It's been a long sojourn since the last post. I find myself in Klang for the Christmas holidays as Linda and her family get together for their annual Christmas bash. What's so special is that ALL their "in-laws" will also be around this time.; from Kuching, Manila and Newcastle. Let's hope we do a better job than the UN.

On the weather front: Linda's sister - Lorna & her Geordie hubby, Graeme, just managed to beat the fog in Heathrow. Unfortunately, his Dad didn't. 3 days behind but finally! It's only a fog... and a fog isn't even a natural disaster. Heathrow needs to move.

Southern Peninsular Malaysia is inundated with flood and it's big enough for BBC to mention it in their World news service. We pray for those inundated and frown on those out to make a quick buck out of others' misery.

It's Christmas so here's a Merry Christmas to all ye Christians out there and a happy new year to everyone else.

The RAIN's been pouring over the past couple of days! Wowee!! Downside? Car's perpetually muddy.
I got sick of wiping mud off the door so i went to get it washed. 10 minutes later... MUDDDDDD!!!!!

It's downtime at both my jobs. Catching up on my administrative work. Paper-pushing. Linda's supervising exams at Sekolah Menengah Teknik Matang (Matang Technical Secondary School). Total travelling time=10 minutes. IF ONLY this was her work place. ah... i wish.

We're slowly adjusting David's daily routine to getting used to having more than just his nanny. He's also getting more boisterous and that's a challenge for the two of us.

today is bright and sunny. Welcome back, sun.

The RAIN's been pouring over the past couple of days! Wowee!! Downside? Car's perpetually muddy.
I got sick of wiping mud off the door so i went to get it washed. 10 minutes later... MUDDDDDD!!!!!

It's downtime at both my jobs. Catching up on my administrative work. Paper-pushing. Linda's supervising exams at Sekolah Menengah Teknik Matang (Matang Technical Secondary School). Total travelling time=10 minutes. IF ONLY this was her work place. ah... i wish.

We're slowly adjusting David's daily routine to getting used to having more than just his nanny. He's also getting more boisterous and that's a challenge for the two of us.

today is bright and sunny. Welcome back, sun.

The RAIN's been pouring over the past couple of days! Wowee!! Downside? Car's perpetually muddy.
I got sick of wiping mud off the door so i went to get it washed. 10 minutes later... MUDDDDDD!!!!!

It's downtime at both my jobs. Catching up on my administrative work. Paper-pushing. Linda's supervising exams at Sekolah Menengah Teknik Matang (Matang Technical Secondary School). Total travelling time=10 minutes. IF ONLY this was her work place. ah... i wish.

We're slowly adjusting David's daily routine to getting used to having more than just his nanny. He's also getting more boisterous and that's a challenge for the two of us.

today is bright and sunny. Welcome back, sun.

Last night my parents organised a surprise 30th birthday party for me. Thinly disguised as one of their usual get-togethers it threw me off. i was sincerely surprised. Although yours truly had mentioned earlier that he wasn't one to celebrate his 30th year on planet earth, they went ahead and Linda (dear, dear wife) was also in on it.

Mum baked me a shepherd's pie - birthday cake and got the rest of my friends together. Thank God she didn't invite the ex-schoolmates. That would have been interesting for the oldies and the still-too-young for all the KNNCCB/MCB/FU/MF... i shudder just imagining!!!

Great night with great people. Low keyed and we even had time to watch some telly and do the dishes!

Linda made dessert and it was superb. A big thank you to Hasifah for helping (erm, guiding?) her through it.
David made a bee-line for the shepherd's pie and had a late night (the little tiger only snoozed at around 10pm!). What a trooper, he entertained, made conversations and was well behaved throughout the night.

Thank you mum and dad!

Thank you Linda!

Thank you, Lees!
Thank you, Giangs!

and Thank you friends and family for coming!

Most of all, thank God for his grace in my life; all 30 years of it.

Sun's shining brightly. sky's lookin' a healthy blue. since everything's starting to become all healthy and such, i've given up driving to work and got my trusty '97 Diamondback Sorrento fixed. Yup! I bike to work and DAMN! does it feel good. I sleep better and feel better. So good that i bought my wife a bike for her birthday. She's truly stoked cos she's been buggin' me for one. Was it a surprise!

