Parenting in the New Infocomm Age Seminar

The 'Parenting in the New Infocomm Age' Seminar held last Saturday which was organised by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), National Library Board (NLB), National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and Tampines East Community Club (TECC) was a huge success!

I shared and I learnt. Loads.

Bernard, Claudia and Effendy, I've learnt so much from you guys and gal. *winks at Claudia!*

The Right Spin peeps, again, you all just ROCK big time la ah.

Lynn and Wan Sin from IDA, thanks for the guidance.

Haryani, from NLB, thanks for being relack jack. Hee!

And I've made a new friend too.

Hani, I was so happy to see you and your muffin! :)
PS: I haven't met my mom la so have to steal your sooooo clearrrr photo. heeee! Once I get a hold of our better shot, will replace!


Mom, thanks for the support.
For all that you are and all that I am, thank you, Mak!


Paps unfortunately couldn't attend. The moment the seminar ended, he called me to say his plane just touched down. He sounded pretty disappointed because he thought I was disappointed that he missed it.
Nah, I'm cool Pa.
Despite being tired and jetlagged, he fetched us and whisked us all away to Horizon Hills.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

Rooqy's FIRST birthday bash!

Rooqy turned ONE 2 weeks ago and we threw him a belated birthday party yesterday at his gramps' place.

Bah and my sis in law, Netty, have mutually decided that their firstborn's first party not be a big- scale- invite the- whole- kampong kind of affair and we respect their decision.

Only immediate family members were present because they didn't want to overwhelm Rooqy.

I then suggested to my brother that we engage an entertainer for the children.

After all, it is still a birthday party and a party should be fun and memorable for the kids.

He bought the idea.

After the green light was flashed, I immediately called up Shufi aka Fifi the Magician who was a hit at Nyla's party last year.

I was worried actually because it was a last minute thingy and these guys are damn popular!

Fifi was unavailable and he directed me to his partner, Funky Freddie (who happened to be my ex JC mate! small world!) who was already booked for 2 gigs on that very day! Sharks.

Anyway, he didn't let me down. Phew!

You're a gem, bro!

Funky Freddie you are to your young fans, KIND and Funky Farid you'll always be to me, bro. :)

Thanks for doing it despite your busy schedule!

Here's Funky Freddie performing close up magic.

Balloon Sculpture time

Nyla ordered PINK bracelet. PINK crown. PINK flower.

The twins were into anything purple!

The boys requested for dinosaurs, helicopters and guns. Typical boys' stuff!

Happy kids they were thanks to Funky Freddie!

Funky Freddie the magician and balloon man was too good, even the adults' eyes were glued to him the whole time with mouths agape.

And I thought Bah requested a dinosaur crown for Rooqy. Riggghtttt.

So If you’re looking for a magician for your child’s birthday party, a close-up magic expert for your private function, or a stage magician for your company event, then I recommend Funky Freddie!

Visit his website at http://www.funkymagic.sg/ and contact him personally!

I assure you that your kiddos and guests will have one ball of a great time!

Farid, you should add another adjective to your name: FANTASTIC! Truly!

Wedding Photography

When an awesome photographer by the name of Noor Hazmee called me up to ask if I was keen to be a model for his works, I couldn't turn him down because one, his wife, Liza was my ex colleague and now a buddy and two, I love his work very much for he has a unique eye for photography with an artistic twist.
Hazmee truly has a gift with the lens.

Anyway, me being married with a kid, I just assumed he wanted to shoot some family photos.
Boy, was I damn wrong.
Like, totally.

Me: Family shoot is it, bro?
Him: No...Bridal.
Me: WHAT? Please dont kid me, bro.
Him: I'm not.
Me: But I am a PENGANTIN BASI!
Him: So? Not a problem.

A few days later, I happily posed and he and Imran happily snapped away.
Damn, where were you guys 6 years ago when I got married man?
And to think I thought my wedding pictures were fantastic, with the cekak pinggangs and the jari on the pipi kind of poses.
How malu-ating!

Hazmee's approach is about capturing the moments that are candid and I think this is what that makes him stand out among the other photographers I have come across.

Enjoy the pictures you bridezillas.
If you want amazing and creative pictures of your wedding, Hazmee is highly recommended.




















