Fishing

Frankie at Batu Ferringhi beach. This is his first fishing trip. He had to get his brother to help him with the hooks. He was very eager in his new hobby. He got his second rod at a hardware shop at Batu ferringhi. It was expensive according to his brother. So bro took him so a shop at Irving Road where he got fishing gears at very cheap price.

Well, today he went and caught his very first fish. In fact he caught two small ones. He was happy with his catch. But we threw them back where they belong as we were not in favour to kill them for food. Hahahaha, we would need more if we were to have them for dinner. Anyway, the fishes may be very happy about our decision not to eat them.

We have been going to the beach very often. Sometimes there were more catch but sometimes NOTHING. But we had fun. I would jumped into the water while Frankie waited for his bite.

Bayu Emas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang

Yesterday I made an appointment to see two different units of apartment at Bayu Emas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang. My son, Dani, and his friends are now working for Hard Rock Hotel and they needed accommodation due to their second shift which started at 6pm until 2.30am. I am not comfortable with this shift at he will be driving home at such wee hours. It spooks me as he recently got involved in an accident on one rainy day at Tanjung Bungah opposite the Tsunami flats. So Frankie and I encouraged him to share a unit with his friends nearby the area.

One night he came home telling us about the rental which was RM1000 for a two roomed unit but the price has since increased to RM1100 according to the broker. I happened to ask Dani if there was any for sales. He said there were two and I asked him to call the broker, Nellie, for an appointment to see the units.

So yesterday was the day. We were shown the three roomed unit but we did not quite like the atmosphere there. It needed repainting and the ceiling was leaking as it was on the top most floor. Moreover the layout wasn't what I fancy.

We were ushered to the next block which consisted of two bedrooms. The moment I walked into the unit I was overwhelmed. You may say that I fell in love with the place at first sight. It was awesome. The paint is as good as new. It comes with furniture, fridge, 3 units of air conditioners, water heaters, hob and stove. I only need to repaint the grill at the kitchen as it was rusty.

The place was neat and clean. We were happy with the condition. The bathrooms are spacious. Out of excitement I forgot to take photos of the bathrooms. There are things left behind like vacuum cleaner, comforters, pots and pans, crockery and stand fans which I do not know if the seller will come back to collect them.

I decided to confirm buying this unit. Hopefully the seller has not changed his mind about selling. Rental now fetches RM1100 for a two roomed unit but I am giving my son and his gang a special rate out of compassion.

Botanical Garden, Penang 4.5.09

I was chasing butterflies and this small yellow butterfly was what I caught with my camera. Mind you...it wasn't an easy 'catch'. There were other species flying around as if they were dancing or teasing me. I managed to take a few shots of the yellow butterflies as they were easier to spot.

My brother and I decided to take a walk to the Botanical Garden on the 4th of May, 2009. We decided to take some pictures of an Indian temple before reaching the garden. It is a beautiful temple opposite the Chettiar Temple. It was just refurbished.

As we were shooting around, I heard rumbling noises. I turned towards the noise only to discover that the monkeys were running on the roof on the other side of the temple.

House Dana 3.5.09

Before my brother came back to visit my parents, I decided to have house dana. It just came to my mind that it would be good for my parents. But I was not sure how to go about it. My dad had once invited monks over to his house back in Perlis after he was struck with stroke back in the 70s.

Luckily, I have a friends who gave me valuable advice. They are Charles Ong whom I met online at PGHK and Sunny Khoo who is Charles' friend and I had Sunny in my Facebook. So I contacted both of them. I then proceeded to Heng Ghee's place to discuss with him and his wife since he is my dad's Godson. Poay Eng gave me some tips.

I decided to choose the monks at the Burmese Temple at Burmah Lane as it is nearer to my home. Frankie drove me to the temple on that very day. I was not sure where to make the appointment. Frankie led me to the hall and there he asked a couple of ladies minding a stall. They told us to see the lady in the temple at the counter. She asked us to see the monk who was sitted at the end of the hall. I went to him and after paying respect to him, I told him my intention.

I never know that it was so easy to invite monks home for house dana. Bhante was so pleasant and helpful.

The day came with much excitement. My cousins each brought food that they cooked. So we have plenty on that day. Bhante arrived and all of us lined up to pay respect to him. Then we were all sitted on the floor. Bhante explained to us about doing dana and he explained every parittas that he chanted. He did not want us to follow blindly.

