A new beginning

A letter
As I write this entry, I am filled with excitement, yet full of dismay. I am excited that if everything goes well, I should be well on my way of attaining my wildest dreams, to be a taxi driver. Yes, I have said this to many and I will now declare it to all who care to read, I want to be a taxi driver. The romanticsm of driving a shiny vehicle along the roads of Singapore, being given the opportunity to peek into another's way of living as we chatted on in that short period of time, would that not be great? Less not a voyeur I be, but a more knowledgeable person I should be.

A dmit
I will admit it. Many do not subcribed to the notion of driving people around to be the best way to make a living. But what is best to some people may be the ultimate for others and some may say its not their cup of tea. I may be a romantic at heart, but I am also a realist. A realist that realise he may be wrong. What I would not give to be sitting, driving people all day and being paid for it. But people do say though, its a hard life. And while part of me still longed for the freedom of being your own boss, a bigger part of me tells me that it is a dangerous, tough and time consuming occupation.

The start
Nevertheless, I have sent in the application form. I hope my wildest dreams will come true. I hope I do become a taxi driver.

Slim

Widly Oats

This cannot be happening
Not so soon. I am only up to page 8. It would sound much better is the book does not start from page 6. Sigh.

This is the book that is the cause of me failing to graduate the degree program last year. As a result, I have to resit the module. I know I have to read this bu E.A.P is just to personal. Its his thoughts and actions that I am reading and not those of another voice, favouratibly, the narrator.  I will get this done. Sometimes its good to set a dateline. Most of the time, you ended up missing them.

In a few minutes time, I will making my way to the Gardens by the Bay. We will have lunch first and I expect us to move out in under half an hour. That is pretty doubtful, seeing that the mum and the baby are still enjoying their youth day naps.

On a sadder note, a pre-school teacher was video-ed mishandling one of her charges. As a result, the child suffered a fracture on one of his shin. The 51 year old lady has since been arrested. All of the action was caught on the CCTV which the parents viewed and recorded onto their mobile phones. Of which, it was released on FB. I was aghast! How can anybody do that? Releasing the video on FB. Seriously, how does one transfer video from a mobile phone to FB. And more importantly, why? Perhaps it was out of anger, fear or maybe it was out of upmanship. Whatever it is, I hope one of the reason is to help the poor child gets better and may he not be tormented by the videos himself when he finally have access to HIS FB.

On a slightly happier note, Nigella Lawson is divorced or going to be divorced. Happy? Yeah, why would not I happy be? Her hubby, a Saatchi, throttle her throat in a restaurant and get this... because she was advised to keep mum over it, he is settling for divorce. Seriously, one would think that many would fall for that? I would fall for many things, true, but not for this. This is a serious case of "I am sick of your cooking and flaunty camera angles shows but I cannot make up my mind how to break it to you." So there.

Oh well, those are the two incidents that merits my taking a break from reading my book time.

Here is to more Wildly Oats.

Cool. Slim.

Shocked... Gee!

The beginning..
(The past 40 years)

Pain, hardship, disappointment and many other negative feelings are felt when it comes to watches. Perhaps, that is why, a watch, any watch would not be on any of my wrist for two consecutive days. They are cumbersome, they are bulky and they feel like a lesion on my body. Then how is it, I really cannot explain this, that since the last month, I have purchased 5 Casio g-shocks and am looking for another hundred by trolling the web?
I remembered, my first watch. It was a Garuda. My late mother brought me to a small watch shop, and while both she and he discuss as to what is good, in terms of value for money, I was looking at the mickey mouse watches. I was looking at the hands, more specifically and wondered if the Mickey will dislocate his shoulders should the hands go around? I guess he did not. That must explain why he did not get hurt in those television shows.

The actual beginning...
(April 2013)

My nephew wanted a watch. I know about this as his grandmother, my mother-in-law, told me during one of those precious family dinners that I enjoyed tremendously. Great, I thought. I can save up and get a great watch, maybe a Patek, maybe a Rolex or a smart looking Citizen. At the very least, a Swatch. All Swiss made... all automatics. And I can get them for somebody who likes watches!

My nephew, casually, mentioned that he wanted a g-shock.

