My Travel

Macro world 2008

2008-06-09T23:25:00.011+08:00

I was coaxed into macro by red in late 2006. Armed with a reverse ring, I tried shooting macros which was not easy and in fact very challenging. I later realised that the small experience taught me a number of tricks in taking macro shots.

At the moment I am using Nikon D50 coupled with a Nikkor 60mm micro for taking macro shots. People asked me why I chose a short lens? The answer is that its light, less cumbersome and add versatile when space is limited.

A frog at Sungai Chelagi.

A ant at Taman Teruntum

A dragonfly at Bukit Cherakah

An assassin insect at Bukit Pelindung

Flies mating at Taman Teruntum

A flower at Bukit Pelindung

A flower at Taman Teruntum

A jumping spider of Taman Teruntum

A spider of Cherating village

A trapdoor spider of Pahang

Another trapdoor spider of Pahang

A tarantula of Bentong

A tarantula of Selangor

A tarantula of Paka with its fangs on it's prey

Macro enthusiasists at a Selangor outing recently

Macro apprentices; watch and learn

Boogey and Red surveying the area. Just look at the new 'Kata' backpack!

Maman focusing on the acquired target with his S1.

Oily experience

2008-04-08T15:45:00.006+08:00

Petroleum Plant at Kerteh

I was assigned to relieve a doctor for a month while 'the supposed permanent' was waiting for her OH examination. However I am still here at Kerteh for the second month.

Fishermen boats at Kuala Kerteh

30 years ago Kerteh was a small quiet kampung of no significance to the nation. It was a small fishing village where the people fish for a living, 'kais pagi makan pagi and kais petang makan petang.' The road leading to the nearest town, Kemaman was narrow, windy and dark. Kemaman itself was a border town of no significance. It was quiet, slow and more of a kampung with a number of shops and school available. I could still remember going to the quiet Kemaman
in 1978 for a friendly hockey match with Sekolah Menengah Chukai.

Beautiful Beach of Kerteh

Today after the government started drilling oil off shore for and built petroleum processing plants at Kerteh-Paka border, Kerteh started blooming affecting the nearby villages including Paka and Kemasek. Kemaman, Geliga and Chukai is now highly populated, busy and full of activities.

Kemasek Beach

The place I work is at Kerteh Interplant Medical Clinic. This facility is to provide basic medical care and emergency aid to the staff at Kerteh Interplant Petrochemical Complex.

Secluded Kerteh Beach

The work here is different from what I used to do at Kuantan Specialist Hospital. It is more of a general practice with a focus in occupational health. I had to travel daily starting at 10 minutes past 6 in the morning and arriving home 20 minutes to 7 in the evening.

A trapdoor spider nest at Kerteh

I tried to make this new job enjoyable, adapting to the new environment, seeking local entertainment, get to know people and make new friends. I dont really know how long I'll be here.

Sungai Pandan Waterfall revisited

2008-02-23T19:29:00.008+08:00

Sungai Pandan second waterfall

I had looked forward for this trip, for weeks. At last, today, 23rd February, I went jungle trekking with the malaysian Nature Society Pahang Branch to Sungai Pandan waterfall. It had been a while since I had last gone for such activity. The last one was 1 1/2 years ago at Sungai Bekelah Waterfall with Roza and the kids. In fact we went twice that year. With the second trip, we went further up Sungai Bekelah.

Moss on a tree trunk

After the surgery, this is my first jungle trekking thus I was so eager to go despite having recently twisted my right ankle and right knee. For the past few days I had been 'licking' my injuries, actually self 'urut' my painful joints. I frequent the Bukit Pelindung on Sundays even though barely hit a 200 meters mark as I was busy with my Nikon. I chose the stairs to the lift when going up the to floor at work and did some cycling at the physiotherapy unit. Today, I had a knee and ankle support to reduce further injury.

Mushromm on a decaying tree

There were 15 of us and I was the third to arrive at the 7.30 am reporting time. The others arrived less than 10 minutes later, some in car pools.

A huge millipede

After a short briefing and warm up led by En Khalid our guide, we left the meeting point at 8.00 am. We had to climb up and down a few hills before reaching our destination, that is the second waterfall newly discovered( kudos to Pahang tourism of the 22nd century). The journey was not that smooth as there was a huge fallen tree blocking our way. Khaled made a detour and we were greeted by a snake along the path. He then chose to continue by wading the river.

Wadind through the river

Found this tiny frog swimming

A pitcher plant

Along the way we stopped at 3 places namely pitcher plant area, kolam puteri(princess's pool) and the snake stop. The second waterfall was nice with a shallow pool and less steep cliff which was easier to climb. The water was cooler but not as good as Bekelah or Jerangkang falls.

Leaving the river to continue with the climb (its not night)

The trekking took us about 4 1/2 hours to and fro. It was a tiring journey but not regrettable. Alhamdulillah.

Middle part of the fall

Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis(CST)

2007-10-24T13:28:00.001+08:00

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I was unwell 9 days prior to Eidil Fitri with severe headache which continued through my sleep in the form of dream. On the next day I requested for MRI but CT scan was done instead as it was been used on other scheduled patient. CT scan was negative of any significant findings.

As I had history of transphenoidal brain surgery recently and now having severe headache with nasal infection, they arranged me for late afternoon MRI. The diagnosis CST was made based on MRI findings and high TWBC count of more than 15K.

I was immediately started on i/v Rocephine 2g stat and 1g bid, Flagyl 500mg tid and Gentamycin 240mg dly. On top of that Iwas also given i/v Dexamethasone tid for 3 days and Zantac bid.

The headache disappeared by the next day without any analgesic. On the third day I started to experience the side effects of the antibiotics; nausea, giddiness and gastrointestinal discomforts. On the sixth day i had symptoms of hypopituitarism, the addisonian crisis. I started to pass urine every hour even at night, drowsy, lethargy, low pulse, nausea, abdominal discomfort, cold and heaviness of the head.

I was given i/v Hydrocortisone 200mg stat than 100mg bid. The symptoms improved a few hours later. I was discharged 2 days later with oral hydrocortisone, oral zinnat and zantac.

Alhamdulillah, I am recovering well with strong family support especially from my other significant half. I am grateful to God not only for giving me good recovery but getting me closer to Him, understanding myself better with the guide from a book written by Imam AlGhazali, The Alchemy of Happiness.

I am grateful to Allah for the support from my family, friends and the medical staff who help me to regain my health.

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Cavernous sinus thrombosis (CST) is usually a late complication of an infection of the central face or paranasal sinuses. Other causes include bacteremia, trauma, and infections of the ear or maxillary teeth. CST is generally a fulminant process with high rates of morbidity and mortality.

Prior to the advent of effective antimicrobial agents, the mortality rate from CST was effectively 100%.
Typically, death is due to sepsis or central nervous system (CNS) infection. With aggressive management, the mortality rate is now less than 30%.
Morbidity, however, remains high, and complete recovery is rare. Roughly one sixth of patients are left with some degree of visual impairment, and one half have cranial nerve deficits.

History: The early signs and symptoms of CST may not be specific. A patient who presents with headache and any cranial nerve findings should be potentially evaluated for CST.

* Patients generally have sinusitis or a midface infection eg pimples(squeezing of pimples).

* Headache is the most common presentation symptom and usually precedes fevers, periorbital edema, and cranial nerve signs.
The headache is usually sharp, increases progressively, and is usually localized to the regions innervated by the ophthalmic and maxillary branches of the fifth cranial nerve.

* As the infection tracts posteriorly, patients complain of orbital pain and fullness accompanied by periorbital edema and visual disturbances.

* Without effective therapy, signs appear in the contralateral eye by spreading through the communicating veins to the contralateral cavernous sinus. Eye swelling begins as a unilateral process and spreads to the other eye within 24-48 hours via the intercavernous sinuses. This is pathognomonic for CST.

* Patient rapidly develops mental status changes including confusion, drowsiness, and coma from CNS involvement and/or sepsis. Death follows shortly thereafter.

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

2007-09-03T22:19:00.000+08:00

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It has been more than 6 months without a new entry, a long rest indeed from this blog. I am starting again with this 50th Merdeka entry.

On 31 August 2007, I finished work at around 8 am, got home, had breakfast then sent my wife to work before going to the Merdeka parade at Dataran Merdeka Kuantan. I arrived at around 10 am with my youngest, Maman. The parade had already took off for about 1 hour when we arrived at the desired 'shooting' position. We got ourselves not far from the grand stand and had a good view on the colorful participants.

The Malay Regiment Band

The Malay Regiment Parade Unit

Independence or merdeka is something that we should not just feel proud of without feeling with understanding the hardship of those who sacrificed for our freedom and also our responsibility to full-fill the demands as a patriotic citizen.

Persatuan Kadet Bersatu Udara

Pasukan Pertahanan Awam

The Air Force

We started to free ourselves from the day we were invaded and colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. I could not agree that we were invaded by the Japanese because the act of war was on British and their colonies during the vastly spread World War 2.

The Rangers

Rangers in arms

There were individuals who were killed or banished to protect the sovereignty of this soil from the invaders. They fought for a cause until they died with no desire to sacrifice the dignity of the people in exchange for conditioned freedom. Some who were martyred, silenced or disappeared were forgotten as they did not bring any significant mileage.

Pasukan Gerak Khas Polis

A fearless Special Force Personel

Only a few past names are needed and to be repeated to boost some strategic moves of today.
What is important is the making of heroes in the present that is to be remembered in the near future.

The Sultan of Pahang with war veteran PGK 69

The Tengku Mahkota of Pahang with war veteran PGK 69

The word merdeka will be more meaningful if each person who claim this soil theirs, swears and practices not only to protect this land from outsider but also from the enemy within who are traitor citizen that scavenges the riches of this land for themselves.

The Pahang Menteri Besar with a war veteran decorated with PGB star

The ADUN of Pahang and other VIP

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

Taking a break

2006-12-20T10:16:00.000+08:00

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A bit busy lately and its monsoon. Just need to take a break and just write once a while.

29 Dec 2006

Selamat berpuasa sewaktu jamaah haji wukuf di Arafah dan selamat berkorban dan menyambut Hari Raya Korban dan Hari-Hari Tasyrik. Semoga Allah memberkati kita semua dengan Taufik, Hidayah dan RahmatNya.

dan

Selamat Pengantin Baru kepada Norazlina dan Mohamad Afif.

dan

Tahniah kepada Aliah dan Husna atas keputusan cemerlang PMR

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The Wedding montage (the akad) of Dr Norazlina and Dr Mohamad Afif

on 9 December 2006. We only took a few photos because we had to rush home to send DITH to work.

Here is the wedding montage that I prepared a few weeks ago.
Thanks to Pycno for the great song.

Macro with BR 2A - Insects

2006-12-16T18:31:00.000+08:00

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I was requested by friends and siblings to photograph insects or other crawlers. Taking pictures of ants was quite difficult and tiring. First, I had to get the right distance, then to locate the moving subject through the lens or wait until it found something to make it stayed stationary. Then the focusing part by moving the camera forward and backward hoping for no shake when squeezing the button. The exposure had to be set manually but it did not matter much as I could adjust it with thw RAW editor tool.

I found the ants in my garden yesterday morning. I had to be early before the morning breeze got stronger.

The white wall will definitely confuses light meters

As I was searching for tiny flowers 2 days ago, I came upon a few insects. The moths were more cooperative than the active ants.

The picture above was taken at a nearby stream. It was difficult to get nearer and I had to focus at 60mm causing the flower buds to be clearly visible. Opening the aperture wider? The DOF will drop drastically causing part of the moth blurred unless they were in the same plane.

Still at the stream with a different moth. This time, there was no wind.

Limiting factors to be considered beside the equipments:

1. A moving subject
2. Wind
3. Lighting
4. Terrain

Hope Sarah (Mynn) can appreciate the insects.

UPDATE

Above was taken on my first day using BR2A with Nikon50mm F1.8. Notice the narrow DOF.

The above was taken at my mini A&E Studio using a mobile surgical lamp, a black pierre cardin wallet box(gift from KKL, thanks a million) and a white pateint folder as a reflector.

I edited using Nikon editor alone, decreasing the exposure value to correct the overexposed area from the light source, increasing the contrast, decreasing the brightness(ensuring I could still see year 1976), correcting the color balance by adding blue, decreasing red and green. It is not that good but it will do by not having photoshop(office) and with limited knowledge.
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ED Mini Studio

2006-12-15T20:00:00.000+08:00

Some weed flower

The above at 100%

As it was a bit calm yesterday evening, i just went for a brief walk around the hospital compound with 'my assistant'. "Yang ni ok, lawa bunganya."

Another weed flower

I tried a few shots but failed since it was windy. "Kita petik dan bawa balik. Mana tau cahaya di bilik mencukupi." I told 'my assistant.

Some more weed flower

I saw a few insects and managed to get a few snaps of the uncooperative creatures..

Grass flower

I just got an idea after reaching my department. Hmm... why not use the mobile surgical lights to illuminate my subjects. Ihave the flowers, leaves for the background. The lamp was on the right. No reflectors used, maybe next time.

Equipment:

1. A D50 body

2. Nikon35-70mm F3.3

3. BR 2A reverse ring

4. Mobile surgical lamp

5. Flowers ranging from tiny to medium button size

Maybe this will answer a friend who asked for tips on using flash indoors. I dont have any external flashgun at the moment and not in my list if I have an extra cash. My priority will be a macro lens, Tamron SP90 maybe. As mentioned above is my indoor lightings(dont forget the reflectors and screens/cloth for background).
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Bunga rumpai lagi
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More on Macro

2006-12-14T12:36:00.000+08:00

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I need to answer mama sarah's questions. Maybe she will rush to the online shopping and get mynn a reverse ring or some extension tubes to be used with the 50mm prime.

The forgotten daun mempelam kering di halaman rumah

I am still in macro mode/mood. After viewing the second and third photo, a colleague asked me, "Bila pergi scuba?". I laughed and answered.

"Tumbuhan di halaman rumah je."

Apa benda pulak ni=Bunga 'pokok pagar', hedge at our house

Huh=Bunga rumput liar di halaman rumah

The art work was simple, i just darkened them with levels(nak kata artwork pun segan sebab simple sangat...hehehe).

Another weed at our lawn

Still from our lawn

Lawn kami penuh dengan rumpai nampaknya

Lagi satu dari halaman

For the last 4 images, I use Nikon Editor to convert from RAW to JPEGwith contrast, exposure and sharpening adjustment.

The images are a bit blur because of 3 reasons;

1. No macro lens, just a reverse ring - limited budget
2. Hand held - I dont have any tripod, loaned to momad
3. Breeze - our lawn is a bit windy, breeze from South China Sea.

I thank God for giving me a pair of steady hands and guide me with newly found techniques to minize hand shake.
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I Love Macro and this Cheapo Picasa

2006-12-12T19:40:00.000+08:00

Just a flower. Bunga apa ye?

Just trying out my BR 2A with the 35-70 mm lens, converted to JPEG with Nikon Editor and touchup with Picasa, a free programme from Google. These are the end product.

Apa ni?

Both shots were taken during my off hours at the hospital today.

Ok juga program percuma ni

I am now at home. My off day. Just got back from our morning stroll at the beach. Here are some of the shots taken today.

A simple composition

The forgotten

Apa benda pulak ni

Huh?

I just love my newly found macro techniques and alterations that can be made. Seronok betul.
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BR 2A for Macro

2006-12-10T23:17:00.000+08:00

A BR 2A reverse ring

Friends have been unboxing new appendanges for their new toys, their cameras. To the front, back, bottom etc. i got my BR 2A about a week ago, trying to find which lens it is most suitable to use with. Writings on the BR 2A with the 50 mm lens can be found in most forum.

Bunga kuning

Bunga putih

I have this relative old 35-70mm from my 'biras' Redza. After trying a few shots, i just know that this the right lens for my new BR 2A. I am now on my way to Macro in style, a cheap way that dith will approve.

