Coffee ohhh kopak

Belmont, Western Australia

Perth is not as happening as Malaysia. By 6 pm you can see the sign of death city. All the malls are closed by then. Except on Thursday it closes at 9 pm and you can see a kind of festive all around. The road busy with cars and people hang around in the mall for shopping or window shopping. Surely there is another world at night especially over the weekends. There is lots of pub to cater the social needs of the youngsters in particular. I don't go to this kind of place so most of the time I will stay at home or just go to the restaurant for dinner. Yesterday evening, my friends and I went to Belmont Shopping centre. It is not far from our house, about 15 minutes drive. My friends had their listed things to buy and as for me I just want to go for window shopping ( I didn't bumped into Opah De..if not mistaken she lived near by...is it true Opah..ahakas). But I end up bought some food at Coles. While waiting for them shopping, I felt so thirsty so I decided to buy Iced Coffee. There is cafe near buy. Actually it was the first time I bought iced coffee and I thought it will be white coffee with ice. Believe it or not, she first scooped ice cream then pour the iced coffee...I lost my word..and I just took the coffee which cost me AUD$4 ....my friend told me you better through it away...yea I know but it such a waste...kind of throwing AUD$4 bills into the dustbin. But the issue is that we don't know if the ice cream is halal or not. There is very limited halal ice cream product here in Australia. Only certain product of Cadbury and Peters claimed to be halal. So without further due I just threw it into the dustbin....sayonara..ahaks.. I went to Coles and bought the packed ice coffee. I checked the ingredient and it is definitely halal. Just be careful, even pork food product has the halal label on it…errkkk!

“O ye who believe! Eat of the good things that we provided for you” (Holy Quran 2:172)

Kucing, Kuching, Cochin, Ku - Ching

Kuching, Sarawak Malaysia

Kiki (male) and Misty (female) are both our beloved cats. Somehow Misty reminds me of Tampuk in Jowopinter's blog.... his mum's cat. Speaking of the witch, many people curious how did Kuching city get its name?

The question of how Kuching got its name has puzzled and discombobulated. It spawned many stories, ranging from the plausible to outright nonsense in explaining how the name came about.

Most people believe it something to do with cat. There was a small river named Sungai Kuching which was always visited by wild cats. Not far from the river there was a small hill occupied by pokok Buah Mata Kuching (an edible fruit Nephelium Malarese) and the hill was named as Bukit Mata Kuching. According to this story that is how the origin of the name Kuching

Another speculation how Kuching get its name is from the word ‘Cochin’. Cochin is derived from the word Kaci meaning harbour. During the Brooke dynasty, Kuching was the important harbour among the Indochina.

The Chinese believe Kuching got its name for the Mandarin word for ‘old well’ is ‘ku (old) ching (well). The well was either dug by the earliest Chinese settlers or was already there when they first set foot in the area because the well was referred to as the ‘old well’ among them. The exact site of the well is at number 59 Upper China Street, a shop selling and repairing scales. The floor of the shop is slightly sunken because it was built on top of the filled-up well.

In fact there are many other tales but which is the right one? Ahaks..leave it to the historian to decide…

Sunday Scribbling

Bentley, Western Australia

Fuhhh..I feel a little bit tired. I went out at 9.30 am to accompany my friend, M to Ambassador Hotel in the city. Actually today we became a tourist guide to M’s friend, Kak A and Makcik. They came here for holiday and joined one of the tourist packages. Since today is the free day for them so we brought them to Subiaco Market just to see the Australian fresh produces then followed by visiting one of the universities. We then stop for lunch at Makan-Makan restaurant and had a break for 1 hour for Zohor. They dropped me at my house and they resided to M house. I managed to do my laundry and clean the house while waiting to send them to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel, we went to Burswood for them to take photo by the Swan River. After the photo session (sound like artist..ahaks) we brought them to souvenir shop in the city. Since Kak A and Makcik were too lazy to go out again for dinner, so we went to Ole-ole restaurant for roti canai, not far from the souvenir shop. I just had 1 slice of roti canai because I’m still full. Their flight will be tomorrow morning. After dropping them off at the hotel and wished them a safe journey home, we decided to go for Town of Victoria Park Christmas Street Mall. It was really happening… Pictures that speak a thousand words…..

