Izhar Aziz

Rocky Tongariro Mountain

2012-01-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my friend and I took a trip to a Tongariro Mountain which is famously known as the Lord of the ring mountain.This place is unbelievable. We had great time trailing 2290metres to the peak of the mountain. Even the weather was against us most of the time but we were fortunate to get few amazing panoramic shots to share with. I'm not a professional photographer therefore the shots probably not doing enough justice to the area...

Brisbane

2011-12-03T22:20:00.001-08:00

Good Day Mike..I am flying to Brisbane today for a conference. my presentation will be on Wednesday..so i have plenty of time to surf around Brisbane.

I am going to stay at St Lucia Gardens serviced apartments with two others. hope everything will be smooth..see you later..:)

Izhar

Aisya & Adam's Bday Party

2011-11-20T11:29:00.001-08:00

Knights and Castle!..i believe every little boy dreams of being a knight and conquering the castle. This is so true for my son Adam Qalifh who is turned 3 on the 5th Nov 2011. Since I was so busy for the last two months settling down in a new vicinity, my wife and I decided to celebrate our princess bday too Aisya Arianna..She is 5..so it's double celebration & yeay double pinata..:) many thanks to my wife who placed so much efforts and successfully dragged me into her 'do it yourself' project which turned out to be the most memorable birthday party i ever had and organized. I just love how pretty everything is..

I'm going to break down the bday party details into several posts, hope you all will just hang in there..

Lolipop's Play Land

A week before Adam & Aisya's Bday party, we went out for the ultimate family outing..its like pre-celebration and the kids really loved it. we had our lunch at Westfield shoping complex, Adam & Aisya had their fav meals - Chicken Nuggets!!!..my wife and I sharing our delicious, finger licking hawaiin supreme burgers..( Meals cost us 25NZD) orait..after everyone finish off their plates then we marched to lolipop's play land..its just 15mins drive from chartwell..family pass just 28NZD..to cut it short, they play till the end..till the announcement were made to shoosh all the visitors away..mum & dad really tired but the sweats its really worth it....the outing was perfectly closed with a fireworks show at Morrinsville..thanks to uncle syam & unty Annie for thier great hosting..

several shots inside the Lolipop's play land..

to be continued..

Kids are blessing

2011-11-09T20:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the World my new born baby..this is Ammar Barraq, probably he is the tablet generation baby.. the coolest baby eva, very sensible, friendly, giving you fast and responsive experience, never wake you up in the middle of the cold & windy night..always smile with his full LED technology cutie face, loves gentle touch...yeay!!..stays like that kay Ammar and daddy loves you forever..:)

antioxidants

2011-10-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

antioxidants has been a buzz word for a while now and today someone had asked me my personal opinions about this..what i know is that this word has been in health circles for a while now and yet what they are can seem like quite a mystery . In a nutshell, antioxidants are substances that help keep us young and prevent a process called oxidation. ok i stop there..let me get some info first..cheers..:)

ok now, where to start?..we stay alive through respiration, we breathe in oxygen (double O) and exhale carbon dioxide. The process of respiration splits the two Os apart and then they fly solo. An oxygen molecule on its own its called a free radical and is a rather angry critter, with the potential to damage our tissues. this is where the saviour, antioxidants come in. antioxidants put the lone and potentially damaging free radical back on the SEPANG Street and narrow by gifting it one of their oxygen molecules. once paired up again its no longer a threat..

so as a conclusion if you want to stay young like me get this kind of platter..brightly coloured fruits and and vegetables..Salam & take care..:)

Welcoming note

2011-08-20T00:46:00.000-07:00

Its been a while i have put my pen down and I genuinely felt so thwarted to letting down my loyal followers which is at the moment only 4 ppls..:) Hopefully god gives me the strength and composure to write this blog again..there are staunch reasons behind this undeniable facts that i had lost my writing's flair. I was way too busy not only with my work but emotionally and spiritually.

Sometimes, you just don't realized you had passed days, months faster than you could marriage your fingers and brain together to illustrates a tiny chapter of your life digitally..I do hope it is not to late to wish my eldest daughter Aisya Arianna Happy Birthday. Papa loves you so much..Thanks

Izhar

Hamilton

New Zealand

Speakonomics

2010-09-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

i came across this title when i read a magazine at momento (uni cafe)..I donno why but suddenly i became interested in business and economics..do the words economic, downturn recession, financial crisis make you want to lie down and never get up again??you're not alone..:)

there are other problems on earth right now ..i.e global warming, starvation, war, greed, religious extremist, inequality..but because we want to have a bit of dollars in our pockets, the recession is something we care about..so lets be a geekonomics!!..

