Holiday At Colmar Tropicale Resort

For this holiday, together with Ayu’s mother and sister, we took Raidi and Zidani to the Bukit Tinggi Colmar Tropicale Resort. Although it was just for a one night stay but it was filled with plenty of activities. The kids certainly enjoyed the trip and they really love the shuttle bus ride when we visited all the tourist spots. It was an adventurous holiday for them and obviously it was a handful getaway for the parents. A little advice to those who wishes to go for an overnight stay or two. Book your hotel room via the internet. It’s much cheaper. Double check your bookings with the reception. This will save you the waiting time (about 45 minutes) for them to validate the booking when you first check-in into the hotel. Please, there’s no need to bring along your winter clothing. Seriously, I saw some people wearing thick clothing as if it was snowing! Nak amek gambar kut…to add more realism into the holiday pictures!

House Warming In Putrajaya

Me and my cousin Syukor. We watched MU played against Shefield when we were studying in the UK.

On Saturday, we went to Putrajaya to attend Mak Midah's house warming party. Mak Midah is my mom's elder sister. They shifted to their new house in Precinct 14 Putrajaya recently and when we arrived at their place, the kids got really excited! This is because the playground is just steps away from the house's doorway. Literally!! Everyone was there that day and even my uncles and aunties from Muar came to this function. Zidani like always enjoyed the food very much and he actually helped himself with the buffet while Raidi was busy making new friends. The hosts actually wore baju melayu so it really felt like a hari raya open house.

Jua's place...Raidi is disturbing the baby!

While we were enjoying the food, we noticed somebody familiar. It was Jua's husband! We figured that they live in Putrajaya so it must be him. But we never thought that their house would be in the same neighborhood! So it was like celebrating two occasions in a day. Coincidently Jua just came back from the Hospital after delivering her second child. So we visited Jua and her newborn baby at their place located couple of houses away from Mak Midah's house. I think the last time I saw Jua and her husband was 2-3 years ago. It's good to catch up with old friends. If one day I have to the go the UAE, I now know with whom I can lepak with. Riza works as a Gas Engineer in the UAE and I'm sure he would not mind entertaining guest from Malaysia.

Zidani being entertained by Uncle Harris

WPR 5921

Akhirnya….Setelah hampir 4 bulan setengah ku menanti, akhirnya, kau datang jua pada ku!!! Suatu penantian yang amat menyiksakan!! At first I wanted the silver colour, then for awhile, I thought bronze is good. At one time blue looks nice also. My favorite colour includes black. Very hard to decide I tell you. All the colours look good under different weather and lighting conditions. So I told the fellow, just give me any colour as long as it is not red. Last Monday, after 4 months of waiting, I got to know the colour. It’s black.

The key to my 'Civic' consciousness... Vvrooomm

Today after work, I drove straight to the Honda 3S center in Sg Penchala and took delivery of the new Civic 1.8L. I called up Dil earlier, wanted his help to fetch me at home and drive to the showroom. But he was busy. So I had to drive there alone and leave the Inspire at the center only to be driven back home later during the night. Btw, I didn’t have the heart to trade in the Inspire for the new Civic. Couple of reasons:

1. The trade in value is nearly half the market value (sakit hati aku)
2. I’ve spent thousands on the car already…rasa rugi kalau jual.
3. The Inspire has most of the features that I want in a car. From sunroof to electric seat to traction control..and the list goes on. Even the new civic cannot match many of the Inspire features. I feel there’s more value/functions in the Inspire compared to the Civic.

Most probably I will keep the Inspire for as long as the car is in working condition. But when the time comes, when I can find a serious buyer, I will let the car go. To trade in the Inspire at half the market price would be ridiculous. I’ll try to sell it myself instead.

It was love at first sight. When I first laid my eyes on the Civic back in July, I’ve fallen in love with the car. Sat at the driver’s seat for a couple of minutes, I knew straight away this is the car that I want. So today, I’ve fulfilled one of my wishes and I’m really grateful for this ‘rezeki’. Raidi is particularly happy with the car. The fact that it is a Honda makes him even happier. Not surprising tough as he grew up in a family that drives Honda cars. What we need now is the CRV or the MPV and this should somehow complete the Honda fleet in the family. Hhmm…I wonder..

I don’t know, my next target would be the Accord. In 3 to 5 years time, Honda might come out with many new models and I’m sure the Accord would be far more advance packed with innovative features. But for now, I just want to be ‘civic’ minded and experience the pleasures in my daily drives.

Love At The First Sight...

It’s been a busy week for me. We just finished conducting a seminar for TM at a hotel in PJ. I was satisfied with the outcome from this event. So satisfied I even agreed to play badminton after some persuasion from Ibdil. Ayat power mamat ni…. I didn’t believe that I actually survived this week’s badminton game despite having so little sleep the night before! I guess when we’re passionate about something; we tend to push ourselves a little bit more. It was mind over body.

I conducted my first presentation as a Telsoft employee last Tuesday and if my memory serves me well, the last time I did this was more than a year ago while I was in TM. And I think I’ve forgotten how much fun one can have being a presenter especially when you’re speaking about subject that you are passionate about. I’m sure there will be more opportunities for me to do this again in the future. The bigger the ‘stage’, the higher the ‘stake’, I just love the adrenalin rush and you feel satisfied knowing that you’ve ‘performed’ well. Proper preparation and good presentation skills helps. But if you're 'armed' with deep industry knowledge, that separates the men from the boys if you know what I mean. It’s substance over form.

We’re currently working on some projects with TM and what I can say is, it is expected to have a major impact on the co’s bottom line. Just watch out for TM’s offering next year. It’s going to rock your world! Hehehe..I really hope so!! Buy up TM’s share before it’s too late!

p/s: the title of this entry does not fit does it? hehehee..it's actually the title for my next entry!!! tungguuuuuuuuu

Syifa Al-Hidayah...

Tonight I didn’t get to play my weekly badminton game. Instead, I took Zidani to Sg Pusu, Gombak for his follow-up check up. This is his second ‘treatment’ and I made a point to follow Abah for this visit. Ayu is working late tonight so she didn’t come with us. She went to the ‘clinic’ for Zidani’s first appointment to do his scanning. Well, his ‘scan’ result shows that in total, there are 51 Jins disturbing him. So the ‘doctor’ prescribed Zidani with a number of Quranic verses to be read out by the parents after prayers. I just have to believe and strengthen my faith to Allah and hope for any positive results from this treatment. It is important for us to put good effort and initiatives to help Zidani with his delayed development.

I can see positive improvements in Zidani today. His temperament is still there but it’s not that frequent. Hyperactivity is common in this family and with Zidani’s condition, he’s really on the high side. I know Zidani is one strong kid and he is very smart too. Refer to this website http://www.syifa-alhidayah.com/index_live.asp to know more about this alternative medicine.

Hingga Ke Menara Gading....

I’m planning to pursue my post-graduate study. Ayu is about to finish her MBA. She is now struggling to start her thesis and I hope she can complete it on time. I envy her because every time she gets her results, it has been nothing short of straight A’s. My ego ‘terganggu’ further when her accumulated CGPA is just 0.03 point from the full mark. I think I will sabotage her thesis to bring down some points. This would be much easier than trying to beat her current result! Hehehe. What ever it is, I’m glad that she’s been scoring. We finance the tuition fees ourselves and so far, I feel very satisfied with the return. I would encourage her to continue with her PhD. She’s got the potential.

