Kenape sy tabley masuk kedai buku..

I always had a weakness with bookstores.. MPH ke, Borders ke and my favourite: Popular, since its the only bookstore found in abundance in Penang la kan. Pantang nampak, mesti nak masuk. Its come to the point where my friends won't ask me if we pass through a bookstore. Memasing menjuih mulut ke the said bookstore, knowing I mesti nak masuk, even for 5 minutes which usually ends in being at least 15 minutes.

But recently I've noticed something. If before, I pantang nampak bookstore, now I pantang masuk! Why? Coz everytime I enter a bookstore, tak sah klau tak kuar with a book.. AT LEAST A book!

Like a few weeks ago, I went to the Popular in Prangin to buy my Rose Madder yang dah lame giler nak beli.. but came out with two books! Then that exact afternoon, singgah Jusco Perda to buy some groceries and decided to head to the Popular on the first floor to see if there were any new Conan comics.. and I came out with two Conan comics AND two more books!

Total books I bought that day..

Adessss!

Ok la.. since I still had books from booksgalore.com yang I tak bace lagik, I thought.. "Thats it for this month! I'm NOT buying any books dah!"

Yeahhhhhh rigggghhhttt!

Last Thursday went to service PFK and since I had to pay not as much as I had initially thought, I had a few ringgit to spare. I thought I'd go grab a quick lunch at QBay before heading back to campus.. and no prize for guessing where I ended AND what I bought!

Thats it!! No more bookstores for me!!!

P/S

Giler byk buku kat umah yg tak bace lagikkkk huhu..

Konvo mereke :)

Rabu lepas, umur sy telah meningkat ke angke 29 16 tahun hehe.. dan pade hari yg same, beberape org yang penting dlm hidup sy pun mengalami sesuatu yg happy juge :)

Konvo USM ke berape tah?. Ini tahun kedua USM mengadekan konvo semase bulan March dan sy suke konvo bulan March sbb tak ramai orang :) Tp sy jugak nyesal, nape la sy tak daftar PhD awal, pastu bleh habis awal n konvo hari itu juge? Haisshh, rase rugi..

Apepun, ini big day mereke! So mari tepuk tangan untuk mereke..

1st sekali ialah salah seorang 'adik' sy di sini, Salimin. Mase birthday sy last year, dia la teman kan sy ke Kulim utk borong nasik ayam Periuk Besar untuk di jamu pade kawan². Tahun ni plak, sy yg raikan dia konvo untuk MSc dia hehe..

..iyer, sy sedar! Sy pendek.. tp ni bukan salah sy sbb dia memang tinggi pun :p

Yang kedua pulak sorang 'kakak' sy di sini.. kak Chah! Dia senior sy di Awam ini dan akhirnye dia grad setelah mengalami ujian yg banyak sepanjang MSc dia.. tp tak heran la jugak, dia buat part time je pun.. dan kami semua gembire utk dia!

P/S Kak Chah ni sgt tinggi tau, tp sy nmpk cam dekat same tinggi ngan dia kan? Heheh, sbb sy ngelat berdiri atas tanah yg tinggi sikit :D Adyani plak nmpk pendek heheheheh (Ohhh Adyani, kak Ayu mu sungguh jahat hehe..)

Yang ketige pun 'kakak' sy merangkap 'sepupu' ipar sy.. kak Maria. Kak Maria ni wife Yokies dan jugak kawan sebatch sy di USM dan di school Awam.

Yang kat sebelah tu ayah dia.. gambo kitorg yg kunun posing tak jadik sbb tak tgk camera so buh gambo ni je la ek :p

Aik.. ni sape plak? Takde pakai jubah Msc mahupun PhD!

Hehe, ini la 'adik' sy sorang lagi kat sini, Aje! Bakal grad tahun depan, InsyaAllah ek Aje :) Sy pegi konvo bawak adiah konvo utk org, pastu dpt adiah besday dari dia plak hehe.. thanx Aje! Akak doakan Aje leh konvo, tak bulan August ni, bulan March tahun depan tau :)

Bes kan diorg konvo.. bile la sy plak kan?

(Ishh, dah le baru je start PhD dan termasuk ngan perangai malas.. ade hati nak berangan bile nak konvo tu! Ish.. ish..)

Eppi besday Mak Cik..

Yesterday was the birthday of a great woman I had the honour to get to know..

I got to know her a few years ago, around March 2003, I think. At that time, was a bit reluctant to meet anyone. My family was going through the rough patch that suprised all of us and I was upset everyday. I felt as if I was blamed by both sides, just because I refused to tell them whose side I was on.. when I really didn't wanna choose sides :( Both of them were mad at me and I was just so confused on what was happening.

Thats why I wasn't in a make-new-friends kinda mood. But because of him, I went and met her..

At first, I was in my usual 'Oh-no-look-what-I've-got-on' mode I'm always in when I meet new people. But as we had dinner and talked (or rather they talked while sy control nak makan depan org haha..), I started to relax a bit.

But what made my hardened heart then melt a bit was when, as we were heading back to the campus, she hugged me.. I felt tears prick at my eyes, even as I tried to blink them away. Suddenly, nothing else mattered except a loving gesture was bestowed upon me.

I remember blushing when he told me how she felt about me, while trying to change the topic as I suddenly felt a bit shy about it.. and as time went by, I began to get to know her bit by bit and to recognize the heart that was filled with so much love even when it had lost a bright star forever.. her only daughter.

Somehow, the knowledge that her birthday was just two days before me also made me happy during that rough time in my life..

Then, suddenly another thing happened, and I was lost.. I didn't have anywhere to turn to, even to the two important people in my life, as they themselves were still blaming me for something that happened between them saying I didn't make the effort to make the other one understand their situation. I started hating mornings where I knew I'd be facing a day filled with my head going all sorts of places.. and I also hated nights where I knew I faced nightmares.

