every year, towards the end of the year, we will have company’s annual trip. at first we planned to go to medan, indonesia but after the planning, suddenly medan was plunged in chaos when the people were on strike. thus we had to cancel the trip to medan and they settled on hatyai. hatyai? that was our company’s trip 2 years ago.

i was not too happy and had decided not to go…. what more when i discovered most of them wants to go there for shopping, which is what i hate most! no no i do not want togo to hatyai for shopping. however what i wanted was only to shop for cashew nuts (or other type of nuts) so i thought ok lah never mind i go and shop for nuts (at market place) only and while the others shop in malls, let them walk to shop while i go sit in a café, if any.

we booked the hotel for 21 & 22 nov night (fri & sat) at v.l. hatyai hotel– leaving penang at 7.00am and scheduled to return on 23 nov late afternoon. oh there were 30 of us, from all the 3 departments (tax, audit, secretary).

21 nov (friday)

on our first day in hatyai while at the thai border, it was already raining though not so heavy. our first stop was to have lunch. we went to a new restaurant that was opened in april this year – the ‘tomyam halal noodle cafe and seafood restaurant’ at ban bru district. (pic) quite good food with 8 dishes for table of 6 pax. (my post about the food  is here at my 'taste the food with lucia' facebook blog)

after lunch, we went to the makro shopping centre for shopping. when we reached there, it started to rain quite heavy. whoa… saw so many of my colleagues pushing trolley to shop – huh? need a trolley? means they want to shop a lot! goodness! later however i found out, makro only  have trolleys and no baskets and most of the items they are selling, are in bulk. so i walked with my roommate colleague, patricia, who like me don’t like to shop – with no trolley of course.  however, as expected with my ‘bad eye’ some things i saw, i decided to buy! haha. 

we were rather tired and thirsty while walking around the huge makro so seeing dunkin donut near the entrance/exit, we decided to have a drink there and shared a donut. when everybody were satisfied with their shopping, time to hop on the bus. we went to a café called ‘sapakafe 36’ for some drinks before we headed back to check in the hotel. alamak. didn’t know the tour guide wanted to take us to a café… at makro’s dunkin donut i had already taken a cup of latte so here at sapakafe 36, decided not to take any coffee – went for the orange juice soda instead.  

after at sapakafe 36 cafe, we went to check in the hotel. after settling down in the hotel, we decided to go to the asean night market for dinner. took a tuk-tuk that can seat 12 persons.

the asean night market has a lot of food at the foodcourt where i notice all stalls were operated by muslim. i took the seafood mee goreng. after our dinner, we went down to walk along the stalls selling stuff and i ended up buying a small handbag!

when we decided to go back, we notice the rain is getting so heavy now. the tuk-tuk journey from the market to our hotel took longer than as usual because of the heavy rain and some areas started flood a bit, thus traffic congestion here and there.

oh while we were at the asean night market, we received the first sms alert – it came on so loud – tut! tut! for a few seconds. the sms said about landslides and so on. we were quite alarmed but the tour guide assured us the landslides was way out from where we were… but at that time we had no idea yet, what was to come…. non stop rain and serious flooding. (pic showing the SMS alerts)

reaching the hotel and going to sleep, at that time we had no idea at all what was to come. we planned to go for breakfast the next day at 6.30am, then leave the hotel for sight-seeing at 8.00am.

22 nov (saturdy)

the next day (22 nov saturday) the plan was that we will take breakfast which starts at 6.00am then at 8.00am we will move out.  i remember very well, at 6.15am, i told my roommate “oh it is 6.15am now. time for us to go down for breakfast” when she came out from the bathroom. she said “okok” and walked to the table and then suddenly – poof! – the electricity went off.  at that time, we didn’t know anything…. thought was it just our room or all rooms in the hotel. my roommate called the reception to ask and was told no power to the whole hotel but simple breakfast will be provided.

taken from our hotel room at 9th fl.

