It was my son's 21st birthday. I wanted to make it a happy occasion. My whole family dined in for Japanese Cuisine. Sushi, agadashi tofu, kimchi soup and some schewed chicken. We enjoyed the meal. Since we did not want the fun to end, we plan for a bowling game. We booked the court for two games. We were bowling with some strikes, some spares and even some zero points. It was fun though. We had a good night rest after a fun filled day. I hope my son would remember this occassion as he will be going to college soon.
It all started on the next morning. My body felt warm and my throat was sore. I could not wake up in the morning. I had chest and back pain and also felt dizzy. I was sleeping whole day and woke up only to prepare meals for my kids. I felt so tired and slept for two whole days. Luckily it was a public holiday.
The third day, I was kind of curious as I never had fever so severe. So, I took a self test for Covid. It showed positive. I was still feeling lethargic but better than the previous days. I had to inform my company and I was asked to take a RTK Test. It confirmed positive. Oh MY GOD, I am Covid Positive. So, many of them died of this sickness. I am one of the effected one's now.
Having Covid is weird. There is one kind of smell on my nose that I never felt before. This smell effects my smelling and tasting sensation. I did not eat properly for almost three days. Everything tasted bitter. In Malaysia, we have to register in MySejahtera and quarantine for seven days. I had to report my condition daily in MySejahtera. It is like an AI that monitors me based on my symptoms. It is a good effort as I felt like someone is actually monitoring my condition.
I felt very lucky that my symptoms started fading after a week. The strange smell started going away. Cough and flu are the final step of recovery. I am proud to say that with GOD's WILL, I survived Covid. Please do not take it lightly. First three days of Covid, I really felt awful. Keeping our regular good health physically and mentally is important for us to fight any disease.
Live life. Make ourselves and people around us happy. We do not know what to expect tomorrow.
Saturday, 24 September 2022
Friday, 29 January 2021
Hiking to Gunung Jerai
Mount Jerai is one of the highest peak in Kedah. Kedah is a state in Malaysia which are nick named as "rice bowl" of Malaysia.
If we drive through the roads here, we can see vast distance of stunning green padi fields. The greenaries are so eye-catching with storks and birds flying across the fields with wooden houses in the middle of the fields.
Sometimes I and my family would just drive around to enjoy this majestic views to run away from our hectic life in Penang. We would drive to some of the farm houses to drink some fresh coconut water and eat some fresh durians.
One day, we made a trip to "Candi Borubudur". We always read about how Hindu influence came to Malaysia many years back and their remainings here. We could only see the partial builds but it is an interesting site to understand the ancient culture. We could also see the fort where they could monitor the ships from the high areas here. They said that in the 16th centuries the sea was much closer. The locals build the fort to monitor the enemy arrivals and to protect the city.
When we were resting at the Candi, we noticed a group of hikers. They said that they were about to hike to Mount Jerai. They hired a few tour guide to guide them through the trail. It sounds interesting, but we were not prepared to join them. Then they told us that we could drive to Mount Jerai and take the easier path of walking through the road trail. We told them, we would check it out another day.
I love to hike. I used to hike every week to "Tok Kun" in Bukit Mertajam. We even plan to go to Mount Kinabalu. Jerai seems to be a great option. One day, I and my children packed some snacks and left to Mount Jerai at around 5 am. We arrived at the base around 6am. We joined a group of UITM students and we started climbing. We took the road trail. It was 13 kilometers hike that took us around 3 hours. The trail was far but not so steep. On the way, we saw many cars and vans going up the trail. We even joined a number of bicycle groups. It was an interesting trip.
We saw some "kampung houses" along the trail. We saw abandoned mushroom farm. We stopped at few occasions to rest and catch our breath. Until we reach the Jerai Hill Resort. Since we were too tired to hike back, we stayed one night in the hotel. It was cool at the peak. Especially, during the night the temperature was around 20 degrees Celcius. We also noticed the hotel room was only fitted with fan and it was already chill in the morning. It was quiet and peaceful. The view from the top of the paddy fields and "Pulau Dayang Bunting" was magneficent.
In the morning, we hired some tour guide from the hotel to bring us around the peak. The guide brought us on the jungle trail. There were sites where the wild boar have digged earlier at night. He said, it is dangerous if we site a wild boar by surprise. They might attack us especially if they were protecting their young. We saw an ancient Muslim prayer place which we respected and took out our shoes. We saw a place that is made of rock but looked exactly like a ship. The guide said, it is believed that Mount Jerai was under the sea many centuries back and became the peak because of earth movements. The tour guide also showed us, the sand in some of the places here are beach sand.
