Short Break.......

For the past 3 months or so, wifey has been super-duper busy with her attachments at a local hospital....

So for the next few days, wifey, kecik & myself will be going to the east coast for a short break and some trully 'quality' time together.....

It'll also gives me the opportunity to try out our new ride at East Coast Highway....hehehehe

Will post some pics when I get back ...

Have a good day........

hrmmmmmm........

Spent a few hours at a car showroom looking, admiring & wondering at a new car yesterday.....

Kecik was rather impressed.....and wifey was......errrr.....happy ( I think)

Hrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........



A

La Risata..Congratulations!!

Last night, my family and I went to this 'Italian' restaurant, La Risata to celebrate my bro's recent achievement in getting a degree.

I have to be honest though, after all that he has gone through and after all these years, he finally got a hold of a certificate that he wanted so much....It doesn't matter how long it took, but what matters was, the focus he took in getting things done was respectable!! Not an easy thing to do since most of his friends graduated years ahead of him, but this should inspire him to be a better person from today onwards!!

So, I would like to congratulate him!! Good effort and never stop learning bro......

Anyways, so off we went to this restaurant. Fancy restaurant in my opinion. A bit on the expensive side. But, since we are celebrating an achievement, I guess, the price doesn't matter much....

Enjoy the pics!!




The interior


Kecik...(no longer kecik lah....)


The menu...strange language was used...:p


Starter...with bread and some strange 'sauce'


The mushroom soup was out of this world....


Grilled salmon which my dad had...


Lamb Shank which was the choice for my bro


Lasagne for me....which wasn't the best....


Macaroni with cheese for kecik....


Lamb again for my sis.....


Tiramisu for dessert......

Ops: Saweet.....

During the CNY holidays, my wife and I took the opportunity to spend our time in Changkat Tin, Perak.

The place never ceases to amaze me everytime I went there. It kept on changing. I still remember my first ever visit to that place. I thought it was interesting and dull at the same time. Hahahahaha....

Well....the place used to be popular when tin mining was the main economic contributor in that area. Maybe during the early 1900's or something like that.

Anyways, one of the reasons that we want back to Perak was to look at some land. Remember my posting about palm oil and land few months back? Well, I know it took us bloody months to go and view the place but have to be honest though, when we went there, I thought the place, the land and the views surrounding the place was magnificent. It's about 5 acres of land. Surrounded by mining pools around it. Maybe boleh buat project ikan keli or udang kalau ada duit lebih....:)

We spent quite sometime hanging out at the place. I felt serene to be honest. I like it....

I've yet to decide on anything but one thing for sure though, I'll surely get myself a nice scrambler and keep it in my uncle's place. Hahaha. The reason being, when we went there, my uncle brought along his Honda C70, which I took the opportunity to ride on it. It's been a year, maybe more since I last rode a motorcycle, and when I rode the C70, it certainly felt good....heheheh.

I know it's wrong, but my little girl rode with me. She sat in the basket. Hahahahahahaha. I told my uncle that we should get ourselves a decent scrambler.

Anyways, back to the main topic, like i mentioned earlier, nothing is decided yet. Lots of factors needed to be taken into considerations. Obviously, finance will be the main issue here. Need to sort out the details, the returns, the monthly cost, bla bla bla....

But one thing though, if I have a bottomless pit of cash now with me, I won't hesitate to buy that land in a blink. Afterall, since I can no longer purchase a property (Thank YOu, BNM!!), might as well, I start to buy a land kan?....

Enjoy the pics

The land has been cleared by the current owner (who no longer has the interest to pursue his sawit project)




Previously, we came here to fish. Manage to catch ikan jelawat once. Hahaha.


Pokok kebabu welcoming us.....Kinda eerie when night comes....:p


If only I have a scrambler..........:(





Both pictures below were taken from my uncle's land situated about 3-4 minutes away. You can see that his project is coming along very well.....

Birthday Party.....Planner??

I went to my cousin's crib last Sunday to attend his son's first birthday.

