"My dad is a Superhero!"

These words were common in our schools when we were growing up. 

To each kid, the father is always the strongest, the smartest, the handsomest, the nicest, the kindest, the coolest. I grew up with all these superlatives when describing my dad. Even now, these superlatives are still true to me as a son.

Dad is strict but always fair. Growing up as the youngest in the family, I got the most attention from him, apologies to my other siblings... NOT! I like everything that he likes. I like fishing since my dad used to fish a lot. I took up golf because my dad loves golf. Everything that he did, I wanted to do. Dad is cool. Dad knows everything. Never a question that he didn't have an answer to. In fact, everything that I did was to get that, "Well done", "Good job". Hang on, actually, he was never really explicit in terms of words but the hugs. The hugs say it all. That was enough to know he was proud of my achievements. He wouldn't say it to my face but in conversations with his friends, you could hear the pride he has when he talks about me (ok ok ok.. and the other siblings too).

Dad had this thing about wearing the right stuff for the right occasion. You always need to look smart even in your casual clothes. Shoes without socks? A Big No No! In fact, pants without belt? Tsk tsk! "Don't slouch! Walk like a man!" he would bellow. "Appearance tells a lot about a man".

What I admire most about dad was his ability to talk to anyone from any walk of life and can hold a conversation even with the worst of them. One big lesson he taught was, never hold a grudge. He was true to every single person he met. In fact, I find it amazing that even after 30 odd years, people will still go up to him and say they remember him from back then. I remember a road trip we had ages ago. He brought us to this small village he used to visit when he was a young man to distribute fertilizers. Back then there weren't even paved roads. We stopped for a drink in this old coffee shop. After 30 years, someone in that village still remembered him. Amazing!

Dad is my best friend. He is always a hug away when you are feeling down. He is always with the pat on the shoulder when you have done well. If you slack off, he tells it as it is. He is and always will be my hero.

Dad has never shown any of us his weaker side. Maybe it's his pride but I think it is more of his paternal instinct where he never shows his weaknesses to his kids or wife, AT ALL! I love that about him. He can be stubborn at times but the pride makes dad what he is. Superheroes never cry. Superheroes never feel pain. Superheroes are invincible. Superheroes always saves the day. Superheroes are our idols. Dad, you are a Superhero. At least to me.

When I grow up, I want to be just like my dad. I love you, Ba! You are MY Superhero!

Josh in Spain

Raising a child is one of the best experiences a parent may have. It's never easy as there is no manual in how to do it. For us, it has always been about giving him the best any parent could give but within our means. No doubt we spoil him with things we never got when we were growing up but the values that we instill in him are the best values we were instilled by our parents.

We can never claim our way is the best but we certainly try our best. Josh has grown up to be the perfect child, at least to us. He's always curious, always wanting to know more and always willing to learn. We hope these traits will stay with him forever.In our travels, we try to give him variety. Be it adventure or cultural, we explain to him the places that we visit, its history and the ways of its people. Kids are like sponges. They absorb and absorb.

In Spain, around Barcelona, we exposed him to Gaudi, Dali and Picasso. It helps that each place of interest provide books that cater to kids his age to better understand the artists. In fact, he was able to do a Show and Tell about Gaudi with facts that we ourselves never knew before. At least his teachers enjoyed it.

As parents we are always proud of him and we hope he turns out to be a truly wonderful person. At the end of the day, we can only mould him so far but he decides his own fate, as we did. For now, we are very proud parents to a wonderful child. We pray that our next will be as wonderful. We love you, Josh!

Hiatus

It's been a while since my last posting. More due to lack of time rather than lack of activities. Since January, we've been to some amazing places. Easter was spent hunting volcanoes in Italy. The wife dragged me and Josh up Vesuvius, Vulcano, halfway up Stromboli and froze our butts off on Mount Etna. It was an amazing 2-week journey where I counted 40 different forms of transportation from leaving the house till we reached back. At one point, we were in a train that boarded a ship to go to Sicily. That was one surreal train ride. Italy was fun but tiring due to the several places that we visited in a span of 2 weeks. We were in Napoli, Lipari, Catania, Siracusa and then Palermo before heading back to Rome to catch the flight back to Bahrain. We took taxis, jeeps, trains, boats, planes, metro, anything that had a motor, we were on it.

Summer, the family went back to KL leaving me behind in the heat. That wasn't fun at all. I did get to go back for a week for work, though.

We did manage to have another trip, Spain for the Eid holidays. This time, I insisted that it was a 1-city holiday. We settled on Barcelona to have a taste of the Catalonian Country. It was more relaxing where we took in the sights and sounds, in and around the city rather than chasing trains and buses for the next hotel. It was a cultural experience this time where we learned about the works of Gaudi, Dali and of course, Picasso.

We stayed in an apartment very close to the Sagrada Familia. From what we've learnt, the building will only be completed in 2026. Sigh, we just have to come back then...

Of course we didn't just stay in the city. Catalunya is a vast country from Mountains to seaside. Montserrat is not to be missed while Girona has its own character. We enjoyed this but surprisingly the food was not as great as we anticipated, although we do love tapas. I guess we weren't too lucky in choosing restaurants.

For the rest of the year, we doubt there will be any more exotic trips for the family. What I know for sure is that, the next holiday we have, will be a BEAACCHH holiday.

Till then, Ciao and Adios!

By the sea