Rambles of my head & heart

In retrospect - on the 28th day of 2012

2012-01-28T18:12:00.000+08:00

28 days since the start of the new year...Why was it that I struggled to recall 2011, what is the significance of 2011, or the lack of it... I suddenly feel so sorry for 2011. It doesn't deserve this..My mentor told me that with the start of the new year, the first thing I should do is to declutter my life..declutter the spaces around me. Get rid of old, unneeded stuff, donate them, throw them away...just clear the space. Clear the area so that you will have the space for all the abundance and blessings that's coming your way in this new year. This does not only apply to physical space but also mental space. Be rid of all the negative, old programs in your brain so that they can be replaced with new vision, better, upgraded programs that will propel you to excel! So she actually asked us to write all our mental baggage, the things that we regretted in pieces of paper, crumpled up the lil notes and throw them away in the bin..Somehow that felt good!

2011, was a year of tough decisions..Tough decisions will come by no matter what year it is..so I decided and moved on..Alhamdulillah, the blessings outweighed the predicaments and I survived..

If there's one thing that a running enthusiast hate, it's injury and in 2011, I broke a toe. a broken toe is better than a broken heart..It will heal eventually and I will run better soon.

My facebook postings on the eve of new year...to sum up 2011

2011 - I discovered that i need to relearn, unlearn old knowledge and continue learning new stuff and kearning can come from the younger ones

2011 - I met some wonderful people who confirmed that there are no right or wrong decisions , I just need to decide and make it right

2011 - I finally donned the hijab, a decision i should have made a long time ago, but Alhamdulillah it came in good time

2011 - I lost a dear young friend, a runner, an athlete.. Be healthy, be safe people..get your med check up done..

and I must mention that in 2011, my eldest left the nest to continue her studies, not far but enough to make me realize that life is short...appreciate your loved ones, make peace with life and more importantly make peace with yourselves...

Life can only be understood backwards , but it must be lived forward - Søren Kierkegaard

It's two zero one two and 12 is my favorite number!

2012-01-17T00:58:00.000+08:00

Salam....and hello! To you who's reading...hope you're having a great day! Miss me or not?? I miss blogging...I've been super busy! Super, like Idon'thavetimetoorganisemyhair busy! Which is a great thing, coz now I don't have to! No hair organising needed, coz I have recently started wearing the hijab!!!! Yeay!!! I super like!! Alhamdulillah!

26th Nov 2011, a day before my husband's 43rd birthday, a day before the new Muslim calendar year. I've been planning..planning for the longest time..after I came back from Umrah in 2010 but they say "we can plan, but HE decides". I have more than a big drawerful of shawls and scarfs to prove that I have been planning long for this hijrah, not that it matters. What matters to me, was when I finally did it, my head clear, my heart was calm and it has continued to feel so...for the last one plus months. Happiness much..

Till this day, I still wonder why I waited so long to do this? I should've listened to my Mak...hahaha...Now is not the time for regrets...it's time to work towards becoming a better person...spiritually, mentally and physically...speaking of which, must run more this year...42 km at 42..perhaps...

Peace out...Salam..

There he goes...

2011-10-14T00:26:00.001+08:00

I was late this morning..but the traffic was kind. Received a call from Adit,a work acquaintance turned friend "Assalamualaikum kak..I hate to be the bearer of bad news but i got a call that Kharis has just collapsed.. I hope it's nothing but the prognosis is not so good..." After asking of his possible where about, which was en route my way to work, I told Adit, I would go to the site...and wham! the road is jammed up again...I texted Adit, asking if it's possible that he's no longer there and would have been taken to a hospital...and he texted..he doesn't know.

I was imagining that Kharis my friend would be sitting up after being given help and when I see him I would joke about the whole thing..I actually had the scene playing in my head...A short drive later, I reached the road near the Kelana Jaya stadium and my heart skipped a bit to see an ambulance and 2 police cars...Then I saw Yanthy, his wife sitting on the tarmac with his head on her lap..My friend, almost a brother to me,lifeless on the ground. He was in his running gear with the Adidas shoes that I gave him after Hari Raya.

Boboy to me...Kharis to his friends..though I never let it slipped my lips in front of friends. His aunt took care of my son in his parents house and i knew him since after he left school.He has always been nice to me.I remember sittng in his room, listening to 'No Doubt' newly released album,and he was all excited about it. He went to UiTM and we saw less of each other and years passed. I heard of him getting married and later, Yasmin his daughter came along.

Once, we saw him riding his bike along the old airport road and later I found out he started running. And I remember thinking to myself "budak gemuk ni pun boleh lari marathon, tak kan aku tak boleh?" Really, he inspired me to start running. I don't remember now but we started seeing each other again for drinks and later for runs..And ran we did. At first, I dreaded running with him coz he always gave me a hard time. But as time goes by I always look forward to running with him. We would do long runs in Bukit Aman. Eventually, when my husband started running, he joined us as well. He always welcomed my new running friends joining our Sunday runs.

We also share our love for food and definitely coffee. Everytime he finds out about a new coffee joint he will always remember to tell me. He would be sending me tips on food places everytime I travel around the country, without fail! BBMs about work and going ons in his life was of abundance. He says what he wants when he wants. At times when I didn't agree with his views,I would rather keep quiet or brush them away. Being friends does not mean having to agree on everything. Most of the times, it's better to agree to disagree. We entered races, and this year he was with me when I my ran first half marathon. Arwah wrote about it here
I last met him at the Adidas King Of The Road, where he walked most of the 16.8km with Adit,a running newbie, just to accompany him. My broken toe has weaned me off running with Arwah; maybe it's a blessing in disguise so that I wouldn't miss him the next time I go for the weekend runs.We were supposed to arrange for a lunch at Kudu to celebrate Adit's finishing the race.We were supposed to be running the Penang Bridge Run this November and later look for Penang food joints, we were supposed to run the Borneo Run, coz this year he missed joining me and hubs. All the could have beens..

Our running buddy, our friend, our brother has gone..never to return again. He will be sadly missed. I pray for strength for Yanthy and little Yasmin. It was a good run, Boboy...

Picture taken from Anak Mami's blog pic by Jason Hue, Snap Attack

He will always be the younger brother I never had.

Tulang oh tulang...

2011-10-11T23:05:00.001+08:00

Ini ialah tulang kaki kanan

Here's an x-ray of my right toes...I think they looked quite scary...Allah's creation is beautiful, but I was careless and clumsy to have walked or rather bumped against my Mak's heavy furniture during the hari raya break. It has now been 40 days since the 'accident'. Kalau orang beranak memang dah habis pantang...but alas it's not the case here.

The first few days after the incident, the whole right leg was swollen..I had my feet up the the whole trip back to KL from JB. And for the next few weeks, i was an official limper. I wore sandals and clogs to work, and had to duck everytime I see senior management to avoid them seeing me in sandals. For the first week, I had to resort to wearing baju kurung to work everyday, coz they are the only baju that at least didn't look weird with the sandal.

And it was R.I.C.E all the way..(almost..). Rest, ice, compress & elevate..and expensive Phiten Titanium plaster and conditioning gel. I tried to look for info on these products at the Malaysian website but they're not that helpful. From the New Zealand website this is what I got

"The Phiten Relax Gel contains 'Phild' processed gold and Menthol, which work to increase circulation and flexibility by relaxing the muscles. Effective for anyone who suffers from muscle aches or joint pain. Helps those with arthritis to increase flexibility and strength in fingers . When used after vigorous exercise, this gel will improve recovery time"

while the

"Phiten Titanium tapes and discs help release tension and relax muscles. They provide relief from pain and discomfort in the back, neck, muscles and joints (knees, elbow, shoulder etc). Apply before exercise to help prevent cramping, muscle strain or tendon damage. Use after exercise or injury to assist recovery"

So is it any wonder that after 20 days, I still feel the pain and I was still limping?Thinking that it was just a bad sprain, I didn't go to the doctor. But one Sunday, after about 19 days, my feet was very 'itchy' and I cannot stand it anymore and I went for a run that turned into a 9km walk that turned painful the last 3km. Degil punya pasal. The next day, I went to the nearest GP near the office. Perluke nak kena geleng kepala doc tengok kaki saya!!!!??? She immediately refered me to SDMC and I met Dr Anuar, the orthopaedic there, who I argued with debating that it's just a sprain and he kept insisting it's a broken bone...Who am I kidding?? He didn't go to med school for nothing...right?

I have missed running in a few runs that I registered for. Taiping Heritage Run which I almost cried after seeing the beautiful route that hubs ran at, Siemens Run which was deferred because of a certain Yellow demonstration, to September (which I still have to miss) and the 16.8km Adidas King Of The Road which looked so interesting and the weather was so beautiful to run in. Imran ran for hubs who couldn't make it as he had to work while I gave mine to a friend (an above 5km officialwalker virgin). And last week, we 'pirated' the PIKOM Charity run, another nice route in the middle of the Golden Triangle. The 3 of us friends, each with his/her own recovering leg injury walked the 6km (well, 5km actually coz we skipped going up the KL Tower hills.....we injured mah...)

So there it was in glorious xray color, my broken 2nd toe..can u see it, can u see it, can u, can u??? My follow up check was supposed to be last weekend which I had to miss coz it clashes with Aisyah's orthodontic appointment and on Sunday I went for a 5km walk and felt quite ok lah...ok lah...ok lah will try to see Dr Anuar this weekend, just to be sure, just to be sure. He better not tell me I can't run for another 3 months....

We remember, still

2011-07-27T00:43:00.001+08:00

26th July...He would have been 43 today...Al Fatihah...

Events of the last 3 months

2011-07-16T23:15:00.001+08:00

It has really been that long huh? Kalau pokok dah tinggi, kalau baby dah boleh gelak...(which is true coz my sister's baby, Najla can hold baby talk with me and she's not even 3 months yet)

My life has been going through phases of change within these 3 months...From my last post on Aisyah's SPM results, she has gone through the stress of applying for uni, choosing, rechoosing the courses and finally being accepted for the 5th course of her choice. Diploma in Artistic Writing...What is that? We were confused and was wondering about it as well. But the fact that the faculty is FACT - Faculty of Arts and Creative Technology, we guessed that the course would be connected to the Performing Arts...my..my... my child is going to be artistically, entertainment, media inclined...Ke mana tumpahnya kuah...(where does the gravy spilt???) Campus is at Puncak Perdana about 10km from home, but it didn't stopped me from missing her whenever she's not home. Been almost 2 months now, and she comes back not just for the weekends but also on normal days when she doesn't have classes...I have to learn to slowly to let go...

New work place, new colleagues, new bosses - it's not without it own set of stress. Plus points - the office is near home, my collegues are cool and my boss totally rocks...I'm learning about a totally new industry - Retail is faster than broadcasting and speedier that fibre optics??!! , the last industry I was working in...unbelievable but seriously....I didn't know that there were a lot of sciences involved in deciding on one item to put in a sales catalog...doesn't help that I hate numbers...I want to make significant contributions to this new place and hope I complete a certain gaps that are missing there. I received this email from a colleague this morning and I quote :

"If I build a habit of "wanting" something, and then NOT doing it, I am basically reinforcing a life that is getting further and further away from my heart's passions. Change my thoughts, change my habits, focus on my priority. Just do it. Stand up. Be counted. Show up FULL.
Every day in every way I am working to close the gap between where I want to be in life, and where I am now."

How interesting that the same topic of "gap" came out when I met an old friend from my advertising agency days, from years ago. An unexpected phone call and we met for lunch. More than 10 years and he has been married, divorced, changed his name, in and out of business and now more at peace with himself. Conversations became deep for a bit and in retrospective, I looked at my own life. And he said that we are all created to fill gaps in this life...that we are certainly not perfect. We would need others to fill gaps that are missing in ours and we in turn fill the gaps in theirs. Simple and it made sense....And why is it that we need tragedies in our life before we realize most of of these life questions. I pray for wisdom daily so that I don't shut myself out from things that matters.

RUN

The "never thought I could do it" medal

My favorite medal with the proboscis Monkey

At the finish line of SCKLM

Running took a back seat with the new job...After a day's work, all my energy seems to be sapped completely. Faktor usia...ish..ish.. My weekly running quota is left to just long slow running on Sundays. Once, I dragged hubs to almost 20km that left us both drained...lepas geram! I have to get this body clock back to fit in morning runs. In May, we were in Sabah for the Borneo Run which was a fun route through scenic Sabah. Sabah is a wonderful place which we enjoyed immensely. I want to be back for next year's run!! And I finally did my first half marathon in the KL Marathon about 3 weeks ago. What a revelation of what the body can do when the mind is mentally set to at least complete the race. Me, who never thought that I could even run 3km, a year ago. And I was running comfortably albeit slowly among thousands of other running enthusiasts...Nothing beats the feeling of completing your first...be it 5,10, 21...and will I ever do a full marathon? Only time will tell.

Aisyah and happpyyyy me!!!

2011-03-24T16:27:00.000+08:00

Semalam hari gumbira saya...

Some things just have to come to an end...resam hidup. Nothing is forever...I'm glad I have the wisdom to choose happiness for myself!

This is what she has prayed hard for...Alhamdulillah....

Dan semalam juga hari gumbira saya sebab Nur'Aisyah Ezral, after much heartache and tears (she lah...not me..), called me at the office ( actually I heard 3 voices shouting on the phone- hers, Khairin's and hubs') all excited and she has achieved her best from her struggle of the last 2 years.

As a mum, I am always in a dilemma, whether I have done the best I could for my children. Aisyah has always been an achiever. She can read at age 3 and has not lost (i hope) the interest to learn. She studies without me having to coax and has quite a balanced life. She was not at all like me, who went to extremes of either studying or not...which disappointingly, for me, turned out to be the latter. She can be out with friends all day and I could still catch her working on her maths at the most peculiar time of the day. So, she's better than I was at her age. She's not a totally studious girl and she knows how to have fun, with her music, her bundle shopping obsession, her blog, her friends, her insistence to be at as many music gigs as possible, her MekDi, Johnny Depp obsessions, among others..

With Aisyah, I always felt that I need to tread extra carefully. Last year, I suspect was a year of turmoil for her. Every 2 weeks, she would miss school at least once. And I also know, she spent good hours of school sleeping in class. I worry a lot for her, but the only consolation for me was her teachers' confidence in her, and knowing that she's wise enough to make her own choices. She is not the kind of child you can expect to get straight answers from if you ask her if she has any problems, instead what she will serve you is tears welling in her eyes..So, I chose to let her be. I do not know whether this is a wise decision on my end, but I always have this notion that she knows that she can always count on us. We may not always have everything, but we would always try to give her the best we can.

Her late father and nenek would have been as proud as we are...

As another stage of your life beckons, Aisyah... keep your feet on the ground..head in the sky!!

Lari. lari!!!!

2011-03-22T19:12:00.000+08:00

Race Schedule Widget

LAT the musical- A mother's account Part 2

2011-03-21T17:14:00.000+08:00

Tak kuasa kan siap ada part 2..Well, it's not everyday that I blog..And warning, this will be almost an essay..

So after the first audition (please read part 1 if you are lost), we were waiting for the company to call us and when they did a few weeks later..in 2011 (first audition was in 2010 hehehe..), it was for Khairin to come for another audition. So by that time, she was already quite busy with other voice over jobs for ASTRO, and we were worried if we could not commit to the schedule.

