QA 1/2009 - Makan-makan

Been here for four weeks and boy, do I miss my regular fare: Roti telur Abang SS 19, Bubba Gump's Lotsa Lava, JM baryani and home-cooked food. Here in Paris, oops... Perlis, I try to sample as much of the local (and not-so-local) food when I have the chance.

... Pulut Ayam which was recommended by Tok Penghulu Raman . Found it in one of the warongs in Padang Besar selepas penat bershopping. A very simple dish of glutonous rice, garnished with fried shallots, a piece of savoury chicken and Thai sweet n sour sauce on the side. Verdict: a weird combination which didn't really bowl us over. But what the heck, tibai aje...

For Laksa Kuala Perlis, we went by the bus-load to a famous Laksa haunt (Restoran Su or something like that). Okeylah...

With Nordini, Hanim, Farid, Mazura and 'orang'

Khusyuk menikmati laksa...

We also had the opportunity to dine at PTSS Hospitality Department in-house restaurant @ Pauh Inn, twice - FOC. Thanks Raman, tak sia-sia kami pilih hang jadi penghulu :P. The service at the restaurant was quite slow, but compensated by the delicious food and the courteous hospitality students. Kan baguih kalau ada hospitality department kat PSA ...

left: a concoction of pineapple, coconut milk and selasih. Sedap jugak!

right: ice-blended cincau

Appetizers - Left: Cabbage, Right: Singapore Pie with peanut sauce.

Left: our usual fare: kari, sambal belacan and ulam

Right: sesekali pekena some fancy rice kat Restoran Pauh Inn...

Oh yeah, feel like eating loads of ikan bakar or seafood? Go to Kuala Perlis when its raining cats and dogs. The probability of paying a low price is at 0.75 ... (hypothesis yang belum disahkan lagi ... kui! kui! kui!). Demam statistik...

With our Mahaguru statistics yang maha kelakar: Tuan Hj. Yusof Hamdani

QA 1/2009 - Part 2

Pejam celik, pejam celik, it has been three weeks of non-stop kursus. Can't blame me if I'm starting to complain. A one-week course is OK, but five weeks? Yeah, am getting tired of the course, food, travelling (imagine having to travel to and fro during weekends), etc. Itu belum lagi orang yang ditinggalkan. The ones who suffered most (besides my students) are my loved ones. Well, some people kept harping that this is the sacrifice that I have to make when I accept the "hadiah".

Me: Huh? (Blur).

You: Lu fikirlah sendiri ...
Below are photos of the QA course's guest speakers from the Apex University (bukan senang nak jadi 'duta' apex u ooii :D) ...

Dr. Siti Rohaida

Dr Nor Hazlina

Dr Razak Dali (retired lecturer) and his wife, Kak Pah

The guys pun nak ambil gambar dgn the loving couple ...

Dr. Azizah Omar

Ramainya yang nak menghimpit :P ...

Jon's Pox-attack

Jon had a bad bout of chicken-pox on the second week I was away for the QA course. Kesian anak aku...

*Priceless*

... his expression when told that he will get a new "K' Bean" (Mini Cooper) toy car if he does not scratch his "poxies".

Quantitative Analysis 1/2009 in Perlis

Greetings from PTSS Perlis! Have been here since the 15th of March to attend the first-ever, Quantitative Analysis Course for DPPCE scholars. I'm not alone, though. Sharing my fate are 47 other HLP (PhD) recipients from all over Malaysia. We will be stuck here for another 4 weeks.

The view of PTSS from Pauh Inn

How's the place? Well, not too bad, really. The polytechnic is a breezy, scenic and serene campus (maybe because the students are still on holiday). It reminds me of my own poly (reminds me of what we don't have lah! He! He).

How's the lodge? Well, I was pleasantly surprised. My room is equiped with TV, air-cond, mini-bar and most importantly, hot shower! The sheets are clean and crisp. Had two fluffy pillows. The lodge also offers laundry service which has been fast and satisfactory so far. My only grouse was the slow and limited access to internet. That's not a problem now - I've subscribed to Celcom 3G. As they say: ada duit semua boleh jadi. But of course, I'm RM XXX poorer now!

Food is simple - basically 3 to 4 lauks to go with the rice but the ulams are abundant! Move aside ulam raja. Introducing daun putat, pucuk kedondong, daun cemumar, daun this and daun that (more of this, later). The drinks seem to be recycled, though ... he! he! Hey, I'm not complaining. Just an observation ...

