Of Come Backs

Here I am after years. Seven! To be exact.

Need to start writing again. It will be good for my health.

For my being.

As long as I have a being.

Of Breaking Records

Sept 21, 2012

Hello.. hello! Am in the office, its just after lunch and TGIF :) Months (great months) have sailed by and syukur pada Allah for all the GREAT blessings he has bestowed us. MasyaAllah, the things we have seen and the places we went (and more to come, insyaAllah) is more than good reasons for us to be happy.

VERY happy, actually.

Today I have managed to surprise myself by weighing myself. This is after many months of ignoring exercise and indulging food. A LOT of food.

48.4kg. The heaviest I have been in my whole entire life!

Just to paint a picture - all my jeans are super tight. Some of my shirts are tight. My tummy is bulging. It has been more than 3 occasions I have been asked whether I am pregnant.

Wish I was, so I don't have to feel sorry for carrying around so much weight!

The heaviest I HAD BEEN before all of THIS happened was only 45kg. And this was... say, 5 or 6 years ago?

Oh my.

Best part is, I actually weighed myself at the office, in front of all my colleagues. Wow. What a smart ass I am! Soon after which, I just had to text hubby just to share the breaking news. His reply was, "I like the way you are now. Sumpah, I do". Okay :) Alhamdulillah to that :)

But I take this as a challenge! Ok, weight is up. How about a project to lose it back! Huh! Yes, let's embark on a project... we love projects..

So, starting today - yoga after office. And no rice...Or maybe, rice once a week? Lotsa plain water, or apple cider vinegar? Or that cinnamon powder and honey mix? Hmmm?

You know what, I have actually been quite depressed at work.. Wait, the right word would be - demotivated. I do not have anything new to embark on. Have not been expanding my database or skill set. I have been going online on daily basis to shop or window shop. I am turning into a government servant. Yucks.

Then, I go home, constantly tired. In the evenings, I usually wait for hubs to come back.. then we lay down and hang out.. Will do laundry and cooking SOMETIMES. Mondays are lesson nights, so that keeps me a *little* motivated. Other than that, I am like a lazy snake. Makan and tido and tengok DVD. At first, it was on a pretext that we were tired from wedding preps, then tired coming back from traveling, tired, tired, tired. So nak "relax". Haa amik ko relax lah. Sampai put on almost 8kg within 9 months of marriage. Congratulations diucapkan. Hehehe.

But this feels a bit better. Putting it down in words. I haven't been writing anywhere or anyhow since I became Mrs F. However, you have to credit Mr F. for giving me the best times of my life so far.. it can be seen by me putting that much of weight! Haha! Good job Mr F. Me love you much <3 p="p">
I guess that's it for now. Birthday's in a few days. First as a wifey *yeay* :) Hope to write more soon.. gotta find the app to allow me to blog from phone kan? Then I won't miss out on events so much. Hah, download now lah! K?

Love to the universe! :)

Of Checking the Check List

Hello! Another year it is!

And months have fleeted by without any updates.. so many good news to share ;)

We were very occupied with our wedding! Alhamdulillah, everything went very smoothly ;)

25 Dec - Akad Nikah in KD house
26 Dec - Reception in Dewan Merak Kayangan
1 Jan 2012 - First NY as husband and wife ;)
13-20 Jan - Honeymoon in Bali
1-6 Mac - Trip to Sabah

3-4 Mac - Climbed Mt Kinabalu with Shayang!! Another goal achieved!! Alhamdulillah ;)
5 Mac - Island hopping to Mamutik and Manukan

And, InsyaAllah we will be going to Umrah on 7 May this year. Sponsored by the kind Dot :)

Other things we've checked off the list includes:
- wall climbing
- finish a run
- zorbing
- white water rafting (went kayaking, actually ;))
- go on a cruise
- cook AND bake :)
- plant tree on my birthday

And soon to be checked off - be fluent in another language. Am taking Mandarin lessons now with Nona.

