Arrival at Attaturk Airport
Making the rounds on our 1st day here :D
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Of turkish delight & baklava
Salam from all of us in Istanbul..
Arrival at Attaturk Airport
Making the rounds on our 1st day here :D
Arrival at Attaturk Airport
Making the rounds on our 1st day here :D
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Nearing year's end
The new year is coming, both lunar & georgian, and i'm going like.. say what?
The year's really coming to a close, though it feels like only yesterday i was ushering in 1430/2009. is it bcos i'm older that the days seem to flash by faster than a shikanzen? how is it that i'm already in december when i have such vague recollection of going through the rest of the year? how come 12 months have almost passed and i havent done anything truly & deeply meaningful? how can i be squandering such precious time when time is the very thing i'm running out of?
Sheessh i dunno.
But its still coming, regardless. and again, resolutions will abound and although many will wither & die, thats just the way it is.
For the muslims, the maal hijrah will be upon us very soon and usually in the mad rush of our daily lives, it fails to leave us with that much of an impact. thing is, we're actually pretty lucky to be celebrating 2 new years almost back to back.. both a part of what we are & equally important :)
As usual, as a reminder to myself & family, i'm putting up again the new year duas. although there are those who consider it bid'ah, personally i consider it as any other dua seeking the mercy & benevolence of the AlMighty.
Lets usher in the new year with renewed faith & hope and just try to be the best that we can be, at any level, at any age :)
Selamat Menyambut Maal Hijrah 1431, semoga dilimpahi nikmat & berkat.
The year's really coming to a close, though it feels like only yesterday i was ushering in 1430/2009. is it bcos i'm older that the days seem to flash by faster than a shikanzen? how is it that i'm already in december when i have such vague recollection of going through the rest of the year? how come 12 months have almost passed and i havent done anything truly & deeply meaningful? how can i be squandering such precious time when time is the very thing i'm running out of?
Sheessh i dunno.
But its still coming, regardless. and again, resolutions will abound and although many will wither & die, thats just the way it is.
For the muslims, the maal hijrah will be upon us very soon and usually in the mad rush of our daily lives, it fails to leave us with that much of an impact. thing is, we're actually pretty lucky to be celebrating 2 new years almost back to back.. both a part of what we are & equally important :)
As usual, as a reminder to myself & family, i'm putting up again the new year duas. although there are those who consider it bid'ah, personally i consider it as any other dua seeking the mercy & benevolence of the AlMighty.
Doa Akhir Tahun
Dibaca menjelang akhir tahun baru Islam, sesudah asar atau sebelum maghrib pada 29 atau 30 Dzulhijah.
Doa Awal Tahun
Bacalah doa ini saat kita memasuki 1 Muharam. lakukan selepas maghrib atau pun sesudahnya.
Lets usher in the new year with renewed faith & hope and just try to be the best that we can be, at any level, at any age :)
Selamat Menyambut Maal Hijrah 1431, semoga dilimpahi nikmat & berkat.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Another flat
What is it with me & tyres?!! i seem to have the knack for coming up with flats every now and then.
I was at the immigration office earlier this morning. being early, there was plenty of parking space at the otherwise congested pkns complex. and even though the line at the immigration counter was long (as expected since its the school hols) at least it was moving and i got myself a number by 8am. since i wasnt making a new application and was just renewing my passport, the officers told me that i could also use the kiosk provided. and after they reassured me i wont be floundering about like a stupid idiot bcos there would be an officer there to assist me, i happily made my way there (i usually avoid using auto-machines bcos i get flustered so easily.. what to do, i'm a technology impaired makcik lol).
True enough it took me less then 15 mins to settle my application (there were just 4 people before me) and my new passport would be ready for pick-up after 2 hours.
Wow, this was actually turning out to be not as bad as i'd expected..... or so i thought.
