I selalu berebut tengok TV dengan husband. My husband asyik tengok sports channel je...Kalau semalam dah tengok, hari ni ada ulang tayang pun boleh tengok lagi, excitement sama level. I pun pelik. Kalau I, I tak suka buat kerja dua kali. Kalau dah tengok satu episod, dah lah, tengok cerita lain pulak.

Hari ni ada kursus, so balik rumah awal. Dapat tengok TV tanpa gangguan. First time tengok The Challenger Muaythai. Sebelum ni tak pernah rasa nak tengok pulak. Rupanya buat dekat Malaysia and ada Malaysian contestant. Lepas tu dia sembahyang pulak tu, jadi I suka. Hehe. Ada contestant dari Thailand. Dia menang last week, hadiah dia dapat jalan-jalan pergi iCity. Ek eleh, iCity...Haha!

I ni semangat Asia sikit, akibat kena brainwash dari zaman Dr. Mahathir, dasar pandang ke Timur. Jadi, apa-apa, memang I support orang Asia. Tak hairan lah dengan orang putih, kita pun hebat apa! Tapi I tak lah obses, I masih guna English, ada juga barang I pakai Western brands...

Lepas tu I semangat orang susah. Kiranya, I lagi respect orang-orang yang berjaya yang datang dari keluarga susah dan miskin...

So, anyway, Faizal dari Malaysia tu menang kali ni, kalahkan Jesse dari Canada. I harap Faizal menang USD100000 tu, tolong adik beradik 11 orang. I bet orang putih tu semua macam, fuiyo, ramainya adik beradik engkau Faizal! Haha!

-------

Beberapa minggu lepas musim orang balik Haji.

Bersempena itu, I asyik teringat dekat arwah Daddy saja. Dia meninggal 4 hari lepas balik Haji. Dia  batuk-batuk, ingatkan batuk-batuk biasa. Tak sempat sampai ke hospital pun, meninggal dalam tidur.

Lepas tu saya baca blog Cacah, http://directlyme.blogspot.com/
Dia pun baru kehilangan ibunya yang baru pulang dari Mekah. Jadi saya pun tumpang sedih.

Jadi saya doakan haji mereka semua mabrur dan mereka dapat berehat-rehat dalam Syurga.

--------

Hari tu, I attend wedding kawan I.

Anyway, first time I pergi wedding yang ada drag show y'all! Haha. It was so much, a lot of screaming and dancing. Actually, pengantin tu kena prank oleh rakan-rakan pengantin lelaki. Tak guna betul. Konon ada special performance, tengok-tengok yang keluar drag queens yang inappropriately sexy gila, nyanyi sampai lima buah lagu.

Lepas tu, biaselah, drag queens kan attention whores, dia pergi 'boobbanging' dengan pakcik-pakcik, yang kepala botak kena usap. (Bukan headbanging, tapi boobbanging). Menjeritlah kami...Lelaki-lelaki di meja kami dah ready kaki, kalau datang dekat nak lari. Tapi I tahu, dalam hati meronta-ronta nak dibelai kan...Haha...

Last-last, pengantin lelaki pula buat Gangnam dance untuk pengantin perempuan. Comel.

Dulu, I pernah attend wedding yang I rasa inappropriate jugak sebab ada dancers pakai skirt pastu I don't know lah, memang tak kena...Tapi yang ini lagi over!

I juga pernah attend wedding yang ada magic show...Like, apakah! Circus ke apa, ada magic show pulak. The magician siap promote suruh beli buku dia.

Tapi itulah trend masa kini. Semua orang pun nak wedding yang lain dari yang lain, nak extra special, nak yang memorable. Jadi kreatif.

Recap balik, I dengan husband I kan datang dari dunia yang berbeza. Jadi, rakan-rakan kami pun dari dunia yang berbeza. I selalu kutuk kawan my husband sebab I rasa diorang tu sesuatu laaa....Haha, tak semualah tapi...

So, komen dari husband: Kawan-kawan you ni peliklah, Ectopy!

Eh, kawan I tak pelik okay, kawan you tu yang kampung, not fun at all!

--------

Oh, I dah collect dah hadiah yang I menang tu. Dapat 3 bags in total. As long as they are free...!!!

Satu tu iPad organizer, which, well, I tak ada pun iPad tu.
Satu lagi tu dapat baby bag, which, well, I tak ada baby pun.
Satu lagi tu passport holder and bag tag.

