Japan Trip

Me and my tummy in front of a typical japanese pseudo-traditional house in Yasu City, Shiga, Japan

my BTN

this is the picture contributed by chai, my BTN mate during my BTN course in Ulu Sepri, NS

application still pending

my application for otago uni looks grim. rasanya kalau kita nak cepat-cepat sangat nanti diorang lagi buat lambat-lambat. if Allah permits, there will be a way for me to get there. next wednesday is my convocation. i'll be getting my MSc scroll. again my parents will have something to be proud of me. actually, i'm not that thrilled for myself, i did the MSc because i had to, its my job description as a tutor. but whats most important to me is that i can make my parents proud. thats all. of course as i'm starting my own family the salary increment is a very good help. nanti boleh beli susu anak and spend some on my parents. honestly, i suppose i'm one of those person who can convince others. somehow, my meagre theses presentation during my masters convinced the panel to award me a masters degree. but i bet its gonna be a whole different story with my PhD. i'm willing to do it locally but seems like my boss wants me to do it overseas.

so here's the situation

i am supposed to go to NZ for my PhD at the end of this year while my wife will give birth to my new son anytime in this month. my convocation is at the end of this month and my parents want to move back to KL early next year. my brother's probably getting married next year and i'd be away. by the time my wife can follow me to NZ my son will already be almost 1 year old.......thats just not okay with me. i want to enjoy what every father does, playing with their newborn. hmmmm.....i have to go by the end of this year or the chance will pass by me. well......that is career life i suppose. i wouldnt even want to start on the bureaucracy.

general hospital

sent my wife for her usual antenatal check up today, my baby's heartbeat sounds fine and my wife is now 7#.5 kg (figured if i dont disclose her true weight she cant be entirely mad at me). there's an airplane crash in Medan, Indonesia today, i have many relatives in that part of the world so i'm kinda worried that somebody might be involved. I pray to God that they be safe. my soccer training begin today.....until the 16th for the first match againts RTM and the 23rd againts JPA. I'm pretty excited about the match, havent been on the field for so long neither for rugby nor soccer. i dont play much of other things. i think i might indulge in a few tactical training over my ps2 tonite playing the winning eleven 9...heheh. but i'd be bringing my football gear tomorrow for sure. i dont know anything about RTM soccer team, but i figure they must be so wild out of their sutdios and whatever techno gadget room they have over there in RTM. but againts JPA is what i really look forward to. i want to belasah them cukup2. i still have the grudge againts them for being so tardy with Masters scholarship money......so those JPA blokes better be careful. i'll probably play at the back...in fact way way at the back just right in front of my goalkeeper. i hope my size will hinder any opponents striker from daring to go nearer to our goalpost.

never a day like this yet

My boss wants to get rid of me. today he asked me to do the impossible, apply for overseas candidature for PhD in one day. i had to run about doing several at one time, photostating forms, filling forms, come up with a bogus research proposal and send it in to the training department by 5 pm. and it all began this morning......

there i was relaxing on my plump office chair facing the pc reading the latest news from the nzrugby.com when my dean's PA called my handphone (yupp my personal phone) and told me that the dean wants me to apply for overseas PhD candidature today and submit it by the end of the day. i think i might've even lost a few pounds!!!. oooppss.......time to pick up my wife from the ever so pretty serdang hospital.....(i'm so jealous of her workplace....mine's so shabby with labs all around....and pigeon's nest.....cuccckkooo)

my second blogspot

hehey, how about it!

my second blogspot. the first post i had in years......6 years to be precise. i've decided that my first blogspot is too full of romance (org melayu kata jiweng). the girl i had jiweng'ed with in my first blog is now married to me....not bad for a starter blog eh? this blog however is what i am at where i am now, 29yrs old, career bound, married and expecting a son. yupp, a son. so be ready for blogs full of pregnancy and labour stories.
yesterday was merdeka day. my wife and i was watching the parade on tv and we try to include my unborn son into the fray, telling him how the parade is and what the people look like. its similar to when you have a very old grandma and you keep reading the subtitle to her because she's partially blind. i remember my late grandma (i call her atuk even though she's a woman...really dont know why) liked to watch hindustani movies but she had to rely on the translation since she doesnt speak the language, so i share the responsibilities with my cousins and siblings to read the subtitle for her. and these were the 80's hindustani movies! no offence but there were a lot more romance and songs and romance and songs and cows and trees and such than there are in modern time hindustan movies. and do you notice how the actors and actresses like to pretend to kiss but pull back at the very last minute.......teach me safe sex will you!! anyhow, we had to read the not so accurate translation to her and sometimes the translation lagged so we had to improvise. point of the story.....jeng jeng jeng......we live in a pattern so simplistic that we tend to not realize it. i read to my unborn son the same way that i read to my dying grandma. up to the end of her life, knowledge and knowing is still a requirement for her, just as much as my son require knowledge to live. kesimpulannya, when you are closer to God like where my unborn son is now and where my grandma was, life is simple, but when you are really far from Him, you will find life more complex.

so who's nose do you think my unborn son will have? mine or my wife's? personally, i'd like it to be a combination of both. i'm still trying to superimpose my nose on my wife's, just to have a rough idea on whats it gonna be like (my son's nose). i bet she's gonna be furious reading this post....apa boleh buat, i'm too excited! i promised my wife i'd be less than 80 kilos by the time our new baby is born, somehow i actually gained 8 kilos since her pregnancy. malay people say a pregnant mother eats for two, i say a pregnant woman's husband eats for three plus whatever the guy at the next table is eating!! so much for gym sessions. balik kerja lepak depan tv main EA sports rugby 2005......just because i'm overweight doesnt mean i cant still play rugby....hehe