Capitt Online

Salam Aidilfitri

2009-09-20T18:56:00.001+08:00

Learning through example

2009-09-09T05:34:00.005+08:00

As a new teacher, I'm in dire need of examples on how to conduct/carry out my lesson. I have to find ways to make things sounds less complicated for my students. Physics are complicated if u add in too much details... so, I constantly worry about making it sound simple and comprehensible. And, I think now, my prayers have been answered.

At first, my objective in using youtube, teachertube.. is to find any demonstration/simulation/experiment videos (ABM kinda thing la). I never thought back then that I should utilised the search engine for a teaching guide as well. Hmm.. I've wasted 8 months for the right videos. Rugi betul. Takpelah... I'll make do with the old sayings.. better late than never, eh? Btw, this teacher guy here is so cool! ;)

Still on PPSMI

2008-10-21T16:40:00.001+08:00

Posting kali ini akan ditulis di dalam bahasa melayu semata-mata kerana kali ini saya akan menulis sebagai seorang anak jati melayu yang sayangkan bangsanya, tidak ingin melihat bangsanya hanyut di arus globalisasi, mahupun tumbang di buminya sendiri.

Terkejut tatkala dihulurkan majalah Pendidik oleh PK1, Tn Hj Jumiran. Banyak mengupas isu PPSMI katanya. Oh… ada pembaca rupanya blog saya yang tak seberapa ini. ;)

Setelah membelek-belek majalah yang sarat dengan pelbagai hujah untuk tidak meneruskan PPSMI, saya tetap tidak berganjak dengan hujah saya agar janganlah PPSMI dimansuhkan. Sebab utama saya adalah, untuk ‘survival melayu’ itu sendiri. Maaf sekiranya posting kali ini berbaur agak perkauman, tapi, saya tidak boleh menidakkan kemelayuan saya. Justeru, saya harus memberi pandangan sekiranya saya rasa sesuatu perkara itu memberi kesan kepada bangsa saya.

PPSMI menyediakan pelajar untuk bersaing dalam arus globalisasi dikatakan sebagai hujah rapuh kerana banyak lagi negara yang tidak mengamalkan PPSMI berjaya berdiri sebagai sebuah negara maju. Betul, banyak negara maju tanpa PPSMI dan contoh yang diberi adalah Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Jerman, Perancis, China, Jepun, Korea, Luxemborg, Itali, Belgium, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Sepanyol dan Rusia. Soalan saya adalah, apakah kelebihan negara-negara maju yang disebutkan itu berbanding Malaysia? Banyak antara mereka sudah mempunyai teknologi yang diiktiraf dunia, dipasarkan keseluruh dunia. Contohnya, Finland (Nokia) , Sweden (Ericsson), Denmark(Lego, Carlsberg), Jerman (Daimler, Volkswagen, Allianze, Siemens,etc) , Perancis (Negara besar yg pernah menjadi penjajah, Alcatel) , China (Hwa Wei, ), Jepun (Sony, Nintendo, Honda, Nissan, etc), Korea (Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo,etc), Switzerland (Swiss watches,), Portugal, Sepanyol (Negara besar yg pernah menjadi penjajah), dan Rusia (teknologi Aerospace, military equipments, Sukhoi). Jadi, wajarkah Malaysia dibandingkan dengan negara-negara ini yang GDPnya antara yang tertinggi di dunia? Mereka sudah established. Malaysia baru mengecap 51 tahun kemerdekaannya dan masih digolongkan dalam developing country, bukan developed country. Jadi, arus globalisasi yang mengenai negara kita 'lebih bergelora dan mencabar' berbanding dgn negara mereka.

Soalan kedua…..Adakah mereka multi-racial country seperti negara kita? Bangsa melayu berada di dalam ‘comfort zone’ apabila semuanya diajar didalam Bahasa Melayu. Padahalnya, etnik lain seperti orang cina dan India perlua mempelajari sekurang-kurangnya 2 bahasa untuk survive di Malaysia, iaitu bahasa cina & melayu, atau bahasa tamil dan melayu. Itupun, ramai di kalangan bangsa cina dan India di bandar sangat menguasai bahasa inggeris kerana bahasa itu juga turut dijadikan bahasa perantaraan di rumah mereka. And, let me remind you, berapa ramaikah bangsa cina yang menetap di Bandar jika dibandingkan dengan bangsa melayu? Natijah daripada kepenjajahan British yang telah mengamalkan dasar Pecah & Perintah menyebabkan pengasingan kependudukan orang melayu di kampung2 dan orang cina di Bandar-bandar. Jadi, persoalannya, siapakah yang tidak menguasai bahasa inggeris sekarang? Orang kampong bukan? Siapa yang mendominasi populasi di kampong? Orang Melayu, bukan? Jadi, orang melayu seharusnya berterima kasih apabila PPSMI dilaksanakan, kerana sekurang-kurangnya guru-guru, pelajar dan ibubapa mula sedar mengenai kepentingan Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa teknologi. Kalau tidak masakan tadika2 yang menjadikan bahasa inggeris sebagai medium utama menjadi rebutan kepada golongan ibubapa seperti Smart Reader’s Kids, C.E.C, Montessori-based kindergartens, hatta Tadika EEman di Taman Seri Telok Datok sekalipun? Bila tidak dipaksa pembelajaran Sains & Matematik didlm BI, org-org kita menjadi lalai. Selesa dalam comfort zone tersendiri sehingga menafikan yang terdapatnya competition among the races to survive in this developing country of ours. Sebagai anak jati melayu, saya tahu, saya juga harus mempertahankan keunggulan bahasa ibunda saya. Tetapi, bercakap diatas dasar anak jati melayu juga.. saya tidak mahu melihat generasi melayu akan datang dipinggirkan di bumi sendiri kerana tidak fasih berbahasa Inggeris. GLC-GLC seperti TM, Petronas, TNB dll juga memerlukan eksekutif2 yang mampu berbahasa Inggeris, apatah lagi syarikat Multinasional yg beroperasi di dalam negara seperti Shell, ExxonMobil, Ericsson, Alcatel, Nokia, Dell, HSBC, dll? Kerajaan juga senantiasa menguji bahasa inggeris semasa menemuduga pegawai2 kerajaan. Jadi, tidakkah akan terpinggir org-org melayu yang tidak mahir berbahasa inggeris?

