An Evening...

...with the Kambengs!

It was not really out of the blue as Milla already texted me they (she and Mr Kambeng) will be holidaying in Terengganu.

Today she gave me a call when they were about to leave the island. We picked them up at the kT Bus Station. I was caught by surprise with the large number of people in town today, but there were quite a number of things going on actually.

The road in front of the Paya Keladi Business Centre leading up to Pasar Payang was closed and they opened stalls a-la 'upmarkets'. Over at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, a President Cup match involving T-Team was underway.

Of course, there would be the Search's 'Di Awan Biru' concert at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in the evening.

We saw them walking and promply picked them up. Without any specific place to go we just drove around to the Batu Buruk Beach where, you can guess it; there were more people there. So we just proceeded to the Tengku Tengah Zaharah Mosque or more famously known as the 'Masjid Terapung'.

After a few snaps, our stomach began to growl for dinner. To make it more convenient we decided to have it somewhere near to the airport. Of course it would not be the usual 'tom yam' place which sprouted all over town.

Instead we took them to a place where they have this 'Air Buah Gelas Besar' (fruit juice in large glass) in Seberang Takir. But before reaching the place mad redo1 decided to make a detour to Pulau Duyong and we snapped a few shots at the Ri-Yaz Heritage Resort & Spa.

 

Only after then we proceeded to the 'makan' place where Milla had a plate of Nasi Minyak while Mr Kambeng had a bowl of 'laksam'. Of course in between there were quite a substantial number of 'keropok' passing through our esofargus.

With Milla's low tolerance to hot food she had to decline from trying eating more delicacies though in reality it should not be the case as Terengganu food is not known for being hot.

Mr Kambeng was quite good with children and that was the case when he entertained Nina in wrapping the hot 'keropok'. As Yoda would say: "A good father he will become."

Then after filling our stomach to the fullest (well, that was the case for mad redo1 at least) we finally made the move to the airport which was just five minutes away.

Hopefully they had a good holiday over here and meeting us would not diminish the experience. Come again in the future, you all!


...

A Cry...

...for No Reason, Not!

The other night mad redo1 had supper with a friend at Pak Wan Kopitiam in Gong Badak. We were so engrossed in our conversation that we totally lost the track of time. It was the sound of 'Nightline' coming on air that mad redo1 realised it was already midnight.

After parting our ways mad redo1 went to pick up Linda and the AKSes at her mother's house. We were about to enter the car when a neighbour who was on his way home passed us by and said 'Hi'. Of course we returned the greeting, at least I did as everybody else was already sleepy.

We arrived at home safe and sound.

Linda was looking forward to a good night sleep when suddenly AKS#3 began to wail. It was not a situation that we could not handle. Or so we thought. Despite feeding and cuddling her, AKS#3 simply refused to stop crying.

The next thought was she was suffering from stomach ache and Linda rubbed the usual ointment that we used. It worked and for a short while were relieved. Suddenly we heard the sound of her passing wind followed by the liquid sound of she relieving herself.

We took the necessary actions and suddenly when we tried to put a fresh diaper on, AKS#3 began to cry again, and this time at the top of her lungs complete with her body flailing about. It went on for a while despite our best intention to make her quiet.

"This is all your fault!"

Suddenly Linda said to me in an accusing manner.

"Why is it my fault?"

"Because you greeted Pak A*** just now..."

I could not believe what I heard. Of course there were rumours around the village about the old man that said 'Hi' to us has some sort of 'companion' with him. How true the rumours, so far could not be proven.

But now it could be a contributing factor to the non-stop wailing of AKS#3.

I went out of the room to clear my head. After a while Linda came out with a sheepish grin and AKS#3 had stopped crying. I could not help from noticing the baby's naked butts. They were quite red in colour.

It turned out that Khalisa Shukriah was suffering from a case of rash on her butts. We had a good laugh about it with Linda getting her face red for so quick in her diagnose of the situation.

It had nothing to do with a certain someone and his 'companion'. If it is true he has one.

It makes you think, right?


...

Abandoned Baby...

...Not Here!

Have we become a cruel society?

Or,

we have always been cruel all this time but due to the advancement in technologies, the coverage by media is wider than before thus we are being fed with so many news of cruelty in our society.

Bohsia, bohjan.
Mat Motor, Mat Rempit,
Unwanted pregnancies and abandoned babies.

More and more social problems for us and the next generations to face.

I sincerely hope that I would not come across any abandoned baby and I certainly pray that I would never become a person that would have the heart to abandon anybody, let alone a helpless baby.

So, AKS#3 above was certainly not abandoned but merely mad redo1's effort to make sure she is getting enough exposure to the sun...

...

Lets Bludaa...

...Everybody!

Ever since Awang Goneng mentioned the name 'Blu-daa' in his account of 'Growing Up in Trengganu' the traditional 'paun' has been making some sort of comeback, and a successful one too. Now it is quite easily available at markets such as Chabang Tiga and Pasar Payang though I have yet to see it on the shelves of Giants.

mad redo1 has his fair share of 'blu-daa' since and I must say, it is quite fulfilling (who won't after consuming ten of them!)