My dad may not be able to think well now but he did tell me that he was very very happy for the dana. Well, I hope to hold more house dana in future as my parents are not able to go to the temple to offer dana now.

It is good too to transfer merits to the devas, petas and to our dead relatives who may have reborn as hungry ghosts. And also to practice metta. I felt a lot of metta being radiated. As my parents are staunch Buddhist, I will fulfill their aim for them as long as I am alive.

Taking a boat ride from Monkey Beach

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Emmelia and I got a boat ride back to the other side. Pak Atan, the boatman, was seated behind Emmelia. As you can well see, both of us were having a good time. We enjoyed the ride not doubt we were scrutinized for being softies. Oh well, as long as we were happy SO WHAT!!!!!!!!

The trail to Monkey Beach

Here are a few photos which I manage to take though I was out of energy. Shame that I was not in the mood to take one of those which we need to jumped down and climbed up on boulders. It was tough on me as I was carrying a heavy load (water, food, DSLR camera, lenses, batteries and flash. Every time I jumped, I felt like falling to the direction where my load swung to. For your information, I fell twice scraping my knees. I rather not have my camera and lenses knocked against any though rocks.

Black Creature

Can anyone of you tell me what this black creature is? It was caught by Wong at Monkey Beach. It is not slimy. Soft to the touch, moves and shapes itself. And it was not a blood sucker though it looked like a giant leech.

I was captivated by it and was playing with it for a while. Alas, I asked what Wong was going to do with it. He said he was taking it home to cook it. Though I begged him to let it back into the water, I was talking to a deaf ear. He murdered it and found it uneatable as it turned very hard after boiling.

Poor thing...It was killed. It would be good if the authority set a law that whatever is caught has to be put back where it belonged?

Monkey Beach, Teluk Bahang

Here we are at Monkey Beach after the Pantai Keracut hike. The trail is rough compared to the one to Pantai Keracut. The beach is not as clean too. I saw a bungalow or two which were dilapidated. The bathroom and toilet situated behind one of the bungalows are in bad condition but usable. I hiked there but was too frighten to face the rough path upon coming back. So my daughter and I took a ride back for a mere RM10. We shared the ride with a few other youngsters. If not for the sharing, we have to fork out RM50 for a one way ride back.

There were lots of 'siput' (small clams) and our friend, Wong, managed to scope them with a self made device. These were plenty but they were small.

There was a group of families who camped here. The proprietor charges RM10 for a tent per night. He was a very pleasant guy. I took his boat back to the other side. He told a group that they can always call him on his mobile if there is an emergency.
His name is Pak Atan tel. 012 4731299 If you ever need his service.

All in I still prefer Pantai Keracut even if there were jelly fish there.

Newbies at PGHK

These three young beautiful girls are PGHK newbies. They just joined a few months back. I did not ask their names or ID. LOL....They were a little shy but admitted that they can be chatterboxes when on Sembang. Oh, well, I reasoned with them that's just because they are hidden. Even Jepun Lau Ee, our famous chatter, was very shy when we met last year. Her sister, Kacang, quipped that she needed a microphone to get her chatty. As for Joe aka Tox, he is his usual self. Unfortunately, Motoleng was not able to join Aloysius' celebration. He just got married and said that it was an omen to attend other celebrations. He is another chatterbox and joker. As for me, well, I was busy 'clicking' away and had no time to be chatty. My camera was doing all the talking.

Aloysius' !st Birthday Celebration, April, 2009

Recently (5th April, 2009) Joe celebrated Aloysius' 1st birthday by throwing the cheeky toddler a buffet dinner. I have not met this little boy for months and WHAT A CHANGE!!!! He is very active and he can give you the cheekiest of smiles when he feels that you deserve it. Jasmine has gone down on her weight drastically and she did not even have to spend much on slimming. We all had great fun eating. The food was fantastic.

Now this little cheeky toddler, Aloysius Lim, was twisting from left to right. Poor Jasmine had to held him tightly. He would not let anyone carry him except the mother. Aloysius is not a shy boy. You can touch him anytime but he will never allow you to carry him. That is really good as no one will be able to kidnap him.

The next day when Joe drove Jasmine and Aloysius to my place to get the cd burned with his pictures, he was calling out to the guards. Unfortunately they were too busy and did not hear his calls.

He is a sweet, active, cheeky boy. And I am sure anyone of you will be smitten by him.

