boon's log 5208.04: Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year

Another Christmas, and another New Year ahead. And it is also the time for us to bid OR farewell once again. It's been an really fun and interesting year. Our first relocation with Ab and it was really a nice family time together. Ab's truly enjoyed her school here and I'm sure that she is going to miss it. On her last day, we went about taking pictures with all her teachers, and I think i caught a little sparkle on IL's eyes. Well, yeah, they've been like a family to us too and they've been really nice to Ab. So much so that one of Ab's teachers even made a scrap book of her filled with pictures of her and her friends - that came with a CD too. Really nice of her.

And how better than to end the year with a surprise White Christmas. Yeah, the snow lasted right until Christmas Day since we last posted about it, making it a true White Christmas. Loads of pictures, loads of fun. But the snow also gave us some headache as well - we had to defer our return trip back to Penang because of the unexpected heavy snow fall from the Arctic winds - giving the US North West more snow than previous years. Well, depending on who you ask, the last time this part of the US saw so much snow was probably 15-20 years ago, with a record of 20inches of snow (in 1949). This year, I think we hit ~18inches, almost breaking the record books.

Well, it's busy busy busy with packing packing packing - the nightmare of relocations. Well, this may be my last post for the year. Hope you all enjoyed my posts and sights from the America North West (more in this post, below). So let's raise your glasses, and here's to a great 2008 and looking forward to a wonderful 2009. Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Take care...


Sitting on the fence...


Frozen fruit...


Perfect combination... Glenfiddich


"Lalang on ice"


Alder St at night


Dashing through the snow...


"Freeze your butt off" seat


Have a (cold) wonderful day


Snow Trail


Snow+Ice


Alder St.


"Mobile Igloo"


Strolling along cold Alder


White Christmas 2008

Late night additions:


Slush


The Max


Christmas lights around our neighbourhood


Christmas lights around our neighbourhood


Christmas lights around our neighbourhood


boon out...

boon's log 5108.05: JPJ is Funny

I decided to take look into the JPJ Web today to check out the safety belt thingy to see what the real requirements are and here is what I found out:

1. Not ALL the passengers in the back seat are REQUIRED to wear seatbelts. We just need to make sure that ALL the seat belts are used. For example, if you have 4 people sitting at the back of the car, ONLY 3 of them need to wear seatbelt, the 4th person does not need a seatbelt.
2. It is not a requirement for infants / children to be in the car seats. It is just a advise (menasihatkan).

You can read more here:
1. http://portal.jpj.gov.my/v5/index.php/Penguatkuatkuasaan-Pemakaian-Tali-Pinggang-Keledar-Tempat-Duduk-Belakang - which actually redirects to the following website (#2):
2. http://jomklik.panducermat.org.my/
a. Sekiranya bilangan penumpang melebihi dari bilangan tali pinggang tempat duduk belakang, pemandu kenderaan tersebut bertanggungjawab untuk memastikan kesemua tali pinggang keledar tempat duduk belakang yang ada digunakan sepenuhnya. Sekiranya gagal, tindakan undang-undang akan dikenakan terhadap pemandu kenderaan tersebut.
b. In the FAQ Page:
i. Pihak JKJR menasihatkan para ibubapa agar menggunakan tali keledar bersama kerusi atau jenis tempat duduk keselamatan kereta mengikut umur /berat kanak-kanak atau bayi.

So my conclusion is:
1. It is okay to have number-of-passengers more than the number-of-seatbelts, just make sure that all the seatbelts are used. So please prioritize your passengers on who should get the seatbelts (for safety purposes) or one-two-som to see who gets the seatbelt (judging from the response, losing may be not necessarily be a bad thing here - since many find that wearing seatbelts at the back seat as troublesome).
2. Kids can continue to roam around the vehicle as they did since as far as I can remember. Car seats are not a requirement.

I still remember that my grandmother always complain about the seatbelts and she hates sitting in the co-driver seat and opts to seat at the back everytime (even when there's no one at the front) - which is fine by me. But seems like now, it does not matter where she seats, she will still need to use the seatbelt EXCEPT of course if she is the 6th person in a normal sedan car or the 8th person in an MPV (or 9th depending on the seating capacity)... then she is EXEMPTED from wearing seatbelts, according to the Road safety Rules, released by JPJ.

Hilarious!

boon out...

boon's log 5108.03: Winter Wonderland...

More snow today and more expected in the next few days. The last I checked, weather.com forecasted the snow/rain to continue through to Christmas - so, looks like we may very well have a White Christmas after all (accurately speaking...). Here are some more photos...


