Dour Faced Waiter

This afternoon I encountered a most dour faced object; the wooden-face-looking waiter who came over to my table to take my order. He must be having a bad day on his job.

Bentong trip on 11/12/2011

Together with Anna, Richard and Angie spent the whole day with relatives in Bentong. The main purpose of the visit was to take a look at a new housing estate under construction at the outskirt of the town with the view of buying a unit for retirement.

Phase 1 of Taman Anggerik which is currently under construction consists of single storey terrace, double storey terrace and single storey semi-dee houses. Anna likes to spend her retirement years in Bentong. I was told that all the phase 1 units have been sold out. So now have to wait for the developer to start phase 2 before booking a unit. I am looking at the 4-room single storey type.

While in the town the wives visited a beauty centre for eye brow embroidery beauty treatment. It is more like tatooing. I was not impressed with the outcome of the beauty treatment. The dark eye brows superimposed on aging and wrinkled faces loos ridiculous. However the beautician assured us that in a few days time the black colouring will fade a bit.

Mickey Mouse and The Rat Race

I wonder how a mouse crosses a busy road. Does it know like a human how to look right, left, front, rear and listen to the sound of traffic before sprinting across the carriageway or it just dashes off in a death wish hara kiri?

This morning as I was driving my car in slow cruise I suddenly became aware of a blurry shadow zooming past my vision across the road carriageway in front of the car.

When I slowed down my car I watched in deep fascination how a young Mickey Mouse hurriedly scurried across the road; in fast motion its tiny feet giving the appearance of the many legs of a caterpillar bearing a long slender body above. Naturally I had enough compassion not to run Mickey down and and instead wished him the best of luck the next time he try the same stunt again on a busy road.

How to create a strong password (and remember it)

There are at least three ways to create a strong password, and yet able to remember it with ease. The three ways are:
 
a. Use a sentence
b. Use a pass phrase
c. Grow a haystack

Source: Consumer Reports news

How to create a strong password (and remember it)

EPF explains new witness rule

In the past EPF employees are allowed to sign on as witness in a member's nomination form. However recently this this service has been revoked by EPF. Now EPF staff are not allowed to sign on as witness to a members's nomination of his beneficiaries.

This does not mean that the nominee is obliged to drag his witness to the EPF office for signing in front of a EPF officer. 

The witness can sign the document in the comforts of his home
and then pass the form to the nominee for submission to the 
 EPF department. 

Click the link below for details.

EPF explains new witness rule

Using MyRapid Card for LRT journeys

Bought a new MyRapid Card at the Mihajah LRT Station in the morning.

During this promotion period the basic card costs RM10.00 with a stored cash value of RM8.00. You can top up the amount any time when your credit balance runs low. Topping up can be done via the counter or the vending machine. The card can be use for both the Ampang and the Kelana Jaya lines. As long as you have enough credit in your account you can travel freely to any destination of your choice.

When you scan the card upon entering the station platform the the electronic reader in the turnpike machine will show the stored cash value available in your account. And when you rescan upon exiting at the following station the machine reader will show the credit balance available in your account after deducting the train fare.

On my return trip at Mihajah Station after work I reloaded the card for an additional RM50.00 just for the experience of using the vending machine. The process of reloading the cash value is relatively simple, much like paying your car parking ticket using the vending machine.

For a daily LRT commuter like me it makes sense to use the card as it saves the hassle of carrying lots of loose change and also waiting in a long line at the vending machine to buy tokens. However, for the infrequent traveler, buying single journey tokens will also get you a ride to your destination.

Down memory lane

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This old black and white picture published by Low Sensei in his H & E Aikido FB page evokes many happy memories of yesteryear.

In the picture I am standing, back row number 5, counting from right to left. I can't remember when this picture was taken or the exact date it was snapped. Looking at the backdrop it was probably taken during one of the annual Aikido seminars in the 1990s when I was practicing the art at KL YMCA dojo.

