Pudar & Simple Plan

Just came back from a late dinner at Mad Jack... Late dinner because we had to do some...ehem...'shopping'... But that's another story... ;)

Anyway, congrats to Abah on his new set of wheels! SJB ... Shah, Julie, Boboy... macam kena gitu!

Heard this song on some variety show in Suria the other day... The wonder that is the Internet, I immediately 'Youtube-ed' the song... Enjoy!

Then I came across this clip by very 'free' people with a lot of time on their hands...

On a more sober note, we were shown a video on drunk-driving as part of our monthly safety message. I've seen it before some time back but it struck a chord when I saw it again...

It's been a while...

To my handful of fans out there (last count was still only on my left hand...not even both hands!), I'll TRY to update my blog more often.

It's 0112hrs on Saturday morning...as usual, the girls are at mum's. We just got back from watching 'Cloverfield'...The wifey didn't really enjoy it...Firstly because we sat in the FIRST row!! That's because I booked through the phone and no...you can't choose your seats when booking thru the phone. You're left to the mercy of the efficient computer system! Second, and this is a distinctive feature of the movie, it is shot à la 'Blair Witch Project'... The whole movie is shot using a handheld video camera with all its jerkiness and fast pans. So if you are someone who pukes after playing games like 'Counterstrike' and 'Battlefield', you will definitely NOT enjoy the movie! Me, I think it was refreshing though it wasn't as 'scary' as 'Blair Witch Project' in the sense that it didn't play with your mind the way BWP did. There were times when the camera was too 'stable' to be 'realistic' especially after being chased and mauled and ...well, I won't let the cat out of the bag! Oh...we were supposed to go for a spa at 1830hrs but I had a meeting which ended at 1915hrs so...

Just had a meet-up with my primary school friends a couple of days ago. We haven't seen each other for 20 years! FaceBook helped us find each other! Go discover what you've been missing if you're not on FaceBook...you might just find that old friend you've been looking for all these years... Through FaceBook, I stumbled upon this site, My Happy Planet. It's a site with a surprisingly simple concept. It links up people who wants to learn or improve on their language. Go check it out. It's a fun site! As usual, I'm a great fan of Malsingmaps and will check it out every now and then. I've restarted my mapping activities after a year's hiatus. Thanx to bro waypoint and his maps. Of course, MSM has forums other than just mapping and I came across the Mountain Biking group there! Maybe I'll join them for trailing one day! Still waiting to go trailing with Glenn (when he can tear himself away from Baby Noah) and Andy Sam! Check out this site...it's by one of the bikers there!

It's 135 days to the inaugural Sundown Marathon to be held on 31st May 2008! I will be running my first ever full marathon with a group of my friends from work! In addition to our normal Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays morning runs, we will be putting in more mileage in preparation for the event. Let's hope more friends join in! Especially Fauzi and Glen! Check my Fit for LIFE blog for updates on our training sessions...

Lastly, I'd like to congratulate my buddy Jefri for being appointed the Chief Dental Officer of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces! 3 crabs on you man!

My sole in pain...

First 'live-blogging' using my 'oh-so-cool-with-lots-of-features' Nokia E51 and 'internet anywhere' Singtel Broadband Mobile. I am now at True Spa getting my dose of foot reflexology. If you've never gone for a foot reflexology session before, get ready for soles in pain! The guy, Thomas, who attended to me gave me a really good foot massage with all the 'tenyehing' and 'koreking' and 'drubbing'! At certain points I had to imagine being detached from my body so as to endure the pain. Kalau terpekik, paiseh sey! I had earlier gone for a short run in the day and when he massage the small muscle beside the shin bones, fuyooh...best!

Eksyen nak baca 'Tatler' konon...bila dah start,

tutup mata aje and tahan the pain!

Chinese tea and fruits were served after the 45min sesssion...

An afternoon at Naughty by Nature...

And so there we were on a balmy Sunday trooping off to Naughty by Nature for our Annual Family Shoot. It was our second at Naughty by Nature and fourth since we started this 'family tradition'. We wore our first set of clothes and brought along the second set - traditionally our latest Hari Raya Idilfitri clothes. Here are some of the shots taken...

Up and about...

