TAG BY WIFE

Soalan: Nyatakan 5 kedai yang anda pantang jumpa mesti nak masuk dan beli barang

1. Tepat sekali tekaamu.... AL IKHSAN.... kalau kompleks tu ada kedai ni musti masuk... tapi jarang beli la... biasa la kan.. budget beb... melainkan kalau ada any 'steal'... bukan mencurik tau....

2. CANTERBURY Boutique kat The Curve... kedai ni asalnya di One Utama tapi tukar owner then diorang bukak kat Curve pulak... kedai ni mmg best... ada gak la beli selai dua baju kat situ.... my bestest purchase there... ada satu winter jacket yg asalnya harga kat 4 ratus tapi diskaun 70%.... u must b wondering, why i chose that as the best ever purchase there (apart fr the price)..... heheh.... sampai sekarang aku tak penah pakai lagi bj tuh.. dah setahun lebih dah...

3. MARKS n SPENDER... I mean SPENCER.... in particular KLCC.. kedai ni best sebab dia best... again, jarang beli tapi9 bila dia sale gile2 ada gak la tergoda kat situ...

4. yg nih kira masuk kategori baru... 1st time aku pegi tapi sampai la ni masih teringat, kdai dia nama PRIMARK... aku terserempak dgn kedai ni masa aku gi London Oct lalu.... and its on OXFORD STREET OK... bukan cipan2 nya jalan .... aku tgk punyalah ramai org lalu lalang bawak beg primark membuatkan aku try test masuk tengok.. sekali TARRAAAAAAA...... murah giler.... (exclamation mark)...... aku shopping bagai nak rak.... terus rabak dan melarikan diri ke luar drp london lepas tu....

5. ni kira baru jugak la.... tapi dia versi halimunan sikit.. MANUTD.COM... page shopping ..... best gak kedai ni... aku penah beli jersey selai dari website nih.. yg lebihnya aku belikan utk kawan aku Dr Kugan... dia byk beli kat situ coz kat situ ada saiz XXL.... ari tu aku ada gak la beli samthing... rahsia ni...

sekian selamat tahun baru maal hijrah 1430.. HIJRAH ITU PERJUANGAN.... (hint : nak kena hijrah ke Turkmenistan somewhere this year).... spasiva... (russian -english translation : thanks)....

Year 2008 in review

Dear Loyal Blog Readers,



U must be very loyal that some of u even emailed me personally asking me 2 update my blog. Sorry 2 dissappoint u all. I was busy for the past 2-3 months that I even forgot my sign in name and passwords !!



Ok lets have a glance through of what had transpired through the year 2008.



The year 2008 is indeed a memorable one to remember, both personally and career-wise. I'm not gonna say anything about the career bit but will concentrate on the personal stuff (request from a reader - miss Y - nama terpaksa dirahsiakan atas permintaan beliau).



Once the year started, for the first time I did not want it to get to April. Reason? I'm 30 this year..... kena kutuk dgn wife jgn citer aa... ayat favorite.. "lepas ni kalo abang isik borang feedback sure kene tanda age category 30-35".. cittt...



then come to a point where my wife got pregnant unsangkarably...... then comes August 08 when we brought the twins AFIQ n ADIB to their 1st overseas trip.. GOLD COAST... together with Acik n Kek Chah... we really enjoyed the trip even though it was winter (supposedly lah) and the rate was high (1AUD = RM 3.00)..



Then comes Ramadhan... Syawal.... And Fnally Zulhijjah.... 11 December 2008 bersamaan 13 Zulhijjah 1429 .... kehadiran dan pemergian Allahyarham Abdullah Amin Fahmi Bin Ahmad Rizal......



Aku menerima takdir dan ketentuan-Nya dgn redha... tepat jam 4.21 pagi bertempat di Bilik Dr Ashar Abdullah, Level 3, Hospital Ampang Puteri... doktor mengesahkan anak ketigaku sudah tiada lagi... walaupun masih belum sempat melihat dunia... innalillah...



OK.. sepintas lalu kenangan 2008... looking forward to the new year (never celebrate pun - buang masa dan tenaga)...



Nantikan my next update.. insya allah... wassalam...

Update 3 : Working Trip To Mariupol, Ukraine – Part 3 : The Champions League Experience

Reading the title, I’m quite sure some of you could have sniffed it and see it coming. As the name suggests, let me officially tell you this….

I had my first CHAMPIONS LEAGUE experience while I am on this working trip…. Champions League? I must be kidding myself… I had dreamt of watching EPL match live but it never happened (yet) and now it’s the Champions League? Be serious…..

It started this way….

It was Wednesday 22 October 2008 at about 9.00 am. Location : outside Spartak Hotel in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Here’s the story…..

