Farewell to Lisa

Yesterday was Lisa's official last day at the office. She's moving to South France, specifically in Toulouse -- it's a very sad moment for our small team.. We are going to miss you Lisa -- hope you will have a wonderful life ahead!!

Both of us in LA -- just finished our 'jalan-jalan' session in Rodeo Drive and stopped to have lunch here in Papa Jake's..

What do you do.. if you loose your child this way..

2008/11/01 (News Straits Times)

Toddler dies in 7-storey fall KUALA LUMPUR:

A toddler fell to his death from the seventh floor of the Abadi Indah apartments in Taman Desa yesterday. Mathew Athan Lariche, 2, was found on the ground floor of the building at 7.10pm.

It is understood he had been running up the stairs with his 5-year-old sister as they returned from the playground with their mother.

However, when the mother reached the seventh floor, she did not see her son.

She was alerted by several shouts that her son had fallen.

The boy was rushed to Taman Desa Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

My office colleague lives in the same apartment as this boy and his mom. I keep remembering this story and keep wondering how the mother is doing after what happened. Eventhough I have no children yet, I don't know what I will do if I were in her shoes.

If you want to support her through this trying times, you can visit her blog here at

UPDATE:
Out of respect for her privacy, I have to take out the link to her blog for the time being.

Red Ribbon Gala, ala2 open house and being on camera..

This was supposed to be uploaded last week.. tapi dah ter'miss' plak. Anyway here it goes (posted on 3rd November).. the recent long Deepavali weekend holiday was such an eventful cuti for me, got 2 open houses, a dinner (for work) and people came over to the house for raya -- so kumpulkan semua datang satu hari, jadila ala2 open house.. Didn't get to go the open houses though - tak sempat..

The dinner that I attended for work was called the Red Ribbon Gala -- a media awards given for programmes on HIV/AIDS -- in print, broadcast and also theatre etc.. Actually Lisa was the one who got the invitation as she was one of the judges. But because Lisa is soon leaving the job and country, she wants me to continue with the networking. Of course -- I forgot to mention that the event was organised by the Malaysia AIDS Council and Malaysia AIDS Foundation.

The guess of honour was the Agong himself (but he didn't make it), only the Permaisuri attended. Tun Mahathir, wife and daughter (Marina) was also there. Najib was supposed to come as well but the menteri Kesihatan was sent on behalf. Sarimah Ibrahim and a chinese guy by the name of Hansen were the emcees for the night. The food was gourmet food, as suspected -- since I haven't acquired the taste for gourmet food, didn't enjoy it that much.

Overall it was a very good event, everything went well but I as usual feel 'kind of out of place'. This type of thingy is really not my forte..But it was good to experience a charity auction and a real fashion show and of course some networking. By 11.00pm I was so ready to leave..

That was on Saturday.. Sunday was spent on cleaning up the house and preparing the food. Early Monday morning at around 1.00am got up to cook 'rendang ayam' for all the guests yang nak datang tengahari tu -- cooked until 4.30am. Tidur jap, bangun solat subuh sambung masak mee kari sampai siap. By 1.00 everything was ready.. semua orang enjoy the food -- alhamdullillah, berbaloi la jugak kerja keras ku.. by 5.30pm semua orang dah balik..

My hubby however had promised his Indian childhood friend that we will be coming to celebrate Deepavali with them, so dengan keadaan yang penat tu, pegi la jugak to their house lepas Maghrib. Malam tu, terus hit the sack dengan nyenyaknya..

Here are some pictures..

I was sitting near the emcees -- tapi it was too dark, tak nampak clear..

The dessert -- not bad and the only food I really enjoyed..

Tun Dr Siti Hasmah giving out the Dr Siti Hasmah Award to the PT Foundation

Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah was ready to give out the media awards to the winners.. All the winners with the Permaisuri Agong and others on the stage/runaway..

This expensive brooch worth RM150,000 was auctioned at RM72,000.00

A pic during the makan2 session.. Only managed to take one -- for more pix and story, please go here --

And during lunch time on Thursday 30th Nov -- went to Jalan T*R to get some stuff from S*F before my vouchers expires. Went with a colleague, while walking lenggang mak limah, tiba2 dengar pompuan menjerit macam orang gila sambil berlari lintang pukang (with hands flying all over the place).. First I thought it was orang giler-- tengok2 si Sharifah Amani tengah berlakon -- alamak tak perasan plak the camera in front of us.. This was of course taken masa dah 'cut'..

Horror!!

Early Thursday morning around 3.30am, both hubby and myself woke up with a shock from our deep sleep. The next door neighbour's car alarm went off loudly and we heard a loud thud. Hubby terus bukak tingkap and saw two men on a motorbike sped off just outside Hamdan's gate. Then we heard Hamdan 'OOOiii!!' and nothing happened. For a minute or two, after the motorbike sped off...

