ERA.fm's doing or undoing?

First they split up the much fun KnK pair, then they paired Kieran with AC Mizal and Hani, which I was beginning to enjoy before Hani decided to call it quits.

They went on a `womenhunt' to look for Hani's replacement, which, eventually, they found her in Aimee, but she never replaced Hani in the morning slot, but was hopping from time slot to time slot.

Now they have paired Kieran with Adi and Nana, which, at times, I find boring, especially when Kieran goes on leave, despite all the many prizes they give away each day.

The only reason why I stay on to listen to ERA.fm in the morning now is because of Kieran. He keeps me entertained as I drive through traffic each morning, and keeps me awake as I get sleepy from lack of sleep the night before.

I find Nana without much creativity, and Adi, though I find him cute *wink*, he has failed to get me to interested to listen to him babble each morning. Whenever Kieran goes on leave, I will either switch on to XFresh.fm or Light & Easy at 105.7.

Kieran's contract ends in October, so I read somewhere, and he has yet to indicate if he wants to remain at ERA.fm. If he leaves ERA.fm, then ERA.fm will lose one listener in me in the morning.

Just as I enjoy my drive to work each morning listening to KnK then, and now Kieran alone, I also enjoy my drive home in the evening as I listen to Linda Onn. I especially like the 6.00pm slot, as that is the time when I would most probbaly be driving home, as callers call in to tell what they like or do not like to hear in "Kuasa Dua - Apa yang sedap dan tak sedap di dengar". But, as of last week, ERA.fm has switched Linda Onn's 4.00pm to 8.00pm time slots with Reza and Aimee's 1.00pm to 4.00pm time slot.

As much as I like Reza, I prefer that he stays in his original time slot. I prefer to listen to Linda Onn's "Itu Ini" on my journey home, rather than Reza and Aimee's story telling time. I find it boring.

Though no offence to Aimee, but I have yet to get used to her, and her taking over Linda Onn's time slot is not making me start to like her at all, though I know that it is not her decision, but the management's decision.

What exactly is ERA.fm trying to do? Swing Linda Onn's listeners to 1.00pm? I don't listen to the radio when I am at work, so definitely I won't be swinging over to listen the radio at 1.00pm just because I enjoy listening to Linda Onn.

As of end of last week, when I finally realised that Reza and Aimee is here to stay at the 4.00pm to 8.00pm time slot, I have started listening to Light & Easy already on my drive home, and so, ERA.fm has lost another listener in me in the 4.00pm time slot. Maybe they don't care since it's only me, and I am only one person, but, what if there are many more like me who is just not in favour of listening to Reza and Aimee during their drive home?

I think ERA.fm, in their efforts to remain number ONE, has made many changes to keep the listeners entertained, but, by making too many changes, they have upset some of us, loyal listeners, who prefer things just the way they were.

They might have gained some new listeners with their new format, but, they might just also be losing many more listeners who have stuck with them all this while.

In my opinion, breaking up KnK was their greatest undoing, and now, shifting Linda Onn's slot might just be their second greatest undoing. Didn't the survey say that their number of listeners have dropped from 6.7 million to 4.5 million recently, despite still being NUMBER ONE?

A very slow progress

I can't seem to move fast enough with this Mandala Garden piece I am currently doing. It's a big piece, and even though I have put in a lot of stitches, I can't see much progress on the piece.

There are also many nights lately that I do not pick up the piece to work on it at all. I have been coming home terribly exhausted lately, mentally and physically. As much as I try to keep my eyes open, I find myself dozing off in front of the TV on many nights.

There are some nights when my hubby is out at the gym, I will try to stay up so that I can put in just a few stitches, just to make some tiny progress, but, I end up staring at the wall in front of me. It's just one of those times when things are simply hectic at work.

I look forward to the weekends when I can relax a bit, and catch up on some household chores, and spend more quality time with my hubby and son, going out just the three of us. I treasure these times, because they are becoming more and more precious as hubby and I get more and more busy with our careers.

Another piece I am working on is the LHN Chocolate Shoppe, which is my take-along project as it travels with me whenever I have to go outstation. However, I didn't progress much on this piece either as the lighting in some hotels rooms are simply not condusive for stitching. But, I bring my stitching along anyway, just in case.

The photo does not do justice to the piece. The fabric, overdyed opalescent in a mocha kind of colour, is really nice, but, for some reason, I can't seem to take a good photo of the piece despite using my new LUMIX camera. Maybe I am not taking the photo correctly, but, I am using the auto shot, so it should turn out right. *sigh* Must get to know my camera better.

