2011: NOT A BAD YEAR REALLY

Today is the last day of 2011.

The auditors will come in soon to do a stock check at the factory where I worked. So likewise it's time to do a stock check on my life. Oh well just a quick one of what I have done or not done in 2011. Maybe I should indulge only the done.

Healthwise God has been gracious and I have not had any serious illness that kept me in bed for a long period.

1)My outdoor activities:-

Surprisely I manage to find some like mind people to hike with me whilst I am here at Johor.

When I first started working here, I thought there goes all my hiking activies. However I have to give up my gym activities, and there are none here in Kulai where I stay.

But I make up by having a door bar for my chin up and a abs workout bench.

Still no sign of any 6 pack yet. Have to carry forward as part of 2012 resolution? I must also include my indoor wall climbing activies. Manage to find one in Johor and even rope in my friends and my son to accompany me in my wall climbing which I have rekindle the love for it once again.

2)Photography.

This was another area I thought I had to give up, but since I was able to do some hiking here in Johor and also back home when I make my monthly trip to my hometown I took the oppourtunity to snap some photos mainly on nature and my friends.

Oh yes, I manage to join one or two photo shooting event and even organise two on my own.

Also on one of those event I manage to bring along my son to join me.

3)My God daughter, Snow

Had spent some quality time with my dear God daughter as well whenever I got back to my hometown. She will leave to further her studies in New Zealand next year.

4)My Grand Daughter,Darissa

Yes, this was the year when my first grand child was born. She was born in the month of october. That makes 3 members who had their birthdays in October, namely yours truly(Grandpa), Her Dad(my son) and Darissa.

5)New friends

I am thankful also for 2011, where I made so many new friends both physically as well as on the

blogosphere.

6)My Lovely wife

It would not be right and complete without making mention of my wonderful wife. She had been a pilar of strenght to me and help in keeping the family together while I am away working  in another state.

Thanks Darling for all you have done.

That's sum up my round up for 2011.

Soon 2011 will be history as we ursher in 2012. Whatever things has been done , cannot be undone,but what has not been done, we still have the opportunity to do it in 2012.

My wish for 2012 is Malaysia will enjoy peace and all races will live in peace, there will be good and honest law makers in the government.

WHAT A STRANGE REQUEST.

Honestly I just can't find any thing wrong with these photos.

this one maybe?

But these two definately ok what.

 But my darling daugther sent me a message asking me to take it off from facebook. Of course I do get such request from female friends who are somewhat sensitive saying, they look  fat on that particular photo or not their best side of the face etc. As a proud dad I want to display and show off my daughter, but unfortunately she don't share the same enthusiasm  as me. Any of you girls feel or react this way too? Strange guys have no such problem.

SEASON'S GREETINGS

It's gonna be a busy weekend for me.  Tonight will be in church to celebrate our church's dedication. We just moved into a bigger building a few months ago and tonight we will give thanks to God. The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God churches in Malaysia will grace the function. Tomorrow some friends found out I was coming back for the weekend prompted me for another hike, and so will celebrate Christmas with them , with gift exchange etc on top of the hill. Then sunday will attend another Church -lunch function at the invitation of my former National Royal Rangers commander Ps Albert Ong's church.
What a nice way to end the year.  In case I am away from my blog, here's wishing all my friends and visitors A Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

DIFFERENT SHADES

This post is somewhat influence by a canadian blogger . When I commended on his Ray-ban., he suggested I pick up one too.  Well I did not give it much  thought until now.
I don't remember when   I first started wearing a sun glass, but  I know it was after I started working.
This was  my first shade, a mona lisa. except maybe with a bit darker tone.  What makes me  wore one?  Apart from looking cool, it protect my eyes from the sun and wind. yes  even wind, as I was riding a suzuki motor bike then.

a Mona Lisa Sun glass

I think some of the American movies has some influence on me too. Guys with shade really look cool, with all the hot chicks around them.  I did set my eyes on ray-ban even back then, but since I just started working, I could ill afford getting one. Mona lisa seems to be the cheapest one I could afford. I was using it for quite awhile until I ran into a lorry, no actually the lorry was in the way. Anyway I came out unscratch, but my mona lisa was history.  I got another replacement and used it for a number of years ,but I can't recall where I had placed it.

Over the years, I was using different brands even though I had upgrade from motor bike to cars. Lee Cooper was one brand recomended to me by a sales girl at a  shop near the gym I frequent. Just as stylish and most importantly practical.

A Lee Cooper Sunglass.

Of course nothing beats a Ray-ban, but lets face it not everyone will look nice in them. 

