27th on 25th

It's two years past 25th on 25th. A special day regardless. It's a Thursday and I'm at the office with no one around - that's why I can blog! :)



Just a quick one, before I go on detailing later tonight...

20th October 2008, 1932 hrs, HC Office, Jln Yap Kwan Seng, pretty bad traffic out there.

Omigosh. I only managed to type two sentences above on my birthday? Must have been busy.

Busy? Understatement.

We've all got it all up to our noses these days.

But, its good... Its ALL good! Hehe..

Anyways, been meaning to update about my birthday - received quite a lot of gifts, this year (surprisingly, but its all nice and dandy ;)) Again, this year my birthday falls in the fasting month. So, had buka puasa with Mama and Uncle at Bubba Gump.

The night before, had buka puasa with Idan, Sarip and Kimin in Kelana Jaya. Near Idan's office, there's this quite nice steakhouse overlooking a lake. They surprised me with a birthday cake. Well, it was Idan's surprise. Kimin and Sarip were equally shocked when the cake came. So sweet of them.

On the B-day itself, I got a bouquet of stargazers sent at the office. With no name signed on it. With well wishes, and addressed to Faz Mohd. Was it a controversy? Probably. Cause everyone was suspecting both En Syed and En Arif hooked up and sent it to me. Then, they concluded, probably it was the florist himself. Haha. So sad, no one expected that I could actually have an admirer to send me flowers. Sigh. Haha.

The sender me a text though, I know who it was, and suspected him from the very start. Unfortunately, the text was to my personal phone, and I only managed to read it about 3 hours after it was sent. We had a laugh on it though, it's all good :)

Then, on Friday, day after my birthday, went for facial session at Derby Park. Ennie couldn't make it, so had it with Alia. Afterwards, we broke fast in Ampang Park. Ennie was supposed to join but she was stuck in the traffic. She only managed to arrive about 9. Pity her, pregnant and fasting and had to face the jam. Before that, both me and Alia bumped into Ali - who wanted to join us for our very late buka, but then re-decided and headed back home. Anyways, the point of this update is? I got a very special gift from Ennie - a Sony DVD player!! It's pink and white and she was in charge with the initial design and cost control. She says, "..sort of like my baby lah.." Very nice. It's all good.

Kak Pit gave me a basket of goodies - white spray paint, paintbrush, towel and KitKat for my DIY project! All came in a nice and classy basket arrangement, done in oh-so-Martha-Stewart-ish. I should post up some pics!

Mama, unneccessarily, gave me, a lot, a lot, of money. Sigh. She's so caring, wonder what I'd do without her. I love her to pieces.

Belated gifts? Teddy bear (not a big one) from Papa, and a set of perfume from Renny, and two bottles of perfume (also) from Kak Long. Gosh, I must have emitted bad BO to them, eh? Haha. It's all good :)

What else? What else?

Got crushy mushy nowadays. We actually spent about an hour last night on the phone. It's crazy. Is it? I'm not sure, but I don't want to be thinking so much about it anymore. My take on it is like jogging (ironically), take it in small paces. Be consistent. Just breath. Just take in the air and smile watching the sunrise among the clouds. The 10K is doable, in a blink, and so can this (not in a blink lah, of course). But its doable. I just need to enjoy it. I'm smiling as I'm typing now. I think I have always thought of him, in a certain way, but probably was too afraid to admit it. Or probably, I had really huge ego, and decided he was not good enough for me. Hell, I'm probably not good enough for him. But, that's not the way we should carry it. We're both good for each other. I know we are. Crushy mushy.

It's all still a crush.

I know he's got one too. Hah.

Okay, twenty minutes of updating. This could go on and on and on. I better make a move before it gets too tiring.

I'll let you know more about our Hari Raya adventures.

Oh, and I'll upload the headlines on 25 September ago!

Till then, spread love! :)

Of Emitting The Right Frequency

Okay, I've just done reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne last week.

The lesson learnt: Like Attracts Like.

So, attract like.

But I'll get back to attracting like later on. Let me just share some updates of the past week.

