Diagonal Fly

Balcony of Parkland Apartments, Brinchang, Cameron Highlands. 

My daughter wanted to see some taiji movements up-close. So I sportingly played around with some movements randomly. 

To my surprised using the view in front of the balcony and the solitary pine tree as a focal point and superimposed against a clear blue morning sky as a back drop she captured this poignant moment in transition as I was moving into a particular posture called "Diagonal Fly"

Replacing a broken window lock

Replaced a broken lock set for a top-hung aluminum glass window panel with a new unit that I bought from the local aluminum window and door vendor. Bought two pieces for RM4.00 a piece.

Never one to pass an opportunity to explore I took the opportunity to examine in detail how the fitting works by taking apart all the separate components and putting them back again before screwing the set down at its original location.

Using a standard size cross-head screw driver I was puzzled why despite using a lot of pressure and strength the screw driver kept on dislodging itself from the screw head when I turned the tool. When I examined the cross-head screws in detail I realised that I was using a wrong size screw driver for the work. After switching to a smaller cross-head screw driver was I able to secure the screw properly in position. It goes to show that you need the right tools in order to accomplish a given task with efficiency.

I found out that the screw at the back of the mounting unit controls the tension of the locking lever. If you want a tight fit of the lever turn the screw clockwise until it stops turning. If you prefer the lever to turn easily loosen the screw a bit by turning it anti-clockwise.

Unpretentious Living

Bought one each of a coffee and pandan flavored mantou from a pau vendor in the wet market.

Mantou is plain Chinese steamed buns/breads and not many people like them because of their rather bland taste as compared to the more savory vegetable and meat buns.

Maybe it is just me, but my preference for a simple and unpretentious lifestyle spills over to the kinds of food I eat as well. And usually simple foods are plain, insipid and lacking in zestful flavor, just like these ordinary looking steamed mantou buns.

With water rationing in full swing eating simple foods like steamed buns that does not require the use of lots of water for cooking and washing is the way to go.

Water Rationing

Finally water rationing has come to Taman Puncak Jalil and it is scheduled to start this Fri.

To help the family manage the water supply disruptions I have marked down the two days without water supply on the "horse racing" calendar with the "X" character, in addition to storing drinking water in containers.

According to SYABAS's water rationing schedule under it's Stage 4 program Taman Puncak jalil is classified under Zone 4. Water supply will alternate between two days with no supply and two days with supply. On the dry days water disruption will occur from 9am to 4 pm the second day.

According to the schedule the water rationing exercise in Taman Puncak Jalil which starts on Fri 4 will cease on Wed 30.

Hopefully by the end of April the rains will have filled up the catchment areas so that uninterrupted water supply will be restored.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

After sweeping and cleaning the floor in the car porch I will normally arrange and organise the shoes in an orderly manner based on type; sandals on one side and shoes on the opposite side of the door way. Then later if the wife happens to clean the floor a second time after me she will typically rearrange the shoes according to gender type; ladies wear on one side and men wear on the opposite side.

One time while browsing some paperbacks in a bookshop, one particular book with the catchy title "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" caught my attention although I didn't buy or read it. 

Come to think of it there must be some truth in what John Gray, the American author of this bestseller wrote about the psychological differences between the genders.

Hello and Good Morning!

My wife asked me how come I seemed to know all the walkers and joggers who passed by us on our morning walks. 

I told her that in the beginning I didn't know them but after waving and greeting each of them with a warm friendly "hello!" and a cheerful "good morning" a few times we sort of warm up to each others presence and even exchange small talks. 

"I believe strangers are friends that we have yet to meet," to quote someone who wrote the above line in his blog.

Happy New Year 2014

Tue 31/12/2013 New Year Eve

The stunning night time view of a suburb of Kuala Lumpur seen from the balcony of Chin's apartment.

The two fingers of white light rising from the hills in the distance are the twin towers of KLCC. The glob of light on the right hand side of the twin towers is exploding fireworks display illuminating the skyline.

According to Chin this year's fireworks show is less spectacular and more subdued than previous years, a reflection of the bad time that this nation and its citizens are enduring.

A general feeling of desolation and pessimism

Expectedly Christmas has come and gone with little or no fanfare.

I reckon it will be more or less the same pessimism for the upcoming New Year and CNY celebrations.

