23.12.08

Amazing Shots!!

These pictures arrived at my inbox yesterday... and it's pretty amazing, don't you think?

Although this looks like a picture taken straight from a Hollywood blockbuster, it is in fact a real photo taken near a South African coast during a military exercise by a British navy. It has been nominated by the National Geographic as "Photo of The Year."

And you think you're having a bad day at work?



and here are several more amazing shots...

Holding a Sun
Hurricane coming!!
Beautiful Lightning!!!
What a Cloud!!

p.s: Thanks Edina, for these amazing shots..

18.12.08

Kisah Satu Tag

The last 10 days have been quite miserable for me. I was down with a high fever and although I no longer demam, somehow the flu that came with it has refused to go away. I've lined up a list of topics to post in this blog but I simply could not heave myself to sit down and try to write something intelligent. Too stressed out. Which bring me to this tag.. tagged by my daughter Alia, I've decided perhaps I could do this one instead .. just for fun... let's the tag begin..

1. Do you think you're hot?
Smokin' (okay, just let me berangan)

2. Upload a favourite picture of you.

Obviously, the pix was taken many years ago. But it remains my favourite. I just came back from work and my three little angels were fighting to sit on my laps... aaah heaven (funny that nowadays they try to not be seen with me.. hahaha)

3. When was the last time you ate pizza?
What kind of question is this? Suddenly asking about food... now I'm hungry!

4.. The last song you listened to?
Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up ( I accidentally typed Rick Astley on youtube and he was there... gyrating away! honest mistake)

5. What are you doing now besides this?
Actually, am trying to do some work but I'm using my flu as an excuse to wander off into this blog.

6. What name would you prefer beside yours?
Tengku Aaron Iskandar Ariff! Can?

People I tag...
I really don't want to tag anybody, but seeing that my cousins have not been updating their respective blogs, I'm tagging all four as an incentive. And I tag one best friend whom I was told actually blog too.

i. Anom
ii. Meor
iii. Yone
iv. Cha
v. Azwan (yes you! and give me your blog's urls please)

7. Who is (i)?
My wonderful cousin who has an amazing looking garden!!! Courtesy of her husband.

8. Number (iii) is having a relationships with...?
Azri. (and bilalah Azri nak datang USJ17 ni. Cuti dah nak habis ni..)

9. Say something about number (v)?
Awesome friend. The most prim and proper person in the whole wide world.

10. How about number (iv)?
What about her? She's so single mingle... I think..

11. Who is number (ii)?
My daughters' Ayah Ungge!!!

4.12.08

School Holidays …. que sera sera

The current school holiday is half-way through. Unfortunately, we have yet to go anywhere. And it looks that we aren’t going anywhere. Sigh!!!!

Apart from several sojourn to the nearest malls with friends and us, my daughters have been pretty much cooped up in the house. And most of the time, they are surfing the Net. Doing what teenagers are supposed to be doing online... you know chatting, downloading, uploading and lots of myspace-related activities.

Which bring my equally restless mind back to yesteryears when I was at their age. However, try as I might, I only have vague recollections of my school holidays. God! I‘m old. Either that or I led a very uneventful life.

But one thing for sure, most of the stuff that we did during our school holidays were outdoor activities. And more often than not, it can be seasonal too.

For instance, when Mohamad Ali and Joe Bugner came to KL to box in 1975, most of our holiday activities were.. well.. boxing related. I remember my late father even bought us a boxing glove. Unfortunately, he only bought a pair. So my brother and I had to be resourceful and we boxed with only one hand (it helped that I’m a right hand person while he’s a left-hand person). Oooh! Now I geddit, perhaps that’s the reason why Bapak bought only a pair in the first place!!!!!! Jimat!!
A year later, it was badminton fever siang dan malam. The reason? The nation’s 1976 Thomas Cup emerged first runner up to Indonesia in Bangkok. And the whole country went wild (never mind that we were trashed 9-0 by Rudy Hartono and Co) with excitement. Don’t ask me why?

