Current Read



On transit in Singapore, I picked this book up. I normally do not buy any non-fiction book that is associated to Popes', Christianity etc

But a quick read of the preface triggered my curiorsity.

I quote " Several years ago I was at a dinner with a group of postgraduate students, some of whom were Catholics. The topic of the papacy was broached, and the party got contentious. A young woman asserted that she found it difficult to understand how any right-minded person today could be a Catholic, since the Church had sided with the most pernicious rightt-wing leaders of the century -- Franco, Salazar, Mussolini, Hitler..." Unquote.

I was hooked. Although it cost a bomb, I just had to buy it.

Will post a review once I finish it.

Paranoid Singaporeans

On my trip to PNG, I had to change flights in Singapore. Before boarding the Air Niugini flight I had to go another security scan.

Having endured a 30 mins que to have my hand luggage scanned, I was pulled aside by a female security personnel.

"Excuse me sir, can you please step aside I need to have a look at the contents of your carry on bag"

Thoughts rushed through my mind...have I accidentally brought in some contraband?...dangerous items?

It turned out that I had carried in my carry on luggage a nail clipper which has a small "knife", I complained to the security personnel that it was allowed on in KL.

Security :"But sir, security for local flights are more lax, international flight security is more stringent."

Me: "So are you saying that Singapore is part of Malaysia?"

Security: "..." (stares at me with killer look)

Me: "Do you seriously think that I can kill someone with that??"

Securit:" if you do not surrender the nail clipper, you will not be allowed on the flight"

Me: "..." (mumble hokkian swear words)

Sigh....what else to do but give it up...

Gift to for my sister

Before I left for PNG, my sis asked me politely to get her something from PNG. Initially I thought of getting her some coffee, but I remebered that she wanted something to "show-off" to her friends...so I got her this.

This is a copper tooling of a "lakatoi". A lakatoi is a large outrigger canoe capable of carrying many people. The word is from the Motu language of Papua New Guinea.

So, little sis when you get back in March I will pass it to you.

Suggestion: Frame the copper tooling on a black background.

Found : Big Foot

Well not quite the big foot that you think, but the Nike SasQuatch!!!

The Nike SasQuatch (SQ) 460 driver with its distinctive head and yellow sole is engineered for:

• Forgiveness – increases the club head’s Moment of Inertia (MOI) or resistance to twisting during off-center hits

• Distance - Wider, taller sweet spot

• Accuracy – moving the Center of Gravity farther back makes the clubface easier to square for straighter drives.

I can attest to the above, as I bought one during the Isetan Sale.


The length of the SQ is similar to my TaylorMade 360XD.


It comes with a cool cover, with the Nike Swoosh in bright gold.


The base of the driver is the most prominent, on the driving range or on the greens... you cannot miss the bright yellow of the Nike SQ Driver


My SQ comes with a Diamana Shaft, in this instance I choose a Stiff shaft which suits me just fine as I am a strong hitter.


The club face is slightly bigger (about 1.5 inches) than my TaylorMade 360XD. The Loft of my SQ is 9.5


The big difference is the actual length of the club head. The TaylorMade 360XD is on the right.

Verdict: This driver is worth every penny, it is very forgiving even with off center hits. With a nice solid hit I can get the ball around 200+ meters. On average the SQ gives me about 30+ meters of drive length.

Back from PNG

Well its been a tiring but fruitful 10 days in Port Moresby. Although I was deprived of the usual Malaysian food, fresh clean air more than compensated for this.


Everytime I am in PNG, the clear blue sky never ceases to amaze me. Notice that I included a part of a tree in the picture to "prove" that it is an authentic picture and not a "blue colour jpeg"

This is the view atop the Poreporena Highway, I have travelled this route many times on the way to work but decided to stop for this photo opportunity. Notice the view of the ocean...priceless

This is the "magic" rock, it sits on top of the Poreporena Highway and according to local folklore everytime it is moved down from this spot it will mysteriously move back to the original spot the next day... I think Ripley's Believe It or Not should do a storey on this.

Anyway this is a rather short post on PNG, am waiting for some scanned pictures from a TIME Magazine article on PNG's 30th Independence which I think wrongly portrays PNG.

All my bags are packed.. ready to go...


With the ticket in my right hand...


A packed bag in my left hand...

I start to sing...

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go.
I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

Sigh...

Anyway I will be away from the 13th of Feb - 24th of Feb ... I will try to update the blog, Internet connectivity permitting.

Port Moresby here I come!!!

Busy Sunday...

Woke up at 0730, tried to ignore the alarm clock but Cleo dragged my sleepy ass out of bed as we had to make the 0830 mass at SFX. I don't normally go for the early mass unless if I have a game of golf... but today was different, we had to register our soon to be born baby for baptism.

We intend to baptise the baby in June, in order to do so we had to register for an induction course. As I will be away for a couple of weeks Cleo will have to attend the session by herself... hope the other parents won't mistake her for a single parent...

he he he

However I do feel guilty that I could not attend the session together with her. To make up for it I have to attend a session in April, all by myself.

With my ever expanding waistline I hope the other parents won't mistake me for the pregnant one.

Restoran Sri Melur Jaya, USJ 17

Was chatting with a friend who is based overseas, and I know how much he misses Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai especially from Sri Melus in USJ 17. So this blog is specially dedicated to him.

Sri Melur is an establishment that has been around for at least 4 years. It is located in USJ 17 opposite the Caltex petrol station, it is pretty easy to find as there is only one Caltex in USJ 17.

Their speciality is Nasi Lemak Sambal Ayam, which I personally think is better than Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa in Kampung Baru.

The other speciality is Roti Canai, which is fried until crispy .

