mE n mY attitude.

2008-11-21T10:40:00.009+08:00

OK LOVE!

a close-up; all the better to drool over.

(omg exquisite!)

how darling!

urbanoutfitters, usd$68.

omg GIMME GIMMEGIMME! recently took to browsing fashion websites, and with that online shopping services too. unhealthy, VERY unhealthy. whowhatwear.com (i swear, that's what it's called) links celeb fashion with shopper heaven. omg no. THANKFULLY however (yet sadly), these sites do not ship internationally. while that might make you think: well good then, you can't actually purchase anything.. TO THE CONTRARY! it's driving me crazy! i obsess so much, i hop from site to site.. never having my fill! i mean what is this?! can see can dream but cannot have!? EVIL PURE EVIL.

wanna see some of my topshop fancies? okay who cares what you think, this is for ME ME ME. :D privacy is liberating!

leather chain handle shopper, tan.

leather shoulder bag, teal.

leather 3 buckle satchel, grey.

(i don't want ALL the bags, i just think they're ALL gorgeous. yumm.)

duke black lace boots.

denim tunic dress by boutique.

mission: to sg topshop in search!

2008-10-27T22:18:00.001+08:00

strangers who wish the best for you = heartwarming.

thank you (:

2008-10-22T18:24:00.003+08:00

i slipped on my purple shades, released the brake and shifted into gear. i felt empowered.

i turned up the volume. suddenly i see by kt tunstall. i smiled to myself. and for no reason at all, it was one of the best mornings.

2008-10-10T01:29:00.002+08:00

gosh how could i forget! (guilty)

hari raya with my beloved family (:
forgive me mummy and daddy for i have been bad. but you know i love you! ;)

selamat hari raya all! forgive and forget pls (:

2008-10-10T00:44:00.003+08:00

inspired by the latest tag. thank you (:

we were discussing a Nature paper that studied 4 transcription factors - Sox2, Oct4, Nanog and Tcf3. and one of the PIs makes a very smart observation. "you know, if you line up the first letters of the Tfs they studied.. they spell snot."

i'm really loving my superiors. we have little chats here and there as we work, and i really love that we can kid around. i think i'm pretty alright with comebacks and witty lines, but sometimes andrew is just unbelievable. the things he says! and i'm half-stunned and like wha-a?? literally leaves me speechless! god, andrew's such a slapper. HAHA

i do wanna revive this blog, or at least a blog. to chronicle my PhD journey, i'd like that. anecdotes i'd just like to put down and keep.

i'm really glad i'm on this journey. (:

OH! you know what my bosses said to me the other day?? okay, i don't wanna jump the gun or jinx it but, i must put it down! mynn and andrew were discussing plans for a conference next year. wait, let me rephrase that. they were discussing THE conference to go to for stem cell researchers. THE conference by THE International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). the one that's gonna be held in barcelona next july.

and suddenly andrew turns to me, "how about you? are you covered for conferences?"

"well, yeah i am covered, but i have to present (at the conference) in order to claim."

"ah don't worry about (presenting). but you should go. it's good exposure. yeah, you should go."

my boss rocks.

did i say barcelona? in summer! yeah baby. (:

2008-08-31T17:05:00.003+08:00

i doubt anybody reads this anymore. :)

at first, i was a little apprehensive coming back to the lab. after always being in one for the past two years straight, i had what felt like a GIANT holiday away from it - four whole months, i mean whoopee! and i could feel it too. like holding a pipette-aid felt strange (yet comforting. yani you nerd.) and i was afraid i might trip up somewhere along the way.. with my boss watching me!

but two days in, i got into the swing of things and putting on the lab coat gave me this odd yet familiar feeling of.. being at home? (garrh!) i was in my element. :)

as you can see, i still need to come to terms with my nerdy scientific self.

my boss is terrific. plus chop! i mean, i could recount the ways but nah i shan't, just cause. my post-doc is lagi terrific! :) :) i'm really happy to have them guiding me, i mean honestly, i don't know where else i can get such great support. to sum it up, they really go out of their way to make sure i'm ok. it doesn't sound like much summed up like that, but i guess only i need to know how much they've done and are willing to do for me. :)

so i have a PI (whom i've yet to meet, he's canadian and has long hair, therefore he's cool) a boss (a research scientist with a world of experience who's half brit and half jamaican, so he must be cool) and a post-doc (who's worked with qiagen and THAT is cool).

in short, i'm happy and hopeful :)

so back to the 13pg paper i was reading.

2008-08-11T05:37:00.001+08:00

that's me right there.

2008-06-08T02:37:00.003+08:00

so, there's this huge decision i have to make.

i'd hate for it to look like i'm cheap, immature, running for the brand.. and i wish i could tell the whole world exactly what i'm going through, exactly the thoughts running through my head.

but then again, i don't.

i don't wish to.

for i have spoken to the people i want to speak to,
for i have heard the advice i needed to hear,
for i have received the support i wish to have.

but please, don't stop here. i will need all that so much more, more than you can ever imagine, these coming years. i hope i don't overwhelm you, i hope i don't overexert you.

but i will need you. all of you.

for i am scared.

2008-05-25T19:20:00.003+08:00

last night in perth :)

love you, always and forever :)

2008-04-29T01:01:00.002+08:00

it's a huge step. i've talked to a few close friends about it. some understand and are really encouraging, equipping me with the confidence and courage i could not find within myself. for that, thank you so much. you know who you are. all of yous. :)

others, are well, less receptive.. more skeptical. but i must not blame them. they never saw it coming, hell I never saw it coming myself. i've always been viewed in this one light, and it's hard to take Me out of that spotlight and put Me on a different stage. it's something that is hard for even myself to grapple with, so how can i expect others to?

but like one of you said, because of the Me that I am, whichever stage you put Me on, i will strive for the best. and god willing, i will succeed. insya'allah :)

it's a long winding path that stretches deep into the dark unknown, it's a big bad scary world out there. but like one of you said, it's time to grow up and be that adult you are meant to be. (ok so maybe i added more words.)

tonight, my mother told me she sujud syukur and gave thanks. indeed, all that this household is suddenly receiving, comes with His blessing. and because i know that what i am being offered is not one of my mother's favourite options, to know that she has given it fair thought, that she has acknowledged it, that she is grateful for it.. means a lot. i've never liked doing something without my parents' blessings.

i'm slowly getting through to them, and with time i hope, they trust that i have thought it through and that i'm making a fair decision.

there's so many other people i wish i could talk to. i've received comments and opinions of peers, people like myself, people eager for the experiences of the working world.. but i would surely gain more confidence in making my decisions if i could just.. get the opinions of experienced and seasoned individuals.

they haven't given me much time though. i have to return a reply by May 2nd.

and between now and then, i have two exams. bahh, exams.

2008-04-28T01:07:00.000+08:00

getting a twitter. because zati makes it look darn cool.

and i wanna twitter with her. :)

2008-04-23T14:00:00.002+08:00

doors i never knew were there.. are suddenly open.

it's about the scariest thing, the biggest step i might have to take. all my life, of all the things, never this.

but the scope, is far too exciting to ignore.

how about previous dreams and ambitions? this is where i stop to think.

passion is not a matter. no matter, i will be in touch with my first love. how it manifests, now that is where the fork in the road lies.

let's not jump the gun though. this seems a little premature.

2008-04-13T15:55:00.002+08:00

on friday, i received a phone call. insya'allah.

on friday, i also received a beautiful gift. thank you, prof lim. i never thought i'd be one of those people. i've always been on the other side - the spectator. wondering in awe how he did it. what goes on in his mind. envious that the prof is impressed. feeling like he is way out of my league.

then i realised, there is no league schmeague. there is only you, and someone out there who will appreciate your kind of work, your kind of thinking. i'm glad i found that person for me. thank you for giving me back my confidence, and for restoring my faith in myself.

for many days now, i've needed a day like friday.

2008-04-07T11:09:00.002+08:00

i know, i know. let this now be my solitude.

it is the worst feeling to be living, breathing, sleeping something you don't quite believe in. thus has been my life for the past 8 months.

i will be glad when this is over.

in the end, mediocrity doesn't quite cut it for me. and this project is mediocre.

meanwhile. gentle manners, modesty and patience.

2007-12-21T09:06:00.000+08:00

(let's pretend i haven't been neglecting this thing)

i'm really upset that i can't access facebook from my lab! (we moved to a new building by the way.)

facebook was accessible in the previous building, and now i feel so restricted! grr.

facebook is a good thing! networking, hello! bosses, managers, hell even lecturers (read: NUS professors) are on facebook! (yeah so you'd better be careful what happens under your name.)

(wow i use a lot of parentheses.)

2007-11-21T02:28:00.000+08:00

pls, can we just skip to the part where somebody tells me what to do.

2007-11-13T23:46:00.000+08:00

we celebrated nadiah's 23rd birthday..

we hung out - the perfect date; dinner, coffee, movie & girlfriends.

and there was nirwan's open house which was not related to hari raya. nope. not at all. yup. that one.

for the 411, see facebook. comes complete with streaming commentary.

see, i'm not completely ditching this ol' bloggiespottie. (:

2007-11-03T00:20:00.000+08:00

some defining moments. (:

2 complaints:
1) i have REALLY lousy photo-editing software, so don't even bother clicking to view - your head will swim from all the blurry lines. (ok exaggerating.)
2) i'm not too happy with the second rayer megafiesta collage - TOO MANY moments to capture. my head is already swimming trying to select the pictures for that defining moment.

nevertheless:
1) i'm quite happy with the photos i picked - me and my girlfriends.. what's there not to like! ;)
2) EVERYTHING else is on facebook - along with the riotous commentary following the photos. so if you're that keen (kaypoh), hop on over there. i'm pretty sure you have an FB account anyway. like who doesn't. (grumblegrumble)

p.s. i preferred facebook when it was elitist and discriminatory. HA!

ok that's all for this festive season!

as it draws to a close, many memories i have wrapped in shiny pretty paper, tied with a huge bow and stowed away in the deepest vaults of my heart - for safekeeping. (:

2007-10-25T00:08:00.000+08:00

one of those random times the girlfriends are free and a meet-up happens (:

you are the DODOnuts!

one more time one more time!

i just called to say.. i love you!

yes mars says we queued up THREEE hours for it.
mars bedek. :D only got THREE people in front of us. :D

jual donut ke kak..

datanglah ke coffe bean!

what could be more LOVE than girlfriends and a bunch of yummy pastries? (:

AYE LUPS YOOOO TOOO!! ;) ;)

2007-10-16T20:18:00.000+08:00

busy like anything.

from girlfriends rushing around picking up last min items..

be it the hot clutch, that pair of sexy gold heels, that matching tudung or even an entire outfit.. the girlfriends were scattering like ants in all directions! calls and smses were raining in looking for shopping kakis!

to the ketupat weaving and filling til 4am morning of the eve..

to the schoolwork! Miss I'm-a-damn-free-Year-4 is finally busy with schoolwork! the schoolwork had to come tumbling in at this time! with raya and the preps and all.

to the boyfriend's birthday! yuppies, the love turned 22 yesterday. so preps for thaaaat was another story altogether. (alongside raya preps!)

okayokay. so -
SELAMAT HARI RAYA!
mintak maaf pls! for all the wrong and the bad that i may have ever done or said, intentionally or not. (:

this year, i've been a very bad girl. i did so little in the holy month. bahh, i'm ashamed. i reallyreally hope next year i WAKE UP MY IDEA and take full advantage of the holy month. :(

raya preps was mad this time. mummy had the very bright idea of anyaming all 100 ketupats the night before we cook them - for fear of the leaves getting all dried and brown and shrunken if woven too far ahead of time. that should explain the 4am. (and we didn't hit 100)

and then the bday! WAS A HUUUUGE SUCCESS! :D :D

i came a-knocking with breakfast - sunkist orange juice and turkey ham and cheese on whitemeal!
prepared lunch - pan-fried salmon with creamy mushroom sauce, salad with raisins and feta cheese, pseudo kola tonic and berries in cream!
and took him out for dinner! - eatzi gourmet for some real good steak.

kerjer MAKAN AJER!

and then the boys and la love appeared with cake! in dimmed lights and to the wonderful kiddish rendition of Happy Birthday To You.. on repeat! ;) and they brought a FAAABB present, props to them for that!

well actually, props for the whole thing! them coming down all the way and so late. the birssday boy was reallyreally touched and happy and everything. :D perfect way to end the day he said!

okay SOME photos from all the happenings!

