From No Stress To Fatal Stress

I received this article via email from my father. An eye-opener to how fatal stress can be to a person than we give it credit for...

From No Stress To Fatal Stress
 
"I would like to share with you an actual but very sad occurrence which I
hope may get you guys to ponder over what constitutes anxieties,
extremities and unnecessary over reactions. A long story... but worth
reading for lessons learned.... you may want to pass on to others.
 
One of my friend's father who is a retiree in his mid-60s, is perfectly
healthy looking and behaving normal, plays his round of golf each Sunday,
does a fair bit of gardening, keeps himself busy the rest of his time
helping his son's (my friend's) little retail business, and goes on
tour/trips every now and then .....
 
He was persuaded by his daughters and other well wishers to go for His
medical checkup which he had last done before retirement some 10 years ago

Testing - There's something fishy in Blogger...

Something funny has been happening to this blog of late. It seems to lead you to a blogrolling site whenever you get here. I know i've been on a long hiatus, but it does worry me to think if all i've written here suddenly disappears. It's kinda like a small archive of my life...

..........

It has been a long time since any last meaningful update here... So much has happened. But too little (or almost nil) inspiration to write. I guess this is what happens to you when you're all work and no play. A big part of inside you dies. You become dull...

Memories Are Made of These...

A day before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, I went out to run some pre-Raya errands. I had some important documents to send through the snail-mail, and they was also the small matter of having the car checked and serviced before our long distance journey up north over the Raya period. I had all the errands lined up nicely, and to my estimation I would have them all done by 3pm, giving me sufficient time to rest in the afternoon before iftar.

That is of course, until Insyirah insisted on tagging along with me...

I guess most fathers out there can testify how much longer short errands would take with a kid(s) in tow. The following were the errands that I ran on that day in the order that I had planned them, and the time that I had estimated it would take:

Planned Itinerary

Leave the house - 9.30am

Arrive at post office to arrange for delivery of documents - 9.45am

Arrive at car workshop to perform minor service - 10am

Have car washed and polished - 12pm

All chores completed and be back at home - 3pm

With Insyirah on tow, of course there variations to the plan:

The Actual Itinerary

Leave the house - 9.45am (she had to get ready)

Arrive at post office to arrange for delivery of documents - 10am

Drive to KFC for nuggets and fries - 10.20am (we were actually there already at 10am as the KFC was next to the post office. But she insisted she wasn't hungry until AFTER we left the place. So we had to drive back there after having driven away for a couple of minutes...)

Arrive at car workshop to perform minor service - 11.30am (KFC only started serving nuggets from 11am. So we waited until then before finally leaving...)

Have car washed and polished - 1.30pm (while we waited for the car to be washed, we went inside the nearby shopping mall to pass the time. Through a mixture of tiredness as well as absent-mindedness, I ended up buying her a bubble machine and an authentic cat-bank that cost me a fortune... mental note to self: not to be such a softy to her pleas in the future...).

All chores completed and be back at home - 5pm (finally...)

In conclusion...

The planned time to complete chores by myself - 6 hours

The time taken to complete chores with Insyirah on tow - 8 hours (plus extra unplanned expenses...)

The memories made from the outing - Timeless...

'Abah, I Think You're Going To Be Rich...'

A couple of days ago, Insyirah raised a curious subject for a conversation. I was driving the car at the time, with Insyirah sitting in the front seat with me, properly strapped in her booster seat. Wifey and Ihsan were in the back seat. It was the second weekend in the month of Ramadhan and we were driving to Subang Parade for some pre-Raya shopping.

I noticed that she was in considerable deep thought before she started:

Insyirah: Abah, I think one day you are going to be very rich...

I was slightly surprised by this sudden revelation of her thoughts, not to mention amused too.

Me: Amiin... I hope you're right Insyirah. But, what makes you say that?

Insyirah: Well, all men become rich one day...

She gave a slight pause after saying this, before continuing again, correcting herself...

Insyirah: But not all men... only some men become rich I think. Hmmm... but you Abah are going to be very rich...

Me: Thanks Insyirah... I hope you're right sayang. You know Insyirah, people say if you say it many times enough, what you say could become true you know.

Hearing this, Insyirah went on a jingle saying it again and again...

Insyirah: Abah's gonna be rich... Abah's gonna be rich... Abah's gonna be rich... and on and on she went...

It does make me wonder what made her say it all of a sudden. I can only hope that it becomes true one day, especially it was in the month of Ramadhan that she said it...;). Amiin.

