Newborns

I've taken long leave after plant turn around activity ends to go back to my beloved hometown, Banting. I've taken the opportunity to visit my friends who had just have been 'promoted' to be parents. Congratulation to Cikun and Zunita for their first daughter named Safiyyah. She is already around 4 month's old when I paid a visit to their house in Puchong.

 

Safiyyah binti Shahrul Nizam

 

Safiyyah & me

Two days after that, I received information about the birth of a baby boy belongs to Hazmi and Shahirah. I paid them a visit once Shahirah has been discharged from the hospital. The boy was named Harith Sufyan and the most notable feature is the nose that really reminds me of Hazmi. :P

Harith Sufyan bin Hazmi Hijazi

1 day old Harith Sufyan with his dad

Anyway, congratulations to both couples and I wish the babies will grow healthily to be a bright and good person in the future. :)

With Cikun and his daughter

 Fellow Banting friends visiting Hazmi and family

Phase Shift

Shifting to another phase of life, am I ready for it? Am I willing to change from the life that I am living now? Getting ready for something that had not been experienced before is pure bullshit, because you will never be ready for it. But, are you brave enough to face the wave? Can you prepare yourself to overcome the hurdle that awaits? Will you face it head-to-head, or you get around it? Please really asks yourself~

After 24 Days of Painful Wait

2 April 2012, a report with reference number 11077792 has been made at TM Careline by dialing 1300889515 using my mobile phone. The complaint was made to report about no dial tone and unavailability of Streamyx service at my home.

24 Days earlier...

Starting from there, numerous calls was made and they just said to me that they will send technician to my house to investigate the problem. And they never came...

Furious about the slow progress, I've made a report to Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) on 4th April.

Only after 18 days of waiting and calling, they only said there was cable theft in my area and they need to wait for the replacement cable to arrive before they can proceed with the rectification work.

 After 24 Days...

Finally, on 26 April 2012 (after freaking long 24 DAYS!!!), the problem was rectified. Thank you TM for your speedy service and superb customer service. Just because you are the only Internet provider in this area, you took this customer for granted. :)

Now I can start torrenting like no tomorrow!

p/s: for record, TM had accidentally terminated my service for not receiving my bill payments. Upon thorough checking, they admit they overlooked my payment that was made online.

Rage Against the Rodents

Lately, my sleep had been disturbed by squealing noise of mouses that 'invaded' my house. After a week of investigation, I had identified two mouses were residing inside my room. To avoid further damage to my properties, I had monitored the mouses' route and set up a trap.

So today after work I went to the local hardware shop to buy mouse trap. I have been offered with two options, rat's glue or mouse trap. I've decided to go with rat's glue method and bought the super sticky glue at RM5.00 per can.

Fuji Glue costs RM 5.00

The result? One mouse was trapped after 2 hours of the trap placement. The only drawback of using glue is the strong smell of glue. I've placed the trap and went to Fitri's house to watch the lame Anugerah Juara Lagu 2012 (AJL 2012) to run away from the smell. I found the mouse trapped the moment I went back from Fitri's house.

First catch!

How about the second mouse? I could not sleep with the strong smell of glue. I would like to give the second mouse a chance to repent and go away from my room by tonight before I set up another trap tomorrow.

Kepala Buto Kau!

Shocking, isn't it? Since when I dare to curse publicly over the Internet? Although I admit that I sometimes cursing when having a conversation with my gay male friends.

Not bad for a noob in photoshopping the logo, but I believe SDARian can do better than this :P

Nah, this post is not about me cursing but about an underage boy who open up a group defaming my beloved alma-mater, Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak (SDAR). He might be having some issues with the boy(s) from my school but I believe the view of Bazli Hijan (his FB profile link here), the group creator does not represent the view of all Royal Military College (RMC) students out there. The group page of Kami anti SDAR can be accessed here.

