Friday, May 29, 2009

Of Birthdays and Things..

Wow.. i've turned 29. Somebody actually convinced me that i was turning thirty this year, and the funny thing is, i believed him. Gosh!.. What's wrong with me?? Umur sendiri pun dah tak ingat ok. signs of old age i guess.. Lols.

When this person told me that i was turning thirty in a few days, i kinda sat back and thought to myself.. Boy.. what else that i haven't done, but i have to do before turning thirty. i guess i've done most of the things that i wanted to do.. Well, not that i have a listto start with anyways. But the thing is, yeah, i think i'm pretty much contented with what i've achieved. Takpala.. i might not have a car or a house on my name.. but i also do not have any loans on me either. So i think that's a pretty good thing.

I've gotten married to a very, very good man, who provides for me in all the ways that he possibly can, and more often than not, he'd provided me with more than i ever needed. I got pregnant and was bestowed with the best gift any woman could ask for, a child... and a beautiful and witty one too! (sorry.. siapa lagi nak puji anak kalau bukan mak dia kan. hehe).

I've got a job that pays me every end of the month. Maybe it doesn't pay as well as my friends who are practicing engineering, but it's enough to pay off the things that i might want for myself, say some pretty shoes and/or bags, clothes, skincare and stuffs. Maybe it doesn't allow me to splurge on say 5 grand Dior or 15 grand Hermes bags, but i could settle for a DKNY or a Guess or an Elle. InsyaAllah, i'll live within my means, and for being able to have a good paying job, i'm thankful, and happy.

I haven't got many friends, but the few friends that i've got are the REAL friends that i can count on for good or for the worst of times. And for that, i'm soo thankful to Allah and to my dear friends.

I've done adrenaline-rushing activities as well. I've gone through police, army and bomba training. It was just for a week of each, but the experience is priceless. I kayak around the island of Pangkor, i've sailed a boat, i've gone into caves, i have an open water diving license.. Hmm.. so yeah, i think i've done all the things that i wanted to do before i turn thirty.

Of course, there are still a few things that i've yet to do like my piano lessons, my salsa, my sewing, my pilates.. That one i think i can still do even after i turn 30. But, the very one thing that i want to do that hasn't really transpired is... drum roll please... of course, to lose weight. Urghhh.. Yep.. still working on that. But then again, when you're born a female, when is it that you don't try to lose weight? Hehe..

Oklah. Cukup lah. To all my friends who texted me / messaged me through fb to wish me a happy bday, i really thank you for all your kind and lovely wishes. Tomorrow, i'm going to have my birthday lunch. Initially i wanted to go to the Coliseum.. sekarang rasa macam nak pergi Chilli's / Italiannies pulak.. Huh. Tak apa, i'll figure it out by tmrw. And mak's making me my favourite pie - the apricot pie!! Yeay!!

Alhamdulillah, i'm so grateful to Allah for this wonderful and beautiful life. :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My Visit To Cairo

Hmm.. tak begitu ada idea untuk menggarap posting. However, excited untuk share pictures of the visit dengan kawan-kawan. However, kesimpulan pemergian kali ini adalah - lepas ni dah tak pergi lagi kot cairo ni.. well unless everything is paid for, TIPS and other expenses included. Hehe. You'll find oout from my posting.

Last Monday, after dinner, hubby sent me off to the airport. Lepas check in luggage, hubby went home, and my boss and i went to wait for our flight at the Golden Lounge. At around 11.20, boarded the Egyptair flight to Cairo via Mumbai. First time ever to be on board non-MAS aircraft. It was an airbus 330, so it was better than the pics i saw from the internet of a B747 first class. Legroom standard la, macam MAS jugak. Service-wise, sangat la jauh bezanya dengan MAS cabin crew. Patutla MAS selalu menang best cabin crew award. Crew egyptair banyak yang tua2 tu satu hal la, kasar pulak tu. Senyum pun kureng. Kalau MAS, if you board business class, the crew will adress you by your name, so you feel comfortable. Ini.. sah2 la servis tak personalized, lepas tu, kalau mintak kita pass kan barang (i.e. food tray/drinking glass), main tunjuk2 macam apa je. Huh. Sungguh kurang sopan. :p Ada kawan2 yang lain pergi awal, boarded economy class. Lagi la hampeh. Offer food macam2 konon, "We have chicken, beef and fish". Bila minta chicken, dia kata "We have only fish." Like.. DUH!~

Huh.. baru cerita masuk kapal terbang. Heheh. However, the crew masa nak balik Malaysia was much better. Kudos to them (but still have a lot to improve).