Bunga Halia Bara

The best I can do with a 'free' Nikon 35-70 F3.3/4.5 AF with a BR 2A in reverse attachment. I wish I have a dedicated macro lens to have a better results.

It was taken late evening (notice the narrow DOF)

I added 2 pictures taken at my working place today. Actually it is not easy to take macro with the reverse lens. It has lots of limitations. With the 50mm lens the focal point is fixed and have to be set at infernity. One has to move forward and backward to focus. Surprisingly with 35-70 mm lens, manual focusing is able. The DOF is too narrow especially at 35 and 50. The aperture needs to be opened or the ISO increased to get the shutter speed fast especially in limited lighting.

The flower was lighted by late evening sun

With this 1 week experience, i think i should get a macro( ;) ) or invest on a remote shutter release with the camera set on a tripod which is cheaper, use an old flash gun whatever the made and fire manually.

Acheh Tsunami videoclip- revised

2006-12-02T09:59:00.000+08:00

Modifications after the comments. This is the final edition before my next videoclip/montage project.

I am still busy with 'berkhatan project' and calls since the other doctor is still on leave.

Thank you for the comments.

Acheh Tsunami - almost 2 years passed

2006-11-23T23:22:00.000+08:00

It wil be 2 year this coming 26 disember for the tsunami disaster in Acheh. i prepared this clip for our hospital annual dinner video presentation. the aim is to have a proper more permanent disaster/calamity fund.

Thanks for the good wishes.

I spent most of my time from last week recuperating from fever, working and doing circumcisions (since its the end of the year school holiday) and preparing a videoclip. This is a simplified partial ly edited version. i'll send the final full copy to mr and mrs moss this coming saturday. ;)

Flowers

2006-11-15T12:42:00.000+08:00

Bunga Cina (original)

Teratai (Water Lily)

An Nanas

Bunga Raya (Hibiscus)

Saw a few blooming flowers during this monsoon. Eventhough the weather was heavy with cloud, I was still temped to take a few shots. Actually a bit relaxing day.

Roza stubborn, terantuk jari dan bengkak, nak juga letak minyak afiat dia. sepatutnya guna ais untuk surutkan bengkak. Senyum pulak

The world is Black and White

2006-11-15T08:36:00.000+08:00

All the images used are from Mynn.

Sorry Mynn for using your photos. Huh... this CRT screen is not as good as the LCD that i had used earlier.... darker.

Visiting Terengganu

2006-11-13T22:20:00.000+08:00

The crabs

We planned for this trip more than a week ago, to visit Kenakelayan, OK, Mak Lang, Lolo and Ijan. Initially we wanted to bring the whole family but then we got to know that Maman's exam continues this week and Aliah decided not to go. Thus only Dith and I took the journey.

At Kemasik beach(drizzling)

We left Kuantan, Beserah exactly at about 11.00 am. We callaed KKL for a change of plan that is to visit Mak Lang, after that KKL/OK and then Lolo's family. We arrived early and decided to stop at Kesasik. Kemasik's beach is beautiful most of the time of the year. When we arrived, the weather was gloomy and later it rained. We knocked at Mak Lang's door in Kerteh at 12.30 pm as promised. It was a beautiful mansion with a nice garden. Mak Lang served us a delicious lunch and what I liked best was her delectable gulai lemak ikan. Pak Lang took us for the house tour and told us of his future plan for the mansion. Thanks for being a good host.

Assalamualaikum Mak Lang!

Ready for work with the security tag

We then proceeded to Dungun to Kenakelayan and OK's bungalow. We passed Paka and saw one of the exhaust tower burning excessively. We were told later that the loss was equivalent to a mercedes per hour.

Burning Mercedeses at Paka

It rained when we arrived at KKL's place and we had lots of stories to share including Altantuya's murder, 'the sucker flag', bungled-up streamyx, online games. Maybe this is the last time we visit them at their Dungun house as they will be moving to Kuantan early next year to their new house at Bukit Istana(Tengku Mahkota of Pahang neighbourhood).

We then drove back to Paka to visit Lolo and Ijan. We had murtabak, harissa and mangoes for tea. We later went to their beach house at Kampung Tebing Tebah. The place was beautiful. I love the scenery and their guest house. They planned to build their house there and it's supposed to be completed next year.

Beach house: View from the gazebo

A boat docked for repairs

The Beach house at background

We then rushed back to Kerteh and we were 1 hour late for our dinner date with OK-KKL. Thousands apologies to KKL and OK. We had our dinner together at restoren ikan bakar at KKL and OK's expenses. The food was excellent. It was the best ketam goreng berlada I had ever tasted especially 'the sepit'. Thanks a million for the fine dinner.

Pari bakar

Sotong bakar

Oyster bakar

The claw cracker

'Happy nye!'

Our trip home was not that good, heavy traffic and our car started to give abnormal sounds when we passed Kemaman. We stopped past Geliga and called AAM to tow us back to Kuantan. We arrived at Beserah around 1.40 am, sleepy and exhausted.

The 'ketam' waste; Milik siapakah sisa ini (melodi lagu Sudirman)

Alhamdulillah we arrived home in one piece. Thanks to all our hosts for the their hospitallity and may Allah reward them better.

Berhari raya dan pengalaman seram

2006-11-07T11:40:00.000+08:00

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Alhamdulillah, pada malam Ahad yang lalu, kami dapat bersama sebahagian dari keluarga yang di Kuantan untuk makan malam setelah berjaya berpuasa 6 hari dalam bulan Syawal. Pada malam tersebut kami cuma menjemput bapa dan ibu saudara sahaja kerana pada keesokan harinya jemputan dikhaskan kepada bapa dan adik beradik. Ini adalh kerana kemampuan kami yang terhad.

Masakannya biasa saja. Nasi putih lauk asam tumis ikan parang, sayur lemak cili padi, ikan keli goreng, ayam goreng berempah dan ulam jambu golok. Kami menyediakan pudin dan teh sebagai pencuci mulut.

Tidaklah aku tahu apa yang dibualkan oleh DITH bersama ibu saudaraku kerana kami duduk agak jauh di bahagian ruang tamu sedangkan mereka masih menikmati saki-baki lauk sambil berbual.

Kami bercakap perihal negara, politk semasa, bahasa dan budaya, kerjaya dan akhirnya pengalaman seram kami.

Ayah CIk bercerita, "saya masih ingat lagi ayah saya cerita masa kecik-kecik dulu yang Bukit Genting dekat Paya Pasir ada hantu. Kawe masa tu kecik lagi dan tidur di kerusi belakang kereta. Tokki(Arwah datukku) kate, masa dia lalu, dia nampok perempuan baju putih menahan kereta. Mana ada rumah orng dekat situ. Masa zaman enam puluhan jalan sempit dan kereta tak banyak bila malam."

Bapa saudara yang seorang lagi mengisahkan beberapa bulan yang lalu sewaktu beliau balik ke Kuantan dari Kuala Lumpur, "masa tu jam 4 pagi dan saya dah nak sampai Paya Bungor dekat dengan kampung orang asli tiba-tiba selepas selekoh saya nampak ada orang berambut panjang berwarna putih berhenjut-henjut setempat di tengah jalan. Pak Itam tak nampak muka dan kaki dia walaupun disuluh dengan lampu kereta."

Beliau terus lalu tanpa memperdulikan lembaga tersebut. Pada pagi tersebut selepas meninggalkan pekan Sri Jaya, beliau merasa mengantuk dan kemudian tiba-tiba seram sebelum pertemuan yang menakutkan itu.

Tiba-tiba mak saudaraku menyampuk, " Mi tau tak highway baru tu banyak hantu? Kawan mak Itam cerita, ada kawan pejabat dia dari KL nak ke KT singgoh kat gerai R&R sebelum Gambang malam sebelum di sampai ke KT. Dia kata sedap mi kat situ. Kawan dia sampuk, mana bukak lagi tempat tu! Dalam perjalanan balik ke KL, dia singgohlah kat R&R tu. Beriya dia 'cross' jalan nak ke gerai tu. Memang kosong dan duit dia bayor masih ada kat situ. He he he.... apa dia makan agoknye!"

"Memang berhantu highway baru tu. Tahun lepas kawan Teh ada kena kacau masa dia dari Gambang ke Bkt Goh. Dia nak balik ke Kg. Tiram, Indera Mahkota." Aku menambah.

Adik kepada jiran ayahku berkawan dengan P5. Dia memandu BMW 3 series dan suka memandu laju. Beliau bekerja di KL dan pulang ke Kuantan untuk menemui keluarga pada hujung minggu. Pada hari tersebut beliau bertolak agak lewat kerana kerja yang banyak. Beliau melalui exit Gambang lewat jam 12.00 tengah malam dengan kelajuan mencecah 200km sejam. Selepas beberapa lama dan beliau sedar yang perjalannya masih tak sampai-sampai. Kebiasaannya belioau mengambil masa tidak sampai 10 minit untuk sampai ke Tol Bkt Goh. Barulah disedarinya yang di luar kereta kegelapan, tiada sebarang cahaya atau kereta yang berselisih. Beliau terus memberhentikan kereta, membongkok tunduk sambil memejam mata dan terus melaungkan adzan sekuat hati. Selepas adzan dan membuka mata, baru didapati cahaya kelihatan dan beliau masih di lebuhraya. Beliau sampai dengan selamat di rumah untuk menceritakan pengalamannya.

Ada banyak lagi cerita seram termasuk yang dialami oleh aku sendiri tetapi biarlah ia menjadi pengalaman dan pengajaran bahawa bukan kita shaja yang menghuni dunia ini. Jin yang dijadikan dari api berkongsi dunia dengan kita. Iblis dan syaitan dari masa ke semasa terus mengganggu kita.

Ketakutan yang amat sangat dengan asas agama yang lemah boleh menyimpang diri seseorang dari kebenaran. Allah telah mengingatkan kita bahawa makhluk ini tidak lebih kekuatannya dari kita, cuma kita manusia mudah berasa takut dan tidak beramal dengan bekalan yang dianugerahkan iaitu Al Quranulkarim. Jesteru itu, ramai yang meminta bantuan serta pertolongan dengan cara yang salah dan boleh menyesatkan.

Setelah sebualan berpuasa dan beramal membina kekuatan, marilah kita meneruskan usaha ini agar menjadi insan yang hanya takut pada Allah, pencipta sekelian alam. Wallahi 'alam.

Bergema Takbir Raya

2006-10-31T02:35:00.000+08:00

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Rendang yang disediakan untuk santapan keluarga
di malam dan pagi Hari Raya.

Syawal kali ini amat bermakna buatku. Ianya dipenuhi dengan kemesraan, kasih sayang, kerinduan, persahabatan, kegembiraan dan duka. Tahun ini aku berpeluang mengenali mereka yang sealiran fikirnya denganku, berkongsi pengalaman dalam mengharungi liku-liku perjalanan di dunia yang fana ini.

AKu bersyukur, dapat bertemu kaum keluarga, sanak saudara, bertukar lawak-jenaka dalam usaha mengiratkan silaurrahim, saling faham memahami yang membibitkan rasa kasih yang lebih mendalam, kemesraan dan kerasian.

Aku dapat mencium tangan bapaku sambil memohon keampunan, bermaaf-maafan sesama sanak saudara, bersama berkongsi kegembiraan di pagi syawal dengan laungan takbir raya bergema menusuk kalbu, mengingatkan ummat perihal musuh-musuh Islam. Di pagi raya, ada yang menitiskan air mata kegembiraan dan ada yang mengeluarkan air mata berduka.

KLCC: Satu pagi sebelum pulang ke Kuantan

Sebagai 'Khalifatullah', perjalanan di dunia ini tidak sentiasa mudah. Kegembiraan tidak akan kekal. Dugaan mendatangi untuk membezakan mereka yang disebut golongan yang sabar serta berserah diri daripada mereka yang alpa dengan kesenangan dan keindahan duniawi. Cabaran demi cabaran didatangkan untuk menguji sejauh mana manusia berpegang dengan ikrar khalifahnya. Rintangan yang berupa kesenangan dan kemudaratan boleh mengikis keImanan dan ketaqwaan mereka. Ramai yang lalai dibelai syaitan sehingga tidak berupaya memikul tanggung-jawab insaniah dan tunduk kepada Yang Maha Esa.

Bergemanya takbir raya, berkumandangnya laungan "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar" mengingatkan kita tentang kebesarah Illahi. Ia memperingatkan perihal perjuangan yang belum selesai. Perjuangan dalam menghadapi tipu helah syaitan dalam pelbagai bentuk termasuk melalui 'alkafirun' dan 'tentera ahzab.'

Justeru itu, dalam kegembiraan serta merayakan keupayaan melengkapkan puasa, perlulah kita menginsafi diri dan bersyukur atas nikmat yang telah Dia anugerahkan; keluarga yang soleh, hati yang tenang, kemewahan yang tidak melalaikan, ilmu yang berguna, kesihatan yang bermanfaat, sahabat andai yang bertaqwa, Taufik dan HidayahNya serta keImanan hingga ke akhir hayat.

Bersederhana, 'bermuhasabah', 'bermurakabah' dan ini akan melahirkan perasaan betapa kerdilnya diri seseorang insan berbanding dengan 'zat' Allah swt. Yang Maha Kaya.

Inilah Ramadhanku bersama keluarga dan sanak saudara, menumpang suka, berkongsi berduka. Namun ianya kami terima dengan penuh keredaan kerana sesungguhnya kemenangan adalah bagi mereka yang redha dengan ketetapan Allah dan Allah redha atas diri mereka. Wallau 'alam.

Kelisa

Selamat Hari Raya

2006-10-22T04:25:00.000+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf zahir dan batin kami sekeluarga ucapkan. Semoga Allah memberi Rahmat dan memberkati kita semua. Ramadhan akan berlalu dan Syawal akan menjelang. Apakah akan kita bertemu lagi Ramadhan yang akan datang, hanya Allah yang tahu. Semoga usaha keci kital diterimaNya serta dimasukkan kita dalam golongan orang-orang yang bertaqwa dan diredaiNya.

Bekelah retreat-dikemaskan

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Iftar

We had iftar at KKL's place. Food prepared by KKL and OK.
The names of the dish? you have to ask them. It was delicious and we would like to thank them with "terima kasih daun keladi, nanti jemput kami lagi" Masakan dia Middle East/1/3 east.

Pita with babaganoush

Lamb-bakar

Chicken-lebanese

Babaganoush, Hummus, Babaganoush with chicken

Lamb dripping sauce (modified ala O-K)

Lamb-end product

Below our home dish a few days earlier

Chicken with cashew nuts

Rendang ayam

The Bekelah Retreat

2006-10-11T18:45:00.000+08:00

On 23 August 2006 we went for short retreat to Bekelah. Bekelah was about 1 hr 30 minutes from Kuantan. We took the Kuala Terengganu bypass to Jalan Gambang, an old road to Kuala Lumpur which was still busy and a choice of many eventhough the new highway offered pleasant non stressful driving.

At Kg Gelugur, we took a right turn, travelled off road and reached the first base camp 20 minutes later. The camp provides shelters, parking lots and at weekends hawkers selling snacks and drinks.

From the first camp, we had to walk for another 20 minutes before reaching the first fall. The track was not that difficult. It was relatively flat with lalangs and light secondary forest. There was a big pool to swim at the first fall.

We continued with the track along Sungai Bekelah which was quite slippery due to early morning rain. The climb was steep, lots of obstacles and quite challenging. We reached the second pool 30 minutes later. As it was already occupied and we seek privacy, we continued climbing until we found a suitable place 45 minutes later. We took a dip in the cold but refreshing water.

It was quite an experience for the kids as it was their first time climbing Bukit Bekelah higher than the second pool.

