How many hours do we spend on family time?

(gambar hiasan - ini lah salah satu makhluk yang menunggu untuk menjamah mayat kita esok...)

Awal pagi tadi, sedang aku merungut dan bertanyakan diri “kenapa aku kena pergi kerja? ..“,satu lagi persoalan timbul. Dalam hidup ini, adakah kita meluangkan masa yang lebih di tempat kerja berbanding masa bersama keluarga di rumah? Mari kita buat sedikit kira-kira. Aku ambil contoh kehidupan monotonous En. Sharel (bukan nama sebenar)

• 6:00 am– Bangun pagi (anak tidur lagi)
• 6:45 am– Ke tempat kerja
• 7:20 am– Sampai di tempat kerja
• 5:30 pm– Bunyi siren habis kerja
• 6:15 pm– Selalunya baru bertolak balik
• 7:00 pm– Sampai rumah. Bermulanya masa untuk keluarga
• 10:00-11:00 pm – Masa untuk anak tidur (budak-budak kena tidur awal)
• 12:00 am – Wife pula tidur (if not on a “let’s get it on” night hehe)

Technically, on a workday, Mr. Sharel can only spend 3-4 hours of ‘family time’! 3,4 jam je!? Sedihkan? So kalau kata dia sibuk buat dissertation pulak, berapa jam je dia dapat layan family?

Ok..Let’s do more calculations! Let’s stick to family time=4 hours.

• Monday to Friday (working days) (4 hours family time x 5 days) = 20 hours
• Saturday (Holiday for both of them –rough calculation of waking hours) = 12 hours
• Sunday (Workday for wife, Son to baby sitter, Mr. Sharel at home writing dissertation) = 6 hours
• In a week (168 hours), ‘Family Time’ for Mr. Sharel is only 38 hours!?! ( 1 day + 14 hours!)
• In a month? 152 hours only ( 6 days + 8 hours).
  

And they say, ‘Family comes first, Work comes second’..how is that so? Yes, as a provider, one has to work to provide necessities for the family tapi kalau sekadar provide kebendaan, tapi tak boleh nak provide masa untuk family, tak jalan jugak beb. Keluarga mewah, bilik tidur sebesar rumah, road tax kereta sama harga dengan superbike tapi tegur sapa dengan anak, sebulan sekali. Tu pun pakai sms.

Bahagiakah kehidupan begini?

How many hours do you spend on family time?

Belaian Jiwa

Tengah thesis sibuk di dalam otak pukul 3 pagi ni, lagu di media player main lagu Belaian Jiwa by Innuendo. Lama sangat tak dengar lagu Boyz II Men wannabes ni. Anyway, wannabes or not, their rendition of Carefree’s Belaian Jiwa memang cun. The song brought me back to 1998 where I attended an Environmental Awareness Camp hosted by Kementrian Alam Sekitar at Fraser’s Hill. Kami berempat digabungkan dengan reps from other KL schools, seingat aku CBN, Agama KL, Cochrane and Kepong (kot). It was a mixed crowd, malay, Chinese and tak silap ada jugaklah awek & amoi yang cute masa tu but as usual lah, you know me..tetap berpegang teguh dengan prinsip ‘masa sekolah bukan masa untuk bercinta’ (uhuk uhuk!..haha) Ok back to Belaian Jiwa, there was this one time, masa rehat, a friend (from Cochrane kot) main guitar, and suddenly one of the Chinese dude from Kepong came to us and asked him to play Belaian Jiwa. Walaupun adalah sedikit pelat buku text BM tapi that dude tarik baik punya ala Sam Innuendo! I was quite amazed that the song managed to reach this Chinese dude from kepong. And as the years go by, I realized that many of my non-malay friends love that song. Big achievement ni because I bet masa tu mesti diaorang target for malay listeners je. Bukan senang nak aim satu tin di fun fair tapi kena tiga sekali!


So if you ask me, lagu apa yang melambangkan lagu 1 Malaysia (kan sekarang ni semua 1..1…1)? Belaian Jiwa specifically by Innuendo.