Bombarded on all fronts by the escalating rise in the price of essential goods and services few people save the well-offs with deep pockets are in the mood to splurge and celebrate.

Yet amid the general pessimism life has to go on and will go on.

Wishing everybody Happy New Year.

Nothing lasts forever

Time to replace the worn out solar tinted film.

Air bubbles are appearing on the surface of the 6-year old film at the front and back wind screen and also the four glass windows. As a result the air bubbles sometimes obscure my driving vision when on the road.

Three workers took about two hours to install the new tinted films after removing the old.

Paid RM380 to the shop for the service. In return I get a three year warranty against future defects. I was told to bring along the official receipt to show evidence of the date of purchase whenever I make a claim against defects in the newly installed film.

Selling Memories

The main entrance archway of Memory Lane

The bold capital letters "MEMORY LANE" written in English mounted at top of the quaint archway says it all. It is a street bazaar where vendors peddle second-hand and antiquated goods to the public on Sunday mornings. I suppose long ago somebody in Ipoh City Hall decided to associate the sale of old stuffs with selling memories, hence the quaint and incongruous very English phrase of "Memory Lane" superimposed against the more contemporary "Selamat Datang ke Bandaraya Ipoh banner written in Bahasa.

All kinds of old stuffs eg magazine, CD, calendar, coins, shoes, vases, knives,
watches, containers, books etc laid out on the street

My wife and her sister told me that there was nothing worth buying except junk. I suppose to their way of thinking junk is useless stuffs. To me each item on display has an intrinsic historical value, a memory of a distance past and they are definitely not discarded junk. Many of the items on display are so absolute that they no longer exist in modern time.

There were more male than women visitors. Maybe men appreciate the value of
old stuffs more than women.

While most of the vendors were peddling old items there were also clothing, herbal medicine and some food stuffs on sale. Just as most of the visitors were men most of the vendors were also men, among them I saw many retired senior citizens.

With the scorching sun overhead the iced syrupy drink looks enticing.

The wide range of old goods on sale was so fascinating that I could easily have spent three hours just browsing and going from one vendor to another. But mindful of an appointment at 10 am and other errands to run I reluctantly made my way out of the bazaar. As I was not done yet I made a mental note to visit this morning flea market the next time I come to Ipoh.

Skinning garlic cloves

Sitting beside the dining table peeling the skin off the garlic cloves I notice that the flimsy midget kitchen knife that I am using is more suitable for cutting open envelopes rather than peeling garlic skin.

But then my family has been using this small knife with a plastic handle for peeling garlic cloves for a long time. The few rusty spots on the side of the blade are telling of a history behind this cheap knife that my family bought in a time long past.

Since I already have a knife for opening envelopes I shall continue to use this one for peeling garlic skin.

A pleasant surprise in the mail

Apleasant surprise awaits me when I checked the mail box

Inside an envelope from Petronas Dagangan I found a Petronas Mesra Card and a refrigerator magnetic sticker attached to the envelope. Petronas Dagangan is the vendor who delivers cooking gas to my family on a regular basis.

We are happy with the home delivery service provided by this vendor. Since the day we ordered cooking gas from this vendor the company has provided uninterrupted and friendly service whenever we run out of gas. Sometimes even before we run out of gas their customer service will call inquiring if we want them to deliver gas to our house.

A depressing sight of what used to be our former home.

Athough the family had sold our old Kajang house, I and my wife occasionally still think about our former home of 30 years.

Never mind about its small size of 14 feet x 55 feet only. The 2-storey terrace house was the home that we had successfully raised our son and daughter from babies to adults. Before moving out to our new house on Christmas day 2012, this humble abode, that we called home was the only house that we had ever known and lived in.

When the chance came to visit Kajang this morning for some banking transactions, we couldn't resist the idea of visiting our former home, just for old times sake. So after completing our business we detoured to the taman where our former house is located.

What we saw of our former house was quite depressing.

The house looks abandoned, unkempt, with magazines and mail strewn on the driveway. The post box is stuffed with unopened mail and flyers, all addressed to my family members. I sometimes wonder why our mail is still delivered to the old house. Haven't we not informed all the banks and government institutions of the change of address months ago? The space in front of the main gate has become a convenient parking lot. A neighbour has parked her MyVi in front of the main gate. The pad lock on the front gate looks exactly the same as the last time we had locked the gate which was about two months ago. The TNB and the water meter that had been disconnected upon termination of our electricity and water service accounts have not been reconnected by the new owners.