1. Another Hospital Visit
4th September. Boss wanted me to accompany him to Subang. No prior reason given. Then, we came nearby Sunway Hospital. Okay.
"Are we going to the hospital?"
"Yes."
"Who's been hospitalised?" (Trying professional tone with tinge of concern)
"A friend."
"Okay."
So then we went to the lobby. To buy flowers. I forked out mine cause he was out was cash. Okay.
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Yup."
"Can you carry these (flowers) too?"
"Okay..." (With a big tinge of hesitation) "I was thinking I should just wait down here..."
"No.. No.. come up"
"Hmmm.."
So we got to Level 2 - Maternity Ward. Who delivered? Ex-girlfriend? Friend's wife? Uhh.. wife?
So many possibilities running through my head.

"Hi... Come in.." (Signals me to come in)
On the bed - - - Jenny.
Oh. My. God.
- - - - - - - - -
What happened to you? My cyst burst. OMG. OMG. I'm so shocked. Wow, flowers. Yeah.. I didn't expect to see you here. What happened. Poor thing. And your wedding.. Only a few days away! Yea.. I'm supposed to get my dowry today... So are you going to postpone? I don't know yet.. etc, etc, etc.

That, my friend, was. A surprise.

2. Closing Deals
On the same evening.

For who knows what reason, I went to check the fax machine.

Fresh and hot - JPL LOA. 122 units.

Fast forward one week, aka Fri 12 Sept.

SMS - Multimodal. 100 units.

3. The Run
Been changing routes this puasa month. We've started Lake Garden. And just last weekend, at UM. Unknown distance for the prior. The latter is approximately 5.7km.

Haven't done a 10 since the last participated run. But mostly, this puasa month is just to maintain pacing and stamina.

I hope we run again tomorrow. Probably at LG. We had buka puasa with Ennie in Bird Park last Friday.

Oh, and I've revisited some old favorites. Check this out:

September (Earth, Wind and Fire)

Do you remember on the 21st night of September
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away

Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we danced in the night
Remember, how the stars stole the night away

Ba de ya, say do you remember
Ba de ya, dancing in September
Ba de ya, never was a cloudy day

My thoughts are with you
Holding hands with your heart to see you
Only blue talk and love
Remember, how we knew love was here to stay

Now December
Found the love that we shared in September
Only blue talk and love
Remember, the true love we share today

Cool eh? You know what it means :)

So, getting back to emitting like and like. Here's an excerpt I think describes my read the best:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_(2006_film)

Step†
Commentary by Gazette[5]
Commentary by Nibbana[4]

Ask
Know what you want and ask the universe for it.
This is where you need to get clear on what it is you want to create and visualise what you want as being as 'real' as possible.

Believe†
Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way.
Focus your thoughts and your language on what it is you want to attract. You want to feel the feeling of really 'knowing' that what you desire is on its way to you, even if you have to trick yourself into believing it – do it.

Receive
Be open to receiving it.
Pay attention to your intuitive messages, synchronicities, signs from the Universe to help you along the way as assurance you are on the 'right' path. As you align yourself with the Universe and open yourself up to receiving, the very thing you are wanting to manifest will show up.

† In the earlier (first) edition, Esther Hicks listed the three steps as: "ask, answer, receive". In the first edition, she describes the step "answer" as "an answer to what you're asking ... what the universe does for you". (Hicks declined to continue with the project, mentioning contractual issues in a letter to friends.[10])

Yup. Read that. Digest. Then, we'll get back to that soon okay.

Another night in September.

Oh, we submitted papers to set up Rightontrack earlier this evening :)

GOOD Night :)

Of Ramadhan

Haha. Never thought I'd post a post under that name.

Today marks the first day of Ramadhan, 1st September 2008.

I think for the second? third? year already, I've not been welcoming its arrival. And not for voluntary reasons, and you know what it is. Perhaps its a metaphore - of a particular subject that I'm not welcoming too.

Anyway, last Friday, 29 Aug, marked another first for me. First time to a driving range. Finally! It's been almost a year since I've had the intention to start golf and here it comes.

We went to Kiara, with Rams and Amir, and I got me my first white golf gloves :)

It was fun, but probably I gripped the clubs to hard - my hands still hurt from Friday (today's Monday). Fun because it triggers focus and patience, I guess. But hey, that was only my one first time. I can't wait to get addicted to it!

