Haziq & Sarah's birthday party

Haziq & Sarah are my sister's kids. These are my simple & quick deco while waiting for the guests. I finished this in 20 minutes, just in time before the first guests arrived. Kids' birthday party should be colourful, yes?

I am using a few toys as coasters and jelly container (mostly trucks).

Family : Sunway Resort & Spa, October 2010

The law of nature. Ngauum..

Corrugated Board Warriors!

What is left from Malam MITI's project...

Malam MITI 2010

Me and my hubby made these for Malam MITI 2010 (with the help of my cousins/Kapas dedicated staffs, NA & SA - Nazreen was warded that time and we spent most of the time @ Selayang Hospital).

Thanks for the lovely sis Haida from MITI for her trust and support for our newly-established company, Kapas Media & Services. Will talk about Kapas Media later.
Block letters in action (I got this from sis Haida MITI). Until now I cant believe we managed to pull it off.

These are what left from MALAM MITI project (here).

Family : Dinos Alive! @ National Science Centre, Feb 2010

Dino feeding frenzy. They just fed the dinos.
3 tired, 1 scared.

Bags

I like it when they bring their own bags and be responsible on what to bring and what to wear during traveling. (So I can bring smaller bag ;p)

Family : KL Bird Park, July 2010

So many birds everywhere. I was screaming and running all over the place. The only one who loves the birds is Nazran.

Family : Floria @ Putrajaya, July 2010

They ran happily towards the road and hit the wall. The aftermath.

Family : Eagle Ranch Resort, July 2010

Go-karting our way!

Family : CosmoWorld, August 2010

My sister's treat. 10am - 5pm.

Family : i-City, Feb 2011

Papa's birthday. We booked a suite and spent weekend around Shah Alam.

Family : Titiwangsa, Feb 2011

Papa grabs his camera bag, Mama gets some food to go and we are having fun by the lake!

(Photo courtesy of Papa from Secret Lens Photography)

Adelaide 2010

[ click on the image for larger and clearer view ]

Rundle Mall, Adelaide.

honey, anyone?

I am crazy over honey. It was all started when I had a bad asthma attack in January 2010 and I have no drugs at all, at that moment. So, I took a spoonful of honey and swallow it slowly, push it down with the help of plain water, in 10 minutes, I can breathe normally.

Then I did some experiments on my pimples, papercuts, blisters and on my kids - for their flu, diarrhoea and allergies, it worked! Since then, I turn to honey whenever I fell sick before reaching for any other drugs.

Before I departed to Adelaide, I learned that South Australian honey is the best (in the world? or in Australia? i am not sure). So, I googled up online store in Adelaide that sell honey. OMG, honey is bloody cheap in Australia! I've contacted one online store and fortunately they have a brick-and-mortar shop near the hotel that I am going to reside in Adelaide. One fine evening, when everything stopped in Adelaide for Melbourne Cup, I went there with my chauffeur, Paul. We are the only moving things in Adelaide that moment. lol.

I was so happy that I wanted to jump up and down once I stepped in the shop. The shop is FUUULLLLL with honey. I can spend hours tasting all flavours, comparing the thickness and smell, reading its labels, learning about its origins and contemplating on which one is the best.... but, naaah... I promised to Paul I am going to spend only 30 mins in the shop.

I end up buying 8 kilograms worth of South Australian honey and two boxes of fresh, juicy strawberries. yummy!

Of Business Hours

I went to Adelaide, South Australia in October till November 2010 to attend meetings and a conference organised by Eastern Regional Organsation for Planning and Human Settlement (EAROPH). This presentation really caught my attention. On Business Hours.

Sad entry

I just lost one of my PTD friend. [Al-Fatihah] A great person. He left behind a wife, a 3yo and 60 days old daughters. His blog (here) and belasungkawa for him (here)

My questions to you :

Sudahkah anda bersedia jika kita dijemput sebentar lagi? Atau esok pagi?
Sudah cukupkah amalan, solat, membaca Al-Quran, berzikir dalam sehari?
Sudahkah kita bersedia berhadapan dengan fitnah kubur dan padang mahsyar?
Sudahkah anda bermaafan sesama suami / isteri setiap hari?
Sudah cukupkah jasa ibu dan bapa dibalas sepanjang hidup ini?

Adakah anda membantu ibu anda memasak, mencuci baju, melipat baju, menyapu lantai, mencuci longkang, mencuci pinggan mangkuk saban hari atau membiarkan dirinya membuat semua kerja dengan kudrat yang semakin sedikit dan tenaga yang kian terhad?

Adakah anda membantu meringankan beban ayah setiap hari?

Adakah sekadar menghulurkan wang sudah cukup untuk menggembirakan hati mereka?

Berbaktilah kepada mereka selagi mereka masih hidup dan berbaktilah sepenuh hati selama kita masih belum dijemput olehNya... Keredhaan suami dan ibubapa adalah juga keredhaan Allah.

Ctrl + Alt + Del & Lens

My hubby got these for the kids, from Taiwan's MOD Design.

