boon's log 1707.05: WFH

WFH - No, it is not an acronym for some foul string of words... It actually stands for Working From Home. Yup have been working from home most of this week due to our babysitter's need to be on leave. So, IL and I need to take turn to be on-leave to take care of Ab. Yeah, i have to take leave because someone else needs to take leave. Chain-reaction...

Anyway, here's a pic of how much fun the daddy-o and daughter are having during this valuable time... (So, Auntie Amy, here you go, another pic of Ab...)


Ab: Catching fish on the swing...

Have been making use of the time with Ab to instill some discipline in her. "WHAT?! Are you nuts?!" Ok ok... not really discipline discipline, per se. But more like not picking her up immediately when she cries (or yells). This has been a problem, especially with the grandparents (both sides) - immediately when she cries, they pick her up, which is not good... spoiling her at such an early age. You'd be surprise how early in their days that the know who they can bully and who the cannot.

A good example is the swing. When I am at home these few days with Ab, she will just sit in the swing until she falls asleep. But whenever she sees IL, she will start to cry (a.k.a. the fake cry for help). It is interesting and cute at the same time. Doing these sort of experiments does makes it all worthwhile and satisfying, at the end of the day.

So, what we can learn from this is that kids nowadays learn at a faster rate and at a much earlier age (than what we used to before). Some blame it on the type of milk that we are feeding them; while some blame it Mozart... ;) either way, to me, let kids be kids. Don't rush or pressure them in the race for intelligence supremacy... let them live a little (a long time friend which I have not seen for 13 years reminded me about this phrase not too long ago...) but do include discipline as part of the agenda...

boon out...

boon's log 1607.07: "Concert"

We were talking about trying to get tickets for the upcoming Jacky Cheung concert that is going to happen in Bukit Jalil in September, the other day. One the engineers at my office overheard the conversation (who obviously did not catch the entire conversation) and asked whether the concert was happening then, in Penang, right below where she stays - i.e. Bukit Jambul. I gave her a blank look and asked her why she said that... She said because it's been pretty noisy these few nights up until past 12AM.

I laughed it out a little and then asked her whether there is a Chinese Temple near her place and she confirmed that there's one. So I explained to her that it may be the temple celebrating some particular god's birthday. Different temples across Penang (and possibly the country) celebrated their respective "gods' birthday" through out the year and typically invites singers to sing for the "gods" and some other unseen "guests". They are called "koh-tai". Also told her that MOST of the time the lady singers wear very little during their performances - which she did not believe me at first, but later on, she did... after she read about it on Wikipedia. ;)

Anyway, we just got our share of loud music this weekend at our home, when the nearby temple organized a koh-tai. It wasn't that bad, really, plus it ended at right on the dot at 12AM.


"Concert" not for the living...

boon out...

p/s: Oh by the way, the REAL Jacky Cheung Concert happens on September 14th at Bukit Jalil (not Jambul)... ;)

boon's log 1607.02: Please drive safely...

Last night was a first for me for 2 things:

1. Getting down of my car and walking on the divider on the fly-over at Masjid Negeri
2. Driving on the right side of the road and not get caught by police

IL, Dopey (yeah, he came along as well...) and I were on our way back from Citibank at around 10PM-ish. And very abruptly, when we were at the top of the fly-over along Jalan Masjid Negeri traffic came to a complete halt. It remained in a standstill mode for more than 10 minutes before people started to get out of their cars, while some even turned off their engines and front lights. I kinda guessed that there must have been some accident in front - fresh accident.

So, "Things that I have not done #1". I joined them and got off my car. standing at on the divider with traffic on the other side (heading towards York Road) zooming past, with very helpful motor-cyclists yelling "Accident! Accident!". Couldn't really see what was happening - it was at the end of the fly-over.


The Migration...

So the migration began. I asked IL to take the helm while I joined the rest of the folks as they started to walk down and see what the accident was. And a huge crowd started to built at the end of the fly-over on Jalan Masjid Negeri with bobby-lights flashing from the tow trucks and police-cars (surprisingly, the police cars came quite quickly - IL said that perhaps they were listening in to the radio-chatter from tow trucks because the tow trucks typically arrive at the accident scene MUCH earlier than the police does... ha ha). And when I reached there, here's what I saw...


Lamp post hate-r

This guy, driving a Honda Civic (04/05 model) rammed into a lamp post and tumbled it onto the the other side of the road. The Lamp post landed on the wall on the far left side of our side of the flyover, barricading our side of the road. Seemed like a solo-accident, no other vehicles were involved. Luckily, no one was hurt from the effect of the falling lamp post...

Anyway, I made my way back after seeing that there is nothing much there and there is nothing much that I can help either. On my way back, an uncle with a waist pouch approached me and he called out to me saying, "Uncle, eh sai jiok wah lu eh tian wah bo?" (In Hokkien, "Uncle, can you lend me your cellphone?") And Uncle in his 40-ies calling ME "UNCLE"! Ahjodah!...

