All roads lead to Sungai Buloh

Sg Buloh is unique in many different ways. One of them is the many roads leading to Sg Buloh. You are spoilt for choice. There are so many! You can choose and pick any one of them and still get to Sg Buloh. From KL for example, you can choose to go to Sg Buloh through Bangsar, or through Kepong, or through MRR 2, or through PJ, or through Kerinchi Link, or through Jalan Duta, or through Pantai Expressway and so on. From Subang Jaya, again you are spoilt for choice. Either through Guthrie Corridor, or through the old airport road, or through Arang Batu road, or through the North South Expressway and so on.
So, come to Sg Buloh and give the roads a try.

Signs of prosperity

When I was still living in Subang Jaya and coming every now and then to tow my one acre of land in Merbau Sempak, I would sometime stop over at the mosque for prayers. Back then, the mosque was in dire straits. The toilets were in shambles and dirty, the floor at the verandah had no tiles, the carpet inside was rundown and worned out while the mosque itself looked dull and uninviting. In fact everthing about the mosque was bad.
However, these days the mosque is totally transformed. I noticed it soon after I moved to Merbau Sempak. Now, the toilets are new and clean. Tiles cover the bare cement at the verandah while inside, the new carpet give the mosque a most colourful atmosphere. There's a newly built pagolla outside the mosque while the building itself had undergone a renovation. Everything about it has taken on a new look. Its air conditioned even!
Now that's what you call prosperity.

Another time, another day

After 30 years, I am at the stage of my life where my career is almost reaching the end. In a few years I'II be retired. I can even count them on one hand, that's how short the time is. Life passes by so quickly. I can still remember clearly when I first reported for work, all wide eyed and eager and before I knew it, 30 years has gone! Just like that! Don't even realise it. I look forward to the life of a retiree. It will be a totally new experience but I'm sure will be just as exciting!

What a remarkable person

Last Sunday we went to the KL international book fair at PWTC. I was a bit reluctant to go because I knew it would be crowded. Sunday happened to be the last day of the 10 days or so event. Anyway, at my wife insistence, we all went and sure enough, the place was full of people. Too crowded for my liking.
Anyway, let's talk about another thing. We actually managed to buy a few books and one of them was this book about Nik Nur Madihah, that 20A student from Kelantan. She truly is one remarkable young lady. Very determined, a self starter, knows what she wants, have great respect for her parents and teachers, friendly and likable. In other words, just the daughter every one wants. Wishing her all the best in her future endeavors.

Its that time of the year again...

30th April is the drop dead date for tax payers to hand in their income tax return. This has been the date since I care to remember. Year in year out, 30th April is the date and yet, year in, year out we still get the same problem, people rushing in at the last minute to beat the dateline. Don't know if it is because of our culture but the fact is, the same scenario is repeated every year. Always postpone it cause we still got time and then suddenly........ I'm running out of time!

Weekend is over as soon as it came

The weekend seems to be going too fast for my liking. I have not even finished celebrating Friday because the next day will be a Saturday and suddenly, Sunday is already here meaning Monday is but a few hours away. How about that! So so very fast. How I wish the weekend will last forever and ever. Relax in the house, watch TV, go to the mosque, argue with the wife, chit chat with my sons and daughter, read the papers, surf the internet, write nonsence in my blog, have a lazy breakfast, tend to my many ponds in the house, swim a bit, go jogging and so on ....... hey, there's so many things to do over the weekend, two days is not enough!

A whole lot of mess

The Perak crisis is still mired in a whole lot of mess. Why don't they just go back to the rakyat and I'm sure, everything will turn out fine! After all, the people are the basis of a democracy. When there's a stalemate, go back to the people. Unfortunately, that's not how some people look at it. There's always two sides to a coin. You can argue till the cows come home but you can never win over the other side!

Work and more work

The past few days have been one busy time for me. Suddenly work comes by the dozen and all came with deadlines. For a person who don't believe in staying in the office longer than the normal working hours, that is a real problem.
I never like the idea of staying in the office after work hours to finish the job. After all, early in the morning I am already on the road and reach the office by 7.30 am on most days. It means that by 5.15pm, I have already clocked almost 10hrs in the office! That's more than enough to do my work. Just have no idea how I am going to cope with the recent avalanche of work.

Only Nadal now....

Tiger didn't win the Masters and that means the Grand Slam has got to wait another year, at least for Tiger and golf. With due respect to Cabrera, the new Masters champion, I don't think he has got it in him to win the grand slam. That leaves us with Nadal and tennis. As said earlier, he already has the Australian title in his bag. His next challenge is the French Open which I believe will not pose too much of a problem. He will definitely win it. After all, he is the undisputed king of the clay courts, Paris or anywhere in the world. The challenge for him will be two weeks after that at .....Wimbledon. If he wins it, then the game is on.

