Friday, December 22, 2006

it's 8 !!

I got 8.0 for my IELTS ! Yeaaahaaaa.. Congratulations to me! Yes, I am so happy.. I hardly felt myself walking and taking the LRT back to the office just now because I am so over-the-moon.. la la la la la.. This calls for a celebration.. hmm.. Let's just think about that later, shall we.
(Just for your info, IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System and the highest band score is 9, so, you better be damn proud of me!)

Now I want to tell you on how my test went last Saturday 16th Dec 2006. It's stated in the exam slip that all participants must arrived before 8am. So, I planned to wake up early and start my journey to British Council at exactly 7.15am. Unfortunately, Han and I woke up at 7.00am and I was so panic because it's already late. I didn't took my shower, just brushed my teeth, wash my face, sprayed Angel by Thierry Mugler, put on a pair of jeans and t-shirt, powdered my face, made the Herbalife drinks to go and all the while, nagging to Han for not waking up earlier to the sound of the alarm.. sorry hunney.. I was in a total wreck.. yup, when i panicked, I panicked, big time! nothing can calm me down. Han was worried because I look so blurr when he tried to give me the directions to BC. So, in the end, he grabbed his wallet, keys and drove me there, leaving Amin sound asleep all by himself at home. Oh, we are so not good parents. And throughout the journey, I was not thinking much of the exam, but more about Amin actually. Worried that if anything happened to us on the road, then nobody knows about Amin at home. Gasp! I was constantly praying for safe journey at that time and determined to make a copy of all the apartment keys to give to my parents later.

Anyway, we arrived at 7.45am, thank god no traffic on Saturday morning, and there's plenty of people there waiting for the guard to let them use the lift to 2nd Floor, that's where the examination hall is. Exactly at 8am, the guard let us in and people started to line up to enter the room. An A4 sized envelope was given to each of us to put our valuables (wallets. purses, handphones, carkeys, housekeys etc) which the envelope than sealed and written with names on it, placed in a cupboard inside the examination hall. Other bags, files, helmets and umbrellas can be simply put lying on the floor outside the room.

We were then searched by the staffs and scanned with metal detector (just like at the airports) before entering the room and the IELTS started with listening test at about 8.45am. It's a good thing that I bought the RM80 specimen tutorial sample earlier because there's a CD for the listening test sample and I already had a good idea of what I'll be expecting - a very pure British accent. The audio system was very good but still have to be very focused and listen very carefully in order not to miss any points. There were about 40 questions with about 4 to 5 listening conversations.
(I got 8.5 out of 9.0 for this Listening test - Very Good User : Has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Misunderstandings may occur in unfamiliar situations. Handles complex detailed argumentation well)

Next was the reading test and no breaks were given in between. It's all about reading and answering the questions. Same thing, about 40 questions for 4 passages. It's not that easy but it was o.k for me. The passages was very lengthy and the multiple choice answers were all not similar to the wordings in the passages. You kinda like have to make your own summary of understandings and it was pretty confusing for me.
(I also got 8.5 for this Reading test)

Then we move straight to the essay part which I had to do two(2) essays in one hour. Wow.. and double WOW when I had a 'writers block' at that time. I can't think! I had no idea of what sentences to use, what points should I put in, and heck, I was frozen even at the beginning because I didn't know how to start the essay! I only had the idea coming to me during the last 15 minutes where I had to put the paper side by side and simultaneously trying to complete essay 1, and essay 2. No, I'm not using both hands to write, but I was switching from one essay to another from lines to lines. This was a nightmare. My first essay was to do a summary and comparison from 2 graphs given (sounds easy but it's not, trust me, the graphs were about the UK citizenship applicants from 1976 to 2006) and the second essay was to discuss 'happiness due to economic success'. What the hell was that? Until today, I actually don't understand what it means by economic success, but to tell you the truth, during my exam, I was writing my essay based on my points related to 'financial success'. Yup, but I didn't use the word financial though, I kept using the 'economic' terms but of course, anybody can tell that I was relating it to money.. haha..
(So, no wonder I got 6 for my Writing test - Competent User : Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations)

We had a long lunch break afterwards as my speaking test scheduled at about 3.55pm. I met Lynn there, she took the same exam too and her speaking test was at 3.25pm, so, we went for lunch together. It was great seeing her! We talked on and on and on about what we were planning to do. She's trying to apply for Masters in journalism. Yeah, that girl has what it takes. Anyway, we went to KLCC to eat and did our Zuhur prayers at Aquaria's praying room, less crowded. Then we head back to BC and it was already time for the listening test. They just estimated the time and I actually was called in at 3.20pm. I was interviewed by a British lady named Patricia. She had this very pure British accent and I have to admit that I was having a bit of a problem trying to understand her questions. But she can tell it just by looking at my facial expressions. Whenever I raised my eyebrows she would quickly repeat the questions in slower motion. Alhamdulillah, I was able to think fast and prevent myself from repeating the same points over and over again. The first topic was about photographs and photography, and the second was about our childhood home, environment, and parental values. It was a very challenging conversations I have ever had because I needed to get all the key points out in perfect sentences with correct grammar and pronunciation (this conversation was recorded for marking purposes). It became harder because Patricia did not get involved in the conversation at all as she only read the questions and look at the stop watch and will remain silent until it was time to move on to the next question, if I ended my speaking earlier than the time given, but when I exceeded the time, she just let me keep talking on and on and on.. which made my brains frantically searching for fresh points! It was a great relief when she said "Thank you. That's the end of your speaking test" and switched off the recorder.
(I got 8 for my Speaking test, yeah.. Way to go,girl! Not bad at all for somebody who had trouble understanding the British accent)

Alright.. wow, time flies.. It's already almost a month since my last entry.. I have been busy haven't I. Like I've said before in my previous entry, I've been busy completing my Masters application process. I have submitted about 2 applications (where the IELTS test score will be sent directly by BC to the respective universities - as requested by them which costs me RM20 per address - damn expensive) and today in process of completing another 3. One of the application requested for the thesis proposal paper which I have absolutely no idea of what to do my research on. I guess the IELTS test score might arrive sooner than my application if I couldn't come up with the project paper by today. Oh my.. I better stop blogging and finish up this report.. Wish me luck!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

what's new

It has been about 20 days since my last entry.. wow, how times flies.. I have been occupied lately. Very occupied, but not with work. Anyway, below are the things that has been happening for the past few weeks :

