phew!! glad to have survived a long tiring week (make that TWO tiring weeks!) which is so typical of life in my workplace.. Granted, there were times when I felt like turning blue from the hectic pace of life in the past two weeks...but then again, a girl's gotta do what a girl's got to do.....

so here's a snapshot of why i've been occupied these past two weeks:

i) benchmarking trip (plus shopping) to langkawi!

this was ultimately the most fun thing out of all the things i'd been busy with. fun, because first of all, we only had to pay a token sum of rm50, since the rest of the fare was paid for by some very generous individuals.

our air asia flight landed at the langkawi airport at around 1pm. a fairly uneventful flight- but i had a hard time believing that the plane was about to land at the langkawi airport. my poor best friend lost her luggage, no thanks to some irresponsible individuals...so we had to wait for a while before making our way to our tour bus.

after checking in and unpacking, we made our way to go island hopping at Pantai Tengah. It was a really fun outing, even though I'm afraid of water, primarily because I can't swim. We went island hopping, to three of Langkawi's more popular islands: Pulau Dayang Bunting, Pulau Singa Besar, and Pulau Beras Basah.

The trip to Pulau Dayang Bunting was memorable for many reasons. First of all, because of the long trek up the many flights of stairs before we finally reached the lake from which the island got its name (or is it the other way around?). Some of us went swimming in the lake, some went boating, and some even took home some of the water at the lake (since legend has it that the water can help those who are trying to conceive). Initially I didn't want to swim in the water, but ended up dipping in the wading pool which they had prepared for the kids (so no risk of drowning there, lucky me!)

On the way back, though, one of the macaques on the island snatched the plastic bag in which i'd put my loafers.thankfully, i was able to bribe him with orange juice, with the assistance of some dear mat sallehs who were also touring the island.

Pulau Singa Besar is known as the place where the eagles would fly in to get food. we didn't get to stop at the island though- we were only allowed to watch the eagles as they soared and dived to catch the fish.

Pulau Beras Basah was quite beautiful, too. didn't go swimming there though, cos i didn't want to get my jeans wetter that they already were. word of advice, though, be careful while swimming in the beautiful waters of this island, especially at low tide, since you might hurt yourself with the corals and other creatures in the water.

the good thing about island hopping is that they'd snap your picture as soon as you descend the stairs to go island hopping. so after coming back to shore from the trip, you can claim your picture for rm 10. lucky that my picture was nice, so i wasn't embarrassed to buy it. :)

Dinner that night was fun, at a place called Bamboo Restaurant. the food there was divinely delicious, among the best i've ever tasted so far. we had crab, ikan bakar, prawns, chicken, tomyam, and a lot of other delicious food. the more interesting part came after that- we went shopping! - the guys included. so a lot of people carted off tons of chocolate, comforter, flatware, nonstick pan, pretty much everything that was on sale at the shop.

We went on our benchmarking trip the next day at mrsm langkawi (which was ranked the top performing school in the 2007 spm!) it was amazing to find out that their schedule wasn't as packed as ours was (and still is!) what i can say is that the school advocates student autonomy. They do have remedial classes for weak students for all subjects, every night; while the other students are provided with enrichment activities.

ii) form 4 orientation week / makan beradab 1

the form 4s registered two days after we came back from langkawi. yours truly was in charge of makan beradab, which went pretty ok mostly, except for the part where there were more guests invited than initially agreed upon. it's all good though, perhaps this'll be a lesson to everyone to always keep our eyes peeled for details..

iii) prefects' installation

ok, this hasn't happened yet, but it was one of the reasons why i was going bonkers last week. i was filling in for a colleague who was away on a meeting, and suddenly i was put in a spot when i the person requested that i be the emcee for the actual event since "i was doing such a good job". yeah, right. truth was, all the emceeing duties (three in the past week alone!) was getting to me. and, plus, it wouldn't be good if the audience wasn't going to look forward to my emceeing after this!


no pictures this time, thoug, since i haven't uploaded them yet. next post, probably... :)


whatever it is, my working life is nothing without 60-hour weeks (which is so atypical of a teacher!) but i enjoy every minute of it, since it's productive use of my time, anyway.

am not exactly familiar with all this tag business..but since i got tagged by ana all the way from bandung, buat je la.... so here goes...

1. 5 characteristics of your dream gal/girl

• beriman (abis kalo x beriman camne nak ajar aku jadi baik...Kan?)
  
• caring+loving
• understanding
  
• generous (your money is my money, bebeh!)
  
• not necessarily handsome, but sedap mata memandang...

