New Jubah Gown

Our stocks for jubah gowns have just arrived!!

It is very exciting for us as there are many new designs and colours. Most are cotton material with some t-shirt like material.

Prices are also very very reasonable from RM69.90 to RM109.90 each piece. Blouses are from RM29.90 to RM109.90 depending on the quality.

So if you have the time, do check out these designs at our outlets in Jalan TAR (KL), Alamanda (Putrajaya), SACC Mall (Shah Alam) and Plaza Angsana (JB).

New Pantsuits Design - Satin Geometry

Latest pantsuits design at Turkuaz & Gulyn is Satin Geometry code 330-1018 in two exclusive colours of purple and dark orange.

Material is satin with silk-like feel.

Sizes are from S - XXL and comes with matching pants. Total 34pcs each colour.

Regular prices is RM389.90 but member or online purchase price is RM330/set.

Places of interest around Jalan TAR

I think is it useful to provide traveling tips to those who are not familiar with Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman or downright afraid of getting stuck in traffic there.

I've list the places of interest, places to eat, places to shop and places to park your car and basically finding your way around in this part of town.

First up - PLACES OF INTERESTS
If you want a piece of Malaysian history, then you have come to the right place!

If you want old, I dont mean Melaka old but older than most of us - there's:-

- Masjid India (lit: Indian Mosque)

- Masjid Jamek

- Dataran Merdeka (independence square)



PLACES TO EAT
- Coliseum restaurant - it can come under place of interest as well

- A&W - it has just recently been given a facelift

- Nasi kandar - there are a few but one of my favourite is the one opposite Sogo shopping centre, KL

- Nasi briyani @ Insaf where else. Note there are 2 outlets very near to each other

- Banana leaf rice - just behind Mydin - there's ABC restaurant and another whose name I just cant get about to remembering

- The Ship - for western style food

- Sogo's japanese and chinese restaurant. Real value for money if you are in this area especially the japanese restaurant. They offer RM15 meals everyday after 230pm and it's good!

- Chicken rice in Semua House food court is fantastic but they also sell non-halal food.

- Nasi minang at Capital cafe but my favorite is Seri Minang which is in the alley beside Mydin. Love their chilli merah and hijau.

- Apak tom yam and nasi paprik in City One. Really cheap and good but dont go during lunch time as there's a long wait with all the sogo staff eating there.

- Chee cheong fun beside Haniffa. Business has been taken over by the daughter so you can imagine the history.

- Saturday's pasar malam - the roti john and meehoon sup are great but there are plenty of selection esp if you're a fan of keropok lekor.



PLACES TO SHOP

- Turkuaz of course!! For all your muslimah needs

- Sogo, KL - no mall comes close to their weekend crowds. Many customers vouch for their price as well as choices. Recently went through a facelift too.

- Pasar malam every Saturday. It's not really a pasar malam since business starts as early as 1pm till midnight. I'm not a big fan since I find it too squeezed especially if you come with children.

- There's the textile street with names like Gulati's, Euro Moda, Jakel and Harison. Gulati's latest outlet is GSH (short for Gulati's Silk House - how creative)

- Mydin - the cheap cheap and cheap place.

- Haniffa - which is like Mydin but slightly more comfortable and higher prices cos the quality is slightly better. So the choice is yours.

- if you're buying gold, would recommend DEEN SMS, it's the same gold but at lower prices (just opposite Mydin's police base)

- money changer is ARC which is just behind Mydin's police base. They offer very good rates.



PLACES TO STAY

Many many hotels have mushroomed recently, from budget to slightly higher star ones like the latest Frenz just adjacent to Haniffa and MayTower hotel and service apartment which is opposite CapSquare but many vouch for Noble hotel for it's location.


PLACES TO PARK YOUR CAR

- the best at the moment will be Sogo, KL since they just expanded their underground parking. It's per hour charge and if you're eating at sogo's restaurant or made purchases as sogo's member, you'll get free parking for first hour.

- there's CIMB new HQ and you can park there or the adjacent outdoor parking there.

- outdoor parking behind Harisons/ Mukmin is usually full or inaccessible on Saturdays plus the per entry rate is quite high of RM7 but subject to change during weekends.

- Semua House - per hour and can give you a heart attack if you park the whole day so better option is City One but remember to remove your car if it rains heavily as there once it flooded since it's basement parking.