On another craft note, here is the progress on my niece's purple bag which I must complete it by her birthday in August. Oopps! That's another month or so!

I didn't think it is going to take me a long time to work on this piece, as it took me only two days to make the pouch for her mum, but, this bag is definitely much bigger, so, it does take longer. Plus, I have not worked on this piece either for some time, except for yesterday when I brought it along with me as I waited for my son to finish his animation class.

Looks like it's going to be a slow progress on all my pieces! *sigh* I need a break from work! *grin*

It's finally handed over!

After four years of being involved in this project from conception of idea to designing of the building to construction, and going up and down to Kuala Terengganu every two weeks on Sundays for the past 18 months, we finally handed over the building to the client department on Thursday, 26th June 2008. It was a very simple handing over ceremony, and, though I am glad that the building is finally completed, I feel sad, as this project has been a part of my everyday life for the past four years.

I have learnt a lot from this project. This project has made me wiser and more matured in my thinking and problem solving. This project has many times challenged my management capabilities to the limits, and though there were many times that I felt frustrated with the way things are going in the process of solving technical problems to ensure that the project gets built the way it was designed to be, it's been a very good learning experience which I hope will come in handy as I move forward in my career.

I came back from Kuala Terengganu with a bruised thigh and knee and a cut. While doing my inspection rounds the night before the handing over, I slipped and almsot fell into the monsoon drain which was about 6 feet deep, but managed to grabbed the grass next to the drain to break my fall, before my friend caught on to me.

I had one leg up at the opening of the drain and one leg dangling in the drain. Can you imagine the sight? It was funny when I think about it later, but it wasn't funny when I was trying hard not to fall 6 feet down, hanging on tightly to the short bit of grass.

I think had the grass not been there (it was just recently planted), I would have had nothing to hang on to to break my fall.

I have been making my rounds at this project site for the last 1 1/2 years, and I am glad that I had never had any accidents while doing my work. I have climbed up to the peak of the roof, and I have gone down to the basement of the building when it was filled up with steel and conrete, but yet, just as we were about to hand over the project to the client department the next day, I just had to fall into the completed drain the night before! LOL!

I will still be making trips to Kuala Terengganu, though not as often, as there is still the defects period, to ensure that everything architecturally that still has to be done, are done correctly, right up until the end of the defects liability period.

So, if anyone of you goes to Kuala Terengganu, do take time to look around at this building. Approach the building at night from the front, because that is when the building looks its best. *smile*

Tea for six!

We had a Tea Coaster Exchange at NNC recently, organised by Usha, and I am to send to Anna, while Jess is to send to me.

I took the opportunity to personally hand over the tea coasters to Anna when I met her at the Stitching Bee recently. It saves me the worry and anxiety of waiting for the tea coasters to arrive safely to her, if I were to send my mail. It also saves me postal stamps too! *wink*

The tea coasters are to be made up in your partner's favourite colour, but you may make the tea coasters any way you like it, be it cross stitch, crochet, quilted, or otherwise, as long as they are handmade.

I decided to sew Anna the coasters as I think crocheting them will take me ages! LOL! I am glad that Anna likes blue, pink, peach and purple. It makes choosing the fabrics easy, and the fact that she likes pink too makes it even easier, since my favourite colour is also PINK!

So, here is my humble tea coaster in PINK! I hope Anna likes them, though I could not beat the lovely beaded crocheted tea coasters she made for Janet. My coasters to her are a little bit amaturish, but I had fun doing them up.

Thanks, Usha, for organising this exchange!

More presents and gifts!

On Saturday, 21st June, I received more birthday presents, when we met up for our second Stitching Bee for this year at Bangsar Village II.

Tini gave me a lovely fat quarter of butterfly cottons, an iron-on beading motif, and a PINK ball of yarns she bought during her recent trip to Jakarta. I can already see the cottons being made into a bag!

Usha gave me a lovely set of 6-piece coasters in PINK! I think it was a thank you gift for participating in the tea coaster exchange. Thank you so much, Usha, for the lovely coasters!

June gave me a piece of pastel green evenweave, and I think I might want to look for something similar to what Margaret is doing for her biscornu which she brought for the Stitching Bee. I think it's by Barbara Ana Designs.

I also bought some cottons from Tini, and I love how these cottons will look once they are made into a bag. Now all I need is to find the time to make them! That has always been something that plays hide and seek with me - the time to do all the crafts that I want to do. LOL!

Thank you, Janet, for the freezer paper. Thank you, June, Usha and Tini for the gifts.

BTW, below are the fat quarter packs I bought at SAKURA, and handmade birthday cards I made for June and Janet, whose birthday falls on 11th and 22nd June respectively. Happy birthday, gals!