The page was created on 26 January 2012

This is totally childish act by the group creator. In fact, there are some of the boys from RMC do not agree with this boy's act. This shows some of the kids still have some common sense intact to their brains. And for that, you have my respect.

The not-so-jambu group creator :P

Feedbacks from fellow SDARAs (the old boys) are mixed, some prefer to ignore and some urged other fellow SDARAs to report the group to Facebook admin. Nonetheless, we are agreed not to take any retaliatory act upon the group or RMC boys. I hope the boys (our juniors) at school will do the same too.

I'd love to quote Rauhi Isa, my school principal from 2001 until 2003 said, "Orang hebat memang ramai yang dengki" or "Great people is often envied by others".

I shall now let the seniors and students from RMC to rectify this shameful act from one of their rotten apple.

Berilmu Untuk Berjasa!

Wetnessday

Monsoon season is hitting Terengganu again for this year! Indeed, today is the wettest day throughout the week. It is raining heavily today since morning and have a short pause at noon before torrential rain hit again in the afternoon. To some, the rain symbolizes blessings from the god. However, the rain could also means sadness to some.

Congratulations to our national football team Harimau Muda for defeating Garuda of Indonesia during final match of SEA games yesterday. The weather was also kinder here in Terengganu, probably supporting the loyal supporters of Harimau Muda to go out and cheer for their beloved team via live match telecast provided by most restaurants here. There was no rain and the patrons cheering with full enthusiasm without fear of getting wet.
 

However, heavy rain today is probably signifies the sorrow of my friend and his family. The mother  nature is like mourning the death of his 6 days old daughter. I was at the funeral, solat jenazah was performed after Asar prayer and the deceased was buried in cemetery at Dungun at 5:00 p.m. I hope you and your family is strong to face this unfortunate events. Al-fatihah.

All in all, I can avoid myself from being drenched in wetness. :)

11/11/11 - Royal Breakfast

Adelle Davis once quoted, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper". But that quote does not really reflect my eating habit here in Kerteh. My diet is quite improper and I eat whenever I feel like due to no cook available here.

Kerteh Morning Market

Most probably I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner like a pauper. But on this 'special' day (what is so special about this day, it is merely a date in a year!), I decided to get up early and ate breakfast like a king. After getting a shower (which I rarely do in the morning of a weekend), I fired up the car and went to Kerteh morning market. The morning market is held every Friday from 0800H to 1100H.

 

 The food section, heaven!

Fruits sold here

You can buy anything from clothings, sundry items to fresh vegetables, seafood, poultry and meat. My target for today is to hunt for breakfast to fit the 'king' status. After browsing around the market for 30 minutes, I decided to have nasi kerabu, satay and sugar cane drinks for breakfast. It was a filling breakfast and I was full till dinner. Enjoy the pictures! :)

 Solok, stuffed chilli for Nasi Kerabu

 Clothings

 Jumbo jackfruit

Refreshing sugarcane

Sambutan Aidil Adha di Tanah Adat

Pada 6 November 2011 yang lepas, seluruh umat Islam di atas muka bumi ini menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Adha atau pun dikenali sebagai Hari Raya Qurban. Kebiasaannya, umat Islam menyambutnya dengan ibadah qurban atau pun menyembelih haiwan-haiwan ternakan sebagai memperingati kisah Nabi Ismail dan bapanya Nabi Ibrahim. Daging-daging korban ini akan diagih-agihkan kepada orang ramai dan golongan-golongan yang memerlukan.

Tetapi itu tidak berlaku dalam keluarga aku untuk sambutan tahun ini. Selepas menunaikan solat Hari Raya Aidil Adha, kami mengambil kesempatan untuk berjalan-jalan di sekitar Gemas dan Melaka. Kami sekeluarga menaiki dua buah kereta dalam penjelajahan ini. Destinasi pertama adalah Stesen Keretapi Gemas yang terletak kira-kira 12 kilometer dari FELDA Sungai Kelamah, kampung halamanku.