We were supposed to meet up outside the hotel at 9.00 am. Being a football fan, I did catch some of the highlights of Champions League games played throughout Europe the night before, among the results : Man Utd 3 – Celtic 0, Fenerbahce 2 – Arsenal 5, Juventus 2 – Real Madrid 1 etc etc…

So, when I came down, the MPV was already waiting with the driver Ivan, a football fan, standing there in the cold 8deg weather. FYI, he speaks very little English and to be able to communicate with him, we need our Liaison Officer, Kakajan Abdiyev, to translate for us…

Besides Ivan, Shankar, Hans (not a football fan), Kakajan (also not a football fan), Pavel and Igor were already there… we were waiting for AJ and Azhar (her husband) and Mikhail, I think, to come down..…

I started to talk to Shankar… “ Did you watch Champions League football last nite?”.. Shankar answered “ No, I didn’t but I know some of the results”… sensing we were talking about football, Ivan joined in by saying “Football??”…. and he told us that Dynamo Kyiv also won AWAY against Porto the previous night (translated by Kakajan, off course)…(Note to non-football fan : Dynamo Kyiv is one of the top 2 teams in Ukraine, the other team is Shaktar Donetsk)

Then I asked… “ How about Shaktar Donetsk? Did they win or lose”…. His answer surprised me…. (translated) “ Shaktar is playing against Sporting Lisbon tonight”… promptly, I asked the golden question… “ will they be playing HOME or AWAY?”…. Ivan : (translated) “ Here in Donetsk”…

Then my platinum question, “Can we get tickets for that game?”… the answer even surprised me further… “I can get it for you, provided you bring me along”…….

BINGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could feel some adrenalin rush, prompting the next question “How much is the ticket?”… answer by Ivan : “40 dollars”…… man, am I not shocked at all…. That’s extremely affordable…. Hahaha….. Champions League, here I come….

After a quick discussion with Shankar, we agreed to ask Ivan to buy the tickets and paid him the total price……

I could not really concentrate doing my job that day, as half my mind is already on the way to the stadium and the other half is thinking about what to buy as a souvenir… either a cap (too many already), a shirt (would not fit into my wardrobe anymore) or a muffler (er, bila nak pakai lagi?)….

And when we finished work that evening, we went back to the hotel for a quick ‘cloth reinforcement’ (coz we anticipate it would be freezing out there in the stadium) and then we are on our way to Donetsk Stadium !!!! whooaaaaaaaaaa……….

There were 5 or us… me, Ivan, AJ (not a football fan actually – ikut husband punya pasal), Azhar (her husband – he’s an avid fan), Shankar (Selangor Supporter di zaman era Mokhtar Dahari) and Kakajan (repeat : not at all a football fan). Kakajan was there as part of his job, to be an interpreter….

The game was scheduled at 945pm local time (245am Malaysian Time).We pushed off to Donetsk at around 7.00pm. As usual, I slept almost 80% of the journey. At around 8.30 pm, I woke up when the MPV stopped moving, only to find that we are at a local McDonalds restaurant. We decided to have a speedy dinner, which turned out to be not-so-speedy as there were heaps of people in the outlet. A fillet-o-fish and a cup of coffee later, I was fully recharged and ready for the game.

Ivan said, the Stadia is approx 1 km away from the McD, so we decided to walk (what is there walking 1km in freezing cold – I did that before in Sydney, walking back home with my wife after watching South Africa trounced Uruguay during 2003 Rugby World Cup group games).

By the time we approached the stadium, there were already dozens of Shaktar supporters along the road and outside the stadium, warming themselves with beer, vodka etc (liquors are banned from the stadium). We stopped at a small hut selling Shaktar merchandise and shopped for some souvenirs. I bought a much-needed Shaktar muffler to fend-off the effect of the freezing weather. It must have been somewhere around 3-5 deg when we entered the stadium (plus the wind-chill factor). That’s FREEEEZZZZZZINNNNNNNNNNN COLDDDDD, man…..

When we entered the stadium, it was already three-quarter full with Shaktar Donetsk supporters (including us)…. We went around the stadium to find our dedicated seats and I must say that the seats given to us are not that bad at all… it was the Grand Stand seat that originally costs USD$24 (local currency UAH 120), but we bought it in the black market, so it was bloated a lil bit… never mind that….

It was 10 minutes before the match started when we settled in at our seats and I began to take pics around the stadium… load and load of pics… I might even took more pics at the stadium than my work pics….

Then the screen showed a live feed in the players tunnel where the players are getting ready to enter the pitch… minutes later, the atmosphere turned deafening as the 2 teams marched onto the bright green pitch together with the match officials… I can’t believe my eyes…

And off course, there were also the famous Champions League logo in a huge round flag (or something) that is being laid inside the middle circle of the pitch with youths/kids along its perimeter waiting for the time to wave it…

After the players presentation the famous Champions League anthem was played and the kids/youths around the perimeter started to wave the logo (for non-football fan : the waving of the Champions League logo in the middle circle is prominent proceeding before a Champions League match gets underway….

Few minutes later, the match started and it was breathtaking, just to be inside the stadium and inside a Champions League night atmosphere… can’t really describe that wonderful top-of-the-world feeling in this blog… I’m lost for words…

There were approx 20,000 supported inside the stadium, but the designated away supporters section was seen empty. I guess the visiting supporters does not fancy coming to Donetsk for the game and save their money for a visit to Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium (Barcelona is in the same group as Shaktar and Sporting, the other team is FC Basle).

As you may aware, the match ended in a 0-1 defeat to Shaktar and the supporters went home disappointed, excluding us. I even jumped and celebrated (initially) when Sporting scored 15 minutes from time, only to be reminded by Shankar to calm down (I was wearing Shaktar’s scarf and celebrate when Sporting scored – this is not the right gesture).

