little woman

this note was stuck on the TV screen when i got home last nite.

my daughter knows that....

...when i get home late, i'll slump on the sofa & turn on the news channel...

......if she asks nicely, things get done for her....

.......... a few words of appreciation &/or endearment can do wonders....

and i know that....

.......she's growing up fast.....

...........and she's going to curl her little finger around a few guys!!!


oh, how often has she done that to me!!

goodbye, professor!

i thought there were just mouseketeers - you know, M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E. then last month, i learned a new word - imagineers, condensed from the words imagination & engineers. (read here). this is from the book....

Randolph Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon Univ, Pittsburgh, USA, has terminal cancer of the pancreas. as a tradition of the university, he was given a slot in "The Last Lecture" series last september when he shared his "final thoughts", the result of which is the now-famous youtube video (10 million downloads & counting) & the book.

it's been said that people come out with philosophical gems at their death beds & this book did exceed my expectations. to quote just 3 useful advice:

1) when in a position of strength, whether at work or in relationships : Just because you're in the driver's seat doesn't mean you have to run people down,

2) on setbacks in life : The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something,

3) on relationship with your family : Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.

time finally ran out on Randy yesterday (read here) but he has left an inspirational legacy specially for his 3 young children, as well as for millions worldwide. it's called Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

R.I.P, Randy.

cards

ab·rup·tion /əˈbrʌpʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-bruhp-shuhn]
noun - a sudden breaking off.

26-yr-old mother-to-be.

24 weeks into 1st pregnancy.

mild abdominal pain for 2 days.

no more fetal heart beat seen on ultrasound.

heart break.

R.I.P, little one.

it's called abruptio placenta, when the placenta prematurely separates from the uterus, thereby cutting off vital oxygen to the baby.

it could have happened to anyone. the mother-to-be seemed to have accepted her & the baby's fate.

time to move on, despite the hurt.

still ample time to create, & await the patter of little feet.

people advise : it's not what cards life deals to you - it's how you play them.

David did one better:
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. psalms 139: 15,16

datuk

dime [dahym]
- noun
a coin of the United States or Canada worth ten cents.(source)

so our pretty-face orthopaedic surgeon got his datukship today for his "outstanding feat" as the 1st malaysian space participant....er...i mean, angkasawan. well, he should because the other jaguh kampung who was the 1st malaysian to swim across the english channel also got his just reward. (read here)

& i've always thought you needed to be a world champion, ie. the best in the world, like in badminton or squash , before due recognition is accorded.

so, how easy is it to be a datuk these days?

a dime a dozen?

a milestone & a mistake

July 16, 1984 :
1st day on the job as a Houseman, Penang General Hospital.

i survived.


July 16, 2008 :
even though the patient had told me she was allergic to that pain-killer, i inadvertently injected it when she had pain.

she survived.

i survived, again.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
psalms 121:7,8

kukup

2 mths back, when RobT asked me if my family would like to join his CG's weekend outing to Kukup in Johore, i didn't hesitate to agree, even without consulting the wife (heh heh!), because the lure of seafood was just too overwhelming.

so we headed there on saturday with 8 other families. checked into ....

...which was undergoing renovation at the moment. then made our way into town for the "main course" at the main seafood restaurant...

....where the dining area, like a jetty, overlooked the sea.


the service was a tad slow as a result of the swelling lunch crowd but the food was up to mark...

..starting with prawns & little squids. after that came the fish & veggies, before the black pepper crab made its grand entrance...

..was this succulent or what...???

...burrpp...!


after lunch, took a boat trip out to Pulau Kukup....

....said to be the largest mangrove island in the world.



i have to admit that its significance was lost on me, what's with the conservation stuff going on.


like the kids, i thought the highlight was this boardwalk winding thru the greenery..

.....& the suspension rope-bridge...



on the boat-ride back, stopped by a kelong where we were shown how fish caught out in the sea were bred in their near-natural habitat...


surprisingly Kukup, perhaps the most famous town in Johore for sea-food, wasn't even listed in Sunday Star's top 10 list for sea-food. but that certainly hasn't stopped S'poreans from flocking into this quaint coastal town...

...which even has an immigration check-point for travel to indonesia & s'pore!! on a walkabout, we realised some of the houses were built right at the water's edge.


after breakfast on sunday, i shared a message based on Nicodemus & being born again before making an early departure to JB to see the parents. (fuel price increase & killing 2 birds with 1 stone, get it?)

on the way home, on the expressway, there was a speed trap just before the tangkak exit at about 8pm - do these guys really have infra-red cameras, i wonder?? i had been cruising at about 120kmph & i thought my 3-year ticket-free streak had finally come to an end. i guessed i got away because i had been speeding on the left lane - a tip someone told me that the speed cameras were invariably trained on the fast lane because it's assumed that people will speed on that lane.

phew - i felt born again!