After that things started going downhill. to start with, i found out i didnt have any change whatsoever in my purse except for some coins. zilch, nada, nothing. the kids must've drained all the small change from me over the weekend. not wanting to get stuck at the auto-pay machine, i bought some nasi lemak & kueh so that i could break my fifty. luck would have it, i ended up with a lot of tens and only 1 ringgit.. and the friggin' machine wouldnt accept any of my RM10 bill no matter how many times i tried!! the manual kiosk wasnt open so i went over to McD to break my ten and finally managed to settle my parking fees.
By then i was well on the way to feeling pissed with the world. i'd just escaped from one of the most suffocating places around (read: immigration office during the hols) and the running about & frustration with the parking ticket was making me all sweaty & tired. and when i neared my car and saw the flat tyre, heck, i just felt like dropping everything (my documents, nasi lemak, kueh, juice) and either scream my lungs out or bawl my head off or both!!
Maybe i should get me on of these run-flat tyres.... so can aah abe hehehe?
Of course i did neither (i wish i could've though, i probably would've drawn quite a crowd.. weh makcik giler weh lol). instead i just slowly drove the car to a nearby workshop and had it fixed.. it wasnt the 'totally-unsaveable-and-irrevocably-flat' kind, just 'flat' if you know what i mean.
Unlike the other times when there's always this unmistakeable screw or nail jutting out in all of its glory, this time they had to investigate.. ntah mane2 la tersodoknye paku tu.
And all that hassle & heartache for only RM 5!!
Haaish.
Thats me and my tyres. we have this love hate thing going on lol.
I was at the immigration office earlier this morning. being early, there was plenty of parking space at the otherwise congested pkns complex. and even though the line at the immigration counter was long (as expected since its the school hols) at least it was moving and i got myself a number by 8am. since i wasnt making a new application and was just renewing my passport, the officers told me that i could also use the kiosk provided. and after they reassured me i wont be floundering about like a stupid idiot bcos there would be an officer there to assist me, i happily made my way there (i usually avoid using auto-machines bcos i get flustered so easily.. what to do, i'm a technology impaired makcik lol).
True enough it took me less then 15 mins to settle my application (there were just 4 people before me) and my new passport would be ready for pick-up after 2 hours.
Wow, this was actually turning out to be not as bad as i'd expected..... or so i thought.
After that things started going downhill. to start with, i found out i didnt have any change whatsoever in my purse except for some coins. zilch, nada, nothing. the kids must've drained all the small change from me over the weekend. not wanting to get stuck at the auto-pay machine, i bought some nasi lemak & kueh so that i could break my fifty. luck would have it, i ended up with a lot of tens and only 1 ringgit.. and the friggin' machine wouldnt accept any of my RM10 bill no matter how many times i tried!! the manual kiosk wasnt open so i went over to McD to break my ten and finally managed to settle my parking fees.
By then i was well on the way to feeling pissed with the world. i'd just escaped from one of the most suffocating places around (read: immigration office during the hols) and the running about & frustration with the parking ticket was making me all sweaty & tired. and when i neared my car and saw the flat tyre, heck, i just felt like dropping everything (my documents, nasi lemak, kueh, juice) and either scream my lungs out or bawl my head off or both!!
Maybe i should get me on of these run-flat tyres.... so can aah abe hehehe?
Of course i did neither (i wish i could've though, i probably would've drawn quite a crowd.. weh makcik giler weh lol). instead i just slowly drove the car to a nearby workshop and had it fixed.. it wasnt the 'totally-unsaveable-and-irrevocably-flat' kind, just 'flat' if you know what i mean.
Unlike the other times when there's always this unmistakeable screw or nail jutting out in all of its glory, this time they had to investigate.. ntah mane2 la tersodoknye paku tu.
And all that hassle & heartache for only RM 5!!
Haaish.
Thats me and my tyres. we have this love hate thing going on lol.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Pics of the run
I was at RunWitMe's blog (again lol) and look at what i found...
Finally some pics of me actually running... yup thats me at the back hehehe ;)
And a few others..