Aghast and a-shocked that my nephew has gone the mainstream route in looking for vindication in his existence, I had an uncle-nephew talk. Not that I am against Casio, but I am against non-individuality. I am against letting any of my kin, whether by law or by blood, follow the mainstream in dictating one's individuality. As corny and as confusing as that may sound, I don't think another Levi's revolution is good for the society's morality. I mentioned another watch, a Seiko and ask him, my perennial favourite question when I want somebody to see things my way, "why not?" He looked at the picture on the macbook, and said "Ok." Great,  job's done. No cheap plasticky watch in the family. He shall have one and that is the end of it. I can buy him when his birthday rolled in in July. All this lasted for the next 45 minutes on the trip back home. It lasted until I switched on my Macbook and google g-shock. O-M-G!!!

This is still the beginning...
They were like candy on the open shelves. They are like, easy pickings. There are not that expensive. For a working adult, one can easily afford a different one every other month at least. They are so colourful! There are reds, yellows, greys, blues, and many different shades of blue, and greens. And do not, never, ever, discount the appeal of those oranges... They look so good, good enough to eat. Did I mentioned that there are whites too... And those straps, those resin straps. SO soft, so malleable. Dare I likened to a baby's bottom? Yes! I do! And for those who are picky, some models comes in leather straps, some comes in canvas with metal hoops... Hoopy!

I broke into cold sweat every night with images of whites, red, greens, and blues swirling around in my head. They are like sheeps but instead of putting me to sleep, they want me to switch my Macbook on.

Instead of waiting for my nephew to choose his Seiko. I chose a G-Shock for him. My very first, technically its his, but I am wearing it now, so for "now" it is on my wrist, ergo, its mine. Its white with blue accent. It has analogue hands and digital numbers that change every second. And it fits nicely on my wrist. I actually wore this to sleep. I bought it and wore it for ten minutes before my son asked for it. That lasted for 18 hours before my nephew decided that he got to have that. The straw that broke the camel back? That was the one. I went back after a dinner that I did not like all that much, g-shockless...

And then I google g-shock again and I came across this website. Watchspree. Rows and rows of g-shocks, deliciously photographed. All waiting to be picked like ripe oranges from its branches. But those delicious oranges did not get to me. Wary of websites I hardly knew, I enquire from friends. Some said the prices are reasonable, while others say that I can get it cheaper. "The Bencoolen" was the answer. And so I went.

Its a dingy not that modern but brightly lit shopping center, with only one floor for shopping while the rest are office space. There are 5 shops where watches are sold and that, my friends, are 5 watch shops too many. And when I did ask as to how did my friend know about this place, his reply was, he gets his watches from there. "Watches?" How may you may ask? The last time I checked with him, he said he had about twenty or more. Oh wow! He must have a garden with all those g-shocks tree growing in his 5 room HDB flat. I must have influence another friend too. Because this other friend, bought 3 more in a space of about a month which makes his collection a good round, even, lucky number 8! And then it occured to me, it hit me like a shock resistance g-shock hit my head. Everybody, that I know had one or more than one! I knew there and then I have to catch up. And so I did.

The continuation of the the beginning...

I bought a black one. It has rose gold hands. I figured, if I want to start a collection, I should have something unique in every single one. And so I chose a black one and what is unique about this one is its rose golden hands. I like it so much that I emailed the website checking for availability. I bought it, even when they had not put it up yet. It was one of my most expensive purchase yet! But I really love the rose golden hands. It was so hard to justify the purchase, but was soooooo easy to click on the mouse. And what a joy to have it delivered. Trembling were my hands when I tore open the cardboard box like a hungry wolf emptied of sheeps to eat.  It was a sight to behold. It was so comfortable to wear, it was too delicious to eat. It is now, with my nephew. My quest for uniqueness continues. It almost ended when I saw the yellow one.

It was unmistakable yellow. It has yellow hands and they are so legible. I can easily tell the time as yellow contrast heavily against black. I believe Allah S.W.T has lead me to this yellow for a reason. And whatever the reason, I bought it. The straps are a glossy yellow. It shines like I have never seen anything shine like it before. Living things in the animal kingdom are now afraid of me as I an, in their eyes, poisonous. Ah! The influence of power. That is until my wife saw my collections and wave the many white envelopes and said, "real men pay the credit card bills on time". I cried.

Is this the end?

I really do not think so. I have only 5 at the moment, and there are so many others. If I am not wrong, a collection becomes a collections when you have at least a dozen or two. But it goes without saying, wants are infinite, needs are not. And I NEED the square one...

"Why not?' Said my wife.

Sob.

GA-100A-9A

GA-100A-9A, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

I think I am in trouble. This yellow gshock is the 5th gshock that I bought. Oh man! I have to stopped this. If not I will have too many of them! I only have two hands. Now, I am resorting to wearing the swatch when I am in the house and one of the gshocks when I am out. I don't even wear watches before this year!

