Friday, December 31, 2010

Orientation day for Year 1 2011


Got to the school slightly after 9am to register this guy for Year 1. There are 4 Year 1 classes altogether. Each class has about 40 students. Not so much for an orientation today, just register with the class teacher, picked up some documents to be filled and returned on Monday, paid the fees (RM106), picked up the free textbooks, checked his rumah sukan.. (Rumah Kuning), and went to buy the rumah kuning t-shirts.. pastu balik..

Balik rumah, balut buku with the ready-made book covers bought at the school bookshop.

MONDAY awaits...

Sunday, December 26, 2010

"Nana Cucuk Langit"

Had a great Christmas lunch at Marche yesterday at The Curve... masyaAllah berderet2 orang berature from the LDP nak masuk the Mutiara Damansara area tu... gila! Bila dah dapat masuk parking bay area kat The Curve tu pusing punya pusing ada nak dekat setengah jam kot... baru dapat jumpa parking.. tu pun menyelit in between two cars... nasib baik bawak Kelisa.. hehe the slot memang muat untuk Kelisa and Kancil je.. hehe


Food was not too bad... as always.. altho the prices have gone up.. sekor oyster RM7.50++ apakejadah.. tak beli pun.. we just had kid's meal pasta, roast chicken, baked potato with sour cream, corn, mushroom soup, caesar salad, chilled lemon tea, mineral water.. and vanilla pudding with raspberry jam dessert (yang Rayyan dok tengah habihkan kat gambar atas tu)...

Rayhana was really hungry semalam.. Rayyan dok ajak main slide kat Marche tu pun dia buat dek je.. dok habihkan jagung dia... pastu tu baru dia gi join Rayyan...

Bila masa nak ambik gambar ni dia sebok dok joget cucuk-cucuk atas.. hehe.. kitorang joked whyla dia cucuk-cucuk langit.. haha bila nak amik gambar lagi, macam tu gak pose dia.. sambil berkata-kata... "..Nana cucuk langit!"..

Our "Christmas Day" started with the trip to the 1st KL Children's Book Fair at PWTC. Then, gi The Curve for lunch, before going to the kedai "Professor" at Giant to buy the primary school baju sekolah for Rayyan... RM300+ terbang nak beli baju, seluar, singlet, socks, and kasut & kapur dia...

Haritu beli buku-buku sekolah dia dah terbang about RM250.. tu pun nasib baik all textbooks are to be given free bila class start... kalau tak kena tambah lagi about RM70 kot on the books..

Kalau ada 5 orang anak masuk sekolah camana? Pengsan!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Rayhana & Doa Naik Kenderaan




This video was shot the night we spent at Legends International Waterhomes, Port Dickson... (cool and happening giler tempat ni hehe).. will blog about the 2D/1N break we had there soon..

Masa record video ni, Rayyan was doing his Kumon homework at the desk, Rayhana dok sebok main telefon while me and Ja were resting in bed.. tetiba Rayhana was reciting the doa over and over again non-stop (I think ada nak dekat 20+ kali kot) while playing with the phone... hehe lawak gila.. :)

So I took my trusted BB and recorded this scene...

We didn't teach her this doa. She picked up from Rayyan... after listening to him everytime we go out in the car, on the plane, etc.. mula2 just angkat tangan... then humming.. then ikut few syllables.... and finally she recites the whole doa on her own... :)


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Kumon... why?

Lama tak update blog... loads of stories to tell but tak terlarat pulak nak cerita.. :)

Enrolled Rayyan kat Kumon as soon as he started cuti sekolah.. frankly speaking I never liked the way they teach, but really loved their curriculum. The worksheets, especially Math, is something that I've been longing to get hold of for the sake of my future books that I'm planning to write.

I have worked at Mathnasium Malaysia (US-based, Kumon-like Math learning centre) as their Training Manager. Poorly funded franchise, so lama-kelamaan tak sempat nak expand, the income takleh nak support the overheads, including my salary. I even negotiated that I took half of the pay, and I work half the time... they agreed and that lasted for a year or so... then the owner wanted to let go of the business to some other person and that was the reason I left... although they contacted me back to continue working there full time... by that time dah dapat kerja baru... so have to let go..

Mathnasium worksheets was quite different in their approach. While Kumon focuses on "practice makes perfect", Mathnasium is more like "understand and apply" kinda approach, which kids love. In fact ramai lari from Kumon and masuk Mathnasium and they loved Mathnasium... takde homework and all.. unlike Kumon.. homework berlambak2...

So, why did I enroll Rayyan into Kumon?

1. So that he has something academic to do during the school holidays.
2. The Kumon center is in my office building.. senang je.. gi hantar, I buat kerja, bila dia dah siap, dia call, I go pick him up, and go home.. or if I have more work at the office, I'll let him do his Kumon homework in my office.
3. I want to get hold of Kumon materials for my R&D.. hehe..
4. After Genius Aulad where his friends/classmates were 100% Malay/Muslim, I want to get himself familiarized with people of other races and religions... kita kat Malaysia ni bukan semuorang Melayu and bukan semuanya Islam...
5. I want to instill the sense of having the responsibility to complete his work within a certain set of deadlines. Only 10 minutes of homework per subject per day. So kalau tak ikut timing tu and wait until the last minute baru nak terkocoh2 buat, tu yang jadi berlambak tu.. padahal only 10 mins per day per subject on the days yang takde class. (classes only on Mondays and Thursdays)
6. I want to let him realize that studying is serious, once he starts proper schooling next year. You don't need to excel, you just need to focus. With focus, excellence comes naturally.

So.. itulah intipatinya why I decided to enroll him into Kumon, despite the regimented learning style they are promoting.

