Changes

I bet you've been thinking what am I up to tweaking this blog every now and then, changing this and that all the time. Huhu, this is not the look that I wanted for my blog. I want something simple but with a personal touch and creative spark that'll last in your minds. Unfortunately, my blog advisors have yet to return with results huhuh .. Me, and my limited tech skills, are struggling to make this blog at least look 'sensible' to the viewers including me!

Any ideas how I can transform its looks back to home sweet home?

Ummah Films

Have you heard about Ummah Films before? Watched one of them - The Parent Negotiations - while browsing through iluvislam.com recently. This cynical one man show seems sensible in most of his message. I don't want to comment further, watch them yourself, and let me know what you think about them - the content and the presentation. Does this type of approach could get things straight to your minds and souls?




To make things easier why don't we just vote, do you like it? YES or NO ? Lengthy comments are always welcome though :)

Plan Your Vacation with HotelReservations.com

Planning for a vacation this summer? Searching for cheap hotels? Or thinking of a getaway anytime in the future? Plan it with Hotel Reservations.com and get discounts to save up to 70% off on hotels, motels and resorts!

This site offers a comprehensive tool to vacation planning with complete accommodation and transportation packages. There's a wide range of choices for vacation packages and rentals; hotels, cars and flights to select, according to quality, price or the best value within the site itself. Look for top quality hotels to stay or one that suits your budget. Book a flight and rent a car to and fro your destination. Check out the great destinations for sightseeing and activities available to suit your interest and fulfill your family's request. If you're thinking of not overspending this holiday, look out for the special internet rates available and the rebate deals offered. They guarantee the lowest rate for booked reservations and you could claim the guarantee if a better offer matching the same criteria of your booking details could be found. The best part about HotelReservations.com for bloggers or webmasters is, you'll get paid to write and create some Buzz about them!

HotelReservations.com provides everything you need for a hassle free and headache-less holiday preparation. Even if you are not into the holiday mood yet, the site would be a helpful tool for your business journeys and events around the world. What about weddings, reunions or special events to commemorate those special bonds and memories? HotelReservations.com is only a click away for help with Group Bookings with a special price. So what are you waiting for? Visit HotelReservations.com now and plan your best ever holidays! Don't forget to bookmark the site for future reference. And if you have a blog, start writing about HotelReservations.com now!

Are you a mom to be?

Or a mommy?

Let's share some thoughts at Maternity Ideas: Clothing, Books and Tips. Hop on for a read and let us know what you think.

The blog is fairly new thus will need a lot of time, ideas and support for improvement. Kindly leave your thoughts please. Happy reading :). Thanks!

Make Your Own Playdough - the Return!

Friends have been asking me about making their own playdough at home after reading my post on the recipe some time ago. I'd like to remind you that the dough will only last for a period of time. No, not because you can turn them into currypuff afterwards. And no, it's not going to melt for no good reason or disappear through the process of vaporisation.

The dough would not last forever (nothing does) as it is made without any preservatives. Just like any other dough you make into pastries etc., the dough will deteriorate after a few weeks. Use a cheap flour if you worry about overspending. Well, flour is actually cheap enough though.

The idea in this is actually thriving excitement in making things on your own, from scratch. Perhaps, you'll get to give your child some time and space in the kitchen to work together with you and your 'toys' rather than shooing them away when you're busy in the 'office' with the ladles and pans. Your child will also learn a bit about dough making and the great thing about playing with doughs and blocks is it does help expanding their creativity. The only possible downside for it is, it's not long-lasting thus dough-playtime will need to have a break until you get another pack of flour and other items in the recipe to make some more! :)

Oh and makesure the dough has enough of everything to make it nicely playable and won't run out of shape and colour. Dry your masterpieces under the sun, that'll make them hard to retain their moulded shape. Then, you'll need to worry less about the expiry date!

Any other better ideas to keep the dough playable all the time? Other than buying Play-Doh please ;).

If you've missed the recipe, read Make Your Own Play Dough Recipe here now!