Sampai di Cairo Airport, it was already around 7am. Travel agent dah tunggu, and the immigration checks was a quick one. Maybe sebab pagi lagi kot. They don't have aerobridges, so we had to be transported from the a/c to the terminal via a shuttle bus. Belum apa2 lagi, i've gotten a taste of perangai huduh pak arab. :p While waiting for our luggage, the travel agent advised us to change our currency at the nearby bureau de change. So, i queued behind to gentlemen. Elok2 je sampai turn aku, mangkuk tu kata "Closed". I was perplexed! I was like "Whaaat??" He replied "Closed" Like. Mangkuk hayun sungguh. Bukannya ada orang belakang aku. Salah ke kalau dia tukarkan duit aku dulu sebelum tutup kaunter. Bukan dia pergi mana pun, duduk je dalam tu. After a while dia bukak balik kaunter. Tapi silapla aku nak pergi tukar duit kat dia kan. Malaun sungguh. Aku rasa macam discriminated somehow. Celaka betul.

Then, we were brought to our hotel in Giza. Lepas check in, mandi-mandi sekejap, dalam pukul 10 keluar, pergi tour pyramid. Alhamdulillah, tak pernah aku imagine dapat pergi tengok pyramid dengan mata kepala aku sendiri. Siap panjat pulak pyramid tu. Here are some photos.








Lepas tour pyramids dan the sphinx, kitorang dibawa pergi lunch. It was a buffet lunch, ada makanan arab sikit2 dengan western food. Kat Cairo, sepanjang kitorang kat sana, makan memang takde masalah. Tapi, tak sedap! Huhu. Lepas lunch, dia bawak pulak kitorang ke kedai2, kedai perfume, kedai barangan cotton, kedai papyrus, kedai souvenir. Semua kedai2 yang dia bawak tu mahal. Tapi, dia bawak kitorang sebab dia dapat komisen. Hampeh betul. Even masa pergi Al Khalili market (pasar besar yang jual macam2, dari baju ke kraf, ke rempah dsb.) pun, dia bawak pergi kedai yang dia buleh kenyit2 mata untuk dapat komisen. Tensen gue. Sebelum sampai Al Khalili market tu, singgah sekejap di Masjid Al-Azhar untuk solat.






Sebelah petang, lepas tengok keadaan construction of booth (yang tak siap2 walaupun kerja dari pagi), kitorang request untuk pergi Nile River Cruise. Mahal jugak, USD 25. Dua jam, dinner provided dengan belly dancing and tarian yang pusing2 tu. Macam sufi dancing tapi yang aku tengok dalam tv, kalau morocco punya tu dia pakai baju putih. Ni dia pakai kainberlapis2, warna warni, pusing2 lepas tu tanggal kain dia satu persatu sampai tinggal selapis je. Heheh. Macam lucah je bunyinya, kan?



Lepas cruise, balik hotel dan pengsan sampai pagi. Huh.

Esoknya kerja, kerja dan kerja, sampai lah hari jumaat. Malam tu pack2 untuk naik flight pukul 4 pagi. Akhirnya, balik jugak. Huhuhu.. Rasa macam dah lama sangat duduk sana.

Apa pun, terima kasih kat adik2 Azhar yang jadi interpreter, merangkap tourist guide kitorang masa kat sana. Dengan adanya budak2 tu, baru la rasa fun sikit. Kalau kawan2 ada yang nak pergi mesir pun, aku rasa baik korang sewa transport dan driver je. Tour guide carikla student Malaysia yang dah lama sikit kat sana. Kurang2, dirang ni takdela mintak komisen. Tapi, kita bayarla diorang sikit, kan? Apa pun, jangan la berangan nak sewa kereta dan drive sendiri kat sana. Kalau rasa traffic jam di KL/Penang bridge tu teruk, sana jauh lagi teruk. Bawak kereta macam gila. Atas jalan tu, ada lane pun tak guna, sebab konsep pemanduan kat sana, asal ada ruang kosong, masuk je. Kereta2 kat sana susahla nak nampak yang tak kemek/calar. Huh. Tapi.. satu perkara yang membanggakan, ada nampak dua-tiga bijik kereta proton. Nampak wira, waja dan Gen-2. Yang lawaknya, student kita cakap, ada student Mesir yang tak pernah keluar negara dia tak percaya tu kereta Malaysia. Dioarang cakap tu kereta UK. Hehe.. Ok la tu. :D Siap ada yang ingat Malaysia ni mundur gila, sebab takde kereta keldai. kononnya, sedangkan kereta keldai pun tak ada, ini pulak kereta biasa. Hahahaha... Lawak betul. Tapi, yang mana dah pernah kelaur dari Mesir dan pernah datang Malaysia, yang diorang betul2 kenal tentang Malaysia ialah tak lain dan tak bukan, Tun Mahathir. Ada jugak yang kenal Siti Nurhaliza. Boleh tahan gak akak ni. Arab pun berkenan. :p

Monday, May 11, 2009

Hectic Sunday

We had a looooong sunday. FUN, long sunday. :)

Pagi-pagi lagi, ada orang bunyikan loceng rumah, ajak kami sekeluarga bergotong royong tanam pokok kat taman perumahan ni. Breakfast provided. But, as we were already having breakfast, we had breakfast on our own and proceeded to the thing-a-ma-jig at around 9. Oleh sebab kitorang lewat sikit, we missed out the chance to meet a celebrity. Siapa?? Hehe.. Eli Wong. Don't ask me if she was wearing anything.. err.. i mean what she was wearing. I didn't see her.

