Breakfast weekend

Yesterday Abi and I woke up early because we were going to have breakfast at IKEA. Before eight o'clock we were already knocking his brother's apartment to get them tagging along. Yeah we are that ruthless when it comes to eating program (tongue).

So we managed to drag both brother and cousin to Mutiara Damansara. I was excited about the whole thing that we even arrived before the store opened. Hmm so kiasu like that.

Well, I do not want to say much instead I am going to let the pictures tell how hungry and greedy we all were!

By the way, that was not me being sleepy having to wake up so early to eat but I was actually wondering how we were going to stuff all that food into our little tummies (wink). And we actually finished every single dish and other meals did not even occur in my mind throughout the day! What lunch?

After party

Abi and I were given the opportunity to witness the Alonso-Ferrari dynamics be champion of the night. Following that, I persuaded my husband to stay for the concert although I know for the fact that he had to work the next day hence he would have just a few hours sleep (tongue).

Alright, would somebody tell me why would I not want to see Mariah Carey, huh? So we (by this I mean me) sang along with her famous old school numbers including Dreamlover, One Sweet Day and I'll Be There. Then only we left and reached home by one in the morning.

Despite both our health deterioration, at least Abi and I managed to stay until the end of the race and enjoyed live performance from a world renowned diva. I would high five to that! Short story shorter, I had a good time thus only had Abi to thank for such experience. I love you, you know that?

Race night

As soon as we arrived home from 2010 F1 SingTel SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX qualifying night, Abi was officially infected with colds by yours truly. Poor baby is known to have lower immune system than mine, it was no surprise there.

So we are both down with a disease that causes runny nose and a lot of sneezing. However, I got out of bed quite early to concoct breakfast dish from leftover rice. We had hearty fried rice before spending the whole morning in front of the TV. What a great way to enjoy weekend huh?

In the afternoon, Abi and I went out to Popeyes for lunch and then to the pharmacy getting proper medicine. Now we are resting since I do not plan to miss out on the race event which is well, tonight (wink).

Almost always my husband would fall ill following my sickness but if it is the other way around, I would not be affected. There were a few cases to prove this like the chicken pox I caught before our wedding, he followed suit. And when my body was having a hard time to acclimatize after the Hong Kong visit, my husband joined in to show support (grin).

As a positive person as I am, it is actually God's gift for us. I never want to see this as a weakness but rather a plus point especially that we are a team. Having more experience in health department, Abi normally know what to do or how to cure it (kiss). We go through the ordeal together until full recovery is achieved at the end of the day. Hence I would not have it any other way.

Sick, finally

Abi and I had late lunch about four o'clock today. Earlier we walked to the wet market getting cooking ingredients so I then prepared mix veggie dish and my husband, fried fish. I passed out a few times after meal.

My throat is still sore from yesterday. I suspect it is because my colleagues and I braved the drizzle in Penang when looking for nasi kandar. Never had I thought that there is a price to pay for really good food (sigh). However, I must admit we had a wonderful time during the business trip. I wish to go back there again with Abi in the near future, it should be fun!

Above are photos of hotel room on Magazine Road which I stayed in during the two-day conference. Really neat and super cozy! Now I am going to get some more rest. I hope to gain all the necessary energy to spend time outside this evening. We have a qualifying event to catch. Sore throat or not, I want to go see it (yeah).

**********

Approximately one half hour after popping a paracetamol and a nap:

I am feeling a bit hot and sweaty

There is no change to the sore throat, of course

My body temperature is maybe slightly feverish

I woke up to see one passed out husband hmm

NY weekend

Awesome start

Just last week, I had been granted an American visa. How about that, huh? Truth to the matter, I lost sleep prior to the interview. Apparently, the online application was repetitive and already stressful for me. So do not bother imagine the tension I went through (tongue).

