Good food... Good Company

Last Sunday saw me and MBB with sore limbs, a noisy house, burnt pockets and a bad flu. But it was all worth it I tell you.... I totally value the silence of my lovely home, I really do, but having family and friends over once in a while simply reminds me why these people are important in my life.

On this note, TERIMA KASIH Mak and Farah banyak,banyak,banyak,banyak for staying over and helping me prepare the food. Without the two of you, I think I would have gone mad. Thanx also to my MIL for the lovely cheng teng....

We had tulang, roti kirai and chicken curry and the evergreen mee soto and begedil.... and yours truly managed to arrange it, on my tiny dining table no less, and made it look quite good... macam at hotel hotel gitu.... hehehh

What follows is may be graphically disturbing to some.... but this was among the many things we had that wonderful day...

We are also very grateful to my noisy clan of makcik makcik, my young punky cousins who would probably have rather gone out with their friends, my CousinILs, one with new baby and one with baby who would have rather been resting at home given their conditions i'm sure for taking time out to come grace our humble abode.....

Thanx a million also to our friends who came....

That day was also a mini celebration of my baby sister's 25th birthday and my Umi's as well. Welcome to being a quarter of a century Far!! We love you little sister... May you be blessed with all that you deserve... By the way, I still owe you a present...hehehe...

It was wonderful having family and friends around... All that love..... It was great. Catching up with my aunts and uncle... getting the updates on University life with Shahid and Anne, finding out that Shafie will also be attending NTU, rubbing Ida's tum tum so that I may be pregnant soon, holding my niece, Inshira... and of course, my sweets, Irda was busy selling me Bangkok. Irda, I'm sold!! No matter how tired such functions leave me, I will always have it coz family is the best.

Object of My Affection

Yesterday MBB and I took our nephew to watch Harry Porter and the Goblet of Fire... I was disappointed in the potrayal of Dumbledore. The book Dumbledore whom we have learned to love was this kind and genteel man of a few hundred years of age.... Cool, calm and composed all the time... But the Michael Gambon Dumbledore, is so kasar, so flamboyant, so loud.... I don't like..... but i digress....

Before catching the midnight show, we went to Great World City, MBB's and my fav hang out, for dinner. We had dinner at SiamKitchen.... and I had my fav dish there, Soft Shell Crab with Lime mayonnaise...Yumm...

.

Yuyun had olive fried rice which as also nice. We also ordered some mushroom thing and the hotplate beancurd. Sumptious dinner. VERY filling... After that, we went to this place....

BEN&JERRY'S! Scoop Shop!! They are the makers of my favourite favourite ice cream... Chubby Hubby, Fudge Central, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Super Fudge Brownie, Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz, New York Super Fudge..... and many many more..... I absolutely love them... They also have the ... err... healthier sorbet.... Mango Lime and Berry Berry and more...... So even after we were full at Siam Kitchen, we just had to make room for these...

At the top, clockwise from the white one, we had Cookies and Cream, Super Fudge Brownie and Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz. At the bottom clockwise from the yellow one, we had Mango Lime Sorbet, Berry Berry Sorbet and Velvet Berry Yogurt.... They tasted so heavenly. I absolutely loved it! Hmmm..... how to lose weight like this?

Foolish Games

I feel like yelling at the top of my voice.

I feel like a fool. Whenever Murphy's law applies itself to my life, i feel like kicking myself in the arse. How could i not have seen it coming? Why is it that someone whom i thought i had pinned, turns out to be somebody the exact opposite? Why is it that a person whom i thought was nice turns out to be one who is the exact opposite? How is it that I did not realise that a person values material wealth above all else?

So foolish... I just cannot read people. I thought I could but this year, I have been proven wrong so many times. I guess this is what happens when you only know a certain someone for a short period of time. What they say about friendships not being built overnight is true... So sad...

So as Jewel so aptly puts it '...Cos I've mistaken you for somebody else.... somebody who gave a damn.... somebody more like myself.....'

When Day and Night meets....

