Ah, but then.. It's my thing. It's my Premium Beautiful.

Premium Beautiful: Year End Promo!

2011-11-26T22:58:00.000+08:00

Heyya ladies~! Good news for you, I'm having Premium Beautiful year end promotion !!

Come on.. join these ladies who successfully shaped themselves.. not only to look good, but to be healthier!!

You know what you gotta do.. Pick up the phone and call me!! :)

Promo ends 31st December 2011. Deadline extension on request only :)

Recent happenings

2011-11-25T23:05:00.000+08:00

I just got back from Melaka attending PETRONAS Instrument Forum at Melaka Refinery. Ahemmm.. well, 'attending' may not be so appropriate to describe it, as I was a part of the organizing committee doing the role I do and love best: emceeing :D

Luckily Ain and Aishah were around to accompany me and babysit Zara while I was away from the hotel. Although Holiday Inn Melaka is indeed a very nice hotel (not to mention expensive!) it is quite far from the refinery. Yeah I know 22 km sounds near, but try driving using the bumpy village roads, surrounded by reckless drivers.. that 22 km everyday felt like forever in the car. For one, Melaka sure has a lot of bad drivers! I'll think twice to come back there driving on my own.

Here are a few pics we took along the days. Very few, but memorable indeed :)

Zara all geared up to travel! Yay~

Mama and Zara at the hotel lobby.. ready nak jalan-jalan cari makan

My sisters who helped me look after Zara :) Malam je boleh keluar.. nak lunch kena order room service je la.. Sian korang sure boring kan..

Zara sound asleep despite the noisy surrounding. Penat sangat la agaknya ni..

Time sure does fly fast. And in a few days' time, Zara will reach 6 months old. Mama sooo can't wait! Wonder how will Zara feel about eating pureed food after this. She has already shown 'interest' to eat whenever she sees me eating in front of her. Last week, she grabbed the bread I was holding and quickly put in her mouth. Okay okay, very soon you will get to eat okay darling.

Now I feel kinda settled to go outstation again. The phase of I-so-wanna-work-from-home is kinda fading. I can concentrate on both work and family now. Kabi said that one can't win in the game of succeeding in both working and parenting. But I strongly beg to differ. I want both. It's better to have both 80%-80% than scoring at work and losing touch with our children. Well, maybe dads just have different ideas than moms do.

Okay, I'm hearing calls from Miri..

Zara Soraya, get ready!

Can I breastfeed while wearing Premium Beautiful?

2011-11-10T08:13:00.000+08:00

As a working mom, it is not always easy to juggle between work and family. When I say WORK, it means adhoc outstation assignments, sudden report/ proposal submissions, engineering reports, etc.

Zara is still breastfeeding, and that means I will need to pump out the milk whenever I am at work. Outstation or not, I do it religiously. Thanks to my hubby and friends for the support. Now that Zara's approaching 6 months, I am glad to tell that Zara still feeds exclusively on my milk. Not to say that I have a lot of it, but so far it is sufficient for Zara :)

Now that I'm wearing Premium Beautiful, the case is, can I still breastfeed/ pump the milk out? The answer is a big fat YES!! Well, if not, I definitely won't buy it, since Zara is the priority now in whatever I do.

Ok, so how to still wear Premium Beautiful when you're pumping? Here's how :)

Loosen the straps of the log bra, and pull down the cup.This works best especially if you're using a manual pump/ electric pump that needs you to hold it while pumping.

Alright this one looks kinda familiar with mothers who pump using Medela, especially Freestyle (yeah I'm one of the Freestylers too!). Use 'Hook A' and and just hook it at the long bra adjuster.

To attach the side strap to your body, clasp the strap to your waist nipper. So now you're ready to pump for your darling angel!

Easy kan? Yeah.. and because Premium Beautiful helps your blood circulation, it also helps to increase your milk production. Well, for me it increased to about 1 - 1.5 ounces. That's good enough for me in one day.

Women and mothers out there, I know we are busy with our work and deadlines, but we gotta take care of ourselves too! Wearing Premium Beautiful is just an effortless way to help you not only to stay in shape, but also to deal with our womanly problems like sagging, menstrual problems, etc.

So contact me now! I'm giving discounts to those who respond early. You may be one of the lucky customers!

I said byebye to cellulite with Premium Beautiful!

2011-11-02T13:34:00.001+08:00

To date, after wearing Premium Beautiful like a month, these are my results:

No more cellulite at my thighs (it was really bad after Zara's delivery)

No love handles anymore.. yay!

My tummy has firmed up! I see a better me inside the mirror~

Most importantly.. I can wear my old kebayas again..!!

I can run freely in my Premium Beautiful! Jgn harap la nak berlari2 if I'm just using nursing bra inside.. Pergi Terry Fox Run mesti pakai PB! (ok, maaf la belum sempat nak amik gambar lagi.. busy with work.. going outstation some more)

What did I do? I only wear PB and walk daily from Dayabumi to LRT station.. that's it. Food? I eat as usual since I'm breast feeding.. asyik lapar je.. haishhh..

This month alone, I have 3 events to MC.. have to look good for the events. Thanks God I have a little secret to help me. It's Premium Beautiful~ :D

My very own business - get beautiful with Premium Beautiful!

2011-10-07T22:04:00.048+08:00

Siapa la akan terfikir (eh, ada ke orang nak terfikir apa-apa tentang I selain encik Suami terchenta?) yang I akan join a business? I was not business-minded pun all this while! I am always this someone with the user mindset (ni payah ni kalau nak kerja jadi vendor..)

And what’s more, I joined Premium Beautiful business! The business for ladies - that was my impression. I bukan lady kah? Nama blog pun Lady Rora kan.. Memang la lady… Lady yang tak lady-like sangat. Hehe.

At first I thought I won’t have a reason to join this business. I did read a few blogs that sell Premium Beautiful. Quite a number of success stories from girls who are doing this business. But I never felt there is a need to do the same. To feel envious memang jauh sekali la. I tak pernah rasa jealous pun kat anyone for anything except if they beat me in studies. Tapi tu sampai zaman SPM je la.. Sebab kat Uni, title pelajar cemerlang tu orang lain dah ambil (and I pun tak kuasa nak kiasu2 lagi dah cuz my Uni life was a great one too..)

And so.. this is my first post to tell the world about my business. Yeahh.. Online business. Dah lama terfikir nak buat. Tapi at that time, I was really clueless on what to sell. Nak dapat baju2 from China/ Korea tu I am not so interested. In the end, I choose to be a distributor for Premium Beautiful. Thanks to Naa and Hanis Haizi for that evening meet-up. I left the meeting with a heart with determination!

Meet-up with Hanis Haizi @ Aseana Cafe KLCC

So.. interested to get a hold of this wonderful corset? Contact me then.. at 0192787433. Email pun okay jer. sharifahzahira@gmail.com ya :) Nak good price boleh.. :)

Have I tried the corset personally? Of cos laa..!! Nanti I upload gambar k. Tak sempat2 nak amik gambar sendiri lagi..

This is PREMIUM BEAUTIFUL corset!

Mula-mula memang rasa mencabar jugak nak pakai. Tapi berkat tunjuk ajar my sponsor, Naa, dah pandai pakai sekejap je without any help. Naa kata boleh pakai in 2 minutes' time, so of cos la I can do it kan.

It's really different from the corset that I bought for myself masa time2 nak kahwin dulu.. Kalau pakai corset lama tu je, sure akan dapat kesan dawai tu. And worse, my skin macam melecet jugak la.. mana taknya, tangan ni kan gatal je nak garu kalau ada discomfort. Huhu.. sudahnya corset tu tersimpan dalam almari dengan jayanya lepas wedding. Ntah mana dah the full set.

PB ni, what's special about it is that the material is soft and comfy to be worn the entire day, apart from the fact that it has FIR (memang I dah tak yah nak singgah2 spa untuk pergi sauna FIR tu dah) Apatah lagi I'm currently exclusively breastfeeding my baby. No, Premium Beautiful does not interfere with breastfeeding! I'm so glad. Apa2 benda yang interfere with my breastfeeding is my musuh you know! Ok2, not musuh la.. I anggap macam cabaran la.. and the best of all, Premium Beautiful is not one of them at all! And right now, I need the support, which I totally cannot get by wearing nursing bra. So far nursing bra yang ada underwire hanyalah Autumnz je, but itupun cannot provide support. Sangat menyedihkan.. Yeah.. the love-hate relationship between me and my nursing bras. Isk.

But I know, if those yang pakai PB ni aimnye nak kurus, kena la berdisiplin ye. Pakai PB in daily manner, and maintain a good diet too! Tak guna la pakai PB tapi hari2 bantai roti canai 4 keping kan.. Ntah2 exercise pun tak mampu nak habiskan kalori sebanyak 4 keping roti canai iteuuww..

Oklah, nanti ai mengarang lagi. Tomorrow will be a long day at work. Arrgghhh.. Working from home is always the best option forever! Tapi for now, itu mimpi yang belum menjadi kenyataan lagi laa..

Til then, loves from me, your Premium Beautiful agent!

* Siti Nurhaliza pun depend dengan PB..

Episod rumah baru: Garden Homes Bangi

2011-10-05T14:16:00.031+08:00

1st October 2011. A fresh start for Papa, Mama and Zara. In our new home ;)

Finally.. after months of waiting, we have now moved to our own house in Garden Homes, Bangi!

The house was started to be renovated soon after Zara was delivered. We knew we shouldn't wait any longer since we already gotten the house key before Papa got back from the UK.

After like 2 months + of renovation, designing our own kitchen and TV cabinets (and getting them to be completed by the contractor pun lama jugak!) and a few weeks of scouting for furniture (believe me, we were sickeningly choosy..) we were ready to move in.. yay~! after all the hard work.. Sian Papa.. he was the planner, he was the designer of the bathrooms and cabinets (and I got to do the approving part je.. hehe.. was in confinement kan.. sure la tak larat) he was the project manager.. semualah. Really, kudos to you sayang :) Memang well-rounded habis.

Right now, the basic furniture are already in. Maybe if we have time to go to HomeDec exhibition this weekend, maybe we'll find more interesting things to buy. I just can't stop thinking about that Dyson fan... arrghhh..

So peeps, these are a few pics of the house that we took over the months.. and how it looks like now ;)

Renovation works ongoing. Everything was dumped at the car porch, huhu.. Belum scrub2 lagi lantai porch neh..

Air cond guy installing the mounting bracket. I think the guy in white was Acin, our plaster ceiling + wiring contractor. I call him Chuck Bass cuz he had the berlagakkss attitude.

I love the mosaic on the wall. The cabinet installation really took quite some time to be completed. Yeah, alright, impatient me.

So okay.. rumah dah siap.. So here's how it looks like presently..

The living room. Someone asked us if we bought the TV cabinet from Ikea. Haha, no we didn't. It was designed by Hubby and me, after doing a lot of googling on modern TV cabinets. The curtains were tailored by The Living Depot, Bangi. They measured, helped us with the curtain choices and installed them up. They have good discounts too.

The dining room. Yeah, you must be thinking that we may have this 'white' fetish kan? Haha. not really anyway. Just suka dengan dining set ni. Tu je :)

The kitchen - my face place! While my Hubby was in the UK, I had lots of time to shop alone. So I did my share of scouting for choices of kitchen cabinet (especially!) among other things, and learned a lot from cabinet vendors. I was thoroughly educated on pressboards, solid surface top, granite top, concrete top, melamine door, acrylic door, 3G door, 4G door....etc. If you are a choosy lot, you'll find that there are many ways to minimize the cost (and many ways to increase the cost too, haha!). We chose to use quartz top, which costs more than granite top. Yeah, agak mahal la.. but it's worth it, because I know myself. I'm careless. Quartz top (and granite top) will not be stained by spills of turmeric powder or curry power. Ni pun dah a few times tersprinkle curry powder atas top. A lot of things I can write about cabinets. Tapi hm, malas la nak cerita lebih2. Just ask me (or pergi je la kedai cabinet kan :D) if you wanna know more.

The bedroom. The bed pun putih jugak. Ornamented divine bed and 11" Sweetdream mattress. Tilam memang sedap la kan.. Lesson learnt from the mattress in my room back in Sg Buloh.. asyik sakit pinggang je. The red background tu saja je. Nampak meriah sikit.

The main bathroom. We totally revamped this bathroom. The color was inspired by KL Convention Centre toilet (claimed by Hubby lah.. he usually has events going there.. and he actually snapped a few photos of the toilet there and bought the tiles to follow its color)

And my little darling Zara makin enjoy mandi in her Puj Tub. Got it soon after my boss told me I had to go outstation. It's like a mobile bath place for babies up to 6 months. Mandi kat sink je eh sayang.. kurang la sikit sakit pinggang mama.. :)

Housewarming? In the plan.. In the plan.. Hopefully before end of the year. Hubby says we might need to do it in batches, sebab kitaorg malas nak rearrange the furniture. Nape malas? Because we are the only 2 adults in the house.. and orang perempuan mana boleh angkat heavy things.. Especially after delivery. Lagi kena jaga tau.

Hehe. Just wait for our invitation ya bebehs!

I'm writing this with Beast's Fiction playing in my head

2011-09-13T22:58:00.001+08:00

Hye guys :)

Just to write it down here. I connected my blog to my Facebook notes. But the full blog post will not be shown in the notes. To view the entire text, click at the 'View Original Post' button (kiasu takut orang baca truncated post.. Afraid if anyone will get the wrong idea..)

If there is one thing I feel like doing now, it's still shopping. And if I think I'm about to go broke, well then window shopping is fair enough :p Surrounded by Groupon-crazy girlfriends only makes it worse. I know I know, Internet shopping can be an alternative.. Hmm I guess it's not the same with walking into nice-smelling/ perfume-scented retail shops. It somehow feels tranquilizing..

And.. If there is one thing I wanna wish for, I wish that I will be able to continuously feed Zara exclusively with breast milk. So far I'm doing good, all praises to Allah. Zara has reached 6.25kg last weekend, syukur alhamdulillah.

Oh yeah.. Did I mention I already reached below pre-pregnancy weight? Hehe. I think the credit goes to breastfeeding and that Shaklee ESP shake. Exercise? Hmm, I only do short distance walking everyday for about ten minutes. No rigorous exercise yet.

I was rearranging my hanged clothes last night when I found a pair of maternity pants still having its price tag. I totally have forgotten about it. It's not that I have many maternity wear anyway. But I still like to wear one of those baggy maternity slacks.. Very comfy and airy.

A few days have passed with me being busy at the office preparing the 2012 budget for I&C. Being a budget preparer may sound cool if I'm a planner or a HR personnel, but doing so in my department somehow makes me feel lame. Somebody told me before never to decline any work from the boss. But I wonder does that statement apply to very occasion? I don't really think so. But neither can I decline anyway. Somebody has to do it. I know that I have the 'can do it' attitude. Though at times the positive vibes can somehow be affected by negative and judgmental remarks from boastful chests. Oh well, people come into your lives and will soon leave..

I really envy people who get to do what their hearts or minds are fond of. But one in my list is already labeled as 'just forget it'. I do have another thing in mind, but I'm kinda clueless on how to go about it even though I've been doing it for more than half a decade. Poor thing. I wonder if Beckham weren't a footballer, would he be this successful? It's not that easy to tell eh..

Some blabs before Raya arrives

2011-08-22T22:03:00.003+08:00

My Eid this year will be a lot different than the previous ones. Of course it will be extra special with Zara's presence :) I'll be celebrating the first two days of Eid at husband's grandma's place. It may be a lil awkward I suppose since most of the relatives there are very much new to me. Oh well, like husband always says, that's how grown ups celebrate their raya. Yeah.. And in a few weeks' time we'll be moving to Bangi. Gosh.. I'll have my own set of neighbors.. Even the neighbors around my parents' house, most of them I hardly recognize their faces. I'm kinda sure that I'll meet many friendly faces in the new neighborhood (I hope!)

Guess this year is the year of adjusting.. Adapting.. Totally grownups' affair..

Last year, we celebrated Eid in London. Though husband and I were surrounded by newly-met friends, but it was certainly a fun Eid. Perhaps it was due to our talent in the kitchen, cooking all sorts of dishes usually prepared during Eid, so missing Malaysia didn't feel that bad. Or maybe because we just knew how to adapt ourselves being far away from families..

The preparation for Eid this year, I think, is more centered around Zara. I guess it's somehow true that parents do shopping for their kids more than they do for themselves. Well, never I mind, because shopping for little girls has this sense of never-ending excitement. Can't wait for Zara to grow.. So that mommy can dress her up! :D

But too bad I'll only have 2 weeks to celebrate Eid. The remaining 2 weeks will be spent in Bintulu for work. Though Zara will come along, but honestly I can't imagine myself staying with only her without her daddy, aunties and atoks. I am beginning to think that being a working mother is not at all easy. But staying out of work is never a good idea.. No matter how thick-pocketed a husband is.

Oh well, Ramadhan is ending in about a week's time. Time flies.. Scarily fast..

If I can make wishes on Eid, I guess I would wish for the most time with Zara and husband. The whole-week leave is the best time for me to compensate the time I am away at work. And oh, I hope that we'll make it to move to our new home :) husband's really worked his b*** off to get all the renovation plan completed on time. This week, we'll be shopping for a few more items. Can't wait to get them done!

Alright, til then, I'd like to wish you guys Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin :) Enjoy your time with your beloveds!

Hmm..

2011-08-20T23:05:00.003+08:00

Never thought 'Stop and Stare' by One Republic would again be the almost-perfect words to describe how I am now.

I need to find out what I want exactly. Seems like I'm moving but actually, I am going nowhere. God, help!

The last days of pregnancy (and the thank-yous)

2011-07-05T16:37:00.000+08:00

Hello guys :) it has really been a while hasn't it? I wrote that I'm gonna write another post before I pop, but it didn't happen. Trust me, the month of May was a hectic one. Even though I spent most of the time only at the office, but the hours at the office were really occupied with reports and updates. Then, occasionally I wasn't fit enough.. a bit of fever and fatigue at times.. so, I couldn't really write.

Well, I'm gonna tell you what happened on the days that I really felt were eventful.

May 22nd. Mr. Hubby and I had the chance to go on another mini honeymoon. We got this great deal to stay at Pullman Hotel, so we chose to go to the one in Putrajaya for 3 days and 2 nights. I must say we were lucky to get a room facing the lake. The scene from the room was splendid!

The view from our balcony

A view of the hotel

Mr. Hubby and Mrs. Fatty Me

May 26th. I had my checkup with Dr. Idora. This checkup was a bit different from my previous checkups where Dr. Idora performed what I call the 'finger' examination. Ala, the type of examination where the doctor measures how much a pregnant lady has dilated. Not sure what I am talking about? Ala, go google it lah :p I was pretty much excited about it. New experience lah katakan.. It didn't really hurt like what my colleagues told me. Well, maybe it's a different experience for different people.

May 27th. I was at the office completing my work, hoping that they would finish before my baby's due date. Anyway I was feeling a bit weird that day after the 'finger examination'. After lunch, I noticed there were extra discharge and I didn't feel good about it. Colleagues around me urged that I should go to the hospital. Yatt took the trouble to drive me to the hospital and waited for almost 2 hours until I completed the checkup. Luckily I was not ready for labor. The nurse in charge performed the 'finger' examination and said my opening was only about 1 cm. She advised me to go home.

May 28th. From just mere clear-pinkish discharge, it turned to be period-like discharge. I was really nervous. I spent the night at the labor room whereby I was placed under observation. Minor contractions started to take place (well, even though they were minor, they were painful ok!) Dr. Idora was away on leave, so I was put under Dr. Premitha's supervision instead. She came the next morning and had me examined. The opening was still 1 cm. So I went home that Sunday morning.

May 29th. I really couldn't sleep that night. My abdomen was aching like every 10 minutes the entire night. I wondered what sort of pain it could be. But never in my mind would I think it was the early stage of labor pain.

May 30th. That morning I woke up feeling drowsy, tired and in pain. I told my mom I felt like passing motion but I couldn't. She said I should go to the hospital. Luckily Mr. Hubby decided to take EL. After being examined by the nurse, she confirmed that the opening was already 5cm. "You're ready for labor, Sharifah!" The nervous feeling was no more at that time.. it was more to 'come what may' mode.

So 12 hours in labor room.. and at about 10.30 pm, Zara Soraya was born. I never thought that 'Zara Soraya' would really exist in my life, but thank Allah, she's here. And what's more important, she's mine :)

"Hello World!"

I would like to thank my parents, siblings and friends (especially Yatt, Caah, Aween, Kak Nedd, Kak Wahida, Zamila and Ziadora) who helped me when I was going through my pregnancy. It was a great and a fun journey. Zara was really strong inside me, even though when I was chasing Dayabumi's elevator or the LRT or doing brisk walking.

I am now near to the end of my confinement (which I think I'm gonna miss!). Thanks Mak Abah for taking care of me and the baby, thanks Ain, Aishah and Ozal for helping me watching over Zara, and thanks Mr. Hubby too for going through the sleepless nights with me.I'm not sure if I'm gonna miss not being able to sleep, but I surely don't wanna miss watching Zara grow.

Oh well, motherhood's here to stay..~

These final few weeks..

2011-05-05T07:50:00.000+08:00

Okay nampaknya saya memang sungguh pemalas nak update blog tahun 2011 ni. One update per month.. it used to be 3 average posts in 2010 and 4 in 2009.. Well, nothing big to tell, really.. what I'm undergoing now is very much similar to what other women have experienced.. so I guess it's not a big deal..

Ok, so I'm in the final stage of my pregnancy.. soon reaching 9 months' mark. Yeah, I'm kinda feeling excited about it.. always imagining that my baby and I will lie on the bed together.. with me looking at her in disbelief since she was formerly inside me. Ahh, saya memang suka berangan!

Hubby's back for good. Good :) No need to skype anymore, what more with the lousy wireless connection at home (Cisco modem pun boleh buat hal eh? Kalau Huawei boleh la terima..) I just hope the 1st shipment he sent back will reach home in time.. if not, I'll be missing my Medela and will have to scout for a manual breastpump instead. Cis. Tak nak!

