30 November 2009

Say hello to the latest addition to my family. The new 1.25GHz PowerPC eMac computer. My geeky life is complete.

I am now triple-booting with Windows, Linux and Mac at home. Still can't believe the eMac is just 200 bucks!

24 November 2009

29 years ago in a little house on top of a hill, overlooking a palm oil estate somewhere in Sepang, my Mom started to have labour pains around 1 or 2 o' clock in the morning. Since there were no highway whatsoever back then in 1980, my Mom had to go through quite a bumpy ride as my Dad drove along the trunk road from Sepang to Kuala Lumpur. A few hours later, 4.59 AM to be exact, a healthy, bouncy baby boy was born at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital. The baby's name was Mohd Afif. The rest, as they say is history of course.
My wife wished me happy birthday very early in the morning today. She also bought my favourite blueberry cheese cake from Secret Recipe. Thanks darling. I got tons of wishes at Facebook but hardly anybody noticed it's my birthday today at the office. Not that it matters or is surprising to me really since I'm nobody important. Apart from that nothing else interesting happened today. November 24, 2009 is just another ordinary working day of the year.

Again, thank you everyone for the wishes and prayers. I really appreciate it.

If Adam was here, he'd probably made me a card or something. Hmm.

22 November 2009

After Adam is done with his little concert and performance, now is the time to send him back home to Kelantan to the loving arms of his grandparent. We think it’s about time that Adam spend some time with his grandparent, uncles and aunts. And there couldn’t be a better time than this school holiday season.

Actually we wanted to buy him a train ticket but they were all sold out in like in an hour when they went up for sale last week. So we bought him a bus ticket instead and asked his uncle Pak Tam to accompany him for the trip.

You know sometimes Adam can be so naughty that I wished he could disappear from my life for a day. But now that he’d left, I felt the total opposite instead. Although he’s been gone for only 12 hours we missed him so terribly already. Her Mom actually cried last night when we got home. Well I didn’t cry (yet).

You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. We won't be seeing him for at least a week. At least we know that he has arrived safe and sound in Tanah Merah today. You behave yourself now son.

21 November 2009

To think that we almost skipped this event and send Adam packing with his Grandma back home to Pasir Mas. It would have been the miss of the century. First of all Adam's mates will be one member short, he'll miss all the glamor and prizes awarded to him and most of all, he won't get to have a really good time with his friends and teachers.

I'm so glad that we actually go there in the end. Cyberjaya Lake Community Club is quite a beautiful place. Located next to the Multimedia University, it's got a lake and a park, a driving range, a go-kart track and of course the main club house itself. Cyberjaya the town on the other hand is really a shame.

Although situated just next door to Putrajaya, the place is not as beautiful or shiny as it's famous neighbour. Somehow it lacks the charm and organization of Putrajaya. The signboards and sidewalk is dilapidated and lacks some TLC and even the lamp posts are quite ugly ordinary. In a nutshell, Cyberjaya the centre for Multimedia Super Corridor is like the ugly step sister of Putrajaya, the administrative capital of the country.

Maybe it's because they're under different owners and administration. If that's so then Cyberview Sdn Bhd really sucks and don't know how to manage a town.

20 November 2009

Although Chinese New Years is still a million years away, McDonald's popular Prosperity Burger meal has already made an appearance at an outlet near you this week. My wife for example is a big fan of this Prosperity Burger so she insisted that we eat this burger like right away.

Well I love this burger too. They're made from a processed beef patty dipped with a special Campbell black paper sauce and served with some onions. That's it. You can probably find the beef patties and the onion at the store but the special Campbell black pepper sauce is not available for sale anywhere. I know, I've looked for them at all hypermarkets I've been to. I remember I used to eat this burger a lot when I was working at that McDonald's restaurant in KL and even used the special sauce as a dipping. Simply yummy.

Now a Prosperity burger meal wouldn't be complete without this limited time only curly fries made from a specially seasoned and battered fries.

On route to McDonald's, Mia have been complaining of a little tummy ache. She felt better while we were eating but towards the end, I smelled something spectacular in the air (and it's not love). True enough, I found out Mia had pooped on my lap. Well If you already had a child of your own you'd probably know by now that shit like this do happen (pun intended). It's quite normal. There's nothing to be ashamed of.

If you're visiting this McDonald's restaurant in Equine Park, stay clear of the second table from the play area. And also look out for the special Big Mac sauce on the floor ;)

17 November 2009

My faithful 2 years old jogging shoes has spoken, literally. He now has mouth. I guess I have abused them so much they started speaking out to me ha ha!

