happy feet

They grow up so fast.

Catching up on my reading at work. Went to Ikano for lunch. Didn't even bat at eye at Habib Jewels. Instead I dropped by Metrojaya and got myself a necklace from the Denni brand at only 68 bucks. So proud of myself. I would probably put it away after a week but hey! I managed to save 1.5k today!

DV Ristorante Pizzeria

What time is it? Time for a restaurant review! Boss was feeling upbeat last Friday - probably because her birthday is coming up, our KPI session went well or maybe because it's been a while since our last department lunch. But boss being boss, she decided on DV Ristorante Pizzeria at Damansara Heights. I wanted to check out La Carretas but she said no. Pffth. But I don't really mind. First, I never say no to free food. Second, I love Italian food!

I guess this place is pretty new coz the last time I went to Decanter there was still some renovation going on. Again, boss being boss, she decided on what to order. We had fried squid for starter (it's calamari, stay classy Nate), three types of pizza and some delicious eggplant dish that I gobbled in 2 minutes (pictured twice here - hehe). Everything she ordered were pretty good, except one pizza that I didn't bother to try because it was some 3-cheese pizza with salty anchovie on every slice. YUCK. But it was fun watching my colleagues trying to finish the damn thing. Ha! Ha!

Thought my Shirley Temple was kinda bland (best one I had was at Basil BV1) and my latte wasn't that great either. So no points there. But yeah, give it a shot. Would love to try their pasta though. Still can't believe we didn't get to pick what to eat. Sigh.

So that's that. So you know what's the most annoying thing about being the office/family photog? NOT A SINGLE GOOD PHOTO OF MYSELF. Oh well. I can't win at everything. Besides, I have this huge zit on my nose. Last I checked I'm still 35. Not 15.

Gonna try make chicken wraps tomorrow. And oh, in case you wanna check out DV, here's the add: DV Ristorante Pizzeria,77 Jalan Setiabakti, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur. (same row as Decanter, the one with Secret Recipe). Tel: 03-2098-2001

Merry Christmas!

Ok the thrifty inner self has spoken. No jewellery for me, I don't need it.

 

(ok ask me again next week after Christmas)

Award submission sent to Hong Kong successfully on the 17th and now I can finally breathe easy. It's in God's hands now, or maybe the Hongkies that I deal with on a yearly basis. I'm finalizing my KPI tomorrow (should have done it today when the empress was in a good mood but I wanted to leave early for a semi-date night with the hubs) and some Japanese translation due then I'm set for the weekend.

Saw something that I like at Habib Jewel today. Gonna sleep on it and see if I still want it by end of the month (because by the Valar, everything is on sale at 50% at Habib right now). As I'm typing this I just remembered that I'm in a bad need of a bedside table. The mountains of books won't read themselves. Drats.

I rather stay at home with my beautiful mess than be at work.

Note on pic: Not my home; my kids don't play masak-masak.

3 days without rice so far. It's manageable for now, and I haven't been substituting rice with additional food. Felt weak in the knees on the first day, but I'm feeling better now. Last weekend I declared to my husband that December will be called Recember, or Ricember = NO RICE MONTH. We'll see how it'll pan out.

money talks the walk

Proof that Rumi and I not only share the same look but also our immune system is pretty shit these days!

3-day weekend was cut short on sunday because I got sick and he was coughing non-stop (my niece who slept over was coughing in the first place).

Haish.

 

I don't know about you but I've signed up for the Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) recently. Goes to show how much I fear the future, financially that is.

Let's face it, by the time you retire, your EPF money that you've saved up all your lives will probably be gone in 2-3 years. This is a fact, guys.

So now I've got PRS, EPF, ASB, TH to back our future up.

Lately, no, not lately, since Emre was born, people have been asking "so when is the third one?".

And when I say "see budget first, you know I need to take into account the inflation rate and all.." then they start preaching to me about rezeki yada yada yada...

 

Recently, a colleague said "you think like a Chinese", well I rather think like a Chinese than act like a Malay no? Let's face it, we Malays are pretty terrible at saving money. I for one, is still suffering from my parents' fiscal mistake and I hope that my husband and I will reach that financial freedom we've been dreaming of sooner or later. I believe in rezeki, but until that rezeki comes knockin on my humble door (a couple of times I hope) I need to keep a comfortable nest egg for the future.

