New word for the day...

*pause*......*pause* Hmmm.....daymn...I totally forgotten the word!!!! Grrrrrr... Makes you wonder if old age begins to kick in.

What??? Another surprise?!?

Barely a year when the 12.4MP Full framed D3 and the 12.3MP Full framed D700 camera came out and Nikon launched its latest gun, the D3x Full framed 24.5MP in the United States and Europe? Status is that this fully professional camera will be out soon in the Asian markets. Prices is still to be announced but many pundits believes that it will cost around the range of the former D3. Hmmm...it makes you wonder whether the D3 is a better value for money compared to the already excellent D700 now that its replacement is around the corner. ^^

Latest gadget geeky Droolers!

Feast your eyes on these lips smacking "luvlay" recent acquirements and wipe the drool off after reading this. Jealousy is not an option here. :P

A 16GB Sandisk Ultra Cruzer Titanium USB 2.0 Flash Drive (15MB/s Read, (MB/s Write) @ S$60 including tax. Opt for this rather than the faster, more expensive $99 16GB Super sexy switchblade Sandisk Cruzer Contour because of bang for the buck value, solid construction and smaller footprint especially when plugging it into the USB jack. More than enough to download TV Miniseries House & Heroes, a full Operating System and still have loads to spare!!!

Aaaaaa yes! This beauty will allow your notebooks to go super duper fiaaaast! Imagine if your notebook has 2 memory slots, 4GB of ram will not even allow you to stutter in your multiple internet browser windows or multi tasking in multitudes of open windows. A geeks dream come true! Corsair is one of the most sought after brand especially for gamers, let alone the workaholics R us. This small bugga asks for approx $40.

This next item is the Seagate 1.5TB 7,200rpm 32MB Cache cookamunga! Not the fastest hard drive in terms access speed as it is owned by the Western Digital 1TB (Black Edition), nevertheless it still rakes in at a highly respectable top 3 access times. But Dollar per Megabyte, its is easily the best you can get especially when you refer to acres of drive space. It rates in at approx. 16 cents per Megabyte compared to 21 cents for the latter. This should store my work, my movies, my music and my games for the next 5 years or more at $238. Off you go then to my server hot plug tray my luvlay!

Another Seagate external hard disk which is small enough to put into your breast pocket. It comes with a leather pouch, a USB cable and a free docking station (valued at $59) which is not seen here. It costs $209 down from $269, and even though it has a big discount, nobody in their right mind will buy an expensive external hard drive. But the clincher here was that it had a hard drive space of a whoopin' 500GB @7,200rpm! I wonder whether I should get one myself and exchange my puny notebook hard drive of 60GB with this? Hmmm..... thats a thought!

Sibuk ku Sibuk!!!

Bukan nya sanang mencari duit ani nya mu. Apatah lagi kalau bedagang sendiri ani. Kapisaaaan kapisan!!! Macam² masaalah kan di hadapi, ganya kalau dituruti perasahan ani bah, awu udah abis bepanyap ku udah. Bakal saja.... terpaksa jua bersabar dan menempohi masaalah ani, apa² masaalah lah, mun namanya bedagang. Bukannya kan tarus kaya..hahahaha! *ketawa melapaskan seteress!* Bah eih...asal saja ada soun soun di dalam blog ku ani, jangan indada nya urang. Bah eih! Cukup udah tu ah? Bah Makasih!! Sudi lah datang lagi... :P~~

Whats up???

Seriously nothing much really....aside from the fact that Lewis Hamilton is a F1 Champion by a point against his nearest rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari. Manchester United won 4-3 against Hull and almost squandered it. Chelsea trashed Sunderland 5-0, Liverpool lost 1-2 to Totenham under new boss Harry Redknapp and and Arsenal was "stoked" by Stock City by a margin of 1-2 as well. Aside from those results, Weekend till Tuesday today, it has been raining most times, and just those few moments when it was sunny, it was awfully hot! Sunday was a marriage function at my neighbours and as a friendly neighbour, offered to help out in the morning and by noon time, it was sizzling hot and replenishments were aplenty. Weekdays since Monday has been horrendous and every minute of waiting is like torture! Well its the "wait" that just makes the day sucky and always the case, 5pm (offwork time) is freakin slow! Oh well...I guess I gotto be patient. And close both my eyes, ears and mouth. Just tired I tell you...just so tired....

The Decorated bus for the Bridegroom and his entourage.










Our house compound being used for some of the invited guests.

Waiting for the guest to arrive. Lovely day though extremely hot! When function ended, I was so exhausted, I slept the whole afternoon and continued till the next morning....

Spiritual Realisation.

Sometimes when things goes wrong and messy and even intolerable at times and despite having a strong mind to blank out, it just needed someone special to remind you that there is a One and Only Other that will ease the pain and suffering at least to bear or release some burden. For me, that special one was my wife who "nudged" me to look for answers to God.

