forgotten the birthday of their father .....

Communicating over the phone is considered risky in my business. The code of practice required us to protect confidentiality of the patient. So it is our duty to confirm the identity of the respective speaker over the phone.

There is multiple ways of doing the job, from asking addresses, ID no to birthday. One of my favorite is birthday. However recently, I had found that it had lost its Mojo. I had come across, many siblings who were unable to recall the birth date of their parents. It is considered absurd to an old fashioned person like me….

It made me remember the famous phrase by gunslinger ROLAND from the DARK TOWER –

I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.”

I am looking forward to the release of the Dark Tower movie later this year. Although the story was heavily modified but yet the revolver loading screen from the trailer had truly attract me….

well met.......

brew of freedom.....

I was a coffee freak for quite a long time until I developed esophagus reflux. I had stopped coffee craving after it worsen and affected my life. After a long time from my miraculous recovery. I had gone back to the coffee sipping life. Carefully monitoring my intake, I was able to maintain a symptomatic free life.

During our shopping tour at the Kuching Airport, I came across a shop selling Liberica bean. I had given up the thought of buying the pack not because of its price; but due to its mixing with Robusta. I was curious about the taste but was aware that the Robusta might succumb the flavor of Liberica. I held back the thought and vowed that I would give it a try later.

During my trip to Malacca, I had visited the old shop of Aik Chong at Jonker street. I was surprised when I found out that they are selling Liberica bean. Light to medium roast and not mixed with any Robusta. The price was surprisingly low and I bought it.

This was my second brew and the taste was one of its kind; berry like flavor with acceptable sourness. The aroma of coffee was light and refreshing.

I had bought some expensive beans recent few years and had almost laid my hand on the Exotica Kopi Luwak bean; the phrase “roasted in Malaysia” had pulled me back to reality. I would give it a try when I visit Indonesia next year…..

Well, my second brew, nel drip..

solo trip - the return

A day after we came back from Malacca, I had taken another long journey way home. My brother and parents had sent me to Senai Airport after dinner. It was sorrow parting from them; I wished I could stay longer but yet I can’t.

The flight was smooth and I arrived at KLIA2 on time. I proceeded to the transit counter and had my passport stamped and baggage checked. It was a late flight and I faced some difficulty finding the Sama Sama transit hotel; I was tired and could not read the map properly. The price was cheaper than Tune hotel and I could save the time re-checking in.

It was a small room with no window; unlike the room shown on the webpage. But for a 5 hrs rest, it was good enough for an old hog like me. I did not sleep properly and checkout at 6am. I am always anxious about catching a plane and afraid that I will miss it. As the flight was scheduled at 8:30am, I proceeded to the Air Asia Red lounge for breakfast. The lounge was small but has every element a lounge should have (except for the toilet). Food was above average(chef cooked noodle/porridge with malay kuih). The seat was comfortable and I had a short nap before my alarm woke me up for the boarding.

It was an eventful flight back to K City. I had brought back a load of items which Ving and the kids looking forward to…

A short trip it was and I had accomplished quite a few tasks which I had regretted that I have not done it earlier.

solo trip 2

I had a day rest after the flight. My bro had also arrived late that night. He had flown back from Shanghai via the Singapore route. We had a good chat and he had given me lots of technical advice regarding my EMR program. He had done well in his career. I am far from a retire life and he had achieved it…

Well, it was nice seeing him after all those silence year.

On D3, I had begun my 500km drive up north. We planned to pay a visit to the columbarium where my grandfather rest. The columbarium was situated at a temple near the Sg Besi airfield. I had visited it multiple times before I left the homeland. We pushed out early and at 7am, we were on the highway after our breakfast at a small coffee shop. Typical Malaysia breakfast of wantan mee and cham. The Sportage which my bro bought for my father was in tip top condition. We stopped a few times for refreshment before we arrived at the temple at 10:30am. My parents completed the ritual and we were off at 11:30am.

We stopped by Empayar Siew Paw restaurant for a crab meal (which is still as good as what I had tasted few years back) and then proceeded to Malacca to visit my aunt.

I had taken my parents to Jonker Street for a quick tour before stopping at my aunt’s place.

I had met my cousins who are working in Malaysia. We exchanged some view and I learnt more about the situation in the homeland. The salary had risen over years and so did the living cost. The deprivation of ringgit had made thing worst. We had a dinner at a newly opened restaurant at the out skirt of the town. We were lucky to secure a seat despite of not making an early reservation. Surprisingly the food was way below standard. Pork was not prep properly and shrimp was not fresh. But yet it was filled with customer. The only reason was it location. It was outside the town and the jam in the town had lured people to it.

We headed back to Makhota hotel after the dinner. I had paid a visit to the night market across the street while retrieving my GPS from the car.

It was a night market for Malay; as usual, I was the few Chinese wandering around and I bought some Sate and Apam Balik from the hawker around. Food was average but I had a good time wandering around.

I had taken my parents to a BKT shop around the town before we headed back to Kulai. The BKT is Klang style although it is not as good as what I had tasted in the past but I could settled with the no fish shrimp is also ok situation.

We took a slow drive back to Kulai and had our lunch at Yun Lai Dim Sum shop.

It should be routine for me next year to accompany my parents to KL for the ritual; travelling up north has becoming a stress for them.  

solo trip....

I had a solo trip back to the homeland after my daring trip in CNY. Ving had suggested I pay my parent a visit as we did not visit them during the CNY. Both of us agreed that we need to show Xian and Yun what filial is – one of act was to please your parents….

I had arranged a 6 days leave for the trip. I had booked a fly thru flight from KHH to JHB ( the fly thru was available after my parent booked the non-connecting route last year).