I couldn't turn to her, as I was so sure she'd be on her son's side and I couldn't tell my friends as I've always been secretive anyway so I started drifting farther and farther away..

Until one day.. kak Ana took me aside, looked me in the face and told me she had called kak Ana asking about me. She was concerned about me, and pak cik was also worried. They asked kak Ana to look after me, try cheer me up and make me happy..

I was suprised! I thought they'd hate me too.. blame me too for the other thing that had happened. Though I hold no illusions that they were on my side and blamed their son, I was touched by what they did and though that didn't instantly jolt me into reality, I slowly woke up from the dreamlike state I had been in for God knows how long.

Then one day, she called me. She never asked me what happened, but she asked me how I was. I almost cried but managed to compose myself as I was out to dinner with my housemates. Then pak cik asked to talk to me too.. and never once did they say they blamed me. They were just concerned about me, hearing from kak Ana on how much a bad shape I was in after it happened.

After that, I got closer so her. Sometimes I'd be the one to call her and sometimes she would call me. At first she kept trying to talk about what her son was currently doing, but I guess she realized how much it hurt me as I kept changing the subject, so she stopped doing that, Instead we talked about other things, and I enjoyed those conversations.

Then one day, more than three years after it had happened, the news I dreaded arrived. I was just returning a very 'belated' call to her when she told me they were getting ready for the 'kenduri' and there and then my heart dropped. I didn't have to ask whose but I still pretended to not know. Apparantly he couldn't tell me himself and asked her to tell me about it.. and the heart I thought could never be more shattered than it already was, broke into a million pieces again. The whole postgrad room knew I crying so hard even when I was so sure I had made the littlest noise possible but I couldn't head back home yet as I was in such a mess. I just remember pretending that my battery was low and promised to call her later..

For a long time after that, I didn't call.. and she too was silent. But one day, she called. By then, I was a bit okay but we NEVER spoke his name again.. once again, she and pak cik were worried about me and once again I assured them I was okay..

Now and then, we still talk to each other, with pak cik in the background :) Now and then, they ask me if I've met anyone to which I would always laugh. I realize, though the initial connection I had with them is now severed, I'll always have them in my life. I thank Allah for giving me the oppurtunity to meet them, to love them and to be close to them..

They are my 'family' and just like my other relatives which I can't choose (hahah..), they will always be in my doa..

Happy birthday, mak cik! :)

Discovery!

Remember a previous post I said, GREENS DON'T MAKE YOU FULL..?

Hmm, I think I'm gonna hafta swallow my words..

*sigh*

Yesterday, since I was too lazy to make something on the stove, I decided to do that salad thingey I did last week.. you know, the one with the baked cheese? The differance this time was that I used the whole head of those corally leafy thingeys.. as a result, I got this huge bowl of salad that I was sure could last me until dinner.. added with something else heavy that is!

So I sat in front of the tv, taking a quarter of the portion I had prepared (ni berlakon je ni, I knew a quarter portion won't be enough pun, tu sbb I bought the whole salad bowl sekali depan tv pun hehe..) and munching on the greens. Mind you, this was around 11am. And true to what I had said, greens don't make you feel full.. as the next thing I knew, I HAD FINISHED THE WHOLE BOWL.. and this coming from a girl who hates greens!

Then know what.. I didn't need to eat anything ELSE right until this morning!! I, of all people was suprised coz like I said earlier, these things don't make you full.. and my day was actually full of activity right after Zohor where I had two classes, Maths F5 in Jawi 2.15 to 4.15 and Maths F5 in Bagan Serai 5.15-6.45 AND Maths F2 8.15-10.15pm.. and I wasn't hungry, even a bit!

Wow! I was wrong!

Hehe..

Ayu on a marathon! :p *updated*

Seperti diketahu umum, ini dengon konpemnye bukan marathon yg menghasilkan peluh serta badan yang sihat :) AYU nak masuk marathon camtu? When pigs can fly..

Tp ini adelah marathon yg sy sgt suke buat.. movie marathon! :D

Hari Rabu yang murah, sy pergi ke Jusco, semate² utk tengok movie. Iyer la, semenjak bz ngan kelas² yang ade je tiap hari, mmg takde mase nak gi tgk. Dan w/pun sy tahu, skrg tak byk citer yg bes, tp nak tengok jugak hehe..

Mate melilau-lilau di skrin untuk cari movie yang nak ditengok.. akhirnye sy pilih untuk tengok Watchman dan Dragon Ball.. iyer, sekali lagi, sy tau, sy lembap! Org len dah tengok berzaman, sy baru nak tengok, tp sile rujuk perenggan di atas ye..

Kenape sy pilih tgk Watchman? Ntah.. it was a choice between.. maksud sy, tiade pilihan lain sgt. Citer Seven Pounds pun tadek aritu so terpakse la pilih movie ini. Lgpun, byk jugak review dari rakan² yang menyatekan citer ini bes.. so sy pun, ok je la.. RM5 je pun kaaaaann hehe..

Verdict sy: Ughhh, lame giler! I'm not a fan of.. oppsss, sy bukanlah peminat cerite² yang lebih dari 2 jam. Paling lame sy leh tahan pun mungkin 2 jam lebey skit.. sbbnye? Huhu, sy ade 'weak bladder'. Serius tak tahan sejuk.. Dan semase babak Laurie dan Dan baru membantu mengeluarkan Rorschach (serius tak ingt camne nak eje name mamat ni!) dari penjara, sy (hampir) berlari ke tandas! Tak cool langsung, Ayu ni..

