Singapore - Day 3 - Part 4 - Swimming with the dolphins

Ini adalah highlight of the event. Emir dari hari pertama berlatih di sini, the real trainer sentiasa ingatkan Emir tentang reward yang Emir akan datang kalau dia dapat perform dengan baik di depan crowd. Dan Emir sendiri macam kene ulat gigit, tetiap hari akan tanya "when can I swim with the dolphins"

Jadinya selepas show, trainer tu kata Emir "qualified" untuk swim dengan dolphins memandangkan Emir dapat buat dengan baik during the show. So tergedik lah dia :)

Untuk i, yang ini adalah pengalaman yang paling berharga untuk Emir, a very unique experience that not everyone is lucky enough to get this opportunity. I yang teman dia dalam 3 hari tu pun not even had a chance to touch or at least dapat duduk di gigi air pool tu.. takde babe.. 

Jadi bila Emir dapat main dan mandi dengan dolphins tu.. for whatever reasons.. i terus cakap dalam hati "bertuahnya Emir".. just because I won this Tiger Biskuat contest. That's the reason i lagi semangat nak masuk contest especially rewardnya dapat dikongsi dengan anak I. Dua trainers turun masuk pool untuk make sure Emir is safe dan dua dolphins dikeluarkan untuk Emir berenang bersama Emir. Hai.. anak..  rezeki kamu.. 

Emir pulak. honestly lepas swim with the dolphins.. especially lepas dia dapat ride with the dolphins.. terus dia keluar pool tu and keep repeating "ITS AWESOME" seribu kali kot dia ulang bende yang sama.. and due to that, memang hari tu Emir in a good mood, padahal hari ni considered hari paling penat juga untuk Emir.

dan honsetly i sendiri pun rasa ini lah aktiviti paling-paling bermakna untuk Emir..

Enjoy the pictures  ya.

Singapore - Day 3 - Part 3 - After event

Wow lama sungguh ibu nak upkan balik cerita Emir di Singapore, kalau ikutkan dah lebih sebulan. :) Apa pun jangan risau, kisah Emir ni akan segar di ingatan. 

Selepas habis show, Emir di bawa ke tempat berkumpul semua para trainers. bukan sahaja trainers, malah staff-staff lain dari Underwaterworld Singapore turut turun, dan seperti biasa I was not allowed to be in, but I could see him from far. I tak tau apa yang mereka-mereka borakkan, tapi last sekali masing-masing bagi tepuk semangat, dan gambar bawah ni sejurus lepas Emir and the group keluar dari tempat assembly, semua senyum dan gembira.. Seronok tengok Emir masa ni...

gambar group photo. mereka-mereka inilah yang sentiasa ensure that emir was in his top performance and for the show to run smoothly. They really took a good care of Emir and put security at top most priority. dan mereka sangat-sangat friendly. i request la apa itu dan ini, tanya itu dan ini, memang di-entertainnya kami dan-dan tu juga.. 

Masa ni rasa macam sedih-sedih pulak, 3 hari memang sekejap.. walaupun 3 hari banyak benda Emir belajar, dan dalam 3 hari ini adalah i can say one and only experience Emir with the dolphins. 

Kenangan yang diberikan oleh para trainers untuk Emir.. :)

Next - Emir swims with the dolphins.. 

Naik barang. Naik harga. Naik lagi

Sekarang ni ramai yang bercakap mengenai kenaikan barang-barang aka kos sara hidup dekat Malaysia. Kesian rakyat Malaysia, selalunya bergitulah, sebelum pilihan raya, berdegar-degar itu dan ini, tapi bila dah dapat, habis madu sepah dibuang dan i sendiri rasa orang yang paling terasa dengan kenaikan ini adalah golongan rakyat marhain yang berpendapatan sederhana (orang kata tak miskin dan tak juga kaya), lepas tu tinggal dekat KL.

Nak dijadikan cerita, dari dulu sampai tahun 2012, jarang sekali kalau ada announcement Budget, akan ada insentif untuk orang pertengahan. Pelik, padahal kalau untuk orang kaya raya ada jugalah tax rate tukar bracket. dan untuk bukan golongan pertengahan memang boleh tersenyum lebar lah sebab adanya BR1M. 

