Mom's Birthday Doa Selamat Event

Yesterday was my mom's 50^th birthday. She's been planning for a little celebration with the whole family but since it's Ramadhan and my sister's gonna give birth to her son in a few days time we planned for a small break fast / doa selamat / terawih event at home on Sunday. But it turned out to be not so small (which never happens in any event my family plans)

We had a tent outside and also Nasi Arab, Mandi Chicken, Hummus, Nasi Lemak Opah from Taipan and other food that I didn't get to eat. Mom invited just family, close friends and neighbours over.

Short Trip to KCH - Day Two

Hello! It has been more than a week since my trip to Kuching. But I'll get to it soon. Been busy during the weekend with my mom's birthday doa selamat / break fasting / terawih event.

On the second day, we planned for a trip to the Cultural Village in Damai Puri? I'm not too sure what's the name of the area but I know it's near Gunung Santubong. But before we started the trip, we wanted to eat laksa sarawak and mee kolok. I tell you, I have a super huge massive appetite. The amount of food I can take, scary ok! I've never tried mee kolok before, and I tried laksa sarawak once when Tina cooked it. So, I had a pretty huge expectation on the food I'm gonna have that day.

We went Pasar Satok area to get our breakfast. But we were too late to get the laksa sarawak. Finished before we get to taste it :( So I tried Mee Kolok. Gahhh, so so good! I'm a big fan of soupy dishes so this is perfect for me. It tasted very meat-ish, so they give you a really hot sambal sauce to go with the mee kolok. The mee seems like a maggi mee. But taste better. 

Mee Kolok

The owner are these two siblings and they are the only two people managing the shop as they don't want the family's secret recipe to fall to strangers. But I think they should get more people to help around because the service was pretty slow. Or maybe it's the KL girl in me. I don't like slow services but in Kuching everyone seems okay with it. I don't know. Thank god the good mee kolok made up for the slow service :)

After having breakfast with Tina's parents, we're all set to go to the Cultural Village. It's about 45 minutes from Kuching City. We had an awesome time road tripping the whole way. And the journey there was lovely. It was raining, the breeze was so chilling and we can see Gunung Santubong from far. I was the only one who have been to the Cultural Village so I was telling em all the things we can do there. The Cultural Village is where they have the different races' traditional houses in one area. So they have Malay houses, Chinese, Bidayuh, Iban and lots more.

Gunung Santubong from far. You can see the silhouette of a woman's face. 

The moment we arrived, we were just in time for the Cultural Show. Lucky us! But you have to pay for the tickets first. The ticket is about RM60 for adults and RM30 for kids. For Sarawakians, it is about RM25. Oh and RM15 for Local University Students.

The Cultural Show is where they perform their respective dances. There's one with bamboo and hair feathers and sexy man wearing nothing but loin cloth. Hahaha. I was a bit shy when the two guys danced wearing the loin cloth because we can see up close since we're at the first row. Oh! And there was a section when the guys were doing 'sumpit' – blow dart. And they pulled me up to do it with them. Haha! Finally pop the balloon after the third try ;p

After that we went around the area. We saw skulls! I think it was awesome! They put it at the roof trusses and there's a fire burning underneath. The fire plus smoke is to prevent the spirit of the skulls to come down and disturb the house owners. The Ibans were well known back then as head hunters. Hehe.

Afterwards, we just chilled at the beach area at Damai Puri. And we hiked a lil bit to find a jungle pool. Pity we didn't have our bathing suits. The water was so so cold. And refreshing too. Can imagine if we go skinny dip or something at night then there's lizards all around us. Hahah! And from the beach in Damai Puri, we can take a boat for a dolphin tour (I was impressed. Never knew Malaysia has dolphins) and a tour to Bako National Park. We're planning to try that the next time we're in Kuching :)

Well, that concludes the second day of our Sarawak adventure! 
Pictures from Tina and Syu

Big Idea

You know that feeling when you have a big idea in your head? You can't stop thinking about it. You want to do it NOW. Your pulse goes faster thinking about that special idea that belongs to you. Your ears are warm from all the thinking. You just set a new goal in life. The goal is a new target for you. It seems so big but you want to do it. You want to see how far you can push yourself. It scares you. Everything seems to go faster then usual..

