It’s been a very long 10 years wait for the fans. Is it worth the wait? Here’s a preview:

Chinese Democracy - Guns N Roses

More details on the album here.

I’m stepping down as co-owner of tukanggambar.com due to conflict of interest and other commitments. If you’d like to enquire my service, you may do so via here in headsteadi.com.

TukangGambar.com will continue to be run by my existing co-partners. Good luck guys!

On another token, balidriver4u.com is doing very well and will continue to be running as one of my core business. If you plan to visit Bali, you’ve come to the right place.

Babuk Andrea is so proud of his jackfruit tree that is generously fruiting this year in his orchard.

Fortunately for my kampung, gotong-royong is still largely practiced as part of the community life.

The kampung folks helped each other planting padi (nuruk) in the farms.

(Picture courtesy of Babuk Andrea)

They assist the mourning families with funeral arrangements.

When there’s a social event such as weddings, school anniversary etc the kampung folks comes all out to offer their lending hands.

How about at your kampung or community? Does such conception of reciprocity still being practised?

Went back to Kuching during the weekend to join in the celebration of two souls becoming one.

Congratulations to Jones & Barbara on your memorable church ceremony and wonderful wedding reception.

Following the matrimony service, the couple posed for the album at Taman Tasik Danu Serian. Here’s some of my professional shots:

“Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church.”
Pope John Paul II

Congratulations again, Jones & Barbara. Next mission … make babies!

Be back writing soon. Thanks for dropping by. Take care.

The date was Sunday, Sep 14th 2008. The time was 13:45. It was a historical moment that Carol and I entered one of the most readily recognised buildings in the world. Unlike many of the historical buildings in the City of London, Buckingham Palace is not a museum. The Palace is working headquarters of the monarchy where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II carries out her official duties as Head of State of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen spends her working week at Buckingham Palace, and is normally at Windsor Castle at the weekend.

It is possible to tell at glance whether Her Majesty is in residence by looking up at the central flagstaff. If the Queen is in residence it will be flying the Sovereign’s standard. Otherwise, the Union flag will be seen.

At Christmas and for the month of January, Her Majesty resides at Sandringham which is her private estate in Norfolk. In the months of August and September, the Queen will spend her summer at Balmoral in the Highlands of Scotland. That is the time when Buckingham Palace will be opened to the public.

This year it was opened from July 29th until September 29th from 09:45 hours until 18:00 hours. During this time, there would be a lot of people visiting the palace especially during the weekends. Queue at the ticketing counter was extremely long. Entry is time based in order to control the crowd. While we were wandering outside the park, I overheard a tour guide from the Big Bus company was telling her tour pack that the queue is quieter after 3pm.

We arrived at 11am because we wanted to catch the changing of the guards, a daily ceremony that attracts thousands of visitors daily.

I was looking forward to take photograph with one of the guards but much to my disappointment, they no longer stand outside the Buckingham gate. They were moved to inside the compound.

Ticket to see the State Rooms is £15.50 per person. It took me more than an hour to queue for the tickets. While waiting for our entry we wander outside at East Front compound.

Major attraction at the East Front is The Victoria memorial and The Mall.

Visitors are not allowed to record video nor capture photographs inside the Palace. You can imagine the interior by reading from here. Basically, the tour of the State Rooms comprised:

• The Grand Entrance and Grand Hall
• The Grand Staircase
• The Guard Chamber
• The Green Drawing Room
• The Throne Room
• The Picture Gallery
• The Picture Gallery Lobby
• The Silk Tapestry Room
• The East Gallery
• The Ball Supper Room
• The Ballroom
• The West Gallery
• The State Dining Room
• The Blue Drawing Room
• The Music Room
• The White Drawing Room
• The Ante-Room
• The Ministers’ Staircase
• The Marble Hall
• The Bow Room
• The West Front
• The Garden

The audio guided tour took between 2.5 to 3 hours. At the end of the tour you’d exit at the West Front which is the back of the Palace, facing a lust green field overlooking The Garden and lake.

The 16 hectare Garden forms part of an extraordinarily large and varied landscape at the heart of London. It provides a habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species.

In the end, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Carol and I were both glad that we included Buckingham Palace in our London Tour. We hope to visit it again one day with our children.

Carol’s monthly check-up with the O&G specialist, Dr. Haizal confirms that the foetus is doing fine and growing well (about 14cm). Still too early to determine the gender yet.

