Indahnya Kemang Indah...

...NOT! Please don't let the title fool you.

Went to Port Dickson with Ma and Pa. It's been 10 years since I was last here. Much has changed and, I fear, for the worst.

The apartment was badly maintained but otherwise serviceable. The place was, surprisingly, fully booked despite the less than okay conditions.

I captured this view of dawn tinged clouds early Saturday morning from our kitchen window.

The pool looked very inviting that morning but alas I had other things to do. To my regret, the water was cloudy by the time I went for a dip that evening, which also gives you an idea of how many people were using the pool that day.

Evening walk at the nearby beach. Tried to get a close-up/better angle of that disembodied crab leg but...

...INCOMING!!! Too preoccupied to notice a wave coming in. The above is a final sight of the sea water swamping my camera lens as I vainly attempted to whisk it to safety.

All pictures turned out cloudy due the fogged lens :( as evident in this picture of Restoran Ummi, the eatery where I tapau our dinner from that evening.

Having spent the night in the cool drying air of the apartment's air conditioner, my camera was ready to resume work the next morning. UPM actually put up its marine research centre next door to our apartment building!

It was cloudy. Though the lighting was less than ideal, I managed to pull off some satisfactory shots (well, at least to ME they are satisfactory- jyubun da!) of the beach.

"Hai bang! Nak ke mana tuh?"

"Apa? Ooo... sesaja nak berkayak keluarkan peluh ye? Okey, bebaik tau!"

There's also a vegetable 'farm' in the area. Mostly kangkong and terung...

WhoOhoo!!! Splash! Now THAT'S what I call a good time! Hehe... Do you realize how many pic tak jadi I had to take to get this picture? At that point, I could hardly feel my arms and legs anymore!

Despite the shortcomings, it was a restful holiday ;)

P.S. Huhu! Need to get my camera serviced A.S.A.P. The salt water's not gonna do the steel mechanism any good...

The present is all we have...

I'm on the brink of building new friendships, new relationships, but I hesitate...

I'm one of those unfortunates who are too aware of their past and hence it makes me too aware of my future.

You'd think that with all the experience I have, relationship with another person can be facilitated somewhat. However, as my relationships grow, friends keep telling me that I've changed, that I've transformed from this fun loving guy into some sad creature they hardly recognize or know how to deal with!

Another fact that kept getting shoved in my face is that I'm always taking more than I give. How did they come to that conclusion? Haven't I gave enough? What is it that makes me seem to have taken more than I have given? I have never been able to figure it out! It's so damn frustrating!

Pak Lang, do you think you could give your opinion on this? From your friendship with me and your superior knowledge of the human psyche, can you tell me what is going on?

Live in the 'now'... Apai used to tell me that it's the one thing I've never been able to do. Is that the reason? I wish Apai would just tell me what it was that made him turn away from me all those years ago because until I understand, it's just going to happen again and again and I don't think my heart can take it any more...

But in the true fashion of most guys, he refuses to dwell on it. To him, what's done is done. Let us start over fresh. Budak Baik is also the same in that regard but it's a fact that he's never been to me what he was before. Or maybe he never was like that and it was all done for my benefit. I wish I could let go like most guys. 

The image portrayed above is of Sumeragi Subaru, one of my favourite manga/anime characters, because our situations are somewhat similar...

I want so much to reach out and seal that offer of friendship...

'Adopted' Family Day

This makes it the second time I've joined this company's Family Day.

It became quite an issue back at my department because I went for outsiders' event but didn't go to our own Family Day. No words can explain my reasons nor do I feel obliged to give any.

Though truthfully, it was members of this group that first made me feel more welcomed than people at my own department ever did.

It doesn't matter that only 4 of us are left from the original clique this time around. I'm back to hopefully capture that feeling of camaraderie that I enjoyed back when we were all together...

View from my luxury bus seat as we pass by a coconut plantation on our way to Lumut.

The sun was beginning to set when we arrived at the jetty in Lumut.

Pulau Pangkor here we come!

Our drop off point was at a private jetty, which is nearer to our resort instead of the main jetty at Pekan Pangkor. Here's a view of the beach by that jetty.

Here's what the reception area looks like if you arrive during the day. I decided to not take any photos of our arrival that evening because I was too tired from the trip to play around with my camera settings for capturing night scenes.

But I continued to take photos after replenishing my strength at the barbecue dinner :P which was followed by a karaoke session.

What's a Family Day without a telematch?

Here's a picture of our group waiting at the lobby for the van that would take us to the starting point of our island hopping trip that afternoon.

On our way to see the sights around Pangkor. The ultimate destination was, judging by the crowd, a very popular snorkeling spot not far from the main island.

That night was the grand dinner with performances put up by the staff of the company themselves. I personally feel that they outdid themselves this time.

However, the absence of our original clique was rather palpable. The jeers and cheers would have been more fun and intense with them around.

This was taken at one of the stops on our homebound trip- a sight from the ruins of an old Dutch Fort.

The obligatory shopping stop :P This was the scene at the seafood factory where we shopped for 'souvenirs'.

These people practically went crazy over there! You should have seen the bundles they cart off to the van. The downside to this was that our clothes reeked of fish all the way home!

Fun trip, but felt very sad on the way home... The friendship that we had, those times together, the laughter: all washed away in the currents of life... It made me realize even more that we can't ever go back.

To all our Buddies out there, We really miss you bros!

I miss you... :(