I'm Every Woman...It's All In Me

Taking Another Break...To the Island of Gods

2012-02-03T10:03:00.004+08:00

Here's what I'm looking forward to this weekend:

Adios Malaysia! See you again Tuesday:)

Edinburgh

2012-01-19T10:27:00.021+08:00

Salam to all,

Yepps, this travelogue is taking way more time to finish than I originally anticipated. Thousand apologies for that. Bukan apa, makin lama delay story, makin banyak detail kita tak ingat.

So what I'm thinking this that like previous posts, there will be more photos than yapping ok?

Anyways, we departed from Newcastle late in the evening, and along the way, we popped by at Bambaugh Castle and spent quite a while there enjoying the view and click-clicking away on our cameras.

Soon enough, we were at the England-scotland border:

We drove along the north-east coastline, and were accorded nice view before it got too dark. We arrived in Edinburgh around 2 hours later and immediately checked into the Edinburgh Musselburgh Travelodge. We had dinner, and immediately rested for the night.

The next morning, we checked out early and headed to the Edunburgh city centre. It was a very nice day, and of course, we went as near as we could get to The Royal Mile. It was a Sunday, and we heard it could be difficult to get parking. But thank god, we managed to find one near the Edinburgh Museum.

Here are some photos:

keluar keta terus mau posing! Chaittt!!
Walked a short distance, right into The Royal Mile, heading towards the main attraction, Edinburgh Castle.

It's on top of a hill, you can practically see it from any location in the city. A very well-preserved site, and beautiful to boot.

View of the city from the castle compound.

OK sudah-sudah ler..:))...Time to get back down and explore the city. So many tourists and we were lucky as it was such a nice day. Eh chupp!! Two last photos of the Castle!:))

Anyway we then made our way between the cobbledstone streets and old buildings right into the University of Edinburgh's campus! Walked around with no proper destinantion, we just basked in the view of this old city.

Grand Mosque of Edinburgh. We actually singgah and had lunch at the nearby Pakistani restaurant after that.

Ambik this group pf photos tah dari mana eh?? Ya ampun dah tak ingat dah! But I know it's quite central because the Edinburgh HOHO buses start their tours there. And sorry, mak malas nak mengugel namanya hari ni:)

Dah tu pegi area ni pulak la: The Scott Monument

After that, I dashed off to search for that must place go:

Hehehhe... Well, the guy who served me at the counter is the loveliest person! So friendly! After making my must-buy items, went off back to the Scott Monument area where the rest were waiting.

Here's more nice view of Edinburgh:

Then we went back to Royal Mile for another round of basking-in-the-city feel, only to find that some parts were sealed off for a procession later that afternoon. Procession apa? Nobody knows. But cuci mata best! Contohnya:

:))

Then before getting to the car, we got into the Museum to rest and get warm for a while, and had tea. This is what I ordered:

Cheese scone with butter and chutney, and downed that with Earl Grey tea. Very very nice!

Ok, one last photo before leaving Edin!

We then said goodbye to Edinburgh. truthfully, rasa tak puas. I just love the city! The people are good looking, friendly, and I know a lot more places should've gotten into our itinerary. Next: Glasgow!

Back to UK, Up to Stoke-on-Trent and Then to Newcastle

2011-12-27T12:58:00.017+08:00

Hello,

Sorry for the delay in the travelogue update. LOng way to go, and most of them I don't remember much. Oh well, they're hazy memories now.

But what I for sure remember is the fun and a strong sense of belonging I felt there!

Let's continue from where we left off.

Coming back from Paris at St. Pancras, we immediately made our way to Victoria Station to catch our National Express coach to Stoke-on-Trent, which would stop at nearby Hanley. Aitelyu... Ala-ala Amazing Race la jugak sebab we had quaite a difficulty trying to find the Victoria Coach Station outside the main station cause it was quite a long walking distance, and we were dragging our luggages, plus some treasure from Paris!

We made it on time and hopped on the bus about 5 minutes before it was due to depart at 3 PM. It was actually enroute to Liverpool and hanley was one of the major stops. Along the way, the bus stopped at Milton Keynes to pick up more passengers, and one service stop so we could stretch our legs. We arrived at Stoke on time, close to 7PM, and we waited for about 20 minutes before our cousin picked us up.

Early the next morning, we woke up early and I went with my cousin to pick up our rented car from Enterprise office about 15 minutes away from home. We had some problems with the paperwork, and around 11 AM, we departed for Newcastle. That was the first destination of our 3-night road trip which would cover Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow. For this road tirp, we stayed mainly at various Travelodge motels.

The journey from Stoke to Newcastle took about 5 hours, and we were to meet with my old school friend, Q, who was in Newcastle doing her PhD. She's also knows my cousin and sister as all went to the same school.

The view along the journey. Very pristine, and Wuthering Heights-like!

Anyway, right before we entered Newcastle, we stopped by at Angel of The North sculpture at Gateshead. Really majestic and gigantic, the view was also fantastic! Whatt?? They rhyme!:))

Ok photos!

It was late afternoon, almost dark by then. We then made our way the motel, checked in and left again to my friend's house in Newcastle and lepak at her place for dinner. Another mutual friends who were also residing in the UK for their PhD. After dinner, off we went down town to the Gateshead Millenium Bridge and to check out Newcastle night life.

The next morning, off we checked out early and made our way back to Q's place to meet her for breakfast and more exploration of Newcastle. She wanted to take us to St. Mary's Island and it's lighthouse as well as the highlight of the day - visiting Dalton Park Factory Outlet!:) So happy!

The lighthouse

Inside the lighthouse

After that, off we drove along the Tyneside coastal road towards the...

Tyneside Priory and Castle! It's right by the Tyneside cliff, the weather was nice and the view was beautiful!

After that, off we go to Dalton Park. Sorry, sibuk shopping, takde gambar ye..:)). I liked Dalton Park just nice, and here, my sister and I got our best-valued acquisition - a pair of GBP10 Levi's each! Seriously, mana nak dapat Levi's jeans for RM50?? Bought a few more items, but I seriously can't remember the exact details:))

After Dalton Park, it was getting into late afternoon already. before heading back to Q's house, we stopped by at the Newcastle town centre to pop by at St. James' Park, home of the Newcastle United. Well, being football fans, we thought we should visit as many stadiums as we could, even if we didn't support the team.

We rested for a bit at Q's place, before we made our way to the next destination. Thanks a lot friend for your hospitality! Who would've thought that the tomboyish girl I knew in school is now a soon-to-be-called Dr. Eaqerzilla Phang and mother of 5 (or is it 6??) kids! She was also kind enough to help me set my iPad with the locations of our next destinations, and gave us tips of places to go up north, as well as where we should be on the lookout for, i.e interesting points along the way!

We said bye, and around 6.30 started our journey up north towards Edinburgh. But along the way, we were to singgah at Bambaugh Castle to check it out. Too bad we when arrived it was already 7PM, so it was closed already. Jadnya ambik gambar kat luar aje lah!

Bambaugh Castle from afar

Spooky woods by the castle!

Overlooking the North Sea

Before it gets too dark, we made our way back to the main freeway and headed to our next destination: north country, Scotland.

Next entry ehhs?:)

Paris (Part 2)

2011-12-09T09:32:00.024+08:00

Hi,

OK I swear this will be the last part of this leg of my travelogue. You know why? Cause I was in paris for only 2 nights! Hahahaha...

Anyway, let's continue with our Paris story. The next day tu, we left the hostel early to get on our Seine River-Canal St. Martin cruise. It would take half day. Seriously, I didn't know what I was thinking booking a half-day cruise. But we enjoyed in nonetheless.And I got the tickets here, bought a few days before we left Malaysia.

Here's a bit of info of the cruise that we were on:
This half-day cruise brings you the best of both worlds: the grandeur of the Seine together with the quiet intimacy of Napoleon’s canals. Embarkation just below the Musée d’Orsay. From here you will glide serenely past the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Ile Saint Louis, before arriving at the entrance to the canal Saint Martin whose first section is an astonishing, eerily lit tunnel, passing directly underneath the Place de la Bastille. Once again in the light of day, you will discover the most romantic street in Paris..2 miles of of pure poetry. Old swing bridges, half-moon footbridges and maple trees line the canal, which climbs its way through a series of 19th century locks and some enchanting old areas of the city, until 26 metres above the Seine it comes to the Parc de la Villette, with its magnificent themed gardens and museums. Or the same cruise in the opposite direction, leaving from la Villette and terminating at the Musée d’Orsay.

Ok then, let's just have a look at what we saw along the way:

Oooppss..! Hahaha.. I was so in my Parisien mode, I wore my French beret the whole day. Oh well, I bought it near Eiffel Tower the day before actually.

While still at Musee d'Orsay, waiting for the boat? Ship? to load. We met many other foreign tourists on the cruise. The guide, Arnaud, while we were checking in, was so excited upon finding out that we were Malaysian that he immediately greeted and spoke to us in some basic Malay! That's cause he goes to Malaysia and Indonesia practically every year just to dive. That's nice ain't it. Wahhh.. kaki diving jugak cruise guide kitorang nih!

Institut de Paris

Notre Dame

This is Arnaud, our Malay-speaking cruise guide. Throughout the cruise he would explain everything first in French, then English.

Nearing Bastille. We would be entering about 2 miles of the canal underneath Bastille and the city itself, so cruising in the dark la kekdahnyerr..

Poyo!! mau jugak pakai sunglasses dalam gelap kaa?? Hahahahaha...

Occasionally we gte under the vent hole thingy and we know we were right under a street.

The light at the end of the tunnel hehehh...

Waterlocks over the canal. Throughout the cruise we went pass about 7 of them, and on each lock, we were elevated approximately 3 meters. So by the end of the cruise we were raised for a total of 21 meters in height.

Notice this half-moon bridge? Right in front of it is this bridge-road thingy that can rotate to make way for ships to sail through.

From afar, it was still a road.

Then it rotated to the side to make way, and we stopped right over it into a waterlock.

Once we were done, it swung back into its normal position and resumes it's function as a road! Nice ehh? *mode jakun jap!*

Leaving the canal, back to the river.

Mau jugak posing-posing kaaa?

We disembarked at Parc de la Villette. Had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant we found near the Metro before we headed back to the city centre. Next destination, the Louvre!

We could only hang around the compound as the queue to enter this massive museum was very long. And of course, not to mention the prospect of the long queue of those who wanted to pay homage to Mona Lisa.

But still, the compound, and it's equally famous pyramid made our time spent there worthwhile.

The back of the Louvre.

On the way to the famous frontyard, you'll get a glimpse of what is inside the museum. But you've got to pay to get in la..

Posing saje-saje..

This is the pyramid made famous by the movie The Da Vinci Code. Truly, the Louvre is massive! More than massive, it's gigantic, being the biggest museum in the world. It is said that even if you devote one week of your time in paris just to explore the Louvre, you still won't have covered all.

These people are queueing up just to get into the museum.

I went across the road just to get this shot. But even then, I still missed a large part of it.
And of course, across the Louvre is also a nice Parisien landmark:

Jardin du Carrousel!

Granted, it's not as big nor as famous as Arc de Triomph, but it still draws the tourists and has its own attraction.

After that, back to the Louve yard for one last round of photo taking.

And hey...we managed to find one of the secret clues found in The Da Vinci code! It was the original Rose Line ke or what? Sorry I can't remember. Do read the book again then you will know what I mean:)

We then left and went to the Boulevard Haussman at Rue de Lafayetter to visit Gallerie Lafayette and Printemps. Did a bit of retail therapy, and then off to Montmarte to go for my must-go spot, the Hard Rock Cafe:)

Gallerie Lafayette

Hard Rock Cafe

It was late evening by then, and we also popped by at the Paris Loewe boutique to get the silk scarf my friend asked me to buy. Back to the hostel after that, just to rest and chill, and of course, to pack, as we were heading back to London early the next day. Au revoir, Paris:((..I'll be back, simply because banyak tempat lagi tak cover!!!

The next day, we checked out around 10++ in the morning, and immediately made our way back to Gare du Nord by metro to get on our noon train back to St. Pancras.

This is Gare du Nord

Inside the station. Au revoir again Paghee...:(

And upon our arrival at St. Pancras, this awaited..

Done with London, done with Paris, now off to the whole of British isle, next entries ok!:)

Paris (Part 1)

2011-12-06T15:34:00.019+08:00

Bonjour!!

Ok, let's talk about Paris baby! Hahahha...

Sorry for the delay in the update. It's been a pretty hectic week. Today affords me some breather, so I'd better take the opportunity to continue my travelogue, this time to Paghee...

We departed early morning from Willesden to St. Pancras International Terminal. The caretaker, En. Mohamad, was kind enough to offer to send us there. Some more it was raining, so the gesture was even more appreciated. Makaceh Cek Mat!

I bought the Eurostar tickets in July, and was lucky to be able to secure a good price of 70 Euros for return journey for each of us. This time only my siblings and I went to Paris, and our cousin decided to return to Stoke the day before. We were to go to her place upon our return from Paris.

Anyway our journey would take around 2 hours, departing at 8.45. We should be there earlier as we need to get through immigration clearance and all that.

St. Pancras Station

Some view along the way, and me!:))

Upon reaching Gare du Nord, we immediately searched for the Metro to get to the station nearest to our hostel.

After checking in and getting refreshed, we set out for where else? It's Eiffel Tower. I bought the tickets to the summit at the Eiffel Tower official website, and I chose the 5.30PM slot to climb up. My bad, we reached there around noon and we had about 3 hours to kill *sigh*. But at least that gave us the chance to look around and watch people;)

This is iconic isn't it?

See those people behind me? It's the long queue for those who just want to get on the 2nd level deck! Panjang ok, macam ular! Luckily we bought ours beforehand:)

Ok enough with the photos of Eiffel Tower. Jom tengok pemandangan pulak.

Harap maklum, saya ketaq lutut time kat summit ok! Very strong wind, and tower tu gegar-gegar sikit.... Erkkss...

Then soon after, we went down and made our way to Arc de Triomph. It was late evening already, and personally, I've always wanted to go visit this arc more than the Eiffel Tower itself.

Took lots of photos here, and enjoyed the time spent there. I particularly enjoyed this:

Once we were done with Arc de Triomph, we turned to that famous avenue, Champs Elysees... Another place that I've always wanted to go.

These are just some of the views along this famous road.

And of course, if you are a fan, you cannot go to Champs Elysees and NOT pay your tribute to the brand here! It's like a must go for the ladies out there;)

Annd... you cannot leave the flagship without leaving with an item, can't you?:) But sorry, not gonna show it here, segan:)
By then our feet felt like 1-tonne stones already, and my sister and brother complained about being tired and cannot walk anymore. So we balik hostel lah!

Next day punya agenda in the next entry ok? Ciao!

London (Part 4)

2011-12-01T18:34:00.010+08:00

Hi,

It's very hectic at work, and I'm still here in the office, and it's close to 7PM, and the thunder just rumbled outside. I have no idea what time will this be done as I need to deliver it for the Big Boss' approval by tonight, and so whiclst waiting, I'd better get cracking and update my London journey. Smart plan ehh?;)<-- Yeah right, that's what you tell yourself! Luckily I love my job:)

OK, let's continue with my London journal.

On the third day was officially the last day in London as we would be departing to Paris early the next day. So here are the photos. Gee...Padan muka tunggu lepas 2 bulan baru nak update blog pasal trip ni kan...? But don't be too hard on me please, cause a month after that I flew back to London! And also Geneva. But that's another story, we finish off this one dulu ok:)

Amik feel dulu bergambar depan rumah:)

This is where we stayed, and upon leaving, the destination was...

Green Park! Leading to...

Any idea yet??

It's the Buckingham Palace!:)

This is where that famous kiss took place last April.

Ok, once we were done with Buckingham Palace, off we walked back to Green Park station and disembarked at Westminster only to find this sight greeting us upon exiting the station:

Big Ben!:)

Sanggup tu panjat the pagar next to it and asked my brother to practically lie on the pavement just to get this shot ok!! Haahahaha..

Then, we made our way next door to Westminster Abbey. But seriously, the architecture of those old buildings could just blow you away!

After that, we took the train and got off at Bayswater to go to the Malaysian Hi-Comm and have late lunch there. Rindu sambal belacan worr!!:))

Lepas tu jalan mana pulak ehhs? Erkk.. lupa la... But basically that's what we did that day. I guessed we also went to other places like Oxford Street but seriously, can't remember much:)

Till next time, adios day in London! Off to Paris pulak early the next day. Bonjour...!:)

London (Part 3)

2011-11-30T13:53:00.017+08:00

Hi,

I'd better do this very quickly, lest I lost the will and the time that I have right now to updat this travelogue. Adehh...punya la lama nak habiskan kan? My bad, I apologise.

OK, We're done with the jalan-jalan part on first day. Forgot to mention that towards end of that first day, we went to Oxford Street cause I need to get to Primark to get a proper autumn jacket. Got one at GBP22. So happy:)

Anyways, let's see if memory serves me well today. What did we do on the second day ekks? Oh ya, it was a Sunday, and my sister's friend who is working in London was free and wanted to show us around. At the same time, this day we were scheduled to ride on the London Eye as well as a cruise on River Thames. Well, actually it was a combo ticket which I bought while still in Malaysia. The info is here.

So after breakfast, we left the house and headed to Waterloo station to meet with Melvin. And after that, off with more jalan-jalan kota London ya:)

Sorry for the differing size and quality of the photos. Some are from my Blackberry, and some are from my camera. Ohh crap! Those BB ones are the ones already in my FB album. Ok ok after this I'll get them directly from the PC's soft copy ok? Tapi sekarang malas nak tarik balik and re-paste:)

We got on the London Eye around noon. It was gloomy throughout the day, total opposite of the day before when it was hot and bright. It drizzled thoughout the day also. So here are athe nice view from inside the capsule. Kalau gayat jangan naik ye:))

Can never be tired of this sight:)

On the way down.
After that, we walked some more as our cruise slot would be at 4.30PM. So in the meantime, we went to the Tower Bridge and walked along the Queen's Walk, and of course, took lots of photos.

Once we were done with Tower bridge, we made our way back to the London Eye area to go on our River Thames Cruise.

Then once we were done with the cruise, off we went in search for Hard Rock cafe at Park Lane. After that, we walked all the way to Knightsbridge to get to Harrodds. Unfortunately, it was already late evening and by the time we reached there, it was closed for the day:(

Lepas tu balik Willesden la....

Next day would've been the last full day in London for us, as the day after we were to depart to Paris pulak. To be continued ok:)

London (Part 2)

2011-11-22T11:26:00.014+08:00

Hi all..

OK while I have the time (and most importantly, the will) to do this, I might as well do it now. Hmm... why do I feel that updating this space is now a chore? Don't get me wrong, I love this space of mine, and I know I have so many things to share, but there's that little voice that keeps whispering to me and says "to hell with your blog! Stop je la berblog nih!"..Errkkkss...

Hey.. Hey..apa ni? Mukadimah sudah lari... Ok back to the London story. Banyak benda nak cerita ni tau!

Anyways, we arrived on the evening of 2 September and stayed at Willesden. The nearest train station is Willesden Green, say about 15 minutes' walk away. It's on the Jubilee line (kaler grey). If you'd like to view the London tube map, it's here.

