family tree

Norzam created our family tree on Geni some time ago.
I was invited into it by Kak Liza yesterday, following our conversation during her son's kenduri at Mak Ngah's on Saturday.
And so I spent some time updating my profile and such yesterday.
Quite nice, but I'm still getting the hang of it.
I'll need a lot of time to upload photos and what nots, plus regularly visiting the tree.

Imagine a gathering of your whole family online.
Woohoo! Boleh bikin havoc satu Malaya.

Kudos to Norzam and Aunty Bong's family for getting our family tree started online.

in sync

Ever had this?
While you're thinking of something (sometimes something obvious to the situation, sometimes irrelevant), your spouse would utter about the same thing that's running in your mind.

Here's what happened to Naza and I recently:
Something obvious:
I was driving on PLUS towards JB and was thinking that it would be nice if we could get a better car (bigger and better in every aspect). Moments later she said about how it would be nice to have a better car for driving to work and travelling. And so we discussed about it.

Something not so obvious:
I was thinking about treating Naza for a spa session in KL last week as a birthday gift. It turned out that she had a hair spa session for herself around that time in JB while I was in KL (she didn't tell me about this). Well, the spa in KL is quite expensive, but I kept thinking about it (didn't tell her too). Last night she said that she wants to have a body spa session at the same place she went to in JB. I told her about my thoughts of treating her for the KL spa.

Our minds in sync? I guess so.
This has been reported by a few (married) friends.
Truth is, the matrimonial bond is not just on paper or merely vows exchanged. Somehow our minds are exclusively connected.
A very special bond shared between only Naza and I.

For the spa, I'll gladly pay for it as her birthday gift - much cheaper than in KL, plus she likes the place.

soft drink refill at McD - update

I submitted a query to McD Malaysia with this question:

a quick question:
can i have free soft drink refills at any of your outlets?

Their reply an hour ago:

Dear Akmal,

Greetings from McDonald's Malaysia!

Thank you for taking the time in submitting your inquiry through our
official website dated 24th October.

With regards to your question below, FREE soft drink refills do happen at
all our outlets if the drink is being purchased on the day of purchase &
from the outlet that is being purchased.

We would appreciate if you could provide us with more details of your
experience that you had recently as this are areas where we can improve our
services.

Once again, thank you & we hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Leonard M. W. Wong
Corporate Communications Department
(tel/fax/email withheld)
Website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.my

soft drink refill at McD

we know that there's free flow of soft drinks in Burger King outlets in Malaysia.
this is widely publicised.

what is not widely publicised is that you can have refill of soft drinks in McDonald's outlets.
yup, it's true. no kidding.
just take your empty soft drink cup to the counter and ask for refills like nobody's business.

i asked about this fact to the McD crew in Ampang Park outlet in front of many other customers (during lunch hour). she answered 'yes' matter-of-factly.

so there you go. knock yourself out.

being thankful

Muslims would say alhamdulillah to show that they are being thankful to Allah. Whereas the Arabic meaning of alhamdulillah is 'all praise to Allah', it conveys thankfulness while at the same time praising Him for the things bestowed upon the person uttering it.

Being thankful can be viewed as an aspect of positive thinking.
My wife doesn't cook for me, but she mops the floor (and take care of the kids and I, drives herself to work, help me support the family, etc.). Alhamdulillah, I am thankful for that.
My kids are hyperactive and most of the times uncontrollable - they are creative and goes out of the box. Alhamdulillah, and I am sure they would grow and be good people some day.
My work doesn't pay as much, but there are lots of valuable knowledge that i could pick up everywhere. Alhamdulillah, I know that in life, knowledge pays much better than salary.
Looking at myself, I am thankful that I'm blissfully normal.
Alhamdulillah.

I attended a teambuilding course with MESB a few years ago at Rompin, Pahang. the instructor is a psychiatrist, and he talked to us about being thankful and the effect of it to our brain (endocrine system).

The opposite of being thankful is self-pity. Avoid this. It is as sure as being negative. Much worse, it makes you feel miserable. And if it is a habit, your life would go to a downward spiral into a state where no one else can help you - being miserable all your life, all the time.
Examples of self-pity: of course i cannot afford a car, my salary is too small. My salary is too small because the company i'm working for is stingy. And it can go on and on and on.
Not too difficult to find the negative side of things, really.