  • I have decided to try and apply for the Erasmus Mundus Masters Sponsorship Program. This is a new thing as it only started in year 2004 and is planned to run until year 2008, which I will be the forth batch of applicants, running for the 2007/2008 intake. It is dedicated especially to introduce European education to third-world-countries. There are about 80 Masters courses available and very limited spaces offered for the Erasmus Mundus grant. I have gone through all the courses study programs, subject coverage, skills requirements and have successfully finalised to 6 courses that I intend to apply to all and lets just see where I might end up later. The universities incharged will be the ones to select the applicants hence I wouldn't want to risk anything by only applying to one course. That's why better safe than sorry.
  • I had to rush to register myself to take IELTS. Thanks to Fadhilah for reminding me about this. I went to British Council Jln Ampang on 14th November and found out that all the exam dates for November are fully booked and only middle of December onwards are available. I paid RM510 for the exam, bought the study materials for RM80 and booked the date 16th December to take the exam. The result will be out on the 29th December and I had to rush my applications to all universities as the datelines ranging from 3rd Jan, 15th Jan and 30th Jan. I'm sure not to be able to beraya aidiladha this year, since I'll be swamping with the submission applications.. sigh..
  • I went to a 5 days training (yippeeee) on DBA Oracle Fundamentals 1, from 20th till 24th November at Plaza Pantai. Yeah, It's a walking distance from the office but who cares! I've enjoyed every last minute of it. It was given by the same trainer and hosted by the same agency of training Introduction to Oracle that I went to last September, except for at that time, the agency was at Setapak. Now, they have opened another centre here just to be close with the TM staff. Excellent business plan there.
  • Amin was locked inside Han's Honda City last Sunday. It's not his fault. It's the father's fault. Han left Amin in the car while filling in the tank at the gas station. The door was not properly shut but still unable to open when Amin pushed the lock button. Luckily I was at the apartment, and had Joe standby there to drive me to them a few blocks away. Enough said, I spent the next 4 hours nagging Han about this and I'm sure he learnt his lesson, loud and clear.
  • I took a 3 day leave this week, from Monday till Wednesday, just to finish up my annual leave. I managed to go to MMU to request for reprint on my degree certificate as I had misplaced the one I obtained in year 2001. The staff at the exam unit gave me a buffer of 2 weeks to get the cert signed by the ever-so-busy Prof who as far as i can recall, I only saw him around campur like once a year, maybe. But surprisingly, it has been settled yesterday. Wow, that was quick. The Prof must have had lots of free time nowadays, huh?
  • After a month taking Herbalife, I have not yet loose any weight, but.. jeng..jeng..jeng.. I have lost more than one centimetres each from my arms and lost exactly two centimetres from my waist and officially able to fit into my Levis jeans bootcut 345 that I was not able to fit in after the raya holidays a month ago. So, the conclusion is, it works!

2 years old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMIN !

I can't believe it! I still can't believe it. It felt only like yesterday I successfully gave birth to this 2.78kg baby boy. I felt tears streaming down my cheek just by watching him sleep last night. He's all grown up. He can count straight from one to seven without pausing. He can switch on the tv and dvd player, load the dvd and play the movie. He can wear his own diapers (the pull-up-pants). He can open the car door, climb onto the seat and lock himself in it (I'll story later of this incident). He even knows how to put both his hand on my cheek, pull my face to look at him and give me big bear-hug around my neck. What more can I ask?!! I am blessed. Very blessed.

I bought a strawberry ice cream cake filled with fruit toppings. Nek Aye made nasi ayam complete with salad and soup. We had plenty of chocolates too, bought by her in Langkawi a few days ago, while picking up AcuJah at Perlis. TokAndak, Nang, OyangNgah, OyangChu, TokDe Lit and family, TokCik Ak and family, Tokki Teh and family, AyahLong Adam and AyahNgah Alif were all there to celebrate Amin's birthday. He made everybody feel old. On the day he was born, he has bestowed the 'elderly' title to everybody as he is the first grandchildren to my parents and the first great grandchildren to my grandma and her siblings. In other words, Amin is the first in the 4th generation of our huge family tree.

AyahLong Adam gave Amin non other than a toy car, but this time there's a bugs bunny riding in it. Nek Aye gave Amin a pair of Adidas blue-coloured-sandal which is way too big for Amin but of course, better big than small. Maybe next year he will fit right into it. Aki gave already his present a few months ago, which was the life-size-battery-operated-jeep that Amin can easily drive around the lawn area.

We played bubbles all night (the soap bubbles), which Amin enjoyed most because he loved watching the Curious George dvd and playing bubbles is exactly like what George the monkey did. Nek Aye bought 3 bottles of bubbles from Padang Besar, Perlis and we didn't even get to use half of the bottle yet. The soap is very bubble-ish (if there's such word). Maybe tonight we will play some more.

Friday, November 10, 2006

runaway

He did it again.
Yesterday, 'X' took the car and never came back. He left his dad all alone and never returned. 'A' went to see his dad who was in panic state, worried that 'X' might do something stupid. 'X' didn't answer his cellphone and at 11pm, 'A' took him to the police station to file a report of 'X'. Since the report for missing people can only be lodged after 24 hours of missing, they filed the report of worrying for 'X' safety. The police took down the car plate number, his possible whereabouts and close friends contact numbers.
At about 2.45am, 'X' mother called to inform that 'X' has reached home, which distanced 5 hours from KL. He told her that he drove aimlessly and didn't even realized how he got there. He asked people for money to pay the gas and highways and surprisingly it wasn't that hard to get.

I'm baffled by this incident. Nobody knows what actually happened.
Only 'X' knows, or does he really?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

herbalife

Today is my second day of using Herbalife.
Yesterday, I admit that I was a bit awkward to use the shaker since I have never seen a 'shaker' before in my life and I wonder what the propeller look-alike thing doing in it. Yati told me that it's actually to break up the powdered drink while shaking it.. ahh.. yes.. I should have guessed it.

I started the routine by taking the formulated Tea Mix with 400ml water early in the morning, before taking my shower. Then, I took the Chocolate+Protein shake and drank it while driving to work. I was very worried that I might be hungry later on but to my surprise, the drink was quite filing. I went to the ladies for almost every hour to wee-wee. So, this proves that the Tea Mix really works in disposing the toxin out of my system. I prepared 2 jugs of plain water on my table as to remind myself to keep drinking regularly and be hydrated as this will help cleanse the body. This is good because it will also make sure that I'm drinking more water everyday.
I started feeling hungry at about noon, which was the signal to take my 2nd shake for the day. I had the Strawberry flavoured shake at the office and it certainly kept me full. I then proceed to drink my Tea Mix again at about 3pm.
I reached home about 6pm starving but once again, to my surprise, I did not gobbled all the food on the table! I ate a moderate portion and felt immediately full. And for supper, I had my usual soy milk, several prunes and cookies too. Hmm, maybe 8 glasses of water intake per day is good for health after all.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

after the suicide attempt

On the very next day, after the attempted suicide incident, my friend (let me refer to as A) took his suicidal friend out (known here as X). They grab a take away, parked the car near the highway and just simply sit there, eat and chat. For as long as I have known 'A', he is not the emotional-sensitive kinda guy. He's much more to the macho man with no feminine side or whatsoever. I was worried at first because I'm afraid that he might not be able to successfully help 'X' in any other way. I even told him to immediately take X to seek professional help. But I was wrong.

'A' spent more than 2 hours saying nothing but only listening to 'X' talking about his problem with work, girlfriend and peer pressure. He talked about his future plans, dreams and regrets. He talked about his parents and how he longed for their support. He talked about all the pain, the insecurities and the loneliness he felt. He even talked about the latest comic issue on stand and the latest Nike shoes that are in stock. He just wanted to talk. Wanted to express his worries. Wanted to tell somebody his problem. Wanted understanding and encouragement from people around him. He wants attention. That's all.

And I have underestimate 'A'.

Today, 'X' retired father came all the way to KL to stay with him for maybe a week or two, to give his love, support and undivided attention to his 24 year old son. May the wound be heeled.

Monday, November 06, 2006

if you are thinking about suicide..

.. read this first

A must read for those who have been thinking about suicide.

how to help a suicidal friend

Yesterday, a friend informed me that someone we know was found in an attempt to slash his wrist. Thank god for the blunt knife, he ended up with only a bruised wrist and not dead, yet. One question that popped into my mind the moment I heard the news was "Why?".

What could possibly made him do that? What triggered him? Now I feel obligated to educate myself and hopefully others out there about how serious this issue actually is.

I have spent several hours reading through some very fantastic websites and would like to use this article from Metanoia online. The word metanoia itself means " a change of mind".


The first and most important thing we should know is that THIS IS THE REAL THING, NO JOKE. Do take it seriously. Keep in mind that

"Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain
exceeds resources for coping with pain"
meaning that there's more pain than the person can handle.

Here's the list of "What You Can Do To Help Someone Who May Be Suicidal?"