The lady with no. D001. we 'bumped' into each other at the foot of the dreaded hill and sorta egged each other on. we met again later & she told me she came in 10th.. congrats :D
There was this friendly guy who was sweet enuf to throw me encouraging words as he passed.. not really sure if this is him but he was wearing a red tee n a cap. sure wish there were more people like him around :D
I passed this tall sweet girl along the stretch of warehouses and wondered why she was using the C no. tag.. her daddy's perhaps?
Thx a bunch RWM for letting me cilok these from ur vault :P
Finally some pics of me actually running... yup thats me at the back hehehe ;)
And a few others..
The lady with no. D001. we 'bumped' into each other at the foot of the dreaded hill and sorta egged each other on. we met again later & she told me she came in 10th.. congrats :D
There was this friendly guy who was sweet enuf to throw me encouraging words as he passed.. not really sure if this is him but he was wearing a red tee n a cap. sure wish there were more people like him around :D
I passed this tall sweet girl along the stretch of warehouses and wondered why she was using the C no. tag.. her daddy's perhaps?
Thx a bunch RWM for letting me cilok these from ur vault :P
Friday, December 11, 2009
Larian Rakyat
I'm thinking this might actually be the first larian held in conjunction with the sultan selangor's birthday. i might be wrong though. i just cant seem to recall it ever happening but then i'm just too lazy to confirm it (read: google lol).
I was anticipating some sort of congestion going into I-City, it was after all on top of a hill with single access/exit (almost like a fortress).. but the way was clear. although we were not actually what you would call early, we found a good parking space anyway.
There was already a sea of people in the courtyard and as usual i just squeezed my way thru whatever opening i could find and made my way to the start area. this time i was alone, my running buddy AZ had, in all likelihood, overslept lol.
When the MB gunned us off, the sun was already way up high promising, among other things, a really 'hot' run. thru enough before long i was feeling like a sizzling pancake lol. i always thought a flat route would be best for running but i soon found out that an undulating surface actually helps in taking away some of the monotony.
With AH my lil santa helper & AI, my chariot operator lol.
Heat has always been my greatest enemy but surprise, surprise this makcik didnt do too badly. even with the killer hill towards the end, i made 8th place in the veteran women's category!! of course the absence of the usual kl crowd must have greatly contributed to it but heck, i'll take it any which way hehehe ;p
Cert, medal & overnite bag, courtesy of tourism selangor.
Btw, check out this cool video of the run by a fellow blogger, RunWitMe (thx RMW & hope its ok).
Workout Log
AM - 7km/LRakyat
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
I-City
I never really gave it much thought and its only recently that i realised it's actually in shah alam (shame on me) lol but if the write up is to be believed, I-City's going to be quite a big thing :)
Its a beautiful place.. well at least its a great improvement from the previous FRC furniture complex, but the skeptic in me is still alive & kicking so we'll see what happens. theres just so many of the white elephants around la... but just for the record, i really dont mind being proven wrong ;)
Picked up my 'goodie' bag (just tee & number tag) around 11.15am and there was just this other guy (who also looks like he's in the veteran category) and a family of 4. the organizers were as laid back as they sounded on the phone, the tshirts were in bundles still and no effort had been made to at least hang them up to help with determining the sizes. initially there was a slight hiccup with my pick-up.. seems that my receipt alone wasnt good enough. bcos i registered at tourism selangor, my borang was not with them, yet, and if i could please wait till their staff arrived from the office, they'll try to settle the matter (wtf?). well it was almost 11.30 by that time and they were supposed to be open from 11am - 7pm so the usually 'tak pe' me wasnt really in the mood to be accomodating.
After insisting they do something about it, the more senior of the two finally took my receipt & gave me what i was there for.
Haa.. kan senang tu.
