Wine & Dine

Had an interesting weekend, with my family back for a few days, as last Thursday and Friday were holidays for the kids. Went out to eat and shop a quite a bit. Had a great time on Friday night with my golf kakis (TF, ST, HC & Huat) and family at home, as we wine and dine our night away. Quite a bit of chaos to boot during the 'Lasagna adventure' - realized that the 2nd pan of cheesy lasagna (the first pan was without cheese - for yours truly and ST) was too big to be fitted into the oven ! Probably due to severe hunger, HC promptly volunteered to go back to his house to bring his oven. Ha-ha, to our shocking surprise, his is even smaller than mine ! Duh ! Well, TF being the ever creative one, found a way to cook them - right on the gas stove ! How was it ? Well, not too bad, as he did manage to cook the 2nd pan of lasagna, but one-third of it became carbon though - burnt ! Ha-ha.

Needless to say, it was sheer good-natured fun for all and a wonderful night to be savored. Already looking forward to the next get-together in April ! Check out the slide-show of photos that was captured during this eventful night :-)

Reflections

Gosh ! All 39 years, 09 hours & 53 minutes on Planet Earth and counting ! It's not very long, but not short either. It has been a pretty arduous, eventful and twisty journey, coupled with a mix of joy, pain, excitement, grief, laughter and tears. Well, probably every person has their own route mapped out, but I guess everyone's journey will have to endure thru these paths of life, sooner or later. I always believe life is never a randomized set of events, and pretty much, things happen because they suppose to - some people call it Destiny. I don't really care what it is called but I always believe the day one is born, the path has been set (most of it), and there is only so much one can do (based on what one has been bestowed with - talents, IQ, compassion, hatred, you name it) to 'modify' it. Gotta convey my profound gratitude to my Parents for bringing me into this world to experience this Wide World of Emotional Roller-Coaster ! Thanks Mum & Dad :-)

Well, was my trip a very successful and accomplished one ? Hmm, Yes and No. Career wise, seems like I've been driving on an expansive expressway with not much 'light' at either end of it, but being on the expressway, it's a safe and comfortable journey - pretty much redundant, plodding along aimlessly (most of the time), interjected with some interesting 'stop-overs', to rejuvenate the much needed oomph and energy to carry on. Sigh. Destiny to 'labor' all the way till retirement ? I think I've already started to accept this fact, so, I can happily move on with the rest of my life.

My most prized possession and achievement has always been my family - Viv and the kids. Well, I strongly consider this to be an over-achievement personally, knowing Viv since high school (Gosh, that was eons ago ! - Ha-ha, sorry Viv, I know you don't like the 'measure' of it), and the kids, well, the day they 'emerged' into this world (what a miracle !) till now and thereafter, Chloe and Ryan will always be my crown jewels. Well, if I leave this world someday, at least the satisfaction is there, having 'achieved' something significant in my life.

Not forgetting, of course, my friends - having no sibling, friends have always been an important part of my life, from my childhood to the present ones. They have played a big part, shaping my life, providing limitless amount of fun, company, anguish - all the ups and downs. So, you people out there - a simple word of Thanks, for being, my pals ! And, to my colleagues and friends (YP, TT, CC, ST, Irene, BK, Teh, PM, KY), a big 'Thank You' for remembering and also for the lunch :-) Looking forward to next year's already !

Oh, have been getting a lot of messages and calls since 7 am (Viv, Thanks for waking me up !). You know who you are and I very much appreciate it :-) Hmm, am expecting a few more to filter in soon .......

You think I won't bring up the election thingy again in this blog, ha-ha-ha, fat chance ! I will make it short though. I have to, because the riot back in May 1969 then, cost me my breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper, well, almost. Mum said she just about run short of milk powder because of the nationwide curfew ! Well, luckily we were in Ipoh, not as bad as in KL, else ...... Malaysia's political future will be of much interests in the next few hours with the impending announcement of Pak Lah's Cabinet at High Noon !

Cheers !

To Swear or Not To Swear

What the heck is happening to my beloved home state of Perak recently ? I mean, it is so darn unnecessary with all these political bickering, started off with the argument why a PAS rep would be holding the MB post, and then, our DAP friend (LKS) made an abrupt turn and apologized within a few hours ! Following that, the PKR dudes were thinking of pulling out from the Perak state admin altogether, because apparently there was some 'mis'communication that there would be no representation from PKR among the 10 executive council posts. Oh my gosh, these politicians are so childish, well, from the $standpoint$, I understand though :-) And, of course, the latest ruckus was the cancellation of the 'swearing in' of the new PAS MB. Guess there will be more 'drama' to follow today, so, check out Malaysiakini lah.

