The Painting For Azini

The painting for my youngest daughter Azini was started at the tail end of my work on the painting for my son Azuan. The first attempt of a three piece job on black and white based on her request didn't turn out well and aborted the job immediately after the first piece.
After communicating with her, she agreed with me to use a bit of color and I introduced crimson red beside black and white into the composition. This piece is considered an abstract piece which is something new to me as this is my first attempt doing an abstract.
Earlier on I had declined a request by Zaitgha of the blog Day In Day Out .... from Seremban. The reason I gave her then was that I wasn't yet an accomplished artist to be able to do an abstract. To me somebody who does an abstract must be accomplished in all categories of painting be it landscape, portrait, figures and what not that are based on realism. On second thought I will never be able to do abstract if I were to adhere to that principle. On that basis I did this piece of abstract for my daughter Azini just to test the waters.
With encouraging response from the eventual owner and a few facebook friends I was confident enough to complete it.
Initially it was a two piece painting but Azini hinted that if would look even better if it were a three piece. I guess she must have plenty of empty wall to cover in her new house in Kerteh.



Some light repair will need to be done to the newest of the three as it seems to be lighter in color.
My next project will be for my eldest daughter Azura as she too wants a piece of my work after seeing the painting for Azini.
My initial sketches for Azura is as per below. I wonder if she will be happy with the scheme.

Life In Amanputra Puchong

This is the third day I am at my eldest daughter's place in Taman Amanputra Puchong. Taman Amanputra used to be the last housing area at the end of the road after the older and bigger Taman Putra Perdana. It used to be pretty quiet with traffic though its actual location is just a mere 7 minutes drive to Putrajaya. Now with the unofficial access to the highway to Putrajaya, the 7 minutes drive is a reality and passing traffic increases by leaps and bounds.
I will be here for a month to nanny my grandchildren while the parents go to work. The duty will be for a month and the plane ticket home on 21st December is already bought so there will be no extension. By then my daughter should be able to resolve her problem.
Of course I miss my home. Life is never the same compared to your own home especially when you get to sleep in your own bed. The softness of the bed and body warmth of the other half is missing. Today some semblance of comfort will be restored when the workmen will replace the malfunctioning air conditioner. The present brand claiming a good life is not really good and my daughter was convinced to buy another brand by a supplier and installer from Taman Putra Perdana. He assured us that he is just a phonecall away should we need his services be it servicing or repairing of all the air conditioner units in the house. How convenient indeed.
I have established a certain routine now after having repaired the folding bike that I gave to my grandchildren. A bike ride to the shop in Putra Perdana to buy whatever is required to prepare lunch for the grandchildren will give me the chance to exercise. Breakfast is already taken care of when my daughter would have bought the breakfast from the nearby stalls. The passing traffic to Putrajaya as opened up opportunities for small time entrepreneurs to sell nasi lemak and what have you for breakfast. Otherwise I will have to prepare the breakfast or buy them at Putra Perdana.
Another routine I am trying to establish is to get the grandchildren to stick to a certain routine where a timetable will be set. They must stick to a certain time to put in some hours to study, time to eat and play. So far everything is let to their own whim and fancy which isn't healthy and develop into a bad habit. I think this is a general problem with children of working parents when they are left under the care of the maids. God willing I may succeed in this short time that I have with them to establish some sense of purpose with the free time that they have during the school holidays.
Making some adjustments to my own life seems to be necessary now that I will be away from home when my own food will be taken care of. Hey it's an opportune time for me to learn how to cook more dishes. Just last night I did prepare a fine dish of siakap masak masam manis which I am quite adept at making lately.

A Coffee Table For My Son's New House

A Coffee Table For My Son's New HouseThe completed table ready to be wrapped and sent to KL.

Azrin with his three children, Irsyad, Ayen and Syakirah

Yanie posing with a friend. The Black Merc belongs to her friend.


