Archive | PermalinkAllie's 11 Month Birthday

Well, somebody's pleased to be 11 months old!!

That's right, the girl was 11 months old last Monday, June 22, 2009. Another fun-filled month has gone by. It seems like I plan to do so much, but then suddenly it's 8 PM, Allie's bedtime and the day is done! And she is now 11 months and 6 days old. She sleeps through the night, enjoys music, and seems to be paying attention to the commercials on TV. She still has one tooth (but goodness, it is sharp!) although it looks like others may be coming soon.

Keywords: alya,around_the_house,birthday,lily

Archive | PermalinkBelated Happy Father's Day!!

Sunday was Vin's very first Father's Day! I wasn't on the ball enough to have gotten him a card, but Allie and I did pick out a couple of gifts for him (which arrived early so Allie was able to model them for Vin on Father's Day).

Happy Father's Day, babe!!! You are the best Papa anyone could ask for, and we both love you.

Note: Allie is wearing her new pink Chicago Cubs official onesie (Papa's Father's day gift).

Also, a Happy Belated Father's Day to Abah, Yope and all you awesome dads out there!!!

Keywords: alya

Archive | PermalinkThat Is One Big John Fruit

The last leg of the vacation was a couple of days back at Ain's kampung at Pasir Mas, Kelantan. When we arrived,Irfan's cousin Aiman and family were on their second-to-last day there before returning to Kuala Lumpur. They had a few hours together to play, with the Atok's ball from Sitawan, and the bubbles. That night Aiman slept over at his paternal grandmother's house. They came to visit the next morning before leaving.

Fruits were abundant. There were roadside stalls which sold tons of them. Ain bought a pineapple to be turned into pajeri nenas. Tok Bah and Tok Ma also bought mangosteens, as seen in the above photo. It had been a while since I had some.

Irfan poses beside a jackfruit tree, where a large jackfruit waited to be cut down by Tok Bah. We brought the fruit with us back home. We are slowly eating the internal ulas. Some day we'll finish them all.

Keywords: balik_kampung,food,irfan,vacation

Archive | PermalinkIn Character Subtitling

Why haven't I done this before? I had the means to do this for years and years. Go to Preferences, fiddle about with subtitle font and select Stephen Crane's Aurebesh... then watch any Star Wars movie.

Keywords: movie,star_wars

Archive | PermalinkHere There Be Mountains, Ryan

En route between Sitiawan, Perak and Pasir Mas, Kelantan we had to drive across the Titiwangsa mountain range. It was about one hundred kilometers between the towns of Gerik and Jeli, both major population centres that flanked the range where the federal road crosses over. There was a rest stop along the way where we bought lunch, though we did not eat there.

Irfan, by the way, had just woke up from a long nap in the car.

Keywords: balik_kampung,family_outings,irfan,vacation

Archive | PermalinkThe Monkey-Swamps Of Lumut

What are these monkeys up to? Where do they come from? Do they have insurance?

Keywords: balik_kampung,family_outings,irfan,vacation

Archive | PermalinkLOL! PraWNED!!!111

Once upon a time, Atok and Opah told us of a little out of the way place named Bagan Nakhoda Omar, Harbour of Captain Omar in Anglic. Who was Nakhoda Omar and ship did he captain? I'd like to know that as well... 

On our way to Sitiawan for school holidays, we thought we'd stop there for lunch. It was a warm sunny day, but not sweltering at all. There was a cool breeze coming from the sea and we took a table under the undulating shadow of some coconut trees. We ordered the specialty that Atok and Opah told us about: fried meals with prawns. Ain & I ordered nasi goreng and Irfan the meehoon goreng. While waiting for lunch to be cooked, Irfan explored the area around the food stalls, chasing a small monitor lizard into a pool under the gazebo where most of the tables were situated.

There were more than a dozen fried prawns in each of our dishes. They were fresh, delicious and their soft shells and legs came off easily. They was the best fried prawns we ever had, cheaper and more to the ringgit than any restaurants in Kuala Lumpur.

