HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYED HANIFF - In the snow, 13 years ago

This was 13 years ago while I was doing my degree (I kahwin in 1993 and did my degree in 1996..masa tu dah ada anak sorang)...
It was snowing heavily that Nov and I can still remember the scenery from the room. I rasa dalam 3 kali snow while I was there, that year la yg snow paling lebat..he he..melepas main slide..
When I got to know that I was pregnant, Syed was very thrill and so am I tapi suspense la jugak as nak bersalin kat negeri orang ni..macam-macam fikir tapi I was lucky, myt pregnancy was ok je..tak ada la muntah2 or morning sickness yg teruk. It was just a mild one and I enjoyed the 9 months 10 days punya pregnancy period. and I rasa masa ngandung si Haniff la yg I lagi active as we went travelling up to Canada and also flew south to Florida..fikir2 kalau tidak, bila lagi as that was already our final year..
Lepas dapat tahu yg I was pregnant, I had to register myself with Women Infant Care(WIC) unit. Di US, semua org yg income below US1800 sebulan dikira orang yang under previlege walaupun org tu warganegara asing. With that I am entitled to get coupons to be redeemed at the store. Ok la gak, dapat la redeem milk, cereal and other stuff. Kat sana ada gak nurse yg datang rumah to check on u and ur health. They provide both financila and moral support. datang bagi bassinet, katil, car seat and many more..Seronok..rezeki anak.
I stll remember on the nite of 29th November 1993, I was doing my normal house chores and Syed was doing his assignment. We slept kind of late and it was about 2am kot. And about 4am I fell this uneasy pain and I couldn't sleep. I gerak my hubby tapi Cik Abg kan baru tidur, so lama la jugak nak mengejutkan beliau dari mimpi lenanya.
My MIL, ( yes, MIL flew in from Malaysia to teman kan I dalam pantang. She came with half luggage bag full of ubat2...he he) siapkan breakfast and force me to eat. I called the hospital and they told me to come in. Syed then drove me to downtown Ypsilanti to the Oakwood Hospital.
Oakwood Hospital ni dulu was a big huge hospital tapi semenjak dah ada another canggih hospital in Ann Arbor which is about 30 minutes drive from Oakwood Hospital, the OA Hospital sunyi gila, I was the only patient in that ward k..I had VIP treatment pasal I was the only patient there..he he..bilik besar ya amat..gerun gilos
The doctor who attended to me was a Pakistani, Dr Azeemi..cute rendah je orang nye.
I was in labor pain from 7am till 2pm and still nothing happen,.That was the 1st time I rasa sakit beranak as Izzuddin dulu Dr Samy suruh C section terus pasal mamat handosme sulung tu was head up position (songsang). Masa labor pain tu TUHAN aje yg tahu sakitnya..Syed was with me throughout the pain, holding my hand and suruh baca ayat-ayat Quran..Masa tak berapa skit tu ok la tapi masa sakit tu..uish..I kept telling ny hubby how painful it was in Melayu..the nurses tu siap suruh hubby translate to them waht i was saying..adeh..ot times like this!
As it was lama in pain, the doctor advise me on the next option which was caesarian section. I was in pain dan dah tak larat dah ( bear with me ye, my 1st delivery pun was thru caesarian section, so I memang ok gila bila doctor bagi option he he)
The team came in at 2.30 and they prepared me for the procedure, Syed was with me througout the procedure and the operation theatre was so santai! There was about 5 of them around me and another 5 popping their head peeping on the procedure from the door! Yang dok kat pintu tu yang riuh rendah, bersembang sakan sambil tengok perut I.. haiya..
Haniff was born at about 3pm kot. He was huge..he weighs almost 4 kg..no wonder la perut I besar sangat. bila pakai jaket lagi la besar..His fingers was long and lean..penuh la bassinet tu..dah macam budak sebulan punya besar..his eyes was so bulat bila dia buka and his smile just melt my heart..I still remember the smell of him as a baby.
I stayed at the hospital for 3 days and had friends streaming in and out visiting me and the baby. Umi masak and bawa food to the hospital day. Thanks Umi! The doctor kat sana advised us to circumsized my son on the 3rd day.. I felt pity for the baby but Syed kata ok, let's do it. The doc and the nurse bawa the baby to the next room for the procedure..
After me and the baby was ok, we left for home in the snow. Kesian kat Haniff, jenuh berbungkus..but I have to admit, kat sana the safety aspect is very strict. The nurse sent us off to the car and then she tunggu to make sure that we strap the baby in the basinet properly, blanket semua pakait and then baru boleh balik. I rest at home for about a week..I was very happy to be home pasal rindu kan si Abg Izzuddin..
At that point of time classes was already towards the finals and  I was away for two weeks. After two weeks I attended class as usual and then it was graduation day!! Kalau kat Malaysia, pantang memang ikut peraturan la kan, kalau tak 40 hari, memang tak keluar rumah tapi kat sana I had no choice.
On 30th Dec, all 5 of us boarded the flight back to Malaysia for good. Both Haniffa dn Izzuddin really behave themselves during the more than 24 hour flight home. Sampai Malaysia, Mum and Dad with the rest of the clan dah tunggu anciously to meet us up, especially the 4kg baby.! Haniff is cucu kedua Mum dan Dad.
Now he is 13 yeasrs old. He has grown up into a handosme young man. He has done well in both acadmic and his extra curriculum activities. He holds an pom belt in taekwondo. I as a mother pray from ALLAH supaya jadikan Haniff anak yg soleh, sihat tubuh badan dan jauhkan la dirinya dari benda-benda yg tidak diingini,,AMIN

To my darling Haniff, Umi, Lid, Abg Uddin dan Aja will always be with you no matter in whatever situation, as we love u so much!!

Marketing Strategies have to varies based on ur target market - bukan pakai taruh semua sama!!