Jom menyanyi buat suara sexy ala Innuendo!

Seindah tiada lagi kau ku ingatkan
Sayang kau hilang
Menanti biar sampai akhir hayat ku di dunia ini

Kau tahu bertapa ku sayang padamu
Hanya bidadari sebagai ganti
Hanya takdir menentukan ia
Oh belaian jiwa

Oh angin, sampaikan lagu ku padanya
yang sedih pilu
Terimalah lagu ku jadi teman hidup mu
Untuk selamanya

Kau tahu bertapa ku sayang padamu
Hanya bidadari sebagai ganti
Hanya takdir
Menentukan ia
Oh belaian jiwa

Ada apa dengan basin?

Aku masih tak dapat nak bayangkan Umayr akan jadi 'abang'. Lebih tepat, aku masih tak dapat nak bayangkan bagaimana hati ku yang penuh dengan Umayr terpaksa dibelahkan. Kadang-kadang terutama sekali apabila aku mengamati Umayr tengah tidur, terbit rasa kesian. Kasihan kenapa? Tak tahulah. Semasa mengumumkan Izza mengandung lagi dahulu, ramai yang cakap, terutama sekali para nenek dan makcik, "kesian Umayr..".

Yang membuatkan aku lagi terasa, Umayr sekarang tersangatlah manja..aduh..kenapa aku rasa bersalah ni?

Perlukah?

McSharel welcomes the year of the Rabbit

Happy Chinese New Year!! Kung Hei Fatt Choy!!

The 'homies' of Sharel celebrating the year of the Rabbit at home. "Happening"! Wife and Kid asleep in the bedroom while the man of house tengah sibuk finishing up his thesis writing. "Coolness.."..

Talk about the Chinese calendar, it looks like the household of Sharel belongs to a family of farm animals.

• Mom & Dad - Year of the Dog.
• Umayr - Year of the Ox.
• Ihm - Year of the Rabbit.

For fun sake, let's take a look into the meanings of the animals in McSharel's Farm.

THE DOG —
1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
This is the honest, friendly and sincere sign of the zodiac. People born under the Dog always seem to be ready for action and this quality brings respect from others around them. They can be brave and courageous and rarely withdraw from a commitment or betray a confidence. Their inner power and physical vigour makes them good people to have on a team. They are very loyal and reliable and in relationships settle with someone who supports them. They are devoted to the welfare of others and are often wonderful listeners. They can be very faithful to their partners and to others around them. The careers that they approach include teaching, social work, counselling, medicine, research, public campaigning and law.

THE OX —
1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
They are steady, honest, gentle and reliable. The Ox builds plans and ideas on firm ground. Patience and hard work bring success to the Ox. They need peace and quiet to work through their ideas and are best left alone to work as they can become hotheaded, inflexible and stubborn when pushed. They are logical and find it hard to forgive if deceived. They prefer a truthful, loyal and committed partner. They work well in careers to do with the earth, visual arts, farming, estate management, cooking, religion and medicine. They are often very skilled with their hands.

THE RABBIT —
1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
Are usually generous, friendly and tranquil by nature. Rabbits like everything to be low key and even tempered and are anxious if forced to take risks. They enjoy paying attention to detail to create an ambience in their lives. Rabbits most often prefer the easy road. There ideal partner is loving and kind hearted and always fulfills their partner's desires. Rabbits are suited to careers in literature, art, design, public relations, counselling, advisory occupations and law. They also make good secretaries.

Excerpts from here

Miss the 'makan' besar this year.. :(

Nganga Series

"Pak Hamiiid..tutup mulut tu..nanti masuk lalaaaat.."
Teringat aku kat Pak Hamid dalam Pendekar Bujang Lapok..

DSLR trend

You know what? I don’t know why, tapi aku agak geli with this new dslr trend. Actually it’s not that new, I’ve been observing this for the past 2 years now.. and aku pun terikut-ikut juga, namun selepas tersedar, aku pun put a full stop and tukar plan.

