Welcome to the family

People, say hi to the latest member of our family... introducing, Isaac Cheng! :)

Is he cute or what?! Looks like the mother right? :)

Back from the Land of Hornbills

The past weekend was truly eventful... I went to Kuching to visit Sarawak on Friday and came back with her on Sunday. It was a tiring trip... had lots of good memories to bring back but one bad memory too... well, its not too bad cos it really reminded both Su Yin and I about the goodness of God and how He really watches over us.

So why was the trip eventful??? Here's what happened on Friday...

1. The AirAsia flight from KLIA to Kuching was delayed for 2 hours (according to some passengers, this has been happening quite frequently on AirAsia flights, dunno if it was true...).
2. The delayed flight was further delayed cos some silly family decided to take the grand tour of KLIA and the whole plane had to wait for them! Then, another Ah Pek decided to test his mobile phone in the plane... silly old man, I had to go tell him to turn it off! Sighs...
3. During the flight, it was quite uneventful until the very end of the flight, when the plane decided to encounter some very, very bad air turbulence, causing my stomach to turn upside-down... there goes my Burger King's Whopper brunch... :(
4. Still feeling queasy from the flight, Kuching decided to welcome me with a rain and wind extravaganza... the wind was so strong that the clouds just flew by when I looked up to the sky... I have not since such a sight since I returned from Australia or UK. Clouds in Malaysia are usually slow moving...
   
5. Managed to get Su Yin's friend Grace to lend me her BF's car... unfortunately she forgot to mention to me that the brakes didn't work too well... had a couple of scary moments but no accidents. Whew! :)
6. Arrived at Unimas early, so I had to wait for Su Yin to finish class to see her again... the tension was so unbearable! You don't know how its like not seeing your beloved for so long and though I'm now just a stone's throw away from her, I still could not see her! It was one of the longest 30 minutes of my life.
7. Finally, I see her again! It was such a wonderful feeling... indescribable!
8. Both of us were very hungry... nothing to eat since breakfast. So we headed down town to have dinner. Had the best Fried Oysters in the whole world! Anyone who's going to Kuching must try Restoran Venue's fried oyster that comes with fish sauce dip. Yum! :) You also must try the Ulam Midin (Midin is a type of vegetable that looks like fern... nice!).
   
9. Then we went back to Su Yin's friend's place to rest and bathe. After awhile, I was feeling a little hungry again (what else is new about me eh?!). I managed to persuade Su Yin to go to this noodle store that we saw earlier driving into her friend's place. Her friend mentioned to her that it was very nice but did not have a chance to try as it was always closed. Anyway, it was open and so we went and try... it was Kolo Mee but the noodles was home made.The place was also very nice... old style atmosphere. Brought back alot of memories of my childhood. Nice! :)
10. We went for a drive, with Su Yin driving... and it conclusively proves that she has a bad bad bad sense of direction! :)
11. Went to Coffee Bean for a Malibu-Dream Ice-blended... so nice! :) Found out that both of us liked the same kind of coffee - Cafe Mocha!!! So cool! :)
12. Then we went back home to take a deserved rest... Zzz...

Will write more tomorrow... sorry, no photos... I was too bz enjoying my time with Su Yin... Will see what I can post up... until then... tomorrowlah.

A minute's silence

Our PM's wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood passed away this morning after a nearly four-year battle with breast cancer. She was 64 years-old. The country will mourn the passing of a couragerous First lady.

I would like to extend my condolences to Pak Lah and his family for their bereavement.

As a mark of respect, I request that anyone reading this post would observe a minute's silence for my country's leader's wife... Thank you.

This blog will also not be posting anything until Monday as a mark of respect.

Going to Kuching

I'll be going over to Kuching over the weekend to see Su Yin and to have our engagement party over there. We have been planning for one since we got engaged but could not find the right time for me to go and see her... until now. Its long overdue and so I am very happy to be able to celebrate our engagement with her friends there.

Will also have another one here for people on this side of the divide during the Raya holidays. I have alot of work from the college as well... deadlines moved forward or stuff I have procastinated for far too long. Finally, they have all caught up with me. :/

So I think I will be very bz over the next few weeks. Oh well, I will enjoy the good times... I'm can't wait to see Su Yin again, miss her badly... :) and I will persevere through the bad... deadlines, deadlines, deadlines... :( Still, thanks be to God, who leads us into triumph! :)

Ultimate 4WD experience

If Su Yin and I were ever to fully dedicate our lives to research work, this will be the vehicle to take along on our trips!

Introducing the MaxiMOG, based on the Mercedes Benz's MOG. Cool huh?

A song for grandma...

