Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to dear wife Anna

Son David is away probably celebrating his birthday with his girl friend. Daughter is away studying in the uni in Kuala Terrengganu. So just the two of us left at home.

Expresso Macchiato coffee and brownies at Secret Recipe
In the afternoon took wife out for tea at the local Secret Recipe outlet at Metro Point Kajang. Even before I uttered the word "Secret Recipe" dear wife suggested it first. Is it any wonder that after so many years of marriage and living together we have the knack of thinking the same thoughts together. Sometimes she has this uncanny ability to read my thoughts even before I could express it in words. Call it a woman's intuition if you want.

At the store I ordered walnut brownie for myself and Vienna brownie and Expresso Macchiato coffee for dear wife. As expected when the brew came in a tiny cup dear wife complained how expensive to pay and consume such a small quantity of coffee. I explained to her patiently that you were supposed to savour the brew sip by sip, just like drinking wine and not gulp it all own the throat in one go like drinking water from a glass.

She liked the Vienna brownie though not particularly impressed by the tiny weeny cup of expresso. As for the walnut brownie she was put off by the dark brown chocolate coating and opined that it was too "heaty". After taking a few sips of the brew I offered to finish the coffee for her.

We sat there and enjoyed our refreshment and a pleasant and cosy conversation for about half hour before we walked over to nearby Mydin to buy some sundry goods. Sometimes simple activities like having a warm conversation over a cup of coffee and some cakes can give more pleasure than eating a elaborate and expensive meal in a fancy restaurant.

Thuen Yuen Restaurant
7.30pm. Slight drizzle. We were cruising around the eateries at Taman Prima looking for something to eat. Then my eye caught this nondescript drab-looking Chinese restaurant located in the centre of a block of shop houses that is always packed full with customers each time I drive by the place. I had suggested to dear wife and son to try out this restaurant on a few occasions in the past but never got round to doing it. Since there was only two of us around at home tonight tonight decided to try its cooking.

Surveying the crowd I noticed most of the dinners comprised mainly of family members who opted to dine out instead of eating at home.

Knowing that I like fish Anna ordered steamed fish and stir-fried young long beans. The long beans were cooked tender and quite crunchy in the mouth. The steamed fish came in the right portion just right for two persons. The fish cooking was superb. The Poh Leh Chinese tea ordered by dear wife was pleasant enough to wash down the food. When the bill came I was almost shocked in disbelief. For a plate of steamed fish, stir-fried vegetables, rice and Poh leh tea, the restaurant charged us RM20.00 only! Have not tasted such delicious cooking at so affordable price for a long time. Now this explains why despite it's unfavourable location and shabby appearance so many customers patronise this shop.

"Let's come back to this restaurant another time with David and Amy for dinner!" dear wife enthused happily as I pulled away from the roadside kerb after the satisfying dinning experience. Obviously she was impressed with the good food and the affordable price that the restaurant charged its customers.

Liberation and release from sufferings.

My mother passed away at 10.15pm in Ipoh on this day. She was 82 years old on the day of her death.

Late night phone calls hours before her passing
7.30pm Inti College Nilai car park, minutes before I was to conduct the Wed self defence class. My third brother TM told me on the phone that Mother suffered a stroke last night and felled down on the floor bruising the temple on the right side of her head. As a result her mouth was twisted one side, lost the ability to swallow fluid, lost bodily sensation on one side of the body, her right temple was swollen due to the fall, couldn't speak. He told me that the family doctor who attended to Mother advised the family to prepare for the worse.

Immediately I told him that I would go back to Ipoh on Fri.

11.30pm. Home after returning from self defence class in INti. TM broke the sad news that Mother had passed away. Told TM not to wait for all the family members to gather in Ipoh but to take charge of the funeral arrangements.

Daughter to stay put in her uni in Kuala Terrenganu for her exams
Told wife and son that we would have to pack up and go to Ipoh tomorrow for the funeral rites. As for daughter who is currently preparing for her end of her year exams in her uni in Kuala Terrengannu we decided to bar her from going with us despite her vehement protest over the phone. Her exam is scheduled on Sun and she might not have enough time to return to her uni after the burial to get ready for the exam. We thought that the burial will not happen earlier than Sat and it would be disrespectful to leave before the burial rites.

Mother's long illness
Mother had been suffering from severe depression, hyper-tension, diabetes and other medical ailments for about 10 years since Dad passed away 20 years ago. She gradually lost her memory and also her ability to look after herself. For the last 5 years the situation had gotten so bad that she was bedridden most of the time. All this while third brother and his wife have been caring and attending to her needs.

Accepting the inevitable and letting go
Although the death of a loved one can be difficult to accept, I feel that in her case due to the long illness with no hope of cure death should be seen as a release or liberation from earthly sufferings, both for her and to the family members.

