I love my blog: Everything about my blog & Happy New Year 2011

Salam,

I've received a tag from Mummy Yen (a.k.a. Sati) yesterday. Since it's been quite sometime since I last did a tag, I'm honoured to do this tag too. Before I start answering the questions (which were in BM but I want to translate it to Eng.- pardon me!), I want to wish everybody HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011. Hopefully all of your last new year's resolutions have been achieved. If not, we should try our best to achieve them during this coming new year. I'm sorry I can't reveal my new year's resolutions for next year as I also still have some old resolutions that I couldn't achieved due to some factors.

Source: www.shutterstock.com

Okay. Let's go to the first question:

1.  What's the history of the blog's name and the story behind the header and background?

      The original name for this blog was "A Temporary Housewife" because I was a temporary housewife for 3 1/2 years when I was in New Zealand. After I came back to Malaysia, I had to change the name since I started to working again in my old workplace. I organized a simple contest and Molly won it when she suggested  "Transformed Housewife". The header- well it's brand new, courtesy from K.Yong. The background, I chose the simplest background from blogger.

2. How frequent do you update your blog?

    I try to update it almost everyday. But there were times when I was so busy with other things, I missed  publishing any entries. I love tIo share my experiences as a mother of two, experiences as an English teacher, my passion in poetry either in English or BM and also current issues.

3. Why do you want to blog?

    I started off my journey back in May 2009. My younger sis, Yatie Chomeyl was the one who introduced
and encouraged me to have a blog in order to cure my boredom spending 24-7 at home when I was a housewife. I love being busy and when I had so much time in my hand, I was a bit clueless of how to fill up my time wisely. So, after I finished with all the household chores and my daughters were taking the afternoon nap, I would spent my time in front of the pc. WHY? I just love the idea of sharing with the others what you know, what you have experienced, what you think and maybe if you are influential enough, you can also convince people to change.

4. List down 5 things about your blog.

    One-   The main language is English. BUT sometimes I also write in Bahasa Melayu.
    Two-   It's not just for mommies but everybody who likes to read my entries.
    Three- It has been transformed so many times. (like other blogs- I guess)
    Four-   The content mostly about my passions in languages (not just English), literature and also ECE
                because I had the first hand experiences when I was actively involved in Peachgrove Playcentre in
                Hamilton, New Zealand.
    Five-    Never had a sticky post since I haven't succeeded yet in doing it. LOL (yes- you can laugh at me)

5.  List down 5 the best entries in your blog.

    Only FIVE? hehehee (as if I have so many :P)
     So......................Here we go:
     One-      Waybuloo: Not a suitable program for Muslim kids.
     Two-      Hafizah and her eczema problem
     Three-    Nak buat burger patties sendiri?
     Four-     I want to jump, teacher! & Mama, open the tv.
     Five-      He's not like Dato' Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar

6.  List down 3 unforgettable memories since you start blogging.

    One-    The first time I wrote an entry in May 2009. It was about "Autumn" in Hamilton, New Zealand.
    Two-    The first time I won the first prize in a contest.
    Three-  The first time I received a tag. The only problem is I can't remember what is it all about. hehe

7.  List down 10 of your favourite blogs.

    It's hard to list down only 10 but I can tell you everyday it's a must for me to check out these blogs:
    Yatie Chomeyl, K.Yong, Isabelle, Fid, Mommy Lyna, GTO, Diyana, Hamizah, fa10 and of course Mummy Yen (or Sati). 

8. How much do you love your blog?

   I love it so much that I can't sleep or eat well if I don't update or even check out my bog almost everyday.
   (WHAT? You can't believe it? It's up to you. hehehe)

9. 3 reasons why other people should always visit your blog?

  One-     I'll try my best to share something valuable almost everyday.
  Two-    I love to read any kind of comments; be it negative or positive.
  Three-  Come and pick up one or two new vocab in English as I know that I don't really use any slang and
               I always try my best to use the standard English. (YUP- it might sound so boring to some people
               but I just can't help it- So, pardon me again)

10.  List down 10 bloggers that you want to tag :

       Ermmmm. To be fair, I'm not going to announce them here but I'll tell them personally.
       (sorry Sati, have to copy your sentence here. hehe)

FUHHHH..................I hope you didn't feel so bored reading this entry from start to finish. What a 
way to end this year (2010). Basically while writing up this entry, there are only about 10 minutes left before the year 2011. I had to take some time to type out this entry as the internet connection was so crazy today. SO..........................if there's any of you, would like to do this tag, you are most welcome. And yes, you can do it in Bahasa Melayu. (ya saya memang seorang yg suka sangat cuba  menterjemahkan dari BM ke Bahasa Inggeris sebab memang tu dah sebahagian dari kerja saya. Harap maklum. hehe)            

4 Days: Pack of Activities.

Salam,
I'm actually on leave since Saturday, 25th Dec. 2010 until 2nd Jan. 2011. This is the longest holiday I've had since I started working again in June 2010. I've spent the last 6 days with so many activities with my daughters but we only really started off from Monday. So, the 4 days: Pack of Activities refers to how we spent our time together.