In summary, the match was not as exciting as we had hoped for. The first half was a bit dull, but the second half was interesting. Shaktar attacked most of the time but in one swift counter-attack, Sporting managed to squeezed in the winning goal that makes the difference… at least there’s a goal to see (even though tak la lawa sangat pun)…. Kalau 0-0 lagi sakit hati….

As for the players, I think I hardly recognize any Shaktar players but there were seberal Portugal International players within the Sporting team, among others Helder Postiga (an ex-Spurs player)……

After the match, we managed to take a pic in front of the stadium using Azhar’s SLR and I will print that pic and put it in an oven, er.. I mean.. put it in a frame… together with my match ticket….

We went back to Mariupol at around 12.30 and reached the hotel at 2.00 am (Everyone were asleep in the MPV) except Ivan the driver, off course…

When I got back to the hotel, I had difficulty to sleep as the adrenalin rush is still there and the fact that I have watched a Champions League match live in Europe still did not sink into my mind…. I even declared that I WILL UPDATE MY BLOG and here you are, a rare long blog update from me….

I guess that’s all that I can update right now… I hope I have put in all the facts and do not miss any important milestone…

Wait for my next blog entry… Part 4 of my working trip.. which the journey back to KL…

Till then, wassalam and MAJULAH SUKAN UNTUK NEGARA…..

OOOOOOOOOOO…….THE CHAMMMPIONNNNSSSSSSSSSSS……… (nyanyi ala2 Champions League anthem) – untuk mereka yg tau je la….

Roger and out….. Enjoy the pics....

Update 2 : Working Trip To Mariupol, Ukraine – Part 2 : The Work

As the title suggests, I will be talking about the work in Ukraine… I know, the topic is very dry and boring and I promise I will make it extremely short…

As mentioned in my previous entry, I was required to witness that transfer operation of the cargoes… huaarghhhhhhhhhhh…… (a BIG YAWN)…….

Even my self feel sleepy when typing this entry… and almost went to sleep typing this entry….

OK, then I shall stop here but watch out for my NEXT BLOG ENTRY…. I can confidently say that it will not make you, my loyal blog readers, bored and will keep you up at the edge of your seat… especially if you love football…….. can u guess how elmo started out?? Er…. I mean… can u guess what my next entry gonna be????

I won’t tell…. And if I were you, I will definitely watch out for that one….

Let me give u a hint…. Er, nak bagi hint ke? Takyah la kot…

Nantikan kehadiran episod yang akan datang… pasti menggamit hati….

Promise….
Wassalam…

Update 1 : Working Trip To Mariupol, Ukraine – Part 1 : The Journey

It has been quite a while since I last updated my blog. My last blog was posted on 21 May 2008 and it was about the Champions League Final between Man Utd and Chelsea.

This time I will be writing about my latest working trip to Ukraine.

To cut long story short, I was required to be in Ukraine to witness, as a client rep, a transfer operations from Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV) to river barge of our offshore structures for my project, the Turkmenistan Block 1 Development Project. The structures are on its way from Pasir Gudang to Turkmenistan.

Since Turkmenistan is located in the Caspian Sea (a lake actually), that is isolated from the main seas, the cargo need to be transported through the Volga-Don Canal in Russia that connects the main sea (Sea of Azof) to the Caspian Sea.

After several postponement, (in the shipping industry, the ETA always moves as the sea condition fluctuates from time to time), I finally departed KL on Saturday 18th October 2008 via Frankfurt and Munich. One heaven of a looooooong journey.

My family sent me to KL Sentral. My wife and the twins were there sending me at around 9.00 pm and Afiq cried loudly after I got down (refer to Aishah’s blog for details – macam engineering drawings pulak). Arriving in KLIA after a 28-minutes smooth ERL ride, I went str8 to the international MAS lounge, where I bumped into 6 GTS colleagues (Process Engineers and a Planner) who are on their way to London for an attachment with a renowned consultant for a project in Uzbekistan. (I wonder will Structural Engineers ever be involved in attachment like this).

My flight, MH 0006 (B777-ER) which was supposed to be at 2345, was delayed after I got into the aircraft due to some traffic congestion in KLIA. (There are many flight to European destinations around that time). Being among the last scheduled flights be4 midnight, we were delayed close to 1 hour, which effectively reduces my ‘shopping time’ in Frankfurt (if the shops are opened around the time I arrived – I hope so).

After 12 hours and 30 minutes, MH 0006 touched down smoothly at 0700 local time in Frankfurt Main International Airport. This marks the first time ever I step my feet onto Germany, hence enhances my ‘appetite’ to hunt for souvenirs while I am in transit there. After all the security proceedings, it was already 0800 approx and I am still without any Frankfurt/Germany souvenirs.

There were 5 shops that opened, and three of them sells relatively the same thing. So I managed to grab some fridge magnets, keychains and t-shirts. Being an exhaustive and experience bargain hunter, I managed to get my hands on 5 euro adult t-shirt in that short space of time (full price t-shirts are around 23 euro ++) and kids t-shirts around 15 euro. Since dah tak sempat nak shop, I ran to gate A22 to get my boarding passes for both Frankfurt-Munich and Munich-Donetsk sectors (Yes, I put shopping before safely securing my seat on those flights), only to be met by another security hassle !!! hampeh.
The flight to Munich takes about 55 minutes and was supposed to depart 0855 hours. Whilst all passengers are seated for take-off, the captain makes this announcement “ Ladies and Gentlemen, there are 2 passengers that did not turn up, so we need to unload their checked-in baggage as this is a security procedures. We will start our journey in about 10 minutes”. Arghhhhhh….. not again….

