Durian oohhh durian....

I've fallen in love with durian all over again. I thought I've lost the taste buds for the "King of Fruits". I grew up in a durian lover family you see and my mother is from Muar. You know how Muar is famous for its fruit orchards. When the durian season comes, we head south for our bi-annual feast. I had enough honestly and quit 'eating' durian more than 15 years ago.

During this road trip with TM to Gemencheh couple of weeks ago, we decided to stop by a durian stall. The strong odour didn't really excite me at first but after the first pulp the sensation kicked in! And what a feast we had that day. There were 12 of us and we ate more than 30 kgs of durian! I couldn't stop eating. It felt like I was 'compensating' for all these years 'fasting' from eating durian. I think I was the last to wash my hands...

at the durian stall somewhere in Gemas...

Today, I bought some durian from this stall just outside Pasaraya Tmn Tun. For as long as I could remember, this is the first time I bought durians from here. All these years buying groceries from this supermarket, I didn't even bother to look at the fruits on display.

But tonight I tasted one of the most exquisite durian flavour I ever had. The taste was really intense! This particular species is pricey though, selling at about RM10 per kilo. But to me, it's worth every sen. Try it, I guarantee you won't regret it!

Roti Canai...Ohh Roti Canai..

Today I ate 4 pieces of Roti Canai. But not in one go though. 15 to 20 years ago yes, I could wallop 4 rotis in one serving. I think Azad or Mafeitz can testify to this because we always go to Warong Selera restaurant to eat canai after our morning school session. At that time it only costs us 50 sen per roti.

Roti canai is Malaysia's favourite breakfast meal. Almost anywhere we go, the choice is either nasi lemak or roti canai for breakfast. Check out flicker and look at how many pictures posted about roti canai! It's even on Wiki!

Today I had roti for breakfast at Raju restaurant in PJ. The place is cosy, very relaxing, unlike any other mamak restaurant I've been too. They serve roti using banana leaf and they charge you RM1.20 per roti. Not bad at all considering that they offer you unique ambiance to savour your canai.

In the evening, I went to this roti place at the Curve, Mutiara Damansara. This place is recommended by Megat Harris. He and his wife always come here for breakfast. No wonder I don't see them at Tesco Kayu restaurant on Sundays. They've found a better place! The roti here is lazat!. Lemak and gebu.

I know some of us might be drooling looking at these pictures!..hehehe

My favourite place is still the same. It's the champion. This mamak restaurant is located at PJ state nearby Maybank, opposite the multi storey parking place (where you can find the famous kari kepala ikan).

I can't remember the name of that restaurant, but the roti is soooo nice. It has a fine balance between juicy a.k.a greasiness, crispiness and richness in taste. This place is highly recommended. I forgot how much I paid for it. It's so good that the price is not a matter to me.

I think Malaysian can develop this one particular skill. Just like how people developed the art of wine tasting, we should develop this Roti Canai tasting skills. The sensory examination and evaluation of Roti Canai. hehehe...

A true Canai lover would be able to describe the range of flavors, aroma and general characteristics of a perfect roti canai. But in the first place, what is a perfect roti canai?? Can anyone describe it?? Is it in the preparation? Texture and taste? The shape?

That's why laaa we need to develop roti canai scoring! Perhaps Hitz.FM can come out with something! Imagine when JJ and Rudy conducts canai tasting on air...them describing the perfect canai would be hilarious!

Testing 1, 2, 3...

This Blog is dual purpose.

I'm testing Blogspot function and user friendliness when it comes to posting audio files. I've posted video files before and it works well. But audio files? hmmm....a bit tricky. I managed to put up a music file though, but you can't play or hear it 'directly'.

If you click at this blog post title, it will take you to a link. A link that has an audio file (WMA format) which you can download and play...hehehe......

So one, I'm testing Blogspot's hosting function. Two, by downloading the file from the above mentioned link, I get to listen to myself trying to sing! heheheeee.. malunya......

From planetarium to Gotham City....

I just got back from One Utama GSC with Ayu. Last night we saw Batman: The Dark Knight movie.

I'm still in a daze....trying hard to close my mind and come back to reality...trying hard to accept that I'm at home in TTDI...that I'm no longer in the streets of Gotham City!! Excellent movie! Highly recommended. If this is not a box office, I don't know what is. It exceeded all my expectations!