Di platform Stesen Keretapi Gemas

 

Kawasan sekitar stesen kereta api ini sedang giat dibangunkan semula untuk memberi ruang kepada projek kereta api elektrik dengan landasan berkembar dari Kuala Lumpur. Khabarnya, stesen lama ini akan dirobohkan bagi memberi laluan kepada pembangunan projek kereta api elektrik ini. Jika ini benar, maka hilanglah warisan sejarah sistem rangkaian kereta api di Malaysia ini. Stesen Keretapi Gemas merupakan stesen terpenting menghubungkan laluan dari Pantai Timur, Pantai Barat dan Singapura. Jadi aku sekeluarga merakamkan gambar kenang-kenangan di sini andai stesen ini akan hilang ditelan kemajuan di masa akan datang.

5 beradik di stesen kereta api

Selepas itu, kami ke Melaka pula. Seperti yang dijangka, bandar Melaka kini mengalami pembangunan yang pesat dan sudah mula mengalami kesesakan. Jika anda ingin ke Melaka, anda disarankan untuk meletak kereta di kawasan letak kereta di Kompleks Dataran Pahlawan yang menawarkan kadar letak kereta "sekali masuk" (per entry) dan tidak mengikut jam. Selepas itu, kami makan tengah hari di Mahkota Parade sebelum meneruskan sesi lawatan di Melaka.

 

Dahulunya padang, sekarang menjadi kompleks membeli-belah

 

Bandar Hilir, Melaka 

Sesudah makan, kami menuju ke kawasan tarikan pelancong yang terkenal di Melaka iaitu di sekitar Bandar Hilir seperti A Famosa. Kami juga melawat Memorial Perisytiharan Kemerdekaan dan berpeluang melihat kereta Chevrolet bernombor pendaftaran BE52 yang digunakan oleh Bapa Kemerdekaan Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman semasa membuat perisytiharan kemerdekaan di bandar Melaka pada tahun 1957.

 

Memorial Perisytiharan Kemerdekaan

Kereta Chevrolet bernombor pendaftaran BE52 yang bersejarah

Kami juga telah mendaki Bukit St. Paul yang menempatkan runtuhan Gereja Saint Paul. Bersempena dengan cuti umum, replika Istana Kesultanan Negeri Melaka yang terletak berdekatan ditutup dan kami hanya mampu untuk bergambar dari luar pagar sahaja.

 

 Di hadapan Kota A Famosa

 Di atas Bukit St. Paul, binaan berwarna putih di belakang kami sebenarnya adalah kubur Belanda

 Sebahagian runtuhan binaan gereja St. Paul

 Kediaman TYT Melaka

Pemandangan dari atas Bukit St. Paul

Apabila hari menjelang petang, kami bergerak meninggalkan Melaka menuju ke FELDA Sungai Kelamah melalui Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan dari Ayer Keroh. Sebagai perbandingan, masa yang diperlukan untuk sampai ke Melaka dari Gemas adalah 1 jam melalu jalan Tebong-Kuala Sungga, tetapi untuk sampai ke plaza tol Ayer Keroh dari Bandar Melaka mengambil masa 40 minit disebabkan oleh lampu isyarat yang banyak dan mengambil masa yang lama untuk berhenti di satu-satu persimpangan. Kami tiba di kampung pada pukul 9:00 malam.

Tukang Potong Rumput di Lebuhraya

Kronologi Kejadian

1. Sebuah kereta dua pintu berwarna hitam dalam perjalanan dari Kuala Lumpur ke Pulau Pinang sedang dipandu pada kelajuan 160 km/j di Lebuhraya Utara Selatan berhampiran kawasan Bukit Gantang.
2. Pemandu kemudian melalui kawasan selekoh di lorong kanan pada kelajuan sama sebelum menyedari dua orang pemotong rumput hendak melintas di kawasan selekoh lebuhraya sama.
3. Terdapat sebuah van bergerak perlahan di lorong kiri dan pemandu kereta tidak ada ruang untuk menukar lorong dan terpaksa membuat brek kecemasan.
4. Keadaan jalan yang kering, tayar kereta baru ditukar dan sistem brek anti-terkunci (ABS) yang diaktifkan membantu pemandu kereta tersebut mengurangkan kelajuan kepada 60 km/j dalam masa yang singkat dan berjaya mengelak tukang rumput dan van di sebelah kiri dari dilanggar.
5. Pemandu kereta, van dan dua orang tukang rumput yang hendak melintas tidak mengalami sebarang kemalangan.

