It's freezing!

Ilyas New Haircut

Before

Maisarah the hairdresser

After

Risk!

Boxing Days Visitors

Yesterday was a Boxing Day so everyone is rushing to the shopping complexes to buy lots of discounted goods including my dear wife. In the evening, Steve Kong and his family from Lancaster who went shopping in the Liverpool city centre dropped by our house. They came with a friend from China who has just completed her Masters degree. Their only son, Branson was one curious toddler and keep walking around the house, poking things there and then. I don't remember whether Ilyas was like that when he was Branson's age but he is definitely like that right now.

Exabytes Host and Win

Today I received an email from one of Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd. Sales Executive informing me that I have won 2nd prize for their quarterly Host & Win contest. The contest is already in Season 3 and anybody who is client of Exabytes is eligible to be considered for the prizes on offer. I've been their client for several years now since I first bought www.ligaalumni.com domain name and later on www.ahmedrazman.com. 

They want to give me the prize during their new office opening ceremony but since I won't be around that time, I asked them to send it to the Kajang address instead. What did I won? Apparently an HP Officejet All-In-One Printer worth RM455 which is quite useful compared to the 3rd prize (hehe). But I just missed out on the Grand Prize itself! Never mind as it's better to get something than nothing at all, Alhamdulillah.

Winning my five points tournament for the first time

This is the most nerve wrecking final I've ever been so far. I was 0-4 behind and my opponent needs only one more win to end the match and become the winner of the tournament. I managed to get a break in the fifth game and in subsequent game I duly issued a double and won to make the score at 3-4. The next game began like the last one where I again issued a double but in the beginning it doesn't look promising as shown here

and I knew when he got 6 and 1 that I have only one chance to turn this game around....

and I got it! Lucky number three!

and the rest was history as I managed to block his piece until it was too late for him to do anything else. 

When I looked back at all my previous rounds, I won 5-3 in the first round but was behind 3-4 in the second round before finally won it with a 5-4 scoreline. The next three rounds were quite comfortable wins as I won 5-3 in the third round, 5-2 in the fourth round and 5-3 again in the fifth round. But the final round is definitely worth fighting for.

Ballet Class Christmas Party

Yesterday Maisarah attended her ballet class Christmas party. All the girls were dressed in their favourite costumes and on that day Maisarah became Princess Maisarah. They had fun dancing and playing games for the whole hour. Strangely, no foods or drink were served in that party. But no matters, as she is definitely enjoying it to the max.

Champions of the World

Champions of England, Champions of Europe and now Champions of the World! Manchester United celebrating their 1-0 victory over Liga de Quito in the final of the FIFA CLub World Cup. You can watch the winning goal at the FIFA website. 

Ilyas' Certificates

Today is the last day of school for Ilyas and Maisarah before the start of Christmas holiday. Ilyas received two certificates, one for 100% attendance and another one for reasons unknown to us (but he said it is for the neat writing!). He told me some of his friends received three certificates and some did not even receive one. So I guess it's quite an achievement for Ilyas to receive two certificates.

Maisarah in Nativity Play

Can you find a little lamb called Maisarah?

Her mum asked why Maisarah makes face like that, she said her teacher asked her to make sound like a sheep and then the camera snaps... 

Christmas parties

Today Ilyas and Maisarah attended Christmas parties in their classes. They received lots of presents and greeting cards from the teachers and their friends. They also gave presents to their teacher, which are the boxed chocolate gifts bought from John Lewis. I bought Jo an England Home ladies shirt which was retailed at $44.99 but was on sale at £4.49 (90% discount!). She likes it so much so I guess it's worth a buy.

Passing my Car Driving Theory Test

I'm pretty much happy today after I took my Car Driving Theory Test as I've been preparing for it for several weeks now. During the multiple choice part of the test I was quite worried because there were 6 or 7 questions that I'm not really confident of their answers. Considering that the pass mark is 43 correct answers out of 50 questions, the uncertainty when answering these questions could leaves me with a borderline result. I'm quite confident with the hazard perception part though.

The test result came out right after I step out from the test booth. I first noticed the "Congratulations" word in the first sentence of the letter and a huge relief came over me. And there is one bold sentence right in the middle of the letter stating,

You scored 49 for the multiple choice part and 66 for the hazard perception part.

It means that I'd answered only 1 question incorrectly for the multiple choice part. The pass mark for the hazard perception part is 44 out of a possible 75 points so my score is not too bad either.

Right after that I sent my photocard licence and its paper counterpart to the DVLA because I need to inform them of a change of address. And maybe after this I will book for the practical test sometime by the end of January or early February next year. 