Another easy one to check off - will learn a classical piece by heart. Easy peasy. Hehehe.

Love to the universe! Muah!

Of Turning the Big 3!

Alhamdulilah! Syukur yang tak terhingga.. life is glittered with blessings. I get to see daylight on my 30th birthday. Hello 3-series =)

The past week has been a great makan-makan adventure. Alhamdulillah rezeki =)

And what did I do to celebrate my last day of being in the 20s? Here goes:

+ Went to hair salon, to get my hair blown. They gave me nice, loose curls =)
+ Baking goods shopping
+ Practiced and had piano lesson
+ Baked chocolate chip cupcakes topped with choc syrup and marshmallows. Got 4 boxes!
+ Delivered cuppas to Dot's for her son
+ Went for dinner in Rahsia! With Shayang =)

And to celebrate my first day as a 3-series:

+ Good morning call from Ish in Oz
+ Wrapped present for Atiqah
+ Got dressed in kebaya nyonya =)
+ Drove Z3
+ Delivered cuppas to Jojo
+ Went for Atiqah's wedding
+ Went for open house
+ Went to Sg Buluh with Shayang =)
+ Planted my first tree (setelah berhajat bertahun-tahun!) - pokok kesidang =)
+ Dinner at D'Italienne Kitchen with family =)

Reviewing the many blessings of the past 30 years!

+ Co-owner of a company. Our staff has increased to 12 people now! =)
+ Getting married this year =)
+ Owning a house! Sri Ara! =)
+ Completing my Grade 8 piano! =)

InsyaAllah, looking forward to building a strong, healthy family with Shayang =)

Ameeen! =)

Of Blessings

Moments have passed by and memories have been created. Hope it stays in my mind, as I've not put it in words. But this month, July 2011, has been a month of adventure (Yeay!) and I get to cross out Things I Want To Do!

Week 1 - Sliding down world's tallest indoor tube slide! 50 metres, 5 storeys high at Empire Gallery

Week 2 - Riding on a hot air balloon! At Urbanscapes, courtesy of Groupon. With dearest him =)

Week 3 - Shooting range! At Klang Shooting Club. First time handling a .25mm and a shotgun. Not bad for starters. Got the bulls' eye twice =)

Week 4 - Zorbing downhill and on the water (InsyaAllah)

Past few months, I've also been baking. Quite a lot! Started of with brownies, then to pop cakes, Ina Garten's lemon cake, chocolate moist cake, and hopefully next week - carrot cake. Hehe... finally got something right in the kitchen =)

God willing, we'll be going off on a cruise to Krabi and Phuket with the company's team. Praying that it'll take place smoothly.

Let's pray next year we'll get to travel and see the world more! *Attract*

Of blessings. Alhamdulillah, syukur =)

Of "Make It Happen!"

This is from the cover of a note book I received from a dear colleague, three years ago. I've always kept in my office drawer, even after moving two offices, and only noticed how lovely these words are...

Make It Happen!

Everything you need to realize your dreams is right inside you.

You are the person who can make things happen.

You have great energy and potential within you to generate new ideas,
connect with the right people and attract perfect opportunities.

When you trust yourself enough, great things begin to unfold to the palm of your hand.

Just live your dreams today and make beautiful things happen!



Reading that, made me wonder... did she read it and think of me?

So flattering :)

Alhamdulilah!

Syukur, alhamdulilah.

14 Jan - He proposed. On both knees. And gave me a white gold ring :)
15 Jan - His family came to see my family. In less than one year, we would wed :)
16 Jan - Sent off the kids back to Abu Dhabi. Will miss them :(

I am still quite surprised by the chain of events, to the point that I got my menses a week early! Actually, on the day his family came to the house!

We had gone out to Ikea on Friday after work, where he bought a drawing table. We'd bought aunty an orange rose plant as birthday present. Then we went to the curve to get the kids' presents. Tiara and pink bag for her, and a car jigsaw puzzle for him. Then we headed to ikan bakar, behind my house. Had dinner with the kids, and grandmom and aunties.

