Whistle Thistle

So much for wanting to write a hotel review! Alas, not enough photos. Fail.
I took no photos of the hotel except for the pool and my kids goofing around in the kids playroom! *slaps head*

Anyway, by some stroke of bad luck and silver lining we booked a room for 2 nights at Thistle PD. Didn’t even know they have a Thistle in PD but being an agoda.com web crawler it was our third best option after Avillion and Grand Lexis. We paid about 800 bucks (not sure if that’s a good deal) but I needed a mini holiday with my family so belasah je lah.

Well I’m glad we stayed there because (this is where laziness kicks in and I start writing in pointers):
· Kids-centric hotel with a clown waiting at the lobby! Note to self, Rumi hates clowns. For a zombie-lovin kid, this is kinda weird of him haha
· Massive swimming pool with 3 kiddie pools
· It’s at the Teluk Kemang side, which means we get to avoid the crazy traffic in PD itself
· Good food. We didn’t try the buffet/breakfast but we did order in. The burger and club sandwich are delicious!
· Room is spacious

My only gripe is that the room lighting kinda sucks. It’s too dim! I’m so used to having bedside lamps on both side of the bed.

[I just remembered I need to get myself a bedside table stat]

My husband googled what to eat in PD and we’re glad we didn’t experience anything bad so yay for that. I still dread dining out with the boys but that was compensated with a patient husband who is willing to look after kids while the wife stuff her face with food. Hehe.

Next holiday? Kelik Kelate jom.

If there's one thing to describe the ostrich farm in Port Dickson: sad. Actually, I said "pathetic" on that day. The thing about animal farms and zoos in Malaysia is that you can't help but feel sorry for the animals. At the farm, there was a camel - DYING - the poor thing couldn't even get up! I swear I saw tears. Thank god the boys were not paying attention (because they saw smelly donkeys) but I think I am scarred for life. :(

Thank god for dinosaurs and crazy rabbits to make up for everything. Well, almost.

Hey 36.

4 more years til I hit the big 40. A good reminder to live life to the fullest, within our means. I don't think we need birthdays or New Years to change, as long as we keep in mind to break the bad habits and learn to improve.

Oh fuck it, I still can't sound like a 36 year old no matter how hard I try hehe. So here's to a wonderful life!

Nate, who is fond of side-profile photos.

phew

Think my heart dropped seeing some weird coding on this blog. Turns out my super useless yahoo email sent out few emails of its own including this blog's remote email address. Hoi!

Got my early birthday present today. Syncing it now! I can pass my archaic iPod Touch to Emre and no more fighting over the iPad with Abang! The Mini is all mine mine mine.

Thank you Ayah! Me love you long taim.

hey children.

Am I the only mother who look back at my kids' old photos and laugh at them?

 

Found a photo of Rumi with a cat. Emre does the same now too! Hish. Except Emre goes to the extreme by pulling the cat's tail and dragging it into the elevator because he thinks the cat belong to us. *face palm*

That of course after he's done kissing and wrestling with the (now) traumatized cat. HELLO BUDAK KECIK YOU HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN!

 

But so far so good lah. I let them roll on the ground, jump puddles, hug animals or trees etc. So thankful that they hardly get sick anymore so everything is a-okay.

 

Okay few more hours to go before I head home to see the birthday boy!

Sent from my funky device. Touch the sky!

Imaan Emre is 2

Happy birthday my little man.

read-lah.

I know I keep saying I'm gonna start reading again every single year but looks like this is the year after all! I guess these days I read books that I buy on impulse and I like reading brand new books. Pffth, I know, but hey at least it got me reading again! Then my friend, FA, said that she's gonna lend me 'some' books. Didn't know that 'some' books means 3 bags of books! So my reading supply is all set for the rest of the year.

How do you find time to read?

I don't. With 2 kids, you simply have to make the time. In between internet time, fighting zombies, doing laundry, wrestling with the boys etc. If you're hooked on a good read, you'll find yourself picking up that book whenever possible. Except when driving. Heh. At work, I tend to read when I'm sick of work (which is pretty often these days – pre-bonus mode) or during lunchtime. After or before my afternoon nap that is.

Be gone, internet! You are terrible.

I'm feeling kinda wretched today. Why are women so helpless at fighting our hormonal imbalances? 'Girl on Fire' was on radio this morning and I wanted to scream you're a liar Alicia Keys! You don't know anything about my suffering! I can't fly away from my catastrophe! You can't either! When we're PMS-ing it's a different kind of fire altogether!

Ok I'll shut up now. I'm gonna listen to some K music because B2ST is out with a killer song for Iris 2 and music from Primary and the Messengers heal everything. Well, almost.