 

Now, would Julia Ahra make a perfect name for a baby girl? Heheh.

It's unfair how time can fly so fast when you're at your happiest.

There's probably a recurring theme in my Nov-Dec posts every single year where I lament about being overworked and not being able to go on leave. Or something like that.

Well the dreaded November is back.

Our big event (that we have been preparing for the past 2 months) went well today but I still need to maintain my momentum until 17 December.

I can't feel my legs today. I am feeling the exhaustion. I can't open my eyes. Even typing this makes me want to keyboard mash myself into a coma.

 

I just want to go for a quiet dinner with my husband tonight then rush home and cuddle with my kids while I watch Innocent Man. Heh.

spicy fried beef maal hijr

I said please don't eat it, the beef is too hard to chew, the sauce too spicy.
He said it's the delicious thing ever.

So here's the recipe for Spicy Fried Beef Maal Hijr.

500 g beef - boiled till soft (yeah right)
2 garlic diketuk
1 labu bawang besar sliced (I used Hollandaise)
1 big spoon of cili kisar
1 big spoon of oyster sos
A bit of fish sauce
1 big spoon of chili sauce
cili padi-di ketuk
1 red chili-hiris
Sehelai daun limau purut (I used curry leaves)
1 batang lemongrass-diketuk (missing from my recipe tonight)
Oil & salt & sugar to taste

Masak!

Fry the beef, put aside.
Saute garlic, lemongrass, then cili kisar. Once cooked, add curry leaves, cili padi, oyster sauce, fish sauce and chili sauce.
Add beef, red chili, bawang besar. Add salt and sugar to taste.

One day, just one day my beef will be perfect and I will have a feast at home. Yeah.

diwali butter chicken

Been hearing about Gold Chili's butter chicken over Jalan SS15/8B, Subang Jaya for quite a while but never got the chance to check it out. Coincidentally, I found the recipe at hanamemories' blog and since today is a public holiday I might as well experiment with this recipe.

On to the ingredients.

To marinate for an hour and fry separately:
250g chicken (boneless is recommended, to make frying easier) | a bit of salt | a bit of sugar | small spoon of chicken curry powder | 1 egg | a spoon of corn starch
(I don't marinate the egg & starch together, I prefer to keep the egg fresh)

To sauté:
2 big spoons of butter | 2 chops of cili padi | a few curry leaves | quarter cup of whipped cream (heavy cream or susu cair is fine) | quarter cup of water | a spoon of sugar | half of chicken cube | salt and pepper to taste

Masak!
Fry the marinated chicken, put aside. Then melt the butter and sauté the cili padi and curry leaves. Once you can smell the lovely aroma of spice and curry leaves, add cream & water, then sugar&chickencube&salt&pepper. Once the gravy starts to thicken, you're pretty much done.

You can either pour the gravy over the chicken or serve separately. I did both. Heh.

I was kind of worried that the richness of the gravy might not taste well with rice but you can taste the spice from the curry powder and chilli padi so hey! This is a pretty darn good dish!

ok bye.

Work instagram link! Work!

(oh nevermind)

happy diwali

Testing the embedding thing for instagram pictures. My little family has been coughing and snotting like there's no tomorrow (especially me). The only one who is all good and ready to conquer the world is the little bam-bam aka Emre aka mini dinosaur. He has gotten so heavy now (I just noticed it last week!).

http://instagram.com/p/RgQOWbB5IA/

ok update later. the washing machine is calling and i just need to watch a little bit of kang maru and his crumbling world. thank god real life is not as heartbreaking like the ones you see in k-dramas.

get your cray on

I suppose this will need to be written sooner or never so that when my memory starts to fail me, I can always look back on my silly entries and ruminate on the life I've lived.

 

(insert unfazed expression here)

 

27^th October 2012

 

Having been a fan of Korean music (I refuse to be labeled as a k-pop fan because I don't listen only to k-pop, ehem), Big Bang concert probably milked the most money and time out of me. I love concerts, there's something about live music that keeps your adrenaline pumpin' and when I know I am getting my money worth, I don't mind paying.  