HAHAHA! meet lulu and hawa, our newest sexy girls. (check out the meat on those sexy legs.)

ok - HARI RAYA ONES!

yes we do the WHOLE FAMILY SAME COLOUR concept. and i like it!
it won't feel like rayer to me if we're not wearing the same colour!

daddy's side. far from complete.
there are only 3 families here, but three generations! even then, the families here are not complete ('cept mine).

mummy's side! gotta love the candid ones. ;)
aunts, kids and nyayi! look at what the purple brothers made my nyayi do!
again, incomplete. SO difficult to get the ENTIRE family together.

sibs!

day2.

see my mummy so mentel! where do you think i got it from.

i'm that much taller than her huh.

aaand one of those buka-outs and frantic rayer shopping! this one was with shiqin. (:

dessert at the big-O.. for some real good (big)O-ish cakes! ;)

i have totally forgotten the names. but still, they look soo good, don't they!
the top one - the cake is the g-spot, but it's been dressed up with sauce and ice cream and the entire dessert is given a new name.. which i cannot recall. (this one's daamn good. changed the ice cream to vanilla though, for fear of chocolate overload.)
the lower one - not too great. just regular cheesecake with choc mousse on the top half.. too muuushy.

love you girlfriend! (:

OKAY DAH!

(back to schoolwork.)

2007-10-08T19:59:00.000+08:00

you know when you walk into a store and they're playing that song from way back... you're reminded of how it all started. memories come flooding back and that familiar feeling envelopes you. and you smile. then you walk out of the store, completely forgetting why you went in in the first place... to hear the song, perhaps.

2007-10-04T22:27:00.000+08:00

this just can't be summer love, you'll see.

2007-10-02T15:37:00.000+08:00

in honour of DH's Season 4 premiere, let's take a trip down.. Wisteria Lane!

guess which belongs to who!

(i should make these questions in TV Trivia on FB!)

(do you know that i am a Virtuoso on TV Trivia with 33 910 points!)

so we enter Wisteria Lane..

Wisteria Lane is by the way found in.. Universal Studios Hollywood backlot! hehe.

ok start!

this one's pretty obvious!
how many times have we seen that young hot sexy gardener out on this lawn..

who lives in a bright sunny yellow house!
and will probably trip on those cracks walking up and down the path.

who has three boys and a girl and would need a huuge porch and lawn?

pink house!

who can keep those hedges and bushes perfectly trimmed.. all by herself?

this is a toughie. anyone recognize this?
hint: the other 4 housewives would stare at this house on the street.. wondering how come they never knew, never saw it coming.

this ain't a good picture. but can you still tell whose house it is!

Wisteria Lane!

need answers?

i took these while i was on the tram. sooo.. excuse the poor quality PLEASE! hehe.

and youtube didn't help by downsizing the resolution either.

ok if you still can't figure it out, they are:
gabrielle's
susan's
lynette's
(they live in a row)
edie's (at the end of the street)
bree's
mary alice's (they live across the street from the first three)
and the blur one is mike's!

yayy!

2007-09-23T04:07:00.000+08:00

an update first on blogger! blogger wins this round.

so we met for buker. and attendance was less than 50%. and we still had 5. (put that way.. i just realised how BIG a group we travel.)

'twas gooood. just the right amount of havoc size-wise, but still intimate! :D :D

much was shared and boyyyyyy did we learn a lot. ;)

i knowww what you diiiiddd..
i knowww yourr seeeccrets..

wiggles eyebrows.

pretty bloated at the end of the night. *WINK*

so let's start.. well we ate at Restoran Makanan Laut Chai Chee.

MAKANAN LAUT. like so malaysia. i mean, don't we just say.. seafood?

no photos there. of course arrivals punctuated with lack of punctuality. kherrrr. (smug look)

a HORRIFIC revelation that robbed me of two hundred dollars. (gasp)

but tis okay. if it had to be anyone, i'm glad it was you. because we will work it baybehh. ;) and we are soo gonna look good. KAN! (wiggles eyebrows)

at masjid kassim, elly had couples counseling.

this is elly at couples counseling.

:-O GASPS.
i could not help it. i burst into such huge loud laughter they shushed me!
but really. nadiah, you would have too, wouldn't you.
HAHAHAHAHA.

this is mars who would soon need couples counseling.
according to the above guidelines.
(wiggles eyebrows.)

mars' neck hasn't grown tremendously and nydia still has a face, don't worry.

this wudda been suchhh a nice photo if it weren't out of focus!
sorry i just immediately snapped without thinking.. i had to move fast! only one floor the lift-ride.. not like.. TEN floors. kan nydia? ;D

for dessert, shifted party to bugis.. by accident!

anyhow make us take any weird bus. thanks ah elly! or was it farah. (grumblegrumble)

this was us in the bus. RHYMES!

some people really enjoying themselves.

guess which is my favourite photo!

THIS ONE!!! HAHAHAHAHA!

this is elly feeling left out.

yay elly gets photos too! this is the only piece with all of us in it.

this is farah.

she took this photo for us while we were waiting for elly.. making a biggie.

elly wants a piece of the fun. but farah almost cuts nydia off.

finally! and farah says i look happiest! (beams bigbig)

this is not an act-cute photo.

again, elly joins.
(eh i'm beginning to sense a pattern here..) kherkherkher!

this is.. WAS our yummy nak mampos Dark Devotion. mmmm MMM!
had chocolate lava in it.. like lookie that!! oooohh oooooooziing out. (slurps)
tcc btw!

this is elly wanting to take a "goofy photo".
"ehh tanak ah, delete!" -__-

next time, take like farah and me! so sweetsweet demuredemure ni anak. (smiles)

oohh i loveyy my girlies! (: (: went home with this happy satisfied feeling set deep down in my heart. deep deep down down deep down in my heart! (BEAMS)

okayy i think that's all i have to say.

now i'm suuuper sleepy. budden now i have to sahur. (yawns)

2007-09-21T00:40:00.001+08:00

this one's for you, dah. (:

warm milk and toasted muffins. and a yummy girlfriend to boot.

nothing i say will be quite enough to describe that night. so i shan't. love you, dah. (:

and as for you. why you sly fox, you. ^__-

2007-09-10T00:44:00.000+08:00

now when was the last time we saw one of this..
or one of this!!

picture of food i mean.

and the boyfriend has gotten sooo particular abt taking photos with/of him. so nows-adays i barely have photos with him! .. his loss. ;D

great day today; simple date. haven't had one of those in a loong time.

even though we didn't do anything, it felt like everything. i've missed you.

thanks baby. (:

2007-09-06T12:49:00.000+08:00

so many people (like my friends) have seen these photos already! (and AAALL those before this also)

hennyways, THAAAANK YOU MARSIE DEAR! *muaaah*

little ms i'm-an-auditor got her first pay! and that meant FILL MY TUMMY TIME! ;) ;) *jigglydance*

also, the other missy auditor wanted to enjoy her first pay! and so off it was to hunt for clothes and make-up! too bad tangs didn't have a bobbi brown counter - i wanna get pot rouge! yumms.

anyway, over the past couple of days, i've been thinking abt some items i need, not exclusively limited to but including a pair of green open-toed heels, preferably with a buckle across the front. as such, i am officially lifting the post-LA shopping ban. :D

hooray!

ok calling non-working, non-9to5ers to be my shopping partners! because shopping on saturdays is a bitch, period.

ok photos from saturday night, sept 1st.

mid-shopping break! met nadz's bestie, hello you! (:

and like after gazillions of eons, finally met my OWN bestie.

this one hatta promoted to bestie level. (;

something's missing.. or rather, someone.
i hope she knows it too.

"syaaa why never take the curtains!"

and she takes the curtains.. JUST the curtains. -__-

niiiice. (: love you sexyy auditor!
actually i'd much prefer Henry on my shoulder. geeky is the new sexy.

no lah not really. i'm only saying that cause i know mars wants him.

yummy yumyums @bali thai!
the food is DA BOMB, fyi if you never been there. personal favourite of mine and hatta's.

we almost always get the same things. butter prawn is a must. ayam panggang bali. tom yam seafood. and if i'm up for it, kangkong belacan! yummehs!

(okay it's pretty much the same stuff i get everywhere! like at magic wok too.)

to their credit, they have never disappointed thus far.

anyway that night we got hit by some pretty bad (damn cock) service. although i think it's also the customer's responsibility - to earn the service.

sure you're paying for it; tax and service charge and stuff. but still. you don't have to be that rude.

i've been served pretty badly before - and trust me when i say this. for instance, the staff have actually misplaced my credit card - INCREDIBLE eyy. (by misplaced i mean, they sent it to another table. like hello, bodoh.)

anyway, so having experienced worse shit before, i thought what happened at the start was pretty insignificant - surely no cause to be rude to the waiter. a simple "excuse me we asked for iced water a while ago, can we get it soon pls?" would have sufficed.

i woulda been pretty unhappy too if i had been spoken to like that. it's my job and everything yeah, but don't speak to me like i'm a dog. or your slave.

and they have every chance to spit into your food. so don't, unnecessarily.

so later (i can recall only vaguely) the same waiter comes back and he fumbles again. something about taking some plates away and putting down the new ones. this time he pisses off more than one person at the table, one of whom had no qualms abt letting him know how she felt, albeit indirectly.

this time though, i felt he rightly deserved it. he didn't seem apologetic even. he had this perverse look on his face, which i thought had no place in the restaurant, especially not in front of your customers. tsk.

by that time however, i couldn't give two shits abt what he was doing and how he was going to do it. i did notice however, that one or two of the guys tried to help him juggle the many plates.

i couldn't help wondering though.. evil begets evil? if we hadn't been mean at the start..

yet, a good customer service rep wouldn't let the grudge show, i feel.. *shrugs*

ok light moment!

this is ngajiman guilty. he stole! THE SAYUR.
ok like i know mars doesn't eat sayur, BUT the rest of us do!

my sexyy girlies.
okayy i know sexy is the last word you would use to describe a bevy of tudung girls, but orang punyer suker ah!

anyway guess what my sexyy girlies. two days after we were at esplanade, hanging around outside max brenner's waiting for a seat, i got an fb msg.