Woke up the next morning to a nice end-of-summer weather, a bit chilled but well, we were up and reluctantly about since even before dawn! Jetlag remember? Geram gak sebab body kata mau tido, tapi otak kata meh la bangun, meh la bangun..!

And here are the first photos I took of the view outside my bedroom window:

After we had breakfast (which we prepared ourselves at the spacious kitchen), we made our way out. Walked to Willesden Green station, bought our new Oyster card and get down to start using it. Destination: city centre. Maybe just photos and a bit of captions after this yeah? Dah malas nak cerita banyak-banyak hehehe...

Picadilly Circus! picadilly Circus is the starting point of Theatreland of West End. So you can see many plays here if you're into them Too bad I didn't catch any show,cause I know my travel partners aren't into those sort of thing:(.. To read more about Picadilly Circus ni, bacalah info kat Wikipedia ni ehhsss..:)

Lepak dulu kat situ. tapi, before that, we went into Lillywhites, a major sporting items store and I got myself a United jersey:). err..belum apa-apa pun lagi udah menyopping!

Then, jalan ke arah Trafalgar Square la pulak. Enjoy the pix!

Kalau takde gambar ni tak sah!! Hahahha...

This is the famous Nelson's Column by Trafalgar Square

And me with one of the lions surrounding it.

Oopss...banyak posing jer..hahahha..

It was indeed a verrryy nice sunny summer day. Panas menyucuk ke tulang, but still chilly at times. Perfect! We lepak there for quite a while. Had lunch at Jom Makan the Malaysian restaurant nearby. Then spent quite a while at Trafalgar Square, just enjoying the perfect summer weather and watching people. Bought a few things and ate (again!) them there.

Walked some more, and this is St. James' Gate. And that's my brother:)

Ok, those are the places we went to on the first day in London. The next day, pegi tempat lain (and also tempat yang sma) jugak..:)

To be continued ehhss..:)

London (Part 1)

2011-11-14T12:55:00.003+08:00

Hi,

I know, I know.. it's one thing after another, and I'm lucky if I have a breather in between, and of course, the inspiration and inclination, to update this.

But this, I've got to do. Die die must do! Bahasa will be rojak, so bear with me. If you can't understand BM, too bad:)

Anyways, I don't want to do too much talking (or err...typing) in here, but knowing me, I'll still be babbling buckets.

The journey started off on the 3rd day of Raya, 1 September 2011 when we left Kuching for Kuala Lumpur in the evening. Twas good to see my kids after leaving them on their own for about 5 days, and I got straight to work on cleaning the house and topping up food and continue packing for the trip.

Our flight to Stanstead was to depart at 3.30PM, so I got my friend Nora to come and pick us up at around 11.30 and send us to LCCT.

Saying goodbye to the kids. They were oblivious. Uhuk..uhuk..

Each of us brought about 1 piece of luggage-I brought my big red luggage. As we reached LCCT, right away we went to the international departure hall and check in. After that, lepak for a while at the food court and got something to eat and just killed time there.

The flight departed on time, and off to London we were! But mind you, syiok cuci mata hahahaha... The flight comprised about 80% mat sallehs:). But then again, as I always was during flights, sleep was not easy, it was cold and I was pretty much uncomfortable.

We landed at Stanstead around 9.30PM local time, and after ting-tonging at the UK Border counter and collecting our luggages, we went outside to the bus terminal to get to Victoria Station. We used the Terravision airport transfer which I bought online, and it was priced at GBP9 each.

The journey from Stanstead to London's Victoria Station took around 1 hour and as soon as we got down, ulat taxi approached us offering their services. We were tired and groggy and just wanted to rest, and that's when we made the mistake of engaging their service.

In London we were to stay at the Sarawak Foundation House at Willesden, and well, that cheating of a cab driver at first quoted 38GBP to send us to the destination. But then again, dah dasar penipu kan, halfway through the journey, he revised his price, this time charged kitorang GBP48 la plak. His argument? Cause he wasn't sure if the place is near or far from Victoria. I was just too tired to argue, tambah-tambah tengah jalan tu dia ala-ala mau tunjuk samseng kat driver double-decker bus!
Finnnneee...! So terbangla almost GBP50:((... belum apa-apa lagi kat London gua sudah kena tifu...:((

Nasib baik sampai jugak, and the House caretaker, En. Mohamad was already waiting for us. He helped us settled in, and luckily, we got the house all to ourselves! Yippeee.. It is complete with everything you could possibly want in a house, Alhamdulillahhh...

Then we settled for the night, showered and unpack and went to sleep... Only to wake up again at 3. Jetlag has kicked in!! Huwaaa.....!!!

Ok, to be continued ehh..?:)

The Last Two Months: What Have Transpired

2011-10-12T11:24:00.002+08:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry for keeping quiet yet again. Seriously, work get in the way (so easy to blame work kan?) as well as many other things that went on in our daily grind called life.

Oh well, pejam-celik, it's already towards middle of October already, and before we know it, another new year is on the horizon.

August has been a very quiet month, simply cause it was Ramadhan. Fast-eat-fast-eat and all things in between.

Raya for me was celebrated ona smaller scale, because of the Great Big Holiday I went on during the Raya holiday period. Will blog about it a bit later. Chewaahhh...semangat ye nak share cerita holiday!:)

So let me just finish up editing and resizing the photos from the holiday before I tell you guys all about it OK?:)

Till later...

Take A Break

2011-08-24T13:18:00.004+08:00

Hi,

I just want to take a break from the 30 Day Blog Post Challenge. Kinda bored with it actually. Not in the mood to think about what to write as per the challenge.

So I'm taking a break and ramble about something else. Today is the 24th day of fasting. I'm counting the days till I fly home this Saturday. Time for family, and to (hopefully) forget about work.

Yesterday, we celebrated Addin Riffqi's 1st birthday. Wrote about his birth here.

He has almost full set of teeth now, and he can already walk at 11 months. Walks pretty fast right now, and is doted on by practically every member of the family. Later over the weekend, or maybe even during Raya, we'll have the Kuching level celebration. But for the time being, it's just me and the proud parents in our little celebration last night. Poor boy was so exhausted from the walking he did around the house while waiting for the breaking of fast that he went to sleep right after the cake cutting thingy.

Cutting the cake, with the proud parents.

So that's the story of last night. I don't want to recall about what happened after I left my cousin's place to deliver the Raya cakes to the so-called customers, but ended up making an almost-wasted journey.

Takpe pikir benda happy-happy je la sekarang k!:)

30BPC-Day 24: A Photo of Something That Means A Lot To You

2011-08-22T17:43:00.005+08:00

Salam...

Sedar tak sedar, tinggal lagi seminggu kita berpuasa. It certainly felt like only yesterday kita mula berpuasa. The big trip will happen very soon too. In fact, it will happen during this Raya season. And I'll be flying back home, again, this Saturday. Yippee!!

Oh well, today's assignment left me rather baffled actually. So may things mean a lot to me actually. family, friends, my cats, my crib, my ride, but I guess they're what you'd expect.

So I'd like to disassociate my answer from the typical, expected answers. Let me just give you this:

**Shy shy**

Mu current phone, one of my topmost link to the rest of the world. I get my emails and messages and access the net with it when I'm on the go, and I keep photos of the loved ones in it.

nuff said, malas nak cakap banyak-banyak. Chiao!

30BPC-Day 23 – 15 Facts About You

2011-08-19T13:14:00.002+08:00

Hola!!!

Adehh.... bila nak abis challenge ni weehhh???

15 facts about me? Geee, have to garu kepala sikit nak cerita 15 facts about me:

1. I was born on 2 Syawal, thus the name. As Raya is getting nearer, so is my birthday! (both is Muslim calendar as well as the Gregorian one)

2. I love to cook, but I like to procrastinate cleaning up after I eat. Tsskk...bad habit...bad habit:p

3. I love pastries! Sometime just thinking about a simple crunchy croissant have me salivating. I love staring at rows of pastries at hotel buffets. When having buffet meal, the pastry table is definitely the first one I check out!

4. I have owned two cars- a Kelisa, and now a Myvi. And they're both of the same colour - ash grey. If I changed my ride, most probably it will be of the same tone too kot.

5. I don't eat durian. Can't stand the smell. But give me tempoyak anytime, and especially tempoyak goreng, I'll probably tambah my nasi 2-3 pinggan!

5. Aside from durian, I also don't eat ciku and betik cause of their strong smell. Strong smell ke? According to my nose la. Even when ordering rojak buah, I'll tell the rojak-man to leave out betik. Tak ske!!

6. On a more personal note, I think I've always wanted to be a mom. But so far takde rezeki. Insyallah one day ada la kot.

7. Up until a few years ago, I never knew what I actually want to be, career-wise. That's why a few years ago my life was in quite a turbulence, cause I was still searching for my direction.

8. I was never the type of person who falls for someone easily. I take my time getting to know a person before I dare give my heart to him. That means I don't have that many exes.

9. My weakness - I can't stand it when people are in need of help. Then I get taken advantage of. I know, I should toughen up a bit more. Working on that.

10. I love travelling, but I'm not in love with flying. At times I get scared of it, especially short-distance flights. But since I'm doing lots of it lately I think it has somewhat gotten better. Alhamdulillah.

11. According to my family, I make the best daging/ayam masak merah! So bila Raya, I'm usually busy in the kitchen the night before preparing it. I have my own recipe and I guess I have perfected it over the years. Even cousins and nieces have asked for my masak merah recipe. A couple of weeks ago, I cooked some extra daging masak merah and gave them to a few of my colleagues for their berbuka puasa. They liked it too.

12. There are times when it took me a while to warm up to the new people I meet. But most of the time, I have no problem adjusting to meeting them. I guess it's all about the personality kan? During a workshop that I participated in a few months ago at work, according to the personality test that we took, if I were a bird, I'd be a peacock. Flamboyant you!! Hahahah..

13. I don't know how to ride a motorbike. Jadik pembonceng pun jarang, and I don't remember when was the last time I got on one. A motorbike is never a fixture in my family's vehicle history, and I think my dad pun tak reti bawak. Tapiiii....
Kalau tengok those big bikes kat highway, teringin gak nak jadik pembongceng diorang! Minah bonceng gitu...:))

14. I went to Pusat Asasi Sains UM for matriculation, and obviously, the Univeristy of Malaya for my degree. D'uhhh... Had among the best time of my life there. Am still very close to a few of my friends there, whom I meet practically every week.

15. Have always been (and maybe always will be) among the smallest (not that is not applicabl, sekarang guna term 'petite' je :)) ) in my class during school. So asyik-asyik kena line-up kat depan je> There's no escaping.

So tu je lah!

30BPC-Day Day 22 – A Letter To Someone Who Has Hurt You Recently

2011-08-16T11:00:00.003+08:00

Dear ₳.₥.€ (for personal reason, let it remain a symbol),

It's been about two years since we officially broke up, and I know it's not even 'recent', but having been with you for eight long years, at times it does feel like it was only yesterday when you hurt me.

Just want to let you know that alhamdulillah, I am over you. I am moving on. Although at times thoughts of you pops up especially in melancholic moments, I am thankful that I have the strength to bear the pain and let time healed me.

I wish you had appreciated me more when you had me. Oh well, it's your loss. I will not dwell on the past, and I don't regret the memories we had together. If anything, it makes me stronger, more careful with my heart, and appreciate myself more.

I don't want to write too much, but all I want from you now is.... WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO REPAY THE MONEY YOU OWE ME???? Ingat, hutang jangan dibawa mati, and we can die anytime. I don't halalkan that money, so you'd better make sure you repay that before either of us meets His Almighty. I don't care what problems do you have now that stop you from repaying, I just want my money back. OK?

That's it. I am better off without you. Bye.

30BPC-Day 21 – A Photo of Something That Makes You Happy

2011-08-15T14:26:00.004+08:00

Hi,

Sorry for skipping Friday and the weekend. Well, rules are meant to be broken kan? Hehhee... Tah bila la nak habis challenge ni kalau buat cenggitu??!!

Anyways, don't want to say too much, let's get straight to the point. What makes me happy? So many things actually, but amongst the most paramount ones are these rascals:

I think somewhere at the back pages, these photos have been made available here, tapi saya agak malas nak carik yang baru hari ni, so saya recycle je la ekkss;)..

Nuff said. They make me happy, they sooth me when I'm down, they bring out the maternal instinct in me, and I love them to bits!

On another note, we're midway through the fasting month. Am flying back home tomorrow night after work for the Nuzul holiday, then 10 days after that, it's time to fly again for Raya. Then the long-awaited holiday!

30BPC-Day 20: The Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

2011-08-11T15:35:00.003+08:00

Hola!

So the challenge continues...

To tell the truth, this is not my first blog. This is in fact my third blog. The first one, using this very same platform was started way back when blogging started to be something you want to do online. I did it at the encouragement on THE ex. I guess it was just a place for him to find out what's going on with my life, cause I had just moved back to KL then, and he was still working back home.

Wrote about many things, but I closed it down a couple of years ago. At the same time, I started another secret blog to ramble about my relationship. Ok let's forget that one. That too was deleted around the same time.

Then, a couple of years ago somehow I got the 'seru' to open a new blog, hence this one.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I name this blog the way it is. I guess I just want to chronicle a bit of my life to whoever that reads it without revealing too much.
Perhaps I can laugh about whatever I did, places I went to, friends that I had and the issues that I dealt with when I read this space in years to come. Perhaps it is a journal of my life as a woman in this age. Thus the name.

So that's it!

Ciao!!

30BPC-Day 19: A Picture of Something You Want To Do Before You Die

2011-08-10T11:21:00.003+08:00

Hi all,

I know, I know, I keep apologising for my non-blog-update offences (ada ke orang carik??), but I dunno, that mojo seem to be going astray very very far.

So busy at work, personal issues, busy with other things, travelling, gym-ing - yepps, so many excuses, but I guess, ultimately it all comes down to having that mojo.

I don't like to leave things unfinished, so I shall pick up from where I left off, with one exception (amboi...sesenang buat rules sendiri dalam game/tag ni kan?). I will not continue the post for assignment Day 18. It was already drafted, but I stopped halfway and that's when that mojo slipped off and ran. Many things to complain about the opposite sex actually, but well, I don't have the energy to think about them right now, tengah puasa mahh...

Now, a picture of something I want to do before I die. What could it be? Come to think of it, plenty actually.

But maybe, the ultimate one would be this:

To travel around the world.

Nuff said. Ok see ya later alligator!

*BTW, Selamat Berpuasa to all Muslims! Semoga ibadat di bulan suci ini diberkati:)

Letting My Blogging Mojo Slip Away Again

2011-06-05T07:14:00.002+08:00

Hi,
It's pretty self-explanatory, what I wrote as the title for this post. Thousands and millions of apology for letting that mojo slipped away again, especially right in the middle of my blogging challenge. It totally killed off the momentum.

But in my defense, life, especially at work has been getting far too hectic for me to be able to sit down and blog. Really gotta get a decent time magament skill going.

This will be a short one. But hopefully I'll be getting that mojo back.

Chiao!

30BPC-Day 17: How You Hope Your Future Will Be Like

2011-04-20T22:21:00.003+08:00

Oh gee...

Today's assignment calls for a deep reflection into my most inner thoughts. Seriously, I think it's kinda embarassing cause it might not come true. But again, hope is one of the things that keep us going isn't it?

But let me just get Google to help me with some of the visuls of what I hope my future will be like, OK?:)

Financially, I hope to...

Have lots of money so that I don't have to worry about debts or outstanding payments

Be able to put my eggs into different baskets, i.e have diversified investment portfolios

Personally:

Do I need to explain?

Spiritually:

Going for the memorable path

Oh well..that's all I can think of right now. Insya-Allah all that will come true.
Till tomorrow;)

30BPC-Day 16: Short Term Goals For This Month and Why

2011-04-19T23:02:00.003+08:00

Hii...

It's Tuesday again, and today is especially a day with the date that used to be the one I anticipated. But not anymore, so I won't dwell on it now.

This months' short term goal? Gee...that's a really vague topic. I guess, one of that short term goal is to NOT THINK ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE THAT IS TODAY!..In a way, it has been successful, I don't feel anything much, just a bit of fond remembrance, and a whole lot of thoughts about pending things that he needs to settle with me. I don't feel that stab of pain in my heart anymore, Alhamdulillahh...

Another short term goal for this month is to settle the E-Filing. I know, it's that time of the year all the taxpayers like us dread so much, the month when we start scouring around the house for receipts of stuff that we can claim the rebates on, as well as hounding the bank for statements on housing loan interest, zakat payment and anything to minimise our tax. Getting a refund is a delightful bonus.

But I have yet to settle that:(..Doing it slowly and surely. And hopefully I can settle that before the deadline on the 30th. Cross your fingers for me!

Thanks Google;)

Ok chiao!!

30BPC-Day 15: Something You Don't Leave The House Without

2011-04-18T21:09:00.004+08:00

Hi...

It's the new week, and I didn't go to gym today. But this evening, I received a sad news. My grand-aunt, my Nek Udak, has passed away at her daughter's place not far from my parents' place back home:((..Innalillahh...

She was my late grandfather's younger sister, and since my grandparents died, she was the closest I had for a grandmother. Her own children are also close to my mum and uncle, and they were like siblings actually. In fact, her eldest son is considered my mum's saudara susuan (breasfeeding brother?) because my late grandmother used to breasfeed him when he was a baby as he is just slightly younger than my mum.

Anyway, let's move on to today's assignment shall we?

Here it is the bag that I almost never leave home without.

That's my gigantic Doraemon-bag, aka my Charles & Heith hobo which I bought early this year. Big in size, into which I can put everything I need when I'm on the go. On it are the stuff I always have inside it - my wallet, my sunglasses, and now my GPS, car keys and of course, a compact powder. Actually a few more items, like my mobile phone, are also those I can't leave home without, but they didn't make it in the picture.

But of all those things, I think the ones that is totally indispensable must be my car keys and my wallet.

OK I guess that's it. Till tomorrow yeah..

30BPC-Day 14: A TV Show You're Currently Addicted To

2011-04-17T21:26:00.002+08:00

Hi..

I'm back again!!...It's Sunday, and I've had a very tiring day:).. I did go to PC Fair, and I bought one of the things I wanted to buy, which is a GPS device. So now no reason to be lost again on the road!

OK...I guess this will be another short and straight forward entry.

Hmm...which show am I currently addicted to?

I've said it before and I think this is another appropriate point to say it again. American Idol is my current guilty pleasure;)

Ok that's it! :)

Till tomorrow..

30BPC-Day 13: A Picture of Your Favorite Band or Artiste

2011-04-16T21:00:00.004+08:00

Hi..

I'm back again:)..

Today started off on a very er...wet note. It was a perfect Saturday morning-rainy, cool and the bed beckons with the temptation extremely hard to resist. I had made plans to go to the PC Fair today, but because of the cool day, I could not pick up my lazy %$$ from the house and get to KLCC. There's always tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

OK back to this assignment. Hmmm..favourite band or artiste? Problem is, I've go quite a few! So how? OK tak pedulik! Nak tepek more that 1 jugak!! Hahhaha...

