Girls and a boy

(see full image)

Makan-makan is the ritual of our department. And all of us like to eat! Well, who doesn't rite?

Sent from my iPhone

It's good to be back in Kota Bahru

The last time I visited Kota Bahru was to attend my colleague's wedding. Today is fourth visit to the capital city of Kelantan. This time is a business trip as my team and I are promoting the Special Relief Facility 2015, set up specifically to assist the businesses affected by the floods in some states in Malaysia to resume the operations of their businesses.

I took the 3pm flight from KLIA and alhamdulillah was safely arrived at Kota Bahru International Airport at about 4pm. We straight away took taxi to Hotel Perdana.

Since it's too early for us to take dinner, the four of us decided to go to Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah as some of us were very eager to add on to their batik collections. While they were busy bargaining for their batiks, I walked across to Kelantan Trade Centre, the Parkson Departmental Store to be exact.

Pointing at the water rise level

The exterior of Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah

A woman sells produce inside the Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah

The view of Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah from Kelantan Trade Centre

Before we return to the hotel, we went to Yati Ayam Percik to try their infamous nasi kerabu, rendang itik serawa and of course, ayam percik.

One of tourists' favourite eating place in Kota Bahru

At 8.15 pm, my ex-classmate, Faris called and picked me up for a get together with another ex-classmate, Ibrahim. It's good to catch up with these guy teachers. We promised to meet again in KL soon. May be to invite other ex-classmates for our "reunion" in the capital city of Malaysia.

A meeting of old boys of ACBU1

Is the grass greener on the other side?

A close friend of mine had tendered his 24-hour notice of resignation yesterday. It really shocked me to the core when I first got his whatsapp message early Thursday morning.

Why? What happened? I asked myself countless times.

My ex-housemate and I also had a brief discussion on this. He still cannot comprehend why staffs leave established and prominent organisations such as a central bank.

My quick answer was money as this was also the motive of my boss leaving the office today for an offer of double of his current salary.

How about other perks? He asked back.

My boss shared with me of his insights into motives behind what make some people stay and some people leave.

Are you satisfied of what you have/are now?

Well materially, I cannot lie myself that my current pay won't be enough to fulfil all of my wants! Nevertheless, alhamdulillah, I'm very grateful of the living standard that I'm currently enjoying. More than enough to finance the lifestyle of a single, eldest son of retired parents which only receive 'pension' from their own children.

Anyhow, I applaud your courage to leave your comfort zone and pursue career betterment beyond here. I pray for your greater success at the new place and really hope your journey would inspire me to pursue mine too. 

This is our starting point for a colourful friendship 13 years ago and I hope it won't be our last meeting place, nor that was our last hug. And I won't bid you farewell because goodbye isn't our common vocabulary. But I will shed a tear to mark this important milestone of you in our scrapbook of friendship.

All the best Bev!

We received a well-worded poem from her yesterday and was very much touched by it and honoured to have read it. Thank you Bev for all those kind words. I sincerely feel that writing might be your true call :)

Today we threw a farewell makan-makan for our lovely Bev, who will be leaving us officially today. Despite some pujukan from our bosses, seems that she didn't have a change of heart.

So sorry that you're leaving. Forget us not and we wish you the very best in your future undertakings.

Have a safe and pleasant trip back home and I hope it's not too early to wish you, Happy Chinese New Year.

A goodbye isn't painful, a friend of mine once said. Unless you're never going to say hello again. As William Shakespeare once said, "Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again".

Re: For DFE :)

Dear Bev

You write poem so beautifully
It touches our heart so deeply
Here what it come spontaneously
Maybe it doesn't turn our remarkably

We must say its difficult to see you leaving
As you are one great talent the Bank is losing
Good luck dear in your future undertaking
Never regret of what you are missing
Future lies ahead surely promising
Forget us not hopefully no hard feeling

Please keep in touch Bev!!  Far from sight but always near to the heart
Sayonara and All the best!

