MY HOLIDAY

I was away – away as in out of the country from the 18th – 28th May 2007. Monsieur A and I were in Europe. During the 9 ½ days, we were in 4 different countries of Western Europe. The countries that we visited were France, Germany, Austria and Chez Republic.

Although it was a busy period for me at the office, this trip was something that I really looked forward to. Actually, Monsieur A was having a conference in Vienna, Austria for 2 days on the 21st and 22nd May 2007. My friend was teasing me saying that the trip was like a honey-moon for both of us. Another honey-moon after 22 years of married life...

It was just the two of us. We left the children who were in the midst of their mid-year exams. Unfortunately, Monsieur A also left the poster that was meant for the Vienna conference at the KLIA Mc Donald’s. But luck was with him, the organizing committee in Vienna was kind enough to have his poster printed in colour out-put and it was done for frei (frei is ‘free’ in German).



BTW, if you visit Austria, you will not be able to visit Vienna because over there Vienna is referred to as Wien (pronounced Vin).

We really enjoyed ourselves albeit somewhat exhausted because of the non-stop driving from one city to another. Oops…I did not drive at all although the car rental company said that I can drive using the Malaysian Driving Licence. We also walked or ride on the tramp or train in the cities.

I will try to post pictures and write on our holiday experience in my coming entries! Watch out, ok! For now, you can recall your geography knowledge from the maps that I have put up!

TEACHER'S DAY

Every year on the 15th May, I notice that the florists, souvenir shops, super markets, 5 Ringgit Shops or even 2 Ringgit Shops are packed with children and parents! WHY? Because 16th May is TEACHER'S DAY! The children want to buy something for their teachers. I have a friend who lamented at parents who bring their children to the 2 Ringgit Shop to get presents for the teachers. To me the value doesn't matter, it is the thought that counts. Just imagine if one has 4 school going kids and each of them has like 7 teachers, and each kid want to give something to their cikgu (= teacher) on Teacher's Day!

I was a teacher for about 13 years before my present job in Putrajaya. Most of the time I was teaching Additional Mathematics and Mathematics. At one time, I was asked by the school head to teach English. That happened in 1991 when we moved to Alor Star, the little town in the North of Peninsula Malaysia. I told the head that I am not trained to teach English although I can speak fluent English. He said that the school does not have enough English teachers. We exchanged looks. I took up the challenge and I taught English for a year at SMK Seberang Perak, Alor Star. Any of my English students reading this blog?

Back to Teacher's Day, since I left school I get less and less of the 'HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY' messages. Well, my youngest student should by now be 24 years old! They could be teachers themselves, but hang on! I don't think so. I have never met my student who is a teacher. They are either engineers, government officers, managers, doctors, etc.

This year I received only one 'HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY' text message from my student whom I taught in 1997- 1998. Currently, he is working with Petronas as a chemical engineer. A polite boy. Oops...he is a grown up man now. He graduated from the land of many koalas and kangaroos like me and my husband.

I would like to wish everyone 'HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY' - we all have teachers and we are teachers at one point or other in our lives.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY AFIQ!

At 7.16pm, 11th May 2007 I received an SMS from Atiqah's number. The message read "Ibu ari ni bpe haribulan". (Mum, what is the date today). I was quite surprised because Atiqah was with me at that time. Suddenly I realised that it must have been Afiq who is using Atiqah's mobile. Instantly, I remembered it is the 11th May - Afiq's birthday!!! Oh, No! I forgot!

After Mahgrib prayers, my husband, Arifah, Afiq and I sent Atiqah for her Taekwando lessons at UKM. We then went to Metro Kajang to get a football for Afiq. That is what he wanted for a birthday present from his Abah (Dad). I got him a birthday cake and Lamb Pie from Secret Recipe.

After all those shopping, it was time to go back to UKM to fetch Atiqah. Can you imagine the aroma when Atiqah entered the car - I mean after a sweaty 2 hours Taekwando activity!!! Both Arifah and Afiq had their noses covered!!! Cheeky brother and big sister teasing the little sister.......

Back to the house, I could see a happy and smiling Afiq - clutching his Nike football and deeply indulged in the Chocolate Indulgence Birthday Cake.

PUT THE BLAME ON.....

Does it need an Arab tourist to lament about our polluted beaches, the sour face taxi drivers or their offensive smell cabs? Looking at the situation in the past and present (may be future???), I would say that more often than not, the relevant authorities in Malaysia will react instantaneously to complains. Sad to say - after the quick reaction but without monitoring by any ministry or authority, we will be back to square one!

Take for example, smoking at public places. Do you think people care? My personal statistics show that when I eat at open restaurants (not fast food outlets), during more than 90% of the time I will encounter people who just smoke as though they can control the direction of their cigarettes smoke! Dear smokers, don't you know that secondary smokers face a higher risk than you???

Sometimes I blame it on the restaurant's owners for not being strict to their patrons. Once I told a restaurant owner to tell one of her customers not to smoke in the restaurant because the smell of the smoke was really disturbing me and my children. And all the owner did was to smile at me. Period! With the thousands of the 'TAK NAK' bill boards around the country, I think so much money, time and effort has gone to destruction.

I don't mind if smokers want to smoke. These are my tips for them:

• Smoke in your own house!
• Get into your car (alone), wind-up the wind screen and smoke as much as you want!
• Go into the deep jungle where there are no campers. Smoke there and don't come back to civilization.

Many years ago, I did not really mind smokers. I started to abhor them since I read that even though secondary smokers are not smoking, they are more likely to acquire diseases like heart failure and other sickness related to smoking. And also a car whose owner smoke habitually while driving will still have traces of nicotine that can pose a danger to others who are in that car even after many years later. So, please be careful the next time you buy a second hand car or get into some one's car!