Apart from myself, Dr Leong (standing, back row 3rd from the right side) and Tony (standing, back row 5th from the left side ) who are now fellow senior senseis in MAA are also in the picture. However, I can't recognise anyone resembling Low Sensei in this group photograph.

The sensei in the centre sitting in the front row appears to be the younger Shoji Seiki Sensei ( now Shihan). Those seated holding what look like certificates are probably seminar participants from Japan who came with Seiki Sensei. I remember in the 1990s  there was one occasion when the Japanese sensei brought along a large contingent of his followers to KL for a seminar.

Determining the socket lengths of bored piles in limestone bedrock

Frustrated at punching the keypad of the scientific calculator and faced with the daunting prospect of doing endless repetitive manual calculations I decided to use MS Excel to make the task of determining the socket lengths vs maximum allowable loads of various types of bored piles in limestone bedrock easier.

However, as this type of work is quite specialised in character there are not enough standard built-in functions in MS Excel to handle some aspects of the design computations.

What should I do other than reverting to manual calculations? Well, I decided that if I the mountain can't come to me I will have to go climb it by all means.

So after spending almost a day tweaking the spreadsheet programming with lots of trial and error efforts I succeeded in writing a few engineering functions to perform some of the specialised computing tasks that I needed.

I was pleased that the huge effort also paid off in other ways too. Using similar logical problem analysis and solving procedures I also succeeded in creating some specialised engineering functions to help compute the geotechnical compression capacity of various types of bored piles socketed in limestone bedrock.

Looking back I succeeded because I wrote the engineering function procedures using the same logical thinking process exactly the way I would have done it by manual calculations. Thus although the finished product doesn't have the "polished" look with the bells and whistles of commercial programs, it gets the work done for its intended purpose; faster and more efficient than if I were to do it by traditional manual calculations using pencil, eraser, paper, calculator and raw brain power.

New Aeon-jaya Jusco Shopping Mall in Rawang

Rawang Aeon-Jusco Shopping Mall.

This is the newly completed Rawang Aeon-Jusco Shopping Mall situated in Anggun and beside the narrow Sungai Bakau-Batang Berjuntai road. 

I foresee that the opening of this store for business in the middle of Dec will create serious traffic congestion for the locals. 

Even without the mall this narrow road is already experiencing traffic gridlock everyday. The fact that the store is situated only about 2 km from the Plus Toll Plaza is going to further add on to the congestion.

EPF Norminations & Beneficiaries News

Latest announcement by EPF on nominations and beneficiaries on EPF's FB status update on Tue 12/6/2011

1. Nominations Can Be Checked via i-Akaun from 1 January 2012 to reduce cases of failure to update due to oversight

2. Members Can Elect to Have Beneficiaries’ Particulars Printed on Annual Statement from 1 January 2012

• To have their beneficiaries’ particulars stated in the 2011 annual statement, members with existing nomination would need to fill up Borang KWSP 4C which will be available from 1 January 2012.
• As for new nominations, members would need to indicate the same in Borang KWSP 4. However, both forms would need to be returned to the nearest EPF branch before 31 January 2012.

Increase the font size

Finally, after some trial and error succeeded in figuring out how to insert the correct HTML tags to increase the font size of all the text in my post

Tutu Train

Kiddy Tutu Train Ride

I guess I'm automatically disqualified from speeding in this kiddy Tutu Train ride round and round a Xmas tree.

MAA EXCO Meeting

 
Today's EXCO meeting which was scheduled to be held after the grading was cancelled due to Low Sensei's absence. Low Sensei was stricken ill with diarrhea and had to get medical treatment for his condition.

Low Sensei called me up at 9.15am in the morning just as I was leaving for the dojo to inform me of his condition.

4/12/2011 National Kyu Grading

Snapshots of grading in progress

About 25 candidates took part in the grading. Except for one 1st kyu candidate all the other candidates passed their tests.

Seeing that the 1st kyu candidates fumbled his technique and could not remember the movement Dr Leong Sensei requested the grading to be halted before its conclusion for that particular candidate.