Among them..

U2..The ultimate rock band

Beyonce..the beautiful lady with unbelievable talent

Anuar Zain..The crooner of choice;) *cue long sigh*

The Beatles, the pioneer. Will hopefully be able to trace their history if I go to Liverpool

Well, with the exception of The Beatles (of course), these are the people I wouldn't mind spending money to watch them in concert. Did actually buy the tickets for Beyonce's scheduled concert in KL a couple of years back, but we know what happened kan? *sigh*

Anyway..till tomorrow!

30BPC-Day 12: Your Current Relationship, If Single Discuss How Single Life Is

2011-04-16T00:54:00.002+08:00

Hi..
Such a long title for today's assignment. Oh well, actually not so today anymore. I unexpectedly had a busy night after work. Getting stuck in the jam, going to the gym, meeting up with friends and reached home when it was almost midnight.

This is rather interesting I think, and I don't think this will be a post with any picture. I apologise for that.

I think it's pretty well-established that I am currently single. I talked about it a bit here

You know when people say time heals a broken heart? Well, it is true. I'm doing OK, and now I'm ready to love again. It's just suddenly there's so many to choose from!!Hahahha..

OK..to the second part of the question, how is single life?

For me, I love it generally, but of course, there are times when you crave for someone to always be with you, love you and be there for. But I'm not the type of person who dwells on loneliness like that. I surround myself with positivity. I have friends who I spend my time with, and I have activities to fill up my spare time. And of course, my 8 kids are just so angelic that even when alone at home, being with them makes me feel like I'm most fulfilled.

I savour my singleness and always be thankful that I am able to achieve admirable feats even without the support of a spouse/partner. I bought my own house with my single income instead of a combined loan, I decorated it the way I want it to be, and I live in it and let t be in any state I want.

I can advance my career to any direction I want to go (at least for now lah), and so far, Alhamdulillah everything works out well for me. Tapi bab bayar income tax tu tak berapa best lah! Hehhehe..

I get to go out and spend time on whatever I want without having to ask for permission from my partner. I live my life on my own terms, and I take the challenges in my own stride.

I can be friends with anybody I want, and I can travel at short notice any time I want.

I love and thankful for my single life, and I hope, Insya-Allah, when I meet someone, he will be the person who will not hinder my growth and my spirit, and instead, be my partner in every way. He will be the person who appreciates my intelligence,my sense of humour and my interests, and have all that of his own. Is that a tall order? Well, I certainly hope not.

Ok that's all I guess:)..

30BPC-Day 11: A Picture of Your Favourite Memory

2011-04-14T20:34:00.004+08:00

Hii..

This is a tough one I think. Some memories, for me, are best kept personal. And most of the time, the best memory don't get captured in a photo. How would you know whatever you're doing will be your best memory yet betul tak??

And on occassions where pictures did get captured, they stand equal amongst the other memories that are your favourite. But still, honestly, this is tough. Time with my family is always good, and so is time with friends, colleagues, and even strangers.

But one of them for me, would be this:

My parents, by the Badaling Highway after our visit to the Great Wall of China. It's good to be able to go for this trip with them and fulfilled my Dad's wish of going there. InsyaAllah hopefully there will be more rezeki for us to take them to other places as well. They're keen on going to Turkey, so I guess that's the next in their list.

That's it I guess, one of my favourite memories:)

30BPC-Day 10: A Photo of Your Favourite Place to Eat

2011-04-13T21:14:00.004+08:00

Hellowww!!

Hahh!! This is easy! If there is a place that I like to go for a good meal, it would be this...
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This is Tony Roma's at Sunway Pyramid. But I didn't take the photo, it's Googled. Thanks Googs!

Buttt...Let me emphasise here that I DO NOT EAT HERE LOT. Like I mentioned in this post, occassional treat to yourself bolehla..But I love it here. And what is it that one must have when they dine at Tony Roma's???

My own photo, but recycled hehehe..

THE DIVINE RIBS!!! Oh gosh I'm salivating just thinking about it!!

Ok nuff said. I don't want to end up making plans to go there just because of the sudden craving for them ribs. Ok chiao!! Better stop now. Till tomorrow ya?

*P.S-When I talked to Mum earlier, she reminded me that today is the anniversay of my beloved late grandmother's death. I miss her still, will miss her always. I love you Maknek, and may you rest in peace over there, Al-Fatihah :((

30BPC-Day 9: A Photo of the Item You Last Purchased

2011-04-12T22:42:00.003+08:00

Hi..
This will be a quick one. As usual, on Tuesdays I get home pretty late after gym and hanging out with friends. After this I can't be online for too long cause I need to sleep earlier - need to wake up again at around 3AM to watch the second leg of the United-Chelsea European Champions' League quarter-final. We beat Chelsea last week 1-0 and Stamford Bridge, and so tonight's game at Old Trafford will hopefully be a touch-and-go game, and that we're through to the semis without any hitch.

So anyways, this is the item I last purchased:)

Cat not included!! Hahahhaha..

It's a comforter set and I got this last Friday at the Jusco member's sale during my Friday lone excursion to Jusco Tmn Equinne. Original price: RM900++. The price I got for this last Friday? RM150:))..So happy!!

Actually, I kinda tipu. The last purchase I made was actually a gift for my friend Leo's newborn baby, which I bought today at Alamanda. Tapi tak boleh tunjuk, takut mummy baca post nih!!:)) Sorry la ekkss:))

OK that's it. Till tomorrow!!

30BPC-Day 8: Your Dream Wedding

2011-04-11T18:03:00.003+08:00

Awww shoot!! I'm so dreading this!

Every girl (girl ke aku???) at any point of their life has surely fantasised about their wedding day when they were very very young.

However, it was too long ago a memory that I don't even remember ever fantasising about mine! Honest to goodness! Sumpah!!

Another confession, now I don't harbour such thought anymore. I guess if it happens, it happens. Call me cynical and have given-up on life-long commitment? Maybe in a way I am, but I prefer to think and fantasise about it when I know who I'll share the rest of my life with;)

I'd want it to be a simple and intimate celebration with family and friends, befitting how much I (and my family?) can afford. As to what I'll wear or how I want the pelamain (dais) to look like, sorry, I just don't know:)

As long as it has this:

The Akad Nikah

A shiny rock on my finger;;)

And perhaps...

One of these babies as among the hantarans, I'm good to go ahahhaha...

As for the rest, let me think about it when, and if the time comes, ok?:)) And I pwomise I won't be a bridezilla!:)

Chiao!!

30BPC-Day 7: A photo of An Animal You'd Love to Keep As A Pet.

2011-04-10T18:38:00.005+08:00

Hello hello again!

This is an easy one:).. I'm a mummy of 8 cats, so errmm..Can I just show the photos of my kids?

The photos were taken a few weeks ago when they were busy watching a cicak near the window. While Mimi just stayed put on her throne at the tope of the sofa;)

But...the assignment says what I'd like to have as a pet, right? If I could, and if I was not sort of nervous around dogs, I would love to have a pug ehehehe..

Ugly, but sooo...adorable:))

30BPC-Day 6: A Song to Match Your Mood

2011-04-09T20:42:00.006+08:00

Como es tas?? :)

It's Saturday! Gee...a song to match my current mood? Hmmm...Honestly, can;t think of any. Right now, I'm somewhere between happy and gream with myself. Today, I thought I wanted to do a few errands. Like going to the management office to claim my renovation deposit and then take my car to be serviced. but I had an appointment at 11, and this lady who wanted to sell a relatively good hydro-cleaner came to do a demo. The product is good, but the price is beyond what I can afford. I thought it won't take that long, and that I could still get to the management office when she;s done and before I was suppose to leave. But it went longer than I thought, and then I discovered that my kitchen is flooded with water!! Turned out there's a leak at my pipe, and I had to turn the main kitchen area pipe to stop the water.

But still I wanted to leave the house to get the car serviced. So I called up my cousin adn told her I wanted to go to the mechanic in her area. But then, I was hungry, so I tapau-ed some KFC for us and ended up staying back and played with my nephew instead!! Chishhh!!..Then her hubby came back from work and we went out to the nearby Jusco and shopped! Errkkksss...

So I'm kinda between happy (cause I got some stuff!) and had that 'dohh moment due to whatever that I didn't achieve today.

Aiayayya...sorry ye long ramblings! So what is the suitable song to match the mood ya?

OK...how bout this? American Idol is my guilty pleasure hehhe..and oddly, this season I kinda follow it more religously than previous few seasons. My favourite contestant, Pia was eliminated this week-I'm so bummed.It was obviously a major shocking elimination. I mean, other people like Jacob should be out!!. So I'm selecting her last performance to reflect my mourning her departure. She's a really good singer with a complete package, and hopefully she'll be just as successful as the other unexpectedly-eliminated contestants like Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson. Go Pia!!!

Oh here's another one to signify who I am, not just my mood;)

OK, see ya tomorrow peeps! Hopefully my tomorrow is as productive as I hope;)

30BPC-Day 5: What Makes You Different From Everyone Else?

2011-04-08T20:23:00.007+08:00

Hola hola again!!

I'm back! And it's Friday night, and it was raining earlier. Wish it didn't stop, I hope it rains again later tonight, and preferably, till tomorrow morning..:D

Gee...today's assignment calls for a poyo post lah!!Hahhaha..well, any way you see it, unsur-unsur masuk bakul angkat sendiri is there, so I apologise in advance if any of you feel menyampah baca okeh hahhaha...

Gee..that should be answered by people around me ain't it, instead of your truly?

I guess, one thing that makes me different is that I have a good sense of humour and in lots of occassion, I can make my friends laugh and feel at ease. I can be self-deprecating at times and I don't mind make fun of myself. But that doesn't mean I have low-self esteem. Whatever self-deprecating jokes I make means I'm comfortable enough in them that I can laugh about it and in a way, remind myself to improve on them or not to repeat them and let the mistake goes by. Anyway, I just love to make people laugh.

But at the same time, I have high level of sensitivity towards the suffering of others, especially animals, cause I just love them! When I see cats or dogs being run over on the road, most of the time I'd burst into tears while driving. 2 weekends ago, I watched a documentary on History Channel about the Exxon-Valdez oil spill incident, and when I saw the dead bodies of the marine animals dead and black with the oil spill, I bawled my eyes out because I couldn't stand to see them as victims of human greed...

And obviously, my face and physical appearance is what makes me different from other people. Nuff said;)

Ok that's it. Bye..;)

30BPC-Day 4: Your Favourite Photo of Your Best Friend

2011-04-07T19:53:00.005+08:00

Hello again,

Some assignments of this Challenge are easy, some are not, some I'm looking forward to, and some, just wanna get it over with.

Nope, not gonna ramble too much.

Errmm..I guess when you've reached a certain age, you get to be more selective of your friends. I;m friendly with just about anybody who's friendly with me too, and I don;t think I have a best friend. But good friends? Lots! :)

And that's why choosing a photo for this post is very difficult because I have lots of photos taken with my good friends. I go out with different sets of friends all the time, and I share various interests with them.

So here are some of the photos of me and my friends whom I cherish always. Sorry ye this time I disobeyed the rules:)

There you go:)..Till tomorrow!

30BPC-Day 3: Your Idea of the Perfect First Date

2011-04-06T13:49:00.002+08:00

Hhaaaii..

Err..I kinda dread this one, thus the long greeting.

Hmm...Truthfully speaking, it's been an extremely long time since I last had a first date. Having been in a relationship for a long time and then when we finally separated, going on a 'first date' was a distant memory.

Honestly, I don't know what could be a perfect first date for me. I would say it's all about meeting someone new in a 'dating' element, have a great time getting to know each other, be comfortable with that person, and most importantly, be able to just be yourself. That's the most paramount thing.

Activity-wise, I'd want it to be a very relaxed meeting in a relaxed environment, perhaps over lunch or coffee, perhaps even while doing a shared interest. This person and I would be able to talk about anything and everything, and he would not be trying too hard to impress me. If a man wanted to impress me, he's better impress me with his intelligence. Being a football fan is a plus, and being a Manchester United fan is A++++++. Ooppss...am I accidentally disclosing what I want in a man? Sorry:)

Anyway, I would want to be able to be myself and comfortable around him. I'd goofy around and he could still laugh and not mind my sometimes crazy antics. I would want him to know that I have a good sense of humour and that he can make me laugh too.

Perhaps, towards the end of the date, realistically, I wouldn't want us both to feel the pressure of forging a relationship or to go to any extent physically. I would want to feel like whether he could be the person I could be in a relationship with or not, in the end, I feel comfortable with my decision. Being smitten and knowing that the feeling is mutual would be nice too, I guess.

Like this:

But of course, saying it like this and what really happens could be totally far-off. I don't know what to expect, but I'm ready to love again, and of course to take that plunge and go on that first date again.

So you'll be able to see me like this;)

OK, next assignment please!! *blush*

30BPC-Day 2: Your Favourite Movie

2011-04-05T09:46:00.003+08:00

Heyyaaa..

Gee, this is pretty tricky. When it comes to movies, anything goes. There're times when I have many movies I want to watch and could watch back-to-back, but I could have my movie drought too. A few months ago went for almost half a year without stepping into a cinema hall, as opposed to getting in and out of the halls due to this marathon.

Favourite movie? Hmm...very difficult, I simply can't recall any that I could say favourite, but there are a few that I could watch or not mind watching again and again over the dvd. I have the tendency to buy the dvd of the ones I've watched at the cinema, so I guess maybe those are the contenders for the favourite movie title. But the ultimate favourite? *garu-garu kepala*

Oh gosh sorry sorry I kept yapping and yapping hahaha..banyak cakap plak!

Let's see...apa ekkss? (Topic ni very difficult worr..)

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*Ting!! OK got it!!Hehehhe..
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This is among my top favourite movies ya.

This is a brief description of this movie:
Adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the film portrays the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of being innocent. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis "Red" Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation.

Wikipedia

To read about the plot of this movie, read here

I have the book and like watching the movie, I don't mind reading it over and over again. Despite the modifications made to the movie to suit the screen time, this is among a few movies adapted from fictions that I really like and that stays true to the written story.

So there goes-kawtim Day 2 of the Challenge, 28 more days to go. Yeayyy me!!

Till tomorrow yes?

30BPC-Day 1: Your Favourite Song

2011-04-04T20:55:00.006+08:00

Hola.
So here goes. This is it, Day 1 of my blogging challenge:)

This is easy, though in actuality, not so much. I listen to the music a lot, and of course, 'favourite song' changes from time to time.

But my current favourite I would have to say would be this- no surprise I suppose, but I can't help it:)

No special reason why I love this song. It's simply because I'm a fan of his. It's the theme song of the movie 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa', and I went to watch it the day it was released almost a month ago.

So that's it, my current favourite song. Could make it into my list of all-time favourite song.

Hmm...this challenge is not so bad ehh? Ok..see ya tomorrow!

The 30 Days Blog Post Challenge

2011-04-03T22:12:00.004+08:00

Heyy...

Told ya I'm gonna make up for the long silence didn't I?:)

So what I'm gonna do is take up this challenge and do one post a day which at the same time can reveal a bit more about myself to the readers according to that daily challenge. Won't be easy I reckon, but I'll do it.

This is the full list of what I need to blog:

Day 1 — Your favorite song
Day 2 — Your favorite movie
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – What makes you different from everyone else?
Day 6 – A song to match your mood.
Day 7 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.
Day 8 – Your dream wedding.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – A picture of your favorite memory
Day 12 – Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is.
Day 13 – A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 – A TV show you're currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don't leave the house without.
Day 16 – Short term goals for this month and why
Day 17 – How you hope your future will be like.
Day 18 – 5 things that irritate ME about opposite/same sex
Day 19 – A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – Who are you?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you want to go.
Day 27 – What kind of person attracts you?
Day 28 – In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

I'll start tomorrow, so..bring it on!!!

Grand Plan

2011-04-02T19:32:00.003+08:00

Hi,

Really. Thousand and millions of apology for the extremely long silence. My cooking and baking mojo is back, but not the blogging mojo. I'm not sure where she's gone to, so I'm dsperately trying very hard to get something decent written.

Maybe I should challenge myself ya, blogging-wise. Anyways, lots of stories and happenings this past few months, and they're at the back of my head, so cross fingers, I hope to have time to put them into words here.

Yes I know, it's April already (can't believe how fast time flies!!) but here I am still talking about a plan.

If last year the grand plan was all about setting up my own nest, this year it will be all about expanding my wings! To to show a few, let the pictures do the talking ya;) All pictures are Googled:)

Ok enough:) Don't wanna say much. But if you've popped by here to my blog and read my twitter feed ( I tweet all the time!) then you'd have guessed.

Insya-Allah, right now still planning and gathering information. But really looking forward to it.

See ya soon!:)

2010-A Year In Review

2011-01-10T13:10:00.013+08:00

Haii..

I was supposed to post this entry on 31 December 2010. But due to time constraint and the never-ending things to do, I didn;t manage to finish it on time.

So how has the new year been to you? For me it's work, home, friends and all things as usual, except that then end digit to the year now happens to be 1.

I remember at this time of the year last year, when we were at the beginning of 2010 feeling all kinds of things, especially when thinking that I would be moving to my own place. Fear, mostly, and worries. That's cause I was worried about how I was going to make the new place a home, where I would find money to move, what I needed to move and things like that. But towards the end of the year, I was also busy attending social gatherings and outings and lots of makan-makan events with friends.

Anyways, let's just do some review of what 2010 has been for me ya!

January
Started off the year just like any other new year. Rested nicely. I would say that January was pretty uneventful for me, as we were just turning into the new year, so it's been all about making plans for the year and adjusting to the new digits to the year.

February
February was the month when everything picked up for me. We celebrated Chinese New Year, and during this time, my parents came for a two-week stay. My cousin was here too as she had a work trip which she then extended to spend time with us.

We took the opportunity to drive up to the East Coast, and we went to Kota Bharu for about two nights. Once my cousin left, we also went to Port Dickson for a day trip and a picnic with my recently-married cousin.

That's just Mum and Dad posing near the fancy briodge in front of PICC

Picnic at Port Dickson

Our road trip-me camwhoring! Sorry gambar bercelaru tak ikut order!!Hahaha..

Then, my friend Carol got married and I was there to witness her big day. She's now settled in Adelaide, Australia, and I'm trying to find time (and money) to fly there and visit her some there.

During Carol's reception at Sunway Hotel and Resort.

March
March was another uneventful month I reckon, except that this was the month that I seriously gave a thought on switching my job. Alhamdulillah, as soon as my parents flew back to Kuching, calls started coming in to invite me for interviews. Among them was from an oil and gas conglomerate, as well as a government statutory body.

At at the same time, at the work place, I enjoyed my work as I had a wonderful boss and collegaues who werer really understanding and appreciate my contribution to the team.

April
April was a melancholic month for me, mostly because it was 'his' birthday month. And yes, I guess it was around this time that we made our break up more definite.

I also got a new job offer in April, so end of April I tendered my resignation. Four years at that private university was among the best in my career. I learned a lot, made many friends, matured a lot and grew financially, intellectually and in so many other ways.

It was while here that I decided also to buy my own apartment as I was confident enough that I was financially able to do so.

