What I've been up to …

Maths prodigy who won an Oxford place at 13 is now a £130-an-hour HOOKER

That was the headline that I read on the http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/3003_hooker.shtml

It’s a sad story

And I am not even going to reproduce the full report here, it’s too sad..

And the story reminded me of “Shukri Hadafi”, anyone remembers this 1970s genius? Where is he now?

From the beginning, when her success was highlighted about 10 years ago (or for that matter, about any other “geniuses”), I just felt that it was just not right to push a kid too much. I always believe that a kid should grow up the normal way, enjoy childhood phase, just like other kids. What’s the rush and why go through the stress if it can lead to such misery?

I have 6 kids of my own, and I am trying my best to give them a life as normal as they can get. When I was a student, I’ve seen the fall of many of the so called “top students”. One of them was the unofficcial Malaysian student for MCE then. What happened to her? She was 2-years my senior, but when I was in my honours year (4th year) she became my junior! Success in life is not just about getting straight As. It’s more than that. I am too sleepy to elaborate here

Good night to all…

12.18am

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Yeah, sure that was what I did from 27/3-29/3, but it was a working outing so most of the time was spent indoor

Furthermore we were working from 8.30am until midnight..

The first session:

The only “highlight” was during the Friday prayer break. Unbelievably, we actually managed to make a quick “island drop” or rather island trip to Pangkor island! We left the Damai Laut Jetty at 1.30pm, and by 2.40pm we were at the Pangkor Jetty getting ready to come back to Damai Laut! Despite that, we actually made TWO stops at the island. The first one was to buy some dried shrimps/fish/enchovvies and the second stop was at the Pangkor Jetty proper, for a quick visit to a souvenir shop for us to get some souvenirs. I think we arrived at the Pangkor Jetty at about 2.10pm. When we dashed back to the jetty half an hour later, we could see the same people we saw when we arrived. They must be wondering what kind of tourists/visitors we were! Or maybe we were some sort of “Amazing Race” competitors, with most of us in formal attire (read: kebaya and baju kurung). We didn’t have time to change to casual wear, and furthermore, we were afraid that wwe might get back to the resort just in time to join the afternoon session that was to start at 3pm (and that was exactly what happened!).

Some pix that I captured on my mobile phone:

Our first stop, was to this place, where workers were removing the unwanted parts of the fish:

Another view:

As we went in, we found the shop proper, and we didn’t waste our time:

This lass even managed to buy some for our male colleagues (Hence the 3 baskets):

Soon we were in the souvenir shop in Pangkor town:

On our way back to Damai Laut, the boat was filled with bargains?:

Later on, when some of the guys found out about it, they couldn’t believe that we had done it (the island drop) in such a short time.

I like the remark by one of my colleagues. She said if only our discussion can be as brief and quick as our Pangkor trip, then we would have more time to spare in Pangkor! You see, we were supposed to break for theFriday lunch at 12 oon, but most of us finished just before 1pm followed by a quick lunch. that was why we only left the Damai Laut jetty at 1.30pm (the van that was waiting to take us from the resort to the jetty was “hijacked” by the guys who were going for the Friday prayers so we wasted several more precious minutes waiting for a substitute), instead of 12.45 that we initially planned

Ah, before I forget, here’s a pic of the group discussion (2/3 of the group’s members):

A pic of the final session, when all 3 groups took turn to make their presentations:

Anyway, all in all, I think we did a good job in the forum/discussion. The short trip to Pangkor was fine with me, since I have visited Pangkor before (2002) and spent 2 nights there too.

We arrived home late yesterday evening, all knackered!

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Yup, that was what happened to me today. All for the preparation of a workshop that I am going to attend from tomorrow until Saturday, at Swiss Garden Beach Resort, Damai Laut, Lumut.

I”l get a ride from a fellow colleague tomorrow morning. I hope there’s Internet access there, for me to blog again

And, of course to check mails..