Then only both of us berani nak kluar -- Hamdan himself and wife pun baru keluar. The passenger window of the car was totally smashed and the radio was taken out. Gate rumahnye diumpil. But the most astounding fact is that -- Hamdan said when he jerit oooiii, he had a parang ready in his hand. The 2 Malay men (he was very sure of this - one already inside the car and the other one waiting on the motorbike) buat tak reti je.. The man on the motorbike then aimed a pistol towards Hamdan -- hence he pulled everyone back into the house. He didn't know whether the pistol is a toy pistol or the real thing -- but it was really a shock to actually see the pistol was aimed with confidence.. He then decided not to risk his family's life (he has 7 kids, a maid and a wife in the house -- the eldest child is a 13-year old daughter).. He's not taking the risk.. Take whatever you want..I'm sure most of us would do the same thing if we are faced with similar situation.

Syukur alhamdullillah nothing bad had happened but I know Linda is badly shaken -- I mean she has 7 kids to take care of when her husband is away at work.. I pun tak berani nak pikir what might have happened if those thugs decides to get into the house instead of just into the car..Ishk.. nauzubillah..

Shopping Spree...

Ishk.. lama sungguh tak update blog ni.. so, I'm taking this opportunity to citer the shopping spree we had sebelum bulan Ramadan bermula.. The shopping spree was meant mainly for Yone yang akan berkahwin tahun depan tapi ala2 nak raya kan, so we all pun tumpang la sekaki.

Masa cuti sekolah in August, the whole family including Rina and Adi pun turun ke KL - ada 2 sebab, pertamanya nak shopping untuk Yone and secondly untuk visit Meor Hamzah yang masa tu dah abt a month tak jumpa anak bini hehehe.. so Yone drove from Penang with Mama, Abah and Cha. Stop by in Jelapang to pick up Rina and Adi..

The first night tu, we all decided to have dinner in F*g & Ol*ve kat S*nway P*ram*d to celebrate Abahnya belated birthday. The journey was so long, kedai dah nak tutup baru we all sampai.. We all enjoyed the food tapi the portion was quite big.. Meor lagi la enjoy-- favouritela katakan..

Amongst the activity we did were pegi ke Jalan T*R to look for Yone nye kain kahwin.. adoi penatla mencari, lenguh kaki2.. Abah ngan mama lagi la lenguh.. Abah asyik cari kerusi/sofa je nak duduk kalau sampai satu2 kedai tu.. Finally we found the kain yang Yone nak.. Alhamdullillah...

Lepas dah shopping we went to Shah Alam, to have dinner kat rumah Ayah Chu/Mak Su.. sedap -- ada lauk gulai tempoyak-- pergh.. mengancam..After dinner, I terlelap kejap-- agaknya terlalu kekenyangan kot.. Sedar2 dah nak balik.. Had to drive again sebab Yone letih..

Esoknya tu, we went to Aunty Jan's house just for short visit -- sebab Rina and Cha tak pernah buat tour lagi kat the new house. (Actually Meor and Yone pun tak pernah pegi gak -- tapi Meor kerja, Yone plak dating-- tak dapek la nak nolong).. Btw, I was on leave. It was a breeze sebab Aunty Jan ada lunch appointment with her cousins (which was more to belanja Sarah yang balik kejap for summer holidays from US).. Excited betoi tengok Cha and Rina yang oohh..and aahhh.. everytime sampai kat a new room..

Right after that, we had lunch kat rumah Aunty Nie (adik Aunty Jan) -- also had kampung style dishes -- sedap!! After dah lunch and solat, we went to PKNS in Shah Alam to shop for baju raya.. Lega dapat shop around that time and don't have to berebut2 masa ramadan kat PKNS tu.. selamat.. We then head home and the day after that, everyone left...

Here are some of the pictures taken during the visit..

P/S: FYI -- Adi is only 2 yrs 9 months old. He might not look like it but he is still a baby/toddler.

Salam Aidilfitri

I hope it's not too late to wish all bloggers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri... Maaf Zahir dan Batin..

Ikhlas dari Anom dan Nasir..

Selamat Menyambut Ramadan Al-Mubarak

To all readers,

Selamat Menyambut Ramadan Al-Mubarak.. semoga kita semua dapat menjalani ibadah puasa dengan sempurna..Amin..

From:

Anom & Nasir

Mexico Trip - Conference part 1

After the long awaited months and a lot of hiccups.. finally Mexico came.

The journey as expected was really.. really long.. I was in my most comfortable outfit--sampaikan Craig, Francyne's husband said "Anom, I've never seen you so casual -- even while we were travelling, you were always in heels and proper office attire". Craig used to be my boss before, hence the comment.. Abih dah la long flight -- I have to walk a lot and I was in my sport shoes(pasal kaki masih sakit lagi kalau jalan banyak2) takkan nak pakai smart2 plak..

