The Week That Was

It has been a most hectic week, filled with so much fanfare, firstly from Insyirah's 2nd birthday bash last Sunday, and secondly from my mother in law's graduation ceremony which took place in the middle of last week. And of course when there's such fanfare, chances are you will get yourself all drained up in the after event.

Insyirah's 2nd Birthday Bash, 12 August 2007



The birthday party was a lively and fun event, although energy sapping altogether. I ended up the day with a slight migraine, but having seen how happy Insyirah was at the end of the day, it was all worth it. My wife bought Insyirah a special white dress with big red polka dots all over it, and Insyirah looked simply adorable in it. And I guess she knew she looked adorable. She was unusually friendly with the guests at the party, shaking hands with the guests, sitting on the laps of some of my guests.

The preparation for the party began rather early in the morning, and I was running around like a headless chicken at the word go the instant I opened my eyes that day. I had decided to cook the main dish for the day, which was chicken and beef beriyani. Hehe... quite a chef am i? Well, the beriyani came in instant packs, although preparing it in such a big scale wasn't exactly a piece of cake. Up to 30 minutes before the party was scheduled to start, I had a scare when the rice didn't quite cook well and was dry. Lucky I managed to get it sorted just before the first guest arrived. Pheww....

We had about 50 guests turning up that day, although we had rsvps confirming attendance up to 100. That's Malaysians to you... so there were plenty of food for everyone.


Guess who actually blew the candles off...

Insyirah's cake was specially ordered from Secret Recipe with a picture of Barney and friends on it. Did you know that Secret Recipe could have any picture you wish on the cakes you buy from them? We thought at first of having Insyirah's pic on the cake, but alas we didn't have any latest pic of her. Since kids are usually crazy about Barney, and Insyirah and Hannah like the purple dinosaur too, we opted for Barney and friends instaed. True enough, kids were demanding to have the portions of the cake with Barney and friends on it.

Happy 2nd Birthday Insyirah. Abah and Ibu (Bubu) loves you so much.

Mum's Graduation, 15 August 2007

My mother in law's graduation took place in USM, Penang. She got her PhD for some research she made (i can't remember the title of the research, but it's loong and something to do with women's titties). We drove to Penang the night of the 14th August 2007. I wasn't able to take leave on the 14th as my work commitment demanded me to be at the office. We left KL around 10pm, and I was determined to get to Penang as quickly as possible. Driving my Inokom Matrix, I wasn't exactly an incarnation of Michael Schumacher, but I was driving faster than my usual pace and more pertinently, ocassonally slightly above the speed limit. I was lucky enough not to get flagged down by the police who set a speed trap along the way. Free je RM300 kalau tidak.. fuhh.. after that close encounter, I abided by the limit and managed to reach Penang, slowly but surely by 3 in the morning.


My superstar Dr. mother-in-law with flowers from her fans after the ceremony...

The ceremony was a very loooong one. Can you believe it actually took over 3 hours?! 3 hours of sitting and looking at hundreds of people getting their scrolls from the university's chancellor. I wonder how the chancellor and the rest of the academic staffs on stage managed to hold in whatever that was in their bladder in that 3 hours. Maybe they had adult diapers on them? Perhaps... Hehe...


Future Dr in the making... Dr Insyirah. Hehe... i like the sound of it.

I am not sure about other local universities here in Malaysia, but when I was in the UK, my own ceremony took only half an hour, maybe 45 minutes tops. But graduation in the UK and Malaysia are really different. In the UK, it felt like an academic event with a very traditional feel to it. Malaysians are probably more festive in nature and the ceremony had an almost TV3's Jom Heboh feel to it. Dengan gerai2 makan, khemah pesta, animal corner (?), concert, teh tarik competition. The Brits would have eaten their hearts out...

We stayed in Penang until Friday. Since we were already there, we felt might as well stay there for a few more days for vacation. It had been a while since I had been in Penang anyway, my last trip being in 1994. I wish we could have stayed longer. Fun times and such vacations always have the tendency to end before you're ready for it.

Can't wait for our planned vacation next year.