The departure was smooth until I arrived at KLIA2. There is not much information about the fly thru procedure. After I departed from gate, I had followed the sign board and arrive at the transit area. It was a long march…and nothing to stop by to waste any time(which I wanted to do so as the transit time was 2 hrs).
The transit area consists of a baggage check security counter and immigration counter.

I got passed the area without difficulty and headed to the gate. Well, it was as simple as it should be….2 food joints were located at the pier and the food did not catch my attention.

The departure was delayed but yet still arrived at Senai airport on time….

My parents were waiting for me at the arrival hall. My dad health deteriorated over this few years after the stroke episode. I was happy to see him moving around freely.

We stopped by a mamak stall near my brother house for a late dinner. The nasi lemak was so so but yet it was great for an old hag like me who had been too far away from home….

Overall it was a good start, I had a good rest on board, viewed a few episode of “midnight canteen” on Netflix(pre-download ofcoz” during the flight. The in-flight mee goreng which I ordered was substandard. But able to reach the land of spilling blood again felt really good….

when the birthday present is not only an item.....

It is easy when your kids want something, a book, a toy and even a mobile phone. As a father, you just need to reach for your wallet and volla...

After many years of easy give and take, things had gone a little complicated during Xian’s recent birthday…

During a dinner season, Xian had told us that he envies those who build his own computer and he would like to learn the skill and do so in the future. Ving however had told him that he doesn’t have to wait; there is someone in this house who can teach him to do so. Xian had shown an astonishing look and told me that he wanted to build his own computer as a birthday present.

I picked up the skill during my college days but I had opted to buy built up unit later when I returned for my training. As I figured the training might be quite hectic and I would have no time for gaming. I had acquired 2 units in the past 10 years and all of them had failed recent 2 years

Xian's request had pushed me to the difficult part, to build and not to buy….

Well, he had actually wanted something more than a simple desktop. He wanted something that can powered 3 monitors – inspired by the scene in Rogue Nation where Benji played Halo at work….

So we are not talking about an entry level i3 with all in one mother board; it is something at the high end with i7 and GTX10x0.

Well, I had started to read up since then. There was a lot to learn from even though the concept did not change but lots of technical details were updated since then. Over clocking was definitely out of my plan as it requires a good liquid cooling system and the risk of leaking would haunt me everyday. I had some struggle making up the list. Some decisions were easily made and some were not. But the principle was to get components sub par to the best in the market.

After our trip from Malaysia, I had a discussion with Xian again and he had shown determination to build his own unit. I had caught a window between my shifts few days prior to his birthday to do the shopping round. I visited a whole-seller in Kaohsiung and grabbed everything on the list.

During the purchase session, I had asked Xian again “Why don’t we let the seller to help us to assemble the unit, after all it is free of charge”

Well, he had firmly told that he wanted to proceed with our plan.

Handling a few hundred RM component is one thing, assembling a few 1+K RM components together is another story. Anything could happen and I just can’t bear to think about it...

The assembling process was complicated. The casing was mATX and the mother board I bought was ATX; we had to wait for one more day for the replacement. It took us 3 nights to get the mother board LED light to turn on. A further 3 more days to get all three monitor working in surround mode.

Xian did most of the assembled job under my instruction, minus the insertion of CPU and graphic card of course (you should see me shake while inserting both of the devices).

Triple monitor with surround mode is a something new to Xian and me. Not many games support the mode but yet it is an extraordinary experience.

The triple monitor setup requires a table with decent depth to unable a good view; thence I had modified my working desk by adding a keyboard drawer. It extended my desk depth for about 30cm.

While Xian is roving in the world of watchdog2 (Which gave me a severe vertigo even watching him played).; I had added a thrustmaster hotas x and rudder to my gadgets recent few days.

I did a night airfield traffic pattern flight at Kaohsiung airport on FSX today morning prior to my shift and it was amazing…

It was truly an adventure for me; without Xian request and enthusiasm, I would not have the motivation to perform such task.   

Thanz to the birthday boy...

2017CNY trip - the return

D9 was the most challenging day; I would need to drive from Batu Ferringi to Bayan Lepas airport. I would have to pass through the Bayan Lepas industrial area during rush hour. 2 routes were available – the balik pulau route and the Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah route. I had tried out the Balik Pulau curvy mountain route and considered it as more risky to drive early in the morning. I decided to do an early start and go through the Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah route. Everything was smooth until I took a wrong turn at a junction along Jalan Macalister; I had stumbled myself into a route near an Indian temple. The next day was Thaipusam and the route was filled with followers. It took me a good 20min to make a U-turn back to the main road.  

I was lucky to make it to Bayan Lepas Airport and made the key drop for the Innova in time.

The flight back to KLIA2 was smooth however I had had a hard time picking up the car. The staff had messed up with the booking and it took us a good 1hr before we hit the road. We took a quick tour around Putrajaya and we later proceeded to the local church at the Jalan Air Panas. The local church there had kept a very very low profile to avoid unnecessary attention from the locals.

We managed to get back to Klang before the rush hour and had a “luxurious” dinner at a restaurant located in Klang Parade.

I had my second Yu Shang dish. Yu Shang was one of my favorite dishes in the past, however the taste had changed. I still remembered during those old days, a master chef would be responsible for the preparation and there was always a red and green packet of spice in the dish. Nowadays, you can get a pack of Yu Shang from the supermarket and DIY in the house. 

I was a little worn off after the dinner….while Ving and my friends preparing for the final packing that night, I had thanked the great one to allow me to execute this daring journey without any major mistake.

We had left my brother in law’s house at 5am and reached KLIA2 before 6…the rest of the flight was unremarkable….