But cerita dia ok kot. Sy yang tak ikut comic(?) dia pun leh paham and ikut citer ni.. :)

Part paling bes: Mase tunjuk trailers sblm movie dia. Yeay.. nanti ade citer Wolverine (sy ade buku dia) dan Transformers II.. tak sabar nak tunggu! Ngange je kejap tgk trailer tu.. teringt mase duduk ngan kak Shima n kak Kathy, sy dan kak Shima akan selalu jadik planner tgk movie hehe.. skrg sy asyik ketinggalan je, dah lame tak buat keje tgk movie cam dulu.. and tak silap sy, Angels adn Demon pun kuar tahun ni kan? Buku Dan Brown feveret sy tu, da Vinci Code ranking num 2 tau! :p

Citer kedua: Dragonball! Pas tgk Watchman, sy gi solat jap kat surau Jusco tu, then gi beli bun utk seludup masuk sblm bekejar masuk cinema. Ingat ye, ari ni ari Rabu, ari keje.. sy ingt kosong. tp bile masuk.. mak aiii, ramai nye.. uwaaa, terlupe plak sy, SKRG KAN CUTI SEKOLAH! Adehhh...

Haissshh.. takpe la, nak wat camne kan? Next week nye Rabu 25hb (hint² haha..) ade konvo plak so mmg tak leh nak gi.. lgpun tiket dah beli.

Perlu diingatkan, sy masuk cinema utk tengok citer Dragonball TANPE ape² expectation. Sy, seperti 80s babies yang lain mengharungi sekolah menengah dengan menunggu setiap 3 minggu sekali untuk komik Dragonball berade di pasaran. Dari harge RM3.50 sampai la naik ke RM4.80, 'generasi' kami berebutkan menjadi orang perama membace keluaran terbaru komik tersebut. W/pun sy hanye mule membace selepas edisi ke 18, tp selepas itu di rumah sy pun sy leh berebut ngan Iwan n Adi pasal Dragonball dan kadang² sampai 3-4 copy untuk edisi yang same akan ade di rumah sy, terutamenye lepas Ikram pun mule beli komik tersebut.

Di sekolah pun, rase cam bes. Sy, Amoi dan Misa akan berulang² ke kedai uncle jual komik di bawah KOMTAR selepas balik sekolah sampai uncle tu pun kenal muke kami dan dia sendiri akan cakap, "Adik, Dragonball dah sampei dik.." Hehe.. Nafisah yang lemah lembut itupun juge gile Dragonball. Dia lah pembekal Dragonball kepade sy mase sy mule berjinak² ngan komik ini..

Anyway, enough pasal citer dulu.. mcm sy ckp tadi, sy tak mengharapkan citer ini akan bes sbb sy mmg sgt suke komik Akira Toriyama ini. Dulu Adi pun selalu buat sticker Goku untuk sy dan stiker Trunks (mase sy jatuh cinte ngan Trunks). Amoi plak akan lukis Goku dan Trunks utk sy sbb dia sgt pandai melukis. Oppsss.. ubah topik plakkk..

Tengok sahaje trailer kat tv, tak menarik langsung tp sy tgk jugak movie dia, mungkin sbb rindu dah lame tak bace Dragonball. Dah ianye tidak mengecewekan, mmg tak baper menarik pun haha..

Still..

Bende pertame yg buat sy senyum ialah bile cikgu Goku (ade Goku tu omputih.. tak seswaiiii!!) tanye dia, ape maksud gerhana matahari untuk org dolu².. dan dia jawab, "My grandfather always says, beware of the Namecks!" Finally, satu bende yg familiar heheh.. Planet Nameck!

Then bende kedua ialah bile sy baru pasan, budak yg Goku suke tu name dia Chichi! Tp Chichi ni tak bes, tak garang langsung.. cam lembik pun ade. Ade satu babak tu je, mase dia tgh berlatih pastu partner dia tumbuk muke dia, mase tu baru dia buat muke cam Chichi yg original :)

Tak besnye Gohan (the grandad, NOT the son!) mati sbb Pikor (Perlu ingt ye, name watak sy berdasarkan komik BM ComicHouse itu.. sy tak biase gune Picolo) dan tak silap sy, bukan Goku ke yg TERbunuh tok dia mase dia ubah jadik cam gorilla tu? Ke sy yg lupe ye?

Sebut pasal gorilla, mase Goku dpt tau Pikor akan serang bumi ngan raksasa dia name Oozaru tu, sy konpius la jugak nape Oozaru tu muke cam Goku bile tuko jadik gorilla cam dlm comic.. Hehe, last tu baru sy tau, mmg Goku ke :D Tp tak bes kan, Goku ni dah besau, tp takde ekor pun.. dia cam tatau je dia ade ekor mase kecik.. (Actually mase kredit, name Akira Toriyama kuar so sy rase dia dah setuju dgn perubahan ni..)

Pastu ade 'Master Roshi' yang sy rase sebenarnye mewakili Datuk Kame yang gatal itu. Nape sy ckp camtu, sbb Bulma jumpe Bikini Quaterly kat umah dia hehe.. mmg perangai Datuk Kame la kan.. tp dia ni tak pakai pun kulit penyu :(

Bulma mmg tak mengecewekan. Tgk dia 1st time pun leh agak tu Bulma, tp rambut dia itam and dia ade satu streak kaler purple.. bukan la sumer purple cam dlm komik. Dia bwk kapsul dari company ayah dia dan care diorg tunjuk kapsul tu tuko jadik moto beso mmg mcm dibayangkan bile bace komik hehe.. bes²! Moto tu pun mmg style Bulma akan bwk dlm komik so bleh la nak relate.. cume satu je, Bulma dlm komik tu is a genius bimbo.. Bulma dlm movie ade PhD wa cakap luuu.. hehe..