MONDAY (27TH DEC.2010)

We used the 5 Moral Stories pack. It's an interesting compilations of artwork in a pack with

a very reasonable price. I can tell you that it's less than RM40. I bought it from Watie GBOB.

My daughters really loved it and they could sit still and focused on the tasks for a long period of

 time. Of course I had to help them too but I tried to let them did it first.

These are the end products:

TUESDAY&WEDNESDAY (28TH&29TH DEC. 2010)

On Tuesday, they pretended to be a vet and they treated their stuffed animals as their patients.

They also played with their new puzzles that their papa bought last Saturday from KJ night market.

On Wednesday morning, we washed all of their stuffed animals. They helped to soaked and then

brush some of the stuffed animals before I put all of them in the washing machine to spin them.

While waiting for the stuffed animals to dried up, they decided to do their puzzles again.

THURSDAY (30TH DEC. 2010)

We went out to buy some ingredients for our chocolate and raisins muffins. We already have some

ingredients at home but the main ingredients like butter, milk and four are not enough. So, at 10 o'clock, we went to Giant Hypermarket in KJ to get those ingredients. After I finished cooking lunch- Spaghetti Bolognaise (my style), we  began baking muffins. I followed the simplest muffin recipe. 

Basic Muffin Recipe

Dry ingredients: 2 cups of Self-raising flour, 1/2 cup of caster sugar

Wet ingredients: 1 egg, 2/3 cup of milk and 250 gm of butter

Method: 1) Combine flour and caster sugar in a bowl

2) Beat egg, milk and melted butter in another bowl

3) Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture, pour in the wet ingredients mixture.

4) Add in your favourite fillings like chocolate chips, raisins, dates, blueberry or anything at all.

I'm not sure what we are going to do tomorrow because we just knew that it's going to be pubic holiday for everybody. My main purpose on doing all the activities was to spent the quality time with my daughters since I've felt so guilty that they didn't really get to enjoy their school holiday. They had to go to their nursery and play there until I picked them up. If you want to use some of the ideas here, you are most welcomed because I love to share what I've done with my daughters.

Thanks a lot to K.Yong!

Salam,

If you are a regular visitor here, you might notice something new today. WHAT IS IT? YUP.....it's the new header that I received from K.Yong I won a quiz in her blog and the prize was FREE HEADER. This blog has gone through a lot transformations. YES! I really love the 'transform' as I've gone through a lot of transformations too. It's like the description on the header says- FROM WORKING MOM  TO HOUSEWIFE AND WORKING MUM AGAIN.

For those who are interested to get K.Yong's services in designing header, signature and banner, you can click on her name to go to her link. The price is quite reasonable and she was actually so patient when I was quite demanding of how I want the header to look like. HUHU. Sorry K.Yong.

Not good in English? How to be good or improve your English? (PART 2)

Salam,

This is the continuation from yesterday's entry. If any of you wonder why am I promoting English here? Well, it's definitely because I totally ignore or don't like to use Bahasa Melayu. It's just that I feel it's my responsibility to share my knowledge and my experiences as an English teacher. I also want to see more Malaysians to use the standard English so that the native speakers of English would respect us more. It's true that Japanese don't have to master English to be a successful country BUT even then, they still need to learn English if they want to communicate with other people. Some of my students always tell me that they don't like to learn English BUT they still need to learn it for communication, education and business purposes.

Let's get back to the suggestions:

4.           Make a habit to use English in writing messages in your mobile phone and also write some 
              entries in English if you have a blog.

   Some of you might say that you are not good in English. BUT if you never try, how do you know that you
   are not good and how can you improve if you seldom use it? Start of with something simple when you want
  to write in your blog. For the messages through mobile phone or even writing your status in FB,FS, TWITTER or others, just share your thoughts in simple sentences.

5.           Enroll yourself in a language center like ELS language center.

    This is kind of free promotion for the company that I'm now attached to. (LOL). However, on a more serious note, if you need to sit for TOEFL,IELTS or A LEVEL examination, the best way is to learn from English instructors. The fee is quite high but at the end, you'll get a lot of help and guidance from the instructors. The positive environment can also help you to be fluent in English.