 

Here's a breakdown of what was spent on Big Bang:

 

1.     Cost of ticket: RM491

2.     Cost of official Big Bang crown lightstick: RM75

3.     Cost of skulls top specially bought for the concert: RM12.90

4.     Hours spent queuing for the tickets: 5 hours

5.     Hours spent queuing to enter the stadium: 2.5 hours

6.     Hours spent waiting for concert to start: 1.5 hours

7.     Concert: 2.5 hours

 

But I guess I am getting too old for concerts. Well standing at concerts that is. We were drenched 10 minutes before the concert and halfway through I thought I was really gonna drop dead there. I've shed sweat and tears for this concert (earlier in the morning I was close to cancelling going to the concert altogether – had a fight with my other half, boo hoo).

 

After the concert, I ran into another trouble. Again, the other half and I had a miscommunication where I ended up having to walk 20 minutes to get to the right monorail station. I was tired, fuming, sad, all bundled up in one post-concert mess.

 

Until a Mercedes Benz came out of nowhere and I heard girls screaming. The Benz stopped at a traffic light, slightly hidden beside a bus and somehow none of the rabid fangirls wanted to go near. Probably a royalty or something, I thought. So I decided to walk by, you know, just to see who's inside. Walked passed, the window was halfway open and by lord:

 

GD & TOP in the flesh.

 

Now what would you do if you were in my shoes?

 

Years back, I remembered bumping into Tony Kanal from No Doubt in Salem Power Station. You know what I said? "Hey, you're Tony Kanal right?". I smiled sheepishly and walked off. *face 90s palm*

 

I digress. Back to GD&Top. I ended saying "Oppa" (in my sweetest failed aegyo) "thank you for the concert" and bowed to them. GD smiled (I will never forget his misaligned smile) and Top nodded. Would be nicer if they said hey or something back but look, I met GD&Top in person. You rabid fangirls did not.

 

By then all my anger and fatigue dissipated into the high heavens and I was feeling High High. *snickers*

If only I had my camera or a fully functioning phone with me. I tweeted about it though, and the tweet was RT-ed for a couple of days. Felt famous.

 

I met GD&Top.

Me, the soccer mom bordering to ahjumma-dom met the biggest rap duo in the k-pop industry.

A night to remember indeed.

 

I love Korean drama and music. It's a simple equation to men loving, say, Manchester United. It doesn't take away any of my time from my family but sometimes I do find joy in spending slightly more in enjoying what I like. Not even sure what I'm trying to emphasize here. Probably the fact that people think 'K' stuff is merely a phase. But I doubt it. It's here to stay. Even if K-pop will one day be forgotten (Psy, you gotta go easy on gangnam style man) I think I will forever be a fan of its entertainment industry. I still hate Korean food, and android phone gives me a headache so to call me obsessed with k-stuff is just wrong.

 

If you'll excuse I'm gonna go catch up on allkpop.com now. Saranghaeyo!

Oh Ben.

Had dinner at Ben's General Food Store last night. We ordered Salami pizza and a chicken pie that comes with salad. The salad arrived first, then the pizza but the chicken pie never came. 15 minutes later, I started making my Joe Bastiach face* and demanded for my chicken pie.

Apparently the order receipt machine screwed up my order and yup, no chicken pie. It came 10 minutes later, but by then, my head was already drafting crazy hate mail to Ben (don't know the owner personally but hey) but when I got the bill later, the chicken chop with salad was exempted from the bill. My husband, bless his good soul, asked whether we should highlight this to them but I said no, I ain't paying for the chicken pie. Win.

Ok no need to send hate mail to Ben then.

On another note, wanted to buy a dress to celebrate my curves and husband's improving weight loss but couldn't find anything nice. Let's face it, I'm not gonna lose weight anytime soon. I'm dealing with this, but having colleagues constantly ranting about their body issues can totally drive me up the wall. YOLO, I'd say.

* There's no such thing as a Joe Bastiach face. Just a bitchface.

 

An elderly man passed away in front of the office building this morning. He was given CPR, but when the ambulance arrived I knew that he has died. It's upsetting to know that this man probably has a family to come home to and considering tomorrow is AidilAdha, it's just so sad.

 

I've been working here for 5 years and this will be my 2nd time witnessing a death (our CEO's driver passed away at the lobby few years back). No more please. Life is short, too short, I keep telling myself.

 

Al-Fatihah.