I wouldn't say more. Just go to the cinema and watch it. For about 2 hours and 45 minutes, I didn't even want to blink! Ayu waited until the movie ends before she went to the restroom!

the late Heath Ledger as the Joker... sterling performance!

From museum to planetarium...

From the PDRM museum, we went to the National Planetarium centre. We've been here before but this time, we wanted to catch the space multimedia show.

Just a tip if you want to go and watch the show, don't sit at the lower front of the theatre. Me and Raidi had to really stretch our neck and look up to get a full view of the display screen. I think the upper section offers the best seats for viewing. The show was educational but it was quite dizzying for me honestly.

Raidi enjoyed the movie as he played with his Optimus Prime robot using the 'outer space' as the backdrop. That was cool.

i wish they have a bigger mock-up display of the space station, this is too small...

if it's a life size mock-up display..we could be spending our day exploring the space station's functional corridors..I would love to sit at the command centre or better known as the 'bridge'

us before the space theatre starts...

Saturday Outing...POLIS

Plenty things have been said about the Malaysian police force lately. From political conspiracies, high profile murder case and criminal activities, their image is negatively portrayed by the media from top to bottom. Whether the stories are true or not, the damage has been done. It will take years for the public to restore their full confidence in the police institution.

Too much highlights on the police triggered me to go and visit this museum. I've drove passed the museum hundreds of time before so I decided to drop by and see what's in store. Today, I and Raidi visited the PDRM museum located at Jalan Perdana, near the National Mosque.

weapon's cache...

It was an eye opener for me. The exhibition potrayed historical and important contribution of the police towards the country. It's way different from what we know about the force today. We had a walk through history as we read about the role of security forces from the great Melaka sultanate era, the pre and post Independence period and the modern days of fighting gang lords and underworld organised crimes.

There's a section dedicated for the heroes of Bukit Kepong tragedy. I spent most of my time at this gallery as I read through all the history pages on display. To me, their sacrifice should be given more respect by today's police force.

Outside the museum, light tanks and armoured cars are on display. Canons and artillery guns are strategically mounted as if the museum is well fortified. We really enjoyed getting inside these vehicles and we imagined ourselves being part of a police operation. We could almost hear the engine roaring and the sounds of armour taking hits from grenades and gunfire!

B&B..Blogging & Breakfast...

Blogging & Breakfast....

I'm currently at Starbucks, having breakfast with Raidi. We're going to the hospital after this for a follow up on his injured toe. It's amazing how broadband has influenced us. I'm at Starbucks because they provide free Wifi connectivity. So I'm having my own version of B&B! If only all mamak stalls or restaurants are equipped with broadband access.

Question is, how can ISP price their broadband services to attract small businesses and restaurant owners or even stall operators. Costs is an important factor for this segment so we have to make it affordable. Most importantly, it must reflect the value that the service can give.

It's not just about selling broadband access. The value proposition should be about attracting more customers to patron their outlets. So it's not about 1Mb or 2Mb connectivity. It's about how this connectivity can help to improve their roti canai business. The price should reflect this. It shouldn't reflect broadband bandwidth or speed at all!

Maybe one day they can package their roti canai with free mobile calls. So the more we eat, the more free air time we can get! Tell me who don't want to eat roti canai for that?? Roti canai will never taste the same again...

Ok, got to finish my doughnut and my favourite signature hot chocolate....my battery is running out soon!

HFMD outbreak at SKTTDI

Raidi told me that his school is closed for today. I asked him why? "Dekat sekolah ada penyakit, penyakit tangan, kaki dan mulut.." he explained to me. It didn't occur to me how serious the situation was and I thought the school closure is just a normal procedure.

Then at the office, read the newspaper and I got to know that SKTTDI is the first in the country to be closed for this outbreak! Since June, six students from the same school have been infected. Raidi wasn't feeling well in the morning and he has painful blisters at his upper lip. I was worried because they could be symptoms of HFMD.

Alert! HFMD virus detected...transform and roll out!!

Ayu took Raidi to the clinic in the afternoon. The doctor said that he's not showing all of the symptoms but he advised us to take him to the hospital if he's starting to have fever. I called Dr. M earlier in the morning to find out which hospital I should take Raidi for examination. Just in case.

Today we isolated the boys just for precaution. Zidani is sleeping at his Wan's place and Raidi is with us. It's abit strange not to have Zidani at home. The house seems to be rather quiet. He has so much influence in our daily lives.

