A Walk in the clouds

Last Thursday, we went to Lundu and Sematan. Lundu is located in the west of Sarawak, on the west bank of the Batang Kayan (Kayan River), and not far from the South China Sea. It is about 90 km from Kuching.

Gunung Gading becabang tiga,

Pantai Pandan jauh ke tengah.

Hancur badan di kubur tanah

Budi baik di-kenang juga.

"Tusk Mountain has three peaks,

Pandan Beach stretches far to the middle.

A person's body may be dissolving in the grave;

A kind heart is remembered always.

"---as recited by the late Hbi anak Muda"

What is interesting about Lundu/Sematan? There is Gunung Gading National Park and many resorts available for the tourists. We didn't go to any beach but just went there for sightseeing. Somehow we bought a lot of crab which is cheap. Umm..I did learnt something new about mushroom which was sold at the market in Sematan. There are 2 species which are known by local as Kulat sawit and kulat bibir. Kulat sawit grow on the dead palm oil frond while kulat bibir grow on the dead thrunk of rubber tree.

Kulat bibir

Kulat sawit

Lundu also famous with seafood cracker - fish, prawn and cuttlefish cracker. Lin bought few packets to bring home and we had the opportunity to visit the factory.

Lundu, Kuching Sarawak Malaysia

Follow me..err follow up

Normah Medical Specialist Centre, Petra Jaya, Kuching Sarawak Malaysia

Yesterday, I went to Normah Medical Specialist for my every 6 months follow up. Since I'm in Kuching so I decided to see Dr W. and I had to do my urine and blood test. Umm, not a pleasant feeling because I hate needle..uwaaa. After all it was not that bad.

On the way to the cashier, I met aunty Raji**. She worked over the counter which deal with x-ray, ultrasound and whatever related. We knew her for more than 15 years, all the way back to my late grandpa, my mum, my dad, myself and also my sis. So, since we always meet she just like a good friend to us. I think it is easy to make a friend than an enemy.

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Sorry for the delay..I can't remember who tagged me, if not mistaken aunty combi, aunti antulawa and pakteh...here you go!

Chicken Rice

Satok, Kuching Sarawak Malaysia

Umm, it has been a long time since I last posted about food. Singapore chicken rice (Scr) is our favourite or in other words...the whole family choice of food...uhuhu. Every time I go back to Kuching, I will go to Scr. So last week, we went to Singapore Chicken Rice. I told my mum about it, so we all agreed to go out for lunch. I called my sister for the lunch date since she worked at one of the bank at Wisma Satok, just a walking distance to the outlet. Around 1 pm, we all gather at the outlet; my parents, my youngest sister, maid and me. Shortly after our arrival, my sister showed up. So we ordered chicken rice, oyster kalian and bean curd. Besides enjoying the foods, we also enjoyed each other’s company. I do believe sharing meals together strengthens family ties. The lunch was sponsored by my mum…”penaja hari ini” ahaks… thanks mum!

p/s to my big sis, don’t jealous ok…still remember sometimes we have to go for a long drive to have lunch together…uhuhu. To lin, next week we will go SCR!

Its for real!

Who is this handsome man?

I’m late for the date…. This is not a good attitude at all, as my dad always reminds us to be 1 hour ahead of time. Luckily this is not a job interview or any other formal meeting. This is what we call punctuality. If not, I’m definitely will be kicked out of the list…ahaks. I would like to apologize to Pak Ngah for the waiting…uwaaa 15 minutes late..to bad to bad to bad….There is no excuse but my car…err not my car ..someone car is not in its tiptop condition. I don’t know what’s wrong with the car but the engine was hesitate and not smooth. About the date…I met another blogger, Pak Ngah and as usual most of the bloggers I met were very senior than me.. and I’m honored to call them uncle..ehehe. What a record, we had a conversation over the tarik at Kopi O’Corner for about 3 hours. And I think I had been talking too much …ahaks. Maybe we had chosen the right topic to discuss which was all about education, junior versus senior. But I salute Pak Ngah for being himself, a fatherly and humble old man… opsss humble “senior” ehehehe… sharing and expressing his sanity opinion and wisdom. Thanks for the 2 glass of teh tarik and mi jawa..and keep in touch Pak Ngah!

