Random Rambles of Lotfi

"HAPPINESS IS HAVING A LARGE, LOVING, CLOSE-KNIT FAMILY IN ANOTHER CITY" - GEORGE BURNS How true...which is one of the reason I'm making another trip back to JB tomorrow. I'll get to see Mak, Long....everyone again, insyallah. Also a bunch of the old girls from school. Have to leave my family for a night...but I'll be back..insyallah. "A GREAT MARRIAGE IS NOT WHEN 'A PERFECT COUPLE' COMES TOGETHER. IT IS WHEN AN IMPERFECT COUPLE LEARNS TO ENJOY THEIR DIFFERENCES" - DAVE MEURER We are going to be at two separate places this weekend, but my thoughts are always with him. Looking forward to seeing you again. Be safe!! "ONLY ROBINSON CRUSOE GETS EVERYTHING DONE BY FRIDAY" - AUTHOR UNKNOWN Which is the reason why I feel good that today is Friday and whatever that's not done today, can always be looked into on Monday...TGIF! And I'm going back to my kids and enjoy the chocolates in the fridge with them...

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...

I started this post yesterday. Dah siap dah...tinggal nak masuk gambar dah lepas tu..tup tup...gone! Rats!!! I don't know what happened. Now I've to start all over again. Cisshh!! To summarise - Tony and I went to Royal Selangor Pewter for a meeting, selepas agak sesat bila Tony's Garmin couldn't detect the DUKE highway The place is beautiful, nicely organised, world class Some French Ministers were also there the same time we were there...world class katanya We were taken for a tour around the place, to their museum, the factory and their very nice cafe Their School of Hard Knocks allowed us to try out the art of pewtering, the traditional way. It was hard knocks all the way for us sampai berpeluh-peluh nak siapkan a simple pewter bowl, that we took back with us siap dengan certificate lagi! Some of the auntys who work there, has had almost 40 years experience, so they are true experts of their field My post yesterday about this was more interesting......

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...

Dear blog, I know I've been neglecting you...Dah lama tak jengok pun..Jangan merajuk ar...I've been very busy. y'know. And I've been having blogger's block...Besides I've been running around a lot...Banyak excuse lar kau... Aku tak kira...lepas ni start hupdate balik!!! Huhuhu!!!Pengsan!!!

My old Nike is falling apart....Bought a new one a few months back but wrong size...hehehe...Gave them to Aisyah...Should've known that I'm a size 9...Gila bagak kaki aku.....Wonder how much these cost... Adidas Boost W Didn't find many reviews on this one...hmmm perhaps I should be looking at others... Nike Air Zoom Elite 4+ This one had a lot of positive reviews... hmm....should I stick to Nike or switch to Adi Wear Tester Review from www.runnersworld.com "I love the fit and support." --Adrienne Eastley, 30, East Lansing "These shoes had a nice, snug fit, but the cushioning could have been softer." --Samantha Espindola, 21, San Diego "I found this shoe to be comfortable and stable. The forefoot could be wider." --Dave Weaver, 43, Allentown "The day I received these shoes, I laced them up and took them out for 9 miles. They didn't give me that usual feeling of having to break in a shoe--they felt great!" --K...

It was a spur of the moment decision, when I heard Dot say , at 5pm, that she's going for a walk up the TTDI Hills. "I wanna go!!" Arrived just before 6pm, didn't know what to expect but continued up the hill with Dot and man!!! It was hard! The hills were crazy and the monkeys looks viscious...(well, I'm exaggerating...at least, they looked more viscious than my soft toy in the office and they sure made funny noises..). We finished one lap just before 7pm and was I sweating buckets!! Asked Dot, how far we have walked and she said around 5km...but when I checked with TSB , he said...not nearly 5km...(dunno lah who's right...but it sure was a hard especially going up the really steep part of the hills...). Day 2 went well, hang in there, girl!!!

I have started running again!!! Woohoo!!! When I climb up the scale in the gym, true to my expectation, I have gained a solid 2 kg during the last 2 months that I've not been to the gym...Giler ar!! Although, I'm not a sucker for the scale, weighing myself today helped jump start the running. I decide to go easy and ran for half hour on the treadmill.. This is how the work out look like: Time (min)0-4 Speed (kmph) 5.6 Incline (%) 0 T 4-6 S 5.6 I2.0 T6-8 S 5.6 I 4.0 T8-10 S5.1 I 6.0 T10-12S5.1 I 8.0 T12-14 S 4.8 I10.0 T14-15 S 5.6 I0.5 T15-17 S 5.8 I0.5 T17-19 S 5.8 I0.5 T19-21 S 6.4 I 0.5 T21-23S 6.8 I0.5 T23-25S 7.2 I0.5 T25-30S 5.6 I 0 Followed by 4 mins of cool down...Today I managed to do 3.14km (which is good), and burn 199cal(which I couldn't care less for, cos I will easily eat more than that...huhuhu). I think I will stick to the above for a while until I get more comfortable doing more. Maybe swapping on the ellipticals on...

