Out of my comfort zone

The family insisted....
I resisted.....

Everytime over dinner, either Papa J or my elder bro, Bah, would suggest,"Enter this industry Kin. And apply whatever you are doing currently to it."

"Ish, don't want la. Wait people come up with nicknames for me..." was my reply.

In fact a friend already came up with one: 'Nula Balagussss'
Tennnnnsssss (Barberella style) Di.

And the elder brother who is very very very garang (but kindest heart ever) would raise his voice at me,"Look at the bigger picture please. You are a service oriented person. Explore this, Kin."

Eventutally, I gave in.
Explored I finally did after much resistance.
I contacted Jenna, a former teacher as well (my ex colleague!), who is thriving in this industry and within a day, she brought me to her office and guided me through the whole registration process. Thanks babe!

'School' started all over again for me.
I opted for the daily morning session slot.
Intensive one month of classes.

My first day back at school also happened to be Nyla's first day of primary school.
"Aiya! I can't be there for Nyla's first day of school!!! I wanna send her to school...." I whined to my family.
Bah: "Come on la. Cut the drama. You can pop by during her recess what. We will take over."

So for that month of January-February, my mother shuttled every day to my place to look after Nyla in the morning.
She even prepared a timetable and pasted it on the wall for her granddaughter to follow.
Up till today, Nyla will always refer to this timetable. Haha.


For Nyla's first 3 days of school, both my brothers (Jambi is now working with Bah) took time off and sent Nyla to school.
At 9.30am, Papa J would be at the carpark waiting for me.
Mr E sponsored my school fees.

Seeing how seriously serious they are about this, I know I too have to be serious.
After the course ended, I also went for the 2 days of 'Intensive Revision for RES exam.'
Glad I did.





Like Nyla, I too had a timetable for that one month.

Morning-School
Noon- Lunch (While eating, would revise notes that were discussed on that day.)
Afternoon- Lesson planning for tuition (That's the reason why this year, I am not taking as many tutees as previously) / Blogging / Business with mom etc.
Evening-Family time.


There were 2 exam papers I must sit for with regards to this.
If previously, one can just enter the industry easily..... now no such thing.
I think this is absolutely great to maintain industry professionalism.

Anyway, sidetrack abit. Must share with you this picture I kapoh-ed from my lecturer's FB! Cute and inspiring at the same time.

David, you are a wonderful teacher, always instilling in us to be ethical salespersons and deriving pleasure from assisting others. Rest assured, I promise to treat every single one of my clients as I would want to be treated, Sir. :)



Alhamdullilah!
All Praises to the One above.
The harder you work, the luckier you get!

I have gotten out of my comfort zone, peeps.
As a service oriented person, I guess it is a natural progression for me to enter the world of Real Estate.
I don't know how far I'll go but one thing's for sure, I promise to give my very best.
Just like the way I run my Bottoms Up club and the business with mom/Nyla.

So now, which estate agency will I go to?

ERA?
PROPNEX?
OrangeTee?
HSR?
DWG?


Watch this space!

In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail

The moment I finished reading this email by Najihah on this very blessed Friday morning, I knew that this one is a MUST a share.
Here are snippets of this very inspiring girl's email.

"Coming from a family background like mine, it was pretty hard for me to handle that I'm destined to be in ITE. My sister and I, are and will always be the first to attend ITE. And I carried on my schooling journey in Kaplan for my private diploma cause I failed to secure a seat in Poly. And Alhamdulilah, I'm waiting for my degree with University of Dublin come October. And this is where my point of this email comes in.. ......
I faced setbacks in life and time and time again, I disappointed my dad. In return, I became a true perfectionist that can never accept another failure. Thus due to that, I suffered from a minor depression because I couldn't secure a seat in our local Poly. I was so upset. I shut myself down for a week and I actually gave up studying. I don't even want to utter the word '' Private Diploma'' cause I felt I was a failure. But boy, was I wrong.. (Selit sikit. Yes honey, damn wrong.)

I came across this post.... This post shows me that it is okay to fail cause through failing we will learn to strive for more and to push our boundaries. Through failing, we will treasure the happiness in the end and not take success for granted. (Totally girl!)

And my readers click HERE for the post.
Here, truly, failure is no longer a possibility for us all. It is a requirement for us to achieve success.....provided that you keep in mind that that failure is not final (it is a wake up call!) and you keep striving.

I'll definitely share this with my Bottoms Uppers tutees this weekend.
Let's keep in mind that when there is failure, there is growth...and then with hard work, focus and determination, success happens.
Have a good weekend!

The Nura & J Workshop

Quiz question: What do you see in the picture above?