Sampai kat LA, we separated from Francyne & co.. and continued our journey to Mexico City.. The stewardess on the flight to Mexico was very, very unfriendly -- tak inform pun kat we all yang we have to isi the immigration form. Dah la bagi food yang salah to me, nasib baik tak de mood nak makan..

Anyway, the conference was fun.. the hotel was so-so, the traffic in Mexico city was horrible. Every morning we have to be ready for the bus to get us to the conference at 6.45am... That means, wake up at around 5.00am.. Jet lag was not so bad.. But the first day was quite bad.. All of us was like zombies at 12.00 noon onwards -- because that was about 1.00am kat Malaysia.

The following days were better.. afternoons are the worst la, but we all got over it fine. Cuma disebabkan terlalu disoriented, the first morning tengah bersiap-siap, instead of pakai my contact lenses, I threw (curah) the lenses into the sink -- how stupid was that!! So disebabkan tak bawak spare.. terpaksa la pakai glasses yang dah teruk conditionnye the whole conference.

On Monday 4th August night, we were invited to attend the Kaiser Family Foundationnye dinner - in Westin Hotel in Centro Historico.. We were like very late because we were stuck in the traffic. We took the bus, had to do a bit of "Amazing Race" round the block at night in Mexico city before we reach the hotel.

The hotel setting was very 'funky' -- with a lot of shiny red, black and white colour furnishings. It was dark as well.. Somehow I felt like I was in one of the CSI Miami settings -- u know, the crime scene set before the crime happens. Anyway, at the dinner, we were assigned different tables to sit and we have a name card to put in front of us at the table so that others at the table know you.

At my table, I was surrounded by Americans. Front, right and left. The hot topic was the US Presidential election.. Eventhough I didn't follow the US politics that much, when I asked questions, they took the time to explain. That was the great thing about being there at the table.. Someone asked me about the Malaysian politics, suprisingly they haven't heard of Mahathir Mohammad, much less Anwar Ibrahim -- though they heard about the Petronas Twin Towers. It was great fun..

Francyne sat at the table behind me, she sat with a couple of journalists from Caribbean, a British woman named Penny who worked with Kaiser. Later that night, Penny told me that she went to school with a Malaysian princess in the 1970s.. She can't remeber her full name but she promised to google her and let me know when she gets back. That reminds me, I have to email her to get that Princess' name.

On that table too, there was this girl named Marvilyn Brown -- she's HIV positive and she used to be a guest in Oprah Winfrey Show. She wrote a book -- and an advance reader edition was distributed FOC at the dinner. I got her to autographed my copy -- when Francyne introduced her to me, Francyne told me that she was in Oprah and me being a little bit blur -- lambat respond -- so I think she wasn't quite happy la when I didn't recognise her -- a bit of attitude la..Yela... how said, you became a celebrity because of HIV.. how sad kan.. tu pun ada hati nak eksyen.. I haven't even started reading the book yet. Tengokla, when everything is settled, I'll start..

Richard Gere was supposed to come to dinner tapi he was shooting a movie somewhere so he didn't make it. His brother David Gere was there, but we did know about it until a couple of days after that.. Kalau tidak brother pun brother la..Anyway, end of the year masa kat Bali during our General Assembly nanti, Stephen (Kaiser representative) promised to try and get Richard to come to the event.. Orait..ada la can kan nak bergambar dengan dia.. hahaha..Berangan Anom.. eh.. bukan I sorang si Francyne and Lisa pun sama gak..

Other than that, saw Bill Clinton and Annie Lennox in person -- of course body guards were all around takde la dapat dekat kan.. Also was face to face with this actress -- Sheryl Lee Ralph which at that point I can't remember her name, otherwise would have asked to take a picture with her. Anyway, a youth was busy interviewing her so malas la nak kacau daun gak kan.. she played Rita's (Lauryn Hill) mother in Sister Act 2.

Too many things happened at the conference -- the whole conference was divided into 3 -- the Global Village -- where all the fun, happening things went on, the sessions at the Centro Banamex and the exhibition which was situated on the same floor with the Media Centre.

At the conference, for the first time I saw real life protests, -- dalam pelbagai2 bentuk -- ada yang protes terbaring, ada yang took their top off -- had their body painted with all the protest messages and just stand there at the media center for at least 45minutes -- can u imagine?? I was so shocked, tak teringat nak tangkap gambar..Even if I teringat pun.. rasanya tak sanggup nak amik..so humiliating.. Even Francyne yang mat salleh tu pun tak sanggup nak tengok..

A lot la was going on, tak tercerita the whole event punye coming and going -- it was labelled a Social Conference as a lot social things went on -- not just the serious conference stuff. Most importantly - this conference gave the people who are affected by HIV a platform to come out in the open and say what they need to the public be it men who have sex with men, transvestites, sex workers and others.

Lupa plak -- I also met with this Mufti from Zambia -- he's part of this network called - African Network of Religious Leaders affected or lifes are affected by HIV/AIDS - ANERELA+ .. He wanted to know the view of our religious leaders on the topic -- I told him it's very much a taboo to talk about HIV in Malaysia. He's interested to talk to Malaysian Imams or Muftis to change that view because HIV knows no boundaries.