• a narcissist
• org yg suka mempoyo+ menjoborkan diri
  
• liars
• hypocrites
• someone who ALWAYS insists that he/she is ALWAYS right

• rasa cam nak senyum je sepanjang hari (betul kan?)
• gumbira tahap indescribable
• jalan cam rasa x pijak tanah
• like i'm the luckiest person on earth
  
• heh. mcm dunia ni aku yang punya (pinjam kata-kata tan sri p ramlee)

• Mauritius (I'm an island babe...not much into hiking and the outdoors)
  
• New Zealand
• Eiffel Tower
• 2480 Cumberland Road, San Marino (tempat jatuh lagi dikenang, inikan pula tempat bermain...rindu wooo masa dok kat sini dulu)
  
• London (double decker bus, harrods, guard yg pakai baju merah+topi tinggi tu-dun remember what they're called...)

yep, school's officially started..and along with it came duties and responsibilities (not that not working for seven weeks meant that i had no responsibilities!)

lucky me got only 20 teaching periods this semester (as opposed to 24 last year! and that included est in the beginning!!) but thank God they later decided to let est be an elective subject, and , as such, i no longer needed to teach it. imagine having to scour textbooks and not to forget, the wonderful world of google to look up information on things i never studied in school... i mean, yes, i studied general science..but that was as far as it went..

funny thing though, about the schedule. by some weird, wicked twist of fate, i was 'fortunate' to be chosen as one of those who's going to be teaching civics. yeah, right. i mean, i am civic minded, yes. but to teach in bahasa malaysia when i've been teaching in english for almost seven years is a bit weird. but i guess it's just one of the challenges i've got to go through. i mean, if i'm able to speak in front of 600 people, teaching civics should come easy, right? i hope so.

and this year i'm no longer in charge of the debating team. switched camps to drama instead. i love debating and taking care of the debate team, to death. but then again, it should never be at my expense, at least where school holidays are concerned. for the past six years, i've been going to every single hksbp, as an adjudicator in the first few years, and later as team advisor. there's such thrill in having to prepare your rebuttals there and then when the opposition is trying to bring down your case. but then again, like i said, i'm also entitled to a full two weeks of my school holidays, like pretty much everyone else at school. and besides, it would only be fair if others also experience what it feels like being in charge of training and taking care of the debaters.

so far i'm having a pretty good weekend..went bowling with my sisters tonight. i've never been very good at bowling, but i scored quite decently for a novice. i guess we'll be making more trips to the bowling alley...and let's hope that the gutter ball will be history :)

Time sure flies when you least expect it. But for what it's worth, this year's school holidays was better than last year's, on so many levels.

First is because I didn't have to invigilate the SPM exams this year.. Sitting in a room, for 2 hours, sometimes more, going up and down the aisles, watching over the kids, and seeing that they don't cheat, is just not my cup of tea. Lucky for me, the bosses let me off this year, since I'd already invigilated the previous year. yeay me!

What's the best thing you can do during a school holiday? Of course, catching up on sleep is one of the most popular things people usually do when they have the chance. We initially made plans to go to Bandung and visit my sister there, but then the ticket prices were a wee bit out of our budget. So scratched Bandung off the list, and we looked for a place less expensive, but no less exciting. So in the end we decided (no, wait, my DAD decided on Pangkor). And we had fun there.

And I got to spend time with my best friend, doing absolutely nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. We spent time, hung out together, to just be. It was fun since I'd normally be busy the first six months of the year due to debates, and from July-October preparing the kids for exams (which includes marking TONNES of essays, riddled with atrocious grammar errors, God help me!)..So the school hol's the only time I get to spend with them without having to rush, or worry about meeting deadlines, or essays that I hadn't marked yet.

And it's new year in approximately 2 days (and counting...) So yes, it's that time of the year when people are busy making resolutions, hoping that all of them get fulfilled. Personally, though, I don't think New Year's the only time for a resolution. The important thing is not that you only wish for something to happen; but, rather, you take steps to make your dreams a reality. Which is what I'm planning to do. But I guess it's enough to wish that 2009 would be a better year for all of us (amidst all the terrible predictions I've read in the papers!)

Happy New Year, everyone! Have a wonderful, happy, and blessed 2009! :)

me and Emi on board the ferry to Pangkor



iklan sunglasses kat Jetty Lumut


with our tour guide, Syahril Teh at the Kota Belanda's 'Batu Bersurat'

My dad had been mulling the idea of going somewhere this school holidays, partly because it had been ages since the whole family went anywhere for a holiday. And partly because almost everyone is home this school holiday...

The Pangkor trip wasn't exactly planned a few months in advance, since our plans kept changing. First it was PD, then Melaka, then PD trip got cancelled, then was back on, you get the picture. So finally, Ayah decided to go to Pangkor on Saturday (and we were supposed to go on Sunday!), so imagine the scrambling my sister had to go through, just to book hotel rooms for all seven of us.

So yes, Sunday morning came, and we made sure everything was in order. Before leaving, we wanted to board Ennet at the vet's in Section 13, but we arrived a bit late, and it was already closed. Luckily, Jingles at Section 9 agreed to board Ennet although the lady had initially hesitated (especially when she saw that Ennet was expecting). Luckily,though, she gave in when we said that we'd pick Ennet up on Monday. Phew. One problem solved.

The Pangkor trip was memorable for a number of reasons. First is the fact that it was our first family outing since ages ago, and second, would be the fact that my dad lost his phone in the ferry; which could have been because someone pickpocketed him in the ferry, or while we were busy getting out. And i also rode the bicycle since ages ago. It was pretty weird at first, cos I had problems adjusting to the bike, but things got better from there. And the ride to the beach was wonderful. Partly because there was no traffic, but mostly because the scenery was just breathtakingly beautiful. (I wish I could upload the pics but I can't find my phone's connector cable. Next post, maybe...)

