Can't believe the first quarter of 2023 is already gone. Time flies! It was a busy quarter but I am glad I get to do a few things again such as diving! Managed to finally squeeze in a trip to Tenggol in mid March, and I can't believe I have never dived in Tenggol before. Beautiful diving sites! Only a few underwater photos below since my underwater photographic skills were abit rusty after 9 long years of not diving. Why did I stay away for so long eh? Oh, as fate had it, I met Ardy and Lynn there (although we didn't tell each other that we were going) and we ended up diving together for 1 of the days. Ardy was my dive buddy when I first took up scuba diving back in 2008 so it was a nice mini reunion.
Just before Tenggol, I managed to squeeze in a friendly match for our male NPSC basketball team with SatUM so it was really nice to meet the SatUM guys again after all these years. Of course, none of the first gen SatUM are playing anymore but the rest such as Y, Ed, Butet, Jai, Husen, Fendy & Hadi are still there except that they have upgraded themselves from UM court to Cobra Club. Lepak with them at Amjal too for old times' sake but no more nasi lemak bungkus!
Just before Ramadhan, we went to Penang for the 16th NPSC 2023. Although both our basketball teams only got silver and our swimming team only managed to win 3 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronzes, I am still so proud of them as I myself did not managed to give my full attention in training them this year. Work has been and is still as hectic as ever so I am just grateful with whatever that they have achieved especially that we still come 2nd for overall medal tally. Don't know if I will still be coaching again next year, feeling too old and battered already.
Anyway, managed to see an old diving friend Deepy too last night after so many years. He is only back in KL for a few days for a funeral so I am glad we managed to catch up although only for a short while. I really miss all my basketball and diving friends! Should organise another moreh at Uptown meet up soon.
2011 has been a busy year at work for both Big Boss and I from the very beginning and we didn't get to go diving as mush as we wanted to. But when I received an email from our friend Rid one day in May inviting us to join a year-end Live-on-board (LOB) trip to Andaman Sea, I didn't think twice and said yes straightaway. I even forwarded the emailed to a couple of friends asking them to come along.
Came October, I was already feeling the fatigue from the ongoing workload and looked forward more than ever to the trip, now seen as an opportunity to give my brain a total rest, instead of just another diving trip. 2011 has also seen me becoming an anti-social more than ever so the idea of having some of the (used to be) close friends on board brought excitement in me. I used to meet or at least talk to some of these friends on daily basis at certain points of life but different career paths and life priorities have now distanced us.
Anyway, 13th December finally came and after a chaotic day of packing and last minute checks on my students' research theses, off we went to the airport and flew to Phuket. Due to flight delays, we boarded Peterpan later than planned that night but even with the tired eyes, Peterpan gave a very good first impression. The first thing that caught my eyes were how clean and organised the boat was and the friendliness of their staff.
The next 4 days were just about diving, good food, relaxing (qada' tido!) and catching up with old friends. It was a bliss. Some of the dive sites such as Deep Six, Richelien Rock (a site near to the Burma border)and Elephant Head Rock were beautiful with many swim throughs and walls filled with beautiful fans and soft corals while Boon Sung Wreck was a happening scene rich with various marine lifes that I didn't managed to go around the whole wreck. The only disappointment of the trip was that we didn't get to see any manta rays eventhough we did 3 dives at Koh Bon,embracing the current in the process. It didn't really matter to me though since I have seen them during the Komodo LOB trip back in 2009. My secret wish when I first boarded Peterpan was to see a whaleshark and voila!.. I did!
It was after lunch at Koh Bon and I just got up from a quick snooze when I saw a 'polka dot thingy' swimming away from the side of the boat. It took me a few minutes to make sense of what I saw and the moment I did, I was glad that Chotty and Abang Roy were beside me. They too managed to catch a sight of it before it disappeared into the blue. Both of them have seen live whalesharks before so they made reliable witnesses. So yeah, my wish came true although only for a quick few minutes!
Anyway, now for some photos:
Peterpan cruise boat with Edu's group in view (pic by ScubaTIM)
Beautiful fans inside one of the swim throughs at West of Eden.