Regards,
Liza Khairani Wahid

For DFE :)

Dear colleagues and friends,

As I am entering my final days of working in the Bank, I must express my deepest appreciation to every single one of you for adding colour to my life. I am extremely fortunate to have started my career in DFE. The experiences that I've gained here, I will always cherish.

I have written something to share how I feel about each one of you. I hope you know that you are all unique individuals who have touched me, in many ways.
______________________________________________________________________________

Encik Kamari's leadership is really fantastic,
Add Kameel and Kamisah, purely dynamic,
DFE has been known to work like magic.

Andrew and Sam, are men so driven and smart,
Chua is wise, always willing to impart,
Aida and Suraya really speak from their hearts.

Zana and Wan, both sound a little British,
Liza M and Liza K, are poised, absolutely stylish,
Azah, well, she’s athletic from start to finish.

Suriati and Farah are both gentle as a feather,
Fendi and Din have very infectious laughter,
Will Azhar remain the most eligible bachelor?

Myn and Haron write poetry so beautiful,
Raizon and Khalida, both sweet and youthful,
May Yeow, a friend so sincere, always truthful.

Haniff and Razak are the perfect gentlemen,
Norezan’s always ready to lend a helping hand,
Juita and Sher give great advice, again and again.

Eita and Aishah, are kind and approachable,
Syaiful and Erwan, so friendly, ever sociable,
Tim and Rina, both petite, simply adorable.

Linda and Zila, are full of life, bright and sunny,
Ayud and Mun, are strong, physically and mentally,
Zarina is open and generous, never stingy.

Asram and Aziz, so amusing, they entertain,
Azreena and Asfa have beauty and brains,
Laila, her passion burns, fiery flames.

Azmi and Azwan, are smooth, oh so charming,
Che Rahimah is experienced, always sharing,
Zai and Maimun, exude warmth, they are caring.

Shahrul, plays the guitar, he puts on a show,
Khai and FarrahDi, their energy makes them glow,
Thomas and Jun, they’re awesome, everyone knows.

How do I even start to say goodbye?
I might even start to cry,
DFE has been great, I cannot deny.

I hope you know how special you are,
You continue to inspire, and push the bar,
To me, you are all bright shining stars.

Your fighting spirits, are beyond contest,
I would like to wish you all, the very best,
To have been part of DFE, I am truly blessed.

Love, Bev.

PS: I can still be contacted. :)
Email: veleby@gmail.com

Pantun buat Encik Merdi Jaya Putera Simon

Dari Sebatu ke Tanjung Tuan
Bawa jerami menutup berangan
Doa dan restu mengiringi tuan
Ditinggal kami dilupa jangan.

Pancang galah sorong papan
Digali sumur di awal pagi
Silap dan salah  jangan disimpan
Panjang umur berjumpa lagi.

Anak kedidi menggigit berudu
Dibuang tauhu berasam gelugur
Encik Merdi bakal dirindu
Berlanggar bahu jangan tak tegur.

Selamat bersara kepada Encik Merdi Jaya Putera Simon. And all the best in your future undertakings. I'm sorry that I can't attend your farewell party but I hope Pengarah will read out the above pantuns :)

Get Well Soon, Wawa

A friend and also a colleague of mine is currently admitted at Pantai Medical Centre for a surgery. I wish her for a speedy recovery.

Sent from my iPhone

Get Well Soon, Erwan

Din, Norah and I visited our colleague Erwan who is admitted at Darul Ehsan Medical Centre due to a knee surgery.

He will be on medical leave for a period of time.

I wish him for speedy recovery.

Sent from my iPhone

Allah selamatkan Kak Aida

Happy birthday Kak Aida. All the best in your undertakings.

Moga murah rezeki, berkat usia dan bahagia sentosa.

Bestnya dapat belon! The cake was nice too.

Selamat Pengantin Baru, Jun!

