Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Career Makeover

My Bank is in another round of restructuring after the merging process. And I am still waiting for The Letter to inform me whether I will have to change department, or stay where I am now. I would prefer staying here, with a not-to-busy schedule (as compared to doing loan evaluation), a nice boss who treat us free pizza every month...and a lovely room of my own.

With all these merging, restructuring and what not, I think I need to make a move elsewhere. Not that I have a high resistance to change, but all I need is to have at least a lil bit of comfort, assurance and predictability in my working life. I also have the urge of moving out from the banking industry coz I do not think I am passionate enough to work in this hot boiling sector. And without passion, your motivation will reach zero level in no time at all. So before it reaches that stage, I better start thinking of a way out.

This is where I decided to take this career makeover test.

And to my suprise, here is my result:-

Rafiqah Eliza, you're a Teacher!

You're the sort of person that people think of fondly, when remembering who helped make a difference in their lives. Your stellar interpersonal skills and compassionate ear for the troubles and life experiences of others makes you a godsend when the going gets tough. And since you're especially smooth at managing responsibility, your listening skills and wisdom are their sharpest when you're in a position of authority. Consider yourself the soul doctor to the world—it's your true work personality.

Who's like you:
Florence Nightingale

Likely careers:
Nurse, pediatrician, veterinarian, party planner, teacher, professor.


A TEACHER???? Nurse? pediatrician? veterinarian?
Do I click on the wrong button when answering the questions?
Or am I not that honest in answering them?

I do not view myself as a soft-hearted or patient kind of person. Thus, the result is what I least expected of!

On the other hand, would an educator be a nice choice of work for a change? Sharing knowledge is a holy thing to do. And lecturer usually have more flexible working time. Perhaps I should give it a try...A child educator, perhaps?!

Monday, January 23, 2006

A Tribute to the Readers.

BLOG..is a boon to all writers - experts or amatuers. I see blog as a diary, where we can freely express our thoughts and emotions. I see blog as a type of drug, which you can easily get addicted to it in a few months time. I see blog as a place to 'jejak kasih' as I met two of my long-lost friends while blogging. I also see blog as a place for us to make friends, as half of the people in my Friend's list is a total stranger to me before I am into blogging (and most of them are just my virtual friends..bila lah nak jumpa ye?).

But to top it all of, I see blog as a form of communication. Most of us here are too busy with our lives. We haven't got the time to contact our friends either via email or phone. So, the only way for us to keep up todate with what's happening in our friends' life is by reading their blog.
This is the prime reason why I gave my Blog's URL to them (apart from getting some comments *wink*), eventhough some of them are totally clueless about blogging (or Internet, for that matter).

Despite doing so, I always thought that the only clan who will take some time off from their busy schedule to read my blog, are people who blog themselves.

But I am wrong! Some of the people that I gave my URL to, which I thought they wouldn't care less to have a peep at my blog, actually visited and read my blog..regularly! It just clicked my mind when somebody, whom I haven't told them a particular occassion or issue, came up to me and made a statement or asked me questions like:-
Dah ok dah kereta you?; or
U dah officially pindah rumah ye?; or
Ni lah budak yang tak nak makan ni...; or
Ingat apa kata Premila...(This is Hubby warning me when he saw me trying to add some rice in my plate..


My natural reaction will be "Do you read my blog?"...

So, to all my fellow blog readers (including the hidden ones like Kak Z, Uncle Raymie, Nissa and Hubby), thank you so much for taking your time off to visit and read my entries.

My Hugs and Kisses to all of you...Muah!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

CreateMyOwn ANNIVERSARY Gift.

Do u like my blog's new look?

Hei, do you remember how panic I am two weeks ago as I do not know what gift to give my dearest hubby for our anniversary?

Finally, due to limited budget, I've decided to spare some time to make my own gift. Hubby said this is a bit intimate to blog on, but I feel like sharing because it might be useful if you ended up in a feel-like-giving-but-not-much-money-to-spend-on situation.
Note to hubby: I will keep this as general as possible, okay?!

This year, I gave him 'A Box of Feelings'. For every emotions I felt for him, I tried to express it in a physical form. I attached the items to pieces of thick paper (which u can get from any stationery store) then wrote on it what that item represented.

The things I put in there:-
Match for "the fire he lights in me".
Heart patch for "how much I love him".
A band-aid for "all the wounds he have helped heal".
Smiley face for "all the fun we had together"
Sweets for "how sweet you are".

Then I put all the items in nice box (you can get them at any gift store or if you want a good quality ones, visit D'Nata of KLCC), and attached a self-made card that comes with a self-written poem..Then, use your creativity to decorate the box.

