Hope

What is hope, ask a bee in cold winter days,
she hangs around the pruned rose bushes,
with the hope that someday the spring will come,
and the flowers will bloom again in the garden.

What is hope, ask the blue bird pair in early spring,
they work diligently to bring every twig and grass,
to build their nest in the corner nook of my house,
I see the hope in the eyes of this lovely pair,
They are dreaming of a happy home for their family.

What is hope, ask a lonesome soul,
When the uncertainties linger around in mind,
hope is the only refuge to calm our fears,
When the loneliness sends one in depression,
the hope of a companionship overshadows the despair.

What is hope, ask a human being,
our life is a sand castle of hope on a sandy beach,
with the lingering fear of drowning in occasional high tide,
our destiny, our future, and our own survival,
hangs around the magical hope,
the hope that is the eternal inspiration.

Longhorns @ TGIF

It's been quite a while since us Longhorns gather outside KLCC (well to be fair, all of us do work at the same place), the last time being the "Buka Puasa" session @ Hussen's place, so yesterday we decided for a change

In conjunction with Nurhi coming back from Veitnam for the holidays, we decided to have lunch somewhere not around KLCC and the place chosen was TGI Fridays at OU. Turn out was OK as most attended except for Yus and Bapak. We were suppose to meet at 12pm there but I only left the apartment around 11.55am as I waited for gafiL to finish up some work that she need to submit this week. Around 12.05pm, I got an SMS from Nizar saying that he's already there (well he live closest to OU anyway these days since I moved out of Mutiara Damansara) and a few minutes later I got SMS from Nurhi saying that she's already there too. I told them both to meet with each other and wait for me at Parkson

Around 12.15pm Hussen called but I told gafiL to answer and around 12.25pm as I reached TTDI, Nizar SMS'ed me again saying that they're all there and gonna go to TGI without waiting for me. Traffic was fine outside OU and I thought that finding a parking would be a breeze. Unfortunately I was so wrong and it took me almost 20 minutes trying to get a parking spot. I finally reached TGIF around 1pm and they already finished the 1st part of their 3 course meal by the time I got there


I ordered the Chicken Mozzarella Quesadillas but the serving size was too small and I wished I had ordered the 1lbs burger instead. But anyhow, it's still good food and got my thumbs up. In comparison to Chili's, all of us do felt that the food at Chili's are a bit better so maybe next time we'll eat at Chili's :). I tried to temp Nizar and Hussen into trying some Carl's Jr burger but both are too full already by the time we finished eating

We ate and chatted until around 3pm and then everybody went their own ways. Nizar and I had plan initially to play bowling but I can't do much with a sprained ankle and sore wrist from last saturday's fall. gafiL helped me buy an ankle support sleeve, and it costs me RM40!, and then we went home

So that's it for our final Longhorns eating out day for 2007 as nobody's working today except for me and Nizar (should've taken a leave today as the road would be rather busy with the closure for the new year's party and all). I'm currently making plans for 2008 Longhorns holiday and I'm hoping it would be a blast just like this year's Redang trip and hopefully more would join this year so that it would be just like the old days...

Happy New Year guys and hopefully 2008 would be a better year for all :)

Singapore on Foot cont'd Part 2

Singapore on Foot cont'd Part 1

Shopping and Eating Out Day

I was feeling a bit lazy yesterday. The initial plan was to meet up with Hussen, shoot some hoops at his place and then clean up the apartment with gafiL which is long overdue. However, I was feeling a bit tired from the X-mas basketball session and the round trip journey afterwards visiting my sister in Port Dickson and woke up a bit late.

So I decided then to take advantage of the X-mas sale that's going on around town. The day started with accompanying gafiL to her office to run some errands and then we decided to have a late breakfast at Piri-Piri Cafe near the place we used to stay in Mutiara Damansara. Afterwards, around noon, we headed to OU for some shopping. I'm the rational one so as usual gafiL's the one who's doing bulk of the shopping. As we were walking around OU we stumbled into this


It's been a while since I last had Car's Jr burger and I'm not even aware that they have outlets here. So I decided to drag gafiL for some "real" burgers and ordered the Double Western combo set. The set costs me RM24 but heck, it's huge and that's the most important thing for me heh :)

The meal was truly satisfying and I wish I can have more but at RM24/set, I'll save it for another day.

