Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Roller-skate

And.. after half an hour, they're totally exhausted. Wawan fall asleep right after I bathe him. And that was 7 in the evening. Hmm.. malam berjaga lah jawabnya.

There's a funny cute story of Wawan today. He was telling Emak to buy him the ultraman mask that he saw yesterday (he has asked me already, but, I don't want to buy). So, Emak said that she has no money. Wawan.. being wise at that time, took a card (membership cards of XYZ co.) and gave it to Emak. "Nah.. ini duit nya". When Emak said that the card "tak boleh", he went to get another card and told Emak that "yang ini boleh". Hahaha.. come to think of it, maybe he often sees us swipe our cc instead of cash. I don't think he assumed the card as money because he already knows the real 'money', the notes and the coins as well. Hai.. dah pandai dah.

Engagement Ceremonies

Achik is showing off her engagement rings.

McNa is someone's fiance now


Ceremonies? Waa...takkanla banyak sangat kan? Well.. towards the end of Dec, there's two engagement ceremonies held in our family. Back to back. Ingatkan LOTR trilogy or six episodes of Starwars are the only ones yang ada back-to-back. The first one is my 'cun' cousin .. Achik .. a.k.a Zainita's which was held on 25th of Dec. And the second one is my own sweet sis .. McNa a.k.a Syalina on the 27th. But I miss my sis' engagement ceremony because of some technicalities (urghhhhh.. I really regret this! ;(. Sorry sis!). But, I've settled certain things for the ceremony before I hop on a train back to Banting. Thankfully, my serba-boleh cousin.. Along.. is around. So, there's nothing to worry. Hehe.. sorry Long for putting the burden on you.. ;).

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Cuti-cuti Malaysia

Smooth sailing journey on a train

My kids and I have travelled with many kind of transportation to go back to Kelate..my hometown. We've travelled by car (it's obviously common, rite?), by aeroplane, and also by bus. But, travelling in a bus on a 7-hour journey for an adult accompanying TWO kids can be very annoying and tiring. That's why, I only tried it once, and never had the courage to travel by bus in the near future with my kids anymore. It happened early January when DH is already in KB for a short-term assignment, and I have to go back to Kelantan on my own. Since the arrangement was kinda last-minute-arrangement, the flights tickets are way expensive than it should be. So, being a cheapskate, I brought Ecah and Wawan to hop into an afternoon bus from Putrajaya to TM. It turned out that Wawan need to pass his stool in his diapers. So, go figure what happen next. Hahaha...

So, this time around, I need to go back on my own again since DH didn't get the leave approval until 17 Dec. Bus tickets were already sold out from 26/11 till 7/12. Do you know why? All because of school holidays and Raya Haji on 8/12. So, I didn't have much choice but to buy train tickets. And the result is ... a tiring journey with longer duration... but somehow .. much better than travelling by bus. ;)

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Bullion rose vs Bead flower

Once upon a time (well... last few months I guess..) I'm so in love with gardening. Now, I have come to another phase of obsession, or craze ... bullion roses. What are bullion roses? How do I grow them? Haha... it's totally off topic from gardening. It's embroidery. Malay call it 'bunga tahi ulat'. My MIL has learned on how to embroider it a long time ago. It was a trend in yesteryear and now it has made a comeback. So, taking some guide from my MIL and the internet (http://www.needlenthread.com/ and http://cheq-sue.com/blog/2008/11/30/teknik-sulaman-benang/), I have started it... and I have fun doing it. This is another way of refurbishing my old tudungs. So, here goes my first attempt ...


Beading on the other hand.. is progressing slowly. Because, I have a hard time to keep it neat. Hmm... so, the easiest solution is, have it made by Kak Z, whose work is extremely neat and creative. Seriously.. I really adores her work. ;)



Friday, November 28, 2008

Photoshoot & Photoshop

I'm being 'darat' today.. a.k.a 'jakun', or some people say 'peghak'. I just realised that there is a digital macro function in our digital camera. So, today's activity with aisyah is .. shoot some flowers or bugs around our house, and I photoshop them afterwards for more professional-like pics. Well.... not-so professional yet. But, I'm proud with my works, and so do Aisyah ..

