dI'm sure you've come across low-life scumbags in your life before, and by scums, I'm referring to those who continue on 'pok-pek' ing about you behind your backs (i.e. gossipping/talking with the intention to hurt your feelings or talking without much understanding over the topics discussed, i.e. many false assumptions about you are thrown in). What can they be talking about? Well, mostly on your shortcomings, weaknesses and mistakes. Funny how sometimes, over one small harmless mistake, we are punished for our whole lives, huh?
You may not have time to pay heed to those insinuations, especially if you now have other more important stuffs to be concerned about, like for examples, you are now happily married with children, or you have a business to run, or your job scope is becoming busier, or you have parents to take care of etc etc. But then, those hurtful remarks that you (indirectly) hear, or the hateful stare that people give you can still bring you down sometimes. After all, you may have a thick skin, but how thick can it be right?
For those who are familiar with the X-Men stories and characters, it is basically about mutants with special powers, trying to live their lives without being pestered by other 'normal' human beings, who still count as the majority of the people on earth. As a result, just as there are good and bad people, some mutants have also turned bad, using their powers for their own selfish needs.
In the movie X-Men 2, there was a scene where Ororo Munroe (a.k.a. Storm) had a conversation with Kurt Wagner (a.k.a. Nightcrawler). I just love the lines that they had...
Nightcrawler: You and Miss Grey are schoolteachers? (Jean Grey is one of those good mutants) Storm: Yes. At a school for people like us, where we can be safe. Nightcrawler: Safe from what? Storm: Everyone else. Nightcrawler: You know, outside of the circus, most people were afraid of me. But I did not hate them. I pitied them. Do you know why? Because most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes. Storm: Well, I gave up on pity a long time ago.
Well, I gave up on pity a long time ago too. Pity - not only because they will never know anything beyond what they see through their eyes, but also because most of them lead a much pathetic lifestyle anyway, and usually, their friends are of the same low level of mindset with serious deficit in the intellect part. Think I sound like proud? Well, read Hippopotamus, the you'll know why we need to be proud of ourselves sometimes.
How about you? Maybe you should give up on pity towards those scums of the universe too, whoever they may be in your lives... and having said that, let's examine ourselves once in a while - are we too, scums?
We entered the Anakku contest a few months ago. The contest required participants to submit either a photo or a video that showed times of intimacy between parents and their kids. The photo (or video) also needed to be titled and described in less than X number of words.
When I found out about the contest, I thought why not I gave it a try, or should I say, two tries to be exact. I submitted two photos - one photo with Ikhwan hugging his Ibu while the other depicted Ikhwan touching my face.
I'd have submitted a video as well, like the one where I sang a song that I wrote for Ikhwan. But the contest rule said the video should be smaller than Y size. Due to not having the technical know-how in video compressing and lack of time to tinker with softwares (plus not sure which is the best software to do the job in the first place anyway), I decided to just go ahead with the 2 photos.
Last week, I received a letter announcing that one of my entries had won Ikhwan a RM 100/- voucher (not a 1st prize though). The voucher needed to be picked up by myself at the Anakku boutique at The Curve. I enquired at the boutique which one of my entries actually won but the sales assistants couldn't help me. I don't feel the need to take the trouble calling up the Anakku HQ, so I guess it's best to just let it stay unknown. All that mattered was that the voucher had entitled our baby to a new stroller.
Actually, Ikhwan already have a stroller - it was a present given by my colleagues, and we are so grateful for it. But the stroller is quite a tad too big. It cannot fit into my wife's car boot and does occupy a large space of my car boot. It's also a bit tricky to fold and unfold it and its weight makes it incovenient for my wife to carry in the event that she travels with Ikhwan alone. Though we still use the first stroller once in a while, we found it to be more suitable to use when Ikhwan gets 'older' (the stroller can take a kid up to 6-7 years old). So, my wife bought him the second stroller - a much smaller one where once folded, it looked like an umbrella. But the stroller is no longer suitable for Ikhwan whose body is now quite big. So, it was time that we got him his third one and luckily, by using the voucher, we managed to find the perfect one that matched the criteria we were looking for.