It was sometimes in August 2010 that my daughter in law Yanie made a posting in her Facebook that she will be moving into her new home in Subang Alam in Section 27 Shah Alam. I immediately responded by promising to give a coffee table which she could collect when she came back for the last Idulfitri. Unfortunately the table was not ready as the workshop that I commissioned to do was too busy doing other jobs including my own wakaf (gazebo).
It was only today that the final coat of white shellac was sprayed and was ready for collection.
The table top for the coffee table is a special piece of cengal wood measuring 18" x 43" carved with floral motives. This piece of wood is special in that I had purchased it some 20 odd years ago from my uncle in Kuala Lumpur. It was a surplus piece from those used to decorate the walls of the traditional houses in Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Shah Alam. I remember paying my uncle some RM300 for that piece with a few other items made from wood. The piece had been in my keep without knowing when it will ever be used. So when we moved back from our previous home in Gua Musang, that piece of wood carving came along. Though I have never found a proper use for it, it was never the less safely tucked away in a corner. Our own furniture of mainly Indonesian Jati did not seem to allow for this gem to fit in anywhere.
The beautiful carving with a floral motif.

That was until my son bought his new house that there was space enough for a coffee table which I offered him for via Yanie's facebook posting. There was a snag though. He had ordered his new furniture in white even though they were made of Cengal, the king of Malaysian wood. He wanted furniture made of wood that will last but of white color. To me painting wood is against the spirit of wood especially when they are made of cengal whereby all the grain in the wood will be obscured.

In the case of the coffee table, I had to compromise. The body of the table will be painted with white shellac, while the table top with the floral carving will be stained with wood oil and covered with a piece of 8 mm glass. Thus the carving will remain the color of the wood with the spirit of wood intact.
The table will be delivered to my son's home when I next visit them after Yanie has delivered my ninth grandson in January 2011.
Today is Azrin's birthday. Happy birthday son.