6.          Teach the correct English to your children, younger siblings or even your friends.

    You might think how can you teach other people when you yourself are not so good RIGHT? In my humble opinion, you might know something that other people don't know so it's not wrong to teach people what you really know. "Sharing is caring"- so why do you need to hesitate further? For Parents- you are the best teachers to your children. They'll appreciate more when they can learn from YOU!


7.          Last but not least, change the negative of attitude of "I can't" to "I can"!


    It's never too late to start and your positive attitude can affect those around you too! REMEMBER- Don't use any excuses anymore because you won't be able to achieve anything when you have 1001 excuses.

Not good in English? How to be good or improve your English? (PART 1)

Salam,

I've always been asked by my students on how can they  improve their English. There's no shortcut to improve your language ability in any languages. We have to put so much efforts and the most important thing is the passion to learn more and never quit. Most of us have learned English since kindergarten but we are still not confident enough to communicate in English. This is because we seldom use English and when we need to use it, we feel so inferior especially in front of the native speakers. Little that we realize, they themselves are not really aware of the correct usage of grammar. It's like when we use our Bahasa Melayu. How many of us use the correct BM everytime we speak BM? Not so many right? SO.....just think about that the next time, you struggle or feeling not confident to use English.

OKAY. Let's get back to the BORING TOPIC here. (yup I know it's boring *yawn*).

HERE ARE SOME COMMON SUGGESTIONS AND ALSO MY OWN INPUTS FOR THE SUGGESTIONS:

1.     Read a lot of English books, magazines, newspapers or even blogs!

       This is the easiest way to increase your vocabulary and at the same time, pick up the correct English grammar. If you say "I don't have time", you are just using the excuse that can hinder you from improving your English. Choose the material that you love the most as some people prefer to read novels, some love magazines and I myself prefer to read blogs nowadays. hehe

2.     Practice using English whenever and wherever possible.

        Basically the saying "Practice makes perfect" is TRUE. I reckon most of us know that but we still use again thousands excuses not to practice. Based on my own experiences dealing with students who are not the native speakers, they usually feel so insecure, not confident and afraid to make grammatical errors and mistakes I want to ensure you that no one really check your grammar or even able to point out your mistakes unless the person is the linguists in English or maybe she is an English teacher. Yup, I myself an English teacher BUT I never try to correct anybody's mistakes unless it is meant for teaching.

3.     Watch English movies, listen to English songs. (not just for entertainment sake)

        My abah was the one who encouraged me to watch English movies with him when I was younger. He would asked me to accompany him to watch Midnight Movie on TV2 on Saturday night. He asked me not to depend on the subtitle (bcs the translation is sorry to say misleading and suck!) but trying to fully use my listening skills to understand what the actors trying to say. As for English songs, I choose the one that suit me like ballads because it's easy to listen to the lyrics compared to Hip Hop, Under ground music.

I better stop here now before most of you who are reading this entry fall into deep sleep. hehehe.
But seriously, I hope that this can help those who think they are not good in English. There's always some room for improvement as long as you never stop trying.

500 BLOG!

Salam,

After reading about this 500 BLOG campaign launched by BEN ASHAARI, I'm so interested to try my luck too. It's pretty simple as first, we have to paste THIS BANNER:

CLICK HERE

Second, we need to tell WHY DO WE HAVE A BLOG?

In my case, I started of my journey as a blogger after my younger sister told me that this is the best medium to share our thoughts, experiences and almost anything. (as long as it doesn't touch on sensitive issues). When I was in New Zealand, I was so bored because I had to stay at home to be a housewife and took care of my daughters. I need something where I can communicate with other people and BLOG is the best medium for me. Now, even when I've came back to Msia (it's been 7 months now), I still love blogging and will keep doing it although sometimes it's hard to find the time when I have to go to work and take care of my two daughters. 

For those who read this entry, why don't you join this TOO?

 

Esok mesti banyak blog ulas asal Msia menang 3-0 ke atas Indonesia. (hehehe)

Salam,

Baru tadi saya pun layan jap tengok perlawanan akhir pertama Piala AFF Suzuki antara Malaysia menentang Indonesia. Nak ulas pjg2 pun nanti jd mcm berita pulak. Jd, secara ringkasnya, Malaysia mula bangkit dan main bersungguh2 selepas separuh masak kedua. Itupun permainan dihentikan selama hampir 5 minit oleh pengadil selepas penjaga gol Indonesia mendakwa ada penonton yg menggunakan pancaran laser sehingga menggangu penglihatannya. 2 gol dijaringkan oleh Safee dan satu lagi dijaringkan oleh Mohamad Ashari.