A girl having fun making a snowman


Snowman at our apartment complex


HT, YY, TE and a new-found-friend (behind TE) attempting to make a snowman...


More snow...


Mixture of snow and rain


trees behind out apartment


Clear skies on a cold winter's night


Cold morning

boon out...

boon's log 5008.07: Let it snow... let it snow... let it snow...

Woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise. It's snowing! And it's not small-time snow - like what we've normally experienced in OR before. Typically, it will just snow and by the time the snow hits the ground it melts and becomes water.

This time, it's really pouring snow, covering roads, cars, root tops, etc.. 2-3 inches this morning (during the day) and reportedly another 2-3 more inches of snow tonight. This is by far, the most snow we've seen here. So much so, there was a memo from the office advising us to work from home on Monday. Like most Hollywood movies where the kids get to skip school because of heavy snow / storm... "Cool!".

Anyways, we needed to go out to get food (groceries) and also we promised Ab to get her her dosage of Chicken McNuggets, French Fries and Chocolate milk - plus we had some favors that from our rellies that we need to fulfill.

The roads were okay at first, but as most experienced folks would tell you, it gets worse when the road freezes up. The disappointing thing is that there were no snow-plows or rock salt on the roads. The road authorities should have anticipated this and be more prepared... Anyways, we saw cars in ditches, into trees, stalled by the freeways, and many skidding cars (we were one of them too). Freeways with speed limits at 55mph saw cars traveling at 15-20mph... Here are some sights - some of them may look familiar to some of you...


Behind our apartment

Let it snow...

Ab enjoying the snow with Mommy in the warmth of our apartment...


Kids playing in the snow


Not a very common sight...


More views of snow from our apartment


Uwajimaya, Asian Food Market


OR 217


2-3 inches with 2-3 inches more...


boon out...

boon's log 4908.03: Catching up: Back to Penang, Waikiki, Thanksgiving, and a Birthday Celebration...

It's been a pretty busy November. I had to return to Penang for a week and got detoured to KL for a few days and managed to catch up with some relatives there.

Upon arriving back in OR, I only had a day's rest before departing to Hawaii for our annual vacation - actually our (IL and I) first real vacation with Ab. Ab thoroughly enjoyed it - the parents were dead tired... but it was fun. So much so that Ab resisted to leave the island - she unrolled the beach mat and lied down on the floor and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep, as IL and I were rolling the bags out of the hotel room getting ready for checkout (!!!). She enjoyed the Sun, the sand and the swimming. She even dipped her legs and hands into the cold Pacific waters.

Thanksgiving was filled with turkeys and shopping, as usual. Just that this year, we were invited over to a simple Thanksgiving gathering / dinner in EC's place. It was a huge turkey - enough to feed 7 adults and 4 kids! We were filled - God bless you, EC and CL.

And finally, it was Ab's 2nd birthday. She's got presents being sent in from all over and some were in-proxy. She had a nice time having her party with her buddies at school and then we had dinner with some of our colleagues, YY, SbS, HT, and TE. She also had a blast opeining all her presents and looking forward to getting home everyday to play with her new toys!

And with dat... in comes December 2008. Man this year did zoom by fast.


Flying back to Penang...


Arriving at LAX


LAX International


A380 at LAX International


Waikiki Sunset


Waikiki Sunset


Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background


Marina outside at our hotel


USS Arizona Memorial


Japanese miniature planes in the memorial


The modified torpedo, just like the one in the movie


USS Arizona Memorial


The Shrine Room, USS Arizona Memorial


USS Arizona Memorial


Where we stayed in HNL


Waikiki, Hawaii


Ab's footprints...


Sand Cars


Ab's tools and equipments...


EC&CL's Thanksgiving Party


Seasoned hands, entertaining the Thanksgiving/Christmas shoppers at Washington Square Mall


Happy Birthday Ab!


Presents!


Ab's Birthday Cup Cakes


Ab celebrating her birthday with her friends in school


"Dear Santa..."

Oh, and finally, it's not news anymore, but Obama made history when he defeated his Republican presidential candidate opponent with a landslide victory to become, the first black American President. I was told that Kenya even declared that "victorious" day as a public holiday. Well, many see this as another chapter in American history that embraces a next level of diversity and opportunity. This grand slam also revived MLK's "dream", when he delivered his powerful speech at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington DC, on August 28th, 1963... Challenging times ahead and hopefully with a little bit of young blood in office will help...



boon out...