I know what some folks out there would say about a Sorrento but, it's served me well and the frame is just plain tough. The shimano gears probably need replacing soon but that's another matter altogether. Currently, it's got a cheapo Acera set with caliper brakes and a brake handle-gearshift combined. The handlebar's been changed and so's the saddle. I just got the tyres changed to Tioga semi knobbies. No off-roading for me in the forseeable future. No shocks, springs, nothing. Great for your reproductive organs!!!

It's going to be a sizzler of a day! Havin' fun...

THE WEEK THAT WASN't.

Malaysians are a spoilt lot. We tend to see "religious / cultural" holidays as an excuse to shirk-off. Look at the recent Aidilfitri break. It went from 2 days to 1 WHOLE WEEK! Talk about unity... when it comes to holidays (and the extending of) Malaysians are a united lot.

Work's been catching up with me and is threatening to drown me unless i attend to it. Silly bugger! I'm Malaysian, work's the last thing on my mind!!!

On the home front;

My son... (wait)

Allow me to introduce the cast and crew: (Presenting!)

Linda - my wife. Hails from Klang, Selangor. Loves food. Reckons that the only good food Sarawak has to offer is Laksa. Enjoys cooking and dreams of being a full-time mum and wife.

David - my son. Enjoys rough and tumble play. Currently weighs in at 11.2 KGs and is 15 months old. He can't walk but can he run! Learnt how to do the Baby Bop Hop from a certain purple dinasour and his equally strange friends. It wouldn't be long now before he starts stringing all those words together to form sentences (e.g. "Papa, give money now!")

My son has been progressing into the babbling stage and is starting to vocalize sentence pattern sounds. He's a sponge and soaks in everything - both good and not so good. I've been coughing and so he came over this morning, stroked my face and arm and said "papa" "papa" over and over again like he's telling me that it's going to be ok. IF ONLY he's as sweet as this throughout the day!

My dad calls him Typhoon David.

My dad's his best-est friend.

Oh, with my dad, he can get away with ANYTHING.

I love the little runt.

Post-Aidilfitri.

THE WEEK BEFORE...
Went to a wake, a funeral and another wake over the past 5 days.

BACK TO THE CRUNCH...
I've come to realise that holidays aren't what they used to be. Work goes on and spills over to whatever personal time that you may have set aside for yourself.

THE YEAR END...
Procrastination does not make things better. Hitting that end of year target seems now more important (and urgent!) that it was a month ago. Sheesh... why set that target in the first place???

Ah... Innocent optimism.

Oh well, it's back to work for this worker bee.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

The haze is indeed clearing and not only is the hill appearing once more but this morning, i saw a flash of blue as i lifted my eyes to the heavens.

wow.

Raya in Kuching seemed to be rather low-keyed this year. A big "Well Done!" to the Govt. Minister who called on all who celebrate Aidilfitri to do so in an affordable and humble manner. It worked and Malaysians have proven themselves to be teachable - for now.

It looks like rain for the forseeable 24 hrs and i hope its a BIG one. There's just something magical and therapeutic about rain. It's one of those FREE feel good things that everyone enjoys... except for the Guy building the runway extension in Kuching. Tough luck.

Hazy days are here to stay... for the forseeable future. We're beginning to sound like the Brits - developing a penchant for describing the weather ("How's the weather, old chap?" "Looks a bit damp today, I say." ... Us: "How's the weather huh?" "You blind ah? cannot see the haze ???")- except, with less politeness.

We took the boy out last night. A road trip. Spur of the moment thing. He enjoyed it. Wife - Linda - and yours truly were beat after the experience. Lessons learnt: 1. Don't bring child who just got better out. He'll get VERY excited and all. 2. A stuffed nose is very uncomfortable, especially if you don't yet know how to blow it out. 3. Carrying a 24.6 pound (11.2 kg) toddler sleeping on his side (and in your arms!) for 34 kilometres (and in the car) can bring on muscle cramps and fatigue. Don't believe me? Try it out with a bag of rice. He slept soooo well. We had our first night of unedited and uninterrupted sleep in 2 weeks.