He sent me home, and after such a long time not asking, he asked to hang out at the garden. I made nescafe. I went out. He handed me a card. It says, "Will You Marry Me?" with little hearts drawn all over. Then he went on both knees, and said that he loves me so much and couldn't imagine his life without me. We hugged and of course I said "Yes!" (duh)

The next day, he came with his brother and two aunties. We hosted, with two aunts and two uncles. ES was here with K. They kept me entertained, while being detained in the kitchen. Conclusion of the discussion - in less than one year (one year being max) we will tie the knot! And, it'll be a joint reception. It's here. It's finally here. Alhamdulilah, syukur. Syukur, syukur, syukur.

Will write more soon!

xoxo

Of Projects!

Wow. I knew I hadn't blogged for a long time, but I didn't expect that the last one would be LAST YEAR! That seemed so far away!

It's April and a lot has passed. Some were good and the rest not so.

Tok is no longer with us. She went two weeks ago.

Followed with Azri's dad a week later.

May Allah bless their soul always.

Good stuff - salary raise. Medical benefits. And another 28 days of annual leave (yeehoo? or what!) And more to come.

And, been investing a lot of time reading books! (even taroh Marion Keyes and Sidney Sheldon *gasp*) Thank god for Fahimi who bought The Catcher in the Rye yesterday! I'm reading that now (finally).

Ok, purpose today - need to work on projects!

Based on the current situation (read: rather bountiful on the time side) read: 9-5 work hours, I've evaluated that I need other projects (other than being in love with Fahimi full time) to get it going.

We've been having arguments (i hate putting that down but I need a reminder!) that has sprung out of me being insecure. Blegh.

So, I need to get a grip of myself. Stop being so lembik, and revolve to who I was before - strong, independent, confident and intelligent!

Hence, here comes new projects!

Mission - To acquire new skills and strengthen incumbent ones
Vision - To continuously implement skills in enriching life

Acquire

1. Photoshop
2. Web site design
3. Creative writing
4. Laws of Success
5. The Master Key System
6. Baking

Strengthen

1. Cooking
2. Yoga
3. Piano
4. Guitar
5. Accounting
6. Mengaji

There you go.

12 items.

I will set a time line for each item and blog about it.

This is of course, set after watching the movie Julie & Julia.

Julie, weary with her daytime job decides that she needed a project. It was to cook 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook within one year.

I, will do the same.

All the best to me! Cheers!

Of an Ode

This is an ode, to my very first car. A green 850 Kancil aged 7 years old.

It was never under my name, to begin with. But I did acquire the car by cash from my father. Cash I got from my first personal loan at Al-Rajhi. 8500. That's what I paid him. This was four years ago.

Then on, it was that green-mean-machine that took me across the city traffic, day-in day-out, so very loyally. One hour in the morning. One hour in the evening. Good bye inconsistent and much too stuffy LRT rides, no more troubling Mama to send me and pick me up.

Good mornings took us through Bukit Tunku greeneries and oh-so-charming abandoned government quarters, and the peak spot where i'd catch a glance of the KL's skyline. There stands proud the twin towers and KL tower. One morning before Merdeka Day celebrations, we even caught a fleet of choppers practising a routine.

On another day, we spotted a heart-shaped cloud hovering between the towers :) I was very in love then :)

Very rare did it break down. Just in my absence of care it did. Dead battery-once. Puncture tyre-never. Over heating-never. Engine-NEVER! Alhamdulilah.

It was Rena who went with me to Uncle Raymond's to get the driver seat window fixed. It went down and couldn't get up. Something to do with the spring system.

And Eve, followed when it had to be serviced. Uncle Raymond purposely left the alarm system a glitch - it had a 'twing' sound whenever the central lock was unlocked. I was ashamed of it at first, had a few laughs bout it later, and soon became accustomed. Now - I miss it.

