Car

I think I'm partly at fault. My car is nearing its end of the its warranty period. It had hit 100000km and so I decided to send it to the agent for serviced. Damn! Agent just called and told me to leave the car overnight. He said that the mechanics are still checking out the complaints I made regarding the car. So now, I'm car less until tomorrow afternoon; I hope.
So I can't fetch Su and and I will be travelling by train and bus to Unism tomorrow. Sigh. I hope I can the car sooner than "3 or 4 pm".
As to what are those faults, all minor but I had to say it...
1. A "wOng" sound when I turn right.
2. The signal stick won't reset itself when I turn right.
3. The car is getting bumpy at the back.

Also sent the car there to get its oil change.
Wish me luck.

First!

There were many first this past few days. Hmm, where do I start?
Well of course, the most dramatic one was when I received a call at 5.00am in the morning from sister, saying that my dad was in the hospital. That was a first for me; receiving such a call. To make matters worse, my mom was already admitted in NUH two days before and my dad was warded in TTSH. After that call, my head felt like it was going to explode. Went to visit my dad after sending my wife to school.
Another first was related to Adam. Monday was Adam's first day buying food for himself by himself during recess. Turned out he ate the sandwich that Risa prepared for him and used the time saved from queuing to play games with his friends. Not a bad idea.
Monday too was the first lecture of my second module in Unism. This module is on the study of religeon. Quite baffling. The lecture was carried out by this English guy who hardly has a British accent. Looks eccentric if you asked me, the girls thought he looked quite handsome.
Oh, I went to JB after class. That was a first after a long time. The new CIQ is very winding. I ended up at the red lane instead. I got lost for a bit and with the help of somebody on a Singapore registerd motorcycle, I'd managed to find my way back home. Went again on Thursday morning.
First time going to a hotel in Batam. Will be there during CNY. I hope everything will be alright. Quite excited actually.

Books

Went to Unisim to collect my books today. Not as dramatic as the first time when I did that. This time, I collected two boxes though instead of one as I'm taking two modules. Went to Unisim with Adam and Su and Risa. Had dinner there too.
Adam came back from school telling me that he spent all of his $2 on a mechanical pencil and a notebook. Rather than raising my voice, I asked him as to what could he if he wanted to buy a drink. After a few moments of silence, we then agreed that he could buy anything that he wanted but he is to make sure that he'll have enough for food and drinks.
But he was so proud! Yes he was proud being able to buy things with his own money. When we went to Unisim for dinner, he was very active in buying his own food. On one hand, we could see that his confidence has grown but on the other hand, well, I think he is spending too much.

Packed

My mornings nowadays are very free. That is from the time I'm back from sending Su and till Adam comes back. After that its non stop fatherly duties.
In the meantime, I've been teaching Risa a thing or two about internet and email.
When Adam comes back, he'll usually have lunch after that a hotchpot of activities. Of course, the priority will be completing his homework. After which, it'll be revision of Maths and English. He seems to be able to rest from 5.00pm onwards. But then again, he'll have piano from 6.30pm, or he will be out of the house for his ngaji from 5.30pm. So I guess, its really true, he is a busy boy. I've signed him up for swimming and that'll keep him occupied for Tuesday afternoon. Monday and Wednesday, he is off to Woodlands for ngaji. Thursday is his P.L.A.Y day and he will be in school until 3.30pm. Piano lessons are on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings are for madrasah lessons. Not that I'm pressurising him but I think it's important that he'll be kept occupied with a variety of activities. I also think that it is important for him to have a routine.

Ex

Washed the car today.
Did 40 push up and 4 sit up.
Went out for dinner...Sigh.

Ex

Did some exercises today, so from today, I'm going to log in what I did.
50 sit ups
20 push ups

Young coconut for breakfast.
Normal meals for lunch and dinner.

My aim, is to be able to fit into a swimming trunk by mid year.

