~the world around me~

Happy New Year!! Welcome 2012.....

2012-01-05T11:15:00.006+08:00

Alhamdullillah -- dah sampai kita ke tahun baru 2012..

A lot of things had happened to me and my family in the last year.. Ada bad, ada yang good... -- Right after Zikri's birthday, my pregnancy went well until about the last month around June/July - my sugar was high so I had to start taking insulin..Nasib baik la just for a month or so..

The biggest bad thing that happened was I got retrenched from ABU just about one month away from my delivery date.. How stressful that experience was. Yang paling sedijh/upsetting about this - is that - the manusia-yang-tak-berhati-perut- telah menghantar surat terminate itu melalui email saje while I was attending/organising an event outside of office. It's such a huge event plak tu with about more than 50 participants - sibuknya teramat sangat sampai tengah malam we all kat hotel tu.. And he has the BALLS to send me the letter through email that morning.. Takdak angin, tak dak ribut, tup-tup sampai surat layang... Apa la punya orang..

But anyway, dengan keadaan yang sangat stress dengan kerja, dengan the idea tak ade kerja lepas tu dengan baby nak lahir so soon... Alhamdullillah my pregnancy prevailed and tak menghadapi banyak masalah..

So for the last couple of weeks in July - I was going up and down to a few places namely MTUC, Labour Office and lawyer to check on my rights and what I can get out of this retrenchment. Unfortunately - there's not much we can do - weird our Malaysian Labour Law tak banyak protect Malaysian staff. Takat Constructive Dismissal boleh la kot, but then for that u have to buat lawsuit. Since I got no time left - dah sarat sangat I just take the retrenchment package yang dioffer (tu pun setelah try to fight for it - kalau tidak, buat dunno je la)..

So ABU - sudah tinggal kenangan buat ku as of 5th August 2011..

And now on to a happier thing that happened in my life... on 8th August, 2011 - my second child was born - this time round it's a girl - Nur Sarah Zulaikha...

Alhamdullillah.. Sarah dilahirkan pada pagi 8hb Ogos dengan berat 2.98kg.. Dan bersyukur sangat sebab berjaya menyusukan Sarah sepenuhnya dengan susu badan sehingga sekarang.. Alhamdullillah Sarah sihat...dibantu jugak kot dengan keaadaan relaks tak payah kerja, jadi senang la sikit susu nak keluar, walaupun tak la banyak macam susu Yone (my sister)..

So in between all that leave, sempat la jugak buat kerja2 dari rumah - macam writing for Abg A. etc.. Tetapi sekarang ni alhamdullillah, syukur pada rahmat Allah - I managed to get another job in UIA which is not very far from my house - lebih kurang 15/20 minit je perjalanan.. and best of all both my kids are doing well...

Hopefully 2012 will bring better things in our lives... Doakan la ye... Selamat Tahun Baru 2012 semua..

When Zikri turn 1 year old...

2011-04-29T12:35:00.031+08:00

On 28th April 2011, cukupla umur Muhammad Zikri one year old.. Tak sangka - begitu cepat masa berlalu..After all the years waiting for a small one, it's such a joy (and kadang2 terror as well) watching him grow... He's such a cheeky child -- but quite aware of strangers... Right now I guess the stranger anxiety phase is in full force -- mak ai... kalau menjerit/menangis boleh tahan jugak seramnya dengar..

Anyway, before Zikri turn one - a couple of weeks ago he was really sick - fever sampai more than 1 week tak kebah2. Eventually had to admit him in the hospital - was there for 4 days and 3 nights. He got ear infections, conjunctivitis -- on top of the fever, cough and flu..It was the most tiring week for me.. And with my current condition -- lagi la letih...dan lenguh.. (ooo -- i forgot to mention that I'm currently in my 22/23 week pregnancy -- ok, ok.. I need to story about that too - takpe, next entry).

He's much better now - on his birthday he also had to have his 1 year old jab - the MMR. For the time being, he looks ok. According to the nurse, he won't have fever this time round. I hope that's true.. After the jab, we decided to do a cake cutting ceremony with him and his friends at my SIL's place. Nasib baik mood baik -- here are some pictures..

Seksanya nak tukar baju.. asyik sibuk nak pegi kat ayah je..

Ok.. dah siap...

Amik gambar dulu with his friends..cuba tengok expression Lutfi yang excited tengok kek..

First birthday cake Zikri..

Bukan senang nak suruh si kenit ni posing dengan kek dia..Kek lagi besar dari empunya diri..

Dah potong kek, mengantuk plak.. tak senang tengok kek tu sendirian aje..

Kawan-kawan tengah sibuk makan kek..

Sibuk nak pegang kotak-kotak..

Posing jap ngan mama..

Sibuk nak tengok handphone kak Nana..nak tengok gambar diri sendiri la tu... quite vain jugak si kecik ni..

Birthday pose..

Last pose dengan abang Lutfi - the only other boy yg my SIL jaga..

Buat Zikri, anak mama and ayah... mama dan ayah doakan kesejahteraan, kebahagiaan dan kesihatan yang baik untuk Zikri.. Semoga jadi anak yang baik dan soleh... Amin...Sayang anak mama...

Zikri at 10 month old..

2011-03-02T12:55:00.007+08:00

Salam.. adoi.. lamanya tak update blog..Bukan apa, during the long holiday (CNY) - I was out sick for more than 2 weeks.. Siap masuk hospital for 3 days for my asthma attacks.. Lama betul tak kena asthma. Sekali kena, dengan kadar yang sangat teruk..

Anyway, this post is meant to commemorate Zikri's 10-month konon birthday la.. dah besar dah anak mama.. kejap nanti - dah 1 year... Anyway last 28th February cukup la umur Zikri 10 bulan.. Dah banyak akal dah sekarang ni.. macam-macam drama dia.. Here are some pictures of him taken last Sunday and a couple this morning...

By the way, last week, akhirnya dua gigi Zikri dah menjelma.. wah..sekarang apa lagi, kuat mengigit la.. Dengan sekuat-kuat hati tu.. For the time being masih la lagi rasa geli-geli.. esok gigi tu dah besar mau sakit punya tu...

Mama kononnya berangan la masa kecik-kecik dulu nak biar Zikri on fully cloth diapers.. sekali tak menjadi.. umur nak masuk 10 bulan baru la try out his first cloth diaper -- tu tengah menayang CD la kat mama tu sambil hang out kat garden ayah...hahaha..

Another shot, another day.. rilek je duduk atas batu sungai tu -- sejuk kot, tu yang syok tu..

Taken this morning -- sibuk main his first 'party bag' courtesy of Aunty Letchumi's niece whose birthday was yesterday.. Bukannya Zikri boleh makan pun.. mama ngan ayah la dapat habuan.. Zikri dapat main je la..

Sesungguh hati main dengan the party bag...

Seronok main cak-cak dengan mama..hahaha.. tapi mata dah kuyu dah..

Zikri geli mama geletek kaki dia.. hihihi..

Tengok la sat anak sapa duduk sungguh tak sopan.. Aish.. awat ni ??? Restless la tu..

Reflections of 2010, Hopes for 2011

2011-01-17T15:56:00.004+08:00

It's been more than half a month now in 2011 and I just had the chance to do an entry to reflect on the happenings on 2010.. 2010 is very special to me in many ways - the most happiest year, as well as the most stressful year for me personally. In 2010, I had received the most precious gift from Allah -- my baby boy - Muhammad Zikri.. Alhamdullillah he's doing well, we enjoyed all his antics at home.. Of course the 'sound' volume now has increased quite significantly - sampai neighbours can hear him clearly..But that's life.. alhamdullillah..

At the same time - my career kind of suffering when the organisation had a major reshuffle and the new management had made a lot changes that affects the staff(especially local)'s rights as an employee. A lot of staff had decided to leave and I'm not suprised if most of the old staff will be gone soon. It's very frustrating and if Allah wills it, I will probably follow suit. I hope Allah will give me guidance to make the right choices and ease the burden secepat mungkin.. Amin.. This is my hope for 2011.. We shall see how it goes..

It's so crazy....

2010-11-26T12:24:00.003+08:00

It has been so crazy at work lately.. with our immediate boss literally being kicked out of the office just because the new big boss is not 'ngam' with her -- left us both in limbo...Macam orang gila sekarang ni like headless chicken..pening aku..Sian kat my boss, she's such a nice boss - so easy to work with, very understanding, very calm and patient, tak kedekut ilmu.. susah la nak dapat boss macam dia lagi..

Hopefully things will get better soon...

Puting oh..puting

2010-11-04T10:19:00.008+08:00

Before I delivered Zikri, I was so determined not to give my baby the pacifier.. But down the road of a month (still in my confinement)..my mama started giving him the 'puting' so that he can easily go to sleep..(you might ask, where did she get the pacifier from -- well.. it's part of the starter kit that I bought)..

I've been receiving a lot of negative remarks for letting him suck on the pacifier -- mostly the remark about how his teeth will end up being 'jongang' and how his sucking on air and that will make him a colicky baby.. But alhamdullillah, so far so good.. My sense is that I think the pacifier's function is merely that -- to pacify the baby when he/she is agitated..Memang dah fitrah seorang bayi suka menghisap -- tak kisah la puting ke, jari ke.. Even if we don't give him his puting, he will still suck on his finger/s -- so nak buat macamana ??? I've read somewhere that the ability to suck -- either the thumb or a dummy helps with the baby development... so I'm so confused now...

Anyway, since he had started on his solids about a week now - my sister-in-law who is taking care of him while I'm at work -- has started to wean him off the pacifier..ada la dia nangis sikit2..esp bila ngantuk nak tido... Nak tak nak, I thought I better persevere and sambung her effort during the night.. but it's mighty heart wrenching to see him whimper for the beloved puting.. Sampai terkecap bibir sendiri la nak tido tu.. Tapi alhamdullilah -- it has been 3 days and 2 nights now that we've been able to keep him away for it.. Now, my question is -- Am I making the right decision ??

After 6 months....

2010-10-28T15:37:00.006+08:00

Today marks Zikri's 6 months birthday.... and he's supposed to start on his solids. Over the weekend, we tried introducing it bit by bit -- macam tak suka je..mula-mula la.. But slowly boleh take it, but cannot finish the whole bowl...

So we stopped for a couple of days and yesterday my SIL tried again - this time a bit thicker than my version - she told me he finished the whole bowl -- Yayyy!!! Go Zikri, Go Zikri..

Will try to vary the food for him this weekend... Enjoy the pictures..

A special shout out to Ayah Ngah A'a -- Thank you Ayah Ngah for the cute bibs -- I'm starting to use them now !! ~ Zikri

New Addition to the family... Muhammad Ihsan Afif

2010-09-27T10:38:00.007+08:00

This year murah rezeki my parents.. For a while it's only just Adi, finally Mama and Abah dapat dua cucu this year.. Abah la yang paling excited (anybody who knows my father would know he's always pinning for a lot of cucus..)

Just a week before raya on 3rd September, my younger sister Yone gave birth to another baby boy - Muhammad Ihsan Afif bin Mohd Azri (we have the same birthdate Ihsan!) in Penang..

My mother since then has been very busy because dengan cucu lagi, dengan anak dalam pantang lagi, dengan nak raya lagi.. letih la mama

Anyway - we would like to welcome Ihsan into the family...

The day he was born...

Cepat betul bukak mata... sama macam abg Zikri..

Dah balik rumah mak tok.. amboi kan main lagi happynye dia..

Tengok tu, pandai buat muka plak...

Ambik gambar dengan abang Adi... Abg Adi tak sabar nak ajak Ihsan main tu...

Ambik gambar dengan Abang Zikri plak.. alahai, lebatnya rambut Ihsan.. Abg Zikri rambut tak tumbuh2 lagi -- Kena letak diaorang jauh sikit sebab tangan Zikri masa ni asyik menerawang je, nanti terkena plak adik Ihsan..

Lagi satu gambar together lepas Ihsan dah cukur rambut.. pandai la dua2 posing.. masa ni Zikri dan Ihsan dah jadi adik-beradik sesusu.. Susu Michik untuk Ihsan punya la banyak melimpah ruah, Zikri pun tumpang la sekaki.. Thank you Michik.. Thank you Ihsan...

About a week after raya, Ihsan kena infection kat pusat dia - terus dikejarkan ke hospital - kena admit for 3 nights.. Kesian Ihsan..

Takper Ihsan, nanti baik k....

Ihsan dah sihat dah.. This was taken when he was 22 days old

Kan main lagi.. susu pun dah banyak minum.. alhamdullilah.. This was taken yesterday - on his 24th day..

Selamat Menyambut Aidilfitri.. Maaf Zahir dan Batin

2010-09-08T12:10:00.002+08:00

To all readers yang sudi singgah my blog, saya ucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin...

Valentino Rossi wannabe???

2010-08-16T12:43:00.006+08:00

Before going into the Rossi's story -- citer about the weekend first -- during the weekend, it's still as hectic as ever.. On Saturday morning - I managed to wash Zikri's clothes together with all his beddings.. Had to moved him to the middle of the house as the neighbour was finishing up their renovation so Zikri 'tak tahan' with the noise and the strong smell of shellac.. He didn't want to go to sleep so had to play with him and layan him bersembang for a couple of hours. Tapi tak boleh jadi, I was planning to do a Bread Pudding which I got the recipe from here for Iftar at MIL's place. So, start jugak la buat walaupun he's still awake.. By the time the second round of boiling starts, he fell asleep, baru la boleh buat kerja dengan aman...

After the bread pudding was done (lupa nak tangkap gambar..isk,isk,isk..), went ahead and do some spring cleaning in the bedroom. At around 12.30 he woke up and I gave him his bath..Minum susu, plop him back into his playpen/cot..Tak nak tido lagi.. I lay down next to him -- terus dua-dua pun tertido hehehe..

Anyway to cut the story short the iftar in MIL's place was a success -- Initially Zikri was quiet and in awe to see so many people (MIL has 9 kids and 19 grandkids) -- Kebetulan on that weekend siblings yang ada pun only 5(including our family) -- tapi dengan spouse, dengan anak-beranak semua memang penuh la rumah Mak..Makanan pun banyak, alhamdullillah.. Around pukul 7, Zikri dah mula restless -- panas dan mengantuk.. salin baju pun tak nak tido pasal sibuk menahan mata..

Lepas je bukak puasa..Zikri dah start mengamuk rupanya panas -- walaupun pakai rompers -- dia tak tahan plus mengantuk yang amat sangat.. by 9.00pm we all pun balik la pasal dia dah dok mengamuk tak berenti...

Back to the Valentino Rossi's story last nite, after prayers semua, hubby was watching moto gp racing.. the small one suddenly showed very intense attention towards the black box -- masyallah, minat racing jugak ke anak mama sorang ni.. jangan sampai merempit sudah ye.. on second thought, tak payah la naik-naik moto ni -- bahaya.. minat je cukup.. tak payah nak ride, ride..

Hi everyone!!

Pose sebelum racing..

Tengok tu, punya la tekunnya..

Duduk pun dah ada stail..

Siap tunduk tu so that senang nak lap..

Mata still bulat walaupun sebenarnya dah mengantuk..

Car seat ride dengan mama di pagi Jumaat..

2010-08-13T12:49:00.004+08:00

Tengok la aksi-aksi Zikri dalam kereta on the way to my SIL's place pagi tadi...aktif sungguh..kekadang tu asyik terbaring aje.. rupanya hari ni aktif sebab buat harta karun.. semerbak harum lagi dalam kereta mama pagi tadi..

Anyway, dia sebenarnya tengah nak try hisap jari dia.. For the time being, we all keep saying him no-no-no bila dia start hisap jari.. Kadang-kadang dengar, kadang-kadang tak...Been reading the pros and cons about letting your baby suck his thumb vs pacifier.. Do any of you have any ideas which way to go ? He's definitely into sucking..

Our 1st Ramadan with Zikri..

2010-08-12T12:49:00.007+08:00

The first day sahur was okay -- coincidentally Zikri woke up around 4.30am for his feed so after feeding him, woke up Nasir to take over as I need to go and prepare the food for sahur..

By 5.10am, both of us can peacefully have our sahur as Zikri had went back to sleep.. Aman.. Right after Subuh masuk, he starts fidgeting without actually opening his eyes, so Nasir attended to him as I need to get some sleep.. mengantuk betul...Tapi tak maunye, by 6.30am bangun, solat and start preparing to go to work..

By 7.40ish left the house to send Zikri to K. Ami's house.. Traffic was a bit bad, as usual..Tengah in the crawling traffic, tiba-tiba bau semerbak harum menerpa ke hidungku.. alamak!! Zikri 'melepas' ye.. padan la senyap aje, mama sembang pun buat bolayan je.. Nasib baik dia tak fidget sangat (almaklumla.. my SIL kata Zikri ni pembersih, sikit aje basah or kotor - dah o-eh-o-eh - suruh tukar diapers -- ye la tu, bankrap mama macam ni)..

Right after dropping Zikri, rush plak pegi pasar kat depan rumah K. Ami --beli chicken, some sayur.. tak tau dalam otak nak masak apa lagi for berbuka nanti..Beli aje dulu...From the market, terus pegi ofis -- straight all the goodies from pasar masuk kat fridge office..

At 3.00pm, brought down the chicken from the freezer supaya easy to thaw it out by the time I leave in the evening..

During fasting month, the management allow us to leave the office 1 hour earlier at 4.30pm provided we work through lunch hour. Kalau tak, balik macam biasala...But semalam tak sempat nak keluar sharp 4.30 because had a short discussion with Francyne.. So managed to leave the office by 4.45pm.. Jalan clear, but the motorcyclists tiba-tiba macam ramai plak during ramadan ni..Lepas tu asyik mencilok-cilok plak.. ya allah.. tarik nafas aku.. sabar ajela..

Anyway, reached K. Ami's house at around 5.05pm - Zikri tengah tido -- ternampak susu dah standby dah sebelah dia.. Alamak, dia nak menyusu la ni, lambat la plak nak sampai rumah nanti.. But buat dunno aje, balik terus, didn't feed him first. K. Ami tapaukan Roti Jalan dengan Gulai Ayam.. Pandai Leel, anak teruna K. Ami yang sorang tu mengelek roti jala.. Boleh la, kalau ada sapa-sapa nak buat menantu..hehehe..

Sampai rumah dekat2 pukul 6ptg.. Nasir tak sampai lagi, macamana nak masak ni dengan si Zikri.. Kalau dia tido takpa, ni dia tengah cerah bijik mata.. Apa lagi, plop him onto tilam kekabu pemberian Maktok, letak soft toy next to him and put the tilam under the fan.. Sibuk la dia dok menengok fan tu berpusing for half an hour -- tapi mulut bising la, so I have to make some noise too tu layan dia bersembang.. Within that half an hour, sempat la masak sup ayam seperiuk.

