Barkhan's and Wanyz's Bottled Thoughts

ASB OD with Maybank

2010-05-02T21:30:00.008+08:00

I haven't been blogging for quite some time and I don't really like that. I always believe that good bloggers need to blog on regular basis. I always enjoyed good blogs that I subscribe via my Google Reader. Blogging is like online freelance journalism. People will always come back for good journalism.

In order to kick start my blog running again, I shall try to blog every month. As time goes by, I shall try to blog every fortnight, before finally settling to blog every week (most ideal situation for myself). I don't really have that much time to blog usually, so I shall try to at least dedicate good 20 minutes to write every entry.

At the moment I am trying to get an Islamic overdraft (OD) with Maybank. After reading almost all ASB backed OD at Matjoe's blog. I decided that I shall give it a try. I am going for Islamic OD as I am kinda religious person (at least I like to think that I am) or more correctly, at any given time if I can get to use an Islamic product or alternative, I shall try. Before explaining further I suggest that you read Mat Joe's excellent write up on the issue.

Some of the challenge I have encountered during the whole process:

1) Less knowledgeable Loan Officer : 1st branch I go to was the Maybank branch at Sea Park (as it was near my house). I thought a place nearer should be better. The loan officer end up telling me that it is not possible to get an Islamic OD against ASB. However when I tried going to Bangsar's Maybank branch, the officer there informed me that it is actually possible, only that it has to be done manually therefore it shall take a longer time (a lot lot longer time as I soon discovered).

2) You will need to have a credit line more than RM10k. Maybank will give you a credit line or loan to a minimum of 10k meaning your ASB Certificate would need to be worth at least RM12k. I made a mistake of just making a 10k cert so I have to to up an make another Cert worth RM12k (costed me another RM10 & another LRT trip to PNB plus valuable time).

3) Maybank very slow.. Almost 1 month already from my ASB Cert date and I still yet to see any Loan Offer letter. However, only Maybank offers Islamic OD against ASB so far, therefore I am being very patient. I am not a big fan of Maybank actually, but my Saving Account is with Maybank along with my credit card. They do have good products line up but they customer service really suxx. What I do now is to call my loan officer every fortnight and ask him for an update. That's the only way to speed things up in a GLC, constant never ending follow ups (I should know better, I am working in one as we speak).

4) Higher profit rate: BFR - 0% instead of better rates by CIMB or RHB. Again the only bank to offer a product that you want rule.

I guess that's it for now, I shall update more should more progress comes my way. Hope you guys enjoy my long lost post =) Adios!~~

P/S: I took about 50 minutes to write this post. Got to think and type faster.

P/P/S: Next time I shall write about one of these topics 1) 0% Balance Transfer by Credit Cards, 2) My Current Credit card, 3) Random personal thoughts. Any preference you readers?

Who says you can't teach an old dog a new trick...

2010-02-18T20:24:00.001+08:00

In case you're wondering when the heck did I get myself a dog, no I didn't. It's a metaphor and in this case it's my aging Toshiba Satellite 2410 (the dog) and Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron with NVidia GeForce 4 420 graphic card enabled (the trick).

I love my Toshiba laptop. It's my 1st laptop ever and costed me (rather, my father) a bomb back then. It was around when I met my syg and have been serving me obediently like a dog. However, if it's a dog it will be like 8 years old, matured yet healthy with slight limps here and there. List of defects; hinge broken (this little guy is on crutches, a stack of CD), DVD drive kaput, fan not working (on USB cooler pad 24/7), battery long time dead and even the CMOS battery needs changing. Occasionally I need to reset the BIOS clock & date.

So for the little trick I chose to install the Wubi for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron. My good friend H & Z asked me, why 8.04, why not just get the latest version which is the 9.10 Karmic Koala? Well, my lappy is already like 8 years old and I wanted to get the earliest edition that can work on my laptop. Plus, it has Long Term Support until April 2011 which meant that technically Canonical will support it until then. Also, why Wubi and not dual boot? I can't even restore my laptop to factory default using CD restore (DVD kaput) and I still want to maintain my Windows XP so Wubi seems like the perfect choice for me.

Here is a list of tools I uses to make the installation work:
1) Ubuntu 8.04 LTS ISO
2) Wubi Installation Guide
3) Daemon Tools Lite
4) Guide to install NVidia driver by wkmiberly
5) Geforce Go 420 Nvidia 1.0-9631 Black Bar Fix

Let's go through this step by step:

Step 1
Download the Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron ISO files and the Daemon Tools Lite program. To download version 8.04, you will need to click at [Alternative download options, including Ubuntu installer for Windows] before the option to download it becomes available.

Step 2
In my case I needed the Daemon Tools to mount the ISO file, before running Wubi from the mounted ISO image in order to proceed with installation. My DVD drive is already kaput remember.

Step 3
Run Wubi installation from the mounted ISO image. Personally I allocated 8GB for the whole system, which I believe is more than enough. It will take time for it to completely install everything and it will prompt you to restart after some time. After restart, always remember to wait until the it prompt you to choose whether to boot Windows or Ubuntu and choose Ubuntu. Otherwise your lappy will boot into Windows by default.

Step 4
After you have succesfully install Ubuntu and logged in, it will prompt you that there are updates to be applied and also a restricted driver is available but not used (the NVidia driver). Better do the system updates 1st. It will download approximately 200+MB in order to update your Ubuntu so this will also take a while, depending on you internet connection. Restart will be required again.

Step 5
Now you will to install the NVidia driver. You can follow the guide on #4 on how to install it. I simply went to System > Administration > Hardware Drivers and check the button, close and save and it will install the related NVidia GLX driver. Hold down your horses mate, don't just restart you computer just yet after installation. You need to follow Step 6 first or otherwise you will get the dreaded black screen mentioned in the guide above.

Step 6
You need to add the following line in your xorg.conf file.
To edit your xorg.conf, type the following line in the Terminal.

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Just follow wkimberly post to add the following line in Section "Screen" of your xorg.conf

Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP-0"

You shall get the infamous black strips on the right of your screen after you restart.

Step 7
Now you will need to apply solution as suggested by EdWiget.name guide. When you try to run;

nvidia-settings

in the Terminal it will prompt that it is not installed yet. Just do as it recommend and run;

sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings

and it will install it accordingly and just follow EdWiget.name guide until the end. Voila!~~ When you restart the black strips will be gone and you would be able to run on resolution 1024x768.

Check out my new revived Toshiba~~ =)

Next, I shall pimp my Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and show off the result to you guys. =) Till then, have fun!!

Perth Trip Dec 09 (Part 6)

2009-12-13T08:20:00.002+08:00

Day 9

Day 9 is quite interesting than previous day. Today on Friday, the Freematle Market is open (Fri, Sat, Sun) that's why we specifically set today as our day out to Freemantle. Freemantle Market is Malaysia's Central Market (CM); they sell crafts and stuff whilst not necessary the cheapest you can find around in Aussie. I believe it's built to cater tourist coming in during weekend. At the back of the market is a farmer's market where they sell fruit and vegetable fresh from the farm at reasonably cheaper price. Being fresh is the advantage here, nothing can beat fresh local produce like the Pasar Tani in Malaysia.

The second and more important visit is the borong souvenirs session. We stopped by E-Shed here and bought all our souvenirs need here. Here I bought Alia a Koala n Kangaroo teddy to compensate on my absent for almost 10 days now. I also managed to find a lovely kangaroo pouch for my sayang. Soon after, we had our seafood lunch by the jetty, very nice and fresh albeit being slightly more expensive than at Squid Shack. Afterwards, we made our way home without going to popular tourist attraction like Freemantle prison.

Day 10

We are supposed to go back today when we were offered to take monetary compensation by MAS instead if we could go home tomorrow instead. My parents and I both took the offer since tomorrow is still a Sunday and we have accomodation available here in Australia (extended crashing at my bro's place). You should see how happy my mum was, even yours truly. It's not everyday that people give you money for doing nothing so I just want to say Alhamdulillah. This must be how people who strike the lottery feels, best yet I don't even have to buy a lottery ticket (which cost money and is Haram anyway). They gave us a slip that we go to the travel exchange to exchange for cold hard cash. Free and easy..

I am also planning to claim against my insurance as well, on my estimate we might be able to get another RM250 each. So guys, I would recommend travel insurance if you're going anywhere next time. It's cheap, provide you with peace of mind, and even give you extra money for getting money from the airline. Say what..

Anyway, I am not quite sure what to do with the insurance money however, but I will figure it out later. But MAS money, I have reimburse Papa for my ticket coming here and split the balance with my wife. Some of you might not agree with me splitting the money with my wife, but it's just a small compensation for being away an extra day. Yes I love my dear wife very much =)

I guess that's it. I shall come up with expenses breakdown for your guide (if i am still berminat or not in workaholic mode) and paste inline website link on previous post. It's been nice writing out this travernal (travel journal), and I hope u enjoyed it too. Till next time Cheers Mate!!~~

Perth Trip Dec 09 (Part 5)

2009-12-11T00:34:00.005+08:00

Day 7

It has been harder and harder for me to write entry as I became mentally and physically wary of all the holiday. I see myself as an avid workaholic and not working for almost 7 days is tiresome. However I had pledged to blog all the way, so blog I shall.

Since we're back in Perth city we had planned to visit Asro's faculty around this time. Asro gladly played the good host and showed us around the university. We took a few good pictures and proceeded to the bell tower of Perth, possibly the biggest musical instrument in the world. We didn't go up however, as the fare seems a bit expensive.

Day 8

As before on the previous day, we make a little bit tour to the city centre again. Today tour consist of going to the Perth Mint. After that we went to explore and shop around Hay Street. There's a little place called London gate along Hay Street which was very unique in styling. I believe I had bought enough souvenirs for everyone. As you can see that's not much I would like to blog nowadays, as the Perth city tour is pretty much the same. So I shall leave it at that. Ciao~~

Perth Trip Dec 09 (Part 4)

2009-12-09T23:12:00.006+08:00

Day 5

As I am writing this down, I kinda have lost track on how many days I have been here in Australia. I heard (also read from my wifey blog) that Alia have been going on and on about Kangaroo, Koala n Australia. Haha my little sayang is so cute, I guess I do owe her a trip here. Maybe I can organise a mini trip next year, budget permits.

Anyway on to my travel journal.. Gloucester Motel was the best place I guess, also the most expensive. The family suite comprises of two bedrooms that can fit 3 peoples each, so technically the accommodation is for 6 person. Imagine the space~ Btw, we checked out of the hotel by 10 am & checked out the world renowned Gloucester Tree, which is basically a giant Karri tree with platform on top of it for fire lookout in the early days. At first my inner King Scout instinct is boiling it's saying 'I must conquer the Gloucester Tree in order to prove my manhood'. However half way up I was already getting height fright and breathless and it dawned upon me that I'm no longer fit enough to go all the way up. Dang.. I need to work out more on my Wii. Maybe next time with Alia. =)

After that we went out and checked out the berry and lavender farm that was recommended by the hotel receptionist. She said that the pancake there is to die for. And so indeed, it was one of the most delicious pancake I have ever tasted ever. Yes ever. Enjoy the pic over here and feel the pancake. On my way out, I asked the girl at the counter to send my compliment to the chef (chewah macam makan hotel je) which turn out to be herself. I believe she was flattered and she deserved it, I hoped I made her day as she had mine, sweet, tasty, creamy and wonderful.

We headed to straight to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse near Augusta, located at the most South Westerly point in Australia, where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meets. The sea breeze was crazy strong, I bet you can even set a wind farm here too and get lots of electrical juice oozing. The view was spectacular and I wished that I had a panorama capable camera which sadly the camera doesn't support not that I know of.

We decided to just check out one of the caves there although the entrance fee is quite expensive AUD20 per adult to be exact, and went straight to the Jewel Cave. It was quite fascinating that they managed to built a sturdy platform inside the caves without damaging it. I believe some of the caves in Malaysia can also be commercialised in such way to attract tourist. However it would require a proper fund from the govt, which will open up a whole different issue. Anyway, as a tribute to my LOTR reference, Mines of Moria guys..

Afterwards we checked into an amazing cottage called Bussels Bushland Cottages in Margaret River. The interior deco of the cottage is amazing and it even got a real life working fireplace and also, satellite TV. Just a nice touch of traditional and modern. As before I tried out my fire lighting scout skill and managed to make the fire burning for a while before it started to burn out. Man living in farmland sure is tough.

Day 6

We checked out of our last paid accommodation for the trip by 10 am. We went to a chocolate factory here in Margaret River and I bought some chocolate for souvenirs. Along the way Mama lost her spectacle somewhere and we back-tracked trying to find her specs. Sadly it remains missing. We headed straight to Busselton Jetty hoping to go in the underwater observatory. Alas it was closed for renovation work so I have to settle for some photos near the part of the jetty that is still open.

