HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Aiman!

Aahh! It's been a tiring 3 days getting things ready for my son's 7th birthday party. A week before that, I had already started preparing the party packs, and the invitation cards needed to be printed out so that my son can hand deliver them to his classmates in school.

My hubby had earlier suggested that we just have the party at McD, KFC or A&W, but I was not in favour of it because the places where parties can be held were far from home. My hubby then suggested that we cater the food and have it at home but, when we went down the menu, I realised that I am capable of cooking and preparing all the food that we wanted on the menu. It would be such a waste to spend so much on something that I know how to do. So, finally, we agreed that I would cook some of the food, and my sister-in-laws (Eina & Eli) would help prepare one or two more dishes to make up the balance of the menu that we wanted. So, the stage was set......

I took leave on Friday, 20th April, to bake the cake as I would have to frost the cake on Saturday, in between preparing the things to make up the sphagetti sauce, potato salad and garlic bread. I need only have to cook the spaghetti and the sausages come Sunday morning, 22nd April, the day of the party, and the actual date of Aiman's birthday.


Baking the cake, frosting it, and preparing the things to make up the sphagetti sauce, potato salad and garlic bread sounded pretty easy, or so I thought. I have cooked this menu numerous times before when I had a maid, and before my son came into our lives. The last time I cooked up a storm single-handedly was more than 6 years ago, and I was younger and stronger then. I thought I could do it, and I wanted to do it for my son. We did not have any celebration for his birthday last year because just three weeks prior to his birthday, we sent the maid home unexpectedly due to some problems. All plans to have a party went down the drain as we took time to adjust to the new routine without a maid. So, this year, I promised him that we will have one. He was also eager to have his newly found friends from school over for the party.

So, prepare I did for 3 whole days, most of the time on my feet.

The party was on Sunday morning, and I think most of the kids had fun. I had prepared food enough for 20 kids and their parents, making it enough for more than 60 people. Guess what? I learnt something new as a parent. When you have a birthday party for a child and invite his or her school friends, the parents take it that the invitation is only meant for the child, and not for the parents and his/her siblings as well, unless you clearly stated it in the invitation card. I did not know that. Duh!

I naturally thought that a child would definitely be accompanied by at least one adult. I, for one, wouldn't just drop off my son at someone's house and just go off shopping or something. I would want to make sure that I am there in case he wanted food or drinks or needed to go to the toilet, something like that. Who is going to keep an eye on my son while the host is busy entertaining the other guests? Okay, so you say that I am overly protective of my son? Who wouldn't, in this time of day when kids go missing within split seconds at the blink of an eye. But, more so why I wouldn't just drop off my son and go shopping is so that my son wouldn't bother the host should he needed anything.

Well, that was what had happened at my son's birthday party on Sunday. Not that I am complaining that I was suddenly put to take care of 10 of my son's school friends (the rest were cousins who came with their parents. Phew! LOL!), don't get me wrong. If I had known that the parents were just going to drop of their kids I would have better prepared myself for it (mentally and physically) and not be suddenly swarmed with kids asking for water, not that water, this water, not that food but this food, no, I gotta go to the toilet NOW!! LOL!

It was choas for a while, while I got over my shock! LOL! I could have handled the situation better if I have had time to divide the responsibilities with my hubby - who takes care of kids wanting to go to the loo, who gives out the drinks, who looks after the kids who wants to eat, but fussy about the food laid out on the table, and wants something else! LOL! It sure was an eye opening experience for me! Duh! *grin*

So, this is the trend now these days, huh? When your child is invited to a party, unless it is stated that you, the parents, are invited too, you are expected to just drop off the child and go for a much needed honeymoon! LOL!

I am glad to have my sister, Lin, to take care of the games (Musical Chair, Passing The Parcel, Maze Puzzle & Stick the Elephant Trunk), while my brother, Ayis, was the music director for the Musical Chair & Passing The Parcel. Thank you to Eina for the Mee Hoon Siam (Fried Siamese Mee) and the sandwiches, Eli for the chicken fingers, and Kak La for the lovely chicken pies. A BIG Thank You to my hubby for taking care of the kids where he can (I think he was just as flustered too, but he was more calm than I was! LOL!), and of course for organising the tables and chairs and blowing up the balloons and putting them up.

A HUGE BIG HUG to my son, AIMAN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAYANG! We LOVE YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!! We hope that you have had a great 7th birthday party. The next one, God wiling, is going to be at McD, KFC or A & W! LOL! *wink*

BTW, did I tell you that we have so much food left over, that we will be eating sphagetti and Mee Hoon Siam for the next ONE WEEK? LOL! *wink*

and another thing..... the kids were more eager to see who gets the car on the cake than who wants to eat the cake! LOL! *wink*

My feet is killing me........................

Work-in-Progress Report

It's Work-in-Progress Report Week again at NNC this week. I have not been doing any cross stithing in the last 3 weeks, prefering to try out some crochet patterns instead, two of which I have completed earlier and have put up photos of the pieces.

My star project has taken a back seat as I try my hands out at crocheting using yet another variegated thread, this time in combinations of off-white, pink and yellow. It is looking only slightly better then the one I did using the pink and off-white variegated thread in that, the blotches of colours are not so blotchy.....well, kind of! LOL!

However, this time around I am having problems of the piece curling up as I crochet the piece. I did not experience this when I was doing my two earlier pieces. Janet suggest that I either spray block it and rip it apart. What? Rip it apart? Oh dear! I am about a quarter way done, and simply `sayang' to rip it apart. The photo shown here was taken yesterday. Since then, I had completed another 5 more rounds/rows, so, you can see, I have advanced quite a lot.