14th March, 12:04 pm (Malaysiakini) Update : Deal done, all systems go in Perak, finally !
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79810

Hey guys, we voted you for the sake of not only, requesting for more transparency and equality, but, most important of all, to maintain peace and harmony, esp. in the Perak state where I intend to retire in (provided no option for me to emigrate later :-) ). It will indeed be very sad, if something untoward happens, just because of these recent political hoo-hahs, as we have just barely done with the celebration of the Opposition taking over the state of Perak less than a week ago. Anyway, like I told my friends, Perak just a sleepy state now (compared to its neighbors in the north and south), post glorious tin-mine era, with a pretty modern but kinda short runway airport (one or two flights per day, from God knows where) that no one seems to bother to fix (hope the newly elected government will do something about it), and a big military port in Lumut. So, it is not surprising that no MNCs bother to set-up factories in this Silver State ! The transportation logistics is just terribly inadequate.

Well, I will wait and see how much better that the new State government can do to help wake up this sleepy state the next few years, else if not, like they say, "If we can vote you in, we can also vote you out !". Makkal Sakthi !

Election Soap Opera

Sigh ! Thought there will be less hoo-hah with the conclusion of the 2008 General Election, but apparently, there's more to come .... e.g. Uncle Sam fighting to hold on, SEATS on bid (e-Bay :-) ? ), who will eventually get two-thirds, Pak Lah to step down (or not), the super-gentleman Dr Koh, yada, yada, yada. Guess by early next year, we would be able to celebrate our own Oscar's ..... best Indian/Chinese/Malay Movie, Actor, Supporting Actor, Turkey, Soundtrack, etc., respectively ! So, you guys, stay tune to your friendly neighbourhood "TV" - YouTube !

Ha-ha, today ended up didn't sleep much, after watching Liverpool making it to the Quarterfinals of the Champions' League with the final demolition of Inter Milan by the mercurial Torres. Man, how sweet it would be if he can pip Ronny to the Golden Boot in the Premier League ! Of course, since coming in early, today, I ended up buying breakfast again for the few lucky folks. Ha-ha, if Liverpool win the Champions' League, you guys might get more than just char bee-hoon, so you better start supporting The Reds !

BTW, wanted to share with you this awesome 10-min ventriloquist performance from Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist. It is so freakin' funny, with some racism thrown in for a good measure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go&feature=related

Don't miss it !!

A New Dawn Beckons .....

8th March, 2008 : This day may just turn out to be the defining moment in Malaysia's political history, and it is in every citizen's hope (esp. the 'minorities') that this era will bring forward more benefits and equality to ALL. It had been an exciting Saturday as I was on my laptop chatting with friends from Penang to Seremban (and bro-in-law in Hong Kong :-)) and, refreshing the Malaysiakini website every 5 minutes for the latest 'unofficial' polling results. At the same time, I was following Malaysia's fortune in the All-England (which turned out to be crash&burn scenario, again :-( ), in the early part of the night, and then, continue with the Liverpool-Newcastle match on Starsports. Trashed the Geordies 3-0 :-)

Back to the elections - I was really glad and satisfied with the thumping victory of the Opposition in my 'home states' of Perak, Selangor and Penang. Needless to say, the Ipoh and Puchong areas were totally dominated by the Rocketeers. Guess it's the appropriate time to play the Queen's song of "We Will Rock You" ! More importantly, there is no more two-third majority this time for BN, and with this, it is every citizen's wish (well, almost everyone's) to expect transparency in the new government. Whether there will be true equalities for us minorities, I guess we will never ever get to see it, but at least, it is hoped that there will be a more positive flow/balance of benefits to the non-Bumis, to start with. Like I've said before, one hopes that our selection of the "best of the worst" politicians will bring better days to all citizens alike, and hopefully, no more of the "keris wielding idiosyncrasy" :-0 !!