The Mrs is getting better as she enters her 2nd trimester today. No more morning sickness. Only occasional evening sickness. Her appetite is improving, which is a good sign. Dr. Haizal took blood sample from Carol today to check for any abnormalities or illness.

Next appointment will be Dec 1^st. Please pray for us, especially for the baby’s health.

24 more weeks to go …

Dear Babuk:

1. You were the closest to me. It is still fresh in my memory that we used to go fishing.
2. Then, when the bananas in front of the house at the edge of our border with Peros’ land ripened, we’d gather some sticks spun with meran sap and we’d latch them around the bunch. We’d then sit in front of the house watching the small birds glued to our sappy trap.
3. I was always fascinated with your folklores especially your adventure stories.
4. I remembered you made me bamboo gun and then I played around the house with rounded wet newspapers as the bullet.
5. When I’m allergic to food and my body swell and itched, you’d gather some weird black roots from the nearby woods. You turned it into a magic portion and rub it on my body. An hour later, the itch and the swelling subsided.
6. You’d take me to Ah Kok’s groceries and we had our favourite red bean bun and red bean ice cream. Nowadays, I’d buy Wall’s red bean aiskrim potong for old time sake but it can’t beat Ah Kok’s authentic aiskrim kacang.
7. During school recess, you’d sit by your bedroom window waiting for Hennie and I to come over for lunch. After lunch, you’d give RM1 or 50 sens for me to buy candies at Gina’s shop.
8. I remembered taking bus from Kuching to Serian at every end of the month carrying installment money for the fridge and tv. After seeing the Chinese towkay, I’d take no. 3 bus to kampung to wait for dad to pick me up in the evening. You and Tayang would sit outside the house waiting for me. I was 11 then but dad already trained me to be independant.

Dear Tayang:

1. I missed your tempoyak (fermented durian) sardin very much!
2. When my nose bled, you’d pick some piper betel leaves, scorch it and poked it into my nose to stop the bleeding.
3. Your nightly routine was to heat a claypot of traditional oil, mixed with jungle herbs. The aroma filled the house and it was so therapeutic. Modern medicines boast about aroma therapy treatment when you’d been doing it for ages. Your magical claypot works wonders on sore muscles, aching bones, pregnant mothers, confinement mothers etc. Western doctors have yet to discover your magic portion!

Dear Babai:

1. I reminisced spending nights of nyetu dien (durian watch) with you.
2. Every time I’m back for holidays, you’d ask me to take duck from your backyard back to BDC because you know that’s my favourite meat.
3. I will never forget how you gathered your strength to be present at the reception of my engagement with Carol although you were already seriously ill.
4. I felt it was only yesterday I saw you. Occasionally I still forget that you’re no longer with us.

Dear Simuk:

1. Whenever I came to visit you’re always delighted and excited. I still can’t find any kopitiam here in KL that can match your hot kopi O and warm milo.
2. Your favourite movie was P. Ramlee’s Masam-masam Manis.
3. You fought strongly and persistently through your illness.
4. You don’t like to see the house in a mess. I guess now I know that I must have inherited this habit from you.
5. You liked to tease Atern when he’s naughty. Your trademark crab-pinch with your toes always did the trick.

Dear Uncle David:

1. As a little boy, I was always excited when you came to visit us in your kapchai (mopad) because I knew that you’d bring me new pencil box or new colour pencil or new magic pen.
2. I guess I was too little then to understand that you’re encouraging me to study hard.
3. I’m sorry you passed at a very young age. I didn’t have a chance to buy you beer now that I’m having a good job and making 5-figures to pay you back for the pencil box.
4. Whenever you to come visit me, you’d give me advise to live a good life and to enjoy it. Your words are still clear even until today.

Dear Auntie Dena:

1. You’re the undisputed best cook in the family. If you’re still around today, I’d love to learn some great recipes from you.
2. Remember when I was 10 and we just moved to BDC? I went missing and mom was panicked? I walked from BDC to your house at 7^th mile and I still remember how your faced was glowing with relief when you found me at your doorstep. You immediately called mom to tell her that I was safe in my little adventure. I was not running from home. We just moved to Kuching, and as a kampung boy who used to wander the village, I became bored and wrestless so I thought, why not pay you a visit.