We headed back to Perth and visited Fizah later that night. Fizah is the daughter of Pakcik Zaki, a family friend of my parent. She's studying for Master here in University of Western Australia, the university where my dear Kaklin is supposed to further her studies next year. They were very welcoming, even though we had dropped by on short notice, and even cooked us some meehoon. We went to take a beautiful night scene on top of King's Park, which is kinda like Hyde Park for Londoners. The view of Perth City from the top of the park is amazing and I have to say that the picture didn't do justice to the actual scene.

As I wrote this entry, I realised that we haven't took any picture with Fizah. Hmm.. Anyway, till my next blog guys. Adios..

Perth Trip Dec 09 (Part 3)

2009-12-08T23:41:00.005+08:00

Day 4

I think I have write up quite a bit for day 4 journal in Papa's laptop, however it turn out jumbled up. Maybe because I didn't manage to save properly before the laptop shut down. Anyway here I am typing it all over again. We started our day checking out from Albany Inn and we headed straight to Denmark (an actual city in Australia not a country in Europe). Here we stopped by the town centre and checked out the largest barometer in the world, the Bert Bolle barometer. Every 6 minutes, air will be pumped out of the water to create a vacuum. As the water level rises, it boils when it reaches the top of the barometer, even though the temperature is only 20 Degree Celcius. Amazing!

After talking to the information centre, they recommended us to go to one of the animal petting farm nearby. It was such a great experience. We were given a bag of pellet each to feed the animal. There were quite a variety of animals they have over there, my favourite will be the Koala, Kangaroo and Alpaca. All the Koala did was sleep sleep sleep and eat and then back to sleep. I wish my life was like that. I was quite an experience to able to touch as well as to hug these animals. I do wish I could bring my family here, especially Alia. I know for a fact that she will be very happy.

After that we headed to the valley of the giant tree. They made a fascinating suspended steel bridge in the middle of the forest. You can practically touch the top branch of the tree and the view of the forest from up there, I'm lost for world. I could almost imagine myself like Merry and Pippin riding up the enormous Ent ready to make battle with Saruman's Uruk Hai. I believe they do have this in Malaysia but none were built as sturdy yet simple like this.

Then we're off to Gloucester Motel in Pemberton. It's quite late now (1am to be exact) so I shall update this tomorrow. Till then, ciao!~~~

Perth Trip Dec 09 (Part 2)

2009-12-06T00:42:00.004+08:00

Day 2

I bet you guys are eager to find out where little Frodo had gone today. We woke up early and headed south, on our way to Albany via Albany Highway. It takes 4 hour to reach there and I have to say that the journey was very long. However we got an extra virgin Toyota Corrola with only 1000KM in and it was a spanking smooth rides. It got auto cruise and rented GPS navigator. I enjoyed the ride very much. If only it could drive itself like Bumblebee and kick Decepticon arse while at it.

On the way, we passed through Mount Barker and stopped by a Cherry farm. The lovely madam showed us around the farm and thought us how to pick cherries. You will be suprised that there is an art on picking cherries. If you pick cherries, you shouldn't accidentally nip the bud otherwise it will not grow cherries the next blossoming round. We came in with the intention to pick the cherries ourselves, but we weren't allowed to because of this reason. The farm lady was very cheerful and friendly though and we bought about 1kg of cherries from her.

Next up we went straight to Albany and checked in to the Albany Discovery Inn. Lovely place with good interior deco. Do check out the pics. The innkeeper was friendly and helpful and recommended a fish and chip place at Emu Point. Yum yum, the fish and squid is delicious and fresh, made using locally captured fish and squids. The squid just melt in your mouth like butter. I can't explain it better, you just have to taste it yourself. We went to go for a lookout at Melvin Road, on one of the highest peak of Albany overlooking the city just after sunset. Marvellous view. You can even see the Albany Wind Farm, which we are going to go tomorrow from afar.

Day 3

The next morning we went straight to the wind farm at Sand Patch road. It's kinda cool, cos when I studied in Imperial, my final year project is regarding the wind power turbine. I consider myself a Gaia Capitalist (thank you Richard Branson) and very pro environmentalist and idolises Al Gore. I believe I'm the only person in my office who make it a point to print on unused side of recycled paper. This trip really excites me. There are 12 wind turbines operational in the farm with total power generated around 20MW enough to power 15k Western Australia (WA) homes for 20 years (yes I memorised it, and yes I'm a geek). I didn't get a chance to go to a wind farm in UK so this trip meant a lot to me (we did planned to go but there was no takers. As you would have guess, students are always broke and they rather spend their money buying beers rather than looking at some giant windmill).

After that we went and tapau some lunch at Squid Shack. We went to the Gap and Natural Bridges along with the Blowhole and Salmon Hole in the Torndirrup National Park. The Gap is actually a beatiful rock formation at one of the coastline and the Natural Bridge is a natural stone bridge that connects a "gap". No, the Blowhole is not what you think it is (notti boy), it is actually a gap on a rock formation blows jet of water as big waves crashes on the rock, and the water get force into these natural tunnel and gushes up in the air. Try to imagine the top of a whale which sometimes blow jets of water up in the air, but on a rock instead. Sadly it didn't "blow" today as the waves did not pound against the rock hard enough. That's just sound weird, hehehe..

Lastly, the Salmon Hole is not exactly a hole, but a quiet and nice beachside kinda like a lagoon where the salmon sometimes passes by to look for shallow water. Alas we didn't bring any spare short and shirt so we didn't go for a dip. After that we went all the way to a blueberry farm in Denmark (no it's a place in Australia, not a country in Europe) and just make it there around 3.30pm before it closes at 4pm. This time we got to pick the berries ourselves and even get a discount for doing it. I bought my lovely wife a jar of blueberry jam (wait for it honey).

Later that evening, the town centre of Albany is having a Christmas Pageant (read: parade). It's kinda nice for them to organise it, kinda like a small community activity in the suburban area. We stayed and watched for a bit before going back to the inn. I still have like 4 hours worth of free internet coupon and intended to use it tonight as we're checking out tomorrow. That's the reason I'm putting up this post now. Anyway, I shall update again as I go along and till then Adios Mate!~~

Perth Trip Dec 09 (Part 1)

2009-12-04T05:06:00.005+08:00

Hi all!! Since I haven't updated anything I guess I wouldn't have some many people reading my blog. Sorry guys I have been busy with work. Wait a minute, I don't think that's quite accurate. I should have say that I actually got carried away with it. That's why I was quite glad to be on this vacation trip, it's such a relief~~ Thanks to Mama & Papa =)

Let's just get down to the details. I have decided to update this blog as often as possible sort of like a travel journal. It will be day by day and hopes u guys have fun following me.

Day 1

After all the hustle and bustle, we arrived at Perth Airport around 3pm. My dear brother, Ashraf (a.k.a Asro in our family) picked us up around 5pm and we headed straight to his house. He's sharing the house with 3 other roommates; Smap, Roy another guy I don't know (he's back to Malaysia I think, my parent is staying in his room). They're all very nice and kind people. I have to say their house look quite nice; single storey in a sub-urbanish area. Weird thing about the sandy (yes sandy) lawn in front. I don't see any beach near here.

After resting for a bit, we went out and bought some suplies from the local supermarket, Target and Woolworth. We're stocking up for our road trip to Albany! 'To Albany and back' an epic tale by Frodo Baggins. I can imagine it just like that. Anyway, I haven't took any picture yet as my phone won't work without a sim card and I'm pretty sure I don't want to turn it on with my Celcom sim card. Sorry boss, I on holiday and will be MIA (Missing In an Adventure). I bought an Optus prepaid and paid like AUD30 recharge (AUD4 for the sim card alone). After some thought I think I overpaid cos I won't be using it that much over here, but I believe it's ok as I got like AUD300 worth of 'value' (explaination later) by topping up AUD30 straight on first recharge. I dunno, I guess I just need to text my wife to inform that 'I have arrived all well 10 fingers 10 toes here in Perth, don't you worry dear'. It's important ;)

Anyway, after buying tons of stuff (not sure how it will fit in the trunk) we went out to Makan2 Cafe here in Perth for dinner and my dad 'spend' my brother's housemates dinner as a gesture for letting us crash their place. We got back and sleep aound 11pm-ish. To my fellow UK friends Makan2 Cafe is like Edgware Rd's Nahar. Although the food is nice, it just can't beat Nahar (sorry lil brother, I am die hard ex-Londoner =P ).

Anyway, it was a lovely first day and I'll make sure I put up some photo soon for your viewing. Sorry haven't got pix for 1st day but I shall post whatever I have so far. Till then Hooroo Mate!

Freedom.. !! And last minute tax move you should consider..

2008-12-28T14:46:00.006+08:00

I am finally free from work obligation.. Yeay! At least for a short while.. I just finished my SIRIM audit and I don't have to go back to the office day and night in order to finish. And oh boy oh boy, I'm s glad it's over.. It's not that I don't like audit, it's just that lately it has become all the work that I do. My principle is that yes you do need to do check and balance, however if you overdo it, it will defeat the purpose of doing quality control. You concentrate on it too much you will neglect doing the thing that you're supposed to do; delivery of the product & service.

Ok, on a lighter note let's talk more on personal financing. It's going to be new year soon and you will need to fill in the BE form sooner or later (unless you earn like less than RM2.5k, the tax agent won't even bother to help you). There are some expenditure you can incur this year that can save you money via tax deduction, but the most important thing to note is whether you need to do it or not. As saying goes, a Ringgit saved is a Ringgit earned.

I got my source from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), but I kinda doubt it is updated to the latest version. And may I add the website is confusing and very hard to understand. However I do believe that when you do e-Filing it will turn out right so no worries over here. Also, I won't list all of it as I will just list my favourites and stuffs I think doable.

1) Pay your alms (zakat): You can get tax rebate of up to 2.5% of your taxable income. Though, the website says that you're free to put in as much as the tax charged on you so yes maybe you can pay all your taxes in forms of Zakat. Please take my advice with a pinch of salt, consult the IRB for further clarification.

2) Computers: Up to RM3000 is eligible for tax relief. The easiest thing to buy would be storage. Buy as much as you can afford, as you will always use storage. You can get a 500MB hard disk for just RM200, and 1TB (terabyte) for just RM400. Yes, all those spaces will be used up pretty quickly for your downloads, hehe I won't specify what kind now. If wanna get external enclosure, please buy the 2.5" that can run on USB only. The 3.5" will need an external power supply which can be a bit messy. The one I'm eyeing on cost RM275 for 320MB.

Next up is memory upgrade. Older one is SDRAM, followed by DDR, DDR2 and DDR3. Just be sure that if you still want to use the old RAM, you buy one with the same memory speed i.e 667MHZ etc. In my laptop is 2x 133MHZ 256MB RAM if i'm not mistaken. Do take note that older memories is more expensive for a simple fact that they don't produce as much of them now that they're obsolete model. Therefore you might get a better deal buying them second hand from say lowyat.net, but you won't be able to claim tax relief as you need receipts for that.

Otherwise you might just want to buy a new laptop/desktop altogether. You can get a good desktop with RM3k budget with decent LCD monitor as well as good graphic card, no kidding. Laptop cost a bit more but you do have a lot of choice for RM3000. A laptop I'm eyeing, Lenovo IdeaPad S10 will just cost me RM1.8k.

3) Books: Buy as much as you can as much as you want to read. There is no such thing as too much reading. RM1000 is a lot of books, so feel free to splurge. I do believe magazine subscription counts so why not pay now, get the magazine monthly at your doorstep, and get further discount for subscribing. I might do Personal Money Magazine subscription next year, hehe..

4) SSPN account (Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional): If you have child(ren) open an account for them. You get RM3000 relief per year for ALL your children. Yes, it is not RM3k for each child, it's RM3k total.

It's a shame that many people doesn't realise this and they still want to try to find unit trust that can give them higher return for their children's education. Let's say you're tax at 28% bracket and SSPN give you 4% dividend return anually. You're now earning 32% return on your RM3000 deposit that year. Good luck finding unit trust that can give you that kind of return. Nuff said, open your account and deposit that RM3k now.

I think that's all my take on tax reduction last minute steps now. Do visit IRB website for more details. Do not fret if you can't get all this done this year. You can always bookmark my blog and visit them again December 2009. Anyway, Happy New Year 2009 everyone!! Cheers!!~~

I like to move it move it....

2008-11-17T11:06:00.002+08:00

Azalia and I have moved.... here.

stress...??!!!!

2008-11-04T18:04:00.000+08:00

I think I blog more when exam is near. Instead of studying I'm distracting myself with the internet. hmmmmm why lorr??? All I know is, this time around, I'm not that motivated...huhuhu. must change self!!!

Came home late yesterday, from work. My parents are back, so I can stay back at work late again(did some studying but only did 1 exercise.. bad bad Awanis). I guess Azalia is not used to me coming back late after days of picking her up myself. When I came through the door, she screamed at me!!! boleh tak??!!!! tapi when she saw Asa siap kasi senyuman manis menawan tu.. perghhhh!!!!!!

But she has learnt to listen to what I say. When she's on one of her tantrums I just put on a serious face and say.. "Azalia.. no" and she stopped!!! she actually stopped!!! sobbing and pouting a little lah but she stopped!!!!!Alhamdulillah.....