Irfan wanted to buy a kite from one of the stalls, but we were leaving for Sitiawan right after lunch.

Someday, we will return.

Keywords: balik_kampung,family_outings,food,irfan,vacation

Archive | PermalinkHunting Pirates - Bad Example, Episode 2 Part 2

Episode 2: Crab Meat Beach Party

IV

Continued from Part 1

Ever the diplomat and unable to shoot from the back of the column, Hunter climbed up the nearest tree to get a clear shot as well as yell, "Don't shoot! It might be friendly." Annie brandished her talons and attempted to perform an acrobatic leap over Weapon-X and Ssssawar to get to Aden. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell facedown in the dirt.

Weapon-X was still trying to bear his blaster rifle on the creature, but Aden's military skills prevailed. His DC-15 rifle was up and he fired, but the bolt slightly grazed the side of the creature's head.

Keywords: fiction,gokl,rpg,star_wars

Archive | PermalinkAllie's 10 Month Birthday

My goodness, I can't believe that is is already June. Allie was 10 months old on May 22nd, and yes, I know it is now June but here it is, Allie's 10-month birthday post. It's later than it usually is because the month of May has been very busy for our little family. So let's get to it. Allie is 10 months and 11 days old today! 45 weeks! She has been ex-utero longer now than she was in-utero. She sleeps through the night most nights and has a grand total of one tooth! Wheeeeee!

Can you see the tooth in the picture above?

Keywords: alya,birthday

Archive | PermalinkShooting Zebras - Bad Example, Episode 2 Part 1

I ran the second episode of Star Wars: A Bad Example In The Spacelanes last weekend with the GOKL crew. Without Adrian, Tickley the Jawa Jedi would be relegated to behind-the-scenes NPC while the rest of the crew did their thing.

In Bad Example In The Spacelanes Episode 1: Pilot, Or Lack Thereof, some stuff happened which you can read here.

Here follows the story of the game that was ran:

Episode 2: Crab Meat Beach Party

Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

The shipping line to the mining community of Port Barrow on the planet Sriluur was under constant raid from pirates. Because Port Barrow was being developed and industrialized by the outlander human Tam Gromer, it was relatively shunned by the rest of the planet. However, after the arrival of the crew of the yacht Bad Example, three pirate YT-1760 freighters had been taken out of commission. Two had been captured and one destroyed.

Fearing a retaliation from the Five Skulls Pirates, the crew of the Bad Example planned take down the pirates at their base.

I

The drum-beat strains of the night remain in the rhythm of the newborn day. The captured pirate YT-1760, still stinking of garbage, and the battered Luxury 3000 yacht Bad Example sat side-by-side upon Port Barrow's landing field. Several kilometres into the city a column of smoke drifted upwards from the town's junk yard since the previous afternoon where the other YT-1760 crashed. The junk yard owners had been celebrating all night for their glorious bounty that had literally fallen from of the sky.

Keywords: fiction,gokl,rpg,star_wars

Archive | PermalinkWalking Through A-Deh-Deh-Deh Like That - A Terminator Salvation Review

In the first Terminator movie, if time travel convention is to be adhered to, just before John Connor's troops stormed Skynet and was on the verge of destroying it in Timeline A, the human resistance is screwed the moment the T-800 Model 101 went back in time moments before Kyle Reese did. What actually did happen? Was that Skynet destroyed in Timeline A even as the T-800 terminated Sarah Connor in a new divergent timeline (Timeline B) in which case John Connor never existed and Skynet was triumphant? From Timeline A, Kyle Reese went back and stopped the Terminator creating Timeline C. Do all these three timelines exist simultaneously?

If you didn't stop to think about it all however, thanks to the superb direction, story and visual effects - if you are sufficiently entertained - then Terminator was a flawless movie. Similarly with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the movie was entertaining enough that you don't question how different Skynet in Timeline C was from Timeline A since the new timeline had a technology boost from the future (the T-800 chip and forearm).

Keywords: movie,movie_review