Diketkejauh?

Renovation story

2011-09-19T11:50:00.001+08:00

OMG! From blogging once a month, now it's getting twice a year ke? I am so attached to the other blog, while our hectic life plodded on in and out of the house. Quite a jumble I say but it was interesting enough to share it here.

Well, after the first quarter of 2011 went by quite smoothly, literally, the second quarter was a total temporary make shift. Finally we decided to put our house renovation project into full swing. With a few documentations and red tapes thrown into the affair, Mr. Cheong our handsomely China-man contractor started work on the last week of May.

The biggest task for us was to clean up our dusty house and shift 90% of the stuff into our rented house. Luckily it was only two doors away. And thanks to all the tiny handy energetic kids, the shifting for the small stuff were made easy. The bigger ones, I had my cycling buddies around the neighbourhood to help with.

And so we had to adapt to the new house for awhile. Perhaps 3-4 months and we still have the view of looking at the renovation progress daily. I missed my house as I packed the last stuff and step out of the door. The memories. Though it will only be a few months, the renovated house wont have the same feeling I guess.

Everything was temporary at the rented house. We didn't bring our wardrobes, hence our luggage substitute the purpose. Kids have their TOYOGO drawers and we had to make some adjustments to the layout for different kind of perspective or perhaps a different breather to the atmosphere.

Renovation progresses awesomely. Cheong had his men working 6 days a week and honestly I had the guilt to my fellow neighbours for the loud banging of the wall, machineries and sometimes untidy construction materials along the road.

As we approached into August, almost 90% of the house was ready. New paint. New rooms for the kids. New kitchen for ibu. New car porch. New bathrooms. New work room for me :]

The tiles and color schemes for the paint came in quite well. Alhamdullillah. Next was the decoration. The part that I have zero knowledge of. The part where arts and creative thinking I had left ages ago. Google-ing ideas didn't help much, knowing that local interior decorator don't share their ideas worldwide. And who wants to share a terrace house ID on the web? Hence, I had to ask around with the lighting part first. Alhamdullillah, my work deals with a few fellow architects and their ideas were great.

We skipped with the initial idea of having too many downlights, plus it cost me a bomb. We combined the each area between downlights, spotlights and pendant lights. With neutral white color walls that I chosed, the result was splendid. This only applies to the living and dining, plus the work room and the corridor upstairs. The rest of the house was fixed with the normal flourescent lamps.

Eventually the house was ready and we shifted back in on Nuzul al-Quran public holiday. While fasting, it really drained us in a ZAP! We swept and washed during the night, and shifted the stuff during the day. Lucky we are not the proud owner of bulky furnitures, hence the only stuff require manly lifting were the fridge, washing machine, dining table and the mattress. That was thankfully done in less than 30 minutes with the help of fellow neighbours after Tarawih. The rest of the small stuff, we had the small soldiers to handle.

The smell of new plasters, paint works and tiles encouraged us to start decorating what was required and meeting the limiting budget. Still we require new wardrobes for the utility room & the kids' room. The proposed aircon at the living will have to wait. So will be ibu's new stove and kitchen cabinet.

January that was

2011-02-06T18:01:00.000+08:00

Wow! Now it's becoming a monthly ritual updates? No, not that it's not happening enough to post it every week but the more general scenes should be better I guess.

The hectic lives are catching up momentum as we finished our first month of the year. Very thes fast one I tell you. The weekdays went like a flash. First 3 weeks were blatantly speedy. We barely catch our breath as the day breaks till nightfall.

Monday, is the busiest especially the evening part. With Kumon, tuition Cikgu Fuad and Iqra' altogether, the world is simply awesome.

The fourth week of January things went slow approaching Chinese New Year long weekend break. We went back to JB for a food retreat. It was feast bazaar indeed. From breakfast at Larkin Point with Kacang Pool, lunch with Mee Rebus Haji Wahid at Restoran Barakath Taman Seri Tebrau to dinner at Kg Melayu Steak House. Not forgetting to pack up the frozen masalodey and pau Roslan for KL.

Ooh! Umar had a bike accident a week before. He crashed his bike during one of the evening's cycling around the block with fellow friends. One stitch on the left head, just barely on top of the ear. He didn't cry like mad and surprisingly, he didn't cry during the stitching. Cool.

We went for a picnic at the third week with Kampung Pandan Backpackers in Kalumpang, Ulu Selangor. A rainforest retreat. Nice place with beautiful river. It rained the whole day, so we experienced every second of the rainforest package - cold and wet.

2010 that was...

2011-01-04T12:23:00.001+08:00

Gedebak gedebuk dah habis tahun 2010 and dah masuk pun tahun 2011. Memang tersangat laju masa meninggalkan kita tanpa ia pandang ke belakang walau sekali pun. Kita yang kadang-kadang masih termangu di persimpangan. Kalau nak difikirkan pasal masa, memang kalau di anugerahkan sehari tu ada 48 jam pun masih belum tentu kita berjaya manage masa kita.

So far aku bersyukur perjalanan sepanjang 365 hari yang lalu takde yang betul-betul mencabar. Pemergian arwah ayah, kami redha dengan ketentuanNya. Malah aku bersyukur kepada Allah s.w.t. pemergian arwah menemuiNya dalam keadaan yang sangat mudah.

BTHO kids pun alhamdullillah berjaya melalui alam persekolahan dengan tenang dan mudah. Amir telah buktikan yang dia masih boleh maintain di tahap terer walaupun kadang-kadang tahap aktif dia menduga kesabaran. Kak Long juga maintain & slowly dapat blend in dengan cara ayah & ibu mendidik. Umar pun kita dah boleh start monitor academic progress...at least mengenal huruf.

Projek-projek besar masih ada yang belum terlaksana. Ni semua di luar kawalan kita, sebab bergantung pada pihak ketiga yang menguruskannya. Slowly kita akan menuju ke arah tu. InsyaAllah.

Singapore - Marathon & Universal Studio

2010-12-17T18:21:00.000+08:00

Eventually the date came for our long drive southward back to hometown with Livina. It was pleasurable and the kids plus ibu were soundly asleep throughout the journey right after Maghrib on Thursday. I drove comfortably like driving a Mercedez, throughly awesome technology - have I been outdated from the comfort of driving for 5 years. It was an impressive upgrade from driving my Wira. If my late dad still around, he would be excited with the car and we'll be talking about it and about cars, generally for hours.

Friday was rest day for the rest of us especially for me. It was carbo-loading fiesta with awesome cookings by mom. My initial plan to enter Singapore with Det was shelved when he bailed out at the very last moment. My next choice was Azmar, since the rest will be entering straight from KL by bus and train. I boarded his company's trip bus on Saturday morning (early wake at 5.00am & missed my precious sleep) and entered Singapore headed to Universal Studio. I was lucky when I got a free entrance ticket & a meal voucher from Azmar's travel agent. One of his colleague didn't make it for the trip, that's why. It rained cats and dogs that morning hence crowd was bearable. We tried a few rides and ate at the Egypt Town before leaving for the race bib collection at Marina Bay.

Travelling with somebody familiar in Singapore was a useful experience especially using the MRT. It was easy when you know how. My nightmare was over when initially I thought it was troublesome and complicated to use the MRT. Yes, we were like tourist when it comes to looking at the maps and road names on the streets. The rest of the day was spent window shopping at Novena and Orchard Road when we should be resting our feet instead for the marathon.

Lari ke makan angin ni?

Come Sunday, the inaugural Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010 took place. I didn't felt any jitters. Thats odd. Maybe low expectation for the race. We walked towards Orchard Road where the 15,000 full marathoners jammed from end to end. I didn't see the front and the back. All was heard was the DJ pumping up the melody. We had to use the underpass to cross and enter to join the crowd. Placing ourselves at the end of the pack will only take more time, so we climbed the fence and jumped in. I think it was 3/4 of the crowd. My first experience running full marathon with this huge crowd. It was awesome. If only we have this kind of people in Malaysia kan?

The rest of the journey towards the finish line was the usual love & hate thing. Regrets, pain, bored stiff all blended in. Upon crossing the finish line, all was gone and I was already planning for a return. Humans. Crossed back into JB straight after and laid rest since I need to recover for the next day's trip.

The icon

Monday, early wake up...again. Aiyo! Who says vacation is relaxing? The travel agent managed to get us into a Toyota Innova since the bus was full. Good. We have the whole MPV to us. Kids were so excited. They asked too many questions and I tried to answer every one of them. Traffic was a breeze and we arrived at Resort World hald an hour to 10.00. To my surprised, the crowd trippled from Saturday. There were 6 rows and each of them lasted for 200m! We worked through it and managed to queue at the shortest available. I had plans. Once entered, we skipped the meal voucher collection (collect later) and rushed to Far Far Away land for the 4D Shrek Movie. We were among the first to reach there while the rest of the crowd were still caught taking pictures at the Hollywood Street. The movie was short but enough to tickle our sense of humor, especially the part when Donkey sneezed and soaked us. Thats why they call it 4D la. The rest of it, you just need to experience it.

Next we managed to watch Donkey Alive singing on stage. Actually some sort of movie also but the seating arrangement made it different. We sang along, clap our hands, dance and laughed at his jokes la. Yeah, wait till you listen to his..."la". The day started to be freaking hot and crowd was huge. Just like Orchard Road. Just enough timing for us to rush to watch Waterworld live performance. Now this is totally awesome though we only managed to sit at the corner row but the BOOM and BANG and SPLASH just made Umar shut his ears and eyes!...but he didn't let go of the ice cream. These are professional stuntmen and woman. They jump from 30 feet platform, fight, kick and shoot bazooka! Just like the war scene from the movie itself. Amir wanted to watch it again but next show will only be in another 2 hours.

Lunch was at Egypt Town. Bryani! But the queue took me 50 minutes while the eating only lasted 20 minutes. And I happened to spend SGD15 for a bottle of orange juice the shape of a shisha canister. Covert the currency, that ripped me almost RM50! Aiyo! I told the kids to share it. Hehe. Worth every penny.

Boys love it

The crowd, the temperature and the exhausting legs made queueing for the next ride at Jurassic Park seemed endless. I think we waited for almost 45 minutes...again, just right after our 50 minutes lunch queue. If it ain't for the kids, I could've abandoned it. The rest of the visit were spent taking pictures with movie characters. Most of them need to QUEUE! Aiyak! The MPV was scheduled to fetch us at 4pm. I purposedly arranged for early exit to avoid evening traffic across the causeway. Kids seemed still energetic. A few attempts to buy souvenirs especially the tees but the quality simply ain't worth the price. We ended up using the souvenir vouchers for fridge magnets and stuff for SGD5. Perbelanjaan berhemah. Lol.

We left Singapore and reached JB just in time to share the great experience with the rest and had a big dinner with Che Yah's family at Gazebo. A splendid outing I guess. Next biggie will be planned nicely for BTHO as 2 in 1 (run & vacation). Hehehe.

Muka semua dah berminyak main panas. Dapat terjun best kan?

Revenge of the Mummy!

Ms Monroe ke ni? Belasah aje

Bau dah macam kat zoo

Yellow

Battlestar Galactica

Panda in short

November Rain - Guns n' Roses

2010-11-29T16:41:00.000+08:00

OMG! A month now since the last entry! What happened? Beats me but the urge to digest what's up there and put it into writing was just lame. Even the days through the weekends were not so exciting. Am I loosing the feel or simply plain exhausted from too many stuff? Or perhaps approaching the year end does signalised the accumulated fatigue and draining energy for almost a year now.

It's been raining for awhile now. The recent weekend was wet and cold. Barely have a sunlight till noon before it gets dark and wek again for the rest of the day. Kedah & Perlis were severedly flooded last month. JB was no escape. Laudry business back home is running out of hanging space.

I will have to put this in point forms of all the happenings that took place:

New car

Just barely the week when I had my 39th birthday, our family ride came out of the showroom. Black as ever and the smell of pure plastic from the dashboard was plain awesome. Kenneth our SA was the best. Always kept thing simple and convenient. I barely spend more than 5 times meeting him and yet the car was delivered smoothly. I don't know why but dealing with Chinese SA so far have been a pleasure unlike bad experience with Malay SA. My previous nightmare when buying the Atos was a spellbound.

Spent a bit on the tinted (long term purpose) and the semi-leather seat cover. And yes, the fabric carpet require a more robust material, hence I changed it as well.

House reno
The painstaking lawyer is still painstaking. Never bothered to apologise for his mistake causing months of delay. And the procedures with the government's side is never a simple one as well. Too many levels, red tapes, comments, etc. Time flew in a blink of an eye and still we can only fantasies of having to solve the storage issues in the house.

Edu
Eventually school was over for 2010. And the exam results were out. I was too wasted to look in detail and comment. As long as they remain in the same class and not lower, that's fine by me. When school break came, everything seems a bit on the slower path. No early morning wake at the ironboard, that's the best part. No iqra' class and Teacher Nor's tuition except for Kumon classes. No more yelling across the hall for homeworks, revisions and prepare tomorrow's timetable. A lot was temporarily dislodged from the everyday routine - at least for a month. I should enjoy it to the max!

Hols
OK basically school break is about a month time. We've been saving our annual leaves for this. Nothing grand actually but eventually some alterations had to be done due to foreseen circumstances. The initial plan to fly to Langkawi with JB peeps were stalled when tickers were sold out for the year. Driving up north was shelved when Kedah was seriously flooded. Round peninsular trip by car also was KIV until further logistic issues resolved. That left us with the original Temasek Marathon & Universal Studio JV. Yep, back to hometown for makan-makan trip, marathon in Singapore on Sunday and family fun in US the next day.

Two weeks after, another trip downsouth again for cuz's wedding. This should be a big family gathering. After that, two more weeks until school open which means back-to-school shopping spree will commence.

October Feast and Fest

2010-10-26T15:13:00.000+08:00

Almost a month now and there were quite a few interesting happenings around. Leading towards the end of school semester, the exam weeks just flew around the corner bringing along suspense and chaos, especially for ayah and ibu. Kids remained calm as they were and with those confident looks. The raya mood bug simply wont resist the temptation to fly away and that's where sometimes ayah be the bad guy for the chapter. I will be the most hated person in the house for bragging and nagging. Sometimes ibu will be my sidekick and they turned to Umar for comfort. Can you imagine that? I am lost to what other approach to make them realise how important is academic. 20 years ago, my parents would just arranged everything for me and it was mandatory without appeal when it comes to tuitions and such. I spent 4 hours a week attending add math's tuition and a few other hours for physics and modern maths. It was draining and zapping but I didn't rebel. The situation is totally different now and I am just pleased that I still have the patience for not giving up.

Ibu had a colourful month for herself. Her convocation finally came through on the 13th. Some of the backpackers were there. She was happier than ever that day. Alhamdullillah. A few days later, we had a surprised birthday party for her at atuk's house. Thanks to Kak Azra and the rest of the backpackers for the support. Again she had a blast with it.

A week after, Kaklong's birthday fell into place. It's the birthday month, remember? We celebrated in the most descend way since exam week is not yet over. But, Kaklong got herself a MP4 player. Asking what she wants will end up with top of the world WANT LIST. Now the rest of house also want MP4 and no more PSP in the list.

I was stucked with a few weeks of running nose and cough. Extreme hot weather seemed to delay the recovery. But that didn't stop me to spice up a bit with some riding extravaganza in between. On 10.10.10, where history comes only once my life time, I signed up for Ipoh - Cameron Highland King of the Montain quest. It was a day trip but the mega 54km climb was truely fascinating.

Our car. Loan approved. Registration will be done once the result from the tendered number is out. That should be another few days. We were quite matured with the waiting actually, as if nothing to be excited about. But, that would a long road to travel together in a more comfortable journey for the whole family. I'll arrange for some road trips in the near future.

House reno loan application almost coming to it's end. The pain-in-the-ass lawyer played his part though it was still a pain-in-the-ass interaction between us. Ibu and me started to talk about the ID stuff lately and I started having images of car porch designs, layouts, landscapes, etc in my head. I might need to put it on paper one day.

And the road goes on

2010-10-07T11:43:00.000+08:00

That was a kick-start few weeks back. So far, things seem to fall into place piece by piece. Alhamdullillah. I love it when a plan comes together (Colonel Hannibal Smith).

Project 1: Atos

After the mishap that took place involving a bit of drama with the steep repair cost, our trusty mechanic did his best to save our wallet. It took him almost three days and throughout the weekend to resolve the problem. Fingers crossed during the period and eventually our Atos was moving again. No more of those weird and scary sound (read burning wallet).

A few days back Kenneth went to Maybank to find out the final full settlement figure. Yesterday, the extra amount outstanding minus 55% NCD and over-trade by Nissan, I only forked out RM1,700.00. Phew! The worse part almost over. And Kenneth's manager also inspected the car as well. He seemend satisfied. Their concern is accident free.

Project 2: New car

Finally my/our dream almost came through. I've been longing for a MPV ages ago. Eversince the first affordable MPV came into the market, Avanza have drove me insane. But later on, driving it to Lumut, thanks to Mak Die who loaned it to us, the MPV is not quite comforting.

The years of dream MPV evolution continued for me. From Avanza, I went to continental MPV i.e. Citroen Evasion. Then Nissan introduced their rival to Avanza, the Grand Livina. I was again disturbed but I backed off from the unaffordable price. Then Perodua came up with Alza, but I was not quite sweeped by the generousity of it's spaciousness. Eventually Proton rocked the world with Exora. Sharp look, comfortable seatings for all 7 passengers, generous aircon vent till the last row and most hit is it's price. Avanza was no more in the competition.

Alhamdullillah from years of hard earned rezeki, I trust travelling comfort for my family is now priority. I've decided to jump onto the family MPV legacy. The hunt was over when a call was made to a Nissan SA based in Ampang. A small discussion took place and the story continued till today. God willing, Nissan Grand Livina will be our first MPV. Oh! I shall put it hear as part of the story. I sold my beloved Giant XTC mountainbike and used the cash for the new car. I was so sad to let it go but priorities have taken place.

Project 3: House reno

We took another step. Some comments from Bahagian Perbendaharaan were tackled:

Apply extension to renovation approval from MPKj. Done and approval letter collected today.
Renewal to contractor's business registration with SSM. Done. Mr. Cheong was kind enough to be patience with us and submitted the renewal ASAP.
Lawyer's blunder (never did he apology) : The typo error with the I.C. number was corrected yesterday.
Tomorrow ibu will resubmit to Bahagian Perbendaharaan.

Post Raya Stuff

2010-09-24T11:11:00.000+08:00

Though the feeling to start work again after a long break was absolute, it also felt like we all need to reset our life for something new. BTHO was never spared. We created new agendas, new tasks and perhaps some new resolutions to make life's journey interesting, rather than ramble around how lazy it is to end the year.

Let us reverse back to our Ramadhan retreat a bit. I wish to give my best compliments to Yasmin & Amir for their strong finishing with the fasting ibadah. They never quit till the last day. And the positive side of it, it seemed they have more eating appetite now. At first I thought that the food enjoyment will only last when fasting's over. I was wrong indeed. The feast carried on while we were in JB and the meaning of raya celebration did came upon them. And Umar started throwing me questions about raya and I'm still processing how he defined raya/

There are a few projects down the pipe that we wish to pursue. First of all is the Universal Studio Project. Ibu was determined to bring all of us to Singapore's Universal Studio. As scheduled, that would coincide with ayah's Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore Marathon. Cool. From the ample raya leave, we took the chance to go to the Immigration Department for the kids'passport. Took us half a day only to miss the early queue number but all was good.

To treat ourselves from the long waiting, we went for an Alza and Exora test drive after that. It was mid-noon hot and Alza's aircon didn't quite comfort the whole cabin. Though I was eyeing the purple color second variant specs, the spaciousness dampened our excitement. It seemed that the car should be fun to drive and travel around, but once I was behind the wheels, I couldn't feel it. And I was also distracted from the driver's side aircon vent that kept on shutting from loose hinge. The SA told me because it is a test drive unit, so the vent loosen easily. Imagine after 5 years, and I don't see an aircon vent issue will create stress for me while driving. Ibu was sitting at the last row and she was quite squeezing herself to find comfort. While the rest of us were shouting in the car to overcome the loud aircon blower sound since the dial was turned to full blast. Cargo area was definitely a NO. I can only fit my shoe box in a row if I need a full passenger capacity. But yet, Alza still have the personal touch for a young growing family that needs a 6-7 seater car for short weekend retreat around the town or an hour drive from KL.

We straight away attacked Proton showroom for Exora. The new touchups makes the car more sturdy and fancy. They added skirtings and new rim design. Gorgeous. My picked was the grey unit. They don't have test drive unit but I convinced them that this deal is potential. Cabin and cargo capacity was generous. Ibu still thinks that the last row can only fit a child and not adults for long travelling. Aircon was perfect. What else could you ask? Every row and sides have vents and Proton successfully designed the aircon system perfect for our hot and humid weather. It felt like Waja. So was the driving feeling. A bit on the bulky side, Exora suits the growing mid-class Malaysian family - like us. Definitely the price is something of a winning point compared to other rivals, plus the handsome look and lovely interior. We didn't managed to floor it but suspension was sturdy over road humps and noise was kept minimal. A chat later with friends, some of them gave a so-so review about the car's performance in terms of engine capacity. I doubt it too. Further more, the resale value might be an issue as compared to other Japanese cars.

Old folks said, old car can merajuk if they knew that they're gonna be replaced. Ibu's Atos did the same. A few days before raya, the battery kaput while ibu and kids were on their way to Kak Ina's place. Luckily a workshop nearby and RM150 gone for new battery. A few days after raya, ibu went shopping at Carefour. The car wont move engaging into reverse gear. A sympthom for major pocket burner - gearbox, the pulse of all cars. Yesterday, the question was answered while Ibu was driving home. Expected major injury to the wallet - RM3000 minimum. Korean cars will dig deep down the pockets with spareparts' price. Trust myself, I won't let this happen again once I get rid of this car.

So the hunt for our next car resumes. A few were shortlisted based on price, resale value, packages offered, loan generousity, etc. Today I might nag myself with this car, but tomorrow might be a different story.

The next best project is to revisit the abandoned one - house reno. Loan was submitted but we received comments for incomplete documents and such. A bit of spirit dampening but we'll find strong on this one. It's been delayed for a year now.

Syawal 1431 Hijrah

2010-09-22T10:48:00.009+08:00

A week into Syawal now and it seemed that everything went so fast. Our Hari Raya was almost perfect, minus our beloved atuk ayah whom R.I.P. 2 weeks earlier. The less than normal preparation by atuk especially when most pakcik & makcik from KL, Muar and Batu Pahat won't be joining the first day raya in JB.

BTHO went back to JB on Wednesday night after iftaar. Night travelling have been comfortable for us during Ramadhan. With some info about raya traffic, we hit the Lekas Highway and took our time passing by Ampangan traffic chaos from last minute raya shopping. Then there was the Senawang raya bazar. I thought Malaysians are in the middle of less spending?! 12.00 a.m. we reached JB and hometown folks had just finished their kek lapis production for the day.

My task the next morning was to hit the wet market, escorting dearest mom of course. The final preparation to shop for chickens and other stuff. And a lot more moms were there as well. All kinds of people actually. I just stood there, being a loyal porter with kilos of chickens in the basket was quite a good weight lifting for me.

The rest of they was basking under the living room ceiling fan. Weather was significantly untolerable for the last day of Ramadhan. I smell a wet Friday Aidilfitri ahead. Mom completed her kek lapis one day earlier from raya, none like previous years when even on raya she still bakes them. Eventually the smell of chicken curry filled the air and I started to remember how irresistable it was to have it with ketupat - my all time raya favourite. We slept early that night. My plan to have teh tarik with hometown buddies was abandoned.

Syawal morning. Only me, Cik Man and Hanis went for solat sunat aidilfitri at Masjid Pasir Pelangi - our usual aidilfitri pray retreat. We came early so we could recite the takbir longer in the name of Allah the Mighty. No sultan today, he's in Muar. So, good to go sharp at 8.30am. Our plan to visit atuk ayah's grave was put on hold due to heavy rain right after solat. We post poned it after Friday prayer. Graveyard was crowded and they have people selling flowers. What a good way to get extra cash on Syawal eh? We continued the remaining of the first Syawal visiting close relatives. Our aunties from KL, Muar and Batu Pahat were not around this year, they had some other plans. We had to make full use of the available crowds around to celebrate.

Second day was a surprised. We were expecting some guests but my in-laws from KL pulak arrived. Whole 8 families all together. They were visiting my mom actually since they missed the funeral. The house was cramped and jovial and so was mom. I was so thankful for all the support.

Third day, the usual program was executed. Trip up to Batu Pahat. Weather was hot and I anticipate rain coming later in the evening. Yes it rained. I just kept on hydrating, avoiding any signs of future fever and such. A new plan was arranged this year. We decided to visit Cik Man's hometown in Rompin. I knew the journey from Batu Pahat would take hours but enjoying the raya camaraderie along the way would be a pleasant one. It was Batu Pahat - Kluang - Mersing and eventually Kuala Rompin. Phew! A totally different air. I was looking forward for this after all those hectic life before raya in KL and also those frequenting travels JB-KL. We checked into Rompin Beach Resort at a Family Suite to squeeze everybody in. Good to go. The seaside air was refreshing. Dinner at Cik Man's parents with nasi dagang and a quick snuggle into bed followed through.

Of course hotel trip without a dip in the pool was incomplete for the kids. They spent two hours and I took the chance to reach out for my stroke. So far so good. We left Kuala Rompin for KL somewhere at 10.30 a.m. as I was a bit excited to venture out into the Rompin - Kuala Pilah traverse route. I haven't tried this before. It should be exciting seeing new panaroma.

We went up towards Kampung Leban Chondong, turn left towards Bandar Muadzam Shah. Route was flat, straight and less traffic, making 100kph achieveable. Once in Muadzam Shah, we took the so called highway southwards towards Keratong and took the second right turning into Felda Keratong 2 and Bandar Tun Abdul Razak. Heavier traffic but still manageable. Attempt to stop at Petronas was postponed since no water supply. We headed straight towards Bandar Baru Serting and took the straight at the four cross towards Kampung Serting. Now we were in Negeri Sembilan State.

We reached Jempol district and stopped at a magnificent Masjid Taman Anggerik for toilet and prayer. So were other travellers. Then it was Juaseh and skip Kuala Pilah town following a bypass and headed towards Ulu Bendul. No more winding and hogging Bukit Putus old road, now they built new ala-Karak highway type. Still it was a bit slow driving due to traffic build up.

Once reaching Senawang intersection, we hit the pedal into LEKAS Highway and within minutes we were back home and still have a few hours of daylight left for unpacking, laundrying and rest. Phew!

