Living with Sarah

Aliyah was not in so good mood on Friday because we had to cancel spending the weekend at her Mak Long's place. So both of us planned a short jalan-jalan to Zoo Negara on Saturday - since she's been pestering us to go there ever since her school trip last year. My last visit there was during my schooling days - that was ages and ages ago. On Saturday, armed with egg sandwiches and currypuffs, we went to the zoo! I had very low expectation - memories of my last visit there were mostly of smelly place and sick looking animals. However, I was wrong. The place has improved tremendously, the zoo was very clean and not that smelly! From the moment we arrived till the time we departed, we had such good experience especially with the staff. There were smiles and assistance along the way. Even the cleaning people were friendly! I stopped to ask this cleaning guy about a small wallaby I saw amongst the trees at the emu cage which I thought was lost and the guy actually spent time telling...

2012 has been kind to us. Alhamdulillah. - Our office has 2 new tenants. So, we have some help in paying for office rent from now on. Quite nice chaps. One of whom is an educational book publisher. Interesting indeed... We are opening a few more workstations for rent and there are a few interested parties. I'm not looking at a full office. I need peace. We will open for maybe 5-6 more occupants only. That's the maximum. - Had a couple of fruitful meetings this week. Just met our favourite agency today. Our project with them is actually completed. At least on our side! We now need to work closely with the 7 companies groomed by the agency to ensure their websites will go live very soon. - Took the opportunity to meet up with our favourite contact person at our favourite agency and presented our ideas for this year. Very positive feedback. We match this agency with that agency and work behind the scene. Meeting him is always heart-warming. Especially having to listen to his stori...

We started taking Aliyah to Dr Wong in Kajang since she was a baby - I think about 3-4mths old. Such a good pediatrician. She was the one who warned me with a smile - "Aliyah in mahal sikit nak jaga" due to her skin conditions. She has eczema. She can't simply use any other shampoo or shower cream, not even J&J. It used to cost us a lot to buy this medicated brand of shower cream for her, which I can't remember its name. Thank God she can now use SebaMed. Slightly cheaper. Aliyah has been having problems for months now. Every few weeks she would get rashes and we would get the normal creams from the clinic nearby. This morning, Hubby decided that we need to see Dr Wong. The last time we took her there was I think 4 years ago. It was a bit awkward for me to register - telling the nurse we have not been there for years. And the moment we stepped in, Dr Wong received us with such a huge smile. She didn't change a bit. And she said to me - "Sama saja muda!...

In 2009, I co-wrote a book with my staff Hajar. It was about building an e-business for this productivity-related agency. It was just a small book, about 70 pages thick, but with very in-depth research and interviews. It took us a full 3-month to finish it. It was since published and apparently out of print. I think about 1,000 copies were distributed. We were given 3 complimentary copies. Since I co-wrote and edited the book, I never really opened the book when I received it. I just put the books on our bookshelf at the office and forgot about them. I happen to have the softcopy, so no big deal. Lagipun, orang kata apa - "dah nak muntah tengok buku tu!". Hehehe... However, these past months have required me to take the book, read it and use it - for other projects. And surprisingly, the book is so very useful! The flow is easy to understand, the examples clear, the success stories inspiring and the tips are quite good. No, I'm not putting myself in a basket and lifting i...

Tak ada hujan, tak ada ribut, hari ini saya telah menerima satu bebelan dan nasihat yang panjang lebar tentang cara-cara menjalankan perniagaan dari seorang yang saya percaya tidak pernah berniaga. Oleh itu, saya menjadi agak angin dan terasa hati kerana walaupun saya masih sangat jauh lagi dari inisiatif untuk meletakkan nama di dalam senarai orang terkaya di Malaysia dengan aset yang mungkin hanya 0.0000000000001% dari jumlah aset Tan Sri Robert Kuok, tapi saya bangga kerana saya telah berjaya menjalankan perniagaan tanpa bantuan siapa-siapa selama hampir 6 tahun. Dari "nothing" kepada "something". Dan saya sangat bangga dengan "something" yang telah saya bina dengan usaha saya sendiri. Saya bangga. Saya berjaya dalam erti kata yang hanya saya boleh fahami. Dan saya berjanji dengan diri saya sendiri yang saya tak akan telefon lagi. Maaf.