The shopping continues (well it's more like "gafiL then continues shopping") and later I decided to take up Hazyr's recommendation and get the Alien vs Predator limited edition donuts at Big Apple.

The donuts were yummy and they definitely got my thumbs up but I'm still reserving my two thumbs up for Krispe Kreme donuts (I really wish they would open their outlets here). By the time I'm finished, it's almost 6.30pm and I'm still empty handed, can't seem to find anything that I like at OU.

Rather than going home, we decided to continue shopping at Jusco in Taman Maluri and I finally got a new pair of running shoes for myself. It was hard work trying to find a size 13 shoe on sale but luck was on my side and they have a pair of Brooks running shoes going for 50% off which I snapped up right away. Had dinner @ McDonald's and then we called it a day.

So there you go, a full day of shopping and eating out at fast food outlets and all I got was a new pair of shoes and some extra fat in the belly :)

Singapore On Foot

I'm off from work until year end. Initially the plan was to go back home for the holidays, but due to the flood (just an excuse really :)) and the fact that a certain someone can't take leave on Mondays, we decided to scrap going back home. After an exhaustive ticket search on AirAsia, we just can't find any cheap tickets to go anywhere....so that led us to 1 destination that won't require us to fly = Singapore :) ....

The plan was simple, take the night train to Singapore, spend the day traveling around, take a nap, spend the next day traveling around some more and take the night bus back to KL. Also we decided to rely solely on the MRT and walking in order to save money (well mainly so that I have enough in my pocket to cover my 2008 diving heh). Here are some pictures during the start of the journey....

traveller's bag comparison

traveller's ticket

traveller's shoe comparison

traveller's hand comparison

I'll be posting some pictures and review later...stay tuned :)

Magic 97, Rockets 92

I'm starting to lose faith on the Rockets. This is the 2nd straight lost (they lost to the Mavs again last Sunday) after winning in Detroit against the Pistons. And guess what? T-Mac's out with an injury again. Without T-Mac I don't see how the Rockets can survive their upcoming games. Yes Yao is getting tougher but you can't win games with just 1 player who can consistently score 20 or more points a game.

Bonzi Wells have stepped up a couple of times this year but then again, he's not consistent so far. The same goes for Luis Scola, he's been good in stretches but has yet to show consistency so far. Chuck Hayes is a good defender but definitely not an offensive threat to anyone. And what's wrong with those guards? Last year i was really hoping that they would dump Rafer Alston but this year it seems to be that he's the only 1 who's really helping the Rockets to win games. Steve Francis got to start a few games but he's not been producing offensively (hopefully he'll shut up for the rest of the year after so much grumbling about being left on the bench and about he's suppose to start etc earlier this year). And what's with Mike James? where's those shots that you got when you're with the Wolves?

I think it's time for me just to forget about the Rockets going anywhere this year. I don't think they'll even make it to the play-off this year. I guess it's just better for them to finish the season, hope that they'll get a good draft pick position and get good player from the draft. And hopefully they're not going to pull another draft day trade blunder like when they traded Rudy Gay (who is now scoring almost 20ppg and grabbing 5.5 rpg and definitely could have been the definite 3rd scoring option after T-Mac and Yao) for Shane Battier who's looking really bad this year.

The only thing I could say now would be, "Go Go Rockets, you guys need a lot of luck this season"....