Oh and people with glasses, beware of Azalia. She likes to pull them out then throw them on the floor. Tried everything to teach her it's not ok to do that but to no avail.

The newspaper....

2008-11-03T18:30:00.002+08:00

I no longer read the first few pages of the newspaper. It sucks big time. Everyday it's the same thing. The political scene in Malaysia sucks. The PIP (people in power) are not looking out for the rakyat but more to themselves. But I like the current MB Selangor. He is a businessman not a politician and when I read his interviews there're no nonsense there. Just straight forward answers. This most certainly do not mean that I am for his party. Unfortunately.. I do not believe on the saying... choose the party not the person running for the party (I believe the PM did say this during the election). If you hold on to this then might as well put a donkey up for election ....

Just some random thoughts...

awanis

cloud 9.....

2008-11-03T18:23:00.003+08:00

Sometimes I catch myself smiling alone in the office while typing or reading because suddenly an image of azalia doing something funny pops in my head. Like just now, while doing my routine job of calculating the daily prices of our funds, the image of Azalia clinging on my sisters leg insisting that she doesn't go back to her uni came to my mind. It's like being on cloud 9. hahahahahah.

I want more babies.... huhuhuhu

awanis

laa dee daaa......

2008-10-31T11:04:00.002+08:00

I know it has been way way too long and i have no clue if i still have any readers but here goes.

EID

Celebrated Eid at Kuching with loads and loads of relatives. Azalia met my small cousins and they just loved her. They practically followed her everywhere even when she wanted to sleep they lay beside her or patted her. She was bewildered by the attention but after awhile got used to them and loved every second of it.

Not having my grandmother around this Eid is certainly weird. My last Eid with her was..... maybe 3 or 4 years ago.. I lost count. This was because I was in UK so Eid was spent abroad and when we came back, our first raya was back in the UK because of Asa's graduation and the second one was in KL, Asa's side. So........ it was suppose to be with my dad's grandmother this time... but it was not meant to be. Every night while we were there, there was tahlil because by tradition we have tahlil 7 nights in a row. So, the furniture in my aunt's house were all moved to one end(to make way for the jemaah prayers), and there's this big space in the living room for the children to run around and everyone to lepak in the day time, and after tahlil.

Eid was..... the usual despite her absence. The first day, my eldest aunt couldn't hold back her tears so there were tears from the other siblings too. But other than that, it was the normal Eid. But they did reminisce a lot and picture albums (which I didn't know existed) were taken out and stories of the old times were told. Everytime I walk pass my grandmother's room, I can feel the tears just waiting to burst, but I quickly distract myself, thinking "enough tears have been shed, She is with Allah now."

Sometimes I catch my dad mutter under his breath "hmmm... mak nek dah takde" to Azalia.

We had a family picture in front of her house. It was planned before she passed away. She was suppose to be in it. Her children thought they should take it this Eid while she still have the strength to sit. But again. kita hanya merancang...

All in all... there was a mixture of emotions this Eid. But I look forward to going back again.

Poland..London.... home alone..not quite

Asa went to Poland for 5 days for some conference and had a 3 day transit in London. At the same time, my parents went to Australia because my mom have some work and my dad tagged along, sooooo.... Azalia and I had the house to ourselves for about a week. Needless to say it was a big adjustment for Azalia. She is so used to having a lot of people in the house and when there's only me... she was sooooo insecure. I had to be within sight everytime. She would follow me around everywhere even in the toilet and I had to take my bath, and do my business with the doors open (is this too much info.. hahaha), and to prevent her from coming in to the bathroom, I put her in her highchair. If not.... she'll cry and cry like I left her for good. huhuhuhu. kesian.

We webcam a lot with my parents and Asa so she seems to think that they live in the computer now and demands that I switch the computer on. Everytime we get back home, she would point to the computer. Even when Asa came back and was in front of her, she pointed to the computer.. hehehe funny girl.

Not having anyone around to help with the house chores is certainly tiring but I got things done because Azalia is so so so good. She would listen to what I say and does not whine as much. But when Asa came back... aiyoyoyo.. sudah start mengada. Kids are clever.. they know how to make you go against each other so they can get their way. But when it's only you and them... they know... there's no way around it... hahahhahaha.

Azalia's learning new sounds too... now she keeps on saying... kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. It started when I said... " azalia.. we are in the car" and she goes.. kaaaaaaaaaa... she also knows 'umbrella'. She'll open her book and point to umbrella and gestures to me to say it and when I say "umbrella", she'll say " umbek...mama" She knows birds goes tweet tweet.

So I guess that's all for now.... till next few weeks?? months??? hahahahahhahaha

The passing....

2008-09-26T22:19:00.005+08:00

A few years back, I remembered feeling sad as I watched her.. slowly drifting away from us. But physically she was with us and those few moments that she was herself was cherished by everyone. It was heartbreaking to see, my grandmother, the most independent person I have ever known, who brought up 16 children into successful adults, being bathed my father, arguing with him like a little child, crying and pleading not to leave her but to stay with her in Kuching. I know it's hard for my father to leave but he'll be back he assured her, and he did, several times..we all did.. but not yesterday.

It was sudden and brief my aunt said. Only a handful of her children were at her side. The others were not in time. She is now at peace and may Allah rest her soul. It was sudden yes but not unexpected. She was getting weaker this past few years but we thought she would still be here for Eid. We were going to take one last family picture but it was not meant to be.

My heart goes to my father, as I see him trying to hold back his tears in front of us when he received the news. I know how bad he wants to be back, to prepare for the funeral, but it was not to be. The flight is full and the earliest is tomorrow morning. I pray that he will be in time to see her before the burial. He said that it's ok, if he's late to just go ahead but I know he still wants to see her one last time.

Life still has to go on. Eid will still be here. But it won't be the same.

Al-Fatihah, Hjh Ayot@Rokayah Rajak (1926-2008)

more here

-awanis-

Ramadhan and Eid

2008-09-25T11:26:00.002+08:00

Ramadhan has been uneventful. Everything was same old same old except Asa lost quite a bit of weight and his tummy is definitely smaller. Certainly an adjustment for Azalia because she's so used to 'parking' her leg on Asa's tummy whenever he carries her around. The weightloss has inspired Asa to fast longer. ader hati nak fast for one year. I told him to go slow first and start with puasa enam. Nazar Azalia selamat pun belum habis lagi.

There's not much prep for Raya. I've never really got all excited about new baju raya and stuff when I was small anyway.(Mak je yg excited and see it as a must... then again.. we had to buy new ones anyway, the only time we wore baju kurung was during raya..) Since this time around I have loads of baju kurung for office and kenduri and stuff and there are a few which have only seen the light of day once or twice.. I've decided no new ones for me.. just those. Ala this time balik Kuching pun.. they've never seen my baju kurungs anyway. Asa has two new baju melayu from my brother's wedding so none for him too. And Azalia has tons of dresses which she only wore once or twice and since they are all very lovely sayang kalau tak puas pakai so non for her too (although I am planning to sew her one baju kurung but till today I have yet to do it.. potong dah.. jahit je belum.. so let's just hope I start sewing soon ok)

This year it's raya in Kuching and I am very very excited. I love going back to Kuching because my dad's family are so huge and things will be noisy and chaotic and tiring but that's how gathering are suppose to be. I love my mom's side too but since 6 siblings is way less than 16 siblings.. of course abah's side is much more 'happening'. hehehehehe. Azalia can also play with my cousins and nieces which is great because she can play with girls!! yeay!!. On my mom's side there are only boys and I think she's getting lasak like the boys too now. Nothing wrong with that since I was a bit of a tomboy myself when I was little(until primary kot)..a tomboy with long hair because I hate short hair... kakakakaka.

So that's all about our Ramadhan and the upcoming Eid. I know I have been blogging a lot less lately but this is due to playing with Azalia at night and when we're not playing she usually hogs the computer to watch her cartoons. And I don't really like blogging at the office.

So Happy Ramadhan everyone and Eid Mubarak.

Rising Oil Prices, Malaysia (part 3): Is electric car viable? Chapter 2..

2008-09-10T23:32:00.005+08:00

Sori Eddie, why I talked more about renewables is bcos you will only really go greener if you change from from fossil fuel to renewables. Grid energy using fossil fuel is just the same as burning petrols elsewhere. But if your grid taps into renewables (hydroelectric most common in Malaysia), it's practically Zero Emission. Don't you worry about climate change?? Hurricane Gustav and Ike and the flooding that we currently experience in Malaysia is just the tip of the iceberg. Don't we want to leave the earth without our grandchildren suffering the results of our misdeeds? But this should belong to a totally different topics..

Ok let's talk numbers. I believe it's really is 100,000 miles = 160,000km
How long is that? 160,000km / 20,00km per year = 8 years
Spread the EV (Electric Vehicle) battery premium; RM20,000 / 8 yrs = RM2500 yearly

I pay petrol around; RM360 monthly x 12 = RM4320 yearly
Assume I can save 7 times worth petrol if I go electric.. (1)
If I drive EV, I only pay; RM4320 / 7 = RM617
So I save on petrol; RM4320 - 617 = RM3702 yearly

Yearly I actualy net saving going EV; RM3702 - 2500 = RM1202 yearly.
By the time I need to replace battery, I have; RM1202 x 8 = RM9622

That's already half the cost of the battery premium. That is assuming that you really need to replace it. They might last longer though, but degraded quality. Kinda like you cellphone battery (I believe it's the same technology). Let's say with R&D they can reduce the battery cost to only RM12k, well you just need to top up RM2500.

Also, maintenance of electric motors should be less than combustion. With everything else equal, you don't need to change the engine oil, air filter (is it?), gearbox oil that often. Plus, regenerative braking, DC air-con. Cool~ Think big scale Tamiya engine..

So bottom line, is it worth going greener for RM2500 premium in 8 years time in the future? You betcha =)

P/S: (1) I got the source from Wiki, from US market condition. Might not be the same scenario here, but I believe it should be close in terms of relativity.

Rising Oil Prices, Malaysia (part 2): Is electric car viable?

2008-09-06T08:40:00.005+08:00

Referring to my friends blogs on Proton's project on Electric Cars, I have to strongly disagree with him. Electric cars are the future! It's like education; you have to spend on fees (rolling out initial investment), you have to study hard to get the good results and you won't reap the benefit instantly.

But government have to support the project by giving the proper infrastructure. They can extend recharge points to all petrol station like they are doing with NGV, or at least Petronas. The idea is to get as many petrol alternatives as possible so that overall we have a lot more petrol alternative of fuel (Diesel, NGV, now Electric).

On the going greener, I agree with we have to go nuclear/renewables to reap most benefit from electric car development. Like Iran! Yeah, if only US will back off than harassing Iran on use of nuclear technology. I haven't talk renewables here like Solar or Wind technology or Wave technology. Yes they are still expensive compared to fossil fuel, but with rising cost of fossil fuel and decreasing cost of renewables via govt incentives (tax exempt on component import & mass productions) they might prove viable someday. Personally, I did my final year project on wind turbines and their cost will be able to compete fossil fuel in 10 years or so (mind you, it was 2 years back). Hell, they might be able to challenge the price as of this moment. Problems is, with rising oil price, material cost also increases. (Most lightweight materials is made out of petroleum products).

2004 article on Wind Energy cost comparison

Battery technology is still weak, but I'm sure they will improve over time. In time, with proper R&D they would be able to make it lighter and last long (like Energizer or Duracell comercial.. Hehe).

But do you know that my biggest fantasy would be to tap into lightning electricity. Finally we can use up all the thunderstorm we have locally for good use. =)

Guys if you are concerned citizen regarding this issue please read more on the websites that I linked as below:

Better Place: regarding electric car project
US wind power market research

Our weekend

2008-07-28T16:54:00.001+08:00

My weekend with Azalia was filled with dramas. There were tears (in her part) and hair pulling (she started it) and major shouting( Ok this one I'm guilty). But those were the downs. The ups were Azalia being able to see Asa (through webcam) and she leaned to the screen and kiss her abah.(Kesian anak mak.. rindu abah ye) It was funny watching both of them trying to communicate while I intepret what Azalia says to Asa through the keyboards (can't find the mic). Azalia seems to listen more to Asa then me.

Anyway, Azalia refuses to sleep even when she's dead tired so after exhausting all alternatives I just resort to ignoring her. This lead to some really good acting in her part. There were the tears, the cries, the fake coughing (which later turned to real coughs which startled her and she stopped faking them), the pulling her hair and hands on cheeks... really good acting I tell you. But I managed to put a straight face,(dlm hati nak gelak gila), were firm and soon she sucks those fingers of her and buried her face in the pillow... after a while she's in dreamland.

She's also become quite attached to her blankie and wants to bring it everywhere. And ever since Asa's not around she sleeps holding her milk bottle. Gila kuat pegang. When I tried to pry it from her hand she suddenly squeels (tgh tido tu). So to avoid any milk spilling on my sheets, I quickly switched it with an empty one.