Works in progress

Aahh! It's been a long time since I updated progress on my cross stitching. I have been so into crocheting that my cross stitching have somewhat taken a back seat. That is sad, since cross stitching is actually my very first love since my cradle days. But, you tend to get influenced by friends who are very creative, and while that is not actually a bad thing, it does distract you from what you have actually set yourself up to do! LOL!

Anyway, back to some progress report on the pieces that I am currently doing, here is the LHN piece which is only about a third done. I have not been working on it at all for the past 3 weeks, except for about 20 minutes last Saturday. I miss working on it, but I have promised my two nieces to make each of them something for ther birthdays, which coincidently are both in August. Oh my!

I promised something in PINK for Kuyana, and something in PURPLE for Kuyasmin. They both like the pouch I made for their mum, and would like me to make them something similar too in their favourite colour.

So, here is the purple (it looks kind of blue in the photo. Must get my camera checked) yarns for Kuyasmin's pouch. I will be using a combination of MINLON (offwhite) yarns and WINA ( dark and light purple) yarns.

I have not gotten the things for Kuyana's present yet. I want to give it more thought first before I start on it as Kuyana is going to be 15 years old this August. I want to try to make something that she can really make use of for a long time to come. That is, if I have lots of time to make it. If not, it's going to be another pouch like her mum's, but in PINK! *wink*

Here is a sneak peak of a work in progress of something I am making for someone who I am not telling yet who it is. Will keep you all posted once this is completed, mailed out and received.

Again I am using a combination of MINLON yarns and WINA yarns. The variegated one is MINLON, and though I expected it to fluff up a lot, I was able to work with it without having to pull my hair out too much! LOL! The grey one is WINA, while the pink one is also a MINLON, the same colour taht I am using to make my amigurumi cat.

On my Mandala Gardens, I have only worked on it a little bit more since the last WIP report, although I have reached the bottom part of the piece already. I only stitch on this at night after dinner is done, but I can't work on it for long as I am having problems with my multifocal lenses, despite changing the lenses for the second time. It's a slow progress, but complete it, I must!

BTW, here is the progress on the amigurumi cat I started some weeks back, but got sidetracked by the baby booties for Fatin. As you can see, there aren't much progress, although I did complete the body part, but I stopped when I was having problems doing the ears. I just could not get it right. I am not giving up on it totally, though, but just putting it aside while I work on the presents for my nieces.

It's my birthday!

Oh dear! It's that day of the year again that I get a year older! *grin* Yup, I turned..hmmmm......eerr..40 something *grin* on Sunday, June 8.

My birthday celebration started out early this year with the arrival of an early birthday present from my mystery birthday exchange partner, Janet, for the Birthday Exchange organised by BJ at NNC.

It arrived on Thursday, 5th June, but I was on medical leave that day due to a flu. When I got into the office my Friday morning, my assistant put a box on my table, and, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the parcel was for. I was wondering if I had ordered something online, but forgotten about it (can you imagine me forgetting something I ordered online? LOL! *wink*) but, when I saw Janet's name on the box, I wondered why she had sent me a parcel. Only when I opened the box to see a red box tied with red ribbons did it finally dawn on me that Janet was my mystery birthday exchange partner! LOL!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Janet!

Eat your heart out, people, as these are what I got from Janet *grin* -

1. A handmade birthday card
2. A crocheted cupcake pincushion
3. An embroidered purse mirror
4. A ball of PINK Nona brand yarn
5. A length of ribbons in 3 colours
6. A perfumed candle in PINK!
7. Four sachets of Twining Tea
7. A green variegated DMC floss, and best of all,
8 A very lovely reversible tea cosy

Thank you so much, Janet, for everything and making it a good start to my day that day, after spending the day before that down with the flu!

I had another surprise on Saturday when my sister, Lin, had a surprise birthday party for me! *blush*

I had dropped by her house to see my mum, who was in town, and also to visit my nieces and nephews who are here for the school holidays. Little did I expect a birthday party, even when my brother arrived with his family, as I just thought that since our mum is around, it's a good time for a family gathering! LOL! Duh *grin*

Well, I suppose, my not knowing and suspecting anything made it an even sweeter surprise birthday party! Thanks, Lin, for organising everything. It was fun, and thank you so much for the lovely, and very expensive birthday present! My sister gave me a BRAUN BUFFEL photo frame!

My mum gave me a lovely birthday card with a very lovely poem written by Donna Fargo. I initially thought that my mum had written the poem as the font used to print the poem was almost similar to my mum's lovely handwriting, and I know that my mum can also write nice poems, and is good with her words.