Answer: A learning opportunity.

Now that Nyla is happily monitressing (read: kaypohing) in her school, it has been a constant challenge for me as a parent to keep that curious spark in her alive. As the engine of her journey of discovery starts, so does my engine of throwing away rusty, old school learning methods and learning innovative ways to teach like the picture of the car number plate above. Useful when you're stuck at traffic jams.

Look at the four numbers! Baby, which number is the greatest?

Which number is the smallest?

Ok now arrange the numbers in descending order!

Arrange the numbers in ascending order now darling!

Now add all the 4 numbers up!

WAY TO GO SWEETHEART!

And there you go, Mathematics lesson literally on the go. :)

During my P1 days, Maths was taught like this: Easy ok everybody. You all listen carefully ah. Adding means plus. So you see here. Put 1 there. See? Simple.”

No wonder my P1 face very stupiak kind. So poor thing.

Kids these days are wired differently.

The “cancel here, put there” method expired already.

Numbers don’t mean anything to them. Chocolates, pizzas, teddy bears, erasers, straws, basically anything masak-masak does.

Don’t get me wrong.

They think they are playing. We make sure they are learning.

That is why lower primary teachers use the latest pedagogical methods to teach through play. That is why we, as parents, have to teach through play, even before they start Primary One. One of my friends gave me an SOS call last week. Her son is in Primary Two and had difficulty doing subtraction.

His problem, I found out later, is not with P2 Mathematics. It is with number bonds - a P1 topic. So parents, make sure they get their Primary One foundation right, before it spirals out of control in primary 2, 3 or 4.

Jenn and I had a lot of fun sharing all these P1 and P2 concepts and games at the Bottoms Up Parents workshop last December, where we shared, how we can use UNO cards, amongst others, to play addition, subtraction, multiplication and division games while bonding with the family. Some of the mummies and daddies were so competitive we had to secretly nudge them to “give chance” to their little ones. you know who you are!

At the request of some of you who couldn’t make it last December, we have decided to hold another workshop this time.

We will be covering all the P1 and some P2 (more difficult topics like fractions, etc.) Mathematics topics.

On top of that, some of you have also requested that we cover some English language topics that are, quote unquote “enough to make an adult weep”, so we will be doing that as well.

Example: A tiger eats meat _______ (and/but) a cow does not.

This book is big ______ (and/but) that book is small.

What is the difference between the two examples given above? How do you explain to your kiddos why one answer is correct but the other is wrong? Please don’t say, “It just sounds better.”

The little ones deserve to know why.:)

As parents, it is necessary that we are well tuned to what our children are expected to learn and know at various levels of their Primary school lives.

Mummies and daddies, if you have pre-school children, this workshop will also shape your kiddo’s foundation to prepare him for P1.

Just as it’s never too late, it’s never too early to start.

Oh, and did I mention one of the mummy participants in the December workshop has not only successfully taught her daughter mathematics concepts during food preparation, she now has a junior chef in her kitchen?

Join us, on Saturday 24 March, 11 a.m to 1 p.m. at our Learning to Learn (English and Mathematics) Workshop.

We promise it’ll be worth your while, loads of fun and a brighter, happier kid in the making.

Do email me at nuraesman@gmail.com to register.

OH! You may bring along your children. Jenn and I wanna 'use' them as 'manipulatives' during the workshop. That being said, we will also include homemade materials which you can use to teach your children at home.

See you at my mailbox.

FLEA FUN

Thought I had to conduct creative writing lesson over at Pioneer Primary but it's the CA week so here I am blogging instead.

The beginning of the week is always a busy one for me.
Monday: got to beat Monday blues. :p
Tuesday: Nyla has swimming lesson.
Wedesday: Nyla has piano lesson. (GREAT deal this one over at GROUPON. 2 months,8 lessons (45 min per lesson), I only paid about $60 plus. Nyla is enjoying herself so much that I'm gonna sign on and let her continue.

My very generous sister in law also has kindly donated her Farha's piano to us so we just need to tune it and Nyla can have daily practice sessions at home.
Thank you Aunty Wati and Kakak Farha! Hugs!
Nyla has no idea that the piano will be reaching this Saturday. Gonna surprise her.

And last Sunday's flea market over at Eunos.
Man, that was a blast.
Felt real good to catch up with the girlfriends considering now that school has reopened, we are all occupied with the family and work.



The kids were all over the void deck thinking of ways to get the crowd to visit our booth!




Our men helping us to load and unload. :p


The guest of honour taking a look at Nyla's books.