Dah la nanti kat Munich aku nak gi shopping lagi, so every minutes counts… unlike what the captain announced, we took off after about 20 minutes delay….sapa la mamat 2 orang tu, nak kena siku 8x berturut2 tu…..sebagai pembalasan…

Sesampai di Munich, I spent some time to call home, sip a cup of free coffee (Thanks to Lufthansa), and off course, continue my shopping rally. I managed to grab few Munich souveirs plus a t-shirt each for Afiq n Adib, which costs 15 euro each…….

I thought I could run straight to the gate, tapi…. Lupa lak.. this is an international flight, so a ‘trip’ through the customs is a must…. Alamak……

By the time I left the shop, the flight status turned ‘boarding’…. Apabila sampai kat custom, panjang la pulak barisannya… isk, mau tak sampai Ukraine aku ni …. Kena pulak bila sampai time aku, the immigration officer belek2 pasport aku, Tanya mcm2 soalan then sembang2 ngan mmber dia kat sebelah… allo, brader.. aku punya flight dah nak jalan dah ni.. sudah2 lah belek2 tu…. Setelah beberapa minute berlalu, dia pun cop jugak la walaupun Nampak hesitant (kesannya, cop ‘Munich’ kat passport aku jadi tak terang…. )

Sekerling kat status board, it showed ‘final call’…. Alamak… apa lagi, sprint 100m ala2 Usain Bolt la aku….. nasib baik pintu tak jauh mana, lepas bagi boarding pass pada the stewardess, aku Tanya… “Am I the last passenger?”… dia jawab simple jek… “YES”….
Tak penah lagi mcm ni, seingat aku…

Bila turun je tangga nak baik bas, aku Nampak semua org dalam bas macam bengang sebab kena tunggu aku… sebaik2 je naik bas, pintu pun tutup and the bus pun jalannn…

Lupa lak nak cakap, my colleague, AJ and Hans, are on the same flight and they thought I changed my journey last minute and pegi through city lain…… they kept texting me while I was stuck at the immigration….

The flight to Donetsk took 3 hours and touched down in Donetsk International Airport at approx 1515hrs.

Nanti dulu, that’s not the end of the journey my friend….

Mariupol is situated approx 120km from Donetsk… we were met by several of our Russian and Ukrainian agents…. Among others Igor, Pavel, Mikhail, Alex and Ivan the driver… (I must admit that I can remember Russian names pretty easily compared to Malaysian names…. )… as long as I can match their surname with any Russian footballers…. Before we were passed by the immigration, I got a scare when they asked me to stand aside for ‘extra checking’.. which eventually made me the last person to clear the passport counter….

We had to take another 1.5 hours drive from Donetsk to Mariupol and along the way… yup, you guess it right… I fell asleep… the road was bumpy all along and the highway is not as good as what we have here in Malaysia… alright, the highway was free, no toll… but if compared to our free highway i.e. Federal Highway etc, it is a huuuge difference mate…… the one we have in Malaysia is far far more comfortable…. We should be thankful to the Government .. and its employees…

Arrived in Mariupol at around 1730hrs…. straight check-in at a hotel called Spartak Hotel…. Well, I recommended this hotel coz it looks like the best hotel in Mariupol after some internet search.. but eventually it turned out to be not the case… (I got blamed by Hans due to the unavailability of Wi-Fi even though the website said otherwise).. moral of the story : do not trust the websites 100%, look for hotel reviews instead….

After calculating all the flying times, transit times, delays and drive, the journey took me 28 hours in total… and THAT IS THE LONGEST JOURNEY THAT I EVER ENDURED IN MY WHOLE 30yrs LIFE…

OK guys, time to stop… I’ll definitely update this blog with part 2 and part 3.. watch out for this space… till we meet again, spasiva for reading …. (translate : spasiva = thank you)…

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

My dear blog readers,

Now it's time for the MATCH OF THE YEAR... again, my MAN UTD will entertain the blues, minus the Special One off course. and this time, it's the UEFA Champions League Final. This is a HUGE game and significant one too for several reasons :

1) If Ryan Giggs plays in this match, he will be the United player with the MOST APPEARANCE, surpassing even the grear Sir Bobby Charlton. Currently with 758 appearances, even a 1-minute cameo introduction of Giggsy will make him top of the all-time list in the Old Trafford history books.

2) 1st time an all-English final. NEVER before 2 English teams are pitted together in a final of EUROPE's premier football competition.

The above list can go on and on but not to bore my blog readers, I'll tell you the story of what had happened in the year 1999 when United lifted the title.

May 26 1999 : Actually, I was on a holiday trip with my family in South Africa. We departed KL several days before the final. Spent few nights in Cape Town before heading east to a place called Port Elizabeth (PE). The drive to PE was a very long one. We stopped about 3-quarter way to PE and spent a night (26 May 1999) at my father friend's country home in the Crags.

I tell u.. their country home was superb, but I was not really interested to write about the house here, at least not now. I'm more interested to write about what happened that night.

Once we reached the house, I straight away enquired about tha availability of a TV set, for a start. Yes, there was one, in the family hall off course. Next question, will there be a live match on telly that night? After some frantic searching in the daily newspaper, YES there was a live telecast of the greatest match of Man Utd in European football history that night. YES3x....