Pengajaran

1. Walaupun masih agak bahaya untuk memberhentikan kenderaan walaupun dari kelajuan 110 km/j dalam situasi yang sama, tetapi dengan memandu mengikut had laju masih dapat mengurangkan risiko kemalangan. Pandu dengan cermat dan berhati-hati.
2. Tukang rumput sepatutnya tidak memilih untuk melintasi lebuhraya di kawasan selekoh, walhal tidak dibenarkan sama sekali untuk melintas di lebuhraya!

Dugaan di Waktu Sahur

Hari ini aku bangkit jam 4:45 pagi. Niat di hati ingin bersahur dengan makanan berat seperti nasi berlauk atau pun set sarapan McDonald's kerana hari ini aku akan menyertai acara berbuka puasa bersama masyarakat setempat di Masjid Hadhari, Paka anjuran tempat kerja aku.

TakBolehBlah

Jadi dengan langkah yang malas, aku mencuci muka serta menyarung jaket dan seluar untuk bersiap-siap untuk keluar. Aku capai kunci TakBolehBlah dan tergesa-gesa menuruni tangga hanya untuk mengetahui bahawa rakan serumah meletakkan keretanya betul-betul di hadapan rumah dan menghalang aku daripada mengeluarkan kereta aku. Sememangnya kawasan perumahan tempat aku tinggal mengalami masalah kekurangan tempat letak kereta yang serius dan aku amat maklum akan hal itu.

Kereta milik rakan serumah

Tak mengapa, aku naik ke bilik untuk mengambil kunci motor BuJanG ku. Masih ada ruang untuk menyelit keluar jika aku menaiki motorsikal. Aku terus ke motorsikal ku, membuka mangga kunci yang terpasang di tayar hadapan dan terus menghidupkan enjin motorsikalku. Enjin motorsikalku dihidupkan, memecah keheningan pagi di Kerteh yang aman damai ini. Tetapi bila aku mahu bergerak, aku sedar tayar belakang motorsikal BuJanG ku pancit. Mungkin cubaan Ramadhan bagi aku hari ini. Aku harus bersabar.

Pancitlah pulak!

Aku amat memerlukan tenaga tambahan semasa bersahur kerana hari ini aku menjadi ahli jawatankuasa untuk majlis berbuka puasa anjuran tempat kerjaku. Aku harus berfikir pantas tentang sumber tenaga yang aku perlukan semasa bersahur. Aku terus ke dapur dan mengambil tiga biji telur untuk ku buat telur separuh masak.

Telur ayam gred B menjadi penyelamat

Mudah dan cepat disediakan. Rendam telur di dalam air panas selama lima minit, dan makan bersama lada hitam dan kicap lemak manis cap Kipas Udang. Gabungan kurma dan sekotak susu turut menjadi santapan di kala bersahur. Syukur, aku masih boleh bersahur. Dugaan di bulan Ramadhan datang dalam pelbagai bentuk, dan ianya tidak bukan adalah untuk menguji kesabaran hamba-Nya. :)


p/s: Besok balik Banting! (BBB)

My Second Ramadhan

Time flies very fast; it has been a year since I started working in this beach town Kerteh, Terengganu. I still remember I reported into one of the petrochemical plant owned by our very own NOC in the final week of Ramadhan. The challenge was substantial, being thrown into new place alone with limited amount of money and was struggling to adapt to the new atmosphere and culture.

