maid abscond

I'm writing this to remind me of how our maid absconded and eventually returned after 7 days. She initially left on the eve of new year and promised to come back after spending a night with her (claimed) husband. She eventually returned and blamed her husband didn't let her leave.

I don't know if I can trust her anymore.

beach break

It was time for a break and the thought of lounging at the sea was certainly a welcome idea. Yanti immediately agreed to it while she was still in Madinah when I suggested it.

We have not been to the Avillion together, so I decided to book us there. The choice of location was right except that the timing wasn't. Since it was school holidays, the place was flooded with people.


It was over-crowded and queing was the buzzword for the place. Que during check-in, que to park, que during breakfast, que checking out.

Instead of queing again for dinner, we decided to order via room service, which was a right decision. After dinner, the kids played some PS2 and went straight to bed - tired from playing at the beach. I can't imagine having to carry them from the car park to our room, which was very far, if we had our dinner outside.

For us parents, it was a good break.


Kids, you always love the water.


And the sand.


Night view of the pool.

Our room - nice pedestal bed.

Eating in.

Rooms service was yummy but pricey.

All ready for bed.

To the beach again after breakfast.

Sunrise.

Hi Lyana.

Hi Aneesa.

Hi Haryz.

Hi Darling.

YAAAYY!!

View from room.

The porch.

Room before being messed-up. :D

balik haji - hajjah ida yanti

Alhamdulillah, my darling wife and her two aunties are safe home. Last night I fetched her at KLIA, along with several hundred more people also expecting to see their family members.

The kids wanted to follow but since it was already late, about 10.30pm, I decided they should stay home - good decision because Yanti eventually emerged at about 12.30am.


waiting... waiting...


Itu pun dia. :)


... and the luggage.

farewell jonathan wright

Bye-bye from HR team, Talisman Malaysia.


Semoga jumpa lagi, boss.

Much have been said between us during our final goodbyes. Again, all the best and good luck in your new job. You have a very bright future ahead of you.

salomon x-trail 2009

My fix on adventure races has another additional event on the table... yes, this will be an annually participated event, provided Salomon continue to host. :)

Just for this, I bought a new trail running shoe because my old one (after 3 years) is starting to show signs of... being old. haha.

Many of our gang participated in this race, especially when it was our "home" ground.

To me the race was tiring after about half way point because I was unable to gauge the distance since I've never run this route before. I was pushing myself and misgauged the distance. Most parts towards the end were only walking.

I became very hungry as well - thanks to a nice man who were the on the organizing team who handed me his cheese bread about 3/4 of the way... so generous! Terima kasih saudara - too bad I didn't get your name.


Super-shoes.

Good turn up.

Lookee how dirtee.

The Wans.

Penat!

Post race look.

raya haji 2009 / 1432h

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha to all muslims. May Allah bless you always.

This year we celebrated our Eidul Adha without my beloved wife who is in Makkah. We went back to Melaka for the celebration and then the next day went to Subang Jaya.

We participated in the korban this year and fell 4 cows in Kampung Paku. There were more than enough meat to go around since most kampung slaughtered cows as well.


We all miss you, mama!

Haryz, Lyana and Aneesa occupied their time playing with their cousins and animals in the kampung like Tok Nal's goats and chickens. The kids really love animals.


Haryz kissed the goat! :D


The girls loved the chicks. (haha, pun intended)


See any resemblance?

penang bridge international marathon 2009

This is my first time participating in the PBIM and in a run outside of KL/Selangor. We went on the road trip to Penang on Saturday in Kamal's cool 5-series and then stayed in Telekom's condo in Batu Feringgi - thanks Kamal & Mafiz. :)

The run started very early because the bridge needs to open for motorist. Kamal's 42km run started at 3.00am whilst the 21km run for Telal, Mafiz and me started at 3.30am.

I eventually completed the race in 3h 11m - my personal best time for 21km. :)


Registration day.

Muka mengantuk. :p

On the bridge.

Yehaa!

Kamal eventually finished after almost 7 hours. Superb determination, Kamal!

genting trailblazer 2009

This year the GT was much better organized, with no glaring glitches like last year. I have to commend the organizers that it has improved significantly like T-shirts are the right sizes as we asked for, there were many more registration counters, people are more pleasant, etc.

This year I partnered with Izdihar, my HR colleague since Wan Edrin couldn't participate. Ruslan and Halim decided to give this year a pass as well. Mafiz partnered with Telal while Kamal partnered with Eugene.

Like last year, it was tough, wet and dirty but I totally enjoyed it! :)



Before the race.

Obstacles.

Water buffalos.

Some commando-like crawling action.

Finitto!

hajjah ida yanti

Alhamdulillah, finally my beloved wife was invited by Allah to perform her hajj this year. She went with her 2 aunties, Mak Uda and Mak Chu Yah. Last night we sent them off at the Kelana Jaya hajj center.

The prior flight was delayed so we had to wait for another 2 hours longer than the original timing. Eventually they all entered the center at about 11pm.

However, they only left at about 7am the next day due to another delay caused by some jemaah who was supposed to board the plane at 3am didn't turn up.

Kesian, awal2 lagi dah diuji kesabaran.

I stayed back to look after the kids and Mama will stay with us until my darling wife comes back.

All the best Sayang. Semoga Allah menerima haji Sayang dan mabrur. Amin.


At the Kelana Jaya center.


Delayed. So we waited.

Hajj tags.

Me & my darling.

masters of business administration

Alhamdulillah. Finally after 5 years, I graduated with a Masters of Business Administration majoring in Human Resource Management from Open University Malaysia. I started out in September 2004, when I had only 1 child and finally graduated in November 2009, with 3 children.

The convocation took place in Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Center. Tun Jean Abdullah was the chancellor and awarded the degrees and diplomas. It was quite a grand event, I would say since about 3000 students graduated.


The awardee and the awarder.

:)

We all stood for the Negaraku national enthem.

Family support.

My most special mention goes to my most beloved and darling for all her support and motivation during my venture into 'master-hood'.

Thank you very much, Sayang. Your presence during my convocation meant so much, we actually graduated together. I couldn't have done it without your help.