So, the men started work at around 10. Transfer pokok from polybag into the holes yang telah digali oleh traktor. Hehe. Ingatkan nak kena mencangkul ke hapa.. Lepas tanam pokok2, yang ladies ni balik la. Aku pulak ended up going to a neighbour's house sebab dia beriya sangat mengajak. Lepas tu beriya pulak jemput aku tengok sekitar rumah dia. Hmm.. cantik banget rumahnya. Lain design dalaman umah tu dari umah aku. Aku rasa kalau dibandingkan rumah aku.. alangkah simplenya rumahku itew. Yep.. just the way we like it. :)

Dalam pukul 12, bersiap-siap pulak nak pergi wedding kawan hubby. A third one. :)

Lepas tu, pergi pulak lepak sekekap kat rumah in laws sebelummeneruskan hari kat rumah mak ngah. Semua suku sakat ada kat sana, celebrating double whammies, mother's day and paksu's birthday. Anak aku pun syok dapat minum air sirap banyak, dapat makan chocolate doughnut sampai kotor baju. Lepas tu tak nak balik pulak lagi. Uhuhuh.

All in all, we were tired, but we had fun. Malam, masukkan barang2 dalam beg untuk berlepas ini malam. Sucks.

Mother's Day Special On Nat Geo

Semalam ada Mum's Day special. Dok tunjuk rancangan In The Womb. Boy do i enjoy that show. Dulu masa aku tengah pregnant, asal ada je, mesti aku tengok. Foetal development amazes me no matter how many times i watched that show. Semalam, dapat tengok yang ada twins, triplets and multiples. Subhanallah. Terlalu agung ciptaanNya.

Teringat masa rasa kena tendang dari dalam perut. :) Sekarang, kena tendang masa tidur, dari luar perut. Heheh. Kalau nasib tak baik, kat muka.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Letih la Macam Ni..

Last posting, baru rasa macam happy2 dan nak rehat2 sikit. :P Petang tu, terus dapat berita dan tak boleh berehat. Sigh!~ C'est la vie.

Last wednesday, when i was working out (ehem!) at the gym during lunch time, i got a call from my immediate boss. He said that he needed to talk to me. So, after the lunch break, i went to see him. And the news came cashing in. I was going to have to replace another officer on a trip to Cairo. Wait.. that's not that bad yet. The worse part is that, the trip is going to be next week.. well, monday night to be exact.

Like.. Gila ke apa??? The reason given was because it was against the new min. policy to allow other than group A officers for overseas mission. And i was like... duh? orang yang sebelum ni buat kerja, bila dia dapat tau tentang perkara ni, marah la. Well.. dia tak lah marah secara lisan, but it really shows on her face. Tapi aku nak buat macam mana. Bukannya aku yang nak pergi pun. Sec. gen. punya keputusan kan. Aku cakap kat dia, i'm sorry that it had to be this way. Lepas tu dia cakap, "Ala, biasala tu puan, kami ni selalu kena buat kerja tapi tak dapat benefit." And i was like... hmm.. Kesian tu memangla kesian. Tapi bila dia buat statement macam tu, aku macam.. la.. dah nama lagi kerja, buat je la, kan? We are PAID to do it. Aku pun macam la tak pernah susah2 baut paper tapi untuk orang lain pergi. Dah kerja, buat je la. Tapi, mungkin dia cakap macam tu sebab tengah kecewa kot. After that day, tengok macam ok. Aku harap, dia ok la. Nanti la, kalau ada rezeki kat sana, aku carikan dia souvenir yang lebih sikit dari orang lain.

Ok.. berbalik pada cerita asal. Jadi, isnin malam ni, aku akan gerak ke Cairo. Sabtu malam baru balik. Huh. Dan pun bengang la jugak, sebab dia tak sempat nak file in cuti. Tapi nasib baik gak roster dia kata terbang sekali je next week. Cuma harapnya tak dipanggil terbang masa standby je. Sakit la macam tu. Nak hantar/amek sarah dari sekolah, nak jaga sarah.. kalau dia standby kena harapkan in laws la, since they are mobile. Kalau htr rumah mak aku, jawabnya seminggu la tak pergi sekolah anak aku tu (which is very uneconomical considering that we've invested quite a bit in sarah's schooling). Itu pun nasib baik aku dapat convince kan bos aku utk amek Egypt Air (code sharing MAS, tapi MAS punya allocation dah penuh). At least pergi isnin lewat malam dan boleh sampai balik di KL hari sabtu. Yang lain semua sampai hari ahad sebab transit berjam2.

