Pudding anyone?

Haven't been using this for a while hehe..

Actually, this double boiler was a leftover from the days of me staying with kak Shima and kak Kathy. You see, kak Shima loved her steamed fish, so we HAD to have one of these at home.. and I must say, I love kak Shima's steamed fish too.. klau buat je, mesti makan nasik sampai buncit hehe..

Anyway, after they left, the double boiler or what I usually call 'periuk kukus', was left with me.. and leaving it iwth me meant leaving it in the cabinet for years haha..

But then, recently I went across Watie's blog and found an entry on the Caramel Pudding or Pudding Gule Hangus. I actually love this pudding, especially when Mama makes them BUT I've never tried it myself as at home, it was usually Mama who made this. I've been wanting to do it as I remember it being quite simple but I didn't have the right recipe (READ: malas nak cari hehe..)

So Watie was very generous to share her simple recipe with me and last night, since I couldn't sleep, I thought of making some :)

Finally, periuk kukus ku keluar dari kabinetnye hehe.. and looky here :)

..and here!

Sebenarnye, eversince living alone, memang jadik malas nak try buat ape². At least dulu, even when I stayed alone, I had Dgon, Jutie, Lily, Pojie and Salimin to finish up anything I make, skrg dah takde.. but I remembered my students hahah.. thats why I followed Watie's advice to try make them in small containers like those..

..abis la student sy keracunan pas nih! Hehe..

P/S

Should've asked Watie about her hint on the amount of caramelized sugar. When I gave them to my students tadi, dah hand them out, baru tingat, I HAVEN'T EVEN TASTED THEM YET!

Adeh!

Tadi baru dpt rase, and though the pudding itself is not too sweet and not tasteless, just like I want it, the caramelized sugar tu byk sgt kot sy buh.. manis gila! Now instead of a quick death with meracunkan student ni, I'm giving them a slow one with diabetes haha..

THReE

Three Names I go by
1. Ayu
2. kak Yong
3. Cikgu(?)

Three Jobs I have had in my life
1. Research officer
2. Tutor
3. Babysitter haha.. From Ikram dan ke bawah, sape yg kak Yong tak penah tuko nappy? :p Annisa ngan Irfan pun kak Yong nye dah penah tuko kan nappy tau.. (Adi konpem lege umo dia beze 2 tahun je n kak Yong dia tatau tuko nappy time tu hehe..)

Three Places I have lived
1. Penang
2. Kulim, Kedah
3. Tronoh, Perak

Three TV Shows that I watch
1. Supernatural
2. Prison Break
3. House

Three places I have been
1. England
2. Thailand
3. Indonesia.. sorry Adi, curik semua your answers :p

People that e-mail me regularly
1. *dulu ade laaa :(*
2. Leong aci tak? Dia email bile nak bg keje hehe..
3. Sorry, can't think of anyone else.. sedey tul!

Three of my favorite foods
1. Bread n chicken/beef curry.. yummy!
2. Koay teow goreng (Yun gelak guling² bace ni.. huh!)
3. Jusco nye Tako (Ni Ana ngan Izati la ni ajo!)

Three things I would like to do
1. Finish my PhD
2. Find a job I like.. (Uwaa, I wanna be a teacher!)
3. Be brave enough to do some public speaking :D

Three friends I think will respond (maknenye name Sentot tak leh buh la kaaann :p)
1. Ayeen
2. Watie
3. kak Nurul

Things I am looking forward to
1. The day I finish my studies (lagi?)
2. ....
3. .... (Okay! Now I feel pathetic.. takde bende ke sy looking forward to? Uwaaaaa..)

Am tagging Sentot (hehe..), Ayeen, Dr Ina, Dr Dzul, Liza, Ija, Jida, Watie, kak Nurul n kak Zarina (rasenye dah tag both of you in FB, right?), Mas, Ee, Pojie, Yuhyi, Nomi and last but not least, Amer :)

And the letter of the day.. "N" (ala² Sesame Street hehe..!)

Tagged by Ana and Mael in Facebook. I've tagged a few people in Facebook but I'm also tagging friends here :p

Rules:
It's harder than it looks!Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people.Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.They have to be real... nothing made up!If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have Fun!!

1. What is your name:

Nurikhwani Idayu bt Zainal Abidin

2. A four Letter Word:

Nerd

3. A boy's Name:

Naim

4. A girl's Name:

Naemah.. cam ngelat je kann, similar boy and girls name :p Eh, kat boy's name I can put Nazreel, name of my student :)

5. An occupation:

Nanny

6. A color:

Navy

7. Something you wear:

Nightie

8. A food:

Nandos hehe.. aci ke?

9. Something found in the bathroom:

New toothbrush? Boley?

10. A place:

Newcastle

11. A reason for being late:

Nosebleed? Huh, tak bes langsung laaaa alasan. Unless bleeding gallons of blood that I need a blood transfusion. Baru dramatic punye reason hehe..

12. Something you shout:

Naaaaaaakkk.. (bile org ajak tgk wayang hehe..)

13. A movie title:

Nightmare before Christmas

14. Something you drink:

Nescafe.. *gulp* Dr Ina dah menjeling..

15. A musical group:

Nickelback

16. An animal:

Newt

Tagging: Sentot, Liza, Dr Ina, Dr Dzul, kak Nurul, kak Zarina, Mas, Watie, Ayeen, Nomi (sbb blog dia berabuk!)

Ape daaaa..

Petang tadi ade postgraduate seminar (name tak glamer nye: seminar berterusan). Semua budak postgrad kene turun. Sebetulnye, sy dah lupe tentang seminar ini.. serius! Tapi sedang sy duduk dengan perasan ayu nye di dalam kiub, terlihat kelibat Pak Adi, Ad dan Bashir tersengih² lalu di tepi kiub sy. Bile sy angkat muke (spt ape yg selalu dilakukan tatkale sesiape masuk/kuar pintu itu), Ad dengan besnye ckp, "Kitorang nak gi present dah ni!"

Adeh.. lupe plak.. nape la si Ad ni ingatkan sy..

Sampai je bawah, nampak Puga melambai², maka sy dan Yee pun duk kat ngan Puga. Di situlah ternampak betape muhibbahnye kami, 3 bangsa terbesar di Malaysia berkongsi satu row meje (Poyo!) hehe..

