A belated entry

Happy Birthday to me!

In the morning I got these..thanks Nyet for the lovely roses and Sally/Kama/K.Arida for the yummy famous amos cookies in a cool jar which I can put in my not-so-new-house..




In the afternoon I gave myself a good treat without feeling any guilt..

At night..sorry no pics of dinner at home with the family.. lupa nak ambik...

Over the weekend, the girls gave me a surprise b'day cake @ Azah's baby shower.. actually macam dah boleh guess ada the surprise cake because Ija's son, Daniel kept on saying bila nak makan cake... :)

On Sunday, I invented a new Italian dish --- Kerepek Lasagna! Sebab still tgh b'day mood I thought why don't I give my family a treat... so I tried out Nik's lasagna recipe (Nik makes really yummy lasagna, by the way)...tapi in the end we had steamboat for dinner...sebab lasagnaku walaupun baunya best and rasa pun sedap tak cukup moist from the bolognese sauce agaknya so jadi keras macam kerepek!

As for the b'day present...huhu...tak sampai lagi!!!

Thanks all, for the b'day wishes!

Paint your soul...

I've been so 'chembeng' the past couple of weeks. I dunno why. Could be my hormones. No..am not preggy nor am I hitting menopause.

It started from watching Papadom...heard it was a good family movie and wanted to watch with hubby but he was busy. So, I watched it with 2 Mamadoms..the movie was hillarious but had some really mellow moments. Agaknya sebab tengok dengan 2 Mamadoms, memang layan giler.. so yeah we all cried NOT once but FEW times!! I mean to imagine that I could one day be leaving the kiddies and hubby.. and to see the struggle of a father who just wants to protect her daughter... alamak...sedih siot...

Last weekend we invited kids from some orphanage Homes in the Klang Valley i.e Rumah Al-Khadeem, Rumah Amal Belaian Kasih, Rumah Charis, Rumah Kanak2 Ini Disayangi and Agathians Shelter for a CSR project. We had about 59 kids in total. (Againlaa...bila tengok anak yatim especially the really young ones, dah nak meleleh air mata)

For this project, the kids were asked to do some paintings on how they see BSN and also on some other general themes. We are going to select the best 12 paintings to be featured in our 2010 calendar. Winners will get RM 500 of savings, their homes will each get RM 3000 and the rest receive a token+some goodies.

I was skeptical at first that the kids could produce the kind of paintings we'd want...especially when 90% of them do not have the experience of painting on canvas (Aku pun sebenarnya! hehe).. Tapi I was impressed with the kids..some of the paintings were like really cool. For them to be able to come up with a painting in 3 hours, to me, is just superb. Of course, just like when we were kids, we would first paint a picture of a house, birds, clouds, trees, cars so we had so many paintings with these elements...

But the one that really touched my heart was this painting. Dah balik rumah pun boleh teringat lagi and yes 'chembeng' lagila...

Suki showed this to me when we were shortlisting the paintings. This is a painting done by a 6 year old boy from Rumah Al Khadeem. When Suki asked him who the human character in his painting is, he replied that it's his mother. As you can see, the mother is crying and she has claws..according to Suki when the boy had gone to the library, he was so fascinated with pictures of ghosts and draculas. He even told her that he often sees ghosts.. Suki soon found out that for many years, this boy was abandoned and left at home alone when the mother goes out to work.. he was locked in a dark room till late night sometimes sampai pukul 12.. he makan and does all his 'business' in the room..so obviously in the dark, what else would you imagine or see right? Probably thinks that he had been lucky to be friends with whatever spirits...

He is now in his 4th week at Rumah Al Khadeem.. the first few weeks at the rumah he was teased by the kids sebab tak tau nak buang air.. he was doing it everywhere.. and yeah.. he does not like to bathe either sebab the mother does not bathe him...he likes to march around the home sambil nyanyi lagu dangdut... ;) But now Alhamdullilah, he knows how to do his 'business' the right way and instead of marching sambil nyanyi dangdut, he now recites Al-Fatihah.

We had some really good paintings that day. But I guess this was the most honest...

I hope the kids had fun and I hope we would have more of this kind of CSR activity in future! :)

TKC 90-94 Raya Rendezvous 09

Date: 17 October 2009

Venue: The Residence

I was late --- but I was not the last .. :p

I forgot the blueberry tarts that I took from my auntie all the way in Rinching!

