Random Rambles of Lotfi

My day started this weekend with a gym session with the PT; that is of course after brekkie at Idaman, near the house. Amazing what a piece of roti canai banjir and nescafe tarik can do to your work-out...well at least MY work-out...after last week's session with dizzy spells due to my 'normal' early morn low blood pressure, today's session was quite alright...I'm trying the same formula next time..COFFEE before work-out not after...Wait and see if my theory is right. Working-out takes my mind off things. What things?? The truth is, I am in a state of denial. What happened was last week I lost a very precious folder from my external hard drive, which contains hundreds and hundreds of personal photos, taken from family trips, parties, work photos, family gatherings, working tips...semua ah...hilang macam tu jer...HUHUHUHUHUHU...giler... sedih giler punyer yang tak terkata dan tak sanggup dan tak tau macam mana nak express lagi....ARRGGGGGGHHHH!!!! But if you see...

I got this in my mail box today... Whoever is happy will make others happy too. — Anne Frank

This afternoon I went to Khairin's schoold to get some books that I didn't manage to get earlier at another book shop. This is the same school that Aisyah and Imran used to attend. Was looking around the notice board while waiting for the long line at the book shop. And saw this : Hehe...on the 2nd line, Muhd Imran bin Ezral, record holder (male) for lontar peluru (what's that in english, huh?) at 7.2m...bangga akak...

4 school going kids in the family is enough to keep any parents busy. For the last few weeks since our trip to JB, we have been going "back to school" shopping for the kids, including Zaim who will be starting pre-school. Penat tau shopping but it's kinda fun... We have also been school shopping for Zaim. All in all , we have visited about 4, 5 pre-schools and last weekend we finally decided on Q-Dees. A bit of advice to anyone who's starting a pre-school business or any biz for that matter; first impression really counts a lot sebab out of the many schools that we recce'd, Q-Dees is the most organised...Yang lain-lain tu, sad to say, in my opinion..were still not ready to operate efficiently by the look of things...kesian...I don't think people mind paying more for what they think is worth paying and they would find the means to come out with the extra moolah especially when it comes to education... Zaim was so excited about going to school that this m...

Me still on leave.. Me felt rajin.. Me got free rempah soto and kuah rojak from Lyn... thanks Lyn Me cook soto sedap...me think.. Me friends and family came and eat... Me happy...ahhhhh

Happy New Year everyone!!! Awal Muharram has passed a few days back with us the whole family making the trip back to KL from good ole JB. Me and Hubby made a day trip to Singapore, catched "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (macam kat JB tak der cinema kan...) tapi sebenarnya the real reason for the Singapore trip was for the Beriyani and Murtabak at Arab Street which we went to twice, once upon arriving and once again before we left for JB the same night...Giler punya haru suker murtabak tuh!! And also managed to meet up some friends from KL for coffee on Orchard Road...nih tak plan punyer jumpa tau..Kat KL susah betul nak meet up.. As far as I can remember for the last almost 16 years of living in KL I have never gone to the city to witness the so-called countdown to the new year..So this year I chose to make an exception.We booked a hotel room at Impiana KLCC. Before that, I made my way to Istana Budaya to watch Mamma Mia with a girlfriend who's also my front door n...

Hari ni sebenarnya mama lagi nervous dari Aisyah....walaupun bukan mama yang amek PMR dan result hari ni bukan results mama...I know that you have tried your best walaupun kadang-kadang mama cuak sebab bila masuk bilik Aisyah yang macam tempat kucing beranak tu...mama nampak either buku yang baca Aisyah or you will be reading with the radio on full blast or you will be smsing away instead of studying ( Aisyah kan RATU SMS...)The only thing I noticed a lot was you did more Maths work than I used to do when I was your age...which is a consolation for me coz I freaking hated Maths!! Mama pun risau sebab tak hantar Aisyah pergi tuition macam kawan-kawan Aisyah yang lain...the truth is... 1. I think you can excel without tuition: after all you did well for UPSR.. 2. I can spend that money on other stuff like taking you guys to McD, weekend outings, duit pergi gig, pergi RANTAI Aisyah, Mama dgn Ayah boleh pergi more date nights dan lain-lain lagi 3. You can spend more quality...

Yo peeps!! Don't forget to watch ntv7 on this coming new year, 1st January at 7am!! The all-new Breakfast Show will be making a comeback, bigger and better!! Zaini Ahmad, Will Quah and Joanne De Rozario, all 3 are familiar faces at ntv7 will be back as anchors to the show, along side Daphne Iking and Naz. The show promises to be 'worth waking up for' with new segments and improved stuff introduced. Do make a point to catch the show. It will be a fantastic way to start your 2009! We had a press conference of the show 2 days ago at Delicious at Dua Residency, KL which by the way, is really cantik ok...Told hubby that we'll be going there soon so he can belanja makan..hehehe...suker..