Presenter pertame: Pak Adi

Verdict: Bosan! Huhu.. tp bukan bosan sbb dia tak pandai present, dia present sgt bagus.. tp sy tak paham ape dia present sbb dia budak structure.. dan sy tak suke structure. Bukan salah pak Adi. Q&A dia pun tak bes sbb org yg paling byk tanye soklan tu org yg sy tak suke. Sesuke hati je sy nak tak suke kat org kan..

Mase ni, Yee kluar nak kol IPS and sy dan Puga lari duk belakang hehe..

Presenter kedua: Ad.. yang ditunggu²

Verdict: Bosan jugak haha.. juge bukan salah Ad. Sbbnye Ad plak budak environment, iaitu sesuatu yang bergelumang dengan chemistry. Sy dari dulu tak suke berkawan ngan unsur² kimia ini dan boleh tak, sy tanye kat Kut, ape itu O3? Sy lupe, bende tu ialah ozon huhu..

So ape yg sy dan Kut buat?

Bagus kan hehe..

*******

Mlm tadi plak semangat berkobar² nak stay up buat draft for questionnaire untuk research sy. Beli Nescafe siap² dah ni and dah print out bende² yang sy nak rujuk. Mmg rancangannye ialah untuk dtg school trus lepas kelas sy di Parit Buntar.

Tp sampai kat simpang Tmn Pekaka, tetibe tinginkan sesuatu yang dah bertahun tak makan..

Ape tu ye?

Heheh.. ni dia!!

Nasik lemak kak Ina.. nyum²! Ngan teh ais abg Man yang sedap slurp sluuuurrrppp!!

Sedaaaaaaaaaaaappp..

Tp kan, bukan ke sy nak stay up? Uhhh, pilihan makanan yang tidak bijak Ayu.. sungguh tidak bijak!!

The No 6 Tag Game

Yeay to Watie for a tag (actually Watie's previous tag pun ayu tak jawab lagik hehe.. sowi Watie hehe..) and 'amboooooooooooooiiiii' to a certain Sentot friend who almost NEVER answers my tag but tagged me too for the same tag :p

The challenge is :
1. GO to your photos folder in your computer
2. GO to the 6th Folder of your photos
3. GO to the 6th photos in that folder
4. Put the picture on your blog & description of it.
5. Invite 6 friends to join the challenge
6. Link them in your blog & let them know they have been challenged.

Easy enough, huh :) So here goes..

(Mane le pulok folder gambo sy ni?!?!)

Yeay.. found it :)
"This is a picture taken a few years ago (Ohhhh, sy sedang menipu! A FEW years?!?!) when we were still in Newcastle. From left to right: Adi (if you see closely, dia tengah 'operate' Thomas -tgk Watie, leh gang ngan anak awak je klau umo diorg same hehe..) with Izzuddin close behind, then Iwan looking a bit left out but focusing on the camera, then me NOT ready for the picture (alasan...) and the rosy cheeked Ayeen. I must be around 5-6 years old coz that outfit was bought near the time we came back here.

Ohh, btw, my siblings are only Iwan and Adi je dlm the photo. Ayeen can also be considered a sister laa, as we grew up together. Dulu she worked in Intel but now she's in Terengganu, teaching ke ek Ayeen?

Gosh! I can't believe we've all grown up.. Ayeen gave me this photo a few years ago.. rasenye this photo dah penah masuk this blog, if I'm not mistaken la.. Perasan tak care Adi n Ayeen duduk (btw, they are of same age)? The budak² type of duduk which I can't do now due to old creaking joints hahah.. but believe it or not, Adi sampai skrg kadang duduk camtu gak hehe.. though dah lame gak la tak tengok dia duduk camtu.."

So who should I tag? Bai dah, Watie pun dah.. obiously la kan since they were the ones who tagged me.. so..

1. AdiAnaMael (ni ngelat ni name nye..)
2. Dr Ina
3. Dr Dzul
4. Kak Zarina
5. Kak Nurul
6. Mas

Sile².. :)

P/S
Actually, the REAL 6th picture is something else. Of me and IM on our 1st konvo, a photo I thought I had deleted but I'm not sure I'm ready to share it so I chose the next photo.. ngelat skit, takpe ek Watie n Bai?

:D

I almost forgot how cute you are.. :)

Hehe..

Ayu 'weng'! Hehe..

I'm not actually a big fan of ice-cream. Not that I don't eat it at all la kan, but klau takde pun, kire takpe je pun. But these past couple of weeks, I've been on this ice-cream rampage that I've never seen myself in before hehe.. In these two-weeks je, I've donned a sweater over my PJs near midnight and gone to the nearest 7-11 for some ice-cream MORE than 7 times!

Rasenye: Ayu sedang emo haha..

Like 2 nights ago, dah kul brape dah and suddenly wanted an ice-cream with some berry sauce (somehow, I only want ones with choc sauce or berry sauce so ice-lollies I tak pandang pun hehe..). It was freezing (ok, kat Malaysia mane leh freezing kan? Nmpk sgt tipu.. but it was COLD!) but I still wanted at least ONE cone (Iye, sometimes I buy two cones at once.. how emo can you be?) so off I went..

..and came home smiling :)

Nyum..nyumm.. a beauty huh :)

Just look at that 'art creation' (Okay, actually I thought myself a bit gross, amik gambo something I just bit into..)

And look at the sauce oozing outta the ice cream.. yummm..

So officially, Ayu suda weng.. pasai pa? Tatau.. but definitely suda weng haha..

Ayu masak?!? Pt 2

Yesterday was a rainy day. Giler ngantuk and giler sejuk.. Didn't help that yesterday was the bathroom-cleaning day which added to the tahap sejuk I was already feeling. Then tambah plak, the washing machine sorta broke down, so there I was, heaving bucketfuls of water to my washing machine.. this I had no choice as I had a week-old load of laundry.. nak tanak, kene basuh gak.. and yes, sy malas basuh gune tangan haha..

Anyway, while waiting for the washing (its a semi-aotomatic.. KENE tunggu.. adeh! Makes me wish I had bought an automatic washing machine with my tuition pay 2 months ago!), I poked around the kitchen for something to eat (READ: something simple to do!). Then I found the ingredients yg dah beli berbulan lame for a pudding Hasz's mother had taught me.. theoretically la hehe..