My mum also gave me a tea set for two in, what else, but my favourite colour, PINK! Thanks, Ma! Hugs!

Looks like I am having tea just with my mum, or just my hubby, since there are only two cups! *wink* You think I should get 4 more pieecs each of the cups and saucers?

I had another surprise when my brother handed me a lovely birthday card, specially handmade by him! I did not even know that this brother my mine is actually very creative! LOL! Must be in the blood! Well, don't blame me, dear brother, because you have never actually shown the creative side of yourself, in hardcopy, that is. I know that you are very creative and talented when it comes to designing webpages! That, I salute you!

Thank you, Ayis, for the time taken to design the card! Thank you to Sufia too!

The next day, on the actual date of my birthday, as we were having breakfast, my brother called me to wish me HAPPY BIRTHDAY all the way from the United States! I couldn't believe it! Thank you, Nik Ai!

As we had trouble hearing each other, we decided to go online and chat. We spent, I think, close to 30 minutes chatting online, with my son, most of the time, showing off his bionicles to his cousins through the webcam.

It was lovely hearing my brother, my SIL's and my niece's and nephew's voices again, after so long. My niece and nephew now speaks english with an american slang. I remember the time when I came home after spending two years in the States when my dad was doing is Masters, also with the same slang, not knowing how to speak a single malay word, even though I could still understood the language. There we were, my grandma talking to me in kelantanese malay, and me, responding in american english, and my grandma knows not a single english word at all! LOL!

My sister from Kota Bahru also called to wish me HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My son made me a birthday card using microsoft word, and he also gave me a cute store bought bithday card. My hubby gave me a very sweet and lovely birthday card. Thank you 'Dia' and Aiman!

My hubby also took me out for a late tea cum early dinner at the Dome before he was to fly off to Japan for work.

I ordered my favourite Chicken and Mushroom Pastry Soup, though I think the pastry have gotten thinner, but the soup was still thick and yummy. My hubby ordered Lot Burger, though he initially wanted the Beef Pastry Soup, but they were out of it. My son, as usual, ordered the Fish and Chips.

Thank you, everyone, for all the birthday wishes, lovely cards and presents! Love you all!

A birthday tote bag for BJ

I completed this bag for BJ for her birthday more than two months ago, but when it came to the actual day to mail it out for it to arrive on time for her birthday, I suddenly find myself too busy to sit down and make a birthday card to go with it.

As I do crafting only on weekends, each weekend prior to May 7 (BJ's birthday), I would plan to sit down and make a card, but weekends passed one after another, without any opportunity for me to take some time to really sit down and get creative. Things unexpectedly just simply seem to crop up at every weekend, until June came.

Oh! Oh! I am going to be ONE MONTH LATE on this one! *grin*

But, finally an opportunity came last Monday, 2nd June, when I had to take emergency leave as my hubby had a bad case of diarrhoea. I needed to stay home to make sure that his diarrhoea was not getting any more serious, and also to prepare lunch for my son and hubby, who was too weak to take care of himself, what more our son.

With my hubby settled in after a visit to the clinic, and my son happily playing games on his computer, I decided to take the opportunity to make the much elusive birthday card. LOL! I suddenly felt creative! *grin*

The birthady present finally made it's way on Tuesday by registered mail. I meant for it to be a surprise for BJ, but, since I wasn't sure if the address of BJ is still valid, I had to call her to confirm it, as I did not want to disturb Margaret, our address keeper, as she is busy with her mum who is sick, and her brother who is back from London. *grin*

So, BJ was kinda expecting the package, though she did not know what was coming her way. So, there was still some element of surprise for her. I doubt it that she was expecting me to send her a tote bag, or did she? *wink*

Anyway, it arrived safely to BJ on Thursday, and here it is.

Both sides of the bag is different. The bag, as those who have received bags from me will know, are reversible, though I forgot to take photos of the inside of the bag. Maybe BJ can help me take photos of it later when her PC is up and running again. She told me that her PC got struck by lightning during one of the thunderstorms last week.

Here is the ever 'elusive' card that got postphoned over several weekends to be done! LOL! I tried to match the colours to the bag as close as I can, just to make the card look more significant. Did BJ notice that? *wink*

Anyway, HAPPY VERY VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY, BJ!