Me and my bro, Ridzuan were asked to occupy the room that is situated 'below' the house (the house was on hilly slope). But to get into that room, we need to access through the lawn (the room was not accessible through the main living hall/dining etc). Pls dont ask me why it was designed that way.

OK, back to the story. SInce the match was scheduled at mid-night South Africa time, we had to 'sneak' into the main house in order to watch the game. The wife was polite enough to lend us the key to the house so that we could watch the game on tv. Before midnight, me and my bro went inside the house fr our secluded room and managed to watch the game.

FYI, my bro is not football-fanatic like me, so he was sort of 'terpaksa' coz nak tido sorang2 dalam bilik pun takut. Binatang buas pun ada kat hutan keliling in their house !!).

Then the match started.

5 mins - Bayern were ahead. I was dissappointed. I could not scream coz everyone would hear and I cant swear/shout/cheer, obviously 4 the same reason.

92mins, sheringham scored the equaliser... I managed to refrain myself from leaping into the air.... coz the game still not won yet...

93mins - solskjaer, the baby-faced assassin, scored the winner in the 3rd minute of injury time. Could not contain anymore, jumped in joy and landed on the timber flooring that yielded a squeeky sound and for sure, everyone in the house can hear, even if they were sleeeping... ooopss, sorry mate...

the next morning, the news spread even be4 i even woke up. the news are :

1) Man u won the champions league
2) I jumped so hard that I actually woke up everyone that night !!!

the moral of the story is... kalau nak gi holiday tu, elakkanlah masa2 penting dalam kalender bola sepak dunia....

till we meet again in my next blog, wassalam...

sekian lama blog ini menyepi, akhirnya muncul kembali...

Hi everyone...

Ish, berkurun aku tak update blog sampai kena kutuk ngan Aishah.... takpe2.. memandangkan esok masih cuti dan aku masih lagi procratinate utk start study aku utk menghadapi assessment x lm lagi, inilah masanya yg ditunggu2 oleh semua penghuni blog aku ni... semoga dgn kehadiran blog aku ni dpt memeriahkan hari2 anda....

before that, just nak inform ... hehehe... at first aku dah lupa password n username utk masuk be blog ni.. appa da... nasib baik sempat ingat sblm kena ban... kalau tak kena open blog br lagi la....

ok2.. cepat2.. banyak nak citer ni...

kisah 1 : trip to Busan, Korea Selatan

Pada 8-11 April yg lalu, aku telah diarahkan utk menghadiri mtg kat Busan, Korea. Aku pada asalnya nak story satu persatu, tapi sebab masa tak mengizinkan, aku rumuskan aje la dalam beberapa perenggan...

1st n foremost, korang agak2 la kenapa la diorang namakan bandar ni dgn nama "Busan"? cepat2 pikir... masa berjalan.... tetttt... masa dah tamat...

mudah aje sebabnya... sebab bandar ni memang la BOSAN !!!!! so, cover sikit dari penegtahuan umum, terpaksa la diorang ubah sikit instead of BOSAN kepada BUSAN...

ni realiti beb, bukan main2... mmg la teramatnya la bosan bandar Busan ni.. sebab dia lebih ke arah bandar industri... banyak kilang2, industri asas tani etc... dari atas flight boleh nampak khemah2 putih tempat sayuran hidroponik dihasilkan...

pastukan nak nak citer la pasal MEGA SALE kat Busan ni... ada la satu kompleks shopping tu ala2 KLCC tgh buat sale... ramai gila org sebab kebetulan hr yg kitorang smpai tu hr cuti umum (pilihanraya)... mmg berpusu2 org shopping kat situ... aku pun pg la jenguk2 apa la yg diorang shoping sakan ni.. sekali kan... nak tau.. ni kira bizarre la ni compared to Malaysia... the maximum discount is 20% off.. hah, SERIOUS DOWH... dah la harga dia mmg mahal, pastu diskaun sikit plak tu...

tak tipu punya... aku calculate2, baik la aku beli harga RRP kat Jusco ke Parkson ke ISETAN ke, sebab mahal bedooh (pronounce : BE-DO-OH)... patut la Koreans shopping kat Malaysia sampai pilot kapal terbang marah sbb bwk balik byg sangat barang... KL is heaven for shopping, believe me....

the mtg was conducted on 10 Apr and we head back to Msia on 11 Apr.. aku sempat beli souvenir utk umah aku sikit, thats all sebab barang mahal gile, baik aku simpan duit utk shopping kat Gold Coast bulan 8 nanti...

kisah 2 : trip ke Kota Bharu last weekend

last weekend aku gi Kota Bharu for my cousin's wedding (nikah + pompuan's reception). Fly to KB on fri evening, and back to KL the next day evening.. via AirAsia off course... now, everyone can fly...

once sampai kat KB, aku terus tunggu my family who were driving fr KT and KL to arrive.. since diorang lambat sampai aku pun amik teksi terus ke pasar siti khadijahh, pasar yg terkenal di KB ni... www.pasarsitikhadijah.com... since wife pesan tudung, so tu yg aku pg jugak tu... kalau tak, rasanya payah gak la org laki nak layan tmpt2 macam ni... sesampai kat pasar, kedai banyak yg dah tutup, hr jumaat ma... so, at least choice aku cuma pada kedai2 yg masih bukak..