I tried ironing it tonight and it looks like it can hold it's shape. I think I will go ahead and finish this piece, and at the end of it, I will spray block it as shown here at this blog (http://grannyalong.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-spray-block.html) put up by Mel. Thanks, Mel! Thanks to Janet too for her suggestions.

BTW, here is a small coaster I made for Margaret as a token of appreciation for hosting the Library Day at her house on 31 March. Thanks, Margaret! Can we do more of this? *wink*

The coaster is nothing great, really, but, it was an attempt at trying something small and different. I just hope that Margaret will find some use for it.

Pincushion Exchange and Garden Card Swap

Aahh! Finally these two exchanges are done with! Well, almost! The Garden Card Swap came to a close when all the participants managed to send out their cards on time. I almost thought I could not make it, the usual excuse being that all of a sudden my schedule at work got quite hectic. But, I still managed to get it done. I made a commitment when I signed up for the exchange, so, I am responsible to mail it out on time, no matter what the consequences were, unless it is a family emergency, which, of course, takes precedence over anything and everything else.

So, here is my card which I mailed out to Ying, who also happens to be the organiser for this exchange. Thanks, Ying! I mentioned in my earlier posting that this is actually not my normal style, but, never the less, I am happy with the result. It is something new, which I probably might not have tried out if not for the exchange.

Next is the Pincushion Exchange which was supposed to come to a close by now, but, due to some members not being able to mail out on time, some for health reasons, others for reasons only known to them, it is still not yet completed. I hope I can close this exchange soon when all the participants have received their PCEs. It is 'stressing me out' when an exchange cannot be completed within a certain period of time! LOL! *wink*

Anyway, above is the PCE I made for Niesa in Sarawak, and here is the PCE I received from Radha. A really nice pice by Radha. Love the teddy bear that came along with it! She told me that the teddy can also be turned into a pincushion, not that I want to poke pins into the little guy though! LOL!

What a disappoinment!

Even for someone who is tone deaf, I noticed that the music arrangement for last night's Akademi Fantasia's 5th Concert was a BIG letdown.

After last week's impressive concert, it was diappointing to watch last night's concert, and I blame it on the music arrangement. I think the kids worked hard to get into the songs, to have a feel for the songs. They got out of the comfort zone to take up Ogy's challenge and to try something new. I congratulate them for trying, despite this being a competition where you don't take risks. The music arrangemments were so bad, that all the critics could see were that the kids could not sing or could not carry the songs well.

The critics failed to see that the kids could dance and sing at the same time. That the kids could act while they sing their songs. If their singing failed them, their acting and dancing pretty much made up for it. Okay, so this is a singing competition, so the kids should concentrate on their singing first before they go into acting and dancing. But, is it really just a singing competition? I think not. If it is, than why have the diaries where the kids are exposed to the pubic everyday for them to be scrutinized and critisized for everything that they do or do not do?

Yes, it would be a sorry case if the winner emerged as one who cannot sing, but has the good looks. I am not expecting Dafi to win if he does not improve on his singing, and I have said before that Dafi cannot sing, but, last night, he did a good job of dancing effortlessly while singing. That, you have to give him credit. The dance steps were well coordinated, and his moves were cute! So, OK, he's cute *wink*, but, he has improved, and he tried. Give him that credit at least.

I must also salute him for being able to take the hash critics against him weekly very well. He took it in his stride, him being only 19, and worked to improve. He just haven't got the songs that is his genre. Maybe this coming week? I can't say the same about Aizat, other than simply that he thinks that he is great! Is he really? Did the audience really boooed him last night?

Another sorry case of bad music arrangement, I think Heliza did a good job of acting while singing, but, again, all the critics could see was that her acting took away her focus on her singing. She probbaly did not sing as well as the previous weeks, but, neither was she doing an act in previous concerts. She did something different. She got out of her comfort zone, and tried acting while singing. What did she get for her efforts? Harsh critics for not spending enough time polishing up her singing, but spending too much time acting. If I were Cikgu Fatimah Abu Bakar, I would have been embarassed, for she was the one that had put Heliza up for the acting, and she (Cikgu Fatimah) did a good job of it. I would give Cikgu Fatimah credit for being able to get Heliza to act while singing. For, if not because of the acting, it would have been just a dull song, what with such a bad music arrangement.

I have never been impressed with Shawal, but, him singing a dangdut song this week, I looked forward to his performance last night. I thought his dance steps were entertaining, though I expected more aggresive moves, but, it was worth given credit. However, again, he was critisized for concentrating too much on the dance steps, and not on polishing his singing. Hey! Don't the critics get it? Blame it on the music arrangement! It made the songs sung by the kids a BIG disappointment!

Even Ebi, who I looked forward to perform, was disappointing, though this song made famous by Broery Marantika, could have been one of the killer songs for the night. This song is not Ebi's genre, and the bad music arrangement simply made it worst. Even Candy was not spared the bad music arrangement, her being a consistent performer each week.

I hope ASTRO would bring back Sham Kamimaze who has done such a wonderful job in the music arragement for the past 4 seasons to do the music arrangement for the rest of the concerts for this season, instead of leaving everything to Roslan Aziz. It is obvious from 3 concerts already that when Roslan 'meddles' with the music arrangement, the concert turns out a disappointment.

Really, ASTRO, please WAKE UP!!!

*Note: all photos were taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/v5/

Time for a happy dance!

Yeap! It's been quite a productive weekend, stitching wise, well, rather, crocheting wise. I managed to complete both pieces of the crochet pieces, and I am happy to say that both turned out quite nice, even though with different effects.