As Low Sensei was ill only I, Tony and Dr Leong came to help supervise the grading.

The morning after the flash floods hit Kajang town

The aftermath of the 2/12/2011 flash flood

The scene in Kajang town in the morning after the flash floods that hit the town last evening was ugly.

The three hour torrential rain that caused the swollen Sg Jelok to overflow its banks last evening at 4.00pm almost brought the town centre to a standstill. Fortunately the flood water receded by 6pm leaving a trail of mud and rubbish behind.

The streets were strewn with mud, rubbish and other debris brought by the water from the overflowing Sg Jelok. In normal time Sg Jelok is just a small stream that branches off from Sg Langat. However the water that flows into Sg Jelok from Sg Langat last evening turned the small stream into a swollen river that dumped its contents into the town area.

The ground floor of many shops included banks and F & B outlets, were also inundated with water. The shop owners and workers were seen busy cleaning up the mess. Even the town's main shopping mall, Plaza Metro Kajang was not spared. Its basement car park was submerged with water trapping many cars parked inside the basement. The ground floor was also swashed with muddy water.

As usual this morning I and the missus went to the wet market to do the week's grocery shopping.  The wet market was the worst hit as the swollen Sg Jelok passes by the area. As the road surface was still muddy we had to watch our steps carefully to avoid the pools of water and other obstacles as we made our way to the market. The vendors in the market told us water had swept into the ground floor of the building. Despite the flooding the vendors were still operating their businesses as usual.

Kajang Flash Flood

The  scene of the 2/12/2011 flash flood in the town after a 3-hour torrential downpour

This afternoon flash floods hit Kajang town. After hours of torrential rain the swollen Sungai Semenyih overflowed its banks inundating streets, vehicles and shop-houses.

Worst hit was the wet market area with flood waters entering the ground floor of the three-storey shop-houses including banks and many cars were submerged up to the window level.

The wet market is the place where I go every Saturday with my wife to buy the week's groceries and also to eat breakfast. I wonder if we go there tomorrow morning the market and the surrounding stalls will open for business.

In the commercial area Metro Plaza, the largest shopping mall in the town was not spared. The basement car park was flooded. Flood water even entered the ground floor of the mall, thus affecting shoppers as well as the businesses.Kajang has always been prone to flash floods, but this time the flooding was the most severe. With so much new housing and commercial developments coming up in recent years the frequency of flooding appears to have increased in tandem with development.

Luckily the taman where I am residing is located on high ground, thus spared the consequence of flooding. However I notice that the roads in the vicinity are increasing flood proned, but still not as bad as those in the town centre.

I first learned about the flooding from a Semenyih friend who called me on my hand phone at 4.00pm. However, by the time I got back to Kajang after work at 6.30pm the floor water had receded.

Last Aikido class of the year in INTi

Tnight's class is the last class of the year. Except for two members all the students showed up for the training. Taught all the 5th kyu examination techniques to the junior students.

I expect all the new students to take their kyu tests next year.

My daughter's Kancil

Today I happily drove my daughter's 8-year old metallic gold colour Kancil to work. I love this 850 cc no frills utility car. It is easy to drive, maintain, park and best of very frugal in fuel consumption.

About 4 years ago I drove this car with my daughter as the co-driver all the way from Kuala Terrengganu to Kajang. At that time I was helping her move all her stuff back home after her graduation from UTM. That was the best time of my life when I spent about 10 hours together with my daughter. On the way back to Kajang we visited a few tourist spots along the way.

Consent forms

The despatch clerk from AYC came to my office at 11.00am. I handed a brown envelope containing the two sets of signed consent forms to him. I told him to pass the envelope to Ms Yap.

Later in the afternoon I messaged Ms Yap via sms to confirm that her dispatcher had indeed collected the forms from me.

Peaceful Assembly Bill passed

Today is a sad day for democracy in Malaysia. Dewan Rakyat has passed the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill (PAB). The Opposition, in protest walked out of the Dewan en bloc without voting.

x x x x x x x x x x

Malaysia Insider report on the passage of the PAB

Assembly law passed with only BN votes
By Debra Chong
November 29, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — The Dewan Rakyat today passed the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill, which bars street protests, with only six adjustments to the original proposal, and after a walkout by the opposition as well as a protest march led by lawyers.

