I really am bad when I'm down with fever. Even a slight fever will set me off for at least a week, hence the no show in the entry. Whatever it is, I must be thankful that my wife is ever sabar with this old man and the daughters just carried on with their lives as nothing happened despite the fact that there was an old man mengeluh tak sudah-sudah.
On another note, just to inform sedara mara and those who are interested, that blog Asma dah kembali active and Alia has created another blog (though with a friend).
And Mak Temoh will undergo her surgery on 19.9.2007. InsyaAllah.
31.7.07
21.7.07
Finally! Its Deathly Hallows Guys!
Just came back from Carrefour. Got the much awaited Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows at a real bargain price of RM69.90. No wonder MPH and Popular and Times are freaking mad. Anyway, Ali, Asma and Bapak woke up early, very very early this morning. Kalau hari sekolah memang liat nak bangun but not today.
Left home at 6.20am. Drove to Carrefour. All very very excited. Reached Carrefour. Saw two lines already formed. Dropped Alia and Asma at one line. The shorter line. By the side entrance. Good move. Happened to be the correct line. Parked car. Saw people from the other line rushing to the other line. Ha Ha.
Queue up. It's happening. Felt good. There's a loooong line behind Alia and Asma. Only about 30 people in front. But as this is Malaysia, there are several late comers who went up to the people at the front asking them to buy the book for them. Some obliged. Some don't. Like Alia. Told one off one PakCik: "Tak Nak. Not Fair lar, Pak Cik."
7.20am: Finally, the book is ours. Yay
This is ours. In a car.
Alia and the book.
Asma and the book. She's already burying herself in the book. Wait seminit. Bukan Bapak ker yang dapat baca dulu...
Left home at 6.20am. Drove to Carrefour. All very very excited. Reached Carrefour. Saw two lines already formed. Dropped Alia and Asma at one line. The shorter line. By the side entrance. Good move. Happened to be the correct line. Parked car. Saw people from the other line rushing to the other line. Ha Ha.
Queue up. It's happening. Felt good. There's a loooong line behind Alia and Asma. Only about 30 people in front. But as this is Malaysia, there are several late comers who went up to the people at the front asking them to buy the book for them. Some obliged. Some don't. Like Alia. Told one off one PakCik: "Tak Nak. Not Fair lar, Pak Cik."
7.20am: Finally, the book is ours. Yay
This is ours. In a car.
Alia and the book.
Asma and the book. She's already burying herself in the book. Wait seminit. Bukan Bapak ker yang dapat baca dulu... 20.7.07
Whaaaaat?
I was flabbergasted. Can you imagine, this happening on the verge of it coming out? And to think that I didn't see it important to pre-book. Oh Damn. I've to go to Carrefour, very very early tomorrow. Any way, here's The Star report:
Potter party goes on despite boycott (2nd update)
PETALING JAYA: The MPH Megastore at 1 Utama continued with its "Sorcerer’s Ball" party for Harry Potter fans at 6.30pm, despite having joined forces with three other bookstore chains refusing to sell the seventh final instalment in J.K. Rowling's bestselling series.
MPH, Popular, Harris and Times at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur at 4pm announced that they would not sell Harry Porter and the Deathly Hallows in protest against selected hypermarkets selling the book at a hefty discount.
The recommended retail price of RM109.90 is being violated by hypermarkets advertising and selling it at RM69.90, they said.
The four chains, with a total of 100 outlets nationwide, said they were protesting the indiscriminate discount and wanted to show customers that they were not "blatantly profiteering" from them.
However, they said they would honour all pre-orders.
"This means the book will no longer be available for sale at these stores nationwide from tomorrow (Saturday) following the worldwide release," MPH Bookstores chief operating officer Patricia Chen said.
"All events related to Harry Potter will be cancelled," she said earlier.
When asked if the move was to pressure sole distributor Penguin Books to remove the book from the hypermarkets, she said that it was not fair to allow hypermarkets to sell such a popular book when they were not in the book business.
On whether they had contacted Penguin, Chen said that Penguin had responded by saying that it was not aware of the hypermarket pricing.
Penguin also said that it could only set the recommended price and it was up to the retailers to market it at their choice of price.
Harry Porter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale nationwide -- well, except for these four bookstore chains -- from 7.01am tomorrow.
Potter party goes on despite boycott (2nd update)
PETALING JAYA: The MPH Megastore at 1 Utama continued with its "Sorcerer’s Ball" party for Harry Potter fans at 6.30pm, despite having joined forces with three other bookstore chains refusing to sell the seventh final instalment in J.K. Rowling's bestselling series.