2 Days Raya Countdown

2010-09-08T10:03:00.001+08:00

Tak banyak yang berlaku kecuali bershopping dan dok rumah. OK sorry, maybe ada sikit adventure. Sabtu pagi seperti biasa ayah akan cuba cover semula tidur hasil dari kayuhan hingga awal pagi. Tak le lewat sangat tapi macam biasa pukul 3.00 pagi baru sampai rumah. Sabtu we all on standby mode or on-call. Sedang menunggu isyarat dari Mak Long JB untuk bergerak ke Alor Gajah. Objektif : Transit kek lapis. Bangun, tidur, bangun, tidur. Lebih kurang pukul 2.30 p.m. baru sms masuk. Lantas kami bergegas memecut di PLUS highway menuju ke Tol Simpang Ampat. Alhamdullillah dalam lebih kurang sejam kami sampai walaupun trafik agak sibuk pada petang tu.

Selesai urusan transit & Mak Long sempat beli lemang & rendang Alor Gajah, kami pun berpisah untuk ke destinasi masing-masing. Mak Long balik ke JB & we all dengan objektif baru - delivery. First destination was Subang Jaya. Rumah Mak Long Sara dengan hampir 10 buku kak lapis untuk Kak Maria. Cuma Obeng yang sambut we all. Mak Long ke Subang Parade dengan Makngah while maybe Pak Long tidur.

Then ke Bukit Antarabangsa. We all target untuk deliver ke Bukit Antarabangsa & Setapak Jaya before 6.00 p.m. sebab both customer mau keluar berbuka. Alhamdullillah perjalanan dipermudahkan. Boleh tahan gak letih ke sana ke sini. Last sekali rumah Pak Lang & by the time sampai pun dah hampir nak berbuka. Apa lagi? Pit stop kat Kampung Pandan ler. Macam biasa lauk pauk terbentang luas atas meja rumah nenek & lazat. Tapi most of us tak stay lama. Masing-masing ada plan. We all plan nak ke PKNS Bangi cari baju Melayu Amir & Umar. Hujan gerimis. Sampai PKNS jalan sesak & parking pun takde. Balik BTHO chill.

Ahad pagi baru return ke PKNS. First kedai harga sembelih RM65 untuk baju budak. Macam tak percaya. Second kedai pun sama. Diorang memang betul-betul buat duit. Eventually terjumpa yang below RM60. And paling best, itu kedai member ayah yang sama-sama kayuh. Rezeki kami untuk pagi tu, kami dapat dengan RM40 sepasang! Alhamdullillah. Itu diskaun banyak tuh. Naik atas kedai kasut, terjumpa member berlari pulak! Touke kedai. Sembang lagi. Small world. Balik singgah Jusco. Beli kasut raya pulak untuk kids. Yasmin girl punya kasut bertumit kat Bata. Umar sandle ada lampu lip-lap kat Bata jugak. Amir akhirnya dapat jugak kasut idaman dia ala-ala bentuk macam Converse tapi B.U.M. Nampak gaya memang diorang suka sangat.

Ayah & ibu macam biasa masih terpinga-pinga nak beli apa. Langsung takde urge untuk pilih baju raya. Eventually ayah beli 2 pasang baju kerja! Hahaha.

Pagi ni cuaca sangat dingin hasil dari hujan malam tadi. Kabus kat luar rumah. Bestnya pemandangan. Ni lah part paling best kat BTHO ni sebab dia atas bukit & dekat dengan Langat. Ibu & kids dah bergegas ke rumah nenek untuk mengemas rumah. Ayah kerja tapi 99% kata malas. Neighbourhood dah mula nampak kosong. Begitu juga jalanraya. Mood raya alih-alih sampai sebab rasa tak nak ditinggalkan di KL yang bakal kosong.

Menjelang Syawal

2010-09-03T12:51:00.000+08:00

Dah hampir seminggu selepas pemergian arwah atuk ayah. Tapi rentetan sentuhan emosi masih lagi berlegar sekali-sekala di minda. Sekali-sekala aku akan teringat. Baik pada arwah, mahupun pada material yang ditinggalkannya. Pagi tadi alih-alih aku teringatkan kereta Waja arwah. Bukannya Waja itu sendiri akan tetapi sikap & mentaliti arwah yang sangat teliti dalam menjaga kereta. Tiada bandingan. Tolak tepi idea-idea mendandan dan menghias kereta, kerana itu hanya lah pembaziran. Itu lah pegangan arwah. Jiwa muda ku yang bertahun dulu kini beransur mengerti dengan ideologi tersebut. Lebih original kereta itu, lebih bagus dan mudah untuk maintenance. Namun, jiwa malas ini juga tidak dapat lari dari kekangan untuk mengekalkan kecantikan kereta aku sendiri. Calar balar hasil kreativiti anak-anak kesayangan dan diri aku sendiri, serta faktor cuaca yang tidak menentu membuatkan setiap cubaan mencuci dan mengilat jadi sia-sia.

So far, ibu ku masih kuat dalam mengharungi hidup tanpa arwah. Sedangkan aku yang jauh di sini dan tidak berada di kampung pun boleh ditangkap emosi, apa tah lagi adk beradik dan ibu ku yang tinggal di rumah yang sama dengan arwah? Aku tidak surprise jika mereka khabarkan di setiap palingan mata, mereka akan terbayang arwah. Di kerusi favorite membaca New Straits Times. Di kerusi favorite menonton TV sambil menggoyang kakinya. Di meja makan dapur menikmati masakan ibu ku yang tetap special. Setiap daripada kami tetap terbayangkan arwah. Itu sajalah cara kami dapat mengingatinya selagi kami masih kuat untuk menerima qadha' dan qadar serta ketentuanNya.

Perancangan asal aku sebelum Ramadhan untuk tidak beraya di kampung terpaksa ditukar. Sekarang, tanggungjawab utama aku ialah untuk menjaga ibu. Nampak gaya, aku akan kerap pulang ke kampung. Seminggu raya, aku akan ke Muar pulak untuk majlis perkahwinan sepupu. Aku perlu berwaspada dengan perbelanjaan. Bajet perlu diawasi memandangkan komitmen hujung tahun yang lebih memerlukannya.

Yasmin dan Amir masih gagah dalam mengharungi ibadah puasa. Walaupun kegagahan itu sedikit goyang ketika bercuti di rumah sewaktu hujung minggu, tapi aku faham bahawa mereka masih perlu banyak mengerti erti berpuasa. Yang penting training dulu. Sedikit sebanyak Umar juga sudah mula mengenal konsep berpuasa melalui telatah dan respon setiap kali diajak makan bersama sewaktu iftar. Mudah-mudahan mereka menjadi anak yang soleh.

Malam semalam kami tergerak hati untuk check baju melayu Amir & Umar. Apa yang disangka masih boleh diguna tidak relevan sama sekali. Amir hanya mampu untuk memasukkan sebelah tangan sahaja ke dalam lengan baju melayunya. Baju Umar pulak dah macam tri vest - nampak pusat! Misi untuk ber-shopping baju melayu akan diatur. Tentatifnya hujung minggu, di mana akan cuba diselit-selitkan di antara beberapa agenda lain yang lebih priority.

Selain dari memikirkan tentang raya, aku juga sekali sekala terlintas tentang agenda selepas raya. Itu juga penting. Ada beberapa event yang memerlukan persediaan yang tegar lagi mantap agar tidak menemui ketewasan. Ini juga melibatkan Yasmin & Amir. Dua event yang perlu perhatian aku ialah Newton 25K Challenge pada 26 September dan Powerman pada 14 November. Buat masa ni, persediaan aku sangat lembap. Harapkan berkayuh & sambung dengan larian tidak melebihi 20 minit pada setiap Jumaat dengan kawan-kawan. Walaupun jadual latihan telah dirangka dan tertampal, aku masih gagal untuk komit dan takut untuk menatap setiap angka yang terlakar. Yasmin & Amir sendiri juga akan terlibat dengan beberapa event Trikidz. Ada duathlon i-City pada 5-6 November, Aussi School Tri 27-28 November dan Kelana Jaya Tri 11-12 Disember. Aku masih belum mampu untuk mengagihkan masa di antara latihan untuk aku sendiri dan latihan untuk Yasmin & Amir. InsyaAllah kita akan menuju ke arah tu.

Ayah

2010-08-31T15:54:00.000+08:00

74 tahun yang lalu, pada tanggal 4 Februari 1936, ayah aku, Ishak bin Yunos dilahirkan di Muar, Johor. Anak kedua dari tiga orang adik beradik, ayah aku tidak ketinggalan dari merasai kehidupan asas yang penuh dengan kekurangan di zaman penjajahan kolonial, serangan tentera kamikazi dan juga saat kegemilangan kemerdekaan tanahair. Perjalanan hidup ayah aku cukup lengkap untuk menyaksikan setiap detik jatuh bangunnya negara kita di mana ia adalah sesuatu yang sangat berharga. Jika dibandingkan dengan kehidupan aku untuk ke-39 tahun sekarang, tidak banyak yang berlaku kecuali berjuang untuk hidup dalam belenggu ekonomi negara yang sentiasa menghimpit.

Aku hanya mampu untuk merakamkan cebisan-cebisan hidup ayah ku yang sempat aku dengar ketik arwah bercerita sewaktu dia sihat. Dengan memori aku yang semakin berkurang dalam mengingati segala ingatan lain, mungkin ini tidak dapat menggambarkan perjalanan hidup arwah sepenuhnya.

Ayah & mak kenal melalui Penpal. Sweet bukan? Ye lah. Dulu bukan ada Facebook atau email, jadi abang posmen lah jadi orang perantaraan. Well, bibit percintaan pun mula la berputik. Ayah aku bertugas dengan Kerajaan Temasik pada masa tu sebagai pegawai kastam. Jurong, Woodlands, Keppel, Tanjung Pagar. Merata tempat dia bertugas. Eventually surat-surat cinta pun berlunas ke surat nikah dan both of them berakad untuk hidup bersama. Mak dapat pengajian untuk ke bidang pendidikan dan setelah beberapa peperiksaan, mak telah bergelar guru di Sekolah Kebangsaan Ulu Tiram. 40km dari Johor Bahru menuju ke Kota Tinggi - antara jalan paling brutal pada tahun 60-an yang boleh mengambil masa sejam setengah untuk sampai. Sekarang 30 minit aje.

Dengan anugerah rezeki yang kedua-dua mereka terima, kediaman pertama di Century Garden telah menjadi hakmilik dengan bantuan pinjaman kerajaan. Ayah masih setia berulang ke seberang tambak dengan pengangkutan SBS No. 170 untuk menjalankan tugas. Ingatan masih segar di kepala ku setiap kali ayah akan lakukan routine check sebelum dia keluar rumah. Ulangan semakan kunci loker, duit syiling tambang dan no. IC hampir setiap hari. 7217645. Nombor tu lah yang aku akan ingat sampai sekarang. Dengan jadual kerja mengikut syif, ayah akan keluar rumah di dalam gelap subuh untuk sampai ke pejabat tepat jam 8 pagi. Untuk syif malam, ayah akan bersiap dengan Thermos berisi kopi panas.

Kereta pertama kami ialah Wak Segan. Merata Semenanjung kami jelajah tanpa aircon dan cuma tingkap tiga segi di cermin depan sebagai pengganti. Kemudian Peugeot 204. Kami gemar mengembara sekeluarga. Setiap pelusuk tanahair. Dari situ, kami telah berpindah ke rumah yang sedikit lebih besar dan kehidupan membesarkan kami tiga beradik pun bermula sehinggalah setiap daripada kami dapat melanjutkan pendidikan ke IPTA.

Ayah telah tamat berkhidmat ketika berusia 55 tahun sewaktu aku di kampus. Namun kesihatan ayah mula merudum sebaik ayah banyak menghabiskan masa di rumah. Diagnosis pertama yang ayah terima ialah diabetes. Ayah memang penggemar kopi. Mungkin itu juga penyebabnya. Mungkin. Ayah memilih untuk menjaga pemakanan dengan bantuan penuh dari mak. Ayah sangat teliti dalam dietnya dan berjaya menolak diabetes berbanding dengan kebanyakan yang lain.

Namun, perjalanan kesihatan ayah tidak menuju ke arah yang lebih baik. Ayah kerap mengadu sakit dada dan pernafasan yang terganggu setiap kali selepas makan atau pun selepas membuat kerja-kerja rumah. Mengemas, menyapu dan mengelap kereta terpaksa ditinggalkan. Keadaan semakin kritikal apabila ayah telah dimasukkan ke hospital sebaik sebelum adik aku berkahwin. Semangat ayah begitu kuat untuk tidak terus mendapat rawatan di ICU dan beliau telah membuat keputusan untuk menanggung risiko. 2-3 bulan berlalu, namun kesihatan ayah semakin kritikal walaupun aku yakin ayah cuba berjuang untuk tidak kembali ke hospital.

Sabtu, 27-Ogos 2010 jam 4.30 petang, aku mendapat panggilan dari kakak dengan berita ayah sudah tiada. Saat-saat yang sebelum ini menggusarkan fikiran ku bila sampai giliran ayah kembali kepada Penciptanya. Aku tenang menerimanya, malah aku sangat bersyukur kerana Allah s.w.t. telah memilih bulan yang tersangat mulia ini untuk berdampingan dengan ayah. Air mata ku bergenang setiap kali aku mengingati pemergian ayah di bulan mulia ini. Air mata ku bergenang setiap kali aku mendapat ucapan takziah dari sahabat handai melalui sms, panggilan telefon dan juga pesanan Facebook. Air mata ku bergenang bila menatap wajah ayah di bawah kain dengan sedikit persoalan benarkah ayah ku telah tiada? Air mata ku bergenang ketika memandikan jenazah ayah. Air mata ku bergenang ketika penghormatan terakhir dari setiap kaum keluarga ketika ayah siap dikafankan. Air mata ku bergenang ketika aku saksikan hampir 40 orang jemaah solat jenazah mendoakan kesejahteraan arwah.

Al-Fatihah. Aku mendoakan semoga ayah ku tergolong dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman. Amin.

Fasting for BTHO

2010-08-26T07:44:00.000+08:00

Amir successfully fasted for 10 days now. Though he started a bit late a few days of Ramadhan, I respected the effort. It wasn't an instruction from me in any kind of way but he decided himself. Even when he requested to drink upon arriving home at 6.00 p.m., I would just let him. There's no threat nor negotiation between us. Fasting for BTHO kids are always self preference. It's a learning process and learning do not require force nor threats. His first complete day, he went to bed right after ifthar - too exhausted and too bloated perhaps.

For two days now, all three of them sat in front of the PC motionless, watching Sponge Bob The Movie right after school, killing time for the remaining one a half hour. Once in a while, they requested gaming time with the PS2. I would just comply as long as the thought of eating would not cross their mind.

Academic revision was a bit on the slow side now. After ifthar would mean zero activity for the kids. Lucky schools don't have exams except for the religious school. It was almost ignorable which I hope they would do fine. We still have Kumon for some light arithmatics problem to tickle the brains.

We went back to JB last weekend. Atuk has been asking a few rounds which means non-compliance will resulted to restless hearts, if you know what I mean. And a change of iftar menu would do good considering we were kinda running out of menus here in KL. The frequent visit to Dju spoiled our options. Iftar in JB means homemade food fest, and of course the camaraderie. However, atuk ayah didn't join us since he's not in a good shape to be fasting. He had to take those medicines, so fasting would be a bit difficult. We pray the best for atuk ayah.

Ayah managed to throw in a visit to ex-primary school gathering Sunday night. I left after iftar just to pay a courtesy drop in. The crowd was outstanding with every family around. It was 27 years ago and I had some trouble remembering some of them, forgive me. Most of the time, we didn't had trouble blending in though the time period without contact was ages. We were like brothers and sisters again, catching up on current stories.

Back to kampung iftar

2010-08-16T08:55:00.000+08:00

It seemed that everyone was looking forward for the weekend. It was either Friday night's cycling for me or iftar at atuk's house for the whole of us. And the best was, waking up late after sahur.

It was raining karipaps and tou fu fa on Friday evening eversince we started fasting. It went bizzare and I was glad that I arrived home early after a dramatic morning work meeting client's demand. Ibu attended class and arrived slightly late than usual. I went for a quick visit to pa-ram (pasar ramadhan) for the necessaries and continued on with the serving. I didn't know where did I get the energy to do so compared to other days when I was totally drained from the journey upon arriving home.

The excitement to cycle that night shuffled into doubtness when the rain didn't stop after iftar and a few test messages received from fellow comrades. Eventually it stopped at around 9.00 p.m. and the 14 of us gleefully pedal around Putrajaya. However, we were never spared with the remaining showers that went on and off along the way. The ride was never complete without a trip to the mamak for a sahur group with hot meals and jokes around. I arrived home at 3.30 a.m. after a quick trip to McD for Yasmin and Amir's sahur meals. Expect zombie mode awaiting for the days to come.

Saturday morning was early for me after Umar started calling out in hunger - of course he missed the sahur and he was the only soul that must be entertained or the whole bedroom will be upside down. The zombie me served him with slices of peanut butter & bread and world turned peaceful once again. However, I can't went back to bed which ended up with bike washing and plant trimming almost the whole morning - weather was great.

We basked most of the afternoon staying indoor. It was laundry non-stop. We left for atuk's only somewhere at 5.00 and was a bit excited when cousins will be coming as well. We didn't manage to keep a good record of having iftar at atuk's last year - perhaps due to tight schedules, but this year I can see that things will turnaround like it used to be in the previous years. Maybe from the recent surgery atuk and nenek had, it's about time that they need the support they can get. Of course they looked happy with the usual suspects around from Paklong, Pakcu, Paklang and Pakdi - enough to make the place packed.

Iftar followed by tarawih while kids running their errands. Tarawih followed with tea and more chats. By the time we reached home, kids were zapped from their agendas.

Yasmin's Bike & Ramadhan again

2010-08-13T15:14:00.004+08:00

It's the third day of fasting today. So far weather was a bit taxing yesterday, it melted some of our spirit which however we fought on. Yasmin survived, hardly. While Amir was defeated at noon. Yasmin and Amir only attended the primary school while the religious school had the day off for first day of Ramadhan, that includes Umar's. So they stayed at the nursery for the remaining hours.

The days prior to Ramadhan was as usual, packed. That was due to mid-term tests. Yasmin and Amir underwent drills just like the running drills only none physical input required. They sat hours doing Score A trial tests for every subject. Score A has been come in handy. Ayah and ibu took turn sitting together giving advises and tips and making sure they understand what they are facing with. Which only we realised during the reference to the school text book, all are craps inside. None are things providing the knowledge to answer exam questions. Appearance are so colorful but 100% rubbish content. Even when I went through Amir's standard one Arabic textbook, I couldn't digest any of those supposed to be basic learnings.

The science subject is another matter. Teacher teach you in Bahas Melayu with English text book. I don't blame our Malay teachers whom are not good communicating in english for that matter. But the worse part is, the exam questions are in both languages! Students have difficulty in answering, double the effort if he or she doesn't understand the question. Talking about surviving the ever killing and demanding world eh? It never gets easier...

Yasmin eventually got her bike. Ayah bought it form Aunty Jaja. It's a Trek bike with 650 size, equivalent to a XXS size bike. Yes, aunty Jaja is pretty much short. We picked it up from KSH bike shop in TTDI when aunty Mary (Jaja's friend) left it for servicing and our pickup. Yasmin was excited a day prior and she straight away washed the bike as soon as we arrived home. Ayah did a bit of twitching with the bike to fit Yasmin. She still require more practice with the bike since it's a roadbike which is nothing similar to handling a normal bike and the bike is slightly big for her - read long term investment. Hahaha.

As for Amir, ayah will think of something. If he really wants to join the duathlon after raya, a 300 bucks mountainbike will be good enough. Umar, you need to take out the plastic wheels from your bike. Bila nak terer kayuh ni?

Just something to add cheers to mandom days :)

Post PD syndrome

2010-08-03T09:56:00.000+08:00

It was a week of fast and furious. Never had the time to console on lost and haulting items. Adding to the phenomena, payday was just around the corner and lots of things on the never ending list. The weekend was never a normal slow pace period and as usual, we looked forward to play it hard - just like Nike said.

After our PD triathlon outing, ayah have been bugged with the bike-search flu again - it's for Yasmin of course. Ayah started talking technical and browsing the net for loads of informations searching what's best for Yasmin. Lucky ibu didn't caught me talking in my sleep. I even called a few local bike shops (lbs) and as usual, my enquiry was turned down in dismay with the normal replies - takde la bos itu roadbike untuk kids. Malaysia is the Boleh Land but nothing is available. Only Orbea Concept Store in Seri Hartamas brought in the bikes but the cost just ain't friendly. RM1900 and tearing my wallet for a beginner bike for Yasmin is not feasible. Our target would be a few triathlons and duathlons by year end.

At the same time, Amir will be also be needing a bigger bike. He's definitely will be flaunting in the duathlons. He can run and cycle strong. I'm not getting him a roadbike like Yasmin, perhaps a BMX or a small mountainbike would be good. That would be easy to find and even cheaper than a roadbike. That will be in September's budget.

The PD tri event had me forgotten of other happenings. Atuk and atuk ayah dropped by from Johor for a wedding that Saturday evening when we arrived from PD. Atuk came with Che Yah and Uncle Salleh since the drive from JB would be strainous for atuk ayah. The wedding was held at Sheraton Imperial, a very impressive hotel and expensive of course. Lots of VVIPs and VIPs attended. I on the other hand was the trusted chauffeur. A black dusty wira with bike roof rack somemore, drove through the hotel foyer among other big shining cars.

It was kill time after that. Kill time at KLCC window shopping and extra dinner at Burger King alone. When the shops was about to close, I dragged myself to Ampang mamak corner for teh tarik. Somewhere around 10.40 p.m., atuk called to fetch and that's about the whole Saturday draining chapter.

Sunday was half day gone waiting for atuk's departure back to JB. The rest of the evening was nothing much.

The recent weekend we got the habit back. After ayah's morning run around the usual neighbourhood loop, it was garden-cleaning time. Ayah scrubbed the drain (halfway of course) while ibu trimming some shrubs and the lawn. Then it was the strength training where a few pots were relocated to make way for next weekend's drain cleaning project pulak. Total seven pots were shifter and I stopped before straining my lower back for disaster.

Yasmin and Amir attended their running class at Kampung Pandan track while ibu & Umar in nenek's house. Nenek just underwent eye a week ago and she was doing fine. Thunderstorm hit KL pretty badly that evening and the class was delayed by an hour while we waited under the astaka. Then it was splashing time for the kids. Yasmin fell during one the drills when Owen pushed her. She cried and bruised her knee. It was nothing serious actually but we must be cautioned when Owen is around.

Port Dickson Triathlon Results

2010-07-29T08:58:00.012+08:00

Port Dickson International Triathlon '10
(2010-Jul-24)

Super Kids - Category Results: Girls 11 years & under

Location: Port Dickson Temp: 24°C Weather: Mostly Cloudy

RkCat     Bib       Name                                            Country                Time

1             82       Zoe Natasha Bowden                     Australia              0.20.48

2             71       Danielle Combrink                          Netherlands          0.20.59

3             79       Robyn Jenkins                                Australia               0.22.21

4             72       Hannah Binti Kamaruzaman            Malaysia               0.22.40

5             76       Nurin Yasmin bte Shakhir               Malaysia               0.23.24

6             80        Tamika Baynes                             Australia               0.24.12

7             78       Okano Riko                                    Japan                    0.25.50

8             74       Lim Yi Xuan                                   Malaysia               0.27.19

9             77       NURUL NABILA ABU BAKAR Malaysia               0.30.21

10            73       Kiana Baynes                                 Australia                0.32.06

11            81       Yeong Jie Ting, Ann                       Singapore               0.35.38

Kaklong into the PD Triathlon

2010-07-27T07:54:00.000+08:00

Alhamdullillah. The paramount word for the weekend. Yasmin completed her first real triathlon race and in an open water swim somemore! - OK la not the Olympic Distance but it was big enough for her and the rest of the kids I guess. It was a month long wait and anxiety held within for BTHO especially Yasmin and ayah. First concern was her swim skill and secondly of course the open sea. Just imagine how tiny she was compared to the mass volume of God's creation. God speed all kids protected.

We arrived in PD on Friday evening for race kit collection and race briefing. It was our first trip to Avillion Admiral Cove as the event venue and the place was awesome - having the same stretch of beach with Selesa Beach Resort and Tanjung Tuan. Uncle Chan, a very humorous race director made the briefing so casual and in rilex mood. This year participations reached 1300 entries (highest ever) and 130 in the kids category.

We checked out the transition area and the beach later and dashed for quick dinner. A nice spot was picked for roast chicken and steamed rice. Delicious. Det and Naufal joined the feast. Then it was bedtime. Time for dad to dig the goodie bag. For RM70 fee, Yasmin got two race bibs and three snacks. Brooks race tee, Brooks 30% vouchers (useless since only can use during event days) is for ayah. But for being in the Trikidz team, the whole family got the orange Trikidz tees while Yasmin got herself a Trikidz vest. Cool eh?

The morning starts early just like any other days. Yasmin, Amir and ayah went for the hotel's breakfast. Yasmin only had a bowl of corn flakes. She wasn't hungry - perhaps race jitters. Amir digged in nasi lemak while ayah, the usual feasting mode la. Lol. We arrived at the race venue minutes later and met up with the rest of the Trikidz team. Coach Azwar wanted us to watch the Adult Sprint Category that was flagged-off at 8.00 a.m. Sprint category is normally for beginner triathletes since the distance is shorter than the Olympic Distance Category. They need to swim 750m + cycle 10km + run 5km. Easy right? But among Malaysians especially, swimming is the toughest sport to get a whole of. Uncle Saiful was there with his panic face and so was Imran's (fellow Trikidz) father, Wan Suhaimi.

The dash into the sea was kind of slow since majority of them are newbies. So, we saw almost a whole mass of about 100 swimmers flooded the cove fulfilling their new dream of being a triathlete. However, a few didn't reach the 50m mark and had to hang on to the buoy - perhaps panic resistance was not working. Uncle Chan was still busy on the loudspeaker mumbling jokes and sharing his passion for the sport.

Uncle Chan made the Sprint Cat to complete before flagging-off the 15 years old kids cat. This bunch is way much faster sprinting towards the sea and full of energy throughout the race course. Coach Steph made Yasmin and friends to stretch up and warm up for their flag-off soon. They were asked to take a warm up swim to chase the jitters away. Super Kids cat started at 10.45 a.m. Yasmin kept on telling that she was scared. Ayah was always close by to give the comfort and confidence. Most of them were boys and only a handful were girls and strong somemore. Hehe. Yasmin sticked to her kickboard.

