Singapore

I was in Singapore for the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) International conference from 25 - 27 July 2010. I felt a bit lost as I used to be fully involved in the Board meeting which was held a day earlier. But due to the circumstances I was only able to attend the conference. Met many acquintances whom we would only meet and catch up every year during such annual conferences. I love all the keynote addresses but some of the parallel papers were too academic. I do hope that PhD candidates who presented their papers in conferences consider the audience and not be to lengthy on academic stuff such as objectives of their research, literature review on knowledge gap, methodology etc. With only 15 minutes allocated the papers should concentrate more of the findings (even if its at the initial stage of the research) and their intellectual analysis and synthesis. If they would be able to do that the papers would have been very interesting.

We stayed at the Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa. Thank God my friend Ainon changed the accommodation from the original hotel booked by the secretariat which was inconveniently located outside the Sentosa island expecting us to commute for 3 days. It only takes common sense and sensitivity to know which hotel is the most appropriate!!.

All my kids have gone back to their universities and at the moment I felt the empty nest syndrome all over again.

IT'S BACK

Friday 23.7.2010 will be etched in my memory as the day the police recovered my stolen car. Since the day of the theft on 10.7.2010 I had been trying to be philosophical about the whole thing but the empty garage reminded me daily of the heartache. Now the car is at the police station - hopefuly by next month everything will be settled and I will be driving again. Who said the police are not effective? Within 2 weeks they have been able to trace my car and suprisingly they found it parked in the basement of a shopping complex approximately 3 km from our house. Except for my sunglass and the car loan document, all my other knick-knacks and files in the car were gone.

They have also apprehended the thief. To avoid detection the thief had tinted all the glass windows, changed the car plate number, and there were also a police sticker and "Jaksa Pendamai" emblem. But I would have recognised my car anyway. Thank God I had the spare key.

Last night we had a family gathering. I initially planned for it to be a doa selamat since Along will be going back to Melbourne for his third semester and I had completed my PhD. So we add another thanks to the many good tidings that God had bestowed us.

Cambodia

A group of us ladies (Aqiq-Marwa Hajjah group) went to Cambodia for a holiday. It was planned a few months back - I was still reeling from the pain of my stolen SLK. But I psyched myself to enjoy the trip and enjoyed I did. It was a hilarious bunch as we teased each other while we shop till we drop. The money value is 1,000 Cambodian Riel equivalent to RM1.00, but they are more inclined to trade in USD. The main items that we bought were precious stones either set or loose which were in abundance and could be bargained from 20 - 50% discount. At the open market one can buy a pair of Levi jean for US$10, Burberry polo T-shirt for US$5, and 3 T-shirt for US$5. A funny T-shirt with the print in front in bold "SAME SAME" and at the back printed "BUT DIFFERENT" summed up the variation in pricing that you might encounter based on your bargaining capability. There are also the high-end quality goods. I found the Cambodians to be gentle, accommodating, slightly timid, and they talked in a low flat sing-song manner akin to a child's voice - most probably the result of the traumatic polpot era.

Of course the sombre part of the trip was when we toured the museum that showed the atrocities of the pol pot genocidal khmer rouge regime. During his rule of terror lasting for 3+ years he killed more than 3 million people leaving a population of 3.9 million. That worked out to approx 2 people killed per minute 24/7!!! I bought a book from a deformed man who claimed to survive the torture. It was a memoir as seen through children's eyes that speaks of their bewilderment, pain and suffering as their families were literally torn apart, brainwashed, forced-labor, tortured and executed in front of them. Just reading the synopsis made my sadness over a stolen car felt so minute in comparison. I have yet to find the courage to read the whole book.

THE THEFT

My house was broken into and my SLK was stolen last night. I felt awful. I just want to "wallow in my sorrow" and feel sorry for myself. The police while assuring they will do their job said that it could have been worst. Friends said that there may be a blessing in disguise. My beloved said its just a car. I sms my kids to inform them and my daughter was so concerned about us and my son sms "as long as ur ok that's good enough :)" complete with a smiley to cheer me up.

We had a "Zainabian '75 reunion" this afternoon at Dorset Regency Hotel. It was amazing seeing old friends, reminiscing, and catching-up - for a while I forgot about my sadness. I'll try to live this up but as for tonite I'm just going to weep.

Immediate Past President

Wow - the euphoria has died down. I have handover the chain of office to dear Elvin. I am no more madame president but immediate past president. Katherine has reverted back to calling me "Mun" instead of  madame president, although these few days she still slipped and has to stop short at madame pr !!

I realised that I love having a blog. The icing was when I met friends who said they enjoyed reading my blog and hope I would continue. And Enny, ISM IT officer, bless her, facilitate this transition. So now it is my personal account and I could just rambled on anything that happened in my life that I see fit to write. It does not matter if no one reads this as long as it is etched for my own recollection, musing, and thoughts.

We love Dato' Seri Shaharizat who was our GOH at the ISM annual dinner. She was gorgeous, feminine, and friendly that exudes a commanding persona. And the nite was a blast with Dee as the MC shamelessly outrageous and hilarious.

Went to UK for the launching of ISM UK chapter and it was a real historical moment for ISM. Need to remind Faisal to forward his address for the Journal. After that we shopped till we dropped. Along, Angah and Ina said it was one of the best holiday. We stayed at the Grosvernor Kensington Hotel which was just about 100 metre away from the tube station. I enjoyed many happy moments, being with the children, seeing them playfully teasing and jesting one another, going to the theatre, tea for two at the ritz, cheap cheap primark, harrods crazy sale, wimbledon, etc. It would have been a perfect holiday if not for the clark shoe - they gave me both the left foot shoe.

And now I am having a well deserved rest.