another day in paradise

It was 11pm and we were having guests at home. I don't normally entertain whole families at this hour unless it's for dinner but this was an exception and all the reason more for the visitors to have made it earlier. They left at 11.30, I waved goodbye quickly and hit the bed after securing the snooze. The alarm went off at 2am. I did a quick stretch and continued with my morning chores. There was no time for breakfast so I settled for Nescafe. It was 3.15 when we left the house, the target was 3am but this is the norms when you get the whole crew to get ready simultaneously. The timing was appropriately early for their standards.

The traffic was clear all the way. Other than a few trucks and a handful of cars on the road, it was awfully empty. We reached LCCT at 4.15. After dropping them at the departure hall and giving specific instructions to head to the luggage check-in, I headed for the nearby parking. That too was a breeze as compared to my prior afternoon engagements here. 

I got a nice spot right opposite Old Town White Coffee and the stroll to the hall was pretty quick. It was not crowded as compared to the late morning rush. The bags were tagged and ready to go as I approached the check-in counter. As we were ahead of schedule, my dad-in-law wanted to get some US currencies. We tried the Hong Leong bureau but the rates were not so attractive and so we decided to try CIMB. The lady at the counter was very pleasant and we managed to get a good deal. As the seniors had to settle all their natural calling prior to flight, we decided to go to the gates early. After this, they will be engaged in a four hours flight to Chennai which was scheduled to depart at 6.15. My daughter was very emotional as she had not stayed away much from her Granny and the thought of not eating my mom-in-laws fried fish & not being fussed by the elders was a bit too annoying for her liking. She did air her grievances to them several times in the last few days; “Why can’t all of us go together during the school holidays?” We bid our farewells and they took the escalators up at 5.05. 

We cleared the parking by 5.15 and were home by 6. The ladies were pretty tired and decided to hit the bed. I did a bit of surfing while relaxing to the tune of Pink Floyd’s ‘the Wall’ album, then left the house for my jogging at 6.45. I wanted to do 8 laps but was too tired and managed to do only 6 that day. I completed the whole routine before 8 as planned. I then went back home to hit the shower before having toast with tea. After breakfast, I decided to read Gopal Bharatam's, 'Sayang' (courtesy of Ms. Mello) which has been sitting on my desk for about a week now. Mel told me recently about this book exchange programme. What happens is, upon completing your book you share the book title on the web with other aficionados who do the same. When you lock into the title you desire and the other person likes your book, you make plans to barter trade the item. It’s a super way to devour all the books you can without having to pay for all of them. The saving is not restricted to monetary value but imagine the number of trees you can save by re-cycling. If you ask me, it should be introduced in a larger scale in Malaysia...this idea must also be shared in schools & colleges extensively. The thought of forking out $60+ for a novel is not very appetizing to most readers. The authorities should realize that if you want the nation to read, you just got to bring down the price of books… I'd rather download a free e-book anytime. Mello's option would be a win-win situation for all parties concerned.

  

I couldn't read much but Ri's character was intriguing to say the least. I decided to take a nap at 9.30 as the dawn wake-up call had made me very tired by now. I woke up at 12.30pm and lunch was already on the table. It was mango curry, fish curry & mixed vegetable…yummilicious. I just lazed around listening to more music after that. 