On the day I woke up darn early, dressed down and drove off to KL. I got a 7.40am session and found a long line in front of the embassy. Hmm what time you people arrived there, again? Quickly I checked-in, went through tight security and I was in.

The waiting almost killed me. The website is not kidding when it says the whole process should take around two hours. I overheard (could not help it, shame) and witnessed other people’s visa application being rejected on reasonable grounds. It was scary for me as I felt so alone in this.

Then my number was up so I tried hard being myself, imagine that. I answered a series of questions nicely. Of course, the interviewer did not let me off the hook that easily. He asked regarding my job and I had to back my company up, save its face from further damage (sigh). But I am lovable, it is in the genes. He was satisfied with my answers and charm; and I was approved (phew). I left the embassy by exactly two hours I came in and ready to collect my visa the next day.

So I passed the application interview. Great. Now I can sleep on passing the American immigration, yay!

Anyway back in the office, a promotion in confirmed. Well what do you know it is also bonus time, yay yay! It seems the first third of FY10 has been awesome for me, thank God. And that concludes such a great, great start of a crazy year as an MNC’s senior employee and a weekend, wait for it, wife (wink).

Working weekend...not!

I joined a department outing to PD last two weekends. Well, it was not exactly my department but I decided to be around people that I love; the office girls, the division GM, the invited ex-colleague and the rest of young and talented designers.

It began with a telematch program by the beach in the evening. I did not participate because I brought a competitive player (read: my husband). I really had fun video capturing those funny and victory moments (wink). Later we enjoyed barbeque dinner with very entertaining karaoke and talent performances. Well, we could not say much when our GM started to use his executive power on us! Many gifted singers were discovered that night. I was not spared either and did my best up there on the stage, tee hee.

After dinner photo session, Abi and I had late night coffee with the office girls. Funny story, we were at the kopitiam for about five minutes before realizing that we sat next to the GM and his family’s table. What a coincidence! However they had to say goodnight early and left us talking and laughing over greasy food and sweet drinks in the wee small hours of Sunday morning.

We woke up quite early considering we went to bed rather late. After breakfast, all of us try to figure out how we could get all the small children out of the swimming pool because we badly wanted to play ball in the water (tongue). Alright it sounded a bit ruthless but hey it was for their own safety.

So we began playing small game in small number. Initially, we occupied a third of the space. Then it became bigger that we conquered half of it. Finally, we had the whole swimming pool to ourselves. Shame on us, guys (grin). But that ball game was awesome!

We stopped playing half an hour to check-out time. Closing agenda of the trip was yummy lunch followed by snapping goodbye pictures. My husband and I bid farewell to my colleagues’ families before heading straight to KLIA.

And seeing him off was difficult, yet again. Thanks Abi for doing this with me. Should there be no tomorrow for me, kindly be informed that I have loved you indefinitely (kiss).

HK weekend

Let us see, where do I begin? I know it has been a while since I last wrote anything. I was busy doing nothing and everything! Funny that I received an uneducated comment for my blog, the guy (or at least I thought it was a he, since it failed to reveal his identity) made me feel like writing again. Miss me that much, huh? Aaaaw sweet (yawn).

Anyway as an honorable income earning wife, I treated Abi on a return trip to Hong Kong last week. His brother and cousin sent us to the airport to get on a 6.20 flight (a kind of public transportation). We ate breakfast as if it was our last halal meal before boarding. The four hour journey made me spent the first two watching movies on iPod and my husband reading. The next two was spent sleeping across three seats. Yes, that can be done.

Now because he earned more than I do (hello), I let Abi take care of all financial matters upon touch down at HKIA which include food, hotel, MTR (also public transportation) pass, Disneyland ticket and souvenir. Thank you, honey! Prior check on the internet told us the temperature was just going to be 19 degrees as in typical air conditioner. So we totally followed the no-jacket-required suggestion. The truth was, I nearly died of the cold island breeze! Enough (dramatically) said.