We had the chance of watching 2 great shows this month...the perks of the job, I say. The only thing, is that the job does not give me the privilege of time to blog about it sooner..but like they say...better late than never. CUCI THE MUSICAL.. I didn't watch the movie so I went to watch this, with a open mind though expecting nothing but the best from Afdlin and gang! Our seats are quite near the stage so we were able to see everything quite clearly. We were not disappointed at all! The only kesian thing was Afdlin's voice was hoarse from a sore throat..Sikit potoing ar... other than that the show was excellent. Even Hans can sing..Vocal classes, I guess. AC and Awie's character was very, very funny and the rest of the cast really complimented the whole show. Vanidah, Adibah Noor was at their best! I urge you to watch it. The musical is on till 8th November in Istana Budaya..You won't regret it! THIS IS IT...MICHAEL JACKSON Although I'm not a fan of th...

Sheila!!! Warna...Warna... Zainal Abidin from where I was sitting.. The CUCI boys at the rehearsal My prompter control station Yup!! It's over! Finally! As usual I am part of the committee, representing ntv7. The screenings is a result of months of planning, sitting down in meeting yang mengantukkan, ding donging with the production house on our show reels, coaxing, negotiating with brand custodians on why their showreels should be done this way and not that way...and many, many more heartache...BUT when screening day finally arrived, my adrenaline was on rush..anxiety strikes....hoping for only the best for the show and that everyone involved are happy with the results and the audience who came goes home remembering the day for at least a few days.. I was the prompter girl woman...together with Ali from IT who handled the prompter machine. So what I basically do, was to ensure that the bosses' script are rolled in time for them to present them. It has to be pre...

Just got home from picking up my helper at LCCT. Her flight arrived at 10.10pm but it was 2 mins to 12am when she and her husband finally came out. We have decided if at 12am, they are still not out, we would go home walaupun when I checked with Air Asia, they said her name is in the list. Hubs and imran gila cuak seyh...ingat dia tak balik...Dah terbayang hantar Zaim pergi nursery...hehehe...Pengsan!!! So, she's finally back! Lega...What have 2 months of being maidless taught me? 1. Kerja rumah memang tak akan habis so I should think twice about not working and staying at home without a helper 2. I hate ironing and folding the laundry...(which made me aware how much ironing clothes cost at the laundry and Hubs is a pro at folding the laundry...I lapchiew!!) 3. I don't mind doing the laundry...yeler...bukan aku basuh pun...machine yang basuh! 4. We should consider getting a clothes dryer. It would make life easier for everyone. 5. Imran is the least affected member o...

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...

Mak letih nyah... Mak letih jenjalan kat Bandung hari tu , shopping tak hengat, dari satu factory outlet ke satu factory outlet sampai rasa nak tecabut kaki, nasib baik ada Spa Roger's tempat berurutan yang bila dipusing kepala mak sampai krakkkk...berbunyi2 and kaki rasa lega sikit.... Mak letih gi Pasar Baroe (Baru) Bandung pilih baju batik hubby, baju batik cikgu khairin, kain cotton dan jugak kiriman kain sulam kengkawan yang semuanya kalau nak banding dengan kat KL memanglah cik mur, uolss! Mak letih melayan kerenah Zaim yang mencabar kesabaran dan kengkadang ada jugak terasa nak diwakafkan aje budak itu dengan pemandu angkot kat Bandung tuh... Mak letih nyah, bila Imran kata wallet dia dengan duit raya dia yang nak dekat 300 ratus hengget tu telah berjaya dihilangkan semasa kami berlari-lari anak keluar angkot masa hujan lebat kat Bandung tuh...Anak-anak yang kau bawak duit Mesia tu buat per??? Cuba simpan kat umah...selamat duit tuhhh...tak per la tak der rezeki... ...