Being thankful would trigger the release of endorphin. The effect is a high feeling (as taking morphine). At least, the physical element of morphine and endorphin is the same.
Other ways to trigger endorphin release is by exercising - just when we are breaking sweat. That's why some people would feel uneasy if they don't get their dose (not exercising). For some, they crave to exercise. Same thing to me, either way.
However, endorphin release through exercising gives only temporary effect.
To have a longer lasting effect of this feel good hormone is to simply be thankful.
It's quite easy really to do it, once we start practicing to be grateful of what we already have.

From Al Quran Kareem, Surah Ibrahim Verse 7:

And remember! your Lord caused to be declared (publicly): "If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you But if ye show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed."

So let's be thankful (grateful), for Allah will add more favours to us insyaAllah.
Have a constant dose of endorphin.

:-) internet smileys: the origin

a piece of information technology history

Yad my office mate asked a casual question this morning (while eating a hari raya cookie with a heart-shaped sugar bit) :

who invented the heart shape as the symbol of love?
and who invented the smiley icon?

i began my research on the internet there and then.
while the original research intent was to find the origin of the round yellow smiley icon, it eventually brought my attention to the internet smiley.
i guess it is because of the creativity of the creator. more importantly there was a real need for it that necessitates the invention.
as the saying goes:

necessity is the mother of invention

The need: an icon (or marker) to denote whether a message in bulletin board (precursor of newsgroups) is meant as a joke.
The inventor: Scott E. Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University.
The moment: 19th September 1982.

Read the full story of the creation narrated by Scott himself.

link to Microsoft page on the origin of internet smiley.

:-)

seat belt convincer

text from MMHE ePortal:

‘Seatbelt Convincer’ – a road crash simulation device is currently available in MMHE Pasir Gudang Yard for all to experience the effect of being in a road crash at between 5 – 10 km/h.

As part of the programme in Road Safety campaign, Sabah Shell Petroleum Company (SSPC) is sharing the simulator in the effort to increase the awareness on the importance of wearing seatbelt while driving.

How does Seatbelt Convincer work?
Participants will be strapped into a car seat with a normal seat belt and are then propelled forward until the seat hits a buffer. The occupant will be jolted forward with
force and experience the reality of a crash even at low speed.

For free road crash experience, visit the Seatbelt Convincer booth at:
Venue: Next to Client Office No. 4 (SSPC Office)
Date: 13 – 24 October 2008
Time: 0830 – 1700 hrs

I always buckle up, even for a short driving distance. From the moment I step into the car right until reaching destination. It's becoming a habit, I would feel uneasy driving without feeling the strain of the seatbelt on my body. All these while I've been wondering how it would feel like to be a crash test dummy. How does it feel to take the impact of a car crash (and walk away unhurt).

The convincer is the answer. I tried it yesterday.
The impact was quite strong, I can feel a bit pain in the chest and my upper back.
And that was at 10km/h, while wearing seat belt.
I guess if at 25km/h I would sustain minor injury.
Err... 25km/h is the speed limit within the yard in MMHE.

Bonus: each person who tried out the convincer takes home a free photo printout of himself experiencing the shock.
I guess that makes it less of a formal safety thingy - macam kat theme park la pulak.
I went for the extra of having mine both printed and the jpg file - so bring your thumb drive along if you want a softcopy (for desktop wallpaper, blog, etc.).


me on the convincer at the moment of impact.
more like a crash test dummy, eh.
walked away unhurt, lived to tell the tale, by the away.

Learn more at
www.nocrash.org
www.seatbeltconvincer.com
download the pdf brochure

Buckle up!

Adam

Marsya

anniversary ticker

hmm...
at the time of writing, a little over a year to our 10th anniversary.

curry puff in manchester

people asked me this quite a lot:
do you want to live in manchester, given the chance?

my answer: yes and no.

yes - it's quite nice to live in a 4-seasons country. the culture, the manners of their people (believe me, they are very courteous lot) , scenery, etc.
no - when the little details of living a normal life have to be forfeited. parents, durians, rambutans, shopping until late at night, etc. also, i can't stand the cold weather. not to mention the constant rainfall.

i stumbled upon this website by a malaysian now residing in manchester.
he's selling curry puff - ready to eat, and frozen.
sold in 5 varieties: beef, lamb, vegetarian, chicken and fish.
the price? £1 for 3 ready to eat, and £1 for 4 pcs of frozen ones.
not too bad, considering one of the details of living a malay life in manchester is served.
check it out at http://www.alittletasteofmalaysia.com/

perhaps i have to re-consider my answer for the question.

don't judge a book by its cover

It's a cliché, i know.
However, it is very true.
Especially when it comes to relationship and interaction between human beings (and other living things).