After checking-into the South China Hotel, my husband and I took an evening walk through Victoria Park. Then we headed to Causeway Bay area and hung out at Times Square while waiting for dinner time.

The following morning we went uphill to The Peak on a double-decker (another public transportation). It was exciting and scary ride all at the same time. However once we arrived there, the scenery was speechless.

On the third day Abi brought me to Disneyland. It was my first visit to the theme park chain and it was his second time so who is the bigger baby here, huh? Oh my husband said Disneyland is for little children but he set foot there twice and once in Tokyo, what up! By the way Space Mountain was brutal, I must admit.

We ran around in Tsim Sha Tsui for last minute shopping on our last day. It was also Hong Kong Sevens weekend, so naturally malls were packed with tourists. Abi needed to grab a Kukri jersey and a tournament t-shirt for brother-in-law. Well they are both former players, so there was logic behind the need.

In short, I enjoyed eating briyani, kebabs and fruits from Indian restaurant, Middle Eastern fast food joint and the supermarket respectively. Ironically, we were in China but got no chance to taste Chinese food (sigh).

And we totally, totally had fun hopping on and off buses and tramps (other public transportations) around town! I just do not get why some people (refer first paragraph) have such narrow mentality on public transportations. I mean they are cheap, environmentally friendly and simply spells joyride (grin).

Really cool weekend

Last Friday Abi and his two cousins waited for me at Changi Airport as I arrived from KL after 11 at night. We had supper before going home. All I knew was I slept rather early because we had a plan the next day: one my husband and I had always put on hold, until that weekend.

Abi woke up and prepared us his fried mee hoon on Saturday morning. After a quite heavy brunch, the three boys and I hit the road. The day was cloudy but not strong enough reason for us to back out from going to Sentosa Island! Tee hee.

As we walked up from the parking basement, the infamous rotating globe was first to greet us. It was a landmark saying we were somewhere near a Universal Studios and in our case, it was Singapore’s. Being typical visitors, we had to snap a few photos before proceeding to other parts of the newly developed area. After all it was the sneak peek week to this movie theme park and we were kiasu lot so yeah.

We moved on to the Resorts World Sentosa casino. In case you are wondering, sure we went in for the sake of it. For the first time in all our respective lives, we got to check out what was inside. And the scenery was exactly like in those TV series; countless security cameras, eager gamblers, excited crowd, pokerfaced dealers, you name it. However, taking pictures is strictly prohibited within the premise. We also thought it was just not worth the trouble getting caught in the act, so we quickly buried that intention.

From the casino, we walked to the Hard Rock Hotel Singapore. It was raining cats and dogs when we reached there giving us the perfect excuse to check out the hotel lobby and lounge. But first we must go into the Rock Shop and bought a number of t-shirts as mementos.

Knowing for the fact that Universal Studios offered no rides yet following its soft opening, we did not bother exploring further. However, as we were leaving, we saw a store selling exclusive official merchandise and I suddenly thought of the office girls. Because they always brought me stuff back from any vacation, I should just get them something.

We went into the packed store grabbing a few souvenir items. Then we actually left, but not after we struck a couple of more poses in front of the trademark globe (grin). I personally cannot wait until its theme park becomes fully operational next year!

Hot weekend

Last Saturday morning, Abi and I drove back to Paroi Jaya because mom-in-law prepared fried penne for breakfast. My husband ate so much of it that he forgot we had a wedding lunch to attend. So hoping there was still room in our tummies, we went to my colleague’s reception at midday. However, the burning hot climate killed off my eating mood although I was pretty sure I could stuff some more food (sigh). Due to the unforgiving heat my husband and I left as soon as we congratulated the newlyweds. We were on our journey back to my hometown in Penang anyway.

Being public holiday eve, the North-South Expressway became jam-packed with all kinds of vehicles. Abi was crazy mad at the authorities, highway concessionaire, other drivers, road system; to list a few. I must admit the first three hours was a total nightmare! It was until we passed Ipoh that the traffic congestion began to ease. The next two hours was smooth sailing for us right to Juru exit toll.