I'll be having my checkup today. Usually it's on Saturdays, but I will be attending antenatal class with my hubby this Saturday, so I have to reschedule the visit to the doctor. There are a lot of things going on for us presently.. We're not only focusing on the baby's arrival, but also we are in the preparation to get our Bangi house ready. Last week, hubby and I went to Homedec at KL Convention Center, and we bought the kitchen hob-cooking hood-oven set and a Coway water filter. It sounds like we didn't really shop, doesn't it? Those 2 items already costing us more than RM5k ok. Baru 2 benda.. lom lagi cabinet idaman hati itu. Well, the cabinet issue is something to be deeply thought about. I booked promotional prices with 2 cabinet vendors, but I am having second thoughts on their available range of colors and materials (dem!) Nasib tak bayar banyak pun.. if not.. sob sob..

I think this won't be the last post before I pop. I'll update later. Til then, latersss~

:)

2011-04-21T21:39:00.001+08:00

.. He's coming back on a jet plane..

Episod perut buncit

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

I'm writing this to fulfill my promise to Ziad: to write something on my experience so far in this almost 7 months' journey.

Right now, if I were to line up my friends: Ziad, Zamila, Caah, Diyana, Kak Nedd and Kak Wahida, I'll be 4th in waiting to rock the delivery room (haha). How macho (read: calm) can I get being in the delivery room? Well, if it's not my usual macho moment, being more macho than average ladies would be satisfactory already (tapi time sakit nanti apa pun dah takleh fikir kot!)

Hmm.. perut saya tak selonjong ini..

What do I feel right now? Hmm.. I dunno. Can't exactly put my feelings into accurate words. There's a bit of being excited, worried, scared, and then worried again.. totally mixed. Hubby's still not back yet. I guess that is the normal destiny for most wives in GTS. Seeing my friends being okay despite their husbands' absence makes me feel that I'm not alone.

This afternoon, I just had my 3rd checkup at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur. I really look forward to meeting the doctor and asking her tonnes of questions about the baby. So far, the doctor and her nurse are terrific. My doctor is very soft spoken, never fails to give me assuring answers about the uncertainties I have, though every check up means I will have to wait for my turn at least 2 hours, no matter how early I arrive. Oh yes, I am very patient in waiting for my turn. Unlike waiting for Ain after work. 5 minutes late and all the words are already in my head.

Mood-wise, I would say that I am getting to be more 'telinga nipis' than usual. So, if you don't have good or important things to share with me, better shut up and stay away.

Food-wise, I prefer the non-spicy ones. So the easiest choices would be tuna or egg sandwiches, nasi ayam, milk, soy drinks, oats and bread. But you know, it's hard to be choosy when there's not so much of choice to eat, especially around Dayabumi and Central Market area, where mamak food rules. Boring gila hari-hari makan thosai or fried meehoon. Wanna eat pancake? I will have to wait till weekends for that of course.

Oh, I avoid fast food too. Sounds really yucky to me.

For the record, I really like sweet things presently. There was once, I spent nearly 1.5 hours on the road (I wasn't aware that Le Tour de Langkawi arrived in Shah Alam that day, so the traffic was damn terrible) to get from home to SACC Mall to buy Big Apple doughnuts. Central Market's Secret Recipe is a regular lunch place now (seriously I am starting to feel economically burdened by this appetite for sweet stuff!) So to ensure that I eat healthily, I channel the sweet cravings to taking raisins daily. That somehow curbed my appetite for cakes and chocolates.

Nevertheless, I am proud (should I feel proud anyway??) that my weight hasn't really gone up the scale. To date, my weight has increased about 7.5 kilos. Today's checkup showed that my baby is already 1 kilo. But I am a bit concerned if the not-so-significant weight increase may mean that my milk production isn't going to be as much as I want. But yeah, there's always certain food that I can take to grow the milk production. So I suppose I shouldn't be worried that much.

I still take the LRT now and then to commute to work. The worst part is, no man who sits at the 'Aren't We Courteous?' area will ever get up and offer his seat to a pregnant lady like me. And every time that I see a young man sitting at that area, all the curse words in my head, I dedicate to him. Trust me, a LOT of curse words. Tinggal tak cakap aje.

But thanks to Asri for lending his City parking card, I can now save on parking when I feel like driving to work. Well, that is until he is back in KL anyway.

I guess I'll continue later. Talking too much about this, I'm afraid it might give signals that I am more thinking about my pregnancy than my work. Well, that's not true. If random readers were to think that way, they're wrong.

Well, people tend to judge when they don't know you.. that's what I think la..

To my baby, stay in there well okay. Mommy will try her best to eat nutritious food for you :) Mommy just ate her oats. Hope you liked it :)

It's not a break

2011-02-21T23:53:00.000+08:00

Hey hey.. I'm not taking a break yet alright.. Many things in mind to write about.. but am spared with too little time.. I'm foreseeing an update would be.. hmm.. soon enough?

To this important someone in my life

2011-01-12T20:38:00.001+08:00

I'm writing this because suddenly I feel like I need to. Because this person played a very important role in my growth. I consider her to be too old now, and I don't want to be writing this when she is gone, because she showed and taught as many things as she can to me. I hope anyone who reads this post, who knows her will tell her that I wrote this for her. No I won't tell her of course! Why? Because I'll cry before I get to end what I want to say. Yeah, I want her to know that I wrote this for her.

She's my grandmother. The one who has the life impossible to believe. The one who once walked with kings and ministers and great women, the one who always cooked for us (and yes, no one could beat her in the kitchen).. and now she's too fragile even to take care of herself.

I always observe her and I will always have the thinking that growing old is not fun at all. Especially after the age of 60s.

She came from a great family background. The family that brewed a few of the earliest national figures, and she herself was among those were involved in the the party who sought independence for the country. During her leisure time, she would be giving cooking lessons at the WI. I am proud of the fact that she was well-known. But the history has left us so far.. she could not really catch up with those days anymore.. only the stories of what is left in her mind.

She took care of us since we were mere infants. She taught us to recite the Muqaddam, to sing nursery rhymes, learn English and Math, and she would cook for us the wondrous dishes.. among our favorites were terutup, pajeri, masak kurma, masak semur, roast chicken, nasi tomato, roti canai sardin, roti jala,.. in short, we just name it. Whatever she cooked, it melted our senses. No matter how long it took for her to cook something, it never bothered her.

When I stepped into primary school, there were a few things that was hard for me to get. Like 'tolak-pinjam' mathematical operation in Standard 2. When she was trying to clear things for me, I was like, "how on earth can numbers know how to borrow. I thought only humans do that!" and I still remember how I told her to justify why the sound of the word 'knife' was pronounced without the 'k' sound. She seldom got mad at this cucu loyar buruk. In fact, to what I can remember, she never did. I used to hate playing 'congkak' with her, because I knew I would lose, but she was always generous of teaching me the strategy to win, even though I was full of resentment.

And every time I aced my exams, she would tell my siblings that I was exemplary. It made me feel great. No need fancy gifts. A praise like that was all I need. It was good in my quest to boost self-confidence.

There was one day, when she followed my sister and I to school, because we asked her to become our supporter for our all girl-band to perform during Teacher's Day. She came to cheer for us, and we won the juries' vote. Knowing that she was not so well, we were really touched by her gesture.

During exam seasons, she would be constantly performing solat hajat for us. She even knew what subjects we were sitting for each day. And when we got back from school feeling tired of answering the exams, she would make us lie down and massage our foreheads while reciting some doa.

She's a great fighter too. Dark life episodes, deadly diseases came her way. We thought we would lose her. But she made it through. That is also one of the reasons why I really believe she is an iron lady with a life impossible to believe.Yeah, who would believe if she told that she had dinner at the table together with the late Sultan of Johor? Well, we saw the pictures a few times before..

But yeah.. right now, age is really catching up with her.. and I feel bad of watching it.. I really miss the days when she was up and about. Thank God that my mom is watching her closely, like how my grandmother used to care for her mother, our great grandmother.

If any of you guys who knows her is reading this, please tell her that I wrote this for her.

To my sisters and brother, let's cherish her while she's here with us. We know she means the world to us. So let's prove it.

I'm so bored..

2010-12-25T22:00:00.000+08:00

What a plain boring 3-day weekend it is.

No new mail, silent handphone, boring TV programs, Ain being away to Penang.. hishh.. surely there's more meaning to life, Sharifah!

And what am I doing here in KL? I should be going somewhere to get fresh air! (ceh.. baru balik dari cuti nak cuti lagi eh..) Of course!

Not really looking forward for the new year.. Not after I completed watching 'The Arrivals' series.. hmm..

January used to be my fave month, but not anymore. Lately I don't think it's fun celebrating birthdays (it makes me feel aged.. :\ ).. unless if the occasion is for kids la..

Oh.. thank God for Haikal's reception tomorrow.. perhaps I'll meet some familiar faces.

(posting this entry is already enough to indicate how drop-dead bored I am..)

Heading towards 2011

2010-12-15T11:21:00.002+08:00

Until this entry is written, I have only 27 posts this year? Whoa.. a sharp drop in count la Sharifah. Does that indicate that I'm busier this year or I'm just plain lazy? Hm, maybe a bit of both :D

It feels like 2010 has surpassed the speed limit to reach December. It's already the mid of the month, and most of the people in the office are on holidays. Me? Well, I just came back from my long holiday, segan la pulak kan nak cuti lagi, though I still have a couple of days that I should spend away from the office.

New Year's Resolution

I am proud to say my 2010 resolutions are all met! Many good things and great experiences happened in 2010, I can never be more thankful to Him. Alhamdulillah.

Hmm, for 2011, these are some of the things that I would love to achieve:

To talk when needed
I notice lately that I talk a lot, especially when I'm excited. And I tend to feel guilty after that. So I hope next year, I will say only the necessary things.
To know how to answer to sarcasm
The thing is, I am never good in answering people who like to give sarcastic remark. Why? Because I like to be the good girl. I like to imagine myself as a cute and tame doe, though some friends say my facial expression looks 'garang'. Also, I believe it's not a worthwhile thing to entertain. You know, it's like "sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words shall not hurt me" kind of thing. But after a while, I do think that these sarcastic people should have a taste of my fist! So, watch out sarcastic people, be it a makcik, a pakcik, cik keletah whatsoever, I will have my own words to reply. Don't ever think that I'm a pushover!
To be a well-informed citizen who knows how to evaluate news and issues
If there is one thing I love about my dad apart from him being my dad, is that he always keeps abreast of the news around the world and will always have mind-opening opinions about the matters that are going on in the nation. I realize that I lack in that aspect. I don't really know how to achieve this goal; I guess having a wide source of information will somehow help. You see, I really aspire to be someone who expresses the opinions of the society. What more with the goings-on in Malaysia, where common people get more suppressed day by day. So far, I am so not qualified! Sigh.
To value money more
This is just to remind myself to be wiser in managing my money. Not that I'm a big spender; I just spend on the things I've budgeted for only. I would love to see more savings and diversed investments in 2011.

Things to expect in 2011:

Our baby's arrival, insya Allah :)
Our Bangi home modification! I'm going to Home ID Deco Expo tomorrow! Can't wait to find lotsa good stuff. And yes, I sooo can't wait to move into our own house. Though I know it's gonna be tiring, but after waiting for quite long (and by that time we're already married for over a year! A year staying in parents' house is definitely NOT COOL) moving into our own house is absolutely something to look forward to. Finally we will have our own privacy again.. like what we had in Reading.

Like we all always wish for the new year to be better than the year before, I have the same hope too. And while the new year is still very young, I will be a year older. And yes I do hope I would be a lot wiser. Wiser in judgment, wiser in words, wiser in action, wiser in life decision and wiser in religious matters.

"When the world pushes you to your knees, you are in perfect position to pray. If Allah brings you to it, He will bring you through it.."

I will tawakkal, do my best and leave the rest to Allah.

P.S: New year la sangat.. new year Islamic calendar da lepas da :P

He left on a jet plane..

2010-12-07T00:40:00.001+08:00

He went away again this time
leaving on a jet plane .. like he used to hum..
and that leaves me with a longer interval
to wait
ne'ermind..
I'll wait..

It's not like we have never done this before..
only the time was shorter
and they say if you could wait for years..
what is a-few-months to compare..

yeah..

And they say again
distance makes the heart grow fonder
not to mention absence too..
well, I am trying to get a grip on them
though I do believe in those sayings..
yeah, I do..

My dear,
be strong there..
I'll take care of myself for you
:)

yours lovingly..

From Heathrow to KLIA

2010-11-28T20:17:00.005+08:00

Finally, my 3 months vacation has reached its end. I am already home for 6 days. How time flies..! What can I say, these 6 days have been the busiest days since the last one month! Just got back from hubby's grandma's house in Muar, and I'm gonna start working in a couple of days.

The journey back home from London was, should I say, for the time being, was a once-in-a-lifetime-on-own-expense experience. I loved the journey, and I really wished the plane would have flown slower so that I'll reach KL a bit delayed, haha. Thanks to my beloved hubby for the treat.

We flew on different flights. He was on MAS, and his flight was 9 hours after mine! Pity that he had to wait so long at Heathrow. Sian sayang..

My boarding pass to Abu Dhabi.. before heading back to KL

Spent some time filling in my empty stomach at Etihad lounge before the flight.. and best of all, the surau was really nice..~

At Pearl Business Class section. I like the concept. Privacy oriented.

My seat of London-Abu Dhabi journey.. they changed it to 9A. Well, the most important thing is that it was the window seat :D

The entertainment system + navigator map display and my leg-rest. I spent the journey watching Salt and Grown Ups :D (takde la best sangat pun cerita Salt.. biasa je. Only that I got to laugh at Schreiber because Jolie was tougher, despite her skinny frame)

At Abu Dhabi Airport Etihad lounge :D

A not-so-strategic view of the lounge food parlour

I had chicken briyani at the lounge.. just had to eat even though it was already reaching final call for my flight. If not, nausea would come to attack! As usual, I was almost the last person to board the plane (i like..~)

Okay, here we go.. KL, here we come!

The Pearl Business section was mostly unfilled. Unlike in the journey to Abu Dhabi (pak Arab main first/ business class aje!)The flight to KL was a bit boring.. I guess I missed the Chinese stewardess from the previous flight. She was a lot better than the stewardess who was in charge of my section.

A view of Abu Dhabi from an elevation.. the city looked great at night!

I really missed the journey.. and I am damn sure I could do it again, even with my stomach getting bigger! Well, perhaps next time, I'll be on business trips again :) (tapi asyik Miri + Kerteh, dah boring dah.. :| what to do..)

I wanna makan!

2010-11-03T02:26:00.000+08:00

Woho..I had nothing written in October!

Oh well, I was sooo lazy to write. And this all-day-long nauseous feeling got me to be so unfriendly.

Currently, I don't really look forward for a new day. Why? Because all that I can think of when I wake up is "Hmm, what can I eat today?" How pathetic is it to think of what to eat as soon as one gets out of the bed? I think my appetite is pathetic. The choices I have are pathetic too.

I can almost guarantee that I won't miss Subway's tuna sandwich for quite sometime. Unlike I could eat tuna sandwich everyday at Central Market food court before.

And hmm, chicken dishes right now, also make me feel queasy. Even the smell of KFC can make me euuughh, bluekkkhhh!! Unless it's normally fried like the ones in ordinary Malaysian eateries. Thank God that my husband brought me to Malaysia Hall to have breakfast last Saturday. That fried meehoon I had.. it was sooo good.

Just look at me.. I couldn't even take another glance off the plate! And the teh tarik, it was heaven. Oops, that paru dish was hubby's. I don't like paru btw.

I really hope that I'll get something like this for the coming weekend. Dah boring asyik makan sandwich sardin and scrambled eggs. And am so sick of the smell of Punjabi food too..

You know, it's really not like me.. I couldn't even careless before if lunch was the final meal of the day. Now, no more.

Haih, selera.. selera.. mau makan apa.. sambil berfikir, sambil tu angin masuk perut!!

A hint of Edinburgh and jom masak II: Mutton Lasagna

2010-09-27T19:12:00.000+08:00

Oh well, I decide to kill time with blogging in this cold morning. It is drizzling now outside the hotel and Princes Street is not as busy as it was yesterday. I am very lucky because the view from my room is breathtaking, and that there are many outlets for me to do my mini shopping along Princes Street. I'm so excited :)

Edinburgh Castle on the distant hill. And this Gothic structure is the Scott Monument, dedicated to the Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott

The left-side view of my window: Looking toward North Bridge and Balmoral Hotel

Okay, let's get on with our lasagna! Fellas, this recipe is simple yet tasty, and I'm sure you can do it too!

This recipe is for 4 - 6 persons. So if you're making it for a smaller number of people, you can just decrease the measurements, but you know, it's always good to cook a little bit more, in case someone wants second or third helping :D

Alright. The things you will need:

Lasagna sheets of course! I bought the one that didn't need pre-cooking.

Oh yeah, don't forget to preheat the oven.

For the minced mutton gravy:

1. 300 grams of minced mutton (yeah, you can definitely use meat too, it's just that it is easier to get halal mutton here in Reading)

2. 1 can of sliced button mushrooms

3. 500 g of lasagna sauce (I use Dolmio's, but yeah, any lasagna sauce will do)

4. Salt, sugar and pepper to taste (white or black, up to you. I like both :D)

5. A hint of oregano

6. 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Here's how I do it:

Heat the olive oil into the pan. Then put in the minced mutton and let it fry for about 4-5 minutes, or until all the parts have turned brown. After that, pour in the lasagna sauce and stir well to get the mutton to blend well with it. Simmer for about 2-3 minutes, and then put in the mushrooms. Add in salt, sugar and pepper until the taste meets your expectations.

My gravy looked like this! I love the colour

Ok. Now, the white sauce:

1. 50 grams of butter

2. 3 tablespoons of flour (if you want the sauce to be thicker, you can use more flour)

3. 500 ml of fresh milk

4. Chopped cheddar cheese (amount up to your liking)

5. Salt and sugar to taste

As usual, heat up the pan and put in the butter. When the butter has melted, put in the flour, half tablespoon at a time. Stir well before adding more flour. After that, pour in the fresh milk, and mix it well with the flour and butter. Add in the chopped cheddar. Stir until the cheese has completely dissolved in the mixture. Add in sugar and salt to your preferred taste.

Mine was made to be a bit thick.. and I put in half block of the cheddar

Now, let's begin layering the lasagna. First, spread the gravy evenly in the baking tin. The place the first layer of lasagna sheets on top of it. Spread again the gravy, and add the white sauce on top of the gravy before covering with the lasagna sheets. Repeat the process until the gravy is all used up. After placing the last layer of lasagna sheets, spread the top with the white sauce.

Just like this

Now it's ready to go into the oven. 170-180 degrees Celsius, 40-50 minutes. I prefer slow, not-too-high-temperature cooking. So I tend to lower the heat a bit toward the final 10 minutes of the cooking to 160 degrees and add in extra 5 minutes.

And so, voila! The lasagna! Nyum2~ tastes better than the lasagna of Suria KLCC level 2 food court

Sian sayang.. I spoilt his healthy eating habit! Sorry sayang.. seronok ada kawan nak teman makan.. so comes the appetite :D

Jom masak: Rendang daging!!

2010-09-23T18:39:00.000+08:00

Some friends (and at times some busybodies too..) asked me what do I do at home when hubby's off to work. Well, I would say my life so far has been really great and I am well-occupied. Cooking, cleaning the house, doing daily shopping, browsing for new recipes, doing the laundry, quality times with hubby, etc. So far, every weekend is spent traveling around. Not too much of shopping activities as yet (so perhaps, some acquaintances can forget the idea of asking me to get them something from the factory outlet. I rather fill my luggage with my stuff) As much as I do miss the office, I don't really feel like going back either. Oh well, good times always fly fast.

Speaking of cooking, I made this rendang 2 days ago, after badly craving for something spicy and has a hint of 'raya' (oops.. please don't misconstrue the word 'craving' yah.. I just cooked it because I love rendang)

What was special about this rendang is that I made the kerisik and the chiili paste myself. And best of all, the rendang received a mark of 9/10 from my hubby :D Of course I was excited about it, because his tastebuds are hard to please! Oh, that 1 mark deduction was because the rendang was a bit hot. Hubby doesn't really like his meals to taste hot, unless they are sambal.

Ok so, let me walk you through..

The chilli paste

To make the chilli paste less hot, discard all the chilli seeds by cutting the chillies. Soaking the chillies (which are already being cut) in water may help to get rid of the seeds, in case you don't really wanna get rid of seeds from the chillies one by one.

Then, boil the chillies until they appear softened. Don't forget to add in a bit of salt into the water. You can stir once in a while (well, there's no restrictions to do so!) Then, when you're done boiling, let them cool off for a while. Place them in the blender and add in water and 3-4 tablespoons of cooking oil before blending. The cooking oil will help to smoothen the texture of the chilli paste.

There you go, the finely-blended chilli paste

Ok, let's move on to the next one

Kerisik

I didn't have the slightest idea that morning that I would be making the kerisik myself. I told myself that if I were to look high and low, I would probably find it. But I guess I didn't look as thorough as I should, or maybe because it was just not there. Luckily I managed to find dessicated coconut. So here goes..

Pour in the dessicated coconut onto a pan. No oil necessary. Just the dessicated coconut. Heat it until the dessicated coconut becomes more brownish from time to time. Near-to-dark-brown is just fine.

Mine turned out like this. I wanted it to be dark brown so that my rendang will turn out darker :)

Next, blend the brown dessicated coconut with 3 tablespoon of cooking oil. No water needed. Well, yeah it's kinda difficult to blend without water. But, yeah, just try to do it anyway.

So this was my kerisik outcome. Yeah, a little coarse, just the way I wanted it to be :)

Okay, so now it's time to make rendang!!

Well, these are basically all the things you need :)

The back row: Cooking oil, cumin powder (jintan manis), coriander (ketumbar), nutmeg powder (serbuk buah pala), fennel seed (jintan putih), salt;

In the bowls: tamarind juice, chilli paste, blended ingredients (1 large onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 inch of ginger, 1 inch of galangal, 3 stalks of lemongrass, 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder) Remember the blended ingredients are estimations for 300 grams of meat. If your meat weighs more, then you may need to double the numbers. Still, it depends on your taste of rendang. I mean like how you expect it to be;

3/4 Can of Carnation evaporated milk (to replace coconut milk), 300 grams of meat, palm sugar (Gula Melaka), kaffir lime leaf and of course, cinnamon, star anise, cardamon and cloves. I call them 'the four friends'.

Right, so we are ready to start cooking our rendang!

