boulevard-ijab (IJA & ME) - one half completing the other half....

The new year ...of time and how it passes us by...

Speaking of remembering the yesterdays and yesteryears, those whose puberty years were in the 70's, 80's and (early) 90's, would remember what I'm about to reminisce here (some of them may only be experienced by the Malaysians though):

Great outdoor activities would include playing pebbles or spinning tops, 'galah panjang' (a game where you stand in the middle of a court, preventing your friends from crossing over to the court section behind you and should you be able to touch a person in any way, you shout 'JADIK' meaning 'your turn to be in the middle'); 'main kejar-kejar' (need I explain more? - basically you just run and run and run and run...), 'tarik upih pinang' (one or two people pulling the coconut or palm leaf around the neighbourhood, with a person sitting on it), rounders, swimming in the rivers, 'nyorok-nyorok' (hide and seek), and many others.

Other than playing those indoor games, the cartoons on t.v. were cool too. Just to name a few - Doraemon, Thundercats, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, M.A.S.K (my favourite), Smurfs, Jem (yeah, I watched this too ;pp), Transformers, Woody Woodpecker Show and The Simpsons (another of my favourite which is still around till today... yeah!!).

Some hit t.v. series would be like Captain Power, Battlestar Galactica, 'V' (yes, the letter V), McGyver, 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210 and Knight Rider.

Let's not forget those prime time soaps like Return to Eden (an Australian show - my whole family was a big fan), Dallas, Knotts Landing and Dynasty (remember Joan Collins anyone?).

The sitcoms were really funny and great back then and also ran on many seasons. For examples, Saved By The Bell, Full House, Family Ties, Growing Pains and of course the greatest sitcom ever... Friends.

We had some really cool movies back then, very creative and original in ideas, very entertaining and for some... very scary. I love horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, House, The Kindred, Candyman, The Shining (arguably one of the scariest - All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy....spooky), Halloween, Fright Night (also a favourite), Gremlins (ok, for some kids, this could be scary), Hellraiser (ugh! the brutalities...), Little Shop Of Horrors (funny and scary), Alien and Aliens (my favourites), The Thing (what a scary thing!) and Friday the 13th.

Other great movies are like Back To The Future series, Star Wars series, Indiana Jones series, Gandhi, Airport 77, Jaws series, Labyrinth, Rambo series, Rainman (a great one) etc etc.

It was a pop era. For some singers, they really had the spotlights shine on them (although for some, they are no longer heard of anymore). Big names with big hits are like Madonna, Michael Jacson, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Belinda Carlisle, Def Leppard, Miami Sound Machine, Rick Ashley (and his goofy dance moves), Milli Vanilli (oh, the deception), Vanilla Ice (a white who didn't know how to be black and went bankrupt in a blink), Cindy Lauper, Martika, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton (remember the voice?), Bonnie Tyler, New Kids On The Block, The Bangles, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Extreme, Chicago, ... the list really goes on....

If school kids these days compare what handphone brands they use, back then we compared pencil boxes and cases. Some pencil boxes were like a James Bond gadget - press here, one compartment would pop up, press another, another compartment would pop up. We were very good in Geography too coz the erasers had flags of different countries imprinted on them :))How about indulge in the many junk foods available and for most of them, they came with free toys too. Remember Sumi jelly, Chickadees and Tora? These foods were usually advertised over the t.v. using Mat Sentul as the voiceover.

Aaaahhh... the tiny little biscuits with icing on top. Usually ate just the icing, without the crackers, heheheee...It feels like yesterday that I had one of these foods, heard one of those songs, watched one of those movies/tv series/cartoons, owned one of those pencil boxes and played one of those games. Since it feels like yesterday, guess I'm not really that old huh? Hahaha...

What would I hope for 2009 and years to come? Very noticeable changes of course - in many, if not all, aspects of life - changes that come from within me... spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

Hopefully, the environment is treating me right too, and by environment, I don't mean just the world climate but also the economy, the political arena and most importantly, the environment within my family, our house and our neighbourhood.

I think I'd like to become a little bit of selfish too from now on, by always asking myself questions like 'oh yeah? so?', 'what's in it for me?', 'what do I care?', 'so what's it going to be?' and 'why the heck would I care/help/bother?'