This song is dedicated for my dear, dear granny... ;)

Super Gran

Stand back Superman, Iceman, Spiderman, Batman Robin too,
Don't wanna cause a ruckus with B A Barracus have I got a match for you,
She makes them look like a bunch of fairies, got more bottle than united dairies,
Hang about, look out for supergran.

You can stick your heroes, your Robert De Niro's, Al Pacino too,
Lex Galone's just another phoney, couldn't lace her shoes,
After her they're all big girls' blouses, got more front than a row of houses,
Hang about, look out for Supergran.
Sup-Sup Supergran,
She's a serious granny,
Sup-sup Supergran,
a serious granny, she'll do the things that you never saw your granny do ...
is there nothing that she cannot do?

On your bike Wonderwoman, lets just say you had it coming, this one is for real,
Charlies angels pack it in before it gets embarrasing, this lady's solid steel,
She comes on strong like a Bengal lancer, she makes you all look like a bunch of chancers,
Hang about, look out for Supergran.
Sup-sup Supergran,
Hang about, look out for Supergran.
Sup-sup Supergran,
Sup-sup Supergran,
Sup-sup Supergran, To end.

[ btw, thanks Alvin for giving me the source of the song! :) ]

WA Fm is no more

After today WA.fm, one of the Chinese radio stations here, is no more... Why? I dun really know also, just wanna blog about it. It was very interesting listening to the station. The station, using good programming coupled with good DJs, had managed to capture a small but loyal following. Alas, some of the phone-in talk shows were deemed to controversial for our tastes by certain parties. Hrmm...

Super-gran

My granny (Mom's mom) is really a Super-Gran. Why do I say that? Cos even though she is already nearer to 90 years-old and her movements are noticeably slower, her brain is still as sharp as any well-polished knife! I realised this recently as I noticed that my usual banter with her as increasing becoming more funny. Her responses are really sharp and quick and her comebacks are really, really funny... something you'd normally not associated with someone of her age, and I am so proud of her. I really love her to bits.

Btw, Super-gran was this UK show that I used to watch as a kid. It was about a very old, bent-over lady who can become a super-powered grandma when some yound kid is in trouble. It was hilarious as she could perform feats that would shame even Superman! :) Moreover, she was also armed with a wicked sense of humour... just like my very own Super-gran!

Home alone... sort of

Mom and dad leaving for Adelaide on Saturday as Mei is due anytime now. Yeah, my baby sister is going to give birth to her own little "terror". My sis was quite the terror when she was born... still is actually. You think my temper is fiery? You've not met Mei Ching yet! :)

Anyway, as they are going over, I will be home alone for about 2 months. "Whoopie!" you'd say? Well, that would have been my reaction 10 years ago but now, actually I am kinda sad that they are leaving, the house would be a lot more quiet without my mum's nagging and my dad's 24-hour TV. Its left to me, my very own super-granny and Seong, my cousin, to hold the fort.

Hrm... looks like I'd have to start thinking about meals, laundry and other household chores liao. Just like my Uni days! :) Its spaghetti/pasta for dinner again! :) The only thing I dread is remembering to pay the bills. Thank God there is Seong and super-gran around.

Chicken dung grown cold

I know the title is not one for putting up during lunch but its just something that I want to rant about. It is a sad but true fact that the blogging fever has died down among our circle. Many who enthusiatically started a post a day has now trickled their postings to a post a week, some even a post a month!!! Don't want to name names here but you know who you are :P

Its left to the few pioneers who are managing a few posts a week, especially Alvin (good job, keep it up!) who consistently deposits his crap in his "toilet bowl" except on weekends where he remains constipated for 2 days until he relieves himself on Mondays! ;) I guess that is the reason why it smells especially bad on Mondays! :)

Admittedly, I myself has slacked alot lately. Its purely down to laziness and indifference on my part and the lack of response from the part of the readers (if there is any... hehe) but do I really need to blame myself for lack of postings? Do I really need to keep asking people to update their blogs? I think something's just not quite right when you ask someone to update your blog... its their blog anyway... so for those whom I've asked to update your blog, I'm sorry ok? And update your blog lah... why? Just lor ;)

What is a blog really? Should I take the effort to make my posts interesting readings or ensure regular postings? I think if we take too much effort in doing something as frivilous as blogging, then we've lost the plot. Really... that is unless you have a wide readership like some bloggers... So I will continue to keep to my random thoughts and whatever that my heart inspires me to write (not that it does that alot anyway :/) Be it rants or raves, I will write for myself and my few loyal readers... and maybe a little for Su Yin, so that she knows what is in my heart... putting down things that I might find too difficult to say with my mouth. Otherwise, you can go read someone else's blog ler...

[Note: as you can see, my thoughts are rather random right now... I myself don't know what I just said!]