Should u need to market a product to a person, one need to know the benefits of the products, the advantages of having it and bla bla bla..itu normal la..The seller pun kena la tahu serba sikit pasal the target market @ the person yg you nak suruh beli tu..tapi to some people the approach is the same tak kira the knowledge which the target market have on the product. This means you underestimate the knowledge which the person has.
I paling pantang kalau orang yg meniaga tu kata, "alaa..kalau kami yg bekerja pun boleh buat, tak kan u tak leh buat. I lagi la, kerja sampai malam, you kerja gomen je..kerja senang..tak kan la tak leh???" Apa kes???
"Kalau kami boleh invest banyak RM, tak kan you tak leh invest banyak tu??" Apa kes??
My advise is please respect ur customer, target market and whatever you call it. And I rasa I as a person yang di suruh invest should be allowed to ask as many questions as I want. I paling hangat bila dikatakan 'gelojoh'. U want me to invest, and u say I gelojoh!!! Soooooooo not smart of u..
Me n Cik Abg mungkin akan invest as the plan is good tapi it will definitely not under you!!
And one more thing, please don't make fun of ur potential customer plzzzz.

Do u go to the library?

Well..I masa diploma days dulu ada gak la lepak kat library...masa tu ITM Arau..orang lain buat accounts ( I budak DIA ye), I will go an cari magazine..during my degree days, langsung tak pernah pergi library as my hubby will assist me with the info searching..he he..itula untungnya bila husband has a degree in library science..sekejap je dia cari info..kalau kita ni kang, terkebil-kebil and terkial-kial cari info..so why waste time? lebih baik duk rumah and jaga anak..kwang kwang kwang ( masa ni I was already married with one kid and expecting the 2nd one.. I buat degree lepas kahwin )


Masa buat Masters lagi la kan.. Masters lak buat part time, so memang no time to go library. However, now I find some time at least once in every 2 months to bawa kids to the public library ( jangan la gelak..I tau la it should be more often, tapi slowly la k).


Orang dulu kalau g library is more to study, but now I think it should be cultivated and make it a culture or turn it as a hobby to visit the library. However many says that the library is tak menyeronokkan. Is it the prasarana or the reading materials?

Tapi does ilmu  be obtained thru reading books only? now dah banyak source of info and there are also books online. So parents, besides taking the kids to the library, I think we also need to invest in internet access n computers for kids at home..kita yang mampu, syukur alhamdulillah tapi pada yg tidak, is that the end of the world? Think it over yea

Note :
This is just some rambling orang yg stress at work...pardon me ye

Dinner with Dr Maznah and my future corporate leaders!!

It was indeed a great dinner!!
Syed, AzZahra and myself attended the dinner organized by BIM5A, group budak degree UiTM Kedah. This group is one of the best group yang I have shared my industrial experience with. These energetic future corporate leaders will definitely do well in the ir future.

They were very optimistic and have always worked hard. They were indeed very lucky as they were the 1st group yang Dr Maznah exposed kan ke events such IIDSE and BIID. They also did organized the conference which attarcted more than 30 papers.
Congrats to all..

To Dr Maznah, they are lucky to have u as their mentor and so do I...

( photos will be uploaded later..my handy man is still in Zzzz land)

Home Sweet Home..Rest with kids...

Looking forward to the weekend..just need to spend time with my angels at home..
Things to do :
1. Bake
2. Read & write
3. Catch up on movies

Ouch!

Caring neighbors..caring terlebih la pulak..

I am very lucky as hubby bought this house in so called elite housing area in Sungai Petani..kalau org sebut tu, kira ternganga la jugak mulut org..tapi pada I biase je..tak ada apa pun..

Kita bila membeli rumah definitely la beli rumah yg selesa and the environmentnya ok..harmonious neighborhood and bla bla bla..

Tapi yg tak tahan nya ada some neighbors ni terlebih caring la pulak, habis semua kisah kita nak di jaja..well, mungkin they want to be the most updated person in the neighborhood la kot...to these group of people, my advise is please jangan terover caring as at times u are just menyusahkan kan orang lain..

Tapi pada orang yang dia care tu kira famous la kan..kalau tak famous, tobat dia tak angkat pot pasal kita..he he

I always take things positively @ which means, aku ni famous la..ha ha..

thanks you all!

muah muah....kissy kissy

Memang maid tak sedar diri..nyok!

Let me strory mory what happen on 19 Oct 2010 hari tu..


As usual kami the whole family akan keluar rumah at 6.55 or 7 am the latest..semua keluar sekali as kami jenis parents yg memang hantar anak2 ke sekolah sendiri..1st hantar the boys to school and then send Aja to her school and off we go the office in Merbok..tak la jauh sangat..selalu by 7.45am kami laki bini dah punch in kat kampus..
And selalu kami akan keluar balik for breakfast in the area yg dekat2 tu..so that morning as we were driving off to our normal breakfast area, Syed got a call from our neighbor informing that our maid naik taxi and the taxi was park kat belakang rumah..
You say WHAT???..macam nak terbuntang mata I..tak kan kot...dia tu baik, sembahyang tak berhenti, bangkit pagi sembahyang and baca Yasin tiap2 lepas Maghrib..


So instead of driving ke Tupah,. we sped off to the Taxi stand..I walked around and in between busses and tazi to search for the maid...I agak mesti la kawasan tu..tapi tak ada, then Syed suggested that we p cari kat kawasan bus ekspress lak, since dia ni pernah duduk KL dulu. A year ago she was woking with an Indian family and cukup 2 tahun dia balik..so I rasa mesti dia nak ke KL..


Kami pun drove ke bus ekspress punya area, I told Syed that I wanted to walk aroud pasal kalau dari dalam kereta memang tak nampak. Fair enough, masa I walked around the area, si pompuan tu was sitting with a jantan Malaysia. Cish! And she was in shorts and t-shirt..tudung dah melayang..