By 6.30, Nasir pun balik, so he took over.. Baru la can finish cooking peacefully.. Dengar la si ayah tengah main dengan anaknya -- ku-kik-ku-kik Zikri ketawa -- rupanya Ayah main konon-konon naik motor (siap dengan sound effect sekali).. tu yang ketawa kan main lagi tu..Tiba-tiba dengar Zikri menangis sekuat hati (when I ask Nasir, he said "ntah, tadi kan main ketawa, tukar naik aeroplane je, terus nangis -- agaknya dia baru teringat dia lapar tak ??) Lawak la Zikri ni..I guess betul la kot, sebab bila bagi je botol with 4oz, laju je dia habis...siap tak cukup lagi mama kena tambah lagi satu oz..lepas tu baru la kenyang.. By then, waktu berbuka pun dah masuk so I just had some water and kurma je dulu... Nasir had his dinner first, after I put Zikri to sleep around 8.00pm, baru la I makan..

Amboiii.. penatnya la first day of puasa.. bukannya penat puasa, penat lari sana sini..Tapi seronok having Zikri for the first time during Ramadan semenjak we all kawin.. Ni Ramadan yang ke sepuluh for us both.. it's a blessed Ramadan.. Alhamdullillah... Was your first Ramadan as hectic as mine ?

** Some unrelated pictures taken in the past month..

Zikri masa awal-awal guna car seat ni..Baik je rupanya, sekarang pun baik, tapi kadang2 suka hisap strap kat bahu dia tu.. Sedap agaknya..

Seronoknya main dengan mama..

Dah penat main, tido plak la..

Ni latest picture taken last Sunday.. tengah senyum kat Ayah.. seronok dapat main dengan Ayah on Ayah's off day..

Selamat Berpuasa, Maaf Zahir dan Batin

2010-08-10T12:28:00.001+08:00

First day at work...

2010-07-19T17:11:00.007+08:00

Time mandi....

Relax aje michik exercise dia...

After almost 3 months being with Zikri, today I have to start work and it kind of bittersweet to leave him with my sister-in-law...I miss him terribly during the day -- especially bathing time.. It is so fun to see him react to whatever I say or do to him.. He really loves to bath...

Anyway, I really hope he will be a good boy for Cik Ami.. and can't wait to see him soon...

Finally he arrives....

2010-05-06T13:49:00.003+08:00

Day 1 kat hospital...

On 28th of April, the long awaited arrival of our bundle of joy finally came.. No doubt it was an early arrival plus a surprise..Muhammad Zikri bin Mohd Nasir made his arrival on the night of 28th April..

Alhamdullillah... thank you Allah and all our family and friends that have been praying for us.

**Update - pictures as promised

Counting the days...

2010-04-14T08:50:00.010+08:00

Alhamdullillah - I've now reached my 34th week..At this point, I sometime feel quite heavy, tight (in the abdomen area) and very tired -- especially at the end of the day... Somehow I still did not gain any weight. I still weigh 81kg -- last check up on Monday..

Prof Zainul had discussed with me on delivery options. Still discussing and deciding -- particularly about where I'm going to give birth.. Nampak gayanya masih berat nak bersalin di Penang.. so we shall see..

Please pray and doa for me and my baby.. Thank you...

Atas permintaan some of my cousins who have not met me since I was pregnant, here are some pictures.. I think it still doesn't make any difference.. I nampak macam biasa saja I rasa...

This is during my sixth month pregnancy -- with a Nepalese secondee before he left for Kathmandu.. The lady in white is my colleague Letchumi...

This was taken last week..

Another angle... version kembang sikit..

Nobody, nobody but you....

2010-03-26T14:14:00.011+08:00

I don't know why but this song keep playing in my head for the last couple of weeks even when I'm trying to sleep.. Melampau kan...Maybe because I keep looking it up on the youtube and playing it for at least once a day..Anyway, it does help to 'pick-me-up' when I'm feeling kind of sluggish nowadays -- reaching 32 weeks next weeks, and getting heavier and heavier (eventhough my weight still remain the same..mmmm...weird a..).. At the same time, hubby enjoyS it too -- so when it goes on air on Era every morning on the way to work.. It really make our day..

The girls are really cute and adorable, the steps are really contagious...

Enjoy the clip and the lyrics below...

Wonder Girls — Nobody (English) lyrics
You Know I still Love You Baby.
And it will never change. (Saranghae)

I want nobody nobody But You, I want nobody nobody But You
How can I be with another, I don't want any other
I want nobody nobody nobody nobody

Why are you trying to, to make me leave ya
I know what you're thinking
Baby why aren't you listening
How can I just
Just love someone else and
Forget you completely
When I know you still love me

Telling me you're not good enough
My life with you is just too tough
You know it's not right so
Just stop and come back boy
How can this be
When we were meant to be

I want nobody nobody But You, I want nobody nobody But You
How can I be with another, I don't want any other
I want nobody nobody nobody nobody

I want nobody nobody But You, I want nobody nobody But You
How can I be with another, I don't want any other
I want nobody nobody nobody nobody

Why can't we just, just be like this
Cause it's you that I need and nothing else until the end
Who else can ever make me feel the way I
I feel when I'm with you, no one will ever do

Telling me you're not good enough
My life with you is just too tough
You know me enough so
You know what I need boy
Right next to you is where I need to be.

I want nobody nobody But You, I want nobody nobody But You
How can I be with another, I don't want any other
I want nobody nobody nobody nobody

I don't want no body, body
I don't want no body, body

Honey you know it's you that I want, it's you that I need
Why can't you see~

I want nobody nobody But You, I want nobody nobody But You
How can I be with another, I don't want any other
I want nobody nobody nobody nobody

I want nobody nobody But You, I want nobody nobody But You
How can I be with another, I don't want any other
I want nobody nobody nobody nobody

Back to the days when we were so young and wild and free
Nothing else matters other than you and me
So tell me why can't it be
Please let me live my life my way
Why do you push me away
I don't want nobody nobody nobody nobody but you.

Diaper Cakes Giveaway Contest!!!

2010-02-13T09:02:00.012+08:00

My dear cousin sister - Siti Nurbaizurah had started her own home-based business -- providing creative ways to give presents to newborn babies or younger children...aside from other things..

I really like her business idea and would like to help her promote her business.. Currently she's having a giveaway contest on her business blog -- sayangnya -- adik-beradik tak boleh join.
Note to Yah -- nanti buat giveaway contest just for adik-beradik no! -hehehehe...

Please do go and visit her blog - click on the banner below..

Below are some samples of her 'scrumptious ' looking cakes...

Update -- 5th check up...

2010-02-10T15:58:00.005+08:00

Last Monday was my fifth monthly check up -- by now I'm in my 24th weeks.. Alhamdullilah everything is so far, so good.. Baby slightly bigger than the normal size.. Prof kata it should be around 750gm but mine is about 883gm..

Alhamdullillah also, my blood pressure dah semakin turun so now Prof suruh totally stopped my BP medication. Aspirin (in very small dosage) however I still have to continue sampai deliver rasanya.. Kedudukan plasenta pun ok, content of amniotic fluid pun ok -- he was worried takut terbanyak --- then that would indicate diabetic..

Sebenarnya being pregnant when you are overweight -- is really very risky. You are exposed/prone to get a lot of things.. On top of that, I'm not young anymore...hehehee...lagi la risky.. Tapi alhamdullillah, I'm controlling my food.. I drink a lot (I mean a lot -- at least 2 liters) of water -- and stay away from sweet stuff..

Next check up -- he wants to give me a jab for 'kancing gigi' -- which is actually meant for the baby but he's giving it through me..

Unfortunately last week -- I had a very, very bad case of food poisoning -- I've been having diarrhea and vomiting every day for the last 5-6 days.. I lost 2 kg within 4 days -- habis drain out all the water -- luckily I kuat minum air so at least I'm hydrated so tak payah la masuk drips.. Nasib baik.. Alhamdullillah now dah ok sikit, but I still cannot take milk -- ada kengkawan yang suggest suruh switch to soya bean -- tapi susah nak cari soya bean yang belum pre-mix with air gula.. I kalau boleh nak beli yang ada sikit je air gula -- just untuk ada taste sikit je.. yg manis2 tak nak.. Kalau ada yang tau kat mana nak beli, let me know ye -- kalau boleh yang orang Melayu buatla, lalu sikit nak minum...hehehe..

Prof was also surprised to see that my legs are not swollen -- means no water retention.. Probably because I minum banyak air..But on the flip side, my right arm & wrists are in constant numb/pain -- it's called carpal tunnel syndrome -- nothing much can be done about it -- so sometimes I have to bandage the wrist to minimise movements.

That's it for this month... please continue to pray for me and my baby.. Thank you so much...

On a different note, Mama, Abah, Cha and Wan Chik bertolak ke Madinah on the same Monday for umrah until 21st February. Harap-harap semuanya selamat...

Finally...after almost nine years...

2010-01-05T10:33:00.003+08:00

This 13th January will be our ninth wedding anniversary.. However, for this year it's going to be a vast difference from the other years because finally for this anniversary -- I'm finally pregnant (alhamdullillah.. syukur pada Allah S.W.T yang masih mendengar doa dan permintaan daripada hamba2Nya yang kerdil dan hina ini)

I'm currently approaching my 20th week and alhamdullillah the baby is growing healthily..

After being just the two of us for so long, it feels quite surreal to us to comprehend what's coming.. Also, after all the hospital trips, treatments, hours of waiting, money spent.. aside from all the sindiran dan kutukan yang terngiang di telinga ni... Bersyukurnya both of us dengan kurniaan Allah yang satu ini...

Just for information, in 2005 I was pregnant once and I had a miscarriage when I reached my 10th week.. It was a very sad time for us and since then -- nothing.. We started to go for check ups in HUKM and after numerous treatments, just before we went with medically assisted conception (which at that point was IUI), we kind of stepped back from it.. sebab basically dah letih -- tak berenti-renti for more than a couple of years, a little bit patah semangat..We had accepted the fate that maybe we are not destined to have any children of our own...Tapi dengan kuasa Allah siapa yang sangka...

This post bukanlah bertujuan untuk bermegah-megah dengan berita gembira ini, tapi lebih kepada

1. Ucapan terima kasih yang tak terhingga kepada yang sudi mendoakan kami untuk dapat mengecapi nikmat Allah yang satu ini..

2. Harapan semoga kalian terus berdoa semoga anak dalam kandungan sihat sejahtera dan akan selamat dilahirkan ke dunia ini...

3. Memberi harapan kepada pasangan2 yang senasib dengan kami... jangan la berputus harap..Teruslah berdoa, semoga Allah kabulkan permintaan kalian...Amin...

Note to Adi: Happy 4th Birthday dear... Semoga Allah sentiasa memberi rahmatnya pada Adi...

Wedding of the year.. for our family.. part 3 (last part)

2009-12-02T12:09:00.009+08:00

Sebelum tahun ni masuk ke tahun 2010, I better finish this entry secepat mungkin.. But sebelum tu, I would like to wish sesiapa yang sempat lalu kat my blog ni, Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha..

Back to the kenduri -- on Wednesday petang tu (27th May), the butik pengantin people came and pasang the pelamin kat hall.. While they were hanging the stuff, I looked at the center piece and literally cringe...Dalam hati, adoi mak.. teruknya colour and design -- flowers semua nampak cheap and kusam.. abih la Yone mesti tak suka punye ni..Tak berani nak kata apa2 kat Mama dulu, because she went and proceed with this butik..Tengok2 Mama pun tak berkenan..

Yang sejambak bunga atas flower stand tu bukan from the butik ye.. it's the bunga pahar that I created..

Initially, the purple square thing, they just hang it as a square -- Mama yg mintak suruh dia gantung macam diamond gini...While they were hanging, Yone came back from work and saw the whole thing. Tak cakap apa, terus naik atas, terus migrane/demam..

Malam tu, while we were looking and thinking about the pelamin, mama decided to let me revamp the pelamin. Kesian kat Yone, mama kata..Luckily esoknya tu, baru Thursday -- so I have the whole day tomorrow to rectify the pelamin..

Bila tido malam tu, asyik dok pikir fesyen apa la nak buat pelamin Yone ni..Pagi esoknya, bangun2 je, terus browse internet for some ideas, print a couple of samples and lepas breakfast terus ajak Cha pegi SSF to look for the decorations.. After pegi SSF, went to the hardware shop next door, look for the stapler gajah yang sangat diperlukan untuk kerja2 membuat pelamin ini..hehehe..

By 1pm we cross over back to the island (as SSF is in seberang).. and head straight to KBJ.. First stop butik Aunty Jay -- Aunty J is our designated tailor for the wedding dresses (the pengantin as well as the adik-beradik).. Mama called her in the morning to see whether she can loan some of her flowers and apa barang2 yg boleh.. We took as many flowers as possible, then we head to Kamdar to look for the materials yang matching color schemenya dengan the theme colour.. Finally we found the best 2 colours and they are quite cheap -- dalam lingkungan bawah RM5, satu meter. Bought so many meters of cloth -- tak ingat dah berapa -- but all in all cost materials + stuff kat SSF saja dah dekat RM300.00 - okla, considering..

Sampai kat rumah by 3.00pm, makan lunch, solat, rehat sat - at 4pm we started working on the pelamin. Azim was around so asked him to help take the hideous thing out and put it outside while we work. He keep on saying that we should have told the butik to come and rectify it, I dah tak larat nak cari gaduh.. just kept quiet and start planning with Cha and Intan.. Buat punya buat until finally pukul 1 pagi baru la siap.. Lama betoi -- almaklumla, bukannya professional.. Tukang gantung pun ada sorang -- tu pun gilir gilir dengan cik kembaq.. By the time hubby arrived at the house for the wedding, pelamin tu pun siap untuk digunakan keesokan harinya..

Cantik tak pelamin?

The next morning - Yone was so happy to have the revamp pelamin looking like what she wanted... Adoi, berbaloi la kerja Yong, Cha, Intan and others.. I had to wake up early to solat Subuh and start on the tangga punya decorations plak.. Sempat siap, tapi tak sempat tangkap gambar (Cha, you have some rite, dalam your phone -- email la kat yong).. Anyway, around 8.30 dengan groggynya, had to drive and pick up the Marhaban group from Taman Tun S**d*n to our house.. Masa depa dok mengaji, I have to say, I cannot hold up my head anymore -- terus crash.. Letih oo... Satgi petang dah akad nikah.. Here are some pictures from that event...

In the evening - the akad nikah went well... after the akad was done in Masjid Negeri P. P.. the whole group head back to our home in I*l**d G**d*s and everyone had dinner.. By 9.00pm, Meor had gotten ready to head to T*b**g H*j* to start preparing for tomorrow's event. I was too tired to go that early so opt to help out at home and plan to go later..While we were at home, Cha did a video call with Ayu who was already at the hall to ask how was the decoration.. Ayu said it's not great plus it was quite dark by then for Ayu to show how they did it via the phone.. So, again at around 10.30/11pm, Cha, I and hubby drove to the hall to check out the decorations -- the butik people had already left..Again, the colour was totally off -- everything was too bright -- they used a lot of bright pink instead of pastel pink & purple.. adoi another pening kepala.. by then it's already midnight and most of us pun dah tak larat dah nak buat apa2.. so we went back and crashed. Early on Saturday morning at around 7.30am -- I make the call to the boutique owner and ask them to rectify the decorations according to my request. I told her to make sure everything is done by 11.00am. She promised to do so and that's a bulk load off my shoulders.. By 8.30am both of us - hubby and I plus Yone had to pick up the groom from the hotel and drop them at the saloon to get ready. Then we went and pick up the photographers and bring them to the hall.. Sampai je kat the hall -- terus salin baju and bersiap.. My lovely brooch that I just bought online broke and tak dapat la nak melaram sakan masa tu..

Just before 12.00noon, Yone called to say they were ready and wanted us to come and pick them up.. By 12.20 macam tu, the bride and groom were already in the waiting room.. then the reception began.. Enjoy the pictures...

**For reference: the theme colour was - the married couples -purple, single ladies/girls -pink and the single men - green..

Bali trip..

2009-09-07T09:26:00.000+08:00

I had so much of story to tell, but don't know where to start..

I guess during Ramadan ni, masa lebih banyak tertumpu kepada kerja, rushing balik ke rumah to beat the jam, then masak (or beli je kat Bazar Ramadan).. make sure all set for iftar.. Lepas iftar, fokus plak on ibadah (yang selalunya asyik ketinggalan -- berazam to ensure this part will increase this year -- alhamdullillah so far so good).. then terus tido --sebab by 4.00am dah nak bangun plak for sahur..That's it for my ramadan routine..However, the merdeka weekend I was very excited coz dapat balik Penang berbuka puasa with all my family members - immediate and extended.. Lepas the kenduri Yone a couple of months back (which reminds me, I still have 1 last entry abt that), was very glad to see all of them -- especially the small ones (Adi and Irfan -- wish Emran was there too, but I guess that will happen during raya ja kot).. dapat suprise birthday party lagi -- hehehe.. thank you to all my siblings, parents and my beloved husband (terlibat ke idak ni??)

Anyway -- back to my original story plan -- I was in Bali a couple of weeks back for the 9th ICAAP -- the flight was ok -- on time and we got to the hotel fine. However, the hotel we stayed in Nusa Dua was really, really horrible - the bath tub was moldy - the bathroom was dingy.. The ceiling was moldy and had water stains (don't think it was due to rain because there's another couple of floors above me) -- there was only 1 power socket which was used by the TV (small 14 inch TV) and there were a couple of times, I saw this 'ulat' - I used to call it 'Separ Bulan' mengulit mimpi di dalam toilet as well as in front of the closet.. eeeewwww..

It seems Letchumi had a lousy room too - so it's not just me.. Francyne who had to stay one night earlier at the same hotel pun complaint that it wasn't great (mind you, she got to stay in one of the presidential suite!! The hotel misplaced her reservation, so they upgrade her at the same price).. It's so not worth it for USD85.00 (this is conference rate kalau tidak it's more than USD100.00) per night.. Tapi memandangkan easy commute to the Convention Centre -- we make do je la..