I guess sometimes, the denial to admit my mistakes/decisions, there is always that one point of weakness that I overlooked, be it just by nature that we are stubborn to realise that fact or too downright bothered by other factors in life that we fail to realise the obvious, and it just needed that touch of a reminder that we are only humans after all and that life is a mixture of pain and pleasure which is a God Given virtue, then we learn from our mistakes and embrace tests and rewards handed down to us. I know it sounds kindda awkward to my norm, but sometimes we have to realise humility in order to be able to see what we have not seen in the first place.
I have to admit that I am not a pious person, but now I realise that whatever we do in life, or however we choose to live it, our decisions, our livelihood, our well being, God has a hand in everything. No matter how hard we work or the reverse, how much we calculate and decide upon, what we choose, or how we choose to live, the many consultants to advice you, I believe that we also need Spiritual guidance as well to balance our lives.
I felt a peace of mind after a very long time, and somehow my problems didn't seem to bother me as much as it did earlier on. A sense of realisation enveloped my thoughts and somehow it opened up my thinking to things I have not realised previously. An answer to my many questions!
Its not right to pray to God only when we have trouble, but I believe that we should always pray to seek guidance and advise from Him because it is only from Him that we exist and only from Him that we return. To acknowledge and declare His existence must also be accompanied by remembering Him by doing our sustenance of prayers as He will also remember us by our asking for help.

Finance 101

With my finance staff no longer with the company, I have been reading up and familiarising myself back with these Trading, Profit and Loss accounts, Balance Sheets, Projected Summaries, the whole enchilada. Quite a number of financial discoveries I have found, some upsetting, some surprising, some was also unbelievable! But lets not dwelve into there coz its for me to know and for you to not be too curious lol. But yes this book is a big help for Accounts Idiots like me and I've decided to take over that company portfolio until a suitable candidate comes along, which I would say would be a few months, even years down the road.

Busy Busy Busy!

I have been extremely busy sorting out a few things and was not able to write a blog till now. In these next few days, I guess we will see the results of my hard effort and strains. Hopefully everything will fall into place, God-Willing!

I decided to purchase a reliable lighter to light up my ciggies as it was kindda hard relying on matches which I had accustomed to the last few weeks plus also I believed I caught my daughter playing with matches which brought a chill to my spine.

A Silver Audi A8

An extremely limited edition Audi A8 silver was made for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the former President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

The car is NOT only silver in colour, IT is also made out of SILVER!?!?!?!?

KACHIIIINGGGGAA!!!!

The Art of Writing

Mont Blanc is well known for its writing instruments, some of which are rare, collectibles and very expensive! They seem to increase in price every year much like the Rolexes. I have the privilege to own a few expensive ones for a "Normal" layman which were gifts from a good friend, and two from companies I associate with. I myself would not have splashed out any more than $150 for such a pen and probably the most expensive pen I have ever purchased in the Mont Blanc line was a black resin and a maroon resin ball pointed pen which is no longer in my possession, as it has gone lost and never came back. Talking about writing, I used to write when I was younger, be it writing my diary or for the fun of writing. Not that I am any good at writing though...even if I had won an essay writing competition just once during my younger years at lower secondary in SOAS college. Nowadays, writing is more like a classy hobby for those who has time. I know I don't have the time to write anymore, and I'm happy enough to type away in my blog that is if I have the itsy bitsy time for a minute or two.

An all silver (plated?) roller ball Mont Blanc pen given to me as a gift from a rich friend for my birthday during my University years in the US.

A free gift from Standard Chartered Bank for my credit card application. Apparently its a limited edition (special edition) Mont Blanc ball point pen dedicated to a World reknown Violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

A Mont Blanc "Floating Star" Edition fountain pen which I use regularly to sign documents etc. It was a gift from a friend at Dell Computers. Notice the star on top of the pen in which seems to float in mid air?

Tough Day today

Its been a tough day today... Been working and negotiating, had a slight loss of temper & patience and been on the computer the whole afternoon without a break and abit of mumbling/muttering to myself like an old senile man. I guess after being patiently pimping and coaxing and persevering for more than 3 months now, maybe even four, there was bound to be some pressure asking to let loose. Time to head home. Mentally drained and tired. Haven't been having sports the whole week or more, I wish my tennis buddies will call to play...I need to whack the d$&% balls and let loose my tension. Not good for my heart if I were to coup it up. Hair pulling is out of the question.. I need to preserve whatever hair I got left the way things are going.. LOL

Deal with it or stay at home

This is what I have to deal with every few days of the week. Been running around like nobody's business trying to get things done quickly and efficiently. But it never does, no matter how much you try to push for it. To top my 3.0litre V6 Honda Accord to full tank cost me between $27-29 dollars... that comes to about $8-$10 per day? Bearing that in mind though, a full tank carries me to around 400 plus kilometers if I push the car decently and not let my leaded foot do the talking. But it seems that I'm averaging about 100kilometers in a day. I have a right mind of buying a diesel car next time the way how things are going on.