She was kind of stunned and so was the jantan. The jantan tu tak perasan yg kami ni majikan, so dia jerkah kami lak..bila laki I tinggi suara and habag kata kami ni majikan baru la senyap.


He minta maaf and kata  jangan la report, dia tolong saja..ceh..aku rasa nak tampo je muka maid n the jantan..panas hati jangan kata la..tapi I tau no point talking to idiots..it will only make two.


Syed bukan jenis yg cakap banyak, tapi that day, he said to the maid, engkau ingat semua orng Malaysia bodoh ke?? kami tak bodoh tau, yng bodoh dia sorang je..(sambik tunjuk kat jantan tu). The jantan kata, "memang bang, saya bodoh " ( I nak gelak pun ada gak masa tu)


We called the police and within minutes, the patrol car datang and the police interrogate kat situ gak...then kami p balai and buat police report. The agent memang tak leh harap, hampeh! angkat phone pun tak nak.tapi kalau pasal duit, cepat je talipon...eeiii..geram sungguh..


To make it short, we told the police that we do not want her and we want to charge the jantan, tapi we were told that we cannot charge the jantan as the maid keluar rumah ngan rela hat..eeiii..lagi la karat hari ni.


My maid ni kalau kerja jenis yg ok..tapi tak dengar arahan. suruh buat lain, dia akan buat lain, so memang bengong la..tapi I tak kisah sangat, lantak la janji ko buat kerja kau. tapi dia habag kat polis dia tak nak kerja dah ngan I pasal dia buat kerja banyak sampai rosak tangan dia..eeii..tak sedar diri. kalau nak kerja senang ko jadi perempuan simpanan la nyok. Memang pun kerja ko jadi pembantu rumah, definitely ko kena basuh baju, basuh lantai n sapu sampah..meluat aku pada bangsa yg perasan gah..


So now, I am maidless and I rasa I will remain this way.. as I dah tak trust pada maid2 ni..Memang I tau ada yg baik tapi yg betui2 baik tu macam susah nak dapat. Yg lari ni kalau you tengok you tak kan percaya, sembahyang ni pantang dengar bang, she will p sembahnyang ( I was very greateful as yg dulu, sembahnyang pun lebih kurang je) and baca Yasin tak berhenti..tapi yg alim pun tak leh harap, nak pulak bila jumpa, she was in shorts!!!


 I don't understand why can't they just work accordingly..dah la tau kat kampung hutang keliling pinggang and yet buat perangai kat sini. I memang tak halal kan apa yg terjadi and I will never forgive the agent pun..semua sama je..

 YA ALLAH, lindungi la keluarga ku dari benda-benda yang begini....AMIN


On the other hand..I redha as I rasa kalau simpan pompuan tu pun tak guna gak as simpan orang jahat dalam rumah..

My handsome boy turn 16 today..

My eldest Alhad

                                     

16 years ago....
I believe it was a Sunday kot, the next day, Syed and I was supposed to go and meet up with the doctor, Dr. Michael Samy to choose the date to have the baby. We all memang dah tahu yang the baby would be delivered thru caesarian section pasal his condition songsang.. jantina pun dah tahu.. dah siap nama pun.. We intend to have the baby after the TOEFL examination which was schdelue on 22nd which is the next Saturday.

Masa tu petang, my husband and me was doing our revision for our TOEFL examination. Kami actually tengah plan nak further our studies and in order to do so we need to have TOEFL, so dok buat revision la husband and wife ni.. l ingat lagi both of us were doing our listening test..dua2 dok dengar tape and buat exercises..Kat luar masa tu tengah hujan ribut, suddenly...water bag pecah..PANIK!!! rasa macam ada air terjun lak... habis kain yang I pakai..

Terus talipon Mummy and Mum said, "Get ur things ready, we are having the baby today!!, Come and fetch me on ur way to the hospital" HAH!!!???

"Today?? Mana boleh... minggu depan exam and barang baby, satu pun tak ada lagi.....( kami konon-konon nak beli after the exam la.. )

You should see both me and hubby kind of panic .. he he.. lawak pun ada bila ingat2 kan..

So off we went with Mummy accompanying me... Daddy kata you all pergi dulu, nanti I datang..

Sampai ke Hospital Tawakal.. nurse pun tolak la I masuk ke labour room.. Dr Samy lak tak ada.. dia p short trip ke mana tah.. I said to the nurses.. "No hurry.. tak sakit lagi..'

At about 7.30pm, Dr Samy sampai and he said happily.. 'OK, we take the baby out at about 9.30pm.. let me have the OT ready for you..'

At all time, Syed was there with me and, off and on, Mum and Dad masuk teman kan I and Syed in the labour room.. Panik siut masa tu..with all the wires and tapes strap around my big belly.. tapi bila dengar baby's heart beat, rasa ish lambat la pulak nak have the baby in my arms..

9.30pm, the nurses came to bubuh apa ntah at my back and then push me to OT room..

Bila tolak masuk OT room tu kan... naik gabra pun ada.. 1st time la kata kan...tapi yang syoknya.. ada lagu...melody very calming and best lak... tapi bila toleh kiri kanan cari Syed.. laa..mana lak laki I ni...tanya pada Dr Bius tu.. dia kata Syed tak leh masuk as this is an emergency caesarian and there is nobody to monitor laki I... huwaaaaaaaaa.....


Isk mamat ni, debik kang baru tau.. I told the doctor.. 'Please.. You have to allow him, if I knew this than I would not have opted for epidural' he he... boleh argue lagi dgn doctor tu.. I dah nak nangis dah and Dr Bius tu tengok I macam nak teriak and dia pun tak lalu nak layan aku la kot, then baru dia allow my hubby masuk..
I bila nampak hubby, lega sangat.... engkau orang nak buat apa kat perut aku, engkau buat la..