That's how I feel right now :)

( Source : Here )

Short Trip To KCH - Day One

I had a short trip to Kuching with my girlfriends last weekend. We bought the tickets early this year when me and Tina were talking about going on a holiday. So, she said she just bought a ticket to Kuching, her hometown, for a trip in July. Without thinking that much, I just bought the tickets and finally it's time for a break! 

I've been to Kuching around 4 times before. I kinda knew what to expect there. But for Farhana and Syu, it is their first so we planned to visit all the tourist attractions and eat everything. Oh god. I ate so much, I think I freaked out my friends. Haha! 

I drove around cos.. hehe, my local sarawakian driver is afraid to drive in Kuching *Points at Tina* Which is funny because she can drive great in KL. The traffic in Kuching is like an old lady's driving. It's like everyone is not rushing off anywhere. Everyone is super relaxed on the road. Oh, but I had a short battle with a road bully.

The minute we arrived, we went to one of the must visit places in Kuching. First is the sampan ride at Sungai Sarawak at the waterfront area. It was late and really dark at the river. We had rojak buah before getting on the sampan. The sampan driver said that there's buaya in the river, I don't know how true though. And we got splashed by this fisherman's boat and soaked too. I went to Top Spot smelling like river. And we had our dinner at Top Spot too. The butter prawn was glorious, masya allah. Yummyy. Oh. I totally forgot that I'm fasting. Haha. Happy Fasting dear reader! (If there's any..Hehe) 

 On the sampan. We had a good time cam-whoring

 My lovely ladies

The sampan

Dinner at Top Spot with Tina's Family

Pictures by Tina

Très Chic!

From time to time I'd check out The Sartorialist for Scott Schuman's photographs, I love his photos. He won't simply take photos of pretty/handsome well dressed people. He pays attention to the more subtle details of the style, for example how the cuffs are at the end of the suit sleeves. And I think it's more interesting how he notices all this fine details.

I have a style crush on his partner, Garance Dore. She's a photographer/blogger too. I think she's gorgeous. Not the pretty model-ish type of beautiful. I love her style. She's so effortless in the way she styles herself. She just wears her partner's shirt and looks wow! Apparently, it's very 'french' of her to wear clothes like that. To simply mix and match, couture and high street and vintage. 

I think to develop ones personal style, we should not try so hard to look stylish. There's no point in buying expensive clothes or tight shirts with your boobs hanging out saying hello to everyone. For me, as long as I feel comfortable wearing the clothes and not let the clothes wear me, I'm okay with it. I love dressing up, but if I'm wearing anything too low and I'd be pulling my shirt up all night, I'm putting it at the back of my closet. Maybe that's why I like Garance's style. She looks so confident and so comfortable. And she has the cutest french accent :) 

 My favourite photo of her. She looks cute here 

 This too. She's wearing a kid's jumper over her partner's shorts. Hehe. 

( Source : Here )

Garance Dore and Scott Schuman. Fashion Power Couple.

( Source : Here )

Short Sweet Night

Me, Kavs and Ims reunited

I don't always get to see my high school crowd. But we're constantly in touch thanks to whatsapp. Ims is working in Singapore. And she's a Singaporean too. So no luck there. Hehe. Kavs is working too, and Cy is doing her intership in Tioman. So fun right! 

So every time when Ims is in KL, we'll get together and just chill. Last Friday, we went to Vogue in Plaza Mont Kiara, where Ims' daddy performs. We went crazy! Reminds me of the good ol days. Haha. Watching Ims' dad perform makes me think of all the time when we were in high school and we'll be in Putrajaya every week to watch him sing at the Putrajaya Lake Club. We'd be on the jetty and rolling around laughing and looking at the stars. Good times :) 

Oh, and Ims is a great singer too. Here's a video of her performing with her dad last Friday. Ims's daddy performs there every Tuesday and Friday. Enjoy!

New List of Places to Visit!

