It has been a reeeeaaaaally long time since I’ve updated this blog... the only reason I can think of right now is that I’ve become complacent/comfortable or couldn’t care less of my current state... whatever it is, I think I need to write something now, there will come a day when I will look back at all this and remember these days and hopefully render a smile on my old crinkly face...

Where to start? Well, I guess I’ll start with my holidays (31^st May to 2^nd June):

So, went to Penang with the family for 3 days, money well spent I think except for the tiny fact that we didn’t get a room with a balcony as advertised in the internet... stayed at the Feringghi Holiday Inn Resort, Hill View... what that meant was that we stayed in the building across the road, away from the beach and the pool... it wasn’t too bad though... the kids loved the pool and the beach, went on the jet-ski with Haziq and I tried para-sailing, that was some thrill... Haziq sibuk suruh berenti masa naik jet-ski tu, don’t think I was going too fast hahaha... and Sabrina got her pony ride, Fina cakap dia sibuk nak go for riding lessons, ingat bapak dia cap duit kot, ummm no....

Went to Bukit Bendera, enjoyed the train / tram ride and Fina got sick (as usual)... on the hill there wasn’t much to do so we decided to try the canopy walk... first we just wanted to see it, check it out I mean but somehow everyone ended up on the wobbly swaying bridge hahaha... have to say that I was scared as well tapi kena la control, bapak kan... jalan depan pulak tu... all the time I was thinking to myself “why the hell did I take all my family on this bridge?” What surprised me was Luqman, mischievous as he was, he turned out to be a good brother, consoling Sabrina all the way “don’t be afraid, don’t look down, just look at papa, look at the end, sing happy songs... etc” Yang lain tak tau la camana pasal dah jauh kat belakang... didn’t hear a peep from Ijan... took photos and expected to see Fina crying or something but another surprise; she was smiling....

Also went to the Butterfly Farm which was interesting, there weren’t just butterflies, there were other interesting tree insects and fish and birds and turtles and snakes and scorpions as well... at the end of that I had spent close to rm200 on t-shirts and stuff... Then went to the sleeping Buddha temple... nothing much to see but the Buddha lying down... pretty huge I have to say

One thing that I was disappointed with was food... being the cheap fellow that I am, didn’t want to have food in the hotel... susahnya nak cari makan! There were a few options in feringghi but they seemed a bit dodgy, in terms of halalness... ada la satu seafood place tu, riverview was the tag-line but it was actually next to a big drain... ok la if you don’t mind the smell of the toilet and the waiter that had a beanie on, Fina tutup hidung every time dia lalu... why would you have a beanie on? We’re in Malaysia for God’s sake... tak tau la berapa lama dia tak basuh benda tu... Nak cari nasi kandar, tak tau mana nak pegi and time was short also la, we spent most of the time either at the pool/beach or jalan2... by the time pikir nak makan dah menggagau nak cari... so ended up ada la satu kedai tu, actually one of what appeared to be the biggest nasi kandar chain there... cam biasa Luqman dengan roti telor dia, I had nasi kandar tapi yang frustnya takde pulak ayam madu.. so nak lepaskan geram, order la burger special... asked the guy “u tau ke nak buat?” dia angguk je... bila datang, had one bite, mentah! Hampeh betul... so had a replacement, dah le lambat so by the time yang baru tu datang dah tak selera dah... tak tau la apa rasa, tak makan pun, next day Fina pun buang dalam tong sampah kat bilik... pagi pu tak breakfast kat hotel, preferred the small stall next to the hotel, tapi selalu lambat so nasi lemak selalu dah habis, kena la roti bakar dgn telor setengah masak...

Well, that was from Sunday to Tuesday... budak2 tu merungut “kenapa kita kena balik?” kesian jugak tapi nak buat camana, Fina tak dapat cuti... after that lepak kat KL, pegi la beli benda2 yg orang ostolia kirim, tengok moyang kat keramat and mostly lepak je kat rumah sampai Friday... Pas tu, sabtu ahad hantar budak2 balik temerloh pulak pasal Fina takde cuti kan so cuti takde orang nak manage diorang, and gave me time alone with my dearest as well ehem ehem... Monday flight pagi pulak so tu je la holiday aku....