The swim league was 150m and the first kid to reach back was so fast and still got energy to run towards the transition point. I was becoming a bit worried when Yasmin didn't come up to the beach when most of the kids have already dashed away. Then ibu pointed out to ayah where Yasmin was. She just resurfaced and started running in the knee high water. Ibu rushed towards the her and she threw her board and goggle and started running. It was a 100m run to the transition area on the beach. Ayah took charge and ran along her shouting encouragements when she almost wanted to walk. She ran and overtook a few kids.

Yasmin put on her shoes, helmet, race belt and pushed her bike towards the mounting area. The bike course is 2km x 2 laps and it's within the cove compound so road was totally shut-off from traffic. But the fast kids zoomed away on their bikes can be hazardous at times. Yasmin put in some extra effort on the cycling part since her bike was a bit undersize for her. Pity her. Yes, ayah plan to get her a roadbike soon. God willing if budget permits. She took awhile to complete her first lap while ayah & Amir waited infront of the hotel by the roadside and started to worry again. Some of the gang have already started their second lap. She appeared and still looking confidence and strong. Alhamdullillah. When she was supposed to make a u-turn for a second lap, the marshals directed her and a few others straight back into the transition area. What happened? I was not sure.

She just carried on with the last running league. Run was supposed to be 1km and mostly on the grass field with one water station. Again when she almost resumed to walking, ayah was there to give her the push. The final 50m was the most touching moment. Yasmin gave her best sprint despite fatigue legs and labour breathing. She clocked 23.22 minutes for her first triathlon. We were proud of her and we knew that she will nail this one from the start. Fookyah!

Pre Pee Dee Race

2010-07-22T11:41:00.000+08:00

Been thinking a lot, ponder a lot and let time flew by a lot. The last two weeks were fascinating, let alone having to layback awhile from hectic life journeys. However, the weekends were never spared from the usual Bangs! and Booms!

Two weekends and the kids were in the tritthlon flu. One Saturday we were honeymooning at farmers' market and come Sunday, ayah struggled to dash in Seremban Half Marathon and making the trip to triathlon simulation for Yasmin and Amir in Putrajaya. Hectic...but fun.

The following weekend, the same routine. Saturday laidback stuff while ayah trail up Bukit Apek and Sunday, the simulation again. Both Yasmin and Amir got the hang of it, the post workout fatigues, the hot sun, the sweat, the drink on the move and refuelling bit.

The best part was, they swigged in every meal served for them at post workout. And it lasted for days, even throughout the week. Of course I noticed that over dinner when Amir kept on adding rice and kicap. Breakfast was another breakthru. They asked for food, none like previous days. Even Umar can munched up to 3 mini paus all by himself.

In PD, Yasmin will have to swim in the ocean for 150m, bike for 4km and run 1km. We have done a few trips to the pool but I'm assuming Yasmin could not imagine the length she'll have to swim. She'll find out this Saturday and I hope the marshals will be ample to keep safety paramount.

Ironing the thoughts

2010-07-09T08:09:00.000+08:00

Only this time I had the chance to grab at some floating business. All this while, it was just an idea that came to mind during ironing. Yes, ironing seemed to help me with a lot of thingking. It's therapeutic watching those wrinkles fade away and the smell of steam in the early morning is awesome. Perhaps it's true that the serenity of the early hours provides the opportunity for oneself to meditate and think.

Lots of stuff crossed my mind. There was the time whenever I iron Amir's uniform, those collar stains reminds me to get him a new one. And for next year, Amir should get more than two pairs of uniform for each school - religious and primary. Ibu got him a new one from Jusco for RM15.90. Carrefour don't sell them, perhaps during back to school season only. Professor's shop a bit too far at Tesco Kajang. Swan brand priced at crazy RM25.00. We went socks shopping at Jusco after dinner. I don't remember getting myself new pairs in the middle of the year during school days. Were the socks so durable those days or my kids don't wear them properly? My best bet would be the washing machine maniac.

Life seemed to go on smoothly now. Alhamdullillah. We just need to take extra care of ourselves at all times. Weather isn't friendly for the weak at heart and physical. A strike of insufficient hydration will embark oneself into a journey full of irritating coughs and bended nose. As for us, I always on the look out for the slightest symptom. A flu outbreak would means no school, no taska, no work and worst part is no fun weekends. Bestest approach is to watch what we take. During school, I can only remind them of those unhealthy junk at the school canteen and the outside vendors. At home, I only stock healthy stuff and paid no room for too many snacks. So far so good. Ointment and antibiotics are always at bay for adhoc times. It's better to prevent than to cure. Heard news from friends about fever and flu they caught and it made me even more paranoid.

Had my first run for the week. Took the asics along and run was without any targetted milage nor timing. It was fun and the footstrike never felt better. The initial plan to swim at Putrajaya had to be shelved since Ibu was feeling a bit tired.

The weekend is fast approaching. Sunday will be my first appearance in Seremban Half Marathon - the cheapest race around. RM12.00 reminds me of event fee for the last few years. Now we can argue to sign up and choose to gate crash or leave. No Saturday activities which means we have to plan for something.

Voila! Another strike during ironing this morning. Perhaps Saturday morning is the perfect time to load some milage on those young legs. PD triahtlon is two more weeks. With no more LSD for me, Saturdays will be dedicated to PD tri training. Fookyah!

Trikidz Training

2010-07-06T11:59:00.000+08:00

Mak aiii...it's been too long since our last update. Father's Day I guess. Three weeks? So many things to catch up and still lots of things to pound. Those three weeks were full of exciting bits and some mishaps that almost took our motivations.

After Father's Day week, the routine went on as usual. Ayah was at his final week of long-slow-distance running and got his sporadic jitters now and then approaching Standard Chartered KL Marathon. Results from the pre-school break exam started flowing in everyday and some of it showed a not so good marks. Results from religious school came first and they flew with flying colours. Alhamdullillah. Yasmin claimed her prize, a Sony Cyber-shot replacing our faulty seven years old Canon ixus - about time.

Ayah bought it at Low Yatt for 900 bucks. Never crossed my mind to have a go with Sony but the offered features was simply undeniable. The low-light shooting mode - the major issue with point and shoot cameras. Canon ain't just up to that grade yet except for upgrading it's outer skin with slimmer body and bright cute colors. Yasmin brought the Cuber-shot for her school trip up Genting - the much anticipated trip. She really enjoyed every second of it, and in fact took those crazy rides at the Theme Park. Amir's turned to Aquaria and Petrosains came a few days later. He came back with lots of stories and it was satisfaction guaranteed.

Come Saturday, the eve of ayah's marathon, our 10 years old washing kaput. Out of 365 days, it chosed this particular day to be dead. And the laundry was huge. After a quick run that morning, we went to farmers' market. Ibu took hold of the kitchen for lunch while ayah did the scrubbing. It was the ~~bestest~~ day of my life which ended up with lower back ache. Two loads before lunch, stopped for lunch and nap and continued the last one in the evening. Phew! That was crazy but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

We were desperate to replace the washing machine. A quick grab at the cheapest deal from Sen Heng and Voila! A Samsung digital mode washing machine. Life just got better with Samsung.

Kids went for their swimming class as usual but the thought of signing up Yasmin for Port Dickson International Triathlon came by after so many jugglings. That particular date clash with Umar's sports day. We have to chose. Yasmin really looked forward to partake. Our latest outing with the Trikidz team doing hill drill running at KLCC Park last Sunday fortified the decision. Yasmin will be allowed to use a kickboard for her swim league. Beautiful. Now we have two more exciting weeks to train and go big time for Yasmin's maiden international appearance. Fookyah!

Lock lace RM10, two pcs Trikidz tee RM40 and Trikidz cap RM15 = Pokai Tridad

Stretch those calves and quads OK. We don't want complains tomorrow morning.

The first 10 reps hill drill. Going strong there guys!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-21T08:10:00.000+08:00

Wow! Look what I got for Father's Day? I got to buy 3 pairs of swimming goggles for my kids at 50% off! We are talking Speedo here... ok the yellow one is from Carrefour :)

School Break's Over

2010-06-20T09:34:00.000+08:00

Wow! Never felt better, perhaps it's weekend when all the adrenalines rushed in for lots of activities and chores. After only two days at the movie, we desperately attempted Toy Story 3. The hyped and anxiety surged us to secure seats on Friday evening. Though I was a bit wasted from work, the chance to meet Woody and Buzz Lightyear on their new adventure is a must. It's been a while since they have the sequel.

The story was awesome. Enough to inject juice of humor into the veins of the young and heart and definitely for Kaklong, Amir and Umar. We were entertained. However, ibu and Kaklong were down with slight fever.

With KL-Marathon approaching in 7 days, ayah clocked in the final long run training at Bukit Aman with lots more friends joining. It was a good run and I was back home at 10.30 a.m. only to find that ibu and Kaklong's fever got worse. Both of them can't move a muscle. I became superdad! With the remaining adrenaline left inside from the run, and refuelling with milkshake and carboreload, I finished up two rounds of laundry and dishes. Weather was perfect to dry laundries in minutes. Sent Amir to Kumon, packed nasi bryani for lunch and served them. Swim class for the kids at 3.00 p.m. Sent them over and I had enough time to be back for solat and checking on emails. Ayah's swim class started at 6.00 p.m. and it was a good time for cooling. By the time, ibu and Kaklong have already picking up the pace.

We ordered pizza since everyone were severely knocked out either from the fever or from house chores and perhaps from the swim. We got a voucher for an extra regular pizza from our previous order since they delivered it late. So we have two regular size pizzas. An aloha chicken and beef peperoni. As usual, those were too much for us so we saved some for Sunday breakfast.

Rise and shine for Sunday. Looks like another sunny day. No run or cycle today but it's Father's Day breakfast setup. With only Umar around at 7.00, both of us hit the kitchen. We prepared teh tarik, milo and heat up the pizza and breadstick. Ready to serve when the remaining of BTHO got out of bed. Today's program : Midvalley to get their swimming goggles replaced and perhaps a revisit to Amcorp Mall the flea market. Have a nice day :)

School Break Week 2

2010-06-18T18:11:00.000+08:00

School break is almost over. Two more days and life will be flourished with rush hour from dawn till dusk. The 13 days of break for BTHO kids were nicely arranged where they had the best life kicking moments. No naggings for homeworks, book arrangements for next day's timetable, revisions and early wake. They can watch TV at whatever time they want. Play games anytime. Sleep late - which is rare since biologically there are early sleepers. I think the scenario totally defined BREAK. For me of course, there were less 3 uniforms to be ironed every morning. As for the kids, it was kind of OK. Break and tuitions and Kumon went along consistently. A school well planned and perhaps paid for.

However, I was never spared from having a Kit Kat. Never once throughout these 13 days. Life can never gets easier, it just goes faster. From the moment tables and seats were left unattended at the start of school break, until now, there was never a chance for a breather. Phew! Do I really need a break? I don't know. Our earlier plan to just escape the hassle of work and slumber in a hotel room was shelved due to overbookings - knowing Malaysians. Perhaps a later tiny vacation should do.

Our renovation project restarted a while ago when ibu eventually completed her study. We spend more attention to the details of preparing the documentions and such. Mr. Cheong eventually is enlightened with the emergence of a long awaited customer. I respected him for the patience. He waited for almost a year now. We really hope that the project will be a smooth one and complete in an orderly manner.

The Karate Kid

2010-06-16T23:30:00.000+08:00

We watched The Karate Kid yesterday evening. It was an adhoc plan. Dad tried luck after came home early at the ticket counter. Voila! Two couple seats as always and I was poor by 48 bucks. Never mind. The movie just gives me the hyped after repeatatively listening to Fort Minor's : Remember the Name on the CD everytime Amir is in the car. The beat and the movie simply blends in.

OK, basically I've reviewed the movie in my other blog. Entertained for most of BTHO except that Umar might need a bit more attraction from the action and such besides the emotional part of the story. Yes, what do you expect from a 4 year old kid. Kung Fu Panda might work I guess.

Amir and Yasmin were enjoying it too. I knew Yasmin can understand the movie and it's plot quite well by now. Amir still asked me about what's going on at some of the storylines. I knew that he's putting in efforts to understand english.

School Break Week 1

2010-06-14T07:58:00.003+08:00

abrakaddole.remarkable art education

There you go. A school break program for BTHO kids for killing time. We had it scheduled since the two weeks will easily bore them should there be no activities besides staying at the nursery. As I passed the nursery to work on the first day, I saw a glimpse of them. Knowing nursery's layout, they don't have sofa set nor dining table - that's the major furniture in our houses. The space was empty and I saw kids sitting on the bare floor by the wall. TV available but not at the early morning I guess. It was a sorry sight but I know my kids will blend in easily - that's why we call them kids.

Anyway, tuition classes with Teacher Nor continued on school breaks, so Kaklong and Amir were fetched by Teacher Nor from Taska for one and a half hour. Umar had to be left behind. I have no worries with Umar getting along with loads of babies around.

We even signed the three of them for an art class. Their ex-kindergarten teacher organised it and call Abrakadoodle to share their expertise in art. Six art projects for each student spread out to three days. Van Zizah fetched them. It was interesting indeed. With guidance, the simplest art can be touched by these cutest little artists into a beautiful art.

We bought ourselves a new digital camera. Sony Cybershot at quite a good bargain. When daddy do the bargaining, it can't be that crazy la. It was a token for Kaklong for her good performance in religious school exam. And she really wanted to bring the camera for her school trip soon.

Kg Pandan Backpackers eventually held a gathering. We chose ikan bakar Bagan Lalang. Just a short drive from KL and Voila! we get new scenes of the Gold Coast and fishing village. It was a nice getaway though only for a dinner but kids and grown ups enjoyed every second of it with lots of catching up. None involve future vacation plans but we missed the jokes and talks.

Finally BTHO had the chance to do some major gardening project. It was the last on the list and Sunday was the perfect day. Ibu bought a grass clipper and so the clipping starts. It was sure resulted to sore biceps for dad. My hands still trembles hours after clipping. We even get rid of the tall cactus tree and maintain the white flower ala-bonzai tree. While chopping off the cactus into smaller bits, the getah from the cactus somehow got into my right eye. It turned itchy and watery and radiates for the rest of the day. Aiyo! I can't even kept it open or closed it long enough without pain. A long nap lasted until 5.00 p.m. reduced the pain and with doctor's medication. Phew!

The Wedding Week

2010-06-01T20:31:00.000+08:00

Medication briefing at CCU before leaving

It was totally a happening weekend. Totally emotional. Totally smile wrenching. Totally draining and battering. All the four days of it right to the final second. I think I lose weight drastically like running a full marathon.

Yes, it was the Wesak day long weekend. All agendas were put in place and wishing it could pull off with sparkling colours. BTHO travelled back to JB for Paksu's wedding and of course to follow up with atuk ayah's condition. My Sundown plan, still on the shelf. That particular Thursday morning had me drained from the morning chores at home and the 3 hours travelling. By the time to call it a day, I was already blinking with "low battery".

Friday was dedicated to emo day. An early morning visit to atuk ayah turned out to be full of emotion I almost shed tears. Atuk ayah decided to go home and leave the miserable ambient of CCU. He was so full of determination despite all the odds and doctor's advise. My initial plan to persuade him to stay changed. I feel him as a father. Nobody wants to stay all lonely in CCU and miss all the fun and action with friends and relatives. I told him that he's taking a big risk and he knew. Once changed to his own clothes and leave the hospital pyjama, I saw sparks from his face though deep down I knew he's still weak. We left the hospital somewhere at noon. However, atuk ayah had to miss to Paksu's akad nikah. I barely made it at the last moment. The important thing, all went well. Praying for the best of life for Paksu. Again, the full day camaraderie left me with little more juice to help out with some wedding goodies.

Changi Exhibition Centre

Saturday followed through with more happenings. Like yesterday, I was the breakfast runner - talking about runner for life eh? Again, 20 nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves picked up from the usual Kampung Melayu stall. This time atuk came prepared. Instead of having to wait for long queue like before, atuk made an early morning phone call to place order. Smooth pick up. Then Maklong and me went for rest-chair shopping for atuk ayah. We managed to get the classic one for 70 bucks. That was when I sparked the golden question. "Is it OK with you if I go to Singapore?" followed by a kitty smile across the face. Added some comfort words and logic thoughts. Reply was positive. I smiled the whole morning and text friends. Surprisingly they were happy to hear the good news. Yes, we have about 20 over Malaysian friends attempting the Sundown Marathon that night among thousands.

The wedding reception at Paksu's wife home went well - short and fast for me of course. The nasi minyak was never a good menu for pre-race, so I only swigged in small portion. Before it rained cats and dogs, BTHO left the scene for my biggest agenda. Three of my friends joined the drive into Singapore which took us a fast and straight forward 30 minutes trip. We managed to reach Changi Exhibition Centre just in the nick of time for our ultramarathoners to be flagged off. I only signed up for the half marathon considering all other family matters at hand, tiring myself is badly was last option. Ran the 21km race course from 9.00 p.m. and finished 2 hrs 13 minutes later. Quite a feat amid the humidity and huge crowd. We are talking thousands here. Easily 15,000 runners. The remaining wee hours were spent bunking in the car waiting for fellow friends to complete their full and ultra marathons on Sunday morning.

We left the venue somewhere at 8.00 a.m. with light headed and fatigue minds, failed navigation brought us halfway through the island headed towards Jurong. Thanks to Blackberry GPS map, we made it through to Woodlands and back on native soil. Uncle Det and Uncle Alwin boarded the 10.00 a.m. bus back to KL while BTHO attended the final stage of the wedding. It was blazing hot and pouring rain, a perfect condition to catch a flew bug amid the fatigue. I was hiding it throughout the occasion. Kaklong was the flower girl complete with nice baju kurung. Amir was the bunga mangga boy while Umar added cheers to the function. All was good. Atuk ayah was OK as well. Old friends and relatives dropped by.

Right after Maghrib, I can't no longer fight. I crashed halfway through the night down with fever and bunked missing the remaining family get together. Woke up almost 11.00 p.m. and travelled back to KL. The longest drive ever. Can't really survive not even an hour without a break for nap. Believe or not, it took us barely 8 hours. We reached KL at 7.00 Monday morning just in time to send Kaklong to school for exam. I will never attempt this ever again.

I'm happy to be back home!

Chicken Pox Week

2010-05-25T22:43:00.000+08:00

It has been an almost hectic week, for ibu and ayah at least. It seemed that everything came in one go and we are inching our way back to tackle the issues. After ayah's superb Sunday camaraderie at New Balance 15k at Padang Merbuk, I didn't realise eventually flu strikes two days later. Monday sore throat added up to the chaotic work place chasing deadlines and dealing with "dead" people. Had to abscend myself from Tuesday's meeting in Sepang when flu bug hit the worse. Running nose added to the ever annoyance. I had only Wednesday to realise that I had to go back to the apple cider and honey remedy to cut short the outbreak. Alhamdullillah flu was gone by Thursday.

However, the sick bay was passed on to Umar. That morning before school, ibu noticed symptoms of chicken pox on Umar's body. Ibu had to take leave while settling for her final report submission. Umar tagged along for the whole trip to UPM inclusive of a trip to the Health Centre. That particular Doctor Kassim from Myanmar is leaving UPM soon and guess how many medication did he prescribe for Umar? One bagfull like shopping from Econsave.

Umar was down with slight fever that evening but was actively kicking as usual the next morning. Ayah sent him to Nenek's house for babysitting since ayah can't afford to take leave. We left for home slightly late that evening due to the Friday traffic crisis.

Saturday was as usual - busy. All day out but weather was great. Cool morning with throughout overcast and shower in mid afternoon. That brought down the temperature for the whole day. We slept like babies that night, most comfortable. Ayah woke up at 5.00am the next Sunday morning - getting used to the biological clock alarm. Checking emails and updating blog. But a call from Maklong JB at 6.30am changed the whole serene morning into worriness. Atuk ayah had severe chest pain throughout the night and admitted to Sultan Ismail Hospital. Without further hesistance, ayah drove back to JB alone at 9.30am.

Arrived in JB at 12.30pm and straight to the hospital. Atuk ayah looked ok after some medications but a clear explanation from the doctor later that evening showed it was a heart attack. This is a big uncertainty for us. Doubtedly had to leave JB and back to KL the next day since kids and mommy can't afford to stay without ayah long enough. They have religious school exams.

Later that Monday evening, updates from Maklong JB said that atuk ayah was transferred from the ward to CCU for close monitoring. Having atuk to accompany atuk ayah in CCU was troublesome since they don't allow - hospital's policy.

Today, ayah went for work with still deadlines to meet but half heartedly attending to the matter. Fortunately enough, meeting went well without shooting galore. Alhamdullillah. Didn't stay long after 5.30pm to add to the current constant worriness I'm having. At Maghrib, another update from Maklong JB - atuk ayah collapsed from his visit to the loo. Heartbeat stopped for a few seconds but atuk ayah regained conciousness moments later. Now I'm already hesitant to attend Sundown. With Poksu's wedding coming this weekend, things would never be cheery.

I'm praying for the best for atuk ayah.

Project Lake Valley

2010-05-15T22:03:00.003+08:00

Kick start for Saturday was awesomely cool for BTHO. Daddy's not doing any LSD, which means daddy is pulling off all you kids' blanket early. No late morning breakfast cause we need to beat the early birds to win this game.

As promised a day earlier, right after they reached home from school, tomorrow daddy's available for any healthy activities. "Nak pi mana?". You guess it right, "Lake Valley!" all synchronized, all three of them. I wonder what they love about the place. It's crowded. The running pavement is just too narrow to squeeze in two runners and two walkers at the same time. Push aside a waist of size 40 pass you by. It is just too hazardous for a 4 year old kid like Umar. Deep down, I knew that they are looking forward to meet Mr. Turtle again at the lake.

Yep, we went there last Sunday evening. And to our surprised, our lovely lake have established it's own ecology! That is awesome. The WORLD is just awesome. Suddenly we saw crowds of people feeding hundreds of Carps, sepat, catfish and even lots of turtles. The turtles, they were simply cute wiggling their feet in the massive lake. Kids adored them. They even wanted to say good bye to them before leaving. Yes, you're right again. Umar started his quest to get a turtle from dad. Been asking the whole night. He is just into animals.

OK, back to Saturday morning at Lake Valley. Wait! You guys need to wake up at 6.30 to wash your school shoes before we leave. Dad woke to the usual Saturday routine and secured any errands needed. By 7.00am, it was still slightly dark. We don't need to go too early. So, we continued watching the remaining of Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen - we had to stop twice yesterday just to finish up a two hour movie, just imagine how cruel the world can be.

The playground was still unattended when we reached Lake Valley. Just grab those swings while you guys still can. It took them only a few minutes before the badminton fever came and I was the sparing partner for the following 30 minutes between Kaklong and Amir. Amir did well except he needs to improve hitting the higher ones. I believed in two years time, that could be fixed. LOL. Kaklong needs more power to the arm. Perhaps ibu's idea to sign her up for tae kwan do class soon could help.

We breeze walked around the lake for the remaining minutes which included some shots at the ala-Hollywood signboard - where Umar took a piss at the back of it. A perfect morning but we had to rush back to tapau breakfast since Amir needs to finish up his Kumon.

The rest of the day was plain normal Saturday. Tuition from 10.00 to 12.00 - a new security enforcement at Teacher Nor's area, perhaps due to current crime rates. Kumon followed after. Day warming up every minute. Dad took a nap before swim class at 3.00. Umar had to stay back since he'll be swaying mood around if he don't rest. It was getting warmer in late evening which we decided to ditch the ceiling fan and cool ourselves at Jusco. Phew!

Amir was asking about a guitar lesson at the Yamaha. I think he's interested. Even more when he saw Tooth Fairy. The fee was quite reasonable. This is a good chance for a father and son combined guitar class. We'll think it over the financial board later. Get the swim class over perhaps.

Atuk's Cataract Week

2010-05-09T13:41:00.000+08:00

Yasmin taking up her role in BTHO's community service

Alrighty. Ironman's over. Never did a second screening. I wonder why? Didný quite feel the obsession though unlike Spiderman and Hulk. However, will be waiting in excitement for The Avengers. The week that was brought the whole BTHO smooth sailing with less hiccups. The normal early morning drama parading to taska with school uniforms, bags, etc. Watching them leave for school was the thing that I never missed eversince I took over bibik's job. I get to enjoy the morning chills and doing a bit of PR with neighbours passing by.

Ibu took two days leave since atuk underwent a Cataract surgery at University Hospital on Wednesday. So far Alhamdullillah things went well. The second day ibu only stayed home running the normal errands instead of finalising her thesis. Mopped the dining and living floor, did trips of laundry and cooking of course. At the end of the morning, she's already half wasted.

Ayah was absolutely way out of line with work. Big boss suddenly handed over a big task that would open up a big window of being scrutinized during every meeting. That would mean a "Yes Boss" answer will be the best answer cut short every banging session. I'll take it as a new challenge. Should it succeed, I'll be proud of myself. Should it not, the world is plain awesome.

With the usual routines from dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn, days passed by like a fartlek. You pushed the LT and you took a breather at the recoveries. Meetings mean LT. Arriving back home early for an evening run around the block means recoveries. It's a great life. I wouldn't ask for more. Not forgetting as well, my weekdays milage was awesome. Testing the GT2130. Will give a review soon after it's first LSD tonight.

It really brought the true meaning of Thank God It's Friday for all of us. Even better, the afternoon shower brought a nice humid cooling evening to the neighbourhood. What a way to spend the evening kan? Kaklong raking dry leaves at the lawn, ibu collecting the laundry and ayah pounding the road like there's no tomorrow X). Ibu was half exhausted to prepare dinner so we went to Jusco for char kuew teow, pasta and chinese fried rice for each of us.

Saturday normally comes with sunny-side-up mode. Due to rescheduling of ayah's run to night, we had the whole morning to us running the errands together. Laundry, sweeping the car porch, brushing off ages of dust from the lights and best of all, rearranging Kaklong's bedroom. We moved the single bed from the maid's room into Kaklong's. Shifted my bikes and running equipments to the maid's. Now Kaklong's room looks a bit more tidier and cozy without big boy's toys around. Hahaha! It was a surprised for them when they arrived home from Kumon. They spent most of their time in that room, coloring, reading and playing. Nice eh? How I wish that our house makeover issue will be resolved soon.

Swim class was canceled since coach mistakenly thought it was at 4.00pm. Kids were enjoying every second of it splashing around and doing whatever "training" they requested as long as they can play arounf with the rest of the class members. Ayah went to the local bike shop to get Kaklong's tyre repaired while ibu watched over them. We arranged for a heavy tea time at Subway, Mines. Ordered the long one (was it 18 inch?) and the feeding frenzy begins. Kids were enjoying and they had 5 pieces of the chocolate chip cookies.

