An Artist with her Art

Tired but happy!

For the sake of it...

One of the main tasks (not necessarily fall under the job scope) that I intend to do once I am back in Malaysia is to recreate UPM tennis team for staff. When I went to the UK about four years ago, I was it's chairman and we used to compete in the Inter Varsity tournament for staff every year. Since then, the team has been disbanded and they did not participate in the last three years of the tournament. I discovered that some of the players have switched job and a couple of them have turned to squash. I managed to contact the remaining members and we are going to start our weekly practise in preparation for the next year tournament in USM, Penang.

However, I've been experiencing pains around my elbow for the past two months and at first I suspected it was just a tennis elbow syndrome. But it's getting worse and today I went to Pusat Kesihatan UPM to have a doctor examine it. The service was quick and efficient, and I was ushered to the doctor's office in no time. He said that there is no damage to the muscle or tendon but he suspected that the problem lies within the nerve. So he prescribed me several drugs which I had to take immediately. The name for the drugs are Neurobion, Cataflam/Diclofenac Pottasium (pain killer) and Norgesic (Paracetamol and Orphenadrine Citrat (muscle relaxant). He also gave me LMS/Menzza Cream if I suffer any pain when playing the game.

In the evening, I went to the court and had a good session with UPM Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tai who used to be my double partner. I was really rusty and my shots went everywhere. The only good things that came out from the session is that my elbow is not hurting as much before.

Double Date at Noodle Station

My meal - springy garlic noodle with mushrooms and egg

The drinks

Today Mama Tok and Tok Ayah went to Chiang Mai for a few days. Everyone is not really keen to cook for dinner so we decided to try the Noodle Station restaurant at Metro Point, Kajang. We sent Ilyas and Maisarah to Tok Wan's house to play with Eela and Lalan had to go somewhere else. So there are only four of us and it looks like a double date. The noodles here are simply delicious and they are playing Awie's rock songs in the background. I must say this is one restaurant that I'm definitely want to come again, but most probably on the special occasion as the average bill is around RM15 per person, which is reasonable if you don't come here so often.

Al-Fatihah - Prof. Dr. Kamarudin Mat Salleh

Today is a sad day for many of us especially staff and students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia who had known personally or professionally, Prof. Dr. Kamarudin Mat Salleh or fondly remembered as Pak Din. At 6.50pm he peacefully passed away after battling cancer for many months. I managed to visit him several days before at the hospital but unable to be at his house today because I got another engagement.

Pak Din was one of the prominent researcher on the largest flower in the world, Rafflesia. And he was actually my first boss when he was in charge of the Herbarium in the UKM in 1998. I just graduated from Lancaster University at that time and still waiting whether my application to become a tutor in the UKM has been approved or not. So I decided to fill in the time by working as a Research Assistant under his guidance and together we updated the filing system of the Herbarium. He was also a close friend of my parents and we have known his wife and his six children since we were little. He was 50 years old. May Allah put you among the righteous and make everything easy for the life in hereafter.

Three Books

Today I went to KLCC to meet my old friend Imran. We used to attend primary school together at Sekolah Kebangsaan Serdang during the 80s. The last time I saw him was in 1989 when both of us were in Form 1 at Sekolah Menengah Sri Serdang, so that was 20 years ago. We had our dinner at the food court and were having so much fun doing the catch up that we didn't realise we are the only two left in the dining area. The area has been closed and the workers are really waiting for us to go! I bought a book from him, a collection of poems (of which some were written by him) titled Salun Eksotikata. Before the meeting, I went to Kinokuniya and bought two books, a Malaysia Book of Records (for my upcoming project) and Odisi Bulan Biru by John Norafizan (my school mate in MRSM Taiping). I think I have bought all five books by John Norafizan but managed to read only the first one. I think I will start reading his second book once our new house is ready, hopefully.

Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators

My group mate presenting a 5 minutes rocket pitch on our product

Some of the participants

Professor Mark Rice presenting the certificate to one of the participants

For the past four days I have been attending the Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators organised by Babson College, Massachusetts (ranked no. 1 graduate school by The Princeton Review for it's 2010 Entrepreneurial Programs) and Graduate School of Management, UPM. The courses were conducted by Professor Mark P. Rice, the Frederic C. Hamilton Professor for Free Enterprise. It was quite an engaging experience and I learn a lot about entrepreneurship. I like the fact that entrepreneurship is not just about making money by exploring new opportunity, being innovative and taking risks but can also helps in creating a better world, and this can even be applied to a non-profit making entity. This is something that I will definitely use when pitching for something that is not really profit driven but on how you can contribute back to the society.

Friend or Enemy?

Playing in the Park

Watching over the lake

Ilyas looks scared!

Tok Wan and Mak Tuk are here...