As we arrived just in time for dinner, I decided to eat prawn noodle in Sungai Dua. The famous Mee Rebus Pak Ngah was our pit stop for the evening. And boy, the prawns they served were huge! The five-hour pain in the butts, literally, was paid off. Even my best prawn skin peel-er (that is you, Abi) could not help smudging his white shirt while at it but still looked darn handsome (kiss).

We spent the night at my grandmother’s house and woke up early on Sunday morning to catch another prawn based meal. Ideal for breakfast, Cucur Udang Aladin is the one prawn dumpling we always always have when in Kepala Batas.

In the afternoon my husband and I went out for lunch at Ikan Bakar Din where we had grilled kembong, sliced stingray, whole terubok, beef soup, bean sprout kerabu, three different sambals, ulam plus drinks. All those for as cheap as RM30 only. For two persons, I must say we had a feast!

Oh I made friends with a retired teacher from Tikam Batu. It was also a pleasure meeting you, Cikgu Zabedah; who was funny, informative and she regarded me as orang berbahasa. Aww I need no more recognition than that. After all, you were nice to me first; it was only natural reflex on my side. Enough said.

Funny story. Abi wanted to check out Batu Feringghi following his brother’s recommendation. He said the place had a facelift and is a must-see if we visited the island. So off we went about nine o’clock that night. However, I already fell asleep in the car before we even reached there. In fact, I passed out the whole time (tongue).

My husband ended up braving the traffic jam, checking out the so-called happening place, from inside of the car, on his own. Even he was not sure how he managed to get us both back to my grandmother’s, at midnight, in one piece, because he was tired himself. Sorry darling and thanks for the safe ride home though.

On Monday morning, we went out to have breakfast at Roti Canai Aziz. They made the crunchiest thing ever and breakfast for two plus one to go, costs less than RM5. I certainly cannot get that price anywhere in KL. For lunch, we tried mixed rice from Nasi Kandar Line Clear. I am neither expert nor a fan but Abi thought it tasted just alright, so yeah.

Daytime was scorching hot sunny that the car’s heat indicator showed an outside temperature of 39 degree Celsius. I felt it was exactly like in Makkah where we went to April last year. Does this mean we need to apply sunscreen when pulang kampong, too? Hmm. However, sizzling hot weather did not stop us from going to Kompleks Dato’ Kailan and bought one half kilos of my favorite selection of pickled fruits for RM12 only (grin).

My cousin invited us to have dinner at his house that evening. They served us fried siakap, mutton kurma, gulai nangka, sambal belacan, moist chocolate cake, sweet pineapple and coconut drink with generous coconut shavings. Although we really enjoyed the feast, Abi started to worry his work pants would not fit anymore. Tee hee. Our final visit was to my father’s and stepmother prepared the best caramel pudding in the whole world! We said good bye to them at 11pm and my grandmother 4.30am before leaving for KL on Tuesday morning.

By the way the eating places highlighted here are worth checked out because they supply great food if not the best. Although I failed to snap any signature dish pictures from those outlets, it is no harm if you just take my word for it. Therefore, the next time you find yourself somewhere in Seberang Perai, I hope you will make use of them hence never go starving (wink).

Heartfelt note

I do not find people who keep on reminiscing their glorious past, interesting. What is worse, they speak about memories from decades ago. It is fun if you do that at a school or university class reunion, but on a day-to-day basis? Came on, this is downright sad!

Almost always you would hear stuffs like, “When I was studying in the UK...” or “I was voted queen at prom back in 1816…” So my following questions are, “How much government fund was wasted educating you, again? Why does your job performance not reflect your old illustrious self?” Exactly.

