Things that Matter

It was an exhausting weekend.

Airiel's nanny took the weekend off. So me and Aries had to run all our errands with Airiel in tow.

Too many things to do...and my, oh so little time to do them. Banks and more banks to withdraw RM, transfer RM...bayar bills here and there. And even then, masih ada errands yang tertunggak.

I picked up my baju raya from the tailor... wehheee, it looks gorgeous...! Berbaloi menghabiskan RM dan RM on it hehe.

Now, just the baju for Aries and Airiel when its closer to Raya.

On another note, rasa lega sangat bila dapat tunaikan niat nak hantar my MIL and FIL untuk umrah. Insyaallah, 2 minggu lagi they will be on their way to Tanah Suci.

Semoga murah lagi rezeki kita Aries *grin*. Can you believe dulu kita berdua bersusah payah tiada langsung RM masa study? Look how far we have come?

Despite the crazy weekend, I managed to fall in love with both of my boys again.

I can't help myself...Can you blame me hehe? Thank you for this happiness...ya Allah

This maybe my only post this week. A busy schedule lies ahead. We will see..

Yummy Risotto

Just a short post on a Friday.

Went to eat at Olive's at Damas yesterday for lunch with Farah Syu. This is what I ate

My seafood risotto

It was delicious. Will go there again definitely!

Yummy yummy yummy!

Bag Dillemma

Work is crazy this week for both me and Aries.

I have opinions, submissions for the mega appeal from the mega trial, submissions for other appeals, hearings on Thursday and Friday and I'm just getting started...

Aries ada hearing hari-hari, although he still has time to play golf lepastu...shesshhhh. Bz bos and kuli lain skitlah kan. Me being the kuli and Aries as his own boss (jelesnye).

So blogging is absolutely necessary to retain my sanity.

Ok, have you guys seen the Airasia 10 cents deal? Hehe, am definitely gonna get some tickets. Where to? Not sure yet, have to get instructions from Aries. But London is like RM550 jer! Wah Wah, am so excited.

Now, my Mia (purple handbag) is in such bad shape. The stitching for the zipper has come slightly undone, berbulu plak kat tempat stitching tu. I know I put a lot of stress on my Mia because I put absolutely everything in there and I take it everywhere, I hate switching handbags and I use mine until rosak before I buy another one and I am not the collecting type.

So, in light of the current status of my Mia, I am now officially looking for another bag. Thinking of Kate Spade this time around. The bags are just so super cute!

Aren't these just divinely cute? Look at the polka dotty insides! Hehehe. I found a Cole Haan bag which I quite liked as well

Love the light shade of pink! Ohh, what a way to make the heart flutter! and the weave is just so cute!!

As the prices are reasonable, should I just buy all three? (I can imagine mata Aries yg terjojol bila baca statement ni - sabar ye suami?). But that would be contrary to my statement above that I am NOT a collector of bags hahaha. So maybe not (Well, isn't someone relieved betul tak? heheh).

Dear heart, please stop beating so fast hehe. hummnnn...decisions decisions...what shall it be friends?

Want to help me decide? Drop me a line because I am confused!!

Hehe

Weekie - Pulau Perhentian

It was a long weekend for me as I took Monday off.

I went and travelled to mars to meet the in laws and off we went to Perhentian Island!

It was just a one night stay but it was loads of fun. To avoid the crowd, we went to Pulau Perhentian Kecil and stayed at the Sha Rila

As the trip was not planned ( Aries is spontaneous in this kind of thing), there were no normal rooms left. We had to take the VIP suite and the Suite but since we were locals, we got a special price. The VIP Suite was huge and the view was breathtaking. Ok, my pictures suck but whatever

The Suite was quite spacious as well.

Hubs and I and FIL and BIL went snorkeling and it was really fun! Although I was seasick halfway (since it was an impromptu trip, tak sempat nak beli sea sickness pills). The mat salleh was looking at me weird cause I was snorkeling with my tudung on. Hehehe.

Food was ok, seafood was nice but insanely overpriced (although as locals we got the food cheaper than the tourists).

Anyways, it was just a 1 night trip  so all that we did was snorkel. Airiel was dead scared of mandi manda, but during this trip, he came out of his shell and actually quite enjoyed being in the water!. In the morning before we left, we took him to the Romantic Beach and he had fun with Aries. The water was so beautiful!!

And we took the 12 o'clock boat for home. It was such a fun trip!

Here is to more trips like this Aries!!

Can't wait for Krabi!!

Fighting my demons

Since the incident that has happened last year, it has been a journey of healing for me.

I have good days where I wake up and think I am ok and I have bad days where sleep eludes me and the events, voices just play out in my head until I feel it can explode.

So many questions in my head unanswered which I know will never be answered.

I don't know how to deal...

I really don't. I don't know how to deal with the grief inside me. I have cried until I could cry no more. I cannot change was done to me, I cannot change anything.

I want to let the past go and try and move on with my life but the memories I have inside my head, the questions which remain unanswered burdens me to no end.