I beritahu kawan I, dia cakap, "Itu tandanya you kena beli iPad and ada baby cepat-cepat!"

Ye lah tu. Dulu I percaya juga dengan tanda-tanda ni. Kalau letih sikit, I ingatkan mungkin dah lekat. Kalau rasa nak muntah sikit, I ingatkan dah pregnant. Kalau demam sikit, I ingatkan mengandung dah.

Eleh, semua tu emosi je!

Haritu, dekat Facebook, ada orang ni tulis, "Orang yang tak mengandung atau tak pernah mengandung, takkan paham perasaan orang yang mengandung."

Okay, fine lah you tu fertile. Tapi tak perlulah tulis macam tu, sebab I terasa tau. I pun teringin juga nak paham perasaan orang pregnant...
Ibarat you cakap, "Orang yang tak pernah give birth through the vagina, pakai C-sect je, takkan paham perasaan orang yang go through vaginal birth."

Hah? Cuba fikir perasaan orang tu? Adakah dia minta untuk suka-suka C-sect? Tidak kan...Jadi, sebelum berkata apa-apa, sebelum tulis apa-apa, kena hati-hati.

Tapi I maafkan.

Dan I pun dah jarang nak meroyan nak baby sekarang. I think I've come to terms that this is my dugaan dari Tuhan. I redha. Sedangkan, lagi banyak lagi I boleh enjoy. I have a good husband, walaupun I tak kaya gila, tapi I juga tak miskin. I ada kesihatan yang baik. Muka I tak buruk, I tak bodoh, I tak pernah hidup susah, I dah banyak peluang berjalan-jalan ke luar negara, I tak perlu hidup di negara yang selalu berperang atau banyak bencana alam, kawan-kawan I best...

There a lot to celebrate by being me, so what kalau I tak ada anak. Itu dugaan I, dan I doa supaya I dapat menghadapi dugaan ini dengan sukses! Haha.

--------

Sebenarnya banyak lagi nak cerita. Tapi ni last untuk kali ini okay...

I selalu rasa I mempunyai kulit kaki yang cantik.

Saya ada parut di lutut kanan, tapi other than that, I rasa kaki I cantik. Kalau orang tanya, dalam banyak-banyak anggota badan you, you suka yang mana, I akan jawab, kaki I!!!

Tapi, beberapa hari lepas, saya dah jumpa satu lagi yang dapat dibanggakan!

Gigi I!

Dulu-dulu, ramai dah dentist cakap I mempunyai gigi yang sihat. Gigi I tak cantik, tapi sihat. Jadi kena bezakan tu...Gigi I tak perfectly lurus, tapi gigi I tak ada lubang, tak ada plague. Gigi I tak ada patch patch hitam/ putih akibat kesan tampalan gigi.

Disebabkan telah mendapat pujian beberapa kali daripada doktor gigi yang berlainan, jadi dengan yakinnya, saya men declare bahawa, I'm proud of my teeth!

Bila kita dah makin tua ni, kita lebih senang menerima diri kita seadanya, kan?

Dulu, I tak suka warna kulit I sebab I rasa hitam. Sekarang baru I sedar, I tak hitam, malah I agak fair, cuma dulu-dulu mak I kata I hitam nak elak dari I main panas. Lagipun dulu I compare dengan my sister and cousin cousin I yang putih melepak tu...

Dulu, I tak suka my wavy curly hair sebab semua orang pun rambut lurus. Tapi sekarang dah appreciate, rambut I ni ada character, and people pay a lot of money to achieve this look.

Dulu tak suka sebab orang selalu komen I kurus sangat sampai terkeluar tulang. Tapi sekarang dah gemok sikit, masih ada tulang tu. Eh, tu namanya high cheekbones lah!

Cuma sekarang I masih belum dapat menyukai my flat nose yang macam jambu batu ni! Haha.

Husband I cakap, kalau ada anak, minta minta jangan turun genetik hidung penyek I. Cissss...

During the early years of marriage, we need to save a lot money.

Since my wedding was small affair and I didn't invite a lot of people, I also didn't get a lot of wedding gifts.

We got a blender among our gifts, so yeay, tak payah beli blender. Make use of what we have!

A simple blender:

But this blender sucks. It doesn't blend well. Macam mana I nak buat mash potato!

I dream of having a food processor like the ones the chefs use on TV:

Bestnyeee...!!!

I imagine the food I can make with this blender.

