Sumur Abadi

Sumur Abadi is a hidden gem for tourists in the northern Sumatra. It's not known to many people, not even to most tourist guides in Medan. Hence, you can't really google this place and expect to find it.

"Sumur" means "well" in English. What's special about this well is it is also a fountain, springing hot boiling water out of it. It also has never dried up, not even during the draught season.

Don't confuse this well with Danau Abadi in Binjai. They are not the same. Well, you have a chance to visit it of you follow me there in May 2016, and you can be the first to blog all about it.

Medan City

Medan, the capital city of North Sumatera, is also the fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. Despite being a busy economic hub of the region, Medan itself is not a tourist destination, but is a gateway to other popular tourist destinations like the beautiful crater lake, Lake Toba, and the cool mountaineous city of Berastagi.

Hiking at Sipiso-piso

Hiking down to the bottom of Sipisopiso is certainly not for the faint-hearted. There are literally hundreds of paved steps that one would have to take to get to the bottom which will make you think twice or thrice about continuing to do so.

Surprisingly, if you're persistent, you'll get there in just half an hour. What most of my team members didn't expect was the "rain shower" we got from the heavy fall... so do be prepared with a raincoat, and protect your handphone!

Sipiso-Piso Waterfall

Located 45km away from Berastagi, at the nothern end of the famous Lake Toba is the highest waterfall in Indonesia. The 120m high waterfall is called Sipisopiso, due to its resemblance to a knife. It is formed by a small underground river which flows out to Lake Toba.

Lots of things have happened since the last time I entered this blog. Things that have changed me. Things that have made me wiser. Things that have contributed to my personal growth.

Been trying to access this blog for quite some time (I think it's been two years), but due to my confusion of synchronizing my google accounts, I failed.

Happy that today I've succeeded. I've missed this forgotten public diary so much. Welcoming myself back to blogging! Yippee!

Instagram

For years, I had thought nothing would ever be more interesting than Facebooking that I had even almost dumped blogwriting. Until I bought a new handphone that came with Instagram. It's simply awakened the photographer in me.

Hmm... if you find it's hard to see me in FB these days, find me on Instagram. ;)

The ninth wonder of the world.

Have you heard of Rule 72?

Rule 72 is a formula to count how many years it takes for your money to double. For example, if you keep your money in an instrument that gives you something like 3% yearly returns (ie. fixed or mudharrabah accounts), and you want to know when your RM100 would become RM200, you just divide 72 by 3. The answer is 24, meaning it would take 24 years for your RM100 to become RM200.

It also gives you an insight of how fast your money will lose it's value. I mean, when your RM200 in the future will be of the same value with your RM100 today. 72 divides by the present inflation rate, for example 4%, equals 18. That means in 18 years time, for what you buy today at RM100, you would need to spend RM200 to get the same thing.

Just recall the price of a cup of coffee in our local restaurant some twenty years ago. How much was it? 60 sen? 70 sen? And what is the price now? RM 1.60, right?

Hence, a smart thing to do is to invest your money in an instrument that gives you a higher return than the inflation rate. If the instrument only gives you the same return rate as your country's inflation rate, it means your money doesn't grow in value! The value will remain the same.

Worse, if the instrument you choose gives you a lower return than the inflation rate. It means your money will shrink in value years from now!

However, do not be too greedy - remember, higher returns means it's a higher risk of investment. Make sure the risk you take suits your profile. Make sure your money is placed in a safe, LEGAL saving instruments!

(This article have also been published at www.facebook.com/HealthiWealthy)

WANG SIMPANAN ANDA DI BANK MAKIN KURANG SETIAP HARI WALAUPUN ANDA TAK KELUARKAN. TAK PERCAYA?

 Pernahkah anda mendengar tentang Hukum 72?

Hukum 72 digunakan dalam bidang kewangan untuk mengira berapa lamakah jangkamasa yang diambil bagi seseorang untuk menggandakan wangnya, seperti berapa lamakah untuk RM100 anda menjadi RM200.