It Is Tough Job Doing A Woman's Job

Take it from me it is a tough job. How do I know? I just did it for two weeks recently when I had to take care of my 3 months old grandson Adam Hakimi. Adam's mum Ijjah had to attend a compulsory 2 weeks induction course when she missed doing it earlier when she was in her late stage of pregnancy when she was carrying Adam.
His dad had to work as he had almost utilized most of his annual leave. But he will be around to help me look after Adam during the night when he is back from work. I also had the option to send Adam to his day minder in the nearby housing area of Shah Alam but the prospect of having to bundle Adam in the car to take him to the minder was too cumbersome.
The day's chore start from 5 AM or thereabout when Adam wakes up after soiling his diapers. The diaper had to be changed otherwise Adam will feel uncomfortable. After washing him up and a new change of diaper, a small bottle of milk will put him back to sleep. The problem was Adam was not fully weaned off his mother's milk and put on powdered milk. Thought he wasn't breastfed all the time, he was fed with his mother's milk which was kept in the fridge after being expressed. Adam had yet to acquire the taste of powdered milk and never suck with gusto whenever he was fed with it. It is always a game trying to get him to suckle the whole 5 oz of milk per feed. Sometimes he would even throw them up.
Should he go to sleep, I would use the available time to wash up the used bottles before sterilizing them using the recently bought sterilizer. Prior to this sterilization was done by immersing the bottles an nipples in freshly boiled water which I disagree as it was inadequate. So we bought the sterilizer from Kedai Annakku at the Giant Supermarket closeby. I was hoping to buy the smaller sterilizer which could be put into the Microwave oven and heated up. They didn't have the stock and had only this stand alone sterilizer which cost my son almost RM200. Anyway it was money well spent as the unit could sterilize 9 bottles plus all the peripherals in one go. Luckily they had received ample number of quality feeding bottles as gift so 9 bottles were available for use thus reducing the need for frequent sterilization.
While the sterilizer is doing it's work I will do my Subuh prayers. There is no need to shut off the sterilizer unit as it will automatically shut itself off.
Next on my job will be to prepare breakfast for myself as my son Azuan will have breakfast at the office. My breakfast was a simple one as I kept ample stock of bread or cereals handy. Then only will I handwash Adam's clothes which did not really require much scrubbing, followed by my own clothes which needed abit more use of the muscles. They will all be put to dry in the shade of the corridor.
Adam will usually wake up around 9 AM having wetted his diapers and perhaps soiled it too with his poo. It is time to bathe him. A small tub of warm water will be prepared and when the temperature is right, Adam really enjoyed his bath. By the way do you know how to check the water temperature in the baby's tub? Many parents including mums do not know. We use the elbow to test the water temperature so that it will never be too warm for the baby. Why the elbow and not the fingers? Try both methods and you will know the reason.
After drying Adam with his own towels, he will be rubbed with baby's oil, followed by baby's powder. A dash of Amway's baby liniment will be applied to the stomach, back, behind the ankle and soles of the feet will ensure that he will not suffer from bloat. He will be given another feed after being dressed up in fresh clothes. Adam will have another siesta and it is during this time that I will cook lunch.
Since young I was brought up with ikan singgang as 'lauk'. The ikan singgang will be heated up daily to prevent it from going bad however long you keep it. I guess the asam keping, salt, galanggal and gula Melaka in place of MSG are great preservative and the dish not only will last but also acquire a better taste. The ikan singgang can later be fried to give it a most exquisite taste. Only those who have lived on such food can tell or relate to the heavenly taste of fried ikan singgang. Make sure that not much of the gravy is left on the fish otherwise it will result in the popping of the hot frying oil from the kuali.
Should Adam feel comfortable enough and sleep longer, I will use the opportunity to paint.
When the sun is setting down and the evening heat is bearable, I will take Adam down in the pram to the ground floor from the 13th floor where we lived. Adam seemed to loved the outdoor as much and will often go to sleep at the end of the walk.
Dinner will be a simple affair too. Sometimes my son will bring home food for me eliminating the need to have dinner on ikan singgang all the time. It will now be his turn to look after his baby. I can have my rest.
So that was how I survived daily.
Midway through the stay, Adam developed nappy rash. Raw flesh was detected on his bottom. I had never experienced this before with any of my children or grandchildren. He seemed to be defecating too often too which worries me to no end. Could he be having diarhoea? It was time to take him to the clinic. When Azuan returned from work, we took Adam to a clinic somewhere in Shah Alam. A lady doctor by the name of Dr. Indra was on duty. We told her that the baby was suffering from rash and she confirmed it was nappy rash and will be giving the medication for it. The next problem of the suspected diarrhea was a bit hilarious. Dr. Indra wanted to know the frequency of the baby's daily poo and the color of the stool. Since Azuan had been leaving that part of the duty to clean his baby up to me, Azuan looked up to me for answers. When I tried to answer, Dr. Indra wanted the dad to answer as she thought he was the one looking after the baby. When told that I was the one doing it, she started questioning about the where about of Adam's mother and since the mother was not available, where is the grandmother?
Dr. Indra shook her head in disbelief after getting the answer that only the grandfather is avaialble to look after Adam as the mother and grandmother were teachers and couldn't get away from work.
As to the color of the stool, I did bring along a sample in the form of a soiled diaper for the doctor to see. It wasn't necessary as at that very moment Adam did pushed some fecal out with a small grunt. When a nurse took over Adam from his father, she couldn't help noticing and making a remark that Adam's booties didn't match.
The doctor couldn't confirm as to whether Adam was having diarhoea or not and asked us to bring him again if the frequency of stooling was too often. She must have been out of touch with babies as she couldn't tell how many times is too many times.
Anyway since Adam wasn't feeling uncomfortable with the frequent stooling, we didn't bring him back to the clinic and took them as normal.
On another occasion, Adam was having nasal congestion. His discomfort was partly eased by the application of Vicks Vapour Up which eased his discomfort somewhat only to recur after the effect wore off. It was during such times that we our self had to suffer the stress of not having enough rest and sleep.
However happy I was at having my grandson to look after, I was even happier when his mum returned from her course and I did not have to look after him more than the agreed two weeks. During that two weeks I lost 4 kg of weight. A good enough reward for me.
Doing a woman's job is indeed tough job. Just imagine if you have to conceive as well and carry the baby for 9 months!