Fell asleep in two meetings today. Perfect! I just need to last another day and then I want to spend a quiet weekend recuperating with my boys while the husband battle it out at the 48 Hour Film Project: Kuala Lumpur. Praying for a healthier October (the kids were sick for half of the month in September!) but Emre is down again with mild fever. Rumi is off antibiotics by Saturday, please please God make him strong enough. It seems that there's some nasty bug that just won't leave the boys, in fact it seems to enjoy playing tag team with them. Please, no more sick kids. We want them healthy. And cray-cray.

 

I am imagining a Kafka-esque flu bug as huge as a human hanging down our ceiling ready to strike. Hish, rubbish. Bring it on flu bugs this mother is gonna take you down for good.

 

Hwaiting~

ass-tro

Since we have astro again* we've been watching Masterchef MY and US diligently. Pretty much whatever you see on MY sucks balls, but everything you see on US is very intense, and tear-jerking. Watching the US version last night made me realize something - no more excuses not to cook, even the blind can cook!

 

And also, I have an intense craving for McD's apple pie hmmm yum.

 

* It's amazing how we survived on 7 free-channels without astro, but now that we have astro, there's nothing to watch on most days really...

Last Wednesday I had a good external meeting in the evening i.e. my boss didn't make a fool out of in front of everyone. I wanted to drive separately so that I can drive home straight then I thought since the parking is a bitch I might as well hitch a ride with her.

Eurgh I'm too lazy to update. I'm gonna catch up on some blogs now. Or stare at asos.com

This is home.

Kelantan, you are beautiful.

August, 2012.

oh.

water convolvulus leaves = kangkung

convolvulus leaves = morning glory leaves

 

 

 

go for gold

Upgraded my gold bracelet while I was in KB. It' something that I wanted to do, but also something that I need not to. The line between WANT and NEED is often blurred especially when the said bracelet is right in front of you and you are furiously making mental calculations -- Can I afford this? When am I gonna wear it? Should I keep cash instead? Go for ASB? Buy that dream Balenciaga?

 

In the end, I succumbed to the lack of willpower and slow mental arithmetics. Hung my head low in regret while looking at the angry clouds on my way back to Kuala Lumpur that night, but the next day I woke up, wiggled my wrist and thought "I made an adult decision to buy this" and wore it the whole day anyway. Took it off today before heading to work and will probably wear it again for Raya next year. Then to decide whether to upgrade or dispose.

 

Friends my age make decisions about uprooting to another country, quitting jobs for a different environment, buying houses but I'm still taking baby steps. Not that it's a bad thing, it's risk management!

 

OK i'm hungry. Now let's google for that killer kuzi ayam recipe.

Finding it harder and harder to translate what's in my head into paper (or digital space what-have-yous). I suppose back in the glorious d-land days I was able to sit for hours and write and put my heart and soul into it. Merely excuses for us mortals to negate ourselves. Maybe I should just update with one-liners (at least once a day) would do.

 

I'm sitting here alone at the office (the rest of the team is either out for meetings or trainings, save for the quiet new writer -- who is unfortunately is as silent as the walls surrounding us) and trying, trying to write. There are a few items due at the office, but the sounds of the rich interns are very distracting (ha! another excuse! down with my kpi and promotion!). the kids here are all rich - they are either daughters or sons of shareholders or CIOs - and I am envious to see them strutting around the office in their Miu Miu handbags and Tod's loafers. My pay is probably the same cost as their handbag! That aside, i had a boring lunch (dare I say, smartphones should be banned during meals) and post-lunch, I fell into a dreamless sleep. 

 

Saw Incredibly Close and Extremely Loud last night. Good movie, only because the boy can really act and he made me cry. He made me cry because he said 'I love you' to his mother (albeit from outside the door) - something that I long to hear from my eldest son. God, he's only 3 for chrissake! The time will come soon enough!

 

You'd thought I started bawling because the child lost his father in Sept 11. The familiarity of not getting closure after losing a father when you least expected it would have struck a chord with me but somehow I wasn't crying because of that. Does this means I no longer miss my father?

 

I still miss him, I do. It's just that I've stopped mourning and starting living vicarously through his memories. And I can't wait for my boys to grow so that I can tell stories about him.

 

Guess I'll just have to wait a little longer.