After 2 classes, I can actually see his improvement in his focus for Math.. although writing dia sungguhla menunjukkan kemalasan membuat homework.. hahahaha... biarkan.. janji otak berjalan.. hehe

And of course, I also started to enroll Rayyan into the Yamaha Music School.. learning pop piano.
That deserves another entry, I guess :)

“In educating the young we use pleasure and pain as rudders to steer their course.” - Aristotle

Sunday, November 28, 2010

No more kindie for Rayyan



Rayyan just graduated from Genius Aulad. Dah besar dah anak aku ni :)
The graduation ceremony was done at Masjid Wilayah in Jalan Duta last Thursday.. it was done over 2 sessions (morning and afternoon) 'coz they can't fit 8 centers of Genius Aulad in one convocation ceremony. Rayyan's session was in the morning. Me, Ja, Rayhana, Felishia and Afnan were there.
More story on that later :)


Monday, November 22, 2010

Salam Raya Haji... (belated)

Been busy (yeah, what else is new?)...


Went back to KB the day before raya on an early AK flight that got us waking up at 5am. Flight on the printout was 7.45am. Arrived at LCCT 6.45am. Searching for the check-in counter tu punyala masalah.. something is definitely screwed at the LCCT when it comes to over-the-counter check-in for domestic flights.. got to know after checking in that boarding time was 6.55am and that the flight was scheduled to depart at 7.35am (10 mins earlier than the tickets we purchased and printed out)..

It was quite a mad rush to the gate and thankfully that we had breathing time of about 10-15 mins before we boarded the plane.

Ja's brother and his wife (5mths pregnant) were together with is in the flight too.. slight delay at the gate coz she had to sign a "pregnancy" declaration form or whatnot at the gate itself. Didn't know that you have to sign a form...

We were in KB from Tuesday to Friday. Mek (Ja's mom) did korban.. and the lembu was actually owned by a neighbor, so we had a korban done on site right in front of the house. A first for Rayhana to witness the occasion, and a second for Rayyan.

Requested Ja to cook up a rendang for me.. coz Raya is not Raya without rendang!! I don't fancy cicah ketupat palas dengan manisan... so not my taste.. haha.. so Ja made chicken masak kelio.. pekat sikit.. close enough.. and it was yummy!!! Habih beberapa bijik jugak ketupat palas yang Mek buat :)

Rayyan and Rayhana were also fans of the ketupat palas... (didn't know that)..

We came back to KL on Friday.. flight touched down at 6.15pm.. so keluarlah me and Ja from the kapal terbang lengkap berbaju Melayu and baju kurung... with the kids... while Felishia & Afnan were waiting for us to go straight to my cousin's nikah ceremony in Shah Alam...

Got home around midnight.. bebudak terus lena.. and so we the both of us...

Saturday.. the whole day I was at the office... then malam I cooked ribs!!! First time ever... gambar ribs yang dah dimasak ada kat FB hehehe tasted good.. probably need to cook a bit longer for the meat to become more tender.. tapi dah tak tahan nak makan... hahaha

Selamat Hari Raya Haji everyone!!

Anxiously waiting for Pak Haji Yusrin to come back from Mekah... hehehe

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Masak-masak


Today Rayhana "helped" Ja cook kacang panjang masak lemak dengan udang :)

A couple of days ago I just bought Rayhana 2 sets of peralatan main masak-masak kat Mid Valley.... didn't know all those plastic food could cost more than the actual food itself!!

The whole set pinggan/cawan/teko/fork/knife/spoon was RM55.00 and one whole set of plastic food/plastic canned food/paper milk & juice cartons was RM40.00... nak dekat seratus!

But it was fun.. so now, sambil I buat kerja, she and Rayyan would send me plates of "food" complete with the cuttleries.. ada mushroom, fish, tomato ketchup bottle pun ada.. croissants, pretzels, etc...

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Felishia's Wedding Photos...










Sunday, October 31, 2010

Life As We Know It



Tadi at 12.10pm was the first time in 7 years that me & Ja watched a movie just the two of us. The movie - "Life As We Know It"... cool movie... great movie to watch especially for those yang dah ada anak-anak, and also those yang belum ada anak and selalu tolong jagakan anak-anak orang... hehehe

Anyways, I purchased the GSC 1-utama tickets online 2 days ago. Yesterday pulak bawak Rayyan & Rayhana gi jumpa Dr Azizi... Rayyan got his 6yo jab, while Rayhana got her ubat cacing coz twi days before that me & Ja pulled out one tiny squiggly creature out of her butt... haha! Rayyan, tetiba pagi tadi demam.. temperature 39C. Probably because of the jab. He's ok now. Besok dia nak gi sekolah...

Me & Ja went to the movies around 11.45am, sampai just nice around 12.15pm, by 12.30pm the movie starts, 2.30pm habis, gi Cold Storage kat OU new wing tu, bought some stuff and then terus balik rumah... tak biasa tinggalkan bebudak kat rumah whenever we're not working.

But go watch the movie!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Kids' updates...


Rayyan's Genius Aulad's convocation is coming up, and so is Rayhana's nursery's sports day... 2 interesting events coming our way in a few weeks before and after Raya Haji. We're going back to Kota Bharu this Raya Haji. As usual, tak sanggup nak drive balik Kelantan during Raya breaks...

Muka Rayyan bercalar-calar dicakar Rayhana.. hehe.. and mamat tu bagusla pulak tak kacau adik dia balik... most of the time senyap je.. continue main dgn adik dia.. paling teruk pun nangis.. and that is when he's moody... longing for attention :)

I bought Rayhana German's own "Die Spiegelburg" small backpack at Frankfurt Airport duty free shop for 15 euros (surprisingly, it's made in Germany.. hehe.. I thought everything now dah gi China or some 3rd world country.. haha), and since then she and the backpack have been inseparable... she loves it so much.


Even insisted to bring it along to school every day, so saja je Ja letak 1 diaper, in there.. coz Rayhana already has the big backpack for her nursery filled with all her diapers, baju, susu, etc..

I am thinking of sending Rayyan to Kumon during the school holidays.. just to brush up his Math, instead of playing/watching tv 24/7 at home. There's one Kumon center in my office building so probably it's good that I send him there while I'm at work. I wish I can spend more time tutoring him, but it seems impossible at the moment. Sayang betul... the time I have with him now, better spent on just having fun/ playing with him rather than focusing on academic materials.. hehe

Rayhana is still as cheeky as ever... bila dah dapat mulut, bersuara non-stop, kalau tak cakap dengan orang, dia cakap sorang2.. nyanyilah, kira 1-10 sorang2, alif ba ta sorang2, mumbling ntah apa-apa... it's fun to watch her playing by herself.. hehe tapi bila ada orang (other than those yang ada kat rumah) dia senyap... kalau tak, mak nenek betul...