And we were almost 70% sure that we better not go for the 2nd audition because of this. But we were 70% curious as well, so that Saturday we went again. This time the shortlisted kids were given lines to read and dance steps to follow. That lasted almost the whole day and again we were sent home with not very definite YES or NO. When I received an email 6 days later, it was to confirm that she's in and the very extensive rehearsals time.

The dance rehearsal - pics take from H+A Studio ('like' them on fb)

Another dilemma...to accept the offer or not...coz it wud disrupt our schedule with all the ferrying from home in Subang 2 to KLPAC in Sentul, her extra classes schedule, her school schedule and also her twice a week VO schedule in Cheras (we were already struggling with that). After weighing in the pros and cons coupled with her obvious enthusiasm to be a part of the show, we caved in. And a lot of it , we owe to hubs' willingness to do all the ferrying around. And she has not missed a day of school since she started with rehearsals.

Practising her song, Daniel on the left plays LAT and that's Kudin from Headwind kof,kof.

So rehearsals for the kids started in January, up to 8pm almost daily and also the weekends. She totally enjoyed the whole thing, the hard work and the new friends she made. She was learning about breathing techniques for singing, vocals, acting and dance steps from some of the best in the country. And all throughout the last 2 and a half months of rehearsals, she has never missed a single day of school. Tall Order was very accommodating to the kid's schedules and on days that she has her VO jobs, she was excused from rehearsals. So we are thankful for all that.

The last week of rehearsals moved to Istana Budaya and the last show will be on the 5th April.

And the preview show blew me away...totally..and not because Khairin is in it. I watched the last show of Terima Kasih Cinta which I loved for the familiar songs ( a few of Sheila Majid's songs was featured) and the fact that they can do so much with the simple set, but LAT is a totally different show. Thanks to Datuk Lat's cartoons which made up the extensive sets, the costumes, the songs and the stellar acting. The big names are limited to AWIE, ATILIA, DOUGLAS CHEW, OMAR ABDULLAH and JALIL HAMID but the stage presence of each of the supporting actors and ensemble was very impressive as well.

Khairin (2nd frm left) as one of Lat's daughter in one of the scenes

All the talented kids casts

The rehearsals was well worth the effort coz the kids (the non-pros) can now claim that they are at least semi-pros.

All throughout rehearsals, we didn't see her acting and playing her parts so that night, when we saw the performance for the very first time, we can't help but felt that the whole experience was surreal, looking at her on stage, so full of confidence singing, dancing and acting her lines. While I felt a lump in my throat, suppressing my tears, Aisyah confessed that she cried watching her sister perform. And hubs said, he felt like crying but was too nervous for Khairin. She did her Perak accent naturally.

Awie and Atilia has excellent vocals for the show and successfully played their characters, that I felt each heart wrenching, happy, sad and funny moments of the show. Omar Abdullah was fantastic as the late Arwah Pak Samad Ismail, and lent the show the comedy with his character. The troop of ensemble are super, super talented as well.

The sets are beautiful. I especially love the London scenes and the way they did the transition from the child Lat to the adult Lat.

This morning, Khairin appeared on The Breakfast Show along side Hans Isaac, Atilia and a rep from ITJN. Again she amazes me when she coolly handle questions from the hosts.

This entry does not do justice for the musical and its casts . Get your tickets here and you'll see what I mean.

Note : 'Like' KAMPONG BOY SEBUAH MUZIKAL here and H & A Studio here on facebook for updates and pix from the Musical

Lat The Musical - a mother's account Part 1

2011-03-17T18:09:00.001+08:00

That 's our girl (extreme right) , obviously nervous

We were privileged to get seats to the preview of LAT Sebuah Muzikal on Tuesday night, a day before it opens for the public.Our third child, Khairin has always been interested in dancing and singing but she has always been shy to perform in front of an audience. It was not until lately that she developed the courage to do so. I think watching GLEE has a lot to do with this change.

When I found out through Christina (Mrs Afdlin) FB wall that Tall Order is having an open audition for kids for the musical, i asked her if she wants to try. Amazingly, she said yes immediately but not without asking what she has to do at the audition. And I told her, they will probably ask her to sing or dance a bit and she asked if it will be in a big group and not wanting to scare her, said I don't think so. And I was not surprised, on the morning of the audition she said, she doesn't want to go after all. So I told her I was going to go to work then. After shower, there she was waiting for me, quite decided that she wants to audition after all.

So off we went to Istana Budaya and there were about close to 100 kids and more came when we were there. Thank goodness for the ipad we managed to wait through as I was ready to give up! So the kids were ushered into the audition room 5 at a time and each of them had to sing a song. She chose to sing Justin Bieber's Smile. And they were also given scripts to memorize and read.

After the whole things was over, we were told to wait around. After all the auditions was done, we (us and a boy's family) was called in to meet Hans Isaac, the producer/director and we were told that "We think that your children are very (stress on the VERY haha) talented and it's amazing that both of them came in for audition together in the same group and what we want to do now is to audition them again together" and I thought "What?! More waiting?" but I was very proud of her.

So we waited for a while and Khairin and Aiman was called in again and recorded on camera, singing their songs to each other. My guess is they wanted to see the chemistry between these two and after all that was over we were sent off home and was told to expect a call from them. Haish!! More waiting...after that 7 hours one!

Bareno Run 2011

2011-03-17T14:49:00.001+08:00

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

And, yes that's how exactly what I tell myself before each race that I crazily registered for. It's not about coming out tops. At my age, where each surge of physical activities will cause at least a week constant soreness, coming out tops is the least of my concern.

I registered for the Bareno Run as far back as last year .having regular emails sent reminding you of upcoming runs helped. So I registered for the 10km right after I completed the 12km Malakoff in November. I thought better to register when I'm still hot on the heels from Malakoff and when I have not had the chance to ask around about the route. So register I did, not just for Bareno but also for The Energizer Night Race in April. Crazy old woman!

And on top of my own registration I also registered for hubs. Y'know, I started running on and off for more than a year and all that time I was mostly running on my own or with friends. I have never actually tried convincing hubs to start running, coz he said he always preferred the gym anyway..and with these sort of things and with men especially, I've lived long enough to know that forcing things on people just don't work.

But i guess the new year is a good excuse for him to start trying to run..So he started off with the C25K program which I recommended and which I started with. But he's so canggih cos he can download the apps on the iphone. I remember having to sort of memorize the program when I did it. So a few months of running actually would prepare him for his first 5K. That's about 2 months of training for him. I would strongly urge people who wants to start running to try the program.
Hubs completed his 5km faster than his normal timing. Thanks to the adrenaline rush , I think!

Last Sunday, I was glad that I wasn't waking up alone at 5am, to get to Bukit Jalil. By 6.20am, we were there amongst the thousands of runners in green and reds. And at 6.30am, the 10km runners were "gunned off". Hubs and a few of my friends who are also running the 5clicks started a lil bit later.

So there I was following a guy that was running at more or less the same pace as I was, albeit more steadily..I always find it easier to run with an unofficial pacer that way..I was kind of glad I didn't check out the routes before the race coz if I had known about the hills before the run, I would feel dejected about running. But the hills were sure tough!

Post-run pix is a must!

But the feeling I get after finishing the race was something that I wouldn't trade for anything...even if it's dark chocolates! And I love those!

Thoughts

2011-01-13T18:20:00.000+08:00

"I love it here but I'd rather be somewhere else..."

Waiting for the end

2011-01-12T11:12:00.000+08:00

This is one of my favorite 2010 songs, besides many others, of course...There's something so sad but yet so hopeful about it. I love how Chester's voice simply comes out so, longingly, so hopeful on this one...sigh...This will set the mood for today...

This is not the end

This is not the beginning

Just a voice like a riot

Rocking every revision

But you listen to the tone

And the violent rhythm

Though the words sound steady

Something emptys within em

We say yeah

With fists flying up in the air

Like we’re holding onto something that’s invisible there

Cuz we’re living at the mercy of the pain and the fear

Until we dead it forget it

Let it all disappear

Waiting for the end to come

Wishing I had strenght to stand

This is not what I had planned

It’s out of my control

Flying at the speed of light

Thoughts were spinning in my head

So many things were left unsaid

It’s hard to let you go

I know what it takes to move on

I know how it feels to lie

All I wanna do is trade this life for something new

Holding on to what I haven’t got

Sitting in an empty room

Trying to forget the past

This was never meant to last

I wish it wasn’t so

What was left when that fire was gone

I thought it felt right but that right was wrong

All caught up in the eye of the storm

And trying to figure out what it’s like moving on

And I don’t even know what kind of things I said

My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead

Picking up those pieces now where to begin

The hardest part of ending is starting again

All I wanna do is trade this life for something new

Holding on to what I haven’t got

This is not the end

This is not the beginning

Just a voice like a riot

Rocking every revision

But you listen to the tone

And the violent rhythm

Though the words sound steady

Something's empty within em

We say yeah

With fists flying up in the air

Like we’re holding onto something that’s invisible there

Cuz we’re living at the mercy of the pain and the fear

Until we dead it forget it

Let it all disappear

My first 2011 post and many more to come (I hope)

2011-01-11T11:23:00.002+08:00

2nd week into the new year..so how has it been to everyone?

I didn't make a resolution to update this like, everyday, so this is a good start.

I made a deliberate effort to somehow welcome 2011 differently, not that there was anything remotely wrong with how we did it in the recent years. We've done city hotel stays before watching the fireworks from the 15th floor of Impiana KLCC, we've taken the opportunity to make a trip to Singapore at least 2 years in a row, even if it was a few days before the new year and there were countless "stay at home, watch fireworks from the front gate" which was cool as well, at least it worked for us.. fussy lot we're not..

GENTING

Having spent the Xmas weekend in Genting with the kids, the week before convinced us me that ok, enough spending...seriously Genting can be quite a spent, especially with food. But our stay at The Club Room was very pleasant and my ride on the Space Shot (the only ride I have the guts ~~balls~~ to go up on) was awesome! And the Revival concert, the group who sang all of ABBA's songs was really fun. Khairin even get to do the finale with the group, up on stage which left her gushing "This is like the best birthday treat ever!!" (her birthday was 5 days earlier). After Genting, Mak kopak tau! Does not help that school's was starting and we had school supplies to spend on.

RUN

So on 31st December, I decided to end the year with my last run on 2010. I tried a new route, the Shah Alam lake, because I had to drop Aisyah off at a gig at the Shah Alam Extreme Park. Did about 4.5km, which felt kind of ok. I thought I could follow up this run with a "the first run of 2011" the next day but other stuff took precedence over running. Not until the 3rd did I get to run again..this time 6km near home. I noticed a nagging pain on my left ankle and decided to lay off running for a bit. I've been giving the ankle a cold daily compress and elevating my foot while sleeping. Restless, I ran on Saturday for about 5km. Today the discomfort is still there..and I might succumb to my maid's massage later..

#1111twtup

I missed the much hyped #23Octtwtup so when an invite was received from @norm_nordin (the organiser) through twitter (what else?) I decided, I WILL ATTEND...I will attend even if I had to go alone..coz i didn't hear of any of my friend's on twitter who said they were going..A few days before the event, I suddenly felt nervous. I was going to meet complete strangers who I only twitted with and it seemed like a big step to actually meet these people in person (a bit like a blind group date..hahaha). I even ordered the twtup tshirt from @zicco_tees (which turned out nicer than the pic online). And a few days before it happened I found out my former colleague @syafique will be joining as well..that solves the "i don't know anyone here" problem. What better ways that meeting new friends to start 2011..I can't think of any then..and I'm glad I did. It turned out to be fun!

with @Sya_Za85, @liliemiliyana,,@syafique, @whizbeb

My #1111twt t-shirt!!

There was these cool rockers, Muzza and Din (father and son) I was told, who belted out old skool rock songs like "Knockin On Heaven's Door", "Faithfully", "Bila Rindu" . Their video's here, if you wanna see what I meant, when I say they're good. I met Norman, the organiser, (who looked slimmer than his avatar), and sat at the same table as @syafique, @whizbeb, @fahroe, @liliemiliyana, @Sya_Zana85..and also familiar faces on my timeline @Karrotgold @zullicious @TuanSenangBesar, @altimet. They seemed to all know each other while a group of us sat among ourselves trying to chat, hence we were called the #lazybums for not moving our asses to mingle.

These people that I met on the night of 1st January 2011 are the friendliest bunch. I don't mind crowds but I usually rather avoid them but I'm glad I decided not to...that night of 1st Jan. I'm glad I gave in to the strong urge to meet new people this new year, broaden my outlook on things and exchange opinions, views. I hope that this won't be the last..Twitter is sure amazing..

On new year's day, I met up with my old friends from the earlier batch of ntv7's people, at Becky's place who's back from Melbourne for the Xmas and New Year hols. I love reunions, I love reminiscing about not so old times, I love the laughter and smiles going all around.

with @Karrotgold, @Luna_Rahman, @zullicious - pic courtesy of @kazwan

Part of the #lazybums and that's youhtful @norm_noordin in the blue shirt - pics courtesy of @kazwan

I'm loving 2011 so far and hoping for more good things to come...

Instant, deferred gratification

2010-12-28T17:09:00.001+08:00

I love shopping!! Have always do. I've been known among friends to be the unofficial sale directory...but over the years I have somehow sober up and would only spend when absolutely necessary as opposed to a few years back where I buy on impulse, especially during sales. It was no surprise when I gave away stuff that I didn't even wear or had only worn once or twice, recently.

Shopping, really is an instant gratification. I love the feeling of using / touching/ smelling new stuff that I just acquired. Lame, I know..but that's my fact of life. As with other things, I'd rather take this positively. It shows me for who I am, someone who seize the day, carpe diem! and for that cest la vie! Like Imran say it, "that's the way I roll"...After all, life is short..But then it also explains why I find it hard holding on to money, which comes back to bite me in the butt at the most critical of time.. Haish but that's another story..

Running, on the other hand...is deferred gratification albeit a painful one..ok lah maybe not painful but close. The feeling I get after finishing a run, whether in a race or just normal ~~daily~~ run, is hard to describe, but that sense of achievement even if it's a miserable 2km run is hard to beat. Coupled with the false notion of "I can eat ~~like a pig~~ more that I've ran today", running is the perfect drug to feed my need for instant gratification.
Think about it, a deferred gratification act (run) to feed an instant gratification need (eat a lot)..now I'm confused. Am I making any sense, no?

It doesn't matter, it's just ramblings.. I started this post to write about my purchases after I started running. Running pants, shirts and shoes aside, a few months back when I went to collect my bib for the SCMKL, I saw this among other stuff being sold in one of the promotional booths. A few months before that I never thought that a water bottle in a pouch bag could excite me. Going into pharmacies excites me, handbags excites me, shoes does the same...but never water bottle. more so in a almost hideous looking waist pouch..Who uses waist pouches anyway? Visions of mini bus conductors from my college days did came to mind. But I was thinking I need sustenance while running and this is the most likely bet..So I paid a little bit more that RM100 for this, that's after discount ok..along with some packet of gels, power bars and isotonic tablets.

ULTIMATE DIRECTION ACCESS WAIST POUCH

Though it serves its purpose of having water off-hand while running, I find that it moves too much while I ran. And having the bottle portion on the back rather than front feels weird...and it adds weight. That i don't need..i've enough weight! I've a feeling I had it on too loose...but I don't wanna turn blue while running... I think I will reserve this for my soon venture into trail running.~~.if ever~~

And 2 weeks ago, when I collected my bib at The Athletes Circle, and they have the most wonderful stuff!!..I finally succumbed into buying myself the SPIbelt... the Small Personal Item belt. Now this little thing held my blackberry, my android with the headphones, the car keys and also some spare cash during my last run beautifully! At RM99 after a 10% discount, it's a steal! It also comes in a single pocket version, for those not as kiasu as me..hehehe..