To Do list 2008

it's almost the end of 2007 and i'll be taking a leave from work until year end. i guess it's time for me to really plan what i want to do in 2008. 2007 has been really chaotic with lots of unplanned activities (mostly in the form of diving trips :)) and i hope that in 2008, i can be a bit more organized (well partly so that i can easily apply for annual leaves).

i've gotten my 2008 calendar and loving it. i've counted so far that there's plenty of public holidays that fall either on thursday, friday or monday...well 12 to be exact, and only 5 of these would require me to take at most a 1 day AL to enjoy a minimum 3 day weekend. discounting the Hari Raya holiday, that's a massive 11 opportunities for me to go for a holiday/trips/whatever...man it's not even 2008 and i'm already loving it :)

anyway, here's my current plan/wishlist for 2008 not in any particular order:

1. complete my current project @ work <- fact of life and cannot get away
2. go diving in Sipadan
3. go diving in Tioman (yes i've never been to tioman)
4. go diving in Tenggol
5. go diving in Kapas (never been there also, what a shame, it's just 1/2hr away from home)
6. go far far away from Malaysia for a long holiday
7. visit SEA countries
8. i'm already running out of ideas...

as you can see, most of them revolves around diving..but then again, i was hoping to diversify next year and not just focus on diving as i always like doing something new..

so what i need now are ideas...would you guys care to suggest? :)

basketball

in my life i've only played basketball competitively in 2 ocassions

1. the mid-west games back in 2004 (despite only 2 Longhorns in the team we still call it Longhorns)
2. the east coast region inter company games 2006 playing for EXPRO

back in school, i never got the chance to play competitive basketball as nobody seems interested in playing basketball and the fact that i live and went to school in a state where basketball is almost non-existent didn't help either...so back then i had to resort to playing volleyball as actually i don't know how to play soccer...

anyway, fast forward to today..i've only started to play basketball again late last month (the 1st time since june 06) with Judd organizing a weekly basketball game (normally on Sunday and everybody's welcome to join)in Setiawangsa..currently around 20kg overweight, i can barely jump and run and no longer can i play long minutes..the game with Ardy and co. today really exposed my extremely unfit condition and i don't feel good about it..

i guess it's time for me to really focus on getting my fitness back (I'll take Ardy's advise about starting to run again) and get back in shape hopefully in time for next year's inter-company games, that is if i'm still needed at that time :) wish me luck...

shan curry

the magic box that help me through 4 years of college...enough said :)

what's with them Rockets

i really don't know what to say about the Rockets anymore.. when they brought in T-Mac, the Rockets was touted to have the best inside out combination comparable to Kobe and Shaq during their heydays with the Lakers..all the Rockets need to do was to find enough talent to surround their 2 best players to win games..

now it's been almost 4 years.. and still they can't win a 1st round playoff game..Van Gundy is out of the picture now and they were hoping that Rick Adelman, new GM Darel Morey and the resigning of Mike James, Luis Scola and Steve Francis would help the Rockets become a real contender for the 2007/2008 season... they looked really loaded on paper...unfortunately this is how they stand after 22 games

an 11-11 record and they lost to both the 76'ers and Raptors

i mean come on.. a team loaded with 2 All Stars, 1 former All Stars should not be that bad.. so what do u guys think about the new look Rockets? are they a real contender or just a pretender?

ultimate frisbee anyone?

can't seem to remember where i put my frisbee.. i used to have 2 of 'em (although both are freebies heh) and had fun playing 'em.. anyhow, i wonder why people are not into frisbee over her.. it's an easy game to play..just get urself a frisbee, gather some friends, go to a park or something and start throwing.. simple enough.. i used to play it in the small green area in front of my department back in my college days..

oh i just realized, we don't have parks here other than housing parks :)

Kaleebso "Sea Horse" LOB Trip Dec 2007

i just got back from a diving trip on board the Kaleebso in Pulau Sembilan during the weekend. it was my 1st LOB trip and to summarize it in 1 word... F U N .. this has so far been my best diving trip ever since i started diving in 04.. will be uploading the pictures into my flickr page and also some reviews here ASAP (and that means as soon as i can get a hang of blogging again heh)

oh btw, Pulau Sembilan is pretty much sea horse country.. and someone actually came up with the brilliant idea of playing UNO underwater.. which we actually did :)

feels like posting again

i started this blog back in 2004 but i haven't been posting much.. heck i even deleted most of the old postings except for one....i guess now it's time for me to post again...so watch this space to be filled up soon :)