With the borang screw up, I probably wont be eligible for the lucky draw or something but its ok bcos i can live with that :)
Do take care if you're making your way there. if you're a 1st timer there isnt really much in the way of road signs to help you out. and the main entrance into I-city is temporarily closed for , i dunno, some kind of surface maintenance or something (mcm xde time lain) so you'll just have to deal with the make-do access. and look for a shop lot with 'event' over it.. its just across another shop lot called 'orange', kalau makcik ni tak silap la ;)
Oh and btw.. as of 3.30pm today my echa hanis will be a 'free' girl heheheheh. it's her last spm paper today and for now the girl & her mama can relax ;D
Its a beautiful place.. well at least its a great improvement from the previous FRC furniture complex, but the skeptic in me is still alive & kicking so we'll see what happens. theres just so many of the white elephants around la... but just for the record, i really dont mind being proven wrong ;)
Picked up my 'goodie' bag (just tee & number tag) around 11.15am and there was just this other guy (who also looks like he's in the veteran category) and a family of 4. the organizers were as laid back as they sounded on the phone, the tshirts were in bundles still and no effort had been made to at least hang them up to help with determining the sizes. initially there was a slight hiccup with my pick-up.. seems that my receipt alone wasnt good enough. bcos i registered at tourism selangor, my borang was not with them, yet, and if i could please wait till their staff arrived from the office, they'll try to settle the matter (wtf?). well it was almost 11.30 by that time and they were supposed to be open from 11am - 7pm so the usually 'tak pe' me wasnt really in the mood to be accomodating.
After insisting they do something about it, the more senior of the two finally took my receipt & gave me what i was there for.
Haa.. kan senang tu.
With the borang screw up, I probably wont be eligible for the lucky draw or something but its ok bcos i can live with that :)
Do take care if you're making your way there. if you're a 1st timer there isnt really much in the way of road signs to help you out. and the main entrance into I-city is temporarily closed for , i dunno, some kind of surface maintenance or something (mcm xde time lain) so you'll just have to deal with the make-do access. and look for a shop lot with 'event' over it.. its just across another shop lot called 'orange', kalau makcik ni tak silap la ;)
Oh and btw.. as of 3.30pm today my echa hanis will be a 'free' girl heheheheh. it's her last spm paper today and for now the girl & her mama can relax ;D
Sunday, December 6, 2009
A dedication
..to golfman who's stuck in his office finishing up on some report or other, ON A SUNDAY!!! and who also still cant figure out how to post a comment on my blog hehehe.. no worries yang, i bet its your security setting and the 'dinding berapi2' there ;)
This one's for you babe mwaaah3x
Take care you, just 2 more weeks ;D
This one's for you babe mwaaah3x
Take care you, just 2 more weeks ;D
It drizzled this morning but i still made my way to the dataran. my sunday's not complete w/out the butt shakin' session with my buddies lol. the mbsa team was already there setting up the sound system but there wasnt any sign of the instructor. now that didnt bode well for the bunch of us. w/out him, there wouldnt be any ass bustin' butt shakin' earth moving (as in mak2-gajah-trampling-about-god's-earth kind lol) fun time!!
We waited and waited and waited summore... until a group of poco-poco enthusiast decided to fill in the wait with, what else, but poco-poco!! it was sporting of the makciks to take over but i gave up after 10mins (though i usually 'thrive' on monotony & repetition, turns out poco-poco is clearly an exception lol).
So i started my usual run round the tasik but 3.5km into it, i heard the familiar rythmic sounds of aerobic music.. and when i made my way back to the dataran, true enough, the instructor was there and they were all in full swing!!
What else could a makcik do but to just jump right in lol
Well looks like it's gonna be a good day after all :D
Workout Log
AM - poco-poco/10mins/Dataran SA
AM - 3.5k/25mins/Tasik SA
AM - aerobics/30mins/Dataran SA
We waited and waited and waited summore... until a group of poco-poco enthusiast decided to fill in the wait with, what else, but poco-poco!! it was sporting of the makciks to take over but i gave up after 10mins (though i usually 'thrive' on monotony & repetition, turns out poco-poco is clearly an exception lol).