To everyone out there, may you have had a very fruitful Ramadhan.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

My First Formal Malay Letter in Years

I just wrote my first Malay letter in years! I didn't actually have to do so, but having spoken to the particular official whom I had to raise my issues with in my (formal) mother-tongue language, I felt obliged to follow up with a Malay email when I was asked to write in for a formal explanation of events.

So here is my first formal letter written in Malay in years. I'm actually quite proud of it too... ;)

Quote

Salams Ina,

Merujuk kepada perbualan kita tadi.

Dilampirkan bersama email ini adalah salinan kepada e-resit CIMBClicks saya untuk bayaran yuran keahlian Kelab Tasik Putrajaya pada bulan December 2009 berjumlah RM200yang saya dapati tidak direkod oleh pihak Kelab.

Berdasarkan penyata akaun saya yang bernombor DN063893 bertarikh 30/04/2010, jumlah yang tertunggak adalah RM500. Sekiranya jumlah bayaran yang tidak direkod berjumlah RM200 ini diambil kira, jumlah yuran tertunggak untuk tempoh yang sama hanya bernilai RM300. Berdasarkan ini, jumlah yuran tertunggak untuk penyata bertarikh 31/5/2010 akan berjumlah RM350.

Harap balas email saya ini untuk mengesahkan penerimaan email ini. Harap penyata yuran saya seterusnya akan dikemaskinikan dan saya akan langsaikan segala jumlah tertunggak selepas mendapat penyata yang telah diperbetul dan dikemaskinikan.

Sekian terima kasih.

Yang benar,

Unquote

Little Sleepyhead

Ameer Ihsan catching a nap... :)

Love Can Last The Test Of Fate And Time.. Or Can It?

I read the following piece of news from Yahoo today. I just find it simply amazing how a couple could be separated for such a long time, and still enough love for each other after all those years to be together again. I mean, 16 years is not a short space of time. Imagine how many people you could have met in that time, and the number of times you could have fallen in and out of love.

Having said that, perhaps this is a testament of true love, or is it? The cynical in me suspects it is probably a case of both persons not having much to choose from (or themselves not much for other people to choose), and it's simply a case of settling on the basis of a love letter lost for 16 years.

The following news was taken from the following site: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090720/wl_uk_afp/britainspainloveoffbeat_20090720093400

Lost Love Letter Reunites Couple After 16 Years

LONDON (AFP) – A British man and his Spanish former sweetheart have finally married 16 years after they drifted apart, reunited by a love letter lost behind a fireplace for over a decade, reports said Monday.

Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez, both now 42, fell in love 17 years ago when she was a foreign exchange student in Brixham, and got engaged after only a year together.

But their relationship ended after she moved France to run a shop in Paris.

A few years later, in a bid to rekindle their love, Smith sent a letter to her mother's home in Spain. It was placed on the mantelpiece, but slipped down behind the fireplace and was lost for over a decade.

The missing missive was only found when builders removed the fireplace during renovation work.

"When I got the letter I didn't phone Steve right away because I was so nervous," Ruiz-Perez told the Herald Express local newspaper.

"I nearly didn't phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again.

"But I knew I had to make the call."

When they were reunited, it was as if time had stood still, said Smith, a factory supervisor.

"When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other's arms. We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing.

"I'm just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be," he said, after the couple married last Friday.

101 uses for a woman - Times Online

I read this article on the online version of the UK newspaper, The Times. The list of things that women do that actually end up to really good use... ;-)

101 uses for a woman - Times Online

Shared via AddThis

A Parent's Most Cherished Moment

At 12.37pm today, my wife safely delivered a healthy, most adorable baby boy to our roost. I will now have a friend to watch football with.. :)

Welcome to our family, Ameer Ihsan... We love you so dearly.

Alhamdulillah...

The Marathon Man

I've recently registered myself for the KL Marathon which will be taking place on the 28 June. Before you gasp and start wondering whether i will ever be able to undertake such a gargantuan challenge, let me clarify further that the category i'll be running under is the 10 km run, and not exactly the full marathon, which would have required me to run a distance of over 40 km.

In fact, this won't be the first time that i'll be participating in a marathon. Back in 1999, i ran the half marathon at the now defunct Terengganu Bridge Run and ran the distance of 21 km. And mind you, i didnt't just finish the race back then. I finished it within the specified qualifying time for that distance of 2 hours and 30 minutes, although i did that by just over a minute before the qualifying time ended. Still, it was quite an achievement for me given that no one gave me a ghost of a chance to even finish the race. I managed to impress a number of people at the time, most notably my dad who had been heavily sceptical about my participation, and my mum who must have spent most of her time during the race waiting for me at the first aid area, where ambulances would be bringing the casualties of the race. Up to this day, that moment when i crossed the finishing line of that half marathon still ranks as one of the most memorable and fondest one of my life.