the record book

There was a ‘KK Banting’ medical fare going on in Dewan Meranti Sg. Buloh. It was an all day event with free medical/ dental check-ups and many activities lined up for the kids. I made my way straight to the registration counter and enquired about blood donation. From there, I went to fill up the forms and take my vitals before giving a blood sample. The doctor ran through my medical history to eliminate the odds. I weighed myself and took the kit to wait for my turn. I was stretched out for a long time before the nurse came to locate my vein. It was difficult to find a spot on my left hand but I insisted it be done there. She gave up after some time and called for reinforcement. A senior nurse came and sorted the vein in less than a minute. I just lied back and watched the kids running around. I also made small talk with some children who were at my bedside to watch the blood sucking process. I was solely here to collect a new record book as I have lost the old one which carried a lot of weight as far as medical privileges were concerned. I feel they should computerize the record keeping because it’s not fair when you misplace a book after donating more than 20 times, the loss is too great then. It would have taken me about 15 minute’s tops to clear the blood-letting. I had a quick Milo and started to wander around there. There were many booths on the outside selling ‘nasi ayam’, cool drinks, tom-yam and other local delicacies. Alas, it started to pour and the visitors were clearly pissed with this new development. I hung around for a bit and headed back home. My daughter was gasping when she saw my arm and asked me what happened…so I explained to her what I just did; she was amused but frightened at the same time. We all sat down and had tea together. We were plotting our next escapade as the ongoing school holidays did not offer much relief to my daughter or us. The May-June break will be waited upon in anticipation from now on. She wanted to go to ‘Curve’ to chill out that evening and my wife wanted to get some groceries & household items from ‘Tesco’. So be it…let the evening begin.

We reached the Curve parking by 7.30pm. The traffic as usual was very hectic on the road near the malls as well as the parking inside. We went to the supermarket straight away to get the job done. That was sorted by 9. After sending the goodies to the car, we headed for the eateries. We decided to try ‘ThaiExpress’ for something different. My wife ordered rice & soup and my daughter asked for sweet & sour fish with rice. I went for Olive fried rice with chicken  & fresh black olives aka ‘Khao Ob Nam Leab’(King Chulalongkorn’s favourite dish-as stated in the menu). It was khao-khao alrite…all their dishes were excellent. We washed it down with mouth watery sweet sticky rice added with coconut milk & mango slices. Thumbs up for the food here folks, these patrons were truly content. Just to keep the rhythm going at the right pace, we slid down to ‘Chocolate’ to have some ice-creams.

I drove out from Curve at about 10.20 and the roads were packed to the brim, all the way to LDP exit. I took a slow drive after that to just enjoy the ride back home, away from my normal fast lane. It was not much of a school holidays but we did manage to do these things together and that is what matters in the end.

Bring on Monday quickly but do let it slide to Friday in a jiffy….

walking down memory lane…

 



I was walking along Jln TAR over this weekend looking for bedsheets and other stuffs. I was there by 10AM and parked at Masjid India. My dad-in-law wanted to get some woolen sweaters and so we headed for Lal's. As we were passing by GS Gill, I told the entourage to proceed to Lal but I wanted to check my bearings at GS Gill before packing them off to Lal's. To our dismay the Gill clerk said that the shop had relocated to Subang about two years ago. I googled for other shops and sent them on their way to Sharafali’s at TAR. I then went to check out some dumbells at Gills. After sending the bars to the car, I had some time to kill and decided to cruise Jln TAR...how this place has changed a little by little over the years.

 
In those days, I was staying at TTDI in my auntie's place in Lrg Abang Hj Openg 6 and studying at Stamford College, Masjid India. It was the Sri Jaya bus era and I took the 244 bus ($0.60) from TTDI and exited when it reached the stop before Bank Negara. The stroll to Masjid India was something I looked forward to in the morning. As I was new to KL, I was in awe of all the towering buildings around me. Every other thing that I experienced was new to me…even though I tried to pretend that I'm a city boy just to blend in. KL folks don't take too kindly to country bums…and I wasn’t pretty far from that. Carrot cut slacks & drain pipe jeans were vogue then, so were colourful t-shirts, cool jackets & Pakalolo boots. College life was happening to say the least. There was Dhinakaran from Bangsar, Ravi & Ramesh from Seremban. They were my trusted class mates. We had a bunch of other local guys too and together we formed the Stamford Mafia. Stamford was located where Haniffa is currently at. Dhina especially, tought me all the cool things & how to move in style and rhythm. As far as I was concerned he was the coolest…he knew all the latest songs (I was just getting acquainted with Casey Kasem's top 40), all the happening spots & anything else that was beneficial to a teenager’s journey into manhood. During our class breaks, we used to chill at Wendy's (opposite current Masjid India Maybank which itself was CoOp Bank at that time). We would just sit there cracking jokes and monitoring all the secretarial students that were coming in or going out. Boy ohh boy!!...there were lots of chicks in Stamford, in their smart secretarial outfits. I would order a gas drink and spend hours in Wendy's bird watching...my favourite sport at that time. It wasn't easy to approach a girl and engage in small talk and go for the kill. You need to look & dress like Duran Duran or something to make that happen. Girls came there with other girls and you don't see couples unless they're college seniors. So we continued bird watching through these hormonal changing times.