The problem is...I bukannya selalu masak and this thing is quite expensive. Besides, I used to tell myself not to get too carried away since I don't plan to be permanent here. Nanti nak pindah susah pulak nak angkut barang banyak banyak.

Sebab I selalu suka tengok rancangan masakan, I rasa awesomenye kalau ada blender macam ni:

Just put in the pot and wallah, nice, silky soup!

I didn't crave having it because, like I said, I tak masak selalu. Kenalah praktikal kan.

But how can I resist when it costs only RM169!

So tadi I dah berjaya buat ayam percik...Hehe...

Lepas ni nak buat sup terus blend dalam pot pulak...

Husband komen cakap ayam I keras. Kuah ayam percik dah okay dah...Actually, I don't know how long I should cook the chicken meat. Kalau undercook takut tak masak, overcook jadi liat liat pulak.

Any tips?





p/s:
I would be aiming this next.

A convection oven! (Sebab I takde oven)

This is the continuation from the previous post:

14.

Our big group consisted of 30 people. Out of the 30, there were 6 Malaysians, Joe and I were the only Malays. Naturally, we tend to stick together.

Doctor: So, you are married? Where is your husband?
Me: He is not into this thing.
Doctor: It's good to see couples that are independent.
Me: Oh, I've known him for many years before we got married. And we used to be in long distance relationship. So, we trust each other.

15.

Me: Hi, doggie! (Waving at the dog)
Doctor: You are not afraid of the dogs? You are so different than the other Malays I know.

Well, obviously, you need to have more Malay friends!

16.

In the jungle.

Me: She's pretty.
Joe: Mehh...Okay je...
Sally: She looks like Eva Mendes.
Joe: She's buncit!
Me: Body dia cantiklah!
Joe: Dia ada perut...
Me: Biasalah ada perut sikit!
Joe: Mehh...She's okay je lah...

Back from the hotspring.

Joe: I told you, dia ada perut!
Me: Mana you tau?
Joe: Dia kan pakai swimming suit tadi. Buncit!

Me: How did they all know they should bring swimsuits?
Joe: It's one of the essentials lah...You don't know because it's your first time doing things like this. I pun bawak my swimming shorts.
Sally: But...We are going up up up. We are not at the beach. Who would've thought...
Joe: It's very useful. You can wear it for swimming, in case tempat tu takde toilet. As underwear...It's lightweight, durable and it dries up quickly.

17.

Me: Now that I've seen her up close, yeah, she's not that pretty...
Sally: I think so too! It's probably the dehydration. We were imagining things...Haha.
Joe: I dah cakap dah...Biase je dia tu...

Sally: Her name is Nabila. She's Canadian. She said she'll be staying her til the end of the month.
Me: Oh, dia tak sedih ke tak celebrate Raya Haji?
Sally: She's not that kind of Muslims.
Me: ...
Sally: I mean, she's not like you and Joe.

There are many kinds of Muslims.

18.

Joe: Before we came, I talked to my girlfriend, Didie. She asked me, "Betulke you nak pergi dengan Ectopy and Sally ni?"
Me: Kenapa pulak?
Joe: Dia kata, "Boleh ke Ectopy tu...? Sally tu okay lah jugak...Tapi Ectopy tu macam lemah je..."
Me: (Tak guna betul kutuk I) Haha. So, what do you think?
Joe: I expected you to do the worst actually. Sally selalu cakap, "Oh, I do this all the time," "I travel a lot," "I go to the gym to work out." Jadi, dia patutnya fit lah.
Me: So, you underestimate I lah? Oh, my God!
Joe: Yeah...Look at you...
Me: You better tell Didie I am way better than what she thinks of me. And I don't even train for this. So, kira okaylah ni!

Joe: Sally is so slow...
Me: But she's happy all the time. I don't know how she does it.
Joe: She's using up her energy to talk and laugh instead of walking. And I can't walk too fast in case she gets thirsty and needs water...

I was on a break and went overseas with a couple of my friends. Bless my husband for being so cool about it. Here are some quotes/ encounters I chanced upon during the trip.

1.

Me: How much is this? Do you have a smaller size, for me?

The girl who was attending me is the shopkeeper's daughter.

Girl: This is very good quality. You can feel...The writing won't come of so easy...How much you want?
Me: 300.
Girl: No..I give you 350.

After we had settled on a price, my friend Joe asked her,

Joe: How old are you?
Girl: I am nine years old.
Joe: You are a very good businesswoman. What do you want to be when you grow up? What is your ambition?
Girl: I want to be a social worker.