Adoilaaa.. pining gua punya kepala. Dlm dua hari ni la aku nak kena packing, nak tukar duit, Dan's cousin nak bertunang lagi, gotong royong residents' assoc. kat sini lagi. Kalau ikutkan, esok ada meeting pulak tu, about reorg di kem. baru. Tapi aku escape, since Dan pun balik esok pagi, siapa pulak nak jaga anak aku?? Di samping macam2 benda yang aku kena buat dalam masa dua hari ni. Uhuhuu.. Isnin tu kena pulak pergi office dulu tu...

So, kawan2, i'll be out of office for the whole week next week. Doakan aku pergi dan balik dengan selamat ye. Huh. Macam nervous jugak sebab aku first time naik airline selain MAS. Ok ke egypt air ni?? *Gulp*

Oh, by the way, to all my mommy friends, have a happy mother's day. :) Always remember that you're one lucky mama.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Month of May and Food Galore

Sekejap je sudah masuk bulan 5. Tak lama lagi, setengah tahun dah berlalu. Bulan 5 juga akan menandakan umur aku bertukar daripada 28 ke 29. Tak lama lagi, angka 2 berubah pulak ke angka 3. Uhhh.. that's rather creepy. Better start nourishing my skin with anti ageing skincare. :p Not that i'm afraid of getting old or anything. Just want to grow old as gracefully as i can. Heh.

Many birthdays within our family fall in the month of May. And, when there are birthdays, there WILL be FOOD. :) Just last sunday, we had a surprise birthday celebration for my Mak Lang. Yep, and we really caught her by surprise. *Suka*. And we had the heavenly chocolate indulgence cake along with other tea-time goodies.

Yesterday was sarah's cousin, little cayden's birthday. He might have a birthday party coming up, but so far no news yet.

Coming up will be my FIL's, my mom's and mine. FIL wants to have his birthday dinner at KDE. My mom, i think i want to give her a spa treat (always a 2 in 1 thing, mother's day and birthday) and i wanted my birthday lunch to be at the coliseum (think baked crab, old fashioned bread with butter and succulent steak). Yummmm..

Ok, enough about birthday celebrations.

Lately, my cooking mood had been driving me to cook all sorts of stuffs. Well.. ok, tak la banyak sangat. Tapi, it's quite significant dari masa-masa yang tak ada mood nak masak. I have so many recipe line-up to try. I have tried baking chocolate cake, scones, and making cream puffs. But my cream puff needs more practice. I've tried making it twice and they suck. :p Taste was ok, but they look pitiful because i didn't get the technique quite right. Senang je sebenarnya, but i guess i overlooked some points.

Other than sweet, comfort food, i also tried my hands on savoury goodies. I made quesadilla, and hubby liked it and wanted it to be a once-a-week meal. I also made fish pie and chicken pie. Well, i used ready made puff pastry, of course. Those turned out great as well, and both hubby and daughter enjoyed them. Sarah especially enjoyed the puff pastry which i rolled and coiled and told her that it's a caterpillar (so that she will enjoy eating it. Hehe. Bahaya jugak tu. Takut dia makan pulak caterpillar kalau jumpa kat laman. Heh.. tapi, tak kot?? At this age, they have passed that put-everything-in-your-mouth stage (i hope).

Next in line, i want to upgrade my fish pie into a seafood pie and intend to add some seared scallops, shrimps and put more dill to go with it. I also intend to substitue half of the mash with cauliflower, so that sarah (and hubby) can get their share of veggie. Campur sikit sour cream and chives in that mash would be nice too, i think. Hmm.. bila nak try ni?

I also want to make some beef fajita for dinner, one of these nights. Hubby had already bought some steaks. Tapi nak pergi cari fajita mix, kalau la ada jual kat alamanda ni. Kinda doubtful that they have it, but it's worth a shot.

Lepas tu pulak, nak buat apple pie. Tak jadi buat for hubby's birthday sebab my MIL nak buat. So now that we've finished that apple pie, boleh la buat new batch. This time, internet recipe. Hehehe. Lepas tu jugak, nak try new cupcake recipe for sarah's snack box for school, and nak try buat danish pastry. Tengok sugar-anna olson punya pasal la ni. Hehehe...

Masalahnya bila ada mood masak ni ialah ada jugak mood makan... Yang AMAT menjejaskan dayet. :p