The interesting part that I discovered was how Muslims from other countries have a bigger perspective of the issue and they want to discuss it -- because to them, it is there, it's affecting people especially the young ones -- if you ignored it, it will get worse. In fact, 2 Iranian doctors were supposed to present papers in a couple of the sessions but they weren't able to make it due to some technical problem.

Next I will update about my involvement in a HIV messaging and jalan2 experience in Mexico and LA. Enjoy some of the pictures below. (K. Ja/Shana -- enjoy, sorry na lambat update..)

In LA airport waiting for our luggage -- si kecik ni tak letih pun.. still full of energy

The Centro Banamex -- where it all happened..

Annie Lennox -- at one of the press conference

Bill Clinton speaking at his Keynote address session..

Methadone Man & Buprenorphine Babe
Superheroes Raise Awareness of Lifesaving Medicines for Drug Users -- Lisa stopped them to take pictures

Anom & Lisa going through booths at the Global Village

The normal protests..

Dewi - Metro TV journalist doing her stand up for the camera crew for her news piece.

Us three with Glenn -- a participanting journalist from Papua New Guinea who is also an Australian. Great guy..

Us again with Stephen from Kaiser -- notice the spectacles ?? Hodoh betul..hahaha..

Indian performers in Global village.. or maybe it was another form of protests -- tak sure la..

Just got back!!

It's been a while since I blogged. Just got back from a very, very long trip.. masih lagi ada jetlag..tapi kerja dah kena start.. Will update soon with lots of pictures and stories..

Birthday and PTD

Birthday cake for the birthday girl..

Last Monday was Francyne's birthday (21st July). But she was smart - she took leave that day and told us that she won't be in the office on Friday (18th) afternoon. She had a feeling that we were going to do something. We were smarter -- we did a suprise do for her on the 17th afternoon.. here are some pix.. Happy Birthday Francyne..

'I know you guys are up to something'...



The ladies in the new wing with the birthday girl..

Also, last week Meor received a good news, he got accepted as PTD and now has to go for a 2 weeks course in INTAN, Kluang Johor. He stopped by our house yesterday before continuing his journey to Kluang this morning. Congratulations Meor!! You deserve it..

Saudara Baru...

Earlier this year (I think during February ke March gitu), dengan kuasa Allah ntah macamana me and hubby 'ter'berkenalan dengan seorang saudara baru dari France. Ali Jerome nama Islamnya - nama French dia - Jeromé Armenío. He's from Sete, South of France.

Kebetulan hari Sabtu tu, dalam keboringan, hubby ajak kluar jalan-jalan (masa tu lebih kurang pukul 2.30 ptg). Tak tahu mana nak tuju, drive ke area Lake Garden tapi memandangkan keadaan tengahari terik tu, in the end we decided to go to Muzium Kesenian Islam (memandangkan selalu asyik ter'miss' je peluang nak ke sana).

It was a good trip - the models of masjid2 terkemuka di dunia was marvellous. We spent an hour jugak la membelek model2 masjid kat situ. Bila we all move on to the other part of the exhibits, terserempak la dengan sorang mamat 'mix' ni. We all mula2 ingatkan org uzbekistan or maybe orang Bosnia ke because he has that kind of look.

Ali came from a family yang tak ada agama (atheis).. lama sebenarnya dia mencari dari satu ugama keugama yg lain, kata Ali hatinya rasa tak selesa, dia rasa jiwanya masih kosong. Masa umur dia 17 tahun (this was 4/5 years ago), dia mula mengenali ugama Islam dan terus tertarik. Yang menariknya tu, he manage to find Islam against all odds. Ye la kat sana kan masjid tak banyak macam kat sini. Tak ade sesiapa yang bagi dia guidance, kawan-kawan semua question dia kenapa nak masuk Islam - because to them, Islam is associated with terrorism. Tak ramai orang2 kat situ tau pasal Islam..Makanan halal, memang susah la nak dapat - he said he survived dgn vegetables saja masa awal2 tu.

Mulanya dia sorok dari pengetahuan keluarganya, after few weeks mak dia insist Ali to tell the truth (mungkin naluri ibu) sebab tengok perubahan dari segi tingkah laku anaknya. The moment Ali explain everything to his mother, terus mak Ali ni tarik tangan anak dia pergi mini market halal kat area bandar Sete. Kata Ali dia terharu tengok ibunya bersungguh nak mencari barangan halal. Ali rasa serba salah nak explain bab minyak masak, kuali & utensils lain.

Memang benarlah spt yg dikatakan 'kasih ibu berpanjangan' - mak Ali kata jgn risau dia akan belikan set yg baru khusus utk masakan halal utk Ali sorang. Masa ni kata Ali dia benar-benar terharu sangat melihatkan pengorbanan ibunya.