Ada cadangan supaya silibus BI dikaji apabila mempelajari BI selama 11 tahunpun, tidak mampu meningkatkan penguasaan BI. Memang betul, kerana, penguasaan bahasa melibatkan penggunaan bahasa tersebut, samada secara oral atau menulis. Pada pendapat saya, apabila sesuatu bahasa diajar dalam matapelajaran tersebut sahaja, ianya tidak holistic. Ia berhenti di dalam kelas itu sahaja. Oleh itu, apabila PPSMI diadakan, sekurang-kurangnya, lebih ‘bahasa inggeris’ di terima oleh pelajar. Sekurang-kurangnya, mereka lebih terbiasa dengan bahasa tersebut. Dek kerana penangan PPSMI jugalah, ramai ibubapa yang mula risau dengan tahap penguasaan BI anak2. Bukankah itu satu perkembangan yang positif?

Pada pendapat saya, adalah terlalu awal untuk melihat keberkesanan PPSMI. Mungkin kerajaan boleh memanjangkan tempoh percubaannya, kerana, tempoh pelaksanaan PPSMI belum pun matang. But then again, this is only my two cents worth. Karangan saya yang panjang ini mungkin tidak memberi kesan langsung kepada keputusan kerajaan. Tapi, tak salah mencuba untuk didengar menerusi blog dizaman ICT ini, bukan? MAKE YOURSELF HEARD. That’s the point.

Happening

2009-05-05T20:38:00.005+08:00

Dear blog, I'm not going to write every detail of the story here. I'm just upset + shocked that I saw those boys fight. I manage to yell so that everyone will go back into their classes. I was armed with my hp back then. Was trying to capture something as an evidence. But, that's all that I could do before they took off. The corridor was full with boys at that time.

They're going to sit for their exam in a few month's time. Yet, they can fight over a small matter. Actually, as what I've heard.. there's no issue at all. And, the result is .. I was trembling with anger. Urgh, I hate that.

And what upsets me most is, I'm the class teacher, and on top of that, it is not a 'bad' class. It's one of the good class. Hmm.. what I'm suppose to do?

Photoshop part 1 - Select Tool

2009-05-13T22:50:00.008+08:00

Upon request... now I'm going to present to you... Photoshop Tutorial!! hahaha.. poyo je rasanya, macam pandai sangat. ;). Tak pandai pun. Tapi, basic tu bolehla. And, I would encourage my friends to learn photoshop sebab banyak sangat benefitnya kalau pandai. Contoh benefit-benefit photoshop kepada saya sepanjang mengenali photoshop.

- Menang Drypers competition twice hasil kerja kerastangan mengedit gambar. Tapi, bukanla menang Nazaria .. menang sket je. Hehe. (The above is one of the lucky entry. Yang satu lagi..dah tatau dok mana. And, mind you ... plastik drypers dibelakang Aisyah in the third pic itu sebenarnya tidak berada disitu. Ia telah diphotoshop untuk berada disitu demi memenangi hati juri..haha).

- Memudahkan kerja (there's once when I was still working with C****m, I want to reduce the height of the monopole - tiang nak letak antenna RF untuk coverage HP - . Instead of asking the draughtman to redo the technical drawing, I photoshopped it. Hehe.. and, no one notice it.). Habis tu, semua benda nak urgent kan? Kalau redo .. lambat lah.

- Tolong mengedit gambar.. byk sgt contoh ni...

Apapun.. let's get ready. Hari ni, jom kita kenali one of the basics in Photoshop, cara membuat selection.

First and foremost, we have to understand the work space in photoshop. Saya menggunakan CS2, so, kalau version lain.. mungkin beza sikit lah. Tapi, basicnya semua sama.

WORKSPACE

Gambar diatas menunjukkan basic layout workspace photoshop. Yang penting, kena ada TOOL, LAYER and HISTORY. Yang lain tu pun penting, tapi, untuk buat benda basic.. tiga ni pun dah cukup. Kalau tiga window ni tak appear dekat workspace anda, sila klik pada Window di menu bar, dan klik mana-mana pilihan yang takde tu.

SELECTION

Selection ada perkara paling asas dalam Photoshop. Untuk membuat selection, anda hendaklah memilih tool selection seperti gambar dibawah. Terdapat 4 jenis selection, tapi, kebiasaannya, pakailah rectangular marquee ataupun oval marquee. Anda juga boleh menggunakan Lasso Tool dan Magic Wand tool . Tetapi, kita mula dulu dengan marquee tool.