Cara pengiraannya mudah. Anda hanya perlu tahu berapakah pulangan yang diberi oleh tempat di mana wang anda disimpan. Contohnya, akaun simpanan biasa atau al-wadiah memberi pulangan kira-kira 1% setahun. Maka angka 72 dibahagi dengan 1, jawapannya ialah 72. Wang anda akan mengambil masa 72 tahun untuk berganda jika disimpan dalam instrumen ini!

Akaun semasa atau al-mudharrabah pula memberi pulangan kira-kira 3% setahun. Maka 72 dibahagi dengan 3, jumlahnya ialah 24. Maka di dalam instrumen ini, wang anda akan mengambil masa hanya 24 tahun untuk bertambah 2 kali ganda! Ini bererti 48 tahun lebih cepat daripada akaun simpanan biasa!

Bagaimana pula jika wang anda disimpan dalam amanah saham yang memberi pulangan lebih kurang 8% setahun? 72/8 = 9. Hanya 9 tahun diperlukan untuk menggandakan wang anda melalui instrumen ini. Hebat bukan? Semakin tinggi pulangan yang diberikan oleh simpanan anda, semakin cepatlah ia berganda-ganda.

Hukum 72 juga digunakan untuk kita menganggarkan bilakah masanya wang kita akan susut nilainya sebanyak 50%. Bahagikan angka 72 dengan kadar inflasi di negara kita. Sekiranya kadar inflasi adalah 4%, maka 72/4 = 18. Ertinya dalam masa 18 tahun lagi wang RM100 anda akan jatuh nilainya bersamaan dengan RM50 sekarang!

Masihkah anda ingat harga sebiji kuih karipap 10 tahun yang lalu? Hanya 30 sen bukan? Tetapi sekarang, anda hanya boleh membelinya dengan harga 40 sen sebiji. Ertinya, wang kita telah susut nilainya sebanyak 25% dalam jangkamasa lebih kurang 10 tahun sahaja!

Maka, adalah lebih bijak sekiranya anda memilih instrumen simpanan yang memberikan anda kadar pulangan yang lebih daripada kadar inflasi. Sekiranya anda menyimpan wang anda sebanyak-banyaknya di dalam akaun simpanan biasa yang memberi pulangan hanya 1% setahun, sedangkan kadar inflasi adalah 4% setahun, ini bererti wang anda bukannya semakin berganda, tetapi semakin menyusut nilainya sebanyak 3% setahun!

Tetapi janganlah pula anda terlalu ghairah untuk mendapatkan pulangan wang yang terlalu tinggi. Perlu diingat, dalam pelaburan, semakin tinggi pulangan, ertinya risiko kerugian yang anda hadapi juga adalah lebih tinggi. Pastikan instrumen yang anda pilih adalah yang bersesuaian dengan “risk profile” anda. Jangan kerana ingin kaya cepat, anda terperangkap dalam skim cepat kaya! Berhati-hatilah dalam memilih instrumen simpanan atau pelaburan anda. Pastikan ianya mematuhi syari'ah dan undang-undang negara.

www.facebook.com/mimawealth

Teaching students how to make a presentation

These slides have been used to teach as well as demonstrate on how to make an oral presentation. The idea is for teachers to use these slides to "present" on how to make a presentation.

Slides 2-4 are meant to be used as an effective opening tool to elicit a more explicit definition of what is meant by a "presentation" from the students. They are expected to include "speaking" and "to a group of people" as in the context of their assignment.

These slides also demonstrate how the students' slides are supposed to look like. My students are expected to use lots of interesting pictures, but not to cramp many of them into one slide. I encourage them to minimize text, since they are supposed to make their audience listen, not read.

This lesson has been inspired by www.presentationhelper.co.uk - that I'd really like to thank. I'd also like to thank google images for most of the interesting photos which they've gathered from various websites.

Three presentation essentials

View more presentations from Azimah Mima

The Somalians' Plight: Let's be part of their solution...

This Ramadhan, unlike the previous ones, I don't really feel excited about eating. It's the 18th day of fasting, and I haven't even been to the Ramadhan Bazaar, not even once, can you believe it?

Every day I cook minimal food for sahur and iftar for my hubby, son and myself - something that we can finish there and then, hoping for no leftover food that I would have to throw away.