First I ignored them, until I realized I had just finished the potato gratin I had made, wpun dah kate kat Sharil and Ija I planned to give some to them.. gulp! Then plak, realizing that the washing machine would take some time, I decided to do the pudding.. basically peach pudding with a bit of raisins throwed in (I hate raisins in chocolate, but in anything else, okay la kot!)

So I lined out the ingredients, double-checking with the recipe la of course. Didn't wanna realize I didn't have enough thing for it midway, did I..

Then mule la proses memasak. Actually, the last time I experimented with agar² was when I was still in school, during when our family had to endure our experimenting almost every weekend haha.. I thought I had forgotten how to make it as I suck at measuring things whenever cooking and sometimes, after a long time of not doing it, I'd get this hardly edible agar² that I could actually throw at the wall and crack it (the wall, not the agar²..) Yes.. exagerrating again hehe.. but you get the picture, don't you?

So first I 'cooked' the agar (I dunno the english word for this.. jelly seems inappropriate though) and while waiting, I beat in the milk with 2 eggs and 5 tablespoons of custard powder. When the agar² had disolved, you beat in the custard mixture in it. The result is a custardy thing like this..

Then, while waiting for it to 'shine' (Hasz's mother's words.. "Tunggu dia berkilat" hehe..), you arrange the peaches and raisins in your container. Actually, her mum used a pudding dish so the end result was oh-so-pretty.. but I didn't have one, so a good old tupperware as well as a plain bowl would have to do. I also prepared another 5 plastic containers (the kind you buy Taufufah in) too as this is quite a big batch of pudding (4 cups of water, one tin of evaporated milk and one tin of excess peach juices).

Then, when it was ready, fill in the containers with the mixture and let it cool before putting it in the fridge. The result.. voila!

Hehe.. ain't bad huh? *perasan*

P/S

The taste, not quite like Hasz's mum's pudding but Irnis liked it (tatau la kot dia amik ati je kan hahaha..) I like it too, but then again, I'm not fussy when it comes to food.

Ayu masak?!?!

Remember last week I said I was searching for a gratin recipe? Hehe.. I found one :)

Now, I was a bit annoyed when someone asked me, "Potato gratin yg senang tu pun tatau buat ke? Kene search recipe ek?" Huh, nyampah! Nak kutuk sy secare subtle la tuh *bosan*

FYI cik know-it-all, mmg sy tak penah buat pun. Salah ke klau nak try.. and actually I have the basic recipe for it, cumenye the basic recipe needed some cream which supermarkets in Pt Buntar taraknye nak jual.. and sy juge tadek keje nak gi Jusco semate nak cari cream yg harge tak sampai RM10 tu dengan membayar duit tol RM5.60 pegi balik beserta around RM10 of petrol. And also, I had come across this Malaysian-type gratin that I've been wanting to try pun.. aci tak, gune udang kering, belacan, santan.. heheh, very Malaysia kaaaaann :)

Anyways, perut sy nak makan pun :p Klau tak jadi, so what? To me, you could never go wrong with potatoes (says the potato lover hehe..). Seriously, you can do anything with potatoes and I'd say its delicious.. except la if you do something weird like cook it in a sweet way instead of savoury.. sy pun tak adventurous sebegitu untuk try. It even sounds a bit gross (sorry!)

My fav: potatoes cooked in chicken/beef curry! Fuhhh, sedap tu.. I used to 'kutip' all the potatoes in the pot whenever Mama made curry (Oppps, now Adi knows where all the missing potatoes went to hehe..)

Anyway, with only seeing the pictures of finished gratins in recipe books and only once seeing someone doing it on tv, I set off to do it.. sape yg dah penah buat, sile jgn gelak kat my 1st effort ye (which usually will still be the same for my 2nd, 3rd and all efforts pasni if I choose to do it again :p)

So above here's the 'raw' ingredients (Poyo sbb baru 1st time buat kaaaaann hahah..)

This pulak are the bende² yang dah dikupas (ubi, bawang bla²..), rendam (cili kering and udang kering) and siang (sotong.. actually found some squids yang dah tak ingat beli bile.. so thought of masukkan je dlm ni.. don't think it would spoil the taste pun kan?)

How bout this? Hehe..

Ol' skool kan haha.. still using the old fashioned pestle and mortar. I DO have a blender, mind you.. but leceh nak basuh haha (pemalas teruk!) And besides, I actually believe my sambal tumis (on the rare occasions I'm up to it) is better using this old fashioned way instead of when I use the blender. Serious, dah penah compare.. or I dunno la if its only in my head, but I stick to what I believe. Still, pedih mate gak when biji cili masuk my mate.. uwaaaaaaaaaaa! Trus tumbuk sambil pakai spek hehe.. Anyway, this is how it looked like before going in the oven..

Okay², I admit.. TAK LAWO LANGSUNG! Haha.. seriously, even I was a bit grossed out.. adeh! Ape ni Ayu hehe..

Then.. tadaaaaaaa..

Hehe.. ye laaaaaaaaaa.. sy tau! Masih tak lawo hehe.. Not the least resembles the picture accompanying the recipe I got. But at least I finally made it by myself.. and sape nak kutuk, pi jauh².. shoooh! Shooh! :p

The taste?

Actually.. tak makan pun lagik hehe.. I finished baking it around 1.35pm and had to rush to class. So its still in the oven sebenarnye, sempat snap a quick photo just before going out. I'll save it for dinner (Huhh.. tak bes langsung.. semangat nak buat tapi makan lambat!)

..which reminds me, I have to go out and photocopy a few things for my class tonight.. daaaaaa.. :)

Chumel tak? Theehee..

Last week, the 1st year studens here had an 'Expo Keusahawanan' (klau tak silap la, that was the name!) where they sold anything they could. From t-shirts and jerseys, to food and drinks, to computer thingeys to cute² lil things..

I had gone there last year and regretted not buying these cute decorated paper clips so this year, I was determined to find them and buy them.. at least to keep as presents for my student, now that its become like wajib to buy them something hahah..