- otherwise you can be like me either take the LRT to Bandaraya St. or park opposite the about to be opened new police HQ cos it's per entry fee is cheaper than the one behind Harisons of about RM5 but again subject to change depending on demand.


Note there are 3 outdoor parking just opposite the police station. They have different rates and the priciest is the one nearest to Sogo as they charge per hour. You could get a heart attack or suffer from cursing fits if you park there.

To get a better deal just park further from Sogo but the only setback is have to walk a bit but it's good to exercise once in a while.

The furthest I have parked is near the heritage row as that was during the fasting month ie shopping frenzy month. But this should not deter anyone from making an annual shopping pilgrimage to Jalan TAR as it is definitely an experience you'll never forget not to mention the vast amount of choices, prices and food which you cannot find anywhere else.

New Pantsuit Design - High Fashion 2

Latest pantsuits design at Turkuaz & Gulyn is High Fashion 2 code 330-1026 in two exclusive colours of brown and black.

Material for brown is poly mixed jacquard. Material for black is poly printed with satin-like feel.

Sizes are from S - XXL and comes with matching pants. Total 27pcs for brown and 50pcs for black.

Regular prices is RM429.90 but member or online purchase price is RM350/set.

The importance of Teachers!!

A friend of mine used to teach in a kindergarten in Malaysia but later resigned as the workload was very heavy but the remuneration was not.

The pay was so low that she had to look for other part time job to be financially stable.

This current state of affairs is totally unacceptable as it cannot be denied that pre-school days are the most crucial time to develop a child's mind and motor skills. However the quality of teachers for pre-schoolers are often second rate whereas in developed countries, they appreciate the necessity to have qualified teachers for pre-schoolers. Hence the teacher's take home salary also reflects this level of importance.

A direct consequences of low remuneration is the lack of pride in their job as the public generally perceived teachers of pre-schoolers as of lower qualification compare with teachers of higher education. And where there is lack of pride, one will hardly put in the extra effort in their profession.

We must remember that pre-schoolers teachers are the children' first teachers and the impression that these teachers leave on them will influence these children for life. I have an uncle who was a very studious student but when he was in primary school used to hate a particular teacher so much that he will leave the classroom and stand outside whenever this teacher enters the room.

Teachers have the power to break or make the subject alive to the students. I remember enjoying history more than geography purely because the teacher took the time and effort to make the subject interesting for us.

For Malaysia to progress we must treat our teachers better on all levels and not just for the higher education ones.

New Pantsuit Design - Sweet Nona

The latest pantsuits design in Turkuaz is Sweet Nona code 330-1025 in 6 different colours of dark red, green and brown and comes with matching pants.

Material is poly mixed cotton in net-like material. Fully lined with piping.

The top 3 colours are priced at RM439.90 but member or online purchase enjoy special price of RM380/set


The bottom 3 colours are priced at RM419.90 but member or online purchase enjoy special price of RM360/set

Average it comes in 16pcs each colour and sizes from S - XXL. Due to the limited quantity, this design is only available in Jln TAR and Gulyn outlet as well as online sale.

Reaching for the best!

How often do you find yourself especially during grocery shopping choosing the cheaper version of an item of similar origin and description?

I find that I do that many times especially looking out for on offer or on sale items.

This probably explains why nowadays items getting more and more inferior in quality be it in terms of food and electrical items.You notice how products of bygone years seem to last longer like for example my washing machine. Just recently changed it after it started to make funny sounds but it served us very well for more than 20 years.

That is because suppliers work around the budget to produce the items are prices that consumers are willing to pay. So packaging either becomes smaller, tissues became thinner, cotton buds become flimsier and foodstuffs are mixed with cheaper but alternative colouring, flavoring and etc.

Some suppliers even resort to mixing the quality products in the same box, eg. a box of colouring pencils, maybe the black and white will be good quality but the rest the quality are compromised.

I read before in an article in the newspaper that we must remove this "cheap mentality" in order to progress. It is because of us consumers always asking for cheaper goods, the suppliers have no option but to cut costs and in cutting costs, we are ultimately buying inferior quality products.

It was interesting that a friend shared that he educate his children not to consume too much chicken as there are too much hormones in poultry nowadays. He note that through this his children are smaller in size than their peers. Of a more asian-like size I suppose. Not only that his daughter does not reach puberty that early. It is of great concern that girls nowadays get their first menstrual cycle much earlier than those of our forefathers.