My faithful torch

My faithful blow torch used to light up my coal for my 'gaharu' wood to air my office. These past few days, its been a useful tool to light up my cigarettes, as I have ran out of lighters and couldnt be bothered to pull out 60 cents to buy a new one. Unfortunately I have started to smoke again...not going to dwelve into the reasons for doing so. But hopefully in the near future I will. Will try my best though...maybe puasa enam soon.

Bugs & Bunny

This is my daughter's lil pets, Bugs and Bunny. Not too sure which one is Bugs and which one is Bunny, but I guess Bugs must be the dark grey bigger one and the other must be Bunny. They eat all day long and is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Funnily enough, my daughter does not dare hold them, so its my driver that does the cleaning up most of the time. Soon, this cage will not fit the two bunnies. Wonder if it will run away if we let it play in the lawn around the house...maybe not.

Sunday Evening

A stark contrast to yesterday....its been pouring cats and dogs on a Sunday evening as I picked up my daughter who was sleeping over at her cousin's place in Mata2.

I kindda like the rain as it gives you a peace of mind, it cools the day from the normally hot days and makes you feel really light-headed and happy. I guess being an Aquarian really is true, the like-ness for water...

Lovely Saturday afternoon weather

Taken with my trusted Nokia E90 Communicator

I had to take this picture on my way home as it was a wonderful sight with few clouds in the sky. Now how can you beat that...the start of a weekend with a nice gorgeous sky in front of you after much rain during the week. Seems like its going to be a good weekend and I will enjoy the much sought after rest after a hectic week.

Special Wishes!

Sorry peps...haven't been updating my blog since Tuesday this week...as I have been really really busy. Anyway, before I head off home this fine Saturday afternoon, and declare this day the start of my weekend, I would like to wish all the teachers and educators out there a very "HAPPY TEACHERS DAY!". This is for you unsung heroes out there! This is especially dedicated to my wife who I believe is a dedicated, hardworking teacher as I've seen her methods practiced to our daughter every week nights on her homework. Thank you for being good, patient & tolerant not only to our daughter, other people's children and also to me. :)

Before I forget mentioning, I like to wish Mr. Gadgetski a happy birthday today. Si tua ah! LOL. How does it feel to reach that pinnacle of life where things start to get better? Probably be asking you 6 months or a year from now just to get that answered.

Anyways, off I go...Hari raya open house time this weekend....so free lunch and din-din for the next 2 days...I think.

Just a reminder....its EPL football night so haul yourself to the TV and support your team to victory! Also not to forget Formula 1 qualifying session in Shanghai circuit starting at 8:30pm. Please check out Astro for the right channels to tune in!

Suckames Street!

"Sucky day...living up... aaaa okay.... Fernie Nibbert says where the air is free!!! Can you tell how to get......how to get to suckames street!!! How to get to suckames street?

- singing at the top of my voice alone in my office like a mad man along the tunes of Sesame's street but in a modified silly version. LOL! (Just remembered Gadgetski singing the other day....hysterical maaaan!). Decided to go home, take a shower, see my family and see how they are doing and get back to office later tonight to burn some midnight oil. Yaissssssshhhh!!! :P

Preparing for Wednesday

Looks like I will be in office till late today. Alot to prepare for Wednesday tomorrow. Wish I could go home early but then most of what I need is at office. As soon as I have things done, will head home. I worry about my daughter who is recovering from her fever, but then again my wife always does a good job taking good care of her....our very own doctor mom.

Today was again a sucky day, getting bad news this morning and having to meet people to sort things out. My eyes are getting blurer nowadays, even when reading close up, I guess due to too much looking at the computer screen. But then again, everything I do depends on my computer, so I guess there is no 2 ways about it though.

My tennis pals texted me to play today evening, and although I would love to play not only for my health but also to release my awesome stress accumulating in my head as well as my sanity. But then unfortunately I have to decline...again this week. I have a a very big priority and am working on it really really hard to sort it out, quickly and efficiently.

Oh well...I need to come back to continue my work again. I guess blogging is a short, quick, cheap way to release some stress. (smiling) - I just remembered my daughter wanting to open up a blog for herself.... maybe she should... In due time, I will teach her to blog. But at this moment in time, I need to sort more important things before they go out of hand.

hmm thats a thought:

(sigh)....Ma vie est si stressante à l'heure actuelle, mais hélas c'est ma vie. C'est la vie !

Monday sucks!

Monday sucks! Got a headache, my body right up to the bones are aching, my mind has been working overtime and I don't feel well. I guess its the anticipation of this coming Wednesday. Will tell you when the time is right.

