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Saturday, May 02, 2009

Planes and Ballons

Recently, I mentioned about having my two weeks off. The two-week off also meant two weeks without salary. I didn't mind being salary-less for a short period of time, and the 'new' company had allowed me to postpone my starting date with them. I really needed the break. After all, I still wasn't ready, physically, spiritually AND mentally for the transition of my career journey to take place right after I left the 'old' office.

Wife was working as usual during my break of course. But, since I had some time away from work, we thought of planning a trip together - and so we did, just the three of us for the first time. So, off we went to... LANGKAWI!!! (from 22 to 24 February, the day before my birthday)

We took the AirAsia. Initially, we were worried on how Ikhwan would react when looking at the sheer size of the plane, hearing the loud noise of the plane's engine and being on the plane itself (we gave him sweets to help reduce the effects of 'blocked' ears on him, especially during take off and landing times).

Surprise, surprise... he was as active and talkative as usual. Even when on the plane, he was friendly to strangers.

He did look rather perplexed sometimes, like when he felt the inclination as the plane took off, or when we took him up the cable car ride to Gunung Mat Chincang (Chopped-off Mountain) and when he saw the beach, the rolling waves and the vast ocean (from the beach) for the first time in his life.

A little bit about Langkawi - It is a cluster of 99 islands, but the main island is the major attraction and accessible by ferry and by air. When you are there, I'd say renting a car and exploring the island on your own is more recommended than depending on taxis or tour guides. The roads are so easy to navigate and no traffic congestion at all! (unless during peak periods I guess).

When you are at Langkawi, a trip to Mount Mat Chincang by cable cars is a must for all nature lovers (I prefer sight seeing from up a mountain without the hassle of climbing up the mountain myself, so this fits me well). The total journey up the mountain is 2.2km. As you feel the incline of 42°, enjoy the surrounding views - the green forests, the choppy peaks (thus the name of the mountain), the rock formation that took 450 million years to form, the Telaga Tujuh waterfalls, the sea and some of the 99 islands. When going up and down in the cable car, we could see that Ikwan might have felt a bit 'gayat' (afraid of heights) but not knowing how to express his feelings. 'Cian dia...'

When at the Middle Station, you can choose whether to alight from the cable car, enjoy the sceneries at the viewing platform there or just stay inside the cable car, which will take you further up the Top Station.

The Top Station is at 709m above sea level and has two viewing platforms. Up there, if the weather is clear, you can see the mainland Kedah and South Thailand. Talk about the weather - the cable car only opens at 10 and closes at 6 (if not mistaken). So, if you only leave your hotel after 10, most likely by the time you are on top of the mountain, it's close to noon already. You know how noon is like in this tropical country. So, imagine standing on the viewing platform during mid-day. Most likely, you'll be drenched in sweat and your eyes cringed due to the sunlight. So, you may want to go there later in the evening instead, like after 3, where the weather is a little milder and not so hot.

One more attraction not to be missed when at Top Station is the The Langkawi Sky Bridge. The curved pedestrian bridge provides different perspectives over the land (including Thailand’s Tarutao Island) and sea, perches precariously over a spectacular chasm, 700m above sea level. Incredibly, the cable-stayed bridge curves 125m around a single support.

When at the bridge, it somehow reminisced me to the time when I went to the Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen, Germany (read here and view here). A bridge nearby the castle, was just almost as high. From the bridge, I could see the castle, a waterfall, a deep gorge and the nearby mountain and forests. The weather may be cooler and breezy, but it was a straight bridge. So, I'd say the Langkawi bridge is more unique in its special ways.