Tapi sejak habis pilihanraya Mei lalu, rakyat macam tersentak, macam ada bom dekat tepi jalan. Mana taknya, barang yang naik memang barang yang kita guna hari-hari.  Ada orang hidup kat Malaysia ni tak guna Highway? ada orang hidup dekat Malaysia tak pakai kenderaan? ada orang dekat Malaysia ni bergelap? Memang lah ada, tapi mostly semua bende-bende ni kite guna dan pakai. Memanglah kite terduduk. Cubalah naikkan bende orang Malaysia tak berapa guna, macam ikan salmon ke, berries ke, harga aircon ke, harga air purifier ke, olive oil ke, sure kite ni relax sikit. Belum lagi soal gula.. sedapnya cakap untuk meningkatkan taraf hidup kesihatan orang Malaysia, so kerajaan nak kurangkan subsidi gula. Kalau ikutkan, nasi tu pun ada gula ok.

Yang ajaibnya, pak menteri kita punya backing usul barang-barang naik ni.. buat rakyat rasa nak gigit. kalau tak suka tol naik jangan buat highway, wah wah wah, kalau tak suke apa jadi dekat malaysia, silalah migrate.. wah wah wah.. senangnya hidup.. sampaikan pak menteri yang dulu CEO corporate world yang sepatutnya memahami apa jadi dekat rakyat marhain (sedap pulak sebut marhain) ni pun boleh pulak bagi kenyataan macam yang lain-lain.

GST. Ok, ini bidang saya. Bukan spesifik bidang saya, saya buat personal tax je, tapi tau jugak lah sikit-sikit. My boss is very well versed in GST and he is very good at it. So ada jugaklah training yang i attend untuk mantapkan pemahaman GST.  GST in certain aspect, yes, it is more beneficial and fair to the end user, tapi dalam kepala i, i cuma risau, how will the enforcement be in Malaysia? Strict enough? Harap-harapnya begitulah. Tau-tau je lah kan dekat sini, on paper, semua ada.. implementation ada question mark besar dekat situ. :)

So, apa-apa pun, naiklah 1000 bende sekali pun, rakyat buatlah segala petition sekali apa, barang tetap naik, kos sara hidup tetap naik, gaji je susah nak naik naik.. jadinya, kalau duduk KL n berangan nak selalu makan sedap-sedap, bukan setakat sedap-sedap, yang nak diet tu, makanan yang memang mahal-mahal.. or nak hidup "lifestyle" orang kl, i dun think we can just rely on one single income. like seriously. we need an extra income to support our living. ni i cakap orang yang normal macam i, not applicable for those yang memang lahir dalam keluarga berada or suami kaya raya.. :)

Hidup mesti diteruskan. to me, who are that pak menteri-menteri nak adjust hidup kita. sudah-sudahlah bagi statement.. untuk kita-kita ni, mari kite fikir creative thinking untuk 2014. selain dari nak pergi umrah sangat-sangat.. i memang aim nak kerete sendiri untuk tahun 2014 (tapi ikutkan nak beli kerete baik beli 2015 after GST implementation). i need my own car.. susah nak harapkan laki i je.. it really limits my movement. sebab kadang i nak pergi mana kene adjust dengan timing husband i and.... his mood :p

to that, i rest my case..

Tak jadi

Two days ago I mentioned that I wanted to see my big boss asking his permission to transfer department as I am no longer interested to pursue my career as a tax person.

And so.. there u go, the day I set the appoinment (not the first time) was also the day I received a letter for salary increment.... n...

not everyone get it.. only selected group. Alhamdulillah syukur.. nak nak nak dekat bukak sekolah kan..

Oh yes, and I did not manage to meet the big boss yet.. grrr..

Apapun... I still want to transfer. Period.

life as an above average

which relates to berat badan bukan kepandaian akal fikiran. 

Perempuan kalau ikutkan memang takut tengok berat badan sendiri. Tak ramai yang lucky untuk berada dalam kedudukan berat badan ideal. I apatah lagi. Sejak kecil, i sendiri tak pernah rasa bersama-sama dalam kelompok average weight. I sentiasa digolongkan terlebih besar.