HA HA HA

Phew

What a year's end. Am so tired. Never been tired being on holidays. Went overseas more than twice, technically speaking but it was worth it. The drive to Penang was an eye opener and my wife did a significant amount of driving on the way back to Port Dickson. Anyways, the photos here are pics from my trip to Ubin. Went to Ubin with my ex colleagues from Holy and it was a swell time. We wanted to take the taxi to Chek Jawa but ended just sitting at some coffee shop near the jetty. So last Sunday, we decided to go to the zoo. We've packed and I even made egg sandwiches. But the queue was so long. The queue to get tickets into the zoo stretched from the ticketing booths all the way to the bus stop and beyond. So, we decided to go to Ubin again. It was me, wife, Adam, Yan, Wan and Joy. I have to admit, the drive to Changi Village from the zoo was quite a distance, but I've driven to Penang...
So we took a bum boat ride to Ubin, cost us $2.50 each, one way and once we reached there we took a taxi to Chek Jawa. Never been there and so happened did all of us. We did enjoyed ourselves though. It was a tiring walk along the boardwalks and it was not the lowest of tides. But we did managed to catch glimpses of Fiddler Crabs, mud skippers, monitor lizards and believe or not, the nipah fruit. Thats where attap chee comes from. We spent some three hours in Ubin after which we took the boat ride back to mainland. We were lucky as it started to rain heavily on the ride back. If we were still at Chek Jawa, I guess we would be drenched. Bought dinner at Rasa 21 in Tampines and brought it back to Woodlands.
Oh, visitor center is a real house nicely restored. Its beautiful. The jetty used to be a private jetty that the owners used to access the house. I strongly recommend that one check out the tide times before going though. More pictures in the album.

Penang

Just came back from Penang some two days ago. Still very tired. Drove there and back.
Its like
Sing-PD-Penang-PD-Malacca-Sing.
10 days altogether, felt like ages. Great to be back.

Must

I must be sick today. Its 2.35 pm and I've not bathed. I've not changed my clothes and I'd would readil fall asleep if given the chance. Glad the bed is in the other room. Been sleeping the whole morning. Well not exactly the whole morning, most of the morning.
Woke up at 6.45am and prepared sausages, toast and half bolied eggs. Wife and Adam were still asleep. While wating for them to wake I fell asleep on the sofa. Adam woke me up for breakfast but I'd ended up in my room only to wake up at 2.00pm. By that time, Su had already prepared lunch. So I had lunch, fried rice and sushi. Adam made sushi. They were nice.
Now I'm hanging out the laundry but Su decided to do the dishes and the lack of space prevented me form finishing. So, here I am, waiting for Su to leave the kitchen.
I'd really must be sick. I'm so tired. Must be the rain during the bbq with the cvps people. I wonder if any of my friends and their kids are affected.
It was a wonderful bbq though...

Ubin

Went to Ubin today. A friend's idea of a simple get together almost got ruined as there was no food!
Took the boat from Changi Jetty and it costs us $2.50 one way. Reached there and the restaurant selling halal food was closed. So we had to wait for another friend to bring us food from Changi. Ended up eating nasi ayam penyet while the non-muslims ate at one stop ubin restaurant.
Was there from 12 noon till 4.00 pm. Not exactly an active affair as we just sat and talked. I had four coconuts though. A very nice environment, where kids actually still ran barefooted.
The weather was quite warm and we ended up another hour in Changi Village drinking pineapple drink. Next meeting will be a seafood dinner in JB!

Camp

Went camping at East Coast of Friday. It's Sunday now and I'm still recuperating from my back ache. Anyway, Adam and Wawa loves it and I lurve it when its time to go back!

I seem to have problems posting pics into my albums so I guess I'll just post them in my blog.

Adam's Kids Fiesta

Was looking at the pictures I took during Adam's graduation concert. Was really happy for him. He really is a nice boy. He has lots of friends and he enjoys being in their company. I can also see that they enjoy being with him too.
It was a grand affair. More than 100 tables. It started from 11.30 am to 5.00 pm. It started with a bang and ended with lots of tears, among teachers, parents and pupils alike. I can't blame any of them, it was such an emotional moment. If any of them are reading this, I would like to thank Ustzh Ain, Tch Ain, Tch Azlin and all of the staff in Iman Tampines for they have not just touch Adam's life but ours too.
Its is this moments that we longed to hang on to. These moments that we cherished and wished they would never go away. But reality always prevails. These moments will passed. Adam may have met his friends for the last time that day. It saddens me as I too have lost touch to too many good friends. I remember the heart wrenching moments when I have to let go. I can't express my feeling to anybody then. It was really, a very heartache period.
Anyway, tomorrow is Adam's second day of his holidays. Need to plan activities for him. I wonder what will be new and exciting for him? He has taken an interest in the television and that is one companion that I'm not too proud of. I think I'll have him conduct experiments at home.

Last Concert.