The orchids from the pics above and below are from the same plant, but different phase I suppose. It first blooms as a red flower, then, changed to orange (the above colour) ..and soon, turn out to be yellow.



This ladybird is on a Kangkung leaf. I didn't photoshop this one.

This is Honey Dew's flower.
____________________________________

And the following are Aisyah's work.


And here's the photographer of the day

School Holidays' Activities

As of today, our family manage to wander around Selangor/Klang Valley areas only because my beloved hubby need to go to work, and Aisyah still need to attend school until 15th of December.. :( ........... I'm wondering, what are other kind of activities that we can do around here?

We start the school holiday by having a splashing moment at Gabai Waterfall, situated in Hulu Langat. We drove from Banting at 8.15 am, made a pit-stop in Putrajaya (that was around 9 am), and arrived at the waterfall at 10.15 am. I believe that this is a nice place to bring your family to. I even spotted another family from Banting there, a Maybank Banting staff. ;). But, if you want to come here, make sure you come early for this place is hunted not only by KLites, but also our Arabian tourists.



Then, Madagascar 2 for our kids.


Next destination --> Zoo Negara. Haha... This is Aisyah's third time here. Whereas for Syazwan, this is his first time. Me? My second time here. Yeah.. I know, I lost to Aisyah. Haha.




BBQ party at home. It was an adhoc party, and Aisyah thought that we're celebrating someone's birthday. It was just a get-together event.

And, then, I got a swollen thumb. Not because of the BBQ party, but because of Wiimote. Ouch!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Itadakimasu


Wondering what does it mean by 'Itadakimasu'? Hehe.. it means, let's eat in japanese. We went to Jusco yesterday, and hubby insists to buy sushi starter kit. I believe that I might find the necessary s0-called guide to sushi making in the net, so I agreed with his idea on having our own home made sushi. But, the guide that I got is better than what I'm asking for. The starter kit comes together with a "Fun With Sushi" DVD. Haha, we never realised that until we reached home. And trust me, sushi making is simple and fun. So, without wasting time ... here goes my first sushi project.








And, how does it taste, you say? Japanese would say .. ""GOCHISOOSAMA" (and that means yummy!!! haha).

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

1 Elit - Class of 2008

Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?Should
old acquaintance be forgot,and old lang syne ?


For auld lang
syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Enjoy the pics ... ;). I'm wishing you all the best for your future undertaking.



Tinggal memori ...
Ya ampunn.. sapa la jadik cameraman ni?

Kontrol hensem




Saturday, November 08, 2008

Year-end Teacher's Meeting

Our year-end Teacher's Meeting this year was held on Saturday, and this time around, we already got our next year's timetable. I was quite relieved when I found out that my timetable is only 26 periods per week, far lesser than this year's 30 periods per week timetable. Alhamdulillah. Most of the afternoon teachers are grateful for this. 30 periods per week are killing us. Well... killing me..hehe. The difference of 4 periods is translated to 2 hours, or, roughly, one free period per day. And that means a lot. Thank you ....

On another note, I was quite impressed with all the powerpoint presentation by the administrators. It shows that our admins are very good with ICT. Bravo!! (clap3x). SMKTPG Boleh!

And.. the quote of the day is .."Apa yang penting?? KERJASAMA"... Waaa...Wonderpets manage to capture our hearts, regardless of our age. Haha.

Last but not least, I am so impressed with Bangladesh Proverbs highlighted by K. Rahimah, PK Koko , which is as follows :-
"Hanya pokok mangga yang berbuah sahaja yang menerima kayu dan batu"

Isn't that brilliant?

Tips to travellers

I have been wanting to share this idea for months .. but, most of the time, I forget about it. However, since the school holidays are approaching, I believe that there are a few friends out there who might travel abroad (there's one teacher friend who flew to Paris today..). So, here's a tip on how to make an easy currency converter table like this. (This is actually my MIL's idea). This is especially helpful if you really want to go to the foreign country to shop.




