Hello there 2012!

It's already March the 6th, 2012. I have turned 37 years old exactly 2 months ago and yet this is my first post in 2012. hahahahahahaha. Pathetic, I know.

Ampun tuanku beribu ampun. Relapse lagi penyakit malas nak berblog saya ni. Sorry lah banyak-banyak tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. In all honesty, I have kind of missed writing my unfiltered ramblings and in fact I do have quite a lot to write about. Just never found the time to. Alasan, I know. But there is some truth to it.

There has been good news and not so good news. But, I guess we live through it, don't we? Such is life. There is also a lot to look forward to this year. Especially in the travels department, Insya Allah. For starters, there's the Bali eco culture trip in the upcoming March school holidays. (we flying off this Saturday, dude!) In June, we already have our cheap cheap air fare to Sydney. TQ Air Asia X. And Insya Allah, looking for a special place to spend our 10th year anniversary in September. Kat mana nak pergi? Masih dalam perancangan. Kalau jadi sok, saya share lah. In any case, I have gone back to the gym in the quest to be slightly fitter and less gemuk by then. hahahahahaha Saya juga telah register untuk Energizer Night Run in April. Yes, I did! hihihihihihi (Jangan excited sangat, 5km Fun Run je)

OK lah dulu. Nanti update lagi.

-dillz blogging out-

Of family reunion

Despite sleeping around 6am this morning *buat report la apa lagi* we made our way to Taman Tenaga to attend the "Majlis Waris Dan Keturunan YAM Pengiran Sura Negara Pengiran Anak Badarudin (Jurai Tok Mamat)" at 10am this morning.

Apparently kami adalah bau-bau bacang dengan the Brunei royalties. The details were presented during the workshop. The presenter is actually the seventh generation coming from Jurai Syarifah. *I think* I am on the other hand, the fifth generation from Jurai Tok Mamat. Our clan (i.e. starting from my grandfather - comprising of my dad's siblings) all came decked in white and/or black. Ramai kot. Kitorang je dah berapa orang, considering that dad had 11 siblings.. (2 passed away when they were little)

Had a blast though. So, what does this mean? Nothing much, really. Ancestry. It's always nice to know about where you came from.. Kalau ikutkan we are all Pengirans. Pengiran @dillazag , Pengiran Khadra, Pengiran Khaleeq and Pengiran Khaleeda. My hubby could carry Pengiran Bini @azrulx. ;)

Gotto get back to the talk now. ;)

-dillz blogging out-

Testing saja

Hubs decided that he's getting an iPhone 4s for himself. He got one for me as my advanced birthday present. Sapalah saya untuk menolak rezeki. ;)

Sedang sesi menerai. Having a blast with Siri. Lawak siuts.

iHappy.

-dillz blogging out-

Focus! Focus! Focus!

So much to do. So much to do.

There has been quite a lot that has happened this past month, concerning the kids. Especially concerning the kids. As usual, mommy hasn't had time to update, has she? hihihihihihi

It's been pretty hectic at the work front too. I have finally gotten some things finalized and am still gungho with several more projects in hand. Insya Allah. Dipermudahkan. Aminn.. I have also picked up on my reading in the past month. Somehow, I gravitated to malay fiction this time around. Finished reading several #BukuFixi publications - Jerat, Pecah, Kougar, Dendam and Kasino and @elviza's Kerna Terpaksa. In my reading list currently is FauziahAshari's Ombak Rindu and another #BukuFixi Ngeri. :P

At this juncture, most of the kids activities has slowed down somewhat. To date, we have completed:

• Khaleeda's 4th birthday celebrations - this time around she had it at Barbie Store. Beria, I tell you. But, the princess had a great time with the makeovers and catwalk with her friends. :)
  
• Khadra's Kickstart Internal Grading for her rhythmic gymnastics. The grading determined whether she could go up to Grade 1 level from Little Gymnast level.
  
• Khadra completed her School Holiday gymnastics program - with a Russian coach. Woohoo!
  