Then baru si Dr Samy tu masuk and told me that they wanted to start the procedure..

During the procedure, Syed and I was reading the surah Fatihah all the time.. takut beb.. tak tau la siapa yang takut lebih..air mata ni dok meleleh jangan kata la kan..suspense, seronok, excited semua ada..

Dekat 10 min doctor 'kerunaih' my tummy, ( well.. I actually can feel the small movement kat perut I..serious! suddenly Abg Samy said, " The baby is born!!""

Nurse pompuan comel pun datang la pegang baby and showed me.... He was so red and SMALL...ish kecik la budak ni.. 2.79 je kot..perut sikit punya besar ke??....I tengok muka Syed, Syed tengok muka I..he was beaming with joy. I swear I saw tears in his eyes..

Then Syed p dekat nurse nak minta 'Bang' kat telinga baby..About 20 minutes later, they pushed me out to my room. Proud Tok Dad and Tok Mum was there waiting for me.. My dad was smiling all the way.. Terima cucu pertama..they then wooshed off to the babies room with Syed and tinggal la I sorang2 dalam bilik.. he he

Since my baby was a premature baby, he had some breathing prob, he was placed in the incubator. permature la kata kan and he was indeed small. Si kecik tu was in the incubator for a week and seminggu juga la I and hubby berkampung di Hospital Tawakal..

Now, Syed Izzuddin Alhady dah 16 years old... he is very active in sports and holds a Black Belt belt in taekwondo.. He has excel well during his PMR last year. Currently, Syed and I are assisting him to focus for his SPM as this would allow him to achieve his dreams, insya ALLAH.

To my darling Izzuddin,

You are a good son and you have always help me and Walit in taking care of the two younger ones when both of us are busy with our work..

Umi doakan Abang success in everything and anything you venture.,Walit and Umi would definitley support and back you up!!

Amin....

Dua Tiga hari sebelum raya..

Entry lambat tapi ok apa..busy tahap cipan k

Raya was GREAT!!!

I took leave since Tuesday, 7th Sept 2010..pagi bakar cake n cookies, ptg balik buka posa with MIL in Alor Setar. Ramai waktu berbuka tu, Kak Munirah n clan plus mine the whole geng.

Frankly, I tak dapat nak ingat what we had but I can easily confirm kanji and kuih cara ada. Those are my kids favorite and MIL will definitely buat.

We left after Isyak and before masuk highway, as usual kereta akan berhenti di Keow teow Iman as the penumpang2 nya nak makan..

Sampai Sungai Petani at midnite..

Then on Wed, kami balik ke Sungai Siput, Perak..sampai2 Kak Yati ( my cousin) tgh nak masak lauk for berbuka..we arrive 1st then my cousin, bro Zam n clan sampai satu kereta..after an hour, my sis sampai satu gerabak ( anak dia ramai..5 org! he he). Dia orang ni travel dari KL..sian depa, jam katanya..

Sungai Siput is actually rumah my late auntie, tapi kami setiap kali raya memang berkumpul di situ as my parents balik sana..di Sungai Siput besides Kak Yati ada 2 lagi my cousin yg resides there and their house is all 'sepelaung' away aje..so kalau toilet tak cukup, boleh kawad g rumah Abg Li and do some 'personal' business there.

The rumah yg selalunya Kak Yati dok sorang, that nite ada kat 30 org berbuka..he he  riuh rendah waktu makan..bersilang-silang tangan nak ambik lauk..but that is what raya and family is all about..sit, eat, laugh and eat and talk, eat n sleep..
Then malam tu semua glued depan TV pasal nak dengar si mohor diraja buat announcement raya..ish..nasib baik tak raya the next day, kalau dak , jenuh gak la nak masak

The next day was masak2 day, the gentleman decided to masak lemang sendiri...seronok rupanya masak lemang ni..berasap satu rumah as depa ni masak dekat porch betui2 tepi rumah..habis semua lari dok bawah..adeh..what la..

Malam tu, Mummy and Daddy sampai..terubat la rindu pada Mummy and Daddy I..best best..

dah dah..nanti sambung..nak kena mark paper sat..nanti ada yg melompat klau grade tak lekat kat pintu..ish

Puasa and the 4 days before raya - busy busy busy

Lamanya tak update blog..ish..sorry..this blog is just for me to update what I like ..so ikut suka hati la kan..

Just nak cerita pasal puasa sikit...yes, I masak everyday as Syed prefer to makan di rumah je..masak simple tapi berasa n suasana selesa. I don't understand when some people waktu bulan puasa mesti membazir dan beli macam2 benda sampai tak cukup meja. I bukan nak puji diri tapi kuih pun I buat yg simple je. On the 1st day, Syed beli kuih dari kedai depan, tapi bila makan, muka kerepot as the kuih is kind of tasteless..so, end up buat kuih sendiri je..tapi bila nak makan murtabak, we will definitley buy la kan, tak reti la nak buat and the best murtabak in town is from Nasi Kandar Hussin (free promo for the kedai mamak!)

Ok now, let's story pasal 4 days before raya, I was kind of busy baking cakes and cookies for the family. I also helped to bake some cakes for friends tapi tak ada la yg canggih manggih..

just Carror Walnut Cheese cake and Steamed Moist Fruit cake..

As for cookies, I bake sikit je for the house..he he, tapi sikit tak sikit ada la jugak kat 6 jenis..

yg beli pun ada gak ..biasa la..( how la?)

As for baju2 raya - Barang2 anak2 didahulukan and our is always last minute punya....last minute shopping is always the best..baru rasa suasana raya.

Ok chao..next entry I cerita pasal raya lak k

Too many things to do....

Priotize and visualize!!

It's 15th Ramadhan..what have you achieved?

I hope you have achieved what you have wanted..hidayah, lebih dekat dengan NYA, menambahkan pahala dll...AMIN..

