Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Rayyan Jadi Model

I was 10 mins late to pick Rayyan up today. Tapi bila sampai je I was made to wait for 10 mins kat bawah, and then the teachers later called me upstairs to wait for a shooting session taking place involving Rayyan and 3 other girls...

Rupa-rupanya, without our knowledge, the teachers have selected Rayyan and those 3 girls to be models for Genius Aulad's website and brochures... patut kena mintak komisen ni hehe

Here's a couple of shots I took... Rayyan looked unlively depan kamera pulak tiba2 when I was there... the one of the photographers kata it's usual for kids to act that way whenever a parent is around... haha


I also gave a bunch of ruler/bookmark souvenirs from the KL International Book Fair to be distributed to all the kids at school for both sessions morning and afternoon.

Oh here are some of the books I bought at the book fair...


Monday, March 29, 2010

PENAT!!!!!

The Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair just ended yesterday... fuh legaaaa... lenguh2 kaki jalan-jalan ke hulu ke hilir...

It's good that I gained new friends from the book industry... I love books. I love the smell of books. I love to be around books. I love meeting book publishers, writers, illustrators, printers just to know what those wonderful work they do... great stuff!

I wish I could read more books. I used to read more... dulu2 banyak baca John Grisham's etc... pastu bila dah tua sikit and ada banyak responsibility baca motivational books, self-help, how-tos, etc.. novel tak banyak sangat...

Now I buy books for the kids.... and for R&D purposes. I just bought 1 Malay novel that has sold more than 2000 copies at the book fair alone! Giler! That number puzzles me and many from the top players of the book industry.. it's not really considered as one of the nation's best sellers yet but fresh out of the printers - bawak kat book fair, terus sold more than 2000 copies..

It's a book by the publisher Jemari Seni, written by Hlovate - "Versus". It's a Malay novel by a Malaysian writer.

I also bought 5 best-selling books from the publisher Karnadya.. great novels for primary schoolkids...

Also bought one book from PTS.. how-to kinda business book... probably would write one of these soon and get PTS to publish and distribute it... already talked to their kepala about this and he agredd that it would be a great book... but still have to follow their usual editorial procedurela..

Wanted to buy the Melayu-Rumi-Jawi dictionary from DBP for my next project. Dok eyeing that dictionary since Day 1.. tak beli-beli jugak sebab ingat nak tunggu last day coz the size tu bagak sangat... semalam went to DBP booth... DAH HABIS! Normal price is RM80, but they were selling it at RM64. Melepas...

Bought my mom an electronic dictionary from SASBADI (well actually helped my mom to buy).. it's much more practical than that BESTA with Dr Fadzley the celebrity tu... hehe

It was an exciting bookfair indeed and to be invited to be part of the organizing committee for the first time - that's SATISFACTION!

Now, working hard to get ready for the London Book Fair...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

KL International Book Fair Busy-ness...

Tak larat... lenguh kaki... ngantuk... and it's only the 3rd day... 7 full days to go.. 10am-9pm every day... well since we didn't take up any booth this year, I can cheat a bit la... takyah gi full time.. hehe but still I have to go everyday... disebabkan ini:


The one-week school holiday ends today. So Rayyan sekolah besok. He was soooo excited to go to the book fair... since he saw me bringing home the badge.. hehe

Will never bring kids on weekends... MADNESS!! Even on the first day last Friday, 104,000 visitors visited the book fair. Yesterday pulak 210,000 visitors... today Sunday ntahler.. will find out tomorrow from orang2 yang menjaga crowd traffic..

Planning to bring Rayyan there right after school. He finishes school at 11.30pm, so I would just come back, pick him up and go back to the fair with him. BUT about 2 hours ago budak demam pulak... temperature almost 38C. So he's not going to school tomorrow. And probably won't be going to the bookfair as well... kesian dia..

Hopefully he recovers before Friday...

Actually dia excited pun one of the reasons was because of this:

Yup, the Grolier guys came back this year with even MORE balloons (photo above taken just now). Rayyan reminded me to take him to these guys again this year.. macam dia tau2 je yg Grolier ni ada lagi this year... hehe

So, with Rayyan not going to the fair tomorrow, he'll stay in with nenek dia, which gives me more time to participate in seminars and activities at the book fair.