Bazar Ramadhan Kerteh

Today, here I am, still here and manage to make myself live comfortably although the environment is very different from my hometown, Banting. I hear and speak the different dialect, learning to eat local food and starting to enjoy it, slowly accepting the different culture and norms of the locals; I find myself being slowly assimilated into the laidback lifestyle of sleepy town Kerteh.

I bet the Flying Squad uses this to fly

However, the story is different when I step into the office. The workload had started to get bigger day by day, but thankfully, I have a bunch of supportive colleagues and bosses that always ready to offer assistance when I need it. I started to get immersed and stressful at work, but thanks to this sleepy town, I can de-stress once I call it a day in my office although a lonely life will greet me once I am home. Somehow, I can accept the calmness of this town as tranquilizer that keep me calm after stressful day at work.

The patrons flocking the small Ramadhan Bazaar

Ramadhan come again, and this is my second time fasting far from home. Truthfully, I still miss my mom’s cooking but here I have to celebrate this blissful month alone most of the time. The bazaar is not as big as one found in Banting. The food choices are limited and the price is exorbitantly expensive. Yet, it provides me with a whole new perspective about the Ramadhan in the East Coast, not literally. Most obvious thing is I can see a lot of people wearing coveralls with various colours that drop by to get some food for breaking fast. Yes, they are just like me, petrochemical plants workers and contractors from the nearby petrochemical plant complex in Kerteh. Somewhat I feel that we are like the Teletubbies wearing coverall with different colours. That is the most obvious thing that I cannot see in Banting. At least I know that I am not alone, most of them are like me, celebrating the month of Ramadhan far from family.

Standard drink with local distinct taste

Rotating chickens

I hope I can improve myself to be a better person in this year’s Ramadhan. I will fight my way to survive in this town; it slowly becomes my second home where I could rely on should I need a tranquil retreat. This town teaches me how to adapt to changes fast, being dynamic and inculcates a good working culture. To my family, I hope all of you are fine there and I am doing very fine here. Nonetheless, I still miss all of you days and nights; I look forward to see all of you and celebrate Hari Raya together. Happy fasting and I pray that all of you are blessed in this month.

It is OK to criticize, but get your fact right first

The recent electric tariff hike had made the rakyat furious. In the cyberspace, the angry rakyat started a cyber war on Malaysia's PM Facebook page. So many angry comments, not to forget some offensive remarks were posted on his wall.

Not to condone nor objecting their opinion (I still believe in freedom of speech), but I am amused when some of them are just barking without checking on the fact first. This is very different from criticizing where any remarks or critics were made on a factual basis. Look at this picture:

Click on picture to enlarge

To Malayan Tiger, I would like to share with you that you are using the wrong electrical unit in your comment. For your info, Malaysia (as well as most Commonwealth countries) are using 240 Volt system for distributing single phase electric supply, as opposed to US using 120 Volt. The correct unit is Volt and not Watt. Watt is use to measure the power consumed by an electrical device. If you want to bash, please bash with correct fact, or else people will be laughing at you.


p/s: Not a fan of Najib Razak on FB. Undi adalah rahsia.

Adakah Harga Kenderaan Mempengaruhi Harga Otak Seseorang Itu?

Apa pendapat anda tentang pernyataan di atas? Berikut saya berikan beberapa situasi untuk direnung:

Situasi 1

Tempat: Kawasan letak kereta Mesra Mall
Kenderaan: Sebuah kereta jenis Nissan Sentra model terbaru

Pemandu kereta ini mengalihkan kon yang diletakkan di ruang letak kereta untuk OKU sedangkan banyak lagi petak yang kosong. Dipercayai pemandu kereta itu ingin meletakkan keretanya di situ kerana lokasinya yang berhampiran dengan pintu masuk pusat membeli belah itu. Tanggapan awal saya tentang pemandu tersebut adalah beliau MUNGKIN merupakan orang kampung yang hanya banyak duit tapi tiada kesedaran sivik.