Prof Madya Dr. Yuserrie with the ladies

The first part of the course - intro to research - was interesting and no doubt useful for us dummies. The lecturers from USM, Prof. Madya Dr. Yuserrie, Dr. Azizah and Dr. Siti really knew their stuff. They shared with us their experience, and gave us many good advice - from writing our proposals to tackling fussy supervisors.

As for sight-seeing, I've been to the nearby towns such as Pekan Pauh, Changlun and Jitra. Talking about Jitra, wow, what a change! Sooner or later, I'm going to pay a visit to my alma mater, Jenan. Bukit Kayu Hitam, Padang Besar, Langkawi , and God-knows-where are also in my list. Tunggu ...

BTN Bits: Kenegaraan Luar Negara 26 Feb - 2 Mar 2009

"Dah kena brainwash...?"

Hubby gleefully greeted me when I came back from U.S. on Monday evening. For those who are wondering, no, I didn't go to the U.S. I was in Ulu Sepri, N.S to attend Biro Tata Negara's (BTN) Kem Bina Semangat (literally translated: Courage Building Camp :P).

When I went to work blur and serabut the next day, speculation was rife that I have been fixed.

"So, were you brainwashed?" asked my sister who called on Tuesday evening out of curiosity rather than concern.
YOU THINK?

I hate to disappoint, but the truth is: BTN was pretty harmless.
"So", they asked, "What's with the blur look?"
I said "It's because I slept for 4 hours only everyday. That's Why!"

BTN camps have always been perceived by many people as the place where "they brainwash you". I myself have heard of this. Therefore, when I was ordered to go there, I was actually looking forward to experience being brainwashed. He! He! Anyway, I was also feeling a wee bit uneasy because I've also heard people saying that the place was "keras". Indeed it was. Huge rocks here and there. He! He! But on the first night there, the person sleeping next to me actually kena usik... I actually felt tak sedap hati but forced myself to sleep only to wake up at 2.00 a.m wanting to pee!

the jungle behind our dorm

Anyway, going to the BTN camp was like going back to boarding school. We slept on doubledeckers, wore uniforms, were on roll-calls, ate and bathed together. Yeah, some of the ceramahs can be pretty mundane but others were informative and fun. Who would have thought that a ceramah on Malaysia's struggle for independence became a tengok wayang session? Yep, folks. We watched Shuhaimi Baba's "1957: Hati Malaya". Wow! A touching movie that moved some of us to tears.

from left: gorgeous mum, WWW, and Dr. Laksmi

In another ceramah, the presenter drove home the fact that ethnic-cleansing (of the Malays) actually happened in our country as early as 1511. Most of us were stunned because we never really saw it that way. Based on records found overseas, literature and historical research, it was deduced that the conquerors killed the Malaccans, burnt their homes to the ground and destroyed places of worship and tombs (no prize for guessing where the stones used to build the A-Famosa came from... ). I mean don't you ever wonder why you can't find any historical evidence that shows that Malacca was once a great Malay sultanate? (Do I sound like I've been brainwashed now? Hu! Hu!). Come to think of it, I learnt more about the country's history in the 5 days I was there, then those years in school! Social contract, Perkara 152, 153, 181? Bring 'em on, (poyo)!

From left: Faye, WWW, Nurul & Sazuliana

LDK came next after a few days of ceramahs. Our guards were high because we thought nak kena basuh. Heard one or two complaints from other groups but my own group was O.K. Got a cool facilitator who listened patiently to all our views and never once forced us to accept his opinion or values. He was totally impartial. Bangga jugak sebab he was an ex-Jenan (ever heard of Jasmi Ismail, class of '76?). Talking about Jenan, met many people with the Jenan "connection". Husaini, our Penghulu was the elder brother of a school mate (Mat Da @ Hazril). My dorm-mate, Sai was the wife of a Wira junior.

From left: Raman, Husaini, Yang & Fadzly

Moahzam and Harry Porter @ Ong

What I like most about the BTN camp? I met lots of people from different backgrounds. I slept next to an anasthesist; the person sitting next to me during the ceramahs was a vet; youngsters as young as 24 going for their PhDs; our joke-cracking Dr Love@ George of the jungle; our sporting Pak2 Trainer (siapa kata diorang garang?), etc.