So when buying products, I think it is important that we do not sacrifice quality for price. This attitude will somehow overflow and affect the choices that we make in life too. I find that after years of doing this in some decisions which I made I subconsiuosly too do not choose the best but always reach for the second best even though I can afford it and deserve better.

So my final word is "what you pay, is what you get" so try to aim for the best in everything cos life is short and we deserve the best.

New Pantsuit Design - Jacquard Passion

Latest pantsuits design @ Turkuaz is our Jacquard Passion Code 330-1019. It comes in 3 colours of beige, maroon and terracotta with matching pants.

Imported material from Japan of poly dyed jacquard print. Note the subtle 2 tone at the side. Fully lined with japanese habutai silk lining.

The selling price for beige (total 19pcs) is RM409.90 but member or online price is RM350/set
The selling price for maroon (total 20pcs) and terracotta (total 40pcs) is RM389.90 but member or online price is RM330/set

New Muslimah Swimming Suits - Just arrived!

Turkuaz's new stock for muslimah swimming suits have just arrived!! Total 500pcs so there are many many new colours and designs. Sizes from M to XXXL.

Again these will be in 3 pieces of a top, pants and head covering.

Prices are RM149.90 per set with 10% discount for members or online purchase.

So do check out these latest designs at our outlets in KL, Alamanda, Shah Alam and Skudai (JB).

What's in a name...

It just struck me that in the world, humans can be divided into 2 categories of "those with surnames in front and those with surnames at the back". Do correct me if I'm wrong.

Examples of front surnames are:
namely chinese, japanese, korean, vietnamese

Example of back surnames are:-
namely american, british, european, turkish, indians, malays

Not too sure about africans. I think they belong to the back category.

Why can't it be the same everywhere? That's why is most immigration forms or any important forms, to avoid confusion, they will ask underline the surname.

The back surnames category can then be further sub-divided into those using the surname of the family or the father like the indians and malays whose surname is that of the father.

The indians names in malaysia have A/L (literally meaning "anak lelaki" / son of) and A/P ("anak perempuan" / daughter of) before the surname.
Eg, Rahman A/L Muthusamy ie Muthusamy is the name of Rahman's father.

Similarly the malays in malaysia practice is the usage of "bin" (for male) and "binte" / sometimes "bte" (for female) to distinguish the gender of the person which is actually quite convenient since you'll know exactly the gender of the person from the name only cos nowadays some names tend to be very unisex, not to mention their sexuality... (but I digress here).

However this practice of adding A/L and bin is not prevalent in India and Indonesia but only in Malaysia. One suspects that this was introduced by the british during the colonization days when they issue citizenship and birth certificates but if this is case, why were the chinese in malaysia spared from this "coding" since to the british, family surnames in front are not common to british.

Well I guess that's because chinese are a very stubborn group of people... a lot more stubborn than the japanese as most time I will get confused about the japanese names ie which is their name and which is their surname. That's because in the west media, japanese names are "westernized" and printed with their surnames at the back but in japanese local media, they revert to their original writing of surname in front.

So for Takuya Kimura which is the surname and which is name? Surname Kimura - Name Takuya. So in japan he will be knowned as Kimura Takuya.
So you'll expect the same thing for celebrity Aiba Masaki right? But turned out Aiba is the surname... gosh... Aiba sounds more like a name than surname to me. So it's pretty darn confusing to foreigners.

So why cant the japanese be stubborn and keep to their true identity as practice centuries ago and not bow to peer pressure, conforming to the western style of surnames at the back?

This will again bring me to a different topic. Conformity to the west standard. Having come from a colonized nation, I also grew up thinking that the west is the best but thankfully Asia is rising and rising fast!

So whether you have your surname in front or back, it does not matter so long as you know how it all started (ie whose your father, grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather (erm i think is too-far-fetched to know)) and don't be bothered about how the rest of the world wanted to call it.

New Pantsuit Design - Sweet Tango

This is jubah matched with plain colour chiffon skirt. It comes in 3 soft colours of beige, dark pink and soft pink.

Code 330-1020 Name: Sweet Tango

The quantity is very very limited as beige only has 19pcs, dark pink 20pcs and soft pink 18pcs. So it will only be available online, Jalan TAR and Alamanda outlet only.

Retail price is RM379.90 but member or online purchase enjoys special price of RM340/set.