 

Adios for now. My bestfriend is back in KL, looking forward to see her tonight to hear stories about her travels to Turkey and London, or wherever she left heart recently. :)

[Seri's Star Kitchen with U-KISS] Bibim bap (비빔밥) - Rice Mixed with Vege...

Posting it here because you know eventually my husband will need to taste my Korean cooking.
*evil laugh*

The camera is okay (for a second I wanted to type the camera with a capital C, because it is after all my main camera right now, like it's godlike or something). Someone messed with the af/ae lock and the amateur in me went all panicky for a completely useless reason. -_-

Attended a wedding today and had the best chicken kuzi. Bumped into my uncle and in my head I screamed "give me back my land!" a la Pocahontas. Will see him again this weekend. Pray to the god Apotamkin that I won't chop his head off.

(I am just kiddin') but to severe blood ties would be the best option right now.

out of focus

Something is wrong with my GF1 lens. Look at the picture! It's out of focus! And I don't know how to fix it! Hopefully it's just some settings problem (I really shouldn't let anyone touch it) and will try to get it fixed soon.

 

Some stuff to update:

1. Raya was fun! I was thinking I might not be able to face Raya this year considering the closer we get to 1 Syawal, the more I keep thinking about losing Danial, about losing Baba and Queen Mother, losing the KB house etc. But I figured the departed would want to see me happy, the kids and fam need to be happy -- what's gone is gone, we can only move ahead. Some of my colleagues took the trouble to visit on the 1st Raya and also I was surprised my bihun goreng was a hit among R's friends during an impromptu open house recently.
2. My Mama is still bedridden, but I'm happy that at least she can speak now. Only a few words at one time, but that's already a big improvement.
3. There is an opening at the dream office, but again, I am a bit hesitant to leave. We'll see how it goes. I'll make the move when I'm ready to move, perhaps just not right now.
4. Heading back to KB next weekend. Taking the kids to the bea-each, can't believe the boys have never seen the beach!

Hmm that is all.

1 Syawal

Have a good one. 

Julie & Julia

Question generated by www.plinky.com


What's your favorite movie adapted from a book?
Oh this is easy. Julie & Julia of course! But also The Devil Wears Prada. :)

Bitterballen redux

Had to search my own blog for the bitterballen nasi recipe. A tedious recipe but worth the hassle. Having my sister and her big family over for the buka puasa this weekend. Hope they'll like it.

Bitterballen nasi

Ahnyeong!

Question generated by www.plinky.com

You wake up and discover that you can speak another language. Which one?
Oh God oh God you know I'd answer Korean for this!

I'm not keeping track of how many days we have been fasting this year. Time will fly so fast. After all, we're all on borrowed time, better just to make the best of it.

Hey bossypants!

Question generated by www.plinky.com

 

What have you been reading lately?

Apart from the usual fanfictions (current read is EXO-K and BAP), I've picked up Tina Fey's Bossypants for bedtime reading. She's not quite David Sedaris but her book is entertaining nonetheless (and when I say bedtime reading, I mean hey I only read 2-3 pages per night before dozing off to la-la land). I'm also currently reading The Wedding Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. Kinda boring.

 

Then I also have the infamous Fifty Shades of Grey in my iPod.  Let's just say that I can find better fanfictions that this. Hell, I can write better than this! Sure I can!

 

In my head, I am Hemingway! -_-

 

Have a good weekend. Don't talk to strangers.

*roll eyes*

Question generated by www.plinky.com

 

"What makes you roll your eyes?"

 

These days, when my husband starts singing praises about his iPhone! *roll eyes*

 

#BB4LIFE. Hehe.

The table at Bangi Kopitiam. I am suddenly missing my arwah Queen Mother very, very much.

So apparently this is my 501th post.

It cracked me up to see my colleagues fiddle with this thing. If you order food at Burp!Bangsar, you will be given this device if you have to wait for your food. When the food is ready, this device will ping and vibrate. Awesome-des!

I would have been jakun too but I first saw this device on my current k-drama addiction: The Rooftop Prince.

Oh well, always the first time for everyone.

Speaking of Burp! my current fave meal is the nasi tomato. Plus, they serve decent latte for only RM5! And the cashiers and hosts are always smiling and friendly. What else what else, oh yeah, free shuttle from my office to BSC. Win!

That sinking feeling when my ad doesn't get approved and deadline is nearing.