Anyway, apparently, some smart-*ss guy, who is also a father, tried to skip the traffic by riding over the divider on his motorcycle to the other side and in the process of doing that asked her daughter to alight first so that he can push his motorcycle over. BUT upon pushing over, he just happily rode off - yeah! with the daughter standing there on the divider in the middle of the flyover, at >10PM! Can you imagine that. Anyway, we tried to contact him on his cellphone, but could not cause it was turned off. And then we tried her home phone. Mom picked up and then she (the little girl, in her early teens) relayed the amazing story to her. Mom asked a lot of questions (I wonder why can she just immediately come and pick her up). At that point of time, I started to think that they INTENTIONALLY leave her there just to make it not so obvious since everyone was focused on the accident.

Anyway, soon after, Dad emerged from no where. And then she started to scold him - and so did all the rest of the Uncles (including me, an Uncle) and Aunties. "what kind of father are you... bla bla bla"

Anyway, made my way back to the car. That was when "Things that I have not done #2" happened - I saw cars started to reverse and making three-point-turns and heading the other direction. Apparently, a few other policemen on Kawasakis blocked the on coming traffic for us to go against the flow to turn out and escape through the bottom of the flyover. And that we did, after being jammed for more than 45 minutes because someone decided to ram his Honda into a lamp post... Goodness, if he wants to bang a lamp post, go do it some where else where he will not cause traffic jam. By the looks of it, he was driving pretty fast...

Please, drive safely and responsibly... for your own sake and for the sake of others as well!

boon out...

boon's log 1607.01: Overweight (!!!)

Yes, I am. Though my BMI is still WITHIN the chart, but is is on the wrong side of it. Though I tried to avoid calculating it, but somehow the number arrived mysteriously in my inbox one day and I confirmed it to be true...


Overweight...


BMI Chart

According to this, I have 6kgs to shed before I am at the endge of my limit.

Imagine - 6 lousy KGs overweight. My goodness...

That's quite a bit, ain't it? According to my Uncle Mike, he said, "Go race in the Formula 1 la. They lose 4kgs everytime they race in Sepang." ;) Sounds inviting, but Uncle Mike - two issues:

(A) I do not have a F1 car
(B) I do not know how to drive a F1 car

and of course there's the chance that I do not have to lose weight anymore because I will just return to ashes after they cremate my body - that is, AFTER they scrape my remains from the tarmac... THANKS, uncle Mike!

Anyway, I've decided to go on a slight diet - notice the operative word being "SLIGHT". Well, I'm not really a believer of diet, if you know me. But I figured that it may not be healthy to stuff one's self with too much food - like what one of my colleagues mentioned, "There is a thin line between eating and feeding." So, cutting down on carbs and fats. It's like setting up a personal challenge - to drop 6 kgs in 2 months. And of course a little bit of gym will help too.

You can check your own BMI too here. Take up the challenge. ;)

Eat well and stay healthy,
boon out...

boon's log 1407.07: It's a bomb!!! Just kidding...

I received a phone call at around 5PM at my office saying that there is a lock down at the bridge due to a bomb-threat. The first thing that came to my mind was the time when I was locked-down with LH at a Pret-a-Manger outlet near Liverpool Street Underground Station in London. We were happily having our coffee when we were told to stay indoors and the metal doors came down. I believe were there for a good half an hour. It turned out to be a bomb-scare / false alarm.

Anyways, when we got the news, I IM-ed IL and told her about it and decided that we leave early to avoid the jam which may trickle down from the Penang bridge. IL left earlier at around 1745hrs, while I, at around 1815hrs - but the traffic was surprisingly smooth. Guess they "slinky-effect" has not reach us yet.

When we finally reach home, the first thing was to look out our window to checkout the situation at the bridge. And truly, it was something thta you do not see everyday. The first time ever the bridge was completely empty (since it first opened).


Bomb-scare 001 [click pic for larger image]

We kept the video-cam rolling in the case if there was really a bomb - for about half an hour. Then at around 1900hrs, the bridge re-opened allowing the vehicles traveling from the mainland towards the island.


Bomb-scare 002 [click pic for larger image]

Then a few minutes later, folks from the island were allowed to cross over to the mainland and traffic (almost) immediately built up and before long, the bridge was back to normal again - jammed (!!!).


Bomb-scare 003 [click pic for larger image]

As you all may (or may not) already know, the so-called bomb was actually a metal rod, 30cm long and 10cm in diameter, which turned out to be a kangaroo-bar found on a bridge divider - not a real bomb. The bomb-squad was summoned to detonate the "bomb" on-site. I always wondered what if it was a real bomb, and they detonated the "bomb" on-site - wouldn't that have triggered a larger explosion? Hmm...

By the way, what do you call a bomb-squad in Malay? Skuad-Bom?

... I Googled it and the answer is UPB (yeah, there is an acronym for it too) - the "Unit Pemusnah Bom". One out of three ain't that bad. ;)

boon out...

boon's log 1407.03: Why is Maybank, Maybank?

Maybank is called Maybank because you MAY or MAY NOT bank with them. That depends... (on what, I am not entirely sure). You can probably check with your nearest Maybank2U branch.

Why do I say that?