I experienced this many times throughout my life so far.
I learnt how not to judge another person based solely on his appearances, especially upon the first impression.
It is rather unfair for that person, you judging him only by the first display of his personality towards you.
Perhaps during that particular time a normally cheerful lad was going through a bad time, thus him being a bit grouchy.
It takes some time for us to know other people, their (actual) behavior and personality.
This involves in doing some work together, being in a team in a particular project, usrah, homeroom, etc., etc.

If we give enough time for others to portray themselves as what they really are, while we're being open about it, chances are that our first impression on them would be totally flawed. Most of the times we would be ashamed of ourselves to think negatively about others. Some actually say that it takes one to know one. So, if you tend to have negative adjectives to describe strangers, be careful. You may be looking in a mirror, and see the bad part of yourself.
Heck, that actually is a great way to know about ourselves, then.

There were many pleasant people I get to know with - after I forced myself to give them that chance, permitting them to show me their true colours and who they really are.
These people, interestingly, are the kinds that others would label as 'self-centered', 'proud', 'unfriendly', 'geeky', and other negative adjectives others freely stamp upon them.
Of course, there are those weird people around us. They have their own stories. Find out about it and you'll be amazed how they look at the world in a whole different point of view - but that's another story.

A friend told me that I looked solemn and pious, 'nak dekat pon takut...'.
Well, what can I say. The adjectives that we have about ourselves usually are very different from what others may have.
Their judgment. Anyway, I tend to portray myself differently to certain people.

See also: http://akmalhizam.blogspot.com/2006/12/lesson-learnt-dont-judge-departmental.html

12 H - down the memory lane

L to R (standing):Hamidi, Hanafi, Akmal, Saufi, Syed Mahadzir, Herwandi, Hazami, Amsur
L to R (seating): Hanizah, Melissa, Rosdiana, Ms. Kiranjeet Kaur, Faizal, Hisham, T Roslan, Izham

this post is especially for Tengku Roslan.
bro, reminisce...

Class 12 H (12 Hantu)
PPP/ITM A-Level batch 12
1992-95
Shah Alam

People studying A-Level in 12 H are divided into 3 different degree courses:
Architecture, Quantity Surveying and Industrial Design.
Partly arts and partly science in nature, we took 3 papers for A-Level exams - Maths, Physics and Economics (hmmpphhhh...).

Architecture:

• Herwandi
• Amsur
• Faizal
• Hisham

Quantity Surveying:

• Hanafi
• Akmal
• Saufi
• Syed Mahadzir
• Melissa
• Rosdiana
• Izham

Industrial Design:

• Hamidi
• Hazami
• Hanizah
• T Roslan
  

More than 10 years later now, we parted our own ways.
Many I don't know what they're doing right now, most of them I get in touch every now and then.
What I know is that Faizal and Rosdiana are married to each other.
I changed my course from QS to Mechanical Engineering during the first year of university in NCUK. I guess the rest pretty much stick to the original plan, except for T and Izham. They're doing IT related work now.
Oh, and Hazami is a singer now - doing the thing he loved best.

So, guys: a reunion some time this year?

it was raining in kuala lumpur

I was stuck in Menara Tan & Tan yesterday evening, due to the downpour in KL.
My flight to Senai scheduled at 9pm. I thought I could walk to KLCC or Ampang Park and have my dinner over there. I left my trusty foldable umbrella at home on purpose - didn't want to add weight to my bag. So much of a convenient for a weight weenie, after all, huh?

Well, it's quite nice to watch the traffic jam on Jalan Tun Razak. I kinda missed it a bit when I left The Forum since February.
And whaddaya know - there's a nice big rainbow too.

photos by Zaid Ghani, using his handphone camera

phone number converter

have you heard of DAPAT?

they have a cool phone number converter program in their website.

the first converter is the 'phone number lookup'.
here you enter a phone number with alphabets to get the equivalent real phone number.
a good tool to use to decide what phone number to use when you're thinking of getting a new mobile phone number (or any number).

say, for 012 akmalhh = 012 256 2544
not a memorable number, but easy to remember if i just give people the alphabetic equivalent.

the second converter is the 'numeric to alpha' converter.
you key in your handphone number, and hit 'convert'. all possible variation of alphabet equivalents will be returned.

this is what i got from 012 3456789:
01 adil n sux
wakakakakaaa...

i'm posting this only for fun.
but hey, your number might be uninteresting at all (like mine) and not easy for people to remember.
you can generate the alphabetic equivalents and give it to people for them to remember by easily.
as it turned out, my real handphone number is uninteresting - both in numerical form and its alphabetic equivalent.