  1. Take it seriously.

    Myth: “The people who talk about it don't do it.” Studies have found that more than 75% of all completed suicides did things in the few weeks or months prior to their deaths to indicate to others that they were in deep despair. Anyone expressing suicidal feelings needs immediate attention.

    Myth: “Anyone who tries to kill himself has got to be crazy.” Perhaps 10% of all suicidal people are psychotic or have delusional beliefs about reality. Most suicidal people suffer from the recognized mental illness of depression; but many depressed people adequately manage their daily affairs. The absence of “craziness” does not mean the absence of suicide risk.

    Myth: “Those problems weren't enough to commit suicide over,” is often said by people who knew a completed suicide. You cannot assume that because you feel something is not worth being suicidal about, that the person you are with feels the same way. It is not how bad the problem is, but how badly it's hurting the person who has it.


  2. Remember: suicidal behavior is a cry for help.

    Myth: “If a someone is going to kill himself, nothing can stop him.” The fact that a person is still alive is sufficient proof that part of him wants to remain alive. The suicidal person is ambivalent - part of him wants to live and part of him wants not so much death as he wants the pain to end. It is the part that wants to live that tells another “I feel suicidal.” If a suicidal person turns to you it is likely that he believes that you are more caring, more informed about coping with misfortune, and more willing to protect his confidentiality. No matter how negative the manner and content of his talk, he is doing a positive thing and has a positive view of you.


  3. Be willing to give and get help sooner rather than later.

    Suicide prevention is not a last minute activity. All textbooks on depression say it should be reached as soon as possible. Unfortunately, suicidal people are afraid that trying to get help may bring them more pain: being told they are stupid, foolish, sinful, or manipulative; rejection; punishment; suspension from school or job; written records of their condition; or involuntary commitment. You need to do everything you can to reduce the pain, rather than increase or prolong it. Constructively involving yourself on the side of life as early as possible will reduce the risk of suicide.

  4. Listen.

    Give the person every opportunity to unburden his troubles and ventilate his feelings. You don't need to say much and there are no magic words. If you are concerned, your voice and manner will show it. Give him relief from being alone with his pain; let him know you are glad he turned to you. Patience, sympathy, acceptance. Avoid arguments and advice giving.

  5. ASK: “Are you having thoughts of suicide?”

    Myth: “Talking about it may give someone the idea.” People already have the idea; suicide is constantly in the news media. If you ask a despairing person this question, you are doing a good thing for them by actually showing him that you care about him, that you take him seriously, and that you are willing to let him share his pain with you. You are giving him further opportunity to discharge pent up and painful feelings. If the person is having thoughts of suicide, find out how far along his ideation has progressed.

  6. If the person is acutely suicidal, do not leave him alone.

    If the means are present, try to get rid of them. Detoxify the home. (Distract with new activities. Get him occupied with something else and make him forget about it even for just a few minutes.)

  7. Urge professional help.

    Persistence and patience may be needed to seek, engage and continue with as many options as possible. In any referral situation, let the person know you care and want to maintain contact.

  8. No secrets.

    It is the part of the person that is afraid of more pain that says “Don't tell anyone.” It is the part that wants to stay alive that tells you about it. Respond to that part of the person and persistently seek out a mature and compassionate person with whom you can review the situation. (You can get outside help and still protect the person from pain causing breaches of privacy.) Do not try to go it alone. Get help for the person and for yourself. Distributing the anxieties and responsibilities of suicide prevention makes it easier and much more effective.

  9. From crisis to recovery.

    Most people have suicidal thoughts or feelings at some point in their lives; yet less than 2% of all deaths are suicides. Nearly all suicidal people suffer from conditions that will pass with time or with the assistance of a recovery program. There are hundreds of modest steps we can take to improve our response to the suicidal and to make it easier for them to seek help. Taking these modest steps can save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering.

Conditions associated with increased risk of suicide

  • Death or terminal illness of relative or friend.

  • Divorce, separation, broken relationship, stress on family.

  • Loss of health (real or imaginary).

  • Loss of job, home, money, status, self-esteem, personal security.

  • Alcohol or drug abuse.

  • Depression. In the young depression may be masked by hyperactivity or acting out behavior. In the elderly it may be incorrectly attributed to the natural effects of aging. Depression that seems to quickly disappear for no apparent reason is cause for concern. The early stages of recovery from depression can be a high risk period. Recent studies have associated anxiety disorders with increased risk for attempted suicide.

Emotional and behavioral changes associated with suicide

  • Overwhelming Pain: pain that threatens to exceed the person's pain coping capacities. Suicidal feelings are often the result of longstanding problems that have been exacerbated by recent precipitating events. The precipitating factors may be new pain or the loss of pain coping resources.

  • Hopelessness: the feeling that the pain will continue or get worse; things will never get better.

  • Powerlessness: the feeling that one's resources for reducing pain are exhausted.

  • Feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, self-hatred, “no one cares”. Fears of losing control, harming self or others.

  • Personality becomes sad, withdrawn, tired, apathetic, anxious, irritable, or prone to angry outbursts.

  • Declining performance in school, work, or other activities. (Occasionally the reverse: someone who volunteers for extra duties because they need to fill up their time.)

  • Social isolation; or association with a group that has different moral standards than those of the family.

  • Declining interest in sex, friends, or activities previously enjoyed.

  • Neglect of personal welfare, deteriorating physical appearance.

  • Alterations in either direction in sleeping or eating habits.
    (Particularly in the elderly) Self-starvation, dietary mismanagement, disobeying medical instructions.

  • Difficult times: holidays, anniversaries, and the first week after discharge from a hospital; just before and after diagnosis of a major illness; just before and during disciplinary proceedings. Undocumented status adds to the stress of a crisis.

Suicidal Behavior

  • Previous suicide attempts, “mini-attempts”.

  • Explicit statements of suicidal ideation or feelings.

  • Development of suicidal plan, acquiring the means, “rehearsal” behavior, setting a time for the attempt.

  • Self-inflicted injuries, such as cuts, burns, or head banging.

  • Reckless behavior. (Besides suicide, other leading causes of death among young people in New York City are homicide, accidents, drug overdose, and AIDS.) Unexplained accidents among children and the elderly.

  • Making out a will or giving away favorite possessions.

  • Inappropriately saying goodbye.

  • Verbal behavior that is ambiguous or indirect: “I'm going away on a real long trip.”, “You won't have to worry about me anymore.”, “I want to go to sleep and never wake up.”, “I'm so depressed, I just can't go on.”, “Does God punish suicides?”, “Voices are telling me to do bad things.”, requests for euthanasia information, inappropriate joking, stories or essays on morbid themes.

Be alert and sensitive towards your relatives, friends and peers. We never know when we can be there to help them. Feeling helpless? Don't be. You can make a difference. We can make a difference. Wear a yellow ribbon, for the prevention of teen suicide.

Friday, November 03, 2006

money matters

Went to Tabung Haji this morning to bank in Amin's duit raya together with the money in his tabung at home. It totalled up to RM165. It's not much but I'm proud of him for picking up coins around the house (and also his grandparents place) and never fails to put them in his tall white tabung Tabung Haji a.k.a his piggy bank.

Also withdrawn RM3k from my account and then went to Maybank to pay up my Maybank Visa - RM2100. About half more amount to go.. oh my.. Hope to be able to pay up Alliance Credit Card tomorrow at the Ikea branch. Plan to settle the RM70.87 Visa outstanding balance and RM600 out of RM946.56 for the Ikea charges. The remaining, is for my pocket money.

