Focus shift...

Yup, focus has shifted momentarily to my ole junk. And yup, dat's my car! Need to take care of it well cos that practically are my legs....oops...my wheels...hehe...

Abt a week or so ago, me did a general service of the car. The engine oil & oil filter were replaced with new ones. An engine protector & performance enhancement additive, Bardahl 1, was added. The air filter was replaced, too. The OCT (Oil Catch Tank) that me added some time back was re-routed for better access & the fuel filter used was replaced.

On further inspection, the mess at the positive terminal of the battery appeared to need some sense of order. So a special fused Distribution Box was purchased & installed. Now all additionally-installed accessories (spotlights, horn, upgraded headlights) drawing power from the battery, are receiving their power source from the new DB. Neat now, huh?

After installing the Amplifier, it was felt that to complement the system, a more compatible Voltage Stabilizer was appropriate. The old one, a Zaptor Silver, was for a std car with no ICE. ICE, by the way, stands for In-Car Entertainment. And now, that my car has a minimal ICE system, it makes sense that the enhanced model, the Zaptor Gold, should be next in line.

An order was placed on Thurs 25 Oct. Payment (RM100 incl Poslaju charges) was made via electronic fund transfer. Confirmed on 26th and received on 27th. Also installed on 27th afternoon. Here it is...

All these are small but affordable mods. And, besides improving the overall appearance, functions of the car, they have also made noticeable differences in our radio & music listening pleasure when on the move. In our car, of course!

Now...I wonder what I should do next...

To complement this entry, retirees of former SMKH staff & friends held their Annual Dinner 2007 @ Crystal Phoenix Restaurant on Fri 26th Oct. A great time was had for one & all to meet, update & compare notes on the past year's events. Many new faces were seen for the 1st time. A lucky draw was also held. Sponsors for drinks, gifts & prizes were aplenty. No one went home empty-handed. A couple of pics to share...esp of new faces. Part of the 6 tables present...a great re-union...

Have a great new year, my friends! Till we meet again...

Now, if this gets stolen....

Remember my earlier post abt our metal drain cover in our driveway being stolen? Yup, a re-ordered replacement finally came this morning (25th Oct)! Order finalised on last Sat...total cost including fitting came to Rm150.

The replacement grating consists of a 2-inch angled-iron/steel frame c/w a hinged piece with bars. This time around, it is held in place by 14 expansion nails! Now if that does not deter theft, there is no more hope...maybe except to fill up that hole with concrete!!

The new drain cover...

The unfortunate part is (as expected of workers these days) that, in the process of drilling the holes & hammering in the expansion nails, 4 of the surrounding tiles were cracked!! And poor ole me had to "mend" the cracks...me used epoxy resin to fill them up. Sincerely hope that will last...

Frankly me dunno whether to attribute such occurences to our so-nicknamed "Tan family luck" or what. "What is that?", you may wonder. To cut a long story short, it is that each & everytime me do or buy something new, the event never ends without any problems or inconveniences. Something somehow will go wrong...somewhere...

Now, does that happen to everybody else? Or is it only in the Tan family...? You tell me.

Home Sweet Home...

Yup...it's Home Sweet Home time...hehe...

As ppl always say...no matter how far a bird flies from its nest, it has to finally return to it.

Yup, me back from Genting Highlands. Back from daughter's place. Back from attending a wake. Back from visit to my son's place. Home Sweet Home it is...

Like a wounded soldier, me also brought back a few "scars"....

Me accidentally stepped into a gap in the grating of a drain at the car park area at First World Hotel at Genting Highlands. Scraped parts of the skin of my upper thigh. What you see is after 8 days of healing...Thank God it was not worse...

Now for happier thoughts & memories. A happy, smiley KL greeting us at Lot 43, Taiping.Our 3D2N stay at First World Hotel up in Genting was memorable. Attended presentation of "Fly" at the Pavillion on our 1st night. The place has really transformed beyond my wildest imagination...from what me remembered in the 80s! Like all good times, this holiday had to end. We came down the hill on 18th Oct. A few pics to bring back memories...Above left: "Small Big Boss" - our KL while waiting for lunch @Tapah...on way to Genting Highlands. Pic on right : View of the outdoor Theme Park @ Genting Highlands.

Next stop was IKEA @ Mutiara Damansara. Bought a few useful items. Including this...for my comp. room. A magnetic display board.
Had a sushi dinner at Jaya Jusco, Ipoh. Tks, MDEL! And then it was all the way back to Lot 43, Taiping. Celebrated my "26"th Bday the very next day! In Lot 43. Above: Me cutting bday cake, specially ordered by my daughter...my fav flavour somemore. My SIL also gave me an Audio Amplifier. Tks a meg 2all...me had a truly great Bday this year!