At a glance, the 10km that i'll be running this time might appear as a lighter challenge: the distance is only half of what i've already experienced. However, 10 years since those glorious days is a very long time and many other variables have changed since then: my weight have since ballooned by 10kg, my body fat has probably quadrupled and my fitness level is a fragment of what it used to be. Hence, judging by these rate of growths, it would probably take more than halving the distance of the race to make it at par as the marathon i ran 10 years ago.

I registered myself for the run because i felt i needed some motivation to drive myself to be fit. My fitness and body weight has gone to alarming levels of late that it has somehow affected my well-being. Those who've read my blog entry in April titled It Was The Worst Of Times... can probably have an idea how bad things had been. The saying that a healthy body breeds a healthy mind could not have been more true when i found myself at times struggling for a peace of mind and sanity due to the combined effects of overworking and lack of exercise. Ever since those dark moments, i have been finding the time to do reasonable amount of physical exercise to ensure i keep both my body and mind fit. This marathon gives me just the edge to push the envelope further, giving a greater sense of purpose for all these physical activities i've been picking up again.

My exercise routine has mostly involved cycling on my exercise bicycle, and weekly swimming. I only started my running exercise in earnest yesterday, running a distance of 5km. It took great effort and mental strength to do it however and it felt like i was doing 10 times the distance. It would take a lot of work in the next 2 weeks if i am ever going to make this 28th June as memorable as that fine morning in Kuala Terengganu 10 years ago.

Al-Fatihah

I watched on TV3 news tonight of the passing of the Malaysian actor who has been prominent in the film industry here, and was well known for his versatility and engaging portrayal of every role he has played. Shukery Hashim, passed away at 1.15pm today at UKM hospital after a 3 months battle with pancreatic cancer.

In fact, he was one of the few actors who actually had enough pull factor to make me watch a Malay drama / movie that he appeared in. An actor with charisma and great talent, his passing is a great loss to the Malaysian film industry.

It makes you feel how fragile life is. I can't imagine how it must have felt to be healthy today, and gone in such a short space a time as 3 months. In fact, i knew of someone who actually had a meeting with me late one evening, and the next morning i received a text message of his passing. Yes, life is very fragile and our time in this world will only be as long as He permits it.

May Allah blesses the soul of Shukery Hashim in the hereafter. Al-Fatihah.

Picture courtesy of izyan.com.

A Great Coincidence

Wifey and i were sorting our examination dockets for our paper tomorrow earlier today. Both of us will be taking one of our final part paper for a professional accounting qualification. It has become somewhat a concern to wifey where we will be seated in tomorrow's exam. Being close to the end of her pregnancy now, she is worried if the emergency moment ever happens in the midst of our examinations (na'uzubillah), and i wasn't in sight to attend to her. So we checked our dockets for the first time today, although we've received it from the examining board as long ago as mid of May.

Wifey: I'll be seated in hall 2. What about you?

Me: (opening the exam docket from it's envelope clumsily) Yeah, same here! What's your seat number though?

Wifey: (looking at the docket intently once again) 277.

Me: Huh? I'm seated at 278!

What are the chances of our seats being next to one another? We had registered ourselves on different days, and even received our respective dockets on different days. The fact that we found ourselves to be seated next to one another under such unlikely circumstances was then rather extraordinary.

So wifey can be now be rest assured that i'll be around tomorrow, no matter what happens Insya-Allah. Although i hope the baby can wait a little while longer until both mum and dad finish the exam tomorrow... :-)

___________________________________________________________
"My Verdict: The new Yahoo! Mail is far superior..." � The Wall Street Journal.
http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

Bad, Worse, Worst...

A recent unfortunate event that befelled me has made me to re-assess the whole unfortunate scenario once again, and in the typical optimistic me, attempted at assessing how things could have been a lot worse. So i've come up with comparative scenarios that might be relevant to almost anyone, and in doing so, hopefully will convince myself and others who might have encountered the same (or will do) that we should count our lucky stars that the unfortunate event we went through didn't turn out for the worst.

The Scenarios

Bad: You're in a cubicle of a public toilet answering nature's BIG call. Just about when you're done and about to clean yourself up, you noticed that there is no toilet roll in the cubicle to assist you with the cleaning up. And there's no water available either...

Worse: You're actually in a hurry as this call of nature actually took place in the midst of your exams... And you're dying to get back to the exam hall to continue the exams session... Do you just pull your pants up and run back into the exams hall with a 'soiled' bum and pray that no one will notice the soil, never mind the smell of the petai you had for lunch?