Have to say that I'm very impressed with how they organized their son's birthday.

The birthday was themed 'Super Hero' and everyone was encouraged to come to the event complete with their superhero's costumes...

My daugther came with a fancy dress. When someone asks me, Kecik is not a superhero as she isn't dressed like one. I said, this is how catwoman would dress before she became a catwoman....hahahahaha


As you can see from the pic above, the birthday boy...or baby rather was dressed as spiderman and his sister as Bat girl. Rather cute... ehh?...

Anyway, just like everything in life, I learnt something new that day. I didn't know and realised that there are some of us out there who make a living in organizing birthday parties. Their fees ranges up till RM13000 I was told......wow....


Happy birthday little Qiqib.....!!

how strange.....ehh...

Isn't it funny whenever I spoke about having assets or make some savings, you're not interested...You just said...'my salary is too low..that's the reason I can't buy a property'...'wait till I get my raise'....

You then said....My friends bought a condo for RM200k. Another friend bought a condo for RM300k. So I said...why don't you buy a flat and take it from there....always the conversation just ended with silence....

To be frank...it's not THAT difficult to buy a property. But, in a order to buy a property, you must have a little bit of capital. To have a capital, you need to have some savings. See...all these things are inter-related...you need to have something to achieve something....

First and foremost, please, please save your money. Do it now. That's the very basic that you have to do....

You complained that your pay is too low...which I doubt very much. A friend of mine who's earning just below RM1500 has got 2 flats that he rented out for investment purposes...Now...you are telling me that with you current salary of almost RM3k is too low?

Perhaps, take a look back at your monthly commitments. You should cut all your unnecessary expenditures. If you can't afford to pay your monthly car installments, then perhaps, you gotta do something about it. Change to a smaller car. Learn to be a little bit more discipline. I know the fact that you have lots of credit cards debt as a result from buying unneccesary things.

There are help available around you but people can't help you if you don't help youself first. Change your attitude for a start. Learn to be a more responsible person.

You always spoke about your friends have this and that. My question is, what's stopping you from doing it yourself? Blaming it on others won't help.....

Take control of your life man........

Kenduri Kahwin lagi...........

Last Saturday was my sister-inlaw's wedding. The preparation for the wedding was done about a few months ago.

I really admire my wfie's family for organizing the wedding all by themselves. Not just organizing, but actually cooking all the foods for 1000 odd people by themselves. That's not an easy thing to do eh? With the majority of people will opt for hiring a caterer to prepare the foods, but they actually do it themselves. Even up to the point of washing the dishes!!! It takes a mega effort man.......thumbs up to 'em.

It was an experienced for me actually. During my sister's wedding a couple of months ago, my parents decided that only the nikah ceremony to be held at our house and the majlis bersanding to be held at a hotel. It sounded easy but it caused a lot of stress & headache to my parents. To a certain point, to me & my wife as well. Heheheh

So, I couldn't imagine what would be the stress like for Mak & ayah (my parents in law) for organizing the wedding all by themselves....

Anyway, the nikah was done on Friday night. It was attended by close family members only. I thought it was a simple ceremony. So to Asman, welcome to the family!!!

The bersanding was held on Saturday afternoon. The weather was very kind to us actually. Not too hot. It was very cloudy to be honest..The guest started coming in from 12pm and it lasts till about 5ish. Man....I can't remember how many hands I shook or the faces that I met that day. This is how a malay wedding should be. Actually, it was a totally different 'concept' from my sister's 'modern' themed a few months ago....Of course, this is where all the families would come together to not just to celebrate but to help out the organizers...hehehehehe....To all the families, thank you for helping!!

Anyways, enjoy the pics...

Rendang Tok


Anjang (Ketua Memasak.....ehh..ye ke?)




(The pelamin)


(Pasangan Pengantin.....)

September ends.........

What a week I had...