I also caught a flu and had some diarhea so I was feeling abit impatient when she starts acting out. So there was some shouting because I wanted her know I was angry(Those who know me knows how loud I normally speaks so the shouting is necessary to differentiate normal and angry.. hehehehe ) .She didn't want to eat and tepiskan the bowl of cornflakes I handed to her.. habis sepah.. Anyway, Azalia just puts a blank face when I'm angry and tries to pujuk me with her cheeky smiles but I was having none of that. So... after a few minutes... after I think she's learnt her lesson, I spoke to her again.

ps: tak jadi babysit my cousins. So it was just me and Azalia.(my parents were out on Saturyda but they did bring her out on Sunday and I had half a day on my own.)

pss: Asa looked so tembam in the webcam. Mcm blowfish.. heheheh

-wanyz-

Just the two of us....

2008-07-23T20:36:00.004+08:00

Asa is away for training in Mersing for 10 days. So it's just me and Azalia(and my parents of course).

Right now Azalia is playing on the bed. Alone. She loves to play with her books just flipping the pages and shove them into people's faces or laps , a sign saying " Please read to me". She's also learning how to talk. She's making sounds with intonations (although most of the time it sounds like a question. Maybe she's trying to ask something). The only understandble words are "mama" which refers to me and "mamam" which means food. I also finds it amusing when she sees something new and makes "ooohh" and "aaahhh" sounds.

She also puts her pointing finger on her nose, a sign she's mad or disapproves of something. Needless to say she does this a lot when she wants something and we don't give it to her. (Asa taught her this when he was trying to tell her not to do something).

I think Azalia inherited my 'kayu-ness' when it comes to dancing. Caught her watching the show Fun song factory and she tried to follow the dance but the only body parts that was moving was her hand, head and leg. The middle part (ie. the bum,) did not move at all... heheheh so funny.

Had a bet with dina and a colleague of mine that I will be missing Asa badly (sampai nangis) after a week. Told them it's not going to happen and will stick to that... hahahahaha.

Will be babysitting my cousins(4 boys age range from 10-2 years old)and of course there's Azalia. Will have to plan some activities for them. Maybe swimming in the morning, computer games at home and Playground in the evening. The toughest will be handling the 2 year old and Azalia at the same time. hmmmmm. The most I've ever babysit is 3 kids. Now I have to handle 5... wish me luck.

-wanis-

Rising oil price, Malaysia: ways to suck it up and live with it

2008-07-20T06:37:00.003+08:00

Admit it, oil price will never go down. Don't care if it's the petrol you pump at the petrol station or even cooking palm oil. Rise in the 1st causes rise in the second, a whole lot of other consumer items.

I do think the readjustment of the petrol price necessary. For once, there is limited amount of decomposed dinosaur remains that you can suck out from the middle of the earth. After all, they have been extinct for some hundreds thousand years ago.

To be honest, I do agree with the government moves to raise the price of petrol and give out subsidy in the form of cash instead. It's fairer to the population in the sense that those driving a Beemer will get the same amount of subsidy as those who doesn't (provided the Beemer is <2000cc). Indirectly, it encourages ppl to save petrol. When they burn less petrol, less CO2 is released to atmosphere = slower greenhouse effect. Better future for our grandchildren =)

But some ppl still stuck with using car. Myself, for example still need to drive baby Alia chan to babysitter then to office then back home. I could try to use the public transport, however it's not really is a viable option.

For those who still need to drive, what are their option to save on petrol? The answer: Petrol credit card + loyalty card. In order to make a comparison, we'll need to look at these criteria: Rebate amount & Annual fee waiver. For simplicity, I will just review the top 3 combo. Take my spending for example, I spent RM320 per month on petrol RM80/week average.

3) Citibank Shell Card + BonusLink
Rebate: For classic ct card, rebates are 1.5% for fuel purchases (3% if carry forward balance >RM2k). 0.5% for other purchases (1% if balances >RM2k).
Annual Fee: RM90 (1st year waived).
In order to get most buck from the card, you should ask for a fee waiver.
Saving: Saving on rebates is RM4.80 (1.5% x RM320). Min redemption is RM20 so it will be 5 month before I can redeem it.
I fill up 118 litre of petrol per month so I will get 118 BonusLink point. 980 will get me a RM10 Parkson voucher so I should be able to redeem it in 9 months.
Therefore, TOTAL saving = RM5.96 monthly (roughly) if you add up the savings from rebates and Bonuslink points.

2) CIMB Petronas Mastercard
Rebate: 2% of fuel or any item at Mesra outlets. RM50 max rebate per card per month.
Annual Fee: Free for life.
Saving: RM6 per month.
Btw, you can't get points from Kad Mesra if you use the card.

1) UOB One Card (Visa)
Rebate: 2% for petrols, up to RM70 per receipt. RM400 max transacted amount per month. Effectively your max rebate is 2% x 400 x 2 cards (Visa and Mastercard) = RM16 a month.
Annual Fee: RM68 (It's waived if cardholder uses it at least 6x a year. Cardholder also get a UOB MasterCard that they need to use 6x a year).
I don't think you'll have problem swiping your cards, you'll have problem not to..
Saving: RM5.6 per month. I fill up RM80 worth of fuel, 4x a month. Rebates will only count up to 2% x RM70.
I will also get 320 e-point per month. I can get RM5 worth of fuel with 550 e-point which I can accumulate in 2 months, therefore saving RM2.50 a month.
Therefore, TOTAL saving = RM8.10 per month making it a winner combo! You could probably earn more if you limit your refuel to RM70 each refill.

There you have it. I have always been a pro-swiper, despite my wife disapproval. However I always believe in prudent spending and only spending what you can afford.

Remember, credit cards are not money in your hand. It only facilitate that money to be at the tip of your hand. Adios!

-Asa-

of tantrums

2008-07-05T19:46:00.001+08:00

Azalia is 1 now, and boy (or should I say girl.. hehe i know.. lame.. whatever) she is a handful. I am thankful that she has her father's good natured-ness though ( but please oh please don't let her be so blur)

Azalia now knows how to throw tantrums when she doesn't get things her way, for example, she cries really really loud when she doesn't want to sleep even though she's yawning away and since the room is dark so she thinks " if i stay here, i will surely fall asleep" so she cries and coughs( yes she likes to fake coughing after she realises we were really attentive when she had a cough last time) to force me to bring her outside in front of the TV. Of course I didn't (even when my dad wants to sbb.. kesian cucu dia nangis). I have to be firm and show her who's boss. Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebung.. kan. So she cries and coughs while I pretend to be sleeping and after a few minutes she'll be too tired to fight her sleepiness and put her fingers in her mouth and sleep.(yes she still sucks her fingers before she sleeps and by fingers I mean the middle and ring finger. weird right)

Anyway, she also throws herself to the floor when I don't let her play with certain stuff. And by stuff I mean handphones, the remote control, cds, keyboards, mouse.. etc. Thank God for the TV. Seriously.. bukak channel 613 and she's distracted. hehehe....I know... Not good to rely on TV. But I only use it to distract her just for a sec. ( yeah right.. I also use it to entertain her.. don't get me wrong we still play with her but .. she's sooooo active(alhamdullilah) and needs stimulation like almost all the time so.. I need a break..
seriously)

Ok.. so how does a child.. an innocent, suci bak kain yang putih child pick up these negative habits. well.. I blame the genes. Well mine to be exact. Apparently I can be a pain in the A-double snakes.(get it.. hehe). I throw a lot and I mean a lot(and for quite a long period)of tantrums. And my tantrums apparently according to my mum is like lying-on-the kitchen-floor-and-spinning-my-body type of tantrums. But unlike Azalia, the way to distract me (or pujuk me) was to give me food.. eheehehehe(yeah this even works when I'm angry.. Asa learned this the hard way).

So.... I thank GOD because Asa is such a good natured person because I think because of his genes, Azalia is a very very good natured girl and when she has her tantrums .. it's short and senang nak pujuk.

Syukur alhamdulillah.

Project : Alia's pants

2008-06-25T06:30:00.002+08:00

Azalia's 1st birthday - the mini celebration (chap.2)

2008-06-16T21:08:00.003+08:00

Azalia's 1st birthday - the mini celebration

2008-06-16T21:02:00.003+08:00

apologies apologies apologies

2008-06-15T19:12:00.004+08:00

A thousand apologies. I failed to update the pictures as promised. I have to resize them and I am so ever lazy to. huhuhuhu.

On the new place

We're currently applying our loan for the house and we've applied to 2 banks, A*liance and C*MB. We're lucky that we applied early because they've cancelled all the mixed loans (fixed for first few years and then BLR-x% the whole tenure) after the harga minyak announcement. I guess they are expecting BLR to increase more. A*liance dah approve but we're still waiting for C*MB.

Asa

Asa has been working like crazy last week because ada ISO audit. Balik kul 4-5 pagi. Thank GOD it's over. Now he can help me with the loans.

Azalia

Azalia loves to walk. Only one shoe fits now. And since it's sneakers, kaki cepat masam, so bought her a sandal.

Me

Was thinking of printing her photos (Yes dah setahun, I never print her photos.. teruk kan) but this month got audit so tons of work to do. DAMMIT. When oh when will I ever get around to do that.Anyway, exams are over and I think I did ok.

The weekend

Went to MAPEX 2008 (Malaysian Property Exhibition 2008) today. KMYSIANs, guess who I bumped into!!! ABG HAMDAN and wife. hehehehehhe. anak dah duaaaaa.

Father's day
Very bad in giving surprises. Bought Asa a samsung t10 on friday during lunch time BUT only managed to kept it a secret for... 1 hour. Yes, I was too excited and called him and told him. bengongkan. So didn't wait for Sunday and gave it to him after work on Friday. kehkehkeh. :p

just a short one

2008-06-05T07:20:00.002+08:00

Azalia's one year old yesterday. However the celebration was done last weekend along with my mom's and bro's birthday (both in may).

We are in the process of buying the place mentioned earlier and the process is... well lets just say there's a lot of things involved and a lot of dateline to meet to ensure we don't are not penalise for anything. Signed the S&P last weekend and yes... we are now committed to the place

Oil prices has increased by app. 40%. That means our expenses on transportation will jump by that much. hmmmmm although I've been using the LRT to work , we still use the car on weekends. Maybe now whenever we want to go into KL on weekends, we just have to use the LRT too. Azalia would like that. a change from being in the car only.

Exams are just around the corner. very near. Asa's this Sunday and mine on the Tuesday(10 June). However Asa couldnt have his study break because he has so much work to do. and I'm only taking 2 days study break. Wish us luck. we really need it. At least if we fail this time around, we got our study momentum back. hehehehe.

Will post pictures of the birthday girl. and maybe a vid of her walking... yes she's walking and boy she loves to walk.

wanyz

new home??? maybe....

2008-05-16T12:36:00.003+08:00

what do you think? Btw It's in Puchong... huhuhu.

azalia - crawl

2008-05-03T07:36:00.001+08:00

azalia crawling

2008-05-01T12:21:00.004+08:00

The vid is posted at the next entry. Ignore the background music because it's just the TV. hehehehe. this was shot when she was 9 months old.

pictures - azalia 10 months

2008-05-01T12:18:00.002+08:00

baby steps

2008-04-28T10:33:00.003+08:00

And so... at 10 months old, Azalia took her first steps. Dgn bangganye I told Wan Jan (her babysitter) and dengan selambanya she replied.. "aah dah reti sket2". Aiseh rupanya dah tunjuk kat wan dia dulu. Same thing happened when I excitedly told her that she can now geleng kepala (all this while angguk je reti). It sokay baby... I dun care where and who saw it first.. Mummy's proud of you either way.

Azalia bites. She bites when she's geram. We're scared of this habit of hers coz she bites really hard. She has 6 teeth now . 4 at the top and 2 at the bottom. Very sharp teeth I tell you. Atuk nenek dia ( who are dentists) are very proud of those strong teeth.

Funny thing happened the other day while I was having my daily conversation with Azalia about how she should always be a good girl and listen to me.

me-" Azalia anak mak good girl, mummy is always right tau."

Azalia's reponse - shaking her head

me-"aik kecik2 dah lawan ke? No no..you're a good girl"

I know it's coincidence but what a coincidence!!!!

Oh and she now understands,

1. sayang pipi(tap ur fingers kat pipi and she'll go to you with mouth wide open to sayang you)

2. waves goodbye

3. mak/anyone pakai tudung = mak/anyone going out

4. cium tangan.(thanks to babysitter for religiously teaching her this)

Will post pictures once I've resized them.

So updates on the parents? Well work has been busy (so what else is new) Studies are moving along slowly. Our exams are in June. And I guess that's it. Hahahaha.... very routine kan our life. How do we make it less routine???

It's been awhile

2008-04-18T00:40:00.000+08:00

It's been awhile since I'm up this late. Asa is snoring away with Azalia by his side. Thankfully she's not disturbed by his snores. Otherwise.. we would have sleepless nights because ever since this hubby of mine put on weight, his snores are quite loud.

Usually I would be the one to tuck her in but today I've decided that daddy needs to do it. Mommy has been sleeping way too early and needs some time alone with the TV.. heheheheh. best best dapat layan TV.