Would I like to be left behind? I don’t think so. I told Ayu that I’m currently doing my Master’s and it is a lifelong course. This Master’s program costs me only about RM5 a year and I can choose to major in any subject. Just go to the National Library and you have access to thousands of books. There’s so much information that you can absorb under one roof. All you need to do is read. Don’t just read romance novels. This is how I usually pacify my ego whenever Ayu come’s back home with her examination transcript. But no matter how much information or knowledge I can gain from reading, I can never substantiate it with a certificate.

What to do? People don’t really judge your qualification by the number of times you visited the library. Recognition must be earned by means of a piece of paper which I think in today’s standard, valid only for a couple of years. What we learn today in class can be obsolete in matter of years. Furthermore, certificates or transcripts today can be forged! Hmmm..

So I’m contemplating to register myself for an MBA course. Which university I want to go to is not an issue. My biggest concern has got to be with time. Doing the course on a part time basis requires me to sacrifice my weekends. Attending seminars, sitting for exams and completing assignments would be very time consuming. Even today I’m complaining to myself for being too busy and not spending enough time with the kids. What else if I start my post-graduate studies? Raidi is going to be in standard one soon and Zidani will have two more years before he starts schooling. In Zidani’s case, I’ve got only 2 years to prepare him. Much attention is needed to help him catch up with his development which is delayed. If I start my MBA, I don’t think I can give him the amount of attention that should be given.

Still, I have set a target for my self. I’m determined to complete my MBA before the age of 35 and if all go well, get a PhD by 40. This one incident occurred at the HUKM cafeteria inspired me to do my PhD. While I was paying for the food, the cashier actually charged me with the staff rate. She really thought that I was working in that hospital. I felt guilty so I told to her that I don’t work in that hospital. "Takpelah Doctor, saya dah punch ni” she said. My colleagues who were queuing behind me heard the whole conversation. The look on their faces was priceless!! Hahaha. What a feeling! Since that day, I always thought I should continue my studies and get my PhD..hehehe

Knowledge is not only power. To me, more importantly, knowledge enriches the soul, broaden your perspectives and act as a mental protein that will help you to develop into a more cultured and respectable person. The Jews are known to be the smartest people. Their race constitutes less than 0.5% of world’s population and yet, they have world geo-political and economic control. We Muslims represent a quarter of the world’s population and thank Allah that many Muslim countries have access over the world’s major oil reserves. But what happen then if the oil wells dry up?? Even today, when Muslims have control over these energy sources, we are being subject to continuous oppression. Without the black money (oil), can you imagine the fate of our future Muslims generations?

I choose to continue my studies not only because I want to be recognized professionally, but basically, I just want to be knowledgeable. If I don’t get to pursue my studies, I hope my kids will strive hard to achieve this. But remember kids, be sincere to yourself and to Allah in your quest to gain knowledge. You study because you want to develop yourself into a better person. If you have a brain of a genius, remember to be humble because Allah can anytime take that away from you. Remember your roots. It doesn’t matter what paper qualification you have, as long as you live as a good human being, people will remember you for a long time. I cannot stress more on the importance of knowledge so please continuously feed your mind with them ok? Don't stop until you reach the 'Menara Gading'. Go beyond it!

"The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid"

I just finished reading this book written by C.K Prahalad. It’s about how Governments, NGOs and the corporate sector can work together to eradicate poverty. We think that serving the low segment of the markets brings little or no profits. The poor are always not the targeted customers; our usual assumption is that they can’t afford our products or services. On the contrary, with innovation, companies can make lots of money from selling their products and services to the so called Bottom Of The Pyramid ‘BOP’ customers.

The fact is there are 4 billion people in the world who live on far less than $2 a day. And this 4 billion people actually represents 80% of humanity! We always see call for money to help the 4 billion poor and the cry is so constant. Most of the time we think that various aid agencies and governments should tackle this issue. However as we enter the 21st century, poverty remains one of the world’s most daunting problem.

The book changed my perceptions that the very poor actually represent resilient entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers. The key towards eradicating poverty is to achieve a sustainable win-win scenario where the poor are actively engaged and, at the same time, companies providing products and services to them are profitable. This collaboration between the poor, NGO’s, governments and large firms can create the largest and fastest growing markets in the world.

I read today in bernama quoting Prof Ungku Aziz how he considers the current PM different from his predecessors due to his ambiguous priority for the dejected rural people. "Abdullah has also come out with a noble aim with the help of his Cabinet members in redressing the imbalance of rural poverty," said Prof Ungku Aziz. In a way, this is an example of how we put the whole burden of alleviating poverty in this country on the Governments shoulder. Governments can provide various grants, training opportunities, conduct business programs and other noble ways to bring them out of the poverty cycle. But what about the role of the corporate sector? Surely they have a part to play in the fight against poverty? I don’t think the corporate sectors contributions to the poor should only be reported as part of their CSR initiatives. In fact, with the right business models and processes, the BOP could be a major contributor to the company’s bottom line.

The truth is, at the ‘BOP’ the so called demand and supply economic curve haven’t really intersected. The corporate world never treated this segment as profitable and the customers in the segment never really trusted companies as they think that the companies are only interested to make profit out of their subsistence income. Furthermore, they always feel that companies are only interested to serve customers at the top of the pyramid where the profit margin is. They feel that they haven’t got any opportunity to access the products and services consumed by the middle class with better purchasing power. Now if they have access to products and services equal to the developed world, we are not only enabling dignity and choice through markets, but we are opening up opportunities for this segment to evolve and climb up the pyramid.

The book tells readers how we can equate the demand from the BOP markets and the supply coming mostly from the 1st world markets. The organization structure, business model and processes today are developed to serve the segments with better purchasing power. So the trick in doing business in the BOP market is to innovate. It is interesting to read how a private eye hospital in India had made tremendous profits from providing eye care services. A cataract operation may cost $3500 per operation in the US, but in India, it only costs the patient a mere $50. The Aravind Eye Hospital uses the most modern equipment available in any facility in the world and still with only 40% paying customers, the hospital remained profitable and debt free. They managed to cut down their costs by its ability to use the equipment effectively, as it specializes only in eye care and every doctor and nurse team performs an average of 50 surgeries per day. Other success stories ranging from micro-financing facilities, energy resources, agricultural services, information technology, health care, retailing are well illustrated. Now I know how we can bring these services to people who earn less than $2 a day and the company can still make a hefty profit.

The underlying impact is great. With collaboration from all sectors, the market oriented system can be used to develop wealth in the BOP market. Alleviating poverty doesn’t rest on the governments shoulders alone. Social transformation of the very poor is about the number of people who believe that they can aspire to a middle-class lifestyle. The question is how we can bring this middle-class lifestyle to the poor. C.K Prahalad wrote that our best allies in fighting poverty are the poor themselves. Their resilience and perseverance must give us courage to move forward with entrepreneurial solutions to the problem. He believes that with bold and responsible leadership from the private sector and civil society, world poverty and deprivation elimination is possible by the year 2020.

Very interesting book I must say. It gives fresh thinking about emerging markets. The private sector can be put at the center of development, as a real engine of services for the poor. It all boils down to innovation. Read this book if you want to know more about fighting poverty with profitability.

Raidi's Graduation Ceremony

Dear Raidi,

Today Abah and Mama would like to congratulate you. Last Sunday, both Abah and Mama attended your graduation ceremony held at the Damansara Utama Multipurpose Hall. That day, you woke up very early in the morning and made sure that Abah and Mama got prepared early as well. You did not want to be late for this important event. I saw how happy you were and you just can’t wait to go to the hall and meet up with all your friends. You looked very handsome in your purple baju melayu suit.

Abah and Mama got to see you perform on stage with your friends singing a Nasyid song about Nabi Noh. You kept on looking towards Abah (I was standing by the side of the stage, busy taking photos) when you are supposed to look towards the audience! But it was really fun watching you performing on stage though.