1. MARQUEE TOOL

Apabila anda sudah mengenali tool selection, jom kita belajar buat selection. Mula-mula, pastikan anda pergi ke File - New - (Tukar saiz ikut kesesuaian. Boleh jadi width = 400 pixel, height = 400 pixel). Tekan OK dan ada akan dapat 'canvas' sebesar 400x400 pixel.

Now, kalau perhatikan pada Layer Window, cuma ada satu layer sahaja, iaitu background. Anda boleh bekerja diatas background, tapi, kalau ada banyak benda yang nak dibuat, baik buat atas layer lain dulu, supaya senang nak adjust mana2 yang patut. So, create new layer seperti guide dibawah.

Layer bernama background yang diLOCKED ini sebenarnya boleh di alter cuma tidak boleh didelete. Tetapi, saya suka reserve background sebab kalau tersalah 'cut', colour, etc, tak payah susah2 undo. Duplicate je layer yang ada tu lagi sekali. Dan, kalau taknak dia kelihatan di kanvas, anda boleh klik pada lambang 'mata' di sebelah layer tu. Kalau mata tu takde, maksudnya, layer tu invisible.

Jadi, menggunakan rectangular tool, anda boleh drag sebesar mana rectangular yang anda ingini. Garis putus-putus menunjukkan selection anda.

So, buatlah selection seperti diatas menggunakan rectangular marquee tool tadi.

Menambah selection seperti diatas. Anda boleh menambah selection dengan menekan butang 'shift' pada keyboard sambil membuat selection rectangular yang baru. (Perhatikan lambang ++ akan keluar semasa anda menekan shift).

Anda juga boleh mencuba menggunakan elliptical marquee. Sekiranya ingin mencuba menggunakan single row atau single column marquee, cuba lihat video disini.

2. LASSO TOOL

Lasso tool berguna untuk membuat selection sekiranya yang hendak di'select' itu berlekuk-lekuk dan tidak mempunyai background berwarna sekata. Ada 3 jenis lasso iaitu, Lasso Tool, Polygonal Lasso tool dan Magnetic Lasso Tool. Bezanya, Lasso Tool -> Freehand, Polygonal -> setiap klik diwakili oleh satu garisan, menghasilkan sisi yang banyak untuk selection anda (polygon). Magnetic -> Ia melekat seperti magnet tanpa anda perlu klik. Tetapi, ianya sedikit complicated. Jadi, untuk permulaan ini, kita cuba dulu Polygonal Lasso.

Apabila anda sudah mengelilingi objek yang hendak diselect, selection anda akan diwakili oleh garisan putus-putus seperti diatas. Jadi, kalau anda hendak memiliki kanvas yang hanya mempunyai objek tersebut, cara paling mudah ialah dengan menekan CTRL + C (atau Edit -> Copy), seterusnya CTRL + N (atau File -> New), dan akhir sekali CTRL +V (atau Edit -> Paste).

Tadaa!!! Inilah hasilnya. ;). Tidak puas hati dengan sisi yang tidak smooth? (Diatas adalah hasil kerja bermalas-malasan, maka, begitulah jadinya.) Seeloknya, banyakkan sisi yang pendek-pendek (itu bermaksud, anda perlu teliti memilih sisi mana untuk di klik, dan sisinya lebih kecil), ataupun, cuba guna Lasso Tool biasa (freehand). Ataupun, antara cara lain untuk smoothkan tepi adalah dengan menggunakan blur tool atau feather.

Letih dah. Itu jela for the time being. Kalau sempat, insyaAllah saya tambah lagi.

*Disclaimer : Ini cuma beginner's guide daripada seorang individu yang tidak mendapat pendidikan formal menggunakan photoshop. Lain la kalu jadik student FCM (Faculty of Creative Media ). Jadi, maafkanlah segala kelemahan saya. Kalau ada ada cadangan/info tambahan, sila utarakan.

La la la

2009-05-03T19:55:00.010+08:00

"there's a hero .. if you look inside your heart. You don't have to be afraid of what you are ..."
That's Hero by Mariah Carey, my bestest company when I was hiking Gunung Ledang back in 1999. or..is it 1998 ? Ntahlaa. Lupa dah. No, am not going to talk about the hiking stuffs. Too old for that LOL! I'm talking about how songs influenced me, and finally, being a teacher for me to improve my English. Thanks to Serie, Eena, and Ameen who influenced me to listen to loads of English songs back then. Ahh.. I really miss you guys!

Actually, before 1996, I didn't listen to english songs at home, or in school (radios are banned, walkman is okay, but I'm not rich). The only english song that I knew when I was in school is Tonight by NKOTB. And that was because we need to practise dancing for an event in Aspuri (hahaha...lalalalalala...tonite!!). So, when I was made to listen to english radio station during my tertiary level, I always end up with serious headache. The only song that I can 'layan' at that time was Celine Dion's. I can't get a word the deejay was saying (was starting to panic that I might get hearing problem..haha). But, later ... a few months later ... I fell in love with English songs. And I do learn a lot of vocabs from them.

So, I thought that if I use songs in my English lesson, I would attract students to like the language, hence improve their proficiency in it. But, after doing so, I didn't feel the 'love' for the language from my students. However, since I've made the requirement for them to present on a song for their 'school-based oral evaluation', we'll have to proceed with it. Let's hope that some songs will turn out to be their favourites and they'll get use to listening to the songs and grab some new vocab from them.