I know we haven't been updating this blog for awhile now. Work has been crazy for both of us. Azalia is oh so big now and demands attention from her mommy and daddy when we're home from the office so there's not much 'me' time for either of us.

Azalia has a temper... hooo boyyy and the only thing that can calm her down is rolie polie olie. Mak ai.. kalau marah... menjerit.. nangis.. tolak2 mak dia.. ( ni ada gaya macam mak dier je.. OH NO!!) So the only solution is..

1. angkat dia bawak jalan2 OR
2. pasang rolie polie olie cd.

We usually choose the latter when it's night time coz tak larat ah nak carry her around all the time. after the show habis (20 mins) she usually just go back to sleep. eheheh.. anakku kaki tv mcm diriku.. haiyaaaa...

Mak n Abah lookalike tug o war

2008-02-29T20:22:00.001+08:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Azalia's first word.

2008-02-29T13:15:00.003+08:00

I'm writing this on behalf of Asa. He insists I blog about this because he's so excited that his method worked. Azalia's first word is officialy "Abah" much to my dismay.. siot tol Asa.Senyap2 gi ajar dier abah... tak ajar sebut mak langsung. We were in the car with Azalia happily sitting in her car seat at the back when suddenly Asa said... "abah" and Azalia responded with this teeny voice "Abah" and everytime Asa repeats, she follows.Imagine my shock.... I mean she baby talk a lot but never a clear word... there's dadadada when she's happy... mamamamma when she cries... balblablablabla for everything else but this is a 2 syllable word... "a-bah". hmmmphhhh... Asa is so proud. I'm proud too. Our baby's all big now. huhuhuhuhu.

p.s: I tried making her say emak.. but she just gave me this blank stares and smile. aiyaaaaaa....

Fever in February

2008-02-22T14:22:00.000+08:00

Am down with fever since Thursday. Takut Azalia jangkit but alhamdulillah for now she hasn't got it and hopefully will not get it. So I'm having a long weekend this week. Nasib not much work at the office or I'll be filled with guilt. Assignments are due on Monday so you would think it's a good time for me to start doing my assignment... NOTTTT.... hehehehe ok ok ok will start doing it.. maybe later tonight when Azalia's asleep.

Alhamdulillah Azalia was willing to sleep in her cot last night. My temperature gone up again yesterday night so was worried that she'll catch whatever I'm having if she sleeps with me. Re-positioned the cot so that she can still sleep beside me when she's in her cot. But I like sleeping beside her especially now that she doesn't push me away when I hug her.( Yes people, my daughter doesn't like to be hugged or held for a long time except when she's in unknown territory. Very the independant lah she. Always want to play only.)

I think I have to register for my ACCA exam soon. But am still not sure how many papers I should take. anyone have any suggestions. bear in mind.. I have Azalia and work. Need to squeeze some time to study. Maybe I should tahan my mata everytime tidurkan Azalia then I wouldn't sleep so early and have the night to study. hmmmmmm. kene tabahkan hati n mata ni.

Azalia's upper teeth are coming out. Oh ya...2 gigi bawah dah keluar last month dah. Don't remember blogging about that.

So an update on the father? well.... slight fever. not as bad as mine. Election is near so he has to be on duty some nights for something ... paksa rela GLC dia suruh. . the week before last week he took 2 days off to play in the KL pro tour magic pekebende ntah. Was surprised to see some newspapers writing a short article on it. SO GEEKY I TELL YOU!!! won't disclose his partner in crime..BUT sanggup tu dua dua amik cuti!!!!!

so what else what else.... my brother got engaged. My sister's computer got stolen in Uni. I know this is bad but I bet it was an inside job. most probably the guards. If not the guards then they certainly didn't do their job at all!!!... the thief potong the grill ok.. you know how long that takes. if you were doing your rounds... you would've caught them.ok enough on that.

Did a little baking a couple of weeks ago. baked some choc chip cookies. some butter cupcakes with strawberry filling. Azalia loved both of them.. hehehehehe.

I guess that's all... basically this sums up my February.

susu ibu

2008-02-13T20:00:00.001+08:00

After 8 months of expressed breastmilk(EBM), my breastmilk supply has taken a dip. Don't think it'll return to normal.Notice that I'm talking about EBM and not breastfeeding. This is because I've been giving Azalia EBM exclusively for 6 months( the last 2 months dah on solids dah..no more exclusive) and not breastfeeding her. She was taken off breastfeeding after just 1 week because she bites. She latched properly, positioned properly but that girl's gum is so strong I bled. I had a few lectures from my aunties about how I'm missing out on bonding sessions etc.. but I was only breastfed by mother for 2 weeks (yes people I bite too according to mom) and we're extremely close. So... I think it's better if Azalia have a mother who's happy then a mother who is always in pain and upset. But in order to increase my milk supply I pump religiously ( the first month it was every 2 hours and then 2nd month every 4 hrs once dah start keje boleh lah every 6hrs) and alhamdulillah the supply was good till about a few weeks ago. I blame work for that. Sometimes work just gets in the way and I missed a few sessions and apparently my milk glands belajar econs so...less demand equals less supply.

Tapi there is some good in giving her EBM. She's more familiar with the bottle and it helps a great deal when she's with her babysitter. I actually tried to breastfeed her again after my wound healed but she prefers the bottle anyway so takpelah... hehehehe. I'm still expressing even if it means just 12-16ozs a day. I think I'll keep at it until she's 1 year old and after that we'll see. A tip to get your baby get used to formula... give it to her while she's asleep because she's too sleepy to care. After you've done this a few times, she'll be familiar with the taste and will willingly take it when she's wide awake. So now, Azalia takes her breastmilk first... kalau dah habis, baru kasi formula.

wanyz

Langkawi

2008-02-11T22:58:00.001+08:00

Some pictures from our family holiday in Langkawi 2 weeks ago.

life...

2008-02-11T22:19:00.000+08:00

Hmmm.... It has been busy busy busy lately. Azalia is now Azalia the explorer... can't sit still... Thank god I bought that playpen gate thingy. Nih baru merangkak.. not yet walking. No Awanis don't complain... syukur your baby is healthy. Having a baby... your life no longer yours anymore. Your baby owns you. When they reach their toddler years, you are the boss but till then, they are the boss of you. Asa thinks I give in to early when she cries for attention and he thinks its funny when Azalia merajuk I pun merajuk... siap main tolak2 lagi. Azalia just laughs when I do that. she thinks I'm playing with her. She also pulls my hair and puts them in her mouth. sakit lah.. she thinks I'm her doll.

But I love her smiles.. I'm addicted to them. I love her laughs, and how she gets excited and quickly crawls towards me when I come back from work. I love when she clings to me, and sleeps beside me. I love everything about her even when she annoys me with her unwillingness to sleep even when she is sleepy.(Sometimes its funny seeing her trying to shake off her sleepiness.. she shakes her head and laugh and cry at the same time).

She's easily distracted which means "I don't want to eat.. I want to see the world" when we go jalan-jalan. She loves her baby carrier and Asa will let her touch everything when she's in it. Asa feels like a pregnant father when he carries her in it.

My heart melts whenever I see Asa and Azalia play together. I'm just filled with happiness whenever I see my little family together. My life... definitely not mine... but I'm happy with it.

This is what we wake up to almost every morning:

wanyz

8 months

2008-02-10T20:11:00.000+08:00

Azalia's many faces during breakfast

With her cheeky smile and favourite biscuit.

our little one

2008-01-13T08:02:00.000+08:00

Asa calls her his sperm.Part of his contribution to society... (kesiannye my daughter.-wanyz-)

more babies please @ 2008

2008-01-13T07:59:00.000+08:00

I think it's funny how sometimes strangers stares at us when we take
Azalia out. Do we look too young to have a child? Anyway, I wish I have
friends who just had babies. I need to exchange stories and Azalia
needs to socialise with babies her age (although she's already
talkative on her own.. I wonder what socialising will do to her....).
Sometimes I try to restrain myself from talking about Azalia to my
friends because I know how some people dislike hearing people talk
about their kids all the time... but she's changing everyday and it
amazes me and I just need to talk about it... heheheeh luckily my
friends at work doesn't mind. :)

wanyz

welcome 2008

2008-01-08T07:58:00.000+08:00

It's 2008 and azalia is 7 months old. A lot has happened and we have been busy busy busy with azalia, work, each other and family commitments. Plans for 2008? well Asa will be doing CFA ( class already started.. he seems to be enjoying it) and I've registered to do my ACCA (but it hasn't gone through yet so I'm not sure if I can actually sit for it in June.. hopefully can lah)... so... looks like Azalia is not the only who will be learning new things in 2008. So Happy New Year peeps... will update this blog with pictures ( if I can find the time :p)

wanyz

Our first raya with Azalia

2007-11-27T22:28:00.000+08:00

2007-07-11T11:24:00.000+08:00

Waaaahhhh being parents is tiring... ni baru satu bulan belum lagi our whole life. my life nowadays definitely revolves around azalia. Kesian asa who I have been neglecting this past few weeks because I was still adjusting to my new role. Hopefully I can be the wife I used to be to him soon.

My mornings start with me waking up to her cries because it's her feeding time, and then if sempat, I'll make asa's coffee. And then around 9 I'll give her a bath, feed her again, and wait for her to fall asleep so I can get some chores done. Around noon, it's feeding time again, and we'll watch oprah together until she's sleepy again. And then it's back to doing more chores and oh yes, me eating and taking a bath. She's definitely the happiest in the morning, but gets cranky at night. She's not that bad though because she only wakes up at night for feeding and most of the time she goes back to sleep after she's full.

All this is not easy. It did put a bit of strain in our relationship, but as I've always stressed, communication is the key to a healthy relationship, and because of that we've managed so far. Asa helps out quite a lot. Sometimes when I'm too tired and I need to crash early, Asa will take care of her. Although he still has trouble with cleaning up her muntah but he's doing well in other areas.

I think living with my parents makes it easier because of the support that we get from them and my siblings. I am definitely not looking fwd to going back to work because I WANT TO TAKE CARE OF MY BABY AND MY BABY'S DADDY!!! but I don't have half a mil to pay off my debt so.... I'm paying it WITH MY LIFE !!!!

What I miss ever since I had her? well I do miss doing what ever I want when I want to, for eg, just get up and going out and not having to bother with strollers, baby carriers, breastmilk, etc.But then again, if I don't have her, I'll miss not having her.

Shash asked, whether life is better now. I wouldn't say it's better because life was great even before I had her. What I would say is that it's different. Good different. It's not easy and it's hard work and more responsibilty but the reward is definitely worth it. Seeing her smile gets us so excited, hearing her coos and funny little noises cheers us up. She's a funny girl, I can tell.

awanis

baby azalia

2007-06-09T11:51:00.000+08:00

On 04/06/07 at 11.48am baby azalia was born into this world. It was a very eventful delivery. We were expecting a normal delivery(with epidural of course) because everything was going well but after about 7 hrs since my water broke and I was only 4 cm dialated, her heartbeat dropped and the doctor and midwife was pushing me for a c-section because there are signs that she is in distress. So ceasarean it is and since since I was already on epidural, they increased the dosage and I was wide awake throughout the operation. I couldn't feel the pain of course, but I could feel the they were pulling the baby out of me, they were pushing the placenta to take it out etc. kesimpulannye rasa macam kene korek..

anyway the moment I heard her cry I was in tears myself because I was soooo relieved. Asa azankan right after they cut her umbilical cord and he was relieved too that both mother and baby are alright.

So currently I am resting and hopefully will recover soon. My recovery will be longer than those who have a normal delivery but I'm hoping it will not be more than 2 weeks . The really painful times was the first 3 days. The pain currently is bearable but I still have trouble moving around and pulling myself up from the bed. Asa will be getting back to work next week but I wish he won't but what to do... My mom will be getting back to work the week after so hopefully I can be more mobile by then.Both of them have been a big help in doing things for the baby so I need to get better soon so that I can do everything by myself.

People keep on asking me how does it feel to be a mother. Honestly, the first few days, I didn't feel anything . I was in too much pain to bother and I was just looking forward to getting better. But now I am better, I can sincerely say, I am very happy to be one.

p.s: pictures can be seen at my fotopages

counting the days.....

2007-05-25T05:25:00.000+08:00

I'm due 1st June. I thought I might deliver early but I have a feeling that I won't. We had a false alarm 2 weeks ago because my contractions were every 10 minutes. everyone was excited but after 2 hrs or so it subsided and was only over 20 minutes and then everything was normal again. haiyaaaa and i thought i was going to get this baby out of me soon. My body is so tired!!!! i have backache, elephant's feet, chubby short fingers... i walk like a penguin and my bum hurts!!! sabar sabar...:p..

anyway, pnbians held a baby shower for me last week and it was sooo much fun!!! there were lots of pressies and FOOD!!!!!! cepatlah someone else get pregnant pulak then we can buy pressies!!!! heehhehe

Asa have been quite anxious about being a father. He had a lot of work the other day and had to work during the weekends and he was wondering how in the world would he be a father at the same time. Well... we'll just have to wait and see but I'm sure he'll be great. He just doesn't know it yet. :p

to those who were asking for pictures of me and my big belly.. well i have it but the internet sucks so i got tired of trying to upload them. so just come and visit me and i'll show them to you k. OKlah.... nothing much else going on in our lives other than waiting for me to pop.... !!!! so i guess that's it then.

awanis

it's saturday morning

2007-03-31T08:02:00.000+08:00

So it's saturday, Asa is still asleep and supposedly I have to do the household chores ie, laundry etc but am stuck in front of this thing for awhile. Not so good news going on at work lately, a big possibility of more work coming at us soon, our big boss just quit, i don't blame him. He was not appreciated at all in this 'great' organisation i'm working with. Won't go into details but most of us are upset that he won't be around. We were hoping that he could turn this little department around but sad to say the board won't let it happen. We still don't know who our future big boss might be but rumours has it, the proposed one is not an easy man to work with and very conservative...org lama lah katakan... board suka lah.