First my daughter was admitted to the hospital. She was only discharged 5 days later.
Imagine how much I would have to pay if I don't have any medical insurance plans for my baby. Let me be frank, the total cost of her 5 day stay, together with the medications, surcharge and what nots in the hospital comes up to about RM3.5k. Thank God that I have the medical insurance plan. Before discharging, I had to pay about RM400. Of which, I'll be receiving RM100 per day by the insurer in 2-3 weeks time. So, in the end, I only have to pay RM100 for her treatment. So guys, if you don't have medical plans for yourself, your spouse or your children, please do so. Find yourself a good agent who can guide you well...


Doing her physios....

Later on Saturday, we had a small Hari Raya get together with the family. After few days of sleeping at the hospital, ( I was sick as well) I thought it was a good way to end the rather 'stressful' week. To make the matters worse, Liverpool (oh dear.... oh dear) did it again. For god's sake, play football lah idiots!! Damnit!!!

Btw, during the get together, a cousin of mine decided to 'straightened up' my daughter's rather disasterous hair. Hahahahah...



On Sunday, I had the opportunity of meeting up a potential tenant. He is very interested in renting the place in Unipark...If he decides to rent the place, so it could be another busy week for me in getting the furnitures done up to the place.





If everything goes according to plan, the next thing to do is to make sure that my cashflow returns to the normal level again. Well, it's not that I'm in dire need of cash at the moment, but after looking at my spending activies for the last month or so, I noticed that if I don't have the OD facility, I'll be a dead meat by now....hehehe

Actually, I'm eager to start up with the education plan by Public Mutual. In fact, since my eyes are now wide open to the world of investments (although I'm relatively green in investments), I may try to be an investment consultant myself...hehehe...See how it goes lah....

Have a good week ahead....

Little princess...

My lil princess & sweet buttercup has been admitted to the hospital again due to acute exacerbation of asthma.

Get well soon sayang......

No more ice creams & watermelon yaaaaaaaa.....

A father's speech

A few nights ago, I attended my sister's wedding (again) at a hotel in PJ. This time, the wedding was organized by her husband's parents. Nice and sweet event I must. It had a Arabian-Moroccon themed styled wedding. Wonder why people nowadays have all this autumn or arabian 'styled' weddings. What ever happened to those traditional Malay weddings eh?

Anyways, during the wedding, Che Man's father gave a wonderful speech. He talked a lot about che man and one of his advices to the new couple is to 'MANAGE YOUR FINANCES REALLY WELL'.

I like it when he stresses on the importance of managing their finances. Now that they are married, both of them are responsible in choosing and identifying what's best for them. Of course, to be finacially stable is very important for everyone. It includes you and me.

If you don't manage you finances well, you may ended doing the wrong things, Buying unnecessary stuff, Investing in the wrong places and bla bla bla. All that can go wrong, will go wrong.

I have to admit, that I wasn't able to manage my finances well during my late 20s. I regretted it but Alhamdulillah I learnt from it. I'm not saying that I'm managing my finances superbly now but at least it's better then it was 8 or 10 years ago. I found a site that simply had 5 'simple' ways to manage your finances. Here goes:

1) Earn Income(s)
2) Live within your means (Uncle Din stressed this point as well)
3) Save Money
4) Invest wisely
5) Have a plan and stick to it

Sounds easy eh? In reality though, it can be difficult if you have not done it. I think, some people that i've met, material wealth is important. Having nice & big house is important. Driving flashy cars is important. Wearing designer watches and handbags are important. The list goes on. Let me tell you, I've been in the shithole of having bad debts around me a couple of years ago. I buy all the unnecessary things and stuff that I thought would make me a happy guy. It doesn't and like I said, I regretted it. Thank God, I came to my senses and have been able to control my emotions especially in terms of managing my financial resources.

Think of it this way. Your income is X amount. Your expenses is Y amount. You must make bloody sure that your Y does not exceed the X amount every month. What's the point of having bad debts around you? Are you working hard to pay your debts? Are you working hard to pay off those credit card bills? Do you think that just by paying the minimum 5% of your total credit card bills will make you sleep easier at night? Or are you working hard to be financially secured? The decision,ladies and gentlemen, is entirely yours.

