My new Proton Saga has hit 1000km and went for its first check-up and service. So far, I’m quite happy with the new Saga (also known as BLM). Noy that many complaints as compared to my old car — the Proton Waja. If you’re a very practical person and thinks a car is nothing more than an invention that helps you to get from one place to another, then this is a value-for-money car!

Will write a ‘review’ of this car in another week or so. I think I have had enough of time with it to be able to write something fair about it.

The second check-up was for myself. It has been more than 6 years since I had a full medical check-up done. The last time I did it, it was a pre-employment check. I also did a basic blood test about 2 years back before I got married — to ensure blood compatibility, etc…

I wanted to do a check of my physical well-being. So I went to this quite famous clinic and told them I wanted to do a medical examination. They looked at me puzzled. They asked what type of examination do I want to do… I explained that its been a while since I had a medical examination done and I just wanted to know that I’m ‘healthy’. They looked at me like I’m asking something that is out of this world… I guess not many people come in to do this. So I just told them its probably something people do when they get a new job. Then it looked like the light-bulb finally lit up. They exclaimed — pre-employment examination and asked which company I plan to join. *sigh* I told them that it’s for myself but somehow, I don’t think they believed me.

I had to go to different floors to have the different tests done. And without fail, each time I would get asked which company I plan to join… Hmmm…

All this got me thinking… These days, so many people are so concerned about their health. We worry about cholesterol. We worry about high-blood pressure. We worry about being diabetic. Besides that, isn’t there anything else that helps measure how healthy we are? I mean what about heartbeat (I mean is it beating too fast, too slow)? Or blood clots? The eyes? Ears? Nose? We keep hearing public service announcements that we should do cancer detection tests, etc… But what kind of tests are these? It seems that all these have to be ’specific’. If you want to test for lung cancer, then you have to request for it. Else it is not done.

I just wish there was some kind of test like what is done with cars — first 1000km, they change the oil, etc… People know what tests and servicing needs to be done. But not with our body. It seems there’s no specific test. We’ve developed so much and perhaps have made things ever more confusing and complicated for ourselves. All I wanted to was for a professional to check my health and tell me I’m ok. But not that easy…

I was also told that a full battery of tests could cost like at least rm500!!!

The bird died…

Mrs Tai said it died while her colleague was trying to feed it with the antibiotic the vet had given. It was trying to peck Mrs Tai’s colleague and was struggling. Then it just dropped dead…

So its Goodbye #1.

I also said goodbye to my hamster. That’s Goodbye #2.

Today, I also said goodbye to…

My Proton Waja

We have had our ups and downs. For almost eight years we have worked as a team. Eight years is a long time but I guess it is time to say goodbye. I was using this car when I first met Mrs Tai. We picked up Gerger using this Proton Waja. The sale of this car was quick. Hand over the keys and that was it. It was only 10 minutes later that I realised I would never see that car again. I didn’t say ‘goodbye’ to it. But in a way, that was Goodbye #3.

And say Hello to…

My new car - the Proton BLM now known as the second generation Proton Saga

Yes, Proton BLM or what is now known as the new Proton Saga. Once I get a hang of this car, I will do a ‘review’ it.

This bird has a story to share…

Mrs Tai sent me this photo via her mobile phone this afternoon saying that this bird had hit the fan and broke its wing. I thought it was just a minor accident and the wing was just injured a bit. So I didn’t call her back.

Later on, I called back to check on her and asked about the bird. She told me that her colleague had taken the bird to see a vet. The vet said that the next 2 days will be crucial for the bird. It’s a live-or-die situation. Hmmm… I still don’t get it. I’ve seen little birds get hit by the fan and was just knocked unconscious for just a few minutes. Maybe this one had some broken bones and internal bleeding of some kind, I thought to myself.

When I went to pick up Mrs Tai from her place, I decided to take a closer look at the bird.

It is a very beautiful bird. Wow, I’m surprised we can find such a colourful bird in Petaling Jaya. But I was warned by Mrs Tai’s colleague that the bird was aggressive — it would peck on anyone who comes near. I guess I can understand. The bird is wounded and afraid. I took a closer look at the bird. Yikes… It’s lost one of its wing! I don’t call that ‘broken’!

I found out from Mrs Tai’s colleague that the bird had flown into a classroom and hit the fan. The fan had severed its wing. Poor bird. And I pity the kids in the class too! They probably has a shock of their lives when they saw the bird having its wing severed!

Anyway, the vet had given this bird some medication - antibiotics. Hope it gets better. Mrs Tai’s fren said that he will care for this bird if it survives… I hope it does.

Can see from here that its only got one wing left

Oh ya… Now I’ve only for 1 hamster left - Lengchai. Namesless just died…

This one was originally published on http://adriantai.blogspot.com back in 2007. Reproducing it here since I think it does make a nice read.

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Mrs Tai (that is what I call my wife) asked me to help her do some banking on Saturday morning since she had to be in school (she is not the student, in case you need to know).