Strangely when I heard the news, I was totally calm and even felt a sense of relief that her earth-bound sufferings had finally come to an end. When I spoke to my brothers and sister on the phone, they all sound calm and normal. I guess long time ago since Mother had become bedridden and incapable of looking after herself all of us in the family had already accepted the inevitable.

Farewell dearest mother.

May you finally gain supreme liberation and be free from all human sufferings.

Hapkido on Fight Quest of Astro Discovery channel

Every Tuesday at 10pm there is a martial arts reality show on TV called Fight Quest featured on Astro's Discovery channel. This show is about two Caucasian martial arts practitioner's going around Asia learning and competing in Asian martial arts. The first episode showed the two guys going to the Phillipines learning and competing in the Filipino stick fighting martial arts called Kali/Eskrima. After the first show I missed a couple of other episodes featuring other different Asian martial arts style.

Tonight's episode was quite interesting as it featured the Korean art of Hapkido. I am always intrigued by Hapkido because some people say the Korean art share the same ancestry as the Japanese martial art of Aikido, my own martial art style. The mother of Aikido is Daito Ryu Aikidjutsu and it is said that the founder of Hapkido also studied Aikijutsu under the same teacher as O Sensei, Aikido's founder.

Although I have done some research on Hapkido and even viewed some video clips on Youtube, I have never seen a feature length TV documentary until tonight.

As I see it the main difference between the two arts is that Aikido is a defensive martial arts while Hapkido has both defensive and offensive elements. While competition is forbidden in Aikido , Hapkido actively promotes tournament fighting. While Aikido techniques are mainly confined to grappling and throwing, Hapkido techniques also includes striking, kicking and ground fighting.

Looking at the combatants bashing each other in the tournament , Hapkido looks a lot like the kick boxing styles eg. TKD , Mixed Martial Art and Sanshou with lots of emphasis on kicking, punching, clinching and takedowns.

The closest resemblance to Aikido is in the basic Hapkido kata training. I see the Aikido equivalent of throwing and projection techniques eg kokyu nage, shihonage, tenchinage, kotegaeshi, koshinage etc. In the joint manipulating training I see elements of Aikido locking techniques such as ikkyo, nikkyo, sanky0, yonkyo, etc.

The circular movements and footworks are also quite similar to Aikido's except in Hapkido they are more linear and angular.

In my opinion, the two arts were the same when they were practiced as Aikijutsu and as they evolved over the years, each developed in separate ways. While the modern incarnation of Aikido focuses more on personal , moral and spiritual development using vigorous martial arts training as a vehicle, modern Hapkido developed into a martial arts system focusing on competition and personal survival.

Pizza observations from a window-side table

Wife said she was too tired to cook dinner and daughter suggested eating out at Pizza Hut.

"Let's go to Pizza Hut for dinner. Let Amy relish her pizza before she goes back to her UMT uni in KualaTerrengganu soon," dear wife said, always thinking about the children more than herself. Surely Kuala Terengganu is not such a sleepy and economic backwater that you can't get to eat pizza there, I amused myself silently in my head.

"OK we will feast out at Pizza Hut tonight ," I answered cheerfully as dear wife and daughter cast expectant looks in my direction. Actually I am not picky about food and usually go along with the rest of the family on the choice of what and where to eat.

By the time we got to the restaurant, it was already 3/4 full. The waiter ushered the three of us to a table beside the window. After taking a long time to select the food we finally settled for a conventional combo meal, meatball spaghetti and garden salad. After ordering the food and settling down I looked around the eatery.

Most of the tables were already taken although more customers were entering the restaurant. The crowd was a good mixed of young and old, family with their children, couples , teen ages . I saw Malays, Chinese and Indians happily devouring their food oblivious of one another's presence, true muhibbah or simply minding each other's business.

With the fuel price hike I thought that people would try to save money by eating at home instead of dinning out. Daily the media reports people grouching about the escalating cost of living due to price hikes and calling for drastic changes to their customery extravagant lifestyles. Yet tonight I am witnessing the public packing a western style fast food restaurant as if the food is FOC. How odd and contradictory.

Maybe the prices of local food have risen so much that they are almost the same as what the fast food restaurants are charging. Thus instead of patronising local fare, the public is willing to pay a little bit more to eat out in the comfort of these western style eateries. Nowadays if you have a big family, it may be cheaper to eat out than to cook in as the cost of ingredients to prepare food for home cooking has skyrocketed beyond comprehension. On the other hand the flock of people may be from the upper middle class who, hurt by rising inflation and no longer able to afford the luxury of dinning out in posh hotels and fancy restaurants decides to downgrade their dinning experience to convenient foods such as those offered by Pizza Hut, KFC, Mc Donalds, Old Town Kopitiam, etc

Price hike or not, and come what may when your tummy starts to rumble it is time to eat.

The difficulties of life are. . . .

"The difficulties of life are to make you better, not bitter".

I found this message scrawled in cursive writing by hand on a white board at of all places, a mamak shop in a suburb of Rawang called Bandar Country Homes.