MPH, Popular, Harris and Times at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur at 4pm announced that they would not sell Harry Porter and the Deathly Hallows in protest against selected hypermarkets selling the book at a hefty discount.
The recommended retail price of RM109.90 is being violated by hypermarkets advertising and selling it at RM69.90, they said.
The four chains, with a total of 100 outlets nationwide, said they were protesting the indiscriminate discount and wanted to show customers that they were not "blatantly profiteering" from them.
However, they said they would honour all pre-orders.
"This means the book will no longer be available for sale at these stores nationwide from tomorrow (Saturday) following the worldwide release," MPH Bookstores chief operating officer Patricia Chen said.
"All events related to Harry Potter will be cancelled," she said earlier.
When asked if the move was to pressure sole distributor Penguin Books to remove the book from the hypermarkets, she said that it was not fair to allow hypermarkets to sell such a popular book when they were not in the book business.
On whether they had contacted Penguin, Chen said that Penguin had responded by saying that it was not aware of the hypermarket pricing.
Penguin also said that it could only set the recommended price and it was up to the retailers to market it at their choice of price.
Harry Porter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale nationwide -- well, except for these four bookstore chains -- from 7.01am tomorrow.
18.7.07
Currently Reading....
I'm currently reading three wonderful books in one go. It kind of mess up my train of thoughts though as I keep on mixing up various characters. But still, it's heaven!
Robert Kiyosaki's If You Want To Be Rich & Happy Don't Go To School? is simply profound. An eye opener indeed.
Jed Rubenfeld's The Intepretation of Murder is an unusually intelligent novel which entertains, intrigues and informs all at the same time.
And I spent my lunch break by driving up to Kinokuniya two days ago for Khaled Hosseini's latest A Thousand Splendid Suns. Ever since I read his best selling The Kite Runner last year, I wouldn't want to miss his second novel. And what a masterpiece this one is! I'm happy.
But come this Saturday, I'll drop everything else to read this:
Thank God! Asma's got her trial exam coming up. So Bapak's going to read it first. I'm so excited. Beyond Words. Three days to go....The Mrs' Blog
For the past one week, Yan had been trying to create her own blog. The thing is that after her first entry, she could not sign in back to post new entry. The reason was that she forgot her username. Bijak sangat. Segala macam usernames nak guna, penyudah diri sendiri yang confuse. Anyway, here's her latest blog (and please ignore the rest if you happen to chance upon it, ya?).
http://www.mrsgoodthingshome.blogspot.com
And this time semua anak-beranak tahu the username and the password sekali.... ha ha ha
Enjoy!
http://www.mrsgoodthingshome.blogspot.com
And this time semua anak-beranak tahu the username and the password sekali.... ha ha ha
Enjoy!
16.7.07
Jalan-Jalan Cuti-Cuti
Last weekend, we made a trip to Taiping/Bagan Serai. The plan was to drive early Saturday morning and come back the same day. But then, something came up and we found ourselves driving up north on Friday afternoon, instead. The main reason for the trip was to attend a wedding. This time at Kak Nen's place (cousin Yan). Her son Im is getting married. Wah! ramai betul anak sedara kahwin tahun ni.
Anyway, we decided to stay overnight in Taiping as to not tire ourselves, almaklumlah dah tua-tua macam ni bukan larat sangat nak lasak. We decided to stay in Taiping as it's nearer to Bagan Serai. And perhaps to do some sight seeing as well. Kena pulak Taiping is considered a heritage town.
However, considering this year is a Visit Malaysia Year, being in Taiping is somewhat of a letdown. First, there's not many hotels to choose from. We went online looking for a decent place to stay (means murah and bersih). But we had a hard time looking for one. Tried the Seri Malaysia but as usual there's no more room to book. Then there's the quite popular Legend Inn but read a few not so good review from many others on Internet and struck it out from our list. Only then we settled with a Furama Hotel. Not bad. In fact, it's quite good. Bersih and cheap. Less than RM100 and we got a big room with two queen-sized beds. Apa nak lagi, kan?
But really, Taiping, apart from its beautiful Lake Garden is a let down. From a tourist point of view ler. There's nothing worthwhile to visit or see in Taiping. The town's dead by 8pm. There's not even a cinema or cineplexes in town. And we had a hard time looking for a decent makan place. We had a McDonalds for breakfast, of all things.