In fact, bab makanan halal nilah Ali faham hikmah disebaliknya. Adik lelaki dia siap puji masakan mak dia lagi, bila mak dia masak halal dishes - 'Kenapa hari ni mak masak lain dari yg dulu?...sedap betullah mak masak hari ni.' So Ali mula realised dia dah buat keputusan yg tepat dan dia rasa bertambah yakin dgn ajaran Islam. In fact kata Ali, the beautiful part is from that day onwards mak dia terus masak makanan halal sbb the whole family termasuk kakak, bapak, datuk & nenek Ali dah prefer masakan halal. He's really hoping that one day the whole family will join him as a muslim. Tak putus dia berdoa pada Allah.

Anyway, tujuan utama dia datang ke Malaysia sbb nak melawat dan bersolat di dalam sebanyak mungkin masjid yang dia boleh sepanjang dia ada kat Malaysia. Disebabkan asyik bersembang dengan dia sepanjang masa tu, we all pun ajak la dia ikut we all lepas dah habis kat Muzium tu.. Dia dengan gembiranya accepted the invitation. Tapi dengan syarat, we all kena pegi solat Asar kat Masjid Negara dulu dengan dia. After solat, we went makan-makan with him kat Bangsar and eventually dropped him off kat Bukit Bintang area where he was staying. He left for France the next day. Since then, we've been constantly in touch with him.

Interestingly immediately lepas peluk agama Islam, dia sambung belajar bahasa Arab for one whole year untuk memahami kandungan Al-Quran. Recently he completed his studies in Mandarin language diShanghai. Rasanya macam he took Nabi Muhammad's s.a.w. advise literally - pergi menuntut ilmu hingga ke Negeri China.

He is now back in France and planning to pursue his studies in University of Paris. He told us he keep telling his family about Malaysian, how welcome he felt when he was here (we all la tu.. hehehe) and now his family felt that he might eventually live in Malaysia - mana tak nya sebab kata Ali dia asyik citer pasal Malaysia je..

Masa makan2 kat Bangsar.. sempat jugak bergambar

Bila dengar cerita Ali dan tengok keazaman dan tekad Ali dalam mendalami Islam, nampak benar kesungguhannya. Sepatutnya kita lebih bersyukur kerana dilahirkan sebagai seorang Islam.

HIV/AIDS - Dulu vs Sekarang

Dulu sebelum I mula kerja kat ABU ni, tak banyak yang I tau pasal HIV and AIDS ni.. Sekarang ni alhamdullilah dah banyak la sikit ilmu yang diperolehi especially bila I dapat jumpa dengan "people who live with HIV and AIDS" not only in Malaysia but also from other countries in Asia-Pacific..

Disebabkan my medium is media -- whenever we attend seminar and conference, mesti akan kedengaran suara2 NGOs or UN agencies yang menyuarakan rasa tak puas hati dengan media.. Sebab according to them, media la penyebabnya why the discrimination and stigma against PLWHA started.. And it's still much alive in our communities. I guess there are some truth to it..
Ye la dulu2 kalau kita tengok kat TV -- messaging dia balik2 -- HIV/AIDS ialah penyakit yang berjangkit, berjangkit melalui seks bebas, not curable -- so mestila orang ramai jadi takut dengan disease tu..And bermulalah diskriminasi terhadap orang2 yang menghidapnya..

Itulah sebabnya sekarang ni, kami sedang mencuba untuk merubah tanggapan ini. 'Kami' disini bermaksud our little team kat office ni (consists 3 ladies) who are working hard to help change that perception. However, it will definitely take time -- our main role now is to change the broadcaster's perception first then only can the audiences perception change.

In order to change the broadcaster's perception, we have to train mainly the producers and reporters on the sensitivity of the issue (language/picture usage etc) and not further discriminate the PLWHA. A lot of other issues pertaining to confidential rights, verification of facts and preventive measures which are acceptable in their communities that journalists/producers need to understand.

Because of that, we are given the mandate by the Global Media AIDS Initiative to bring along about 6 journalists from the Asia-Pacific Region -- namely Thailand, Indonesia, Fiji, Malaysia, Pakistan and China to the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City next month. Estimated about 25,000 delegates will be at this conference including people who are living with HIV/AIDS. I really hope that this will be an eye opener for the journalists as well as myself. And I also hope that this small steps we are taking will eventually benefit the PLWHA and ease their burden in their life.

So, it's definitely not just a makan angin trip for me.. it is work..

Alahai kaki...(insiden jatuh..)

Selepas majlis Yone petang tu, malam tu satu insiden telah menimpa diriku...alahai..

Malam tu planning nak keluar makan dengan Ayah Chik and Achik with my siblings.. on the way ke kereta Ayah Chik yang di park di bahagian luar parking Hotel Vistana Penang, aku tergelincir, terpelecok dan terduduk.. The car was parked on dirt side of the road, it was quite dim and I thought that the 'tar' road was paved until right at the end of the area.