All of us, each were given a brain by the Almighty to think what's right and wrong. So think carefully and manage your finances well. Thank you Uncle Din for a such wonderful speech. Thank you for the inspiration as well.......

Have a good day....

Playschool....

This week is actually a big week for me, my wife and the little girl. Why? It is because she has now gone to 'school'. Imagine, she is barely 3 and has got to go to 'school'.

I, as a father, actually felt a little bit kasihan at kecik as she will be in school till she is 17. That's like another 14 years. Then college or university and then get married. Huh, time will certainly fly very fast!!

It was only yesterday that I felt that I held her in my hands. But now, she called me ayah every time I come home and that is something that money can't buy.

Anyways, my point here is, although I'm very happy to see her to go to School but at the back of my mind, being parents with kids nowadays will not be easy as there are so many things that you have to think of especially from the financial aspects. For examples, their school fees, clothes and whatever else.

You'll need to think about her 3rd level education which everybody knows that it is not cheap. Of course, as parents, you want to provide the best environment for your kids. Hence, it will certainly comes with a price. I would assumed that I will need to have something about RM50k-RM100k for her 3rd level education in 15 years time (assuming that she will go into a private college). That means, I have to save up about RM500 per month for the next 15 years for her 3rd level education. Wow...Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead but that is the reality that I'll be facing in the future. Of course, it'll be a different story if she were to get a scholarship. hehehehe. And of course, it will be a totally different story if she is offered a place at a university out of Malaysia. Dennnggg.....

Another angle is, marriage. Again, of course every parents wants to have the best possible marriage for their children. And believe me, this marriage thingy will cause major headache. Perhaps, from my experience, marriage now involves loads of money. I mean A LOT!! Marriage packages now starts from 10-15k for the basic package and it can goes into several hundred thousands far people with loads of money. It's a scary thought though but again, it is the reality moreover for me. Heheheh. That's another thing that I have think about. It won't happen so soon but it will happen before I even notice it. So, that's another Rm500 per month of saving I guess.

However, it makes me think that by investing into properties will actually help me in soothing my concerns about kecik's education and marriage cost. Hhehehe. I guess, it provides me a cushion to have something to 'sell' when the time comes. However, it is just a thought that crosses my mind for the last couple of weeks and it is another wake up call for me that life's not gonna be all rosy and rainbows. I hope when the time comes, I'm ready for it and I thank god that I realised this now instead of 10 years time.

There are of course, more things that I will need to do. Maybe this year is my 'step-up-to-another-gear' year. It's time to take a little bit of risk and see how it goes....

Weekend Journal

Friday
I had an interesting day today. Later in the afternoon, I went to the airport to fetch my aunt and her family flying from the US to attend to my cousin's wedding. Waited for about an hour after their scheduled landing time before I get to see them through the KLIA glasses at the arrival hall. I even had a RM17.50 burger king meal overthere. Geeeezzzzz...mahal gila beb...Anyhoos, we made our way to TTDI hills but I had to drive really slow, I mean REALLY slow as the rain was pouring like there's no tomorrow. Yeah, we reached just in time for the akad nikah ceremony. I thought the ceremony was cool but aunty yah's house is way cooler. The weather wasn't being kind to us that day. A very wet day actually. Anyway, back to aunty yah's crib. It has lots of stairs and rooms. I actually can get lost inside the house. It's more or less like a maze. But it's not a maze. You get what i mean? Stayed there till about 11pm before I decided to go home...

