Kammys Musing

Blog In Colour

  • Saying goodbye to our family car

    • We sold our family car this week – a spacious, ‘classic’, reliable 1998 Honda Odyssey.
    • We got this car within a year of us arriving in Perth; making it a longer family member than our 2 younger kids.
    • I joked with friends about the age of the car – “the year Anwar Ibrahim (current Malaysian prime minister) was sacked from his position – he was deputy PM at the time.
    • We have travelled far and wide in Western Australia with this car. One time, a friend drove it further than we ever had – to Wave Rock:)
    • Took my family and in-laws to the beautiful Busselton/Margaret River region over one weekend. Little did we know that the AC compressor was kaput – no wonder the air wasn’t cold. Blessed my family and in-laws, they never uttered a word of complaint.
    If only the car could talk.
    • With me taking the bus or hopping a ride to/from work with colleagues, the car has been sitting around most of the time these few years.
    • The past few weekends I would park it at my office. Come Sunday morning, I’ll run from my house to the office (about 10km) while my wife is on her bicycle (rescue team if you like). We’ll then chug the bicycle to the spacious boot and drive back home.
    • I thank all who contributed in us owning, maintaining and being together with us in the journey with the car.
    • We had the opportunity to help others through this car – we are blessed and thankful.
    • I pray that the car would serve its new owner in many more years to come.

    Until then – stay hungry, stay moving.

    , , , , , ,
    , , , , ,

  • Welcome O’ Ramadan

    • Ramadan is the 9th month in the Muslim calendar and the current Hijr year is 1447.
    • Thursday, 19 Mac 2026 marks the first day of the blessed month of Ramadan for Muslims around the world.
    • There are places where Muslims starts earlier or later.
    • Muslims believe that our good deeds are rewarded multiple times in this holy month, so you may encounter people people making extra efforts in this much ie prayers, donations, feeding the poor, feeding the breaking of fast in mosques etc.
    • “When the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of the heaven are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained.”
    • In a nutshell, daytime activity –
      • No food, no water, no smoking, no intercourse. Dawn to sunset.
    • Nightime activity
      • After breaking fast, we will offer additional prayers after the night prayers.
      • There’s a flurry of night time activities around the mosque
    • It is called the fasting month, but if you travel to Muslim countries, Malaysia for example, it is actually a “feasting month” 😀
    • There’ll be food markets/stalls opening 3-4 hours before the the break of fast (Maghrib) time.
    • There are also food usually cooked and found in shops during Ramadhan. Oh what a blessing.

    Until then, stay hungry, stay fasted.

    , , ,

  • End of a streak

    • I looked up at the clock beside the TV – “12:36am”
    • Aww mann, I forgot to put a post on this page.
    • There goes my “36 day streak” of a daily post.
    • I know it’s bound to happen somehow; it was only a waiting game.
    • In my case, I got a bit sidetracked with a public holiday, catching up with friends, food, nap. You name it.
    • So how do I avoid this again – or at least make the next streak longer?
    • I need to have a better system of posting a blog entry.
    • Currently my strategy for weekdays were to write something and schedule a post at 5pm.
    • Moving forward, I’ll try to allocate a specific time of the day, just for writing something out. No dragging for hours. Just sit, write and post.
    • Wish me luck. And yeah, welcome o’ blessed Ramadhan.

    Until then – stay hungry, stay fasted.

    , ,

  • Empires come and go…who will be next

    • Just came back from viewing “The Voices of Hind Rajb”.
    • 355 bullets shot to a car, and when the ambulance came, even the paramedics were slaughtered.
    • Only 12 days after that were the bodies recovered.
    • The paramedics helpdesk were not on te ground, per say, but even they are getting PTSD.
    • Has been and will always be disgusted with evil empires.
    • We will remember the complicit ones.
    • We will remember the hypocrisy and double standards.
    • We will remember the lies, manipulation.
    • History has shown, that empires, no matter how big or strong, will reach its time limit.
    • It might not be in my lifetime, but the time will come.

    Until then – stay hungry, stay strong.

  • What I am currently …..

    • …Watching
      • The Witcher Season 2 (Netflix)
    • …Reading
      • A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Ilan Pappe)
    • …Listening
      • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Audible)
    • …Planning
      • family trips for 2026 (while avoiding school holidays)
    • …Preparing for
      • Ramadhan 2026 (starts 19 Feb 2026)
    • …Youtube-ing
      • Simple cooking shows of steaks and chicken
    • …Testing for supplement
      • Magnesium in tablet form. I heard that they are good for muscle recovery.
    • …Clearing Out
      • Old, unused, damaged stuffs in the house.
    • …Doing on early Sunday mornings
      • 10km run
    • …Rehydrating
      • LMNT (especially after the Sunday run)

    Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.

    , , , ,

  • Flexibility in making plans

    • We planned to drive to South Perth foreshore this morning with the bike in tow.
    • Once parked, with my wife on the bike and myself running, we plan to complete a 10 km round route traversing through Perth CBD, South Perth and Victoria Park.
    • Couldn’t get ready on time, so we changed plans back to our routine path.
    • Half on our normal route, the other half is just a circle back to our place but via a different path.
    • I love taking different routes every now and then; makes it exciting and fresh by looking at new scenery.
    Reminds me of a scene from “No retreat, No surrender”. Hero chasing is friend on the bike.
    • Just like life, we can’t always get what we want.
    • There are times when we “just bulldoze through” our original plan. Persistence would be the word.
    • Then there are times when we just accept our shortcomings as humans, that our plan simply cannot move forward as we hope. This requires one  to adapt to changes.
    • I believe there are merits in both ways. The tricky part is to tell which action to take – being persistent or being flexible.
    • Experience and willingness to accept advice from others would definitely help when one needs to decide the best course of action at different times.