She handed me her ATM card and a piece of paper with instructions (yes, that’s how bad my memory can be). Very simple task, really - withdraw money and deposit into 2 different accounts.

How difficult can that be, right? It can be very difficult, actually, when you’re confronted with this screen:

Sh1t, which one is withdraw money la…?!?

We forgot Maybank actually remembers your preferred language and Mrs Tai’s preferred language is chinese. And I can’t read or write in Chinese! So how? Press Cancel and wait for her lor…

Cr4p! Actually, it can be a good point because if it is a snatch thief trying to withdraw money, the fella may not even know how to withdraw money. Bad point… When it is a genuine case like mine. I am so helpless… Shy only…

I had my first experience with the new rounding mechanism last Sunday. The Jimat dan SENang (translated to English, it means SAVE AND EASY - the SEN is used as word play) is the government campaign aimed at introducing the rounding mechanism based on the TOTAL amount of a bill. The total amount is rounded to the nearest 5 sen.

Last Sunday, I went to Pet Family to buy some bedding for my hamsters. The bill came to rm6.98 but I ended up paying rm7.00 instead because of the rounding mechanism. The new mechanism didn’t save me any money… I ended up paying 2 sen more! So much for the JIMAT part…

Last week had been an eventful week for me.

The same could also be said for the past few weeks, actually. Many things have happened — I have had time to reflect on my life, my family, my work, the people around me, etc… I did some thinking, some talking (to family, friends and a few others), did some more thinking…

The baby is due soon — May. There are still so many things to get ready. And I personally feel I’ve not spent enough time with my wife and have not done my share of things for the baby — skipped the last two routine follow-ups with the specialists, etc…

So last week, I tendered my resignation…

About 2 years back, I accompanied Mrs Tai to her course mate’s wedding in Penang. I was going to Penang on a business trip anyway. She had known this course mate for quite a while and the few of them would occasionally meet up and visit one another, including this particular course mate who’s hometown is in Pulau Ketam.

When my grandpa passed away and Mrs Tai found out that we had gone to somewhere near Pulau Ketam, she suddenly remembered this friend and was telling me all about her again…

Mrs Tai called me just this afternoon… This friend had been involved in a car accident this morning. Her friend did not survive while the husband and baby is in critical condition.

Last week, my brother-in-law asked me to help him get a notebook. As always, my first recommendation would always be DELL simply because price-wise and service-wise, they are very good (at least in Malaysia anyway).

So after asking him a few questions, like what he intends to do with the notebook and what is his budget, I suggested he go for Dell Inspiron 1420. Actually, for this case, asking for the purpose was redundant because eventually we got a very high spec notebook - his budget allowed it! Basically the notebook comes with an Intel Core2 Duo Processor (T5450 @ 1.66Ghz and 2MB cache), 2GB RAM, 160GB harddisk, 2MB integrated webcam, DVD Writer, Bluetooth, wifi-enabled, 3 years complete cover, etc… His only request - he wanted it to be Expresso brown.

It arrived today. And it comes preloaded with Windows Vista. So, first task, reinstall with Windows XP (yes, Windows Vista really sucks, IMHO). This is the one bit I don’t like about Dell — they don’t have option to install with Windows XP. So have to buy another license! Bummer…

This morning, we went to the crematorium to pick up grandpa’s ashes. It was an emotional affair for my relatives, especially my aunts. After going through the custom ceremonies (which included prayers, etc), we were off to Port Klang to scatter the ashes. We had done the same for our grandma.

We chartered a bus as there were about more than 20 of us. We arrived at Port Klang about half and hour later and proceeded to board the two boats that has been arranged for us. We were told there wasn’t any boat big enough for all of us. So we had to split into two boats. I was told to board the boat carrying grandpa’s ashes. In about 10 minutes, we were on the way out to the ’sea’…

Clockwise from Top Left: We arrived at Port Klang; Walking down to the jetty; On the way out the the ’sea’; That is grandpa in two bags having his last sun bath
Dad holding onto grandpaAbout 10 minutes later, we arrived at our destination. We were not really out in the sea but it was far out enough from the port. As the boat slowed down to a stop, we could feel the boat swaying left and right. It was a bit rough. Dad and my uncle got started. They slowly poured grandpa’s ashes and bone bits into the sea. All it all, it was another 10 minutes followed by a quick prayer. We then started to head back to the jetty.

Rest well, grandpa…On the way back, I noticed that the water was some how separated at one area… You can sea the water is greenish on one side and brownish on the other…

See the line? The water seems to be separated by that line - green on one side, brown on the otherSince we were in Klang, someone suggested we have the famous Klang Bah Kut Teh (pork ribs in herbal soup).

Dad just called a few minutes ago…

My grandpa had just passed away…

He had fallen down twice yesterday and had been admitted into the hospital. He was still unconscious then. This morning, my uncle (dad’s youngest brother) had told us that grandpa has some brokens bones but no surgery can be done as he’s old and weak.

The past few months has been a series of bad news for me…