Thankful

Recently, I was introduced to a lady who is a caretaker of a rumah tahfiz and anak yatim in Jalan Gurney.. I went to the home to see the lady and discussed with her about a community/csr thingy that we want to do for the kids there.. I have to admit.. I seldom do this i.e visiting a home.. the last was probably Rumah Solehah way back in 2007.. For me, the closest to doing charity on a regular basis would be the small change that I would put in the box at KFC or McD!

So I was overwhelmed with emotions when I went to the home and listened to the lady, called Ibu Laila who is just very passionate about the home...and of course seeing the teachers carrying small babies around.. kids..about 100 of them..clad in baju kurung..jubah..lil' girls in tudung and lil' boys in kopiah or serban..mostly orphans..some because parents had passed away and nobody want to take care of them.. many left there by their divorced parents..and there are even cases where they were left by the doorsteps when they were babies.. just like the kids at Rumah Solehah, they are just very happy to receive visitors..

Some of the kids have the opportunity to go to a proper school..but the majority of them learn the Quran with the hope of one day becoming a hafiz.. the youngest so far is a 13 year old boy who can already hafaz 30 juzu' of the Quran.. I was also impressed when she told me about some kids who had gotten like 19As for SPM..just like other kids at the home they studied the Quran but for a period of one year with the help of their teachers they concentrated on studying the subjects on their own and had excelled.. these kids, if they are lucky some rich Arab Sheikh will sponsor them to study in Mesir... if not, well, they have to rely on the funds that Ibu Laila has set up for their education...

Hmmm... that's life huh.. when was the last time you really pause and be so very thankful for what you have.. for the love that you've shared with your parents.. for the opportunity for proper education.. simply put.. for what God had given to you and planned for you?

p/s: Ibu Laila kata never ever beat/rotan your children.. gotta teach them with lots of love..we can be tegas but not garang..if they start to act up on you, hold them..hug them... in time they will understand,respect and appreciate you even more..

Just some updates..

Have not been blogging because I've been superbusy the whole week..and Internet connection at home + office just sucks..

Table at the office is back to its normal self..

This poor quirky lil' girl has a fever and flu..

Don't be fooled by this happy face..lately he's been such a baby! All whiny and desperate for attention..

I've been eating like there's no tomorrow! And I'm gaining weight like a pregnant woman..It's no secret that I love eating but of late I eat ridiculously A LOT!

Talking bout' being pregnant... a close friend is pregnant after years and years of trying for a baby!I'm so happy for her! Hopefully another friend will follow suit! :)

Still no news of the extra moolahs! Thank God tomorrow is payday! I've been Coffee-Bean-less for the past 2 weeks!

Fear Factor

Still no news about the bonus.. *sigh*
Well news ada.. tapi semua tak betul.. and everybody kept on quoting that they got the news from reliable sources..but so far all the dates dah lepas.. :p
I'm going crazy already.. no..no..crazy would be an understatement!I'm going bonkers!!!!!

p/s: Can I just share something icky here.. yesterday I had 2 cute lil' muffins for breakfast... muffins were from a very very reputable supermarket in Bangsar.. one of the cute lil' muffins had an extra 'ingredient'..and I had a taste of part of the extra ingredient...I realized something was not quite right and took it out from my mouth...the head dah hilang! Huwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Damn you idiots who can't do proper quality checks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No more muffins for me for the next 50 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm travelling OVERSEAS!!!!!!

Mr B: Good news, you'll be travelling overseas!

Me: Really? *smile* *smile* *smile*.. where to? *dalam hati: Brazil ke for the Conference that Numero Uno is attending?*

Mr B: Jauh jugaklah..

Me: Mana tu? *smile* *smile* *smile* (excuse the excitement.. the fartherst that I've been to with B*N is Sri Lanka okay and that was 3 years ago! :p)

Mr B: You have to go to Song next 2 weeks for a site visit before we launch the new branch..

*Panggggggggggggggg!* Mr B kena lempang! Okay, I would definitely do this if I have the same remote control as Adam Sandler's but fortunately for Mr B, I don't!

Yup.. that's my life as a konon high-flying corporate lady lar.. when people like Ija goes to Europe or the very least Singapore every other month..or Sho-on who gets to shop for cool stuff in Dubai when she goes out-station..or Yeen who for an assignment gets to stay in Washington for a month and now resides in Singapore..

Me.. I've to go to places with the names like Kampung Tekek, Changkat Jering and Song! What the.....!!!

I'm sure most of you would know where Changkat Jering and Kg Tekek is right... so let me just educate you about Song.. firstly, just because these names are as weird as Kandooma and both would involve travelling by boat..please do not put a mental picture in your head that these places actually look like Kandooma where you could possibly find dolphins and mermaids in the clear ocean.. :p

Song is a remote town in Sarawak. It is just by the infamous Sg Rejang, the longest river which probably is haven for crocodiles. To get to Song, I have to take a flight to Sibu and then go on a 2-hour express boat ride crossing the Sg. Rejang. (2 hours, express???)

Sent an email to an officer to get more info about Song and this is the skema reply that I received:

Puan Emilia,
Jumlah penduduk yang tinggal dalam radius 7km dari pekan Song dianggarkan lebih kurang 20,000 orang. Ini termasuk perkampungan Iban dan rumah panjang di sepanjang Sg Rejang dan Sg Katibas. Daripada populasi 20,000 orang ini, hanya dalam linkungan 3,000 orang sahaja yang bertumpu di pekan Song. (oohh great.. I'll make it 3001).. Song hanya mempunyai jalanraya berturap sekitar 7 km dari kawasan pekan menghubungkan kampung dan rumah panjang. All the best, Puan!

