Feb 15th

Yesterday, it's exactly 1 year since Mariam left us. Even though Sara and I decided to just run thru the day with our normal activities, we can't help but feeling a little sad. We miss her SO much. Throughout the day, I noticed that Sara had tears in her eyes every now and then. But I just gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled.

It's the 'right' day to be sad.

Sunday Times: Miracle Mariam

I'm blessed to have an article written about my family in today's Sunday Times. Thanks to Mariam, actually. I'm thinking of scanning and posting the article in this blog, but I have to figure out just how to fit that huge newspaper into my A4 scanner. Hmm. Anyway, click here for the online version.

Oh, for those who celebrates, Happy Valentine's Day.

Rich People, Poor People

Spot the rich (and poor) dude:

1) I have USD5.78million in my bank. I have routine morning walk with my kids, a partner that I can joke with and talk to and friends that I can depend on.

2) I have USD578 in my bank. I have kids that look up to me, a partner that loves me and a house that’s full of laughter. And I never miss a vacation traveling.

3) I have USD55.78million in my bank. But I have a partner that I can’t see everyday. I have a drinking problem and my house is always empty. I feel that everyone is not sincere, even my kids. And I have no true friends.

To me, in short, it’s your LIFESTYLE that depicts if you are rich or poor. The first 6 words in each of the sentences not carry any weight at all. Enrich your life. FILL UP YOUR DAYS (especially weekends) with quality. Live a "rich" lifestyle.

Traffic Mental

Few days ago, while in the traffic jam, as I was cursing the govt, global warming, the fly that refused to get out of my car and Mark Knofler’s album, a quote from someone’s Mom rang in my head: “Always look at the brighter side”. Then I saw it. A half-million MYR Nissan Skyline GTR - top speed 300km/h, 0-100km/h in 5 frickin’ seconds, 6-speed manual trans, twin-turbos, 4-wheel steering and a G-Force meter – stuck in the traffic jam with me. Hehehe. And my air-con is probably cooler. Plus, my car has autobox.

A Monkey Tuesday - WITH PICTURES!!!

I have a rule-of-thumb: If it’s a festive season, do NOT go to Penang Island. Yesterday, I decided to break it. And just as I was entering the bridge, it hit back on me right on the face. I was stuck in a traffic jam for >30mins. And it was scorching. Great.

But once on the island, surprisingly, everything went smoothly. No traffic jam to speak of. Which is weird, actually. Anyway, we headed straight to a Mamak restaurant for a “good food, bad service” chow-time. The Tandoori Naan and Briyani Rice were so GOOD!

We couldn’t get to Bukit Bendera as the cable car tickets were sold out. What a blow coz we were really looking fwd to it. If only I had six-sense and the power of prophecy, I would have saved RM2 on the parking fee. Oh well.

Next stop: Botanical Garden. People come here to enjoy its lush greens and river streams, in addition to getting close to human’s primal root by befriending monkeys. Yup, Botanical Garden is infamous for its monkey. Speaking of primal, here are some observations:

1 Monkeys are afraid of humans. Esp. the big ones.
2 Human too, are afraid of monkeys. Esp. the big ones.
3 Humans (the big ones, in particular) pretend that they are not afraid of the monkeys even though they sprint away when the monkey runs toward them.
4 Marsha, who is small in size, is not afraid of the monkeys... judging by the sound imitations and flying kisses she does.
5 Monkeys are not afraid of Marsha too, coz she’s small.
6 When a monkey and Marsha get too close to each other, humans get afraid and started to panic and frighten both of them.
7 Then, small humans get afraid of big humans.

I guess, size really do matters here. Anyway, Botanical garden is SOOOPARRR! Here I learnt that Marsha could actually walk on uneven surfaces. I’m such an observant Dad.

We then had a Penang style Coconut drink on “a stretch of sand and rocks on a reclaimed land that’s located by the sea” or simply put; “something-like-a-beach”. Followed by another “good food, bad service” seafood dinner by the sea.

To sum it all up, Penang rocks! For 87.03% of the time, you’d probably meet people who are NOT rude. This is GOOD coming from a place where 96.12% road users are rude (the remaining 3.88% are visitors). Hehe.. :P

I have sooparrrr pictures to share. I’ll post it later.