Tadi siang department that was formerly the department I was from...(hehehe...saja buat confuse) did a lil year end get together. We celebrated birthdays (again...) for Simon and Fayzrul. We also said goodbye to Simon whose last day was actually a month ago but he had to to extend his notice period because kerja dia banyak and tak der orang lain boleh settle..hahaha..kesian cina tuh..I'm going to miss him ...sebab aku selalu kacau dia...and he's a nice guy. All the best, bro!! So at lunch today we went to Neway in One Utama. Shahril yang complained pening dari malam semalam terus lega peningnya sebab dia dapat nyanyi lagu Rihanna...eh..eh..eh...umbrella...ella..ella..Dan Simon yang memang profession part timenya penyanyi kat club itu pun seronok sungguh dapat menyanyi during his day time working hours...Kami yang lain-lain tumpang seronok ler... At 4pm I had to adjourned to a meeting back at the office..Bleh... Oh yer...lup...

Merry Christmas to all my friends who celebrates Christmas!!! Merry Christmas Seelan Paul! Last Deepavali I wished Seelan and he said " I Christmas lah" Hahaha! Happy Christmas Tony, Cheryl, Dawn, Lynn (whose nanny celebrates Xmas dan walaupun Lyn sambut raya, dia tetap kena keluar duit raya macam masa Hari Raya...hehe..) and the rest of the gang...gua pun dah confuse siapa yang celebrate Xmas sebenarnya now that everyone has western names...Doesn't matter lah, yang penting hari ni cuti!!! And I'm going back to JB!! Mak! Tungguuuuuuu.................!!

My daughter, Khairin turned 9 last weekend...We had lunch at TGIF and the birthday girl was surprised with a birthday song by the TGIF crew.Plenty of High School Musical merchandise from us, Aunty Lynn, Aunty Angeline and other gifts from her friends really made her day and week (she's still getting pressies). She shares the same birthday month with Fayzrul. Just the right excuse to gather friends for a small get-together. Faiz and Zaidah joined us as well and it turned out to be quite fun. Very the meriah and feel good! Tapi...unlike Khairin, Fayzrul belum dapat present lah...Sabar nar...tunggu kengkawan dapat gaji tau...I guess the 'suap donuts ceremony' by Lynn would have to suffice for now...plus lots of hugs from friends. Happy birthday!! Abang made my day by agreeing to pose and smile for this pix with the birthday girl.. Apakah kena mengena gambar di bawah ini dengan entry birthday ini??? Hehehe...Ini gambar perut pompuan yang mengandung anak kembar 2, yang m...

I attended a friend's wedding last, last weekend. I have received a number of requests from old friends to blog about it...So here goes... Aidil is a friend from secondary school. She has always been a bit of a rebel, loud, a very good dancer, funny and boisterous. I was delighted when out of the blue, a few months back I received a text from her asking for my mailing address and true to my guess, she was getting married. Proudly, the last in the gang...always trying to make a statement...that one. And all of us were very excited and I knew that I wouldn't miss her wedding for the world. So there we were, one night a few weekends ago, old chums from school, almost hysterical to see each other again. The last time I met Aidil was more than 5 years ago, when she was doing the club scene, as a club singer...yes she was... So we were not surprised at all when after her heart warming, tears inducing speech, she took the mic and sang her heart out...lagu Kak Nita lagi.... That...

I sent Khairin, a few of my neighbour and friend’s kids to become casts of our latest kids@fgw on-air packages on Tuesday. The money was minimum, the shooting hours long, at least for the kids. But when I got this email from one of the moms, From: xxxxxx xxxxx [mail to:xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com] Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 9:38 PM To: Lotfi Ismail Subject: Re: Fw: kids@fgw wardrobe requirements Hi,No problem about the payment. Many thanks for the interesting activities/experiences for him. Jamil really enjoyed and have fun with his new experience.Thanks again!! Regards, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX And when I saw the pictures from the shoot, I’m glad I did. They were tired but they had loads of fun… Watch out when the stuff appears on air on the HOME OF FEEL GOOD…..

I just don’t get it…what is the freaking problem? Don’t ask what the problem is , woman. Maybe there’s something freaking wrong with you? Maybe you did something that upsets them? Well, Sooorrrryyyyy!! Maybe it’s because you’re so happy that they just can’t stand it? Maybe it’s something you did OR something you didn’t do? Maybe your life is going hunky dory while theirs are spiraling down, down, down? Think, think, think….All the maybes….I’m going nuts….hmmm maybe they are just tired. Maybe things are not happening as they planned. Maybe they are afraid. Maybe they are feeling powerless. Maybe they missed their spinning class, missing the adrenaline rush. Maybe they found out they are gaining weight and it’s freaking them out. Talk to me friends. I’m done with the maybes…Unless I did something terribly wrong to you that don’t even deserved a forgiveness, I’m done thinking about things. You all are responsible for all that you are feeling…so don’t come to me with your sulking virus, y...