Psst psst : preparation for raya dah start ke?
Kami still in the process as the kids baru habis test..see how la..

As for my baking projects..alhamdulillah, I have recieved many orders..syukur.

Love ya,
Azfa

17 Happy years and more to come..AMIN

22 August 2010...

Dear darling,
Happy Anniversary and love you loads!

Remember the day when you came over with 100 and more relatives to mum's house. I rasa you came with about 20 cars tailing you.....You all berkumpul di Shell kat Greenwood kan?
That was hari akad nikah kita..I yang tunngu di atas, takut sangat..takut, berdebar-debar and all kinds of feeling ada. I was dead worried kalau I would not be a good wife, not able to give you kiddos and etc etc..tapi I believe that is all in the heart of orang nak bernikah la kan..

Now, hah! kita ada 3 Alhady's yang very manja, smart and inteligent in their own way.

Love you darling
Azfa

Psst psst : sat na, I nak upload gambag..

When you are too busy, always remember the "The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee"

I first read about this many years ago, masa kerja di Paramount lagi..rasanya masa tu of of my office buddies sent it to all in the office. Eversince then, I have a copy of it pin to my board and my heart.

When you are too busy, always remember the "The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee"


When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.


The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.


The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."


The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.


"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.


The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.


The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.


The sand is everything else--the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.


"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."


One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.


It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Salam to all,
Love..Azfa

Me n my Syed Mohammed....pillar of my strength

Me and my Syed Izzuddin Alhady..

Black belt taekwondo holder n rugby player

Me and my Syed Haniff Alhady..

Black Belt Holder and baru berjinak2 with rugby...

My princess, Sharifah Az-Zahra Alhady and I

Cheerful and manja little one..

How I feell...Syukur

To ALLAH, Syukur as I now have everything..a man who is always by myside, 3 healthy kids and a good job.

This Ramadhan, I see things differently, banyak benda2 baru yg hendak dipelajari and insya ALLAH more new things would be up soon..

Syukran!

Me and hubby

My healthy kids

Coq Kodok - 1st Day of Ramadhan..

It was a public holiday for us in Kedah..everybody was home.

Siang hari was mengemas and monitoring the kids buat homework but then tengahari I dah sakit kepala as I did not sleep lepas sahur tadi..
Petang was basically cooking time and the best part of it as Syed was in the kitchen menyakat I as usual.

I buat coq kodok, he commented and ask, "Why is the coq kodok so hitam?
I answered, "alaa....ikut kulit I.." dgn nada malas nak melayan..
Him being his usual self said, " kenpa tak leh ikut kulit I atau kulit anak-anak??"
Panas gak la hati dengar tapi I terus mati kutu and I just let it be..

FYI, the coq kodok hitam tu la yg habis awal! so what's ur menu?

A quick break - HATYAI, SIAM

Me and Hubby darling

It was our 1st experince..kami memang tak pernah ke Hatyai as hubby kata not safe. I'm not sure what change his mind tapi I was very happy.

We went with Zihan and Zarul, a lovely couple whom we met through Princess..anak dia and Aja are classmates and we have been friends eversince then.

Zihan and Zarul

We did not drive up there tapi decided to leave our car at Bukit Kayu HItam and then naik van masuk ke Siam. Imigresen proses was quick and tak ada hassle pun. About 10 minutes je. Org pun tak ramai, mungkin it was Friday and still early..about 9.45am.

The journey was about an hour and by 11am we dah check in ke hotel.. then we went makan kat kedai nama apa ntah, and it was our 1st time naik tut-tut.

The tut-tut nampak macam 'laih' je tapi the 10 of us boleh muat dalam tu..the uncle who drive us there is a Malaysian who have stayed there for more thn 10 years.

Then kami g Robinson and Market. Robinson was like any other shopping complex in Malaysia tapi the MARKET was the best..

Lepas tu, we the adults g urut kaki..best gila and dead chep. RM25 for one hour foot massage.

Malam g Shop lagi depan hotel after makan di Hamid..

Pagi esok, g shop lagi di Market tapi just the 5 of us. Habis segala lorong kami masuk and banyak nya barang! Communication tak la susah sangat..The traders understand simple english but my kids were giggling away to their ascent.

The collection of shoes...

The selection of fruits..

The selection of jeans..

Posing with one of the selection..

Jalan lagi...

At about 1pm, the van which drove us in to Siam, came to pick us back..

By 3.30pm, I was already in the house in Sungai Petani doing my laundry..ha ha

A very quick and not so expensivee getaway..Syukur

IID KEDAH 2010 - FINAL DAY

Its the final day..
As in the morning ada lagi 60 'products' on display and mine was one of it.

Yang lebih tensed is that at 3pm is the closing ceremony. Results would be released by then and the juding team have basically one hour to deliberate everything. Memang penat and kind of hectic la.

Prof Zaliha, Campus Director came to support the event, syukur alhamdulillah.

 The VIP for the event was Prof Suhaimi and during his speech he said, SYABAS to the committee memeber for such an event, I was at the top of the world..

Thanks Prof Suhaimi..

Major hiccups tak ada, tapi the minor ones is expected la kan..mana ada event yg great perfect. tapi that will be tabled masa post morten as it avoid doing the same thing for next IID event..

To all my team, Thanks very much for the committment. I really appreciate the effort and frankly, for such a big event like this, selalunya perlukan 60 people to work behid the scene tapi on that day itself, ada about 30 aje..

To PM Dr Maznah, she has been there througout the event supporting us on all matters.m Many thanks to you..

Syukur, the file can now be closed.

Good BYE IID KEDAH 2010...Lega and seronok

IID KEDAH 2010 - 28th JULY 2010..