Forget-us-not

Bentley, Western Australia

A few weeks ago, I went to the library. I saw this young man, probably in his 30’s mobile freely with his wheel chair. Its remind me of KS, the famous blogger known as Kassim Selamat. When he stopped at one corner, I approached him and started the conversation. He seems pretty ok..there was no sign “erkk..leave me alone”.. so I continued the conversation and interviewed him (just like a reporter..ahaks). He told me that he had involved in the motorbic accident in England. As a result of this accident, he injured his lower spine. He originally from England, and so happened not far from a place where I lived when I was in England...umm what a small world, I don't meet him overthere but in Australia. So we chatted for quite sometimes. I wish him all the best to end the conversation.

Here in WA, I think the facilities and amenities for disable community are well-established. In fact today, I saw the taxi for disabled (see the photo that I shoot). Alhamdulilah Malaysia is now moving towards disable friendly user. We hope there will be ‘free barrier’ environment to cater the needs of disable community. This is very crucial and the implementation definitely will take time. The government needs to invest in the existing development and imposed the rules and regulation concerning disable need in the future development. It’s not solely the building but also the recreation facilities, transportation and others.

Therefore I hope disabled people of our generation do not have to wait in futility for that long to see changes. And what important is that they can lead fairly normal lives.

Tragedy November

Technology Park, Western Australia

When I walked out to my car this morning, I can hear a weird sound rushed my senses. Deep down, I know what happened to my car. To make sure… I got into my car and checked the light indicator. Well well well…I forgot to turn off the lamp..what a tragedy!!!! I can’t start my car ….for sure the battery totally flat. What a day…I need to go to the office to settle few things and I need to go for another property viewing at 4…I called the mechanic, but he’s not free till later this evening. Umm..I called a few friends if they have any jumper cable to jump-start the car..but none! Ok..here I’m writing this entry. I just don’t know what to do now….last hope is the caretaker who lives next door. But he’s away at the moment. I hope he can help me to deal with the car once he gets home.
***************

The caretaker Mr M. did help me with my car but the jump start didn't work. The battery seems totally flat. So I walked to main street to buy the new battery which cost me AUD$114...uwaaaaa..so expensive which is about RM300 plus. Mr.M helped me to install the new battery....thanks Mr. M. I will buy him dinner this weekend. Tomorrow I will send my car to the mechanic Pak Y, an Indonesian guy for service. It will cost me perhaps another AUD$80. And what make it worst I received a letter from the insurance company regarding my claim when I was admitted to the hospital before. They request for further info and it must be fill by the attending medical officer. It was an emergency and I don't even know who is the doctor. I called the Royal Perth Hospital and Patrick promise to call me back tomorrow. I want to scream .....arrrrrrrrrrrrrr

"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason" Jack Handy

Property Viewing

Bentley, Western Australia

Last Thursday, I receieved the phone call for the estate agent. She told me about the house for viewing in Bentley at 4 pm. So after work, I drove to Bentley and reached there 5 minutes to 4 pm. OMG.....there were a lot of people waiting in front of the property. And more and more people keep on coming. So, I parked my car nearby and joined the crowd. The listing agent was not punctual and she only came at 4.3o pm..erkkk there is "australian time" here...Anyway, I managed to see the property, nice and only 6 months old. However, there is a very slim chances to get it. So many people interested to rent the house. I did fax my application the following day and keep on praying that I will get the house. The property is in good condition and the rental is also affordable. I don't know why is it so difficult to find the accomodation in Western Australia...plus the rent is very expensive.

Tuesday 20 Nov 2007 - I received a phone call for the property agent saying that my application is unsuccessful...uwaaaa..keep on searching!

Tuesday 20 Nov 2007- 1643 pm - another phone call from property agent saying that my application is unsuccessful!...the property that I went for viewing yesterday...