Heat the pan. Pour in the cooking oil and wait for it to get heated up. Then pour in the blended ingredients and the four friends into the pan. Stir well and until the oil emerges on top of the ingredients, then put in the chilli paste. Stir thoroughly and again, wait until the oil emerges.

Then pour in half can of the evaporated milk. Stir well, then put the meat in the mixture. Let it cook until the gravy looks thick enough.

It will look something like this

If the gravy is getting thicker and the meat is not yet well-cooked, feel free to add in water in the amount that you feel is good enough to get the meat to tender. Remember to cook on medium heat.

Figure the tenderness of the meat every 15 minutes.. because then the meat is almost okay, then only you can pour in the tamarind juice (well, my grandma said that pouring in the tamarind juice too early will result in the meat hard to be tendered). Also, add in the remaining evaporated milk, kaffir lime leaf , palm sugar and all the spices. Add to your own taste ya. I love the nutmeg powder. And the palm sugar will help to darken the rendang. Stir the gravy well.

The final ingredient to be added in after the gravy has thicken again is the kerisik. Mix it into the gravy well. Don't forget to put in salt to taste.

So, this was my end-product (well, I cooked it further until it became dry and thicker.. dah malas nak take pictures..) I was glad that that hubby enjoyed it :)

My rendang!

Selamat Hari Raya

2010-09-17T04:11:00.034+08:00

I guess it's still not too late to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya :)

Can't believe Syawal has entered its 1 week mark. How time flies. Our exhaustion of the first 3 days of raya has not ended yet, and we are already embarking on a new journey today to Bournemouth for 3 days.

Thanks to the friends here in the UK, our raya was really enjoyable. The excitement started as early as the night before raya, in which as soon as my hubby arrived home from the office on late Thursday, we packed our stuff and left for London, heading for his friend, Faizal's apartment in Elephant and Castle. To our surprise, he and his friends prepared all sorts of raya cuisine: rendang, ayam masak merah, nasi impit, you name it! And the best of all, I feel one of my goals here would soon be achieved: making new friends :)

Here are a few pics of our jalan-jalan raya :)

The masterpiece dishes by Pecok & Co.

The ladies.. waiting for Isyak prayers and Syawal takbir

A few of us :) credits to Syina for the pic

Bermaaf-maafan with hubby in front of Malaysia High Commission.. :D

After that, we made our way to Malaysia House.. for Raya Open House!

We made ourselves comfy on the grass to feast on the goooodd food :)

Hubby and I made our way back to Elephant and Castle after the open house, while the rest of the group continued their raya agenda. Commuting even around London can really take its toll on the feet.. getting on the buses and tube trains.. huh. The next day, we left London and headed for Brighton to visit our friends, Doub and Diyana, his wife.

Doub fetched us at the station, and drove us to his place at Brighton Marina. It was such a scenic place. Very different from Reading obviously. Its sandy + rocky beaches and pretty town caught us enchanted. Doub and Diyana received three other guests that weekend: Renuka with her hubby Sachin, and Sachin's French colleague, Emily. We stayed there for a night, and both of them took us around Brighton. It was really fun!

The view of private boats from the apartment balcony

Doub was really busy in the kitchen

.. and when the food was ready, Diyana was the most accommodating hostess!

Nasi lemak!! Memang sedap. Kudos the the host and hostess :)

We were brought sightseeing around Brighton, including the beach, Brighton Pier and Royal Pavilion. On that very weekend, Food and Drink Festival was held at the town center, so there were lots of stalls selling all kinds of yummy food like cupcakes, muffins, jams, cheese, you name it.

Brighton was jam-packed when we were here.. I guess people loved the beach and the sun

Before we called it a day, we dropped by at this interesting restaurant called Bill's (take a look at the background of the picture, those bottles are food products made by Bill's!) Well, there's Bill's in Reading too, but we prefer to have home-cooked meal everyday.. I love surprising my hubby with my cooking whenever he gets back from work :)

Three couples: myself, Diyana, Doub, Renuka, Sachin and my hubby :)

Not long after we had our lunch back at the apartment, we bid Doub and Diyana goodbye and headed home to Reading.

It was really tiring, yet it was fun! More pics will be uploaded in Facebook soon. Oh, my hubby said he will do it.

Ahem.. a hint of us at Bournemouth :D

Well, it doesn't say much about Bournemouth.. but it's really beautiful here. Really.

Ooh, and also, happy celebrating Hari Malaysia yah.. :)

1st note from Reading

2010-08-26T17:23:00.000+08:00

I promised my friends that I'll be writing to them through my blog.. so here goes..

Kehadapan Caah, Wilson, Diana, Yatt, Aween and all my family and friends who miss me (hehe.. :D ada ke?)

It was freezing cold in Reading last night. The rain was pouring heavily throughout the day and night, and I got stuck with my writing, as I have been drafting this post since yesterday morning.

I safely arrived at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday morning after a journey of more than 17 hours. The local temperature was then 12 degree Celsius. Well, endurable (though the low temperature back in my office usually kills me) No jet lag whatsoever, although I could not really sleep during the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi and from Abu Dhabi to London.

The Etihad flight throughout the journey was not as bad as what I had anticipated after reading the online reviews of previous passengers. Nice meals, pretty stewards and stewardesses, window seat on both flights (my fave!) but only that the seat space might be a bit smaller compared to the flights I have been on. Plenty of in-flight movies to keep myself entertained with, and I could hardly sleep.. unlike the-usual-sleepyhead-me when I'm on flights on business trips.

The two-and-a-half hour stopover in Abu Dhabi was not a bad one too. No doubt the airport is smaller than KLIA, making it a bit congested that night accommodating a huge number of travelers. But it didn't really matter, and the airport staff were friendly and helpful. I also met a Pakistani girl who was on her transit in Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt and we had a small chat. Interestingly her parents were working in Kepala Batas, and because of that, she told me she was quite familiar with Malaysia (I don't think I've been to Kepala Batas myself!)

Some photos I managed to snap from my camera (and a few taken by my hubby)..

Stepping out of the flight exit led to this spectacular lounge. The mosaic design that connected the ceiling to the center pillar easily made me freeze my steps to take a better look on it. Oh well, if it was not unique and elaborate, then I would not think it was UAE I landed in.

Another beautiful ceiling design in Abu Dhabi airport. This shopping lounge led to the boarding gates.

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..~" Etihad aircraft from a distance.

I couldn't really sleep.. and I waited for this moment to arrive.. the sunrise. In real life, it was even more mesmerizing. The light spectrum was just so captivating.

We were gonna reach Heathrow in a few minutes. Just look at that. It was London!

Can you spot London Bridge? :)

Arrived finally! (this shot reminded me of the fighting scene in Die Hard, where after getting rid of the bad guys, Bruce Willis made the cool runway fire torch for the plane his wife was on to land. How romantically thoughtful..)

Meanwhile.. Mr. Husband was waiting for his wife at the arrival hall..

Mrs. Wife stepped out of the customs exit and spotted her Mr. Husband. She couldn't stop smiling..

The grin was even bigger when he presented her with the bouquet :D So sweet of you sayang..

Finally, they were united again~

So yeah, I have begun my long leave.. and I'm having a great time :)

Ustazah said..

2010-08-13T23:43:00.003+08:00

Ramadhan is here again. I am so thankful that I am given another chance to experience Ramadhan again. And I hope I will use this given chance to improve myself spiritually; to seek forgiveness and blessings from Allah, and to improve my relationship with others. Insya-Allah.

Today was a great day at MISC prayer room. We received a visit from an ustazah. Well, it's not everyday that we, the jemaah, get to listen to 'ceramah' by ustazah. Can't really recall her name, but she was as pretty as Heliza. Soft spoken. A wife of a doctor and a mother of a nine-month old baby and has written a number of religious books alongside notable ulama' and motivators. She's undergoing her Ph.D currently (which made me think, where am I?)

What gained our attention was her topic of the day: Wanita (Women). There were quite a few important topics that she was able to cover within the given one hour: The story of Maryam (one of the four women mentioned in Al-Quran), favorite Islamic issues that anti-Muslims like to create confusion about... and there were few other.. which the one that caught the most attention was polygamy. But trust me, her arguments were clear and concise, and somehow helped the jemaah to understand better.

(Siapa rajin, baca la terjemahan + tafsir surah An-Nisa. I quickly referred to the translation of the verse as soon as we ended the session.. and got my understanding better..)

Before she ended the ceramah, she left us with a quote. It went straight to my brain and heart.

"Sebenarnya bukan perempuan bertudung yang patut dilihat ketinggalan zaman.. sebenarnya perempuan yang tidak bertudunglah yang sebenarnya ketinggalan zaman..... kenapa? kerana itu amalan orang jahiliyyah.. yang suka melanggar perintah Allah.."

The audience paused in a brief silence. I froze. I never thought like that before. Suddenly a few faces came to my thoughts..

.. Sekadar perkongsian di bulan Ramadhan.. moga tiada yang terasa.. wallahualam..

The 101th post

2010-08-08T22:55:00.001+08:00

Don't ask me what's with the 100th, 101th post. I kinda just think that these numbers mean well to EE engineers.. well, at least to me. It also seems like I have begun to spend my days without so much thinking of blogging. Is it some sort like a change after marriage? Hmm, I would say not exactly. I suppose the fact that I only have 2 weekends left before I take a long hiatus from the office (and from my family - that's the worst part) squeezes the time I have to complete loads of things.. work-wise and also personal-wise.

But amazingly within these few last weeks, I really had a great time (well, let's also say my 2 weeks in Kerteh was fun too :) Nadi and Wilson are the reason definitely): Zamila's wedding, luncheon with Fatin & Jaja, Edzuan's house warming cum Mikael's 1st birthday party (thank God for the avenue to fulfill my promise to Hazlinda to meet her before I leave!), 2 times of durian feast at home (trust me I never knew that I could eat more than 6 ulas!), some shopping using all the vouchers that I got during my wedding (hihi) and Yayasan UTP Concert 'Tapestry of Colours" filled my time (apart from work and commuting to and fro Sg Buloh - Kajang).

Alone browsing the Net at Awana lobby..

(Can you imagine they don't even have room internet connection.. and they charge RM25 to use wi-fi at the lobby! Whereas other hotels with cheaper room rates offer free internet utilization in the room! Huh)

Friends from childhood.. At Zamila's wedding

Alamak Tein, I'm 2 ringgit short!! RM50 notes adalah.. (cewah.. lame gile) Masuk buku 555 eh..

My companions for Yayasan UTP concert.. ever loving sisters

I'm currently reading Nicholas Sparks' Dear John.. after falling immensely in love with the movie ( I just love that kind of genre.. love stories..) The novel has not disappointed me so far.. plus imagining the characters while reading as Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried like in the movie makes ambling through the novel even more appealing :)

Ramadhan is approaching very very soon. I am thankful that I have another chance to go through this blissful month. I'm not really certain how I will adapt to a different environment soon.. and with really long hours of fasting (I mean extending 7-8 hours more of fasting from the usual 5.45 a.m to 7.30 p.m).. well, that is something iman has to take control over.. and I trust that a hungry stomach means nothing over accomplishing a day fasting with patience and ibadah :) Insya-Allah..

The 100th post

2010-07-12T23:04:00.006+08:00

Usually I like to pick certain dates to update my blog. But for now, that is not the case I guess.

Fairuz is away for exactly a month now, and I'll be joining him in 41 days. Well, I'm not really counting the days to be away from the office for a couple of months; I'm actually thinking how many optimized hours can I spend on work in these 41 days? I dunno. Like always, it depends. Friends told me that I should be excited about it. But hm, I can't feel it yet. I wonder why.. Perhaps cuz the travel's gonna be in the month of Ramadhan, and that fasting in GMT +1 hour could be a really long one to endure.

Since I am practically living a single life for the time being, I have become more.. hm, lazy? Yes I am adapting to the word lazy. Lazy to iron my clothes (and for that I choose to wear the Syrian scarves cuz they don't need to be ironed), lazy to cook, lazy to eat, lazy to blog. Just so lazy! And you know what, I am beginning to get used to it (oh no..) The last time I had time to learn being lazy was the 4 months after SPM, before I went to UM and UTP soon after.

Thank God I still find the office as a place to unwind, albeit the exasperation we all had for the new guy on the block. He really owes me an explanation.

The only thing I'm in for is downloading movies. I go for drama and love genres. I just watched Remember Me (Robert Pattinson was brilliant in the movie), Dear John (my fave!), The Princess and the Frog (I like Tiana.. so strong-willed! :D) and He's Just Not That Into You (pitiful story, and I hate that Gigi.. Oh well, at least girls could learn a thing or two about guys. Oh yeah, served you right Scarlet :)) I want to watch Eclipse so badly that I hope I can make time to watch it one of these weekdays. I'll see how..

Oh yeah, and you know what? I'm also so in the mood to shop. But I shouldn't, after accidentally splurging for my new pair of specs. Maybe I should reserve all the fund for shopping for my time over there. Hopefully I'll get a good bargain for a long coat just like Blair's :) totally love it.

And oh, I recently discovered another type of people that I have never encountered my entire life before, and I must say I don't quite like it: People who ask too much without guilt from their folks. It may be fine if the parents can really afford it, but too bad if they can't. Worse if the parents can never tell it to their children, but tell it to someone else instead. And too bad if that someone else is ME! Oh well, God knows when I will seek justice for the parents.. sigh. I dunno, kids nowadays want to be looked at as cool, and cool means having light-but-powerful laptops, iPhone, iPod (and whatever 'i's they can get!), Sony Cybershot camera, fancy skirts, 3-inch gladiator heels, etc. And all they do is ask their folks to buy for them. Whatever. I am glad I was born in the 80s. Most cool gadgets weren't born yet even when I was in my junior years in the varsity (but 3310 was considered cool back then!) if not, do you think I'll beg my parents to get them for me? Still, I won't.

Hey, the 100th post is supposed to be fun to read isn't it? What did I just write..? Crap.

Aunty Stylo

2010-06-20T23:43:00.000+08:00

Today was the first time in my official traveling that I had to (the word is HAD TO) ride on Air Asia. One of the reasons why I am not a fan of school holidays (despite the clear roads on weekday mornings) is that MAS flights would fully booked (to Miri! Can't imagine..). And I hate going to LCCT. And the fact that I was sitting on a Hot Seat position didn't really help either. I dunno, but it felt quite crampy. Well maybe it was just Sharifah being mengada.. I should have booked my tickets two weeks earlier. Sigh.

So today, a lady whom I perceived to be of age 60 (well she did look aged to me) sat beside me in the Hot Seat row. I was busy reading my novel to complete by July. Upon sitting, she started to complain. How small the space was and started to compare with other Air Asia overseas flights she had been on, how hot the cabin was and she couldn't stand sweating. Oh well, I usually do have complaints too; it's just that I seldom voice them out.

I tried to be give the best assistance I could (though I was not the FA!), so I adjusted her air-conditioning nozzle and directed it to her. She blushed out of ignorance about the nozzle being closed

Because she moved a lot, I couldn't help but to give her a few corner eye gazes. Hm, two handbags: one was Coach in yellow and one was a black Versace. "Boleh tahan brand conscious," I thought. Original or not, that would be another story. Siti Nurhaliza-type scarf (tak tahu, sila google!). She adjusted her wristwatch, clear enough for me to see it was Cerruti 1881. In short, ada gaya mak datin la. Occasionally she asked me a few questions, and I responded courteously. She saw I was wearing rings.

"Married?"
"Yeah.."
"Oh congratulations.. when was it?"
"Just exactly three months ago"
"Aww that's nice.."

I smiled. And I continued my reading.

The seats were filled, and eventually a couple with their two kids sat in front of us. The eldest boy was about 3 years old I think, and it was as if he just began saying a few words. And when he saw the lady beside me, he quickly utter,

"Nenek! Nenek!"

The lady was restless when the little boy called him 'nenek'.

"Nenek pulak. Aunty lah!"

The dad overheard the lady's murmuring. He convinced his son to say "Aunty.. bukan nenek.." He was somewhat guilty-conscious. Ok, nenek perasan muda rupanya.. hehe.

I never had the slightest idea that an elder women didn't like that word. I just knew if I were a pensioner (or almost that age), I would love to be a granny. Well, maybe she was a bit disapproving because he wasn't her grandson afterall. The boy was really cute, and everyone (I suppose) should have a penchant for cute kids. But the case definitely didn't apply for this lady. I was trying to be friendly to the boy when she said,

"Don't bother to play with him. He'll bug you through the rest of the flight. You won't be able to read.."

I understood that she required some privacy for our row. But a kid being a kid, the boy continued to look back at her and said, "Nenek! Nenek!" She remained uneasy with the greet, and tried to divert her attention to her things inside her bags.

I tried to sweet talk her, "Maybe he thinks all scarfed women are nenek.." and I laughed.

But then, as if the boy understood what I said and wanted to prove me wrong, he turned to me and said, "Kakak!"

Oh s**t. This boy did know how to differentiate faces. I was really impressed. I just smiled at the boy and continued my reading. The lady gave a few gazes at me and started talking.

"I didn't have enough sleep last night. I'm feeling drowsy.."
"Oh yeah, why didn't you?"
"My friends stayed over my place until like 2 am in the morning.. you know, the grown up gathering type.."

Basically I have no idea on how she was trying to make me picture. But I just nodded.

"Well, if you love your sleeping hours, maybe you should tell your friends that you have a curfew time to adhere too.." I chuckled.
"Nah, it's okay. They are my good friends. I hope I could get some sleep for a while.."

I nodded and smiled. Speechless.

I really wanted to read, so I tried not to pay attention to her movement beside me. As soon as I realized, she dozed off. Eventually, my eyes were closed and suddenly Kristen Stewart was somewhere in front of me.

The plane safely landed and we quickly got off the plane. We were all waiting for the luggage for quite a while. She saw me and stood beside me. She saw her luggage coming our way when she said,

"Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein! Please look if it's CK. Yes yes.. it's my bag!"

"Aunty ni.. pening kepala aku," my heart murmured.

"Here you are.." I helped her to place her bag on her trolley. She thanked me and bid farewell. I smiled. "Bye Aunty, take care."

I saw her taking a taxi just right before me. That was the last of her that I saw.

Oh well, who knows I might bump into her in this average-sized town. It's not impossible anyway.

Singing & Me

2010-06-15T14:39:00.002+08:00

What is Sharifah Zahira without melalak pagi2 dalam bilik air pada hujung minggu? Hm, bukan Sharifah Zahira. Kat residential college ke, kat rumah ke, sama je. I'll sing when I'm happy, and I'll sing when I'm depressed. I look at singing as a form of life's elixir. A form of self expression. A tool to reflect. A means to break away.

As far as I can recall, the interest for singing developed when I was in love with nursery rhymes, Sesame Street and Disney animations. At that tender age, I would be really frustrated if there was one nursery rhyme that my kindergarten teacher taught that I didn't know in advance. Sesame Street and Disney princesses collections filled my time at home. Oh yeah, one of the earliest movies my mom bought for us was 'The Sound of Music', which eventually became our favorite. From which I learnt Do Re Mi. The kindergarten teacher saw my inclination towards singing and art, and made me perform a few songs and traditional dance for our Prize Giving Day. I really loved it.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music.." thanks for the music Maria :)

When I stepped into primary school, the environment to show off talent was quite inviting. Apart from storytelling and spelling competitions, I braved myself to also participate in singing contests. It is still clear to my memory, back in 1992, the school organized a singing competition. At that time, the Malay group Exists was really a hit with their song 'Oh Ibu'. Nearly 80 percent of the contestants sang that song! Together with my 2 classmates Zamila and Wan Norehan, wanting to be different, we sang 'Janji Manismu' by Aishah. We got to the finals, but didn't get to the top 3.

Again, in 1994 and 1996, school talent time again, haha! But my parents started to notice and didn't really approve of our interest in music. I took note of that. But to me, a hobby is a hobby. No harm in doing it as long as my grades were excellent. No one could deny that I was a tough competitor.

Stepping into secondary school, the musical influence were changed. Beginning in 1996, the boyband fever strucked girls around the world, and my siblings and I (minus my bro) were among them. Simply said, every dance moves in the video clips of the Spice Girls and 'NSYNC were at the tip of our fingers. We then made a performance during Teacher's Day, of Elite's song 'Tamparan Wanita' (Lepas tu kena blacklist dengan Ustazah, hadeh..) We practised a lot for the performance, and Maktok even made her way to school to support us for the audition. Maktok memang the coolest ever. Even my parents didn't know about that (unless if my mom reads this post la..)

Used to really like them.. before they were defunct

Their best album ever!!

(I used to have the idea of saving money and go to Hollywood to meet them)

Not so much of singing in secondary school, because my attention was more to the prefects' matters, Girl Guides and debate competition. Form 5, it was strictly studying and prefects only. My mom preferred if I was only focused into my studies. But being a prefect was a part of my life too (Hey, I was the boss! And school rules were my Code of Conduct, hehe)

After I finished school, I learnt a bit about wasting time (haha) before I got into the University. I had 3 goals upon entering the Varsity: 1) to get final results of 3.0 - 3.5 (which I did, agak malas nak study gila2 dah) 2) to find that perfect guy (found him during the convo, and we are married almost 3 months ago!) and 3) to have fun in my own definition.

Yerp, I had fun. A series of emceeing since first semester until now, and organizing varsity events. I totally loved it. Singing came in a bit later. It was during the final two semesters that I discovered my old interest back again. Thanks to Star Search competition (I got third place I think?) and Euphonious, alike to battle of the band (my group 425 won 2nd place). Even though some time were spent on practising and jamming, I felt safe because my classmates were in my band, and I trusted them to take care of me too. One of the singers, Bong is happily married now with his long-time sweetie. I'm so happy for him.

After joining PETRONAS, I had a few chances to sing during the forums that we handled for the company. (hajat hati nak present paper, bukan nyanyi! Takpe2, chances will come soon Sharifah..) My friend Feisal@Pacat was a great duet partner everytime he was around. After this, he will have to find a new partner to sing with. I'm out of the game permanently.

Well, nevermind, it's worth it, because I've got a lifetime fan :) and a lifetime critic as well, haha!

Honeymoon Episode 2 - Ho Chi Minh City

2010-06-11T12:44:00.001+08:00

To Hubby: In case you read this, I finally got to post this entry!