Kaki Pancing

2006-10-07T11:30:00.000+08:00

Maman and Farouk memancing di bawah Jambatan Tg. Lumpur.
Taken with Nikon Coolpix 5700 on Oct. 2005
(Gambar dan sajak tidak ada kena mengena)

Senja …
Sunyi yang penuh ketenangan,
Kaki langit merah menyala namun tidak membakar jiwa,
Burung berterbangan…
Kembali menyahut dorongan masa,

Aku gelisah... termenung,
Hari bersilih-ganti,
Cuaca berubah… masa berlalu,
Ia pergi tanpa ku sedari... terus maju tidak menunggu,

Aku masih terpaku,
Apakah berkumandangnya azan tidak memberi apa-apa erti?
Tidak terdetik rasa ingin bangkit dan bersuci?
Aku masih menunggu... mengharap lagi,
Menanti… memerhati keindahan Pencipta melakar mega merah... mengasyikkan,

Apakah masih tidak mengerti?
Memang resah… gelisah tapi menikmati!
Aku tahu!…tahu! Masa tidak menunggu,
Kedengaran cengkerik berorkestra mengingati perjalanan masa,
Kian menjelang waktu yang baru,

Kedengaran lagi! Dipanggil lagi!
Laungan azan beralun lantang penuh sayu,
Memujuk… membelai… mengusik hati,
Aku tersentuh... namun masih lagi menunggu,

Bebal!! Mengapa masih di situ!
Namun... tidak keseorangan,
Di kiri… di kanan masing-masing bertenggong,
Menunggu sambaran umpan penuh harapan,
Leka… di pinggir kali saban senja.

Karya IKelah

Sajak ini tidak berniat untuk menyentuh atau menyakiti mana-mana pihak. Ia ditulis 2 tahun yang lalu hanya untuk luahan ide sahaja.

Bubur lambuk Pahang
(mixed spice and black pepper added)

Bubur Lambuk Pelindung Pantai

2006-10-05T10:35:00.000+08:00

At suterabeach resort Kota Kinabalu
It was taken about 4 years ago using Sony 717

QOTH requested for bahan bubur lambuk. This is my own recipe based on eating my late grandmother's bubur lambuk. Tak sedap minta maaf. Saya tak ada gambar bubur lambuk sebab tak terfikir nak ambik kerana nak cepat memasak dan gambar di atas tidak ada kena mengena dengan bubur lambuk.

Bahan bubur Lambuk

1 Beras 3 put kecil

2. Bawang kecil 10 ulas potong or blend

3. Bawang Putih 10 ulas potong or blend

4. Halia 2 inci ketuk

5. Lengkuas 2 inci ketuk

6. Isi Ikan kerisi/kembong/selayang bakar 3 ekor , lagi banyak lagi sedap

atau ikan bilis 1 cawan tumbuk/blend

7. Isi Ayam cincang 200 gm

8. Isi ikan kering (ikan talang) 100-200 gm baker dan blend

9. Udang kering 100 gm blend/tumbuk

10. Pucuk paku merah 2 ikat siat/potong kasar

11. Daun kunyit 2 helai besar siat/potong kasar

12. Daun Kadok 6 helai siat/potong kasar

13. Daun kesom 30 sen siat/potong kasar

14. Daun keledek/pucuk manis/selasih 30 sen siat/potong kasar

15. Santan pekat 1/2 kg kelapa

16. Asam keping 6 keping

17. Serai 2 batang

18 Serbuk Lada hitam kasar 2 ½ sudu – 3 sudu mengikut selera kepanasan

19 Garam +-

20 Gula pasir 3 sudu

21 All spice ½ camca

Kaedah

Tanak nasi dengan air berlebihan.

Bila nasi dah kembang, masukkan bawang-bawang, halia, lengkuas, serai, asam keeping, ayam cincang. Biar 5 minit, kemudian masukkan pucuk paku, daun kesom, daun kunyit, daun kadok, daun keledek. After 10 min, masukkan sisi ikankering, isi ikan baker, serbuk lada hitam, santan, gula pasir, garam dan apa jua yang ada. Dah agak likat dan daun dah layu, masukkan santan pekat. Tambah garam jika perlu dan tutup api selepas 10 minit. Jangka masa masak 1 ½ - 2 jam api kecil.

Resipi ini ciptaan sendiri. Sedap atau tidak tidak dijamin.

ikelah

Its Birthdays

2006-10-03T08:55:00.000+08:00

Maman with his friends enjoying the food

Most of us in the family have our birthday in April. Luqman, OG and Kulo's birthday are in September, P5 and Mikail in October. Those with their birthday in April are my younger sister, Nina, Sofi, my dad, Ita, Momad, Boogey and myself. In February we have Aliah and DITH. In May TK, Sarah, my late mum and Khin and another younger sister in November.

Maman invited his friends for the party on the 23rd eventhough his birthday falls on the 25th of September. His friend who came were from his present and his old school. We had Fettucini Al Fredo, tuna sandwich and sushi for the party. No special games was prepared since it was at the eve of Ramadhan. The boys just walk along the beach, play some simple games, had their zohor prayer together before calling it a day.

P5 and Mikail's day

We had our yearly Ramadhan gathering and iftar on 30 September at our dad's place. The menu was good with lamb curry, sambal tumis petai, sayur keladi, roast chicken, fried ikan patin, ulam petai, the sambals and bubur lambuk. We had the kek for P5 and Mikail on the very same night.

On the next day iftar, we had ikan temelian masak lemak cili padi, asam tumis ikan merah, fried ikan baung, sayur keladi, udang galah goreng, petai and the sambals. We also have Fettucini Al Fredo and jering rebus/kelapa.

Hasya enjoying herself eating the cake

I hope that this year Ramadhan will bring the family closer, full of barakah and lastly happy birthday and may Allah give His Blessings and Guidance.

Ramadhanku

2006-09-30T12:50:00.000+08:00

Kueh tako(dibeli)

Ramadhan sangat bermakna pada diriku. Dua anak yang pertamaku lahir menjelang Ramadhan iaitu 27 dan 4 Syaaban dan anak yang ketiga pada 1 Ramadhan sewaktu peperiksaan professional terakhir kami.

Mengimbau kembali 40 tahun yang lalu, Ramadhan sangatlah aku takuti. Di bulan inilah aku terpaksa menahan lapar dan dahaga sewaktu berumur 5 tahun. Aku cuma dapat bertahan berpuasa penuh selama 6 hari sahaja. Pada tahun berikutnya meninggalkan 6 hari dan aku tidak ada masalah pada tahun-tahun berikutnya.

Setiap bermula minggu kedua Ramadhan, aku akan mula gelisah dan tertekan. Begitu juga dengan bapa saudara yang sebaya denganku. Bapa saudaraku Pak Min yang sekarang merupakan seorang doktor hanya satu tahun tua dari ku tinggal dengan kami. Begitu juga dengan Pak Man yang tiga tahun lebih tua. Mereka bersekolah di sekolah aliran Inggeris yang tiada di kampung. Arwah ibuku akan mula membuat kueh raya yang pelbagai jenis pada minggu tersebut. Mak Su, ibu saudaraku yang kira-kira tujuh tahun lebih tua, bersekolah dan turut tinggal bersama akan menjadi pembantu utama. Peranan utama kami ialah menyediakan adunan untuk kek atau biskut.

Antara adunan asas yangku ingat ialah bancuhan butter dengan merah telur yang perlu dipukul selama 15-30 minit berterusan tanpa berhenti . Piawaian ini adalah untuk mengelak adunan menjadi 'bentan' dan menyebabkan biskut atau kek menjadi kurang sedap. Ia perlu dipukul sehingga berbuih-buih lembut dan naik gebu. Aktiviti inilah yang paling aku takuti kerana ia melengohkan dan kami terpaksa mendengar leteran arwah jika kelajuan memukul tidak sekata. Namun begitu di sebelah malam selepas berbuka, kami akan ditawarkan biskut-biskut yang agak cacat bentuknya atau terlebih bakar(kerja mak saudaraku dan adik perempuanku). Aktiviti ini berulangan saban tahun sehingga aku pergi bersekolah di sekolah berasrama penuh dan digantikan oleh adik lelakiku. Beliau menjadi pakar memukul adunan sehingga mencecah kaki ke universiti. Inilah rahsia kesedapan biskut yang dipukul secara manual berbanding dengan mesin yang diputarkan 2-3 minit cuma untuk menghancur dan mensebatikan adunan.

IKan Temelian masak asam pedes(masakan bapaku)

Sewaktu bersekolah asrama, Ramadhan mula membawa pengertian yang lebih dan menarik. Pelajar dipaksa sembahyang tarawikh sebanyak 20 rakaat. Pada peringkat awal sememangnya a melengohkan tetapi ia kemudiannya menjadi suatu yang ditunggu-tunggu. Di sinilah aku mula belajar berselawat tarawih, bertambah kuat berpuasa sehingga bersukan di waktu petang pun tidak meletihkan, makan secara sederhana dan mula meringankan sahur dengan cukup meminum air kosong serta sebotol susu magnolia cokelat atau strawberry yang disediakan oleh pihak asrama(makanan disediakan juga). Kami berwirid, bertadarus dan mendengar tazkirah Ramadhan. Sewaktu di sekolah rendah ibu-bapaku yang tegas dalam mendidik kerap memastikan agar kami sembahyang dan berpuasa tetapi di sekolah menengah saya mula mengerti menghadirkan diri dalam sembahyang dan menikmati berpuasa.

Ikan keli bakar

Ramadhan datang serta berlalu dan mula menjadi bulan yang dinanti-nantikan. Perubahan sosio-ekonomi masyarakat Melayu mengwujudnya pasar Ramadhan yang menjual pelbagai juadah dan makanan untuk berbuka puasa. Masyarakat Islam di Malaysia mengalami perubahan sosial yang sangat ketara dengan banyaknya kedai-kedai makan dibuka. Ia sedikit sebanyak membuahkan satu budaya makan yang kurang sihat dengan pembaziran dan nafsu ingin mencuba segalanya. Sifat bersederhana dan kurang berbelanja di luar dalam makan terhakis sedikit demi sedikit. Pasar Ramadhan menjadi medan rebutan membeli lauk-pauk buat mereka yang kelaparan.

Dalca tulang belakang sapi muda

Aku turut tidak terlepas dari ingin mencuba itu dan ini terutamanya murtabak sewaktu bulan Ramadhan. Walaubagaimanapun sifatku yang tidak suka berebut, beratur panjang berada ditempat yang penuh sesak menghindariku dari mendekati tempat yang sedemikian. Namun kadang-kala terpaksa juga kuharungi kesesakan manusia untuk melepasi hajat anak isteriku.

Celebrating P5 Birthday(1 October)
keropok, hot drinks and lots of ais kosong

Kini, bukan Ramadhan saja yang ku tunggu. Aku turut menunggu Muharram, Rabiul Awal, Rejab dan Syaaban. Aku menunggu sesuatu yang bererti buat diri dan keluargaku.

It had been a while

2006-09-22T15:10:00.000+08:00

Di hadapan rumah kami

Cuaca di Kuantan kurang baik dengan suasana yang redup dan seolah-olah berjerebu dalam masa 2 bulan kebelakangan ini. Keadaan berubah 4 hari yang lalu dan saya berpeluang untuk mengambil beberapa gambar walaupun waktu yang terbaiknya terlepas.

Di Satu Pagi dekat rumah kami

3 days before leaving for Kuala Lumpur, we went trekking at the Bekelah Waterfall. Jerangkang and Bekelah streams originate from the same source that is Gunung Serundum and its 2 sisters. We walked and climbed for about 2 hours before settling ourselves, taking a dip in the cold mountain water. We brought along nasi dagang and cakoi which was unfortunately not enough for our hungry stomach. Trekking back was fast as it was going downhill. However we had to be extra careful as it rained the previous night making the rocks and the path slippery. It was a thrilling experience, away from the busy city with the greens and clear cold water to ease the stress and aching muscles.

One of the pools we had visited a week earlier

Maman cooling himself at Bekelah

Momad having a good time exploring the rocks

It had just been 3 weeks the girls had gone back to Volgagrad and I felt like it had been 3 months. As for me, time is running slow at the moment. We sent Momad to his college 2 weeks ago and that was when we got lost to Kuala Kerling. I had nothing much to write, just missing my daughters and son. May Allah give them Guidance, protection and His Blessings.

Bersedia untuk ke Kuala Lumpur- barang-barang siapa ye?
(kerusi terpaksa dilipat)

Pagi di KLIA

Petang di KLIA

Mimpi- berwarna atau hitam-putih?

2006-09-20T00:33:00.000+08:00

.

Kita sering bermimpi. Namun apakah mimpi yang mendatangi kita berwarna atau hitam putih. Ini merupakan persoalan yang sering dilontarkan kepada umum. Namun mimpi adalah penting buat kita yang menandakan nyenyaknya tidur seseorang itu. Namun demikian kenyenyakan tidur di waktu subuh boleh melewatkan bangun seseorang itu untuk bersembahyang terutamanya mimpi yang sudah bersolat yang merupakan buaian syaitan. Sebilangan dari kita juga cuba mentafsirkan sesuatu mimpi terutamanya jika mimpi itu pelik atau berkaitan dengan sesuatu yang menguntung atau merugikan.

Dalam tidur kita, dibahagi kan kepada tidur REM(rapid eye movements) dan bukan REM(ada 4 stages). Waktu tidur REM lah kita sering bermimpi. waktu tidur bukan REM boleh juga kita bermimpi. Mengigau, berjalan waktu tidur dan kencing atas katil boleh berlaku dalam peringkat 4 tidur bukan REM.

Selamat bermimpi.

2006-09-10T03:08:00.000+08:00

Bersama

Aku berterima kasih,
kasih antara dua insan,
menerima dan memberi,
berkongsi satu kehidupan,
bersama,

bergelut menempoh badai,
tiupan angin bukan sentiasa membelai,
menghadapi segala kepayahan,
menikmati kebahgiaan,
bersama,

Aku menerima kasih,
cahaya mata pelembut jiwa,
pengorbananmu tidak bisa dikira,
saat kesukaran,
bersama,

di dunia yang fana,
bersifat sementara,
datang dan pergi,
padaNya dipohon doa,
bersama.

GPM Humanitarian Relief Aid

2006-08-14T20:19:00.000+08:00

PAUSE MODE

2006-06-28T16:21:00.000+08:00

DEAR FELLOW-BLOGGERS,

IT'S TIME I TAKE A BACK-SEAT AND SWITCH ON THE PAUSE MODE. I HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY POSTING PHOTOS AND ENTRIES FOR THE PAST YEAR. AND THROUGHOUT THAT WHOLE YEAR I HAVE COME TO KNOW OF MANY FINE PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER. I ALHAMDULILLAH! THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT A GOODBYE AS I WILL STILL BE LEAVING COMMENTS AT YOUR BLOGS. I MAY POST PICTURES AT MY PHOTOBLOG WHEN TIME PERMITS.

TILL THEN,

MAY ALLAH SWT BLESS ALL OF YOU!

A FULFILLING MISSION

2006-06-19T13:19:00.000+08:00

National Geographic Photographer Wannabe
(Posing infront of Merapi)

Two weeks after our trip to Jogja, the ancient city was hit by a massive quake that killed thousands and made thousands more, homeless. As muslims , we can’t say that we have cheated death . We were plain lucky, insyallah , as the area of the hotel we stayed was amongst the places that were shaken by the dreaded phenomenon. Drroza was the first to encourage me to volunteer this time, unlike the 2 previous missions when she was a bit reluctant. I queried on her willingness to let me go and she replied that our recent trip there and having walked the grounds were the encouraging factors. Apparently, familiarity has created a certain degree of bond towards the people and the 'ancient' city, for us! And the calling was strong.