In April, my friend Carol moved to Australia. But before that, she asked me to come over to her place to give her one last cooking lesson. The story is here

May
May was the last month at my old place. As I was preparing to leave, I also prepped myself up for the new place-nervously anticipating how it would be like, prayed that things would go smoothly and that I would have a good time at the new place.

During this month, due to serving my resignation notice, I had to forgo my planned trip to mabul and Sipadan. Oh well, what to do?

June
It was 'the' month that I finally made a professional transition. Before that I was in education line, now I am in the communication and multimedia line. Before that it was the private sector, but now I am in the government sector, albeit a statutory one. Work-wise, it is still pretty much a corporate environment. I still have my pay deducted for EPF, Socso and tax.

But when it comes to transportation and travel, my oh my..the expenses took quite a lot from my pocket. As I was still living in Damansara, I had to travel around 45km and paid two tolls one way. Expenditure for fuel doubled. Before that, a full tank could take me two weeks before I had to refill my tank, but now, it took only on average one week. Then, multiply the daily expenses and really, i would easily spend about RM300-RM350 just for travelling to work and paying the tolls.

It was hard to adjust at first. The long travel also took a toll on my car, and as a result, I had to get it serviced at shorter interval.

July
Things start picking up at work, and I was getting busier. It was towards the end of this month that I received the notice of vacant possession from the developer. Happy siot! Finally! My home was ready to be occupied.

Last summer was a footy-mad month for me, as it was the World Cup season. Started in June, and culminated in July. Bad football withdrawal jugak after that, so was counting the day till the new season started again.

Then, due to the heavy daily travel, my car broke down in the middle of peak evening hours when I was descending from the Cable Bridge at LDP!! Oh my godd!! Memang teruji betul kesabaran time tu! Kalut sangat-sangat as thins kind of thing never happened to me before. But thank god it taught me to take better care of my car.

It was during July also that I rescued another kitten. Tried to adopt it out, but nobody seemed interested. So now I ended up with 8 kids:).

This was this lil kiddo when I first found him

And this is a much bigger Adik when he's busy suckling on his big brother's chest like a baby:)..(Sorry gambar dia takde plak, lots of it in my camera, and I don't have it with me right now)

August

Pretty much occupied with fasting. It was also a historic one as I collected my house keys during this month. Then I started looking for ideas on house deco-buying magazines la, and scouring the websites for inspiration.

Towards end of August, right in the middle of August, our family welcomed a new addition. My cousin gave birth to her baby boy and I got myself a new nephew!! Yippeee...!

Work-wise, things were as hectic as ever.

September
What is there to remember about September ya? Hmm..it was Hari Raya month, lots of celebration, family gathering, meeting friends and of course, food!:)

It was also my birthday month. I attended my school friend, Marlene's wedding reception on the eve of my birthday, and after the reception, we proceeded to another ermm..'private karaoke party' for my birthday:)..It was great, and glad to be able to spend time with friends.

Some photos from the wedding reception and the karok party;)

So glad to share the table with my school friends and the bride's trainers heheh..And here of course, with the bride and groom.

We were so gila-gila that we even took the flowers after the reception;)..And we're all from the same school:)

At the karaoke reception while waiting for our room to be available. We sang the night away from midnight till about..3AM? Tiring, but we had fun.

October
What happened in October ya?? Seriously can't remember much, except the fact that the house preoccupied most of my thoughts. I know that during this month, I was busy engaging contractor to do some things at the house, as well as choosing wallpaper and paint colours and getting my thoughts together on what kind of house can be my home, one that suits me personality as well as my budget.

It was also the time when I finalised and approved designs, and started to scout for the little things that would be featured in the house. I decided that furnitures could wait, so I was not exactly in a rush to get new ones as I prefer to use the existing ones that I have. I found a place that could reupholstered my L-shape sofa, for a fraction of a new one.

At the same time I also started packing up my stuff at home, delegaing between the impotant ones as well as getting rid of the ones I don't want. But the packing was going slow at that time as I gave myself the deadline to be end of November. Memang niat nak pindah to coincide with Ma'al Hijrah. Ye lah, like I write earlier, nak ambik berkat hijrah kan:)

November
So the works started in November. By then I was making more frequent trips to my new place during weekends. At the same time I was also busy doing lots of surveying. Foremost on my mind at that time was the lighting needs of the house:)..I was not worried about things like kitchen cabinet and airconds as they come with the house. Alhamdulillah.

So little by little I saw my house becoming the vision of what my nest would be like. I started packing up more aggresively as well. My family agreed to come and help me settle down. So I gave myself the December move-in target as I don't want to trouble them too much. They could just help me unpack instead of packing and unpacking.

Anyway, I gave a notice to my landlord about my impending move, settled the bills at that point and started searching for movers and packed more and more stuff. My kids noticed the changes, so I hoped in a way they understand what was going on. And of course, being around boxes make them very happy! Like this:

December

So December finally came. My family arrived on the last day of November, and I brought them straight to the new place. I got the movers to move the rest of my stuff the day before-a tiring and stresful day indeed. Sadly, had to leave my kids behind as I didn't want to stress them out during the move, and add that to the anxiety of having lots of people around as they're not used to being with many humans at a time.

We spent the first night at the new place with boxes scaterring around and my friend's hubby and his worker doing some final touches to the wallpapering and changing the bidet in both the toilets.

Unfortunately, despite being on leave on that 1st and 2nd day of the month, I had alot of driving to do. To make matters worse, I got my period, and naturally, the pain that comes with it as well as horrible fever and cough. It actually started a couple of days before that, probably due to the dust that I was exposed to whilst cleaning up the house. I almost lost my voice, and I squeaked when I spoke.

On the first day I was due back at work, I felt the lousiest. Remnants of the stomach discomfort persisted, and on that day I totally lost my voice. Couldn't stand the lousiness, I went to see the doctor during lunch time. He performed all sorts of checking, drew my blood for a test, and actually had to take three readings of my blood pressure. Oh well, it was a stressful period indeed, as my BP was at an unhealthy level!

So he immediately ordered total rest for the rest of the day, as well as on the next day. Went home and tried as much as I can to maybe get some more sleep, but as I had lots of people around, resting was impossible.

Anyway I recovered a few days after and could finally enjoy having my family around. Only after they flew back to Kuching did I bring my kids back to the new home.

It was really a covert mission, done at night with the assistance of my friend, Kartini. Thanks Tini! Once at the new home, they were at first wary, except of course, for Mimi who, as long as she can see me, would feel very much at home anywhere I am. Alhamdulillah, by the next day they started smelling and sniffing the nooks and corners of the house and registered the fact that they now have a new home.

Some of the stuff in the box are yet to be unpacked. I'm just taking my time.

And now that the new year has descended, new hopes, aspirations, wishes, and plans are being executed and put into place.

So that's it folk, my uber-long entry. Sorry for that, but well, after all, it;s the year in review isn't it?

Till the next time, cheers!

Life's Been Pretty Hectic

2010-12-23T10:31:00.004+08:00

I'm taking a break from work right now, but after this will need to resume.

Must admit that yes, this new place is much much busier than the old place. I should've been confirmed by now, but my new Boss, as usual, does not seem to take any urgency into this yet. Oh well, sooner or later it will happen, InsyaAllah...
(Any other things I have in mind of her shall be in my own confidence, takut kantoi kang, bahaya kan..?)

Anyways, as it is towards the end of the year, that perpetual Year-End-Blues is setting in. The laziness towards work is stronger, but because of the many tasks to fulfill, have to suck it all up and muster the strength and the mental will to do them. If I had my way, I'll just spend the day surfing the net, catch up on my blog-hoppings, FB-ing and many other more interesting things but work. I guess it's the same sentiment with anybody else.

And oh yeah..of doing the year-end reflections. Flashes of memory of what 2010 has been to me keep popping up now and then, but I guess right now I can't afford the time to recount them. Perhaps in another entry when I'm relaxed at home.

Yes, 2010 has been an indeed eventful year for me. The biggest would of course, be finally moving in my own place. That is really something huh? And to think that I did all that all alone, without sharing the responsibility with a MAN, and without my relying on my family pitching in, money-wise, is something that I'm proud of. Of course, the family helped in other matters, especially when I'm moving in, but that doesn't count. So I guess, yes, I do have valid reasons to be proud of myself:)

This is just a rambling to take the steam off the work, so hope I can make a new entry very very soon. Promise!

Till then...

Mi Casa-Sneak Peek

2010-11-24T12:57:00.008+08:00

Ok..

So this is what I've been busy for this past few weeks. Practically every weekend keluar rumah the whole day, driving here and there. Not to mention attending to family matters la:)

The pictures shown here are just to share sikit-sikit my new palace. Insya-Allah, next week dah nak pindah dah. Sekarang pun tengah buat final touches on the works. Ada lagi benda nak buat, but cross fingers everything is done by this weekend.

Just nak bagitau awal-awal, my rumah ni sederhana je, but it's a vision of my dream home. I take utmost consideration my lifestyle and the fact that I live with my kids, so kalau nak letak benda-benda macam pasu ke, decorative items like small trinkets ke, jangan harap la yer...Hehehehe...I want my place to be spacey so that the kids can run around. I haven't even decided if I want a coffee table pun. Tu kemudian hari la. Buat sikit-sikit bak kata orang.

Ooppss..banyak celoteh plak. OK..so I'll do this in a rather before-and-after sequence la ya..:)

My distended living room windows before.

And after I got a storage bench built there. Memang tak pasang cushion pun cause I can't decide on what material it should be of. Sebabnya, kalau guna fabric, takut anak-anak seronok kencingkan hahahaha...But I did buy some flat cushions which can be used as lapik kat situ. I envision sitting there petang-petang baca buku, or even of my Dad sitting there to read his papers. I got the windows tinted and installed with Invisible Grille as well. Then untuk lampu kat situ I chose the lampu berjuntai tu. Modern and simple. I love the crystal err..stick there hahahha. And as you can see, my coulouring concept is a combination of green and cream.

By the way, this is the view outside my window!!Hahahahaha..Duk berjiran dengan lembu dan kerbau tau!. For some people, the sight of those roaming cows and bulls might annoy them but not for me. I just love watching them graze on the grassfield outside our fences. And of course, there's that lake over there. Petang-petang, or time weekend, we can see people fishing and playing with the jetski kat tasik tu. Precious! I loike!

This is my kitchen-before. Still green. Mintak-mintak sejuk mata memandang ya!:)

And my kitchen partition after the installation of the sliding door. Sorry it's still messy in there. You can also see that I've installed the ventilation fan:)

And those three are of the rooms in the house! Motip banyak-banyak kaler kan?Hahahha... Anyway the first one with the top of a wardrobe is in the master bedroom. Saje je tunjuk siling, sebab syiok tengok lampu putih tu!:)..Lampu tu pun murah je. I got a good bargain (kot) as they cost me only RM29 each. OK la kan? In fact semua benda yang dibeli untuk letak kat rumah ni, most of them are of bargain price. That's why tak duk diam kat rumah time weekend, sebab pegi bargain-hunting and survey barang-barang tau!!

And finally, ni pulak lampu kat hallway. Suka kat lampu ni:)..harga pun OK la sederhana.

Ni je kot nak tunjuk sneak peek of my new casa. Even more excited as my family will be coming as well to help me settle down in this new place, and InsyaAllah, I will get my Dad to azankan rumah ni. Ye lah nak ambik berkat restu mak bapak kan? Ni kira hijrah jugak la;)

Apa-apa pun do pray that this house, along with other good things bring in more rezeki to me. Till the next time ya;)

So Very Busy

2010-11-18T10:26:00.006+08:00

Hello,

My apologies again for being errant in updating this space of mine. Truth it, the office life is getting more hectic. Never mind, this is what I signed for when I accepted the offer at this new place. I have to keep up with the pace, and I still consider this, 5++ months down the road, still a learning period.

Busier still is my weekends. I barely have a restful one nowadays. My kids rarely see me staying put at home both on Saturdays and Sundays as I'm always out. but Mummy's doing it for our new palace la sayang;).

And yes, my Saturdays and Sundays are filled with activities related to the house. Just a quick update:

1. My tentative date of moving will be end of this month. Tentative is the operative word here.

2. I'm getting some works done to the house. Among them:
a. A new partition between the kitchen and the dining area. I'm installing a
sliding door as I want a limited access to the kitchen, especially from my
furkids.

b. Installing glass panel throughout my stove area all the way to the front of
the kitchen sink. Hope it turns out ok. By the way these things are being
installed as we speak.

c. Instead of installing another sliding door/window to the backyard, I'm
settling for an outdoor wooden blind. I reckon this will bring more air and
still keeping my privacy;)

d. A sky-high shoe cabinet!! Hehehe..just exaggerating! But nice to have that
space to store my shoes, in case I decided to buy even more shoes in the
future!

e. An 8-feet wardrobe in the master bedroom, with full mirror and an extra table.
Self-explanatory methink.

f. A storage bench along my distended living room windows. I'm especially
excited about that, cause that means I will be able to relax and read my
books whilst enjoying the lake view ouside that window:)

g. A TV panel from IKEA. But I'm kinda bummed that they cannot instantly send
it to my place as when I went there last Sunday, a few items ran out of
stock, so they have to wait for it to arrive before sending their contractor
to install it at my place. I have a definite design that I want, which
explains why I didn't bother looking at other places. Hmm...come to think of
it, maybe I should, huh?

h. I'm getting the walls repainted, and the feature wall be wall-papered. My
friend Nora and her husband are doing it for me as they're having their own
wall-paper/home deco business. She's also my de-factor project manager
actually. I'll definitely show you how things turn out, and if you like what
you see, and want to do the same thing to your house, don't hesitate to ask
for her phone number from me ya!

Some other things I haven't really decided yet, like where do I want to place my dining table. That is among my biggest dilemmas right now. Not to mention that if I were to put a pendant/hanging light near the entrance, it won't be proportionate to the supposed placement of the dining set. Oh well, that can wait I think.

I'm also not very sure about acquiring a coffee table. I'm excited about my brand new sofa though:)..In actuality, I got my existing sofa re-upholstered. It's really a big relief to be able to save up on more than RM2k to get a new sofa. That's because all this while I've been asking around, especially furniture stores where most of them would shrug me off and said I might as well get a new one instead of getting it re-dressed.

Then I found an ad for this service, and the price they charge took me really by surprise. Alhamdulillah, dapat jimat banyak you!

Then, my parents, my eldest sister, my aunt, my cousin and my niece will be coming over on this 30th supposedly to help me with my move. But I guess I don't want to trouble them too much and instead get everything settled before they come over so that they can just help me settle in la. So excited, and will definitely baca doa, azankan and buat doa selamat sikit-sikit before we actually sleep in the new place.

That's all for now. That explains my kemalasan to update this blog, eh? Sorry no pictures in this entry as well, maybe next time. Till then, later ya!

I Lost My Blogging and Cooking Mojos

2010-10-25T14:58:00.003+08:00

Sorry for having gone AWOL for the past month and almost half. I know I've been playing truant for not updating my blog, but I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. And my cooking mojo too...

Dah berapa banyak jampi I baca, but kemalasan berblog mengatasi segala. So hari ni kupanggil mentera semerah padi, so datang la ia menjelmakan diri...Wahh...Hebat kan Mizz Ray bermadah??Hahhahah....(Bukan madah berhelah yer...)

Anyway, many things have come and gone in the period that I haven't been updating this space. Raya came and gone, and I'm getting busier by the day at the office. Some weekends were spent free and easy, and some were full with outings and activities with family and friends. I guess this is the right time to finally sit down and write something here, looking as though I'm less stressed by work right now. Baru balik dari berperang you...berperang kat ofis la, finishing up projects with deadline, spending lotsa of extra hours in the office and even staying back on Friday evenings instead of having nice relaxing dinners with friends.

I'm also excited about finally putting into gear on turning my new place into a home. I've been scouring home deco magazines for months, been going to Homedec and what-not kind of fairs held this past few weeks, acquiring quotations for possible things to be done at my apartment, and not to mention going in and out of various shops and visualising how each item would look like in my new place.

I'm not really sure if I will chronicle that journey here, but Insya-Allah I will try to. Hope that won't be misconstrued as menunjuk-nunjuk or being poyo, or whatever, but hopefully it'll be a good sharing session.

I've also lost my cooking mojo. Dah lama tak whip up something grand in the kitchen. but I guess that's understandable, because sekarang mood rasa nak cepat-cepat pindah rumah baru je hehhehe...

I've also started packing up my stuff into some boxes, especially the ones I know I don't need anytime soon. But always, they end up at the mercy of my kids! Pantang budak-budak ni jumpa kotak, mesti nak masuk and main! And pantang jumpa kotak, mesti nak cakar!! Bising jugak mulut Mummy halau diorang, but I do indulge them with their boxes fetish once in a while. I only hope they won't be stressed out by the shift of home nanti. I will also train them to adopt some new toilet habits, so hopefully I succeed! I also hope to place them once in a while in a big cage, especially when my family is around, so that is another thing to look into.

I plan to get moving and settled into the new place come December, since it will coincide with Ma'al Hijrah. When better time to start a new life at a new place than during the new year kan? And hopefully we can get the keberkatan Hijrah tu sekali, insyaAllah:)

So that's my ramble for the time being. Nanti kalau dah dapat recover my blogging mojo tu 100%, I will surely put in more pictures and more stories, but at least for now, I'll just day, HELLO AGAIN!!:)

Back From Kuching and Still in Raya Mood

2010-09-16T13:03:00.004+08:00

Hi..

I'm kinda..depressed right now. I just returned from Kuching last night, but my heart is still very much at home.

It surely felt like the time back home was too short, but at the same time, I'm glad to be back here.

This will be a short one. Just let me get my blogging groove back, will ya?

In the meantime..

Still in the celebratory mood, so...Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin again!

Mood Nak Raya dan Tag Dari Qies

2010-09-04T20:28:00.004+08:00

Hai..

For some reason, minggu lepas mood nak update blog nan hado! Banyak gak cerita, but the situation at the office was pretty hectic. Sibuk nak habiskan kerja before everyone is off for the Raya holiday.

Speaking of which, I CAN'T WAIT TO FLY HOME!!!

(Thanks Googs)

Hehehe..syiok le tu! Anyway I'll be flying back to Kuching on 8 September 2010, catching the 11.40AM flight departing from KLIA. So kot sesapa kenal ke, jangan le malu-malu nak tegur!!Hahahha...(Ada ke yang baca blog ni?). I'll be home for only a week, and fly back to KL on Wednesday 15 September, which gave me ample time on the 16th to rest and prehaps, beraya kat KL pulak. Memang niat di hati nak beli return ticket on 16,but since I bought my ticket pretty late (last month baru beli!) so harga pun dah mahal!

So right now, preparation for Raya is pretty much done. Baju baru dah beli, biskut dah beli (semua main tunjuk-tunjuk je. Nak gak buat sendiri, tapi since balik 2 hari before Raya, rasanya tak sempat), kasut je belum. Err...nak kena beli jugak ke kasut baru? We'll see. Otherwise kalau tak sempat, I have lots of other shoes boleh pakai:)

OK next story, last week I was occupied, or rather,my family was pretty occupied with the arrival of our new bundle of joy. My preggy cousin gave birth to a baby boy on 23 August. Oh he's so adorable! And his name is Addin Riffqi. So I've been visiting them almost everyday as I also transported my aunt, and later my uncle from the airport, taking them for Raya shopping and such.