Okay, this idea of having a series of honeymoons came from my husband actually. He loves to travel. Not that I don't like to, but the idea has never really crossed my mind (since I'm mostly travelling on work assignments, so I am quite appreciative of my time in KL..) Believe it or not, we actually have another destination coming.. but I guess we will have to miss it (or go with my sister instead). Husband's not around, and I will just get to see him in 2.5 months' time.

And so, we went to Ho Chi Minh City last month. My husband was here on work matters before we were married, and he told me before that he would love to come back again as a destination for honeymoon, and SHOP! He managed to get us a good deal on the flight ticket price, and also a strategic hotel location in District 1, HCMC.

So here's a lil bit of the story.. enjoy!

About to touch down in HCMC. I was really excited. And I didn't have the slightest idea that HCMC would look like this from above.

Hm, quite a modern airport. I like!

We checked in, and took a stroll after that around the city. It was a busy city. Full of motorists, even at night!

Sweep panoramic version of an area nearby this monumental building. It was a splendid view I must say.

One side of HCMC from our hotel rooftop. Very few tall buildings. Definitely not like KL.

We went out to begin our shopping the next day. Along the road, we saw many stalls selling flowers. Pretty! Flowers of many sorts were being sold here, from morning till evening.

My husband began the shopping agenda, haha. I must say he is an awesome bargainer. I reserved my shopping for next day :)

*Siapa suka kain cotton sure pengsan tengok banyak sangat kain cotton cantik kat sini :)

We had an early dinner that night at Four Seasons Restaurant, because we didn't have a proper lunch (sibuk sangat tengok kain!) We found out about this restaurant from a website that lists halal food outlet. Try googling Zabihah Halal Food. They will give a complete set of information, from the name of the restaurant, the address, phone number and visitors' rating! Somehow the 'Four Seasons' name reminded me of South Korea. Dunno why. But the food here were great. And most importantly, they were affordable.

Inside view of the restaurant

Upon breakfast the next day, we stuffed ourselves so that we would not really need to go for lunch. Then we went shopping again. Finding things for ourselves, and yerp, we got a good bargain (after a long arguing with these ladies, and walaupun setelah dibodek oleh mereka, haha! "Ala abang, spend a little more for your pretty wife lo.." that left me blushing, hihi) They were trying to sell the items at high prices, but hubby was uncheatable, haha. Sorry and thanks ladies!

Eksyen je bertudung tu.. bawah pakai seluar pendek, haha.

We dropped our things back at the hotel, had a little rest, and we hit the city again. To take a stroll and enjoy the scene, and to hunt for early dinner. Like the day before. HCMC definitely had a pretty view. Clean city.

The post office.The inside was brilliant

Hehe.. makan ice-cream jap, sebab dah start lapar :)

There was a beautifully-landscaped garden in front of this building. Just had to take a picture here.

We had our dinner at Alibaba Restaurant. It was a restaurant of north indian cuisine. I must say we had great dining here. The briyani and naan were superb! But it was quite expensive. About RM8 just for the dhal gravy. Tapi sedap, I could say it was worth every cent. Eh, Vietnamese Dong!

So after dinner, we walked again to explore the city. The streets were decorated with colorful lights. Youngsters were everywhere, either on foot or on motorcycles. We marched to the riverside and there was a park there, filled with young lovebirds and families who wanted a nice timeout with their little children. 1st time tengok orang dating tanpa perasaan. Kalau kat KL, mau nak lempang je, heheh.

And this was a so-called boat. It was actually a floating restaurant. We didn't dine here, not really a fan of seafood.

The final day, I still had time to finalize my shopping. Got myself 3 baju kurung for USD 60! Hehe.

Bidding farewell to HCMC, and to Ben Thanh especially, hehe.

About to check out from the hotel (sempat lagi tu..) and waiting for the hotel car to send us to the airport.

Farewell Ho Chi Minh City.. from Fairuz & Ira :)

Honeymoon Episode 1 - Bali

2010-05-23T07:22:00.013+08:00

Bali was our 1st destination for honeymoon. We secured the honeymoon package way back in August 2009 during Matta Fair at PWTC. It wasn't our 1st choice of destination, but since we couldn't get a honeymoon package for the place that we wanna go ("Adik, tunggu next Matta Fair lah.. this Matta Fair is just for travels until early March") plus that particular Matta Fair was held in the month of Ramadhan (penat + agak malas nak go through every booth), we quickly secured the package to Bali for a fair price. After finding out the real price, we managed to save about RM600++ from the actual accommodation cost. Worth it eh..?

So we left for Bali two days after the reception by Husband's family. A quite tight schedule, it was for us. But everything went as planned, and that we wanted to utilize the marriage leave to the most optimum capacity as possible. A few colleagues who went there for their honeymoon gave their best tips, and their guide was all that we have.

Upon arriving at Ngurah Rai Airport, we could already feel the strong Hinduism influence in Balinese culture. The carvings of Hindu deities were everywhere, but they were not the same like the carvings we have on Hindu temples in Malaysia. They were more to the epic stuff (I guess!) like Ramayana and Rhavan (even Goddess Guanyin was among the deities featured, it got me confused!) For us, yep, definitely a new kind of experience!

A view of the Balinese carving @ Ngurai Rai Airport.

Though I was not really sure if this was of which epic (Ramayana ada scene naik kuda eh?) but I must say it was a really magnificent statue.

The journey to Jay's Villa took like almost an hour (Bali traffic condition is almost alike to Jakarta. Macet!) The villa was located in a paddy plantation area in Kerobokan. Most of the exclusive villas were located there. As we arrived, we were served with welcoming drink, and then being led to our villa :) Enough reason to make us not go out at all! A few friends have also asked us where this place is. Haha!

Us, in front of Jay's Villa

The bedroom, as cozy as it could get

We had our private swimming pool!

The lovely decorated bathtub. Sayangnya nak mandi..

The spacious + airy bathroom

The TV lounge beside the pool

We had our lunch first before..

.. going for shopping~~!! Weee.. @ Legian. Many handbags and surfwear shops to choose from, and of course, souvenirs and local crafts were sold here too. If you're a nightclub or bar goer, Legian is a great place to hang out with friends. They have bands playing at night too. Mat saleh ramai la kat area ni.

After the tiring walk and shopping, it's time to get a few minutes of rest. This was Husband's idea - me going for manicure (it hurt like ouch!)

And dear Husband needed foot massage very badly.. hehe.

After the hand and foot therapy, we went back to the villa to get some rest. Along the way back, we feasted our eyes with scenic view of paddy fields. Their harvesting way were more traditional, cuz it is mainly for household consumption. And as we reached the villa...

.. we discovered the pool was decorated with rose petals when we got back! How romantic..

Well, we were more tempted to have our dinner and not disturb the pool, haha. Nyum2!

We went to Ubud the next morning after breakfast. On the way to Ubud, we encountered many shops that sell silverwares and paintings, not to mention stone carvings as well. We stopped by this outlet, being informed by Pak Supir that this place had the finest handmade silver ornaments. But it was too expensive here. An ordinary silver ring could cost up to RM150! Kat Malaysia RM60 pun dah boleh beli cincin silver Giordano.. duh. So no shopping done here.

Here we were, at Ubud! (after almost 50 minutes from Kerobokan) We got ourselves good bargain for t-shirts and pretty handicrafts. Sarongs here were quite expensive, depending on the type of material they use for the cloth. After shopping, we asked Pak Supir to drive us to a nearby halal food restaurant. He brought us to this restaurant, Natrabu. Tasteful dining. They also have an outlet in KL.

We had our dinner that night at Jimbaran Beach. There were lots of seafood restaurants for tourists to choose from. Wooden tables and chairs covered the long stretch of the beach. It was definitely a lovely scene and a great dinner too!

Our meal.. nyum2!

and while enjoying our dinner, these guys entertained us with "Can't Help Falling in Love".. ahh.. schweettt..

The following morning, again we went to Legian beach, to say farewell before we left that afternoon. I managed to get my hair done and Husband got his massage at the salon that morning, before we rushed back to the villa, pack our things, and headed straight for the airport.

To sum it all, 4 days 3 nights vacation to Bali wasn't enough to cover the whole island, cuz Bali is kind of a big island (or maybe because our pace was not that fast). Spa services are cheap here, so take the opportunity to pamper yourself while you are there. I personally did manicure, hair treatment and full body massage during the 4-day visit. But I guess the villa made it a honeymoon worth going. Perfect for newlyweds! :)

Ok, next stop!

Ohh encik Shahir..

2010-05-22T23:00:00.001+08:00

Cair cair... haihhhh...

As expected.. Shahir menang!! Wooohoooo!!~~~

I voted. Hehe.

Apapun, I still heart Akim =D (eh.. apa kaitan??)

Hmmhh..

2010-05-17T20:36:00.002+08:00

Idea, idea.. come to me.. I think I need to revamp my blog..

.. boring semenjak takde new hobby..

Blabs in May

2010-05-06T20:53:00.001+08:00

I am back with my long lost interest: Novel reading! Yay :) am reading Eclipse (okay, it's definitely NOT because of Edward Cullen, no no) It's actually because of Kristen Stewart I think. Her acting, I mean. Don't really fancy the way she did it in the previous two movies. But I definitely can't wait for Eclipse to appear in the theaters this June! Hopefully she would show more passion on her face for Edward (c'mon girl.. I need to see the LOVE on your face! If not, I can't trust your feelings towards Edward since Jacob pun you layan gak!). I will have to complete reading the book by then.

Hmm.. I guess I'm not really his fan because I dislike his role in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. Sorry Robert.

Since I'm alternating between Sg Buloh and Kajang every week, it seems that most of my stuff are redundant right now. Face cream, deodorant, shoes, facial scrub..Since I usually missed them out in my list-to-bring, I have them all to be more than two. Really cluttering up my dressing cupboard. I guess what I really need in extra quantity is workblouse!

Husband and I are going for a short vacation this weekend (aptly mentioned as 2nd honeymoon =D) before he leaves for his overseas assignment for a few months. I am not really in the mood to pack things right now, thanks to the when-will-it-end cold.. It had me awake for a few nights already. Sigh..

Where will our next stop be?

There is a huge possibility that I will be joining my husband for a couple of months during his overseas assignment period. That means I might be spending raya there. Well, the not-so-nice part is that I can no longer help my mom in the kitchen like I always do on every malam raya. The good part is, both of us will have to spend raya on our own! No squabbling over whose place that we will beraya at, yeahh! Fair and square (though in our implied understanding, it has been finalized whose place it is.. =\) Tapi for the coming years.. terpaksa la beralah bila perlu.

Since I am mostly not at home (read: Sg Buloh) nowadays, I am trying hard to recall all the advice & nags I got from my mom and maktok. Yerp, they were absolutely true in most of the things they say (besides that I might marry an old man if I keep singing in the kitchen! I kept singing cuz I was so hopeful that it would be Norman KRU, haha) Hopefully I will be a great wife (read: great, not good ya. To be a good wife has a different meaning (doormat?)) and a great mom one day as well. Let's pray for little toddlers to come our way soon :)

It's kinda cool to be like Marge.. minus being a housewife. But I prefer my kids to spend their time like Phineas and Ferb do!

Hm, did I ever mention I rarely buy shoes and handbags? Well, that statement is currently not really applicable. I have two unused handbags, not knowing when and where I will use them. And oh, I have three unused, very pretty stilettos. One pair is wine red, one brown and the other pair is silver. Any upcoming wedding I could dress up for? Sometimes, I guess I just wanna own the shoes for the sake of having them in my possession, not really because I wanna wear them. Duhh. From whom did I learn to do this!

The nikah video plus the official photos from my solemnization and wedding reception are not out yet (some of my aunties are already asking for the photos! Arrghh..) I guess if you guys have difficulty viewing the photos tagged from my uncle and aunty's FB albums, I suppose it's due to their privacy setting. Can't do much about it, so please wait for the pics as patient as I am :)

Oh yes, can mineral water bottles be recycled? Do we in Malaysia have the facility to do so? If yes, where? I've checked KPKT's website and found not much of info on recycling. I have a pile of mineral water bottles that I keep here behind me at my cubicle. My friends have also been 'generous' enough to place their empty plastic bottles here. So much in helping me achieve this year's resolution - to GO GREEN!

Ah, UTP Alumni AGM will be held on May 15th, Impiana Hotel. Our dear Rector will join us, so I've been told :)

I wanna immortalize this here!

2010-04-14T20:34:00.001+08:00

I'm glad you loved it :) Happy birthday sayang~

A story of my marriage day

2010-04-13T22:12:00.003+08:00

Alright, I did mention before that I wanted to post something about my wedding. For my friends (especially Zamila and Ziad!) whose weddings are gonna be around the corner, I hope you will enjoy reading this post :)

Now where do I start…? Oh yes. A few days before solemnization.

I had 2 days to complete the work for Bangkok project before I left the office on Wednesday to go on my annual leave (yes annual leave! Marriage leave was for honeymoon :)). It was a hectic 3-day leave, where I cramped everything that was not yet done:

Having my bridal spa (I excluded manicure and pedicure. Didn’t want my henna to look faint) at Cendana Spa, Section 7, Shah Alam. I found out about this spa through a few bridezillas’ blogs :)
Fetching the tailor-made scarf for my red kebaya jubah (this was supposed to be the attire for cake cutting, tapi last minute thinking, malas nak tukar baju during reception, hehe and the dress ended up to be the attire for outdoor photo shoot, which we have not done yet)
Completing my personalized VIP gift bags (I already completed 51, but when Mr. Fiance told me his group might be big, I decided to add another 19 paperbags)
Completing the hantaran for the groom. 4 were completed like 2 weeks before. The other 7 were done that Thursday night, just right after my photographer paid me a visit to discuss on the solemnization and reception arrangement. Thanks Mom and my sisters for the helping hand :)
Last-minute shopping for the wedding bedroom
Decorating the room like I planned it to be

Thank God I didn’t have to make the bunga rampai on my own, thanks to Mom, Maktok, Auntie Rahmah and Auntie Lin. I definitely could not do it all by myself without their help.

Above anything, I wanted to meet Mr. Fiancé for the last time before becoming Mr. Husband. But there was too little time to spend, so we just had to forget the idea.

I couldn’t really sleep that Friday night. But I was indeed tired. The dais was not ready, the house was still in a mess and I thought of accompanying my Mom and Ain to stay up until everything was done. But then Mom asked me to go to bed, so I did.

Waking up on that 20^th felt weird. I don’t really know how to label that feeling. But it felt kinda uneasy. I called Ozal (who just arrived from Arau that morning) into my room and asked him to give me a hug. Unconsciously, I was sobbing quietly. He comforted me to calm down. I grabbed my towel and went to have my bath. When I got out, the makeup artiste has already arrived. She began her work as soon as I was ready. Chitchatting with her took away the nervousness I had. By the way, did I mention I loved what she did to my face? Yes I really do! I highly recommend her.

Later then, my videographer and photographers came. Not long after they start recording and snapping photos, my good friends came into the room. I was excited by their presence but kinda didn’t really know how to greet them in excitement. I guess the exact word to describe me was ‘slightly frozen’ (Afterall, Mom always reminded me to be a well-mannered bride. I guess I did well :))

From upstairs, I heard the marhaban group started reciting Yaasin. I couldn’t really predict what was happening downstairs. I told myself to shake it off and just relax. My room was being swarmed by increasing number of friends and families. It was nearing 11 am, and my Dad asked me to text Mr. Fiancé to proceed to my house from the nearby mosque.

So, it was time for me to go downstairs. Descending the stairs slowly allowed me to give a few gazes at the guests. After I got myself comfy on the dais, the groom’s side started to enter the house, placing the hantaran in front of the dais, just opposite my hantaran for the groom. My palpitation was softened when I saw my Dad and family members around. Mr. Fiancé entered the door and made himself comfy in front of Imam Yusof. And then, the ceremony began.

Auntie Rokiah Ramlan was the moderator of the solemnization. She did a really great job with her splendid speech containing the elements of adat Melayu like pantun and kiasan. My thanks to her for handling the ceremony just like how I wanted it to be.

Imam Yusof took the crowd’s attention with some words of wisdom. Mr. Fiancé then volunteered to read the marriage sermon written in Imam Yusof’s notebook when Imam Yusof said it was afdal for the groom to read it himself. I felt proud of Mr. Fiancé for being so confident :) Then the real trembling came, when it was the time for the solemnization. All I can think of was reciting selawat over and over again. Thanks to Farina who constantly reminded me what to do before the event started.

With one lafaz, I became the wife of my dear Mr. Husband. Alhamdulillah everything went smoothly. After Mr. Husband performed the prayer, he came to the dais and presented the dowry together with the ring and the bangle. We exchanged the gifts: 11 trays from me and 9 trays in return from him.

And so, the day was spent with greeting families from both sides, taking lots and lots of pictures (thanks to Ariff, Darshan and Uncle Shahrin of course!) and yup, who could forget nasi minyak as the menu of the day?

And of course, I wanna thank my friends who made the effort to come (Dib, Fatin, Shafaf, Aween and Yatt) and the awesome uncles, aunties and cousins who made the day so memorable. Special thanks to my sister Ain, for being a great coordinator for both the solemnization ceremony and the wedding itself. I’m forever indebted.

To my dear husband, welcome to our new life :) Have fun on your birthday tomorrow. I just want you to know that I love you :) very much! Can't wait for our 2nd honeymoon soon~

Last but not least, congratulations to Shafaf on her marriage last weekend!

A post-wedding note

2010-04-03T23:48:00.002+08:00

Writing with a different status now. I'm a wife!

Well, I don't really know what to say actually. Just that I wanna express my thanks to families and friends who came and celebrated the wedding together. Personally, I really enjoyed all the three events; Nikah, Reception and Bertandang; and I hope all guests who came had a great time as well, if not, great dining :)

If friends were to ask me which of the three I loved the most, I would say the solemnization day was the most memorable and hmm.. I don't know how to say, it's kinda hard to put into words, but it was an amazing day for me definitely.

So, here are some of my fave moments of the 3 days :) (Official photos are not out yet. More pics in FB of course. Credits to Auntie Ju & Uncle Shahrin)

Getting ready for solemnization. I was fixing my stockings :)

After solemnization ceremony. Mr. Husband fitted the ring to my finger :)

Mr. Husband pitied my sweaty face, he brought along some facial tissues in his hand!

At the dais during the reception @ Seri Selangor Golf Club

Making entrance during reception @ Putrajaya

We already came back from our trip to Bali. It was a great vacation (and great dining too! I must have put on some weight I guess..) All pics are still in the camera and I haven't the time to upload them yet)

To my friends and family members whom I missed during the reception, I am utterly sorry for not being able to meet every one who came. But I am definitely happy that you guys were there :) thanks for coming.

C R E D I T S T O:

Mak Abah

Ain, Aishah, Ozal

Maktok

Farina

Uncle Mansor, Auntie Lin & family

Auntie Rahmah

Auntie Rokiah Ramlan

Uncle Osman & Auntie Che Yah

Pakcik Hashim

Auntie Ju

Auntie Ain

Mona Shamili

Mak & Ayah

Along, Fiqah & Ain

These last few days

2010-03-16T20:50:00.001+08:00

The date is drawing near. I am feeling a lot of things.. well, am not too sure what they are actually. I guess the appropriate word is 'butterflies'. I am at the meeting junction of joy and sorrow.

A lot of things I went through these past few weeks. Emceeing with Mr. Fiance at a friend's wedding (letih!), two back-to-back overseas assignments, performance review, completing all my wedding to-do-list, dealing with wedding vendors who always miss the time, etc.. Nevertheless, I am glad that everything planned was properly done, and I definitely couldn't have done it without my parents, siblings and Mr. Fiance himself. Oh yes, many thanks to my wedding planner as well.

Shopping for the wedding happened everywhere I go. Seems like I couldn't stop from grabbing nice things. From KL to Miri to Jakarta and to Bangkok, I bought something back for the wedding. I am kinda excited, because a lot of personal touch is being given for this wedding. I'll tell about it after the wedding :)

In the end, all that matters is that we will be together, finally.

Dear friends, hope to see you guys at the wedding :)

To Mr. Fiance, many happy wishes for our big day :)

Just a thought..

2010-02-10T22:12:00.000+08:00

At times we need to look into the past.. to appreciate what we had, what we are and what we have now..

Whatnots out of boredom

2010-02-10T20:19:00.002+08:00

It's the 10th day of February and I haven't posted anything? Wow..

Well, I don't really have much things to share for the time being. It's just that these 2 weeks somehow are the times I really wanna pass. Performance review cycle, and at the same time I won't be in Digi's roaming area, and all the final things that need to be settled before the big day (banyak lagi ke..? Maybe..) I'm not tired of it actually. It's just that I hope everything will go as I planned.

You see, I plan a lot. But I do have flexibilities in my plans. It's just that when the plans can really go as they should, I don't like it when it has to change without a strong reason. Nevertheless, I adapt very well. Even if I have to fake it.

______________________________________________________________________________

If anyone were to tell me that they were lonely, they definitely have no idea that I am very well versed at it. But I kinda like it. Among the things that I really appreciate is solitude.

Hmm.. I don't really like to be called 'a people person'.
______________________________________________________________________________

Oh God.. It's just so empty.

It's just me, the TV and my laptop in front of me..
_______________________________________________________________________________

Maybe I should update my wedding page.

Oh yeah, to friends who have gotten my invitation card, please tell me okay. And yes, save the date!

Susah la nak cakap..

2010-01-29T09:45:00.002+08:00

Among the millions of Malaysians whom are being quite concerned about what is happening recently in the country, I am definitely one of them.

I don't want to mention whatever things that have happened, but I am wondering, where is our direction is moving towards 1Malaysia?

I am not trying to give a suggestion (apa la yang 'budak mentah' can give as a suggestion??) but this is what I think.

Everybody's talking about 1Malaysia presently. Yes I do believe that it is widely accepted, since the goodwill of this campaign is obvious - to strengthen national unity, what more in a country like Malaysia, a nation of heterogeneity (or does this kind of statement only come from a 'budak mentah' like me?) But not everyone can conform, especially to something being kinda 'enforced'. 'Enforced' like "Hey, we are a multiracial country. To ensure harmony between the races, we must do (1), (2), (3).. Or if you don't do this, you are not helping to realize 1Malaysia." I think that's tough. Not the exact approach.