Breathtaking. I felt so small when i saw this at 7.08 this evening. So great is His creation that I simply stood there and felt a lump in my throat... This picture was taken at the carpark at the 6th level at Harbourfront. If not for my extremely cute niece tugging at my hand, I'd probably cry. I remember having the same feeling when i saw my first in-your-face kind of sunset at Tanah Lot, Bali. When you actually wait to see a sunset, it really dawns on you how much we take for granted. Most days, sunsets are during the times when i rush home or when i'm queueing up to get dinner in some air con shopping mall.....
When i saw this today, apart from realising that God IS truly great, I realised how terrible it would be if i lost my sight. What would I do if I could not see this beautiful colours that he splashes across his canvas sky? What would I do if I were not be able to see the faces of the ones I love? What would I do if I can no longer teach my little people because i can no longer see?

I pray that i don't lose any of my senses. I pray that I learn to not take things for granted. I pray that He gives me the strength and patience to appreciate things around me.

I shall make it a point to get my glasses done.

Minal Aidil Walfaizin

This is our 4th Raya together. 2nd at our own place. This year my house looks more like a home. There will be pictures on that later.....

For now, just a little of how i feel about this Ramadhan and Syawal. I feel closer to my family. I feel that while we might not have a lot of money, Allah has blessed my family with a lot of love. While Allah has tested my family with kidney failure, cancer scare and the self centredness of one person, He has blessed us with a relationship that some people would kill to have. Alhamdulillah.

Annual Bake Off

I love to do things with the oven. But seeing that I don't have an oven, i can't do much.Must remember to bug MBB for an oven. Anyway, so my annual bake off for Raya started today at Mak's place. I like this honey cornflakes kuih that I make every year. Simply because they are so easy to make. This year decided to use these colourful cupcakes holders instead of the mundane brown ones. MBB says they look like pinadas... Festive, my love...they look festive.... Anyhow, these aren't the only ones i'm making, but didn't manage to get to get snaps of them. Making kuih with mak and my sister always makes the raya feeling come alive. I think even when i have my own oven, i'd still go over to mak's place.... Well... back to baking.....

Hello Again!

It has been a long time.... Loads have happened since... None too significant that it warrants an entry in this blog. Perhaps I should get my blogging juices flowing by playing the sevens....

7 things that scare me...
1) Losing my mum. Cannot imagine life without her. my pillar of strength. Seeing her smile, hearing her laughter makes my day.
2) Losing MBB. Who else would indulge my incredulous whims and fancy? Who else would get up in the middle of the night to make sure i'm tucked in underneath the covers? Whose rotund tum tum will i snuggle up against if he were not with me? *shudders*
3) Losing a friend. Suckiest thing. Ever.
4) Unemployment.'Nuff said.
5) Maggots. Especially the ones that form in my rubbish bin after i forget to take out the trash.
6) Becoming blind.
7) Not being able to have children. *sigh*

7 things I like...
1) Cooking. Therapeutic, as far as i'm concerned.
2) Food. Just look at me...
3) A good book.
4) Good books on rainy days.
5) Rainy days.
6) Travel. Especially when I actually get to do it.
7) Gooey Chocolate fudge cake.

7 important things in my room...
1) MBB
2) Broadband
3) Phone
4) my PC
5) Telly
6) My Coffee mug
7) Pictures of my family

7 Random Facts about me...
1) I'm a closet Austin Powers fan.
2) I talk in my sleep.
3) I cry at anything.
4) I have a soft spot for fragrances.
5) I'm a reality TV junkie. In fact i'm a TV junkielah.
6) I'm gullible.
7) I love lauk-lauk kampung.

7 things i can do...
1) I can spend hours and hours on the net and then realise that i haven't done anything.
2) I can cook. Especially when I want to.
3) I can keep house.
4) I can manipulate my MBB to get what I want.
5) I can spend, spend spend. But i'm trying to cut down.
6) I can talk and have meaningful conversations with children.
7) I can be really assertive and bossy when I have to.

7 things i cannot do...
1) I cannot swim.
2) I cannot follow instructions.
3) I cannot hide my anger.
4) I cannot lose weight.
5) I cannot read manuals.
6) I cannot keep my room neat and tidy for more than 3 days.
7) I cannot drive....yet.

7 things i say most...
1) Selamat petang
2) Absurd!
3) Yaaaanngg....
4) best nye, best nye, best nye
5) Are you leaving the office now?
6) please lah!
7) what!???

There. Did it.

Doing it Wrong?!