Yup, tomorrow we plan to go to Ikea in the morning together with dad and his Land Cruiser, to buy Amin's bed. We've decided to go for the Vikre expandable bed. It can be extended from child sized bed to adult single sized bed. Cool huh? So, it'll be space saving for now and money saving for the future as we don't have to change beds as he grows taller. I'm also thinking on buying a new dining table. Currently we're using this very cheap wooden dining table with metal legs holdings which requires monthly self-checking due to screws falling out now and then (luckily not all the screws fall out at once, yet). Amin's bed cost only RM390 and my target for the dining table and chairs should be around RM1000. I'll go for the Alliance Ikea 0% installment plan, 6 months deal. I can go for the 12/18 or 24 months but I prefer the 6. I think that's the best because I can afford to spent around RM300 per month and at the same time will be able to buy other new stuffs and use the installment plan again after 6 months.. yeay!

Note for today : The key in living a healthy financial life is to spent wisely and spent where there's 0% installment plan.. ahakss


Note to self :
  • Already paid Yati via Maybank2u RM382 for the Herbalife, yesterday. Probably get it next week. To contact Yati on Monday.
  • Including today, insyaAllah, complete 4 days of fasting. Got another 2 more days to repay. To continue fasting Monday and Tuesday next week since there's a lot of open houses to attend this weekend.
  • Finally purchased several tees from threadless - 9 tees to be exact, totalling up to USD172. Should arrive within 2 to 3 weeks.
  • No more spending money until next year. Next month pay check goes to dad - still haven't paid him the Joe's sick bill and Raya clothes tailoring charges = RM1k.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

goodbye anousheh

I've just discovered today that Anousheh Ansari had put her final blog closing entry on October 20th 2006. No more space stories from her. I almost cried reading her latest blog. It was very touching.

Anousheh, thank you for sharing your stories with the world. You have greatly inspired many people to pursue their dreams and you have proven to everybody that the skies is not the limit.

I salute you.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Blog cause you want to (and include SEX in your headlines)

Everytime after I login into Meebo I will spent several minutes to read the Meebo blog featured by the Meebo team and today I learnt something new; there's actually an international conference held pertaining to blogging!! It's called the Blog Business Summit and was held from 25th till 27th October 2006 in Seattle, USA. Wow.. I never thought blogging could be such an in-thing nowadays. There's actually the most popular bloggers list and one of them is Robert Scoble who gets more than 1200 RSS feeds daily. Honestly speaking, I have absolutely no idea what that means but whatever it is, it must be great. And here I am, just starting to enter the blogosphere with only one reader and that was my own husband who read only my 1st entry. *sigh*..I need help.

Ok, lets learn together. It says here that during the summit, Robert and his wife Maryam gave a presentation titled "10 Ways To A Killer Blog" which while reading some of the websites featuring this reports, I can't stop myself from browsing for other reports because there were no 10 ways to a killer blog. They're actually 15! Why did they have it titled 10? Is it some kind of a blog-gimmick, to use typical or simplified digits? I'm already confused even before beginning to read.

Anyway, here's the list I have compiled from 2 most very entertaining reports that I've found and they're from from Andru Edwards and Janet Lee Johnson .
  1. Blog because you want to. (and include sex in your headlines -to grab attention). A story without love is not worth telling. Maryam talks about how Robert kept pushing her to blog for four years. Then one day, she started to blog. As soon as she started, she was blogging about Robert and he tried to get her to stop talking about him on her blog.
    If you are blogging about something you don’t really care about because you think it’s profitable, you won’t have passion to go long-term.

  2. Read other blogs. If you want to be a blogger, you've got to read other blogs. If you want to be a thoughtful leader, read what others are thinking.
    Maryam started blogging because she was going to a lot of conferences, but people told her they had no way of linking to her. It brings out community and a bond that she hadn’t experienced before. Through blogging she has gotten a much better job and has made a lot more friends. She loves it.

  3. Pick a niche you can own - be different. There are two kinds of bloggers - ones that want to make things, and shake things. Others just want to talk to their friends and use their blogs to post baby pictures, talk about books they read, etc. Either way, each group should have a common set of values. Non-technical people (Robert calls as geeks) interact with the world through a search engine. If you believe that people negotiate the internet through a search engine, you need to come up on search terms. People who focus content on a single niche gathers a much bigger audience than a large or defocused audience. And, by the way, Robert says there are 100,000 blogospheres, so you can find a niche more easily than you might think you could.
    There was a niche blogger in London who talks about the London Underground transportation system. After the London bombing, everyone hit her site, and now she is popular. Of course, we don’t want to have a terrorist act happen to make us famous, but you get the point.

  4. Link to other blogs. When Robert started at Microsoft, he linked to a bunch of people who hated Microsoft - it made them know that Microsoft listened to them. And it diffused issues. You can also see who links to you easily - and it’s human behavior to want to know what others are saying about you. You should go over and comment on those posts, and get more link love.

  5. Admit mistakes. Maryam was afraid to start blogging because she read Robert’s comments and saw the personal attacks. But she loved how Robert admitted mistakes - it gained him credibility in the blogosphere.

  6. Write good headlines. The world is moving from feeds to keyword searches, in order to find information about very specific information. Think of how people scan lists to find information. Great headlines make you stand out.

  7. Use other media. Most bloggers use only text. Use things like graphics (logos, screen captures). Even better, have an audio podcast or video podcast. Mix media so that you can share your knowledge with the world in multiple ways.

  8. Have a voice. Having your own personal voice and persona that allows people to see you as a human rather than as text makes people want to connect with you more. Robert tries to type what he would say to you face to face rather than focusing on trying to be a good writer.

  9. Get outside the blogosphere. Hit places outside the blogs. Conferences, meetups, and go out and meet people. That makes the connections deeper and more meaningful. You'll gain relationships that can turn into power structures later. And something that you can blog about. That is how the A-List is built - people connecting and building strong relationships. PR companies need to learn this - set up a blog, go and meet people at conferences. That works better than sending a pitchy email.

  10. Market yourself. Some bloggers put their URL on their business cards. It’s little things like that which will encourage readership. Just basic marketing like that can make a difference.

  11. Write well. Spell check. Check grammar. See if you get your point across. Check your state of mind, Maryam says, before you post emotionally. If you are upset, wait a little bit before publishing so that you don’t go overboard or say something that you don’t mean. Write short paragraphs because they are easier to scan.

  12. Expose yourself. Corporate types are normally very reserved in their writing style. No one wants to read a press release, but the point here is to engage readers. Put in a bit of yourself into your posts, and let people see that you are a real human being. Use anecdotes, and be personal, if even a little.

  13. Help other people blog. Share and build community. Bring new voices into the blogosphere.

  14. Engage with commenters. Robert recommends commenting on others’ blogs in order to get them to realize you have something to say, and they may link back to you. To participate in the conversation, leave interesting and thoughtful comments.

  15. Keep your integrity. You are what you appear to be, and if you’re taking advertising or are taking free product, disclose it. Never try to hide what you are or who you are, or when people find out you don’t have integrity, they will ‘out you’ to the world. Robert publishes his cell phone on his blog so people can do fact checking before they publish information that he’s commented on.


So, how about that? Feel free to read more here :
Paul Cheney
Denise Wakeman
Barry Hurd
Dustin Luther
Note : These cool cartoon illustrations are from Hugh Mcleod

Monday, October 30, 2006

back@work

I don't know about you but I actually feeling great to get back to work today. Maybe because I had a great weekend, had a good night sleep and had a wonderful drive to work this morning which maybe because many people still on leave and hence the highways were pretty much cleared. The same applies to the staffs here at the office, plenty still on leave and the office looks deserted but still, I feel good to sit here at my cubicle, check my emails, answer some phone calls, surf the Internet and exchange Raya stories with those who are already back in the office.

