May/June

Didn't haf the best of times in the recent weeks.. Lots of things.. Happenings and impt decisions to be made..

Firstly, friends at work are leaving, 1 haf left.. These are my closer bunch at work.. And I'll be the only one left!! So no more morning coffee, afternoon tea, lunch will not be as comfortable as it was, with friends whom I no need to purposely put up a topic with.. No more chit chats walks to mrt station.. No more evening runs, no more weekend blades with them... Anyway I think I'll survive la.. Am already channeling my time and thoughts to work more diligently..

One left for another job, another 2 leaving for PhD.. Further study has always been an option for me, however nv put in place, procrastinated, until recently which was unfortunately a bit late.. Timing was lousy.. Ppl leaving means that I will haf more difficulty doing part time MSc... But i haf a supportive boss and I'm grateful for that.. I'm currently gathering doc for application..

Another option came by, tat's to do my study overseas.. This option has NEVER cross my mind.. Being a down to earth Singaporean, taking MSc locally was the only option I considered.. It came by when the wife said she don't mind if we were to go overseas or a couple of yrs either for wok or for studies (it sparked much enthusiasm in the fren who's heading for PhD in Getmany!!).. With the kids still very small now, it's easier to uproot the family for a few years, and be back for the kids' pri sch education.. Anyway, I'm looking...

Next, having started a family early. Seriously lugging 2 kids ard is not for whims.. Not juz talking abt bringing them out, but having ur life planned and revolving ard them.. It's juz so difficult to haf a life with kids.. Esp with 2.. It's juz impossible to simply say "ok!!" when ppl asked u out even for a couple hrs for dinner or drinks.. We gotta say "sorry couldn't go" when friends planned for a night out for the 1st match of the World Cup.. So diff when we can't juz, by default, leave the children at home with the grandparents..

Tat said, NOTHIN comes close to the interaction I get with my kids! Jus ytd, I was sitting by the desk surfing ard for courses to take, when Janielle came in with a toy spoon and a bowl..

"daddy wan?"
"wads that?"
"fish"
"I dun wan"
"want huh?"
"fine, ok I wan.."
She went on the "feed" me..

Then suddenly she passed the spoon and bowl to me..

"自己吃 ok? Jan Jan go Mm Mm"
(eat it urself ok? Jan Jan go shit)

And she ran out... To her potty...


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ICT

Looking fwd to my next in-camp!!

(Image from google)

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Turning 30

Nope I still got a couple of years before I hit the big 3 number.. Juz a thought I had earlier today as I was commuting to work.. Wad might be going on in the mind of someone in his/her thirties...?

Any input? Anyone....?



Hello........?


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unhappiness

nth went really wrong today..

but i find myself finding fault in ppl today.. i thought i was more amiable than this...

was it juz me?
need to do some soul-searching then....

on another note, i wish i could go home early, and take a nap.. before my evening routine of fetching my family starts at 7pm...

tired...

So tired I could juz fall asleep ANYWHERE!

Didn't sleep well.. Dreamt that I was preparing to go for a trip on my own.. So much to prep; book tic, pack bag, make arrangement for my way there etc.. It didn't help it got broken up to 2 parts by janielle's whines at 2am...

Currently in the midst of making plans for 2 trips...

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Kuching day 6.. Last day...

Last day in Kuching today, nth planned other than walking the neighbouring streets and buying some local products for the families and some friends.. Woke up late today! 0830.. Sun was up.. Actually I like it better early.. Less heat, less people.. U see ppl coming in and opening their stalls for business.. The younger ones juz heading home to slp on the public holiday..

Took a walk along the Main Bazaar.. First time we walk here thou we were actually juz staying a street back.. Mayb coz it's Good Friday in a majority Christian country, there's quite a crowd.. There's this stretch that sells souveniors and local produces aimed at tourists.. Things are more or less the same.. We ventured further across the street and we noticed more locals doing their daily morning shopping.. Ppl buying bags and bags of ikan bilis, spice powder.. Butter/magarine comes in big tins and ppl buy by the weight.. Cooking oil sold in packets.. Theres also an alley that sells food, mainly malay, macam pasar malam back at home, but in the day.. Quite a nice atmosphere la..

Kuching is like many of the towns in the west Malaysia we've visited many years back as students and very young working adults.. Those tat we juz wan a short short weekend getaway, somewhere where we could juz slp over, and spend the day exploing the streets and eating the local food.. It's easy to get ard, u could walk, take a bus, or u could flag down a cab easily.. Ppl are nice and very seldom pushy..

