Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Trip to Had yai

During last Deepavali break, I went to Had Yai for one day trip with Fatti and her family. We took a van from Bukit Kayu Hitam and it cost us RM100 per trip (taxi RM60 per trip. Had Yai is the commercial centre of Southern Thailand and a popular weekend destination for visitors from Malaysian. It is located about 60km from Bukit Kayu Hitam on the Malaysian border. To my opinion, the city itself is not particularly interesting but it is a good place to go shopping if you are staying in nearby.

I just feel like I was at somewhere in northern Malaysia because I still can hear a substantial amount of ‘Bahasa Melayu’ spoken by the local, except that I can see the 'Tuk Tuk' car everywhere which is a bit odd for Malaysian.



I guess there's not much to see or do in Had yai, we only had some thai tradisional massage, medicure dan pedicure for the ladies and last but not least,we had the delicious and authentic tomyam...nyum nyum.



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Happy Eid - 2008 & 2007

Dah 2 tahun berturut-turut saya menerima jemputan rumah terbuka daripada GACOS Research Team yang diketuai oleh Dr. Azimuddin Bahari. Sebenarnya saya banyak terlibat pada peringkat awal projek tersebut, sayalah yang menyediakan paperwork untuk mendapatkan grant daripada NAPREC.

Saya sengaja menggabungkan gambar yang diambil pada tahun tahun 2007 dan 2008 sekali, biar you all boleh buat comparison.

2007
- Masa ni still ada Zainal dan Bob
- Semua masih single lagi
- rambut Cyn leper je, muka pun ala-ala pucat
- Nora masa ni baru je join, malu-malu kucing





2008
- Zainal dah bertukar ke Institut Tanah dan Ukur Negara (INSTUN)
- Bob dah bertukar ke Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
- Muhaira dah kahwin (tgh pregnant 5 bulan skrg ni)
- Rambut Cyn dah ada gaya ala-ala mak datin, dah pandai make-up cantik
- Iryd nampak manis, seri nak naik pelamin hujung tahun ni agaknye
- Eija pakai kebaya, sejak akhir2 ni makin bnyk lak baju kebaya dia
- Jalil kacak makin kacak kot... kwang, kwang




lain-lain tu, you all fikirlah sendiri.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

My favourite Sambal Belacan

A lot had happened during the absence of me typing in this blog. I've been busy with Ramadhan and Raya celebrations. Third week of Ramadhan, I managed to make my favourite 'sambal belacan' for fast-breaking at Eija and Cyn's place. My 'sambal belacan' was quite different from sambal belacan that usually served at any stall or restaurant in Peninsular of Malaysia. Why? Because i used a lot of anchovies (ikan bilis) and shallot (bawang merah). For those who want to try, here are the ingredients:



And here was the menu for that day...
* Sup tulang and udang masak sambal - both cooked by Eija.
* Sambal belacan and ulam-ulaman - prepared by myself.



I love eating home-cooked meals and i wish i will get a chance to try all the foods from all over the world. I have a friend who can’t appreciate any food that is not cooked her hometown way and I think it’s sad. She’s missing her chance to try new things and it also makes she not-so-exciting company when eating out. Whatever!!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Congratulations Boss!!



I would like to dedicate this post to my workaholic ex boss Dr. Sr. Azimuddin Bahari, as tomorrow will be his last day working with us at NRE. I had worked with him for almost six years, since February 2002 until August 2007 and that was my first ‘real’ job. I have no idea what he might have learned from me as I was a young, inexperienced, mischievous, stubborn and determined assistant, but I learned a lot from him in ways that he might never have imagined.

One of his favorite commands was ‘saya suruh buat, buatla…nanti pandai la saya nak jawab macam mana’. From this statement I learned that boss is always right, never question their orders. Here some of his favorite quotes and things I had learned;

‘Tak kan itu pun tak boleh/tahu buat, nama saja dapat ijazah pentadbiran tanah’ – moral of the story, never say no before you try.
‘Saya nak sekarang’ - moral of the story, be well prepared for any circumstances.
‘Thank you, good..good’ - moral of the story, compliment others for their efforts, to improve their self-esteem.
‘Boleh mati saya kalau takda kerja’ - moral of the story, we must work hard like we will live for another 100 years.

For that I want to thank him and tell him that I valued all his support, guidance assistance and patience. I wish there are more officer like him in the government service. Congratulations on your promotion, my very best wishes for your continuing success.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

An Evening with Alayna Zara

Suka ikut Farah ambik Alayna Zara kat nursery selepas habis waktu kerja. Nak tahu kenapa?.... sebab baby Alayna Zara ni comel bangat. Tengok le gambar-gambar busuk & masam dia ni. (sorry Farah, gambar ko takde)



If i'm not mistaken, Alayna means beautiful and Zara means princess. Luv u Zara!!!

Monday, September 8, 2008

I LOVE IKEA



Saya adalah salah seorang daripada 15,000 rakyat Malaysia yang mengambil bahagian dalam kaji selidik IKEA... Mari kita tengok keputusannya

Puchong being the neighbourhood with the highest number of participants. I'm proud of being a Puchong's dweller. Kalaulah IKEA ada kat Puchong, sure masa saya banyak habis kat situ, bukan masa je..duit skali.


70% women vs 38% men - bought shoes in the last 1-3 months - myself included...What is it with women and shoes? best friend? I do believe Cinderella's stepsisters were not desperate for Prince Charming, they were desperate for her glass slipper...hahaha


What u have most at home? 84% say its clothes - hmmm.. i have no doubt, I'm one of them..what a waste.