btw, i was quite disappointed that the tour agent put the two of us – the oldest on the 9th fl. while all the other young ones were at 7th fl and 8th fl. why lah like this?? very ironic when older ones should have lower floors. further at the 9th fl, only one room of two of us! (in the end though, another 2 rooms were occupied by colleagues – but we still at 9th fl.).

the flood actually already started on 21st nov night so by 22nd nov morning, the flood was more serious and for breakfast we didn’t expect a good breakfast since there was no electricity.  true. it was only fried rice and nothing else and even that, the staff scooped the rice for us on a small plate. guess being limited, it was better for staff to serve us, and not we ourselves take it. it was also a small serving only but luckily later on we notice there were some balance, so we went for second helping.

it was good to hear that during our breakfast, the hotel… i think she is the manager or maybe the boss… announced to us that they will give us dinner at 5.00pm, and do you know what? she said the dinner today and breakfast tomorrow will be cooked by a michelin selected restaurant chef from malaysia. however didn’t tell us the name of the restaurant. she mentioned it will be seafood porridge and asked if anyone of us allergic to seafood.

the water level on 22 nov, whole day was very high and keep rising so naturally all of us staying in the hotel can’t go out for food. our room was facing a traffic light and we use the traffic light as a gauge for the water level. later i found out the water was as high as waist deep. (pic and video)

without electricity, all of us feared our phone will go kaput but luckily some where in the afternoon, we found out from the room opposite us (not our group, strangers but we get to know them later), that there is electricity at the power outlets along the corridor. so we all took turns to charge our phone at the corridor. we even boiled water at the corridor for making coffee.

so as they said dinner at 5.00pm i was telling my roommate we better be there at 4.30pm but before 4.30pm, a colleague called and said they were already there – they went at 4.00pm! oh. i thought if go at 4.30pm, consider early already. anyway she said better go early to reserve seats as there were quite many guests by now and the café is not too big to fill up everyone at one time.

oh! dinner was fried rice again! (pic)  however the morning one was cooked by the staff and this by the micihelin selected restaurant staff – yes, certainly different tase. this one had more ‘liao’ in it, can see sausages while the morning one, think no meat. the fried rice was served to us at our table plate by plate – so each person get one plate only and small serving.

taken from the cafe (2nd fl) on 22/11/25

after dinner, where else to go but back to our room. from our room, we keep looking out from the balcony at the water level. the rain on today did stop sometimes but stop for only  5 or 10 mins!… then heavy rain came!… and the heavy rain stayed for hours.

on this day, we received lots of sms alert now and then. (pic). it’s good that they sent the sms to update on the flood situation now and then.

23 nov (sunday)

on 23 nov (sunday) breakfast was at 9.00am and we were there at 8.00am. we notice near 9.00am, people coming in and can’t find seats. the hotel staff had to open some tables at some corners. btw, the staff those days working were not all the hotel permanent staff. some were volunteers and only for this morning, i notice some guests too volunteer in the kitchen.

breakfast was seafood porridge, which was very delicious. (pic)  however as being small serving and being porridge, most colleagues (especially the men) will feel hungry soon. luckily the organisers (my other colleagues) provided all of us with some snacks to munch in case we were hungry. for me, no, i don’t feel hungry as the porridge will be good enough to last me till 5.00pm dinner time.

we were informed that today, the water supply might be very low as the hotel is trying to save water before it eventually will be cut off, like the electricity. making us so anxious. no electricity, no power, and soon not enough food?

before breakfast we were informed that a malay family who was with a mother who has heart problem had called on the army truck to transport then out of hatyai to padang besar, and the truck still have 15 places for us – so our organizers picked who to go back – those who are rushing for work or those with medical problems. they did asked my roommate and me too since both of us are the oldest among the 30 of us. but for me, i don’t mind to let the others go first. further it was still raining and water level deep so i was concerned about the journey. i was thinking maybe monday (24 nov) would be a better time to go back, expecting the flood to recede.