Wow, a social worker! I don't even know what a social worker means when I was at her age. Typical answers would be a doctor, a teacher, a pilot, a policewoman...

Me: A social worker? That's very good. You have to study really hard.
Girl: I go to school. But because of the festival, it is school holiday. So, I help my father.

2.

Most of the guides are young and they can speak a little bit of English.

Many know someone, a friend, a relative or they themselves who was/ is working in Malaysia.

One of them had a father who worked in Malaysia. A few months after arriving in Malaysia, his father took his own life. At that time, he was too young to understand. All he remember was the body was sent back to his family. They can only speculate why he had kill himself.

3.

Woman: Come help me. Buy something? I have chocolates. Water? Banana?
Me: (Smiles and give money)
Woman: Take something...
Me: No, it's okay.
Woman: Thank you, thank you. My son has no legs, no father. My husband died many years ago. He no father.
Son: Where are you from? Are you Chinese?
Me: Me? I am from Malaysia.
Son/ Woman: Malaysia! Kolalalapor!
Woman: My other son, his brother, in Malaysia.
Joe: Oh, really? What does he work as? What is his job?
Woman/ Son: (Trying to describe/ say things we could not understand)
Joe: Does he like Malaysia?
Woman: Yes. His wife and children, in that village. My son come back after 3 years, then he go again. He give money but not to me. All his money he give to his wife. His children, very small, go to school.

4.

Guide: I am going to Penang. I am going to get married.
Sally: Oh, you have a Malaysian girlfriend? Is she Malay?
Guide: No, she's Indian.
Sally: Is it an arranged marriage?
Guide: Yes.
Sally: So, you never met her before?
Guide: I have seen her picture. I will marry her and see how. If I don't like, I will leave her and find other girls. Malaysia has beautiful girls.

5.

I was very, very tired.

Joe: Come on, just a little bit more.
Me: (Grumpy) Don't lie to me.
Joe: You shouldn't rest too long.
Me: (Grumpy) You pergilah dulu!

Finally, we arrived at our destination.

Me: Wahhh!!! Cantiknya! Nak ambil gambar!
Joe: (Irritated) Tiba-tiba ada energy pulak!
Me: (Laughs)

Me: Ala...I know I can do it. I have the energy. I was just tired lah. But I know eventually I boleh.

6.

Joe: You guys are annoying! You just whine and whine...You should be more positive!
Sally: We are not slow! They are too quick. This is not a competition! I'd rather walk at my own pace and enjoy the scenery.
Me: Yeah...I don't even think they even stop to take pictures. We need to capture all of this. And I don't whine!
Joe: You do whine. "Jauh lagi" lah, "Are we there yet?", "Is this it?", "How long more to go?" "Sakit kaki"
Me: That's not whining!

7.

Joe: You are slow.
Sally: We are average.
Joe: You are not average. If you are average, then who is below average?
Sally: The below average people wouldn't even consider to join this trip. It says so, "This trip is suitable for people of average fitness, 10 to 60 years old." Since we decided to join, and we got through the first and second day, and we were not that late, by the way, so we are average.
Me: I am already walking fast! It's not like I purposely go slow. And everytime I walk fast, masih tak sampai-sampai jugak! So, I don't see the point of trying to keep up with them.

8.

My friend, Sally, speaks seven languages.

Both of us were walking with two walking sticks each. The locals greeted us and said,

"Why are you using two walking sticks? Only old people need two walking sticks."

Yeah, thanx for the encouraging comment.

9.

Since my friend understand the language,

Below is the translation:

Guide 1: (Giving briefing to the other guides) Kau pergi dengan group Ectopy, Joe, Sally. Kau pergi dengan group orang putih tu. Kau pergi dengan Si Tua tu.

Si Tua is actually a doctor who owns a practice and easily makes RM2500 per day. She's probably in her sixties.

Guide 2: Aku tak mahu pergi dengan group Si Tua tu! Semalam dia nyanyi banyak sampai aku sakit kepala!

Haha. Mengumpat!

10.

I was very, very tired.

Me: I am never going to another vacation like this ever again. I am not doing this when I'm in my forties. This is the last one.

11.

I was very, very tired.

Me: When we are back home again, I am never going to take the stairs ever again. I am going to fully utilise the lift. I kadang-kadang naik tangga sebab it's healthy. But now I've had enough. No more stairs.

12.

Shopping for souvenirs.

Sally and I: Overly happy and excited.