However, am currently enjoying the working environment i'm in right now. Everyone is relaxed but working hard at the same time. Our managers are so down to earth that it's easy to work with them, mind you, if you screw up you'll still get it from them. I hope this environment will be maintained even when we move to the 'mothership' and even when the new boss comes in. sigh...

another not so good news, our benefits were revised and the kos bersalin has been capped at RM6k. hmmmmm at damansara specialist, that is enough for a normal natural birth but i think epidural would cost more. Will call them up and see how much I will have to add to get my painkiller.. hehehehe... is this a sign that i'm not suppose to take it????

p.s: baby calms down after endless kicking or head banging when asa puts his hand on my tummy. looks like baby will listen to her daddy but not her mommy..hehe

awanis

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!

2007-03-08T07:21:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday the scan showed that we are going to have a GIRL!!!!! asa preferred our first child to be a boy... because he has no idea how to bring up a girl... but my mom's family are all excited it's going to be a girl because the last girl baby we had was .... 13 years ago??? anyway.... we are all looking forward to her arrival and i have so many things to do!!!! i am entering my 3rd trimester and my due date is still June 1st. I have to start buying baby stuff ie cot, clothes, baby bath tub...etc, find a nursery..OMG so many things to do!! and the responsbilities!!!!!.

However the coming exam ( first week of April) has dampen my spirits a bit mostly because i HAVE NOT STUDIED!!!! AT ALL!!! DID NOT ATTEND ANY CLASSESS (maybe only 2 ) !!!!!!....

Asa and I are still finding a suitable name. Thank you all for your suggestions however we have yet to make a decision on one that we truly love. I think I'll just call the baby by all the names in my head and see which one she responds to... hehehehehehe

The doctor also wants me to prepare a birth place eg: if I want asa to be around when i deliver, do i want epidural etc.... I am seriously thinking of taking epidural though there are risks of having back pains later if not done properly but the pain... oh the pain.. I am not good with pain and this is going to be the painest(no such word i'm sure) of all pain!!!!!...

So that's it.... for an update on Asa... well... believe me.. there's nothing much going on there.

awanis

Finally.. An update from the blog master

2007-03-02T10:16:00.000+08:00

HEY HOOOO!!

Ok, just making a dramatic entry after being away for such a long time. Haven't been blogging for a while, partly busy with work and partly plain old malas. Nway, I guess everyone are drooling waiting for an update (at least I know Eddie is) so here is one. Ok funny picture first.

Man, talk about baby instinct. Hope he/she didn't carry the habit in the future when he/she grows up, or ppl will start calling him/her PerPer. Hey, but it does shows mommy's education not wasted. Baby knows food when he/she (can I call him/her it?) sees one. But he should hone on the skill of differentiating on what is real or what is fake. That skill should come handy. ;p

Ok back to my married life, what's new. Well, we are going for another scan tomorrow. Hopefully we can know whether it's a girl or a boy. Come on baby, open up. Show Daddy whether you have got 'it' or not.

Ok back on some serious note, thanks you guys for all your prayer and well wishes. Baby and mommy alike have been healthy up until today. In fact I just felt he/she kicked twice last night. Helllooo~ Well if it's a boy, way to go son you're gonna be a football star later (abah nyer kaki bangku). If it's a girl, uh-oh she might just have Anis' temper tantrum.. Hehe, just kidding.

Ok that's it for today. Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

demam demam demam

2007-02-15T06:58:00.000+08:00

It's my 3rd time demam within 2 months!!!!!!! My immune system is really on its low because how often can someone get the flu??? I feel like I need to take sometime off work but the Chinese New Year weekend is near and there's a long weekend to look forward to. I want to kumpul my cuti and use it when the baby comes.

We've received our confirmation on which departments we will be working in for almost the rest of ourlives??? let's hope not. Most of us got what we wanted, including me. There were a few surprises but nothing major... I think. One or two were upset but.......everything might be fine afterall.... let's wait and see...

ok... updates about Asa now. He's been quite busy this past few weeks with work and Magic. I finally got the name of his department correctly, It's International Network and Operation (Wow that took me 5 months to get it correct..hahahha). Give me more time to understand what he does ok. He's weight is.... not going down.. hehehe. His tummy is as big as mine now. He just got a haircut. He spends a lot of time with Zaaba and runs to his house whenever my cousins are at ours. (hmmmmm it's so fishy.. they are afterall from koleq.. hehehehe). I still don't understand their conversation on Magic. I had to explain to my relatives what Magic is because he has been missing/were late for a few family gatherings. I explained by describing Magic as a card game like pokemon but an adult version...( zaaba said that's so downgrading :p).

I guess that's it. Oh no.... both my nostrils are blocked...

he or she????

2007-02-06T22:08:00.000+08:00

Yep yep.. we thought we would find out the gender of the baby last week but since the baby is in breach i.e kaki bwh kepala atas... there's no room for it to stretch so we cannot see its u-know-what.

Anyway.. i think i need help in finding a name for this baby.The plan is to have a name that starts with the letter 'A' but the problem is almost everyone in our family has names that starts with the same letter so all the good names that i like eg. asyraff,arman,adam,anisah etc are taken.Give me ideas plssss!!!Asa only gave me 2 ideas for a boy's name
1) aragorn - so that the child will be called aragon son of asahara (i know..LAME!!!)
2) analkin skywalker...- no comment

see my dilemma.....

For a girl's name... asa also gave 2 ideas
1) arwen - LAME!!
2) azhani - i quite like this BUT.. azhani bt azhari??? well not too sure abt that.

I appreciate some good ideas ok ppl!!!

Other than that life is... the usual. u tell me wut u want to know n i'll tell u... because seriously ppl there's nothing going on in our life currently.

However we(mgmt trainees) did have a presentation which was supposedly our final assessment to determine which dept we're going to. It made no difference to me how I did during the presentation because our bos told us that he would do everything that he can to keep us and I think I'm happy to stay where I am. But my sr officer did advice me to do ACCA or other professional qualifications if I were to stay in accounts because that is basically the only way for me to go anywhere in the dept... so yeah.. am planning to study but am still trying to sort out the time and finances since Asa is also planning to continue his studies.I just hope I can do all this and be a mother at the same time.

I guess that's all for now..

awanis

no news is good news...

2007-01-06T10:44:00.000+08:00

sorry everyone for the lack of updates. I guess both of us are back to our bad habit of not updating that much. I have a good reason though..since it's the end of the year, we in the accounts dept have been extra busy .We actually came in for work last saturday and monday and for some..on tuesday!!!!. Anyway.. I actually like doing accounts.. hahaha!! I know I know my senior keep on telling me I'll start to hate it after I've done it for a few years because it's sooooo routine.. but hey.. for now.. it's new and it's exactly what I expected when I studied it..

Asa on the other hand.. also have some work to do.. he had to prepare a presentation of some sort for his boss and that made him use some of his brain cells. He's also involved in some sort of project so that keeps him busy at work.. I guess. I don't really understand what he does. He tells me and I don't mind listening but I don't actually digest them... bad bad me :p. But that's what we do nowadays.. I talk about my work and I'm not sure if he understands or not but he listens and gives the appropriate response and vice versa. I guess it's not really about totally understanding about what the other one does, but actually makes the effort to listen and support one another..

Ok here's the update about the baby.. Went to my monthly check up.. the doc said everything looks fine. Gender still unknown..maybe next month but he's putting his money on a girl because usually if it's a boy you can see its genital by the 4th month and currently it's a no show. So we shall wait and see. The position of the baby is still quite low... but the doc said if I'm not bleeding than there's nothing to worry about. He gave me some huge pink vitamin pills to take daily and I hate them and have trouble taking them consistently.. plus!!!! huge calcium pillss!!! argh I hate meds..... so that's it.. oh and he expects me to gain 1.5 kg nx month because that's the normal rate for weight gain. I'm short by 0.5kg this month but it's not my fault.. this baby is so choosy!!!! right now.. i'm not into rice and I used to love and must have rice every day kind of person!!!!! argghhhh anyway.. the morning sickness is fading and am feeling much2 better. Am getting a sore throat though but hopefully this will go away soon. Asa by the way is gaining more weight than me and keeps telling me he's gaining all the weight for me... what the hell??!!! he tries to lose it though by going to the gym but... he only goes for about 30mins.. haiyaaaaaa.. nvrmind.. just as long as he is healthy.. so that's it..

awanis

Can u spot the baby?

2006-12-03T15:13:00.000+08:00

Wong wong wong.. Well i guess that's how an ultrasound should sound, but I'm suprised not to hear anything on our first examination. Hey! I thought that's how it sounds on TV. Oh wait, probably that's the MRI machine. Oh well maybe it is..

Btw, can u spot the baby?

And no, its not an undigested bean inside Wanis' tummy. Altough I might say that the resemblance is uncanny.

2nd quiz question: how old is she/he?

Congrats to those of you who could read the panel. Sorry bout the pic being not very clear, it's 1 am in the morning when I scanned the thing.

Picture of my other baby will be posted later.

babies!!!!

2006-11-30T23:55:00.000+08:00

Asa said he was going to update the blog, but he's too busy playing magic online or with zaaba. It is now 11.55pm msia time and he is at amcorp mall playing magic with zaaba. aiyaaaa this husband of mine is going to be a father soon and he's out playing magic!!!!! OMG!! what have i gotten myself into..hehehehe.

Today was a hectic day. It's the day of the handover. ( oh ya i didn't mention this before.. PNB took over MUTB and today is the final handover. since we(fadh,cherap,dina and i) are part of the new MUTB staff and plus it is the end of the month, there were some stuff we needed to do so we were actually at the office till 10.30pm!!!!)the new CEO that PNB has assigned to MUTB is actually quite young. I think he is in his thirties. Lets hope he does his job well so that PNB would be more confident in letting young people taking up bigger roles in the company.

Anyway.. enough with work and asa's outdoor activities. We have 2 babies right now!!! yes 2!!!!! no i'm not having twins. One baby is the one in me right now and the other is the new car we just bought!!!! It's a classic gold myvi!!!!Asa forked out rm400 to get the 9600 plat number (without consulting me so he had to pay that himself). Arghhh mckkians.. he could have bought a new phone and he badly needs one but nooooo he wants THAT plat number.... nevermind.. what's done is done. He said he wanted to take a pic of it and post it here.. so .. just wait for it k.

And now... about the the real baby..... our own child..... had a follow up with the doc last tues and he said everything seems alright. my bleeding has stopped for about 2 weeks now and the scan showed us a healthy baby who already has a head, abdomen, spinal cord, little fingers, hand, legs...... and it was moving and actually jumping in my womb!! i have the scan with me but I don't have a scanner right now, so... Asa said he'll post it later.. along with the photo of the car..anyway ppl... I am, according to the scan, 13 weeks pregnant and am due around JUNE!!! the doc said the only abnormal thing is my plasenta is a bit low.. and he said i still need to take things easy until it's at its normal position. but other than that... everything seems fine. so!!! I AM EXCITED!!!!ASA IS ALSO HAPPY BUT STILL GOES OUT TO PLAY MAGIC AND LEAVES HIS WIFE AT HOME!!!! hehehe ( gile nampak tak ikhlas bagi dier keluar main magic.. ngahngahngah i am so evil!!!!) anywaysss thata's it ppl... i need to sleep. tmrw have to go to work early because i have a meeting first in the morning!! NOOOOOOO!!!!

ups and downs... this past few months

2006-11-08T12:39:00.000+08:00

It has been about 2 mths since our last post. well anyway.... a lot have been going around...Asa graduated on d 2nd day of raya... we went back to London for his graduation but unfortunately I didn't attend the function as there were some complications with my pregnancy...

Yes.. to those who have not heard the news yet.. I am pregnant but before anyone gets all excited about it....I am facing a threatened miscarriage since the last few weeks and I am still not out of the woods yet... so... pls pls pls pray with me that everything will be ok. I am currently about 7 weeks pregnant. 2 days ago I was bleeding quite heavily and had to be admitted to the hospital and the Dr had an ultrascan done to check if everything was alright (I thought I was having a miscarriage because I had cramps and there was a lot of blood). The scan showed that the fetus is fine and it has a heartbeat(We were really relieved that it finally has a heartbeat because that's a good sign.When I started bleeding about 2 weeks ago everyone was concerned that the fetus is not developing and I would have to abort it)SO...... now it is a waiting game.... I will have to get a lot of bed rest which also means a lot of mc's..( currently I have already taken about 7 days of MC... hopefully I won't get into trouble with PNB but i don't really care anymore about my performance at work because all I want now is for this baby to be OK..).