Raya - 10

Kak I house, East Victoria Park, Western Australia

Err…hold on…this is the last entry on raya…ekekeke… the nostalgic raya of the year..uhuhu. The photo above was taken at Kak I house. I told Kak I to organised small raya gathering…just among us on the 11th of December. “us” here refer to our so call closed friends. It so happen we live near to each other. My house is only 5 minutes distance from Kak I, and a few other friends live at the same block with Kak I ( this block is consider as the future Malaysia Hall in Perth..ahaks). I brought 2 types of biscuits – Love letter (I bought in JB) and Coffee biscuits (Lin bought in KL) and I also prepared lasagne for that day. Other menu was Mi Goreng, fried chicken, custard, fruits and other biscuits. That’s was the last raya gathering for me.
############

These past few weeks I've gone through the motions of daily life.... I feel a bit lost..or i'm just lost in myself..sometimes there is a lot of thing you need to do..to acomplish ..but at the same time you can do nothing abou it. You just sit and keep on thinking to figure out what is the best way to do it..or how to do it. At the same time, more and more job starting to pile up...then you feel the full blown panic attack...depress...tired..bored...

STOP please...gimme a break!!!!

Raya - 9

Raya Open House, Bentley, Western Australia

A week after Seloka Raya event, there was another “open house” by one of MAS staff on the 3rd of November. We were invited in the afternoon and the foods were marvellous. I enjoyed my favourite food such as chicken rice, rendang tok, serunding, lodeh and cakes.

*****
Today is really hot, it’s about 39 degree Celsius…I’m sweating and you can even feel the heat. Owh…summer is here!!! Ahaks. It’s the time for ice cream and cold drink uhuhuhu

Raya - 8

East Victoria Park, Western Australia

Here is the short clip on Seloka Raya...it's not that clear...ahaks...just a shot from my handphone.

Raya - 7

Perth Western Australia

“Seloka Raya”
An open house to commemorate Hari Raya Aidilfitri in Perth 2007

Saturday, 27th October 2007
Address: Kent St High School GYM
Kent St, East Vic Park, WA 6101
Western Australia

The seloka raya is a musical show filled with dance and acoustic performance, not forgetting acting skills by our own students from Malaysia who are anticipate pronouncing our greatest celebration after the full fasting month of Ramadhan

Not just that, delicacies such as satay, soto, nasi minyak, ayam masak merah and other raya food will fill the stomach for the night throughout

Organized by Malaysia Student Department Australia
And UMNO club WA with cooperation with MASCA and WAPEC

Ahaksss..after spending about 10 days in Malaysia, I continue my raya in Australia...

Raya - 6

The Puteri Pacific Hotel Johor Bahru, Johor Malaysia

I'm so busy for the past few days..erkk seem still busy today and most probably will be even more busy for the whole week...busy at "gaban" level. But life must go on. The photo above I shot in the hotel. I stayed at the Puteri Pacific Hotel when I was in Johor Bahru. The next day, I went to Singapore and took the flight back to Perth, Australia.

********

Happy birthday to my only brother, May Allah bless you!! I'm not that close with my brother but he's always there for me when I need help. He will help but at his any convenience...ahaks..sometimes I will forced him help me nowwww...uhuhuhu what a demanding bro here..ekekeke

Raya - 5

Danga Bay, Johor Bahru, Johor Malaysia

I spend one night in Johor Bahru before I flew back to Australia. Lin became my tourist guide because she used to work in JB about six years ago. We took a bus to go to Danga Bay or previously known as Lido beach to meet this Pak cik and Mak Cik. Luckily it was still early because we got out at the wrong bus stand. Therefore we had to walk further for another 10 minutes to reach Danga Bay… ahaks… once we reached the tram centre, Pak cik and Mak cik already there. We cit chat for a while and we gave them Salted Ikan Terubuk for Kuching. We continued our stay at Danga Bay and decided to go for tram ride. I cost us RM3 perhead.... good experienced but I'm not really happy with the safety and another annoying situation when the driver kept on honking the pedestrian. They should remind the passenger about the safety and find the proper mechanism to ensure the pedestrian get away from the track..maybe replacing the irratating honking sound with pleasant music?????