Blogging From Shah Alam

Many things happened since I came to Shah Alam on Wednesday 14th October. That day itself was my 59th birthday. My wife Fatthiyah celebrated it a day earlier and had a nice dinner on a floating restaurant by the name of Cerana at a place called Pengkalan Datu in Bachok Kelantan. It was really quite a romantic dinner. I should be doing it more often and I like the seafood served there. Though the place is in Bachok, it is much nearer to Kota Bharu.
Azrin picked me up at KL LCCT and he sent me to my other son's place in Shah Alam where I will be taking care of Adam Hakimi. Azrin and family was on his way back to his in law's place in Taiping. Anyway I wanted very much to view the semi D house that Azrin wanted to buy at Subang Alam. Since it was along the way to Shah Alam from Enstek Labu, it was quite convenient to stop and view and perhaps give an idea on whether the place is really worth the lifetime of repayment that he will have to endure.
Subang Alam is a new housing area being carved out of a former oil palm plantation. The developer had maintained the undulating landscape and not resort to flattening of the whole area as is sometimes the case. It was tastefully done befitting a medium end living. Houses in this twenty acres of low density housing area cost anything upward of RM800K.

The signboard infront of the sale office and the show house.

The house that Azrin is buying is the one in the middle.

The proud new owner to be.

Azrin was lucky in the sence he gets to buy a house in the almost completed phase. What happened was the original buyer didn't manage to secure the loan to buy the house and the sales manager of the project offered Azrin to buy the house instead of waiting for the completion of the houses in the next phase which is yet to be constructed. Even as it is the house is expected to be handed the CF sometimes in May next year.

Azrin had a bad experience before this when he bought a house in Bukit Jelutong where the previous state government had carved a section of the forested land adjacent to Bukit Cherakah and alloted the land to developers who had no license whatsoever to d0 a housing development. Things went haywire after the change of the state government and the development of the area came to a complete stop after only the earthwork was done. Even the individual land titles were yet to be obtained and yet the bank which approved Azrin's RM320K loan had disbursed RM200K. When Azrin didn't service the loan, the bank recalled the loan and asked Azrin to settle something about RM700K. Some Islamic loan! Later Azrin engaged the services of a lawyer and the bank meekly agreed to settle for just the amount disbursed plus the overdue interest and the total sum came to about RM240K with Azrin calling the shot on how much initial payment and monthly payment to be paid back. It seemed the bank had disbursed the money without adhering to the proper procedures. They were lucky as the matter was not reported to Bank Negara and were happy to get their money back. Azrin was lucky as his nightmare at last came to an end and not had to pay the RM700K as demanded. Hopefully he will recoup his money when the land title is obtained and the land sold. Now all potential borrowers just beware some Islamic loans offered by some banks could be worse than the non Islamic ones.

My first night in Shah Alam was a relaxed one as Azuan's wife Ijjah was still around.

The next morning we sent Ijjah to the place where chartered busses were waiting to send Ijjah and her colleagues to attend the induction course at Pangkor Island.

Immediatley after that Azuan took me to Sunway to buy some art materials especially canvass as I didn't bring any from home. There were all sort of sizes and grades. It was really fun buying art materials in KL. I bought various canvass sizes from 12" x 12" to 24" x 30". If they would accept credit cards, I would have bought even more as I didn't have much cash on me.

That Thursday evening my wife Fatthiyah flew in and Azuan picked her up at LCCT while I waited at home in Shah Alam. She will be here till Sunday and will fly back to Kelantan on the first flight on Monday. So for that few days I have an assistant to take care of Adam.