When the word 'acceptance' is highlighted, some may question, to what kind of extent should the acceptance be? Tolerance of sensitivity differs from a person to another. Not everyone is ready to tolerate and accept. But I think, anyone, and I mean just about anyone, can be enticed and persuaded to accept. It is just how the enticing and persuasion come about.

1Malaysia is way more than just visiting friends of different races during their Hari Raya or CNY or Deepavali. It's way more than just admiring the diversity in cultures of the races. It is way more than just hollering '1Malaysia!' side by side with our Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sikh, Kadazan and Iban counterparts.

Whoa, this looks tough, doesn't it? And after all the things that happened to the religious centers, it looks even tougher!

I sincerely hope that our administration leaders and politicians (come one guys, you have great access to the rakyat through your blogs and ministry websites and the whole internet!) please don't just say "I condemn the act of this and that.. bla bla bla", please do something. And that 'do something', please make sure that it is doing fairness to the people, not more act that show the shallowness in prompt thinking. Stop politicizing. It only creates racial and religious and political tension. I read some politicians' blogs with the comments from the citizen. I think we have done our part in voicing out our concerns (that was what you guys wanted us to do right? Voicing our concerns?) Why can't you guys take heed? Is it because complaints have gotten boring (and that's why you made the decision to do something fun like chasing artistes?) I know it is not easy to satisfy everyone, but I guess collectively the rakyat have more or less the same concerns.

You have been, or wanna be elected. So, show us your credibility, man.

and oh, I think the issue over government servants' KPIs and whatnot is overrated. Too much publicity. Boring baca. Tak ke mana pun. Government servants pun jadi lagi fed-up.

P/S: Really hope to see Malaysia doing better in next year's Transparency International Corruption Perception Index rank. 2009: Singapore ranked 3rd best, we are ranked 56th!

A step into late 20s

2010-01-16T20:08:00.005+08:00

Whoa. I'm 26!

I still feel like I'm this 19 year-old girl when I am at home, really. However, I always feel older than my peers. Like 20-something going 30. Maybe because I was born in January. Does any January-ans feel that? I dunno. Maybe I am an isolated case.

The only thing nowadays that made January no longer my loved month is that I have ACD assessment in January. Well, last year and this year, with the dates being almost the same. No at this point of time, I can't entirely put my head in for the assessment. It has somehow affected my productivity for the first 2 weeks of the month. Can't say that I didn't prepare earlier, I started like 2 months ago, but not that consistent anyway. Preparing for ACD isn't the same as preparing for SPM, which in the latter case, whatever I read I can recall and fix the jigsaw puzzles perfectly. Now, I have to say that it is quite, or very, difficult. Telling my parents about it won't be of any help. They are not awed by work difficulties anymore, especially my mom, who has been busier lately after getting her doctorate. Boring.

A friend who is gonna get married a few weeks after me told me that she's planning on a long hiatus after marriage. Well, I am not so sure of that. I do think of how I can actually have some extra dollars (dollars ye, not just ringgit) from other things apart from my monthly wages. A career is what I wanna keep for myself, and what I am doing now is not too bad at all.

26. What's there in an age? Maturity? Higher wisdom? Better understanding? Higher fear of God? Higher income? Slower metabolisme? (Hey, not yet!!) Change in status?

Yep, this year I am getting married, in fact it's 9 weeks from now. How time flies. How I have grown. What a wow..

After this, life planning would be much more exciting, since I am not going to do it alone. I am looking forward for that. No, I'm not just another bride who thinks too much about the wedding preparation. I am more concerned about the essence of marriage. Some friends tried to bring me into the thinking that I should not let the individualistic thinking disappear when I am married. I dunno about that. They can say I'm blinded by love. They think they know me too much. But as far as I am concerned, I have never been blinded. I'm very fine actually. Trust me. And I can give assurance that no one knows me that much.

All the best wishes for you on your birthday, Sharifah. Expect changes everyday. Because changes are the constant thing in life you'll encounter. You can never say no. Face them with a great head on your shoulders, and with a good heart too.

First post for 2010

2010-01-03T20:01:00.004+08:00

I'm 3 days late to welcome 2010. We're in January again! Time sure does fly fast.

Whenever the new year arrives, people will surely think about their resolution. Actually, unlike 2008 where I had hard targets for my resolution (and achieved them all! I was really happy :D), I had none for 2009, and I am actually thinking hard of what kind of achievement I want to accomplish in 2010. Put aside personal targets like getting married, going for honeymoons and stuff (it's not for public to know anyway), I am hoping that my new year's resolution could somehow contribute to a better well-being of the environment. Although my contribution may be at the smallest of the smallest scale (1 out of kerzillions of people around the world!), I am very sure that many friends out there share the same aspiration too.

Among the things I have started to do (to be environmental friendly):

I am now using salbutamol inhaler that contains no CFC (I just got to know the type I used before contains CFC!). I was feeling really guilty when I found out about it. Imagine I have been using the inhaler that contains CFC since I was 6!
I don't throw away old batteries into the waste bin anymore. I am collecting them so that I can place them into the batteries recycling bin. I think Dayabumi has one.
I try to take the ERL whenever I have to go to and fro KLIA. At least I would feel that I have taken part in the campaign to reduce CO2 emission into the atmosphere. It is a liberating feeling I must say.

Those are the things I start with. I don't really know how to gauge my achievement for this resolution. But I suppose I could constantly ensure that my effort is continuous. Perhaps this is a little late to start the awareness within myself but hey, there is always a point to start :)

Happy new year to my friends, and let's put in endeavor for a better world to live in.

An elegy for Zuhairy

2009-12-30T09:18:00.002+08:00

2009 will end in less than 2 days' time. I hope nothing outrageous will happen until the new year, after the surprising news on Zuhairy's mom's departure yesterday. Nobody in the family was ready for it. Sudden loss, hearts crushed. Rest in peace, Auntie Mashitah..

My dear Zuhairy, yesterday marks a new beginning for you and your family. I sincerely hope that you will go through this phase with an open mind and heart. Remember, everything that we have in this world are all temporarily given to us. It only differs in time, the moment they will be taken back. I remind myself that constantly, to help me move on, to help me realize and be 'redha' with what He has destined for me.

As your friend for over 16 years, I do have my own memories of her, especially when we were in school. I regard her as not only a friend's mother, but someone I could share stories with, especially when I was tired of waiting for my dad after Girl Guides class on Saturdays. She was one of the aunties I know who kept that competitive spirit in us classmates burning. She was one of those aunties with creative cooking ideas, and she was definitely a loving mother. I still recall how she made the effort to come to school nearly everyday to give you your breakfast box during recess time. And I do believe you inherited the looks from her too.

Be strong Zuhairy. Being the eldest son, I know you have a heavy role to carry on your shoulder. Fear not my friend. Life is full of unexpected things and uncertainties that, if we are afraid, we can go nowhere. Now that your mother is gone, you can help to lessen the missing in your siblings' hearts by filling the emptied space with love and care. Make certain that her departure does not end the blessings she could receive by continuously praying for her. That is the best thing that parents could receive from their children - the prayers, even after they are gone.

As a friend, I will be there for you. I am sure lots of friends will do be there for you too. The friendship that all of us have is very strong, and I can tell it by observing the friends who paid their respect yesterday. We want you to know that you are not left alone.

You will start a new beginning very very soon my friend, and I wish you all the best.

.. Sincerely from your loving old friend.

Sale sale sale! Beli beli!

2009-12-26T11:24:00.000+08:00

(I have always wanted to refrain from talking about my upcoming wedding, but the things I wanna talk about evolve around me when I am working on the preparations. I hope I won't flood the blog with soapy wedding stuff. Enough the links)

Since the big day is drawing near, and what's more, the Year End Sale is still on high tide, En. Tunang and I made a series of shopping exercise. From Pavilion to Suria KLCC to Jalan TAR. From surveying and deciding what to buy, and the next few days were just buying-the-things-we-have-spotted, and we did a good job adhering to our allocation. It was fun to go shopping, I seriously can not deny that. But what I am more interested in is not the part when we got the things we wished for (memang seronok, but I did not say "Yes! Yes!Yes!" like the girl in Confessions of a Shopaholic), but the shopping behavior that shoppers have. I am awed. Awed in mixed feelings.

Yesterday, En. Tunang and I went to a well-renowned fabric shop in KL to get the fabrics for our pengapit during the receptions. It was Christmas, so yeah, I kinda expected Jalan TAR and its surroundings to be packed with swarms of people. It's shopping season kan!

After we got what we wanted, we waited for his sister who was queuing to pay at the counter. That was when one of the fabric shop staff hollered "Happy hour, happy hour! Murah2~ semua RM50 sepasang! Kain lembut2 kak.. tak payah gosok, mari2~!"

The aunties who came in are not all from KL I suppose. There were those from Kelantan, Terengganu (noting from their accent) and I was like "Whoa.. they come here to shop for kain? I thought city folks travel to their places to find kain? Hmm I guess that is called 'shopping assimiliation', haha.

I could feel the excitement in the makcik2's eyes upon hearing "kain sepasang RM50 je". They were delving into the rolls of cloth, picking one after one.. and I was bawling my eyes out. Deep inside my heart I yelped, "Auntie, don't buy, those pieces are unpretty. Tak cantik! It's a waste!" But if I were to open my mouth, I would definitely be kicked out of the shop, haha. So I tried in hesitation to watch them reaching out for the so-called cheap-but-pretty textile, knowing that I would turn them into rags to clean my kitchen if I were to buy one. And I was thinking too, every second the textile merchant gets richer and richer. Oh dunia~ how easy it is to get rich.. just rake the money out from everyone's pockets! Weapon? Good marketing and promotion! Barang tak best pun pembeli bukan pandai sangat nak tahu.. dia tahu dapat diskaun je..

So after all is done, out we go. Suddenly I was into this kinda-stupid idea. "Ain, let's check out that tudung store. I wanna find out what's there.." En. Tunang and family went their own way, leaving Ain and I to do what we wanted to do.

Tudung. Scarf. The trend now: Tudung Indon, that is being restyled and rebranded into brands like Ariani, Ratu and Fareeda; just quoting a few names. Don't say I have not tried, I have, but let's just say that I like scarfs with no awning. Afterall, the style in wearing tudung is not limited.

And so, Encik Kedai Tudung promoted the different names of scarfs that they have, telling us why we should opt for their tudung. Thai silk covered awning, swarovski beaded, face shaped to perfection, and so on. But referring to one of his statements, I will never agree that ladies who don't wear tudung indon-like style is out of trend. It's just that someone like him has been 'intelligent' enough to stick the thinking that branded indon-scarfs is the in-thing and make so-called trendy ladies pay RM200 just to take an average scarf out of their store. Some marketing they have there..

So, what kind of lesson learnt can we get? Make your own product, promote it to the sky, entice people, and your pocket will be thick in no time. Well, some time jugak la kut..

And I'm glad that I have great resistance to spend.

My Unwind

2009-12-16T22:09:00.001+08:00

The 3-day training in Kuala Terengganu was a really needed getaway after the Instrument Forum, the changes in my wedding arrangements, the pre-shopping activity (4 days straight!), the tiring-but-finally-I-get-what-I-want-kain-hunting and my family's kenduri. Should I call it one of the last few moments that I enjoyed my life being single? Eh, I mean unmarried :D Yeah, it was one of the perfect getaways.

Why? Because there were great friends as company, great food, great hotel, much things to laugh about, pillow talks, many unexpected things, no rules to play by, and the list goes on. Sitting on the beach with the cold night's breeze biting the skin, admiring the dark sky pierced with glittering stars, sharing good stories and silent moments.. I couldn't ask for more. I call it rejuvenation process, haha.

(Seriously, the tension got my skin to age somehow. Don't say it's not visible ok)

I must admit that I really treasure the happenings around me right now, and that I would likely recall them this way "ingat tak a few months before our weddings.. we did this and that.." (Oh, a few friends-cum-colleagues will get married around the same time like mine, so we're kinda celebrating our single life together). I suppose after marriage, a different type of life could be expected. Not to say that I am viewing marriage from a not-so-positive angle, I DIDN'T say that! Let's just say that life later will somehow change. Priorities especially. I guess it will take some time for me to adapt. But anyway, I always believe that discovering something new or going through uncharted waters bring colors to life. Afterall, I am getting myself a great partner :) And I look forward to it.

Tomorrow, I'll board the plane again. Oh, have I ever mention I love airports? Yes, I do (love airports) :)

P/S: Thanks to Encik Nazim for the great training (specially edited for you ok~ hehe)

Prelude after the break

2009-12-16T21:24:00.000+08:00

Here I am, sitting alone in Primula Beach Hotel lobby, just got myself connected after like 3 days of not accessing the Internet. Tomorrow I will head home, and will start my long untaken annual leave (yay!). 3 months more, and so much things to get done. Enough of planning!

It has been more than a month since I seriously wrote something. Oh well, not that I can really recall what happened throughout the 4-5 weeks, but I was damn busy and tired. Busy with work, family affairs and wedding affairs too! I'm not talking about my upcoming wedding, but my friends' weddings! Even this weekend I will have three weddings to attend, two on Saturday and one on Sunday, and that one being held in Bandar Baru Kedah. Wuhuu.. balik daripada Terengganu ni kena pergi tukar minyak hitam la jawabnya...

I guess I'll separate the things I have in my head into several posts (wah, adakah rajin?) If not, my idea will be so messed up!

P/S: Esok birthday Aishah. Happy 23rd birthday my sista!

No, not yet

2009-12-09T21:56:00.001+08:00

It's hard to accept that I left my blog with all the cobwebs for nearly one month. Wuuhuu..

.. for the next post.

But then..

2009-11-11T23:05:00.005+08:00

There are times when I wish that my journey to the office would be free of the unsightly things that would impose negative energy to me.. But then, I have to accept that unsightly things are a common thing, and there's nothing I can do about it, other than correcting my point of view.

Sometimes I wish I could yell to the guy beside me who smells so foul, I may think he has no money to buy a deodorant.. But to think he's a stranger that exists only 5 minutes of journey back from the office (petang kan.. panas.. peluh ler.. adeih) it's no worth to say anything. The wife never complains I guess. That's good enough.

Sometimes I wish that I would see no tears.. But then I know I should not forget that tears could heal the sadness inside, and that one feels better after crying.

Sometimes I wish that I could just listen, that I don't have to talk. But then I hate it just to nod or shake my head or to just say 'uhuhh..' without giving opinions..

Sometimes I hope that some people would just leave me alone.. but then, if they do, I would probably miss the publicity (muahaha!) and yeah, the fame perhaps? I might as well just sit back and enjoy it (hah!).

Sometimes I try to blend, never say I didn't try.. but then the way they boast makes me ill, that I shut off all my auditory senses when they talk.. They say I was inattentive.. Whatever.

P/S:

"Ah, but then.."
A phrase I remembered the most in one of the classes of Technical Writing taught by Dr. Shahrina. It was just a phrase that she uttered, and it got stucked in my head.

I just wanna record this here

2009-11-10T20:21:00.001+08:00

I guess 2009 is a sweet year for my mom.

Adding to that is this.

Aim high Mak! Our love is always with you :)

November Rain

2009-11-07T21:21:00.004+08:00

1) No, it's not like the ultimate love song from Guns N' Roses. It's just that coincidentally, it rains more heavily now in November, and I remembered a few lines from the song while driving alone in the cold weather just now.

2) It's not so hard to understand my fear + hatred for roaches. Everybody have their own things that they are scared of. A good friend of mine is scared of chicken (though they taste nyum nyum to me :D) and another is absolutely scared of cats. Though I find it amusing, but I never failed to save her from stray cats when we walk together. I mean, in short, everyone have their own things to be phobic of. I don't see any reason why it is so hard to accept my fear of roaches. It's normal.

3) I suppose my status as a fiancée for 11 months (and counting!) should somehow be understood that I am not at all available. Available as in to accommodate requests to have a drink or to go somewhere. What would you feel if someone would have done similar thing to your girlfriend? I expect my status to be respected. If it's not work, then I suppose there is no need for a meeting.

4) I went for a class today! A class that I have been trying to fit in my schedule for like 3 months, and only until today I was able to attend the class. I'll definitely be practicing more of my skills to do this. Enchanting new interest :)

The pieces of Q-dip petals and leaves. Just had them dried and glittered!

The participants in the class. Creative ladies. The lady in the vest and spectacles came all the way from Singapore just to attend this class, can you imagine?

My two Q-dip flowers! Now that I know how to make lily and rose Q-dip flowers, I can do it on my own for my big day! Encik Tunang, thank you for the support :)
(Sorry for the mediocre shot. They look better in live mode)

P/S:

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

These kids..

2009-10-23T23:25:00.004+08:00

Just now, the house was filled with chattering of the kids who came for tuition. I am always fond of them, albeit them being naughty, talkative, and at times, delaying their work.

But of course, my mom is allergic to those kinds of attitude. So there you go kids, being scolded and nagged at. I know how that feels, haha.

But Afif didn't seem to take heed of mom's nagging. I was the one who was more concerned, hushing him to lower down his voice, and asked the others to concentrate on their workbook.

"Eee.. Afif tak takut pun Aunty marah.."

"Eee.. akak takut!"

"Nape nak takut.. kan kita kena takut Tuhan aje.."

Then Afiq interfered, "Habis tu, ko tak takut Mak ko?"

Afif shook his head, "Tak.."

Well, I suppose this is the egoistical part of kids after being scolded.

"Eehh... kalaupun tak takut Mak atau Aunty, tapi kita kena hormat.. mak ayah, cikgu, semua kita kena hormat. Betul tak..?" I was trying to give my suggestion.

"Betul betul.. Hormat orang tua la Afif.." Afiq seconded my opinion.

Afif sat down again, continuing his work. But not long after that..

"Hmm, akak, tak boleh ke UPSR dapat 4A ke, 3A ke.. memang kena dapat 5A jugak ke..?"

"Well, boleh je.. tapi lepas tak dapat 5A tu, jangan la marah kalau ada kawan-kawan ejek kita sebab tak dapat 5A.. Suka ke nak kena jadi bahan gelak orang..?" Well, expect a kiasu answer from a kiasu practitioner, haha.

"Tak nak.. tapi mak asyik cakap kena dapat 5A.. 4A pun ok apa.."

"Ok tu memang ok.. tapi kenapa kita target nak hadiahkan something yang tak sempurna pada mak ayah kita..? Everytime Afif datang tuisyen mesti pakai baju Manchester United. Baju mahal. Mak ayah bagi apa Afifi suka.. betul tak?" Afif nodded his head. So did Afiq.

"So, kalau Afif bagi something yang tak sempurna pada mak ayah, so can your parents.. do you want them to give something that you don't want..?"

"Apa yang kitaorang tak nak.. akak tahu ke..?" Cewah, Afiq seemed to question my credibility in understanding their wants, haha.

"Hui, senang je, let's say after this, parents korang belikan baju kat pasar malam je.. no more T-shirt Manchester United ke, Ben-10 ke.. ataupun t-shirt football club yang Afif tak suka.. sure tak nak pakai kan..??"

Afif answered straightly, "Uii, mestila tak nak pakai.." Gila demanding budak ni, adeh.

"See.. you want to give something yang tak perfect to your parents, but you want them to get you the best things in life that you want, eee.. mana aci.. Be fair la to your folks, korang~"

Afiq nodded. Afif was still left with a little defiance.

I suppose, kids need the explanation, only then can they really remember and feel what is being taught.. agaknyalah.

Journey to Swiss Garden

2009-10-22T17:48:00.001+08:00

Lumut. The last time I was there, it was during Oreetians' Barbecue Day. It was held at the end of our 4th year 1st semester, just for fun and friendship, before leaving for internship.

This week, I had a work assignment together with a colleague at Kencana HL yard in Lumut Port. I drove alone, since it was hard for us to meet up and car pool. But no issues. I love driving alone, especially on long distance and with no traffic lights, and of course, with good music accompanying.

My colleague confirmed that he would be staying at Swiss Garden Damai Laut. Since I did not frequent Lumut that often when I was in UTP, I had no idea where this hotel was located. My dad always reminded me to stick to the signboard in case I didn't know the way. Well, I would take it from the expert.

I arrived at Lumut township around 6 p.m. I could not find any signboard that could lead me to Swiss Garden, though I was sure that I saw a signboard before the Lumut junction saying that Swiss Garden was 21 kilometres away. I dropped by a pump station, and there was a kind lady who told me to follow the directions to Lumut Port. So okay, I got on the main road again, and took that junction: To Pantai Remis/ Pelabuhan/ Taiping.

"Yerp, this was the road that got Nadi and I to venture off until Changkat Jering tollgate at 10.30 p.m.!" I murmured.

The road wasn't good. And the junction to Swiss Garden, it felt like ages to reach there. My heart was boiling, and the feeling of fear seeped in at the same time. It was then 6.20 p.m.

The road to Swiss Garden led to a palm plantation, with a signboard at the beginning of the junction saying "7 km to Swiss Garden". Driving into that kind of area at that time, it didn't feel good. Then there was another junction, that led to a narrow, winding road. No cars were in sight.

Not too far after that junction, I could see a plantation of dragon fruit plants on both sides of the road. Well, not to say it was a pleasant sight, since the 'leaves' looked like the hair of the aliens from the movie "The Predators".

"Ishhh.. time2 macam ni laa nak teringat rambut alien tu.." and the bumps on the road made it hard to push the accelerator further.

Greeting me along the way were the swallows, flying high, and then drooped towards my car, as if they were teasing me to knock them down, and when my car was drawing near them, they fly away, which was quite enlightening really. Kinda fun to watch them teasing. At least they got my head off the predator. Oh yes, should I mention too that the monkeys lying on the road were so affectionate towards each other, ha ha.

And then I saw a signboard "1 km to resort".

Oh great. I had been driving for too long, man. I wished that there won't be another following sign that said "Oopss.. sorry.. another 10 km for you to drive, wahahaa.." Wuu, that would be really scary.

After the long, narrow, winding road (as if I were on my way to Fraser's Hill!) I arrived to a guardhouse. Lowering down my window, I was greeted by a security personnel.

"Nak ke mana Cik?"

I was beginning to feel puzzled.

"Hmm.. Swiss Garden?"

"Nak buat apa Cik..?"

"Eesshh banyak tanya lak encik ni. Kang cakap nak main golf kang, dia rasa kita berlagak pulak.." my heart murmured again.

"Nak tidur. Boleh kan?" with my eyes bawling out.

"Cik ada buat reservation?"