Macam mana i tahu i terlebih besar.

Kawan-kawan ejek itu dah jadi perkara biasa. Tengoklah dekat tv, orang gemuk jadi badan ketawa.. Macam Syanie, asal gemuk je mesti orang cakap macam Syanie atau dulu Arwah Yusni Jaafar.. Kawan I pernah cakap dekat I, tak mungkin i akan dapat seorang boyfriend sebab badan i ni.. Pendek kata, takkan sapa yang sudi nak dekat i.. :) Masa sekolah, kalau ambik gambar kelas, saya kene duduk belakang sebab badan besar. Kalau nak tempah baju, i kene cari size besar. Dari dulu sampai sekarang, tak pernah berubah. 

Arwah moyang saya dulu pernah usaha untuk ikat kaki saya dengan tali hari-hari sebab kata dia, betis saya besar. Memang ya pun, itu dulu, masa umur saya masih sekolah rendah lagi. Jadi pendek kata, saya ni memang dah dilahirkan berbadan besar.

But seriously having a bigger size, indirectly kadangkala tu you ada sikit low self esteem. Orang lain sibuk pergi Uniqlo-lah, Zara-lah, H&M lah, Mango lah tapi i kene pergi Ms. Read or Flow. dan semuanya limited choices. Baju-baju untuk orang plus size ni kebanyakkannya i tengok macam makcik-makcik, kene pandai pilih untuk sesuaikan dengan usia kita. Salah pilih baju, orang cakap kita macam clown.

Mulut orang, i rasa mulut orang yang buatkan kite rasa down and down. I once pernah belek-belek baju plus size dekat Isetan, sekali ada lah sekumpulan remaja adik-adik ni jenguk dekat situ with one of them said "wei, kenapa nak duduk dekat sini, ni semua baju untuk orang gemuk". Seriously, it gave a slap on my face.

Belum lagi bila kite ada teambuilding and what not, i selalu rasa orang size besar ni jadi beban dekat other team members, as usual, you are not physically fit. Jadi kalau bab-bab kene lari, you lah yang selalu terkebelakang.

Pernah jugak i terdengar orang kata "dulu si A tu kurus je, sekarang aku tengok badan dia masyaAllah, cantik lagi bini aku" or "alamak badan dah macam makcik-makcik". 

Why i'm writing this. Sebabnya i rasa, kadang-kadang orang keliling tak sensitive terhadap kite golongan-golongan yang badan besar. Percayalah, orang badan besar ni dia kadang-kadang tak cukup kuat dari segi mental untuk dengar orang kata-kata macam ni. Selalunya derang akan senyap sebab malu.

I sendiri ada sorang kawan yang tegur i setiap kali i beli nasi lemak or even Famous Amos. It's no longer funny anymore. She keeps saying that "my age is too young to be wasted with my unhealthy lifestyle". Gosh.. i makan nasi lemak sebulan sekali kot.. :)

Usaha untuk kurus? I percaya ramai berusaha. Cuma it comes with real determination, which is real hard for a person who is born to love food. Susah wei.. I ni ikut hakikat, hari-hari kene makan nasi. I cut off banyak jugak, tapi masih tak berjaya. Lagi satu, tahulah, dekat Malaysia ni, kalau nak diet, makanan semua mahai-mahai. To date, i berani sumpah, i tak pernah sungguh-sungguh lagi untuk diet, untuk kuruskan badan. Selalunya sungguh-sungguh tu adalah dalam 2 minggu je kot. Then life back to normal. Macam husband I selalu cakap "bertahun-tahun kite dengar orang tu nak diet"

Apapun, i percaya, setiap kejadian Allah, pasti ada keistimewaan dia. Antara kita bersyukur ataupun tidak. Usaha untuk kurus itu perlu untuk kesejahteraan kehidupan. I sendiri memang niat nak kurus, kalau i tak dapat kuruskan badan, i must aim for a healthier lifestyle. Lagipun memang tak syiok pun jadi orang gemuk ni.. letih! Letih dengar orang cakap, letih dengar orang compare, letih dekat diri sendiri - i naik tangga sikit dah penat.. huhu

for the love to self

i believe at one point sometimes we have to be selfish. for the love of life, we need to fall in love with ourselves first before we fall in love with others. Not to forget the love for Allah is eternity. As we  are climbing up our age, we tend to share the loves with others. to our parents, siblings, the other half, our children and others and most of the time, we shower more love to others and perhaps only 10% we keep it to ourselves.