The best part is it moves ever so slightly because i wear it on my hips rather than my non-existent waist..Like I think I'm hip like that lah..I saw some guys wearing it tight on their chest under their tshirt which is cool as well, except, where do I put my non-existent boobies...huwarggghhh! But then that's the beauty because one size fits all..It's low maintenance coz it's machine washable and it's slim enough to look almost invisible. The double pockets one only comes in black colour but if you choose the other variety, they come in numerous colours.

SPI BELT WITH DUAL POCKET

So there, I'm loving running coz it serves both the gratifications that makes my life..I can still shop for stuff that I ~~want~~ need and in the long run benefit from running, in terms of health and ~~maybe~~ having a waist. I get more excited in front of a sport shop rather than Zara these days..It has come to that...

Run, I will...glucosamine or not..

2010-12-03T11:12:00.000+08:00

Looks like I have to increase the dosage of the glucosamine chondroithin supplement these few weeks.

After the 10.10.10 Nike Run which was real fun to do with the sea of people and a week later, the Mizuno Wave Run where I struggled to complete the 12km route of hills after walking for about 3km from the parking lot to the UPM stadium, November passed without any races... Well, I did sign up for the Terry Fox run but we decided to go to Penang and get fat..so that's that!

The last two Sundays, I ran longer distance with TSB who took me to the Hartamas loop and last week we ran from Bukit Aman. I must say, I ran better with company. And surprisingly, the nagging discomfort on my knees before the long runs seems to have subsided. Is it the pills or the run? Either way, I'm thankful..

I have signed up for 2 races in December. The TIBI Run will be on the 11th, while Malakoff Run is the week after that on the 19th. 7km & 12km respectively. And I'm getting butterflies now! As always, for me it's all about finishing the race. Timing comes second. At my age and with the kind of 'training' I do, I should be glad to just make it to the race!

The TIBI run is organised by The Malaysian Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. There are many other races happening the same week, but I just felt inclined to do this one, in memory of my late father who passed on from TIBI. So 7km. it is! Am not sure of the route though...have been googling to no avail..Maybe I should call them.....ok..called...the lady said "when you collect t-shirt, they will give you the route" Aiyor..this one like treasure hunt already!

Map taken from Malakoff Run website

The Malakoff one, on the other hand..the 12km ~~( aku perasan gagah boleh lari 12km, walau pun semput sebenarnya)~~ will be a challenging one. I drove these routes everyday to work and I know that this is going to be one hilly, hard run, or in my case..walk..Nanges wor! How do I tackle those hills man...

Argggghhhh!! I will just aim to complete it and have fun at the same time!

Zaim

2010-11-25T15:10:00.000+08:00

I must start remembering the stuff that Zaim asked us out of the blue...sometimes I'm not sure what goes on in that lil brain of his..and sometimes we don't even know how to answer him..

Yesterday he was asking "matahari tu pergi mana??". Eh?? Apa nak jawab ek? Tak faham soklan lah..so we go all out trying to explain about how the earth moves and how nite becomes day..and he responded with "tak faham lah"

And a while later, he asked while looking at the clock in the car.."kalau semua jam dalam dunia ni salah, macamana kita nak tau jam pukul berapa..??" And we went on to explain that the tv, radio and a lot of other places where we can check the time from. Aisyah started wanting to explain about telling the time using the sun but stopped mid sentence perhaps remembering that we are talking to a 7 year old here..hehehe..

Zaim...Zaim...tsk, tsk, tsk....he keeps us on our toes..

My 101010

2010-10-11T16:35:00.000+08:00

I was in that sea of 9000 plus luminescent green/yellow, panting, plodding, walking, heaving but mostly running...again just to finish the race and also to ensure the calories from the lamb mandiy rice that I had at Al Diaffah was well spent...hahaha...it was the perfect way to mark the date..

top 2 photos taken from @NikeMy twitpics

Imran and PMR

2010-10-04T23:40:00.000+08:00

As much as I hate to admit that I am now scared shit for my son Imran who will be sitting for his PMR tomorrow, I have to say I am. I really don't know what's going on in his head and how he's feeling about the exams but I sure hope that Allah S.W.T will at least give him the mercy of not panicking in the exam hall and trying his very best to answer the papers. One person panicking for him is enough..

Imran, mama ayah trust you will try your best and we will always pray for you... Now, excuse me while I try to sleep my worries away..

Raya beckons us..

2010-09-02T11:34:00.000+08:00

Ini bukan kuih tart Mak...

On this 33rd day of Ramadan, with us applying for Raya leave in the office I reminiscence my Raya of yesteryears. As a kid, Raya is always something I look forward to. Raya will mark some of the significant events for me for the year. Among others, Raya means:

1. We get new clothes...usually a pair of the traditional garb and 2 sets of the others, perhaps a dress and later when I'm older, my preferred pants and tops.

2. We shopped in Singapore for Raya...the advantage of living in JB. The whole family, all 8 of us will cramped into Abah's Peugeot and pepagi buta will cross the border and will not be back home selagi kedai tak tutup. One year we discovered a Japanese department store, Yokoso which actually opens 24-7...Parah!! Mak would buy her curtains, cushion covers, chair backs, all cheap-cheap from Sungei Road at that time...I remember traipsing CK Tang looking at dresses and pinggan mangkuk..And after all the shopping is done, we would congregate to Arab Street to have our feast of Nasi Briyani and Singapore Murtabak..My late Abah would be all smiles looking at his brood devouring the food..

3. The third week of Ramadan would see Mak getting us to raya-clean the house, We used to stay in a semi-detached government quarters with lots of windows and my brothers would be the vested parties who. would be climbing on stools getting the glass windows cleaned. When we moved to Mak's current home and my brothers had left for college, me and my sister took over this duty. I never hated having 2 bathrooms in the house instead of one in the old home and the fact that this house has more windows. On the eve of raya, we would put up new curtains, new cushion covers, everything new lah..and my parents would be busy cooking the Raya feast till the wee hours of the morning walaupun tiap-tiap tahun they keep telling us "tahun depan kita siap awal lagi dari ni"

4. Ramadan was twice as fun. My late Abah has always been known to be a foodie and all of us took after him...every buka puasa our table would be full of the food that Mak prepared (no pasar Ramadan in the early days of my childhood).. We would usually have more than 3 types of drinks based on all our requests..after buka semua tersandar tapi Abah tetap senyum...Paling best soya bean and tow foo fah from Jalan Segget..yums..

5. My Abah also loves buying mercun and bunga api for us. Those days you'd hardly hear people getting burned by fireworks..My abah usually buys the mercun in bulk and keeps the stash away from us, taking them out bit by bit daily...Aku ada ration mercun dulu!!

6. Our baju kurung was never bought ready made. Mak would get them stitched by tailors way before the raya mood even sets in.. for all of us including my brothers. The materials for the baju melayu would've been bought on an earlier trip to Singapore, together with the can lychees , the apples, oranges and the chocolate stash that . we get from there as well. My brothers' and Abah's baju Melayu would be stitched at the JB prison where Abah used to worked. Come to think of it, we got lots of stuff done there...ironing, dry cleaning (the whole dhoby thing). My Mak had it easy man...

7. Not only Mak cooked us different stuff daily for buka puasa (btw, we almost never eat white rice for break fast so she has to think of all the different noodles to cook, her home made roti canai, lontong, soups, flavoured rice like nasi ayam, nasi tomato bagai AND the different kuih as well), she would also be preparing all her raya cookies during the day. And during the early days we didn't have the mixer so all of us will take turns beating the butter, sugar and egss for her pineapple tarts until later when Abah bought her the Moulinex mixer from Singapore. We had muscles on the biceps just from this. Standard fare of Mak's cookies would include tarts, nestum cookies, biskut kaykaot (Quaker Oats haha..), Cornflakes, her famous steamed fruit cake and sujee...yumsss...

8. On raya day until I was 12, when we moved to the current home from the government quarters, me and my sister with our gang, kids from the neighbourhood, would go and 'collect'. So pepagi buta sesudah subuh, in our baju kurung we would go from house to house to collect duit raya..Assalamualaikum, assalamualaikum...ada satu tahun...sudah pergi satu rumah India..hahaha...malu seyh! Gigih ni dalam panas berjalan satu kampung...This would be the only time that my parents would let us go further away from home. Lepas tu malam-malam kira duit raya...This would go on till the 2nd day of raya, tapi on the 2nd day standardnya kita pakai baju moden..hehe..and make sure tak pergi rumah yang sama as the day before. So the strategy is to go and ronda rumah-rumah yang paling jauh from our own house on the first day and move inwards on the 2nd day..tak tahan..kecik2 dah ada strategy.

9. On Raya morning, it was a normal practice in our homes to have an almost formal bermaafan session. This would happen right after breakfast after the man and boys come back from the Raya prayers. My parents would be sitting at the sofa while all six of us would line up and one by one, we would seek forgiveness from our parents for all our wrongdoings that year. And these sessions usually would see all of us cry...kalau tak nangis memang hati batu ar...haha

10. And our house, at least till the 3rd day of Raya, would be receiving guests non-stop, as my cousins, auntys and uncles thronged the home to visit..

Ah...I look forward to raya every year, if not for the festivities as we hardly do half of the above, more so for remembering the best moments of my life...

Kadir in memory

2010-08-24T12:44:00.002+08:00

Yesterday morning, hubs received a text to say that a mutual friend of ours has passed on. Allahyarham Abdul Kadir bin Daim was 33 years old and he passed away from cancer of the brain. I was there the week of the diagnose of the cancer and later before his first operation to remove the tumor. He was calm perhaps not knowing the seriousness of his illness. That was the last time we met, in his hospital room in SDMC about less than a year ago. After that he moved back to his mum's place and apparently his condition worsen after the series of chemo.

Arwah, extreme right..somehow always in the background (pix courtesy of Zaid's fb)

I was not that close to him. I met him through another friend and we met occasionally. Kadir was a reserved person but that doesn't stopped me from shamelessly asking him for an invitation to his home after knowing that he is a really good cook. The first time, dinner was in another friend's home, but Arwah did all the cooking. I can still remember the taste of his fish and beef asam pedas, the crab that he steamed with lots of lemongrass, the cencalok mix that we ate with fried fish...

The second time, we went to his apartment in Sunway and again he cooked up a storm in his kitchen. His famous asam pedas, chilli fish, cencalok and the fried vegetable. We had pics from the day and when I went through them today, there was not a picture of the cook. Always so humble and reserved.

He came to my house with the rest of the guys for one of the aidil adha lunches and later we had teh tarik at our nearby mamak. He was always the quiet one among the rest but when he started chatting, the things that comes out from his mouth are quite interesting, most of time funny.

All these will remain in my memory. A guy whom I briefly knew. But somehow I feel the warmth around him, his hospitality and what little conversations we had.

May you rest in peace, my friend..Alfatihah..

Ramadan

2010-08-23T01:57:00.001+08:00

Today is the 12th day of Ramadan. Today also marked 9 days since my maid, Ana went on MC. She was about 5 months pregnant last week, when she complained that she has been feeling very tired so she asked for her weekend break last weekend. I told her to check the condition with a doctor. Last Sunday, when she called me she was in tears saying that the foetus has somehow lost its life in her uterus and she has to go through the D&C procedure.

When she first told me she was pregnant a few months earlier, I was quite surprised coz I know that they were not planning for one, after all her husband has grown up children and she herself has a son from their previous marriage. But I guess, you can't plan these things and after her decision to stop working and then deciding to give birth here, I sort of got myself psyched to welcome a baby into our home. But alas, we can only plan.

So we are left to fend for ourselves. Lucky that it's Ramadan and the kids don't eat during the day and I get home from work much earlier, but the laundry is really a chore. Hubs' back on the laundry folding routine...he's so good with it while the kids help here and there. I have always hated ironing but these past few days found myself doing it on a daily basis. Incidentally, this is the Ramadan that we chose not to go to the Ramadan bazaars to buy food so when I come home from work it's straight to the kitchen to cook.So far so good...

The house may be ~~a bit~~ tunggang terbalik but wadehel...I just grin and bear with it..Some things like vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and mopping can wait...for now..I'll wait till they get real filthy before I ~~do them,~~ I call for help from Rubi, the tea lady from my old office.

I hope Ana gets well soon and be on her feet and fit for work.It's times like this that we really appreciate what she does in our home. She's been with us for almost 10 years already. One day she would want to go back to Indonesia for good but for now, as long as she wants to work with us, we are more than happy to have the extra hand.

Mini reunion

2010-08-23T01:16:00.000+08:00

The gang, most have left while a few others remain but this constant meet up keeps the friendship fresh...

Lyn opening her present

Great to be meeting up with friends. We have been delaying Lynn's birthday meet up. Lynn moved to Sepang, which made arrangements to meet up a bit difficult to coordinate but today (yesterday) we finally did.

My homies...these guys are almost like brothers to me..

We had good food in Madam Kwan's, great laughter and shared a lot of stories. Most of us has since left MPB and only 3 are still there, nevertheless I guess we have made a silent pact to ourselves to keep this friendship going.What better way than to celebrate each other's birthday, for a lack of better excuse...

After dinner I meet up with hubs and the kids for dessert at Whisk. Their Red velvet cake and cafe latte was the perfect end to dinner.

Till the next meet up...i await in anticipation.. Thanks for the friendship guys...

Committed

2010-08-23T00:58:00.000+08:00

We were in Batu Pahat last weekend for Faizal's wedding to Diana.Hubs has known Faizal almost all his life while I myself met him about more than 20 years ago. Gosh!When I looked at it this way, I sure feel bloody ancient! Hubs was the best man at Faizal's first marriage and how ironic that last weekend he was also the bestman, though I think he made quite a hopeless one..hahaha!

Ironic that as a Johorean, I have never really explored Batu Pahat..Yes, I have passed the town when I was smaller I guess, without giving two hoots what's in Batu Pahat. And one night in BP was not enough time to really see what BP has to offer except for the very nice Fried Oyster I had for dinner at the Rex Food Junction in town. The town itself is widely spread, I think bigger than JB with one way street everywhere which made looking for places a bit crappy but I was not driving..hehehe.

The couple in black and their black and silver pelamin

The wedding was simple with gorgeous theme colour of black and silver (if only the weather was cooler). we were at the mosque for the akad ceremony and later for the feast at Diana's house. And by dusk yesterday, we were back home...Sweettt...We were so tired that hubs stopped somewhere on the way for a quick nap. Getting old sure is not much fun!

I finally, at long last... finished reading a book that I started reading yonks ago. Ironic that I finished reading it in BP for a wedding coz the book is "Committed' by Elizabeth Gilbert of the fame "Eat, Pray, Love". Everything is ironic to me or ironically I wanna look at things a certain way in an irony fashion..what the hell am I writing?..Bah!! Anyway, the book basically went on and on about the author trying to find peace with the fact that she has to marry Felipe, her lover when she felt that they can continue co-habiting without a marriage cert. The whole process of getting her facts and knowledge on marriage sounded tiring in the book, which is perhaps the reason why I took so long to finish it. Suffice to say, I'm glad that my decision for my own nuptials was never hard decisions to make. In part it had to be because of tht he fact that whatever decisions I made are usually based on my own gut feel, with guidance from Allah and pushed by the fact that although I am fully capable of living alone, I chose not to because I could.