I still have one more on the way from www.watchspree.com.sg. They are evil I tell you. They make the watches look like candy on the shelves. They are so colorful! Damn.

Via Flickr:
Yellow, black. Helios 44-2 with Alpha 65

3 men and a lady

3 men and a lady
My wife now have to contend to have 3 men, all of varying sizes, optimistically trying to share the queen size bed with her and her attention. Usually the, smallest one win. If he is lucky, the medium size one would be able to spend the whole night with her while the XXL size one would have to shift to another room. However, by 3 am, when its feeding time, all would have gone to their rightful place, the S size would have won full access to the bed.
Its true, its not the size that matters, its the volume.

Slim

2 months and 3 weeks old.

2 months and 3 weeks old., a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

My baby, who was lying between me and wifey woke me up with a gentle nudge of his little hand. I thought that it must be a fluke since, I don't think a 2 and a half month old baby could have thought about and actually have that good a psychomotor skill to nudge me. Whatever it was, I woke up looking at one of his most heart warming smile.
Either he was having a major gas situation or he really wanted to wake me up.
Alhamdulilah, it was not gas.

Via Flickr:
and 6.1kg. Minolta 70-210 AF

Sleeping in the other room

I am so sleepy. But I can't fall asleep once I lie down on the bed. I am sleeping in the study room. Not sleeping in my own bed would mean that Su would have more space for baby when it comes to feeding at night. So thoughtful right?
I am nodding off. I hope I will have a great rest tonight.

Slim

WIth 2 boys

2

Yup, you read it right. I now and a father to 2 boys. And both of them are with me in he same room. Yup, I have been busy.

Brandist

My next paper
Thia has nothing to do with my upcoming paper on consumerism and consumption culture. This is just one of the musings that I have while I am in my "zoned out" zone. Yes, I do have a zone out zone. And while I usually "zone out" while in the lavatory, this event occured when I was reading the Sunday newspapers. And no, the Sunday newspapers, to a very large extent, do not have anything to do with me, zoning out.

Brands, Curries
A friend of mine, a Malay, was venting her frustration at the Malay Wedding function that is invariable, infuriating her. Apparently, she is upset that the wedding organisers has included a karaoke machine as part of the entertainment. Usually, karaoke machines comes with professional karaoke singers. I guess, when one is preparing for one's exams in less than 24 hours, any karaokeing is too much karaokeing. This incident, reminded me of several "fb" incidents where individuals of various ethinic backgrounds openly chided groups of other ethinic origins, due to their customs or their actions. The latest one was about a Chinese, who I think, was so upset about the Malay wedding held within ear shot, hers apparently, wrote in her facebook, with expletives mind you, about the cheapness of marriages in the Malay community. That post went viral, and since it raised the ire of the population (mostly Malays), she was sacked from her job. Seriously, I kid you not. Another incident, involving the cooking of curries by a local household. The neighbours, a non local household, found the smell too unappealing that they lodge a complain with the appropriate authorites (which? your guess is as good as mine) and a settlement was soon reached. Amazing, but true, the settlement was, that the local household can only cook curry when the non-local household was not at home. Amazing, right. What is more amazing  was that that was the settlement, accepted by both parties. Perhaps, in trying to keep to good neighbourliness. I don't know about you but smells play a part in determining how good food taste, so if that curry is so offending smelly, I bet that it so offendingly tasty. But, what is more amazing, and to me a but rediculous, was that this story went viral on face book. There were so many people that were so unhappy with the settlement, that explanations by the authorities, was sought and given. Nevertheless, somehow, there was a Cook Curry Today day that happened. Yup, if only there was an incident involving Mondays and Work. Then I guess, I will gladly sign up for No Mondays for Work day. Would that not be even amazing.

Consumerism
Yes, yes, the title looks very massive, with the boldness and the capital c, but no, its not about consumerism. Its about what happened to being a consumerism. Many sociologist has lamented that modern society will tend to creep towards the art of buying as the new art of living. I, on the other hand is wondering, "whats next"? I remembered how the brand of shoes, bags and clothes that we buy would reflect our statuses among friends. I wonder if, it still holds true to the younger generations. Why I asked, you may wonder, because it seems that brands are not that importants for them. They seemed not to be bothered about the brands of clothers they wear nowadays, they are more bothered by the actual item. I see their point, a shoe is a shoe. An xbox is an xbox. You can't have xbox from brand z while another from brand y. There is only one xbox. Thus, branding has been taken out of the picture. What about watches, mobile phones and all that. All of them have not been a given fact.

