Wow! It's been almost 2.5 years since my last post!! I guess right after the 2008 GE, ranting kinda died out too......I still cook but was too lazy to blog about it anymore. Anyway, as for my new rekindle interest in photography, I am still taking photos and going outings.....I have since moved on from my Sony gears to Pentax now. I hope I am a better photographer now(compare to back in 2010 when I first picked up a DSLR). The world seems to be moving towards mirrorless camera now, coz it's smaller and lighter. For your common outing on the street, landscapes and still life, it's perfect as you no longer need to lug all this big and heavy gears now. The bigger DSLR now are mainly used for events or anything that requires speed shooting(at least for me is like that lah). So, I have 2 bodies now, both are Pentax(as they can share the same lens mounting), one mirrorless and another DSLR.....so depending on the outing and what I am shooting, that depict which body I will take.
Well, as far as our political scene........it's really getting hopeless!! Pakatan has come on strong again on our last GE last year(May 2013) but not good enough to form the government. It will be another 4 more years before the next GE takes place, so people....better buckle up and tighten those belts!!! We are going in for a really rough ride. This is also the main reason why I kinda stop blogging as I really do not see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore! Before the 2008 GE, everyone(well majority of sane Malaysians at least) were hoping that Pakatan will succeed and pull Malaysia out of these dulldrums but unfortunately that didn't happened. The thing is, not only that didn't happened, Malaysians in general kinda get the sense of things is not as rosy as one would expect even if Pakatan won. There is another side that many Malaysians are beginning to see about BN and Pakatan as well.......hence sama sama saja. It's still about positioning, cronies, hidden agendas.....you know what I mean. So after all the "hoh hah", people still get the feelings that at the end of the day, we are all still fucked!!
Granted, the Pakatan States are performing way way much better than the BN States, and I can see some improvement on some of the Pakatan States, which is actually a big and much needed welcome sign for the people. I guess the old saying really do applies......they are both hantu....you just need to pick the better hantu!!
My son is going into his 2nd year Uni at Help Institute, I really hope he will work hard and make the right choices.....and even with heavy heart, I really do hope he will finish his studies in the States and stay there. The reason being, I do not see him having any future in Malaysia.......as the younger generation will not be able to cope with the excessive rising cost of living.
My daughter is in Form 1 now, going to the same SMJK like my son(which she actually prefers), plus it's very near our house so that is a plus for us. I too hope she will work hard, and also to finish her studies abroad and make a new home there.......again with very heavy heart. I cannot see my children having it good, as in comparing to the life they will possibly get if they stay abroad. Malaysia has been regressing since the last 15 years.......to a state that I myself find hard to believe that we are living in the 21st century, in this modern day and age.
I will leave that part of the ranting for another day, for now....it's just nice to be able to just talk about the little things......
Oh, yes....kinda took a big change of life style about 6 months ago when I decided to join the gym. I have since then lost about 12 to 13 kgs, and consider myself kinda gym junky now. My wife and brother too is getting into this habit, which is good as we are all getting on with our age now and best to keep fit now while we still can before it's too late. Actually this all started for me after my mom was hospitalized beginning of 2013, and she was going in and out of ICU till April 2013. I am really happy and grateful that she made it thru that ordeal as we nearly lost her at one point!!! Anyway, that got me thinking really hard about my health as it cost a bomb when my mom was in the hospital, and she survived mainly because we admitted her to a private hospital(which not many Malaysians can afford). If it had been in a government hospital, I do not think the ending would have been the same as I witnessed the effectiveness of the private hospitals and government hospital first hand. That's another rant subject for another day, about our Malaysian health care system, but to put it simply, not everyone can just walk into a government hospital and expect to see a doctor there and then!! Unless you have a emergency, you can go to the emergency ward and that itself will totally put you off as they have a very subjective emergency evaluation system done by the nurses, they decide how severe your emergency is and your queue is base on that evaluation. So if you are hoping to go see a doctor for your flu, cold or what have you.....be prepared to be shun away!! Well, another day for that rant. Back to my gym.....as I was saying after my mother's ordeal, it dawn to me that my parents group of friends(all the aunties and uncles to us) are all in terrible health. A few of them have already moved on, and those that is still around are in bad shape........and it occurred to me what my current lifestyle(and my friends too) is exactly what my parents and their friends do when they were at my age group. They meetup over dinner, rich and heavy dinners, they drink....blah blah blah.......and now they are all paying the price. I can see the similarity going on now with myself and my friends, so if I don't correct these now I will end up like my parent(health wise). I managed to talk my brother into going to gym and he is doing it seriously now as he can feel himself getting better every week.
We are in no hurry to built body or get into the best looking body, we just want to loose weight, have a good cardio and slowly rebuilding our health. I am now able to fit into my old pants(waist 36) and the trainer at the gym kind did a test for me when I first joined and my ideal weight would be around 79 to 80 kg, so I am not to far from it now......maybe another 6 months time.