Ok, enough about strollers....I shall talk more about them when it's time to share with you about Ikhwan and his gadgets :-)
Now, going back to the contest we had won, for the fun of it, here are the 2 entries (un-edited) that I submitted for the contest.Which one you guys think won? There's no right or wrong answer of course. Honestly, I don't have any preference, because I like both entries just as much and really enjoyed squeezing my brain, during the times when I tried to come out with catchy photo titles and descriptions.
Photo Title 1: My huggable and adorable boy
Photo description: Ikhwan knows where to focus his eyes on whenever he is photographed or video recorded. He, who loves to cuddle and being hugged, is all set here to be photographed with Ibu. After all, Ikhwan is indeed a very huggable and adorable baby boy.
Photo Title 2: Ikhwan The Explorer
Photo description: My baby Ikhwan is quite a natural explorer especially when it comes to faces. Here, as his hand-eye co-ordination helped him explore my face, at the same time, I was admiring his, envying how soft and smooth his complexion was.
P/S: Now that occasionally, I have more blog visitors (who also read hopefully, instead of just visiting) from the US than from my home country, Malaysia, I find that I need to be aware of my English. Better brush up on my grammar and writing styles huh? Hehehe.... Also, it'd be great if those non-Malaysians can say hi or comment or something... :-)
In this first part of the (more) coming parts to show the many selection of toys, gadgets and educational materials that Ikhwan owns, I shall start off with about 20 of his developmental toys.
The two photographs above show toys that come in three different sets (except for 'triangular' teether and Winnie The Pooh which were sold as individual units). The set with the mother duck and her two babies and the Winnie The Pooh in his buoy, are for his bathing time. I remember how in the first days after Ikhwan was born, he didn't really like the idea of being bathe. But now, bathing is like another play time for him (just like most of us grown-ups? haha). Whenever we place one of these toys in his tub, he'd splash it over and over again.
The Wheel Pals car toys is by Hasbro. The funny looking cars are soft and squeezable with free rolling wheels. Ikhwan's small fingers are big enough to enable him to grasp the cars in his palms, while at the same time letting him discover how things feel and move. I've been demostrating to him the purpose of the wheels and how he can push and pull the car to move. But at this moment, other than looking so intently at the cars, Ikhwan seems to be more interested to bite on the wheels, if not the car bodies. Everything is like a teether for him :-)
(Initially left out) The ball sets consists of, well, balls, of various shapes (tho' still rounded of course), textures and extra features. By features, I mean, one ball has a ringing bell inside it, the other has portions that can be turned around etc etc. We still haven't let Ikhwan plays with the balls without our supervision, to avoid any of them being rolled on the floor unnoticed, and thus risking someone falling over after stepping on the balls.
The teether in the 2nd photo is one of his favourites. He just loves to chew on those tiny ribbons. We left it at the sitter's house so that at least he has something to chew on/play with when he's at her house.
The JAWS toy was given by my sister. She got it from Japan when she was out-stationed there a few months ago.
JAWS is a very boyish toy, you might say? Now when looking at the doll next to it, you might think that, what, I give my baby boy, a doll? In my opinion, it's perfectly fine for boys to play with dolls, so long as the dolls are not too 'girlie'; they only play with dolls once a while and up to a certain age only and they have other types of toys to experience with (to avoid any unwanted attachment that the boys might have with their dolls, like in the case of Calvin and Hobbes).
If baby girls can play with blocks and trucks, I think that (baby) boys shouldn't be denied of playing with dolls too. Remember Andy of Toy Story, anyone? His favourite toy, Woody WAS a doll, plus there was also Bo Peep.
We should open our minds that not only does playing with a doll NOT diminish boys' future masculinity, it actually can have many positive effects on their development. Playing with dolls can help them develop their emotional intelligence and respect for others and gives kids a chance to learn skills of making friends and/or parenting.
The two-eyed toy is by Tinylove. Each loose eye can move from its respective left and right side to the center of the face. I really enjoy how my son observes the movement of the eyes whenever he rattles the toy. Oh yes, again, he likes to bite on those eyes too, sometimes he has both eyes inside his mouth!!