"were you and your girlfriends at the max brenner's at esplanade on saturday night? i saw a group of pretty tudung girls as i walked past.. got a feeling it was you and your gal pals!"

oh-emm-gee i say. time to conduct ourselves properly, full-time!

the msg-er was an acquaintance, not like a complete stranger. so it's not too scary.

anyway i get lots of "your friends are so pretty!" hmm, maybe i should start hanging out with ugly people.. -__-

@lau pa sat, the only place heeyuge enough to accommodate us.
plus, is and lat joined us!

at the end of the night, huzer challenged us to unlock his car door in 1 1/2 minutes. this because unlike modern cars, there are apparently THREE keys to this one car. so if you wanna steal his car, you gotta get ALL three keys, and then figure out one by one which key goes where.

or you can just break the glass and hotwire the car.

and time's up! look how dejected she is!

and that's a wrap! (: (:

2007-09-05T01:45:00.000+08:00

a typical afternoon out with some o'my girls.

elly was in search of tudungs, and she asked so i said yes i'll go witchuu. :D

post-shopping. rest feet at coffee bean & tea leaf.

did i say typical afternoon?
ie. MANYYY (rubbish) photos. :D

marsie joined us for dinner!
and this is the part elly decides she looks good from aerial view, so she needs to find men who are thiiiiiis tall.

here's mars trying to smell me. *shrugs*

love me girls!

and yes! we bouuuught. FIVE tudungs! i think. three her, two me. yumms.

(25th August '07)

2007-09-04T01:35:00.000+08:00

beware the posts below.

older photos though.

more to come.

ciao for now!

2007-09-04T01:17:00.000+08:00

kayyteevee naiiit!

came from nus in flying car!

singeeerrs.

twas a louuud crazyy night. with much entertainment. ;)

land of big butts.

so vulgar some people.

sexyy pple on the dance floor.

whoo, mistyy!

August 24th, this one.

2007-09-04T01:10:00.000+08:00

with some of my favourite nus (under)graduates!

biiiiiiiiiiiighuggs. (:
you are a strong one, don'tchuu worry. you'll rock the land of the brits, i promise.

a brief dinner, a quick round of games and THEN.. the highlight of the night!

wait. I CHAMPION OK. *beams*

ok so highlight.. PRESENTS!
bath&body works y'all! (only for lucky aug babies though.)

but still! (and perhaps better yet?) Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush lip gloss for the rest!

like excitement much?

ok you can't see it, but those are Reese's! mmmm. :D

zat's oleh-oleh! LIPSMACKERS FOR ME! (no not all.)
see the left hand? yes, defensive action.

HAPPYYY!

the loot!

love my girlies, and easties rock! ;)

umm.. oh yes! 21st August this one!

2007-09-04T01:00:00.000+08:00

oh yah, this is like old story. but my blog is like an archive, see. anytime i need to recall if i've done something before and when.. i refer to the blog! :D

and to that extent.. this happened on 18th of August 2007. there, much better.

this rocked. BECAUSE the company was the bomb. so there.

JAYYBEE EXCURSION!

our ride. (:

pit-stopped, waiting for the other car.

the other car carrying the rest of the girlies!

so mentel these girls, tsk.

dinner, the riotous affair.

pretty the star-lights! @singgah selalu.

my favourite cute people!

@danga bay this one.

minah everready!

no dessert, boo.

the bombs!

and the boys. (:

clearly the better captions and story-telling are on facebook! sorry.

but like anybody who's somebody is on facebook, so. hehhz, life's like that.

2007-09-04T00:45:00.000+08:00

met zee LA mates!

this was what, 4/5 days after we respectively touched down @changi. managed to squeeze in another movie date - bourne ultimatum (THE BOMB!) before the whirlwind called school hit us smack in the face. that while we were still reveling in the memories.. like hello, heeeyuge shock!

anyways right now everybody is in gear and has got their game on, so it's been hard organising another meet! poor wens is forever msging us for free nights or weekends! lucky me, i've caught up with her and gobi in school a couple of times.. albeit short. :P i'll take what i can get!

2007-08-27T22:23:00.000+08:00

if there is one reason for my blog to exist, it is for me to bitch-binge.

so right. two nights ago, after a yummyylicious bowl of banquet raffles medical's famed ban mian (this after my appetizer course - coffee bean's caesar salad with smoked salmon, mind you) i had a craving for beard papa's chocolate eclair.

(shoots i feel my appetite growing, post-LA!)

so off we went to beard papa seiyu and obediently queued at the end of the line. i was mesmerized by the pumping of the cream into the pastry, and so as i was watching in delight, this wretched lady cut in front of me! she just dgn slumbernyer placed her order. and the guy served her!

AND SHE TOOK THE LAST ECLAIR!

i didn't realise, until i ordered. and the guy said sorry no more. momentarily stunned i was. then it registered.. "didn't that lady just buy an eclair?" "yah, that's the last one" "DAMMIT!! AND I WAS HERE FIRST!!" (poor guy looks shocked) "SHE CUT MY QUEUE YOU KNOW!" and i went into a tirade poor mars had to endure. i was rooted there, still complaining. and she had to literally push me away from the counter.

and so i went home eclair-less. and sad. :( and i couldn't stop thinking abt it! worse yet, sunday i fasted. AND I WAS STILL THINKING ABT IT. how like that.

you know, when you fast.. nafsu they call it.

last night, i was still whining to mars abt it. all of sunday i was staring at this
http://www.beardpapa.com.sg/products.html and this

until mars started to scold me.

today, i was fasting still. BUT I COULD NOT TAKE IT.

daddy picked me up from school today, and putting on my best daddy's little girl's voice, i asked if we could drop by either takashimaya, vivocity, plaza singapura or raffles city. (i spent all of sunday staring really hard at the "find us" page, almost willing myself to Disapparate there.)

*beams*

and so YAYY!! i got my chocolate eclair at buka today!! (: (:

i feel whole again. *sigh*

2007-08-26T21:35:00.000+08:00

(let's see if i still remember how to do this.)

this happened like, a million years ago.

august 16th, to be exact. ;)

met up with my sexyycats! (and that's because of kuching my darlings.)

we had dinner at ayam bakar ojolali @lucky plaza. yummeh i say. and i've already been back there one other time with the boffren.

these kittycats were there after work! them working adults. i was from school with the boffren. (wow just saying that makes me feel young!)

look! mars is a ghost! machiam Headless Nick like that.

half-priced desserts at menotti!
a wonderful italian place.. meant for working pple to hang out after work.
like you know.. PROFESSIONALS.
i felt duly underdressed. -__-

i is the loves you sexyycats! :) *muah!*

a lot of photos followed.. duh.

my sexyycat!

you know i was just telling mars. i got to know nadz only recently, and every time i hung out with her, it lasted at least 6 hours. first was the study session @tcc boat quay, followed by study session overnight @changi-airport macs (and then sleep session at my place).. and then kuching. which was like a hundred odd hours of each other's company.. NON-STOP. (not to mention, we like talked non-stop.)

so even after the couple of times i've met this ladyy recently.. like NOT ENOUGH!! how to match up to the earlier dates, KAN NADIAH! ;)

okay like, i love you and everything but.. what are you trying to steal from my bag! ;)

nadiah is not a cat, she is a tiger.

yayys i is the loves you all! another trip sometime? ;)

like hello?

2007-08-20T00:33:00.000+08:00

ok so i will spruce this up one day.

meanwhile, hello sg. (:

i have been basking in many things. and i am very happy.

the LA mates are in close contact, been meeting almost heverydayy. when i am less lazy (like in never ever), i will maybeeee put up stuff here.

meanwhile, facebook is where it's at. oh and multiply. ask me if you want the multiplyy link! most photos are up there, because they have albums and they have private options. (: too public already this place.

i might still share some things here. like DANGA BAY WAS THE ROCKKKS I SAY! and then we tanjong beach-ed on sg's birthday. aaaand then, there was dinner at laguna on east coast. and then there's been schooooool, and i hung out with the female hatta! like how cool am i man. i get male AND female hattas. like who else has them.

baahh. i still have to work my way through disneyland and universal studios photos. not to mention, the hummer tour we took! of beverly hills. like i saw jolie's house okay! and like, helen hunt's. and like HUGH HEFFNER. and like george marciano has like TEN ferraris on his porch. like, bitch.

sooo many things have happened, sooo many things i cannot say. but i am soo glad for the friends i made and the people i have. some relationships went through more than the people involved in it would like, but honestly. i came out better. we came out stronger. it really depends on how you handle it. it reflects on the parties involved.

just when you thought you were happy, you reach a whole new level of contentment.. you see a whole new level of happy.

i think this trip helped me grow. and so did you, definitely. you helped me grow. (:

time&location check.

2007-08-06T13:11:00.000+08:00

2300h, 4th August: Check in @LAX

0140h, 5th August: Take-off from Tom Bradley Intl Airport.

0545h, 6th August: Landed at Taipei

0700h, 6th August: Transfer at Taipei

0740h, 6th August: Take-off from Taipei

1155h, 6th August: Landed @KLIA

...

awaiting take-off at1540h for Changi Airport.

my bum sore, my feet swollen.. my heart full of memories.

see you in a bit, Singapore. (:

in a nutshell.

2007-08-02T09:50:00.000+08:00

i'm doing great hereee i'm really happy and settled in and all comfyy. i look forward to being back, but i'm sooo sad to leave. it's like i miss youuu all and home and things in sg like east coast, vivo (yeah can u believe that), marina sq, late nights on the ecp zooming back in the integra.. but at the same time. i don't wanna leave! it's suuchh a terrible feeling. like you're neither here nor there. i'm really lovin it here, i found the best people i could ever ask for.. :)

and then back home, there are the best people i have ever needed. *huuggs*

i like pretty places.

2007-08-01T04:30:00.000+08:00

the grove @LA. a quaint shopping area, in a little complex (outdoors) cut off from the outside world.

shops looking good.

on the streets in the grove.

rawdah amik chan!

nordstrom - the department store.

pretty uh? flowers, fountain..

the street.

a little tram runs along the street.
out towards farmer's market - an old-style food centre, much like our hawker centre. very quaint. :)

the fountain is pretty much the centerpiece.

theatre.. cheesecake factory!

cheesecake for dinner?

night falls.

fountain comes alive with music and lights.

we're in!
it's a looong wait to get into cheesecake factory. a good hour and more. when you put your name down, they give you this beeper so that when a table is ready, they can just beep you. meanwhile, you're free to do whatever (more shopping)!

godiva chocolate cheesecake.
layers of flourless godiva chocolate cake, godiva chocolate cheesecake and chocolate mousse.
mmmmmm.

pretty girls. (my blog always has pretty girls ey.)

cannot tahan the flash!

one of the boys.. them not looking o'course. the flash kills them apparently.

lovelies. :)
just spent a day with them on the beach, just talking about.. stuff. felt good, i really hope our friendship doesn't end here.

thank you for the orgasmic experience! ;)

the grove @night.

check that out: shut up and shop!

farmer's market! across on the other side. we were there briefly, but didn't get a chance to take photos! very very cute, old-style alleys and eating stalls.

today - bringing rawdah to hollywood.

thursday - psych final! 6 lecture sets to study, did 2 1/2 last night. praayy i finish!

now to wake them kids up, it's half-past one!

pardners.

