olddog-samesame

The 2008 UPSR results were announcement on the 13 November 2008. My 12 year old daughter was one of the candidates. The atmosphere in the house over the week leading to the announcement had been one of stark contrast. The daughter was sort of laid back and nonchalant about it. There is no sign that she was exited or worried. The wife on the other hand was tense and worried sick. She complained of sleepless nights and the night before the results were announced was a nervous wreck. Technically 5As, 6As or 7As makes little difference. The student still proceeds to Form 1. So the pressure arose more from peer competition among the net-working Hockey Mums. Egos and bragging rights were more at stake than another thing else. Statistics from the previous years Lick Hung School's results indicated that the top 20% of the students would normally obtain 7As. There would be a few exceptions of course if the students occidentally screwed up one of the papers. ML was a consistent top 10 studen

The 3 days 2 night long Diwali weekend was spent in Damai Laut. The drive up along the coastal road took about 4 hours including a wrong turn towards Bagan Datuk instead of Teluk Intan. It must have been at least 10 years the last time we travelled up this route. Small towns and villages and scenery that had somewhat faded from memory slowly became familiar again. It was almost a nostalgic journey. Reached Sitiawan town around 1:30P.M. The wife was craving for a bowl of rice wine mien sein . Enquires with the few locals drew a blank. They claimed there is no stall selling the item. The sun was blazing and we were hot, tired and hungry so we did not persist and settled for some normal fare at the corner Kopitiam. The resort is located some 10km off the old trunk road leading to Pantai Remis and Taiping. The location is superb. Isolated, hidden away in the middle of no where and nestled by the sea with its own stretch of sandy beach and complete with its own 18 holes golf course. The m

Last Wednesday was J Card members’ Day in Jusco, 1 Utama. The wife took a day off and requested my company. With no meeting scheduled for that day, I obliged without realising the grave implications associated with the outing. We arrived at 1 Utama before 9:00AM. The first omen of impending disaster was the chaotic traffic congestion leading to the shopping complex - unthinkable for an early weekday morning. Circumventing the mayhem, we smartly detoured to the basement car park of the adjoining One World Hotel. Emerging from the basement we were in for another shock. The whole of 1 Utama shopping complex was packed to the rafters. One can hardly move in the sea of people. It took a few long minutes for the body and mind to adapt and adjust. There were 2 distinctive categories of shoppers on that day. The majority in the crowd were apparently seasoned shoppers. These veterans were armed to the teeth, with steely determination in their eyes they charged to the targeted aisles piling in

I am back after a 7 month long hiatus. After the high over the March 8 GE, was eagerly waiting for the next political tsunami to sweep over the country. However, the impending storm did not materialize despite the much publicized and repeated warnings. 916 came, went by and had since faded into oblivion. Looks like Plan E or is it Plan F is still brewing in the back burner. 4 November 2008