Went there with Irnis, right before we had this photography session in the traffic lab, and believe me, the scene that greeted us was.. colourful! Not only colourful because there were so many races loitering around, but visually colourful. Balloons, ribbons.. I almost thought there was a party going on as me and Irnis went around the booths. One sight that made me laugh was to see chinese students selling hijabs and pins for the hijabs hahah.. not that is was funny, but it was kinda strange. Still, Mis told us they had to sell in groups by school or something so I'm guessing, this was an idea of a muslim team member kot, knowing hijabs are usually a hit in this campus.

Anyway, I didn't find the paper clips I had wanted to buy. Instead, I found..

Heheh.. cute eyh! These are paper clips too. Magnetic ones.. and since I couldn't resist anything I consider cute, no matter how impractical they are, I bought SIX of them. Takde la mahal pun, RM3.50 for one but 3 for RM10.. and I got a further discount of buying them at RM18. Yeayyy..

So I'm not sure WHEN and WHERE I'll be using these. Most likely it will be kept for presents la kot haha..

P/S

Which reminds me, I just might give the car one to my student Hazril who had his birthday yesterday. I'd already bought him a gift but he had asked for a car hehe.. aci whaaaaattt! Car jugak kaaannn..

P/S2

I like the cowww hehehe.. takmo bg sesape heheh..

I love chocolates!!! :)

One upon a time ago, I couldn't live without chocolates. I always had to have some spare choc bar to come in handy whenever the need for them came over me. My friends all knew about this, and even IM knew which was a good thing since he's a chocoholic too so I always got chocolates from them.. one most memorable one was from Ami during Valentines when we were in form 2. She gave us the boxes of heart-shaped milk chocolate in the cute boxes.. giler sayang nak makan time tu hehe..

Even as I grew and went away from home, any outing wouldn't be complete without me searching for chocolates. It was a must everytime I went out.. but that doesn't mean I'm an expert when it comes to chocolate, in fact, most of the time I dunno what chocolate goes into my mouth, much to the disappointment of friends who sometime go outta their way to buy me those 'designer chocolates' that suddenly stormed all shopping complex in Malaysia a few years back.. sorry guys! Huhu, but I really appreciated it :)

But seriously, I'd be happy with just a simple bar of Cadbury chocolate (though I don't really like ANY chocolate with raisins in it.. nuts are the best, but raisins?!?)

Anyway, somehow, along the line of growing up, my love for chocolate started becoming an old thing. Maybe it started from me trying to watch my weight or something, or maybe I was just plain bored with years and years living with chocolate. Either way, it wasn't an essential part of my life anymore..

A few days ago, while suddenly craving for an ice-cream, I realized that I could now go on for two months straight without chocolate. The sentimental part of me felt a bit sad about this as once, chocolate always seemed to make me feel better and it actually felt a bit good to feel like a normal girl who loves chocolate (Yes, I once thought girls who don't like chocolate are strange hehe.. especially when I got to know a few guys who were just as crazy for chocolate as I was!)

Then this morning, I had a kinda wake up call. Not really a wake up call la, more like a shove in the back as I've always been worried about my PhD and how slow I am at doing this this as well as how on earth did I ever think I could do this. I was feeling a bit down and unhappy, even when I was a bit cheered up by a fellow PhD student, Ho who had helped realize that I'm not the only one feeling this. I was suprised though, Ho always seemed to get it all together but yesterday she cheered me up by telling me she had the same problems as me actually.. and she wants to help me! Yeay..

But after this morning, my positive outlook I had yesterday somehow had dimmed and I was actually on the verge of tears..

Until I received something from Ho..

I don't remember feeling so happy receiving chocolates.. especially the fruit and nut one which I told you, I hate haha.. but I appreciate the gesture. She feels as if I had helped her when it was her who had helped me yesterday. I was just doing my job (that was delayed by the bendahari la of course.. and Ho didn't complain!)

So now, I'm back to smiling hehe.. just have to wait for maghrib for iftar so I can finally get those candies in my tummy.. yummy yum yum!

Thanx Ho!


P/S
Alamak! Misa had also given me a box of Belgian chocolates (which I don't understand why some people take them as very special chocolates as they taste like, well, chocolates! Hahah.. sowi Misa.. tp sy suke tauuuuu!!!! Like I said, I love chocolates but dunno how to appreciate them!) when she went to Langkawi a few weeks ago. Tp sy tak citer al pulak ek Misa haha.. bukan tak suke tau.. suke.. serius! Tp takde la pulak gambo nye nak buh kat sini..

Ape sy jumpe di Friendster Pt 2

(Part 1 boleh jumpe kat --> sini)

Hmm.. actually arini sy online sbb nak cari recipe for potato gratin. Tetibe je ade perasaan nak buat something for my tummy instead of beli hehe.. (Adekah ini angan² tahap tinggi?! Kite tunggu dan lihat.. klau pasni takde entry pasal gratin, maknenye konpem lah ini cume angan² Mat Jenin.. oppss, angan² cik Ayu!)

Anyway, bile online, bese la kan, mesti kene login YM so terlihat lah beberape email yang belum di bace so sy bukak jugak la email sy. Ade beberape photo comments dan comments dari student² sy so sy pun bukak jugak la FS sambil melayan² comment mereke. Ade la jugak terkantoi ngan si Irfan sbb sy lupe dia tau URL blog sy haha..

Sambil² lawan comment ngan diorg ni, sy pun search la recipe sy. Somehow (beberape bagaimane?), sy terpasan Irfan telah menambah bilangan gambo di dalam page dia. Mulenye sy takde la rase nak tengok sbb kaver utk album dia gambo pen je.. tp bile dah 2-3 kali bukak page dia untuk reply comment dia, rase macam tetibe nak tengok lah ape gambo dia tambah.

Gambo pen itu upenye lucky pen dia.. hmm, sy dulu ade lucky pen tak ek, kawan² AlMashoorku? Mcm tadek je kot huhu..

Gambo kedua sy konpius..

Hmm.. mcm familiar saje tp sbb gambo nye sedikit gelap, sy tak berani kate sy 100% tau tu gambo ape.. tp dlm hati sy, mcm menjerit² je kate sy mmg kenal gambo tu..