• Khadra and Khaleeq's TTG final performance for this year, in conjuction with Didance's year end showcase at KLPAC.
  
• Khadra and Khaleeq performed their yearly drama at KLPAC last week, on the 30th November and 1st December 2011. This year's title is T3 = The Equation. The endangered animals in the highlights this year were the tapirs, tenggiling and tembadaus.
  
• Khaleeq undergoing his prelim diagnosis for his condition. Insya Allah, will be concluded by month-end.
• Khaleeda started her mengaji. Yeay!

Till I get more time to type in this space. I'll definitely try to elaborate the above points. With pictures too, if I have the might! Too-da-loo.

-dillz blogging out-

My Junior Masterchefs

The two Khas entered a Scottigami competition at their school early this month. In simple terms, the kids had to fold Scott kitchen towel into an object. Thus, the name Scott + Origami = Scottigami. Khadra wanted to make lillies and Khaleeq wanted to make frogs. So, we googled how to fold them and spent some good time making them. Thanks to the abundance of accessories (pipe cleaners, flower cutout, feathers and googly eyes) to decorate the kitchen towels from our trusted Doodle drawer, we were able to come up with the following.

Tadaa.....

Boleh tahan, la... Seni tu ada...

Best part was, the Top 30 most creative entries stand a chance to participate in a junior cooking workshop with a celebrity chef and they were both selected. Wey-hey!!! So, mommy dengan penuh bersemangat ambil cuti hari tersebut to accompany my little chef Khaleeq and @azrulx was Khadra's partner-in-crime. (@azrulx cooking? Of course, I HAD to see this. hihihihihi)

Anak-anak, ibu-ibu, bapa-bapa - all excited for the workshop to start. Ampun, ada pulak gambar kaki ibu-ibu. Motif???

Inside the hall. Getting ready to cook. Aprons ON.. Let's go!

First menu: tortilla wrap. There wasn't actual or proper cooking per se - no pots nor pans needed - more like chopping, mixing, squeezing, whisking and assembling. I let Khaleeq do most of the steps, with guidance, of course. Especially while chopping stuff. Adoi, seriau acik... Tak sempat nak menjeling meja sebelah to see how the father-daughter duo was doing. OK lah tu. Cik mek Khadra tu boleh diharap. We successfully completed the wrap and both kids completely devoured their fruits of labour. Sedap juga.. Mommy dapatlah merasa beberapa bites.

Next up was smoothies making. Can't believe how simple the steps were. The chef encouraged the kids to try a few different combinations. Personally, I liked the banana-oreo the best. And I have also concluded that peanut butter does not go well into a smoothie. Period!

Session ended with group photos and interviews. Kids were happy. Parents were happy. Mana taknya, kenyang perut, suka hati lah...

I am actually very grateful that we got this opportunity to participate in this kind of workshop with the kids. It showed them that cooking is really not that hard to do and every single one can actually whip something up in the kitchen. In fact, we already bought a smoothie blender last weekend. Made a few batches of smoothies with the kids' help. (I added a few scoops of Bulla vanilla ice-cream into the recipe though. hahahaha) They are very interested and I hope to get the kids more involved in the future too. Sebelum ni pun, ada la jugak tolong sikit-sikit, especially when baking cookies and brownies. Part goreng-menggoreng, potong-memotong ni, I tak berani nak let them in yet. Maybe I should get them a safer knife macam dalam Junior Masterchef tu. Mana nak beli, ek?

-dillz blogging out-

apebarang?

apebarang? Apa barang? Ha... tu dia.. Kalau tak tahu, sila tanya..

apebarang has now become one of my favourite online art shop selling cutesy art pieces. They have paintings on canvases as well as coasters. If you remember Stoodle from way back when, the artist who doodles based on facebook status(es). I've even written about them here, here and here. Tu lah dia.. si mimi @stoodlerist. She's the one who came up with all the genius designs.

LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.

During their opening launch recently, I bought 3 pieces from their I<3 series:
I <3 Books, I <3 Coffee and I <3 Monsters.