Anyhow, the lake garden did take our breath away....
The trees in lake garden are full of characters. Impressive.
The Furama Hotel. Positively Chinese inspired hotel and prompted Arissa to ask (as we driving up to the hotel): "Orang Islam boleh tinggal kat sini ker?
Arissa in the hotel room. Got selected Astro channels. So everybody's kind of happy.
The girls at lake garden. Already feeling2 konon2 kat Seoul Korea. The white Proton Saga sort of memusnahkan harapan untuk tayang-tayang kat member dia orang.
With Yan. Very Green.
If look carefully you could see the three girls kat pondok. They gave strict instruction to make their pix there look as if the photo's taken somewhere in Korea. (Tak habih2 Korea). By the time they reach the pondok, one Chinese guy pun sampai (in white on the left) untuk memancing as well as an Indian jogger pun duduk berehat2 kat situ. There goes...
The next day, we made our way to Bagan Serai, about 40 minutes away from Taiping. These are the Pengantin - Im and his wife. About 14 years ago, in the days leading up to our wedding, Yan said Im became her unofficial bodyguard. Mana Yan pergi, dia mesti ikut. Sekarang dia pulak dah kahwin.
This is us. Selepas makan kenduri. Sedap lar. Kenduri nasi putih dengan gulai lemak nenas ikan masin, ayam masak asam pedas, daging rendang dan sambal belacan siap ngan ulam2. Lain dari yang lain dan eh sedap lah. Kena pulak rumah Kak Nen ngan Abang Mian ni letak kat tengah-tengah bendang. Makin berselera makan.
Bergambar bersama pengantin. By the way, standing next to Bapak is Azmi - one of Yan's nephew jugak. Dia ni dulu belajar kat Universiti Malaya dan dulu2 selalu lepak kat rumah kami. Azmi ni very the entertaining punya anak sedara. Dulu ni masa dia baru masuk UM bodoh2 alang pun ada. Tapi kalau dia datang rumah, memang settle habih hal rumah. Masak dan mengemas rumah. Yan memang boleh berehat. Tapi sejak dia habih belajar empat tahun lalu dia dah tak datang dah. Dengar berita pun tidak. Sampai la hari ni. Terinagt pulak conversation dia ngan Asma masa dulu:
Ini gambar ada seorang makcik tu baru balik dari bendang. Balik bawak balik padi.
Haaa, ini lah padinya. Jenuh pulak mengopek buah padi sebijik-bijik. Apa2lah Arissa.
In keeping up with a orang kahwin punya tradition kat kampung2, we pun join in serbu pakcik jual aiskrim. Hari pun panas...
At 4pm, kami mintak diri and balik. But on the way back we singgah Kuala Kangsar. Pergi makan Laksa Kuala kat tepi Sungai Perak. The laksa was really to LIVE for. Sedap giler. Tengok ler Yan dengan serius makan.
Ini pulak apom beras. Sedap jugak.
Lepas makan kami pergi amik gambar tepi sungai perak. Arissa masa ni tengah gayat berdiri kat pelantar. Apa raaaaa.
Anyway, we decided to stay overnight in Taiping as to not tire ourselves, almaklumlah dah tua-tua macam ni bukan larat sangat nak lasak. We decided to stay in Taiping as it's nearer to Bagan Serai. And perhaps to do some sight seeing as well. Kena pulak Taiping is considered a heritage town.
However, considering this year is a Visit Malaysia Year, being in Taiping is somewhat of a letdown. First, there's not many hotels to choose from. We went online looking for a decent place to stay (means murah and bersih). But we had a hard time looking for one. Tried the Seri Malaysia but as usual there's no more room to book. Then there's the quite popular Legend Inn but read a few not so good review from many others on Internet and struck it out from our list. Only then we settled with a Furama Hotel. Not bad. In fact, it's quite good. Bersih and cheap. Less than RM100 and we got a big room with two queen-sized beds. Apa nak lagi, kan?
But really, Taiping, apart from its beautiful Lake Garden is a let down. From a tourist point of view ler. There's nothing worthwhile to visit or see in Taiping. The town's dead by 8pm. There's not even a cinema or cineplexes in town. And we had a hard time looking for a decent makan place. We had a McDonalds for breakfast, of all things.
Anyhow, the lake garden did take our breath away....
The trees in lake garden are full of characters. Impressive.
The Furama Hotel. Positively Chinese inspired hotel and prompted Arissa to ask (as we driving up to the hotel): "Orang Islam boleh tinggal kat sini ker?