The one in pink variegated is kind of sweet. My only wish is that the variegated could have been more subtly instead of in blotches. It won't be my last attempt at using variagated though. I can't, I have 4 balls to finish! LOL!

This second piece is a combination of pink and off-white, though I think the colour in the photo does not show it up too well. I used DMC Traditions size 10, colour 5746 combined with WINA, colour 902. I really like the feel of the DMC thread. Really nice and soft to work with, making your end product very nice to the touch. The WINA is rather rough, but, combined it with DMC, the end result is really nice. I am going to try more of this combination with other patterns in the future.

BTW, the variegated is MINLON POLLY colour 288, for those interested to try out the thread, to see fo ryourself the effects.

On another note, here is a photo of the crochet pieces Usha did for me which she sent with the Garden Card Swap. I now have matching crochet pieces, 3 lovely pieces in all, all crocheted by Usha. Thanks, Usha!

He's got my vote! *wink*

heheh.....after watching last night's concert, Ebi's got my vote (yeah! Like as if I am voting! LOL!)!

Wow, that was a great performance by Ebi! I really enjoyed it, especially when he jumped off the stage and landed beautifully in front of Ogy! LOL! I did not notice him before this except for last week, like I said, I was impressed with his rendition of Mawi's Al-Jannah. Not an easy song to sing, that one, but he carried it well in his own style.

I saw that his ratings went up tremendously (43% was it?) after his performance and his placing went straight up to number one, pushing even the crowd favourite Dafi aside with only a 10% vote! I think the young girls are smitten by the fact that he won 1st runner up in a manhunt competition or something like that! *wink* I was smiten, not by his looks, but definitely, by his good performance last night. I will be looking out for him in the next concert and the next and the next! *wink* Hopefully he will have the holding power to last till the finals.

I was kind of surprised though with those who got eliminated last night. I had thought that Fatin and Noni would last at least another 2 or 3 concerts before being eliminated. But, because last night, 3 students were eliminated all at once, it would have been difficult to actually predict who's going out. Only I thought it would have been either Mila or Dekna, since there were nothing really outstanding about both of them, not that the others, with the exception of Ebi, has got anything outstanding to show off anyway.

Well, that's reality TV for you. You get shocked by the results, and these young Malaysians can sometimes shock you by whom they vote for, and this is not necessarily for their talent.

Have you seen him?

My heart cries for the little boy Yin that has gone missing while accompanying his dad shopping at Sogo, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, a week ago. He is only 5-years old. I am most certain that his family, especially his mom and dad, are having sleepless nights thinking about him, wondering where he is, and praying for his save return. I am most certain 1001 things are running through their minds, wondering if he is okay, if someone had taken him, if he is somewhere wandering in the streets, hungry and helpless, wondering why mom and dad has not come for him.

The Weekend Mail today showed a clipping of the video footage of him walking confidently out of the shopping complex, and it has reduced his mom to tears. It has reduced me to tears. His mom had said that Yin is a quiet, reserved child and does not talk much, so it was shocking to see him stroll out of the shopping complex confidently. It was out of character for him, she said.

I pray that Yin is safe, and I pray that he will soon be reunited with his family. May he be protected from any harm. May a kind soul find him and return him to his family who cries for him. Amin.

If anyone out there have seen him, do contact the numbers listed above with his photo which was taken from the poster Malay Mail is distributing in their efforts to help find Yin.

Say what?

He is the current principal of Akademi Fantasia Season 5. He just called Mawi a fluke. He is labelled by some in the entertainment industry as a perfectionist. I am talking about Roslan Aziz. He was featured in today’s Weekend Mail because of his recent remark of Mawi.

A perfectionist, you say? Hmmm…….if he is so much a pecfectionist, how come this season I have yet to see any real talents in any of the AF5 kids? He said that he has personally chosen each and every kid that made it into the Akademi. So, now we know what his standards of perfections are, huh?

Tonight is already going to be the 4th concert. I have yet to see who among the 13 left can actually make the cut to be in the finals, what more the winner. So far, all the kids have only mediocre talents.

Dafi? He’s cute, no doubt *wink*, but…….. hmm…., sorry folks, I don’t believe he can sing. He’s been lucky so far, his songs have been pretty easy ones. Fatin? Maybe. It depends on the songs that she gets.

Candy? A maybe too. So far, she’s been one of those who have been getting good comment from the critics, including from over-dramatizing queen, Ogy. Shawal? He’s okay. Too full of himself, though.

Ebi’s okay. If there is someone that I want to vote for (not that I am voting! LOL!), he’s getting my vote after his good rendition of Mawi’s (I am not even a fan of Mawi! Oops! My mom’s gonna get mad with me! LOL! *wink*) song last week.

Dekna? Mediocre talent too. So are the rest, although I see some talents in Heliza. I really can’t say who can make it to the finals, or who I hope can make it, because sometimes the young voters’ tastes can shock you! LOL!

In the previous seasons, I can pretty much guess who will make it to the finals, or, at least I have a favourite who I cheer on weekly, and this is not necessarily because of their looks. I think they have genuine talents.

In Season 1, although I am no fan of Vince, but I could see that he’s got talent, and definitely, he’s got strong female fans, my sister included. LOL! I was cheering on for Rosmah, Khai & Sahri. In Season 2, I was cheering on for Bob, Kaer, Zahid, Farah, and Adam, who all made it to the finals.