The next day Dalilah Tamrin aka Raden Galoh of One Breast Bouncing came with her husband Saiful to pick up her two paintings. We were very happy to play host to them. They couldn't stay too long as the time given to them to park their car at the taxi pickup point was just half an hour and when the half hour was consumed, the securities called on the intercom to remind us that our guest must leave. Parking is a big problem at this apartment and the securities are too happy to clamp your car should you breach any of the rules as it will mean a fine of RM50 to declamp. I guess it is time to sell this apartment and get my son to buy another better place to live.

Later that night we had Kerp of Let's Go Land came with his pretty fiancee. They will be getting married come March and Kerp invited me over for the reception. Kerp gave me an Italian cap knowing that I collect them.

Being wheelchair bound, the security people allowed Kerp to park his car near the entrance to the apartment. It was kind of thoughtful of them to have a soft spot for such disabled people. So Kerp and partner could stay longer at our place to chat.

The next day was a Saturday. The area near the Shah Alam Stadium had a carnival in the form of Sua Rasa being organized by TV9 and Celcom. Non of our family member bothered to go even though we could hear all the fanfare happening there.

From the balcony of the apartment we could see the goings on at the carnival. Even the singing was heard loud and clear.

When the helicopter hovered to take an aerial shot, I took a shot at it (with my camera of course).

When our two other children Azura and Azrin came with their families, they started litting up the candles on a cake to celebrate my birthday. The grandchildren cried "Wow! So many candles" My children gave me a set of leather belt and wallet as my birthday present.
The grandchildren were eager to blow out the candles and they did just that before going back to their PS2 games which Irsyad had just acquired using his duit Raya to pay part of the cost. They didn't even bother to eat the cake though it was bought from Secret Recipe. Well even the elders didn't eat up much.

The grandchildren just enjoyed singing the birthday song and blowing out the candles, after that it was the PS2 games for them.

After all that was done we crammed into Azrin's SUV and headed for Pantai Dalam for an Open house at Su's flat. Su is a close friend of my daughter Azura. After parking the car it rained heavily and we had to take shelter at the police's block of flats.

I can't resist taking the picture of five of my grandchildren sitting on a bench. Right across the road there was an Indian Resotoran with this peculiar sounding name. Hopefully somebody may not mispronounce it's name.

When the rain subsided, we walked over to Su's flat to enjoy the food served at the hallway of the flat which was abit cramped with the number of guests. Under the circumstances city flat dwellers will have to make do with whatever is available when you are 10 storeys above the ground.

Su in lighter shirt with my Azrin's wife Yanie in black T shirt.

While on the way to Su's flat, we noticed the beautiful murals on the walls of the flat starting from the lift. This is the work of one of the flat dwellers to cheer up the mood of the dwellers on that floor. With that kind of murals, vandals are deterred from defacing the walls with grafiti. The guy who did it must be a formidable artist.

Fatthiyah had her photograph taken with Azura, Lis, As and Irsyad with one of the beautiful murals in the back ground.

We returned to Shah Alam.

It was Saturday night and we were invited to yet another Raya open house at En. Termizi aka Pak Abu and his wife Puteri Kamaliah of the famous blog Kata Kama. The family lives at the Sri TTDI condo in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail not far from Shah Alam. We were abit late and the parking area was already full of cars. Since the function was held at the poolside area, it was easy to locate the place at it was immediately at the entrance to the condo.

Though this is my first meeting with Puteri and Pak Abu, they were such gracious host that we felt so welcome.

The family with Puteri Kamaliah.

Yours truly with Pak Abu in the dark red baju Melayu.

Kay Leeda of the blog Sembang At Kay's was the other blogger at the function. The others who had confirmed attendance such as Raden Galoh, Elviza and Jaflam were unable to do so due to reasons of their own. Elviza was having a Deepavali dinner with a client, Raden may not be feeling well and when I called Dato' Jaffar, he was having a sore throat.

Another picture of the guests at Puteri Kamaliah's open house.

