Sejiwa Senada - Star of the day, CM new wife!

This morning, Miri witness the opening of the Sejiwa Senada and most important, the people of Miri had the opportunity to see first hand, our CM (Taib) new wife! So, here is the series of photos I took. More photos can be viewed from my facebook. Please click here.

CM Taib, he is now 70+ and he just got ...

... a new wife. She is not a Malaysia! On her left is our Mayor and on the right is her bodyguard.

... a crowd who was eagerly waiting to see the new wife since 9:00AM. And they didn't arrive until 11:00AM, spot on scheduled time!

The crowd gone "crazy"!

Everyone has something ...

After six weeks of holiday in Europe, Ah Jon finally returned last night. The two younger brothers were eagerly awaiting for his return because the sisters and Ah Jon promised goodies for them. The three sisters sponsored all the expenses for his brother to visit UK, Paris and Barcelona. After the trip, they are now quite broke!
The younger brothers actually provided a shopping list! Hearing that the baggage was 25kg, Timothy thought that we should empty one of the fridges to stored all the goodies!

The girls bought two duck feather pillows for 10 pounds. We have been thinking of buying such a pillow for a long time but can't get to buy them as they are too expensive here.

Joshua finally got his magic set after pestering the sisters for two years! ...

... the sisters also gave him a piggy bank to save his money as Joshua seems to enjoy spending every cent he has. Oh, Jos is still reading the manual on how to play the magic!

I think Timothy was so obsessed with this colour set that he talk about it everyday. He was trilled to see them!

ok.... instead of wasting their time on TV and computer, they now have this peculiar master puzzle to solve!

Being health conscious, they bought this small bag of pears for the mum! ...

... and this lot of goodies for the brothers.

They didn't forget about me. Knowing that I do a lot of cooking, they bought this gadget for me to handle hot plate, etc from the oven. This mitten can withstand up to 300 deg C.  At first I thought this is something for me to exercise my fingers.

... and finally this bag of jelly for the boys.
Thanks to all the sisters from everyone at home. You have all been very thoughtful and we like everything you all bought.

Flooding in certain part of Miri

After raining for a couple of days, I think it was since last Friday, we are now seeing flooding in certain low lying areas. The photos below were taken along Miri-airport bypass.

I noticed the flooding yesterday...

The problem here is due to the overflowing of the nearby river.

The car is about to be submerged.
Rain... when is it going to stop?
Yesterday, there was a mini landslide at the top of the Canada Hill. Apparently part of the road at the top is now damaged. So, if you do go there, drive safely.

Forgetful Snowie

It is interesting to watch the behavior of mother dog. Our Snowie delivered 8 puppies almost 3 weeks ago. Two had since died. After delivery, she put all the puppies under the car. Seeing that it was not safe, I moved them to the higher pavement near the house. Then she quickly moved them back to where they were initially. So, I figured that she wasn't feeling secure.
So, I gave her a box to put all the puppies in. She wasn't happy. She now moved just one of them into a pile of dry tree branches and dry leaves.
After cracking my head, I think she needed something over the head and somewhere dry. I quickly raised the "floor" in the space under the water tank by putting some old newspapers and scraps of paper. I closed one side and left the other side open. (The water tank is placed on top of two concrete structures) This time, she was happy.
After a few days, she moved just four puppies to "somewhere". It took us a while to find them. I found that the place I built for her was damp. So, I rebuilt and she stayed for two days and started moving her puppies again yesterday. Then I realised that it started to rain heavily and thanks God that she seems to know how to do weather forecast. Now, she moved all the puppies to the raised pavement in front of the house.
In the processes of moving, Snowie often seems to move only part of her family around. Did she forget that she has 6 puppies? Or is she expecting the human to help her?
The puppies started to eat solid food yesterday.
The puppies are now available for adoption. Anyone likes to keep dog as pet? I believe they can be good guard dogs as two of them can already bark!

Rain, rain and more rain

It has been raining since yesterday. This morning, the road near the fire station was under almost one foot of water. Luckily, no car was stuck when I was there around 7:00AM. It is still raining now!

Traffic jam in Miri has been very bad. It took me 45 minutes to drive from Lutong to Riam School yesterday evening. Normally, this journey will take no more than 20 minutes.

The most ridiculous was the jam from Pujut 7 to the bridge. Last night, the jam was not clear well after 7:30PM. Why?  Someone dropped some empty plastic containers along the road and everyone slowed down to watch! Why so many drivers in Miri (or Malaysia) are so curious? I really failed to understand.

My Gall Bladder Stone

Just in case you don't know how stones in our body looks like, here is a sample of my gall bladder stone.

To my surprise, they are solid stone! I soaked them in water for a week and nothing change. When taken out through the key hole, they need to be crashed first.
Many people suggested that I should use natural method to expel them. I tried but didn't work. Now I realised that it is not easy to remove solid stones. Beside they are huge. And the bile duct is simply too small for any stone to pass through.

They were in Barcelona

Esther, Janice and Ah Jon went to Barcelona for holiday recently (2-6 Jan 2011). After seeing the photos, I think I also wanted to go.

In Barcelona outside of Sagrada

They have more sushi party! More pictures can be viewed here.

Miri Public Bank New Branch

Public Bank in Miri has just opened their new branch at Pelita, opposite 2020 restaurant . This is a welcomed move and I am very happy about it. For once, I don't need to worry about traffic police and parking.

By the way, this branch is actually moved from the one in Miri town next to KFC. Services are still available from that center. Loan and Credit department have moved to to new center.

Event Photos

I was the official photographer for a large Company Annual Dinner 2010 on 31st Dec.

At the end of the party, they have a fabulous firework display!
To view some of the photos taken, please click here.
If you wish to see all the photos, minus those p&c photos, you may order a CD from the event committee member.

When leaders fight, third party wins!

If you are below 18, this entry may not be suitable for you. It may be too violent.
Very often, we saw leaders engaged in quarrel or fight over something ... position, material, etc. But the question is do they always win, or it is someone else?
I saw 4 dogs this morning, with two large ones engaged  in a desperate fight. I thought one of them is going to be bitten to death.

The brown one is obviously stronger and taller. He locked his jaws in the black one, his front legs held onto the neck... The observer on the left seem to enjoy the show!

... they seem to fight to the death!

... with blood all over the face! The black bitch in the center seems to approve their quarrel, after all, it was all because of her!

At the mean time, the smaller and weaker brown dog seems to lose orientation or was he an opportunist?

Obviously! While the leaders were busy fighting over the bitch, the opportunist jump into action!

... yeah, he seems to tell us that there was no need to fight! Just sit back and watch! Grasp the opportunity when it arises! The Chinese proverb describes this aptly:  鹬蚌相持，渔人得利
As human, is there any lesson we could learn here?