However, the next day, Sat 20th Oct, brought along some sad news. My son's FIL had passed away. As I had not fully recovered from my recent flu attack, I thought it best to wait a few days so that I could recover well enuf b4 exposing others to my "strong" germs! Our sincere & heartfelt condolences to the family...

In the meantime me had the car audio amplifier installed in my ole junk. As it turned out, that amp made a very great difference to our listening pleasure. All past fallacies of an amp went flying out of the window! Anyone who has nvr installed an amp should get one installed asap! One nvr knows what one has missed until one has it...

On left: The Car Audio 2-Channel Amp unit installed under the front passenger seat.

Next we made a special trip to Pg to attend the wake of my son's FIL on Mon. 22 Oct. Had lunch with both our grandkids & spent some value time with them & my son. Tks, MDEJ!

Visited our fav niece later. Spent a few hrs there. Had a cosy dinner of tasty home-cooked food and b4 we knew it, it was time to make the trip back home to AS, enjoying wonderful sounds on the way...courtesy of my enhanced music system.

That was truly a very eventful week.

Genting...Here I come....

Yup, the holiday spirit is strong! 1 more day. 2moro me & my other half will be leaving for Taiping...1st stop b4 we go to Genting Highlands for a 3D2N holiday, courtesy of my daughter. A Bday present of a different kind this time around.

We'll be staying in the First World Hotel from 16th-18th Oct. No planned itinerary. Going with the flow...hehe...Hopefully, me got some good shots to post when back home.

Until then, wish me Happy Holidays & will see yu all back in here soon...

ps. My last trip up to Genting Highlands was way back in 1988...if my memory can be trusted. And that's a mighty long, long while ago...

A gathering of friends...

An event today brought a great ending to my week. Yup...doing what is & will always be a great way to pass time. Having a meal with friends. It's lunch at a sp place. The Orkid Tropika Cafe in Taman Setia Jaya, off Jalan Langgar. Famous for its Fish Head Curry.

And, imagine my surprise when the Fish Head Curry dish came. See for yourself in pic below. Original size is much bigger. What you see now is after a few "attack" rounds...hehe...

To see what it was when first served, here's a cropped image of it :

Thanks to Mr & Mrs LCP for their kind invite. A great time with "old" friends. Lots of interesting anecdotes and what-have-you that find their way into such a cordial gathering. Time really passed quickly when one is having fun... :( And b4 we knew it, it was time to go our separate ways again. Me & my other half left with good feelings that somehow good friends are forever...like what we used to pen at the end of our letters to our friends? Rber...FRANCE?

More pics to share :

It was truly a lunch to remember. Thanks, my friends, for making our day & end to the week so different! TC always...& CU all around...soon.

Desperate ppl...

The words "Never say it'd never happen to me... " have been ringing in my ears since yesterday (101007) afternoon...

I have noticed missing metal drain covers...along roads, outside houses. Even read abt them in news items in local papers. Never knew it'd happen right in front of me...in my own home!!

Yup. It happened. My own drain cover. Just outside my dwelling's outer gate, covering the main external drain in the driveway. Stolen!! In broad daylight!

Pic above shows the hole left by the missing drain cover. Now temporarily covered by a pc of plywood that me sawed to fit the hole. Safety first. Don't want anyone to accidently step into the gaping hole and be hurt.

Back to the issue at hand. Feel all this is being encouraged by scrap metal dealers/buyers. Feel also that those dealers also know that anyone who brings in such items to sell, most probably had stolen them! And yet they buy from them! Is $$$ really everything these days? No ethics? No self-respect? Not even a care abt the consequences? Feel if there is no buyer, there'll be no seller. Probably also a case of "Demand & Supply "? Last but not least, poor enforcement? And consequently NO such thefts...

Whatever & however this country is turning into, as an ordinary citizen, me have not many choices open. Best is NOT to use any easily removable items that might be attractive to such thieves. So me have decided to "plug up" that hole with concrete/cement! One less target...

So, all you ppl out there....If you do have such metal drain covers or similar, do bolt them down for security. Minimum. At least a deterent. Best action, however, would be NOT to keep them. Do like what me planned to do...plug up that "useless" hole!!

A New Day...A New Mall...

Rber the complimentary tickets courtesy of my daughter? Yup, White Noise 2 - The Light was the movie. The place? Sunway Carnival Mall in Prai. The day was yesterday...081007.

My other half & me set off after breaky. As we were early, a small detour was made. Spent abt an hour at Carrfour, Prai. Just on the opposite side. Had lunch at Sunway Carnival. At the Kopitiam. Not bad. Checked out the shoplots & Parkson after lunch. Movie was at 3.10pm. Lots better than White Noise 1... Giant Hypermarket was our next "target". Left Sunway at abt 6pm. Below...a view of the escalator area outside one of Parkson's entrances.