Petang the first day tu, we had to attend the opening ceremony -- I didn't realise that it's going to be so windy and chilly at night so tak prepare with any thicker clothes. Also, asap rokok dengan merdekanya berterbangan di sekeliling ku menyebabkan tonsilku mula terasa bengkak.. Jenuh la dok pop-in the 'F**h*r**n F*i**d -- to make the sore throat go away.. The O.C. was good, tapi the speeches were quite long, orang semua dah lapar..And by the time the OC is over -- the food stations dah penuh dikerumuni ramai orang -- so we took the bus to get back to the hotel. We had our dinner at the hotel's restaurant je that night.

Overall the whole conference was good. The participants got what they want. Most of the participants are first timers in reporting on HIV/AIDS -- we had to spent quite a while to make sure they understand the sensitivity of reporting on HIV/AIDS. Alhamdullillah -- they all look quite excited about learning something new...

Also, this is the first time ever in my experience of handling these types of workshop the majority of the participants are women -- almost 90% -- only 2 guys (but 1 dropped out last minute - so last2 tinggal sorang)..

I also managed to finally meet Kak Pi of Pi's Twist during one of the interviews. The efforts and commitments of the NGO and the people running the NGO such as Buddies of Ipoh really deserve the highest salute from the community. Sungguh mulia hati mereka ini semua...

Kak Pi being interviewed by Shaza..

The troop from Buddies and ABU

By this time, I was quite sick -- nasib baik ada clinic kat the conference, went there quickly to get the medication before my fever escalates. Nanti tak boleh balik plak..kena kuarantine..

We were checked out from the hotel on the 11th and proceed to Kuta for our own time -- the hotel there (eventhough 3 star) was so much better.. we really love the room there..We did some shopping and spa the next day and by night time, boarded our plane back to KL..

cantik kan.. lupa plak nak amik gambar 'horror' kat the previous hotel..

Muka tak berapa sihat tapi tetap pegi shopping.. hehehe.. kat Erlangga..

It was a good trip...

Mohon Ampun dan Maaf...

2009-08-21T14:32:00.009+08:00

Girls day out..

2009-08-03T16:31:00.008+08:00

Need to interrupt my posts on the wedding.. lepas ni will continue..

It's been a while since Leen, Zaili and I went out for a weekend outings.. I remembered those days when we were single (by 'we' - I meant Zaili and I -- Leen masih single .. hehehe.. Leen, jangan mare ye..), almost every other weekend we would have our outings.. The outings usually consists of movies (perasan tak the 's') and makan-makan.. What we usually do is either Saturday or Sunday, we will watch 2 movies back-to-back and then finished the day with makan-makan and chit-chat session..

When I first got married, the outings had dwindled a bit to just makan-makan and at least 1 movie.. When Zaili got married and had Fariz, the occasion of get-together had switched to makan-makan sessions in either my house or Zaili's house.. (of course this includes the spouses and Fariz).. After Fariz dah besar sikit, our outings kind of switched plak to the theater -- mainly just PLGM and P. Ramlee the Musical.. I think the last planned outing that we had was last year for the theater P. Ramlee the Musical some time in June, I think. I was injured that time and was heavily relying on the crutches - so nak tak nak, terpaksa la let go of the teater.. Nasib baik Leen managed to persuade her sister, Mira to join them so tak la rugi the tickets.. Zaili came over earlier to collect the tickets and tried to persuade me one last time to give it a go.. But, bila memikirkan the number of anak tangga that I have to climb even 2 atau 3 kat Istana Budaya tu, tak sanggup I nak take the risk.. so there goes our last outings..

In between tu adala we met each other kat functions/weddings tapi not on outings like we always do...

Ntah macamana .. last couple of weeks while I was on ym with Zaili, suddenly we decided we should do one soon.. best time would be last weekend(1/2 August) or the weekend of 15/16 because I'll be travelling to Bali this coming weekend for the ICAAP conference and Zaili is heading to Sandakan for a holiday.. Eventually we decided to go for yesterday -- the agenda --"The Proposal", lunch then balik...

The movie was at 11.15am and I reached MV at around 10.50am.. By then both Leen and Zaili dah sampai.. Zaili by 10.25 dah sampai and collected the ticket.. Zaili then suggested, since it's so hard to actually do the outing, why not we do 2 movies at one go... In the end we opt for this, start with "The Proposal" -- sampai at least 1.00pm, then lunch + cit-cat2, solat, window shopping (hehehe.. Leen almost bought the shoe and Zaili almost bought the bag...) and then around 4.00pm we went for the "Ghost of Girlfriends Past"..

We had a blast!!.. The Proposal was simply hilarious.. and cute.. we really enjoyed it so much.. and while having our lunch at K**n* R**e*'*.. we jump from one topic to another.. Mostly to catch up on what's been happening in each other's lives..Unfortunately, punye rancak berborak -- I langsung tak teringat to get a picture of us.. hish...memang confirm dah tua.. hehehe..

The second movie wasn't as good as the first one -- tapi takpe la -- the company that counts.. Anyway to Leen and Zaili -- thank you for the outing -- we should do it again maybe before the end of the year.. and Selamat Berpuasa..

Picture was take here.. Thumbs up for Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.. Enjoyed it very much..

P/S: There was a funny incident while we at the cashier -- to read it, go to my other blog..

Wedding of the year.. for our family la...part 2

2009-07-30T10:38:00.001+08:00

24.05.09 Pagi-pagi we all bangun -- terus start buat kerja.. Cik Abang, terus menuju ke garden mama -- tolong gantung blinds, ubah pasu, trim pokok2 mama dan seangkatan dengannya.. Me, don't quite remember what I did that morning. Probably tolong mama prepare breakfast (as in, punggah semua dari bungkusan2 yang ditapau dari Market Taman Tun Sa'ardon oleh Abah) and buat air.. Cik abang pukul 1.00 tgh, dah nak bertolak balik ke KL naik bas.

After breakfast, I started with my bunga pahar yang tak habis2 -- mana nak habis, one of the 'inti' tersalah buat, jadi kena bukak balik semula, buat yang betul and cantumkan.. Dapat la buat dalam 10 je pagi tu.. By lunch time, Mama dah siap masak -- suruh menantu sulung makan dulu sebab takut terlepas bas plak.. Kebetulan Mamu Non, Mami Timah and Farhana mai.. join la makan sekali. Bila Mamu Non tau my hubby nak balik KL petang tu, he terus offer to hantaq Nasir ke bas stesyen.. Alhamdullillah..

Around 3pm macam tu, rombongan from Ipoh pun sampai -- Wan Chik, Wan Chu, Meor and Adi came from Ipoh. Meor yg balik dari Ipoh (which is routine as a 'weekend husband') drove Wan Chik's car to Penang so that Wan Chik and Wan Chu can help out the whole week. By then all the aunties and cousin2 pun dah sampai and they started the work on the chocolates.. Nasib baik the chocolates semua selamat.. Memandangkan the weather was quite hot and humid, all chocolates had to be stored in my room (actually it's Yone's room tapi dia dah dapat bilik pengantin terpaksala we all menumpang kat bilik dia) with the aircond on almost all the time...(bill electric abah mesti naik punye la bulan tu)...

Sekejap je, almost 3/4 of the 1,000++ boxes have been filled. Tu la bila banyak tangan kerja pun jalan cepat..Malam tu we had one final 'commitee' meeting which was chaired by Meor.. All aunties left earlier and the cousins stayed back for the meeting. It went well -- I brought out all the food for them to enjoy while in their meeting. I stayed out since my tasks are mostly before the wedding -- sikit2 je that I have to take care during the wedding -- so Cha took notes of my tasks and all the rest punye tasks as well.. Ala2 take down minutes la tu..

25.05.09 -- Continued with my bunga pahar.. baru buat sikit, stop plak to help with the bunga telur(ie kotak2 bunga telur).. Finishing up packing the chocolates, masukkan dalam balance kotak2 and betulkan all the ribbons.. Petang tu, lepas Yone balik dari kerja both she and I together with Wan Chu went to collect my baju kat Aunty J's place, then singgah jap kat rumah Mami Khairun to solat, then proceeded to T*sc* - Wan Chu nak cari kedai B*t* nak cari kasut, we all plak nak cari potpourri essence for the bunga rampai...While we were there, Wan Chu buat citer kelakar -- ala2 abah.. which left us giggling all the way sampai balik rumah..

26.05.09 -- Pagi-pagi tu Yone and Meor pegi kerja.. I started with my bunga pahar again.. By lunch time Wan Chik and Wan Chu ajak I and Cha to start decorating the bilik pengantin.. We all pun started with the curtains.. Adoiii makkk... luckily Cha ada -- the whole railing thing ada masalah..Cha kira terror la jugak jadi MacGyver..Then we moved on to the katil... Adi through out this event happily played with all the gadgets yg berada di sekeliling we all.. Tak larat dah nak larang..Petang tu Yone balik tengok bilik semua dah siap -- dia dah mula nervous.. alamak..dah nak kawin ke ???

Mama actually sew the sequins on the bantal2 dan kusyen2 warna beige.. Mama memang like to do the small, creative little things for her kids wedding.. Masa my wedding, she put in pearl beads on my cadar to make it more interesting and cantik...She even sew a new set of 'tikar sila' for my wedding and that has been used numerous times now by cousins and siblings..We are so lucky to have Mama as our mother..

To be continued....

Kotak coklat yang telah disusun elok2 dalam kotak besar...

Kotak2 yang diletak dalam the bakul -- ready for the guests..

Bilik pengantin yang disiapkan oleh Cha, Wan Chu, Wan Chik and myself.. Ni hantaran pun dah siap letak tp blm susun betul2 lagi time ni..

Wedding of the year.. for our family la...part 1

2009-07-07T13:42:00.000+08:00

It's been more than a month now since the wedding of Yone and Azri.. It's about a year ago when they got engaged. Time do fly by quickly...

Anyway, this is my take on the whole wedding preparation from my point of view...

Both Cha (my younger sis) and I took a week of leave from work to help/start with the preparation at home for the wedding. For me, the week started from the afternoon of the 22nd of May..

22.05.09 (Friday) - around 2.00 pm went straight to Serdang to B**y*'s Chocolate factory to get all the chocolates for the wedding favours..Decided to bring all the chocolates home (sebab takut cair -- almaklumla, the climate is so hot and humid) then continue with the tasks to be completed. Sampai rumah around 4.00pm, unload the stuff and saw hubby sampai.. Told him about the things that I still need to do, he said he'll come along after Asar. So, right after solat Asar, went straight to S*F in Damansara for last minute purchase of stuff. Left around 7.30pm, called Aunty Nie nak check whether we can come over then. Got green light, went straight to her place in Kelana Jaya. Aunty Nie is the one decorated the bakul2 hantaran so went there to collect all the bakul. Bila sampai je kat sana, tengok Tok Bachik and co. is there..so, I agak mesti sangkut lama punye ni..True enough by 9.30, we are still there -- I have 1 more stop to make -- W**d**m**k to collect my cupcakes, tapi tengok cik abang dok rancak berborak.. terus ajak Peepee(Syafiqah - anak dara A. Nie) to accompany me to collect the cupcakes and came back to the house. Nasib baik sempat.. brought back some cuppies for orang rumah to rasa.. Left A. Nie's house almost midnight.. Sampai rumah dekat pukul 1.00 pagi -- terus flat, packing tak habis lagi -- esok lah...

23.05.09 (Saturday) - planningnya nak balik Penang awal2 pagi, tapi pasal packing tak habis - gedebak-gedebuk pukul 1.30 tgh baru keluar rumah.. Bila tengah sangkut dalam jam kat area Batu Caves tu, hati dah mula risau takut coklat semua cair tengah hari panas ni.. Hubby kata better not to take the risks -- nanti bila sampai Penang, semua coklat melt -- baru habis citer semua.. So, call mama -- told her that we will leave bila dah malam/sejuk sikit sebab takut coklat cair. Mama was ok, Abah was not so excited (before that Abah dah brapa kali call, dok tanya pukul brapa we all nak bertolak -- tak sabar-sabar Abah) -- tapi bila dah explain -- ok la..We all pun patah balik, unload back all the chocolates into the house and tunggu sampai around 6.00pm.

By 6.00pm -- all the chocolates were all back in the car -- the Myvi macam tongkang pecah -- all the seats behind had be flatten sebab too many things. Nasib baik tak kena bawak the wedding cake. If not, dah tak tau nak letak mana. I had to riba the cupcakes sebab takut terpenyek.. Anyway, ngam-ngam 6.30 we all bertolak, hujan pun turun dengan lebatnya. Terpaksa singgah R*B Bank dulu - nak drop chq for car repayment. Nanti terus terlupa.. The journey wasn't eventful as I was knock out most of the time -- letih.. At around 10.00pm berenti kat Bukit Gantang to have the nasi lemak and hilangkan mengantuk cik abang.. At around midnight, we all pun sampai -- Abah setia menanti, menunggu nak bukak kan pintu untuk we all sebab semua orang dah tido..Abah bagitau that Emilia, wife my cousin Haikal baru bersalin at around 7.30 kat Tawakal Hospital.. Alahai, apsal tak cakap, tidak we all pun dapat singgah tadi sebelum bertolak..

**To be continued...

P/S: Dengan blurnya, I forgot to take pictures -- yg ada ni pun atas ehsan cousin2 yang rajin menangkap gambar.. The ones yg quite blur-blur tu are from my handphone. Almaklumla, tak dak kamera canggih..

Birthday cuppies for mama (more fore makan2 sebenarnya..hehehe..)

The bakul-bakul hantaran together with the hantaran... Pandai A. Nie, mengubah..

The wedding cake yang almost dibawak balik..Nasib baik tak jadi..(Wedding Cake is courtesy of Aunty Jan..)

Simply Awesome!!!!

2009-06-26T11:30:00.006+08:00

After the week long of sick leave, both hubby and I treat ourselves to a dosage of an awesome movie late last night at the GSC Pavilion.. It was truly amazing. Truthfully over my expectations. Reached home at 4.00am and couldn't really go straight to sleep.

Now, for those who knew my husband -- you would know that he dislikes movies(mostly). If you are able to catch him watching a movie on the tv -- that's considered a miracle. Even when the movie was about to start last night, he started with "do you think they can turn the volume down ???" hehehe... that's my beloved husband.

Anyway, how did I persuaded him to go for this one -- surprise, surprise -- this time round, practically no persuasion needed. While we were sick the past few days, we were watching more TV than we usually do. Stumbled upon the VIP Access on HBO and it was focused on what else -- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Now, both of us watched the first Transformers on HBO earlier this year (or was it last year?? mmmm..). Dear hubby was so captivated by the movie. I told him, it would have been better if we saw it on the big screen. He said, how come I dunno about this movie ? I said, that's because you are not a fan of movies, period. So, to cut the story short -- he's now very excited that the second movie is out and willing to go to the cinema to catch it. So, after being cooped up in the house for the past one week, we decided to go to Pavilion for it. We arrived around 6.00pm and by then -- everything was selling fast. The ones yang tinggal are seats on 2 rows from the screen. Hubby was reluctant to go for it as nanti tak puas tengok the screen. So we opt for the midnight show at 12.45am.

The key reason why this one catches his attention -- the military stuff and the technology..It was awesome -- thanks abang ;-)

P/S: I have a couple of entries that's overdue -- especially about the wedding.. will do it soon..

Wedding Azim & Saleha and the coming wedding..

2009-05-18T11:41:00.007+08:00

As might you know the month of May this year is a very busy month for our extended family as there are 2 weddings happening this month.

On the 1st of May - my cousin Azim got married to his lovely wife Saleha. Since both of them are from Penang, it was easier to do all the kenduris in the same weekend. On Friday, was the akad nikah, Saturday was the kenduri on Saleha's side at the Dewan Sri Pinang and on Sunday our kenduri -- at the new bay constructed - Tanjung City Marina.. It is such a beautiful place to hold your wedding reception especially with the breeze blowing and the view of the yatch docked there.

Soon on the 29th May will be my younger sister's turn (Yone and Azri).. Her akad nikah is going to be on that day and the reception will be on the 30th May.. Both my hubby and I sincerely wish both couples greatest happiness in their new chapter of life..

Here are some photos from the events..

These are the bunga pahar that I'm doing for Yone's wedding..

Baru sikit je siap.. soon have to finish it -- I'm due to leave for Penang this Saturday!!

The aching continues....

2009-05-15T15:38:00.003+08:00

Oh no, no, no... Nothing so dramatic as a heartbroken etc..

For the past one year both my bottom wisdom teeth has been giving me a lot of problems. The infection gums and acheness. You see, instead of growing up like the other normal teeth, these two are lying down sideways embedded in my gums. Meaning the teeth want to grow but because they are lying sideways -they keep pushing all my other teeth where all the teeth dah senget benget (I can see it in the x-ray).. Dah la sideways, tak nampak plak tu. It's like watching the tip of an iceberg -- sikit je tipnye nampak -- the rest are all inside the gum.

Picture courtesy of US National Library of Medicine

I've been postponing the treatment for a number of reasons -

1. The doctor/dentist said there's a slight risk of my lips being permanently/temporarily numb -- this is because both of the roots are so very near the nerves that connects the brain and the lips. If they operate, they could hit the nerve and my lips could be permanently numb - scary.. so dok postpone la..but the risk is small about 5-10%.. but risk is still risk..

2. Secondly, I've been going back and forth about doing it as an operation -- meaning kena buat GA and admit hospital -- they put me to sleep and take out all 4 wisdom teeth (top and bottom). Or I could go to the hospital 4 times and do it one by one. By the way, I first went to a private dentist, it's going to cost me at least RM500.00 per tooth. And the dentist did not explain to me no 1. I went to the Klinik Kerajaan in Bangsar and they referred me to GH - under Jabatan Bedah Mulut. So all these was explained to me by the doctor/dentist in GH.

I've been asking a lot of people whether to do it one shot or do it one-by-one. Ada yg suggest suruh buat one shot - senang, sekali je sakit.. Ada yg suggest buat one-by-one sebab at least you can still eat one side if you do it one-by one..Kalau buat sekaligus, kot tak tahan la bila the anaesthetics has worn off..besides you can't eat for a while..

Anyway, been delaying for so long until my gums got infected again last week.. I had no choice, called up the hospital and set the appointment to do it one-by-one on the 14th May. It was done yesterday -- the experience was scary but I still got thru it alright. The were a lot of things going on inside my mouth -- I think there were 3 people standing around me at that time, the dentist was sweating like a p*g, I can see the droplets gracing the floor, I can smell the burning smell when he 'gergaji' a.k.a saw the tooth into 2.. (they had to do it this way because the roots are so strong and embedded into the gum). He said he have to buang the tulang2 disekeliling the gigi first, then baru boleh potong dua the gigi and then pull it out -- half by half.. All in all I think it took him about an hour to do the deed.. My right wisdom tooth is finally out -- after the anaesthetic has worn off, it was hurting so bad.. Nasib baik he gave me a very strong pain killers, I was able to sleep last night. I am on medical leave for 3 days -- yeah not going to the office with a swollen face, thank you..Besides, the doctor doesn't want the wound (which have to be stitched) to bleed. I'm going back next week to take out the stitch and to check my lips..It feels fine to me now but who knows -- tawakal aje la..