Birthday pouch for Lin

It was my sister's birthday yesterday, 28th May, and I decided to crochet her a pouch, a pattern from the book I bought on eBay. I started on it on Sunday evening, 25th May, my brother's birthday, and completed it on Tuesday, 27th May 2008. Aahh! Just slightly over two days! Not bad! *grin*

It's a small pouch anyway. Measuring approximately 6 inches wide and about 9 inches tall. It consisted of only single crochet (sc) sc and a little bit of double crochet (dc). The actual pattern has less rows, but, because I used a thinner yarn, I had to add like 10 more rows to get it to the height that I want it to be. I also added the dc, which the original pattern does not have, to add to the height. It's quicker that way than adding just sc, as I had a dateline to meet.

While I was working on it, my hubby kept aksing me if I am doing a cap for my sis. LOL! Yup, if you turn it upside down, it does look like a cap. *grin*

The pouch was done using MINLON yarns. I did not have that much trouble with the yarn splitting and breaking as I had with the pink yarn I was working with to make the cat's head, which was also a MINLON. So, I kind of enjoyed working on the pouch, especially since I was making it to give it away as a birthday present to my sis.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lin! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Azan too!

Having completed the pouch, I am now working on another crochet piece, also a pattern from the same book. This time, I want to try to make a mini bag. Why mini? Because I want to learn the basics of making a bag first, but not wanting to spend too much time on it then if I were to make the normal size bag. I don't want to start feeling intimidated, and abandoning the project halfway if I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

I will surely put up a progress report on it as I work on it as I foresee myself working on it for at least a week or so, if not more. So, stay tuned! *wink*

UNBELIEVABLE!

Unbelievable and upsetting! Shocking too! That is how I shall describe my reaction when Nadia was announced 5th placing at Saturday night's Akademi Fantasia's final concert.

Tell me, seriously and honestly, did Nubhan and Toi sang better then Nadia last night? Did both of them performed better than Nadia last night? Can they sing and dance like Nadia did last night? Do they possess the powerful voice that Nadia has? Has Nadia ever failed you in any of her performances?

If you answer my questions honestly, and the answers will be a resounding NO! to each and every question. I agree with Adlin that Toi was just a filler for the finals (sorry, fans of Toi), only because the other seven eliminated earlier were far worse off.

Granted that Nubhan deserves to be in the finals due to his.....errr.....so called, unique voice, tone, whatever, but still, he shouldn't be placed better than Nadia. So he sang better last night than he did at any concert since the first concert, but Nadia has never before performed below par. She was always consistently at her best. Nubhan has been at his lowest, Toi has been at the pits. So, for that very reason, both these two guys shouldn't have been placed higher than Nadia.

I agree that Nubhan sang a lot better than he did in most concerts. In fact, that night was probably his best, and I wouldn't be far from wrong if I were to say that it was the ONLY concert that he was good. Nadia was good throughout the season.

Nubhan was lucky that he got a good song, a very good song, in fact. Congrats to the composer and lyrycist. I can imagine myself listening to it over the radio and actually appreciating it. I have always liked ballads, and I give credits where credits are due. Half the battle was won just by having a good song. I always feel that ballads are good for the finals, as these songs tend to go right through your heart, and when performed well, can mesmerised you.

Yes, Nubhan was lucky to be given such a good song, and I agree with one of the bloggers, Eddy Purnama, the song, Ada Untukmu, is what a final song should be. I also agree when Eddy said that this is the best song and the only one that can start climbing the chart on the merit of the song and not the singer. This is the song that will make Nubhan a star. Yes, the song help save Nubhan, and placed him safely where his fans want him to be.

Granted that Nadia can sometimes be `mengada-ngada', and being only 18, she has not learned the skill to make herself more appealing in the eyes of the voters who go more character and personality than talent, but, I thought that our voting public have grown smarter, and wouldn't have let their emotions take over their ability to vote rationally, but, sadly, they did. *sigh* Skills can be acquired, but you have to be born with a voice like Nadia's.

I wish that Nadia was given a ballad song or an 'asli' song, which I am very confident she would be able to carry it very well, and pushing the fence sitters to vote for her. But, instead, she got two up beat songs, which makes her look even more `mengada-ngada' and `gedik'. I was told that fans of Mila did not like the way she carried the song, even though I think she carried it very well, and made it sound like as if it was her own song. Maybe that was it. They didn't like the fact that Nadia made it her song. They wanted the song to only be Mila's. Nadia must have lost 10,000 votes just for making the song hers. *sigh*

Even though I don't much like Stacy's new song, but Stacy did carry the song very well. I must say that the song is very catchy though, and just the kind of song that Stacy can carry off effortlessly. But then again, Stacy can carry all songs given to her with ease.

What mesmerised people to vote for her even more, especially the fence sitters, besides the fact that she always performed well at every concert, was when she performed Atas Nama Cinta, which, like I said, ballads tend to keep you mesmerised and touches your heart easily when performed well.