The last almost 12 years have been a roller coaster of a ride complete with headaches, cries, shouts but not without the excitement, glee and euphoria of a ride. I take this pact (it IS a pact) that we made to stick together for better or for worse seriously but at times as human have to remind myself hahaha...I read this twit I received this morning "in life, u must find someone that knows all ur flaws, differences, mistakes n yet still loves everything abt u" and I know that is the case for me... and hope the same for hubs..

A lot of times, in this marriage I take him for granted sometimes without even realising it. I get a "knock" on my head only when I realised that "Ey !He's ignoring me!" And I let him do that coz I guess that's his way of venting...Vent quietly....very quietly...in isolation..

Jokes aside, it was interesting to read some parts of the book and I would like to share them here...Go on, read the book so that these excerpts I took will not be misconstrued...

" I've come to believe that we all too often make the same assumption about marriage.We believe that when two people really love each other, then intimacy will somehow be intuitive to them, and their marriage will run forever on the mere power of affection. Because all you need is love! Or so I believed in my youth.You certainly don't need strategies or assistance or tools or perspective"

" Conventional wisdom has always taught that couples must argue in order to air out their grievances. But we scarcely ever argued. Did this mean we are repressing our true anger and resentment, and that one day it will explode in our faces in a hot wave of fury and violence? It didn't feel that way"

"New research shows that some couples managed to dodge serious conflict for decades without any serious blowbacks. Such couples make an art form out of something called " mutually accomodating behaviour" - delicately and studiously folding themselves inside out and backwards on order to avoid discord. This system, btw, works only when both people have accomodating personalities. Needless to say, it is not a healthy marriage when one spouse is meekly compliant and the other is a domineering monster or a unrepentant harridan. But nutual meekness can make for a successful partnering strategy , if it's what both people want. Conflict-averse couple prefer to let their grievances dissolve rather than fight over every point"

"All human beings have failing, "- Eleanor Roosevelt wrote. "All human beings have needs and temptation and stress. Men and women who have lived together over long years get to know one another's failings; but they also come to know what is worthy of respect and admiration in those they live with and in themselves"

"Maybe creating enough space within your conciousness to hold and accept someone's contradictions - someone idiocies, even - is a kind of divine art. Perhaps transcendence can be found not only on solitary mountaintops or a monastic settings, but also at your own kitchen table, in the daily acceptance of your partner's most tiresome, irritating faults"

Oh, I could go on and on with this...The book was an interesting read though not as addictive as her Eat, Pray, Love. I found myself putting down the book more often than when I read the earlier book. Go on..read it sometime..I enjoyed it eventually, so could you..

Tonton

2010-08-07T01:41:00.002+08:00

I was at the launch of tonton...the latest product of Alt Media (the new media company under Media Prima Berhad)today. As with everything else that an MPB company does, the launch was done wiyh much fanfare and kegempakan..hahaha. The ceo of altmedia, Izham presented the launch together with Paul Moss and MZulkifli.I am, by now already quite used to the launch presentation of an mpb company but I have to say that the opening gambit with the winner of 8tv's Showdown, which I never had the chance to watch was quite impressive. And it turned out Izham was one of the dancers. Didn't realized because all the dancers were wearing masks and bloody hell!! I wasn't concentrating!

Was too busy saying hello to old friends and ex colleagues. Tonton is a new video portal where we can watch tv shows online...free!! Maybe we don't need to download after this. At the launch, Zul announced that there are going to be a wide selection of content including the latest movies, programs from mpb's tv stations' archive that span 26 years and also specially made for the portal content. Apparently this is a completely new way to watch tv. I'm waiting for MZul to write on the difference between tonton and what is offered currently out there from an audience and an advertiser's perspective.

The beta portal sure looked good. Check it out yourself! There are gonna be ads within the content but some of the ads shown at the launch was interestingly weaved into the content.
There's hope for m'sian tv after all. I think the people at alt media has put in a lot of effort into this project and kudos to them.

The best part of today was seeing friends again, really!

I will be looking forward to hearing more about the development of tonton...or as Paul Moss said it Torntorn!!

Putrajaya..in a blurry run..

2010-08-01T23:55:00.002+08:00

And so….it’s over!! In an hour and 35 mins…and I was aiming for an hour 30mins, after an hr 25 mins ~~20 mins~~ for 11km at the Orange Run last week…but really running at night is a different ball game altogether. The day started with brunch after I read The Malaysian Insider's twit about D’Cengkih so we went there for brunch..and I really eat…macam nak lari marathon…macam real. Good excuses to eat their Nasi Dagang followed by their lempeng (pancake?) with sambal tumis…and a bit of Zaim’s pulut kuning and one buah Melaka, all topped with Nescafe 0 kosong…What is it about running that made me think that I can eat a horse??

Happy, full tummied people in D'Cengkih

Then to help digest the food, we went to Ikano amidst the jam of the last two days of the IKEA sale…and walk around to get books in Popular, checked out the fitness equipment store and cheap shoes at Vincci. Before heading home, stopped at Guardian to get a pair of knee guards for my aging knees..By the time we reached home, it was 4pm and I packed my stuff for Putrajaya. We left home at around 6.30pm, all of us including the kids. Jam on the highway and someone twitted that it’s the MTVAsia World Stage jam…haish!

Rushing off after Maghrib - pic taken by Aisyah

We reached Putrajaya and parked near the metal mosque just as the call for Maghrib. We went to the mosque and I asked a few people there the flag-off time and the lady said 8.20pm. So, after the Maghrib prayers and while walking to the start line which turned out to be quite a distance from the mosque, I called Johana (my new friend from Orange Run) and shite!! It turned out that flag-off was at 8pm and she has started running!!! Mak!! So I told myself…”stay calm, stay calm..just go to the start line and start running…” tapi deep down I hated the fact that I’ll be starting alone…Cheh!!

When I reached the flag-off area, I saw another group of runners waiting to be flagged-off.. Ahh!! The 5km runners are starting at 8.20pm. It was about that time that I nearly cursed out all the Chinese profanities I know.. but instead walked steadily to the start line. And ran I did…slow…my normal pace..A few other late runners came by and passed me. I could feel my energy running low..my legs felt heavy but I pushed on..The affect of the food or maybe the lack of it (my last meal was at 12.30pm with half a carb-less bar at 5pm) was apparent, my tummy was really feeling uncomfortable. After each water stop, I was burping air out. And they only had water…isotonics would’ve helped as I was craving for sugar..

After the second km, I saw the 12km group at the other side of the road…I remember thinking..”Awh..man…they are way ahead of me ..on the other side..”.The thing was I didn’t know the route for this race so I was just following the sign boards, siyes if you asked me to recall the route, sumpah Mak tak hengat nyah…and so I ran, walked and plod (yes…) till pretty soon I was running with the people who started before me. A few times, I imagined going into an ambulance or getting a ride from a biker or simply walking all the way. The route was pretty flat most of the time but it felt like forever. I even stopped to take pics of the bridge with my phone..At one time, I was running with the 5km people, a whole gin-bang of them but later we were separated to 2 different routes. At km8.3, I texted Johana and Imran..saying 4km to go..And at 1km to the end, I called Aisyah saying I should be there soon..all the while, thinking…”it’s all about finishing the race and getting to that Revive stand!!”

Yes, mum took so long to finish we had to make ourselves at home!!

High on Revive, after the run....

And finished I did…and Revive has never tasted so good. Met Johana and her husband..also Lina Tan from Red Comm who did 5km and Rafidah 3R who also did the 12. And the roti telur at Kayu after that was my well-deserved reward.

Cold feet

2010-07-30T23:06:00.003+08:00

Cold feet is not something that I need tonight. I have made a crazy decision to run the 12.3km night race tomorrow..There's the 5km but nooo...as usual I didn't register on time and missed the deadline on that one. So, I'll probably walk the race...or plod like my friend TSB said. Mixed feelings of excitement and apprehension now, but look at the bright side, I will get to see Putrajaya at nite and perhaps eat a roti telur as my gym trainer said "taste so good after a run"

Will update after the ~~run~~ ..walk...hope I can get up to do so...Wish me luck! Amin...

P.S come and join the carnival!! More info here. Join the fun!

He would've been 42 today...

2010-07-26T17:13:00.000+08:00

AL FATIHAH....

always loved and fondly remembered by family and friends....

Resurrection and Tai Chi by Yasmin Ahmad for ntv7

2010-07-26T16:49:00.000+08:00

These are the 2 TVCs directed by the late Yasmin Ahmad for ntv7 when I was working there. I had loads of fun being at the shoot which took 2 days...a day in TTDI Rimba Park and another Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital in Ampang. I undertook the project with much enthusiasm knowing that we would be working with Kak Min and her team.

A year ago...we lost her...

2010-07-26T15:23:00.012+08:00

Incidentally, i was looking at my post at about this time a year ago here and saw that it was exactly almost a year ago that I wrote that I wanted to start running and it took me ages to actually register for a run..

And as I go through my rambles then, I saw this, this and this .....reading my past posts on the events that lead to the actual passing of Kak Min and still feeling that lump in my throat, thinking of Arwah. We knew each other briefly for work... met up for a few discussion which involved a lot of laughs, smokes and teh tarik. Not a prayer escaped without me saying her name after my late husband's, my late father's, both my late mother in law's and both my grandmother in law's...in that order. She's not related to me or a close friend...she was an acquaintance who left me in awe every time we met.

I was privileged to watch her creation "Muallaf" in the Leo Burnett's office, even before it was really completed. Kak Min was looking for interested parties to help her finance the completion of it, if I can recall. And even then I could see and understand that she was so passionate about her work, her baby...We were not planning to stay long but but got so engrossed watching it. After the movie ends she asked "sayang, faham tak cerita ni? senang tak nak faham?" She is so concern that people don't get her, don't understand what she's trying to say through her movies...And she showed obvious delight when we told her otherwise.

And that delightful smile of Yasmin Ahmad is what I chose to cherish today as I remember her after a year of her passing... Al Fatihah...

I'm back!!

2010-07-26T12:10:00.010+08:00

Hello! Alamak! It's been more than 2 months since I last wrote! I was ready to to throw the towel on blogging ever since I started this new job. Contemplated writing in the last few months, feeling that it will somehow contradict with work. Excuses!! Hah!

The new job has been a tremendous change not just in terms of the industry but also the job scope, the people I'm working with and the whole environment. The last 2 months has been, to be honest, quite overwhelming, nerve-wrecking and to a certain extent.. scary. I went through the last 2 months with daily anticipation of the new things that I'm going to learn and discover. And discover I did! I won't dwell too much on work as this blog is not a work blog. Whatever I said and write here could not be used against me in the professional world ...hahaha...that sounded almost lame!

I had to make some changes to my routine with the change of jobs. Now i have to travel an extra at least, 10km from my previous working place and adjust my schedule here and there. But it's just a matter of adjusting. With the new office being a bit far from malls, I chose to also make adjustments to the way I eat and spend. When it used to be, traipsing One Utama for daily lunch with ample food choices, if not impulse purchases, now I actually bring food from home on most days and leave the planned shopping for the weekend. Results: I bring healthier food to work, I save a bit and I lost a bit of weight... is that great or not???

And from the old gym, I had to move to a gym nearer to this building (whaddaya know, it's actually on the ground floor of the same building, how great is that?) and decided to get the passport membership so I can also go to the rest of their branches..best kan??

Alhamdulillah...things has been great. I faced whatever adversities (yes, there still are, I'm afraid) that comes my way with composure before complaining endlessly to hubs!!! hahaha!!

What are husbands for? Kan?

Btw, this post is dedicated to an ex colleague of mine Syafique, who told me that reads my blog and asked me to update...so here goes Syaf!! My endless rambles...nothing compares to your blog!! Love your jottings!

And what better way to start writing again than gloating on my new, old, new again passion - running!! Semalam kannnn...kan..kan..excited nih...I ran at the BHP Orange Run 2010! And completed 11km (yeay!!! trumpet blows!!). I was skeptical even when I registered for the run a few weeks back until remain skeptical until i passed 6 km mark yesterday. (long life Syaf ni...just received your LinkedIn invite in my email...dengan penuh confident Syafique tgh baca nih)

I told friends I would probably walk the race and told hubs that I will make a detour at 5km...but I just kept going! Amazing what your body can do when you will it...Alhamdulillah. On my so-called solitary training runs, I've never gone beyond 5km even on the tread mill. I had a good at least 3km start...with struggles at the a few hilly points near the BHP station at Mutiara Damansara and near the old Sony building but I met a girl with almost similar pacing as mine so I found myself running alongside her most of the time...and when we finally chatted, it turned out she was following me..hahaha!! I went ahead of her at the last 1.5km as I felt if I had gone any slower, I'll probably drop, almost not being able to feel my own legs. Thanks Johana! Good to have met you and thanks for the phone number exchange!

Well, so I did it! At 1hr25mins...ok lah tu first time...kan?kan? I enjoyed the post run coffee with hubs and TSB (who whizzed passed me at 7km!! and really he was my inspiration to start running) in Starbucks and the energy continued with Shikin and Anepz's birthday celebration in TGIF Subang Parade and later teh tarik supper at Pelita...they say "milk it while you can!!"

With Fayzrul, Nuar, Anep, Chael, Shikin and Anis. Missing Lynn!!

Thanks for making my day people !! Thanks Syaf for that twit "update lah your blog"!

Getting psyched for Monday!

2010-05-14T08:53:00.003+08:00

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
Maria Robinson

Yes, a new beginning. Monday is coming InsyaAllah..slowly but surely...

My ritual for beginning something new....

1. Change to new wallet/purse...ey...nak simpan duit banyak nih...InsyaAllah

2. New shoes - 2 pairs at least hahaha! Kopak!

3. Spring cleaning the wardrobe - which could mean new clothes...fingers crossed..insyaAllah)

4. Trip to Peekaboo done - (my hair days are numbered..hijab soon...insyaAllah)

5. New knick knacks for the new office - a painting or 2 for the wall would be great and plants to match the green wall!

6. Visit Mak - which is easier coz she's in town! A mum's blessing is uber important!

7. New phone???Hmmm...still contemplating the iphone...

Have always loved 7 so let's stick to that list...

The last few days have been so fulfilling...More time with the smaller ones...more time at home..I guess this is how stay at home mums feel..I wish I could, well at least 2 days in a week. The time will come, InsyaAllah.

For now, this new job, will be the next challenge.

It has started unofficially yesterday...with one meeting but yes, i can feel the positive vibes! All green and fresh..just like this start!

I love dr seuss!!

2010-05-11T21:52:00.003+08:00

"don't cry because it ended, smile because it happened" dr seuss

I twitted this today...I felt like it today...So many things has come to their end in my life...so many...countless. If I look back and cry for them...they will never come back. So I chose to smile and rejoice because bad things has come to an end and good things has come and will hopefully recur.. Not saying that bad things won't but there's always a silver lining behind every clouds. I strongly, truly believe that. Too many things has happened in my life to prove this.

When I was growing up, I remember thinking "ek eleh...berapa kali nak cakap nih...Nih dah dengar banyak kali dah.." each time my Mak says "Dulu masa Mak umur macam awak, bla, bla, bla.. and goes on and on to tell me what silly things she didn't do. And i told myself when I have kids I'm not gonna pull the same trick, but today I found myself uttering the same exact words that she said...OMG, OMG, OMG!! I'm turning into my Mak!! Mak!!!