He showed us some of the trees where the gum from the trees are used to make oilments. Some leaves in the jungle that are used traditionally to heal wounds. And one of the famous tree that grows a lot there are named as "Pokok Cina Maki". When I asked, any reason why it is named such. He said he doesn't know but he is careful when he said it around Chinese friends as he does not want to offend anyone. This tree is really nice looking.
Sharing some of our photos that we capture at the peak.
Finally, the tour guide brought us to the waterfall. Since, the waterfall is quite deep in the jungle, it is undisturbed. The water is so clean and chill. We could see tiny fishes swimming happily in the water. We wet overselves and tried not to disturb the environment much.
If you'll plan for a trip on the northern side of Malaysia. Please come to this magnificent spot. It is a great place to catch up with the environment and family time. Until we meet again is another adventure.........
Sometimes I and my family would just drive around to enjoy this majestic views to run away from our hectic life in Penang. We would drive to some of the farm houses to drink some fresh coconut water and eat some fresh durians.
One day, we made a trip to "Candi Borubudur". We always read about how Hindu influence came to Malaysia many years back and their remainings here. We could only see the partial builds but it is an interesting site to understand the ancient culture. We could also see the fort where they could monitor the ships from the high areas here. They said that in the 16th centuries the sea was much closer. The locals build the fort to monitor the enemy arrivals and to protect the city.
When we were resting at the Candi, we noticed a group of hikers. They said that they were about to hike to Mount Jerai. They hired a few tour guide to guide them through the trail. It sounds interesting, but we were not prepared to join them. Then they told us that we could drive to Mount Jerai and take the easier path of walking through the road trail. We told them, we would check it out another day.
I love to hike. I used to hike every week to "Tok Kun" in Bukit Mertajam. We even plan to go to Mount Kinabalu. Jerai seems to be a great option. One day, I and my children packed some snacks and left to Mount Jerai at around 5 am. We arrived at the base around 6am. We joined a group of UITM students and we started climbing. We took the road trail. It was 13 kilometers hike that took us around 3 hours. The trail was far but not so steep. On the way, we saw many cars and vans going up the trail. We even joined a number of bicycle groups. It was an interesting trip.
We saw some "kampung houses" along the trail. We saw abandoned mushroom farm. We stopped at few occasions to rest and catch our breath. Until we reach the Jerai Hill Resort. Since we were too tired to hike back, we stayed one night in the hotel. It was cool at the peak. Especially, during the night the temperature was around 20 degrees Celcius. We also noticed the hotel room was only fitted with fan and it was already chill in the morning. It was quiet and peaceful. The view from the top of the paddy fields and "Pulau Dayang Bunting" was magneficent.
In the morning, we hired some tour guide from the hotel to bring us around the peak. The guide brought us on the jungle trail. There were sites where the wild boar have digged earlier at night. He said, it is dangerous if we site a wild boar by surprise. They might attack us especially if they were protecting their young. We saw an ancient Muslim prayer place which we respected and took out our shoes. We saw a place that is made of rock but looked exactly like a ship. The guide said, it is believed that Mount Jerai was under the sea many centuries back and became the peak because of earth movements. The tour guide also showed us, the sand in some of the places here are beach sand.
He showed us some of the trees where the gum from the trees are used to make oilments. Some leaves in the jungle that are used traditionally to heal wounds. And one of the famous tree that grows a lot there are named as "Pokok Cina Maki". When I asked, any reason why it is named such. He said he doesn't know but he is careful when he said it around Chinese friends as he does not want to offend anyone. This tree is really nice looking.
Sharing some of our photos that we capture at the peak.
Finally, the tour guide brought us to the waterfall. Since, the waterfall is quite deep in the jungle, it is undisturbed. The water is so clean and chill. We could see tiny fishes swimming happily in the water. We wet overselves and tried not to disturb the environment much.
If you'll plan for a trip on the northern side of Malaysia. Please come to this magnificent spot. It is a great place to catch up with the environment and family time. Until we meet again is another adventure.........
Monday, 13 July 2020
Puppies For Adoption
Please adopt our puppies. Cute and cuddly 6 weeks old.