I supposed he didn't really get the 'eyes bawling out' signal.

"Dah call, tapi reception kata boleh walk in. Boleh saya masuk tak ni? Ke register sini je?" I wasn't sure if he understood that sarcasm.

"Tak, register kat reception.." Then he lifted the iron bar gate, and I quickly drove in. To reach the hotel, I had to drive further, surpassing the resort golf course and apartments. Thinking that I only had some leftovers of Nescafe and Bytes, I regretted of not buying anything for dinner, as I would not want to traverse the same road at night just to fill in my grumbling stomach. It was 7 p.m.

As I parked my car, I saw a Mazda3. I called up my colleague to ask if it was his car. Yep, it was his. Nice to look at definitely.

I quickly headed for the reception and got my room. The staffs there were nice and welcoming. The ambiance and setting were something like Hyatt Kuantan. Hahhh.. selamat pun sampai..

P/S: It was good that I didn't rush in to get a Mazda3.

Adi on AC?

2009-10-17T21:29:00.003+08:00

I do think it's about time that I change the banner of this blog. It has gotten outdated I know.. I haven't the time to do so anyway. Will think of something interesting soon.

I guess my energy of going 'beraya' has ended. With Mak being busy (even on weekends!) and Abah whose spirit to go anywhere plunges every time Mak is not around, I suppose staying at home is better.

Talking about staying at home, one of the ways to kill time is of course, watching TV. Yesterday I watched AC?. Not because I am a fan, but because the brilliant kid Adi Putra was on air.

All in all, I should sum the kid as being "outstandingly wow".

Sadly, the one interviewing him, should I say, 'otak ke laut'! Personally I think the program does best in tarnishing the minds of the viewers. Adi is too intelligent to be there. Serious.

The best thing about the interview with Adi Putra was that, he answered all the questions with intelligence in modesty. I absolutely salute his qualities.

One of the questions if I could recall, "Adik, adik kata nak bina satelit dengan formula yang adik buat tu, dah tahu macam mana nak naikkan satelit ke atas?" I am not so sure if this kind of question was being asked to test the boy's credibility, but to me, it was kinda annoying. Lain la kalau yang menanya tu memang pakar fizik ke.. boleh la terima. Oh well, I am not judging the guy who asked. He confessed that he flopped math in school ok. Physics need Math.

But Adi's answer was just simple, "Adi tahu macam mana nak bina luar dan dalaman satelit tu, tapi macam mana nak naikkan, itu Adi belum fikirkan lagi.." In short, he's humble! How many intelligent people could be as humble as that? I don't sound like a fanatic fan, do I? Haha. No, just mesmerized.

The usual question that was popped was regarding Adi's competency in subjects other than Math. Personally, I think he is not just gifted in dealing with numbers. In fact his capacity could be borderless. Who knows. I suppose people would love to know that he's only good at Math, but not in other subjects. Why? The easier for them to criticize. Why? Because they want Adi to appear imperfect, just like them, so that they won't be inferior. Also, people worrying about him not having the 'fun' childhood. Kenapa la nak susah hati sangat kalau Adi ni tak reti main bola pun.. it is his choice. And he did say in the program that he does actually spends time to play. So, no issue la kan..

The worry that national education system is unfit for Adi, I suppose it may be hard for the government to have an avenue for genius kids when they are actually not prepared to have anything implemented. It is not everyday that we encounter child prodigies, and if the education system is not formulated with much thought being put in, it is feared that the kids will not benefit from it. We have yet to figure how can we offer an interesting way of learning for gifted kids. Perhaps Professor X can help? Ok2, stupid joke.

The thing that I am concerned about is, I hope that he will escape the envious hearts around him. Just for precautions, since our society still believes in resorting to you-know-what when it comes to the matter of envy and jealousy and hatred. I hope he will survive all those bad things.

P/S: Dulu agak reluctant nak beri pendapat tentang Adi Putra ni, but kerana bengkek dengan cara AC bertanya soalan yang menyakitkan hati kepada adik yang sangat berakal ni, maka post ini pun ditulis. Nasib baik aku takde kat studio, if not, mahu dah aku sound AC ni.

Plain updates

2009-10-08T21:51:00.003+08:00

I just can't believe that tomorrow's Friday again. It feels like last Friday was just here not too long ago. Oh well..

Lega sikit la hari ni dah memasuki separuh yang kedua, siang tadi pening ditunggangterbalikkan dalam the submerged heli simulator, tapi nasib baik ada breathing bag this time.

This week is quite bland, since Mak is away on her first paper presentation after getting her doctorate. Well that means no tuition for a week! Betapa bosannya la budak-budak tu takde membisingkan rumah.. Ozal pun is not around to pretend being a baby.. tak gitu Ozal? :P

.. And I am viewing October to be the most boring month ever so far.. sigh.

Raya + filem Melayu = Lemau

2009-09-23T21:51:00.006+08:00

Raya ke-4. Macam dah kehabisan idea nak pergi rumah siapa. We only visited Uncle Mansor, mom's varsity junior, also one of her good friends. I am waiting for Zuhairy and Uncle Shah's open house on Saturday. Gathering lagi!

Today, we had the entire day to waste. Thinking of helping my dad to mow the lawn, it was too hot I couldn't stand it, so sorry Abah. So the last resort was the TV, and since TV stations were playing so many movies, I thought that I should watch a few movies. And so, I watched 'Anak Halal' and 'I'm Not Single'. I only watched the latter halfway through. Boleh tak kitaorang bersorak gembira masa Fasha terjun bangunan dalam Anak Halal? Sibuk je nak potong jalan Maya Karin, cewah.

Two main summaries I made:
1) Mesti ramai guys jealous dengan Farid Kamil. Mungkin dia good-looking (and he knows how to capitalize on that for sure), and most importantly, he has hugged Fasha Sandha, Maya Karin, Raja Farah and Lisa Sughihani (betulkan pronunciation 'R' tu Lisa, isk..) Rezeki dia la kut.
2) Fasha Sandha pun tidak keberatan untuk peluk semua actors. Dalam Anak Halal tu macam semua je dia peluk. Sigh. Malu la tengok.

In general, watching Malay movies kat TV pun boleh rasa nak cekik diri sendiri kerana telah membuang masa dan juga mensia-siakan neuron otak yang rosak kerana TV. If they give away free tickets to watch pun, I don't think I wanna go.

I think there are a few issues before the film makers and producers can really come up with a good movie to sell:
1) Not enough budget
2) Not enough technology
3) Time constraint
4) Apprehensive to explore beyond normal societal stories
5) More interested to 'sell' current issues like mat rempit and bohsia
6) The mindset that Malays like to watch comedy stories aka movies with 'light & easy' storyline
7) Scared of criticism
8) Lack of true talents (janji kena cantik @ sexy)
9) Cronism inside the movie industry

Watching P Ramlee's movies jugak yang best. No need million-dollar budget. Though I have watched some of his films tens of times (and some of the dialogues I can memorize) but I am never tired to watch them again. Am pretty sure many Malaysians are alike in that sense.

Suatu hari lebih kurang 3 bulan lepas:

Lisa: You dah tengok 'Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak?'
Me: Err.. not yet..
Lisa: Eyy pergila tengok.. best tau cerita dia.. kelakar.
Me: Kelakar ke..? Bukan ke cerita hantu? I can't really watch horror movies aa Lisa (cewah, nak ngelak je ni) then Senario summore.. tak minat la..
Lisa: Eyy tak2.. cite dia best, nanti tengok tau.
Me: Haha, ye ke.. okay2, nanti I tengok :)

Yeah right. Show kat TV pun tak tengok.

Malam Raya

2009-09-19T23:19:00.005+08:00

It's 11.25 p.m.

Baru habis masak kuah briyani daging, ayam masak merah and acar rampai. Dead tired and sleepy.

Esok mesti bangun awal. After subuh prayers, tolong masak nasi minyak jap, mandi sunat aidilfitri and head to the mosque for solat sunat aidilfitri.

Tahun ni we'll be spending raya in KL.. hopefully this time around, raya will bring sweet memories, and more people to the house!

Selamat Hari Raya to my readers and friends :)

Footnote:

In the car, heading back from Pasar Pagi Sek. 16.
Ain: Along, tahun depan Along dah tak ikut kitaorang pergi pasar beli barang kan.. Along dah tak tolong masak.. Pagi raya pun tak dgn kitaorang. Ee.. sedih nya..

Me: A'a kut.. hmm.. sedih kan.. tengok la macam mana nanti k..

Suddenly tears flowed down our cheeks. We cried in silence.

Ain: Mak.. minta tissue.. (sure Mak ingat Ain selsema..)

Blabs malam Likur

2009-09-11T21:12:00.005+08:00

(1) Ramadhan has entered the 'Likur' period. Am I doing good? Well, I try to. Definitely many other people score better than I do. But, Allah is Most Merciful, and His mercy means everything for an average slave like me.

(2) Usually, the last ten days of Ramadhan will witness a more intense preparation towards welcoming 1 Syawal. Shoppings and stuff. I have not done that yet. Not excited to. Not really driven to celebrate raya, except by a few reasons: the annual leave, open houses by my friends and of course, my family will be complete again :) Well, for a week that is! Ozal, I got chocolates for you!

(3) I got this from someone: "What is constant in life? : CHANGE". I like that. It gives some sort of positive perspective of Change. Tiba-tiba terasa like it has been ages since I last went to a motivational talk. I suppose that was one of the recipe of my schooldays success. After schooling days ended, sendiri la kena motivate diri. Huhu..

(4) Siapa dah dapat kad raya from me, angkat tangan! Eh, sorry, I can't see you, hehe :D

I love (smart) kids!

2009-09-06T07:20:00.003+08:00

My mom holds tuition classes on weekdays except on Thursday. That means 4 times a week. In those 4 days, I loved it when it's Tuesday or Friday, because the two days are meant for primary schoolkids :) (yang dah secondary school ni tak best nak layan sgt.. berangan diorang dah lain macam sikit)

Sometimes, I join in my mom to teach too. I don't mind if they tell me "Kak, tak faham la...". I never give up in teaching them, because I believe if they do not understand what I am trying to teach, perhaps there are loopholes in the way I am teaching them.

"Faham tak?"
"Faham akak.."
"Sure betul faham..?"
"Emm..."

Okay, teach again how to answer.

Tapi, paling tak suka if dah Standard 4 pun tak hafal sifir. The problem is, ramai yang tak hafal sifir! Sudahnya, memang kena bebel la..

I love kids. And above all, I looovveeee intelligent and witty kids. Bonus if they are cute (tak cute, salahkan mak bapak! haha)

But it's not everyday I get to see smart kids. When I meet one, I feel honored, refreshed, I feel great! And yes, I definitely respect the parents who know how to nurture the 'X-factor' in their kids. Walaupun Sufiah Yusof mischanneled her stress in education, I sincerely believe that her mom did a terrific job in educating her children until they are regarded as child prodigies in Math. Seriously, hebat.

When I was in primary school, I had two friends whom I consider to be totally out-of-the-box breed.

Zuhairy:
"Okay Sharifah, tell me in which period Velociraptor existed?"
"Johann Sebastian Bach was more into writing songs for the church.."
"Weih, fakta tentang Corsica and Sardinia dalam Joe Jambul semalam macam salah je.."

He made me read about classical composers, dinosaurs, world history, etc. Terrific inquisitive mind. I never stopped saluting him.

Arwah Idris:
"Okay Sharifah, aku challenge ko jawab soalan kuiz aku ni. Soalan pertama, namakan 5 jenis pokok fir.." (I was thinking "damn this isn't in Alam & Manusia year 4 chapters!")
"Kau ambil je mana-mana buku. Buku pasal Milky Way aku ada a few. Pinjam je.. aku dah baca semua"

It was a terrible moment when I learnt that he passed away. Almost 3 years already.

Presently, I think NST is doing a good job in educating kids and teens. Niexster pull-out is an avenue for me to find thoughtful kids and teens. Opinionated and matured compositions by ages 17 and below. I'm inspired. But most of the column contributors come from urban areas. Another NST effort is the Spell-It-Right contest. I guess that competition created some kind of competitiveness in learning among the participants (and the viewers too!)

I believe encouraging the offsprings to have a sense of race in learning is a good approach. Afterall, learning is not just about getting Top 3 in the school exam. To learn more means to give more choices of what one wants to specialize into in the future. Parents, they 'have been there, have done that', so supposedly they can guide their children through what they have experienced.

Ibu, Ayah, jangan la asyik fikir kerja.. we need your attention too!

1 - the number for Malaysia

2009-09-04T21:18:00.007+08:00

Fuhh.. at present Malaysia has various kinds of fever:

1) H1N1 fever (please observe the way you cough and sneeze ya.. before someone gets a shout on the face for coughing or sneezing in front of people's face)
2) Bazaar Ramadhan fever (sila control selera anda. Perut anda bukan tong)
3) Shopping raya fever (baju kurung chiffon kat SACC RM1k! Are you crazy?)
4) Matta Fair fever (oklah, ni KL je)
and finally, the best fever ever - 1Malaysia fever (iyolah kau)

(actually I felt a little jealous of Faizal Tahir & co. for getting that RM25k fortune out of that 1Malaysia promo.. if only I write songs too.. haha. Tapi nasib baik Siti tak menang. Kuikuikui..)

Speaking about the spirit of 1Malaysia, I personally have been practicing it (without being pushed to do so!) since I was 5, that was when I moved to Alam Megah, and began to have friends of different races.

My first friend in the neighborhood was a Chinese boy. His name was Hock Seng. I can still recall, how I really enjoyed Chinese New Year, because we would fill our evening, together with my siblings, with playing firecrackers a few days before CNY. His family was equally friendly too. Then, when I stepped into kindergarten, my circle of Chinese and Indian friends grew. Some of them, I met them again when I stepped into secondary school. It was really fun back then. Every CNY, Raya or Deepavali would mean "it's time for beraya for us schoolmates!" Mandarin oranges, marukus and capatis and nasi impit.. everyone loved it.

Even language was not the barrier. In fact, we tried to learn a bit of Tamil and Cantonese. Those who excelled in English always made the effort to lend a hand to other classmates who wished to learn. Of course, when the exam seasons were around the corner, we became competitive, trying to outshine one another. We gauged each other's competency, and by knowing that, we doubled our efforts to do better. But we shared the mistakes we did in the exams, because in the end, it was the 'A' percentage of the class that mattered to us. We wanted to do better than our seniors. And yes, we did it.

Speaking of religion, we talked about everything. Why Muslims have to fast; the differences between Catholics and Protestants; the significance of cow in Hinduism, popular gods and goddesses of Buddhism (remember the series 'Journey to the West'?). Yet, we managed to observe the way we approach things between different races and religions. I totally felt the 'muhibah' atmosphere.

What I am trying to say is, even though the advertisements and promotions of 1Malaysia are heavily conducted, the possibility for 1Malaysia to be institutionalized inside everyone's mind and heart is slim if it is never felt nor experienced. I am not sure if the hearsay that says rifts among races are agonizing spreads purely on political purpose (disregarding what happened in Shah Alam). Politicians must remember, that one of their roles is to facilitate improvements, not scaring the public with free, baseless comments. I suppose, if more news on interracial well-being is publicized, perhaps it could motivate the readers to take it as a good societal example.

Another challenge for 1Malaysia to be implemented is that each race must understand the other races and their sensitivities. For example, caning of the Muslim model who consumed alcohol. Though for other races, it may be looked at as a severe prosecution for a woman, but it is a prosecution based on the religion. Therefore, other races must understand that the issue should totally be contained within the religious parameters only; not to be a polemic. Another good example is of course, the cow-head thingy. I suppose objections can be made in a more civilized and sensitive way. The action of putting the cow head to be displayed as such evidently showed that too little sensitivity is taken into consideration when the mind is in resentment.

But of course, intra racial harmony should be observed too~ (Malay neighbor vs Malay neighbor? A common eyesight I suppose. Sg Buloh Country Resort is the best example, haha. Siap nak berparang lagi.. gile.)

P/s: Tapi rasa pelik la bila dengar orang cakap "Salam 1Malaysia!". Ala-ala poyo pun ada jugak. Haha.

Some ngomelan

2009-08-26T21:35:00.005+08:00

Just a few things to mention..

1) Two wrongs don't make a right. I suppose many of us can easily hear people say this, even in formal meetings! "It's mean.." (when the actual meaning is "it means..", not like in the context of "it's mean... to do something bad to someone..") Too many times. In fact, it has never been corrected since the first time I heard someone said "it's mean.." Is it because of the slogan "Kepimpinan melalui Teladan", therefore, those who don't really know grammar just follow blindly without questioning (or they can't even bother to question) the appropriate use of apostrophes? The worst part is, the grammatical error becomes increasingly widely used in other phrase like "it's depend" (duuhh..)

2) Terawih di masjid/ surau. When my siblings and I were younger, my mom used to scold us whenever we made noises when she was performing her prayers. Usually, the prize would be blue-black bruises, haha (serious sakit gile kena cubit dengan pakar!) But we got the point, that making noise when people are praying or reciting the verses is discourteous. I expect parents to teach their kids about manners. The tok imam repeatedly reminded parents who brought along their kids to refrain them from making noises while the jemaah were praying. But of course, some parents were too lenient toward their kids, until their kids became uncontrollably naughty and noisy. I have pinched one kid at the surau last Ramadhan after terawih, thanks to her distracting the jemaah by lying down on the prayer mat in front of us when we were performing terawih. I don't wanna do it again. But these kids, they just have to be taught a lesson! And believe me, I am actually tempted to do it again.

3) Sentenced to be caned, but nobody is expert enough to perform the caning? It's just like sentencing the accused person to go to jail, but then, rupa-rupanya the jail has not been built! Or does the judge actually expect her to appeal.. in which she didn't? Silap la Your Honor.

Of H1N1 and whatnots

2009-08-16T17:05:00.002+08:00

Gossip hari ini: Akhil Hayy is married to Waheeda? Whateverrr...

Another week in Miri and I can't wait to come home. Unluckily, my flight home is on the first day of Ramadhan, which means I won't be able to dine on flight (which is something I reaallllyy love~) I hope the renovation is done by then, and hopefully I will be able to find something good for Mak to decorate the house with next weekend.

News on arising number of H1N1 cases is something not so nice to know. Yesterday, in the news, it was predicted that almost 5 million of Malaysians will be affected by the virus. Such a large number! I sincerely hope that we Malaysians adhere to the advice from MOH, to take care of our hygiene especially our hands, and to cover the mouth and nose whenever we sneeze or cough. I really think that those who cough and sneeze freely without heeding people's presence are really insensitive about this matter. Doesn't matter if you don't have H1N1 pun. It's also a matter of courtesy and manners. Sometimes I just feel like blurting out my anger to this kind of people. Tapi nanti diri sendiri terbuat (walaupun tak sengaja), orang kata 'cakap tak serupa bikin' lak kan.. so, better I keep it inside.. dan protect myself with tissue papers and Scott's Emulsion..

(Mak, Abah and the whole family, sila simpan stok Scott's Emulsion ya..)

At present, I feel time is ticking really fast. It's already August, and exactly in 5 months' time I'll be 26! Fuu.. dah nak late 20s ok. In these two years, I notice that there are lots of changes in me, especially in the aspect of viewing life. I am also trying to recollect things that happen in my childhood and adolescence, so that whatever I experienced can be shared with my generation later, in hope of giving them more life options and insights before making any decisions.

(Is that too early to be thought of? Hmm..)

I think I have aged (I bet Mak will say I'm crazy). Ageing, in a way, I think it's interesting. But I would prefer if it is accompanied with exponential matureness of the mind.

August wishes

2009-08-10T20:50:00.011+08:00

A few people to congratulate =))
1) To Mak for completing her Ph.D. Can't wait for your convo in November!
2) En. Dayat and Kak Zufina for the newborn baby girl. Siapa namanya..? Is it Dania?
3) My dearest and prettiest roomate, Shafaf for the awesome news.

A few wishes to be expressed >_~
1) Happy birthday to Maktok. You never age in our eyes.
2) Happy 2 years of knowing each other, Encik Tunang~ :) dah 2 tahun kita convo ek.. how time flies..
3) Selamat berpuasa to all friends.. moga bulan puasa ni tak la panas sangat..
4) Best wishes to Kak Nedd.. may you deliver a healthy and cute little baby~ just like the mom ;)

I'm depending on Scott's Emulsion now.. to strengthen my body resistance.. and hopefully to keep me safe from that bloody flu! You guys should try it too. It's really good. One second I am having runny nose, and the other second it's totally gone! Magic gile..

Eh, dah August dah..

2009-08-02T10:31:00.006+08:00

My weekend: two movies in a row: disappointing Harry Potter and his troubled mates (why did Snape claim himself a 'prince' eh? Is he some kind of royalty? I wonder..) and Transformers (to overcome the disappointment in Harry), some shopping, spending some time with beloved fiance at our fave ice cream parlor, dining out with the family, and making currypuffs for today's breakfast. Next on today's list: meeting my planner and accompanying Ain for more shopping =D

This week alone, I watched three movies already. The other one was 'Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian'. Okay, I should fairly say that Transformers 2 kinda uplifted the frustration. Well, boleh lah..

Some questions pondering in my mind while watching the movies:

1. What happened to the meeting with Wal-Mart that Larry's company managed to secure? I thought that he would be having tough time balancing between his business and his mission for the museum. In the end, his business didn't really portray himself as a successful businessman. I was puzzled.

2. I wonder if Amy Adams' presence as Amelia Earhart was merely because the story needed a character who knew how to fly an aircraft. Apart from flying, she was just an excess baggage for Larry.. and a seducer.. lame.

3. How could JK Rowling ended Dumbledore's character by letting him die in vain? In vain as in how could Dumbledore not know that the necklace was void and risked Harry and himself to get it? Could it be that the author just wanted to express that nobody is perfect?

Night at the Museum: The story is so easy to be predicted. Takde surprise. Bosan!
Harry Potter: Too many scenes of that itchy ugly girl getting obsessed with Ron, Malfoy crying and fidgeting.. haih, boring betul. Bila Death Eaters nak mati ni~~!!
Transformers: The robots are the ones who should be nominated in the Oscars.

Lepas ni lagi la malas nak pergi tengok wayang. The motivation is just the popcorn..