Check out this independent news report (AlJazeera) pertaining to yesterday's election outcome :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJyGAMmbYfg

On the local sports front, I was totally flabbergasted the way Danny Chia choked and blew up his lead at the prestigious Maybank Malaysian Open (golf) at Kota Permai GC. I guess the USD333K first prize proves to be too much for him to bear ! Sigh. Well, at least Malaysia has still a dependable Tiger Woods like fitness & mind player in Squash - who else, but Nicol David who smashed her way to another tournament win (3 in tow) over the World No. 2 Natalie Grinham. Well, the Grinham girl might be nursing a left foot sprain, but who cares, as Nicol exemplified the mark of a champion, i.e. go for the kill quickly, regardless of what condition your opponent might be in. No flashy play, over-confidence or toying around with your opponents, unlike some of our Badminton exponents. Kudos to her to push forward as Nicol has enlisted another 5-time world champion in Sarah Fitzgerald (famous for her attacking plays) to hone the other aspects of her skill set.

Not forgetting of course, the mega-upsets on the English FA Cup front, Barnsley continuing their fairy tale run of upsetting the so-called super-steady Chelsea 1-0, followed by the surprise dismantling of Man United at the hands of Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth, also 1-0. Of course, the upsets basically were restricted to the FA Cup, as back in the Barclay's Premier League, Liverpool is still firing on all cylinders, with the demolition of Newcastle United, with mercurial contribution from El Nino in all the 3 goals. Newcastle just did not have the capacity to withstand the Reds onslaught although they did a good job challenging for the first 40 minutes. Next, bring on Inter !

Election Fever !!

Well, not me ! But, don't mind screening thru the tons of emails circulating into my inbox the past couple of weeks. Caught a few really funny ones, via YouTube. Guess the craze now, is to capture all those 'ceramahs' via the handphones and then published straight into YouTube. I realized, being a politician, you need to have some talent being a stand-up comedian too. Ha-ha-ha. I guess, one needs to intersperse facts with jokes/sarcastic remarks, or probably the other way round ? Anyway, never really believe there is any honest-to-god politician out there, anymore, fighting for a righteous course. Ya, right. There's always an agenda behind, but it's ok, you know, as long as he or she still have the courtesy to serve the folks who support them, providing half of what has been promised, is a good start, really ! Guess one type of person you can never trust is a ..... politician, ha-ha-ha. However, we can't live without them either, so, People, think hard and pick the best of the worse. Peace, man !

Kinda got some interesting feedback this morning. Apparently, today I 'look' a lot more jovial, compared to the last couple of days ..... strange, coz I don't really feel that way. Well, Monday sucks, anyway. Hey, people, I am not pik-cik (pissed) ok !! Do I appear much more jolly today, or is it because I bought breakfast for some of you :-) ? Guess you few lucky ones gotta thank the Champions' League (soccer for some of you sports illiterate) for carrying the live telecasts in the wee hours of the day. Pray that Liverpool will still be around for the next couple of months (it's the dreaded knock-out rounds now), and provided they win on the particular day, you will have a chance of getting another round of fried noodles at 8 am ! Long live The Reds !

Kids on golf course !

Went out for a spin of 9 holes at the Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort yesterday morning with Viv and the kids. Had been a while since I promised to bring along Chloe and Ryan. As usual, it takes us quite some time to 'get ready' and gobble up our breakfast and we finally reached the golf course at around 9.30 am. There was some threat of black clouds and rain along the way, but luckily, not only that it didn't pour, but we were blessed with some pretty calm and cool weather. Still, the kids were still pretty 'burned', ha-ha.





We had lotsa fun, as after a few holes, I decided to let them hit off the tees for the fun of it. Ha-ha, seems like we have a 'Jim Furyk' in this golf house-hold :-). Funny swing but it works ! Chloe actually managed to get her first official bogey at the last hole - teeing off with her 5-iron from 120m, hitting it onto the green (pin high) with her 9-iron, and 2 putted ! Clap, clap, clap :-)

Well, it's Sunday again - one more day and tomorrow will begin again with another typical early departure back to Penang for work. Wonder when will I get used to this monotony but I guess I'll never. Suck it up, suck it up, it's for the sake of everyone ...... slowly but surely, the roots are being cultivated in Ipoh and Penang seemingly will (have) become just a 'work' stop for me, as 'home' is down south, 150km away during the weekends :-( Wonder if this is hereditary, hmm, coz my dad did this travelling thingy for a decade or so last time. Oh well, hopefully, this little sacrifice will augur well for the near future and turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Could it be just 'round the corner ? 2008 supposed to be a bumper year for the 'Rooster' (!?), so I read. At least now, I have a good pal in TF to accompany me, as it has been difficult to get used to solidarity as after all, the family has never been separated since day one.