0052hrs and still up and about?!? Yep, the family's all asleep... I've been trying to get my 'new' Lifedrive up again. Yep, got myself a refurbished one. The old one died on me a few days ago. And as Murphy always likes to pop up at the most inopportune of times, it died when I have not sync with the lappie for a few weeks! Few weeks! Duh...So all my calendar, diary, contact entries that I have entered over that period of time is gone! Takeaway from the episode...need I say more?!?

I did not get a new model of Palm or even cross over to those new fangled PDA cum phone using Microsoft's interface...I don't really like PDAs based on Microsoft's interface and I really like Palm OS' simple and easily accessible interface. Now I know how Mac users feel!

Anyway, getting back up data is always a hassle unless one backs up regularly. Which I do to the point of obsession. I have double and even triple redundancy of some of my more important data. For example, my huge digital photo collection that I started way back in 2001 and has grown to 25 GB is saved in 3 different places! One in my PC, another in a separate external hardrive and another in a 'secure' place on the internet. Talk about kiasu! Let's just say that many of the lessons concerning data was learnt the hard way. So boys and girls, ALWAYS back up your data... it's like insurance...it's a hassle and takes away resources (money for insurance and time for back-ups) but when the shit hits the fan, you'd be glad that you have done it.

Ah well, the Lifedrive's still humming away restoring my data...

In a few hours time, a lot of us will be meeting at a place that is aptly summed up in the following - "Tempat jatuh lagi dikenang, inikan pula tempat bermain..."

Can't wait to meet the whole clan there! My small suggestion for a gathering has turned out to be quite a meet-up...let's hope the weather cooperates!

Welcome to the family!

We would like to welcome Baby Noah to the family! We've just received an SMS from Ijai informing us that Bulin has given birth to Noah Copsey aka Noah bin Yusoff! Congrats guys! That's one more branch for the family tree...Moga-moga emak and bebudak dalam keadaan sihat...We'll visit you guys when we get back!

Oh..."when we get back"? Yep...we're blogging live from Impiana, Hotel & Spa situated a stone's throw away (actually 5 stones throw away!) from KLCC! Here's a 'teaser' from this morning's visit to the Skybridge of the Petronas Twin Towers. I had to get up at 0700hrs this morning to be at the queue by 0730hrs to wait for the counter that dispensed the tix to be opened at 0830hrs! But the wait was worth it! Enjoy the 'teaser'...more to come when we reach home...Insyallah...

Pertunangan Jihan & Fadil

Congrats to the both of them! Here's my first attempt at digital scrapbooking!

Welcome to the family Naila!

Bonjour Naila! Comment vas-tu? J'espere que tu vas bien...C'est moi, Oncle Omi! Félicitations! Je suis très fier de toi! Prends soin de toi! Bisous...

And so it was at 0425hrs on 13th December 2007 (Auxerre local time) was Naila born to the Ponce family! Félicitations to both parents and their little princess! I was told by her dad that she weighs 2,890g at birth. That she's adorable, in good health like her mom. Julie entered the hospital the day before at about 1600hrs. She will continue with her usual injections and will stay in the hospital until Monday morning...

Yeay! I'm finally an "Uncle"... ;)

Here are the pics of the mom and baby...

Julie & Naila...

Hmmm...looks like who ah?

Awww...so sweet...

One more branch for the family tree!!!

Oh shit I'm a butter head...come see me eat nipples!

For those who have enjoyed Girly Man (which by the way is my all time favourite!) by buffalax, here's another one...

Of Pedra Branca

Next week will kick start the round of presentations by both Singapore and Malaysia on their claims to Pedra Branca. This would no doubt be of interested to both sides of the Causeway and as Singaporeans, we should be updated and aware of the interests surrounding the issue.

Of Scrabulous, sick princesses and Hari Raya

Scrabulous

When I log on to the Internet nowadays, Facebook is one of the few sites that I visit regularly! Other than the usual keeping up with friends stuff and the few pokes I have to administer now and then, I am absolutely hooked on 'Scrabulous'! If you like Scrabble, then Scrabulous will be your cup of tea! Your opponents are like-minded people from ALL OVER THE WORLD! I've always liked playing word games, especially Scrabble ever since I was in primary school. When I was posted to a place tucked away in the jungles of Borneo many moons ago, I remembered playing it in the officers' mess until the wee hours of the morning! The person with the lowest score for the round would buy drinks/tidbits all round for the next game. That kept us going on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny!