The best part was when I had the opportunity to talk to your friends Raidi. I would like to put on record that a girl by the name of Shafiqah turns out to be your first crush! All your friends that I met talked to me about this girl that you admire (all caught on video, see them below). You even asked me at home whether I managed to take a picture of Shafiqah that day!! Hmm.. to tell you the truth, it reminded me of my crush that I had when I attended my pre-school in Bangsar! I wonder what happened to that girl..emmm. Anyway, I can see how close you are with your friends Raidi. I understand now why you even want to go to school on Sundays! I’m really glad that you are enjoying your pre-schooling days. You would certainly miss your friends nanti but not to worry, Abah will keep their contact details. Maybe we can invite some of your friends to come over to your future birthday parties.

In January you will be attending your primary school at SKTTDI(1), the school behind our house. For your information, I attended this school too! It’s common when parents and the kids go to the same boarding school, but what about primary school?? I think it’s seldom. Aunty Tasha, uncle Harris and uncle Helmi studied at the same school! Only Uncle Husni went to SKTTDI(2). I hope your brother Zidani will join you in 2 years time, when you are in Standard 3.

One thing for sure, I want to be active in PIBG and contribute in anyway that could bring good education to my kids. It’s a way for me to give back to society. Not only Raidi is going to study there, the father is also an ex-student. So I think I’m more than compelled to contribute something right? Anyway, you going to SKTTDI(1) would certainly bring back old memories of my own schooling days. One day I would give you a tour in that school and tell you about my own experiences. Hehehe, I can’t wait to have lunch with you at the school canteen!

Pictures of graduation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiz/sets/72157594365698367/

Interview 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sit2b6hZRp4

Interview 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c4A89P4rxQ

Interview 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQOnE3qJkg

More Raya Pictures....

More group photos taken during Hari Raya. People in these photos are my relatives from my father's side. During the first week of Raya we have visited most of them already. The 2nd week, we should be covering Mak's side relatives plak. Till today, I've uploaded close to 100 Raya pictures and there will be plenty more to come. Luckily I've upgraded my flickr account and now I've got the motivation to take more pictures. Todate, I had only used 10% of my monthly uploading quota!! So by month end, kira wasted the other 90%. Perhaps I should start sharing some of the uploading capacities that I've bought. Anybody interested?? Boleh kongsi kalau nak...

All my cousins with Atuk excluding my borther Harris and Mak Long's 4 kids

Hari Raya 2006 Part..III

Perghh... last night we brought KLCC new year's eve celebration to Jalan Athinahapan 1!!..check out the video clips below... Uncle Taufik sponsored the firecrackers and my brothers and cousins took charge of the 'show'. Raidi was the only kid who was playing with the safer little bunga api. Next year we're planning to put up a much better and bigger show!!

Highlight for the night : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RtSkXfhVvw
Some other clips : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQa-85HspB0

Hari Raya 2006..Part II

Today marked the 4th day of Syawal and so far, the celebration had been great and very tiring as well. Day before yesterday, Fiqar and family, Nurleena, Frieda and hubby, Pak Usop came by our house for Raya. In the evening, we went to Azad’s place in Shah Alam and Zidani really enjoyed that ketupat with kari kambing. I went back home that night, feeling a bit dizzy. I don’t know, maybe this kambing is a bit too much for me. Better do my medic check up soon and check my cholestoral level. Manyak takut wooooo..

Beraya dekat KLIA....

We picked up Abah, Mak and Atuk today at KLIA and everybody converged at Abah’s place in TTDI including relatives from JB. We are glad that they’ve managed to come back home safely from their Umrah and get to celebrate Hari Raya with the rest of the family. While having lunch together, everybody listened to their interesting experiences in Makah. Abah and mak told us about how everybody in Masjidil Haram, just before the Friday prayer’s, heard loud noises coming from the top of Kaabah. It sounded like a carriage of horses running across the grand mosque and many thought that it was actually the Angel. Abah also told us a story when he had this conversation with a male Caucasian. Judging from his British accent, he really thought that this guy originates from the UK. Apparently he's actually a Malaysian and lives in Mutiara Damansara! Haha..what a small world.

Makan time...

Tonight Raidi and Zidani had a great time playing with firecrackers with their uncles and aunties. Even I enjoyed the fireworks display. My brothers and my cousins bought them in Taman Datuk Keramat so it really was like a mini new year’s celebration right here in Jalan Athinahapan 1. I was a bit worried if the neighbors complained and called up the police. But I guess it's part of the thrill isn't it?. Now this is what I call Hari Raya. Although we were not in Muar or Kluang, but it felt like an exciting family gathering. Everybody enjoyed themselves. Mafeitz and Fiqar dropped by my parent’s place and Raidi made sure that their kid didn’t miss the fun.

Dam dam dum..bunyi mercun!

Tomorrow, I think I will take the kids to Raya at Mak Long’s house in Seksyen 6 Shah Alam. Ayu will be working so it will just be me and the kids. It’s going to be tiring I’m sure tapi setahun sekali kan? But to tell you the truth, tekak ni gatal nak berkaraoke sebenarnya…nak je esok gi BSC and melalak! heheheeh

More gambar at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiz/sets/72157594343989165/

Hari Raya 2006

At first I thought I want to write another episode of the ‘Voyage Of The Super Hero Robot’. However, Raidi has lots of Robot in his collection today, writing a story about each one of them would be too daunting for me! Besides, this Raya’s edition, Abah, Mak, Atuk and Raidi himself is not with us to celebrate in KL. My parent’s will only be back from Umrah this coming Friday afternoon, while Raidi is having a good time in Penang with Ayu’s mom. Yup, he followed his grandmother up north to celebrate Hari Raya. So here we are today, just me, Ayu and Zidani together with my brothers and sister celebrating Hari Raya. This is the first raya that we celebrate without Abah, Mak and Raidi around and it surely feels different. Nevertheless, we did have a joyous celebration visiting uncles, aunties and friends around KL.

At Uncle Yoh's place in TTDI
Zidani certainly had a great time. He gets full attention from the parents and the others. I was amazed looking at the amount of food that Zidani eats. Semua dia pulun!! We went to Uncle Yoh’s place after prayers, visited Ibdil and his family the same morning, had lunch at Auntie Huda’s place in Subang Jaya, Uncle Azmi and Untie Oyah’s residence in Kota Damansara in the afternoon and singgah at my borther’s apartment after that. We ended the 1st raya rounds at Nurleena’s place in TTDI. We overdosed the ketupat, rendang and kuih, we woke up really late today feeling the effects from our mentekedarah. Now, it’s nearly 3pm and Ayu’s watching Castello on Astro, Zidani is having is nap and I really really feel like sleeping again! Hahaha..baru lepas makan ketupat palas lagi!

To be continued

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Dan Batin….

Tackling, Headbuting..How About Biting??

Ref: Oii..apa gigit gigit ni???
Defoe: saya geram ref...dia tackle saya

I never thought this could ever happen in football. At least not in the EPL. Tottenham striker Willam Defoe did a Mike Tyson thingy on a Hammer's player and now, he's being criticise by the footie fraternity. Defoe said that the incident was blown out of proportion and Martin Jol, his team manager consider it nothing more than a comical nible. I wonder what goes in Defoe's mind when he did this act. If you want to over-react on the field, make another tackle laa like what any other sane footballer does...Or baling Pizza ke. But biting your fellow opponent on the arm?? That should only happen in other close contact sports like Boxing. Sure kawan-kawan dia kutuk and ejek baik punya hahahaha..Eeeee...Defoe..Ggggrrr..Auummm.. auummm..Bite me!!!