but how we gonna give a space to love ourselves. 

let me tell you this, it ain't easy to give some space inside us and people would say that we are crazy if we keep telling ourselves "i love you". 

so, i think its about time i say what i have to say, to do what i have to do. Regardless the outcome, i bet the moment i speak the truth, that is the moment, i ease some unnecessary pain in me. i have the feeling that its gonna be a tough discussion and rejection is at top risk, but at least, i need to speak for myself. I no longer love to go with the flow. i would love to see how my career grow from here. 

i tried once asking for transfer but, it was rejected. It hurts to face the rejection, but it gives you some strength to move further. Nevertheless, I do agree that my current big boss is the best boss i've ever had. Despite my "blur look", he never failed to guide me. I know, some of you may not understand, especially when I have developed a good relationship with my colleagues, but after years of experience, you yourself know what you can do best.

well, i have tried few time to discuss with the big boss but it seems each time i block his time, that was the time that he has an adhoc meeting. Was it a sign for me not to proceed, i dun know. Susahkan when u dun have the clue.

Im just sharing what i have in mind. Hoping that this Friday discussion terjadi.. tak de dah postpone postpone.

so the point here is, you need to have a determination when you want to fulfill your dream and desire. People can give a thought but at the end of the day, we have to live with it. So ask yourself what you want in life. I have gone through to this stage for quite sometimes, and most of the time, I kept thinking what is others perception on me. I dont want to be a scapegoat, neither i dun like people hate me. But after a while, I realised, Im hurting myself even more. Yes, as si lembik macam I, it takes courage to make a first step.

Takde yang mustahil --- motivation to self.. :)

How do i see English

i feel like writing again. in one entry, im updating about my travel journal and on the other hand, im writing about my daily life, with all unstructured and bad grammar. It feels good to have some space that you can just be yourself (nasiblah orang nak kata apa). 

in real life, i speak more malays than english, working in this 88th building, meeting more malays, manglish is the medium language. so, i tend to speak more and more broken english, unlike when during my years in audit firm, where speaking with clients which are mostly expatriates, english is a must.

oh not to forget, i have to speak english with my son. anyway, putting aside this issue, he is now able to speak in malay. im happy with that. after all, he is a malaysian, and he needs to speak in bahasa.

by the way, unfortunately i found out that our community tend to condemn someone who speak broken english (belum lagi when it comes to grammar). I once attended a wedding where the bride gave a speech in bm, japanese and english. (yaaaa amazing kan, and semuanya isi yang sama :) - so when the bride spoke in english (untuk i ok je, lagipun budak tu keje kat US for years tu), but the person sitting next to me, she was continuously complaining about the grammar and the accent used. Gosh! padahal, when you are in foreign country, so long people can understand u, syukur alhamdulillah.

So, the question here is what you get when you are able to speak and write in English? I found out during my schooldays, we always look up for someone who can speak in english and those who can speak a better english, usually they were popular students.

I took a lot of initiatives to read, speak and write in english. Even tho both of my parents are english educated especially my mother who is very damn good in english, we rarely speak english at home. Mama told me, she always tried to talk to me in english when i was small, but i always replied to her in bahasa.

I realised that english is really important when i was 12 years old. At that time, I always adore people who can studied overseas, had the opportunity to wish Hari Raya in the newspaper with snow background. Honestly, i once cut and paste those articles in my diary, hoping that one day i could be one of them. :) yes, you are right, it didn't happen until today. but that's the time where i realized english is important and i need to improve myself - kalau tak macam mana nak pergi overseas. 

and what did i do? everyday i read Dictionary! I repeat Oxford dictionary. but the determination hanya untuk huruf A saje.. but yes, i did read and construct A words everyday.. lepas tu i malas.. so, i can be a mobile Oxford Dictionary for A words-- tapi A je lah :)

Later, i had an interest to read english story books and it all started with Sweet Valley. Alhamdulillah, my parents could afford to pay for my story books, which at that time, the most expensive only cost about RM11.90 (Sweet Valley University). I do believe, despite in today's world technology is taking over our lives, but books are the only place where you can improved ur language.