Anyway, last 29 December 2008 (a national holiday here) also marked the new year (1430 Hijrah) for us Muslims. So, to my non-Muslim friends who always wish me Happy New Year during the Eidul Fitri, Eid is not really the new year for us Muslims, Awal Muharam is (Muharam is the first month in the Islamic calendar)..... ok? :))

HAPPY NEW YEAR 1430H AND 2009 TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE!!!!!! MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE (THE GOOD ONES AND MAYBE SOME BAD ONES TOO?, HAHAHHAA).....

P/S: Speaking of being selfish just now, lately, I see myself transformed into some stubborn and hard-headed person (as in 'keras hati'). I don't know whether being the man in the family had played any part in that, or it's the life experiences that taught me to become one. My wife sees that change in me, others too and once, my 'keras hati'ness had shocked a friend. Is that a good thing? (being hard-headed and not easily swayed). Guess from now on, no more Mr Nice Guy huh!

Labels: Awareness, Cartoons, Foods, Islam, Life, Movie photos, Movies, My Families, Of....and...., Parental, Road Safety, Safety issues, Singing, Toys, TV shows

posted by The Pisces Man @ 4:22 am 12 people talked at The Boulevard

The 'little' things about me...

My name

Full name is Abdun Nizar Ahmad. With the exception of few relatives, everybody else in the family and at schools (primary and secondary) called me Nizar. A couple of relatives call me Abun, while all three cousins from my mother side call me.... guess what - John McKeterk, or in short, John. Since it's a made up name, I don't really know the spelling to the second name, but judging from sound, that should be it. To this day, they still call me John, their spouses also call the same, and their children - Cik John (Cik is the short for Pakcik, which is Uncle). As for my uncle and auntie (my cousins' parents), they sometims call me Nizar, and sometimes John.

Ever since I began my college/university years, everyone there called me Abdun with very few who prefer Abun. I remember a joke made by a housemate back in the UK - he said Abun Sabun (sabun is soap). Issshhh.. of all the names, but I didn't take it seriously :)

Now, if I meet someone new, if they are relatives (like in the case of my wife's side whom I never met before OR from my side, who may not remember my name), I'd introduce myself as Nizar. But, if they are not (going to be my) relatives, then it's gonna be Abdun. Don't ask me why. I'm comfortable of introducing myself that way.

The address book in my phone

Due to most people calling me Abdun, although I may not be the most important person in their lives, my name usually happens to be the first one in their phone's address book. This has a disadvantage. People had been accidentally calling me/sending me empty messages. What really annoying is that sometimes, the calls/smses caught me at the wrong times like in the wee hours of morning (if they are going to sleep with the phones by their sides, why can't they lock the phones, dang it!) or after rushing to get to the phone, only to hear people's conversations (the case of phones in their pants' pockets or handbags and the calls accidentally made) or kids' voices (obviously their kids are playing with the phones).

There was one time, my phone kept beeping due to receiving almost a dozen of empty messages, one after another, to the extent that it started to attract the unnecessary attention from people at the office. The smses were all coming from a person I met at a seminar.

Guess, I was in the wrong mood to be disturbed like that. You know what I did? I texted her, "since you hardly know me, you might as well remove my name from your phone book." Pretty nasty huh?

There was another incident where after picking up the phone, I heard a friend's conversation with another....and they were talking about me. Luckily, all I heard were compliments about me. I was smiling ear to ear....it took me a while before I hung up the phone :))

All these incidents had taught me something. In my phone book, I put 'abdun' and 'zzzdun' as the first and last names. The numbers behind those names are invalid of course, so those in the 2nd and 2nd last list are spared from any accidental pressing on their numbers.

My nature

I have stint eyes, but without my glasses, people perceive my eyes as rather big (especially if I roll my eyes). Well, so many people had said so, guess that is true. Wife said, my bulging eyes must be the reason why Ikhwan gets so excited whenever I do some acts in front of him.