Manchester United Back On Top! Yummy!

A bowl of sweet strawberrys, dip them in Hersheys Choc syrup together with some whipped cream, it's simply mouth watering! This is what I had while watching MU played against Liverpool live on Astro last night. Congratulations to Paul Scholes for playing his 500th game for Manchester United. He scored again at Old Trafford and the timing couldn’t be any better. I think this should boost this guy’s confidence and he’s going to start scoring regularly. I was really hoping for Ronaldo to play but I guess there’s a blessing a disguise. To me the man of the match should go to Darren Fletcher for his will and determination to win every ball possible. Kudos to Rio who scored the second goal that made him looked like a capable striker. Right now, looking at how things are going for MU, my weekly groceries list won’t be without a pack of strawberrys!

Selamat Hari Jadi...Selamat Hari Jadii....

Its 2.30 in the morning and I can’t sleep. I just finished watching a DVD and Zidani suddenly woke up and he’s eating choc chip cookies right now. No problem Zidani, you can teman Abah for awhile. Raidi is still not sleeping as he is re-arranging all his hand crafted toys from his Art Attack classes. Today, he has not got much space in his room to display all his art creations. He also puts up his drawings on the door to his room and there’s no more space left either. Hmm..he asked me for a new door but I told him to start using the wall instead.

Today is the 22nd of October 2006. It’s a significant date for me because today marked the 1st anniversary of my blogging activity!! Goosshhh…how time flies. I can’t believe that it’s been a year already! Mafeitz, if you feel that the month of Ramadhan pass by in a flash, I think the past one year pass by in a blink of an eye!

So how am I feeling about this anniversary? Honestly, I feel happy. I’m feeling happy because I think I’ve accomplished something today. I’ve managed to put on record many of the important events in my life. This is great because to tell you the truth, I’m not really into writing and reading had not been my favorite past time either. But due to blogging, I’ve been writing and I’ve been reading people’s blog too. Interesting and entertaining indeed.

I initially thought those who blog are people who don't really have a real life to live in (because they are busy blogging)!! hahaha..Now my perception is totally different. To me it’s a place where we can blog about the beutiful life itself. I think, in a way, blogging had changed our lifestyle. Have you ever done anything interesting just because you feel you should do it so that you can write it on the blog??? Answer this question honestly…if your answer is yes, I think you’ve taken the blue pill. Welcome to the matrix!!

It’s a great feat for me to write about my life for the past one year. I get to read back about all the goodies and the not so bad stuff about myself and others. There’s one thing that blogging had made an impact to me. It made me realized and constantly reminded me that I have 2 other blogs written by Allah’s Angels (Malaikat Roqib & Atid). They must have started writing about me at least for the past 15 years. Every single detail of my life had been written by them, all my good and bad conduct. We bloggers write about what we only want others to know and we leave the skeletons in the closet. But this is not the case for the two Angels. I’m scared that majority of the entries in my books had been made by Malaikat Atid. I really hope Malaikat Roqib is writing a little good about me right now because I’m doing something good here to a remind everybody!

My motivation to blog is simply for my future generation. It would be interesting to read about your great great great grandparent’s life isn’t it? I hope that this blog website will exist for many generations to come. If one day they decide to charge surfers for some fees, I’m willing to pay for it! I really do.

Hopefully, you have enjoyed reading my blog. I know there is nothing much in here compared to the other blogsites. But I think I’ve tried my level best to make it interesting. What I wrote came straight from my honest heart. I will continue blogging for as long as I can. I will try to write and capture all the important and significant moments in life revolving around me, family and friends. Like I’ve written before in my first entry, this blog is actually a dedication. It is a way for Mafiz to say thank you for making him the person he is today. So make sure you are nice to Mafiz all the time…If not aaa…not only Mafiz will write something bad about you on his blog… Malaikat Atid would surely make his entry too!!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOG!!

Kamcheng Iftar 2006

Today we had our annual Kamcheng Iftar at Mal's place in Sunway Damansara townhouse. He just shifted two weeks ago so he voluntered to be the host for this year's buka puasa. So it was a combo Iftar and house warming thingy. Majority of us came to this function this year and we truely enjoyed the gathering. As usual, food was aplenty (I LOVE WAN EDRIN'S CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!!! CHAMPION!!!! Wife dia buat..so kena order lepas ni) and the kids had so much fun playing with each other. Edrus son's vomitted-he ran in circle non-stop, Azad's daughter fell on the floor head first, Harris had to changed his daughter's soiled diapers and Raidi's hand melecur main bunga api. Yes, the fathers got to play with firecrakers too (courtesy of Nor)! I think for first time in 15 years, I get to lit up a moon traveller!! What a feeling....

It was funny when we had to help Mal in the kitchen to prepare the dinner table. All the utensils were still in boxes! Now this is what I call house warming! Kid's vommit, soiled carpet, waxed benches.. hahahah... habis rumah ko Mal. To those who went back early, you missed out on Mal's specially made ice blended coffee! I must say, it's not bad at all Mal, I can still smell the aroma. We officiated this brand new blender so that made it even extra special. hehehe. Thank's to everybody who contributed to this gathering. Maybe next year I would like to volunteer plaks! See more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiz/sets/72157594338420752/

Raidi playing with bunga api

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

On behalf of my family, I would like to wish everybody Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Kami sekeluarga menghulur empat puluh jari sebagai tanda kemaafan sekiranya ada kesalahan dan kesilapan samaada sengaja atau pun tidak. Hopefully everybody will have a safe and great Hari Raya holidays.

To my badminton geng, sesiapa nak datang court badminton hari Selasa nanti jangan la pergi sorang-sorang ye? Jemputlah kawan-kawan seperjuangan yang lain sekiranya sudi ye...hehehe

Q & A With Kids....

Two days ago, I saw this billboard about the National’s Space Program in the city. On that billboard, Raidi saw this astronaut wearing a full space suit carrying an oxygen back pack.

Immediately Raidi asked me this question. “Bah, kenapa dekat space tak ada oksigen??”. I thought very hard to come out with an answer so that he could easily understand and absorb. I paused for awhile, scratched my head and he suddenly came up with an answer. “Sebab dekat space tak ada pokok ke Bah?” Perrghhhhhh…bijaaakk bijaakkk (TO THOSE WHO STILL DOESN’NT KNOW THIS, PART OF THIS PLANET’S ECO-SYSTEM, TO SUSTAIN LIFE, PLANTS PRODUCES OXYGEN FOR US TO BREATHE). “Yup Raidi, that is partly correct, infact an astronaut carries an oxygen tank for life support”. “Habis dalam beg dia tu ada pokok ke bah??” Peerghhhhh.. Susah nak jawab Raidi! Blurr kejap bapak ko dibuatnya! Below are some of the challenging questions that Raidi had asked me before:

1. “Kenapa Bulan ikut kita mana-mana kita pergi?”
2. “Kenapa pokok warna hijau?”
3. “Nak pergi bulan naik roket ye Bah? Kenapa?”
4. “Kenapa Anakyn Skywalker punya R2-D2 colour biru?”
5. “Yoda tu dah tua ye Bah? Dia berapa tahun? Kenapa dia mati?”
6. “Abah umur berapa tahun nanti dah tua?”
7. “Nanti Abah dah tua nanti siapa nak hantar saya pergi sekolah?”

Raidi is at the age when kids have tons of questions to satisfy their curiosity. He’s very perceptive. It’s quite challenging because they ask honest questions and we’ve got to make the answers as simple and logical as possible. When we talk to these kids, we’ve got to scale down our mentality just to be in the same wavelength. Sometimes, I felt very surprised by their level of maturity and understanding. I noticed that all the kids that I met today have strong mental ability. They are good at anything that they do. I’m sure you have noticed this too.

