Day b4 Leap Year Day...280208

Yup, tomorrow is the 29th of February 2008...this year being a Leap Year! Here's wishing all those lucky enough ( maybe unluckily so, too?) to be born on such a special rare day!!

Happy Birthday to all you Leapers!!

Well, our Blind project is finally completed! Here it is in all its glory...?On testing last night, it was found that one is still visible while standing close to the window. However, it still serves its purpose cos anything away in line of sight but away from the window, was no longer visible...hehe...privacy at last!

Today heralded the issuance of a new First Day Cover by our Post Office ppl. One on Bridges...pls see pic below:

What do you know...our grandaughter, KL, is set to have her own collection of First Day Covers...this one being her first!! Happy collecting, KL!!

Finally, the rains came...has been raining since this morning....still drizzling as me keying in this entry. Cool day...hope it stays so.

Had a look-in at our local video centre...for new DVDs. No luck. Don't seem to have any of the new movies. Probably cos of constant harassment by the authorities. However, me, somehow, bought a few to try...at least Cine Nites can still go on...

Well, Lot 10 OFH's calm & quiet will apparently be broken soon...this coming weekend! By one not-so-little hyperactive kid! Wonder what's in the foods these kids take these days that make them so...haha!

Will write again next week. Hv a great weekend!

Days later...

Wed 270208.

Life around these parts has been kinda quiet...esp in OFH @ Lot 10.

However, it is not so as far as the construction of the new Taman Berjaya 2 (which I'll refer to as TB2 from now on...) project just opposite our place. Considering the time that has elapsed since work first began, construction has been progressing very well. Most of the RC structures of the buildings are up. This rate of constuction is partly due to the developers using supplied & delivered pre-mix concrete!

Here are a couple of pics of TB2 construction site...2 different views... :

Owing to these taller buildings coming up right opposite our place, our "internals" esp that of our master bedroom, would soon be "exposed" to all & sundry staying in those houses facing ours! Not good, right?

Using curtains would be best...drawing them together when the need arises esp at night! Our tinted windows would "shield" us from prying eyes in the daytime. Unfortunately, due to a couple of factors, curtains that are up at this time, cannot be drawn close enough to do the job well. So, the idea of putting up a blind in our centre window panel sounded good. One was bought...a bamboo mini-blind...but after installation, it was found to be insignificant in its function! We were still fully visible to all at night when the room light is on!

A no. of possible solutions were considered. Finally this was the result...

Phew...a lot of work went into that...ran out of cellophane tape tho. Notice the 3rd column/strip from the right...shorter than the others? Need to lengthen it but w/o the cellophane tape, work has to be temporarily halted...hehe...

Another observation that can be made when one drives around Alor Star town is that banners have been put up inviting applicants for positions in the new Tesco Alor Star! This, presumably, is an indication that Tesco Alor Star is nearing completion....maybe near Opening Day? That's good news for Alor Star ppl...esp lil ole me! A better place, maybe, for lil ole me & partner to go walk walk. A change from AS Mall...heheh....

Me will go for a spin around that area soon & will try snap a pic or two to post here. Ok?

Will maybe add the pics in this same post...Until then, let's keep our fingers crossed that Tesco AS will be opening soon...providing these 2 OFH inmates a new place to roam...

UPDATE @3:35pm :

Below are pics of present state of the Tesco Alor Star on-going construction...kinda darkish cos taken from inside our car ie thru the tinting film on our windscreen glass. Pls click on the pic to see the full-sized snapshot. :

Looks like building still has a long way to go b4 completion...however, that again depends on man-hours to be spent to achieve it. What do yu think?

Also look at the no. of cars parked alongside...wonder what's going on...inside? On-going walk-in interview for jobs? Well, your guess is as good as mine...hehe...

I forgot to take a pic of the view from the side...kinda huge building! Also appears to have a very large parking area to its right. There is clearly a ramp for vehicles to go up to its first floor. Dunno if there is underground parking or not tho. Building seems to be probably a 5-storey one?
No worries...we'll know soon enough...

The Eleventh Day...of CNY...

My! How time flies...

It's already 17th Feb 2008...the 11th day of the Year of the Rat. And what have I got to show for the days passed? Nothing much really.

CNY this year has its blessings. We were blessed with larger angpows from both our kids & even from our fav niece. That certainly went a long way to make the start of this Year of the Rat a good one. Our sincere grateful thanks to all for the kind thoughts...& generosity!

Made a 2nd visit to Penang on 13th Feb. To visit a couple of relatives whom we couldn't fit into our "bz" schedule on the 1st & 2nd days of CNY. Well, the visit brought both good & not-so-good news. What can I say...other than Life has its ups & downs. That death is an inevitable fact which we must all learn to accept so that we can enjoy whatever time we are blessed with, with our loved ones. Cos only then would we be at peace & go with no regrets.

Valentine's Day, as always, fell on 14th Feb this year. Took my other half for a special pre-V-Day dinner, courtesy of our daughter. Thanks, EL! For thinking of yr ole BF. With leftover $$, we had a lesser one c/w our fav sate on V-Day nite itself.

Anyway, seeing the pic of our ever-loving grandaughter, KL, brings some happiness into our mundane lives in Lot 10 OFH. Haha...Above pic : KL playing with her new toy baby stroller the way no other kid would does...haha!

The 8th night was a very noisy night indeed. But a very colourful night, too. Besides the usual strings of firecrackers that broke the silence of that night, magnificent fireworks literally lit up the night sky...even b4 the stroke of midnight! For the first time, both of us stepped out to our balcony and enjoyed the presentations, courtesy of our neighbours, near & not-so-near ones. Wonder what happened to the ban on firecrackers & fireworks...we even saw a police patrol car cruising by but....