Tahniah buat Jun dan Aidil. Semoga berbahagia santak akhir hayat.

Sent from my iPhone

Takziah buat Syaiful Rizal sekeluarga...

... di atas pemergian ayahandanya.

Semoga Allah ampunkan dosa-dosa arwah dan tempatkan arwah di kalangan orang-orang yang diredhai-Nya.

Arwah telah menghembuskan nafas terakhir di Damansara Specialist Hospital dan dikebumikan di Taman Ehsan, Kepong selepas Maghrib.

Al-fatihah.

Selamat Bersara, Datin!

Thank you for all these wonderful years. Thanks for all your advice, good words and everything. Minta maaf segala salah dan silap. Minta halal makan dan minum.

Good luck in your undertakings. I hope you will enjoy life even better now.

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday

Memang aku bukan peminat Boyz II Men tapi aku betul-betul tak pernah dengar lagu ini. Hari ini pertama kali aku dengar, dan diminta nyanyi bersama-sama secara acapella.

Seriously, it's so hard to get the melody into my head!

Apa-apapun, nantikan persembahan kami @Lanai petang ini.

Vokal Bukan Sekadar Rupa

Ada pertandingan koir untuk agensi-agensi di bawah Kementerian Kewangan.

Wow, ambil Cikgu Syafi sebagai vocal coach!

All the best guys. Dan jangan ponteng kelas ya, bukan senang nak datang lessons from Cikgu Syafi. Kalau ambil sendiri, kena bayar!

Sempat juga aku intip audition session yang dijalankan di auditorium. Ramai juga yang berbakat.

Dan dapat juga beberapa tips dari Cikgu Syafi seperti jangan minum air dua jam sebelum persembahan. Jangan minum teh pada hari itu sebab teh ada elemen yang membuatkan kita kerap buang air kecil. Jangan minum kopi sebab ada juga elemen yang membuatkan kita gemuruh. Tapi itu semua hanyalah petua saja.

Curry Laksa

Can anyone out there enlighten me on the ingredients of curry laksa.

Is it made of fish paste or shrimp paste?

I just had a bowl of curry laksa at Lanai Kijang with Juita last week. Half way eating it, I just realised that I was not supposed to eat laksa.

Well, I do not have any alergies to any of its ingredients. It's just that I dislike the smell of laksa that used fish paste. But I'm fine with Sarawak laksa because it was made with shrimp paste. I guess I could also have curry laksa in the future because it does not have that smell of other laksas.

So, where can I have the best curry laksa in town? Jom!!!

Selamat Bersara Kak Normi

She has been with an organisation for 31 years! I salute her solid loyalty and dedication to the Bank. I hope I could follow into her foot step. Bak kata orang, tuah ayam pada tajinya, tuah manusia tiada siapa yang tahu.

Kak Normi, all the best in your future undertakings and thank you very much for the colourful friends.

Nasi Lemak Kopi O

The whole department is watching live discussion on Bank Simpanan Nasional's Agent Banking.

Another initiative by Bank Negara Malaysia to enhance access to financial services.

CNY Cupcakes

Thank you Chua, May Yeow and Beverly for giving each one of us a super delicious cupcake to celebrate the arrival of water dragon year.

The butter cream cupcakes are home made by our own colleague, Zaini.

Once again, thank you ladies for your generousity. I wish you a blessed and prosperous year ahead.

Terima kasih daun keladi, boleh lah belanja lagi :)

Departmental Recognition Programme 2011

Alhamdulillah, I won three awards at this year's Departmental Recognition Programme, and one of them is Best All-Rounder Staff. Thank you to those who have nominated me and thank you to the Management for selecting me as the winner.

This is the second year that we have this category. Last year, the award went to my supervisor.

And to make it even sweet, my section has been awarded with the Best Section award. Alhamdulillah. What a year for DFI Macro Surveillance Section. And congratulations to other winners, and of course the Organising Committee.