Smiley me..

Syawal sudah menjelma..

I was back at the office on Wednesday, 5th of Syawal. It's too short I know. But, hey I gotta do what I gotta do. I need to take leaves in November for my bro's wedding, hence the short Raya vacation. 4 days of raya and 2 days of fasting at home wasn't that bad after all. I didn't get to bake cookies, but my modified-from-the-original-recipe cheesecake and yummy layered cake (kek lapis) were 'sold-out' within a day. I'm so proud! I will need to bake 2 kek lapis in the future since there will be requests from the 'other end' as well ;). Nothing feels better than seeing your loved ones loving what you bake.

A friend of mine sent this Aidilfitri wish which says something like this: "Do celebrate Hari Raya for what it truly is, not what people are expecting from you". I think it's a good reminder, everybody should be reminded of what Hari Raya truly is. Sometimes we get too carried away with what should we serve during the day, what should we wear, or how much money should we give out? Kids all over are excited because it's the day they will be getting ang pows. But do they know the real meaning of Hari Raya? I'm not sure if they are really sincere when asking for forgiveness from their parents. I'm not sure if I really meant it when I said that "I'm sorry". I feel sad in a way, thinking that this means that another year has passed by, and all of us are not getting any younger, including my parents. I think you should be able to figure out what's in my head by now...

Nevertheless, Hari Raya has been awesome. Catching up with friends and relatives is something we must do! and Hari Raya is the best time to do it. Because the 'chefs' will be serving their best food and I just have to eat them. Mak Anjang's nasi dagang, and Abg No's home-made satay were two things that I cant get out of my head. So yummy! I ate them although I was already full. Couldnt resist the temptation. This year I learn how 'bbq-ing' the satay with bamboo's sticks wont do the chicken as good as compared to 'lidi'. so kalau buat satay sendiri pakai lah lidi, lagi sedap daripada pakai buluh yg jual kat kedai tu. haha. whatever lah..i will just eat them. Although it was too short for me and mr MKA, since we both have our reponsibilities as a son and a daughter, I guess we had our moments...together and also with our respective families. and I'm sure we'll be having more Hari Raya memories in the upcoming years. InsyaAllah.

Salam Aidilfitri 2007..

Alas, Raya is just around the corner and I'm flying back tomorrow! yeah, tomorrow baby at noon!!! It's going to be a bit of a rush since I need to meet 4 people to pass them 'stuff' before i head to Kemaman, within 3 hours before berbuka. 3 hours seem more than enough but considering traffic in KL at that hour, I'm thinking that berbuke is probably gonna be on the move..which means in the car!

Aaaaanyway enough of the babbling. I wish you all,

SELAMAT HARI RAYA, AND THOUSANDS APOLOGIZE FOR ALL MY WRONGDOINGS YEAH...
MAY EVERYBODY HAVE THE MOST WONDERFUL CELEBRATION WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FELLOW RELATIVES.

Photos..

Sit back and enjoy. This is generally what's been happening since April 2007, yeah.

Ramadhan 1428

Shame on me, it's already Ramadhan 17th and it's only tonight that I wrote about it here. Oh well better late than never, right??

It's my first Ramadhan in HCMC and I wasn't really excited with the fact at the beginning. First of all, the fact that I dont have the luxury to go to Pasar Ramadhan and choose my food from the abundant of selections there. The kuih muih, bermacam2 lauk, air pelbagai jenis, which my favorite is the chrysanthemum tea, and the fact that we all can go home 1-hour early from work. Of course, fasting in KL also means my friends and I will have a good reason to get together, eat and catch-up with each other *sigh*

The second thing is the fact that I wont be able to really spend time fasting and breaking fast with my family back in Kemaman. My mom's tasty bubur lambuk, puding buih, even to the simple dish of ikan singgang and sambal belacan...i just cant help thinking about it. And breaking fast with all my brothers,sisters, in-laws, and those cheeky nephews and nieces would be so meriah, boleh runtuh agaknye rumah my parents..not to mention shopping with my mom!

Last but not least is of course the fact that I cant cherish the best month of all in Islamic calendar with Mr MKA. It's our first Ramadhan together, with quite a distance in between. Well, hopefully the distance will only strengthen the relationship, not otherwise.

Despite all the thoughts, Ramadhan 1428 is going well so far. I have to thank a friend, actually a couple for being so sensible. I'm pretty much spending the evening at their apartment, eating home-cooked meal, and entertained by two adorable kids. Jihah and Iman...haha the "Sergeant Saunders"..and i'd say i'd been to terawih more frequent than the past Ramadhans. Yay to that! Plus, I got to spend the weekend last week with my friends and my family and MKA. So, not too bad I guess :).

