Odysseys of George

I have been restless,
I was in foul mood,
I was temperamental,
Because I was anticipating this day.

But as the day approach,
I was dawned with sadness,
I was filled with tears,
Because I could not see you.

The day has come,
I feel like embracing you,
I want to kiss you,
I am sombre,
Because I am without you.

I called but to no avail,
But you would not know,
I wanted to let you know,
Nothing more but to how much I miss you,
And that I love you,
And ………,

In all that I wished,
I could have you in my arms,
Kiss you and look into those eyes of my own,
Smile from the depths within,
To see my mirror image, you, smiling back at me,
My very own,
My love, my life,

But the day passes,
My wishes vanishes in thin air,
I sit still wondering the future,
If I could still have my wish come true,
To embrace you my dearest child.

Happy Birthday Ruban.

i want to fly,
i want to see the skies,
reach above the clouds,
stay close to the stars.

i want to dive,
into the depths of the sea,
reach the unknown and then in that instance, cherish the moment in silence,
where breathing and heart beat dance in symphony.

then even when i fall from the skies,
or drown in the depths,
there is no regrets and no remorse,
there is no sadness but gladness,
for i have achieved what the heart desires.

but …..somehow,
i feel a drag,
the heaviness bearing my legs down,
feeling the volume within me like shackles tied to my heels,
burdened, slaved, to the rules of mankind.

George

A new year is coming - the year 2008! It is a year, for me, full of test and tribulations. Somehow, I am happy and enthusiastic to face the coming year. A year full of events and surprises. 2007 started rather slow with a lot of hesitation. It gained momentum towards the mid year and the last few months were extremely eventful times of my life. I have managed to gain parts of me that were lost in turmoil thanks to the many friends and family.

Now, the year has come to an end and for me a new chapter begins. Come 2008 in whatever way you can, I shall face you and seize every day to its fullest. And even if I were to fall, there would still be some success within it!

To Ruban, you will always be the light of my life.
To my family, I thank you and ask for your never failing support.
To my friends, may we create more stories and come closer in friendship in the year to come. More facebook friends and pirate fights - Arrrgh!
To my diver friends, lets dive more - if I have the cash!
To the one special person, I hope that all goes well for the both of us.

So, for all you readers out there, friends and family, loved ones, enjoy this cake specially baked and decorated by my dear sister, Susan.

Happy New Year 2008

Well, the next day saw excited faces waiting for their uncle to get up from bed. The moment I got myself ready for breakfast, the kids were salivating for an action day ahead! So this is what we did!

The main town - still looks the same.

Balai Nobat
This 18 metre-tall and 5 metre-wide three-tiered octagonal tower sole purpose is to keep all the royal musical instruments including the serunai (wooden flute), nafiri, gendang (drum) and gong, which is known as nobat. This nine-piece musical set is comprised of three drums, a gong, two flutes, two instruments called the cheng-cheng, and a trumpet-like instrument called the Nafiri, which produces the haunting strains of nobat music. The skills to play nobat music and these instruments are passed down from father to son, and the person who is incharged to play these instruments called Orang Nobat. Nobat are played for specific ceremonies such as royal installations, deaths and other official ceremonies.

Masjid Zahir
Officially opened in 1912, this state Mosque is an architectural landmark as it is one of the largest and grandest mosques in Malaysia, built in the tradition of the Moorish architecture.

Balai Rong Seri or Balai Besar (Grand Audience Hall)
Built in 1735 by the 19th Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin Muazzam Shah, this was a lovely building with wood pillars, roofs and flooring. This is truly a beautiful building. I managed to get inside once when our first PM, Tunku Abdul Rahman died and his funeral service was conducted here.

The Silver Jubilee Fountain - built when our beloved King, HRH Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah,celebrated the Silver Jubilee of his reign.

National Art Gallery

The State Museum - I must say I was impressed with this museum.

The Rice Museum - recently built

To complete this trip, we decided to go to Gunung Keriang. Gunung Keriang is a distinct outcrop in the middle of flat padi land.

It is here that they sell crystals from Gunung Keriang.

The cave opening/entrance at Gunung Keriang

The hike up Gunung Keriang to reach a platform almost atop the mountain, as shown below.

The view from the the top of Gunung Keriang

And the walk down ( My sister, Saji, her husband carrying Keisha, while she assist Pattrena down)

At the end of this day, I realized I was getting too old too fast! Was I tired! But that did not stop me from taking them to the playground with a dilapidated lake near the stadium.

Then it started to rain! Yahoo! Time to go home!

Thank God the next day was Christmas!

Wow, it has been years since I wondered around my hometown like this. This time, I was taking my niece and nephews to show them around the place I call home, the place that made me who I am, my beloved birthplace, Alor Setar.

They, were happy to see me arrive but angry that I arrived late. There were four of them, Ethan and Tristan, my second sister, Saji’s kids were in Alor Setar a week earlier. Now, they had Pattrena and Sherman,my third sister, Sherly’s kids to join them. ( Saji and Sherly are twins!)
The house suddenly became noisy and loud. My mom so used to peace and quiet was getting a little irritated. Solution to the matter - take the kids out of the house! It was great! I manage to savour my fond memories.

We did many things in two days. It started at our Menara Alor Setar, a mimic to the KL Towers.

Going up the lift and giving them a preview of what to expect from Alor Setar.

Tristan(Spidy T-shirt), Pattrena, Ethan and Sherman(standing in front)

Boys will be boys!

Then, I took them to a playground just before the Royal Golf Club, in the vicinity of Taman Lumba Kuda.

They played their hearts out and got thirsty, so we stopped at a nearby stall to have some drinks.

Before we head back home for a late lunch, (made sure they were extremely hungry), it was time to show of my Alma Mater, Sultan Abdul Hamid College , the college that breeds scholars, sportsman and gentleman, since 1908.

One of the many reasons why I love my College is for the many beautiful old large trees growing alongside the road as if cozily welcoming you in.

Our canteen area

Our Library named after one of our ex-headmasters which is also the name of my school sports team. There were other sports team but Stuart wore the red tee!

That afternoon, I took them for a swim at the public swimming pool beside the stadium.

That is Keisha standing at edge of the pool. The youngest in Ethans family.

I was beat by the end of that day! It is not easy entertaining a group of kids! I slept soundly and happy with those memories. Little did I realize that my special friend, was also going down memory lane as she journeyed her way back to her parents village in the depths of Sarawak!