The bulls are back.. well.. almost!

The Bursa has been on the upward trend lately. Fueled by positive reports coming from US and the rest of the world, the upward trend looks promising, to say the least. The index has gone up by more than 10% over the the last three weeks and this trend is set to continue. China has long been on the road to recovery while Japan is also showing positive signs. Most important of all, many believe the US has hit rock bottom and the only way from now on is up. As I said, the bulls are back...... almost.

A story with no story

The cloud was gathering quickly as the day slowly turns to dark. The sky that was bright and shining has suddenly becomes like a black shadow that hangs over me. It has the effect of making me feel like I have just woken up from a bad dream. Yes.... a bad dream.

Many many years ago, when I was just a little boy, life was simple and full of fun. There was nothing to worry about. Nothing, absolutely nothing! All I had to do was go to school and play the occasional game of football . It was a no brainer! My father had his old trusty bicycle to cycle to his rundown office everyday while my mother stayed in the house and cooked for us. There was no need for computers nor television. Just a little radio with one channel was enough. Having a refrigerator in the house was a luxury and so was the phone and the air condition. Internet? That's something from outer space.

How things have changed. Life is not so simple anymore. Its like a bad dream that turned out to be true. The internet can make me go crazy by just deciding to take a rest for a few days. No electricity and I can't dream the night away because there's no air condition to slumber me to sleep. The hand phone? Yes, the hand phone. It is such a nuisance. I can't go anywhere without hearing them ringing. It gets to me, piercing through my little brain like an arrow filled with poison.

The dark cloud has now given way to rain. It beats on me and make me wet to the bone. I shivered because of the cold and felt like wanting to pee. I reached for the nearest toilet, do the necessary and pressed a button to flush the bowl. Suddenly, water from a hidden pipe hit me right in the face. In desperation, I pressed another button to stop the water but I only managed to make it worse. Another pipe appeared out of nowhere and began to spray water all over the place. How terrible. Even the toilet is giving me a headache. So many buttons to press that I'm lost. Its a nightmare! Yes, the bad dream has now turned into an absolute nightmare.

A photo to remember

A short break to take this group photo.

Trying to tell something

As we got down from the bus and walked towards the entrance to the A Famosa, saw this woman meditating or so it seems. Don't really know what she was fighting for or against but took this photo all the same. Just something intresting.

In a world of their own

Two men having a quiet game of chinese chess under a tree oblivious to the many tourists passing by. This photo was taken near the A Famosa entrance. I was there bringing some fellow friends from Indonesia on a lightning tour of Melaka.

Putrajaya Lakecruise

Enjoying the ride on the deck.

View from KL Tower

Taking a break from eating to have this photo taken. The view was just too beautiful to let it pass just like that.

My Friend and me

Putrajaya lake cruise

Sg Buloh

Sg Buloh was the sleepy little town on the outskirts of KL famous for its flowers. This is where you can get cheap flowers of all kinds. Apart from the flowers, the town has nothing else to remind you of. Years ago, I remember driving to Paya Jaras, a kampong situated within its vicinity and the road leading to it was long, winding and very lonely. There were hardly any cars. Sg Buloh seems miles away from KL, a town that one would never go because there's nothing to make you go there, except for the flowers, off course. Bring back to the present and Sg Buloh is a thriving place. There are many reasons to go there now. There's the hospital, two beatiful golf courses, Kundang lake, a few restaurants selling western food, many Thai food restaurants, even a few kopitiams which has just opened and not to forget, the flowers. Its sleepy no more.
In short, Sg Buloh is a nice place to live in. A place where the kampongs blend in nicely with the developments that are rapidly taking place to create an atmosphere most pleasing.

The never ending story

Somehow, we are never satisfied with what we have. Give us a ringgit and we want two ringgit. Give us a thousand ringgit and we want two thousand ringgit. Give us a million and we want two million and so it goes...... on and on. When I first started work almost thirty years ago, my salary was about a thousand ringgit. But it never enough. I looked at my seniors and thought, if only I had their salary, I would be able to buy a lot more things , travel a bit more and still have a lot of extra money. I can even save. Thirty years on, when my salary is now many times more than when I first started, I still look at other people and thought ....... the same. If only I have their kind of money, I would be able to buy a lot more things, travel a bit more and still have a lot of extra money. I can even save. When will it end?