Deles'shire'
(However I was tempoarily accepted as a local Hobbit)

On arrival, we headed for Klaten (one of the hit area) and met up with the President of GPM who briefed us on things. Pak Rafaai, a physician and also head of DDI (Dewan Dakwah indonesia) strongly requested that I went up Merapi to attend to the sick villagers up there. As the rest of the entourage was reluctant to go up in view of the impending outburst of Merapi, I went alone and they headed for Jogjakarta, where GPM has a clinic running for the quake victims. Overthere, Dr Lee, the orthopedecian who came with me, had conducted several orthopedic surgeries.

Rumah Pak Suharto
(My Temporary Hobbit Hole)

At the end of the first day, after attending to a fairly heavy clinic, we recieved news of renewed activities of Merapi and I was adviced by GPM people to join them down the mountain. Having seen the villagers who badly need medical treatment, I agreed to continue rendering my service up there. But this was not after much self-deliberation. Pak Suharto, my host, had given me strong assurance that in any dire instances, they were well prepared to escape in a vehicle within seconds; the fastest route, the safest direction and the time to be taken, these were all calculated. Furthermore, he has a personal mini seismology kit that measures the seismic activity of Merapi constantly alerting us of impending eruption. But what was more reassuring was the fact that we were just 50 m away from the seismologic observation post, with personnels monitoring Merapi's activity around the clock. And there were young villagers keeping vigil to warn others as well. Throughout my 4 days stay up there, I had the life-time opportunity to see fresh flowing red lava and the sinister 'wedhus gembel' up close ! The village that I stayed was not particularly at risk from being smothered by hot lava as there was a small valley separating it from the peak. They have even erected 'paths' for the lava to flow with bridges on top!

Merapi Trail
(At Perut Merapi, 4 km from the peak)

But whatwas worrying was the horrifying hot clouds (with temperature up to 3000 deg celcius) that can travel up to an astonishing speed of 200km/hr. Again Pak Suharto, reassured me that once a hot cloud is being detected coming their way, a sirence would blare and in an instance they'd bundle up in a car and head the opposite direction. A moving hot cloud in the air will dissipate it's heat after travelling about 4 km. More dangerous, are hot clouds that do not travel in the air but roll down the mountain in great speed and would wipe out anything that comes in its path. This was what occured in the eruption of 94 where a whole village called Dusun Turgo, Kabupaten Sleman was wiped out in an instance!

On Merapi with my assistants
(4 km from the peak)

At the moment, Merapi is causing much grief to the inhabitants. We do not expect it to explode like Krakatoa which destroyed itself and causing destruction hundreds of kilometres away. These people have been commuting up and down the mountain to look after their herd, crops and house daily for the past three months. They took care of their properties in the day and stayed at the 'pengungsi' for the night. Jogja and Klaten were actually facing two calamities, the earthquake and eruption of Merapi.

Kids of Merapi

Each day I saw a fairly large crowd of patients who don't understand me nor me, them! But I was assisted by several good locals like Pak Suharto's family and his sister in law Ibu Yamik . They helped me dispense medications and became my translators. Besides the usual ailments, many of them suffered from anxiety and we didn't come prepared with any psychotrophic drugs. I made note of the various drugs needed.

Faces of Pengungsi
(At Posko Manisrenggo)

My young assistants were very polite when talking to elders, for instance,"Pak Dokter..., bapak tadi bilang 'marto nuwun', sama seperti terima kasih. kalau mahu, kita bisa jawab 'sama sama' atau dalam bahasa jawanya 'sami sami', smiled Umi, Putut's fiance (student at Solo University).

Super senior citizen

(A 110 years old lady seeking treatment at at Posko Kesihatan and
I am using layers to blur and lighten the background.)

Mobile clinic at Manisrenggo, Merapi

Putut is Pak Suharto eldest of three. He graduated in business at a university in Jogja and now trying to be a businessman at his kampung. The other kids that helped to run the clinic was Isna (Putut's cousin, Architecture student at Solo University), Andid (Isna's brother, Mechanical Engineering student also at Solo University), Ditta Ipomania (Pak Suharto's daughter who just finished high school) and Aida, a family friend.

Unavoidable pollutants
(Merapi Spewing ash)

Ash cloud causing 'Hujan Abu'
(Its moving towards Kabupaten Sleman)

After the Fajr Prayers, I walked up Merapi to enjoy the scenic sunrise. Putut and his friends took me up the mountain to good spots where professional photographers wait for 'the moment.' It was about 5 km from the peak and on my third day, we went until about 3 km from the peak and Putut said, "Pak Dokter, kita sekarang berada di perut Merapi. Di sini agak merbahaya kerana laluan evakuasinya kurang baik." That day was a bit quiet with no hot cloud to be seen. Just the rumbling sound within Merapi when the hardened lava rocks falling hitting each other.

A Determined Farmer
(Not discouraged by the active Merapi)

Unstoppable Student
( School still opens)

Pak Suharto is a teacher at a primary school by profession. He is the chaiman of Forum Peduli Merapi aimed to improve the livelihood of the Merapi population living at Kecamatan Kemalang, Kabupaten Klaten. The name of his kampung or desa is Deles Indah, as beautiful as the name. The family members are bright, hardworking, polite, caring and artistic. The kids play guitar and have great voices. The voice of Putut and Isna, our medical team described as 'gemersik' but to me sounds like the lead singer of sheila on 7. Ditta's voice is strong, better than Siti's,( sorry la to Siti's fan). A simple description is just 'meremang bulu roma mendengarnya.' At night, after the Isya', the verandah became a meeting place for the village volounteers and people watching the world cup. At Ibu Yamik's home, she had a collection of gamelan instruments bigger than those i saw played in Malaysia.

Unyielding Inhabitants
(They have to feed the herd)

On the fourth day, I had to take leave as I needed to do administrative tasks for GPM based in Jogja. Overthere, I visited and reported to the Angkatan Tentera Malaysia base. It's mandatory for any organizations operating in a foreign land to report to their military body as we are answerable to them once outside Malaysia. Also made contact with the Turkish NGOs' and held discussions with the doctors and staffs. They voiced their dismay saying that they hardly get to see many patients each day and felt as though they were wasting time. But I managed to boost their morale by saying that no matter how small the number of people you have helped, it was still significant because if we muslims don't help other muslims in times of needs, then others will fill in. And of course, this is one of the ways to cement our 'ukhwah' with muslims of another country. After much searching I managed to make contact with the OIC field representative.

Farmer of Merapi

One of my task was to convey the donations given by some friends (3 bloggers and another friend) to Anang and other quake victims. Having made contact, Anang came to see me. He was touched by the donations and felt bad that he can't reciprocate with any gifts. His exact words were " Saya minta maaf Pak, dalam keadaan sekarang saya tidak bisa menyedia sebarang ole-ole. Harap bapak memahami."

At OIC Humanitarian Aid Office

On the last day I was still preoccupied with making reports on the mission. However, the last day was also alotted for the mission members to do some sight-seeing and shopping(R&R) and since I have recent experience with the city, they have persuaded me to bring them around! Thus I ended up being their tourist guide, imparting knowledge that I had gathered previously from Anang. Imagine! I was a doctor, mission-leader, a trainer and tourist guide, all rolled in one!! However, due to some new assignments, my field officer trainee and I had to miss the shopping in the morning to complete the tasks. no shopping for me and Kuza, the trainee.

Earthquake aftermath at Bantul

We went to Desa Canden, Kecamatan Bantul to see the progress of 150 temporary houses donated through GPM. The progress was excellent. Within 3 days 1 house was almost complete, 3 houses 70% complete and the rest had the foundations of the houses prepared. The initial arrangement was for 4 houses followed by the rest if the progress is according to schedule. At the meantime they stayed in tents and nearby mosques.

Cook for Charity
(AT Desa Chanden, Kecamatan Bantul)

My Team
(Almost complete temporary shelter at Desa Chanden, a project by GPM)

I was proud to have Dr. Lee, Dr. Suryasmi, Dr. Ishak, Sister June and Sdri Kuza under my team for they have served whole heartedly for the success of this mission.

Night Eruption

Pyroclastic flow with hot cloud formation

The hot peak

Even now that I am back home, safe and sound, I still think about those people of Merapi. I feel for their desperation. Their yearn for things to normalize. I pray for their safety and that Merapi's fiery angst will subside soon even though it makes good subject for photography, eh Paul Moss?? :-) My body is here but part of me is still with them, feeling their misery.

Wedhus Gembel rising

Fast flow of hot cloud
(unable to see the lava flow due to daylight)

I am Back!!!: Glimpse of Merapi

2006-06-16T01:54:00.000+08:00

The Fiery Merapi
(F6.3, 20 sec at 11 pm 10 June 2006)

Just arrived home at 10.30pm. This entry is to share 2 early photos to ease Paul's ailment. Paul has been dying to see them.

Cloud of Destruction
(Wedhus Gembel)

A Short Entry: Genting Highlands Outing

2006-06-08T08:01:00.000+08:00

Genting Outdoor Theme Park
(using Genting special filter and a polarizer)

I was not in the mood to take pictures in my last outing to Genting Highlands. It rained, overcast, not feeling myself etc. There were actualy a lot of action/views to be taken eventhough the clouds were heavy. The noon mist was excellent to creative photographers. However, here are a few pictures of our trip to share with the viewers.

The Misty Rollercoaster

Cowboys in making

Rock N' Roll Music!

Enjoyble Descend

Glued to his Gameboy

Yummy

Swinging in Styles

Genting Skyway Sunset
(tiny sun near the trees -cable car descending/moving)

Gohtong Jaya Skyway Station

Redang Trip Part III: A Paradise of its own

2006-05-31T20:10:00.000+08:00

Marching home
(Gambar senget, a technique)

This is my last entry of Pulau Redang with a few pictures I that like best.
There are two pictures of sunrise with the time difference of a few seconds. It was on the first morning where I placed myself(tummy on the rocks ;)) on the suitable slope that i found earlier the day before. The sun was up but shielded by heavy clouds over the horizon thus producing the golden yellow-reddish effect, 'crimson skye'. The colourful reflected colours from the sea with small waves was enchanting. Sunrise on the second day was not that spectacular. I settled for some silhouette shots with the tourists enjoying 'the sunrise'.

Sunrise at Pulau Redang

At the marine park, the water was crystal clear with the blue reflection from the sky. Snorkeling is a must for visitors who want to see the beautiful corals, fish and other underwater marine life. There were better places such as Pulau Tiga and Pulau Lima but our time was limited.

Snorkeling at the Marine Park

Follow the bait
(The guide helping out)

Under The Sea
(A shot from the jetty- using a polarizer)

By just walking along the beach either in the hot sun or under the shades, something will catch your eyes. With a camera in hand, you can share your little adventure with your family an d friends or you can just enjoy the magnificent sight with the cool breeze caressing your skin.

Going Kayaking? Anyone?

7 'S' - Sun, Sand, Shelter, Shade, Sea, Skin and Shoot.

Trying to cajole the girl- with the help of 3 musicians

Exhausted dad and his sleeping beauty

As for me who had never gone to see the 'extraordinary' beaches of the Caribbeans or the Mediterraneans, this place was indeed beautiful and worth visiting, my very own paradise.

Sunrise at Pulau Redang

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Edited Trying to cajole the girl- with the help of 3 musicians by removing the 3 people at the back.

REDANG TRIP PART II: Vacation at Redang Island

2006-05-30T01:02:00.000+08:00

View from the marine park jetty

Redang is definitely a beautiful place to have a vacation. What is so interesting about Redang. What has it to offer. Which place should I go and how do I plan my stay. What sort of vacation should I have.

Laguna Redang Resort

There are various types of resort at Redang, from a 5 star Berjaya Redang and Laguna Redang to a no star wooden chalets on a quiet beach. Most of these resorts offer packages which include the transfer fares, rooms for the night, meals and snorkeling trips. For those who want to be pampered with confortable rooms, large variety of western and local meals, a fresh water pool with a jacuzzi, recreation centre with a number of games and sports to choose from, a la carte menu, go and get the 5 star resort.

Beach at Laguna Redang

The adjacent cove

For those who can settle with decent rooms for the night, stay outdoor most of the time, satisfied with simple meals to save the extra for other recreational activities, the no star resorts offer cheaper rates (a difference of RM80-150 per person compaired to Laguna Redang). Surcharges will be imposed on public and school holidays.... ha ha ha vampires!

Sunrise at Laguna Redang
(Facing the open South China Sea)

The sand is clean white, soft, cool even on a hot day. The shore at Laguna Redang was free from litters. I found cans, glass, plastics and concrete blocks washed ashore on the othe three other coves. It was minimal but irritating enough to know that there are still irresponsible visitors or construction worker spoiling the beauty of Redang.

Boats at Laguna Redang Jetty

(south east cove)

A Jetty at another cove
(south)

At Laguna Redang Beach
(different operator)

Ships the Laguna Redang Beach
(other operator)

Here are pictures of activities occuring along the beach at Laguna Redang and its adjacent cove. For more information, just visit their homepage.

Morning Stroll with Dad

Paroi Swimming meet April 2006

2006-05-27T15:52:00.001+08:00

I was at Paroi Aquatics in April 2006 to give moral support to our dear niece Diyana Qistina Redza. She is DITH sister's eldest daughter who stays in China. She reperesented Selangor junior team and bagged 4 gold medals. Congratulations Qistina.

The Great Chase
(The boy with the black cap was really good, third swimmer in medley relay)

The 2 pictures i posted were 2 junior boys. It was my first 'sports coverage.'
He he he ... sorry azahar.

Towards Victory
(individual free style)

REDANG TRIP PART I: The Many Faces of Redang

2006-05-25T02:07:00.000+08:00

Catching her breath
(Tired after snorkeling)

On my recent Redang trip, I had the opportunity to cross paths with many people and I can't help but make analysis on them. ( I am a thinker as drroza claims, :P). Many were pleasant and helpful, thus I am not losing hope on Malaysians being a polite nation, after all!

Photographer on the move
(On one of the many cliffs with his 55-200mm lens)

On reaching the Merang jetty, we were received by the travelling agent, (employed by Pfizer), called Jamie who made us feel at ease with her friendly gestures. As there were a number of us who arrived much earlier than scheduled, she made a considerate decision to arrange for an earlier ferry ride. The few doctors in this early group however were not that amicable though. I tried to make eye contacts but to no avail! Perhaps still tired from their long journey, I thought.

Ways to disembark
(Back from snorkeling trip)

On board, I chose to occupy the top-deck. Everyone else chose to take the bottom deck. Well, better that way, I thought, as I needed space to manuever when I take photo shots. Few minutes later, a guy (a spouse of another doctor) came up and started chatting with me. We exchanged info on our background and I felt better. At least someone was friendly, after all, :P

Walking with an intention
(Laguna Redang swimming pool and jacuzzi)

After 45 mins, we reached Laguna Redang Resort's jetty and we were greeted by friendly and polite staffs who made warm welcome gestures to us. Not to worry about our luggages we were told. All were taken care of. Up on a tram we went for short pleasant ride to the main grand block. On entering the main lobby, the sofas were all occupied by many guests who have checked out and waiting for the ferry-ride home. Most of them looked bushed and didnt offer us any smile. Oh well, I thought.

Enjoying the sunrise
(Second morning with heavy clouds)

Various ways to observe the sunrise
(Second morning wait)

Searching for gems
(Morning after sunrise)

Memorable pose
(Morning after sunrise)

Budding architect
(Late Evening at Pasir Panjang, Redang Island)

Baby and dad, lost and found search team
(Morning walk after sunrise)

I made several obseravations whilst I was there.From day one, I observed that the staffs were all well trained and executed their chores wth great earnest. Many of hotel employees were locals and I see that they are friendly and show good 'adab'. Many of the guests were either foreigners or local chinese. In fact the guests of other resorts were mainly chinese too and most of them were youngsters. This could be a new trend amongst them to go on big group vacations to such places. A trend still not caught by other races yet.

A ride to the jetty
(Bon Voyage)

This entry will concentrate on candid shots of people there. Study these pictures and you'll find that each of them tells it's own story. These are pictures of people vacationing on a beautiful Island, trying to savor every bit of pleasure they can, of
the transparent blue sea water, of the saltish sea air, of the easy-going atmosphere, of walking-on-the-beach on a moonlit night and most importantly of harvesting the treasures of the deep-blue sea!