Here’s my notebook and my work desk just before 7pm today, when I was preparing to go home:

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I was coming home from a lunch date with a friend (earlier I had to run a few errands). I saw the black clouds approaching from Kuala Lumpur. When I was at the UiTM traffic light (about 2.30pm), it started to drizzle. By the time I reached in front of my house (less than 15 minutes later) it was raining cats and dogs (No, no, make it buffaloes and elephants!). The lightning became more and more frequent

There’s no way I was going t dash out of the car, open the gate and rush into the house. So I ended up staying in the car and listening to a couple of songs on the Light FM

When the lightning stopped, I went to the nearby Shell station to fill up the petrol tank.  I was surprised to see the road in front of the petrol station flooded! So I took some pix using my handphone:

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Hahaha! Tonight I’ve just finished making another sling bag

Aina’s friend requested, and since I enjoy making it, no problemo Furthermore she only wants it plain. It took me less than an hour

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Last night, while I was still in the mood to “sew something”, I decided to give a go at making a sling bag for Aina. Knowing that Aina is an ardent fan of Tottenham Hotspur, I decided to have that “bird on the ball” (don’t know what they call it) silhouette machine-appliqued on it. I think I started the project just past 11pm and I got the bag ready by 12.30am. Aina who was still awake helped to print the design on paper, and was delighted to have the bag that she actually slept with it!

Today, the bag goes to school with Aina. She uses it to put her “kain sembahyang”.

Now I am ready for more adventurous projects

Nuni, tak jealous?

The lady whom I gave the other bag, had her birthday yesterday. How timely, though unintentionally

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I always love to sew. I find sewing relaxing. I feel good when I am at the sewing machine.

I prefer to sew non-dress stuff (curtains, pillow cases, bags, and such) even though I can sew dresses too including baju kurung (with the “tulang belut” stitches!). I also have 2 simple sewing machines (both Janome), and one of them is older than my own eldest child (that’s Nuni, in case you are still new to my blog). The machine will be 27 years old this coming Mother’s Day She is now on long term load to my biras (BIL’s wife).

But somehow, it’s always very hard to find the time to be seriously at the sewing machine, working on something worth mentioning The sewing machine is currently used for light mending and minor alterations only.

Now, ever since I’ve started work at an IT-company in Shah Alam, I would have my lunch at the shopping complex in the next block. Like other staff, I don’t see the need to carry my handbag. I would only take my purse and and my handphone along. But, sometimes it can be troublesome too, esp when I want to pay the food court lady for my rice – I need to open the wallet while holding my plate of rice and the phone at the same time. Another colleague, Hasnah carries a little bad to put her purse and phone. I like that idea, and thought that maybe one of these days I’ll sew one just like that (even though Hasnah said that I can get a similar bag for about RM10, to me, it can’t beat the thrill of sewing one myself )

So today, I gathered my courage, and very early in the morning I managed to get one done from scraps of a Banares sari fabric:

As usual, for such straight forward project, I didn’t have any prior drawing, or measurement, just rough estimates There’s lining, but no padding. I think I got it done in less that 30 mins.

Not really satisfied with the outcome, and feeling more adventurous, I started a second one. This time I used cotton with padding and lining (still no quilting).

The inside of the little bag:

Turning it over, and doing the finishing touch:

Admiring the finished product:

Quite happy with the outcome, I tried putting my purse and handphone in it (they fit just nice):

Hahaha… Now I look forward to having lunch tomorrow, and use the green one to put my stuff

I am thinking of giving away the second one (since it is more presentable than the green on) and I have somebody in mind to..

I googled “tote bad” quilt for the images and I ended up admiring so many different bags that people have made. I think I want to make one like this one I found on the internet and I intend to put padding to it (with suitable quilting too).

Very ambitious eh?

I’ll publish it if and when it is done.

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Pic From Astro’s Official Page for AF6

AF6 = Akademi Fantasia, season 6, has just started, with the first concert tonight. I only realised it when it was halfway (no thanks to Nuni for mentioning it during our YM chat). But alas, Tottenham Hotspurs were playing against Portsmouth, so Aina didn’t allow me to change the channel

Instead, I took a nap, to wake up just before 11pm (on hearing the AF team song ), to know that Spurs have just won by 2-0.

Honestly, I only followed season 2 and 3 seasons of AF. AF4 I followed only about 50% of the time, and AF5 came and go “just like that” to me without much notice

I still remember, when the season 2 final was aired, I was in Tokyo, and Aina was nice enough to show (using the webcam) parts of the show, especially when Linda was singing. I used to like the powerful voice of Linda’s, but eventually got fed-up with it, because most of the time Linda sang with no emotion or feeling . My other favourite of that season was Bob.

