Dinner with the Emirates Crew -J's Birthday

Not too long ago I was sitting at the 'Mamak' coffee shop on the corner of the street very close to my home in Penang having a 'Roti canai' which cost about 3 Dirhams about 2RM Malaysia and was worried about where to get the money to fill up my gas in the Kancil (possibly the smallest car made in Malaysia). I was taken to dinner to celebrate Jason's birthday at one of the restaurants located in the Palm Resorts area; I did not ask how much it all cost!

When he was younger he wanted to fly into outer space and perhaps still has the same dream today. On the subject of teeth many horror stories were swapped between those whose teeth had been fixed by the dentist appointed by the Emirates Air and the cost is not the only issue.

I always reminded my son the be aware of not forgetting the ground he walks on when his head is far up there in the clouds as every now and then the ground has the tendency to rise up and take a bite at his rear end. The image that often creeps into my mind about this is the Movie 'The MUMMY' where in one scene the Mummy rose up in the form of a huge mouth in the form of sand from the desert below to swallow up a small plane in mid air.

Agreed! The largest piece of steak I have ever seen about to be devoured and he did do a number on it and I wondered where he shoved it all down into. It is like the shark he has in the tank back home, it feeds on a whole piece of large shrimp with one swallow and that seemed impossible to fit into his mouth in the first place. Again you do not want to ask how much that plate cost; best not to unless you are paying for it yourself.

Yes not exactly like father like son when you look at us, the artist wannabe and the pilot to leave for Pakistan or India, one of the short flights.

Nope you don't want to mess with this guy, if there is anything he takes after his dad is the mean and ugly temper which is best left untested. But underneath it all is still a heart that cares about others to a fault. Often enough it has become his undoing when it comes to being generous towards those he cares for.

It has been almost forty years now and I am watching my son with pride and much concern like all parents do. I can feel we are drifting apart as men now each doing his own thing and taking his own path and destiny in his own hands. A father can only hope for the best that his son will succeed in whatever endeavour he strive to achieve in his life and career. But there comes a time when one has to let go and simply hope and pray that the path your child walks no matter how much older and wiser he has become will not be a difficult one.

There is no measure in the value of friendship and fortunate is he whose friends are as close to him as his own family or more than so. It is not easy to earn the respect and trust of your peers but having done it it is much harder to honor and keep this forever ; there is no measure of value in who you truly are except through the relationship you have with others.