Yesterday was Merdeka, so today's public holiday. Aleef's at home and its been a lazy weekend for all of us, except yesterday when Mama had a bunch of guests. Tiring.

Last week on 28th was Fahimi's birthday and this week on 5th will be Papa's.

I ran a 5.7km yesterday, which is one full round at UM, plus the very steep hill at 10th (that I dreamt about last night) at 47 minutes. Coincidentally, when I was just about done, there was a competitive run for the API students, I think. The female were all clad in hijjab. By the way, I supposed to run with Fahimi, but he didn't wake up. And I sorta sensed it coming when I was driving to UM yesterday morning. Probably I was thinking too much about it, that he appeared in my dream where we both conquered that steep hill at 10th together. Haha.

So yeah, Raya will be around the corner. Can't wait to see what surprises it holds for us this year. Think positive, cause a positive thought can't be denied. Be healthy. Be happy :)

Of Hospitals and Airports

This is the week that epitomizes the above.

Hospitals - Dengue for Zul and Fino. Baby girl for Kent. Ennie's mum, bro and sister met with minor accident yesterday.

Airports - Ishida to Aussie. Ennie to Sarawak. Mama to Ho Chi Minh. Chong and Goh to Taipei.

I haven't run since 10K last Sunday, then pulled a 3K yesterday. Didn't sweat enough and didn't push myself harder. Today, feeling a bit of difficulty to breath.

Oh, and just wanted to share... Looking back at the list of things to do (drafted last year) - I actually achieved 3 of it! Wall climbing? Check. Wide water? Check. Run? Check.

Next thing I should pursue - learn a classical by heart. What else if not Chopin :)

Be positive, be happy, be healthy!

Of Attaining a Resolution

About two months, now? Yes. Haven't blogged.

All time devoted to work? Yes. And today is different.

Got a lot of free time? Apparently. It's a dark and rainy Monday morning, and I've just returned from a 5-day break. From Wednesday last week.

Unexpected? Yes.

Good news? Plenty. *smile*

1. The Work
Since most of the team members are out, except me and Rena, of course. I'm a bit off track trying to catch up with what I've left last week. YS and Ali are all in the mood of leaving, really, their last day is this Wednesday, so there's nothing much I can do with them. So, here I am, blogging. Haha. I bet they can see from the reflection of my window I'm blogging. Who cares. I am happy.

2. The Break
Took Mama and Aleef to Cameron Highlands. Stayed at Equatorial for 3D-2N. Relaxing and fulfilling. Thing I enjoyed most? Long hot baths!

3. The Run
Have been training for about 2.5 weeks to participate in a 10K run. Larian Perpaduan Merdeka.

Quoted from: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/18/nation/22110351&sec=nation

Over 7,000 take part in Merdeka Unity Run

By AUDREY EDWARDS

KUALA LUMPUR: Droves of Malaysians passed up the chance of sleeping in and instead turned up bright and early at Dataran Merdeka to take part in the inaugural Merdeka Unity Run.
They gathered before 7am yesterday and were seen warming up for the run in groups while others did morning aerobics with an instructor at the main stage.

More than 7,000 people took part in the run organised by the Unity Committee of the Merdeka celebrations chaired by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen.

And while many were revved up to start their run, the rest took photographs and tried and get a closer glimpse of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Carnival-like atmosphere: Participants having fun on the main stage after finishing the Merdeka Unity Run at Dataran Merdeka Sunday.

Abdullah flagged off the race, which was divided into three categories – 10km, 5km and the fun run.

Joining him on the podium were his wife Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, Dr Ng, National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and his wife Datin Seri Shuryani Shuaib and Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.
The Prime Minister and VIPs also visited booths that had been set up on the sprawling field and the crowd, including families, friends, students, the disabled and single mothers, checked out the various activities at the community carnival held for them.

This included free health screenings, stage performances, aero dancing (a type of aerobics) and colouring contests which, Dr Ng told reporters, were events that brought people together.
She said having a category where people of various ethnic groups entered as teams was to embrace the fact that while they were still Malaysians, one could not deny ethnic lines of division.

Wheelchair-bound former safety officer Karthigesan Eswara, 41, who took part in the 3km fun run, said the event would foster unity among Malaysians.