1. Open a blank MS Excel worksheet
2. Type in the title of your table and it's respective column's name (i.e: RM, VND)
3. Type in the value of RM that you want to convert to .. say, RM 1, 3, 5, 10 ..etc in cloumn RM (or column A in the above example)
4. Go to www.oanda.com to get the currency exchange rate. But, bear in mind, sometimes the rates stated in Oanda can be higher than the actual rate. Like last week, my auntie went to Indonesia and she got Rp3,600 for RM1. But, in Oanda, it states RM1 equals to Rp2,800 only. This is because it uses RM to USD first, then, USD to Rp.
5. When you got the rate, let say, for my RM to VND table , RM1 = VND 5152. So, type in both values first in cell 'A4' and 'B4'.
6. Then, in cell 'B5' , type in this formula '=A5*$B$4' . Then, you just have to drag down the formula to the rest of the Rows to get the value for other RM values as well. The '$' sign is to ensure that it always sticks to that particular cell, which is B4, the rate of conversion.

Then, do print it and make sure the size fits your wallet. By doing so, you won't be frowning over the unfamiliar price tags in front of you. It helps me a lot, so, I hope that it will help you too! ;)

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Cuci Mata

This last few days before the school holidays can be very tiring and packed with so many year-end-to-dos. The list seems endless. As a class teacher, I have to settle all those Kad001, Kad Kokurikulum, and Kad Kemajuan Murid stuffs. And, last week, come Anugerah Kokurikulum day, which put me into printing and managing 100++ certificates for students. On top of that, SSQS come into the picture, and now I’m stucked in front of my PC to key-in all the findings from 62 respondents. The briefing was held on Monday, and it has to be settled in 4-days’ time. It has to be ready by 7th oh November. So, that is another 2-days to go. And, ah…there’s a pile of Paper 2 English Final Exam papers, yet to be marked. Due date for the final exam marks is next week, before the school holidays. Oh my!! Then, report for the Kokurikulum’s Club Activity, which is also due next week.

Nonetheless, I still manage to update my blog, huh? So, to ease myself, I’m going to enjoy these cute pictures of my lil’ daughter, Aisyah. She was thrilled looking at these pix.. because.. she feels pretty. Hehe. So perasan one this girl.. ;)
Note: Papa..this one is for you. She really wants you to see these.






Monday, October 27, 2008

English Must Stay

If you're captivated by the above title, then I would like to suggest you to click HERE. It was an open letter from Datin Freida Datuk Mohd Pilus, the chairman of Cempaka private schools, which was published on The Star yesterday (26/10/08).

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ecah's Art Gallery

This was last year's drawing. Somewhere in early 2007. That is our family, besides a tree (that looks like an ice-cream) and a swimming pool. Can you identify which one is Papa, Mama, Adik and Kakak?

This drawing was made by us early this year. Wawan is officially an ultraman enthusiast, so, he insist me to draw an Ultraman most of the time. So, Kakak took an effort to draw Birdie Monsters, and then she requested Papa to draw the helicopter. Me? I always have to draw an ultraman.


And, this is her drawing for today. I have a feeling that she did this effortlessly. Drawing dekat skool kan.. so, selalunya dia nak cepat jer.

School enthusiast






Everyday, this little boy will accompany his sister to school. And he will beg me to drop him at the school too. Pity him, I think that he was quite bored at home. Takde geng nak main. The problem is, I still can't find the time to toilet-train him. If he's not wearing diapers anymore, I would be more than happy to send him to school. Excited sangat. Asyik mengeja aje.. "Pe-A Pa, Papa. Me-A Ma, Mama. Ke-A Ka, Kakak. Sukatila dia laa dia eja cam mana. Confident lak tu ngan ejaan dia. So, a note to myself, since the school holidays are approaching, I'm going to utilise the holiday to toilet-train him. On top of aiming to get him to school next year, I can also save on diaper's budget too, rite? Hehe..

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Still on PPSMI

Posting kali ini akan ditulis di dalam bahasa melayu semata-mata kerana kali ini saya akan menulis sebagai seorang anak jati melayu yang sayangkan bangsanya, tidak ingin melihat bangsanya hanyut di arus globalisasi, mahupun tumbang di buminya sendiri.