Looking for loving owners. Please call 017-4700629
Penang, Malaysia
Saturday, 18 April 2020
Dream Car
Life is about hope. Life is about the dream. Life is about living our lives.I was in my mid twenties when I was looking for a car. I was test driving a few. That is when I saw the revolutionary Honda Jazz in a show case. I always liked a hatch back. The design of Honda Jazz, really impressed me. They said it has won the "Best Design" Award in Japan. It really looked sporty and some features of a ladies car. That is when I checked the price. It was labelled at RM99,000. Perodua Kancil those days (year 2000) cost only quarter of the price.
The Honda Jazz sat there as my dream car. I bought a Perodua Kancil. I drove the car for 13 years. It is a good car with low maintenance. My career was not very stable then, as my kids were very young and I wanted to spend more time with them.
Life moved on. As my kids got older and became more independent, I started to concentrate more on my career. I changed to a Perodua Myvi. It was a good family car. It suited me as it provided more space for my kids. I used to travel more with this car for family vacations.
I am in my late forties now. Many years of working and some investment through time, has put me in a better position financially. My Perodua Myvi is having ninth anniversary now. The paint is fading and my maintenance is getting higher. It breaks down more often. New model of Perodua Myvi is just released. It looks dashing.
It was during Raya where all the car companies are having great deals and discounts. That is when I saw the latest Honda Jazz in Bukit Mertajam showroom. Still looks stunning and the price has dropped to around 70K. The salesman, Adrian, keep promoting the car with large discount for Raya Sale. I told him, I will think about it. It was election time and the opposition have won. The 6% GST was removed. I keep asking the sales man, can I have Raya Deal plus GST removed. He quoted a great price. My loan was approved. I BOUGHT MY DREAM CAR after 20 years.
I drive my "DREAM CAR" now, daily to work. It is a great feeling of accomplishment.
Wednesday, 6 July 2016
Rescued Cat Became Part of Our Family
It was almost 8 pm when I went back home after work. I could hear a kitten 'meowing' at the back of my house. I ignored it for a while thinking that its mother will rescue the kitten. But the noise never stopped. The weather was not that good. It was almost raining. Thinking that something bad will happen to the kitten, I started to find where the noise is coming from. I noticed, it was coming from the drain. It was dark, and I could not see clearly inside the drain.I tried to take the kitten out but it almost bit my hand. It was also moving along the drain.
I left it until the next morning, when it was brighter and I could see the kitten clearly. Luckily, the kitten was still alive. I took it out, gave it a bath. Dried the kitten with a hair dryer. It was crying a lot. I gave it some milk, but it refused to drink. I had no choice but to feed it with a spoon. I gave it a cosy and warm place to rest. It still cried a lot.
I guessed it was my neighbor's kitten. I left the kitten in my neighbors house compound, thinking that its mother will find for it. I could still hear the kitten making noise after almost a day. Then I checked with my neighbor, and they said it is not their kitten.
I took it back again. I have no idea, how old is the kitten. I was not sure, whether it could eat by its own or only knows how to drink breast milk. Every time, I carried the kitten or pampered it, it will search for milk on me. It still refused to drink milk on its own from a bowl. I fed it with a spoon again.
The second day, my son suggested to me to try to feed some fish. I fried some fish, mixed it with some rice and left it in a bowl. To my surprise, the kitten started to eat. I and my children were so happy to see it eat. It slowly got stronger day by day. It started to walk and run and play. It likes to climb everywhere from the sofa to the windows. It likes to bite our hands and legs and anything moving. Our whole family, got fond of the kitten and we named it "Sophie"
I left it until the next morning, when it was brighter and I could see the kitten clearly. Luckily, the kitten was still alive. I took it out, gave it a bath. Dried the kitten with a hair dryer. It was crying a lot. I gave it some milk, but it refused to drink. I had no choice but to feed it with a spoon. I gave it a cosy and warm place to rest. It still cried a lot.
I guessed it was my neighbor's kitten. I left the kitten in my neighbors house compound, thinking that its mother will find for it. I could still hear the kitten making noise after almost a day. Then I checked with my neighbor, and they said it is not their kitten.
I took it back again. I have no idea, how old is the kitten. I was not sure, whether it could eat by its own or only knows how to drink breast milk. Every time, I carried the kitten or pampered it, it will search for milk on me. It still refused to drink milk on its own from a bowl. I fed it with a spoon again.