2007-07-26T03:36:00.000+08:00

guess what!

go to rawdah's for updates. ;)

i will tryyy to do sthg abt my blog soon, but busy busy busybee lah. ;)

so vegas was the bomb. honestly, experience of a lifetime. thgs you thought you'd never see, never do.

SHOPPING'S BEEN CRAZYY LATELY! i just did the accounts last night, omg kill me if i shop again within the next year.

but i told my daddy, and he say oklah.. i thought you spent like 10 ribu. -__- seriously, daddy.

fashion outlets - primm @vegas, desert hills @palm springs.

i have bags and bags of shopping from GUESS, COACH, Boss, A|X, Nine West.. the likes. for peoplepeople around me - mummy, sister and the very lucky Bik Na because she is my favouuurite aunt because she is always the one helping my friends and i get tickets to fly everywhere (kiter kan global citizens). ;)

okay this is getting too incoherent already - i'm rushing, class in 20minutes! and i'm still going to drop Dahling somewhere in campus so she can look around and take photos! :D

okaayy photos should come soon. but if you're on my Facebook, you're way luckier! because photos usually go up there - esp stuff i don't want random people seeing. which reminds me - i better change that Facebook settings.

yikes - LATE! okaay toodles!

today's agenda - the Grove. check it out!

sunny campus.

2007-07-19T19:22:00.001+08:00

apologies for the neglect.

welcome to UCLA!

powell library.

as you walk around campus..

in the centre of campus

enjoying the sun and campus beauty.

we also must! ;)

on the grass.

you is totally gorgeous.

jamba juice is the rocks!

film school! melnitz hall.

signed.

and then one day, i stumbled on this little piece of heaven.
off-campus university housing.

enjoy! vegas this weekend, but first - RAWDAH ARRIVES! :) :)

been busy.

2007-07-14T18:00:00.000+08:00

career change?

later.

2007-07-14T12:00:00.000+08:00

maybe when i feel more inspired, i'll make this more exciting.

off to dinner, bye! (:

living well. (:

2007-07-07T08:09:00.000+08:00

i have not been updating, and that is a good thing. ;)

i am really quite happy here, which is evident enough. and i'm really very thankful.

i'd hate to say bad things about london, but just comparing the two time periods.. the weather here is soo much better. london was kinda gloomy.

plus, i've met some really nice people here, so my dear loves should be happy to learn that life hasn't been lonely. (:

i loved London - the big city, the English living.. just paying in pounds was exciting enough. ;P there's just this charm about London that, despite the lack of sunshine or the abundance of black coats.. just thinking about it leaves a special feeling in me.

i couldn't possibly compare London to LA, they're each in a league of their own. everything that i couldn't find in one, i found in the other. :) like sunshine. the weather here is so perfect- the sunshine, the bright days and the blue skies. of course, i was at the two places at different times of the year.

Americans have also been really nice. i have had quite a few people come up to me and tell me my scarf is really nice/pretty etc. it still catches me off-guard every time though. :) people talk a lot, and they offer help really easily. they take one look at you and can tell you're not from around here, and immediately offer help. "you finding everything okay honey?"

of course i can't speak for the entire population, but i haven't had any particularly unpleasant experiences either.

one thing however - too many homeless people here. the singaporean kids i'm with, we cannot stand to see such things. it's almost painful, really. we wonder how they came to be like that, we wonder how they survive, how they see each day, how each day passes for them..

and then there's school. school is so wonderfully gorgeous here. before we start condemning our local campuses, i must say - not every building on campus will leave you in awe. some are pretty much regular - just like our science blocks. but of course, the skies seem bluer here, the grass greener and the flowers are just brighter. i have photos, but not today my dears. i'm reflecting today. ;)

i'm loving my classes. there are high school kids in my class, and forgive me, but i tend to classify them into groups that i've learnt exist in American schools - thanks to television surely. these kids are just clearing units in the summer, helps them move faster later on when they get to college i guess. there's a couple of sorority-like girls in my Psych class, but of course, i'm judging by looks. sororities and fraternities are everywhere. my first night here, the frat house opposite my block was having some party - music, booze and big-sized boys on the street. i see their letters on their houses, and i like to say them out - just to see if i know the greek alphabets.

life is exciting. :)

i'm really lucky to have chosen to do a film course at UCLA. like right next to Hollywood and all the studios. the film school is really cool, there are movie posters all up on the walls - and they're signed. the classrooms are really cool, because they are sound stages and animation studios. i was really excited when i first got to class. i'm also going to be watching a whole lot of classic American films - think James Dean and Barbara Stanwyck.

and then there's shopping! we finally cleared 3rd st promenade.. after 3 days there. somebody is so lucky, because he is going to all Abercrombie and Fitch, Banana Republic and Armani Exchange in August. i didn't even buy that much for myself. you know how when you're buying for yourself, you think and think about it - is it worth it, is it too expensive.. but when you're buying for someone else, you're just that much more generous.

i'm still itching to hit the beach. cycling, lazing.. the likes. besides Santa Monica and Venice Beach, i'm hoping to go either Long, Laguna or Newport Beach sometime. those are further down, so probably need the car.

oh and! we rented a car a few days back! 7 of us shared the cost, and therefore 7 people we squeezed into the poor Aveo. suuuper funny, we put the biggest guy and smallest girl up front. she was a bit paiseh at first, and then we went like "buay paiseh lah! just sit!" haha. poor thing. 4 people in the back, and zul drove (he got away lucky). haha. every car that passed us looked and pointed, laughed or gave the thumbs up. i think we must have been pretty impressive. at one point, we saw police! poor xinlei had to duck and gobi covered her with his hands. haha.

next time, we're getting a minivan. i'm serious.

and then today, zul and i returned the car. so sad. it was so fun and convenient to have the car. we've had a couple of late night dinners, thanks to the convenience of the car. i think the guys enjoyed it more. they went around driving while the girls were out shopping. the boys have been really sweet, always offering to carry our shopping, zul the driver dropping us off to shop when he could be sleeping.. and the boys will always drop us off right at our front door, even walking us up when we've got too much shopping.

yes before i forget, we wanted to spend 4th of july watching "the best fireworks". they say Santa Monica has the best ones. so off we went, 7 of us in the car.. and we never got there. first off, we finished shopping later than we should have, and then the traffic! we got there to find out that they had closed off some of the roads. but its okay, we sat by the road and watched the fireworks from far.. eating Krispy Kremes! the boys bought back for us! they searched for it while we were shopping, and bought a dozen back. didn't i say they were sweet? ;) when i saw them coming with the Krispy Kreme box, i asked "how many dozens did you guys buy??" then gobi gave me this horrified look. so far, i like the jelly-filled one. :) mmm.

okay so overdue photos include - Universal Studios, Disneyland, campus..

OH YA! (i keep adding on.) we're going to tour Hollywood tomorrow - Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Rodeo Dr.. these places are really near where we are, and in fact we've passed them soo many times. but what's different tomorrow.. is the stretch Hummer. yes we rented a stretch Hummer to tour Hollywood. ;) travel in style, baby. i think the boys were more excited about the Hummer than the touring. Hiro took one look at the glossy yellow flier, "what the hell, let's just do this one lah!"

i'll try to take more photos around Westwood and campus (esp of the frat and sorority houses), and hopefully i'll have time to put them up. :)

okay time to write paper! due on Wednesday! i am here for school, remember? ;)

craazy shopping.

2007-06-30T08:28:00.000+08:00

yesterday was amazingly exciting!

so a bunch of us headed down to 3rd street promenade - for some suuuperb shopping!

the poor boys. i think all boys on trips should remember that whenever the girls plan a shopping trip, they should plan to do something else.. anything else. the boys can vouch for that.

but you can't blame us! everything is ridiculously cheap!! well, not dirt-cheap (some are) but like waayy cheaper than in Singapore. firstly because, they are American brands but more importantly.. SUMMER SALE!!

guess, aldo, everything you can name me.. all having summer sales - up to 70% off! i don't care if it's stock clearance or what, because back in singapore, stock clearance also i think twice before i buy! but honestly, the stuff on sale aren't all that bad. not like the stuff i see in sg during sales.

we first came to Santa Monica Place, a mall at one end of 3rd st promenade. biiigg mistake to start there. we spent like til 5pm there, and we hadn't even seen The 3rd st promenade itself! the boys got soooo bored shit waiting for us, they went off to 3rd st first. and we bumped back into them right as we left the mall - they had walked the street and turned back. NOT OUR FAULT! even one of them admitted, the sale is soo much better for girls than it is for guys.

we have a theory for that. you see, when men get something, it's usually something they need or really want. therefore, they don't have to think much about it. they like it, they get it. but for girls. we survey here and there, we look for the best prices (because it doesn't matter what we get really, whether we need it or not) and THEN we buy. so in order to get us to buy.. SALE SALE CHEAP CHEAP!

okay so anyways. back to the story.

i saw fcuk tshirts going for usd$14.99, i shit you not. the boyfriend is now preparing a list for me. guess jeans for usd$34.99. aldo shoes usd$29.99. i swear to god. we saw sooo much in the mall alone (which is why we took soo long) but we didn't wanna buy yet - cause we still had to check out 3rd st promenade!

but guess what we saw at the mall that i did not stop to think. bath and body works! like whooooot! one 500ml bottles of lotion, shower gel etc were going for usd$3!! gaahh!! and like a selection of smaller bottles at 2 for usd$5. like mega-gaaaaaahh!! and the flavours and scents.. like a dream can!! i got a set for myself in sweet cinnamon pumpkin. i let my friends smell first, they were blown away - and then were really surprised to see that that smell came from cinnamon and pumpkin. :D :D so asssiting, i cannot take it!

wanna see?

so here are the rest of what i bought..

room fragrance! like so yummy right their flavours!
google them if you wanna see the rest of their selections. (: (:

i almost bought aldo shoes.. but i held off. the guess on 3rd st didn't have too many nice bags.

i bought like 3 tops and a clutch from forever21 for like usd$50! in sg, one top is a good $48. hah!

i also got myself guess jeans, i love how these jeans make my legs and ass look. haha! that was on 75% off. so like GUESS lah how much! haha!

i also got an amazing pair of emma capris i think they're called. from ripcurl. they're like the bath towel shorts, only below knee-length. because i is good girl, am i not? right mars, right nad? haha oh yah - usd$19!

okay so here are pictures of the place.

that's xinglay, from ntu biz. (:

that's not all of us who were there. two others are missing!
gobi nus life science, xinglay, angelene also ntu biz and zul! a few people reading this should know zul.

some people doing tricks on 3rd st.

most of the day pictures didn't turn out too well - when we finally got out of the mall, the sun was going down already! like booo. so the buildings looked dark.

but fret not. we shall be going back there! so i can take more photos! but really, we're going back becaaaause - in the 6h we were there, we covered half the mall and a third of the street. NOT FINISHED! MUST COME BACK! hehehehhe :D

and guess what. don't kill me, people who care for me. because we got TOTALLY lost on the way back. can you imagine.. 10pm stranded somewhere in the middle of LA. no, not somewhere, in the gay part of town. tsk, tsk. we had a few cars yelling out their windows at us, while we stood at the busstop. one said "orgy!", another.. we couldn't decipher what. haha. now we know we're in america.

thankfully, we did get back in one piece each. but we were dead tired. the girls from all that walking (shopping), the guys not so much the walking, but i bet they must've gotten pretty bored. hahaha. well, at least they sat down, talked and bonded. haha.

but THANK YOU GUYS for getting us all back safely. it was cute, whenever we noticed something even the slightest bit unsafe (or unfamiliar), one of the boys would bring up the rear. haha. niicely done. (: i is very happy.

anyways, more happy things! today's zul's birthday, and we've a surprise cake in store for him! we're all eating in today. (:

and and more! tomorrow is universal studios day! (again, for me.) i'm so exciiited lah!

get set for some sunshine!