you know the line " you kids have it so easy these days..it goes blah...blah..the worst thing we could possibly do at that time was to be ignorant, just to assume our financial wellbeing is safe in the hands of others. With a lovely wife & two growing kids, i cant put this thing under my desk, playing dead is not a valid tactic. i will not solve my money problems..at some point i need to acknowledge that economics exist and managing my money is crucial..what follows is a brief summary of what went wrong with our attitude..:).. i would like to thank the author Feilidh O Dwyer since he managed to put all these things in a plain english and highlighted some of the attitude issues that make most of us freaking out..the title was "The recession: A rough and ready guide"..

bad at saving..- that's so true..i am so terible at saving

spend beyond our means - wouldn't it be awesome if you could get the things you wanted without having the money??say a shiny new Iphone 4 or a 42" HDTV?? and herein lies the problem. instead of being sensible and putting a bit of money away each week, a good chunk of us dash out to buy things that we cannot afford. with one sided brain's analysis plus pre-mature excitement, we take advantage of hire purchase and get into truckloads of debt..research shows most of the young generation would last only a month living off their savings!!..i dont want to eat noodles for the next 40 years..i need sumthing more inspiring..
money comes to easily - yeah..tats right too..the avaibility of credit cards, free overdraft and personal loans (Bank rakyat- what a name)..does encourage young people like me to overspend.

this problem is really allarming perhaps has cause many problems such as depression, mental health & etc. i believe it is extremely important that students at earlier age get taught about finances and in a more consistent manner so they are financially literate..next time i'll try to crack the inflation and 'subprime mortgages' topics..as a conclusion..Appreciate the money you have..dnt fall victim to debt and face the resulting impact..see ya..

Lunchtime

2010-09-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

as i write this column, i'm hunkered down at home, sheltering from the gloomy wet winter which supposed to ends last month. it is still cold and make us no choice to sleep with an electric blanket on..anyway, new zealand wheather has always been changeable. even in the depths of winter, there are many sunny days..ok, back to the title..i realized in NZ, lunch becoming dissapearing..contrarily in msia, i used to have very super- solid foods during lunch and sometimes with overpowering aroma of nasi kandaq...the culture here is totally different...a recent survey of lunchtime habits in NZ found that three quarters take 30minutes or less to have lunch break and one third admitted to not having a lunch break every day (get a life!!!)...whats hapening down here?? many eat at their desks,in the car or on the run..it's a trend that should but probably doesn't worry managment bcoz it's neither healthy nor productive..(Noel O Hare)...

it is visible in here that ppl like to eat at their desks while answering emails, taking phone calls or shuffling paper. According to Noel, dekstop munchers like this risk their health in several ways..eating at their desk encourages mindless overeating and remaning sedentary reduces fitness. crumbs and food scraps turn their desk into bacteria cafeterias..which is 400 times the number of bacteria than the average toilet seat.

as a conclusion..i really miss Nasi kandaq Zainul!!!! Huahuahu

Izhar

Hammy

Food for Thought

2010-02-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

my wife had asked me yesterday, why we cant get our ideal body weight? simple,it runs in the families..:)it also runs across friendships and social networks. Research shows that if the people you know are fat, you're more likely to be fat too.likewise, trim, fit people generally associate with other trim, fit people..

ever since food became a billion dollar industry, it's many people's interest to keep us eating. on top of that, there's a whole scientific industry pondering the food universe anew. without any great scientific study, anybody who has lived long enough will know that generally the food we eat today is far less nutritious and less satisfying than it was a few generation ago. thus, it makes us fat more and makes us fat more easily. obesity does not happen overnight, it's a journey..

lack of exercise comes on top of our food woes plus the rubbish food we've been offered for more than 30 years..even the slimmest today have a certain ' spare tyres' under the skin because nobody can totally avoid the rubbish food. even fruit has been 'sugared up' by selective breeding. i actual reckon a different approch for different people. i believe it's all about finding out what works for each individual, plus a lot of common sense...for a few, maybe the 'fat gene" needs to be aware of because it can get out of control if we let it..if you are going to sit on the couch in front of the LCD telly most nights watching American Top Model while scoffing king size choccy bar you have to expect rotund midriff!!..Cheers