Come Season 3, I was all out cheering for Kefli! Yup, he’s cute! *wink* But, that boy has got lots to polish on his talent. I have seen him sing live the song 'RATU’, popularized by Awie of Wings, and I was impressed! That boy can actually sing! Remember his great rendition of BERHENTI BERHARAP? He was clearly a winner that night, for sure! I was also cheering on for Marsha, Amylea, Akma and Zarina, although only Marsha and Amylea made it to the finals.

In Season 4, I was impressed with Haziq’s unique vocals, and was strongly hoping that besides him, Farhan would walk away with the car. Alas, they both lost out to Faizal’s mediocre talent because he (Faizal) has got strong voters from the young females who was charmed by his simple and humble ways.

Tonite, again, I hope to be shocked with some great talents. *wink* Shall we see just how a perfectionist Roslan Aziz really is tonight?

*Note: all photos were taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/v5/

An experiment................

I know I should be going back to work on my Star Project, but, somehow today, I just wanted to try out the variagated crochet thread I bought at Haby's when I met up with Linda & Lillie 2 weeks ago.

I actually started on it last nite, but after doing 12 rows, I felt that the I did not achieve the effect I expected. I thought it would turn out something like the effect Faizon had on her tatting pieces. You know, the way the colours kind of subtly change? I like that but, unfortunately I could not achieve that effect with crochet, although the piece looks nice, sweet, in fact! *wink*

It could be either because the colour variations in the thread that I bought is not as nice as the ones Faizon bought, or, my expectations was simply too high! But, actually, by looking at the thread on its own, the colour variations are really sweet! It goes from off-white to light pink to dark. I thought that my doily would have the same effect. Unfortunately, it turned out in patches of off-white, dark pink, and light pink. The colours does not change subtly, but rather abruptly. Nevertheless, it is still a nice piece, if I can say so myself! LOL!

Anyway, not satisfied, I stopped at the 12th row, and this morning I started the same pattern, but using two different colours of thread - off white & pink. I stopped at the 12th row too just to see the effects to compare. I think this 2nd piece still does not exactly have what I had in mind, but, I still like the way it turned out.

I took photos of both pieces, but, I think the photos do not do justice to the nice colour variations of the threads. You can't quite compare the different effects the different threads give. I will snap more photos when I finish both pieces. Hopefully the next time, the photos will look better.

Almost there...........

aaahhhh! The pincushion for the PCE organised at NNC is finally done! Phew! I almost thought that I might not be able to complete it on time. I have been doing too much travelling this month, with the days passing by without me putting in a single stitch on my PCE for days! I am glad that I have got that out of the way. It was beginning to stress me out! LOL!

I still have the handmade card to be done up for the Garden Card Swap (GCS) organised by Ying at NNC. I actually did one already about two weeks back, but I am unsure if that is the one I want to mail out. It is a different style from the one that I am used to doing. I got inspirations from one of the many card magazines I have in my ever-expending stash. It looks OK, only, because the style is different, I felt that it does not have my signature style in it. My partner is Ying, and she might just think that that style is my original style. Hmm....I don't want her to have misinterpretations of me, do I? LOL!

I like the card though *wink*. It's different! Maybe I could make that style a part of my style too, but with some changes? Hmmmmm.......

I can't put up photos of any the items I just mentioned above until they have both been mailed out. My partners might just be taking a peek at my blog! LOL! *wink*

I will definitely put up photos as soon as they have been safely mailed out and received by my partners. I can't wait! I get anxious each time I mail out something to my friends, knowing the services rendered by Pos Malaysia hasn't always been smooth sailing, but, I have been lucky on most occassions, so, I am hoping that luck will always be on my side.

I am feeling.....

a little restless today.....

Don't ask me why because I don't know either, but, I have a feeling it has got to do with the fact that I have not been doing much stitching the whole of last week, and I have loads of housework still to do.

It's been a very hectic week for me last week, with the 2-day meeting in Langkawi from Monday to Tuesady (I left for Langkawi on Sunday, and only got back to KL on Wednesday after taking a one day break), followed by a trip to Labuan on Thursday for a site visit and project discussion, coming back to Kuala Lumpur only on Friday.

I did not feel tired at all, at least not until I got home on Friday afternoon after picking up my son from my mother-in-law's house. That's when I felt really bonked out tired that I slept for two whole hours without actually intending to.

I stitched a little, working on my Pincushion Exchange (PCE) organised at NNC , as I waited for my son who was having his art class. The PCE is due to be mailed out on 2nd April, and I still have much to do, but, I could not pick up the momentum to finish the piece this weekend, despite it being only a small piece. I still feel tired from the trips, and last nite, I did not sleep well, because my son climbed into bed in the middle of the night and he kept moving about that it kept me awake for most part of the night.

The laundry needs to be done, the meals to be cooked, the rooms to be tidied up, I am feeling restless because there is much to do, but so little time. School is back on tomorrow, and I still have not gotten all of my son's school things ready - his snacks for his break, his schoolbag, his uniform......I am glad that at least I made him do all of his homework before we headed on to Langkawi, so that is out of the way. Phew!

Just to get my stitching mood back into the swing, I am putting up photo of the partially completed PCE. I have also put up photos of my granny squares which so far I have completed 10, including 6 from the previous batch which I did some time back. I managed to do some crocheting while at the airport in Langkawi while waiting for my flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

I hope to get back into the swing of thinsg this coming week. I need to, if not, I will be lagging even further in my chores........

The fever is back.....

or has it really?

I watched the first concert of Akademi Fantasia 5 (AF5) last night, hoping to see something different. There were some changes made, but, I am sorry to say that the changes made did not impress me the least bit. In fact, I think I got annoyed to a certain extent with some of the changes that were made.