Despite this morning’s big show from more than 1,000 Bar Council members and strident objections from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc who staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat, the Barisan Nasional (BN) government got its way.

The Bill was swiftly passed with the six amendments revolving around the advance notice required for an assembly.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia (picture) had allowed just three opposition MPs to debate the Bill, all of whom asked for it to be withdrawn and put before a select committee.

“This is our way of rejecting the Bill until we have a select committee,” PKR’s Subang MP R. Sivarasa told The Malaysian Insider as the opposition lawmakers left Parliament.

“This Bill does not protect national security, only the security of BN leaders,” said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who was the last PR MP allowed to speak.

Critics have said the proposed law, which bars street protests, is more repressive than those in countries like Myanmar, which has one of the world’s poorest human rights records.

Myanmar’s military-dominated Parliament passed a law last week allowing street protests and a notice period of just five days, fewer than the 10 days required by the Peaceful Assembly Bill.

Bentong Visit

Bentong visit Sat 11/26/2011 -Sun 11/27/2011

One World Lodging. This is the hotel where the group of 6 stayed for the night to attend Jae Aun' s wedding dinner. The 6 of us were me, Anna, David, Amy, Helen and Nicholas.

The hotel is located in busy Jln Ah Peng and opposite is the wet market and the town mosque. It is a three storey building with a single lift serving the upper floors. The reception was just a tiny space with a counter in front of the lift and the staircase.

The price of a one night stay including two extra mattress was only RM168.00. In addition to air-cond, cold and hot water, Astro channnel, towel, soap, complementary coffee and tea bags the management also provides free WiFi for the hotel guests.

Our room 225 was located on the second floor and the unit consisted of two separate rooms linked together by the bathroom in the middle. The rooms were clean, spacious and comfortable.

The hotel has a central court yard which gives it an airy environment with good natural ventilation and lighting.

I remember in the old days the building was the former run-down and very shabby Union Hotel, known more as a brothel of sorts for prostitution services rather than a conventional hotel.With the new management taking over the transformation was pretty amazing. Unless you are a local you will not have imagined that it has a past seedy repute.

Bonus Link Card

Received my new bonus link replacement card by mail. However there is no sign of the complementary card which I applied for Anna's use.


Perhaps it will come through the post next week. I recall that I applied for the supplementary card after I had requested for the replacement card.

Lost the way

1st day of the Hari Raya holidays. Tue 30/8/2011

Lost and wandering about aimlessly,
going to fall off the edge

On my way to a family clan rendezvous at Desa Park City.

Exiting from the Penchala Toll Plaza after driving from the direction of Damansara Utama I encountered a junction which leads to Kepong on the left side and Ampang on the right side. Due to the darkness and the small lettering I couldn't make out the wordings on the signboard and ended up going straight which took me up an elevated road to an unfamiliar destination.

The elevated MRR2 highway
near Kepong

By the time I realised the mistake It was too late to do anything. As I had already driven past the junction I couldn't possible reverse the car without risking a major auto accident.

After about 15 minutes of driving along the one-way highway I realised where I was when I sighted the words "Batu Caves" and "Ampang" on the overhead traffic gantry signboard. It then occurred to me that I was in fact driving along the MRR2 highway that links Cheras from one end with Kepong at the opposite end.

Approaching the Batu Caves turn-off I saw a "U-Turn" sign beside the road. Turning left I cruised down the slip road off the main highway and u turned back towards the direction of Kepong.

Family gathering

During this time all my relatives who had gathered in Desa Park City were wondering about my whereabouts and the wife sitting beside me in the car was giving me a earful of her ramblings.

Finally I and my wife made it to the Kluang Station Cafe at Desa Park City just in time when the drinks and snacks were being served. My relatives had thoughtfully arranged two vacant seats at the end of the long table for both of us.