Worst: While you're pondering on your next course of action, thinking it cannot get any worse than this, another fellow examinee in an obvious rush to quickly be done with his own call from nature, barges in the cubicle that you're in, stumbling upon you in your most contemplative pose with your pants down around your knees. Or shall we make the situation even more grave? The toilet you're in is a unisex one, and the person who barged into you is that girl you've tried so hard to impress all semester...

I tell you, nothing is worse than getting caught with your pants down, literally or metaphorically...

___________________________________________________________
Like being first? Check out the all-new Yahoo! Mail today.
http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

Staying Awake

I am struggling to stay awake at the moment, in the library where i'm doing my revision. Had a so-so lunch, but the cendol after the friday prayers probably is taking its toll on me now. I know cold beverage is a no-no to me, especially under the heat of the mid-day sun, but as always i lost out to temptation. I blame this on Affeedz.. If only he had not asked whether i was interested to have cendol, then i wouldn't have been so tempted.. :-p

Stay open oh my heavy eyes, stay open...

If it stays this way, i'm getting myself a cuppa cafe mocha from San Francisco Coffee...

On Study Leave

I am currently on study leave for my professional exams next week (yup people, it is that time of the year again). So i'll be away from the frantic life of the office and will be in the head-cracking mode of a student for the next couple of days at least. Will have to dig in deep for that student grey matter of mine, having using it so sparingly of late. Work challenges require different capacity of the brain i've found out, and studying is a totally different animal altogether. Let's see if i could get this rusty engine to run..

On your mark, set.. GO!

Memory

Memory.

It is such a funny thing. One can be as forgetful as forgetting where he left his socks in a matter of a few minutes after taking it out from the socks drawer (like I always do in the morning), while at the same time very able to reminisce some moments from a very long time ago.

Have you ever placed some emotional attachment to certain songs, smell, music, places or any experience that you've had in the past. For instance, without fail I will always be reminded of my father's soothing voice in the early hours of dusk when I hear someone reciting the surah Ad-Dhuha from the Quran, and almost instantly I will be brought back to the memories of those time.

Or whenever I look at pictures of Blackfriars Bridge in London, coupled with the evergreen song from Wham, Last Christmas, I will be reminded by the lonely feeling of just being betrayed by a friend, to the extent that I could almost feel the cold icy feeling of December winter in London. Oh yeah, I remember those lonely quiet walks I used to have crossing the bridge from school back to my halls of residence as vividly as though it happened only yesterday.

Try listening to the evergreen Hari Raya song from Saloma, and immediately I am transported back to the time when I was 8, celebrating Raya at my late Grandma's house in Serkat, Johor looking forward to show my new raya outfit to my cousins and getting the green packets from my aunts and uncles. And not to mention the recurring episodes of being infected by 'tungau'.

Memories. It's a gift from God to remind us of what we've learnt and how we can improve ourselves from our past experiences. It is for us to appreciate the people whom have touched our lives, for better or for worse.

In memory, love lives forever.

Here's to all the memories and to those who have enriched my life by being part of them.

Memory
(from the musical CATS)

Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every streetlamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters
And the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is

Look
A new day has begun

Thank God For Handphones...

I've had to send my HTC handphone back to the dealer for another round of repair after my most recent discovery of another problem with the phone. And mind you, i had just got back the phone from the dealer for a couple days for a different problem when that happened. They had detained the phone for 2 weeks then, and i was told it would take another 2 weeks for them to sort this recent problem now. Ridiculous! Until that time, i would just have to be content with my dad's old nokia phone. For all it's bulky and less than stylish appearance, it has at least survived the years and now serving me, albeit temporarily, very well so far.

After i was told that my phone had to be detained again yesterday, i had unwittingly forgot to bring an extra phone as cover. And to make matters more exciting, i was supposed to meet up with my mum and wifey at the shopping mall at a yet to be determined place. They had gone to get the groceries, and we had planned to go for lunch together. And for the first time in many years, i found myself in a now increasingly unfamiliar situation of having to find a pay phone to make a phone call.

I remember the days when hand phones were not yet such a common feature in our lives and pay phone was pretty much your mode of getting in contact whenever you're outside and need to call someone. Even then, you had to make sure the person you're calling is within reach of a fixed phone line. Those days seems like aeons ago now and you can't really imagine the restless feeling of not being able to reach someone just because someone is out of their house or out of the office. Heck, these days you can even get someone on his handphone when he's doing his most intimate business in the toilet, if he chooses to answer your call that is. My point is, the evolution of the phone (and technology in general) has now made it easier for people to get in touch with each other, wherever we may be.