It's art on a 10cm x 10cm canvas. When it came to our doorsteps, we immediately that we need MORE, MORE, MORE. I was thinking along the lines of making a 3x3 matrix and framing it for our library.

Mimi advised us to go the commissioned way - we custom ordered 6 other designs, yakni:
I <3 Chili's, I <3 Cooking, I <3 travel, I <3 Golf, I <3 Apple and I <3 Roti & Egg. The actual object / wording commissioned was upon consultation with the other members of the family. A few days later, it arrived at our doorsteps. :)

Lihat hasilnya. Tarra!!!
Cantik kan?

So, anyhoots... Yang nak cerita ni is because apebarang arthunt is back. mimi had just uploaded her latest pieces, AND.. up till 11 November 2011, shipping is free!

It started yesterday at 3pm, and believe it or not, I actually missed it too. Baru ternampak dalam timeline tadi masa tengah training. So after I got my bargains below, I cepat-cepat la bagitahu uols. :)

Jangan jeles... ;)

-dillz blogging out-

It's Back! It's Toffee Nut Time!

Ketahuilah sekalian manusia. Inilah air yang kutunggu - tunggu sepanjang tahun.

Toffee Nut latte is back!

Woot!

I was pleasantly surprised today actually coz we were lepaking at Starbucks yesterday while waiting for the kids to finish at Kizsport BV2. Takde pun ura-ura this Christmasy beverage would be available in a very near future. Today, tup, tup, ada pulak. :)

Along with the Christmas promotion, of courselah juga the anticipated "race" (dengan sapa saya racing tu tetap menjadi tandatanya) to accumulate the stipulated number of stamps to get the complimentary Starbucks organizer, kan? Soal whether diary tersebut digunakan atau tidak throughout the year, tidaklah menjadi persoalan. (My 2011 one was probably used up till February only) Yang penting, HARUS dapatkannya terlebih dahulu.

This year is no different. However, you'd have to do it in a slightly different manner. You gotta:

1. Purchase the Starbucks Card
2. Buy 15 handcrafted beverages
3. Redeem your 2012 diary

OK, apakebendanya Starbucks Card?

It's a kinda pre-paid card for Starbucks which actually holds some amount of cash. Like a cashcard la. So, from now on, I pay for my drinks with the Starbucks Card. Why should I bother, did I hear you say? Sebabnya mudah. You will get a complimentary grande handcrafted beverage with every purchase of any 10 handcrafted beverage OR any tumbler OR any whole cake. Dan macam-macam lagilah benefitnya. On top of that, there's an ongoing promotion for a free card caddy if you top up RM100 into the card.

Being a sucker that I am for all cards in this world and any chance to get stuff for free- haruslah acik membelinya. Ya, dengan card caddynya sekali. Sekian terima kasih.

Saya sudahi dengan ucapan, "Selamat berlumba" bagi other suckers out there just like me.

-dillz blogging out-

The Photobook Craze

Hey there peeps! Seems like I am on a roll right now. Memanglah banyak nak cerita, am just finally putting it down. Like finally, right?

This morning, I wanted to share this other craze that I have been working on a lot, a lot, a lot! I started fiddling with Photobook quite a while back. When I thought I had to finish 5 books in 2 weeks, quite frankly. That was sometime in March 2011. Turned out I didn't have to and the expiry was really a year away. Duhh!!!

But it did force me to start using the downloaded application and make our very first Photobook. I made two albums circa April 2011 - one on our family photoshoot back in 2006 and the other one was our first stay in Hard Rock Hotel, Penang. I call these two my First Generation photobooks. :) Once we ordered the albums, it really only took about 4 days for the books to arrive. Of course, Khaleeda was the most excited. (Siapa lagi, ya tak? )

For me, when ordering the Imagewrap books (the one I was working on are called Imagewrap Medium Landscape books) , the cover is important as it gives the reader the first impression. Does it attract your audience or doesn't it? Then, the layout and flow of the whole book. How do you want to organize your pictures. Next is the first and last page. How do you start and end your story telling?

