Somerset House Ice Skating

Ice skating has always been one of the things I wanted to try out and today my wish was fulfilled. I've watched the world ice skating ice championships on tv before and always been amazed at the moves and choreography on ice from people like Torvill & Dean ( former British champions)


Well, I'm a LONG way off from doing those moves but I wanted to try a bit of ice skating for myself. So..I dragged my sister along to join me for a skating session at Somerset House.
We arrived at Somerset House in time to get our skates and take in the views and music at Somerset House courtyard.

Finally the moment came where we were allowed out on the rink. The ice rink was not as big as I thought but nevertheless it was a lovely setting. Ice skating is a bit like learning to ride a bike for the first time. When you first set off on the rink, you feel that you have no control on what you're doing and feel a little bit scared. During the first few rounds, there were a few times where I fell over and I was holding on the bar as if my life depended on it! hehe...

Then I started to get my balance and actually started enjoying myself. Liani and I even managed to skate in the middle of the rink but we were moving at a slower pace than everyone else on the rink so got in the way of a few people..oops!

The hour session flew by and before we knew it, it was time to return the skates. I really had a good time and it will definitely be something I will try again. If I ever get the chance I would also love to go ice skating at Central Park, NY :) Until then.........

There's always a first for everything.........

First album I bought: Aishah's first album....bought it cuz I liked the song "Camar Yang Pulang" at the time..I still listen to it occasionally.

First crush: In Sitiawan,Perak... I was nine and fancied one of my bro's mate at the time...my friends and I would often cycle pass his house to check him out.. he must have thought we were stalkers or something...hehe(sounds so embarassing now when I think of it now..)

First job: Worked part time at Greggs Bakery in Bayswater for a year. Felt a sense of independence earning my own money, met some cool people too plus dapat discounts on the savouries & muffins...yummy!!!

First food disaster: At school , we had Home Economics class and I had to bake scones. The class is abt 45 mins so we had to prepare the dough and bake the scones within the timelimit. I had prepared my scones and was quite proud that it looked pretty good when I took it out from the oven. Gave it to my friends to try out my scones during lunch but it didn't get the response I was expecting. I had put salt instead of sugar in the dough when I was preparing the scones. I haven't baked anything ever since that day! hehe...

First car:I didn't actually sit for my Malaysian driving test until I graduated from uni. My first car would be my little grey Perodua Kelisa...lovely car...my pride and joy. Felt really sad when I had to sell the car earlier this year. Hopefully I'll be able to get another one soon.

First memory of holiday with the family: When I was 7, we went to Disneyland Florida & Universal Studios ..had the best time. Love the rollercoaster rides...would love to go back there again someday.

First holiday with friends: Went to Brussels in winter of 1999 with Giac & Suz...it was absolutely freezing but had a good time nevertheless..chocs & Belgian waffles. Returning to london, we had missed our scheduled flight back to so we had to spend a night at Brussels Airport. We didn't really get much sleep since the airport didn't have the most comfortable benches to sleep on. We kept ourselves amused by playing with the airport trolleys and running around the airport like maniacs...! hehe...those were the days....

First music gig: When I was fourteen or fifteen, I went to an Innuendo concert held at the Hippodrome, London with my bro & gf at the time. Innuendo were one of the first malay R&B groups who can sing..."Belaian Jiwa"-classic song..one of my fav songs. :)

First music festival: Party In the Park organised by Prince's Trust. It was the first Party in the Park...heard so many acts perform live..Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child and many more but my highlight was listening to Bon Jovi singing live.
I would love to go to other festivals i.e. Glastonbury & V festival.

Smarter without Violence

"Smarter without Violence"- This was the slogan which was being promoted by the charity Middle East Non Violence & Democracy (MEND UK).

I attended a talk organised by LSE on " Children & Women in Palestine " which marked the launch of MEND UK. The main aim of the charity to tackle the problems in the Middle East via non violence measures.