A pregnant tiger tail seahorse at Richelien Rock
A red frogfish (can't remember which dive site)
A charging cuttlefish
A lovey-dovey pair of black and silver trevallies. Love chasin' them around! (Please excuse the quality of the pic, my WA skills are still below par)
Big Boss in his muay thai boxing short on the way up the hill at Donald Duck Bay (is that its real name??)
Beautiful sunset from the top of the hill
Old and new friends onboard Peterpan. Hope to see you guys again in Bali next year!
My broadband is seriously slow tonight so that's all the photos for now. Will upload more on facebook when I have more time. Happy new year everyone!
It's 2 minutes past midnight now and I am still wide awake. Something is bothering me but I have yet to figure out exactly what it is. Maybe it is just the fact that I have been staying away from the sea for too long. Far far too long. I was supposed to go to Tioman with a group of old and trusted friends next weekend but had to back off now due a work-related engagement. Not joining the Tioman trip means that I won't be diving until December *sigh* although it was one decision that Big Boss kinda approved with huge relief. I have been having back pain again these last few weeks so he wasn't keen with the idea of me going diving without him. Oh well.
Oh, on a more positive note, the old basketball gangs are planning for a get-together in Port Dickson next month in conjunction with a wedding. PD pun PD la... asalkan ada laut kan. We've been to PD as a group twice, once in 2004 right after my divorce was finalised (and the same weekend as the 2004 tsunami), and again in 2007 when we attended a wedding of one of the gangs. We had a blast on both trips. 4 years on, most of us are now happily married, gained lots of kilos, hardly play basketball anymore (Ok 'hardly' is such an understatement) but the friendships remain. So yes, I am looking forward to the PD weekend.. to be updated with the latest gossips over good food (for sure), to be reminiscing our ups and downs over the years and most importantly, just to be among the old and trusted and cherishing the friendships.
A number of close friends are going through rough patches in their respective lives right now. It's really hard seeing these good souls in uncertainties and sadness and it's even harder to know that there's nothing much I could do to help except for lending them my shoulders and praying that the dark clouds will soon be over.
May Allah give them strength and wisdom and may all their prayers are granted. Ameen.
Wished I could be here longer. Hope to be back soon, insya'allah.
The first week started with an adventure trip to the City of Saigon. Many of the gang went on a dive trip to Komodo so the ones left behind (not enough leaves, not enough money!) booked a trip to Ho Chi Minh City instead since the the flight tickets were on sales and we had a free accommodation there (yes, we're cheapskates!)
I first went to HCMC 2 years ago with some good basketball friends so thought this trip would be just a boring repeat.. How wrong I was! In between visiting the must-see tourist hotspots and shopping, we also had a snatch incident with us ended up having to spend more than 2 hours in the police station and had a crazy day (and night) of adrenaline-rush going around the city on a red vespa and yellow honda cup (if you have seen the traffic there, you would understand why!)
A day after the Vietnam trip, I went to Reef Check's coffee-table book launch at Carcosa and I felt an instant pride seeing so many of the underwater photos featured in the book were taken by people I know. These guys (and girls) are talented and passionate about scuba diving, underwater photography and most importantly, about marine conservation. They're always more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with newbies like yours truly too.
A couple of nights later, I went to Anuar Zain's first ever solo concert at Istana Budaya with an old housemate and it was awesome! He is one true performer and I had one of the best seats too! Thank you for the birthday gift my friend.. It's definitely better late than never!
2 weddings- of a cousin and a good friend, a visit to MIDE (Malaysian International Dive Expo) at PWTC and 2 trips to the cinema with a group of friends concluded the colourful 2 weeks.
Selepas ini, saya akan duduk diam-diam untuk sementara waktu. Satu... sebab banyak kerja. Dua... sebab penat. Tiga... sebab dah pokai!
Anyway, here are some snapshots..
My two travel sidekicks on the red vespa and yellow honda cup in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City - more photos here and here.
The coffee-table book -fully sponsored by BP
My starfish photo filling up the side cover space :)
Anak Pak Zain yang sangat comel!