Gambo ketige gambo dia sendiri yg dia edit tatau pakai photoshop (Iyer, sy cume tau org edit pakai photoshop je, wpun idak le pandai gune.. the self-confessed bute IT person la katekan!) ke ape ke..

Gambo keempat buat sy gelak kuat²..

Sah le, mmg sy kenal la gambo kedua tadi hehe.. mase bile la plak di ambil nye gambo ini, sy pun tatau. Dia kate bukan dia amik, dia upload je so itu masih menjadi misteri. Tp sy nak gelak bukan ape, sbb budak² tu nmpk cam serius giler dengar sy ngaja diorg pasal Transformation III. Muke sorg² cam konsentret giler.. dan ini adelah gambo candid semalam ni, so sy tau diorg bukan saje berlakon sbb tau ade org amik gambo..

Realitinye, dlm ramai² tu besenye Shafie je yg serius (sikiiiiiiiiit laaa!), yang len tu ade je loyar buruk nye atau bende nak di buat mainnye. Seriusly, TAK PENAH diorg serius konsentret bile sy ajo. In fact, mase ni Fahmi tengah sembg² ngan Khairul Syazwan pasal apentah, sbb tu dia bg buku dia kat sy utk lukis so dia tak yah tulis. Then Nazreel ngan Hazril tgh 'gaduh' pasal nape Hazril yg amik LK tu susah nak imagine bende Transformation ni sedangkan Nazreel budak Bio tu pun leh imagine.. tp dlm gambo ni, kagum sy. Mereke kelihatan sangat konsentret.. kan?

Heheh.. sy mesti akan ingt gambo ni sampai bebile haha..

Tp kan, awak edit ke gambo ni, Irfan? Bg diorg nmpk serius?!?!

Its times like these when I wish I had a housemate..

Last night after coming back from my class in Bagan Serai, did the usual switching-on-tv-while-changing-into-my-pjs-and-making-some-cold-Milo routine. There was this movie, Shall We Dance on TV3 (which btw means I wanna update sthing, now that I've remembered something! Tapi nanti la, bile takde idea for entry hehe..), then there was the American Idol thingey and I watched it while debating whether I wanted to wash my clothes that night or tonight.

Now, eversince I chopped of my hair a few weeks ago, I've been having this uncomfortable feeling around my neck haha.. Uncomfortable meaning, my hair is usually long so I have to put it up in a bun making my neck stray-hair-free.. if you know what I mean. But I had cut my hair too short a while ago, and though it can barely be tied up, I usually 'force' it into a hair band. So last night, feeling uncomfy, I went into the middle room of the house, which I dubb 'my walk-in closest' (I wish la kaaaaaann!) to brush my hair before I tied it up.

When I had finished with the 'task', I skipped (yes, I'm like a little girl when I'm alone, skipping here and there hehe..) out of the room towards the living room. THAT was when I saw it..

IT wasn't looking at me. More like minding its own business RIGHT IN FRONT of the entrance to the room. All at once, I felt the hairs on my hand rising, my heart was beating so fast and a scream came outta my mouth when I realized IT was there. How it came to be there, I'll never know. The only thing I knew was, I wanted it OUTTA my house.

Yes dear friends.. I had a FROG in my house.. uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Geli giler.. toloooooooooooooooooooooongggg!

Last time there was Ellie or Rusya, now I was alone to fight off this demon. I didn't know what to do, remembering the last time when it played dead and as I swept it into the dustpan, it sprang to life, cutting my life span into half. This time, I wasn't even half prepared to face it.

I took the Ridsect in my room (Yea yeaaaa, laugh if you must!) and tried to spray it away. But then, remembering it was in the MIDDLE of the house, I quickly closed the door to my bedroom, stuffing the opening under the door with an old nightie. It hid in the middle room, right behind my shelves of tudung (Tolooooong la jgn masuk kat tudung² tuuuuu!)

..and right until I finally went to bed, I had this fear of going to the toilet as I HAD to pass the line of sight of the frog.. yikes!!

I couldn't sleep, even when I had secured my room to its entrance. Around 2.30am, of all nights, I felt thirsty. Opening the door slowly, fearing it could hear me opening the door to my room than scramble into the open door, I was relieved to see it was not at its initial place. I crept slowly towards the plain water container when I noticed it was right on the floor beside the worktop where I put my bottles of plain water.. mengong nye katak! And once again, I did the stupid spray-Ridsect-on-you thingey..

Rushing back to my room, I tossed and turned until 5.30am, then realized, also of all nights, I suddenly had a full bladder.. Sheesh! Subuh was at 6.15, I had planned to hold until then, tapi tak tahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn..

I quick scan mase tu made me realize HE was no where in sight, but he was right there in the TOILET. Aaaaaaaaaaahhh, sabo je laaaa..

Quickly used the adjecent toilet and took my wudhu at the kitchen sink.. knowing for sure, I don't wanna go near the toilets until it was daylight. Gile makruh, tahan wudhu sampai Subuh tuh.. adeh!

Sharil gave me his petua. Throw some salt on the frog.. tp, sy nak tengok bende tu pun geli, ni kan pulak nak pegi dekat to throw salt. Kate Sharil, "Tabur je garam, nanti dia lari dari garam so boleh halau dia.."

Eee, nak gi dekat pun geli trus.. cammane?

Kate Sharil lagik, "Kalu biar, nanti dia membesar dlm toilet sbb dia suke tempat sejuk and lembap. Katak ni ketegaq skit. Tabur je garam, pastu tunjuk jalan kuar kat dia.."

Which promptly made me imagining myself as a butler and the frog wearing a gentlemans garb, "Iyer Encik Katak, di sini ye pintu keluar. Sile².. Trime kasih sbb datang ye.."

Aiyaaaaakkk.. imagination overdrive!!

In the end, I stayed in my room, the nightie stuffed at the door still intact, until 9.30am where I finally came outta the room and found the frog STILL INSIDE THE TOILET. Penat je berdoa sepanjang pagi moga dijauhkan dari bende itu.. uwaaaaa..

Last², sy ngelat. Called my junior Naim then he and his brother came to rid me of my burden.. legaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Sib baik la ade budak ni..

I still dunno mane the point of entry for the thing but am not taking any chances so any 'holes' I find akan ditutup..