taken from hotel entrance

the truck was suppose to come at 9.00am and those who will be going back had packed their bags and at lobby waiting but the truck did not come at all… even at 11.00am. many of us who were not going to take the truck were at the lobby too, to hang around or to wait see them board the truck. it was at this time that i walked all over the hotel lobby to take photos and videos. best shot was of course to get out of the hotel just in front of the entrance where the steps are to spy for any interesting scenes to take photo/video. (pics and videos – lots)

however, somewhere near 12 noon, we were suddenly told that all of us  can leave the hotel and go back penang from the thai tour guide. he said the bus we were travelling in (from penang) was parked at the bus terminal since there was no flood at that area. we had to take a truck to the bus terminal from our hotel (where flood water was sill knee deep).

so we prepared to pack our luggage and leave. uh…oh… walk down 9 floors with my luggage? i can’t! luckily a male colleague of mine who was at the same floor, help to carry my luggage all the way down to lobby (not forgetting carrying his own luggage too). so thankful to him.

ok, so all of us get ready to board the truck. it was a high open truck where we had to stand. the truck stop at the hotel’s side entrance. we had to wade through the knee deep water from our hotel entrance to the truck. the hotel manager, a young lady, probabaly in her 30s, was there to help us… guide or hold us through the flood water and when it was my turn, i was surprised she called me "mama". i guess 'mama' is the thiai equivalent for 'aunty'?

it was quite a problem to get up on the high truck too, especially for senior ladies like me. i was among one of the first to go up and at that time they just use a motorcycle where a çart’ was attached, so we step up on the cart to go up the truck with the help of two men too. i found it difficult to get up so i had to sit sideway a bit to get up.

we were told luggage to go first so all of them form a chain to pass one by one the luggage to the truck. after all luggages were up on the truck, only then the people to go up. after a few of us earlier one had gone up, then only someone brought a ladder – aiyaa… should have brought it earlier so i can use it. using the ladder is sure much more easy to climb up the truck. (pic and video)

there were 30 of us packed in the truck with our 30 luggages (or more with the shopping on friday) and yet halfway, the truck stop to pick up 6 people at two stops…. so you can imagine how packed the truck was.

while on the truck journey, it rained most of the time. some of then had raincoat on and some had umbrellas. my umbrella a colleague was holding and trying to shield 3 of us! because of that, i only got to be shielded from the front and not the back. my backpack hanging at the back was all wet. i was standing somewhere centre too without the side to hold on but luckily i was standing next to all those bunch of luggage, so i hold on to the luggage. had to hold on… especially if the truck stop or jolted. at one time it did – and all those in front fell on each other but thank god not serous, just lightly. i feel too and used the luggage to back me while 2 of my colleagues also hold on to me.

when we reached the bus terminal, was so happy to see our bus and the area not flooded at all. ohh… problem going down again. this time they use the hard plastic road barrier for us to step on it, then a man hold us down. when it was my turn ,the man asked me to hug him while he carried me down! haha. old aunty lah.

after everyone were down from the truck, many of them wanted to go to the washroom to change. aiyaa… no need change lah… waste time only. no doubt our t-shirt or pants/shorts were dirty but we were going home already, why change. to me, we should quickly get out as soon as we reached the bus terminal. so i was one of the few (or maybe only me!) who didn’t change but went straight to the bus. in the bus i used wet tissue and dry tissue to wipe my t-shirt/shorts/bag/shoes – enough! why waste time to go washroom to change. the thing is that i was so scared of the flood may come on our way back, that's why i prefer we quickly board the bus and get out and not delayed on changing and trying to get clean.  

the truck we were in. very high and very open with no shade. everybody had to stand squeeze with the luggages.

i was praying hard that our bus journey back to penang would be smooth, especially when still in hatyai areas, that there will be no flood, that the bus’s engine will not stalled if passed by flood area. at one place, i notice the bus had to pass through a flooded area that was ankle-deep. it had to  move very very slow…. luckily pass through without any problems.

before we reach the thai border, we went for er…. lunch? dinner? that time was around 4.00pm. we only had the porridge as breakfast at 9.00am and after that, nothing else. so naturally at this time we were super hungry. it was at a lovely restaurant called ‘maimoke’ (pic)  that the thai tour guide told us belongs to a relative of him. very good food all around. better than the lunch food. (posted about it at my 'taste the food with lucia' facebook blog.)