I am a quiet person and shy by nature, ahaks.... I mean, seriously.. throw me into a social gathering packed with 'strangers', I'd definitely feel very uncomfortable. I think because I hate the fact that I have to put on a (fake) smiling face, and having to think what to say most of the time.

But once well acquainted, you will probably see my bubbling nature. Heck, some even said I was naughty.

On precaution steps

I really feel like going....
to so many places in the world. One of them would be New York - probably influenced by how NY is portrayed in TV shows and movies, like in Heroes, Cloverfield, CSI:NY etc etc.

am mostly awed by...
God's given gift - the human intellect. How babies develop physically, mentally and spiritually, starting from not knowing anything; new inventions are discovered numbering thousands every year; new catchy songs keep coming out, each sounds usually different from the other, considering there are so many singers for so many years and each album has at least 10 songs; ideas may be repeated but brilliant writers always know how to make the stories fresh and interesting.

As much as I want to start a tag on this, I've learned my lesson that people are not going to do it. But you are welcome to share whatever little things about you that you don't mind other people knowing.

Labels: 'Little', Cartoons, Creativity, Hobbies, Life, Movie photos, Movies, Music, My car, My Families, Nature photos, Reading, Road Safety, Travel, TV shows, Video clip, Weirdness

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:15 am 7 people talked at The Boulevard

The Hours, The Days, The Week

Back to the events that unfolded during THE week. I met, or rather, my car met with two accidents in a span of 5 days. The first accident was a clear-cut case that it was not my fault. I was minding my own business, driving in my lane, in a straight line, when all of a sudden, a driver reversed his car from the parking lot and hit the left side of my car. It happened rather unexpectedly, that I didn't even get the chance to honk him. Seconds before his car hit mine, I could see how he and his mate were talking to each other (instead of the driver looking through his mirrors). I guess, the road was clear at the time when they got into the car, and the driver must have not expected me to be behind him when he was reversing. Sigh...

I hate confrontation - and luckily that was avoided since the driver immediately admitted it was his fault, and agreed to pay for the damage (he already did).

The car was not yet fixed when again, a different car bang it. On one of those very rare nights where I stayed back at work, on my way home, the second accident happened. This time around was not so much of a clear cut case...and did involve some confrontations in settling the matter. Just like in any other similar case or scenario, logically, neither one would admit their fault right? In the end, we paid for our own damages. Actually, even when I explained the chronology of the accident to some of the people I know, they too had mixed opinions on who was at fault.

29 August 2008
The 2nd accident occurred on the night of 29 August 2008. I was really surprised by it, considering the short period for both accidents to happen. On top of that, till that day, Ikhwan had still not yet recovered from his sickness.

I was too shock I guess, that I kinda' lost my confidence to continue driving home. Praise to Allah, I managed to. Upon reaching home, my wife and mother-in-law (who was around to look after Ikhwan) tried to comfort me and said I should be thankful that both accidents only affected cars.

When everybody else had already gone to bed, I was still in front of the t.v. Not really paying attention to what was shown on the screen, I contemplated on the intensity of that week. What started off as something I really looked forward to (the Saturday workshop), escalated to unwanted things (Ikhwan's fit and the accidents). Quite a week....

Then a movie was about to begin. It was Bridge to Terabithia. I had always wanted to catch this movie, and so, since the night was still quite early, I decided to stay up.

The movie is based on a book published in 1977 which garnered an award (Newbery Medal) the following year. The book is studied in English studies classes in many countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States.

The story revolves around a fifth grader Jesse Aarons, a middle child and the only boy in a family of five children. He befriends his new neighbor, a single child Leslie Burke, when he loses a footrace to her at school. Jesse, who is artistic but also fearful, angry, and depressed thinks highly of Leslie, a girl who is smart, talented and outgoing.

The two soon become close friends. Together, they imagine a kingdom in the woods near their homes, accessible only by a rope swing over a creek. The kingdom is filled with giants, trolls and other magical beings and they name it Terabithia.

Jesse has a crush on his music teacher, Miss Edmunds. When one day, Miss Edmunds invites Jesse to accompany her to the Art Gallery, initially Jesse wants to ask Leslie along but changes his mind since he'd rather spend time alone with his teacher. Without Jesse around, Leslie goes to Terabithia by herself. While swinging over the rain-swollen creek, the rope breaks. Leslie falls into the creek and drowns.