Well, with the competitive "banking" market out there and with all the hi-tech facilities provided by many other banks (e.g. Citibank, UOB, etc.), our very own Malayan Banking (which is where they got their short-formed name) tries (and still trying) very hard not to be left out and tries to compete with them. Facilities like that which allows you to pay your loans through an automated machines.

However, the time for the automated cash-deposit machines being in the state of "Out Of Service" is more than the time spent serving the customers. This gets frustrating when it happens to you EVERYTIME, it does not matter which branch you go to. This is what you will see:


This time, you MAY(not)Bank with us...

I mean, I appreciate the effort to TRY to build convenience into their service to their customers, but for goodness' sake, please make sure your machines work! This especially helps for those who do not really have any time to do banking during the day time due to work schedules, and the only time to do their banking is after office hours.

There was this one time we tried 4 different May(or May-not)bank branches to deposit our money, and believe it of not, ALL of the machines in ALL 4 different branches were not working! We tried the
[A] Pulau Tikus branch,
[B] Main branch at Lebuh Union,
[C] Jelutong Branch, and
[D] the Cawangan Perbankan Islam in Georgetown.

Not a single Cash Deposit machine in all those branches were working.

I guess that night it was a May-notBank night. I must have missed a memo...

You can almost hear the bank say to you...

"Please come back another time, when you MAY bank with us, sucker." ...

Anyway, when I was at the last branch, I was quite entertained by another fellow May(orMaynot)bank customer, whom I pretty much guess was frustrated with the banking systems as well. He actually took the time to fill up a form and left it at the counter for others' entertainment...


Weapons Sales?

Incidentally, do you know why are the machines "Out of Service"? I've had a 1st hand experience on this one, too. How "unlucky" can one get?

Anyway, by God's grace, I managed to find a machine that works, one fine night, and the machine started counting my money. Half way through counting, it STOPPED. I was thinking to myself, "This cannot be happening to me! This cannot be happening to..."

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted... The screen gave me the "Out of Service" notice.

"What the...?"

No counting...

No Receipt...

No money returned... (by the way, I had RM1000 in the machine).

At 11:30PM...

Left with a 50-ish year old Security Guard...

What do you do? Pop Quiz! What do you do?!

I was so frustrated (especially after a tiring day at work), I almost wanted to drag the Automated Machine back home (hey, sounds familiar, ain't it? I remember reading about this in the newspaper sometime ago - where a group of people in a 4x4 tied a chain around a ATM and tried pulling it out of the bank. Perhaps they too had the same problem that I did.)

Anyway, there was no number to call, no hotline conveniently listed. After much searching with the guard's help, we finally found a number listed at the small corner of a sticker at one of the ATM machines.

Maybank night immediately became MaynotBank night.

In the end, the bank officer on the end of the line said that she could not do anything but to ask me to return to the bank the next day to retrieve the money.

Frustrating?! You bet!

So, before you head off to your nearest Maybank2U branch, please check with them whether it is a MayBank Day or a MaynotBank Day (dates and times are subjected to changes without prior notice)


boon out...

boon's log 1407.02 [supplementary A]: About vacuum cleaners and Babes... (yes, there is a connection)

Ok. Here's a mythbuster@home entry. I'm not sure about you all, but I've received stories about how the sound of a vacuum cleaner can calm a crying baby. At first I thought it was probably because the mom did a load of house work during her pregnancy - one which included the chore of vacuuming - which may have startled the babe even before she/he was born. Anyway, I've actually seen one that totally stops crying and lies flat on her belly when the vacuum was flipped on. Amazing, but true.

And so, I went ahead and did some research on vacuums and babies and here is what I came up with...


How to soothe a crying baby?

So, there you have it. A vacuum cleaner or a hair dryer would doo the trick.

Or if you have a big lung, a long and constant "SHHHhh!" would also do the trick of calming a non-stop crying baby.

And for parents who are in the car, traveling with your newborn and cannot seem to get him/her to stop crying, flipping on the radio and tuning into static would also do the same trick. We've tried this on AB and it works (!!!). During long hauls, when she cries and it's not really time for her to eat, a gentle "shush" to the ears while hugging her (or tuning into Static.FM) would actually calm her down and most of the times, put her back to sleep.

Amazing? Well, believe it...

boon out...

boon's log 1407.02: Experiment feedbacks...

I met AL at the pantry area earlier today.

He suggested that we should continue and bring the experiments to greater heights (well, not his exacts words, that is). He suggested the below...

[A] Try the same experiment again but replace "biscuit tin" with microwave oven.

Dude... dude... what the? Say, can I borrow your hand/cellphone for that?

and...

[B] replace "biscuit tin" with a bag of Starbucks Coffee beans, whereby you need to stuff the entire handphone into the bag, making sure that the phone is well surrounded and padded with coffee beans. His theory is that the caffeine-factor will distort the cellular signals. Ohhhkay... let me go scout around for a packet of coffee beans that can be victimized for this experiment. Any volunteers?

Thanks for visiting, AL! Let's go grab some coffee sometime... Hey! Maybe we should try the experiemnt on our million-dollar-cannot-do-Extra-Strong-coffee-machine, huh? ;)


boon out...