It's also now the time of the year when all kinds of bills come in. I used to believe that having one's own house & home is as simple as just buying one. Ever since I had one, I find keeping it as your own & maintaining it is not that simple...nor cheap! Besides all the monthly utility bills, there are loads of others...large bills! Annually or twice a year. As said b4, thank God we have our pensions to fall back on! And thanks a meg to Pak Lah for his recent great gift...25% has gone a long way to stabilize our lives at this point in time!

Well, a few more days & it'll be Chap Goh Meh, the 15th day of CNY and the last day of celebrations. The Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day. However, no more throwing of oranges for lil ole me...hehe...no one's gonna catch my orange nor throw one in my direction! Haha!

Have a great Year of the Rat, everybody!!

Post CNY reflections...not really tho...

It's almost 9pm here now..on Monday 11th Feb, the 5th day of this year's CNY.

And the chronology of events since pre-CNY goes simply like this :

060208 : Had a nice surprise this time around. Son & fmly came over a day earlier than expected. So our 2 OFH inmates had guests...haha...a good start to the coming Year of the Rat! Sorry but me cannot post pics here due to a kinda "prohibition" clause in an MOU that me had to unofficially agree to...hehe...

No worries tho...coz the most important factor here is both me & my other half had a great time with our grandson & grandaughter, J & Jan.

070208 : CNY eve...and it's the annual Family Re-union Dinner event. Dishes were the creation & product of my other half...for the 2nd year running. After also 2 consecutive years of Steamboats. Food was good & plentiful. No liquor this time around cos my son was not in his best form. Lots of digi pics were shot & even a video this time around! Again my sincere apologies...

However, this time around, my daughter & fmly could not be around. You see, there is a pre-nuptial agreement that she has to alternate between spending this time of the year with us & her InLaws. And this year is to be with her InLaws...

080208 : Day 1 of CNY. Everyone got up early & got dressed up for the Year of the Rat. Pics were taken. Breakfast taken. And it was time for my son & fmly to leave for Penang. Normally they would be joining us for our usual visits to relatives in Pg. However, due2 a recent death in my daughter-in-law's fmly, they had to forego the routine.

On the other hand, me & my other half left for Penang soon after them and headed towards Pg Island. Traffic was smooth all the way...thank goodness!

Met up with her cousin at our fav niece's place. Took lunch. Steamboat. Lots of stuff. Even stuff me hv not taken before. Then the wait begun...for my daughter & fmly. A delay. Jam at the bridge. Another call came in. The cousin's daughter's hubby was also on the way...another wait...another incident of delay on the bridge. Phew! The Second Link is truly a necessity now!

Finally the scheduled visits begun. 1st to our 5th Aunt...followed by Aunt #2 and finally Aunt #7. Me feel better to spare everyone reading this the boring details. A Haha here & a Haha there...with angpows for the kids! That's it...simply put lo...hehe....

Inbetween the 1st stop & the last, our cousin's daughter who was in full term for son #2 felt uncomfortable and left with hubby. However, just a short while upon our arrival at the last stop, an sms was received with great news! Her baby son was born!

Congrats to KM & TBY on the arrival of their 2nd son!!

080208 : Day 2 of CNY. Main visit today was to my Bro-in-law's place. This time around it appears his health condition has deteriorated. Hopefully it won't get worse too fast too soon. However, it was a happy occasion there. Met a couple of my nephews & a niece there, too. On the way out, we also ran into my niece's son. Had a long chat on the sidewalk.

We then had a short stopover to visit another nephew at his food stall along the way to our next destination. We missed him at my bro-in-law's place cos he had to start his biznes today.

Lunch was pre-arranged with our son & fmly. At a place we've never been before. Tks, EJ, for a great lunch!

After lunch, we paid a visit to our cousin's daughter in the maternity ward of the hospital where she delivered her son. Here is Angus, her #2 son...just a day old on 080208 :

Happy CNY, Angus! And welcome to the Year of the Rat...

After that, it was time to go home. Back home to A/Star. Tired but with loads of memories of nice times spent with ppl, most of whom we have not seen for at least a year!

Happy CNY everyone! Again? Sorry but it's still the CNY season...a total of 15 days. Till Chap Goh Meh...the 15th night or what is the Chinese version of Valentine's Day.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, everybody...

Feb 04, 2008.

2 more days b4 that special day in the Chinese calendar. Yup, it's gonna be the start of the Year of the Rat! According to what me read somewhere in the Net, today is actually the first day in the Year of the Rat...

Why? Just go google for it lo...hehe...

Anyway, here's little ole me wishing one & all a truly Happy & Properous Chinese New Year! And most important of all, may Good Health be yours to enjoy...



GONG XI FA CAI!!





An update here...
This is latest pic of our nephew, Wesley...son of J & J in Australia.
Pic was taken on 22nd Jan 2008. Born in the first week of Dec 2007, Wes should be abt 2 and half months old now...if my calculation is correct...hehe...:)
Guess everyone down under is pretty bz fussing over not-so-little Wes now...hehe... ;)

Anyway, from what has been accertained, Lot 10 on CNY eve would only see 1 fmly joining us for the Re-union Dinner. My son's. So we should get to spend some time with our 2 grandchildren, J & Jan, whom we seldom get to see these days. However, KL & fmly would be absent cos it is her mother's turn to spend the eve with her InLaws this time around.

And, as always, we'll be off to Penang the next morning to make our rounds visiting a no. of our relatives, esp the elders. Plan is to stay the night at our niece's place and continue the final phase of visits the next day b4 returning to A/S.
Well, hope you all have better plans laid out for your start of the Year of the Rat.
Once again, Keong Hee Huat Chye, everybody!!