As soon as I arrived at work, my routine will start with me cleaning up my desk. This is because that I have an open ceiling stretched above me to the floor on top and every day white particle dust will fall helplessly onto my cubicle. This dust comes from the plaster ceiling way up above which I'm starting to think that the ceiling might not be well sustained and could fall on to me anytime soon..eekk..freaky..

Next, as soon as my Dell PC is turned on, I check my emails. After that only I click open the IE browser and check my Gmail. At the same time, I click on new tab to open up the Google News, Threadless and Meebo. I will browse all the entertainment news highlights and read only the interesting ones before moving to the world news / top stories for the day. For the threadless, I'm here just to see what latest cool designs that are recently printed and if I have the free time, I would rate those current submitted designs and slogans, just for the fun of it. I planned to buy several tees but just wait and see. Need to really decide on the best ones because they're not cheap - costs about USD17 = RM65 per t-shirt. Very expensive but it's labelled as designer tees, of course. No, none of those DKNY or CK or couture design, but it's called designer-tees simply because it comes in limited edition and can only be purchased online.

The truth is, anybody can print tees. Actually, Ijah and I printed a tee for my dad last year written something about being a fisherman at the back of the tee (I seriously can't recall what we've printed) with a blue coloured fish logo in front. We went to CM to print it. It came out great but after a few months, the prints easily faded and now it looks terrible. Wish we could have found a better quality printing company because our dad seems to love that soft cottony white collar t-shirt. Anybody knows any excellent and reasonable priced t-shirt printing place nearby?

Sunday, October 29, 2006

raya-days recap

  1. Tuesday 24th Oct@1st Syawal :- Purple was the theme colour. Main dish consisted of ketupat, peanuts sauce, chicken rendang, nasi dagang and fish curry. Duit raya given to all, totalling up to almost RM400. We're absolutely broke this time. But then again, it's only once in 2 years as next year we will be celebrating Raya in Penang where there aren't as many kids there as in Nenasi. We gave RM50 to TokNah, TokNgah, TokChu and Ijah, well, my one and only sister and besides, it's not like I give much money to her each month though. And the rest of the eligible relatives got a standard five, except for Kak Ngah which I gave a ten. After Zuhur, we went to Mersing to visit Chumah and her 1 year old Shafiq. She made nasi minyak and ayam masak merah. We gave Shafiq a five and Chumah a fifty. How I really miss her and the old days.

  2. Wednesday 25th Oct@2nd Syawal :- Main dish was soto ayam. Together with mom, dad and Ijah, we went to Dungun and Kuala Terengganu. Visited the relatives on my dad's side. This was Amin's first visit to Terengganu. Amin was stalked by his 3 year old cousin Sophia who simply adored him so much and seemed to be grabbing him now and then as to play together with her. This scared Amin up and he ended up glued to either me or Han. Later we spent the night at Permai Inn. Han took 3 showers as a way of expressing the joy of showering. Just for the record, we were having trouble bathing in Nenasi due to the vast usage of water causing the water tank to be empty most of the time and slow water pressure.

  3. Thursday 26th Oct@3rd Syawal :- Head back to Nenasi. Han drove the car as ayah was too tired to drive. I wonder what makes him so sleepy. It must have been the delicious nasi ayam Paka that we ate for lunch. Ayah slept snoring throughout the journey. No problem with Amin as he too slept most of the time. Arrived at Nenasi to shockingly discovered that Adam had chicken pox. Tried to distance Amin from him but only for a short time. Amin's been playing all this while with Adam and Alif. Somehow Alif didn't get affected. Well, Allah is the greatest and now is the best time to rely on takdir. As for me, I would prefer Amin to get it at age of 4 and above because insyaAllah by that time he will be able to understand and prevent himself from scratching and can seriously take medication.

  4. Friday 27th Oct@4th Syawal :- The three of us head back to KL.

  5. Saturday 28th Oct@5th Syawal :- Went to IKEA to survey kids bed for Amin because Han accidentally knocked hard on Amin's baby cot last night and broke one of the edge screws and crack it's wooden hole. It's repairable but then it's also about time for Amin to get a proper bed. We have decided on this Kura designed bed - it's kinda like able to transform from lower to upper bed where it can create a playing area below the bed. Almost wanted to purchase it instantly but then we realized that it will not fit into our Honda City. Got to borrow dad's Toyota Land Cruiser and get it later as to save RM60 on Ikea's delivery charges. We then went to watch Open Season at Cineleisure Cathay nearby. Amin watched the first 30 mins and then felt asleep till the end. I was disappointed because I expected more and honestly speaking, I think the movie's kinda boring. Hopefully Happy Feet will be better than this. Anyway, we went to KLIA afterwards to pick Mama up. She took the plane with Fatihah. Fatihah fell sick in Penang, suddenly turned blue and suffocating and was admitted into the Kepala Batas Hospital, but the doctors there didn't know what's wrong with her, so, here she is, will be taken by Rudy's parents at the airport while waiting for Hafeezah and Rudy to arrive by bus. Yup, they took the bus to Penang on 2nd Syawal ago and now taking the bus back to KL. Don't ask me why cause I don't wanna know either. For me, I think it's a very stupid thing to do as they both have cars and you'll never know what kinda of sick people spreading diseases riding inside the same bus with you! It seems that Rudy recently caught a fever and spread it to Fatihah and bla bla bla. At 11pm, Fatihah was admitted to HKL and diagnose for asthma. Mama slept with us at the apartment.

  6. Sunday 29th Oct@6th Syawal :- Han and mama went to HKL to visit Fatihah. Amin and I stayed home because I don't want Amin to spread chicken pox around if he's carrying it now (although currently no sign of red dots appearing on his skin) and I also don't want Amin catching any of the diseases at the HKL children's ward too. Mama took ERL to KLIA and board on the 5pm flight to Penang. Han and Amin went for haircut later today at Ravi's.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

pre-raya recap

And we're back in KL.

Here's the recap of the happenings since last week :

  1. Saturday 21st - afternoon : Went to KLCC for last minute shopping spree. Bought for myself a total of RM1k of SK2 products. Several of my items are nearly finish and this is the perfect time to shop for new stocks because of the current promotion - which from the purchase, I obtained free one red luggage bag (the size that most stewardess carries, with rollers and all), one red hard cover utility bag, one SK2 white bath towel and about five mini SK2 travelling kit. You might think I'm crazy and it's expensive but believe me, these products lasts longer than expected. I spent this much last January while buying my first complete stock and now I'm buying them again to be used starting next month. So, I can say that it takes almost a year for the whole stock to run out.


    1. Saturday 21st - evening : Prepare Amin's chicken soup and porridge. Need to get his food supplies ready. Han asked why can't I cook later at kampung? Errkk.. Do you have any idea of what you are talking about? With all the relatives kecoh there, I don't think I will be able to walk in the kitchen at all. You'll understand better when I describe the scenario later.


      1. Sunday 22nd - morning : Did not go back to bed after sahur, spent the whole morning to prepare Amin's luggage and mine too, of course. Also managed to fold the laundry, do the dishes and dust the furniture here and there.


        1. Sunday 22nd - afternoon : Get ready to head to Nenasi. Mom called from kampung and as usual, pot pet pot pet asking me what's taking us so long to start our journey and that the traffic will be terrible today and we will not make it to breaking fast with them later. (Mom, dad and Ijah went back yesterday morning)


          1. Sunday 22nd - evening : The highways were cleared! Han said the driving was very boring because of the empty roads and we reached Kg. Tanjung Batu at exactly 6.00 pm.. Haha, that should keep mom quiet for a while.


            1. Sunday 22nd - night : Took Amin for his 2nd time to terawih with me at the mosque which located right in front of the house. He's an angel as usual and slept on my lap after the witir prayers.