Let's eat.

only 5 days more

I managed to clear our wardrobe over the weekends yay! well kind of. it looks tidier now but I have a whole bunch of clothes-that-I-dont-know-if-I-should-donate-or-keep in the big basket. So the battle is half-way over. Hee hee.

 

New week but I'm already singing 'here's to a freaky weekend, I'll drink to that'. Looking forward to a short getaway with the family.

Cutting down internet time

"Everyone lives life through a screen now," Zihan, Basement in City blog.

Just a thought

Some people just refuse to learn from other people's tragedies. Parents, don't ever leave your kids unattended in the car. Even if you need to make a quick dash to the ATM. A silly mistake may cause a lifetime of regret. Always keep an eye on your children.

I hate to preach. I am imagining that if that woman's kids get kidnapped I would never forgive myself for not telling her off for leaving her kids in the car.

No more sad March

I used to call the month of march - sad March.

But that is no more! Live life to the fullest tally-ho and all that. Ok reasons to be happy, March time:
1. Birthday month
2. Bonus month
3. Husband has revealed what he's getting for me and it is a gadget!
4. Imaan Emre turning 2. That child walks
with a ray of sunshine I tell you.

I haven't decided what to get for myself. I suppose we'll have to see what's my bonus like this year. Can't wait. :)

(I have Daniel Henney on my table oh glee)

Hey Baba

He would have been 69 today. I can't seem to imagine what would a 69 year old man be like. Cranky? At ease? Cares more about the grandkids than me?

Anddddd just like any other grieving posts I can't seem to write things down.

==

Hope you are resting well Baba. I think my boys inherited your stubborness. I love you always.

Amy.

Work is work is work

Probably just one of those weeks. Feeling unmotivated at work. Should I be worried? "One of those days" is normal but "one of those weeks"? That's a first.

Hopefully this is just a phase. I normally don't let what my superior complain about me (especially when it is uncalled for) get to me but the current workload is not helping me at all.

Jack of all trades, master of nothing. Hate it.

The boys

Everytime the boys misbehave in public I tell myself "the next time we go out again is when they're 15!"

They never listen. They wriggle themselves out of my grasp when I hold them. Emre would resort to biting me. Rumi would go all dramatic, roll on the floor and tell me he doesn't love me.

But all it takes is patience. Because when we go home Rumi would fall asleep with his face tucked under my neck. Emre, in his weird diction would tell me he loves me even if his bite marks are starting to hurt a little.

Everyday I tell myself I'm so blessed to have them. Life is too short to be angry at them all the time.

Ahh that sinking feeling when you realize you're back to square one when you can't share your workload with other (new) colleagues. Only consolation is that my jobscope is a specialized portfolio. wuhhuu.

Bad news? I can't get a decent day off without thinking about my deadlines.

Oh well, work is work is work. I'm just going to chill with my boys tomorrow. A day off on a Friday oh yeah!

I took a picture with my brother yesterday. I can't really remember the last time I smiled for the camera with him. Maybe it was on my wedding day.

Most of the time he frustrates me, where is your direction in life? How much money do you have in your savings account right now? What are your plans for the future?

 

I dont blame him. Growing up, he's always been protected by our Queen Mother and to this day, their stories together of how he took care of my grandmother till her last breath continues to warm my heart. By the time Mok passed away after my father, he was a lost kid trapped in a man's body. We decided that he should move to KL and start over and until today, I still find myself worrying about him.

 

We have never been close. Him, being lampooned in Kota Bharu and me in KL, I just couldn't really connect with him. I guess the past few years since his move I've been trying to mend everything. Not a daunting task except both of us are the quite types, so you can imagine the dramatic pauses and the sound of crickets throughout our meals together! But now I take pride in nagging him. I'm not too concerned about his personal life, boy can try to mend his broken heart for as long as he wants but when it comes to his savings, I'm on full mak nenek mode. I'm thankful that he is not the rebellious type, I mean we started pretty late on his savings, but he's been saving diligently for the past few years. I should know, I've been keeping the money for him!

 

My prayer for Aiman is that one day he will grab life by its horns and soar like the wind. I want him to find a better job, a nicer girlfriend etc. but he should do it on his own accord. Ganbatte!

 

And oh, Happy Valentine's Day. Spread the love.

Wordless Wednesday

Bagan Lalang lulz

Well we went to Bagan Lalang yesterday (Monday) and all I took was the photo of this tiger! The last time we were here was probably 5 years back, when R wanted to introduce me to his bestfriends. Talk about being nervous. The seafood was good (still good) and the funniest thing from that trip was how we got stopped at a road block. Why? Because I was faking an expression of being kidnapped. So kudos to the cops for being suspicious about us but R was a nervous wreck! Hee hee. And I thought I couldn't act.

2 kids later, we're back at the same place but this time around to check out the beach. As expected, the beach was dirty, the water was murky but I think the kids enjoyed themselves. Rumi was immediately drawn to the sand, and Emre took a nose-dive into the water. That kid knows no fear I tell you.