I love travelling. Can never get enough of travelling. Alhamdullilah, my family and I are blessed with the opportunity to travel around the world. And I'm thankful that my parents take us travel with them too, hehe. I always have a list of places I'd love to go to. I think some of the places that made an impact in my mind mostly because of the history. I'm a huge history buff. And I read a lot of history books, listen to alot of pod casts and watch documentaries. So, I came up with the list as my check list for future travels :) 

Vatican City and Rome, Italy

Wow. I think I've had a thing for Vatican City for a bit too long now. But still haven't had the opportunity to go there yet. I think when I read 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown, I started to read and do my own research on Vatican City. Do you know that it's the smallest country in the world? How cute is that! Haha. And they have their own police, the Swiss Guards, who wears the funkiest outfits ever. Oh wow. Vatican City and Rome deserves a whole new blog post just to talk about all the places I'd love to go to. But just a short list now, St Peter's Square, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Colosseum and so much more! Oh and I have great collection of mini ancient Roman and Greek statues too. 

 St Peter's Square ( Source : Here )

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 The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo in Sistine Chapel ( Source : Here )

 The super cute outfits of the Swiss Guard! ( Source : Here )

Bavaria, Germany

There's only one reason that I'd want to visit Bavaria, which is about an hour plus away from Munich, that is to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle. Oh my god, it is the most beautiful castle I've ever seen ever. It's the inspiration behind the Disney castle, the castle they have at every Disneyland and also the Disney logo. It is so intricate and god, I have no words for the castle. It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was built quite recently too. I mean, not that old. Gosh I don't remember the exact year but I know it's somewhere around 1800-ish. But Ludwig is pretty eccentric. He has an elevated dinner table, so if he needs the table to be cleared, it will just disappear through the floor. Amazing! I was in Munich once, but didn't have the chance to go and visit :( 

 Neuschwanstein Castle ( Source : Here )

 The Interior ( Source : Here )

Florence, Italy

Florence is a pretty new addition to my list. Quite recently, I had a thing for Renaissance Art, again. So, been doing my researches on the Medici family, the patrons of Art, as we studied in History Form 4. But what we studied in school was pathetic. There's so much more to the Medici family! There was a series of massacre that was orchestrated by the Medici here which I think is super interesting. So, I always wanted to visit the Duomo and all the Renaissance paintings there.

 The Duomo ( Source : Here )

Moscow, Russia

I just added Moscow in my list of to go places after I went to Copenhagen, Denmark. At the same time when I was in Copenhagen, a friend of mine was in Moscow and St. Petersburg. So, I was looking at her Instagram photos and I thought, well, Copenhagen is at the same latitude as Moscow, (I even surprised myself when I knew this! Must've been one of the infos hidden somewhere in my head) I'm almost there! I mean, I made it to Copenhagen, a little bit more I can reach Moscow :)

( Source : Google )

And I like reading about the Romanovs Family. If you've seen 'Anastasia' the cartoon movie, where this princess escaped the massacre that killed the whole royal family of Russia, you'd know who the Romanovs are. And the sinister witch doctor, Rasputin (Listen to Bonnie M's song, 'Rasputin') and please, he is not the lover of the Tsarina.

The Romanovs family ( Source : Here )

Oh, interesting fact, to me at least, there are a number of ladies pretended to be Anastasia, the youngest princess of the Romanovs family, but years and years after that, they did a DNA testing to confirm the death of Anastasia by using the DNA of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh as in the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Cool rightttt? Hehehe. 

New Zealand

This is one of the countries that both me and Asyraf always wanted to go. We've been planning to go to NZ for so long. Both of us loves greenery and open spaces, with all the mountains and beautiful lakes. Plus, I can visit the set for Lord of the Rings filming that was filmed there. Trust me, I'm obsessed over LOTR. So if I ever get the chance to come to NZ, I'm the happiest girl ever :)

Hobbiton! ( Source : Here )

 ( Source : Here )

I'm so gonna do this! But I bet Asyraf won't. Haha. ( Source : Here )

( Source : Here )

Truth is ..

