Tok Ayah is 62 today

D'One Steak in Bandar Baru Bangi

On the way back home after picking up Jo from the train station, I asked her if we can have dinner at this new restaurant near Taman Tasik Cempaka, near our house. Since the restaurant have the word 'steak' on their name, my guess is that it will be their specialty. Jo ordered a black pepper steak but I'm a bit curious to try this Moroccan Chicken Rice. It feels like eating Kenny Rogers chicken with oily rice! It tastes funny at first but I can appreciate it. I love the black pepper steak that Jo had though. The meat is soft and the sauce is heavenly. The bill is around RM50 for two adults and two kids (Ilyas ordered chicken mushroom with garlic bread and Maisarah only wanted fries). And they have a free Wi-Fi.

Friendly match: ANSARA Taiping 5 - 0 Seksyen 8 Fasa 2

This weekend saw another friendly for ANSARA Taiping as we preparing for the next season in Division One of Liga Alumni. Our opponent this time is a team from Bandar Baru Bangi. It was also quite a special day for us as one of our former players decided to join us in this match. Duan used to play for the team in the Liga Alumni back in 2003 but I can't really remember when was the last time he donned our jersey. Even though he is not as mobile as before he did managed to score what looks like a valid goal with his first touch but that was ruled offside by the referee. We won comfortably and I am very pleased with the way the players are controlling the game. We will be facing a tougher opponent next week and I hope our good form will continues.

Seksyen 8 Sports Carnival

Today is the first day of our housing area sports carnival and the first event is futsal. This sports carnival is being held every year among the residents of Seksyen 8 of Bandar Baru Bangi. There are four teams to compete with each other and they are formed based on the housing lane. Although I am still recovering from a knee injury I still put my name to represent Orange futsal team. There is also a futsal tournament for kids and Ilyas was selected to play for Red team. I didn't play in the first match which we won 5-0. During the second match, I told them that I wanted to play in the second half. They let me play and I duly scored two goals with the final score again favours us at 5-0. I also played in the second half of our final match where we drew 1-1. In the end Orange team were declared the champions. Ilyas' team came second and both of us received small tokens from the organiser. There will be more sport events to be held in coming weeks and I'm sure more fun for the family will follows after this.

Julie's Car Accident

I was attending my faculty meeting when I received an SMS from Jo. Her younger sister, Julie had a car accident and she is currently in Putrajaya Hospital. No one knows her status and her mother and brother are already on the way to the hospital. I rushed to the hospital and after half an hour, Julie emerged from the X-Ray room looking rather fine. Apparently she was driving to work and was on the elevated highway when she lost control of the car. The car went upside down but luckily it was not hit by other nearby cars. She managed to crawl out from the car and within five minutes the paramedic is already at the scene. She is indeed quite lucky to remain unharmed after the ordeal albeit with some scratches on her elbow and knee. The car is a complete wreck but the mechanic insisted that they can restore it back to original condition. I don't think Julie will drive that car again and would rather sell it in the market.

Friendly match: ANSARA Taiping 4 - 5 Hitachi

Today we had a friendly match against Hitachi football team. There were about eight new players on trial (including a former captain of MCOBA) and six of them were playing in the first half. As a results of that we were 1-3 behind after the end of the first half although we did scored the first goal of the match. The second match started with most of the core players on the field and we managed to even the score at 4-4 at one time but the opponent managed to score a late goal to seal the win. It was a good match in term of looking out for new players to strengthen our team and I can't wait for my knee to heal completely so that I can join them in the next match.

Cosmo's World Theme Park at Berjaya Times Square

It's school holiday and today is the only time we could spend the day having fun together. So off we went to Berjaya Times Square to get on with the rides in Cosmo's World, the largest indoor theme park in Malaysia. Ilyas is quite tall for a seven year old boy so he was quite happy to be able to get into rides meant for adult. Maisarah was content to play in the little kid area. I have tried most of the rides including their roller coaster several years ago so there is little else for me to explore. Overall, I think the kids are really enjoying themselves and I'm happy for that.

Congratulations Tengku Suleiman and Fatimah

One of Jo's cousins is having a wedding ceremony today in Kuala Lumpur and we accepted their invitation. When we took our seats, we were quite surprised to see our friend, Abas and his family, seated just next to our table. Abas was Jo's schoolmate when they were in MRSM Kuantan and he was my housemate when we studied for A-Level in the UK. It turned out that his wife is a cousin of the bridegroom, just like Jo. What a small world.

Work and Pleasure

Old Friends from Oman

I received a message from Dr. Ali Al-Bulushi from Oman in the Facebook. He mentioned to me that he is coming to Malaysia for a holiday with his family. I was away attending a course at that time but I managed to invite him for a dinner in my mother-in-law's house in KL few days before he left home. Huzaini and his family joined us as well. We had a chat and watched the World Cup match on television. After that we bid him and his family farewell and maybe our next meeting will be in his hometown in Oman.

Classic Bus

INTURA in Kedah still retains this bus since 1983 and I took the opportunity to ride in it even though they have modern ones. There were several anxious moments especially when the bus tried to climb a steep road and the unpleasant smell when it follows a lorry carrying rubber products. By the time I got off the bus, my hair is all over the place and yet it was a nice feeling, leaning towards nostalgic really.