Situasi 2

Tempat: Laluan Kuantan-Kuala Terengganu berhampiran dengan Rantau PETRONAS
Kenderaan: Sebuah kereta jenis Proton Wira yang telah diubahsuai

Pemandu kereta merupakan seorang wanita dan di dalamnya terdapat 3 orang penumpang yang lain, kesemuanya wanita. Penumpang termasuk pemandunya sekali dengan tanpa rasa bersalah membuang bungkusan makanan keluar dari kenderaan sehingga terkena sebuah kereta jenis Proton Satria Neo berwarna hitam yang dipandu oleh seorang lelaki botak. Tanggapan awal saya tentang kumpulan wanita berkenaan ialah MUNGKIN mereka merupakan penduduk kampung yang memandu kereta terpakai dan berasal dari kawasan pedalaman Pahang (kereta berkenaan mempunyai nombor pendaftaran dari Pahang).

Situasi 3

Tempat: Gerai burger King Burger di Bandar Sri Kerteh, berhadapan dengan pasar mini R-Tinie
Kenderaan: Motosikal jenis Honda EX5

Pemilik motosikal di atas merupakan penjual burger di gerai berkenaan. Setiap kali saya membuat tempahan burger melalui telefon (kadang-kadang saya membuat tempahan kerana malas menunggu), beliau tidak pernah lupa untuk memberi salam kepada pelanggannya sebelum mengambil tempahan. Walaupun mempunyai muka yang garang serta suara yang agak tegas, tetapi sikap profesional beliau amat saya senangi. Kawasan gerainya bersih, dan sampah tidak dibuang merata-rata seperti kebanyakan gerai burger yang saya telah lawati. Cara penyediaan burger yang sangat tersusun juga merupakan sebab saya amat menghormati beliau. Apabila menerima bayaran dari pelanggan, beliau tidak pernah lupa untuk berakad (bukan akad nikah, tapi ucapan "Saya jual" dan disambut oleh pelanggan, "Saya beli") dan mengucapkan terima kasih kepada pelanggan. Saya kira beliau lebih baik daripada pelayan wanita di kedai makan yang berwajah cantik, berkulit putih (beliau berkulit gelap), berdada bidang tetapi tidak tahu adab serta kurang ajar.

Kesimpulannya, kita boleh membuat tanggapan awal, tetapi kita tidak boleh mengambil tanggapan awal berkenaan sebagai penilaian kita terhadap seseorang sehinggalah kita mengenali perwatakan mereka.

EcoCare 2011 Kick Off Events

Today marks the kick-off of EcoCare 2011, an initiative between Optimal and Malaysia Nature Society (MNS). The event was held at EcoCare's proposed site for Mangrove Awareness Center by the riverside of Sg. Kerteh.

Optimal's CEO giving his welcoming speech

Optimal's CEO, Mr. Herman Shrijver had delivered his welcoming speech before Kemasik's ADUN officiates this year's EcoCare event. The VIPs had also released fishes into Sg. Kerteh as a symbolic of the commencement of this corporate service responsibility program.

Time to release the fish!

There were three events organized for the EcoCare's volunteers namely fishing competition, planting mangrove seedlings and collecting mangrove's seeds at Sg. Kerteh. Our beloved CEO also took part in the fishing competition with the volunteers who are Optimal's staffs and the villagers from nearby villages.

Ready for action!

I took part in collecting mangrove seeds nearby the nursery. About a boat load of volunteers joined this activity. We managed to collect a bagful of seeds that will be planted in polybags and let to grow in the nursery before they are mature enough to be planted at selected planting sites along the Kerteh river.

Mangrove seedlings for replanting activity

This conservation effort is not that easy. It is reported that the growth failure rate for mangrove seedlings is about 60 %. Hence, a huge capital is needed to sustain to the conservation effort and Optimal is really committed to preserving the biodiversity of swamps area in Kerteh. The causes of seedlings' growth failure are from the tide, bad weather and bad water quality. So, this replanting effort is a never-ending process to ensure this natural tsunami barrier will sustain the ecosystem and provide protection to the people who lives near to the sea.