Life. No doubt that life has its ups and downs. I bet that every one of us have tasted the bitterness of life in whatever way life kicks you in the ass. However, how we deal with the problems make all the difference. In dealing with the problems, sometimes a good wake up call and clarity is what we need. So, I made up a list. The list consist of the things that I learned, accepted and dealt with, in order to have a more peaceful and happier life.

Nothing is permanent.

The thing we always forget about life is that it is NOT permanent. Everyone will have to face death. It is a destination that no one can escape. Like cathching a plane to a destination. Once you broad that plane, no other way but to arrive at the destination where you are suppose to land at. As Muslims, we believe that we are not just human on a spiritual journey, but we are merely spirits on a human journey. And eventually that human journey will end. And it's okay. Yes, it's heart breaking. But it will happen.  Accepting death is a way for you to acknowledge there is a greater power that somehow looks after you. The only story is how you die. And that is a whole other story.

I love you, you don't love me

In life, some people might not like you. And you might not like everyone in the world. And that's totally normal. Back then, I had a really hard time trying to accept this. I'd try hard to fix things up if one of my friends has an issue with me. But after trying for too long, I think that you can't force everyone or anyone to love you and like you. You just have to let time takes its course and let things go. If it's written in the stars that you guys are meant to be friends / partners / lovers, it will happen.

Fail, Fail and Fail

When I was in uni, we have this subject, Design, which is the most important subject that takes so much time, energy, sweat and tears for any architecture student. Every semester we'll see so many students failing this subject. I have seen some friends giving up and took up another course after they failed design. But some still soldier on even after they failed. I think that people should not be afraid of failure. Learn from your failures and move on to your next challenge. You failed once, learn from it and do better the next time. If you're not failing, you're not growing. We heard stories about how WD40 and the light bulb were invented. If they had given up after their first try, we'd never have all the inventions that makes our lives easier. 

Damn, that girl has everything!

Ahh...Envy. You're lying if you never felt this before. A girl you know with the perfect handbag, with her perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect perfect perfect life. You'd watch her from far wishing that you can have her life. But that's normal. Because in life other people with have better rezeki than you. And they will always have more than what you have. But that should not stop you from being grateful with what you have. You can't possibly get EVERYTHING you want right away. Work for it. Insyaallah, things will go your way. And if you still feel envious towards the perfect girl's shoes, think about how blessed you are to be able to buy shoes for your feet, when some people don't even have feet.

Some friends may not be BFF always

Friends. Wow. I can't imagine not having any. I don't have a lot. I can count them with my fingers. Including my toes lah. I figured that collecting a lot of friends or having 10000 friends on your Facebook list, means nothing if your friends bitch about you behind your back. Or spread rumours about you. Or tell other people that you talk in your sleep. So, it's okay if you have very few friends. I keep my friends close, the ones who stick by me during my darkest days. A friend stayed with me for almost two weeks in HUKM when my dad suffered a really horrible stroke attack. A couple of friends stayed up late at night to help me with my design during my final year just to make sure I'll graduate with them. Friends come and go. But real great friends stay with you forever.

Nobody can change your life except for yourself

Well, duh.

Malam Nisfu Syaaban

Masyaallah, tonight is such a beautiful night. The full moon illuminates the dark sky. Syahdu. And tonight is Malam Nisfu Syaaban. Malam Nisfu Syaaban is the 15th night in the month of Syaaban. Muslims believe that on Malam Nisfu Syaaban, all our deeds for the past year will be calculated and a brand new sheet is given to us by malaikat to calculate our deeds for the next year. A fresh start for all of us Muslims :)

And coincidentally, today is also my 1st year anniversary of working in the industry. I figured that my one year mark is a great time to reflect back on my progress and where I see myself in another year. So, I made a list. A list of all the things that need to be done by the time 2012 ends. Some items are do-able. Some are a little hard for me. 

The List

I hope for a better year for me. I mean, my year was fine. But not great yet. I need more improvement in my work, my financial and savings and also my life in general. I'm getting more comfortable with where I am now which is just NOT good. I am beyond grateful with the blessings I have. Alhamdullilah. But we must push ourselves to discover what are our limits and our potentials :) So, here's to a new beginning. And let's hope all the list will be fulfilled by December.