I don't really go to the market. Not that I'm too hoity toity for a wet, smelly, hot and full of ah-soh and know-all makciks... it's just that, by the time i wake from my slumber, the market is already closed lah!! So anyway, on Wednesday, I managed to drag myself out of bed and reached the market about an hour shy of it's closing... after getting my meat and chicken and fish, i was on my way to buy shiok mee soto at the food place above the market when i met this makcik who claims to be a friend of mak's..... Then the following conversation took place......


"eh... how are you? long time never hear your story ah..... so where baby?"

Hmmm.... I thought..... where baby?

So I replied,"Not yet lah Cik..... Not time yet..."

"Not time yet? When?"

hmm.... how would i know? God is it?

So again i reiterated," Not yet lah cik... but we still trying..."

"Alamak, trying? should have baby long time already...... i think maybe you do wrongly is it?"

I was ????? Bearing in mind this took place at Yew Tee market.... i just turned and walked away.....

Tactless.... that's just the way some people are.... sigh....

This brings me back to the reason why i don't like going to the market. I simply don't want to meet makciks who tell me that i'm having sex wrongly. I simply don't want to meet mak's friends to whom quick retorts would come across as being rude instead of witty and touche.... never mind lah.... paying a few more dollars to shop at supermarts is more acceptable to me, even if mak does not render it so..... Sorry mak... ;P

Surprise..... Surprise!

Today is also my wedding aniversary. I had planned a small getaway for me and my sayangnext wekend, so i thought that we won't be doing anything today. I had planned to spend my day doing my 2 weeks worth of laundry anyway. so imagine how wonderfully surprised i was when a delivery of flowers plus an elephant came for me. the hippos have become an elepant, Is he trying to say something??.... dengan tee shirt koyak koyak aku bukak pintu.... malunya... luckily it was a lady..... now i feel a little guilty, luckily last month, i got him a nice seiko watch... so kira dah cover lah....hehe..... but he manages to surprise me most times...... i do love him...

Ayang, everyday I thank Allah for sending you into my life. I know we have had good times and bad ones..... but with the bad, we only grow stronger, in our understanding of each other, in our love for one another.... i know sometimes my actions leaves a lot to be desired and i absolutely appreciate that you try to see where i'm coming from. I love you my sayang. I am, today and for the rest of my life, yours, truly.

Celebrate good times....Come On!

I realise that my past 3 posts have been very angry and hostile..... So i have decided that today, only good things....only good things.....

Today is very special to me. 1st of september.... my wedding aniversary and the govt gives me a holiday! but the holiday is of course to commemorate teachers' day lah..... we had a celebration yesterday. was very nice coz i had expected none. there was a nice lunch... a mini celebration of birthdays... I tought the balloon made it all quite festive. Happy Birthday Fiza!! May your life be more blessed!! After that we had a mini concert where my munchkins performed.... they are so adorable. If ever I had the chance, I'd want to just teach the P1s. After the concert, a colleague came up to me and said," Wah zakiah! i think ah, if you lose weight ah, you are actually very pretty leh...". Hmmmmm......... i think the time has come........ Anyway, when i went back to my desk, we were given chocolates with baloons..... It was nice how the balloons filled the staff room... Then came the best part. My ex-pupils came back. This batch of pupils are the best ever. I think that the overseas trip that we brought them on certainly bonded them that even after 5 years of leaving Greenridge, they are still close pals. See, long term effect of having such a trip. I love these guys. i like the way they think.... i'm happy when they tell me that they still remember some of the things that i've taught or told or as Nabil says, yell at them over the years..... It's humbling that i do affect their lives somehow..... it helps me to keep going ..... Thanks guys...

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways...

What does it really mean when you hate someone? Do you hate them as a person? Do you hate their actions? Do you hate the way they react? What? So if you hate them, does it make you a lesser person?

Right now I'm hating 2 particular persons. HATE. I hate them to the highest degree of hate possible. But I can't pinpoint what exactly is the thing that I hate about them. At this juncture, I hate everything about them.