i felt so relieved when we came to the malaysian border – out of hatyai at last! when we reached penang island, i think it was about 9.30pm. 

epilogue

from 21 nov to 23 nov, the rain fell non stop, sometimes heavy, sometimes not so heavy but mostly heavy. oh it did stop at times but only stop for 10 mins, then started to rain again. when it rained, it rained longer… for hours but when it stop, it stop only 10 mins or so

it seems that a day after we left (24 nov), the flood get worst. phew! so we were very lucky to be out on 23 nov. we were informed that the area where our bus travelled to get to the border which was ankle deep that time, by 24 nov (or 25 nov?) the height reached to rooftop!!  also the restaurant, maimoke, where we had a good meal, was flooded on 24 nov.

the hotel was around a corner and it was higher up with 4 steps on the front leading to the lobby. while we were there, the highest the water came to was at the 2^nd step but after we left, i understand it went over the 4^th (and last) step and the water went into the lobby. again, how lucky… and i would say blessed – thank god – we were out already.

yes all along, on 22 and 23 nov i did pray a lot so to me, i felt god is looking down on me, taking care of me, bringing me out safely. not forgeting the incident of a close call for us getting trapped in the lift – all thanks to GOD the almighty! i came home safely all because god loves me.

THE END. remember for pictures and videos, all are up at my facebook photo album.

following is for info – from google AI respond

the recent flooding in hat yai (late november 2025) is widely described by officials, residents, and media outlets as the worst in decades, and potentially the worst in 300 years based on rainfall data. 

key points regarding the severity of the event:

• historic rainfall: hat yai recorded 335 mm of rain on november 21, 2025, which officials state is the highest single-day rainfall total in three centuries.
• comparison to past floods: the three-day accumulated rainfall of 595 mm surpassed the major floods of 2000 and 2010. experts and residents have compared the event's scale to floods from as far back as 1978, with some suggesting the 2025 flood may be worse.
• widespread impact: the flooding was extensive, with water levels reaching up to four meters in some areas, submerging vehicles and disrupting critical infrastructure, including hospitals and transport routes.
• official declarations: songkhla province was declared a disaster zone, and the situation prompted high-level emergency responses and mass evacuations. 

while some reports use the "worst in decades" description, others, referencing the unprecedented rainfall levels, use "worst in 300 years". the consensus is that the 2025 flood is an exceptionally severe and historic natural disaster for the region. 

notes/tips from me

– many guests who were on medication had bought only medication for 2 or 3 days, the period they were suppose to stay but with this unforeseen situation, they had to stay longer than they intended too, thus not enough medication.
so  for your holiday, if you are on medication, do bring along the medication for many days and not only for the days you intend to stay.
– maybe good to bring along some food too like buns or biscuits.
– having a thai sim card is good as you get to receive emergency alerts from the government/authorities.
– understand (after the trip) that usually end of the year of nov. and dec. is moonson season for most countries,so advisable not to travel during end of the year, if possible.

Since this year (or was it last year) begin the advent of AI being in much used, I decided to ask AI (chatGT) about myself. (ahem! narcistic eh) and I will post what AI discovered about myself here as my anniversary post.

I had also asked AI about this blog of mine and AI knew of course it is inactive and had suggested a few ways to make it active…. At least enough for search engine to crawl and find my blog I guess. So what AI suggested was that I could make a post everyday – very short post or kind of like just post some jokes, quotes, motivational stories. Well…. Good idea too which I might do it but I don’t think I will do it everyday. Maybe 3 times a week should be okay I guess.

Oh since I had asked a lot (and of course was told a lot) I better post them in parts. I asked about my involvement in in my journalism works and socio political activities. To begin, here I will first post first about the review on my blog. (the part I asked about how to make my blog more known or searchable, I’m not going to post.)