A mild annoyance is that we couldn't find fresh water to wash ourselves (I guess most of them at the beach were staying at the hotels/motels/chalets nearby) but thank god the seafood restaurant had a clean restroom (but not an hour later, when people started flocking the resto like bees). No food photos either, because Emre was quite cranky -- I would too, if I had sand in my wet diaper!

Looking forward to more beach trips but I think I should consider getting a sandbox for the boys for now. Less stress for us. :)

Hope you guys will have a good Chinese New Year. Off to collect some ang pows!

Just realized that my posts are pretty angst-y lately. Stop it!

Got myself a new phone today. Yeah, big deal I know. But I paid in cash! I am totally winning at life. Well, kind of. :)

(photo stolen from my husband's instagram)

(old photo. can't you tell i've been missing Japan?)

 

Feeling much better after a chat with my sister from another parents last night. Well, we chatted, via whatsapp that is. She reminded me that we have known each other for 17 years. That girl can surely read me like a literature book begging to be read over and over again.

 

You know what they say, you can choose your friends but not your family. Depressed as I might about the current state of my family right now I need to move forward. I shouldn't wallow in this self-pity (pms-ing is also not helping) because I did what I had to do, and I'm not the one at fault here. I need to let these feelings go. I'm not 15 anymore. I'll be 36 this year. Long gone the days of being the sister/daughter who needs my family's approval. I have my own family now. I am just sad that it turned out this way. All I can do right now is concentrate on my mother and my other siblings, who may not need me as much as well. c'est la vie!

 

All I wish right now is for you to stop dangling religion in my face when you have done the worst.

 

Man, I need a holiday.

So my husband the hipster writer took me to Mukha at TTDI yesterday. I, the retired hipster social butterfly (tsk) don't normally fancy restaurants with misplaced furnitures (I know the we-don't-really-have-a-theme-for-our-resto is supposed to be an in-thing at the mo) but we were meeting some friends so okay-lah. Had meatballs kofta with Arab bread. Hmm it was okay. Thought the gravy should be slightly thicker but I was blown away with their chocolate mousse cake and caramel latte. I think their menu is priced reasonably too, which is definitely a pull-factor especially in the middle of the month.

Honestly I'm getting sick of Ben's and their blah service. They just opened another at BSC, the place is huge mind you, but the service is much left to be desired. Sigh. I mean, how hard is it to call a waiter when they are grouped at the counter doing god knows what?! And oh, if you're thinking of checking out Cafe Barbera, go to the one in Bangsar. The one at Sunway Pyramid is pretty meh. I get fresher prawns in my olio over at the one in Bangsar.

To side track, I made murtabak maggi for my siblings in K-city and they said it was quite good. Yay! I think moving forward everytime I see them on Saturday I'll cook something for them. Hardly cook at home these days considering my husband is on a strict diet and I haven't had rice for 2 months. Oooh that reminds me, I'm supposed to weigh in tomorrow! I doubt I have lost much weight, but I do feel slightly lighter. I love how my mind continues to deceive me into thinking that I am thin. Hmm.

Rumi finally get to see the life-size ship at Sunway Pyramid. He was speechless. I think he couldn't believe that big ships do exist. :)

The weekend is near. I just need to hold on a little longer.

The ravioli I had at Uno! (previously known as Pizza Uno) was so good I completely forgot to snap a photo! Typical food porn-ist. Now that my appetite is back, I think I'm constantly hungry. Goodness. Food ain't cheap these days, but I do love my Italian food.

Boss is on leave tomorrow, so I'm supposed to cover for her. I should be sleeping now, but I'm online with too many things to write. But none of them is coming out. My relationship with one of my siblings is on the rocks and I miss her terribly. It's not the ego that is stopping me from communicating with her (I miss her kids the most) but my heart is broken and I've never felt this betrayed by her before. But I guess you can't choose your family like how you can choose your friends. Eventually we'll talk again, when the time is right.

Life is too short to be angry all the time.

This is awful. Another wonderful colleague over at the big giant head office is leaving. And I'm stuck with drama queens.

On a brighter note, she's moving to Hong Kong. Maybe my dream to visit HK will happen after all...

 

 

wordless wednesday

It's Tuesday today and I'm recovering from a gas pain - gastric - diarrhea of some sort from Sunday's dinner. I'm still feeling lethargic today and I don't know how I managed to drive to work without falling asleep behind the wheel. Had departmental lunch at Victoria Station which I barely touch, and now I'm just counting the hours to go home. Maybe another round of sleep tonight will help. I really need to kill this fatigue.

 

On a happier note, Rumi this morning, in his sleep, smiled at me and said "I love you".

Best feeling in the world.

Welcome 2013

Happy New Year.

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