The mamak shop occupies a corner lot of a row of double-storey shop house . The white board is hung on the wall at the back portion of the eatery in full display for all to see. If not for the inspiration message on the board there is nothing extraordinary about this nondescript joint. What is so interesting about the phrase is that it is written in the English language, and not in Bahasa as one would expect.

Whenever I attend my weekly Rawang project meeting on Mon I normally go to this particular joint for light breakfast and refreshment before the start of the meeting. What keeps me coming back to this mamak shop is not the bland food but the white board and the inspirational messages on it. Every week I come here I would see a different message. At first I didn't pay much attention to the writing, but after a few visits I began to appreciate the subtle lessons of life that the writer of these messages are trying to convey.

On Mon 16/6/08 when this particular message appeared on the board I was struggling inside my head with some thorny engineering issues which I had to resolve at the meeting but have not yet find a solution. I was expecting to be lambasted by the client and was busy conducting trial runs of how to answer the client's questions in my head. Then looking up while sipping teh O (without the sugar) and tucking in the thosai, I saw this amazing phrase flashed before my eyes : "The difficulties of life are to make you better, not bitter"

After paying for the food and drink, I left the restaurant and headed straight for the site office where the morning's meeting was scheduled to be held with a much happier frame of mind than before. I still had not resolved the problematic issues in my head nor had I worked out a appropriate strategy to handle the demanding client. The agitation and apprehension of not being able to answer the client's questions satisfactorily did not seem too intimidating as before.

I am sure most of the locals who patronize the shop don't pay attention to the messages or are aware that the board exists at all. Even if they see the board it would be difficult to distill and comprehend the essence of the messages as the writing is in the English language.

If the reader wants to visit this particular mamak joint in Rawang, look out for Restoran Ghazali Sdn Bhd, the name of the restaurant. I wonder who is the writer of the messages on the white board. The next project meeting is scheduled on Mon 23/6/08 and I can't wait to find out what is the next message on the board.

Father's Day fuel rebate payout

Got my fuel rebate of RM625.00 in the local post office today; after waiting 4 hours, and not within 3 minutes as reported in the press. To be fair, the 4 hours were the time spent waiting for my number to be called.

I and the wife went to the post office at the Kajang Tesco Store at 11.30am. There was already a big crowd of people who was there much earlier than us. There were only two counters serving the public at the post office. There were already 174 eligible motorists in the queue ahead of me. My ticket indicated that I was the number 1223 customer and at that time the counter was serving customer no. 1049.

Filling up the money order form was quite simple. There was a policeman manning the service counter who was responsible for distributing the form. Pasted on top of the counter were some completed money order sample forms as a guide for the public to fill the forms correctly.

While the wife wandered into the store to buy the week's groceries, I headed downstairs for some light refreshment at the Uncle John cafe.

"Don't loafed in the cafe for too long as you may miss your turn at the post office", dear wife reminded me over the hand phone as I was about to sip the hot black coffee. "OK. I won't stay in the cafe longer than one hour, " I reassured her. In my mind it would be another three hours before my turn was called and there was no way that I would have stayed in the cafe for three hours.

After finishing my meals and reading the papers I went up to the first floor to check out the situation at the post office.

The big crowd of people was still there. The ticket clock showed that the the two counters were serving customers no 145 ans 146. My watch told me that the time was 1.30pm. At the rate it was going it would be another one and a half hours before my turn. Decided to joined the wife at the store. Wife was still buying groceries.

3.00pm. Checking out at the cashier's counter after finishing the purchases. The ticketing clock at the post office flashed no. 1217 and 1218. There were 5 more customers before my turn. By 3.30pm the clock flashed my number. Went to the counter. Stamped my left thumb print on the money order form, exchanged a few pleasantries with the clerk and in less than 5 minutes I received the RM625.00 fuel rebate as promised by the government.

The fuel rebate is equivalent to RM52.00 of petrol subsidy per month, surely not enough to pay the monthly petrol bill of RM400.00. Still it is better than nothing in times of runaway inflation and fuel price hikes.

Indon maid in the office

Went to the office to do some work even though today is Saturday. Have been going back to work on many Saturdays and Sundays since the beginning of the year.

As I made my way to my cubicle noticed that the light in front of the lady boss's office was lit up. Saw lots of used drawings strewn on the floor and a young girl in T shirt and shot pants was busy sorting and arrangement the papers. The girl appeared startled seeing me.

Then I heard the lady boss talking to somebody on the cell phone in her office, and short while later popped out of her room to talk to the young girl.

Now I got it. The young girl is the lady boss's Indonesian maid. The lady boss brought along her maid to help clear out some of the used accumulated junk papers and drawings in her office.

Said hello to the lady boss to acknowledge her presence and got down to work. It is the first time in many years that I see her in the office on a Saturday. Though not working on any project but still it is a Sat and usually the bosses don't show up on a weekend.