Busy bee

Been too busy to update the blog this past week and most of my nights after work recently was spent on visiting those who have invited us to their open houses for Hari Raya. So yeah, our dinner is all set up and fully booked right up till the very end of the month basically.

I think I am looking forward to a peaceful & uneventful weekend because by next week, I feel that there is going to be so much rush and running around again as people start to get into their strides post Hari Raya.

Food for thought - With Hari Raya being in the early days of the month, I do hope that people are thrifty in their spendings coz I have an awful taste on my tongue that this isnt so and by mid month to the 3rd week of the month, some might be running on fumes or going for broke.

But then again look who is talking...Hyaks!

Time flies so fast...

Time flies so fast & my lil daughter is no longer little anymore. She is now 6 years old & this December 14th, she will be 7. Pictured left was her at 6 months playing in the bath tub enjoying the bubbles & water. Notice her teeth growing out of her gums then. So very cute!

Picture of A'ishah taken very recently doing the same things, enjoying her bubbles and playing with water. As time flies, its these moments that we will cherish most, as they grow up so quickly and soon she will be a teen without realising it. Time will not wait for anyone, and its up to us to make time to be with our loved ones, no matter how little time we got, otherwise we will never get those precious moments.

Is it a sign?

Gadgetski, Kambomambo & I went for lunch the first day of work on a Monday at Excellent Taste Restaurant otherwise known as ET for short. ET's been around for a long while now, even way back to my High School days in SOAS College. Anyway, before my story starts to go astray (which it does sometimes), Gadgetski pointed out on the menu on the additional dishes being served by the restaurant all associated to mango. Now I used to own a small cafe which serves my staff as a canteen as well as offices around the 2 blocks who patronizes the cafe for its light food/snacks and coffee. Despite the cafe being a convenience for my staff and those around, however I've decided to close it a few months back on the basis that we were not making enough money to sustain the cafe at that location. Now you might be wondering what has the menu got to do with my cafe? Well the cafe was called Mango's Cafe. What are the odds on that? Is it a sign that I should start to think about reopening it up again, albeit in another location? Well I kindda miss the cafe where I found it rather relaxing and pleasant to have. We will see.

Pure Bliss!

Aaaaahhh yes, my tub awaits me. A much deserved long soaking of my tired body and mind into the thick foam of wonderful scented luke warm bath water. A cheap way to release tension, relieve the mind and free the soul..but only for a few moments of time.

Day of Chasing!

Grrrr....Its absolutely annoying and such a waste of *%&^!@#$*^ time trying to follow up with people who has given you the time for appointments. They are either away from their desks all day and what is worse is that they don't reply your calls or SMSes out of courtesy of making one wait for a few hours. And come to think of it, they represent the company who they work for? I guess all this Hari Raya mood has gone way over their heads and by the looks of it..it seems that I have to wait for a further week for them to settle into their work regime. Oh well...better get out of my office and head home...nothing much I can do but wait for tomorrow and head hunt them again early morning..

Back to work!

1st day of work after Raya always seemed like a sluggish lazy affair, everybody plodding back reluctantly, moaning & groaning to work as was I. The rain at mid day didn't help the cause either as it made me pretty sleepy. This is always going to be the case when the Hari Raya festivities and the holiday mood kicks in, when you feel that you've really enjoyed yourself and then the ugly reality is that the next day, it will end prematurely and everybody needs to go back to work. I was slightly bemused that the whole day today, my mobile phone rang just twice!

Pooped!

I am so so so pooped today. I'm dreading to go to work tomorrow. There is alot of pending work to do tomorrow that I really need to go, but on the other hand, I could stay at home and do most of my work here. Indecisions marred by total tiredness. Will see by the time I wake up and hopefully I will have had a good night sleep tonight.

Been a busy day Sunday and its been really hectic compared to the last 3 days. I'm still thinking about whether to work again, should I or shouldn't I? It's just been so nice having not to think of work at all. I need to take a holiday from Hari Raya. A holiday from a holiday.

Gosh I'm talking gibberish here. Can't blog right. Can't think about anything else...body and mind is slowly shutting down..better head to bed quickly before I fall asleep in front of the computer... ~N~

Losing weight whilst still eating regularly?

3 days into Hari Raya and despite the absolutely delicious food being served at every Hari Raya open houses we have visited (not that we have visited many),it seems that I've actually lost weight!?! Having read many ways on how to lose weight/how to have a toned body and all, I remembered a few articles mentioning not to diet totally but to set yourself to having to eat as regularly as possible but in small portions. Now the reason for this according to "diet experts" is that when dieting, our body metabolism tends to slow down dramatically as it begin to store energy and begins to run on hibernate mode albeit our slower reaction & thinking processes. On the other hand, by regularly eating but in small portions in the day, our metabolism tends to be more active and therefore our faster reaction and thinking processes.