Actually, I enjoy listening about you here, now, in this life. If you are also making contributions to your family, company and the economy, all the better. Personally, I have more respect for people who not only move on with their lives but also look forward to the future. Time is too precious for me to waste on the past because I need it more in juggling life. Wait, do I have a life? More than you can imagine. Hmm.

Allow me to brief you on the four basic groups of people in my daily existence. There are the office girls whose role is to share job related issues during working hours. Well, maybe sometimes we extend the sharing after official hours over drinks and dinner. Next in line are the gossip buddies who sign in as the unconditional listeners to my complaints from a hard day’s work. We make a point to meet up every week, without fail so far.

Then comes in the blasts from my past including former schoolmates or university acquaintances. With them, it is usually brief encounters in the last minute without proper plans and merely to catch up on our respective lives, so we know that the other is doing alright if not great. Finally, I give credits to the clan and relatives who never fall short on entertainment for Abi and me. You guys always have dramatic stories to tell whenever we are around. God bless all of you.

Why are these groups so incredible, you ask? The key is we talk of current goings on. Simply progress and updates. We never went too far aback where everything was easy and relaxed. Of course we will forever miss those crazy moments but now is more attention-grabbing. It is much much more challenging hence intriguing (grin).

What I am saying is my present life is content, thank God. Not a thing can bring me down, you know? I try hard every other day thinking what could possibly make me miserable. But all the efforts come back nothing. Although some people might hate my jolly attitude and it is not hard to tell them apart; even that does not shake me.

I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs to the world that I am happy. How else can I say this to you? I do not know how to be pathetic. Hey, is that some sign of abnormality? Seriously to me, happiness is a state of mind. You may hate the repetitive job you do for so long now. You may love another but it is unrequited they would never be yours. However those are too small an issue because baby, life still goes on as it must.

The world is a place awful enough to survive if everybody keeps focusing on weaknesses – theirs and others’. Instead, it will be a better one when people give full concentration to strengths. I am not telling you have an option in doing it. In fact you should be doing this. Enough with the negativity, people. It brings you nowhere. Positivity takes you places and believe me, it does (tongue). By this time, I could safely say that I have been there, done that; without hesitation or regret.

I am Sanguine and I live for the moment. Fond memories have found their place and they are there to stay – at the back of my head. Bad relationship with a family member, even friend; or so-called life disaster would come haunting me unless I make peace with it. It is amazing how you too can laugh about it then, because in years to come none of it is relevant anymore. Therefore, moving forward is the way to go for me.

Oh by the way, our Phuket tour video has been available for quite a while now. What can I say about it? It is by far the coolest personal work of art, like ever, courtesy of my husband’s brother: future film director. So good I decide to put its link here. There is a catch though; it has a password! Alright, no surprise there. Do not look at me, ask my brother-in-law because he produced it like that. Tee hee. Thus, this exclusive video is dedicated for people who care and matter to all of us who are on it. Enjoy!

p/s: I might be willing to entertain password request. Courteous Malaysians, all you got to do is ask nicely (wink).

Healthy weekend

Last Friday I paid RM3.80 to stand all the way from Serdang to Nilai in a stinky Komuter. Another RM4 was to sit from Nilai to LCCT on a shuttle bus that took forever to get there. Furthermore, they asked us to get down and get on another coach at KLIA because the one I was in had terminated its service. So I did and the bus conductor had the nerve to ask me to pay the fare again or to show him my ticket. Whichever, I could not tell from his gestures. I was tired so I also pointed him my previous coach and then he left me be (sigh).

Why dear country, why? I am not saying that our neighbor’s public transportation service is that superb. There are countless standing-in-the-packed-MRT moments but it compensates by having good ventilation system and moving quite fast. And there are many times I thought the interchange bus will not show up but when it does, the driver always has the courtesy to greet you good day.

Unfortunately, I totally totally forgot how the public transportation system was like back here. I should have known better when I found myself spending one hour on the Komuter, two hours on the shuttle buses and another hour on the flight to visit my husband. The four hours taken is equal to a nonstop KL-Singapore bus ride! Yes Abi, I admit to taking the convenience of traveling in your car for granted now. I will treat it with extra care from this very instant (kiss).