2007-06-27T13:22:00.000+08:00

i'm like damn sleepy lahh. but here goes.

SANTA MONICA PIER & THE BEACH!

first look from afar. already looks so tempting!

we approach the pier.. whoo! doesn't it just scream funfunFUN!

anybody recognize Bubba Gump Shrimp?

as much as i'd like to say that i know that of my own accord.. i don't. someone told me about Bubba Gump Shrimp's significance. any takers? mars?

on the pier on the pier!

omg take me now!

this was pretty early in the morning, although we made sure not to leave too early for we might run into them blustery winds. this was i think, 10ish 11am?

look! the guard station! where troubled teens go to sit down and lament about their lame state of life. ala the oc.

finally, a picture of ME! yes i'm really in LAland!

spot the smog?

the little carnival-like park on the pier. we were pretty early, it wasn't open yet.

my hero and heroine! (:

can you almost feel the wind on your cheek?

that's the rides in Pacific Park. my brother, despite having been to Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure Park, Knotts Berry Farm AND Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park in the 6 days before.. still wanted to do all the rides in there. i'm like.. laaaame lah.

yani picture again! so hard to come by these days.

my daddy found a police car on the pier. and immediately asked me to take photo for him. then proudly proclaimed that it was gonna be his desktop wallpaper. i bet if he had facebook..

i'm loving it. ;)

wouldn't you too?

up close with the pacific ocean.

so funky right my daddy.
until my mummy scolds him and he has to put the cap on the right way again.

hero and heroine again!

the park was coming alive!

as seen from the ferris wheel.

the pier!

the "roller coaster".. yawns.

the entrance of the park.
notice the growing number of bodies on the beach!

getting so crowded!

the other rides.

the other side of the beach. this goes down to Venice Beach.

with the playground and taller buildings, it almost looks like East Coast.
wait, throw in some grass and yeah, an expressway. that should about do it.

quite a happy place yeah. (:
but Disneyland takes the cake i tell you. actually i don't need to tell you. duh!

i love how the waves roll in.

fluffy and white.

so crowded!

LAland rocks!

and what do i spy.. shooting? not the bangbang on-campus kind, not at all.

it's world-famous y'all!

some parting shots.. loving the trees!
why does everything look nicer in a foreign country? how jaded are we back at home?

totally loving everything - the sand, the trees.
spy a game of volleyball?

we didn't hang around on the beach much - was with the parents, and so not their thing. but already have plans to come back this weekend, whooots! ;)

final view of santa monica pier.

bye, but not for long! i will so be back! ;)

peace offering.

2007-06-26T15:34:00.000+08:00

my many apologies to my dear friends who are so patiently waiting for updates.

well, not so patient, because every time i go online - there's a lovely who'd be asking why no updates!

been busy busy, and mars say nevermind, no need to update. what's more important is i enjoy myself in LAland. wheeee!

here's a couple of teasers:

if you can name me the street and all the buildings (well, the well-known ones) on this street, i give you more pictures!

ok since mars, and possibly zat, got them all right - here comes more photos!

if you weren't mars or zat and didn't already know - that was Hollywood Boulevard! yes all, i'm in LALAland. :) :)

so here we're coming to.. do you see it do you see it??

..the Kodak Theatre! like waaaahh!

and there's virgin megastore right next to it.

Graumann's Chinese Theatre!

i don't know its significance (i so don't deserve to be here do i) but mars knows it, so it must have some significance.

Walk of Fame!

if you walk far enough, and stare hard enough, you'll find one that says Nadiah Khalid.
but it's like damn KARAT.

look who i found! my LA boyfriend!

ooh my foot! in that hot red colour! oh yah, and aretha franklin's star.

can you see darth vader and chewbacca? laaame.

guy in red underwear.. on the outside!

i thiiink this is disney's theatre, but i can't be sure.

can you see it across the road? capitan theatre i think it's called.

yay! Roosevelt Hotel! i would've like looked right past it, but i saw on tv the night before that some famous star had checked into it the day before.. so, i thought - ok significant.

siiigh. who believes i don't deserve to be here?

i know nuts about stars and hollywood and who stays where and who does what and who hangs out where. all that info i get from mars.

therefore, i should have packed mars into cargo. (mars you excess baggage weight tak?)

i came back from dinner with some friends pretty late tonight, and i an 8:30am class tomorrow (later).. but see lah! for you all you all. ;)

there's gonna be a highlighter party tomorrow at Rieber Hall, but how come nobody asked if i was going! TSK.

hurhur.

and and i seem sooo clueless about these places mainly because we kinda stumbled upon it. my parents, brother and i. we just got off the bus, walked to the junction and i'm like.. is that.. kodak theatre!! OH, we're on hollywood boulevard! now how cool is that, you tell me.

and that's after we stumbled onto rodeo drive. we were lost, and navigating our way through some smaller roads.. we turned a corner, i saw pristine white buildings with the small canopy tent that goes out onto the road.. i'm thinking.. wait a minute - designer shops? i looked up and saw Rodeo Dr.

fine here's more photos.

Rodeo Dr!

it's so dead because this was at like, 10am i think. sadly, i didn't bump into nobody famous there!

okay so no pictures of people yet - because.. i don't know why actually.

but the holiday pictures will be up next. meaning to say - disneyland day I (189 photos), disneyland day II (135photos), universal studios hollywood (117 photos) and santa monica pier (91 photos).

see why i was facing SO much inertia to do the photo-blogging thing??

but do watch out for the santa monica pier photos - the beach is GORGEOUS! i love i love! so going to spend like a whole afternoon there and watch the sun set on the pacific ocean.. mmm!

and guess what. i got myself a universal studios hollywood annual pass - meaning to say, i can come back as often as i want for the next year at no extra charge! and i got it upgraded for close to nothing! you would usually have to pay a bit more, but because my brother and dad (not me, i swear) spent so much at the souvenir store, the people at the counter suggested i do the upgrade. because with an annual pass i would get 25% off all merchandise, and the 25% they took off more than covered the cost of an upgrade, so i got it and still got $5 off the purchase. whew!

anyways, so i'm like going back up to universal studios this saturday, almost certainly. the friends wanna do that. (:

ok ta! more stories next time! (my stories all rojak already, no chronological order. but who cares right!)

anecdote.

2007-06-16T06:12:00.000+08:00

i must add this before i forget.

when she saw mars coming in, walking into the dining area with me.. she went like (with no reservations)

ehh kenaper you all ni sumer dah besar sama-sama gemok..

i'm like.. MAAAAA!! you don't say that to someone when you just meet. like, it's not a nice thing Ma!!

funny kan? ok dah bye. (:

early morning surprise!

2007-06-16T06:05:00.000+08:00

surprise! haha i'm at the boarding gate and gotta love sg's techhy level - free internet!

i got an early morning surprise myself when who should appear at my doorstep but mars! hatta shipped her over from that jin bertendang place where they all live, bukit batok. :D

YAYY! so i'm a happyhappy flyer. :)

because at the airport, i had more lovelies to see me. who else but my la and is kan. :) :)

aaand thanks you to huzer too, and i don't hate you, really.

okaay, off to call the love before boarding begins.

*muaaah!* to the lovelies. (:

til later, y'all.

last bits of sg.

2007-06-16T01:06:00.000+08:00

really really have to thank these loves for coming down to tamp to meet me. i was rushing around quite a bit, what with the last minute planning for the holiday (with the fam) - i only just looked up how to get from Anaheim to Westwood. spending hundreds (USD) on a cab ride is just ridiculous.

coffee bean's toffee walnut.. sthg.

ME SO HUNGRY! thanksssssss la, thanksssss is!

before i could get the wrong idea, is was quick to add - not because we think you eat alot, because .. (i didn't catch the rest of what he said.)

i also got present to give!
la's belated birthday prezzie from me, ta and zat. :) enjoy it love!

with la having exams, zat on her hons proj, my boyfriend just being back and my going away.. it was just impossible to find a night for us all to have dinner together. :(

is kepo!

i also threw in a little extra something!
i did it rather haphazardly, some of the decor is quite merepek.
nevertheless, i love the bright colours!

i so love this photo - we both look close to perfect and lookie the colourful background!

quickiequickie, and then i had to bid goodbye and off to meet farah and elly. i think this time around, i didn't make it very known exactly when i would be off. i received a lot of surprised 'oh you're going so soon?' messages. i apologize, but it's really mars' fault. i tried to make her throw me a farewell bbq (deja vu anyone?) but sigh.. that girl ah.

aiyohhh i'm kiddiiiing. ;P

lucky thing i still managed to catch these girls.

i'm trying to make elly understand why i prefer this "arrangement":

as opposed to this:
she scolds me when i take photo with her and i try to tuck myself nicely in/on her shoulder. she wants it to be "level" as in the second photo. but doesn't the first one look much cosier!

if nothing else, i love how unclumped my lashes look here.

and who should we see walking past but - fiza!

a few quick words about hot older men and a photo later, it was bye-bye to her too. :(

rounded up the night with the after-dinner coffee.
(and i had to be "level", cannot tuck myself in and be cosycosy..)

THANK YOU everyone for your well-wishes (:
yes, i promise i will take care of myself.
and i'll be back so soon like who will even notice i'm gone??

take care all, and enjoy the rest of the holidays!

remember that when i come back, it will be time for school! hahaha!

a little bit more food.

2007-06-16T00:48:00.000+08:00

love jap food, but so ex! perhaps we weren't there at the right time. couldn't take advantage of the buffet or whatnot.

regular set.

hana maki.

love love! (:

ebi tempura.
not a fave.

teppanyaki chicken udon.
'twas alright.

i can't believe i forgot the name of this one.
i specifically referred back to the menu to commit the name to memory - guess not.
and it was the yummiest! lookielookie that ooey-gooey cheeeese mayo sauce.

soft shell crab.
by the time i got to it, it was cold. :(

halal subsidiary of sakae sushi! at white sands.
they have in fact the same menu, only with 'Hei Sushi' stuck over 'Sakae Sushi'.

is it time to go already!

sidenote:

marsie lookie! i bought me those reddies!

for the food people.