I feel that the era of great thinkers, innovators and inventors are upon us. The era when we saw Muslim Scholars excelled in Science, Philosophy and Literature. An era of great inventors with the likes of Wright Brothers whom invented the first flying machine. Thanks to these great thinkers, we get to live the life that we are living today. I guess the next leap in human life development is in the hands of our children. Humanity had collected so much data and findings and with the computing power available today, it allows us to simulate models with countless scenarios. With so much information in our hands, the generation to come will use them to make many of our fantasies becoming a reality.

It’s just that today there are so many fields that people can excel in that their inventions are only publicized or known to certain community. So someone needs to invent something like a ‘Warp Drive’ to get a global attention or maybe from beyond our solar system (who knows maybe the Vulcan’s are waiting for human to invent this technology). I just hope that they use the knowledge for the goodness of mankind. So Raidi and Zidani, if you want to invent something, Death Star is out of the question, Millenium Falcon, good. Star Destroyer is a no noo. Invent something useful ok?

Lambaian Kaabah...

My parents together with my grandmother will be celebrating Hari Raya in Makah this year. They flew to the holy land to perform their Umrah last Wednesday morning. I decided to take the express link from KL Sentral as I need to be in the office in the afternoon. Besides I had never been on the ERL during the day so I took the opportunity to experience the ride in daylight.

Aunties, cousins and all my siblings were there as we bid bon voyage to them. They’ll be flying back on the 27th of October, the first week of Raya. So basically me and my siblings will be celebrating Hari Raya in TTDI this year. To Abah, Mak and Atuk, we pray and hope that you will have a safe trip to perform the Umrah. We will be waiting for you to come back home and celebrate Hari Raya with the rest of the family. I dont' know, maybe we'll prepare something special for your homecoming.

Family Picture

Adik Beradik...

While I was in KLIA, was informed by Dil that his Wife had safely delivered a baby boy at Pantai Hospital. So I went straight from KL Sentral to the hospital and visited Dil and Ezah. Congratulations Ibdil on your latest edition to the family. Check out his blog at http://cocodilly.blogspot.com/2006/10/imann-areef-bin-ibdilillah.html on this latest event.

My Favorite Dessert....

Yup..you are actually looking at the picture of my favorite dessert. It’s home made! I love TGIF choc mud pie, I would die for a California Pizza Choc brownies and I would always drool over any chocolate ice blended or smoothies. But this is still and will always be the Champion. Juara carta dessert ku. Why I like it so much? Couple of reasons:

1. Easy to make. Making it yourself is as enjoyable as eating it.
2. It’s Cheap. All I need to buy is one tub of chocolate ice cream, a can of whipped cream, a bottle of hershey’s chocolate syrup (I sometimes mix this with Coke), a tin of oats and some strawberries or bananas. Usually, this would last for a month.
3. I can eat it while wearing my sarong…you can’t do this at Friday’s or Coffee Bean. Nak pergi kedai mamak pun skarang ni kena jaga. Pakai kain pelikat kena kutuk babe!
4. It tastes even better while watching MU winning a football game. I don’t know why, but it always tastes the best whenever they beat Liverpool. Hehehe
5. I get to share it with my kids. You should see them fighting for every scoop from me. Macam anak burung lapar..hahaha

Good Luck Raidi! All The Best

This week Raidi is having his pre-school final exam. Raidi is attending his pre-school at the Mujahideen Religious School in Damansara Utama. He loves to go to school and I’m glad that he's enjoying this experience. Raidi is very hard working and he would usually finish his homework at school while waiting for Atuk Seth to pick him up. He has many friends there and the teachers love him too. According to his Ustazah, Raidi is very lively in class and he likes to ask many questions too.

Although he’s just in pre-school, I’m now experiencing how other parents feel when their kids are having their exams. You have put high hope and wish that your kid would do well. I know Raidi had prepared for this, but still I don’t feel that I have done enough to help him with his studies. What I’m proud of is, he himself took his own initiative to study and would seek our help when needed. I never force him to study as he enjoys learning and that is very important.

In his last mid-term exam, he managed to score straight A’s. In a class of 50 students, he was ranked 7th in the overall grading. I hope he would improve this position. I’ve promised Raidi to buy more Transformers or Star Wars toys if he can get straight A’s again. I really really hope so because I’ve been dying to buy that Hasbro Snow Speeder ship from the movie Star Wars-The Empire Strikes Back..hehehehehe

Buka Puasa At Sharil's In-Laws...

Raja invited us to break fast at his in-laws place (DSAI residence) in D'mansara Heights. I know this fellow since primary school and I remembered how me and Azad always 'singgah' by his place in TTDI after our morning school and played ping pong together. Today, Raja plays badminton with us and believe me, we sometimes see his his ping-pong skills spilling over in the badminton court!

Ibdil, Raja Ahmad and me

Stayed back after Tarawikh prayers and we got to hear Datuk Seri Anwar and Datin Seri speaking about their aspirations and their thoughts on the current political development in this country. He stressed how important it is to keep on believing in what they are fighting for. He reminded his supporters to work hard for the party. People always told him that he's party is fighting a loose cause. He might loose now but he feels it is not going to be forever.

DSAI with the geng...

The food was great. Mafeitz (and family), Ibdil (cayalah la Dil, pasal kawan sanggup kena marah ngan KJ! haha), Izzat, Zaini, Reezan, LanMi were there too and we get to see DSAI speaking after he came back from the United States for his back problem. I admire him as someone who is highly knowledgable and a good leader. After listening to him for a shortwhile, I understand why some people feel he is a threat. The way he speaks, he could move mouintains. Wish I could attend more of these 'gatherings' for entertainment sake, and to learn how to become a good public speaker!

From Amateur to Pro..

I’ve just upgraded my flickr account to a pro account. Meaning, I had paid flickr for a bigger storage capacity. The amateur account limits users to store up to 200 pictures for free. So now I have a 1Gb upload capacity monthly and this translates to about 12,000 pictures a year (assuming a picture takes up 1mb using a 5mpixels camera). This new storage costs me USD25 a year. I think it’s justifiable. Here’s why:

1. Assured of access to a secured and big storage.

2. I have a digital camera, where else can I keep all the digital pictures. That’s 12,000 pictures a year you know.

3. It’s online. Anyone can view it. It will be there for my kids and the next generation to view them. I can access them anywhere and anytime in the world via the internet.

4. I can manage the storage, group them, give them titles and I can even write stories about them. It’s an alternative site to my current blog.

5. I do have a CD writer, but I’m too lazy to ‘burn’ the pictures. Besides, what if the CD is preceded by a better media? So irrespective of technology, the online pictures will always be downloadable.

6. Photography is a hobby to me. I love landscape photography. With this new account, it gives me further motivation to shoot more pictures.

7. Also, it justifies me to upgrade to a Digital SLR. Heheh..That new Canon 400D SLR camera is really cool! With 10megapixels, I can definitely fill up my monthly 1Gb upload quota quickly. The camera costs RM3,200 and comes with a 18-55mm lense. Perfect package for an enthusiast like me. Azad..can you loan me some money??? Hehehe. Dil, sebab tu aku tak nak beli basikal..gila kooo..baik beli SLR camera!!! No matter how many gears your bicycle can have, can it take pictures?? Cannot maaaa....

View all pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiz/

Salam Ramadhan 2006

Mama..get well soon…and take care of yourself..