Other places that we went to and things that we did were strolling down the beach (Ikhwan was quite intimidated by the waves and the sand, the latter due to him probably thinking the sand is swallowing him), visiting the Underwater World (don't miss the penguins!!) and Dataran Lang (Eagle Square - Langkawi was derived from the Malay word 'helang') and did some shopping. A funny thing happened at Underwater. Ikwan was so exhausted when we arrived there, we couldn't wake him up. Since we didn't want him to miss the chance looking at all those fishes, we went for lunch at this one restaurant. Even being in that rather noisy and stuffy restaurant couldn't wake him, until we reached the Underwater entrance door back again, one hour later. All in all, we were satisfied and enjoyed ourselves. Ikhwan was also such a sport! We know that it is very likely Ikhwan won't be able to remember most of these experiences, if not all. So, every now and then, I would tell him stories about being on the plane or our cable car rides, in my efforts that hopefully, some memories could be etched in his memory somehow, Wallahua'lam...

But we plan to go there again someday and stay there longer. Next time around, we want to take the excursion to that Lake of Pregnant Maiden where the excursion includes eagle watching/feeding, visit one of those waterfalls/caves and perhaps the Crocodile Park, the Mardi Agrotechnology Park and those historical places like Makam Mahsuri and Burnt Rice (I visited the historical ones when I was in school). Wife also wants to do more shopping (and I wish we did drop by at that particular store selling Italian-made products. The store is among the many stores at the foot of Gunung Mat Chinchang. I want to look for Versace jeans).

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1st April was Ikhwan's 2nd Birthday. We had it all planned, even from last year to have Ikhwan's 2nd Birthday celebration a grand one! So, the condo hall was already booked, and some invitations had already been sent out! But due to a mixed up at the workplace, the size of the guests had been to be shrunken (luckily, I haven't sent out the invitations to everyone that I wished to invite yet).

Initially, I was told that I had to go outstation to an overseas country, on that same day we planned for Ikhwan's birthday party (it was the 4th, Saturday). So, the invitations had to be cancelled (imagine having to do that to those who already said 'yes') and we thought of having a very small one instead, just a 'kenduri doa selamat' (a gathering to thank God for all His blessings) among close family members only, so that it could end early.

But at the last minute, the outstation trip got cancelled. Due to lack of time (and lack of spirit to have it so big anymore), the size of the guests was increased just a little bit, by inviting some close friends, and we did have it in the hall. So, if you read this, and you did get invited the first time round (and then said 'yes') but the invitation to you was cancelled, I do apologise if you weren't re-invited. It was still a small party anyway, and not as grandeur as initially planned. No hard feelings yeah?? :-(

Anyway, Ikhwan showed his intimacy, caring and gentleman side during the party. He gave his heart (or rather, a heart-shaped ballon) to a beautiful young lady, but somehow got rejected. Aaaahhhh, poor him .... (see below photos) I am sooo proud of him. So cute, huh? Hehe ...

Anyway, you can view more photos of the Langkawi trip and Ikhwan's Birthday here:
1) Langkawi
2) Birthday party for Ikhwan

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posted by The Pisces Man @ 6:53 am 5 people talked at The Boulevard

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Happy Birthday Ikhwan - Part 2; Multitasking - Part 2 (item 8 newly added)


One Year Baby - Click here for more free videos

Ikhwan reached his one year of age last 1st April 2008. In terms of developments, I can say that he is progressing normally and healthily. Here's a video on him trying to strike a meaningful conversation, while at the same time, practising his 'drum playing' skill.

Some of the things that Ikhwan is able to do now, which he couldn't do 12 months ago (obviously, ahaks):

1. As shown towards the end of the above video, Ikhwan could alternately use his right and left hand to 'play drum'. In the past, Ikhwan couldn't coordinate that well where both hands would come down together. But after seeing much example from me, now he can. After all, I love banging on the table anyway, as though it were a drum set, using a combination of my fingers, wrist and elbow :-)

2. He really knows how to have fun. What's more, he knows how to get those around him, whether of the same age (like his friends at the sitter's house) or older than him (like us, his parents) to play and have fun with him. Of all the many toys that he has, he loves the stacking toys (yes, he has more than one of those but with different designs), enjoys banging things together (whether his toys or anything else, provided they are safe for him to play with) and looking at his own TV set (it's a toy bought by his Ibu - I'll share more about his toys in a future post).