I guess I can relate to that theory as it seems to make me more responsive and I could feel my body heaty nowadays compared to the time when I fast. No wonder during the fasting month, despite jacking the office temperature up to 24-25 degrees celsius, I kept complaining on feeling chilly. Anyways, I have also toned down on my regular intake of carbohydrates and starchy food such as rice, potatoes, chips and bread and replaced it with more vegetables and white meat and probably that had helped as well.
But I have to be honest, there is also a craving to eat rice because I have been brought up with it all my life. But I will try to limit myself to eating it as much as I can. Funnily enough, the last week of my fasting month, I was craving to eat anything with noodles. I will have to check the weight scales again just to prove this theory really works!
I haven't as yet started my 6 days post fasting in the month of Syawal, but I plan to do it tomorrow during the normal working days. *Groan*...working day...ish.. but at least I am looking forward to get back to my normal sport activites in tennis pretty soon. My tennis buddies are already hinting on their cravings to wack the balls!

1st Day of Hari Raya

Early plans the night before had me going for my Hari Raya Prayers at the Jame Asr Mosque in Kiulap rather than at Serusop Mosque. The Mrs & daughter were heading to Katy Chai Salon at the same time to do some hair raising designs for the festive day. This year we usually take turns and decided to pay my part of the family a first visit before anything else plus also to check upon their preparations for the first day of Hari Raya before heading to my in-laws house after that.

Not feeling too well my family and I, we also decided against visiting our relatives in Tutong which we usually do every year on that first day. Maybe when we are well enough, we might go off to visit them tomorrow or after that. Eventually, we ended up going home and had a much needed rest and tried to sleep it off. I guess its the shock of having to restrain from eating for a month to the extravagant display of delicious servings got us pretty bloated and not feeling too good after that despite refraining from eating rice.

I have a good mind to fast the next six days starting tomorrow to try and reduce such temptations and try to slowly get into the stride of eating smartly. The six days of fasting or 'puasa enam' during the Syawal month is not obligatory to Muslims, but in a way it is meant to try to perfect one's fasting month in Ramadhan. Hmm..that itself might be pretty interesting to blog. Well, we will see.

Better head into bed early today, tomorrow is yet another day.....

Rangkaian ucapan Selamat Hari Raya

Andai Jari tidak kuasa berjabat
Setidaknya Kata masih dapat terungkap
Setulus hati mengucapkan
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Ma'af Zahir & Batin


Kura-kura berjalan lambat
Anak Kera melompat-lompat
Kad Raya nak hantar dah lewat
SMS atau email pun dah kira selamat
Salam Aidil Fitri
Ma'af Zahir & Batin


Aidil Fitri sucikan hati
Dapat menghapuskan semua khilaf
Moga diri saling mengerti
Agar ikhlas dalam bermaaf
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Mohan Ma'af Zahir & Batin


Ibadat puasa di bulan Ramadhan
Zakat fitrah jangan dilupakan
Selamat Hari Raya kami ucapkan
Mohon ma'af kami pohonkan.

Bulan Ramadhan berlalu pergi
Syawal yang mulia menjelang kini
Berdoa mohon diluaskan rezeki
Minal Aidzin Wal Fa'idzin dilayangkan disini.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Serta Ma'af Zahir Batin.


Tangan ku hulur tak kesampaian
Senyum ku ukir tak kelihatan
SMS & Emel ku kirim tanda ingatan
Di Aidil Fitri kita ber ma'afan
Selamat Hari Raya
Ma'af Zahir Batin



Anak kucing curi ketupat
Kena kejar terlompat lompat
Nak antar kad Raya dah tak sempat
Hanya SMS/Emel lah yang paling cepat
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Ma'af Zahir & Batin


Dalam kerendahan hati, ada ketinggian budi
Dalam kemiskinan harta, ada kekayaan jiwa
Dalam kelembutan lidah, ada keterlanjuran kata
Dalam gurau dan senda, ada yang tersinggung
Saya ingin ucapkan pada semua Muslimin dan Muslimat,
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Ma'af Zahir & Batin.

Greetings to all in this Auspiscious Eid Occasion

A warm greeting of Eid Mubarak to my fellow brothers and Sisters, not only here in Brunei but also whomever they may be all over the world! May God bless you all with health, wealth and prosperity in this new year. Ameen!

Warm wishes from me & my family.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Ma'af Zahir & Batin

kepada semua Muslimin & Muslimat, Mukminin & Mukminat....

Dengan tulus Iklas daripada

Saya & keluarga

Eid Mubarak (Hari Raya)

Its been announced that Hari Raya starts on Thursday 2nd of October 2008 in Brunei. So tomorrow is still a working day for us all. There will be those who are thankful of the announcement as those working on Friday will have 4 days holiday. Anyway, I guess I will have to prepare work for tomorrow. I'm contemplating whether I should work tomorrow but lets just see how it goes.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA ALL YOU FOLKS OUT THERE!

Stop! Your Car has been Swissol-ed!