Harapnye malam ni takde la lagi 'guest' nye ekkk

Ape yang pentiiiiiinnggg?!?

Note: Hanye mereke yang menonton Wonderpet, same ade tiap petang atau sekali je pun dah cukup, saje akan paham.

*******

Di suatu malam yang hening..

Cikgu: Klau awak tgk, method utk LCM and HCF lebih kurang je kan?

Students: Iyerrrr cikgu..

Cikgu: Yang penting, awak kene tau ape beze dia sbb beze dia sikit sgt..

Kate cikgu sambil tunjuk balik care kire LCM n HCF

Cikgu: So skrg sy nak tanye, utk LCM ingat tak? Ape yang penting?

Students: KEJEEEEESAME!

Aik.. camni pun ade jugak?!?!

Jambatan Pulau Pinang

Wah.. macam tajuk karangan laaa hehe..

Anyways:::::

In my dreams: I'm finishing off the final touches of the progress report for the FRGS grant..

Reality: Tengah konpius, ape yg perlu sy isi niiiiiii.. Mule la nyumpah borang ni.. dan nyumpah diri sendiri sebab mengong sgt!

*sigh*

There was something I wanted to write about last week tp cerite itu telah ditenggelami kisah tige sekawan kuar berjalan² hehe.. Tp arini plak, telah melihat kembali ape yang nak diceritekan pade minggu lepas, so sy rase nak tulis jugak :p

Went to Penang just now. Misa's slacks which were still with me perlu dipulangkan. Dia nak pakai first day keje di tempat baru, terpakse la bagi kannn.. dah la dia size XXS, sy nak tumpang pakai pun tak muat.. konpem! :D

Oppss, ubah topik plak..

Well, to go to the island, you have to go through the bridge la kan.. unless naik ferry yang sy konpem la malas nak queue! Anyway, just to inform Penangites yang dah tak reti nak balik Penang (Ade sape² terase?!? Heheh..), Penang bridge dah halfway through the widening project :) :) :)

Actually, there were 'bits and pieces' of the span of the bridge that already had 3 lanes but only parts of it were open. From the toll gates on the mainland until somewhere near the middle of the bridge, cars were zooming by using all three lanes hehe.. but after that, ade la bottle neck nye balik since after that, either it had 3 lanes but the third lane was closed or the construction was still halfway through.

I'd like to give some intellectual discussion of the bridge, mengenangkan I've been stuck in Civil Engineering for almost 10 years now, and specifically in traffic and highway engineering for 7 years of that.. BUT THEN, I don't wanna reveal how stupid I am, do I? Hahah..

Still, it was sort of a nice sight.. even if the bridge I know looks a hell lot of different now. But to conclude it, I felt as if I could organize a football match (orang Melayu nye usual expression: bleh men bola!) on the bridge.. saaaaaaaaaaangat lapang! I was actually suprised when I went on the bridge as you usually have to 'fight' for the lanes, but this time, it was a breeze. Bleh relax² instead of melawan perasaan tension sebab sgt perlu berhati² on the bridge sblm ni..

..and I enjoyed the drive! Tu yang penting kot (Ape yang penting?! Kejeeeeeeeeeesame!!)

Bart told me the widening should be completed by August and truth be told, I can't wait to see the differance it would bring (KALAU ade la kaaannn :p) I've been using this bridge (with Abah or Mama la on the steering wheel before I got my car) for 23 years now (OKAY! Now THAT makes me feel old!) and I guess I'd like the change..

Best news takat ni is, the toll fares would remain the same.. yeay!

I wish I could take a picture of it but since I was driving, tak leh la kan.. tak pasai je accident nanti. Even on the drive back, it was kinda pleasant.. but then again, I DID avoid the rush hour so I don't really know how its like during that time (not that I wanna know anyway :D)

Well, there are 6 more months now (tp kate Bart, progress is much faster than planned.. I'm glad!) so kite tunggu dan lihat :)

P/S
Ughh, I actually wanted to write something else than my usual ramblings of my life.. but I sound.. fake hahah.. I'm not gonna try this again after this!

Dah tua ke sy? :p

Boleh tak..

Ayu lupe Isnin ni cuti hahah..

I only realized last night while watching the 8tv Quickie where Belinda and Henry were going on and on about the long weekend. They were talking about viewers activity for the long weekend and the possibility of the 8tv crew to drop in during the said weekend which made me first think, "Deme ni dah takde idea ke? Takde long weekend, carik long weekend.."

That waaaaasss.. until they showed these pictures of the Thaipusam celebration which made me slap my forehead la of course for being a forgetful Penangite (tetibe ngaku Penang plaaaakk!) hehe..

Anyway, as usual when I can't think of anything to do on a Sunday (since terdapat kekangan kewangan jugek la kan :p), I decided to come to school..

(Irony: I spent my school years wishing I won't have to go to school anymore.. and now when I'm supposed to have the choice of it, I can't get away from it :p)

So sy pun bersiap² mau ke sekolah. It hit me, I could now choose which watch to wear today (org dah ade due jam kan after that incident kene tipu itu!) haha.. I decided on wearing my new one so while I was putting it on my wrist, I started smiling.

You see, I could only afford this new watch after teaching for the school holidays (Iyerrr, sy bukan org kaye :p) And I was able to buy this after teaching two classes throughout the school holidays.. classes which, may I add, I really enjoyed.

Its not that I don't enjoy my other classes, but somehow, for a very long time, this is the first time I felt no pressure. I even looked forward to meeting my students during this time.. and this includes the class from hell which I must admit, not all of them are the spawn of the devil (Oittt Ayu, thats going a tad too far, don't you think?) Okay la.. I rephrase.. not all of them are imps! (And I don't mean the cute imps, mind you!)

Anyway, it occured to me that only in my 7th year of teaching have I ever bought anything extravagant (for me la at least.. to others this might be bende bese je kannn) from the pay I receive. No wonder I always smile and think of them whenever I look at this watch :)

But hey.. wait a moment!

Seven years?

Am I sewious?

That means *doing some mental calculation*, the first batch of students I ever taught would be 24 this year?!?!

What the hell!

I mean.. where did all the years go?

Soon, I'll be receiving their wedding invitations.. aiyak!!