The other main agenda was to get Amir's replacement slippers. The Crocs that we bought from pasar malam ain't doing him any good, besides it was half a size smaller. Ayah was also taking the opportunity to get rid of mine too. Imitations will remain imitations. You save the bucks but ain't the comfort of wearing it. Even worse if it harms ones feet. I had chaffing once walking in it for only 20 minutes. So, Amir got himself 2 pairs - selipar jepun style but of course with Ben 10 and Spiderman's decals. Umar as usual didn't want to miss the chance. So was Kaklong. So everybody got slippers, except ibu. It was slippering fiesta!

Night come, Umar was already exhausted from the day's schedule and he missed his day nap. So, the mood swings. He better be off soon to call it day. He really needs it. Ayah left for Putrajaya after Maghrib and ran the 26km long-slow-distance (LSD) menu until 1.00am. The humidity toughens the attempt but all was good. Arrived home at 3.00am - dreadful.

Ibu and kids left home the next morning for atuk's house while ayah was half awake. I can't barely move a muscle but that won't stop me from running the Sunday errands while the house is empty. Voila! It's daddy's turn for showtime! Had a quick breakfast, milkshake for enhance recovery, did the dishes, the laudry and finally a 2 hour ironing. Phew! That was awesome. It rained in late morning, some laundry had to take a bit more time to dry. At this juncture, I'm already praying that the week to come will be a smooth and unmiserable one. Amin.

Amir the tool-man with Umar the side-kick

The Ironman 2 Week

2010-05-03T10:02:00.003+08:00

Eh?! Why Spiderman posing at Ironman's poster la?

Nothing much happened really throughout the week. It was as normal as can be. Perhaps this is a good time to review some minor details that we've gone through eversince "independance day" (maidless I meant).

Ayah will touch every one of you in age category. That goes the same with ibu I think. Hehe. OK now that ibu is a bit ease with her study (thesis submitted), it seemed that she's a bit burnt out with the pressure and stresses. Her viva was last week and she had some major improvement to be made to the report. One week dateline. She told ayah she's lazy to think about it. Now here comes the motivational skill from marathon running. Hehehe. Godspeed, you already can see the finish line, give it all you have and finish it - strong! I hope my simple sentence strike ibu's mind, but she was busy sweeping the floor at the same time la pulak. Aiya! Never mind, we have more days to come for more boostings.

Kaklooong and Amir! They came home one day and brought in letters for school trips. Kaklong is going to Genting! And Amir heading to Petrosains and Aquaria for two days in a row! Wow! Whoa! These are major issues we're talking here. Nothing comes and goes that easy kids. We need some serious talking here. I know that you guys are excited about it but first things first. Don't fantasize yourselves yet because it's still 2 months to go la.

First we have Paksu's wedding end of May. And ayah is running the Sundown that night also. OK, nothing to be kecoh about but the thing that follows are the most major. It's exam week after that! And here comes the heroic part "NO PAIN NO GAIN, No Bs, Only As cause that's the deal for the school trip". Was that too long? Hahaha. This is parenting heroism we are talking here. I was liberated to write down those words at the white board in Kaklong's room and upstairs and asked to read it. I hope they take it seriously.

Well, nothing comes for free. Some investments are compulsory to make plans work. First, the Ironman 2 movie tickets investment. Secured a 6.45pm slot but had to fetch Amir from school - he won't make it if he took the van. Quick snatch of snacks and off we went into the limelight of Mr Tony Starks's legacies. Amir was exicted everytime Tony suited up. Kaklong was well behaved, enjoying the popcorn though she's not into the superhero thingy. But Umar was restless. He kept on moving between seats, asking for popcorns, drinks and just anything to keep himself occupied. Yep, I agreed that the storyline was plain adulthood stuff. Sorry Umar. There were some other kids mishaps also with other parents. Lucky me, Umar was not yelling and shouting. Eventually Umar concentrated at the last fight scene. Stay cute Umar.

After ayah's Saturday's LSD, I was a bit tired. Was it due to the final push back to Bukit Aman or the delicious mee hun sup I tapau from the stall at the carpark? Perhaps both comes with the deal. Since ibu is a bit free now, she sent them to tuition at 10.00 when ayah arrived slitghly one minute later. Missed the bus. Ibu left for a discussion later and ayah stayed home with Umar, accompanied him with Ironman's animations on DVDs. Now only he's into it. Last night was the opposite. Hmmm. Fetch Kaklong and Amir at 12.00 at we chilled at home for the remaining afternoon before ibu again sent them to swim class. Lega. Since ayah's run was considered successful and satisfying, I hit the ironboard early, didn't wait until Sunday. To the rythm of Ella, Peter Pan and Hujan from the phone, I entertained the whole house while finishing a whole set of school uniforms.

The third investment was to get Amir a brand new watch. My timex had the strip gone. Replacing it is so expensive. I'll safe it later for extra cash and opted to get Amir's a cheap one. Kaklong's 15 bucks watch survived almost a year now. Amir should get the same. Off we went to Mines for watch shopping but this time guys night out. We went after Maghrib and secured Amir and Umar a nice bling-bling watch. A press of the button, the watch shines with multiple colors. Disco lights! Hahaha. But it look decent enough for school & especially for Kumon when Amir needed it most. Next, PS2 games. Been awhile since ayah bought them. OK la, for 5 bucks a piece, go get 5 games and get one free. A bit tough for Amir to choose the fifth one, so ayah helped him with Totally Spies for Kaklong. Happy gaming guys but only for weekends. Remember our initial deal?

Sunday was the same. Ayah went for Larian Bomba - the only weekend I can squeeze two runs in a row perhaps. Went shoe hunting with Uncle Det after that. Got myself a two years old Asics GT2130 model at a generous 30% discount - no discount, say NO to Asics. The whole afternoon stayed indoor. Kids were enjoying the new games taking turns between homework and Kumon. Weather was pretty hot outside but it was good for trips and trips of laundries. We took an evening stroll at Jusco, enjoying the cooling aircon, McDonald's expensive meals and some shoppings.

Ooops! I forgot to cover this one. Been crossing in my mind everytime I'm at the ironboard. Amir really need to get new school uniforms. The two pairs he's having now are history in the making. Another month, he'll be wearing what my mother used to call... uniform macam belacan. You know la those stains at the collar, the sleeves - kids like to wipe their mouth after meals with their sleeves. I hope his shoes will survive the whitish level. Hahaha!

Coloring Contest

2010-04-28T17:42:00.004+08:00

Nurin's

Umar's

Amir's

Yeahoo! Finally we are kicking our butts out after a whole week of dispair and boredom from stomach flu. Alhamdullillah. God have mercy. We started with a weekend full of crazy stuff. Ok la, not so crazy actually but we were kind of pleased that things turn out the way it used to be - packed. While ibu was at the final phase of submitting her thesis, the rest of us was in the pink of health.

They had sukan at school but Amir decided to ditch his attendance, left only Kaklong. Ayah suddenly was requested to marshall Chap Ayam Runners family run in Lake Garden. After months missing dawn prayer at Bukit Aman, ayah finally started again. Perhaps a good start for a come back to running. Completed at 10am & went to fetch Kaklong. As usual, school events will drag till late morning where kids were basking under the sun waiting for their part. It was 11am & Kaklong was still waiting for her sukaneka part. Karut. Definitely kids were enjoying their time and money at the stalls. Lots of craps sold. Come Kaklong, no more wasting money. Let's go home.

That afternoon we signed up for a coloring contest at Carrefour - it was part of their charity for the public la. Good for them. All three btho kids joined. They didn't win but everybody got themselves prizes. Ben 10 & Barbie schoolbags and Carrefour mugs. It was hectic but fun. Looking at Umar's masterpiece, I felt like sitting in a washing machine la. Hehe. Thumbs up for semua.

Virus?

2010-04-17T08:56:00.005+08:00

The tormenting week that was. The diary goes like these:

7-Apr Wed : We had dinner at Dju before iqra' class since ayah & ibu arrived home just in time. Kids had only roti canai while ayah & ibu had white rice & soup.

8-Apr Thu : Umar came back from school with signs of having stomach problem. He had bowel movement at school but he was not complaining. Mood normal.

9-Apr Fri : Amir stayed at taska with Umar in the morning. Both showed signs of fever. Kaklong called ibu to fetch her at school 11.00am, she also having a fever. All three of them stayed at taska till evening.

10-Apr Sat : Another babysitting day while ibu left for a talk. Amir at slow-mo mood recovering from slight fever. Kaklong invited friends to do kajian tempatan. Ordered pizza for lunch, the best thing I can think of.

11-Apr Sun : Cycle day but short one but did strength training. Completed by 10.30am. Thought of a trip to aquaria but kids were not strong for the trip. Stayed home instead. Had late lunch at 3.00pm with roti canai & fish curry from the fridge. Bad idea. Stomach became uncomfort by evening and it gets worse during the night. No less than 5 trips to the toilet throughout the night.

12-Apr Mon : Can't barely think of anything else except toilet. Amir layed flat thorughout the day. Both of us went to the clinic and got ourselves medical leave for two days and loads of medication. Talking about panel clinics.

13-Apr Tue : Still unable to do much. Weak. Umar & Kaklong to school.

14-Apr Wed : Dragged myself to work - late. Drove to work instead. Just can't barely squeeze the throttle and worked my way through the brutal MRR2 traffic. Attended a meeting in Shah Alam but was only able to sit and stayed alive. Ate my first solid food during lunch today. Amir stayed at taska. Still had no confident surviving a day at school. Lost 4 kilos from the scale. Not good. Need to work out the diet fast if I want to get back on the workout train.

15-Apr Thu : I'm becoming weaker after yesterday's routine. Still frequent visit to the loo but lesser than Sunday night. Decided to stay indoor for the whole morning. Left to meet Bacin for lunch and collect Bevvy Curve. Bought from him for 700 bucks. Cheap. Weather was merciless. Kids attended school. Prayed they survived though I felt that they would just felt the same like me - wasted. Ibu came back early. Now she's gone down with the same freaky sickness.

16-Apr Fri : OK. I had some juice in me. Body still weak, perhaps from the lack of nutrition. Don't dare to have a solid bite, affraid it might flush down the bowl straight out. Straightened things up by revisiting the normal routine I missed a week ago. Ironing, laundry & dishes before leaving the house sending Umar & for work. Today, motorbike. Alhamdullillah I survived the whole day. And so was the whole BTHO. Except for ibu - she still down with loo crisis.

17-Apr Sat : Graciously felt alright. Alhamdullillah. Babysit kids again. The same Saturday morning routine from house errands to driving kids to tuition & Kumon. Revisit Herbalife tea & milkshake. Appettite's improving and so was the continuous hunger to eat more. Good sign.

I don't know what hit the whole family but it was scary. Especially for Amir when at one night he was vomitting so bad. Now he's sp skinny and really need put on some weight back. So far he's been eating back & I have to make sure he's biting back. My best diagnose would be a stomach bug. A tough one to get rid.

3rd week done

2010-04-10T10:15:00.004+08:00

Phew! Another week passed. Nothing changed except for some minor adjustment here and there to suit the routine. Weather was not so kind though. Been burning hot straight five days but not until Friday evening. It turned ugly. Klang Valley hit by thunderstorm. Nasty one. I think it managed to bring the temperature down for the whole night. I was looking forward for a great cool night and late lazy Saturday morning.

Friday morning Amir had to abandon Elwani. He had to look after Umar at taska. Thanks Amir for being a kind brother. Though I was first a bit reluctant and thought of taking the day off, ibu put in some confident. Either we trust them now or never. As I left at 8.00 for work and dropped by taska to give Umar's bag, both of them were sitting by the window eating biscuits. Cute.

In the afternoon ibu called. Kaklong caught fever pulak. Thursday was Umar. She skipped elwani and stayed at taska with Umar. Well actually the original plan was like that la but minus the fever. Both of us kind help it but to keep faith they will be in good hands at the taska. Ibu was caught in the middle of Sirim audit and ayah committing for next week's presentation. Argh! How I hate new projects. Always on demand. Why can't we stick to the old ones la? For the second time, I left office at 7.00 and it gets dark fast.

I was surprised that rain continued in the early morning of Saturday. A perfect getaway. It was cooling for once. Kaklong stayed under the blanket - cozy it seems. No more fever. Amir running his morning errands with Kumon, pc game and milkshake. Umar tagged along. Ibu left to SK Taman Medan for a talk. I can't help to resist the calling of morning task - being the Ironman! Hahaha. While the crowd still in cool mood, completed ironing in ana hour. Got stuck with the laundry though. Yesterday's trip were still on the dryer. This morning's trip had to stay in the machine until weather permit.

Second Week

2010-04-03T11:19:00.003+08:00

It was the second week of school & after bibik's abscence. Things went quite ok. We were awesomely looking forward for weekend. Monday ayah on leave. Thought of resting in peace after the marathon and Sunday's travel, which turned out like the same la. Can't seemed to left the unattended stuff unnoticed la. But ayah did stay indoor, enjoying the luxurious time in front of the PC, the DVD and ... ironing?

As usual, Monday is Kumon Day after dinner. We had early dinner since ayah took the initiative to heat up Atuk Johor's wealthy lauk - we came back from Johor, remember? Four awesomely packed lauks i.e. ayam gulai kesom, fish curry and two more I didn't notice but trust me it's pleasing.

Tuesday and Wednesday is Iqra's day. Took a detour to say hi to Uncle Det through the one hour gap while ibu rest assured under her piles of paper work at home. It was pay day for ayah, so nothing extrodinaire, just KFC treat. I think our last KFC was in December 2009?! Hahaha. Oh! By the way, that evening ayah came home late. For a million years la, this is the first time ayah stayed back at the current place. That also because we have a new project. New project means more money. More money means more work. More work means more pressure. More tight datelines.

Not forgetting, weather doesn't seemed to help much. It gets worse by the day. Hot blazing in the afternoon, dark and ugly reaching the evening. Some night shower as well. We were fortunate to have our trusted clothes dryer at bay. Ayah change shoes everyday arriving home soaked. Lucky me I have two pairs.

Friday ibu went to meet up with her supervisor. Ayah fetched everybody from Raudhoh and school. Straight to Jusco to secure movie seats for Sunday's How to Train a Dragon. The remaining of the day spent cuddling in front of the tube.

Saturday is the usual business - shoe shines and breakfast. We signed up tuition class for both Kaklong and Amir with Teacher Nor. Should be ok I guess. Occupying their time more with knowledge and education rather than at home basking. Now we know la how previous parents rushing their kids in and out of tuition centres everyday.

Apa tengok-tengok?

A wedding and a marathon

2010-03-29T16:47:00.004+08:00

Day without plastic bags

As the ball rolls on, things getting interesting by the day. Some may come as sweet things but some just passed by leaving us with bleeds and sorrow - am I exaggerating that? Sorry, fingers did the typing while mind was looking for the flow. Well, actually it wasn't that bad but we just have to put it in a right perspectives to make it obvious to our subconscious minds which are busy with hectic days at work.

The countdown for ayah was finally over which followed with a not-so-proud achievement. However, it's history now and ayah will blog every little bit of details engulfing BTHO. The week was never lack of adventure. Kaklong and Amir started their Taska transit. That means, our day starts off at 5.30am. As the "Ironman" of the house - sounds cool kan? But I'm no Tony Stark, the ironboard is my morning companion. Spary, iron, spray, iron. After a few days, the spray had enough of my efficiency and call it a day. Choit!

Ibu transported all taska belongings i.e. school shoes, school uniforms, house clothes, slippers, towels, etc. I knew someday will be a day of rush and things got left behind. It happened on Friday. Hehe. Ayah saw school uniforms at the dining chair. A quick call and voila! There you go. Ironman saves the day.

Saturday, The Day for ayah but nothing stops until ayah left home for the marathon. It was wake time as normal, ok slightly late but Kumon rescheduled. Kaklong and Amir attended the earliest 8.00am session to avoid peak time. Kumon got family trip, so all sessions rescheduled before 12.00pm. The rest of the morning was spent travelling all over BTHO within 2km radius. After Kumon, breakfast then followed with a quick breakfast. Shopped for groceries since it's pay day for Government. We forgot it was Saturday. No plastic bag day la! We ended up arranging all items in ibu's car like it was a grocery store.

Ayah has been posponing for a trip to the barber since last Thursday. Delay things will end up huru hara. This is the day where I was running here and there before a race day. Ramai pulak orang. Had to wait a while. Ayah and Amir had our haircut, same theme for both us - the marathon haircut theme. I ended up biting my lunch almost at 2.00pm.

By 3.00pm drove to Cyberjaya with Uncle Nizam, checking in for the race and off we went for the next 5 hours running the 42km race route all around Cyberjaya. Ayah managed to clock a Personal Worse (PW) of 5hrs 21minutes. Carbo reload at Street Mall with other fellow friends and dumped myself into bed at 2.30am.

Had to cut short slumber party and rushed down to Johore for my cousin's wedding. Enough of sitting around watching the guests, I involved myself with the dish cleaning party. I was barely able to stand from the time spent sitting by the dish basin. The cummulative of it all took it's toll travelling back to KL that night. Lower backache, sleepy head and everything. The traffic from Seremban made it worse. Eventually after a 10 minutes break at Seremban, we arrived home at 11.00pm. Again I dumped into bed with body longing for a rest.

School shoes cleaning

2010-03-21T13:27:00.004+08:00

I've been longing to update the sequence of events that took place after bibik departed a week ago. But, hey! Hands are full and way out of my grasps most of the time - talking about running the house maidless.

I am thankful to my parents who travelled all the way from Johore just to babysit my kids for the period of the school break - but not until the final night my dad talked in his sleep about wanting HBO and aircon in my house. And thanks to my in-laws who came to babysit when I was in no position to take leave from work. I am thankful to God that I was blessed with three magnificent kids whom survived the transition flawlessly. The school break flew by leaving us with zero break. However things turned out well.

OK, now we have all housekeeping to our own. We are talking about everything here. From the big thing to the smallest details. Our first approach was to tackle the laundry issue. We bought clothes hanger, big one. Just like other maidless home have. Hah! Price was superbly expensive! With only a few hours window to do the laundry at night after work before sleep, this is a value buy. Now I can be the Laundry Manager.

My weekend will never be luxurious as before but I will abide. And so the MoU took place - in discreet between ibu and me. I spent half a day yesterday cycling - the last 2 hours helping a friend crashed during our way back. I was half awake sending them to swim class. I was waiting for nightfall ambitiously. My last sight was Barclay's Premier League.

I ditched my Sunday LSD. It's a combination of plain lazy and being faithful to the MoU. However, it turned out to be an interval workout. Dashed for nasi lemak, roti canai, newspaper and a trip to the provision shop. Followed by a family breakfast and dishes. Then it was laundry time. Three trips. Weather was helping indeed. Ibu left for the library and the rest of us spent our Sunday indoor. Kids were helpful enough. They had their study drill. With ayah around, a 30 minutes LT followed by 30 minutes recovery. So far so good.

Umar's birth & bibik's departure

2010-03-14T22:04:00.004+08:00

Things went a bit chaotic approaching weekend - actually it was only ONE day, which is today - Sunday. Friday and Saturday was normal but tight and hot. Ayah ditched run and opted to cycle instead while ibu & the rest went to nenek's house together with bibik to do a last minute shopping. Yes la, she's flying back home tomorrow.

As usual, Kumon at 12.00 and swim class at 3.00. By evening atuk arrived from Johor. Weather was also chaotic. Sky turned dark, distance thunder but it didn't get worse than that. Then it cleared again. Sprinkles of rain now and then but never once improved the humidity and temperature. I think these phenomenon have been this way for last few weeks. Strength, health and hydration are the key things to survive.

OK, I just to confess this - we forgot Umar's birthday!!! Aiya! How come la? Maybe we were so occupied with bibik's departure and the post trauma? It was only a few minutes ago when ibu recalled yesterday's date and told me and herself it was Umar's day. Now Umar is already sleeping la, all used up from the day's tight play schedule. Ayah wish to apologise for the oblivion and perhaps arranging for a making up moment later tomorrow. Perhaps a kiss before bed later tonight.

Now, let us roll the film backward to 4.00am today. Everybody woke up and left home for LCCT except atuks. We went together with Naufal's family since bibik Sriani also going back la. Now we are two bibik-less families. Their flight will be at 6.55am. It was boring drive, sleepy and a bit humid. Checking in was a breeze and so was the imigration and luggage counter except for hand luggage when bibik had to abandon some stuff to meet the allowable wieght. By 5.45, hugs and tears were exhanged, apologies and wishes flying across the hall way, they entered boarding hall and we were on our way back home.

The post effect from having to wake up at the oddly hour was taxing. The weather added to the anguish. I was surviving an hour nap in late morning but only to be able to shut my eyes for 3 minutes. Kids were flying all over the place. School holiday it is la.

We went to a wedding reception in the afternoon and rushed back at 2.30pm in the middle of a nasty burning day and tucked myself back into sleep mode. It was still a long process to get that beautiful moment in which I decided to just wake up in zombie land, took a shower and spent the rest of the evening outside. More air and wind was required.

Ayah and ibu set ourselves to bibik-less mode for the whole day. Got ourselves a new clothes hanger for everyday laundry, frequent the wash bay, making sure full reminder for kids'bath constantly and all other house chores. Insyallah we will survive this one. It's just in a matter of time.

Love struck

2010-03-11T22:09:00.004+08:00

A week ago, on dinner Amir shared his first love affair experience. It was hilarious. Ayah, Kaklong & Amir were on our way in search for dinner since ibu as usual got locked up in the library. It didn't cross my mind that he would whisper to me that a girl at school likes him. Then he whispered to Kaklong. We were laughing our way to dinner about it. Hahaha!

And today, when I was standing at the front gate after my run, Amir brought a piece of pink paper. Guess what? His first love letter! Wow! This is getting somewhere! Just two names and with lots of tiny hearts connecting both names. Are you thinking this girl is hot for Amir?! I know that Amir has got the looks but I didn't think it would happen this early?! Whoa! Man! Hahaha.

Ok-ok. I think we'll just take it lightly, I wouldn't want this to get any more serious. He's seven dude. Watch that figure and think how love with the opposite sex can effect your emotion. Hmmm...

Bibik's departing

2010-03-09T12:45:00.005+08:00

Too long already since our last entry. Perhaps we were stuck in tight schedulea. Our weekend was nothing more different from the weekdays. Adding to the camaraderie, this week is school exam week, bibik's final week with us and ibu is whacking the whole stretch locked up in the library.

At the back of my head I knew that there will be a total makeshift to our life and routines once bibik depart. But changes have to be endure whether we like it or not. It was always a hard time for everyone of us, be it financial shortcomes, time constraint, busy schedules, etc but adding salt to the cut is something that we just have to survive. Our hectic life helped in ignoring the deep worriness. My runs and thoughts about upcoming marathon kept me away from worrying more. Ibu's demanding timeline to finish her study won't see her harping about non-bibik days ahead. Kids, as usual are being occupied day in day out. Kumon, swim class, quran class, etc - they seldom watch TV anymore. That is a very good sign. Soon I will remove the cartoon channels from the package - make Astro poorer by rm29.90. Hah!

Bibik is counting days. It doesn't show on her face but the jittery is all around the house. Since Umar is down with fever for the last 3 days, bibik was happy that Umar is around to accompany her at home for the remaining days. I noticed that she's being a bit busy in the kitchen for the last few days. Every night she's doing the shallots and fry them. I presumed it is something for souvenirs. Yes, her fried shallots were quite a favorite for some us relatives. However, we do shouted out aloud when the whole house got watery eyes. Hahaha.

Betik vs Petir

2010-03-01T21:53:00.003+08:00

It was a mother of thunderstorm this evening, right after we arrived home from fetching Amir at school. The weekend of Maulidur Rasul was considered cooling but not until Sunday arrives - it was hot and humid like crazy. One can get migraine just by watching out the window.

Ok, here's a slot of this evening's father and son chat by the window, admiring the power of mothernature.

"Amir, tengok tu ribut kat luar kuat betul. Tengok la pokok bergoyang-goyang"

"Ye la, pokok tu kejap ke sana kejap ke sini. Bahaya kan? Kalau kena betik, mesti boleh mati..."

A second of quietness filled the chat as ayah looked over at Amir. Betik? Why is "betik"should be in this topic of thunderstorm?

The discreet moment ended with ayah and Amir wrestled each other on the bed. "It's PETIR la, not BETIK!" ayah shouted to Amir while burrying his head under my arm. How cute can it be kan? For a kid that age, a split of tounge can be so comel. Hahaha =)

Weekend Maulidur Rasul

2010-02-28T09:24:00.008+08:00

Dah lamo bonar den tak update blog ni hah - please excuse me for the nogori accent, we'll come to that part later. It was a short week for all of us. Only four days schooling & working. We're rewarded with another long weekend break. Friday, 26-February 2010 (12 Rabiul Awal 1431Hijrah) was our Prophet's birthday.

Perhaps we were too saturated from the CNY's long break, so this weekend was more like chilling at home - yes, the weather was perfect. With guilt, ayah had to start the morning pounding on the tarmac as early as 6.30am from Bukit Aman. It rained for a few minutes into the run. Perhaps a good mantra to start the beautiful and glorious day for all Muslims around the world. Alhamdullillah.

Abang Fadli Hafiz and Sara Sofea came over to BTHO to help over with ibu's project paper. I trust they were progressing well from discussions. Kids were playing, and a bit of crying now and then - a symptom for tiredness. By evening all of us went over to Makcu's house only to be stuck in torrential thunderstorm in Subang. I was surprised traffic was chaotic despite the Friday holiday. We spent the next 2 hours catching up with cousins before heading our way back home at 10.00pm. As usual, everybody gone to dreamland already la.

Saturday, ayah's cycling morning la - as normal. Kids looked forward for their second Kumon session at 12.00pm. Ibu had to send them sebab ayah can't make it back in time. 12.30pm Amir called from Kumon - boleh call eh? Ayah fetched them. The day had started to warm up. By 1.00pm, it was so bright and hot outside. Next at 3.00pm swim class.

Thought of signing up for Umar but it seemed he's more interested with the water than listening to the coach. Takpe lah, you just play in the jacuzzi. Awesomely, Kaklong and Amir showed new development. They have started to glide in the water! Hey! That's a front crawl you guys are doing la! Ayah was excited already on how fast they learned. Well done guys. The question now is - when ayah want to sign up pulak la?

Oh! Talking about Maulidur Rasul, ayah attended a majlis sambutan at our beloved surau. It was a grand celebration. We have bacaan al-quran from a qari runner up from Akademi Al-Quran. Beautiful recital. Ayah enjoyed every bit of it. Then nasyid by local school boys. Then a Qasidah and ceramah by Ustadz Khairi and friends from Seremban. Lovely performance of salawat and ceramah about our Prophet.