My car with its brilliant shine as I picked it up from the Car polishers, 8 hours later on a Sunday evening. Too bad, the picture doesn't really do it justice here as the sparkle of the grains inside the paint job is not seen here. The engine and the engine bay was also thoroughly cleaned. But anyway, I was pleased with the job, even my leather interiors are back to its glorious shine compared to its previous dark spots here and there. There were some deep scratches that they were unable to remove totally, but at least it blended in to the rest of the car body. I guess the car is ready for Hari Raya, but then again, the car deserved a polish anyways after a more than a year of mistreating it.

The background portrayed on the car. You can brush your teeth or style your hair if you want to.

The reflection of the orange coloured clouds in the sky during the evening sunset

Sunday, 28th September 2008 - things to look forward to

Lazying myself in front of tv whilst typing my bloggie. Now this is the life...peace, solitude, harmony, everything you need without spending a single penny, just to breathe and appreciate life.

Last night, my family & I broke our fast at our favourite KNY Kitchen Thai Restaurant in Kiarong, as per requested by my daughter who is craving for the sweet and sour fish. We then headed over to the Jame Asr Mosque to catch up with our Maghrib prayers. Waited for Isya prayers and continued with our Sunnat Terawih prayers till 8 rakaat. Wanted to head off back home, but eventually gate crashed to my uncle & auntie's place to have a look what they were up too, especially Cit Cit with her Cakes business thingy. Only to find out Cit Cit went out and we didnt see her till we got back home. Uncle & Auntie was there, helped in cleaning up their dinner, then observe our nieces helping out making the dough for the cakes and all. At home about 10ish in time for the Man U Vs Bolton match which Man U won by 2-0. Then went to sleep I guess, cant remember if we did anything else. But funnily enough, we woke up late for Sahur and I was not able to take my medicine in time. Sleep then was more important.

Had a late sending off of my car to the car polish, Mr Gadgetski gave me a text message to remind me, and eventually called in just to make sure. Arrived at Topcare just before 8:30 in the morning. Gadgetski was already there an hour earlier with his car starting its regiment of cleaning processes. For your Information, Topcare is a Car Wash/polish/maintenance company using Swissol products. It used to carry both Swissol & Zymol products but to be honest with you (whispering), I prefer the previous coz of its earth friendly chemicals, its edibility (yes you heard me, E-D-I-B-L-E, means that you can lap your car if you feel hungry) and its deep and I mean deep shine. When I mean deep shine, it means the colour of your paint on the car is alive! Its that guuud! Trust me. And you need to see it to believe it. Maybe I might have a totally separate blog of Swissol on a later time.

For now, just not to get too carried away from the topic, these are the things that I am looking forward too this glorious Sunday, the Sunday before Hari Raya:

3:30pm-4:30pm - In case you guys missed the F1 Qualifying, its a repeat show at Supersport Channel 813

5pm - Pick up my car from the Top Care and drool over its shine. Its been a while since I last polished it. Hopefully some of my annoying scratches will disappear especially from the cement ones which fell in small splatters on top of my car from some renovated building.

6:12pm - Breaking of fast, any food and drink will be highly appreciative! I am especially craving for noodles: Fried Noodles (mee goreng halus), Mee Tiew Goreng, Laksa Nyonya, Mee Basah, etc. OMG I'd better stop...I'm actually drooling now.











6:30 - 7:45pm - For you F1 fans out there, DO NOT FORGET TO WATCH THE SINGAPORE GP on Supersport 813, the first ever night race on the streets.

Thats all I can think what I am looking forward too today, so....Scram! Go away! Leave me alone to enjoy my weekend! Shoo! (Oscar the Grouch of Sesame's Street).

Pot of Gold?

Is there a pot of gold being distributed for free or that its been raining money recently anywhere in Brunei that I don't know about? If there is, please do pray tell coz I might want to join the bandwagon and get some for myself too.

Sorry about that...just abit of a wise crack there but recently this past week, I have seen and heard my relatives on separate occasions being the proud owner of Porsche Cayenne S, an automobile costing in the vicinity of about a whooping $210,000 Brunei dollars. For some, its a house on 4 wheels, while others its just another car for hari raya coz they already own everything else that they have always want.