I have to continue later. I am getting heart burn.

Kak Tijah

Kak Tijah, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

This is Kak Tijah. She works as a cleaner at @Punggol. She also create a herb garden. Thats her, choosing some mint leaves for me.

I love her tenacity, her humbleness and of course her friendliness.

Prune and green apple crumble

Prune and green apple crumble, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

I made this. I made after watching 'Good Eats'. It seems so simple and I think, after I done it, it actually is.

Here is what I used.
Part A (Do this first)
5 ounces of flour.
1 and a half cups of walnuts, crushed
1 and a half cups of crackers, crushed
2 thirds of a cup of sugar.
6 punces of butter, chilled and cut into cubes.

Mixed them up in a bowl and try to rub the butter into the flour. Don't have to be perfect.

Set B
3 big sugar prunes, cubed
2 green apples, peeled and cubed
half a cup of sugar
juice of half a lemon
and a cup of Set A.
Mixed them all up.

Spread Set B on whatever you want to bake the crumble in.
Spread Set A on top. Don't have to be perfect!

Put in in the oven at 145 degrees C. For about 30 minutes. Until the crust is golden brown.

Slim

Via Flickr:
With Walnuts and cashews in the crusts. Nex 5 with contax 45/2

By the river side

By the river side, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

I went for a walk today. I went to Punggol Riverside. Did not plan to, but Adam asked me if I was going to exercise today. Who can say no to that?
I walked and I took pictures. I brought along my nex-5 and my newly acquired Minolta 24-85. I like the lens so much. The problem is, I like all of my lenses that I cannot bear to part with any of them.
Anyway, the walk... eel, I did walk. And I met a lady, who I think works as a cleaner at @Punggol. I am going back and then take her picture and pictures of her garden.
I like the walk. I did not manage to reach the bridge though although I can see it. It was the furthest that I walk while I was on my own.
I feel myself to be much lighter now. Maybe its because I am sitting on the very comfortable chair...lol.
I know my feet will hurt sooner rather than later, but then, that is the beauty. They will get better. I told Su that I want to get the @99. Always the better one in our relationship, she, I guess I won't be getting it!

Slim

Via Flickr:
Minolta 24-85mm Nex-5

Rayyan

Rayyan, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

This is Rayyan, Sarah's (a cousin of mine) first born. A very handsome fellow if I do say so myself. Very much like Adam, the way I remembered him when he was that age, ok maybe Adam was a bit bigger.

Took this at Fareha's wedding. Held at Masjid Abdul Razak yesterday. Love the atmosphere. Did not take too kindly to the other photographer though. I hate what he did.

Anyways, suppose to wake up earlier today and have a good walk and shoot day but alas, day was spoilt when I woke up at 0730. Maybe later, when Adam is at his swimming lesson.

Body felt refreshed when I showered just now but the zzz monster is starting to take over. Hope it won't win.

Slim

Road leading to sembawang mosque

Road leading to sembawang mosque, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

I like this picture. A very moody look. Its like there is something beyond what's there.

Woke up at 6 today. Sent wifey to school when I came back, my body stubornly refuse to let me do anything else except to go back to bed. Woke up at 11 am. Brushed my teeth and took off to JB to fill up the Jet. Came back and after eating a slice of whole grain with peanut butter, I am full.

Was reading the newspapers awhile back, but nothing came to mind. Must have been a boring yesterday.

Still thinking of getting the LA-EA2 for my ned. That will be about $420. I don't think I have the cash to spend. So I made up my mind. I will get it next week, when wifey's pay is in. Yup, still making use of her. Love her much much. Not because of just her pay only but because she is her.

Slim

I caned him.

Caning
I caned him today. I can't believe that I did. I caned on his left palmed. I caned him out of a sense of responsibility. I caned him because I said I would. I should not have, but I did and I am very sorry.

I caught him lying. He told me he did not hand in his worksheet because his mother said that she wanted to go over the questions with him. I cannot accept that. I cannot accept him lying about his mother like that. I was so angry. I shouted at him, told him to stop making excuses. I then used that as an excuse to use the cane.

I am sure, I was caned when I was young. I cannot remember. I don't think I was. I know for a fact that I was not afraid of being caned, because I am not afraid of not doing the right thing. I was slapped by a teacher several times when I was in primary school. But I was never caned.