They've taken measures to disinfect the school compound. According to the news on TV, the outbreak is not serious. Not as serious as the one occurred in Sarawak sometime ago. That's good because Raidi will be going to school on Monday. So I hope the authorities are right about the situation.

"Oil phase-out in Sweden"...

I saw the debate between DSAI and the Information minister today on TV. It's interesting to watch this debate as they pointed out their opinions and thoughts on the issue of oil price in Malaysia and its impact towards the government, Petronas and the Rakyat.

But what's next? Personally, I feel the points raised and discussed were too shortsighted. It was a political stage. Nevertheless, it's a good start I guess. They should organise more healthy debate like this in the future.

I stumbled upon this wiki piece (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_phase-out). It's about how Sweden wants to be the first country to break its dependence from petroleum. The major phase out is targeted by the year 2020, the same year Malaysia targets to become a developed country. Part of their plan, is to use telecommunication services as one of the enabler for carbon free economy.

I've blogged about the opportunities of doing Carbon trading for governments. Since the oil price went up in Malaysia, we've witnessed tremendous change in people's behaviour. Particularly in the increase of public transportation usage.

It was also stated in the NST that petrol dealers in Malaysia are experiencing a drop in sales volume as much as 10%-12%. I don't know how much carbon savings we can get from this drop.

If only we could measure, report and verify (MRV) the savings. We can start to trade carbon credits in the carbon exchange. If we can realised these gains and pass it on to the citizens, I wouldn't mind any kind of oil price hike. The higher the better!

took this picture from here, a portal where I posted the carbon trading idea

I like the Swedish government's idea of being oil independent. Their government shows great emphasis in creating a carbon free economy. It's difficult for Malaysia as the government depends on oil revenue as a major source of income. Can we be carbon free domestically, but at the same time explore and sell oil to the rest of the world? Hhmm......Malaysia Boleh!..kut?

A short trip to Genting Resort...

After picking up Raidi from his tuition class on Sunday, we were all thinking about going somewhere. Somewhere away from the city. Raidi asked whether we could go to Cherating. Ayu wanted to have lunch at Chiang Mai near Sungai Buloh. Zidani as usual doesn't want to go home. At last, I decided to take them to Genting Highland, the city of entertainment.

Initially, I thought of driving up all the way to the peak. I wanted to push the car's ride and handling to the edge. But it was drizzling and the road would be slippery. So we took the scenic route instead, via the Skyway Cable Cars! (Raidi pronounce it as kereta kebal..hahaha)

We queued for about 45 minutes to get to our cable car! But the long wait was worth it. The 10 minutes ride was very relaxing and thrilling at times. The view was breathtaking and I took plenty of pictures.

Raidi kept on asking whether there's wild animals roaming around in the jungle beneath us. Zidani can't sit still as he kept moving from one side to the other. He was very excited. Ayu kept quiet most of the time because she's afraid of heights!

We had a great time at Genting. Unfortunately, with Raidi's condition, I restricted our trip indoors. He wanted to go on the roller coaster ride but I had to say no. I promised him that we will come back again once his fractured toe is fully healed. So the kids enjoyed themselves playing with arcade games.

Zidani rode this ride twice...

At about 4pm we head back down to the cable car station. This time, the ride was more exhilarating as we were travelling downhill. We had Famous Amos cookies and we finished the whole bag by the time we reached the station.

They were complaining. The kids were not too happy as it was a very short trip. We'll be coming back here soon for a holiday I told them. I know they can't wait. But at least, for now, I'm really glad to see them having a blast...a medium one at least!

Zidani at the playground...

Shady and breezy...

This morning we took Zidani to the SS21 playground (where me and my friends usually play badminton). It was a sunny day but the park is shady. So it wasn't too bad for Zidani to have a good time. He had the whole park for himself!

There we were, watching Zidani going up and down the slides. Actually we were waiting for Raidi to finish his tuition class. Usually we would be doing our weekly groceries shopping at Tesco. But for a change, we decided to go to the playground instead.

I love being outdoors. The playground is just a stone throw away from my in-laws place, but it still made me feel that I'm in the world of my own. Looking at Zidani enjoying himself thoroughly, makes it even more satisfying. I'm sure the mother likes is too! hehehe

I'm a Superboy...