At the end of the day, its just a matter of priority, you can argue for all you like till you're blue to your face, but the fact of the matter is that there are many reasons behind each and every individual beings reasonings and argument in owning something costing this much:

1) (The Successful One) I have everything that I want, I have a house, I have a beautiful family, I have lived my life, I have done my job, I have a successful business, this is just one of the things that I have fancied to get all my life and therefore I got it to threat myself.
2) (The Live Life to the Fullest) Life is short, I may die tomorrow, I may die in a few years time, I might not be able to enjoy what I want in life. So I might as well live my life to the fullest to my abilities. Albeit my Porsche.
3) (The born rich one) I am rich, my father is rich, my grandfather was rich, my grandfather's father was rich, my cousins, my aunties, my nephews, my nieces are all rich, even my mom's side is rich, my mom's brothers and sisters are rich, even my mom's inlaw's related by marriage is rich, my cat is rich, so this is a common type of things we purchase every other week.
4) (The keeping up with the Joneses one) I can't really afford it, I have to rack the loans to get my Porsche. I had to get it because my friend Peter got a brand new Toyota Landcruiser or was it a Lexus LX570?, Paul just bought a BMW X6, Panda, my other buddy got himself a Range Rover Sports, and Jones got him a Merc ML63AMG. No I dont have a house, but I have to keep up with my friends coz it will be embarassing if I dont, we are all the same level at work.

So you see, there is no use arguing about this. For some of us, we just need to plod on, prioritize what is more important and get our butts from A to B in our jalopy in decent time.

Never stop dreaming and never loose hope coz that makes us more stronger to strive for the betterment of our lives.

Body Shocked

I cannot believe that instead of slimming down from fasting, refraining from drinking and eating during the day, I am actually having a tough time fitting into my usual pants!?!?!?! What is going on around here?

I think I have a theory on this phenomenon. I tend to lie down after a meal these past week or so, and it has got me bloated and somehow expanded my girth permanently. I gotto do some situps somewhere in my daily routine.... seriously!

http://citscakes.blogspot.com/

This is a blog webbie of my cousin Cit Cit who makes wicked pies and cakes. Under no circumstances am I paid to advertise her business, its all a matter of good conscience. I ran across her blog through ranoadidas bloggie website and that picture looks awfully familiar and the name was definitely a check it out bells ringing in my head. So I did and I was pretty impressed with her work.

Anyway, do have a look into this website and see what she has to offer especially those who has a sweet tooth for this kind of food stuff. Unfortunately, she is not accepting anymore cake and pie orders till after Hari Raya, but who knows, there might be some slots available.

Thursday Night Gathering

For the 2nd time now, we had another gathering of ping pong session at home with my wife's cousin and brother after Terawih. But this time round, we finished early by 1:30am, although we almost continued to want to 'lepak' at Mamih Sungai Hancing for some hot drinks. Somehow, we decided not to pursue that thought though. I guess it must have been a sapping display of ping pong singles and doubles matches. My driver ended up falling sick today and is now recouperating from his fever. We might decide to open up a league soon coz most of the guys want to find out who is the best ping pong player within the bunch. And we know who that is.. (wink wink, hint hint, poke poke, nudge nudge). We'll see if this league thingy will materialise.

My wife had made ready some food, obviously from her new hobby of cooking recently. 2 Shepherd's Pie and 3 Pizzas were in the menu list, all gone within a matter of minutes after our 'aggressive' and loud ping pong games.

"Sambut tah kau Ace Service ku Bakar! Payah kali mengambil kali ah? Oi Har? Berapa gram kan ni bula ani? Inda kali sebarat Kuca kali ah?" "Inda eih, walaupun bertambah wasabi atas bula atu ah..". "Bah jadi service bula ah? Bergulambir parut menunggu". - lain kali lagi bercerita pasal ani...

Weekend Home Kitchen Surprises

So far, these are the three recipes tried and tested by my wife & company since they started the adventure into the kitchen since Monday this week. Mind you, this is the very first time that smoke and odour has actually enveloped the kitchen since our move to the house a few months back. I have to say...very nicely done girls! Delicious and absolutely scrumptious!

Monday 22nd September 2008 - Surprise Number 1: Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday, 23rd September 2008 - Surprise Number 2: Honey Cornflakes biscuits?

Wednesday, 24th September 2008 - Surprise Number 3: Chicken/beef Sausage Pizza

I wonder what is the next food surprises this weekend... They refuse to tell me despite trying to bribe them. Adele!! Well, I don't mind the suspense, its good exercise for the heart you know...LOL!

Wife & daughter busy working during their holidays

In the Kitchen that is. They have been busy making all sorts of things to keep themselves occupied. I for one am happy that they had the initiative to do something productive during their holidays. But somehow in the end, its more likely to end up being extra expenditure especially when the ingredients are getting more and more expensive and the food tends to end up in my tummy and also extras are given away to the rest of the nephews and nieces for feedbacks. Feedback ratings currently varies anywhere from 9- 91/2 over 10 to 80% delicious. I guess I will have to agree with that though. Nothing beats home cooking! What happened to trying to loose weight during Ramadhan? Well its out of the window for sure. But then again...life is short, why not enjoy it right?

A'ishah slicing up boiled sausages, preparing the ingredients to throw onto the pizza.

Mashing potatoes to make Shepherd's Pie with her cousin

Preparing the minced beef with mixed vegetables and other stuff, helping mummy to get all the ingredients ready

Home made pizza ready to be put into the oven before the break of fast.