Guess I need to get a new pair of sports shoe now. The problem is I cannot afford to buy anything let alone a new shoes at the moment. I wish somebody from Adidas or Nike would want to sponsor me or something. Then again I'm no Kenny Sia where companies literally scramble to get him to endorse their products. What's so special with that nerdy fat blogger anyway? He's ugly, has no real girlfriend and yet people compete to be the first to comment on his every new blog post? Life is unfair.

16 November 2009

Another month passes us by and another colleague quit and found a new job. I wanted to be happy for him but then I wouldn't be honest with myself. Tell me one reason why I should be? He found and new job with probably a better pay while I'm stuck with my current pay which is becoming increasingly sparse every month. We had so many staff that quit every month I find it's amazing that we still have any people left in the company at the moment.

The truth is, everytime somebody quit no matter how long or short he or she been here at the company we get somewhat demoralized and demotivated for a while at least. So while we do get free breakfast once but the fact remains, they've left for a better patch. There's hardly any reason to celebrate. People come and go. So what? Life must go on. Adieu.

15 November 2009

I woke up around 5:00 AM today meaning to do some last minute revision which I did. The thing is I kept glancing at the clock to see how much time I have left which instead created a sense of urgency and panic of some sort. Unlike some of the other papers that I sit for this semester, we didn't get any spot questions or real hints from our lecturer on this one. So basically we had to study and remember everything in the text book for the 3 hours paper.

Although I arrived an hour early for the exam, I can only continue reading for the first 30 minutes or so because I get rather distracted by the noise and the crowd building up around the hall. Most of my classmates were there, some opted to take their exams at UiTM branches elsewhere and one or two didn't show up again after the first class.

3 hours paper but most of us were finished before the 2 hours mark. I think only about 2 people stayed the duration of the 3 hours. If they didn't get full bloody marks then I don't know what the heck are they doing in there for the full 3 hours.

Now today is finally the end of the semester. When we first met, we were complete strangers but today a couple of months later it's like we've known each other for years, all thanks to Facebook. Some people call it the Jewish proxy for world domination or the easy way for Big Brother to watch on you but we can all agree on one thing, it did what it meant to do really well, connect people, family and friends. And surely that can't be a bad thing right?

So one semester down and only 7 more to go. See you guys all next year okay?

14 November 2009

The last time I went out on a date with my wife was some time in July last year at Aeon Cheras Selatan. We went to eat at Old Town White Coffee and watched a lousy movie title 'Get Smart' starring Anne Hathaway and some guy. A few days after that our house got broken into and most of my valuable possession were gone. After that we didn't get to go out together, just the two of us anywhere again. Time and budget constrains were the main culprit plus we didn't have any place to leave our kids for the whole day.

So when Exabytes offered 2 free movie tickets to watch 2012 at GSC One Utama and my Mom sportingly agreed to look after the kids, we jumped at the opportunity. We went window shopping around the mall first and then grab something to eat, curiously also at Old Town White Coffee (I pray that our house is not broken into again tomorrow). It was great to be able to go out together again, just the two of us.

One Utama does change a bit since the last time we went there like 3 years ago when we were still living in Kota Damansara. There sure is a lot of people there on weekends. The same reason I hate going to Mid Valley, parking space is almost non-existent here at One Utama. And since they don't have a parking light guiding system like Sunway Pyramid or The Mines, we had to circle for ages to find a vacant parking spot. The only consolation is, we had no problem finding our car again because the parking lot numbers is truly well-designed.

Too bad I had to tell something untrue to Adam before we get to go out sans him and Mia. What choice do we have? He'll absolutely would want to tag along had we told him where we're going. Sorry buddy but Papa and Mama had to work err extra hours today ;)

13 November 2009

Blogs vs Facebook vs Twitter

I have both Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as my 2 primary blogs. I use them all to communicate with my friends and strangers, express my feelings and opinions and note down important and historical events in my life.

Afif PLC is the place where I post general news, public events, opinions, reviews and pretty much everything under the sun. Afif Chronicles on the other hand is my personal private space where I post a more intimate details of my life, daily routines, important and noteworthy events, stuff at work and also family matters.

Afif PLC is a public domain where I did make some effort to market it to world. After every update I will publish them to blog aggregators such as Petaling Street and SARA or even link them to my Facebook page. If I want to refer anybody to my blog, I will tell them to go to Afif PLC. I get an average of 200 hits per day for that blog and I put up several ads on the site.