the converter can convert any number, but bear in mind that the longer the number, the longer the time it will take to run the conversion.

aku dok kat KL

"kau dok mana sekarang?"

banyak kali bila aku tanya kawan2 aku yang asal dari luar KL (tapi la ni dok kerja kat KL) soalan ni, jawapan diorang simple je:
"aku dok kat KL"

pastu aku tanya, "area mana tu kat KL?"
depa jawab:
"Puchong"
"Sepang"
"Serdang"
"Bangi"
"Sungai Buloh"
"Kajang"
"Petaling Jaya"
"Shah Alam"
"Rawang"
"Putrajaya"
dan banyak lagi nama-nama tempat yang aku rasa masih dalam jajahan Selangor.

duhh!! naseb baik tak sebut "Seremban" ataupun "Nilai".

masa aku kecik-kecik dulu dok kat Jalan Ipoh (area Sentul, masih dalam KL), kalu sebut Kajang/Puchong/Sungai Buloh/Sepang/Serdang/dsb, dah sah le Selangor tu.
dan memang agak jauh nak pegi tempat-tempat tu.

tapi aku saspek orang la ni pukui habih dok kata yang depa dudok kat KL pasai dah ada kemudahan pengangkutan - dari segi infrastruktur lebuhraya (dan pondok kutip duit tol).
aku pun tak berapa nak hafal segala jenis highway yang ada dalam KL tu.
dan mungkin jugak depa lebih mudah nak sebut 'KL' (dua sukukata) berbanding dengan 'Selangor' (tiga sukukata). ni masuk kes perekonomian perbualan la ni.
atau mungkin jugak nak glamer dok kat KL. tak tau le. tapi aku rasa dok kat tempat lain pun glamer apa... digi ngan celcom boleh aje dapat line kat mana-mana...

walaubagaimanapun, itu aje lah aku nak cakap.
dan aku nak tegaskan kat sini bahawa:
kalau korang dok kat dalam Selangor, cakap aje la korang dok kat Selangor.
KL tu KL la. tengok peta KL. belajar balik chokapi.

melainkan korang dok kat Kuala Langat.
waaakakakaaaaa...

the last straw

arabic idiom:

the straw that broke the camel's back

aka
the last straw / the final straw

also,
the drop of water that makes the glass/jar/bucket/barrel overflow

note: straw = long yellow grass

see also:
http://www.goenglish.com/TheStrawThatBrokeTheCamelsBack.asp

Family Portrait

where: Naza's grandparents' house, Stulang Darat, Johor.
when: 1 Syawal 1429H

handphone bills - reducing trend

my handphone bills - with supplementary line for Naza - is with a nice reducing trend now.
(data collected is from april 2006 until sept 2008 - 30 months)

monthly usage:
april 2006 - aug 2007: sporadic, but on average rm125
sept 2007 - july 2008: steadily rm105
aug 2008: around rm95
sept 2008: rm84

from rm125 to rm84 - a reduction of rm41 a month on average.
how do we managed to do that?
there are two parts of it.

one part is maxis' package.
during the steady rm105 period, we took advantage of the rm50 + rm50 package.
starting august 2008, we switched to the rm50 + rm30 package when it's launched.

before sept 2007, we didn't sign up to any package. hence, the sporadic amount on the bills.

the other part that is crucial on the savings: action
one fine day in aug 2007, i sat down quietly and collected data from bills that i paid so far.
i made out the trend of calls made (minutes of use per month) for around a year.
also, i gathered info from maxis on the available package - in equivalent minutes.
i compared the usage and also the available package that would cater for our usage.
not only that, i also considered other telco's packages - digi and celcom.
it turned out that we could shave rm20 per month with maxis' rm50 + rm50 package.
so we signed up to the package.

mind you that between nov 06 and jan 08 i was away in kl. so, it was more usage than usual.
even so, the bills from sept 07 (50+50 package starts) to jan 08 were at a steady rm105 mark.
which means, we were still under-utilising our handphone bill package.

again, in aug 08 i signed up with a new deal from maxis: rm50 + rm30 package.
aug 08 was the transition period - that's why the bill was rm95.

i was a bit anxious on what the amount on the bill would be for sept 08.
turned out that the bill amount is rm84.
wow! a further reduction of another rm21 per month.
hopefully the overall trend will stay like this - reducing.
i'll revisit again in the next 6 months, perhaps. meanwhile, i'll monitor closely each month on the bill. i sure hope that it will remain constant for at least a year.

that's it. all it takes are data crunching, and most importantly: action.

and now, how shall i tackle the TM phone bill?