A long shot of a serious discussion
(DITH, Dr. Hazelynn and Dato' Dr. Yeow)

You are welcome to make your own observations too (Paul Moss included! After that respite at Redang, I can face any harsh comments from him, hehe)

I would like to thank DITH for helping me with this entry.

Jogja Trip Part III: Land of One Thousand Memories

2006-05-13T03:07:00.000+08:00

Gunung Sumbing is an inactive volcano that can be seen from Borobudur.

On our first day after we had landed in Solo, we went straight to Jogja and checked in. After a short rest we went for a city tour. The places we visited were The Keraton, Pasar burung and Pasar Batik. Pasar Batik is at a place called Malioboro, a shopping area. You can choose to ride a 'beca' or a 'kereta kuda' if you are interested in ala Jogja city tour.

A clean street in Jogja. The white building is the Pos Office.

Later in the evening we left for Parangtritis to view the sunset from a cliff.

Parangtritis

Local legend claimed that Parangtritis Beach is the location of the palace of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul, the ruler of the Southern Ocean invisible world. Parangtritis beach is one of tourist attraction offering a beautiful sunset, Langse cave and other interesting sites.

Sunset at Parangtritis. The ray started to shine on the clouds.

Gumbirowati Highland
This is the place where we get the pleasure of viewing the Parangtritis sunset.

The Langse Cave
The Langse cave is located on the foot of Parangtritis slope. It is a known place for meditation . According to legend, the Langse cave is Kanjeng Ratu Kidul's cave where Mataram's kings often visit. It was also said the opening of the cave will be covered by water during high tide thus preventing entry or exit at that particular time.

On the next day we went to Ketep Pass to see the peak or lava dome of Gunung Merapi. On the way, we had a short stop to view Candi Prambanan, Candi Seribu and a few other lesser candi.

Candi Prambanan and Candi Seribu

Prambanan is a beautiful region. In ancient time, it was capital of a Kingdom known as "Kraton Boko". Candi Prambanan is a hindu temple and there are 237 big and small temples in it. On certain nights they have plays of 'Ramayana and Mahabbrata'.

Candi Prambanan view from afar.

Not far from Candi Prambanan complex is a smaller candi called candi seribu or candi Larajonggrang. It was said that a creature with supernatural power wanted to marry a princess and a condition was given to him that he had to buiid a temple with 1000 figurines in one night.

Candi Seribu an interesting sight always.
(I used the wrong lens;55-200mm, there was no time to change to18-55mm)

Gunung Merapi

Gunung Merapi is located to the north of Jogja and has been erupting for 10,000 years. Its one of the most active volcano and has more pyroclastic flow than any other volcano in the world.
The word Merapi comes from a Javanese word Meru means mountain and Api means Fire.
Gunung merapi stands 2920 metres with it peak known as Puncak Garuda.

We stayed at Manohara Hotel on the second night which is in the same compound with the Borobudur.

Candi Mendut and Borobudur

Candi Mendut is 3 kilometres eastward from Borobudur. It was built in 824 AD during the Cailendra Dynasty. There are 3 big statues inside.

A farmer and the egrets
(a view from Manohara Hotel)

Borobudur is the biggest Buddhist temple of the world and one of the best-preserved ancient monument.

Borobudur: Early morning mist

The meaning of Borobudur remains vague. It is a compound of words Bara and Budur. Bara from Sanskrit has a meaning of complex of the temples. While Budur reminds us the Balinese word Beduhur, which means above. Accordingly, Borobudur means monastery on the hill.

Borobudur: Ready, smile, click.

I could still remember an advice from an article to share. "Get up early and stay out late, thats when you will find the best subject to shoot at".

Kotagede

On the third day, we left Jogja for Solo via Kotagede. Kota Gede was the capital of The Mataram Kingdom. Kotagede had being a capital city of Mataram until 1640. Later the third king of Mataram, Sultan Agung moved the capital to Desa Kerto, Plered-Bantul. A few relics and important buildings of early Mataram that can be seen are the cemetery of Prince Senopati's clan, piece of wall and foundation of one of pendopo (the front room of the palace) and Sendang Selirang(a pool where the royal family bathed). All are located in the compound of Masjid Agung Kotagede.

Solo is a short name for Surakarta. Bengawan Solo is the longest river in Java Island has its source at Gunung Lawu. Gunung Lawu in Solo is an inactive volcano. I guess many of us still remember the keroncong song "Bengawan Solo". At Solo, we went shopping at the Pasar and the mall. We flew back to KL on the next day.

At Jogja, there were lot of happenings dated long before Malacca. Jogja is rich with history. Their civilization is far earlier than the people in the Malay Peninsular. Their literacy may be less than ours but their culture, their mind and their spirit are far stronger than most of us. We can actually learn a lot from them. We may be a better peson if we do not look down on the Indonesians. Wallahu 'alam.

My travelling companions.

Jogja Trip part II - The people We Met

2006-05-10T23:59:00.000+08:00

This picture was taken 5 min. before landing at Adi Sumarmo Airport, Solo.
The flight KL-Solo took 2 1/2 hours. That mountain is not Merapi.

As our plane touched down at Solo, we we greeted by Anang our would be 'supir' for 3 days. Anang was born and brought up in Jogja. He is a true Jogja born Javanese, descendent of great Java warriors during the peak of its civilization. His knowledge about his hometown is well respected.

On the street in Jogja.
This is a traffic light junction musician with a home made instrument.

Another traffic light junction musician going from window to window asking for charity.

Pengayuh Beca waiting for customers. There are so many beca and a very limited number of passengers. The rate for a day rent can go as low as Rs 25,000 that is equivalent to RM 11.

She is waiting for a ride but look! The Pengayuh Beca is sound asleep.
This place is within the walls of Keraton, Jogja.

Jogja was the capital for many rulers of Java. A land full of history of many religion from Hindu to Buddha and later Muslims with lot of artifacts and structures of old empires to be seen. At Prambanan, we can see Prambanan Temples and Chandi Seribu. An hour drive from Jogja you will find The Borobudur and Chandi Mendut. At Kota Gede about 15 minutes from Jogja lies the royal mausoleum of The Mataram Kings.

At Kota Gede.
Guests are required to change into traditional costumes before being allowed to enter the mausoleum of the Mataram Kings.

One morning at Borobudur.
Visitors are trying hard to reach the statue inside the stupa. It was said that it brings luck to those who succeed.The guide is doing his duty telling the myth.

People of Java speaks bahasa Jawa and bahasa Indonesia. According to Anang Bahasa Jawa is supposed to be more detailed than Bahasa Indonesia. The usage of its vocabulary depends on the person to whom one is talking to.

Buying Apem at a pasar.
The people here are very polite and friendly (berlemah lembut dan bersopan santun).
This girl had just finished her upper secondary and had to work.

At Pasar Batik.
This nenek sells anak itik. She was trying hard convincing us to buy the ducklings.
Working hard to get sesuap nasi at this age.

From our transport, a 'Kijang' we realised that there were almost no wooden houses. It seems that the Javanese had mastered the art of masonary hundreds of years ago thus buildings were made from bricks and rocks. Keraton a place where the royal family dwells is surrounded by layers of stone/brick walls. Within the walls there are shops, houses, gardens, farms, administrative buildings and of course the royal palace.

Pasar di Jogja.
Selling vegetables at the market. They are really friendly but camera shy.

Still at the market not far from our hotel. She is selling timun, serai, huge tempe etc.

Her product is just banana, leaves and the fruit. I wonder how much she makes a day.

Viewing the active Gunung Merapi

2006-05-08T11:33:00.000+08:00

A photographer on the loose.
Gunung Merapi, most part of the peak is still covered by clouds

It happened that our long planned holiday to Jogja coincides with the eruption of Gunung Merapi. This entry is just about the hunt to get a view at Gunung Merapi's peak where the lava and hot cloud are supposed to come out.

At Ketep Pass. The Garuda is looking toward Gunung Merapi. This site was officiated by President Megawati Soekarno.

We arrived at Jogja on the 3 rd of May with a chance to get a glance at Gunung Merapi. The cloud was thick and we managed to see the top part only for a few seconds. The next day was our 'view Merapi day'. We travelled by 'Kijang'(equivalent to Toyota Unser but with better suspension) to Ketep Pass which is a viewing point for tourists. Ketep Pass has an audio-visual theater (Gunung Merapi's eruption in 1994/98), Gunung Merapi Museum, viewing spots, a restaurant and a mussola. There is a Garuda statue looking towards Gunung Merapi. From Ketep pass, we can see a huge valley, Gunung Merbabu on the left and Gunung Merapi just next to its right. Gunung Merbabu is higher volcano than Gunung Merapi but is inactive.
We waited for a few hours but unfortunately the peak was not visible due to heavy clouds.

The cloud started to clear.

We left Jogja for Solo on the next day from Manohara Hotel, Borobudur. We were able to see the heavily cloud covered peak of Merapi. The frustrating travel changed when the sky started to clear up with Merapi's peak getting clearer as our 'supir' Mr Anang made a detour towards Babadan. We we able to see new points of small eruptions as new brownish smoke points. We were grateful to Allah for granting our wish.

A clear view of the peak. A few seconds after the centre parts started to break and release smoke. (200 mm zoom and size minimised)

Gunung Merapi that stands 2920 metres is an active volcano in Jawa Tengah. There are a few other voclano such as Gunung Merbabu, Gunung Sumbing and Gunung Lawu but all of them are inactive. Gunung Merapi is of great significance to the Jogja kingdom. The royal family of Jogja karaton still gives yearly offerings to the 'protector' of the mountain. Gunung Merapi with it garuda-like peak is a symbol of strength and greatness to the people. The soil is fertile, the hardened lava which is black in color are shaped into various ornaments. The black sand can be used to built bulidings.

Rocks from hardened Merapi lava that we found(1994 or 1998 eruption)

Gunung Merapi had erupted many times within the last 15 years. In 1994, the eruption was was strong killing many due to the hot lava flow called 'nuee ardentes' and the hot cloud the local called 'wedus gembel' that measured 3000 deg celcius, rising 3000 metres above the peak of Merapi. This moving hot cloud will burn anything in its path. During the 1998 eruption, about 68 farmes were killed by the nuee which can travel as fast as 110 km per hour pouring down the steep slopes to the rivers, 66 people were killed and hundreds disfigured by 'wedus gembel'.

A far view from the road leading to Babadan, a post at the foot of Gunung Merapi.

For us, it was a great experience to be able to watch the small eruptions of Gunung Merapi, the most active volcano on Earth even from afar.

A short Entry: Blog Block

2006-04-26T11:05:00.000+08:00

This what they call "Merpati Dua Sejoli".
She leans forward to give him a birthday kiss.
(infront of our balcony:200mm, 1/500, F8, ISO200, AP, -0.7 EV)

I have been absolutely idle for the past 2 weeks with regards to the blog world. No new entries . No blog-hopping and leaving comments. The thing is I was so occupied with many other things pertaining to the ' real' world.

Meyo beranak lagi but this time longhair and semi longhair kittens

On the 9th of April, the unit I am working in, plus a few others held our yearly barbeque cum family gathering. The most memorable fact is that someone had donated a whole goat for the occasion! Alahmadulillah!

Roasting the lamb with Maman giving a hand

Incidentally the next day was my birthday and an old dear friend came to Kuantan with his family (not to celebrate my birthday, mind you but for some other business) and we had a supposedly 'sea-food' feast by the beach of Batu Hitam (read: Thai cooking actually, :p)

The cushion is from Momad and the card from drroza

In the same week, another friend called upon me and asked me out for dinner as well. The interesting part was that we went to 2 different spots of ikan bakar and tasted 2 different kinds of grilled fish within 1 hour! Masyallah!. The trend continued for the days that followed as friends kept on asking me for eat-outs and as my parent-in-laws are here, additional night outs are also in the keeping (no wonder my waist-line seemed to baloon up).

Beserah Resthouse (among the oldent in the country)

What I am trying to say is that there have been lots of happenings but the mood to write is a bit low, like ifos had mentioned once something like blog block.

Mr. Buffalo Si Nelayan Beserah; I have been waiting to snap this scene for a long time.

Dusk at Pelindung Pantai. Do you notice the small moon?

As for the last entry, sorry for the late reply. Thank you.

A Day to Remember

2006-04-05T22:19:00.000+08:00

Cenderahati (http://ikelah.fotopages.com)

2 nd April 2006 was a date to be remembered. It had been 34 years since I left Abu Bakar School Mentakab(ABS Mentakab) just before sitting for my Standard Five Assessment as my dad had to transfer to Kuantan.

Gambar beramai-ramai di hadapan bangunan sekolah

The gathering ran smoothly from a fabulous welcome address by our old friend Cikgu Abd. Malek, a note from ex student representative Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and a short speech from the present headmaster. We had photo sessions, a good lunch, tea and a round table talk. Most of us were either from Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan or Mentakab. We also had a friend who flew from Melbourne to be with us. Congratulations to the organizing committee headed by Rosemayati.

Berkongsi pengalaman lucu

All the speeches given by my friends were interesting but a statement from Lee Kwang Chow, now Aaron Lee triggered my mind to recall all those good time during schooling days. He said that he never had a non chinese friend that he was so confortable with except for those who were from the primary(ABS).

Menjamu selera sambil beramah mesra

What he had said about his feelings can be refered to other ethnic groups as well. At that age we were innocent and not influenced by any racial, political or social grudge. We spoke english or malay to each other no matter weather it was proper or broken. We played 'police and thief', 'guli', 'konda kondi', 'hopper', shared secrets and recipes without any hesitations. We trusted each other and the trust was based on sincerity, trustworthiness, good manners etc.

Human train on the move

My 'closeness' to a non Malay friend however was extended until the secondary school. Since I was in a residential school, we grew together, eat, play, study and understand each other. I could still remember Lip Boon the left winger, Bhajan the left back and Visua the right half who played hockey with me the right winger, with all those penalty corners, penalty flicks, the goals and screaming in triumph after beating the better teams.

Pantai Beserah:menjemur ikan kering

I still have non Malay friends with my involvement in non government organizations but as Aaron had pointed out, the closeness is not the same as those whom we knew during our younger days.

Cenderahati majlis perkahwinan dua pupu saya pada hari yang sama

A Busy Week

2006-03-29T12:25:00.000+08:00

At Yayasan Pahang after the interview

It was quite a week despite I am still having limitations with my back. I accompanied a patient to Kuala Lumpur by ambulance, interviewed candidates for Anugerah Belia Negara Peringkat Negeri Pahang, visited families and testdrive a newly bought Honda Civic.

A view of Sungai Kuantan(Esplanade) from Floor 17 Yayasan Pahang

A day prior to traveling to Kuala Lumpur, I was a panel interviewing candidates for Anugerah Belia. Anugerah Belia Negara. This Anugerah is a yearly event where the Ministry of Youth and Sports will select individuals and society which they think performs well and can be an example to others. Pengarah Yayasan Pahang, Pengarah Penerangan Negeri, Timbalan Pengarah Biro Tata Negara, Pengarah Jabatan Belia dan Sukan Pahang and I (representing Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Pahang) were the panels. We interviewed candidates in Youth Leader category. We spent 4 1/2 hours questioning and testing the abilities of the 10 selected candidates in various aspects including ability to speak fluently both in Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Inggeris, leadership, capabilities, performance, contributions, recognition obtained, his views on present scenarios including policies and politics. All the candidates are active in the governing political parties except for one who is not holding any political post but very charismatic with good potentials.

A boat moving towards Kuala Sungai Kuantan

One our favourite question, "Apa pendapat anda tentang kenaikan harga minyak 30 sen seliter. Apakah ia tidak menjejaskan kehidupan rakyat terutamanya orang kampong?"