Arissa in the hotel room. Got selected Astro channels. So everybody's kind of happy.
The girls at lake garden. Already feeling2 konon2 kat Seoul Korea. The white Proton Saga sort of memusnahkan harapan untuk tayang-tayang kat member dia orang.
With Yan. Very Green.
If look carefully you could see the three girls kat pondok. They gave strict instruction to make their pix there look as if the photo's taken somewhere in Korea. (Tak habih2 Korea). By the time they reach the pondok, one Chinese guy pun sampai (in white on the left) untuk memancing as well as an Indian jogger pun duduk berehat2 kat situ. There goes...
The next day, we made our way to Bagan Serai, about 40 minutes away from Taiping. These are the Pengantin - Im and his wife. About 14 years ago, in the days leading up to our wedding, Yan said Im became her unofficial bodyguard. Mana Yan pergi, dia mesti ikut. Sekarang dia pulak dah kahwin.
This is us. Selepas makan kenduri. Sedap lar. Kenduri nasi putih dengan gulai lemak nenas ikan masin, ayam masak asam pedas, daging rendang dan sambal belacan siap ngan ulam2. Lain dari yang lain dan eh sedap lah. Kena pulak rumah Kak Nen ngan Abang Mian ni letak kat tengah-tengah bendang. Makin berselera makan.
Bergambar bersama pengantin. By the way, standing next to Bapak is Azmi - one of Yan's nephew jugak. Dia ni dulu belajar kat Universiti Malaya dan dulu2 selalu lepak kat rumah kami. Azmi ni very the entertaining punya anak sedara. Dulu ni masa dia baru masuk UM bodoh2 alang pun ada. Tapi kalau dia datang rumah, memang settle habih hal rumah. Masak dan mengemas rumah. Yan memang boleh berehat. Tapi sejak dia habih belajar empat tahun lalu dia dah tak datang dah. Dengar berita pun tidak. Sampai la hari ni. Terinagt pulak conversation dia ngan Asma masa dulu:Asma: Abang Mi, Asma nak porridge boleh?
Abang Mi: Ala Asma, porridge tak de lah. Bubur nasi boleh? (And I tell you, he was damn serious masa ni, bukannya melawak)
Ini gambar ada seorang makcik tu baru balik dari bendang. Balik bawak balik padi.
Haaa, ini lah padinya. Jenuh pulak mengopek buah padi sebijik-bijik. Apa2lah Arissa.
In keeping up with a orang kahwin punya tradition kat kampung2, we pun join in serbu pakcik jual aiskrim. Hari pun panas...
At 4pm, kami mintak diri and balik. But on the way back we singgah Kuala Kangsar. Pergi makan Laksa Kuala kat tepi Sungai Perak. The laksa was really to LIVE for. Sedap giler. Tengok ler Yan dengan serius makan.
Ini pulak apom beras. Sedap jugak.
Lepas makan kami pergi amik gambar tepi sungai perak. Arissa masa ni tengah gayat berdiri kat pelantar. Apa raaaaa. 15.7.07
Transformers!!
Many, many years ago (like 12 or 13 years ago) Bapak brought his first-born beautiful baby girl jalan-jalan at a beautiful lake garden - the ever romantic Taiping Lake Garden. They took a photo together hoping to capture a "father-daughter" moment. Like this one.....
Recently Bapak and family visited the same lake garden again. They enjoyed it tremendously.
And today, the daughter has blossomed into a beautiful young woman while the Bapak been transformed into, er, er, well let's not go there, shall we?
Recently Bapak and family visited the same lake garden again. They enjoyed it tremendously. 
And today, the daughter has blossomed into a beautiful young woman while the Bapak been transformed into, er, er, well let's not go there, shall we? 11.7.07
Mak Temoh turns 72
Birthday girl and her cucus (Soraya tak de pegi tuition) Alhamdulillah, today Mak Temoh turns 72. We went to Chor's place in Shah Alam and celebrate with her. Alhamdulillah she looks well today. Happy kot semua anak menantu cucu ada.