Pasal Kame Hame Haa plak, mase Roshi ajo Goku pasal Kame Hame Haa tu, rase cam pelik je care dia buat (cam menari pun ade). Couldn't place a finger on WHY I felt it was pelik.. sampai la mase Goku nak berlatih and Chichi dtg tgk and ckp kat Goku, "You must make it your own.." (Cehh, tah pape..) then baru Goku buat Kame Hame Haa cam dlm comic.. ngan bottom parts of the palm duk dekat² and buat gaye tarik ke belakang sblm buat gaye tolak ke depan.. problem is, tak silap, kan ke mmg Kame Hame Haa camtu ke? Org len pun buat camtu kan? Huh, kunun Chichi la inspired it..

Ade Yamu (I think la, name dia Yamcha.. org same kan?) tp Yamu ni tak ensem cam dlm comic.. nmpk cam hape tah huhu.. dah la mcm tak pandai lawan padehal Yamu kan kinda like a warrior jugak..Huh, ape ni Ayu, tau komen jek.. Oppsss..

Then mase panggil the naga from the Dragonballs, naga dia cam je yg dlm comic hehe.. suke! Goku, Bulma ngan Yamu mntk so Roshi hidup balik (a usual request kan dlm Dragonball ni..) tp tetibe sy rase nak gelak bile ingt yg dlm buku tu, klau tak silap sy, diorg nye 1st request tu si khinzir-tak-ingt-name tu mntk a pair of panties kan? Hehe..

Klau tanye kat sy, ape kesimpulan sy, sy akan suruh korg tengok. Tp untuk peminat² Dragonball yg dulu², jgn expect ape² la.. sbbnye, sy tak expect ape² tp sy enjoy sgt.. w/pun termalu sbb ramai org dlm cinema time tu kan, dah la sy gi tgk sensorg :p Tp seriusly, gi lah tgk.. just jgn harap ape sgt, and you'd be suprised how much you'll smile bile ade little things that remind you of the original series.

Ehehe.. nmpk sgt la antare 2 citer tu, sy enjoy citer yg mane kan? :p

P/S

Still, I miss Kurin, Ten Shin-Han, yg kwn Ten Shin-Han yg cam patung muke putih tu tak-ingt-name, Popo, apetah name tuhan Kucing tu.. all whom I think should be here since ni kan kunun early adventures of Goku.. Majin Buu yg chumel jugak hehe.. and Pikor Jr yg baik tp suke ego tak mo ngaku dia baik hehe..

This One's for The Girls

One thing I like about the American Idol is that sometimes the contestants sing long lost favourite songs you've almost forgotten.. and some times too, you hear songs you've never heard before but which you'd like.

A few weeks ago I heard this song by Martina McBride.. and I loved it! I never heard it before this so I counted myself lucky when I was able to download the song :) I'll paste the lyrics later at the end of this entry..

Anyway, THATS not the reason for the late entry on this. After hearing it, I remembered all my girlfriends I've know, for some reason, from my teens onwards (maybe because the song started with 'This is for all you girls about thirteen' perhaps?). So I spent some time digging up some photos from my past and scanning them using the slow postgrad room scanner :)

So here, I share with you a few of my friends throughout my teenage years up to now :) Bear with me.. this could take a while.

These are my classmates from form 1 to form 3, though not all are in the picture. We took this when we were waiting for our turn in a Minggu Bahasa activity. Some of my students might know Ani and Fik in this picture hehe..

This one pulak my class in form 5. If you look closely, you can see the class monitor sticking her tongue out.. sungguh tidak sopan kan? Sape la budak ni kan heheh.. I wrote about them once in a Kame Hame Haa entry you can click --> here

Here from left to right are Yah, Ila, Sue and me during an iftar ceremony in KMK. They were my classmates then and I'm still in contact with Yah and Sue till now :)

This is also a picture from KMK, during our graduation ceremony for maticulation. Still me with my classmates. Clockwise from top left: Ima, Yan, arwah Farie, Midah, me, Fidzah and Ila

Now this is picture I enjoyed. It was during my first year but all of these girls are actually my dormates in KMK. They came to my house for a BBQ during convo that year and we slept in the living area, more than 10 of us. Giggling and laughing like the teenage girls we were then. I love it then, I really enjoyed that night :) In the front there with the 'victory' finger is my dorm captain whom until now, I still call DC

Yg ni pulak a picture of me and my friends during my Uni years. This was back in Tronoh and we used to go canoeing each afternoon. From left: Me, Fidah, Yun, Gunn, Hawa and Dayah

And what would talking about 'canoeing every afternoon' be without some 'proof' heheh.. We loved doing this together.. but I'm not sure if I remember how to kayak now.. Hmm..

Ni plak after our final exams. We went to Pizza Hut for a last outing together. Yun took this picture.. We were quite close, housemates during 2nd year and rooms so close to each other during our 1st year.. we were also dormates in KMK!

Now, this bunch of girls are some of my coursemates through out my 3 years here. This was during the Aidilfitri celebration in our final year..

Ini pula Cik wa and Awa.. Was quite close to Cik Wa from 2nd year onwards and got to be close to Awa after we finished our degree :)

P/S to Jida: Ingat tak gambo ni? Heheh.. skrg belakang tu dah HIJAU! :p To others, this is Jida, someone who's saved me from a lot of trouble, someone whom I can 'kacau' when she wakes up late, then make her get up even later by talking non-stop with hehe..

And here is my dearest 'sister' kak Wahid, on her wedding day when I was her bidan terjun pengapit. I got to know her in my 1st sem in USM as we were in the same geomatics group. I didn't know then that I'd have sooooo many 'adventures' with her.. the best!