But suddenly make-shift badminton courts sprouted up all over the country. Including one in our own backyard. So like many others we played badminton. Luckily, this time Bapak bought two rackets!!!

But our activities were not necessarily events-related. But somehow, one major activity was usually preferred over the others. Like one holiday season, everybody (and I mean everybody) would be playing galah panjang and when the next holiday season rolled by, it’s police and thief (I called it polis entry, don't ask) fever.
And sometimes, in my household, our activities can be influenced by the most popular TV shows of the day. Case in point, when Vic Morrow and his Combat team ruled the airwaves, my brothers and I became soldiers and ... err.. communists (once my elder brother and I got into a huge fight as both wanted to be a communist. Why? Because to our young ears, communist sounded so much more sophisticated than soldier.
Luckily, I don’t have a sister. I firmly believe that if I had one, we would definitely become Donny and Marie... hehehehe.

2.12.08

Bila bulan dan bintang tersenyum....

Tadi malam kami memandang ke langit dan terlihat bulan (sabit) dan bintang tersenyum.. Mahu baca lebih lanjut sila ke sini.
Melihat kejaiban sebegini memang bagus.. memang menginsafkan. Lalu teringat bahawa beberapa bulan lalu ada "download" beberapa gambar menarik tentang bumi dan alam semesta ciptaan Allah ini. Maaf saya sudah lupa dari mana saya "curi" gambar ini namun saya mohon pada tuan punya untuk memaparkannya di sini - agar sama-sama kita beringat... sama-sama kita menginsafi.. Sila "klik" pada gambar untuk paparan lebih nyata lebih jelas.







26.11.08

What's with the Twilight? .. or is it Edward Cullen?

For those not keeping track, Twilight is the first of the four book series by Stephenie Meyers. The tale of teenage girl Bella and Edward, the handsome vampire who loves her, has found a wide audience beyond the young adult (and women, may I add) category.

As a matter of fact, just like the Harry Potter series previously, this too is considered a new pop-culture phenomenon.And what a phenomenon it is! Pre-teen and teenage girls (who have read the books) around the world are swooning over Edward the vampire. Yes, really!!!

My two girls Alia and Asma are no exception. And don't let me start with how fanatical my niece Safia is with all things Edward. In fact these three girls join millions other girls obsessing over a fictional vampire. Hmmmphf!! (wonder if Soraya and Sabrina are into this too???).

How obsessive can they be? Very. Why, just the other day when I just mentioned in passing that an 18-year old girl had won a very sleek silver Volvo driven by Robert Pattinson (he who plays Edward) in the movie during Tyra Banks talk show over the weekend, in Los Angeles (and very very far away from Malaysia, mind you), my girls simply burst to tears. Haiya!!!

Anyways, for those keeping track would know that the movie adaption of "Twilight" premiers in local theatres this Thursday. And the excitement at home is, I have to say, palpable. Extremely tense. The girls have been calling me at the office and my mobile every so often just to give me updates on Twilight screening. Yeah, like why?????

They too have been monitoring GSC and TGV websites waiting for the reservation windows of the movie to be made available. I think they became among the first few to reserve the seats. With nothing else occupying their conversations but Twilight these past few weeks, it is only natural that both Yan and I are now quite keyed up too. Macam nak tunggu Hari Raya umpamanya.

And like a good bapak, of course, I'm obliged to bring them over on the first day of the screening. They even demanded that I take a leave from work. Haaah!

I must say it's not really going to be a sacrifice since I've also read the book (just recently finished it) and, despite certain problems with some of the plots (the conversations in the meadow is kinda long winded, no?), rather enjoyed it. Hehehehe.

Okay, the truth is, I'm glad that I'm playing chaperon because it gives me a good reason to be there without looking like a total loser for being so excited about a teen movie. So, now that Thursday is beckoning, we’ll be at the nearest cinema for some Twilight psychotherapy. And most probably, I’ll post an entry to share my totally unimportant opinion about it later. Yeah, maybe!!