————————————————————————–

GENERAL REVIEW OF MENTAL JOG (BY AI)

Mental Jog – A Blog by Lucia Lai

Mental Jog is a personal blog created by Lucia Lai, a Malaysian writer and citizen journalist. The blog serves as a reflective space where Lucia shares thoughts, observations, and commentary on various aspects of life, society, and current issues.

Although not frequently updated (typically only about one post a year in recent times), the blog carries the sense of being a mental exercise — much like a jog for the mind, encouraging readers to pause, think, and reflect.

What readers can expect:

• Personal Reflections – honest, thoughtful musings on life and experiences.
• Social Commentary – perspectives on community, society, and cultural issues.
• Citizen Voice – insight from someone who has experience in citizen journalism and values grassroots expression.
• Authenticity – posts are not commercial-driven, but personal and genuine.

The blog’s value lies not in frequent updates, but in its authenticity and reflective tone. It is less of a “daily feed” and more of a thought journal — something readers may return to when they want a quiet, honest voice in the middle of today’s fast and noisy online world.

when this food blog of mine turned one – i was so over-joyed and quick post about it as it was my first anniversary. then i was going to post on my second anniversary too but i don’t know somehow or other i totally forgot. aiyaa…how could i forgot! so for the third anniversary i make sure i remember when i put it in as reminder on my phone app. i’m a sentimental person so i need to say something every year on my anniversary lah…. maybe at least for 10 years. if over 10 err… or 5 years?….. (if i can last that long!) then i wouldn’t say something every year.

the header on my FB food blog

yes, 3 years already and i’m still no where popular like the other foodie who post. it’s perfectly okay as i’m not striving for popularity. i just want to share whatever food i had try, with the hope that others might find them useful and might go and try what i had shared. i love to eat and i love to write. whatever i post here (write) is also more for myself thus i’m not bothered with no or few likes or no comments.

ok so this post is not about food i ate but since it is a food blog, i will talk about food.  i will talk about my personal preference of food.

my top 6 hawkers food (not in particular order) are :

• char koay teow (i would say encompass char koay kak/bee tai bak too)
• hokkien mee
• curry mee
• mee goreng
• laksa
• nasi lemak

actually if you notice, all the above top 6 food that I like are shown on my food blog header.

Pl others i like but not on the top list are lam mee (also known by many names – birthday mee, fukien mee, fukui mee), chee cheong fun, tomyam mee. jawa mee. claypot rice/bee tai bak, hailam mee.

for non hawkers food (but these type of eateries also do sell hawkers food), but food from restaurants, i like

• thai food
• indian food (mostly rice or curries or dishes but not really like their bread like tosai, capati)
• nyonya food (especially dishes to go with rice. but for kueh-kueh, i don’t particularly like nyonya kueh. so many types i don’t like… only 3 or 4 types i like.
• to a little extend malay food too (but not nasi kandar)

i don’t particularly enjoy western food but i do like pasta. sometimes i like to go for other western food (like italian, french) or middle eastern food.

for all food  what i love most is prawn! (or non locals usually refer to it as shrimp). prawn is my no. 1 topmost food that i love very much so if i order any food with prawns, i will ask f or extra prawns. do you know i never cooked before and it was only about 10 years back that when my mother was not well and i had to learn to cook, i did…. and the first thing i learned to cook were prawns! haha.

i also love spicy food so whenever ordering food, i sure have to add “more spicy” or “add more sambal”. (add more chilly)  from a kid i used to use sambal belacan as my bread spread, not butter or jam. ada oomph and sedap!! (has that oomph feeling and delicious!!).   i don’t particularly like cut red chilly though.

ok so 3 years posting about food…. and still going strong…. hopefully will be forever. never mind even though if my food blog is not popular.  i like to eat – and I like to write, so i write, not for others only but for myself. however i do thank very much some of the regular readers/followers here. appreciate you all dropping in and hopefully you can introduce others to follow my food blog too. TERIMA KASIH ALL!

can’t imagine 20 years ago when at that time i was very involved in it, that is still  fresh in my mind. it was a very world wide popularly known disaster and my involvement was also a once in a  lifetime involvement, thus i remember it well.