1st day at SMS (part 1)

Saturday, 16th June 2007 was the first day of operation for Sekolah Malaysia Southampton (Malaysian School Southampton). I had butterflies in my stomach, waking up that morning for it was my first day in school and like any other kids, this first time tutor was soooo excited! I've been wanting to post about our 1st day at SMS since the day itself, but we were busy all weekend and the kids were not well. They're recovering now alhamdulillah. I'm trying to make this short but InshaALlah interesting enough with some photos. Enjoy reading!

We started with a simple registration process for the children. Collecting all the forms and registration fees, checking the attendance sheet and distributing 'starter-packs' for the lovely kids. Each and every one of them got their own Snopake folder containing the most essential tool for school; a notebook and a pencil. Alhamdulillah, many of the parents turned up with their children for our first ever debut in SMS. There about 30 students that day other than a group of concerned parents, teachers and the school's administrative board.

Ustaz Lizam gave a short briefing for the students, reminding them about their extra day in school, a new addition to their schedule while moms and dads had tea and some titbits with the guests. He also introduced the teachers and
administrative members of the school to the children. Later, the parents joined the assembly to hear speeches from Mr. Samad (the advisor), Mr. Halim (the principal) and the guests - Dr. Sarwar Jamil, The Manager of Community Languages Services and Mr. Draper, Swaythling Primary School's Headteacher.

(Pic 1: Registration table)

(Pic 2: Hear ye! Hear ye! Calling out names of students for class 1, aged 4-6)

(Pic 3: Getting the kids to line up properly is not as easy as it sounds :))

(Pic 4: Ustaz Lizam introducing us to the students)

After the short assembly, we went to the designated classrooms along with the children. Since there's an event organised by Malaysian Students' Association in the afternoon, we decided to end the class at 11.30am. I had to handle the kids aged 4-6 this week and it was a challenging one!

(Pic 5: From left; Dr. Jamil, Mr. Draper, Mr. Samad and the Principal)










(Pic 6: Do you think I'll leave my mommy on her first day at school, alone?!! That'll definitely be boring, people need babies for amusement! :D)

What did we do for the class last week? Till the next post says hi, ciao! :)

Why Holiday is Bad for bloggers?

... unless they've prepared for one! :)

We had a nice weekend last week. Spending the whole Saturday morning at the commencement of the Southampton Malaysian School and enjoying fun activities, games and meeting friends at MSA's Family Day event later in the afternoon. Thank God there were a lot of yummy food at the end, I've been starving all morning, forgetting to take some breakfast before leaving home. On Sunday, we went to a farm (was it Pickwell?) to pick strawberries. Well, there's this eating while picking 'interruption' all the time as you are allowed to do so, so picking was not the only acitivity available there :D. But don't go picking and eating without buying any-lah. You'll make the farmers' blood go upstairs then :D

After enjoying the farm scenery and activity, we went for a picnic at a nearby park but it was sooooo windy and cold, we end up getting home catching a flu! And that troubled me all week as the kids were also uncomfortably unwell and fretful. It was nice to spend the holidays with people you love, doing things you like at places you've been dreaming of. But holiday means away from home, the pc and loads of work waiting when you return. Unless, you're all prepared because holidays could be awfully bad for bloggers, especially those who are planning to profit from it. Read Why Holiday is Bad for Bloggers at ahmadaffzan.com.

I miss my baby ...

... and my baby misses me! ;)

We made a 2nd trip to the centre yesterday to submit my CRB form, again. Me, my husband and the little girl. We left the big boy at 'kakak-kakak's house (the Mayfield Rd. girls), being afraid that it might take some time there and dearest Handzalah will feel bored waiting. He was all happy going to 'kakak-kakak'. No doubt, they treat him everytime with a 1st class service. Driving all attention to him, only! ;)

It turned out that the submission and checks only took a few minutes so we drove back to the girls' house hardly half an hour after leaving from their doorstep. I went in to fetch Handzalah but he was all busy with the laptop. Mai said he has been watching Spongebob. Our laptop is a bit 'ill', it keep on shutting down everytime we play a movie or video, hence, Handzalah might have enjoyed his short stay having the technology all to himself to watch all his favourite entertainment programs! I tried to persuade him to come home with me but he seems not interested and Mai said I should leave him for the day since I'll be coming back to the area to visit a friend in the evening. I thought, no, he's going to miss me if I leave him too long. But then, he might need a lil bit time-out from home with his favourite 'kakak-kakak', so we went home without him.