Sakit ada, nak tergelak pun ada..Nasib baik gelap.. tak la malu sangat.. Aku dah la berat nak bangun.. so Meor had to help me up. Bila bangun aje, dah rasa semacam dah sakitnya.. tapi paksa jugak jalan masuk kereta. Atas kereta punya la sakit, tapi control macho la jugak lagi sebab nak pegi makan Mee Udang dgn semua..

Anyway, to cut the story short..malam tu sampai je kat rumah dah memang tak boleh jalan.. kaki dah bengkak. Since it was really late and dah penat siang tu, I decided to pegi hospital tomorrow morning. Malam tu terpaksa mengesot naik tangga nak pegi bilik tidur.

Esoknya went to Lam Wah Ee hospital for x-ray and check up. Since it was Sunday, pegi je la kat emergency. The x-ray was done and the MO said that there was no obvious fracture, cuma sprained ankle ajela.. Dia bagi 3 days MC. However, she said that the x-ray should be scrutinised by the radiologist (who was not working on Sunday) so she said to come and collect the report on Monday--26th May.

Sekalinya esok tu gi amik report -- ada chip fracture to the cuboid bone..it seems harmless sebab kecik aje.. tapi sakit la jugak..

The circled area where the chip fracture on my x-ray.. Sorry la gambar tak clear, cahaya tak cukup and guna kamera phone aje..

Anyway, bila balik ke KL, went to see the orthopaedic surgeon kat HUKM (kalau Dr Syeikh Muzaffar tak jadi angkasawan, mau dapat dia jadi my doc kan..hehehe). Finally Dr Suhail (my orthopaedic doctor) said that eventhough it was a chip fracture, the place where it chipped is where our muscle hang on to the bone.. tu la sebabnya it's really painful. So I got another 2 weeks MC and have to totally immobilise my right foot and use crutches.

Today, the 2 weeks is up. The doctor was happy with my healing progress. But he gave me 1 more week off and 2 weeks 'light duty' notice. However, he still said that I will be able to go to Mexico in August.. but no high heels for a while and if possible to wear sneakers when I have to walk a lot.


Sib baik baru beli kasut jogging so insyallah the trip nak pegi tu covered la kot. But I have to cari kasut yang soft padded as well la..


Also, I missed my outing with Zaili and Leen to the second season of P Ramlee The Musical on the 14th sebab ye la kan macamana nak bertongkat plak kat Istana Budaya tu kan.. So, sorry la again ye Zaili and Leen.. insyallah ada rezeki next time kita outing sekali ye..

Bersyukur dan redha dengan ujian Allah kali ni..

Pre-preparation & Pertunangan Yone..

Well.. Akhirnya Yone dah selamat bertunang dengan Azri last 24th May 2008...

For me, the preparation had started about 2 months before..Compared to Mama, my tugas is just the hantaran.. Whereas Mama had to think about the whole house and the whole kenduri..I think during my trip back to Penang in April ke March, mama ajak pegi ATUZ (pronounce as A to Z) to find ideas nak buat hantaran Yone..Lama jugak la we all melilau dalam kedai tu nak cari idea.. But finally mama nye idea took shape.. Mama sebenarnya dah lama teringin nak buat style ni.. especially lepas tengok "Pak Abu"nye idea kat Ratu Sehari a few years back.. All the hantaran are in pastel colours -- purple, pink, turqoise and green..

Sebenarnya mama dah check dengan Yone dulu, but Yone being Yone, tak kisah apa2 pun boleh.. Tu yang lama nak cari idea tu..

Actually antara banyak2 preparation of kenduri that I had done (for siblings and also cousins) - I think Yone punye preparation paling relax sekali.. Tak tau la whether this is because dah biasa ke, or sebab memang tak banyak preparation -- ye la Mama keep on saying, kalau boleh recycle apa yang ada -- recycle.. jangan nak membazir.. So, suprisingly cost nak buat hantaran Yone was less than RM 200..

Anyway during that particular weekend.. I took half day on 22nd tu sebab nak pegi servis keta, nak pegi Jalan TAR for last minute shopping for butang baju melayu as hantaran and cari baju nak pakai masa kenduri..

Sampai rumah maghrib la jugak.. Nasir kata, we might as well bertolak balik Penang early tomorrow morning so that sempat la nak kemas rumah and barang2 sebelum bertolak. He was also tired nak driving midnight tu.. Call Meor and changed plans.. Oh lupa plaks.. We were supposed to pick Meor and Adi up kat Jelapang on the way back.. While Rina will follow suit naik bas lepas abis activity kat college dia..Something about Teacher's Day celebration..

Around 7.30 baru we all bertolak..Dalam 9.30 pagi sampai la kat rumah parents Rina..Had breakfast and bertolak dalam pukul 10..Rina finally decide to follow us back at the same time so we had great fun balik sekali..