Special sambal ikan bilis cili padi

Favourite answer, "Kenaikan ini tidak banyak dan tidak menjejaskan. 30 sen je, kalau beringgit-ringgit memang menyusahkan. Ada juga orang kampong yang komplen, tapi selepas mendengar penjelasan, ok je la."

Delicacies served after lunch. Prepared by students from IKIP Catering

A few who are in business will say, "Memang meningkatkan kos operasi tetapi kami akan cari jalan untuk mengatasinya agar tidak menjejaskan perniagaan kami."

Bunga Ros air mawar at my aunty's house

We further enquired, "Awak rasa wajar tak kenaikan ini. Kami dengar ada yang kata wajar, ada yang kata tidak wajar dan ada yang kata tidak wajar tetapi kerajaan tiada pilihan lain."

Kesidang; Strong and Very saeet smell

The answer, "Memang wajar sangat, ini pun kerajaan masih memberikan subsidi. Harga minyak kita masih murah berbanding dengan negara-negara lain. Kan harga minyak mentah meningkat tinggi dan kerajaan kena beli mahal."

Keladi Kemahang(not like ordinary keladi)

But the charismatic youth answered differently. Maybe he was not obliged to defence any policyor stand. To him the hike was expensive considering we are a country that produce oil and comparison should be among oil producing countries. He also added that the government might have no choice with the current situation and old debts.

Honda City belongs to Orang Kilang(just look at the plate number!)

On Saturday and Sunday we had our meals at my dad's place. Panglima was in Kuantan over the weekend helping to clear the undergrowth at our 'tanah pesaka'. We had supper with Mr OK and later drove his new Honda Civic. VROOOOM!

Opposite warong Pak Mat-drying the salted fish(on a good day)

This coming weekend will he more hectic since there is a wedding among the family and then I have to travel to Mentakab to meet my old friends from Abu Bakar School whom I last saw more than 30 years ago.

Warung Pak Mat Corner;
excellent Mee Calong, Mee Jawa and Mee Goreng Mamak

Make Way For The Ambulance Please

2006-03-24T15:15:00.000+08:00

Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway. The road was no good for more than a year
and yet the users have to pay full toll(ambulance excluded).

I was at an interview meet yesterday noon when i received a call telling me that i had to accompany a patient to Institute Peadiatics, Kuala Lumpur the next morning.

We started off at 5.30 am so that our patient, *Aulia will arrive early and could be attended during the morning rounds. Aulia was born in Kuantan 1 1/2 years ago with intestinal atresia and corrective surgery was done. She later developed complications and was down with sepsis, unresolving streptococcus infection. She was admitted to our hospital 1 week ago for pyrexia of unknown origin presented with jaundice, hepato spleenomegaly, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, leucocytosis, multiple lymphadenopathy, and failure to thrive. She was stabilized and later to be sent for her further management at Institute Paediatric where she was regularly treated.

However, the story I want to tell is not about Aulia but the road ethics of our road users in response to emergency sirens. We entered Gombak at about 7.40 am in the morning and the traffic was heavy. I was almost to tears when i saw the drivers quickly make way to allow our ambulance to pass. If its a two-lane road, they will try their best, adjusting their crawling cars so that our ambulance can pass through. They will steer to the left or right which ever appropiate as a good responsible samaritan would be. I guessed that was the best they could do to a stranger in great need and may be dying in the ambulance. We arrived at Paediatric Institute around 8.00 am. Hats off to Kuala Lumpur drivers at Gombak-Setapak!

At Jalan Pahang, near Titiwangsa. The cars are moving away from the dotted line.

We sent Aulia to ward KK3, had our breakfast at Kampung Baru and started back home at around 9.00 am. At Bentong, we received a call from Kuantan to fetch an unconscious patient at Batu 10 Jalan Gambang. He is the father of one of our consultants.

We reached the house at 11.20 am. *Pakcik Hassan was unarousable and secreations were dripping from the corner of his mouth. He had history of hypertension, cardiovascular accident, ischaemic heat disease and on medications. He was unconcious for almost 6 hours. and we didnt have a glucometer with us to check his blood glucose level. Nevertheless, we set a 1/5 DS drip and gave a shot of 50% dextrose. it is best not to miss a hypoglycaemic coma which is easily treatable.

We were on the road again at moderately high speed with the sirens blaring. There were not many cars on the road and the mood was really relaxing. A few cars gave way but most drove as nothing was happening. Many drivers hesitated but eventually moved to the side. There was a car that decided to overtake another slower car first before getting back to the left lane. A few just ignored the siren and continue on the right lane. A vast difference between Kuala Luampur and Kuantan road users!

Approaching Kuantan at Jalan Gambang. A very relaxed driver. Sefish? Ignorant?

We arrived at the emergency unit 5 minutes to 12.00, get Pakcik Hassan inside, proped him up, did oral suction, oxygen 3L/m via nasal prong, ECG stat, RBS was 8.4 and get the doctor on duty to manage him.

Again, kudos to the KL drivers along Gombak-Setapak!

*Not their real names

The Jilbab

2006-03-23T20:27:00.000+08:00

Case of Shabina Begum. how sensitive are we concerning this aurat issue.

1. I've written before about the case of Shabina Begum, the Muslim girl who wanted to wear a jilbab to school in contravention of her school's uniform policy.

2. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request by Muslim women to cover their hair for passport photographs in what rights activists say is a sign of Moscow's growing anti-Islamic stance.

3. The French parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban on Islamic headscarves and all other overt religious symbols from state schools.

War against Islam is not just confined to invasions and political attacks but also everywhere including their home, a place they louded as champion for human rights. Their first step is to shame the sisters by taking away her jilbab, by force or propaganda. That was what they did when the Italians invaded Libya.

As a fellow muslim have we done our part?
Have we done enough as Ansarullah?
Our turn will come, its a matter of time.
We will be tested for our Iman.

Interesting sites:
http://www.kingshouse.org/headcovering.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabina_Begum

Maman's Fishing Galore

2006-03-20T13:10:00.000+08:00

Preparing breakfast

It had been a boring week with backache, physiotherapy and limitation of activities. We missed the wedding kenduri at Raub and it seems that we are going to miss another wedding kenduri at Lanchang.

At the kolam waiting for ikan telapia and lampam

I got a call from my uncle on Saturday afternoon asking whether we wanted to join them for a picnic at his kolam in kampung Sungai Pandan. I was still worried of my back but he told me there is a pondok that I could lie down if needed.

Celebrating Maman's first catch in his life time

Maman's second catch helped by Emi our maid

So, on Sunday, again on our old Nissan Sentra, we travelled off road to kampung Sungai Pandan. We had a spread of mee goreng, tuna sandwich and karipap for breakfast, with a good brew of nescafe to wash down, courtesy of my good aunt (kenakelayan’s mom) . Then we went fishing at the pond. The first catch was by my uncle, a fairly small ikan talapia. The next and third catch, were by Maman, 2 big ikan talapia. They just use a hook and a string without a fishing rod.

A dead tree by the pond

As for me, as usual, I was taking photos. There were many things that could be captured from landscape, the living creatures, people and macro photography. It was an enjoyble outing and we are looking forward for an ikan bakar barbeque when the other kids are around as well.

Dragonfly taking a rest

A chameleon curious with the sudden activities and smell of delicious food

Getting To Know Kuantan

2006-03-12T20:51:00.000+08:00

Tepi Sg. Kuantan

It had been a few months DITH and I had not gone for lunch outside together. Last Monday we had an oppotunity to have our lunch together and we decided to go to 'tepi sungai', a place known as Medan Pelancong.

On the left is 'telur ibu gelama' dish on display

Facing the main road we can see Kedai Amad Gundal known to make excellent songkok, a few kedai kitab, boutiques and kedai kasut. On the other side, facing the river are the kedai gunting rambut, kedai peluru and kedai makan. There are a number of kedai makan preparing masakan kampung such as sayur masak lemak, ikan patin asam tempoyak, ikan bakar, sambal tumis petai, udang besar, ketam goreng, sotong masak berlada, keli masak berlada, gulai rebung, gulai pucuk paku and all sorts of ulam including petai, jering and kerdas. However my favourite is telur ibu gelama masak lemak. Usually we makan 'beridang' (hidang) under the canopy facing the river watching the fishermen returning with their catch. This is not a place to be missed if one visits Kuantan.

FPG plant at Gebeng

For this weekend, the initial plan was to attend a wedding in Raub but since I was not well we decided to go to kenduri aqiqah at Kg. Sungai Karang. We then made a short detour to Pelabuhan Tanjung Gelang, Gebeng.

Silos (KFM) (using polar-c filter)

FPG Plant

In the 70's before the port was built, my family and I used to go to the beach wading through the shallow water (due to low gradient water-bed). We even had a class trip to pantai Tg. Gelang when I was at lower secondary in SEMSAS. Gebeng is totally different from what it used to be. It is now a port servicing the Gebeng Industrial zone, full of activities, polluted and has lost its beauty.

Pantai Gebeng- overseeing Tanjung Gelang

Weekend of Nostalgia and SOS

2006-03-05T21:07:00.000+08:00

Some of us from Class of 74 posing(using a self timer)

ExSAS or Persatuan Bekas Pelajar SEMSAS had their homecoming with conjunction of it 7 th AGM at SEMSAS, Kuantan, Pahang last Saturday 4 March 2006. I am from the second batch, class of 74. SEMSAS or Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah started its first batch which had to 'squat' in Abu Bakar School Temerloh temporarily for a year in 1973. We started from form 1 until form 5 but some of us had to stay until form 6 'sementara' which was first introduced i 1979.

Our first classroom in SEMSAS(Form 1 sci. 1)

Our AGM ran smoothly and the incumbent president Ir. Mohd Imran Baharuddin was re elected for the second term. He was my classmate. My hearthiest congratulations to him.

This is the padang we used to train and play hockey.
We were the Kuantan District champion for 2 consecutive years.

Penyanyi jalanan (KLCC tunnel)

On Sunday, batch 74 had a class gathering at Nina's place. I was not able to attend after receiving an SOS call from Momad a day earlier. Roza and I rushed to Lembah Beringin on Saturday evening. We arrived at KYUEM Lembah Beringin around 10.15 pm and spent the night at Ampang. We had everything straightened up, gone to KLCC, then sent Momad back to KYUEM on the next day. We took Bukit Beruntung- Rasa-Batang Kali-Genting route to Kuantan. We arrived home at 8.00 pm.

A view along the road at Bukit Beruntung
(shooting against the sun with polar-c filter)

Class of 74 at home coming

Visiting Pakcik Sulong of Ganchong

2006-03-01T01:45:00.000+08:00

Sungai Pahang-Ganchong

Last Sunday we decided to visit Pakcik Sulong of Ganchong, my distant relative. I remember Pakcik Sulong quite well, up to when I was about 4 years old. He would come all the way from Ganchong to our house in Kuantan. Ganchong was considered quite remote at that time. And this would mean a whole day visit for him. He never failed to bring along 'buah tangan' which was usually 'setandan pisang'. What made me remember him well is that he was an extremely nice person who was very generous with his smiles. Pakcik Sulong's left leg is swollen gigantically, a complication of filariasis/ elephantisis but this didn't hinder him from making those visits to see us.

Pakcik Sulong

Ganchong is in Pekan, a traditional Malay village by Sungai Pahang. Other kampungs adjacent to it are Kampung Batu, Kampung Telok and Kampung Pulau Rusa. It was said that the people from these kampungs originated from the same root, a wellknown figure who was supposed to be our great ancestor called Tok Ki Abbas.

Tok Ki Abbas of Ganchong was said to be very religious and a great warrior. Another known figure of Ganchong, a nephew to Tok Ki Abbas was Panglima Kakap Husin. Panglima Kakap Husin was with Sultan Ahmad I and later became Penghulu of Tembeling Tengah and Kuala Tembeling. He was one of the figure who was involved in Projek Taman Negara Kuala Tahan. Btw, Panglima Kakap Husin is my great grandfather.

Panglima kakap Husin

Pakcik Sulong is not well lately. He had some bowel problems, off and on and being weak and all,he would just stay at home. However his memory of the past is still strong. He can still tell us stories about our elders, the 'salasilah' or family tree. He was a bit quiet after the demise of Mak Dayang Saedah, his beloved wife, 2 years back. Our 'doa' to Pakcik Sulong :may Allah give him His Blessings.

Kerbau necking at Kuala Penor

Jerangkang Retreat

2006-02-22T11:16:00.000+08:00

Jerangkang Waterfall: a heritage

19 February 2006

Last saturday, Roza asked me,"Are we going anywhere this Sunday?" "I dont know." I answered back. "How about going for a picnic." She blurted out.

Wading through a stream. We had to park our car

Initially we planned to have the picnic near our home. It then got further to Sg Lembing, then Bekelah and finally Jerangkang. Roza and Maman had never gone to Jerangkang before. I went there twice. P5 and I went for the Jerangkang climb; up Sg Berakit, camp near jerangkang waterfall and climbed up the mountain to the upper stream. That was about 10 years ago. The last time I went there was about 7 years back with my friends from the reserve military unit.

Exausting climb for the newbies; a kilometre walk to the first large pool

We started at 9.30 am and after a stopover for breakfast we reached Jerangkang at 12.30 noon.
The road was bad, suitable for 4WD offroad sport however our faithful Nissan Sentra managed to get us there. The clear water was cooling(Nahang was cold) and refreshing. We had a nice 1 hr picnic without opening our nasi lemak pack or water to drink. :)

Taking a breath; the water was cooling and soothing

Taking a dip: she got bitten by a fish

Lowest big pool.
There are bigger with higher falls upstream.
Crystal clear water. The deeper part is greenish.

This place is far better than Nahang. It is supposed to have 7 big falls (the magic 7) and more than 40 (another Malay magic number 44) small ones. The climb is good and at 80% of its maximum height, the climber is already at cloud level. On a good day you can see bandar Maran, that is about 30-40 km away.

Lesser fall and pool

The smaller fall

Here there are ferns, periok kera, flora and fauna of almost untouchable jungle. The highest peak is Gunung Serundum.

A red periok kera seen along the way

Weekend Retreat

2006-02-20T12:20:00.000+08:00

Beserah: beach 200 metres from our home

12 February 2006

We had been planning and finally we were able to get ourselves visit Kg. Paya Pasir which is in Chenor, Maran. On the otherside of Kg. Paya Pasir, across the river of Sg Pahang is Kg.Pesagi where our late grandparents used to live for more than 40 years before they moved to Kg. Sungai Ling(short for darLing). I could still remember that our dad had to open the car bonet, facing the river and sounded the horn to signal our relatives across to pick us up. Our late grandfather or one of the uncles' will pick us up with the long boat(to start this boat one had to anchor the lever to the wheel and turn it fast).

Maman with a Goat called 73. He is the Marshal of this barn

Going across Sungai Pahang: Maman with Ayah CIk

Back to the Kg. Paya Pasir retreat. Kenakelayan's parents were there waiting for us. We visited Bing Bing which made the loudest 'embek' when we were at the stable. We went across the river to Kg. Pesagi, this time with a fast speedboat, had kambing curry for lunch and mandi manda. We arrived home late evening and could only meet Orang Kilang (who had a seminar at Swiss Garden) that night.

Rumah Tok Pesagi: Nobody is staying more than 15 years

Roza: Selamat Hari Lahir

2006-02-18T12:06:00.000+08:00

Sekuntum Mawar

Nahang revisited

2006-02-06T21:48:00.000+08:00

The Nahang

Last week was chinese new year. It is a chinese tradition for members of the family to be home for dinner on new year's eve. We too had our get together dinner on the 30th of January at our parents' place celebrating the maal hijrah. We recited the du'a for the end and the coming hijrah year. We had roasted lamb and chicken with noodles to fill our empty stomach. Boogey arrived late for he had to attend his sister in law's wedding in Johore the day before.