But I guess it did'nt really matter anyway..because sape2 yang bawak kuih that day pun kurang laku coz everybody was into Rie's chocolate cake.. --- sorry Nik, it would be hard for you to sue a lawyer for false misrepresentation .. :)

I of course had fun catching up with the ladies..most of them I've not met in ages.. seriously! Like Dyiena (who would have won the best dressed award if we ever had one that evening), Ayu, Iza Airina, Sha memang last masa zaman sekolah lah kot..macam Ummi, I thought the last I met her was when she was stil Fida's housemate padahal dah dekat 7 tahun dia pindah..and it's good to know that there is a pediatrician in the batch -- GGee, I would definitely be haunting you after
this...

Small group in a small room -- probably like hmm 20 of us -- excluding the men that we dragged to come along and kiddies that we were forced to bring... but being TKCian, bisingnya sama je macam hari makan nasik ayam kat dining hall... :)


With Fida Nor, Fiza (+ her'handbag') and Erlena

Fydd and her cute lil' son who had to leave early sebab tak bwak bantal busuk..

The group (- Fern)

With Umi, Ayu, Ggee, Erlena, Mona, Fad (preggy),Fida,Nik and Hida (not preggy this time)

Zett's designated PR officer for the evening with Parliament's PR officer

The organizer with the Queen of the evening!

* Pics courtesy of Zett's/Erlena's FB

Thanks Zett, for organizing the gathering this year and for years to come... ;)

p/s: Me thinks that our batch has got quite an interesting variety of profession --- paed, psychytrist,skin specialist,dentist,doughnut peddlar, tokei restoran Jepun, tokei petrol station..

Calling all makciks --- Metrojaya Shopping Fest is back!!!!

I shopped like a madwoman yesterday!

Thru FB I found out that there was a Metrojaya Shopping Fest at Mid Valley exhibition hall. After attending NSTP's Open House at Hilton KL yesterday I thought what the heck..I might as well drop by and check it out.. My MAIN OBJECTIVE was to find stuff for the new house (yang dah sepatutnya tak boleh dipanggil new lagi).

But when I stepped into the hall .... I was greeted by clothes from Laura Ashley and Liz Clairborne at 70% discount!!! EIC were all at 50% .. Somerset Bay 70%.. Gile siot! I guess because it was the first day not that many people knew about the sale.. although ramai it was kinda okay..I did'nt have to fight my way thru a throng of people or wait for ages for an empty fitting room... salesgirls were also damn helpful..siap tolong angkat baju and carikkan fitting room yang kosong..Masa time carik2 baju I did'nt see the household punya area.. I could only see signs put up for Cosmetics and Fragrances..Shoes..Handbags...

Sekali bila sampai kat area Household, lagila cam psycho! Almost everything at 70% discount! Like where on earth could you get a nice piece of stoneware plate @ only RM 5! Or glassware that they use in hotels at RM 17 bucks!!I know...like as if la I'm gonna be doing much cooking or serving for dinner parties and all... tapi I could not help myself. Sampai mangkuk yang tak tau untuk serve apa pun boley rasa nak beli just because murah and shape dia cantik..I ended up buying 3 bakul besar pinggan mangkuk okay ---- was telling myself not to feel guilty because new house memang takde pinggan mangkuk pun..takkan nak bagi guests makan dalam daun pisang lak ---

Since I came alone, cam sakit kepala la pikir camna nak angkut all the stuff.. siap tanya one sales assistant to help me and I'll give tip..tapi sales assistant kata takleh tolong.. last2 kat cashier counter the girl in charge there was soooo nice to me...she said that it's impossible for me to carry all the stuff so siap arrange for a trolley to be sent up to the hall and 2 guys to help send the barang2 sampai kereta..bila nak jalan keluar tu siap bukak special lane lagi tu....

I tell you....

Kalau dalam movie Pretty Woman, there's Julia Roberts stylishly shopping away at Rodeo Drive, but I was like a 'Pretty' Makcik clad in baju kurung with one hand pegang bakul plastic and the other hand carrying Metrojaya's gigantic sling bag. Some more with 2 skinny 'bodyguards' tolak trolley sampai my red Ferrari.. errr.. I mean, my dad's supercool red Proton Saga.. hehe..

Go check out the sale peeps! It ends on the 19th of October but I can bet you before the weekend sure banyak brg dah habis punya...

p/s: Saw Datuk K and Datuk Siti at NSTP's open house. Siti is back to being cun...and Datuk K..(don't say that I'm gross) I think he's pretty good looking laa...

Should I get the singer or the bachelor?

I have been asked by Numero 2 to try and get Ms Y, a new singer in the indie scene to explore the possibility of being the spokesperson for our new products. Since the product is targeted for the young generation, we thought we could reach out to this market through her. Of course it would then be a win-win situation because we can also promote her to our 7 million customers.