We traveled a lot. Mostly through the potholes and in between huge trucks, lorries in Port Klang. Kak Mina came along to work when she was pregnant with Putri. Chong did too, when I started using the PWTC route. Boss even had a round with it when he had to pick his kids up from school. They loved it, saying that the dad should get one, "It's like a bumper car!"

It was with it, that we started jogging. I picked him it at his office, to go to Sg Wang to get a book for Papa. I didn't know then. Our plate numbers were opposite. WJS sure-die-rich-forever was mine, and his is 8974 (rich-forever-sure-die). The first three alphabets are the same. I told Papa this morning that I wanted to keep the number. His friend advised to get a new one, to retain the number was too much hassle. I was sad. Say- would I get another WJS to match?

The weird thing is, I never gave it a name. I never really wanted to be attached to it. I didn't even want to get the radio changed.

How bout the time my keys got stuck inside the car? At Titiwangsa, I was with Kheng, and we'd just finished the KIOKU family day. This was last year. A bus driver helped us to pick the lock with a bent wire.

Then, this year. At Suria Spices. The same thing happened. My absent mindedness kicked in. Unlock boot. Put keys on dashboard. Close boot. Keys still in dashboard. Car is locked.

What did I do?

Picked my own lock, with my own bent wire. Less than 2 minutes. Ask Kent, he saw it!

How about the time Yaz helped wash it? And the time I cleaned the mud out of the spare tyre. I even bought fabric cleaner in attempts to get the stain out of the seat.

I purposely left two things in the car:
1. Tasbih
2. Asma al-Husna cassette

These two are my most consistent routine for the past two years. Mornings. Traffic jams. Times of distraught.

I hope it reaches out.

Letting it go was more than letting IT go. It was something else. It was supposed to be my cash cow. The last straw of my investment to go abroad. If everything else didn't work, I was supposed to sell it and use the money to go to Australia. Now its with someone else, I got 1K cash. Alhamdulilah... Gaji masuk lambat bulan ni! :P

Money aside.

Is this it? Is this a sign? Am I never going to go? Or is God preparing me for something else? What can I learn from this?

Be independent! Be strong! Be TRUE to yourself! Make Mama happy! Cause she is the ONLY ONE that has ALWAYS been there for you! Remember that!

Through everything. She has never failed me. Never.

I will get my Masters Degree then my PhD, and dedicate it to her.

The fight's not over.

In the meantime, I hope my little green-mean-machine is at a better place now.

This is an ode to my first car :)

Of Cloudiness

Cloudy
My head, my feelings, my want
I'm spinning in a whirlwind
I created
Breaking free looks far away
Sad songs make my cry now
Wondering what happened to the person before
She slipped away so easily
Occupied with dependancy
Do what you know
Believe in recipes you read
Loop, loop, loop.

Of The Need to Travel!

I'm happily doing my work, and all of a sudden! Bam! I just suddenly had this URGENT need to TRAVEL! The image of New York just came so stronly across my mind! I had to write this down! New York just might be coming to me sooner than I imagine!

24 Nov 2009

Things to be happy about =)

1. Getting enough sleep
2. Catching a glimpse of a naughty squirrel in the garden
3. Hot shower on a cold morning
4. Smooth traffic
5. Nasi lemak for breakfast
6. Announcement of the arrival of a newborn nephew
7. Closing a deal!

Of Visual Boards

Hereye! Hereye! Updating new goals to achieve!

1. Travel on a hot air balloon
2. Visit Taj Mahal
3. Drive a grey, new Honda Civic 1.8
4. Do a full sized painting on canvas
5. Make a sculpture
6. Design a dress/shoe/jewellery
7. Do a headstand!
8. Write a full song with Fahimi
9. Be ambidextrous
10. Plant a tree :)

The last one-plant a tree-maybe we would do it together, next year, on Jan 3 :)

Of Being Thankful

Today,

I am grateful for;

- Abundance of time
- Buying Eve gift for her birthday
- Waking up to read SMS from Sayang saying that he loves me :)
- Good health
- Nice skin
- Motivation to play piano!