Saw a road accident

3.oo pm. On my way to a site meeting in Subang.

Thinking of bypassing the traffic snarl along Jln Loke Yew I turned left into a slip road to exit into the Seremban Highway.

The situation there was even worse than in Jln Loke Yew. The vehicles were bumper to bumper moving at a snail's pace.

I was wondering why at 3.30pm there were so many vehicles on the road and it wasn't even raining. Either an auto accident had caused the traffic congestion or some other roads feeding to this highway were blocked, I reasoned.

Then after about 30 minutes of start and stop driving I heard the sound of ambulance sirens from the rear and saw some police outriders waving the drivers to make way. Yes a fatal auto-accident had occurred at the head of the long queue of vehicles, I concluded.

As I cruised pass the scene I saw about 3 to 4 cars and a van involved in a pile up. A red colour and badly smashed saloon car and the van had fallen into a ditch. There were two ambulances standing by and I saw paramedics carrying an injured motorist into the ambulance. There were 3 policemen directing traffic and a group of tow truck operators were mulling around the damaged vehicles. Curious motorists slowed down their vehicles to look contributing to the congestion. On the opposite side of the highways motorists were also slowing down to observe the going ons.

The presence of so many tow truck operators all of them talking into their walkie- talkies reminds me of vultures circling and stalking their victim waiting for the right moment to attack. To these people auto-accidents mean big business, and I wonder if they have any compassionate feelings for the accident victims.

By the time I drove past the scene my wrist watch registered the time of 4.00pm. I would probably need one hour to reach Subang from that point onwards. Realising that it would be pointless to meet I called ahead to cancel the meeting.

Visit to Morib and Tg Sepat

"When is daddy taking us to Lovers' Bridge in Tg Sepat?" my daughter asked my wife during a telephone conversation.

Weeks ago I had suggested taking the family for a sightseeing tour of Tg Sepat. Looks like I am left with no choice but to honour my pledge. So it was decided that we should make the trip on Sat 20/8/2011.

I, Anna, Amy and Nicholas, the four of us started the trip from Kajang at 1.30pm. Nicholas was given the honour to drive the MyVi as my wife felt that my driving was too slow. It was a cloudy afternoon when we first started the journey but it started to drizzle when we hit the Plus Highway for the direction of Nilai

First stop in Bandar Baru Nilai
First stop was at a Shell station in Bandar Baru Nilai for petrol refill, purchase of snacks, drinking water and answer calls of nature.

Shell Station Bdr Baru Nilai

I intended to go to Tg Sepat via Sepang but somehow in the heavy rain Nicholas missed the turn off to Sepang. Instead we decided to travel in the direction of Banting.

From Nilai to Banting the drive was smooth though the drizzle had turned into a thunder storm. I was beginning to wonder if the rain would spoil the sight seeing.

Pantai Morib

Pantai Morib

After Banting we stopped over at Morib beach for a visit. As both mother and daughter had never visited Morib before I decided to show them the beach and the surrounding areas. By this time the rain had fizzled out into a drizzle. Holding umbrellas we walked around the beach front.

Beach watch tower

Except for two families, a colony of long-tailed macaque monkeys, and some women sweepers the beach was deserted of people and recreational activities. Then it occurred to me that the absence of people was probably due to the Ramadan fasting month. I was sure that visitors would return to the beach in the night time. After taking some photographs we left the place for Tg Sepat with me taking over the drive from Nicholas.

Ganofarm

Ganofarm entrance

Finally reached Tg Sepat after about 30 minute drive from Morib. Took them to the Ganofarm for a visit. The Ganofarm is a place where all types of mushrooms are cultivated and for sale to the public. At the showroom we took our time to browse the mushroom products. In the end we bought about RM10.00 of mushroom juices and snacks.

Mushroom cultivation

After the showroom we made our way to the seaside at the back where there is a restaurant constructed on stilts above the water level. The last time I visited this restaurant was still under construction. The restaurant owner has constructed a long wooden viewing deck behind the building where visitors can get a grand view of the sea.