At the nursery

At noon, the volunteers had their lunch and the fishes caught by the participants were weighed to find the winner. Price-giving ceremony for fishing and photography competition were presented and the anglers need to be satisfied with their heaviest catch of 200 grams fish to emerge as champion. After all, this event had been very successful and I am looking forward to join EcoCare 2011 events that have been planned throughout this year. :)

Reminiscing Old Memories Can Be Costly, Sometimes

If you ask me what is the memorable moment in my life, I would say it would be my secondary school years. Since living in breathing on this earth (I've never been to other planets or at least ISS) for 24 years, school hood memories are etched deeply in my mind. Although I have wasted my 5 teenage years in 'unconventional' environment (yes, I'm from boy school) unlike other teenagers, I really enjoyed the brotherhood, happy and sorrow moments in my Alma-mater. That what makes my school hood moments unique.

The urge of meeting my school friends is so strong that I always try my best to attend reunion with those boys. Mingling with them gives a truly different experience because we share the same wavelength that other people do not. As a result of that, I went to a mini gathering in Kuantan with the boys who are studying in UIA Kampus Kuantan.

Despite the long-distance drive from Kerteh and the gathering was held on weekdays (Monday, 18/4/2011), I was very enthusiastic about it. Right after work, I quickly change from my working coverall to casual attire and rushed off to Kuantan. Finally, I arrived in Kuantan just before dusk. I went to the UIA out-campus male hostel in Indera Mahkota 2 to meet my friend Uganda and Ramdani first and performed Maghrib prayer there.

Then, we went to a steamboat restaurant near East Coast Mall in Kuantan (I forgot the name), where the mini gaythering was held. The attendance was quite impressive: Skema, Sam, Cinok, Ramdani and Uganda were present. Sam, Cinok, Uganda and Ramdani had just completed their studies while Skema has another one year to go before completing his medical studies.

The lads after chomping the steamboat

The ambiance was so good, we reminiscing our school life and laugh about it. Hanging out with them really made me forget my current life for a while, the life that is starting to get messy and stressful. That's the true brotherhood, bro.

Some of the UIA students that happened to be in the same restaurant too

After finishing all the steamboat food provided by the restaurant (it is a pay-per-head-eat-all-you-can concept restaurant), it was time to say goodbye. Sam and Skema had examinations ongoing, so they went home earlier. The rest of us, including me went to take as stroll around Kuantan to witness the nightlife there and stopped by Teluk Chempedak beach to have drinks and resume our conversation there till the makcik asked us to leave when she was about to close shop.

This time, I really had to say goodbye to them. After sending them back to their hostel at 0100HRS, I rushed back to Kerteh. Driving in the middle of the night was truly refreshing but I did not dare to drive fast as I was feeling extremely tired and sleepy. When I was about to reach Kerteh, I've hit a pothole at high speed and punctured the rear right tire.

The morning after the incident

It was unfortunate for me as the sidewall was already ruptured and need to be replaced. The next morning I went to tire shop and get the tire replaced.

Ruptured sidewall

The misery does not end there. On the next day after the tire changed, I noticed the left rear wheel was dented. The dented was so bad that the air leaked through the dented area. I have no choice but to replace the wheels. A good way to say goodbye to the stock wheels. So, the cost of reminiscing old time? Nearly RM2000, who said it is priceless? It is very pricey for me!

The aftermath

On the positive side, I just take this as my unfortunate day. Bad things always happen in the most unwanted moment. I just have to chew it up. To Uganda, Cinok, Skema, Daneng and Sam, I have so much fun hanging out with you guys! Errrr, can you donate me RM400 per person to cover up my loss? Come on, all of you are doctors and pharmacists... to be! :P

The lads: me, Skema, Cinok, Daneng & Uganda