Joe: Perempuan ni, bila shopping je happy. Bukan shopping, bila dapat beli barang. Beli dapat beli barang je, happy.
Me: I happy sebab ni murahlah!
Joe: It's universal. Perempuan, shopping, happy.

13.

One of my groupmates is a woman in her forties. Her name is Pauline.

Sally: I see that all of your stuff is Reebok. Reebok cap, Reebok shoes...You really like Reebok, huh?
Pauline: Yeah, it's good quality.
Me: So, you're like the little ambassador of Reebok. Haha!
Pauline: Yeah. Reebok sponsors me...
Sally/ Joe/ Me: (Laughs)
Pauline: Because I play tennis. So, they decided to sponsor me. And I can't wear nothing but Reebok.
Sally/ Joe/ Me: (Laughs)

Pauline: I am serious. Seriously.
Pauline's friend: It's true.

Oh-kayyy...So we have an athlete in our group. No wonder they were all so fit!

A quick update. Just thought of sharing a few new favourite blog, website and app worth mentioning.

iamboey.com

Been reading it since it was mentioned in Reader's Digest a few months back. I remember the times when my mission was to finish reading the blog from the very first post.

thebeautydepartment.com

Love the hair tutorials especially!

TED

I think my brain has shrunk a bit ever since I left university. This app is great because now I can learn again by listening to interesting talks even while driving (you can choose the audio version). That makes me feel a little bit smarter. Haha.

*edited*
Oh, I forgot to mention these two below

lamebook.com

Laugh at the stupid things people write on facebook!

howdoiputthisgently.tumblr.com

This is my feel good site. I totally can relate.

Last weekend, my husband decided that we would eat out. I said, "Abang, dah lama I tak nyanyi." So I sang. Out loud. And danced.

Seeing me drowning in my own little world, my husband giggled.

"What?!" I whistled away.

Husband: Sukalah tu sebab tak payah masak. Cuba kalau I suruh masak, muka monyok je...
Me: Mana ada! I saje je nak nyanyi.
Husband: I kenallah isteri I.

After I thought about it, he was right. I do not like cooking.
And I was exceptionally happy that day. Even without me realizing why.
Eh, dah tau I tak suka masak, tapi hari-hari still expect me to cook. Hmmph.

I pun pandai juga.
Like yesterday, I knew it was the last batch of chicken meat. I purposely did not tell my husband we run out of chicken.
After this, when he arrives home, and asks the usual "Honey, what's for dinner?" I would just act shocked, "Oops, I lupa lah ayam habis. Tak boleh masaklah macam ni...Kena makan luar..."

Yeay me!

Haha.

I don't eat weird animal parts. No testes, no tongue, no chickens' feet, no internal organs.

One day, I was sick and husband brought home porridge. However, there were lots of perut. I isolated them and offered my husband instead.

My husband took the perut and nom nom nom. I was like, "Euww...!"

"You tau tak dalam perut lembu tu banyak cacing!" I told my husband.

1 hour after, before we went to bed, he brushed his teeth.

"Betulke ada cacing?" he suddenly asked.

Haha.

After that, I saw him put aside the perut in a plate. I questioned him why he did not eat them.

"You cakap ada cacing dalam perut lembu."

Haa...Traumatised lah tu. Dah berdekad-dekad hidup, baru nak perasan perut lembu tu ada cacing ke...

Silly boy...Senangnya I nak memperkotak-katikkan fikiranmu.

Haha. I gelak gile.

I have lots of stories to share but it's really hard to vent when I am using the phone! The Internet issue still has not resolved yet which is majorly annoying.

I have been feeling demotivated for the whole week. It's probably related to the fact that I am looking forward for the long leave. Plus today, I received an official letter which requires me to sacrifice some of my holiday for the big presentation on the 26th. Why!

This letter is connected to the project a few months ago (wrote about it before, even then was stressful enough) and it is connected to that something I was supposed to get but did not get and got very frustrated.
So how could I not be demotivated about it when all I can think of is, "What is the point?"

Rasa nak tarik diri je kalau boleh. Tapi tak boleh.

Anyway...Received an automated SMS saying I won something. Entered the contest a couple of months back, I didn't even buy the magazine, haha. It was my colleague's, saw it lying around so I flipped through and got interested in one of the prizes. The one that I won is not the grand prize though.

Husband thought the text message was a hoax. So we went to the store to check for my name, in printed version. Cis, dia ingat I ni tak bertuah ke...