the majestic bangunan sultan ibrahim

perched atop bukit timbalan in johor bahru, bangunan sultan ibrahim is one of jb's landmark.
on the left cars lining up the jb-s'pore causeway. lush greens on bukit timbalan adds serenity around this place.
beyond, it's hectic jb city life.

the majestic bangunan sultan ibrahim

I attended ‘effective presentation skills’ course at ITD [www.itd.com.my] last week.

ITD JB branch is at the penthouse level of menara TJB in JB town, nearby wisma persekutuan.
other JB landmarks within walking distance are bangunan tabung haji and the classic bangunan sultan ibrahim on bukit timbalan.

as much as the course itself, I enjoyed very much the scenery of coastal line of johor bahru.
from the penthouse level, you could see the cars lining up the jb causeway, the johor museum, bangunan sultan ibrahim, bangunan tabung haji, the lush greens around the Indonesian embassy / masjid abu bakar / johor zoo / area.

[ more on bangunan sultan ibrahim here: http://www.tourismjohor.com/destination/view.cfm?ID=36397F7C-4CD4-44D9-B59085BB3EBC8364&Type=Heritage ]

interestingly, this is the first time I photographed the building, for the longest time I’ve been living in johor bahru.
perhaps because it is in johor bahru, it passed me by as ‘it’s within reach, no rush there – I could always snap them photos whenever I want’, as opposed to a traveling tourist who has only a few hours to enjoy the scenery and capture the photos while he’s there.
I took lots of photos in penang late last year and in makkah & madinah early this year. yes, perhaps because I don’t know when again I would have the chance to be there, so I triggered happy then to bring home the fond memories.

I really appreciate the buildings in johor bahru. a large part of the architecture in jb is influenced by the late sultan ibrahim of johor. the introduction of anglo-malay architecture is evident in johor bahru: masjid sultan abu bakar, bangunan sultan ibrahim, masjid pasir pelangi, to name a few.

start somwhere

it came to me recently, i realized that i have to start somewhere to have something with long run benefits.
a 'now' at any point of time is the best time to start, everytime.
i don't have to have a complete and awesome something to start with.
just a basic structure with room for improvement will do, to get the ball rolling.
then i will have the opportunity to improve it, tweak and fine tune; keeping in mind the goal of the whole exercise.
over time, in the long run, there will be no end to it; only constant improvisation of a solid structure. bit by bit.
O Allah, to You I seek strength and will.

mesb fire squad members with fellow training instructors from balai bomba pasir gudang 

with fellow fire squad members. 

oil & gas fire drill. 

wrestle with real water pressure (without any fire to put out though) 

yes it is quite fun in the fire engine. 

hose drill. run with the hoses... 

fire squad

16 ~ 18 april 2005.
and so i was among 15 of us sent by mesb for company fire squad training in balai bomba pasir gudang.

it was a series of lectures (theories) and practical training (tiresome but awesome).
we gained some skills for rescuing people from building on fire - basically how to carry people sans equipment - bare handed, alone and with 2 & 3 other assisting.

there was a series of (four total) hose drill. basically, it is a set of instruction of how to coordinate and distribute work (well, not quite) between team members of four. in brief, all the drills require member no. 3 to frequently run along the hose line - need quite high stamina and enthusiasm.
oh, and if anybody do ask you - the rubber fire hose has a coupling at each end, male and female. and the standard length is 100 ft.

the basic hose drill (drill no. 1) spans 300 ft. of hose with a jet nozzle at the end.
we were equipped with hard hats (firemen hats - cool) and fire jacket (well, doing it under the hot sun makes you appreciate your everyday work - you don't have to be as hot and sweaty).
the best part came on the last day. we get to handle the fire hose blasting the water jet under 6bar pressure. it really requires teamwork and coordination.

and there was this oil & gas fire fighting drill - requires twin hose spray as water curtain, protecting the firemen.

well, what i do get out of this, if any, is that i have better knowledge regarding fire safety.
also, i have enormous respect to our fellow firemen regarding the public service they are constantly putting their lives into.

skills

from concise oxford dictionary 9th ed.:
skill n. expertness, practised ability, facility in an action; dexterity or tact.

for me, it is the thing that gives people the itch.
babies acquiring walking skills would walk around non-stop.
small kids practising writing their names. and signatures.
driving school graduates wanting to drive their cars at every given opportunity.
golfers practising their shots.
perfecting playing musical instruments.
touch typing.
and the whole long list of other skills imaginable.

improving one's skills is my answer to the question of why people love to do things.
before one having the necessary skill to do something, he needs to master the basic skill needed to get on the platform.
when the basic skill is grasped, this is where the itch begins.
comes the next level, which is to making it second nature.
finally, there's the endless level of mastering and fine-tuning the skill.

to err is human.
this is the greatest challenge (and fun) part of acquiring a skill. to be 100% perfect with the skill is the goal.
for a typist, his goal would be error free, ultra-fast typing.
for a golfer, his would be effortless hole-in-ones. every time.
for a footballer, his would be controlling the ball, scoring beautiful goals.
for an F1 driver, first place at every leg of the race. every season.
and so on...

can you think of a skill that you are now improving?
if you can't answer that, try this - what makes you itch?

quite new Avanza with seats still in wraps. oh, and there were people sitting on the seats. wonder how long will the wraps be there... 

keep it wrapped?

keep it wrapped, so that it's protected?

ever noticed that (in malaysia, at least) many things are kept in their original plastic wraps (or protective plastic film), and kept that way for quite a long time. even until the wrappers are frayed and makes the thing itself looks messy.

you may see examples on things such as: chair legs, car seats, glass display panel on cd/vcd/dvd players, washbasin drain (this one usually with blue protective film), etc.

come on, the reason those covers are there is to protect the surface during transport from the factory (and the shop) to you so that you'd get unscratched stain-free & nice looking things that you bought.

if you intend to keep it that way, no problem. after a certain period of time though, the protective covers will get dirty, frayed, etc. & turns unsightly. don't you think it's time to remove them?

just so that the THINGS do look nice.

the double rainbow. nope, no lens effect here. just two beautiful rainbows. nice.

circ en ciel - deux

it's been quite a long while since i've seen the beautiful rainbow.
and just my luck, this time it's a double rainbow.
i had never known that there is such thing as a double rainbow, until i heard about it while in Mina during the heavy rain of Zulhijjah.
friends said there's a newsbreak in Malaysia citing the sighting of double rainbow and Mina flooded. i never got the chance then to see the rainbows.
well, last sunday i witnessed it (them). with Marsya.
i was driving down PLUS highway (after a heavy rain) towards Johor and i scanned the horizon.
to my left, there they are - beautiful rainbows.
subhanallah.