Saturday, October 23, 2010

Apa ada pada Dr...


It's 3am and I still can't sleep.. actually slept petang tadi and only woke up around 10pm or so.. and not only that... the kids are also up.. watching Charlie & the Chocolate Factory... I dug up the old DVD and Rayyan and Rayhana love it and have been watching it over and over again for a few days now... Ja? seperti biasa... tido.. she's working tomorrow..

Several heated discussions are going on among my MRSM friends on FB and I feel it's worth mentioning here so bolehla lain kali kita suruh tailor kita ukur kain cukup-cukup untuk badan kita, jangan terlebih, jangan terkurang... and make sure we know our own measurements :)

It started of with a friend's honest posting of Hitler's quote something about he didn't kill all the Jews. He left some alive so other people will know who they actually are so we can find the answer to see why he killed them.

A few of us posted some light remarks on the quote when suddenly this friend of ours, who is now a specialist doctor based in Ireland, whom we knew as one of those typical rich PJ partygoer brat (basically tak alim la.. hehe), commented, lashing out at all of us with all this preaching about the true teachings of Islam, saying it's wrong to kill Jews as not all of them are Zionists, etc... just like orang yang tak pernah buat dosa...

Okay he made a point. But somehow the point was overshadowed by the way he made his point. He belittled everyone there, especially a couple of our own friends, saying words and phrases like "low mentality", "verbal diarrhea coming from a 10 year old child mentality", labelling our friend as a "scumbag with epic low mentality" and how he can't imagine us being friends with this "low life scumbag", "you don't challenge me because you never win, and even if you do, I can make you feel so low that you wish you never even born", etc...

We've had similar problem with this Dr before on FB. Preaching in similar manner on different topics... it seems nothing is positive coming out of him, suggesting what a sad life he pretty much had since we last seen each other 20 years ago. Some even joked that becoming a doctor was too much for his brain to handle that he just snapped! Putus segala wayar2 dalam otak.. lol!

The person whom that particular Dr attacked in his comments was his classmate, together with me masa kat MRSM, and at that time, that Dr. takdela terror mana pun. Nak banding dengan me and that friend he was hurting tu.. kitorang berdua ni jauh "terror" daripada dia... it's just that he goes to become a doctor, and we both chose engineering.

Which comes to an interesting argument on the level of intelligence that the doctors we have in our country. Are they living up to the trust that we have on them to save our lives?

I had an interesting discussion with another MRSM friend who is an Associate Proffessor in Chemistry at UPM few months ago. She was one of those high flyers masa kat MRSM, together with my friend yang kena kutuk kat FB tu and ehem ehem.. to a lesser extent me.. haha. When we looked back at the doctors that we have now, it's funny that many of them are not that terror masa studies. We have about 20 or 30 medical doctors probably more that came out from our MRSM alone and most of them were not that excellent in their studies.. not straight A's, not even straight B's, in fact. But since diorang ni from MRSM, mungkinla standard tinggi sikit.. but then again, we questioned at how easy it was for these people to become doctors now, specialists even.

I kata kat my professor friend tu, biarla diorang tu, probably they've changed, and kalau nak banding dgn kita ni, at least they learned more on this doctor/medical stuff than us, so it makes them more trustworthy when it comes to medical stuff.. but my friend and me concluded that pasal tu la banyak doctor yang bagi prescription salah.. haha we can do better if we ourselves do some internet research and check our findings with experienced specialists... which I always do with the doctors I've been in contact with since I have my own family to take care of.

(jap... nak kena buat susu for Rayhana.. apa nak jadi anak2 aku ni dah nak pukul 4 pagi tak tido2 ni... hehe)
Ok now, coming back to that "arrogant" specialist friend of ours, it's sad that he has regarded himself as a superior human being, taking pride on being able to heal and save people's lives and kutuk sekutuk-kutuknya, merendah-rendah orang-orang lain yang bukan doctor (termasukla member aku yang jadi Senior Systems Engineer, now about to work with IBM in Melbourne)... that made all of us look like pariahs in his caste system. Not the slightest sense of humility came out of him at all... no jokes, no fun, just "verbal diarrhea" of condemnation... :)

sedih... kalau macamnila cara seorang doktor pakar "terpelajar" beragama Islam menyebarkan dakwah, macamanala orang lain pandang kat kita ni "orang-orang Islam bawahan".... na'uzubillah...



Friday, October 22, 2010

Still takleh tido...


Jet lag tak habis-habis... probably masa kat Frankfurt aritu pun tido lambat sampai almost 1-2am every night...

Love the train rides in Europe like the ICE - InterCityExpress trains that go at least 120km/hr.. I've also been on the Paris-Geneva TGV (my ultimate dream came true 2 years ago... ni pasal cerita Mission Impossible lah ni...) that went about 300km/hr... I wish the hi-speed train from KL-Singapore project becomes a reality.. only 1.5 hours ride!! But the price janganla macam cekik darah... like my TGV ride tu was free, since we already bought the Eurail tickets about 400 Euro that covers 2 weeks of trips across 3 European countries...

Now tengah berangan-angan nak tangkap iPad satu.. hehe still not available in Malaysia. In Singapore dah ada.. costs about RM1800+. I've checked the prices.. kat UK kalau convert it would be around RM2100+, Australia slightly more expensive than Singapore, and US still the cheapest at less than RM1600. Aritu I checked at Dubai Airport Duty Free shop... they were selling at RM3300+++ gila! Ingatkan kat Dubai bolehla dapat less than Singapore price.. bolehla swipe credit card, pastu mintak 0% installment plan... so bayar dalam RM150 sebulan for 12 mths oklah kot... but bila dengar je RM3000 lebih.. terus keluar kedai.. hahaha

I've actually buang my "ShoutOut" box sebab dah terlampau banyak spam kat situ...