New word of the day

BERGULAMBIR - A new word learnt today when hanging out with my wife's cousins. I have yet to know what is the actual definition, but I suppose it has something to do with fatty tummy that hangs over belt buckle or something like that. Goggle-ised it to no avail.

Wish List as of 24th September 2008

This is my wish list for those who wants to plan ahead to buying me my birthday present..I can take early birthday presents too. Hehe. Remember my birthday is in early February, so anytime from now till then will be mighty fine by me. :P

1. Biotherm Homme Skin Care Product for men turning 40 (hahahah)
2. Cartier Santos Matt Gold Rimmed/Silver Rimmed Photochromatic Sunglasses
3. Tag Heuer Sunglasses
4. Tag Heuer Spectacles
5. Nikon D700/D3 with AFS Nikkor 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, f/2.8
6. Wilson Tennis Racket - [K]Six.One Tour or [K] Pro Tour
7. Wilson Tennis Strings - [K] Gut Pro, NXT Pro
8. Callaway Limited Edition Summer Tour Bag
9. Taylor Made Golf -
- TM Tour Burner TP Driver, TM/Adilla 85 Stiff Shaft 10.5
- TM Tour Burner Utility 2H, 17 degrees TM/Adilla 85 Stiff
- TM Tour Burner Irons inc.Wedges/Burner+Hybrid irons TM/Adilla 85 Stiff
- Odyssey Tour Authentic Tour Milled Putter
- TM Limited Edition Season Opener Staff Bag
10. Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 Slope Edition/Tournament Edition
11.Cocobolo/Bloodwood/Wenga/African Blackwood/Purple Heart/ African Ebony/Snakewood/Lignum Vitae Maghribi/Rosewood prayer beads 100
12. Kuka one piece walking stick from the tree (not the one connected like blocks)
13. Any cool walking stick, I seem to have a taste of collecting walking sticks now...
14. Pay my debts
15. Lots of money
16. A healthy baby Son so that we have a pair
17. A healthy, intelligent, smart, caring, pious, beautiful daughter
18. A constantly loving, caring, understanding, pious, sweet and adorable wife of mine (apple of my eye) for the rest of my life and dido (pronounced deedo just in case)
19. Lose 20 kilos
20. Lailatul Kadr
21. Be able to read Jawi faster & properly as well as understand what I read
22. To eat whatever I like and yet not grow fat and unhealthy
23. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL- Happiness, Health, Peace, Prosperity & Iman (the cheapest wish list of the lot by just giving a little prayer, but the most sought after...probably)

Learn Engrish Part Un

Be Careful What You Pick!

No really honey...I swear I picked it up at the store









The Instant Cold Shower Protection from Horniness











It's a Real Hit in Shanghai, China.


Don't forget to punch in...haha





The Coroner ruled it 'death by turning over'...


Don’t come any closer or I’ll TURN OVER!








That was totally uncalled for!

Ms Harry Potter?

My Half Korean Niece in spectacles similar to Hary Potter. This is the work of my brother in law having her wear these specs. Sometimes fasting does make one a little cuckoo... its the lack of food, water and 'Other' physical and mental restraints I tell yah. Doesn't she look fabulous and cute modeling for the camera like that? It seems she seem to react well with cameras, however she will refuse to be touched or held by me. Urrggh! Makes me so mad and "gergitan" at the same time!

Saturday weekend gathering

Saturday evening after Terawih was a planned gathering at the house with my wife's cousins and her two sibling brothers(11 of us in all). It had been a long time since we had them around just for the sake of keeping up with the latest happenings. But the main event was multitudes of matches in ping pong (table tennis) till dawn or the last to drop tired and of course the bragging rights. I had just finished the last and final game of ping pong with my brother in law about 15 minutes ago at 3:15 am with the final score of 10 games to 5.

I am just so tired and aching right now as I wait for the water heater to boil so that I can get to take my much deserved bath. I am still contemplating whether I should fill the bathtub and just have a good long soak or take a shower and go straight to sleep. I am absolutely sure I will be sore in the morning. But I do intend to stay in bed and enjoy it as much as I can...it's the weekend what?

Again, I have forgotten to take some pictures of the Arabic food "Nasi Talam Ayam", and the other food that we had just now and the ping pong action. My bad!

3:45am - OMG! I just woke up! I have actually slept in front of my computer for a good 15-20 minutes!!! I think the bathtub soaking is out of the question now..I better take a shower pronto otherwise I will end up sleeping in the shower whilst standing... Ouch...my back is beginning to ache. Don't think any of us will be waking up for Sahur it seems.

Audi S4 Avant Stationwagon 5 doors for sale

Advertising the car for a friend. About 10 months old. Asking price is BND$125k negotiable including license number. From what I heard, the engine is fully modified up to stage 5. If keen to seek finance, owner will be happy to arrange loan with HSBC Bank with special rate. Drop a message if interested.