Brand new spare tyre...

"If you do not enjoy what you are doing, you will never be good at it..." - Luke Parker

(Getting a helping hand from PLUS)

We were unfortunate to have a flat tyre while driving along the Seremban Highway. But we were fortunate to have a few officers of PLUS Ronda to assist hubby to fix the flat and divert on-coming traffic.

(Easy to fix a flat with correct tools)

Like a Disaster Movie...

"Live with no excuses and love with no regrets..." 

(The remains of the decorative bricks)

We convoyed in 10 cars and visited relatives as far as Kundang Ulu and Felda Bukit Serampang. We also visited the graves of our nenek and moyang and listened to Atok Abah narrating stories of the famous and not so famous great, great grand-parents.

We reached our Putramas apartment late after midnight and got a shock of our lives! The whole wall in our living room collapsed, destroying my precious terrarium and the side table. Luckily the TV and TV table escaped unscathed.

It may take a while to get the wall repaired. We may want to leave the wall as it is.

Hik hik.. Menitik air mata…

Somalian Pirates...

"If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough... " - Oprah Winfrey

(A Malaysian vessel carrying Palm Oil)

Earlier News: 20/08/2008 - 14:44

A Malaysian tanker carrying palm oil has been seized by pirates off the Somali coast -- the fourth ship to be hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in a month.

MISC Berhad, the company which owns the seized tanker MT Bunga Melati Dua said, the ship was hijacked at 1409 GMT on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen.

The ship has 39 crew, of which 29 are Malaysians and 10 Filipinos. Bunga Melati was fully laden with palm oil and heading towards Rotterdam from Dumai, Sumatra.

My department was directly involved in the withdrawals, preparing and packing of the ransom Money.

Near miss, close shave...

"There's nothing sadder than getting to the end of your life and saying: I didn't do it right..."

It was the second day of Hari Raya and we were on our way to Melaka.

All my siblings were already at my parents’ house. Tonight there will be a majlis bertunang for one of my nephews. Our kids didn’t follow us as they have to start work right after the Raya holidays.

It was still drizzling when we started our journey late that afternoon. Earlier it was raining quite heavily. The road was wet and slippery, but the traffic flow was surprisingly smooth. Hubby drove carefully and slowed down when we approached the sharp corner of the Sungai Besi flyover bridge. We were engrossed in our conversation, when it happened.

In one split second our car skidded and slithered from the center of the road and hit the barrister. Hubby reacted quickly, managed to straightened the car but the road was too slippery and the car hit the barrister the second time. We were lucky that the cars in front and behind were a distance away and avoided smashing right into our uncontrolled car.

During that few seconds, hubby's biggest concern was to get the car off the barrister and avoid the car from flying over the bridge. My biggest concern was how my beloved kids will take to the news of losing both their parents at the same time. In that few seconds, my entire life reeled in my mind in slow motion. In my life, the last fifty years were littered with near misses and close shaves. And I was thinking that all it takes is this one particular moment.

I was not injured and neither was he. But we were shocked to the bone….

Bidara house break-in...

“You always have a choice. It's just that some people make the wrong one…” - Nicholas Sparks

Last night, when we went to our Bidara house to retrieve bags and some clothes, we were in for a shock.

Someone had gone through our bedrooms and ransacked our drawers and cupboards and left our belongings scattered all over the floor. Our house was broken in through the sliding door. We suspect that the house has been marked, as nobody was at home most of the time. Most probably the burglars forced open the grill and sliding door during the day because most people in the neighborhood would be out working.

We decided to stay the night there but Sara was not keen on sleeping in her room alone and called Iwan to fetch her and sent her back to Putramas apartment.

This morning dear hubby skipped work and lodged the police report. The police took pictures of the crime scenes. When we checked what were taken, we found out that one old lap-top and 3 cameras were stolen together with a few of our old watches. I think they have taken a lot more but we are yet to confirm what else are missing…

Another mishap...

“It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept...”- Bill Watterson

Last night I didn’t watch the game between Italy and France to the end. 

My blocked nose and backache was nagging me again. Took a couple of panadol and forced myself to sleep with the TV switched on at a very low volume. Once in a while I was awakened by the shouts from the living room. By the time I was drowsy and ready to sleep, the piercing 6 o’clock alarm woke me up.

From the bedroom window, the traffic along Jalan Kuching was looking ok and moving smoothly. I thought of going to office early this morning to prepare for the audit exit meeting. While I was cruising to get out of the car park, a white Satria reversed out of its parking space at top speed and hit my Spectra. The impact was very hard and for a moment I was shocked. The lady driver apologized profusely. We exchanged business cards and agreed that we do not have to lodge police report and she will pay for the repair.

When I reached office I was all stressed up. The accident and the nagging backache contributed to my foul mood. Sympathetic to my condition, Linda immediately called our resident doctor for an immediate appointment. As there was only one other patient, I didn’t wait for long before the doctor attended to my back. I underwent 15 minutes infra-red heat treatment to relax knotted muscles. I was also given muscle relaxant and pain killer.

The audit exit meeting was brief. I applied for half-day leave to settle things. When hubby sms, I told him what had happened. He came and we drove in two cars to Selayang. Thomas estimated that the repair will cost us around RM500 and the car will be ready in two days. Before going back to our Putramas apartment, we stopped at Pertama Komplex to choose kad jemputan. Hubby went back to office again after lunch. I and the kids drove to Klinik Gigi Sharifah Aminah in Gombak where Ella had her tooth temporarily crowned, which cost us RM300. And she was all smiles after that. While we were there, the rest of us had our teeth checked and polished too!