Calmness in chaotic

2010-02-18T09:10:00.002+08:00

There is nothing more pleasant to hear at night than listening to kids reciting quran class. Yes, if you lay back and let the stress from the day's work flew away, you might find it therapeutic.

Everytime I sat there in my car waiting for them to finish, three nights a week, those were the times that I took a breather. See how weird it can be when we chose to run a hectic life 24-7, the smallest window of quranic verses from the heart of purest humans can be so calming.

CNY break

2010-02-17T09:13:00.002+08:00

Though the December's holiday mood had just passed us one and half month ago, the month of January 2010 felt like ages. It was chaotic, full of fun and adventures. And now came CNY break. Honestly speaking, we really need this break. Our weekends were so filled to the brim that it passed un-noticed.

It was a four day break started from Saturday till Tuesday. Due to our planned trip back to ayah's hometown, which is a food heaven, ayah did his run the morning and Kaklong attended her second swim class. Another achievement by fellow BTHO, Amir signed up for the swimming class as well. He's a fast boy. He caught up with the class easily, especially the bubble session but the pedalling still need to control la. Too fast, he tires himself easily.

With our own sweet time and expecting heavy traffic, we left home almost at 7.00pm. At least we didn't have to brave the hot condition of the day that has been hovering over KL for the last week. We took the Lekas highway and exited at Ampangan and joined PLUS at Senawang toll plaze. Another 2 hours of cruising, we safely reached Johore just in time for supper.

Sunday, it was CNY. Traffic was magnificent. Getting from one point to another was a breeze. We had our family gathering as well. Barbeque style at our auntie's house. Loads of carbo & fat menus. Those shots of fireworks around the neighbourhood enlightened our mood. It was splendid.

Monday, we planned for a revisit to Kota Tinggi Waterfall. Ayah's last trip here was perhaps 30 years ago. Too bad, it was jammed packed. We opted to skip the waterfall visit and went to Teluk Sengat crocodile farm instead. It was awesome. Nothing like we see in the zoo but more like watching the late Steve Irwin's adventure adrenaline pumping act. The crocodiles were in action and it was kind of scary as well, knowing that we were surrounded by a thousand of them. We had our packed lunch at a very nice spot around Teluk Sengat, a shady tree and the view of on going bridge construction across Sungai Johor connecting Kong Kong and Desaru. A magnificent view.

Before we left home, we took a quick stop at Kota Johor Lama historical icon. A place that housed a war fort defending Johor from Portugese and Aceh's attack. Historical info about Johor's sultanic rulings. It was a great outing.

Come Tuesday, ayah had to delay our trip back to repair the car's exhaust tube. It was corroded and driving back to KL with turbo-like sound sucks petrol unwillingly. We left at 3.00pm and were caught in the traffic frenzy as thousand others did the same. Our trip back took us four and a half hours.

Kumon

2010-02-11T09:14:00.003+08:00

So far so good but not until today. Umar attended school since Monday but not today. I don't know what crept up to him or somebody might just mentioned the magic word - school, early in the morning. He was bargaining all over the breakfast table while I was enjoying the half boil eggs. As usual, I'm the one who gave way to that sweet soft voice of him. Aiya! How can I be so angry everyday? I want to be the good guy also la. So, discount it is. He was so happy, he sang songs in the kitchen while "assisting" bibik, talked to Bak Seri in the garden. Waaa...so happy eh? So was I, happily rode away to the office.

Earlier in the morning, I sent Kaklong to school. She got a Tahmid class, so she opted to skip the van since she'll be late if she doesn't. She's been complaining about the disciplinary action taken by school for late students. They'll get their picture taken (for whatever reason) and kutip sampah. Lately the school bus service ain't that good eversince Makcik Zizah's husband took over Zone 3. He's a slow driver. So slow like he careless of the world around him. Kaklong was almost late at one of her trips. It was a close call. If such a case occur, perhaps we need to talk to Makcik Zizah or maybe change to other bus. Or maybe - on a cynical way - ask them to take the picture of the whole van. Hahaha! Like can be simple and complicated at the same time.

A day earlier, we went to Kumon. Remember when I said in the previous entry that Kaklong might need some extra time outside school on her academic? Yep, we attended a briefing that was arranged to be on Wednesday night. They skipped Iqra' class, Umar willingly stayed home - playing miniclip.com. Kaklong and Amir sat for a test while ibu & me were briefed in an hour which later were consulted based on the test results. By the way, the place was setup in a way that it is so comfortable, simple yet attractive. Kids will easily feel the belongings. We might sign them up soon after CNY and see how they progress, especially the maths part.

Secret Saturdays

2010-02-09T13:57:00.003+08:00

This week was more like a fever week. While Kaklong and Amir were down with fever during last weekend, Umar again caught flu. He was in bad mood. For that, he deserved to be away from school. Only attended a day. Ayah was not willing to put anymore pressure on him. Despite his flu, he was so happy everyday that he get to stay home. All those learnings from school started coming out from his vocal. Mostly doa, short ayat from surah and some kindergarten songs.

Come weekend, a Larian Integrasi at school. Kaklong and Amir decided to ditch hari raya replacement school day for their religious class and run instead. Nothing got to do with any of ayah's influence on running ok. They just wanted to be around friends at school on non-academic day. Both of them participated. Amir covered a 1km route while Kaklong did the 2.5km. Distance depending on on their age by class. Ayah took part as well, in the open (parent-teachers) category. And ayah won third place! Everyone was happy. Took home a bronze medal and box of six beatiful ceramic bowls.

Later in the afternoon, Kaklong signed up for her swimming class at a house nearby. She's learning the front crawl this time. For future trikidz events. So far so good. Good thing was, she has some of her school friends attending as well. That's encouraging.

In the evening, ayah attended the Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010. Left home with uncle Det and uncle Nizam. We did the half marathon. It was a warm and humid race. Ayah was not performing well maybe due to the earlier morning race and probably the climate. Lots of casualties which also includes uncle Det. He was down with hyperventilation during the race. Fortunately we car-pooled to the race. We sent him home later that night.

Sunday, ayah was in charge at home while ibu went to the library. An hour of academic drill was rewarded with an hour of rest or play. That was the scheme. It seemed everyone enjoyed it despite some request to lengthen the recess period. Ayah obliged. Janji happy.

Downtown on rails

2010-01-31T22:31:00.005+08:00

There's nothing better than to finish up a great & worthy run with huge smiles from btho kids as ayah entered the house gate as early as 9.00am. The were joyful. I was only running a 10k lap around the neighbourhood, which eventually joined by a surprising turn out from orang2 kampung.

Ayah was still pumped with adrenalines, so we arranged for a small and short family trip downtown...by LRT. It was Umar's first experience and rare for the rest. Though Kaklong was a bit weak from her fever, she couraged herself for the priceless adventure with us. Besides, we anticipated since it's still early and also Thaipusam, crowd would be manageable. Actually, the main reason was that ayah wanted to visit Sogo for running stuff and this should be a great opportunity for two kills with one stone eh?

We boarded at Sungai Besi and reached Sogo half an hour later. Typically Amir will start asking how long the trip will take and when are we arriving. Umar asked millions of questions about anything.

We made a quick round of Sogo which ended up without anything to buy...good news for ayah. Since we missed heavy breakfast, everybody jumped into Restoran Insaf for a feast of Nasi Bryani. Delicious.

The walk back to the LRT station was enjoyful for us passing by the new CIMB building with cool wind and nice newly carved sidewalks. We reached Sungai Besi just in time before the day starts melting and rushed back home to hibernate.

Umar

2010-01-30T14:15:00.001+08:00

"Umar, kalau orang suka tipu dia akan masuk api apa?"

"Dia akan masuk api melaka!" jawab Umar dengan confident. Hehe.

4th Week

2010-01-29T17:27:00.003+08:00

Wow! Almost coming to end of week 4 and so far btho is surviving quite well. Alhamdullillah. Except for some minor hiccups here and there...well, perhaps it's normal la with batuk selsema. Yes, surprisingly Umar suddenly repeated down with a fever after one week recovery. Sabtu malam ok, alih-alih Sunday morning badan panas. Had to excuse himself for three days from school. So happy he was. Hahaha!

"Umar cuti lama ye?"

The fourth day, the same strategy ayah used. Caught him in the middle of his early morning Club Penguin game on PC. Reluctantly he left the game, changed clothes and obeyed what ayah said. Eventually he was chatting about other topics while both of us on our way to the school. No more complaints. Good.

But today, Amir pulak yang suddenly demam. Definitely he got the bug. Perhaps he was also a bit dehydrated from yesterday's evening run at school. Weather was too hot. Takpe, rileks puas-puas cause it's approaching weekend.

Kaklong came back with an advertisement for a swimming class. Ayah called the person and got to know the school is putting up a swimming team. That's good news. But some other decisions might need consideration. Perhaps it's either swimming class or maths tuition. Which one? Or can take both? We'll think it over the weekend.

3rd Week

2010-01-21T14:37:00.002+08:00

Coming into the third week. Monday Umar escaped since he still down with slight fever from the weekend. Running nose & coughing never subside. Ayah took the opportunity to stay home as well. Saja nak rehat kaki & malas-malas after Sunday's 30km event. Most of the time spent upstairs in the room surfing the net. Went out for lunch with Uncle Det, then came back home for more rest.

Kaklong and Amir are doing fine. Amir just got his timetable...finally. I can't bare the heavy load he carries everyday without knowing what to bring to school. Now Amir get to learn how to pack up his bag for religious school & primary. He's doing fine so far.

And they also started their mengaji class this week. That includes Umar as well. So far so good. Since Tuesday until today, ayah guna strategi last minute. I don't bother persuading him early when he wakes up. 20 minutes before 8am, I will hold his hand, asked him to change the clothes, bring his bag & send to school. No chance for him to bargain. The only way. No room for argument. Hopefully he'll get used to it.

Week 2 School

2010-01-15T18:26:00.005+08:00

Dah masuk 2nd week hari persekolahan. Kaklong and Amir going steady despite the school van timing hiccups. With more kids that means more time to cover to get them & deliver them. More time travelling. One slight delay will domino effect the rest of passengers, especially arriving at school on time. Hope they will adjust their timing. With the current late daylight, it gets a bit confusing for the kids. 7.00 a.m. used to be bright but not now. Some kids even missed the bus. Double hope they won't increase the bus fare though rumors say so.

Amir pulak been a bit concern with time. He's obsessed with it. Though he has been asking ayah & ibu a lot about time especially when it comes to time of arrival, since lately, he is adopting the skill at school. He's particular about bus arrival, about school bell's ring time, about school end but not about getting his bath & makan time. Hopefully he'll be obsessed with the latter as well. Ayah's Timex pun dah Amir pakai. It suits him as well. Maybe it's about time he get his very own proper "time"instead of those Ben 10 watches.

Kaklong, as always has been a great big sister especially when taking care of Amir at school. With some other spies around the school, which are our fellow neighbours as well, Amir seems secured enough. Kaklong always look for Amir when she got out her class & reported daily at dinner table to ayah & ibu. Keep it up Kaklooooong!

Umar, skipped one day school on Thursday. He was crying so bad. Ayah's bargaining skill went zero. OK takpe. Only one day. Today, no bargaining. Sent Umar early with those cute bargainings along the way inside the car. As ayah was leaving the school, the look at Umar's face, ayah was so touched. Though he has to attend school and I know that it's tough for him because he's 4, but he got a lot of courage to face it. It's no easy thing to confront for a 4 year old kid facing 65 crowded room with strangers. Not easy. Umar got my highest respect for his bravery.

Oh! By the way, just a quick update about our home turning into a cybercafe. We just got a new PC at cheap price. All in the favour of a good friendship among our neighbours. It's brand new but the price was so crazy cheap. An offer we'll go crazy to deny. In order to set up the PC, we need to reorganize our cute little cabin we called home. It's a good opportunity for a clean up as well. Macam biasa, benda baru kena lah arrangement baru. So barang lama kena get rid.

We put back our dining at supposed the original dining area & pushed the sofa towards the front. It's good also since kids & I can say everybody make full use of the dining table for homeworks & stuff. Even the lighting is much better than before plus the fan. Hehe. After work, ayah set up the PC & shazam! A new work tool. By 8.00 p.m. all 2 laptops plus the new PC were already occupied. Like cybercafe. Petville, Facebook, Cartoon Network Games, etc. You name it, everybody has it.

Umar's resistance

2010-01-10T19:07:00.005+08:00

It was third day for Yasmin & Amir, second day for Umar. He was in the refusing state. He insisted not to attend school. His stand was strong, negotiation went blunt, unfruitful. He smacked at every threat thrown at him. His answers were absolute. There's no intimidation he can't entertain. Nothing compares to his other siblings. Though Yasmin & Amir got their share of first day school blues, but with some rationales & perhaps a bit of threat, they obeyed. But this is something different.

Umar got the green light to be abscensed on his second day. Not because he was permitted to do so, but ayah & ibu didn't had the time to handle a long session of negotiation process that morning. Perhaps, we needed some time to collect our thoughts & restrategized.

As usual, the hard stuff have to leave it to the guys. The next morning ayah had to put on my mean face & hard stand decision. Whatever it takes, first stage is to seize the suspect whether he has taken his bath or not. Fortunately he took his right after he woke up. That was once step discount. After a quick breakfast & a bit more of question & answer with him, it seemed he was still in the state of denial. Ayah grabbed hold of him, carried him into the car while surviving his cry & shouting. He was so smart that he even wanted to open the other side of the car door for an escape! Wow! I climbed on board and grasped his hand. My second thought told me that perhaps I should've enabled the child lock before & this moment could have been handy. Umar cried for a minute or two before asking for his slippers & bag. All in order. So it seemed that he's still thinking despite the denial & refusals.

After arriving at school, ayah passed the baton to ibu pulak. It's the pujuk stage. I can only handle the bad cop thingy once & couldn't expect me to be the good cop in the same episode. He stopped crying but he was grasping ibu. For a mere 5 minutes, eventually ustazah grabbed hold of him carried him inside. He was crying out so loud that ayah can heard him a block away.

Ibu rang ustazah in the afternoon for some updates. He cried just for a moment. He always wanted ustazah to be next to him all the time & started worrying when ustazah stands up. He wetted the mattress during afternoon nap & cried with guilt & perhaps shame. Ibu fetched him & he told ibu that he wanted to be back at school again. We just hope and pray that the statement stays that way next Monday.

School blues

2010-01-07T10:08:00.002+08:00

School blues hit BTHO like thousand others. We joined the fiesta for two days in a row. It was fun, horrific and taxing on ones endurance. Our last participation into the first school day crowd was three years back when Yasmin started her Year 1. By the way, it seemed that the crowd grew bigger this year with more interesting scenarios & feat. We were there to wintess it all and experienced the camaraderie.

It started on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 when Amir attended his orientation day as a Year 1 student. Though with his 2 years exposure at kindergarten, confronting thousands others in a bigger environment took a lot of courage. When he was left at the assembly ground while ayah & ibu attended parent-teacher briefing, I saw a glimpse of Amir's red eyes. He was sobbing. I rushed down the stairs to him. He felt lonely in the midst of thousand over Year 1 pupils. I understand the feeling & comforted him. I stood by the corridor & kept myself visible to him until he's being lead by his teacher to the classroom. Good for him, he made new friend, Firdaus, a jolly & fun kid, who sat beside him & shared the color pencil coloring some assignments while teacher was busy with fee collection. A quick visit to the school canteen where Yasmin took him for a tour.

As Monday approaching, the suspense grew. Now Amir have to attend his first religious study pulak. All dressed up in white baju melayu & green samping, he boarded the school van with fellow neighbours. Ayah & ibu rushed to the schools. Ibu accompanied Yasmin at her primary school (she's a big sister now attending Year 4). Ayah waited Amir to arrive squeezing through the morning chaotic traffic. Amir was sitted in the Tawakal class & no one from his kindergarten was there. All separated. Classroom with low tables & students sat on the carpeted floor. Amir just sat there quietly while some other jovial kids acted casually like they've been there before.

Religious school went smoothly & Amir arrived home in one piece, able to locate the school van following fellow neighbours. Then the bigger picture came. First day to primary school. Accompanied him to his class which was moved to another block and stayed there for awhile. Upon seeing everything's under control, we left him to the mercy of the new environment. May God protect him. Insyallah.

Evening came & we were among the crowd to make sure our kids survived their first day at school. Handsomely Amir walked out of the school gate with smile on his face towards the van. Alhamdullillah. He opted to ride back with us while we listen to all his updates & reporting. Hehe. He was chosen by his fellow friends to be the class monitor. That's good news. His twiggies were seized by a friend. That's bad news. Important thing is, he's ok.

Tuesday, first day for Umar pulak. We signed him up for his 4 year old kindergarten. A preparation when bibik is no longer soon. Umar was cool although with some arguments and tonnes of reasons for not wanting to join the crowd. Teachers occupied everyone with sing-a-long activities while parents crept away in silent and full of hesitants. Our neighbour picked him up together with their kids since we didn't manage to reach in time. He was furious for our lateness. I understand the feeling which I promised that it won't happen again, at least for this week.

Wednesday, ayah & ibu started our work after five days break. We thrived the morning moments with wishing each other good luck. Ayah decided to ride back to work, considering the flexibility & most importantly cost. Ibu had to send Yasmin early since the school van haven't found the sufficient timing. Ayah & ibu later sent Umar. He played the same excuse game. Upon seeing our neighbour's kids, eventually he decided to stay.

Mini spring clean

2009-12-28T20:17:00.004+08:00

It's monsoon but it's time for some cleaning welcoming the new year ahead. I've been noticing unhealthy sights around the house. Very unhealthy, especially books and ancient documents. One slight movement, the room is heaped with tonnes of dust. Ayah & ibu took the courage to venture down historical memory lane for the remaining two hours before dark today.

Definitely I lost count the number of diaries I used to write back in the days but I found out today that perhaps there were 10 years in writing! Pergh! That's a DECADE! I don't know what to do with it. I think those were seven magnificent campus years and credibly another three years surviving the post trauma of graduating, finding a job & the reality of life. And so, the quickest way & shortest way to get rid of those is to flame it together with three years of old bills and other stuff. Of course, when talking about playing with fire, kids were the ones looking forward to lend in those curious little fingers. In minutes, ten years of treasure went up in flames in front of our house. Soon those treasures can fertilise for future greens.

Ibu found ayah's old sketch book. Loads of cartoon sketches and even favourite tv series MASK and some navy ships sketches. Amir went berserk! He was so excited about it. Page by page he turned and admiring all those drawings. Yes, Amir is an artist. He really likes drawing. He can spend hours scribbling those imagination with lines after lines. Maybe he inherited from ayah.

Mist

2009-12-24T11:53:00.003+08:00

It was pretty unusual this morning when I drove out of BTHO and saw thick mist covering whole of Cheras. Visibility was near 1km. I didn't recall any heavy rain during the night but last evening was a total chaos around the ngihbourhood. Yesterday was J-Card Member's Day. Surrounding traffic was hectic. I was caught in the middle of it and my body was craving for a rest after my recent travelling adventures into Singapore last weekend & to Kluang last 2 days. The back ache have been irritating for the last few days.

Anyway, back to the mist. Misty sights have been quite abundance eversince I started driving to work & found Langat-Bukit Ampang route. It was quite refreshing with no aircon, winding down the windows & let the cold breeze blew in. No more MRR2 unpredictable traffic chaos & I still managed to reach Ampang before 8.30am. Perhaps, it's school break & a thousand time hopefull that by 5-January 2010, the route still remains manageable.

Driving makes my mind wonder. I've been doing a lot of thinking when I'm driving, especially in the morning. No DJ shouting on the radio. A few minutes of thoughts struck me. It was Amir. By 4th January 2010, he's a Year 1 student. He'll be wearing the standard white-blue uniform for primary school & white baju Melayu & gree samping for religious school. He'll be rushing with other students, taking the school bus twice a day, many more than his previous kindergarten capacity.

How time fly. 7 years eversince we moved in to BTHO. Kids growth provided a good yard stick for one's life fruition. We barely see our own growth since we are stuck with everyday's errands & routines, well perhaps until our birthdays. Two more years, I'll be competing in the veteran category.

Yasmin will have to work harder for Year 4. I heard that it's a transition year for primary students. Hopefully she has the strength to pull it through. Hopefully she gained some from the recent Trikidz. Perhaps we might need to consider more participation in local events, not just triathlon for kidz but also running events. A healthy body, makes up a healthy mind isn't it?

Umar, insyallah he can survive whatever transitions. He's the independant type. Umar Geram bleh! Hehehe.

With bibik's absence, BTHO will have to buckle up. We have yet to decide whether to get a new bibik or the nursery. Ayah prefers nursery although monthly commitments will be slightly higher than maid's salary, let alone handling own's house chores. From ibu's initial response, she wanted the comfort of having a helper. I have the opinion that, we should start train ourselves to step aside of the comfort belt or we'll always be dependant to maid's-living idea.

With 2009 sinking away & 2010 closing in, I foresee a very interesting year ahead with more challenge & adventures awaiting us. We'll face it together one step at a time. Insyallah. Spooky :P

December Trikidz

2009-12-20T22:27:00.003+08:00

Hey! It's Trikidz time and Yasmin didn't let it slip away without another great effort completing her third one in 2009. Held at Precinct 6, Putrajaya. It was awesome. Though we were a bit weary from late arrival from our weekend trip, we had to rush to the event venue for registration.

Some quick grabs about the race, transition, bike & running route, Yasmin was more than ready. She did her training though it was only a few swims, bikes & runs but she's all geared up & revving.

BTHO was so proud of her confidence & achievement. She was outstanding throughout the race, with barely minimum supervision from ayah due to the longer distance for every discipline. It was 100m swim + 3.3km bike + 1km run. Amazing performance. Thumbs up to Yasmin.

Merlion visit

2009-12-20T13:51:00.013+08:00

Awal Muharram holiday BTHO escaped to the south, visiting our neighbour the Merlion. Three families on a roadtrip into Singapore. Ayah haven't there for awhile. I think my last trip was ages ago when 1MYR = 1SGD. Long isn't it? Way long. With the recent running event publicities in the country, I look forward for a step across the causeway, again. Though the current currency exchange may discourage oneself, a new adventure might be worth a check, especially with fellow BTHO & Kg Pandan Backpackers.

BTHO went one day earlier down to JB to pay visit to our atuk, nenek & cousins before meeting up with the rest of Kg Pandan Backpackers on Thursday. We entered via Second Link through Tuas & headed straight to Hotel81 in Geylang. Lorong 12 Geylang. An "interesting" place with it's own personality. Hehe. Only then did I know, this part of Geylang is the opposite of Geylang Serai that I knew with Malay settlements. Yep, we stayed here because it's SGD50 per night. Room is clean but to squeeze in a family of five, oneself requires an Ikea space management course.

We straight away plan for an Orchard Road walkabout for the evening. Shedding some blurr driving experience getting to our destination, we managed to park at Far East Plaza. Then the never ending walk started & ended about 3 hours later. I lost count of how many shopping malls we entered but The Paragon captured my heart :P. Well actually there was this one shop, Motionsports, selling all those gorgeous cycling, running, swimming & tri stuff! Nothing I can find in KL. I'll be back someday for a revisit. The christmas celebration was spectacular. How much they spent to decorate those walkways with lights, statues & whatever they have there eh? How many people really shopped?! OK la, I was no more amazed with the atmosphere when I ended up walking the last kilometre hauling my three kids taking turn every 100 yards. Hahaha. My knees were teasing me all the way to the carpark.

Group photo at FOC car park

We woke up the next morning with a little adventure looking for breakfast. Exploring the nearby Geylang alleys, crossing Geylang Road & Sims Ave only to arrive at a food court with a ratio of 5% halal food. A quick grab of nasi lemak & roti prata (as what they call it here, same like in Johore but not in KL). We rushed to Sentosa Island. My last trip here was crossing over via a cable car or ferry. Now, we can drive all the way. Easy does it. We managed to park FOC at a trial car park area near Imbiah Lookout spent the rest of the morning investing into a few rides.

Skyride for the braves

A lunch is a must for some vacant tummies. We rushed to Arab Street for a spectacular nasi bryani at Restoran Zam Zam. My second amazement here after Motionsport :P. Arab St is no longer a familiar sight for me as it changed from a collonial avenue to a very peaceful textile heaven. Masjid Sultan is still an impressive icon. A few wedding went on that afternoon, with hopes of getting the barakah from Awal Muharram.

With fatigue creeping in, we ended our evening back to the hotel after some tricky quest attempting an MRT ride which we decided to abandon. Later in the evening, a few of us opted to venture to Mustafa Centre. Not a place for the faint hearted as oneself have to squeeze between the closely arranged shelves, lots of people & the smell that can stuffed one's nose forever. Ammah 800 kali!

Amazing Nasi Bryani

Masjid Sultan

Arab Street Boulevard

Amir's graduation & celebration

2009-12-11T15:09:00.003+08:00

Lambat sikit update blog about Amir's most important moment. It was Amir's TTK concert and his graduation from 6 years kindergarten. Next year he's in Year 1 already! Hahaha! Big one's coming Amir.

Almost semua cousin stayed overnight at BTHO during the weekend, tapi semua girls. Hehe. There were Aida, Nisa, Irina & Sara. Girls night actually. Ayah was a bit tight with repairing our laptop yang crash kena serangan virus for both 2 nights. Sampaikan ke Saujana Utama, Sg, Buloh bawak laptop pi jumpa sifu. Eventually we managed to trace the problem & went back to resolve it. Dua malam tidur lewat. La ni baru ok...lajuuu! Tapi semua files tak dapat safe. Sayang. Especially gambar-gambar BTHO sejak tahun 2005. Melepas. It was my mistake sebab saved everything dlm "C" drive.

OK back to the concert. As told from previous post, Amir casted in almost all performance. Mula2 dance in gym wear dengan lagu Do the Movement. Nice song tapi we all tak pernah dengar. Amir buat somersault during the initial part of the song & all the way to the finish dance along. It was fun. Lepas tu Amir amik mike & counted 1-2-3 for the rest of the dancer to bow to the audience.

Lepas tu ada short story Jack and Fruit Tree. Ok la Amir jadi Lemon Tree. Hah! Lemon Tree??!! Hahaha. Ayah terus teringat lagu Lemon Tree by Fools Garden. Top lagu tu dulu. Zaman study la. Layan ajer. OK back to concert again. Ada la Amir covered about 4 rows of script throughout the play.