2007-06-15T04:22:00.000+08:00

earle swensen's vivocity.

was once told long ago that it's an upmarket swensens. however, the teller forgot to tell me what kind of food they serve!

will definitely be back - i think they deserve to be called upmarket.

can get very pricey, but the items look really good. just don't go there too often, i suppose.

a pretty sight, the set-up.

we intended to only have ice-cream - once again, craving the sticky chewy chocolate. why ah! i never used to be such a fan.

but the menu was far too enticing. you see lah!

cannot take it already - the mussels were pleading with me.

the real babies.
mussels au gratin with tomato herb mayonnaise.
the sauce was pretty damn good, i tell you. and that's why i say i'mma be back for more!

cookie summit - change cookies 'n cream to sticky chewy chocolate please. (:

i like to do that. mix mix and make my own. who doesn't right. but elly laughed at me for doing that. so mean hor!

he brandho.

2007-06-15T03:40:00.001+08:00

that day, out shopping.

busy busy, so less words, more pictures! here goes.

guess who's back!

seriously, who drinks that much coffee?
hell, who drinks that much anything?

he got hot chocolate though, which i suppose is even worse!
he thought he will confirm get sick of it halfway. (ie. muak)

but nooo. he drink like drink water sia.

cherish it while it lasts, kids.
(no i'm not talking about breaking up - sigh.)
fine, how about this - reunited.. for now. (like how cheesy can.)

"i can shake harder than you!"
and then people turn to look at you.. sure go ahead.

items: his 60%, hers 40%
converted to dollars: him 75%, her 25%

summer is to party.

2007-06-14T02:15:00.000+08:00

this is my official timetable for the 6 weeks in UCLA.

who thinks i should party? I DO!

my suitcase is sitting open in my room, along with my open wardrobe. gosh, i didn't think i was going to do this again.

one thing's different though. for london, i wasn't scared, i wasn't thinking much about it.

i hope LA will be nice to me. and the americans too, please.

people i have missed.

2007-06-12T00:50:00.000+08:00

and am going to miss even more.

so this was friday night - after too long, we finally met up. those who weren't there, you were sorely missed. :(

i think they were going for.. amazed, but who knows.

i daresay the food has gotten better, but downsized! grr.

what happened to arabs and them-likes eating alot?? scaled down to asian appetites? wth, it was scaled down to even less than marlini's appetite!

(we look like we're nudging each other out of the way, and she's winning dammit!)

turkish bread - cannot comment.
because they are dumb.

let me explain. after we placed our orders, the waiter tells us that the portions are quite small (see even he admits!), and so asks if we want some bread with that (the dishes without rice/chips). and i say yes please. (:

then, we helped zat (who was not there yet) order but requested that they 'hold the food until our friend arrives'.

NOPE. really, cannot. according to him, the kitchen 'does not hold food.' (i wonder what the kitchen holds then.)

so much so that my turkish bread, it came a whole ten minutes before the rest of my food! like how dumb is that. you asked me if i wanted to have some bread WITH THAT, so serve it WITH THAT, for god's sake.

tsk.

therefore, i cannot comment on the turkish bread because it was cold and not soft by then.

zat's doner kebab. (was it?)
that was the only decent photo of food i took that night. someone's getting sloppy.

sya was really getting quite entertained while waiting for zat. free show!

see the desperate measures we took to keep zat's food warm. HARHAR.

in action :)

jumpin' jellybeans!
was fun to pick a jellybean and match it against the flavour chart on the back!

pure lovin'.

we thought we'd give it a try. turns out, it's nothing special really.
it's just bread with stuff. nothing you can't do at home.

guess what! birthday present for me! ;)

yayyiee!! it's the very same (well, almost) toiletries travel bag we got for mars before she left for 'chester. only mine has flowers on it!

and my very words to syahirah then were 'it's something you'd wanna have, but wouldn't wanna spend the moolah on.' ie, the perfect gift!

THANK YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU AND YOU! you know who you are, (: (just pick one of the yous for yourself.)

mak tak kasi makan eh?
de toast has toast-tables!

nice one, sya.

no matter how ugly the faces you make are, i still wanna kiss you!

up next - My Boyfriend is a Brandwhore. stay tuned!

players in a game.

2007-06-11T01:48:00.000+08:00

this happened friday afternoon. can't get enough of board games, or what.

this time however, we tried prinsep st. and i prefer boat quay's - smaller and more cosy. plus, prinsep's has a really high ceiling, which does not facilitate noise reduction.

t'was only these four.

mind cafe's black and white brownie.

it was cheaper than the other brownie option - double chocolate. but still overpriced, for its size. tasted good, although.. we could probably do the same given a box of betty crocker's. don't even need to start from scratch.

taxi!

i quite liked this game - using tiles (with roads printed on them), the player has to arrange them in a 3x3 grid so that the yellow cab can get to the yellow house, and black cab to black house. easy enough, you think. you try. there can be no roads leading out of the grid, every road must link up (no loose ends) and the only exits must be leading from cab to house.

saboteur!
deceive and be deceived. who can you trust?

late afternoon, i had to play College Counselor. ;) trust me to offer a helping hand, right. but it's okay, because payment was in this form:

tcc's passion fruit lilikoi cheesecake.
not bad, very strong tangy passion flavour. (:

very professional, College Counselor.

here i am walking him through the NUS systems, and there she is (unsuccessfully) taking photos!

all gone.

all smiles. (:
YOU KNOW WHAT. i am going to MISS YOU ALL.

i like. very nice, i think.

there's more to friday, but. i am tired.

meet my people.

2007-06-08T03:16:00.000+08:00

i am so oddly happy, i myself don't know why. all i can say is, i cannot be more thankful to have these people in my life.

for a whole day today, i forgot. i forgot how lost felt like, what uncertainty meant and loneliness did not exist on my planet.

for i had my people. (:

madly in love with these people.

played games at mind cafe, boat quay. found it wayy more appetizing than settlers.

i can't seem to say much; can't get over this giddy happiness swirling in my head.

here i am painstakingly explaining..

oi dengar tak!

right after these two photos were taken (by Nadz), she puts down the camera and goes "yani can you repeat?" O.M.G. -__-

i love the many laughs we shared, the crazy moments..
gosh i'm finding it so difficult to express how truly happy today made me.

a bunch of us moved camp to seoul garden, marina sq for dinner. the food's alright, never really fancied it. but i totally didn't mind. in fact, i barely tasted my food. i was having so much fun in the company of some of my favourite people.

throughout dinner, it was good ol' elly-chat. and we all know how entertaining that is.

that girl is so full of stories, and she comes complete with actions and facial expressions! get yours TODAY! batteries not needed.

the old people opinion of seoul garden: what for you pay to cook your own food.

ever seen drunk tudung girls?
i have two on my arms.

giddily in love.

i think i need to have 3 favourite accountants now.

okay who noticed i took off my belt?
i couldn't breathe already! the lungs were getting cramped by the growing stomach.

i think the lights above are cool.
where is my other favourite accountant??

there! with my favourite sahabat.

he's also in the running for my favourite pervert. yes, this is the Fadhli from the tagboard. (haha! amik kau.) who is also nadz's boyfriend. i don't just make friends with random people who want to look in my la senza shopping bag.

who thinks we look like a girl group?? I DO.
only.. a little bit confused. nasyid ke pop?

a little extra loving' time: yesterday was spent hanging with the nydia and the mars.

with the nydia.

and the mars.

i want to loving the mars, but she wants to act all scary.

if sticky chewy chocolate was a person, it would be one of my people too, you know.
because it's very good at comforting me.

don't disturb me and my ice-cream!

aperlah mars.. share lah!

nak sikit?

alah dahbis.. licin oi!

girlfriends, sticky chewy chocolate and shopping.
MY LIFE IS GREAT.

guess what! no pictures of food! oh, you noticed?

and the boyfriend comes home in less than 27 hours!

some of my favourite things.

2007-06-05T02:29:00.000+08:00

today, despite the morning hiccup, was a day well-spent! i am happy. (:

kway teow kerang. cockles fried kway teow.
where are the cockles?? there's a giant prawn instead.

haha. kidding kidding! there were very many cockles in there! nowhere nobody has not been, this was from vivocity's banquet! (: tried and tested, verdict - TRUSTED.

oh and i don't have a photo of it BUT. everybody MUST try ah mei tea! it's like teh peng, but with a hint of something my friends and i who love it haven't quite figured out what. sheesh. i suspect it's rose syrup, but i could be wrong.

i still need to find exciting clothes (before the bf comes back). and once again, the gss has disappointed me! bahh. nothing could satisfy this lady. come on!

i am however pretty stoked with this new baby.
la senza bras have that special feature that girls would rather die than disclose. ;)

kicked off those shoes and chillaxing after a hard hunt.

honey spice chiller.
it's.. new. unique. a little bit adventurous. an acquired taste?
i don't know, i'm not about to try it again. too.. spicy.

muchos love!

this girly, we barely meet up but when we do, i realise how much i actually miss her! i'm so so happy and thankful that despite everything that went on around us, we hung in there and we sealed the friendship. (: *hugs* it's always a blast to hang out, just talk (gossip) and share stories! dreams, aspirations and what-have-yous. ;) i truly wish you all the best sweetie; may we one day see that day in its full glory! :) :) whoots, i'll be cheering you on!

and i couldn't resist doing this:

i wanna jump in there.
and then i want to live forever.

you think the night is over?

you're wrong! the night is still young!

but the camera was beat. haha. so sadd! i really wanted to take more photos!

for i finally met with la again! back from the little weekend holiday, is has his half back. I WANT MY HALF BACK TOO.

and to top things up, they bumped into an old friend who thus turned into a new acquaintance for me! it was truly nice to meet you, jas(?).

after some supper and much bouncing around the roads of singapore, my favourite (bickering) lovebirds finally dropped me off at the void deck. at a sore 1am. aren't they so sweet! i was pretty worried about them getting back actually, don't think is is used to that kind of distance. with hatta also, i make him call me everytime he gets home after dropping me off. it's a cross-country drive! not my fault right, tampines is such a hot location that there's no more space for other people so they have to live in faraway places like bukit batok. bukit batok is so far away it's next to Far Far Away. i wonder how shrek is as a neighbour. shall ask mars one day.

i am thwarted.

2007-06-04T12:56:00.000+08:00

i arrived at the lab at an ungodly 9am to find that my supervisor is not here today! she's at some course over at nus. bahh.

see lah, when i'm all geared up to work, i don't get to. they are against me! see! it's a sign!

i should've picked my backside up and gone on over to vivocity. nobody shops at that hour, so i would have had the shops to myself. no queues for fitting rooms, no jostling to get to the sale rack.. dang it, why didn't i realise sooner!

so i've been whiling my time away looking at career options (again). it's like a battle everyday, and even when i'm at the lab, Alternatives seem to win. Research barely does anymore.

i saw this job ad - '... accept people from all walls of life.'

but i from ceiling, how?

hahahahhaha! funny what!

fine, it could have been a typo.

the girlfriend.