I am also thinking of making this blog private... what say you? :)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Caroline in Frankfurt


This year alone, I've come across 3-4 ladies with the name Caroline. From the travel agent who booked my tickets, to the lady I met in Australia, and this time in Frankfurt, another Caroline - the 60++ year old German who hosted me at her apartment for 9 nights.

I got to know her by chance. As I was scouting for the best accommodation deals in Frankfurt for the duration of the book fair, I came across a "Craigslist" ad which I responded to. The person replied that since I was going alone, might as well he hook me up with a friend of his who has a room to let, instead of the whole apartment.

So he asked his friend, Caroline to contact me. I didn't know how she looked like, how old she was etc, but this lady could surely send/reply emails with attachments of the application forms, complete with a request of my photo so she could shortlist her candidates for the sole room she has... haha I guess I was the cutest one applied hehehe

For 60 Euros a night, that was a steal! Since the other Malaysians who were in Frankfurt had to fork out between 195-200+ Euros per night for just a hotel room with wifi.

For 60 Euros, I had the cozy room, shower room attached, a computer if I wanted to use, free wifi, free daily breakfast and night snack that consists of cereals & milk, fruits, breads, cheese, tomatoes, tuna flakes, chocolate pudding, fruit juices, chocolate milk, tea & coffee, and of course, Caroline doing my laundry, changing my towels and cleaning up my room everyday!

Service at its best!

So far I've been very lucky in getting the best apartment deals off the Internet... from the ones in Bologna, Paris, and now in Frankfurt... all had excellent connectivity to the places where I wanted to go with great facilities within the accommodation and around the area..

I wonder if Malaysians can provide such excellent service... if a 60++ year-old German lady can provide such service, it's a shame that we can't.

That reminds me.. I have to get Caroline a Malaysian thank you gift! :)

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Baru balik Frankfurt...

Just got back from Frankfurt on Wednesday. Still fighting the "gangguan ritma harian" or "lamban jet" or "lesu jet" (I swear those are the official Dewan translations of jet lag)... hehe


It was a truly fruitful trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Verbally agreed to get my books to be translated into German, Russian, and Spanish and to be distributed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, and all Spanish speaking countries. Now tengah sebok mengarang contract for each deal. I wish I have the money nak buat modal for the capital to support the production and demand from these countries... I punya style, takde duit, jangan pinjam, jangan expand.. Buat setakat mampu... kalau orang nampak potential, bagi je duit tu toksah banyak soal.. the money will come back to you insyaAllah... I don't have time and patience to do paperwork although people say I'm excellent at that... I just do my work, my pace, my style... :)

The book fair was HUUUUGE... didn't manage to jalan through all the exhibition halls. It was like 4 or 5 times the size of London Book Fair!! I can cover London Book Fair in just 1 day, 4 days in Frankfurt pun tak habis nak cover the Frankfurt fair...

Got the best deals in a "homestay" accommodation (paid only 60 Euros per night for 9 nights, as opposed to 190+ Euros per night other Malaysians had to pay). And that is inclusive of laundry (the landlord basuh and lipatkan), breakfast and evening snack.

Managed to sneak my way to Munich, and Salzburg (Mozart's birthplace) for 2 days for jalan-jalan... (train to Munich was 3 hrs, 45 Euros pergi balik from Frankfurt and train to Salzburg was 2 hrs, 30 Euros for 2-5 people pergi balik from Munich).

All in all I spent roughly RM6k, but Matrade will reimburse 50% of my flight and accommodation... so kalau nak ikutkan it was money well spent for the potential business I get :)

But I missed Rayhana's birthday! :( Ja, the kids and those at home did a small celebration.. but I think we're gonna make another one soon with me around :)

Friday, October 08, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYHANA!!


Rayhana is 2 years old today!!!! Happy Birthday Rayhana!!!




Friday, October 01, 2010

Super Busy Month

Hectic, emotionally and financially draining month... lots of work done mostly in my head rather than in writing or what people would like to label as "action" (I do most R&D work in my head and not putting it down.. hehe) most of the time, if the time comes that requires for me to get it done in writing or "action", you can be sure that whatever is written/done is thoroughly researched and qualified and I can get the writeup/work done in just a fraction of the time it would take for anyone to write a full blown proposal, report, or doing the "action" as professionally as intelligently as possible.


Whatever I want to do, how I want to do it, be it business or family matters, it's all in my head, from the planning, execution, expected deliverables, all the way to the expected revenues, how to get it, and all the plan B's and C's etc.

With all that in my head, it really requires me to block off "intruders" that may come from other people's nagging, instructions and orders (gosh I get loads of that), etc., what more if the "intruders" expect me to be financially involved... that would definitely ruin all the equations and relationships between all the different entities I've already made in my head.

So I block them off.

I do have priorities.. and they change as I see fit..

Rayhana is going to be 2 years old next week.. that sure brings out a smile in me.. syukur and proud of what she can do so far at her age.

Rayyan is realizing that much of the time has been more on us blaming him for Rayhana's crying etc that he occasionally seeks affection from both of us. He would sleep while holding my arm and sometimes would put his head on my shoulder while laying on the bed watching tv... that brings out a smile in me as well...

I have so much respect and love in Rayyan for tolerating Rayhana & us blaming him on many occasions.... I occasionally "test" him to see if whatever I did to him was harsh or not.. if I could bring out a smile in him, then it's all okay...

Smile!

:)

Monday, September 27, 2010

The FT Anthem

Currently there is a hot issue brewing with regards to the Federal Territory Ministry wanting to change the FT "state" anthem "Maju & Sejahtera"... I wrote the lyrics.. here's a report on today's The Star newspaper:


THE announcement that the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry was planning to change the Federal Territories anthem — Maju dan Sejahtera (Progressive and Prosperous) — to a more upbeat song to suit the current generation appears to have received an unfavourable response from the entertainment industry.

Singers, Musicians and Composers Association of Malaysia (Papita) president Datuk M. Daud said national or state anthems should not be changed as and when it suited someone’s fancy.

