This morning was Sports Day for Kakak (my elder daughter) and they all had good fun with the games. As usual, the girls are grouped into teams and they did the games on a rotation basis over a certain time for each. The Lower I girls took in charge running the games smoothly. It was good fun, and the weather was great too.
Later in the afternoon, we had parents meeting with the teachers. As this 03/04 academic year is coming to the end next Wednesday when they break up for a long summer holiday, we were briefed by the teachers who are going to take over for the next class; the general syllabus, the expectations, the ways things are run, etc.
At the end of the session, all of us were shocked to hear that there will be a substantial number of new students joining the year. At the moment, Kakak's year has a total of 34 pupils divided into 2 classes. But comes September, there will be all together 46 pupils divided into their 2 new classes! ... and parents went absolutely ballistic. The all nice and cheerful meeting unfortunately ended in a bit sour mood. Parents will definitely lodge formal complains to the school administrator over this matter ....
Strange view on the road this morning....
Where are all those cars flying St. George's flag that have been dominating the country for the past 2,3 weeks... there were thousands of them everywhere you look. Some cars even had 4 flags. Abducted? Fled?
Oh ya! THEY LOST.... and these people are quick to get rid of those flags, malu ke bang oiiii. Ala... main macam budak sekolah camtu, tak yah nak malulah. I thought it was a practice session last nite coz one group kept attacking and the other kept defending; must be a practice... must be.
Pagi tadi tetiba dapat text (org Mesia panggil 'sms') from Kak Zaharah.
Katanya Radio Rantauan dah online! So atok pun terus masuk check, pasal baru-baru ni Kak Zaharah (Zaharah Othman, NST journalist in London) menemuramah atok sekejap, pada hari makan-makan sempena perpindahan MSD/Msia Hall ke bangunan baru [dengar kata dah 2 kali tunjuk kat TV3 di tanahair pasal new building ni]. So, adalah bahagian atok, paling akhir. Kak Z letak gambar atok yg mata terpejam pulak tu, aiseyman..... hilang glamer; gambar last summer lagi pun.
Radio Rantauan adalah satu usaha terkini dari ahli-ahli Rantauan.com bagi mengiratkan lagi silaturahim dan saling bertukar pendapat dan pengalaman sebagai perantau. Atok adalah antara yang terawal menganggontai portal ini, yang dimulakan oleh seorang perantau di LA. Sudah bermacam-macam program telah dijalankan melalui portal ini di kalangan ahlinya yang berada di seluruh dunia. Dah sekarang ni teknologi penuh tinggi, nak organise things online pun senang, walaupun di benua lain.
Dari portal Radio Rantauan juga ada link untuk mendengar Radio Melayu Melbourne. Mungkin elok juga kalau boleh ada Radio Melayu UK... ada sesapa nak bagi sen tak? atok boleh jadi deejay, hahahahaa.... Boleh buat drama melayu di radio, something like..
A: eh dasyat la kau masak... mat saleh sebelah tak komplen ke?
B: ala... lantak lah, bagi dia tahu sikit camne bau belacan. Hari tu ada gak makcik tu tanya aku, aku buat tak paham je....
A: esok camno.. jadi?
B: macam biasalah... kau nak gi car boot yang mana satu?
A: aku ingat nak gi yang jauh sikit la, dah boring kat sini... barang pun kat sana elok-elok sikit, nak ikut?
B: boleh juga... oklah, aku balik dulu, nak singgah beli kebab kat tepi tu jap. kau tak gi hantar mat c balik mesia ke malam ni?
A: mmm... rasanya tak lah, aku dah kata bye-bye kat rumahnya tadi, lagipun malaslah aku nak ke heathrow tu.
The final of Modelsearch 2004 for Berkshire was held at the Broad St Mall. It was a great fun; first... she did her catwalk
Then...we had a break after all categories went up the stage; the judges went into a room to discuss and total up their scores. Afterthat, all back on stage for the announcement.