Walkway by the sea

We took some pictures while enjoying the cool sea breeze and the seascape. Just across the sea opposite the viewing deck about 1 km away is the unmistakable sight of the half concrete and half timber Tg Sepat fishermen's jetty a.k.a. Lovers' Bridge to some people.

Tg Sepat Jetty a.k.a Lovers' Bridge

Lovers' bridge

At 5.30pm the jetty was already receiving a steady stream of visitors. At that time there were only about 4 trawlers moored to the side of the jetty. I didn't see any fishermen but saw some anglers sitting on the deck patiently waiting for their catch to bite the fishing hooks attached to the end of their fishing lines.

Trawlers parked at the jetty

The visitors were outsiders like us, mainly family members and couples busy snapping pictures of themselves and the sea. I held my wife's arms to give her support as we

Sea side restaurant

gingerly made our way to the wooden segment of the jetty where the worn and rickety planks behaved like spring boards when we stepped on the surface. Before reaching the end of the jetty my wife decided to return to the security of the stable concrete deck. With my hand phone camera I quickly snapped some shots for remembrance. By the time we got back to the concrete deck my daughter and Nicholas who were then trailing behind had caught up with us. More group photo shoots in various poses to follow.

After the jetty we visited the stalls at the shore and bought some sweet potatoes and fish balls from a woman vendor who was peddling her produces on a bicycle.

Enjoying seafood dining

Feeling hungry we decided to patronise Ban Joo Hing, one of the three restaurants on the shore. Anyway it was also dinner time and we had not eaten much since lunch time except for some light snacking and refreshments.

Main street of Tg Sepat

After settling down we ordered stirred fried vegetables, stewed tofu with crab meat cooked in a clay pot, 1 kg of chilli crabs and steamed fish for our dinner. The food was delicious as the fresh fish, and crabs were all recent harvests from the sea and not dead meat retrieved from cold storage in the freezer.

After dinner we headed for the town centre looking for meat pau which is also a well-known product of Tg Sepat. By the time we found the place after driving in circles it was already closed for the night. With our stomachs filled we then decided to leave the village for home in Kajang. As we drove along the narrow main street I noticed there were many motorcyclists on the road that not a single one of them was wearing safety helmet. After exiting the village to the main road we made a U-turn and headed towards the direction of Sepang and Nilai.

Relearning how to bathe in cold water the old way

This Japanese-made "National" hand shower unit installed in the bathroom is leaking. Water is dripping from the base of the appliance when the electrical power is turned on. The ELCB indicator light is also flashing continuously.

This hand shower is so old that even the white colour of the casing has been oxidised to a yellowish tone. After all it has been in faithful service for the past 20 years. I doubt if modern electrical appliances can last that long and whether there is any replacement part still available for this particular model. This model is so dated that even its manufacturer has transformed the brand name from "National" to "Panasonic".

Before anyone gets electrocuted while taking a shower I better start shopping around for a new replacement unit. In the meantime it's a good opportunity for family members to relearn how our ancestors bathe the old way, by splashing cold water with hand-ladles.

Mystery of the wet floor cloth

The mystery of the wet floor cloth below the kitchen sink is finally solved!

At first we suspected that the underground cold water pipe at the kitchen was leaking. Naturally if there is a leak the cloth would soak up the water that penetrates through the floor tiles. If that is a leakage in the underground plumbing then it would cause not only a lot of money but also grave inconvenience to rectify the defect. For example the plumber will have to excavate the floor to locate and repair the defective pipe. After that we will have to hire a mason and tiler to reinstate the concrete and the floor tiles. While the repair work is going on the whole kitchen would be in a mess.

However strangely my wife notes that during the day time the floor and the cloth are always dry. On the few occasions that we notice the cloth soaked with water it is always in the early morning when the family members gather for breakfast before going to work. My wife also notice that it usually occurs after a heavy thunderstorm accompanied by strong winds the night before.