My husband was so happy to receive the gift I gave him. And I am grinning with satisfaction coz it is really worth the effort!!

Note to hubby again: I do not disclose everything right? At least not the self-written poem and there's no photo too.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

3 years have passed...


There is this girl...
Born in Kuala Lumpur. Live in a city full of lights, in a house made from brick. Her father was a manager of the Bank, while mother was an administrative assistant in a government body. Was chauffeured to and fro to school by her mother/father. Back from school, lunch was ready on the table. Spent the rest of the evening either reading or watching TV.

Then, there is this boy...
Born in Johor Bharu and raised in Pontian. Live the ordinary live of a kampung boy. His father was what people said as 'kerja kampung' where he run his own pineapple orchard, while his mother is an attendant in Pontian's General Hospital. He either walked or rode his bicycle to school. As he reached home from school, he has to cook his rice as his mother only left the lauk-pauk for lunch. His evening was filled up with lots of physical activity, like mandi parit and playing Malay traditional games like konda-kondi and main tutup botol.

The girl is known as Rafiqah Eliza Elias.
And the boy, Mohd Fitri M Yatim.

Yes, both me and hubby have different upbringing. Though we were both born in 1977 and gone through the same schooling system set by the government, our lifestyles are totally the opposite.

With Allah's will, we ended up in the same college, but we never talked to each other. I knew people in the college called him as Mat Pet (like a drug addict?). Later, we, together with another two girls (Nissa & Sheila) and two boys (Atan and Radzi), were selected by Mara to continue our studies in Melbourne, Australia. From then on, just like the other two boys, he became my friend, JUST FRIEND. Someone whom I'll share my crazy jokes, my sorrow, my problems, my admirers (hehehe) and how I hate being hunted by some men (cam bagus je kan?) and some of my inner secrets. He will do the same as well. He'll tell me (or Sheila or Nissa) should he encountered problem with girls (like someone he has a crush on, or admire dearly). I remembered how he asked me to tumpang the puding jagung made by Sheila in my fridge. The puding jagung is to be given to another girl (not our batch) whom I reckon he liked to be with (but he told me that girl admired him..whateverrr...it's not important now).

On the other hand, he has accompanied his male friend, who wanted to get to know me, went out for a date. So, he became somesort of like a middle-person between me and that guy during the date, which he hated so much.

My hubby is not a soft-spoken, gentleman kind of person. He is a rather frank person, which some girls would not favour. He treated his girlfriends like me, Nissa and Sheila as if we are one of his boyfriends. He'll be the least favoured guy if you want to seek for help. He'll go like "Eh! Buat sendirilah. Aku malas nak layan."

There is this one time, he and I were discussing about marriage. His opinion at that time was "Aku taknak kawin ngan pompuan overseas grad. Bukan boleh percaya sangat." My response was "Kau ingat aku percaya sangat ke budak2 lelaki overseas ni!." Yeah, we refer to each other as kau and aku.

To cut the story short, we graduated and he got a job in KL, despite him not wanting to work in KL. Since the two other girlfriends, Nissa and Sheila have choosen their life partner at that time, and most of hubby's guyfriends have not graduated (we graduated one year earlier than our Malaysian-grad friends), we ended up going out with each other. So, only then 'things' happen between us, to the suprise of Nissa, Sheila, Radzi and Atan.

We have to change from 'kau' and 'aku' to 'I' and 'you'...and from 'Mat Pet' to 'Fitri'. How we struggle to make that changes!! Yelah dah tiga tahun dok cakap 'aku', 'kau' and 'Mat Pet'. And not only that. It's not easy to change from being JUST FRIEND to MORE THAN FRIENDS. Coz before we were like boy-to-boy friends, boleh selamba kutuk each other with no hard feelings, now we have to make some adjustments. It's definitely not an easy step!

After one year of some serious relationship, we were finally engaged on 5th January 2002. And one year later, on 17th January 2003, we had our nikah ceremony in a simple yet resplendent affair.

Now, 3 years have passed.

We were grateful that Allah is on our side. We are blessed with a charming little boy by the name of 'Ashraff'. We have both been promoted at work. We have moved to our own house. Our relationship, alhamdulillah, has becoming stronger with each passing days of our lives.

My prayer will be for Allah to continue his blessing on this family. Murahkan rezeki kami, tetapkan iman kami, panjangkan umur kami. Lindungi kami daripada fitnah and malapetaka...dan semoga berkekalan sehingga ke akhir hayat...

