Bukit malawati

Being a public holiday, we went up bukit malawati in Kuala Selangor. They have tractor pulled trams, but we chose to walk up after seeing people rush to the seats when the trams arrive.
There are 2 museums up there, selangor history and traditional games. They close at 530pm, so we only managed the history museum.
On the top of the hill was the light house, built in 1907. The royal mausoleum is there, too. And there were monkeys, monkeys and monkeys. These are called silverhair monkeys, they're black, and are brown as babies. Men on motorbikes bearing nuts and vegetables make a quick buck selling them to visitors to feed the monkeys. I don't think they're supposed to be fed, but i guess ignorance is bliss. Just the risk of rabies, thats all.
Do you know how selangor got it's name? There was a warrior who bathed in the river. A fly, called langau, landed on his nose. He tried to hit it and whupped his nose, and in a flash of humility, realized that a great warrior like him had been defeated by a fly. Thus the place became known as 'se langau'.
Oh well. We can only speculate.
The museum does provide interesting nuggets like this, but the visitors there skim through the artifacts, barely pausing to read. Most are there to enjoy the airconditioning!
Have a great new year break, everyone!

Weddings!

At the daughter of a friend's wedding :-) My wife knows most of the guests, so i take care of the handbag. Thankfully, i'm comfortable holding one, lol!
We've known the bride since she was in primary school, it kinda makes me feel old. Well, i'm still being mistaken for being retired, or in the process of, so i guess that *is* a sign.

Happy New year

People getting the karaoke ready for the party. For the first time this year, the condo management decided to have a party by the pool. We're here early. There's a very long buffet train, and the crowd is beginning to build.
I hope it will be fun. This is an opportunity to get to know my neighbours :-)
happy new year, everyone!

Happy birthday ariff

It's ariff's birthday! Happy birthday dear son. We all love you.

Tropical holidays

Lazy days and lazy ways. Thats how i'd describe this resort. The sun is blazing hot, but we're cool with haagen-dazs in the shade :-)

Solving problems or seeking solutions?

It's coming to the end of the year again, and, for what has almost become clockwork, the amount of work to be done begins to ramp up. It's almost counter-intuitive; you'd always expect end of year equals down time.
For where I work end of year is the company's second quarter and is also Annual General Meeting time. On top of that, its also the time when the budgets are still hot, the print on annual plans still steaming and naturally, everyone is gung-ho about all the things that need to be done. This is also the time when my group of people are fully occupied, facilitating sessions and implementing change.
Usually, though, as we course through January through March, through New Year, Hijrah, Chinese New Year, Thaipusam, we begin to lose steam. And as new issues arise, reality begins to bite and the pain begins to slow things down. And we start to begin planning for the upcoming year, a new determination conveniently forgetting the things we've overlooked and not completed.
It's a self reinforcing cycle that's hard to break.
Over dinner about 10 years ago, sitting with a bunch of HR practitioners, this topic came up. And one of them, looks at me squarely in the eye, and says," You know what the problem is? You're always looking for the problem!"
"Look for the problem and problems are what you find. Look for solutions, then everything you need will be there"
No doubt there may have been a tinge of alcohol in that statement, but there is some truth there. Have a safe Aidil Adha.

Grey Clouds Over Ramadhan?

It's the fourth of Ramadhan. Time really flies!

Things are different for us this year, as we are doing it ourselves without our maid. Its been fun so far and I really hope it will continue to be so.

As is our tradition, I stopped by the bazaar Ramadhan to get stuff to brighten breaking of fast. Surprisingly I could get parking so easily and I found that there weren't too many people there. There were some variety of food, but I felt that it wasn't to what I remember it to be. At the mosque, I found that that there were very few sponsors for the iftar, a far cry from last year when I couldn't get a slot to sponsor even though it was not yet the fasting month. And someone did mention that the iftar at the mosque was rather subdued compared to previous years.

Are we feeling the pinch now?