The Reader

Riding by the lakesides..

Putrajaya Photowalk
Originally uploaded by Adibi

This morning I took three young men for a ride of 22km by the lakesides of Putrajaya.They have been umpteen times to Putrajaya but yet they have not seen the views by the lakesides.As they cycled ,they breathed fresh morning air and enjoyed the nice views.This ride opened up their eyes that there are a lot of beautiful places to see and enjoy with friends and family in Putrajaya.By the way,they have not seen some beautiful garden hidden in a few locations at various precincts.

I was in the same position as them about one and half years ago before I joined the cycling group.When I joined the cycling group,I got the opportunities to see nice places all over the city.

The photo on the right was taken during one of my photowalk with my friends.if we only travel by cars to Putrajaya,we surely miss a lot of thing.By walking and cycling, it gives us more access and time to appreciate the beauty of built and natural environment around us.A special treat today is when my three riding buddies got the first experience to cycle INSIDE a bridge.

 

Perbuatan keji

Tahap keimanan di antara kita berbeza.Yang kuat beriman pun,belum tahu apa akan terjadi jika berada didalam suasana tertentu,khusus bila berdua-duan antara lelaki dan perempuan.Minggu lepas,beberapa kes membuang bayi yang baru lahir tersebar di dada akhbar.Bukan setakat buang bayi,tapi ada pula yang sanggup bakar bayi tersebut.Dari satu dosa besar kesatu dosa besar yang lain pula!

Izinkan saya sertakan Ayat 33,Surah Al-A'raf dan maksudnya:

Katakanlah:SesungguhnyaTuhanku hanya mengharamkan perbuatan-perbuatan yang keji,samada yang ada atau tersembunyi.

Kenapakah perkara sebegini harus terjadi?Banyak aspek perlu dikaji,tapi sebagai ibu bapa kepada anak-anak muda yang masih belum kahwin,apakah peranan kita?Bagi saya,ini soal iman dan akhlak anak-anak kita yang kita tidak boleh kita serah tugas kepada orang lain.Bagi saya,kita sebagai ibu bapa bertanggung jawap sepenuhnya.

Reading cycle..

Today I found the book that made me start reading fiction while I was rearranging/dusting off the old novels that kept collecting dust on my bookshelf.It is entitled The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.A note by the side showed that I bought the novel on 27th July,1998-the first day I visited the newly opened KLIA then.It was my habit that every where new I went I always buy a book to remind me of the place and the event.After that I kept on buying his books and later ventured to read the novels by John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer.A few years back,I started to read books by Dan Brown beginning with The Da Vinci Code.

I tried to read science fiction and fantasy novels but some how,I did not enjoy the books with one exception of Harry Potter's series.

Fast forward to the present,as i grow older,my interest went to books on philosophy and religion.Flash back to 80's when I was a corporate executive,I read only management books.According my older friends,my next phase will reading only Qu'ran and Tafseer,insyaAllah.

When I was a young man in 70's,I was not much of a reader.Like many others I only read what matters to my profession(engineering) and later(management) when I was climbing the corporate ladder.Only when I quit the corporate world and started my own business in 1989,then my reading extended to social science like biography,history,economy etc.

Looking back,I could have benefited more from reading if there was someone to guide me on what to read and how to benefit most from reading.Of course,sometimes we do read for the sheer joys of it.

As parent,I would consider a great gift to our children if we could inculcate the culture of reading in them.To promote reading and share my experience,I called this blog The Reader.

Day 7 of Indo China Ride: Saifuddin reached Phnom Penh at 5pm yesterday.His ride so far is 2300km from home.

A lesson from the past..

More than five centuries ago when the king of France was building Paris as a city as well as the commercial hub,there were shortage of mirror makers.The best were from Venice,Italy and the King has to pay high price for the import.To overcome this the King ordered his official to import two Venetian artisans with the offer of high salaries to produce mirrors and teach the apprentices from Paris.

During that period, many countries/cities were competing with each other to get economic power.France has attacked Holland for commercial reason in 1672.This was due to Dutch embargo on French wine!

Guess what happened to two artisans from Venice,Italy? They were found dead due to poisoning before they could teach their apprentices to make mirrors!

Personal Note: My first taste of Italian cappucino was at St Mark Square,Venice in 1987.The photo me taking a rest after a morning walk in Paris.Photographer -Awang Goneng

MapMyRide:Putrajaya Easy Riders

Yesterday my friend Halim showed me how his iPhone can track his cycling using a free apps called MapMyRide.In my case,I am using Nokia SportsTracker in my Nokia E71.How I wish to use the same apps for my Nokia E71 so that I can read my riding buddies maprides.For those of you who are using MapMyRide, you are most welcome to join our Putrajaya Easy Riders group.

Join our Training Group

Funny Quote of the Day - Jonathan Swift - "May you live every day of your life."

Starting young

FRIM140210 001
Originally uploaded by Adibi

The young man sitting second from right is 10 years old.He came to ride his mountain bike with his dad,sitting on his right.When I saw him yesterday at the foot of Steroid Hill,FRIM I asked my son Maher to snap our photo.

My congratulation to Dino for teaching your son Irfan  a good habit of regular exercise when he is still young.MTB was designed in the 80's,so my generation did not get this opportunity as well as BMX later.Some people are born lucky..

Today,I am taking my eldest son,a 28+ year old man for his maiden MTB ride at Wetland Putrajaya.It is better late..

Here is another young rider..

The Extent of My Knowledge

The Extent of My Knowledge
Originally uploaded by The Big Jason

This is a nice sketch by The Big Jason.I like it as it inspired me to do similar sketches of my books.Looking at the title,I start to wonder and wander about the meaning of it.

What and where are our knowledge?Some food for thought.

Buku di pantai Bondi

BAGI mereka yang berkunjung ke Australia tidak sah pemergian mereka jika tidak mengunjungi pantai Bondi yang terkenal dengan keindahan pantai selain menjadi tumpuan bagi penggemar sukan papan luncur. Terletak di selatan Sydney, pantai Bondi sememangnya terkenal di kalangan pelancong tempatan mahupun asing.

via www.utusan.com.my

Ini satu contoh yang baik untuk menggalak orang ramai baca buku.