at that time i was working for the catholic church and i joined the ‘penang office of human development (pohd)’ in their voluntary and relief works to help the tsunami victims. at that time, pohd was headed by fr fabian dicom, a priest who is very passionate on social and community works. fr fabian even ‘turun padang’ (how do you say that in english? went to the grassroot?) when he visited aceh itself after the aftermath of the tsunami. he had some good inspiring storeis to share to us when he came back. i remember how he was saying, looking at the place where the tsunami occured, he was very shocked and sad. total disaster, total wreck…. just walking by, he could smell rotting corpses everywhere.

ok, about my involvement, basically, one was helping the fishermen whose houses were affected, to clean up their houses and the other one was the collection of clothes and foodstuff, sorting them out, helping to load to lorries. at that time, i had blog about it in my blog so i will just give links about what i had written.

one thing i am sad to learn is that, actually i have a lot of photos of my involvement but unfortunately almost all the photos were gone when the free album (worldisround and photobucket) i save on it, started charging and of course i did not pay (also silly me, i should have gone to save those photos to my PC but didn’t). well on my blog, i notice i can still see some of the photos, which i think i upload direct to the blog itself, thus the photos are still there (though there are watermarks on it now).

however, one thing i am happy to learn was that my involvement was picked up by the singapore straits times and they mentioned my name/blog. *proud* 

links to my post about the tsunami:

hepling the tsunami victims. this one is about going to their house to clean up and clear the debris

helping the tsunami victims to clean up their houses

helping at the tsunami relief centre. at the diocesan office which had been turned into a relief centre. help like sorting out the donated items, e.g. clothes and helping to load up the items.

helping at the tsunami relief centre

this is the general link where when you do a search at my blog for 'tsunami'. thus can seeall post related. we had a memorial service too which was very beautiful.
http://lucialai.org//?s=tsunami

note:  just testing to see if i can post pictures on my blog. since still christmas season, posting a christmas wish.

although i am no longer blogging (not active) but i will make sure every year on the anniversary date, i will come in to say something. almost all years, saying i’m trying to be active, trying to write something here but oh no, that didn’t materialize. sometimes when i write something long on facebook (FB), i prefer if i write it here but then problem is here, everyone can see it. on FB, when i set to friends only, only those on my friends list can see. since i haven’t use this wordpress for a long time, i lost touch with the features too as maybe i can do some settings to let my blog be seen by certain people only? dunno lah.

another thing is that although i’m not active but i still maintain this blog, meaning i still paid for it – both the hosting and the domain name. hosting is RM106 per year whereas domain name is about RM50 per year.

it is mainly because i don’t want to lose all my contents here and who knows once in a long while, i might get back to blogging, so i need to keep the hosting and domain active even though my blogging/writing is not active. or maybe if one day i really decide that i’m not ever going to blog again, i can enquire how do i keep all my contents here ‘alive’ but yet don’t have to pay for hosting and domain. er… can or cannot? looks like cannot.

ok! moving on. every year at my anniversary post, i will put links of my previous anniversary posts but i think for this year, i’m not going to do that anymore. example – last year’s anniversary post as seen hereL
http://lucialai.org/2023/09/27/two-decades-of-the-existence-of-my-blog/
you will notice the links of all previous posts, right.

since there is FB around, most of my thoughts and writings, i write in FB but then again sometimes when it is long, i prefer to write here. maybe write here then only link to FB. however i must see/learn first how do i make my blog private – but private for a group of friends…. a big group maybe, like on FB friends’ list.

yes, today is my blog 20th anniversary, a blog that had rip for so long. never use it anymore but on the anniversary date, i try to post something. so i guess meaning once a year only it comes alive. although i am not using it, i still want to retain the hosting and domain name each year. must not let go  the hosting and domain. hosting cost RM106 and domain name cost RM56. so every year i am paying these just to keep the site alive.