Oh well, the final concert is over. The winners have been chosen. Now it is time for the reality. I wish all the five finalist, Toi even, all the best.

What I would like to see is for all of them to be succesful. I think we wouldn't have to worry about Stacy because Maestro will take very good care of her. She is their latest pot of gold. Nubhan will make it in this very challenging entertainment world as he has very strong fans who will support him no matter what.

I do hope though that Nuhan will take further singing and vocal lessons so that he can bring out the best of his so called beautiful tone. Who knows, I might just be a fan of his if he can come out with an album that is good. *wink*

I think Riz has no problem too to make it in this industry. He too has very strong fans who will support him in every way they could. It is Nadia that I feel pity for. She has got the talent and the voice, but, like Amelia AF3, sadly, she does not appeal to those who cares more about character than talent.

I do hope that some big recording company will take her, and make her big. I also hope that Nadia will grow up quickly and work on her attitude. Rosma of AF1 was also only 18 when she left the Akademi, and she also suffered the same fate when the voting public did not like her attitude. But, she has improved a lot on her attitude, and she is now much liked by some of the people who once hated her, though she has yet to come out with an album that will make her big. I hope Nadia will not suffer the same fate, and that she will soon come out with a great album.

Good luck, Nadia! Good luck, Stacy, Ris, Nubhan, and Toi!

Booties for Fatin

I went crazy for amigurumi two weeks ago and actually went online to buy a book on amigurumis, which arrived safely last week. *grin*

I wanted to make a cat, which I posted about it last week, but I kept running into `problems' with it when the head of my cat came out lopsided, and the ears of the cat did not turn out the way it should.

I ordered two japanese books online, one on making amigurumi Hello Kitty (I find the cat cute! *wink*), and the other book was just on things you can crochet. My actual intention was to make the Hello Kitty as I was getting frustrated with the original cat I was doing, but when I saw the things I could make from the 2nd book, I dropped my initial intention, and went straight ahead to make this booties for my new niece, Nik Fatin Saffiyyah, or Fatin, as we affectionate call her.

Fatin is now slightly over two months old. She was born on 12th March, the very day I left for Melbourne for our holidays. For now, the booties are still too big for her, but, going by the rate that she is growing, I think it won't be too long before she will fit nicely into it.

It took me 2 days to make one half of the bootie, with a few times of unpicking as I kept on miscounting, and I could not get it to shape properly. However, it took me only one day to do the other half, and I was beginning to enjoy working on it when I came to the end of it! LOL!

I `presented' the bootie to Fatin the very night that I completed it. I hope that my SIL will keep it as a momento of my first attempt at doing up a pair booties after such a very long time of not doing one, even long after Fatin has outgrown them.

I am now in the midst of making another item from the same book, but I won't be telling yet what it is, as I intend to give this piece away too. When the recipient has received it, I will blog on it for sure! *wink*

Am I ready for this?

I am feeling restless. I felt like this about the same time last year too. At that time, I had just gotten my promotions.

This time I am feeling restless because I will be starting another new chapter in my career where I will be doing Project Management. I have been doing Design Management for the past nine years. Before that, since starting work, I have always been involved in doing designs, and have always loved designing since the tender age of 6.

It is time to move forward, and hopefully to move even further up in my carrer, or as some may say, move up the corporate ladder.

When I got my promotions last year, my boss put me in charge of managing the design units in the department, even though he had prefered that I do project management even then. I wasn't prepared to do project management then as I felt that I did not have enough knowledge of the job, and further more, I love being involved in designs, and wish to carry on managing designs.

However, now my boss feels that it is time that I start moving forward in my career, and by doing project management, he feel that it will give me the exposure and the experience needed to prepare me for a much better career movement in the future.

Project Management, from what I have read and heard from my colleagues who are already doing project management, is a challenging job, and you always need to be on your toes to make sure that you are on top of everything all the time. You have to know your management stuff very well, and it is something I am only beginning to learn.

However, my boss' confidence in me to take up the job is flattering, and I feel honoured, but scared at the same time, because it also means that he will have very high expectations of me, and I am afraid of what I might not be able to do.

People say that if you don't try something new, you will never know what you are capable of doing. I am hoping that I am capable of doing a lot of things which, before this, I thought I never could. I am hoping that I will be able to take up my boss' challenges to do project management, and do a very good job of it. I hate to fail him, and of course, to fail myself. I hope that I will be able to face all the challenges that comes with the job, and I promise that I will do my best to deliver what is expected of me.

Please, dear friends and families, do wish me luck!