“One must first study the impact of a such a change on the people as they would have to learn the new song. If they must change something, then change the tempo like what was done for the Negaraku. But, even then, many still prefer the original version because of its nostalgic value,’’ he said.

"I am against any move to meddle with national or state anthems. There must be some respect for sacred institutions"- JOE CHELLIAH

Performers and Artiste Rights (M) Sdn Bhd (Prism) general manager Ong Peng Shu said it was not a good idea to change anthems every now and then. “Unless they come up with something that is really good, I don’t see the need for it,’’ he said.

Music Council of Malaysia (MMC) general manager Izzee Sulaiman suggested the ministry stick to the current anthem and music arrangement.

“Any move to make a song commercial also makes it seasonal. National and state anthems are not meant to be seasonal but everlasting,’’ Izzee said.

“The government should concentrate on making the country up-tempo instead of changing the FT anthem,’’ Malaysian Association for Music Education (MAME) president Joe Chelliah said.

“I am against any move to meddle with anthems. There must be some respect for both physical and non-physical sacred institutions,’’ he added.

Malaysian Association of Live Entertainment Performances (Malep) president Datuk Roslan Zainun said: “It’s not a good idea. If there is a need to change the tempo, the ministry should consult the experts — people who know music.

Maju dan Sejahtera lyricist Sheikh Faisal Sheikh Mansor said: “I feel that any anthem should be slow. A relatively slow anthem allows one to really appreciate the words of the song.”

“The anthem should be given some time so people can relate to the lyrics. An anthem is not something you change just to suit the younger generation,’’ he said.

The FT anthem was was gazetted and launched by the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail at Dataran Merdeka on Aug 20, 2006.

The anthem was composed by Datuk Wah Idris, the man behind the current version of the Negaraku and the Commonwealth Games 1998 theme song — Standing in the Eyes of the World.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Happy Family


Here are Mr Shake, Mrs Shake, Master Shake, and Miss Shake... :)

Monday, September 20, 2010

7th Anniversary @ Traders Hotel, KL

Since our 7th wedding anniversary on the 8th day of the 9th Month of the 10th year of the new millennium was too special to be missed, we booked the Traders Hotel overnight for our anniversary celebration.

Disebabkan we never leave home without the kids, terpaksala kena angkut sume sekali... hehe actually one of the reasons we chose the location pun sebab Rayyan dah lama gian nak tidur kat Traders Hotel and look at the huge Twin Towers through the window.

Another reason, was of course, it was the same view (albeit from a different location and altitude) me and Ja had when I officially proposed to her...

Dinner at Traders was superb... the buka puasa was sponsored by Ja. The room and everything else by me.. hehe..

Tengah2 celebration dinner tu me and Rayyan had to run to Masjid India naik LRT sebab nak kena hantar kuih raya malam tu jugak. Nak buat camana.. bisnes kena jalan jugak.. lagi2 dah 2 hari je nak raya masa tu... Ja and Rayhana sambung makan.. kejap je sebab Rayhana merengek tgk kitorang keluar...

Balik from Masjid India, we waited for Felishia & Afnan to come to our room and babysit the kids while me & Ja thought of going to the Skybar on the 33rd floor kot... bad decision... no seats, alcohol smell too strong, the environment killed the mood... (aku dah tua ke ni? hehe).. so in the end we decided to go to one of Traders Hotel lounges (6th floor)... we had good 2 hours of alone time while sipping my Earl Grey and her coffee... before at 11 something when Felishia called us suruh balik bilik sebab my dad asked her to come back nak bawak diorang gi tengok lembu kena sembelih all the way kat Rawang and nak amik daging for the rendang we were supposed to cook the next day...

So balikla bilik by 11.30pm. Lepas Felishia & Afnan balik, we ordered room service... mushroom soup and spaghetti for Rayyan and Rayhana, so that at least we could sahur with the same dish tgh malam tu... altho Traders Hotel room service runs 24 hours.. (first time aku dengar ada hotel offers 24 hr room service).

These photos were from my Blackberry... takde gambar bilik.. hehe gambar bilik ada dalam camera.. nanti I upload.. and more of our photos ada dalam Felishia's camera..

Here's me & Rayyan at the Gobo-Gobo Restaurant for buka puasa...


Rayhana & Ja...


Rayhana posing sambil ber-dessert...


ooopp jap.. iPhone time...


back in the room... room service at midnight..


Rayhana & food... bagai irama dan lagu...


Rayyan.. his usual pose masa sahur at 5am...


this is the view sambil baring atas katil... right before they switch off the lights on the twin towers later that night...



Thursday, September 02, 2010

08.09.10

A nice date to be looking forward to....


InsyaAllah it's going to be the 7th on 08.09.10

alhamdulillah....

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Our R & R


bliss...

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Bulat!


Rayhana is known by the security guards at our condo as BULAT. Every morning, as she and Ja walk past the guards towards Ja's car on their way to the nursery, the guards always say "Hi Bulat!" :)

Everytime I walk pass the guards dengan Rayyan pun diorang dok tanya "Bulat tak ikut?" hehe

And Rayhana pulak, calls the guards UNCLE BULAT! hehe secara kebetulan memang ada sorang yg bulat pun.. hehe

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Mak Nenek

Lagi sebulan setengah nak masuk 2 tahun... tapi mulut.. masyaAllaaahh... macam mak nenek!! :)

Nasib baik la belum tahap berleter-leter... but the comments that come out from her mouth.. hehe kita tengah naik darah nak marah pun boleh bertukar jadi senyum...


She loves following what Rayyan does. She is known as the tape recorder/player... asyik ulang balik apa yang Rayyan or anybody cakap...

Alhamdulillah since the age gap is about 4 years, Rayhana learns a lot faster by following whatever Rayyan does..

She's already counting up 1-20, counting down 10 to zero, baca doa makan sendiri, baca doa naik kenderaan with little help, etc..

Her favorite thing to do is menulis... just give her a pen and a paper and she will be occupied for some time... and yup, for the time being she can still scribble with both hands.. we still couldn't figure out if she's truly right-handed or a lefty..