It's only one week and a half to go before I fly back to Malaysia for Hari Raya. I have a feeling that Raya is going to be different this time. Anyway, I wish for nothing more than everybody's arriving home safely and my parents' joy seeing all their children under one roof and grandkids running around happily during Hari Raya.

Have a blessed Ramadhan to all!

Post Merdeka!

Wish holiday is not over yet!

Found this in a friend's blog. Do give it a try too!

***You Have A Type B+ Personality***


You're a pro at going with the flow
You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer
A total joy to be around, people crave your stability.

While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity.
Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's done
You're passionate - just selective about your passions


Do You Have a Type A Personality?
http://www.blogthings.com/doyouhaveatypeapersonalityquiz/

Badminton or Goodminton..

Went to play badminton yesterday..so I'd say that was my 'healthiest' Saturday of all. Usually Saturday morning is spent by erm..sleeping late, shopping, watching tv, work, almost absolutely nothing as healthy as this. And I should be proud of myself and thankful to those who actually made me went.

We started at approximately 8.30 am, and guess when did we finish? 11 am! I think that was pretty long and I am so impressed with everybody's energy and motivation. Then I started to think why am I so not motivated to do this? I used to force everybody to wake up early on Saturday morning to play volleyball at the gym in UT, or go to the park..but now, I'm sooo lazy. Why oh why? Maybe my mind is in Malaysia? I'm totally a lazy bum now? can't seem to find the reasons. I just dont have the heart to badminton. It has never been my favorite past times back then. never been good at it is another thing. I guess I'm more into team sports. I like volley, netball, basketball,hockey, but if you ask me about squash, or badminton, tennis, hmm I wont be in the front line. I guess I need to change my attitude and start a healthier life.. climbing the stairs to get to my room on the third floor, and walking home from work at least once a week just don't seem to be enough right?

It's amazing how Vietnamese make exercising part of their lives. They start swarming the public park at as early as 4 am! well, i have never been out at 4 am to witness the health-conscious crowd, but that's what my friend told me. I am not surprised though. I used to walk pass the park every single day after work and watch them either walking, running, playing badminton, tai-chiing, and takraw-ing. I'm not talking about one or two persons, this is like 50s of them. maybe hundreds. What a positive environment I thought.

However, on the other side of the road, I can see a cab driver rolling down his window and throwing away a plastic cup of cafe sada. Just like that, no sense of guilty to the government, let alone the sense of responsibility to the environment. On the pavement, a woman selling beef noodles for breakfast just throw away the leftovers by the road, I guess hoping the majlis perbandaran to clean them all.

Those are only 2 examples that when i thought about them, I feel lucky that I'm a Malaysian, born in beautiful Malaysia. Yes we still have a lot to improve, our government officials sometimes worry about things that they should not be worrying about, like 'Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia?'. But some of them have really made what Malaysia is today. Compared to the last 5 decades, I think we did good. SELAMAT HARI MERDEKA! and HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY MALAYSIA!

Outdoor Movie

Watched two movies in a row, under the starry skies of Damansara Utama, surrounded by buddies, and filled our tummy with McDonald's burgersss.

Yeah they claim it as the biggest outdoor cinema in Asia. It was kinda awesome, get to watch movies outdoor. Some even brought blankets, pillows, bean bags, sleeping bags, everything and anything that will make themselves comfortable. Being the first-timers, we regretted that we only brought a mat, courtesy of Shawn. Yeah my back hurts, and my shoulders..But next time, I know that I'll be fully-prepared ;). Who else wants to join next year's Starlite Cinema outing?

We came, we saw, we ate!!

At Binh Quoi on 13 July 2007. Look at how much we ate! A good place to eat the local food. Since this is our 2nd visit in a week, we spent sometime taking pictures and more time eating! It's exciting to see how some food are similar like we have in Malaysia such as ubi ketuk (tapioca, cooked and mixed with grated coconut, sugar and crushed peanuts), siput sedut, and taufu fa. Others are mostly new to me, made from rice flour mostly like that chewy fried thing. Thana thought it was puri but then it turned out to be some desserts made of glutinous rice. Too bad I dont have the picture. Chewy but sedap!