Dear Mama, Raidi want you to get well soon. Raidi and Zidani want Mama to be well so that you can take us jalan-jalan. Take us out to have dinners and to the toy shops. Abah doesn’t want to buy us toys! He always buys toys for himself and he don't let us play with them! We hope that you don’t fall sick again.

Me & Mama at the hospital...

Mama, please take care of you kidney ok? Drink water all the clock. Raidi know Abah has batu in his kidneys, but at least the batu is not in Abah’s head. Mama, you are so stubborn, keras kepala. Raidi told Mama before don’t eat junk food but you don’t want to listen to me. Today, Raidi don’t want to eat junk food anymore because I don’t want to fall sick like Mama. But it’s ok Mama as long as you buy me toys, you can always eat junk food as much as you want. But if you go back to the hospital, make sure you come back home quickly ok?? Raidi hope Mama will get well soon and don't forget to take your ubat ok? Raidi and Zidani love you...

Btw, I want to say thank you to everybody who visited Mama at the Hospital. Thank you also to all the UH doctors and nurses who took care of my Mama. Particularly, I want to say thank you to the inventor of this antibiotic that not only treated Mama's infections, but made Mama's skin acne free! hehe Ok...Raidi got to go...Raidi want to play with my Robot. I want to play for many many clocks..bye byeee...

We came, we saw and we MAKAN...

Tonight I had a get together dinner cum birthday party for Izan with the badminton geng in one of the Japanese Café at Sri Hartamas. Everyone was there except for Fiqar and Roslan. I can’t really remember how much we ate, but I know I tried everything. The cakes and cookies were exceptionally good. Thank you so much Izan for sponsoring this feast tonight. And yes I will always remember to fill up gas at your Projet station.

We’ve all decided to continue playing badminton during Ramadhan. I think we should play for about an hour and then proceed to Jln 223 stalls for ‘Moreh’ or Sahur heheheh. We’ll see how far we can push ourselves during Ramadhan..the exercising I mean not the food ok?

L to R: Zaini, Ibdil , Raja Ahmad, Mafeitz, me, Azad, Izzat, Izan and Ervan

Alien Part 2...

Yahoooooo..... today I collected my pre-ordered Aioshima Alien APC. I can now store this APC inside the Drop Ship's loading ramp! Enjoy the pictures!

Pukul Berapa Nak Datang??

I overheard this tele-conversation between Raidi and his friend Shazwan. They were speaking in English. Shazwan cannot speak in malay, he was brought up in an English speaking environment. He might sound stupid speaking in malay…

Raidi : Hello..can I speak with Shazwan? This is Raidi..

Raidi : Do you want to come to my house or not?

Raidi : Ok…how many clock you want to come??

Hahahahahaahahahahaa….Raidi…you are soo cute. I was in my bedroom at that time and I quickly cover my face with the pillow and laughed my lungs out..how many clock you want to come..hahahaha…

Happy 49th Birthday Malaysia…

On the 31st Of August, for the 49th time, we Malaysian celebrated the birth of our beloved country. As much as what we’ve achieved so far, we still have a lot to do. Although I haven’t got much to complain but there are certainly room for the country to improve, be it socially, politically, economically and legislatively.

We should feel proud and lucky to be a Malaysian. We’ve enjoyed so much development and I think no one in this country felt left behind. However we shouldn’t easily feel satisfied and there’s also a danger of becoming complacent. We are living in a globalize world and the country is always susceptible to unscrupulous competition that has a direct and critical impact to the countries development.

Whatever the challenges that we're going to face, I hope we’re all prepared to face them responsibly. Globalisation is here to stay and through advancement in the communication and transportation system, the world is getting smaller everyday. Personally, one direct implication to this advancement is that we have more and more work to do. Our office is practically in our pocket! Remember the days without mobile phone or the internet? No e-mails? Waahhh…ssooo nice…the world seems to move so much slower. Our only source of entertainment was the Airwolf series, Knight Rider, Transformers, GI Joe, Thundercats, Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu and many others. Today, we are more connected to the digital world. Cable TV, the internet and mobile communication keeps us connected 24/7. We are living in a multimedia era powered by the internet engine.

With the broadband explosion, our life is going to change even more. This possess different sort of challenges to us. Borders between countries no longer form barriers for people from both side of the fence to collaborate. Distance will be the least factor for people to work together effectively and this will definitely speed up the development of innovative products and services. This is one good side of the technology.

However as we are more and more dependent on the virtual world, we might want to question the true meaning of independence. When borders are increasingly being erased through the reduction of the digital divide, it will give independence a different definition. More and more information and data including the history will be archive in a digital form. Imagine if one alter the historical facts. I know that today our identity can easily be changed. God knows how much the Malaysian or even the foreign government knows about us individually. They know so much that when human cloning is socially viable, identity will be copied, stored or recycled. Identity could even one day become a commodity. Masa tu memang tak ada pengundi hantu dah…kita panggil pengundi klon.

Do you ever think that changing history is possible? I think it’s possible. People talk about how we can change the present by traveling back in time. Well, when the world is so ‘plugged’ in into the digital world, I guess we don’t actually need to travel through time to alter the past do we? A country could be ‘formatted’ out of this world using a computer and be ‘loaded’ with new a national identity!

The only thing that technology cannot control and manipulate over an individual is the ideology or values that he or she believes in. It all boils down to the individual. To me Merdeka means declaring that I’m a Malaysian. Even if one can change my identity in the NRD database, one cannot force me to say or declare that I’m not a Malaysian. They have to execute me, clone me and give the clone a new identity who is not a Malaysian. But what kind of a Malaysia that I want to live in?? Really I can write pages to answer this question. But for now, I just want to be a Merdeka man, a true Malaysian.

Happy Birthday Malaysia…

Into The Forest...

Did you know that we have a forest reserve right here in the middle KL city? I mean just a couple of blocks away from the Hard Rock Café? Well, I knew about this place, it’s just that I never thought that I could really feel like being in a virgin jungle. Last week I took both my kids to Menara KL (http://www.menarakl.com.my/) . At first I just wanted to show them this typical tourist spot that you can find in the city. But then I saw this entrance that leads to a jungle trail. Out of curiosity, I lead the kids through this Bukit Nenas Forest Park. It was fun and the kids enjoyed them selves. As we get further it gets a bit challenging for the kids. Zidani was not comfortable at all with the heat and humidity. After about 30 minutes we head back to the parking lot and we went back home.

I think next year Raidi might be ready for his first camping trip. I can’t wait for that moment really. That’s what I call quality time..away from the city, astro and the internet. Just the father, son and mother nature (Raidi’s biological mother is not ready for this!). Maybe I’ll take Raidi to Taman Negara Pahang…waaahh....camping gears….the rivers… the jungle…and the stars you can see during the night…aaarrghhh…. Oklah Raidi, we’ll go camping this December, before you start schooling next year!!

Here We Go!!!

It’s the time of the year again…the time when weekend means nothing else but the English Premier League. Manchester United started their 2006/2007 EPL campaign with a 5 star performance and with consistency I think this season could be very successful for the club. Last night I saw young players like Rooney and Ronaldo playing with such maturity and it is only going to get better and better between them. The movement of the players was a sight to be hold. Simply breathtaking to watch and the football was damn bloody fluid. Each of them knows exactly what they are supposed to do and they did it according to plan. MU didn’t acquire many new players this season as they trust on the breed of players that they have developed for years. I guess this is the advantage of building and molding a team from the youth side. Players will have the time and patience to learn each others movement and positioning and with this understanding it’s going to be hard for the opponent to hold possession of the ball. MU had a fantastic pre-season and this certainly helped in boosting their confidence as reflected in last night’s game.