For one, the introduction of the AF5 kids look more like a fashion show. The kids changed clothes THREE times last night - one for the opening intro, another one for their individual performance, and again for the MENUJU PUNCAK song. I wished they had stuck to wearing their intro clothes because they were better then the ones they wore for their individual performances. It was okay to change clothes for the MENUJU PUNCAK song since this song required some dancing steps which some of the clothes worn were not suitable for dancing, but to change clothes 3 times? Is this a talent contest, or a fashion show? *scratching my head, trying to think of a logical answer to my own question*

I hated, or shall I say, I just wanted to puke, when, during the previous seasons, when some of the kids came up with taglines to introduce themselves, but because only a few had tagline intros, they were bearable. But this season, Aznil made every kid come up with a tagline which, to me, was really ridiculous, especially those that never thought of one, but, because it was an `instruction' to have one, one kid actually came up with just a 'CAK' tagline and got everyone laughing in amusement. I pity that girl. She must have felt pretty embarassed by the response from the audience in the hall.

For some reason last night, none of the songs performed had any 'umph' to it. It was either the kids just simply did not give their all, were too nervous, this being their first concert, or the choice of songs were simply bad, or worst still, the music arrangement was terrible! It did not bring out the best (if they had any) in any of the kids. Whichever it was, I hope this week, the choice of songs would be better. And please, do something about the music arrangement, Astro. I am no music expert, but last night, somehow, the music simply sounded odd, even for someone like me who is tone deaf! LOL!

I remember the first concert last season where already I could tell who's got the voice, who didn't. Farhan and Haziq were outstanding even in their first concert with Farhan's strong vocals, and Haziq's unique voice (even my hubby who is not into AF has an opinion on Haziq, saying that the first time he heard Haziq, it made him stop doing what he was doing to appreciate the voice and song that Haziq was singing) just perfect for singing traditional malay songs. Too bad Farhan's strong vocals lost out to Faizal's mediocre talent just because young girls were charmed by Faisal's 'humble' background and simplicity as opposed to Farhan's powerful vocals. Again, I ask, are we judging people for their talent or their background to win a talent contest? *sigh*

Anyway, back to the present AF season, another change made by Astro was to have 3 permanent panel of critics, instead of one. Why? So that the critics can see if the kids improve over the weeks? Okay, granted that that might be the reason why Astro decided on 3 permanent panel of critics instead of one, so this means that I have to listen to Ogy's long winded and over-emotional, over-dramatizing comments every week should I decide to watch the concert every Saturday? *sigh* I might just end up flipping the channels each time she opens her mouth to comment.

But, to a certain extent, I do agree with some of the chatters at Channel@15 that the kids need critics of that nature (very direct and blunt) so that they don't fool around too much. I felt that the kids last season did not show any improvement even in their 8th concert because they were either over-confident of themselves, or, simply, they were playing around, especially Amirul. They know that the Akademi is just a stepping stone to being famous, so, whatever the critics say does not really matter for they are already famous just by being admitted to the Akademi.

I have yet to know all the kids of this season for I do not follow the Diaries. I wanted to puke when I took a peek at the diary on Wednesday, 15 minutes into the program, that I had to switch off the TV, when the kids started crying. Do the kids think that by crying will get them sympathy and more votes? Really! Farhan, Haziq, Velvet & Diddy of season 4 upheld their tears for as long as they could, and, with the exception of Diddy, they all got into the finals. There were no dramatising on their parts.

This season, it's only the first week, but already the kids are playing up to the camera. It was okay when Farah did it in season 2. It was already getting annoying when Amylea tried the same trick too in season 3. I think a few played up to the camera too in season 4, but, please, not in season 5 too! Enough is enough! They all look so pretencious!

I think AF1 was the best because all the kids were oblivious to the camera surrounding them. Whatever they did, they were just being themselves, no make-up and all. They were sincere in their actions, whether good or bad. There were no pretence about them because being the first batch, they never knew the number of cameras that were focusing on them. Their relationship with each other were close.

Last season, I felt that some of kids are too full of themselves, and only care about themselves. Their tears during some of the concerts when one of them had to part ways did not look real. When Farhan tried to put up a brave front by holding back her tears, she was rediculed, saying that she had no heart, and no feelings for those that had to leave, She was just interested in getting to the finals. From what I could see, she cared for all of them, though she lack the emotions to show it, maybe because she is the eldest in her family and have been taught to always be strong and look strong for the benefit of others. Even though she was just 22, she was matured, and carried herself well.

Heheh...I bet by now, those reading this would know by now that I am pro-Farhan and Haziq! LOL! But, I also like Diddy, Velvet and Zila. I am hoping that if Maestro fails to promote Farhan & Haziq well, that other recording companies would come forward to produce good albums for them for I see strong potentials in both of them. Farhan can carry most songs well, but I think she would do very well singing songs that brings out the best of her strong vocals. Haziq definitely would be a sure win singing "Irama Malaysia" songs.

Okay, I have side-tracked again! LOL! Back to AF5, I hope next concert (if I feel like watching) will see some vast improvements in the performances by the kids. I hope they would be given the right songs, and I hope that Astro will bring back Sham Kamikaze to do the music arrangement because he has done a good job for the past seasons.

Oh, BTW, it is sad that the kids `kicked' out this season don't get to go back to watch the weekly concerts and give moral support to their friends. I wonder why Astro decided on that move. I can't say that it is a good move. Whatever the reason may be, I hope to see better improvements in the coming concerts.

Note: all photos were taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/v5/

Work cum holiday in Langkawi

My husband and I had a meeting in Langkawi recently. Since it was the school holidays, we decided to take leave and extend our stay there and brought along our son and my mum. We stayed at Bella Vista Langkawi for the first two nights where the meeting was held.