The first day of Hari Raya went by like a whirlwind...Malam raya aku masak lontong and kuah kacang sampai pukul 4 pagi baru tidur...mama tak nya sebok berjalan pergi Kompleks PKNS dengan alasan lame nak cari rendang daging...Gila lar crowd Kompleks PKNS..meriah..Ada sorang budak ni dok jerit-jerit suruh orang beli kuih raya dia..Akak suspect hari ni memang tak der suara, terus sakit tekak!! Before that, we tried to grab dinner at Sushi Zanma i in OU tapi punyalah ramai orang beratur terus akak bengang makan terus kat Sri Melaka! Malam raya at Kompleks PKNS...boleh??? Pagi raya by the time sedar, memang dah terlepas sembahyang raya , yang dikatakan semua kecuali Imran nak pergi...Hampeh!! By the time we reached my SIL's house it was almost 10.30am. After makan tak hengat, we headed to Segambut, to Nenek's house where walaupun bukan open house tapi manusia punya ramai macam open house lar. Everyone was there, the aunties, cousins, SIL, BIL semua tok nenek of my late husba...

Piccas from top to bottom - 1. The News anchors 2. NOT the News Anchors 3. Din din @ SFSH 4. LAT doing his launch thingy 5. The kids 6. NOT the kids 7. The view from the top KLCC has this terrific raya campaign with Dato Lat's famous cartoon characters taking over the centerstage concourse and we are proud to be a part of the launch. Hosting 40 odd underprivileged kids together with our News anchors, this Ramadan made our day! Personally, I grew up reading LAT's cartoon books and cartoon strip in the papers those days and to be a part of the event brought back some nice memories of those days. The kids were taken shopping for baju raya, kasut raya, tudung raya and everything else raya lar. After all the shebang of the launch, the kids were taken to San Francisco Steak House for buka... and laterrr ( as Naquib Pinoy would have said it), we wrapped things up with drinks at Pelita...walau pun kena menapak dari KLCC, at the end of it all WE FELT GOOODDD!!!

Goodness! How time flies...! My last entry was on the 3rd September..10 days ago! Giler malas menghupdate blog semenjak dua menjak bulan poser ni. Macam lah letih lesu sangat sampai tak boleh mengetuk keyboard kan?? Tapi memang letih nak pikir sebenarnya..Even sitting down in the office is an effort. I lived my Ramadan in a constant state of stupor...walau pun tak 'mabuk' oren bulan pose ni. Not having a maid does not help either. Most days I'll be up by 4.30am for sahur, seeing Khairin off to school at 7.15am and then later Zaim at 8.00am, camana nak tidur balik lepas sahur? Ini lah balasannya hehehe....sebab selama ni I left everything up to my trusted helper... but not complaining...am enjoying this bit when I get the chance to be closer to the kids, walaupun selama ni boleh jer...tapi I guess I take them for granted...Guilty!!! Sedih lah pulak bila teringat macam ni...Tapi kan... dulu-dulu masa aku kecik pun kengkadang Mak pun tak tunggu aku gi sekolah pun...ok jer...

Semalam saya terpaksa pergi ke Putrajaya sebab ganti boss saya yang kereta mewahnya kering minyak hitam takut tak sampai ke Putrajaya. Tukar kereta baru lar boss!! eheheheh... Hotfm pencarian lagu 1Malaysia Kita sampai ke penghujung with the announcement of Audi Mok as the winner with the winning song " Malaysia Satu"with NurFatimah penyanyi tak jadi as the lyricist. Budak Pejai anak Pak Tahir sang the winning song with much gusto sehingga menaikkan bulu roma saya. His salute at the end of the performance was something I predicted. Pak PM was shaking his body away to the song, a very nice march+pop+rockish number which beat other well known and amateur song writers and singers. Siti Nurhaliza ada, Aubrey Suwito, Taja MUH, Lah Ve kesukaan Aisyah dan mama dapat gambar dgn dia so eat your heart out Esah!! , Shazzy, Jac, Maya Karin and a lot more than I care to remember. I was anxious to get home before buka but alas had to buka outside as we were already running late. The j...

Hari Merdeka ini disambut meriah oleh pembantu rumah saya yang balik ke Jawa Timur, memerdekakan dirinya dari kerja rumah, anak-anak saya dan anything that comes in between those two... Yang tak berapa nak merdeka ialah kami anak beranak sebab Ana, pembantu rumah Indonesia yang telah hampir 10 tahun bekerja dengan kami ni, memang telah cukup-cukup 'menaikkan lemak' kami... 2 bulan ini bermulalah perjuangan kami untuk buat segala-galanya sendiri...padan muka kita orang! Haru!!! I looked forward to 31st October when she comes back. That's my Merdeka!!

What every women should try, at least once in her life....