I think I may come back here..

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Kuching day 5!

Finally things went on as planned an we managed to find 3 other travellers to make 5 of us to share that ferry to Bako National Park HQ, even before we board the bus! Weather wa great, a little bit too good in fact.. Some 30% of the trails were exposed and we were practically baked under the sun.. Other than the super duper hot weather and very long trails, and lousy timing and location for lunch (there's only 1 canteen located at the HQ in the whole park, and lunch is ready only at 1130), Bako is quite worth going.. We planned to completed 2 trails but turned back when we were 300m from the end of the 2nd one due to intolerance to the heat, our tiredness and potential shortage of water (and time too, since we've already prearranged with our boatman the pick up timing to bring us back) We spotted a couple of proboscis monkeys too! The 1st we saw in fact literally dropped in on us.. I think it was checking us out when I think it lose footing or sth, came crashing onto the ground 5m from us with a big palm leave.. Loud entrance!

Anyway now I'm really burnt.. Turning in soon.. I've been feeling very slpy since we had our dinner at a local seafood place.. Nice and cheap! Only RM65 for fish, prawn, bamboo clams, a vege and drinks!

View of our intended destination!! Before we turned back...

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Kuching Day 4

Guess what.. We missed the shuttle bus again!! Actually not very sure la, the schedule written there says 720am, it was 730 when we were there.. I asked the owner of the lodge that sells tic for the shuttle, he said the earliest is 915am.. So we took the kolo mee we dabao to the waterfront and slowly enjoyed our breakfast, while time and ppl passed by...

Met a fellow traveller on that same shuttle, he was actually on his way to G.Santubong, the mountain that forms the backdrop of Sarawak Culture Village.. At the ht of 800+m, it towers over the village and steepess of close to 95deg at the steepest point! ( bearing in mind he started close to sea level and its gonna be juz a daytrip.. And the figures I estimated one la) anyway he's gonna haf his 2nd attempt at conquering the summit after falling out 120m from the summit 2yrs ago.. He said he was exhausted.. He gonna take shorter albeit steeper route this time round... So he hopped off the minivan when we were halfway there and bid us good luck.. I think he needs more luck than us!

The cultural village was indeed rather touristy, but I didn't find that it's a waste of time.. I particularly enjoyed going into the constructed traditional Rumah Malayu and Rumah Cina.. I actually felt very at home in the fake Chinese house.. Perhaps it's my subconscious doing it's magic? ( I did stayed in a house and conditions like this before.. Before my parents moved into a HDB, before I turned 3..)

Damai beach was a little bit of a disappointment.. It's really quite pretty, big waves, fine sand, clear horizon and all.. But dun think it fit swimming in la.. A little too rough for dipping.. Took a few snaps and off I ran to catch the shuttle!

Back at Kuching, we took a short ferry and ventured to the other side of the river where there is a community of Malay kumpungs.. Real kumpungs, real ppl staying there, not made for show one... But the fact tat they're there attracts kits of tourists from the other side of the river la.. So they're quite used to having tourist walking by their houses all the time.. We had our dinner there.. Sarawak laksa.. Erm.. Requires getting used to.. Ayam Penyet, same, but with diff sides and gravy..

Carebear! Stare!

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Kuching Day 3

We made our way back to Kuching in the cab that we arranged the day before.. Decided to drop by a Orang Utan Rehab centre ( no they dun do drugs) but we were informed that there's nth to see coz it's passed their feeding time.. Very practical hor? So we juz return to Kuching la..

The rest of the day was spent deciding where to go the next day.. Damai? Or Bako? We let the weather forecast decide.. It's been raining almost everyday we're here! Journey to Bako involves a ferry ride which according to the guides, choppy... We checked the weather forecast, both days raining.. But thurs having a lower probability of precipitation.. So Damai tmrw!!

Of course we didn't really sit down the hike day deciding that la.. We walked the town, combed the street for local food! Had super big Pau, sio bee (siewmai), belacan beehoon (in prawn paste), coconut in sugarcane juice, chendol.. Yb found a shopping mall and needless to say, we made our way there.. Bought some clothings for jemaine and some accessories for janielle.. Ended the day with dinner in the rain at the "open air" market.. Beef noodles and fried carrot cake..

The view thru my 10x30cm "window" in my attic room...