tgk punya tgk, sambar jugak la 2 lai.. tu pun lepas penin kepala sebab mcm2 ada.. sebut aje kaler apa nak, suma ada...

malam tu rombongan pengantin sampai ke KB kul 7 mlm and akad nikahnya lepas isyak!!!! aku bersiap lebih kurang then head ke masjid tmpat akad nikah.. imam yg akadkan nikah tu muda belia lagi.. tua setahun je dr aku.. lahir 77... dah jadi imam... selesai akad nikah kitorang BERMALAM kat rumah rehat yg disewa oleh pengantinpompuan.... cukup sekadar boleh bermalam... aku bagi 1 bintang out of 5 bintang...

next day saturday pagi since kenduri lmbat lagi, kitorang pg sekali lagi pasar khadijah tu, sbb diorang nak beli beras utk kenduri belah laki nanti.. aku usha jersey (biasa la kan)... jersey chelsea baru dah keluar, begitu juga liverpool baru home.... and off course la jersey Man U belambak la kan... tapi aku masih berjaya menahan keinginan aku.. iman kuat beb... hehehe... (nantikan kisah 3)...

lepas kenduri aku DiHantar Laju (DHL) oleh sorang sedara aku ni nama dia Pok We... sebelum balik, smpt gak singgah pasar khadijah buat kali ke 3 , kali ni aku beli lagi tudung utk wife aku, sayang isteri la katakan... and few other accesoories and also serundings utk da family...

nasib baik tak miss flight ptg tu.. ceritanya begini... aku sampai kat airport KB kul 4.40, flight kul 5.00 ptg.. tgk status kat screen tu masih 'open'.. since aku dah web-check in awal2 so aku lepak la kat bawah, cari air sikit and round2 airport dia (airport baru beb)... sekali bila 4.50 status masih 'open' dan bukannya 'boarding', aku pikirkan maybe flight ni delay kot... tapi dek kerana naluri lelaki ini, aku gagahkan jugak la masuk boarding lounge...

sekali aku tgk tmpt tu kosong beb, betul2 punya kosong, melainkan staf air asia 3 orang.. aku tanya diorang apasal dah boarding tapi status masih 'open'... diorang bilang sama aku gini... "Encik, kat airport KB ni, kalau kapal terbang dah terbang pun status dia boleh jadi masih 'open' "... hah... nasib baik la aku masuk jugak... and guess what, aku lah org terakhir masih aircraft A320 tu... haha...

kisah 3 : working trip ke Pasir Gudang

last week, aku tak semena2 kena gi Pasir Gudang, attend mtg.. aku ingatkan sebab dah ramai staff PCTSB kat sana, boleh la aku escape mtg... sekali ptg sebelum mtg tu esoknya, aku dapat instruction suruh attend.. apa lagi, dah la approval x dpt lagi, bergegas dapatkan approval la aku ptg tu...

tup2 esok pagi baru bos sign, aku pun terus ke PG pagi rabu sampai around lunch hour, so sempat la mtg as it started at 230 pm...

nak dijadikan cerita, hari sebelum bertolak aku dah tanya Saffuan whether ada game futsal ke tak, dia ckp nnti dia inform tapi sampai ke sudah dia x inform (aku pun x f/up sapa suruh).. bile sesampai je dia kata futsal rabu malam ON, lawan sub-contractor INAI... ciss, dah la aku tak bawak kelengkapan...

bila sampai je JB, terus aku carik contact lense and solution.. petang lepas keje, Saffuan bawak aku ke Jusco utk cari stokin... game start kul 8..... akhirnya dapat jugak la aku main futsal kat Taman Rinting, Pasir Gudang.... menang gak kitorang 15-14.. dapat jugak la score 3 bijik... tapi yg aku puas hari tu gol yg ke 3 tu sebijik macam gol Paul Scholes masa lawan Barca semi-final Champions League, cuma sebelah kiri instead of sebelah kanan gol... hinggakan jadi kontroversi sebab pihak lawan kata kena tiang... tapi setelah tgk replay, memang terbukti kena tiang dalam n gol tu disahkan oleh pengadil perlawanan, Mr Pierluigi Collina...

esoknya aku lunch ngan Fahmi kat kedai favourite dia.. lepas lunch aku ajak la mamat ni pg kedai jersey kat Komplek Pasir Gudang... aku takdek plan pun nak beli.. saje gi tgk sebab pada aku kedai dia best, walaupun counterfeit...

a bit about the shop, owner dia nama Tarmizi a.k.a. "G"... penyokong liverpool, so koleksi Kops mmg byk la kat situ... suka si Saffuan tu.. in fact aku penah sekali promote kat Saffuan tu jersey hitam liverpool special edition (european chamions league), and guess what, beli jugak dia jersey tu setelah kena racun ngan aku...

before this aku pun penah gak sambar jersey Man U (previous 2 season) with RONALDO 7 at the back dari kedai ni.. 2 lai lak tu... so, kira kamcing gak la ngan brader G ni..

si Fahmi ni pulak kebetulan tgh cari jersey AC Milan putih long sleeved... sekali bila sampai situ, tgk2 jersey tu ada la... clearance lagi...

