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Monday, November 17, 2008

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

stress...??!!!!

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.

Monday, November 03, 2008

The newspaper....

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.....

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

Friday, October 31, 2008

laa dee daaa......

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

Friday, September 26, 2008

The passing....

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-

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ramadhan and Eid

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.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

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

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.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

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

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

Monday, July 28, 2008

Our weekend

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-

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Just the two of us....

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-

Sunday, July 20, 2008

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

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-

Saturday, July 05, 2008

of tantrums

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.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

apologies apologies apologies

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

Thursday, June 05, 2008

just a short one

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

Friday, May 16, 2008

new home??? maybe....


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

Saturday, May 03, 2008