My cousin Izaty - the bride
The cousins (tak cukup korum) dan anak-anak cousins
My two best buddies.. both have started new life journeys and I shall followsuit...soon.
The pharmacists (can you see the gender imbalance here??)
A pose with some of the friends met at MIDE
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Another batchmate of mine, Siti Marlina Zainal just passed away due to cancer. Al-fatihah.
I saw a very fragile elderly lady at our usual INR clinic last week. She has multiple health problems and wheelchair-bound but was all smiley, very pleasant indeed. This was my second time seeing her in a month I think, and she was accompanied by her equally pleasant husband on both occasions. Pleasant but tired-looking I'd say. From our conversation, I got to know that the husband does everything for her... from taking her to all the clinic appointments and 3 times a week dialysis sessions to taking charge of her long-list medications including injecting 3 times daily insulin for her.
At the end of the consultation, I commented to the makcik that she is very lucky to have a very caring husband and wished I could find one for myself too one day. The pakcik replied instead with a full smile "Isteri pakcik ni datang dalam satu package.. dengan kencing manis, sakit jantung, sakit buah pinggang sekali!" while patting her shoulder gently.. The wife just smiled and I'm pretty sure I saw the exchange of loving stares between them at that moment. So sweet and touching!
That was, to me, the true meaning of "for better for worse"...
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I am sorry.
That is one sentence that I don't say that often but I have no qualm of saying if I know I am in the wrong.
I am still the ol' strong-headed girl. I can be sad, angry, bitter or just plain wrong at times ( I am only human afterall) but in the last few years, I have also learned to apologise more easily when I am in the wrong and to forgive and forget when I am wronged.
Life is too short for negativity. So..I am saying it now: I am sorry.
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I have two songs stuck in my brain today: Aspalela (thanks to a friend's ringtone) and the song below:
Remember the dancing baby from Ally McBeal? Comel kan?
Tomorrow is a significant date for one occasion and a date for one not-significant-anymore occasion. Get it?
15th January 1989
This was the first time I stepped into a school relatively near to my JB house, which I have previously heard as the best in Johor and one of the top ones in the country. I wasn't that excited at the prospect of being lock-up in a boarding school with some nerds, especially that my last year of primary was a blast with frequent get-together and parties with my then-gang, including some bad boys. Entering Desa Tun changed my life. I was too busy having fun with my girlfriends with all sort of activities from week one that my old gang were cut out from my busy life straightafter ..dulu mana ada handphones or emails to keep in touch kan. Boys disappeared from my social calendars too except for the occasional bump-into at shopping malls and my neighbourhood during weekend outings and school holidays. I was later told that the boys whom I was close to just the year before thought the school has changed me into a snob overnight. Oh well..
My only real contact with boys when I was in that school were just through those innocent pen pal letter exchanges with boys from other boarding schools or through random meet-ups during school activities like sea cadets, sports and visits. Nothing more and I wasn't bothered at all..
Anyway, looking back, I am glad that my dad decided to send me to that school. Or else, teenage pregnancy and dropping out of school might be on my life-resume, as how it turned out for some of my old gang (bless them). Yes... I was only 12 back then but for a period of time, I was mixing with the a wrong crowd of kids and it got into my head. Of course, life in STF was not all rosy.. I had lots of ups and downs there too but the 5-year stint taught me a great deal on true friendships and independence. I got myself involved in so many different types of activities and I was hardly at home during school holidays. Yes, the school gave me the opportunities to indulge in my favourite activities such as travelling. Sea cadet brought us to Woodlands, Pulada and Gunung Pulai for trainings, Survival camp brought us to Melaka, Handball brought us to Tun Mamat and Gunung Ledang while Titian Emas sent me to Sarawak for a few weeks as an exchange student. When I was in Form 4, I suddenly found myself with nowhere to go during one school break, so I bugged my Ustazah to let me join one national Kursus Nadwah which was held at SMAP Labu although I was not in Puteri Islam nor a Surau Committee. The trip turned out to be quite fun and my face got featured in a newspaper article anyway...hehehe..