Oh, btw, I just want to share this. I hate the idea of having to bring my laptop to class just to play the song, or finding the radio/hi-fi to do so (because I don't have one pon..;)). Hence, I browsed for portable speakers on the intenet. Lucky me (or is it because I'm being the katak dibawah tempurung...very jakun about the portable speaker thingy??), there's quite a number of choices. But, when I arrived at sony outlet in JJ, there's only one type available. And it costs more than 100 ringgit. I hate it when I don't get to choose ... well, at least, when I'm about to spend a lot of money on that thing (same price as a pair of crocs tu.. ). So, I wander to another store, and voila! There're two types of unbranded portable speakers available at one third of the original SE's speaker's price. So, tested it ... and brought one home. ;)

But, another problem arise. Students said that the volume of the song is quite slow. So, through google, I found this software , MP3GAIN (and what's interesting about it is, you can freely download it). Add another 10dB to each songs .. and, we can finally hear the song. But, bear in mind, the noise in the song is amplified as well. So, do re-check after you've add the gain. Maybe you cannot add too much to it's default value.

So, english songs anyone??

Each Day Is A Gift

2009-05-03T22:13:00.001+08:00

By Author Unknown
The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life."

She went on to explain, "Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing." And with a smile, she said: "Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred.
Free your mind from worries.
Live simply.
Give more.
Expect less.

/I need to work on #2. I'm becoming more and more like mother. Worrying too much. Hehe.. sorry mom.. and Happy Mother's Day in advance/

SPM Results - A few stories to share

2009-03-17T23:07:00.005+08:00

I overheard a statement from yesterday's news, which said something like this “those who flopped from universities actually have good SPM results”. Well, I did see some of my friends flopped even though they were once considered “cream of the cream” by our sponsor. Reasons?? Culture shock? “Too much play makes Jim a dull boy?” Language (don’t get me started on PPSMI)?? Turns out that they dislike the course they’ve chosen??

They will give you loads of reasons if you really ask from the subject matter. But, what I want to discuss here is choosing the right course that suits you. Once upon a time, I thought I want to be a doctor. And, when I was in form four and form five, I always have better biology marks than physics or chemistry. But later on, I changed my decision. It happened during a school semester break in 1995 when we was sent to a motivational course that combined 3 SBPs – Faris, SESMA and SMACH. One of the sessions that they had in that course is …. To have us in a hospital and follow the doctor making his/her rounds. Dee, Olie and I are quite relieved when we found out that we’re going to follow the doctor in an ENT ward (Ear, Nose and Throat). We thought that they would have only simple cases in that ward. Ye laa… Ear nose and throat .. setakat sakit telinga, sakit hidung, sakit tekak .. apa la sangat kan? But, it turns out that there were also accident patients there. The first patient that the doctor visited was injured in the face because of a road accident. I can still vividly recall the swollen face, with mouth open, sunken eyes, bruises and stains of blood here and there. He looked awful and painful. Dee had already turned her face from looking at him. Even though I was thinking about doing the same, I was stubborn at the same time. I wanted to see what the doctor would do about him. The doctor wore his glove and has pressed his fingers against the patient’s tongue. The tongue was also swollen. And he asked “Sakit tak?” . Urghh … I was retaliating for the man. Of course he is in pain! (Tapi, dalam hati je la .. haha). The man can only signal his ‘yes’ or ‘no’ through gestures because he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t close his mouth. The doctor said that his mouth and throat were infected. I took the courage to ask the doctor why he pressed the patient’s tongue. He justified that, it is a must for the doctor to know which spot is actually in pain. I couldn’t look at the patient any longer. The three of us decided not to become a doctor there and then. And now Dee is a legal exec for DiGi and Olie is an engineer. And me, even though I did score my biology paper, no, I don't have the guts to pursue my studies in medical field because I know I can’t stand looking at swelling skin, bruises, wounds, and etc. I thanked God for opening my eyes before I made the wrong decision (wondering what will happen if I did? stopped halfway? hmm ..). And my bestfriend whose SPM results was not a single unit aggregates (too many health issues back then), managed to become a doctor because she is passionate about medical field since she was in secondary school. And, she worked really hard to make it happen. That is what I call determination and I salute her for that. Because of her passion for this career, I strongly believe that she will be a good doctor. Friends , including me..hehe, turned to her whenever we have health-related problems.

There’s also a story of a friend who wants to be a doctor but was made to study engineering by his parents because of the scholarship. Yes, when it comes to financial matter, anything can happen. I understand the parents’ concern because the scholarship really means a lot, a guaranteed all-paid-for engineering course plus an almost ‘guaranteed job’ as well. But, even though scoring a lot of As in SPM, he couldn’t excel because he is not interested. He didn’t flop though, but he is not excellent.

Another friend pursued her studies in engineering for two years before she decided to quit and enroll to another university in animation course. And, yes, she excel in this new course because she loves it. She managed to get part-time job even before graduating because her animation works are superb. And she graduated with a starting salary twice as much as an engineer’s starting salary. Kudos to my housemate JJ.

And here’s a link to my uni-mate who has become a millionaire http://blog.saifulnang.net/?p=651. So, students.. go figure what are your interests and what are you passionate about. When you do something that you’re interested in, you won’t get bored doing it and insyaAllah, you will certainly excel at it.