The following pictures illustrate the finger licking good food.


This is the famous nasi lemak, nothing special about the rice, although it is served with one whole boiled egg instead of the usual half an egg or fried egg.


This is what makes the nasi lemak at Sri Melur different from the others, the sambal ayam is simply awesome. According to the owner of the establishment, the chicken is marinated in some spices then lightly fried until the skin is crispy. It is then cooked together with other secret spices, onions and tomatoes that make up the delicious sambal.

It is not too spicy, the chicken meat is moist and the best part is the skin which is slightly soggy having soaked up all the delicious flavours of the sambal!!!

The Roti Canai is served lightly browned and very crispy. I suspect that it is because of the generous amount of oil that it is fried in. Sinful and unhealthly yet a must for the weekend for most Malaysians.

The Roti Canai is served with a lentil and chicken curry gravy. Nothing special about the lentil and chicken gravy. The only reason people order the Roti is due to its crispiness and melt in mouth sensation and taste.


Of course the meal is not complete without a ice cool Nescafe "kurang-kurang manis" (literally less sweet)

So bro, if you are reading this sorry if I made you salivate but I just could not resist posting a blog on this. To make up to you, I will buy you breakfast at Sri Melur the next time you are back here.

PNG June 2005

Felt bored and was browsing through my pictures folder and thought it was a good idea to blog about my trip in June 2005. A little background... I was part of a consulting team engaged by the Government of Papua New Guinea. We were there for a couple of weeks and the series of photos are some of the sights of Port Moresby as well as some of the people that I met.

The building in the background is the Parliament of PNG. It is constructed in the style of a traditional Sepik River Haus Tambaran or Spirit House.

Behind me is the entrance to the Parliament House. The mosaic mural is a magnificient testimony to a culturally diverse and fascinating nation.

This is Bank South Pacific's HQ, notice the wonderful intricate design.


We were invited to the Malaysian High Commission for a small "makan-makan" session with other Malaysians.

The High Commission is a three storey bangalow facing the ocean.


The view from the High Commission was simply awesome.


Group photo with the Malaysian High Commissioner H.E. Datuk Kamilan Maksom


The team preparing for the official opening of the 3 day inter-department workshop.


The Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Sir Michael Somare opened the workshop


Consulting Team photo op with the Prime Minister and the Secretary for Department of State Enterprise & Information Henao Idahu


Presentation and discussion of our findings...


Finally after 3 intensive weeks of work, the report was handed over to the Prime Minister.

Baby Pictures...

Anthony is now one month plus in age, so its voting time again. Who does he look like the most?


This is Cleo ...


This William ...


This is Anthony...


Please vote below :

Who does Anthony look like the most?
	William
	Cleo
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Chinese New Year 2006

Well we spent CNY back in my home town (Kota Bharu, Kelantan) this year. What was the difference with other years? Well for one, this is the first CNY as a married couple, its also the first time since I started working that I have helped my parents to decorate the house for CNY...naughty me.

The series of photos illustrates my point.



"Designing & cutting" auspicious shapes onto red mahjong paper



The finished design... the cutouts are supposed to be the shape of a hard-shell-gourd which are supposed to be auspicious as it looks like the number 8.



A pamelo is placed on top of the red paper. To Hainanese pamelos is an auspicious fruit as the Hainanese pronounciation of pamelo is "yiu" which sounds like the Hainanese word for "again". The significance of this is explained in the next photo.



Normally kalamansi lime@limau kasturi is placed around the pamelo, however I forgot to buy the lime and therefore substituted oranges instead. Anyway, the Hainanese pronounciation of kalamansi lime is "kiat", and combined with the Hainanese word for pamelo makes "Yiu Kiat" which means "lucky again"... I hope the CNY will bring my luck, despite me substituting oranges for limes.



The pamelo and oranges are then placed on the table with a basket of oranges. I don't know what the mock fire crackers symbolises... my dad thought it would looks nice. The basket on the left was a gift from H.E. Emily Davies, former High Commissioner of PNG, to my parents when they hosted a dinner for her during an official trip to Kota Bharu. The basket is a traditional PNG handicraft.



Happy Chinese New Year 2006!!!

What would you do?

On the way back from work I received a wierd phone call from my mom, a friend of hers sufferred a stroke and is now in a coma. The doctors are not giving her much chance of regaining conciousness and her children are suffering in the sense that they have to hire a full time nurse as well as make certain sacrifices to take care of their mother.

Anyway, what shocked me was my mom told me that in the event that she is in such a situation where the doctor gives her a slim to no chance of regaining conciousness I am to ensure that she is not put on any life support system so as to ensure a quick death.

I promised her that I would ensure that her wish is followed ... but when the time comes I don't know whether I can make that decision.

Sigh ...

What would you do?

Good Memories...

I was just browsing some old photo albums and discovered this gem of a photo, sorry that the picture is not too clear as I did not scan it but just took a picture of it. The cute little baby is my baby sister, hope that our baby is as cute as her :)

Simulated Pregnancy...





Real Pregnancy...









However in all fairness that picture of me was taken a few months back, and I swear that I have lost quite a bit from my waist-line, albeit with little change in weight!! haha.

Its not easy maintaining a well rounded belly, think about the amount of money that is spent on good food to ensure a consistently well rounded belly!!

Finally, after months of agonizing soul searching I have finally started a blog. By the way that is me on the right (yes the fat chin-less dude) and the lady on my right is my beautiful wife.

Anyway the purpose of this blog is to keep an online account of our life as well as to share pictures of our soon to be born baby (EDD is 8th of April 2006) with family and friends.

I guess its not only family matters that will be blogged, generally anything that interest us, or rather me, as I am the one maintaining the blog