Pantai Keracut 3

It was worth the long walk and climb. A good exercise too. On the way we met many friendly hikers. We were greeting each other. If not mistaken, true hikers do that. Sometimes someone would just stop to have a chat with me. Perhaps I look friendly????? Oh well, I am friendly anyway. Half way through, I decided to whistle some Australian songs. I am sure that 'Waltzing Matilda' is very familiar to you. Then the Australian national anthem came to my mind...and I was whistling to the tune too. Ermmm, minus the attention.

In the forest, I can hear an orchestra played by birds and crickets. It was so beautifully played. When you go trekking, do not forget to savour the sound of natural music. Open up your ears and listen....Then open your eyes to look out for nature's world. My husband was walking so fast and I felt sorry for he doesn't know how to appreciate such prettiness. I was taking pictures of tree trunks with ants crawling, bark of trees, leaves on the path....I hate to miss all these art of nature. Well, who knows one day I may find myself hiking alone into the forest so to be able to enjoy the serenity of the forest.

Pantai Keracut 2

See the angry face???? Hehehe well, after the huffing and puffing everything was calmed down. These were just the beginning of the journey. But it was worth all the sweating. It is adventurous. I got to take pictures of the trees, mushrooms and even a high flying eagle. I just love the beauty of the beach and it was crowded.

Pantai Keracut

After several unsuccessful attempts to hike to Pantai Keracut, we finally decided to go there on the 9th of February by hook or by crook. I was very as usual very eager about the trekking. The day before I was worried about my over excited tummy. For your information when I get too excited I want to go to the loo to shit. Lol that is rather very straight forward. But really I have been having this bad habit since my younger days.

To be precised I did have some kind of queasy feeling on that early morning. It got worst when my husband kept delaying. We nearly had a quarrel as I hate wasting time. He can be very slow, taking his own sweet time.

Then finally we were on our way with my queasiness. Just as we turn the corner into Lengkok Erskine, he blurted out that he had forgotten his cap. Geez, that really made me flare up as it was already 8am. And he had planned to stop for breakfast and buy something for lunch. I was irritated and told him to forget the cap as we would be too late and my bowels may not last at all. He got a little angry (male menopause) and said that it was still early. Oh boy oh boy, what a good start for the day!!!!!!!

Keen Sandals

This is one pair of sandals which I found very comfortable. I had been hunting for a good pair of multipurpose shoes or sandals for years. And had not been able to find one that I had dreamt of. Then one fine day as I was browsing through 'The Star' newspaper, I came across this article which was introducing these two brands of footwear. They were 'Saloman' and 'Keen'. The price of them made my eyes popped out as never in my live have I ever thought of investing in such a high price for footwears. It ranges from RM370 and above.

I went into the website and was perturbed to know the details and the different designs. Then I found that they were sold at World of Sports in Gurney Plaza. I spotted the sandals but seeing the unbelievable price put me off.

Well, during the Chinese New Year, I went to visit my aunt. She is from Seattle, USA. And she was all excited about her new pair of sports shoes. I was curious and started to asked questions. And the kind of brand. When she mentioned 'Saloman', I jumped up like an excited puppy. She showed me her shoes proudly and was telling me all the good things about it. Then I put my feet into them. Though her size was too big for me, I went 'oh' and 'ahhhh' as it was so comfortable. The cushioning was so soft and it is very light.

The next few days, I went to Gurney Plaza and I walked into World of Sports but unfortunately they did not have 'Saloman' my size. I have tiny feet. Actually kids' size. Sadly I walked out. But after going one round at the shopping complex, I decided to walk back in again as I did truly want to get myself a good pair of shoes. The sales personal smile at me as I was too persistant. I looked round and sported 'Keen'. Remembering that I did went to its website too, I knew it was another good expensive brand. But it was on sales (30% off). I tried on the sandals - ladies' size 5. It fitted. I felt like hugging the sale personal. Immediately I bought the pair.

A couple of days later, I went to get another pair of a different design as I want to make sure that I have an extra since my size is an 'outstanding' one. The second pair is blue in colour. It is very light and airy. And it is waterproof as well.

On the second week I went hiking to Pantai Keracut. I swear that my feet never felt so comfortable walking for hours. I dare say that it is worth the money paid. Finally I have a pair of good walking, climbing, running and jumping sandals...no wonder it is call a hybrid.

Time in Sydney, Australia

provided by World Time Zones

Neil Sedaka for 2009

Let's all rock to Neil Sedaka's Stairway to Heaven.....