Futsal

Corporate Club Sports Carnival 2011 has just started. Last Saturday we had a futsal tournament. I am on the Red Team. In order to be the overall champion, the whole team practices balance lifestyle started last week. We pledge to exercise a lot and eat well.

You can see our determination last week. First, we play futsal like crazy. Then, we eat like we haven't eat for a week. lol.

In the end, we are the futsal champion!

Let's negotiate the terms...

I was introduced to the art of negotiation while I was representing my office to the Malaysia-United States Free Trade Agreement Negotiation Round in KL back in 2005. Then followed by series of Malaysia-New Zealand, Malaysia-Australia, etc negotiation rounds from 2005 until 2010. It felt so good to be able to be a part of such important process and read about its success in the newspaper afterwards.

Since I was curious to know how the lead negotiator made it (negotiate) looks so easy, I bought some books on negotiation - particularly on international trade, strategies and tactics. I also attended a few courses on negotiation in Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) and INTAN Kiara to learn more on cultural influence and cross-cultural negotiation. I got this during my recent Effective Negotiation Course.

Well, I am not that resourceful yet. I still didnt have guts to negotiate at Pasar Malam. International trade, fine with me. Local night market? erk....

[simple] makeover : TV area

Last week of Syawal, we did a simple makan-makan for family and neighbours. You guys knew our house was never ready for any guests back then (it never did until now! ;p), but we determine to do simple makeover - overnight - to sprinkle some Raya mood in the TV area.

Buffet was served in the living room so our living room was left empty without furniture (until today) since we moved all the sofas to the TV area. We kinda like the whole look so it might take a bit of time for us to return it back to the living room.

Scroll down and tell me what do you think of our simple last minute makeover.

BEFORE

IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING IN
AFTER AN OVERNIGHT MAKEOVER (...until NOW)

It was quite messy near the TV after the kids finished playing their PS2

More on our MOVING IN Adventures! Click here.

I am sending this entry for an online contest at susunatursioca, for fun. The gift sponsor is Rehana.

Karnival Raya - Nazreen the 10kth

Yeah, late entry.

One fine day in last Ramadhan, we broke fast at Mangiamo Cafe @ Equestrian Club, Putrajaya. After Isyak and a quick tarawih, we went to Karnival Jom Beli Barang Raya or something like that, at Precint 2.Nazreen was the 10,000th person to walk-in!! They were a bunch of people interviewed us and took photos. Nazreen received a bag full of cookies from one of the sponsors. OMG, he was so happy. He was dancing and smiling all night.

Bivouac

They have these in their room for about 2 months now. They refuses to sleep on their bed. They prefer to sleep like a sardine (in the can) in that small tent. I love camping very much (here).

The kids have special area for studying. There were cute moments worth watching whenever one of them start to teach the other.

But it usually lasted about 3-4 minutes.

It will then be followed by an argument.

And at least one will broke into tears.Kids are fun.

Kicking board

Kick board usually used by beginner to learn how to swim. I bought two for my kids (before Nazran was born). It lasted for a few years.

Until one night, Nazran decided to make me a birthday cake. He really insists me to BLOW THE CANDLE and ask Papa to take photos. Just like the real birthday.

Nabil got [kool] fever

Nabil got a fever. And Nenny (my mom, Nabil's grandma) give him a Kool Fever. You know, the gel-in-a-pack thing that you stick on the forehead of the sick person to lower down the temperature.

Of course Nazreen and Nazran want it too!
So I stick a bit of masking tape on their foreheads. They can't tell the difference. They seems happy.

Happy World Habitat Day 2011!

3 October 2011 @ Putrajaya International Convention Centre. Official launch of World Habitat Day 2011 by The Hon Minister of Housing and Local Government. 500 invitees including Ambassadors / High Commissioners from Kenya, Singapore, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Lesotho. Great food. Awesome choir. Beautiful tree for the launching gimmick (thanks to Mariam Zainal, Hafiz and their team!)

It was a successful event. Thanks to all involved!

Special thanks to members of International Unit - Rose, Nadia, Nura, Misspi and Zaza. (yes, all women team!).

I will blog more on this. I need to buy a new adaptor for my laptop first. For the mean time, enjoy our videos :

1 - Cities and Climate Change theme launch (by Aziqqurol Hakim Azizan)

2 - Our programmes for World Habitat Day 2011 (by Muhammad Fakri Zaki Abadi Ahmad Zairi)

Thanks, all!

Oh, Nazreen

On our way back Balik Kampung on 2nd day of Raya.

Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : Rabu.

(5 minutes later)
Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : Rabu.

(5 minutes later)
Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : HARI RABU, sayang.

And it went on and on and on from Kuala Lumpur to Muar. Luckily Mama was so patient that day because she has nothing much to do in the car except for sleeping (which Papa dont like - lol).

That night,

Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : RABU, NAZREEN. Kenapa tanya banyak-banyak kali?
Him : Semua orang dalam radio dengan TV kata hari ini Hari Raya. Patutnya hari ni Hari Rabu, kan? kan?
Me : Mm.... (explaining for 10 minutes but he seems not satisfied with me saying that hari ini is also Hari Raya)

Before he went to sleep...
Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : Hari ni hari Rabu, Nazreen.
and he sleep. Smiling. Satisfied.

Last two days...
Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : Jumaat.