Once we finished our degree, most of my coursemates got job so not much wanted to stay and pursue higher education. But I got to know these girls from TI who came to our campus since their school was 'relocated' in our campus. From left: Me, Aina and Zaiza

..and these are the HiTEG girls plus a non-girl sesat. From left: (Female only) Kak Bibah, Kak Ana, Kak Sue, Kak Shedar and Kak Fizah

Now, these are my buddies.. my girlfriends who make me smile and laugh every single day :) Up there are Ad, Irnis, Farah and kak Win

..and here's Puga! Another sunshine in my life :)

But I also have friends I'm still close with, since 13 right up till now.. its as if we never parted at all! Here's Baizurah a.k.a Sentot

..and Ami :)

..and Bart, my Jusco and sunway Carnival buddy hehehe.. marah Bart!

So there.. those are not ALL my friends. some are my close friends, but in the group photos mostly are casual friends. Still, they changed my life. They were there during the ups and downs of teenage years through the uni years.. and no matter what, I'm glad I have them in my life.. so thanx guys!

"This One's For The Girls"

This is for all you girls about thirteen

High school can be so rough, can be so mean

Hold onto, on to your innocence

Stand your ground when everybodies giving in

This one's for the girls

This is for all you girls about twenty-five

In a little apartment, just trying to get by

Living on, on dreams and spaghetti-o's

Wondering where your life is gonna go

c/o

This one's for the girls

Who've ever had a broken heart

Who've wished upon a shooting star

You're beautiful the way you are

This one's for the girls

Who love without holding back

Who dream with everything they have

All around the world

This one's for the girls

This is for all you girls about forty-two

Tossing pennies into the Fountain of Youth

Every laugh, laugh line on your face

Made you who you are today

c/o

This one's for the girls

Who've ever had a broken heart

Who've wished upon a shooting star

You're beautiful the way you are

This one's for the girls

Who love without holding back

Who dream with everything they have

All around the world

This one's for the girls

Yeah, we're all the same inside (same inside)

From 1 to 99

This one's for the girls

Who've ever had a broken heart

Who've wished upon a shooting star

You're beautiful the way you are

This one's for the girls

Who love without holding back

Who dream with everything they have

All around the world

This one's for the girls

Yeah, this one's for the girls

Feeling domestic?

Ive been feeling a bit domestic lately haha.. granted this isn't a feeling I feel everyday.. or even every week for that matter. Sekali sekale sahaje haha..

Anyway, I finally decided to try my hand at the cheesecake recipe Mas gave us a few months ago. Ye, I know, I know, that simple recipe patutnye dari dulu dah bleh buat tp sy kan P.E.M.A.L.A.S, using the excuse that I don't have a springform pan (lame excuse, I know..). I even got to know that even school children are making this in their Kemahiran Hidup class but (as lame excuse number 2), their KH class is better equipped than my kitchen :p

So a few weeks ago, I went to Billion to finally buy this..

So tadek alasan dah kan, right? Hehe..

Still, I wanted something, an occasion, to do this and voila.. I got it in the form of last week being a birthday week for me. Not mine la obviously, but a few friends and a student of mine. Not that I made this and send to them la kan hehe.. but it was an excuse I could use hehe..

Turned out, mmg betul semua org cakap, it doesn't actually take much time to make it (nmpk sgt la sy ni byk sgt alasan kaaaaann :p) I even experimented with the topping, doing the marble-like topping Mas had suggested..

..but finally opting for the normal fruit preserve topping (since I think my 'marble-ing' skills are so not right yet!)

And tadaaaa..

Hehe.. bought it to class since I can't possibly finish it myself kan. Sorta like a birthday cake thingey for my student la kot haha..

*******

I've also found a way to help me curb my 'obsession' for tinned Nescafe (since the boikot thingey, I've been a bit self-conscious drinking it.. though I haven't actually completely stopped buying them yet..)

I found it a few days ago and since I've always been a tea-drinker, I like this choice better :)

See? Hehe.. There's another flavour, tea with passion fruit which is my favourite but I couldn't find one yesterday and only got to buy these two. Btw, ini adelah iklan tak berbayar ye :p I like it, though its a bit sweet kot..

Hmm.. tinned tea as opposed to tinned Nescafe? Not much differance you say? Hehe, maybe to you, but I've been trying for so long to find something else I could 'obsess' upon instead of Nescafe and since this is the next best thing, I'll take it :)

Next step: Plain water, Ayu.. plain water! Hehe..

*******

Still on the same page as feeling domestic, today I made my own lunch! :D

Far from tooting my own horn, I'm actually trying to salvage the last remnants of my ego as a 28 16-year-old woman girl who's independant enough to at least cook her own meals.. so bear with me please! Besides, as you will see, these are the food for singletons, LAZY singletons like me and not appropriate kot for big family meals :p

I found some coral leaf salad leaves in my fridge, and knowing that they don't actually last long enough as I'd like them to, I decided to make full use of at least one head of it (I had 2 of those leafy heads) Remembering a Rachel Ray episode in which she made some salad, tossed with bits of sliced steak (I just used plain beef burger patties.. The Ramly kind, NOT the homemade patties ye, I takde la terre ye :p) and baked cheese (she used goats cheese, I used the leftover cream cheese in my fridge).

Had fun doing it as it became a kinda adventure.. coz I forgot what was actually supposed to be done haha.. but in my own twisted sense of accomplishment, I think it was okay (since I'm not fussy in the food department, EVERYTHING would be okay kaaannn!)

Then, since I had always thought that greens don't fill you up (I could never understand those people who eat salad as a full meal..), I thought of doing something else too, with my salad as the side. Found some spiral pasta and thought of frying them so voila! My lunch hehe..

..and what lunch eaten alone would be complete without a good book, right! ;)

Still, sy agak la jugak nyesal goreng the pasta since the salad DID turn out to be VERY filling. Maybe sebab ade the chopped burger patties as well as the baked cheese. But I still stand my ground that greens ALONE don't fill you up :p

Okay NOW its Teacher's Day

Just published the previous post when an unfamiliar phone number was displayed on my cell phone.