So i started my usual run round the tasik but 3.5km into it, i heard the familiar rythmic sounds of aerobic music.. and when i made my way back to the dataran, true enough, the instructor was there and they were all in full swing!!
What else could a makcik do but to just jump right in lol
Well looks like it's gonna be a good day after all :D
Workout Log
AM - poco-poco/10mins/Dataran SA
AM - 3.5k/25mins/Tasik SA
AM - aerobics/30mins/Dataran SA
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Sultan's 64th birthday
.. will be celebrated on the 11th of december 2009 (his actual birth date is the 24th) and what better way to enjoy the break then to work out a good sweat lol ;)
Pendaftaran Awal
Saudara/i boleh lah memuat turun borang yang dilampirkan dan di faxkan kembali kepada kami di 03 5513 6268 (Pembayaran ketika pengambilan nombor).
Pengambilan Nombor & Pembayaran:
Tarikh: 7 Disember - 10 Disember 2009 (Isnin - Khamis)
Waktu: 11am - 7pm
Tempat: Pusat, i-City, Seksyen 7, Shah Alam
Kategori:
A - Lelaki Terbuka (10km) : 18-39 Tahun
B - Wanita Terbuka (10km) : 18-36 Tahun
C - Lelaki Veteran (7km) : 40 Tahun ke-atas
D - Wanita Veteran (7km) : 37 Tahun ke-atas
E - Lelaki Junior (7km) : 13-17 Tahun
F - Wanita Junior (7km) : 13-17 Tahun
G - Larian Ria (3km) : Ibu Bapa dan 2 Anak
H - Orang Kurang Upaya (5km) : Terbuka
*Setiap penyertaan individu akan dikenakan yuran sebanyak RM10.00
*Penyertaan keluarga akan dikenakan yuran berjumlah RM30.00 (Ibu Bapa dan 2 Orang Anak)
Sebarang pertanyaan bolehlah menghubungi kami di:
Pejabat : +603 5513 2000 (Isnin - Jumaat, 8:30pagi - 5:30petang)
Urusetia : +6016 207 6951 +6019 368 5275 +6016 207 6956
Fax : +603 5513 6268
Check it out @ Larian Rakyat 2009
I contacted the organisers and they seem pretty laid back about the whole thing... registration's open until the very last day before the run i.e. the 10th Dec 2009. i dunno if they're exceptionally efficient or they're clueless enough to actually be heading towards total chaos lol. apapun, come be part of the madness heheheh ;)
I've already roped in my previous 'partner in grime' aka AH's bf and AI (who consistently refuses to run despite my incessant pujuk rayu) has agreed to be our designated driver (which will thankfully take care of my parking woes). so that just leaves me the actual registration itself and since its in my 'backyard' so to speak, it shouldnt be a problem :)
So people... jom lari!!!
Workout Log
AM - 4km/30mins/TSA
Pendaftaran Awal
Saudara/i boleh lah memuat turun borang yang dilampirkan dan di faxkan kembali kepada kami di 03 5513 6268 (Pembayaran ketika pengambilan nombor).