That guy with the 'Shhhh' sign. He is so talented that I MUST do a blog entry on him. Sharing is caring and this guy is amazing, I tell you. Soon. Akan datang.
Liza and Hazmee, you two are really smart to be marketing your products online and offline. (You know I know la ah!)

Never mind that we didn't make much moolah. (How to when we were always not at our booths for we were busy shopping at other people's booths!)

Most of my money was spent on books for Nyla. Thanks boss Audi and my fellow tutee, Boss Ratna! :p



And this Nyla ah.
The day before, she was perfectly alright about selling her soft toys.
Can pose somemore.

Then, separation anxiety kicked in for her. She started crying and pleaded with me to keep her stuffed toys.
So from about 20 soft toys, we ended up putting only 5 for sale.
The rest of the 15 soft toys are now sitting in her room collecting dust.

By the way I really like the 'barcode' scarf I wore to the flea market even though the guys made fun.
They were like," Ok don't forget to scan the sold items on Nura's head!"
Funny but whateveeerrrrr.
I think the scarf is damn cool.



You can get this SIXTEENR scarf right HERE.
Called the 'BARCODE' scarf, the message "Security Scan Scarves that Empower" is written on the edge of the fabric. Cool stuff. Only $24.99!

Congratulations Nyla!

A few weeks ago, Nyla came home and told us,
"Mdm Goh asked me whether I want to become a mometer you know'''."

2 things here.
Either her Mdm Goh asked her to bring a THERMOMETER or she wanted to appoint Nyla as the class MONITOR.

Clarified with Nyla and she said,"Oh ya. Monitor. That sounds righter."

"More right, Nyla." I replied.

E and I were happy but not too over the moon type la.
Kids sometimes anyhow say what.

Then today, as she alighted from her school bus, I spotted something shiny pinned under her name tag. She beamed when she noticed me gasp.
"I told you! You and daddy don't believe me!!!"
And she ran to the playground with her friends right after that.
I felt a little bad for not taking her too seriously peviously when she broke the news.
She wasn't kidding la.

While watching her play, of course proud momma here mass- whatsapped loved ones to share the good news that Nyla is officially a class monitor. Chiltern House mommies, thank you too for sharing the joy! And Desiree, congratulations on being the class monitress too!

My mother's reaction was the most dramatic. (As usual)
"Syukur Alhamdullilah. Penat mak jahit baju harini semua hilang! Nanti Mak nak sujud syukur."
(eh eh mudder, last time when I was a prefect, you bo layan me leh!)

Then shortly after, Nyla's fan number 2 called.
Papa J: Tell Nyla tomorrow evening we go for ice cream okay. Don't need to shower. I want to see her in uniform wearing the monitor badge.

Funny how when I was in primary school, these leadership roles such as monitor and prefect were highly sought after. Wait...correction...the ties and the badges were the ones I was after. Once I got hold of the prefect duty list and timetable, life started going downhill. Damn depressing can? You do duty and then you watch your friends play catching. Bleargh. Heh! Those were the dulu days.

Anyway, being a former teacher, I have always enjoyed the process of appointing children as monitors, prefects, group leaders. (Nowadays, many opportunities for children to become 'leaders'.)
Most of the times we choose these children because they are well behaved, reliable, responsible and helpful. However there were also instances when I chose the rebellious, notorious ones as group leaders for them to step up.

Whatever it is, I hope Nyla was chosen because she possesses the positive qualities.

Dear Nyla, I hope you enjoy your stint as the class monitress together with your other classmate, class monitor Kosei.
May the both of you be positive role models to your other classmates and be reliable 'right hand men' to your beloved Mdm Goh.

And Nyla, I hope you will never abuse your power.

1) You must be fair to all your classmates. When you catch someone making noise, you write his/her name on the whiteboard..even though if that classmate comes from your own group.

Her response: AIYA, like that Mdm Goh will erase one smiley face from my group leh! (Too bad!)

2) You must be auto and always offer help to Mdm Goh.

Her response: Like Bibik Juma? (Alamak.)

3) You must pay attention in class and complete your homework.

Her response: Yes yes yes. This one not only monitors must do. All my other friends too. Duh. (That "duh" very unnecessary can? Last warning ah.)

Okay whatever it is, CONGRATULATIONS Nyla on being the class monitress of Primary 1E.
We are all very proud of you.
Enjoy! :)

'Bollywood' Ponchogas!

Nyla took one look at the new ponchogas and she said,"Like Deepavali style huh?"
Then she explained further and told me and her Tok Mummy that the designs on the ponchogas reminded her of her past Deepavali celebrations at her pre school, Chiltern House.