The boss was mentioning today, "NO riding on motorbikes". Shoot! So how am I supposed to have fun then? Well the justification does really make sense though. It's dangerous and the insurance will find a way to find your fault if accidents happen. So no more motorbike rides for me...aisey!!

F.L.O.W.E.R

Friendship

Like

Ours

Will

Eternally

Remain

I have no idea what to babble about other than work. So hopefully the flowers will cheer up some of you! The picture was taken when I was at Kangaroo Island in Adelaide. It's just outside my room. Soooo pretty! Dunno what it's called though. Any idea?

Binh Quoi Tourist Village

My friends and I were planning to visit the Independance Palace but they were closed when we got there. So we went here instead and it's totally awesome! a very peaceful and romantic place, located by Saigon River where you can actually take a boat ride (aah boat ride..hmm). there's an outdoor buffet with lots of local food. so we're planning to come here again next week with a bunch more friends. Cool!

My new 'house'

It is not exactly MY house. but i live in it. i rent the room. it's spacious, about 12x15 ft i think (counting the tiles). i have someone who cleans the room everyday. the rent comes with free internet and laundry. of course, all other bills are paid too. i have a small tv, maybe 15", yup, too small actually. furnitures are included as well. i even have a bath tub in my bathroom. all in all i think it's alright. it's a totally different experience, living in a house with 10 bedrooms, meaning 10 other people that you hardly see. and the landlord and his family actually occupy some of the rooms.

the youngest daughter is so cute. i had the chance to talk to her today after i got back from work. anyhow, the best part of all, she has a good looking brother! who seems to work out often...haha. oops, i'm actually forbidden from flirting around now. but having a crush is still legal, right ;)

To-do list

1. Look for the best area to view sunset in Malaysia. I've been in Gunung Mat Cincang in Langkawi..which was really nice.
2. Visit KL Tower..(please, for God sake! who else should be proud of it if not us Malaysians?)
3. Island hoppings. well, not literally lah. i wanna go appreciate Malaysian beautiful islands and its heritage under the sea.
4. Eye-on Malaysia - done!
5. Family vacation, haven't done that in a while. budak2 semua sekolah, so the time is limited to school holidays now. *sigh*
6. more to come soon!

I like the feeling of going back to Malaysia because...

it's a relief to hear everybody speaks a language i can understand.
i can eat whatever i want
i can call my friends, my family, and anybody i want because it's darn expensive to call them from saigon. bile lah derang ni nak ade calling card!!
i get to tell people, 'hey, i'm back!!! let's meet up!'
i get to see movies that are not translated to vietnamese
if i go back to my hometown, i get to drive my citroen!
i can see my nieces n nephews happy, cute faces

yes, i miss Malaysia..i will probably add more later..

why oh why...

...is my blog language suddenly turned into Vietnamese now? it was fine before, and I did change the language setting yesterday. good the entries are still English, i wonder why...

Ice-cream treat.

3 scoops of ice-cream after a whole day of a reserves assessment meeting is just worth it.

and walking with 3 slim, slender, petite Vietnamese girls just make me feel..well.. HUMUNGOUS!

the above picture is courtesy of Roza, who's now enjoying the very last 2 months of her stay in Austin. this is Zilker Park, where they have this Trail of Lights everytime it's winter in Austin. it's a Christmas tree made of lights, lots of lights. and it's tall. so the most fun thing to do underneath this 'tree' is to hold hands with a friend..or two..and start running in circles while looking up. yes, up. it wont last long since you'll get verrry dizzy...it's so much fun i tell you. i used to come here every winter, with a bunch friends and get crazy. the trail is so pretty, they will have kinda like ice sculptures, snow white and the seven dwarfs..then we drink hot chocolates, with whipped cream of course, and walk, and run, just like a bunch of 5-year old kids. well actually only us girls did that, the guys think they are too cool to let their guts down and act like a kid again...well, it's their lost.. ;) ..good old days..

New life, new Gigi!