              1. Monday 23rd - day : Today's the day to get everything ready for Raya is tomorrow. There were almost 60 lives in the house. Yup, S I X T Y.. six zeroo!! I'm serious, no kidding. How do we fit into this house? Well, imagine a wooden single storey bungalow in a compound area of a football field, with 8 bedrooms, 4 living rooms stretched in a row, 2 verandas, 2 dining area, 2 bathrooms and if that's not enough, we still have a bathroom outside with perigi still intact. It's Tok Nah's turn this year. All Tok Nah's siblings with their children and grandchildren were here. Everybody came to Raya here instead of at their in-laws. The same applied to me too as last year we went back to Penang for Raya, hence, this year, it's Nenasi time. Several of my uncles, aunties, cousins and I were involved in making the ketupat out of the coconut leaves. Han's in charged of putting the rice into the ketupat while mom act as the QC- quality control, checking the ketupat rice volume and tighten the anyaman. My male teenage cousins responsible for cooking the ketupat where they're keeping close monitoring on the water level and constant boiling. Ijah, Kak Ngah and MakDe Ani were busy in the kitchen making semperit, my favourite Raya cookie of all times. Others were busy cleaning the house, some were taking out the plates and glasses from the cabinets and the rest were preparing the breaking fast dishes. As for the smaller version of us, they're scattering around, running here and there playing inside, outside and under the house too!


                1. Monday 23rd - night : After breaking fast, it's the playing fireworks time. Fun time for not just kids, but the bigger ones too. But, one unfortunate incident happened, where Amin, who was with me playing bunga api, suddenly cried out loud because one of the sparks from the bunga api accidentally dropped onto his fingers and burnt a spot off his skin. Oh poor cutie pie, mommy so sorry.
                That's about it on the pre-Raya recap. Coming up next will be the Syawal happenings.

                Friday, October 20, 2006

                aidilfitri

                Semoga amal ibadat kita sepanjang bulan Ramadhan ini diberkati oleh NYA.
                Semoga kedatangan Syawal yang bakal tiba, membawa seribu rahmat Illahi.
                Ampun dan maaf dipinta andai terkasar budi bicara.
                Marilah kita bermuhasabah diri di Aidilfitri.

                last day !

                Yeay! It's the last day of working before the long week holiday.

                The parking lot is half empty as many staffs already took the day off starting today. Others in the office are obviously not in the working mood, of course. Not only raya songs are playing in every corner of the office, but raya ring tones also have invaded the handphones.. haha.. Oh how I just love this scene. It's so relaxed and fun.

                Han and I went to PPZ Masjid Negara this morning to pay the zakat. I was surprise to see the PPZ staffs there. They're very smartly dressed with ties and blazers and the staff who attended to me was Faris Ezhan, hensem giller! And the way he recite the doa was so breathtaking, with the arabic pronounciation and all.. aahhhh...*sigh* .. But his small cute eyes are not to my type lah. I'm much attracted to Han's vern look.. hehe..

                Thursday, October 19, 2006

                Appoinment

                Went for facial SK2 at Isetan today.
                Need to call and book for next session.. forgot to do booking just now..

                raya mode

                The air is filled with Raya songs coming from all corners of the office.
                Almost everybody is playing songs and video clips of Raya, including me, haha. Yup, ONE more day left before the week long holiday. I can see that people are starting to lepakking and chit chat about raya stuffs such as when to balik kampung, the whereabouts, cookies bought/made, main dish planned on serving, family theme colour, new clothes, shoes etc including also the budgeted duit raya.

                • For our family, we will insyaAllah be heading to Pekan this Sunday, and on 2nd raya we plan to go up to Dungun and visit my dad's relatives there, perhaps spend the night in KT. Later, on Friday, we'll head back to KL using the Rompin route as to stop by to see Han's grandma in Muar.
                • Unlike the years before, no homemade cookies this year. Every year my mom, sis and I will make chocolate chip cookies, honeyed cornflakes and pineapple tarts. But this year, the oven broke down and therefore, no cookie.
                • Mom said that TokNah plans to make soto, ketupat, rendang ayam, pulut kuning.. just like the years before.. hehe.. The ketupat making will be very exciting because everybody needs to recall back the anyaman steps since it's a once-a-year event. And of course, everybody's favourite-to-help-out is to recai the steamed chicken for soto dishes.
                • Purple is the new black. Yup, that's our theme colour this year. My mom suggested it before simply because that's the only colour that Amin can pronounce for the time being. Actually, any colour is 'purple' to him. So, purple it is.
                • Arghhh.. duit raya.. my most unavoidable issue. Han and I are totally broke this few months, especially after we recently had to pay the lawyers for the MOT on the house. Besides that, I still have not paid ayah for Joe repair charges. There's also the pending tailor fees for the raya clothes and not to forget, the credit card bills that's now reaching 4 digits. Anyway, no matter what, we still managed to scrap up a few ringgit and budget is RM5 for all.

                Enough for now.. laterrr..

                Wednesday, October 18, 2006

                Feverish

                I managed to run home during the lunch break just to check on Amin. He's been having fever since yesterday. Actually, the fever strikes near dawn while he's asleep and subside later in the afternoon. Luckily my mom and dad have retired and are able to take care of Amin. So, I left Amin with them instead of sending him to the nursery. It's not that I don't trust the nursery, but I much prefer to let my parents do the extra care, and if it gets worse, they can immediately get him to the doctor. And besides that, if it's contagious, Amin will not spread it to other kids at nursery. I mean, I don't want others to do that to mine so why should I.

                This kind of sudden fever happened a few months back and like before, the doctor concluded it as 'viral infections'. Nothing serious. Just give him fever medication and make sure he eats and drinks regularly. It looks as if it's nothing to worry about but honestly speaking, whenever things go wrong with Amin, even a cough or a sneeze from him would make me jumpy and worried sick. Different from Han, he's more to the cool and relax type of daddy-o. So, I guess that is good in term of having a balance in the family, or else we might end up being a complete freak-out parents!

                Tuesday, October 17, 2006

                Good boy

                I am blessed with such a good boy.

                After 23 days of Ramadhan, last night is the first night of tarawih prayer at the mosque for me. I have not been to the mosque at all this month because of Amin. I thought that he would make a scene there. Han is not here. He's outstation in JB for 3days and I'm left here with Amin. Since we're staying over at my mom's house which is about 50 metres from the mosque, I thought that heck, why not just bring him along and if things got worse, I can just quickly run home. So, I packed Amin with his Fisher Price Doodle-Pro, bottle water, napkin and off we went to the mosque. I hurriedly sat in a corner at the back end of the women's saf and placed Amin there.

                He was such a good kid the entire time. He prayed right next to me (standing up and down by himself and pretend to recite quietly), sit at the corner and played with his drawing pad, the house key, the napkin, drink some water and after a while, started to mingle with other kids there. Yup, there's 1 baby girl curled up sleeping adorably on the carpet and there's her slightly bigger sister pretend to pray along with their mother. Afterwards, we went to join in the moreh and I guess Amin was hungry at that time as he easily swallowed 3 piece of jelly and a half cup of teh tarik.

                I'm totally guilty of using Amin as the reason for not going to tarawih at the mosque all these while. Mommy so grateful to be blessed with you. Thank you, Amin.

                Monday, October 16, 2006

                it's tee time

                Today, I'm hooked on Threadless T-shirts. It's where new talents are being appreciated. It's where creativity being rewarded. It's where arts are not questioned. It's where t-shirts overruled all types of clothing available in this world ! Yes, and it's where I will buy my next tee too.