"cayaaangg diaa.... i love u laaa"

I don’t want to be premature in my assessment here. It’s too early to judge their overall performances. I know it was against a Fulham team who didn’t really close down their opponent and allowed MU dominantly orchestrates the game. The game was far from a litmus test and I can’t wait for the nail biting, tantalizing and super crunching game against the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal. I think this is the best season opener for MU where traditionally they’d only pick up their game right before Christmas and make a home run for the title. It’s a different ball game today and to be competitive, teams must be able to start with the 5th gear right away from the start! Well MU certainly did started with the 5th gear…while Fulham still shifting from neutral to 1st gear…Sebab tu MU menang 5-1….tapi ada jugak team start dengan gear 3…gear satu pun ada…ada yang kena jump start…ada yang belum run in betul-betul..maklumlah banyak parts baru..mahal-mahal pulak tu..

Yup..it’s the time of the year again…for the next 6 months or so, many will be engrossed and suck in into either the world of reality or fantasy football or even both. Whichever team you are supporting, with the big names (or flop) signing and by the look of last week’s kick-off, it’s going to be another great ride on the EPL roller coaster. Just buckle up and hold on to your seat, with fingers crossed, by the end of the ride, you know I know very well which team will emerge as champions!!! So enjoyla the ride while you still can.. ok? muahahahahaa

Get Well Soon Cikgu....

Right after attending Ikmal’s wedding last Sunday, I took Ayu to UH to visit Cikgu Rezwan. Cikgu Rezwan is my old tuition teacher and he is now suffering from critical heart illness. He has been in and out of the hospital but this time his condition is bad (read Mafeitz blog). As soon as we arrived at his room, Ayu broke down in tears. Looking at his condition, I don’t think anyone who knows Cikgu Rezwan can leave the room without teary eyes.

To Ayu, Cikgu Rezwan is like her own father. In fact many of us or his ex-students treat him like a mentor, someone whom we can look up for guidance. He preaches, motivates and advises teenagers to be kind, responsible and respectful. All he wants is to see his students become successful and not forgetting our responsibility to Allah.

He told Ayu to be strong as she begged him not to leave her. His spirit is high after seeing many of his old students who visited him. He told me that he wants to open up the tuition centre again. Well, if this comes true, I think I would like to volunteer to become a part time tutor at the centre.

I had known many friends from Pusat Tuition Dimensi and more importantly, this is the place where I first met Ayu. We were in Form 4 back then but I can still remember when I and Mafeitz first enrolled for tuition there. This centre was practically opened 24 hours for students to study and prepare for the SPM exams.

I hope Cikgu Rezwan will recover from this illness. He had left many great legacies but he insisted that his perjuangan is still not finished.Doing this, he had never expected anything in return from his students. It was an honest contribution and only Allah can repay all his good deeds. We will always remember you Cikgu Rezuan….

Jakarta oohh..Jakarta...

It’s now 12.05am, Jakarta time. Yup, this is my first assignment in this city since I first worked for Telsoft. I’ve been here since Tuesday and tonight, I’m feeling exhausted. Telsoft currently has a project together with Sigma Indonesia on Costing systems and some regulatory issues for PTT Indosat. This assignment is an eye opener for me. I get to see other Telcos work culture and believe me, I felt like I was in two different countries when we met people from Telkomsel and Indosat. Although both their offices are in Jakarta but their work culture is strikingly different. All I can say is, TM is in the middle of the working cultural scale, Indosat and Telkom is on both ends of the scale.

View from my hotel room...

I’m staying at the 4 Seasons Hotel. The place and service is fantastic. I was supposed to meet my Uncle (uncle Taufik) who works in Jakarta but unfortunately both of us are busy with work. Hmm…according to the project plan, I will be in Jakarta quite often after this. The next visit would be on the 21st of August and the whole project is expected to complete early next year. Apart from this, we have an on-going project with TM and it is supposed to be completed by year end. I hope we can keep up with the workload and the project schedule.

Me and Jude by the pool side of the Hotel...

I'm flying back to KL tomorrow but I dont think I can make it to Ikmal's bersanding ceremony in the evening. But I will definetly attend his reception in TTDI on Sunday. Ok for now, I’m going to bed…ngantuk nak mampos…

Selamat Diijab Kabul...

L to R : Edrus, Me, Ikmal, Dr Mafeitz (and son), Harris

Myself and Ayu went to Ikmal's nikah ceromony today. Among the Kamcheng Brotherhood, Ikmal's the last 'Mohican' to tie the knot..hahaha. Alhamdulillah, the ceremony went smoothly and I asked him what he felt after the Akad? He told me "Rasa ringan sikit..". It must be a huge relief for him. And he asked me whether I felt the same after my Akad ceremony dulu. I told him "Rasa berat!". Hmm...I guess everybody have their own way to apreciate the ceremony. Anyway, congratulation to Ikmaluddin and Lili. I've known Ikmal since we were kids and I'm happy to see him ending his bachelor's life today. I pray both of you will live a happy life together. As for the rest of us, since everbody's now married, why don't we all 'produce' more Kamcheng offsprings?? hahahaha...I can't imagine our kids marrying each other laa...hahahaha..that's gonna be really something...very interesting story to write on the blog though!!!!

Lunch at Lili's house... more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiz/

Vacancies....

This is shocking news for me! I honestly feel this is a huge gamble by the FAS. It's easy to understand this decision really. They were at the pinnacle of domestic football just one season ago, but this year Selangor fell to the bottom. So the FAS wants to take some drastic action. But this has never been done before. They could either strike gold or they could be worst off. The thing is, this is a league format that we're talking about. I dont think the FAS should risk hiring unknown players with little or no experience in the local league.

A sign of desperation? Or maybe a commercial gimmick? A copy from the My Team reality series perhaps, but doing this at the professional league level, for a start it is going to be difficult to convince the sponsors. I have no comments on the state of the local league but maybe, this new development could attract curious followers. If this doesn't work, I'm afraid that this is going to take football to a new low in this country. But with the current state of Malaysian football, I think it is a risk worth taking.

Sports
August 02, 2006 21:41 PM

S'gor Drops All Players, To Conduct Nationwide Scouting
SHAH ALAM, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- The Football Association Selangor (FAS) will drop all its current players, including the imports, and replace them with local talents below 23 years of age for next season's Malaysian League. FAS president Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said: "We will conduct players' selection throughout Malaysia and if successful, we will see a new football perspective in the country."We will try the best, and I apologise to all old players, all of them will be dropped," the Selangor Menteri Besar told a press conference after chairing the state executive council meeting here Wednesday.

He said no imports would be absorbed into the new squad but probably, one or two experienced local players would be retained to guide the youngsters. In the previous season, Selangor won three titles -- the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup. In the current season, they not only failed to defend the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup but also sank to the bottom of the Super League table.Selangor managed to remain in the Super League after a series of play-off matches following the Football Association of Malaysia's decision to increase the number of teams in the Super League from eight to 14.

Dr Khir said the selection of new players would be held anytime soon."We are scouting. So, those interested and have the ability and skills from this state or other states can contact us. We will conduct a special training session and see what they can do," he said.He said all new players would be placed in a hostel and be given special diet and comprehensive training to ensure they were constantly ready and focused to play.

"This is a big and drastic change to Selangor football but I will certainly make the shift to prove that local people too can play footbal like the Brazilians."I see that the football objective in the state is not achieved though we have import players."The objectives in taking foreign players are firstly to draw supporters and secondly to allow a change in the attitude of local players, and a transfer of skills from foreign players to the locals but these did not materialise," he said.Dr Khir said Selangor were not hoping to win any title the next season with the new players."It is just that we want to do something quite drastic because I am sure Malaysians too are capable. It is something new and I will try it," he said.-- BERNAMA

Boycott...