I know my friend Yun recently went to her student's wedding.. tp student dia budak U, memang dia kenal diorg pun diorg dah 20 something.. but my students are much younger. I knew them when they were barely going throught their mid-teens.. and I'm not even 30 yet!

A few of them are either graduating this year.. or have graduated last year.. Silap² dah ade yg sambung MSc?!?!

BIAR BETUL?!?

Adeh.. suddenly I feel so ancient haha..

Prof Talk

Today we had the Prof Talk by Dr Midi and Dr Farhan.. Oppss, Prof Hamidi and Prof Farhan hehe..


Actually, its the first time I ever went to listen to this kind of talk. Our school only recently started to have our share of professors. Starting with Dr Azazi (the Kelantanese English speaking lecturer hehe.. we used to enjoy listening to him talking in English), Dr Amin.. then Dr Midi and a few months after that Dr Farhan. And the recent prof is Dr Meor. My previous supervisor, Dr Wan Hashim, has also received his professorship, though not in USM la since he's not here anymore. But in UniMAS.


Anyway, the talk was ok la.. quite what you'd expect. But I loved the multimedia presentation abg Shidi and his team (I know kak Chah went to take all those pictures and videos with abg Mie kot).


Dr Midi's multimedia presentation prepared by them (Dr Midi wasn't allowed to watch it beforehand, klau tak silap sy!) was very.. I can't really say sad.. but, touching perhaps. He started with very humble beginnings and there were pictures of his childhood.. hehe, chumel la Dr, muke budak² baik heheh.. they showed his house were he grew up in. He was the youngest from 9(?) and his mother couldn't read but she made him believe in the importance of education. He lost his her when he was in form 1.

Patut la kak Jah cakap: Sebak bile tengok Dr Hamid punye history..

Actually, most of us only knew about this sebab kan the professor talk. I dunno about other U's but prof talk ni to me is like a very big deal. Sebab tu la the staff and students in my school bersungguh² tried to make it a success. Every little detail tu dilihat dan diperhati (tak same ke makne 2 perkataan tu?), thats why Dr Midi nye history ni sy baru tau..


Sedih jugak bile tengok but look at him now.. believe it or not, when he wanted to enroll in a university, makne engineering pun dia tatau! But look at him now.. kagum giler sy! He's about to be my newest role model after Dr Farhan hehe..


And suprises of suprises, I actually enjoyed his talk. I always thought of him as bapak². The gentle but strict type.. one you could trust tp nak melawak² ke, sy tak penah berani sgt. Even nak gelak² in front of him pun but his talk was full of jokes (actually, dia ngaja pun ade gak jokes dia la Ayu.. dah lupe ke?) and I found myself laughing along with the others.


Lupe plak: His son made this multimedia presentation (sorry, I dunno what other word to use here.. bukan org IT kaaan hehe..) and Dr Midi inserted it in his presentation.. alahaiii, sweet nye ayah n anak!


Then when his wife was called to present a bouquet by the school, baru first time all of most of us saw his wife. Lemah lembut and cantik la wife dia :)

Dr Farhan came next. Ni memang betul cakap kak Jah.. sgt beze la Dr Farhan and Dr Midi. Bak kate kak Jah, bende paling susah Dr Farhan pernah kene buat is gi sekola naik beskal.. Dr Midid dulu, umah pun takde elektrik..


Tp Dr Farhan's multimedia presentation by the multimedia team was the best of both hehe.. they did this close up of him in a recent pose.. then moved backward saaaaaaaaaaaampai la ke gambar dia time baby (Kinda like the Benjamin Button case ke ek heheh..) Mase kecik sgt chumel hehe.. time sekola, he had these gigantic glasses style dolu² punye kan.


There was one picture of him mase marching for hari sukan skolah.. it was then revealed that the girl behind him was his dear wife, Dr Azlina (also already a professor.. sy baru tau je tadi.. besnye rezeki diorg kan). And since its known around the campus on how much of a loving couple they are, byk jugak la pictures of them together.. siap one picture tu the team editted so it will be framed in a heart. Mase Dr Azlina was called to give Dr Farhan a bouquet of flowers, sgt sweet tgk Dr Farhan kiss his wife forehead in front of everyone during this supposedly formal event.. besnye! :)


His parents and parents-in-law were present as well as Fawwaz yg macam dah sihat je sy tengok. There were pictures of Fawwaz in the hospital jugak and rasenye semua org sebak tengok dia mase tu. Alhamdulillah la dia dah sihat kan :)


Anyway, nape sy tak tulis pasal the contents of their talk ye?


Hehe, the contents ok la but we've heard them.. it was the history of these two pillars of the school yang sy baru first time dengar and yang menarik perhatian sy :) and even if I've always looked up to them, I know see them in a different light too..

P/S

Sowi, the pictures as usual from my phone je la kan.. and same position sbb postgrads were asked to sit in front. Tak dpt nak bgn dari kerusi to take different angles ke ape ke :p (Alasan tul la Ayu niiii..)

P/S 2
Mencelah sikit. I baru tau, my students tulis kat buku diorg on the Teacher's Name slot: Ayumi..
Huik, mase bile name sy tukar jadik camtu?

Of friends and laughter :)

Semalam sy telah spend the day with Misa and Bart :) Sangat suke :) :) :)

The outing dah planned lame dah sebenarnye but we were supposed to go out next week. Then suddenly bertukar plan bile Misa balik awal.. so we decided that, rather than termasuk dlm the rush of Thaipusam next week, baik kuar relax² this week.. ye tak?

So pagi semalam, pukul 10.15am sy kuar umah. Actually janji ngan diorg SAMPAI umah Bart around 10.30am tp jam sy tidak berbunyi, almaklum la, perempuan mamnu' smlm. Lagiiiiiiii la tak berharap bgn awal hehe..

Otw to Bart's, I have to admit, sy sgt suke lagu Shayne Ward If Thats Okay With You a.k.a 'lagu cikebum Ayu' kate abg Fadzil hehe.. So mase tengah driving, sy pasang lagu ni dan nyanyi same². Lagu ni tak leh buat muke lain selain sengih, tatau nape.. so there I was, driving, singing, sengihing.. until I noticed the car on the fast lane beside me was slowing down with the passenger in that car pointing towards me with the largest grin. Aiseyyyy.. malu seh!