I love everyday! :)

What Do I Want

I am placing order for;

1. A brand new grey color Honda Civic!
2. My beautiful, intimate, classy wedding!
3. Gorgeous kids of my own!
4. To see the Grand Canyons!
5. To own my own double storey house in a great neighbourhood!
6. A minimum income of RM5,600.00 this year!
7. To rake in minimum RM100,000.00 for RTS!
8. To be a damn good pianist and piano teacher!
9. To perform the Hajj!
10. To sell my photography works to renowned people!

28th On 25th

Another fabulous year!

I am grateful that this year, I have someone very special celebrating my birthday with me :)

I see that next year will be better and even more special :)

Sayang was the first one to wish me happy birthday face to face, and the first one to give me a present. A Charles & Keith bag! It's black and shiny and has a beautiful red interior. It also came with a red and white polka dot ribbon on the wrapping :) of course, there was a sketch of us that came in the greeting card. I love you infinity, sayang :)

I got quite a number of presents this year, I'd say. Gucci bag from Eem and Yaz. Flowers-white roses and purple statis from Kak Pit and gang. MAC compact from Renny. Photoframe, notebook and teddy bear from guys at work. Body mist from Ennie. Cash from Mama (again! I feel so guilty) and abundance of well wishes. Mama organized lunch, where Eem cooked an Arab meal. Kak pit and family and Fahimi sayang, came over as well. We had Just Heavenly chocolate and cheese cake to finish it off. Afterwards, we watched videos from Raya in CH before sayang and I went out to catch a movie. The Ugly Truth. Chick flick, didn't quite like it.

At night, we went to Ennie's to have the triple birthday celebration. Ishida and boyfriend was there as well. We had a really great time entertaining Kiera, and she was being bashful with Sayang like most of the time! We ended the day by going jamming with Ajead and friends in Sri Gombak. Got home around 3am, and was really thankful for a superb day. Mostly because it was spent with him. I'm so in love. I don't know what else to say.

Well, I'm off to wake him up for work. Talk to you soon :)

Of Written

Hey, Come Fly With Me is on Traxx FM!

Incidentally, its my new phone ringtone, but Frankie sings mine :)

Yes, I'd like to update that recently another plan has been made a success. We pulled off Mama's 50th birthday surprise last week on the 9th of July!

It was a hectic week for us. Faheem got in earlier the week, on Monday, and we hid him at Pak Ram's for about 3 days. Party was on Thursday. Had to sneak his wife everyday by saying that she's out with Nadiah!

So on the day itself, we had Aunt Gah and Aunt Sham take Mama out for a spa day in Holiday Inn. I took half day off on that day and came home as soon as Mama got out.

Kak Pit came on in later for party decos... It was lovely in hot pink and orange.. Flowers and balloons abound! Eem and Yaz worked the kitchen, and Aleef was in charge of layout and entertainment.

Hey.. gotta sambung this later..!

Of Cooking

Another goal achieved!

Earlier this month, I've started learning how to cook from Mama.

Lesson 1 - Masak lemak cili padi ikan, ayam goreng rempah, telur bungkus, sayur peria goreng.

Much to my bashfulness, Mama gave it compliments. Except for the sayur, though.. it was a bit dry and undercooked. Other than that, it was ok. Even got complimented on the rice! Haha. But, everything was pre-prepared, as in, the ingredients were already laid out and chopped by Mama. The chicken was already marinated. I still have to get my hands on the recipe.

Lesson 2 - Masak kicap cili padi ikan, sayur campur goreng

Interrupted by a chatty (otherwise supposed to be helpful) s-i-law. Didn't turn out so nice this time around.