9AM tomorrow is the International Conference on Children's Books, which will be officiated by Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, PM's wife...

okla for now.. nak try Gleeing in the room for the 3rd night in a row without sleeping within minutes of the show... early day tomorrow...

So as the kepala of the Internet & New media, follow me la.... click below:

http://www.twitter.com/klbookfair - ini baru lagi... somehow Malaysians don't tweet as much but I use this as a live news ticker for the official website...

http://www.facebook.com/kualalumpurbookfair - 10,200+ fans so far!

http://www.kualalumpurbookfair.com - the official website... this one has reached 2500 daily visitors!! and increasing by the day!!

Thank God for my Blackberry... makes my job sooo much easier... worth every penny!

:)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Kenapa aku anti motorsikal...

You gotta see this... (if you haven't already).. hehe it cracks me up... hahahaha..

My mom would never let me go on a bike sejak kecik, let alone having one for myself.. even basikal dia tak bagi beli.. so I ni tak retilah nak naik basikal...

But I wonder if kalaula I diberikan motor masa muda2 dulu... macamni kot jadinya....



hehehehe.. click on photo to enlarge...

Rayyan's Primary School is....

This morning I had one mission - to register Rayyan for Primary School next year. I've decided that we're going to a public school.

There are 3 schools in Kelana Jaya: SK Kelana Jaya 1, SK Kelana Jaya 2, SK Sri Kelana.
And there is one more school that is not in Kelana Jaya but I so wanna send Rayyan there - SK Taman Megah.

I have not been to any of these schools before. Only surveyed the exterior of the schools and did some online research on them. So this morning I wanted to see the schools for myself and register Rayyan's name straight away (it's relatively late to register for next year's intake but tulaa.. sebok sangat sampai almost terlepas.. the deadline is actually Apr 30th).

So the first trip was to SK Sri Kelana coz I thought among the 3 schools in KJ, this would be the best. There is only 1 Chinese guy in the whole of Std 1 this year. They have 4 classes, about 20-30 students per class. AND the Std 1 and Std 2 classes are in the afternoon session (WTH?). Signed up anyway but did not confirm my registration there as I wanted to look at other schools. My turn off was that some parts of the school was a bit terukla.. macam tak maintain jer..

So next I went to SK Kelana Jaya 1 & 2 (same building, different sessions, different administration..) Lagi teruk from the first school. I went up to the office, looked around at their distribution of students in Std 1 this year... 4 classes, from 15-30 per class... almost 95% Malay, no Chinese, the rest Indians... NOT SATISFIED

Then I went to SK Taman Megah. The moment I stepped into the school, I felt as if I was living my primary school life. I could sense the same feeling I used to have when I was at my SRK Kampung Tunku from 1981-1986.. the fun, the joy, the friends.. (SK Kg Tunku now is so not the school I want to send my son to). A good racial mix, I see groups of students of all races walking or playing together, all speaking mostly in English. Even the Headmistress is Chinese. This is it, man.. I thought.. so I immediately registered Rayyan for this school.

The problem was... Rayyan is #169 on the list. They have 4 classes for Std 1 and they only take in 40 students per class. So dah terlebih 9. The teacher in charge said that it's normal as they would trim the number down by rejecting those who don't live within the vicinity of the school... thank God the teacher mentioned that Kelana Jaya SS7 is in fact within the vicinity... yeay!!

Although we don't live in Taman Megah, the school is just less than 3km away from our house and it takes me 5 mins to drive to that school.

We still have to wait till August when they finalize all the placements to see that if Rayyan is confirmed for that school.

Ada banyak lagi criteria they look for to trim the number down, which includes if the kid has no other brothers or sisters in that school, etc... so ada jugak possibility of Rayyan not making it to that school.

Keeping my hopes up, praying that Rayyan will be accepted to that school. Kalau tak dapat, can still appeal...

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Rayhana's Audio

Experimented recording Rayhana's voice using my phone, emailed to myself and converted the audio into this file.. for web.. and since I'm using a free trial version of the converter, it only converts 60% of the recording... so the audio is truncated...