Je jenggg... the winner was....
Never mind my dear... we had fun, smile.....
Last month, all 7 year old (Year 2 Primary) pupils in England went through their first national level test, namely the Key Stage 1 Assessment. We were very nervous to know the result since our princess had to skip a few days of school during that period due to cold and flu. Needless to say, the exam was conducted within a period whereby there was no fix timetable; more or less like a 'pop-quiz'.
Results are in 3 basic categories:
Level 1 and W : below the nationally expected standard Level 2A, 2B & 2C :nationally expected standard [2B is average, 2A is above average] Level 3 and 4+ : above the nationally expected standard
We were surprised to get the result which she brought back today:
She got Level 3 for all subjects tested [Speaking & Listening, Reading, Writing, Math, and Science].
WELL DONE!!! [ni nak kena pi cari hadiah la pulak ni..... ]
Modelsearch 2004 Earlier today, Arissa went for the semi-final in the 6-10 year old girls category. It was a rush; picked her up from school at 3:30pm and dashed to the Broad Street Mall for the 4:00pm event. Changed her school uniform in the toilet, brush her hair and dashed down to the stage just to be told that we had to go back up to the 1st floor to register and collect her entry sticker - 106. What a puff.
There were about 15 lovely girls selected to do the catwalk from photos entries. At the end, seven finalists were to come back on stage this Saturday... here are the faces:
See you all Saturday at noon. Have fun my dear princess :)
xxx daddy
Zizou telah bersakti di penghujung perang dan retak sejutalah jiwa pasukan anak sekolah bersinga tiga bersama para badut tukang sorak mereka seantaro dunia.
It was 18 months ago when I bought this cool piece of engineering. It's cute and fun to drive and comes in all sorts of colour coordination. Funny thing is, whenever a smart bumps into another of its kind on the road, the drivers would either wave or flash his/her headlights as if we're in a club. Obviously it has a league of its own. With 600cc Mercedes engine and interchangeable plastic body cladding designed by the watchmaker Swatch, it does make a colourful statement on the roads. And it takes about 20 litres of petrol to fill up.
What I like about my Smart is that it's very easy to drive [mine is both auto and manual, on an easy one-touch button selection] and squeeze thru the congested urban areas. Especially during Friday prayers when parking space is hardly available, I could simply tuck my Smart in a little space in between cars, normally perpendicular to the curb [the length of a Smart is equals to the width of a standard car, i.e. 2 Smarts can occupy 1 parking space, 90degree] .... and this turned many eyes.
The problem is, since we had an addition to the family and my other half just went back to work after her 6-month maternity leave, on a few occasions I've to take both princesses with me and obviously a space for a third person is non-existence in Smart. So, I'm forced to change into a more practical machine. We are pondering between:
1. Yaris
2. Mini
3. Micra
4. 206cc
or if we have the dosh,
5. ML270, or even the best...
6. RX300 [to complement our IS200SE]
So far, we had 230E, E200, and 318i... time for another change.
It was 16 weeks ago when we went on this 4-hour photo shoot for this Angelina magazines. Issue 10 of Angelina just hit UK newsagents this week. Below is the front cover and what one will find inside.
The other sister magazine, Angelina's Fairy Tales will feature her in its coming Issue 40, dressed as a wicked witch.
Hari ni panas, 29dC sama seperti semalam. Dan hari ni juga, Venus melintasi mentari. Fenomena ini terakhir boleh dilihat sini pada tahun 1283 dulu. Tapi pasal time tu mana ada teleskop lagi, maka ianya berlalu tanpa pengetahuan kebanyakan orang.
Sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, suhu musim panas di pulau ini semakin meningkat. Global warming kata orang. Ada kenalan atok yang buat bisnes air-cond bagitahu, sejak tahun lepas beliau banyak menerima pelanggan kediaman yang nak pasang air-cond kat rumah; dulu mana ada cam ni. Memang tak tertahan panasnya; kering dan tak berangin.