Dalam pukul 12.30 we all pun sampai Penang.. Khemah pun dah siap pasang..Tanya Yone how she felt??? She said macam tak percaya aja dah nak bertunang..

After lunch, I started with the hantaran..disebabkan ramai yang menolong-- Rina, Ayu and Yone.. kejap je dah siap.. Cuma nak susun barang2 kat dalam tu je yg lama -- sampai malam jugak la baru habis..

Side views of the hantaran -- courtesy Cha..

Sembilan dulang hantaran Yone..

Esok pagi2 before 8am I had to accompany Yone pegi makeup - awalnya, tapi Lisa yang empunya Romantis Boutique tu ada banyak kenduri nak pegi makeup so Yone terpaksa la pegi awal.. By 9.30 we all dah balik dan Yone terus la duduk kat dalam bilik Pengantin 'menunggu'.. Sebelum tu buat demonstration dulu macam mana nak duduk atas tikar sila yang Chu bawak dari Pengkalan..Yone was so funny..Tak tentu hala betul la budak sorang ni..

Yone menunggu kat dalam bilik

Another post in the room..

The sisters amik peluang bergambar sekali..nanti belum tentu dapat 'can' lagi..

Adi pun kan main seronok lagi 'michik' nak bertunang.. yela tu..bukannya paham pun.. siap happy lagi tangkap gambar dengan Mami Ayu (yang lost more than 20 kg last year -- u go gurl!!).

Mak Azri sarungkan cincin merisik kat Yone..

Kakak sulung Azri menyarungkan cincin tunang di jari Yone..

The kids having a field day kat atas sebab tak de orang nak larang they all main.. habis satu bilik penuh dengan 'playdoh'. From left - Haifa Amni, anak my cousin Anis, Nur Farhana - my youngest cousin sebelah mama and Meor Adi Fimiyun -- the only anak sedara..

Kelakarnya lepas dah habis majlis pertunangan Adi merajuk dengan semua orang.. especially Michik dia.. the reason being -- masa the whole majlis berjalan tak ade sapa yang melayan dia.. semua orang tengah sibuk takde masa nak tengok dia.. it was funny.. tapi kejap je la lepas tu okay balik..

Mama was really happy but can see that she's really tired..sampai tak sempat nak tangkap gambar sefamili..nasib baik sempat tangkap dengan Yone..Mama siap cakap kat Cha.. "Cha nanti Cha punya bertunang buat terus kahwin la Cha, mama dah tak larat ni"

So to Yone & Azri selamat bertunang and semoga cepat la naik pelamin.. To Abang A, Zaili, Leen and whoever else interested --majlisnya insyallah March next year..

Something happen to me later that evening tapi lets put that in another entry..

Vientiane, Laos

Actually dah lama I wanted to do this entry, tapi memanjang tak sempat.. so dari hari ke sehari almost dah half a month since I last started this entry.. sorila ye.. the entry is backdated.. Tapi memandangkan hari ni 9th May -- I wish Meor Hamzah Happy 29th Birthday

Here's my entry on Laos --

Setelah sekian lama tak travel, last November I was assigned to go to Vientiane, Laos for a project funded by Asian Development Bank on issues of development in Greater Mekong Subregion -- topic was really boring, tapi disebabkan hotel yang we all lepak for the meeting (courtesy of my boss -- 'courtesy' as in chosen) was really nice, ok la gak...

Vientiane on it's own, tak adela apa sangat, ala2 macam Ipoh town 20/30 years ago.. pukul 5 -5.30 ptg, kedai dah tutup.. malam takde mende and tempat nak pegi takde sangat so kebanyakannya lepak je la..

Anyway, the first night we arrived (I was traveling with Francyne), we were picked up by the hotel transportation free of charge..how cool was that..Hospitality was really great..I recommend kalau sesapa nak pegi Vientienne, boleh la duduk kat The Green Park hotel...The next day after dah check everything was fine for the meeting, Francyne and I went to town to shop - Francyne cakap takut nanti tak cukup time nak shopping later... So we went to this market called the Morning Market -- kononnya Morning tapi sampai ke petang bukaknya.. but as I sayla pukul 5 - 5.30 dah tutup..

Food wise as usual, susah -- but adala a couple of Indian/Pakistan restoran yang halal -- so dapatla cover for one night -- other times -- I am totally vegetarian.. Lagipun stock bawak banyak..

The participants to the project was ok-ok je la.. sebab yg ada pun only 4 of them.. including one from Lao PDR itself.. Ms Malayvieng -- or as we call her Malay..

The hotel.. nice and serene right??

The hotel's restaurant.. Francyne and I will always have our breakfast here.. eventhough matahari dah naik and sometimes terik... still serene and quiet for breakfast..

This is during the first night out. The ADB guys mula2 reluctant to have Indian food (rupanya sebab Indian food kat Philippines teramat la mahalnya) -- but lepas dah try the first night, the next night dah sibuk nak pegi lagi....Anyway, thanks to Francyne yg peka with my requirement -- she yg suggested for us to eat at this halal restaurant.

