New Toy :)

Am trying this new toy. It has been around for quite sometime in other parts of the world. Have seen the underground sets. But today it was officially launched here.

Am still getting myself acquainted with the toy. Current vocab for now are iTunes and apps store :) Well let's see how long will this flame last ;)

Sent from my iPad

Camp Day 5

Today's the final day of ASEAN Camp. Kids are busy getting ready for their performance tonite. I could see it from their faces that they've had a wonderful week here in Cyberjaya. Making new friends, learning together and most of all having loads of fun together.

As a parting gift to them, the online chat was made available on the portal. They may be oceans away, but the Portal will keep them together (Awww....this makes me all teary. My team worked day and night to ensure all content is ready for the camp - thank you TEAM!!)

Happy days are here to stay :)

Thumbs up on the program!!

It's going to be a whole new world for these kids from now on. Sharing and pursuing new horizons in future.......

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you
Now I'm in a whole new world with you.....

Sent via Kay's Berry

Day 4 - Vip Visit

Another great day for the kids@ASEAN camp today when the Chairman dropped by to visit them. Kids, a braver lot now, so much different from the time they first arrived.

Sent via Kay's Berry

Camp Day 3

Camp is really building momentum. Lots of laughter, sharing and learning taking place here in Cyberjaya.

Sri Lanka, though not in ASEAN, was invited as participant in the camp.

Sent via Kay's Berry

Day Two@Cyberjaya

Day two today here in Cyberjaya. Another long day for us the program developers. Minor glitches here and there but otherwise everything is running as planned :)

The afternoon session has just started. And more excitement awaits the participants !!

Sent via Kay's Berry

Hello Cyberjaya!

It's ASEAN camp again. This time it's held in Cyberview Lodge in Cyberjaya. Really nice here.... Unfortunately work takes priority. The pool looks so inviting but don't think I'll have time to enjoy fun in the sun. And so is the spa which is hidden somewhere in the resort.

Guess that's life....

Sent via Kay's Berry

Nissa's Y.E.B

Nope it's not YES (year end SALE, that is) but it's a YEB - year end break. "School's out!!" shout the kids. But Moms and Dads are at wits end trying to figure out how best to keep them happy for the next 6 weeks or so.

I for one have no plans whats so ever yet. Nissa has whispered to me how she would like to spend this year end school hols. Some activities are pretty trivial, doable by everyone in the family. However, some may have to wait a little longer till Farah finishes her SPM exam in December. And yours truly will be preoccupied with ASEAN camp kicking off tomorrow. So the question is how do I keep this nine year old entertained when there is practically no one available to entertain her.

On her last day of school she told me that her friends are criss-crossing the globe holidaying. Amongst the names of places mentioned were Gold Coast, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Bali and others. When she asked me where are we heading to, I just smiled. And Nissa being Nissa, she could tell the difference between "a berisi smile" and "an empty smile". Tough huh? Having a nine year old in this Internet age. Ohhh yes.....she knows how to check ticket price and flight schedules on AA now. Soon I can no longer give her that "no flights avail" excuse coz I bet she'd double check on my info.

I'm hoping her trip to Kuantan with Abe next week will keep her travel bugs at bay for a while. Stressful isn't it? It's like living under the same roof with your boss (OMG...that would be really, really scary!!!)

So Nissa...chill okay :)

Tech@Hajj

If my grandmother was still alive, she would have been impressed, I think. Why would she not be? There's just much excitement about doing Hajj now compared to the time she did hers. To begin with, travel to the Holy Land is much faster than the time she went on her pilgrimage back in the 60s. In her stories she elaborated how long and tedious was the boundless voyage to Mecca.

Back then they all sailed in one big ship, embarking at Port Swettenham and would only see land like about a month later. All in all the Hajj journey took about three months, two of which was spent on sea. I was still a little girl but I recall vividly Mom helping awrah Uwan prepare for that one journey of a lifetime. In fact the trip was paid from the little by little savings Mom made from the time she started work as a teacher.

Had been me, gosh how ya? Can't imagine what would happen; I'd be bored in no time and perhaps at the next port of call, I would abandon ship. So unlike mereka-mereka yang sungguh kental iman ini.

I wonder when arwah Uwan was performing Hajj did she get to send news on her well being to families back home. She was illiterate, so she couldn't have written a brief message on her own. Perhaps she did with the help of others. Again, had it been me, how would I have reacted? No keeping in touch with the loved ones back home? Itu lah bezanya orang sekarang from orang dolu-dolu; sungguhlah kental semangat mereka para tetamu-tetamu Allah ini.

GPS for the ole buddy here perhaps??

The story of present Hajj is way, way different. One of our friends who left on the second last flight for Jeddah slipped his iPad in the bagpack alongside his ihram, head-wear and other whatnots. His Blackberry was his closest companion. Minutes before this departure, he was BBMing away with his daughter who is based in Bangkok. Sungguh tech savvy, bakal pak aji ni!! Nasib baik tak update FB status too *wink*

When asked, "iPad tu nak buat apa bawak Cik Din?" His simple reply was, "Baca Quran la babe..." Caya lah Cik Din, thumbs up!! And perhaps I should realign my methods of reading the holy book too...

Available in Farah's bag during our Umrah last year - her camera & mobile

Indeed this calls me too revise at my Hajj/Umrah checklist now. Perhaps in my next Hajj trip (IshaAllah....bermohon sangat-sangat pada Nya moga-moga dipercepatkan giliran & sihat tubuh badan untuk kesempurnaan beribadat), along side the telekung, tudungs, clothes peg and hangers that could rotate, portable chargers and other tech gadgets will cram my luggage as well.

