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]