Mandi Songsang

2009-04-30T05:52:00.002+08:00

Mandi songsang adalah satu kaedah terapi yang amat hebat dan menghasilkan kesan yang menakjubkan kepada pengamalnya. Apakah itu mandi songsang?
Lazimnya pada masa sekarang ramai orang akan mandi dengan menjiruskan air bermula pada bahagian kepala. Situasi ini sebenarnya akan memberikan impak yang buruk kepada otak seterusnya akan memberikan kesan yang buruk pada kesihatan diri.
Sistem saraf pendarahan otak akan mengecut kerana siraman air tersebut . Ini akan membuatkan sistem otak akan terjejas. Cara mandi biasa akan menyebabkan sistem pertahanan badan akan menjadi lemah. Seluruh sistem hormon dan kimiawi badan adalah diatur dan disettingkan di dalam kepala, maka cara mandi biasa lebih banyak akan memberikan impakm yang buruk kepada sistem pertahanan bandan. Jadi , apa itu mandi songsang? Mandi songsang adalah amalan membasahkan tubuh badan bermula dari kaki dan beransur-ansur membasahi bahagian atas badan kemudian diakhir dengan kepala. (kecuali mandi hadas besar di mulakan dari siraman di kepala.)

KEBAIKAN DAN KELEBIHAN (INSYAALLAH)Menjadikan pengamalnya AWET MUDA DAN FRESH.

Mengembangkan salur darah otak- menjadikan sistem darah di bahagian otak jadi bertambah baik untuk berfungsi.
Menjadikan sistem pertahanan badan akan bertambah baik fungsinya seterusnya menjana sistem hormon badan dengan lebih hebat untuk tahap kesihatan yang maksimum..
Mengurangkan tekanan (Stress ) yang telah dihasilkan oleh otak.
Melancarkan perjalanan darah.Menjadikan pengamal semakin pintar
Meninggikan daya ingatanMengelakkan atau
Mengurangkan sakit kepala
Menjadikan state mood yang tenang dan ceria
Menjadikan jiwa sentiasa bersemangat
Memiliki daya ketahanan mental
Menambahkan semangat berani
Menguatkan gusi dan gigi
Dan banyak lagi yang akan diketahui apabila mula diamalkan

/nota/

Got this from my email last week. This is actually my routine since last year, petua yang diturunkan from my Ayahsu (and its from my late Grandad). Ayahsu bagi tips ni sebab I've been complaining about headache. And, pernah terbaca somewhere that Rozita Che Wan also did the same untuk awet muda. Personally, this works for me. I used to have serious headache especially when I work late at night or not having enough sleep. Tapi, lepas mengamalkan mandi songsang, it rarely happens.

Ira's Wedding @ Kuantan

2009-04-27T22:53:00.003+08:00

Wawan & Nuha. One year difference, but, look at the size.. ;)

Pengantin and the kids

Very nice!

2009-04-16T21:49:00.002+08:00

It has been a while since I last update this blog. There's a lot that I want to share, but, I'm too busy to write. Am not going to write much this time though. I just want share this link to my fellow muslim friends.. http://www.quranflash.com/en/quranflash.html

Ramai guru sakit jiwa

2009-03-22T23:07:00.001+08:00

Profesion perguruan terdedah kepada risiko tinggi untuk mengalami tekanan
mental.

Itu antara topik dalam Kosmo, Ahad 22 March 2009. Na'uzubillah. Baca disini.

Medan - Lake Toba - Berastagi

2009-03-19T22:50:00.002+08:00

A new experience in motherhood

2009-03-01T22:48:00.004+08:00

After being a mother for five years, I had to face this new experience which was indeed stressful physically and mentally. Neither Syazwan nor Aisyah had been admitted to a ward before. But, after being feverish for three days, Syazwan became lethargic. He was so weak because of dehydration (he was vomitting and defecate watery faeces) . I have no choice but to send him to the nearest ER. The doctor found that he need to be dripped with intravenous fluid to replace the loss of water in his body. When the doctor injected him, he didn't let out a cry or even frowned. Maybe he was too weak to respond to the pain. He was admitted to the ward diagnosed with A.G.E (I found later from the internet that it is acute gastroenteritis).

After a few hours lying there, he became furious. He usually sleeps at 1 pm and wake up at 4 pm. But today, he couldn't. He felt uneasy with the drip and the heat ( it was so hot in that ward). I felt so sorry for not being able to do anything. Eventhough he's covered with insurance to be at a private centre, the nearest one is too far for me to drive alone. So, there I was, accompanying a fussy child in an uncomfortable surroundings. Takde rezeki namanya.

The next day, he stopped vomitting. So, the doctor discontinued his intravenous fluids. As a result, he wanted to drink his milk once again, and water intake has increased tremendously. So, being very confident with his progress, I asked to be discharged from the hospital. He is still weak though, but, I thought if he is more comfortable, he will have speedy recovery. That's why I took him home.

Then, after consulting a paed (luckily, there's one here in Banting), he agreed that Syazwan has progressed miraculously and there's no need to be hospitalized (that's only after two bottles of intravenous fluids). But, I still have to ensure that he took plenty of fluids because he still have watery diarrhea. And, I am so thankful to Allah for that. There are children younger than Syazwan who have spent almost two weeks in the ward because of AGE. I'm so thankful that it didn't happen to my Syazwan. Alhamdulillah.