This is a blog entry about a Superboy. His name is Raidi. His itenary today includes a visit to the medical centre to check on his injuries. He slipped and fell hard on Thursday at home. It’s still painful for him, so I decided to go to the hospital for further examination.

After brunch, we headed to the hospital. On our way, I wanted to pick up a few things from my office. As I was driving towards Menara TM, both of us saw thick black smoke rising from a nearby squatter settlement.

I drove closer to the place and I was shocked to see people running around carrying their belongings. This place is just behind my office. So I decided to park my car at the basement and we both walked towards the scene.

The Jalan Pantai Baharu squater was on fire! The fire was raging and I can see smoke rising up high almost covering the entire apartment building adjacent to the village. The heat was so intense from where we were standing.

We stayed there with other onlookers, watching the firemen trying hard to control the fire from spreading. Mind you that these are wooden squatters so the fire spread rapidly, engulfing everything in its path.

Many people told Superboy to help with the situation. He just smiled back at them. I can see that he was fascinated by all this but I took the opportunity to advised Raidi on the consequences of playing with fire. Although it was an unforgettable experience for both of us, I kept telling Raidi to think about the unfortunate people who lost their home and belongings from that fire.

There was nothing Superboy could do here to help...too bad he was injured!

From my office, we head straight to the Damansara specialist hospital. The MO told us to do an X-Ray. He even joked with us for Superboy to use his x-ray vision to check on his own foot! I want to put on record here that this is Superboy’s first bone injury. According to the doctor, his little toe is peculiarly fractured. It’s not too serious, so the treatment was to tie his little toe together with the fourth toe.

He still walks gingerly after the treatment but he feels a lot better. Before we left the hospital, Superboy wanted to see the place where he was born. So I took him to the maternity floor and showed him the place. He wanted to see the labour room but it's a restricted area.

This is where I was born...

Raidi went through the day like a true Superboy. He ignored his pain and followed me around. I’m just glad that his injury is not as bad as I initially thought to be. In my last posting, I did say that I wanted to see more ground ‘action’. I certainly didn’t expect to see this kind of action! Today I saw TM’s access network on fire!

Turun Padang...

We (Telsoft & TM) had an eye opening field trip to Negeri Sembilan 2 days ago. This 'turun padang' exercise was for us to understand more about issues facing the company at the ground level. We met with people who is responsible in maintaining TM's network at the local exchanges area. They are front liners, who serves not just to ensure service availability, but they handle other customers related activities like billing and product queries. I would say they are the ambassador representing the company in their respective area of responsibility.

Me and the people responsible in running the show...Hj Isnin is standing far right..

I was particularly impressed with Tn Hj Isnin. He takes care of 3 exchanges located about 20km-30km apart from each other. He says that in a day, he could have breakfast in N9, lunch in Johor and dinner in Pahang! He has been with the company for 25 years and despite all the issues and troubles, he loves serving the company very much.

Slow mail(foreground)...or e-mail (background)? Your choice!

This is a multiple service access node (MSAN), it carries voice and streamyx services..

There's one technician who has 5,000 customers to take care off. He takes care of Gemas district which includes an army base. We had the opportunity to visit the base as well. This trip made me realised that these people on the ground work their socks-off. So I think people at HQ should work harder. We need to think harder and execute the best way to increase the company's value.

The famous Nasi Ayam at Gemas bus stop....delicious!

We heard many feedback and suggestions on how TM can improve further. Of course, there were many grouses as well. It was great just to listen to their feedback and see the business 'in action'. You get in touch with substance. I gathered alot from this visit and at HQ today, ideas were brewing.

We acknowledged the value of doing localise campaign and promotion. Every customers has specific needs and requirements. The mass market approach is loosing its appeal especially in a highly competitive environment. Being customer centric, it allows customers to see the real value that we're trying to offer. One size doesn't fit all right? So the challenge is to sell by meeting customer's affordability level. I guess we just need to be very innovative and think out of the box to achieve this.

Telsoft provides consultancy based on the insights gather from the ground. It's seldom to see consultancy firm going to the ground and get the feel of the business. Usually they come in asking for lots of data, churn them (using templates from some other assignments) and give recommendations. We don't believe in that. We are customer centric in every sense so delivering unique value is the philosophy of our business. I hope I can get to see more ground 'action' in the future.