Terkejut tatkala dihulurkan majalah Pendidik oleh PK1, Tn Hj Jumiran. Menjawab persoalan saya mengenai PPSMI katanya. Oh… ada pembaca rupanya blog saya yang tak seberapa ini. ;)

Setelah membelek-belek majalah yang sarat dengan pelbagai hujah untuk tidak meneruskan PPSMI, saya tetap tidak berganjak dengan hujah saya agar janganlah PPSMI dimansuhkan. Sebab utama saya adalah, untuk ‘survival melayu’ itu sendiri. Maaf sekiranya posting kali ini berbaur agak perkauman, tapi, saya tidak boleh menidakkan kemelayuan saya. Justeru, saya harus memberi pandangan sekiranya saya rasa sesuatu perkara itu memberi kesan kepada bangsa saya.

PPSMI menyediakan pelajar untuk bersaing dalam arus globalisasi dikatakan sebagai hujah rapuh kerana banyak lagi negara yang tidak mengamalkan PPSMI berjaya berdiri sebagai sebuah negara maju. Betul, banyak negara maju tanpa PPSMI dan contoh yang diberi adalah Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Jerman, Perancis, China, Jepun, Korea, Luxemborg, Itali, Belgium, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Sepanyol dan Rusia. Soalan saya adalah, apakah kelebihan negara-negara maju yang disebutkan itu berbanding Malaysia? Banyak antara mereka sudah mempunyai teknologi yang diiktiraf dunia, dipasarkan keseluruh dunia. Contohnya, Finland (Nokia) , Sweden (Ericsson), Denmark(Lego, Carlsberg), Jerman (Daimler, Volkswagen, Allianze, Siemens,etc) , Perancis (Negara besar yg pernah menjadi penjajah, Alcatel) , China (Hwa Wei, ), Jepun (Sony, Nintendo, Honda, Nissan, etc), Korea (Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo,etc), Switzerland (Swiss watches,), Portugal, Sepanyol (Negara besar yg pernah menjadi penjajah), dan Rusia (teknologi Aerospace, military equipments, Sukhoi). Jadi, wajarkah Malaysia dibandingkan dengan negara-negara ini yang GDPnya antara yang tertinggi di dunia? Mereka sudah established. Malaysia baru mengecap 51 tahun kemerdekaannya dan masih digolongkan dalam developing country, bukan developed country. Jadi, arus globalisasi yang mengenai negara kita 'lebih bergelora dan mencabar' berbanding dgn negara mereka.

Soalan kedua…..Adakah mereka multi-racial country seperti negara kita? Bangsa melayu berada di dalam ‘comfort zone’ apabila semuanya diajar didalam Bahasa Melayu. Padahalnya, etnik lain seperti orang cina dan India perlua mempelajari sekurang-kurangnya 2 bahasa untuk survive di Malaysia, iaitu bahasa cina & melayu, atau bahasa tamil dan melayu. Itupun, ramai di kalangan bangsa cina dan India di bandar sangat menguasai bahasa inggeris kerana bahasa itu juga turut dijadikan bahasa perantaraan di rumah mereka. And, let me remind you, berapa ramaikah bangsa cina yang menetap di Bandar jika dibandingkan dengan bangsa melayu? Natijah daripada kepenjajahan British yang telah mengamalkan dasar Pecah & Perintah menyebabkan pengasingan kependudukan orang melayu di kampung2 dan orang cina di Bandar-bandar. Jadi, persoalannya, siapakah yang tidak menguasai bahasa inggeris sekarang? Orang kampong bukan? Siapa yang mendominasi populasi di kampong? Orang Melayu, bukan? Jadi, orang melayu seharusnya berterima kasih apabila PPSMI dilaksanakan, kerana sekurang-kurangnya guru-guru, pelajar dan ibubapa mula sedar mengenai kepentingan Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa teknologi. Kalau tidak masakan tadika2 yang menjadikan bahasa inggeris sebagai medium utama menjadi rebutan kepada golongan ibubapa seperti Smart Reader’s Kids, C.E.C, Montessori-based kindergartens, hatta Tadika EEman di Taman Seri Telok Datok sekalipun? Bila tidak dipaksa pembelajaran Sains & Matematik didlm BI, org-org kita menjadi lalai. Selesa dalam comfort zone tersendiri sehingga menafikan yang terdapatnya competition among the races to survive in this developing country of ours. Sebagai anak jati melayu, saya tahu, saya juga harus mempertahankan keunggulan bahasa ibunda saya. Tetapi, bercakap diatas dasar anak jati melayu juga.. saya tidak mahu melihat generasi melayu akan datang dipinggirkan di bumi sendiri kerana tidak fasih berbahasa Inggeris. GLC-GLC seperti TM, Petronas, TNB dll juga memerlukan eksekutif2 yang mampu berbahasa Inggeris, apatah lagi syarikat Multinasional yg beroperasi di dalam negara seperti Shell, ExxonMobil, Ericsson, Alcatel, Nokia, Dell, HSBC, dll? Kerajaan juga senantiasa menguji bahasa inggeris semasa menemuduga pegawai2 kerajaan. Jadi, tidakkah akan terpinggir org-org melayu yang tidak mahir berbahasa inggeris?