But really, some things are just not worth dwelling on..Yes, do your crying..and be done with it! After that just get up and get on with life! When you remember it again, have another cry but rejoice in the fact that you can look back and smile.

"today was good. today was fun. tomorrow is another one" dr. seuss

Yes, the combination of hot yong tow foo at breakfast, subway melts wrap for lunch, lempeng pisang Mimpi Muor for tea and the take out Asam Pedas Mimpi Muor with toasted gardenia bread at home for dinner was the bomb! Better enjoy myself before I officially go on a DIEt on Thursday...hahaha...will report on that...

The facial at Dermalogica was equally good!

Yes, today was fun!

In between takes

2010-05-11T12:53:00.004+08:00

View from our daily bechak (beca) rides
The aftermath of the tremor in our room...
The pool
The room

I reckon my life now is in between takes, from one scene to another one and I'm taking this short break between the 2.

After a few days break in Medan...am now back home. Waiting for the lil ones to come home from school before my long overdue facial later. And I've not been very good at doing this, writing this. This blog was started for the selfish reason of fulfilling myself and I can't even keep to it...Must try harder..

Medan was alright..the place itself was typically Indonesian. I was looking forward to the break, which I got. I was looking forward to nasi padang, which I got, I was looking forward to the massage, which I got, I hoped I could do some running there, which I did, twice, I wanted to spend time with hubs, which we did and what else is there to it? Syukur, syukur sangat-sangat...Alhamdulillah.

We went straight to Brastagi about 2 and half hours journey from the airport of dwindling and potholed route, which didn't matter because I was sleeping in the car..and when we reached Brastagi, I slept, slept and slept. I woke up for dinner and went back to sleep at 9.30pm Malaysian time. Dunno why but perhaps sleep deprived me, is finally able to sleep without thinking of whatever it was that kept me awake all this while. And I could really sleep, to the amazement of myself and also hubs...

On the 2nd day, we took a cab who brought us to Medan city, if you could call it that..and we stayed in JWMarriot in Medan which is a very nice, swanky hotel..Our room is up on the 19th floor. Everything was great..Very nice breakfast spread, fully equipped gym, nice spa,almost 50 tv channels, beautiful pool. We managed to catch Iron Man at a nearby mall (wooohooo...RDJ!!) and also checked out the local markets (Pajak Ikan, they call it although I didn't see any fishes)

On the 3rd day , after my run at the gym and was just nicely ready after the shower, hubs shouted "Can you feel the room swaying?", which I couldn't compute at that time until I went to the window and we really felt the swaying of the building!! Whoa!! Quickly grabbed what's important and headed to the lobby and a herd of people are already out there. Some still in their sarungs, some in bath robes with towels on their hair and we are told that perhaps it's an earthquake in Aceh. It was quite a scare...but after hearing reassurance the old caucasian man that the hotel was built to withstand a quake up to 7.5 richter scale, we felt comforted but that night I didn't go to sleep without ensuring all our belongings are nicely packed, ready to go, if the need arises, which Alhamdulillah never did.

It's good to be home...It's definitely good to be home...

My last run here

2010-05-03T23:13:00.005+08:00

I've been busy mentally, physically, emotionally...All these running around the last few weeks after I came back from the umrah trip.

Decision was made to leave my current job even before the trip. In fact, i've been mulling on it for the last 4 months after the offer came unofficially and then officially. I've been too personal with this current place, which can be dangerous if you can't handle it. That personal relationship resulted in this more than 9 years courtship. Wasn't it me that used to say, I would stay more than 4 years in a working place? How naive...Over the years this is the place that have seen me grown not just physically...hahaha...but also personally. Too many life incidents happened while I was here. I had two babies while working here, I lost my Abah, both my mum-in-laws, both my grandma-in-laws, while attached here..

I made new friends, kept old ones and also kept away from toxic ones also in this place. I went for Umrah with this place. In between all that, I grew mature (almost old), learning about people, about friends, about work, about life. Now, it's time to let go...

Last weekend was the last run. AIM17 in PWTC, my last project, which I would happily say turned out well where I am concerned. The feel good club turned out wonderfully purple and beautiful. The show was a bit of a bummer for me, but I guess you can't have it all.

These past 9 years and 3 months in ntv7 has been the most humbling experience of my life and I have so many people to thanks for that...Thank you from the bottom of my heart...you know who you are!!

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened--Dr. Seuss

Easy Saturday, InsyaAllah...

2010-04-17T10:58:00.004+08:00

I woke up with Zaim's cheerful voice this morning, asking me to send him to school and later Aisyah came to bed, also with the same request. In my mind I was already figuring out that later at nearly 8am, Khairin will also be coming to my bed with the same "Mama, hantar pergi sekolah ok?"...So there it went, my hope for a Saturday lie-in, gone together with my other dreams.

So wide awake, I might as well go for a good Saturday morning run. I've been lazy. Ever since, we came back from umrah, I've only ran once and today,which turned out to be quite good. Even met a few of the neighbours up on Subest Hill. Must try and get into the hang of running consistently again.

With the 3 kids at school,thought...yeah! that's it! I can rest for a bit...but nah! Imran woke up and again "Ma, hantar g section 10 boleh?". I said "no" but tak sampai hati lah pulak..The plus point is I get to stop over at Mc D to pack breakfast...yeay coffee!!

Now, chilling at home with "Everybody loves Raymond" and later "Glee" S2E1. And it's only 11.30am..I'm sure there's more to come till the end of the day...Have a great weekend people!

Posting paste tense

2010-04-13T00:25:00.006+08:00

Tas with her new tas (Coach, no less) that her department go her as a parting gift

Pakaian mengikut tema, katanya...tapi pillow atas kepala yer..

The gang

I nak post cerita dah basi...so what...my blog what?

March was an event full month. The office was abuzzed with F1 and its related events. We are the official broadcaster for F1 in Sepang, walau pun when the race was on, we were already in Madinah.

STYLO fashion event was also one of the things that is on the Tourism Malaysia event calendar and we are also one of the partners for it together with our big brother NSTP.

Lined up STYLO include fashion parties that goes beyond your imagination. They are professionally organised by Dato Nancy Yeah and her team whom I had the pleasure of working together with.

My peeps!!

And with my busy schedule, sempat lah attend just one of her many parties. This one was held in Heritage Row in the old Bar Savanh building and aptly renamed Manor of The 7 Deadly Sins. The concept was interesting where the 7 sins was depicted in different ways at the party. The dress code for it was Pyjamas, Pillows and Bolsters, so I saw a lot of 'interesting' get-up on people.

We also said farewell to Tas, one of our colleagues in PR. Tas will be getting married and migrating to the UK. I always love it when we make the effort to say goodbye properly to an outgoing colleague. It shows that you are not appreciated when you are at work but also when you are saying goodbye. After all, what's so hard about spending ONE lunch time with a friend that you wouldn't be able to work together with or see again. Will miss you Tas. And see you in London!!

The farewell party people....

The big 40

2010-04-12T23:40:00.013+08:00

Yes Aisyah, i"m not in denial. I will show the world my mug!!

The beauty! Let's run!

The cute card. Notice my chubby baby pic..aand my favorites that she added; shoes, my car, Sam Worthington (woohooo!!), Sue Sylvester from Glee and my recent favorite, Mekah. Betty is her alter ego, btw.

It's here. Came before I could even utter the word "wait, m not ready!!" Today, Alhamdulillah I turned the big 40. We went out for dinner yesterday. I felt like having fiish so we headed to Fish & Co. in OU. Langsung tak suspect apa when hubs and Aisyah left the place after dinner, while I hang around with the rest. I thot he was going for his smokes, while Aisyah said she's checking out the music shop. In a while, they came back with the birthday cake for both me and Imran. So sweet! Thanks love!!

After shopping for some clothes for Zaim, we headed home. I checked out my facebook and saw countless birthday wishes from friends near and far. Thankful for the friendship.

I thot that was the end of it, but then at 12am my sayangness came again with pressies...Hahaha...they sure know how to make my day. With home made card by Aisyah and a mug that shouts 40! (she can't make it anymore obvoius) with a NIKE pink and yellow track top which I absolutely love!! I am a cooler Sue Sylvester, I say!!

And today in the office, I had 2 birthday sing song; one after the morning meeting at the 5th floor and another by the rest of my colleagues in the office. Thanks for making my day guys!

What does being 40 mean to me....? That will be answered in another entry..InsyaAllah...For now, this old lady needs her beauty sleep!!

p.s AISYAH did a funny entry on this birthday here... Thank you girl...you are our pillar of strength..

The journey that was..Mekah..

2010-04-09T03:55:00.006+08:00

This is what travelling does to me...the 5 hours of difference in time left me awake at 4am when I should already be sleeping. And when friends came by at around 8.30am to visit this morning, I just couldn't wake up. Nasib baik subuh prayers tak lepas...Alhamdulillah and thank goodness am still on leave til Monday.

We arrived in Mekah after the 6 hours bus journey, all aching and water retentioned from the long journey. We stopped in Bir Ali ( a mosque about 6km from the Haram land) for our miqat (niat) to perform our first umrah. After we checked at the Zam Zam Grand Suites,which is like one of the best hotels in Mekah and dinner at the cafeteria, we walked the 400 meters walk to Baitullah...and nothing could prepare me and maybe all of us for the first glimpse of the Kaabah...it was almost surreal..and immediately most of us shed tears of disbelief and awe at this place that all our life we have prayed upon. And immediately all my doubts of coming here melted along with my tears.

Our muttawwif, an indonesian guy called Saefudin or Pudin for short, led the group for our first 7 tawaf around the Kaabah, these still dazed people who were still in a state of reverence with the experience of actually setting foot in the Holy land, and more so in front of the Kaabah. So we ended up just following his prayers all through the 7 rounds and really I can't keep my eyes of the Kaabah.

Right after that we performed our solat sunat tawaf and then proceed to do walked for sa'ei from Safa to Marwah and back 7 times. I feel that these was the harder bit compatred to the tawaf and all the running I did back home really came in handy. And the whole Umrah was completed with the tahallul which is the cutting of at least 3 strands of hair from our head..

For the next 4 days, our days were filled with more prayers, more umrahs and also visits to places of history in the Holy land. The kids each did umrah for their late dad, late grandma, my late father and their late great grandma. Alhamdulillah..

The other 3 mosques that we went out to, to do our miqat was in Tan'im, Hudaibiyah and Jadranah, each with its own history. We also visited a camel farm where some of the folks bought them camel milk. Aku tak berani nak minum takut tetiba perut meragam kat sana, siapa mau jawab wor..

We also visited the Jabal Tsur, Jabal Rahmah ( where people prayed for a good partner), and also was taken to drive around near Arafah and Mina which are part of the hajj pilgrimage rituals.

The last day before we left for Jeddah to catch our plane home, we did the final tawaf wida' (to say goodbye) and together with my Aisyah and Imran, I cried like a baby in front of the Kaabah. Sadness of the highest degree beckoned me and I made a silent prayer that I will be back in Mekkah soon.

Compared to all that has happened in Mekah and Madinah, the journey back was uneventful. I'm glad to be home to see my other 2 babies but thoughts of the Holyland stays on, I hope.. forever.

p.s While we were there, Imran was the favorite among the Arabs. They hugged him, throw him smiles and he was friendly to them (almost like a small boy). We celebrated his 15th birthday there with Baskin Robbins ice cream and lots of du'a..

Aisyah was the strong, sensible one and I find myself leaning closer to her at times of uncertainty there. She gave me that silent assurance that everything was going to be alright (even though I'm the mama).

Hubs was encouraging. He opened himself up to new people, strangers from the office and made friends with them. He's our anchor (without being told so) and have to constantly keep his patience with mine and Aisyah's constant search for things (stuff that we misplaced and can't find in the mess that was our room).

I really cherished our trip there and all the people that was together with us. We couldn't have made friends at a better place than this, people...

A lot of things that happened was the miracle of the holy land, I'm certain. Alhamdulillah!

A journey that was...Madinah

2010-04-09T01:26:00.007+08:00

Salam...Alhamdulillah, we reached bumi Malaysia at approximately 11.02am this morning. I slept almost the whole journey, hoping to minimise the 5 hours difference in time. Woke up properly just in time for breakfast served at almost 9am.

We left Malaysia last Wednesday afternoon, a whole 2 buses of us from the office, some with families in tow, some singles and some with friends. Whatever apprehension I felt when I first decided to take on this journey melts seeing the faces that will join me on this trip. I am quite sure they have mixed feelings as I did especially the first timers.

Alhamdulillah I was lucky to be joined by hubs, my eldest 'Aisyah and my first boy Imran. They say when you have made the decision to go there, it is a taqdir from Allah swt. That the doors of the Kaabah is wide opened ready for us. Imran, my son up until 2 days before we pushed off was still saying he didn't want to go, that he's not ready to go..How do you tell a 15 year old that you will never be ready, sayang..That mama is also not ready. But I want to share this journey with my loved ones. He kept quite after that.

We reached the airport in Jeddah at around 8pm UAE time. And already our patience was tested. The immigration process was horrendously slow, with the officers taking their own sweet time going about their work and stopping when they felt like it. We understood that stop for solah and also shift change but by the time we were out from there, it was after around 3 hours of waiting.

So about 70 plus hungry, tired people was later brought for a late dinner and straight on the bus to make another 6 hours journey to Madinah. We reached Al Haram hotel just before the azan was called for the Subuh prayers. Some of us, went straight to the Nabawi Mosque which was a sight to behold, while the rest went about the checking into our rooms. We chose the latter. Our hotel is about less than 400 meters from the mosque.

Our daily prayers was done in the Nabawi Mosque. This time of the year is one of the busiest months here and also in Mekah, I was told. The weather was bearable. We were taken on ziarah to makam Rasullullah saw, Raudah, Quba' Mosque, Qiblatain Mosque, Magnet Hills,Bukit Uhud, the Dates Market, Masjif Khomsah, the Quran printing complex in the few days we were in Madinah.

We so love the food, the people and the shopping in Madinah besides the daily prayers at the mosque. The first time we were taken to Raudhah (one of the garden of heaven) in Masjid Nabawi, the crowd was so big that I found myself being pushed here and there by the bigger sized ladies. Raudhah, one of the places that your du'a is certain to be maqbul, and everyone wants to have a share of that. I found my second trip there late one night more fulfilling with the ability to pray the solat sunat and also solat hajat without being trampled on. We had to wait almost 2 hours before we could go in...though the 2 hours was not wasted with yassin recitals and zikr..Alhamdulillah..

And it is in this 2nd visit there that I managed to get a good look at Makam Rasulullah s.a.w..(pbuh). We made silent prayers for Rasulullah s.a.w over and over again, all the while counting our blessings for the chance to get this close to him. And Mekah is another story...

Rambles from Melaka

2010-03-13T23:34:00.006+08:00

Yup, we are in Melaka already. We are staying in this modest apartment, Garden City, which is ok lar I guess.. Sent dad's wedding hantaran to Kelana Jaya this morning so that the hantaran can be done..Aww...shucks I forgot to take a photo of the cake. My friend Diyan made it for me, fruit cake with white fondant icing and butterflies plus gold coloured fondant ribbon...very simple and classy cake.