Victim of internet scam

I've just read my uncle's blog and apparently he has become a latest victim of internet banking scam. He received several emails asking him to login into his Maybank2U account via the link provided in the email. He insisted that he only type in his TAC number and not his username and password but still the hacker managed to steal RM5000 out from his account. I guess the crook is becoming smarter and smarter. And since he is working with TV3 his predicament was highlighted nationwide. Just go to www.tv3.com.my and watch Buletin Utama on the 3rd December 2008. Wait until the end of Haji segment. 

Illiat, Ilays and Illeus Rasman

Ilyas received three Christmas cards from his classmates. None of them managed to spell his name correctly, though. Interestingly, two of them came from the girls.

Ilyas and his dinosaurs

Yesterday Ilyas received a package from Tok Wan. Inside it there were several dinosaur puzzles and few other toys for Ilyas and Maisarah. Tok Wan also included some CDs containing pictures and videos from Malaysia. Ilyas immediately get on with the puzzles and this morning completed all of them. And he is pretty much happy (or is it scared?) of them as you can see from this picture.

Maisarah and ballet

This morning, Maisarah completed her ballet lessons this term and received a certificate. She also bought a BabyBallet Teddy which is part of her dancing routines. Next week she will be attending the class Christmas party and will be wearing a princess dress which her mum has already bought over EBay.

Maisarah in a Play

Today all the children from Nursery and Reception classes are having Nativity play in the school. Maisarah is supposed to be a lamb and needs to wear a big white adult t-shirt. We don't have one so she got my 'pagoda' shirt instead. Later on during the play I realised that my shirt is not exactly ehem.. white. 

During the singing she finally noticed us at the back of the crowds. Right at the end of the song she waved at us and shouted, "That's my mummy!" (about 2 minutes and 4 seconds of play in the video below)

Ilyas, Maisarah and Santa

Ilyas and Maisarah met Santa Claus last Friday in their school. 

Nadiah and Maisarah

Last night we received a visit from Professor Zakaria Stapa, Dean of Faculty of Islamic Studies in UKM, with his family. They are on a two weeks holiday and will be also celebrating their eldest daughter, Idlan, who is getting a PhD in Accounting from Lancaster University. Her convocation will be held in Lancaster University today.

The whole family went shopping in Cheshire Oaks during the day and since it is only half an hour drive from Liverpool, they dropped by before going back to Lancaster. We had fried rice and Chicken Bazooka fried chickens (taste like KFC!) for dinner. Their youngest member of the family, Nadiah is very lively and talkative but you'd better not to tell any of your secrets to her as she will use it for her own advantage as her eldest brother found out later on. Cheeky girl :)

Trip to Delamere Forest

Today Maisarah and her mummy went to Delamere Forest under her preschool trip. It was about an hour journey and when they arrived there, they went hiking and did several fun activities together including meeting with the Santa (again). This time the big old white-bearded guy gave Maisarah a tiny Christmas tree for her to plant in the back garden. 

Ilyas the Storyteller

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

Now everyone is a blogger

When I came across my uncle's blog recently I'm a bit surprised but today the surprise is getting even bigger when I found out that my own dad has his own blog. Well, the more the merrier I guess. What's next, Lalan getting his own Facebook account? Or Mama will beat him to that?

Santa Claus is coming to town

Today Santa Claus visited the school and everyone received a present including Ilyas and Maisarah. I gave £2 to Ilyas for him to spend at the school's fair and he spent it on cakes for himself and Maisarah, a Lego toy, some sweets and a big family game board called Funny Face. He sure does know how to shop!

Exercise Video by Ilyas and Maisarah

Ilyas and Maisarah prepared this video for me when I wasn't around. I just can't stop smiling :)

A frozen drink

I put a cup filled with fruit juice on a table outside the house overnight. This morning, it completely frozen. Luckily today's weather is quite fine with plenty of sunshine. However, my laptop here shows a temperature of -2 degree for Liverpool. Well, I'm planning to take the kids outside anyway. Just to have some fresh (and cold) air.

Silent Treatment by Wales

"In the 2008 Rugby Autumn Tests, Wales responded to the haka by standing on the pitch refusing to move until the All Blacks did. This resulted in the referee Jonathan Kaplan berating both teams for a full two minutes after the haka had ended until eventually New Zealand captain McCaw instructed his team to break off. After a spirited first half display which ended with Wales leading 9 - 6, the All Blacks responded positively and won the game 9 - 29." 

Source from Wikipedia.

Weather Forecast

It's going to be a foggy and cold day....

Gerenti Pass

My monthly bus pass and student card

My driving lessons package

After a long wait I have finally received my student card. Now I can have access to the university library and databases and resume my data collection. I can also apply for my bus pass (which I just did today) and in the mean time I have also registered for the driving lessons. I'm hoping that by the end of this year I will be fully prepared to get the British full license.