Teacher's Domain

2009-02-23T15:48:00.003+08:00

I just found this website and feels like sharing it with my fellow friends... (sharing is caring, rite?). This website, http://www.teachersdomain.org/ , is very useful and helpful for us teachers. There are a lot of teaching aids/BBM especially in Science and Maths. But, to download the videos or flash files, you need to register first. And, the registration is free. So, folks ...come and join this community. I've just downloaded a video which is very informative and interesting on Physics' Force and Motion topic. And, trust me. I've searched and googled elsewhere, and that kind of video is hardly available even on YouTube. So... go figure!!

Jakarta

2009-02-13T16:04:00.006+08:00

This is a long due post on my Jakarta trip. In overall, Jakarta is a shopping heaven for me. Went to Tanah Abang Blok A twice, and Mangga Dua ITC once. We can only visit one place a day because the kids 'udah capek'. While the mommies were on a shopping spree (me and mak itam), the kids were bored to death. I was lucky that I manage to distract Aisyah with Nintendo DS. But, Syazwan? Hmmm... the only thing that will keep him quiet are 'sweets'! Habis rosak gigi dia dek penangan mentos.
Some of the things that we hunt in Tanah Abang were telekungs, lace (very cheap.. you can even get 40k rupiah per meter ..and that's rm12), embroidered cloth for baju kurung/kebaya and japanese cotton. Blok A of Tanah Abang consists of 13 floors and we only manage to cover only 2 floors in two days, that is B1 and B2. TA really turned me crazy. It is one of the biggest pusat grosir in Jakarta. Grosir means wholesale. So, they'll give you grosir price if you buy in bulk. Most of them put a minimum of three purchase to give you a wholesale price.

If it wasn't because I'm running out of cash, maybe I would stay there longer regardless of how tired I was. Things are very cheap.. one of the reason is because their Rupiah is getting weaker against RM. I was thinking of a business opportunity when I was in Jakarta (seeing how cheap the cloth are), but, since my weight limit for AA flight is only 45kgs, the idea was put on hold.

But, when I re-read about Jakarta, Blok A, is still considered pricey than Blok F. Oh?? Where's Blok F? Behind Blok A. There's also Metro Tanah Abang. Oh my! I couldn't even cover Blok A after being there for two days..so, how am I going to cover Blok F and Metro? And Pasar Tasik in Blok F? Does it mean that I have to go there again? Haha ... I loiiikee!!

Then, on the third day, we went to Mangga Dua ITC. Bought two gowns for Aisyah and paid rm50 for them (so, RM25 each). I believe that it is very cheap, cheaper than the ones that we bought in HCMC. Then, found a textile shop in Mangga Dua that made me crazy because the Japanese Cotton that we found there is half the price of Japanese Cotton that I bought in Tanah Abang. Maybe at that time, we were to tired to bargain in Tanah Abang. So, the keyword is..bargain! When you were called "Bunda...belanja bunda" ... try your best to get the best bargain, by asking around first. But, if you're aiming to buy at a certain shop, please request for their namecard. It is very easy to get lost there. the place is huge and crowded, especially in Tanah Abang.

Mangga Dua ITC

Japanese cotton, Katun Paris and batiks

Now, it's time for kids to have fun. I'm done on my part (shopping le..;))

Moving On

2009-01-13T16:47:00.003+08:00

It's about time that I move all my posts tagged as personal into another blog. When I went back to Kelantan.. it seems that my cousins and my sis did read my blog too. So, I'm assuming that they would expect more from me. But, my mistake is, I have this blog's URL published in the school's website. My bad .. haha. So, it would be inappropriate to discuss personal matters on something declared as official, rite?

Luckily... there's an 'IMPORT BLOG" and 'EXPORT BLOG' option in blogger. So, I am able to maintain all my old posts under a new domain. So, for CAPITT ONLINE ... i will maintain this one as my official blog (and does that means formal?? Erkk!!), and the new blog for my personal ramblings.

So.. what will I write in an official blog? Hmmmm...

Oh Bandung!

2009-02-01T02:55:00.014+08:00

This one week of CNY holiday is a true blessing to me. Alhamdulillah. I was in dire need of a holiday .. and here comes CNY holiday, and the best part is.. I was able to spend it with my husband in Indonesia. ;)

I wasn't able to do a lot of homework about Indonesia because I was bogged down with work. And, because of that, we also ends up with a quite expensive hotel package in Bandung because most of the hotels in Bandung are fully booked. It is a long weekend (2 days plus 1 day for CNY), so, many Jakartans also fled to Bandung untuk berlibur .. lantas, macet banget jadinya Bandung.
Walaupun macet (maksudnya traffic jam) , walaupun ramai org here and there, I still love Bandung, especially the food and the ambience. Actually, if you plan it carefully, you can get a very cheap package plus cheap flights (including those of KLM or MAS with 20kg luggage limit and seat numbers were given. I have to book for Express Boarding most of the time because I'm travelling with my kids. So, there are extra bucks spent there).

Eventho Bandung is so famous for its lots and lots of factory Outlets, we are not so keen to venture into the outlets because of the following reasons:- too many people, nothing much of my size (hihi), we've already stock up on our kids' garments, and things seem pretty much the same. Urgh..enough ramblings. I'm gonna share my Bandung-Jakarta experience, so it might be helpful to some people out there.

Itenary
Day 1
- Using the tips from Forum Cari and friends, we ride Argo Gede Eksekutif coach fr. Jakarta to Bandung. It costs us only 45k rupiah (RM30) to and fro. Very cheap and you can avoid the macet. Departs from Stasion Gambir at 9.30 am.

- Arrive at 1.00 pm in Bandung. Check-in Papandayan.