pastu kitorang 2 belek2 la jersey2 lain kat situ... and I admit.. I had a crush kat jersey Argentina baru... siap no n nama kat belakang... Fahmi try dulu jersey tu, muat.. then aku try pulak... fahmi racun aku.. "brader, takkan try je kot, angkat la satu"... ish, ayat2 yg macam tu yg selalu sahaje melemahkan aku tatkala di kedai sukan...

aku pun decide la nak amik satu jersey Argentina tu, Fahmi amik satu tapi both of us nak amik yg RIQUILME 10 instead of MESSI 18 or TEVEZ 11... sekali Fahmi terpaksa mengalah n ended up aku amik REQUILME 10 and dia amik MESSI 18... aku siap call brader G (yg tidak berada di tempat kejadian pada masa tu) utk mintak diskaun... samada dia masih ingat aku atau buat2 ingat, aku pun x sure... tapi pokok pangkalnya, dapat diskaun... siap si Fahmi ni contemplate nak amik jersey away (NEW) chelsea kaler hitam long-sleeves tapi setelah berpk, terpaksa dikenselkan...

I have a confession to make though, few months back aku penah vow ngan wife aku Aishah.. "abang tak nak beli dah jersey lepas nih", selepas aku beli jersey REAL MADRID BECKHAM 23 kat Al Ikhsan stulang bulan 1 yg lepas.. tapi apa kan daya, takdir penentu segalanya (nak aku nyanyi ke lagu ni??)...

bila balik KL je, aku cakap kat is3 aku... sayang, i've got myself a new jersey... n ayat aku itu dibalas dgn senyuman... hehehe... mmg jersey ni weakness aku la...

nanti esok2 bila aku lapang sikit nanti aku listkan jersey2 yg berada dalam koleksi aku sejak tahun 1990... masih ingat the first is LIVERPOOL (CANDY kat depan).... yess, I WAS A LIVERPOOL SUPPORTER BEFORE, that was before they swith their sponsor to CARLSBERG....

hins, jam dah menunjukkan kul 11 15 pm dan esok aku keje pulak tu.. hence aku menamatkanblog entry aku yang panjang ini kat sini.. aku tau mesti ramai di kalangan anda yang akan tertunggu2 bilalah keluaran blog aku yg ke-seterusnya... aku pun takleh commit date sebab aku sekarang ni lebih ke arah FACEBOOK.... ni pun pasal Fahmi jugak la yg introduce kat aku....

till the fingers meet the keyboard again, wassalam dan majulah sukan untuk negara...

Happy 30th Birthday to ME...

Dear Blog Readers,

If you read my previous blog, I did mention that 3/4/08 is an important milestone date for me... believe it or not.. I'm "officially 30" on this day (pinjam wording yg ditulis atas kek courtesy of my wife).

Hins... dah 30 tahun aku hidup di muka bumi ini.. rasanya banyak lagi perkara2 yg tak terbuat lagi i.e. naik haji, travel around the world, re-visit South Africa, re-visit Gold Coast (insya allah bulan Ogos nanti).. er, semua bersangkut paut dgn travelling ajek.. maklumlah Travel Freak...

OK, since this blog is specifically ditajukkan dgn title di atas, let me story a little bit on the happenings that took place.. (apa la punya english ni...)..

Firstly, our 1st twin Afiq wan down with measles (spellilng??).. aka demam campak.. so,sambutan kali ni agak sederhana...

on that day, my wife took leave to look after Afiq.. we wanted to have a fine dinner at our fav outlet, but somehow terpaksa ditukar ke lunch date instead sebab sejak kebelakangan ni asyik ujan aje petang2...

she ordered 2 cheese cakes for me... satu utk makan kat umah mak, n satu lagi utk makan kat umah Mama.. both are wonderful cakes, but the smaller one tastes better... order through fotopages ajek.. utk keterangan lanjut, pls go to my wife's friendster page, rasanya ada info kat situ...

the cakes are supposed to be a secret, but due to Afiq's condition and the uncertainties, my wife told me about it a day earlier, because I may need to pick it up myself if Afiq x sihat lagi...

OK, the lunch took place at one of the finest and famous eating outlet in Jalan Ampang, the same place where I proposed to her 6 years ago... I had my fav lobster while my wife had her fav chili's spare rib.. wonderful wonderful lunch....

petang tu kitorang lepak kat umah Mak, n Papa, Mama, Atiqah and Adam came over to visit Afiq.... so these small people yang telah merasmikan cheese cake no. 1... sedap giler, memng recommended...

the next night, after work, we went over to Mama's place pulak.. another birthday song by the same singers, who else kalau bukan my beloved nieces and nephew. Cheese Cake no 2 is not bad at all.. but prefer the 1st cake semalam...

Today (12 April) we went out to get my present.. a nice black short-sleeved shirt... thanks my dear...

sekarang dah pun pukul 2.28 pagi... kalau ikut hati nak create another blog regarding my recent working trip to Busan, Korea... tapi since mata ni dah macam pokok yg x disiram 88 hari (a.k.a layu), aku stop kat sini dulu la...

sehingga kita bertemu kembali... wassalam..

Special Day Today

Assalamualaikum...

Before I further elaborate on the above topic... allow me to finish off what I left from my 2st blog entry 3 days ago....

Continue..... after almost 4 years getting married (to the same person, off course), we were blessed with a set of twin boys on 17 August 2007.... alhamdulillah... coincidently, that date is also my mom-in-law's birthday (and also one our aunty's birthday)... so, this year we anticipate a somewhat 'major' celebration on the 17th of August 2008...