Sunday morning in Shah Alam means Pasar Pagi near the Stadium Shah Alam. This Sunday's Pasar Pagi will be more meaningful and crowded as it is also the second day of Sua Rasa. Fatthiyah wanted to go to the Giant Supermarket next to the Pasar Pagi so we drove over and parked almost near the supermaket. As usual the pasar pagi was crowded with the added attraction of Sua Rasa. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The police showing their more powerful new cars, the Mitsubishi Evos. Hopefully they will be fat enough to catch the many snatch thefts that are occurring almost daily all over the country.
TV9 staff cajoling the crowd to join them for the poco poco dance. Many did and they seemed to enjoy themselves while having an excercise.

The power gliders hovering over the area.

A baby fast asleep while the mum was busy selling her wares.

That eveing we sent Fatthiyah to Enstek Labu. She will be catching the first flight back to Kelantan at LCCT on Mondayand had to be at the airport by 6.45 am the latest. Sleeping over at Azrin's place will be the best way to get her to the airport on time as it is a mere 15 minutes drive away.

While in Shah Alam, I did find time to paint. This is only possible when Adam Hakimi was having his sleep.

The first painting I did was of the white tulips for a friend's wife in Johor Baru follwed by the Flowers of Sanserveria. The second painting is on a 20" x 30" canvass and not meant for anybody yet. Any takers for this painting?

The painting of an autumn scene on the top of this post is a small painting of 12" x 18". It was done in preparation for a painting for Kak Teh of a Choc A Blog fame who promises to send the latest autumn picture of London showing all the golden hues imaginable.

Nannying Duty In Shah Alam

Adam with his mum Ijjah.

Pak Zawi will be out of action from the 14th - 30th October 2009. It may not be totally out as I will still have the internet access since I will be staying at my son's place in Brunsfield Service Apartment in Section 13 Shah Alam. The action meant is from painting and gardening. They maybe slightly hampered and of course the gardening will be totally out.

The two weeks in Shah Alam will be spent looking after my 8th grandson Adam Hakimi, my son Azuan's first child. The reason is that his mum will be away for the duration to attend an induction course in Pangkor, Perak.

Pak Zawi being a pensioner, is the only person available for duty will do the job just like what Pak Zawi did for Balkis in Labuan when when her mum had to rejoin college full time. Only difference this time is Adam will be only 3 months old compared to Balkis being 4 months old.

Over the years of helping my sister with her first child and helping my own wife with our children, Pak Zawi has became adept at handling babies. So don't worry about whether Pak Zawi can handle the job of feeding, bathing and changing the nappies. Pak Zawi is an old hand at it.

While Pak Zawi is around KL, Pak Zawi would like to meet up with blogger friends who could make time to visit Pak Zawi in Shah Alam. Just give Pak Zawi a call at 0199125647 and Pak Zawi will come down to the lobby of Brunsfield Service Apartment (not far from Shah Alam Stadium) to meet up.

The Sunday morning market at Stadium Shah Alam is the best place to do your purchase of your kitchen's need. We could also meet up there for breakfast.

In a way Pak Zawi is happy to be going to Shah Alam because it will provide Pak Zawi with an opportunity to meet up with some blogger friends. On the other hand Pak Zawi feels sad to leave the other half all alone by herself which Pak Zawi had been doing for several years before retirement while working away from home. Leaving the small patch of the recently started vegetable gardening is unbearable too. As to painting, Pak Zawi will try to find time when Adam takes his sleep or simply paint beside him while he is resting in his crib or in his pram at the apartment's playing area. Of course Pak Zawi will be free when Adam's dad take over the nannying duty and he is not working.

OK my friends, lets meet. Pak Zawi promise you a cup of tea at least.