He woke up all happy and smiley-like. Ah! The joys of being irresponsible and blameless.

Today PBI 1062-ers, An afternoon of Self-Expression. 1430hrs in the Multi-Media Hall, Language Learning Centre. Your presence will do wonders for your mates who will be presenting. I've graded your portfolios (cum journals) and the majority of you have done well. The one element that was lacking in a number of the portfolios was the "literature research" section and its application to your work. Works and sources were quoted (and used) but, how did it help you understand the subject matter and were they effective? Food for thought.

Woke up today to the sound of birds singing; the sight of mist hanging in the air and the smell of... my son's puke.

yup! The lad finally decided to regurgitate after days of us trying our best to coax him into expunging the mass of bacteria laden mucuous and gunk in his throat and belly. He did it with his usual panache; drink down his morning feed. Smile at his mum, babbled something to her (probably a warning!) then .... did his impression of a chocolate fountain! on the bed... on the bedroom floor... and finally, in the corridor. Not once, but THREE times the mess.

Pleased with his performance, he smiled, wiped his puke stained lips on my shirt and asked for "by-bee-nah" (Ribena). Now before you go all healthy on us about how much sugar a young lad like him ought to take just know that it's just the colour he's after-hence, very little of the sweet stuff and heaps of H2O.

Clean up wasn't fun today.

We saw the outline of the hill yesterday evening... a sign of better weather ahead?

PBI 1062 - You've got a meeting cum rehearsal with Patrick in the multimedia theatre today at 5:00 pm. Please be there.

The worst is over... for now. My son's getting better (measured by the increasing quantity of food intake and increasing length of activity). We've discovered that his 'sicky' foods include fruit flavoured yoghurt drinks, star fruit and ( Eeu!) warm Ribena blackcurrant juice.

A special "Hi!" to my PBI 1062/11 & 12 students. Thank you (the majority) for handing in your assignments and journals before the deadline. I'll return them after the Aidilfitri break. Stay tuned for updates!

Three days of rain and suddenly... No rain. The haze returned with a vengeance. One can no longer predict the weather as before.

The weekend saw my son going down with ulcers on his tonsils and a raspy cough. However, his apetite hasn't diminished a whit. His paediatrician saw him on Saturday morning and declared him to be bacterially infected but it didn't stop him from trying to act cute in front of the nurses. He turned One in July.

We've been attending to his grouch attacks and bouts of fever over the past 3 days and it's sapped us dry (Forgive us parenting newbies for whining). His 7pm to 7am sleep has also gone the way of the dinosaurs. Instead, he's sleeping an hour later, waking up intermittently and doing the sunshine dance at half past six in the morning.

We've got a 2000+ metre high hill nearby but on account of the haze, it hasn't been seen since last month.

Sleep is Good... Work is Bad.

It was one of those kind of nights: you've planned for it, recce'd the sites and then, everything changes. Life is just like that, ain't it? We think that we've planned it all; we reckon that we've covered all the contingencies; we know... we know... ?

Have we really or a better question would be, could we really cover everything?

In all our wisdom and technological know-how, we'still unable to answer the questions completely.

I'd planned to walk to work this morning, it decided to rain---BIG & HEAVY. I'd planned to have breakfast before leaving the house but my little boy woke up just as i was exiting the room. He said,"hi. papa." then flashed me the biggest grin a 1 yr old can give. No breakfast. No walk.

... but,

satisfaction. He smiled at me.
It's going to be a superb day.


even if it's only ending at 10:30 tonight.

i thought it was haze at first
but the dampness told me:
Morning has returned once more,
and with it the glorious mist.

What a night. The rain continued until the early hours of the morning. The freshness
that comes with an extended downpour is indescribable; you feel moisturised... alive...
wanting more.

Birds are singing as this is written.

pause.


crap. i lost count after identifying 5 distincly different bird-calls. The sun is up but isn't making
any effect. The haze is still here, i guess.

Here's to another long day of work. later.

It rained last night.
I told my addled self that if it rained, i'd create this blog.
so it did.

Here's the blog and let's watch it grow.