Post- PRU-12

Today..I was smiling after knowing the results of the Malaysian PRU-12. Yes..a wave of wanting CHANGE has swept Malaysian citizens..thus the results that we see. Each and everyone need to know their standing..the reasons why..not just follow-follow neh..It is not that bad in thinking why not try it at least once...CHANGE..that is...the fear for change even in our own personal life is sometimes too scary to think about..Why??..bcos we have all the what if's in our mind..worst case if it is worse than existing situation..this is what scares us usually...moving from something predictable to something with uncertainty..Uncertainty bcos we do not know what is step 2 from step 1....BUT..if we never ever try to CHANGE..we will never know how it is going to be...Worst case for PRU...in4~5 years time you can always again use your power to effect another change... The changes will be in those who are in power to set the policies and manage it's running...the worker or those that runs it will be the same people toiling day in day out..the difference will be in focusing on what matters most..Nobody will lose their job just bcos of the change-over of top management like what will happen in 4 states...unless the person itself has some issues that now somebody will take a look at...the one who runs the show will be different but the ones who work for the show will be the person who is hired for the job all along...Nahaslah..bila tukar governance so tons of people will be laid-off..tak macam tu...

BRAVO to all those people who open up their heart and decide to take up CHANGE...the fears in your heart..let it be..definitely it will be fan by all the media news that you read..infact today in Utusan..it has already printed down that the BA cannot get their heads together to govern..they started with who will be the MB for Perak...Huh..3x..Huh...Why la..lo...Be fair...wait and decide... this is not anymore for us..it is for our kids and kids future..It is already tough making ends meet as it is..lets try to make the future of Malaysians will be something that there'll be benefits for all to share...I am not really into politics..to me no matter what.. it is tough for all those in it...But as long as the reps will work for their constituents..bring forward the needs of the people in parliment and try..try..no matter how hard..I guess..something will surely come up. I guess...for BA it will give them the chance to invoke changes...to prove..what can be done...even for BN definitely they will need to work harder..they will not be resting on their laurels too much...At the end of the day..we must give the HAQ to the deserving no matter who they are..do not deny the Haq for the good that somebody do...Open up our mind and hearts and our eyes and ears and even our nose will get the sense of it all....

My heart was in shreds looking at the photo of TGNA with tears falling down his face... my doa for that day are that people will open up their hearts and mind..May all the "hantus"pangkah BA...May Allah swt give guidance to the voters and May we be Sabr for whatever the on-goings will be..Alhamdulilah..Allah swt show us the way..The wins are not an easy thing to carry or run...it is an amanah with lots of trials..definitely BA have to work together..not just their heads but their heart too...I hope they will and find a way to resolve issues between them..and rule collectively with consensus...prove that the fears we have are just that..fears of the unknown....DSAI is still relevant definitely....at the end of the day we are Malaysians...lets start behaving as Malaysians to break all barriers..teach our children no matter what..we are from the same country...have the same fears and the same ambitions..may it will be a brighter future for everyone....

Living In Aramco - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

This coming July'08 will be Azlan's 5th. anniversary with Aramco. Not bad..he got a SR1500 gift certificate and for sure..you know who will it be going to..May Allah swt. make it easy for him in anything that he do...anyway..when we first got here we were the first Malaysian family... although there were 1/2 Malaysians too..those married to another passport holder. There were those who were Msian but has now become holders of other country citizenship. But after 5 years there are now about 50++ families scattered in Dhahran, Udhailiyah, Ras Tanura and Abqaiq...Dhahran being the most populated and nearer to the Al-Khobar and Dammam and just a causeway away abt 45mins from the country of Bahrain. So..I guess those who got to stay in Dhahran got the better deals in terms of amenities..although you can be easily tempted with all the sale that is always going on. Probably those who stay in other camps will be able to save more money compared to us here Dhahranians... No matter what..I guess in Aramco that's where you can find the most varied citizens from around the world..just go to the schools and you know what I mean..the most mixed marriages...all in all it is quite a unique community.

Honestly...I dont venture out of the house much as I am without any help at home...got to do the 1001 things myself that the house and family needed..almost always 24 hrs on call...but basically no complaint as I got my equal share of fun the way I want it..But 3 mornings in a week I attended classes...this got me going and meet more fun people..like minded in the way we want to learn new things..so got to make sure I can maintain the consistency of going to the Quran & Arabic classes...There are always something going on..like the Womens Group..Garden Group and plus if you volunteer in schools for certain activities. You might end up having no time to devote to what your house or family need...sometimes I have a houseboy come to clean the windows and toilets etc..but since he's back to India not sure till when..I havent yet get a replacement...On camp there also have a few snack bars, a cafe, a restaurant, a dining hall, a movie theater, swimming pools..hiking tracks..sporst facility, library, bowling alley, golf field, a hobby farm for horses..beautiful beach when its not hot... a great wall climbing area, art classes, individuals who also provide services like gifts, beauty, piano lessons, dance...you name it and almost always its available.. so life here is not too bad..once you get bored with not finding anything to do you can always go away for a short or long holiday. We were in Lon&Paris for 2 weeks, now planning for a 5week trip to Malaysia and in between maybe umrah to Makkah, weekend in Bahrain..thats what sums up your life here....