Riffqi, 2 hours after delivery via C-sec

He made his appearance way earlier than the EDD actually, but at least that enabled his parents to take him home to Kuching just in time for Raya. Smart boy!:)

On the other hand, ye lah yelah Qies aku jawab tag ko ni!! Hehheh...Terima kasih sebab kasik award kat aku okeh! Tapi sambil dapat award kena jawab soklan plak tu. Ishh...

Thank you Mem Swiss. Ko jangan lupa hadiah aku ko nak balik Raya ni tau! Hikkss...

1. Apakah yang bermain di minda anda sekarang?

Errmm...seriously? Right now just pikir nak habiskan entry ni, so that lepas tu nak mandi:). But generally, I'm thinking about nak kena packing barang nak bawak balik kampung Rabu ni hehehhe..

2. Apakah nama samaran anda?

Nama samaran? Err..sama ke dengan nama panggilan? Ok kalau samaran, kat forum I'm known as Mizz..., kat blog plak my alter-ego is Ray, but in real life usually people call me by the first syllable of my name, Sue. Apasal banyak sangat nama? Hmm..Ntahla, tak tau;)

3. Siapakah 3 orang yang paling kamu sayang?

Aiks 3 je?? Mana cukup! Parents, family, friends. Nahh!!..3 kategori okehh!!

4. Panggilan untuk si dia?

Hmm..not applicable la. But when we were still together, I called him 'Deng' ('Sayang' in general Bahasa Melayu Sarawak), or Sayang or Baby. Anybody would like to be my next 'Deng'? Hehheh..

5. Hadiah yang anda impikan daripada seseorang yang istimewa?

Nope I have no idea. Not applicable too? But if it were to be from anybody, could you guys nominate my apartment for a makeover macam dalam Casa Impian tu? Nanti I'll act surprise la...;;)

6. Blog mana yang anda selalu lawat?

Yang masuk list kat sebelah kanan tu---------------------->>>> Kalau nak masuk list tu jugak, sudi-sudikan tinggalkan request or shoutout yer;)

7. TAG kan kepada 15 blogger?

Aiyakk..ni yang den malas nih!! Errr...boleh tak just bagi general award ni kat sesapa yang sudi? Dipersilakan la terima awrd ni and pass it along ya!

OK mek, aku dah buat assignment ko tu! Hamboi-hamboi ko promo abang baju merah aku kat orang lain yer??? Hahhahahah..Takpe, dah dia nak yang berhijab je, rasanya aku pun kena tendang keluar la ekkss;)

Ok peeps, that's all for now. This is my cacamerba entry for today. Perhaps the next time you hear from me I'd be in Kuching already. But whatever it is..

Selamat Hari Raya to everyone, Maaf Zahir dan Batin! As we bid adeau to Ramadhan, let's welcome Syawal by extending our thankkfulness and syukur to Allah for giving us the opportunity to serve him more during Ramadhan and for the celebration that is Syawal. Let us all forge closer silaturrahim to our brothers and sisters, forgive each other and seek forgiveness, remember the ones who are gone and offer them our prayers and zakat and rememberance for their afterlife.

Salam Eid Mubarak!

(from Google, thanks!)

Project Kitchen: Bubur Pedas

2010-08-24T13:23:00.009+08:00

Hi all...

Nampak gaya bila puasa ni memang rajin gak ke dapur;). Boleh tahan, dua entry berturut-turut cerita pasal masakan untuk berbuka.

OK here's another common recipe among us Sarawakian folks semasa bulan Ramadhan-bubur pedas. Nama je pedas, tapi jangan risau, usually memang tak pedas pun:)

The thing is, this dish is very flexible in terms of the items you want to put in it. The most common ones would be baby corn, tauhu kering, sayur midin (which unfortunately takde kat Semenanjung ni:((..), different sorts of vegetable of yoru choice, and udang. But kalau takde udang, kita still boleh ganti dengan ayam, daging or even kulit lembu yang dah di keringkan. In fact, kalau masukkan kulit tu memang kira oommphh jugak la bubur pedas ni:)

Just like laksa Sarawak, nak buat bubur pedas kena ada perencahnya. We call it bumbu bubur pedas. Sorry masa nak masak hari tu lupa plak nak ambik gambar perencah tu sebelum masuk dalam periuk, but basically this is how it looks like:

(Timakaseh Mr. Google;)..)The photo is actually found in this blog
Anyway, yang ni paket untuk bumbu yang dikomersialkan. Kalau nak tau, bahan-bahan nya adalah beras, lengkuas, kunyit, kelapa parut and ketumbar. All these ingredients akan digoreng tanpa minyak sehingga kuning keemasan, dah tu dikisar.

So ni plak bubur pedas Chef Ray;)
Bahan-bahan:

Tauhu kering and dried mushroom. Rendam dalam air panas kejap sampai dua-dua bahan ni lembut, dah tu potong.

Baby corn. Hari tu guna dalam 10-12 batang

Bawang merah, bawang putih, dan belacan sebesar ibu jari. Also, cili boh atau cili kisar.

Isi ayam, potong kecik-kecik, and 3 helai besar daun kunyit. Kalau nak lagi banyak boleh gak, lagi sedap bau bubur pedas:)

3 paket bumbu bubur pedas, dicampur dengan air panas, dan 2 paket santan. Kalau guna santan fresh pun lagi elok.

Mula-mula tumiskan bawang putih and bawang merah sampai naik bau.

Bila bawang dah naik bau, masukkan pulak cili boh and belacan. Actually kalau nak tumbuk dulu belacan tu dengan cili pun ok gak:)

Bila bahan-bahan tumis tadi dah naik bau and pecah minyak, masukkan pulak bumbu bubur pedas tadi. Gaul rata, make sure api tak besar sangat sebab takut nanti berkerak pulak kat bahagian bawah periuk.

Bila dah pecah minyak, masukkan pulak baby corn..

And tauhu and mushroom. Stir well.

Then masukkan pulak santan. Kalau rasanya pekat sangat, tambah lagi air.

Let everything simmer slowly for between 5-10 minutes. Make sure api sederhana je, and at the same time, you can add in garam, gula, pepper secukup rasa.

Then, finally masukkan daun kunyit tadi ke dalam bubur. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes before you can turn off the fire.

My bubur pedas ready to serve. Bubur ni actually sejenis lauk. Tapi the best thing is, if you want to eat it on its own pun ok jugak, or even kalau rasa nak cicah dengan roti ke, it's really flexible:)

Alhamdulillah, kawan-kawan yang datang berbuka kat rumah hari tu semuanya suka. Memang sengaja masak banyak so that diorang boleh bawak balik untuk jadi juadah sahur. Seronok kan share makanan yang kita masak dengan orang lain?;)

Tu je dari dapur Chef Ray buat kali ini...hehehhe...

Project Kitchen: Roti Kukus

2010-08-20T08:27:00.011+08:00

Hai, kita kembali ke dapur Chef Rayyyy.....(buat style sengau ala-ala Chef wan boleh??) hahahhaa....

Ok when it comes to Ramadhan dishes, some families may have their own recipe that makes their iftar extra special. For my family, that recipe would be roti kukus ni. It's simple, flexible and easy to prepare. Katakan kat rumah ada roti yang dah nak expire, resipi ni is just perfect to do supaya kita ni tak membazir. Nak kata it's a type of pudding pun ok jugak. Hari tu I prepared this and got it ready within half an hour je, provided, of course, all the ingredients are available la kan? But then again, bukannya banyak pun, dah namanya benda simple nak buat;)

My family memang selalu buat dessert ni sebagai pembuka selera untuk berbuka. Essentially, you can use bread. Tapi if you prefer a firmer texture, best jugak kalau pakai crackers masin yang bulat tu. Tapi kalau nak pakai crackers, you need to soak it in water for a while before you can actually steam it.

Telur 3 bijik, beat it with around 3-4 spoonful of sugar. The other day, I ran out of regular sugar, so I used my brown sugar. Tu yang gelap tu hehehe..(seperti biasa la kan, keja improvise resipe je memanjang)

At the same time, carik-carikkan roti ke dalam loyang. Tak kisahla pakai besar mana pun, semua ikut berapa banyak masing-masing nak buat. But make sure don't fill it to the brim, sebab the bread will definitely be soaked and absorb the liquid nanti. Kalau guna crackers masin, you can drain the water used to soak them and transfer the crackers tu ke dalam loyang. In the meantime, get your steamer ready and boil the water in it;)

In another bowl/cup, mix a packet of instant santan. Kalau prefer santan fresh, boleh guna santan sebijik kelapa untuk amount yang banyak, or half for smaller amount. Santan kena ada tau, tapi kalau rasanya nak tambah jugak susu fresh pun boleh. But no matter what, santan kena ada hehehe..

Mix in the santan into the egg/sugar combo, whisk some more. Kalau boleh tambah lagi air or that's when the milk comes into play. Make sure banyak liquid tau!

Macam rupa kopi susu plak! Hahhaha..

Pour mixture tadi tu into the bread-filled mould.

Ni la rupa roti tadi ready to be steamed. Dont worry about it being flooded. In fact, the more the better. Tengok la kalau suka lembik-lembik sebab kalau keras sangat pun tak best sangat actually;). Dah tu kukus for about 20 minutes.

Ni la roti kukus yang dah ready nak kena ngap!:)..Sorry, presentation out, tapi rasa memang vavavoom!!<--Aikss?? Masak sendiri puji sendiri ke? Ishh!!

It's OK, you don't need to cut it into shape ke whatever, you can just scoop out the bread with spoon/spatula. Kalau nak makan panas-panas boleh, nak makan sejuk-sejuk lepas masuk dalam fridge pun boleh:)

Bon appetit!

Collecting the Keys and Berbuka at Rebung

2010-08-18T07:51:00.010+08:00

Heyaa..

Ni cerita basi sikit. Err..Basi ke? Ye lah, this happened last Saturday.

Like I wrote on Friday, I would be collecting my new house keys on Saturday. So on that hot Saturday afternoon, I arrived at Desa Idaman at close to 2PM, sebab appointment pukul 2PM mahh..

Lepas jumpa orang kat management office, they gave me a few items in these bags:

Gambar ni ambik time dah kat rumah yer...:). Anyway inside the woven bag contained the burner covers for my stove, together with the user manual and warranty card for both my hob and hood. Dah tu inside the smaller black net bag pulak are 3 sets of keys for every doors at my house and the mailbox, the 3 remote control for my air-conds, car sticker, and access card. Then there's the black folder containing the forms that I need to sign, acknowledgement of receipt, house rules etc, etc..

Lepas briefing and sign tu sign ni, off we went to inspect the house. Yang tak bestnya, my parking lot ni kira jauh gak dari rumah. Dahla nak kena menapak naik tangga sampai tingkat 4, before that kena jalan jauh la plak dari parking!:((

From my parking ke my block. My block nun paling jauh!

Main entrance:) (Tu pun mau tunjuk kaa...?:D)

The living room. Aiyak...dekat plak dengan blok kat depan. Takleh nak notty-notty dalam rumah. Kena tint my windows:D..Jangan tertipu, tu rep from the developer's office yang buat joint inspection and cross the checklist.

My kitchen:)..Simple je;)

A closer look of the view outside my living room window. But if you look the other side, you'll have a nicer view of the tasik:) Lupa plak nak amik gambar.

Ni master bathroom. Macam toilet kat hotel tak? Hehehhe..

Lepas orang tu keluar, kitorang buatla inspection sikit-sikit. Pada mata kasar, Alhamdulillah takde major defect pun. Tak boleh lama kat rumah ni since I had my friend Nina and my preggy cousin and her hubby along. Panas-panas time tu so my cousin pun tak larat. So tak lama lepas tu kitorang balik la..

Later that evening, I had an invitation from my friend Osman to berbuka kat Restoran Rebung kat Bangsar. I think it's a pretty well-known Malay restaurant kat KL ni, so takyah la cerita panjang-panjang.

The food memang best, ada banyak pilihan, cuma sayang Mizz Ray ni perut tangki kecik, so makan pun takla banyak sangat. At RM55nett kira ok lagi la. Tapi if you ask me to go for buffet kat hotel yang harga dia sampai RM98 tu ke, or even beratus ringgit, sorry la taknak ye. Kalau nak belanja takpe hehehe.. Tak berbaloi aje since memang makan tak banyak. RM55 tu pun kira my ceiling allocation dah tu;)

OK just enjoy the pictures of me and friends:)

From left: Mike, Osman, newly-weds Leo and Alipp, Azrul, and me. We were the early arrivals. There were 10 of us, including some new friends.

Bila nak ambik makanan, I went straight to the dessert table hahaha, and of course, I've gotta take this! My favourite tu;)

So there we were, all 10 of us. Seronok sambil makan borak-borak, catch up with each other's lives, or whatever. Punya seronok kitorang dok bangun top up makanan, we ended up being the last customers to leave! Hahahaha..Makan-makan cemni memang best, especially bila berkumpul dengan kawan-kawan berlainan bangsa dan agama, they learnt the importance od fasting too and of being considerate to their Muslim friends.

Tu je la cerita hari Sabtu. So to everyone, again, Selamat Berpuasa and selamat menunaikan ibadat di bulan Ramadhan al-Kareem ni!:)

Hari Esok Dalam Sejarah

2010-08-13T09:35:00.003+08:00

Salam..

Camne puasa so far? For me biasa-biasa je. Kan sebab dah biasa puasa kan?:)

Anyway, today's Friday the 13th. But for me the date holds no significant meaning whatsoever pun. Saja syok nak sebut hehehe..

Anyway, esok akan menjadi hari yang bersejarah...kot:)

Esok nak pegi collect kunci rumah, dan buat joint inspection with the personnel from my developer.

Doa-doakan rumah in a good condition ya? Takde major defects, or small defects that can be rectified quickly. Insya-Allah lepas sibuk dengan Raya ni dah boleh plan untuk pindah rumah pulak.

So excited, so anxious, so looking forward to it. Pray everything turns out good for me;)

Project Kitchen: Chickloaf

2010-08-10T11:40:00.011+08:00

Hellowww..

You know meatloaf right? Well, last Sunday, I made chickloaf. Instead of using minced meat, I used minced chicken.

I've always liked meatloaf. Tapi bila check kat internet, ada macam-macam version. But basic ingredients are always the same-ground beef and bread.

So what I did was improvise, as usual la. So let's check out what I did in the kitchen last Sunday.

Nak prepare, kena standby-kan bahan-bahan dia;)

1 packet of minced chicken (usually it's meat), grated carrot (saje-saje sebab nak habiskan stok carrot hehehe..), low-fat milk (tau-tau je la apasal kan..), 3 bijik telur, slices of bread. Berapa slice nak pakai, depends on the kepekatan combination bahan-bahan yang lain tu. Then as usual, salt, pepper and a bit of sugar to taste. Bawang putih dan bawang merah-cincang. Ikut suka la nak berapa banyak:)

Combine all the ingredients, except for milk and bread dalam satu bekas.

Pour in the milk pulak. I'm the type yang masak tak berapa sangat ikut measurement. But I reckon I must've used between 3/4 - 1 cup of the milk. Gaul lagi:)

Lepas tu, carik-carikkan pulak roti ke dalam adunan ni. I think I used about 5-6 slices of bread. Buat sampai texture dia ala-ala adunan roti jugak.

Then transfer it into a butter (or margarine)-greased loaf pan and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Ni la rupa dia lepas keluar dari oven. Tunggu kejap bagi dia sejuk, then it's ready to serve!

By right meatloaf is a main dish and is usually served with brown sauce. Tapi sebab malas nak prepare other things, I didn't have salad or veges to eat with it, and certainly not with that brown sauce. So..

Makan dengan sos cili je la!! Hahahhaa...dah namanya tekak Melayu, makan kena la ikut stail Melayu kan?? Hikksss...

The next day, yesterday, I brought the rest of this chickloaf sebab kitorang ada breakfast potluck kat office. Ye lah sempena dah nak puasa ni, so masing-masing bawakla something.

Ingatkan surely chickloaf ni tak laku, takut colleagues tak gemar nak makan ke, Sekali tu laku jugak, cepat je habis hehehhe...Siap ada yang komplen tak sempat makan;)..Alhamdulillah. Ada rezeki kita share dengan orang la kan?

On another note, hari Sabtu ni dah nak ambik kunci rumah. Seronoknya! I can't wait! Praying that there'll be just minor defects which can be rectified very soon, or better yet, no defects at all.

Selamat menyambut Ramadhan everyone! Semoga ibadat kita diberkati di bulan yang mulia ini, dan dapat limpahan rezeki yang tak putus-putus dari Allah. Mintak ampun dan maaf in case anything I wrote and rambled here ada sakitkan hati sesapa, they are really tak disengajakan.

So anyway, back to the chickloaf, bon appetit!:)

Another Cancelled Plan

2010-08-07T22:28:00.003+08:00

Hi..

*sigh*..Berapa kali mau cancel travel plan da...

This weekend, me and a few friends are supposed to drive up to..

PENANG!

We were supposed to stay at Hydro Hotel at Miami Beach, Batu Feringghi. But due to my recent car drama, as well as one of my friends having to pull out because of a mnor accident, we decided to postpone the trip to some time after the Raya period. Takpe la, we'd love to have everyone on board, so that's why we decided to go at a later time.

In the mean time, next week, kita semua akan berpuasa. So to all my Muslim readers, happy fasting! May all your deeds are blessed and that you have a smooth and problem-free fasting. Let us all together double, triple our good deeds in this holy month and take our relationship with God to a new level. Amin...

*As usual, pix credit to Google. Thank you:)

Project Kitchen: Laksa Sarawak (and Peach Crumble)

2010-08-01T20:14:00.019+08:00

Hi...

Hari ni ada projek mega sikit kat dapur:). Called up a few friends for lunch sebab nak jamu mereka laksa Sarawak dan peach crumble.

As peach crumble dah masuk entry, so this time cerita pasal Laksa Sarawak aje la kan?:)

Some of the ingredients, including the ones for peach crumble:).

Mula-mula kupas kulit udang fresh dan asingkan isinya. Bersihkan sikit kulit udang ni sebab nak kena rebus kulit udang.

Rebus kulit udang tadi. Kejap je tak lama pun. We need the air rebusan udang ni untuk buat kuah laksa Sarawak. Dah lepas asingkan kulit udang tadi, masukkan pulak la isi udang and rebus guna air yang sama.

In the meantime, get some sambal belacan ready. Kalau makan laksa Sarawak, kena ada sambal ni sebab mesti kita nak pedaskan laksa kita kan? Sambal simple je, just tumbuk ikan bilis, cili fresh, or kalau nak lagi pedas, masukkan sikit cili padi, and belacan.

In a bigger pot, you can start boiling the chicken pieces. As you will need the isi ayam je, it is recommended that you get chicken breast sebab banyak isi la kan?:)

While the chicken is boiling, get the perencah laksa Sarawak ready. Perencah ni so far memang takde jual kat KL, so I always get stocks of them ready:). Ni brand Haji Manan. Brand lain pun banyak, but for me brand ni memang ngam dengan selera la. Tadi masak guna 2 paket, which means for a large quantity. Anyway dah tu campurkan perencah ni ke dalam air rebusan udang tadi.

