44

...is what I get when I add up the age of this blog and my age. Happy Birthday to us both!

No cakes for me as "old" people is not supposed to eat sweet food. ;p 

I just spend the day with my family and that's enough for me.

Last but not least, a big thank you to my blog buddies for dropping by here all these 3 years. :D

Another long weekend

What a surprise to see the flowers

Another long weekend gone as last Friday was a public holiday. We went for a gathering with old friends from secondary (high) school. Most of them are married with children ranging from 4 years old to 12 years old. That reminded me that I am getting old and I should treasure life more.

Then as usual with holidays, we took the parents out for a meal. My spouse also helped them to repaint their door and listened to their grouses about the various things that needed repair around the house. I guess when we grow old, it is harder for us to perform house maintenance tasks.

To wrap up the holidays, we watched a TV movie with the title "Temple Grandin". It is a biographical film of Dr. Grandin who was diagnosed with autism when she was a child but then went on to overcome many obstacles to earn a doctoral degree. A truly inspiring movie.

Long weekend

Hari Raya this year was on Sunday (19 Aug) and Monday (20 Aug) so we had public holidays on Monday and Tuesday (20 and 21 Aug). I gave my netbook a holiday too and did not switch it on for all four days but I did go online via other devices.

Relatives living in other states took this opportunity to come back to visit their elders and we had a grand time catching up with them. It was a breeze to drive in KL on Sat and Sun because there was no traffic congestion as everyone was either away on vacation or out of town visiting their parents. Those who stayed back in KL thronged the shopping malls with babies and grandparents in tow and that included us. :D

To everyone on the road, please drive safely. Hope all of you enjoyed your weekend.

Midvalley Megamall

Paradigm Mall

The Curve

A note

We finally bought ourselves a white smartphone with a data plan for about RM111 per month for 2 years.

Sunshine on my wall

Stirling 2003

Sept 2003 - A day trip to Stirling from Edinburgh by train.

From the train station I walked to Stirling Tourist Information Centre and then via the Back Walk to Stirling Castle. The blue line in the map below (from visitstirling.org website) shows my route to the castle and the green line shows my route back to the Train Station. I walked about a little more than 2km (1.2miles) in total.

Stirling Railway Station back in 2003. I believe it still looks like this today.

This was one of the street I walked through on my way to the tourist information centre.

The statue of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Member of Parliament for Stirling Burghs and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908). It is located next to the "entrance" of the Back Walk.

The Back Walk - a quiet uphill walk alongside the old Town Wall (on its right).

Close up of the signboard.

I was glad to see a lady walking her dog after a while as it was becoming a bit too quiet for me as  I was the only one walking on this route.

I walked past the Old Town Jail.

Nice view down the street (Old Town Jail is on the right).

Finally, I reached Stirling Castle. View of the castle from the Castle Esplanade.

Entrance to Stirling Castle. I just looked around outside since there was not enough time for me to explore the inside of the castle thoroughly.

But I have just enough time to watch a documentary about Stirling castle in the castle visitor centre below.

View from the Castle Esplanade. The National Wallace Monument can be seen on top of Abbey Craig hill.

Another scenic view from the castle.

A peaceful and quiet street. It must be nice to live here.

Back at the station at 4.15pm. Again, as I was alone, I have no photos of myself in Stirling. Stirling is a very nice place for walks. I would like to visit it again some day with my loved ones.

Smell the roses

I had a lovely surprise one day when I was helping out with the gardening. Please click the photo below to get a closer look. Can you see what I see?

A lovely golden pupa (chrysalis) hanging on one of the leaves. I was careful to leave it as it is. Isn't it beautiful?

Epipremnum aureum

Another 6 months to go and we will be welcoming a new year. Are you hoping that 2013 will come quicker or are you wishing that 2012 will stay longer?

Time waits for no one so do what you want to do today because tomorrow may never come.

Sunshine on my wall