Listen to Rayhana counting 1,2,3 up till 10 in 2 languages...

I was quite surprised that she could count in Malay (diorang ajar kat nursery kot) coz noone here taught her to count in Malay... Rayyan pun now dah tersangkut2 kira in Malay...








Saturday, March 06, 2010

Dimsum Madness

Gosh it's 2.30am now and I can't sleep... yelaa I slept from 7pm+ (right after Ja balik from work till 12 midnight just now...).. with things going on in my head, Rayyan, Rayhana, and the mess in the kitchen.. penat siot... and now I can't sleep.. have to do some work anyways...

So tgh malam2 buta ni nak cerita pasal my latest crave in food... DIMSUM!

Ever since I was invited to join a dimsum supposedly business lunch with Anis, Mimi and Eusnie (all WashU mates) at China Treasures, Sime Darby Convention Centre few months ago, I fell in love with DIMSUM.. hehe

Masa lunch aritu we ate like nobody's business... the bill came to about RM60 per person.. gila! But puas hati!!

So I pun teringin la nak pergi lagi bawak Ja and the kids to eat there (tak boleh ajak reramai.. kopak poket aku! hehehe)..

So this one time last couple of weeks, I made a reservation and we went there.. I ajakla sekali Felishia & Afnan (her hubby-to-be in July).. and Fizrul my brother also want to tag along... okayla..

But this time since it is still the Chinese New Year season, they are more focused on the set meals, yee sang stuff, etc that they have shrunk the DIMSUM menu to only about 6 items. The last time I went there they had something like 30 items on the dimsum menu...

Lantakla.. aku nak makan jugak... Ja also teringin, especially after I brought home some leftovers haritu..

(alamak kena stop jap.. Rayyan terbangun complain sakit perut...)

(okay.. bersambung... yup.. he soiled his pampers and part of his seluar... had to wash and dettol the toilet again)

Okay jom kita sambung pasal makan dimsum... hehehehe

So since Dimsum choices limited, I tambah2la chicken corn soup for Rayhana and Rayyan, Hong Kong Kailan with garlic (sedap gilos!) and since they charge RM8 per person for 10yo pu-erh, I just took 1 for myself and let others drink Jasmine.. hehe RM2.50 per pot jer..

Some photos...

Tengok si Rayhana terbongkang kekenyangan.. hehehe

We had fun.. and the bill.... RM138 for 5 adults and 2 kids.. not bad, eh? Aku ingat nak terbang 2-3 ratus dah.. hehe.. boleh datang lagi... :)

Friday, March 05, 2010

Lepas gunting rambut, pakai pampers!

Pagi-pagi buta semalam around 6.30am Rayyan woke up running to the toilet and told Ja, "Mama, Rayyan berak dalam seluar!"

That was the start of a series of "cherry berry" the whole night last night (and this morning).. but the funny thing was that he was okay during the 3 hours of school between 8.30-11.30am yesterday.

After picking him up from school, I wanted to have a haircut, so might as well get one for Rayyan.. tak macho la kalau gi jalan2 orang panggil dia "kakak" hehehe...

This was actually the FIRST TIME that he has a haircut at any kedai... before this it was either me (sooo not the pro in this) or his atok who cuts his hair.

Tengah serious masa potong rambut.. alah saloon kat bawah rumah jer... hehe RM10.00


TADAAA!!!!! Hasilnya.... he liked the haircut... unlike the time when I cut his hair... hehe


The next photo is requested by him, he asked me to snap the belakang sebab dia tak nampak how it looked like from there...


Senangla kalau dia dah okay nak gunting rambut kat kedai (although he repeatedly asked me before going to the saloon if the "barber" is going to use the shaver/trimmer on him...)

CHERRY BERRY continues...

So lepas balik from the saloon, dah mandi, makan sume.. dia tak lalu makan, pastu dia tido... sampai la about 6-6.30pm when he woke up.. he wanted to rush to the toilet...

Yup.. cherry berry again.. and this time ada spots jugak kat underwear dia...

Then a series of coughing (with phlegm) and vommit sikit.. phlegm sikit je keluar dgn air liur.. nothing from what he ate pun..

