25th July 2011 - Our division is officially move to PUTRAJAYA!

Finished packing.

Today, at 7pm, all boxes will be transported to Putrajaya. I cant wait to work in the new office. Right now the mover is busy bubblewrapping everything. I just packed my last box.

What is IMO?

I wanted to log about this for a long time but I didnt know where to start or perhaps, I dont know how to explain. Since my brother posted an entry on this, I just copy and paste it here but in different order...

My brother has represented Malaysia three times in this competition (in Romania, 1999; Taejon, Korea, 2000; and Washington DC, USA, 2001) and since 2006 (after he graduated for the MIT, Boston), he has been training Malaysian team to the IMO. He has been appointed as a jury (the youngest, perhaps) for the competition. He had attended the IMO every year that was held in different countries - German, Spain, Kazakhstan and right now he is in Netherlands as the leader of Malaysian team.

The IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) is an annual global mathematical contest which is considered the most prestigious academic competition in the world. Started in 1959, the IMO has produced a number of top mathematicians including winners of the Fields Medals, the “Nobel equivalent” of mathematics. In the 50 years of its existence, IMO has created a tremendous impact in mathematical education around the world, specifically on the development of talented students. IMO is the oldest, largest and most prestigious of the Science Olympiads.

At the IMO, students sit for two tests on two consecutive days, where each test consists of three problems to be solved in 4.5 hours. Students write their solutions individually. The problems are original and created specifically for this competition by mathematicians around the world. The level of difficulty of the problems is so high that a geometry problem in the paper was only solved completely by 6 students.

The Malaysia IMO training program, organized by the Malaysian Mathematical Sciences Society (PERSAMA), is a year long program to identify, shortlist, and train potential students for the IMO (More details at http://suhaimiramly.wordpress.com/imo). This program is run under the patronage of the Ministry of Education.

Malaysia won our first International Mathematical Olympiad Gold medal at the IMO 2011 in Amsterdam. Congratulations to How Si Yu, Form 4 student at SMK USJ12. He managed to rank #25 overall among 564 top math students from 101 countries.

His identical twin, How Si Wei who is also in Form 4 at SMK USJ12, won a Silver Medal. Tham Ying Hong, Form 5 at SMJK Katholik PJ, bagged a Bronze Medal. This is Ying Hong’s third IMO (he won a Silver Medal in IMO 2010 in Kazakhstan). Two members of the team, Anzo Teh Zhao Yang from SMJK Chung Ling Butterworth and Justin Lim Kai Ze from SMK Tinggi Kluang, both in Form 3, won Honorable Mention award. HMs are given to participants which do not make the cutoff points for medals but able to solve a problem completely. Another member of the Malaysian team is Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, an A-Level student at INTEC Shah Alam, and former student at SM Sains Teluk Intan.

More about my brother :

Utusan Malaysia & Kosmo!. I have no time to search for more (yes, there are actually more), just dig up his blog. you'll find it.

Moving in : Part 11 - Pop Kitchen

Earlier, I wanted our kitchen to look modern (& monotonous) with grey wall, white tiles and black, silver & white kitchen utensils. We went through such an agonising time searching for modern /chic silver, black and white ONLY utensils. OMG, it was so hard considering our tight budget. One day, I was just gave up. This one was a minor gave up over the kitchen utensils. I rarely gave up on something - maybe once in ten years.

I need to run my kitchen and I need to run it RIGHT NOW! No time to go around looking for some WHITE / SILVER / BLACK kitchen utensils that fit my strict specifications. White chic scoop for scooping rice, black ladle for frying - so it is not obvious if it burnt, all containers should be glass (transparent) & silver...

So I started to buy a few pieces in different colours because those were the only colours available on the display shelves that time. Later on, I found out that adding a pop of colours here and there made our kitchen more interesting, well, at least for me who spend most of my time in the kitchen. Colours make me smile. Sometimes, putting a stop to a nonsense is a very good start for something better.

More on our MOVING IN Adventures! Click here.

Thanks, BIL

My bro-in-law just came back from a short trip to London today. He brought us these. Thanks!

Family : Port Dickson, July 2011

We let the kids play with the sand by the beach at night, in their pyjamas. But, Nazran hates SANDY beach. He hates sand. We dont know why.

He clinged to me like a joey (read - baby koala).

He refuse to stand on the sand at all. Everytime I put him down, he will stand on my Crocs.

Until I gave him a pen and ask him to draw a cat on the sand. Using the pen.

At last! Phew!

The next day, it happened all over again. He refuse to took off his pair of slippers. He doesnt want leave the grassy area. I have to go through the same battle with the baby koala again... Oh, Nazran!

Dating

It felt so good to be able to hang out once in a while, sipping our favourite cappucino (frappe & italiano) and talk for hours at Cafe Barbera, KLIA. Just the two of us.

Another photographer in the house - Nabil

Last time I'd posted an entry on Nabil's interest in photography (here). Lately, since we bought a 60D, we gave him a chance to play around with our 1000D (and of course, the 60D) once in a while (for those who are not familiar, they are the models of Canon DSLR).

Earlier this week we went to Port Dickson. Papa taught him some lessons on capturing photos of flower and birds while waiting for sunset (Mama was busy running around with another two in our hotel room). When they came back and Nabil showed me his photos, I was so proud! Not bad for a 5 years old, eh?

Nabil in action.

I hope you'll become a famous photographer in the future. I will be here to support you all the way.

Happy 4th Birthday Nazreen

LED Watch

This is my not-so-new LED Watch. You know I just can’t say NO to anything WHITE. It comes in many shapes but as usual, I opted for square wristwatch. It is covered with two-way mirror and all I have to do is push the upper button and voila, the time will appear in a bright red LED lights. After a few seconds, it turn back to mirror. I can touch up my make up anytime.

Owh, I am feeling so Retro right now (LED watch was introduced in 1970s). I can even check my teeth after a meal at the table without excusing myself to the powder/restroom (before I can smile and converse confidently), every time. LOL.