Big Brother's Watching

The delivery service at Amazon.com has always lived up to my expectations. Yes, I always choose the cheapest option, which in turn takes quite a while for the book to reach me, but I don't mind. However, the latest package took a couple of weeks longer than the stipulated time. When it arrived it looked like it just barely survived a journey in a Toyota.

Not so virgin package

The culprit

So Big Brother is the cause for this delay and mess heh? This is the first time I've heard of KKDN (Kementerian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri) and the first time I've had one of my packages opened by them. I imagine there must be this group of people sitting in a room opening packages and reading other people's books and touching people's things? Sounds like a dream job! Note to self : Never buy lingerie or underwear online.

A Time for War

WARNING: PLEASE DON'T READ THIS POST RIGHT BEFORE YOUR MEALTIMES. COME BACK AGAIN AFTER YOU'RE FULL. BUT NOT TOO FULL - YOU MAY HAVE TO CLEAN UP YOUR KEYBOARD...

Almost 2 years have gone by since we've caught any rats. Though we hardly see the nocturnal pests, they leave behind their wastes to remind us that they had a blast while we were away. Rat glues were set but they did not fall for it this time. The steel cage fared no better.

We were told to adhere to strict rules while preparing the traps - that is you must never ever under any circumstances make any obvious reference to it. Words like 'rats', 'mouse', 'tikus' are forbidden. So we called it 'our friend'. Somehow I think it figured this out too and they didn't bite.

So we gave up. Since they were able to hear us, we verbally told the rats not to disturb our stocks and we won't disturb them. Miraculously for over a year, our stocks went unharmed. Sure, we had to clean up their feces and urine but occasionally they showed some affection and brought over Kit-Kats and Smarties (which we don't sell). Paying their rent maybe... how cute.

Our contract grew sour when they began to make more of a presence. Our stocks were still unharmed, but their colony grew to a stage that our shop reeked of their smell and I truly understood what the phrase 'I smell a rat' meant. So we were forced to act.

Kit-Kats and chicken wings

The hungry fella

Almost immediately, they retaliated.

So we retaliated too...

Seems they've bitten more of my stocks this morning. My staff summed up my thoughts by saying 'Maybe we should let them be and don't kacau them again?' Hmm... maybe, but not without a fight this time. These rodents should be put in their proper place and know who's the boss here. Then after that we can negotiate a re-settlement project or something. Go bother the bakery next door or something!

Food Chain Haiku

In this game called Life

Nature conveys its bias

Lucky predators!

Power clouds judgements

As moss ravages concrete

How the tables turn!

Weekend Getaway

It is interesting to note that there aren't any public holidays in March. So we decided to utilize our complimentary voucher for a night's stay at the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Beach Resort and give ourselves some time off.

This was the very same venue where we held our wedding dinner a year ago and the service provided by the team at the hotel impressed us very much (In fact, they were so much in demand that when we attended a wedding dinner at an auspicious date here last year, we got lost trying to look for the correct venue. A manager found us wandering aimlessly and took us to the correct venue. We were told they were hosting six wedding dinners that night!) This time round, they were able to match that top notch service again.

A handwritten welcome card found in the fruit basket

L'Occitane Toiletries!

Our stay was a brief one but we've managed to squeeze as much into it as humanly possible.We hit the gym, played some tennis (or rather spent most of the time picking up balls), did some swimming, roasted in the steam bath and the sauna, simmered in the jacuzzi and had a great 5 star buffet breakfast. The only thing that we failed at was getting access to the Wii consoles at the Kid's Club - our impersonations of 10 year olds failed spectacularly.

The view from our patio

What a weekend it has been! If you have any more complimentary vouchers Mr Andrew Steele, please don't hesitate to send it my way. You know how to contact me, heheh.

Manliness +5

Its almost been one year to the day where I moved in to my house and I must say that we've been blessed not to have any major faults with our home. A streak like that is unlikely to go on forever anyway and it became a question of how soon before I had to break out the 'oh-still-very-virgin-toolbox.' I didn't have to wait long.

The master bedroom light refused to switch on yesterday morning as I prepared for work. I have changed light bulbs before, so there was probably nothing much to this one. At least that's what I thought.