Harap2 dalam perlawanan akhir kedua Malaysia dapat mejaringkan gol lagi dan akhirnya membawa pulang Piala AFF Suzuki buat pertama kalinya. Sila jgn pelik dgn entri ni sbb semangat patriotik (kononyalah padahal tengok bola bila perlawanan akhir mcm ni je :P). Nak tahu lebih lanjut tentang perlawanan dan tengok shot2 menarik? SIlalah cari kat YOU TUBE ssendiri ye.  Jgn marah.....hhehehe

Pahala Percuma Setiap Hari. (BM entry)

Salam,
Dah lama saya tak menulis dlm Bahasa Melayu. Hari ni, entah dtg angin dari mana (mungkin angin kus2 :P), teringin nak bagi TAZKIRAH walaupun saya bukannya ustazah atau org yg selayaknya nak memberi tazkirah. Apa yg nak saya kongsi ni adalah sebahagian dari apa yg kita buat hampir setiap hari tapi kita je tak sedar yg banyak pahalanya.

1. Memberi salam pada saudara2 seislam dan memberi senyuman.

2. Memberikan tempat duduk kepada org2 yg sepatutnya di dalam kenderaan awam seperti LRT, Komuter, bas dan yg sewaktu dengannya. (eh- apa jenis kenderaan awamla :P)

3. Mengutip sampah yg anda tersepak atau nampak di tengah jalan atau sewaktu berjalan. (bukannya BUANG sampah merata2 ye)

4. Membantu sesiapa saja tak kira bangsa atau agama seikhlas dan setakat yg termampu.

5. Memberi jalan pada kenderaan lain jika kenderaan tersebut hendak memasuki lorong anda. Ya- ini memang susah untuk dilakukan sbb kita biasanya hendak cepat sampai dan tak sanggup bertoleransi. Tapi bila semua tak mengalah, alamatnya jalan akan sesak sangat2.

RASANYA ITU SAHAJA YG TERLINTAS DI FIKIRAN SKRG. (SILA ABAIKAN AYAT2 SKEMA SBB MMG SAYA ORG YG SKEMA. :P) . KALAU ADA YG NAK TAMBAH, SILALAH BERI NASI TAMBAH EH APA YG PATUT DITAMBAH DI SINI. 

New Boss New Headache?

Salam,

Today was the last day of the December session and also the last day for my previous AD (Academic Director) a.k.a our immediate boss working at the center. Starting from 1st January, she is going to take a new position in another place. I've known the previous boss (let's just call her Mrs. X) for quite some time since she was the one who hired me when I first went to the center. So, basically I've understood her style, demeanor and her temperament.

In any workplace, you'll be facing the ups and downs and the inevitable stresses almost every day. The last thing that you need is the unknown boss. I've been working under different bosses when I was in one of the public universities and I always try my best to adapt with the new boss.

There's no doubt that the transition from the previous boss to the new one will not be a smooth sailing. I just hope that I will be able to adapt to this new boss- which is by the way, this is going to be the first time for me to get a male and also a "Mat Saleh" boss. Not that I'm racist when I said that he is an American but the truth is I'm pretty nervous about this.

HAVE YOU EVER GET A NEW BOSS? HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE NEW MANAGER? DO YOU GET NEW HEADACHE OR IT IS JUST THE SAME HEADACHE?

1Nita Karnival & My Ideas- What I've got from there?

Salam,

I reckon there are not so many of you out there knew about this:

I only knew about the carnival yesterday from GBOB.  Right after the last class, I went to check out the exhibitions. My aim was to find Bling Boutique booth (Lyna, Kay & Watie's booth). Since the last time I met Lyna & Kay was in April, I really wanted to see them again. I was also eager to meet Watie personally.

When I arrived at their booth, they were not there as they went out somewhere. Few minutes later, I got the chance to meet Watie and catch-up with Lyna. I didn't bring my camera this afternoon. So, I can't really provide any photos of Lyna (who's about 6 mnth pregnant) and the Bubbly Watie with me. I got the chance t chat with Watie about the playgroup that she has organized in GBOB office. I also bought some art supplies for my daughters since I'll be having a long break starting from Dec. 24th until Jan. 2nd. I didn't really check out the other booths as my main reason to go there is to see that particular booth. 