Wonder when will I go for the other bottom tooth.. emmmm...

Happy Book Day.. and a belated Happy Earth Day

2009-04-23T09:53:00.004+08:00

Happy Book Day everyone ! Let's continue reading more books!!

P/S: Abg A'a -- your "The Kite Runner" is with me. Hope to pass it to you this weekend (Yone is coming over this weekend)

and a belated Earth Day!! Make everyday an Earth Day, continue recycling, reduce plastic waste, contribute while we can. It's scary watching the docus on National Geographic last night.

P/S: Went to Gi*nt last night for some groceries shopping, brought all my non-woven bags to pack all my things in. Got a lot of stares and gawking all right. Mmmm....

Kenangan masa lalu....

2009-04-16T11:21:00.006+08:00

While reading Kak Kama's blog about the recent visit by David Archuletta (from American Idol), teringat masa zaman muda-muda dulu.. Me and my siblings were at one stage, were so into KRU. I remembered all the recording we did (mostly it was me sebab I'm the eldest) on VHS whenever the brothers appeared on TV. Tak kisah la, iklan ke trailer ke, kejap ke lama ke.. punye la record tak ingat dunia. Ber'tape-tape' .. Meor (my brother) and cousin Haikal plak siap pegi belajar menari ala-ala DanceKRU -- Abah siap record on VideoCam lagi all their actions.. (This was in late 1980s into early 90s -- videocams are not cheap and not light -- it's so heavy but abah bought it nonetheless because he wants to start taking all the antiques of the kids then). I think Meor and Haikal was in their Form 1/2 macam tu. Dah tak tau kat mana dah the videocam.. kalau ada tu, mesti Meor and Haikal will NOT want to watch the whole thing..

Anyway, the point of my story is -- last week during one of our training kat IPTAR ni, I bumped into one of the brothers - Norman who was sitting at the lobby area tingkat 2 tengah berdiskusi with one of his staff (I think relative dia kot sebab iras muka ada). Anyway, I introduced myself professionally because I need his (Norman's) input on one of the stuff I'm working on. We exchange name cards and I promised to contact him soon about the details..

At that point I didn't think of anything and just talked. But later on when I thought about the experience back.. gelihati plak -- dulu aku tergila-gila la kat dia ni, sekarang eemm, dah tak heran dah.. I guess I have matured and left all the silliness behind. When one of our temp staff came to know about me meeting Norman, he quipped" Apsal tak tangkap gambar kak ?" I'm like - "What ???!! Ishk - tak kuasa aku..". He's young only 17 ke 18 -- still in the stage of euphoria when meeting artists.

The name card -- minus the contacts. Don't think I should provide all those details on the net..

Being Tagged again.."All about my other half"

2009-03-31T14:36:00.003+08:00

It's been a while since I've done any of these tagging stuff (Abg A.. I know I owed you one but can't remember what it was on about -- insyallah kalau rajin, I'll do it)...

And now since my cousin Yah and my fellow blogger Kak Shana both tagged me on this one, I guess I'll do it -- everything I know about my other half, here goes ................

1) He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

Ada 3
1. Sports Channel (fav - F1 or any other type of racing - rally ke motor ke) or Football (depends on which league and who's playing) or Badminton kalau ada Malaysian team yg main. Currently, the cycling track is grabbing his attention. Nasib baik Azizulhasni tu dapat jugak pingat perak. Tapi kalau dapat emas lagi best...
2. News Channel
3. Learning Channel + Discovery Travel and Living -- suka tengok all the landscapes in other parts of the world.

2) You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? I would say he prefers it without any dressing. He's a very green man -- he likes all his vegies in their original colour and taste..

3) What’s one food he doesn’t like? I have to say macaroni -- he said it tasted rubbery and looked like a 'paip getah' ..

4) You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
Drinks - Teh Tarik gelas besar, Makan - Meehoon Sup

5) Where did he go to high school?
Sekolah Menengah Maxwell (for those yg tak tau kat mana sekolah ni, it's across the road from PWTC on the way ke arah Jalan Ipoh).

6) What size shoes does he wear? 8 kot..

7) If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
That would be the racing cars/motorbikes miniatures.

8) What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Not a sandwich guy, tapi kalau ada makan je la -- so far I think sardine sandwic kot yg paling suka..

9) What would this person eat every day if he could?
This is so easy -- timun and meehoon sup. But timun mesti yang banyak air, meehoon sup mesti yg tak berminyak, meehoon kena ngam-ngam kembang and jangan letak macam2 sayur yg bukan2. He prefers it clean and simple. (Now u know why he looks like he is -- very healthy eating habits- so unlike me hehehe..)

10) What is his favorite cereal?
Corn Flakes kot - tapi jarang la..

11) What would he never wear?
Bright red t-shirt or anything that resembles a 'ladies' colour t-shirt.

12) What is his favorite sports team?
F1 - used to be BMW Sauber but now rasanya team Brawn Mercedes and Team Malaysia for the track cycling.

13) Who did he vote for? Eemmm - this I know, but undi adalah rahsia kan..

14) Who is his best friend? ME! This was repeated to me numerous times..(eee.. perasan!!) -- Yang lain2 tu, Ramesh, Sam, Hairi, Thong dll...

15) What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? What else la -- shopping -- mengabiskan duit yang ada...hahaha..

16) What is his heritage? purely born and breed in KL --tapi parents asalnya orang Terengganu

17) What is his favourite colour? Blue and Green, sometimes black and white..

18) What is his habit? Suka sakat saya!!

19) What is he proud of?
His gardens creation. What the heck-- I'm also proud of our garden at home.

20) Lastly, do you think he will read this?
Yes, eventually.. tengok apa dia kata na..

Let's see who else to tag -- eeemmmm......semua yg dah berkahwin dah ditag.. takpe la.. sapa2 yang rasa nak continue this tag, you are welcome to do so...

Hasilnya....

2009-03-14T23:28:00.002+08:00

Last January I was entrusted with this project -- a training project, a collaboration with ADB on issues di Coral Triangle area..This is the first time I am totally handling the project on my own without much assistance from my boss..

And tonite-- hasil from that project, on Buletin Utama - Puspa did a piece about the decreasing number of turtles yang melawat ke Rantau Abang.. I am happy with the report - it was short, simple and has it's impact. Tak sabar nak tunggu hari Isnin ni for the second workshop and discuss about this piece and other pieces yang dibawa oleh yang lain-lain..

Alhamdullillah..

Beijing Trip -- work + fun

2009-03-05T10:17:00.002+08:00

Okla.. I didn't get the chance to update at all in Beijing.. Mana taknya, asal ada free time either pegi shopping or was invited for dinner or sembang menyembang dengan K. Hanizah. Actually this trip was organised by K. Hanizah and CCTV. My contribution in this is fairly small --- just a bit of presentation to promote my prizes -- ABU Prizes on Climate Change and HIV/AIDS Reporting to the CCTV producers. Besides that ada buat other meetings for future projects..

It was a succesful trip. Totally satisfied. Biarla semua gambar-gambar yang ada ni bercerita…

Ni gambar amik masa workshop first day – with Asako Kume, a NHK producer and Dr Nawiyah, the moderator from IPTAR.

My first presentation ever -- nasib baik ada translator -- while he's translating what I said, I took the time to calm down..

Ni jakun sikit-- first time tengok real snow - perakgh teruih!! Nasib baik kotor kalau tidak siap dah melompat-lompat kot hehehe. This is actually a frozen lake.. tak nampak macam frozen kan ?? This is near one of the entrance to the Great Wall... Another shot near the entrance -- while waiting for K. Hanizah to finish her business in the washroom.. OOoiii.. air macam ais batu punye sejuk.. Dekat-dekat situ la jugak.. Ni konon-kononnya nak mencari entrance to the cable car -- tapi sempat bergambar dulu.. Both ladies in distress.. cari the counter for cable car entrance, tapi tak dak orang.. really like ghost town.. confius..
Rupanya tempat lain.. akhirnya naik la jugak cable car menuju ke great wall tu (tujuan naik cable car -- tak larat nak panjat naik great wall tu.. lenguh uih..) The view from inside the cable car -- beautiful eh... The sights of the Great Wall from different angle... look at the mountains..ishk.. ishk..ishk.. Ni kononnya trying to be artistic in photography la ni..berangan ^~^ Mula-mula gambar innocent je.. this is with Dr Nawiyah..

Another artistic attempt.. (I think you can see the enlarge version -- just click on the picture)

Mula dah start 'weng' sikit..

Ala-ala Cinderella Asian gitu ..

K. Hanizah pun dah start posing maut..

Another beauty shot..

Against the wall -- the walkway are pretty steep -- senget2 berdiri..

Ni dah habis destress la ni - in front of Ming's Tombs

Pas tu amik la satu gambar bersopan..

Introducing the monument..

By this time, K. Hanizah dah tak kuasa nak posing ayu..experimenting abih la ni..

Met a mother with her two kids -- look la at the cheeks -- ishk geram.. the sister lagi geram tapi very shy, tak dapat nak tangkap gambar dia..

Cantik kan the view ??

This is breathtakingly beautiful -- I think because the weather is too cold, not that many people visited the Ming's tombs tu yg dapat this cool picture..

Amik la gambar to prove that's it's real and we are in it..

This is Dr Nawiyah's passion -- she is so in love with pokok 'botak' -- abih semua orang disuruhnya tangkap gambaq kat pokok2 botak ni..

This is another shot of the beautiful garden -- kali ni of course with all the creatures behind..

Tangkap la satu gambar kat gajah ni.. the end of the jalan2 episod..
This was taken after dinner on the last night we were in Beijing.. Besides us 3, the tall lady is Ivy who was the host for that dinner. The lady at the right end, next to Dr Nawiyah is Wang Yan -- the nicest person I've ever met, took us around to the shops, belanja us dinner, make sure we have our own driver that can drive us around to the Great Wall and the Ming's Tombs and bought fruits for us to bawak balik.. totally one generous lady..

Updates----lamanya tak update

2009-02-24T09:19:00.005+08:00

aduh-- lamanya tak update blog ni.. sebenarnya sibuk + malas -- tu yang lama terbengkalai tu..

Anyway, last night was in KLIA amik midnight flight ke Beijing. Around 0630am this morning, selamat sampai -- temperature kat Beijing, mak aaaii -- minus 3 degree celcius.. Tak pernah makcik duduk dalam sejuk2 gini.. Apa lagi berselimut la dengan jaket setebal2 alam..

Sampai Dr Nawiyah, our moderator from IPPTAR cakap I dah rupa macam nak pegi skii.. Ski pun ski la doc..

Since the meeting kali ni tak se'hectic' (ada ka perkataan macam ni??) selalu, and free broadband access kat hotel ni, I shall try my best to update as often as possible.

Lepas ni nak rest kejap, siapkan presentation then shall go exploring.. Shall update with more pictures...;-)

Ciao!!

Farewell to Lisa

2008-12-15T12:20:00.009+08:00

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..

2008-11-10T15:05:00.005+08:00

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..

2008-10-28T11:52:00.020+08:00

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!!

2008-10-18T13:44:00.006+08:00

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...

2008-10-08T16:39:00.014+08:00

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

2008-10-07T10:38:00.002+08:00

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

2008-09-01T00:31:00.003+08:00

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

2008-08-26T10:20:00.027+08:00

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!!

2008-08-13T10:43:00.002+08:00

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

2008-07-28T17:11:00.008+08:00

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...

2008-07-18T12:44:00.017+08:00

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

2008-07-07T13:31:00.003+08:00

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..)

2008-06-16T20:00:00.009+08:00

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..

2008-06-07T10:18:00.018+08:00

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

2008-04-21T15:16:00.034+08:00

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..

Day trip to Melaka.

2008-03-31T13:45:00.008+08:00

Last Saturday we went to Melaka to attend my office mate's wedding. It was Lisa's wedding. Memandangkan we are a team, nak tak nak kena la pegi jugak walau pun Nasir ada banyak kerja..

My boss (Francyne) and family wanted to spend the whole weekend in Melaka, so we sort of promised to meet up at Lisa's house.

We all started the journey at around 12.40pm, the Sungai Besi tol, was as usual jam, so sampai ke Ayer Keroh dah around pukul 3. From Ayer Keroh tu dalam map yang Lisa bagi ke rumah dia, nampak macam tak jauh tapi sebenarnya boleh tahan la jugak jauhnya.. Her house is kat Pantai Klebang..The housing area was really nice, macam ala-ala spa gitu..Sampai2 je, orang pun dah surut (ye la majlis sampai pukul 4, awak sampai dah pukul 3.40, mana tak surutnya). However we were greeted warmly and we saw that a couple of people we know are still around.

Lisa got married to a Frenchman yang mengajar hospitality course kat Taylor's College. Suprisingly Adam a.k.a Bertran looks quite comfortable in the baju melayu, tanjak etc. He also seems at ease with Lisa's relatives and friends.

So, to Lisa and Adam(Bertran) 'Selamat Pengantin Baru' dan semoga berbahagia ke anak cucu..

On the way back, we meet up with Cha kat Jaya Jusco for a chit-chat sambil makan lagi.. Cha pun dah nak pindah next week, so this is the last time la we see her in Melaka.

By 6.30pm we pushed off balik KL.. sampai KL about 10.00pm la gak sebab singgah solat kat R&R Ayer Keroh.. Sebelum sampai kerumah, singgah dulu ke rumah MIL nak pass buah tangan dari Melaka.. Konon nak singgah, last-last sampai habis konsert AF baru we all balik.. Sampai rumah dah midnight.. Fuh.. penat but it was fun..

Enjoy the pictures..

The happy couple...

Lisa tengah menayang inai di tangan to Francyne

Lisa with the kids -- from left Eibhie(anak Francyne), Medina (anak Anita, another colleague) and Anita's niece (behind yg bertudung) Fatimah..

Eibhie got the most attention at the kenduri, most of Lisa's relative sibuk bribe her with goodie bags, sampai mak dia pun heran mana si kecik ni dapat bag bukan main banyak lagi.. lepas satu, satu.. Tengokla dalam gambar ni pun, tengah pegang goodie bag..Ye la mana taknya, her eyes are really blue.. geram nengoknya.. baik plak tu.. nak kat orang.. But when she was younger, her eyes were bluer, now dah a bit greenish/grayish.

The team with spouses -- from left to right - Craig (Francyne's husband and my ex-boss), Nasir, Adam, Lisa, me, Francyne and Eibhie..

Tahniah Yah & Amin

2008-03-20T17:42:00.007+08:00

Tahniah to Yah and Amin for the new born baby boy. Yah selamat melahirkan the baby around 1100 am yesterday morning -- 19th March 2008. A good birthday present ye Amin!!

Ye, it was Amin's birthday yesterday, it was also Emi's (Haikal's wife) birthday and the weirdest
-- it was also Awis's new betrothed's birthday as well.. And now the new cucu of Idris Muhammad..

Anyway, congratulations again.. May Allah bless both of you and the new baby..

P/S: Insyallah will upload pics of the baby soon.

Updated on 27th Mar 2008:

Muhammad Aqil Irfan bin Mohd Amin (tak sure spelling betoi ka tak.. kalau tak betoi sorry na..)

Pilihanraya ke 12 – Kita menang sorak, tapi kampung tergadai..

2008-03-16T20:55:00.006+08:00

I am not a big fan of politics, in fact this year is the first time that I exercise my right as a voter. Now after more than a week since the results are out, rasa teramat la sedihnya, bukannya sebab BN kalah, tapi sebab kampungku telah tergadai.. Yes I am a Penangite yang membesar di kalangan orang-orang Cina di kawasan Island Glades (where Karpal Singh resides).. For your information, I think in the whole of Island Glades (yang saiznya lebih kurang besar Greenwood area ni) less than 10 malay families saje yang reside there. Setelah sekian lama DAP melobi, mencuba berkali-kali, akhirnya Penang dengan rasminya jatuh ke tangan DAP..

DAP yg merupakan parti serpihan PAP yang memerintah Singapura dapat habuan paling besar jika dibandingkan dgn PAS dan Keadilan. Dari mula lagi pembangkang tahu it's quite impossible for them untuk dapat simple majoriti apalagi majoriti 2/3 yang important untuk realised their manifesto (esp bab harga minyak). DAP of course is more interested to ensure economy kaum Cina terus dilindungi. Sekarang apa yang PAS or Keadilan can do untuk membela nasib orang Melayu dalam memperbaiki taraf ekonomi mereka?

Apalah nasib orang-orang Melayu yang sememangnya telah terpinggir sekian lama di Penang (especially yang di Pulau)??Apalah nasib tanah-tanah rezab Melayu yang ada kat Penang tu?? Adakah Azan akan stop berkumandang di Penang ?? Berapa banyak tanah2 rezab Melayu ni akan diserahkan pada Singapore untuk pelaburan ??

Sebelum ni pun masa under Gerakan, hartanah di bahagian pulau melambung-lambung mengalahkan harga tanah di KL. Mana taknya,c*na dari Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia dok berlumba-lumba beli rumah kat sana for investment, lama-lama kita Melayu ni, sampai dah tak terbeli, terlampau mahal..Akhirnya, we move out into the mainland..

Tsunami politik/gelombang perubahan dalam demokrasi diMalaysia.

Tu la yang kita dok baca dalam newspaper dan dengar di TV lepas keputusan pilihanraya ke12 diumumkan. Tapi tsunami politik yg digambarkan tu, the damage tak dapat kita nampak dengan clear. We paid dearly. Kesannya dalam bentuk jangkamasa panjang dari segi kepentingan politik dan ekonomi orang Melayu.

Sayangnya orang Melayu kita mengundi ikut emosi. Percaturan untuk buat undi protes actually kesannya lebih teruk dari yg kita jangkakan; of the 3, DAP have the last laugh. Knowing PAS/Keadilan stronghold are mainly in rural area whereas DAP mostly in urban areas DAP realised they got nothing to lose but all for gain. Apa yang berlaku:
- banyak undi org Melayu diraih dari pakatan pembangkang hasilnya Pulau Pinang dikuasai DAP.
- banyak kawasan selamat BN/UMNO dimenangi pembangkang setelah digadaikan oleh undi orang Melayu.
- tiada pemulihan yang dapat dilihat sebaliknya kuasa majoriti orang Melayu kini menjadi lemah apabila terbahagi tiga – PAS, Keadilan, UMNO.