As we walked in to the lighting shop where we bought most of our stuff from, my wife suggested testing whether it was really the fluorescent tube that was at fault to which the shopkeeper obliged. Much to my chagrin, it lit perfectly. So the shopkeeper deduced that the transformer (at least that's what I think he said) was at fault and suggested I replace it.

Mr Optimus Prime

When I saw what a transformer was, I was a bit worried. Those two dangly bits you see on the left side means that I have to connect them to the live and the neutral wires, something that I've never done before. I asked for as much advice I could before leaving, but as I reached home, I realised that I forgot to ask if I needed to ensure the current for the entire room needed to be turned off.

Hmm, maybe I should wear rubber gloves? Since that will be good insulation...but I don't have any. Rubber slippers? Zilch. I decided (correctly) to just go ahead and rewire it since the light switch was turned off anyway and that meant no current was flowing through.

The whole thing was a piece of cake really. Heheh. Having stepped out of my comfort zone and succeeding in my mission was a milestone for me.

TED

Total Experience Points Gained : +10

Repair Skills: +5

Manliness Rating : +5

Until it failed to work again this morning...

#$%@

TED

Total Experience Points: -5

Repair Skills: -2

Manliness Rating: -7

Well its back to Mr Handyman after I get off work tonight. I hope I wouldn't have to summon a Mr Fred Fixit from the Night Shift.

A Brush with the Law

As I was driving home after a long day at work yesterday, I called up my wife to let her know I was coming back and bade her good night as she wanted to retire to bed earlier. Now I've made the same kind of call countless times throughout the years and they last no longer than a couple of seconds. This few seconds last night were different though, because a patrol car just happened to overtake me and caught me with my hands up (holding the phone that is). What are the odds of that?

Unfortunately I must be honest and say that I've never had a pleasant experience with our men in blue before. I've made 3 police reports in the past (two robberies and one pickpocketing) and talking to them was like being in the presence of a god. At least thats what they think they are and to remind you of that they will be unnecessarily intimidating at intervals when they feel their god-o-meter rating is slipping.

So you can imagine all this negative emotions racing through my mind as the two officers walked towards my car. Mr Sergeant opened my driver's car door gave me a big smile and said 'Good evening!' Mr L/Cpl walked around my vehicle...I guess trying to be wary in case I tried to be funny. I stepped out of the car, handed my licence and ID over when Mr Sergeant asked for it politely.

Since the two officers were really in a jovial and polite mood, I reciprocated and smiled all the way. I admitted that I was at fault and asked them for forgiveness. THEN, I WASN'T PREPARED FOR WHAT HAPPENED NEXT...

Mr Sergeant turned into Uncle Sergeant mode!!!

1) Uncle Sergeant told me he was concerned with many people who drive while talking on handphones and the accident rates speak for themselves. He advised me to get a hands free kit or if really necessary just pull over, put on the signal and take the call. He asked me how many kids I had, and to think of my loved ones should anything happen to me.

2) Uncle Sergeant shouted at Mr L/Cpl to write up a lenient sentence for me since I was a gentleman, admitted my wrong and he told me he had the right to do so. So my ticket actually states that I failed to produce my licence (which was a maximum of RM50 fine). Had I been 'kurang ajar' he said he would have whacked me with the 'using the handphone while driving' offence which would have been up to RM300. I guess asking to be let off would have been pushing it a bit.

3) Uncle Sergeant proceeded to give me some tips on how I can get a discount for the RM50 when I go to the balai -.-" Seriously.

4) Uncle Sergeant, Mr L/Cpl and I shook hands, wished each other farewell and a safe drive to our destination.

To their credit, at no point in the entire episode did they try to solicit any sort of bribe from me. Their advice was genuinely from their hearts and I could sense that they have a passion and pride for their jobs. A very rare breed of cops indeed! Yes there may be some rotten apples in the police force, but its very refreshing to have encountered these two officers. I will definitely remember these two men for the rest of my life and out of respect for Uncle Sergeant, I will definitely take his advice and not talk on the phone while driving again without a hands free.

Harvest

A couple of months back, it was struggling to survive. And now...

Tadaa! Fresh from the harvest! I was expecting the tomatoes to sport a darker and deeper red than this, but it tastes just fine. As for the chili, it produces so much that we have to give a lot of it away. Just let me know if you want any, the next batch is coming soon. A word of warning though, it is VERY SPICY.