At home we had lunch together and I gave Fidaa' her first introduction to solids! It's apple puree for the day. Well, as expected most of the puree came out than went in! ;) After lunch, Abuhandzalah was off to the office and I tried to finish my never-ending workload with the computer. Fidaa' was already sleeping after a long feed, and oddly, I felt so lonely! The world seems a bit 'wrong' having so much silence around. Oh my, I'm missing my baby! He drives me crazy all the time when he's nearby with his cheeky acts and witty stories. It's not like he's never been somewhere else but that's usually when I'm somewhere else too doing something that I can't include him with. Not when I'm working at home. Not like now. Oh my, I miss him! At this kind of moment, I always think of whether he misses me too?

Suddenly I heard a strange knock at the door.

Somebody's knocking the lower part of the door as if he/she is short. And the knock sounds a bit strange. It comes and goes as if someone's playing around with the door? Aiyah, could it be Handzalah? The phone is again, not working so the girls might have come without being able to tell me they are. So I simply asked who's out there , is it Mai? (one of the girls) and thank God she said yes hehe. My baby boy is back! Mai and Azila brought him to the park at the university to play football as he seemed a bit bored but later he 'brought' them home. This big boys know the way home ey? :) And he misses ummi. He wants to get home and eat 'nasi'. He wants to be home. With me. ME! I love you too sayang ...


* Do you like the graphics? Check them out at GranGran's Graphics.

First day at the centre

On Monday we went to the Centre of Language Services to meet Dr. Jamil, Manager of the Community Language Services in Mount Pleasant Junior School, Southampton. We were there to register ourselves and hand in our CRB (crime record bureau) forms which I do need to re-submit because I didn't have enough proofs of address then! They should have at least stated clearly the requirements so that we'll know what to bring. Anyway, the technical stuff didn't take much time and fuss. The excitement came later when we sat with Dr. Jamil for what we thought was going to be a short meeting yet became a really long one.

We requested some teaching materials for the students and teachers from the centre, hence Dr. Jamil had to check the list before giving his approval and gave us a few useful tips on handling the tightly-budgeted resources. He also clarified about the training sessions that we'll undergo later this year InshaAllah. At the moment, as he stated, we are considered 'untrained' until we complete the teacher's training. One of us asked whether our MAs and PhDs will be put into consideration (most of us are tutors and lecturers studying for a further degree) and with a big smile he answered, "You can use those if you're teaching in the university but in this country if you're going to teach children you'll need a special training and those degrees do not count" (to be considered trained) hehehe. We had a great laugh at that. Well it's true. Teaching children and adults or even teens are different. They communicate differently, perceive differently and they are even naughty in really different senses huhuhu. I'm looking forward to join the training sessions as I've put my registration for the childcare courses on hold.

We brought back some materials from the centre. Coloured pencils and papers, scissors, tapes, exercise books, cards and so many other things. We even got a teacher's pack each. It feels like going back to kindergarten seeing all those things, only this time we're no longer those little cuties singing ABC hehehe.

I'm surprised to learn that the centre will be providing us with materials and help in preparing lessons. Well, that's why we've been registered under the centre. We can come to the centre for advice and preparation and use the facilities there. Doesn't that sounds nice?

Help me!

A little bit of update - forgot to emphasize we're teaching MALAY LANGUAGE.
---------------------------
I'm glad I wrote about the new 'teaching' thing in my previous entry. Thanks to my dearest friends and family for being so supportive.

Sekolah Malaysia Southampton will begin it's journey InshaALlah on Saturday, 16th June 2007. There will be three classes for three different age groups and I'll be handling those aged 9-12 yrs old and 13-17 yrs old. For the first class this week, I'll be handling the little darlings aged 4-8 yrs old, only for registration and a short introduction. But there's a big task of preparing the syllabus and appropriate teaching materials for these little beings. Any ideas on what and how? If you have any interesting materials/suggestions on teaching kids this age (4-8yrs old), especially on Malay language and the basics of Islam and being a Muslim, please help me out. I would very much appreciate your kind advice and attention.