The phone is a cool toy/gadget with different sounds that are produced from each buttons when they are pressed. The clam shell phone also has Hello and Goodbye greetings and some music background that you can hear, when the phone is flipped open or flipped back to close. There are also three different cartoons that appear alternately on the phone screen, everytime the phone is opened (from its closed position). Despite how cool the toy is, I've stored it away since it's by Fisher Price. Although it's not listed as a potential hazardous toy, I prefer not to take chances of my kid's health and well being (unless it's really confirmed that it's safe).
The paint roller is another of his boyish toy. The roller has beads in it that rattle when it's rolled and has a light that lights up for a while. The soft texture of the handle, whether the one that can be grasped by Ikhwan or the one that connects to the roller, makes it suitable for Ikhwan to bite/chew on.
Stay tune for more of Ikhwan's toys, gadgets and books.... Ooohhh, I'm soooo enjoying buying and playing with those toys (not to forget, writing about them), just as much as Ikhwan is :-))
Why did the chicken cross the road...? Not to be hit by a raging bull, of course.
Situation 1 (as experienced by Ms. Chicken):
It was a Thursday morning. Initialy, I thought it was just like any other morning. But the unexpected happened. My owner had forgotten to close my cage, let alone locked it. For the first time ever, I could smell the one thing I had longed for, ever since I came out of my egg. The smell of freedom, waiting right there in front of me, outside the cage. Reluctant at first, I slowly walked towards the cage's gate. After realising that the line was clear, without a moment of delay, I quickly jumped out of that small, uncomfortable and unkempt cage that had imprisoned me all this while.
My owner was one mean person. He was a construction worker, an Indonesian man. The cage was so small, it could only cater for me alone. Heck, how did he expect that such a horrible living condition could help enhance my beauty? I had needs too, you know - I needed to attract male chickens, to populate. Until came that day, when the chicken in my next cage, Ms. Pot Pet died at his knife. Immediately...., it striked me that my owner didn't keep us to rear us. The reason that he kept just a few of us was so that he could eat us.
That was why I ran with a lightning speed, the minute I was out of the cage. Little did I realise that all along, I was surrounded by all these tall buildings where humans lived in. It seemed to me, they too lived in cages, huh...
I then arrived at a curb of a two-lane-one-way road. Again, the coast was clear, and so I quickly crossed to the other side, only to find out, I hadn't actually reached the other side. I only came to another curb which divided the first two-lane road with another, for vehicles going in the opposite direction. I didn't have time to stop and kept going. That was when I realised a red car coming from my left side, approaching fast like a mad raging bull. Both of us were in a collision course. The vehicle steered a bit as the driver (Mr. Bull) tried to avoid me. But it was too late. I went under the vehicle instead. My feathers, beautiful feathers flew all over the place. After the hit, I tried to drag my heavy legs so that I could reach the other side. But I was injured, probably badly, and I fell to the ground. Just before I lost consciousness, I could see the vehicle was moving in a rather zig-zag direction before it sped off... Situation 2 (as experienced by Mr. Inconsiderate):
That Thursday evening was raining heavily. Just like some other drivers, I chose to take the Smart tunnel, to avoid the jam that had clogged the Pandan Indah roundabout.
As I exited the tunnel, I took the Touch N' Go lane and it was quite a long queue. The next lane was for Smartag users and apparently the toll for it was closed. A few vehicles had wrongly taken the Smartag lane and now, they tried to squeeze in between the vehicles on my lane. Great, they were now pushing me far back from the toll exit than before.
Hmmmm..... this red car of the same make was trying to squeeze in front of me. I thought I should just drove very closely to the front jip, so that he wouldn't stand a chance.
Hmmmm..... he didn't seem to back off. Never mind, I'd rather have my car scratched that letting this sucker won. Now both of us were in one lane.
Hahaa... I had won. He backed away. Ops, what the heck? He was honking me so loudly? And what with your car signals kept blinking? Was he trying to tell me that he had already given me a signal?
Ahhh.... now that I had reached the toll, I could leave this sucker behind. Oh! wait, he was chasing after me. Despite the rain, he was tail gating me, and very closely, mind you... Now that we had entered a highway, he revved up his engine as he took over me. Gasp, I think I had messed up with a wrong guy.... He was like a raging mad bull...
