Here comes the sun

After six days in London (at last) the sun is shining over Britain, or at least parts of it.

For the past few days, site visits have been conducted in freezing, sub-zero temperatures. This has got to be the most grueling site technical visits ever in my career as a town planner -  and that's including my student days, too.

So the sun is here, for today at least. But according to the weather man, it won't be for long. Come next week, another cold front is expected to sweep over Britain.

I'm now at the Victoria Coach Station waiting for a bus to Manchester.

Note: The photo shows a man on a train platform on our way to Poundbury in Dorset. The sun may seem to be  shining, but the temperature was actually  -1 celcius.

On a flight to London

The time is 10.55am and MAS flight MH004 takes off. Immediately I saw the Kota Warisan giant signage on the ground below.

Next came the view of Putrajaya. A magnificent view, I must say, makes me feel really proud.

From the aircraft it looks as if a blanket of light clouds hang just above the ground down below. So surreal. After 5 minutes I'm now flying over Shah Alam. Managed to track down and view Man's condominium block in Bkt Jelutong very clearly.

I'm on a trip to London for a technical visit with a colleague. We're flying on a Boeing 747-400P. MAS has 10 of this beautiful jumbo jet. With a length of 231ft, it can seat 359 passengers. The B747 can fly 12,900km non-stop and has a max. cruising speed of Mach 0.86 (that's 916km/h).

It's now 2.15pm and we're just entering India sub continent. Calcutta is somewhere to my right and Delhi is up ahead. Its JUST another 9hrs and 10 min to London with ONLY about 7700km more to go - gonna be a long day ahead. The aircraft is hurtling towards London at the speed of 874 km/h. We are now 9762m above sea level and the air temperature outside the aircraft is -2celsius.

3.45pm Malaysian time. We have just entered Pakistani air space. And I have just performed my zohor and asar prayer. Performing my obligation towards my Creator 9km up in the air. Subhanallah.
On my way out of the lavatory after performing my wudhu' I bumped into the flight captain. He was waiting for wudhu' after me in pepreparation for solat too.

Alhamdulillah. Its nice and reassuring to know the our pilot performs his duty towards Allah too, doesn't it?
Another 7hrs and 41 min. to London, with about 6391km more to go. The aircraft is now flying at 874 km/h. The outside temperature is -12celsius! Altitude is 9734m above sea level.
Up ahead, Afghanistan.

5.07 Malaysian time. After more than 5 hours of flying we are well into Afghanistan and fast approaching the Turkmenistan border. London is now 5423km away. Travelling speed is at 817 km/h. At this speed we are destined to reach Heathrow in 6 hrs and 28 min. The outside air temp is now -18celsius!

7.00pm Malaysian time (8 hours after take off). We are now flying over the Caspian Sea.
We are 5423km away from London. Another 4 hrs and 28 min to Heathrow. The outside air temp is now down to -27celsius! The plane is at a much higher altitude too: 10,585m. Up ahead is Russia.

8.30pm. Well into Ukraine and just passed Russian territory. Suddenly, espionage and the thought of Russian Mig fighter planes storming at us comes to mind. Yeah, I know, I got a bit carried away there.
The outside temperature is now at a mind boggling -32celsius!! Coming up ahead of us is Kiev (Ukraine's capital city) and then on to Poland. Its another 3hrs and 20 min. more to London.

10.30pm. We have just entered Germany and in a few minutes we'll be flying over Berlin. From here we will fly over Netherlands and then start our descend to Heathrow in about 1hr and 20 minutes time insyaAllah.
Light meal was served. Oven baked lamb loin.

The scenery far down below is dominated by white patches of land. SNOW!?

Freezing England awaits me! Brrrrr!

11.24pm. The flight captain has just announced that we will be descending in 9 minutes time and we are scheduled to land at Heathrow at 4pm British time.

12.00 midnight Malaysian time. After 13 hours of flight, we finally landed at Heathrow. The captain announced that the temperature outside is 6celsius.

Looking forward to checking into the hotel.

In PD

We're in PD this morning, together with Mak.

For all her 68 years of age she'd never set foot in PD. Well, being orang Perak, Telok Murok (now Telok Batik) is like more up her alley.

I remember when my brothers and I were small we would often make the short trip to Lumut and Teluk Murok from our house in Bota Kanan for a our family outing and a spot of picnic. Always a thrilling and exciting occassion for us kids.

Of course Teluk Batik is not as beautiful as your east coast beaches. But it can beat PD anytime, me thinks.

But of course I'm bias, teman oghang Perak juga :-)

"Tough" ride

Syafiq leading the way, always

My Merida bike lying flat from exhaustion. Okay, actually the owner was exhausted

Syafiq trekking back to retrieve exhausted dad

This morning I went for a ride with my son, Syafiq. And it was one hell of a tough ride.

It was tough because I've not had enough practice, no stamina. For this is my first ride since Hari Raya -  that's Raya Eidul Fitri, not Eidul Adha!

Nevertheless it felt good to be riding again. We took it slow and easy and lasted 17km through the beautiful wetlands of Putrajaya.

I've just got to keep the momentum going.The good doctor has warned that my cholesterol level is rising, so I need the exercise.

One ride per week minimum, that's the target.

Of Family ties & Hari Raya Aidil Adha

Today is Aidil Adha. All my kids are back home.

The house tends to get all messy and cluttered with things, and is much more noisier when they're all back home. But, as ever, I really look forward to them being back, nevertheless.

This morning my two brothers came over with their families for Eid al Adha. It got noisier, and merrier. Then the Mem Besar's brother and sister also came. More laughter - and the occasional cries of the baby.

We are blessed for our family.

You might have best friends, bosom buddies and office mates. But nothing beats the warm feeling of love and closeness with our family.

Whatever friends you might keep, and no matter how close you are to them, still, family ties are paramount.

This is not to take anything away from friendship, of course.

But that is another discourse for another day.

For today, enjoy some raya day pics, including flowers from our garden.

Selamat Hari Raya.


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In Penang

This is Baha-san my colleague. We're in Penang for a workshop.

Another working weekend:-(

In Seoul

At Incheon Airport car park

The Central Mosque inSeoul, close to the Ittaewaon Street. The imam is a Korean but Malaysian-trained

Insadong the street in Seoul, popular for its arts and craft

Open air concert, vibrant city

A small building designed as an arts and craft market in Insadong

Arrived in Seoul this morning. Attending the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

The weather is fine. It's early autumn and the temperature is cool and is just nice.

The inaugural Korea F1 Grand Prix was hit by rain, though.

Will be back home next Saturday, insyaAllah.