Risk of accompanying

 

That was way back in the year 2004, when I accompanied this officemate of mine to a show house. It was a launching of a medium cost apartment. 3 bedrooms with build up area of 850sq feet. Its just 10 minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur city centre.

RM300 booking fee….hmmm. “I will have to think about it”  He said.

As he was busy talking to the sales person, asking this and that, I was also busy watching another staff pasting stickers, one after another. The sticker indicates that its taken. That's how we, Malaysian buy our property nowadays. We are buying from paper. Scary, I know, but the developers leaving us no choice. Houses, apartments, Business suites are getting higher in price and smaller in size. And this apartment is selling for only RM100K. Then, it wasn't considered too cheap, but If I don't buy, someone else would, I thought.

I had never experience buying property, and had not thought about it. And on that day, I kept my eyes on the apartment layout. More and more stickers were pasted. They were sold like a hot cake. “That's it…!” I though. “ I’m going to the ATM” I told my officemate. I took out RM300 and paid the booking fee. Bingo!! I went back to the office having myself an apartment. I called my husband and told him about my drastic decision. Then, he thought my decision was scary.

2 weeks later, my 90% loan was approved. With a further rebate of 7% from the developer, I just needed to pay another RM2700 and I got the apartment.

One of my officemate regretted not buying, especially when there is no way one could find a 3 bedrooms apartment with such price in the city area. Not at this time. Taking risk can be fun and self rewarding.

Now is a payback time and collecting rental at the same time.

Nik’s Wedding

 

He is my 3rd cousin. He, to whom I’ve never spoken to and who I’ve seen for the last time when he was only 3 years old, got married on the 15thDecember 2012. I was invited along with my parents, who flew all the way from Sabah to attend.

“so, this is Nik” I thought to myself when he and his bride walked pass out table.

 

The handsome guy and his pretty bride could not hide their excitement that portrayed through their expression.

 

   The table setting was done in a perfect way as it supposed to be. The VVIP were already seated at a special table where the Bride and Groom were seated, when we arrived, that gave me  a ‘lil guilt.

The door gift was neatly placed infront of each guest.  

The hall was nicely decorated that I felt like a fairy as I walked in.

  We were seated among the close family of the groom. My hubby had a good chat with the person next to him, while my mom and I were busy admiring the deco.

The door gift, the cake, the table cover, the wedding cake, and basically every thing were done by my creative Aunt Zurina, http://cherryonacake.blogspot.com . I congratulated her for all the efforts she put on this wedding, on my way out.

Here, I copied one of her beautifully taken cake cutting photo of her son’s wedding.

A beautiful wedding cake for a beautiful couple, baked by ‘Mom’ with love.

One thing that touched my feeling was the impromptu speech delivered by Nik at that special occasion. He expressed his appreciation to all, especially to his mom, for her extra effort and his distance relatives who came all the way from all over the state. He said them without hesitation, that I felt the sincerity.

PMR Result 2013 is out!

 

Today was the day. I could not concentrate on my work, that i decided to take a halfday off from the office. I straight went to my son’s school despite his request for me or my hubby not to come.

PMR is a big exam for a lower secondary in Malaysia. Form 3 students, at the age of 15 are required to attend this exam. The result would affect their following year’s school admission.

I waited outside of his school looking at the crowd of students. Some with a wide smile and some not. I recalled Adri’s previous trial exam result which he only got 1A out of 8 subjects. That was frustrating.

By the school gate, I waited pretending to be patient, while my heart was pounding hard.

There was no parking then, but who cares…..I double parked, came out of my car and walked into the school compound. I took me split seconds to recognize the figure of my only son, among the crowd. He looked happy. I saw him jumped of happiness. Phew..!! What a relief seeing him in such mood. I let him mingled around with his friends for a while before I approached him. Through his expression, I sort of expected he did better than his trial exam then. At last….

My prayers for him to get MORE than 4A’s answered. “I got 6A’s 2B’s. “ He told me. Speechless, I gave him a big hug.

Thanks Allah. Getting All A’s for his sciences and math subjects were his main objectives. mine too, although or course getting straight 8A’s could have been great. I knew he did his best for us. Adding to my excitement, his other co-curriculums are stated as ‘excellent’.

Thanks for making us proud of you my boy.