As usual I am the only staff in the structure section working today. Which is fine as during normal days I hardly get the chance to concentrate on work without the distraction of endless phone calls and other disruptions

Dry taps

When I called her on my hand phone during lunch time, dear wife complained that water service in my neighbourhood stopped soon after I left for work in the morning.

When I come home from work at 7.0pm. The water service was still not restored. As a result I got a tirade of woes from dear wife frustrated by cooking and washing difficulties. Fortunately she did manage to collect two pales of water before the taps dried out completely.

Usually water disruption in my area would last for a few hours to half a day and it is always preceded by notification from SYABAS. But today the disruption came without advanced warning and as at 9 pm the water supply has not yet been restored.

We have just finished our dinner and the dirty crockery is left in the sink due to no water to clean up.

I hope the authority will restore the water supply before dawn tomorrow. In the meantime I will have to take a quick bath with whatever water that is still left in the water tank.

ONE BIG FAMILY

Read this astonishing story in today's nstonline about a 49 year Kuala Terengganu grandfather with 3 wives who is about to marry another woman half is age. The ages of his current three wives range from 25 to 46.

According to the news report he has fathered 25 children ranging in age from 4 months to 25 years with his three wives.

Can't figure out why a man wants to complicate his life by marrying so many women and why a woman might want to share his man with other women. Posing together in the picture they all look so happy and at ease in one another's company.

On the other hand who am I to pass smug judgements on others? In some cultures polygamy is a completely acceptable practice so long as the man can provide adequately for all his women.

At the very least these women are legal wives in the eyes of the law of the society that they belong to and they can display their affections for each other openly without suffering from the public disdain of contemporary society. In contrast, the poor mistresses or kept women of some wealthy men who have no legal and social status and have to hide their illicit relationship from society really got the worst deal.

If they are so really delighted with this kind of arrangement bless them all!!!

Wishing them good health, joy and long life.

Death-wish motorbikers on the road

This morning a crazy and speeding motor cyclist almost collided head on with my car. I was signaling and slowing down as I turned into a side road on my left when out of nowhere this biker came at me from the back like a rocket. Of course I didn't see him directly in the car mirror but I thought I caught a fleeting glimpse of a blurry object whizzing by.

Instinctively I jammed the brakes to slow down the car. If not for my instinct the biker would have rammed straight into my car. Luckily he just grazed the left front fender and did not crash onto the road surface.

Seeing that the man is not injured and his machine is not damaged and considering that my wife and daughter were also riding with me in the car, I decided to let it go and continue on my way. As I pulled away from the junction, I saw from the reflection in the mirror the guy had already dismounted and was glaring angrily in my direction menacingly.

I don't know who is at fault. What is important is that a fatal accident had been avoided and nobody got hurt. As for the MyVi I would have to fork out a tidy sum of cash to touch up the four lines of scratch marks on the fender.

There are two types of drivers that I am most wary of on the road: drivers of big vehicles eg trucks and buses and bikers. Of the two, bikers with an attitude are the most insane because of their maniacal driving and death-wish tendencies; as often times like this morning, when zigzagging along the road you can't see them until it is too late.

Cutting spending on non-essentials

Last night Fri 6/6/08. 8pm. Yamada Sensei's Aikido seminar at Rakan Muda Pertaling, Puchong.

Including myself, there were about 30 people attending the seminar. What is so surprising is that of the total about one third of the total were Singaporean practitioners.

Considering Yamada Sensei is such a high ranking teacher coming all the way from Japan to conduct seminar for MAA members, the small number of local participants is quite a let down for Sensei. If not for the Singaporeans who make up the number the cool reception given by the locals is even more embarrassing for the organiser and the association.

Where are the locals I wondered? Maybe after the shock of the drastic petrol price surge of 40% few people are in the mood to pay RM120.00 to come to the three day seminar, beginning on Fri. Still suffering from post petrol-price-surge depression I myself initially wanted skip the seminar, but decided to go anyway in support of Sensei, and the work of the organiser and the association in organising the seminar.

Petrol depression

The price of petrol shot up from RM1.92 yesterday to M2.70 today. A horrifying 40% hike. Everybody at the RSGC renovation site meeting this morning was grumbling and whining about the petrol price hike.

According to the minister, the government will monitor the world price of petrol on a month to month basis until Aug when all petrol subsidies will have been completely abolished. Reading between the lines it means that this is not the last petrol price hike, but more of an appetizer of what is to come. Will we see the day when Malaysians will have to pay RM5.00 per liter of petrol sooner than we think?

Last night on my way home from Nilai to Kajang, I saw all the petrol stations along the way packed full with motorists desperately filling up their tanks with the then RM1.92 per liter petrol. This big mad rush to top up caused massive traffic jams and inconvenience to other motorists.

Don't quite understand the kiasu mentality of people. How much can one save on a full tank of petrol considering that your car engine will be running and consuming fuel while one is waiting for more than 1 hour before one' s turn to fill up?