If I can get through my 1st trimester( ie 1st 3mths of pregnancy) than insyaAllah this baby will be ok because it is stronger by then. The reason for my bleeding is unknown apparently sometimes this thing happens... there are a lot of reason for it but the Dr cannot determine exactly the reason for my bleeding. Am I scared?? yes... but.. Asa and my parents are always beside me to comfort me and to take care of me (mind you I am a really tough patient. I cannot sit still for so long on in my bed). I am still having morning sickness... evening sickness... all day sickness sometimes... it's hard for me to eat anything because i cannot stand the smell and if I do eat.. some of it will come out again(muntahlah apa lagi) and I know Asa is very worried because I'm not eating but... I am trying.

Well... I guess that's it...wish me well and insyaAllah I will keep everyone updated. I am afraid of losing it, but rezeki di tangan Tuhan. If takde rezeki sekarang.. there's always time later on.. after all we are still young. It is sad to lose it now.. but Asa keeps on comforting me by saying that if it already has a soul.. it will wait for us in heaven. Asa has been very patient with my moodswings and me being all emotional and I have to say.... I am very very lucky to have him by my side.

awanis

a quickie.....

2006-09-08T06:39:00.000+08:00

updates on what we've been up to..

I've started work... asa sends me to work and picks me up from the LRT after work everyday. Asa is up to nothing(masuk kerja 15/9).. except playing games at home. We had our 1 year anniversary dinner at Ichiban japanese buffet restaurant 2 or 3 weeks ago. pictures ada tapi malas nak upload... SEDAP!!!!Our life has some sort of a routine now.. with me coming back from work and just watch tv or relaxing while Asa continues playing comp games or read the manga collection that my sister and I collected over the years.

Nak gossip mende nye???? The people that I meet are dak2 PNB and most of them are engaged/in a relationship. aiyerrr we wait for ope ok... itu sure berite besar gile bapak punya hahahahahha..... waq dtg lah KL temankan si Asa ni.Bawak dier jln2 sket.Makin tembam je aku tengok lagi2 with my parents happily feeding him despite my protest hehehe. Lada and Dina got engaged but everyone knows that. I guess takde mende sgt. I miss hanging out with Azren and Siti... OI MAKCIK DUA EKOR NIH!!! BILE KITE NAK HANG???? Btw Aiza what's up with you??? So I guess that's it for now. Need to get ready for work... ( or class to be exact.)

-awanis-

My recent endevour of testing the new unique set...

2006-08-28T23:11:00.000+08:00

MTGO recently released Coldsnap expansion set the supposedly belated set for Ice Age block. I did have fun, even though I didn't do as well as much as I had been hoping to. I guess a year have passed making my skill a bit rusty.

I think I rushed my matches a bit and I didn't have anyone to practice decks that I build beforehand. Usually I get to practice the deck that we build with either Zaaba or Fahmi. For those interested, decks that I constructed for my league is as follows:

WUb Zur deck

I lost my first three point matches playing the first deck. Then I realized that my White and Blue might not be need enough to be played. I seems to be running short on decent creatures. I thought Jotun Grunt is a good creature, but I was mistaken. The upkeep cost is just impossible to get on a 40 cards deck. He became a 1 turn blocker most of the time.

I also thought that Rimewind Taskmage would be a bomb, practically an Icy Manipulator on legs, and I'm wrong again. I just didn't have enough snow permanent on board to support it. I even have to once, tutor Cover of Winter with Zur just to get the forth snow permanent. I also have problem with spells with recover such as Grim Harvest and Krovikan Rot because I don't have instant speed removal.

That's when it finally hit me that I need to tap into Green for more beef, and Red for extra removals. I have Ronom Hulk in green and 3 removals in red namely Skred, Surging Flame and Lightning Storm.

GRb deck

The combination worked really well, and I won my last 2 point match and many later tie-breaker match. I came to realise that removals is king in a limited tournament. Should have used that deck earlier. Nevermind though the key point is to have fun really. Without fun this game is just another hole in your pocket.

It has been a while...

2006-08-13T00:46:00.000+08:00

I have been in Malaysia for quite some time now. But only these few days have everything else in my life slowed down to a manageable speed. I haven't been blogging for quite some time, and I'm not quite sure where to start actually.

For starter, Awanis guests', the lovely Najma and Shanela just went back to London on the Wednesday. Before that, they have been staying for two weeks. I, as usual have been a faithful chaperone for the ladies during their and weirdly I haven't seen my pay yet. Anywho, I hope they have a lovely time in Malaysia. Well I do feel proud as a Malaysian to be showing them around to all the attraction in Malaysia, there a plenty of them around. So guys, next time let us just 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia' only ok ;)

We forgot to buy them a parting gift but I said to Wanis, no need cos we already gave them something. 'Black Gold', prices have even doubled since last year.

That's it for now, will be posting again shortly.

dah balik malaysia

2006-07-20T02:23:00.000+08:00

And so it begins.. the end of our chapter in London. The last few weeks was chaos. My parents were around(yeay!!! ), there was the graduation, and we
had major problems with the shipping company(I advice everyone to not use shippingtomalaysia. They are inefficient,unorganised and rude.We were not the only one who had a bad experience with them, most of my friends had to endure the same thing. Mine was picked up a day early ..I haven't even finishied packing and they wanted to pick up in 30mins time or not pick it up at all!!!!(gile blackmail), my other friends, one was not in the timetable although they confirmed before that she was, 3 others had their stuff picked up a day later (after several calls made and a lot of arguing and threats given). I just hope my stuff will arrive here safely.

anyhoo..to a more cheerful subject.The graduation.LSE's graduation ceremony was... very simple and short which is nice in my opinion. I know it's not GRAND and all that but at least we had more time to mingle with each other outside the peacock theatre(where it was held) and take loads of pictures. I was the first one to go on stage and I was so afraid I would trip. I hate being on stage(sbb tu kawen tanak pelamin). Asa had a taste of graduation as he put on my robe.. his will take place in October.. hehehehehheeh.(graduate dari dua uni tuuuuuu ...perasannnn). All in all it was a great day.

I might not be blogging much now that I'm back. Nazma our(azren,nabihah and me) malaysian wanabe sidekick in LSE will be visiting us for 3 weeks so I will be busy with her. aiza nak no rumah!!! and people.. unfortunately asa and I could not make it to Junud's wedding on the 19th... so I may be going to shu's reception instead. huhuhuh this is so sad!!! ingatkan dpt jumpe semua org. Had everything planned out already but what to do... family commitment...

till next time..

Officially not a student anymore...

2006-07-04T05:30:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since my last blog.. I have been having difficulty accessing the internet nowadays.. I realised that I am no longer a student when my swipe card doesn't work anymore.. There goes my last connection to the outside world.. Now me n Wanis occasionally go to the cybercafe (CC) to check mail n stuff.. I intended to blog bout my experience playing MTGO, but since I hardly have sufficent time to play it, I decided to drop the whole idea.. But I do manage to waste my time playing diablo 10am till 4am, add prayer, eating in between.. I finally manage to beat diablo in 2 weeks time hence now I should be called by the name Sir SoulReaper, Necromancer level 31..

Wahlau how a geek I am.. If you think this is geeky, in my old days in Kuala Kangsar (KK) me n Lada brought a joystick to Kita CC in KK to duel in Star Wars: X-Wing vs Tie Fighter.. The only things that comfort me is knowing that Lada is a bigger gamer geek than I am (peace Lada) (^_^)y ..

Okla this little time in CC better spend duelling some random guy in MTGO.. Aaroncomer is waiting for his arse to be kicked by my Budget Orzhov deck.. Till next time, sayonara!

-Asa

THANK YOU WAQ!!!!!

2006-06-30T03:02:00.000+08:00

This post is dedicated especially to WAQ!!!!! thank you byk2 for belanja-ing me and asma to see Mary Poppins!!!! without you we would be £50 short but thanks to you we are only £20 short.. hahahahahha best giler sangat2 mary poppins. The performances were full of energy, their voices were so so so wonderful, the props OMG EXCELLENT!!!! bert tap danced upside down... YES YOU READ IT!! UPSIDE DOWN!!! mary poppins flew just like in the movies... the songs.. oh the songs.. they were lovely. The scenes were different from the movie's but the main plot is there and the songs are not the same they equally good maybe better!!!!!! please people it is so worth the money so go watch it!!!!

supercalifragilisticexpeallidocious... humm dlee dee hum dlee daaaaa.....

oh my favourite bits are the supercalifragilisticexpealidocious scene and also the chimney scene!!!!!!!!!!!!Thank you again WAQ!!!!! this is so worth giving you food!!!!hehehehehe

awanis

P/S [by Asa]: Chim chimeney chim chimeney camca mana... Susu dah abes nak buat cam mana?....

from a wife's p.o.v

2006-06-27T21:43:00.000+08:00

Atas permintaan abg jeg..here goes.(btw this is based on my nearly 1 year experience as Asa's wife)

1. Wife is always right even if she is wrong she is still right and husband CANNOT rub it in her face (asa is getting better at this thank you very much)

2. Always complement your wife's cooking whether she asks for it or not (important if you want the next meal to be good or if you want the next meal at all)

3. Always inform your wife where you are going.(very important if your wife is a worrier like me whose imagination runs wild when her husband is unreachable..for eg. if I cannot reach Asa I imagine he is in an accident or got mugged or locked himself out of the house and his phone is in the house (this actually happened))

4. Always make sure husband is full. If hungry he is easily irritated even if he is a very patient man.An angry man is a hungry man.

5. Tell your husband where you are going and if going out with friends for lunch or dinner make sure husband has food or bring back some for him. heheheh.

6. If husband is playing computer game.. do not disturb OR warn him that you will want his attention on something in the middle of his game so that he is prepared to hit the save/pause button

7. When arguing, both party needs to apologise even if it's the other party's fault.

8. Finally the most important one which is easier said than done is to be very very patient and are willing to give a lot and not just take.

Rasanye itu saje kot. Even if one has all the tips they can ask for, it still does not prepare you for the actual experience. You learn to feel their pain but to also share their joy. What you do, the decisions that you make in your life no longer affects you and only you but your other half as well. To live and share the rest of your life with another person is not easy but it is definitely worth the trouble. InsyaAllah we will have years ahead of us and we will continue to learn to live and be happy with each other.

The items above has been listed with asa's approval.

awanis

Updates

2006-06-23T07:34:00.000+08:00

Since my last entry I have been catching up with LSEians for lunch or dinner,lazying around,kemas rumah(terpaksa..bapak mentua nak datang),watching tv and renting dvds, made chocolate tarts and strawberry tarts and eating them 2-3 in a day,(yes I am gaining a lot of weight..but asa will always be fatter..hahaha i will make sure of that.gemuk tapi sihat ok... bukan overweight)temaning and layaning my uncle and asa's father who were both coincidently in London for work.

Asa on the other hand, was busy with his project. Now that he is free he is spending most of his time playing computer games while Asma and I are off to our musical tour. Well... actually only 2 musicals. Cats which we just watched today and it was GRRRRRREAT( btw I am in cardiff now with Asma and Asa is back at home main game spt biasa)!! and mary poppins next thurs... OMG OMG balik malaysia takde musical NOOOOOOOOO!!!!(gaya terjunam dlm jurang..have been watching too much scrubs)...

awanis

Finally.. A free man at last..

2006-06-19T23:58:00.000+08:00

Yes yes yes.. Finally I have finished all things that have anything to do with Imperial College. Just finished my presentation on "Damping of a Wind Turbine in a Doubly-Fed Induction Generators"... I'm a free man at last!!.. Well, technically I will only be truly madly deeply free in 10 years time, during which my contract with Telekom Malaysia would have expire at last.. But then I would be a slave to my bank to pay for house mortgage and car, which might be just a Kancil still then.. Anak bini nak campak mana weh.. I guess people nowadays will have to learn how to live in debt, not like in the old days where everything kena bayar tunai enchik..

Nway, I'm so glad that I finish my university life this year. Another year here wouldn't make that much different I think nway.. Plus, that would be another whole year of abstinence and misery.. No~.. So there's much good to be back in Malaysia than not. Like old pepatah saying, hujan emas di negara orang hujan batu di negara sendiri, lebih baik curik emas tuh pastuh bwk balik ke negara sendiri..

Hehe.. nway I think that's enough rambling for today.. My next entry will be update on my MTGO life.. reader's beware, it's going to get boring later..

Nway, see u later mate :)

Episode V: The Mice Strikes Back

2006-06-09T22:53:00.000+08:00

Ok.. Although our household manage to kill the last mouse and chase them running back into the sewer (does London have sewer nway?), they're back..