Seperti biasa, bila panas... di waktu rehat tengahari maka berduyun-duyunlah keluar dari tempat kerja untuk bersantaian di mana jua tempat yang bermatahari. Sebelum tiba ke pulau ini 10 tahun lalu, susah hendak faham pasal apa nak dok berjemur di tengah panas. Kalau di Msia, kita kata orang gila. Teringat atok akan pensyarah-pensyarah amerika di KPP dulu yang sering berjemur sambil makan sandwich di waktu lunch. "Gila", kata kami. Tapi setelah tinggal di sini, barulah faham akan faktor mentari dan panas ini, malah telah turut sama meraikannya. Tapi masih, kalau Msians buat BBQ atau gathering (at public parks or homes), senang je nak cari... tengok je bawah pokok mana-mana... mesti jumpa. Masih takut hitam... hehehehe. Mat saleh semua nak hitam, lawa bagi mereka; angkara Coco Chanel.
Ice shaver machine kami pun dah rosak, nak kena cari gantilah. Kalau tak... takdelah ABC tahun ni kat rumah.
Sejak dua tiga minggu ni, banyak sudahlah kenderaan di jalanan yang mengibarkan bendera England yang berupa salib merah berlatarbelakang putih (St. George's Cross) di sana sini. Di kedai-kedai pula penuh dengan segala macam benda yang melambangkan England. Tu dia... musim bola antarabangsa tiba lagi > Euro2004 Portugal yang akan bermula pada 12hb nanti.
Perlawanan pertama England (Group B) ialah menentang jaguh dunia Perancis pada 13hb di Lisbon, dan hari ini Encik David ketua pasukan kata depa tak gentar, malah boleh menang. Hahahahaa...
Ramai yang dah tahu (melalui blog lelama) yang atok ni bukanlah penyokong England dan juga semua kelab yg ada diseantaro England. Malah suatu waktu dahulu atok pernah membengangkan rakan pejabat mat saleh atok dengan mengatakan jika England lawan Eskimo sekalipun, atok akan sokong Eskimo; marah sakan mat saleh semua. Depa ni cakap je banyak, main tarak apa pun, hampeh je. Kalau ada tournament cakap pasal bola, sure England menang every year punyalah. Satu insiden di Piala Dunia yang lalu...
Memang kebiasaannya di Piala Dunia, bilamana pasukan England bermain di waktu pejabat, maka hampir semua pejabat di pulau ini memberi peluang pada staff untuk menonton. Nanti ganti je waktu yang 'digunakan' itu di masa yang lain. Di pejabat yang empunya bilik mesyuarat yang besar, selalunya ditayangkan perlawanan di situ. Maka di suatu hari ni, England lawan Brazil.. dan penuhlah the Main Conference Room di pejabat atok. Adalah dalam 40-50 orang laki pompuan dalam tu. Atok dok depan sebelah kiri. Bila England scored je, waduh... hiruk pikuk bilik, semua melonjak.. kecuali atok, diam je. Dalam hati kata, bagi chanlah.. sat gi sure lingkupnya lah. Then, seperti yang dijangka, Brazil scored! And guess what...
Atok sorang je melonjak bangun bersorak!!! Dan bila atok toleh belakang, kesemua orang dengan muka bengis singa macam tak makan seminggu... terlopong tengok atok. Sunyi sepi satu bilik. One of the guys datang kat atok, dia kata "I'll kill you if Brazil win!". Brazil did win (against the schoolboys England) and I'm still alive, thank God. Tapi sebelum that game, my boss kata kat atok, "We are all Brazil supporters, in the closet".