Tomorrow is the akad nikah (solemnisation of marriage) ceremony. My bro in law will be driving the groom (my fathest thing for him to do is really, to remarry. At least, we are comforted by the fact that InsyaAllah, someone is around to take care of Dad. I can't help to think that we are 'selfish' people who would rather have him to ourselves, but alas like they said 'jodoh, pertemuan ditangan Tuhan'.

We went to eat rice and the famous Melaka Assam Pedaas in Kota Laksamana for late lunch at 5pm just now. Asam pedas Johor lagi sedap lahhh!! Hehehe..

Then we were in Dataran Pahlawan to shop for junk food, when my big sis called to say that they are near. After a few phone calls after not finding the way, they arrived in DP. My Mak and surprisingly, my sister in law from JB also tagged along. So good to see everyone again! Yeay!!

I was waiting for Long to pick out a pair of shoes in DP when I saw it!!! Beautiful!! I blogged about it a few months back here and today I saw it..in all its glory..in pink...Cantik, cantik!! Confirmed!!I want it!!! Musti!!

This one!!! ADIDAS BOOST...

The week that was...

2010-03-13T08:50:00.006+08:00

Just done a good 5km run around the block. I have to keep reminding myself over and over again usually after the 2nd km, to get back to bed early if I wanna have a steady pace. The current sleep pattern seems to be right before or just after the time is 1am in the morning. Must try harder.

Yesterday, was the 2nd session of our umrah course...yes..Alhamdulillah we will making that holy trip to Mekah with the rest of the people from work who has registered to make the trip this year and Alhamdulillah, hubs, Aisyah and Imran will be going as well.
I attended the NST Malaysia's CEO of The Year Award at KL Convex last night. This is the 15th instalment of the award and for the first time this year a lady CEO won the award. She is the CEO of KPJ Health Care. The event was very nicely done with a hotel ballroom set-up, without cheesy chandeliers, Patchi chocolates as door gifts, fine dining menu and the red carpet. The PM and his wife was in attendance, not that I care..My companies was interesting enough to not bore me to my bones. Thanks Naquib and Tony for making it bearable.

With Kee Hua Chee...check out those clothes!!

The signing bit

STYLO 2010 launched in style on Thursday. I went to Pavillion with Naquib. The boy seems to appear at the most convenient moment. I would've hated driving to KL alone and Naquib makes good company. For someone who's born in '88, he sure knows the songs I grew up with and managed to keep me entertained with his funny rendition of the 80's songs (those even before he was born). Funny chap!

We will be making a trip to Melaka today. For a wedding, my father-in-law's! Will blog more about this when we come back. My Mak and big sis will be meeting us in Melaka, which is the nicest part about this weekend.

Babyface in KL

2010-03-08T22:17:00.006+08:00

The stage and below the people let loose at Kenny Babyface Edmond's concert - Pics courtesy of Aneps Macho sebab dah kurus...

Yup, we were there!!
As someone who grew up as a teenager in the late 80s dan sebok clubbing in the early 90s, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to watch the guy when he performed here last Friday! Those who reads this blog would know that I am somewhat an 80s freak and kaki jiwang 90s music..So giler nak miss concert mukabayi nih...tiket free plak tu...haper lagi, walaupun busy, penat kerja punya pasal, tetap gigih nak g KL nak tengok concert u ols..

Nak masuk concert agak bengang ah...sebab dah siap bawak camera nak camwhoring...telah dicantas oleh security yang tetiba serious plak buat keje..Bebal wor!

Sebab kebebalan satu lagi adalah bila show tak start on time...Lepas opening act, seorang penyanyi lelaki yang agak musykil bernama amende akak tak ingat...boy! you are so forgettable! dan seorang penyanyi bercita-cita tinggi meyanyi genre soul dan jazz - Anita Baker wannabe bernama Najwa yang selepas 2 lagu menjadi agak membosan dan menjengkelkan (oh gosh! I've become mass market siot!!), we had to wait like a good 20 mins before the man comes out with super duper solid band! And when he starts, he's unstoppable!

He did a tribute to MJ, did a medley of love songs that he has produced for other artistes, he did Clapton's Wonderful Tonight, After 7, Boys to Men, Bobby Brown, James Taylor and lots, loads more!! And not forgetting his single " Everytime I Close My Eyes". The guys maybe 10 years late coming to Malaysia, but like they said better late than never!! Hail this R&B legend! Cepat lar bila Duran Duran nak mai ni??

Hangzhou....I never thot I'll even like you..

2010-02-24T17:06:00.014+08:00

Just thot I post some something on my maiden trip to China; Hangzhou to be exact. I was invited as one of the VIP guests by the production team of Fashion Asia Awards, on behalf of Guangxi TV China. It was a kind of a last minute thing so had a whirlwind of a time getting my visa done and other last minute arrangement...lucky I have Nndar who has a travel agency to advise me on these stuff. If you need a good travel agent, get in touch with her...She's a gem!

I arrived in Hangzhou after a 5 hours flight from sunny Malaysia...and upon arriving at around 11pm, I was quite surprised with how cold it was...the drizzle does not help as well. It was less than 10 degrees and for someone yang takut sejuk..it was freezing! There were 7 of us from Malaysia arriving in the same flight. Two of them our renowned designer Carven Ong and also Alex Lim, a hair stylist who owns La Mode Coiffure in Pavillion. They were competing in different categories of awards. And I'm proud to announce that Alex Lim won the Asian Stylist of The Year category. Although Carven didn't win the designer of the year category, I think he gave the other nominees a tough fight with his beautiful creation. At the end of that 3 nights in Hangzhou all of us became fast friends. The group include Maggie, a journalist from Feminine magazine and Jann from China Press. And Yazid, Carven's assistant who lost his i-phone in Hangzhou...Bad luck!!
On the second day I attended a meeting on the formation of Asian Fashion Media Association. Each of the delegates had to do a welcoming speech, which was translated beautifully into Mandarin and vice verse. After that all of us were taken for a Chinese dinner. Inilah yang dikatakan darurat, where I had to eat at a place that I would not even enter if I were at home. Makanlah veggie, tofu yang crispy, sedap and freshly steamed fish aje..Walaupun at the back of my head I know that even the utensils used are technically not halal, Allah je lar yang tau...When we got back to the hotel, my journalist friends invited me out to go to West Lake, one of Hangzhou's famous tourist attractions, on our own, just us girls. West Lake is beautiful in that cool weather. People were sitting down where a musical fountain was in action. It was real nice and the area surrounding West Lake was just as great. We spent about 2 hours there.
On the third day, it was a whole day of press conferences and at night we were taken to the venue of the award in Zhejian University of Communications, where they have set up a red carpet event. We, to our surprise had to walk the red carpet and later was asked to go on stage to present an award each...Giler ar!! We were totally unprepared for it! Lucky it turned out alright..I met some of the most wonderful people of Hangzhou, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia and our fellow Malaysians. Even Alex was telling me in the flight home that, both he and Carven has been to a lot of trips with the media and this trip is the first time that they felt they can be themselves...So nice.
We only managed to have a day on our own on the last day. All of us went to the city to SHOP!! Things are so cheap...but in terms of clothing and shoes they are only selling winter stuff, to me macam pointless lar...bila pulak aku nak pakai winter jacket bulu-bulu bagai kan? In the end, I only got myself a pair of leather boots at around RM120 and a bootie shoe which cost only RM25..cik mur kan. I feel a bit disadvantaged as I can't speak Mandarin and all the vendors are practically hopeless in English. Lucky I have Jann with me who helped, even quarreled with a lady who practically shouted at her when she backed off from a bargain..That was supposed to be scary but tapi sebab akak tak paham bahasa...so boleh cool lagi lar..
We went back to West Lake, took lotsa pics..and thank goodness found Starbucks!! Yeay!. The malls are very good with the likes of Zara and all other designer labels. We also found a Chinese Muslim restaurant where I can finally eat with a clear conscience.

Hangzhou was a good experience indeed. I can almost say I like it....but I like Mesia more lar.

Zaim and his tonsils..

2010-02-24T15:31:00.004+08:00

I'm writing this from SDMC (aka SJMC). Zaim has just had his tonsils removed in a minor surgery yesterday and now he is slowly recovering. The affect of the anesthetics yesterday, left him sleeping for almost 8 hours, and today he's got a slightly high temperature. I was hoping he could be discharged today but looks like we have to stay on for another day. Me and hubs have been accompanying him, sleeping albeit not so comfortably in this hospital room. Nothing like home...

Thanks to friends who has visited him and also the kind wishes on FB and Twitter...Really appreciate it..What would we do without technology...and thank goodness for wi fi!!

Choices, choices...

2010-02-22T09:17:00.002+08:00

You've got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice - Steven D. Woodhull

I love this song

2010-02-04T23:04:00.005+08:00

I received a comment from Anonymous that reads " Ey, apasal lama tak hupdate blog ar, busy sangat ker??' Something like that lar...

Busy ar...busy sangat...but at the back of my head...I feel obligated to post at least a lil note...

I was going through my FB today and saw a song posted on a friend's wall. This one, never failed to bring a smile to my face.

I don't how we did it, with such slow tempo to a song, we really enjoyed groovin to this one. Giler feel...hahaha...I guess it's the lyrics that did it as well. Masa zaman tu (yo! giler rasa ancient) walau pun tak de bopren bila dengar lyrics lagu ni feeling2 macam ada jer...This is really one of the best Motown classics!

THE SUN AIN'T GONNA SHINE - THE FOUR TOPS

It's hard to see you walk away
it hurts to see you go
but if I asked you to stay
would it matter anyway

I'm not surprised you're leaving
I've known it all along
but my life will still go on
yes, my life will still go on

I'll find a way to make it through
the long and lonely night
find a way to live without you
without you in my life

'cause baby, baby
the sun ain't gonna shine if you're not with me
I'll live without the love you have to give me
I'll make it through the night
I'm gonna be alright

but baby, baby
the stars ain't gonna dance across the heavens
the moon is gonna hide away forever
I know I'll make it through
but it won't be the same without you, baby
without you, baby

maybe I'll be better
better on my own
I can stay out all night long
I'll have a good time when you're gone

maybe it won't be so bad
to be here all alone
I'll have all the time to do
all the things I wanna do

so go ahead and walk away
if that's what you wanna do
'cause I've got my life to live
and I can live it without you

'cause baby, baby
the sun ain't gonna shine if you're not with me
I'll live without the love you have to give me
I'll make it through the night
I'm gonna be alright

but baby, baby
the stars ain't gonna dance across the heavens
the moon is gonna hide away forever
I know I'll make it through
but it won't be the same without you, baby
without you, baby

I'll find a way to make it
through the long and lonely night
find a way to live without you in my life
without you in my life

'cause baby, baby
the sun ain't gonna shine if you're not with me
I'll live without the love you have to give me
I'll make it through the night
I'm gonna be alright

but baby, baby
the stars ain't gonna dance across the heavens
the moon is gonna hide away forever
I know I'll make it through
but it won't be the same without you

the sun ain't gonna shine if you're not with me
I'll live without the love you have to give me
I'll make it through the night
I'm gonna be alright...

Aisyah lagi

2010-02-04T22:51:00.003+08:00

These cuppies were from Aisyah's BFF Sara. They seem to think that one day Johnny Depp will knock our door and ask for Aisyah's hand in marriage....

Bila anak-anak dah membesar...macam ni lar jadi gambarnya...tak nampak mama ayah...nampak muka bebudak jer...hehehe...

Picture taken at Italiannies at the Curve for Aisyah's birthday dinner. Notice that the table is empty...note of advice - don't plan to eat on time when you go to any restaurant at the curve during the weekend and don't expect all the stuff that your ordered to reach you.

Also take note that Red Box Karaoke charges RM50++ per pax during the weekend. So for a family of 4 adults and 2 kids like we are, we could've taken the money and bought ourselves a karaoke set for home...

Aisyah loves her new Phillips CD player but we love her more!!

Today my Aisyah turned 17..

2010-01-29T23:09:00.016+08:00

I didn't realised how the past week has passed until someone asked me on Wednesday " how was your weekend?" and I struggled to remember what I did during the weekend. It all passed by in a blur...and when i thought hard, everything came rushing back. Nenek who has been sick for the past almost 3 weeks has passed on.. When we went to visit her the week before, she was already breathing with the help of oxygen tanks..helpless and I felt hopeless. A week later, she was gone. In the ripe old age of 104. What a good long life she had...I will always remember her sweet smile and how my late husband used to say " Nenek ni cantik lar"..Alfatihah..

As I mourn the loss of a life, Aisyah celebrated her 17th birthday today...My baby is hardly a baby anymore. Wasn't it just yesterday that I first held her in my arms, the whole 53cm of her in just one hand? Wasn't it just yesterday that she was singing "the wheels on the bus" at the top of her lungs publicly in the makan place in Kelana Jaya?Wasn't it just yesterday at 27 months, that she was so brave coping with the loss of her ayah and the idea of having a small lil brother at the same time? Wasn't it just yesterday that she took her first "first in class certificate"? How time has fly and today as she turned 17, I feel all warm and fuzzy and a lil bit sentimental...Alhamdulillah...

We had the cupcakes birthday blow out at midnight and totally surprised her and as I'm writing this, we are waiting for her to come back from tuition class to open her birthday present. We also had a big brownie delivered to her school this morning...I love giving her surprises as she has the sweetest way to give us bear hugs and kisses, which I deliberately wipe off...hahaha!! Mama loves you 'Aisyah! Have a happy, happy birthday!!

Golden Globes

2010-01-18T22:15:00.004+08:00

I didn't even get to watch it this morning!! Frakkk!! Yeah! I heard who won and all that...but yeah I missed it!! And now I'm watching bits and pieces of it, moving from Star World to E! to watch the red carpet. Gosh ! James Cameron just won...and Glee, the best comedy, the guy said its a show about " the inportance of art in school" and for anyone who 'ever got a wedgie in highschool". Amende wedgie ek? Must find out.. Yeah! I see Sam Worthington! And commercial break...Time for E! Ahhh...Robert Downey Jr. and his producer wife...nice...

Jay from Tyra...hey! what's this GLAM360 thingy??Must find out about it.Commercial break again...Back to 711...They are gonna announced the Best Motion Picture/Comedy. HEy 'The 500 Days of Summer" has the Daryl Hall and John Oates' "You make my dream come true". The Hangover won! I haven't even watched it!! Darn!!Is that Tyson...yeah it is!! Wth...commercial again! Wow! 711 really milking it!!Ey no lar...in-house promo...komersil tidak berbayar, katanya..

Uncle Arnie is on. English slightly better than Penelope...haishh!! tak pandai cakap omputih pun kayo..!Mickey Rourke looks scary...What did he do to himself. Jennifer Garner is looking fabulous. I heard on the hitz today, that she combines yoga and pilates plus an astrologer daily to tell her what exercise she should do..wtf!

Sandra Bullock - nice dress, she won the best actress in a movie..betul ker ni...korang google sendiri lar. Ingat senang nak review sambil memblog ke?
Now, best actor in a motion picture, so the last category must be right..I must watch this movie NINE...Daniel Day Lewis is in it.. Arr..how come I'm not surprised that RDjr won this.And when did he become so funny??

Kate Winslet I want arms like yours! Please arr!! I want!! Ok...mana Sam tak kuar nirr...wait...I twit someone who has watched this morning...Aiyor! Dia kata Sam dah naik stage ar tadi...I am so sleepingggg.