Yep, i just got my braces on today! like 4 hours ago! cant believe it..i was excited at first and now that it's starting to get hurt, i'm afraid to eat..haha.. dont worry, i'll make sure i eat well enough to survive ;)

it's interesting enough that i receive various kind of responses from my friends..and the responses are mostly consistent with the gender. ie. most guys feel that it's ridiculous to spend money for something painful like this..and the girls are all supportive! some of the comments i can recall:

Guy #1: i'll never do that to myself, pulling out those precious teeth, put that metal thing on,then u wont be able to eat everything la..sakit, yada yada yada..
Guy #2: if you do that, then you'll be the same like everybody else..(cant he understand how self-conscious i feel..haha)..however, after some explanations, he kinda agree with me and start being all supportive.
Guy #3: dont do laaaah..too expensive!
Guy #4: wow! new gigi! ---->the most supportive of all..
Guy #5: WHAT IS IT WITH YOU PEOPLE EK?!!!!!!...haha..then he went on and on..which makes a lot of sense, then he said "does she realise how lovely she is" - that's what he thought when i told him why i got myself braces...

on the other hand, most of my girl friends go like:

"YAY, WOW welcome to the club"....haha..and surprisingly, my mom's excited too. she can be very conservative sometimes, but not on this one. so in conclusion...girl friends are GRREAT! no offense guys..and no no..i'm not becoming a lesbian..haha

funny funny...
i guess i need not to give my reasons here..most of them can be understood by most girls, and those who used to have braces on. it all end up in self-satisfaction i guess. Guy #4 asked me whether there is other part of me that i'd like to change..my take on that is no. let's leave some imperfections as they are. it might not look good to you, but others might think the opposites, so you'll never know. on this one, i have thought about it for a very long time and considering what's been going on in my life, i think i deserve this. it's not at all fun to have some kind of metals in my mouth that hurts..but i hope i'll be glad that i've made myself do this.

Yes girls, i'm in the club! :)

i'm falling, and falling, and falling.........

Ive been tagged!

Just got to HCMC from KL. Since i'm feeling gloomy anyways, i'd like to distract myself with this:

LAYER 1: ON THE OUTSIDE.

Name: Nurhidayah Hutamin

Birth Date: 8 February 1981

Current Status: Single Mingle

Eye Colour: Dark brown

Hair Colour: black

Righty or Lefty: righty

LAYER 2: ON THE INSIDE.

My Heritage: chinese+javanese

My Fears: God, loosing my loved ones.

My Perfect Pizza: Thin crust with chicken mushrooms and pineapples, our favorites at UT

LAYER 3: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW.

My Thoughts First Waking Up: nak tido lagi!!!

My Bedtime: 11.30 pm

My Most Missed Memory: good old college life.

LAYER 4: MY PICK.

Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi

McDonald's or Burger King: McD

Single or Group Dates: Single

Adidas or Nike: Nike, i wonder who's the genius behind that tick mark

Tea or Nestea: Tea

Chocolate or Vanilla: I love chocolates but not chocolate ice cream...i'd prefer vanilla.

Cappuccino or Coffee: Coffee

LAYER 5: DO YOU...

Smoke: Nope

Curse: Of course, but when needed only. i dont start every f***ing sentence with the f word like some people..hehe

Take a Shower: Staying in a hot & humid country, it would be suicidal not to - agree!

Have a Crush: erm...now? nope..

Think You've Been In Love: Maybe

Go To School: sure

Want To Get Married: yup..

Believe In Yourself: most of the times

Think You're A Health Freak: i eat whatever i want, but i'l make sure my weight wont exceed 53 kg ;)

LAYER 6: IN THE PAST

Drank Alcohol: nope.

Gone To The Mall: Countless of times... It's just below my office

Been On Stage: Sure ;)

Eaten Sushi: Yep, but not a fan.

Dyed Your Hair: never, thot about it, but for some reasons it never happened

LAYER 7: HAVE YOU EVER...

Played A Stripping Game: no

Changed Who You Were To Fit In: i think so, if i remember correctly..but not to the extreme..i'm pretty much the same compared to years ago..maybe i have better fashion sense than before (not the best), no more glasses..

LAYER 8: AGE YOU'RE HOPING...

To Be Married: passed it already..so next would be after i got the braces off?

LAYER 9: IN A GUY...

Best Eye Colour: dark brown

Best Hair Colour: black

Short Hair or Long Hair: short

LAYER 10: WHAT WERE YOU DOING...

A Minute Ago: writing a good-bye sms

An Hour Ago: tido on the plane

4.5 Hours Ago: talking on the phone with friends while waiting for my flight to saigon

1 Month Ago: vacation in bandung i think

1 Year Ago: hoping..

LAYER 11: FINISH THE SENTENCES...

I love: cafe sa-da! (vietnamese iced coffee)

I hate: liars..

I hide: my personal blog ;)

I miss: that on-cloud-9 feeling

I need: to move my ass and take a shower and start a new chapter in life.

LAYER 12: TAG 5 PEOPLE.

1. PMSPMS

2. Maya

3. cant think of anyone else who would do this ;)