With the Pak2 Trainers on the last day

The riadah sessions in the evening was fun. We wiggled and jiggled to Poco-poco and some traditional dance moves. Tapi ada jugak yang tak best. For instance the session where the trainers called Latihan Tembak Kaki. Ingat apa ke bendanya. It was a series of exercise which made us sore all over especially our legs. In the end, everybody was limping as if shot at (different parts of) their legs. I was also very disappointed when the trainers called-off the kembara due to bad weather. Dang! Dah berangan-angan nak naik flying fox. Hu! Hu!

the murky river after a heavy downpour

Anyway, at the end of the day, we were there to be assessed. Ya lah, all of us were scholars bound for foreign lands. Mestilah kena nilai samada patriotik atau tidak. There were physical , oral and written tests. The ultimate test? The patriotic song presentations. He! He! My group didn't win but we sure made jaws drop with our rendition of "Tanah Pusaka". Berguna jugak pengalaman nyanyi choir kat Jenan and UPM...

With Fadzly, bakal "Master" chef

So, folks, what do you think? Have I been brainwashed???

Happy Birthday Amani

Amani celebrated her 10th birthday. Got her these colourful cupcakes from lea-oven.blogspot.com to be shared with her friends and teachers. Celebration and presents? Maybe later. But I do know her wish will be coming true in a few months (ask her :D!), insyaallah... Here's a Jonas brothers' song for you, dear. I'm sorry if it's "sooo yesterday" coz mommy dearie is not really a Jonas bro junky! Hu! Hu!

Preschool - which one is best for your child?

I have 3 children and all of them went to different kindies (my term for kindergartens :P). No, it's not because of money (though I remembered a former colleague telling me that only her firstborn went to an expensive kindy, the rest ... you don't have to guess!). There are NO cheap kindies in Subang Jaya. Definitely no Tabika Kemas which would cost only RM 20 or so in monthly fee! The average monthly fee of kindies around SJ is RM 200++. Don't be fooled by the fee, though. The registration fee can cost you anything between RM 1 K to 2 Ks! Then there's the transport fare. Bus is the cheaper option (around RM 45) as opposed to van (RM 90++). So you can imagine how relieved I am, now that two of my children are in school :).

So, which kindy is best for my child, you might ask. Well, as they say, one man's meat could be another man's poison. What worked for my children might not necessarily work for yours. The factors that actually determined the choice of kindy for my kids (according to order of importance) are:

i) the children's personalities
ii) the teachers
iii) the kindy
iv) fees

Notice my emphasis on the humanistic aspect? So many parents (including me, the first time around) made the mistake of choosing the kindy first rather than analyzing the child's needs. They assume that if the kindy is good (normally based on reputation, testimonies or recommendations), their child would be assured of good quality pre-school education.

That was my assumption when I enrolled my daughter at Child Enrichment Centre (then, known as CEC; now known as REAL Kids). Other reasons why I enrolled her in that particular kindy: I wanted my daughter to have friends from all races, speak English more, be in touch with her multiple intelligences (which the kindy was promoting) and learn how to swim (she didn't, I did!). Although I didn't quite fancy the kindy's school-liked approach (they have homework and assessments), the daughter breezed through kindy because she was a fast learner. The teachers were kind except for the one she had in her final pre-school year. Obviously, that particular teacher - a retiree - was not cut to be a kindy teacher although she had taught many years in primary schools. She was grumpy, had no patience with the kids, and called them "dungu" (pronounced erroneously as "dunggu"! Hu! Hu!). I remembered a concerned colleague of mine, offered to report this to the kindy's exec, who was a family friend, but I did not encourage her.

CEC prepared her well for all the subjects taught in year one except for Agama. She got As for almost all of her subjects but failed miserably in her Agama! The school's JQaf programme did not help improve her marks, either. Therefore, I had to send her to KAFA classes. Because of this too, I did not send my son to CEC. I wanted him to have a good foundation in Agama so that he will not be clueless (like his sister) in year one. That's how Genius Aulad came into the picture.

This English-medium Islamic kindy is the first of its kind in Malaysia (some teachers need to brush-up on their English, though. He! He!). What I found interesting is that the kindy incorporated Islamic and sunnah practices into their lessons. My son was able to recite the doas in English and memorised all the ayat lazim for prayers (how the teachers did this, I don't know, but I respect them for that!). They also observed and celebrated auspicious days such as the Maulidurrasul on a grand scale: procession, TV-coverage and all. The only thing that I felt my son had missed out was the multiracial experience. Other than that, the kindy's approach was pretty much the same as CEC: school-like.

