It's full house again

The first quarter of the year is almost gone. Time move too fast and shifting smoothly unnoticed to the untrained eyes each remaining days. The popular axiom of time can fly is almost true, for mortal being like us can only match the warp-speed of time only in our dream. Many love to dream and prefer to remain in those paradoxical domain as long as possible, denying the reality of life. Dream becomes the safest haven to procrastinate for some and fail to acknowledge the fact that time waits for no man.

For me these past few primordial months had been quite a hectic phase of life, trying to reconfigure the next course of my divine journey and set my next epic life voyage on the right track. Numerous brainstorming sessions and past-midnight mind-bending exercise lately had burdened the tiny little organ in my head. Too much pressure and lateral squeezing searching for elusive ideas had reduced that special organ into a pea-size object. The brain however, undaunted by sheer exhaustion rebound and sprung back to its normal size after some heavy indulgence with nasi lemak and teh tarik the next morning.

At the same time, all of a sudden and out from no where, school holiday came knocking on the door sooner than I'd expected. I feel as if it was yesterday I sent my eldest son to his college and yet now the college had sent him back home to spend his ample time overindulged himself in some of the forbidden activities that were considered a taboo while in the college. Playstation is one of them. In a way though, it is good for him to let some steam off after spending few months in his smelly dormitory - just like my brain when it constipated.

It is this time of the year, we as a parent feel very contented and happy to see the house is full again with cheerfull souls and lively spirits. The constant shouting and laughter among the siblings merely add more color to the environment. The only problem however is to decide how to make their time spent more productive and less routine each days, while at the same time not to eliminate the element of fun. Some activities did not go according to plan and some had to be re-planned.

One thing I am quite sure of, as long as the kids are well-fed and I don't forget to pay the ASTRO subscription, they won't complain very much.

I squid jigging with a sarong

At the moment of writing, I am still in the holiday mood. The adoring taste of salty remnant on my sunburned skin and the thought of pure silky breeze embracing my face from the open sea have made it hard for me to swing the mood back into its full working gear. In fact, I am still wearing my sarung when I type this field report. Interesting enough I found the idea flows openly while donning on that customary keropoklekor nation costume - free flow of fresh air down under probably contributes to excite some dormant brain tissues. This has let me to think in the near future, if there is a brainstorming session were to be held for example, we should probably do the same : wear a sarung, let ourselves loose and put in something that is less restricted. More issues could be resolved this way perhaps, you'll never know.

The six blissful days shying away from the sophisticated and yet complicated civilization has at least given me ample time to unclog my mind and detoxify my body from the urban pollution. I have been craving for this cleansing retreat, back to my lovely hometown for months. The chance came and without any delay we packed our thing and head back East, zig-zagging crossing Banjaran Titiwangsa and cruising along the scenic coastal area along the way. Bolehland is one of the beautiful country in this world. I love my country.

The journey through the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur was a bit turn off however. Almost half of its stretch, the surface is quite uneven and undulating like killer waves during the monsoon season. This is a real test to any vehicle's suspension and my newly recovered back is really at its mercy. My ass almost became numb driving through this bumpy road, and people will almost without fail to notice that I walked like a virgin after her first night at our first stop after that. Probably this is one of the clever way from the local authority in telling you that you are now entering their coastal territory and perhaps those experience is a preamble to the more exciting adventure awaiting to be explored. In a country that has conquered the moon with the help of Russians and a driver whom will be penalized with hefty road tax for driving a car with an engine capacity bigger than a bottle of 'budu', I think it is a high time we have a road surpassing the famous German Autobahns. Captain Kirk will be very happy, traveling to Ganu kita will be at a blink of an eye.

As promised, I kept myself out from this world. No computer screen to stare at, no answering to the phone, no lengthy meeting but myself, my family and not to forget nasi dagang and keropok lekor. My kids really love spending time in the many stunning beaches lining the coastal area. We spent almost every evening exploring the beaches, with my significant half and me staring at the passing sea wanderers or fishing boats on the horizon. Initially, I have the plan to join the squid jigging activities but seeing the random bright flashes coming from sky and the recent news on the harrowing experience in the sea, led me to decide not to pursue the intention.

One thing that struck me most whenever 'balik kampung' is that I will overstuffed myself with load and load of delectable food. The supply of food in endless. My mother from time to time will 'force' me to eat this and that. She always stressed that not everyday I will have to eat like that. What a good charm she is. As obedience as always, I have no way in saying no to the request of a mother. Numerous and endless invitation to 'makan pulut' has invariably put some concern in me too. Luckily I have my elder son as an envoy to me, an excuse no to attend to the invitation in person was done in a much diplomatic way. Other traditional staple food like sata, otak-otak and numerous 'kuih muih' were fully consumed with full of eagerness. The only regret that I have was not having the chance to visit one of the stalls that selling local homemade 'lempeng'.