my blogging days started after i had first time came across a blog – that was written by jeff ooi (at that time he was not involved in politics yet). fascinated at how a blog works so decided to start one for myself.  at first i was using blogger.com and had the url ‘jogalong.com’. later i graduated to wordpress.com, of which then i change the url to my own name.

my blog started off as a socio-political blog (sopo blog in short). yes, ‘grumbling’ at the government and politicians.     that time i was active in political news and current news, so had a lot to say. those days, even attended lots of ceramah, forum, rally, protest, gatherings. so much fun.

those fun days of blogging, we had bloggers meet too in penang. some, me, as one of the organisers and some (fewer) not me as organiser. so many of my blogging mates those days are now not blogging anymore too – like eelyn tan, yvy (who are now on facebook). those i remember that i don't see on facebook are like kenny… was it lim?… who was very famous at those time. then there was also this sixthseal, a very unconventional blogger, who did silly and dangerous stuff. ahh yes… how can i forget, the one blogging mate who is still blogging till today is none other than my matey mate, kaytee moc! (also active on FB). kudos to you, kayee!

during those blogging days, two significant things that happened which i always remember are:
1)  2007, i was featured in the star's weekly magazine, clove.
https://lucialai.org/2007/10/03/featured-in-the-clove/
2)  2004 – one of my blog post was nominated for the 'world aids day' award
https://lucialai.org/2004/08/06/nominated-for-an-award/
edited to add in later (forgot this)
3) the 2004 boxing day tsunami that affected penang. i was very involved in the works of helping out in various ways – eg cleaning up their houses, packing clothes, household items, etc, for the victims and so on. the singapore straits times picked up my 'tsunami works' and mentioned my blog both on their online media and hardcopy media.
 

ok, before i end, my obligatory post – the links to all my anniversary post – as in all anniversary post (for my own reference lah).

19th anniversary
18th anniversary
16th & 17th anniversary – no post
15th anniversary
14th anniveresary
13th anniversary 
12^th anniversary 
11^th  anniversary – no post
10^th anniversary
9th  anniversary
8^th anniversary
7^th  anniversary
6^th anniversary – no post
5^th  anniversary
4^th anniversary
3^rd  anniversary
2^nd anniversary
1^st anniversary part 1
1^st anniversary  part 2

i have so much to say/write actually but just no time…. or no interest. nowadays interest is focus on facebook (FB) posting. i was thinking since i'm a 'cakap banyak' (talkative – in words i mean!) and tend to write long on FB, perhaps i should write here instead. here, it's more appropriate to be long not FB. on FB if too long, people will be turned off.

my blog started off as a socio-political blog and those days i have so much fun talking politics and hitting out at the government and politicians. hehehe. eventually though my blog tend to become more of personal blog. don't feel the urge to write about politics and current events nowadays but do feel want to write personal… like a personal diary. however…

however i wonder, i think for blog, i can't choose audience to read, unlike FB, i can choose. i like to write my personal stuff but OTOH i don't want everybody to be able to read it. hence the hesitation. wonder if there is some platform, like for me to write my personal diary but to limit/choose people to read it. 

wah! as you can see, my blog had been dead for more than 10 years. well in between those 10 years, i did update but only to make an anniversary post, meaning 1 year, 1 post and just talking about my anniversary.

i think  should try update my blog more often but i guess this time not more of socio political blog anymore but more of personal blog. actually there are lots of personal events/activities (major important ones i mean)  that had been happening to me that i wanted to blog but didn't.  i mean significant events like about my late sister at first and now about my late mother. also about my accident, me out of job and so on.

maybe one day i will… although i had been saying that for a long time. haha. now i seems to update my personal stuff more on facebook (FB). perhaps if i have something to say that is quite long, i'd better update here in my blog, then link to myy FB. after all, it's not good to write long story on FB. people on FB will not like long story/post. problem is if i write in my blog, everyone can see but if on FB only those on my friends' list can see. hmm… i must find out if there's a way to limit or pick audience for my blog.