By night time he had another 5-6 runs to the toilet, including changing of pants 3 kali sebab terbarai before he could get to the toilet... kesian jugak tengok but terpaksa la basuh the toilet thoroughly after sebab tak nak berjangkit kat Rayhana pulak...

And terpaksala punggah balik stock-stock "Drypers pull-ups" that we bought for Rayyan masa dulu yang DISOROKKAN oleh my mom ('coz she said, kalau selain dari Mamy Poko, jangan beli!!!).

Have to la ikut cakap dia sebab dia yang jaga Rayyan masa tu... hehe but ye laaa.. Mamy Poko mahal!!! No doubt it's the best diapers around and have proven time and time again that leakage is the least problem with Mamy Poko.

Tapi budget kena jaga jugak.. hehe so beli la jugak untuk dipakai masa weekends or whenever we're around the house taking care of Rayyan... but still tetiba stock hilang jugak!!!

Now bila Rayyan dah besar tak pakai pampers, tetiba stock muncul balik... hahaha..

Malam tadi Ja brough him to the hospital. My head was aching too much of the phlegm in the kepala to be driving... but terpaksala jugak jaga Rayhana kat rumah.

Terpaksala suruh Rayyan pakai diapers tu.. nasib baik muat lagi.. takut dia terberak dalam keta tengah jalan kang kan susah...

Doktor said maybe just food poisoning. Takde demam takde apa... the coughing/selsema tu dah 2-3 dah.

On the way balik from the hospital, Rayyan muntah dalam keta... dah sampai parking dah pun... hehe Ja la terpaksa basuh.. coz at the same time bila sampai rumah dia cherry berry lagi... I had to clean the toilet again... dalam tengah2 pening kepala tu..

This morning, tak pergi sekolah.... malam tadi tido pakai diapers.. bila bangun pagi ada spots sikit2... after breakfast kat rumah tadi cherry berry lagi... sampai sakit2 bontot dia kata... so letakla minyak gamat...

Now dia okay... (still on diapers) I think after lunch nanti mesti cherry berry balik...

Okay, now on a lighter note, my sister just uploaded a few photos on her FB. One of the photo is this... taken during my mom sebok dgn photoshoot busana dia aritu... hehe photo taken by Felishia..

Nampak macam Rayhana pandai posing depan camera but the trick is:

1. Ask her to smile;
2. Put your finger on the "Click" button (while asking her to smile);
3. Look at her directly and smile at her;
4. She smiles;
5. SNAP!

She doesn't smile at the camera.. she only smiles at you... hehe

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Lunch Dates

Sejak kitorang ketiadaan full-time live-in maid, most of the weekdays, I would bring Rayyan to have lunch somewhere kat luar. He hardly eats much at home, unless it's spaghetti, mushroom soup, and my roast chicken... but when he's eating outside, he would makan like nobody's business.. hehe saja jer nak ketuk bapak dia...

So both of us have lunch right after I pick him up from school. He starts school at 8.30am and finishes at 11.30am. So by the time we get to a makan place it is already about noon. We would go to IKEA, Old Town White Coffee, and other places.. but most of the time we would go to Old Town White Coffee...

I LOVE their hor fun... and the prawn mee... and the roti bakar... and their assam laksa... and their lime juice... and their honey lemon... hehe

Ni hor fun... I would order 1 bowl, and mintak satu bowl kecik to transfer half of it for Rayyan...


This is one-quarter of their roti bakar... (lagi 3-quarters dah dibaham). Rayyan loves the way they cut the butter... macam french fries.. hehe (can't see it in the picla sebab butter tu dah disandwiched inside their brown bread).


So what does Rayyan usually eat there? The roti bakar... (and sometimes with 2 biji telur setengah masak)


The half-bowl of chicken hor fun...


And.. hot chocolate... (and warm water after that)...


Old Town is a cool place for lepak-lepak... macam the diners kat US. And they have free wi-fi too! 4Mbps.. that's 4 x faster than my home Streamyx connection.

Kekadang I would arrange my business meetings to be kat sini jugak... satu je slack tak macam IKEA.. no free refills for any drink.. hehe