I wish I had the guts to look them in the eyes and tell them what I feel. If i did, this is what i'll say:

What exactly is your problem?? You! So old yet so ignorant! Stop pretending that you don't know! This has already happened during the first term. How can you let it happen again? Is it because you think that what happened thn does not affect you because you were not the setter? You gave me a false sense of security! Thinking that you have vetted my paper, you would spot my mistakes and get me to correct my paper!! But you didn't and in true malay style, you covered your own ass. Now it's happening again. But this time you are the setter! I hope you get shit for this. I really do. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it!

Then.... ( the other one that i hate ) Where do you come of thinking that you are so good that your paper, anwer key and marking is error free? What was is that you said? 100 % correct?? wake and smell the roses my friend!!!! You did not go throug what i did in sa1. Being questioned and asked to justify my language by peopel who are not even malay.... let me tell you it felt like shit!!! For weeks after, i continually doubted myself.... it took a lot to pick myself up. Now, your are so arrogant! !00% correct indeed! The kids could give me better answers than you can! I hope you get into shit as well...

In recent times, I have been shown that God is All knowing and He is great. Indeed. Wouldn't he be disappointed that the two of you who preach His word, who always say that our job is our amanah and that if we don't perform in our job, if we take fake MCs then our gaji is haram are the very same people who have screwed up and others...BIG TIME??

Everyone is screwed up but you old person you have screwed people.... in particular ME!!! All these years i've helped you... while you got your SEO I got my D and my promotion witheld for 5 years. All these years i've done your job.... while you got your Bs I got screwed for ALL problems in the department. All these years.... while you gallavant in the united arab countries I stayed during the hols and cleaned up your mess... All I have done for you..... What do i get? A WARNING LETTER!!!! aaaaarrrrhhhgg!!!

May Allah bless you coz as far as I am concerned, you have NOT earned your keep....

Pissed Off - Part Deux

I was away on course today. Full day course. 8-5. Tomorrow will be another day. I was absolutely looking forward to waking up slightly later on saturday. catch up on lost sleep. So imagine how pissed off I was when i got a call telling me that a note was left on my table. ordinarily, that would not have an effect on me but when the contents of the note was read to me, I immediately felt my blood bubble...... This was what it said:

Zakiah,
You are involved in the p3 screening test this saturday as invigilator. Please be at the quiet zone at 7.20 am to mark attendance.

Let me tell you right now that even typing that made angry tears come out. My points of contention, and i do have a few, are:

1. Why am i being informed of someting i have to do on saturday on the thursday? 2 days before?!!!! I am away on course. If kind tyahuliz did not let me know about it, i would not have known and then what?

2. Why was there no briefing done on this? if mdm jann were the person organising this, she would have ensured that EVERYONE knew about it. she would have made sure that the people involved were given proper work schedules and were explained their duties. NOT SMALL SQUARES WITH WORDS SCRIBBLED ON THEM!!!! So bloody unprofessional! Instead of the briefing on tpsr done during contact time ( which i would have rendered much less important than the screening test) it should have been the briefing on the screening!

3. What happened to not coming on saturday? the screening test could have been conducted on friday. the exams are over, so just do it during lesson. if there are some children who wish to be exempt, then they can be grouped and put in the library or something. is there even a need to have it on saturday?

4. What is the management's stand on this? we were not encouraged to come together to mark our exam scripts but coming back on saturday to do this screening test sits well with them????

5. Did anyone ever considered that I might have made plans for saturday? in fact not only me lah.... I'm sure everybody has plans. I have to take my mum to the dialysis centre. this is a long standing arrangement i have with my mum. If i was informed earlier, i could have made some arrangements...... which brings me back to point no 1!!!!

Why oh why are things becoming more and more ridiculous????? How anyone can and want to tahan this crap is beyond me........ sigh.........

Pissed Off - Part Une

Someone is pissing me off more than smelly armpits can.More than nebulous film endings can. More than people who jump queues can. There is only so much crap one I take from one person at any given time . And for you I extended the limit to the capacity of at least ten people, in relation to the level of stupidity, selfishness, hipocrasy and plain common sense (or rather the lack of it) you seem to be capable of.

Surprise, surprise.You've reached that limit. I gave you the respect you supposedly deserve because you are old! At this juncture, I don't think you deserve even that. Why should i have to help you with your inadequacies? Why should i give a damn when you can't even handle the simplest of tasks. I make mistakes. Yes I do. But guess what? You are supposed to learn from them! You NEVER learn!

