That was the week it was...
After such trouble nak gi makan ketam last week, semalam kami decided to break our fast at a local wagamama je lah; mummy ada voucher 2 for 1. We had ebi kare lomen, wagamama ramen, cha han and apa ntah satu lagi, lupa dah. Kecoh-kecoh makan coz Kakak ada her weekly swimming lesson at 7pm nearby... and Adik like always, bukannya nak duduk diam dalam her high chair....Anyway, this week at work still dok sibuk with that house in Dublin for an Irish millionaire. On Tuesday we had a visit from a timber flooring company, to discuss about their product range. This 2 million euros 650sq m house interior will be mainly finished with solid hardwood with underfloor heating (+ ceiling panel heating) and stone insert (& skirting) at perimeter along the wall.
As a practice accredited with ISO and together with our Environmental Policy, The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate issue comes into play when specifying timber products in our projects. We were looking at various Oak timbers when the senior architect saw Merbau and asked, "I've used this one before and kind of like it... where does it come from?". She used it in South Africa (where she came from). "Merbau is from Malaysia", replied the rep... and at that point she looked at me and smiled. "It's the only product that we have always been questioned about when it comes to FSC issues.... ", he said.. and then went on to explain how impossible it is to be 100% sure on any product of its 'greeness' bla bla bla. He went on about another product, Jetuba, which comes from South America where only 2% of all trees fell ended up as commercial timber products, the rest are simply burned by the farmers.
Mmm... actually, I'm a bit in a limbo here.... between promoting my homeland product, and conserving our fragile and extremely valuable tropical forest. I know there are certs from FSC and MTCC (The Malaysian Timber Certification Council) on our timber products.... but then, we all know lah kan, behind it all.... everything is M'sia Boleh style. Last year there was a hu-ha on BBC about Indonesian Ramin timber smuggled out via M'sian ports. [it's illegal to trade Ramin; the lowlands forest of Msia & Indon where Ramin grows provide the last rainforest habitats for Orang Utans and Sumatran Tigers]. Anyway, the wealthy client will have the final say. Most probably, it would be black oak.
Putting that aside, last week, for the 4th time, Kakak was again called into GMTV Studio in London for Toonattik recording. This time together with a boy, they co-presented the programme with the usual crazy Jamie and Anna.
It was a bit of panic initially organising the trip. Kakak and Mummy would be picked up (they send an mpv to and fro) at 7:30am from home for the 9:30am start. The recording would be finished by 1pm, but Mummy had a client meeting nearby at 11pm for an hour. Unfortunately, Kakak couldn't be left there without a chaperone. Problem....So, the day before, Mummy had to call around asking for help. Sorang tak boleh, another one pun tak boleh... ayoyo. Finally, our friend in London kindly came to the rescue... and gmtv were kindly enough to chauffeur her to and fro as well, wonderful.
The gmtv-sent black mpv arrived early at 7am lagi kat depan rumah, Mummy belum habis bersiap. So, I went out to greet the driver... with a cup of hot coffee in his hand, he said, "don't worry, i'm a little early".
At the end, Mummy's meeting was cancelled... so, our friend tu tak payah la 'bertugas', dapat free trip and treat... bila lagi kan.
Today is an Open Day at Kakak's school and yesterday she was chosen to be one of the tour guides to the visitors, prospective students and their parents. Guides were coached on what to say, basically... they've to booast about their school la kan. Oh ya, a couple of weeks ago, Kakak won an election to become one of the Student Councillors.
Have a good weekend to all.....
ps:
that Toonattik recording will be aired next Sunday morning 23rd. ITV.
previous recordings (Toonattik adverts) have hit cinemas nationwide; screened before the Wallace & Gromit movie.
posted by Atok @ 5:47:00 am
