Random Rambles of Lotfi

This would be the ideal me...carefree, no worries, a walk in the park, all the greens around..best kan? kan?kan? This was taken by Aisyah after last Sunday's Foodgasm Fest in TTDI Rimba Park. This picnic setting food fest of sort, with clothes, shoes and other nick knacks thrown in as well, for sale that is. We came towards the end of the fest, as we had other prior engagements. The rain just stopped and it was cool and nice to be able to walk the park with the family. The whole carnival like atmosphere, combined with the outdoor setting was a refreshing change to walking around in a mall, and the music, yes the indie music was great as well. Families, hipster, kids flocked the otherwise quiet park for the food tasting, people watching taking welfies and selfies. If only we can have the same number of people running and walking in the park as a form recreation. Now, that's something!!  Maybe we can organise a run, walk and eat carnival..hehe ...

Yesterday, I found myself back in my alma mater, the main campus ground of UiTM, Shah Alam. The last time I was there was for my own graduation. The ceremony was held at DATC, short for Dewan Agong Tuanku Canselor, a new auditorium for all formal university functions. The truth is, I didn't know where the shuttle bus took us from where we parked our car at Section 7, Shah Alam. Bimbo moment, made worst with the heat of the day and the fact that we didn't know our way around the area plus we were late...(which is not unusual based on our track records). The grand DATC So Aisyah completed her Diploma in Artistic Writing last year. We're all glad that part of her life is over and done with.  I attended the ceremony with the hubs and her grandfather. Got there in the nick of time. All her course mates were already in the hall, and she was 'inserted' into the line. And less than 15 minutes later, I heard her name being called up. My first born, recipient of...

I don't remember ever celebrating Mother's Day with my own Mak. I don't even remember people talking about it when I was a kid. Maybe old age is getting to me, but yeah, I don't remember. It's only when I became a mum of 4 that all these talks about Mother's Day came about. And we see the commercialisation of the whole thing. The flowers, the cards, the gifts, the whole jing-bang. Nothing wrong with it all. If all the kids and dads in the world need a day to remember to celebrate us mummies, so be it. Bask in the attention, eat all the delicious food, indulge in the desserts, cherish the gifts, flowers and make them feel good celebrating us. My own Mak in JB is oblivious to Mother's Day. Even more so now, 2 years after her stroke. I called just to speak to her and asked her how she's doing, which is rare coz she doesn't answer the phone herself. I get updates from my sisters. I would rather sit with her to ask her how she is. But she sounded ev...

Tak kuasa kan siap ada part 2..Well, it's not everyday that I blog..And warning, this will be almost an essay.. So after the first audition (please read part 1 if you are lost), we were waiting for the company to call us and when they did a few weeks later..in 2011 (first audition was in 2010 hehehe..), it was for Khairin to come for another audition. So by that time, she was already quite busy with other voice over jobs for ASTRO, and we were worried if we could not commit to the schedule.  And we were almost 70% sure that we better not go for the 2nd audition because of this. But we were 70% curious as well, so that Saturday we went again. This time the shortlisted kids were given lines to read and dance steps to follow. That lasted almost the whole day and again we were sent home with not very definite YES or NO. When I received an email 6 days later, it was to confirm that she's in and the very extensive rehearsals time. The dance rehearsal - pics take from H+A St...

That 's our girl (extreme right) , obviously nervous We were privileged to get seats to the preview of LAT Sebuah Muzikal on Tuesday night, a day before it opens for the public.Our third child, Khairin has always been interested in dancing and singing but she has always been shy to perform in front of an audience. It was not until lately that she developed the courage to do so. I think watching GLEE has a lot to do with this change. When I found out through Christina (Mrs Afdlin) FB wall that Tall Order is having an open audition for kids for the musical, i asked her if she wants to try. Amazingly, she said yes immediately but not without asking what she has to do at the audition. And I told her, they will probably ask her to sing or dance a bit and she asked if it will be in a big group and not wanting to scare her, said I don't think so. And I was not surprised, on the morning of the audition she said, she doesn't want to go after all. So I told her I was goin...

2nd week into the new year..so how has it been to everyone? I didn't make a resolution to update this like, everyday, so this is a good start. I made a deliberate effort to somehow welcome 2011 differently, not that there was anything remotely wrong with how we did it in the recent years. We've done city hotel stays before watching the fireworks from the 15th floor of Impiana KLCC, we've taken the opportunity to make a trip to Singapore at least 2 years in a row, even if it was a few days before the new year and there were countless "stay at home, watch fireworks from the front gate" which was cool as well, at least it worked for us.. fussy lot we're not.. G ENTING Having spent the Xmas weekend in Genting with the kids, the week before convinced us me that ok, enough spending...seriously Genting can be quite a spent, especially with food. But our stay at The Club Room was very pleasant and my ride on the Space Shot (the only ride I have the guts  ...

Ini bukan kuih tart Mak... On this 33rd day of Ramadan, with us applying for Raya leave in the office I reminiscence my Raya of yesteryears. As a kid, Raya is always something I look forward to. Raya will mark some of the significant events for me for the year. Among others, Raya means: 1. We get new clothes...usually a pair of the traditional garb and 2 sets of the others, perhaps a dress and later when I'm older, my preferred pants and tops. 2. We shopped in Singapore for Raya...the advantage of living in JB. The whole family, all 8 of us will cramped into Abah's Peugeot and pepagi buta will cross the border and will not be back home selagi kedai tak tutup. One year we discovered a Japanese department store, Yokoso which actually opens 24-7...Parah!! Mak would buy her curtains, cushion covers, chair backs, all cheap-cheap from Sungei Road at that time...I remember traipsing CK Tang looking at dresses and pinggan mangkuk..And after all the shopping is done, we would...