Daring Maisarah

Reaching for the top

History of Kajang

I just came back from the symposium and noticed that Ilyas and Maisarah look quite bored in the house. So I took them to Taman Tasik Cempaka in Bandar Baru Bangi to play in the playground. Tok Wan and Mak Tuk came later to drop Kakak Eela and we stayed there until near 7pm.

I've Been Stoodled!

I was busy the whole day today and only got a chance to go to my Facebook page quite late in the evening. To my delight the first news feed that I saw was a stoodle based on my Facebook status. For those who is new to the word and the world of stoodle, do visit their website at http://stoodle.wordpress.com/ It was an honour to be stoodled by them. Thanks to Idlan for noticing my final hours of completing the dissertation and credit to Mimi who managed to accurately draw picture of myself (I am really that thin! please believe me!)

Old Town White Coffee

Old Town Nasi Lemak Special

French Toast

Hainanese Chicken Chop with Flavoured Rice, accompanied by hot Honey and Lemon juice

Tonight Mama Tok wanted to eat dinner outside so Tina suggested that we try the meals at the Old Town White Coffee in Bandar Baru Bangi. It is the largest kopitiam restaurant chain in Malaysia. I ordered Hainanese Chicken Chop with Flavoured Rice but the chicken is a bit too oily for my likings, however I still managed to clean the plate. Jo ordered Nasi Lemak and Tina had French Toast. I forgot what others were ordering as I was too busy eating.

Jamuan Raya Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pengurusan, UPM

Kuih-kuih raya

Wedding cake of Puan Narimah and Encik Khalid

The food stall

Main tables for UPM top management

Bunga telur from the pengantin

Today my faculty organised a Hari Raya open house for all its staff and also a wedding reception for one of the staff, Puan Narimah who recently got married. I managed to catch up with some of my colleagues, whom I haven't seen for the past four years. Most of them were quite surprised to see that I have changed a bit, especially my cheeks, becoming chubbier. I'm also quite surprised to see some of them, some became 'healthy' like me and there are others who lost weight and look lovely. I managed to have a chat with the UPM VC and found out that he supports Liverpool FC, poor fellow. The faculty also served durians taken from the UPM's farm and I had to resist the temptation to eat the whole fruit.

Ilyas and Maisarah First Day at New School

Today is Ilyas and Maisarah first day at their new nursery school in Malaysia. Their nursery is called Little Caliphs and their medium for teaching is English. Maisarah is quite excited and she is very happy with her new uniform because it has a butterfly picture on it. Ilyas is a bit shy and does not want to be in the picture. The class starts around 8am and finish by 11.30am. We have the option of extending the session until 6pm but decided to have the morning session first. By the end of the first day, Ilyas managed to make friends with two boys and know how to do the ablution. Maisarah told me that there is another girl with the same name as hers, but she is smaller than her.

Open House in Mutiara Condominium

Ilyas and Maisarah showing to Haziq their new pets

Putri, G and myself

Watching Arsenal trashed Blackburn 6-2

Four ladies that will be left alone at home every Saturday evening

Today is the most hectic day for us as many people decided to take the opportunity on Sunday weekend to invite or visit friends and relatives for Hari Raya open house. We started our day by inviting Huzaini and his family to our mother-in-law's house in Ampang for breakfast Raya. Ilyas and Maisarah are very excited because they can play together with Haziq. They even spent the whole morning swimming in the condominium's pool. I received four invitations to attend open house in the afternoon but since each of them are quite distant from each others, I can only managed to fulfill one of them, which was my uncle's house in Dengkil.

After that we had to rush back to Ampang because I have invited the most important people in my football team, ANSARA Taiping for the dinner. Shazli, or better known as G, is our utility player as he can play in any position in the team. He came first with his wife and his one and a half years old son, Irfan. Then Syarizan, or Jose as he would prefer others to call him, came next. He used to be ANSARA PDRM's manager but I managed to persuade him and several of his top players to join our team. He is our most consistent striker. The person to come last is Shahril, or Madun the manager. He is the one who took care of our team when I had to go to the UK for my PhD study. Under his management, ANSARA Taiping had won several trophies and now in the 1st division in Liga Alumni Malaysia. Throughout the night we talked and discussed our team in preparation for the upcoming semi final match in Piala ANSARA. Madun is going to organise a couple of friendly matches before the actual match and I am really looking forward for that. By the way, I have appointed myself as a director of football for ANSARA Taiping, much like Sven-Goran Eriksson at Notts County.

Eating Out at Tony Roma's

Since Awa will be here in Malaysia for a short while, we decided to have a family dinner. Tina suggested that we try the Tony Roma's restaurant at Mid Valley Mall. This restaurant is famous for its ribs and steaks so we decided to give it a go. I forgot to take note the name of the dishes but their ribs are definitely delicious! The meat is so soft and tear easily from the bone. I will definitely go back to the restaurant provided that Tok Ayah  tag along with us to pay for the bill, hehe.

Swimming at Tok's house