I couldn't sleep..pukul 4 dah terkebil2 atas katil..I tossed left and right..ish, tak leh gak nak tidur..At 4.30pm, I gave up and just went downstairs. Masak air, make coffee and then terus masak soup for kids' lunch.

At 7am, left the house as usual as Syed need to hantar Princess to school. I reached SP INN at about 7.15am and Shamsul was there already..I went to the ballroom to cehck on the set up..Thank ALLAH, syukur sangat2, the booth were set up very nice and FUHH!, lega gila.

Then sorang2 my friends sampai and we work hand in hand to tampal2 the setting at the booth. Settle all within minutes and then participants came in and the SESSIONS BEGINS!

I was nervous, and gabra..tapi alhamdulillah things went very smoothly..SYUKUR.
1. Judges were there to evaluate the products and ideas.
2. School childres came in and out to see the products..

There were 121 products from 3 different catogories ( A, B or C), and each has its subcategories which was either Innovation, Invention and Design.
A was for the University Students
B was for School students
C was for the professionals

On the 1st day, ada 60 products which was on displayed and we had judges who were in the group of 3 who went around to evaluate. The judges were both from the universities and also from the industries.

At first, ballroom tu macam sunyi aje pasal tak ada spectators, tapi as it approach 11am, nah kau! Students from St Theresa datang kat 60 org, then ada few students from Sekolah Sg Layar, and many more from other schools which I don't know sekolah mana. Tiba-tiba I rasa the ballroom jadi kecik lak..ramainya orang and nak jalan pun tak leh..tapi stukur gila. The crowd was there till about 5pm..

The day went off smoothly..

IID KEDAH 2010..starts with 27th July 2010..set up day

The last meeting to discuss on the many many tiny weeny things was held the Tue before it..in between days, I would either get help from Syazliati, Hidayah and many others..tapi these ladies were up and down as they were both the Secretariat and also the Vice Chair for registration..2 orang lagi yg selalu dok communicate with are Ustaz Fauzi and also Sufi..

The day before the event, we had our rehersal at SP INN..tengahari tu I dah sakit kepala...I seek permission from Dr Maznah to leave early as kepala dah berdenyut2..I jenis yg tak makan panadol, tak suka ubat tapi this time around, I was rummaging through the kotak ubat dalam fridge to cari panadol..no choice la..Had one and then g cari bantal as to rest. First time in mylife, I silent my handphone masa bukan kelas. I just need half an hour sleep, or else rasa nak muntah semua cukup. 4.30pm woke up, siap and then head up to SP INN..

The hall was bare, only the sofa's and the chairs were there but my BOOTH was still nowhere around..tak semput ke..adoi. Nak nangis pun ada, tapi Diauddin kata relax kak, it's on the way..

We had our rehersal, did the final set up and stayed there until 8.30pm. Kawan-kawan from the registratiom team came to set up the docs, so did the team from penghakiman. The camera experts, T Zahira was there and was clicking her camera at all directions.I was dead lucky as the whole team was very committed.

28th Julay was THE day for us and everyone promised to be early as we need to put up the labels on the booth. Nak letak hari n, the booth pun tak sampai2 lagi. I left SP INN with heavy heart as tak nampak the booth!

Malam tu tidur tak lena!

What happen in July 2010..

Sedar atau tidak, we are already in the month of July..next week dah August..Ish..how time flies..

I'll just update mengikut apa yg I rasa penting..
1. Kids are settling in school well. Syukur..tapi hphone kena taril for a week. They just need to prove that their grades are ok and then handphone akan on macam biasa.

2. IID Kedah 2010. Well..this is a competition held by PJI Kedah..I am the Project Manager..tak ada yg glam nya..cuma kerja banyak, but hey, that is part of work. kalau asyil ngajar ke, tak best la pulak..so this IID Kedah kind of some other things which I handle beside the normal daily classes..

3. Oh lupa nak cerita pasal classes..things are as usual..dah masuk minggu ke -3 tapi ada gak yg tak datang kelas lagi..well, I hoe they can catch up with the speed as I'm not slowing down just for them. Sorry dude!

4. Planning some hols with kids and hubby. Kalau jadi, I will update it here k

IID KEDAH 2010

IID KEDAH 2010 is a competition which is just around the corner..Ya ALLAH..permudahkan lah semua urusan pertandingan ini..AMIN

Jangan la ada hiccup yg besar2..minta-minta la semuanya berjalan lancar..This competition is making me nervousm but I am dead lucky as I have a strong team with me..

My kids activities..Rugby and Mandarin Poem reading..

Budak2 ni kalau sibuk, memang kita yg parents pun akan sibuk sama gak..

Last weekend, my boys had their rugby competition in Penang..It was a premier league under 18 where both boys were in. Haniff was there just for exposure..he is now only 13 and memang kami dah pesan, jangan main as the others tu memang budak-budak Form 4 and 5. Dari segi energy memang kalau dia main, sungguh tak logik..

So on Friday afternoon, after Friday prayers both boys left for Penang with their other group members and there tinggal la kami 3 beranak di rumah.
On Saturday morning, all three of us hop into the car, menuju ke Sekolah Sains Penang..(punya la susah cari sekolah ni..dalam taman2 lama), masa sampai sana the boys tengah main..dapat la tengok kejap..after the game, the boys balik to their hostel and we all pun balik la..otw, kami singgah makan di kedai nasi kandar in Permatang Pauh..then kami balik as we received a call that my cousin bro ada depan rumah..he he..

Abg Li datang hantar madu yg Syed kirim..

Malam, kami ke Majlis Makan Malam Sekolah Aja pulak. Dia baca sajak Mandarin..betul or salah I tak tau as I tak faham Mandarin pun..She look cute up there.

On Sunday pagi, Aja ada hari Penyampaian Hadiah..she got certificates and books plus recognition for her good grades..good job darling..She also recite the same poem on the occasion.

After that I rushed to the office and left office only at 5.30pm..