However, my attempts to get to her has been futile. I was told that in the entertainment industry she is known to be a bit 'unresponsive' hence the bad publicity that she's been getting lately. I contacted her manager who happens to also be in her band and he asked me to drop him an email so that it's kinda like a formal request. But I never got a reply. I sent him an sms to remind him about my email. Again I never got a reply.

Just a week before Ramadhan, I was introduced to her Label Manager. Ms S, from my ad agency helped to set up the meeting. Because we're chasing after a chick from an indie band, I guess it was understood that the venue for the meeting was at a mamak place and over a teh tarik. I expected the Label Manager to be 'kerek' lah.. a generalization that I make to those in the indie scene.. dah lah nama dia pun macam poyo.. Jeremy Laguna.. I was like.. amende nama camni..ni mesti nama tipu ni...

BUT ... Mr Jeremy Little Laguna was actually nice and helpful. Not only that, he was HOT! He came clad in a t-shirt which looked like it has never been washed for many weeks with scruffy hair like tak pernah sikat and all...tapi muka memang hensem giler beb...he's of mixed parentage..Melayu campur apa ntah.. tak ingat.. too busy oogling.. hehe... anyhoo, he gave us all the details that we needed on Ms Y. He kinda liked our idea and we discussed the areas that we'd like to explore.. before leaving, he promised to try and set up a proper meeting with her before Ramadhan...

Then... Ramadhan came... still no meeting...on the 2nd week I called up Jeremy and he profusedly apologise saying that Ms Y has been very busy with shows, classes, exams... he said that he will keep me posted. I told him even if it's a no, just tell us. I had totally forgotten about this very- the -busy -indie chick - who seems to not like publicity-but wants to be a singer?- if not for Numero 2 chasing me for the status updates.

To know the status, I've to get Jeremy. Since I've changed to a new hp, I've lost some of the hp numbers i stored in my old hp. So, I googled for 'Jeremy Little Laguna' hoping to well get lucky and find his hp or office number somewhere.. instead I found this:

Okay, intermission jap: The scruffy mamat was one of Cleo's Most Eligible Bachelor and was in the popular indie band Prana!!!

I finally got both his numbers. The hp was unreachable. So, I tried the office. Only to find that Jeremy had gone for Umrah. I had to ask repeatedly like "Umrah?".. cam tak caye la pulak lepas dah tergoogle mende yang atas tu kan... and his Assistant was like laughing.. and repeatedly replied betul...Umrah... hehe..

He's coming back tomorrow. I'll give him a couple of days to rest, before I start chasing after him... :p

p/s: A guy who claimed to be M*wi new PR officer came by the office to offer M*wi as our spokesperson. Lagi senang nak dapat M*wi rupanya drpd Ms Y.... hmmmm....

He has cancer.

About 2 weeks ago my brother had to go for a surgery. A minor one, we thought. He has a small lump in his throat. When we went to the hospital to visit him, he told us that it could possibly be cancer. At that point of time, the test results were not final as yet. We were hopeful, nonetheless that it would not be cancer and since he seemed to be doing okay after the surgery we were looking forward to a speedy recovery.

A day after his birthday my brother had to go to the hospital to get the test results. I was at work and when I got back home, my mom was already in tears. She told me that my brother had called her 4 times that day wanting to speak to his son. In his first phone call after asking for his son, he said that he had gotten the test results and the cancer is in his perut! So my mom, was of course shocked and devastated as she was not expecting it to be as serious as that...as in spreading from the throat to perut??! In his 2nd,3rd and 4th call, he again asked for his son. But in the 4th phone call, he was like a bit blur when my mom said he had called 4 times. He thought the 4th phone call was his first. Laaagilaa my mom became all worried about what the drugs had done to him.

We waited for my sister in law to come back home and tell us the actual situation. That evening, we all -- my mom, dad,sis in law and me - sat at the family area.. all teary eyed. I think that was my first time seeing my dad cry. I felt like I was carrying a gigantic stone in my heart. My sis in law said that from the test results, my brother has been diagnosed with a throat cancer (not perut!!!!haiyo..my mom...) stage 1. He started chemo on that day -- which had explained why he was kinda weak and a bit blurry --- and the dr had to still do some tests i.e ambik something/air/tisu from the tulang belakang --- not so sure. The dr said that if we ever get cancer, the best place to have it is at the throat because it would be easier to treat...I guess that made us all feel a bit better..