Zap them all!

Sometimes it gets a little crazy at home. Most of the time, it's heaven on earth.

The Bee(p)

I’ve kept the draft since last week now all the angst to write a review about The Bee is gone. Oh well.

So, listen. Initially when my boss suggested The Bee, I said let’s check out the one at Publika because a) I’ve never been to Publika b) I’ve never been Publika. But she wanted to go to Jaya One instead. Fine, what boss wants, boss gets.
Sure, I’ve read reviews about the place (like what I always do before trying a new place to eat) – nice set-up, great burgers, blah blah blah but no mention of the service. On twitter, yes.

Unfortunately we didn’t enjoy our lunch there. Departmental lunches are never fun anyway (tsk) but when a restaurant can’t even get our reservation (we requested to sit indoor) and orders correct, you know someone is bound to throw a hissy fit there and then i.e. my boss. They also missed out on a colleague’s order (poor guy was so hungry!). I ordered the Bee Burger, I don’t know, it was “biasa-biasa jer”. I’ve tasted better burgers at La Bodega or Dome or Delicious I suppose. And how dare they serve watered-down Coke!

I get why The Bee is extremely popular. It’s a good lepak place to be seen at. Who cares about the food when patrons only care about good coffee and free WiFi. The interior has the workings of the boring formula like Artisan Coffee – sit on a crate, different types of chairs and tables you know the drill – which left me wondering, are restaurateurs trying to save money by opting for this sort of design? Or do they assume the younger generations would prefer a mismatched/kitschy setting as opposed to cozy and color synchronized seatings?

Enough about the Bee. I’m sorry I couldn’t offer anything great about this place. Anyway, here are my current top 5 makan-makan place:
· Food Foundry
· Sushi Zanmai
· Basil
· Plan B
· Serai, Empire Gallery

Intern getting nervous being interrogated.

The Bee Burger

What we had for dessert. /sadface

Mama

You notice how when people say to you: “How’s your [insert mom / dad / kids / husband name here]?” they are only interested with the first sentence you give them?
Try explaining further to that and you’ll see their eyes start to glaze, they check their handphone, play with their hair etc.
Thing is, when people ask that question, they are just being nice.
Truth is, they don’t really care about the answer.

That’s probably why I don’t really like talking about my mother. The best I could muster is “she’s getting better, I suppose” and I try not to delve further into that.

My pretty mother is now bedridden with bedsores, her right hand stiffen into a punch due to her stroke, her face twitches because of Parkinson, her feet are cold, her high blood pressure causes epilepsy, she can’t eat, she can hardly talk, and no amount of tears and medicines can bring her back to what she was few years back. That’s the real story.

Wow, re-reading this makes me sound like I’m angry at the Universe. I’m not. Maybe a little. I am coming into terms that this is the fate that is written for my mother, who has been our pillar of strength and the silent rock for us since the very beginning. For now we can only make her comfortable as much as we can, shower her with our love and hopefully it will ease her pain. My mother has suffered so much, I just want her to feel better soon.

Our eldest is down with a high fever and cough. The first 24 hours is always crucial for us, and we hope he'll be up and about soon enough.

I'm gonna take a nap now and wake up from time to time to check on him. I have a cantankerous boss waiting at work tomorrow, but life is too short to be dealing with trivial matters like work, having the perfect hair and oh, I don't know, perhaps what to wear for Raya.

Cepat sembuh anakku.

Don't think I'll ever get adat(s) but it's always nice to learn new things. I suppose.

MY KITCHEN IS READY!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO COOK!!!

Mothers

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/6/21/nation/11520231&sec=nation

 

My head felt like exploding after reading the news about the child who died because his mom forgot that he was sleeping in the car and left the kid there for several hours. I'm not a perfect mother either, sometimes I let my kids do the impossible (because I believe in allowing the kids to explore the world, be free, run wild et al) but mothers who are negligent, mothers who literally dump their kids for other people to care for and abusive mothers are the types that make my blood boil.

 

I'm gonna go read happier news now. Super Junior is coming out with a new album in July hey!

He's right, it's an unproductive day for me at work because I took a half day off in the morning. Did you guys go to Jason Mraz' concert last night? Felt the love?