Roast Chicken for dinner

We had roast chicken with sauteed vegetables for dinner tonight. I had roasted the chicked the night before already as I am working today, and had put them in the fridge, ready to serve today.

Can't see much of the chicken with all those vegetables, right? LOL! My hubby and I love vegetables, and our dinner wouldn't be complete without veggies! My son hates them! LOL! Kids!

Today, I slowly had it reheated in the oven while we waited for my hubby to come back from the hospital after visiting his mom who is still admitted. The doctors still could not figure out what is causing her to tremble so much over the weekend, and are running more tests.

It's also been a long time since I made this recipe for roasted chicken, which I concocted myself after reading up on roasted chicken in the recipe books. I took a little bit of recipes here and there and came up with this recipe which my hubby seems to like. I served it with potato salad. Opps! Forgot to take photos of the Potato Salad.

On Saturday I tried this new recipe for Irish Stew from the magazine FLAVOURS which I picked up from the mamak shop as I was buying newspaper a few days before. I forgot to take photos of the stew, but it looked almost like the photo in the magazine. It tasted good, only I wasn't too happy that the gravy wasn't as thick as I expected it to be. I am definitely going to try making it again, and maybe do some improvisation to get it the way I want it to be now that I know how to do the basic recipe. This time, I will try not to forget to take photos. *grin*

What we had for tea.....

It's been a long time since I made serawa durian, but, since my son wanted to eat fresh durian and I could not buy them in small amounts, I decided to make serawa durian for tea today. Looks yummy, doesn't it *wink*, and, if I may say so myself, it was! LOL! *wink*

I learnt this recipe from my mother-in-law. BTW, my MIL is in hospital today. She was admitted last night when she was tremoring so much due to her illness. The doctors could not be sure whether it could also be due to her fall last week. She is still in hospital even as I type this posting as the doctors want to run more tests on her.

She looked better when I visited her this morning, and my hubby said that she looked well when he left the hospital at around 5.00pm today. My FIL is at the hospital tonight to keep her company. We pray for her speedy recovery.

Back to our tea today, yup, that is indeed sausage you see next to the serawa durian. Out of place, huh? LOL!

My son prefers his sausage anytime than the serawa durian, although he simply loves fresh durian. I wouldn't be able to stop him once he starts on the durian. *grin*

I still have a little bit more of the serawa sauce. I might have it again in the next few days for dessert.

Impressive!

Finally! After nine concerts, I am finally impressed with the performances of all the students, although I still can't appreciate that much Nubhan's so called beautiful tone of voice. OK, so I am tone deaf. *grin* But, didn't his voice actually break (terkucil) when he was his rendering his song that Saturday night? Let's be honest about it.

Maybe he still have not found a song that would bring out the best of his `beautiful tone', and once and for all, prove me wrong, that he does have the unique voice which the market has yet to discover? OK, I will wait for that time. Maybe for the finals, he will get a song that is specially made for this special voice? So, I will wait breathlessly in anticipation. *wink*

Guess what? I think Toi did very well that night, and no, this time, I am not having a fever, LOL! and yes, I do agree that with his impressive performance that night, he deserves a place into the finals. I was really impressed and I think he has improved a lot in the last two weeks. Good for him. I think even his duet with Stanly, he sang slightly better than Mawi! Opps! Mawi's fans are gonna come after me after this! LOL! *wink*

I was most impressed with Stanly during the first concert, but, as the weeks passed, Stanly seems to be going only downhill from then on. I don't know whether his mom being in hospital have somehow affected his performances, but he has failed to impress me anymore after the first concert. A pity, really, since I think Stanly can actually sing.

Nadia and Riz could be holding hands when singing the lovely Endless Love song, but they failed to connect. There was simply no chemistry between them. Nadia looked a child who knows nothing about falling in fall. There was simply no emotion in her expression. To say that she is too young to fall in love, Mila was only 19 when she sang My Heart with Ebi with so much emotion that everyone was so mesmerised by their performance.

I like both Nubhan's and Stacy's expression when they sang the duet. It was lovely. They both look like they were very much in love, but nothing can beat Mila and Ebi's mesmerising performance, in my opinion. A hard act to follow. Pity that they are no longer a couple. They would have made a lovely pair to come out with a duet album of love songs. Oh well........

Did you all notice that this year, none of the students are doing back up singing for their friends, like in the previous years? I wonder why. Could it be because Ramli MS does not want them to be too distracted with their own performance? Too bad, because, to me, I think, when the students do back up singing for their friends, it tends to evoke a different kind of emotion among the students themselves and the audience. To me, it did. I can't feel that emotion this year.