Saturday
Spend the morning playing golf with my uncles at Seri Selangor. Lost my phone at the clubhouse actually. Fecckk!!! Mentally I was a bit pissed off so my game wasn't the best but I seemed to enjoy myself. Getting 90s is a norm for me in SS. Hahahaha....After the game, I had to make my way to KLCC together with wifey and kecik to Maxis center to get my new SIM card and a new phone. really menyusahkan betul. Later in the evening, went back to my aunt's place for the majlis bersanding. Again, it was a grand ceremony in my opinion. Didn't spend too much time outside the house, just lingering inside the basement and hang out with my cousins. Went back a wee bit late I think. Btw, I met my old college mate. She is actually the bigger sister of the guy who's marrying my cousin. Err....faham tak?...:p What a small world!!!

Sunday....
Nothing much happened during the day. Went for a jamming session with some friends in the afternoon before I had to dress up to go to my cousin's wedding in Le Meridien. Have to be frank though, that was the first time that I ever been to that hotel. The fact that I often drive through KL sentral every day but hanging out in Le Meridien never crosses my mind. ANyhoos, like I said, the hotel is cool. The Nasi Lemak Malinja costs about RM35 in the hotel as compared to the original Nasi Lemak Malinja just a few clicks away that only costs you a measly sum of RM5. My mom decided to spend a night there and costs her about RM350. It's funny though, her house is only about what...10 minutes away...but she decides to sleep in the hotel. Hahahaha....Anyways, during the ceremony, saw all my cousins dressed in lounge suits. Man, have they all grown up. Me, I hate wearing suits. Plus, I'm seriously overweight and I don't look good anymore...Time to shred some fats!!!

Anyhoos, went home just after midnight and I thought to myself, that was some weekend...Looking forward for the week though. My distant uncle has invited me to play golf with him at KLGCC.....should i play or should i not....:p

Kenduri Tunang/Kahwin

Persoalannya...kenapa & mengapa mak2 selalu stress bila anak2 nak kahwin...

Apakah faktor2 yg menyebabkan tekanan kepada para ibu-ibu serta bapa-bapa....?

Mari kita diskus dgn lebih mendalam subject yg sungguh subjective ini...

Adakah kerana pemilihan makanan yg hendak di sajikan kepada para tetamu?

Adakah kerana sukar untuk membuat pilihan dimana kenduri tersebut akan di jalankan?

Adakah kerana kesukaran untuk mendapatkan jumlah sebenar para tetamu yg akan hadir?

Adakah kerana melihat kenduri kahwin rakan2 mereka yang lebih indah serta grand?

Adakah kerana kesusahan untuk mendapat kerjasama dari pelbagai pihak?

Adakah kerana permintaan atau 'demand' yg tinggi dari pihak pengantin itu sendiri?

Adakah kerana 'theme colour' yg menjadi trend di masa kini?

erkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.................

Al-fatiha....

My dearest auntie whom all of us called Aunty Nik passed at away at around 4pm yesterday at her home. She was 52. This news came as a shock to a majority of us as aunty nik was always known to us as a bubbly and cheerful person. For me personally, she was a very soft-spoken and friendly person. This was evident during her solat jenazah at Bukit Jelutong's mosque earlier today when a lot of people came over to the mosque to pay their last respect to her..

To uncle din, jojo, yen, nadzmi and cik mina, I'm sorry for your loss. It must be very hard on all of you but please know that all of us will be there for you when you need us...

Al-Fatiha...

UPdate on the little princess

Alhamdulillah, Alya was finally discharged on Saturday afternoon after 4 days of treatment in Pantai Hospital. On Friday, upon the doctor's advised, she was tested for the H1N1 virus and the test revealed a negative result. I was a little bit worried that she might have the disease and fortunately it wasn't. Basically, alya now has asthma and the doctor has given her some medication that she gotta take for the next few days. So no more cold drinks and ice for her for the time being. Heheheheh. Previously, she doesn't like to take her medicine whenever she fell sick but now, after much persuasion from the nurses at the hospital, feeding her is pretty much easier.

All of us were supposed to go back to Muar last Saturday for my late grandma's tahlil but since alya wasn't well, we stayed back. Anwyays, I'm so happy and relieved that she is now back to her usual self. Seeing her having difficulty in breathing is not something I wanna see again in the future....