                Seriously, if you have the time, surf the website and you will be amazed to discover that designing tee patterns are so much fun and surprisingly pays a lot. This seriously inspires me to try and design a tee logo. There's nothing to loose. No subscription fees and anybody from anywhere around the universe can submit ideas and designs whenever they like. The best thing about it is that if it gets selected, designer gets rewarded with up to USD$1,500. Isn't that cool? But of course, now I need to learn to use photoshop and macromedia flash.. hmm..

                Life is surely a never ending learning process. Wish me luck.

                Sunday, October 15, 2006

                crony

                Met kak Su at Crony Beauty office at USJ21. Bought a new black long drawer for RM500 and trade in the old skin colour for a new one for just RM280. New additional resolution; to shape myself up and to drop 10kg in less than 4 months.

                Hey, don't underestimate my determination. I've proven to be very good at it.
                For instance, early this year I have made the 2006 resolution to take care of my skin. I've thrown away all my beauty products and bought a whole range of SK2, finally dedicate and focus to just one product unlike before. I managed to go for facial treatment once a month and able to stick to its beauty routine (such as cleanse, toned and moisturized) until this very minute. Plus, I went to aerobics at the office every Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (but currently am taking a rest due to the Ramadhan). If you were wondering do I look any prettier than before, well, two things that I am sure enough is that my skin is no longer feeling dry and my freckles are less visible. A month after I started using it, my office mate, Gobi, came to me and said that he can hardly see my freckles anymore and wonder if I have been using something new in particular.. wuhuuuu !!

                Now, I want to add in another resolution which is to drop 10kg in less than 4 months. I was very frustrated when aerobics resulted in no change at all on my weight. Then, mom told me that aerobics actually helps in making people healthier, flexed up the body and tones up the muscles. It'll take intensive workout if I want to loose weight quickly. But the consequences of it is that once you stopped, you'll gain it back as fast too. I have to admit that a month after I started going for aerobics regularly, I felt mentally fresh and less drained up during the evenings and I don't get tired quickly while doing chores at home. My neck/shoulder muscles also not easily crammed. I can still recall the first week I went for aerobics. My whole body was aching as soon as night comes and my muscles were untouchable. But when the 2nd week comes, I'm starting to enjoy aerobics and proud to say that I no more huff and puff after the session. My metabolism has increased and I feel great. Although now I'm resting from it due to the fasting month, I still feel very much healthy and not easily tired up. Maybe it's the beauty of the Ramadhan.

                Anyway, after this, InsyaAllah, I want to continue the aerobics and try taking the Herbalife for health supplements, which a friend of mine, Yati has just recommended it to me last week. I've taken Sendayu Tinggi for several months ago but honestly, I feel no different than before. Maybe it just doesn't work on me.. hmm..

                As for the crony, I've been using Lafanie since year 2003, bought at that time by my fiancee. Well, not all, but we split the bill. I bought the whole set for RM1400 from Kak Su who is my friend turn mak-andam. The crony works fantastic in curving me up and I loved it the most after giving birth to Amin. I used it to replace the traditional barut-lilit and was back in shape in no time. The only problem is that the crony upper part is not breastfeeding friendly and hence I only wore the long drawer until it recently rips a few months ago. You see how long-lasting the materials are, yeah..

                OK.. So, now mark this date, I'm targeting by February 2007, to weigh 50kg.

                Friday, October 13, 2006

                friday the 13th ?

                What's with all this friday the 13th thingy?
                I don't care that much about all these celebration days. I think it's initially created by someone who has nothing important to do and perhaps was just thinking on having fun.
                I respect the dates such as independence day and father's /mother's day.
                I make it a big-deal for birthdays, anniversaries and main festives celebration.

                Speaking of birthdays, it was my mom's last wednesday. It's her 55th. I bought a pair of gold laminated brooch with purple orchids preserved in it. My mom loves orchids. My sister and I have been buying many things associated with orchids and I think we might run out of ideas anytime soon. It was my lucky break to discover the brooch. I was in KLCC with Han and Amin and there's this stall-on-wheels on the lower ground floor that's selling practically just orchids. Not live orchids but preserved orchids made into frames, vases, paperweight etc. I wasn't looking for her birthday present at that time (this happened a month ago), but as I was walking passed the stall, I immediately saw the brooches and well, you know the rest.

                Amin's birthday coming up next month and I am thinking on celebrating it at A&W, PJ. Perhaps we'll invite several close relatives over and hopefully the A&W mascot will be there too. Oh, and speaking of the bear, Open Season will be in theater next week. A must-bring-Amin-to-watch movie! Can't wait!

                Thursday, October 12, 2006

                training

                The one thing that I enjoy about going for training is that I got to run away from my everyday job. Yup. Freedom! I felt excited and absolutely happy knowing that I have 2 whole day off-work and attending training. And the best part about the training is that it has nothing to do with technical, programming or detailing! It's just a motivational training that the company gives in the process of transforming the staff to 'living-up' to the new corporate image.

                The training module was very appropriate but sometimes I think it's not us staffs that needs help, but actually our management / leaders that needs to be brought down to earth. No matter how many trainings given, how many times organisational structure reshuffled, or how many millions of money wasted to revamp the corporate image, if the management still doing their job based on personal interest and political alliances, then we will never be the people's choice that we target to be. The concept is like buying a fish at the market, the quality lies in the head.

                I am also very particular about trainers. I have no problem in volunteering and participating in activities, but I was a bit annoyed by the attitude of my trainer who kept checking her handphone, sms-ing and making calls after assigning us to group activities. Yes, I can tolerate if it's the participants using the phone considering that they had to leave their work and responsibility behind to attend this training. But when it comes to trainers, I see no reason for it because it's supposedly be her job and as a trainer to be fully committed and seriously involved.

                Then, there's the one thing that I do not enjoy during training is that the training location - Jalan Semarak. Oh wow.. You don't have to live in KL to know just how bad the traffic here. Imagine yourself driving happily to the sound of the radio, beautiful morning, bright blue skies (thanks to recent rainy days that had cleared the dirty air) and as soon you enter the highway, you're forced to a halt and start moving about one meter per minute! The morning traffic was better than the evening ones, because I think morning is when everybody is very much relax in starting the day, but at 5pm, after a tiring day at work, drivers tend to loose focus, feeling sleepy and just wanna get home to rest. This is when things can get nasty. People starting to cut queue, shift from one lane to another just to overcome the car infront and forget to signal, causing other drivers to hit the emergency break. I'm always more scared of that car that's behind me rather than in front. I'm worried that if I had to hit the emergency break, the car behind me might not be aware of it and accidentally bumped into me. And I also hate motorists who assume that we drivers have to always give way for them to squeeze in anywhere they like!

                Oh well.. this is the life in KL.. either you live with it, or get the hell out of here..

                Monday, October 09, 2006

                frozen

                No, I'm nowhere near any iceberg, that is if you were wondering. The picture is just me exaqgerating. Despite the rain outside, this noc lab has always been freaking cold. Every single day I have to deal with this kind of temperature. It is absolutely not a healthy working environment. Not to mention that I have almost 10 fully-occupied server racks placed less than 5 metres behind me. Can you imagine how exposed I am to all these invisible electromagnetic force and electrical charges? Crazy huh? Now you know why I wish to move outta here.

                It's not as easy as it may sounds like (oh..how I wish!) . I'm bonded for another 3 years. And although I can move to other department / job post within the company, I still have to go through the apply, shortlisted and interview phase which sad to say, I had gone to several times. Well, I only managed to apply and thats about it. Not gotten shortlisted, and not selected for interviews.

                I want to be better than I am today. I want to further my studies. I want to go abroad. I was stranded before due to economic downturn, but that was a decade ago. Can I persue it now? Will I be able to do my masters and be a mother and wife at the same time? The more I look at my job now, the more I want to get out of it. I deserve better than this. I know I can do it. Can I? Han?