Many non-boarding school leavers would ask and give comments like: what is so grand about being in a boarding school? Why are you (the boarding school peeps) are so hang-up about your schools and the past? You've left the school 5/10/15/20 years ago.. it is time to move on!
Yeah.. we have moved on alright. But that 5-year stint had made a huge impact in some of our lives, helped to mould the person we are today (be it good or bad) and the friendships made during those years were mostly true and unconditional ones that lasted till today (When my life came crushing down on me out of the blue one summer night in 2002, the first person who came to my rescue all the way from Nottingham to Sheffield was a good friend from school)... Hence, it is only right that we give a bit of time to commemorate those years... and that is what a bunch of us will do tomorrow night!
Remember Moero Attack? This show was a craze when I was in Form 2 that we would rush back to our common rooms after afternoon preps just to catch it on telly. We would then adjourn to basketball court (because we were basketballers at the time, not volleyballers) to practise all the 'somersaults' seen on the show... thank god nobody got hurt in the process!
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15th January 2000
This was the date when I got married 'officially' in Malaysia. Officially because.. we were already married 2 years earlier, at Regent Mosque, London with a male cousin acted as the wali and a few close friends as witnesses. We even had a good celebration that night with my then Guildford Street flat-mates cooking all sorts of food from nasi minyak to satay. The marriage was an open-secret back then and definitely out in the open and irrelevant now.. For all it is worth, of all the things that I have done and regretted.. tying the knot on that one spring day almost 11 years ago wasn't one. Even with all the things that had gone wrong, I still think that was the best decision that I have made in my life. It was the right thing to do back then and it was one that I made it myself (with him of course) without any external pressure.
Why am I disclosing this fact after all these while?
It is ancient history and irrelevant now but I just want to churn it out off my system once and for all, for the last time..heheh ;)
I had a dream last night. One that woke me up and kept me awake in the wee hours of a saturday morning. One that I haven't had for a long long time. One that I wished I won't ever get again... but I did.
On the way back from basketball this morning, this song came on air.
Had a long chat with a good friend just now.. and we talked about it, the big D.
The dream, the song, the talk. Too co-incidental for all to happen on a same day. Weird.
Then it suddenly occurred to me... It is the month. And the date is just a few hours away. No wonder.
Ouch.
No, I don't feel the pain anymore. But of course, the scar is still there... I think it will be there for a long long time.
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To the good friend: Happy Birthday. May true happiness goes your way, sooner rather than later. You definitely deserve it.
It has been quite a bad week. A week when most of the things DIDN'T fall into places nicely as expected. A week when things that could go wrong, DID went wrong. Maybe it was a case of too much of expectations. Maybe certain things were overlooked. Maybe if more preventative measures were taken, it wouldn't be this bad. Maybe.
The bottom line is, it has been one frustrating week but I guess, that's life. What's life without tumbles and turns eh? C'est la vie bak kata orang Perancis. Emmm... the person I was looking for desperately this morning turned out to be in Paris right now. I'm so jealous but again.. C'est la vie!
Hoping for a better week next week... If not, kena cari batu belah batu bertangkup. Kat mana eh?
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Humanity is still alive and kickin' even during this economically trying period. I am glad for that. And I am humbled.
It all started when one cardiologist friend (let's call him Dr T) asked me whether I want to chip in monetarily to help save a patient's life. Frankly, I thought he was joking at first knowing how much money will be needed for an angioplasty especially that the patient in question is a foreigner. An illegal immigrant to be precise. But Dr T was very serious about it and couldn't accept the fact that the poor guy will be left alone without the best treatment just because of his status. This particular patient came in with a massive heart attack and had another one while in the ward but kept the pain to himself because he was scared of the increasing hospital bills.