My verdict on the hotel? I won't be staying there a second time. As you approach the hotel, you will be impressed with the architecture of the building as it reminded you of a castle where the disney princesses live. You would still be impressed as you get into the lobby to check-in, but that is where your good impression of the hotel stops. The room is rather small (nothing like what you see in the photos shown at it's website), and so is the bathroom, which is OK actually for a 3-star hotel, but what is most disappointing is that the hotel is not very well maintained. The shower curtain is dirty and the air-conditioning does not function properly, causing the room to get really hot sometimes. A friend got trapped in the elevator with his son for 15 minutes before the maintenance could get to him. The television in our room was very grainy, making watching any program like a guessing game trying to figure out the who the characters were.

If we hadn't decided to change hotel on the last day of our stay there (after the meeting was over), I think we wouldn't have enjoyed our stay in Langkawi (the holiday portion of it) that much, except for the shopping part where my mum had a whale of a time shopping and going around town with my son in tow, as we rented a car throughout our stay there, as the hotel (Bella Vista) was very close to town. The only plus point of the hotel, in my opinion.

We contemplated whether we should stay on at Bella Vista for the last night of our stay in Langkawi, but, at the last minute, we decided to pack up and head on to Pantai Cenang and check-in into Awana Porto Malai. Luckily there were still rooms available. I am glad we did. The hotel is beautiful, plus it has a swimming pool, so that was heaven for my son! LOL!

They had no beach since it is a marina, but the beautiful view of the sea and the lovely room very much made up for the lack of a beach. I highly recommend anybody going to Langkawi to stay there, although you would need to rent a car since the hotel is very far from town and very far from any `civilisation'! LOL! Just the way a holiday should be!

Oh, BTW, while I stayed in Bella Vista, who did I meet up? Radha! Yup! Radha also came for a meeting organised by her ministry, though a day later. She recognized me from photos put up at NNC by BJ during our recent meet-up and introduced herself. Fancy meeting her there of all places! LOL! Glad we met, Radha, though we could not chat up for long since we were there on business. *grin* Maybe another time we could spent more time chatting about our stitching, ok? *smile*

When the stroke strikes........

Yesterday I visited a close uncle (my mum's cousin) at Subang Jaya Medical Center (SJMC) who suffered a stroke on Wednesday. When he was first admitted, he lost all abilities to control his voluntary actions, like the movement of his arms, legs, eyes, and even the control of his bladder.

When I saw him yesterday, he was already to move all his limbs and he was alert. We were told that the immediate action by family members to bring him into hospital prevented the brain from further damage due to the lack of oxygen brought about by the stroke. However, it would probably take him a year to fully recover, and he would have to undergo physio-therapies and other forms of therapies to get his movemnets back to normal. We thank God that there is still hope for him to fully recover.

He was warded at Cardiovascular Care Unit (CCU) and only two visitors were allowed each time. My mum went in first while I sat with my son at the lounge waiting for my hubby, who had gone to park the car, to join us. As soon as my hubby arrived, I went in. The minute my uncle saw me, he let out a sob (although there was a tube attached to his throat for breathing purposes). It was heart-breaking to see my uncle this way because my uncle is a big size man, and when he talks (when he was well), the room would be filled with his voice and laughter. He has always been a joyful man, but always a responsible and caring person , especially to those close to him.

When I went to further my studies in the United States, by coincidence, I got a place to study Architecture at the same university where he was doing his Masters. He took it upon himself to be responsible for my well-being throughout my stay there, so much so that many of our colleagues dare not date me for they `fear' him (LOL! *wink*) because they would have to go through an `interview' with him first, only then can they take me out. Hmm.....no wonder I had no boyfriends during those days! LOL!

I remember one time when I sprained my ankle, but didn't know, (I thought that the swelling was due to my falling and it was just a mild bruise) while learning to play tennis (now you know why I do not know how to play tennis? LOL!), he came looking for me when my room-mate told him that I have missed classes for two days because I was unable to walk. He scolded me for not telling him about the fall, but I did not want to trouble him. Further more, I thought that the swelling was nothing serious and it would go down in a couple of days. He took me to the hospital and practically had to carry me down the 3 flight of stairs from my apartment to get to his car.

Having an uncle studying at the same university sure does have its advantages.....and disadvantages! LOL!

I do pray that my uncle will recover quickly and fully from the stroke. To see him immobile would be something hard to accept for someone who has been active all his life, but, only God knows what lies in the future for him...and us.

GET WELL, Ayah Li. We love you!

The cards are back!

It's been a long time, a very long time since I did any cards. What inspired me to start making cards again was a result of my son wanting to pay a visit to Papier, The Curve at Mutiara Damansara.

I was on leave on Wednesday and took my son to join my hubby, who was working, for lunch at the Curve. I never intended to drop by Papier because I know that if I do, I will tend to spend unnecessarily.

But, after lunch, my son insisted that we drop by there because he simply loves to play with the dinosaur toys there (like as if there aren't enough dino toys already at home! LOL!). It was a mistake. A BIG MISTAKE! LOL! Spent I did, not a little, but a lot and my purse is currently suffering a shock from the amount spent! LOL!

I bought a set of clear alphabet stamps and acrylic block to go with it, which, mind you, cost a bomb, ColorBox stamp pads, 3 card magazines and 3 12"x12" scrapbook papers. The cost? My purse is crying in pain! LOL!

I went home and did up 2 cards. On Thursday nite I made 2 more cards, and today, I made another one. I am on a roll! LOL!