Clearly perangkap DAP yang berbentuk 'overkill' effectnya terlalu luas dan orang Melayu Penang yang dah lama terpinggir akan paling terasa bahang yang jauh lebih teruk lagi because dasar DAP is to hapuskan hak keistimewaan org Melayu. Clearly the Malays voters punye understanding on politics tidak la sebijak mana pun sebab asyik dok fikir pasai kenaikan harga barang, harga minyak & tol, tak puas hati sedangkan itu adalah realiti kehidupan memang sejak merdeka lagi.. Masa zaman baru merdeka dulu, berapa banyak makanan yang parents kita boleh beli dengan 5 sen? Comparekan dengan sekarang ? Of course la berbeza, our economy needs to evolve and this is the effect.

Idea negara 'kebajikan' is actually is a sindiran DAP yg sinis to orang Melayu yang still lengai dan malas nak kerja kuat. The Malays took a very high risk untuk gadaikan their economy future bila termakan dengan helah manifesto pembangkang untuk turunkan harga minyak. This is a reality for Malays to accept – the sufferings will continue...

Memang sedih sangat bila orang Melayu kena fitnah by hindraf as Islam extremis and terrorists. PAS and Keadilan is defending their perjuangan atas nama demokrasi. But what exactly is democracy from western world perspective? Orang Islam yang memakai hijab di US didiskriminasikan and labelled as terrorist. Apa citer ? Wujud ke demokrasi di Singapore sedangkan anak kecik nak pakai tudung ke sekolah pun ditegah.

Hari ini orang Melayu sendiri telah menjatuhkan penguasaan orang Melayu kerana hilangnya semangat persaudaraan/solidarity.

UMNO/BN pun ada buat silap – the leaders are too sure of themselves – angkuh. Akibat keangkuhan mereka tak dapat tengok strategi pembangkang. Padan la dengan muka.. tapi masih jugak tak dapat-dapat the message yang cuba the rakyat (esp the Malays) trying to tell you.

Don't even let me get into the Perak situation. At least (for now) it looked like it's going to be fine under the PAS punya MB.

So now nak tak nak, for the sake of orang Melayu, I have to pay more attention to politics..

Happy Birthday Yone!!

2008-03-07T14:45:00.008+08:00

Happy Birthday Yone!!! Memandangkan yone saja yang selalu buat write up untuk yong dengan cha punya birthday, kali ni Yong pun buatkan la satu entry walaupun tengah very the busy one right now.. Tapi gambar2 lama tak dak la, pasal semua dok ada kat Penang.. Yong boh gambaq2 yang dok ada kat Yong la ni ja la na..

I kind of ingat-ingat lupa what happened masa mama nak bersalin kat Yone ni, ye la masa tu, I was already 7 years oldkan, darjah 1. Masa tu sefamili duduk kat Butterworth kat Taman Teluk Molek rasanya nama taman tu (Siap call mama lagi nak check, tapi Abah yang jawab so it's abahnya confirmation a.. kalau salah, nasibla)..Anyway, tengah-tengah malam, abah datang kejut and took us all in inside the car (masa tu me and Meor jela kan..) dengan mamai-mamainya tak perasan wat's the reason, bila kitaorang berenti kat depan private klinik bersalin kat Perai tu, dengan lampu terpasang, baru la I sedar apa sebabnya.. rupanya mama dah nak bersalin..I can't remember exactly what happened the whole night (perhaps because I was busy sleeping) tapi akhirnya pada 7hb March 1981, at around 5pm Yang Khairun binti Abdullah Sani was born. (Alamak just check with Mama, mama kata masa kejadian ni, it was a false alarm, mama tak jadik bersalin, tapi mama spent a night jugak la kat klinik tu)

Among all the siblings, rasanya Yone la yang paling meriah dan bising sekali.. (tapi bila besaq2 ni semua pun bising). Dari kecik sampai besaq.. Masa dia kecik, with her curls, she was well known amongst the family member as 'Kunta-Kinte' (kalau tak salah Ayah Ngah yang start bagi nama gelaran tu kat dia) sempena the citer Kunta-Kinte zaman 80an dulu..

Paling attached the Makcik Jah yang tolong jaga we all semua, ha ni la dia...Sampai bila hantar makcik balik, makcik turun je dari kereta, dia pun start la melolong..So, me being the big sister, kena la tukang jadi pengalih attention (ye la sebab masa tu mama kena dukung Cha yang baby lagi masa tu).. Tapi dalam merengek2 dia pun, bila dia takde, memang rasa sunyi.

Bila dah besar ni, dia la paling terer sekali bab2 menjadi peng'organise' sesuatu event..Contohnya bila buat family day ke, kenduri-kendara ke.. memang boleh harap la my adik sorang ni..Especially bab-bab execution and games..pantas aje. Terima kasih la Yone for being a good sport and supporter in the family ( Yela sekarang ni, dia jela yang every weekend will be there with Mama and Abah, alhamdullillah, jadi anak yang baik..)

Bila balik berjumpa dan berkumpul sekali-sekala, dia la paling riuh sekali bercerita, cerita pasal kerja dia la, student2 dia punya karenah la.. macam2 lagi.. kadang2 tu memang tak kering gusi kitaorang berempat bersembang sampai ke tengah malam pun ada.. Mama sampai siap mengamuk suruh pi tidoq pun ada..

So, anyway Yone.. Happy 27th Birthday.. May Allah bless you and dicepatkan la bertemu jodoh ye hehehe..Amin....(Internet connection very bad la sekarang ni, so sempat upload satu gambaq ja dulu..nanti Yong upload lain k..)

Masa kenduri Yah...Yone jadi 'runner' a.k.a bodyguard Yah..

Trip to Rebung

2008-01-30T13:35:00.002+08:00

Last week, a couple of colleagues including myself decided to treat Izzatul kat Restoran Rebung for her farewell and wedding lunch. It waer last day and her wedding is coming on the 2nd of February kat Bukit Mertajam -- sorryla Izzatul, I tak dapat datang sebab kena balik masa Chinese New Year..

Anyway, I chose Rebung sebab paling dekat dengan office and also the tempat, sesuai la jugak untuk mem'belanja' orang kan.. Kak Hanizah was reluctant mulanya sebab kerap sangat dia ke sana.. (K. Hanizah is the wife to DJ Noramin 'Moshi-Moshi' zaman 80-an - Abg A, you should know), so malas la dia.. Tapi sebab Izzatul and Hamidah tak pernah pegi and tak tau that Rebung is owned (or partly owned) by our Angkasawan Negara, bila sampai je, excited la they all. True enough sampai -sampai aje, Chef Ismail dah terjerit-jerit dah memanggil K. Hanizah -- pas tu start la they all punye speaking, padanla K. Hanizah malas nak datang, pening kepala melayan rupanya..

Ni Izzatul and Hamidah, sibuk berposing sebelum start makan..ke dah start makan, tak ingat dah..

'Primadona' tengah sibuk melayan makanan, wakaka..sedap oo..

Ni sebenarnya Kak Hanizah tangkap dari frame gambar yang dah ada kat situ.. memandangkan 'hero' takde, gambar 'hero' aje pun jadikla..

K. Hanizah: Mail, hero mano? Tak ado ko dio ? Chef Ismail: Tak ado, dio pagi tadi bertolak ke Rompin.. Jadi we all, tangkap ajela gambor dengan business partner 'hero'.. Jadikla...

'Sang Pengantin Baru' amik gambar dengan Chef Ismail, isk Izzatul, cik abang awak tak marah ke.. hehehe..jangan mare ye..Selamat Pengantin Baru!!

Filem Cuci -- Goooooddd!!

2008-01-29T10:06:00.001+08:00

After watching the Making of Cuci last Saturday, aku terpanggil untuk menonton filem ini lalu ku ajak suamiku menontonnya semalam..

It was quite different from other Malay movies I have watched before (kat cinema la)..To my opinion it was good, funny, dialog kelakar but tak dibuat-buat, dengar selamba aje..and the most important thing ada message yang sebenarnya I think ditujukan khas kepada orang-orang Melayu dan secara amnya kepada rakyat Malaysia...

The story revolves around this 4 adopted brothers (Fairil-Afdlin, Khai-Hans, Jojo-Awie, C'Tan - AC) yang membesar bersama dan bekerja dalam company mereka sendiri iaitu Cuci Cuci Services selama 10 tahun. Tapi dalam masa 10 tahun mereka berkerja tu, tak ada apa2 perubahan yang ketara (improvement or progress in doing business) padahal si ketua - Fairil (Afdlin) yang memang mempunyai impian untuk maju tetapi kurang mendapat sokongan dari adik-beradiknya yang lain. Jadinya dia sentiasa merasa geram dan kecewa dengan sikap yang lain-lain.

Tetapi dengan pujukan, dan syarahan beliau tentang 'Impianku' maka mindset yang lain-lain mula bertukar (kecuali C'Tan yang lebih paranoid dan negatif thinking -- which I think sinonim dengan pemikiran kebanyakan orang Melayu sekarang ni)

Overall, walaupun cerita ni kelakar, ia membuatkan you berfikir, apa la nak jadi dengan negara yang tercinta ni.. Antara mesej yang clear dalam filem ni -- "Kita ada bukan satu tapi 2 buah bangunan yang menjadi kebanggaan negara kita, apasal la kita benarkan orang luar(Bangla and Pakistan) yang mencucinya. kita ni yang patut lebih berbangga dapat mencucinya".

Which I think is true. Tak payah pegi jauh la, dekat area my house tu kalau kita tengok orang2 Indon(Acheh) yang meniaga kedai runcit je - bercambah-cambah.. cepat je diaorang start business pas tu menjadi plak tu.. Of course sokongan kena ada - sebab tu sekarang ni we all berdua memang berusaha bersungguh-sungguh menyokong orang melayu dalam perniagaan mereka..Tak kirala berniaga barang makan ke, menjahit ke, apa-apa saja yang we want to do or need services, we will try our best to give priority to yang sebangsa, kalau tak ade, then baru move on atau pun cancel order, tak payah beli.

I think Hans did a pretty good job in his first attempt at directing. Of course the backing funding helps as well.

So pada mereka yang contemplating nak pegi tengok citer ni ke tak, I would recommend you to try - it's entertaining...

So -- enjoy!!

Anniversaries and Birthday plus.. Maal Hijrah..

2008-01-12T12:57:00.002+08:00

Last 1st Muharram..was Cha's birthday yang ke 25 (Wan Chik's yang ke 64)..kebetulan our wedding anniversary is on the 13th January yang ke tujuh tahun.. and 12th January is Achik's & Ayah Chik's wedding anniversary yang ke 33 tahun..With all these anniversaries and birthday -- Achik & Ayah Chik ajak we all celebrate pegi makan seafood kat Umbai, Melaka..

Here are some pictures from the fun day that we had..

The 'boyfriend' nampak happy aje..tapi 'girlfriend' nampak macam malu-malu aje.. wakakaka.. (ni kat rumah sewa Cha)

Ni rakyat dua orang yang tak reti nak duduk diam.. berlari ke sana kemari tak renti-renti..

Permandangan dari jeti Umbai di kala senja.. chewah..

Birthday girl yang terpaksa jadi babysitter during the whole outing..sian Cha..

Chit-chatting before the food arrives..

Start dulu dengan buah-buahan...

Pas tu kerang bakar pun sampai..

Followed by the other dishes.. this is ikan jenahak

bakar..

Isk.. sedapnya sotong goreng tepung ni..

All in all, we had a fun and tiring day.. akhirnya sampai jugak yong and abang nasir kat rumah Cha na.. Happy Birthday Cha.. Happy Wedding Anniversary Achik and Ayah Chik.. and lastly to my beloved husband.. Happy 7th Anniversary bang.. Thank you for making my life wonderful and meaningful..

To all the rest, Salam Maal Hijrah dari kami berdua.. semoga diberi keberkatan dan kesejahteraan yang berpanjangan dari Allah S.W.T..Amin..

Conference on "New public? What videojournalism, blogging and Co. mean for society and international radio"

2008-01-11T17:27:00.000+08:00

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) is pleased to announce that FES and Deutsche Welle are organising a conference entitled "New Public Space? What Video Journalism, Blogging et al Mean for Our Society and International Broadcasting” on January 15, 2008 in Berlin. At the expert conference politicians such as Gernot Erler, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, bloggers and executives of international broadcasting stations are going to discuss the challenge posed by the digital era.

It will be possible to participate to the whole conference as of 10 am (Kuala Lumpur time: 5 pm) via internet through live stream by using FES website www.fes.de/medienpolitik. Bloggers and other interested internet users will be able to comment on the topics throughout the conference and their questions will be gathered through the dialogue box. A moderator will forward the questions to the participants of the panels. Conference information in English, the programme and other details may be found on the same website.

Kindly forward this information to bloggers and other users that are deemed to be interested in participating via internet to this event. In case you or they may have further questions regarding the event, please contact Beate Martin (beate.martin@fes.de)to assist you/them.

Welcome Suamiku...

2008-01-04T07:39:00.000+08:00

After being the main person in motivating me to keep blogging..finally hubby decides to start blogging himself -- actually by accident. So, welcome bang and good luck..

Do visit his site Imagine It.

Gambar-gambar anak2 sedara...

2007-12-26T21:17:00.002+08:00

Memandangkan we all takde anak sendiri, jadinya sibuk menangkap gambar anak2 orang.. here are a few yang menarik..

Ni gambar cucu my mother in law paling bongsu -- Nama Arissya --siap tidur tongkat dagu lagi..baru 3 bulan banyak betul masalah negara nak pikir

Ni plak gambar anak2 my kakak ipar and adik ipar -- Kak Ami (kakak) and Kak Faridah (adik) - Charlie and his Angels -- Abang Chik, Kak Ngah, Kakak, Aina, Dik Na and Kak Lang.. --

Ni plak anak my cousin Ajeh (with Grandma Cik)-- Rafiq Mustaqim namanya - I think about 7 months old masa ni.. Very friendly baby..kita agah aje, dia sibuk agah kita balik..so cute and very the tembam.. Nasir dah panggil anak Jepun..

Ni as everyone knows, cucu tok -- with all the birthday presents the aunties bought for him -- early birthday anyway -- Happy 2nd Birthday Adi!!

This was taken last Friday while we were visiting Yah & hubby's new place in Penang.. siap ada taman permainan kanak2 -- Adi with the baby in Mami Yah's stomach.. -- Pose istimewa from 'Mat Termenung'

Ni demam nak pegi sekolah -- Adam (darjah 1) and Pipa (Playschool)..malam2 dah cat walk for Wan Anom, Pak Shir and Wan Yone..

Another cute pose from Inspector Gadget a.k.a Pipa Korea

Tagged again!!!

2007-12-26T12:21:00.000+08:00

Buat sekian kalinya.. Abang A'a men'tag' aku lagi.. Ok la abg a, since Anom pun dah lama tak update blog.. this would be the easiest and quickest way to update.. Entry 'Vientiane' will be updated soon.. tungguuu..

1. Name one person who made you laughed last night.
Pipa – last night before I arrived to her house, she was showing her grandma her small fingers which are covered in ‘henna’. Grandma kata – “tak cantik la adik” – she dgn sedihnya turun ke bawah and told Aida – “Mi Aida – grandma cakap inai adik tak cantik tapi Wan Anom cakap cantik” – eh, eh.. Wan Anom pun belum sampai and tengok tangan adik lagi tau!!

2. What were you doing at 0800?
This morning ? Eem.. getting ready to go to work.. lambat sikit bangun pagi ni..lama sangat cuti.. nak start balik payah..

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Talking to Yone on the phone..

4. What happened to you in 2006?
I got promoted in 2006 – alhamdullillah..

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
Assalammualaikum.. (to yone) - tak de orang kat ofis ni so tak banyak la bercakap..

6. How many beverages did you have today?
1 – tu pun air kosong aje.. memang usually I don’t like to drink tea or coffee.. Tapi sometimes to buat jugak..

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Brown with green spongy center.. (I think..)

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Semalam – sepasang sandal kat Jaya Jusco – RM 49.90

9. Where were you last night?
Rumah Ayah Chik – Ayah Chik asked for Nasir’s help in getting Aisyah’s car towed.. so me – lepak kat rumah je la..

10. What color is your front door?
My front door is glass so transparent – tinted of course..

11. Where do you keep your change?
Kat dalam tabung, wallet and coin box dalam kereta..

12. What’s the weather like today?
Mendung – lagi la malas nak gi kerja

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Coklat – my favourite

14. What excites you?
Good movies, good book and quality time spent with hubby

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Yes.. cropped short is even better – panas la..

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Of course..

17. Do you talk a lot?
Sometimes..tapi lately ni dah kurang sikit..

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
No.. I don’t even know whether O.C ni ada ke tunjuk kat TV Malaysia ni..

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Ada la a couple of people – Steven Griffith from Asian Development Bank, Stephen Massey from Kaiser Family Foundation..

20. Do you make up your own words?
Not really.. not creative enough..

21. Are you a jealous person?
Sometimes.. tapi skrang ni kurang dah sikit..

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Adillah Sabtu – who is my friend masa kat UUM – we’ve lost contact for a couple of years lepas habis belajar but I think about last year, she called me back – she said she found my wedding invitation card and just tried her luck calling the number stated on it.. see.. this is the reason why I don’t want to change my mobile number.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kirenjit Kaur – she used to work with me kat ABU ni, we are the same age.. but now she has moved on to ‘Greener Pasture’

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
You won’t believe this – Rakan Cop – installed as AAARKN COP(tupun Nasir yg tolong savekan - he said you must be prepared) – sebab senang bila ada kecemasan terus tekan A haha… which I hope I will never have to use..

Alamak -- ingatkan phone number list -- rupanya received call list.. takpe la ye..

25. What does the last text message you received say?
Ok bila free nanti – from Mima asking me to call her whenever I'm free..

26. Do you chew on your straw?
No..

27. Do you have curly hair?
No.. wavy a bit..

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Have no idea.. kalau ada pun lambat lagi.. ntah jadi ke tidak pun tak tau lagi..

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Eeemmm.. at this moment tak teringat plak I sapa yang the rudest – but yes I remember now, tapi tak payah la cakap.. buat sakit hati je pun..

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Tuna sandwich and grapes this morning for breakfast.. – Wah healthy eating la konon..

31. Will you get married in the future?
Sudah kahwin la..

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Enchanted – watched it with Yone last Monday..

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Like.. eemm semua orang I seem to like these days (maklumla tengah good mood baru balik dari cuti).. But more than like mesti la my husband..hahaha..