Over a quick lunch, Dr T, another cardiologist friend (let's call her Dr I) and I (let's call me Ms RC..heheh..) started reminiscing the good ol' UK days where medical treatment was (and still is) free for everybody without bias, irrespective whether you are locals or foreigners; with medical insurance or not. Long waiting time yes, but everyone still receive the best standard of care unlike in some other countries (this country included). Driven by Dr T's passion to serve, Dr I and Ms RC started to make some phonecalls here and there to find any individuals or NGOs who could help fund the patient's procedure bills. One of my call recipients was Sis K, a super senior from my alma mater whom I know has been involved heavily in charity, locally and internationally. When all the other calls were cut short and requests for help turned down due to patient's illegal status, Sis K continued asking for more details. Thinking she would only forward the details to any NGOs she knew, I didn't put much hope but surprise, surprise... within two days, Sis K managed to raise RM1k to help fund the patient's angioplasty and within 3 days, the amount doubled.
Life is full of surprises eh... I am glad that people like Sis K and those generous individuals who have contributed still exist in this messed-up world. The patient did undergo the angiogram and angioplasty that he needed and has now been discharged from the hospital. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart...
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Finally turned up for basketball yesterday morning after almost 3 months of no show. Got a lot of sticks from the boys for my very poor attendance but glad that I came.. got to know that one of the old gang and a good friend will be flying off to Mumbai for a short-noticed new work assignment and he'll be away for 2-3 years. Looks like I've just lost one of my loyal car-pooling buddies then.. Obviously, I am happy for him...we all are, but guess the once closely-knitted gang is now slowly disintegrating with every one of us taking up new challenges in our lives..
Good luck mate and have fun.. you definitely deserve this big break!
After a very long absence, kaki kambing made a come back with a bang..not just one, but a meaty pair!
The first kaki..already half-eaten by the time I arrived..
The glorious second kaki, juicy and yummy. I was in heaven for awhile..
Then the effects hit us all....heaty all over that I became so uncomfortable and agitated..adeh...
The sweaty (bloated) carnivores
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Somebody commented that this blog is lacking of real substance nowadays. Too many photos especially of food, yet, too few meaningful posts said another soul.
Well, my head is a bit messed up at the moment (nothing new there eh) that if I pen my thoughts down, they will just be incomprehensible ramblings. So let me sort some issues out first ya... I'll be back..
It was supposed to be a simple dinner meet up with the gang. But a surprise was planned by the usual suspects and 1 and 1/2hours later, we ended up in Jeram, near Kuala Selangor for a huge seafood feast. Excellent!
And I happily dozed off on a full stomach all the way back to Ampang after that... sorry Mr Driver! :)
Note: would like to blog about the recent Redang trip but too sleepy already.... zZZZZzzzz....
It's not a good day for me today.. had a bad bout of diarrhoea early this morning and stomachache throughout the day which left me in bed most of the time. But this piece of news from NST Online boosted my mood:
PM not contesting, to quit in March KUALA LUMPUR, WED: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will not defend his post as UMNO president at the party’s election in March.
Abdullah made the announcement at the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting. He had earlier briefed the Cabinet of his decision.
The meeting, which started at 3.40pm, was attended by nearly all the leaders of the 13 component parties. Under the BN system, the Umno president is also the prime minister and BN chairman.
A smart move. Hope the successor will waste no time in salvaging our declining economy, state of education and unity...
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If you haven't gone to watch it....GO! Trust me, it is worth your every penny!
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The last time I set foot in Actors Studio Bangsar was exactly 5 years ago, for this play when my then other half, his brother and a few more friendly faces were involved in its production. Yup, October 2003...such a long time ago eh?
Co-incidentally enough, the actor who played Panjang in that play was also among the audience in Gamarjobat last night. Anyway, I am glad that a good friend asked me along to the show...I had such a good laugh and had a new set of good memories of the place too. Maybe I will be back there again for another play before the venue closes down in February 2009...
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They've been friends for years. There used to be only 3 of them, until another member came along 2 years ago and the clique became complete. They hold regular night outs and these meet-ups are always filled with sarcastic (yet friendly) banters and loud laughters. It's the crude frankness they commonly share that make them clicked very well together.
But good things can't last forever.