Going back a few days. During 1 of our "regular" visits to AS Mall, this turned out to be an attraction that day! Announced on the PA system as the "Tallest Man in the world". A couple of pics here me took of him. Below, on left, shows him towering above everyone else...

Above right is close-up of him alone on his stool. Does he look like he's wearing stilts? Sorry, but I was asked that question...hehe...

On Sunday 7th Oct, a kind of "reunion" dinner was organised. At Riverbank restaurant. More of a gathering of OKTs...haha! Yours truly & wife were invited. Tks a meg, Mr & Mrs L !! A truly sumptous meal. Had a great time meeting up with old friends cum former colleagues. A meet too short. Really wished we had more time to be shared. A few pics here at the dinner table...

So sorry but pics were taken with my N73 cam phone under not-so-conducive lighting conditions.

Those were truly happy moments. Great Food & esp Great Friends! Am looking forward to more...nice bonuses in life!

Sunday 07 Oct...

Yup, it's Sunday once more, once more...hehe...another weekend to many. Another bonus day for muah.

For one good reason, this weekend started great for me. Got my HbA1c blood test results from my doc. And guess what? Me was "proclaimed" a non-diabetic! Why? Cos the test results show so! I got a 5.6% score...which falls inbetween the 3.0-6.0% range for a non-diabetic!! Nice feeling lo...

Just fyi, other ranges are as follows :
Good Control -> 6.1-7.0%
Fair Control -> 7.1-8.0%
Poor Control -> >8.1%

For another reason, this weekend is F1 GP @Shanghai, China...2nd last leg of the F1 championship 2007 series. And today, Sun 7th Oct, is RACE day! Day of reckoning for Hamilton. Will he make it as the rookie champion & the youngest driver to win the championship? He's already got into pole 1 position for the race via Sat qualifying. Now let's see if he can make it thru to the chequered flag...Go for it, Hamilton!

Finally the mail brought a pleasant surprise today. From my daughter. She won them in an online competition. Free tickets for 2 to the movie White Noise 2 - The Light. At GSC. Me planned a trip to make that treat possible. Soon. Maybe tomorrow? A new Mall was opened recently in Seb. Jaya. GSC is available there, too. A matter of "killing 2 birds with 1 stone" ?

To be happy is to enjoy the moment. Me trying to... :)

The week that was...

Oct 1st.

It happened again! What happened? Flood waters entered our house compound again! After less than an hour of heavy rain. Water overflowed from the drain and came into the porch area. Fortunately it wasn't worse than before.

This time the flood waters came in only up to abt 3 tile-lengths from our main door. Phew...

Wonder how it would be the next time around...

Note : Yours truly here has made a phone call to our local council office to request for action to be taken to hopefully prevent a repeat or a worsening situation. Now we wait & see how efficient these ppl are...

HbA1c. Now, that looks like some kind of chemical formula. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Also known as "Glycosylated Haemoglobin", it's a lab test to find out the "weighted 3-month average of what the blood glucose has been...ie how much glucose has been sticking to our red blood cells."

Yup. That's the latest blood test me took. Suffered a little inconvenience tho. A teeny weeny discomfort. A failed "vampirical effort"...hehe...

And yup, the final draw of blood came from my other arm. Should know the results soon. In theory, a value of less than 7% is supposedly a sign of good glucose management. What will mine be? Your guess is as good as anyone's...haha!

A piece of "good" news...Pension payments are very early this month! Was announced to be on Oct 4...officially listed as Oct 5. But was already credited on Oct 3 evening! Real great efficiency!

Why was my "good" news in quotes? Cos it can be interpreted as "good" or "bad". Depends. To have cash handy is "good" but, on the other hand, it would be a long way before Nov 21 comes along. Yup, that's how far away is the next payment...this is the "bad" part.

Finally it appears some ppl have already started encoding video files in a new format. Divocodec. This new codec installation has "strings" attached. So, do be wary should you want to use it. As an example, installing the codec involves making lots of changes to your browser...to your operating system...eg as many as 70 modifications to host files! Not to mention other registry changes. Moreover, to play the video clip with that codec, you'd need a special player...not our WMP! Dunno what's coupled with that player...me didn't dare try to find out!

Without hesitation, I uninstalled the codec...used my Internet Security S/ware to remove/undo all the changes I could detect. Not worth all the risks exposing my PC to all those vulnerabilities.

That last incident was kinda heart-stopping. Thought that was the end of my PC...again. Frankly, I really hope that most, if not all, of those mods have been undone/removed.

No news from me abt that would be certainly Good News!