Then bila ayam dah masak, keluarkan isi ayam dan ketepikan. Lepas tu leraikan isi ayam daripada tulang sebab isi ayam ni nanti jadi one of the condiments time nak makan laksa.

Lepas tu, campurkan air rebusan udang+perencah laksa tadi ke dalam air rebusan ayam. Tambahkan air sikit.

Originally, the kuah laksa ni kena guna santan. But being me, I like to improvise a bit. So I use satu paket of santan instant tu (kalau nak guna fresh lagi elok), and the rest I use low-fat milk. That way, I can still have the lemak taste from the santan whilst keeping the calorie lower than usual:).

Then masukkan pulak tauhu pok. Usually just use satu paket je dah cukup. Gunting separuh tauhu pok ni before masukkan ke dalam kuah laksa. Lepas tu kalau agak-agak kuah tu pekat sangat, masukkan air. Jangan lupa masukkan garam, gula, white/black pepper powder and MSG (optional) for taste. Leave it to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

The last condiment that you need to prepare is egg ommelete. Hiris panjang and serve it ready to be eaten.

Ni pulak my peach crumble which I also prepared for the makan-makan hari ni:)

Finally, laksa Sarawak ni tak pakai the normal laksa macam kat Semenanjung. Instead our laksa pakai mihun, so bila semua dah ready, get the mihun ready by blanching it in hot water, wait a few minutes then it should be ready.

These are the condiments for the laksa: udang, isi ayam, sambal belacan, limau kasturi, and telur ommelete. Some people also like to add other things as well, macam taugeh and daun ketumbar. But tu ikut suka masing-masing la kan..:)

Menu hari ini: Laksa Sarawak dan Peach Crumble:)

Jap...ni ha up close pix of laksa Sarawak, ready nak kena ngap:)

Bon appetit!

What a Bad Week

2010-07-30T11:37:00.007+08:00

Heyaa...

This week has not been kind to me. I can only count two great things that happened, one being the house situation that I blogged about last Monday. The other one happened yesterday, which I will write later.

Wednesday was particularly a bad day. I was really busy at the office, running here and there as we had a photography session at the office, and I co-coordinated the whole session. Ended up leaving the office at around 6.10PM. That was OK by me (though I had planned to go to the gym after that for my 7.05PM class).

Once I reached Sunway,right after breezing through the SmartTag lane, there was a big jam getting towards the LDP Hanging Bridge. Via the electronic board found out that it was because of a stalled car. Oh well, c'est la vie, so I thought. Didn't expect I would be in that similar situation soon.

Whilst moving at a snail's pace there, I noticed that my cool aircond air had changed to hot smelly air. I started getting nervous, and I told myself that once I reached home, I'd definitely add water to the aircond tank or whatever you call to keep the engine cool. So I just winded down my window and switched off the aircond.

Then, just as I was driving down the Hanging Bridge, suddenly my engine went kaput, then dead! Just like that!! Allah mak!!Apa nak buat ni??? I started to panic, and tried to switch on my engine. I also quickly hit the hazard light button, indicating to the cars at the back that I was having a problem. To make matters worse, my phone ran out of battery. Alhamdulillah, soon after a young man on a bike stopped in front of me and looked back. I quickly waved to him, asking him for help.

Ala-ala lebih kurang macam ni la my car terberenti kat highway!:(
Oopss..pix courtesy of Google ya

I told him my phone battery went dead and I needed to make phone calls. Without hesitation, this adik took out his SIM card and lent me his phone. I called my friend who told me to call my car insurance hotline and ask for towing assistance. Around the same time, the highway patrol truck came and asked about my situation. I told them I don't know what went wrong and that I was calling for assistance. Memang panic gila la time tu! It was the first time something like this happened to me, so obviously I was panicking!

Then they got me to slide down and going to the left side of the road. Once I could not slide down any longer, the highway truck towed my car further up to a bus stop in front of the Western Digital factory.

I was faced with many choices on my next course of action. I could either get my insurance tow service to come and take it to the workshop, but only the ones in their panel, and which could only be examined on the next day. I didn't know the extent of damage, or failure to my car, so I thought if it could be rectified that night, I could waste the whole next day. Then I decided to just called up my friend's mechanic in Mutiara Damansara to have a look at my car. He then sent his tow truck to get my car. We waited for quite a while and in the mean time, I chatted with the young man who selflessly helped my out.

This adik's name is Farid, and he is a trainee at MPH in Midvalley. So if you go to to MPH Midvalley, please know that he is very kind and a well-raised kid. Congrats to his parents! He just completed his Mechanical Engineering diploma course in Terengganu, and currently training at MPH.

Anyway, once we reached the workshop, the mechanic examined my battery, but couldn't find anything wrong. Just when I thought I could leave and that it was just a minor damage or a false alarm, he found the real cause of my dead engine. It turned out that my engine broke down due to my own carelessness too, it was drying up!! The engine was on the verge of overheating, and it had to be thoroughly inspected. Kalau nasib lagi malang, kena overhaul!! Oh tidak!!!!!:((

Thanks Googs!

Once we settled everything, I asked my friend to come over and fetch us from there and send me home and Farid back to his bike which he left at the bus stop earlier. I could not thank Farid enough for his kindness. He didn't hesitate to help me when I needed help, eventhough we were strangers.

I only reached home at close to 11PM, and on the next day, yesterday, I had to take the emergency leave.

Then yesterday, I walked to Damansara Perdana commercial centre to go to a bank. On the way back home, as I walked on the sideway, I heard a loud wailing of a kitten from a drain. Thank god it was sunny yesterday. I found a kitten trapped in that drain, And I really have no idea how he got there.

If you know me, you'd know that I'm a regular kitten rescuer. Naturally I couldn't leave this little one behind, could I? Then as I was bending down calming the kitten down while trying to reach him through the iron cover, another young man on a motorbike stopped to ask what was going on. I asked him to help me retrieve the kitten.

After much persuasion, we managed to grab him by his tail and I took him. This young man also offered me a ride as he was heading towards the same direction. Alhamdulillah, thank God for making it easy for me to do good things to this little munchkin.

I brought him home, fed him (I always have my 'kitten rescue kit' on standby), bathed him and gave him a dose of deworm syrup.

So please, anyone out there, if you know of anyone who is looking to adopt a cat, please don't hesitate to adopt this one OK? This one deserves a loving home:)

Now that I'm reflecting back on the things that happened to me especially a couple of days ago, I don't know if it really has been a bad week for me. Sure, the blessings are aplenty-I could collect my house keys, and I rescued a kitten. But then again, the car problem overshadows other things.

On the other hand, I am really thankful for the help that I get when I was in my time of need, espcially by Adik Farid's willingness to stick by my side. His parents have indeed raised him well. He didn't have to do anything, he was just there for me. Sometimes, you never know how big an impact a stranger can have on you, and better still in the most unexpected ways. People whom you think you can always depend on may not have time, inclination, or capability to help you. The same thing for that young man who helped me to retrive that kitten from the drain. Had he not stop by, I might have to leave it behind cause I definitely could not reach down to get that baby. For that, I'm thankful that I always meet 'helpful' strangers instead of those who may have bad intention towards you. I pray to God that I'm always protected that way.

Anyway, enough rambles for this time. I will not spend my time and energy thinking too much about my misfortune this week, and instead count my blessings and praty that it cointinues. Have a great weekend everyone!

One Step Closer

2010-07-27T15:10:00.006+08:00

Hello..

As I received the VP letter last week, I was told to call the developer's office this week to enquire whether I could already make the last miscelalleous payment before collecting my keys and have a joint inspection session of my house.

I did that earlier today, and happily told that I could proceed with the next step.

Which I did over the lunch hour earlier. Dragged my intern along to the developer's office, paid the due and set up that appointment.

The joint inspection will be about two weeks from now. Heck, it'll be during the fasting month, but I don't care!

I'm one step closer to moving to my own castle!:)

Family Road Trip

2010-07-23T08:27:00.004+08:00

Heyaaa..

Just a quick update. Not much happening lately, but glad that it's Friday already.

Later this evening, I will be on a road trip with my family down to...

JOHOR BAHRU!!

Specifically, we'll be staying at Pasir Gudang. Going with my uncle and cousins to visit his preggy daughter for the weekend. Well then , family obligation calls, so as a dutiful daughter, ikutkan je la kan?:)

Wish us a safe journey!:)

Tony Roma's Lagi dan Yippee Yiyeayyy Good News:)

2010-07-17T14:21:00.011+08:00

Heyyaaa...

I am seriously addicted to the Tony Roma's ribs now. Alhamdulillah for the rezeki, sesekali dapatla makan sebab harga dia mak oii...Let's just say for occassional indulgence, bolehla pegi makan.Lagipun bahaya jugak kalau makan banyak kali, it's fatty and of course, high cholestrol!

And alhamdulillah, last week I went there again to have their signature ribs with my friend, Siti Aishah. She promised to belanja makan kat Tony Roma's so last Saturday we met up at the Sunway Pyramid outlet and errmmm...melantak makan ribs hahahhahha...

They were having a 10-ribs special in cunjunction with 4th of July celebration. So imagine trying to finish 10 big ribs in one seating. We didn't know how big a serving it was sebab we insisted on ordering a starter of their equally gobsmacking-ly glorious fried mushroom. It comes with the honey mustard dipping, which I just luuurrrvvvveee!!!

10 big ribs. Nah hambekkk!! Besar-besar plak tu..

And this is the big plate of fried mushroom. Sedapnya..very crispy. Tapi kalau berangin dalam badan lepas tu sure start pening-pening

We ended up not finishing those ribs pun, sebab each rib was quite big, even bigger than the ones I had kat Midvalley a few weeks ago.

Both of us could only finish 2 ribs each, which left another 6 to be tapau-ed home. Just nice to be spilt half-half.

After that, we thought about watching a movie. But after lining up at TGV and not being able to secure the ticket for 'Knight and Day'-cerita Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz tu- we decided to headed off somewhere else, so we went to Puchong area instead. I thought of looking up home stuff, maybe survey harga cat and curtains and things like that, and we settled at IOI Mall. The building looks good after it was expanded last year. We then went to Tutti Fruitti for some yoghurt ice-cream. Mahal jugak Tutti Fruitti ni ekkk..?

This one 3/4 tub cost me about RM20. Yikes!!!

After that we managed to get tickets for the 7PM show for 'Knight and Day'. A very nice movie,lots of hilarious scenes and witty dialogue. We liked it!

So that was what I did last weekend. The weekdays pulak went by pretty quickly. On Tuesday I even MC'ed a big event at my work place. Very nerving, as the VIP was His Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister themselves. And it was my first 'big' emceeing duty! Thank god I pulled it off, thanks to my emcee partner that day.

Anyway I actually haven't gotten around to notify the change of address to all my mails, which means they're still arriving at my old office. My former receptionist, Kak Nora is nice enough to keep them for me.

Yesterday afternoon I took a half day off to go for my periodical check-up at UMMC. It ended quicker than usual-arrived at 1PM, and left at around 3.15 (thanks to my doctor, who happens to be my friend too). That gave me an ample time to visit my old office which is just nearby. I also collected my mails from Kak Nora, and one of them, which I opened last night, happened to be this:

Tak nampak? No clear enough? Let's zoom dekat sikit:)

NOTICE OF DELIVERY OF VACANT POSSESSION AND STATEMENT!!

Yippeee!! This means that I can now collect my keys. But before that, kena bayar dulu RM190++ for some administrative matters la, key card la, etc, and then boleh buat appointment for joint inspection. I've been looking at forums on house inspection, and definitely will be employing my eagle-eye expertise bila check rumah nanti.

So finally, I have my own place!!:)

*Tanak pikir dulu the cost that will be incurred later, nanti rosak mood!*

In the meantime, I'll just sengih-sengih je lah!!

After This Morning..

2010-07-12T03:29:00.007+08:00

Hi...

I'm writing this entry as I'm sitting in my living room, watching the World Cup Final. It's half-time, the score is still 0-0.

But the ref is certainly having his field day, having scored, or rather showed 6 yellow cards to players from both sides!! Chishhh!! Ridiculous!

I've been up since around 1.30, having 'gone' to bed since around 9PM. But well, it wasn;t a nice sleep, as I kept waking up throughout the night, either out of the need to go to the toilet, or to drink water. My asthma cough is back:((, so I'm not really in the pink of health, or mood right now.

Anyway, as of now, the second half has resumed, and this is the picture I took earlier of Mimi and her favourite spot in front of the TV.

Hehehhe...she doesn't care much about the games that I watch this past month. But given any United game, she's transfixed to the TV anytime! She certainly knows where her attention should be focused on.

Anyway, I'm dreading post-World Cup which will start later at around 5. The World Cup is officially over, and I bet me, as well as most football fans around the world will be having withdrawal symptoms!

I know I'll be looking like that:(...I'll be craving for my football fix, and life will never be the same as far as football is concerned.

Which brings me to the coming football season. It will only resume next month, and I'm guessing, life in this one month will be kinda...miserable.

I'm dreading the thoughts already. Oh well, back to the game!! May the best team win! Viva La Coupe del Mundo!

*P.S-Thanks, as always Google:)

Jom Santai-Santai Kejap..

2010-07-04T20:32:00.004+08:00

Hari ini Mizz Ray sengih-sengih:)...macam ni

Bukan apa, my cooking groove is back!!! *Doing the chicken dance now*, so adalah project kitchen hari ni. Bukan apa, dah berapa minggu ni amatla malasnya nak buat projek masak. Bukanla takde masak langsung, tapi bila dapur berasap pun, masak yang biasa-biasa je. Takkan takat masak sardin ke, ayam goreng ke pun nak tunjuk kan? Kalau ada pun masak yang lain sikit daripada menu biasa, angin malas lain pulak yang menyerang, iaitu malas nak ambik gambar and cerita hehhee..

So hari ni alhamdulillah, the weather was super duper great, sebab hujan in the morning, and it stayed cool all day, so I just stayed in and cooked! And kejap tadi baru je siap buat kek batik, with a twist. But those will be in the next entry je la sebab la ni tengah tunggu kek batik sejuk dulu then nak kena masukkan dalam fridge.

But in the meantime, jom santai-santai dulu berhibur dengan my two favourite ladies-Alicia Keys & Beyonce in the new song- Put It In A Love Song. Enjoy!

Another Travel Plan Down The Drain..

2010-07-02T20:38:00.007+08:00

Heyy...

Need I say more? The continuation from my previous post, regarding my trip back home to Kuching next week.

So yesterday morning I finally got to see my Boss once she returns from her medical leave. After ting-tong ting-tong updating her on work, I told her about the travel plan. And showed her the flight booking print-out.

She said she doesn't have a problem about granting me leave on that Thursday and Friday, but the problem is with taking time off work on Monday and Tuesday. That's because we are having an event in which our department will be heavily involved in and that where everyone will be required to participate. She told me to return by Sunday.

So after that, dejected, I went back to my cubicle and looked up on the flight schedule for Sunday at AirAsia. Sure, seats are still available, but plus everything, the price of the new ticket would set me back about RM300. Well, not that much for other people, but for me it's really a lot, especially if I get to be home for only about three days, and especially as the return ticket that I'd be losing cost me only RM35. So comparing those factors, I decided to forgo the trip altogether la...

Lagipun, dalam hati I managed to pacify myself with the fact that Raya is also coming soon, so I'll definitely be flying home within this short few months too, so instead of spending that RM300 on a short trip home, it's better if I use that 300 bucks for the ticket home during Raya.

So there! Looks like yeppss, it's another travel plan down the drain for me. This is actually the third time that I had to cancel my travel plans, all with AirAsia. So if you're wondering how come Abang Tony is so freaking rich right now, it's people like me la yang contribute to their wealth:((..Ahh...malas nak pikir banyak-banyak sangat, nanti ralat!

I'm so dissapointed right now, but well, I'll just deal with it. Fact of life ain't it?? At least twas just an RM35 worth of disappointment. Pejam-celik-pejam-celik, Raya will be here, and I will be back to my beloved Kuching anyways..:)

Till then, have a smashing weekend peeps!!!

*Thanks Googs...as always for them cute photos

I'm At A Crossroad...

2010-06-29T15:23:00.010+08:00

No, bukan nak nyanyi lagi Nora tu...

I'm kinda at a crossroad in regards to my immediate travel plan.

On 8 July I'm supposed to fly back to Kuching and return to KL on Tuesday the 13th. Which means I should be taking 4 days of leave. Easy peasy, or so I thought at the time I got the ticket, which was during last November's AirAsia free tickets giveaway. I was still at the old work place.

But now that I just started at this new place, I don't know if I should go ahead with this plan. Would it look bad for me as a new employee to take 4 days' leave in my second month of the job?

HOW LEHHHH????

Please advise. Appreciate your feedback (kalau sudi nak kasi la...)

PLEASE....:D

*p.s-Thanks Googs..You're always good to me;)

Mimi Goes to the Vet

2010-06-25T15:19:00.013+08:00

Hmm..saje bagi gempak title in English, tapi rasanya entry ni akan banyak stail rojak.

Macam dalam title kat atas, ni pasal cerita Mimi nak kena jumpa vet:((

Yelah, kalau kena jumpa vet, maksudnya anak ni tak sihat la ye? Bila anak tak sihat, Mummy dia la yang risau terlebih-lebih!

Ceritanya cenggini, since last week lagi when my Mum was around yang kitorang perasan lantai kat rumah ni atas kesan darah kering. Ala kesan macam darah tercalit la, bukan banyak mana pun. Tapi tak tau nak cari kat mana. Last-last the next day baru my Mum noticed that kat kaki belakang Mimi macm ada wound. So heranla apasal boleh ada luka, sebab takde paku or benda pecah or anything yang boleh buat kaki dia tercedera kan..

Dah tu Mimi pun ala-ala lain macam jugak pe'el nya-kurang bergerak, dah tu yang paling pelik, dia suka sesaja duduk atas pasir dai tu tanpa buat apa-apa. Bukan nak kencing or berak pun, saje je nak duduk situ. Lagi la risau sebab takut terkena luka dia tu dah tu sampai kena infection la kan?

Anyway, I just resorted to tenyeh kapas dengan minyak gamat aje la kat wound tu, and promised myself I'd take her to the vet soon.

Last Tuesday, dah tak boleh tahan dah sebab risau, siap buat status kat FB lagi tu...

Ingatkan nak bawak Mimi ke vet my friend ni kat area Kota Damansara, tapi rupanya diorang tutpla pulak hari Selasa. So I decided to bring Mimi to her own vet kat Section 14, Petaling Jaya ajela. Kena redah jam jugak tu.