Sick Princesses

It all began from a sore throat on my part followed by an occasional but nonetheless irritating cough. Soon my BH got it followed by my 2 princesses. This almost always happens after the Hari Raya food binge what with all the fried stuff and crackers and kuih-muih... The girls had it worse, especially the elder one. She's still coughing and had a high fever of 39.5 degrees celsius last week! She just came back from her Nyai's house and was vomitting the whole night. Funny how all thoughts of sleep and one own's comfort is forgotten once one's own is struck down with a sickness. I guess that is the human instinct of ensuring that one's own lineage is preserved. Get well soon Kakak, Ayah will take you swimming ok?

Hari Raya

I always love it when Hari Raya falls from Friday to Sunday! Friday because Saturday and Sunday are non-working days. Saturday because Sunday is a non-working days and we civil servants can claim 1 day off if a holiday falls on a Saturday. And Sunday because Monday will then be a public holiday! If Hari Raya falls on any other days, it will break the momentum of the celebrations somewhat. There's like a pause on visiting and everybody will take cue and continue with a vengeance during the weekend!

For the second time in a row, we video-conferenced with Juls and Muhd on a Hari Raya morning at Mak's. I had especially bought a webcam (never had one, didn't see the need to have one before) and had subscribed to Singtel's Broadband on Mobile service so I can video-conference on the go. We did the same thing at Nyai's and also video-conference with Bik June in the US. Talk about keeping the far close!

Salam Aidilfitri...

Well, it's the morning after the last terawih...last terawih always make me sayu...that duo qunut was a good 15 minutes! Fortunately this year, all the imams managed to maintain their composure throughout the doa qunut...Previous years, most will break up during the doa qunut and would have to take a few moments to recompose themselves...sniffles would be heard among the jemaah...

Ah...time to do a self-reflection of what we went through during Ramadhan...A brother of mine (the only brother!), penned down his thoughts of what Ramadhan means to him. It's true that as one gets older, perspectives change. Ramadhan to me means revising all the doa for terawih (once a year what, one tends to forget right?), revising all the solat sunat tied to Ramadhan. It also means a time to clean the house. This year we switched the children's and study room. We painted 2 walls with one having stripes as requested by my BH! Nicely done dear! We also started all the major shifting and cleaning way in advance. I guess my 1 week leave at the beginning of Ramadhan helped! By the second week of Ramadhan, we were more or less ready for Raya. No more rushing around the last days to Raya. I don't see the sense in staying up late into the wee hours of the morning of Raya and then having to suffer bouts of sleepiness throughout the day. No fun at all...

Ramadhan to me is also a month of self-reflection. Of reviewing my goals, mission and vision in life. It's a time to take stock of what has happened and what is to happen. A time to better oneself as a person. The litmus test of whether a Ramadhan has been carried out 'successfully' is to see whether we have become a better person after it has passed or whether we 'lapse' back to our 'old self'...

One thing I look forward during Ramadhan is berbuka puasa. It's not so much the eating and drinking that I look forward to but the time spent with family at specific times everyday. It's important to have this time where we can sit down as a family to just enjoy each other's company and talk about the day's events.

Ramadhan is also a time for me to 'push' myself. To prove to myself that I can do all the 'normal' things that I do during other months. I did my runs just as in other months. I read more because of the 1 hour 'saved' during lunch!

So, while we are busy preparing for Hari Raya, let's just take a moment to reflect on how we have conducted ourselves during Ramadhan and doa that we will have another chance to do it again and do it better next year...Insyallah...

Oh...Selamat Hari Raya to one and all...Maaf Zahir dan Batin...

To be in his shoes...

And so the first Malay has blasted into space...To be in his shoes...As the earth 'falls' away, as the stars shine brighter, as the greatness of Allah is seen from afar...to be in his shoes...

A lot has been said about Dr Sheikh Muszaphar. But my topic is about the other person...Faiz...I can just imagine what he was thinking as the Soyuz floats away from the gravitational pull of Mother Earth. I have been in his shoes...Preparing for a mission, going through all the lessons, through all the practicals, through all the 'hardships', through all the medicals with countless needles poking into you, having all your vitals checked, having your teeth x-rayed (just in case you are burned beyond recognition and all they have is your teeth...comforting thought!)...Going through all this knowing that you will NEVER have a chance to up (never mind that the Malaysian PM said that he will be the next person to go up) if all goes according to plan. I wonder if throughout his training he may have had a whisper of a thought and had hoped that the primary candidate could not make it due to whatever reason...I have been there as a 'back-up' or reserve before...ah...such is life...