Stories

Lately I have been reading this blog alot. It is written by this guy name Viewtru and he has a real knack in telling stories. I like his postings (much more than kennysia nowadays!) and as he posted something today about entering a storywriting competition and he left a story hanging at the end, asking his readers to continue the story in the comments section, I thought this would be an appropriate time to introduction his blog to you.... just click on the link HERE and go have a look, and maybe even continue his story... :)

[ Edit: I have also contributed a number of seqments to the story... click here to go directly to the posting. :) ]

Just curious...

This question is posted out of curiousity: Would you leave your car at home and take the public transport if it is well-organised? Leave your answers in the comments section...

Penang desperately needs a well-organised transport system and there are calls recently to quickly set up the monorail system to help elevate the problems. There is merit in having a monorail system but such a system needs time to be built and I don't think it will help much in the short run. Actually, what needs to be done is just to better manage the current system available. So that when the monorail system is built, the feeder systems (buses and taxis) needed to support the system would be in place already.

Here are a few suggestions that the Penang government may want to take note of:

1. Get your backyard in order. It is not the facilities that are available that is important, it is the way it is managed that is important. The Underground system in London is one of the oldest in the world but it is well managed. Its facilities are not the most modern but it is well organised. Get a good management and support team in place.
   
2. Unite all transport companies under a single transport board. Like all well-run transport systems, they come under the umbrella of a single transport board that oversees all the different aspects of a transport system. Employing the same colors and motifs will help users, especially tourists, when using the system.
   
3. Get the feeder system ready. All rail systems need a system of feeder transportation such as buses to take people from the stations to their destination as monorail/LRT/MRT systems cannot reach every area whereas buses can, on the existing road network.
   
4. Have standardise rates and introduce day/season passes. This will reduce confusion for travellers when it comes to paying for fares and day/season passes will make it easier for regular commuters and tourists to use the system.
   
5. Standardise the timetable and introduce time-based incentives to the drivers. Meaning if the drivers can make the timetable with some allowances (usually 2-3 minutes before and after the scheduled time), they are given extra incentives for their efforts. This would make them more conscious of the time and make them more on time.
   
6. Have a team of inspectors that check for problems faced in the system. Both for users who evade payments and for buses or drivers that are not well maintained.

That said, I realise that most well-run transport systems get alot of financial backing from the government, local and federal. This means that we may need to pay more in terms of tax to get it set up properly. However, if it is done properly, I really wouldn't mine not taking the car to work and I am sure most of you wouldn't mind too right? Moreover, it would free up the roads alot more and maybe even allow and encourage people to use alternative mode of transport such as the bicycle since there is less traffic on the roads then...

What the?!

"Cops foil robbery at cigarette hoarder’s house" This was the headline that accompanied this picture featured in today's edition of theStar newspaper. What is your initial reaction after looking at the picture? You'd think that the police driving the Waja crashed into the MR2 driven by the robbers to prvent them from escaping right? WRONG!!! Here's the accompanying caption to the picture:

DESPERATE ACTION: The sleek silvery Toyota MR2 driven by a police officer was rammed by fleeing robbers at Taman Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

After reading that caption, the first thing that pop into my mind is this: what is a policeman, earning a government servant's salary, driving a sleek sports car like this?! Either the policemen are very well paid nowadays (meaning there should be less corruption right?) or something is very fishy here. Hrmmm... maybe they are mimicking Miami Vice, where the police gets to drive fast cars and dress in fancy clothes....

What do you think?

Picture courtesy of the Star newspaper, dated 6 October 2005.

Smokers and Bombers

there is a distinct similarity between smokers and suicide bombers, both carry out acts that not only hurt themselves but also other people around them, even those who explicitly not condone their acts...

To both groups of morons... get a life... figuratively AND literally...

Piousness or hypocrisy

I was going to work today and I had to pass through Pulau Tikus. Guess what, because it was the Nine Emperor's Festival, there were a number of roadside stalls that were set up to sell vegetarian food and the people who are buying them had the audacity of parking not only on the road table, but on the road itself, causing a massive, massive jam! What is going on here, people?

I am not against people observing and pursuing their beliefs but I don't understand 2 things:

1. Why do people eat food that mimics meat and non-vegetarian products such as eggs? Doesn't it defeat the whole purpose of cleansing the body AND mind? To put the thoughts of having meat away from our minds??? Strange...
2. Why do people who observe this period so religiously, can be so inconsiderate as to park their cars indiscriminately, even on the ROAD, blocking the traffic and causing a jam?! If they want to be pious and pure, why are they still acting this way? Doesn't it goes against the very thing they are striving for???

Obviously something is not quite right here... Are people just doing this as a trend or are they doing this just to create an impression that they are pious or are they truly repentant? If they are, then I doubt the above 2 points would not happen liao right? Piousness or hyprocrisy? I dunno, you tell me...