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Showing posts from December, 2010

Looking Forward to 2011

We had a very fruitful meeting yesterday. Met up with my ex-lecturer from UPM - Prof Musa - for this project we are pursuing. I think he too was curious because after nearly 10 years, I contacted him just in time for his retirement (the day he read my email, he was retiring the week after). And he still remembered us - me and Eza. He's such an attentive and excellent listener. I guess we didn't know how to approach the subject and the bits and pieces that Eza explained (the pleasure was hers to tell the Prof since she's our Comm person) he actually understood and grasped them well. I had some slides printed so that he can read before we started, but he smiled, put the envelop under his arm and listened. And he even gave us ideas on how to make our project better. His ideas on "modal insan" are now scribbled in my notes waiting to be expanded. And good news is - he was as excited as we are and he accepted our offer to become the advisor for the project. Now the bit

3 Things This Year

It is merely days to the new year. While it's a cliche to say "how time flies!", I'm going to say it anyway - "how time flies!". My three reflections of the year: 1. Work wise: it has been a fruitful year with 2 major projects. Full of challenges and hardships but so very worth it. The year when traveling to Kuantan is like just going to KL for a meeting. The projects really heighten our portfolio. 2. Cats wise: took care of 2 cats and lost both of them. First it was Bubu whom I missed terribly. Then, Kiki that we rescued from a dumpster, who transformed into a cat people thought we bought, and then lost. Another traumatic loss. I still pray always that whoever took our cats take really good care of them. 3. Personal matters: that (permanent) heavy feelings were partially lifted off my chest when I met this sister and poured my heart out. And that made this year a teeny-weeny bit better. But overall, I'm still the "forgive but not forget" perso

Like Mommy Like Daughter

I love soundtracks. When I was younger (much younger than now), after catching a movie I really like, I would buy the soundtrack and listen to it in the car. Dulu-dulu beli cassette je, so murah. I remember when I was doing my practical teaching at a school in Banting, I used to give this Form 2 girl, who goes to the same school, a lift. I always had the soundtrack of The Lion King on. She would give me funny looks especially when the songs like Hakuna Matata was on - like I am this crazy woman listening to cartoon songs and funny instrumental music. Whenever I catch her giving such looks, I would tell her - "Listening to songs is one of the best ways to learn English, you know. Like these songs, you can just listen and understand the whole story." I was so sure she was very relieved that she didn't get me as her English teacher. Now, my little girl has developed the same funny characteristic - she too loves soundtracks. I didn't really realise this at first because u

Kena Kuat Semangat

At times, when energy and spirit are low, I really struggle to motivate myself, let alone others. Rasa macam dah tak ada energy nak move forward. And I get irritated easily. And when I'm irritated, I get angry. Maybe I should hire someone just to kick all of us in the ass. Seriously. Including myself. I always remind myself, and others in my team - Google is NOT the first search engine, and Facebook is NOT the first social networking site. And as Hubby simply said - Gardenia is NOT the first brand of bread. So, why get intimidated? Just work to become better if not the best? I need to be kicked now.

Edible / Herb Garden

My vegetable patch has been abandoned far too long. Now that things are a teeny bit better with space and time to breathe, I've started caring for the patch once again. Especially now that the wet season is here. However, the veges are fighting space with the weeds. Malasnya nak buat weeding actually. But my dream herb garden is a few steps away from reality (or a few days or weeks - depends). Hubby loved the idea and now has started clearing the designated place to work on the garden (now the word "depends" earlier rely heavily upon his "rajinness"). We have started buying some herb plants - mint and daun kesum, and actually spent the past two weekends at this nursery. The mint and pokok kesum... I used a bit of the mint in my cooking a few days ago. Very fresh and aromatic. Also bought this limau kasturi plant. The one we planted when we first moved died. Guess the soil underneath retain too much water. Let's see if this thrives. Hopefully. I would love co

Hot Springs Sg Klah - The Negative

Now that I've shown the positive aspects, the only tak best aspect of the hotel was the food. Seriously fail lah. My advise - go eat everywhere else except the Coffee House. We had dinner there because we were lured by the beautiful ambiance we could see from our room. Lagipun, malas nak keluar sebab jauh. The price of food memang hotel standards. But service and food tersangat teruk. Our order sampai lambat and the food really sucks. Reason was - the chef was on emergency leave. So what kan? The group near to us also had the same bad experience - this group of Chinese who brought guests from Italy. I can imagine their embarrassment. Especially when you order spaghetti bolognese and get spaghetti with canned tomato soup and chunks of tomatoes instead. Aliyah tasted a forkful, said "Mommy punya lagi sedap", put it the dish aside. I will not elaborate on the other dishes because we have been warned actually. We read reviews by other people on some websites before we go. Any

Hot Springs Sg Klah - The Photos

Some photos of the trip... The cousins after breakfast... Aliyah & Nurul... We found this hidden natural sauna by following the wooden bridge... Sessi mengurut belakang...