HAPPY 3RD YEAR ANNIVERSARY, DEAR! I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH..."

Monday, January 16, 2006

The long Friday lunch break.


Every Friday, we were given extra time for lunch, from 12.30pm to 2.45 pm. I'd normally go to KLCC, Berjaya Times Square, Bintang Walk, Sogo, or spend time relaxing at the office.

But last Friday, I went to Weight Management Information Center (WMIC) at Wisma Selangor Dredging (near KLCC) to get a Free Counselling from a dietician and do some body fat analysis (you have to pay minimal sum of RM5 for the analysis). WMIC is a non-profit organization of health professional who have special interest in prevention and treatment of obesity. You have to set an appointment if you want ti meet the professionals. Fo further info, you can read here.

There, I met Ms Premila, a nice Indian dietician. The process started of with asking you your objective and some health history background. Oh yeah, prior to going to WMIC, you have to jot down things u eat 3 days before the appointment, which in my case including the things I consumed during Hari Raya Haji. Yikes!

Then you step on the body fat analyzer. It is just like a normal weighing scale but with a metal foot pad. Here is the findings:-

Height : 159 cm (I thought I'm only 158 cm tall)
Weight : Shy to disclose but what the heck..54.8 kg
BMI : 21.7
Body Fat% : 29.5

My BMI is within the normal range (phewww..). BUT, my body fat composition is beyond the normal by 4 kilos! Meaning which, despite an average BMI, I have lots of fats restored by body, which could lead to high cholestrol. Now I understand the idea of why thin people can still suffer from high cholestrol.

Premila then showed me a replica of fats. It is about the size of two full bowls,and that according to her is what 2 kilos of fat looks like. So mine is double that, which means 4 full bowls?? That's a lot!! And scary too!

Here is some advice given by Premila to shed some fats:-
1. Rice (or any carbo like bread, potatoes) should only be a quarter of the plate, chicken/beef/fish (protein) should be quarter also. The balance of half plate should be filled with vegetables, preferably steamed, raw or boiled. Since I do not quite like eating veggies, this will be my biggest hurdle, apart from reducing my rice intake.

2. Reduction of weight is not a perfect indication of reduction of fats. This is because muscle is heavier than fat. Thus, if you build muscles by exercising, your weight will either maintain or probably slightly increase. So, how do we know we have shed some fats? If u build your muscles, you can feel that your clothes becoming looser, meaning that you have toned your body.

3. Muesli Bar is not the best option for a healthy breakfast as these bars is usually coated with sugar or honey. The best is to take cooking oat, mixed with low fat milk.

4. Slimming tea (or any slimming products for that matter), is not the best way for you to slim down as it shed water from your body, and less fats. So, it is easier for your body to gain weight should you stop consuming these products.

5. Exercise 60-90 minutes a day, for 3-4 days a week. The cardio activity like treadmill and bicycle will help to burn some fats, while muscular is for building up the muscle and toning your body.

Not bad for a free counselling section right?!

As for my case, I have to comeback in one month time for to do the body analysis again. Hope by that time, my fat composition has reduced or else, malu!!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

All about Ashraff

Babycenter.com stated that a 17-month old toddler can do amongst which, the following:-

Climbing. Your 17-month-old demands that you let her walk up stairs, rather than be carried. She also wants to try climbing up onto chairs — and other pieces of furniture that are about chest height — and, once she gets up, is able to turn herself around and sit facing forward, a complex feat.


At Atok's place...






Another one...At our place...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com


Ashraff is definitely on the right track!


Apart from climbing, Ashraff is fond of...errr..Rides? Easy Rides? Gentle Rides? A Device? Hey, what's the name of the thing that basically most shopping complexes have where you put coins in it, and it starts moving with loud music on? When I was small, I called it 'dak-duk' (just like the sounds of galloping horses). Yeah, that is Ashraff's latest interest...


And he even got a 'girlfriend' to join him for the ride...



Note : That 'girlfriend' was a complete stranger to Ashraff/us. She is 2 months younger than Ashraff and came rushing to us when she saw the ride. I said she was attracted to the ride but Hubby said she's attracted to Ashraff coz Ashraff is a 'chick magnet'. Oh, whateverrr...

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Press the panic button!

What a topic to start for year 2006!! Can't help it coz I am in a panic mode now. Reasons being:-

(i) My mother-in-law is here! She and my sis-in-law are spending the whole week at our crib. I'm glad but...What to cook? What to cook?

(ii) Two weeks to go before our 3rd Anniversary. What to buy for dearest Hubby? It's only 3 years and I've run out of ideas. Help!!