Working on Sat

Yesterday Sat I forced myself go to the office to work. I had to complete some work assignment in preparation for Mon' s project meeting in Rawang. Lately, one thing that strikes me most when I come in for Sat work is that I am almost the only guy in my section working on a Sat.

Why is that so? Am I overworking myself to death chasing so many project datelines while others have no work to do? Or perhaps other people are so efficient that they can complete their work without having to come in over the weekend?

Sometimes I could not help but envy the junior staff. Without having to deal with demanding clients directly there is little pressure and demands on their time other than to complete the work given to them. On the other hand with so many jobs in hand I have to multi-task and juggle the often conflicting job pressures with little time to catch my breath

Topping up hand phone credit

I thought topping up dear wife's Digi hand phone credit balance via maybank2U.com is the same as my Maxis hand phone. Thus, instead of ascertaining the exact procedure, punched in the RM30 credit top up on the keyboard immediately after I received the sms TAC.

When the topping up menu appeared on the screen it did not tell the reader exactly how and what to sms. Later I even found out from the Digi homepage that the Digi call number featured in the Maybank2U.com menu is out of service.

Searched for two hours in the Digi webpage on top up information. The explanation given is not clear and it took me considerable time to figure out the whole process.

From the time I accessed the mobile prepaid section of Maybank2u.com site to the time I succeeded in topping up dear wife's credit balance, it took about 3 hours of searching and comprehending the Digi instructions.

Renewing motor insurance

I felt listless and lethargic the whole morning. Wanted to take the afternoon off but with so much work piling up decided otherwise. Struggled to stay alert the whole morning despite feeling drowsy. However, in the afternoon after lunch I felt my energy level coming back .

After lunch filled up the annual leave form for a morning 1/2 day leave on Wed 5/21/08. My motor insurance and road tax are expiring at the end of the month. Rather than wait until the last moment better get these two documents renewed tomorrow as later I may not have the time to take leave. With so much work and meetings even taking a 1/2 day leave involves juggling with the demands of my work schedule.

Wesak Day in Kajang

Wesak day, or Buddha Day is the most important religious event for the Buddhist. Wesak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

Once a year I and my family visit the local temple to pay homage to the Dhamma, Sangha and the Buddha. This morning, the three of us, dear wife, daughter and I visited the local BMS premises in Kajang to pay homage and make offerings.

We arrived at the temple at 10.30am. Unlike last year the temple was rather quiet, with not much devotees visiting the place. Surprisingly, there is a complete absence of smoke and incense burning. A notice placed on a table tells devotees to preserve a clean environment by not lighting incense sticks, as is the customary practice in the past. Thus the sale of candles and incense sticks are noticeably absent this time round. I am all for a smoke free environment though traditionalists may not agree with me.

I saw three donation boxes placed side by side on the table. The boxes are for donations to the temple fund and to assist the victims of the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in Sichuan province, China. I made token donations to all the three causes.

At about 11am, 6 Sinhalese monks arrived at the centre for the offering of food rite. Devotees began to gather around the seated monks who were offered various types of vegetarian food. After that the devotees gathered around the monks to observe the transfer of merits rites. By 12.30pm. all the 6 monks had departed from the temple. Maybe they were making their rounds at other buddhist centres.

The vegetarian lunch prepared by the volunteers were quite sumptuous and filling. Again I noticed that the crowd of people eating there was quite subdued compared to last Wesak.

"Uncle please do not give me so much much rice." I overheard dear daughter speaking while the volunteer was loading heaps of rice on her plate. "Why? You are not hungry?", curious Uncle asked. "I don't want to eat more than I need. There are many hungry people out there who don't have any rice to eat!" dear daughter replied spontaneously in a soft voice. On hearing her reply Uncle was momentarily stunned, and so was I. I never knew that dear daughter is capable of expressing compassion for other less fortunately souls.

After lunch the family left the premises for the weekend grocery shopping at Putrajaya Carrefour hypermarket.

In the past I and my family would regularly visit the BMS HQ in Brickfields, KL for the annual Wesak day celebrations. However in recent time, the celebrations at the Brickfields centre have turned into more of a carnival and commercial activity than a religious commemoration of the Buddhist teachings. Gone are the spiritual significance and dimension of Wesak to be replaced by some sort of crass commercialism.

Thus, one year I decided to stop the annual visit to the KL centre and decided to come to the BMS branch in Kajang. Compared to the HQ branch in KL, the Kajang branch does offer a more spiritual feel and dimension that is completely missing in the former.

Pap smear test report

"The nurse said she is too busy attending to the patents to look for the pep smear report and aske me to call her again on Mon!" dear wife said when I rang her hand-phone while waiting for the mechanic to service the MyVi at the Peroda service centre in Bandar Teknologi. From her tone I could sense that she was ill at ease.

"OK. We will pay a visit to Dr Bala as soon as I get back from the service centre.", I quickly reassured her.