One can't escape to take notice of the cool shades on Erik Estada  in the popular tv series c.h.i.p.s.

Erik Espada in the tv series C.h.i.p.s sporting a cool
ray ban

Wonder if I will look as cool as Erik Espada in these.?  Never mind no need to answer.

A Ray-Ban sunglass

LUCKY IS DEAD.

Lucky the Brown dog is always a welcome sight whenever I hike at Bukit Tabur. But lately have not seen her.  Today I saw a post on Face book she is dead- suspected poisoning. I just can't understand why people can be so cruel to do such a thing. Her real name is Peace,but she is called by different names by different people. Rest in peace Lucky. You will be missed.

LUCKY RIP.

this dog is real smart .someone who is ignorant about chocolate being harmful to dogs, fed this bitch with a chocolate bread. the dog took the bread and burried it in the sand.

this dog is real smart .someone who is ignorant about chocolate being harmful to dogs, fed this bitch with a chocolate bread. the dog took the bread and burried it in the sand.

this video is posted by her owner.

CAN LOVE BE MEASURE?

 Love means never having to say you're sorry" is a line from the novel and 1970 film Love Story starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal
Love is a many splendored thing and can be expressed in many ways, but can it be measured?
The Bee Gees sang how deep is your love? So if there is a question there must be an answer right?
I asked my God daugther the other day do you love dad and how much? This is  her answer
Love is an uncountable word , I can't measure how much that I love u dad , but I can tell u , is my pleasure to have u be my dad, Appreciate paternal love from u ..u hav a place in my heart

Sometimes silly old man like me need an assurance. Her answer really warm my heart. It's good enough for me.

We need love and we want to hear it from our loved ones.

FATHER AND SON AND BEAUTIFUL GIRLS

After my son's maiden photo shoots, I took him to yet another journey of  looking at beautiful models through the lens.  This time the location was at I-city , Shah Alam, very much nearer to home.  I have been to quite a few shoots and most of the organisers are men. However this  time the organisers were the models themselves. They goes by the name of D.S.L.which is the acronym of their names  namely
Denise, Sandy and Lydia. Since it is almost Christmas time and naturaly the theme they selected was Santarina and I city has lots of Christmas trees and so it was quite obvious why they choose the location at I-city.  There were about 9 photographers and since there were 3 models, we were asigned to one model each for a 20-30 minutes shoots and later to rotate. During the last shoot it rained heavily and we ran for shelter . In an event like this,it  is customary to have a group photograph,but since it was raining cats and dogs , bufallos and horses,we told the model, it was alright ,but the models being professional, insisted. She somehow was able to arrange for 3 cars to ferry us from where we were and took us to a shelter area and had our group photos taken before we call it a day.


Here are some pose by
Denise Tai

The three together as D.S.L.

GUESS WHO IS BOSSING AROUND HERE

I was awake by my wife this morning around 6.30am. She brought baby Darissa into my room as she wanted to go to the toilet and later to clean the house.  It's the grandparent's turn to take care of the baby, as her parent have been kept awake all night and they need to catch some sleep.  Darissa had been staying with her other grand parent(on her mum's side) since the day she was born. She came back after her full moon and since I am back for the week end I am doing my bit to take care of her.
It's been almost 29 years since I last take care of a baby and I have to relearnt everything all over again. I did not do a good job with Darissa's father, I guess this is the time I will have to redeem myself.
Ok when baby cries it could either means she is wet or hungry. So that  ought to be easy to remember.
It is true what they says a cute is only as cute as they can be until they cry. I rediscovered that truth again.
Seems that is their secret weapon. My cute granddaughter drives me nuts at time. She does not know the meaning of patient, she will just wailed whenever she finds convenience. She knows no time. My second son complaint she cries is lounder than a siren. Anyway I think since they can't talk  yet, that is the only way to get attention for just about anything: when she has done her business, hungry(most of the time for this) and when she is uncomfortable. One thing  I got to admit she sure shows who is the boss around. Everybody will drop what they are doing when she let out her war cries.

yes, I am the boss

What I want, I get pronto

CHLOE SWEE

This morning, I brought my son to go for an outdoor photo shoot.It was his first and he enjoyed it. We started our journey to Sekinchan, Kuala Selangor as the organiser has choosen the paddy field theme for this shoot. I had been to this location before and so finding the place was no problem. In fact we arrived half an hour earlier , even had time for breakfast. A few minutes later the organiser arrived with the model Chloe Swee,but the rest of the photographers had not turn up. Just typical of malaysian to be late for every thing. They finally shown up fifteen minutes later and we head for the paddy fields.  I think the weather has changed so much. Those days at 9.00am it was still cool, but not the sun was already up and burning hot. So we had to rush with our shoot in order to complete it as fast as possible. I really admire the model who did not complain despite of the scorching sun. Took quite a number of shots, but these are my favourite and hope you will like them.  More photos here on my facebook album.