The gang, most have left while a few others remain but this constant meet up keeps the friendship fresh... Lyn opening her present Great to be meeting up with friends. We have been delaying Lynn's birthday meet up. Lynn moved to Sepang, which made arrangements to meet up a bit difficult to coordinate but today (yesterday) we finally did. My homies...these guys are almost like brothers to me.. We had good food in Madam Kwan's, great laughter and shared a lot of stories. Most of us has since left MPB and only 3 are still there, nevertheless I guess we have made a silent pact to ourselves to keep this friendship going.What better way than to celebrate each other's birthday, for a lack of better excuse... After dinner I meet up with hubs and the kids for dessert at Whisk. Their Red velvet cake and cafe latte was the perfect end to dinner. Till the next meet up...i await in anticipation.. Thanks for the friendship guys...

Almost year end...the past month has passed me almost unnoticed. I've been really busy. Busy working, busy at home, busy running, busy reflecting. Dad celebrated his 76th birthday and we took him out for tea at Marche. My FIL has not slept in his own home ever since my MIL passed away a few months back. Sometimes I wish I could read his mind. I was at the Youth Engagement Summit in Putraya International Convention Center mid last month and had the chance to listen to some of the most inspiring speakers ever. Donald Trump gave insights on how to be a successful person, Randi Zuckerberg spoke about Facebook and its evolution, Sir Bob Geldof (whoa!!!) was larger than life and spoke about his Africa projects among other awesome stuff, Tony Fernandes was his jovial self when he spoke about AirAsia and on the last day, Nando Parrado made me cry when he spoke about his survival from the crash in the Andes. Exhilarating, all the speakers made me feel...Drained...the 3 days lef...

So nice to be at home knowing that tomorrow is Saturday!!! Yeay!! Today after work, we had a small get together at Long Bar, where we treated our marketing colleagues to a lil food and drink session.... and yaaaammmmm sennnnngggggg they did! Hope this is appreciated and they will bring in more sales for us... And today being Friday the 13th, Long Bar decided to have a horror theme at the bar.. Haha...halloween came late for them. Just as soon as we enter the place...a "corpse" was lying on the ground! Poor guy...dunno how long he can stand to just play dead. Well, I guess he can choose to doze off if he wants to. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day...with Zaim's report card day, ferrying Khairin to school, Aisyah to one utama, a birthday party in between and later Imran and Aisyah wants to check out the Flynniversary in OU...Celah mana aku nak lari ni?? Today is week 2 day 5 since I started working out again and I'm quite please that it has been quite consiste...

Yikes!! We forgot our own anniversary!! Why ar?? After 10 years, you stop counting?? Ke we are enjoying things too much that time does not matter? Haha, anything to excuse the fact that we are getting old and forgetting anniversary dates is part of the parcel of aging...huhuhu... Anyway, Aisyah reminded us on the eve of 18/10 by handing us her pathetic sweet home-made card that can only be made by Aisyah which only forces me to make spontaneous last minute plans to sort-of celebrate the day..hehehe.. I decided to scrape the 3 open-houses that I'm supposed to go to, much to the secret delight of hubs.. We had a late lunch lunch at Marche. Coincidentally, the kids are staying over at my sis in law's while the older 2 are at Atuk's. Ironic, I say! And later at nite, we enjoyed the spa at Andara in Holiday Inn Glenmarie.. Cik Mur, u ols! Like this I want to have Anniversary everyday...Can ar?? On a more serious note, 11 years has been mostly blissful..We...

Naquib yang gigih nak bergambar dengan Kak Nita Kita ar semua...with Xan A iyosh...wat time already ar....12.39am...mata dah kelat2 ni sebenarnya, tapi ada manusia tanya pesal tak hupdate blog...boleh??? Musykil...baca ker? I like... Btw, been busy...biler lar tak busy ek? I like.. Attended A CUT ABOVE event in BSC just now...Very the happening..They had more celebs than we do at certain events...hahaha! Good to meet familiar faces again especially Xandria, Sean Lee, Ben Ibrahim, Alan Yun, Dayang with Shaliza her ever loyal manager, Joanna Bassey, Ash Nair. Ni yang sempat jumpa and chat lar..Yang tak sempat jumpa dan hanya lambai-lambai Miss Universe katanya ada jugak.. people like Ning. Kak Nita and her hubs pun ada...tapi....hehehe...lambai pun idak...tak kenal ar!!! Yang penting akak makan Haagen Daz 2 cups wokehhh...I like!!! On Saturday pulak, dalam kesibukan tak dak maid, baju tak berlipat menggunung apatah lagi yang nak iron, tapi tetap gigih pergi GE Mall jadi jud...

Sekarang pukul 12.54 pagi ...Apsal aku tak boleh tido walaupun kepala sudah nyut..nyut...nyut.. Just yesterday I went to see Dr Roy, and found out that my blood pressure is a bit on the high side..Apa kes?? Dr. kata could be because I'm having problems sleeping...Yang tak boleh tidor tu pesal...?Orang lain dah sedap berdengkur...kau dok terkebil-k ebil dalam gelap... Dr kata..I could be having hormone imbalance...ye ker?? Progesterone, Estrogen...apa kejadahnya?? I am SO seeing a homeopathy practitioner back in JB this weekend! Yeay...yeay...b alik JB, balik JB...Aku nak start puasa dengan Mak..bes tnyer....Wooohooooo!!! We had a nice bonding session with the biggie bosses on Wednesday nite, with each of the 9 of us bringing something that we cooked at home...and we had a good laugh having conversations that we would other wise not have in the of fice. Hey...bosses are human after all. Our CEO's going into semi retirement while the GMD is moving on to a new place...