Sampai rumah tak sampai setengah jam, the boys sms kata dah nak sampai..

He he..sekejap je habis weekend..esok kelas bermula...ouch

The semester is here and it's CB and OB for me..

I just love sharing my knowledge and experience thru OB..what is OB? It is Organizational Behavior and dalam subject tu ada pasal how people act in an organization..then it will relate to people who manage and also who are doing the task..

As for CB..it is Consumer Behavior..it is about the behavior of people who consume a product and how should the product owner do and behave to win the heart of the consumer.

Susah ke senang?
Both papers are reading subject..benda2 reading ni you need to have the love and interest la..no point memorizing..and to excel in this paper, students need to have reference book plus need to do reading before and after class..Paper OB not so bad tapi paper CB, the scope is bigger and students need to read before coming to class..degree paper la pun..what do you expect?

Should students expect spoon feeding, setakat nak pass tu boleh la tapi kalau nak score, ada sikit susah.

So students, let's sail thru sem Julai -Nov 2010 smoothly.

See you in class ya..don't be late, put some colors on your face pls and do potray yourself as a student. Hippy clothes are not allowed.

Community project in Kg Bujang, Merbok, Kedah...Jan 2010

Eversince I assisted PM Dr Maznah with some work in the office, both of us have the same passion to help the needy around the office area. I'm kind of lucky as Syed pun jenis suka buat community work.

Kalau niat tu betul, insya ALLAH, Allah  perkenankan..so that is how we met Hj Ramli or famously known as Pak Su to the community in the area.

Pak Su have gone the extra mile to ensure that the community in his village would have a good life. With that in mind, he has transform his land n house to tuition centres for the village kids..Pak Su buat bagi free tuition k..kita kang kalau nak buat tuition semua nak immediate return..

Mula2 pergi memang terpegun..gigih sungguh orang tua ni..Both me n Syed have been popping to his house now and then with our kids tagging along. Bukan apa biar anak2 ni dapat tengok that ada orang lagi susah dari kita..

Nak membantu dari segi kewangan, mungkin tak banyak yg boleh diberikan so, me, Syed and Dr Maznah with a few other friends from the univeristy do make visits and do consultations as and when we can.... 
 

Raging in varsities?? Hmmmm

Well, I remember those days where we were in uni, ragging was kind of a way for seniors get to know us..yg ladies was ok la.tapi the gentlemen I was not sure how it was..
Tapi what happen in RMC recently where one boy was pronouced dead due to ragging is a bit too much..but who is to blame?
1. Culture?
2. Tradition?
3. School management?
4. Lack of pegangan agama?

Siapa ye??

What happen in June 2010..

June was indeed a very busy month..both me and Syed macam main rally lak kat North South Highway..up and down to Shah Alam..tapi frankly, it was worth it.

1st week of June - I was away on Shah Alam to attend 2 day course.Then Syed and kids joined me in KL pasal ada weeding to attend..
2md week of June - Syed ada one day conference in Shah Alam..so we waited from the wedding till the conference date..
3rd week of June - I had to attend a 5 day course lak..Syed and kids was in Sungai Petani tapi luckily my Mum dan Dad made some so called surprise visit..konon nak buat surprise la ..tapi end up they were the ones yg surprise as I had to attend the one week course in Shah Alam. The kids sure had a  great time with Mum and Dad as nak apa pun dapat..The week end up with a wedding reception in Seberang Jaya, Penang.Mum and Dad left KL on 20th June ..sob sob.
4th week of June - Syed had to attend 4 day meeting in Shah Alam. I tinggal rumah ngan anak2..nasi baik kelas tak mula lagi, so tak la sibuk sangat..

Tak ke schedule atas macam mengukur jalan je tu??

He he..Glad that July is now here..Class begins which means that no more outside meeting and training..Syukur..

Balik kampung...Kl from 1st to 10th June 2010..

Well...I did, and I had a great time masa school hols hari tu...
I spent about 10 days in KL with mum and dad, plus the others as there was a wedding yg everybody attended.

Don't look back..just march forward!

My 1st International Conference..ICORPS 2010

Just a short one today.
I am considered lucky when I started my career in the academic line.. ramai yang kata gitu as my hubby is also there in campus..
He guided me through the days when I was a bit donw here n there due to work and he also encouraged me to write as he knows my interest well.
Then I had the oppurtunity to work with Dr Maznah, a petite Associate Prof who is well known for her writing interest and she encourage me to go forward..I also tagged along to attends some conferences..yang national level dulu..

Yesterday was my 1st time present in ICORPS..Congratulations to me..and now I am dead ready for the next one..Insya ALLAH!!

Me and some writing activities..

Dulu masa di corporate sector, mana ada kisah nak menulis ni semua..baca pun setakat buku-buku yang I suka especially pasal self motivation and other books..Menulis jauh sekali la...

So when I decided to join the academic line, things were very much different. Ramai yang anggap, kalau mengajar 16 hours per week, you only pick the book and 16 hours you talk..they forgot about the study which the lecturer need to do @ preparation for class, the marking and research needed. The balance of the 16 hours is spent doing nothing..helo.. please! Banyak kerja k tapi I love what I am doing, I'm able to do some serious reading on areas which I like most..

Writing is now something very much needed and dah macam wajib..hmmm, so I started with small conceptual papers dulu..Certain things you just need to do in small steps before you gain the confidence and before you start to run!

Pray for my success k..

My baking activities..

What make me start to bake?

well, it was by coincidence actually..One of the ladies here in my area do bake cakes..she is also kind of close to me, so since I ni jenis suka bake for anak2, I minta dia ajar I buat cake..she was reluctant.

 I said, tak pa la, I bayar for the ilmu pun tak pa..

