THE 4TH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE OF THE YEAR

16th August 2014 ~ The fourth in-house training for teachers was held at CTL UTM. Dr. Hayati Ismail was kind enough to come down all the way from Putrajaya again to provide us with more input for "The Malaysia Education Blueprint". Dr. Hayati was an old friend of mine from college and the last time I saw her and he family was during the first week of Eid. She was here earlier this year on the 5th April, and you can click HERE to read about it.

This time, we had teachers from SMK Damansara Alif to join in the session. The more the merrier.

It all ended at 12:30 p.m. and with Dr. Hayati as the speaker, there was never a dull moment. This could also be my last in-house training with SMK Taman Universiti. *sad*

THE 19TH DAY OF EID 1435H

After the long break from visiting and being visited, I went to an open house for Eid after being invited by Mr. Mohd. Syazwan Shavarein from SPM batch 2013. He intentionally came back from his polytechnic in Ipoh for the open house. I have actually become a family friend so not to go (without any valid reason) would make me feel guilty.

After that, two girls from SPM batch 2006 came visiting. Miss Noor Fatiha Hamid, who is now residing and working in Kuala Lumpur, came together with her classmate, Miss Insyirah Johan. How these people have grown up and turned into beautiful young ladies and how I have grown old. *sigh*

We are actually moving towards the third trimester of "Syawal" (the month for Eid celebration) and there is still time for visiting and selfie-ing.

SPOT THE ERROR 68

Found at one of the shopping malls in town. Can you spot the errors?

MY FAVOURITE PASAR TANI (FARMER'S MARKET) IN TOWN

This is my favourite "Pasar Tani" (Farmer's Market) and actually this is the only "Pasar Tani" that I visit. It iis situated at the parking lot of Tan Sri Hassan Yunos Stadium only on Saturday morning. I seldom have the chance to go here as there are many school activities that are carried out on Saturday.

This is a dangerous place to visit as you would have the urge to buy and try almost everything on sale - especially the local delicacies and fresh fruits. You can get more than what you can imagine here. Let's have a look and let the pictures do the talking.

MEETING AN OLD FRIEND AFTER 21 YEARS

Someone called me in the afternoon, introduced himself with a nickname he was known in 4th College UPM last time and I instantaneously recognized him as Mr. Hj. Hamilye Sham. It was very kind of him to contact me and set a dinner date right after school at Banafee Village. He is also married to my ex-coursemate from UPM TESL group so there was quite a lot to update. The last time I saw him could be 21 years ago before graduation.

The meeting was quite short but I hope this is not the last one.

BOYS' NIGHT OUT SESSION

7th August 2014 ~ A few people were planning the outing session and fortunately, I did not have any guests coming for Eid in the evening. So it was a movie trip at KSL City and a very late supper (dinner for me) that followed suit. We could not hang out longer as I had to attend a formal meeting in school the next morning.

Thanks Huzaifah, Adam and Izzul - perhaps we could do this again later.

THE 13TH DAY OF EID 1435H

More people came visiting on Saturday. Lucky enough there was no school activity so I had the chance to entertain the visitors the whole day.

The first group to arrive was the family of ex-students. 4 of my ex-students complete with their parents, husbands, a wife and four children. The four of them are Nasliana [SPM 2001], Nur Nasyahidah [SPM 2003], Khairul Nisab [SPM 2005] and Amirul Husni [2010]. It was their first time coming as a family. However, someone was not there and he would always be missed. *sob*

A few minutes after, three sweet girls from SPM batch 2005 were also at my house, finally. They were here for two reasons: to celebrate Eid and two of them wanted to hand over their wedding invitation cards. Accidentally, they are also in the same batch with Mr. Khairul Nisab. It's a small world after all.

handing over the wedding invitation card ceremony

The next group also came in one family. Two ex-students who are married to each other, Mr. Ahmad Firdaus Ahmad Shahlan and Ms. Noor Al-Iman Madzlan, from SPM batch 2001, with their daughter; and the sister of Mr. Ahmad Firdaus: Ms. Shazwani Ahmad Shahlan from SPM batch 2004 with her husband, Mr. Lutfi.

And finally, the last visitors of the day were not my ex-students. They were the parents and the sister of my colleague, Ms. Hasanah Abdul Jamal, with her daughter tagging along. We have now become family friends. 

Over the years, I think I have already expanded my network. I should have taken up MLM. :)