 

I just realised that I can't seem to cough up a proper pensée if I don't post without a photo. So here's a photo from Japan 2010. Which has no connection to what I'm writing right now whatsoever. Motif.

 

Kinda miss Japan's vibrant colors I guess.

 

Just sharing what I normally browse when I'm bored at work.

(gua tengah bosan ni, play along)

1. allkpop
2. seoulbeats
3. thedailymail
4. martha stewart
5. agoda
6. friedchillies
7. google reader (okay that covers about 50+ blogs a day)

er, that's about it. and oh, ohbulan.com when I'm in the mood for some inane local entertainment gossip. (get well soon remy ishak). lol.

GF1

Boss: Remember when I told you to pursue photography to the fullest if it's your hobby?
Me: Yes?
Boss: Now I want you to stop. Stop buying cameras, Nate!

So I have many cameras! Big deal! It's not like they cost millions!
But the latest one I got as an anniversary gift - the Lumix GF1 - is my current favorite. I still have a soft spot for my Lumix LX5 but this one, not only a hadiah dari suami from the heart (huhu) but the pancake lens is spectacular.

Now if only I have the discipline to sort the photos...

suami

Awesome husband. Equally awesome father. My husband always ask me if my arwah father is still around, would he like him? Yes, without a doubt.

Hai dari Serai

We celebrated Father's Day at Serai, Empire yesterday. A good restaurant with good food, good waiters and good host are hard to come by these days. Didn't take lots of pic food because er, I was starving and ate everything. Paling jealous tengok Rumi's fried rice with chicken satay. We've only been here twice but the food is great.

 

Kebetulan we sat next to a table of a big family celebrating father's day and a birthday as well. Sang along. Then came a lady and her daughter to share the cake with us. It was actually a primary school friend from Kota Bharu. She recognised me! Unbelievable.

 

Also bumped into my close uni friend J, who quit her job to care for her three kids and pursue her Masters. So envious of people who are going back to school. Arwah Baba always said to continue my studies, at least Masters, but yes, I fucked up. When the time is right, I'll go back to school. Yes, jom.

masak-masak

Apparently I have become obsessed with perfecting my chicken chop. Fine, I've only tried cooking it twice (first time with hubby's help). However, fresh chicken dipped in bread crumbs definitely taste better than ready-to-fry ones. but now that Food Foundry's chicken chop taste better than mine, I am thinking of ways to perfect the chicken without bread crumbs. Hmm. And russet potatoes fried with chilli olive oil? DA BOMB.

 

So last night we signed and sealed the design to our new kitchen! Exciting stuff. Can't wait to start cooking again - the recipe books are getting dusty I tell ya. So now no excuses lah not to cook eh?

 

Ok bye.

Me, soon.

Sent via BlackBerry from space. Not sorry for typos and brevity.

Mama

This year alone Mama has suffered a mild stroke, was admitted over the weekend for low potassium and now as we speak she's being rushed to the hospital after having suffered an epilepsy (which could be a stroke-related epilepsy).

We will get through this. 

new leaf

June will be a busy month for me. No wait, it's already June! I normally rant about work being a bitch in December or November but this year it looks like June will be the reigning terror for me. Oh well. You gotta do what you have to do.

 

This morning I gave my sister a parenting advice. Wow me, all grown-up. But I think it was an advice to life in general. I've always been a firm believer for two things:

1. What you give you get back - I believe in the power of sadaqa (give it a try)

2. Think positive and only positive vibes will come to you

 

But thinking positive is a daunting task that only the right mindset can achieve. I may be positive half of the time, but most of the time I forget to think positive.. which makes me a loser quarter of the time. Heh.

 

Now that I have a new layout (thanks @liy) there's no excuse for me not updating this space anymore. WAE DON'T I SAY THIS ALL TEH TIME. Having a love-hate relationship with twitter right now. Remember how blogging used to be exclusive? Remember how writing is all about expressing/sharing your thoughts without a care in the world about who's reading it? Blogging imho is not just about telling the world about how awesome you are, it's about embracing your flaws and having the guts to deal with it. Yeah let's go back to that.

 

Let's go back to loving and healing (with self-censorship along the way).

 

MWA-HA-HA.

 

 [photo using LX5 | shoes by korean designer Tiamo]

the weekend cure

 (while I wait for the new colleagues to come in...)

Perhaps we finally found the formula for a good weekend.