The two Mazda 6 during the trip! The one in the background is Pn Hairiah's car...

They love to go to school...

Every morning, Zidani wakes up at around 5.30am with his brother Raidi. They would take their bath and have breakfast by themselves. I'm quite ashamed to admit this but by the time the parents wakes up, they are already waiting for us to send them to school! hehehe..

Many times they had to knocked on our door to wake us up. Raidi is very particular about being punctual. He wants to be at school by 7 am. So naturally, Zidani would follow this habit. He would say "Abaahhh...bangun...cepaatt" And he says this loudly from our porch for all the neighbours to hear..hhhmm...sabar jelahh..

He can't wait to see his friends at school...

Zidani loves to go to his school. Every weekend, he would ask whether tomorrow is Monday. He look forward to school to meet his teachers and friends. So far, I'm really glad to have kids who prepares to go to school by themselves every morning.

Raidi finishes his homework at school so by the time he's home, he just watch Astro and play with the computer with his brother. He's doing well in school but his problem is his hand writing. According to his teacher, she needs to spend more time examining his papers. So we are working on his hand writing now.

dah sampai....so excited!

To both of them, school equals to fun. I'm glad they're feeling that way because that's how school is supposed to be. Despite the challenging syllabus, they can still enjoy themselves. Parents can be very kiasu about their school performances. But I like to put more emphasis on effort and not so much on results. To me it's all about attitude, because with the right attitude, you can gain the altitude. As for results, I leave that to their mother.

Give me millenium falcon...

I wish I could build this kit one day....It's my all time favourite space ship. The millenium falcon. Buying the die-cast toy off the shelf would not satisfy a fanatic fan like me. I must assemble it from scratch. I can sit in a room for long hours, sniffing and inhaling tamiya cement! hehehe..you know what i mean.

Since I was small, I had the privilleged to play with many types of millenium falcon toys. When I was about 9-10 years old, I remember building this space ship using Lego! My last succesful attempt was before I left for Scotland more than 10 years ago.

I came across this website http://www.ketzer.com/. He built not one but two millenium falcons models from scratch, complete with light effects and detailed cockpit! Check out the photos and see why I label them as 'extremist'!

The Star Destroyer...this is the Lego version!

Raidi's friends...

Raidi's friends came over to our place sometimes ago. I remember Ayu told me about one of their conversation...

Friend: Raidi, siapa punya ni Raidi? Kita boleh main tak? best ni...

Raidi: Ini bapak saya punya laa..tak boleh main ni....tak boleh pegang..

Friend: Bapak awak main mainan lagi???

Hahahaha... they were referring to this Alien space ship model that I have on display in the glass cabinet. I understand his friend's feeling. Imagine if you can just look at that space ship without being able to touch or play with it. You know how it feels kan?. I wonder what Raidi thinks having a father who still plays with toys. It must be awkward for him to explain to his friends...I'm just glad that he's responsible enough to take care of my toys.

Youtube and gaming for everyone...

I was early when I picked up Raidi from his tuition centre couple of weeks ago. Had to wait for him at the main hall where the computer lab is located. The lab is free for students to use. The computers are connected to the Internet so naturally, kids would be playing games after class.

At first I thought they were just playing computer games like how I used to play. I remember how I played Dig Dug, Load Runner, Pac Man, and some other challenging and addictive games. Choices were limited but nevertheless, I had fun.

Kids today do play computer games but they do it online, i.e they play against other online gamers who might be sitting somewhere half way around the world. They are simple games but the fact that they are competing 'globally', that is really cool to them.

Pac Man screen shot...simple but damn addictive!

When I was a kid, I had only my score to beat and all that I need to do is, advance to the next level and meet the baddest and strongest opponent for the final duel. That was it, you are on your own from start to finish. But today, online gamers can even collaborate and engage their common enemies!

what will happen to board games??

What amazed me further was how those kids know more about Youtube! I asked what they usually watch on Youtube? "Mostly cartoons and superhero movies" one of them said to me while watching Hancock movie trailers. These 7-8 years old kids even thought me how to maximise the display screen! hahah.. Haiyaaa... manyak maluu oohh

Raidi likes to watch Transformers cartoon on youtube. His favourite website however would be http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/. There he gets to play with all his favourite cartoon character which he finds it very fascinating. I just hope he doesn't get addicted. Hhmm.. I wonder how gaming would look like 10 years from now...