Yesterday, I picked up Aisyah after work at the new Giant in Kota Damansara. She spent the day with a school friend watching HISTERIA?. Apa tu? Ntah, cerita baru katanya. After that we headed home as after Maghrib, I have to send her back to my office so she can take a ride with Shikin to go to my sister’s house in Kajang. My BIL is going out-station so my sis needs Aisyah to accompany her. AISYAH : Ma, new year 2009 ni Aisyah ada….hmmm.. ME : New year resolution? AISYAH : Resolution? Ahh…bolehlah…more like revolution… ME : What is it? AISYAH : New year ni Aisyah nak pakai tudung, insyallah… ME : O..k…bolehlah.. AISYAH : Giler, kawan Aisyah kat sekolah semua tak percaya….cakap…. Aisyah , kau nak pakai tudung??? Ina lagi best…kata kalau Kak Aisyah pakai tudung bagi semua t.shirt Kak Aisyah pada Ina…(gelak) ME : Pakai tudung boleh pakai t-shirt per..?? AISYAH : Tu la pasal… That was that…end of conversation. Aisyah dah ada REVOLUTIONnya…Mama bila lagi?? Huhuhu….

Nice easy weekend has passed Breakfast with the kids...2nd time in Village Park (yang sentiasa penuh) within 2 weeks. When Hubby craved for scones after Sunday's bout of rain...no regret there..this is the most delish scone you can find in Klang Valley.. Another work week, brainstroming in The Gardens Mid Valley...the hotel is impressive, The Spread was scrumptious. It was a very brain drying session for me that when I reached home all I wished I could do was just knock-off....drained, exhausted..zzzzzzzzzz........

Selangor hari ni public holiday...Hari Keputeraan Sultan Selangor...Happy Birthday Tuanku!! Took the kids for the screenings of Space Chimps yesterday night..Between me and Fizah we brought 11 kids to the movies. Zaim and Hakim gelak kuat seh dalam punggong panggung. Akak sempat diinterview by Whoa! crew lagi. Amende aku cakap ek?? Hape-hape ler... After the movies it's off to Kayu for supper.. I was supposed to go to the gym at 8am this morning...haha tak bleh bangun woh..My trainer called at 7.30 am and I asked for later slot so went again at 2pm. Giler jam dalam parking lot OU! I didn't even get to park at the One Club lots. That's how bad it was...Had a good work-out though. The gym was quiet, guess a lot of people is away for the long weekend break. Last Tuesday was just as quiet... Drove home, picked Imran and Aisyah up, took Imran for his long overdue haircut. Rambut dah macam Makunga, singa gangster dalam Madagascar lagi mau simpan...bengang akak!! and as alway...

I did it!! I cooked Laksa Johor for raya yesterday. And when I cooked I have to be proud of myself sebab tak selalu yer…My in-laws came berkumpul raya at our place and yesterday we invited a few of our office friends for the remaining laksa…hehehe…kengkawan jangan sakit perut suda… So apa korban aku tahun nih??? - korban bermalas-malasan sebab masak untuk family and extended family walaupun pembantu rumah aku cuti raya…. - korban tidur masa hari cuti sebab sebuk layan sedara mara & visiting the elders - korban pergi jalan-jalan for my own pleasures sebab penat giler rupanya masak yer.. Ek…eleh..itu jer korban aku…ntah haper-haper…life is not just about ME! Wake up! Orang lain korban lagi hebat… Engkorang korban apa?

Uihhh…lama betul rasa tak update..My last posting was actually posted yesterday walau pun I started the rambles just after our screenings in the last week of November. Since then I have been very busy with stuff. A lil bit to do here and there make up the entire busy period of my life the last few weeks. We managed a weekend away with my in-laws in PD which turned out to be fun and we made a pact to have more extended family trips in the future. Ancasa Suites and Spa, the apartment that we stayed at on the 2nd night was quite alright and the kids had a blast at the karaoke that night. Siap ada spa complete with piped in music typical of Bali nih.. I liked it better than The Eagle Ranch that we stayed at, on the 1st night, but being with family made up for it. I had a chance to attend the Global Brand Forum late last week. It was an eye- opener. I especially the very inspiring Martin Linstrom and Oliver Stone…yes..that Oliver Stone, the director of Nixon, Born on the 4th of July and re...

Not 1 but 2 PCKs Spongebob I am at home, nursing a pain in my feet after a whole day in KL Convex for our annual screenings. This morning I arrived in KL Convex lambat sikit jer dari Indon cuci toilet dan abang security yang jaga pintu KL Convex tu tau...Yesterday, I was also there, till almost 11.45am for the dry run, rehearsals and all the running around. So the whole planning of the last few weeks, months culminated to this day. There are other key people in the team who had it worst than me. Some slept only an hour last night getting the final details in order. Today my duty was standing by the control center, together with a colleague in case anything goes wrong with the main MAC that holds the keynotes to the whole presentation. All this while, I thought it's so easy to just click, click, click away slide after another as the boss gives his presentation but not it isn't yer...It was nerve-wrecking even for us the back-ups, looking out for the right cues a...