Fish was undercooked. Kicap sauce a bit salty. Sayur sawi was not cut properly. Too much oyster sauce - salty as well. Luckily fried some ikan masin, and there was some left over sambal tumis sotong from the night before.

Lesson 3 - Trifle

Mama came to rescue the last bit of thickening the custard.

It was a near disaster, coz my love was coming to pick me up to go to Arif's birthday kenduri. The jelly was mixed with hot water too early, it was hardened before i could pour it over the fruits. Had to put it back in the microwave.

The second bowl's jelly lack hot water, causing the jelly texture to be rough.

However, all in all - Yaz liked it. So did his family, the brother even texted to say that they were all enjoying the 'pudding'. Big smiles!

Looking forward to more dishes this weekend. Next goal - curry and sambal tumis!

And, baking a cake :p

Of Nowness

Hey, my last update.. was actually written about a week or two ago.. but I only managed to post it today.

I'm at KJ office, boss has gone back, he's sick and the rest of us are doing our own things. No one is actually 'working'. Probably we haven't gotten our gears kicked in yet.

Yesterday we went for Epul and Fid's wedding. Everyone was expecting us to go next. Funny, but nice funny. We hadn't argued for about two weeks (and I don't wanna jinx but saying it) but it's all good. Last night, he suggested we open a joint account by early next month. We're so into each other. Six months official now, almost one year unofficial :)

Six months of cutting his nails for him :)

His good friend had a chat with me in the car yesterday as well, about tying the knot soon. I guess I took it as a compliment when he said that it looks like I'm the most suited one compared to the rest he's met before.

I've learnt how to cook a bit the past month (finally!). Two weeks ago was masak lemak cili padi ikan, ayam goreng rempah, telur bungkus and sauteed peria. But, it was mama who prepared the ingredients. Last weekend, was fully me - fish in soy sauce cili padi and sawi in oyster sauce. It was all salty! But mama was kind enough to say that it was quite tasty haha. I'll try again this weekend. I'm smiling. I wanna cook for him. Like, until we're old and weary.

I've unofficially stopped smoking. It's been about a month plus since I stopped smoking during office hours. About a month since I bought cigarettes. About two weeks without a full stick. The only time I smoke, or rather take one, two puffs is when I'm with him. Other than that, nada, nil. No more cigarette smells in my room.

Ramadhan's engaged. He's getting married in October. Oddly, the person I was rushing to tell was Illyaz. Beats me.

MARA approved my loan. But letter offer was sent to DU address in March. I found about it in April. They're reviewing my appeal. Regardless, I'm leaving it be first. I will apply again. Next year. This year is dedicated to this start up. rts.

I've been doing yoga the past week. I feel happier.

I am truly blessed. With my family, with him, with my colleagues, with my friends.

It's all good.

Of Catching Up

Its 28th May 2009.



Three months ago was my last update.



It's almost half year gone.



I'm at our new office. In Kelana Jaya. Alone. They have gone to Johor for our device testing. Tomorrow will be my turn. Going up north to Penang.



Have not been so happy lately, mostly self-inflicted. Have argued with him, several times now. Almost at least once, every week. Not liking it. Have cried more than once.



I shouldn't be posting that up.



Slowly, trying to attract good things. Great things. Like the fact that, he truly loves me. Like the fact that, he kisses me everytime he gets the chance to. Like the fact that, earlier this week he took me to the clinic, coz I've been having tummy aches and the doctor diagnosed it as a minor urine infection. Like the fact that, in an interview with a magazine, he was the only one in the band who admitted to having someone special, and plans to marry in four years. And, after the clinic visit, he sketched us, yet again, and he sketched OUR home for the first time.



Ramadhan's engaged. Last week. Getting married in October. Funny. I was itching to tell Illyaz the news.



Maybe these past few months that I haven't blogged, all emotions are clogged. Making me uneasy.



He calls me every night before I go to sleep, and (speak of the devil, he's calling now1!) I call hiim every morning to wake him up.