Okay, this is what you should have as a mental picture:

Me braving through the longest river (crocodiles included in the package) clad in my B*N F1 shirt because it's an official visit..mingling with the locals whom I was told only speak Iban language.. sleeping in the Rumah Panjang when I can't even survive in a dodgy hotel in Perak..

Sheessshh.. sometimes I wonder.. aku ni in banking ke Discovery Channel? what I do and where I go could actually put Asha Gill the Travel & Adventure host to shame..mannn!

Yeah..this is true patriotism at work, eh.. tanggungjawab sosial for the nation..this is what the people of B*N do for the communities in the country.. when all other banks dare not even go there because for obvious reasons that it would not be profitable, we have to do it because in actuality we are the people's bank.. So, lepas ni before you even open your mouth to complaint about B*N, think about what we've done for your monyang, datuk, nenek, mak, bapak, pakcik & makcik kat kampung..

I guess I'm not a high-flying..jet-setting corporate lady.. for the time being I've to just settle with being an express-boat setting one lah!



The jetty where my boat will arrive..



Song town..

A place we can call OUR HOME!

The past couple of weekends we've been busy moving things in and cleaning up the new house. Yes! The house is ready! Renovation all done! But looks like our target to move in some time in April maybe a bit tersasar lah due to some unforseen circumstances.. {read:bonus yang tak dapat2 lagi!}

Frankly I don't really know what our concept is in interior designing terms.. hubby said because of a particular furniture that I chose I sort of made the concept that he already had in his head a bit kelam kabut... well, that would be vice versa I guess.. I'm not too fond of the colour of a particular item that he chose either... but luckilly that item, colour wise, blends well with the rest of the furniture in the house.

Here's a preview of what it was before and what it is today.. kalau nak bagi nama glamer sket for the interior designing concept.. I shall say our concept is modern contemporary.. chewah...

We practically renovated almost the whole house...the porch

The living room..

The kitchen..

The transformation..

This is before we brought in the sofa set..We now have a problem with that particular shoe cabinet.. tak tau nak letak kat mana.. dah salah ukur..if we put it there which is where it is supposed to be, tak boleh nak bukak pintu.. :p

Part of our living room area..The sofa set was actually the one thing that we both agreed to be the most satisfactory.. furniture lain macam kat showroom best tapi bila sampai rasa macam nak komplen je..

The kitchen cabinet..I was initially very nervous to see how it would turned out because I chose the colour black..even contemplated to change the colour at the very last minute.. nasib baik tak tukar.. it turned out OK and both of us kinda like it..

This is where some serious cooking will be done.. ;)

Amir's bed.. he's of course very excited about the bed but we'll see la in the end whether he dares to sleep there alone..

This pic does not do justice to the dining table and chairs at all...When I saw it in the showroom it was love at first sight for me.. Looks small here..but actually this is a high table and you can even bukak the table to make it longer...

Kat blakang sofa tu buruh yang ngelat keje..

Ni supervisor paling ganas....

Overall, I'm very pleased with how everything had turned out.. Well, hubby was the one supervising the whole renovation works and moving things to the house because he's the main investor and yelahh.. I've to take care of the kids kan... :) mana nak? tengok contractor ke tukar diaper? Of course there's still a lot to do for the house... electricals.. main bedroom.. carpeting..decorative items.. and if we have extra moolahs we can probably change the flooring kat atas.

Hmmm....

Our lil' sweethearts!

I was about to blog about my event in Perak.. but then I got tagged in FB by Kapak Tajam, hubby's friend who was our official photographer for Sarah's and Amir's b'day...

So I just can't resist putting these pics in my blog! I really have to thank Kapak for taking really cool pics of the kiddies! This is especially for those who missed the party!

Kudos to Kapak Tajam, the photographer! And of course to mama and babah for producing such cute babies! muahahahahahha!

p/s: But they say, good looking babies come from ugly parents?? :p

Penyapu? Not for this bunch of gomen people!

I feel compelled to put this in my blog because I'm just very impressed with the super efficient people at a particular Ministry. Here's the story..

I received a call yesterday from B*N's No2 to say that a Minister had verbally confirmed to attend a launch event that we have planned to do. And it would be on the 6th of April 09. That leaves me with just a couple of days to work on the event minus the weekends. Of course, when it comes to the Ministers/politicians the term 'verbally confirmed' is just overplayed like a broken radio..so usually I'll have to chase practically everybody in their office to get an official confirmation only to then receive an official rejection/postponement! This is after having to call the PA, Special Assistant, Special Secretary, Private Secretary, Political Secretary bla..bla..bla...

BUT...the people at this particular Ministry.. well, they are just a great bunch of efficient and helpful people..they answered my calls..replied to all my smses... yes they passed my calls around.. but I was passed around to the right people.. and within half a day gotten an official YES confirmation! That's like really record-breaking mannn...

Hey since this is not negative entry/comments.. I shall just put the name of the Ministry... it's the Ministry of International Trade & Industry! 2 thumbs up to the people at the Minister's office! I guess the people picked the right leader and the leader picked the right people to be with him!

Well, of course... we still have to wait till Monday... kalau tiba2 dia cancel last minute like how we've experienced with other Ministers as well then I shall consider posting another entry about him! hehe..

p/s: Yeen, thanks for the help! Would I be seeing you in Perak then?

I finally did it

I finally did it. I'm not sure if it was the right move. But I think it's time to make known to the other party that I'm not a tunggul kayu... lagipun I dont know.. I guess it just felt right at that point of time.

I hope the action that I've taken was guided by God and not the devil...after all I sent it after smayang Asar... so, okay kot.... :)