I think the timing of the carnival is not so suitable as Tuesday & Wednesday are the working days for most of us. I was just happen to work not very far from KL Convention Centre. That's why I could at least checked out what's happening there. 

Before I went back, I bought these interesting art supplies & cute finger puppets from Watie:

Sticky Stool on the pants!

Salam,

Sorry for not being able to share anything yesterday. As usual, when I have too many papers to be marked, I can't seem to find time to update this blog.

For today, I just want to share what happened when I came back from work today. As usual, I picked up my daughters from the nursery by 5 o'clock. I took a rest before I prepared something for dinner. After Asar prayer, I checked my daughters' bags. I was surprised of what I found in Hafizah's bag. There were some dried stool on her pants that she wore in the morning! Fathini told me that Hafizah's little accident with the pants BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT TO SEE THE DISGUSTING PANTS IN HER BAG!  I know I'm kind of making a big fuss out of nothing (according to my hubby). BUT I just can't understand why the babysitter in the nursery can't get rid of the stool first. I don't expect her to wash the pants but at least get rid of the stool first.

I'm not sure how to tell the babysitter about my dissatisfaction of what had happened. I know I should not be so demanding and expect her to do much but I think I still entitle to at least ask for some fair and common sense judgment. This has made me miss my time of being a housewife when I could take care of my own daughters. This is, I believe a dilemma for most FTWM (full time working mums).


WHAT DO YOU RECKON? HAVE YOU EVER HAD BAD EXPERIENCES WITH THE BABYSITTER OR THE NURSERY?

"Mama don't love me anymore".

Salam,

Yesterday, my family and I went to Kuantan to visit my uncle. My sister and I were excited as we were going to see our beloved uncles and aunt. My mum said we were also going to see my new baby cousin. I thought we already saw our new cousin but there's another one!

We left KJ at about 8 o'clock and we arrived at 12.30. When we arrived, I saw my aunt, Cik Lin and my uncles, Ayoh Jie and Ayoh Syol were busy preparing lunch. They wanted to cook Chicken Rice but my mum told them to only cook something simple like fried chicken, vegetable soup and omelet. About 45 minutes later, we had our lunch together.

After taken about 2 hours rest, all of us made a move to see my new cousin. We had to go to Balok which was about 50 km away. My sister and I had a nice nap before we arrived at my aunt's family house. My mum was so excited to see her new niece. She couldn't wait to hold her. I was okay at first but when my mum picked up baby Hana and kissed her, I started to cry on Cik Lin's shoulder. I couldn't take it because I thought, "My mum doesn't love me anymore". Everybody else laughed at me and my papa took few photos of me crying. My older sister was happy to see our new cousin. She didn't seem to mind at all.

Only when my mum took me back onto her lap, I felt so much better. Then, I wanted to touch baby Hana's soft cheeks. My aunt, Cik Fiza, (baby Hana's mummy) let me to touch my new cousin and she said I just have to be patient before I can play with Hana. We stayed until we were able to see Hana opened her eyes and even listened to her loud voice when she was hungry. I know that my uncle, Ayoh Ein and Cik Fiza are the proud parents of baby Nurhana Adriana.

(from Hafizah's point of view)

10 Muharram Reminds Me of Assyura Porridge.

Salam,

Today is 10 Muharram and I really miss preparing and eating Assyura Porridge. I can't really recall the last time I helped preparing the special porridge. I love the Kelantanese version  of Assyura porridge even though it's quite sweet. (okay2, not just quite but too sweet for some people, hehe). Other states have their own versions too but I'm not sure what are the different ingredients. One thing for sure, the Kelantanese version is really dark and of course sweet.

Here is the Kedahan's version:

Source: GOOGLE IMAGES

AND....................

THIS IS THE KELANTANESE VERSION:

SOURCE: GOOGLE IMAGES

Have you ever helped to prepare Assyura Porridge before? Will it be any plan to do it soon? I really miss eating this porridge and really wish if I can find this somewhere or anybody would like to organize the event of cooking assyura porridge?

It's NOT A JOKE! OKAY! (A case of sexual harassment at a workplace)

Salam,

Am I angry? Am I upset? The answer is YES! Not with you who is reading this entry. But with some of my male colleagues. They sometimes cross the line when they make some jokes that can be insulting and a kind of sexual harassment. I'm not able to list all of the examples of their dirty jokes but some comments that they jokingly said could hurt our feeling and intelligence.