I wanted to enter the house to clean up the driveway, but then I do not have the house keys anymore. There was no way that we could enter the compound other than to scale the main fencing and the entrance door. I have already surrendered all the house keys to the solicitor of the new owners a few days before they they took house possession.

Since the house title has been transferred to the new owners' bank and the house keys surrendered, then legally the house does not belong to us any more.

I wonder why the new owners who are servicing their bank loans now are not anxious to move into their newly bought property, or at least changed the locks and reinstate the TNB and water meters.

Clinging on to the past and placing expectations on the future?

Some things in the past need to be left there. As simple and profound as that, yet some people continue to cling on, unable to let go. As for the future let's leave it as "just round the corner" because if you pay attention to the present moment the future will have arrived at the doorstep.

You shouldn't chase after the past.
or place expectations on the future.
What is past
is left behind.
The future is as yet unreached.
Whatever quality is present
you clearly see right there,
right there.
Not taken in,
unshaken,
that's how you develop the heart.
Ardently doing your duty today,
for - who knows? - tomorrow
death may come.
There is no bargaining
with Death and his mighty horde.
Whoever lives thus ardently,
relentlessly ,
both day and night,
Has truly had an auspicious day:
So says the Peaceful Sage.

- Bhaddekaratta Sutta: An Auspicious Day

A cool kitchen aid to have around the house.

Recently my wife introduced me to this cool kitchen gadget when she asked me to help her chop some garlic, ginger and onions.

This useful kitchen aid named  "RA0689 Mini Chopper" is a manual chopper that she bought from Cosway for less than RM20.00.

It has a spring-operated central plunger with a metal blade attached to the cutting end and a plastic cap at the other. The plastic container at the bottom is where you put the ingredients for chopping. You operate the gadget by repeatedly pressing and releasing the plunger with one hand while holding the unit steady on a sturdy surface with the other hand.

Except for the spring mechanism there are no mechanical parts. The plastic container and the plastic cap protecting the cutting blade are all detachable and easy to wash.

Other than onions, ginger and garlic it can also be used to chop mushrooms, nuts and chillies. This gadget totally eliminates the traditional way of chopping ie using a knife and a chopping block.

Friendly customer service makes for a pleasant banking experience

I and my wife went to Public Bank in Seri Petaling to open a new joint fixed deposit account.

The customer officer who handled our application was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive in his work. Best of all he was always smiling as we carry on our conversation. After getting all the particulars from us he practically filled the application forms on our behalf. We only needed to put down our signatures on each page of the joint agreement and on the dotted line on the last page of the documents.

After signing all the papers we were then directed to a special counter set up for handling new account opening. Unlike the other counters this particular counter does not require the customer to get a number from the ticketing machine.

In contrast, the service at Maybank was decidedly customer unfriendly.

Earlier we had visited the Bandar Kinara branch of Maybank to open a new account. Instead of a dedicated customer service officer to advice us on the procedures and the paper work, we were attended to by an officer whose only duty (as far as we could see) was to hand out queue numbers and to dispense forms. After listening to our inquires the lady nonchalantly handed us an assortment of application forms for us to fill up, and no explanation on what information to enter in the forms.

Although we are not illiterate still it took us quite a long time to fill up all the forms because we had to peruse the documents line by line. Imagine how difficult it would be for illiterate and old people to handle the forms without the staff's assistance

Folding paper trash boxes from product catalogs

These colourful Aeon Big product catalogs are ideal for making paper trash boxes. One page of the catalog can be used to fold a square box measuring 10.5cm x 10.5cm x 5cm. 

Instead of placing the food waste on the table and wiping the table with a cloth you can save a lot of cleaning work by putting the food waste into these paper containers. After a meal you then crush the box together with the contents inside and dump it into the refuse bin.

I fold these paper boxes for storing food wastes after a meal. Whenever I am free I fold lots of these paper boxes and store them in a plastic box for later retrieval. 

Now my wife is so used to these boxes that she asks me to replenish the stock whenever we run out. 