The third appearance was his solo! Pergh! Solo tu. Hahaha. Nyanyi lagu Your Mother. Mula-mula Ismail sang the song in Malay. Then Amir sang the english version. Suspend oooo...hahaha! We were practicing the song even inside the car, at home & whenever time available. Takut terlupa ooo. Cantek je Amir nyanyi. I don't know why but air mata ayah bergenang bila tengok Amir atas pentas nyanyi. Kenapa yek? Hahaha. Cover line jugak la, sekali orang nampak...kantoi! Came to the last verse, sekali Amir tersangkut! Alamak! Hehe. Tapi dia cool. Twice cuba masuk gear tapi tak dapat. Teacher J cuba cover dari tepi pentas. Finally third attempt dapat proceed & Amir sang until the end. We all bertepuk sorak. Kena pulak ada all cousins yang menjerit-jerit support Amir. We were there & we cheered.

The fourth part, a musical play from the song Thriller. Amir was the boy who got scared in his own bedroom when all those ghosts comes dancing. It was superb, those movements from 5 and 6 years old kids. Again, the song brought me back to zaman Jacko. Zaman gilang gemilang dia. Especially zaman grammy awards.

During the certificate & award giveaways, ayah was again touched. Bergenang lagi sekali. Kah kah kah. Karut! Amir received his cert & 10 A's score & 100 in spelling & Jawi. Banyak tuh! Tak cukup tangan nak pikul piala. Tapi all time favorite was his all time rival, Haziq. That kid is really tough to beat. Since 5 years, dia aje yang balun top gun ace. Takpe, hopefully Amir will maintain his performance in his future challenge.

We all went for pizza the day after for a small family celebration. Small family, small pizza pan dah ler. In fact nanti ayah jugak yang kena habiskan. Hehehe.

In the meantime, Yasmin have started her 2 weeks training for Trikidz. After 3 attempts, she managed to cover 1km with less walk. Ayah took the chance to get her a pair of New Balance 769 for motivation. Mantap & comel je.

Power of the Omnitrix

2009-12-02T08:47:00.008+08:00

Amir & Heatblast

The first time I saw the advertisement on TV, my heart was already pounding. Not because of the excitement that would greet my boys but thinking about the ticket price which must be steep. So, the silence reflects the decision not to pursue the dream of bringing my boys to the show.

It was until a few days before the show that my boys' beloved aunty announced for free tickets for 4. Way to go! By hook or by crook, this chance must be grabbed at all cause. Some deals were made among the members of BTHO. Yasmin got quite a good deal for not able to join the show, so she's staying over at her cousins' place for 2 nights! Wow! Talking about girls day out, it will never end for 48 hours. Amir & Umar kena makan without a fuzz or else tak pegi Ben10. "Alaaa...ibu ni asyik cakap macam tu je!", that was his script. Hahaha!

Planery Hall

It was quite a hectic day for me actually. I almost dozed off in Planery Hall during the show. The morning started off with a 2 hours trail run in Bukit Kiara. Body got banged pretty hard since a week without any run. Followed with a frustrated trip to collect Salomon bib when size S t-shirt dah habis. And the quality was also ridiculuous. Barely able to take an hour of nap before rushing the whole of BTHO to Shah Alam for a wedding. Caught under the canopy for an hour due to heavy rain. Rushed back to town for dinner, solat & calm down before show starts at 8.00pm.

KLCC was full of Ben10 that evening! Hahaha! I believed those below 10 years were the big fans. Every kid was wearing their Ben10 t-shirt. Walking through the tunnel between Convex & Suria was like being in Cartoon Network playland. The sight was a joyful one for Umar as he excitedly laughed watching all his buddies dressed in the same way.

Umar & a new alien from Ben10 Alien Force

Talking about rezeki & the Power of the Omnitrix :) surprisingly we met old friends. Kelakar. It was during the break between the 2 acts that we met Yat our collegemate, Azrul her hubby, my schoolmate and our neighbours whom brought over 4 of their boys. Of course boys were running all over the place as if they were Ben10 fighting aliens. Kecoh & huru hara sungguh! Hahaha!

Yes, definitely Amir & Umar were enjoying every second of it. As I came back from work Monday evening, I saw those aliens action figures in front of our tv on the carpet. It has been a while since they were crazy playing those.

Hari Raya Qurban

2009-11-28T09:09:00.008+08:00

Rained for days. Shined for days. Weather ain't getting better by the hours. It's turning extreme. I'm not rambling but just some thoughts that we might need to consider preparing ourselves. Eversince our wet trip up north into the Lost World, I was a bit surprised the following days in Klang Valley turned out to be so bright. It was freaking hot! I was a bit regret that I didn't take the chance to buff my car from the Ipoh trip. For sure it will at least glow for a few days.

The day that I decided to rinse the car in the morning of Wednesday, it rained in the evening. Aiyo! Hehe. Talking about car-washer dilemma. And the remaining days throughout the week remained with uncertained weather.

Mentioning extreme climate, it relates to extreme temperature variations. I made a mistake by having to organise a one hot evening with ice cream party. It turned the world around for some of us. Amir, Umar & me were down with sore throats & cough for days. I was thankful to Allah that it didn't get worse & both brothers weren't complaining. Must replenish & rinse those soreness with fluids...lots of it.

Health & weather talks can sometimes either can be scary or humdrum. BTHO decided to hyped our morning Aidil Adha with something different. Everybody went for solat sunat aidil adha together at our beloved surau al-ansar. Our usual relatively closed neighbours were there, whom decided not to venture out to balik kampung voyage with thousands others. The pack was nice enough to make the raya morning a small festival.

Our following adventure was a real ordeal. We went to Big Bad Wolf Sale at Amcorp Mall right after the prayer. Without any knowledge that a book sale can create lunacy among KL people like other sales, we were caught by surprise! The queue was snaking close to 500 meters, just to enter the sale enclosure. Inside, it was another chapter of madness. We queued for an hour before feasting into feeding franzy. My first task was to feed kids with their books so as to occupy them before boredom creeps in. Amir grabbed himself 3 nos. of Captain Underpants series! Hahaha! Kelakar la superhero kid ni. But his interest in reading lately will not stop me from feeding more books. He was attached to Calvin & Hobbes every night eversince he came across the graphic novel last few weeks. Umar, as usual attracted to a picture book of dinosaurs.

Ibu had with her about 10 books about self-help & motivational ones. Chicken soup for the soul books were sold at dropped crazy prices. Our box were flooded with books. I didn't had any plans to stroll around looking for mine. I just grab some back issues triathlon magazines. A good bargain of rm5 each for someone wanting to learn about the sport before starting it. And some non-fiction kid books about history & world geographies. Light easy stuff. Hehe. Yasmin had hers which I didn't get a glimpse of.

We rushed to atuk's house to meet the rest of the cousins & in-laws. Had a quick lunch & rush for Friday prayer. The rest of the days were engulfed in thunderstorm clouds where it rained & stop crazily till night. Yasmin spent the night at Sara's house, Amir at Akila's & bibik at Makdi's house. Wow! Everybody with different agendas. Ayah, ibu & Umar crept back to silent BTHO for the night before having our dinner at Secret Recipe.

School break trip. Lost World

2009-11-23T15:16:00.005+08:00

Click to zoom

Year end school break just arrived. Yahoo! for school kids but not for bibik perhaps. Hehe. Whole 8 hours will be occupied with 3 BTHO small members instead of the normal school days where Yasmin & Amir come & go.

Btho decided to join Nirwana & USJ backpackers travelling up north to Ipoh for the weekend. A short compact escape filled with wonders & joy. Since Tambun Lost World was chosen, ayah & ibu decided we only need to spend one night & two days for the trip.

No convoy program this time. Everybody took our own sweet leisurely time leaving home. Ayah managed to squeeze in a 5 miler around the neighbourhood that morning. We left home at 9.00am. Traffic was acceptably comfortable considering the start of school holiday. Perhaps with the ongoing SPM & mid-month financial crisis, most people opted to wait till payday.

It started to rain as we passed Rawang. To our surprised, it rained for the next 24 hours until we passed back Rawang last night. Our Ipoh trip was wet, wet & wet. Cold & cold & cold. The drizzling rain maintained it's intensity for hours. Not a chance for the sun to shine it's light on Ipoh.

Of course ayah's revisit to Ipoh would not complete without hunting for the legendary Nasik Vanggey. Paklong & maklong tagged along to Jalan Yang Kalsom for the original recipe & ambient at the chinese coffee shop. The first 3 minutes was in solitary silence around the table as everyone was digging into those precious vanggey delicacies.

Not enough of vanggey bon, we circled around town in search of STAR Ipoh. Paklong wanted to drive down memory lane of his school. With the low temperature dangling around the belly, ayah was hungry again. We headed of to Mee Rebus Ramly in Tasek & tapau for dinner together with some nasik ayam for Paklang, Maklang & kids.

Ayah accompanied Paklong for his cardio walk after Isya'...in the rain! Hahaha. We were walking as if it was a beautiful weather as some Tambun folks stared in curiousity as we passed a few mamak shop. We called the day off right after 15 minutes whistle blew by Liverpool vs Man City's match.

Morning started early for us. For what seems like it should be a nice bright day after almost 12 hours of rain, it didn't. We hunted for breakfast in the nearby Tanjung Rambutan small town. The morning market reminded me of the same climate in Sungai Besi, KL. Lots of malays & lots of things being sold besides those fish, meat & veggies. Traditional breakfast like nasi lemak, kuih muih, roti canai, apam balik were enough to fill the smell of another wet & cold morning.

We forced the kids to fill up before their adventure. Those hours in water will surely zapped their carbos in minutes. We managed to secure staff rates into the Lost World. Kids were enjoying every second & every square area of the place. Ayah was proud & surprised that Yasmin, Amir & Umar survived those adrenaline rides. They even asked for more! Hahaha! We spent almost 6 hours inside. All of us enjoyed the company of each other especially the kids. BTHO made move back to KL at 7.00pm same day as we didn't plan to stay another night.

All in all, it was a great short outing for us. Thanks to fellow cousins, PakLang, Maklang, Paklong & Maklong for a wonderful time together.

November Rain

2009-11-17T09:45:00.004+08:00

Yep. It may sounds like Guns & Roses song but it's true. It's wet season. Rains every single day. I'm talking about hours. Northern & east coast reported some major flood events. Macam biasa, rakyat Malaysia yang sudah terhimpit semakin diuji oleh rahmat Allah s.w.t.. If only those smart look & bellyful leaders sincerely feel the sorrowness of the ones suffering which I highly doubt.

Ok enough said about our "beloved" country and it's smelly politics. It makes oneself turned red thinking about it. Let's go back to our beautiful btho. Updates? Hmmm...let see now. Ok. Yasmin completed her year end exam & actually brought home some results last night. Though ayah was a bit frustrated but we accepted the fact that she really needs to put in more effort next time. And no more Facebook! No more Penguin! Farmville! Aiyo! Banyaknya! The final results should be out soon. She was a bit dissappointed herself & we all hope that she learned her lesson.
This coming holiday, ayah thought of taking up swimming lesson & will get Yasmin to join. And perhaps if weather permits, ayah will invite her to join in some of my routine workouts. At least she can be fit, eat well, fresh mind & full of anxiety.

On 7-November, TTK had their parent-teacher's day. OK, his results were slightly off the target compared to previous ones but the competition was high. The same kid got no. 1 & 2. A new kid on the block swiped Amir off his 3rd rank. So Amir had to take no.4. It felt like survival of the fittest, walaupun baru tadika. Hmmm...hopefully he'll excel in primary school next year. Yasmin was also showing good results during TTK but apparently the performance dropped marginally. There should be some kind of formula to resolve these. We'll talk about it later.

So, now Amir is busy rehersing for his graduation concert. Surprisingly he gained his teacher's trust & secured like 4 casts! Giler kentang! Nak jadi hero ke apa ni Amir?! He'll be singing Your Mother, alone. He'll be replacing a kid with in a Thriller dance slot. He'll be doing an acrobatic act in a exercise scene & he will also take part in one of those dialogue scenes. Ammmah! Teacher Ros puji dia sebab dia all rounder. Bagi aje apa, semua boleh. Hahaha! Alhamdullillah.

Not forgetting our smallest player. Farid Umar. Haji Mustapa! Haji Mam! All those nicknames Yasmin called him. Becoming cuter by the day & of course brilliant. Now he's taking over the pc slowly from Amir & Yasmin. Surprisingly last night he stayed with Penguin & not the slightest movement nak ikut ayah & ibu hantar Yasmin & Amir pi ngaji. Wow! When we came back he's already asleep. Tired I guess. Hehe. He's also tagging along a teddy bear. Sleeps with it. Talk to it. Hug it. So cute. Geram je ayah tengok. Hahaha.

OK. Ibu is currently a bit tight with her final paper. No comment about her. Hopefully she has the strenght to give it a big push to complete it. Ayah cameback from my only roadtrip with friends on 8-Nov. Yes, I joined the Powerman in Seri Manjung. With lack of training, I survived but with agony. Now, in recovery stage. Next event will be the Salomon xtrail run in 6-Dec, a day after Amir's graduation concert.

Friends came for party!

2009-10-27T15:17:00.003+08:00

Julung-julung kali (susah nak guna wording ni) btho hosted such an event, especially when it comes to non-relatives gathering. However, we took the risk and trusted Yasmin's faith in her friends.

Yasmin was looking forward for a birthday party, walaupun dah tua...hehehe. Takpe, ayah & ibu bagi chance & we'll assess her hosting skills. Up to Saturday morning, ayah & ibu still in doubt about the response from Yasmin's invitation. She invited about 7 of her school friends including our neighbours. Even at the very last hours, while ayah was in the middle of Langat (cycling of course), ibu called & shared about her worriness. "Apa kita nak buat kalau kawan-kawan dia tak datang?". Well, we'll think of something when the time comes.

By 12.30pm ayah rode off to collect kek coklat from a friend & had to loan a camera from another friend sebab last minute pulak our trusted 5 year old Canon buat hal. Sekali pinjam DSLR daaa...bantai je.

As ayah arrived home at almost 2.00pm, there were about 7 guests already! Wow! Sambutan yang menggalakkan. Foods & drinks dah penuh atas meja. Yasmin's friends dah penuh & kept on coming for the remaining hours. All in all, kita hosted about 18 kids! Giler kentang! Yang datang terus aje makan & yang lain dah tak sabar nak main games since ibu dah war-war kan kat diorang.

We held the musical chair, all 18 of them. Just imagine all the chairs we have in btho & the space it occupied. By the song of Mama Mia (Yasmin's favourite of course), kids were enjoying every second of it. Then, it was time to pin the pony's tail. Hasil seni Amir, dia telah bermurah hati untuk menyumbangkan hasil lukisan kuda nya untuk game ni. Puas la budak-budak ni dok menampal ekor kuda dengan mata bertutup. Qeue bukan main panjang.

Semua orang dapat hadiah berupa susu coklat dutch lady. Hahaha. Janji ada hadiah walaupun bajet ciput. Kena pulak memang tengah dahaga, lazat sekali. Dah puas games, it was time for their own activities. Boys bersarang kat depan tv dengan PS2 ler. Girls dalam bilik main barbie dolls & ada jugak yang occupy laptop surfing internets & facebook. Ayah & ibu made way for them sampai la parents diorang datang fetch. Alhamdullillah semua berjalan smoothly & rezeki dapat kita share sama-sama dengan kawan2 Yasmin. Happy birthday KakLong!

October Fest

2009-10-22T14:27:00.003+08:00

Liat sangat ayah nak update blog btho lately. Either sebab takde apa nak blog or takde free flows of ideas. However, to be fair I might take this relaxing moment right now at home, in the room with the sound of raindrops outside the window & most importantly a nice quiet cool afternoon. Perhaps these could help.

The last few weekends in the middle of Syawal towards the end was kind of hectic, espeacially when it comes to weekends. The whole KL was chaotic, even worse than normal working days. All roads & junctions jammed hard thus holding oneself to fulfill all those raya open house invitations. As for us, we just stick around the sub-urban areas. We picked our destinations & invitations as to avoid pemakanan yang huru hara & travelling fatigue.

The last week of Syawal, ibu departed to Brisbane for a seminar. A whole one week without ibu & only & ayah only took charge. As expected, everybody played their part & behaved. Alhamdullillah. Amir sat his final exam. Doing the maths was a bit hard on him, hopefully he survived all those demanding stuff at his age. Alhamdullillah jugak Yasmin didn't complain about her regular headaches she had before ibu left. Yes, she was abscents for a few days from school waking up with a headache. We managed to take a trip to HUKM & survived the 4 hours waiting. Good news was Yasmin didn't have any fault her sight. Another visit will be end of December.

Ibu arrived the day Yasmin took part in her second triathlon event. This time organised by Young Endurance Athlete (YEA), some of ayah's friend also. Took place at Precint 6 swimming pool. Despite proper time for training, Yasmin made us proud by not giving up & completed the competition. Too bad ayah didn't clock her time but I think she managed to secure 39th place out of 50. Happy birthday to Yasmin since October is her birthday month.

JB raya wave

2009-09-26T11:22:00.002+08:00

Dah puas beraya di JB now it's time orang JB pulak serang btho. Waves by waves. First wave sampai at 2.00pm by atuk & maklong sefamili. Kids were looking forward to play with Najihah especially Yasmin. Ayah took the chance to make appointment untuk bawak atuk pi jumpa Dr. Kader. Just to get his advise on atuk's complaints about chest pain. The consultation lasted for an hour ended with all of us starving since we didn't had lunch & the chit chat went around delicious & healthy food servings. Hahaha.

Kalau la boleh ayah capture all those healthy Malay menu yang Dr. Kader sebut, alangkah bagusnya. Antaranya seperti bubur kacang, bubur pulut hitam, buah-buahan (durian high in omega 3), kacang (peas, kacang pol, badam, wallnut, dll), nasi lemak, nasi bryani, nasi kerabu or any nasi servings yang mengandungi santan, even kambing is bagus compared to ayam yang sekarang disuntik hormon untuk fast production. Ayam kampung or ayam Dr. Zainol yang organik pun ok. Antara yang paling tinggi content omega 3 is telur LTK, telur itik. Ayam belanda pun bagus sebab daging dia bersih. Ikan masih lagi the best source of good food sebab ikan masih pure dari sebarang suntikan hormon dll. Fuh! Giler kentang banyak rupanya makanan kita yang masih boleh dimakan compared to all those fast & instant food. Tak payah kata McD or KFC, even cube ayam KNORR pun penuh dgn MSG or lebih dikenali dengan panggilan Aji.

Menjelang lepas maghrib, btho dah penuh dengan sanak saudara dari bahagian atuk johor. Ada dekat 7 kereta depan rumah. Dalam rumah toksah citer ler. Setiap ruang diisi, begitu jugak dengan meja makan. Terasa btho memerlukan some expansion, Insyallah dalam sebulan dua lagi. Terasa gembira bila ikatan silaturrahim di antara keluarga masih terjalin. Ada famili che yah, famili Yin, Ogy, mak busu parit botak, anjang & famili. Mantap.

Ramadhan to Syawal

2009-09-23T12:31:00.003+08:00

Alhamdullillah btho panjatkan kesyukuran kepadaNya di atas rahmat & nikmat yang dikurniakan kepada kami dalam menjalani ibadah & amalan sepanjang Ramadhan. Nothing to be proud of but things are improving than before. With our beautiful new surau completed, we played our role dalam mengimarahkan kehadiran kami sekeluraga dengan tarawih, tazkirah & majlis berbuka puasa. Those were great moments. We always wanted to be there every night, together with the rest of our fellow kawan-kawan sekampung. Yasmin & Amir enjoyed those play & pray time with friends & new friends. Ayah & ibu always looking forward for the tazkirah. We hope & pray untuk sama-sama berjumpa Ramadhan yang akan datang. Thumbs up to Yasmin for the outstanding puasa days & so did Amir.

We left for JB on Saturday. Though our earlier plan was to gerak at 4.00am, we abandoned it sebab bangun sahur pun dah kul 5.00am. Then sambung tidur. Bangun at 9.00am. Kedebak kedebuk 10.30am we all left home masuk highway. Trafik mula karut at Bukit Mahkota, so we diverted our way to Lekas & joined Plus again at Seremban. Journey was smooth all the way to JB. Our last iftar with kaum JB was simple.

Syawal came on Sunday. Pi solat aidilfitri at masjid Kem Majidee. Crowd was small sebab maybe abang-abang askar ramai yang balik kampung. So, gema takbir pagi tu kurang sikit compared to Masjid Pasir Pelangi yang we all attended for previous raya. Balik solat, balun ketupat & off we went for our tanggungjawab berziarah. Dapat cover a few houses & it was fun, especially when we saw happy faces of laughter & smiles from our family members.

Second hari raya was the receiving part. Friends and families repay the visit from morning till night. We were truly in festive mood. Great moments.

Third day was time to jalan-jalan again, extended the ziarah coverage outside JB. It was our normal routine. Berduyun-duyun berkonvoi dari JB ke Batu Pahat rumah makcik. Our 10 cars contributed to Johore's traffic congestion. Almost every road between JB to Muar was in raya mood.

We headed back to KL at 7.00am joining the first wave of raya traffic. Got stuck between r&r Seremban and Nilai sebab ada lori masuk parit. Reached our true kampung btho at 11.00pm.

Taqwa

2009-09-03T05:53:00.007+08:00

Dah lama sangat ayah nak bukak kamus or browse through the internet to find the meaning of taqwa tapi dok postpone. It was until last night's tazkirah that our ustaz managed to define it in a 20 minutes share of thoughts about being a muslim yang bertaqwa.

With the Ramadhan in it's limelight, the word taqwa are being spoken everywhere. The tazkirah can be summarised as follows:

To get us muslims to the level of taqwa is not an easy task. We have to work hard for it. Work hard to climb up the taqwa ladder. It is like the pyramid ladder where the number of us muslims quantify the base of each level of the taqwa ladder. The first base should be us all muslims. This would be the largest group of the level where everybody declare oneself of being a muslim. This relates to the puasa definition. All muslims would be fasting in Ramadhan.

Ustaz made an example of a scenario at a typical pasar ramadhan. Muslims yang tutup aurat & not. Both will say they are fasting. What is the meaning of fasting if aurat is not taken care of? That's where the meaning of berpuasa comes in. Wajah puasa comes with three things : tidak makan, tidak minum & tidak jimak di siang hari. All those pasar ramadhan people had this wajah of puasa. All of them did not do all those three things. Do they have the ROH of puasa? ROH of puasa is avoiding oneself from losing pahala puasa which is keeping ourselves from doing anyhting bad. Keep eyes, hands, mouth, legs, our souls clean during fasting. Until then, it would be us muslim yang beriman or so called mukminin & mukminat.

The next level of it would be the one ustaz called as mukhlisin. It is where the word IKHLAS is defined. It is not the ikhlas that we normally expressed or convery but the ikhlas that is awarded by Allah s.w.t.. Ikhlas yang Allah anugerahkan untuk umatnya. Perasaan ikhlas untuk beribadat, beramal ke jalan Allah tanpa rasa untuk bermegah, berlakon, etc.

Then comes the next level, which is Mukhsinin. This means people who are doing good deeds. Orang sentiasa nak buat kebaikan. Dia akan sentiasa berfikir bagaimana nak buat kebaikan. Sebagai contoh tolong orang, sedekah, etc.

Tahap yang paling atas is taqwa.

Long merdeka weekend

2009-08-31T23:52:00.005+08:00

With the Ramadhan have passed our eleventh day fasting & beramal, ayah & ibu eventually managed to join our qariah at tarawih. Kaklong, amir & umar stayed home. Semua tak puasa sebab ibu bagi diskaun since pagi tadi tak bangun sahur sebab terlajak tidur. Maklum lah, cuti panjang.

Weather was great, just enough sunshine to dry up those toto & carpets yang bibik basuh last Friday after Umar wetted it during the night. It was a long weekend. Malaysia "celebrated" it's 52nd independence today. BTHO was busy commuting between home & atuk's house while ayah stayed home with Umar. That night Kaklong slept over at Sara's house while the rest of BTHO went for a taste of the famously talked Burger Otai in Ampang Jaya. Nothing extra ordinary actually. It just had more of those sauce & mayo.

Sunday was spent indoors. All outdoor activities were KIVed. Fetching kaklong was delayed since a trip to a new food spot was arranged with Fadli Hafiz. We had our buka puasa at home, ayah went for tarawih later. While Amir & Umar slept at home, ayah & ibu went to fetch kaklong & continued to William's corner in Taman Megah. New spot introduced with new menus. Ayah had bbq ribs. Beef was so soft. Ibu had fried crab fried rice while Fadli had fish & chips. A bit pricey but should we came with total empty stomach, it would be worth a dig. William himself, a mualaf, was a unique figure.

Monday 31-August the merdeka day. The government decided to reward the people by increasing the fuel price of ron97 to RM2.05 starting 1-September. Cruel isn't it? With people losing jobs, companies shutting down, sugar stock went wild, this was like spraying gasoline to a fire. May Allah make us strong & show us the road to taqwa.

Ramadhan 1430H/2009M

2009-08-24T09:06:00.005+08:00

Alhamdullillah this year Ramadhan come again & BTHO dipanjangkan umur untuk bertemu Ramadhan dengan izinNya. This year BTHO are prepared to spend Ramadhan to it's fullest to gain all the berkat as Allah give in the month of Ramadhan. Insyallah.

Updating BTHO's progress and achievement shall be our introduction for today, which later will cover some ilmu that ayah gathered during tazkirah at tarawih last night. As Allah said, ilmu shall be the one that remains as pahala after we die besides prayers from anak yang soleh & also sedekah jariah.

BTHO spent our first Ramadhan back in ayah's hometown. Alhamdullillah with the rezki that we get, ayah decided to ziarah our nenek & atuk and spend the Ramadhan with them while we have the chance. As anticipated, our first fasting day was a bit tiresome. Ayah spent most of the time in hibernation mode. Yasmin managed to survive her first puasa successfully, keeping energy level low whilst playing with cousin. Amir only managed to spare his puasa until 9.00am. It's was ok, his thought to commit to puasa was already an achievement. Umar was as usual didn't stop filling up with Milo & munchies.

Came Sunday, we headed back to KL & this time Yasmin & Amir survived the whole journey & successfully puasa the whole day. Alhamdullillah. Thumbs up to both of you, despite some groans now and then from Amir, especially. With some encouragements and psychology, he managed to cool down until the azan.