After spending six blissful days, the unthinkable has finally dawned on me . I am back again to this planet, joining the whole human race wandering endlessly in a big cycle. Looking at the growing number of rats, bumping into each other each passing days has really made me realized that the cycle has no ending. Time is really moving faster and faster each time we inhaled our breath. Time is no more as precious as gold. Time is priceless, technically speaking.

The cousins reunion which took place once in a blue moon. The congregation this time was not with a full corum, due to the unsynchronized timetables between the siblings.

My youngest son with his first kite flying lesson on the beach, closely monitored by his mother.

Gentle waves crashing on your feet can be a good therapy, even for the kiddies. My kids can spend hours playing on the beach and seeking the wash-off treasures loitering the coastal area.

This is one of the local delicacies, 'sata' that was sold along the stretch of of shops at Pantai Teluk Mak Nik, Kemaman. I thought this was the best sata in the whole world, but my younger sister Cendawanintim promised to show me another unknown spot where the sata is even tastier.

Another shop that sold local produces along the main road leading to Cherating (near Pantai Chendor, to be exact). Personally, I think the keropok here is more tastier that the one in Losong.

Longing for the sun

This is the most anticipated time during the second quarter of the year, when all member of your family is around and make a full house one more time. It is a school holiday and I am almost as excited as the kids.

School holiday could mean many trips up and down, scoring half the peninsular of Malaysia. As I am getting my back into it's my normal posture (not that it was crooked before though) , I can again enjoy driving a long-haul trip without having to worry the strenuous effect on me.

The first trip after such a mundane period of healing was a two and a half hour trip up to Kuala Kangsar to fetch my son from his college. Normally he will just take a bus ride home, but I presume during the last few weeks before the school break was quite a hectic time for him with preparing for a debate competition, exams and daydreaming - he forgot to buy a bus ticket.

But I don't mind having to travel all the way to his place. In fact I quite enjoy the journey as the route along the north bound highway has many interesting lay by and rest areas for me to stop and take a break and cool off myself.

Two most popular rest area where I almost won't miss during those trips are Tapah R&R and Hentian Sg. Perak (both ways). Both places have good facilities, many things to offer - some you can't find it anywhere else, clean and very colorful. There are always some 'jajan' to bring back home from these two stop over.

Tomorrow I am traveling away from those two rest area. I am going back to the east coast for a holiday, to my hometown the Keropoklekor land. Even the rest areas along the new highway are not as good as the one in the other side of the mountain, but I know I will enjoy the good scenery along the scenic coastal area of Kemaman, Dungun and Kuala Terengganu. Even though the collapse of Sultan Mizan new stadium was a bit shameful (and shocking) to most Awang and Mek Ganu, that won't a bit surprised me as I am sure Ganu people will always say "mujo ambe takdok situ dudok cakung dalang stadiung masa atap tu rutoh, kalau tidok mapuh keghah bahang tanoh ah wei"!

It was considerably a busy week for me trying to clear everything off my desk and other people's desk as well, in anticipation of this holiday. It is time for me to switch off my handphone and enjoying my long siesta under the palm tree on a beautiful sandy beach, after having a morning breakfast of nasi dagang.

School holiday and PSP 3000

Now the most anticipated even of the year has come. Nope... it is not the Monsoon Cup that brought Michele Yeoh and Jacky Chan to the once-sleepy town of Kuala Terengganu. It is the Year end school holiday, when your kids spending their time mostly at home pestering you and your wife. The other thing that I noticed having significant effect during that gestation period of their schooling time is the number of trafic on the road. It reduces drastically. Sometimes it makes me wondering why this mind-blowing phenomenon is happening. Does the parent dutily send their children to school themselves and then dashing back to work after that? Or is it their habbit to have breakfast and bid farewell to their children first before going to work? Mind you, global warming has so many explaination to it, but this phenomenon I have yet to find the answer. Anyway it is good because I can drive my car flawlessly on the road and along the way it save my brake pad and my pocket as well.One and a half months is a long time. So I have to think of ways to occupy them with quality activities. At the same time I have not really rewarded my kids for being so nice and obedient to me all this while. A little pampering will do. You take some, you give some. One thing straight away cross my mind. The most talked-about (of course among their peers, because I don't think my peers give a damn!) was PSP 3000 that was just being released in October 08. After some googling about (yes I am good at doing that now), I found only one shop in the entire nasi-lemak-nation that sell the latest model. The shop was in the S&M Shopping Arcade Center along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (I should get a comission for this free ad from the shop). The shop owner was quite surprised when I approached him and he later told me that I was the first customer to their shop asking for the model. This could probably mean that I am the first official customer that bought PSP 3000 in malaysia. Cool. With slimmer design, antiglare screen, built in speaker, skype and other cool feature comes with it, I am poorer by RM950. And it comes with one original game, of which one of my all-time favourites, Final Fantasy VII. Since it is still consider new in the market, modding is quit impossible. But with Malaysia-Boleh spirit, I don't think our elusive home-grown hackers in Low Yatt or Imbi Plaza won't take that long to unlock the code.