Two will sooner or later go off to Down Under and the Middle East for greener pasture while another will hopefully tie the knot next year. And since he is also planning to come out of his 'retirement' to rejoin the national squad again in time for next year's SEA Games, he'll be as busy as ever. The one remaining.... well, she knows what she needs to do but hasn't got the guts to take that BIG step yet. Soon hopefully..
Thank you for the wonderful years guys!
4 sekawan met up over juicy ribs at Tony Roma's on Monday night
Over the years, I accumulated a number of nicknames and am called differently by different sets of people, even until now. Some nicknames were given by my family and relatives when I was small, many were given by friends over the growing up years particularly during my secondary schooling days. Some make sense, some just totally don't!
The nick hazyr itself was given to me by one of my close friends when I was in form two.. Funnily enough, it first appeared in this friend's diary (mesti kutuk aku nih!) and later made popular at school by her and a few others. Although I have been using it regularly ever since, I have totally forgotten about its origin until she mentioned it here in her blog recently. It brought a wide smile on my face when I read it....aaaaaw, the good ol' (naive) days!
This morning (yes, it's 3am in the morning now and I just got home from basketball), when I logged onto facebook a few minutes ago, I was hugely surprised to see one unexpected name under 'People you may know' column of the site. It was the name of a person whom I have been searching for years! She was my classmate and french partner for 3 years (we called ourselves 'frenchies' back then) although I am pretty sure she received a much better results for French in SRP compared to mine. I am ashamed to admit that I took french before because although I have even been to France twice, my french is now limited to 'Je ne parlez par francais' only..heheh..
Oh, anyway, this long-lost friend was the creator of another nickname that stayed on with me till today. The nick originated from the comic character Bambino although I still can't remember what was the relation between me and Bambino at the time or how exactly the nick came about!
This was one of her favourite songs when we were in Form 2 and tonight, it brought back a lot of fond memories. Believe it or not, I still have the lyrics of this song that she wrote in my song book almost 18 years ago! (yes, I had a song book before... don't laugh!)
I am feeling unsettled with a hint of anger. Don't know I'm angry at whom exactly, but yeah, I am a bit pissed off.
It all started when I was in Surabaya a few weeks ago. One thursday morning, my family had a surprise 'visit' from FOUR robbers at about 5am. They fortunately didn't managed to get into the house since my family woke up on time but they took their time to calmly broke into my dad's car and walked away with the GPS and stereo sets. They did that while my family helplessly watched from the window just a few inches from the car... my dad shouted at them throughout but that didn't deter them at all, knowing fully well that my family wouldn't dare to get out of the house while they were still here. And the fact that they were armed.
So, because of the incident, just like before, my parents are now back into their edgy mode again and I got the first taste of it on the day after I got back from Surabaya. While I was having drinks with my friends post-futsal that sunday night, I received a sms from my mom, asking when was I going to come home...and it was only 8.45pm ok! So, since then, I sort of lost my independence. No more late night outings. Not that my parents actually stop me from going out, but I just don't want them to worry...and worse, wait for me. One night, I had to go out for an emergency and when I got home at 4am, BOTH my parents were at the door to see me in. I can't do that to them again, can I?
Anyway, nowadays, the slightest sound in the middle of the night would wake both of them up. And I think, the paranoia is creeping on me too. I now have ears of a cat and keep waking up at night with any movement sound from outside the house. The fact that I have a few cats roaming around the house is not helping either... I used to be able to differentiate moving sounds made by the cats from the unusual ones but now, any sound can make me easily anxious and full of suspicion.
No wonder I am always tired and cranky nowadays... I am deprived of good, quality night sleep!
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I woke up almost every hour on friday night because of numerous weird sound throughout the night (or were they all just in my head?) and as a result, I was completely wasted and didn't have the energy to get up on time for basketball the next morning eventhough I received a number of wake-up calls. But since all I did was tossing and turning instead of sleeping, I finally pulled myself out of the bed at 8.30am and went to the court. I took some (boring) shots to kill time while waiting for them to finish the game and go for breakfast...
Man.... I really need to go for another holiday fast.. I should have photos of exotic places on this blog, not of sweaty boys!