Sekarang ni budak ni tengah wheezing... last week went to see Dr Azizi. Baru habis prednisolone course, so continue lagi with clarytine and antamin and the antibiotic. The batuk still ada phlegmy sound lagi... hingus dah nak berenti dah.. demam takde so far alhamdulillah...

Monday, August 23, 2010

Jongang


Rayyan's 2 front teeth dah longgar punyala lama.. nak dekat sebulan ke dua bulan dah... tak jatuh-jatuh jugak... so last Friday, si Felishia & Afnan tried to play around with one of the teeth, trying to longgar-longgarkan lagi so boleh cabut... punya lama sampai nak dekat pukul 2 pagi, tak cabut-cabut jugak.. at that time I was repacking some kuih raya..

When I was done, I went to them and tried being a dentist pulak.. while Felishia & Afnan pegang si Rayyan, ngangakan dia, I tried to remove the tooth from the gum as slowly as possible... kalau ikutkan hati nak sentap je.. hehe

So dipendekkan cerita, gigi tu tercabutlah di tangan saya....

And then, on Saturday, at the Residence Hotel buka puasa thingy, he was playing around with his cousins when one of them suddenly tertumbuk muka dia.. hahaha terus gigi yang lagu satu longgar gila2 sampai Rayyan sendiri boleh tarik and cabut...

So there you go... 2 teeth in 2 days...

:)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

How's everyone's Ramadhan so far?

Not too bad for me.. you? Not too bad for Rayyan too.. in fact he has fasted more days than Ja! hehehe satu hari je dia tak puasa so far.. the day that it got me really mad at him (mad olok-olok je, although terkilan gak).

Today masa sahur tadi tetiba I found his nose was bleeding masa tidur.. the whole sahur time Ja was pinching his left nose to stop the bleeding while he was sipping on a glass of water and munching on 2-3 pieces of coco cruch. Ingatkan nak tengokla if today he's okay to puasa.. kalau tak pun by lunch time I would ask him to buka.. but mamat tu sampai now 4.40pm pun okay je macam biasa.. so okayla kot.. insyaAllah he can puasa full day again today...

Last night we had our buka puasa at Residence Hotel @ Uniten... makanan dia fuh semangat.. macam ada the whole pasar Ramadhan kat situ and I told Rayyan that you can just take anything you want... it's all FREE!!! hehe Ja's brother belanja all 30+ pax of us at RM63 per pax, less few bucks each for warga emas, and 2 free pax.

Thw food selection was great.. there was even durian, manggis, langsat, rambutan, etc all you can eat!! And then masa dah nak2 time desert tu ada pulak basikal "kacang putih" dok bunyi loceng buat round the whole dining area... mintak je nak kacang apa, dia bagi.. hehe it's all part of the deal...

Kambing ada, ayam panggang, kerang and ikan bakar, sup gearbox, murtabak/roti canai, laksa Johor, nasi ayam, kebabs, nasi and a wonderful range of lauk-pauk which I tak amik pun sebab takut kekenyangan before eating all the other good stuff they had.. hehe ABC ada, ice cream ada, teh tarik, air tebu, air soya, air macam2 lagi, dim sum, burger/hotdog, meehun sup, kuey teow, mee, cakes, kuih-muih, apam balik yang nipis tu, putu piring, putu bambu, chocolate fountain fondue, fuh.. marvellous!! alhamdulillah... :)

Rasa macam nak pergi lagi bulan posa ni... amacam? sapa nak join? JOM!!! hehe

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Kuih and all...

Too many things on my mind right now, too many things to do, too much stuff to be spent on but not too much money in the pocket to start with! Pening!


Alhamdulillah, things are looking to pick up well, business wise, but in order to move forward, lots of money and investments need to be done.

Even the kuih raya business, I could not help in providing the start-up capital this year. We pay cash to the suppliers who make the kuih, and since this year we had lots of new customers, new agents, I think we have invested in a hefty sum just giving out free samples to people. It's all Ja's hard earned money...

So far, nampakla hasil dia, our sales so far has surpassed last year's sale. In fact this year we have started to hire my brother Fizrul to be our assistant.. haha paying even more than what my dad is paying for working for him :) That, at least takes off some burden off our shoulders, with Ja's job (did I mention she just got a 25% salary increase, which means more responsibility!! tu belum masuk more increment later as everyone in the company is up for salary adjustment..), my business, 2 kids, parents staying next door, puasa month, and a "thriving" kuih raya business to concentrate on at the same time.

Thank God for the kuih raya business, adala duit sikit nak guna bayar credit card sana sini, nak spend for my next business trip, etc... and the opportunity for me to borrow some money from Ja.. hehehehe

Selamat Berpuasa!!


Thursday, August 12, 2010

SK Taman Megah


Mentioned earlier about the call I received from SK Taman Megah saying that Rayyan was accepted into the school. Syukur alhamdulillah... I thought we would be rejected sebab Rayyan's application was #169. They will only accept a maximum of 160 students.

So when the school called that afternoon, I was having a meeting at IKEA... terus kata I will be there petang tu jugak nak confirm/acknowledge the acceptance by bringing the birth certificate.

So petang tu, I asked Rayyan to tag along. He was happy to see his future school. Met the headmistress Mrs Khoo at the office. She asked Rayyan a few questions, Rayyan seperti biasa, malu nak jawab.. jawab pun softly... and the HM, knowing that I'm a book publisher, suka hatila dia.. siap kata nanti you can help the school.. hehe.. insyaAllah..

I knew SK Taman Megah is a good school, but I didn't know exactly how good it was. Every achievement they got, they wrote it on the wall leading to the school entrance. Cool idea!

Some of their achievements:
1. Ranked 25 out of 7617 primary schools in Malaysia
2. Best UPSR result in PJ
3. National champion in Public Speaking
4. 1st in Enopi Maths Olympiad
5. 1st Runner-up Selangor Tennis Championship
6. 2nd and 3rd in Selangor's English Story-writing competition
7. Other Robotics, Gymnastics, Figure skating, other district-level, state-level, national-level sports achievements...

alhamdulillah la Rayyan got to be in this school.. at least being around interacting with the kids in this school would perhaps develop his thinking the way I wish it should be from a public school...