Temerloh Bridge at sunset (image compressed): For Paul Moss

River bank: Sg Rimau

For this particular meet, P5 had planned to bring the kids camping, however it had to be changed for some reason. We then decided for a picnic at a place called Nahang with a tributary stream to Sg Rimau. Sg Rimau is a river flowing through pekan Sg Lembing and also a tributary to Sg Kuantan.

The kids enjoying themselves at Nahang

Momad cooling himself

My first time at Nahang was about 4-5 years ago. However I could still remember the serenity of the place with its clear cool water flowing through the rocks creating musical sounds and the birds chirping from tree to tree. The stream was untouched. The trees were tall and the water banks were covered with cobwebs here and there.

Freestyle, backstroke and vanakam

The tall trees

We had a family friend at Kg Sg Rimau to take us across Sg Rimau to Nahang. All of us had a good time bathing, taking pictures and playing with the rocks. The sedimentary rocks can be used as black or red chalk to paint our faces to resemble the moaris or the red indians.

Maori pose

It is indeed a beautiful place that need to be preserved. Sg Lembing is a unique town that offers a country-like getaway for the adventurous. Gunung Tapis, the highest peak on the east coast lies here.

By the window: For Sarah

Latest litter: specially for Sofi

Cuti cuti Kuala Lumpur

2006-01-19T11:28:00.000+08:00

Gloomy Kuala Lumpur from our room

Our December holiday was rescheduled again, from Penang to Langkawi and at the end back to KL. There were flood in Kedah and Perak.

On Monorail from? Berjaya Times Sq to the next stop. Breakfasr at Le Cucur

We started our journey as usual with destination Ampang. We stayed 2 nights at Ampang and the last Berjaya Times Square. It also happened that roza's sister was back in malaysia with her family.

At Borders

At the zoo; Naik train, Just look at Tok Ampang

We brought the kids to the zoo, shopping at KLCC and berjaya mall, celebrating roza's mother birthday, maman's visit to the berjaya theme park accompanied by momad. it was a short and simple but a pleasant holiday with everybody were around except for sarah and sofi.

Figuring out why the people like to stare at him

Aliah feeding the deer with dry chikerdies

Termenung mengenang nasib jadi bahan tontonan

This emergency entry is a respond to sofi's call.

Selamat Pengantin baru Kak Cik

2005-12-25T01:22:00.000+08:00

Bride and bridegroom sitting with the pengapit and family.

We were at Bentong on 18 December 2005 attending our cousin's weding. We just call the bride Kak Cik. We dont really know their real names due to the fact that their 'nama timangan' are more popular. The eldest Aswah, followed by Wisam, De, Kak Cik, Boy, Kojak, Baby or Bik, and Erin.

I was at Putrajaya last November. Here are a few of the photos taken.

CLicK Me

OUR PRECARIOUS LIFE

2005-11-30T21:39:00.000+08:00

It was 1.45pm yesterday. I was taking a respite after settling a number of cases, in and outpatients. Shidah, the staff-nurse called for me albeit in a casual way and I assumed it was a non-urgent case. Thus I approached the patient who was lying on the bed and asked the male attendent for any info about her. In a relaxed manner he said, "alaa, perempuan ni, dia orang jumpa pengsan tepi jalan.." I took a quick glance at her and immediately I percieved that she was gasping and her breathing was markedly erratic. "My goodness! She's gasping!" Grabbing the torch-lite, I checked for her pupillary response: Right side fixed and dilated (full-moon) and the left side was 4 mm and sluggish. "Call for code-blue!" I shouted. Calling for code blue means that staffs(code blue team) who are trained to handle emergency/ resuscitation from other floors and departments are to come straight away/stat to the A and E.

In an instant everyone started moving frantically. I demanded the ambu-bag and ordered that the patient be masked and bagged (oxygen 10 litres/min). As the patient was still breathing on her own although erratically, I ordered the nurse to synchronize the bagging with the patient's breathing or the effort will be futile. I managed to set an I/V line in her right arm and started running a pint of Hartman's. At the same time, another I/V line was installed in the other arm for drug infusions.

A swift examination revealed a hematoma and laceration on the occipital region. There were also two small hematomas on the forehead.

The patient was still unconscious. I took over the bagging and demanded the nurses to prepare equipments for intubation and check the ECG leads. The ECG rythm was tachycardic but still in sinus rythm. Her blood-pressure was 90/60. There was blood coming from her mouth.

"Call the surgeon and anaesthetist stat!" I ordered . Meantime, we prepared the patient for an urgent brain-scan and group-cross-matched 4 pints of whole blood. In between resuscitation, I managed to retrieve history regarding the patient. Apparently, patient was brought in by a passer-by who found her sprawled, unconscious on a back alley, surrounded by onlookers. The good samaritan carried the lady into her car and drove her straight to the A and E.

Each time when we face such a case in the A and E, with unknown cause of unconsciousness relating to head injury, we have to consider the possibility of cervical spine fracture. Thus stabilization of the neck is crucial. In this case we used a cervical collar. Another important diagnosis to be looked into is fracture of the base of skull which if not properly handled will worsen the condition especially during forced intubation.

The patient was transfered to the ICU, intubated and on ventilator. The brain-scan showed fracture of the occipital bone extending to base of skull. There was a huge subdural hematoma causing a midline shift. Her BP crashed and she was supported with adrenaline and dopamine infusions. She continually bled from her mouth and the endotracheal tube and continuous suction had to be done. Blood was transfused.

This is a sad story of someone whom just 24 hrs ago was living her life unassumingly. As her husband had died a year ago of leukemia, she had to make ends meet to support her 2 children (8 and 9 yrs old) and an elderly mother. To top it all, she was diagnosed with SLE.

On that fated afternoon, she had just withdrew money from the ATM machine and was walking towards her car in the small alley when a theif on motorbike snatched her bag. Whilst struggling she lost balance and fell, hitting the hard cemented pavement. She never regained consciousness.

I took her photo in sadness. She is fighting for her life which the visiting Neurosurgeon postulated only 40% chance of survival rate even if surgery is attempted in view of the massive hemorrhage. I can't bear watching her two small kids cry over her. It's truly heart-wrenching.

Maybe this can be a lesson for us to be extra, extra careful. Avoid lonely alleys. Withdraw money from ATMs with friends and not alone. It's probably better not to struggle with a snatcher and avoid head-injuries. After all what's a few hundred ringgits compared to dear life. And to all snatch-thieves out there: stealing is one thing but to take another person's life? Is it worth it?

Balakot: A Lesson to learn part 3

2005-11-10T15:40:00.000+08:00

Morning view along Karakoram highway

Allama Iqbal Airport is a new Lahore airport. Built to cater more international flights. A beautifully designed airport but not busy. Lahore is in Punjab Province in the Northen part of Pakistan, a few km away from India-Pakistan border; Wagar Border/ Amritsar.

Eager young volounteers at the disaster site in Balakot

The first thing that attracted me when entering Lahore is the horses/mules. In Lahore not only do they use rickshaw (equivalent to the tut-tut in Thailand) but also horses and mules.

Injured and Homeless; Balakot

Lahore is far more beautiful than it used to be 25 yrs ago when I first set foot there. It used to be very smelly with horses’ waste but now the smell is not that obvious.

Unwanted donations: Walking through heaps of unsable clothes at Balakot

At the airport the official exchange rate was Rp 15.8 to RM1 but we were only given Rp 15 to RM1(make a guess where the Rp 0.8 went to). We got our things and told Jamal (the Malaysian student) that we were hungry. The time was about 11.45 pm and the expected time of departure at Lahore Daewoo terminal was 12.30 am. We got a taxi and drove straight to Daewoo Bus Terminal. We started to search for restaurants or stalls but none was open. We checked our luggage and after revaluating the time, we took a ride on a rickshaw to a nearby restaurant.

Landslide at Naran Road, half blocked. I travelled along this road almost daily visiting a camp at kilometre 15. The camp was operated by Al Khidmat, a local NGO.

Collapsing mountainous Naran Road; accessable up to 15 km only.

Observing Jamal negotiating the rate with the rickshaw driver made me recalled 25 years ago how my sister bargained to get a good price with their head shaking left and right just like the Pakistani do. Jamal even cupped the drive’s cheeks, like an adult doing it to a child ‘to say how cute you are.’ They agreed to the price eventually.

The restaurant in Lahore where we had our dinner

We entered Fazal-E-Haq Restaurant and ordered 4 plates of chicken biryani. The rice was served with chicken masala, mashed spinach and tomato with onion salad. It was a fast dinner and we got back to the bus terminal 5 minutes before departure, had our luggage tagged and boarded into the luggage compartment, ticket checked, scanned with a portable metal detector and our face recorded with a videocamera at our seats. The bus left the terminal at 12.30 am sharp. Yes we were boarding a bus! Not an airplane, mind you!

Kalahar Daewoo Rest area.

A few minutes after departure, we received a welcome note from our ‘stewardess’. She had a sweet voice, starting with the doa and announcement in both Urdu and English. We were informed of the duration of the journey, expected time of arrival, our next stop and the refreshments that will be served. We were given head phones, sandwiches and drinks. Our next stop was Kalahar Daewoo Resting terminal.

Homeless Pashtun kids posing at our camp; Their houses in the mountains were destroyed by the 8th October Earthquake. They loved to be photographed.

Balakot: A Lesson to learn part 2

2005-11-08T01:13:00.000+08:00

A space at Bangkok Airport where we prayed

We proceed to Gate 32 and had to stop for security check. The irritating buzzing sound triggered as I walked through the scanner indicating the presence of metalic object. A body check was performed and I was glad that it was fast and simple using a hand scanner. Haji Hani was not so lucky. He was screened by a lady officer with the hand scanner and hand searched for concealed contraband. "Damned it! She touched my chest and it was ticklish," he complained. :)

Mansehra-Balakot Road; Dr Hassan, Hj Hani, Dr Azmi

We boarded Thai Airways inbound to Lahore at 8.30 pm but due to unavoidable circumstances, our flight was only allowed to depart at about 8.50 pm, a 20 minutes delay. The cabin was quite hot and we were sweating. Most of the passengers were Pakistani, Thailand foreign workers returning home for Eid. They were nicely dressed with a number wearing blazers with ties.

It was getting hotter and some passengers were already using newspapers or magazines as fans. The cabin odour was getting stronger and unpleasant. Everything changed after we took off. It got cooler and we were given warm towel to wipe our oily face and sweaty hands. It was 30 minutes later when the long awaited meal were served. Since we had a light iftar at Bangkok, our stomach had started to grumble. What we were worried of was 'what if we could not get halal food as we had requested before departure?' We leaned forward, peeping at the front seat passenger when he was served with a specially requested food, a 'Non pork meal' written on the box.

Grinning, I told my friends, "Non pork doesnt mean its halal. It may be chicken or cow slaughtered by non Muslims."
The steawardess continued moving, pushing a fairly big container-trolley filled with prepared meals asking politely to the passengers, "Chicken or fish sir? Maam?"
Then came our turn and after looking at a check list, she started to prepare our meal. On the box was clearly written 'Muslim meal'. We looked at each other smilling, as it was prepared according to our request. Most of the passenger just took the standard prepared meal without asking its origin.

We finished our chicken biryani, had our coffee and my newly recharged mind started to wonder, "Have anybody seen that Pakistani boy, friend of Mahmud? He is supposed to be in the same flight."
Nobody saw him. He could not have missed the flight since we were told that the boy would be checking in a few minutes later. It was not the same case as what had happened to Mr Mahmud other friend who missed his plane forcing Mr Mahmud to wait for the next flight that should be arriving at 5.00 pm.

Mr Mahmud and his Malay friend was supposed to go on business trip together in Bangkok that evening. Anyway his Malay friend did not turn up. Now, his Pakistani friend too disappeared into thin air, nowhere to be seen, not in flight nor at Lahore.

Damages at Muzaffarabad

We managed to get a short sleep before arriving at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore at 10.00 pm local time. We just follow the crowd and queue at the foreigners line. The officer at the counter seemed very detailed with her questions causing a long wait. After 15 minutes waitaing in the hardly moving line, we were then ushered to the Pakistan Passport lines that were emptying fast. Then only we noticed that there was a special counter for the earthquake relief volounteers like us. We moved to the counter and were bombarded with questions, not only by the lady officer from the counter but also from another male officer that suddenly turn up since I told them that i was the head of the group.

We had to fill forms, special entry forms asking what sort of aid we will be giving, our destination, our local address and our expertise. The male officer then asked for my pen to write someting on my entry form. It was a nice green pen given to me by a medical company back home. I expected the pen to be given back to me, but alas, NO! He gave it to the lady officer, wicked smiles in their faces and than she placed it carefully on the right side of her computer keyboard. She lifted her 'i knew nothing face' and told me, "Thank you sir, you may proceed." Knowing these people, I just kept quiet, not bothering to ask or saying good bye to my pen.

Naran Road; They had to walk more than 15 km

I had been to Pakistan before, way back in 1980. I visited my sister who studied in a college taking A-Levels at Karachi. She stayed at Jayker Road which reminds me of a book 'The Jackal', not the classic 'Dr Jaykell and Mr Hyde'. She was not on vacation during my visit, so I opted on her suggestion to travel and visit other Malaysian students in Lahore, 1000 miles away. I took 'Shalimar' Express, a superfast train that arrived at Lahore 14 hours later. A super express will take you 18 hours, normal train 24 hours and a combo train somewhere 36 hours. I then travelled by myself to Amritsa, Jammu, Sri Nagar and New Delhi which took me one whole week.

Balakot; Brotherly love. Parents victim of 8/10/2005 earthquake

We then proceed to get our baggages; rucksacks, boxes filled with equipment and medicines. We were stopped half way and more questions asked, "Why are you here? What sort of aid are you going to give? Where are you bound to? How many days will you be staying? What do you have with you?"
Satistied with the answers, we were then allowed to get our things and proceed to queue to have our things X-Rayed. We had to pass through the customs counter which allowed us to move unchecked. "You are from the relief mission? Malaysia?" An officer asked.
"Yes." I nodded.
"Good, welcome and you may proceed," answered the officer.
At last! There was someone that can appreaciate our effort, and it reminded me of my father in law, a retired high ranking non corrupted custom's officer.

Balakot; Treating an injured girl

A Malaysian student was there waiting for us once we were outside the custom check point. Brother Jamal had just finished his Islamic Studies final examination and was preparing for home. Our collegue, Brother Iqbal had arranged for Brother Jamal to meet us and board us on a bus to Abbotabad in the North Western Frontier Province the same night.

Balakot: A Lesson to learn part 1

2005-10-31T20:43:00.000+08:00

Landslide at Muzaffarabad

I have just got back from Pakistan. "Thank God, I'm out of that place" said one of the volounteer. It is it not easy travelling or working in Pakistan. Firstly, most of the population cant speak Malay or English. In the villages, its just like 'itik bercakap dengan ayam' with the hands and legs moving actively for sign language. Secondly, the personality or attitude of the people. Thirdly, the administration. Fourthly, the harsh weather and lastly, missing home.

Balakot lies in the North Western Frontier Province, tribal area where the law is decided by the tribe leaders. Over these mountains and valleys dwell the Pashtun or the Pathan. The Pathans are conservative, traditionalist and supposed to be steadfast to their religion, Islam.

Landslide at Muzaffarabad with houses destroyed

The earthquake that hit Northern Pakistan on October 8, had caused a lot of destruction along Neelam, Balakot, Batagram and Alai Valley. Building collapsed, inhabitants burried alive, dead bodies everywhere, those who survived are exposed to cold, hunger, injuries and illness. Many survivors are without shelters.

Those in the mountains took days to walk down seeking aid which eventually end up with only food supply but without tents. The authority concerned was unable to meet the demands in supplying enough tents and blankets. The NGO's and foreign units had given invaluable help in terms of search and rescue, medical relief, tents, blankets, sanitation, clean water, communication, transportation, etc. Without them, the rescue operations would lag far behind. Even then more help is still needed for the homeless victims to survive the coming winter. Without proper shelter, they will be left dying in the cold.