The second day, my son suggested to me to try to feed some fish. I fried some fish, mixed it with some rice and left it in a bowl. To my surprise, the kitten started to eat. I and my children were so happy to see it eat. It slowly got stronger day by day. It started to walk and run and play. It likes to climb everywhere from the sofa to the windows. It likes to bite our hands and legs and anything moving. Our whole family, got fond of the kitten and we named it "Sophie"
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| Sophie The Kitten |
Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Mistakes An Experienced Programmer Makes
Computer programming is a very challenging profession that not many enjoy doing them. But there are handful of us whom are passionate about it. The ever changing technologies makes this profession dynamic and interesting.
I have been a systems analyst, designer and programmer for 20 years and still am in love with it. I work and program because I love to learn. When the program runs and the output shows correctly, the satisfaction is so overwhelming. I have worked on many systems ranging from retail, manufacturing and lately Internet Of Things. One of the important factor that decides on the success of the system, is the user acceptance.
After being in this industry for so long, I have build the knowledge on making the correct decisions to make feasible systems. When I work on analyzing systems and working with other programmers, I do notice some common mistakes and decision causing a system to go down the drain. Sometimes, some systems are build with high vision and when it is not accepted by the users well, all the investments are wasted.
These are some of the criteria:
a) The System Architect are blue collar professionals, and sometimes are too ego to go down to the real user to understand their requirement and their problems.
b) Sometimes, the decisions are made by management without involvement from the users that uses the systems.
c) The system are too complicated for normal users to use.
d) Less interaction between the developers and the users during development that all the designs and improvements are not discussed during development.
e) For general systems, proper market research are not conducted.
Programmer's have to understand that we are only programmers, the users are the specialist on the business. We have to listen and capture their requirement properly. We have to discuss any suggestion with the users, if we feel some of the process can be improved.
Involvement from the users will give them some ownership of the system during development, and it will ease the acceptance of the systems and process change.
Programmers have to understand that the normal users will require simplicity. No matter how sophisticated the system is, the system's interaction with the user have to be simple. User friendly and easy to use systems will be accepted better.
Sometimes we might face with users on various levels, and we have to look into different windows to accommodate their requirements.
If we have all this in mind when we build our systems, our system will be more feasible.
I have been a systems analyst, designer and programmer for 20 years and still am in love with it. I work and program because I love to learn. When the program runs and the output shows correctly, the satisfaction is so overwhelming. I have worked on many systems ranging from retail, manufacturing and lately Internet Of Things. One of the important factor that decides on the success of the system, is the user acceptance.
After being in this industry for so long, I have build the knowledge on making the correct decisions to make feasible systems. When I work on analyzing systems and working with other programmers, I do notice some common mistakes and decision causing a system to go down the drain. Sometimes, some systems are build with high vision and when it is not accepted by the users well, all the investments are wasted.
These are some of the criteria:
a) The System Architect are blue collar professionals, and sometimes are too ego to go down to the real user to understand their requirement and their problems.
b) Sometimes, the decisions are made by management without involvement from the users that uses the systems.
c) The system are too complicated for normal users to use.
d) Less interaction between the developers and the users during development that all the designs and improvements are not discussed during development.
e) For general systems, proper market research are not conducted.
Programmer's have to understand that we are only programmers, the users are the specialist on the business. We have to listen and capture their requirement properly. We have to discuss any suggestion with the users, if we feel some of the process can be improved.
Involvement from the users will give them some ownership of the system during development, and it will ease the acceptance of the systems and process change.
Programmers have to understand that the normal users will require simplicity. No matter how sophisticated the system is, the system's interaction with the user have to be simple. User friendly and easy to use systems will be accepted better.
Sometimes we might face with users on various levels, and we have to look into different windows to accommodate their requirements.
If we have all this in mind when we build our systems, our system will be more feasible.
Teaching My Son How to Blog
Today my son is learning to create his first blog.
His name is Umesh Prasad and he is 11 years old.
He is an intelligent kid but wearing glasses since young age. Worried to get him exposed to computer too long. Glad he got this exposure.
I am a systems developer. I have developed a lot of systems but never took blogging seriously. This is the first time I am blogging as well. Surprised to learn that it is so simple.
I am writing this blog adhoc. Interesting to share my thoughts to everyone around the world.
His name is Umesh Prasad and he is 11 years old.
He is an intelligent kid but wearing glasses since young age. Worried to get him exposed to computer too long. Glad he got this exposure.
I am a systems developer. I have developed a lot of systems but never took blogging seriously. This is the first time I am blogging as well. Surprised to learn that it is so simple.
I am writing this blog adhoc. Interesting to share my thoughts to everyone around the world.
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