So the school is about 5 mins drive away from our house. Not too bad. Easy for Ja to send him off and go to her office through the Damansara toll to Port Klang. So next year I kena hantar Rayhanala pulak.. hehe

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Selamat Berpuasa...

Selamat berpuasa to all... last night was Rayyan's first "terawih" experience. Not too bad.. baru lepas Isyak dah mengantuk gila2. His eyes were closed while leaning on the glass door... pastu tetiba bila dah start nak sembahyang terawih, dia segar balik.. although right after every 2 rakaats he kept asking "how many more rakaats after this?"

The Upin & Ipin influence truly helped him go through the whole terawih experience.. kalau tak, lepas Isyak tu dia dah nak ajak balik dah... I kept saying that Upin & Ipin can do it.. so can he! lol!

After terawih, while walking home from the mosque his Atok suggested him to write about his first terawih experience (10.08.10) on his computer... which gave me an idea to probably let him start his own entry in this blog soon..

Pagi tadi was his first "sahur" experience with the intention to puasa.. Upin & Ipin puasa, so dia mestila puasa kan?

Ni dia aksi-aksi Rayyan bersahur... :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A call that I wanted to hear... :)

Just got a call from the primary school I applied for Rayyan.. Rayyan is accepted there!!! Takut gila kot2 tak accept ke etc coz he was #9 on the waiting list. Alhamdulillah....

:)

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Just Got Back from Melbourne...


Went there Sunday night, arrived Monday morning, returned on Friday at 00:45 and arrived back at the LCCT at 7am Friday. All in all I only spent 3 sleeping nights in Melbourne. Kejap gila..

Anyways, never intended for anything except for attending 2 business meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. So kalau dapat jenjalan tu kira bonus la...

Fortunately one of my MRSM classmates, Barchunx & his wife just migrated to Melbourne in February this year.. so managed to meet them and the kids.. even spent the last night at their place so I could get to the Great Ocean Road and see the 12 Apostles as early as possible so it would be enough time for me to catch my flight home that midnight.

Overall it was a fruitful trip. I got the info what I wanted from the meetings, and that would save me lots of money by making ill-informed decisions.

Balik je from Melbourne on Friday morning, I took the shuttle bus from LCCT to KL Sentral, took the LRT to Kelana Jaya, and the cab home. Picked up Rayyan at 11.30, waited for Ja to come home for a brief lunch, and then I was off to PWTC to visit the Printing Solutions exhibition.. pastu balik terus penat.. hahaha

Melbourne pics ada kat Facebook.. will upload some here, especially the 12 Apostles photos.. :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Papa & Mama's Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, it was Ja's birthday. It was also my parents' 37th Wedding Anniversary... what are the odds having your wife's birthday on your parents' wedding anniversary.. hehe... actually we only knew this fact only few years ago... after me & Ja got married.. as my mom was spring cleaning her old documents... baru perasan bila tarikh dia kawin.. haha

My dad was not around yesterday. My mom pulak puasa. So last night we celebrated Ja's birthday je with whoever yang sempat nak ikut... Felishia & Afnan, Fizrul, Rayyan, Rayhana, Ja & me were the only ones available... Faleigh, Renuka & Sharat wanted to join later but tak sempat coz we had to rush and pick up my mom at home by 9.30pm to go to my Mak Long's house for a meeting tergempar dgn adik-beradik dia pasal harta (that would be an interesting blog entry lol!)

So last night we went to eat at this Chinese Muslim restaurant called HOMST at Taman Tun. Their BUTTERED SOFT SHELL CRABS are FANTABULOUS!!!! And cheap!! RM18 for 4 org makan punya ration. Drinks pun interesting.. I had their "Ribena Special", which was ice-blended Ribena served with some lychee and watermelon in the same glass... sedaaap...

Rayyan & Rayhana had the chinese fried rice and semangkuk besar mushroom soup that can feed all of us for only RM6.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go out again and makan-makan just us family members since my dad is now home from Kedah. Somebody else pulak nak belanja.. hehe

Monday, July 26, 2010

Biniku dah makin tua.. sama tua denganku...

Ja's birthday today! Lots of things in my mind lately that I missed the 12am birthday wish ritual. My brother Fizrul (who was checking his FB) came in to our house just after twelve to wish Ja and suddenly all of us, me, Rayyan (also lost count of the days leading to this day), and Rayhana who had just woke up at midnight jumped and group hugged and group kissed the birthday lady of the house.

Penat from the whole Felishia's wedding extravaganza tak habih lagi.. I wish I could sleep in for a couple of days more... alhamdulillah everything went smoothly, although there were hiccups here and there.. biasalah...

Glad Anaz & Wa could come, so was Syireen Rose who was there with her son. "Atok" Saiful Ikram pun was there with his wife. Noris & Hairy had to cancel at the very last minute sebab babysitter dia called saying she could not do it for the night. Nak hantar kat mak dia jaga pun tak boleh sebab mak dia baru keluar pi tengok wayang... Ainul & Zura could not make it as I guess they were still in the UK. Wished Nana & Mozard could be there as well.. nak buat camana.. dah jauh sangat.. hehe my dad even said why tak ajak Wa's & Nana's parents to come? The thought came to me nak ajak.. but nak wat camana.. I was only given 1 table for my guests. Ja's family got 1 table... so kena catu-catu sikit sapa yang boleh diajak makan malam kat Sime Darby Convention Centre tu... great place, great food (the food could have been even better kalau dia cook the same way they served us masa food tasting dulu).

The menu was sup isi ketam, ayam masak merah, ikan masak kicap, rendang daging minang, sambal sotong, butter prawns, dalca sayur and nasi minyak (or was it beriani?), desert was pudding jangung pandan with ice cream and fresh fruits on the side.

So dah kawinlah adik perempuanku yang sorang tu... couldn't hide my feelings when I broke into tears in the middle of my speech (damn!) not just once, twice, but three times!! The speech was just an A4's length. Should have been a breeze reading through the text...