Nowaday, I almost NEVER pick up the phone for unfamiliar numbers. I know, sgt teruk kan me? But most of the time its either those annoying people you don't really wanna talk to or telemarketers who insist on talking to you no matter how 'busy' you try to sound like.

Somehow, this phone call didn't feel like one of those calls, but I still cautiously picked up the phone..

..and mak oiiii! Heheh, how I smiled :)

An ex-student, Vickneswaran a.k.a Vicky, called me just to tell me he got A1 for his maths. I dunno where he got my phone number though coz even if I was very close to that class (this was the class, out of pure boredom on Teacher's Day, bought me a cake and 'forced' me to do a small party for them haha.. btw, see the stick of gum near my left hand? That was Vicky's Teacher's Day gift for me! :p), I didn't actually dish out my phone number to them. But I'm glad he found my number.. nothing beats the feeling of hearing him happy!

The SPM results were out earlier today so most of them have gotten their results already, I presume. He told me that Syawal also got an A1 for his maths and Khairi, dear sweet and shy Khairi, got 7A1s with maths being among them. I'm so proud of them :) :) :) wish I could know how the other's fared too..

From left to right: Khairi, Sukmit Singh, Fakhrul, (Oh s***! Tak ingt name budak ni) and Vicky on the hari-malas-nak-belajar-dgn-alasan-it-was-Teachers-Day hehe..

Happy Teacher's Day?!!?

Why 'Teacher's Day'? Its still 2 months away, right? Btw, bowling tournament for postgrads and staff has been confirmed to be on Teacher's Day itself hehe.. so cepat² bg name and team. Nak buat family team pun bley asal one of you is either postgrad or staff PPKA :)

Oppss.. lari topik!

Hehe.. looky what I got from a very old student. It was described as "An early Teacher's Day gift for 2009 OR a VERY belated gift for Teacher's Day 2008, cikgu pilih la cikgu nak yang mane.."

Cheeky!!

But I likey..! :)

Thanx!! :)

Flavours of the World

I had a bad morning. For once, I came early (Hahah.. its been ages since I've come early to school). I had planned to email the report to Leong, after a few modifications la, then head off to Bagan Serai to cash in my cheque and go 'out'.. but my computer had other plans for me. Thus, I was stuck with it for most of the morning, but with help from Ramadhan, Hasrul and Sham la of course.. harap kat sy, sampai ke sudah tak leh nak on pc nih..

Anyway, since my time for the 'outing' was cut short, I decided to cancel it and was moping around until I noticed this book of coupons on Ramadhan's desk. When I looked through them, I realized there was a World Food Festival held at the Pusat Bahasa.. and we didn't know about it!

Seriously, they should do some promotion for these kinda things, especially when we have so many foreigners here.

I went with Ramadhan and though the 'festival' was quite small, there was a big crowd there. There were booths for Malay food (which though should have the most diversity, the booth was deserted.. as expected la kan dah hari² jumpe Malaysian food hehe..), Japanese food (which sgt mengecewekan since I SAW the Jusco packaging of the sushi), Russian food (I only saw some potato salad which doesn't seem like Russian food since I pun tau buat as well as some jelly) that shared a booth with two more countries yang one I have forgotten but the other one had croissants (French perhaps?)

Since giler ramai punye orang, I didn't get to see everything on the table. Ramadhan yang renjong itu gelak tgk Ayu terkial² nak intai what every booth had (there was this cupcake stall jugak..) but at the end of the line of the booth was this Spanish (?) booth, manned by Dr Choong's wife whom we know IS Spanish :)

The food looked delicious..

And I tried this..

..just don't ask me the name of it, I've forgotten it already. But the taste was sooooo nice.. yummy!

They should do this more often, you know :)

Tags times three :)

I've got THREE tags here, courtesy of Ayeen and Mael hehe.. and taking a leaf outta Mael's book, I'm gonna cram all tags in one entry.. so here goes! :)

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First: Ayeen's tag :)

Do you think you're hot?

Erkkk?!?!
Hahahaha..
Hahahahahaha..
*masih gelak lagikk!*

Upload your favourite picture of you...

Why do like that picture?

This is an old photo. I just found it a couple of hours ago and thought I'd put it in this tag. It might not be my favourite photo in this PC (I have another one which isn't supposed to be my favourite coz it hurts everytime I look at it :( ), but its one of my most treasured memories. It was during a motivational camp we did for MRSM Transkerian and I was one of the invited facilitators for the program. We were doing the 'Burung Hantu' thingey and the guy beside me, Pian, was my partner-cum-mentee since it was his first time as a facilitator. I had initially thought he was one of the students due to his youthful looks haha.. we had fun that night, teasing the students and bonding with them. I really enjoyed the whole weekend spent with them :)

When is your last time you ate pizza?

Last Tuesday!! Heheh.. bought a large pizza and ate 2 slices while stowing the remaining 6 slices in the fridge for next time :)

The last song you listened to..

This is for the Girls by Martina McBride

What are you doing right now beside this?

Updating the progress report for the FRGS grant. Why am I such a slow poke?!? :(

What name do you prefer besides yours?

Hey.. there's nothing wrong with my name!

People I Tag

1. Sentot

2. Un

3. Kak Nurul

4. Kak Zarina

5. Watie

Who is number one?

One of my best buddies in the whole world. We've had our ups and downs of course.. but somehow we always pick up right were we left :) I was her maid of honour during her wedding and though I never told her, I still think she's the cutest bride I've ever seen. (DO NOT REPEAT THIS TO ME, Baizurah!)

Number three is having relationship with?

MARRIED maaa.. and I laugh whenever I think of her 'story'.. kan kak Nurul kaaaaaaannn.. sembelih kambing, right? Hehehe..

Say something about number five?

My classmate from form 1 to form 3 and dormate in form 2. I slept on the top bunk but always used her bed as 'tempat bersandar' hehe.. Have a lot of memories with her and one of these day, kite kene jumpe and reminisce about old days tau, Watie :)

How about number four?