To those close to me, you all would probably know that my brother is not the chatty type..even with his family i.e my parents and siblings. I still remember when I was TKC, I used to envy the relationship that Hanim has with her brother because they were very close like best friends who could tell each other anything..chat on the phone etc. Yes, we talked but I mean, I won't be calling home just to chat with him la... and I doubt that he ever missed me when I'm not around... :p But ada jugakla time yang dia buat gempak... hehe.. I felt really proud masa hari penyampaian hadiah in 1994, he came with my parents to see me go up on stage! That day I cried extra long at my cupboard --- homesick as usual + happy that he came ---! Yes, I love and adore my brother! --- i dare to put this because I know he's not reading my blog and not gonna know --- ;)

Back when he was in secondary school and uni, my brother was like really naughty..had made my mom cried many times..tapi he is still like the gem in the family i.e anak laki sorang. So he escaped all the housework. Yang kena torture would be my sister, the anak sulung... haha.. But throughout the years after that, to me, he has really changed... I've watched him grow up to be a matured son who takes care of his parents well and most of all a very loving father.

I am sad to see that he has to go through all this.. my brother now has to berpantang makan, go for chemo for about 4 months and followed by radio therapy... I pity the children because they may not be getting the amount of attention that they are used to from him..I know that it would not be easy for my sis in law... But on a lighter note, it's good to see that he's indeed trying to stay positive..we're all gonna support him and will not show him that we're sad and all that.

I pray and hope that he would be strong to fight this battle.

Keajaiban boleh berlaku

Walaupun keputusan saya tidak secemerlang Ainun, saya rasa amat bangga kerana telah lulus. Seperti perumpamaan "Miracles do happen" atau dalam terjemahan Bahasa Melayu "Keajaiban boleh berlaku" saya telah lulus ujian yang saya sangkakan akan menemui kegagalan.



Wohhoooo!!Let's do the chicken dance y'all!

One more module to go to be certified!

Aceh, be good to me!

Before the Raya break, Mr D, our HR Director had a brief chat with me about sending me to Aceh for a leadership program under United Nations and Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT). I thought he was not serious. I mean.. Aceh? I had images of Tsunami and the gory pictures that were shown to me by Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia back in my Daimler days when I was helping out the victims in Kedah.

But yeah.. he was serious! Apparently the bank has identified/selected 2 candidates to go for this International program. The cost per participant is a freaking 12,000 USD okay! I'll probably have to be bonded with BSN sampai ke cucu cicit!!!Of course ayat2 Mr D macam power lah.. i.e Emilia, the bank selects those who are still young... has the potential for good carreer progression...etc. But in my head I was going like... yeah yeah... ni mesti org lain sume takmo pegi... hehe...

He asked me to read the brochure and gave me 1 day to think about it.

The program is called "The Global Young Leaders Programme" (YLP) coordinated by GIFT. Taking place in Hong Kong and Aceh from 30th November to 12 December 09, participants will be part of a project to develop new commercial strategies for promoting the sustained recovery of Aceh province following the 2004 Tsunami. For this project, UNDP together with Aceh Partnerships in Economic Development (APED) forges partnerships with various sectors and economic clusters.

One such economic cluster is cocoa. So, I'll be staying at a cocoa farm.. yes...this is not like a conference where I'll enjoy good food at a 5 star hotel and think about whether I have time for spa during breaks..I was of course pretty reluctant to go. What more thinking about being away from the kiddies for 12 days! Asked a few people's for their opinion:

My husband - Indon kan tgh teruk skarang ni.. buat pe nak pegi..

My sister - Jiji, u should go. You will never get the opportunity again and you will definitely not pay for something like this. Plus... sure awak kurus balik nanti Jiji...takyah de nak pegi Bzbodi ke apa...

K.Arida - Ji...jgn tinggalkan I sorang2 Ji.. I nak amik cuti la few days kalau u pegi.. u buat la sembahyang istikharah..

Kama - huahauahua..matila u K.Arida..

After some hard thinking and soul searching for the Angelina Jolie in me, I have decided to go.
The one and only experiental learning program that I've been to was when I had gone to Stuttgart, Germany for DaimlerChrysler's PR induction program. Uber cool! That was like what..5 years ago??

This is at a restaurant in Stuttgart where I tasted my first Mediterranean black rice yang dibuat drpd 'ink hitam' sotong tu... no that's not my wine.. :p

At DaimlerChrysler's HQ

So, what my sister said is true. Opportunities like this is hard to come by. And I'll be doing a good deed for the people's of Aceh --- this is the Angelina Jolie in me talking.... Lagipun kat TV kata Indon tengah gempa bumi and all so I'm praying that the program will be done elsewhere like in Paris ke.. London ke.. har har har I wish!

So Aceh, be good to me and I'll be good to you!