An old man from the mountain

Pleading for a tent

Let me tell you my story. My team consists of 3 person, myself, Dr Wan Mokhzani from medical department HKL and Tuan Haji Hani a retired hospital assistant. We were under Global Peace Mission (GPM), mission 2 sent to relief the earlier group sent on 13 October 2005. Our destination is Balakot, a city in Mansehra District in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan.

We left Kuala Lumpur International Airport(KLIA) at 1.20 pm on 20 th October 2005 to Bangkok. The flight was quite tiring and challenging. We were given warm towels which was very soothing and refreshing to wipe our oily, sweaty face, soiled hands and fingers.

A few minutes later, our fasting were challenged by a sweet deliciuos smell. We looked into each others face with wicked smile. We refused the meal politely teling the air hostess that we were fasting. We then started to search around for 'muslim face' and saw a few. "Musafir", said one of us smiling. "Cabaran... tapi sedap bau lauk tu ye!", another person added. We reached Bangkok International Airport 3 hours late, local time 3.20 pm (time zone 1 hour later than Malaysia). It was a long transit, 5 hours with iftar about 3 1/2 hours to go. We grouped ourselves with a Pakistani whom we met in the plane.

Mr. Mahmud's family is in Mansehra where we will be heading to although he is a Thai citizen. He lived in Golok, married to a Kelantanese Malay and without any children. We 'jamak' our Zohor to 'Asar and started to look for a 'surau'. We were told that thre was no surau in the terminal. Hmm, this is a Buddist country, not a Muslim country to provide us with a surau. We started to walk around hunting for a space to pray and alhamdulillah, there was a space with lots of boxes not far from the lavotary. We opened a few boxes turning them to prayer mats.

There was about another 1/2 an hour before iftar and now we had to search for hallal food. The hunters were Dr Wan and Mr Mahmud. They brought us fruits and sushi. We have no choice but to swallow the non appetizing dish.

At 8.00 pm we said goodbye to Mr Mahmud and we depart for Lahore at 8.30 pmflight.

Ingin membantu? Sila layari http://www.keamanan.net

Salam dari Balakot

2005-10-28T21:44:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

Tak sempat nak update blog. Sekarang masih di Balakot, pekan yang 99% musnah akibat gempa bumi. Saya bertugas sebagai anggota sukarela di bawah GlobalPeace Mission. Bantlah mereka yang memerlukan. Anda boleh melayari laman ini untuk maklumat lanjut dan menyumbang.
http://www.keamanan.net

Wassalam

EARTH QUAKE

2005-10-25T22:18:00.000+08:00

Brought to you by Global PeaceMission Malaysia

Sumbangan kewangan dialu alukan ke akaun Bank Islam
14-023-01-002922-4

http://www.keamanan.net/

Light house at Kuata Terengganu

2005-10-14T16:15:00.000+08:00

A lighthouse at kuala Sungai Terengganu

We used to travel to Kuala Terengganu when Muhammad Ibrahim was at MRSM KT. Astaka was one of the places we used to go shopping. During on one of our visits we noticed there was an old light just behind the shopping complex. On old light house which aided seafarers years ago, now becomes an interesting mark at kuala Sungai Terengganu, at least for photographers.

Lighthouse has alway been an interesting object of photography . A white color monument with a blue sky, brown or green cliff, huge rocks, eagles, osprey, ships/boats/yatch in the background. Mine is just a simple composition with the blue sky and white clouds.

What i have learned from this session is that its not easy for us to get what we dream or wish for. We can dream or detail for a perfect scenerio but that is just theoretical. Even if what we hope for is in front of our eyes, do we have the means or the right moment to capture it. It applies to alot of things in our daily life.

Wallahu 'alam.

My Seven

2005-10-11T12:43:00.000+08:00

Maman and his friend; "one evening by the river"

Seven things I plan to do, insh'Allah

1. Travel around the world, revisit Acheh/ Riau
2. Bengal breeder in 9 yrs time
3. Complete my Family Tree research
4. Go for Hajj again and travel middle east/ jejak Rasul
5. Complete my garden project/ Hang all the hangable things on the wall
6. Win another photography contest
7. Partial retirement in 10 years

Seven things I can do, subhan'Allah

1. Take good photos (hmmmm)
2. Cook better than my wife
3. Plan, lead and motivate
4. Jack of all trades
5. Sports; games, atheletics, martial arts, hunting

6. Constructive critics and debates
7. Skip rope 100 times in 30 sec non-stop!

Seven things I can't do, astaghfrallah

1. Play takraw, I have no problem with other games
2. Sing (I am tone deaf) or dance (I have got two left feet)
3. Mengampu. I detest pengampu
4. Make fast money/investment(It will make the whole scheme collapse; BSKL pun boleh jatuh)
5. Carpentry although I love it
6. Deny beggers /promoters with pleading eyes
7. Mengurat. How did I get married. eh! ;)

7 things that scare me:

1. People slandering me
2. Eating haram food (I have a list of non –halal emulsifiers in my wallet)
3. Bapuk, even looking at them ... ngilu
4. Women making advances at me
5. Small spaced room
6. Losing competition; as a competitor or my team
7. Pushing me to be a politician

7 random facts about me:

1. Adventurous; jungle tracking, gone backpacking once to Pakistan, India and Kashmir, ALONE, have climbed few mountains: Tahan and Ledang and nor forgetting Jabbal Nur
2. Love physics and computer technology.
3. I love eating Lamb very much. Enjoyed Nasi Mandi: rice with lamb roasted in ground oven whilst in Madinah
4. I have been in Millitary (wataniah), a captain by rank. I was a ‘sharpshooter’ and won trophies
5. I love animals, any animals and they love me too,J
6. I hate queing up, traffic jams. That’s why I opted not to live in KL
7. A leader wherever I go/group I joined; I used to be one of Pahang top Youth leader, and still a VIP.

Seven things I say most often:

1. Somehow or rather
2. Stay focused (directed to my kids)
3. I nak makan kambing laa
4. Call semalam sibuk betul, patient tak henti
5. Apa tu... aaaaa?
6. You cakap la dgn budak, I malas dah
7. Bebaik, jgn langgar lubang tu!

Seven people that I want to tag:

1-7. None; not to burden friends with indirect resposibility.

Note: Thank u for those who helped me to finish this entry. Without them i could never even start.

Ramadhan yang dinantikan

2005-10-06T23:57:00.000+08:00

Sunset with a kayak in Tioman

Ketibaan Bulan Ramadan disambut dengan meriah sekali oleh umat Islam. Bulan yang dinanti-nanti ini tiba juga akhirnya. Ramadhan Al Mubarak, dengan penuh keberkatan, ketenangan dan kegembiraan. Menjelang maghrib di bulan Ramadhan dan menjelang Syawal adalah saat-saat yang ditunggu tunggukan.Soalnya mengapa?

1. Ia adalah bulan yang Umat Islam berpuasa dan ganjarannya ditentukan sendiri oleh Maha Pencipta.
2. Amalan dalam bulan ini digandakan.
3. Terdapat satu malam yang dinamakan malam Lailatul Qadr yang kelebihannya umpama 1000 malam beramal.
4. Bukanya pintu langit/syurga dan terbelengunya syaitan yang membawa kepada ketenangan.
5. Solat Tarawikh yang hanya boleh dilakukan di bulan Ramadhan.
6. Bulan yang turunnya Al Quran ke Baiyul Makmur dan kesempatan ini diambil untuk katam Quran untuk kesekian kalinya.
7. Kelunakan hati untuk bermaaf-maafan dan mengikat silaturahim sesama keluarga dan sahabat handai

8. Pasar Ramadhan, dan di sinilah terdapat pelbagai jenis makanan yang sedap-sedap termasuk yang tak pernah dijumpai
9. Berkenalan di pasar ramadhan atau di perhrntian bas kerana gadis dan teruna keluar beramai-ramai sebelum berbuka.
10. Jualan murah dan peluang untuk membeli belah. Cheap Sale!
11. Masakan biasanya lebih istimewa dari biasa. Kembung perut untuk 'cover' lapar siang.
12. Masa untuk peniaga kedai makanan siang bercuti 1 1/2 dan berihat sepenuhnya.
13. Raya selepas berpuasa. Boleh berpesta dan bersukaria.
14. Peluang nak dapatkan baju baru dan 'acessories'. Masa ini nak 'ketuk' parents or hubby/wife.
15. Duit raya, dah congak berapa akan dapat.
16. Jualan mercun dan bunga api 'black market'.
17. Masa untuk berihat dengan MC, sukar majikan nak persoal kerana masalah 'gastrik'.
18. Berpeluang mencari malam-malam 'special' untuk menghapus dosa kerana kejam dan zalim di bulan-bulan yang lain.
19. Boleh buat jamuan berbuka untuk bertemu pengundi dan penyokong tanpa dipersoal oleh jawatankuasa disiplin parti.
20. Biasanya boleh dapat sebahagian dari bonus tahunan. kalau tak dapat, boleh 'pressure' majikan.

Jadi, this most awaited month depends on Iman dan kesedaran sejauh mana kefahaman tentang Islam. We talk about fasting, the pahala but at the same time we indulge ourself in indirect calloboration with the syaitan because of swayed or unclear intentions and practice.

So watch our words, action and be focus.

Wallahu 'alam.

Cat Sanctuary

2005-10-04T11:31:00.000+08:00

Mayo and Putie

Maman was down with sinusitis and had sinus washout done last Tuesday. He was tough and recovered fast. On the next day the worst news arrived. An advice fron the doctor that he had to avoid animals with fur. Maman is very fond of animals; cats, fish, insects, reptiles, birds and you just name them. In fact, he wants to be a vet.
However Maman took the news calmly.

Talking about cats, I could still recall when I was still at preschool, we had a white cat with blue eyes called Nikki. Nikki was a smart cat and she could open doors and obey commands. Do you know that a small percentage of white cat with blue eyes are deaf?

Later in Kuantan, our mother brought home a persian. Make a guess of the name... Kitty in rememberence of Nikki that died years back.

Kitty was an intelligent female , recognised people of the house, will run to the owner when called, wont go beyond the gate and will run inside fast if there were strangers, will wait at the door, hate toddlers crying and in fact she slapped one of the youngest siblings for crying loudly, love and watch after babies(human babies), even watch tv with the family, able to open doors, determined which of her offsprings can enter the house when reaching puberty, eat at the table with proper manners(only 2 hands on the table) and hate people touching her with their foot.

Kitty died of old age (age >10 yrs). At present, we have 7 cats; Mayo(Persian), Nikki(Bengal), Runchang(Bengal), Inai(Bengal), Angelo(semi long-hair), Mocel(semi long-hair), Mocot(semi long-hair).
We lost Putie our Turkish Angora 4 months ago.... possibility being kidnapped. Rufus and Totti (both semi long-hair) died 2 months ago of unknown cause. I could still remember when Runchang was still a baby, he called all night if left alone and Maman volountered to sleep downstairs on the sofa with
Runchang. At present Runchang only allows Maman and Aliah to stroke his coat.

Maman and Runchang

We also have wild pigeons nesting on our roof, large beetles, moth and other weird looking insects , black lizards, normal lizards visiting. Beavers crossing the road about 25 metres from our house from a nearby stream, a wild black cat joining the beaver's pack and 'chirping' at night calling our bengals,
feral cats eyeing our long hairs. A few weeks back, i got to know that our house was an attraction as a mini zoo with the neighbourhood kids and even parents stopping by with their children. I am wondering why when there are lots of
ferals roaming; short tail, broken tail, long tail, stout, normal built, sturdy, different coat color or and pattern, short hair, semi long hair and yet our home became the viewing spot.

Runchang at 6 months

As for Maman, for now, he can only watch and call the cats from a distance. Loving them from afar, the only way allowed to show and receive love from them after being advice to avoid touching, stroking and playing with them.

Happy Birthday maman

2005-09-26T01:44:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, 25 September 2005 was Maman's birthday. We had a small party at home where he invited a few of his friends. He had a birthday cake, beehoon goreng, tuna and egg sandwich, nuggets, etc. A few indoor games were also played.
Maman received a ball from ifos for his birthday. He was so excited by it that he cant wait for the day to get cooler to play. He played football at the beach at about 11.00 am in the hot sun. We dinner at Anjung Delight, with maman ordering his favourite dish that is chicken chop.

Sarah called later but maman was already asleep, tired with the day activities and too sleepy after taking anti tussif medicine for cough.

We celebrated birthdays just for fun, an oppotunity to bring families and friends together. Its just like a mini gathering where the adult talk for hours and the kids played endlessly.
Even though we enjoy ourselves but we still miss the presence of our love ones, sarah, safiyah and muhammad ibrahim.

IFOS to Volgograd

2005-09-22T19:02:00.000+08:00

We had just got back from KLIA after sending ifos off to Volgograd. It will be another 10 months before her summer vacation.

The first time ifos had to leave home was after UPSR. she was selected to school at SMAP Kajang. a day prior to registration, we did a quick look at the school environment and we did not like it. with ifos down with fever, we decided to call it off. we had to bring back the baldi, cebuk, hanger in the kelompin etc.

after PMR results, she was not chosen to continue at MRSM where she applied. the ses is what that failed all my kids is getting the oppotunity to study at residential schools. So ifos continue with the day school, SMART Kuantan.

We managed to sent her off to matriculation college at kuala pilah where she could not adjust herself in. she did frequent home travellings, multiple visits by us made us expert travelling around kuala pilah.

today, our little-big girl is off to volgograd. we are happy but also sad as it will be months before seeing her again... we will miss her much. we pray for Allah to protect her and give he His Guidance and Blessings.

KPJ Sports Carnival

2005-09-17T10:30:00.000+08:00

I was in KL for about 3 days attending the KPJ Sports Carnival. We camped at the Grand Continental Hotel which was located at Jalan Raja Laut, just adjacent to the famous Batu Road. The games were played at Stadium Titiwangsa which was considered adequate. I represented the East Coast Team (KSH and Perdana) in playing an indoor game and managing the volleyball team.

This year outing was disastrous. We lost most of the matches. Our team was small compairing to other regions and this end us up with a player having to play 2-4 games, exhausted and with low morale.

Two mind challenging game was introduced this year, the chess and scrabble. The 'less physical' brought the older player to participate thus bridging the gap between the old and the young, executive and non executive.

Different Generations

2005-09-10T20:30:00.000+08:00

I was invited to a tea party today at my uncle's place. We were served with meehoon goreng, cakes, puddings and payasum (i dont really know whether the spelling was right). An initial sample of payasum eventually ended up with 4 helpings. I was told that the recipe was 'imported' from London. We also tried fresh susu kambing from the herd belonging to him.

Unfortunately, my uncle was not around at the time we arrived. He had to visit a potential grazing field. He arrived a bit late and was immediately attracted by a gadget belonging to Luqman, a gameboy. Maman had this gameboy for about 1 1/2 years but was kept away from him until he finished his UPSR.

My uncle was brought up in the 50's when there was not even a television around. The computer was introduced in the late 70's in Malaysia and i could still remember the Computer Science students had to queue up to get their computer card punched before placing it to the computer. Later came the desktop PC and then the laptop, palms etc. For games, in the 80's the Atari Spectrum was the popular choice. There was no Nintendo, Playstation, X box, gameboy etc. The screen for the PC only had 4 CGA colors; black, white, pink and blue. Later they had the 16 EGA colors and eventually the VGA 256 colors. Today we have millions of color, shading, shadow etc.

For those in the older generation, they can't see the difference between Nvidia GeForce 4 series and GeForce 7 series. For gamers, the difference is tremendous. It can determine whether a player is to live or die in a first person shooting game or flying a fighter. The advances of computer technology cost a lot in order to keep pace with it. Without a good earning, one is sure to be lagging behind with technology, using an aging tool until it goes dead, condemned.