One of my dear friends now is a Korean teacher. She can be innocent and sometimes gullible. (Even she herself realize it!). She always becomes the target when some of the male teachers making their dirty jokes. I can only vividly remember one examples of their dirty jokes:

(The names below are not their real names)
Mr. Jack:   You know what? I've got a cheque here.
Miss Mary: So, you're so rich now. Why don't you buy us something.
Mr. Jack:    Why should I? Who are you?
Miss Mary:  Oh, come on. I thought I'm your good friend.
Mr. Jack:     No,no,no. You are only my convenient friend.  (Then, he laughed)
Miss Mary:  What do you mean by that? Tell me!
Mr. Jack:     Err.....nothing. It's just a joke.

My friend, Mary was so upset with the label Mr. Jack gave to her. She consulted him again the next day and she managed to get him apologized. I was shocked too when I heard the label. For him, it was  nothing but for us (maybe because women are so sensitive), we don't think it's okay to treat us like that.

NOW, WHAT SAY YOU? HAVE YOU OR YOUR FRIENDS EVER EXPERIENCED ANY KIND OF ORAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK? IF SO, HOW DID YOU RESOLVE THE CONFLICT OR HOW DID YOU REACT?

Being racist is totally not cool when.....................

Salam,

I copied and pasted this quotation from my SIL's FB status yesterday. It can make us think twice or more before we become racist or even treat other people differently:

Your car is Japanese.Your pizza is Italian.Your potato is Irish.Your democracy is Greek.Your coffee is Brazilian.Your tea is Kenyan.Your watch is Swiss.Your fashion is French.Your shirt is Indian.Your shoes are Chinese.Your radio is Korean.And then you complain that your neighbor is an ...immigrant?...Pull yourself together!

Now, what do you reckon? Do you agree with the quotation?

Cute Bags for your kids.

Salam,

There are only three weeks to go before the school is open. Right now, most parents have started to think or even set up the budget to buy their kids school supplies. I myself have two daughters; the eldest who'll turn 6 in January and the youngest who'll turn 4. I send both of them to a kindergarten cum nursery. I already have set aside a budget to buy their school supplies when the new term starts soon.

NOW....................................
Let's see this.................

CARS SCHOOL BAG

It comes in 2 sizes:

M (32cm * 20cm * 9cm)
3 - 6 tahun

RM45

L (34cm * 22cm * 10cm)
5 - 10 tahun

RM55

Deposit RM30 to secure booking
Min Retail Price: RM55 (L) RM45(M) - Add postage RM7 (West) RM10 (East)

If you are interested, the pre-booking is open now until end of December. You can leave your comment here and tell me if you are interested. Or you can go to this website to place your order (just don't forget to mention that you read the promotion from my blog-thanks) www.comellotecollections.blogspot.com

How can my baby sit up properly?

Salam,

Are you tired of the boring old rocking chair for baby or the walker? Have you ever wished to buy something where your baby can sit up, play and amuse himself while you can concentrate on doing something else at least for few minutes?

WELL..................................................................
THE SOLUTION IS HERE.


YOU MIGHT ASK ME, "REALLY?"


AND I'LL SAY YES!


Just check this out first:

AND THIS ONE

 This is so cute and has a lot of functions. It comes in PINK and BLUE. It's suitable for babies from 0 month up to 2 years old. It won't be a wasting investment as as they grow older, it can be the special toy for your baby.

 Each Box contains;

1 unit big flower playmat

1 unit air bag cover with big head

4 unit accessories/toys

2 unit air bag

instruction

(air pump not included)

Why is this so SPECIAL?

• Innovative nest that grows up with your baby, from playmat to sofa
• Starts as a soft play nest with blossom farm soft toys
• Converts into a supportive prop to help child sit up

Min Retail price: RM150 including postage for West, RM160 for EAST

Interested?GO TO WWW.COMELLOTE.COM. 
Just fill up the ordering form there and place your order. 

P/S: I'm actually promoting this item because I'm the agent for COMELLOTE.COM .
        If any of you are interested to place an order, don't forget to mention my name as the referrer so I can
        get obtain some commission. Thanks ;)

Series of Amusing Literal Translation- Part 2.

Salam,

I received some interesting comments regarding Part 1. It seems that there are many of you out there who want to know about some phrases and words which are literally translated from BM or even in other F1 (not Formula One but First Language) to English. So, this is the sequence of the series which will be one of the series in this blog.

• Sky Juice 

          Ever heard of the phrase before? Actually Isabelle was the one who asked me whether the phrase has
          the similar meaning to "water or plain water". I heard the phrase when I was in the secondary school
          and I thought it is the the accepted terms in English. It actually brings us to other kind of drink which is
          a BAHAMIAN ALCOHOLIC DRINK. You can try to GOOGLE up the terms and you'll find it.