No pix in this entry...u ols google sendiri ar...look for Mariah Carey...she has Golden Globes of her own without even being nominated! Ish, ish...

80's I love

2010-01-06T18:27:00.005+08:00

I was at the gym early this morning, practically dragging my feet and literally sleep walking. First stop; the treadmill..the new state-of-the-art one, but still my body failed to cooperate. Giler malas hari ni. That is until, I noticed that the screen in front of me was showing MTV Classic...ye..akak classic nak buat cemana kan..? I can't hear the songs, but just by looking at the music video, I could imagine the sound of the song. And I told myself, I'm gonna find the video on youtube today. So here goes, 2 of my favourite acts of the 80s. The best part was that in those days, in my teens, I didn't even suspect that these guys are gay, given their obvious mannerism. Sekarang bila tengok balik, baru notice...ish...giler gay diaorang nih. But nevertheless, I loved them then and now I chuckled loudly as I watch these videos.

ERASURE - A LITTLE RESPECT

THE COMMUNARDS - NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE (CIRCA 1980s)

JIMMY SOMERVILE (OF THE COMMUNARDS) - NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE (2009)

Check out Jimmy Somerville after more than 20 years. He still have the same move. RESPECT!!

First day of school, between 2 extremes

2010-01-04T23:24:00.006+08:00

Today all my 4 kids started their first day of school together with other kids di kawasan yang sewaktu dengannya..

I didn't sleep well last night in my anxiousness to get Zaim up for his first day of 'real school.I was awake at 5am before my 6am alarm...thinking ..."masa dah time". Bodo jer..

2 big changes this year is Imran moving to a new school near home and Zaim transition to year 1. We spent half the day going to and fro both schools, what with Imran without a class yet until the end of the school day. Can't complain much but some school admins need to improve big time..Imran spent the whole day at school in the one of the science labs doing...nothing!! Hope things will be sorted out by this week.

Zaim on the other hand is so comfy in school. With kakak so accessible, he's one of the happiest boys in school today. We arrived about 2 mins late for his recess and he was already eating in the canteen courtesy of parents from his pre-school mate. And there we were looking for him worrying over nothing.

We spent the rest of the day shopping for school supplies, a new study table in Ikea that hubs spent more than an hour installing using my dumbell...penat ar...but it's all worth it, when I remember Zaim's smile in school today..

Farewell 2009, Welcome 2010!!!

2009-12-31T22:17:00.008+08:00

I'm typing this on my bed, at home...No countdown celebration for me...after all these years, the turning of a new year seems like any other day except for the fact that One Utama was exceptionally overflowing with people early this morning when we went to catch "Alvin and The Chipmunks 2" with the smaller kids...Really we are avoiding even driving near any of the new year revelers...must be the age...hahahaha...

I'm looking forward to driving back to JB tomorrow and whatever comes after that down south on Saturday and hope to be back in KL on Sunday. Monday is the start of the school year for the kids...

2009 has been kind, Alhamdulillah. Except for the passing on of Mummy...I could live with the stuff that happened this year.

2010 will be meaningful...I expect it to be so. Not only it is the turn of a new decade, it will also be the turn of the new decade for me...the big Four Oh..Looking forward to that...after all they say 40 is the new 30..hahaha..

2010 will be meaningful as well as Zaim starts going to the big kids school. I hope he will cope well. It will also be an important year for both, Aisyah and Imran who will sit for the SPM and PMR, respectively. Ah...I will be a bunch of nerves!!

I hope to be able to run in a race this 2010...even if it a 5km fun run..and must be done before April. I'm looking forward to July when the old school girls will reunite for the big 40 reunion in Melaka. I hope to be able to travel as well. I hope to be learning new things professionally even if I have to start from scratch again. I wanna make more moolah this new year..and I want to stay healthy by eating well and exercising more. I want eat less sugar (btw, sugar price is increasing this new year) and less white flour..and I want to sleep earlier...( gosh...it's now 2.10am!!). I want to talk less and think more...

On the home front, I hope to be able to give more opportunities to the kids to learn new stuff as well and at work, to give my subs the chance to explore their full potential as well. I want to be a better person to Allah swt, my Mak, my husband, my kids, my work, myself...semua ar...siapa tak nak kan..Most importantly I want to live and love as I should rightfully do so. I love this song by Kris Allen - Live Like We're Dying....nice melody, smooth voice, ah so true lyrics...so apt for this entry....Happy New Year people...Start living...

Sometimes we fall down and can’t get back up
we’re hiding behind skin that’s too tough
how come we don’t say I love you enough
till it’s to late, it’s not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won’t come
we could make a feast from these crumbs
and we’re all staring down the barrel of a gun
so if your life flashed before you
what would you wish you would’ve done

Yeah… gotta start
lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
this is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
gotta live like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
turn it all around or throw it all away
we gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
while we got the chance to say
gotta live like we’re dying

And if your plane fell out of the skies
who would you call with your last goodbyes
should be so careful who we live out our lives
so when we long for absolution
there’ll no one on the line

We never know a good thing till it’s gone
you never see a crash until it’s head on
all those people right when we’re dead wrong
you never know a good thing till it’s gone

Yeah… gotta start
lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
this is all we got and we gotta start livin it
every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
gotta live like we’re dying

Kesian Crocs

2009-12-28T00:27:00.006+08:00

Ramai orang sekarang beli Crocs kat tepi jalan dari susah-susah cari parking kat shopping malls...ha lar...ish-ish...how lar?? Selling at Rm15 and above, they're a hard bargain to resist...after all, they're just sandals ma...Gives the real stuff a run for their money...I say..

A Royale treat

2009-12-27T22:42:00.007+08:00

The kids checking out the tub..

The many keris on display at the "balairong seri"

The reception area

Enjoying their rendam session

Our room

The walk from Pavi

Embroidered pillow case...

Ehmmm, spent the night with the family at the Royale Chulan Hotel in yesterday. Nak pergi tempat lain, checked and all the hotels are fully booked. I'm lucky that a friend knew a friend in RC so we managed to get 2 connecting rooms there. There are reasons why the hotel is named as such. For one, yeah, it really looked kinda fit for the royals in fact when were there, we saw a few fine lookin wheels with mostly single digit numbers, i guess belonging to some royals. There was even a Humvee parked at the front, tho I couldn't care much for the ugly lookin thing...

Back to the hotel, the RC's building looks like an olden style Malay palace and once inside I can't helped but be impressed with its tasteful decor of Chesterfield settees, what looks to me like Chippendale furniture, vast lobby without leaving you with the feeling of the saratbaratness...hehehe. Their staff are friendly and quite accommodating. We requested for extra 2 towels which they sent to us with 2 extra pillows!

My only regret is that we were only there for a night which made it almost impossible to explore their spa, use their gym or lepak. At least the kids get to swim at their very nice pool. We went for lunch at Pavillion as soon as we arrived and yeah, this is one of the nearest hotels to Pavi, we actually walked there.And for dinner, we enjoyed the stuff at Suzi's corner in Ampang. Their Naan is to pengsan for.

Their rooms are spacious, with en-suite bathroom which as Khairin put it "Mum, the bathroom has a shower AND a bathtub...hehehe.." Nice one... We were also spoilt for choice at the breakfast buffet, which included Japanese, Chinese, local and Western...

I'm definitely coming back....yeah..one day...

The drive home...

Tengok woyang..

2009-12-22T22:48:00.007+08:00

Warning: Ini adalah posting "past tense" katanya..

These are the movies that I have managed to watch this month despite my buat-buat busy schedule:
The Taking of Pelham 1,2, 3 - Watched DVD at home as we missed it at the movies. I have always loved John Travolta whether he plays a villain or otherwise. I have always loved movies starring Denzel Washington. This psycho thriller kept me sitting up straight in bed while watching it..Giler jahat si John Travolta but I still think he's cool...This movie is different. No leading actress, mostly centers around the two male characters, mostly filmed on the high speed train but still provides plenty of action and thrills.

Astro Boy - The kids loved this. Simple story. Nice animation...walaupun John Travolta lagi comel dari Astro Boy..

A Christmas Carol - From the director David Zemeckis and a Charles Dickens classic with Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn's voices among others, this animation is somewhat scary, with talks of death the and eerie looking characters to boot. Zaim got quite scared and chose to doze off complete with snores halfway through the film. The message of the story is typical of a Disney production where in the end, good overcomes evil.

Avatar - I don't think I'm exaggerating in saying that I think this is another masterpiece by James Cameron and I really enjoyed this one. The fact that this one stars Sam Worthington...my latest favourite after Travolta, Mc Avoy, Norton (before he did Hulk), Pacino and De Niro elevate the enjoyment factor as well. Pandora is a beautifully constructed fantasy world but the message is a reality which I found quite profound. It was a beautiful escape for me, which is the reason I watch movies anyway...and anything with "jakesully" in it is worth escaping to... Nak tengok yang tiga D!!!

Feeling old, not

2009-12-22T22:24:00.004+08:00

November and December is somewhat months of reunion. After all the school reunion that I went to, plus the trip back to JB to see Mak, my brother came back from Abu Dhabi to visit his sons, Aliff who will be starting Uni (habis lah tergeliat lidah budak tu nak kena cakap melayu..) in Malaysia and Owish, who just finished his SPM in a boarding school in Melaka (habislah budak tu kena balik to the desert soon). My other brother and his family came up from JB for the school hols and slept over at our place together with 4 of his 5 girls (kesian budak2 tu tidor sempit2 dalam bilik Aisyah).

All these reunions, made me realised (ek eleh baru nak sedar ke?) that time has really passed so swiftly. My nephews and nieces are almost grown ups. I can still recall holding them in my arms when they were just babies and now most of them are taller than me. And where does that leave me? Should I be feeling old? Is that a negative thing to feel? I am enjoying too much of what life has to offer that the feeling of getting older is hardly felt...well of course the constant body ache, sleepless nites caused by depleting hormones and the soon need for bifocals are something that I cannot avoid. Somehow having to keep up with my teenage kids is also 'forcing' me to stay 'young', after all I need to be in touch with their surroundings to help me understand them.

I feel blessed, to have 2 sets of children at different age group; 1)the teenagers and 2) the 10s and below. I get to enjoy the best and worst of both group. They drive me up the wall sometimes but most times, they make me feel complete...Alhamdulillah....

80's I love...

2009-12-12T01:23:00.004+08:00

I grew up in the 80s...Zaman Michael Jackson masih hitam dan baru berhidung kecik...zaman Thriller, Beat It...Zaman kegilaan bands from British, masa aku menggila Duran Duran, Wham, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Big Country, The Commodores, Simply Red, Tears for Fears, Wham, Culture Club to American acts like Hall and Oates , Level 42, Mr Mister , A Flock of Seagulls, ABC and the odd few , A-ha, Men at Work, Crowded House, juga pompuan-pompuan macam Alison Moyet, Cyndi Lauper, Sade, Chaka Khan , Them billies...Billy Idol, Billy Ocean, Billy Joel and more B...Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams and also Paul Young, Prince, Madonna ....bukan Backstreet Boys yer..(sorry Zayda). So much in love we were with Duran Duran that we were called The Duranian Gals, with some of us adapting the band member's names. In fact, to this day I still have friends we call Paul (Young), Nick (Rhodes) and Cyn (Lauper).

Mowtif entry ini?? Sajer jer...sebab I think the 80s music revolutionised the music that we have this present day. After all, it was in the 80s that MTV was born. Disco sort of died in the 80s and music became more fun and free-spirited. The glorious 80s also brought the keyboards into a more prominent position as synthesizers became a dominant intrument in my favourite 80's tune. Check out music by Howard Jones, all full of synthesizers usage.

I also enjoy Rick Springfield, John Cougar, Def Leppard, Human League (oohh...their hair..), INXS, Dire Straits...and these days although I have to keep up with times with the likes of Linkin Park, Fall Out Boys, Boys like Girls, Lady Gaga, Pixie Lott, Black Eyed Peas and I heart Coldplay and Green Day!!!!...when I'm humming to myself it's always the 80's music. Suker!!

Hari yang sungguh panas...hot!!

2009-12-11T23:18:00.006+08:00

Who in his/her right mind would want to spend his/her public holiday in the scorching sun, under canvas tent, trying to look good and at the same time feel good...Unfortunately it was me!! Man, it was burning!! We were in Bukit Jalil car park area for the kids@fgw school holiday carnival. I thought it would be a good idea to also launch our new cartoon "Shelldon", And when we need cheap talents for the show's launch gimmick, Khairin and her friend will always be ready. The kids did a short intro each of the each of the characters in "Shelldon". Cool kids and even cool cartoon. It airs every Saturday at 10am only on your feel good channel.

By 1pm, I was ready to pengsan because of the heat but stayed on to fulfill my 4 hours work. When we finally left it was almost 2.30pm. Respect those people who made it till the end!

It's Naquib's birthday today so went for dinner with the finally adult guy, together with Izra, Hanif, Lynn and a few other friends. Dinner was Marche, one of my fave restaurant. So good to catch up again...After that we went to check out the perfume counters in Metrojaya. It is so amazing to see so many "hadek2" wo-manning the perfume counters. I guess they make real good customer service people and I really don't have anything against them.. Akak faham sangat nyah..

Heard news that my former biggie boss finally accepted his datoship from the Sultan Of Selangor...At long last...and I guess he got what he wanted; a Datoship from Selangor. Send him a text to congratulate the man and so nice of him to text back. I guess a dato in front of his name does not change him after all. Good stuff!!

Tomorrow promises more activities...work and also leisure..Might as well make the best of things..Alhamdulillah!

Reflections

2009-12-09T23:46:00.006+08:00

"The key to change is to let go of fear"...Rosanne Cash

I am at this stage of my life where I have to make important decisions that will affect those around me. I feel that I have gotten complacent with the current situation and when I get too comfortable, I won' t put enough effort, which is unfair for the people around me.
I have to start challenging myself and 2010 looks like a good time to re-look at the status quo.
2010 looks set to be different. It's the first step that needs to be made...Insyallah..

"Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted"

Going cuckooo.....

2009-12-08T17:27:00.008+08:00

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past , a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world -Lois Wyse

Saya suka

2009-12-06T23:50:00.002+08:00

Can someone please download the whole Chicago album for me, pwease....Me and my jiwangness....aisyah lah ni...

I picture you on the beach
Lying in the sand
Out of reach of my trembling hands
I picture you in a car
Blonde hair in the wind
I picture you in my arms
And the touch of your skin
The smile on your face
The way that you taste

You come to my senses
Every time I close my eyes
I have no defenses
You come to my senses
I can't stop this ache inside
I have no defenses
You come to my senses

Driving home in the cold
January rain
I've got to find my way out of this pain
I reached for you in the night
I dreamed of your kiss
I woke before it got light
With your name on my lips
Alone in my bed
Your voice in my head

I picture you in my arms
And the touch of your skin
The smile on your face
The way that you taste
You come to my senses
Every time I close my eyes
I have no defenses
You come to my senses
I can't stop this ache inside
Oh, I have no defenses
You come to my senses
Ah...

Reflections

2009-12-06T22:05:00.005+08:00

One nite trip to JB is officially over.

The drive down was easy in Azah's SX4 which is really a cool car and the all the way chat made the journey seemed shorter...thanks Azah...you're a real pal...I only wish you a lot of happiness. and I must thank you for insisting on the Ice Kacang in JB. You said " I'm in heaven" Yeah, I guess JB ice kacang does that to people.