In less than 24 hours, it'll be Adam last concert as a K2 student. After which, we can all look forward in him starting a new chapter in his life, one as a primary school student. How time flies. It was as if it was only yesterday that Adam was in his cot next to our bed. Thinking about how fast he has grown brought tears to my eyes. I wonder if he'll ever sleeps in our bed again, or whether he'll let us hug him again. He is now 6 going on 7. He is a head shorter than one of his kindergarten teacher. That too brought out the tears as I'd remembered the days when he went to school still wearing his diapers.
Tonight, as I lay next to my wife, I noticed her white hairs. I'd begun to notice that we have changed. Adam has changed too. I hope he'd change for the better and I wish the best for him is yet to come. He is only 6, yet he is so mature for his age. I am so lucky and blessed by Allah for this son of mine to come into my life.
Today was Adam's orientation day at Greendale Primary. As usual, I'd expected and received a boring talk by the principal after submitting the necessary documents. Adam is placed in primary 1-1, and he seems to be not the tallest in class. He was led by one of the teachers to his classroom while Su and me has to sit though the talk given by the P on school rules and such.
An hour after which, we then proceeded to pick up Adam from his class. His class is on the second floor right next to a flight of stairs. His was the class nearest to the canteen. and the toilet. He was quite animated when he described what happened in class.
He told us that he visited the toilet, the canteen. When the teacher asked his name, he said his full name which was quite long. He said that even after the teacher made him repeat his name, she still could not find it on the namelist. He was then asked to point out his name on the list, which he did, and noted his register number as well. His register number is 16 out of a class of 30.
We then looked for the school uniform queue which we found to be very long. As we had pre-order his books to be collected this Friday, we decided to buy the uniforms then as well. We had his food for recess to be catered, but that arrangement is for the first two weeks. After which he can choose to buy his own food for recess.
I'd found out that he needs to be school by 7.40am in the morning and he will be dismissed by 1.30pm except on Thurday when it'll be a PLAY day. On Thursday, he will be dismissed at 3.30pm.
All in all, I'm excited that I'm here to begin this new chapter with him. But sadness has yet to lift its finger on me as I recollect the days when he was in the cot sleeping next to me, in my room and that I'll not have those days again.

FC...

≈
This pic showed that on 24th October 2008, I'd travel 341.1km slightly above three quarters. At this time, no additives has been added to the car.The second picture shows that I'd reached 299.8 with the needle quite far off from the three quarter mark. This is the first time I added a fuel additive bought from an Esso outlet in JB.

The third picture showed that I'd travel 391km just as the needle past three quarter mark.
The fourth picture is after I'd added a fuel additive bought from an Esso outlet in Upp Changi Road North.

The last picture showed what I'd got at nearly the half way mark. I put this up for my own records but you may derive your own conclusion if the fuel additives do work or not. And by the way, I'm driving a trajet 2.0l cvvt. The last picture was taken in Esso JB where I refuel with about 46l. That works out to be 10.91km/l. Not much, I know but much better than some Jet who could get 300-400km in one full tank.

Better.

Leg felt better today and was all fired up to go somewhere after being in bed the whole of yesterday. So off we went to Changi, hoping to catch some shots while we were there. Not a good time to take good pictures anyways, the sky was gloomy and the pain was coming on again. So, together with my Adam's 5d and the 20mm 2.8, I tried.
Reached there around 10.30 am and we had the usual, nasi lemak, for breakfast. While we were enjoying our breakfast, the lunch crowd started to build up. The very well know nasi lemak stall at the corner started to snaking queues. I'd prefer the other nasi lemak stall though. So me and my wife had nasi lemak, adam had 4 epok-epok. Together with ice-milo, ice milo dinosaur and a cup of hot teh, we were all set.
We then went for a walk towards the bum boat jetty. I observed several key changes such as the jetty and some parts of the beaches. Adam refused to take the boat to Pulau Ubin so we ended up walking up to the topside of the jetty. Wished we had went in the boardwalk trails. Should have been fun.

Off we went to my in-laws place and from there, we caught High School Musical 3. Honestly, I'd give it a ten for its entertainment value. May be kiddish, but its entertaining. And the plot, well, the plot is real. The move made me flashed back to the period when I was sitting for my A levels. I sure missed my friends. The things that we did together, such as cycling around the island, disturbing the girls and of course, the presentations during GP lessons. They were killers, but I grew fond of them. High School Musical 3. Cool website too.

film

http://photo.net/columns/joshroot/filmtown/

The url above is a new column on using film. As for me, I too missed using it. Maybe for the wrong reasons. Its not that film gives a better picture, its not that film is cheaper, far from it, but film provide less convenience than digital... What??!! I'm complaining that digital is too good... Yeah, its just too good. You could buy almost any P n S and start shooting. Most probably often enough, there will be shots that are acceptable for you and to you. And if there aren't manhy photo editing software are available for you to do some "modification". Digital just takes some of the fun away from taking pictures...
Consider the steps missing when you chose digital.
1. You have to consider which brand, type, iso rating for film...
2. Where to process ur films...
3. The magical or dissappointing moment when you opened that paper mailer with your pictures in it.
4. The fact that if you could not hack it is the results of your skills and not because you do not know how to use your computer.
5. And the fact beatiful sound of film rewinding and advancing in your camera.Sigh...
6. And what about exposure...You really need to know about exposure. With so many auto levels on Photoshop and the likes, who cares? But I for one, you need to care... Because no amt of PS skills could bring a darkened pic back to life...