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Kuching Day 2

8:08am
Kolo mee was good.. Conveniently located juz outside the guesthouse! Intended to catch STC bus 6 to get to Kota Pedawan, after which we need to get a minivan in to the longhouse area.. Dang! Missed the bus by 15min! Need to take a cab instead..(the bus leaves at 720am if u're taking it next time!) Ok it was cheaper than wad was quoted on the website.. On the cab now.. =)

*buRp*

8:00pm
Dinner was sumptuous.. I think the serving could easily serve 4.. Well it was afterall after a long day.. Trekked a total of 4hrs up and down.. Spent abt 2hrs at the waterfall and lunch was prepared by the guide too! Chicken cooked in bamboo, served with bamboo rice and some canned sardines.. I think the bamboo chicken is juz some tourist gimmicks.. The guide brought a cooking pot to serve the chicken anyway! Wonder if it's juz the same rainy period we're having in SG, or it's really the weather of the tropical rainforest.. It juz kept raining and raining.. I did enjoy walking in the rain thou, other then my ankle being cut by the rubber mould-injected shoes they provided.. Every step was a pain, oh and my knee too, pain in each downward step I made, really old liao.. We were juz reminising tat descend I made with Yb at Mt. K, we were super fast.. When was the very last time I hiked in a heavy rain.. Maybe Aggung? With thunder and lightning all ard and trying to fetch rainwater with our opened bottled... And the last I was bitten by a leech? G.Tahan?

We got an introduction to the longhouse by this lady who was helping out in the running of the homestay, it's actually a little bit touristy to be honest.. There's actually a "showhouse" and a sugarcane crusher and a "head" house" (they were one of the headhunter tribes) that is kept there as historical artefacts.. But at least the ppl there dun put up a show la.. The Bidayuhs are already very modernized, zinc roofs, watching satellite channels, the younger ones clad in spaghetti tops and denim shorts.. But they do preserve their way of life still la.. Planting padi in the mountain, some vege.. Kept some domestic animals still.. Overall, not a bad experience staying there..

Annah Rais Longhouse (Bidayuh)

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Kuching Day 1

Intended to get to Kuching main town by bus initially, the guide book says once we get out of the terminal, turn right to get to the buses.. Out of the terminal, we could see both ends of the terminal.. What bus....? Need to take a cab instead.. Not a cheap alternative, but the consolation is that we dun haf to bargain for a price since we buy coupon over a counter at the airport, and it brings us to the doorstep of our guesthouse..

The guesthouse was slightly disappointing, book says it's on the small side, but I didn't expect it to be THAT small.. The 1st room he showed us was only the size of the bed!! luckily it was offpeak and guess they got lots of spare rooms.. Gave us a room with 2 double beds instead.. At the attic i think.. Was damn hot, good thing it has a working aircon..

Walking ard the town for food and for orientation purposes, we found the place that claimed that their rooms starts from RM4.99.. Went in to take a look.. Then we realized the price actually excludes lots of things.. We need to per extra for 12hr of aircon and 24hr wifi.. Suddenly I realised how much I like this attic room.. The floor has no one else, so the shared shower area is almost exclusively ours.. The wifi is free and signal is strong.. Aircon is complimentary.. And it's only RM50 per nite.. =)

Tmr, heading to Annah Reis Longhouse.. Hopefuly things go on fine! We got some tight timing to meet, and to save some $$, we opted of the less-than-reliable bus transportation.. We still need to take a transit to a minivan after..we werenot able to book either the bus, or the van.. But, it was a fight between RM100 for cab, and roughly RM16 by bus/van... And it was partly in the name of adventure.. ;)

Ok time to turn in, 645am tmr, Kolo Mee for breakfast!!

Jalan this way tolong!

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MSc.

Should I go back to school...?

I think I should.....

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evening today

was on course these 3 days, surprisingly, the course ended at 4pm today.. and i got home b4 5! yb and jan were at home today coz jan wasn't feeling well, and so we left jem at my MIL's to quarantine the 2 sisters...

anyway a short run has already been scheduled, i quickly changed and start my run... weather was good, my knee wasn't in the best condition, fortunately after a while, the pain went off... an hr of good run..

yb and jan met me after my run while i was cooling off.. hung ard at the fitness corner for some evening breeze and a dinner at a nearby foodcourt after that..

the rest of the night was juz routines... but hey i enjoyed an eventful weekday evening...

i welcome an early release, any time!!