I made him go back to school today. I made him collect his worksheets from his teacher. I then made him complete the worksheets. His mother took over after dinner. I think I would have found the long hours more uncomfortable as compared to being caned. I sincerely hope, I don't have to use the cane anymore.

I love him. I love you.

Slim.

Illegal

I know I should be out cycling. But I guess, reading is better than doing nothing. I have finished my reading on Study Unit 1. The study unit ended with a spot on Benjamin Franklin. Interesting, quite a joker ah he...

Writing
I read somewhere, or maybe I heard somewhere that even if one can write, it does not make one a writer. Implying that one can hardly be called a writer even when one writes. Anyway, I choose to write, even though this will not make me turn out to be a good writer, it is fine, that is not my intention anyway.

Maybe I am a closet writer, you know, the kind that wished that he writes, but am too embarrassed for the rest of the world to see? But after reading about Benjamin Franklin and how prolific a writer he was, I am inspired.

10 going on 40
You know when you are getting old is when you cannot remember what you did for your only son's last birthday. I always thought that anything to do with Adam is worth remembering. But I cannot remember what we did for his last birthday. That is, until I checked my Facebook pictures which provided more than an inkling of what transpired that day. Nevertheless, lets not write about the distant past, rather lets talk about the not too distant past and what it holds for the future.

 Future
Ah, who am I to talk about the future. Based on statistics alone, I am more than halfway through before I get to kick the bucket. But Adam, well he has a long way to go. Why should he not. He is only ten. I cannot remember vividly what it was like when I was ten, but I know he has it better. His birthday cake alone is better that one I will ever going to get, and perhaps a million other people too. He can choose who he wants to be, whenever he wants that to happen. Its the decisions that he has to make along the way that worries me. I worry because, I will never be there for him all the time. I worry because, people and places surrounding changes ever so often. I worry that I cannot keep up. In fact, I cannot keep up with all of my cousins' names. But never a worrier shall I be.

40 and getting wiser
I may be getting older, but there is an upside towards getting older. One gets wiser. True, this is subjective and the young seldom sees the errors of their ways. I know I am getting wiser, as I keep saying good stuffs to Adam. Stuffs, that even he appreciates. Stuffs that I cannot possibly make up on my own if not for the fact that I am wiser more so this moment then the moment that has just passed. For instance, we has a dad to son as to what being gay is about and more importantly, how not to judge is as important as being able to tell the difference between what is wrong and right. That and what to when somebody uses a bicycle lock to lock your gates so that you cannot get into your house.

That really steam me up. I will write about that in another post.

Midnight
If you come to think about it, everybody is getting wiser. Its a matter of whether you are getting enough of "wise". Maybe it will be too little too late. Maybe it will be sufficient but I have come to accept it. I have come to accept the fact being wise and being wiser are two different things. I settled for just being wise, that is already hard enough. When midnight comes, it is the start of a new day and if becoming wiser has a correlations to being forgetfulness, I want to remember that I was there during your birthday, I took the pictures and I witnessed the joyous face of yours when you opened up your presents in the presence of those that matters. I love you, and I hope I don't forget that. I will try to be wiser for you but in the meantime, try not to wise up too fast.

Love you, abah.

Books for the term

Books for the term, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

The books I am suppose to be reading now. I guess I should be. Seems very heavy going. But I think I will manage. God willing.

Update:
Its about an hour and a half since I last wrote and I am happy to inform you that I have cleared chapter 1. That should be at least a third of study unit 1.

OMG OMG OMG..

Sick

A cousin was admitted into Changi hospital today. He was found unconscious with his eyes wide open this morning. His mother tried to wake him up because he was suppose to be off to work, and that was how she found him.

I am full of fear. Fear of the worse that can happen. He is so young, one of the younger batch of my cousins, younger than my youngest sister.

But you have to be brave, I keep telling myself that. God willing, we will pull through the the many tests that he had set out for us. Insyallah 



Sent from my Windows Phone

Idris

Came back from the doctor yesterday. Was told the good news, that out baby is healthy. Even though he is not born yet, we have started to call him idris. Yup, we were told that idris is a boy.

I know I was suppose to cry out in happiness. But I was silenced. Silenced as in I am syukur that I am going to have another child. I hope, I really hope that that child is going to be syukur to have us as his parents.

Sent from my Windows Phone

One Direction - One Thing

This is the song that Adam sang to during his P4 camp. That boy can move. I became a fan when I the slicks he had.

He claimed he did not enjoy the camp but he could not stop talking about it. Wait till he becomes one of the instructors. That boy has potential.