Back at the apartment, the kids merrily went for a swim and I happily straightened my back on the bed and dozed off while waiting for dear hubby to come home…

A little mishap...

"Let's dry our tears, and our fears..."

Saturday: I woke up late, the kids too.

We decided to have chicken rice at the Mall and bought some provisions from the Cold Storage. Later we went to Mandy Villa Apartment to check on the status of the renovation. We were a little disappointed with the contractor’s job. The paint works in the master bedroom have not been completed. The lightings were not fixed. They are supposed to hand over the apartment end of June to us. To sooth angry hearts, we bought a few kg of durian and have a durian and ice cream party while we watched the football game between Germany & Portugal. Too much of good food caused some of us visiting the toilets much too often in the middle of the night!

Sunday: At 1.30 p.m. Sara and I drove to Plaza Damas for our appointment at the Dewi Sri Spa. We had a long lingering traditional massage and the strong herbal tea after that was just therapeutic. We bought hot-dogs and some cheese bread-sticks from Bread Story to bring home. When we reached home, there was a slight commotion and panic when we saw Iwan pressing a bloody swab of tissue papers over Ella’s mouth. Ella just had a bad fall in the Study and broke one of her front teeth!

Macam mana boleh jatuh tertumus macam tu ye?... Tak pe lah. Malam ni kita enjoy tengok bola France Vs Italy. Esok mak check Klinik Gigi yang boleh buat good tooth capping untuk Ella...

Dented Spectra...

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort...” - Jane Austen

Zizi of RMM came to say hello and takziah.

He will be attending the Mint Directors’ Conference with Dato Nik. They are attending a Metal Expo somewhere in Europe a few days before joining me in Paris for the Mint Conference.

After a 4-hour meeting with the AG, I was dead exhausted. At 6.45 p.m. I was driving out of the car park. My mind was somewhere else. Didn’t realize that the Spectra was too near to the wall when I made a sharp turn. The left back door was scraped very badly. But I didn’t stop to inspect.

I need to send the Spectra to the workshop. Really dread the inconvenience!

Wrong side, no entry...

“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value...” - Albert Einstein

After our spa session, we bought some bread sticks to fill up hungry tummies before we see lunch.

We fetched Iwan and headed to Plaza Low Yat to look for DVD burner. We also bought some ink cartridges for the printer. In the basement car park, while reversing the car, Iwan knocked into a car. I ended up paying RM150 to compensate the broken back light of the other car. I could not argue much as we were actually driving on the wrong side of the road. My car had a bad scratch on the bumper.

We went back home and had hot-dogs from 1901. Sara was busy printing her practical reports and Iwan was busy packing his belongings. He is going back to campus for his final semester in UTP. I relaxed my body on the couch while watching movies on Astro. 

The three of us ended up sleeping in the Study.

Predictable kismet...

“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes…” - Oscar Wilde

Amah called to inform that Abah would be undergoing minor surgery this afternoon to remove cataract from one eye.

Lately he’s been complaining that he couldn’t see well. We decided to go back to Melaka this weekend when we heard that Abah was well after the surgery and recuperating at home.

Today, a school bus hit us from behind. The car we were in was not even ours. It was the workshop’s car we borrowed while the Spectra is being repaired. What bad luck!

A minor mishap...

“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” - L.M. Montgomery 
 

At last, we have decided to replace the front speakers of my car.

It’s been a while since the speakers have been blurting out uncomprehending racket. So this morning hubby drove the Kia to office and I drove his Honda. He is going to the accessory shop during lunch to replace the speaker. On the way to office he had a slight accident. Although there’s no serious damage to the fender, it still needs repainting. Most probably I need to borrow Sara’s car for a week when we send the Kia for repair.

After office we had teh tarik at Lake gardens and later found out that our classes were postponed to next week. As Iwan and Ella will be having dinner before coming home, we went to warong Tanjung Puteri where I had kuey teow goreng for dinner.

Snatch thief on the lurk...

“Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can't get any better, it can...” - Nicholas Sparks

 

'
On the way to the General Hospital, we spoke very little. While driving, held my hand tightly, trying his best to calm me. Couldn’t hold back my tears. My mind was imagining the worst. I prayed to god nothing bad to happen to my baby.

For this year, this was the second time we received calls from the Hospital Unit Kecemasan. The first time was in May, a call from Hospital Selayang informing us that Ja was involved in a motor accident. And early this morning, a call from GH informing us that he was found unconscious by a passerby along Jalan Kuching. I have read in papers and heard in the news about snatch thieves and robbery. But I never expect all these could happen to my own child.

Ja was conscious when we arrived. He was still feeling groggy and the hospital need to keep him under observation for at least six hours before they could release him. We saw no serious external injuries. Need to wait for further test and x-rays results.

Hubby sent me to office and went back to the Hospital. Sara and Saufi came after receiving the news. Iwan was also informed. Later they went to lodge police reports. They have to go to four police stations before the reports were completed. Talk about efficiency and friendliness. And finally, managed to locate Ja’s motorbike at Balai Polis Sentul late evening. On the way home, with a mixture of anger and compassion, let Ja hear a piece of my mind. Advised Ja not to merayau malam-malam. Told Ja that we love and care for him and always worry when he’s motor biking, regardless whether alone or with his group of friends.

I don’t want anything bad to happen to Ja.