Pengambilan Nombor & Pembayaran:
Tarikh: 7 Disember - 10 Disember 2009 (Isnin - Khamis)
Waktu: 11am - 7pm
Tempat: Pusat, i-City, Seksyen 7, Shah Alam
Kategori:
A - Lelaki Terbuka (10km) : 18-39 Tahun
B - Wanita Terbuka (10km) : 18-36 Tahun
C - Lelaki Veteran (7km) : 40 Tahun ke-atas
D - Wanita Veteran (7km) : 37 Tahun ke-atas
E - Lelaki Junior (7km) : 13-17 Tahun
F - Wanita Junior (7km) : 13-17 Tahun
G - Larian Ria (3km) : Ibu Bapa dan 2 Anak
H - Orang Kurang Upaya (5km) : Terbuka
*Setiap penyertaan individu akan dikenakan yuran sebanyak RM10.00
*Penyertaan keluarga akan dikenakan yuran berjumlah RM30.00 (Ibu Bapa dan 2 Orang Anak)
Sebarang pertanyaan bolehlah menghubungi kami di:
Pejabat : +603 5513 2000 (Isnin - Jumaat, 8:30pagi - 5:30petang)
Urusetia : +6016 207 6951 +6019 368 5275 +6016 207 6956
Fax : +603 5513 6268
Check it out @ Larian Rakyat 2009
I contacted the organisers and they seem pretty laid back about the whole thing... registration's open until the very last day before the run i.e. the 10th Dec 2009. i dunno if they're exceptionally efficient or they're clueless enough to actually be heading towards total chaos lol. apapun, come be part of the madness heheheh ;)
I've already roped in my previous 'partner in grime' aka AH's bf and AI (who consistently refuses to run despite my incessant pujuk rayu) has agreed to be our designated driver (which will thankfully take care of my parking woes). so that just leaves me the actual registration itself and since its in my 'backyard' so to speak, it shouldnt be a problem :)
So people... jom lari!!!
Workout Log
AM - 4km/30mins/TSA
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Kita boleh!!
.. and with that, so ended my 2 day seminar on kaizen & the 5Ses.
Call me old & jaded but i dont have that much faith in the effectiveness of such programmes anymore. for starters, its usually based on management's impulsive whim & fancy. moreover its usually just hangat2 tahi ayam. both of this factor makes the whole endeavour unsustainable. so theres always a whole lot of huh-hah initially but after a while all that remains is something that very much resembles a deflated souffle lol.
I'm not saying that the content of the seminar was completely worthless. nope, nothing is without value and everything is here for a certain purpose. incorporating the 's' series of sort, set in order, sweep clean, standardize & sustain would certainly make the workplace (or the home for that matter) a brighter, more organized place. and kaizen.. well, if we didnt already dedicate our life towards continuous improvement then we'd all just be gathering moss wouldnt we?
So i'm not here to argue whether its a good thing or not. i'm just saying that for something to be effective & sustainable, it really needs to be thought out through & through. obtaining such & such certifications for the organization is well and good, but to actually create a shift in the mindset of the workers as well as bring about actual change in the workculture, now that takes a lot of time & effort.
The target of achieving 5S certification by june 2010 seems rather farfetched to me. not if we really want to make a difference.
Workout Log.
AM - 4km/25mins/TSA .. gawd it was a great run, i managed to shave off 5mins :D
PM - Aerobics Masala/50mins/NRG Fitness
Call me old & jaded but i dont have that much faith in the effectiveness of such programmes anymore. for starters, its usually based on management's impulsive whim & fancy. moreover its usually just hangat2 tahi ayam. both of this factor makes the whole endeavour unsustainable. so theres always a whole lot of huh-hah initially but after a while all that remains is something that very much resembles a deflated souffle lol.
I'm not saying that the content of the seminar was completely worthless. nope, nothing is without value and everything is here for a certain purpose. incorporating the 's' series of sort, set in order, sweep clean, standardize & sustain would certainly make the workplace (or the home for that matter) a brighter, more organized place. and kaizen.. well, if we didnt already dedicate our life towards continuous improvement then we'd all just be gathering moss wouldnt we?
So i'm not here to argue whether its a good thing or not. i'm just saying that for something to be effective & sustainable, it really needs to be thought out through & through. obtaining such & such certifications for the organization is well and good, but to actually create a shift in the mindset of the workers as well as bring about actual change in the workculture, now that takes a lot of time & effort.
The target of achieving 5S certification by june 2010 seems rather farfetched to me. not if we really want to make a difference.
Workout Log.
AM - 4km/25mins/TSA .. gawd it was a great run, i managed to shave off 5mins :D
PM - Aerobics Masala/50mins/NRG Fitness
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