Labuan Revisited - Part 1

I was shocked when I found out that AirAsia had retimed our flight to KL from the earlier 1500 hrs to 1600 hrs. As I had another flight to catch to Labuan at 1800 hrs, the time gap of an hour was too short to enable me to collect my baggage to be checked in again for the onward flight to Labuan even though I was already within the terminal. AirAsia doesn't provide direct check in of your baggages to your final destination.
Their staff assured us that AirAsia will put us on the next day's flight to Labuan at no cost should we miss today's flight since it was their fault. They will not pay for lodging though. With that assurance I called up my son Azrin to wait for us at the LCCT incase we may have to put up the night at his place. Hey what happens if I dont have a son living near the LCCT and I have to stay overnight for the next day's flight?

Tok Ma spending the last few moments with Balqis at KB Airport. Tok Ma wont be flying with us to Labuan.

The paternal grandparents and their daughter was at the airport to send Balqis off too.

We touched down at KL LCCT around 5.00 PM and we rushed on to the terminal with Azini carrying Balqis in her arms while I carried the few bags that we couldn't check in due to excess baggage. AirAsia allow us to carry just 30 kg for the two of us and we will have to pay any excess. At the baggage carousel, I picked up Balqis and exited the arrival hall to go to the check in counter at the other end of the building. Azini was left to collect the baggage. Luckily Azrin and Yani was waiting at the exit of the arrival hall as I could hand over Balqis to her and made my way with Azrin and son Irsyad to counter 51 for the check in to Labuan.
After explaining my predicament, the lady at the check in counter cooly accepted my check in and agreed to wait for my baggage to arrive. I have this feeling that her relaxed attitude with the flight due to depart with less than 30 minutes to spare could translate into another delayed flight. I don't care much if it was delayed as long as I can get on the flight.
True to my earlier hunch, the flight was delayed by half an hour, not as bad as the earlier delay in Kota Bharu. Now they have come up with an 'On Time Guarantee' whereby if you experience a delay of more than 3 hours and they fail to inform you in advance, they will compensate you with RM300. Don't get too excited about it as there are clauses that will ensure that it wont be that easy to benefit from it.

Azrin and his whole family was there to meet us. If the flight was not delayed from KB, we could have spent more time with them.

With the new Airbus 320, the journey on both sectors were super smooth. I had ordered online a meal of nasi lemak when buying my flight ticket on the KUL-LBU-KUL sectors. Lucky thing as I found myself so hungry and the quite tasty nasi lemak with al the usual condiments and a piece of 'curry chicken' was to my taste. Azini didn't want any even though I offered to buy another meal for her. I guess she prefered to wait and have dinner with her husband in Labuan.

I bet Balqis was the only passenger who glanced through all the safety procedures as written on the phamplet available in the back pockets of the seat infront of you.

We touched down at the new Labuan Airport at about 8.40 PM and there waiting for us was my son in law Lokman. Balqis was wheeled out in her pram and Lokman took Balqis from me at the door to the arrival hall. I tried to go back to the arrival hall to help Azini collect our baggage but was not allowed by the female security personnel who was guarding the entrance when I couldnt produce my boarding pass. After a short while Azini came out with the baggage. We drove back to their flat at Taman Mutiara, Bedaun, Labuan, Malaysia.
This airport is a new airport as I remember the old airport was much smaller when I was last here some ten years ago.
It was night and I couldn't see much of Labuan.
The next day my SIL and Azini were busy cleaning up the house. The house must be made such that anything within reach of Balqis must be stashed somewhere safer. Though she has yet to walk, she could stand up by holding on to chairs or table and just pull everything down.
Azini had to prepare to get back to college in Keningau for another 2 weeks of classes.
We left Taman Mutiara at 2.30 PM to send Azini to the International Ferry Terminal. This terminal serves the passengers going to all destinations such as Brunei, Kota Kinabalu and Menumbuk. Azini's destination was Menumbuk and the fare was RM15 by small ferries with outboard motors. Each boat will only carry 12 passengers. Anything more than that number is ilegall but up to sixteen passengers has been known to be carried by such boats.
Fares and timetables can be collected at the ticketing office. One thing special about this terminal is the announcement of arrivals and departures of ferries just like the way they do at the airport. Even final calls were made to passengers who had bought tickets but have yet to board the ferries.