Salam Maal Hijrah

Kabong, Sarawak Malaysia


Hijrah Masa

Bila masa menjengah usia
Bila hari menginjak pergi
Lemas tanpa disedari
Begitu pantas detik berlari

Bila 1428H melabuh tirai
Bila 1429H menyingkap masa
Terkesima tanpa kata terlerai
Begitu alpa di alam rasa

Bila angka bertukar rentak tari
Bila hijrah bertukar azam
Berkobar semangat tanpa disedari
Begitu hijrah memahatkan iltizam


Salam Maal Hijrah to all my family and friends.. may Allah bless all of us.

Sri Aman - here I am

Sri Aman, Sarawak Malaysia

After 3 hours drive (about 200 KM) from Kuching, we finally arrived at Sri Aman, the second division of Sarawak. Sri Aman is famous with "Pesta Benak". At this moment of time, I'm in Abang Putra's office at RTM Sri Aman using the wireless internet service. So happy to meet Abang Putra in person. He showed us around the building, and we had the opportunity to visit the Conty and took some photos with the dj on duty. Earlier, Abang Putra brought us lunch at Nono Cafe. I will update the photos later.

Have a great weekend!

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updated today - 7 Jan 08

Best wishes to all of my friends,

For the year ahead......may 2008 usher in a time of prosperity, good health, happiness and joy and may all our wishes and dreams come true! May ALLAH bless!

Super, MAS KUL-KCH, Malaysia

I think this year is a bit special…I celebrated my new year on board. The flight should be landed at 1145 pm but due to bad weather we were delayed for half an hour. Two flights earlier flew to Singapore instead because they cannot land in Kuching. But I’m lucky enough to be able to land safely in Kuching. It was raining like cats and dogs and few places were flooded. Today it stops raining even though it is cloudy which is good for people who stay at the low land. If it is non stop, high possibility lot of places will be affected.

Three stooges

Starbuck, Cheras Selatan, Malaysia
I have a great chances to meet Saudara(uncle) Budin and Uncle J few days ago. Saudara Budin picked me up at LRT station Bandar Tun Razak. He arrived early and I saw him standing at the station while talking on his mobile. I saw his picture before but mind you he is different. At first I'm pretty sure that was him but when I passed by there was no reaction from him as if he didn't expecting to meet someone. I walked straight to the gold merc. He described his car and the plat number instead of describing himself..ahaks. Maybe his car is much easier to describe as compared to complicated himself ekekeke (just kidding aaa).Umm..so from the other end I sms him. I can see his action replying my sms. He text me " mana u angkat tangan"... I would love to angkat kaki ekekekeke... at last I end the hide and seek game and told him that I'm standing at the other end through sms. We have a great chit chat at the Starbuck Cheras Selatan and Uncle J joined us a bit late due to his other commitment. One of the hot issue that we have a good laugh was about my age. Saudara Budin revealed when he first saw me he thought that I'm "budak sekolah" ahaks....I take it as a compliment......uhuhuhu

Uncle J, Arsaili & Sdr Budin
I'm confortable with both of the otai ( old timer - thanks Kelana for sharing this term) eventhough there is a big age gap. There are very friendly and knowledgeable as well.

Happy Eid'ul Adha

I would like to wish all of you Happy Eid ul Adha. May our sacrifice will always be blessed by Allah. May the fruits of sacrifice, obedience and trust, which the Eid ul Adha teaches, prevail and continue after celebrating this blessed day.

updated(Fri, 11.40 am)...Back for hols

Fuhhhh.. What a relief!! My sister and her family pretty ok now..I did help them to settle down and its time for me to go. I know they should be ok because it is not the first time they lived abroad.
I will be leaving this evening at 5.30 pm from Perth to Kuala Lumpur for my hols and work. So I would apologise if I could not visit you guys’ blog that frequent. InsyaAllah I will see some of you in KL…

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They are here!