Meanwhile, Fiona Zuzartee, 20, beat 15 other finalists to win the Fitness Round of the 9th National Miss MalaysiaIndian Global (MMIGlobal) pageant at the run.

Zuzartee, of Indian-Portuguese parentage, completed the 5km run in 39.02 minutes.
Following hot on her heels was medical student Sowmya Krishnan, 20, in 39.12 minutes.
Law student Keshreena Kaur Sidhu, 20, finished third in 43.32 minutes.

And me?

Ran with Fahimi and Yot. But Yot was far ahead from us.

We both completed the 10K - non-stop - at approximately 90 minutes.

The route? From Dataran Merdeka - Jln Tun Ismail - Bulatan Duta - Pass Tennis Stadium - Into Jln Duta - Up the ramp in front of Parliament - Jln Tugu - Back to Dataran Merdeka.

This goes down the books. Why? Cause I actually achieved one of my (two-years-old) new year's resolution! And, I actually thought to SMS Rizal. But then, I did a Re-Thought. Ha.

So next on the map - 20K run. Talk about ambitious.

However, this training and running has given me a new me. I feel good, light and crushy (again).

This time, the crush could potentially be more rational. It feels to be two-sided, and probably not as a long shot as the one before. I feel better in the mind too. And I feel a bit more confident than I did few months back.

4. The 17th
Yesterday, 17th August marked a few events - A Run, A TV Appearance and A Birthday.

Enough said for the first marked item.

Renny debuted as a newscaster on Bernama yesterday at 10.30 am. She looked beautiful, and so professional. I'm so happy for her. Hello, celebrity in the family!

It was Jan's birthday yesterday. We had a "surprise" party for her at our house, and had her fiancee come over too.

5. The New Family Member
Tessa gave birth to a baby boy, on 15 August at 8.15 am. Nice.

6. The Prediction
When I was training for the run, I had a vision that someone would probably need some sort of help during my run.

I was running with Fahimi on 15 Aug, at Kota Damansara, when a biker in distress called for our help. He ran across the road to help out this guy to restart his bike. Then, we continued running. Another round later, we stumbled this same guy at the spot where Fahimi help restart the bike. He was actually waiting for us. Why?

He had gone to buy some drinks for us. A token for helping us out.

Our reaction? Pleasantly surprised. There's still some good in this world. Subhanallah.

7. Nifsu Syabaan
Came the night before the run :)

8. The Masters
Still haven't got a channel to finance my accepted course at UQ, to do MSc International Econs & Finance. STILL working on it, after about 1 YEAR ALREADY!

Aaaaaandddd.. guess what? Ok, don't guess cause I'm telling.

Ishida will be going to UQ to pursue her PhD. When? This Saturday. Sigh. Talk about making a hoo-haa about things. Then I read the quote from Dina Zaman again. Keep it close to the heart, girl, keep it CLOSED. Mental note to me - repeat over and over and over and over.

So yeah, she's going, fully sponsored, and I'm still here. The best part about it is - I don't feel so bad! I know there's a reason I'm still going to be here for quite some time. Aaaaaannnddd.. it could be because of the 20K. It just could be :)

Oh, did I tell that Ennie is preggie? Nice.

Oh, did I tell that Dz is married? Nice.

Oh, did I tell that this running thing started when I participated for 5K walk last month? Guess I didn't, did I?

Oh, maybe I should say that the training started when we went to catch X-Files at Mid Valley. Lame movie. Good excuse.

And another Oh, I've started making music again.

And another another Oh, keep a watch for a company possibly called Right-On-Track.

And another another another Oh, I bought myself a new watch. Which, to think of it, I've never ever bought myself a proper watch. But I did it last weekend.

Encapsulating the past two months? Done.

Way forward? More positive energy to be exerted and much more to be garnered.

Be happy and be healthy!

*OMG, forgot to mention that I was down with food poisoining after consuming maggie goreng at a gerai in Titiwangsa. What a traumatic experience. I'm banning maggie goreng from my palate 10 years from now!

Be healthy! :)

Of Looking for God

When your desire becomes the grave of your secret,
the desire of yours will be gained more quickly.
The Prophet said that anyone
who keeps his inmost thought
will soon attain the object of his desire.
When seeds are buried in the earth,
their inward secrets become the flourishing garden.
(The Six Faced Mirror, Mathnawi I, 175-177)

- quoted from I Am Muslim by Dina Zaman, 2007


My current favourite book.