The view of the International Ferry Terminal in Labuan.

At the exit of the ferry arrival hall there is displayed the places of interest in Labuan. How convenient.

After Azini had boarded the ferry we left the terminal. Lokman took me around the island and I was so excited when I saw so many places that I can come back and do some photo shoot. I wonder if I can find enough time to visit them all.Of special interest will be the birdpark, the chimney, the tunnel, peace memorial etc.

We stopped to have the best satay on the island at a place called Layang Layangan. I would choose their satay anytime over the current fare they are serving in Kajang. Their beef satey is far superior in taste. A whole young coconut will be served with the satay and the satay cost an affordable 50 sen a stick and no fat or skin will be put in between the meat as is often done in Kelantan.

Lokman and Balqis waiting for our order to come.


A whole cocnut is served with no ice or sugar added.

We had a nice view of the beach at low tide.

On the way back to Taman Mutiara we came across this sunset and I told Lokman to stop the car to enable me to take this luxuriant color of the sky over Labuan.

Glorious sunset. I must let Akmal fiddle around with the above photo using photoshp and let us see what he can come up with.

I waited again today for another display of colors in the sky but God created the special show to be on only on that particular Sunday evening. Who knows when the next show will be on.
My daily routine beside nannying Balqis to surf the net whenever I have the chance. If she is not asleep I will have to compete with her for the use of the laptop. She is really adept with the note book and will know which button to hit in order to alter the image on the screen. A good hit with her plam never fails to bring the result.

Balqis taking her turn at using the laptop.

Those are the account of my arrival and the first few days in Labuan. I must explore the rest of the island when I have the chance.

Balqis

Remember my grand daughter Balqis who was featured in my A Bundle of Joy and later in When Will I See You Again? Well she came back some six months ago as her her mum Azini was enrolled for a Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah. Her mum who has a degree in Machanical Engineering chose to be a teacher and hence she had to undergo a one year teacher training course at a college in Keningau Sabah. Balqis's father works in Labuan some 5 hours of driving and ferry ride from Keningau.
To solve matter it was agreed that Balqis be taken care of by us in Kelantan for six months untill Azini starts her practical training hopefully in Labuan which should be near to her home. As desired she got the permission to do the practical in Labuan. So now she is back home in Pasir Mas to take Balqis to her home in Labuan. The flight home will be tomorrow morning. I will be going along with them to look after Balqis while her mum attends another two weeks of class in Keningau. Doting grandma will have to stay home as she still has to teach at school.


The doting grandma has to stay back.

The period when she was under our care was such a joy that the six months seem to fly off in no time. Since my wife teaches in the morning till afternoon, Balqis was left completely under my care. Many neighbours were askance on how I manage to take care of such a baby all on my own. With Balqis being the seventh grandchildren, I more or less had six experiences with babies before her.

Balqis started to learn how to crawl and went to every nook and corner of the house to explore the new world.

When the cousins Lis and As came back for her mum's delivery of baby Aqil, they enjoyed the morning walk around the village.

Balqis started early in life on learning to play with the keyboards. Hopefuly she will have a head start in IT.

Riding the bicyle with me was her favourite activity too.


She finishes her six oz of milk in no time.

That bad habit of suckling the toe was stopped by constant reprimand from us.

Of course she enjoyed shopping at the newly opened Tesco store in KB.

She is in a happy mood.

Being pretty heavy I had to use the 'kain batik lepas' to carry her around. The baby carrier bought for her earlier was too small for her. This was the way I saw my father carried my brother around when he was small.

Balqis is comfortable with anybody. Now she is with auntie Farizat who came to visit her auntie Azura who was recuperating from the big C.

For more pictures of Balqis, see them here as seen from the eyes of Akmal via the lens of my Sony Alpha 350. This is one of them.
More of her pictures here.

She has been seperated from her parents for so long, it is now time for her to return to them. I will miss her again soon.