 She said, " The amount you pay would not compensate the amount of knowledge yg I ada" 

I was terkedu badak k..he he

Secara kebetulan, a friend of mine introduce fotopage to me. Back then fotopage was the best way of getting photos and recipes la..from there, I met friends and got many FREE recipes yang menjadi..ha ha

Mind you, I know nothing is free in the world.
 I did say, I am willing to pay tapi cara jawab tu, 

kind of wow!! 

That makes me more determine and cari recipes..and TUHAN maha kaya, I now got the recipes thru friends who are on internet..

I've met many lady bakers, some yg pernah jumpa but most yg jumpa thru FB and Fotopage..

Kak Yani, Batriesya, Zana Penang, Anis Adlina of Kulim, Kak Rinn, Mamazieza to name a few..

Lucky me! Syukur Alhamdulillah...

So feast your eyes ya..Tak ada la canggih mana, tapi I'm dead proud of what I do.
Below are some of my baking outputs for the tummy's ..

Carrot Walnut cake with cheese topping

Devils Chocolate Cake

 

Cheese cakes

  

Moist Chocolate Cake

  

Just some muffins

Fruit tarts

Chocolate chip cookies

  

Rich Fruit Cake

Me and maid issue..never ending story..haisay...

Ever since Nita left us two years ago, we have never got a pengganti..we have paid for a new one tapi the agent lak buat hal..tapi mungkin bukan rezeki kami to have as I always believe mesti ada hikmahnya..

So eversince that I have been getting part time maids just to lipat the kain yang bergunung ganang..These part time maids are charging me like RM7.00 per hour and just menggosok k..off late ni the charges is RM15 for 2 hours..meaning to say you kena ambik gak mereka for 2 hours and an hour now is RM7.50..adeh..buat duit tul minah2 ni..tetapi hairan kan kenapa anak Melayu tak nak buat?? tak glamor kot.. And I have been in that kind of situation for almost 2 years..

My girl loves her company..tapi tak ada rezeki kot.

So in Feb 2010, our misery was almost over..this girl came ..She was good, very humble, hardworking and baik la to my eyes. But her medical check up lak tak lepas. Ish, hairan kan? Macam mana di Indonesia boleh lepas, di Malaysia tak lepas?? We had to let her go and now the waiting game is back into picture..penat seh..

But I always believe, whatever happens, happens for a reason!

Darling hubby's birthday

1st May 2010...

He turns 45 this year..hey, still young k..yang penting, he is sihat and always tak yah g outstation..ha ha..that is good enough for me.

To Syed Mohammed Alhady, Walit to my kids ( walit tu is father k)...I love you so much..

Our angels with the birthday boy

Darling n me..sorry dear..I tau I dah berat..

Si Manja Princess with Walit

The gentlemen of the house..Haniff memang suka buat mata juling..ish 

As for the celebration, 1st time ever, I bake the birthday cake myself..Bangga gila siut, walaupun the deco is sememeh tapi dead proud that I bake it myself.

I baked Devils Chocolate cake which was promoted heavenly by Kak Yani thru her blog..thanks kak, yes, I will definitely rebake and retry the deco again..I think the mistake lies upon my impatience to pour the ganache before it was ready.

The cake was sedap tapi the deco was something which I need to work on..ha ha..give me time k

My apologies...

Ish..dah bersawang dah blog ni..I love to write but time is very limited..hmmm..
I promise I will do it daily, insya ALLAH...

What I dislike most..

People in power, misused their power..

Hairan kan, orang di beri kuasa dan kepercayaan untuk membantu menjaga keamanan dan memastikan rules di patuhi...ni tak, dia pulak yg take things in their own hands and then misused the powers..kecik-kecik lagi dah dilatih begitu..sayang sungguh anak-anak muda ni.

Well..what goes around, comes around..you wait and see..I do hope justice will come and knock on the door..

AMIN....

What I do on weekends..

Weekend is the time for me to do what I want..laundry, trying out new recipes, blog hopping,  chit chatting sambil minum coffee kat wakaf with family and window shopping..

Tapi for the last 2 weeks, our weekend have been filled with travelling down to Penang to visit Syed's aunt and Syed Izzuddin's friend in hospital..

Hope both of them akan sembuh cepat and you people are always in our prayers..

Congrats Ami Mat - Prof Emiretus

This was something which I should have update last month kot..well, just another lame excuse..busy busy busy..tu je la excuse yg boleh diguna pakai...he he

Just to share some news..one of Syed's uncle, Prof Syed Ahmad Fahmi, got his recognition and awrd from UTM..he was awarded Prof Emirretus..tinggi tu babe!!

Well for us, he is our mentor as he is in the same field as what we both are..
To Ami Mat, Congrats from all of us in Sungai Petani..he he..( macam jauh benar bunyi nya..)

LIfe is about choices..you choose what you want!!

To do or not to do. tak ada siapa yg nak paksa..

you choose to do it or just IGNORE it.. You choose to sit and do it or just run away from it!

Brainstorming getaway in Regency Jerai..

When I 1st got the email instructing all Heads of Programme and Units to attend a brainstorming session, I was a bit skeptical as it means that both me and Syed would need to go together..anak-anak macam mana?

Syed cooly said, tak pa, nanti malam kita bincang lain..I'm kind of tight up right now and I cannot think straight..Ish mamat ni..so I waited..

Malam after sending off the kids to their ngaji classes, we sat over coffee and he just said, tak pa..kita pergi je.anyway tempat tu dekat je..I'll call Umi to is she can temankan anak2 while we are away..

I was a bit worried as this would be the 1st time that the kids would be left behind without neither one of us at home..

Syed kata.."Relax it would only be for 2 nights and we can spend the time together"

Yehaaa!!! 2nd honeymoon babe!!

So we went....tempat is awesome and bukan macam 5 years back k..cantik gilos..weather pun tak la sejuk sangat..ok ok je and it was nice.

Sat I upload pics..till then..chao