• Saturday: Belasah habis: Shopping; visit Mama; run errands etc.
• Sunday: Duduk rumah diam-diam: Clean house, go crazy with the kids; catch up on k-drama.

(yes notice that 'cooking' is not in the itinerary hehe)

Yesterday's dessert from My Elephant, Section 17

So yesterday I had Thai food, and today my colleagues and I headed to Nirwana and had froyo for dessert.

Dieting is never an option for me. But trying to cut down on food is also a Goliath battle of its own. 

So, right now, for a start, I've started playing badminton on Thursdays. I haven't figured out what to do with the rest of the week but I guess badminton is a start.

I have never been concerned about my weight, but it's hard to shut everybody up ("ehhh, dah bersemangat awak sekarang!") and going to stores and they don't have your size can be a little too much to bear at times.

In the meantime, I look forward to see the end-result for @amirhimself who has taken on the NST weight loss challenge. It's hard work, this losing weight business.

Now what should I have for dinner tonight?

the talented Audrey Kawasaki

Layan feeling blues, coz 2 of my colleagues' last day is tomorrow.

People say friendship lasts forever, so here's to another chapter to our lives. I don't see them as leaving, I see this as a road that suddenly diverges... yada yada you know the flow, pick up robert frost you know how this works. I've lost too many colleagues for the past 4 years in this industry and I'm blessed to have them as good friends outside the office.

okay I go layan k-pop now. heard that showdown tonight will cover k-pop. hwaiting! ~

Photo credit: The talented Audrey Kawasaki

Thought about Neri when I saw this.

iPhone cover at Tokyu Hands, Yokohama

I have decided that my next camera will be an iPhone. Next year perhaps.

Dinosaurs Alive! Or maybe not.

Took the kids to see Dinosaurs Alive! (yeah it comes with an exclamation mark) at Pusat Sains Negara last Monday.

You know when I was a kid (yes we are skipping a light fandago on memory lane here) there were 2 things that I remember loving. Dinosaurs. And Pusat Sains. Oh add Smurfs too and Jem & the Hologram. I wanted to be an archeologist, I knew all the names to all dinosaurs (my favorite was the Triceratops -- how can you not love the Triceratops? Those massive ceratopsian horns look equally cute on its babies). During my brief elementary years in Kota Bharu, Pusat Sains came to Kelantan for 2 weeks and I WAS THERE EVERYDAY. But of course I never grew up to be an archaeologist, and Jurassic Park ruined everything.

Dinosaurs Alive! was a major disappointment. Yes I do know that there will be big synthetic dinos screaming their lungs out whenever you walk pass them. But I didn't expect that it would be a 5 minutes stroll along a badly lit route which reminds me of a cheap haunted house you normally find at funfairs. -_-

And now I get why Malaysian kids will never dig science. Pusat Sains Negara is falling to pieces. The science stuff hardly work and it's disheartening to see such a giant place be filled with decrepit items (probably the same items I touched back when I was a kid). Geez. Please Malaysia, make science sexy again.

But if you still wanna check out them dinosaurs, do go. Don't say I didn't warn you. 15 bucks for adult, 6 bucks for kid. But I didn't pay for my kid coz I got a coupon off a newspaper the week before. Who needs to watch Extreme Couponing. I've lived in America, we survived on coupons baby!

That is all. I'm feeling like a dinosaur myself today. ArggggghhhHhhHhhHhh.

No parents should ever bury their children but I guess for all of us it would be twice as painful to bury our parents too.

Al-Fatihah to Chah's beautiful mother.

You know how kids tend to give you minor heart attacks on a daily basis?

Last Saturday baby Emre chipped his front tooth coz Rumi jumped on him. I was pretty relaxed about it because I didn't see any blood but my heartbeat was beating like a jungle drum and my head welcomed a headache that wasn't there in the first place. One thing about the si kecik is that he's a tough one, he cried a bit, we took him to the dentist (y'all should really visit Dr. Fauziah & team in Melawati) and everything is back to normal – sans half-a-tooth.

On Sunday I tried to make my kids call me 'boss'. When they are big enough I'll demand a party on Mother's Day for me and my friends. Tee hee. Hope you had the opportunity to tell you mothers how much you love her. Come on, admit it, you don't get to say it often, no?