boon's log 4906.04: Love our rivers

We were driving along York road, on our way home, last weekend - we've driven past that stretch and past Sg Pinang many times and each time we drove past, I've always wanted to take a picture of our Indian friends making use of the river for their laundry business. I had my opportunity last weekend...



I hope the river waters are as clean as they seemed to be. The cloth he is washing in this shot seemed to be some sort or red table cloth used in restaurants. On the far left, there are other large pieces of white cloth spreaded out to dry.

Makes me think whether this will help the environment - or harming the environment, especially with the use of detergents (whether they are environmentally friendly, etc...). Even so, it would definitely be unfriendly to them fishes (if there are any left in the river, that is...)

On the other hand, believe this ply has been going on for ages... Rivers have been a source of Life for many:- for cleansing - be it for our clothings or our bodies - it's a source for cooking / drinking, AND not forgeting source of "relief".



But one thing's for sure, this is quite a rare sight in a progressive City. It may very well be on it's way to extinction. Question is, will we miss it, or will we be glad that it's gone?

boon out...

P/S: "It's gonna be ANYtime now..."

boon's log 4907.03: A week of Countdowns...

It's truly a week of Countdowns and waiting and testing-of-patience. Here's why...



It's our 40th week of IL's pregnancy and according to the OB/GYN, "It's anytime now...". Yeah, it's ANYTIME now. The forecasted due date is this weekend. And in today's practice, the doctors try to avoid post-term delivery for fears/issues such as reduced amniotic fluid or feces within the womb. Actually, anytime after the 36th week, delivery of the baby (providing the weight is sufficient) is safe and can be done.

Also at this point of time, anxieties kicks in and from what I read, some couples (or moms) actually fall into depression - whether it is the right thing to do to give birth to the baby or was it a good idea to get pregnant at all, in the first place. Just those blasted hormones having a field day. No, IL and I are not in that state. However, we are anxious about the entire episode and having the OB/GYN say, "It's anytime now" really does not help in that sense. :|

But being in the Faith, does gives us room and space to fall back on God for assurance and peace that He Who began the good work will see to it's completion (Philippians 1:6). He Who provided IL and I with this marvelous miracle, will provide us the means and resources to bring this kiddo into the world and bring the kiddo up in the way that He would have wanted it...

Bags are all packed and ready to go... *humming to the tune of that Armageddon Song*

wait-a-minute... what the?!

Anyways, the time needed from home to hospital is ~25 minutes without traffic, +10 with traffic. Doctors and nurses are all prep-ed to receive IL. Really looking forward to the addition to the family and I bet our immediate families are too. We've been getting SMS-es and phone calls asking whether the babe's out yet. The rest of the babe-equipments are also all setup, cot/playpen, swing, bottle-sterilizer, bla bla bla... Camera batteries all charged up memory cards emptied. All ready and counting down to the final moment. Tick Tock Tick Tock....

Well, the other countdown, is the next biggest thing that is going to explode in Penang - yup, we're talking about Queensbay Mall. Everybody's talking about it to some certain extent. How 4000 carparks is not enough to house the tens of thousands that is going to hoard that place this opening weekend. Some even joked that the reclaimed land may not be able to hold and that entire piece of land may just sink!

Whatever, it is, I guess I won't be able to be there to notice it - at least for the next 2-3 weeks. Well, it's a mall long awaited and long overdued. I'm just glad that it's finally opening and hope that it will sustain - at least it will take the heat off Gurney Plaza a little.



I managed to snap this shot while caught in a jam along the Coastal Highway. Cause of the jam? Policemen doing roadblocks for the past few days from morning all the way through lunch time, in light of the microchip heist that happened recently. Many doubt that this roadblock will bear any fruit (other than Policemen discovering some cars have expired roadtaxes or cars with broken lamps, etc...)

boon out...

boon's log 4706.03: The one about the wedding car driver...

Another wedding coming along in ~2 weeks' time. We were planning another wedding for another colleague in the office and in the process, we were reviewing the most recent wedding (i.e. EYT's) and see if there is anything that we can learn from that... and we bumped into one of the interesting, should I say, "bloopers". :P and I mentioned that I have to blog about it.

As you can see from the previous post, EYT's official Wedding Car was the new "Beamer 5 Series". EYT went to had it "wrapped and tied" on the morning of the wedding itself because the evening before was pouring cats and dogs. He got up early and got all dressed up (smart move) and then drove to the bridal house and had the wrapping thing done. Came back at the nick of time (knowing typical Chinese wedding, there is a allocated window time whereby you are required to leave the house (or arrive at the bride's house) for the "Fetching the Bride".

bla bla bla... and so we were all ready to depart for the Bride's house. All the accompanying cars were prep-ed and ready to let pedal hit the metal. As we were waiting, suddenly, I noticed that one of the drivers from the accompanying car (Sam) stepped out of his own can while his wife (SW) shifted seats and took over the steering wheel... Something is amidst.

