Taking a break

I know that I wrote in my previous entry that I don't think I'll be retiring. But that doesn't mean that I can't take a few days off.

And that's exactly what I'll be doing. Beginning tomorrow until the end of the week, I'll be returning to my hometown with my family. It has been quite a while since we went up north, so this will be a good trip, insya-Allah. Hopefully, we can catch up with our family and relatives, and possibly some friends too.

Believe it or not, this is my first break since I joined my current outfit in December 2005!

I don't think I'll be retiring

Today's front page headline in Sunday Star posed a question that has been, more or less, in my head over the past few years. I know that some people say that I am worrying too much because I am only in my early 30s. But whether we like it or not, we have to plan for the future. After all, as the cliched saying goes, time flies.

Consider this. I am not a civil servant, so I don't have any pension benefit. All that I can rely on are my EPF and whatever savings that I may have stashed in various places such as Tabung Haji, ASB, takaful, mutual funds and personal accounts. And suffice to say, with the forecasted purchasing power 30 years down the line, what I can save will not translate into much. Also, don't forget that I have to think about my children's education. That will certainly be expensive in the years to come. At least, I have started saving for that.

Sometimes, when you think about the future, you'll feel that you haven't actually done enough preparation. At the end of the day, I feel that in all probability, I'll continue to work till I draw my last breath.

Road to fame and fortune

Remember when we were in school, and we were asked what we wanted to be when we grow up? How simple things were then. The education system back then was straight forward, and more or less, all of us have an idea which route we want to take to realise our ambitions.

Now, however, things are very much complicated. By complicated, I mean, students today have so many choices and options to choose from. They can choose to do STPM, matriculation, diploma, foundation studies, A-level, twinning programmes, and they can even enrol into courses offered by private institutions.

Apparently, I forgot another option that will make your ambition true and give you fame and fortune. Have a look at the chart below.

I'm not sure whether I want to laugh or cry.

Major makeover

As stated in one of my previous posts, I would give TeropongSkop a makeover. Well, I finally got around to having it done tonight. While the major changes have been completed, there may still be some minor adjustments that require my attention later on, but I'll tackle this from time to time.

In the meantime, I hope that this new look gives a refreshing feel to my regular visitors.

Keep on coming, and I'll keep on blogging!

Twists and turns

A school friend whom I haven't seen since 1991 took the trouble of finding my handphone's number, just to get my advice. I have to hand it to him for being resourceful in getting my number, and it was indeed good to meet him after all these years. But after hearing his story, I honestly didn't know what to say, nor do I have any sound advice to give.

He was married in the late 1990s, then got a divorce, because his wife cheated on him. He has two children from his first marriage, who are looked after by his ex-wife. After the divorce, things became very difficult for him. Fortunately, he was introduced to his current wife, who has managed to make him a much better person. They got married last year, and are expecting their first child soon.

You would think that's the end of the story. But like a twisted plot from a Latin telenovela, the story doesn't end there. My friend has, earlier this year, met a divorcee and fell for her. The feeling was mutual, according to him. But things got complicated soon after, with the lady playing hard to get, and him not willing to give up, and all that.

Anyway, after several weeks of - what I call - soap opera courting, they are finally getting married. But what irked me is the need to tie the knot in Thailand. If everyone is okay with the marriage, why Thailand?

What about the current wife? Apparently, she knows about this as the husband has told her. Of course she was devastated, but I got the impression that she is a strong woman who puts the family first. I can only pray that my friend's family life will get better, and not get more complicated as it already is. I have a nagging headache trying to understand his life story as it is. Really, it's like watching one of those Latin soaps with its unpredictable twists and turns.

Speaking of twists and turns, I got a kick reading this story posted at a friend's blog. I'm not sure whether the story is real or not, but it'd certainly make a good story for Cerekarama.

In any case, this story is a reminder for everyone - myself included - that marriage is not something that can be taken lightly. It takes two to tango. We cannot take each other for granted. We cannot just give and not receive. It is a two-way street. We cannot afford to overlook the other's needs and wants. Because it that happens, only Allah knows what comes next.

And as a blogger friend puts it, don't complicate matters. Perhaps that's the best advice for my school friend, and for us all.

Busy as a bee

What a morning! My maid's room was infested with some 30 bees, probably trying to find a new place for their hive. Yesterday, they came into her room via the window, but she managed to shoo them away. Today, the bees were determined not to leave. This, needless to say, is not good news because I don't want anybody in the household (especially my 2-year old son) to get stung by a bee, what more a swarm of bees.

So, after consulting several people, I was told that the best way to shoo away bees is to use smoke. Essentially, that took up my whole morning. First, trying to get the bees out of the house by burning rags tied at the end of a mop. The bees surely hated the smoke. They got out but there were some stubborn ones as well.

Then, after most of them are out, I had to make sure that there are no holes that they can use to enter again. So, I was busy covering all possible entrance to the room that could be used by the bees while making sure no bees were left in the room. All this took me about 3 hours or so. I only got into the office just after 12 o'clock.