Perth International Airport, Western Australia

I went to the airport at 4.30 pm and the traffic was quite busy. When I reached at the arrivals terminal, I can see lot of people but deep down I knew that they will be late. So while waiting for my sister and her family, I can see people with banners, flowers, balloons, and even toys in the basket. They were so excited waiting for friends and family. I can see love, happiness, caring and many positive things…they hugged, they kissed, they smiled, they cried but all for the same reason… happy to meet up again with their loved ones. My sister and family stuck with the immigration procedures and they only get out at around 5.30 pm. We hugged and I’m happy to see them especially my two nephews. My sister complained how difficult travelling with small kids. Luckily it was only a short journey and my youngest nephew was not that cranky while on board. I still remember when she was in US, it took her more than 24 hours with few transits. According to my sister, they had a very good “drama air mata” at the airport. I know my parents are very sad and will miss their only two grandchildren. Well it is good in away that we can easily persuade them to come and stay with us here even for a short term…ahaks…

Pre-raya Haji shooting

Bentley, Western Australia

Last Saturday after Asar, I went to Kak Ij house. There was a pre-raya Eid ul Adha shooting by RTM. Three RTM crew came down to Perth for the shooting..geng Saudara Budin..uhuhu .
So we have to wear our raya suit. But what I like most is the food…ahaks. There was a lot of food on that day. I did contribute nasi himpit…and it kept me busy all night long because I was in the process of moving. While I did some packing and cleaning, I boiled 3 big packet of nasi himpit which contained of 18 small packets. Since I only have a small pot to boil it, so I need to do it many times. A few packets of nasi himpit had burned because I fall asleep..uhuhuhu. By the way, it was the first time ever I eat “daging rebus” with “air asam”. It’s very nice and according to Kak Ij this is special dish among ‘orang utara”... is it true my my “utarian” friends…saudara wira, saudara Kelana…who else from utara?? aha...TokMoh the kedahan..ehehe

Home sweet home

Bentley, Western Australia

Alhamdulilah, my application to rent a new house with 3 rooms had been successful. But the rent is very expensive, AUD$385 perweek. Due to the difficulty to find a house and the time constraints I had no choice but just grabbed it. In fact that was my strategy to get a house, apply for expensive but furnished house for less competition. The reason why I need to move is solely because my sister and her family will reside here. The problem to rent in this country, the tenant must be here in order to sign the agreement. Therefore, to make sure the house is ready for them once they arrive, so I decided to rent the house under my name and add their names in the lease later. It works that way, so for now on I will stay with them and share the rent. My sister and brother in law with my two nephews will be arriving here next week. I finished moving my stuffs to the new house and still doing some cleaning to the old house. The hand over of the old house might be on Monday or Tuesday..Fuhhh what a tiring and stressing activites. Next time I will use the moving agent, just pay and they will settle it for us. But on second thought, I don’t think I’m rich enough to pay for the service..ahaks!

You've Got Mail

Technology Park, Western Australia

I was pleasantly surprised, and quite pleased actually when I received the card yesterday. When Van passed it to me, he said that someone send you a chirstmas card. I laughed and explained to him that I don't celebrate Christmas. When I open it, suprise..suprise..suprise...it was an Eid ul Fitri Card from Kassim Selamat. Umm, maybe he wanted to send me Eid ul Adha card... but when I doubled check the date stamped on the envelope..it was send few months ago. Ahaks.... When I asked Van, he told me that card had been arrived here but they thought the receiver is in Northam. So they send it over there and since nobody by that name in Northam, they send it back here. No wonder it takes months for me to get it... anyway thank KS, really appreciate it.

I was tagged by Aunty Jun on this "about me" tag. So here it goes:-

1. A movie that made you laughs.
For sure there is a few but I always like the Wedding Planner

2. A book that makes you cries.
A child called “it” by Dave Pelzer’s – The Heartbreaking true story of the abused Child

3. A Best Friend.
Too many

4. A favorite childhood memories
A strange things that happened where my sis and I found a pair of swan in my dad store room. There was a rabbit at our verandah but gone in a few minutes. We then found a tortoise crawling near the verandah as well. It all happened on the same day. Late that evening it was raining heavily. Till now I don’t know the reason why so many animal visited our house on that particular day and where did they come from.

