The Reader

" Let the sleeping dogs lie.."

How do I know the maximum speed of my cycling?

Well,this morning I went cycling to Kg Perwira Jaya(next to Ampang Point)-a distance about 6km from my house.Then I went to TESCO Ampang via Taman Angsana Hilir so that by the time I get home,I will have cycled at least 10km.Today,I made a bad mistake by going around those new shops next to Tesco Ampang.Some of these shops are not taken up yet and the developer put a security guard and two dogs! When I came to the cul-de-sac of a road in between the shops, I saw the jaga(but not the dogs) and made a noisy U-turn(koner baring,ada stail sikit).The scratching of my bicycle tyres woke the dogs and immediately they ran after me.Now,I know the real meaning of the proverb:" Let the sleeping dogs lie..".{Knowledge comes with arrival of meaning}.The dogs gave chase and  I pedalled with all my might for about 20 metres before the guard shouted to the dogs to let me go.There was only one metre gap from the mouths of these %^&* dogs and my right leg.Thanks to Allah swt for saving me from the dogs and the heart attack!

Next time if I go cycling to unfamiliar territories, I must bring a stick along.At least I can fight with these dogs who could not differentiate between the thieves and the gentleman riders like me;-)

From this episode, now I know what is my maximum speed-the speed I cycled when I was running(actually cycling) for my life.

Ride details for today:
Max speed: 24.1km/hr
Time taken 49' 56"
Distance 11.33km
Avearge speed 13.6km/hr

Creativity

Lately,I have been attending wedding ceremonies every weekend.And more to come in the next few weeks during the school holidays..

Gone were the days of the old fashion'bunga telor'.Nowadays,the 'telor' is only in form but not in substance; and the 'bunga' are made of different types of materials.The transformation over the last 10 years is beyond my imagination.

By the way, I am not complaining but rather I really apprecite the creativity of our woman folks when it comes to wedding gifts.

The wedding gift on the right has its 'telor' inside the glass.I had a pleasant suprise when I opened it.It was an 'egg' made of chocolate!That suits me fine.

Putrajaya Morning Ride 16/11/2008

Eight big boys and two ladies took part in this morning ride.It was really an enjoyable one for me as I had the chance to see the eastern part of Putrajaya Lake.It took us 1 hr 15 minutes to cover about 18km of a morning leisure ride .My thanks to the guide of the day Encik Izzudin and everyone for their pleasant company.Last but least is my thanks to my pensioner friend Abdul Samad for his generousity to pay for our morning coffee/tea/roti/cepati etc.

Below is a photo of Masjid Putrajaya I took on the way back before we entered a 'secret tunnel' from under a bridge.It is a road inside a bridge.I switched on my bicycle blinking light and rang my bell a few times  to celebrate our first ride there.

Kelekaan

[38:32] (Kerana lekanya dengan pertunjukan itu) maka Nabi Sulaiman berkata: Sesungguhnya aku telah mengutamakan kesukaanku kepada (kuda pembawa) kebaikan lebih daripada mengingati (ibadatku kepada) Tuhanku, sehingga (matahari) melindungi dirinya dengan tirai malam.

Beberapa hari yang lepas,saya terbaca ayat tersebut diatas dan terasa amat malu dengan Allah swt kerana saya mendapati diri saya dalam keadaan yang sama apabila saya terleka oleh pelbagai kesukaan saya dari mengutama ibadat saya kepada Allah swt.Setiap kita ada kesukaan masing-masing;dan semasa kita menikmati kesukaan tersebut,banyak kali kita akan terbawa-bawa oleh keseronokan nikmat dari apa yang kita sedang hayati sehingga kita terlupa kepada perintah dan larangan Pemilik dan Pemberi nikmat.Maka,jadilah kita semua hamba nikmat dan bukan hamba  Pemberi Nikmat.

Nasihat guru tasawuf kami: Sentiasalah berada didalam wuduk dan hati sentiasa dalam bermujahadah dengan Allah swt.InsyaAllah.

Hole In The Road

First,let me thank Daniel who sent me the link to this photo on the right.It brought a lot of memories when I was 21 years old student at Sheffiled University.It was the biggest 'hole' in the road for a kampung(village) boy like me as compared to so many potholes on the road to my kampung.

The Hole in The Road was where I first saw people selling and buying things underground. There were a few shops underground and this was something new to me.By the way,it was 1973-my first year at Sheffield University.

Now, this 'hole' is gone to make way for the city trams.Now,I can't even remember my first tram ride-either in Amsterdam or Melbourne?Anyway, I love it!

City changes with time,and time is related to traffic demand and business growth.Closer to home,the Kg Pandan Roundabout was just a roundabout with no traffic light in the 70's and now,it is more appropriate to call it Laksa Junction,similar but less complex than Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham.