There were five people speaking on the panel:
1) Robin Kealy( Chair Panel ) : Consulate General for Jerusalem in 1998-2001
2)Hind Khoudy: Minister of State of the Palestinian Authority
3)Lucy Nusseibeh : Director of MEND
4)Dana Abdul Fattah: a 15yr old Palestinian girl who participated in the MEND program

The talk touched on four main themes:
a) The current situation in the West Bank and Gaza
b) The cultural background/history behind non violence campaigning
c) Origins of MEND
d) the difference MEND has made on the people who have participated in the MEND programs

It was interesting to hear the various speakers:

a) Hind Khoudy gave us an account of the difficulties Palestinian children and women are faced living in occupied territory. Nearly half the population are children and women. In this long suffering conflict it has been the women and chldren who have suffered the most.
Jerusalem is the worst affected area where Israeli troops have tightened restrictions thus making it difficult for people to travel from the West Bank into East Jerusalem.
Doctors and teachers who live in the West Bank will need permits to go to work in East Jerusalem.

The education sector has also suffered where children who live in West Bank are facing difficulties travelling into East Jerusalem to attend school. My 2 hour journey commuting into work doesn't seem so bad compared to what these people have to face in their everyday lives.

Due to limited resources there are also not enough classrooms to accomodate these children. As a result families don't send their kids to school.
Children are not getting their education and are resorting to drugs and violence. This is a growing problem as children are feeling confused, unwanted and have no sense of belonging.
This aggravates dissatisfaction and can lead to hatred which has been linked to terrorism acts.

b) Jonathan Benthall (Member of MEND, NGO member,anthropologist expert) touched on the issues that it is possible to make a difference in the world through non violence campaigning.
Islam is a peaceful religion which is evidenced in the way we greet each other with Assalamualaikum which means " Peace be upon you ". Due to recent events like 9/11 and the 7/7 London Bombings, Islam is being portrayed as one which promotes violence. By having programs like MEND and educating people on Islam we hope to change that. There have been successful non violent campaigns such as those led by Mahatman Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

c) Lucy Nusseibeh ( Director of MEND ) believes that we can make a difference in changing the situation in the Middle East. Women & children living in the current conflict are facing fear and anxiety every single day. Through MEND, Lucy believes we can offer hope to these people.
Currently, MEND are devoting projects to benfit children and youth in East Jerusalem & West Bank.
Workshops are set up on projects such as conflict resolution, summer camps and participatory videos.

d) Dana Abdul Fattah was one of the children who participated in the projects. She shared her experience with the audience on the activities MEND provided for them. One which Dana particularly enjoyed was the drama workshop where they would perform in front of an audience a drama portraying issues which they are concerned about e.g.domestic violence in the family.
After the drama, they would discuss on possible solutions to the issues.
There is also a radio "soap opera " which has proved popular where youth & children can listen and discuss on issues which affect them most. By having these issues out in the open they can work together in finding the best way to resolve the conflict.

I think this is a great idea. If the children learn from a young age on way to resolve conflicts in a non violent manner, they will be better at controlling the anger and hatred which we see in many of the youths today. This can possibly be linked to the increase in terrorism acts which we see in the news every so often e.g. suicide bombers.

After the talk, I felt inspired that there are people out there who feel that there is still hope for peace and are doing something about it instead of merely talking about it.
I wish MEND the best of luck in their causes and goals! :)

A to Z of friendship

The A - Z of Friendship


A Friend ...

Accepts you as you are.

Believes in you.

Calls you just to say "hi."

Doesn't give up on you.

Envisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts).

Forgives your mistakes.

Gives unconditionally.

Helps you.

Invites you over.

Just likes being with you.

Keeps you close at heart.

Loves you for who you are.

Makes a difference in your life.

Never judges you.

Offers support.

Picks you up.

Quiets your fears.

Raises your spirits.

Says nice things about you.

Tells you the truth when you need to hear it.

Understands you.

Values you.

Walks beside you.

X-plains things you don't understand.

Yells when you won't listen.

Zaps you back to reality.

Raya di London

As I am writing this, I have just come back from attending the takbir raya at Malaysian Hall, London. By reciting takbir raya, I started feeling sad and homesick. This has to be my 4th raya away from the family....

But then, I felt lucky that at least my sis ade di sini and I have friends here who are also spending raya away from home so at least we have each other.

I will be spending my first day of raya at work...I was not lucky enough to get a day off.
It's sad that I won't be able to celebrate raya but then again I take it as just one of the challenges of life.."dugaan hidup"...

I spoke to my loved ones earlier to wish them Selamat Hari Raya and to ask for forgiveness...missing them terribly but insya-allah I will see them soon.

I would like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Maaf Zahir Batin..minta maaf kalau ade tersilap cakap atau buat ye.... :)