YOU. I have had enough.

The one who leads. Wake up! That's what you are supposed to do. When the people you lead cannot deliver, you are supposed to help them. You are supposed to explain why they cannot deliver on time. You are in a capacity to suggest to the higher ups an extension. You have the power. Use it!!! You should be the one who carry your people. Not the other way round. You are making my blood boil!!!!! What kind of a leader are you???!!! Especially when all your work you delegate. Give us the money.

Wonderful Saturday

This morning,while rolling around in bed, nibbling on my bagel ( so new yorkish! perasan.... ) i was scanning through the morning papers when this article about NKF caught my eye, i decided to read it thinking that maybe that TT Durai has used NKF funds to buy gold bicycle chain..... ??? But instead, it was an article about reduction of dialysis fees! I was so happy! But my sayang said to not get so excited about it yet.... so i called my mak and asked her about it. Oh joy it was! she said that the sup at her dialysis centre says that her fees will be reduced by 20%. Alhamdulillah! The goodness continues to bless me.

From my study, I can see a little of JB. Last thursday night, there were fireworks over the JB sky.... It lasted for a good 45 mins. So my sayang and i stood at the window and watched it.... That was nice. Anyway, currently, i'm waiting for my washing machine to finish it's cycle. it's raining out. I'm probably paranoid but i realise that EVERYTIME i do laundry,it rains... Something's Gotta Give is on HBO. I love the beach house that the show was filmed in. Great houses like that always inspire me to change things around the house. Then i see how messy my place is and decide to do it later....

Okie.... my machine has sounded.... time to sidai the kain....What to do for dinner......

What a great day!

Nothing can make today bad. Absolutely nothing.I don't mean to gloat.... but wait a minute i do! Get off your high horse!Nobody is perfect. I'm waiting to see if any efforts will be made to set things straight. This time, chocolate won't do it.

I went to catch The Maid wth my baby sister today. It is a wonderful feeling knowing everyone is at work while i'm enjoying an afternoon movie on a weekday! we went to great world city, had nice lunch at siam kitchen, the movie was not too bad either. all in all .... a good day it was.

At 8, i decided to go to tampines and surprise my sayang. along the way, he called i had to let the cat out of the bag. If i didn't, then he go home, barulah padan my muka. We had a simple but super shiok dinner. we had laksa at QiJi. So sedap i tell you. and a side of chee cheong fun. after that we went jalan jalan and he bought me earrings..... thank you sayang! so cantik my earrings. then we bought our starbucks fix and headed home.

Now, while my sayang watches his weekly Barclay's Premiership Updates, I'm blogging. We are waiting for Cold Case to start. We are Bruckheimer junkies.

Today is a good day. As i say, nothing can make it bad. Not even the bad driving of the smelly cab driver that brought us home from tampines.

Today is a GOOD DAY!

65521111

65521111.... That number is on my speed dial.For those who don't already know, it's the cab booking number from Comfort. Even the increased fee of $4 after 5 did not deter me from calling. I mean, have you seen some of the cab queues? Come on! Not calling is not option for me. How can you have a queue of about 40 people probably waiting for 42 cabs, and NO cabs to serve this queue? Like at Suntec, Taka......

I wish i had a Hippogriff, or a nimbus 2000. Or I could learn to drive.Hmmm... Let's see how finances are in September.

Anyway, today, I met my adik at Suntec. She wanted to get this absolute must-have of a bag from Adidas. Felt very old coz i thought the bag was so buruk when she was raving on and on and on..... but anyway, after reaching the store, the bag dah out of stock.... hahahah. Finally, I yang beli a nice brown straw bag..... So anyway lah kan, we had a nice dinner @ Fish & Co. Went junk shopping at Carrefour. Ever notice how you almost always end up buying things you dont need when you wheel a trolley at a hypermart? Note to self- NO MORE TROLLEYS. So after paying for our stuff, we went on to get our cab to go home. To our horror, it was the 40 people to 42 cab kinda queue.... So i decided to call. We got a cab, 6006, cool number. So we waited outside at the benches for the cab to arrive. It finally came and as i was frantically waving at the cab to come over to where we were, this Ah Lian looking girl just cut in front of me and got into my 6006! I was like?????