On Saturday, I planned to sleep in but my husband was all excited to cook his famous mee hoon for breakfast. So I had to get up and keep him company in the kitchen. My eyes were wide opened when the poor baby dropped a glass bowl onto the floor. It slipped off of his hands while he was washing it. The bowl shattered into thousand pieces and one landed on my calf! Thank God it did not stick right into my flesh and it was a close call, that one. The moral from this incident is never prepare breakfast if you are sleepy (grin).

Anyway the commotion did not affect Abi’s frying skill at all. I ate perhaps the best fried mee hoon, in a long while. On a full stomach, we spent the rest of the day watching two and a quarter movies and continued my initial plan for the day: sleeping in.

We woke up early Sunday morning, put on our sport attire and began jogging to the nearest wet market. I needed to buy some ingredients for cooking lunch, though. So we already killed two birds before breakfast and masala thosai was a darn delicious morning catch!

We walked home to drop the grocery and took out my husband’s GT bicycle for a ride along the beach behind our apartment. I finally got to test the bike around Pasir Ris Park. It was different kind of fun feeling but for workout purpose, I still prefer cycling at the gym in KL (tongue).

Abi had invited his cousin over from JB. I prepared my renowned gulai lemak, and my husband’s first-time bilis sambal was not bad at all! Our honorable guest had his second and third helping that afternoon, enough said. Then three of us went out for coffee and chilled out for the rest of the evening.

The boys sent me to the airport for a flight back to KL. The cousin’s brother fetched me from LCCT and we stopped for supper on the way to my house. Finally, I hit the bed at one in the morning hoping I would not miss the 9.30am clock-in (wink).

Happy 10, Abi!

January 14, 2000 – 2010

Yeah you read the title right. It has been ten full years since Abi and I decided to be together. Along the way, we broke each other’s heart and mended the other’s cuts, literally. Our life journey has seen many challenges in various events throughout the decade. Longevity has taught us what a relationship is all about. Without knowing, we kind of raise each other in this process of pursuing bliss.

Within a decade my husband has become a more resourceful man than anybody I know. I could put all my money on Abi and trust them with him. For he is the most accountable and dedicated person in the world, so not a slight hesitation there. Despite the economic freedom he has gained only lately, life, like the spinning wheel has its ups and down so we must prepare for the worst. Lucky me I have a brilliant husband and I am pretty darn happy with his effort so far (kiss).

After all, being educated has significant advantages and applying the knowledge in real life is a benefit on its own. Thank God for tertiary education that we both graduated from. Besides, how else would I have met him (grin)? However, a great deal of experience plays a certain degree of constructive role to get through life. It kind of defines who we are and takes us where we stand today.

As for me, I feel better and better everyday that I live. Evidently, I had never been ill for quite a while now hence not a single MC yet. Surprise, surprise! My last sickness was the chicken pox I contracted before we were married. Furthermore, I get to dream of Abi every weeknight and God allows me to wake up with him on weekends. Just like all sweet dreams should be (wink).

And the stuffs we do together since the year 2000 – beach vacation, breakfast hunting, night drinking and of recent: movie marathon; I really treasure them. They are perhaps boring activities for some but I never seem to have enough doing those with my husband. Only, I wonder where all the energy comes from. Hmm.

It is spending quality moments doing what we both love that I care about. I guess the insufficient time in our hands has always brought us closer that I hate to let it waste on fighting or not connecting with each other. Therefore, if you talk about hopeless idealists enjoying lame pastime, you might as well picture us. Tee hee.

So Abi, I hope you have downloaded an adequate amount of films when I reach Pasir Ris home. Yeah I know there are two sofas but I have just one thing to request of you: may I share the couch with you while watching back-to-back movies this weekend?