Ni atok nak try letak an audio file; saja lah... nak cuba-cuba berhijrah ke arena audio-blogging la pulak, pasal kadang tu malas nak menaip, kalau bercakap lagi senang.
Tapi short audio di bawah ni comes with a warning:
NO SUB-TITLE PROVIDED For non-Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga speakers, you might need help from someone smarter than those Anigma machine code breakers or even that Dan Brown bloke.
Anyway, put your speaker on, or place your earplugs, headphone... and click the triangular play button on the bar below.
At 12:50pm as I walked to my car during my lunch break, I called home and spoke to Papa.
"Che lagu mano?", I asked. "Dok lagu tu la jugok lagi", Papa replied. He just got back from the hospital for a Maghrib break, as he had been doing since Che was admitted last Wednesday. Our home is not that far from the hospital.
At 2:40pm (9:40pm Msia time) a text message came in: "Salam dari KB, granpa dah meninggal - Dr Shaiful" [Dr Shaiful, our neighbour and Papa's good friend, is the head of icu unit at the hospital]
al-fatihah to Allahyarham Yaacob bin Mohammad Ali who passed away peacefully in his coma.
I'm a bit annoyed not being able to put photo(s) in my posting for the past few days. My Sony digital camera has gone for a walkabout since last Tuesday. It was there on the steps in the house, when my wife saw it and the next second it was gone. For 2 days we searched the house high and low, yet there's no sign of it. I was vacuuming the car on the driveway (with the front door left ajar) when Mummy last saw the silver gadget a friend bought at Hakihabara a few years ago. Her theory: someone must have came in the house and took it. Mine: we must have misplaced it, or Adik played with it and put it somewehere.
Frustrated, I had to ask for help from far and beyond, as I did a few times before when came to a dead end as such. Last time I called for help from home, on similar matter, was about a couple of years ago when I let go my funky Smart car and couldn't locate the other set of its key. Similarly, I searched and turned the house upside down before puttting my white flag up and rang home for help.
The words that soon came back were: "it's in a very dark place on the rear section of the house, it sits very low near the floor and I have already moved it 3 times in the course of searching for it".
Armed with this info, I searched again. But finally put up my 2nd and final white flag up, and told the car dealer I'll send it to him soon. Months past and he didn't come back asking, and we all forgot about it all. One day, while rummaging the cabinet near the dining table, I found it!!! It was indeed in my little backpack, in the side pocket, sat at the bottom compartment of the cabinet! All the info was dead right, but how I didn't find it is still a mystery.
Anyway, yesterday, I had to ask for the same help again and phoned home. This lunchtime, hot at the press, it came back to me as: "it's either in a car or in the toilet. look again" [but he also told me that it could well be in someone else's car. it that case, it was indeed nicked]
So, I'll be rampaging again later this afternoon... at least in those two specific places. + and I've also lost my usb thumb drive... arghhh.
Dalam beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, kumpulan Muslim Scout semakin banyak ditubuhkan di negara ini. Kira-kira dua tahun yang lampau, atok bertemu dengan seorang Scout Leader yang menubuhkan 1st Bristol Muslim Scouts; beliau, seorang Inggeris, pernah tinggal di Msia dan bekerja dengan Proton disamping mempunyai seorang isteri Melayu.
Hari ini, giliran Reading pula untuk mempunyainya. 102nd Reading Muslim Scout Group akan dilancarkan dengan rasminya hari ini oleh Jane Lewis, ketua Scout Association di England. Ahli kumpulan akan mengangkat sumpah dengan nama Allah Subhanahuwataala.
Disamping itu juga, The Muslim Association of Britian buat pertama kalinya melancarkan program Haji bagi Muslim Scouts & Scout Leaders. Kontijen pertama ini akan menunaikan haji pada musim 2006 yang akan datang.
Atok dulu pun scout juga, tapi tak la habis sampai ke Pengakap Di Raja... tinggal sekerat jalan je, sampai form 4 gitu.
At about 3pm yesterday, my Mum buzzed my mobile. She rarely communicates via my mobile unless there's something important. It was indeed. My paternal grandfather has been admitted into HBKB. He's suffering a brain haemorrhage and is in a coma.
At the moment [I called home this morning] he is still supported by a machine. The doctor said, there's very slim chance that he will come out from this....
It was a quiet Saturday without Kakak at home. She has been spending her girlie nights at a friend's place in London since Thursday [it's Easter school holiday over here]. Adik was bored and restless; there was no Kakak to annoyed and cartoons on tv weren't that entertaining. So, I decided to take an afternoon stroll with her along the River Thames; a few steps away from our home.
First I noticed was, there wasn't any bread-thrower as normal at the riverbank.... a clear sign of how nervous we all are of the bird flu/H5N1 that has indeed landed on our shore recently.... And these Queen's swans must be wondering... what's happening to their daily hand-delivered (expired) bread... poor them. As soon as we came to the water edge, they simultaneously swam to us, as they normally do.
Unfortunately, I was concerned too... and left my expired bread at home; not today swans, sorry.
Last Saturday, we had the honour to be visited by a celebrity couple, KT and AG, who came to our neck of the wood... courtesy of their love one who packed them for a young-again weekend at the nearby riverside village of Pangbourne, the home of 'The Wind in the Willows' author. KT mentioned about those jaw-dropping private dwellings along the River Thames at the village; with their immaculate gardens and own moorings. Indeed there are many such abodes along the riverbanks. So, I invited them to explore the Thames closer when the river cruise re-commence (they operate between easter until october). From my place, we could either go upstream towards Pangbourne/Goring, or downstream to Henley. I promise, I'll pack a few 'kelosong' of nasi lemak provided AG bring along some 'khepok leko'.
