Videos from the Royal Golden Jubilee

Some videos I took this morning.
This is the Keat Hwa Band.

This one is from Sultan Abdul Hamid College

Pulchritudinous Pachyderms walking past.

The Royal Golden Barge

Sultan Kedah's Golden Jubilee 2008

50 years as the Sultan of Kedah....Duli Yang Maha Mulia Al Sultan Almu’tasimu Billahi Muhibbudin Tuanku AlHaj Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah..will be making history as the second Sultan after the Sultan of Perlis, Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail (1995) to celebrate a Golden Jubilee, this from a sultanate (12th century) believed to me the oldest in the world.

Preparations are evident everywhere in Alor Star these last few weeks, though everything seems last minute. Kerbs are painted, bus stops given a coat of yellow paint, every where is being spruced up. They've put these concrete blocks which I assume will be hosting huge banners on the pavements all along the road where the royal procession will take place. Even the Istana Anak Bukit has been given a facelift. Where once a humble entrance and 'pagar' greeted you, it's been replaced by this resplendent looking one. It was just completed not too long ago. Work is still in progress these few days!At Wisma Negeri, we also see things being done. Few weeks ago, it looked as though work had stalled. Maybe now that the state government is in the Opposition's hand, federal funding is also drying up. The previous government extended the Wisma. So there's a new huge building behind this one!
Related Posts:
Sultan Kedah's Golden Jubilee (2)
Videos From the Royal Golden Jubilee

Tis always nice to be invited for dinner..

This was dinner with friends over the weekend. It's home cooked! ....there's this deliciously mashed potato with pumpkins which tasted absolutely wonderful but not in the pic. Good food accompanied by good dessert wine imported in the luggage bag all the way from Ozzieland...We had other sweet stuff as well, such as this liquor filled chocolate which I got from Langkawi..but the liquor has sort of crystalized. Learned this, you have to eat such kinds of chocs fresh. But the box is quaint enough, so I'll keep it for some crafts later if the creative bulb goes on!Then there is another dessert Nestle La Cremeria, Cappuchino Chocolate...supposed to be a new flavour. It's quite nice...smooth, not too sweet...and we had a tubful of it to finish. Lil Rainbow liked it very much though the elder brother who is always rather unwilling to try anything he has set his mind as not good .... caffeine is not good in his mind...After dinner talk was about more food...after indulging ourselves in all those rich food we moved to health food...enzymes. Our hostess is into enzyme production now... This is pineapple with citrus...This is kiwi with citrus and just pineapple....I am booking myself for a taste of the kiwi combi....looks interesting enough! 8)
Last but not least...the most unique combi of all (to me at least)...'kee chee'-(don't know what it is called in English)-orange-lime combi. This is supposed to be good for those who have eyesight problems. It looks kinda colourful, good enough to turn into a deco item.
Well, that's one Saturday evening well spent....memories are made of these!

Breakfast today....

Breakfast today...packed for me and my boy. Used naan bread and stuffed it with corned beef stir fried with garlic and onions. Then baked it with cheese. Salad is made up of strawberries, yellow cherry tomatoes, grapes, salad leaves, raisins and green apples. Salad goes well with the naan...otherwise the naan on its own would be a bit dry. This would last me till I the end of my workday. I shall make myself a cup of St. Dalfour peppermint tea later.

USB Sharing Switch

If you have two PCs and have to share a single printer... it's quite a hassle to plug and unplug the cable each time you need to use the printer. And to get to the port at the back is quite tedious.

Saw this on display at my local computer shop. It's a USB switch and it allows two computers to share a single printer. There's another one with 4 ports but I needed only two.

It's a small little gadget measuring 3cm x 5 cm, and it does not need a power supply. It has one usb port at one end which you plug in your printer cable and on the other end there is two USB ports. That's where the cables from your PCs goes into. You can either use it manually ie pressing either one of the two buttons or control it via software which must be installed. Cost RM 65.00

I think it's a little pricey but bought it anyway. I "need" it. :)

Girls in love...

When you are 15 and think you are in love...what do you do?

Case 1. Current and ongoing. Fell in love early in the year...not with one guy but with two. Ran away from home and slept with one. Was found and brought home. Thought she was repentant but she was not. Things continue to deteriorate. Finally, in exasperation and frustration, father has decided to throw the towel in. She is getting married and quitting school. She thinks she has found her paradise!

Case 2. Fell in love at 15...got married. Had a baby at 16. Then her 'perfect' world came crashing. At 17 she got a divorce. And now she wants to take her SPM and has come back to school.

Well, these are not your everyday problems at school but these last couple of years, I've seen more than the usual numbers. Kids are getting involved earlier and earlier. And often times they stop school as a result.

So will they have a fairy tale ending to their stories??? Usually no. I sometimes have the opportunity of meeting older and more matured students as part of my job..and talking to them have actually been very educational for me. Most of them would have been problem students when they were younger. Rebellious, getting involved in relationships, etc. And they thought they did not need their SPM! So they quit school. You still have to eat. So find an income. Enter the job market...after a few years...they realise their folly. So in their mid-twenties (some as old as their mid-thirties but the oldest I've met was 40+) they go back to night school to earn their SPM cert.

So, you young people out there...remember this! Your education is very important. Very often the employers use this excuse of not having your SPM certificate as a reason not to pay you more or give you that yearly increment that you so deserve. Lately, even those kinds of jobs which did not use to need such certs, such as being helpers in an auto repair shop, are also using the lack of SPM certs as an excuse not to pay you more. Believe me...you wouldn't want to in a situation where you have absolutely no bargaining power! Finish your education! And in today's society...that paper chase is getting to be more and more necessary!

Canteen Food

Well, Hijack Queen mentioned canteen food should be cheap. Here's my take on food sold to the students at my school. Sometimes they have 'mee/meehoon sup' too but those are about the choices given. It's the same menu for the 200 schooling days. Other half says they look nice. But my students say otherwise. Chicken rice (left) is RM1.50. Rice with egg and anchovies (right) is RM1. Some curry will be poured onto the rice. There're also some containers of the the same curry at the tables for the students to take if the amount poured is not enough. This is what the teachers eat...we have more choices but the choices are almost the same daily. However, the canteen operator is not very consistent with her pricing. That is one of the reasons why I seldom go to the canteen. Cos 2 persons can be taking the same food but the price will be different! Generally, SK/SMK canteen operators lack imagination. I've been to the Chinese schools.... their choices are much better. Definitely more variety! It's like eating 'chak-fun' at the shops outside. That is whyI prefer to bring my own food if possible. Sometimes I would buy from the shop on my way to school but these days after the price hike, I haven't done that. As for drinks, I have my own coffee corner where I can make my tea (I've got St Dalfour, Earl Grey all stocked up) or Nescafe. If I want a cold drink, I have my trusty flask of ice and cold water. 8)

And since I am at the subject of school...this was a class work I came across.....can't seem to even copy correctly let alone get the answers right! So, how to master English, leh?