Sikit-sikit i belajar. I thanked Sekolah Melawati because this is the first place that exposed me on English education. Alhamdulillah i managed to get into the first class and mix around with non Malays who speak very well English. Masa tu, i do feel rendah diri, yelah, tak berapa pandai cakap.. but i learnt a lot from them.

and now, i might say, im not good in English, not at all, my nieces and nephews lagi terror tulis and cakap english. seriousss terror. but what i can say, having to know read, speak and write in english does help you in corporate world.

im still learning to speak and write a proper english, im now enrolling myself for english classes at british council (company bayar :p). My job requires me to write a proper english (bukan cakap omputih) since i am doing tax advisory.

husband told me "english awak dengan kite, kite terror lagi" memang pun. husband i kalau tulis memang terror (memang bahasa highclass punyalah), tapi kalau cakap omputih i lagi terror, so what i can say, we compliment each other :p cuma sekarang ni dia tak de passport.. so tak delah heran pasal speak in english kan, bukan nak pergi mana pun lol...

apa pun, this is my tuesday ramblings.

do ignore my grammar ya.. i know it sucks 

Please read: Adik Adam

Petikan dari entry Suzi Fadilah. Berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu yang memikul. I kalau tengok budak kecik menderita sakit, serta merta perasaan tu terus lain.. Adam is just 5, tapi derita sakit yang ditanggung tak terperi. Jika ada kelapangan, mohon bantulah adik Adam, it doesnt have to be on monetary value, sekalung doa sudah cukup untuk kita sama-sama tolong Adam to ease his pain.. tapi kalau dapat memberi sumbangan, jujur i rasa ia sangat membantu ibu dan ayah Adam..

**************

ekoran entry ni..alhamdulillah...ari selasa lps..me sempat singgah kat DEMC utk melawat adik adam..1st time me sampai kat DEMC ni, guna GPS dlm S4 ajer, sbb my pappago tak leh detect (jalan ikhtisas, sec 14, shah alam)

terharu sedey tgk keadaan adam yg menderita pelbagai jenis penyakit..kagum dgn pengorbanan dan keikhlasan ibu angkat adam (mama ezza) dan suami beliau yg menjaga adam dgn penuh kasih sayang bagaikan anak kandung sendiri...

my zharfan & adam kat wad 4dr09 DEMC

moga2 akan ada ramai rakyat msia yg bermurah hati utk menyumbang duit/derma bagi menampung kos perubatan adam...pucat jer muka adam sbb sel darah putih dh sgt byk...and buah pinggang sebelah rosak sebelah lagi hampir tak berfungsi so badan adam tak dapat menerima/memproses apa jua jenis mknn/susu.. :( setiap 3 jam kena buat cic ie guna tiub manually utk kuarkan urine dan cecair dari kepala...kaki adam kecik and agak bengkok so adam memang tak leh berjln..mama ezza kata bila ada ok sikit, nak antar adam utk buat phisiotheraphy... berat sungguh penderitaan yg ditanggung oleh anak sekecil adam ni..

adam 5 thn usianya tp badan kecik jer..underweight undersize..
jgn lupa utuskan sekalung doa, dan hulurkan sumbangan seringgit dua kerana itulah saham kita utk kehidupan abadi di sana...insya Allah

Singapore - Day 3 - Part 2 - The real show

Hari yang ditunggu telah pun tiba. This is what Emir has been waiting for and this is the prize that Im struggling to know how it will be executed. Emir is required to wear the same shirt "Billabong shirt" during the performance.. so samalah dengan trainer yang lain.  I guess Billabong is sponsoring UWS. 

Anakku macam bergaya gitu, with the Billabong shirt, sunglass on top of his cap, rasa macam professional trainer. Serious as a mother rasa macam nak menangis sebab rasa Emir macam dah besar.. I tinggalkan Emir di bawah pengawasan all the trainers..