Juz like any other day

530am: Jemaine was "yelping" (sorry couldn't find a better word, she's wasn't crying, more of a whining yelp).. Yb mentioned sth abt it raining, and we may need to park the car in the multistorey carpark later when we sent the kids..

615am: I was driving and I told Yb I may be drying the car when I'm back, she sniggered saying I making use of the rain to wash car ah? Partly la, but not at 7am!! More like the haze will be washed off the air by the rain and if I dun dry the car, it'll form patches of dirt when the water dries..

620am: Janielle wants milk and she wan 一起泡 neh neh.. Prepared milk with one hand and carrying on the other arm.. Settled her into her bed at my MIL's..

720am: palm pain from squeezing dry the cheap wipe cloth (note to self: time to invest in microfibre absorbant wipe cloth, but wld absorbant meant that it's even more diff to dry it?? *shrugz*) Avante's almost sparkling thou!

730am: kinda late to go back to bed.. Showered, had small breakfast, check mail.. Download news into phone for reading on the MRT later...

800am: walked to the mrt station, enjoying the fresh air.. There's been a burnt smell lingering in the air for the longest time in the dry spell.. The morning rain was a nice break..

Everything else is like any other days...

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Autorecruitment

Somehow ever since I've become a dad I've been included in conversations and discussion which I'll usually think more appropriate for mums..

Today's day 1 for a new mum from her maternity leaves.. "hey chiu, I'm back!" on this msn-like thing for work... I turned to my cubicle mate and mentioned " eh XX is back leh" my cubicle mate was like "oh So fast?" well apparently she didn't msg everyone... "hey welcome back! miss work?"

I found myself standing ard a group of parents from work during the co.'s xmas dinner.. It's fine.. Until they took a turn and started talking abt breastfeeding.. I mean it's not sth which I'm unfamiliar with, but to haf a duscussion abt it with female colleagues is a little bit too much for me eh.. I'm not embarassed, but I'm conscious abt my presence there which may cause any discomfort to any of them there.. Anyway i found myself slowly inching my way out.. Not a very interesting topic for me anyway...

Today a close colleage brought her boy in for a short while, she called me on my DID, "eh come down lobby leh, someone's here..." (but I'm slightly bz leh)
"oh ok!"

Hey don't get it wrong! I'm honoured to be included in the club (i'm actually quite a senior there in fact).. I'm glad to know that ppl will think of me when they got sth to share (parenting tips, books, articles etc).. They also seek my advices and opinion at times.. I mean not all dads know abt children ok..

Oh I'm organising a mini baby day-out this weekend for a friend's nephew.. Haha.. If succesful I can extend it to more the next time..

Oh and do invite me for ur baby showers k!!

Jemaine is having a variety of facial expressions liaoz.. Hehe...

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i think i got bitten...

..by the travel bug.....

have been talking of going for a short trip before yb returns to work.. which translates to late March... the plan now is Sarawak... not yet finalised.. but woot!!

and i've been reading ppl's blog on their travels.. chanced upon some albums in which ppl put up some of the photos taken which they were on trips; cambodia, tanzania (kili, serengeti, ngorongo; damn, i miss africa!), yogyakarta, mulu....

really hope my travel plan this year can come to a realisation... bearing in mind now i got problem even planning for an evening run.....

Appreciation

Appreciating hot Milo in the morning,
afternoon breaktime coffee and
an occasional after work drink...

Paternity

Most of the time when ppl talk abt having a child, so much emphasis wil be placed on the mum.. Yes for the many months that she's carrying the baby in her.. For the childbirth and taking care of the newborn of coz.. I think more can be done for the father of the child as well.. Not many can appreciate the stress that he's going thru having to juggle things as well..

More paternity leaves pls......?

Tired..

This was my 1st weekend with 2 kids, just me and Yb handling both, without any help... Everything before dinner was fine.. Other than the fact tat I was fighting back against falling asleep behind the wheels! Blood was leaving my brain for the intestines, that's why.. Anyway being tired doesn't help at all with 2 kids who refuse to cooperate with me at all.. One too young to know anything, the other too whiny for my liking, at least tonight..

Time passes so fast these days, esp when I'm at home.. So fast that I'm missing out on "my time" (quoted a gd friend).. Not sure when can i go out with friends in a weekend morning again..

I know I can't say tat I got it worst 'cause Yb needs to face them all day long....

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