2007-06-04T00:29:00.000+08:00

last night, i caught up with the boys - is and khairul.

it was funny at first, i think everybody thought it might be odd, me included. but in the end, we were like hey why not.

when i told hatta, he was like 'eh?? cool! you're like my sub!' -__-

it was pretty fun. (: the usual; just talking and catching up. and of course, witnessing The Great Is&Khairul Bickering.

they bicker all the time, and i'm not exaggerating. everything is cause for argument with these two clowns. haha! when they came to get me, as i opened the car door, they were already bickering about god-knows-what.

it was an all-local night! whoots! first to changi village for my can't-be-beat nasi ayam penyet from purple-signboard Bestari.

khairul asks ' what makes the ayam penyet here so good?'
i reply almost instantly 'the sambal. and the way they fry their chicken. the rempah on the chicken is soo good.'
with his next bite, he's like 'yah i agree! it's the rempah. i didn't realise before though.'
is also added that it's how tender the chicken is. they really penyet it well. hehh. YUMS.

the boys also ordered some rojak cina. gotta love it. the crunchh, the juicy sengkuang (turnip i think) and pineapples!

and then for some delightful local dessert, it was ROCHOR TAUHUI!! i think we've been through this before. i cannottt get enough of it! i cannnoott emphasize how absolutely good it is! the syrup is NOT the scratchy-throat kinda sweet, the tauhui is just SILKY SMOOTH.. (okaayy i've said this all before, so i'll stop right here.) the mix of the sweet and the tauhui is just perfect. there. (:

see for yourself. look at how smooooth the tauhui is.

no pictures of people! i am quite sad actually. i wanted to take, but there was no opportune moment. even when we were on the road (car-shot, duh). the red lights just weren't on my side this time.

giaant thank you to mr is for the ride back! singapore is so small everything can be considered 'on the way'. haha.

quote unquote - tak selalu tau boleh lepak dgn member punyer girlfriend.

right now, WE ARE ALL WAITING FOR MR HATTA MY BOYFRIEND TO COME BACK! wahlau enough of europe already COME BAACKK. and the bold part is for those people who, from reading my earlier entry, thought it was about him. it's NOT.

just to get us stuck-in-sg kids a little green, here's his europe route so far:
Paris - Brussels - Germany (not sure where, but i think Bonn) - Prague - Vienna - Budapest - Romania - Bulgaria (like wth is in Romania and Bulgaria?? ..besides girls?)

he should be wrapping it up on some nude Greek beach.. unless he has to get naked too. according to khairul, that's how it works. and is thinks its embarrassing, for others can see when boys.. you know.

and then i should think it's back to Zurich/Paris for the flight back home. which is this coming saturday, whooots!

scream if you're green with envy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!

moshi moshiiii.

2007-06-03T00:37:00.000+08:00

it was an unexpectedly jap day. we should have watched some jap horror film to complete it.

so like i mentioned, we were waayy behind schedule. (not that there was a tight schedule.)

mars and i finally met at 2:30pm or so, when i was staring at a tudung girl wearing white tights. i suppose the tights were to be full-length, but it must have ridden up or something, leaving behind about 4inches of bare skin between the ends of the tights and the ankles. tsk, what a way to spoil a good outfit.
(EDIT!! - this is not some cryptic way of talking about myself. i just realised that in one of the later photos, i am seen in white pants. but i am not talking about myself. i was really looking at some other tudung girl also waiting at the mrt station.)

so! back to Jap Day. missymarsie paling mentel wanted to get jap snacks, and she was told Liang Court has quite a selection. i on the other hand, had wanted to check out the Zara/FCUK warehouse sale - which turned out to be such a disappointment.

after hoofing it from Seah St to Liang Court (whooo! i'm so proud of us!), we found ourselves behind Fort Canning Hill and wanting to get to Plaza Singapura. mars is like 'PS is just on the other side of fort canning!'. i'm like 'i don't do inclines, mars.' nadiah's like 'let's take a cab.'

there goes the pride.

on hindsight, i quite admire myself (and the rest of us) for having walked everywhere when we were younger. from rgs down to far east, around the corner at tangs and down down down all the way to ps. sometimes, even to city hall and down to the river. but of course, we were in good 'ol sneakers.

this time, nadiah and i were like 'Liang Court is so near! it's just like behind Funan, behind the MICA building.. see it's so near (pointing to map at City Hall station).' and in fact, i enjoyed the walk! much much talk, nice buildings and guess what! FEW PEOPLE! especially along the river, and smack in the middle of the afternoon.

i now want to explore the malls in the boat quay area. (: the centre and that mall that has always been there but never been given a second glance.

okay so here we are at PS.

guess where and what.

gift from missynadz, from Perth, Aussieland!
spaaanks you so much, *muah!* (: (:

our Jap goodies, from Meidi-Ya at Liang Court.
we spent a fair bit of time over there, exploring and looking and deciding. :D

wasabi-flavoured nuts!
who loves the wasabi fire at the nostrils? ME, I DO!

flavoured seaweed! crunchyyy, YUMYUM! tom yum yummy yum yum.
because Xiaxue says it's nice. hurrr.

there were many other flavours - garlic and black pepper, hot&spicy, tomato.. i am definitely going back for more!

MANGO pocky!
(ignore the label. i suppose they couldn't recall what's english for that fruit at the time of printing. haha!)
the cream on this pocky is sooo rich, sooo thick and creamyyyy we died when we ate it.

also, many other flavours available - berry, coconut.. there's supposed to be wasabi, but we couldn't find it. fooh, can you imagine!

while this one was hard at work..

so was this one.
difference? one behind the camera, one in front. siiigh.

look people! we are NOT wearing the same colour, YES!

and then it was time for shrek 3! gaaaawd, when did princesses get soo bitchy! and air-headed. and baby ogres! who wants?? that's all i'm gonna say.

gosh, i am totally the Queen of Nice Mars&Nadz Photos.

in keeping with the spirit of Jap Day, dinner was at Ramen Ten. but of course, it wasn't planned. we were running through our options, when these two settled on Ramen Ten. i'm not fussy, so sure, why not.

it was easy to take our order: 3 tom yum ramen - seafood, beef and chicken. one of each. one of everything, if you may.

seafood.

chicken cutlet.

beef. this shot's courtesy of missynadz.

i love my FAVOURITE ACCOUNTANTS!
it does not matter how many i know! what matters is, you two are my FAVOURITES.

mars recently discovered the super-power hand blower/dryer. she couldn't stop talking about it. in fact, after she tried it, she came back to tell us how amazing it was. that the wind pressure was so strong, it blew her flesh.
nadiah is totally right - mars is such an airhead!

never have i seen anyone so excited about that thing..

just as i have never seen two people look cuter!
omg nadiah, we are SO CUTE!

and the night wears on..
what can i say - i love these girls TO BITS!

must say thank you to mars for bringing missynadz and i together, although sometimes i wonder if mars regrets it. hahahha. nadiah and i exchange Looks a LOT. especially when mars says something silly or does something strange. which, trust me, is pretty often. and then nadiah and i are left looking at each other, like 'what. the. hell.' or like 'what do we say to that..'

tapi mars! i masih sayang you tau, sumpah i tak tipu you!

we wrapped the night up with some good Muddy Mud Pie from coffee club.
only the photo came out looking like shit - so i didn't bother labeling it with a dotblogspotdotcom.
i blame the lighting. HAHA.

okay taa all! (:

we are fab.

2007-06-01T12:41:00.001+08:00

we have done it once again. i'm hanging with my favourite accountants today, and as usual, we set our plans for 2h earlier than it's actually going to happen. but i woke up (almost) on time okay!

plans were set for 11am (yeah, right. who's actually waking up at 9am right.), which then became noon, and then became 1plus, eventually 2pm.

whatev, i still love my favourite accountants!

dumdeedum *twiddles thumbs and waits for time to pass*

oh! listen to this! my flavour of the week. enjoy!

makes me wonder.

2007-05-31T03:25:00.000+08:00

give me something to believe in
cause i don't believe in you
anymore, anymore
i wonder if it even makes a difference to try

so this is goodbye.

and then i cried.

but it felt good. i talked it out with a few people tonight. most helped me get perspective.

zat says i haven't reached the extent of bidding goodbye. so that's good.
mars says it's cause i see people around me moving on. and i feel like i'm stuck in limbo.
rozzie says at least for now, you know it's something you gotta do - so suck it up and do it. face the reality; that helps you get by better, i guess.

i hope i didn't quote wrongly. but see, i love my people. these are my people. and i love my people.

you know how on Grey's meredith is christina's person and christina is meredith's person? well i'm wayy luckier than both of them put together. i have people.

i'm going through something; i just don't know what.

you know how sometimes on that road, you meet with the occasional humps that you need to get over?

mine's a wall.

and then it goes
and it really makes me wonder
if i ever gave a fuck about you

stop. i always gave more than a fuck. so why now, why now i demand to know.

i am throwed.

2007-05-30T02:36:00.001+08:00

fine i confess.

i have been playing computer games. that's why this blog is getting dusty and look at that, cobwebs!

it's a really old game though, used to play it back when the A's were just over. it's hatta's actually, and my brother decided to ask him for it again. and thus, i too was hooked.

running a city, watching it grow from one stage of civilization to the next.. how not to be enthralled!

so while i gather myself and ready this body to see the world again, allow me to whet your appetite a little.

signature bread pudding.

crepe suzette.

fondant de chocolat chaud.

no i did not memorize the names. i looked them up.

but first. guess where from!

Bistro Delifrance, can you believe it??

looking through those lenses, everything tantalizes!

shall i not, allow myself to feel even the littlest bit of cleverness on my part? allow me, sire, for i may never feel this way again.

wow, where did thaat come from.

so anyway, here says Bistro Delifrance about them yummies, followed by of course the all-important consumer's opinion.

Signature Bread Pudding Deliciously moist bread pudding, served with vanilla sauce & a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
my take: bread pudding was beyond moist - to the point of soggy. not too good. but tasty, definitely good to the tastebuds. the cinnamon flavour kicked it up a notch, although personally, cinnamon is incomplete without the raisins!

Crepe Suzette Hot crepe with caramelized apple wedges in an orange and butter sauce, served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
my take: this, it looked better than it tasted. and it didn't even look very pretty in the first place. the crepe was drowned, and so couldn't get much out of it. but the caramelized apples in orange and butter sauce.. now thaat was a dreaam! in fact, we couldn't figure out if the little brown pieces were apples or oranges. i was pretty confident they were apples, i mean i've never come across caramelized oranges.. but the orange flavour was undeniable! turns out, we were all right. :D

Fondant de Chocolat Chaud Unbelievably moist chocolate cake oozing with fudge, served with vanilla ice-cream
my take: take their word for it - unbelievable it was. mmm MMM! and the oozing fudge! buay tahan ah! i was pleasantly surprised by the fudge. (obviously i didn't pay attention to the menu.) and the cake.. you know how some cakes make you feel a little queasy after a few bites? the malays call it muak. but this one.. totally NOT! i'd have to say this was the best one up there, and as soon as the boyfriend comes back - i'm heading back for this baby.

but you know what i like best? the mint leaves on the ice-cream! :D the perfect accent for my shots, wouldn't you agree? ;)

eh dahlah, wahlau. free publicity sia.

we cleaned those plates!

no actually, i did. the rest playcheat. pick here, pick there.. greaaat, leave yani to sweep everything into her stomach, why don't you.

here, some of the people i love.

on a side note, HAPPY 22nd SWEETIE!
dah big girl, you know.

one more time - HAPPY 22nd! that's for nydia.
oh yah, again - HAPPY 22nd ELLY!

whew. did i leave anyone out?

stagnate with me.