So, here i was in distress looking for a way to get in contact with wifey in this big shopping mall. For a moment i felt a great sense of helplessness, a common anxiety that you get nowadays when you get separated from your handphone. I browsed around the 2 storey shopping mall looking for a pay phone, with little success for over 15 minutes. I even checked the building directory - there were indications of where the toilets and baby changing room were - but there were no signs of any pay phones in the building. I even asked around the patrons of the mall if they had seen and pay phones around, and all i got were stares like i had been Michael J. Fox from the year 1985 in the movie Back To The Future; no one seemed to know what or where the pay phones were. I was about to give up, and approach the mall's information counter to lodge a missing husband / father report when with great relief, i spotted ONE pay phone on the wall near the info counter.

An extinct thing indeed.

I approached the phone with some trepidation - how many pay phones do you usually have to try out before you find one that actually works? - lifted the speaker up, and listened. There was a dialing tone. As luck would have it, i had only 10 cents in coin to have an only chance of contact with wifey. It was either make or break. Never had i felt that 10 cents could have so much value.

I dialed my wife's number and she picked up.

Wifey: Hello?
Me: hi dear. It's me, abang. Where are you now?
Wifey: (with exasperation) where have you been? I've been trying to call you all day!

The pay phone beeped alarmingly, indicating more change is needed for the conversation to continue. Time was running out fast for me. I had to act fast.

Me: sayang, quick tell me where you are..
Wifey: we are at the food court just about to... *beep*... And the line got cut off.

I then made my way to the mall's only food court with such great relief.

Thank god for handphones...

___________________________________________________________
"My Verdict: The new Yahoo! Mail is far superior..." � The Wall Street Journal.
http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

Hmmm... Donuts!

I've not been feeling so great of late. My mind has been racing with millions of thoughts since Thursday morning, that whenever i close my eyes, some of those thoughts are so clear i can see them so vividly like in a dream. I wonder whether it's because of what i ate that Wednesday night: an original glazed and a half each of strawberry and hershey sprinkled Krispy Kreme donuts. It was my first ever visit to the donut outlet after hearing much hype about it. The donuts there tasted great, although a bit too sweet though even by my usual high sweet-tooth standard. It probably caused a high sugar rush in my system hence explaining this hyperactive state of mind i'm going through now.

I have been having an inexplicable craving for donuts these last couple of months you can be forgiven for thinking that i'm the one who is pregnant instead of wifey. I have been patronising all the major donut outlets in KL as a result of my craving and from my experience so far i have concluded that the best donuts can be found in the following places, ranked accordingly in terms of of my personal taste:

1. Big Apple
2. J-Co
3. Krispy Kreme
4. Dunkin Donut

Hmmmm...

I think it's time to hit my exercise bicycle...

The Kids Register For School

We finally managed to register the girls for kindergarten last Tuesday after having delayed it for months. The school term had started as early as January, but then since Hannah was due to travel with her parents to Germany in February, we had planned to put it off until March. But work came like tornadoes after that and we never got around to doing it. After much nagging from my mum, we finally got around to set an appointment with the school principal to register the girls. And thank goodness there were still places..

Hannah was buzzing with excitement before we left home for the school that morning, making sure she was wearing / carrying what was appropriate. "Abah, i cannot wear pampers (diapers) to school because otherwise my friends will laugh at me". Talk about peer pressure at such a young age! She then went on talking about what you should and shouldn't be doing at school, telling Insyirah the same. Being a few months younger, Insyirah's reaction to the idea still had a feeling of nonchalance and she was mostly playing on the excitement exhibited by Hannah.

As we got to the school, the sight of other kids in their uniform running about and doing their class activities proved too much to the girls: they asked to don their new pair of uniform as well and even took the chance to join in the classroom session for a bit. Had she be given the choice, Hannah would have wanted to stay on in class for the rest of the day. Insyirah on the other hand had already asked to go home (!), obviously not used to the idea of missing her usual morning routine just yet. Their official first day at school would start in the first week of May. Hannah would just have to be patient till then while wifey and i would have a task in our hands to get Insyirah mentally and physically ready for her new routine of going to school in the morning by then...

p/s: you would have noticed that incomplete version of the above posting was posted a number of times over the last few days. I had attempted to post the posting above via mobile blogging (as has been the case with most of my postings of late) but there seem to have been a bug with the mobile blogging feature. I am still clueless as to the cause of the bug, and the above was finally posted via my laptop.

Talk about an anticlimactic experience...