5. Your favorite animal.
Cat

6. Your favorite food
Chicken rice, Nasi Kerabu with extra budu, Kuew teow goreng, tomyam (not etomyam..ahaks)

7. An item of clothing you cannot do without.
all...inside n outside wears

8. Something you collect.
Coins, stamps (best childhood hobby uhuhu), fridge magnets, novels

9. Your favorite store to shop in.
Jaya jusco, IGAs, IKEA

10. Your favorite flower.
Lilies – because Lin loves this flower…


I would like to pass this tag to : Dean, Aunty Antulawa, Intan

Have fun !!!

Ero qui.... Pisa, Italy

I just finished meeting with my boss . Three hours long!!!!! Fuhhh..I'm mentally exhausted. There were so many input I need to take note and deal with. So it will keep me busy for the whole week. I will stay up tonight to plan out what I need to do and settle few urgent tasks. How I wish I can go for holiday at this moment of time.

Errr..let me share a photo about my trip to Italy many years ago. So you can see the younger version of me..ahaks. It always my dream to visit all the seven wonders in the world (but now so many listing on the seven wonders of the world….umm clashed of interest perhaps) but I managed to visit only a few places and one of them was the homeland of the famous Galileo Galilei (Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher) to visit the leaning tower of Pisa. Do you know that this world known building is totally a mistake? But Strange enough that such a colossal miscalculation by the architect has instead been embraced as a symbol of civic pride. I enjoyed this trip very much except we went at the wrong time that was in the peak summer.

In 2004 if I’m not mistaken, I went to Perak for a course and I met my ex-housemate. He drove me to Teluk Anson or now known as Teluk Intan to visit the younger cousin of the leaning tower of Pisa which is known as the leaning tower of Teluk Intan. I just made the comparison of those two monuments.

We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.
Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Iqra, read, baca

Mill Points , Western Australia

Friday last week, my friends asked me if I would like to join them for jogging at Mill Points. Umm the place sound familiar but I never been there. Actually it is only by the Swan River which is not that far from my house. At first I’m a bit reluctant to go but after the second thought, I agreed to join them. Due to my health problem, I didn’t jog with them. I brought a novel and sat at the bench facing the swan river. That novel was given by Oshun Muhammad a.k.a Opah D quite sometimes ago but due to many work loads I have no time to read. All my reading novel activities had been stop to give more time for reading the academic journal (ahaks..very dry reading material). So I grabbed this opportunity to finish my reading on “Ninja Kunaharo – Misteri Kelubung Putih". So this is my review;

Novel yang di tulis oleh Oshun Muhammad memang mengibas kembali zaman awal remaja saya. Saya memang terdedah dengan novel-novel sejak kecil lagi dan merupakan peminat siri 5 Sekawan oleh Enid Bylton. Saya berpendapat novel Ninja Kunaharo ini dapat membawa pembaca menyelami jalan cerita yang begitu menarik. Saya sendiri kekadang tersenyum apabila menbaca novel ini dan bahasa yang digunakan amat bersesuaian untuk peringkat umur awal remaja. Di samping memaparkan unsur humor penulis juga telah berjaya mengetengahkan nilai-nilai murni yang boleh mencetus kesedaran di kalangan golongan pembaca sasaran.

That is my short review of Ninja Kunaharo – Misteri Kelubung Putih. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean because I got this novel from the writer then I give a positive review on her book. But honestly this is very interesting 'masterpiece' for young teenagers. Parents should encourage their kids to read, not only this particular novel but any good reading material. We want to cultivate the reading habits among Malaysian and it should start from the early age. The existence of the writers like Oshun will forward wide range of quality materials for reading. I hope she will keep on writing different series of Ninja Kunaharo. I told my friends to buy this novel and all different series so that their kids can have their own collection.

I have a good collection of novel from my favorite’s author such as Micheal Palmer, Danielle Steel, Nicholas Spark, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Norhayati Berahim, Norzailina Nordin and many more. But now, I have to slow down and reduce the number of fiction books and concentrate more on non-fiction stuff such as academic journals….because one of my bad habits, once I read the novel, I can’t stop. I will keep on reading till I finish and I don’t be bother what happen around me..ahaks!!!

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.
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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