So, why don't you have one too... the next time you find yourself in Terengganu.


...

And the Award Goes to...

...Cristine Ronaldo & The DOGba!

It is not a good week to be an Arsenal fan.

Losing to manure in the Champions' League semi-final ensured another season without trophy, after being knocked out by Chelski at the same stage in the FA Cup earlier.

After a reasonably good season previously, I half expected for another assault on all front by Arsene Wenger's boys. They did just that only to falter at crucial stages again.

One thing for sure was we kept suffering at the hands of actors at those crucial moments.

Last season it was the fine double Dutch performance by Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel against Liverpool in the Champions' League quarter final stage. This season it was the turn of Cristine Ronaldo when he felt the breeze of an Arsenal player and thus had to make his obligatory dive, earning a free-kick which he scored.

Then another fine act by Dogba at the Emirates today led to another free-kick which Alex scored against the run of play. Sometimes I really wish we have these kind of actors in our squad to earn us free-kicks and penalties that would help us winning more matches.

Not since Robert Pires left for Villarreal anyway.

Seriouly though, we need more experience in our squad and a more clinical finisher. It was a pity that Eduardo missed a large chunk of the season after surviving the murder attempt by Martin Taylor on that fateful day at St Andrews. In his few appearances this season, the Croatian striker showed what we a good player we have been missing this season.

Cesc Fabregas was a shell of his former self and did not command the pitch as much as his talent demands. His long term injury also robbed us from his service though for me it was a welcome one as he needed the break after playing football all year round previously.

After a productive first season post Thierry Henry, Manu Adebayor was courted by almost all the big guns in Europe, which in effect turned my support against him. Right now I will be very glad to see the back of him given somebody give Arsenal a large amount of dough.

What else to do for us Gooners than to look forward to next season.

Hopefully there will some moment of joy that will see our name written on any one of the major trophy next season... provided we win it without having to resort to award winning acting in our part.


...

Moron...

...on the Road.

There is nothing much enjoyable than taking a ride with Mortimer on an open road. However, when the road become a bit jammed with traffic I have to be extra careful as Mortimer’s body is not as nimble as the ‘kapchai’ and scooters dominating our road today.

Malaysian motorcyclists are known for their daredevil attitude on public roads with numerous clips on the ‘youtube’ about the exploits of our ‘mat rempits’.

We as the public rely on the enforcement by the relevant authorities, namely the traffic division of the Royal Malaysian Police and also by the Road Transport Department to stem the problem caused by this ‘mat rempits’.

We also bank on these authorities to set good examples to the public when it comes to road safety. Then there are also motoring and biking clubs that most of the time will work together with the authorities in promoting the same agenda.

Unfortunately when they are not promoting safety some of these motoring and biking clubs are happy to promote unsafe driving and riding habits, and sometimes aided by the authorities too.

Why am I saying this?

The recent Labour Day holiday saw an extended weekennd for many in the West Coast and many took the opportunity to have a trip to Terengganu. As usual this will result in a bit of a jam in kT, especially on the Sultan Mahmud Bridge.

On my way back from a futsal match I was stuck in a jam on the bridge. Suddenly a loud horn was heard from the rear and in the rearview mirror I saw a number of big bikers riding bettween the cars to get themselves to the front.

Now, it is normal for the ‘kapchai’ to do that and admittedly I do that with Mortimer though not all the time. But sounding your horn, telling people to give way to you was just plain rude.

It is YOUR choice to buy the big bike and if you come stuck behind heavy traffic then you don’t go sounding your horn telling people to give way for you.

What irritated me more, there was a biker with the word ‘POLIS’ pasted on the back of his vest wagging his finger to me. How I wished he could see which finger that I wagged at him.

C’mon, you are the one who should be telling these bikers not to ride dangerously, yet you are the one who promoted dangerous riding habits to them.

...

Labouring Day...

...in Sports.

It was the labour day and mad redo1 found himself struggling to catch his breath as he participated in two sporting activities.

First of all was a futsal match at the Sportsplanet.

According to the organiser, it was supposed to be a friendly tournament between MyViT (Terengganu MyVi owners' club), ViVA Team and GanuSoccer.Net. Unfortunately the Viva Team did not turn up and it became a two hour futsal match between the two remaining teams.

Two hours!

Luckily both teams brought enough players to last the whole match. In the end, I did not know the actual scores but there must be thirty odd goals scored by both teams. After all, it was just a friendly match, right?

Then right after futsal mad redo1 proceeded to the Diman Bowl to join Linda and her siblings for a couple of rounds of bowling. It seems this bowling outing is fast becoming a routine for us.

For mad redo1, he would not be complaining that much. Despite having played futsal earlier, he managed to enjoy himself and kept away from the 'longkang' for most of the time. A bit of improvement though he needs to work more on getting the spares which could bring a bit more difference to his pinfalls.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable Labour Day though for most of us in Terengganu it was not really a holiday as it fell on a Friday, which in a circular by the state government deemed not to be carried forward to the next day.

Pity us, Ganuans!

...