Show Gratitude for Your Spouse

Found this interesting article. At last something about appreciating the husband. A must read for wives(hint hint)

In my new book, 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband: Put a Smile on His Face, my friend K!mberly shares how picking up a pen helped her create a Thanksgiving attitude all year and fashion a long lasting love:

I love keeping a handwritten journal. . . . exhausted after one too many international moves   . . .  I found myself having less and less on my mind that I wanted to write down and let anyone, even if it's just me, remember. The handwritten journal turned into one long chronicle of a pity party. Among other physical issues, I  . . . was diagnosed with depression. 

One of the antidotes for this was starting an exercise of "choosing joy." I bought myself a little week at a glance calendar and made a pact with myself that everyday I’d write only the highlight, or even multiple highlights, of each day.  . . . I want to remember the good. I’m sticking in the business card from the nail shop where a friend took me for my birthday manicure; the theatre or movie ticket from a night I got out of the house . . . ; the rare note from my 12 year old son that says “you are awesome.” It’s becoming a little treasure book. . . .  God has new things for me.  Scripture says his mercies are new every morning. With this joy journal, I’m keeping track of it.

read the rest of article here

FULL MOON

Today is Darissa's full moon.She is now one month old according to chinese calender.  As it is customary to give out red eggs and red cake(Angku kueh) to let relatives and friends know. Of course it is easier to order packages from some of the company who provide such facilities. Another option is order from Ayam mas. Since I had to attend a meeting at PJ Hilton I was not around when all the ceremony was carried out.
Here are some photos of her.

Come with the full moon package.

IT'S OUR 30TH YEAR

God Bless the day I found you.  No words can expressed how much I appreciate and love you.
Just say it the best way I know how. Happy 30th Anniversary darling" Love you  so much. Thank you for sticking and puting up  with me all these years.

with my sweetheart, taken during cny 2010

With my Darling wife and my grand nephew

LEARNING THE ROPE

Yes, I am learning the rope literally.
Ever since love for wall climbing have been rekindled, I have been visiting the local wall climbing gym on a regular basis. Last week when I  make my trip there together with some friends, we discovered the boss had gone on a holiday and there was no one to belay us. We had to rely on a customer to assist us. Since it was not fair to him, I volunteer to take over from him. My over problem was I have not done it for over a year and have forgotten some of the basis things. So it's time to refresh my memory again.
The first thing one need to know is how to tie a figure 8 knot, on the rope that will be secure on your harness, This procedure is for both the climber and the belayer.

The Figure 8 Knot. Probably the most versatile and common climbing knot. This knot can be tied two ways depending on how it will be used. The first sequence shown below is for tying the knot into a harness or any other type anchor. The second sequence is to create a loop end that can be clipped with a carabiner or locking carabiner.

full article found here

I am never good at remembering things, I guess better remember some of the basis things, as safety is of utmost essential.

I prefer visual,so this video is very handy.

sure hope I will be able to do this one day

HOW IT ALL BEGUN

Here is a little secret I like to share. It all started when I was in Thailand in 2009.I felled in love with this girl with long hair.

Her parent was there for a meeting. During the time there we got rather close and she will stick to me most of the time, except the time when she got a bit moody and only mummy or daddy could handle her. I got to see her again when on a holiday at Kenyir in september, the same year.I did not get to see her again until her parent came to klang for a seminar a year later. We lost touch after that. I retired from work in october 2010 then got reemployed in December and was posted in Johore.

Johor Baru was just a 45 minutes drive from Kulai where I stayed. I had the opportunity to see her again and visit her on a regularlty basis. Sometimes my son will join me when I visit her and her parent , who ran an orphanage home.

My son too took a liking to her. Sometimes we met at a shopping mall in Skudai where she had her music class. We had such good times together. Her name is Darrisa.The name Darrisa means"nugget of wisdom" So when my son knew his first child was going to be a girl and naturally the name Darrisa came up .When I suggested it he readily agreed. That was how my first grand daughter got her name.

Meanwhile here are some of the photos of the first Darrisa I knew.

Darissa at Surathani, Thailand 2009

at Kenyir, sept 2009

Darissa ,Johor Baru recent Birthday celebration.

                                               

Cannot wait for my grand daughter to grow up to her age.