Nasib baik by the time I sang Nat King Cole's version of "When I Fall in Love" dah tak nangis dah.... kalau tak, haru!!! hahaha..

Rayyan and Rayhana did a good job being 2 of the flower kids... Ja dah siap nak replace Rayhana dah sebab she was cranky gila2 dekat-dekat nak start wedding tu... tapi last2 bila dah dapat makan, dapat pegang bunga yang dia nak campak tu, all was well.. she looked cute.. siap boleh posing-posing lagi depan camera.. hahaha Rayyan was cool.

Sayang sekali none of us had the time to snap any pictures during the wedding at Sime Darby. Semua dok sebok. I pun had to go back to the house at 7.45pm sebab tertinggal butang baju Melayu for me and Rayyan, and also the samping for Sharat who was one of the flower kids jugak. Alhamdulillah I sempat sampai balik kat Sime Darby tu by 8.15pm.

This Saturday we're all going to bertandang to Afnan's house pulak for the reception of the pengantin lelaki punya side. Then Sunday Noris's sisters wedding... will try to squeeze in some time before I leave for Melbourne that night.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Daniel & Alex - Narissa's boys


Narissa, a friend who has been living in the US since graduation is in Malaysia. She married to a local (Brian) and they are blessed with two boys - Daniel (8 yo) & Alex (4 yo).

Me, Ja, Rayyan, Rayhana, Anaz, & Wa met up with Narissa and the boys last night over dinner at Suria KLCC foodcourt.

Rayyan got along well with the boys playing with Anaz's and Ja's iphones.

Didn't take many pictures. I believe Wa took plenty! (and videos some more!!)

Rayhana was reckless... sebok nak "galan-galan" (jalan-jalan) all over the place...

It was a fun night being able to chat with Narissa again since we last met before she had kids.. hehe...

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Bakun Dam!

As I was struggling to find ways to ensure the cash continuously flows to pay the bills, I received a call from an ex-colleague who is into this virtual reality thing - developing the application, I mean.

Can't reveal details about it yet.. just these words...

Bakun Dam - virtual reality application content development - 2 to 3 weeks in the woods of Sarawak - fully paid trip - puasa month - howla?

Friday, July 16, 2010

Jalan-jalan Atas Angin...

London. Melbourne. Frankfurt.

London dah pergi aritu. Melbourne soon. Frankfurt in October.

Need to find some serious money to make up for the expenses on these trips!!!!

Of course these trips are work-related. So I'll be going alone... kalau ada duit extra boleh la kot bawak Ja & the kids travel somewhere end of the year....

Friday, July 09, 2010

It's Gonna be a LOONG Month!

A lot is happening in July. Rayyan's birthday was on the 1st. Fizrul's birthday was on the 5th.

The Kuih Raya business opens up to the public again for the 4th year in a row and we've been receiving orders like crazy. Kalau lama-lama macamni memang kena hire orang just to entertain orders.. hehe alhamdulillah...

Tonight one of my cousins, Siti, is getting engaged in Shah Alam. I'm very happy for Uncle mamat & Auntie Ani and family.

Yesterday I went to a venture capital briefing/coaching session to see if my business is worthy of attracting VC's to invest in and how tedious the work would be and how involved they would be if they decide to come in. Got the slides for me to study how I can actually tailor-made any business to fit VC's criteria.

Next week there is the VC pitching event where identified companies would pitch their business to the 20 VCs (regional and local). It was decided yesterday that I'm not ready for this session yet. But I would probably go to just feel how the atmosphere is like.

July 23rd, 24th, 31st is going to be Felishia's wedding. So we're pretty pysched about that, especially for Rayyan & Rayhana who would be two of the flower petal mess maker on the red carpet... hahaha looking forward to that. And probably I would be making the thank you speech since my dad is not into public speaking at all hahahaha...

Jaafar Onn will be the MC for 23rd event (hehehe this is interesting... he's one of my mom's friends). And Chuari Selamat for the 24th event.

And after all that July madness, insyaAllah I will be flying out to Melbourne, Australia. :)

Monday, July 05, 2010

Kuih Raya Kelana Jaya




Visit: http://www.kuihraya.com.my

:)

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Rayyan's 6th Birthday


July 1st, 2010 - Rayyan's birthday...

It was on a Thursday... Ja purposely amik cuti. Rayyan pun since he was having a fever the night before, tak gi sekolah la Thursday tu. Already had thought of planning a surprise party for him pagi2. The plan was I hantar dia gi sekolah, pastu me & Ja, Rayhana and the rest at the house would prepare the house for the party... so bila nanti I ambik dia from school terusla terperanjatkan dia... but semua plan tak menjadi...

Anyways... part of the reason Ja amik cuti was actually sebab nak pergi food tasting at the Sime Darby Convention Centre, for Felishia's wedding in a few weeks.

So the lunch at Sime Darby Convention Centre, with me, Ja, Rayyan, Rayhana, Felishia & Afnan, Fizrul (my brother), my parents bolehla diibaratkan as birthday lunch for Rayyan as well.. hehe the food was suppppeerrrbbbbb... for the food tasting they prepared 2 meat, 2 chicken, and 2 fish dishes for us to choose one of each.... had a terribly tough time... kalau boleh nak amik sumer... :)

Lepas lunch, we toured the wedding venue at Sime Darby Convention Centre tu, looking at the holding area for VIPs, tempat salin pengantin, the hall, surau, toilets, etc... Look at Rayhana.. in full UK outfit.. hehe baju & topi from carboot, kasut from Selfridges Bullring.. all in all cost me just GBP15.. RM75 camtu.. (kasut tu mahal.. GBP11). :)



After Sime Darby, me & Ja, Rayyan & Rayhana, Felishia & Afnan went to Toys R Us @ One Utama to buy Rayyan his present. Ended up buying lots more stuff than intended. Pastu pi beli birthday cake @ Secret Recipe. Got the Chocolate Strawberry cake.

So malam tu we waited for my dad to come home for Rayyan to cut the cake. Faleigh (my other brother) also brought Sharat his son that night...


Malam tu Rayyan demam balik.... sigh!