Dear Amang Sana:

1. You were a very kind hearted man. Dad looked up very highly at you.
2. I remembered whenever we are back in the kampung, you’d popped by in your Yamaha 100 sports to catch up with us especially dad. While you two were busy chatting, I’d learn to ride your motorcycle around the house compound.
3. Dad gave me a lost tape of you guys performing live. I’ve done some mixing and restoration. It’s now burnt in a CD. Dad plays it once in a while when he misses the good old days of De Lugas band.

Dear Amang Charles:

1. Whenever I popped by your house, you’d make sure that I must eat something before I leave. Such was your hospitality.
2. You never forget to leave me a word of wisdom whenever I paid you a visit even during the time you’re already bed-ridden.
3. You’re the boldest and the most outspoken in dad’s family. You were a natural born leader.

Dear Amang Dustin:

1. Dad always tell me that you were the genius in the family and he had always use you as an example so that we’d study hard.
2. I googled your name the other day. Guess what? Your research papers and writings can be found on the net. Some of the famous ones were:

Gadug, Saet. 1988. Omens, the Rayang Bidayuh version. Sarawak Gazette,114:1504, pp27-28.
Gadug, Wilfred S. 1980. Example of Bidayuh animism. Sarawak Gazette, 106:1467, pp88-89.

However today, all of you are no longer with us. You had accepted God’s calling. Nevertheless, all of you are forever remembered in our hearts and our memories. May your souls rest in peace. Happy All Souls Day! Amen.

Finding parking is a challenge, Raju’s proof that it is indeed a popular spot. You have to park in the narrow strteets around the housing area. Carol & I came early for our breakfast appointment. While waiting for our friends who could only arrived an hour and a half later because they were stuck at the National Blood Center, we decided to order roti kosong for our breakfast. Ummmpphhhhh … I must compliment that their roti canai is one of the best. It’s crunchy and not oily. The dhal gravy that accompanied the roti also taste good.

I ordered mutton curry as side dish. I’m happy to rate it as average . Raju’s drinks are not something to shout about. I had one glass of teh ais and three glasses of teh o ais limau while waiting for our friends. I thought all the drinks that came were diluted.

By the way, if you’re observant you would be able to detect what is wrong with the picture below.

Our friends arrived on time, just as promised. It was almost lunch time. Carol & I ordered something light for ourselves. We had fried squid. My verdict: Taste so-so. Asia Cafe’s grilled squid (at SS15) still tops my squid rating.

I’ve seen ikan bulus in the fish market before but I never bother to buy them. Since I’ve heard good comments about this fish before, I wanted to give it a try. My verdict: The crispy fried fish taste marvelous! Nothing was spared. From the head up to the tail, they are all edible and that includes the bones.

I have to warn you that, Raju is quite pricey if compared to your next door mamak. The owner in fact put up a disclaimer at the cashier counter which sounds something like, “We don’t care if our competitor charge cheaper than us. It is how they think what their food is worth“. My total damage was RM77.00.

Raju’s also claimed that their foods do not contain MSG. Does that means they promote healthy cooking? I personally think they do, because their foods are lightly salted, less oily. Maybe that also explains why their drinks were diluted at the first place. Well … that’s if you’re looking from the health perspective. Economic wise, they are making extra profits from the diluted drinks.

Raju’s staff wear white shirts hence it made them look presentable and clean. All of them carry name tag on their chest. It helps when you need to call for their attention. Their caps bear the name Raju after the restaurant’s. By default, if you can’t see their real name on the tag, just shout for Raju and 5 or 6 Raju’s would turn their head at you.

There are plenty of seating arrangements outside the restaurant. The huge shady trees provide a great outdoor dining experience. The place is crowded during breakfast and subsides when noon approaches.

Next to Raju’s there’s another famous Indian’s called Sri Pandi.

How to get there?
Raju’s restaurant is located at PJ, besides the La Salle School. If you are driving from mid-valley towards Sunway, go up to the 1st bridge after the Selangor arch. Landmark: KWSP building on your left. At lights, filter left and drive ahead. Landmarks: Shell at left, SFX church at right. Drive down a little bit further until you see Restoran Jalan Gasing. Filter left into this junction. Landmark: Siamese temple on the right side of the main road. Raju’s is located at the opposite end of Restoran Gasing.

Raju Restaurant
Jalan Chantek 5/13 (off Jalan Gasing),
Petaling Jaya