2.30pm. Dr Bala's clinic at KPJ Kajang Specialist Centre. The hospital was quite empty of visitors at this time of the day. Luckily Dr Bala's clinic was still opened. The nurse said that dear wife's pep smear result shows nothing wrong with her cervix.

Her private part has been itching for quite some time and naturally she was worried about her condition.

"Parabasal and intermediate cells display morphology within normal limits. Negative for malignancy." the report says. Whatever the medical jargon means we take it to mean her cervix is healthy and normal. With the doubt about her condition cleared up, dear wife was soon smiling again and so am I.

EPF relinquishes control of the EPF members investment scheme

On 13/5/08, Public Mutual informed me by letter that EPF has relinquished administrative control of my investment in unit trust schemes in Public Mutual. I am a investor in two of Public Mutual's many investment scheme. Being not much of a market player, since the first payments I have not topped up the two funds with additional contributions. Not sure if I am still making money from my initial investment in the two funds.

Not many years ago, I withdrew some money in my EPF to invest in unit trust under the EPF members investment scheme. Now that I am past my 55th birthday, EPF is no longer bound by law to maintain and administer my investment schemes on my behalf.

Carpal tunnel syndrome?

Dear wife has been complaiing of swelling and pain around the wrist of her left hand for several days. The swelling is probably caused by inflammation of some nerves in her wrist. The pain occurs whenever she flexes her wrist when doing normal house work or lifting even moderately heavy loads. On some days, the swelling subsides a little and on other days it flares up again. Besides the pain she also complains of numbness in her fingers and the palm.

The symptom fits the medical condition called carpal tunnel syndrome. According to Internet search carpal tunnel syndrome is compression of the median nerve at the wrist, which may result in numbness, tingling, weakness, or muscle damage in the hand and fingers. I don't think the swelling is an indication of a deep tissue or bone trauma. To put her mind at ease I accompanied her to see Dr Lee in his clinic.

After the physical examination Dr Lee said there is some injury to her nerves around the wrist that causes her to experience pain and inflammation. Carrying heavy loads and doing normal household work chores like cleaning and washing can cause injury to the wrist. She told me that she had been moving some potted plants around the house during the week. The swelling is actually the inflammation of the nerves. The doctor prescribed some nerve relaxation medication to relief the pain and advise her to refrain from doing heavy household chores for the time being.

Although the doctor didn't mention anything about carpal tunnel syndrome, but from his diagnosis it appears to be so. Probably he was truing to explain the medical condition in layman's term.

With her mind at ease now we went to the Ipoh Kopitiam at Metro Point for some snacks and coffee. Later while we were relaxing, dear daughter joined us. She even took some photographs with her digital camera.

Car registration card

Slipped out of the office at 11am to retrieve my car registration book from the bank. My road tax is expiring on 5/30/08 and I require the registration book in order to renew the annual road tax for the MyVi. Although it was my first time driving to Menara Yayasan Tun Razak where the bank is located I managed to find my way to the building.

The building is at the tail end of Jln Bukit Bintang. RHB Bank from where I secured my car HP loan is really a nondescript premises located on the ground floor of the grand building. I have been passing by that road for years but never realised that there is a building housing a RHB Bank branch office called Menara Yayasan Tun Razak in the locality.

Took a number and was called to the counter after about 10 minutes. The counter clerk handed the vehicle registration card to me after checking and verifying my id. The whole transaction with the counter clerk was rather pleasant, efficient and free of hassle. In the release form, I was supposed to return the document to the bank within the next 7 days. I'll keep the card with me until the loan is fully paid up instead of returning it to the bank.

There is no place to park the car except in the building basement. Luckily I was able to find a parking lot without driving round and round the basement. At RM2.00 the parking fee is reasonable.

I headed back to the office immediately after finishing my business.

Mother's Day gift

David bought a Chinese herbal health supplement gift pack from Eu Yan Sang for wife to celebrate Mother's Day. Costing RM168.00 the hamper contains 5 types of herbal medicine. They are VINGEN Honey & Apple Vinegar, American Wild Ginseg Tea, Chinese Cultivated Ginseg, Essence of Chicken and Ginseng 6-Flavour Soup.

Since started work, this is the first time that he bought herbal health supplements for his mom during Mother's Day. Of course wife was very pleased with the gift though she didn't show it.

Replacing a broken washing machine hose

Both wife and me tried to change the original leaking outlet hose of the washing machine. Thought the job was a breeze but it turned out to be more challenging than I had first thought.

Without the washing machine manual, we had some difficulty disconnecting the old hose. Had to turn the machine upside down to inspect the hose socket.

Having found the socket we fiddled around with the hose before it could be disconnected. The wife was the one who finally figured out how to disconnect the hose. Sometimes she is a better handyman around the house than me.

Then to our horror we found out that the replacement hose that we bought from Tesco was too big to socket with the hose connector. Now i realise that the washing machine hose that you see in the market is not of standard size that can fit all brands of washing machine.