3. Ikhwan loves playing peek-a-boo and surprisingly, now he's learning to play hide and seek too. There was a day when I was playing with him, I hid myself behind the curtains. Then, as he approached me closer, I peeked my head out (not so abruptly of course - that would have startled him) and he laughed really loud. Now, it seems to me, there are times when he tries to go behind the curtains. Quite a task for our little Ikhwan since the curtains are rather heavy :-)

4. Ikhwan can now stand up and go down with ease, although occasionally, he still wobbles. He can also take his steps and walk sideways while holding on to a rack or a sofa.

5. Sometimes, out of excitement, he'd clap his hands rather vigorously and at the same time, humming a tune.

6. Ikhwan is so talkative and very friendly. His favourite word is 'ohh' and occasionally, we hear him trying to talk one long sentence. They always sound so cute. His friendliness also amaze us. Sometimes, he'd greet a stranger and that person is dumb enough not to look back at our Ikhwan, let alone smiles or greets back at him. In time, I guess we'll have to teach him that being friendly should come with boundaries. Do you folks agree?

7. He crawls very fast and very hard especially during the times when we play 'chase and catch' him. Funnily, sometimes the role is played the other way round. He's the tiger who tries to catch his Ayah or Ibu. Like I said, Ikhwan knows how to have fun. If only you could hear him laugh everytime he tries to crawl away from us. The way he crawls, it's equivalent to an adult stomping his feet. He'd raise each hand so high for every crawl and his knees make thud sounds as they hit the floor. We do get worried in case he hurts his knees but so far, no harm done.

8. I just remembered that Ikhwan knows how to trick too, well at least he did trick me twice, ahak ahak. There was an occasion when I was blocking him from standing up right in front of the t.v. (which was 'on' at that time). He was persistent to the extent that he almost cried. Then, just when I thought he had given up since he turned away and crawled towards our bedroom (his Ibu was in the room and the door was opened), the minute I left my spot, Ikhwan immediately crawled back towards the t.v. My wife realised this too and was surprised by Ikhwan's quick thinking.

A similar incident happened when I was blocking him from (unknowingly) disturbing his Ibu who was cooking in the kitchen. After some time, he looked like he had given up, judging from him crawling towards a magazine that he had flipped through earlier. But the moment I joined next to him (I was also in a crawling position, haha), he immediately left me. Hmmm....if only you could crawl as fast as I did huh, Ikhwan? :-)

What surprised me was not only he actually had the idea to trick me, but the way how quickly he left me the moment I fell for his trick implied that he must be thinking, "Ok, Ayah thought I wanted to read that magazine. There's no time to waste. Let's move...." Hahahahaa...

9. You may have known that my wife took a 5-month maternity leave after giving birth to Ikhwan. Ikhwan was only sent to his sitter's house from his 6th month. There was one evening (after picking him up), while reversing my car to park, I took a glance at Ikhwan who was at that time, minding his own business. Then I spoke to him in a joking manner "Haa, tu tengah buat muka cute la tu.." ("Haa, I bet you are making a cute face"). To my surprise, the second time I looked at him, he was tilting his head, all smiling at me. Well, he DID look reallllllyyy cute, I actually braked the car and started laughing by myself, and the car hadn't actually been parked.

That was the first time this cute behaviour of his started. He'd tilt his head while he's in the car, while eating, when we are singing nursery rhymes to him, while he's playing or while cuddling with us before going to sleep. I think he's probably influenced by us doing the same whenever we play peek-a-boo with him, plus I'd normally tilt my head to the left and right too, everytime I sing to him nursery rhymes.

I relayed before in an earlier post how I've always wanted a chance to record a video on him, tilting his head like that. Recently, my wish came true. Hope you folks enjoy it! Also, as you may realise it, isn't him a multi-tasker: eating while shaking his body like that... hehee..