Jesse is overwhelmed by grief and guilt. He misses Leslie and is becoming so depressed, he decides to be an outcast and still goes to Terabithia alone. He even ignores and scolds May Belle, the second youngest sister who adores and admires Jesse.

Leslie's grief-stricken parents decide to move. Jesse asks them if he can take some of their wooden planks by their shed. Jesse attempts to deal with his grief by making amends with those around him, especially with May Belle. Using the wooden planks, he goes down to Terabithia to build a bridge. A bridge he builds especially for May Belle, so as she crosses it, he is to make her the Princess of Terabithia.

It was a splendid movie, and I'm sure the book is even more amazing. I agree with the critics - praise to the young actors for such credible performances.

A few scenes made me feel sad and a bit teary. I could relate to them somehow... But when it came to one scene, a teardrop finally ran down on my cheek. Then........ another. I don't know whether it was the events over the week that overwhelmed me or the movie had hit and touched me in so many ways, I didn't expect them coming.

I doubt it was the former...

Although a pure coincidence, the number 2, popped up again that week... and no, I didn't make it up when I said about a couple of teardrops.

Labels: Life, Movie photos, Movie Reviews, Movies, My car, My Families, Parental, Road Safety

posted by The Pisces Man @ 7:23 am 10 people talked at The Boulevard

Ikhwan's Gadgets - Part 2

Obviously, it's no longer suitable for Ikhwan to still be lying down on this bouncer for he may topple over. This picture was taken when he was only a few months' old, 'eating' his teether which was bought by his mother. The bouncer was a present from my parents to celebrate the birth of Ikhwan.

The car seat was a gift from my sister and brother in law. Other than sitting around or sleeping or drinking his milk while inside the car, Ikhwan loves other activities too. Among them is playing with his pelican, flipping through his black-and-white cards or 'reading' his cloth book.

Whenever we stop at traffic lights, if he's very much awake and active but still not yet engaged in 'reading', I would ask him "Nak buku?" (meaning "Would you like a book?"). Immediately, he would point up. Then, I would ask him to choose either the cards or the cloth book. He doesn't have any particular favourite. But for cards, it seems that he knows which one is the train, and for the book, he knows which page shows the blue fish.

This Fold & Go Diaper Changer is a changing pad, organiser (no, not meant for you to record your appointments, haha) and travel case in one! Whenever we go out with Ikhwan, we never leave this diaper changer behind. What a cool idea to help parents during those diapering accidents! :)

When folded, it's very compact to fit into the diaper bag or to be hung on the stroller. When unfolded, it is a full size changing pad with easy access to other compartments. The see-inside mesh pockets can hold 2 to 3 nappies (although it can store up to 4 if you force it, like I usually do) and refillable wipes container.

The diaper duck dispenser is a separate item. Again, the small size of the dispenser makes it easy to fit into diaper bag or stroller pouch. The dispenser can store a roll of 12 durable and easy-tear bags. The idea behind this baby accesory invention is the same as pulling and tearing off aluminium foil or cling wrap out of its dispenser at perforation whenever we need one. One thing about the dispenser is that the duck makes it look too catchy to the eyes of Ikhwan. We just don't like him wanting to play with it!

Now, here's one cool thing about the bags. Each bag has a fresh baby powder scent. Although of course, it's not scented enough to make you wanting to smell the bag close to your nose and forget what’s inside the bag, haha...

Nowadays, we use the dispenser and the bags only occasionally. The cost of buying the refill bags is of course more than buying those small sized non-scented plastic bags. The latter option is not just cheaper, but still serves the purpose of 'bag it, then toss it away', whenever we are on the go.

Labels: Gadgets, My car, My Children, Parental, Road Safety

posted by The Pisces Man @ 5:32 am 6 people talked at The Boulevard

I wonder.......? Part 2

ON MENTALITY OF SOME PEOPLE

This is not to be mistaken as, say, after resigning from a company, they joined back the same company. I know of some people, including a couple of blogger friends, who did so. That's a completely different scenario which is perfectly fine by me, in my opinion.... coz, surely you can't work at the old office, unless you ARE back at that office now, can you?