For your information, Sekolah Malaysia Southampton (Southampton Malaysian School) is managed by a group of parents and postgraduate students of the Malaysian community here. We'll surely need a lot of help to materialize it's mission and vision. So, let me hear your kind thoughts and please remember us in your prayers. May Allah help us all :)

I'm going back to school!

Yup. I'm going back to school! Not to be taught yet to teach, surprise, surprise. That's a big surprise to myself! I've been thinking of enrolling in a childcare course this year, but I guess there's a bigger cause to serve InshaAllah, hence that dream will need a little more wait. I've always loved school, education and children. I've always wanted to be a part of an educational institution, a think-tank that'll be able to generate fresh ideas for the betterment of the society. The only thing I never thought I'll do, is "teaching" itself! Erm, though parenting is a bit of teaching, I'm still an amateur in it.

I was talking to my dearest sister, Lieawulf whom has been lecturing in a private college for quite sometime asking her for some helpful tips. She told me:"On your 1st day entering the class, show that you are kind to them but you can also choose to be fierce and roar in class hahaha...". Well, that's a message from a teacher handling college students. I'm going to handle younger children in primary and maybe secondary schools. I'm still unsure of what's ahead, as this will be my 1st experience ever though as Lieawulf noted that "we - the sevenlords - are all talented" in this profession and I should just go ahead and test my skills hahaha. Well, my mom, dad and elder sister have been personal tutors for people for a long long time now though I bet none of you, if you know Lieawulf the way I do; an introvert who hardly speaks to another stranger will be a teacher! And what do you know? She's even good at it! She has been an assistant to her Tae-kwan-do instructor for sometime, I have no doubt if she's teaching that, but imparting non-physical theoretical knowledge is something too hard too imagine! And one 'secret recipe' of the sevenlords, we seem a bit extra fierce most of the time, but deep down our humble hearts meant well and we're the type of "I'll do anything" for the people we love and of our concern such as our students (pendek kata garang tapi baik hati la tu ... kot? ;)).

For the past year, I've been teaching 14-16 lovely girls Tafsir; the translation and scholars' comentaries of the Qur'an and I really enjoyed doing so. I've just started coaching Lisa with the Arabic alphabets and I'm hoping I'll be able to accomplish my small mission with her before returning to Malaysia. I've always enjoyed conducting study circles on Islam (usrah) and I guess I do have one or two skills up my sleeves but I'll need a lot more to really teach properly, especially this time it's in a formal setting and I have a syllabus to follow and finish! Good thing we'll be sent for training. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah and those out there whom have trusted me with this valuable opportunity. Not just for some pocket money, but for experience and knowledge I might not be able to get elsewhere, in other ways. I wonder if teaching 6-17 year old kids could be a done in a more relaxing atmosphere, putting more interpersonal and group communication skills into practice. After all, teaching is not speaking in public, a one way communication system. Right? If it is, it'll definitely be boring!

Any tips from teachers or tutors out there? Care to share them with me? Comment please :). At the moment, hoping for your prayers, God-willing InshaAllah, may everything goes well for the school and me.

For your information, Sekolah Malaysia Southampton will be in action soon InshaAllah. It will be held once a week, teaching Malay Language and Basics of Islamic Fundamentals (Fardhu 'Ain) for children of Malaysian families.

p/s: Handzalah and Fidaa' will have their abi to look after them when I'm teaching, Alhamdulillah.

nurinmz.com - downtime

I'm sorry to announce that nurinmz.com is temporarily "closed". With extreme carelessness, I've left the computer to my little boy without signing out from my blog account first. Hence, my older posts and comments have been deleted. Thought I'll write something new afer a long rest, but ALlah Knows Best, sendiri cari pasal. I'll figure out how to get things back to normal later. At the moment I'm off to the island of Regrets.

Critical. Creative. Contemporary.

I'm writing a new blog, dedicated to critical and creative thoughts upon current issues. Visit nurinmz.com and let me hear your thoughts about mine :) (using the comment field and rating technique). Jazakumullah Khairal Jazaa' + Thanks for your loyalty!