The Head Tilter - Funny bloopers are a click away

You can read Happy Birthday Ikhwan - Part 1 here.
You can read Multitasking - Part 1 here.

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posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:08 am 5 people talked at The Boulevard

Friday, March 21, 2008

Happy Birthday Ikhwan - our most beloved son!







Although I say I shall try to tally my quotation with my latest blog entry (see right column), this time around, I need to say something far more important, that has nothing to do with the quotation I already created, which is based on the TV series Damages (btw, Damages is very cleverly written, don't you think?).

Actually, I wanted to post a short story about the political scenario in Malaysia (thus, the above quotation) and how Malaysia has become 5 years from now. The story is written Damages-style, with some flashbacks. But then, since that story hasn't yet finished, I think that can wait coz like I said, the one I'm posting today, is far more important.

Based on the Islamic calendar, yesterday was 12 Rabiul Awal 1429H, a Maulidur Rasul day, i.e. the Prophet Muhammad pbuh’s Birthday (which was equivalent to 1st April last year). That means today marks our beloved son, Ikhwan, is now one year old. Both Ayah and Ibu are proud of you and love you so much Ikhwan!!! You can read/reminisce the day Ikhwan was born here.

In conjunction with the Maulidur Rasul day (also a public holiday here), the surau at our condo (surau is a place, which can be as small as a room, allocated for Muslims to pray but can cater only a small number of jemaah, unlike mosques) organised a 'selawat', 'berzanji' and a 'potong jambul' (Ikhwan and a neighbour's daughter joined in).
While in the surau, there was a time when Ikhwan crawled from his Ibu (mother) who sat about 2 metres apart from me, just to get to me. Seeing the happy expression on his face looking at me while he was crawling, was rather touching... I noticed Ikwan was also very friendly to those other people in the surau, young and old.

During prayers, again, my heart was deeply touched by the words recited by the imam, who pray not only for the 'potong jambul' babies, but also their parents, and not to forget, the rest of the jemaah and all Muslims. He even prayed for the author of the 'berzanji' book.

Talk about feeling touched, here's a little something:

TUHANKU, sesungguhnya aku tidak layak untuk syurgaMU,
namun tak pula aku sanggup menghadapi api nerakaMU.
Dari itu ampunkanlah segalan dosa aku, dan maafkanlah aku.
Sesungguhnya ENGKAU maha pengampun segala dosa-dosa.

English translation:

YA ALLAH, I am not qualified to be in your Heaven,
but neither can i bear your Hell fire.
For that, please forgive me, for all I have sinned.
For Allah is Most Merciful, Oft-forgiving of all sins, regardless of how big they are (as long as we don't worship other than Allah of course).

For some of us, take these words to our hearts, we might not realise there'll be tears forming at the corner of our eyes.

Ikhwan, here's verse 286, taken from Surah AL-BAQARA:
On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."

Still reminiscing...... ever since only a few months old, Ikhwan always responds whenever his name is called, whether by turning his head around, or twitching his legs a bit, or slanting his head (I have finally recorded a video on this, which I shall put up soon), or uttering his baby words as a way to talk back to us or simply, by smiling/laughing. Nowadays, if he's busy playing or doing his exploring activites, he becomes so excited and sometimes he claps his hands or wriggles his body on the floor, especially when we continuously call his name in full, which is Ikhwan Rasydan. In this particular video, see how he reacted when I whispered his name...


Responsive - The best video clips are here

I shall soon recount the things that he's able to do now, still learning to do and some memorable moments my wife and I had shared with Ikhwan this past year, Insha' Allah...