3 of our 6 kittens didn't make it. After about a month of looking quite healthy, the one we call "Jepun" suddenly got weak, refused to drink and died 3 days later. Then, the smallest got the same symptoms and died too. We then brought the other 4, including Mimi to the Vet. A few days later the nice gray colour one died. The vet said he did everything but still it died. We have since left all of them under the care of the Vet. It's been a month now. At first we wanted to spay Mimi but the doc said Mimi produces very beautiful off-springs. He suggested after 6 months to have Mimi "partnered" with some handsome cat. So, the 3 kitties are now very healthy, eating expansive food, being given vitamins and all, and having a nice time in a huge cage. Soon, they will be adopted, hopefully by cat-loving people. Mimi will be returned to us when she has gained weight because she got so skinny after giving birth to 6 kittens. We are not charged for all that expenses. Sa...

Ya Allah, sesungguhnya mereka sedang dizalimi. Kau bantulah mereka untuk keluar dari kesusahan yang sedang mereka tanggung. Dan kau berikanlah balasan yang setimpal kepada orang-orang yang menzalimi. Amin.

Aliyah joined Tunas Puteri this year. Actually, she wanted to join last year but, being her, I guess she didn't pushed and scratched, thus the quota was filled. She reluctantly joined PBSM. Despite many ways to cheer her up, she wasn't that interested. This year, I don't know whether she pushed and scratched her way through, but she made it. After her co-curricular activities yesterday she excitedly told me about her uniform body - they sang, sat in circles, sang some more... And she badly wanted the uniform. As we spent the weekend at her Mak Long's place, we went to Subang Parade to search for it (actually acara sambilan je), then to Giant KJ but the Professor outlet was out of her size. Finally got hold of it at the uniform shop just near our home. Cute huh :)

I'm still at the office alone and I'm playing this song full blast with my headphone on. While I'm supposed to be working... This is the best version of the live concert I can find on YouTube. I have the version downloaded on MP3 but can't beat watching the live concert. To me, this song is the best song ever written. Ever. I first got acquainted with it in my teens when my Abang Ben came back from UK bringing home loads of LPs. Yes, the huge black ones. I was curious because the song was actually banned here, or so I heard last time due to the mention of Bismillah. After listening to it for the first time, I thought - this is such a "different" song. And I used to play it when my nephew and niece went to school. Now, I know that "different" actually refers to "brilliant". There's an analysis of it here . The song has no chorus and the operatic passage is intended as a mock opera. Full of emotions. Very difficult to record. Play it full...

I feel so very tired. And I was thinking - I have only one child to manage. If I have more, it would have been more tiring. This tiredness is due to waiting I suppose. But draining. The day started early - 6.50am sent Aliyah to school with a stopover to fetch her friend. This is the first co-curricular activities of the year (as I know it), so I'm not really sure what time it starts and ends. There was no bulletin on it. So, after laundry and some cleaning, I headed to the school at 9.20am to fetch her back. So I waited. At 10am, the Std 3 pupils finished theirs. And I waited. Since Aliyah brought her handphone, I went back home for a while to send something home. I went back to the school and waited. And waited. Finally, she finished her activities at 11.20am. A full 2 hours later. You might wonder why I kept on waiting even though Aliyah has her handphone with her. I don't know. It is a Saturday and I don't feel like really thinking. I just sat, waited and switched off my...

Another session at the spa yesterday, this time my mother made it, despite having difficulty to persuade her to move to get into and out of the car. It took hours. Since it was my Kak Long's birthday on Sunday, I bought this mocha almond cake to celebrate. My father nak baca doa siap tanya kuat-kuat - "yang ke berapa?". Bocor rahsia :) My mother had a hair cut, manicure & pedicure, and simple facial cleansing. She looked very much healthier by the time she got back. Towkey Izzkin - Izzat & Ekin melayan "Awa".

Aliyah's co-curricular activities have now been pushed to Saturday morning. Today she starts her tuition class at school from 1.30-5.45pm. Since she's in Std 5 now, I feel really pressured to get her into tuition class. I like the one offered by the school better. It's going to be a full Saturday morning for her from now on. For me, here I am at the office. Working. Looks like that's what I'll be doing on Saturdays from now on.

The truth has started to reveal itself. It took some time but it is slowly showing. Alhamdulillah... Berkat doa yang tak putus-putus setiap hari. Dan berkat kesabaran menghadapi tuduhan dan caci-maki manusia.

Any occasion would not be complete without a card from our daughter. Here's her card for us :) She's getting more creative by the day... What did we buy for each other? The most unromantic gift of all - reading specs! Hahaha... Yup, we bought each other reading specs - that's how old we are. And desperately in need of them! And the most practical of gifts :)