The timing of the new arrivals could not be more 'perfect' coz on the same day, my owb brother was getting married in Terengganu... hence I did not get to attend the majlis in Tgg...

Now, the boys i.e. AFIQ HAZMAN n ADIB HAZIM are 7 months old and looking cuter ever since... fyi, both are non identical twins, so their look, perangai, likes and dislikes, even fav food are different........ afiq likes to watch Thomas n Frens while Adib loves ELMO n Frends... afiq likes yellow colour while adib's fav color is red (MU Supporter already??)....

WHat else... afiq likes to eat 'eastern' menu... i.e. banana, rice etc, while adib is a bit 'western' - cereal is among his fav...

Even so, there's always some thing in common that they like both, such as.... a good bath in the tub (with toys off course0, car ride, sitting in baby carrier while going shopping, a stroll in their stroller in the neighbourhood in the morning, football (well, generally both like the ball that we bought them but adib's enthusiasm on moving balls is greater than afiq)...

stop here for a while... let me take a deep breath while relaxing my fingers that have been typing crazily for the past 180 seconds......

...................................................................................................................................................................

ok.. back to today's topic... special day...

today 24/3 is a very special day to me and aishah.. why? if you really want to know the answer... please call me privately at 0193267403... will inform those who call me before 8.28 tomorrow morning... later than that, sorry... your queries will not be entertained...

today, after work, we had an early dinner at one of our fav restaurant in KLCC.... after a full-to-brim dinner, had a visit to M&S downstairs to survey something for this coming 3rd April 2008... what's happening on that day, u may ask... well, to know the answer, stay tune to my blog as I will reveal the answer as we move towards that date... scary for me actually...

to my amazement, I had a little present from her... one which I did not expect at all.. what a pleasant seprais .... i've been eyeing the thing but everytime had to contain myself from having is coz we are in quite a tight budget (result of our crave for travelling).... thank you, thank you and thank you very the very much my dear for the gift.. even though it was not wrapped, I really2 appreciate form the bottom of my heart...

oklah kot buat kali ini..lenguh dah tangan ni... tak boleh jadi typist aku ni...

till I find time to update this blog again... er, before I end this blog, cubalah renung2kan kata2 di bawah... semoga kita mendapat sesuatu daripadanya... wassalam..

Ada yang tertinggal
Setelah terbenam Mentari
Ada yang tertinggal
Setelah kering air di kali

Alam telah menyakinkan
Kau mesti pergi…
Kau mesti
Alam telah menyakinkan
Kau mesti kembali
Bagai yang telah dijanjikan Illahi

Ada yang tertinggal
Setelah musnah semua mimpi…

Kekal selamanya
Cintaku dengan cahaya mu
Kekal selamanya
Tetap dalam ingatanku

Lemas dalam rindu
Tenggelam dalam tangisan
Engkau telah pergi
Tapi masih ada…
Yang kau tinggalkan dalam kalbuku
Yang tinggal…

MY FIRST 'INDEPENDENT' BLOG

Assalamualaikum...

As the name suggests, this is truly my first 'independent' blog... meaning to say that this is the first time that I create my own blog outside Friendster...

I hope this is not the first and last time I blog on this blogspot and I intend to write as much as possible, if time permits that is..

OK, what do I want to talk in this 'dara' version of my blog? PERSONAL LIFE? FAMILY? WORK? FUTSAL? FOOTBALL? F1? After putting on my 'topi berfikir' (i.e. thinking cap), I decide to talk about My Family.. that is My OWN Family...

First, myself... born 3 April 1978 (almost hit 30 next month... eeriee!!!)... family of 6.. have an elder sister and 2 younger bros...

primary and secondary school in Taman Melawati (SRKTM and SMKTM respectively). Tertiary education in UTM, Skudai, Johor. 4 years. Degree in Civil Engineering.

Wife.... Noor Aishah Zaharin.... born 21 Oct 1980 (not yet 28 though)... also used to live in the same taman as me... primary and secondary schools same with me, but decided to join SM Sains Selangor in Cheras for F4 and F5. Went to UTM (I was her senior OK), met me there. Rest is history.

Got maried 31 May 03. I quit my job 3 weeks after getting married. Decided to pursue post graduates studies in Sydney, Australia. Different course, different faculties, same university and same sponsor i.e. MARA (a big thank to Majlis Amanah Rakyat for sponsoring us - we are active payers of our MARA loans),

27 July 2003 - arrived in chilly winter in Sydney on my father's 58th birthday. Still remembered this date exactly as it's the day when I arrived Down Under together with someone I love.

To cut things short, spent the whole 1 year in Australia (except the 2 months summer break in Dec03 - Jan04). Came back to Malaysia in Ausgust 04 with Masters in Construction Management and Masters in Civil Engineering respectively.

After endless job hunting exercise, managed to join PETRONAS after 3 months jobless. Until now. (I am a loyal employee, you know). As for my wife, she joined Boustead Holding on contract basis after approx 6 months jobless, then when she's about to be confirmed, received an offer not to be missed... to serve the Government of Malaysia... now in JPS.... and working hard as always... (probably need to refine this statement my dear?)...

I think that should be enough for the time being.. for those who reads this blog, thanks for your time... i'll update more on myself and my family in my next blog.. stay tuned...

wassalam..