    Until then, stay hungry and stay persistent.

    , , , , , ,

  • Slow is smooth… And a torture.

    • My current aim for Saturdays are to do some weights/resistance training.
    • With the coming Ramadhan month, I’m curious on how I should schedule my gym sessions. Closer to iftar/breaking of fast I reckon.
    • Based on some videos I saw online and the instructor’s guide, there are times when you go slow and there are times you go fast.
    • Today I tried several things. First, I went slow on some reps and it was a torture.
    • If only I could see internally how my muscles stretch, snaps…and then repairs itself.
    • I tried out working out without any meals prior or any electrolyte before/during/after workout. Just a few sips of water from the water fountain.
    • I even went into the sauna afterwards for 15 minutes.
    • My break of fast was a cup of coffee at 1030am, then some noodles with meat at 11am.
    • Took a nap at 2pm for 2 hours. Even on a tiled floor with a thin carpet, it was a really good rest.
    • I guess with age, the level of rest/recovery needed is way more than when you were younger.

    Until then – stay hungry, stay consistent.

    , ,

  • What I learned from (binge) buying Swatch

    • I got my first Swatch in 2022. Below are the models I currently have and what I think of them.
    • I have included the links as well for easy access for the readers.
    • Swatch Classic
      • Easily my favourite for weekdays.
      • Simple, light design.
      • Quartz movement – not a fan of the loud ticking sound (especially when I am driving).
    • Swatch Dragonball Collection
      • Comes in 3 different sizes – 34/41/47mm.
      • Quartz :l
      • My go to watch on weekends. Their bright colours make them fun & playful.
      • 34mm models are a bit too small for me, even for my small wrist.
    • Swatch x Moonswatch
      • Comes in different colours as well
      • My go to themes are Desert, Jupiter and Mars.
    • Swatch x Blancpain (Scuba Fifty Pathoms)
      • I have the black colour (Ocean of Storms) – the most impulse purchase item I ever had in my life.
      • SISTEM51 mechanical movement
      • The one I wish I never bought. Leave it a couple of days and it stops working (eventhough the website says it has power reserve of 90 hours).
      • I hated having to wind it everytime I put it on.
      • With the current price of AUD670, might as well spend a bit more and get a Seiko Prospex (Panda). Way more reliable and looks professional too.
    • Swatch x You
      • Several designs for you to choose from and customise
      • I got one for my wife’s birthday
      • The whole process was fun. Just make sure you order early so it could arrive intime for the big day.
    After getting my first Swatch. What’s with that smirk? 😀
    • Be warned – if you are used to collecting stuff/hoarding, you can get suck easier to complete a special edition.
    • Swatch has been very good in capitilising buyers sentiments, especially when pairing with famous, more luxury brand names like Moonswatch and Blancpain.
    • If I could rewind time and save money, I would only keep 1x Classic, 2x Dragonball, 2x Moonswatch.

    Until then – be hungry, be punctual.

    , , , ,
    , , , , , ,

  • The missing pulling factor

    • I was supposed to be on leave from today, Thursday 12 Feb until next 18 Feb.
    • My office observes the Chinese New Year Holiday next Tuesday & Wednesday.
    • So I thought it would be nice to add an extra 2-3 days for a long weekend.
    • I was toying with the idea of going back to Malaysia, especially as my cousin next door is getting engaged. It will be easy to meet up with other relatives as well.
    • Alas I decided to just stay put and reserve my holiday for next time.
    • I kept telling people (and myself) that I’m diverting the money saved to my kids school/uni fees.
    • Or that the flight tickets prices has gone up.
    • Matter of fact is, the pulling factor (my mom) is no longer around. I don’t feel that compelled to travel back.
    • I joked with my brother; if mum was still around, the phone call I’ll make is to let her know ‘when’ I’m coming back, not ‘if’ I’m coming back.
    • May Allah bless our parents and reunite us in His highest paradise. Ameen.

    Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.

    , , , ,

  • Watching Witcher on Netflix – my review

    • Spoiler alert – please stop reading if you are planning to watch it.
    • I have been trying to watch The Witcher for the past year or two now.
    • The furthest I watched was Season 1 Episode 4 before I decided it was taking too much of my time.
    • This time I managed to reach Season 1 Episode 7 (about to start episode 8). Had to rewatch from the start to get a refresher.
    • Yes, it is definitely not one to watch with your kids – sex/gore/blood scenes available.
    • S1E1 starts with the downfall of a kingdom. Queen and King dead, the princess was instructed to look for Geralt of Rivia aka The White Wolf aka The Witcher. Sad.
    • There are a few warring kingdoms, with kings, queens, mages. One particular kingdom (who was looked down upon) decided to attack the neighbouring country.
    • There is a “United Nation” of witches/mages who would send their students to all the kingdoms as advisers. Much like the Ben Gesserit in Dune.
    • The 7 episodes so far plays around 2 timelines – past and current. For me, it took awhile for me to discern which timeline I was watching at a time. At one point it starts to click and starts to make sense.
    • It builds up to S1E7 when we get more backstory. We get to see how one’s ego and arrogance would bring the downfall of a kingdom. I know it’s wrong but “serves you right Queen Calanthe!”

    Until then, stay hungry, stay safe.