the last time i wrote something was 2018. so what happened to 2019? maybe i forgot… or something's wrong with my blog. for 2020 i remember will it was something wrong with my blog – cannot do any post. this year too, at first i was shocked when my bog was not working when my domain name has not been renewed. luckily it was still in time to renew when my domain host, friend, jonathan, renewed for me. i told him that even though my blog is inactive but i still want to renew. i don't want to lose my domain name and i don't want to lose all contents in my blog. so he said he will set auto-renew for me then. ok, good lah… earlier should have start auto-renew too so that i won't keep worrying (forgot to renew).

anyway what am i going to say in my anniversary post? usually nothing! haha… but you will see my nothing will come to a lot of things later. i mean i post just because it being my anniversary date, so usually nothing much to say.

my blog started as a socio political blog but in between i had some personal blogs too. then i guess as the years moved on, my socio political post decreased and personal post increased! in keeping it personal, i want to make it like my diary – but of course not to blog everyday or even very often but rather to blog on important events/incidents/happenings in my life. however i had neglected very much to update my blog (personal or no persona). i think ever since 2014 or 2105, i had become very very inactive and hardly post. much had been happening during those years of 2014 to now, which i do like to blog on but didn't (no time or no interest).

i notice that from sept 2013 to jan. 2014, i have not blog anythng at all – and that was because sept 2013 was the month my sister passed away (after about 14 months of suffering from cancer). did wnat to blog about her demise but again kept putting off. this is one of the several significant events that happened in my life that i wanted to blog about but didn't.

the other significant events were like when my mother had a stroke in 2017 and when she passed on, just this year. also the time when i sold off my honda chaly and bought a new bike, my sabah holidays, and with covid19 pandemic here, i lost my job, sitting around shaking legs for 4 months until i found a job. all these i consider significant events which i like to blog on, which means i like to have them on record… but i didn't. at least now i mentioned them.

anyway, personal blogs will not be popular at all… unless with very good friends but still friends these days don't like reading long winded 'stories' like how i always come up with. so guess now my blog is for myself only. how about going back to writing on socio-political issues? maybe, maybe not. now prefer to write on those issues on facebook, i.e. just post the news and with very short comment. if i post it here, i feel i have to say more and nowadays no energy to say a lot on what's happening in our country. 

so i guess i'll just leave my blog as and when i feel like writing, i will. if not, *shrug* then so no need. will depend on my mood i guess.

oh dear, every year during my anniversary post, i'll have the obligatory links of all my anniversary post but i guess this year i will give it a miss. can refer to the year 2018 anniversary post for the links i guess.

it looks like i have stop blogging completely (after 2014) and only blog once a year – on my anniversary date! and that is not suppose to be a blog too… i mean i just came in to say it's my anniversary but nothing else.

my last post was in 2015 (not counting anniversary post) but that was just one post only in that one year! then 2014 there were a few here and there… and after that – nothing! 

well each time i was telling myself to blog again but i was too good at procrastinating.   …. so i only made a post on my anniversary.

i actually like blogging since i love to 'talk' in words than in person and i treated my blog like a personal diary, although those days my blog was known as socio-political blog. well, of course i blog more on socio-political stuff than personal stuff during those days but i still treasure my blog as my personal diary as i can look back and see/read what happened.

after the historic day of 9 may 2018, i had wanted to blog as being a historic day, i must say something (have some record) on my blog but again kept putting it off. i had actually already prepared a draft for the historic day post (but only 1 paragraph!) and hoping to complete it but yet didn't. ok i must one day talk about this historic day… it HAS to be on my blog. ok one day…. one day… soon….

(NOTE:  wanted to post a few photos here but something's wrong with my blog which did not allowed me to post photos. hopefully to get it solve soon.)

right now, is the obligatory links to all my previous anniversary post, as below.

14th anniversary

13th anniversary 

12^th anniversary – on 6 Aug just mention about the coming 12th anniversary

11^th  anniversary – no post

10^th anniversary

9th  anniversary

8^th anniversary

7^th  anniversary

6^th anniversary – no post

5^th  anniversary

4^th anniversary

3^rd  anniversary

2^nd anniversary

1^st anniversary part 1

1^st anniversary  part 2