A New Pair

My Beats headphone lasted almost three years now and was worn off especially at the ear cups. The connections were also suspect as I could sometime could hear interference when I moved about. Time for a new pair of headphones.

Initially I wanted a Bose. But after some search on the Net, the Audio Technica MT50X got some decent review. And it was reasonably priced as well.

So, I went around looking for a pair around Bukit Bintang yesterday, and tested one. Impressive. No active noise-cancellation like my old Beats, but the sound was good. None of the exaggerated base of the Beats as well. The midtone and vocal sounded super-sharp. I was happy.

The pair I picked up was from the limited edition line, with faux-leather muffs coming with a matching pouch. Slightly more expensive than the standard but not by much. The whole package was less that RM700. Good value I thought since my old Beats cost double that ....

Another Jump

We returned to Jump Street near Jaya One, on Malaysia Day. A post-call day for me, so I wasn't really geared up to jump. Good thing that we went with our buddies with a total of 6 children. They more or less looked after themselves.

I was late to arrive - Anita went straight to the place from Gombak - and before I arrives, Anita called me to say that Irfan twisted his ankle. As usual, when there was trouble, he would be looking for Daddy.

Sorting out the teamEnough time to chill out ....And he's out ...Waiting to get back inI spent the next couple of hours carrying him around. To be fair, his ankle had started to swell by then. He would be extra manna for the rest of the week I was sure.

We ended the session by a late lunch at Raju's, with me carrying Irfan around throughout. I must have more calories during that afternoon than the rest of the year!

Back in againDanial, Syahril's eldestIs that the opposition?His ankle looked much better this morning and last night, he was able to walk a bit more. Still manja though.

Up and Down

It was a hectic couple of days of driving. After sorting out my ward on Thursday, I drove up to Penang for my Aunt's send off. Straight to the airport as she had already embarked from her home, spending a night at the Tabung Haji Hotel in Bayan Lepas. That certainly cut down on her travel time as traveling after office hours from Sungai Petani could be a nightmare.

I arrived at around 5 pm, joining my Mum at the hotel. Next came my turn to find a place to stay for that night. It wasn't that hard since there were a fair few hotels near the airport. A quick net search got me a decent deal at Equatorial, about 15 minutes drive away.

I then took my Mum to the hotel for her to catch a rest as she had been with my Aunt for the past couple of weeks, helping her out with her packing and sorting out her house in Sungai Petani. She went to sleep until Maghrib, she was that tired.

Then we joined my Aunt and Uncle again at the TH Hotel while waiting for another Aunt and her family to come visit. Tabung Haji had prepared seating areas for families to say their goodbyes, complete with shades and fans, as well as stalls to buy food. Very comfortable, not like the old days .... more on that on another entry reminiscing on the time when I sent off my late Grandfather in the early 80s.

Pak Teh

That took us to around 10 pm. It was then that the real crowd built up. The car park was almost full and the resting area was filled to the brim. My Uncle asked if I could take him for dinner. Apparently about 20 years ago, he came across a seafood restaurant near Batu Maung, not far from Bayan Lepas.

The challenge was to get to the place place had changed a lot in the last few years. Luckily we saw a sign heading into Batu Maung town, pointing the way to Kampung Teluk Tempoyak.

The restaurant was about to close but when they saw my Uncle's Hajj tag, the owner quickly asked if we wanted anything. He then cooked some fresh ikan bakar and crab for us. It was the bomb!

It was almost midnight when we finally settled back into the hotels. Mum again hit the deck soon after. It was going to be another long day tomorrow ...

Getting Their Act Together

Finally United looked like they were playing as a team, and it was no coincidence that we reverted back to a more traditional 4-4-2, albeit with a narrower midfield anchored by the excellent Daley Blind allowing for the more creative member of the quartet some room to manoeuvre and the tireless full backs to provide the width.

It was certainly helped by the lack of ambition shown by QPR in the other end. Truth be told, Blackett and Evans did not look convincing at all.

Di Maria had a good outing, providing a goal and a couple of assists - although the mistimed shot which fell nicely into the path of Mata should be just that. Falcao did make a much anticipated appearance, and he did well to adapt to the pace. In fact, I was surprised at how quick he was, although I expected him to show a bit more composure when the goalkeeper spilled Blind's shot onto his direction. He connected well, but could have easily chipped the keeper. A nice introduction.

But the man of the match for me was definitely Daley Blind. His debut for United last night but it looked as if he played there all his life. A great piece of business for under £15M. He made himself available all the time creating angles for passes, as well being busy sitting in front of the back four creating a shield. He should develop into an even better force once he settled in for sure.

A great weekend, with Liverpool losing and Man Citeh sharing the spoils at the Emirates. It would still take a lot more to catch up on Chelsea, with Diego Costa getting off on a flyer!

Another Birthday Do

On the evening of her birthday, Anita had another treat. So, in the end she had three dinners. This time around, it was with her parents and brother. Her Mum wanted a Chinese dinner, so we went to Ming Palace at Corus Hotel.

Nice place of course, but the food was a far cry from Lala Chong in terms of freshness and cooking. And the price, that was a different matter completely. Thank God I did not have to foot the bill!

Idlan putting his points acrossWhich Irfan found hilarious Let's drink up ...The cake came next None the less, we enjoyed the dinner. It was topped up with another cake after the dessert. That can't be healthy.