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Semalam rasanya – kat rumah Ayah Chik..

35. Are you currently depressed?
Not particularly..

36. Did you cry today?
No

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Sebab lama dah tak update blog dan di'tag' plak oleh Abg A'a - so thought this is the fastest way to update it..

38. Tag 5 people who would do this.
Ni la bab paling susah..eemm.. I would like to tag
Aida Hani
Leen
Zaili
Anis Suraya
Cha

Untuk sesapa yang ter'list' di atas tapi takde blog, this is a good way to start blogging ye.. I tak kira kena buat jugak tag ni..

P. Ramlee The Musical..Kenangan P. Ramlee..

2007-11-05T11:34:00.001+08:00

Since small, I memang minat dengan P Ramlee. Mana taknya, my early life was surrounded by his movies and songs . When we moved to Penang and stay with Pak Bib and Mak Tok, we were staying in Counter Hall Road (now known as Jalan P. Ramlee), where the house P Ramlee was born is located about almost 1km away.

I remembered mama bought for us this one book about P. Ramlee (I think we bought that book masa we visited Pustaka Peringatan P. Ramlee dekat Jalan Dedap, KL) yang dah naik lunyai dikerjakan dek we all. Selalunya we use the book to refer to the lyrics - especially lagu Nasi Goreng and Hai Obat..(masa kecikla..)

Tukang masak kerjanya enteng

Bangun pagi masak nasi goreng

Campur cili campur udang kering

Bila makan mata naik juling...

Bila dah grow up, the kegilaan tu dah berkurangan sikit.. yela dah digantikan dengan the pop singers and actors yang up to date kan.. Tapi his stories and movies tetap melekat in the back of my mind.. Sekali sekala bila tengah mencari citer2 yang best kat Astro, kalau ada citer P. Ramlee mesti nak tengok.. seronok, walau pun dah berkali-kali tengok..kelakar.. Ada one time tu I think it was last year, I and Nasir, saja one weekend we went to Pusat Peringatan P. Ramlee in Jalan Dedap again -- saja jalan-jalan.. Dah dewasa ni, perspektif tentang kehidupan P. Ramlee tu berbeza.. In fact, we also notice that after P. Ramlee meninggal dunia, ada fans yang sanggup mengupah orang untuk pegi menunaikan haji untuk P. Ramlee dan Saloma. Kat rumah tu, ada sijil pengesahan yang haji telah dilaksanakan digantung dalam frame.. Sayangnya la peminat-peminatnya kat dia..

Anyway, bila bersungguh my sister Yone mengajak pegi tengok the musical teater, I pun agree ajela.. I'm glad I did go, it was really fun. I was amazed with the props, the stage work (the New World stage movement was mesmerising), the music and the choreographs.. The acting pun boleh tahan. My favourite characters are the small Ramlee and Sukardi, Saloma and P Ramlee (in that sequence). Sean Gazi did a good job. He was really good and I almost thought that he was P. Ramlee.. My favourite scene would be the courting scene between P. Ramlee and Saloma. I guess ramai yang suka that part..

The music was really good, lagu the opening sequence memang best.. Sayangnya masa we all tengah get ready to enjoy it, a couple of late comers enter, and the stupid Istana Budaya punya usherer masatu la menyibuk nak suluhkan tempat duduk. Spoilt betul our first impression. Geram betul.

Ni tiket to the show on the 3rd of November, at 3.00pm

Me and Cha while waiting for the curtain to rise (Yone pun ada, tapi had to cut her out, sebab she said her gambar here, tak cantik..hehehe. Nanti tengok je la gambar dia kat blog dia)

The view of the stage from where we were seating

My favourite characters - Sukardi and Ramlee kecik.. pictures courtesy of P. Ramlee the Musical website

My favourite scene...cutela..

The saddest scene/part..

teater pun dah habis..

Bergambar dengan poster je la..Jadik la..

Another one with a bigger poster.. I think this was meant as a press conference backdrop kot..

And the priceless one, with Liza Hanim a.k.a "Sally"..Sayangnya, I was the one who took the picture. Terlupa plak lepas tu nak mintak orang lain plak tangkap gambar I.. Anyway, tak kisah.. sempat berbual and congratulate her on her acting.. Asked about the next round.. She said, they are also hoping that there will be a second round of show..

After the chit chat and on the way to the car, Yone said "Yong bersembang dengan Liza Hanim macam sembang dengan member ja.." Abis tu nak sembang macamana ???

Tehran: Covering your head and dress appropriately..

2007-11-02T16:31:00.001+08:00

By now, semua secretariat ABU yang ditugaskan untuk pergi ke Tehran dah selamat sampai and have to work very hard to make sure this year punye GA is a success. But the bigger challenge is for IRIB, the Iran National Broadcaster. They not only need to make sure it's a success, tapi also to make sure it's safe for everyone to travel to Tehran or Iran.. Ever since we found out that this year GA akan buat kat Tehran, banyak la kata2 yang sinis dan pedas terdengar sana sini..ada tanya why do you decide to do it in Tehran ? Takde tempat lain ke nak buat..

Sebagai seorang muslim, I have a great respect for the Iranians. Somehow, they are able to persuade people to come to their country at this most critical time with the impending threats of attack from US. Not only that, they were also able to persuade the non-muslim women to cover their head and dress in a respectful dress code when the women arrive in that country.. Mula-mula when all the non-muslim heard about this particular restrictions, macam-macam complaints yang kedengaran.. Kadang-kadang tu malas nak layan.. naik bingit telinga.. Of course as westerners, they all mesti la tak suka di kongkong dan diarahkan sebegitu..Tapi the fact that in the end, they did it in order to show respect to that country.. ok la jugak..

Kenapa la kat Malaysia ni, yang muslim pun tak nak cover their heads and dress appropriately ?

Kat Malaysia ni yang I've seen something like this implemented is kat UIA.. Kat tempat lain tak tau la plak..

Sayangnya I tak dapat pergi..Rasa teringin jugak nak pegi ke negara yang tahan digertak dek US..

Anyway here are some of the pictures of women attending the GA.. courtesy of Tehran GA website http://tehran2007abu.irib.ir/

Yang duduk kat belakang tu is my boss -- a British woman.. Yang depan tu orang RTM

A couple of women from Vietnam

Yang kanan sekali is the Programme Commitee Chairperson dari KBS Korea..

Sakan beraya.. Part 2

2007-11-02T10:54:00.000+08:00

Hari raya ke enam, mama, abah, adik-adik (minus Meor), Adi, Wan Chik, Wan Chu, Pak Su, Didi, Rizal & family datang ke KL, first stop my house for lunch..

Pagi tu dalam pukul 9.30 baru kelam kabut pegi Giant beli ikan and other barang2.. Sampai balik ke rumah dah 11.30, diaorang semua dah sampai Sungkai.. Kelam-kabut buat ikan bakar portugis (the trick is the sauce - achik yang ajar masak sauce dia ni..tapi achik pun dapat dari resepi chef wan), masak lemak, sambal belacan + ulam2.. Memandangkan dah beberapa hari makan daging je, so I decided to switch to ikan la plak.. Alhamdullillah.. semua langsai dan licin.. by 3..3.30, semua dah nak bergerak beraya ke rumah Kak Ina kat Bandar Rahman Putra, Sg. Buloh.

Nasir talking to the kids on the "Angkasawan Program". Anak-anak neighbour datang beraya on raya ketiga.. masa ni I just got back from work, tengah mengemas rumah tak sempat habis, they all dah sampai.. Kuih raya pun tak sempat letak dalam bekas kuih lagi..

Suprisingly, the journey only took us about 20 minutes. I think the main reasons were because kereta tak banyak lagi on the road, and the sg. buloh constructions pun dah siap, so no more traffic jams..

Kak Ina jamu meehoon soto + wantan..Sedap.. wantan + bergedil kejap je dah licin.. Then we moved on to rumah Kak Iza.. Kak Iza plak jamu nasi tomato and lauk-pauk yang sedap.. According tu Kak Iza, Abang Shukor yang masak lauk ayam.. Kak Iza masak nasi and jelatah je rasanya..

This is the landscape kat rumah Kak Ina & Abang Kidin yang Nasir was hired to do when he first started in the landscaping business 2 years ago.. Nasir was very grateful to Abang Kidin for the opportunity and trust.. He's also very happy to see the plants are healthy and growing well.

After that, singgah plak rumah abang a for the mee curry..By this time, perut semua orang dah terlampau penuh dan dah tak boleh masuk.. so sian kak yan, masak teruk2, tak banyak yang kami makan.. Tapi Nasir cakap mee curry kak yan memang sedap..nanti nak try la.. Nasib baik ada rombongan lain lagi yang nak datang kat rumah tu, kalau tidak membazir plak..

Abah, yone and Pak Su kat rumah abg a.. Abah baru buka posa 6..

Meor Adi Fimiyun with his lovely 'sisters'.. Suka betul dia.. asyik2 pegi kat diaorang, pegang tangan diaorang..Tangan ayah ngah tak nak plak pegang..Tapi bila ayah ngah dukung, agaknya rasa macam sama abah dia dukung, terus peluk, and tepuk2 belakang ayah ngah..

Semua orang tengah enjoy makan mee curry kak yan..

Malam tu, we all balik rumah dulu sebab esoknya I have to go to work..

On Saturday night, for the first time, Kak Iza and family datang ke our house since we were married for almost 7 years ni. Ayah chik and achik pun datang sekali, siap dah tak kenal rumah sebab lama dah tak datang.. Disebabkan I was taken ill for a few days (which started with Asthma attack), tak la sempat nak masak apa2. Nasir however, has gone all out to jamu orang datang bertandang.. He bought lemang, rendang, sate, sup ayam + tulang, nasi goreng ayam.. boleh tahan jugak la left overs nye..

Esoknya plak.. Nasirnye siblings and anak buah plak datang beraya.. Sebelah petang plak, abang a and family plak datang beraya.. Disebabkan masih tak brapa sihat, terpaksa la jugak membeli.. mintak maaf la ye..

Anak-anak adik Nasir tengah main kat courtyard, bawah loteng kat rumah..Budak2 memang suka spot ni, sebab banyak benda boleh explore..

Kakak, adik Nasir and me berehat kat tengah2 rumah while discussing recipes..

Abang A and family enjoying the sates..

Sakan beraya.. Part 1

2007-10-26T10:27:00.001+08:00

After the hectic week at work, now only I am able to update the blog with a raya entry.. Alhamdullillah, eventhough me and Nasir takdela prepare beria sangat nak beraya, sambutan and the feel raya tahun ni memang meriah..

First of all, tahun ni giliran beraya kat Penang so hari Jumaat (last day Ramadhan) early morning we all bertolak balik Penang. Baru sampai ke simpang keluar kat Greenwood tu nampak ada kakak tu jual kelongsong ketupat, terus beli...sajala nak rasa buat ketupat daun betul.. asyik ketupat Nona je, boring jugak. Alhamdullilah, the traffic tak la teruk sangat..

Sampai Penang dah tengahari.. terus tolong mama prepare untuk buka puasa hari tu.. sempat buat inti popiah goreng lagi.. Yone and Cha dah penat tolong mama buat rendang ayam pagi tu..so, bagi ‘can’ they all relax dulu..Meor, Rina and Adi balik esok pagi lepas sembahyang raya..So, malam raya tu ada 3 je la anak mama & abah kat rumah.. plus 1 menantu..

Malam raya tengah sibuk mengisi beras dalam ketupat...ee.. best kan.. baru real rasa macam raya kat kampung..

Pagi-pagi raya, we all semua pegi solat sunat aidilfitri kat Masjid Negeri.. Nasir teringin nak solat kat Masjid Terapung Tanjung Bunga, tapi sebab dah lewat and tak sure kat masjid tu sembahyangnya pukul berapa, we all tukar plan..

Lepas solat, beraya dan bagi duit raya kat mama and abah, we all makan breakfast – rendang ayam, ketupat nasi (kelongsong and Nona), sup daging/tulang famous mama, roti benggali and kuih2. Lepas makan..semua siap nak pegi beraya.. first stop rumah ‘Memah’ – mama’s aunt duduk dekat je kat satu taman dengan we all. Baru nak kluar, Meor & family pun sampai.. tak sempat masuk rumah, terus je ke rumah Memah..

Adi masa baru sampai kat rumah Memah..terus cari TV..ntah apa ntah yang dikerutkan tu..Probably someone is blocking his views kot..

The whole family tengah beraya kat rumah Memah..

Pas rumah Memah, pi rumah ‘Mak Chom’, mama’s eldest living cousin.. Rumah Mak Chom ni paling klasik la yang we all pernah jumpa..Nasir sibuk meng'interview' Mak Chom pasal rumah ni – according to Mak Chom, rumah tu dah dekat 43 tahun dah.. design ala2 kolonial, lantai – colourful tiles ala2 spanish.. The most beautiful thing is the door.. ala2 stain glass tapi style dulu2.. Malangnya asyik bersembang, terlupa nak amik gambar..Nasir teringat nak amik a family picture in front of the door, tapi sebab panas, semua orang dah berlari ke kereta memasing, tak terbukak plak mulut..

Lepas rumah Mak Chom, we all pi lunch kat rumah Mima (mama’s youngest sister)..Banyak la Mima masak..tak terlarat dah we all nak makan.. Duduk sekejap je for about an hour..

Lepas makan tengahari semua orang balik rumah, semua dah ngantuk dan kekenyangan.. Sebelum semua orang beradu.. we all took family pictures tapi ada kat dalam kamera Cha.. terlupa nak download.. So, please upload kat your blog k..Then dekat2 Maghrib, me and Nasir pegi beraya plak ke rumah Mamu Ekan, Mami Khairun and Mamu Non (my uncles and aunty). Mamu Ekan and family dah bertolak ke Alor Setar so tak sempat la nak jumpa.. Kat rumah Mami Khairun pun banyak gak makanan..tapi yang paling best sekali tengok Ayu dah kurus – she lost more than 20kg kalau tak salah in almost 1 year..Teruskan usaha Ayu!! Kak Anom ni tak tau la bila lagi..

Tengah menjamu selera kat rumah Mami Khairun.. Lawakan cermin besar tu.. dah dekat 20 tahun umurnya. A friend of Mami Khairun gave it to her, tapi she tak sampai hati nak amik free, bayar la sikit.. Kayu jati tu.. berat.. Ayu plak bersembunyi di sebalik mamanya..

Ni makanan yang Mami Khairun hidangkan..kat Penang, we all suka makan ketupat pulut palas yang ada kacang dengan rendang..Since lately ni susah dapat ketupat palas kacang, we resort to lemang kacang (actually buat macam buat kuih lopeh..tak pakai buluh pun)

Mamu Non was alone kat rumah.. Mami Timah and kids pegi rumah Tuk Undai kat Sg Pinang (Rumah mak Mami Timah) .. Almost midnight, we decided to leave and not wait for the kids and Mami Timah.. Baru jalan keluar, terserempak.. Dah semua kena masuk balik..Mami Timah jamu plak nasi minyak and ayam 'piru' (ayam belanda) masak merah..I think dekat pukul 1 pagi baru we all berdua balik rumah Mama.. Flat dan kekenyangan..

Hari Ahad second raya, pagi-pagi lagi me and Nasir bertolak balik ke KL.. sebab kena beraya kat KL plak with MIL and family.. Sebelum balik, Nasir kena siapkan dulu tiles kat garden mama..hehe..mama demand dengan menantu nii..kenala buat..

Sebelum balik sementara menunggu Pak Sir siapkan garden Mak Tok.. sempat la menangkap gambar dengan si kecik Fimiyun ni..dengan baju tidor lagi.. (Zaili, ada iras muka Fariz kan..)

Dalam perjalanan balik, ingat nak singgah Pengkalan.. tapi tak de sesapa kat rumah, so teruskanla perjalanan. Lagipun, in a few days akan jumpa Wan Chik, Wan Chu and Pak Su.. so tak la ralat sangat.

Sampai kat Rawang singgah beraya di rumah Abang Manap (Nasir's eldest brother) and malam tu pegi beraya kat rumah MIL...As usual, MIL masak 2-3 round Nasi Minyak and lauk pauk on first raya..ayam je selalu tu dekat 15-20 ekor sekali masak..My MIL memang terrer bab masak-memasak ni, so memang licinla selalu first raya..Sedara-mara ramai bertandang but anak cucu pun ramai jugak sebenarnya..

Okla..panjangnya entry raya part 1 ni.. ni la kot entry paling panjang I've done..Sakannya Raya Part 2 akan menyusul.. tungguu...

Another girl missing

2007-10-25T09:56:00.002+08:00

The New Straits Times Online

Girl, 10, leaves home to buy VCD, goes missing By : Audrey Dermawan

GEORGE TOWN: Even as Nurin Jazlin Jazimin's abduction-cum-murder case remains unsolved, another girl has gone missing under almost similar circumstances.

Ten-year-old Rekha Ahamad left her squatter home in Kampung Kolam alone at 9pm on Monday to buy a VCD at a nearby night market.She has not returned.Police are baffled why her stepfather, Ahamad Omar, 49, allowed Rekha to leave home alone at night.They are also puzzled why the girl wanted to buy a VCD as there is no electricity supply to their house. They don't even have a VCD player.

Rekha, a Standard Four pupil of Sek Keb (P) Island at the city centre here, was last seen leaving her home after she managed to coax Ahamad to give her RM5 to get the VCD.Her mother, Salmah Sellamah Abdullah, 41, was at work at a factory in Bayan Lepas at the time.Rekha, the sixth of seven siblings, was wearing a white T-shirt with the "Ultraman" character printed on it, and a pair of shorts, when she left home.Ahamad said it was not the first time he had allowed his stepdaughter to go out alone."She always goes for a walkabout near our house and has never encountered any problems."She always returns home around 8pm or 9pm but I don't know what happened on Monday.

She left and never returned," he said when met at home yesterday.Ahamad said he and a few neighbours went out to search for Rekha when she failed to return home about midnight.The couple lodged a report at the Central police station early on Tuesday morning."We are worried sick about her.

We have not seen her for three days and we just don't know where she could have gone," said Ahamad, a sidewalk trader.Asked why Rekha wanted to buy the VCD although their house did not have any power supply, Ahamad said his stepdaughter usually watched movies in a relative's house nearby.Salmah said she had been praying hard for Rekha's safe return.

Meanwhile, Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Azam Abd Hamid said investigations were ongoing and police had yet to pick up anyone in connection with the case."We view this case seriously as there have been many similar cases before this. We will intensify the search for the little girl," he added.