jln bunus 6, parallel to Jln Dang Wangi aka Dam Wangi 

My first big night out was during Stamfords annual dinner at PJ Hilton. I was dressed to kill...black carrot cut slacks & a stylish hare rama cotton jubbah. Me and the boys had some beer at a Chinese restaurant nerarby before making the grand entrance. It was my introduction to another world that would be re-visited time and again for the next ten years. The glamorous lifestyle of the hotel industry was alluring to me. As compared to other heavyweights at that time such as KL Hilton and Shangri La, PJ Hilton was a minnow as far as hoteliers were concerned but the PJ-Damansara stretch offered the best entertainment in regards to pubs, clubs and night life. During my stay in TTDI, a local band by the name of ‘Search’ was belting out their rock ballads at Hard Rock Café TTDI (not the US chain). Another Damansara Utama product was the sister group ‘Cenderawasih’. These were times of rock ballads, hard rock, slow rock, heavy metal, pop, new wave, punk, blues and the reggae beat. Bob Marley (RIP)had passed on in 1981 and his influential music & lyrics was popular amongst our group cause Marley was talking about ‘One Love’ and ‘I shot the Sheriff’ which was totally splendid to us.

Back to the big night at PJ Hilton…after the dinner was served, I stepped out to have my ciggies (it was ok to smoke anywhere those days)…that’s the spot where I met my first girlfriend, Lalita…she was the most gorgeous looking black beauty, a true lady in every sense of the word. I summoned up my courage and started a conversation with her, she was so polite & careful with her words…I was babbling as usual but she interacted well with me. We spoke for another 30 minutes or so and walked back into the ballroom when the DJ was spinning ‘Wonderful Tonight’…we danced and we danced the night away. I didn’t know till then that ‘amore’ could be so wonderful… I wasn’t matured enough at that time to realize also that love can be so darn cruel at times…when your world becomes topsy-turvy, you start growing beard & listening to ‘Careless Whisper’ again and again. I was doing pretty fine till she walked into my life and rotated it 360 degrees, it was helter skelter. To make a long story short, we split up several months later because her parents asked her to continue her studies abroad.

      rumah Tumpangan Pang Woo opposite Sogo


Walking past Jalan Bunus 6 that day brought back all those 80’s memories rushing back in a frenzy…it was like listening to Eric Clapton serenade his woman in ‘wonderful Tonight’.

KTM Komuter

What do you call an establishment that is sinking to the pits…white elephant? I wouldn’t go so far as calling KTM an establishment or an elephant, it is the noblest of creatures.

What do you call it then? Ineffective, corrupt, damn right wasteful…I could go on here but I’m guessing you get my drift. Believe it or not komuter service is the sole bread winner for KTM as the inter-city is mere window dressing that is running at a loss....and they can't even sustain their champion. 