Nyla: We did this drawing thingy on the ground...
Me: Kolam you mean?
Nyla: Yah!

Since we are going Indian, I thought why not we name the latest individual ponchogas according to the Bollywood beauties?
Can expand Nyla's vocabulary on celebrities too. :p
Nyla, there are other famous people you know.
Not only Justin Bieber/Selena Gomez/Katy Perry hor.

I showed her pictures of the Bollywood beauties and here are Nyla's shortlisted 7!
Sanggup the both of us buat collage you! So fun cos all these ladies are so so so gorgeous!!!




Last Saturday, Tina, and my RebelPixel brudders Aza, Jali, Franco, Ash, Zahren and Mad Sunny roped me in for their assignment with DeChamp Model which was founded recently to spot raw talents and train these 'unpolished gems' professionally. Thank you my dear sister and brudders!
And I must thank DeChamp models for trying their very best to rock my ponchogas.
A PLUS for effort!

Ok my lovely ladies, I present you the new ponchogas! (Kolam edition) :)


Kareena Kapoor (Turqoise+Pink)


Priyanka Chopra (Grey)


Preity Zinta (Red+Black)


Rani Mukherjee (Blue+Black)


Kajol (Green)


Sushmita Sen (Pink+Black)


Aishwarya Rai (Baby Pink+Blue)

Hijabellas, you all also can wear okay. :)

I'm wearing "Kareena Kapor'" by the way. :)


These Excluzif ponchogas are free size, fits S to L.
$55 per ponchoga honeys.
Do email me over at nuraesman@gmail.com!


Not forgetting aspiring models,





Email your beautiful shots to dechampmodel@gmail.com and they will get back to you right away.
Good luck!

Knot anymore

As you can see from the picture above, baby Nyla had very little hair.
And those little fine hairs you see on that head of hers looked super duper ultra straight then.

Then slowly, 'waves' appeared....


And I was convinced that she'll grow up having wavy hair...loose curls just like her mommy. (and her stunning Tok Mummy.)
See my hair when I was about 2 years old last time. Also terjuntai kind..
That's my Yayi carrying me. The most patient and nicest man ever.


And then the waves got a lil tighter.....


And we all said hello to a head of 'springs'!!!
Dari mana ni dapat rambut kerintingz semacams????


Nyla's look every morning.


Now that she has started primary school, Nyla finds it a chore to wash her hair, wait for it to dry, go through a rather rigorous combing process no thanks to her tangled tresses and finally the ikat rambot part. She HATES having her hair tied. Regardless whether it is a simple ponytail/pigtails or fancy schmancy plaits. She doesn't care.

The past week, she pleaded with me, "Mommyyyyy, please cut my hair."
Me: Sooooo sayang seh Nyla. Your hair is long!
Nyla: Hair will grow whaatttttt mommyyyyyyy. Look at yours. Last time you look like a boy. Now you look like a girl again. (Thanks eh Nyla. -_-)

And with that I promised her that her wish is my command.
Heart a bit pain la because all these years, I was managing her hair well but I must allow Nyla to express herself:
choosing books in the library (Never mind that her books will surely be about hamsters/cats!)...choosing what to wear (She's a leggings freak!)....and now, choosing which hairstyle suits her best.

Anyway, Nyla's hair definitely requires a different kind of care.
With her, I used lots of conditioner and detangler cream.
So, she must go to someone who really knows how to cut and style all kinds of hair.

No need to look far for this kind of super hairstylist la ah.
ABANG SAM lor.
He handled my bangs....
And later on, my ultra short hair.
Both times, FTW kind of feel for me!

So last Saturday, Mr E and I brought our girl to GLITZ HAIRWORKZ where Abang Sam is based at.




See that smile on my girl's face?
Can you feel her excitement? She has been looking forward to this moment for quite a long time man!


Mommy pon nak enter frame. Jangan marah haaaa. :p


Tadaaaa!









You want a guranteed nice hair make over babesies/hunkies?
Really don't have to look no further.



Go to GLITZ HAIRWORKZ (TripleOne Somerset #02-19/20)
Look for SAM yo for a guranteed awesome hair makeover.

Abang Sam has done wonders to my hair pre-hijab days and now, he has another satisfied 6 year old customer.
Nyla's review:


For appointment, do call or SMS SAM at 90258774.
He is super friendly/ funny/ approachable, I assure you. :)
Don't forget to mention "NURA J BLOG" so you can enjoy 20% off okay :)

Abang Sam, thank you for letting my gerek readers enjoy this privilege.
And, thank you even more for doing your magic on my daughter's hair.
She's loving it loads!