Picture of the Year 2009

2009-11-01T03:04:00.000-08:00

Looking back at this picture definitely reminds me of Aidilfitri 2009. It’s impeccable and priceless picture. I can’t describe the feeling but memorized every seconds of the great moments we all had that night. I think the picture certainly tells more than thousand words and undeniably best portrayed the delighted evening that hardly can be captured by amateur photographer like me. Sometimes high magnification lens and sophisticated imaging software may not be able to represent what you want to..but that night was different...every picture i took was naturally immersed with the lights, ambient and more importantly it similar to what was created on my retina..it is so real and not require any touch up..
It wouldn't be right if i only mention about the camera. Apparently, i think those guys or more politely and respectfully the ‘models’ are of prime importance in adding the intensity of the picture. Without their spontaneous and deliberately free style Down syndrome actions, those pictures will be no different with others. I salute them all especially my father and mother in law whose patiently remain for the setup and gave their heart out during the shooting..thanks mom & dad...u guys really cool!!
It only started with the idea of having family picture at the’ Kedai Gambar’. Unfortunately, it was Sunday night and all the nearby shops are closed. Hence, we congregate at Tok Abah’s house with awesome traditional clothes, enormous spirits of Aidilfitri, a celebrating of our unexpected returns and those emotions are clearly captured by the D60 camera with sufficient ISO setting. There is no absence like usual occasion, Hosni and Azhad were there to put so much colours and energy to the picture. Hosni performed his bunny act and Azhad mimics his scuba diving face really made that night unforgettable. As for the girls, they pushed the limits to the sky high..they don’t even bother whether i have had a good setting or not, they will keep posing in front of the lens in every trial shots...”giving the best is my priority and look gorgeous is my expertise”..Sophie Asmara....
To the kids, both of you get A++...Aisya and Adam..I’m not going to let you be a model in future eventhough you guys have shown sublime performance and great interest on it..:)
I already miss you guys...Cheers!!

Defining Success

2009-08-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is really a daunting task for me to define success. Last night was the night when i started to have a thought concerning success. What is my success in this life and how to measure it? What is my aspiration? Do i really need a list or just trail my destiny? Apparently, if i want to pen down those things in a piece of paper that would at least take a week and undoubtedly it will keep changing along the way. The reason why i am trying to have a clear picture of my destiny is to work effectively and climb the right ladder. I don’t want to work blindly and at the end i realized that my efforts and hard works were a waste..i don’t want to achieve victories that are empty or success that have come at expenses of things and suddenly realized that they are better things far more valuable to me..
Obviously, i need to have a clear understanding of my destiny. It means to know where i plan to go so that i can have better understanding on the steps needed for me to always work on the right direction.” Incredibly, it is easy to get caught up in an activity, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall. If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just to get us to the wrong place faster. It is possible to be busy and very busy without being very effective”, covey in his miracle habits book..
I don’t know how different our lives will be if we really know what is crucial to us, keeping that in mind and managed ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most. Perhaps fame, achievement, money or some of the other things we strive for are not even part of the right wall..btw, this is not an advisable thought to have before you sleep..hehe... later on i will share my visions and missions during my postgrad study here...hope it will not take that long..Cheers!!

Slaying the lane

2009-08-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

Amazing Couples team clinched their first victory at the Bowling tournament organised by Waikato University Malaysian Student Association on Saturday night. The game held at the SkyCity Boulevard has received enormous participation form graduate and postgraduate students. Bowlers and their steadfast fans thronged the Skycity bowling centre as early as 5:30pm to experience this iconic event. Amazing Couples team consists of Adlan, Ella, Hanani and Faiz with sublime individual performance has accumulated 957 points throughout the two games to secure the title.

Adlan said “the prayers and hard works really worth it, we played it well tonight with startling individual average scores”.

In the other lane, it was a nerves wrecking competition between McCafe and Specky teams. According to the supporter, mental and acceptable physical wars had started from last week after the Friday prayer. McCafe team led by Izhar had a slow start but clawed back into contention to take the second place.

“We lack of concentration at the beginning but there is no way we going to lose it to the Specky team. We’ll fight to the end and it’s really good to be in competition like this” added Saiful, one of the McCafe team members.

At the end, the Specky team guided by Murshidi collected 808 points and McCafe team 857 points to secure 3rd and 2nd spot respectively.
Beside those excitements, the two hours game has contributed to a significance platform to mingle and knowing each other. Family and friends are gathered to give their heartfelt supports to their favourite team.

“Looking at the attendance, we will definitely organised the similar programme next time, we have plenty of activities in pipelines”, Hazwan WUMA president.

Studying or working, Hillcrest or Te Aroha are not a tournament condition to play as long as you are Malaysian citizen. This is the beauty of having a gathering, the jokes, laughs and fun together and at the same time helping each other in listening and solving their problems.

Finally, my writing will not be able to capture all those cherished moments you guys have on Saturday night. Each individual who comes either to participate or support their teams has shown their priceless effort to uphold the Waikato Student Association to its greater heights. I would like to congrats the committee for successfully organising the bowling tournament. You guys Rock!!