So after work that day, right away I changed my clothes and put Mimi in her carrier. As usual, she would put up slight resistance, tapi dah lepas dipujuk, dia relakan saja..:)

Ni la luka Mimi tu. Sorry gambar blur, bukan senang nak tangkap gambar dia ni, tambah-tambah kalau dia tengah bergerak. Risau jugak kot-kot benda tu berlubang sebab macam boleh tengok isi kaki Mimi:((

When the vet, Dr. Tong checked on Mimi, she cut some of Mimi's fur surrounding this wound la. Then she found out that instead of a gaping wound, it was actually a growth yang tumbuh kat Mimi's hind leg ni. It doesn't look like it poses any danger, tapi as a precautionary measure, Dr. Tong injected Mimi with anti-inflammation medication and sapu antiseptic kat situ. Assistant Dr. Tong tolong pegangkan Mimi when she was being checked la ni, tapi Mimi tak suka! Hahhaha.. Sebab apa tau, sebab she kept giving soft growl throughout the time atas meja tu. So I had to pujuk-pujuk dia jangan marah la. My poor girl!

Haaa..tengok tu, dia buat muka marah kat Mummy dia hehehe..Sabar sayang, it's for your own good:)

Once she's done, it's back into the carrier Mimi went.

Sementara nak tunggu Dr. Tong ambikkan ubat for Mimi, sempat la main-main dengan the vet's resident cat. Friendly sangat, and cute! She (I think) mesti dah biasa temankan patient-patient lain kat klinik vet ni:) Right inside this cage pulak is her best friend, a shih-tzu yang comel je pakai baju.

Tak lama lepas tu Dr. Tong pun panggil untuk ambik ubat for Mimi. Dr. Tong advised me to sapu ubat kat benda growth ni as well as another powdered antiseptic in Mimi's leg, mintak-mintak growth tu kecut sendiri. She also prescribed oral medication, anti-inflammation and antibiotic for Mimi. Mintak-mintak Mimi will be OK after this and that this subsides on its own la, otherwise kena jumpa balik vet. Taknak ler...:((... The damage to my pocket? RM85. OK la tu kot, at least bila ditimbang, Mimi dah berat 5.5kg dah sekarang. Just nice, taknak la dia gemuk sangat.

Bila dah kat rumah, belek balik benda tu, cemni la rupa dia..

Mintak-mintak bila dah bagi ubat ni, Mimi's growth tu will disappear, and she's back to being my manja bucuk debab girl. Of course la she as manja as always, but well, dia takde apa-apa la kan...

Sex and the City 2 and Tony Roma's Famous Ribs

2010-06-23T11:38:00.009+08:00

Haiii....

Hmm..Best tak sesaja update blog kat opis?:) Takde apa sangat nak cerita, just that last week actually was spent mainly with family, sebab my Mum and Aunt were here visiting us-me and cousin (yang sekarang tengah preggie). So hari-hari bila dah pukul 5 terus clock out and balik rumah my cousin. Nasib baik dekat je dengan ofis, so even lunch time pun boleh balik rumah makan dengan diorang when they didn't go out.

Then last Saturday morning they flew back to Kuching, and we sent them to LCCT. Tapi errmm...sebab parking at that curbside, ada la orang tu kena saman hehehehe... Nanti la ada murah rezeki sikit bayar la..Eee..jahatnya!

Anyway, after sending them kat airport, I went right away back home-rindunya kat anak-anak. Lagipun risau takut makanan diorang tak cukup. Nasib baik pagi-pagi lagi, so sambil-sambil rehat tu bolehla buat kerja rumah. Biasala, sapu lantai, mop lantai, buang sampah etc.

That afternoon, I went out with my girlfriends, Shireeen, Shah and Syakie (yeps..we're the S Sisters!!) to Midvalley, sebab nak lepak-lepak, shopping and watch movie. SEX AND THE CITY 2!!

Thanks Googster!;)

Well, it's a truly girl movie, perfect for an outing with your girlfriends, and I like it better than the last movie. We had a lot of sakit perut sebab gelak moments, and I'll definitely get the dvd once it's out.

Sementara nak tunggu show diorang tu sempat jugak la shopping sikit-sikit;). Almaklumla Jusco pun tengah SALE sekarnag ni kan? I managed to procure a blouse (perfect for both work and outing) and a new pair of shoes. SHIOOKKK!!! And...as always, kitorang kalau kalau keluar, mesti la ada sesi bergambar/cam-whore kan..

Shireen and Syakie. Makan liet-lite dulu kat Belanga di The Gardens

Me and Shah. Oh ya..I just had a haircut last Thursday, so that was the new hairdo debut;)

Pix from Shireen's FB, her cam mahh...

Lepas habis movie, we went for dinner plak. Mati akal jugak carik idea nak makan kat mana, last-last Shireen suggested kat Tony Roma's. Alamak!! Dah la I've been craving for their ribs for weeks!! Ala-ala pucuk dicita ulam mendatang la..so kitorang semua setuju. Tapi kena tunggu jugak la sebab diners memang ramai. Dalam 20 minit jugakla kitorang mundar-mandir kat situ sementara tunggu teh steward to call us for our table, and...as expected, I ordered my idaman hati, the famour Tony Roma's ribs.

Ha tu diaaa...amekkk!! Jangan ingat body kecik ni (kecik kerr..?) tak boleh makan banyak cemni tau! Sekali dengan grilled shrimp. Side dishes were chilli beans (best!) and pesto tomato salad (tak best:()Ermm..tengok balik gambar ni pun dah mengidam balik bendalah ni hehehe..

Dan seperti biasa, sambil makan tu harusla bergambar kan??

Ermm...tengok la dulang (!!) sapa yang dah nak licin tu? Hepp!! Kacau je tangan Shah

Then, alhamdulillah dah kekenyangan, so pinggan pun (or dulang, besar sangat!) licin habis!

Alhamdulillah atas rezeki yang membolehkan kita makan dan habiskan makanan sedap ni;) *Tadah tangan syukur..*

Ni je la kot cerita hari ni. Actually ada lagi cerita pasal anak-anak bulu, tapi knowing myself, nanti terlampau panjang sangatla entry ni jadinya, so I'll save it for another day OK!:)

In the meantime, janganla meleleh sangat air liur tu tengok my ribs tadi, kalau nak, pegi je ke Tony Roma's!:) (Kan best kalau diorang bayar promo Ray ni!!)

Today's Your Day, Dad...

2010-06-20T12:43:00.006+08:00

He is the man who woke me up and got me ready to school,

Boiled the water to heat my bath so I won't get cold,

Who prepared the best Maggi sup for me to bring to school,

Who worked hard and bought me books and newspapers to nurture my love for words,

Who took me to the stadium to watch football, and turned me into a hard-core fan,

Who didn't hesitate sending me to boarding school even if it meant not seeing me all the time,

Who proudly sped his way home to deliver the news that I got into university,

And who doesn't complain even when he has to bail me out of troubles when I'm all grown up..

He is the one I can rely on to be the voice of reason in the midst of crisis,

He who shares our enthusiasm and gives positive support to whatever we want to venture into, and

Who would give his all to his family and loved ones.

He is the one we look up at, and admired by our community.

He is the leader other people respected, whose wisdom others appreciated.

He is my father, my hero, always my Number One man.

I love you Dad, and Happy Father's Day.

No words can describe how much I love you, and I hope whoever fathers my future children can fashion himself after you!

Love,
Your stubborn third child:)..I hope I make you proud, Dad.

My Dad, Haji Za'afar Bolhassan, posing with his latest baby during Hari Raya last year, right before he left for the Solat Sunat Aidilfitri. As dashing as ever;)

World Cup Fever: My Love Affair With Football

2010-06-14T08:45:00.012+08:00

Hola!! Como es tas?

Well, if you saw this on my blog profile..:

The uninitiated ones might be wordering why the heck did I call, or at least, profile myself as a Red Devil. Red Devil is the nickname for Manchester United, and I'm a massive Manchester United supporter. I've been supporting them for a long time, since I was in school, since the days of Captain Robbo. I've watched them playing live a few times, when they came over to KL for their pre-season tours, and actually the main reason why I was close to doing postgrad studies in Manchester (tapi tak jadi, takde rezeki nak pegi sana, so offer tu burn je la...sedey weeyyy...)

OK let's backtrack to my love affair with football in the first place.

I was born into a footy-loving family. So since I was young, as young as 9 or 10 years old, my Dad (especially) and other family members have been taking us to the stadium to watch the game, the Malaysian league la so to speak (let's not get into the quality of the game right now ya) and so we've been exposed to the football culture early on.

I remember when we were living in the town about 3 hours away from Kuching, and Dad would take us on a return trip back to Kuching within one night just to watch Sarawak (our state team) play at the State Stadium. When it was about 5PM, Dad would quickly drive back home to fetch us and right away, after a quick refreshment, went on a long drive to Kuching straight to the stadium to catch the game, which always started at 8.15PM. Then once the game is over, usually around 10PM, he would drive back for another 3 hours, even on weeknights. Most of the time, one or two of Dad's collegues would come along.

Map of our long journey
Source: Google Map

English football is really big in Malaysia. Heck, even now, most of the time, football fans here could list the first eleven of say..Liverpool or Chelsea (in my case MU la) faster than they could name the players in their own state team (shameful I know). And I've been watching it since the Malaysian TV start showing it extensively in the early 90's. But even then, English football have been having big followings here. Families become divided, but basically, everyone loves the sport for its beauty.

I guess I was the only odd one out in the family, as most of them went for Liverpool, or some other teams, depending on their current performance in the league. But United, for me, is a team not only rich in great performance, great players and legendary managers, but mainly is rich in history. It is the team that has survived near backruptcy during ints infancy years in the early 20th century, and having its stadium, Old Trafford surviving the German bomb during World War II. Most poignantly, this is the team that rose from the ashes of the air crash in Munich in 1958 to become the first English team to win the European Cup (now known as the European Champions' League Cup) in 1968.

Thanks to Mr. Googs;)

This is the team that, in the 70's despite being in the second league, still could become the team with the highest attendance in its stadium, the team to first achive double championships (league and FA Cup) in 1994, and also Double double (1996), subsequently becoming the most successful English team so far (18 Championships). It is also the only English team to so far has done the Treble, meaning to win the League, FA Cup and European Champions' League within one season. Darn it, they won all these titles within one and a half week in May 1999!! ( Still is the best week of my life)

The big prize
Source: Wikipedia

Since then, United have won more and more championships and like any other teams, also experiences downsides, backlashes, and conflicts. But I stand firm by them, and hope to really make my 'pilgrimage' to Old Trafford one day. Next year possibly, insyaAllah...:)

Anyway, back to the World Cup.

Thanks again Mr. Googs;)

Like any other fans all over the planet, I'll be glueing in front of the TV to catch the games, even in the wee hours of the morning. I'll be sporting even more prominent dark circles under my eyes because of lack of sleep, and I'll be walking around like a zombie (hope not while driving) due to the erratic waking-and-sleeping hours.

Fret not, this is just a once-in-four-years kind of fever. Well, if you include the European Championships (European countries' tournament, not the club type), then let's make it a once-in-two-years kind of fever hehehhe...

But whatever it is, football has that special kind of magic that only true fans will know. And everyone's welcomed to join the club. This is the game that brings everyone, etranced in its magic, whether you're a monk at the top of Himalayan mountains, or barefooted kid in the slums of Rio de Jeneiro, or a kampung boy in Hulu Selangor.

This is the game that even united enemies waging wars, as happened Christmas periods during World War I between the British and German armies. Here's the story:
On Christmas Eve 1915, a peace overture came from the German lines. On Christmas Day, after a night of carol singing, Bertie Felstead, a private in the Royal Welch Fusiliers recalled that feelings of goodwill had so swelled up that at dawn Bavarian and British soldiers clambered spontaneously out of their trenches. A football was produced from somewhere – though none could recall from where. "It wasn't a game as such, more a kick-around and a free-for-all. There could have been 50 on each side for all I know. I played because I really liked football. I don't know how long it lasted, probably half an hour."
More info can be found here.

Here's my dedication to football, the beautiful game. I'll be cheering for the teams that have United players in them and let's hope the best team wins come July 12. Cheers!! Allez allez!:)

D'Ohhh!! What Have I got Myself Into??

2010-06-08T13:44:00.005+08:00

D'Ohhh! Looking at this Homer Simpson's famously trade-marked (yeker?) forehead slap and exclamation expression-or whatever you call it, is exactly how I feel about this new place.

Sure la, right now I'm still learning how things are done here, the culture and what not, but well, one thing I've learnt in my one week is that my boss is definitely the favourite topic of conversation and gossip at this place!

But whatever it is, I just listen and take note of what is best done, and what should be avoided. I'm just a newbie here, it won't look good to be immediately sucked into whatever negativity that might be there in the first place, right?

As for workmates, they're all OK, and I reckon it's normal for people to feel slightly apprehensive about getting to know me, for they don't know my working style yet. I'm also the kind of person who take my time warmig up to people, so I tend to be shy with them too, but still look approachable and friendly. Just giving everything and everybody the benefit of a doubt, and simply to just focus on the learning and adapting process.

But still, there are times when I can't help but do the Homer thing...D'Ohhh!!!! (slap forehead!)...:D

Tak Lama Lagi Dapat Kunci Yeayyy!!!

2010-06-02T11:23:00.007+08:00

Hola!! (Saya bersiaran dari opis baru. Tapi takpe la, sekarang belum ada kerja lagi nak buat)

Should I explain more??:)

Happy pun ada, risau pun ada, takut pun ada, macam-macam feeling la time ni! Actually some time last week the developer sent me an email saying that there would be a viewing party last Saturday night. Oh well, tak boleh pegi la sebab nak pegi reception my friend kan (last entry daa...)

So what I did was I went last Sunday instead to view the place. It's really beautiful now, especially the theme-park pool area. Tapi bila dah tengok betul-betul rasa OK gak tak beli unit yang memang mengadap pool sebab dekat jugak their lanai entrance to the pool. Meaning kurang sikit privacy for them. Ala, lagipun yang dekat-dekat pool tu harusla mahal kan, mana la mampu nak beli hehehehe..

Here are some of the photos I took from my visit last Sunday (BTW dah naik pun kat my FB, so kawan-kawan FB dah tengok dah, tak heran pun...hahahhaha)

Ini blok saya, Blok L. Kira paling hujung jugak, tapi at least kat belakang ada tasik:)..(Tapi apasal bunyi macam skema? Sebab guna saya kann??)

My unit is the second from top. Boleh perasan ala-ala nak duduk penthouse!

This is one part of our tropical-themed park-like pool. The wall where the water is sprouting from is the viewing tower.

This pix pulak is taken from the top of the viewing tower. The tower ni ada two levels, and at both levels ada water slides with double loops.

You can start your short sliding journey from this hole...

And then land here;)..It's a shallow pool by the way, so everybody boleh main heheheh. Hmm..Nampak gaya kena work out more la nanti kalau rasa nak mandi kat pool ni hahhahaha...

Dah tu yang ni pulak shallow pool where you can get on a float and sit back and float away (tak kemana pun, keliling pool je la kan..?) sambil kena sembur dengan zirafah la, gajah la, buaya pun ada dekat-dekat situ jugak skodeng orang yang mandi-manda kat sini:)

See?? Kan nak kena sembur dengan zirafah kan??

Hmm..rasanya ni je la nak di share buat kali ini:)

When I visited the site tu, I talked with the nice girl from the developer's office. She told me sekarang they are in the midst of putting up last minute detailing to our units. Most probably owners at blocks A, B, and C will get their keys within this months, and I might get mine in July kot. La ni tengah nak pasang air-cond, kitchen cabinet dan lain-lain tu.

Tak sabar? Yes. Tapi sedih gak, wa takda duit mo deko-deko, reno-reno la..:(. So what I'm thinking is just to redah je pindah masuk, then bila dah cukup pitih baru buat renovation ke, addition ke, massive decoration ke. But have to be mindful of the fact that I'm gonna have my furkids with me, so tak boleh la nak letak delicate stuff kan?

Till then, adios!! Kalau sudi meh la datang berenang. Takyah bayar Sunway Lagoon mahal-mahal pun:D

My Not-so-Busy Week Tapi Buat Macam Busy, and Leo's White Garden Wedding

2010-05-30T20:19:00.008+08:00

Haiyyaaa...

I know..When you're on a long extended leave, you would've expect to have that extra motivation to update your blog, wouldn't you? But noooo.....Mizz Ray jadik malas la pulak. Sorry ya!:) (as if la anybody would care...Ada ker??)

Anyway, actually for the whole week that I'm on leave, basically I just stayed home, then keluar almost every evening to the gym and/or lepak dengan kawan-kawan. At the same time, I was revising for an examination.

Examination apa?, you might ask. Well, it was the Computerized Unit Trust Examination (CUTE). Yepps, I'm about to become a unit trust agent. So if you have the need to invest your money and need help to plan your finance, or how to multiply your money/saving (insyaAllah), let me help you OK!:)

On Saturday last weekend I attended the Passing the CUTE Exam class held at Public Bank building at Jalan Sultan Sulaiman, which took the whole day. Then on Wednesday, I went there again to attend another tuition class, Success 101. The other days were spent revising and staying put at home, layan anak-anak, house chores, and gym.

So I took the exam yesterday at 12 noon, and Alhamdulillah, after completing it within one hour, I passed!

The highlight of my week must've been last night. Yes, we celebrated my friend Leo's KL wedding reception at Tasik Titiwangsa. White/garden theme OK!!:)

Lots of people I know and love were there, and everybody had a marvelous time. We laughed, took lots of photos, danced, ate and mingled around. The bride and groom were so radiant and happy. Here are some photos from our merriment last night:)

Photos from my camera

Photos from my friends' cameras. More photos in my FB :)..

Fuhhh!!..Really had a good time last night. My friend Nina went with me and so after the reception I sent her back to her new crib. Lepak there for about an hour, and talked mainly on getting our own place, contractors and things to do once you bought your own house. More on that perhaps in the next entry.

Reached home at close to midnight, and as of today, I have another one full day before I start that new job. Till then, adios!!

*P.S Actually ingat nak sambung sekali cerita hari ni, tapi nanti entry jadi terlalu panjang pulak, so I'll save it for tomorrow ya!!:)

Weekend Dengan Anak-Anak

2010-05-23T19:45:00.009+08:00

Dengan anak-anak kaki empat la...:)

Yeah, now I'm officially unemployed/in-between jobs/on holiday. Seronok gak, tapi tak boleh nak biasakan diri sangat sebab tak lama lagi kena start balik the same routine, except this time, it'll start earlier than before, with longer journey and definitely higher expenses. Apa nak buat, nak carik rezeki kan?

Anyway, yesterday I wasn't home all day sebab ada hal, pegi menuntut ilmu sikit, tapi hari ni memang seharian duduk rumah aje, and spent time with my kids.

So bila dok rumah aje ni, I can see macam-macam ragam diorang, especially time diorang tido. Kiut sangat:D..So let the pictures do the talking je la OK?

Aiyo...Mimi makin bulat ajer kan?

Let's see what happens to kakak Chikedis when she slept this morning:)

Aikkss...Nape lidah terjelir cemni kakak??

Ni mesti tengah mimpi ni...tengok dekat sikit lidah terkutil dia ni:)

Hihihii..Tak lama lepas tu kan, mata dia kelip-kelip, dah tu badan dia bergetar-getar sikit. Ni mesti kes tengah bermimpi ni. Apa agaknya Chikedis mimpikan kan??