Some progress and other things

With my cough improving a bit, yesterday I managed to put in some stitches on my Star Project. Even though I felt like I spent close to four hours on it (with many breaks in between), I felt that I made little progress. It seems to take me ages to see any progress. Maybe because the piece is a big one.

I feel like giving up on it, but, yet, I want to see it done. Maybe if I have a friend stitching along with me it might help me progress more? *wink*

BTW, while I was doing some light spring cleaning, I came across this piece I bought when I visited Graz some 3 years ago. I bought this piece at a small shop that sells only finished pieces, and no charts. I would have certainly bought some charts had they sold any.

Don't you think this is such a lovely piece?

On another note, I thought I would put up photos of the small things I sent to my partner for the VSE which was recently completed.

Thank you to all members who had participated in the Valentine Stash Exchange.

The 100 day cough?

I have been sick, very sick in fact, in the last week or so. I had a bad cough and cold that does not seem to want to go away despite taking two different types of antibiotics and a quite a few cough and cold medicines. There are times when the coughing fit gets so bad that I feel like swallowing a whole bottle of the cough medicine! LOL!

The cough gets so bad especially during the night that it has affected my sleep so much that I get up feeling like a zombie in the morning, but yet, I still have to go the work because I have lined up so many meetings for the week and postphoning some of them would make me go off schedule on so many of my projects. Added to that, I had a meeting Kuching on Monday, 12 February, which I had to fly there on Sunday because the meeting was early in the morning. Came back to a full day meeting on Tuesday and flew to Penang on Wednesday. All that travelling just did not do well for my flu and made it worst. I was at my worst on Thursday morning when I had to drive to Putrajaya for a meeting, and almsot fell asleep at the wheel due to the lack of sleep and fatigue.

After the meeting, I drove to the clinic, but a journey which would usually take only 40 minutes took me close to 1 1/2 hours to get there because I practically went round Putrajaya twice. Must be because I was too sick, I simply could not find my way out of Putrajaya to get back to Subang Jaya to go to the clinic! LOL!

The doctor insisted that I take the medical leave and go home and sleep so that the medication can take effect better. I was still contemplating of going back to the office in the afternoon because I had a meeting to chair and another one on Friday morning. But, I relented when I realised that I wouldn't be able to chair the meeting anyway with the bad cough. After making some calls to have the meetings postphoned, I took my medication and went to bed.

It has been 2 days since I finished the last dose of medicine, but the cough and cold is still there though not as bad. I am able to get up and prepare some simple meals for the family. Before this, my hubby has had to buy all meals since I was simply not up to doing anything. The coughing fit has left me weak most days.

It gets so irritating at times when the coughing fit kicks in, and my sleep is still interupted by the coughing fit that kicks in a couple of time each night, but my mood has imprived. I am not as easily irritated, but I am just frustrated why the cough and cold would not go away despite all the medication that I took. Some call it the 100 day cough. Gosh! Is that how long I still have to suffer? *sigh*

NNC's inaugural meet-up!

Yup! We had fun!

Our first inaugural meet-up for the group was held on 10th February, 2007 at Seri Melaka, Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

I was late getting there for I made the mistake of taking the LRT (Light Rail Transit) instead of driving there because I thought that going by LRT would get me there quicker considering that it was Saturday when most roads leading to town would be jammed up. I also wanted to avoid the jam coming back because I had a dinner to attend the same day.

It is one of those days when you just miscalculate your timing. When I got there, most of the members were already there - Angie, Faizon, June, Janet, BJ, Emily and Diyana. Rose arrived slightly later since she also took the LRT. Soon after, Shanny arrived with her mum, followed by Jo and later Wendy. I think Wendy surprised everyone with her presence because I never told anyone that she was coming, but we were having a guess the mystery member game where Emily said that she was bringing along a member, but she was not telling who is is, and Wendy wasn't the mystery member! LOL!

Much later, Azie arrived with Linda with all her wares of cross stitch things to sell and we were like going goo goo ga ga over them! LOL!

Thanks, Emily, for injecting some fun into the meet when days before the meet-up, we were like listing down almost every member of the group, and mind you, we don't have that many members, and yet we did not get it right! LOL! Well, I almost did! I had already guessed it was Janet, by said that she was from Kedah, when she is actually from Ipoh! Duh! Emily said that we were 99.9% wrong! LOL!

Anyway, we had fun getting to know everyone with the little time that we had. Three hours was still not enough time when we have so much to talk about and show off what we have done and been doing! There was so much that we wanted to learn from one another, but time was simply not with us. I also had to leave early to get ready for my dinner, so that made time flew even faster.

I had fun, and I am almost certain many had fun too. I must thank Emily for making the booking for the place and for treating us the `sago pudding'. I thank June for her lovely rose pins, Rose for her lovely pincushion, and Shanny for her lovely heart shape hanging ornament.

I thank each and every member that made it to the meet up and made it a great one! Hopefully we will have many more great meet-ups in the future too!

Out of this world.....

and into space! LOL!

When I bought my latest issue of Cross Stitcher last month (issue 182), my son saw a chart of a space man. He asked that I stitch it for him. In fact, my son has always been asking me to stitch something for him each time I bring home the latest issue of any cross stitch magazine, but I kept putting it off. Even his birth sampler I have yet to start on it and he is going to be seven this year! LOL! Poor him! I have stitched so many name plates and birth samplers for my nieces and nephews, and I have yet to stitch either one of them for him. So, so, sooo terible of me! *shaking my head*

Anyway, since this is a small piece, I thought I'd stitch this piece for him. I thought it would be a real quick one. It did, only, I did not have the flurescent and glow-in-the dark floss called for in the chart. I have smsed Wendy and she said she will get it more me since she is the distributor for DMC threads. So, until the threads arrive safely in my hands, this is as far as I got.