Now, just back to hearing their voices on the phone again.......

cold winter day

It's been more than a month since I last updated this blog... just been lazy I guess, nothing much to tell really

Balik KL lagi 24th April hari tu, ANZAC Day on the 25th kat sini so dapat la cuti lama skit, ada la 2 full days kat KL... Remember one thing tho, kat airport tu ada la bertembung orang kita tapi semua buat dek je... Was thinking to myself, diorang sombong ke aku? Banyak kali dah cam tu, bila jumpa I always try to at least nod and smile tapi semua buat donno je... Jumpa kat town/Freo pun cam tu jugak... hmmm tak tau la, maybe diorang dah Austrialinised kot, lama2 tu nyampah pulak tengok... baik Aussies kat sini, at least diorang nak gak tegur/sembang...

It's Sunday today, still rasa terkilan tak dapat join budak2 main futsal hari tu, menang pulak tu, tapi tak tau gak, maybe kalau aku join jadi kalah hehehe bola tu bulat... Tadi routine cam biasa, gi pekena roti canai instant kat Freo, semalam kena nasi goreng dengan sate, it's about the closest thing I can get to home....

Mangkuk Fat King tu ada ajak aku gi mana2 ntah dengan Sultan of Oz, tapi maleh la aku... tak paham2 bahasa diorang ni, sibuuuuk ajak aku... Bukan aku taknak pegi, tapi aku taknak pegi dengan diorang, tak reti2 lagi... And it's only because there has not been a day where he has not picked on either my country, my religion, my family, my physical attributes, everything about me... so takkan weekend pun aku nak layan gak benda2 tu?? cukup la hari kerja aku tak dapat nak ngelak, weekend aku nak la spend time by myself.... tak sabar nak habis project ni, memang aku tak nak balik dah sini kalau diorang ada sini... and ada possibility aku balik cepat (end of May) fuh, ya Allah, selamatkanlah aku... bagilah aku pekerjaan yang lebih baik supaya aku dapat hidup bersama keluarga ku... Amin

It's about 13 degrees today, pagi2 around 2 or 3, nak bangun semayang Subuh tu memang liat, bukan nak bangun actually, nak amik air semayang dengan air sejuk tu yang pikir banyak kali tu... teringat pulak; anak bini aku bangun tak semayang Subuh? Haziq... Luqman... bangun....

3rd tour...

got back from kl monday 24th, drove tuesday to kooly and then down to esperance, dekat 1000km tu, berapa ramai anak melayu yang dah buat? tak pernah ada kot...

more interestingly was the trip back home, melepas rindu dengan my queen and my angels, plan nak gi genting burn coz luq dok hospital, sabtu baru keluar... well, dapat jumpa diorang for a few days pun jadi la... luq dah ok sikit tapi still not out of the woods yet, we'll see...

what else did i do? hmmm managed to go to low yatt, belikan my buddy matt 8Gb micro sd, beli thumbdrive lagi (setan gemok tu rosakkan aku nye yang lama), beli headphones baru nak skype, put spiderman skin on my ipod lalala, so it wasn't a total disaster... have a new friend now:boleh la layan diri sorang2 dalam bilik ni, bau2an from the previous tenant pun dah hilang, aku dah terbalikkan tilam, sembur kasi wangi, tukar cadar, beli bantal baru... thank God semua dah clear... tapi ntah la, lately ni asyik nak membeli je, impulsive shopping, tadi petang bought an ipod bluetooth adapter from ebay.au, ada lagi ni nak beli ni, dah ada bluetooth kena la beli bluetooth headphone pulak dak? tak tau la credit card nanti camana rupa...

nothing like being 'alone' in a foreign country...