Happy Book Day.. and a belated Happy Earth Day

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....

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"

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....

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

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

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

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..