But the things you will almost always miss being here are relatives and the time....the food you once love but in actual fact not that healthy for you always..though it taste great and looks wonderful...But for me, the best thing will be seeing my children grow from my own nurturing... seeing more smiles each day between us...although the age is now slowly creeping up...

Zayd & Hannah

Student Lead Conference ~Sunday Feb. 10, 2008..Aramco School, Dhahran.

Trios at the 7th grade hallway...waiting for Zayd's turn..

Zayd at his famous locker...

Hannah & Papa front of the date tree...

In front of 7th. grade building...

Hannah waiting to be called in...

Hannah & Mrs. Lunsford her 6th. grade Oasis and Math teacher...

Student led means the kid got to present and show/tell their parents what they have been doing. Their progress in school that is...well..Hannah has great grades and Zayd has make some big scale improvements in Science from C- to now a B+ avg...wonder if he can maintain them... Here are some photos of them around school...

Plaques or Signs and Such'

Decorative painting attempts...

Here I have manage to make some " Welcome "signs. I know it is still not as per what I have read in the books of what it should look like but I can see some improvements in them...i dont mind saying so..ehemm..Still..I am feeling a little sad as my book orders have lost its way...I hope that it will reach me eventually..although my heart is sinking each day it did not arrive...

Anyway...here goes... the 1st. try was the one with lots of roses top and bottom..than I read somewhere it says to do the lettering first..2nd attempt I bough a template and was quite happy the letters are straight but Hannah hates it coz'to hear it looks too straight..huh...3rd attempt I do the tracing transfer and colored the lettering in first..but it is a mess..but I was quite happy with the roses and leaves...I guss as I practise it will be better...Hannah ask...No other flowers kah Ma...? Maybe later... thought if its difficult it might give me a challenge..I guess should have followed the advise to start with a daisy first...but I was so geram...in awe..of all the beautiful paintings of Aniza,Nora that I see on the web...

Swags and Such...

Craft Extravaganza...

Last week was quite eventful as I manage to complete eventhough half way some of these arrangements. As it would normally happen, I will fell in love with some of them and reluctant to part with it for its rightful owner. Anyway...I still have some stuffs left to duplicate them. Now its to make the paper ribbons or silk and attached it and they will be done. Soon enough will be with their rightful owners. I know they will like them as much as I do....but still I hope what I have made is as per what they have in mind...This is usually the difficult part for me to do if the items are custom ordered..I rather just make them ahead and have the available stocks on display and chosen by those who like them...next will be in calculating the costs for each piece..main will be the material cost and than the workmanship. Since I bought the silk flowers from Malaysia last summer..some air freight charges has got to be added...here my cake scale comes in handy...

Paris ~24th. December 2007

It was a day spend around Paris driven by Shahrul while Bal spend 2 hours queuing to get the tickets to go up Eiffel...Jazakallah Bal... We went up to almost the top floor of Eiffel..I couldn't believe it that I have reached this landmark....all this while I have just been looking at pictures and read about it...Awesome....

I will do the summary later on..Just to get these photos uploaded first..

Zayd's 14th Birthday ~Paris Disneyland -23rd. December 2007

Zayd's 14th Birthday was spend / celebrated in Paris Disney...there was no cake but the whole day from 10am till about 8pm we were there. Although we did not manage to get on most of the popular rides due to extremely long queues..even for the Fastrack pass..but we did have a go at a few rides..we started with the Spinning Tea-Cups..next to the Carousel of Horses than to Dumbo Flight...Pirate Ship...Run-Away Train..River Boat Ride...

All in all..it was an extremely fun filled day although cold..we have lots of pictures taken but in the end...everyone was pretty tired by the time we got to the hotel. The toilets were surprisingly very clean...I was hesitating for a long time to go bcos of the crowd and thinking about how the place will be..but I shouldn't have done so as it was surprisingly well taken care off..

Transportation to and from hotel was great...it is a must to have a hotel with shuttle service. Whether we will come again to get on more rides...insyaállah..or maybe to DisneyWorld in Florida...

Paris Disneyland

Will update soon...

Hannah Kamilah's 12th. Birthday ~21/12/2007

St. Pancras Station..19/12/2007

Collecting our tickets at St. Pancras and having some snacks...