Rekha's disappearance comes in the wake of Nurin's murder, which, more than a month after her body was found, remains unsolved.It was reported that Nurin, a year two pupil of SK Desa Setapak, went missing on Aug 20 after going to a night market near her house at Section 1 Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur. Her naked body was found stuffed inside a sports bag placed at the bottom of a staircase at a shoplot in Taman Petaling Utama on Sept 17.

Note: they all ni, tak belajar-belajar lagi..tak serik agaknya..

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin

2007-10-10T09:58:00.000+08:00

Ikhlas dari

Nasir & Anom,

Berbuka Puasa with good old friends and weekend..

2007-10-08T09:47:00.000+08:00

Setelah lama tak berjumpa in a conducive environment , last Friday me, Leen and Zaili decided to berbuka puasa sekali with the hubbies and kid (Zaili's).. We decided to berbuka kat Vistana Hotel sebab the buffet is the cheapest and the spread's not bad. Besides, nak solat pun senang so Vistana Hotel it is..

Zaili, Onn and Fariz was the first one to arrive, then Leen ,me and Nasir followed just minutes behind. Memandangkan dah lama tak jumpa, topik perbualan bukan main banyak lagi.. sekejap2 dah tukar topik -- tapi kebanyakannya berkait dengan hal kerja la.. Fariz being the only kid around was as active as ever -- first dish he took was cendol tanpa apa2 kecuali ais..(meaning shredded ice ajela..).. Disebabkan terlalu sibuk bersembang dan makan, terlupa plak nak amik gambar.. Anyway, it was an enjoyable outing. Sayang it was only sekejap.. we had to wrapped up by 9-ish coz Leen had to leave for Melaka the next day. To Leen and Zaili (and the hubbies), thank you for the night out and all the advises given.. Will see how it goes and update you all soon.. Next time kita buat pot luck kat rumah la, lebih comfortable and boleh sembang lagi lama..

On Saturday, misi buat chocolate cookies for hari raya berjaya tapi tak de la great macamana pun.. lupa nak be a little bit more creative.

Chocolate cookies instant..hehehe..

Bila malam, amik Cha kat LRT stesen (lupa plak nak citer, Cha decided to come down again to KL on Saturday -- nak bukak posa together with her ex-IKIP friends) So, overnight kat my house..

On Sunday morning lepas sahur, terus start buat another kuih raya -- recipe dapat kat one of the website --tak ingat plak kat mana...Peanut Butter cookies with Strawberry Jam.. Start buat dough dulu sampai pukul 7.45.. Pukul 11 baru started baking with Cha's help..

Tapi by 2.30 dah stop sebab had to send Cha nak balik Melaka at 3.30pm..After dropping her off kat LRT Sentul Timur (so that tak payah go through the jam kat Pudu), we all singgah kat rumah Mak kejap..

Nasir wanted to picked up the boys (anak2 kakak and abang Nasir) for operasi menebas kawasan kubur ayah Nasir (atok bebudak tu).. Disebabkan ayah Nasir dah meninggal lama (I think masa tu Nasir pun form 5), the cucus sorang pun tak pernah jumpa atok diaorang. So, you can imagine la bila Nasir ajak diaorang pegi kubur tok..Ada yang macam tak paham ..the youngest boy dengan tangan patah (gambar dia kat bawah) siap tanya Azlil (cousin dia -- yang dah umur 15 tahun)

Fazli: "Abg Lil, kita nak pegi kubur sapa ?"

Lil: "Kubur Tok, suami nenek"

Fazli: " Oo.. kita nak pegi kubur Tok Abg Lil, ye??"

Lil: "Apa la kau ni, tok aku, tok kau la jugak.."

Si Fazli yang masa ni baru patah tangan

Another conversation kelakar masa diaorang tengah menglearkan kawasan kubur -- between Nasir, Faiz (14 thn - anak abang Nasir) and Hairi (21 thn - anak kakak Nasir) and the rest..

Hairi: "Pak Sir, masa Atok meninggal, Pak Sir umur berapa ?"

Nasir: "Pak Sir masa tu tingkatan 5.."

Hairi: "Pak Long ?" (Eldest brother Nasir)

Nasir: "Pak Long dah kerje dah.."

Hairi: "Abang Wan ?" (the eldest cucu)

Nasir: "Isk.. abang Wan dalam perut lagi.."

Tiba-tiba Faiz mencelah: "Pak Sir, pak Sir.. Abah Faiz dah ada dah ke masa tu ??"

Semua org terus ketawa..

Hairi: "Abah kau memang la ada.. kan ke dia abang Pak Sir.. kau ni apa la.."

Anyway, niat awal diaorang, nak singgah menziarahi kubur Nurin Jazlin lepas menebas kubur atok.. tapi sebab hari dah mendung dan nak hujan, tak sempat.. Lagi pun kawasan kubur tu memang besar.. nak cari kubur pun payah jugak.. So, Nasir ajak semua baca al-fatihah untuk Nurin dari jauh aje..

Bila cakap pasal Nurin.. teringat la plak kat anak2 Faridah (adik Nasir).. ada yang sorang tu ada iras2 Nurin..

Dari kiri--Shawani (umur 7 tahun), Aina (6 tahun - sepupu) dan Sharina (iras Nurin - 4 tahun - dah start puasa penuh.. tinggal the first 3 days of puasa je -- willpower kuat)

Tagged: All Five

2007-10-01T12:44:00.000+08:00

I was tagged by my cousin – Abang A'a last week tapi baru hari ni dapat complete.. I guess I’m the last one who actually did it! Okay.. here it goes..

Five things in my handbag
1. Wallet ciplak ‘Gucci’ yang dah pakai almost 6 years..
2. Handphone (yang kadang-kadang tertinggal di tepi katil)
3. Hand fan (mesti kelakar kan – tapi sebenarnya I dapat the fan as wedding favours from one of my friend’s wedding (Adju’s) – so bila panas2, ada la kegunaannya)
4. Lipsticks – ber’stick-stick’ – tak sure ada berapa.. bila nak pakai, main raba and cekup aje..tak kira colour apa..
5. Small round mirror with ‘lacquered’ cover – colour merah.. given to me by a colleague from KBS, Korea..

Five things in my wallet:
1. My Bank Cards – ada HSBC, ada CIMB + credit cards (my kad and license duduk kat dalam wallet lain)
2. My memberships cards – I never thought that I would be someone yang suka sign up for membership – tapi bila tengok dalam wallet – berlambak2 la plak membership cards – padanla kembung memanjang – ada Enrich, MPH, Toy ‘R’ us, Sony Style, Jusco, Real Rewards, Body Shop
3. Hubby punye Business Binary School’s student card
4. Gambar Hubby masa Form 5 – ala2 70’s – memang gambar 70’s pun..
5. US Dollars – duit ‘allowance’ yang disimpan untuk tujuan shopping bila kena travel nanti.. Kalau ditukar, nanti nak shopping kena convert duit sendiri (RM).. sakit tu

Five things in my favourite room (I have 2 favourite rooms actually, living room and the bedroom – pikir punya pikir last2 pilih bedroom la..):
1. The whole bedroom set – because I won it through a radio contest on Mix FM – ntah apa ntah nama the contest.. eeemmm… “RHB Home.. something..something.. tak ingat dah.. in year 2002 kot..
2. This unique lampshade I bought in Cha Tu Chak market in Bangkok – made from thai silk – ala2 retro.. tapi tak boleh pasang sebab the bulb tak sama system ke or something like that..
3. My collection of bracelets – siap dah penuh dah my jewellery box.. now into my second box.. Dah quite sometime stop beli bracelet (atas nasihat hubby) tapi friends keep on giving them -- during birthday, dapat 1 from my team mate, last week got 2 from UK, courtesy of my boss and today dapat another 1 from a close colleague who just got back from Bangkok.. camna la tak penuh..
4. My books – kalau dah tak de stock buku nak baca.. make sure sebelum balik rumah – singgah kat our internal library kat office – the books in this library are contributed by the staff's own collection..(kira ala2 sistem barter la, safe sikit duit tak payah beli buku..)
5. The bed.. ye la tempat tido kan.. mestila favourite..

Five things I would like to do:
1. To reduce weight so that hubby will stop worrying over my health and of course to make things easier to get pregnant etc..
2. Sambung buat Masters – maybe in Communication or International Relations insyallah sementara masih berdua ni..
3. Buat kuih raya sendiri raya tahun ni.. at least sejenis atau dua pun jadik la..(Oven baru beli – yone nanti yong claim birthday present ni aa..hehehe..)
4. Habiskan filing bil-bil (rumah) yang dah dibayar..
5. Basuh and vacuum kereta (ingat dapat la settle ni masa hubby pegi service kereta semalam kat Subang.. tapi pasal takut nanti Cha terlepas bas nak balik Melaka.. tak sempat la. Nasib baik pun – hujan plak sampai hari ni..)

Five things I'm currently on:
1. Trying to decide nak raya kat mana 1st raya – it all depends whether the ‘Laos’ trip is happening on 3rd raya ke tak.. hopefully dapat la postpone.. boleh la raya sakan sikit..
2. Pikir budget raya + sanggup ke nak tempuh jem kat high way nak balik raya..
3. Menyiapkan this entry..
4. Tengah pikir nak tukar kerja ke tak..
5. Menghabiskan kerja-kerja yang ada kat atas meja kat office ni..

Wuh.. finally complete jugak this entry..Jenuhnya..Ok abang a.. tugasku sudah siap.. Memandangkan semua yang I kenal dah ditag.. Makanya I will end the tagging here..Unless kalau ada sesapa yang melawat my blog, nak continue..

al-fatihah untuk adik Nurin Jazlin

2007-09-24T10:05:00.000+08:00

JAZIMIN Abdul Jalil memangku jenazah anaknya, Nurin buat kali terakhir sebelum dikebumikan di Tanah Perkuburan Islam Taman Ibu Kota, Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, semalam.

http://nurinjazlin.blogspot.com

Buat si kecil Adik Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, semoga kau lebih bahagia di sana.. Al-fatihah..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1iCcaYcbVg

Menyambut Ramadhan

2007-09-18T11:55:00.000+08:00

Selamat Berpuasa !! Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Eventful Weekend

2007-09-10T14:59:00.001+08:00

Dalam kesedihan laptop hubby hilang, I had to still attend the Pertanding Klasik Irama Serumpun anjuran RTM and Kementerian Penerangan kat Dewan Merdeka, PWTC on the 7th. Ada 2 sebab, firstly because dah bagi nama kat RTM and second sebab dah janji dengan ipar duai ku dan extended family they all..All-in-all 8 orang la jugak rombongan ku.. Kak Ju, Abg Manap (abang sulung Nasir) and anak dara they all, Syidah.. Dari Singapore specifically came down for this event were -- adik Kak Ju - Pok, kakak sulong Kak Ju - Kak Asiah and husband dia, Abang Man -- and lastly Abang Amir (kakak sulong Nasirnye husband) and myself.. Nasir tak pegi -- tak minat and tak dak masa.. banyak kerja nak kena recover all information yang boleh.. (Nasir ada 9 orang adik-beradik, so ni kira sikitla)

I came straight from the office, berkonvoi dengan kak Hanizah, DJ Noramin (her husband) and anak daranya - Hanis..Kalau I tak drive, boleh terus tumpang they all.. Bila sampai PWTC, terkejut tengok ramainya orang -- rupanya MATTA Fair dah start.. jenuh cari parking, last-last I park kat celah-celah kondo belakang PWTC.

Once dah jumpa dengan semua, terus ke Dewan takut nanti tak dapat tempat best plak.. Dapat la duduk 7th row from the stage.. okla.. Pas tu, lari gi solat and tandas jap .. balik-balik tempat duduk kat depan tu semua dah penuh.. Depan I -- Ahmad Fauzee (and his wife) duduk. Depan they all, Aziz Sattar and wife duduk.. Kak Ju dok sebelah I dah panik .. "Anom, nampak gaya macam nak kena masuk tv muka kita ni, duduk celah2 artis"..Tapi nasib baik la, tak menjadi.. the cameraman lebih concentrate on the performances..

Overall, memang best la performance malam tu, very nostalgic ..besides the peserta2 yang bertanding, ramai artis-artis lama and baru perform jugak..Antaranya Bob and Zahid (AF), Dayang Nurfaizah, Taufik Batishah, Mayang Sari, M Daud Kilau, DJ Dave, Nasir Wahab, Safura, Yusni Hamid and Jamal Abdillah.. Tak sangka that it could turn out as entertaining as it was.. I was expecting to be half asleep most of the time!!

The show ended almost midnight.. lepas tu for the jemputan khas ada plak makan-makan, tapi memandangkan I have to drive back alone.. tak nak la balik lambat-lambat kan.. So, while my brother-in-law menemankan I ke kereta, the rest menunggu dia kat Pacific Hotel, sekali Taufik Batishah plak lalu nak balik hotel..dapat la they all sembang dengan dia kat luar tu.. sayang sekali tak dak sorang pun yang ada kamera (only me -- tu pun with the handphone)..so tak de la gambar..

Esoknya, we (me and hubby) were planning nak pegi KLCC -- nak cari birthday present for me and nak survey lap top.. Tapi ingatkan kalau rombongan dari Singapore tak balik lagi, nak la jugak pegi visit Ayah We (bapak kak Ju yang dah berumur 83 tahun)..tapi Kak Ju kata they all semua nak singgah rumah my mother-in-law, so tukar plan, pegi rumah ibu mertuaku..

Sampai kat sana, kak Ju and her siblings meneruskan perjalanan they all ke Sg Wang sekejap, sementara Ayah We melepak la kat rumah mak.. Apa lagi, dengan kadar segera Mak suruh masak makan tengahari.. Nasib baik Kak Faridah(sebenarnya adik Nasir, tapi older than me) ada, kalau tidak.. abih la I..So we all berdua dengan bantuan mak, siap masak sup tulang + daging, ayam masak cili kunyit, sayur goreng and telur dadar.. Jadikla.. sedap jugak..

After family kak Ju dah makan and bertolak balik ke Singapura, Abang Hamid (abang Nasir no.2) plak sampai kat rumah mak dengan anak bongsu dia, Fazli. Salam2 dengan semua orang, terus dia turun ke bawah nak main kat taman permainan. Tak sampai lima minit, naik balik- muka dah kelat, tangan sebelah kanan dah longlai -- patah, jatuh masa main 'monkey bar'. Panik plak semua orang.. Abang Hamid terpaksa bawak ke hospital..

We all pun tak jadik la ke KLCC sebab nak menunggu berita dari hospital..tengok2 kena operate hari Isnin, sebab alignment siku dah lari and patah.. Terpaksa operate masuk besi..Isk. ngeri..

On sunday, petang baru we all keluar, pegi tengok Fazli kat hospital and then baru pegi KLCC.. Dapat la jugak survey laptop-laptop yang ada potential.. tapi kena survey lagi la.. In the end, dapat jugak birthday present from my beloved husband -- jam tangan Swatch.. cantik oo.. Thank you abang..Happy sangat!!

Overall..memang penat la last weekend seronok ada, sedih pun ada..

P/S: nanti dah ada gambar, I will upload..

P/SS: kebetulan I have 2 free passes for teater 'Tunku The Musical' for Wednesday 12th Sept - 8.30pm. Kalau ada yang interested let me know. You need to collect the passes kat Starhill before end of tomorrow. The counter is open from 10am to 10pm.. email me at anomabdullahsani@gmail.com

Laptop..hai..laptop

2007-09-07T14:49:00.000+08:00

Semalam sesampainya I di rumah, Nasir terus cakap "Laptop abang hilang!!" Intially tak la terkejut sangat sebab ingatkan ni mesti salah letak, tak jumpa kat mana letak..

Selepas ditanya-tanya, Nasir kata, after balik dari meeting with his staff, he letak the laptop kat living hall. The laptop was left on, sebab nak continue kerja sikit. The staff suddenly nak fotostat something sebelum dia balik, so Nasir tanpa kunci grill depan, pegi la ke belakang nak fotostat. Staff dia pun ikut ke belakang sama.. Lepas dah habis fotostat, and the staff dah balik baru dia kunci grill. Kejap sangat.. Then terus pegi solat Asar. Lepas solat Asar, bila nak continue kerja, baru sedar laptop dah tak ada..Kabel je tinggal. Selain daripada tu, handphone pun kena amik jugak (Nasib baik handphone yang lama, bukan yang baru..--kalau tak lagi tension).. Try to call the phone, tak ade bunyi dah..

All this happened dalam pukul 5.00 - 5.30.. takde plak neighbour sebelah nampak sebab kebetulan 'bibik' yang selalu lepak kat luar dengan anak2 orang sebelah tu pegi padang plak petang tu.. so tak la nampak...Actually kawasan rumah we all tu memang boleh la dikatakan safe jugak.. sebab ada jugak a couple of times i terlupa kunci kereta or lupa nak tutup tingkap kereta overnight, alhamdullillah tak de la plak apa2 yang jadi..Now I have to be extra careful la..

Kesian my hubby..termenung panjang semalam.. memikirkan all the documents and information that he has been collecting since 2003..burn gitu aje.. Apa lagi nak dikatakan..

Pesta Bola Merdeka!! Malaysia Menang!!

2007-08-30T13:40:00.000+08:00

Kyril Muhymeen (rasanya la..) gembira dengan kemenangan Malaysia ke atas Myanmar - 3-1 semalam..

Photo credit: http://pesonabatik.com/blog/

I am not actually a big fan of football. Kalau ada game yang hubby nak tengok..tumpang tengok aje la.. Tapi semalam while watching the football match between Malaysia and Myanmar.. memang seronok sangat rasa.. Lama dah tak rasa macam tu..

You know the adrenalin rush.. rasa butterflies in your stomach waiting whether ada ke 'can' our team nak menang.. Especially bila tiba-tiba our team macam dah penat nak main, asyik kena attack aje...and then bila tengok penyokong-penyokong kat stadium tu macam dah tersentap..panik dan takut kalau-kalau team kita kalah.. Bestla..

Anyway, the team under 23 ni memang berbakat and still have that motivation. Hopefully diaorang ni tak termakan dek 'politik dalaman' and will prevail with their passion for the game..

This is a good gift for the Malaysians sempena ulangtahun yang ke 50 kemerdekaan kita.. Tahniah!!

Balik Penang...

2007-08-06T18:15:00.000+08:00

Last weekend we all semua balik ke Penang... specifically untuk celebrate abah nye birthday this coming Tuesday - 7th August..Sekaligus dapat la jumpa si kecik Adi Fimiyun..The journey to Penang was a long one, as we (me and Cha) had to naik bas and jumpa Meor kat Ipoh. From Ipoh, naik kereta Meor sampai ke Penang.. Unfortunately, the menantus (my hubby and Rina) tak dapat balik sebab masing-masing ada hal..