• Carry the hands

          Fathini told me that one of her teachers in her kindy asked her and her friends to "carry the hands" 
          when they are supposed to "lift up their hands together" in one of the steps for the Indian dance
          during the OPEN DAY 2010. Fathini is like other kids who believe her teachers more than me. I had
          to convinced her that those are not the correct terms to be used. I didn't ask her to tell the teacher that
          she used the wrong phrases as I don't want the teacher to upset her.

• Pass away            
•                                                                                                                                                          This is a common phrasal verb mistake among Malaysians. We heard this has been used in jokes but we still are not quite sure what's wrong with these words. If you say "Can I pass away, please", you are actually asking a permission from somebody to go and die or maybe it's even scarier like committing a suicide. It's better to use the other phrasal verb which is "Can I pass thorough, please" just say "Excuse me". I reckon the mistake we make is somehow related to our culture when we have to seek permission to walk in front of people who are older than us.   

 I can just share another three examples here in this entry since I'm a bit tired and sleepy now. Hopefully I will be able to compile more amusing literal translation and share them in this blog. If any of you who are reading this entry, you always welcome to share or ask if you happen to come across any other amusing literal translation.                                                                                                                            

Salam New Hijriah- 1432H & Simple BBQ.

Salam,

I hope it's not too late to wish all Muslims Salam New Hijriah. I planned to write some entries yesterday and even the day before but there were too many things that I had to sort out first. So, today at least I have this short entry. This entry does not contain any information but I just want to share some beautiful moments we had yesterday.

Fathini and my MIL came out with a brilliant idea of having "a pool party" on Tuesday (yesterday). My husband loved the idea since he wanted to have a simple BBQ with his family members just like a-get-together-thing. So, he bought all the things we need like a small BBQ set, 2kg of chicken, frankfurters, some drinks, paper cups and plates, tissues, charcoals and buns. My older SIL and my BIL offered to bring some other finger food and salad.

01 Muharram 1432 H/ 07 December 2010

We started the BBQ party quite late since my FIL called a Rentokil guy to spray some chemicals around the house and do some fogging at 10 o'clock. Only by 12, we could started to prepare. My hubby took about 1 hour to set and light up the fire! (we were so used with BBQ set that comes with a gas cylinder in NZ). When my older SIL & her hubby arrived, they brought the main entertainment for kids which was the swimming pool (since Fathini asked her auntie to bring it for the kids).

By 2 o'clock the food was almost ready except for burger patties because my BIL, his wife & their son did not arrive yet. 20 minutes later, they came and our small BBQ party was on the full swings. The kids couldn't wait to get into the pool and the adults were starving. Our simple BBQ meal contained BBQ chicken (marinated by my hubby and younger SIL), BBQ frankfurters, BBQ burger patties, fries, fried meehoon, salad and jacket potato. The drinks that complimented the food were strawberry yoghurt drink, apple carbonated drink and blackcurrant juice. Our dessert was vanilla & strawberry ice cream in a bun. While the four cousins (the kids) were having fun in the pool, the adults devour the food. 

About half an hour later, the kids started to feel cold and hungry. So, they came out of the pool and started to ask for food. Hafizah was the last one to came out of the pool. She cheekily spent more time in there until I had to literally fish her out of the pool. My MIL prepared hot MILO for the kids to warm them up. They were all so cute when they were shivering. After the a cup of HOT MILO, the kids took a bath before they ate something. By 4 o'clock, we wrapped up the party and took a rest in the living room with other activities like story telling session between my MIL & her grandchildren and chatting for us. My FIL was the only one who were fast asleep while all his grandchildren were making a lot of noise.

HOW WAS YOUR NEW YEAR YESTERDAY? IS THERE ANY SPECIAL ACTIVITY THAT YOU DID? I REALIZE THAT OUR ACTIVITY MIGHT BE TOO WESTERNIZED BUT OUR MAIN AIM WAS TO STRENGTHEN THE FAMILY BONDING. SINCE IT WAS A NEW YEAR, WE HOPE TO BECOME A FAMILY THAT LOVES EACH OTHER IN ANY CONDITION. 

Here are some more photos that I snapped yesterday:

I want to jump, teacher! & Mama, open the tv. (Series of amusing literal translation- Part 1)

Salam,

I reckon most of us who are using English as our second language (or third or fourth), stumble upon difficulties to use the correct terms especially when we translate some terms or words literally from L1 (our first language). I myself sometimes commit some mistakes too though I'm an English teacher. Based on my 7 years of teaching English, I've come across many amusing literally translated words, terms or phrases. There are also some examples of amusing terms that my daughters always use.