And of course, the trip round the island just before we left for the jetty was just great. Our tour guide, Syahril, next to being a chatterbox, was a veritable source of information about the island. We saw people boat building, and stopped at a factory at the island where they process marine products like ikan bilis, ikan masin,and the like. We also went to Kota Belanda, and Batu Bersurat (not like the one in Terengganu) and a Chinese garden/temple (can't recall the name) where we saw three arapaima fish swimming in the water. (You can also see them at the Senawang Giant)

So, yes, although the trip to Pangkor was a short one, it was wonderful. Just what we needed to let our hair down, and just let the world go by for a while.

Now, time to think of our next destination.... :)

i bullied my little sister into editing some pictures i had uploaded off the internet. and asked her to make a collage of the three norwegian forest cats i saved. and the above banner is the result. never mind that my blog name is no longer visible, and is instead replaced by the word 'adorable' (which refers to the cats, not the blog!)

so yes, we're all still missing our dear jack. but as the saying goes, life goes on. and it is only fitting to hope and wish that jack is somewhere, in a far better place, free of the suffering he had had to endure since this past year.

going 'nasi-kandar' - ing tomorrow! (i think the guy at the nasi kandar place put ganja on his food. cos i sure am addicted to his nasi kandar---especially thinking of the huge serving they offer!!!

if you gazed into his silver-gray eyes, i'm pretty sure you'd be charmed.in fact, it was one of the first things that drew me to him. that, and his oddly dark brown/black nose.

he was like the little brother we never had. even though he was just a cat, he was treated like one of the family. we'd always remember how much joy he brought into our lives.

i still remember that day around a year ago, when the vet diagnosed him with feline aids. at first i was shellshocked, thinking how in the world it was possible for such a thing. but jack being who he was, fought on, armed with our love and care. when i brought him to the vet last weekend (since he had refused to eat), she herself was amazed that jack lasted this long.

anyone who knew or remembered him would be surprised how scrawny jack looked in his last days. i had a hunch that the end was coming, since his legs were clammy when i touched them. he had difficulty eating anything other than liquid food since his gums were swollen, and she didn't recommend scaling for jack given his weak physical condition. and she pretty much told me that there wasn't much that we could do for him, except offer him supportive medication. given the benefit of hindsight, i feel that the doctor just didn't want to tell us that jack's days were numbered. with a single digit.

it was difficult to believe that the jack that we knew, who was so rambunctious and jumping around pretty much everywhere was reduced to a shell of his former self. i still remember how he would wake us up every morning, and request for his water bowl, and wait patiently for us to feed him (at the dining table, no less!).

i fed him some soup last night, which turned out to be his last supper, around 8.00 plus, not too long after my family left for a forum or something at the umno shah alam building. i remember gingerly picking him up, putting him on my lap, and feeding tiny amounts of soup my sister made for him. and not long after that, he had a seizure. scratch that. two seizures, which scared the living daylights out of me, since i've never been particularly very good at taking care of cats. my experience of taking care of cats would amount to buying them food and making sure they eat. my sisters usually played nurses and caretakers to the cats.

so i did what i could to comfort him, which was to ruffle his fur and assure him that he was going to be okay, and put him back in the cage. i promised myself that i'd check back on him the next time i came down.

so after taking some cold medications, i went upstairs to watch tv, and rest. and when i came down, i was surprised when i saw his mouth was slightly open, along with his eyes, so i gave him a gentle nudge. and that was when i discovered that he was gone.

there is a certain finality with death. in a sense, i'm happy that jack is no longer suffering. but on the other hand, i'm sad that we've all lost a dear, fluffy little friend who brought so much joy and happiness into our lives.

rest in peace, dear jack. you're sorely missed.

The country was recently shaken (literally) by news of landslips and landslides, one after another. I guess it's Nature's way of telling us that we have, indeed, gone too far.

And of course, in true Malaysian fashion, experts and politicians started spewing out comments, which I find not only irritating, but coming too late. Yes, the site of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide is not too far from the Highland Towers site (1.5 km approximately), and residents have commented to the MPAJ but did anyone listen, take heed, or take stock of what happened in 1993? I don't think so. I think it's rather too late now to tell us that the soil at Bukit Antarabangsa is not stable, not suitable for construction, etc, etc. I'm sure we are very much aware of all that.

It's definitely the wrong time to be pointing fingers or passing the buck. Yes, the landslide happened. What is best now is to make sure it does not happen again. Perhaps the powers that be can think before they act/issue statements on how best to prevent the situation from recurring.

So, who's to blame? The developers, for wanting to cash in on the 'exclusiveness' of the area? The residents, for wanting to live 'an exclusive address'? Or the local council, for giving a nod for the project to go on anyhow, despite the fact that there are serious risks involved?

Of course it is easier to point the fingers at a, b, or c..What is difficult is to take ownership/responsibility of what happened.

Let's just hope that such tragedy never recurs. My prayers to those who lost their family members and friends. Al-Fatihah.