Hona Hain Tujhmein Fanaa~

2009-07-23T11:15:00.001+08:00

Mode: Stucked in Kerteh again. Heading for KL this evening. Will head back to Kerteh on Saturday.

Current wish: To have the 'jumper'-ability, like Hayden Christensen :P

Blessing in disguise: Enrich Miles (though not as much as my bosses' miles!) & World Card & Treatspoints

You know, one of the reasons why I like to be on my own is that I don't have to make people understand of the things I like. One of the things I find hard to share about is my penchant for Hindi songs (and movies too :D) My all-time fave are the song from the movie Fanaa: Chand Sifarish ('chand' means the moon, while I'm not so sure what 'sifarish' means) and Tinak Tin Tana from the movie Mann (it doesn't mean anything specifically, just Tinak Tin Tana.. like la la la). Hmm.. ironically in those two movies Aamir Khan played the lead. Well, yeah, I am a big fan of his :) Look at the way he wooed Kajol in this video.. heart melting..~

(bestnya kalau ada someone mengorat mcm tu.. encik tunang, sila la ngorat saya macam tu, hihi)

The interest for Hindi songs is nothing new to me. I guess because all of us in the family were exposed to a lot of Hindi movies of the 60s and 70s (Bobby, An Evening in Paris, Sangam, Talaash, to name a few) and that the generations of the actors then emerged in the industry (Karisma Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, etc.) added to the interest of knowing and watching more of their movies. Abah and maktok love watching them until now. Abah even bought a few albums containing the songs that he liked. The result: I memorized some of them! Funnily, Ain thinks my fondness of Hindi songs is something crazy. She rather goes for Japanese. Thank God she doesn't like anime though, which I personally think is rather a weird interest :P

And because of the love for the songs, I put in effort to find the meanings of the songs.. to better understand the message, and the language itself. Believe me, it's not like learning English or Malay; the sentence will be jumbled up if I try to directly translate from English to Hindi. It's not that simple.

Have I sang Hindi songs in public? Yes! Tapi sekali je la.. during my PIPE group visit to this Old Folks Home in Semenyih, where most of the old folks were Indian. We didn't really know how to entertain them by doing other things less physical, except singing. So I sang a few Hindi songs for them, and a few who knew the songs joined me by singing along. Serious seronok seeing them enjoying themselves.

Haih, minta-minta la kat Astro/ TV2/ TV3 ada cerita Hindi yang best. Yang best pastinya ada Aamir Khan, SRK, or Preity Zinta :)

Forgive and forget?

2009-07-17T15:28:00.001+08:00

2 weeks in Kerteh and now I'm back in KL for a while. A rough start in Kerteh: missing luggage and the emergence of a larger-than-a-dinosaur pimple on my forehead. Anyway, having my work completed 1 week ahead of schedule and getting a closer look on the plant instruments were definitely the cure.. apart from the nice small dinner I had with one of my best chums Nadi on my last night there. This weekend Ozal will be back home, since on this coming Monday he won't be having any classes. I'm thinking of what to do this weekend. I don't expect myself to watch Harry Potter that soon, because it is expected that the cinemas will definitely be flocked, and I don't really enjoy big crowds, especially on weekends. Nevertheless, I am foreseeing that Ozal might drag us to watch the movie.

During the dinner, among the topics that Nadi and I touched were about seeking apologies and being forgiving. I told her about a few stories, painful to the heart, that I am still unable to forgive and forget. One of the reasons: there were no apologies sought, and because of that, I am unable to forgive. Perhaps in those particular cases, I believe forgiveness does not come for free. It should be asked for. Especially when the occasions involve heart matters. It's not the same like one freeingly forgive a neighbor's offspring for breaking one's flower pot. The damage is not the same as the damage done to the heart. It leaves permanent scar inside.

I quote Fairuz's favorite tagline: Treat others like you wanna be treated. If the 'treat others' fails, then definitely 'like you wanna be treated' is just for us to dream about.

Walking through my life, I have seen too many incidents around me that were so damn impossible to forgive, that sometimes led to vengeance. I can totally understand why, because they did not involve the heart alone, but also pride and family ties. And because forgiveness was too seldom to be sought for, the ties just dissolved with time.

I have seen people begging for forgiveness, and eventually repeat the same old attitude again. What's worst is that they influence other people to hate the wronged person. Because of that, I tend to identify people around me as being trustworthy or otherwise. Because of that too, I tend to warn my family and friends acquanting with those of that type to be careful. It may sound paranoid, but I just wanna protect my beloved from being offended, or lied to, or heartbroken.

I do believe in the phrase 'once bitten, twice shy'. Perhaps there are former acquaintances that I don't wanna keep in touch with anymore. If they can't think of a reason why, may be the most likely case is that I was been incised by them. I love my heart, and I constantly make sure that it doesn't bleed. Perhaps in time it will heal, even though they never really say sorry to make things better. Perhaps they have forgotten what they have done, and that's why I'll just shy away and will not highlight things anymore. It's called "healing myself".

I know some will say 'sedangkan Nabi ampunkan umatnya'. Well, it takes a great deal to be a great human like the Prophet (pbuh). Allah's guidance to seek peace in mind, soul and heart is the only help I always ask for.

Oh yeah friends, do not advise me, unless I ask you to. The best thing to do is to send me tapes of sermons or books by Islamic scholars. That will be better :)

P/S: Kailua, I know who you are.

Closing June, welcoming July

2009-06-27T21:10:00.011+08:00

I just got back from Perlis, with my parents. Sent Ozal my little brother to UiTM Arau. This is his first time being far from home. Just like what my sisters and I experienced when we stepped into the university. The only difference is that, I am the eldest, and he is the youngest. And I don't expect him to be as tough. He will always be our baby, though he's 17 going on 18..

(Ozal, please don't merengek kat sana ok!)

The queue towards UiTM Arau gate was as long as the traffic jam queue during peak hour on the Federal Highway. With a few impatient drivers trying to overtake and squeeze their vehicles in between cars which were already bumper-to-bumper, our patience was really tried. If I were driving a 4WD, you could predict what I would have done to those cars, huhu.

About 10 meters away from the main gate, we saw the signboards being put up by the security personnel: Right lane for male students, left lane for female students. For the second time (first time was during Ain's time in UIA), boys were again being outnumbered by the girls (in UTP, it wasn't like that). As a result, driving to the male hostel was smoother than driving to the female hostel, haha.

After helping him unpack and all, we headed back to KL, and arrived home in about 5 hours. Upon writing this, I already missed him. I hope he will be strong there.

********************************************************************

The news on Michael Jackson's departure held my breath. It is the same feeling like I had when Lady Diana died. A total disbelief. And I knew that it is a big loss to not only the entertainment world; he was an icon encompassing his music. The world is not ready to lose him. Though I am not that big of a fan, I feel his loss. It hurts inside.

I then begin to think, whose departure after this would leave such a big impact alike to MJ's? Sir Elton John? Sir Paul McCartney? Mariah Carey? Nelson Mandela? I'm not that sure..

Whatever it is, Michael Jackson is forever irreplaceable. May he rests in peace.. and if it's really in Islam, alhamdulillah..

********************************************************************
June has been a fun month for me. I got to fulfill my dreams to give a talk when my alma mater invited me as one of the speakers for their students induction week, went for technical seminars and vendor presentations (which I have not been able to do for the past few months), secured myself a good deal for my big day during the wedding fair at Ampang Point, went for my offshore safety training (and being in water now is no more a nightmare, yay~!) and boy, was it a fun experience, and with my good friends Caah, Shafaf, Yatt, Alice, Diyana and Nazrol by my side, it was even more exciting :) I wish that I'll be assigned for offshore RTS work this year.. even if it's not under my group's KPI..

July is coming.. and I foresee my absence from KL, which means, yay! (Oh well, a little urrgh for not being able to have breakfast talks with Caah, Yatt and Shafaf..)

Danger: Emotional Alert! Haha.

2009-06-20T11:37:00.003+08:00

I have always wanted to know where my readers come from. And because of the advancement in real time online tracking, I am able to track where my readers come from. Yes, it is nice to know that my blog is being visited, even by people whom I don't know. I sometimes wonder, which friend is it that I have in Brighton (well, cousin Alisa used to study there.. but that was like 2 years before), Singapore (Tan Su Yi kah?), Saudi (let me guess, Zaim?) and Japan (I suppose it's Fiqah). I just wanna say thanks for spending the time browsing though my posts :).

How do I know some of my readers? Well, some are constant commentors (like En. Dayat!), some friends (who are usually bloggers too) told me that they came across my blog and expressed their views about my posts, and some friends gave some hints that they have read this blog by giving me some hints, e.g. you love fried chicken, don't you? And I will wonder like, err.. when did I give that information away verbally..? Hmm.. The pulling down part is that, when I know my readers, I tend to restrict whatever I am writing so as not to write things that may be discomforting to them. As a result: depressed blogger! haha. Less of self expression.

For almost two years, I no longer engage in diary-writing (except during new year's eve), cuz when I read back my diary posts, it all seemed to be quite emotional (it's easier expressing my emotions on paper, than with people, nanti kena label as drama queen. Tak macho la kan..), and I don't prefer that sort of feeling. And I have thrown lotsa them into the dustbin. In short, waste of my time. So no, I avoid going near to fancy diaries when I step into Kino or MPH.

Speaking about being emotional, lately I sense the huge impact of emotions on me. You know, I guess the "9 nafsu 1 akal" thingy is taking over me. Nafsu, in my understanding after reading a few opinions (mentioned by Saifulislam and demipena in their websites) does not really link to lust or desire or whatever synonyms that it has, but more to the emotion matters. I asked a few of my close girlfriends before, do they feel that, and they said it's affirmative. It's not that I'm trying to deny the womanish development inside me, but it does feel awkward (and tak best jugak!). Why? Because I adore those whom are more logical than emotional. Maybe it's the ego thingy, or maybe the adapting process is slow. And because my emotional side is developing, I pity my fiance who has to get used to the emotional turbulence I had recently. Believe me, I am adapting as well! It's rather weird you know.

Perhaps I should finish reading that Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus (sebenarnya malas nak habiskan.. tapi Robert Kiyosaki said those who don't wanna learn more are ignorant people. No, Sharifah is not ignorant!) to better understand women (as well as men). It should help me in dealing with my loved ones, and friends and colleagues.

I've got a wedding tomorrow to attend in Putrajaya (congrats Syikin and Amri!) and after that, I'll head to Jalan TAR, kikiki.. mencari kain! And Monday to Wednesday, BOSET with Yatt, Caah, Nazrol and Shafaf! May we survive.. (cey, the scaredy-cat me!)

Early June rantings

2009-06-13T21:07:00.007+08:00

I mentioned in one of the previous posts that I would love to have some kinda reunions with my fellas. Guess what, after that wish was written down, I continuously bumped into my Raja Muda (Arshad, Khairul Amir & Ziadora), Alam Megah (The Cronies - you know who you are) and UTP friends. Boy it felt sentimental to revisit the memory lane again. Thank you God for granting my wish..

I suppose June is a bit more relaxed than the previous months. The boon about it: I am able to attend weddings, haha! But of course, I can only go for one wedding a week.. why? Penat! Seriously the commuting (plus the bad weather and the traffic jams!) are taking their tolls on me; where usually weekends are the times to relax and unwind, are now the times to get me wound up on the roads. Well, not that I don't enjoy driving, but you know, trapped among not-so-nice drivers (though just a few) can actually drive me up the wall! Huhu.. and the result is Weary Mondays -_-.

(aah..~ I can't concentrate writing.. these songs are distracting me..)

I'm actually in the midst of finishing reading Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad (which I should have bought like 2-3 years ago). One thing that I like about the book is that, it encourages the readers to continuously think and seek ways to better up financial knowledge, and not just stamping on the head the dollar sign only. The keyword is "continuously think", in which I think, is something not all of us do constantly (except En. Dayat and my fiance, speaking of those whom I know of), and also, it somehow agrees with CIMB's tagline "winning is about thinking one step ahead" (I love this tagline). I should be completing the book by next weekend (my pace is too slow.. darn) and I should start reading another book after that.

Oh yeah, let's see.. schedule in June: wedding fair at Ampang Point (why must it be Ampang.. why not Alam Sentral..), offshore safety training, sending Ozal to Arau. Can't wait to go for all those!

Oh yes, I would like to wish my dad Happy Father's Day! No one can beat your patience of waiting, and I am learning it from you (well, not that he bothers to read my blog pun.. haha) Neways, we all love you Abah!

P.S: To Nawar, happy welcoming your baby soon! I pray for both mother and baby to be safe and healthy (Muspa, if you read this, please convey this to her okay, hehe =) )

Kasih berubah..~

2009-05-27T21:28:00.005+08:00

Cinta zaman sekolah. Hyundai Coupe. Perfect for ladies.
(The new 2009 Coupe is out! Do check it out. Wicked!)

Peugeot 407.. Cinta zaman universiti.
Perfect front and rear appearance, perfect interior, perfect cruising.
Personal opinion: A perfect package.
(Tak reti nak komen panjang2 macam Jeremy Clarkson..)

Cinta terbaru! Alfa Romeo 159.. terlalu handsome!
Kalah Justin Timberlake.
Bila la boleh beli..
Perlu test drive macam ni!

Mehndi? What's that? Shaadi karogi!

2009-05-22T19:24:00.006+08:00

Beginning this weekend, I am gonna go for a series of weddings every end of the week. I am happy that more and more of my friends are gonna start their family life very soon. And yes, going to weddings can also help in giving me some ideas for my own wedding afterwards, hehe.

Suddenly this thought came to my mind.. and I just wanna jot it down.

We all love pretty weddings, especially with some sort of concept. There are tonnes of wedding concepts that we can usually see: garden weddings, wedding by the beach, Bali-style wedding, English style, fairy-tale wedding, arabian night concept (Mawi?), and the list goes on..

But, all in all, as Muslims, regardless of whatever the concept is, we should adhere to the DOs and DON'Ts of the religion. No exception.

Recently, there were interviews on henna wearing among brides. It is announced that the henna should not be drawn on the hands, as it somewhat replicates tattoo-wearing, and tattoos are definitely a huge no-no in Islam. Enough to wear henna on the ends of the brides' fingers.

Well, drawing henna on hands is not the only thing that happens in weddings that contradicts to the teachings of the religion. I think it should be better if the DOs and DON'Ts in weddings can be communicated thoroughly, and I suppose the best channel would be during pre-wedding courses conducted by the State Religious Department. Perhaps orang nak kahwin ni, they get so excited, they want everything to be pretty and adorable, they forget other things easily.

Personally, I think if cara pakai inai je betul, but other things are being overlooked, like bride tak menutup aurat ke (tutup aurat time nikah je trend sekarang ni.. haisshh..), sesi berkaraoke lagu pop yeh yeh ke, still, it's not good in the eyes of Islam. The usual flaws in weddings.

And sometimes, I think, we are just too focused in not making Muslim weddings be influenced by elements in Hinduism, we overlooked that Malay weddings are actually becoming more.. westernized! Off-shoulder gowns, a parade of aurat-exposing bridesmaids.. fashion show man! Sigh..

Oh well, it's just a thought anyway, that it's hard to run away from being double-standard.

Huh, saja mengomel petang-petang..

Of leadership course, and a lil bit of emo thingy..

2009-05-17T18:16:00.003+08:00

Question: what do you do with someone who does not like you and tempts you to feel the same way towards him/ her? You obviously don't wanna get in a mess with that person, but because of his/ her shown 'attitude', you feel like smacking that person on the face? Is it worth it?

Well, I was in this leadership program a few days ago. A good program for my inner growth definitely. Learnt a few useful things that I could do to better up my self-reflection, judgment, decision and action. We watched a movie titled "The Peaceful Warrior" on the 2nd night there.. and obviously we had to pick up a few things in the movie related to what we have learnt in the previous sessions. The movie was superb! I wish I could discover my Socrates like Dan did. It was a mind-opener..

There was one particular line in that movie that made me laugh about myself: "Life is a mystery, don't waste time figuring it out".

Well, I DO waste a lot of time thinking about life's mystery, haha. Why? Ntah, I just like to. Maybe it's nice to blog about what others don't really think of kan.. hehe, poyo. And sometimes, thinking about life helps me to widen life choices, mend heartbreaks, change my perspective... But yeah, at times, my mind is too cluttered I get agitated when my family asks me about my weekend plans for wedding preparation. Sigh.. kerana jarang ada plan pun! Wedding kan lambat lagi.. ceyy, alasan!

At this point of time, I feel my life has less meaning than before. I don't know why suddenly I feel that. Perhaps because I don't have that many activities outside work hours. Plus the really hot day-time.. that adds to the lazy feeling definitely. Ah, I'm definitely thinking about some kinda reunions or catching up with old friends.. or hanging out at some coffee house with my sibs.. but it all ended up as plans.. plans not realized! Cis cos.

Oh well.. At least I am left with myself to reflect upon, and that's a lot of homework jugak!

Another day at the office.. and I'm off to Bintulu! Hopefully I will be able to meet my Uncle Shah there.. and ask him what's it like to be the new first man of ABF, huhu. Can't wait!

P/S: Maybe it is worth it to give a smack, but I would like to stay in my best senses.. and not to react to my anger.

Just some updates..

2009-05-02T23:07:00.006+08:00

Although today is Saturday, but it feels like it's Monday tomorrow. Feels a little bit awkward with 3 days off. Anyway..

Yesterday, the UPU online result was announced, and Ozal got a place in UiTM Perlis. Well, my parents wished that he would get himself a place not too far from home. I guess after this my parents will be willingly happy to have outstations in the northern region to visit Ozal more frequently. Surely after this, our weekends won't be as cheerful as it is now.. We, especially Ain, will miss Ozal..

A few of Ozal's friends didn't get a place, and seriously I felt sorry for them. My mom is heavily bugged by the worried parents these few days, seeking for advice on their next step since their children didn't manage to get through, other than seeking for comfort. Well, kesian these parents.. cuz of their children didn't score in SPM, they had to find other ways to get them a place in some private college. Well, I guess the admittance criteria to universities are now getting stricter. During my time, even those who scored 2As could go to Matriculation. Now, I don't think so. Getting 10As also is not something extraordinary at all nowadays.. Oh well, I am glad I have passed through all that.

Fatin called me just now. One of the topics discussed was about Tomok's victory in last night's OiaM grand finals. I thought I was the only in my circle of friends who voted, but Fatin voted for Tomok even more okay! Haha.. I first voted YES for Aweera, and a few NOs for Esther (hehe, jgn marah aa.. tak minat Esther langsung!) and 3 YESes for Tomok. Fatin voted 15 YESes for Tomok alright! Way to go Tein.. =) All in all, Tomok won, and I really hope that he will make full use of his advantage being the champion, unlike Suki and Ayu, respectively being overtaken by Faizal Tahir and Shila, eventhough they were champions of the previous OiaMs. And I hope Aweera and Esther will make more fortunes after this, and that for Aweera not to go and collect tins to make ends meet. It was indeed a pity to be listening to those kinds of hard situations. Unimaginable. Seriously.

I will be back in Kertih on Monday. I suppose this "jumper"-type of life will not be relaxed so soon. Nevertheless, I guess it's okay, since there are not many important things to happen in May. Only a few family and friends' weddings to attend, but that will only be the activities during the weekends. Oh ya, some shopping for Ozal of course.

Thank God tomorrow's Sunday. I still have another day to lepak around.

What a great thing to end my 1st May!

2009-05-01T22:52:00.008+08:00

I am soooo HAPPPYY!!! that Tomok is the champ of this season's OiaM!

Congratulations Tomok! You definitely deserve it!

To Aweera and Esther, congratulations also for the well-done performances. You guys definitely have a place in the music industry, cuz your talents are over the top!

Aaaa.. Can't wait to listen to Tomok's new single.. haha.. sure boleh jadi Juara Carta Era and Hot FM ni!

And.. guess what.. I voted, haha!

-from once-not-a-New Boyz-fan-

Who's the next one-in-a-million?

2009-04-15T20:09:00.007+08:00

One of the TV shows I lately look forward to is One in a Million season 3 (haha!). Only this season that I get to follow quite a few episodes. The past two seasons, I only knew who won at the end of the competition. This time, I think what ignites my interest is watching two recording artistes - Amylea and Tomok - battling for that RM1 million - alongside Aweera, Esther and Nine.

It is actually easy to see who is at the top of the heart of the voters, and who's not. Anyway, that could just be my own judgment. Perhaps Malaysia will prove that thought as wrong. Hehe.

Okay, since I have time to waste tonight, I think it's fun to analyze the top 5 of this season's OiaM.

Amylea - seriously I wasn't a fan of her during her AF times. Furthermore, her songs in the radio, personally for me, aren't that melodic compared to, say, Mila and Stacy's. But in this program, she really proves herself to be more than just a singer. A true talent. It is really apparent that she just loves performing! Very natural. I should say, reinventing the songs that she chooses in her own ways, making them sound so.. Amylea! And I love it when she does it in Lily Allen's way. If her fan base is big enough, maybe she can win OiaM. I wonder if I were in this competition with her.. mau je surrender.. hebat sangat for an amature.

Tomok - well, I think we all must agree to one thing: that his female fans still love him! But surprisingly, he is a good performer too, just like Amylea, creative. Contradicting to the time when he was still with New Boyz.. you know, he sounded so dreary when he sang all those 'jiwang karat' songs. I was really surprised when he sang Beyonce's Crazy In Love.. boy, was that a great performance. I think if I was there as the audience, I would've get on my feet and dance along. Seriously, Tomok is a close competitor to Amylea. Although his vocals are not as 'whoa' as Rizu or Esther's, but he has made it to this point. And I think he has a big chance of winning, since his female fans will be more than willing to vote for him time and time again. If he wins, I hope he won't go back to singing 'Sejarah Mungkin Berulang' genre.. it would be a total waste of talent then..

Esther - my first impression on her: she looked older than she is actually. She may be plump, but I think she's really sexy when she does all that poses on the stage. Her plus point is when she sings ballads and jazzy sounds. But I think her performance last week was not so good. I have to agree with Paul that she overdid the 'Legenda' song. Nevertheless, she has lotsa fans back in her hometown I suppose.. so she might not be so threatened by Amylea and Tomok. We'll see if she makes it to Top 2.

