My new work life is not as easy as before and 12 hours spent at work place is a norm. Thought it will not last more than a month ,,,,,,it has been 4 months now and going strong. Week end break is a luxury, usually spent at home and golf is a super luxury. This quarter, 3 tournaments had to be given a miss due to work commitment. Sigh.......
Anyway, last week was a super luxury weekend with golf at Pulai.Spring with the usual kakis.
Last weekend we had a short trip to KL. Being a long weekend, traffic congestion at the CIQ and NS highway was expected. Thus we took a coach instead of the usual self drive.
True enough, it took us 9 hours instead of 6 to reach KL. Nevertheless, it was a nice experienced being chauffeured and all of us enjoyed the traveling.
Accident along NS highway
Congestion along NS highway
It was Christmas eve that weekend and one can feel the festive mood. People were having good time on the street, malls, cafe etc. For us, it was just food and shopping. It was one of my best KL trip…..in a VIP coach.
This clip was taken sometime in April 2010 during my weekend trip to Desa Rhu Fruit Farm. The trip was meant for a friend and her hubby who was stationed in Singapore with the Japanese Embassy. Before leaving Singapore for good, we took them out for this trip. I didn't get to give them a copy of this clip. Thus I hope they could watch it here albeit far from clear.
Helping Yanti to set up her stall at a flea market at Scape last week. She is the only one in the family who is intrested in this line and often set up stall. Understand that she now has an online shop.
Wait a minute........where's my mum's curry puff. Old Chang Kee was non existence when we first sell our curry puff more then 45 years ago and yet that old man today managed to set up stalls at every corner of the island selling his puff. What has gone wrong.
Mum has the skill to make curry puff and I guess thats all she has. But Old Chang Kee has more than that. He has bussiness acumen, foresight, capital, marketing skill, strategies and most of all GUTS. That make the difference.
Today is the 12th day and the 2nd weekend of Hari Raya. We will probably be going out visiting friends and relatives later in the afternoon.
A lunch reunion of K1 80 was held at Islamic Restaurant last Friday. It was initiated and organized by Adrian Chua (1010) in conjunction with the Hari Raya. All of us had finally retired from the Force except for Nasri. This was our 2nd reunion with the 1st one held 2 years ago.
Adrian left the Force after less then 2 years in the service and is now a successful business man in the retail industry. For the rest of us, just being a contented salaried worker. Always relax and sometime happy. hehehehe
Lunch at the Islamic Restaurant
Adrian's shop front at New Bridge Road
(from left: Sazali, Jamal. Subali, Ahmad Sari, Adrian, Nasri and Shariff)
This week Thursday, I was at the PGS tournament at Raffles Golf Club. I think the month long lay off does affect my game but it was a good meet up with fellow friends from the Force.
(from left: Sazali, Azman, Syed Sagof and Salehudin)
I had a round of golf last week with Azman at Pulai after a month lay off during the Ramadhan. Being only the 3rd day of Hari Raya, and the Malaysian National holiday, the course was rather quiet. Anyway it was good for us…..no pressure to hurry the game.
The house is still in a mess since last week due to the hacking and installing of a new kitchen cabinet. It was a simple job that goes beyond schedule. Even as I wrote this entry, the job is still on going. Thanks to the ‘boh chap’ attitude of the contractor. Every single job need to be supervised or else damage to other installation is imminent. It was so stressful and yet restless, for not being able to leave the house.
Anyway the stress has been broken with the unexpected early arrival of a new member in the family on Monday night. Marisa gave birth to a cute baby girl and I am now a grand daddy. Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is a month of heightened devotion. Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to do special prayers, called Tarawih which are held in the mosques every night. In Singapore however, it is not uncommon to see congregation holding this special prayers at void deck as well.
Coincidently, this month being the seventh month of the Chinese calendar is also a month of prayer and festival. Temples and clan association will hold dinner and auction at open fields to raise fund for communal use. This dinner will usually followed by music performance called ‘Getai’
Although the ‘Getai’ may cause noise pollution in the neighborhood and the praying congregation at the void deck may deprive others of the common area, being a cosmopolitan society, the community at large has accepted and tolerated such racial/ religious practice of others. That’s the beauty of living in Singapore.
However, if both activities were held close to each other, it may require a higher level of tolerance. Imagine one party so engrossed performing their prayer and supplication while the other party was having a live concert.
I experienced it last night. A ‘Getai’ live performance was just a 100 meter away from my congregation. When we were about to say ‘Allahu Akbar” I heard the other side said “Jajambo”.Hehehehehe welcome to Singapore
I had a round of golf last Saturday at Daiman with buddies from TRACOM. It was fun to be with them again since my retirement. This will be our last game till the end of Ramadhan.