Trus tak nyanyi dah!

Then from Bart's, we went to Penang. Bart sgt terre cari parking. Klau sy, parking je kat Komtar and sanggup jalan kaki ke Chowrasta. Tapi Bart jumpe parking tepi je bangunan tu dan sy kagum hehe..

Pastu sementare tunggu Misa, kitorg round² di bazaar sambil sy berangan mencari kain ape sebagai dende Adi melangkah bendul sy ni nanti (Ohhh, Ayu sgt jahat ke? Hehe.. Ana, nak mntk Adi bg kain sutera Terengganu leh ke? Cantikkk kan hehe.. tp Adi kate dende tu dia nak bg donut je.. huh!)

Dah penat round, Misa tak sampai lagi.. so buat pertame kalinye sy melangkah kaki masuk ke Mydin di seberang jalan Chowrasta itu. Tak penah masuk so perak/jakun la kejap kannn..

Misa sampai je, trus kitorg naik ke sasaran utame: BUKU!

Tatau la baper lame spend mase kat situ, tp sempat la amik a few books. Misa plak, a bit more than a few books hehe.. My books:

Then Bart ajak makan someplace kakak dia promote. Makan dia: Popiah

..and cucur udang.. opss, cucoq udang! Sedaaaaaappp..

..air plak, belimbing for me and apple for Bart n Misa.

Dah kenyang perut, gi Prangin plak. Sian Prangin, started out as parking lot utk Komtar, then jadi Prangin Mall yang ramai org gi tp skrg jadi Prangin Mall yg tak ramai org gi dah..

Oppss, sblm tu, gi Maxim's! Kiotrang nye feveret bakery dulu.. tp pastries yg amat disukai dulu dah takde.. so we ended up beli the ice cream je..

Then kat Prangin, gi Popular (Iyer, buku lagikkkk.. :p) Bought exercise books for my students as well as buku Stepsister Cinderella hehe.. mcm menarik je mase sy tgk dulu tp blum bace lagi.. Pas puas duk kat Popular, sambil gelak² tengok budak AlMashoor (L) yg kuar outing (seriously teringat time sekolah² dulu hehe.. and sy siap check lambang sekolah diorg kat baju diorg lagi nak make sure diorg budak AL. Konpem, lambang same je ngan kitorg nye sekolah dulu hehe.. and jugak timbul satu persoalan: Sy dulu tak normal kah? Tak penah minat pun nak tgk budak² ni klau time outing wpun kawan² lain sok ngushar la jugak?!? SKRG: ngan student sendiri pun kate ensem hehe..)

.. kat mane ye sy tadi?

Ooo, pastu Misa mau cari handbag baru tp tiade pilihan yg banyak dia Prangin so Bart bg another brilien idea.. gi Jusco Perda (saje je nak lalu lalang naik bridge byk kali ek?). Kat Jusco Perda, Misa berjaya memilih bag.. tp upenye pilih je, dia takmo beli lagik hehe.. Then pegi Popular (lagik?!?!) and ternampak buku IT yang telah lame dia cari.. aiyakkkk! Baru je ckp kat diorg tak mo beli buku dahhh..

Trus melarikan diri dari Popular dan ke ladies department. Misa beli blouse, Bart beli t-shirt.. Ayu pun jangkit beli blouse hehe.. tengok² ade duit lebey dan Bart pun meracun suh beli It sbb dia tau sy dah lame nak cari..

.

Dilemma²! (Ckp pasal dilemma, jugak telah beli cekak untuk rambutku yg dah kontot!)

Tp nafsu mengatasi segalenye: :D Tadaaaa..

Then gi Memory Lane beli adiah for my student. Silap la dulu bg birthday present kat one student. Skrg, bebudak len pun asyik remindkan sy tentang besday diorg.. adeh! Sy tatau nak beli ape, ingt nak beli mug yg tulis Good Luck ke ape ke.. tp takde. Kenape ye, sy rase mase sy sekolah dulu, banyaaaaak je mug camtu? Ni, mug untuk 'Dearest Husband' ade la.. Ohh, takmo la sy, nanti student sy ingt sy nak ngorat dia hehe.. so sy beli tmpt letak pensel (I think!) Jadik la kaaannn..

Sementare tunggu ayah Misa datang, sy dan Bart pun meracun misa untuk cube Macau Egg Tart Cottage Bakery.. sedapp oooo.. dan the company I was with pun sedap jugak :) :) :)

Malam tu plak, gi umah Uncle Misa. Uncle dia own Damiral's Grill kat Bandar Perda.. tmpt feveret sy tu. Tak sangke diorg related. Damiral tu name anak dia (teringt kat Hazirah, adik my student Haziman, yang jugak ade kedai dinamekan after name her). Adik si Damiral ni plak tak bg kitorg balik. Siap pegang tangan sy tanak lepas, tarik² masuk dlm umah balik (budak tu sedikit besar ok.. Dr dia suh dia turun 8kg pun.. tp comey nak picit²!). Bile sy berjaye lepaskan diri pun, dia nanti lari balik tarik tangan sy semula.. aiiii, nape la takde org len nak kat sy sampai camtu sekali kan *sambil buat muke sedih* hehehe..

Then gi ke Damiral's untuk makan sedap hehe.. Ni makanan Misa, Ating (adik Misa) and ayah Misa..

Ni sy nye.. namenye Sexy Girl at the Bar.. Auwwwww!! Haha.. Bart tanye, "Tang mana yang sexy nye?" Hehe..

Ni plak Bart nye..

Kenyang kitorg.. rase mcm mase drive balik tu, sy tak sampai nak pegang stereng akibat perut yang sangat penuh hehe..

Nway, sangat suke.. nape la kawan² sy duk jauh sgt :( Klau tak, leh jjln selalu kaaaaann.

*Ayu ckp byk, umah Jida kat Kulim pun tak pi lagik.. oppsss!*

..and one of these days kene jumpe Misa. Terbwk balik suar Misa.. dan oohh, sy tak leh pakai sbb Misa itu size XXS :D So TERPAKSE la jumpe awak balik ye Misa :)

Okeih!! Mau jage lab.. daaaaaaa