Ada cadangan supaya silibus BI dikaji apabila mempelajari BI selama 11 tahunpun, tidak mampu meningkatkan penguasaan BI. Memang betul, kerana, penguasaan bahasa melibatkan penggunaan bahasa tersebut, samada secara oral atau menulis. Pada pendapat saya, apabila sesuatu bahasa diajar dalam matapelajaran tersebut sahaja, ianya tidak holistic. Ia berhenti di dalam kelas itu sahaja. Oleh itu, apabila PPSMI diadakan, sekurang-kurangnya, lebih ‘bahasa inggeris’ di terima oleh pelajar. Sekurang-kurangnya, mereka lebih terbiasa dengan bahasa tersebut. Dek kerana penangan PPSMI jugalah, ramai ibubapa yang mula risau dengan tahap penguasaan BI anak2. Bukankah itu satu perkembangan yang positif?

Pada pendapat saya, adalah terlalu awal untuk melihat keberkesanan PPSMI. Mungkin kerajaan boleh memanjangkan tempoh percubaannya, kerana, tempoh pelaksanaan PPSMI belum pun matang. But then again, this is only my two cents worth. Karangan saya yang panjang ini mungkin tidak memberi kesan langsung kepada keputusan kerajaan. Tapi, tak salah mencuba untuk didengar menerusi blog dizaman ICT ini, bukan? MAKE YOURSELF HEARD. That’s the point.

Friday, October 17, 2008

PPSMI 'membunuh' Bahasa Melayu??

That is a title of a letter in readers' column (Berita Harian, yesterday's issue). Do you think so? From my humble opinion, PPSMI does not kill Bahasa Melayu, nor B. Cina or B.Tamil. It is inline with globalisation. English is the main language spoken across the globe. We have to be fluent in English to compete with other nation. If we don't expose the students to English in Science n Maths, will they be able to withstand the challenges of globalisation?

Yes, it's true that Japan and Korea don't need English in establishing their countries as the developed countries. But, they are way ahead of us. They built their own technology. We, on the other hand, still depend a lot on foreign countries. Like in Telecommunication industry, the local players like Celcom, Maxis and DiGi need people who can converse in English because all the technologies used are from overseas. The vendors like Ericsson (Sweden), Nokia(Finland), Motorola(US), Lucent(US), Hwa Wei(China), etc, are from foreign countries, so the medium of communication is English. That is an example in engineering industry. In medic, does they teach medical courses in BM? Hmm.. I don't think so. What about IT? I teach ICTL form one and the syllabus is in English because the language used in Microsoft Office and Windows operating system is English. So, need I say more about English being the language of technology?