The trend goes something like this (only applicable to new photographers)

1. of course one must own a dslr. NIKON or CANON (no problem with this because those are good brands..why buy Sony? Uhuk!..)
2. Upon owning a DSLR, must learn Photoshop (banyak gambar gelap dan blur)
3. Lepas belajar Brightness Contrast, Crop, Text, Glow, buat logo. Semua pictures kena letak nama/logo SHAREL PHOTOGRAPHY / LENSA SHAREL ke. (bukan nama sebenar…)yang creative sikit tu letaklah logo bentuk simplified shutter..
4. Lepas tu buat business card, SHAREL PHOTOGRAPHY, Juru foto perkahwinan anda… perkhidmatan mengambil dan mencuci gambar- RM350.00 sahaja….(syabas)
5. 5. Gambar edit sampai muka tok wan yang 84 tahun tu lagi licin dari kulit pengantin..brightness contrast sampai muka penuh dengan noise..tak boleh jadi ni, Abang Lan Foto (admin+creator) D’FotoKahwinz forum kata kena beli flash gun. Lalu beli flash gun. Barulah teraaaang sikit dahi tu!
6. Tengok gambar ShutterBoy87, cun gilaaaa di ambil gambar si Tompok, kucing jiran dia.. dia kata dia pakai 50mm1.2..BELI..
7. LENSE-KillaPhotography’ ambil gambar wide angle masjid pulak..lepas tu ambil long shot background padi field menghijau….pergh…tak boleh jadi ni..BELI
8. Dengar pulak Jutawan Gambar Kahwin Ipol Mang buka kedai kat New Zealand, “SHAREL PHOTOGRAPHY, Juru foto perkahwinan anda… perkhidmatan mengambil dan mencuci gambar- RM1500.00 sahaja….(up sikit lah)
9. Kenapa gambar tak secantik gambar OTAI-FOTO78? Mungkin sebab dia pakai Hasselblad kot? BELI! Baru cantik angle dan colour-colour tu nanti….

• Rumusannya, trend dia sekarang, kalau beli DSLR je, mesti kena ambil upah ambil gambar kahwin.
• Gambar tak cantik adalah di atas faktor lens dan camera.

Nothing wrong…tak salah pun depa tu…a paid hobby..cool apa? Tapi la ni banyak sangat dah orang ambil gambar kahwin ni..dan menganggu market. Ntahla?..geli lah mak...

Ihm-Around the Corner

Ihm's due date is around the corner! Izza's next doctor's appointment in on the 7th, that's like..NEXT WEEK! Ihm pun dah mula mengganas, strecthing, kicking..eager to pop out from the oven!


The Wall taken from : here

Izza cakap semalam, "nampaknya kita berjaya ada dua anak before we hit 30.." hahaha..InsyaAllah.. Oklah, 34 when Umayr hit the white and blues, 36 Ihm pulak, by that time, Umayr dah standard 3, adalah geng di sekolah. When we hit the 4 series, Umayr baru start pakai green pants. 2 years later, Ihm pulak. At 45, Umayr akan sibuk isi borang UPU, Ihm anxiously waiting for February, for his sweet 16 Ferrari (yeah right!). By the time Ihm simpan rambut panjang (standard- lepas SPM je, kena simpan rambut panjang..freedomlah konon), this 2 old folks dan berumur 47 years old.

47 years old - Kalau umur panjang, dan anak hanya Umayr and Ihm, kembalilah kami ke zaman dating seperti 28 tahun yang lepas. Masa tu bolehlah jalan-jalan, lepak by the park, kalau ada duit, travel the world..

Hmmm..Basically that's life folks..it's a fact. We can't runaway from age, time..and death. The difference between one's life and another depends on how they colour it. Sunny? gloomy?stormy? There's still time..but do it fast.. Let me quote Jay Kay,

"Time won't wait for you, So do all the things you wanted to
Better hurry up, take it in your stride, And use your resolution which you've been supplied.."

I've wandered too far..anyway...Ihm, see you soon!!! Can't wait to hold you in my arms! (especially mom!..kesian dia..)