This is perhaps the closest encounter I have had with a swarm of bees. Most definitely, it's not something that I'd like to go through again.

Finally done

It actually took longer than I thought it would. The upgrading process for my other two blogs have finally been completed. Feel free to have a look at the two blogs, i.e. Step By Step and Amir Husaini: Novelis.

With these two blogs' upgrade finally completed, I can theoretically now turn my eyes to upgrading TeropongSkop.

Now, if only I can find the time to do that...

Saturday at Aquaria

I try to make it a point to take my son out to places of interest at least once a month. As blogged last month, we visited the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. This month's trip is to Aquaria at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

This was our first time at Aquaria. All in all, it was a good outing, although personally I imagined Aquaria to be a lot bigger than it actually is. Nonetheless, we had a good time, in particular my son who was excited to see all the marine life on display. More details on the visit at my son's blog.

Something to ponder upon

I saw an interesting poster at a shop in Taman Melawati a couple of nights ago. If my memory doesn't fail me, the following is the content of the poster:

Watch your thoughts, because thought becomes your action;
Watch your actions, because action becomes your habit;
Watch your habit, because habit becomes your character;
Watch your character, because character becomes your destiny.

Interesting point for us all to ponder. Have a nice weekend!

Conversation starter

How do you start a conversation with your spouse, or your family member, or your friend, or a colleague or a total stranger?

Back when I was in the UK, I remember how easy it was to start a conversation even with a total stranger. I remember chatting with elderly people at the bus stop waiting for the bus headed for the campus by just asking about the weather. Incredibly, in the UK, not only can you start a conversation by mentioning the weather, but the conversation about the weather can go on and on. Simply put, the weather is a topic for discussion in the UK.

What about us Malaysians? What gets us into a conversation? Weather would probably be a topic for a chat, especially with the unpredictable weather conditions of late. Politics would also probably be another topic. But I realised that there is another topic that is more popular than the weather and politics to start a conversation in Malaysia, especially in big cities such as Kuala Lumpur.

The topic is the traffic condition. People would talk about it when the traffic is bad. And people would talk about it enthusiastically when they got to work early because there is no heavy traffic!

Getting difficult these days

I find it increasingly difficult for me to blog down my thoughts these days. It's not that I don't have anything to blog, but I find difficulty in finding the time for blogging. I try as much as I could to at least be online, but more often than not, I have to prioritise. Work, as it should be, comes first. Blogging, however much I may enjoy it, is now a luxury.

Return of the stripes

When I blogged "when old is new again," I wasn't just talking about haircuts. After all these years, I notice that men are starting to wear striped shirts again. Personally, I haven't worn a striped shirt in close to a decade. Apparently, stripes are back in fashion.

In any case, I won't be wearing any striped shirts just as yet. Striped shirts still remind me of pyjamas though.

Speaking of pyjamas, check out this Wikipedia entry on the origin of the word. It's quite interesting.

Good things are hard to get

Sorry for the relatively long silence. Things are pretty much hectic at the office, so I've been tied up somewhat to work even after office hours. In any case, this is just a short entry to note down one little observation.

Of late, I begin to realise more and more that good things that you work for are hard to get or come by. When you thought that "the object of your desire" is already near, there'll always be hurdles and challenges to overcome. Overcoming these hurdles and challenges can sometimes be tiring, time-consuming and frustrating. But the catch is, unless and until these hurdles and challenges are overcome, "the object of your desire" will never be in your hands.

That's life for you.

And that's just my little observation.

Upgrading process

As some will probably have noticed, I maintain three different blogs. This blog is my first and main blog where my thoughts on stuff are expressed. My second blog is dedicated to my son, Shaikh Amir Husaini. While my third blog specialises on my creative writing stuff, which are written under the pseudonym, "Amir Husaini" (not to be confused with, but inspired by, my son's name).

I am slowly but surely upgrading all my blogs. I have made some minor changes (for the time being) to this blog. Usual visitors would probably have noticed these changes.

I have given the "Ombak Senja" blog (my third blog) an entirely different look and feel, and the blog has been renamed "Amir Husaini... Novelis" as of yesterday. Currently, I am still fine-tuning the new look of the said blog, and will probably be done in the next few days or so. But all are welcomed to have a look at this new and improved blog.

Insya-Allah, when time permits, I will upgrade the other two blogs as well. I am just starting to get the hang of some of the new tools that Blogger has to offer, and I intend to make full use of them.

So, keep your eyes peeled for some major changes to TeropongSkop in the near future.

731st day

Today, two years ago, Shaikh Amir Husaini was born.

We didn't throw a party or anything like that. We just bought a cake and have a small family treat. My son certainly enjoyed the cake. Coincidentally, today is a public holiday, and that contributed to a very nice quiet family moment.

Happy second birthday, son.