I have faced the hardship of not being able to speak english fluently, so, I will not let it happen to my kids as well. I still remember my former boss who resist to send his child to a Gred A boarding school because he was afraid that his child won't be able to be good in English. He believes that if his daughter sticks with her normal SMK, she will mix around with other races, hence converse in English better. For him, staying in boarding school with huge population of malay students will weaken his daughter's eagerness to speak in English. And, let me remind you that my former boss graduated from the States. So, maybe (I'm assuming here .. hehe) he faced the difficulties in his tertiary level studies because of English.

Jangan risau. We will remember our roots.Siapa yang akan lupa usul-asal mereka? As for me, I will never forget my roots. I'm always ready to kecek kelate whenever feasible. Saya cuma beriya-iya menulis di dalam bahasa inggeris kerana saya ingin memperbaiki kelemahan bahasa inggeris saya. Bukan menidakkan keindahan dan kepentingan Bahasa Melayu. Di peringkat PMR pun, bukan BM dilupakan terus. Hanya 3 daripada 8 subjek teras diajar dlm BI, iaitu Science, Maths & English. Terkilan rasanya bila ramai yang ingin PPSMI dihentikan. Tidak dinafikan, memang susah mempelajari Sains & Matematik dalam BI. Tetapi, kalau tidak bersusah-susah sekarang, macam mana nak bersenang-senang kemudian? Org jepun pun dah mula mempelajari Bahasa Inggeris. Profesor lama saya, Ryoichi Komiya, sudah berumur lebih 50 tahun, tetapi masih mempelajari Bahasa Inggeris kerana ingin diterima diperingkat global, bukan sekadar di Jepun sahaja. Jadi, adakah kita wajar mengorbankan pelaburan berjuta ringgit (i believe so :- textbooks, laptops, LCDs, coursewares) yang telah dibelanjakan untuk mengendalikan PPSMI kerana menganggap susahnya belajar dlm bahasa inggeris, ataupun kerana menganggap PPSMI membunuh bahasa ibunda, Bahasa Melayu? Think again. Di zaman kolonial inggeris pun, ramai nenek2 dan mak2 kita yang belajar di English Medium Schools, and they survived. Most of them holds various positions in private or government sectors. Masa tu lagi laa.. mana ada cybercafe, astro, loads of books? TV pun hardly seen in their house. Boleh jer survive. Tak hilang melayunya pun. However, this is only my 2 cents worth. So, what say you?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Facebook promo ...

The old saying says ‘procrastination is the thief of time’. Hmm.. that is true. But, what happens in my own little small world today is .. internet is the thief of time. Really? Yes, really, really. I think that I’ve been spending too much time on the computer. No wonder our electricity bills are always 'high'. One reason is, I need to use Skype to communicate with my dearest hubby. Secondly, I have a blog and fotopage to update. Thirdly, I sometimes need to attend to our school’s Joomla-based portal. Fourthly, I love to read Forum Cari, be it on the Current Issues thread, Gossips, or Home and Gardening thread. Next, I love to shop online. Currently, since hubby is in the states, I should have utilise ebay rite? Then, now.. comes facebook. Ohhh.. this is really a thief of time. I don’t have much time to gather with my friends, especially when I changed job. In my previous job, some of my friends are my uni coursemates, and I even have a friend who has been in the same boat with me since we were in Form One. So, we always manage to share stories about our friends from time to time. But now, I lost track on everyone unless I called my friends, texted them through YM or email them. With facebook, getting connected is so much fun. I never thought that I would be able to communicate with my long-lost highschool friends through facebook. I always feel that I’m too old for myspace and friendster. But facebook .. I love it. You should try it too! :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Hatiku berbunga ...




Flowers are blooming everywhere. Wohooo... besnyer. I love looking at those flowers. I have been ignoring them since Raya, but, today ... as I was walking to open the gate, I saw a lot of flowers. Lotsa them, in variety of colours. Yeehaa!!






But.. One of the Japanese Rose plant has been attacked by bug. Bena putih bug. I put it in isolation, far from others, and sprayed it with Ridsect H2O. I'm not sure whether it will survive or not. Let's hope that it will. Sob3x...




Sedutan ... gambar dibawah menunjukkan kakak memaksa adik berposing di pagi raya.