Now, apart from smelly people, i hate people who cut my queue and also they who hijack my cab! So i knocked on the driver's window. This driver also one kind.... didn't even bother to check, just because the ah lian a bit the cantik, quickly want to drive off... He rolled down the window and the following conversation took place...

me: " uncle, going cck crescent is it?"
Apek: " ya!"
me: " she going where? "
Apek: " CCk lah!"
me: " You ask her ah?"
Apek: " she say she call one!"

At this point, the apek got a little impatient...

Apek: "why u ask?'
Me: " because i call!!! U ask her for her telephone ah!"

So the apek proceeded to ask the ah lian for her number. so when she gave a number different from the one on his display unit ( mine! ) apek scolded her lah. She still had the audacity to say that the cab company got her number wrong..... so i told her "eh, please lah, can you get out? I have diarrhea, need to sh**.... please lah...". She finally got out of the cab. The sounds of Hokkien expletives filled the air. Needless to say, I gave apek a long lecture on how he should check his passengers first.

I mean, why do people do that? Get your own cab why don't you!!!

Let the games begin...

WOE IS ME...... why am i woe-ing? The bane of my existance, The English Premiership, sadly, has returned to the idiot box....sigh... There goes my quiet weekends of snuggling with my sayang sharing a good book.What will start are situations where we'd have to rush home from wherever we are to ensure he catches the game.... staying up late to catch the game at ungodly hours....

As I am typing this, my sayang is watching Man U vs Everton. His mood not so good, apparently his fav team not playing too well.... BUT wait, they just SCORED!!! Someones's demeanour has certainly changed. Oh its half time.... He'll start on his first half analysis. Thank god i have the half blood prince. I'll just bury myself in the book. Most times, i'd just nod and pretend to understand what he is analysing......

Since being married to him, i have begun to understand the game. At least i think i have lah.... Only that up till now, no one have succesfully made me understand what on offside is all about. takpelah.... Tak kurang pun...heheheh....

Anyway, the thing that makes my sayang's obsession with the Red Devils somewhat palatable is his promise to take me to old trafford..... which means going to UK..... which means me getting a whole lot of marks & spencers..... ooooh..... cannot wait....

Luckily my sayang likes manchester united, if he was obsessed with tampines rovers........

Funny people

People are people so.... what should it be...... The words of depeche mode rings in my ear everytime peoples' idiosyncrasies get the better of me. There are funny, funny people all around me..... I even don't have to look very far... At work, there is this one person who complains incessantly.Recently this person was unwell, so this person called me on my mobile. I was unable to answer the call, so later, when i called back, this person said, 'thanx for calling me' ?????? I didn't call, i was returning hers!! Then there are others who look through people with no qualms whatsoever..... so easy peasy! When they want to talk to you, they can seem to be your pal but when there is no need to, they can simply ignore you!! What gives?

What actually gives people the right to do that? Don't people realise that when they do that they leave others around them out to dry? There are also some who are so insensitive to the plight that others are in. For instance, there is this person, who everytime i say that i have too much work, she says that she has 5 composition to mark at home.... when i say that my house in a mess, hers is messier of course since it's occupied by 5 other people..... when i told her my mom has kidney failure, her aunt also has that and cancer and going blind in one eye.... so i have given up on telling her anything.

In fact, have given up on saying anything to anyone at work. it seems that whatever i say can and has been used against me.... i know i have my shortcomings..... i know i'm loud and rash....sometimes lazy..... but i have heart.... and because of that, i've mistaken you for somebody else, somebody who gives a damn, somebody more like myself........ sigh......

I have heart. That has made me naive. That has blurred the difference between colleagues and friends. That has made me not see that people have taken me for a ride. I have heart. Give me chocolate and i'll forgive all transgressions against me.... How easy! How naive!

Things have happened that has jolted me out of my naivete. But i can't change how people are. I cannot make people be what they are not. All I can do is change myself. so now, this is what i'll live by...