Happy Birthday abah..

Adi tengah menyibuk tengok birthday present baru Tok..

Adi trying to get Tok's attention away from the new gadget..

Interesting people..

2007-07-27T13:20:00.000+08:00

Earlier today was browsing through my files on my PC and found pictures that I’ve taken masa kat Busan last year. Busan was the first event yang I pegi that involves a major conference. Penat jugak la ke hulu hilir. Nak naik teksi mahal.. asyik jalan kaki je ke sana sini.. Makan pun susah.. memang senang la nak loss weight..

Anyway, during this Busan trip, ni la rasanya my workshop yang paling ramai participant yang have colourful characters..

Ni dia tengah set up kamera kat ILO- Director-General's Press Conference

This one, nama dia Tsewang (pronounce Cewang) Dendup– from Bhutan.. Tsewang ni memang kelakar orangnya..mulut becok habis.. Yang kelakarnya.. ada satu malam tu.. dia lepak-lepak kat kaki lima hotel dengan si Ana (Philippines).. Tiba-tiba a group of Koreans agaknya mabuk.. ingat dia Korean film star kot, datang nak amik gambar dengan dia.. lepas tu bagi duit banyak plak tu kat dia for the photos.. pelikkan..Dia mati-mati tolak.. tapi diaorang letak jugak dalam poket dia..Tak pasal-pasal dapat duit extra..

Chandana tengah interview one of Sri Lanka's Labour Minister

Ni plak Chandana dari Sri Lanka, Chandana ni memang baik orangnya.. tapi yang tak tahan tu, masa kitaorang kluar shopping (the only time pun, sebab esoknya dah nak balik), dia pegi beli payung untuk wife dia.. Kitaorang semua gelak bagai nak pecah perut.. yela.. jauh-jauh datang sampai Korea, bawak balik payung yg boleh beli kat mana2 pun. I told him that he should ask for our opinion kalau tak tau nak beli apa for the wife..Kat Busan tu.. accessories for women memang banyak sebab Koreans kan memang fashion conscious..Dia kata accessories tu semua kat Sri Lanka pun boleh jumpa.. Abih tu-- payung tak boleh jumpa ke???? Confius akak.. Anyway, during the second workshop kat Hong Kong, tanya dia whether wife dia suka tak payung tu.. as expected, wife dia pun confius jugak apsal la beli payung??? Moral of the story.. tu husband-husband yang pegi overseas tu, balik jgn la beli payung k..

Ni gambar almost everyone in the group -- minus a few people.. dari kanan ke kiri (belakang) Munshi (Bangladesh), Chandana (Sri Lanka), Narayan (Nepal), Geoffrey (Fiji), Laiq (Pakistan), Kenmada (Indonesia), Gary (HKG), Tsewang (Bhutan) and Mr Ramesh Agrawal (India)

Yang depan plak.. me.. Ana (Philippines), Monica (M'sia-RTM) & Daniela (Australia)

Mr Agrawal plak from India.. very elderly gentleman.. time makan aja, mesti ada dia offer akak makan sesama supply ration dia.. Almaklumla, dia vegetarian..memandangkan awak pun tak boleh nak cari proper food kat sana, makanya awak pun jadi la vegetarian.. Kesian kitaorang , asyik makan salad, jagung rebus, kacang2 plus of course ada la bawak ration dari Malaysia kan.. kalau tidak mana tahan.. Lagi satu Mr Agrawal ni memang terkenal dengan jokes/riddle nye.. Bila kita ramai-ramai sembang.. dia pun start la dia punye riddle.

Yang lain-lainnye.. tengok je la caption ye..

The geng menunggu bas nak gi shopping.. Kitaorang naik bas je sebab nak naik teksi mahal sangat..The one in white coat is Reza from Iran. And behind in green is Kenny - our secondment staff seconded by KBS, Korea.

Display of food menus on the front of the restaurant. Attractive kan ??

Tsewang buat kelakar kat station underground train..

Pimnara from MCOT-Thailand, Lip Khoon from Mediacorp Singapore, Chandana - SLRC(dengan payung yang baru dibelinya) and me

Craig (my ex-boss), Daniela from ABC - Australia and Monica from RTM - Malaysia

Matt Walsh (ex-CNN staff cum the trainer), Sophy and Karen Naets from International Labour Organisation - semua tengah kecut sebab ada satu mamat dari Korea, mabuk dan meracau-racau marahkan diaorang.. semua ni kat atas train nak balik hotel..

Me, in front of the entrance to the conference

Gambar a unique building kat Busan...

Tol gate Busan.. Kat Busan, driver duduk sebelah kiri.. rasa pelik sangat bila naik teksi.. selalu nak masuk sebelah driver..

Busan's view from my room at the Seacloud Hotel..

Another angle of the beach from the hotel room..

From Busan, decided to spend 1 night in Seoul.. Ni tengah shopping spree kat Seoul..

Shopping kat area stadium..murah sikit..

In front of a shopping complex..
Petrol station with an anciet rooftop...menarik tak ??

Weekend with the sisters...

2007-07-25T13:40:00.000+08:00

Weekend baru ni memang layak dipanggil weekend Harry Potter.. Pening my kepala.. kiri kanan asyik everyone with Harry Potter.. My sisters - Yone and Cha decided to come down to KL last Saturday (Yone, right after collecting her Harry Potter book from the bookshop), Cha awai sikit sebab only 2 hours to get to KL from Melaka..

Anyway, planning awalnya Cha sampai dalam pukul 2.. terus nak tengok Transformers kat GSC Midvalley pukul 3.30.. Orang punye la ramai, queue pun panjang kan main lagi..Somehow all the Transformers ticket sold out sampai pukul 9.30, so terpaksala tukar plan..

Harry Potter pun sold out jugak, tapi yang petangnya still available sebab banyak hall bukak for Harry Potter..Call Yone, decide to watch Harry Potter pukul 6.10pm sekali dengan dia (walaupun dia sebenarnya dah tengok). While waiting, pegi la makan, solat (punye la lama nak tunggu – dekat 40 min baru boleh masuk surau – another long queue sebab surau kat basement tu dah ditutup) and shopping a little bit..

Seriously speaking, I am not a big fan of Harry Potter tapi setakat nak tengok tu bolehla - tu pun ada jugak yang tertidur.. But apa yang menyebabkan I changed my mind to watch the movie was because the night before, Astro showed Harry Potter –Goblet of Fire on HBO. And I thought it was really good and wanted to see what the Order of Phoenix all about. Memandangkan baca buku pun tak pernah, memang quite a letdown la bila tengok wayang… tak best pun..

Anyway lepas habis wayang, we all pun nak pegi makan kat Sate Kajang Hj Samuri kat MRR2 area UIA. Call la Yah, sebab Yah baru dapat good news and wanted to hear more about it..Dia tengah sibuk baca Harry Potter – tapi baru chapter 5, Yone dah chapter 8. So again, the conversation were surrounded by Harry Potter stuff and it all ended around 11.30.. Penat betul...Kesian Nasir ditinggalkan seharian, nasib baikla dia pun memang ada kerja and a lot of people to meet, so dia pun occupied la jugak..

On Sunday, sent Yone tu Putra LRT – dia nak gi jumpa kengkawan dia and by 12.30, hantar Cha kat Star LRT, terus gi Pudu balik Melaka..

So, that’s how I spent the weekend with the sistas!!

MRSM..15 Pelajar dibuang sekolah

2007-07-16T13:44:00.000+08:00

MRSM.. teringat plak kat alma mater yang satu ni. Alam hidup bersekolah asrama penuh memang penuh dengan cabaran tapi tak kurang jugak keseronokannya.

Baru-baru ni heboh kes 15 budak MRSM Kuala Klawang (http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/archive.asp?y=2007&dt=0715&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Dalam_Negeri&pg=dn_05.htm) - [eh.. camna nak link ni??] dibuang sekolah sebab bergaduh dengan student junior (form 2).. Semalam during Buletin Utama, mak bapak masing-masing meminta maaf secara terbuka dan ingin memohon kepada pihak sekolah supaya membenarkan anak-anak mereka meneruskan pengajian sehingga selepas PMR. Kesian tengok muka mak bapak diaorang.. lain yang diharapkan pada anak-anak, lain pulak yang dapat..

Tu la.. sepatutnya sistem orientasi yang berbentuk buli ni kena dibuang, cikgu-cikgu kena pantau betul-betul proses orientasi.. tak boleh dibiarkan the seniors menguasai segalanya. Ni tidak.. seniors nak buat apa, suka2 hati diaorang aje..macam baru ni dengar kat Era.. ada budak tu as juniors, senior dia suruh the whole group berendam dalam lumpur pukul 4 pagi, sambil nyanyi lagu “Bernafas Dalam Lumpur”. Bukan ke ni satu penderaan, apa faedah yang bebudak juniors tu dapat, selain daripada jatuh sakit dan perasaan dendam terhadap seniors. Disebabkan rasa tak puas hati tu, melarat la kepada juniors yang seterusnya pulak jadi cycle tu tak berenti..

Walau macamana pun..kesian la jugak kat bebudak tu.. at that age, memang fikiran tak matang lagi.. Bila sorang dah start bergaduh/pukul memukul, yang lain pun rasa syok la join sekaki.. But I seriously think that this is good lesson for the students to learn from, and a good decision taken by the school and the board. This will help to curb the bullies. Jangan sampai ada yang meninggal, baru tindakan nak dibuat – dah terlambat…

Still going strong..

2007-07-11T15:10:00.000+08:00

Dah masuk 4 minggu dah agenda exercise kitaorang ni.. sekarang nak panjat bukit/tangga dah laju dah sikit-- YAY!!!.. tak la sesemput awal-awal dulu - panjat sikit - berenti, panjat sikit - berenti.. alhamdullillah.. Hubby dah pesan dah to make sure jadikan event ni our permanent life style .. insyallah..

Yah.. la ni lake garden tu dah rasa kecik la plak.. masa Laman last year tu teringat punya la jenuh nak memusing satu lake garden tu.. Sampai naik demam yong pasal panas sangat.. tak biasa berpanas macam tu..

Abg A.. hopefully Wan Chor is doing much better now.. Update la her condition. Kirim salam kat Wan Chor.. We will continue praying for her..

Lake Garden...

2007-06-27T14:19:00.000+08:00

Skrang ni kitaorang tengah azam baru.. Hari-hari lepas habis kerja.. kitaorang jogging (kononnye jogging - sebenarnya jalan aje) kat Lake Garden.. Syok jugak la petang-petang jalan kat Lake Garden tu.. tak ramai orang especially weekdays.

Actually we did it to kill two birds with one stone.. Hubby sibuk dengan pokok-pokoknya, myself apa lagi --nak kurus la.. Setakat ni alhamdullillah dah dekat 2 minggu bertahan.. Doa-doakan la berjaya ye..

Sapa-sapa rasa nak join.. Jom la.. Boleh arrange sekali..Malaysia Boleh!!! Hehehe..

Banjir Kilat di KL – 10 Jun 2007

2007-06-11T23:32:00.000+08:00

Semalam, as usual hubby, Nasir menantikan hujan yang tak turun-turun sejak hari Sabtu. Langit nampak gelap tapi tak hujan..Tapi semalam.. hujan bukan main lebat lagi..Kami suspek mesti ada tempat yang banjir.

Betul pula tekaan kami..pagi tadi memandangkan aku cuti, kami ingat nak singgah di kawasan Masjid India – nak cari sunglasses yang ala2 Altantuya for my mother in law yang baru operate mata. Katanya everything looked too white and bright – tu yang doctor pesan pakai kacamata yang besar and hitam all the times for a month or so. Jadi kami pun pegi la mencari..terperanjatnya melihat keadaan di kawasan masjid India tu…

I’ll let the pictures speak for itself..

Ni area dekat Bank Muamalat.

Kedai salon yang kena teruk memunggah dan membersih

Kedai bunga telur yang selalu disinggahi pun tak terlepas

Parking basement still submerged walaupun dah tengahari Adik ni hilang semua barang-barang perniagaannya - hanya 1 tong ni saja dpt diselamatkan - 2 lagi dah dihanyutkan air deras.

Walaupun dah pukul 12.30, paras air masih lagi tinggi..

Ada peniaga yang mengambil peluang untuk lelong barang2 perniagaan
Tengokla motorbike yang dah tukar colour dek ditelenggami air..
Berdebunya area Kampung Baru..

Menurut peniaga yang berniaga kat situ, air naik dalam masa 10 minit..tak sempat diaorang nak selamatkan barang-barang..hanya sempat lari selamatkan diri..diaorang kata betul-betul macam tsunami..airnya deras betul..

Asia Media Summit 2007...

2007-06-03T09:46:00.000+08:00

Last week memang busy giler.. tak sempat pun nak update blog.. What was really interesting in this year sessions was making the media realise that they are a lot of things they can do in educating the audience.. on HIV/AIDS.. on climate change and how this will effect the future generation’s lifes –especially the children..

For example HIV/AIDS – how many of you know that if you contracted HIV today, the virus will not appear in your test result until about 4 months after you first contracted it? (through of course – blood (sharing needles to inject drugs), unprotected and multiple sex partners and parent to child transmission) . Dan antara sedar dan tidak..kita tak dapat cam whether seseorang itu ada HIV/AIDS dengan melihat fizikalnya sahaja..Memang tak dapat cam.. I’ve met a couple of people yang has HIV for 15 years tapi masih sihat dan aktif..

Walaupun there’s no cure for HIV/AIDS as of now, tapi medical breakthrough on the anti-viral drugs telah dijumpai, which actually can prolong lives of people living with HIV sebelum the virus attack the immune system (of course kena banyak pantangla – live healthily). So skrang ni, people living with HIV (PLWH) sebenarnya dah jadi macam pesakit-pesakit diabetes atau pun darah tinggi.. Sebab once seseorang tu dah dapat penyakit2 ni.. mereka kena constantly makan ubat seumur hidup..Samala macam pesakit HIV..Ni sebenarnya peranan media kena educate the audiences on all this things to reduce discrimation and stigma on PLWHA.

Of course stigma HIV/AIDS lebih dari kencing manis dan darah tinggi sebab cara mendapat HIV/AIDS itu adalah cara2 yang dilarang keras oleh agama Islam dan kebanyakan agama2 lain. Tapi kalau seseorang itu telah insaf akan kesilapannya dan ingin bertaubat.. tidakkah kita sebagai orang biasa patut memaafkan dan membantunya meneruskan kehidupan ?

Lagi wedding pictures...

2007-05-10T14:05:00.002+08:00

Cik Siti begitu gembira...hahaha...

Nampak tak the autumn leaves melekat kat bumbung tu.. seksanya nak buat.. lenguh2 la tangan akak ni. Takpa la janji sang pengantin happy...

Selamat Pengantin Baru Baizurah & Amin...Semoga kekal hingga ke anak cucu....amin....

Ni gambar just after akad nikah (which was held kat Masjid Negeri)..tapi ni dah kat dewan.. tengah tunggu bilik persalinan siap..

Ni pulak mak andam dan konco-konconya..nasib baik la ada depa ni semua.. kalau tidak memang la akak pengsan.. Terima kasih wahai adik-adikku sekalian..

Meor Adi Fimiyun akhirnya sampai petang tu.. terus tangkap gambar dengan pengantin baru.. kan main lagi dia..

Ni la gambar our family with the newly weds. Nasib baik sempat tangkap gambar.. rugi je kalau terlepas..

Ice sculpture ni memang menjadi tarikan..tengok la si Fimiyun.. ngadanya muka..

With my beloved husband.. Mohd Nasir Abd Rashid..

Ni atas permintaan abang a.. Gambar Ali Akhbar, Ali Abidin, (a.k.a. menantu2 Abg A..kah..kah..kah..) Ali (anak pakcik ghouse) and Adi.. Sebenarnya tak sure yang mana satu Akhbar, mana satu Abidin.. Dua-dua dah sama hair style.. susah nak differentiate..

Ni plak gambar family tuan rumah - Mamu Yeh and both sides of family..(kat sini clear la sikit gambar Akhbar & Abidin..)

Wedding.. wedding..

2007-05-09T13:33:00.001+08:00

Huh.. penat makcik..setelah cuti seminggu.. ari ni baru start kerja balik..

Yang importantnya cik siti wan kembang (hehe..yah jangan marah a..) dah selamat diijabkabulkan dengan pasangannya Mohd Amin bin Mohd Yassin.. pada 5hb May 2007.

Disebabkan terlalu sibuk.. terlupa plak nak amik gambaq pengantin.. tapi tak pala.. dapat tangkap gambar ice sculpture pun jadila.. Gambar ni masa kat dewan..

Ni masa sesi khatam quran..cantik tak pelamin makcik buat... tak brapa clear la plak (maklumla pakai camera handphone aje).. nanti jumpa yang clear sikit nanti makcik post..

Ni cik siti masa malam berinai..

Bangkok Trip......

2007-02-13T11:40:00.001+08:00

It's been a while since I visited Bangkok.. 6 months or so.. Not so long as some would expect.. But Bangkok is a place where I frequently visit in a year due to work requirement. The nature of my work which is in International Relations and Development Projects requires me and the team to organise our meetings and workshops in Bangkok because Bangkok is where the UN Regional office is. On top of that, it's the center of air traffic in the region so it's easier to get to Bangkok for a Mongolian or Fijian than to go to Hanoi or Seoul. KL pun ok gak.. tapi tau2 aje la mat salleh.. lebih suka kan Bangkok..bebas..

Bangkok has a new airport now and it has been operational since September last year. Tapi frankly speaking, I thought KLIA looked better. 1 good thing though.. sekarang dah ada muslim prayer rooms kat the new airport - Suvarnabhumi International Airport is the name.

This time the meeting was great sebab we had a few field trips yang enable the producers to get closer to the subjects - ie HIV/AIDS patients kat Mercy Center, small children which goes to the kindergarten kat Mercy Center tu..Nanti kalau I dah figure out macamana nak attach gambar, I will post it here.

Assalammualaikum...

2007-02-12T23:34:00.000+08:00

After a long time watching others' blog, my husband manage to finally convinced me to blog myself.. So here it is.. the first of my posting..

Just got back from Bangkok on late Saturday night..Noticed that the surrounding area of KLIA was hazy. Praise to Allah the Almighty, today it rains heavily after a couple of weeks of long dry spell.. Nasir is the most grateful one as it saved most of his subjects.. His plants of course.. ;-)

Will tell you more about my Bangkok trip on my next posting..