Looking at this Hole in The Road reminds me of the Toad in The Hole;-)

Note: The photo is taken from Telegraph newspapers.

On radio..

Yesterday, I read an advertorial about this particular radio as shown on the right.I cut and pasted the photo in my moleskine notebook and wrote a personal note about my encounter with it in the early 60's.Most of you who read my blog(with the exception of Pak Idrus , Pak Ku and other Pak bloggers) will not have seen a big radio like a box with transistors/valves inside the radio.Techincally,I know very little because we young boys were not allowed to touch it.

The school in front of my house had a clubhouse for students to relax,meet,read newspapers and listen to the radio.It was located in front of my house,so I visited it quite often even though my age then was a single digit number.My house did not have a radio.My favourite programs then were Lagu Permintaan and Drama Minggu Ini.My memory on these subject are quite blur;may be Pak Ku and Pak Idrus can elaborate better for the benefits of younger generations.My house back then has no electricity and no telephone.So, the radio is the only electronic equipment that I knew of at that time. Later, in the mid 60's only my dad bought a Philip radio for us to listen in our house.In 1963, my mother was invited to KL to see the first Malaysian TV at Stadium Negara.Personally,my first time watching a black and white TV when I was admitted to a boarding school SDAR,Tanjung Malim in January,1965.By the way,I loved The Fugitive!Today kids have all the luxury of electronic gadgets that my peers never dream of.

Currently,I have a small Sony portable radio which I bought many,many years ago.The aerial had collapsed and it is in bad condition.That is the reason why this vintage-look radio attracts my attention.For your info, this product is not available yet in Malaysia but I already registered myself to get one when it arrives at our shore.When? I don't have a clue.You can call 03-22822812.

According to my learned friend in radio,his advice was to buy a car radio and use it in my house.I am not as techie as himself to get myself entangled in some wries with additional speakers to install.A simple old fashion radio is good enough for me.I can wait..

X-Section of Putrajaya Wetland

Last night,I bought myself a pack of Twin Tip Markers(6pens+12colours) on sale at Jaya Jusco for RM5 so that I can draw a coloured sketch of my yesterday bike ride at Putrajaya Wetland.Everything went well except my compact camera Lumix TZ2 battery's juice ran dry.It was my fault for not checking the battery-so I missed all the fun of taking photos.

As I rode, I was capturing all those beautiful sights on my memory.Before tha 'data' got erased by time,I took time to draw the x-section of the ride(typical engineering stuff).On the right is the track where I tried to draw two cyclists and the the left is the wetland.My apologies for a so-so sketch but I hope you get the message.

Lesson learnt: It is easier to take photo.Drawing requires more info from memory-that is the difficult part.And for me,to draw is another story..

My Sunday morning ride:-)

The above photo was taken by Dr Taufik Jamil,my riding partner at Putrajaya Wetland. Below I attached the trail of the ride done by Dr Azmi Mohd Tamil:

CATEYE MICRO WIRELESS SPEEDOMETER

CATEYE MICRO WIRELESS SPEEDOMETER
Originally uploaded by Adibi

With the help of my son,I managed to install this speedometer for my bicycle.I need this gadget to measure my speed(actual/ave/max) so that I donot exceed my physical limitations.Sometimes,I got carried away when I am with more able and younger men..

At the same time,I can keep a log of my cycling distance for each month.InsyaAllah,I will test this gadget this morning at Putrajaya Wetland.By the way, this will be my first visit to this wetland and I hope to discover a few interesting living things there and at the same time take a few photographs.My younger friends will also bring their wives and kids to have picnic there while we big boys are having fun with our cycling.

The ones whom Allah has guided..

Everyday in our solat we seek guidance from Allah, but are we making real effort to be in those whom Allah has guided? Below is an ayat from Surah Az-Zumar for us to ponder:

[18] Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best (meaning) in it: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding.
[18] Yang berusaha mendengar perkataan-perkataan yang sampai kepadanya lalu mereka memilih dan menurut akan yang sebaik-baiknya (pada segi hukum agama); mereka itulah orang-orang yang diberi hidayat petunjuk oleh Allah dan mereka itulah orang-orang yang berakal sempurna.

And during the course of our journey,please beware that there are many ways we can go wrong and we must keep doing good deeds.Ilmu with amal,amal with ilmu.

[195] And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.
[195] Dan belanjakanlah (apa yang ada pada kamu) kerana (menegakkan) agama Allah dan janganlah kamu sengaja mencampakkan diri kamu ke dalam bahaya kebinasaan (dengan bersikap bakhil) dan baikilah (dengan sebaik-baiknya segala usaha dan) perbuatan kamu kerana sesungguhnya Allah mengasihi orang-orang yang berusaha memperbaiki amalannya.