A Homemaker’s Diary

Just as I managed to upload all these pictures using the very-very slow broadband connection at home, I realized that I didn’t put watermark on them..sigh! I am too tired to delete everything, edit them in Photoshop and upload again..I hope that nobody will be so jahat and curi all of these edited pictures.

Well, during the Raya holiday, we made it to Aquaria KLCC. There were many Chinese and foreign tourists at Aquaria that day. We didn’t make it for the shark and piranha feeding show but I did ask Hubby to snap as many pictures as possible while I held our son in Baby Bjorn.

The piranha doesn’t look very scary, right? It looks like ikan bawal..haha! Oh, we took the combo package for RM58 per person - Aquaria and Aquazone. We loved the fish spa. We planned to again to the fish spa if we go for HomeDec this weekend.

It was pretty exciting and informative visit for me. I learned a lot of new things. I touched belangkas, starfish and saw the real alive seahorses. I was hoping to share the picture of the big Arapaima (it is as big as a goat) but I couldn’t find a good shot…(and one without my face in it..heh!) So you guys will have to make do with this lionfish picture..hehe!

We enjoyed the trip very much and will definitely bring our son again once he’s bigger and more curious to know about aqua life..heh!

Last month Hubby was busy interviewing candidates for 2 posts at his office. Since his US based company doesn’t place much interest in candidates’ appearance, the aspect of grooming is not one of the criteria of hiring that they take seriously (but still of course you can’t expect to come to the interview wearing sandals and shorts, right?) hehe..

Regardless of that, for those who are looking for jobs or holding one, it is important to note that results from a recent survey of more than 500 HR professionals - commissioned by Gillette(R) [PG] and conducted by Harris Interactive(R) indicate that 84% of HR professionals agree that well-groomed employees climb the corporate ladder faster than those who are not well-groomed.

When it comes to first impressions, ninety percent of HR professionals place more importance on being well-groomed than even a firm handshake.

For more expert advice and hire guide, you can check Gillette Career Advantage.

Gillette has engaged career expert, Mark Jeffries and GQ style correspondent, Brett Fahlgren to further supplement the insights from the HR survey with their own expert advice for guys who are looking for a new job or looking to get ahead in the job they currently have.

It doesn’t have to be an expensive products or designers clothes that make you shine out from the rest of the candidates, the usual facial cleanser, shampoo, shower gel, deodorant and after shave will do for your morning ritual. You can check out Gillette Resource Center to see what other products you can use to make yourself look presentable and well-groomed.

Personally, if I were a HR personnel I would definitely take special note of those candidates who come clean shaven, smell fresh and dress smart. It’s just that in my view that those who have unkempt appearance will look very unprofessional and not interested enough for the job.

I know most people are still busy celebrating Hari Raya. I was tired with all this Raya commotion and decided to indulge in something more beneficial. After all my son won’t be a baby forever and since his brain grows rapidly in these first 2 years, I decided to do what’s best for him.

Initially I was with Hubby about teaching baby to read. Logically what’s good is there if your 3 year old knows how to read, right? It’s not like he can use the skills to earn a living..haha! But after thorough research (thanks to brillbaby.com), I decided it’s best if I start now. I even bought a book by Glenn Doman..can’t wait to read it once it has arrived..hehe!

Just to share what I found on the website:

Infant researcher Robert Titzer believes it is considerably easier to learn to read as a baby or preschooler than it is to start learning in first grade.

“There’s a natural window of opportunity for learning language, and that window begins at birth and goes through [to] around age four years,” he says.

“That’s when it’s easier for a baby to learn second languages, sign language, spoken language, or the written form of language.”

In fact, studies have shown that children who learn to read earlier (at age three or four) maintain their advantage over children who learn at an average age (five or six) or late age (seven or eight) for as long as eight years.

What’s more, being able to read well from an early age has an impact on learning as a whole. Since reading is the gateway to acquiring knowledge, early readers have a head start when it comes to learning just about anything. This has a tendency to make them perform better in a range of academic subjects.

On another note, if you wonder why babies like to taste everything they touch, here is some explanation:

Delivering information through several sensory channels is a powerful teaching method because it is easier to remember something we have experienced in a number of ways. Like the flash method, this type of teaching engages the right hemisphere of the brain (albeit in a different way).

Unlike the left brain, which learns through logic and reasoning, the right brain learns through feeling, doing, and visualizing (pictures rather than words).

This is why young children – who are right-brain dominant until the age of three and a half – instinctively try to touch and taste every object they come across.

This year celebration started with lampu ketupat..heh! We bought 2 sets at Jusco, one is the LED set and the other one is the typical lampu cepat terbakar with ketupat at the bottom of the rows.

Like last year’s tradition, we managed to balut about 1.5kg ketupat palas (sadly, daun palas we bought semua kenit2, tak lebar which make it hard to come out with big ketupat). This year the acara balut ketupat was done 2 days earlier from the Aidilfitri, reason being we were afraid that with a clingy son, it would be too packed to jam all the cooking tasks on Saturday.

I cooked nasi berperisa on the Raya morning itself (all the rempah and bahan were prepared the night before), and I made the acar timun the night before and kept in the fridge. Hubby cooked rendang with my supervision and I cooked kari daging as cicah ketupat on Saturday evening..(nasib baik Raya was on Sunday as expected..huhu!)

I got my balang kuih raya at last..heh! Very tempted to buy all those crystals or kaca bergaya ala Queen Anne but I guess until our son is big enough and we have a bigger formal dining table, these will do for now..janji kuih raya sedap..haha! Oh, samperit bunga was made by Hubby..delicious!!

For me, even with ala kadar Raya, I enjoyed the festive time with the family and the memories of first Aidilfitri with our beloved son. On second day of Raya, we went out and spent good time in Aquaria, siap masuk Fish Spa tau..hehe! Will blog about that later if I have time..hehe!

I am happy this year to celebrate Hari Raya. Reason No.1 : it’s our first Aidilfitri together as one family. Reason No.2 : I don’t have to endure long hours of traveling as we will be celebrating it here…as per few years before this.

Somehow I don’t understand why people have to balik kampung every time there’s long weekend or public holiday. Maybe because they have family that love them and it makes sense for them to sacrifice their rest day, energy, effort and money to travel so far to meet their family at home.

Honestly, I don’t know how it feels because in my case, family always make me feel that I am obligated to meet their demands, that I am never good enough in anything I do and decisions in life that I choose to make are not what they want and expect of me.

Of course, deep down I wish that I have it differently, that I could celebrate Hari Raya happily with extended family, being surrounded with love, attention and good feelings. But I know that won’t happen, not even in the past 30 years of my life (not even when I was still single), maybe it was fun when I was a child but that was it..huh!

I pray that one day when my son is old enough, he will come home for Hari Raya not because he feels obligated but because he misses us and wants to spend the festive season as a family.