Dead link...

Hmmm...since the link to the Berita Harian article (from the post on 12 Sep 2007) is no longer active, I've decided to add this instead. BTW, it's Harsh and not Jarsh and Heru and not Herm!

Some sites...

Occasionally, I find sites that are worth sharing...The following are two which I came across while watching Click on BBC World...

1. Girl Solo in Arabia

This is a personal blog by Carolyn Mcintyre. It is really nicely written and well worth a look, especially if you are interested in arab culture or planning to travel to the region.

The opening page is a world map illustrating Carolyn's route through the Arab countries, starting from North Africa to the Middle East to the Arabian peninsula to Asia.

You can start exploring by clicking one of the dots on the map and jumping to the city you want to read about. Often the entries are complemented by photographs not only of famous landmarks but more specific things to reflect the culture of a country, like a wedding or traditional dressing gown.

Carolyn started her journey in 2006. Her mission is to do the same journey that the famous Islamic scholar Ibn Batuta did over 680 years ago. The journals are easy to read and full of information.

It is very easy to find your way around the site which is always good. One criticism though - I don't like the way the links on the left hand side go on and on, even though there is nothing left in the main section.

2. Readymech

If you like origami, the art of paper folding, this is a site you might enjoy.

Readymech is one the projects a group of designer from Denver are running. All you do is click on one of the very colourful robots that are on there in PDF format, print it out and fold on dotted lines. You can either use glue or doublesided tape to stick the sides together.

Of course the art of origami usually is more complicated than that, and doesn't come with the dotted lines for you to fold at.

The start of a new beginning...

My journey that is the 38th Command and Staff Course is over. It has been a hectic nine months of lectures, discussions, plenaries, presentations, burning the midnight oil and time away from loved ones...I have gained much and discovered insights about myself which I had not known before. From Clausewitz to Krulak, from the deserts of Iraq to the vast span of the Pacific Ocean, from case studies on the National Library to case studies on East Timor, I have certainly grown in knowledge and hopefully, wisdom. More than anything, it was a journey of discovery. A journey of pushing one's limits. I have gained many friends and have grown close to a few. I won't forget those who have helped me go the extra mile, helped me when the assignments started piling up, pushed me along when time was tight. Who could forget all the colourful characters that is the 38th CSC...

Here's an article from Berita Harian published today...

An Infantryman's Adieu

This poem is dedicated to my mates in Syndicate 3...

To friendships forged
To memories cherished
To sufferings endured
To dreams fulfilled

To those who were with me right from the start
It was an honour serving together
Side by side

To those who have helped me go the extra mile
I’ll treasure it forever
Most certainly with a smile!

To those who I did not have the privilege of knowing better
I’m sure our paths will cross again
Sooner or later

As I end another chapter of my life
And start a new beginning
I know that the fire of Syndicate 3
Will keep on burning
I know that the light of Syndicate 3
Will keep on shining

As I start a new journey
And bid farewell to everybody
I’ll remember that wherever I may be
I was once & will always be
A part of Syndicate 3 – of the 38th CSC!

Last presentation of the course

I'm sitting down entering this on my phone as i listen to the last presentation of the 38th Command and Staff College of which i was the first presenter! It's over... Tonight's our Graduation Ball... Next week is a whole lot activities for the end of course admin..

You are what you speaketh...

The latest edition of the English@Work newsletter is here. I especially like the 'Sounding Right' segment. For past issues, click here. Read on and you might find many nuggets of information.

Frustration...

Frustration is when you've spent more than 2 hours in the dead of the night looking for the 'perfect' soundtrack for a study visit video that you were asked to make and then when it was time to play it for an audience, the sound didn't come out right because the laptop playing it was not hooked up to the sound system...instead the laptop's puny speakers were magnified by using only the lectern microphone which, predictably, produced crappy sound! Aaaaaarrgghhhh!!!

Note to self: Next time, hook up the system YOURSELF instead of depending on the speaker, who's probably nervous like hell about the entire presentation...don't leave things to chance!