I think AF3 was one of the best, if not the best, having people like Marsha, Felix, Amelia, and of course the SMS King Mawi , I also kinda like Kaer’s unique voice

I remember when I came back from an 11-day course in Seoul, as I entered the house, the repeat of the Prelude Concert of AF3 was on, and it was Mawi singing. I immediately said to Ayi, “Wow, I like that voice!”, to which Ayi said “Oh, That’s Mawi. He was not chosen”. I then said what a pity!

But as the public knows, Mawi was re-selected to join the group, and the rest was history.

I also remember when family members and friends found out I was in favour of Mawi, most of them reacted “Mawi?? Tak best lah… Felix is the choice la..”. I stuck by my choice, and was happy that Mawi actually came out the champion for the season.

Unfortunately if you ask me now, I have gotten over that “Mawi fever”. Mawi? To me, he’s just another singer with a very strong voice… I am not as fanatic as some other people, who initially loathed Mawi, but eventually idolise him to the extent of having all sorts of “Mawi paraphenelias”! For the record, Nuni never likes Mawi’s voice

I wonder if AC Mizal can get out of Aznil’s shadow as the compere of the concert.. tonight I only managed to see Saida and Stanly singing and I think we should watch out for Stanly He sang “You Raise me Up” very well tonight! AS for the others, I can’t comment since I didn’t get to see them perform.

But then again, he might just be like Shari (of AF1) and Bob (of AF2) who have the potential but overlooked by the fans..

I hope this is the first and the last time I blog about about AF6

Oh, me voting for any one of them? Nah… don’t think so. Why waste my phone credit?

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Or should I put this blog’s title as “Fisherman’s Friend is my friend too”?

For the past few years, I always carry some fisherman’s friend tablets in my handbag. Most of the time they were offered to others who need them. I hardly take them, unless I have some sore throat, or something like that.

For the past week, however, I’ve beed using them until I actually ran out of them! Yesterday I had to buy new supply:

I’ve been coughing for the past week or so – I noticed that the coughing started after we got back from Padang. The last time I coughed this bad was when we had our haj in late 2002/early 2003.

I really hope this coughing will go away soon…

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Last night, despite officially not working, I went to the office for a 3pm mtg, to end up at almost 7pm!

Being reminded by Cik (Ketua Wanita UMNO one of the bahagians in Kelantan) that her grandson’s milk formula was in my car (earlier I sent them to Kompleks PKNS for a shopping outing), I immediately went to her hotel to deliver the tote bag that contains the formula and other baby’s stuff.

On my way home, I stopped over at the nasi lemak stall near Shell to buy a packet of “nasi kerabu” for my dinner (earlier I bought KFC for DH’s and Aina’s dinner). At home while having the nasi kerabu, I checked my phone, and found a miss call from my good friend A (DH refers to her as my girlfriend). A asked me to join her to go to her neighbour’s house. There’ll be some PKR women there. Hmm… A PKR women’s meeting? interesting… Furthermore, I had not seen A since before the GE12, so I thought it would be good to catch up with the latest news.

Soon I was at A’s house. A, who just came back from a work trip to the Maldives, gave me a very nice souvenir photo frame:

We then walked to K Nor’s house. A has known K Nor for many years already (them being neighbours) but it was my first time there. Soon there were more ladies arriving.

When they started the discussion, only then I found out that the gathering was for the women’s wing (Wanita PKR) of the Shah Alam’s  Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)!

Now, am I ready to be politically active? I asked myself… well…. I don’t think so. However, I’ll be more than happy to participate in their social activities (such as motivation talks, workshops for the students, and some charity work too). A and I were so bad that at one stage of the discussion we dorminated it! Aisyah with her marketing ideas put forward as activities to create awareness among the public that Wanita PKR exists, and to attract more ladies to join it; and I with my ideas on what to do to benefit the kids/community – indirectly to win the public’s heart

It was quite an opportunity to meet these ladies who are very excited and keen to rool out the activities, despite lacking the manpower to do them. Anyone interested? Contact me

Dr D, the Wanita head for PKR Shah Alam is a very concerned person and looks sincere and passionate enough about the idea of carrying out charity activities – this I will surely support.

The hostess, Kak Nor served us with snacks, currypuffs, mee kari and drinks. So, we came home with satisfied tummy too

Pic taken with my handphone. Not clear due to poor lighting, despite setting the camera at “night” setting.

What a night last night was – from meeting an UMNO’s wanita chief to meeting a PKR wanita chief

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