It's funny and pin-points my unconscious inner thoughts. Things I've thought about, currently thinking and currently practising are encapsulated in the book. I absolutely, absolutely adore it.

It helps that I used to read Dina's Dalca regularly in the newspaper when I was a teenager. Dina's humour and spontaneous style bookmarked in my head. Brings back memories when I was staying with Mak and Bak.

The reason I'm noting this down today, is because of what happened yesterday. Apart from the VERY unexpected turmoil that turned up at the office yesterday, I was happy juggling thoughts in my head. Of a very unexpected, prolonged crush. How juvenile. But yes, I liked it, it made me happy so what the hell.

And the words from the poem kept ringing in my head (although I couldn't get it word for word) the first two lines were enough for me to get the gist. I won't tell anyone, although I very much wanted to share about this crush of mine with Sarip last weekend. Who else better to tell, than the most quiet one in the bunch?

Now, I'm really glad I have a blog! Pour it out gal!

Ok, no names. But, wouldn't hurt to give him a nick name, a-la Carrie Bradshaw, with Mr. Big.

Hmmm.. his will be.. uhmm.. Mr. Loud? No, too brash.

Mr. Confidence? Perhaps.

Mr. South? Cause he's based in the southern region? Southie? Hahaha.. that's along the lines of R-E-S, ie: Saudi vs Southie

Mr. Coo? Ooooohh.. nice.. cause he's the C.O.O?

Ok, let's settle on Mr. Coo? Hey, now that looks like a Chinese name lah pulak.

Ok, ok, Mr. South.

Alright, Mr. South is this high positioned singleton (is that even a proper word?) who reeks confidence and very gung-ho (quoting my boss), and is oh, plump (but that's ok cause he's confident) with a voice so loud, that it beats me and/or Renny.

His birthday is 2 days away from mine (Libra, as I am) but 7 years apart. I'm not sure why I'm so crushy about him, but I am. Ok, I think it's the confidence portion.

I don't want to give away so much about him, cause God forbid anyone I know stumbles upon this blog!

Yesterday, in an effort (or so-called) to catch his attention (hey, it's my first time ever to make any first move, or SO-CALLED) - I emailed a two liner to him. Only him. No CC to no one.

Then, he replied. A one-liner. And I got all excited about it. Sheesh, me and cheap thrills.

My question is, has it been so long, that it only takes a one-line email, or do I REALLY have a super-major crush on this one?

Beats me. The answers will be revealed when I read this again, few years (or months) down the line. But as of this moment, the one-liner was enough to run my endorphins from 3.17pm yesterday until 6.11 pm.

So, to Mr. South, if he ever finds out (or not) of this mushy-crushy, thank you for indicting my endorphins for this past few months.

And, to Dina Zaman, thank you for highlighting that poem at just the right time in my life. *smile*

Of Emotions

May, 2008 - The Month of Emotions

A lot of mixed feelings the past few weeks. Newborns, deaths, marriage, heartbreakes, crushes, you name it we got it.

We've got friends delivering happy news of starting a new life, be it a new partner or addition to the family. Always makes me wonder when I'll be given the opportunity to start mine.

And today, I suddenly feel overwhelmed with a crushy feeling. It's totally absurd but I can't help it. It's inducing a lot of endorphins. Maybe because I'm lagged of sleep. Or maybe a little tired. Or maybe adjusting to the fact that my work load is not so loading.

Then, I was thinking about Papa and Aunty. The drama episode that got us all angered and disapppointed, and provoked our female tear-glands. Oh, my composition is so cold and unstructured.

All these in between sudden news of the departed loved ones. Makes us reflect on how Allah works His ways to wake us up when we're busy chasing worldly matters.

Today is a Friday, the day I was born and possibly the day I will die.

Before I do, I really hope I will get the chance to raise a family, if not for long, but enough to let my parents see their grandchildren, and enough for me to know that I can raise my children at least half as good as my parents raised us.

Everyday has been a mixture of feeling like a child, like a teenager, like a parent, like an elderly and I am so thankful to be able to taste if not much, a bit of all this.

And, yes, I have crushes. :)