Exposure, its so important that digital seemed to have staple the sheets of that chapter altogether. I mean, my son could take beautiful pictures as he is able to preview the shots and then make adjustments, but does he know the concepts of f-stops and shutter speeds, the constraints of them...He is 6 years old. He is no genius.

Will continue.

Leg pain

Its 9.05 pm now. About 4-5 hours since my last post. My right leg is still in pain but is numbed somewhat. I still could not walk normally, and I'm having a pretty bad limp. Don't know if I could make it to the toilet. I really should have stayed away from those rempeyek...

Leg pain

Am feeling sharp pain in my right leg now. It came very fast. I think I felt the first sensation of pain about ten minutes before I could not even rest my foot on the floor. No swelling though. Had to limp to the study room to post this entry. Took two 50mg of declofenac and two tabs of colchichine. From experience, it'll take some 2-3 hours before the pain medication takes effect. I can feel some vibration in my leg now. Pain seems to be moving all around in it. Had to ask dad to fetch adam. This is my first attack in more than six months. The longest it has ever been. There was a time when I had attacks every other day. But those atttacks are manageable. I limped to school then.

Oh well, I'm sweating now and I can feel my hearbeat beating very fast. Must be due to the pain.
Will update soon.

General Will

General Will as define by Rousseau is the will of the state and is the product of reason. As such, if an individual who is logical were to come down to reason, he would allow himself to follow the general will as that would be the best decision as decided by the majority. Thus if an individual were NOT to follow the general will, he is thus considered not free. The state has the right to make him be free in forcing him to follow the general will.
For example, during a vote to find the general will of the state as to whether to have a nuclear power station, the vote favours the presence of the nuclear station. This thus becomes the general will. As the general will is a result of logical thinking and reasoning, this is thus taken as the best options a state should take.
If an individual is against the presence of the nuclear station, then his thought run against the "most correct thought". As such, that individual would be wanting something that is against the general will. Acting against the general will is considered as doing something which is wrong, which the individual should not want. Thus that individual is enslaved to his particular will, and as he is enslaved, thus he is not free. The state then has the right to promote freedom by ensuring that that individual is not enslaved and should follow the general will of the people and should allow the presence of the nuclear power station. The state should be allowed to used force as necessary to force the individual to be free. This idea of forcing individuals to be free has lead to totalitarian rules in several cases.
Rousseau.
If a vote has been taken, can we consider Rousseau idea of the general will to be equal to democracy?
Democracy, two similar but with fundamental differences.
Simple democracy, where ever opinions from every individual counts in making decisions. Quite similar to have a family discussions on where to go for family vacations. It is here that democracy differs with Rousseau. Rousseau believes that there should be one options and that options is one that has been voted on by people using logical reasoning. Rousseau does not believe in considering the opinions of many others and that will include their particular wills. For example, the general will of the family are to go and visit Penang, but the son is of an opinion to stay a day at KL. The family hears his opinion and takes that into account. As such they'll be a day or two late to reach Penang. If every member of the family opinions were to be taken into account, the family may not even reach Penang especially when there are many members in the group.
Another drawback of simple democracy would be the fact that EVERY member has to be consulted on EVERY matter that pertains to the state of which that individual in a part of. Would that be a very efficient arrangements. If every Singaporeans opinions were to be noted for every matter, for example, the position of ERP gantries, the type of HDB houses to build, it may be too troublesome. As a result if asking and noting down opinions becomes too complicated, governments may just NOT asked for opinions.
Next we come to representative democracy. In this environment, people elect representatives to enact and enforce laws on behalf of themselves. Would this be considered an environment where the state should be run that the people govern themselves, How does the people govenr themselves when decisions are made for them and not BY them. Decisions are made by the representatives they elected. And thus Rousseau contents that the right to govern themselves are only apparent on the day the vote for their representatives. Here, the people do not vote for laws to be enacted or passed or to be made redundant but to vote for people to be elected into government who then makes decision for them.

Skin

My mom radiotherapy sessions has ended. Besides the fact that she now coughs, unable to eat chicken rice yet, she is in high spirits. Doctors said she is recovering very well. And she still wants to go to JB, I guess things are looking up for her. She has lost some 12 kg since the treatment started but she sure likes the fact that she is smaller than me. That's my mom...