To get to the bottom of the mystery we observed the cloth for two consecutive nights. During these two periods of observation the sky was clear with no strong winds and thunderstorm. The cloth was dry the next morning.

We can now conclude that the water must be from the rain. Strong winds blow the rainwater into the kitchen via the flashing joint between concrete and the asbestos roof. As the house is more than 20 years old the seal in the flashing joint between the roof and the concrete must have worn out due to wear and tear.

We can live with the occasional leak of rainwater that gets into the kitchen carried by strong winds via the old flashing but definitely not a leaking underground pipe.

Learning a lesson on the universal law of impermenance from extension socket malfunction.

"Mom, I can't switch on my note book pc!" my daughter exclaimed as she fiddled with the switch.

There is nothing wrong with her note book pc.

The fault is that her machine did not receive power from the electricity supply. One of the sockets in the 6 module electrical extension has malfunctioned, probably burnt out due to long use. Another one has been abandoned for a long time since it is no longer functioning. The other 4 sockets are all plugged to the pc, printer, modem and another additional extension.

As usual on hearing the news my wife started to react, complain loudly about how modern stuffs don't last as long as they used to.

Nothing in life last forever. As everything has a limited life span it is of the nature to expire and there is no way to escape death. When the time comes to say good bye it goes and there is nothing you can do about it. Recognising the universal law of impermanence makes you more equanimous and composed in the face of sudden adversity. Instead of reacting with great agitation and emotional outburst you then serenely take charge of the process of rectifying the situation.

"We'll buy a new extension socket module from the store tomorrow." I said simply and calmly to no one in particular in the household.

Cutting a door opening through an existing reinforced concrete retaining wall

Serai Saujana Condo, Subang.

I came to this elegant condo to discuss some renovation work to the existing retaining wall. The developer wants to create a 2.5mx3.0m high opening through one segment of the perimeter reinforced concrete retaining fencing wall. Although the task looks rather intimating because the wall is massive and it is 5 m high it is still doable.

The solution is to knock down the upper portion of the wall until the level of the top of the door opening. After that construct a reinforced concrete lintel beam to bridge over the opening. With the lintel beam in place the upper portion of the wall can then be rebuilt to the original specification.

During the project construction phase I had a terrible time when the boss asked me to take over the management of the project from the project engineer who had abruptly resigned. At that time the project was in a big mess and because I was not a party to it from project inception I had zero knowledge of the whole scheme. The design and drawings were incomplete yet the construction work went full steam ahead. Thus I was practically producing real-time design and drawings feeding the contractor as the work progressed. Somehow despite the tremendous challenge I managed to overcome all the difficulties to complete the project on schedule.

I noticed that although the condo is CF certified, ready for occupation and more than 90% sold it was rather quiet. The basement parking was empty save for a few cars, parked far apart from each other.

I was told that the majority of the buyers are investors, buying the units hoping to resell at higher prices. Then there are also purchasers who buy the units for their children but the children do not want to move into the apartments. I reckon that only about 30% of the tenants there are owner-residents.

Waiting in the shade

Tropicana Grande Condo project site. 4.00pm. I was scheduled to attend the technical meeting at 4.30pm. With 30 minutes to spare I decided to park my car under a shady spot by a side road off the traffic choked main road.

Not wanting to waste fuel I switched off the air conditioning system and the engine, rolled up the window and sat in the car watching the vehicles passing by in front of me. In the beginning the heat and stuffiness inside the car was overwhelming but as I sat there absorbing the tranquility and quietness and reflecting about what I was supposed to present at the meeting, my body gradually got accustomed to the heat.

At 4.20pm. I told myself that it was time to leave. After ensuring that the doors and the steering wheel were locked I then walked calmly and unhurriedly in the direction of the meeting room. The timing was almost perfect. By the time I entered the room the earlier scheduled site meeting was just coming to an end.

Caught red-handed

In one corner of the office there is a drinking water fountain for staff use. There is no dedicated person to refill the empty bottle. I know for a fact that nobody likes to mount a full 5-gallon bottle onto the stand because it is quite heavy and you have to grasp the bottle tightly with two hands.