Impressive right?
Intend to choose Noor Hazmee to document the most important day of your life?
Go to his website and click this : http://www.noorhazmee.com/

Jakarta

A mega Islamic book fair was held at Senayan, Jakarta last week and my mom, being an avid reader and a knowledge seeker that she is, was really keen to go.
My paps, being her fairy godfather since the day they got married more than thirty years ago, granted her wish.
For the 99999999996785994634012856746252422637459063th time.

I find this real sweet.
How, after so many years of being together, they still make the effort to make each other happy.

I had no inkling that I was also going to be included in the trip together with my Mini me.
So when my paps called me to tell us to pack our bags the night before we were to depart, I was like,' Woohoooo! Best nyer!'
I love packing for holidays okay!

The not so great part is when you unpack yr luggage the moment you reach home. :s

March is a busy period for the husband so he couldn't tag along. Too bad!
I suspect he was also Yahhhhooo-ing in his heart, free from my naggings and Nyla's incessant 'Why ahs?'

The book fair was awesome.
I managed to find Islamic books for Nyla in English.

I shall now include stories about our Prophets during bedtime. :)

Esman also called up his friend, Jo, who is residing in Jakarta and told him about me and my family being in Jakarta.
Jo and his beautiful family kindly brought us out to Kembang Goela near Plaza Sentral.

The next day, we did a bit of shopping at Mangga Dua, followed by dinner with my dad's friend, Uncle Blaise.

Uncle Blaise is so great with children and Nyla adores him very much.
Thanks so much Uncle Blaise for offering us your rooms and the dinner. :)

My dad also spent quality time with his grand-daughter while his women were busy shopping for books (his wife) and clothes and shoes and accessories (his daughter :P)

It was a short trip because we had to return on Thursday as I had 2 tuition sessions on that day.
The thing about holidays is that you return being recharged so I wasn't tired at all.

Although the word 'Islamic', is the title of the fair,there were other books of different genres as well.
I bought a book penned by this young writer affectionately knows as Mattie.

I shall share more about him over at the Bottoms Uppers Blog. ;)
I haven't shared the book with the tutees yet, because I wanted to finish reading it.
Now that I have, it is truly such a beautiful book about hope and I can't wait to share it with them this week. :)

Mom and Dad, thanks for the trip!

Oh which reminds me.
Nyla misses her Godma Di in Norway very much and I laughed when I heard her and her daddy talking.

Nyla: Dy, I miss Aunty Diana ah.
Esman: Oh ya?
Nyla: Shall we go to Norway?
Esman: No Way.

Playmates

Being sibling-free, Nyla sometimes loathe her solitary state, hence when she has company, the babe revels in the spotlight especially when she is with her favourite playmates.

1.Rooqy

Nyla absolutely adores Rooqy, her cousin.

So much that she tells her friends and teachers that he is her baby brother.

And they believed her because till today, her friends' parents and teachers congratulate me on my 'new arrival.'
:S

Nyla used to be very jealous of babies because let's face the fact ya, babies are very cute and she cannot take it because she wants to be the cutest.

However, ever since Rooqy, she has matured and I am so proud of the way she plays the big sister to Rooqy.

She is so gentle. She doesn't mind if he pulls her hair. She gives in and shares toys with him. Well done Nyla!

2. Farysha

Farysha is also her new cousin from my in laws' side.

Both of them click very well because these 2 vainpots are so into girly stuff.

Think pink, princesses and heels.

Match made in heaven la these 2 babes.

3. Azam

Nyla and her cousin, Azam share a unique relationship.

Azam is right now in Jeddah but despite the distance and time away from each other, whenever he comes to Singapore to catch up with Nyla, they play like as if they see each other every day.

4&5. Trisha and Tristan

Trisha, as you all already know, is Nyla's bff in school.

Tristan is Trish's younger brother and he will play with the girls whenever we go out on playdates.

Thanks to these girls, the mommies have also formed a friendship. :)

With regards to the subsequent 2 playmates I am going to introduce, I need to shoutout a huge 'THANK YOU' to the mommies because their mommies are the ones who take Nyla out while I teach their older children.

So sweet right?

I mean, I've been blessed that I can have Nyla physically with me when I teach at home.

But I'm even more blessed that these mommies bring Nyla out and let her have so much fun with their preschoolers, her kind of people.

When they asked if they could bring Nyla out and enjoy the outdoors, I felt really touched.

So mommy Ana and mommy Tee, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for always putting a smile on my girl's face whenever the weekend comes.

It's perfectly alright if my weekend burn because I know that my girl is having loads of fun while mommy is at work. :)

6: Syamirul

7: Ziqry