Despite all the gadgets and live media feeds, the feeling is just not the same like being there amongst the crowd. Missing this place so very much......

Out of all the countless bounties and the blessings that Allah has given us to enable living our lives in this world, the greatest and the most important is that He has guided us to the true meaning and purpose in our lives.
Islam is not just one gift among many; it is the choicest gift of God.
(Al-Maidah 5:3)

Warm wishes on this Eidul-Adha to all. May Allah grant all wishes and answer to all prayers. Amin.

Finders Keepers

When the MPV pulled into our driveway this afternoon, little did I expect to discover a motorbike tucked neatly in its trunk. Motorbike siapa and how on earth did it get in there?

I checked with Abe and there was a long silence. Hahhh...tau dah, ni mesti "collection" from his visit to one of our rented out properties. But a full bloom motorbike, apa cerita nih??

Our tenant in the PJ house had given notice to move out last month. His reason was he had finally bought a house and will be moving to the new place. Fine with us, and the next cause of action was to put up a House To Let notice.

We got a new tenant pretty fast. And early in the month, the new folks moved in. Abe did some repair works on the house and in no time it looked good for its new occupants. Now comes the best part and this happens almost every time we prepare our property to let. Without fail, whenever we check the condition of the house, punya lah banyak barang-barang previous tenants yang left behind. Macam-macam yang we found; dari cans of ikan bilis goreng kacang to old clothes to stoves to magazines to workout weights. The list gets longer each time a tenant leaves and the time spent for cleaning up gets longer and more tedious too.

Cuba kalau overseas, cari pasal lah if nak buat perangai like this. Silap-silap security deposit tu hangus!! It makes me sick in the stomach every time I make my visits. Just because it's a rented property, to them tak perlu lah nak keep it clean and in good condition.

"Pecah and kopak sana sini tak pe....bukan rumah aku, " that could probably be their attitude. Of course we have to repair the kopak-kopak here there when they leave. And a lot of times we never deduct anything from their deposit.

Anyway, back to the motorbike (ohh jauh nya digress...)

Beats the daylights out of me if the previous tenant was running away from something ke atau just plain not bothered. Several calls made to him remained unanswered and text messages pun tak response. Abe could have just left the bike at the house, but it was getting in the way for the new family who is beginning to settle in. And tak kan nak biar kat luar rumah kan. What if it goes missing? Jadi terpaksalah help to store the darn machine at our home pulak.

I checked the bike and it looked pretty new. No keys of course, but Abe said the locks can be changed (ohhh boleh eh??) The tenant owes us some rental money still, but tidak lah sebanyak harga sebuah motorbike.

Jadi nak buat apa dengan bike ni now? Simpan? Ishhh....menambah sesak in my driveway je. I have asked Abe to keep contacting our old tenant. Tell him to collect his harta and let me have my driveway back. Should I give him a time frame or nak biar je it sitting there (dengan ihsan....)?? Really inconsiderate kan....grrr


So if you guys tetiba je nampak ada couple ni naik motor...jangan la gelakkan ya....dapat motor free bebeh!!

Head Banging Away

With my home Internet speed getting slower and slower by the day, this blog is embarrassingly neglected. Plus, I have been like always - busy. Plus, I somehow am not able to put my thoughts together and write...sigh. I hate to think that it's got to do with the number (read : age) adding up. But perhaps it's true.....

Yesterday was Deepavali. The holiday break was something I had looked forward to. Had planned to do stuffs with the family. However, this over worked mind and body had planned a different agenda for its master.

That morning when I woke up, my head felt like there was a flock of unskilled musicians banging and knocking on my skull auditioning for some heavy metal rock reality show. Duhh....it was one of the worst bout of headache I've ever experienced.

So what do you do to yourself when the head throbbed like hell?? Drink loads of water?? Err yes...but headache still there. Sleep?? Err did that but the horrible pain didn't barge.

How else if not with the help of pain killers (errr...not exactly for long term though) . The normal asprin doesn't work for me anymore now. Neither does its stronger mate Mr Ponstan. I tried hanging on half of the day without any medication but the pain was too strong. At last I gave in to Cafergot - an abortive headache treatment, one that I've been carrying with me in my cosmetic pouch but never got the guts to consume. It was prescribed by my doctor during one of my head ting tong visits.

Washed down two of those yellow coloured pills and went to sleep again. It was around noon that I took them and was knocked out almost instantly. Next thing I knew, Nissa woke me up for my afternoon solat and when I woke up, it was like magic the nasty rock people had vanished!!

I am not at all proud with what I have done, but the pain was so unbearable that it gave me no choice. When I researched Cafegot in medical websites, this is what I found out about the drug; main contents are ergotamine tartrate and caffeine. Ergotamine belongs to a group of medicines known as ergot alkaloids (must make a mental note to do more research on this). But this miracle drug (for me now, at least) comes with a long list of side effects.....duhhh must they??

I've put away the remaining Cafegots. Hoping not to have the need to use it again. In the mean time, I must find out better ways of reducing the my headache attacks.

Help....does anyone know what could be the magic potion???

Anyway, I'm glad my headache cleared coz I got to deliver this beautiful creation by Yani the Kitchen Guardian (err more like Diva..I must say) to Kak Ezza's house for her daughter's wedding today.