Am going down to the local hardware store to get a new replacement hose. This time I make sure that I take along the damaged original hose so that I can buy the one with the correct size.

Check up

Accompanied wife to Dr B's clinic at KPJ Kajang Specialist Hospital for her annual pep smear check up.

Wife has been complaining that her vagina is itching. Application of medication gave some relief, but the itch has not gone away.

Dr B said the itch, together with vaginal dryness is a symptom of hormone depletion in menopausal woman. Ultrasound scanning shows nothing wrong with her. Despite the dryness the doctor managed to extract enough fluid sample sufficient to carry out the laboratory test. The results will be known after the laboratory analysis report come out in about a week's time.

Dr B prescribed a vaginal cream for treating the itch. On closer examination of the product description the cream is not merely a antibiotic medicine to kill bacteria or parasites but contains estrogen compounds. Although Dr B didn't explain I now know that he is is actually prescribing some kind of external hormone replacement therapy for the wife.

The bill for the 15 minute consultant is M198.00. I remember last year when wife visited the hospital she paid less than RM120.00. Like other services the cost of medical treatment has also increased tremendously over time.

Quiet gratitude and satisfaction of a job well done.

1. 

After weeks of frustration and tension finally delivered the 5 sets roof truss appraisal reports to the client. When I handed the report personally to the client's general manager I could see him flashing a big grin and his face lighted up instantly. Obviously he was also pressured incessantly by JKR to submit the reports.

Preparing the report was really a frustrating chore. First I had to wait for the contractor to mark up all the existing trusses and rafters on a piece of paper. With the contractor's sketches I had to get the draughtsman to transform the raw data into a CAD drawing. The previous draughtsman had left the company and the thankless and frustrating task of teaching the new guy the ropes in the shortest time sent my blood pressure soring into space many times.

Then I had to wait for the anti-termite specialist to come on board and to inspect the trusses. After inspecting the trusses the anti-termite inspector took some time to produce a report. Then I had to send the report back for the anti-termite specialist to sign. While all these obstacles were running their course in the background I had to figure out what to write and how to present the report. I have never written a roof truss appraisal report before in my life.

With so many challenges, the contractor, JKR and my employer were breathing down my neck for the report, as if I could magically create it with a snap of my fingers.

It was only after the general manager had accepted the documents from me that I felt a overwhelming sense of relief, satisfaction and gratitude coursing through my consciousness.

I am glad that despite the intense pressure and obstacles the strong desire to keep going forwards no matter the outcome finally paid off. What I have learned from this experience and so many before is that when things get rough, you need to exercise strong courage, belief in oneself and boundless patience to carry the day.

Slow recall

INTi Dojo. "Some of your MAA passbooks are still with me. I will distribute them to you on Wed!", I announced to the students after we bowed in.

"Sensei, the passbooks are with me." J K interjected before I finished the announcement. I must have forgotten about it. I remembered handing over some passbooks to WTJ during the last Aikido seminar in Melaka but not to JK.

On second thought I then recalled vaguely that I had indeed pass the remainder of the books to JK.

I am beginning to notice that occasionally I might forget stuffs that I did a few days before. Is it a sign that old age is messing up my brains? Sometimes I really had to focus intensely on problem solving when in the past it would have been a breeze.

Early start to work

Yesterday daughter almost showed up late on her first day of work at the government veterinary office in PJ. All because she followed me in my car to work in the morning rush hour. Even when we left the house at 6.45am. others were on the road even earlier than us. The traffic crawl at Cheras delayed our arrival at the Mihaja LRT station.

This morning we decided to get up at 5.45am to prepare for the drive to KL. After washing up and breakfast we left the house at 6.20am. When we were on the road, it was still quite dark. Already a long stream of vehicles were heading towards the city. To my surprise we arrived at the Mihaja LRT station at 7.00am. After Mihaja I and daughter went separate ways: i took the LRT to Masjid Jamek LRT station, while she transited at Masjid Jamek to PJ via the Kelana Jaya line. She messaged me later on my cellphone that she had arrived at her work place before 8am.

After disembarking at Masjid Jamek at 7.30am, and with about one hour to kill I adjourned to the nearby mamak stall for the morning coffee and newspaper reading. It has been a long time since I found time to enjoy a cup of beverage before clocking in at the office. This morning's leisure coffee and newspaper time was a pleasant relief from the daily grind of rushing to the office.

After work at about 5.30pm. I and daughter met up again at Masjid Jamek LRT station for the ride to Mihaja. Being weary from work, I asked daughter to take over the wheels. She has improved a lot on her driving skills since the last time I allowed her to drive the My Vi. At least she didn't panic and stalled the car like in the past. So while she was at the wheel I was confident enough to take a nap during the trip from KL to Kajang. Maybe all the driving in KT has turned her into a competent driver.