ON ROAD SAFETY

Labels: Anger Management, Life, People, Road Safety, Weirdness

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:29 am 7 people talked at The Boulevard

Spider Crossing

Itsy Bitsy Spider in a Car - Celebrity bloopers here

These days, whenever I sing the nursery rhyme 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', Ikhwan would immediately looking where my hand is at. This is because, I would normally make it crawl like a spider, crawl around him and on his body. Of course, this would lead to him laughing, giggling and wriggling.

In the above video, as I sang the nursery rhyme while waiting (for my dinner) with Ikhwan in the car, I only managed to make him laugh towards the end of the song. Although he should have laughed a lot more, guess on that day, he managed to gain control of his tickle bones :-) Then, I was about to record the condominium block where we live in, I realised Ikhwan was trying to mimic my singing. How sweet...

By the way, in the middle of the video, you can see how his legs were spreaded out as he slumped in his car seat. That is his usual way of sitting in his car seat while enjoying the ride. 'Cara duduk orang senang', as I commented to my wife one day (translation: The way how a worry-free person would sit).

Anyway, just for the sake of sharing, the lyrics to 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' goes like this:

The itsy bitsy spider,
Crawled up the water spout,
Down came the rain,
And washed the spider out,
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider Crawled up the spout again.

The Birdie in the Car - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

Now, here's just a short video on Ikhwan getting too preoccupied with his Birdie toy. Next to the Birdie is his one of his cloth books. That particular one is on 'Colours'. We sometimes hang the Birdie and the book on his stroller too whenever we took him out on it.

The Birdie comes with a teether that Ikhwan enjoys to bite on and the small fishes that are visible in the bird's 'tummy' sometimes mesmerizes him (it's a pelican by the way). The velcro fastening of the book creates sound that Ikhwan enjoys to hear everytime he opens and closes it (he does flip other pages too of course).

Hmmm.... what else can you find in my car? Well, the spider-man is still there, then there's a Ronaldinho' jersey key-chain hanging next to it. This 'kaki bangku' father (meaning: lousy at playing soccer or as they say it in England, football), is hoping his son would master some soccer playing skills when he grows up.

Hanging on the rear-view mirror are 2 key-chains - one was given by my wife, with a list of characters of a Pisces and the other was given by my father, which shows the Ka'bah.

On the dashboard, there's a non-clock looking clock that has fooled a few into thinking it was just a dummy, an Air Asia airplane model and an alien head.

On one side of the back seat window is a car sign that shows a few fishes with the wording I'M FREE on it. The other back seat window has another car sign pressed against it. It shows a spider with large capital words that say SPIDER CROSSING.

On the rear window, I put up a sticker on Ayatul Kursi at the top part, which takes up almost the whole width of the window. On the lower left and right side corners, two more car signs on each side. Those people behind me may be able to read one sign that says DON'T HONK! BABY SLEEPING, BACK OFF! (wife thought this sounded rather harsh when I first got it, hehe..), while the other sign politely announces there's a LITTLE KALIFAH ON BOARD. There's also a tall blue Disneyland hat placed right on top of the third brake light, flanked by a couple of The Incredibles pillows and a monkey doll.

Now, don't ask me what's the monkey doll doing there. I'm a people's pleaser (as some of you might have already guessed by reading this blog....errr... I guess)... Even before Ikhwan was born, I was thinking, should my nieces ever ride with me (which they have, a few times before), at least, they have something to play with, you know, for them to occupy their time while in the car..

Labels: Gadgets, My car, My Children, My Families, My Videos, Road Safety, Songs and Nursery Rhymes, Toys

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:26 am 2 people talked at The Boulevard

Of tongue and mouth.. Part 2

Labels: Anatomy, Life, My Children, My Families, My Videos, Of....and...., Road Safety

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:54 am 1 people talked at The Boulevard

Of tongue and mouth.. Part 1

Why did the chicken cross the road...? Not to be hit by a raging bull, of course.

Labels: Cartoons, Life, Road Safety

posted by The Pisces Man @ 7:07 am 5 people talked at The Boulevard