2007-05-28T19:29:00.000+08:00

i feel uninspired.

had wanted to blog about stuff i've been up to since the kuching trip..
trip to US embassy was definitely an experience to share. the few that i did share with should consider themselves lucky. some of the things i saw in there were almost atrocious, really. sigh, amer/icans.
been cycling with marsie dear a couple of times. nice leisure time. followed by some girlfriend lovin'. oh, and east coast is so much nicer on a weekday afternoon. mars, again?

the inertia i'm facing trying to get started on the Hons project is tremendous.

it's like i almost don't want to do it.

i am secretly jealous of people who are graduating. there, said it.

and, stagnate being a verb.. i find that ironic.

hey ho hey ho!

2007-05-24T02:03:00.001+08:00

i went to see pirates' at world's end today! with is, la and mars! (: (:

who doesn't love jack sparrow? i love i love! johnny depp is hott! (: (: (:

the story's alright, but i liked dead man's chest better. it wasn't as funny. and started to get just a teeny bit incredible. i could become captain too, i bet. haha. and i soo don't like will turner. or orlando bloom. or orlando bloom as will turner. bahh.

but who cares. i am so watching the next installment - for cap'n jack sparrow o'course. :D

i liike when friends meet friends. my friends are awesome people, so most times - it's a hit!
wait have i said this before?

have a bunch of photos.. but until i get through the rest of kuching photos (yes even if it kills me, i'm gonna do it. unlike mars - she quit!), all other events shall be put on hold.

i like to chronicle my life, see. great fun to look back one day. hopefully. blogger you better not die and eat up my entries during my lifetime.

meanwhile, here are some more of kuching!

kuching - the fourth and the end.

2007-05-22T01:21:00.000+08:00

it was heartbreaking to leave the baruk suite and damai beach, but i was pretty happy with the memories i had tucked away safely in the deepest recesses of my mind. plus, in a place as special as that, staying too long would kill it. i didn't want to have a moment where i was bored, or felt cramped. looking back, i realise it was just the perfect amount of time we spent there.

mr. khalid picked us up and we went in search of a place which would have us for lunch. the first two seafood restaurants were closed! well, a lesson i had long learnt from holidays with my parents, but somehow i thought east malaysia would be the exception. plus, i figured mr. khalid would know better right?

we finally found Romlah's Orchid Garden (hey, isn't that the hotel's coffeehouse?). but this was literally an eating place set within an orchid garden. maintained by Romlah herself, of course. sheltered away from sweltering heat by the hanging orchids, not to mentioned hidden from the raging outside world, this place was a little haven!

missynadz's favourite - nasi goreng kerabu.
can't recall if this was the perlis or kelantan.

my kway teow tomato, apparently a significant sarawak dish.

see the many greens around?

siigh. someone picking through her food. no veg no veg!

we got back to kuching city centre rather late that afternoon. just enough time to get me shoes and a faaab dinner. :D

i bought the black (left) and had to sadly toss the brown (right).

dinner was a yummy affair, as always! that night, it was coca restaurant!

steamboat!

tricked mars into believing we were having ginseng chicken and herbal tonic. hah!

only part of the spread. we had like.. close to 20 dishes! just count the plates!
and this was without mr. khalid there. he would have ordered more for us to try, according to nadiah.

dig in!

green noodles.

yellow rice.

hard to say which i liked more! both were yummyyummy!

what's after dinner, girls?

dessert! off to bing's we trooped, arms linked - for fear of bad people who might grab us/our bags.

bing's is this wonderfully modern joint with.. cakes and coffee and ice blendeds and smoothies and totally meant for us! (: (:

the ambience was totally perfect; comfy couches and throw pillows, dim lighting, loads of youngsters and just the right volume of music, a notch below the chatter. too loud would require yelling!

dig the atmosphere?

mars bar cheesecake!
like chunky chewy pieces of mars bars IN the cheesecake!
explosion of YUMM in your mouth to say the least!

strawberry smoothie.
the bits of jam-like strawberries were a dream! more kick to the drink, i say. (:

tiramisu. a bigger dream.

the cheesecake disappeared in two minutes - we could not control ourselves! (this was after that steamboat, mind you.)
so nadz and i went back to the counter to select another cake. we are greedy girls. but the cakes were waayy yummy, can't blame us!
and this tiramisu? like have i ever tasted such light tiramisu? neveerr.
i wanted more! but that would just have been too greedy. hehhz.

all gone! we polished it off.

hard to remember that, beyond those glass panels, was malaysia. ;)

LAST DAY.

our return flight wasn't until 7pm that evening. so the day was spent picking up last minute souvenirs.

what else, but tikar sarawak!
for marsie's mummy.

the ladies choosing and picking their way.
where was i?

perched on a stool!

pretty soon, nadz came to join me in my stoning.

aaand the very nice mr shopkeeper wraps it up!

that afternoon, we had Hartz chicken buffet. which i have to say, i didn't take to very nicely. i think my stomach was full of gunk from the many huuuge dinners from the nights before. i did enjoy Hartz's pasta and chicken pot pie though. and of course, the sweet desserts - the crunchy cobbler with peach and apples was it? and of course, bread and butter pudding. hehhz. i am a suckerr for sugar. no photos. clearly that day, i wasn't in the mood. -_-

aand we set for home. (:

not bad okayy, we returned from a last minute spree at vincci's (newly opened SALE!) with 20 minutes to spare. and so we threw everything in the bags, sat and squuezed the bags shut, snapped them locks and hauled them out the door. (well, thank you uncle bellhop.)

as with all holidays, how can bags not multiply right? it's spontaneous regeneration!

thank you, my dears. i shall truly cherish. (:

and of course, thank you kuching!
p.s. i prefer you to west malaysia.

THE END. (for real now)

damai beach - the resort.

2007-05-21T23:46:00.000+08:00

see the houses atop the hill?
we stayed at the baruk suites, which were up there on the hill.
but those aren't the baruk suites. those i think are the kampung melayu suites. sthg like that.
in the foreground, that's the public pool!

our baruk suite - 'Pipit'!

two beds!
it was a gorgeousgorgeous room. i would kill to have it for the honeymoon.
BUT. since i've been here, the husband will have to find another place for the honeymoon! hehhz.

there was a sitting area.
it's the first thing you open the door to. the entrance is on the left of this photo.
it was a circular room, in case you can't already tell.

as you walk from the living area, you see this.

the bed faces the verandah! like whoots!

the morning we were there, as usual our alarms were set for 7am (or sthg), and i actually woke up. i just had to take in the morning scene.

so i went out onto the verandah and breathed in the morning air. it was.. serene. and i let it all wash over me. (: the cool morning air, the sound of the waves and the crickets.

then, i went back inside, drew the curtains open.. and went right back to bed. anak dara PEMALAS!

but i did that for a reason! so that when we next woke up (which was like noon), my girls and i would awake to such a lovely view! ;) nice riight!

okay enough talk about the view. here it is:

panning from the left..

the horizon in the middle.

and the breathtaking mountains and sea on the right.

gaahh! i'm like salivating now, aching to go back there!!

but god knows - how to go back to baruk suite! need many many moneyy! :P

gee, yani. ;)

to top it all off, there was a private pool!
for the hilltop suites. :D
so it was like only us and a bunch of mat-salleh couples!

we went crazy with the sunblock and/or tanning lotion.. the shades, the storybooks, the sunshine.. this was the one time we weren't complaining about the sun's strong rays! ;) we were soaking it all in! and i have to say.. the rays were very strong that day. whee!

nope, no photos from poolside gonna be up here.

just one, and try not to look too hard.
i was totally in the moment. ;)

the end. whee!

damai beach.

2007-05-21T20:54:00.000+08:00

this is the shiiits y'all.

caught in action!
what am i doing?

i was doing this!

ooh, lovelove soft white sandy beaches. soft. WHITE. SOFT.
(in case you don't catch my drift - i'm angry at singapore beaches. poohh.)

beach-front spa!

sadly, we didn't do ledang spa! because of umm.. circumstances. haha. i woulda looved to, you know.

the soft trickle of water returning to the ocean.

drop them rocks.

seen this shot done by so many other people; i had to try it for myself.
walk that ocean and climb that mountain.

the sand looks almost flawless - until i take my next step.
i have no idea how this photo came about. whether it was accidental or deliberate.
but i like the outcome.

strong sunshine.

i truly enjoyed being on damai beach. (:
(mars don't hate me okayy. and thanks for all the shots!)

you can't fight the tide alone, you know.

and the sun dips.

goodbye mr. sun. thanks for the sunshine you gave that day.

the beach at sunset.

damai beach rocks. because it has hills and mountains alongside white sandy beaches. with softsoft sand. (:

who wants to go back?? i say me, ME, ME!

the end.

sarawak cultural village - cultural show.

2007-05-21T16:56:00.000+08:00

i loved climbing their version of a staircase. like so fun like that!

because i was having a narcissistic moment then.. and now. geee. :D

everybody! meet the man mars/nadz were crazy abt.
he's so hot. we had a very revealing side view, so we know he shaves.
he can burst a balloon with his blowpipe in ONE try. and he dances with girls too!

unlike nadz, who needed FIVE tries.
you see in the second last photo, the guy looking frustrated already.
and in the last photo, he brought her closer and closer to the target. that was when she hit it. haha. it was a balloon hanging from the ceiling.

anyways, nadz was telling me how scared she was of these shows and these guys. with their weapons and all. almost immediately after that, this guy decides he needed a volunteer. and he scans the audience. and he stops at us! haha. we were damn scared already lah. and then he starts walking up the aisle (damn why did we choose to sit along the aisle) and stops at us!

by that time, all three of us were looking down (well at least i know i was) and avoiding eye contact. and that missynadz was like 'omg yani how yani' and i was like 'shut up'.

aaaaaaaand all i can say is, better her than me! i would have taken like seven tries or sthg. with that blowpipe. good going on you nadzyybabe! ;)

more scantily-clad men.
these guys were more covered than the first.

they playing the bamboo dance!

more bamboo dance!

a bit small, but you can just make it out.
the guy climbs to the top of the pole, basically balances on his abdomen, and SPINS atop the pole. and then as he jumps off the pole, i managed to catch a shot with his shirt revealing his stomach area, and guess what, nothing there! he was really balancing on his bare stomach.

the girl on four poles.
a bit boring after the guy's stunt.

this i don't get. he's biting onto a very heavy block of wood. or sthg.
so cool meh?

the melayu dance!
i have to say, the most mentel dance.

so fun right! at the end, they invite the audience on stage to do a bit of dancing.
so wasted we didn't go join in.

the end.