Someone who looked after me when I was a timid girl in standard 4 even when she was a popular girl of standard 6. Also the person responsible for teaching me to trust fellow bookworms and how to take care of my books hehe.. seriously, you should see the way she takes care of her books. I personally 'witnessed' that about 19 years ago and that made me a better person towards books :)

Who is number two?

A very close friend during the Uni years. Her bed was where I cried and my bed was where she let go of her frustrations hehe.. we repeated Structural Theory 'secare berjemaah' during our final year and took Arabic class (with her scoring more than ME who had 5 years of Arabic in AlMashoor.. sheesh! Ade ke..!) Penah jugak round KCP on our bike on some afternoons.. kan Un? :)

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2nd & 3rd tag: Mael's

16 Questions

1.What have you been doing recently?

Nothing much, just the same as usual. Trying to have some good interest in my research (which I find quite hard to like :p) while teaching classes almost everyday (which I don't really have a hard time liking!)

2.Do you ever turn your cell phone off?

Yup.. when I wanna avoid people :D

3.What happened at 10am today?

Still sleeping hahahah.. :p

4.When did you last cry?

Hmm.. a few weeks ago, I think..

5.Believe in fate/destiny?

Of course :)

6.What do you want in your life now?

Hmm.. finish my PhD with pride haha.. not being worried about my finances that are tak tentu hala as long as I'm still studying, sheesh! Ntah.. just to be comfortable with my life la kot..

7.What's your favourite thing to do on the bed?

Curl up with a good book :)

8.Do you tend to make the relationship complicated?

What relationship? :p

9.Are you wearing anything borrowed from anyone?

No! I don't like borrowing clothes.

10.What was the last movie you caught?

Geng.. Pengembaraan Bermula hehe.. bes ooooo :)

11.What does the oldest text msg in your inbox say?

Okay, cunn :)

12.What was the last song you sang out loud?

Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse

13.What is the newest text msg in ur inbox?

Ni Ikram. Maaf, sy ingt cikgu ada smpn no phone saya

14.Who did you talk on the phone last night?

Amer.. almost cried with him, what with us 'mengenang nasib diri' hahah.. mampus kene gelak ngan Amer klau dia tau haha..

15. 4 people that I tag are

- Amer

- Sentot

- Watie

- Mas

Oittt Mael.. kate 16, why are there only 14 questions?! Hehe..

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Here's what we should do. It's simple:

List down 5 of the products from the list below that you are boycotting, and then list down 5 of the products that you will try your best to boycott, and finally list another 5 of the products that you find it hard to boycott, and tag 5 others.

This tag is to get everyone to read the list below carefully and identify which products affects your life and the lives of the Palestinians most! You can also compare your list with your friends and see: if they can boycott one product that you haven't been boycotting, why can't you start to boycott the product too?

For the whole list of products to boycott, please click here or here.

5 products I'm boycotting

1. McD (the 'hardest' sacrifice I've had to do)

2. Tesco (sib baik mmg takde pun kat Pt Buntar, the nearest in Png which I went dulu)

3. Procter and Gamble (There goes my Head n Shoulders)

4.

5.

(To be honest, I can't find other things I'm boycotting. Either because I find it hard to -see item 3 on this tag- or because I never used it in the first place..)

5 products I will start to boycott:

1. Johnsons

2. Nestea (Now Boh have instant tea in tin)

3. Maybelline (Yea yeaahh, so I bought ONE lipstick.. not that I wear makeup sgt pun :p)

4. Mars Inc

5.

(See same problem as above)

5 products that I find hard to boycott

1. McD (Greatest sacrifice I've even done :(.. but I'm still holding up!)

2. Clinique (I can't find any other skincare that suits me!)

3. Nescafe (Need I explain?)

4. Nokia (Coz I'm using the phone right now!)

5. Oil of Olay (The ONLY moisturizer that works for me.. I've tried others, really have but they result in outbreaks!)

I tag

1. Sentot

2. Watie

3. Jida (she's boycotting McD too..)

4. Dr Ina

5. Dr Dzul

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Aiyak! Just remembered I have another tag. The '25 Things' tag! Adehh.. len kali laaaa ek

Ayu observing :p

Have you ever observed how people hold their pens/pencils?

Guess most of you never even thought about doing something as uninterseting as that, right? I was like that too.. until I was in standard six!

Cikgu Zaharah was always shifting our sitting places around. In one of these 'shiftings', she wanted the girls and boys to sit alternately, so each boy would have to sit beside a girl and vice versa. You have to remember, this is an age where we still thought the opposite sex had a lot of germs so most of us didn't like these seating positions and were very afraid to be seated next to someone we don't like. I was lucky though, I got to be partnered with Azlan (I'm sure I wrote something about him earlier.. ahaaa, click here!) whom I have known since standard 1. We were both south paws so we didn't bother each other when writing (as opposed to whenever I sit next to someone right handed)

Well, I liked his company until this one day when I realized he was observing me while laughing his head off. When I asked him why.. he simply shook his head and continued with his work. But 5 minutes later, again he'd laugh at me and again I'd asked him but getting the same answer from him.

Finally he told me that he found the way I hold my pen highly amusing. Huh! At first I was insulted.. UNTIL I realized that, hey! I DO write in an unusual way haha.. I didn't know whether to scold him or to laugh at myself but after that, I really observed the way every else holds their pens/pencils and noticed that I've been writing the wrong way for years, but it was too late to change.. and as a result, the fingernails on my middle finger have grown in a funny shape hehe..

Anyway, last Friday I had a class with my form 1 students in Bagan Serai. And since we were in the boring topic of fractions, I left them with 5 pages of exercises while I went around the class checking on everyone. It was then that I noticed, I have a student with a funny way of writing too.. though different than mine la of course. So to while the time away, I took some pictures hehe..