                Hmm.. What I can say for now is that this frozen air has gotten into my brain cells alright..

                I need a hobby.

                Sunday, October 08, 2006

                RM 800.00

                As expected, Ayah fix Joe himself. He bought the spare parts and being a mechanical engineer, he repaired the car professionally within an hour without anyboyd's help. That's my dad! Cars and boats are his speciality. No wonder many of his friends requested him to open up a workshop because they all wanted to send their cars to him for repairs. But Ayah don't want to be tied up in it. He enjoys doing it just for his cars. Cheaper and in-good-hands. You can't alwasy trust those mechanics out there. They just doing it for the money. Soon you'll notice more and more problems occur and then the more you have to spent to get it fix.

                Anyway, Ayah said the problem was the oil filter. And the spare part itself cost almost rm800. Adoii.. duit lagi.. Ayah, I'll pay you after 16th October ok. That's the pay-day this month.

                Saturday, October 07, 2006

                penang

                Definitely the place for a vacation or simply to run away from the bad-air day in KL.

                We went to Penang on Friday night and came back on Sunday. The drive took 4 hours and yes, very tiring. Thanks to my ever so dedicated driver, Han for the safe journeys, Alhamdulillah. Amin slept all the way. He's such a good boy and I think he enjoys the most whenever we were in Penang. The cows, chickens, birds, wide open spaces of paddy fields, clear blue skies, fresh air and the delicious foods - of course. This includes mama's great cooking too, a woman who effortlessly cook plenty of delicious food, in an unbelievably short time, all by herself and afterwards leaving the kitchen so spotless. After 3 years of marriage, I still couldn't figure out how my mother in-law managed it. It's just simply amazing.

                It's the month of Ramadhan but that doesn't stop Penang from displaying its delicacies. The Ramadhan Bazaar is way far much better and CHEAPER than KL. and the night spots were no less happening from any other month. After the terawih prayers, we drove to Penang Island for the famous Hameed's chicken soup. It's a must-have-thing. We planned to go to Batu Feringgi afterwards but it's kinda late already and Amin's half asleep, so, had to cancel that. It's a good thing actually not to go there since I'm kinda broke this month and not able to buy any branded immitation handbags.. aaahhh.. maybe next time..

                Friday, October 06, 2006

                anousheh ansari

                I would like to thank Anousheh for updating her space blog. I have been surfing her blog every single day for new post which i absolutely enjoy reading. And yes, she inspires me to update my blog too. I am surprised and overwhelmed by her effort and her dream for better future in mankind. It touches my heart deeply and i have to say i am very proud of her. She made me want to be a better person.

                No matter in what condition we are today, we can never stop to improve ourselves for as long as we are alive. Learning is a never ending process. There is always room for improvement.. and nothing is impossible.. InsyaAllah..

                Thursday, October 05, 2006

                joe's sick

                That's what i called my car - joe.. yeah, I named him when i got him in year 1999 as a birthday present from ayah.

                This is his 4th time in a month.. Actually my car was doing o.k until 15th september ago when all of a sudden it failed to start. To make matters worse, I was in jalan genting klang, attending a training. It worked fine in the morning but pissed me off in the evening, the time when everybody's rushing home and the traffic starts to build up. Anyway, after 10 minutes of trying and praying, I got him up and running but without the aircondition and radio on. I noticed the rpm dropped whenever I turn on the aircond. So to be on the safe side, I roll down the window, let the wind blew my tudung into a disaster and did some vocal training throughout my journey home. Don't worry, no animals were killed or tortured during my singing session..hehe..

                Hey, actually, joe was o.k, until my sister hit and run a car last weekend while driving him. The funny thing was that my sister hit a parked car and the not-so-funny thing was that joe was badly bruised - scratched, bent and smashed his left front signal light. And the next day, the aircond started to heat up too.

                Anyway, I took him to the mechanic (15th sept) and ta-daa, the cooling coil's broken.. Changed the cooling coil -RM350.. A week after that, problem again, rpm dropped and car stopped in the middle of the road, especially at traffic lights or corner.. Ayah tuned the rpm back up and joe was ok for another week.. Again, rmp drop, I took joe to mechanic, and he tuned the rpm back up for free and yes, it lasted for only a week. This morning, I can only start the car but as soon as I put it in drive or reverse mode, rpm dropped and engine turned-off.

                Joe was born in 1995 and being a 'proton' car, there has been numerous maintenance done. I even had to repaint it in 2002 just to make it look great. Han said that the time has come for me to let him go, my boss said the same thing too (he knows because there has been several times that I was late to office and stuck at workshop). The only thing I need to do now is to talk to ayah about it. After all, it was his present for me and you don't change or throw away presents, do you? hmm..

                ok..it works..

                yup..proven.. it works..

                features..features and more features..

                Since I'm very free nowadays in the office (not too much work and yet, not too litlle -adalaa keja jugaknya) , I managed to surf the web and learn a few things about this blogger world..
                • I can add in meebo widget into blog page
                • also add in logos
                • post into my blog through emailing - which is what i'm doing right now.. just testing to see if it works.. ok.. let send in this email and just wait and see..

                Wednesday, October 04, 2006

                no more stress!

                Just to share with you, this is currently my wallpaper.. Yup.. Why? Well, initially it was because my crazy colleague here downloaded the spongebob theme song and made it his ringtone.. Then he spread the spongebob desease to me by playing the theme song over and over and over again and suddenly,kaposshh! I'm hooked too!! Well, it's actually kinda fun way to start the day.. Who could resist spongebob square pants? haha..

                Today I learn my lesson on luck and faith.. Allah knows best.. But we must never give up and always do our very best in everything

                The point is, I have tried.. I have done my best, I have push myself to the limits.. But in the end, after 3 weeks, I'm still not able to catch the Marshall Satria Neo HotFM.. Bukan rezeki ku kali ini.. Not my luck.. And thanks to Han for the ongoing support.. Sorry to give u such a headache. No more stress! InsyaAllah, we'll try again next year!..hehe..


                my very 1st entry

                WELCOME TO MY BLOG

                Fuh.. I have registered this blog since july but only now decided to finally post something up.. actually, I can't even recall why on earth I bother to initially register myself.. Well, why did others have blog? Let's think for a minute there ok..
                1. for fun?
                2. to keep in touch with friends?
                3. to make friends from other parts of the globe?
                4. exchange knowledge?

                A-hahhh.. Now I remembered.. I merely registered because I don't want anybody to use my jelita78 blogger add.. hehe.. Kinda like trademark thing for me, I guess, and also at that particular month, I was reading an old friend's blog and suddenly inspired to have one but in the end I end up only registering myself and not yet posting anything..

                Well, the time has come.. Donno what happened, just suddenly remembered that I actually already have a blog and out-of-the-blue decided to post my very first entry today.

                So,err.. Welcome to whoever you are out there who have the time to read my blog.. and err.. Thank you, perhaps??

                Anyway, I intent to make this blog kinda like a diary of event for my safe keeping coz I honestly have to admit that I'm a forgetful person.. Hopefully that will all change afterwards.. haha.. Time will tell..

                Ok..Let me recall.. today's stuff...

                • Called Astro to add in movie package (smlm ayah complaint takde citer best kat astro.. )
                • Send in Amin's photo and biodata for the model pa&ma magazine.. (baru sedar ada borang penyertaan in the sept06 issue semlm - yeah, dah sebulan beli, baru nak baca after sahur tadi, and mintak-mintak laa terpilih..hehehe.. I sent in pics of Amin with baju melayu and aksi naik motorbike)
                • Order online the detergent 1kg and softener 1litre, through amway2u - RM47, will be delivered tomorrow.

                Opss.. got to run.. solat time..
                Later..

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