So I stepped out my car.

Enquired what's happening.

Apparently, the Groom happily got into the Beamer together with the Bestman. The both of them happily waiting for the car to drive ITSELF to bride's house (!!!)

Where the "hey" is the Wedding Car Driver?!

Yes, although we are in the age where cars are expected to park by itself, GPS-squipped, and the whole shebang BUT, I don't think we are anywhere near Minority Report-type Lexus where the cars drive themselves to their destination - especially not in Penang, if you've driven in Penang before and you know Penang traffic.

I was utterly speechless for a moment... the ultimate million bucks question "Where in the world is the Wedding Car Driver?!" Then I saw on the horizon, a figure running towards us, waiting by the beamer. He's one of EYT's Chung Ling High School classmates - WHO apparently knew he was supposed to be the Wedding Car Driver BUT has forgotten about it and HAPPILY parked his bum in the first car leading the pack out from EYT's home (!!!)

Wait, the best part was he still did not notice it until EYT called him from inside the beamer! Classic bloopers.

I mean imagine, everyone's ready to go, you got into the car, your bestman got it together with you and ... what the?! Where's the freakin' driver?!

Well, eventually, we got the wheels rollin' ... not until we reached the main junction that EYT realised that we've forgotten about the Ceremonial Tiffin (tiffin containing mandarin oranges, red-packets, ceremonial biscuits for the Fetching of the Bride Ceremony) - we then sent one of the cars to u-turn and get it...

Gosh... though no impact to the timing, but 'twas one heck of a interesting time. Wished we caught them on film/video, though. :P

boon out...

boon's log 4606.01: Busy weekend... and the one about the wedding.

Last weekend was a busy one, planning and executing a wedding for a close colleague friend, EYT. And also it is one of the most anticipated and long awaited wedding.


Hand-bouquet

Anyway, a warm CONGRATULATIONS to EYT and LW on tying the knot! We're all very happy for the both of you. Wishing you the very best in life as you start a new chapter of your lives together - as what they used to say.

We've been planning for a couple of weeks. No matter how much time you put into planning, on the day itself, there's bound to be minor hiccups and speed bumps - I guess the challenge (or the art) is how to overcome and the hiccups and speed bumps that matters at the end of the day. So the key thing is contingency, contingency, contingency. And then there is more contingencies.

Q also blogged about Wedding Dinners sometime ago, about how we put on the show of our lives since were small through Primary school, Secondary and then College and finally ended up in the small cubicle that most of us are in right now. It's interesting that the Ice-Cream man with a small push cart underneath the Eiffel Tower drives the latest Mercedes S-Class, while the Char Koay Teow uncle down the road owns a mansion in Penang and the Camera-man for EYT's wedding drives a BMW 1-Series (it was Mithz noticed this and pointed it out to me) and he treats it like it's only worth a couple of thousand bucks.

But that's a different story.


EYT&LW

It's a mix o' emotions when we view back in our lives, where it's been through and where we are today. It's quite an interesting "invention" to do a flash back of our lives and how the respective singular life (of the Bride and Groom) ended up getting hitched. For those who believe, it's more of how God brought two totally different lives, from that time when we were conceived, together and start off a new family - and to imagine that this was already planned way, way ahead of our times, truly is mind boggling and wasy beyond our understanding.

It also tells another story on how we should appreciate our parents for bring us up and truly without them, we wouldn't have been. It was a sweet act of love and appreciation from EY and LW when they presented their Moms with a bouquet of flower.

Anyways, for EYT and LW, their history actually started when they met when they were Standard Two! Can you imagine?! This is truly one of those rare stories when boy-meets-girl in your ordinary, day-to-day Standard Two Class and then get married some years later! Gosh, really one in a million. Imagine what they'll tell their kids, "Yeah, Daddy met Mommey when we were doing water colour painting when were Standard 2." (!!!)

Perhaps EYT should write a book about this... :P As what LW's brother mentioned in the wedding, it sure took a lot of patience and love to keep the fire alive (they actually started going out when they were in Form 5).

Well, great couple, and hats-off to the both of you. Blessed marriage and keep the fire burning...

boon out...

boon's log 4507.02: boonspot in the Star

sent in one of the pictures I took recently during the Nine Emperor God Festival to the the Star paper last week and managed to get it featured in the Thumbnails section. Did not get the RM50, though... :P Next time, Gadget... next time.



have a good week ahead. It's just Tuesday - Friday seems like light years away...

boon out...

boon's log 4407.03: Clearer days...

With the continuation of rain in the island, the air condition continues to be better. Here's a picture of Komtar with a clear blue sky as the background.



boon out...