The Unsought Malady

2009-07-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

The Unsought malady

I woke up this morning neither with the normal overwhelming feeling nor the appetite for my favourite pancakes with apple syrup. It is really peculiar feeling that make me deliberately don’t want to pick up the phone or talk to anybody. I felt thwarted, heated and lost for a moment when I knew that my mum was again being diagnosed for a breast cancer relapsed. It is not even one year after completed the first treatment. I still can clearly recalled the day when she was positively diagnosed having 3rd stage breast cancer, her first chemo date, her first quarantine room at the hospital, her experienced after the chemo, ins and outs of the hospital due to sudden change of body temperature.

Ideally, not only strong body required to sustain the unbearable pains of cancer treatment you also need huge mental power. She was really strong and committed to the berserk schedule of cancer treatments i.e chemotherapy, radiotherapy and frequents doctor checkups. Despite of all excruciating painful during chemo, she is still resistant and positive towards the recovery and for sure she has the imagination to be able to have again her normal life as usual. We all stand by her side for every single day and as usual I always do the math counting the days that she will end her treatment. Hence, I choose to delay my further study application as to be with her and give her physical, mental and spiritual supports in order to face the unsought disease.

My two kids were the main contributors to her physical and moral supports. Both of them inspired and motivated her for speedy recovery. Both of them make her to complete her frantic treatments and more important they make her pains become invisible. Hugs and kisses are the best medicines we have at that time. The recuperation went smoothly and she finished her treatment in October 2008 with positive results. Following months was a great episode for us, we went for holidays, weddings, picnics and shopping and almost every week we have things to do and she was preoccupied.

The disease in a way gave us something that we can’t get in our normal perfect life. We somehow forgot to appreciate and perhaps take for granted the responsibility of taking care of our greatest gives, our mum and dad. We always put them on the last of our so called priority list. We thought that they were ok if we are not there when they were having a mild fever. We thought it is good enough to bank in the monthly allowance instead of spent the time with them. We assumed it is ok to call them once a week or sometimes once a month. They are not looking for our money or our expensive gifts, they have theirs. They necessitate loves and attentions. They are getting old and they think they don’t have much time to spend those precious times with us. With the disease she became so sensitive and needs more attention. I accompany her during her quarantine periods at the hospital. I felt so sad when she was quarantine and separated from other patients and at that point I realized she is suffered from severe illness. She cried and says that she is weak and she requested to go home. I chafe her cold hands and reminded her to be strong and she will be ok soon. I pretend to be mentally tough so that I can comfort her but deep inside my heart I’m holding my tears stoutly.

Today, her voice via phone shattered my heart again. She had identified a new lump at her breast located in same area. According to my sister, the lump perchance indicated the cancerous cells are aggressive and recurrence. If that assumption is true, she has to endure the similar procedure once again but this time Hanna, Aisya, Adam and I will not be there...

Big Step

2009-06-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

It’s really a poignant scene resplendent with high emotional panorama at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I was and still wondering what’s the reason I am here..I never had a thought about furthering my study oversea since i am not a first class or a second upper student and instead a near to kick out student at the one of renowned university in Malaysia.. Thank god in the midst of all the 21st century challenges, I’ve managed to complete my study and received the long awaited degree in Engineering..
Cut it short, it was a mix feeling of new journey pleasure and a gloom of leaving close family, friends and for sure my golf set. Despite of the global economy meltdown and unresolved Perak government constitution, my company still willing to provide full scholarship with full month salary for my ME and PhD studies..That was awesome! However, after a lengthy discussion with my beloved anti government colleagues they had agreed that I am eligible and the most right person to receive the scholarship. “Your timing is f***ing right bro, your witty strategy of tackling our SGM hearts through golf has shown great output” emotionally said. “You deserve it! “ Azeze with no expressive feeling at all…
Regardless of all the comments, I took my journey to New Zealand with an open hearts. Every step count in my head and every moment are captured with my two black eyes...perhaps these steps will change my whole life. Bon Voyage my frens!!!

From Hamilton with Loves..

2009-05-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

this is my first writing..i was asked quit a few times to start blogging but i always refused to do it due to unutterable reason. at first i think blogging are meant for loner since they have nobody to share their experiences, happy moments or so called profound insights..but lately i have had different perceptions towards blogging..its really cool!yup i'm married with two lovely kids..they always there for me..nope am not lonely here in New Zealand..i've make alot of friends here..i also met someone yesterday that can play golf with me..it is not for a loner right?sorry bro (a.k.a shahrulazmi) to decline your invitation to start blogging a few years ago..i just dont click with it at that time...but now i'm more than ready..i have plenty of times to play with my laptop..huahua...i really miss u guys...