Ehh....apa kes pulak ni??? (Sila abaikan floor mat IKEA yang dah barai tu OK, tau je la dah rumah ada kucing, harusla jadi mangsa cakaran diorang;)..)

Sape main sembunyi-sembunyi ni????

Baby girl Dodo!! Hehhehe...Naper sembunyik ni sayang Mummy?

Tengokla betapa boyotnya perut Mimi...Ishhhh...

Takpe, boleh landing lagi kepala kat TV stand ni:)

And finally, a show of brotherly love by my boys, Abang and Dingdong:)

Sekian sahaja cerita hari ini:D..Enjoy the coming (working) week peeps!

New Beginning, New Direction

2010-05-19T11:36:00.003+08:00

Hello,

I guess it has been an open secret that I'm moving on to a new work place next month (yelah...dok terhegeh-hegeh pasal benda ni kat twit chat kat sebelah tu hehehhe..). This means, I finally quit my current position!! Yeayyy!!!

I also made a slight hint/reference about it here and here:)

So it's gonna be a new set of challenges, responsibilities and adjustments to be made in my career. Syukur for the rezeki from Allah, and hopefully this is also the beginning of even more blessed rezekis. Amin:D

So...do cross your fingers

And wish me luck OK!:)

Macam-Macam Sakit

2010-05-17T08:35:00.006+08:00

Buenos Dias!

I've had a great weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were spent in the loving company of friends, makan-makan, gelak-gelak, window shopping at IKEA, drooled over Russell Crowe in 'Robin Hood', but otherwise this is how I've been feeling:

Exactly like how that girl is feeling. My left cheek hurts. I don't know whether I'm having ulcer in there, or if a wisdom tooth is about to peek out (I wouldn't know, I haven't had any wisdom teeth yet).

In addition, my left jaw is horribly sore. Since Friday evening, I couldn't open my mouth wide, which means I cannot really enjoy my food, and I have to be extra careful when chewing. Kena kunyah slow-slow. Nasib baik boleh gelak-gelak lagi. Tapi sebijik macam gambar kat atas.

The worst part of my current mouth problem is, my left tonsil is also swollen:((..

Dah tu, I think due to the erratic weather, I've also had spats of migraine attacks. Aaaarrggghh...!

On Saturday evening, I had school friends coming over to my place for lunch. But after they left, dapat pulak migraine attack. In my area, last Saturday was scorching hot. Memang berdenyut rasanya kepala. I tried to sleep in front of the TV (very low volume, living room gelap) and despite very little success (sebab susah nak tidur) at least dapat jugakla gagahkan diri masuk blik, jumpa panadol sebijik and telan. Alhamdulillah, not long after that the pain subsided little by little.

So the dilemma now is, sekarang kat dalam office, tapi I can feel the onset of another migraine attack:(..

Kalau nak jumpa doktor pun, I don't know if I should go see my GP, or run to the dentist. So how leehhh...?

*All pics googled

Mi Casa-Progress So Far

2010-05-13T12:07:00.007+08:00

Last year sometime in May, right before I went on my Beijing trip, I bought my own place.

Almost one year later, it's progressing very well, insyaAllah tak lama lagi siap la. Rasa tak sabar pun ada jugak, but I think now I'm more eager to move in because of work requirement. More about it later.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I went to the site again, saja-saja nak tengok progress my house macam mana, and I also went to the developer's office to sign the Syabas form. My friend Syahrul pun ikut sekali because he wanted to see my house, so kitorang pergi ke showroom la, which is also situated at the site. He also fell in love with the house!! But of course la, bila developer dah hias elok-elok showroom tu, mesti la semua orang suka kan?

Here are some of the progress photos from the developer's website yer..:)..Sorry, my own photo pun lebih kurang macam tu jugak la...except theirs is of higher quality kot.

Ni kat main entrance. Tu la guard house. Nanti kena masuk guna security card. Biasa la tu.. Then jangan terkejut tengok sculpture of wild animals kat situ. My area ni diorang buat landscaping ala-ala resort/theme park gitu...:) Kat main entrance ni pun siap ada sculpture of girrafe, dah tu gajah and tah apa lagi tak ingat pulak:D

Ngam-ngam kat belakang ni pulak ada tasik. Ala, tasik bekas lombong je, but I was told that time weekend memang banyak water activities kat sini, like people main jet ski, orang memancing. Tapi kan, a few months ago, dengar-dengar ada orang pegi bunuh diri kat tasik tu. Errkks...Dia sengaja bawak kereta dia masuk tasik tu:(..Ishhh...

Yang ni pulak bird's eye view of the swimming pool. Ada adult pool, kiddie pool, and siap ada 8-shape double loop slide. Weee...seronoknya!!Nanti best la main kat pool ni!! Dah tak payah pegi Sunway Lagoon dah! Tapi Mizz Ray tak reti berenang la... Ala tu takpe, tu belakang kira. Yang penting boleh enjoy main air kat situ kann. Yang tinggi tu adalah watch tower. Boleh pegi lepak kat situ feeling-feeling jadi lifeguard Baywatch ke, nak skodeng orang dating ke, or nak dating kat tower ni pun boleh kot hahahhaha...

Ni la bendalah double loop tu;)

Kiddie pool. Ni la tempat Mizz Ray berendam kot kalau terdaya nak pergi swimming pool tu kan? Yang macam cendawan tu adalah shower umbrella. Nanti air turun dari bumbung tu kot;)

Bangunan depan tu pulak clubhouse. I reaally hope the maintenance service is tiptop kat sini. Make sure whatever I paid for is well-maintained, jangan hangat-hangat taik ayam je kan?

Life-sized animal scupltures with water sprouts gitu...;)

Ni pulak adult pool. Macam besar je kan? Nampak tak tangga-tangga tu??Hehehe mesti I will spend more time there and mandi-mandi berenang anjing kat tepi tu je kot kalau masuk adult pool ni.

Ni the overall view of the pool, jumping waters and scultures. My block will be antara yang kat belakang tu kalau tak silap.

That's how our blocks look like. Ala, apartment biasa-biasa je:). Walk-up pulak tu. I can't wait to move in here. Rasanya baru sekarang I feel more excitement about obtaining this place. Plus the desperation in relation to the work requirement la kan?

Sekarang dah bolehla start survey sikit-sikit bab nak deko ni. Errkks...duit nak deko pun takde, so now I'm focusing on earning more money and saving up so that at least I can make this new place livable nanti. Bab nak engage kontraktor ke ID ke mungkin pikir kemudian. Rumah pun tak siap lagi. Almost je tu.

So insyAllah bila Ray dah pindah sana nanti, sesiapa yang sudi tu meh la datang bertandang. Jangan lupa bawak buah tangan yer??Hhahahahhaha...(gurau je). I'll be very happy to welcome you and serve my food to you.

*P.S- Oopss..lupa pulak, just wanna congratulate my darling friend Juwita for finally popping out her princess yesterday;). Sweet baby girl (I don't wanna reveal her name here, let her Mama do it herself la kan), welcome to the world:)

Project Kitchen: Mee Pok Goreng...(and Some More Food)

2010-05-10T11:44:00.006+08:00

Hellow love...;)

When my parents came over a few months ago, I asked if it's possible for them to bring me mee kolok from Kuching as I ala-ala mengidam la. Rindu wehh, mana nak carik kat KL ni right?

Instead, they brought along instant/dried mi kolok, as well as mee pok and kampua mee. Looked like I have to find my own recipe and attempt to cook them myself la. But then again, nasib baik jugak they brought the dried ones as they can last much longer, and I only remebered to start cooking them yesterday heheheh...

This is how dried mee pok looks like when it's still dalam bungkusan. You just need to blanch it in boiling water to soften it and get rid of the excess flour and kanji.

Basically, they're all egg noodles, and because they all shaped differently, just like pasta, they ended up with different names. Anyway, I just fried them yesterday morning. Simple je, main campak-campak je bahan. The condiments that I added in were only finely sliced cabbages as vege and then meat balls and a leftover fried chicken wing as main attraction. Served it with fried shallots.

This became my brunch and late noon meals yesterday. By night I wasn't feeling hungry pun, so I skipped dinner.

However, later last night, I still whipped up some stuff in my kitchen, basically just prepared food as my bekal to the office today. They were dory fillet baked in teriyakky sauce, and french bean and lobak masin stir-fried in seafood sauce.

Once I was done with those lauks, extra rajin pulak so I baked another batch of the multigrain cereal cookies. This time I also added honey and sunflower seeds which I got the other day. best jugak, happy to know that It's really really fibrous and healthy cookie to feed my sweet tooth. Sorry yer takde gambar:)..Bukan apa, I made those also time tengah nervous waiting for the last game of the football season, so malas nak ambik gambar.

Chelsea won the title:(..But it's OK..let other teams merasa jadik champions jugak la..:)

Till then...always GLORY GLORY MAN UNIIIIIIIIITEDDD! GLORY GLORY MAN UNIIITEEDDD! GLORY GLORY MAN UNITTTEEDD GLORY GLORY MAN UNIIIITTEDDD AS THE REDS GO MARCHING ON! ON! ON!...

My Super Fantabulous Fabulousity Hoohaa Happening Weekend

2010-05-06T12:52:00.011+08:00

Hola!:)

I had the most super fantabulous fabulousity hoohaa happening weekend last week. My Saturday was full and starting Friday, I had great time with beloved friends.

In my entry last Thursday, I talked about going to watch 'So You Think You Can Mamak' at the PJ Live Arts' PJ Laugh Fest.

I went with my friend Shireen. So we met up after work last Friday and had dinner before heading back to my office to leave our cars. OMG, we really loved the show!!:D.. It was really good to see comedians poking fun at our mamak culture, the things they discussed and the various characters they encounter. Shireen and I had a blast, memang gelak sakan. Too bad we don't think some of the foreign audience may have a difficulty understanding some of the jokes as they were in Malaysian context and pertaining to Malaysian issues, but still, it was a great performance. Personally speaking, I think Kuah Jenhan stole the show with his various sub-roles in between the main characters' mamak chatters. This young man definitely has a bright future ahead of him, and I'd definitely watch his future shows.

We're thinking of going to some other shows as well, so we'll see kalau still within our bajet bulanan hehehe..

Saturday was another busy day for me. In the afternoon, I went for another gathering with my Cat Lovers geng at Subang Hijaunan, had a good chat with other cat mommies and shared stories of our feline kids' antics. Too bad no photos were taken. I brought Mimi as usual, and she had a blast too meeting her fans hehehhe. Bukan apa, my Mimi is lawyas the crowd favourite because everyone geram with her debab body and pretty face. Awww...I'm a typical mother aren't I? Gushing over my pride and joy:D

But then after that I had to rush back as I had to get ready for another ladies' night outing with my uni friends. Adoi...Dahlah ngam-ngam sampai rumah it was raining very heavily. Had to park the car nearer to my building entrance as I had to lug Mimi in her carrier back home. Kesian Mimi maybe kena hujan sikit. Tapi takpe, Mummy still shielded her under the protective brolly:D

Dah tu sampai kat rumah pulak a small part of my floor was wet due to the rain. So I spent some time cleaning it up, mopping the floor before I could actually shower and get ready for my outing.

Then lepas tu, I had a really great time with my girl friends. Shireen and Syakie picked my up at my place before we went to Bandar Tun Razak to get Hasfa and Shah. Yepps..lucky kitorang semua size comey lotey :) and boleh muat in one car, before off to Pavillion we went. Shireen made a reservaton for us at Al-Amar of the 6th floor. Syiok la sebab memang we wanted to go for Middle East feast.

And as usual, when we girls get together, apa lagi..lotsa posing and photo taking la!!:)

We arrive early, so to kill time, and to mengalas perut sikit (everybody was starving) we lepak at the Food Republic and shared rojak and popia set. Even the drinks pun we shared hahahaha...

Posing lagi...(cilok ur FB photo k Shireen?;)

Our reservation was at 8.30PM, so after that we made our way up. Posing lagi depan restaurant hehehhe..(Ni tak payah tunjuk la..)

Us five girls-ala the waiter tak reti sangat ambik gambar la...:(

Our feast:

Hiks...semua badan je kecik, tapi that night memang all our gastronomical tanks become much larger!!

We had fun talking, gelak-gelak, mengumpat, shared and tasted each other's food that the time went by pretty fast. But worry not, we took our time eating cause we also wanted to wait for the restaurant's special treat -a belly dance performance. So by the time the belly-dancer arrived, it was easily around 10++ already. But we didn't mind, the night was still young!

Bila belly-dancer tu keluar, alamak, jealousnya tengok body dia. Suddenly I felt like enrolling in belly dance class la!!Hahahhaha...Tak percaya? Tengok la..

Really enjoyed the dance yang diiringi oleh this Arab singer. Handsome jugak despite his scruffy look;)..Bad boy look I think hahahhaha. To bad we didn't get any proper shot of him, but yeah we had fun enjoying the performance while enjoying our dessert after that.

But when the bill came...Errkks....Tak boleh nak cakap la. Suffice to say it'll be a loooonnnnggg time before we went for a treat like this again;)

If you think the night was over for us, you're wrong! After that we left the restaurant and took some more photos.

Pinjam lagi your FB photo of our hot pose ya Shireen?;)

We went up again to Pavi GSC sebab ingatkan nak either catch a late night movie or go for karaoke. Sadly, all tickets were sold out, and the same goes for karaoke rooms:(. We left Pavilion then towards other places, but check-check online other places like Midvalley pun tickets sold out. At times pulak takde internet coverage so we could not check the ticket availability status at other cinemas.

I then suggested we go to Tropicana Mall and checked out in case we could still secure seats there. Off we went, and true enough we got our tickets for Iron Man 2 at 1AM, but....we HAD TO SIT AT THE FRONT ROW!!!:(( Sedihnya. But it's OK la..apa nak buat since we were already there, might as well just enjoy the show - and we did. Although sometimes I did doze off, and it was quite uncomfortable sittng at the front row. Pelik sikit GSC Tropicana ni. Usually at other cinemas the front row is quite farther from the screen, and nak mendongak pun tak la berapa sakit sangat. But the hall that night front row dia dekat la dengan screen:(..

We left for our respective homes at past 3AM. Great day, tiring, but great day nevertheless. OK..on to our next outing girls! Karaoke? Seafood? What's important is spending time with your loved ones, and that includes your friends kan?;)

Rescue2Rehome

2010-05-04T09:19:00.010+08:00

Heyaa..
I had a blast last weekend. Great time spent with friends, furry family, movie and fine dining -which I will blog about later. But I thought I wanna skip all that and write about last Sunday first, about something that is close to my heart -cats.

You know that I have 7 cats at home, all from one family, all which I rescued from the street somewhere in Kepong. Now my life pretty much revolve around Mimi and her kids. And since then, I made it a point to encourage my friends to also adopt stray cats instead of buying them from the petshop.

Alhamdulillah, from time to time I also rescued kittens (especially) and managed to find homes for them -mainly to my friends who coincidentally were looking to have cats as their pets. I also made it a point to encourage them to get the cats neutered and spayed because the excercise bring more benefits than harm, and of ourse to ensure that their cats are well taken care of.

Anyway, on Sunday, I went to my usual pet store at Taman Tun (late afternoon when there would be pasar malam there) to get bags of litter for my babies when I saw this outside Pet Plaza:

I met with Nicole-Ann Thomas and her friend (or sister?)from Independent Pet Rescuers Malaysia (can I call myself that too?) who regularly rescue cats and dogs and take care of these animals and get them rehomed. On that day they brought three cages of cats and tried to get people (the pasar malam crowd) to adopt these cats. Trust me I was so geram wishing I could take home some of them, but then again, I just don't have enough space at home now. These wonderful ladies are doing a fantastic jobs with these adorable cats, and I applaud their efforts.
I hope many people brought home your cats that day Nicole-Ann;)

So if you're looking to get a cat (or a dog), please don't spend your money and buy those expensive puppies OK? Because many more unfortunate ones living on the street also deserve a loving home.

If you want more info on what Nicole-Ann is doing, you can visit her blog. If you want to meet these adorable cats yourself and perhaps adopt them, you can go to Taman Tun Dr. Ismail on Sundays especially in the late afternoon, and at Hartamas Shopping Complex on Saturday afternoon at 1PM onwards.

Awww...aren't they cute??Aren't they adorable? Don't they deserve a home?

Please, bring these cats (and dogs) home and share your love with them. I should know, I brought home Mimi and her kids, I fell in love with them and they give me such unconditional love that is just as fulfilling as having your own kids. If you want to know how you can contact Nicole-Ann, just buzz me at the comment box. I don't know of any other way I can help them, but at least making his entry is a beginning.

People need to know that our animals deserve better treatment. Don't dump your cats or your dogs if you don't find them cute anymore. Don't torture them and stop feeding them just because you don't think you can afford to. The least you can do is to let them find their own food. Spay and neuter your pets if you don't want them to reproduce before the next thing you know, you become the person who dumps their cats or dogs to the street. I'm not talking at random here, I've seen these things happening around me.

Subhanallah..God makes animals sinless-because they don't have the level of intelligence like we do. But what they do know is to love you and PRAY for you. Trust me, insyaAllah when you keep your animals and treat them well, they always pray for your endless rezeki and happiness.

To end this, jamu mata with my baby girl Dodo OK;)..She's just like any other cats, loving the sometimes tight space to find comfort and security, and that's all animals -including street animals- need in their lives.

Mari Gelak Togeder-Geder..:D

2010-04-29T14:47:00.007+08:00

Hola!!

This is the fest that I've been waiting for this whole month:)

PJ Laugh Fest 2010.

Seriously, when do we seek laughter in our life? We know the saying, laughter is the best medicine. But why so serious?

In our quest for happiness, we benchmark that with the amount of money we have, the things we buy, the children we have, the property we own and the job we do. But have we thought about being happy in the friends we have, the smile we give and receive everyday, and of course, the laughter we have?

Let's look at the sunny side of life shall we? I know I want to, and always try to.

So starting from tomorrow night, PJ Live Art will be presenting the month-long PJ Laugh Fest, starting with..

This is what I'm gonna watch tomorrow night. Got my tickets earlier (discounted price of RM36 only), and here's a bit of info on that performance.

So You Think You Can Mamak?
30th April - 1st May : 3 PM & 8.30 PM
Starring - Na'a Murad, Megat Sharizal, Bella Rahim, Nick Davis & Kuah Jenhan
Directed by - Joanna Bessey

Synopsis :
What happens when a Malaysian Adventurer, an Ambitious Achiever, a Protective Father-type and a Nerdy Pragmatist sit down for a typical Mamak Session? Find out in this devised, original comedy piece. Which type person are you? So you think YOU can mamak?

Many other performances-skits, live acts and comedy theatre such as this are lined up throughout this Fest. I hope I can catch more, and at the same time, be able to support our local arts movement.

In the meantime, let me just go to my corner and practice my laugh...Muahahahhahahahha?? Or kekekkekekekekkeke??? Or ahakkkkkssss..? Or Hahahhahhihiihihhiiihuhuhuhuhhuuhu..?

So let's all laugh togeder-geder OK!!:)

*p.s- Mizz Ray tak dapat upah pun promote benda ni. Just buat public announcement jer. Review will come later OK;)
*p.p.s- All photos and infos from PJ Laugh Fest website:)