Situation 3 (as explained by Mr. Raging Bull):
Ms. Chicken, I was so sorry I hit you. I felt really bad. I had just turned into the road and with no other vehicles around, I decided to press hard on the gas pedal. Now, how could I expect there would be a chicken running around, crossing the road, in the middle of the city, right? Not that there was a chicken farm nearby or something...
Yes, I saw your feathers flying around. It was not something I saw everyday. And yes, my heart crushed as I saw you fell to the ground. But what could I do? Took you to the vet? Then what? And if you had died, gave you a proper burial?
Now to you, Mr. Inconsiderate - you stupid bloody fool!!! I just couldn't comprehend what kind of a person who would rather have his vehicle banged up, than to show some empathy to other road users.
For your information, I took the wrong lane by mistake. In fact, I patted my forehead when I realised my error. And since I took the liberty to give my car signal, before slowly inching my way to be in front of you, what you had shown to me was completely unacceptable and inconsiderate.
Did you know that I was cursing like mad when I realised I had to make way for you? So mad, that I didn't realise I kept flicking my car signal right and left. Yes, at that time, I was scolding (despite the fact you couldn't hear me) at you for not being attentive to my signals. Well, if that was the reason why you showed such a behaviour. And when I honked you long and hard, twice, I was even ready, should you stepped out of your car looking for a fist fight, the first thing that I would grab would be my steering lock.
Why did I drive so closely behind you after we exited the toll? Well, since you wanted so much to brush with my car earlier, I thought I should return the compliment. Stupid fella...
P/S: When I relayed the latter incident to my wife, she said my threshold level for losing my cool could have dropped tremendously, ever since I now spend more time on the road compared to before. Honestly, I don't have the answer to her theory. My temper level could have been all time high, except that all this while, it hardly manifested itself, just lied there, dormant...
The Oxford Dictionary says "boulevard" means wide city street, often with trees on each side. As for me, "boulevard" is the path that I thread my way through in life. At times, the trees give me protection from the hot sun above. While at other times, no amount of trees can comfort me when it pours. Come rain or shine, the road continues to provide me with the journey of life until it reaches its destination.
People say I'm sweet, kind, a gentleman, caring, romantic and observant (let's just concentrate on the good attributes). I love those who matter to me, and care about things that count. I'm a Malay Muslim and proud to be one. I DON'T think Islam should be judged by those nasty followers. Islam should be judged by the religion itself; its teachings and the purpose behind them. I mean, humans will still behave like humans right? Usually, regardless of religions that they embrace. It is also in my nature to please, since I believe that TO PLEASE EVERYONE IS AN IMPOSSIBLE FEAT, BUT NOT TRYING TO PLEASE ANYONE OTHER THAN ONESELF IS A POSSIBLE DEFEAT (own quote). Apart from sharing the things I read, watch and listen to, I'd also share my thoughts and feelings, and express my views on certain issues. Last by no means least, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE OF YOU OUT THERE ABOUT ANYTHING! If we knew each other 'in the previous life' and had lost contact, or we hardly contact each other nowadays, do email me or comment on my entries. Feel free to explore my blog & website (http://members.fortunecity.com/abdunmy/). Cheerio & Wassalam.
Sometimes, to boldly go (where no one has gone before) at warp speed may cause you unnecessary troubles.
Own quote, based on Star Trek
Lesson from the quote: Rushing to reach your destinations or goals may get you there fast, but may not always be the smartest thing to do!
"Note The Quote (Malay translation)"
Kadang kala, perjalanan (ke tempat yang tidak pernah ditujui) pada kelajuan maksimum boleh menyebabkan kesusahan pada diri sendiri.
Rekaan sendiri, berdasarkan dari Star Trek
Pengajaran: Terburu-buru untuk sampai ke destinasi atau matlamat hidup mungkin boleh membawa kita ke sana dengan cepat, tetapi langkah itu tidak semestinya yang terbaik!
You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.
George Lucas (Film Director and Producer)
"Favourite Note The Quote 2"
A sign in a mosque on the need to switch off handphones:
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Penguin Rush
