Not a new year resolution

2009 has been a very exceptional year for me.

The birth of my second grand child is the highlight of all events in this year. And i am very fortunate that i have ample time to be with him during the early stages of his growth though he is presently residing oversea with his parents. Shortly after birth he is back at my home with his mum for slightly more than a month. Then we visited them in Kuwait in October and they were back in Malaysia the last two weeks. It is the most fortunate experience to parents and grand parents being associated with the growth of a child.

The three- week oversea trip to Vancouver and Alaska is so far the longest period i am away from home ( two weeks was the longest before this trip ) and i coped well with the deprivation of local food and the comfort of home in that long three weeks pretty well.

Less than a month back from the Canadian trip, i embarked on another memorable and enjoyable trip to Jordan and Kuwait. The trip was extraordinarily unforgettable because we were accompanied by my grand children, my elder daughter, son-in-law, son and his girl friend.

Though my present occupation is very flexible in terms of leaves and holidays, i usually take my leaves sporadically but the longest break was never more than two weeks. This year i took off for more than three weeks for the Canadian trip and i stopped work for the whole month of December. I have never enjoyed such a long holiday as much as this one. And this is due to the fact that my children and grand children were back home this December for holiday and for attending the wedding occasion of a cousin of theirs.

Accepting a part-time job starting next January in the Ipoh International school has brought out some enthusiasm and excitement in me. I have always longed for the experience of teaching A-level program in some formal institution. I had never had the opportunity to do so in my whole 25 years of teaching life in government school as i was never transferred to any school with sixth form classes. As soon as i was offered this opportunity by the international school, i started working right away, organising and preparing the teaching material. It is like old times and it is such a great feeling to know that i still have this yearn and urge to work.

Whistler, Canada

greenery every where in
this resort skiing town

Whistler is a resort town in British Columbia, Canada.

It is a village garden town, boosting a unique garden-like environment.

It is a pedestrian village which has won numerous design awards and has been voted the top tourist and ski destination in North America by major ski magazines.

It is a skiing resort slightly over a hundred kilometers north of Vancouver.

Skiing and mountain biking are the main activities in the Whistler-Blackcomb mountains.

A fish pond in the middle of the town

Every building has its
own unique architecture

Left alone when its owner
went into a shop

Cable lift for skiers

Whistler by night fall

Duffey Lake

Duffey Lake

Hundreds of logs
piled up at the narrower stretch
of the lake

Duffey Lake is another beautiful scenery along the way during our journey from Sun Peaks to Whistler. There were hundreds of logs piled up at a narrower stretch of the lake. The random pattern in which the tree trunks were stacked up in the water created a unique and spectacular sight. The logs could be trees on the mountain slopes which were uprooted and washed down by the melting glaciers in early summer.

Seton Lake Reservoir

The journey from Sun Peaks to Whistler is about three and a half hours. But we took almost 7 hours to reach the destination due to the several stops we made along the way. Since we did not have any rigid itinerary we could spend as much time as we liked at any scenic spot. The Seton Lake reservoir was one place where we stayed for more than an hour.

Glacial trail

Relaxing at the road side