*Knowing myself.
*Asking for help when I need it and acting on my own when I don't.
*Admitting when I'm wrong and making amends.
*Accepting love from others, even if I'm having a tough time loving myself.
*Recognizing that I always have choices, and taking responsibility for the ones I make.
*Seeing that life is a blessing.
*Having an opinion without insisting that others share it.
*Forgiving myself and others.
*Recognizing my shortcomings and my strengths.
*Having the courage to live one day at a time.
*Acknowledging that my needs are my responsibility.
*Caring for people without having to take care of them.
*Accepting that I'll never be finished -- I'll always be a work-in-progress

God give me the strength to face life. Give me the patience to excel at what I do. Give me love, lot of it, so I can love... even those who hate me

The best things in life are free

I was sick since last sunday. Had the runs. maybe expired eggs or maggi gone bad. Never thought maggi could go bad. Must be the egg. Anyhow, was stuck at home with the runs. Sayang had to work that sunday. Left at 8 in the morn, returned home at 2 the next morn! But that's another story.... so decided that my wadrobe needed some minor straightening out...actually it needed MAJOR straightening out...... So i set out to sort thru my haute courture.... As i was throwing out stuff, i thought, my,my.... these clothes shrunk! hehe.... Now we all know what really happened now don't we? Anyway, the sneezes started the moment i rummaged thru my clothes... ended up with me getting asthma....sigh.... Couldn't go to work the following monday...my airway was congested while my a** was leaking..... Yuck!

Anyway, my mak sayang came to visit me that monday. I was sooo touched! Sayang sekali!! My relationship with my mom has not always been easy. I had always been closer to my dad. So after he passed away, i decided that i needed to get to know my mom better, but it did not turn out the way I had wanted... We were constant loggerheads.... always at opposing ends. Everything became a battle with us. Even after i got married and my sayang moved in, we were still at each others' throats. That was when i decided that i needed to move out. I tell you, that was the wisest thing i have ever decided. Our relationship improved almost instantly! I was calling her everyday, we were hanging on the phone..... we did things we never did before.... I thank Allah for giving me the wisdom and strength to make that decision. Now, everything is wonderful with her. She was diagnosed with kidney failure. That has made us even closer. God works in mysterious ways. Something that I thought could make my world come crashing down, actually brought me and my mom closer.

Smelling nice...

I'm very particular about smells. I consider it a social crime if one forgets to use deodorant or does not keep oneself err.... odour free. I hate it! At work, there are 3 particular colleagues who stink. Let me just say it again.... YOU SMELL! Literally. don't get me wrong, you are nice people, but you stink.... please...heard of deodorant? I don't quite fancy eau de armpit! Wonder if you'll get offended if I leave deodorant on your tables.... But just in case you are wondering, speed stik for ladies is very good..... just one thing you should remember..... DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!

Anyway, i'm a strong advocate of smelling good. One of many reasons why i love perfumes. One of my many vices. Last week, I ran out of supplies. I went down to mustaffa centre in Serangoon with my sayang. After having very shiok thosai at Ananda Bhava, we went over. Why Mustaffa? It's cheaper. Almost cheaper by more than $10 for some brands. Like Lolita Lempicka, at Tangs, 100ml is about $80 but at Mustaffa it's only $65!! And they have a wide range of perfumes.

So my perfume has finished. Loilita Lempicka is my ultimate fav, but I thought i might try a new fragrance. So i went with an open mind and without perfume, so that when i tried on new fragrances, they won't mix. I was paranoid about that. Kept asking my sayang if i was smelly..... as i say, i hate not smelling good. So anyway, when we got there, I was at a loss.... There were so many i wanted. All that I tested, I liked!! I was spoilt for choice. Didn't know what I wanted. Finally after about an hour of indecisiveness, I finally decided on.... LOLITA LEMPICKA...... hahahah...... I just grabbed the box nearest me and paid for it.

After that we went to NYDC at Holland V. We had elephancchinos and Boo Boo cake... Yummy! Then we headed home. I opened my box of new perfume and discovered that I had bought the EDT instead of the EDP!!! EDT is much lighter as it evaporates faster than EDP. That means, i need to use more edt to last me thru the day!..... I was so mad with myself.... Of course my sayang said that my mistake was due to my indecisiveness..... Well that's me for you... when presented with many choices, I almost always lose sight of what i really want.

So I have decided that next payday, I will go and get Polo Ralph Romance... or maybe Clinique's Happy to Be or Lancome's Miracle or even Gucci's Envy..... Or maybe even end up getting another Lolita Lempicka's EDT..... hahahhahaha.......