best father's day gift ideas~

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

So Father's Day was yesterday, and you still dunno of what to get for your beloved father. Here's a great idea for those who are tech savvy~

Yes! With the new Charter Mobile Application, the world is magically at your finger tips, where basically you can:

• check TV and On Demand listings
  
• view On Demand trailers
  
• have access to news, sports and weather
  
• get Charter support and bill pay info

Besides that you can get updates, fun extras, and facebook only deals on Charter’s Facebook page!

Need I say more people. In fact Charter is giving away 8GB iPod Touch to their 100 winners, to show off it's new mobile application for iPod, iPhone and Blackberry! You do not have to purchase anything to enter this contest. So what are you waiting for people: Enter now to win an iPod Touch!

Anyhow if you bring home one of Charter's best bundles, you will get a gift card to The Home Depot or other retailers worth up to $300.

of my way of gift giving etiquette and more...

i have just send megat to his classmate-cum-best friend nazmi's place. they invited him for iftar. its kinda first time for megat too to receive such an invite. he was sooooo damn excited since few days ago i tell you. even this morning when i was in parit buntar, megat kept calling and sms-ing me to discuss about it i.e. when to send him there, what suitable clothes to wear blah³...

5.30 PM SHARP nazmi already called megat of why he was not there yet ahh... kids! now megat was so worried.

alright, for me its ok to be about 5 minutes late or so. clocks are usually set between 5 minutes slow and 5 minutes fast, so arriving 5 minutes late should get you there "fashionably late!" being early to someone's house is rude (unless you're going out immediately after your arrival-then be there right on time). some people wait until the last minute to finish preparations for guests. giving your host(ess) that extra few minutes is usually appreciated. being more than 5 minutes late is rude. food may get cold, time with other guests may be interrupted, and/or the host(ess) may worry you're not coming or got lost.

but for megat's case, i guess its terribly ok cuz he was there for iftar. and his friend and his brother wanted him to be there early so that they could play together first. i opt to drop-by the local supermarket to get some chocolates for nazmi's family. thanks to grandma, luckily she reminded us about bringing some sweet gift.

since i was kinda busy, so no cupcakes this time like how i used to do! i.e. i baked some last week to bring them to kl. the most importantly, for redmummy and family who was terribly down since her son was a confirmed h1n1 victim. i made a quick visit at her place as soon as i reached kl that day. i would like to take this opportunity to thank ayu and rose for helping me! anyhow even if i won't make it to kl, i will still make an arrangement for my cupcakes to be delivered to redmummy as a gesture of thoughtfulness from me.

this pic is courtesy of redmummy

besides redmummy, i also made some extras for my cousin yaya because she accompanied me during the iftar session with nuffnang. plus some others... (you know who you are) including a good school friend of mine whom we didn't meet for obviously 20 years! alright alright... i'll type a separate blog post for this one soon cuz she's so special to me ;)

for me, gifts are part and parcel of my culture and are not only for birthdays and special occasions. gifts may be given to someone who has provided a favour, to someone returning from a trip overseas, or simply out of want. the cost of the gift is not nearly as important as what it represents — friendship.

so for nazmi's family, we just grabbed a cadbury classic collection 1930's - 1960's pack. i was not satisfied yet that time because no ribbon meh... so we made an another stop to buy a ribbon to be stick to the box *phew* by that time its already almost 6pm. you could see megat's sour face lol... but it was just for a while though...

and on the way to nazmi's place, i reminded megat of the do's and dont's while he's there:

• to greet all the members of the family especially the elders first by shake and kiss their hands; it is best to see if a hand is extended or not first.


• wait to be told of where to sit.


• table manners are continental.


• you will be expected to try all foods at the table.


• expect to be urged to take second or even third helpings. it is best to eat less on your first helping so that a second helping is possible. this shows your host you are enjoying the food and are being taken care of.

valentine's day gifts for kids

happy valentine's day to you and yours. i know i know... its kinda still early, but how will you show your loved ones just how much you care for them this valentine's day? while looking for the perfect gift for the special person in your life, don't forget your kids! from heart bedecked tees to cool zippies, you are sure to find wonderful tokens of your affection for your little valentines.

kids everywhere love valentine’s day! the candy, fun and excitement of telling others how much they love and care for them, and the feeling of being special are enough to mesmerize any young child. there are a number of valentine’s day gifts for kids that make great ideas for the occasions. these gifts may be given to a kid, or kids may exchange these gifts. if you are in the market for great valentine’s day gifts for kids, you have come to the right place! keep reading for wonderful ideas!


valentine’s day crayons

every kid loves crayons! parents everywhere can associate with me when i speak of those little stubs and pieces of crayons that kids tend to collect. crayons may become worn down, or broken. most kids prefer whole crayons that are in one piece rather than one crayon that are broken down into many different pieces. however, they seem to love to hold on to those little pieces. why not encourage them to do something really creative this valentine’s day? have them create valentine’s day crayons that they can give their friends.

for this gift idea, you will need a cookie sheet, or mold, that has designs that reflect hearts. next, you will simply gather all those little stubby crayons and arrange them within each section of the mold. many would melt the crayons down beforehand, but what fun would that be? just how festive would the colors be? not very much fun or festive! your child can help arrange the colors in a certain way. one may choose to outline the outer part with red crayon pieces and the inside with pink crayon pieces. another child may choose to go for the rainbow effect and just make it with no design and all kinds of colors!

next, you will want to place the pan in the oven and bake for about fifteen to twenty minutes. You will want to ensure that the crayons are melted completely prior to removing them from the oven. once this achieved, take the cookie mold pan out of the oven and allow it to completely cool. this may take a couple of hours. during this time, you may want to assist your child in creating some homemade valentine’s day cards. once the sheet has cooled, the valentine’s day crayons should fall easily from the pan. you should then take some red or pink yarn and a yarn needle. run this through the valentine’s day card and then through the top corner of the heart! now, your kid can give these crayons and cards to their friends, classmates, and relatives!


valentine’s day dvd cards

if you want to create a special valentine’s day gift for your kid, or you want to help your child create a great gift for another, you may want to create a valentine’s day dvd card! in order to do this, you will need to come up with some pictures that you can scan on your computer. if you are a parent, you may want to choose pictures that show great moments with your kids. if you are helping your child create one for a friend or relative, help them locate pictures that display special moments between them.

once you have scanned and saved the pictures on your computer, you will want to find a song online that is special to show the receiver how much you mean to them. You can choose from fun and exciting songs like:

“be my valentine” by jack hartmann

“V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E” by ron brown

you can purchase the downloaded versions of these songs at “songs for teaching” at http://songsforteaching.com/holiday/valentinesdaysongs.htm .

once you have a song, you can simply open up “windows movie maker” on most versions of microsoft windows and open the file where the pictures are located to add them. once this is completed, you can add the music you have chosen in the “audio” section. a number of special effects, title options, and credits can be chosen. you can then get a blank dvd case and design a cute little valentine’s day card as the cover.

this is a personalized valentine’s day gift for a kid that will be cherished for many, many years! this also makes a great valentine’s day gift for adults as well!

as you can see, there are many creative and great valentine’s day gifts for kids that can be made from the comfort of your home. the gift choices mentioned here will be more valuable to the child that receives them than candy, stuffed animals, or standard store bought gifts, and can be enjoyed for a long time!