Jeng jeng jeng.. Earlier today wanis was startled of the familiar sight of the cute mouse near the fridge.. But the weird thing is, it look like it's trying to chase its tail. Kinda like stupid dogs, but wait a second I thought the mouse was clever. It manages to find food in the rubbish bin nway.. Amids the confusion I decided to grab the mouse using my hand and throw it outside the house in the back, through the toilet window. Of course I used a plastic bag as glove as I don't want to catch a mosuefever if there is such a thing. Turn out when we checked later that morning, the mouse trap had sprung but the mouse wasn't trapped.. Maybe it catched its tail, and the mouse then was trying to lick it's own wound better.. Dude, that's impossible.. It's like trying to lick you elbow when you scratched it.

Well I thought that was it. Our house now is free of vermin at last.. Suddenly, I catched a sight of another furball.. It's even tinier than the one I've thrown away.. Now they're back, with kids.. Not kidding you.. At least they're cute..

Well nway I just set the trap again and just wait for the finale. Episode VI: The Return of the Mice... Coming soon in THX..

P/S: You tried licking your elbow didn't you? ;)

post mortem

2006-06-09T20:12:00.000+08:00

And so it begins, the end of my undergraduate study in LSE. Who would have thought, I would be missing this place. Not the exams believe me... but the people. From the Malaysians, to the sisters from all over the world who congregates in the prayer room, from my classmates to those who I often am surrounded with in the lecture theatre, they have certainly enriched my life here. It is not only the degree I am bringing back to Malaysia, but my experience here which is worth much much more in my opinion. With about 70% foreign student, I do not feel like a minority, but very much a part of this institute. The academic side of things however, is another matter. Yes, it is different, they do throw us in the pool and expect us to learn to swim by ourselves, but there are those few(very few) lecturers and class teachers who make the effort to inspire us and teach...

So if someone were to ask my opinion on whether they should choose LSE for their undergraduate studies, I would say you should, not because of the reputation, not because of the supposedly excellent quality of the teaching(the academic staff are of high quality, top in their field, but, a good researcher does not necessarily make a good teacher) but do attend this institute for the diversity, the culture, the experience and it certainly teaches you to stand on your own two feet.

So, what's next for me, PNB of course, and what about my studies? well, I never had a detailed plan for my life(alhamdulillah look where it got me, good uni, loving husband), so we just have to wait and see.

awanis.

p.s: asa still busy with his project, he sends his regards though!! He said he may right an entry on another mouse.. hahahaha yes there's another one in our house. but asacaught it... thank God!!!!

3 hari jadi org bujang

2006-06-05T01:23:00.000+08:00

from today till tuesday, I will be spending the night at Azren's place. reasons being:-
1) we have exams 2 days in a row and both are essay based, that means a lot to memorise.. so we will spend every waking hours studying
2)rumah azren lagi dekat dengan LSE..

itujelah.... so asa akan kembali menjadi org bujang untuk 3 hari ni. takper yer asa.... brahim byk kat rumah tu utk mkn.. hehehehe...after 5.30pm tuesday, i'll be back and play the role of the doting wife again... teehehehehehe

ehem ehem..sesi memuji suami

2006-06-04T01:58:00.000+08:00

Sejak si isteri nak exam, si suami telah mengambil alih tugas2 si isteri di rumah. Si suami memasak (walaupun menu setakat ayam masak kicap 'kow tim' dier,masak lemak dan masak merah hasil pertolongan pakcik Brahim) , mencuci baju, mencuci pinggan, buang sampah dan yang paling dihargai, tak kisah langsung si isteri tak sempat nak jaga makan,minum,pakaian dan rumah dier di kala stress exam ini. hehehehehehehehehe..... "uwaaaaaaaaaaaaa lagi satu hari nak exam" si isteri meraung tapi si suami cool je dan kasi si isteri makan untuk menenangkan hati. yelah. si suami faham si isteri ni kalau marah ke, stress ke, sedih ke, kalau perut kenyang perasaan tu semua hilanglah sebentar. ngehngehngehngeh...si isteri ingat lagi time2 'kawan' dulu, si suami lambat, lepas tu si isteri marah2, si suami nak pujuk, dier beli lah ornament kecil tapi si isteri tak lega sikit pun kemarahan dier(monyok je muke), last2 si suami bawak pergi makan, lepas dah bedal je satu pinggan roast chicken dan mash potato, si isteri terus ceria. sejak itu si suami tau ler ubat aper nak pujuk... hehehehehhehe.

yang menulis,
-si isteri yang tengah stress dan tengah duduk sorang2 dalam kelas dekat bangunan dalam LSE ni sebab kawan si isteri dah balik sebab sakit perut dan nak tidur..huhuhuhu eh asa meh ler dtg sini bawak makanan. lapoooooooo......... -

it's a small world after all...

2006-06-02T23:13:00.000+08:00

1. Chatted with my cousin from my sarawak side today and he said he's in KL attending his cousin's wedding, who happens to know me because she is a senior in KMYS. She is getting married to a fellow KMYsian who is my brother's friend from school.

2. Azren and I met and became good friends in LSE, but I had her notes during a-levels ( she was in Taylors) because a friend gave them to me..and I only knew this when I first saw her handwriting in LSE and it looked sooo familiar.

3. During our wedding, my friend, Thrish, from high school came up to me and said, her aunt is here too, and apparently is my mom's good friend, and another friend, Shaf just saw her cousin, who is actually asa's schoolmate, and my cousin (sarawak side) told me her boyfriend ( i think now ex) just told her his friends are at the wedding who happens to be my friends too.

4. Before our wedding, my brother told me, he was talking about me (the sister who is getting married at 22) to his friend A, and A was also telling him that his friend( who is also 22) is also getting married. After exchanging some info about the details of the wedding, they discovered that they were actually talking about the same couple ( A's friend was asa btw) . A is also the nephew of my dad's university friend.

5. ok this might be more of a coincidence than a "small world after all" incident, but..... when I was small, I always said, I would marry someone whose name starts with the letter A. I also like to doodle and I don't know why, but my doodle has always been about coconut trees. Asa's name starts with the letter A and when I was going through my stuff, I noticed that in the first birthday card that Asa gave to me, next to his signature was a coconut tree. coincidence??? well I like to think that inilah jodoh.. hahahahaha.

awanis.

travelling and food.....

2006-05-29T01:41:00.000+08:00

I lurve food.....my obsession with food started way back. One time in school ,we were filling in this survey on healthy eating... one of the question was "kite hidup untuk makan atau makan untuk hidup?" I answered "hidup untuk makan". My family shares this obsession (especially my sister). We would watch food documentaries, or travel food shows on the documentary channel on astro and just look ( if only we can taste) at such glorious food around the world.

That is why, everytime I travel, I would make a point to eat the food that the country/ place is famous for...The ones I've had are

Spain: churros (deep fried pastry mkn with very thick chocolate drink..yummm..for breakfast) and paella

Italy: ice cream, fresh seafood ( we had ikan sebelah, swordfish, monkfish (best fish in d world!!! ..after ikan terubok of course)), pasta, pizza...

Bruges, Belgium: belgian chocolate, belgian waffles

Paris: ice cream... pastriess...

In London, I can never forget the hot thick chocolate drink sold on portobello road in winter... yummmyyyy.. and the pastries from Paul's especially the macaroons or the fish and chip from Mr Fish.

And there're also the simple homemade desserts , banana with homemade chocolate cadbury sauce, the simple yet delicious strawberry and cream, strawberry trifle with fresh custard and fresh cream... yess i lurve cream.. single cream or double cream.. they make great desserts

Bile dah balik nanti, all this will be hard to come by, less travelling, no more fresh cream, but I'm sure I'll be ok because there's always, mum's cooking, kuey teow at 'lah wan', Holmest in Tmn Tun , mamak stalls, roti canai, warong food.... ABC!!!!!... so yes....I will always have delicious food around me wherever I go.

The food lover;
Awanis

Asa kucing vs mice...

2006-05-27T20:22:00.000+08:00

It has been a while since my last entry.. This will be the moment you guys have been waiting for.. Hehe.. Ok, this time I will expose a bit of GOSSIP rumahtangga.. If I don't, Mak Miao aka Aiza will scold me for giving empty promises..

Ok, this is a bit dated.. Well, recently our house had guest(s) .. Guess who... (the answer is not Waq unfortunately)

Well, this one seems cuter than our real guests, nonetheless a good sample picture. And there wasn't just one mouse, there were several of them.. Initially they helped thenselves with food stored in the cabinet, an instant Lemang made by Adabi to be exact. I guess Adabi does make quality products..

You guys should see how TheWife squeeled when the mouse pekaboo'ed from behind the closet. Personally, I think the mouse was afraid of her, not the other way around.. The mice stayed underground as she rummaged and block the back of our cabinet with boxes. Weird old cabinet..it doesn't have a back...

Being a macho guy I am, I bought a mouse trap( actually it was after The Wife nagged me endlessly about it and wouldn't stop unless I 'GET IT RIGHT NOW!!!'), UK styled like you always see in Tom and Jerry and set it beside the refrigerator. I still remember in KMYS how I'm the only one in my chalet who always have to pick the stray frog which lost its way into the living room. Ah Beng always calls "Asa!~ Got new frog here". Strangely, a couple of days went by before the mice took the bait (a level 3 Full-Flavoured Mature Sainsbury's Basics cheese).

When the mice took the bait, at the same time one of its kin/anak/husband/maybe wife/sleeping partner/gay? found it's way into our rubbish bin. I had to laugh when The Wife asked "How can the mouse get into our house and into the rubbish bin? They can climb walls ke?". Not wanting to kill anymore than necessary, I took the rubbish bin and tried to set the mouse free in nearby park so that it can eat acorn? like its squirrel friends. Halfway along the way, the mouse jumped out startling me and scurried along the road. I hope it finds a new home somewhere else.

Later that night I heard a rustling noise in the rubbish bin... yerps.. it's another one or maybe the one that got away came back. Is our house infested with these creatures??!!!???? anyway... the trap was laid down again, and the mouse was not seen in the house ever since.

Probably we have to wait until the cheese bait becomes more mature...

disclaimer: this does not in anyway imply that The Wife did not clean the house regularly ( I need to state this if not abislaaaa kene marah...hehehehe.. and dier boycott tak nak kemas rumah dah)

this is funny

2006-05-26T18:23:00.000+08:00

but yet so trueeee... in our case at least. peace mumu-chan!!

-awanis-

pecah masuk!!!

2006-05-25T22:55:00.000+08:00

hehehe... yerps I am breaking an entry to my hubby's own blog. reasons???
1) because I am bored
2) My final 2 papers are in 10 days time.
3) asa is doing his project(hopefully..am tired of nagging him about it ) so it'll be days before he enters another entry

yerp yerp....now and then I will jot some annoying entry in this blog. hehehehhehe bleh yek asa bleh yek :). buhsan aaaa buhsan buhsan..... nak gi jalan!!!!!!!!!!!but have to kira2 ongkos since I have to pay rent for July ( thank God only for 2 weeks) and PAY for my graduation ceremony... YES PAY!!!!!LSE wants us to PAY for each guests and the photo packages is so NOT worth the money I am paying for it ( IF i plan to take it). I think I should find other photo shops that will offer a better deal... Any suggestions??? Mak wants me to take one photo of me alone,another with her and abah, and another with asa.. that's 3 photos.... aiyoooo kalau mak,abah and asa terus tak bleh ke... jimat duit.... hehehehehe sejak kawen ni extra berkira pulak because now I'm counting for 2 not 1.

Oh btw.. I am planning to see Cats the musical in Cardiff on June 24th.. ( I think or maybe it's the 22nd.. can't remember..) anyone wants to join??? am going to buy the tics as soon as my exams are over.. AND I am also planning to see Mary Poppins after the exams.... saper nak join???? tell me k... I doubt there's any cheap tics for Mary Popps.. but everyone says it's worth every penny... so do tell ok... and.. hmmmm wut else... I want to see Chicago but am not willing to pay full price so most likely after my exams (6June) will pop into the theatre to see if they have any student price tics for the day... anyone up for it????

Ok.... I think that's it... should be going home and do my revision.
-awanis-

Sleepy la...

2006-05-22T23:54:00.000+08:00

Hehe...

First time blogging in my life ever! Might be interesting to see how it goes. I am a 'malas' person at heart, my friends in KMYS and back from MCKK can testify to that. Mr Azlan, our physic teacher, in which in every of his class I managed to catch up with my extra hour curicular activity. Kan Aiza kan..

Speaking of sleeping (my favourite pastime, well still is) I read somewhere that average human need 10 hours of sleep everyday. Hanging on to that fact, since I only get like 7 hours of sleep every day, the extra 3 hours needs to gain back somewhere. Conveniently, my lecture halls in IC now is so much cosier than back in the Physic lab.

I guess I don't have to use my bag as pillows now. Hehe..

Anyway, I will try update this blog now and then. Let's not forget that I have to finish up my final year project in like 3 weeks time. Haha, gambatte to me..

Testing

2006-05-22T23:44:00.000+08:00

Cubaan 1, 2, 3.. Testing 1, 2, 3..