In Conversation: Cinderella Story
This conversation took place in a car while all of us were coming back from Nyah's house in Cheras a couple of weeks ago. It was during one of those nights where we went over to help out in the persiapan kahwin Affan. That night the girls and Yan helped out to siapkan wedding favours (ala-ala bunga telurlah). Masa ni Nyah's mak and his brother in-law also came by a visiting. (For the record and if you dear readers recalled an entry in this blog many many months ago, I did mention that Nyah, Yong and Abg Lan are abang2 and kakak Yan with diferent mother but all five including Kak grew up together with Bapak and Mak Kampar in Temoh and Kampar). Anyway, the girls did not realise that the lady that came by to Nyah's place that night adalah mak Nyah. Yalah, tak pernah jumpa pun. Only dalam kereta baru Bapak told them so.
Bapak: Tu tadi mak Pak Nyah korang tau tak?
Alia, Asma and Arissa: Huh! Ya ke?
and then
Alia: Jadi Mak Yong tu macam Cinderella lah ya?
Asma: Dan mak ngan Mak La are the two ugly step sisters!!!!
Asma: Jadi Pak Yeop jadi hero lah ya. Jadik Prince Charmiing. Prince Charming yang ada uban.
Mak and Bapak: $@%%%$#@&&&^%*^$$#%.
So Ladies and Gentleman, presenting :
Happily Ever After: Cinderella and her two ugly step sisters. Masa ni kehidupan Cinderella dah bertambah baik. Sekarang ni dia jer yang dapat makan. Yang dua orang lagi tu jadik inang jer lah ya.
Bapak: Tu tadi mak Pak Nyah korang tau tak?
Alia, Asma and Arissa: Huh! Ya ke?
and then
Alia: Jadi Mak Yong tu macam Cinderella lah ya?
Asma: Dan mak ngan Mak La are the two ugly step sisters!!!!
Asma: Jadi Pak Yeop jadi hero lah ya. Jadik Prince Charmiing. Prince Charming yang ada uban.
Mak and Bapak: $@%%%$#@&&&^%*^$$#%.
So Ladies and Gentleman, presenting :
Happily Ever After: Cinderella and her two ugly step sisters. Masa ni kehidupan Cinderella dah bertambah baik. Sekarang ni dia jer yang dapat makan. Yang dua orang lagi tu jadik inang jer lah ya.
8.7.07
Affan's Wedding
After days of hari yang maha panas, it was pouring heavily today. Hujan lebat giler. Hari kenduri kahwin Affan pulak tu. Alhamdulillah, hujan rahmat.
Bapak's family and the newlyweds
The pengantins ngan the groom's parents
Keluarga Kak, Mak and the pengantins
The pengantins ngan the flower girls
Ceria di dalam hujan - Yan, Nurul and Shida.
Asma and Alia yang baru bangun tidur. Blur blur terus jadi flower girls
Bapak's family and the newlyweds
The pengantins ngan the groom's parents
Keluarga Kak, Mak and the pengantins
The pengantins ngan the flower girls
Ceria di dalam hujan - Yan, Nurul and Shida.
Asma and Alia yang baru bangun tidur. Blur blur terus jadi flower girlsI
Izzati pun baru bangun tidur tapi Arissa tak tidur pun. Tu nampak ceria tu.
Mat Bunga in the making - Farid.
Opah Kampar ngan sepupu Kak Zai, Kak Lat yang ikut kak datang dari Perak.
Shida, Aisyah and Bapak sebelum hujan.
Pengantin dan flower girls kitar semula. Missing from the original series are Aisyah (sebab tak de baju) and Hadim sebab absent.
Faizah, Yan, Yong and Ana.
Kak and Yan
Yan and Yong
Flower girls - Izzati, Asma, Arissa and Alia
Di atas tangga - Shida, Asma, Alia, Faizah, Ana, Aisyah, Izzati and Arissa
Izzati pun baru bangun tidur tapi Arissa tak tidur pun. Tu nampak ceria tu.
Mat Bunga in the making - Farid.
Opah Kampar ngan sepupu Kak Zai, Kak Lat yang ikut kak datang dari Perak.
Shida, Aisyah and Bapak sebelum hujan.
Pengantin dan flower girls kitar semula. Missing from the original series are Aisyah (sebab tak de baju) and Hadim sebab absent.
Faizah, Yan, Yong and Ana.
Kak and Yan
Yan and Yong
Flower girls - Izzati, Asma, Arissa and Alia
Di atas tangga - Shida, Asma, Alia, Faizah, Ana, Aisyah, Izzati and Arissa
Mak and anak cucu
Genting of Genting.
As per entry a couple of days ago, we did a Cuti-Cuti Malaysia at Genting a week ago. Here are some of the pix:
Winter holiday
Kat Times Square Depan London Bus
Ready for a spin (right)
Cruising on a reindeer
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