Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope this year has been good for you as it has been for me. Overall, its been a long and hectic December, both at work and at home, but i’ve finally taken 2 days off today and tomorrow. *** Spent an hour in MidValley Megamall looking for a parking spot. I was there at 11am! Now I’m thinking twice of going out of the house tomorrow and Sat. Once we got a parking spot (had to do some waiting and stalking), we made the most of it, staying up until 7pm. *** Got myself a Christmas present. RM55 worth of art supplies from Art Friend. The two…

Went down to my hometown Muar last Friday, the plan was to have 6 days of uninterrupted holiday – sleeping, reading books, eating, jogging and going to the monkey park in the evenings. Meanwhile my 2 kids can terrorize my parents and drown their plants by watering them every hour. Unfortunately, on the second day (Saturday), my daughter’s earache got worse and i sent her to a doctor, to cut the long story short, she spent the remaining 5 days on IV drip in Pantai Hospital Melaka. So instead of staying in Muar, we spent almost the entire holidays in Melaka, staying with Auntie Rosemary (her house is less than…

Been busy re-learning water colours these past few months. Most of you have have seen most of my progressive work on FB, all i can say its been a fascinating (and sometimes frustrating) journey to re-discover this art form after more than 20 years away from the brush. I did a piece of a rural country scene recently, my wife had this idea to frame it and give (with some reluctance on my part) as a farewell gift to some close friends migrating to Australia. Anyways they seemed to love it very much (actually i beginner only, leh!) so i decided to paint something for my dad’s birthday coming up…

Over the past two months, I didn’t watch much Astro, due to a number of reasons. Other than a one or two football matches on Sat (or Sun), I mostly was occupied with other stuff (although I still kept to a few series online). Last week, i tuned back on to the telly, and noticed a few small changes. For starters, the new channel Nat Geo Wild (NGW Ch.550) is finally on. They had been previewing it for months before this. I love animal and nature documentaries, but so far NGW doesn’t seem radically different from Nat Geo (NGEO) or Animal Planet (APL). Same old format. How about something radically…

OK, it’s probably a trivial matter for most people, but i think its a bit strange the way RedFM handled the departure of JD & Dilly from their Breakfast Show. Pic from Star First of all, i’ve no idea what happened to them, or where they are now, only that they were unceremoniously yanked off air last week. Even the ads/promos featuring their voices are gone. It’s a fact of life that in employment people come and go, but what i find strange is how they didn’t make any announcement at all. And there has been no shortage of comments on RedFM’s FB page. Check out the replies from the…

Got a free t-shirt with my Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein a few months ago. It came in a compact little package, about the size of your palm. By comparison to a 50sen coin, here’s how it looks like: So after two months of sitting atop of my dresser, i decided to open it. I followed the instructions. Dumped it in a pail of cold water for 30 minutes. So far the steps are not dissimilar to making Maggi Mee, except for the boiling water. After 30 minutes, voila! a very crumpled (and not mention dripping wet) Tee! After machine wash and drying, here’s how it looks like. Sorry my ironing…

Went for our 11th wedding anniversary dinner last Saturday. Since its October, i thought it’d be a good idea to do a Oktoberfest themed dinner. So we went to Munich Gastro Bierhaus at the new Palette @ IOI Boulevard. Sorry didn’t bring camera out that night so i had to nick the photos from their website. I had the honey-glazed pork knuckles (who goes to a german restaurant and NOT order knuckles?). Very nice and juicy, definitely better than Checkers. My wife had the spare ribs, which were good too, and it came with a generous serving of vegetables. Of course, we both had a pint of Hoegaarden each… Overall…

It’s been about 10 years since I read a book by Lucado, I had a friend who was a big fan back then. I distinctly remember his books as (very) easy to read, humorous, quite insightful and in short, appropriate for the young Christian. So I was quite excited to re-visit this author, and after finishing his latest book in about a week or so, I’d say not much has changed in terms of his writing style and message. In his blend of experiential anecdotes and biblical examples, this book sees Lucado teaching us how common folk like you and I can make a difference in the lives of people…

Me: Do you guys have that ‘new’ GCB? McDonald’s Girl: Er… apa? Me: GCB… The Grilled Cheese Burger…? McDonald’s Girl: Oh that one no more oledi. Me: Er okay… how about the chicken foldover? McDonald’s Girl: The WHAT? Me: The chicken foldover… the one like a pita bread folded over… McDonald’s Girl: That also no more oledi… Me: Er okay… just give me a quarter pounder. I guess its been some time since I’ve been into a McDonalds…

I was reminded of a time some 3-4 years ago when i used to bring my parents to visit my uncle and auntie who lived in a bungalow in an upmarket area of PJ. Both my uncle and auntie are very rich, and spend their retirement years playing mahjong with friends and watching TV, reading newspapers and enjoying food and life. Fast forward 4 years to the present, my uncle has passed away after a difficult battle with dementia and Parkinson’s, spending his last few months confined to wheelchair and bed. Auntie is now also confined to wheelchair, slowly losing use of her limbs. Seemed like only yesterday things were…