Spanish holiday

Last September, we went on a family holiday after a lapse of 12 years. The last time we went on holiday as a family was in 2000 when we went to Lake Tahoe for the children to enjoy a bit of snowboarding. After 9/11 no more travelling to America. However, I did a lot of travelling since then on overland adventure trips by 4WD vehicles in a convoy. In fact I’ve done five trips covering the four continents of Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. So this recent family trip was meaningful since the children are all young adults.

We had about 12 days in Spain with Malaga as the hub from where we drove to Granada (Alhambra), Cordoba and Seville. From Seville we took the train to Madrid. Apart form all the sightseeing and shopping, I think our most memorable experience was the bullfight.

Nice weather, hard seats	Provoking the tired, confused bull

There were six bullfights over the 2 1/2 hour session. All six bulls lost.

Bullfighting is a cruel, blood sport. And many Spanish cities – Barcelona, Malaga, Seville -- have banned it. And pressure from animal rights advocates is mounting. Madrid may ban it too in the future. But my Spanish friends in KL believe it’s all political and economics. When the going gets tough and the tourist dollar is badly needed to upkeep the splendid bullrings and the thousands of people in the business, then they’ll bring back the bullfights, they said.

 
However, I certainly don’t like it; the poor bulls just had no chance. Even if it could gore a matador it’d still lose the fight and be killed.

iPhone video by Nazrin 10 Sep 2012 Madrid

Cataract Op

I have been postponing my cataract operation since early this year because of the travelling I was doing - Italy, UK and Spain. Having just come back from Spain I got the op scheduled for Wednesday 3 Oct 2012 at Ampang Putri with Dato Dr Baljit Kaur doing the honours.

	She did my right eye first with the left eye scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday 10 Oct. I now have a brand new eye with multifocal lens; and it's great. My vision is certainly much better with the right eye - I am writing this post without specs. And it'd be much better when the left eye is done.
So next week I should be a new guy walking about without specs, except for powerless sunglasses. I could have it done at our Military Hospital and being a pensioner, pay nothing, but my dear wife was willing to foot the bill. Furthermore Dato Dr Baljit had all my records.

On this note, I can't help but remember how my father had cataract back in the mid 1950's but he refused to go for operation for several reasons: firstly, he couldn't afford it, secondly he was a great believer in takdir or God's will and thirdly he didn't quite like hospitals. So for almost 20 years until his death in March 1975, he endured blindness.
I don't blame him considering that the technology back then must have been quite primitive compared to nowadays, where we have laser and ultrasound techniques, local anesthetics and very modern OT facilities.

Raya 2012

We had a good Raya this year.  The governmet's largese with generous bonuses, windfall for Felda settlers and the good economic climate the country is currently experiencing, made everyone look happy and comfortable. Despite the Opposition's effort to create racial tension, the harmony among us remained intact. This is evident from the number of guests who came for our "Open House" today. Our friends and acquaintances, be they Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Syrian, Caucasian (Dane, Spanish, Swedish, Aussie, English, Scottish), Singaporean and Malays of course, came from far and near. And they came with their children too; and the "duit raya" was disbursed appropriately.

Everybody had a good time enjoying the variety of food typical of Malaysian cuisine; and in some cases meeting some long lost friends or relatives. The weather also played its part by pouring a bit of rain in the afternoon to cool down the environment.

In the morning after the Aidil Fitri prayers at the mosque, we had our traditional breakfast as a family. Of my six children, three are away — Ida in England, Nani in Dubai and Fahd in New Zealand. This has been the case every Raya all these years.

I certainly hope one Raya in the future we would see all six of them home with us, with their husbands/wives and children. Wishful thinking, perhaps!

Ida Nikah

My first-born, Ida Mumtaz finally tied the knot.  Her beau, Philip Andrew Rolland, embraced Islam and took the Muslim name Faris, meaning “Knight” in Arabic.  They were later wedded at a simple ceremony at the Grand Mosque, Regent Park, London on Wednesday 18 July, 2012 attended by her parents, cousin Rozimi, relatives Adik Ja and Yennui, and officers of the Malaysian High Commission.

Ida and Philip	Shaykh Khalifa Ezzat

The Imam,  Shaykh Khalifa, conducted the ceremonies which were very simple compared to that in Malaysia.

Syukur alhamdullilah; may the couple have a wonderful life and live happily in wedlock.

Visiting Philip's Parents

Ham and I had a most pleasant evening on Friday 13 July when we visited Philip's parents in Birmingham.  They took us to dinner at an Indian restaurant near their home in the suburb of Birmingham. After that we adjourned to their home for coffee and "getting to know you" small talk.

It's a pity they won't be able to attend Ida and Philip's Akad Nikah on Wednesday 18 July at the Regent Park mosque in London, since they'd be departing for Spain for their holidays this Saturday (tomorrow) 14 July, 2012.

Ida is back

Ida is back home. She came back to attend a conference actually. It's her RCOG Annual International Scientific Conference 2012 held in Kuching from 4-9 Jun. She came home on 2 Jun and will leave for London on 13 Jun.

Last night Sunday 10 Jun, we had Japanese dinner as a family at The Shang. But two of her siblings were not there -- Nani is in Dubai and Fahd in Wanganui New Zealand. A family friend, Edward Kadar Shah and his girlfriend, also came.

Skyping with Fahd

	We did some skyping with Fahd in New Zealand to day.  He was sick a few days ago with cold and had been missing class.  New Zealand is having winter now, the temerature being around 9-10 deg C.
Anyway we are pleased to see him looking better and being quite chatty as well.  He also asked about Faritz winning a bicycle race and an iPad 2 as the first prize.  During his last semester break, Fahd went to South Island for a holiday and he promised to email some photos to us.  So Fahd, please concentrate on your assignments now and come home later this month with a good report.