I’m just writing a few sentences here but my friend Afiza could probably churn out novels on this subject matter. She plies the KL Sentral to Shah Alam route. For those of you who haven’t got a clue about their travel itinerary; KTM Komuter line consists of 2 major paths, one of the route is Tanjung Malim to Sungai Gadut and the other being Batu Caves to Port Klang….to & fro, that is (it used to be Rawang to Seremban & Sentul to Port Klang  respectively). KL Sentral is the main terminal where the Komuter, LRT & ERL cross paths…actually, they don’t cross each other but the Komuter does literally. That is the worst place to be at rush hour, especially for the KTM commuters. Delays are part of the standard operating procedures which is always blamed on “due to technical error”, (they never get tired of using this lame excuse for umpteen years now).
The scheduled waiting time is 15 minutes during peak hours, which is seldom the actual case. Peak hour at KL Sentral komuter station is like going into a war zone, it is total chaos. Snatch theft is the norm which is the main discussion of the regular passengers, telling stories of unsightly scenes that they have witnessed. I have personally seen that at least 5 times during my commuting days from 1996 to 2007 (that’s give or take, 20days x 12months x 11 years x 2 trips = 5280 trips)…these were frightening days that makes nightmare on elm street seem like child’s play. Given a choice, I would never go back to taking the komuter (unless its divine intervention). I’d rather take the bus to KL, end of story. 

waiting in vain... 

In those days, I would have written in many times to their on-line complaint bureau, sadly none of these grievances were ever looked into. At one point of time, there were as many as 20 – 30 trains lying in the workshop, waiting for parts that were never ordered due to obsolete spare parts. Even Pak Lah tried to take the komuter once, he had to board the second train as the first one was too crowded. On the very next day, the media were screaming for blood. As usual, it was just another current story which died down when the next current issue appeared.

show time

One good thing about the whole experience though was I managed to get acquainted with a lot of people. These were good sub-urban folks who were travelling to the city via public commute as they did not have any other means of travel. 
It has been about 4 years since I last took a KTM komuter, but based on what I hear from Afiza, I ain’t missing nothing at all.

let JAh be praised

HE WATERETH THE HILLS
FROM HIS CHAMBERS
AND THE EARTH IS SATISFIED
SO SATISFIED
HE MAKETH THE GRASS TO GROW FOR ANIMALS
JAH MADE THE HERB FOR MAN
(courtesy of Peter Tosh - Igziabeher let JAh be praised)

The weather is changing for the worst I feel nowadays…it’s been sizzling non-stop for the past four days in a row in Sg. Buloh, it feels like there’s no end to this drought. Luckily, it’s been raining in areas nearby which gives us that cold windy breeze sometimes at night. The mango tree at home is beginning to show off its bountiful young produce. Ever since I started paying special attention to the tree, the results have been magnificent. It will be a good harvest this year provided the kids & birds in the neighbourhood don’t get to it first. The word mango originates from the ‘Malayalam’ word ‘manga’. It is so significant to the malayalee’s that when I tied the knot, my wife’s chain pendant was shaped like a mango leaf. We put it in fish curry, chutney, pickles, salad etc. ... we even have a ‘manga curry’ made using the sweet varieties.
I do believe that Sg. Buloh showcases one of the best plant life assortment in Malaysia. Heck, the plant nursery is about 2km from the house, from there on its acres of green & colourful nurseries to be scrutinized by the city folks hunting for that special plant that will be the main attraction in their garden. If you reside here, you could probably overhaul your garden once a year just to give it that new feel. We’ll talk about the Sg. Buloh Nurseries on another day…that’s one of my favourite chill out place.

Ooops…tomorrow is Monday again folks…….calm down, take it easy!….let’s all be patient and wait for that Friday, its just around the corner. 

Have a pleasant week folks.

Liverpool vs MU

Before going into my first posting let me tell you something about myself...I don't give a shi* about MU, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal for that matter. I've been a firm Tottenham Hotspur supporter from time immemorial. When MU lost 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, I wasn't too pleased with the results as a win would have firmed up Spurs standing in the table...but alas that was not to be. We're taking on Wolves in their den on Sunday & Spurs have to win. As for Liverpool, do us this favour and oust MU just this once please.

Welcome to freeDom4All

Hi friends..I've always dreamt of having my own place on the web to write about the daily trivia’s of life & anything else worth talking about…as this is my first attempt, do pardon any shortcomings in my journals. I do wish to speak the truth though on any subject matter that I may indulge in.
..Welcome to my humble abode in space folks. I hope you enjoy the ride ;)