I’ve made a resolution. Anything made or sold by an American company I will not buy them. I’ve seen and heard enough of this Middle East conflict. I feel sad that our brothers and sisters are suffering from this war against the Zionist regime. I just wish that there is more awareness among Muslims in this country especially young Malays who are today always in the news for the wrong reasons… At least for now, do show some respect to what’s happening.

Now every time I want to have fun, I just think about our unfortunate brothers and sisters in Palestine and Lebanon. Our brothers are fighting to their last breath, defending the country and religion. Sadly, at this very moment, there are Muslims in this country drinking liquor to their last drop!!

Childern accounts to 1/3 of all the victims from Israeli's bombing campaign...

We can only offer our prayers to Allah…to give us strength and protection in this war. A war against the Yahudis that will go on until the end of time…

P/S: If any of you fighters out there are reading this blog, the weakest point of the Merkava Main Battle Tank is between the hull and its turret. So aim your rockets or grenades there. But if you see metal chains dangling from the turret, that’s one of their defensive counter measures. So you’ve got to fire two rockets instead. Fire the first rocket to disable the counter measure and the other rocket to put the tank out of commission. However if they are using reactive armory (armor plates with rivets), RPG or shoulder mount rocket fire won’t do any good. The only option is to ‘derail’ the tracks. Stick a bomb on it and that should ‘split’ the tracks. But this means you’ve got to get personally close to the tank though!

Into The Blue...

For the first time (and maybe for the last), myself, Raidi and Zidani visited the Aquaria KLCC at the KLCC Covention Centre http://www.klaquaria.com/. We went there after we had our usual weekend breakfast at Tesco Damansara Mutiara. So with our stomach full of roti canai, we walked from KLCC/Suria parking space to the Convention Centre amid tight security due to the on-going ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.

The 90 metre underwater tunnel...

Aquaria KLCC is the first commercial public aquarium in KL. The display setup were off world class standards. This is not surprising though because the aquarium was developed and owned by a joint venture company between Malaysia and New Zealand investors. Now that explains the high entrance fee to this place. I had to pay RM72 and thank God that I’m a Malaysian citizen because if I’m not, I would have to pay more. Raidi and Zidani had a great time and we went through the 90 metre underwater walkaway a couple of times. We paid so much and I told Raidi that he could even crawl, roll over or do a summersault in there except jumping into the pool...hehehe..

Raidi : Abah!! Ikan JAWS!! Ikan Jaws... Abah : It's a shark Raidi...Not Jaws...and they primarily feed on marine mammals

I can’t really blame the company for charging the visitors this much. To them this is business and return on investment is important. I wish that the Government could do more in this respect. The current administration is advocating on human capital and other related human development like early childhood education and stuff like that. Well, I strongly feel that this sort of exhibition could play a major role in educating the young or even the adults. I remember that I spent nearly 3 hours at the Petronas Science Centre and I did absorb a lot of knowledge. It’s not about the exhibition content alone. It’s also about teaching the children that we should always respect and recognize science and technology. If we want to implement change for the nation, the best way is to educate the young generation. So we've got to show to our children that we put great interest in the development and usage of science and technology. The better the facilities provided, the higher the level of respect that we are giving towards this subject matter. It simply reflects our attitude. Although Raidi and Zidani are still small to appreciate all this, but it is our role as parents to create the awareness and plant the seeds of interest on the subject.

Jalan - jalan cari ikan...

Aquaria KLCC proves that we still depend heavily on the corporate sector to bring us world class educative exhibitions. Sadly, today you can’t compare Aquaria KLCC 'showmanship' with the National Science Centre in Bukit Kiara! For God’s sake, it is The National Science Centre. Show more respect laa… Why send a Malaysian into space when the content on display at the NSC is hardly updated? Just look at our National Zoo!! It’s so sad!! And put on the ghost and ghouls exhibition??…Ohh yess, surely that could prepare our kids for the future…. Bachookkk..mari Bacchookk..maariiiii…

I'm A Streamyx Subscriber...

Last night, I didn’t get to play badminton…so sad. I had to stay back in the office installing softwares on the server for the current project that I’m involved with. I left the office around 11pm and drove straight to Jalan 222 food court and have the usual Tueday night supper ala buffet and chit chatting session… This time, Izzat joined us for his first badminton session with the geng. So now, we have more people playing badminton and more importantly, have more people sponsoring our supper, hehehe. I went back home with my stomach bloating with milo ice kauw kauw kauw. Thank you Dil for sponsoring. Orang politik..kena la murah hati! Semoga panjang umur dan murah rezeki!

My workstation at home....

By the way, it is now 1.42 am. But how come??? No…I’m not in the office….No..I’m not in a cyber café.. No..I’m not using my IPAQ…I’m at home!!! Yes!!! My Streamyx connection is finally working! I came back home, took my shower, and wanted to trouble shoot the problem again. But suddenly, after switching on the PC, I get the connection straight away! Thank you to Ikmal, Dr.M and Ibdil for helping me with the trouble shooting. Now I can update my blog more often!

A Childhood Fantasy Came True….

Remember this movie Alien? I would like to refer to the second movie, where a space colony of humans in some distance planet was attacked by these super cool creature and their bodies used as hosts for their ‘change’ process? In that movie, Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), the sole survivor from the 1st Alien movie along with a platoon of colonial space marines was sent to this planet to rescue the colonist. One part that I like most about that movie is the sequence when the marines had to descent from the space frigate "Sulaco" using a drop ship which also carries the APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) in her loading bay. This was also the ship used by Bishop the android when he remotely controlled and piloted the ship to fly them back to the Sulaco. I’ve built the APC using a hobby kit just before I left for Scotland and it is one piece that I truly admire. However, I’ve never came across with the scale model of the Drop Ship anywhere.

Drop Ship from the movie Alien - Side View...

So today, as I was window shopping In One Utama, I stopped by this Hobby Shop that specializes in selling toys. Mind you, they don’t trade ordinary toys. They are collectibles and their value can appreciate with time. I saw this very-very cool light sabers made from quality metal casts with highly realistic sound affects. They limit the production and it is retailed at 500 bucks. Or anyone interested to buy a 800 buck Hans Solo’s Millenium Falcon scale model?

Best Gile!!!

I’ve made an investment today..hehehehe.. I bought this diecast 1/72 Aoshima high quality detailed scale model of the Drop Ship featured in the movie Alien 2. How much did it cost me? All I can say that it’s worth every penny. I love how they managed to accurately detailed the scale model to precision. To a hobbyist, it’s easy to appreciate this sort of thing. If you’re not, you might think that I’m crazy.

I felt that I’ve rekindled with my childhood dream. I can tell you that the feeling is priceless. And today, Raidi and Zidani got to see how their father became a kid again. It must be weird and shocking for you boys seeing me playing with this toy. Raidi can finally confirm that he’s not the only kid in the house who can make sound effects and have great imagination. Ayu kept on asking how much did I paid for it. I know you wouldn’t understand this, so I better keep it to myself ..hehehehe. Now I’m looking for the APC that can actually fit into the Drop Ship’s cargo ramp. The shop owner told me that it’s going to be difficult to look for it. But I told him that I’ll start with e-bay!..hehehe.

Drop Ship - Frontal View...

Drop Ship APC Ramp...Got to buy the APC!!!

It’s good that IKEA is having a sale though. I better get a proper displaying cabinet or shelves because I’m pretty sure that I’ll be adding to my collection soon. Well, who say’s childhood dreams cannot come true. Never thought it could be an asset and who knows one day I can even make big profit from it!