Gen 1: Photoshoot 2006

Cover: Three selected pictures on a black background. with a caption "Azlul Clan Photoshoot 2006". Simple and classic. The back is a picture of Khadra and Khaleeq walking hand-in-hand. Agak comel.
Flow: I divided the book into two. First half is the indoor family photoshoot we had commemorating our graduation from MBA. The other half is the outdoor photoshoot by the poolside.
Layout: I used patterned backgrounds to give it a more scrapbook-y feel. Frames. Lots of frames. When I have a certain picture that I wanted to highlight, I let it take the whole page.
First and last pages: A picture of me and Azrul on the first page and a nice picture of Khadra during the outdoor shoot for the last page.

Gen 1: Hard Rock Hotel 2009

Cover: Full picture of HRH on the front cover. For the back cover, I put on a cool Elvis quotation I got at the lobby entrance that says "Welcome back my friends, the show that never ends". I also included a picture of the three kids playing sandcastle by the beach.
Flow: It started with pictures of our roadtrip - the drive all the way up to Penang. Then the hotel ambiance, the awesome pizzas at the pizzeria, Lil Rock, kids having fun in the pool - basically all thhe stuff we could do there.
Layout: For this album, I stuck to just plain white background with black frames. Had a few captions here and there. I still highlighted a few pictures that I really liked - those ones take a whole page. We also had the view of the sea from our room. Two beautiful views captured at different times of the day next to each other. <3 <3 <3 I also liked a spread I made on the food we got from breakfast at the King's Club. I even added the breakfast menu there. :)
First and last pages: First page says "December.2009 roadtrip! Roadtrip!" Last page is a picture of the kids sleeping in their car seats on our way home with a caption "'till next time!"

Come early October 2011, two more vouchers were due. I got a real deal from Groupon Malaysia, something like RM54 for an RM256 worth of Photobook. Sangat berbaloi-baloi. The only thing is the expiry comes around a few months after. OK la, just have to organize your time a little better and get it done in time. That's all. Anyhoots, for this Generation 2 albums I have upgraded a little of my skills and decided to finish up the Melbourne trip and start on the Hong Kong Disneyland album. It has some obvious improvements from Gen 1, I think. So I really do recommend that you only work on a few (one or two) Photobook(s) at a time as your designing skills will improve over time. :)

Gen 2: Melbourne 2004

Cover: I chose the best two pictures that depicted the trip and made it as cover. The compulsory pose by the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles.
Flow: Very much like the earlier HRH album, it's a story of our short stay there. As the page progresses, it showcased the things we saw and did.
Layout: This time I used plain black background with white frames and text. I started experimenting on opacity, whereby the pictures become slightly blurry and transparent. It makes other pictures layered in front of it pop out more if they are in full colour.
First and last pages: A made a little narration as the first page. A little summary of what the album is about. Last page was a picture of my mom and all her grandchildren in Melbourne at the time, Khadra, Nelysa and Naqib.

Gen 2 : Hong Kong Disneyland 2011

Cover: Picture of the whole family in front of a Mickey Mouse statue. Back cover is a smaller picture of me and the kids walking out of the theme park with a visible "Thank you for coming" on the arch.
Flow: Divided the album into two halves. First part is on our activities and pictures from Hong Kong Disneyland while the other half was on the hotel.
Layout: More opacity techniques applied. I experimented with different patterned backgrounds, frames with captions and scrapbook items sprinkled sparringly throughout the album. I played around a lot on the layout - trying to squeeze in as many pictures i possibly could in one page. :)
First and last pages: It's like a Table of Contents (ToC) kinda thing, 3 pictures of us at hong Kong Disneyland and 3 pictures of us at the HK Disneyland Hotel. I especially liked the last page as I simply dumped layers upon layers of pictures in different orientation. Looks like a snapshot of many photographs of the holiday being spread on the floor. Very nice.

I'm currently working on my Gen 3 photobook. Will share the resources, my inspirations etc when I'm done, ok?

-dillz blogging out-