1. I want to jump, teacher!

          My students in ELS language centre usually use this phrase when they ask me to promote them to another level. I and also some other teachers can't help ourselves but to reply "Sure. Why don't you jump out of the window!". Only after that response, they realize that it is wrong to use the word "jump" in the context. Then, I always give the correct phrases like "Can I be promoted to the next level, teacher?" or "Can I be bumped up to the next level?".
  
     2.  He/She is long.
      
          One of the genres in writing component is Descriptive writing. As most of them go to ELS with minimal knowledge in English, their writing skills are usually quite weak. The teachers even have to start teaching from the punctuations (full stop, comma, capital letters) before moving on to sentence structures. So, the sentence of  "He/She is long" is a normal sentence that some of them use to say "He/She is tall". 

     3.  The tyre has no wind.

          This might sound familiar right? I remember one of my ex-students in USM used the sentence when he was presenting a speech. I didn't stop him when he made the mistake because I need to give more marks on the content rather than just the grammatical errors or mistakes. Only after everybody finished presenting, I highlighted some common and amusing mistakes. So, "the tyre has no wind" should be changed to "the tyre is flat". 

     4.  Mama, open the tv please.

          Fathini and Hafizah always forget to use the correct phrase which is "Mama, please switch on the tv". Every time they say "Open the tv, please", my response is "I can't open it because I don't know how to repair or use screw drivers to open it". They normally laugh at their own mistake and I reckon sometimes they purposely make the same mistake just to tease me.

Well, I have to stop here for now since I plan to write about this as a long series and also I have to recall first of more amusing literal translation that I have come across. Hope this series will also help those who read to not repeating the same mistakes.

source: GOOGLE

Politically Correct Jargons/Terms- Interesting Eh?

Salam,

Have you ever heard or read somewhere about some politically correct jargons/terms that have been introduced to make some plain words sound better? The word HOUSEWIFE can be changed to DOMESTIC ENGINEER.  The word POLICEMAN OR POLICEWOMAN can be changed to LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.  Actually I just found this interesting website about some politically correct jargons/terms to be used. The link to the website in http://www.bored.com/pcphrases/

Just in case you can't find the website or you just don't have time to go to the website, I can share some interesting terms here:

Bald - comb-free.

Dishonest - Ethically disoriented.

Drug Addict - Chemically Challenged.

Garbage Man - sanitation engineer.
Gas Station Attendent - petroleum transfer technician.

Having PMS - cyclically challenged.

Pregnant - parasitically oppressed.

There are also some politically correct terms for women. Let's see which one do you agree and which one you that you don't agree:

Her breasts will never sag, they will lose their vertical hold.
She does not get drunk, she is accidentally over served or she becomes verbally dyslexic.
She does not get PMS, she becomes hormonally homicidal.
She does not hate sports on TV, she is athletically biased.
She does not have a great butt, she is gluteus to the maximus.
She does not have a hard body, she is anatomically inflexible.
She does not have a killer body, she is terminally attractive.
She does not have big hair, she is overly aerosoled.
She does not have big hooters, her cups runneth over.
She does not have great cleavage or a great rack, her breasts are centrally located.
She does not have sexy lips, she is collagen dependent.
She does not shave her legs, she experiences temporary stubble reduction.
She does not shop too much, she is overly susceptible to marketing ploys.
She does not snore, she is nasally repetitive.
She does not sun bathe, she experiences solar enhancement.
She does not wear too much makeup, she is cosmetically oversaturated.
She does not work out too much, she is an abdominal overachiever.
She does not: Get Drunk, She becomes Verbally Dyslexic
She is not a bad cook, she is microwave compatible.
She is not a bad driver, she is automotively challenged.
She is not A Gossip, She is a Verbal Terminator
She is not a gossip, she is a verbal terminator.
She is not a Perfect 10, she is numerically superior.
She is not cold or frigid, she is thermally incompatible.
She is not easy, she is horizontally accessible.
She is not hooked on soap operas, she is melodramatically fixated.
She is not too skinny, she is skeletally prominent.
She will never gain weight, she will become a metabolic underachiever.
You do not ask her to dance, you request a precoital rhythmic experience.

I KNOW, I KNOW THAT THE LISTS ARE QUITE LONG BUT JUST SCAN THE TERMS THAT YOU AGREE AND YOU CAN TELL ME YOUR OPINION.