Why then did I not send my youngest son to Genius Aulad or CEC? Well, being the baby in the family, I knew instantly that he wouldn't survive in a school-like environment. So, during his first pre-school year, I sent him to Tadika Nurul Izzah. I pretty much know the teachers because they were the same teachers who taught my daughter KAFA and she liked them. So I thought the baby would like them too. Well, everything went smoothly at first. But after a fall and a bout of fever, he started to make excuses not to go to kindy. He threw tantrums, clung to his favourite teacher like a koala, found faults with his friends and did not seem to have progressed much in learning. So, I knew I had to find another kindy which was to his liking. From my observations, he craves for individual attention. So sending him to a highly-enrolled kindy was a no-no.

That was when my husband's friend recommended us Alim Kids. Although the monthly fee was slightly more than the other kindies, we enrolled our son there because we were sure that he will get his much-needed attention: there were only 4 kids on the first day! First week: everything went pretty well. He liked the teachers, his friends (though he's quite rowdy for their liking! He! He!), and even the food. His teacher observed that he liked playing compared to studying. However, hubby was convinced, with the teacher's knowledge in child psychology, our son would be 'transformed', eventually. And 'transformed' he did. The following week, the son started to read and finished his Ladybird 1A in a week! I was impressed!

So, which preschool is best for your child? The answer actually lies with you and your child.

i) Know your child - his/her strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, idiosyncracies, etc.
ii) Know your preference - medium of instruction, enrolment, fee structure, etc.
iii) Survey the kindy - teachers, learning approach, facilities, etc.

Then as the saying goes, tepuk dada, tanya selera.

What makes your garden?

What makes a garden? Not just the well-manicured lawn, the burst of (flowers) colours, the rustic garden chairs or the white picket fences. A garden would be lifeless without life itself - the birds, butterflies and bees. Some of my Coolpix catches...

This grasshopper was as big as my thumb. Fed on the shoots of my Rangoon Creeper.

Butterflies making out at their love nest - my cuphea bush! Can you make out their heads or tails? :)

An 'unidentified flying insect' resting on my vanilla leave.

A caterpillar feeding on the daun limau purut.

...obviously not a living thing. He! He! The garden trap for the subterranean insects which I could do without - termites.

Besides these catches, there were misses - squirrels, hummingbird (yes!), frogs, chameleons, dragonflies, preying mantises, and God-knows-how-many bugs. They were too fast to capture ... or was I too slow?

Have you heard of Michael Heart?

I was driving home from work last week when I heard this new song playing on IKIM FM. At first, it was the acoustic guitar that caught my attention (have always been a sucker for this kind of music :D). Then I realized that it was a song about Gaza. Funny, I thought. Never heard this song before. Who's the singer, I wondered. I'll just google "Gaza tonight" (part of the lyrics which I managed to catch), I thought, when no information about the song nor its singer was given till the end of the song.

The "Gaza tonight" google led me to the song "We Will Not Go Down" by singer, Michael Heart. Another round of googling led me to the the singer's website. You can read all about him at : http://www.michaelheart.com. His infectious song can be downloaded for free at his website though he did request that after doing so, we should contribute to funds dedicated to alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinians particularly the UNRWA (United Nations Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).

WE WILL NOT GO DOWN (Song for Gaza)
- Composed and performed by Michael Heart (Copyright 2009)

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive
They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze
We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight
Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who’s wrong or right
But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze
We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Partial Solar Eclipse on 26/1/2009

We waited, witnessed and captured the partial solar eclipse in Seremban, yesterday. Equipped with only our digital compacts and vintage film negatives that were scavenged from old photo envelopes, abah and I spent close to three hours capturing the phenomenon. After all, you don't get to see this everyday, right? The last time a solar eclipse occurred was in 2002.

The challenge of capturing the solar eclipse using our 8 Mp digital compacts made the whole exercise even more exciting. My sister who was in Teluk Intan for the CNY hols, however, was not so lucky. Her D80 was rendered useless because the weather was cloudy over there and she can't even see the sun. It's the case of not being at the right place at the right time.

Since our cameras were no DSLRs, we experimented.

A small strip of used film negative, taped to the camera lense made instant filter.

Triple filters. Two layers of used b & w film negative in front of the camera helped us capture almost crisp images of the sun and help protect our eyes, too.

Below are the images of the sun in its various stages of eclipse. But of course, a DSLR would have produced better images ...