Yes, he was pretty busy. Kene siapkan ikan, kene make sure dolphin mana yang nak cooperate dengan Emir. Staff lain sibuk untuk bersihkan kawasan sekitar. Majoriti of the staff came down to watch Emir performed as they said this is the youngest trainer ever at Dolphin Lagoon di Underwater World Singapore.

Emir performance was at 2 pm. Jadi dalam pukul 1.30 petang tu makin ramai orang sudah berkumpul. I cuma berdoa supaya hujan tak turun, kalau tak sayangnya la hai.. sebab masa ni hari sebelumnya, hujan turun dengan lebatnya. Alhamdulillah Allah makbulkan permintaan, dan cuaca sangat baik dan agak redup...

Emir di tempat exclusive only for trainers for last preparation. Kene besarkan gambar rasanya untuk tengok, gambar dekat bawah ni nampak macam jauh dan kelam.. I tak edit.. :)

Masa ni i dah duduk jauh dah. I duduk betul-betul di kawasan tengah2. Tangan satu pegang kamera (itupun jauh) dan satu lagi sibuk nak ambik gambar. My hand changed one after another. kalau ada laki i, im sure he will get a good shot.

Masa ni Emir diperkenalkan kepada penonton. 

dan bermulah aksi Emir.. kalau dekat dalam latihan sekali je kot Emir kene handle dengan dua dolphins at the same time, tapi bila tiba real performance, UWS keluarkan terus dua dolphins untuk Emir control..

Trainer sentiasa berada di sebelah Emir untuk memastikan keselamatan Emir

Persembahan dolphin diselang selikan oleh pertunjukan sea lion. Sea lion dekat sini memang jinak dan memang terror lah untuk buat show. Mahu tak biasa, satu hari sampai ada 3 performance, dan setiap hari kene perform.. 

Ini scene di mana sealion ni tak nak cooperate sampailah kite keletek dia.. kita massage sea lion ni pun dia relax je macam tak ada apa-apa berlaku.

Dan final persembahan Emir adalah to instruct the dolphin untuk kick the ball.. :) Both dolphins yang perform adalah the two youngest dolphins in UWS yang mana paling muda umur 9 tahun (pun lagi tua pada Emir)

 Alhamdulillah, everything went well... Emir did it very well, and as a reward he got a chance to SWIM with the dolphin..

Ok next entry :)

Singapore Day 3 - Part 1 - The Flying Dolphin

Emir kene datang awal pada hari ketiga memandangkan hujan turun agak lebat pada hari kedua yang menyebabkan latihan Emir jadi pendek. Jadi as early as 10 am Emir started training as there was another show at 11. Jadinya, kami ni pukul 9 lebih dah menapak dekat UWS.. 

In fact pagi tu kami dah check out before 9 am but we left our luggage at the hotel. Sebab tu lah malas nak beli apa2 lagi sebab semua barang dah siap packed.

Hari ketiga, everything seems serious. Trainer pun serious, ye lah kan Emir nak buat show depan orang, haruslah serious. Emir pun serious. Sebelum tu photographer di UWS dah standby untuk ambil gambar Emir semasa sesi latihan kali terakhir.

Inilah bakal dolphin trainer UWS 10 tahun akan datang.. mana tahu kan :) Emir with the dolphin's ball and dolphin's food

Sebelum dipanggil dolphin, sekali lagi trainer tunjuk lagi dekat Emir . Nampak tak kasut Emir, Emir dari hari pertama dah ditukar untuk pakai kasut khas untuk train the dolphins. Kasut getah.  Nasib ada size Emir

Aksi pertama: Call the dolphin

Aksi kedua:  Suruh dolphin berenang terbalik

Aksi ketiga: Agah dolphin dengan box of fishes

Aksi keempat: Salam dengan dolphin

Aksi kelima: Suruh dolphin lompat dan kick the ball

Lagi sekali

AWESOME kan!! 

Macam mana at the first place the trainer trains the dolphin.. 

Such a once in a lifetime experience.. 

Alhamdulillah Emir dapat merasainya...