And this is because everyday I would see the pictures and read the plights of our brothers and sisters in Somalia... oh, how different their babies and children look compared to our chubby ones! How can we not respond to them and leave them suffering while we have so much food to savour and to waste?

So dear brothers and sisters, let's tone down our preparation for Eidul-fitr this year. We've already got a lot of clothes that we can still use in Syawal - well, we don't need 3 or 4 pairs per person in the family, do we? A new pair for the eid prayer is sufficient enough. And, do we need to have so many types of cookies on our table in Syawal? I've seen houses with more than ten, sometimes up to twenty different jars of cookies - which would still be there even after Syawal was over - not able to be finished.

Let's channel some of our budget to those who need it more than us. Not for them to enjoy celebrating Eidul-fitr the way we would, but for them to survive. Support Islamic Relief Malaysia's efforts to help save their lives.

Having fun with children - 10 cheapskate mum's ways!

Here are some of the things I've done with my kid (and borrowed kids) for the past two weeks (besides playing online games):

1. Reading aloud. Choose interesting books where our intonation and gestures can be varied while reading, as well as books that have a lot of interesting pictures that can lead into chats or discussions with the children. Some of the books that I love are ' Good Night, Gorilla' by Peggy Rathmann, 'I Love My Family' by Brimax, and 'The Napping House' by Audrey Wood, just to name a few. For a Malay book, 'Kuda Terbang Reza' by Halimah Badioze Zaman has proven to be very entertaining to children over and over again.

2. Finger painting. All we need are some pieces of white paper and poster colours. The rest are up to our creativity or the children's. They really love this activity. To avoid messing up your house or dirtying their clothes, do this outside your house i.e. at the porch on a mat, and cut some of those unused garbage plastic bags for the kids to wear outside their clothes.

3. Gardening. Mine wasn't any real gardening though. It was just the repotting of some plants. I bought a few bags of soil, uprooted some plants from the original pots, and planted them in bigger pots. The children loved helping me out, especially when they got to touch the soils, and to water the newly potted plants.

4. Vacuuming the floor. I don't know what is it that attracts the children to this machine. I used to think that they are a nuisance when it comes to me wanting to vacuum the floor and them wanting to help so hard. Nowadays, I would just let them do it until they are tired, then I would continue, but I would be careful about vacuuming again the spots that they had vacuumed - it's like saying, "You didn't do a good job." Be sensitive - kids have feelings, too.

5. Washing the dishes. Children love this! They get the feeling of being trusted by an adult (with all the breakable glasswares), being 'useful' and at the same time get a chance to play with water!

6. Train 'joy' riding. I parked my car at the commuter station in Bangi. No, we didn't actually steal anything here. Bought a return ticket to Nilai and there we went - on a train to and fro. You can actually go to a further station than the one you paid for, provided that you don't check out from the station. Neat! I think it would be more fun if we rode to KL Sentral instead, but I didn't want to spend too much time on the train.

7. Playground hopping. We went to one playground after another in the different parts or sections in our townships. Basically, they have the same things, like the see-saw, the swingset, the slides - but they come in different designs, and each park where the playground is set in, has a different environment. Oh, what a fun time we had!

8. Eating out. In my township, there's a bakery called 'Zaty's Bakery' which is a hit with any children I've taken there. They are spoiled with the choices of bread and danish they can have, plus they love the 'ice-cream goreng' (fried ice-cream) there. A good way to make non-eating child like mine eat! The bread are all less than RM2 each and the fried ice-cream is RM1.50 each.

9. "Tengok wayang" (watching movies). All we need are a DVD player and our TV set. Then, just put in the CD and relax with the kids.' My kids' love Sinchan, Tom and Jerry, and Mr Bean (the animated series) the most. Other hits are Toy Story, as well as Space Chimps.

10. Going to "pasar malam" (night market). Great choices of food for individual kids and a chance to buy some balloons. The handcrafted ones are sold at RM1.50 each at the night market in my housing area.

