I jumped with joy and in less than 2 hours, I was already back in Shah Alam.

Earlier in the week I had promised Nissa that I'd take her to the upcoming airshow in Subang. I also made her promise that she'd be up early, have breakfast with no fuss if she wanted to go see the show, and she agreed.

We left the house at 7.00am. The drive to Subang was good. The centre of action was at the RMAF base in Subang. Going to the base would be interesting but it was the jam that I dddn't quite fancy. So instead, we settled for a good spot somewhere at the end of the Subang Airport runway. We were the first few ones to arrive. Abe parked the car betol-betol menghadap the runway, giving us a good view of the upcoming actions.

As we waited, the crowd grew, but the sky somehow didn't look too promising. I got news that the show was to start at 10.30am, however nothing was in sight yet. My fear was the weather. Ohh..please don't cancel, not when I had dragged these poor souls out of bed earlier that the birds outside.

Then suddenly "something" came towards our way. Slowly it approached the end of the runway. Wallah......when I looked using the binoculars, yesssss...it was our newly acquired Sukhoi SU-30 jet-fighter. Wooo...what an awesome beauty!! The three of us were excited beyond words. And at take off, fuhhhhh........what a sensation!!! No one minded the ear splitting sound it left us upon seeing its sleek take off. Rasa bangga sangat that we have such a powerful machine (err...putting aside all the sensational Sukhoi purchase stories lah kan)

It rained for a short while but that didn't dampen everyone's spirits. Next came the Thunderbirds F16, reverberating the sky with sounds of its fast jet engines. Teruja yang sangat-sangatlah teruja till tak tau how to react; sekejap making FB postings via BB and sekejap lepas tu trying to catch the acts on camera.

And when it ended, for the lack of better descriptive, we had these to say, "Fly robin fly.....awesome, simply awesome!!"

Official government aircraft...kira macam Airforce 1 lah ni kot. It went up and down a couple of times. Not quite sure if it was part of the show or merely showing off tax payers' money put to good (?) use

The crowd began building as we waited anxiously for the show to start

Nissa trying to catch a glimpse of........

The country's newly acquired Sukhoi SU 30. At take off.....bunyi dia could make your heart stop beating.

The Sukhoi gaining speed

Up, up and away.....

After the half hour show, down was the Sukhoi and up went the ........

Thunderbirds F16

The handsome 4 all in line, ready to take off. Check out the white smoke as they gained force

Look Mom..they are flying!!!

Up they go....
Will post more pics tomorrow.....eyes almost closing. Nite, nite folks.....

Batang Pinang...opppss

Just a short one this one. Since coming back to work after the Raya break, life couldn't have been "better". Work is back as chaotic as it was before Ramadhan. So kirakan di bulan mulia tu, diberi breather untuk melakukan ibadah. Alhamdullillah, everything went well and double syukur coz this year yours truly dapat berpuasa penuh :)

Now back to life being "better".

I've just come back from client's office actually. Not for meetings but just to go collect items needed for this weekend's event. Apa event tu?? Errr...perlu ke declare??

Well, suspense and surprises aside lah, plus ketandusan ideas for now nak buat plot cerita ala-ala trip pi LA dulu. Out with it, yes? Well, from today till Sunday, I'll be camping in Bagan Pinang, Port Dickson. Reasons dia??? Obvious...dah terang and no need to bersuluh.

We were given less than a week's notice to prepare ourselves for the event in Bagan Pinang. The coordination meeting was last Monday (28/9) and everything had to be tip top A okay by today. Hah...apa lagi jadik lipas kudung trying to get things coordinated. Nasib baik lah we have gotten pretty used to all these JIT requests, kalu tak mau ader yang sakit jantung kot. Through the years of being in this project management line, I have learnt to take it easy, one step at a time, no matter how urgent, important and critical the assignment is. Tak mau kalut-kalut coz lagi kalut, lagi hanyut...

Tapi dalam cool-cool tu, I almost made this embarrassing blunder in my email. When referring to event venue, I almost wrote "Batang Pinang" instead of "Bagan Pinang". Well, what would you expect lah kan, all so exhausted slogging since morning and rushing out emails faster that a bullet train. Plus the fact that it is still bulan Raya; melayan open houses invites dari satu hujung KL ke the other, batang pinang (the daging of course!!) was very much on my mind.

Lucky thing I checked. Kalu tak I cringe at thinking what wondrous ideas Dato Pengarah would have upon receiving my email. Hee...nasib baik lah, if not sure jadi gurauan masa post event meeting :)

So folks have a good weekend. Enjoy your open houses whilst I go help my worikh-worikh kek Pot Deksen decide which way they should go.