Afif Chronicles is the total opposite of Afif PLC. It is my personal domain. I didn't do any marketing at all for this blog and the only way for people to find it is to click on my Blogger profile or find out about it from my friends. Compared to PLC, I only get around 20 hits per day for this blog and I guess most of them are my faithful followers. The page is plain and simple and clean from ads, suitable with it's tag as "The World's Best Kept Secret Blog". I feel more at ease and unpretentious blogging on Chronicles because there I don't have anybody to please or any expectation or standard to meet.

Facebook to me is much like Afif PLC where it's a public place. I have hundreds of friends there from work, school and all over the place. Most of them know me from certain time and phase in my life and anything I put up on there will be available for all the world to know. Nothing is private on Facebook. That is why I post my more intimate and private thoughts on my Twitter page. Although I have like 50 followers, most of them were complete strangers to me and I have never met any of them in real life. Only a handful of them knew or have met me personally.

And now you know about my blogs, Facebook and Twitter world.

12 November 2009

Mia Ariana, cute, sweet and totally adorable. However she has this bad habit where she likes to suck her two middle fingers all the time. We tried to stop her from doing that but she just kept sucking her fingers once we looked away.

Today one of her nails totally fell off exposing the skin underneath it. Needless to say she finds it really painful because she will cry whenever she absent-mindedly sucked on her fingers again. We had to wrap her finger in a bandage and put on band aids during the day from now on. How do you stop your little ones from sucking their fingers?

11 January 2009

Exam day again today. 3 hours paper but most of my friends and I were finished with our answers just within 2 hours. Our progress with the house purchase has been slow but steady. We've already got in touch with a few banks regarding the housing loan but we're still waiting for the S&P document from the owner. We have passed the point of no return now. Going to do whatever it takes to get the our dream home.

9 November 2009

Thanks to my Dad, we can finally pay the 2.75% booking money for Casa Riana apartment. I was worried that we might not get that 115K price. The last agent I called said the apartment is now for sale from 120K onwards. Somehow my agent managed to convince the owner to sell it to us with the old price. Now we only have to apply for a housing loan and maybe take out a personal loan as well to pay for the legal fees. We never knew owning a house would cost so much money.

Last week I found a little rat in our kitchen. I managed to trap it in the toilet and smack it to death with a broom. Two days later I saw another rat hiding under the kitchen cabinet. I gave it a chase with my trusty broom but to my astonishment it ran and slip right under the kitchen door and straight into the backyard. I know that it's small but the way it slid under the door, it's like the thing has no bones at all! I had to nail a piece of stick below the door to stop the rat from coming in the future.

Yesterday while I was about to park my car, I saw a big ugly dog about to poop in front of my gate. I quickly blared my horn like crazy but the dog just kept on going with his business. It's only when I was about to run the dog down with my tires did it ran away an poop at the vacant house next door instead.

If those are not enough reasons why we should move away from this place then I don't know what are. I can tell you a dozen more reasons why I hate this place but I'll save them for another day. I know I probably had to take another part time job to afford the apartment but right now, anyplace is better then this.

5 November 2009

Oh Casa Riana, how i long for thee. Our plans to own a house has hit a backstage because of a financial setback. Initially we wanted to take out a personal loan to pay for the 5% deposit but after thinking hard about it, we would be paying both for the personal loan and housing loan later on which could be a real burden for us. Besides, there's a gazillion other things we need to pay such as the lawyer's fees, S&P and so much more that sometimes we wondered if we can afford to do this.

It pains my heart to drive past the apartment almost every day of the week and see all the tenants moving in and the price of the place steadily climb due to high demand. Before, we can buy the place for as low as 110K but today we'd be lucky if the price doesn't soar well above 120K. Time is definitely of the essence and right now they are not on our side.

We did found an angel financial that could help us with our dream but up until now we're still waiting for his final word. We were hoping instead of borrowing from the bank, why not borrow from him instead and avoid all those expensive interests.

If we failed to get his financial backing, I think we'd probably say goodbye to our dream home.

3 November 2009

Unlike last time, I am quite prepared with my second paper (travel-wise that is). We left the house a lot earlier and I took the long road with the least traffic and got there in section 7 45 minutes before time. Even had time to make some last time revision by reading the flash notes on my iPhone® .

This time I didn't leave the exam hall early though. You don't expect me to master every subject I take this semester do you? Yes maybe English is my forte but for the rest, I'm just as good as the next guy. For this Principals of Islam paper, I answered everything in part A and most of the questions in the difficult Part B. Since our 'very caring' lecturer didn't give us any hints or spot questions there's nothing much we can do except read on everything and hope for the best.