Hot Springs Sg Klah - The Trip

Kalau nak kira, memang tak da masa nak pegi holiday. At first we wanted to compensate getaway with movies - tu yang pegi tengok banyak movies this holidays. But then, rasa tak best pulak. Kesian kat Aliyah asyik ikut we all pegi office every day. So, I planned a little vacation to Sg Klah Hot Springs in Sungkai. The place I stopped by on the way back from Ipoh business trip last year. Just 2D 1N only with my sisters and the newlyweds. We went there yesterday afternoon and came back today. Hasilnya - excellent trip. Must plan another longer trip there! Sebagai ketua rombongan Cik Kiah, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab akak untuk membahagi-bahagikan bilik, meal vouchers dan strap utk semua orang. We took 3 rooms. The view from our room - walk straight ahead to the hot springs. For only RM150 per night (weekdays), I think it was so very worth it. You get either a king size bed or 2 single beds plus an extra mattress. Huge room with bath tub. Beautiful wood interior. Lots you can do here - enj

A Glimpse of Our New Office

It might be a spur of the moment - ideas coming in, believing the ideas can be made into reality - that we decided to go find a bigger office. And I'd like to call it "petanda dan rezeki dari Allah s.w.t." because we did find an office, with the size we wanted and just 5 minutes from our house. But then, at that moment, we were broke. We didn't have the money to put the deposit for it. Our project payment was delayed and I almost gave up knowing that the office has another interested party - probably much much bigger than us - a language centre. But then, again Allah permudahkan this effort - a good Samaritan in the form of a hubby of a staff lent us the money. The day I got the keys to the new office in my hands, I slumped in my chair and thought - "what have I done?". I stared at the keys. My hands cold as ice. Am I really really going to do this? But then, I guess it is too late to think anymore. There is no turning back. I have to move on. We immediately

Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Three movies in 3 weeks! Today we watched another "must" film - Narnia 3. On 2nd day of release. Hehehe... that's the good thing of having Alamanda almost at your doorstep. Only that Alamanda doesn't have 3D which is not really a problem to us. (Putting religious elements aside) I love the movie. My little family enjoyed it very much. There's this thing that's stuck in my heart up till now. If that feeling is there, I consider it a good movie. It's quite an adventure, a voyage, at one point I think I might get seasick. The whole story was basically in a ship smack in the ocean. There's water everywhere. There are fights, magic, serpent and dragon, emotions, comedy (Eustace was sooo funny!), and most importantly - the handsome heart-dropping Prince Caspian. The end was so so sad. But then, the song by Carrie Underwood is not so sad compared to the previous movie (The Call by Regina Spektor). But still, bertakung juga air mata... Hmmm....

Another MAHA Trip

We didn't go on Tuesday as planned. Too many things to do. Thought we'd not go. But today, Miqdam came to the office and asked if we would like to follow him to MAHA after Friday prayers because he needed to send over a ladder to his boys. Siap bakar semangat saying - "Bila lagi nak pegi? Tinggal 2 hari je nih! Miq boleh bawak terus sampai dalam!" So, after our team's brainstorming session, we went - me, Aliyah and Linda. Hubby ku sakit lutut pulak. By the time we reach there it was almost 4pm. So we went around to the places we didn't manage to cover the last time. First, a short stop to see the rodeo show. Aliyah is suckers for horses. Then, the Fish Showground - quite passable for me, except Aliyah kinda like the aquarium. Next, the Vegetable Showground. I so, so lurve that place - bursting with vegetables! There was this sample of edible garden - a small pond with all herbs and vegetables around. Fantastic idea. I must try to create that. Then, terpaksa me

Rapunzel - a Tangled Tale

I decided that we should take a little break today and go catch a movie. For the past 2 weeks, I wake up in the morning with body ache. I work almost every day, and still it doesn't seem enough. There's always things to do. And this translation work is killing my back. So, a Disney movie that promises lots of laughter is just the right remedy. We caught the 11.30am show. The verdict - as other Disney movies - very entertaining and funny. Maybe not as funny as Pixar movies. My favourite? Maximus!

Kiki No More

I delayed writing this hoping and praying that he comes home but it has been 1.5 week now... Sunday last week, he naughtily followed Nurul and Fatiyah home. They walked back home from our place and he chased after them. At one point he actually stopped following. By then it was already Maghrib, so Hubby said he would go search for him after prayers. That was the last time we saw Kiki. We made fliers and posters. Some people came to us saying they recognise Kiki but that Sunday night was the last time they saw him. Seemed he's quite well-known around these few lanes. Our Vet's "intelligence" said he might be taken away. Aliyah seemed OK. She's very good at hiding her feelings. But she refused to store away Kiki's toys - the dog and teddy-bear. She said they remind her of him. And after prayers, till today, she would doa: "Ya Allah, semoga kucing saya Kiki balik. Saya sangat sayang dan rindu pada dia." I really hope, if he's now with another family