So good to see Mak and Long again...and also Aiman yang pandai nyanyi Twinkle, twinkle little star, Humpty Dumpty, Pussy Cat, pussy cat...yang setiap versenya ditambah "ar" - Twinkle, twinkle little star ar, how are wonder what you are ar....funny!!

The gathering with the old girls, was...noisy and wet..because of the rain and Rumah Limas Cafe is not so great when it rains...the good spirits of about 30 women are not dampen...it was a real fun afternoon. My old school pal from Primary 6, Aim who left for Sek Men Sains was also there, which was a triple joy for me...Aim, I'm so glad I finally get to tell you how sad I was 27 years ago.. to let you go off to another school...

The chat session continued in Singgah Selalu with a lesser number of us and later at Hive in Thistle. The live band sucks but the company was great. I never thought I will see faces I've not seen from ages ago. Reunions are always the sweetest thing.

We adjourned to Banafee Cafe for supper and the chatting continues to the wee hours of the morning which didn't help when Azah said she can only sleep up till 9 am max this morning...So there I was all bleary eyes, up for brekkie at home with Long's beef stew and toast..

And later brunch at the Tapah corner with Jo and Azah, before I bid goodbye to good ole JB at 1.30pm..

Here at home, with Zaim, watching Doraemon on Ceria, I'm back in Mummydom..
This is my life now. This is where I want to be. These are my love. Memories are for me to cherish, to learn from, to savour...sometimes, and nothing can take them away from me, Insyallah.

Quotes and me..

2009-12-04T18:09:00.004+08:00

"HAPPINESS IS HAVING A LARGE, LOVING, CLOSE-KNIT FAMILY IN ANOTHER CITY" - GEORGE BURNS

How true...which is one of the reason I'm making another trip back to JB tomorrow. I'll get to see Mak, Long....everyone again, insyallah. Also a bunch of the old girls from school. Have to leave my family for a night...but I'll be back..insyallah.

"A GREAT MARRIAGE IS NOT WHEN 'A PERFECT COUPLE' COMES TOGETHER. IT IS WHEN AN IMPERFECT COUPLE LEARNS TO ENJOY THEIR DIFFERENCES" - DAVE MEURER

We are going to be at two separate places this weekend, but my thoughts are always with him. Looking forward to seeing you again. Be safe!!

"ONLY ROBINSON CRUSOE GETS EVERYTHING DONE BY FRIDAY" - AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Which is the reason why I feel good that today is Friday and whatever that's not done today, can always be looked into on Monday...TGIF! And I'm going back to my kids and enjoy the chocolates in the fridge with them...

Me, looking back..

2009-12-03T12:16:00.010+08:00

Almost year end...the past month has passed me almost unnoticed. I've been really busy. Busy working, busy at home, busy running, busy reflecting.

Dad celebrated his 76th birthday and we took him out for tea at Marche. My FIL has not slept in his own home ever since my MIL passed away a few months back. Sometimes I wish I could read his mind.

I was at the Youth Engagement Summit in Putraya International Convention Center mid last month and had the chance to listen to some of the most inspiring speakers ever. Donald Trump gave insights on how to be a successful person, Randi Zuckerberg spoke about Facebook and its evolution, Sir Bob Geldof (whoa!!!) was larger than life and spoke about his Africa projects among other awesome stuff, Tony Fernandes was his jovial self when he spoke about AirAsia and on the last day, Nando Parrado made me cry when he spoke about his survival from the crash in the Andes. Exhilarating, all the speakers made me feel...Drained...the 3 days left me.

The week after that, I attended a training session for 3 days in the office. Emerging Leadership was the title. To be honest, I was expecting 3 days of dry, boring , one-way session. But it turned out to be the most interesting 3 days. Pal, the trainer was engaging and the session was compelling. Now, how do I apply his teachings to myself is another story altogether.

We had our SIGS batch 1987's class reunion in PNB Darby Park which turned out to be a hilarious, fun, loud affair. I've not seen some of these girls for more than 20 years!! It was totally out of this world! We made plans to see each other again this coming week, this time in JB.

The next day Zaim had his school concert. My boy has graduated kindy and going to big boys school next year! We saw Zaim danced and sang amongst his school friends. I feel so blessed..
We went back to JB for Hari Raya Haji last week. My nephew Aliff is down from Abu Dhabi so we took him along. We stopped by in Melaka to see Owish, Aliff's brother who can't go back to JB with us because of SPM. But it was good to see the reunion of the 2 brothers. Heartwarming and amazing! The values that my brother has managed to instil in these boys are something that I wish we could emulate even if it's just 50%.

It was also so good to see Mak again. She's doing so much better, healthwise except for her bad knees. The ketupat and rendang, somehow tasted so much better in Mak's house. Fayzrul, Zul and Shahril came over to visit and stayed chatting till about 1am.

Hubby celebrated his 41st birthday in JB, coinciding with Raya...A surprise birthday do was the order of the day. Present coming soon...hopefully..

I ran twice for 3km each in JB and hope to continue doing so this week. I've been lazy, in all sense of the world...Must get up and go!!

Feeling, feeling tourist

2009-11-13T23:50:00.012+08:00

I started this post yesterday. Dah siap dah...tinggal nak masuk gambar dah lepas tu..tup tup...gone! Rats!!! I don't know what happened. Now I've to start all over again. Cisshh!!

To summarise -

Tony and I went to Royal Selangor Pewter for a meeting, selepas agak sesat bila Tony's Garmin couldn't detect the DUKE highway
The place is beautiful, nicely organised, world class
Some French Ministers were also there the same time we were there...world class katanya
We were taken for a tour around the place, to their museum, the factory and their very nice cafe
Their School of Hard Knocks allowed us to try out the art of pewtering, the traditional way. It was hard knocks all the way for us sampai berpeluh-peluh nak siapkan a simple pewter bowl, that we took back with us siap dengan certificate lagi!
Some of the auntys who work there, has had almost 40 years experience, so they are true experts of their field
My post yesterday about this was more interesting....sekarang nih dah macam karangan budak darjah 3 kan...

Nasiblah kan?? But really the place is awesome. Check out their website for details and they are opened 7 days a week...

Friday the 13th

2009-11-13T23:19:00.004+08:00

So nice to be at home knowing that tomorrow is Saturday!!! Yeay!! Today after work, we had a small get together at Long Bar, where we treated our marketing colleagues to a lil food and drink session.... and yaaaammmmm sennnnngggggg they did! Hope this is appreciated and they will bring in more sales for us...

And today being Friday the 13th, Long Bar decided to have a horror theme at the bar.. Haha...halloween came late for them. Just as soon as we enter the place...a "corpse" was lying on the ground! Poor guy...dunno how long he can stand to just play dead. Well, I guess he can choose to doze off if he wants to.

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day...with Zaim's report card day, ferrying Khairin to school, Aisyah to one utama, a birthday party in between and later Imran and Aisyah wants to check out the Flynniversary in OU...Celah mana aku nak lari ni??

Today is week 2 day 5 since I started working out again and I'm quite please that it has been quite consistent, all in all with only 2 quiet days. Even managed to go walk the ttdi hills twice with the sales people and once a run around ttdi park with my friend TSB. Giler siot!! Tak pernah, pernah lari around the park sampai 3 round, I did it albeit quite pewai seyh!! I was ready to give up at round 3 and an old fella behind me was cheering me on saying "I'm pushing you from behind, you can do it, just a bit more. This is what I called "runners solidarity" and it felt good. Thanks to TSB for the constant encouragement as well.

Hubs has been very supportive cuma belum sampai level dia nak lari sekali je. One day...soon..I hope. For now, my aim is to run in a race before April next year...Musti!!!

Dear blog

2009-11-12T00:41:00.003+08:00

Dear blog,

I know I've been neglecting you...Dah lama tak jengok pun..Jangan merajuk ar...I've been very busy. y'know.
And I've been having blogger's block...Besides I've been running around a lot...Banyak excuse lar kau...
Aku tak kira...lepas ni start hupdate balik!!! Huhuhu!!!Pengsan!!!

I need and I don't mind these...

2009-11-04T22:48:00.008+08:00

My old Nike is falling apart....Bought a new one a few months back but wrong size...hehehe...Gave them to Aisyah...Should've known that I'm a size 9...Gila bagak kaki aku.....Wonder how much these cost...

Adidas Boost W

Didn't find many reviews on this one...hmmm perhaps I should be looking at others...

Nike Air Zoom Elite 4+
This one had a lot of positive reviews...hmm....should I stick to Nike or switch to Adi

Wear Tester Review from www.runnersworld.com
"I love the fit and support." --Adrienne Eastley, 30, East Lansing

"These shoes had a nice, snug fit, but the cushioning could have been softer." --Samantha Espindola, 21, San Diego
"I found this shoe to be comfortable and stable. The forefoot could be wider." --Dave Weaver, 43, Allentown
"The day I received these shoes, I laced them up and took them out for 9 miles. They didn't give me that usual feeling of having to break in a shoe--they felt great!" --Katie P. Desiderio, 28, East Lansing
"Adding in some more arch support would make this an ideal stability shoe." --Jesse T. Schimmer, 31, Allentown

Note to self : W1D3 - Cross ramp 35mins -4352 strides, 273 cal
Strength training 20 mins (giler letih ar)

Week1 Day2

2009-11-03T22:52:00.004+08:00

It was a spur of the moment decision, when I heard Dot say , at 5pm, that she's going for a walk up the TTDI Hills. "I wanna go!!" Arrived just before 6pm, didn't know what to expect but continued up the hill with Dot and man!!! It was hard! The hills were crazy and the monkeys looks viscious...(well, I'm exaggerating...at least, they looked more viscious than my soft toy in the office and they sure made funny noises..). We finished one lap just before 7pm and was I sweating buckets!! Asked Dot, how far we have walked and she said around 5km...but when I checked with TSB, he said...not nearly 5km...(dunno lah who's right...but it sure was a hard especially going up the really steep part of the hills...). Day 2 went well, hang in there, girl!!!

Week1Day1

2009-11-02T21:25:00.008+08:00

I have started running again!!! Woohoo!!! When I climb up the scale in the gym, true to my expectation, I have gained a solid 2 kg during the last 2 months that I've not been to the gym...Giler ar!! Although, I'm not a sucker for the scale, weighing myself today helped jump start the running. I decide to go easy and ran for half hour on the treadmill.. This is how the work out look like:

Time (min)0-4 Speed (kmph) 5.6 Incline (%) 0
T 4-6 S 5.6 I2.0
T6-8 S 5.6 I 4.0
T8-10 S5.1 I 6.0
T10-12S5.1 I 8.0
T12-14 S 4.8 I10.0
T14-15 S 5.6 I0.5
T15-17 S 5.8 I0.5
T17-19 S 5.8 I0.5
T19-21 S 6.4 I 0.5
T21-23S 6.8 I0.5
T23-25S 7.2 I0.5
T25-30S 5.6 I 0

Followed by 4 mins of cool down...Today I managed to do 3.14km (which is good), and burn 199cal(which I couldn't care less for, cos I will easily eat more than that...huhuhu). I think I will stick to the above for a while until I get more comfortable doing more. Maybe swapping on the ellipticals on some days or the stair climber on other.

Btw, I had to take the day off work today to tke Zaim to SDMC. He has been coughing for last 3 weeks without much improvement. Saw Dr Sofiah, who informed us that the X-ray and blood test came out ok. and that Zaim has this supersensitive respiratory tract, which could be improved if we cut down on sweets and snacks with colourings, crumbs and oil. And to up on the probiotics which will help promote the good bacteria...So much for bribing Zaim with sweets...Alhamdulillah it's not TB as the GP was worried about. We were in SDMC for almost 3 hours to get everything done.

Had time for a facial, so quickly drove to the place and managed to get a quick shut-eye, while the lady slaps on the gooey stuff on my face. Today, has been a good day!!!
p.s work-out plan courtesy of Shape magazine..

Lucky, lucky meeeee

2009-11-01T03:08:00.003+08:00

We had the chance of watching 2 great shows this month...the perks of the job, I say. The only thing, is that the job does not give me the privilege of time to blog about it sooner..but like they say...better late than never.

CUCI THE MUSICAL..

I didn't watch the movie so I went to watch this, with a open mind though expecting nothing but the best from Afdlin and gang! Our seats are quite near the stage so we were able to see everything quite clearly.
We were not disappointed at all! The only kesian thing was Afdlin's voice was hoarse from a sore throat..Sikit potoing ar... other than that the show was excellent. Even Hans can sing..Vocal classes, I guess. AC and Awie's character was very, very funny and the rest of the cast really complimented the whole show. Vanidah, Adibah Noor was at their best! I urge you to watch it. The musical is on till 8th November in Istana Budaya..You won't regret it!

THIS IS IT...MICHAEL JACKSON

Although I'm not a fan of the late MJ, I grew up listening to his songs and can't help but feel awed every time I see him perform. From his Jackson 5 days when I was about 6 or 7 to his Grammy winning days when I was 14, his songs have been very much apart of my growing years. Walaupun bukan fan, boleh hafal lagunya yer..So when I was given the tix to the premiere of the movie, I immediately grabbed them. Yang bestnye, masa nak masuk panggung baru nak tanya Hubs..."sebenarnya cerita ni pasal apa ek?" Boleh gitu? Punyaler busy tak sempat nak google or read pun about the movie..Which is good as I didn't know what to expect. And the movie/docu turned out to be fantastic! Watching the film made me realised that MJ is really a genius ! Ishh!! Malas banyak cakap ar...Gi tengok...it's only on for two weeks peeps!!

Rambles of my head & heart

In retrospect - on the 28th day of 2012

It's two zero one two and 12 is my favorite number!

There he goes...

Tulang oh tulang...

We remember, still

Events of the last 3 months

Aisyah and happpyyyy me!!!

Lari. lari!!!!

Race Schedule Widget

My Race Schedule

Energizer Nite Race 2011

Borneo International Marathon 2011

Standard Chartered KL Marathon

LAT the musical- A mother's account Part 2

Lat The Musical - a mother's account Part 1

Bareno Run 2011

Thoughts

Waiting for the end

My first 2011 post and many more to come (I hope)

Instant, deferred gratification

Run, I will...glucosamine or not..

Zaim

My 101010

Imran and PMR

Raya beckons us..

Kadir in memory

Ramadan

Mini reunion

Committed

Tonton

Putrajaya..in a blurry run..

Cold feet

He would've been 42 today...

Resurrection and Tai Chi by Yasmin Ahmad for ntv7

A year ago...we lost her...

I'm back!!

Getting psyched for Monday!

I love dr seuss!!

In between takes

My last run here

Easy Saturday, InsyaAllah...

Posting paste tense

The big 40

The journey that was..Mekah..

A journey that was...Madinah

Rambles from Melaka

The week that was...

Babyface in KL

Hangzhou....I never thot I'll even like you..

Zaim and his tonsils..

Choices, choices...

I love this song

Aisyah lagi

Today my Aisyah turned 17..

Golden Globes

80's I love

First day of school, between 2 extremes

Farewell 2009, Welcome 2010!!!

Kesian Crocs

A Royale treat

Tengok woyang..

Feeling old, not

80's I love...

Hari yang sungguh panas...hot!!

Reflections

Going cuckooo.....

Saya suka

Reflections

Quotes and me..

Me, looking back..

Feeling, feeling tourist

Friday the 13th

Dear blog

I need and I don't mind these...

Week1 Day2

Week1Day1

Lucky, lucky meeeee