If you're all too familiar with having to frustratingly press Ctrl + Alt + Del during a frozen computer session, you'll appreciate these cups. The cups are shaped like giant keys and the tray is modeled to look like a computer's circuit board. The cup set made an appearance at 2008 Maison et Object trade. Cool, huh?

And since my photographer hubby was asking for a new lens as his bday present this year, I bought him this cute lens cup. (well, he didnt give me the actual specs of the lens he really wanted, so...)

Now, I am waiting for my cup pulak. Anyone came across any crazy cup design, lemme know.

Corporate Club Annual Dinner : Red Night

Last January 2011, we had our Annual Corporate Club Dinner. Since the theme is Red & Black, so they decided to call it Red Night. My Photoshop software is currently not working so I couldnt edit the photos. Anyway, I just post a couple of photos here to show happy faces of Red Night. Enjoy.

International Unit recited international poem that night (in Japanese, Greek, Tagalog, Korean and Hindi). Good job, guys!

Congrats to Nura and Yasir, the Queen and King of the Night.

Also, congrats to all finalist for Penjawat Awam Contoh Award - Nura, Rafidah, Naji, Wardi dan yours truly.

Thanks to all who helped me to turn the dull hall into awesome Red & Black-themed hall!!! TQVM.

House Build Project 2009 + 2010

I have a series of hotel reviews to be posted here. But before I did that and leave you wondering what the heck I was doing in Borneo lately, first and foremost, I would like to tell you about our flagship project. It is called House Build (HB) Project, held in conjunction with the World Habitat Day 2009 onwards.

The HB Pilot Project was introduced in 2009. The aim of this project is to provide comfortable shelters for hardcore urban poor families whose dilapidated houses were in serious need of repair. A team of international and local volunteers spent one to three months repairing the houses in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; Kuching, Sarawak and Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.

We worked in partnership with an international NGO who is in-charge of mobilising groups of volunteers (local and international) to execute the construction work on site. We just pay for the building material and those volunteers will repair or re-built the house at no cost.

I was actively involved in monitoring two projects in Kota Kinabalu, in which I have to flew to KK on monthly basis and also a few trips to Kuching projects (at the final stage), just to make sure the houses were built according to the specification before the handover ceremony by The Hon Minister to the owner held in January 2010.

I don’t involved in site visit for 2010 projects.

Anyway, kudos to the volunteers! They nailed it although it was so difficult to construct new roofing system for the dilapidated houses built on the water in KK. They don’t have scaffolding or any other technical equipments (they are volunteers, remember?). They also manage to repair two houses in Terengganu during the monsoon season in spite both houses were technically “submerged” in the flood. And the best part is, they pulled it off with a VERY LIMITED BUDGET per house.

Any company with extra RM20k to spend, and wishes to be involved in HB Project 2011, as part of your CSR programme (and get tax exemption summore), contact me!

Kota Kinabalu projects

House 01

House 02

Kuala Terengganu projects

House 01

House 02

My paper clips

A conversation last week at Ali Maju Bistro. During lunch hour.

This guy : Hey, what happened to your paper clip?

Me : What paper clip?

This guy : YOUR paper clip…. (stressing on YOUR)

Me : My ...paper ...clips... are... fine… (It just happened that I had transferred all paper clips inside a purple smiggle steel box before lunch, so, it should be fine, right?) err... why?

This guy : Fine? You win?

Me : Huh?

..... (awkward silence) .....

I felt stupid not knowing what else to say. And I think he felt stupid too.. maybe he thought he was asking the question to the wrong person.

SUDDENLY...

Me : OHHHH!!!!! That paper clip!!!! OMG that was so long ago! I totally forgot about that already.

(Note : Related entry here)

This guy : So, you win?

Me : Yes and No.

In total, me and my partner (he was my junior in KAED), Shahnizam received health products hampers, 3 trophies, certificates, 4 spa vouchers worth RM380 each and 4 tickets for whitewater rafting in Perak. Why 4 everything? Because the maximum number for member per group is four. But we determined to proceed with only TWO.

Well, you guessed it right, whitewater rafting tickets goes to my partner and I got 4 spa vouchers! Go paper clips!

Celebrating Friendship

Me and my email friends (Zoora and Mye) at our design studio. In 2003? I can’t remember. I snap the photo from an old album, hence the reflection.

I don’t talk much with them during my study in IIUM. One or twice a week maybe? But nowadays, we’ll be exchanging around 20-30 emails every single day. OMG, they are my best buddies online!! We talked about everything, kids, breastfeeding, recycling, family, food, fashion, green living, technology, did I mention fashion?, internet, everything and fashion. My hours spent in the office will be meaningless without them :p

I missed having people like them (and all of you, x-KAEDians!!) in my life right now. The creative, like-minded people. The one I can start conversation with.. “Do you still remember Pulau Tuba?” and have a great laugh afterwards.

My studiomates had arranged a few gatherings here and there for a stroll down memory lane but we end up chasing our kids and changing diapers most of the time. I guess, life goes on.