P/S: Tazkirah for the day
Nowadays, it's common for parents (especially if both are working) to send their kids to be taken care of by baby sitters. Yes, kids these days spend most of their days of their weeks with people who are not their parents. But, despite of that, every single time, when the parents arrive at the sitter's place, the children would drop everything that they do and even 'toss' the sitters aside, to go home with their parents (provided that the parents are lovable to their kids laah!). So, it is in human nature for children to always feel the attachment with their parents and want to go back with them, regardless of what. Likewise, it is nature for all humans to return to the Creator whether or not they want it or they are ready. So, the question is, are we prepared to meet our Creator?


PP/S: In the above photo, Ikhwan was enjoying his meal while sitting down on his portable chair. What an ingenious design for a toddler's chair - it's lightweight yet tough, affordable and safe. I shall talk more about the chair when I share more of Ikhwan's gadgets.

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posted by The Pisces Man @ 6:56 pm 3 people talked at The Boulevard

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Happy Birthday To... MEEE!!!!

Before the day concludes, here's a (modified) lyrics of a song for.....err, ME!

I'm a big, big boy,
In a big, big world.
It's not a big, big thing,
If I grow up...

But I do, do feel.
That I do, do will,
Miss it much....
Oh, miss it much....

IT = being a small boy...... With our baby is on the way, I now, have to be.... a BIG boy...Haha!!

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posted by The Pisces Man @ 11:58 pm 12 people talked at The Boulevard

Friday, February 02, 2007

Days of our lives - 27 and 29 January

You are my sunshine,
my only sunshine.
You make me happy,
when skies are grey.
You look so lovely,
Carrying our baby.
Oh my dear wife - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

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Waa.. waa... rosy cheeks,
have you any wool.
Yes abang, yes abang,
three bags full.
One for my abang, and one for myself,
and one for the little child,
who is on the way.

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From the moment you wake up,
to the time when you are already dressed up.
I say a little prayer for you.
When we go up the tower,
I can see that you are so happy, my dear.
I say a little prayer for you.

Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
And I will love you.
Forever, forever, we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you.
To be here with you,
is so heaven for me.

When you eat your lunch, dear,
I marvel at your beauty, my dear.
I say a little prayer for us.
I'm so thankful for this, dear.
It's been one great year, we're together.
I say a little prayer for us.

Forever, forever, our family stays together
And I will love you.
Forever, forever, in this world and thereafter,
Oh, how I'll love you.
To be forever with you,
is so heaven for me.

Here's a little info on the KL Tower, where me and my wife (and our little baby in the tummy) had lunch together, to celebrate our first wedding anniversary:

1. Majestically poised at a breathtaking height of 421 metres, the Tower doubles as Kuala Lumpur's best known ambassador.
2. Standing boldly atop Bukit Nanas at 94m above sea level, it is on higher ground than the Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur.
3. It ranks fourth amongst the tallest telecommunications towers in the world after CN Tower in Toronto, Canada (553m), Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia (537m) and Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, China (468m). It is the tallest tower in Southeast Asia.
4. It was constructed as a telecommunications tower to upgrade the quality of telecommunications and the clarity of broadcast transmissions.
5. Surrounding the tower is the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve - the only oldest gazetted forest reserve in the country. The forest reserve is a sanctuary to a wonderful array of flora and fauna which is unique to our tropical nature.
6. The tower was constructed with utmost attention being paid to the environment to ensure the natural surroundings of Bukit Nanas remained untouched. Builders took special care to construct a retaining wall around a 100 year old Jelutong tree (Dyera Costulata).
7. The top four floors of Menara Kuala Lumpur's tower head has been set aside for telecommunications and technological purposes.
8. The revolving restaurant where we had our lunch in, Restorant Berputar Seri Angkasa, is located at Level Two of the Menara Kuala Lumpur 'Tower Head'. At a height of 282 meters above ground level, this 9,172 square feet restaurant offers not only a revolving dining area, but also music area and lounge.

Here are some of the photos taken during our anniversary 'excursion' (the 1st and 3rd photos), plus a few more photos taken elsewhere and at different times, that I'd like to share with you:




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posted by The Pisces Man @ 7:03 pm 7 people talked at The Boulevard