What is wrong with AC Mizal! Why can't he let Stanly finish saying his thanks to his friends, his teachers and his supporters when he was bidding them farewell. Why did AC have to interrupt him. Let him finish talking, for God sake! AC Mizal has talked enough!

OK, OK, so they were running out of time, but, AC could have managed the time better. I was kind of wondering why did Astro want to do a tribute to Loloq during the 9th Concert instead of during the final concert, which I think would have been more appropriate. Maybe because Astro feels that AC Mizal would not have been able to fill in the time slot allocated? And then, finally, when it was time for Stanly to say his goodbyes, he had to be interrupted? *sigh* A time to say goodbye to AC Mizal himself, I think.

Never mind....it's the FINALS next week! Err...this Saturday, actually. I am hoping for some surprises. Even though I initailly think that Nadia might win, because I think she has got a very unique and powerful voice, but I think Stacy is a better performer. Stacy has been consistent throughout the season, and she can carry most songs with ease. She can dance and sing very well, though Nadia has proven in the last concert that she too can sing and dance very well.

But, I have a feeling either Nubhan or Riz might win, because they both have so many screaming female fans who would vote for him like nobody's business. *grin* Toi might just win 2nd place! I think it is going to be a tough fight.

Here's my guess -
Nubhan or Riz for first place, Stacy or Nadia for 3rd place with Toi in 2nd place. If Nubhan gets first place, Toi might come in 2nd, with Riz coming in 3rd, followed Stacy and Nadia at 4th and 5th place respectively. OR, Riz might win first place, followed by Toi, with Stacy or Nadia taking 3rd and 4th place. That's how the vote would go, going by the way the trend in the voting this season.

What I would like to see -
Stacy in first place, Nadia, 2nd place, Riz ,3rd place, Toi, 4th and Nubhan last. You have to remember, loyal fans of Nubhan, Nubhan has shown no improvement throughout the season, but Toi has, and I am just stating the facts, from my humble observation. Oppps! With that statement, Nubhan has just garnered 100,000 more votes! LOL! *wink*

That's my guess! What's yours?

Note: photos taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/default.asp

Going amigurumi crazy!

heheh....yup, that's the current craze sweeping over at NNC at the moment. It only needs one member to talk about it and show off her or his lovely work, and everyone would start jumping on the badwagon! LOL!

I can't exactly remember who was the first member that mentioned about amigurumi. I think it was Janet, when she showed off her pink mouse. Then, Sue posted the link to her blog at, showing off her cute amigurumi pieces, and I was so taken by the cuteness of her pieces, I just had to give it a go. LOL! Talk about being so easily influenced! LOL!

June posted this link, which was really helpful to get me started, and then Sue posted this link, and that made me make up my mind as to what I want to make as my first amigurumi. Adventurous, don't you think? LOL!

In my excitement to give amigurumi a try, I forgot that I had never done anyamis, and went head on into a large project! *grin* I slept late the first night trying to figure out the instructions, and I spent a lot of time unpicking as I kept miscalculating as I went round and round the rows, until I put a marker for the beginning of each row, did I finally managed to progress pass the first 3 rows! LOL! I almost gave it up, actually, if not for the cute cat that I imagine will be sitting atop my shelf. *grin*

So, I finished the head piece (the one on the right), but, it is a little bit lopsided and looks nothing like a cat's head! LOL! Not wanting to get discouraged by the lopsided head, I started on the torso part of the cat yesterday. I did not progress much on it, though, as I had to stop to take my son to his Robotics class followed by a movie to watch Speed Racer.

I had not picked it yet to work on it today, prefering instead to work a little bit on the Mandala Garden which I had abandoned for the past week of so when I got distracted my the amis. *grin*

On another stitching note, I started on another small project last weekend, after completing the LHN Gourmet Garden piece. This will be my travel piece, though I don't see myself travelling that much as most projects I am handling currently are coming to a close, that is, until I receive instructions for the other projects to be implemented.

This is another Little House Needleworks piece titled Chocolate Shoppe, and I am stitching it on 14ct overdyed opalescent piece I bought from Dyeing4U some years back. Dyeing4U has closed down since due to some illness in the family. That was sad, because their overdyed pieces are really lovely.

BTW, my sister-in-law and brother from the US sent me this lovely Mother's Day gift which was sent through my mum in Kota Bharu. My sister brought it back for me when she went home to Kota Bharu recently.

It's the cutest ever pincushion teapot I have ever received! Well, I have never received a tea pot pincushion before to begin with! LOL! But, this teapot is really lovely, and I have to thank my SIL and brother for knowing what I like and making my day! Hugs, Eli and Nik Ai!