Watching ‘bola’ with the boys

Pizza, drinks and snacks were ready.
In Malaysia there is a popular slang of ‘makan bola, minum bola, tidur bola’.
Bola means ball.

makan bola : eat ball (transliterated as ‘when you eat, you think of ball)
minum bola: when you drink , you think of ball
tidur bola: when you sleep, you think of ball

The ball in this context is an acronym for soccer game or often called football by the locals, while in The United States, football is meant for an America Football.

It was last Sunday, when the Semi-Final, Malaysia vs Laos was on.
1-1 playing at home ground was quite a disappointment to Malaysian, including to these guys, my hubby, my brother,Asri, who happened to be around, and my nephews, Mikhail and Danial, who purposely came to to have a loud shout of GOAL..!!!! with their uncles.
 
I when up and down the house doing my course, and at times watched with them or perhaps irritated them with my questions ‘whats the score?’ every now and then.


When the match finished, the channel switched to another soccer game. They continued watching.

Times up..!!
it was time to fetch my beloved Adri, who chose to join his friend to seek for a job during the school holiday.

Despite his father’s approval, he accepted a waiter position.

“WAITER..????
he has never even touch a broom and hardly washed his own plate in the house….” That was our first impression.
“For your experience sake, go ahead”. That was my reaction of approval on his request.
“ How much do you want? I will pay you. You are too young to work” Thats his Papa’s reaction.
Since he insisted.We let him work, anyway.
My poor grown up baby…..
We watched him cleaning the restaurant every night, at closing time, like a driver waiting for the boss. I couldn't wait for the school to start. That marks the end of our job as his drivers too.

Presentation

 

The word sounds so BIG that caused one to shiver. Its not, if you talk as if you are talking to a friend. That's what I’ve been telling to my daughter.

Two days ago she told me that she was awarded as the best presenter by her lecturer. Congratulation my girl..!!

 

You will be able to talk in such a way if you know your audience. The secret is, come early and use any chance to talk to them. Build a friendship to as many as you could reach. Get them to understand that you’re just a human being like them and talk like them and can be a friend to them.

 

Be prepared, do your homework, make sure you know what you’re talking about. If you're working in a team, always volunteer to do the main task, for you to understand the stuff better than the others.

Deliver the message clearly with facts. Don't go around the bush. Build their confidence on you within the first 5 seconds of your appearance.

When the audience have confidence on you, they will listen.

Add in some humor.

  Make your presentation colorful with high and low voice tone, depending on the context. If you’re talking in monotonous voice, might as well you give a pillow as a door gift.

 

  

Its a great feeling to see them when your audience are enjoying your presentation……   

I repeat…talk with colorful tone. High pitch at time and low at times. Add in some sense of sincere humor.  Be yourself. Talk as if you’re talking to a friend. I just said that to my SIL, Diana, today. I trust she did well in her presentation to her university fellows. Way to go, sis..!!!

December 2012

 

Many bound to happen and may not happen, every time when December comes.

What bound not to happen are appointments. Its a school holiday in Malaysia. Many would be on a long planned holiday with their family.

What bound to happen are wedding …….

  after wedding…….

……. and more wedding….

One thing I like about attending wedding is the door gift.

 

and the nicely decorated stage for the Bride and Groom to sit and displayed to all the guests.

 

and the gathering…..

with my inlaws

      

 

With my Uncle Jamil, aunt Norsimah (both happy mom & dad of the groom) and my cousins….

 

Also with my parents,siblings and my nephews and nieces….

 

 

and of course I love the food  …

 

 

Okay..lets get back to the main topic…….whatelse bound to happen in December?

Highblood pressure. I just got it. Its called Pre-Hypertension.

4 days ago I complained to my doctor about my frequent headache. She put her equipment on my arm, and press harder and harder. I waited pretending as patient with patience.

140/90 …!!!

HUWAATTT???

I was shocked. My systolic level never exceeded 120 whole my life, while my Diastolic level had been all along below 80.

Now I recalled telling the people around me that my diet has changed since about 3 months. I’ve turned from human herbivore to carnivore.

but……

Chicken Curry, mutton stew, satay, Beef rendang, Roasted Lamb…who could resist?

ok..ok..I should slow down….

What did I have for my dinner?

gulp…!!  that was the last bite of meat and deep fried liver. The last for tonight, I mean.