Najib's Cabinet

What more to say! A lot of words have already been said or written about the new cabinet but as long as changes don't come soon enough, it is not going to make any difference. Saying we will change is not good enough. The people want to see action, not just words. After the debacle of the previous administration which promises a lot but fail to carry out on the promises, people are now skeptical. It may sound old but the phrase 'action speaks louder than words' rings loud more so than ever now.

What a difference two weeks can make

Just two weeks ago, Manchester United were on top of the world. They were playing with full of confidence, overcoming opposing teams with ease. Winning all the four trophies still at stake to add to the one already in the bag was as easy as ABC, or so it seems. Suddenly, they got mauled by Liverpool and in their own den at that! Next, it was the turn of Fulham who got the better of them. In their next game, only a miracle in the name of Macheda kept them on top of the league by scoring that wonder of a goal. Then, Porto came and held them to a draw. So, what has got wrong with United. Only one win in the last four games letting in ten goals in the process. That certainly don't sound like a champion!

Moment of truth

The Masters is ongoing in Augusta US. The first two rounds have concluded. The one man everybody is looking at is Tiger Wood. Can he win it? This is his moment of truth. This is the first of the Grand Slam and he needs to win it. Otherwise, the grand Slam dream will have to wait another year. After two rounds, he is seven strokes back. Very difficult to catch up for most players but with Tiger, you never know. He has done it before and he may just do it again. The third round will be interesting. If he is able to make a big move in this round, then the game is on. If not, he can kiss goodbye to the Grand Slam.

Macheda who?

I watch the Manchester United vs Aston Villa match that was shown on TV recently. Somehow I missed the part when Sir Alex Ferguson substituted the ineffective Nani with this unknown player. Therefore when I noticed this player leading the United attack, I thought who was this guy? The name on the back of his shirt said he is Macheda. Macheda who? I have never heard about him before! When did he come in? Here was this unknown playing like a veteran and I didn't know him! When he scored, turning a defender for dead and swerving the ball round the goalkeeper into the net in one move. Wow! I wondered even more. Who is this sensation? Only the next day when I read the papers did I knew a little bit about him......what a shocked! He's Italian. He's only seventeen years old. The funny thing is, even his own captain admitted to not having seen him before. No wonder I said, Macheda who?

A bird's eye view

Went for a meeting at the 29th floor of a building in KL Sentral yesterday. This was what I captured from the balcony. A bird's eye view of Bangsar and beyond. I remember when I was small and first went to KL, I could count the number of skycrapers on my fingers. How things have changed over the years!

What now?

The results are out! Its two to Pakatan and one to BN. More or less as expected. So what now? The people has spoken. Not once, not twice but four times! The people that matters know it themselves. But why can't they give what the people want? No good saying we must change, we must change but nothing ever changed. We have seen and heard it all before. If things remain as they are, and sorry to say, so far, things have remained very much as they are. Then we all know what the outcome will be in a few years time.

A wedding at a neighbour's house

The tents set up beside the house. He has two acres of land so I guess space is not a problem
Karakoe as an added attraction

The entrance to the house was laced with red carpet. With all the decorations, food, tents , one thousand five hundred guest, etc. etc. thought it must have costs a bomb but actually it was not. A lot cheaper than you think.

Happy Birthday

Celebrated a very special birthday last week. Thanks to Fatihah who did all the buying. She's also the one who keeps tab on all these things.

Here today, gone tomorrow

I took my son to the clinic tonight. He has been sick the last few days. Although he had been taking some medicine, the sickness did not go away. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to write about here. Its about this restaurant that was just opened about a month ago. After seeing the doctor and getting the medicine, I decided to detour a bit and drive passed this restaurant just to see how its getting on. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it has close down. Just opened a month ago and now its already closed. What a surprised. Just goes to show how competitive business can be because just a few doors away, there were two newly opened Kopitiam doing a roaring business.

The travel itch is back

Since getting my new passport, I have been taking a longer look at the advertisements in the papers. I'm looking for bargains especially to nearby countries. Been quite sometime since I travelled overseas and the itch to travel is back. For years, I have been wanting to go to Bukit Tinggi, Indonesia simply because the late Pak Hamka is from there but never did. Maybe now is a good time to seriously think about going there. Yeah, I need to put plan to action............

No more mountains to climb ..........

Sometimes you feel that you have reached a certain period in your life when you are just contented. You are grateful for whatever you have, and there's not a need for anymore. Whatever you have, it is enough. If God wants to give you more, you will be grateful and gladly accept it but even if God decides the other way, you will also be grateful. In other words, there's no ambition left. No more mountains to climb and no more rivers to cross. You are just contented with life and its a wonderful feeling!