Miri Discovery 1: the EastWood Valley Golf Resort...

Friday, April 16 2010

Some 20 golfers from the Golf Section of the Royal Lake Club travelled to Miri in Sarawak for a two day weekend of golf at the two golf courses in Sarawak. The MH morning flight arrived at the new airport of Miri where we were picked up by vans from the Eastwood Valley to be transferred to the golf resort which was a short drive away from the airport. It was quite a surprise to find such a good golf course in this part of the country. The Eastwood Valley Golf Course proudly showed off signboards proclaiming itself as one of the Top 10 Golf Courses in the country.

The resort has 100 or so chalets, a grand clubhouse, a karakoe club and facilities for other sporting activities.

The property was probably originally a low-lying swampy region and the course was designed with many lakes, especially in the Miri 9, which made water hazards constantly come into play. And the green speed was fast, reported to be between 9 and 10 and despite the heavy downpour earlier in the day and half-way through the game, most of us were troubled by the fast green speed.

Playing to a handicap of 24, pakdokter did not even manage to get 30 stableford points!

the club-house..

lovely sky...

Wahid, Kasim Sotin and Jonhston..

Wahid, pakdokter, Johnston..

Kasim Sotin, pakdokter and Wahid..

the driving range...

afternoon storm held up play for about 30 minutes..

the Miri 9 has a lot of lakes..

Billy's Wedding Reception @ PJ Hilton..

Sunday, 11th April 2010

Pakodokter's sister held Billy's wedding reception at the PJ Hilton on Sunday night. Apart from family members, many of the guests were Billy's friends from school and work as well as Hj Anwaruddin's ( pakdokter's brother-in-law) friends from MCKK, from the University of Malaya and from the Diplomatic Services ( Hj Anwaruddin was a former Malaysian diplomat).

Pakdokter met up with a few fellow old boys of STAR who were from the Diplomatic Services from amongst the guests, one was super-senior Datuk Yahya Baba and the other was pakdokter's contemporary at STAR, Datuk Anuar Hamid, whose last posting before retirement was as the Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam.

And another surprise meeting was with a fellow classmate from the Sekolah Melayu Petaling Jaya way back in 1962 and 1963. Rubiah was one of the cleverer girls in pakdokter's class and was selected to go to STF ( Sekolah Tun Fatimah - a boarding school for girls in Johor Baharu). She is married to one of Hj Anwaruddin's friends and came to the wedding dinner with her son. It was a pleasant reunion indeed for the two of us after 46 years or so....

pakdokter and brother-in-law, Hj Anwaruddin....

pakdokter's Baju Melayu could not fit anymore..

the happy parents..

Hj Anwaruddin and Hjah Rauna..


Alma and Pepe....

Nurul and her boyfriend...

Billy and Liza parading in for the banquet...

The Wedding Reception was a simple ceremony with a 'ceramah' and a 'doa selamat' by the family's religious teacher, followed by the dinner, a short video presentation introducing the bride and groom and finally a sweet little speech by Hj Anwaruddin. There was no 'bersanding' nor the 'merenjis' rituals.

An anklung and gamelan orchestra played soothing and gentle music throughout the occasion.

To Billy and Liza, Congratulations again from uncle and auntie....

pakdokter's family members..

pakdokter with Rubiah and her son..

Rubiah was pakdokter's classmate in primary school 46 yeas ago...

pakdokter's schoolmate in STAR Ipoh..

Datuk Anuar Hamid ( centre of pic)....

A Family Reunion....

Saturday, 10th April 2010

Pakdokter's sister held a reception for family members and close relatives at her residence in conjunction with Billy's wedding. It was a lunch affair that lasted the whole Saturday afternoon and streams of first, second and third generation family members came for lunch as well as to be introduced to the newly wed. For pakdokter, it was a pleasant opportunity to meet up with all of pakdokter's siblings,their children and grandchildren. The only absentee was Kak, pakdokter's eldest sister from Parit Buntar, who was not quite fit to make the long journey down to Kuala Lumpur.

the newly wed, Billy ( Rasyid Redza) and Nurliza...

the newly wed with Nurul, Billy's younger sister..

father and son...

Hj Anwaruddin and Rasyid Redza...

Pepe ( Qaiser Iskandar - Billy's elder brother) and his spouse Alma...

Liza and Adlin ( Koyin ), Billy's cousin..

wow...what a pose.....

pakdokter with Mak Teh ( Billy's paternal grandmother)...

standing: Hjh Rauna ( Billy's mother and pakdokter's youngest sister)...

the other couple is Billy's aunt and uncle...

Zaini, Milah, Rauna, Nurain, Adlin and the newly wed...

Zaini, Kak Ton, Milah, and pakdokter's neices from Penang..

Anwaruddin, Billy, Liza, Adlin,and

neices Nurul and Haniza ...

pakdokter's elder brothers, Shuieb and Radzi....

elder brother Hanip and pakdokter..

Rosli ( pakdokter's nephew) and his wife....

Rosli's two lovely daughters....

Haniza and her mother, Kak Rose...

Billy's Wedding....

Sunday, 4th April 2010

Pakdokter's nephew, (pakdokter's youngest sister's son), Billy, got married yesterday and pakdokter attended the bride's family wedding reception at the Concorde Hotel in Shah Alam. Billy has always been known by this nick-name to the point that pakdokter cannot remember what his actual name is until now. Rasyid Redza ( Billy's real name) studied at the Imperial College of Science in London and graduated with a degree in Electronics Engineering and was involved in IT Consultancy with Accenture Malaysia before venturing out on his own for a few years but will soon be joining PWC ( Price Waterhouse) to be involved in Consultancy work again. Nurlisa studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and at the Penang Medical College and is now in residency training to specialise in ENT.

Billy and Lisa at the 'bersanding'...

To Billy and Lisa, Congratulations

Lisa's uncle, Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman, who pakdokter met at the dinner was pakdokter's fellow alumnus and junior in school ( STAR) in Ipoh. What a small world indeed.

pakdokter's junior at school, Dato Zainal Abidin Osman..

who happens to be Lisa's uncle....

For pakdokter, that wedding reception gave an opportunity to meet up with some of pakdokter's siblings who were there at the wedding.

two of pakdokter's elder brothers....

Hanif (left) and Shuieb...

Jeff (or Razak- pakdokter's brother-in-law),

pakdokter's elder sister (Milah) and sister-in-law, Zaini...

a family potrait.....