Bukan apa, atok tengok bola (and any other sports) sebagai entertainment semata-mata. Jadi mana-mana pasukan yang bagi seronok and entertaining, yang tu atok suka. England main mana ada entertaining langsung, semuanya textbook football je. Menang kalah, semuanya boring je main, takde fancy-fancy yang atok nak tengok. Last World Cup pun, mana ada pemain England yang masuk World's Best 11, tarak... bo liao, habok. Encik David dari keturunan Beckham pun tarak nampak bayang. Dia ni tarak apa pun, cuma rajin je... kejar bola sana sini. Takat boleh sepak lencung, ramai lagi boleh eh... Glamer je lebih bang oii.
Nantilah, kita tengok the opening game against France. Tengok Encik Zinedine... dia ni bukan pemain bola sebenarnya, tapi magician. Dia tak kejar bola pun, bola dok gi kat dia. Dan bila bola ada pada dia, dia akan buat magic, je jengggg. Tu belum masuk kengkawannya lagi, Encik Thierry dari keluarga Henry, Encik Patrick dari keluarga Vieira dan lain-lain.
Hari ini, secara rasminya adalah hari terakhir sewaan bangunan MSD & Msia Hall di Bryanston Square selepas 50 tahun. Hari ini secara resminya kunci akan diserahkan balik kepada empunya bangunan [sepatutnya semalam, 31hb May, tapi semalam cuti umum kat sini].
Dan di pagi yang bersejarah ini, Puan Haliza Hashim (TV3), Puan Zaharah Othman (NST) dan Encik Wan A. Hulaimi (Bernama) mendokumentasikan segalanya.
Atok menyibuk pasal ada makan-makan... nasi lemak, yum, yum... :)
Kakak's 2009 Diary:
>The King & I @ Royal Albert Hall
>The King & I Presscall
>The King & I recall audition II
>BBC Bo The Spirit World audition II
>The King & I recall audition I
>BBC Bo The Spirit World audition
>The King & I audition
>LCB Masterclass Kakak's 2008 Diary:
>LCB Final Audition
>LCB audition
>Lion King Cub School audition
>Scientific Toys photoshoot
>Bicester Village advert casting
>BBC All About Animals photoshoot
>Stagecoach end-of-term show
>Ballet Medal Test '08
>BBC All About Animals casting
>Knorr advert casting
>Zoey 101 magazine photoshoot
>IKEA Commercial casting
>Key Stage 2 SAT Exam
>Royal Academy of Dance Ballet Grade 4 Exam
>Street Dancing 2008
>Nintendo DS casting
>Clarks International photoshoot Kakak's 2007 Diary:
>BBC Girl Talk photoshoots
>Mawi's London Debut
>Hippie-hippie Shake filming
>OMEC Merdeka Ball
>Merdeka Carnival
>LAMDA Exam
>High School Musical Summer Workshop
>'Walking Bus' Campaign photoshoot
>The Golden Compass re-shoot
>Royal Academy of Dance Ballet Grade 3 Exam
>BBC's Girls Talk audition
>Honda F1 car launching
>Northern Lights/Golden Compass filming Kakak's 2006 Diary:
>Northern Lights/Golden Compass filming
>Run, Fat Boy, Run filming
>Young Performers 2006
>Philips: The Simplicity Event 2006
>British Airways advert casting
>Ballet Medal Test/Award 2006
>Aladdin pantomine audition
>Zena Holloway underwater photo shoot
>Royal Ballet audition
>CFC-free inhaler promo photo shoot
>Clarks Shoes International photo shoot
>David Beckham Football Academy casting
>Royal Academy of Dance Ballet Exam Kakak's 2005 Diary:
>The King & I UK Tour
>Fashion Photo Shoot - Covent Garden
>Ballet Medal Test/Award 2005
>Cinderella audition
>GMTV recordings
>Nutcracker 2005
>Cinderalla 2005
Previously employed by
Ridge & Partners LLP, Oxfordshire
Syarikat Pembinaan Anggerik, London site office [contract] for the New MSD/Msia Hall project