Alhamdullillah ayah went for tarawih at our beloved surau al-Ansar. Our surau was eventually opened for jemaah on 1-August after surviving almost 2 years gathering funds. It was a landmark for our qariah. Tarawih was full. We did 8 rakaat with a tazkirah in between by an ustaz from Perlis. The ilmu shared was about taubah. The followings shall be the summary of it:

Taubah is something that we sometimes take for granted. The kalimah "astaghfirullahalazim" is simple but yet it brings a lot of timbangan kebaikan if said in ikhlas.
Ada 8 perkara yang menunjukkan taubat kita diterima Allah tapi ustaz hanya share 2 daripadanya.
Yang pertama - jika kita menghadiri majlis ilmu, kita akan terasa untuk kembali menghadirinya.
Yang kedua -
Huraiannya. Majlis ilmu ni tersangat lah besar pahalanya. Rasullullah pernah berkata kepada ibnu Maso'od, walaupun kita datang majlis ilmu tanpa membawa kertas dan pen, pahala nya sama macam memerdekakan 1000 hamba.
Kelebihan yang kedua - Rasullullah berkata lagi kepad ibnu Maso'od, walaupun kita menghadiri majlis ilmu dengan hanya memandang guru yang mengajar itu, pahala yang kita dapat seumpama kita bersedekah dengan 500 ekor kuda perang.

Later ustaz came to his second part of tazkirah where he shared a doa "Rabbi hab li minassolihin" (Ya Allah aku berdoa semoga aku diberikan anak yang soleh). Ustaz made us all hafaz the simple doa. The doa is important sebab itu lah satu-satunya bekalan kita semua di alam barzakh. Sebab doa dari anak yang soleh merupakan salah satu dari 3 perkara yang akan membantu kita di kubur selain dari ilmu yang kita sampaikan & sedekah jariah kita.

So the doa can be lafaz everytime we see our kids faces and everytime we remember them. Rasullullah dalam perjalanan dari Madinah ke Mekkah and passed by kawasan kubur. Lalu ternampak hanya satu kubur yang terang dihiasi lampu manakala kubur-kubur lain dalam keadaan gelap. Rasullullah menghampiri ahli kubur itu dan bertanya mengapa kuburnya terang sedangkan yang lain gelap. Ahli kubur menjawap, kuburnya terang kerana anaknya selalu mendoakannya. Kubur yang lain gelap kerana ahli-ahlinya keluar mencari pahala untuk menerangi kubur mereka.

Dalam perjalanan balik Rasullullah dari Mekkah ke Madinah, dia melihat kubur yang dahulunya terang kini telah gelap seperti kubur-kubur yang lain. Rasullullah menghampiri kubur itu & bertanya mengapa? Ahli kubur tersebut memberitahu bahawa anaknya yang dulu mendoakannya kini telah meninggal dunia & tiada lagi anak yang mendoakannya.

Jadi, ustaz berpesan, jika kita ada 3 orang anak, pastikan kesemuanya berdoa untuk kita supaya alam kubur kita senang. Begitu juga dengan 2 lagi perkara yang akan membantu kita di alam kubur iaitu ilmu yang kita sampaikan & sedekah jariah.

The ROTF Fever

2009-08-11T20:21:00.003+08:00

While people all across the globe & in fact in our neighbourhood are too jumpy about the H1N1 flu or fever, some of us being the BTHO host are being strucked by another type of syndrome. Yes, kaklong was bitten by the flu bug for two days now which ayah hope that she will recover fast. Yes, her school was shut down since last Friday till tomorrow due to the outbreak. 11 suspected cases. Wise decision to close down the school & stayed indoor. Kaklong have to recover fast to make way for her revisions as part of her next week's mid-term exam.

OK, back to the "other" syndrome. Remember ROTF? Yes, exactly. The fever has just begun, snipping at ayah's nerves & wallet. It all started when we visited Sunday flea market at Amcorp Mall. Ibu, as usual the flea market fan. She's crazy with those bangles, rings & crafts which are sold cheap. The first time ibu, Umar & ayah went there (kaklong & Amir stayed overnight at Sara's house...for the first time), the flea managed to bit ayah as well. They had these people selling action figures. Transformers! Star Wars! Clone Wars! Comics! You name it, they have it. All sold at quite a reasonable price. Even better, we can bargain for it.

First visit ayah can still resist the temptation of considering a purchase. Three weeks later, it turned bad. After an hour of resistance, the final twitch of mind changed everything. A deluxe class Bumblebee & Barricade was swiped from the shelf without further delay & shoved into the back of the car. It stayed there for the next 48 hours.

The ROTF flu struck & the outbreak was devastating. 72 hours later ayah was hunting for more. It proved fatal for the economy but it was something satisfying. 72 hours later another three joined the force. Ironhide, Grindor (Blackout) & Long Haul. A delay in grabbing these precious cargos would be a regret of a lifetime.

Tugu Negara

2009-08-04T22:44:00.003+08:00

The name Tugu Negara appeared when Yasmin was doing her Bahasa revision last weekend. Ayah was in the mood & a bit of enthusiasm plus considering the light Sunday traffic in the city, we went to the historical monument. The point was to share the knowledge among ourselves which ayah & ibu could also learn something.

After ibu's trip down to Amcorp Mall flea market which later ayah & Umar joined after this little guy woke up from his precious nap in the car, we grap a few bites of those awesome Subway sandwiches. It was actually reaching afternoon when we decided to leave home after spending the whole morning lazying around at home.

Yes, it was a great trip. Ayah guess that my last trip here was when I was in standard 5 in a school trip from JB. It was a trip sponsored by Malaysian Airline for about 30 selected students from JB. I don't know how I managed to qualify myself, but the trip was great one, especially for a boy my age craving for new adventures & wider view of KL city.

Perhaps this link could provide some informations that we might neglect from our busy schedules :P http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugu_Negara

2009-07-05T08:19:00.000+08:00

July entry

2009-07-05T07:31:00.003+08:00

It crept to 2 months for me to update my family blog due to the marathon commitment. Ayah apologise for the delay. Loads of things happened in and around BTHO. Ayah wish that I can recall every bits and pieces of it.

After Amir's "happening" birthday, the small2 thingy were much more occupied by no other than our local rising star, Mr. Farid Umar himself. Upon completion of 3 years being a BTHO club member, here are some of his personal best achievements (a summary would be easier for ayah to list it out):

Umar abandoned his milk bottle in abrupt. It started off when the nipple got torn & by replacing with a new one, he made it an excuse that even the milk tastes weird. No further complaints nor mid-night cry.
As a result to the no-milk-bottle syndrome, Umar started to test and try more food options. He began with a nasi goreng for breakfast, nasi with egg for lunch & of course our tempeyek stock was gone in two days.
His next step was the no-drypers night award. Alhamdullillah the task was completed in a breeze (so far). With only 2 nights waking him up at 3.00am for a leak, the rest was silence & beautiful sleep.

Those were the credits for Umar. Should there be more, ayah will update. In the mean time, as for the rest of the BTHO, it can be simplified as follows:

The late May 2 weeks school break was only spent on the later week. The first week was like - Ibu & kids staying in hotels for ibu's courses while ayah stayed home with his trainings & work.
Second week - We went back to ayah's hometown & carbo load with atuk's ever best meals. 3 days there and already we grew fat. We managed to discover the local famous morning jogging route, the Taman Bunga venue by the Istana. Cool place, simply cool due to it's big tembusu trees.
Yasmin & Amir had to abandon Duathlon Kidz at Cyberjaya that weekend. They were too exhausted from the travelling & of course lack of enough training. No need to make yourselves suffer.
Alternative outings were found. We frequent IKEA for it's wonderful meals 2 weekends in a row. The chicken wings, meatballs & Daim choc cake were magnificent.
Yasmin got her exam results and was not quite ineteresting. Enough TV & more books.
Amir sat his mid-term exam and kinda well prepared this time around. Insyallah he will give his best.
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen returned on the nig screen for it's sequel on 24th June. Ayah & Amir sneaked in & were enjoying the boys-day-out session. Cool stuff they had in this sequel.
Ibu will start her new semester soon. Project paper. Ayah need to provide all the support she wants, like she did with ayah's recent marathon. She even signed up for a demo class.
Last but not least, ayah had just completed ayah's first marathon last 28th June with success. Details at http://wcr1414.blogspot.com/

Amir turned 6

2009-06-08T17:06:00.002+08:00

Dah lama sangat ayah tak update blog btho. Ayah dok asyik update blog sendiri sebab excited dengan ayah's first marathon attempt. Actually nothing much happened. Btho serupa macam famili2 yg lain serata dunia busy dengan routine harian. Pergi kerja, pergi sekolah, buat homework, pergi mengaji and weekends tu ada la jugak we all pergi Ikea. Ibu excited sikit dengan new home furnitures & appliances sebab tak lama kalau ada rezeki kami akan renovate rumah. While the rest of us looked forward for the meatballs and Daim's chocolate cake...yummy! Berebut makan. Even sampai Umar tidur at both our visits to Ikea. Penat sangat.

Cuti sekolah for 2 weeks started end of May until mid June. Ibu sibuk attending kursus kat PD twice tapi at different venues. Twice jugak kids ikut & berendam kat pool sampai kulit gelap. Twice la jugak ayah tinggal at home...alone. The second night ayah tak boleh tahan, terus shoot tidur sama2 kat PD after kerja & run.

Cuti sekolah jugak Amir sambut birthday yang ke-6. Alhamdullillah Amir dah besar sekarang. Even ayah's friend pun cakap Amir dah tinggi which ayah noticed lately that it's quite true. He's an average built boy with extra energy. Hehe. Next year dah masuk Tahun 1. Even Amir dah masuk iqra' 2 kelas mengaji.

Cuma lately Amir suka mengusik, especially adik dia Umar. Ayah tau diorang adik beradik loved each other but sometimes also the adik beradik crisis comes now & then especially when it comes to sharing the TV & stuff. Biasa lah tu kan cuma with the constant yelling & arguments at not the correct time boleh bikin hati marah. Hehehe.

2009 Trikidz UM

2009-03-22T13:17:00.008+08:00

Fuh! Thumbs up for BTHO sebab berjaya menghantar wakil ke dunia sukan Triathlon. Bukan calang-calang event oooo...salah satu event multisports yang ayah sendiri pun belum ada ghoo nak cuba. Basically the swimming part yang most of us agak sukar nak komit unlike cycling & running which is like second to nature for us human beings.

And so, Trikidz UM 2009 series where ayah berjaya to persuade kaklong to participate. Two weeks for her to think about it despite a few negative feedbacks dapat dari fellow cousins & friends to join. Kaklong join on her own pun no sweat sebab ayah & ibu will be there all the way to the finish line.

Sabtu 20th March 2009, the Trikidz clinic was held. Kaklong was exposed to the world of professional sports for the first time. We have all these professional sportsmen & women handling & coaching the clinic. From how to run right, how to cycle, swim & transition were tought. Sarah Sofea had to bail out due to her shoes & bike. Yasmin had some pre-race blues night before the race. She was afraid of being last. Some support & motivation from Kak Aida comforted her in a girly way.

The Day came with a breeze. Sunday 21st March 2009. Kaklong's first triathlon! Whoa! For some of us it may be nothing, but those with the extrovert hearts of a champion will celebrate it with a Bang! Ayah & ibu pulak yang stress thinking about all those strategies & keeping up the spirit.

Alhamdullillah Kaklong survived & completed her first triathlon. Ayah was running with her motivating, kalau tidak dah nak jalan :D. Kaklong ranked herself at 26th out of 37 in her age category clocking 13min 06sec completing her 50m swim, 1000m cycle & 500m run. Well done & thumbs up for all her courage.

BTHO Tioman Trip

2009-03-17T20:36:00.011+08:00

First of all, alhamdullillah BTHO & sanak saudara selamat pergi & balik untuk trip ke Tioman this school holiday season. Secondly, alhamdullillah ayah have the strength & thoughts to straight away ooze this post out before it turned out to be "basi" already :P

Tioman, the word that a few of us have been dreaming about in some of our lifes. Definitely for BTHO considering the endangered marine life in our country is loosing it's grip due to our blindness. A trip was finally arranged & made real thanks to Abby & Cik Man (hubby & ex-principal of SK Juara).

We left home Saturday morning, expecting to rendevous with Mak Busu & family at Petronas Air Hitam at 11.00am. Highway traffic was smooth & so was the weather...hot! Some of us came from KL took up the Kuala Pilah route & families from JB used the normal Kota Tinggi route. We met up at Mersing jetty at 2.00pm, just in time to fling our luggage & park our cars. "Tapau" a few burgers for a quick late lunch on board our 2 hours journey on the ferry to the island of adventure.

OK, seafaring was not something that BTHO has done for awhile, SO, getting use to the ups & downs of the big ocean affair was a bit akward. However, sailing was smooth as we crossed the South China Sea from mainland peninsular to Tioman Island. The ferry took a few stops at Tekek, Salang, Air Batang etc before finally dropped about 60 of us at Kampung Juara at almost 6.00pm. The sight of the magnificent view of beautiful nature & marine life was welcomed with a WHOA!

Juara, the most heard after & shared by Abby everytime ayah is back in hometown. Now, we set foot on it's beautiful soil. The serene atmosphere welcomed us with a promising adventure which awaits us for the upcoming 2 days. We checked into our chalets & ventured through the kampung with the remaining time of the day before night creeps in. A few of us took the chance visiting karaoke just right before midnight, but the journey back through the pitch black & cold kampung night was something to talk about for Poksu Adi & ayah...hahaha!

Second day was arranged & planned quite nicely but from the look of the sky, it was something that we can't promise. Seemed that the South China Sea storm is going to hit us...hard! We delayed our snorkelling trip until 10.30am & set sail full with anxiety since it is the key of being in Tioman, to see the marine life heritage. However, getting out of the cove was a new unforseen chapter. Indeed the choppy sea took us for a ride of our life. The vile 10 to 15 feet high waves were too violent for us. We had to abandon our mission & turn inland. The torrential storm hit us a few hours later & lasted for the next 10 hours. All programs had to be readjusted leaving some of us occupied with loads of food & some others took the alternative way venturing into the rain enjoying the big waves by the beach, fishing & not forgetting salvaging a fellow villager's capsized boat. The storm intensity remains until midnight. Despair & frustration can be felt in the cold wet night.

The last juice from the sky ended at late morning on our third day stay in Juara. It gave us new hopes & new agendas were arranged. Though we were unsure of the time capacity that we have, we continued on. A magnificent telematch was played by the beach which ended with a tough tug of war. Kids & adults by young laughed away filling the bright day. Four 4X4 pickups were rented to took us to Kg Tekek for a 30 minute adventure ride through the only hilly & swerving & nerve wrecking & butt hammering concrete road. We spent 2 hours at Marine Park. Though we were not dished up with a complete marine life of corals & it's inhabitants, the experience was enough to provide a remedy for the kids & first timers. All those friendly fishes went on a feeding frenzy when foods were tossed from the jetty. We returned back to our chalets via the gruesome way & spent the remaining peaceful & wonderful evening with bbq & nursing our sore butts.

By fourth day, we had to leave Kg Juara as early as 7.00am due to the ferry & tide schedule. Due to the small & bumpy boat, plus the absence of breakfast, sea sick took some of us. As we wave our hearts & hands away to the fantastic Tioman, we already planned for a revisit.

February chores

2009-02-25T20:32:00.002+08:00

February, month of muhasabah diri for most of btho. Kita jatuh demam...berulang pulak tu, less acitivity & full of homeworks, mengaji & ko-kurikulum. Week gone, week come. For a mere almost four weeks, btho stuck with daily chores.

Some days were swigged with small time domestic activities. Trip to Kg Pandan on the weekend. Rumah makcu & rumah paklang, hanya sekadar ziarah & bertanya khabar.

By the way, Umar managed to get his early birthday gift. A sudden thought by ayah & ibu decided that it's time Umar have his own trustworthy steed, just like his big sister & brother. The local bike shop was visited & Umar had his Exitway 15" ride. Happy birthday to Umar in advance for his full 3 years old.

Health wise, demam alhamdullillah dah tak come back. A new thing pulak...ulcer mulut. Amir kena last week, two spots in the mouth lasted for 3 days. Then Umar pulak kena, selera ada nak makan tapi unfortunate mulut sakit. He is so strong, langsung tak meragam.

CNY Holiday & down we go with flu

2009-02-01T17:15:00.000+08:00

CNy holiday lasted for 4 days. But BTHO was involved almost in every second of Kg Pandan Backpackers' gathering, be it an early morning joint to a late night fever which lasted throughout the week.

Started from an arrangement by Nisha's family wet & wild outing at Pusat Rekreasi Air, Presint 5, Putrajaya on 24-Jan. A trial run of a water ski lesson & trips on banana boat for the youngsters. Though the evening weather in Putrajaya was a bit hazy & warm, every bit of the moment was enjoyed.

Come Sunday & Monday was nothing more than two peaceful days staying indoor. The CNY holiday was avoided from jamming all highways. We just stayed home. Yasmin was down with fever right after Putrajaya. Ayah suspected the weather & lack of hydration. Weather was still warm, the worse was at night.

Monday night, another gathering in Makcu's place. Hot & sizzling right from the barbeque's top. Loads of lamb & fish. Fat, fat, fat...200% of saturated fat. Ayah was a bit troubled from the odeal since next morning's agenda is a 8km run. Takpe, belasah aje. Kids were starting to compete for the lamb chop. Don't leave any slice unattended...hehehe. Umar started to get the fever as well, when Yasmin just recovered. Due to the attendance of fellow cousins, Umar was still able to kicking & alive.

Tuesday, ayah did the morning run at Tasik Pemaisuri. Upon coming home, Amir & Umar laid flat & home was so quiet from their laughters. Yep, confirmed! Both heroes stucked with the flu. It lasted for a few days, even longer than Yasmin's. Amir had to abandon school & his first "show & tell" for 2009.

The remaining working days for ayah & ibu was spent as per routine. Yasmin only attended sekolah agama in the morning. Evening was reminded to do revisions. Come weekend, Amir & Umar were down with another round of fever. Both flat to the mattress. Almost the whole day remained indoor. A short to Kg Pandan to check out Adam Daniel stopover, who was also sick.

Sunday, an early morning rush to Restoran Maju Maju in Subang, recommended by Pakcu. Nothing unusual though, until ayah notice one of those kari kambing served to ahli surau's table. The remaining of the day was a never ending talks about the upcoming Tioman trip. Last stop was Acik Aei's house, ziarah him since he's also down with fever.

Lessons learned : Stop allowing them swigging down all those junk & cancerous foods & drinks. Substitute them with books, pencils, colours or whatever. Non-stop supplement of minyak kelapa dara for those good fatty acid for defence improvement. Finally, lots and lots of water.

Incursion 2009

2009-01-17T08:29:00.002+08:00

Lama jugak ayah tak update blog. The whole BTHO was a bit occupied with the new year new you phenomena. Getting the gear engaged & throttling away into the second gear week of 2009. It has been quite a busy week for everybody & time sure flies by fast.

With the current hectic days & nights of the usual routine for most BTHO, we were provided with the most explosive news from across the globe. When ayah said "explosive", yes...it is real explosion of the Gaza Strip. It has been almost 20 days (started from 1-Muharram 1430 Hijrah) since Palestinians being bombarded by Israelis troops. Something like the ethnic cleansing of Bosnians by the Serbs a few years back. The last of Palestins are being ripped apart & ripped off from under their feet.

It is currently a hot news around the world. Civilians especially children suffered the most. Too bad the current world policy doesn't helps a lot to the situation. Ayah received loads of emails everyday about the issue but an email reaching touched & disturbed my thoughts yesterday. "What if it happen to us, our country, Malaysia?". Are we prepared for the catastrophe? Not Malaysia, but ourselves, us, the common, typical individuals with wife & kids, home & cars & the everyday work routine, schools, etc. Nothing with military background, no survival school, no nothing. How long can we survive if such devastation or tragedy fell on our peaceful soil?

It is indeed a disturbance to my mind which adds to my current worriness from the everyday stresses.

New year, new day

2009-01-05T13:56:00.003+08:00

New year 2009 is here. Yasmin is back to school today. And so is the rest of btho. The first day school phenomena was the same as previous years. Parents were more hectic than the kids at elwani this morning, especially for Year 1 kids.

Come Wednesday, it will be Amir's turn for his second year at TTK. So far he has been too occupied with btho's new playstation 2 which ayah bought about a month ago. School opens, PS2 will only be played during weekends. Maybe 2009 will be more attention on btho kids especially their studies. Will definitely make sure Yasmin got back her best performance & Amir ready 200% for his Year 1.

As for Umar, hmmm... going stronger & cleverer every single day. Learning from his siblings' thoughts, ideas & activities. Ibu is also back to her new semester. Ever more worried with her interships & term papers. Ayah will always be there for everybody as sweeper terhormat...hehehe :P

Teluk Rubiah & Post-Rubiah

2008-12-25T19:46:00.009+08:00

Teluk Rubiah, it's all in the name. Our second visit to Perak's best known beaches. Our last few years visit to Pulau Pangkor was Kg Pandan Backpackers (KPB)'s maiden trip. That's when the backpackers was born.

This time around Teluk Rubiah was picked instead, to enjoy a sea sight experience for the young backpacker's members. Six rooms were booked as we occupied a "wakaf" throughout the period of 3 days and most of the nights. Facilities were great especially the private beach, green hills as backgrounds and abundant of fresh air. Ayah thought that if the package comes inclusive of breakfast & a decent swimming pool by the resort will complete everything.

Definitely every trip is about kids. Without them, there won't be any. Telematch was organised by Kak Jerah & fellow cousins. BBQ was prepared by Pak Cu. Copious supplies of breads brought by Mak Ngah & nights of healthy discussions among fellow backpackers around the wakaf under the clear seaside sky. We almost disregarded the "suasana" that night...it was magnificent.

Kids had options, either the pool or the beach. Ayah took the chance spending time with Amir & Umar, exposing them to the unceasing pleasant surfs after surfs. They really enjoyed the moment. The sound of laughters & shouts filling the secluded beach ambient.

A tour around Lumut town, new found Nasi Ayam Mama & a dropped in at Segari Turtle Hatchery Centre were part of our new discovery around the venue. A memorable, fun & peaceful trip. BTHO owed a million thanks to Pakdi & Makdi for the Avanza which they loaned it to us. With atuk & nenek, along with Najihah, the road trip with BTHO to Teluk Rubiah was awesome.

A quick tour of Lumut Naval Base was brought upon by ayah's old friend, now serving our navy helicopter squadron. It was a lifetime experience where we get to know a hands on infos about choppers & the best part was the tour on board the magnificent KD Lekir.

Due to the abundant year end holidays, our post-Rubiah experience was carried on with a visit to Precinct 6, Putrajaya swimming pool this evening. 13 backpackers' youngsters enjoying the clear water of the pool. A new place for hang out I guess.

Rezeki

2008-12-15T22:06:00.002+08:00

Amin, amin alhamdullillah. Kadang-kadang ada rezeki kita, sometimes not. That's what happened to us sometimes. It was never luck sebab setiap & sesuatu itu adalah ketentuan Allah s.w.t. dan ada sebab musababnya.

Hari ni ayah merasa kebesaranNya. Masa ayah on the way balik rumah dari ofis, tengah ayah amik lap kat depan Plaza Phoenix punya lencongan, tayar belakang motor melatup! Pom!! Dah agak bunyi dari bawah motor tapi motor masih rasa stabil. Habis kan amik lap & bila jalan dah mula tegak, motor pun mula rasa macam naik unta. Confirm tayar sudah pancit. Teruskan perjalanan sambil memerah minyak gear 2 tapi motor & ayah beriringan jalan sampai ke Petronas Batu 7 di depan Restoran Cerana.

Setelah usaha untuk pam angin guna pam Petronas gagal, dalam dok ikhtiarkan cara lain, sorang Bangla berbadan kecil mai kat ayah. Mula-mula dia cakap ayah tak faham "Panggil, 10 minit sampai" sambil dia menunjukkan nombor telefon yang bernama Rosli dari buku nota kecil poketnya. Rupa-rupanya tukang repair tayar pancit En. Rosli yang duduk berdekatan.

Hampir 20 minit, baru Rosli sampai...dari Chow Kit daaa. Memang rumah di Sg Long tapi waktu kerja bukan duduk rumah ye tak. Cuaca dah mula gelap dengan trafik menderu-deru kat highway. Hampir selesai, seorang India late 40s dengan anak remaja dia mai & cubaan mengepam angin juga nampak gagal. "Boss, tukar tiub berapa ringgit daa?". Hehehe. Terus ayah sound En. Rosli "rezki datang bergolek ye bang?". Dia senyum je sambil menghabiskan kerja dengan motor ayah.

Tengah nak hampir siap & baru nak mula nego dgn India tua, mai sorang cina teksi pulak. Clutch pedal sudah tanggal. "Memang rezki abang ni sekali datang bergolek-golek la bang" dan ayah terus mengucapkan terima kasih & berlalu pulang dengan perut yang lapar.

Duit upah & ganti tiub RM15 + RM5 abang tu bagi komisen kat Bangla berbadan kecik.

Allergies

2008-12-14T21:47:00.002+08:00

Eversince balik dari Fraser, Yasmin was down with a rash macam gegat(orang Johor panggil) seluruh badan. Tak tau apa punca. Pi consult Dr Kader. Doktor kata maybe after effect demam masa kat Fraser or maybe cacing dalam badan mati & mula keluarkan toxins. Lasted for almost a week. Pity her.

Then after hari raya haji, once we reached KL & after the death of Kelabu or in Ben10 version it was named as Greymatter, Amir pulak kena gatal-gatal. Kelabu's death was due to injury by her fellow cellmate. Kena cakar masa btho tinggalkan kat rumah Che Na during raya haji. Knowing animals behaviour, bila dah injured, makan & minum pun tidak which brought to death.

Amir's type of gatal-gatal was different from Kak Long's. Ni macam chicken pox pulak. Tambah pulak lagi amir ni kulit terlalu sensitif. Dah hampir seminggu jugak. Not all over the body but at certain areas aje. We kept on sapu minyak kelapa dara. Tak pulak demam. Macam-macam penyakit sekarang ni.

Btho's thesaurus/vocabs

2008-12-08T19:14:00.003+08:00

Today, ayah shall compile some collective vocabularies that were widely used by fellow new btho along the years of their learning curves. The followings was produced & translated by Amir :

jambutan - jambatan
deket ke jauh - dekat ke jauh?
kuih putih - ketupat
opet - airport
bunyi macam puasa - berdosa
abang aji - abang hanis

Umar's thesaurus:

apas - kipas
ke-ular - keluar
amba - abang
bumba - kumbang
abang aji - abang hanis
ajila - najihah
amter - hamster
amlo - milo or other drinks
wuwu - susu
fufu - susu
milk-milk - susu
bum-ayah - baring dengan ayah
bandi - mandi
piput - siput

Hari Raya Haji

2008-12-08T19:03:00.002+08:00

Assalamualaikum & salam aidil adha. Yep, btho spent the hari raya haji in Johor. Left btho Saturday morning after ayah decided not to miss his long run. Dropped fellow hamsters at rumah kak ina & chosed to detour the journey to Seremban via the new LEKAS highway since traffic at PLUS was cramping.