Note: They DIDN'T KNOW I was taking pictures of them as I took it discreetly so pardon the picture quality. I couldn't actually sit in front of them and take the picture right in their face, could I?

The first one here is Ain, the daughter of Cikgu Rohaidzat. She holds her pen the normal 'good-student' way which most of my friends who are geniuses, write with. Tapi tak pe la kan, jari dia pun panjang², runcing².

Ini pulak Atifah. Smaller and shorter fingers but she still writes the normal way kan like most of you write jugak.. not that you guys are not geniuses laaa, that was just me saying it. Doesn't mean yang the first picture tu is the ONLY way geniuses write.

Remember my tiny student, Hamizzat? Well, the above pic is him. He holds his pen just like Atifah, right?

And THIS is Kasyful. I wish I could take a better picture. He was the one who made me laugh when I noticed the way he wrote. Four of his fingers, from the pinky right through the index finger were 'resting' on the paper, as opposed to only the pinky. It looked like his was dragging his fist around while writing and I couldn't help grining at him. Even when he kept saying, "Jangan la tengok tangan sy, cikguuuuuuuuuuu.."

In the end, he told me that people usually found it amusing and he now doesn't mind it much. So, to make him feel better, I showed him how I hold MY pen/pencil.. and he was equally 'amazed' haha.. though I have to admit, his way is better since he's fingernail growth wasn't effected.

And how DO I hold my pen?

Whats in my mail :)

Went to the office this morning and abg Joe told me there was a parcel for me. Have been expecting parcels from Wanie, Yong and An pun so I was suprised when I saw a familiar 'font 14' hand writing on the parcel.. kak Wahid!! :)

Lupe plak kak Wahid had bought something for me whilst she was on her honeymoon.. upah jadik the pengapit, bidan-terjun style hehe..

So abg Joe handed me this..

..which I opened to find this..

..and opened again to find.. jeng.. jeng.. jeng..

Yeay! A Harry Potter key chain.. siap ade robe tulis Gryffindor lagik hehe.. and he has the lightning scar as well as the glasses.. chumel! Sgt suke hehe.. THANX kak Wahid! :)

Boleh bukak robe lagik haha..

Ye.. yeee, I know I'm to old for this, but I DON'T CARE! Still love it.. muaahhhhhhsss to kak Wahid :)

Roald Dahl fever :p

I was an Enid Blyton girl. Mama introduced me to her books when I was smaller and since she has a vast collection of books, it was almost a never-ending journey for me to find her book everytime Abah treated us with a visit to the bookstore.. OR when I went to the library.. OR when I went to any of my bookworm friends when I was smaller (kak Zarina, kak Rikke and Bibbi).

Well, I also had another type of book that I collected. Remember those 'skim membaca' books sold in school book stores? The ones sold for RM1.90 each? Translated children mystery books by Enid Blyton, the Nancy Drew series and the Hardy Boys series? Those were also books I hunted down, even my brothers (whom I think really seldom read books) loved to buy those books. Giler murah and soooo many titles..

Anyway, for a while, those were the only books I looked for.. that was until Firdaus came into my class in standard 3.

I actually kinda despised him at first haha.. on our first english test, he got the highest marks, surpassing me and Soraya who were usually the top scorers for this subject. Guess it was more of jealousy then. Anyway, me and a few friends (Soraya, Adam and Alfy mostly) liked to talk about books and Firdaus somehow tried to give his piece of mind on books too but mostly I ignored him.. jelous kan haha..

Then one day, he bought The BFG to school. He sorta forced me to read it, hinting it was a 'buku budak besar' when compared to Enid Blyton. It was the first time I heard of Roald Dahl and though at first I didn't wanna listen to him, his remark on me reading childish books made me step up to the challenge of a new author..

..and I was impressed!

Not that I'm saying he's better than Enid Blyton (In fact, I still love reading Enid Blyton books every now and then hehe.. seriuosly, I love her! My very first favourite author..), but he was another great story teller in a different way than Enid Blyton.

I finished the book that very night (and read it again the next morning) and haughtily gave back the book to Firdaus the next day while pretending I didn't care much for the book. But when he asked me if I wanted to sample another of Roald Dahl's creation, I quickly agreed.. and he gave me The Witches (which was already in his bag.. adeh! He must've guessed I'd like the book)

So that started my love affair with Roald Dahl (though funnily enough, I NEVER got hold of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory!). But since Abah only allowed one book per book-shop-visit, I never chose his books and prefered collecting Enid Blyton's books (I remember me and Bibbi, on our birthdays we always knew what we'd get from each other: Enid Blyton books, of course!)

Well, I grew up and got to know other authors (I read Sidney Sheldon's The Other Side of Midnight when I was an innocent standard sixer.. and was terrified when I read the 'steamy scenes' in the book! Little did I know that was normal for adult books but I was afraid someone might say I was reading some porn material hahah..), bought other books aside from Enid Blyton and enjoyed them..

However, a few days ago while browsing in Popular for Stephen King's Rose Madder (Uwaaa, nape takde kat sini?), I came across a collection of Roald Dahl's books.. and they were at a bargain price of 3 book to the price of 2. I quickly searched for my fav 2, the two first Roald Dahl books I read. I was delighted to find Charlie and The Chocolate Factory in the set too and by the time I was queueing at the cashier, I had a total of 7 of his books..Hahah.. thats what you get when you deprive your childhood of your favourite books kot. Nice lot kan? And I'm a happy girl and don't care if anyone tells me I'm to old for these books :p

Yeaayyy.. :)

Oppss, to not let these books feel left out (as if..).. I also bought these books too :) Been wanting to own Digital Fortress for year now as I kinda like the book compared to Deception Point.. and Benjamin Button which I didn't get to watch..