- Mkn di Dapur Sangkuriang, located off Jalan Setia Budi. Spent approx. 50 ringgit for sup ikan gurame, ayam masak asam manis, ikan goreng, and sayur campur, Jus alpokat, air kelapa n air buah campur (That is 3 adults and two kids eating!). Very nice ambience with tasty food at a very cheap price. Puas hati banget! None of us has ever been to Bandung, and our only guidance is .. it is located nearby Jalan Setiabudi. And, luckily, the taxi driver manage to find it for us. So, even if this is your first time here, a supir won't be that necessary for the first half day spent in Bandung.

-Walk (yes! walk... even my kids can walk because it is very near) to the nearby Donatello Shoes house, Natural FO and the infamous Rumah Mode FO (pronounced as MO THE). There're too many people in Rumah Mode, and it was raining, so we're stucked there. When we manage to get out of Mode, there was no Taxi and it seems that it might start raining once again. So, we hopped on Angkutan Kota, which looks like a van with bench-like seats (renovated to carry a lot of people, I guess). It costs only 2000 rupiah per pax (so, times 3 adults = 6000 rupiah or rm2).

- Next, we went Grande FO di Jln Dago. There are arrays of FO in Jalan Dago. We end up having dinner at Grande's cafe. And, the old saying is true. Don't judge a book by it's cover. It seems pretty dull with only 2 people sitting there. But it turns out to be bes banget. We had 1 nasi ayam bkr, 1 nasi goreng special, 1 serving of pisang keju (that is only 1 banana), batagor (BAso TAuhu GOReng), 4 glasses of juices, plus tapau 2 nasik goreng n 1 coke - the total is 86k rupiah or lebih kurang m30. Murah tapi sedap wooo. Jus strawberi yg pekat dan sedap dia baru 7k rupiah , which is only rm2.30. Sedap sgt. Batagor nya sedap, and Pisang Keju is very yummy!! The banana is fried with sugar (I guess), and it had a topping of shredded cheese and chocolate. Served hot and it is so delicious! Menyesal giler tak repeat makan dekat situ. I didn't find the same Pisang Keju in Jakarta. :(

Day 2
-Bergerak ke Tangkuban perahu with our supir, Pak Kiki. 8.15 am from Papandayan and arrived at approx. 9.30am. Agak macet. Rate for supir+avanza+gas+parkir for 8 hours is 450k rupiah. (Avanza is actually reserved for 12 hours, so, if you need extra hours for Pak Supir, just pay some additional charges). Mount Tangkuban Perahu has the volcanic craters..and one of them is Kawah Ratu. You can smell the sulphurous steam released from the crater.

Hammocks, anyone?

- Sightseeing and by 10.30, we left Tangkuban Perahu.
- Arrive at kg. Daun for lunch. Very unique eating experience. Mkn bersila sambil menikmati scenery waterfall. Spent rm100 for 5 pax.
- Went to Pasar Baru (I try not to buy anything here because I knew that I will spend more days to visit Tanah Abang in Jakarta, which is suppose to offer more discounted prices), Heritage FO, Terminal Tas (lotsa bags, but I didn't even go in because of time constraint), Kartika Sari (they're famous for Pisang Bolen and Brownies Kukus. I didn't expect such a huge crowd for a bakery. Bought both Bronies Kukus and Pisang Bolen. Enak!!!) and Grande FO. Bought only 1 box of Brownies Kukus and the kids finished them up in Jakarta. I thought I could find Kartika Sari in jakarta... but to no avail. Sedihnyaa.. Hanya di Bandung ma!

- Lastly, we dined at Sierra Cafe . Very nice scenery, overlooking bandung at night (it is located at a hillside, overlooking a valley). Spent rm100 for 5 pax. Food is not as good as those we have tried before. I had Indonesian food - Nasi Ayam Betutu and it is below expectation for a cafe with a very exclusive look. However, it is still considered very cheap as compared to KL. But, Aisyah whom ordered Chicken Steak (Chicken Chop here) is very satisfied. I guess they're good with western food.

Day 3
- Aisyah is feverish because of yesterday's rain. So, papa volunteered to stay with her in our hotel room. Another reason is he is tired of the whole affair. So, the three of us (Mak Itam, Me and Wawan) went to Cihampelas, a road famous for jeans. I didn't find any jeans for me, but i saw cheap cotton bandung tshirts costs only 15k rupiah each. It is much cheaper than pasar baru, bcoz for XL size, Pasar Baru's price is 25k. So, apalagi.. beli la! Then, Mak Itam bought Brownies Kukus Amanda (this is also a famous brand in Bandung), which is very delicious and cheap. I couldn't concentrate on shopping because Syazwan was hooked to Ultraman's gigantic replica. In Cihampelas here .. or Ciwalk .. there are a lot of Cartoon Replicas.

- Then, by 2.30 pm, we hopped on Argo Gede to Jakarta. The view is marvellous. Let the pictures do the talking. Enough said about Bandung. I'll continue some other time on Jakarta.

Chaotic January

2009-01-20T18:40:00.002+08:00

Life seems pretty chaotic for me these days. 26 periods of a whole new syllabus of everything except for ICTL. And loads of other sidekicks of being a teacher. So, my conclusion is.. no blog, nor embroidery, no bla bla bla .. until I adapt myself to this new challenges of 2009. And .. when will it be? Who knows?