Quite sad, only 39% say they donate things for charity when they don't have enough space for them..come on M'sian, we can do better than that.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Tribute to the late Nur Aisyah Alya (04.08.08 – 01.09.08)

It seems just like yesterday, I received a text message from a proud mum regarding her first-born child and followed by MMS, an image of such adorable baby. I still can’t believe that baby Nur Aisyah Alya has left us.

My thoughts and prayers are with my best friend Norhiaty and hubby during this time of great sorrow.

Nor.. Don’t be sad. Nur Aisyah Alya is still here living inside our hearts. She is not going any where else but back to the side of Allah. Allah will take good care of her. Baby Aisyah, though we want you here, we know you’re in a much better place now. Nor, you have to take good care of yourself. I wish you all the best.

AL FATIHAH

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Finding my paradise

Buying a dream house

So, you decided to buy a house. Good move, but there are a lot of factors you need to consider. Buying a house will probably be the biggest purchase most people will make in their lives. Whether you purchase a property for residential use or as an investment, the following factors are important for you to consider:

• Price
• Location
• Type of houses – landed or high rise
• Layout and design of the house/ unit;
• Amenities
• Density-number of units and proximity;
• Future development in the same project whether it will enhance your living conditions or otherwise; and
• What type of land is your property sited? On hillside, former mining land, swamp area.
• Financial strength and capability of the housing developer.

But as a degree holder in Land Administration and Development, I think the land status and the nature of title is crucial to be considered before buying a house.

Land Status

The status of the land can be checked at the Land Office (Pejabat Tanah) in the case of land alienated under Land Office Title or the State Land Registrar (Pejabat Tanah dan Galian Negeri) in the case of land alienated under Registry Title. Example as follows:

• Land Office Title – Pajakan Mukim (PM),Geran Mukim (GM), Hakmilik Sementara Mukim {HS(M)}
• Registry Title – Pajakan Negeri (PN), Geran (GRN), Hakmilik Sementara Daftaran {HS(D)}

The checks can be done at Bahagian Pendaftaran Hakmilik (Carian Rasmi Hakmilik) by paying a nominal free for search service. If I’m not mistaken for State of Selangor and WPKL the fee is RM50.00 per search. You’re advised to check on ownership and land usage restricted interest. Some land is subject to certain limitations of interest in the Document of Title. These limitations could be found on land which:

• Require State consent or/and Executive Committee Board consent; commonly found in leasehold properties
• Require Ruler of the State in Council approval for Malay Reserved Land. Malay Reserve Land can only be purchased and owned by Malays. Definition of ‘Malay’ varies from state to state.
• Are classified as Customary Land in Malacca and Negeri Sembilan
• Are held by natives in Sabah and Sarawak

Apart of that, the search will enable you to know if the land has been mortgaged with the bank. Land which is not mortgaged is better since it shows that financial situation of the company is stronger.

Most important, please ensure whether it is:-
Freehold land - which gives the owner perpetual ownership;
Leasehold land- for a period of up to 99 years (check the number of years left) - which allows the owner to own properties only for a specified period. When the period expires, ownership reverts back to the State Government which issued the titles. This type of ownership usually requires consent of State Government when owners want to transfer the ownership, lease or charge the titles for financing.

*Freehold vs Leasehold – I’ll elaborate more on this on the next entry.

Nature of Title

You should ask the vendor/developer the nature of title that you will get for your property whether it is Land/Individual Titles or Strata Titles. Otherwise, you also can find out the nature of title that will be issued for the property from the Sales and Purchase Aggreement. If you signed Schedule H, u will get strata titles and if u signed Schedule G, u will get land/individual title.

Land / Individual Title- In general, an individual title is for a property which has its own land and this usually means that the land itself is owned by the proprietor.

Strata Title- Strata titles refers to title that is issued to individual parcel in a Strata Schemes. A Strata scheme is a particular type of development which divides a building or land into parcels, accessory parcel and common property and which specifies a system of management (for example, Condominiums, Apartments, Town Houses and Gated Community Schemes). Land Titles for the land on which the building stands will be issued to the management corporation which is made up of all parcel owners in a Strata Scheme.

*Land / Indivual Titles vs Strata Titles – I’ll elaborate more on this on the next, next entry.

Do not rush into making a decision. Buying a house is not like buying groceries. Think carefully whether it is the one you are looking for. A cheaper house does not mean it's a better deal. I've bought three houses. I created this entry only to share my knowledge of home-buying with others, I wanted to create the guide that I wish I had when I was a rookie home buyer.


My First House


Second One


Third

Monday, August 18, 2008

My first attempt at blogging

Hello to all my blogger friends and others who may join later.

Today is such a good day. I do believe that every day above ground is a good day and today is my first day blogging my own blog.. hehehe.. yeah...it’s never too late to start... emmm.. nak tulis apa lagi nih.... aha, I need to confess that writing is something I don’t much enjoy, because I’m always at a loss for words.

Why not introduce yourself first.. good idea...
Well, there’s nothing remarkable about me… just plain, ordinary girl…I love to spend time with the people I love, family, close friends etc. I love shopping and anything else that has to do with fashion and beauty (biasalah, typical women's affair) but sadly, I didn’t enjoyed my hobbies a lot because of financial constrain...kihkihkih.

A little bit about myself....

Personality strengths: Charisma, Innovation
Personality weakness: Obsession
Adjectives to describe my self: upredictable, adventurous