Kesal

Selalunya kalau orang tanya, pernah tak aku menyesal kerana tinggalkan kerja sebagai guru sekolah dulu, aku akan jawab "tidak", kerana aku seronok menerokai pelbagai pengalaman baru semenjak meninggalkan "bangku cikgu sekolah". Mengajar di kolej atau di universiti juga kepuasannya berbeza sedikit - lebih banyak kemudahan dan kurang kekangan untuk berkreatif dalam kelas berbanding di sekolah.

Tapi di saat-saat begini, ketika anak-anak terpaksa kutinggalkan sendirian di rumah sempena cuti sekolah yang mana tak kena pula dengan cutiku... terdetik juga sekelumit rasa kesal... Masa aku meletak jawatan dulu, anak baru seorang dan masih kecil pula. Bila ditanya ibuku, "Tak sayang ke cuti panjang yang ada tu?", kubilang aku tak betah bercuti lama-lama, bisa mati kebosanan aku di rumah. Balas ibuku, "Esok bila anak dah besar, dan waktu cuti sekolah... baru nak menyesal." Dan benarlah apa yang dikatanya...

Nasib baiklah aku suka berkali2 suka kerjaku sekarang berbanding di sekolah dulu. Maka tidaklah aku sampai rasa terkilan atau rasa tersilap membuat keputusan.

Cyberworld and The Matrix

A conversation with a colleague yesterday had actually triggered this thought... when we live actively in the cyberworld, i.e. the facebook - responding to friends' messages, chatting in our photo albums or the messenger, play Cafe World or MyFarm for hours and hours without care for the real world other than for our basic needs like eating, it's so similar to the humans' life in The Matrix, the movie. Our bodies are elsewhere, while our minds are creating an illusional life for ourselves. What do you think?

Superman for modals of ability and probability

INSTRUCTION: FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE MODALS YOU HEAR


Five For Fighting
Superman (It’s not easy)


I _________ stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just out to find
The better part of me

I'm more than a bird...I'm more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It's not easy to be me

Wish that I __________ cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I'________ never see

It _________ sound absurd...but don't be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I ________ be disturbed...but won't you concede
Even Heroes have the right to dream
It's not easy to be me

Up, up and away... away from me
Well, it's all right... You _________ all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy... or anything...

I ________ stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
inside of me.. inside of me.. inside of me.. inside of me.

I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
I'm only a man looking for a dream
I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
It's not easy, oh..oh..oh
It's not easy to be me.

Practising the future simple

I usually use this song after teaching the future simple 'will + infinitive'.

We use this structure when we make predictions based on our thoughts and experience, and when we make spontaneous decisions, such as when we make offers, refusals or promises.

After teaching the students all of these, I would do a reading text "Promises, promises" from a textbook, New English File, and follow it up with this song as an enrichment activity.

First, the students would listen to the song. This would also be a practice of listening to the main ideas:


I'll Be There For You
Bon Jovi

I guess this time you're really leaving
I heard your suitcase say goodbye
Well as my broken heart lies bleeding
You say true love, it's suicide

You say you've cried a thousand rivers
And now you're swimming for the shore
You left me drowning in my tears
And you won't save me anymore

I pray to God you'll give me one more chance, girl

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
Steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what a love can do
I'll be there for you

I know you know we're had some good times
Now they have their own hiding place
I can't promise you tomorrow
But I can't buy back yesterday

And Baby you know my hands are dirty
But I wanted to be your valentine
I'll be the water when you get thirsty, baby
When you get drunk, I'll be the wine

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
Steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what a love can do
I'll be there for you

Solo

And I wasn't there when you were happy
I wasn't there when you were down
I didn't mean to miss your birthday, baby
I wish I'd seen you blow those candles out

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
Steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what a love can do
I'll be there for you


Then, I would ask them some display questions to deduce the main ideas from them. For example:
1. Who sings this song? (Naturally, some would answer Bon Jovi, but I would wait until someone answers: a man)
2. Who does he sing this song for? (Expected answer: a girl, or his girlfriend, or his wife)
3. What is happening in this song? (Expected answer: the girl is leaving him)
4. How do you know? (Expected answer: I heard your suitcase say goodbye. (Here, I would usually introduce them a bit to the literature stuff like 'personification' - can a suitcase really say goodbye?))
5. Why is she leaving him? (Expected answer: He's never been there for her)
6. How do you know? (Expected answer: I wasn't there when you were happy, I wasn't there when you were down, I didn't mean to miss your birthday...")
7. What is he trying to do? (Expected answer: to stop her from leaving/to give him a second chance)
8. What are the five words that he promises her? (Expected answer: I'll be there for you)
9. What are his other promises? Are they logical? (Eg. When you breathe, I wanna be the air for you - open discussion)
10. What do you predict will happen next? Will she stay with him? Would you? (Open discussion)

Remember to be really patient and allow your students some time to derive their thoughts.