A little something different compared to what I have been stitching lately, which is mostly very sweet and matured designs. It's a nice break, and I hope to get it done real soon and have it framed up to put it up in his room.

An envelope of goodies!

The envelope looked very deceiving. It was the usual brown envelope you buy at the stores. You could never tell from the envelope that it contained so many lovely goodies. When I ripped open the envie (notice that I said `ripped'? Goes to show how excited I was to receive the envelope! LOL!), out came packets and packets of goodies! There were punched images, stamped images, embellishments, the list is almost endless!

But, the best of the lot is a red and white crocheted doily, painstakingly crocheted by Usha! It's really lovely! Thanks, Usha, for all the goodies, and the time and effort you took to crochet the doily. Valentine's Day has started already for me! LOL! Shall I tell my hubby that I got a valentine present already from someone else? LOL! *wink*

The goodies I got are actually the Valentine Stash Exchange (VSE), one of the many activities organised at NNC. You are assigned a partner to whom you send some valentine goodies. You can send anything, but part of it must be craft related, and in the colours of love. You, in return, will receive some goodies, but you do not know who your partner is until the day you receive the goodies.

Sounds fun? It is, especially when the innocent looking envelope lands in your hands!

Time to grab the towel!

First, I have to thank BJ for taking her time to do up the tutorial for making up the towel topper. It looked easy enough. Shouldn't be much of a problem for me who have dabbled with the sewing machine since my craddle days, right? WRONG! LOL!

It started easy enough, until I got to the part where I put the back and the front together, with the binding already in place. I think I missed a step in BJ's instruction. Trust me for not printing a copy of the tutorial and hoping to rely on memory to get me through the steps. Have I forgotten that I am not as young as I thought I am or want to believe? LOL!

Anyway, when I turned over my towel topper to the front, I could not figure out how to seal the ends of the binding tape. I sewed it to the back but, somehow, it just did not look right. It looked even worse when fully completed with the towel in place. It looked bulky and awful to me. I just did not like the way it turned out. Not any fault of BJ, of course. She did a swell job of doing up the tutorial. It was just the way I did it up, or my sewing.

After much contemplation, I decided to turn this interchangeable towel topper into a fixed towel topper. By doing this, one thing for sure, I could hide the flawed binding tape permanently into the topper. The second thing is, the topper does not look bulky like when the interchangeable towel is folded into it. Just the way I prefer it!

So, teacher BJ, how does it look? Sorry I did not follow your intructions to the T, but instead, used the intructions and made some slight changes to get it to the way I like it to be. Hope you don't mind.

I still learnt something new from BJ's tutorial. Before this, I have never used binding tape the way she showed me how. I gave a go at making an interchangeable topper, but just did not like the bulky part. I think it's the towel I used. Yeah, right! Blame it on the towel! LOL!

Crazy for pincushions?

Yesterday, while at Bangsar Village to send my son for his art class, there was a charity drive in aid of the flood victims that lost almost everything during the flood that kept most of the southern part of Malaysia in waters for almost 3 weeks.

There were lots of lovely things sold. Besides the books, colour pencils, crayons and other school things which you can either buy and keep which, 100% of the sale will go to buying school things for the kids, or, you can donate back the school things you bought to be given to the school kids.

Apart from that, there were quite a number of stalls selling crafts and handmade items like beaded necklaces, bracelets, earring, bags, cards, cushion covers, placemats and many more handmade household items. I can't say how much of the sale for these items will go to the flood victims, but, I hope more then 50% will, if not more or all of it. It is, afterall, a charity drive officiated by Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil, Women, Family and Community Development Minister.

I bought a couple of things, which, among others is this cute little turtle pincushion! Isn't it so adorable? I just had to buy it! Yeah, like as if I don't have enough pincushions already! LOL! And, guess what? I also dropped by QG to pick up some interfacing for my towel topper, and, hee hee, as I was paying for the interfacing, I saw this cute little crazy patch pincushion! Heheh..what else! I bought that one too! Goodness! I don't believe I just bought two things without giving much thought to it! LOL!

As if that was not enough, last night, I finally made up my 4-patch pincushion! LOL! This is my first 4-patch pincushion, and definitely not going to be my last! It was difficult at first trying to figure out how to do it, but, once you get the concept, it was a breeze! *wink* I love the way the green matched the pink fabric, like as if it was meant to be! *wink*


The only thing about the pincushion which I wasn't fully satisfied is that I did not pad it more, because I thought it might make it bulge too much. But, now, when completed, it felt too soft, like a squashed up pillow after being used for a long time. Get the picture?

Anyway, just to `show' you that I DON'T actually need anymore pincushions, here are my collection thus far. Some made by me, some given to me by some lovely stitching friends. Will this make me stop buying or making more pincushions in the future? I think you can guess what the answer will be, right? LOL! *wink*

Isn't this loaf of bread a beauty?

LOL! I can't believe that I just called a loaf of bread a beauty! I must be going nuts! LOL! But, I just love the way this bread turned out! *grin*

Yum! It was a delicious breakfast I had this morning! All because of something so simple as a freshly baked homemade whole meal bread! Yup! Baked my own bread last night using my bread machine which was almost becoming a white elephant in the last one year for being under utilised!

With just butter and a spread of fresh strawberry jam bought in Cameron Highlands recently all completes the meal. Yum! I must thank my mum for giving me the bread machine for a birthday present some 4 years ago. Thanks, Mum!