The night we attended kenduri arwah & majlis potong jambul for Yin's daughter. Crowd was overwhelming & really enjoyed the delicious Johor's cuisine of kari daging, asam pedas, sambal udang, sayur campur, pechal & botok-botok. Not forgetting loads of kuih like kole kacang, kuih koci, karipap.

Btho's kids were enjoying every second of the time with all the cousins. It was a tiring day for us especially after the travel.

Hari raya came and it was a wet morning. Most of us left for the mosque & prayed together with Tengku Mahkota Johor. Ayah managed to catch a glimpse of the protocols involved & those YBs & Datuks escorting him.

BTHO left JB for KL sharp at 11.00am purposely to avoid the anticipated traffic haul at PLUS when all city people rushed back. It was raining all the way, non-dry spot witnessed. Abby had to abandon her trip to Rompin since road to Jamaluang was blocked due to flood.

Amir's concert & Hamster

2008-11-29T22:37:00.003+08:00

Ever since the school holiday started a week ago, btho was not spared with loads of activities. Kuala Selangor, Fraser's Hill & this weekend it was time for Amir's big kindergarten concert. He's been practicing for 2 weeks at school while Yasmin dah mula cuti. Everybody looked forward for the concert. Everybody knew that Amir too was excited about it, except that as a boy, he's cool with it.

After his Parent-teacher's Day (dapat no. 6 dari 15 orang), we were proud & happy with his achievement. Yang penting & obvious enough, he's been spelling & reading whatever he sees, be it on the TV, sidewalks, etc. Ayah took the opportunity to maintain the reading process despite school break by writing something that he can read in the room whiteboard. Any two silables i.e. buku, baru, baju, etc. His favorite word would be Ben 10...whatelse eh?

Then it was the search for Amir's concert costume. He should look like a waiter complete with a bowtie. We searched at Masjid India area, somebody gave us the tip but failed to find any. Eventually, Makcu loaned a complete set to us from Aizat's concert days. Ayah dropped by Jusco for the bowtie.

Last day of rehearsal, Amir caught fever but he's still cool. Still went to school until the big day itself. His Chicken Dance was perfect & cute.

Ok, almost forgot to introduce BTHO's newest family member. After tonnes of bargaining & promises, kids managed to persuade ayah & ibu to buy them a pair of hamster. In the eve of Amir's concert, we bought it for RM36 for a pair plus all the accesories i.e. cute cage, habuk, food. They slept late playing with new friends. The most happiest would be no other than BTHO's biggest animal lover...Farid Umar. While Yasmin still reluctant to hold the hamster in her palm, Umar was already carrying them all over the house. I can't imagine how stress the animals would be.

Fraser Hill BTHO Style

2008-11-25T21:26:00.010+08:00

Lepas Kuala Selangor, btho had the chance to join Kg Pandan Backpackers weekend retreat to Fraser's Hill pulak last weekend. Since most of us are busy with daily routines & works, the weekend was a definite escapade. Truly pure & awesome.

BTHO had to abandon ayah's car at the very last minute when the power window got stuck. Ibu's car was magnificent enough for a lazy getaway like this. After ayah's long run schedule on Saturday morning, btho left home at 9.30am heading straight to Kuala Kubu Bahru using the Rawang trunk road instead of ayah's usual Ulu Yam road to avoid those long climbs near Ulu Yam's picnic area. Stressing the atos before the 30km climb to the Gap was not a wise idea.

The climb to the Gap was great. Kids slept most of the way. With the windscreen down, aircon off while letting the highland breeze rushed into the car cabin, nothing is more ideal. We reached the Gap & had to wait for an hour (odd hours) to Fraser's. Pakcu arrived moments later. We checked in at Silverpark Apartment.

The remaining afternoon was chosen to expose Backpackers kids with jungle trekking. Bishop trail, 1500m. Narrow with some steep & slippery slopes plus lots of leeches. Backpackers crowded the trail for almost two hours with screams & shouts. Not a normal thing for a jungle trekking activity. However, it was fun watching the kids shiver, complaining & definitely the boys are enjoying. Amir was the youngest, he did marvelously.

The evening was spent staying indoors, carbo loading from the lost calories while watching Predator vs Alien on TV2 & at the same time listening to Pakcu's argument with Paklang, though Paklang was always positive about everything. Temperature was definitely freezing. Yasmin caught fever before leaving KL & had to stay indoor for the whole day with ibu & Umar.

After loads of nasi lemak & roti canai for breakfast, we left for Jeriau Waterfall, a 3km drive through winding & narrow road plus another 1km hike down to the fall. Though with the chilling climate, the backpackers managed to warm the session with "hiburan yang dihalalkan" playing in the pool under the Jeriau Fall before struggling the 1km climb back to the carpark.

With all those physical activities for two days, a spot for teh tarik was picked near Pine Resort where a local setup a nice stall overviewing the greenery of Fraser's golf course. It was a picture perfect & the moment was awesome. Nice warm teh tarik, laksa & maggie soup. Cool breeze blowing under the big umbrella. Almost all backpackers were enjoying the moment. "Suasana tu yang penting". That was the keyword of the day.

We checked out & dropped by the souvenir shop & made our way down at 4.00pm through very heavy rain all the way to Kuala Kubu Bahru. As planned, a pit stop at a Mamak's for another round of teh tarik, roti tisu & maggie goreng was nothing more pleasant. We took the Ulu Yam route & headed home with feeling tired but fresh minds & lungs.

Kuala Selangor

2008-11-17T14:00:00.004+08:00

BTHO got the chance to visit Kuala Selangor last weekend. Thanks to ibu for having the opportunity be part of her work so everything was provided. We headed out from BTHO through the wet evening traffic and it was totally horrific. Surpassing some major roads together with hundreds or more vehicles rushing home was draining every bit of energy. Jalan Duta toll plaza & Jalan Sungai Buloh were the worst ones. By the time we cleared out towards Paya Jaras, traffic have eased down but still lots of vehicles. It was already dusk when we smooth away towards the main Jalan Kuala Selangor.

We reached the Asam Jawa junction about one and half hour later. From the chaotic & time consuming event, we had to get dinner early. From ayah's friend advise, we tried out Kuala Selangor famous seafood cuisines. The recommended place was located at Jeram. Ayah was unable to enjoy the tasty foods due to tiredness but the rest of BTHO was cool about it, especially the reasonable price.

We checked in at De Palma Inn, located at the end of Kuala Selangor town, nested within a kampung area. Chalet style, the space was just enough for a pleasant family of five, getting away from the busy city.

The morning breakfast hunt began with a lazy drive along the Kuala Selangor - Telok Intan trunk road. Indeed Kuala Selangor is just another peaceful place. Tapau roti canai & we headed to Bukit Melawati. Some educational facts were shared between ayah & kids about the hill & it's majestic & historical lighthouse & canons.

The remaining of the stay at De Palma was excellent for the kids & definitely the pool. We can't separate them both. Whenever there's hotel, a swimming pool is a must. Not forgetting our uninvited guests. Wildlife was common in the area, knowing for it's vicinity to it's habitat. Kuala Selangor sited in the largest mangrove forest along the west coast of the peninsular. Talking about mangrove, our closest friends would be the primates. Most common are the Dusky Leaf Monkey (popular in the area) and the Long Tail Macaque. They will go histerical when it comes to feedings from us. Even the swimming pool serves them for some cool drinks. Kids scattered furiously upon seeing this group of monkeys.

Just nice for a night stay, one should be satisfied with the peaceful ambient. A journey towards the remaining of the west coast would be an awesome roadtrip in our next plan.

Kembali ke Rahmatullah

2008-10-13T23:14:00.002+08:00

Ayah perlu update blog post kali ini dengan pemergian salah seorang ahli keluarga kita yang paling dekat. Mungkin tidak serapat untuk generasi yang bergelar cicit seperti kaklong, Amir atau Umar tapi pemergian ini sangat memberi kesan yang significant untuk yang lain.

Tanggal 10-Oktober 2008 bersamaan 10-Syawal 1429H jam 6.30 pagi ayah telah menerima panggilan telefon dari Maklong Johor memaklumkan atuk (untuk ayah) telah meninggal dunia pada pukul 6.00 pagi di Hospital Sultan Ismail. Berita tersebut telah membuat ayah termangu sebentar di atas katil di dalam gelap & dingin pagi itu.

Lantas ayah turun ke tingkat untuk menyampaikan berita tersebut kepada ibu & bibik. Ayah & ibu berbincang buat seketika & mencapai keputusan agar ayah seorang sahaja yang pulang ke Johor untuk pay last respect to atuk. Ibu terpaksa bersama the rest of BTHO memandangkan program hujung minggu yang baru nak bermula selepas hampir 2 minggu terbantut hasil cuti aidilfitri. Kaklong & Amir kena sambung mengaji while ibu ada kelas pada Sabtu.

Ayah mengambil peluang untuk bersama jenazah di rumah pusakanya & mengiringinya ke masjid untuk disolatkan setelah selesai solat Jumaat. Jenazah telah selamat dikebumikan di tanah perkuburan Islam Kebun Teh.

Sejak arwah dimasukkan ke hospital, kaum keluarga & sanak saudara sering berjumpa. Mungkin telah ditakdirkan agar saki baki ahli keluarga & sanak saudara mengambil kesempatan untuk mengeratkan lagi ikatan persaudaraan silaturrahim. Kenangan arwah akan ayah cuba untuk rakamkan dalam ruangan yang akan datang. Insyallah.

Syawal 1429 Hijrah

2008-10-06T19:18:00.008+08:00

Syukur Alhamdullillah BTHO dapat bersua kembali dengan Ramadhan & Syawal 1429 Hijrah. Masing-masing dah besar & ada beberapa pencapaian & juga beberapa kedukaan untuk kita sama-sama renungkan.

Buat pertama kali, Kaklong telah berjaya menjalankan ibadah puasa untuk 16 hari. Ayah & ibu cukup bangga dengan pencapaian kaklong. Bukan mudah untuk sesiapa melakukannya terutama pada usia semuda kaklong, even ayah & ibu waktu kecil-kecil dulu pun punya lah seksa. Well done for kaklong & semoga Ramadhan yang akan datang kita dapat berpuasa bersama. Maybe boleh bantu untuk motivate Amir pulak practice.

Amir pulak, bila orang ajak puasa, dia ok aje even though dia kurang tahu apa itu maksud puasa. The second day of puasa dia dengan confident pergi sekolah tanpa breakfast. "Nak puasa", katanya. Pulang dari sekolah tengahari tu, langsung order nasi goreng bibik bedal satu pinggan. Antara phrase Amir yang agak lucu "Ayah, apa tu yang tak boleh makan tu, bunyi macam "berdosa"?". Dia lupa perkataan puasa tu.

Kalau Kaklong training puasa & Amir baru kenal puasa, Umar pulak menjalani "toilet training" untuk bulan puasa ni. Hampir 2 minggu, Umar masih lagi agak sukar untuk bagitau bila dah sampai masa nak kencing. Nasib baik strategi BTHO untuk gulung & lipat segala karpet & tikar yang ada sepanjang latihan dapat mengurangkan membasuh & menjemur. Tambah lagi kalau-kalau waktu cuaca yang tak konsisten sepanjang bulan. So far so good. Umar beransur beringat jika diingatkan setiap masa. Jangan sampai dia lupa sebab asyik bermain.

Ayah beransur pulih dari sinus yang melanda bermula hampir sebulan yang lalu. Cukup menduga kesabaran. Alhamdullillah selepas mengikut nasihat Dr Kader & beberapa amalan diet & doa, sinus berkurang. Tapi ayah tetap kena berwaspada dengan diet & suhu badan.

Ibu sungguh sibuk dengan kelas walaupun di bulan puasa. Nasib baik ibu dapat bersama di setiap waktu berbuka sebab dapat rearrange waktu kelas.

Came Syawal, the whole BTHO was empty in a glimpse of an eye. Since 1-Syawal fell on Wednesday, most KL people dah memulakan fenomena balik kampung since Friday lagi. Ayah pun dah mula cuti kecuali ibu yang sorang2 kat ofis Isnin tu. Eve of raya BTHO berbuka puasa terakhir untuk 2008 di rumah nenek bersama dengan backpackers. It was a great moment.

BTHO menghabiskan pagi & tengahari 1-Syawal di rumah nenek. Again it was a happy moment, especially for the kids. By tengahari kami bertolak ke Johor. We spent the remaining 4 days in Johor attempting every ziarah chance we had. All in all, it was a new experience like previous years for BTHO. Semoga dapat bersua kembali dengan Ramadhan & Syawal yang akan datang.

ICU in JB

2008-09-18T22:30:00.002+08:00

Thursday 11-September BTHO received news that ayah's grandmother warded into ICU. Dengan keputusan yang sebulat hati, ayah & ibu agreed to go back to JB. Ayah had to do some rearrangements for Friday's meetings while ibu had to skip Saturday's class. Yasmin & Amir pun sama, skip school. We headed back right after buka puasa & straight to Hospital Sultan Ismail, a newly built hospital in Pandan. Atuk (as ayah called her, well known utk panggilan orang Johor) was already in ICU, ready for operation. Doctor diagnosed suspek cancer usus.

Almost all close relatives were there. Almost all cousins. We waited until the operation was over and being briefed by the doctor. Atuk seemed stabil after the operation. Usus tersumbat & infected so doktor kena keluarkan usus & treat it. The weekend was spent in & out of hospital ziarah atuk walaupun atuk masih belum sedar. Bantuan pernafasan masih diperlukan.

Umur atuk 85 tahun. Atuk dikenali among us as a very strong woman. Jarang dengar atuk complain sakit, she will handle it by herself. Ayah was attached with atuk masa zaman sekolah rendah. Even atuk bela ayah sekejap. Pernah berjalan sampai ke KL & Kedah dengan atuk naik bas during school holidays.

Bila ayah dah mula further study & not in JB, jarang dah jumpa atuk. During hari raya or whenever we all balik JB & singgah ziarah atuk di rumah Che Yah. Bila atuk dah mula kurang pendengaran, dia dah mula kurang keceriaan & kurang bersembang. Hanya family members in JB aje yang tau condition atuk everyday.

Ayah took one morning chatting with Mak about our ancestors. Where we came from & ayah's mom told the whole story quite clearly & it was nice. Ayah plan to tell the story in here someday while there are still resources and info. Stay tuned.

Ramadhan kembali

2008-09-07T08:53:00.003+08:00

Bulan Ramadhan dah kembali. Masih terasa Ramadhan yang lepas macam baru je berlalu sebab ayah merasa berpuasa di office baru. Mungkin sebab tahun ni bulan puasa jatuh pada bulan September, baru aje lepas nak masuk third quarter of 2008.

Yasmin pun dah tamat swimming class 1st round. She still needs improvement, especially bila timing for the breath-in and blow. Dia masih masih lagi dok tahan nafas & a bit kelam kabut. Maybe fear still ada. Sama macam ayah waktu swim kat pool Putrajaya part 2.0 meter depth. Maybe lepas raya sambung balik kelas for Yasmin. This time around, Yasmin is a bit confident untuk berpuasa & she gets all the support she wants from ayah & ibu.

In the mean time, Amir pulak dah mula layan swimming jugak. Dia dah pandai guna board Spiderman yang dulu beli. Waktu swim di pool Putrajaya during the last school break, he found the rythm to balance and pedal the legs. Hampir tak nak balik sebab dapat pusing the whole pool. Maybe sebab takde orang pun ye jugak. His badminton skill pun dah improve. Looking forward for a stroke or two sama ada dengan ayah or bibik bila ada peluang.

Umar, mula aje Ramadhan bermakna mulanya toilet train. It's about time to educate him & at the same time save some from buying Drypers yang semakin mahal. So far doing 40% progress. Knowing boys, dia terlalu occupied dengan bermain sehingga last minute selalunya memang tak sempat. Nasib baik all preparations being arranged where semua carpets dah siap gulung so dapat elak dibanjiri oleh Umar. His vocab masih perlu banyak progress. Ibu & ayah train him everyday with words. Tapi Umar senang faham apa orang cakap. Suara cukup merdu. Mata...of course, memang lawa.

Ibu semakin sibuk dengan classes and assignments. Sabtu pagi sampai tengahari normally ibu ada kelas. So ayah dah lama kurang kayuh Sabtu sebab hantar Yasmin & Amir pergi mengaji.

Semalam Kg Pandan Backpackers held their first gathering for buka puasa di rumah nenek. It was like the old days, macam tahun-tahun yang lepas. Keceriaan terasa, maybe sebab lately dah jarang gather di situ on weekends. Masing-masing sibuk & time datang ziarah pun tak sama. It was potluck night sebab nenek kurang sihat untuk memasak. Kids were the one enjoying every moment of it, especially Amir & Umar. Weatherwise, lately KL hujan. Semalam hujan almost the whole day.

Yasmin's swimming class & Amir's Gardenia Factory Visit

2008-07-21T18:19:00.004+08:00

Yeah! Cara hidup sihat gaya BTHO. Lepas satu sukan, another sukan being introduced to fellow youngsters of BTHO. Mula-mula cycling, which is going on almost every evening of the weekdays. Then we all bought racket badminton (lucky Jusco ada jual Gossen cheap2 one at RM15.90). Played during weekends. Naufal & famili pun rupa-rupanya ada raket jugak, cuma bila nampak we all main, dia orang pun join sekali. Meriah, meriah...hehehe.

The last weekend, ayah cuma spent time cycling on Saturday. Itu pun pi mtb riding at Bdr Mahkota Cheras, only 15 minutes ride from home. Then it was lying around the home. Petang pi berendam at wading pool in Precinct 9, Putrajaya. Ibu & ayah took the chance repeating the mee rebus Haji Wahid, a special delicacy from JB.

Ahad ayah decided to chill. No heart for attempting any hard work out like road riding, though it was planned with some friends tapi ayah bail out last minute sebab malas. Lately ayah memang prefer to chill at home & spend time with kids. Petang, the much awaited session by Yasmin came. Yasmin enrolled for her swimming class. Suprisingly she was doing great. Thumbs up to Yasmin.

Hari ni, Amir's big day pulak. His school trip to Gardenia Factory. He was looking forward it, & so was ayah & ibu...hehehe. He shared lots of stories about it. He was enjoying every bit of it.

As for Umar, ibu attempted to conteng his favourite 2 fingers so that bila dia tengok dia geli nak hisap. Though with permanent marker, the ink went off once it's wet. So, Umar kept on hisap jari....hehehe.

The swedish fever

2008-07-13T20:35:00.013+08:00

The swedish fever has lately strike me. Ever since I came back from outstation in Johor last 2 weeks, I have been looking for a new ride. Actually the same sickness I get every now and then when the ride necessity arises. It happen during my last ride, which was the Merc 190E 1995. Now, after a thorough homework on local auto market and climate, I had to do quite a deep consideration on our next ride.

"During my drive back from Johor, I was screaming to stay focused behind the steering wheel of my 1.5A 2005 Wira. Pushing the throttle pedal harder seemed to drag your whole concentration mentally and physically. Maintaining a constant speed of 130-140 kph was exhausting for 2-3 hours. The selected favourite tune in the cabin was not much of a help."

Though I had the thought of getting an MPV to meet the family comfort demand in travelling, especially long distance, I would always keep it at the back of my mind. I was only planning for an old MPV priced nothing more than RM40k. My choice was the 1.8A Nissan Serena 1999-2000 or the Toyota Unser.

However, if I recalled the moment described in second paragraph above, I might have to opt for a different approach and perspective. I may need a performance, comfort, practical and affordable ride. Type of ride should be a car for performance and comfort. Type of car should be a wagon for practicallity & space (my dream since the last 10 years). Type of buying should a used one.

Since Malaysia is a dull country for wagon or estate or combi vehicle which I have no idea why, my options are minimal. No Japanese made except for the Nissan AD Resort. There are only the contis i.e. Subaru Forester, Legacy, Volvo V40, 850 T5, V50 and the newer models from Chevy i.e. Optra Estate, Skoda Octavia.

The latter three rides priced are beyond my wildest dreams. Subaru was considered as a rare ride and would probably cost me. A more common conti wagon on the road and my admiration ever since would be the Swedish Marquee, Volvo V40.

And so the hunt for the swedish ride begins. As usual, price watch from local newspapers and online auto magazines was my first stop. It seems affordable, meeting my budget & current committments. The next step was getting to know more about the car through forums, reviews and photos. Feasibility study resulted as a good dependable car. A more drastic approach was to get into and drive it myself.

The weekend was spent without any cycling due to the need for a fatherly chores. The remaining time of the day were spent like doing a PhD. Three units were observed closely from three different used car dealers with three prices. Price ranged from the basic RM49,800 towards the more exclusive specs with leather seats at reaching RM59,000. Condition wise also varies which depends on the interior, exterior and the raving of the engines & aircon. However, the last unit visited answered my curiosity of driving it.

The raving of engine during idling reminded me of my previous 190E. The luxuriness of Volvo was better than Merc in terms of upholstery design, dashboard, cockpit & even audios. Most of them equipped with 10 cd changers. The driving feeling was awesome. The burst of T4 turbo was felt whenever I hit the pedal. Acousticness was still great for a 7 year old car. Ride comfort was marvellous. Road handling through the busy road was gripping gorgeously. Braking power was anticipated.

Now I was left with a swedish fever. The feeling and craving for the car grew even stronger. Watching the WTCC with BMWs, Chevrolets was a great sight. However, I had to hold my reverie due to current car I committed to. The current Hyundai Inokom Atos I'm having now will have to be levelled between it's market value & the amount of loan outstanding. The price drop for the car was bad. I have to look into other options.

BTHO kids into sports

2008-07-12T23:48:00.002+08:00

wow...now the evening routine cycling has become a must. Whenever kaklong reached home, the remaining 30 minutes before days end will be a 3km cycle around the block. Amir will join now & then whenever he feels like want to. Kaklong can go far, maintaining the pace for 3km without complains, whilst Amir will start complaining of tired legs although we only reached half the route. Anyway, it was all good.

Ayah gave way cycling weekend for time with kids sending them to quran class since ibu spent 4 hours saturday & sunday for her class. Was supposed to sign up kaklong for swimming class but had to be postponed since coming week will be her phase 2 exam week.

Bought them a pair of badminton rackets at jusco yesterday while shopping for kaklong's goggle. Ayah memang plan to expose them to sports.

Kids cycling...

2008-06-19T08:56:00.003+08:00

Well, what do you know? Another breed of cyclist is born. Now, we have sister and brother cyclists from BTHO. While Amir skillfully gliding & swerving away on his bike, now Kak Long is catching up fast with hers. Ayah is so glad and thankful with their ability to master the skill in a short period.

It has been 2 evenings when Kak Long joined ayah for a 30 minutes ride around the neighbourhood. She was doing fine. Ayah took the chance getting back into the running shape, considering some duathlons are coming in July. As ayah was running & closely admiring her cycling skill, it was like a dream come true. Dad & kids working out together. Ain't that sweet. May ayah pray that our family's relation stay sweet till eternity.

Aiya...minyak naik...naik minyak

2008-06-08T09:42:00.001+08:00

OK la, eventually ayah had to post it here though the issue is not a nice one to share but it is a historical day for all Malaysians. Just so that one day all of us especiallt BTHO would know it in the future.

Last Wednesday, June 4th Malaysian Government declared the new petrol and diesel price. Petrol price increased from RM1.92/litre to a devastating RM2.70/litre!!! A 41% increment! Simpler calculation for ayah's Proton Wira tank capacity, normally ayah would fuel up RM70 full tank, now it can reach RM100. Terasa macam guna kereta 2000 c.c. pulak.

The event shocked & upset the nation worldwide. It's going to be a domino effect. The price of all consumer goods will increase. Not just the low income people but the middle & high income ones will definitely had to review their expenses just to earn a living.

Sooner or later in a week time or so, BTHO will feel the effect. Van Azizah will soon increase the school bus fair. Umar's milk price & drypers will increase. That would goes the same with the rest of the household items such as vegetables, cooking oil, fish, rice, cooking gas etc...as long as it involves petrol or diesel to transport it.

This unfair decision to the majority of us had to be looked into. The decision makers definitely does not felt the implication. They run on government's vehicles & the PEOPLE paid for the fuel. They receive allowances for doing their job on top of their salaries.

The cost of living for Malaysians have to be balanced up. The increase of fuel price & other stuff will only choked ones earning. Country's development will not balance. If the Government's reason for the omission of fuel subsidy is to generate country's development in a long run, PEOPLEs' development will be compromised, in a short term. School kids will have a hard time getting expensive healthy foods. Some may even opt to cycle to school instead of paying higher school van fee. With the blindness from the Government & local authorities, road safety for the kids to school will be compromised. Pray to God those bad things won't take place. Amin.

Kak Long's spinning away

2008-06-07T16:48:00.005+08:00

Lupa ayah nak post kat sini another historical event that took place here at btho. Ayah bought for KakLong a new bike, exactly like Amir's only different colour. Since KakLong selalu pinjam bike Amir for his pedalling lesson, ayah thought that ayah should reward her for doing well in her previous exam, although not all results came out yet.

So, within a few hours she was pedalling away. Looking forward to take it for a spin following ayah to takraw game in the evening.

School break

2008-06-04T10:34:00.003+08:00

Well...what do u know, it's 4th June & it's Amir Yusof's 5th birthday. Grown to be a handsome boy indeed. Too bad ayah is not at his side while posting this. It has been quite a hectic school holiday for the last one week plus. The first week was nothing more than the normal working routines for ayah and ibu while kids stayed home spending every bit of time with each other and the neighbours.

Come 31st May, backpackers finally had their much awaited domestic outing...it was more of a "duduk berkampung" concept. Non-other than the famous de' faro bungalows in a'famosa resort. Spent 3 days & 2 nights there. Kids were enjoying their time with fellows cousins in the backyard pools. In fact, Amir almost drowned when he attempted a stunt trying to swim into the deeper end. Lucky bibik was there to save the day. Umar was confident as ever, in fact spending his time in the pool lessen his selsema. Kaklong had the nerve to abandone her ring float & replaced it with the arm-fit float.

Today, all of them joined ibu in PD for her course until tomorrow. Ayah has all the time by himself at home. Probably dropping by later in the evening.

The long weekend

2008-05-20T09:44:00.002+08:00

Eventually everything came back normal...except for the weather which was haywired for the last 5 months. BTHO finally settled down with healthy life & the normal routines.

Kaklong is having her mid term tests for 2 weeks prior to the school break scheduled fourth week of May & first week of June. The revisions were more supervised by ibu while ayah entertained the remaining two guys.

Last weekend ibu attended seminar in Shah Alam & kids had the opportunity to tag along since a room was available for ibu for the whole course. Kids were dipping in the pool 3 times a day. Ayah stayed home all by himself for 2 nights.