In the past the admin girls were the ones who would replace the empty bottles with the new refills. But after a while the girls started complaining why they were the ones to do the heavy work when everyone was using it. Now the practice is for the last person who use up the water should remove the empty 5-gallon bottle and replace with a new refill.

This morning I went to the water fountain to refill my personal bottle with water. After I finished I noticed that there was still a bit of water left and it didn't occur to me that I should be the one to replace the almost empty bottle with a new canister.

"Mr Ng you forgot to refill the empty bottle," a female staff said as I walked away from the fountain. Clearly this lady was patrolling the area waiting to catch someone to refill the fountain.

"OK I'll refill the water fountain," I replied and promptly went to the pantry to look for the new stock of bottles. It took a while to mount the new bottle as it was quite heavy.

At first I was a little bit irritated that I was caught red-handed by the lady. Then on further reflection I realised that it was all my fault. I was acting selfish and inconsiderate, behaving like most people in the office, always expecting others to do the work.

The Return

After a hiatus of almost 12 months I have decided to reactivate my blog "Spacious Moments".

To mark my return to blogging I have given "Spacious Moments" a new profile picture ID.

Wi-Fi connection restored

The wi-fi connection has been restored miraculously by itself. I'm able to log in to FB, Twitter and Yahoo Mail without any hitches. How and what has happened? I have no idea.

No wireless connection

I can't connect to the internet using wireless connection. Either my phone or my modem wireless capability is disabled. It was working well last night and also in the morning.

Most likely something is wrong with my modem.

Use static IP

Ioften wonder why I can't get online using my Samsung wi-fi enabled smartphone in a free wi-fi zone when other people have experience no difficulty doing so with their note book computers and hand phones. The fact is that my phone detects and connects to wi-fi service but then I'm not able to view the latest postings on my FB, Twitter and Yahoo Mail accounts.

I have asked a few people, including TM net about this problem and even though I have followed up on their well-meaning recommendations, my problem still persists. I was beginning to doubt the real capability of my Samsung Galaxy Mini smart phone.

3.00pm. Old Town White Coffee cafe in Kajang Metro Point Plaza drinking black coffee and eating double butter toasts.

The cafe has free wi-fi service and using my smartphone I was able to connect to the service. But as before when I visited FB, Twitter and Yahoo Mail sites I was able to view old postings but not the latest messages.

With plenty of time on hand and nothing much to do I started to fiddle with the phone's wi-fi and network connection settings. Then buried under many layers of sub-menus in the advanced settings module I came across an IP setting labeled "use static IP". Wondering what it can do I tapped the "Use static IP" function and returned to FB. Lo and behold magically I was able to see the latest postings being downloaded immediately. I also received the same results in Yahoo mail and twitter.

I was so delighted with the outcome that I stayed in the cafe for more than two hours checking my FB, Twitter and Yahoo Mail accounts.

Belakong Lan Jie Steamed Tilapia

Belakong Lan Jie steamed tilapia fish comes in three grades: regualar, mild and extra hot.

Most people who like their fish slightly spicy will order the mild type while those who like to set their tongues on fire with lots of ginger and hot chilli peppers will go for the extra hot type.

I ordered a plate of regular grade steamed tilapia and another plate of belachan stir-fried 4 angle beans for both my wife and myself. Being small eaters, one fish is more than enough for both of us. Including refreshment and rice the restaurant charged RM26.00 for the dinner meal. And there is no need to pay government tax and service charge for the food.

Keeping the promise

Against my heart's inclination I battled the pouring rain and heavy traffic along the Seremban highway for the drive South to INTi College Nilai. Last month I had promised the guys to conduct intensive training during the semester break month of Aug. Even though I had serious reservation that anyone would come two guys showed up for training. In the end I was glad that I had made the correct decision to honour my promise to the students

Starting over

Iam thinking of reactivating my blog "Spacious Moments", but at this point in time my mind is empty, like a sheet of blank paper.