Aweera -(Wa, he will add to the list of male rockers in Malaysia whose names start with 'A': Awie, Amy, Ali, etc.) Aweera is a good looking young man, definitely, equipped with ability to hit high rock-song notes. But this guy, agak 'control macho' sikit la. The thing is, he is not as musically versatile as Amylea and Tomok, in which he prefers to play it safe, having too little changes in the song arrangements. Oh well, it seems he has his own circle of fans (even the guys scream for him in the studio!), so I bet he'll be in Top 3, if luck is on his side.

And lastly, Nine - not my fave definitely. He is really lucky to still be in the running to get that RM1million. He usually picks Indonesian songs for his performances, which I think, somehow erodes his credibility in this competition. It seems that he seldom heeds the advice from Paul and Syafinaz. Vocals, not that improving, style more or less the same every week. I'm bored watching him! Last week, he was in the less-voted group, and his performance was messy too. So I guess he should be worrying about his next performance this Friday.

Who's my fave? I should say they are Amylea and Tomok. The only thing is that they are already recording artistes, and both of them has a few years of experience performing on stage, leaving the other three to be seen as total novice. Who do you choose Malaysians? Our second-chance-seeking celebrities, or the hopeful newbies? Well, all we can do is sit and watch (and also vote!) who will win the heart of the viewers :)

Hehe.. I only vote during elections.

Saturday night post

2009-04-11T21:31:00.006+08:00

April has four important dates in my calendar: Ain's birthday on the 6th, my parents' anniversary on the 10th, and my beloved's birthday on the 14th. On this 25th, Ain will be called to the Bar, and she will officially be proclaimed as a lawyer. Congrats sis =) I'm so proud of you.

So far, I missed the earlier two, and I will miss this 14th too. So I am foreseeing a birthday card or a gift to be given away on a belated basis. I'm sorry sayang. Ain, I promise I will make it!

This month is a busy month for my family, and for myself definitely. Only in KL on weekends, and wherever-I-may-be on weekdays. Mak and Abah are going to do some traveling also. Abah with his regular outstation, and Mak will be interviewing students in some states too. Pity Ozal he has to stay at home. But it's good also for him to be around for a while, before he continues his tertiary education.

Okay. Enough of the minor updates there. Lately, I am quite disturbed with this annoying issue that my mom faces these few days. Since the university my mom works in is opening interview sessions for selected students, many of her acquaintances + relatives + friends + colleagues are asking her help to recommend their child/ nephew/niece to get a place in the varsity.

I won't take it as an issue if the candidates score fairly in SPM. But I don't think it is right if they were to be accepted based on some 'back-door' deals just because their parents/ uncles/ aunts have good contacts that can get them through. In fact, nobody with a clear mind will say it's valid to do so. Yeah, I understand that every parent wants their children to be educated, i.e. to attend university. But, with scores of mere 6Cs, 7Ds and 8Es, it will just give universities a bad name of taking bad students in. Quality should be the priority here.

Therefore, I wonder, how many of us actually did qualify for our tertiary education? Was it because of our own merits, or was it because our parents or acquaintances had the influence? If one has merits and influence, that is a double-bonus I suppose. But if it was based solely on the influence, then pardon me, we should be doubling our efforts because it was just a tick of luck for us to be given the opportunity. The reputation of getting a chance based on influence is definitely questionable.

Therefore, please, stop asking academicians that you know for the back-door ticket. It's too loathing, personally for me. It's not nice being granted an instant VIP pass. Every candidate should go through the same procedure of screening. You will know if you do well or otherwise..

Post yang tak penting

2009-04-06T18:44:00.003+08:00

Sigh. I'm in Kerteh now. To give my exact location, I am at the hotel lobby.. since this is the only place in the hotel where I can have access to the hotel's pay-per-use wireless internet. Meaning.. mandi lambat la malam ni.. adeh. And whenever I'm outstation, small pimples will start to emerge near my eyebrow, and it kinda drove me crazy. I didn't bring my Nixoderm along.. so.. no quick remedy for the pimples for the time being.

Many of my friends are continuing the syndrom of tying-a-knot-when-you're-25 (Adzril & Shida, selamat pengantin baru!), and yeah, I am always excited interviewing those yang dah nak sampai seru. Seriously marriage stuff is the in-thing right now, haha. Marriage stuff as in not only the wedding preparation, but also in preparing ourselves for the marriage journey itself. Cita-cita kami nak menjadi isteri solehah la katakan. Whoa.. are we really adults now or what! Well, yeah, when I'm with my fiancé, I kinda feel a little bit grown-up. But I don't usually feel that when I am at home with my family. The feeling of "we're still mak and abah's babies" is still strong, and yes, my siblings and I still have that bear fight!

Oklah, saja merapu for this post. It's boring staying alone with no one to talk to.. (actually ramai je kat Kerteh ni nak ajak hang out.. tapi, hehe, saya tak suka menyusahkan orang, cewah!)

Sudahnya.. cakap dengan laptop je la ek. Oh ya, happy birthday Ain and Pur!

March final update

2009-03-31T20:56:00.011+08:00

Hi people..~ (cey.. bajet ramai readers la eh.. haha)

Okay, so now only I have the chance to post something. March had its own mix of fun, sadness, busy-ness, though I was anticipating that this month would be a get-away month for me. Well, He has decided everything for me... and I just have to go through everything with an open mind and an open heart.

I spent the first week of March in Yangon. Yerp, I went there again with Wilson to complete additional work with Carigali Myanmar. This time, my journey was entirely hotel - office only. No shopping like my previous visit there. And also, because I was planning to shop-till-I-drop in Bandung, so I was trying to save more for the trip. And since the hotel already had wireless broadband connection, so staying in room after work was not as boring as the previous visit. Nevertheless, Wilson and I had the opportunity to try local mamak cuisine like roti prata and chicken curry (diorang guna ayam kampung ok. A bit liat la..). Well personally I think the roti tasted fine, I think even better than the mamaks in Shah Alam, but the curry... hmm, let's just say the taste didn't suit my tastebuds.

A day before leaving Yangon, Ain told me that Opah was admitted to the Ipoh General Hospital. I was actually feeling like going back to kampung for that long weekend. Well, that can be called as an irregular feeling cuz I have never driven alone to kampung without Abah and Mak. The end of the story.. you know what happened. But I'm glad Opah departed on a blessed day, 12 Rabiulawal.. Bless her soul.

On the 14th to 17th March, I went to Bandung as planned, with Fatin and her families. It was a great visit: The things I bought (I personally think) were the nicest things I can find for myself and everyone in my list, the Sundanese cuisine were also good, and I must say, the factory outlets there were great. Exquisite blouse designs, gowns and all... not to mention imitation version of branded handbags that looked original.. ah I wished I brought more money to spend. But I had this mindset before coming, to spend only for the things I wanted to look for. And yerp, I got myself what I wanted, with a little bit of overspending, haha. Never in my life have I experienced shopping-till-I-feel-like-fainting. Nope, not even during puasa time.

Apart from going for shopping, we managed to visit historical places like Dago Pakar, where the remains of the caves built by the Dutch and the Japanese located. We only entered the Japanese Cave (Goa Jepang in Indonesian) as we were exhausted upon reaching the Dutch Cave (Goa Belanda in Indonesian). Here are a few pics that were taken during the long walk.

Mak Ngah was explaining something while I was trying to listen closely. Firdaus was constantly checking his phone, if it got any roaming.

Jom masuk gua!

Daus, Fatin, Paklong, Maklong, Makngah, Fifi, myself and Kak La with her baby in front of Goa Jepang.

I couldn't agree more with this signboard. We should have signboards of the same meaning in KL, especially in Central Market area!

Alright, more pics, as usual, are uploaded in Facebook. Tomorrow's 1st April. Don't play pranks on your chums! Oh yeah, happy new financial year PETRONAS!

Requiem on her departure

2009-03-10T20:50:00.005+08:00

There is much sorrow on her departure..

She wasn't the best grandma I have ever had,
But no one should say she didn't try
She was always there.. in times when we needed a hand..

She was a sturdy old lady..
Walking here and there was her regular routine
Perhaps because of that I always thought she'd be okay
And perhaps, because she said so..

Seeing her lying down on the bed unconscious
with her divided children by her side
was not the kind of sight that anybody would want to see
but then, I can do nothing
except prayed for this torture to not prolong..

Yesterday
she lost the battle..
perhaps that was the best for her
for there was no promised hope
that she could regain her strength like before..

Opah,
We will miss her
and the prayers gathered
will surmount the sorrow on her departure.
Innalillah..

Just regular issues..

2009-02-28T22:13:00.006+08:00

I'm back in KL, but for just two days. It has been nearly 6 weeks of mobiling for work. Tiring, experience-gaining, competency-building, brain-wrenching, yes, very much close the aspiration of the company for young employees I suppose, haha. Oh well, I'm still alive, so yup, no reason of complaining. I love my job!

I can say for the past 1 week, I have not really flipped through the papers with much interest. Nothing that captured my attention of digging deeper into. Politics? Well, if the news is about resolving the current political disputes here and there, it would sound nice, but it seems that the political turmoil will continue to ride on the big waves. What more the misconducts of the two politicians? I'm loathed. Even though if eventually the reports may be untrue, I would still be loathed. As a result, I will usually skip the few front pages and look for the "letters from readers" column. Issues in the society. Worth reading.

Well, I don't mean to be ignorant. It's just that I am frustrated; which I am sure I am not alone to feel this. Everyday, sensational news on political problems take the centre stage. Or to be exact, MORAL issues of the politicians. Perhaps, there are more reports on immorality of the politicians to be revealed soon. Especially when it is time to lobby for votes to get a position.

Right now, there is rarely a report from the investment experts that Malaysia is able to endure the economic crisis. In times like this, I am convinced that many of us Malaysians are facing financial difficulties even more than ever. Retrenchments, VSS, and whatever more HR-related cost savings will just add pikes to the burdened economic scenario. No money, no spending. No spending, no money movement. No money movement, no encouragement on businesses. No business, raging downfall of KLSE. Falling of KLSE, our currency will be worsen..

Last two days, The MIX Breakfast topic was on "how do you Malaysians deal with the current economic situation". There were answers from the callers like "I don't have any savings, but it's okay cuz I'm still single" and "Well, I don't eat. Escaping meals seem to be the only way since I can't reduce expenses on other things". Both answers came from people with no commitment yet. But there was this particular caller whom I really felt sorry for. She was a single mother, with two kids to care for and to feed and to educate. She told the DJs that she really felt the pressure of the economic downturn on her. Prices of goods going up as usual, which means more expenses for the households. She felt sorry of not being able to fulfil many of her kids' wants and wishes, like buying new toys and going for holidays, because she couldn't afford to spend on the unnecessary things. There were a few times when she paused from talking, I suppose she was refraining from bursting into tears on air. I felt bad for her.

The price hike of the groceries makes me gulp. The toll fare rise makes me gulp. The drop of crude price makes me gulp. The political atmosphere makes me gulp. The drop of unit trusts prices makes me gulp. How can I sleep with mind's peace? How can we all sleep with mind's peace?

In times like this, it is not so nice of the governors of the nation to focus on their political dispute. If investors can express their doubt over Obama's ability to weather the American economic crisis despite the tremendous support given to him by the Americans, definitely we can doubt our not-so-credible governors' ability to better up the condition of Malaysian economy. Trying to fight graft, graft is worsening. Trying to fight recession, recession is worsening. "Oh well, if we know it never stops from worsening, we suppose there's nothing we could do.. but to sit down and hope everything will be okay.."

What do we have? Bad performing governors? You bet.

What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!!

2009-02-06T16:20:00.005+08:00

(With lotsa love from Kerteh >_<)

Ok. Still, this post will not discuss about the thing I really want to talk about. But anyway, I think this matter is also something we should think about, so yerp, I wanna talk about this.

When something that happened didn't really go the way we wanted it to, it is easier for us to just blame other people for it. Why is it easier? Well, there might be a few answers to explain that.

1) We are just too lazy to dig into the real cause of the problem.
2) We always think that our records are too good until it is almost impossible to accept that we could commit mistakes at times. It's something like Frank Sinatra's My Way la.. "Regrets, I have a few.. but then again, TOO FEW to mention.. lalala.. I did it MY WAY~" Yerp.. no one can object your way.. huh.
3) We think we know it all, and that no one can satisfy our expectations and needs, except ourselves.
4) Wrong mood, PMS, wrong timing.. everything's wrong! So yerp, not in the mood to find our own mistakes.
5) Well, maybe it is really totally not our fault. The people around us are just being paranoid over a small matter.

Well, tonnes of reasons of course! Nevertheless I feel that it is not right to just close our eyes and ears from helping or being cooperative to solve things, even though we are not the cause of the problem. Pointing a finger towards others will result in our other fingers pointing at us (alright2, except for our thumb la..) In an argument, I think what matters more is not to win the debate, but more to finding the best solution for the argument, so that we won't lose our self-respect just to win the case.

Oh well, it's just a thought..

A: What's wrong with you??
B: What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!! (Staring with enlarged eyes)
A: Nothing's wrong with me.. you're the one who started it!
.
.
.
.
.
.. I wonder when the squabbling will end..

Malay over English? Or vice versa?

2009-01-25T13:28:00.000+08:00

Alright2. So the last post didn't seem to be mind-blowing eh, haha! Well, one of my good friends told me, that I care too much about what people will comment about my blog. In some ways, yes I do. But at times, I just wanna let loose from the once-in-a-while mind-wrenching work and this tired body. But answering the questions using pics from Google Image actually added to my headache that night, haha. But I think the pics I pasted were really nice though, hehe.

I have a few heavy topics to discuss actually. But I can't do it at this time. I'll wait when I'm ready =) And you will have to wait too!

Okay. Now, let's discuss on the silenced topic on "Which language these schoolkids should study Maths and Science in?" Nothing have I heard about any objection on the decision made by the Minister of Education on continuing the teaching of Maths and Science in English. To me, there could be two reasons for it: One, because they respect the ministry's collective decision, and two, they are tired of fighting for Bahasa Melayu. I'll take reason #1.

Well, I wanna share my experience studying Additional Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics in Bahasa Melayu. Life in Form 4 was more to a a challenging year rather than a 'honeymoon year' definitely, where we were introduced to 'complex' subjects with 'complex' terminologies. If you were a science student too, and shared the same experience like mine, please do share.

I was excited then to be learning subjects I perceived as 'Whoa subjects', namely the four I mentioned previously. But there was one problem: to understand what the terminologies exactly meant. Especially in Add Math and Physics.

Add maths: Janjang (until now I can't really understand the word, though it's a malay word), Pengamiran (why 'Amir'? 'Integration' makes it a lot easier to understand why the mathematical operation is like that) Lokus Dalam Dua Matra (isn't it easier to say 'Dimensi' rather than 'Matra'?), Anu (in informal malay language usage, anu means 'that thing'. Translated in English to be 'Variable').

Physics: Troli terpampas geseran (You know what crossed my mind everytime we studied this? The Pampas in Brazil!), get logik (I never knew that there was a direct translation of 'logic gate' to 'get logik'. I though the concept was 'Get logic!')

Science: Titi Tetimbang (and in English, it's the more understandable 'Transistor'!)

Those are just a part of the kerzillion words that had my classmates and I confused of what we were learning. Thank God, we just made them easier to understand in our own ways by discussing them with the teachers, so that we could answer the exams correctly. And thank God, in SPM, the question setters didn't ask questions like 'Why is it called "terpampas geseran' or 'titi tetimbang'?" surely we would have memorized the terminologies dictionary instead. Painful!

And, the transition from learning in Malay to English in the University was QUITE a transition for most of us. We had this English Test for new university entrants, where most of the students who scored low were from boarding school (I wonder why..). I was quite taken aback by that fact. Though I passed and didn't have to go through Foundation Class, it wasn't fun to know that some of your friends were not there with you.

But then, that was just a small test. Venturing further into the mind-wrenching engineering subjects required most of us to have our own dictionary beside us everytime we were studying using the thick textbooks. Yes, it was time consuming, but in the end, we got out of the university with our english (I would dare to say) being way better than it was 5 years before.

So, in this present day, I would say that the younger generation is fortunate to be learning Science and Maths in English. I personally think that it is not a way to discriminate Bahasa Melayu. What good anyway does it bring Bahasa Melayu if most of the terminologies we have are direct translations from English, if not confusing terms that makes the learning harder?

Perhaps there are ways to inculcate the love for Bahasa Melayu inside the younger generation. Though I speak English most of the time, but I still love all the art and wonders there is in Bahasa Melayu. I also have high acclaims for those who have strong grip over the language, for not all have the strong command in this nation's mother tongue. The approach and the variety of learning materials and vocabulary usage at an early age probably, can help to instill the love for the language.

I suppose, if the children of the 80s were to be questioned about their experience in this matter, they would likely say the same. I might not think of this if not for the discussion I had with a few friends about this matter over a week ago. And yes, we had the same confusion. Either there were hiccups in the education system, or was it us who weren't bright enough to understand the terminologies, that can be another issue that can be debated on.

I think if the authorities of the education system were to conduct an exit survey of the students about their learning experience, that would be a great step to help the former improve their service. And an improved learning system will definitely benefit the progenies of the nation.

Find them in Google Image!

2009-01-19T20:30:00.019+08:00

Ok, so Eija aka Ms Apple tagged me (through Facebook, not her blog! Isk..) in her "Tagging Game using Google Images". So here goes nothing..

I am..

Well, She-Ra rhymes with Zahira, hehe. And she's my fave woman superhero. Simply beautiful and strong! And she has a gorgeous unicorn to match.. fuuuhh.. in my dreams la..

I really want to go to..

Spain!! and the surrounding islands.. well, it's not impossible, so I will have it as a target before 30 (^_^)

My fave place..

Tiada lain.. Shah Alam tetap di hati (^_^)

My fave things..

Yerp.. Hugo XX smells so good! and of course I love my ring, hihi..

My fave drink..

Iced Milo.. nothing beats it!

My fave food..

Fuh, ayam goreng.. completes my plate!

My fave colors..

Purple and bronze.. for this time around la..

I live in..

.
In which Sg Buloh Country Resort is a part of it.

I was born in

Klang, and this is the picture of the old hospital, in which it has been brought down to replace it with the new Klang General Hospital Building.

My college..

Well, my university actually. Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, like no other.

My fave story..

.
Amazingly talented casts + amazingly tailored storyline = Voila! And yerp, Blake Lively is Hollywood's current finest damsel, definitely.

My hobbies..

Thinking (I think about lotttssaaa things, til it gets hard to organize up here), blogging, emceeing and singing are my main hobbies!

My wish..

Insya-allah.. (^_^)

Ok, done with pasting the pics. I will now tag Ms Syukra, Mr. Chalk and Cheese, Mr. Zhafri, Little Master Danial and Ms Alya Semot. Sila buat ye.

Feliz cumpleaños a mí!

2009-01-16T20:47:00.006+08:00

Alright. Yerp. I'm 25 years old today. No biggie. It's just an increase in age. But seriously thank you for the birthday wishes my dear friends. It makes me feel remembered =)

Everytime my birthday arrives, I will always recall the best birthday moments I had before. They were not posh definitely, but were really sweet for the remembrance. There were three events that I remembered the most.

My first birthday party was when I was 4 years old. I had to share the party with Ain. At that time, it didn't really feel that nice to have another sister whom you have to share your big blueberry cake with! But yeah, as the big bully, I got to cut the cake first! (cuz she was shorter than I was.. so she could not stand to the level of the cake, haha). The birthday party was attended by my uncles and aunts and my parents' friends. Yerp, it did fell weird to be surrounded by people of skyscraping height. But oh well, no complaint cuz we enjoyed the birthday gifts. Haha.

The second birthday celebration was even more special. It was my 18th birthday. But since it fell on a weekday, my parents were out to work, so it was kinda not fun to celebrate without them. Suddenly the door bell rang, and three of my great high school buddies, Dzul, Iqbal and Aishah came, bringing along a blackforest cake. I was thrilled of the surprise. They bought me a handmade photoframe, which I still keep to the best condition until today. Then my parents came back with an orange-flavored cake. So there we had, two cakes! And on that very day, I got the first love letter ever in my mailbox. Sadly, it was from a disillusioned junior of my school. Haha.. thank God I never really see him after I left school.

On my 20th birthday, I was not at home. I went back early to UTP to settle some sponsorhip matters for TEC2004. I was accompanied by a few friends who happened to be the committee members. On the night of 16th January, we scheduled a meeting. I was kinda impatient because everyone seemed to be coming late to the meeting. It was already like 10 pm. I was waiting impatiently at the MPP room, when Doi said we were changing rooms because larger turnout was expected that night. So, Doi walked with me to the bigger room opposite the MPP room... when everyone shouted "Surprise!!" I was stunned, and I could not say a word. Everyone pulled me to the cake, and sang happy birthday. I was reaalllyy touched by that. If I can recall who were there.. Doi, Fatin, Wan Anas, Sari, Nina, Bet, Sarip, Anas.. there were more, but I can't exactly remember. That is why TEC2004 fellas will always be close to my heart, although we do not really meet each other now. But I still treasure the great moments we had =)

On this birthday, I wish to be more proactive and positive and to have a healthier body and mind. I wish to be a less critic (though that may seem hard!), to think deeper and to smile even more! =D

Best wishes for me for the future days to come =) All the best Sharifah!

Ehud dan Bara(c)k

2009-01-04T10:57:00.004+08:00

Yeah, Bush memang suka Israel. Makin direstunya Israel untuk membedil Palestin.

Yes, the world is watching, but we can't do anything.. too bad.

Di Israel ada dua pemimpin yang nama depannya sama dan sama jahatnya: Ehud Olmert dan Ehud Barak.

Jika polisi Obama terhadap Israel sama seperti Bush, maka Obama juga tentunya akan memberi muka terhadap kedua-dua Ehud itu. Apatah lagi calon-calon Demokrat bertanding di atas timbunan wang yang disalurkan oleh Yahudi. Apatah lagi Obama akan memerintah di saat Amerika kekeringan dana. Apatah lagi Obama pernah menidakkan Islam dan berpaling langsung.

Dan jika Barak and Barack disebut dalam bahasa Melayu baku, bunyinya sama sahaja. Huh, kebetulan yang menambahkan lagi sengsara Palestin.

Malang bagi Palestin pula, Hamas dan Fatah tidak sebulu. Susah bila dua nakhoda bertelagah, siapa yang akan memandu kapal ke destinasi yang betul?

Apalah nasib Palestin? Dan siapa yang akan membantu membela?