The next night, Francyne bawak all of us for welcome dinner in town -- kalau tak salah the restaurant name is "Kop Chai De" -- maksudnya welcome ke terima kasih.. i pun dah tak ingat. Ni Jason(ADB) ready to makan the 'cengkerik' goreng during this dinner - at least I think it was cengkerik goreng.. tak tau la plak kalau serangga lain..

After dinner, we went to this bar across the street -- it was Malay's Jazz Bar. This is Malay and Jason sitting and talking in the bar... that was my first time ever in a bar -- luckily it wasn't 'happening' yet as it's still early. But me and Francyne, we were the first ones to leave.. penat la..

Me listening to Tito's experience when he attended one of the Halal conference in Southern Thailand(some years back).. he gave some pretty interesting facts -- although I don't quite look interested in the picture hahaha...mengantuk macamana nak look interested..

How on earth did the topic of 'Halal' came about ? Well, while they were drinking wines, they serve this snack macam beef strips which at that point I ingat pork.. Malay beria-ia suruh I makan, she said "it's beef, don't worry!!" I told her, even if it's beef, it's still not halal because it's not slaughtered the Muslim way.. so that's how the topic started between me and Tito..

Both of us looking very mengantuk--really want to go back to the hotel room and bedebush..However, sebab kat Vientiane takde teksi, we have to naik some sort of a tuk-tuk.. of course who would dare to naik tuk-tuk sorang2 so I had to wait for someone to leave so that I can tumpang..

This was taken during a field trip (on the last day of meeting ) to a "school for teachers" -- ala2 maktab perguruan la yang di'funded' by ADB. The bebudak yang nampak macam students to sebenarnya are going through training to become teachers. Ada sorang tu datang dari jauh di kawasan pendalaman -- 2 tahun belajar baru sekali balik kampung.. kos tinggi and jauh sangat katanya..

Kat atas yours truly with the camera crew from Laos National Television -- I wasn't involved with any of the production part - just coincidentally berdiri kat sebelah diaorang..sibuk gak nak tengok macamana they all operate..

This is the student (sebelah kanan, berbaju putih dan ber'tie') yang I kata duduk jauh di pendalaman.. kesian jugak tengok they all.. But you can see their determination to be good teachers so that they can teach their younger generation and prosper.. He is going to teach English.. He speaks quite well for a Laotian..

Yang dasyatnya lagi.. they all bercucuk tanam and ternak ikan/binatang untuk dapat sumber makanan sendiri.. ye la semua nak beli mana ada duit..

Since we all datang buat field trip ni hari ahad.. you can see la all the students tengah study lepas basuh2 kain and mengemas -- kat belakang tu I am not too sure whether it's the classes ke they all punya dorm.. tak ingat..Tapi rupa dorm they all very macam zaman sekolah kita la kat sini -- katil bertingkat, satu dorm panjang share 20-30 orang.. baju2 sidai merata..

Another angle of the school.. the guy in yellow shirt is Roger from CCTV.

After the school trip, we went for lunch by the Mekong River.. the restaurant is actually floating on the water -- siap ada floating sampan as restaurants lagi..Tapi food wise alamak.. gelinya(paham-pahamlakan).. but untuk mengelakkan daripada host (orang kementerian jugak rasanya) rasa kecik hati.. aku makanla nasi kosong je.. pastu dalam van belasah makan biskut yg dibawak untuk time2 emergency mcm ni..

Kat atas tu, gambar lepas semua orang dah makan by the river..

Lepas lunch, we went to another place some 'irrigation' place that ADB also help funded to ensure farmers has sufficient water to plant their crops..Another big welcome.. siap dapat kalungan bunga lagi -- tengok la kat atas tu..

Next we went out to the fields to meet and try to interview the farmers that actually benefit from this programme.. Malay had to do a report for her news programme malam tu..

Anyway, the reason why I include this photo is talk about the way Lao women dress -- officially every Lao women has to wear the Lao skirt -- ala2 macam batik jugak la.. top tak kisah nak pakai apa pun.. tapi seluar tak boleh pakai.. semua kena pakai skirt..the skirt plak akan diikat dengan tali pinggang besi yg ada kerawang2 tu -- macam my Opah used to wear.. to know the status of the women (whether orang berada ke orang biasa) you can judge from the belt.. kalau besar, colour gold -- ha tu orang kaya la tu.. kalau kecik halus je.. biasa je la..Unfortunately, I tak de plak the proper picture of a full dress Laotian woman.. terlupa nak amik..so this is the best I can show u all la..

The LNTV camera crew did not come properly equipped.. macamana datang buat interview kat outdoor tak ade 'boom' mic?? Nasib baik la participant dari Vietnam si Huy ni creative.. terus create a mic boom out of ranting kayu..

And the interview went well.. I think la..Mana nak paham apa diaorang cakap..