I just made about 10 of these paper containers from 10 pages of catalogs .

Coffee adventure on a hot and hazy afternoon

My wife is never a coffee connoisseur. She has no preference for any particular type of coffee. Most of the time she drinks the regular 3 in 1 types that you can buy off the shelf in any store.

However today while sitting down in the air-conditioned comfort of the Inhouse Cafe in Sunway Giza Kota Damansara she surprised me by ordering iced vanilla flavoured coffee. She seldom take cold drinks because iced beverages don't go well with her stomach.

Perhaps the hot and hazy weather had affected her mood. Or perhaps she wanted to try something adventurous for a change.

As I don't like iced beverage I ran my fingers down the colourful menu to look for something that suited my taste amidst the bewildering range of coffee drinks.

One item caught my eye: caramel coffee. I have never tasted caramel coffee before and I thought why not?

As we sat down to sip coffee and enjoyed the ambiance, all around us we noticed a lot of shoppers hanging out around the mall's concourse. Even the Inhouse Cafe was half full of patrons.

At 3pm on a Fri afternoon we wondered why there were so many visitors there. Shouldn't most people be at home or working in their offices?

As for both of us we have retired from full time work and therefore have plenty of spare time to occasionally indulge ourselves when the opportunity arises.

Today was such an opportunity. We didn't drive so far all the way from our home in TPJ just to taste the coffee. Anna had to go to a bridal shop in Sunway Giza for a fitting out of her gown for our daughter's wedding dinner do. After we were done at the bridal shop we found ourselves some spare time to chill out.

With about one hour to spare before the parking ticket ran out of credit time we savoured every moment of our time to enjoy each others coffee and company. It was a most pleasant experience as both of us had never tasted vanilla and caramel flavoured coffee before.

Updating postal address information at Maybank Taman Maluri

Ithought that updating the postal address information for the accounts of my wife, son and daughter would be just a breeze. After all, none of the account holders are withdrawing money from their accounts.

So after finishing our business with our solicitors in Taman Maluri I and my wife walked over to Maybank which is located one block away from our solicitor's office.

At the reception we informed the counter officer the nature of our visit. With a knowing smile she gave us a number and ushered us to the banking hall on the first floor. So far so good.

Our problem started after we approached the counter with our application forms, photocopies of the account holders' identity cards and the account holders' passbooks. Even after the account holders have signed the application forms, provided the thumb prints and attached photo copies of their identity cards, the counter officer insisted that the account holders must be physically present to do the change of address application.

It was only after some negotiations that the officer relented and directed us to speak to the assistant manager of the bank.

After hearing us out and checking the documentations the assistant manager then confirmed that the amendment to the postal address could be done even if the account holders were not physically present except for my daughter's case. She pointed out that my daughter's application form did not have her signature on it. We accepted her explanation for my daughter's case. In asking my daughter to insert her thumb print on the application form I must have forgotten to ask her to sign the documents.

On second thought I should have checked all the documents before presenting them to the bank. Acknowledging our carelessness we then made the decision to come back to do the change of address for my daughter's account on another day.

So as not to waste the opportunity we then decided to go ahead with the amendment to the postal addresses of my wife and son's account without doing the same to my daughter's account.

Maxis to Digi

Switched mobile operator, from Maxis postpaid to Digi prepaid.

Did the switching at the Maxis and Digi service centers at Metro Kajang. Coincidentally the two operators are situated next to one another.

The change was quite straight forward. I just needed to settle the outstanding payment amounting to RM30 with Maxis and stepped over next door to Digi who would take care of the rest of the transaction.

I bought the Digi@Best Prepaid call plan as it is the most economical for my modest mobile telephone service needs. Besides this plan has a feature called Super Long Life where the talktime validity period is stretched to one whole year. The fee for this feature is only RM30.00.

The sales girl told me to wait 24 hours for the SIM card to be activated. I was also given a new reload coupon with the value of RM100 for the top up. I understand RM30.00 will be deducted from my credit talktime of RM100.00 upon subscribing to the Super Long Life feature.

However within about 5 hours of the switch I received sms messages from Maxis and Digi seperately. Maxis messaged to acknowledge the switch. Digi messaged to say the SIM card has been activated.