(5 minutes later)
Him : Mama, hari ni hari apa?
Me : JUMAAT, WHY?
Him : Kenapa semua orang dalam TV cakap hari ni Hari Merdeka dengan Hari Malaysia? Hari ni Hari Jumaat, kan? kan?
Me : oh, Nazreen....

I have to go through the same old explanation over and over again.
Oh, Nazreen! You'll get the concept one day...

UPDATES

Our laptop has been kaput for a while. I dont blog from office esp during office hour, hence no update. I have tons of entries to be posted but it can wait. It can always wait.

Right now, I am struggling to produce our HABITAT MAGAZINE 2011. Our annual baby. And I am proud to announce that my BFF, Cepoi is the winner for the Habitat Magazine Cover Competition 2011! Congratulations, Cepoi! Well, dont request for open table, guys. He is married and he has lotsa responsibilities for his family. So, let him keep the money, ya!

My hubby sent three entries and I had prepared one entry, quite similar to Cepoi's (did I told you we are bff?), but unfortunately I withdraw my entry. It is a long story. I will blog about our entries later. And this is Cepoi's winning 'cute' entry (the theme is Cities and Climate Change) on the magazine's template :

And, afterward, I will be struggling with our makan2 for Raya since we received requestsss from our relatives to have makan2 at our new habitat. Well, you guys know our house is not ready for guests, right? BUT WE WILL MAKE DO.

We will leave the window frame paintwork half complete (we are talking about half white - half grey). We gonna let the old messy landscape in front of the house as it is (believe me, IT IS MESSY like 100 years old untouched garden with weeds and all). I really have no time to do everything since our office shifted to Putrajaya. I came home at 10pm everyday. I cant do much.

(edited - my ILS cant make it on 17th so we are postponing the makan2 that day BUT you guys are invited to come anytime, just inform us 2 days prior)

Eid Mubarak 1432

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AND MAAF ZAHIR BATIN.
Have fun with your family and please drive carefully.

I am still working.
My tailor had accidentally gave my baju raya to other people.
I didnt have any kasut raya yet.
Our house need A LOT OF WORK for Raya. Seriously it is not ready for guests.
Kids didnt have any baju raya yet.
I will bring back tons of work to be submitted by 5th September 2011.

but this is the best Hari Raya ever!
Me, my husband and my three lovely kids will celebrate our first Raya at our new habitat.

Meet Tomato

This is Tomato.

(She is a CAT and her name is Tomato)

Firstly, I dont like cats. I dont like anything furrrrry but since my husband and kids loved them so much, I have no problem having cat as our pet. I just have to scream out loud and jump onto the sofa whenever THE CAT entered our house. It is not that hard. First, scream. Then, go to the higher spot (continue screaming). After that, the kids will take care the rest (read - take the cat out).

Last time there were two of them. Tomato and Carrot. But Carrot died. I dont want to talk about it. Although I didnt like cat, but the fact that she is no longer with us makes me sad. Just like when our red and blue fishes died. Sad. And when a tortoise I bought for my nephew escaped a couple of years before that. Sad. And when I released my pet snake before I married my husband. Sad. He didnt like snake. I have to choose between the snake and a husband. OF COURSE WISE PEOPLE WILL CHOOSE A HUSBAND, kan?

No more pet after this. If they insisted to have another pet, I will make them using cardboards.

UNICEF : Somalian babies and kids

I cant sleep at night without thinking about starving babies and children in Somalia. My heart sank when I saw their super-skinny photos in the news.

NAIROBI, 29 July 2011 - With an estimated 1.25 million children across Southern Somalia in urgent need of life saving interventions and 640,000 acutely malnourished, UNICEF called for all actors to make saving children's lives the top priority and to urgently support all efforts to reach children in need.

via UNICEF Malaysia

You could make an online donation using credit card via UNICEF Malaysia website by clicking at the image below in the website. I couldnt create a link to this image that can direct you to the secure online payment window. Maybe because it is secured. I dont know. Pls help them.

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.

My sons are in ohdeedoh....

I was a silent reader of ohdeedoh for a couple of years now. I was hoping to post some photos of our new house or enter any ohdeedoh contest in the future. Last month they were having a Reader Survey titled What's The Weirdest Place Your Kids Have Napped?

I posted two links at the comment section and to my surprise, on 11th July 2011, they published the result / entry related to the above topic with the title - Your Kids Sleep In The Darndest Place. I was jumping up and down when I saw my sons' photos! It is among the funniests! Yay!

(From ohdeedoh)

From stairs to hallways, from furniture to hands in jars, your kids truly fall asleep in the darndest places!

Photos above are from the following folks:
• Life In Motion Photography
• Cherlyn Wagner
• Julianne Hudgins Marcellus
• My Convertible Life
• Flickr member Tetê Carneiro
• Flickr member giozi
• Flickr member NannersP
• Garlic and Butter

When children are tired their batteries run out and they power down in some of the funniest places. Did you miss the boat and forget to leave us a link? Don't be shy and leave us one below!

(HURRY!!! Submit your link @ ohdeedoh!!)

Another artist in the house - Nazreen + Pop Art

There was one point of time that I really into pop art, a movement pioneered by Andy Warhol. This is an example of pop art (via net).

A couple of week ago, I bought Nazreen a colouring book and I was so excited to see his work - very POP ART-y and very different from Nabil's work. He used a lot of colours but it doesnt overlap as if he has already drew invisible boundaries within the object. Not bad for a 3 years old, huh?

This is how the artist keep his coloured pencil before he went to sleep.