Finally, after they have understood the song, allow them to have some fun - singing the song with you! :)

Bon Jovi to practice listening to mixed tenses

This worksheet is designed for students to listen to three different forms of tenses - the present simple, the present continuous or the past simple. It also tests the students' knowledge on the infinitives - which should come after modals like 'can' or 'will' and the auxiliary 'don't'. It would be especially suitable for the upper elementary or lower pre-intermediate adult students of English.


ALWAYS

This romeo (bleeds/ is bleeding/ bled)
But you can't (see/ be seeing/ saw) his blood
It's nothing but some feelings
That this old dog (kicks/ is kicking/ kicked) up

It's been raining since you (leave/ are leaving/ left) me
Now I (drown/ 'm drowning/ drowned) in the flood
You (see/ are seeing/ saw) I've always been a fighter
But without you I (give/ 'm giving/ gave) up

Now I can't (sing/ be singing/ sang) a love song
Like the way it's meant to be
Well, I (guess/ 'm guessing/ guessed) I'm not that good anymore
But baby, that's just me

And I will love you, baby - Always
And I'll be there forever and a day - Always
I'll be there till the stars don't (shine/ be shining/ shone)
Till the heavens (burst/ are bursting) and
The words don't rhyme
And I (know/ 'm knowing/ knew)
when I (die/ 'm dying/ died), you'll be on my mind
And I'll love you - Always

Now your pictures that you (leave/ are leaving/ left) behind
Are just memories of a different life
Some that (make/ are making/ made) us laugh,
some that (make/ are making/ made) us cry
One that (make/ are making/ made)you have to say goodbye

What I'd give to run my fingers through your hair
To touch your lips, to hold you near
When you (say/ are saying/ said) your prayers try to understand
I've made mistakes, I'm just a man

When he (holds/ is holding/ held) you close,
When he (pulls/ is pulling/ pulled) you near
When he (says/ is saying/ said) the words you've been needing to hear
I'll wish I (am/ was/ were) him 'cause those words are mine
To say to you till the end of time

Yeah, I will love you baby - Always
And I'll be there forever and a day - Always

If you (tell/ are telling/ told) me to cry for you
I (can/ could)
If you (tell/ are telling/ told) me to die for you
I (will/ would)
Take a look at my face
There's no price I won't pay
To say these words to you

Well, there ain't no luck
In these loaded dice
But baby if you (give/ are giving/ gave) me just one more try
We can pack up our old dreams
And our old lives
We'll find a place where the sun still (shines/ is shining/ shone)

And I will love you, baby - Always
And I'll be there forever and a day - Always
I'll be there till the stars don't (shine/ be shining/ shone)
Till the heavens (burst/ are bursting) and
The words don't rhyme
And I (know/ knew) when I (die/ 'm dying/ died), you'll be on my mind
And I'll love you - Always

Corporate look

Love this new layout of the office in Bangsar. So much different than the first time I stepped into it 5-6 years ago.

Breakfast old style

Steamed curry pao - a set of 3 for RM6.50 and a cup of white tea for RM2.50. Location: PappaRich Cyberjaya. A real diversion from my coco crunch or roti kaya, n dutch lady milk breakfast every morning at home.

Demi pembangunan

Agaknya brp lama lagikah dpt aku nikmati pemandangan sebegini sebelum bukit itu digondolkan?

Black n White

Our favourite teatime restaurant, located in Bandar Baru Nilai, right across th clock tower that is still being built. Nice range of local n western dishes. The kids' favourite ones are black n white burger, and mexican burger - RM3 and RM4 each. Mine is the local char kuey teow, at RM3.50. Wanna try?