Bullion rose vs Bead flower

2008-12-07T16:56:00.001+08:00

Once upon a time (well... last few months I guess..) I'm so in love with gardening. Now, I have come to another phase of obsession, or craze ... bullion roses. What are bullion roses? How do I grow them? Haha... it's totally off topic from gardening. It's embroidery. Malay call it 'bunga tahi ulat'. My MIL has learned on how to embroider it a long time ago. It was a trend in yesteryear and now it has made a comeback. So, taking some guide from my MIL and the internet (http://www.needlenthread.com/ and http://cheq-sue.com/blog/2008/11/30/teknik-sulaman-benang/), I have started it... and I have fun doing it. This is another way of refurbishing my old tudungs. So, here goes my first attempt ...

Beading on the other hand.. is progressing slowly. Because, I have a hard time to keep it neat. Hmm... so, the easiest solution is, have it made by Kak Z, whose work is extremely neat and creative. Seriously.. I really adores her work. ;)

Photoshoot & Photoshop

2008-11-28T18:01:00.000+08:00

I'm being 'darat' today.. a.k.a 'jakun', or some people say 'peghak'. I just realised that there is a digital macro function in our digital camera. So, today's activity with aisyah is .. shoot some flowers or bugs around our house, and I photoshop them afterwards for more professional-like pics. Well.... not-so professional yet. But, I'm proud with my works, and so do Aisyah ..

The orchids from the pics above and below are from the same plant, but different phase I suppose. It first blooms as a red flower, then, changed to orange (the above colour) ..and soon, turn out to be yellow.

This ladybird is on a Kangkung leaf. I didn't photoshop this one.

This is Honey Dew's flower.

____________________________________

And the following are Aisyah's work.

And here's the photographer of the day

Itadakimasu

2008-11-19T20:15:00.000+08:00

Wondering what does it mean by 'Itadakimasu'? Hehe.. it means, let's eat in japanese. We went to Jusco yesterday, and hubby insists to buy sushi starter kit. I believe that I might find the necessary s0-called guide to sushi making in the net, so I agreed with his idea on having our own home made sushi. But, the guide that I got is better than what I'm asking for. The starter kit comes together with a "Fun With Sushi" DVD. Haha, we never realised that until we reached home. And trust me, sushi making is simple and fun. So, without wasting time ... here goes my first sushi project.

And, how does it taste, you say? Japanese would say .. ""GOCHISOOSAMA" (and that means yummy!!! haha).

1 Elit - Class of 2008

2008-11-11T16:54:00.000+08:00

Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?Should
old acquaintance be forgot,and old lang syne ?

For auld lang
syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Enjoy the pics ... ;). I'm wishing you all the best for your future undertaking.

Tinggal memori ...
Ya ampunn.. sapa la jadik cameraman ni?

Kontrol hensem

Year-end Teacher's Meeting

2008-11-09T08:19:00.000+08:00

Our year-end Teacher's Meeting this year was held on Saturday, and this time around, we already got our next year's timetable. I was quite relieved when I found out that my timetable is only 26 periods per week, far lesser than this year's 30 periods per week timetable. Alhamdulillah. Most of the afternoon teachers are grateful for this. 30 periods per week are killing us. Well... killing me..hehe. The difference of 4 periods is translated to 2 hours, or, roughly, one free period per day. And that means a lot. Thank you ....

On another note, I was quite impressed with all the powerpoint presentation by the administrators. It shows that our admins are very good with ICT. Bravo!! (clap3x). SMKTPG Boleh!

And.. the quote of the day is .."Apa yang penting?? KERJASAMA"... Waaa...Wonderpets manage to capture our hearts, regardless of our age. Haha.

Last but not least, I am so impressed with Bangladesh Proverbs highlighted by K. Rahimah, PK Koko , which is as follows :-

"Hanya pokok mangga yang berbuah sahaja yang menerima kayu dan batu"

Isn't that brilliant?

Tips to travellers

2008-11-09T01:28:00.000+08:00

I have been wanting to share this idea for months .. but, most of the time, I forget about it. However, since the school holidays are approaching, I believe that there are a few friends out there who might travel abroad (there's one teacher friend who flew to Paris today..). So, here's a tip on how to make an easy currency converter table like this. (This is actually my MIL's idea). This is especially helpful if you really want to go to the foreign country to shop.

1. Open a blank MS Excel worksheet
2. Type in the title of your table and it's respective column's name (i.e: RM, VND)
3. Type in the value of RM that you want to convert to .. say, RM 1, 3, 5, 10 ..etc in cloumn RM (or column A in the above example)
4. Go to www.oanda.com to get the currency exchange rate. But, bear in mind, sometimes the rates stated in Oanda can be higher than the actual rate. Like last week, my auntie went to Indonesia and she got Rp3,600 for RM1. But, in Oanda, it states RM1 equals to Rp2,800 only. This is because it uses RM to USD first, then, USD to Rp.
5. When you got the rate, let say, for my RM to VND table , RM1 = VND 5152. So, type in both values first in cell 'A4' and 'B4'.
6. Then, in cell 'B5' , type in this formula '=A5*$B$4' . Then, you just have to drag down the formula to the rest of the Rows to get the value for other RM values as well. The '$' sign is to ensure that it always sticks to that particular cell, which is B4, the rate of conversion.

Then, do print it and make sure the size fits your wallet. By doing so, you won't be frowning over the unfamiliar price tags in front of you. It helps me a lot, so, I hope that it will help you too! ;)