1st Aikido class of 2nd semester in INTi Nilai.

7.45pm. INTi Aikido dojo. Already 2 students showed up for the training. Jon Ken told me more students were making their way to the dojo.

In spite of general exhaustion, decided to conduct Aikido class. By 8.00pm another two more students came by.

Initially the going was quite slow and uninspiring. As I warmed up to the training the fatigue went away.

Looks like less and less people are practicing this semester. Probably some students are not yet back in the campus. Nevertheless it is time to think about promotion activities to replenish the diminishing membership.

Newest CIMB Kajang branch opened for business on a Sunday

The hairdresser saloon was packed full of customers. There was no seat left available for the customers to sit down while waiting their turn. Not wanting to stand around waiting for their turn dear wife and daughter asked me to take them to the nearby shopping mall to while away the time. While strolling in the Kajang Metro Point shopping complex with dear wife and daughter, noticed the new CIMB branch bank across the road from the mall was operating. I even saw some customers withdrawing money from the bank's ATM machine.

Today is Sunday. Why is a bank doing business on a rest day? Curious, we walked a cross the road to the bank to check out the premises.

The bank officer told us that the bank opened today Sunday as part of its promotion drive to sign up new customers. After today the bank will not open on Sunday again.

Dear daughter said she wanted to deposit the cash that she is keeping in a box as Treasurer of her university's Golden Key society in the bank. Why not open a new account in CIMB bank since it is opened today.

Because dear daughter didn't carry her id we decided to rush home to collect the documents. Despite the heavy traffic we managed to return to the bank before it closed its doors at 3pm to open dear daughter's new savings account.

Working in the office on a Saturday

Although today is a rest day I went to work in the office. As expected I was the only staff in the structural department working. I wonder how other people are managing their work load without coming in to work over the weekend. For me me weekends is the only time that I can get any serious work done without the disruption of incessant phone calls and unscheduled meetings.

RSS Feed

Suscribed a RSS feed to this blog by signing up with Feedburner.com. Don't exactly know what the RSS feed is supposed to do to the blog. Will have to wait and see. I am at the begining stage of learning how to promote Spacious Moments.

Hot and humid

At 29C the weather this morning is particular hot and humid. Tired and feeling lethargic.

After doing the morning groceries shopping at the wet market withdrew some money from Public Bank and later deposited it at Maybank in Tmn Prima.

While banking at Maybank Prima also took the opportunity to top up the diminishing credit in my touch n go card.

Daughter coming home

Daughter texted a sms on my handphone early in the morning saying she was starting the long drive from Kuala Terrenganu to Kajang. She will probably arrived home at 5pm. Replied wishing her a safe journey

28 years of happy marriage

The "Pickles" cartoon symbolises I and my wife's 28 years of happy marriage with a touch of subtle humour. However, daughter who read my blog for the first time thought the cartoon weird. "Pickles" is my favourite cartoon and I read it everyday in the local Star newspaper. It is one of the very few cartoon strips that caters to the older generation of people who are past their 40s.

Chatting online with daughter

Chatted with Amy on Windows Live Messenger. Could hear Amy's voice clip but couldn't record mine and send it online to her even after I have plugged in the mike. Mommy also joined in the chat but she had a difficult time understanding what Amy was saying in her voice recording.

Labour Day holiday

Today is Labour day, a public holiday. Planned to watch a movie at TGV Cheras Selatan but it didn't happen. By the time I and Anna arrived at Jusco Cheras Selatan saw the car park full of cars. It seems that everybody is out having a good time at the local shopping mall. Not wanting to spend one hour looking for a parking space, decided to go to Tesco to buy the weeks groceries instead.

Ministeral visit to the old court house

On my way to the Miyazu plant at Tg Malim, Noreen of Spaz called to remind me to attend the afternoon's meeting as the minister was scheduled to visit the building site at 4pm.

Told Noreen that I was on my way to Tg Malim and was uncertain if I could return to KL on time to attend the meeting. Told her to get in touch with Mdm Tan so that a representative from ZL can be in attendance at the ministeral visit.

I was considering turning back and aborting the Tg Malim meeting, but finally decided to press on with the visit to the Miyazu plant.

Found out later that Noreen did contact Mdm Tan. Mdm Tan sent KK Ng to represent ZL at the ministeral visit.

Miyazu Plant Tg Malim

11am. Defects liability meeting at the Miyazu plant in Tg Malim. C & S defects noted are : ground water ingress in one of the machinery pits, lipped channel member in one of the parallel chord trusses buckled slightly and the filler material at the floor slab expansion joints are damaged.

At the machinery pit ground water seeped into the structure through cracks in the rc wall. To treat the leakage pressure grout the cracks.

The buckling in the lipped channel top chord member is probably due to a fabrication defect. However, the truss is still stable and in no danger of falling down.

the damaged in the filler material is due to the workers stepping over it. I am thinking of replacing the damaged filler with cementitious grout.