Nevertheless, when I strolled Adik upstream earlier this afternoon, I managed to take a few snaps of such abodes. Here are some of them:
and I particularly adore this one: It's indeed the newest among these houses. If you notice, there's an orange windsock on the left hand side... simply because the owner, a property developer, commutes with his own small helicopter; a mobile helipad is stationed above the swimming pool on the left, with a little guesthouse in the background.
.... and when the sun started to come down, we headed home, with Adik peacefully fast asleep in her buggy, leaving the swans and ducks to wonder: when will their regular feeders return.
Weekend hari tu, gi ambik kereta from the accident repair centre, dah siap, selepas 2 minggu di situ. Atok tanya dia, berapa the cost, saja nak tahu walaupun insurance yg settlekan. It was £2,942. Apa yg ditukar:-
- bumper depan + belakang, - bonnet, - front grille, - both headlights, - radiator brackets, - ketuk sikit boot floor + tarik chasis; and ntah apa-apa lah lagi.
Semestinya, repair kereta utk insurance ni memang lumayan. Cuma nak kena pandai isi borang, ataupun org kata 'tulis case'. Hari tu, dua-dua headlights tu takde apa-apa pun... tapi now dah dapat a pair of shiny new ones. Anyway, masih berbau cat lagi, kembali ke asal >
atok selalu dengar, ramai org mesia sebut "bonnet depan" dan "bonnet belakang". aiseyman... mana ada 'bonnet belakang' bang oiii. yang kat belakang tu namanya 'boot'; 'bonnet' tu yg kat depan, bawahnya ada enjin. samalah juga pada manusia, mana ada 'bontot depan' dan 'bontot belakang'. cakap je 'bontot' maka dah faham ianya part yg kat belakang tu; yg kat depan tu namanya lain.
tapi kalau di tanah tumpah Enche Dubya pulak, takde 'bonnet' dan takde 'boot'. Yang ada ialah 'hood' dan 'trunk'.
kebanyakan kereta enjinnya di bawah 'bonnet', tapi kereta VW Beetle lama dan Porsche ... enjinnya dalam 'boot'.
kalau kat sini ada 'car-boot sale', mungkin kat mesia ada 'car rear-bonnet sale'. mesia boleh ! :))
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Satu lagi yang baru ialah musim. Sekarang ni dah Spring. Maka bunga-bunga awal spring pun mulalah mekar. Tahun ni spring ni lambat sikit pasal winter tak mahu berlalu. Anyway, ni dia a few shots from my own gardens >
Kakak's 2009 Diary:
>The King & I @ Royal Albert Hall
>The King & I Presscall
>The King & I recall audition II
>BBC Bo The Spirit World audition II
>The King & I recall audition I
>BBC Bo The Spirit World audition
>The King & I audition
>LCB Masterclass Kakak's 2008 Diary:
>LCB Final Audition
>LCB audition
>Lion King Cub School audition
>Scientific Toys photoshoot
>Bicester Village advert casting
>BBC All About Animals photoshoot
>Stagecoach end-of-term show
>Ballet Medal Test '08
>BBC All About Animals casting
>Knorr advert casting
>Zoey 101 magazine photoshoot
>IKEA Commercial casting
>Key Stage 2 SAT Exam
>Royal Academy of Dance Ballet Grade 4 Exam
>Street Dancing 2008
>Nintendo DS casting
>Clarks International photoshoot Kakak's 2007 Diary:
>BBC Girl Talk photoshoots
>Mawi's London Debut
>Hippie-hippie Shake filming
>OMEC Merdeka Ball
>Merdeka Carnival
>LAMDA Exam
>High School Musical Summer Workshop
>'Walking Bus' Campaign photoshoot
>The Golden Compass re-shoot
>Royal Academy of Dance Ballet Grade 3 Exam
>BBC's Girls Talk audition
>Honda F1 car launching
>Northern Lights/Golden Compass filming Kakak's 2006 Diary:
>Northern Lights/Golden Compass filming
>Run, Fat Boy, Run filming
>Young Performers 2006
>Philips: The Simplicity Event 2006
>British Airways advert casting
>Ballet Medal Test/Award 2006
>Aladdin pantomine audition
>Zena Holloway underwater photo shoot
>Royal Ballet audition
>CFC-free inhaler promo photo shoot
>Clarks Shoes International photo shoot
>David Beckham Football Academy casting
>Royal Academy of Dance Ballet Exam Kakak's 2005 Diary:
>The King & I UK Tour
>Fashion Photo Shoot - Covent Garden
>Ballet Medal Test/Award 2005
>Cinderella audition
>GMTV recordings
>Nutcracker 2005
>Cinderalla 2005
Previously employed by
Ridge & Partners LLP, Oxfordshire
Syarikat Pembinaan Anggerik, London site office [contract] for the New MSD/Msia Hall project
And these Queen's swans must be wondering... what's happening to their daily hand-delivered (expired) bread... poor them. As soon as we came to the water edge, they simultaneously swam to us, as they normally do.
.... and when the sun started to come down, we headed home, with Adik peacefully fast asleep in her buggy, leaving the swans and ducks to wonder: when will their regular feeders return.