I am alone in this grief.

I hope tomorrow is a good day.

Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.  ~William Shakespeare

Otak-Otak Place

Believe it or not, I am blogging from Court.

I bought my trusty mackie with me to Court because I bring my mackie to the office every day so that I can listen to my fave music while I am working (unimates will know that I MUST listen to music to be productive hehehe). Since i'm in Court, I can't leave the mackie in my car kan? So I am lugging it around today. Since going to court is all about waiting, might is as well blog right?

Anyways, last week we ate at Otak-otak place in Tropicana City Mall. The place was packed and service was slightly slow. But the place is great because when you enter the place, it brings you back to the memories of your childhood.

Roti Milo Susu... takes me back to my childhood days when I used to eat these 

Yummy Roti Milo 

They put an old bicycle on their roof, right over our heads 

 This was Aries' nasi goreng kampung or something

Barbeque chicken rice for me 

I did not like the spring rolls 

The yummy chicken rice. I did not like the chicken but loved the rice.

Sorry about the pics. My bb cam sucks and it would not load in iphoto so I had no idea how to turn them around.

Food was alright, would come here again. Jgn lupa try guys! But beware the place is always packed during lunch!

Just Nuts about Jeans

I am in the middle of a jeans obsession.

This craze started after my jeans buying spree in langkawi.

I recently bought these 2 jeans:-

This is from Joe's Jeans

This is from Paper Denim & Cloth

Will update you on more of my jeans spree later.

My Mother and I

My mother is not like most mothers out there.

She is an equivalent of a drill sergeant and we grew up in very strict, disciplined surroundings.

Me and Bonda to this day, would jokingly say that our mother is the notorious 'Ice Queen'. Someone that never shows any emotion and by that I mean none. She very rarely seems happy, but she does not look miserable either. I have only seen her lose her temper once throughout my entire life, and she very rarely shows bouts of any other emotions at all.

I know deep down she loves us, but I could never understand why she was not capable of showing it.

I never understood, not until one day Bonda asked Atuk why Nenda was so cold...and this is what Atuk says 'She does not necessarily knows how to be a mother because she never had one...'. And he told us the story of my mother. This was about 5 years ago I think.

She was orphaned at age 4 or 5. My grandfather remarried and at first she stayed with her stepmother, who obviously was not the kindest to her and my aunt (my mum was the youngest of 2 siblings, and have 1 older sister, whom airiel calls opah). When that did not work out, she stayed with her grandmother, my great-grandmother throughout her teenage life. My father told us of how my mum only ever felt loved by her grandmother, but their life was hard. There was not enough food, never enough money. It was back then my mother decided that the only way she could leave the life of poverty she was trapped in was through education, and she studied hard until she got accepted into TKC. I remember my mother telling us how the best food she ever ate was while she was in TKC as she never had enough money to eat at home.

I realised that my mother has made it out and she has come a long way indeed.

Only then did I understand why education, and getting good results were the most important thing for her when it comes to her children, it was because she knew first hand that education is what will guarantee us a comfortable life, a way to have means in our lives.

Only then did I understand why she does not cry, as she thinks of it as a weakness she cannot show in front of others due to her harsh childhood.

Only then did I understand why she rarely shows her happiness, as she fears that it would be taken away from her and she would end up hurt as she was in the past.

Only then did I understand why the only times I have ever seen her show any emotion is when it comes to my father, as apart from my great-grandmother,my father is the only person who has ever shown love towards her.

I understand how strong and courageous it was for her to stand up and change her fate, and how in the strength and courage she mustered to do so, she was..more than anything, the most fragile soul I have ever seen.

I now know she loves us in the only way she knows how to.

I am in awe of my mother. I have never told her that, and she may never read this post.... but her story inspires me to be more that I thought I could ever be. I am who I am because of her.

Ibu, I know I don't say this often enough, and you may not always think that I do by the way I act...but I love you.

Moga syurga yang paling istimewa disimpan untuk ibu. Amin

Makan makan weekend

Okies, dah lama tak update pasal makan makan.

Although byk pergi tempat makan weekend ni, sempat tangkap gambo satu tempat je.

We went to eat dekat ShowRu restaurant near the Kelana Jaya stadium.

 Tomyam Daging

Kailan Ikan Masin 

 Udang goreng kunyit

 Telur dadar

Ayam masak petai

Tembikai Laici 

Milo Dinasour

Anyways, the place was packed but I have to be honest and say that the food was so-so. Nothing to shout about. I liked the otak otak though and had 2 of it but did not take any pictures.

Until the next food escapade!

Struggling to Make Sense of it All

I am a muslim.

I pray 5 times a day (even though sometimes I do fail in doing this), read the Quran as much as I can, fast during ramadhan and try to fast on a 'sunat' basis as much as I can. At times I miss my prophet Muhammad s.a.w even though I have never met him.

I am proud to be a muslim. In my heart, I know that it is the religion for me. I know that as much as every devout Christian, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu and all the other religions out there knows that the religion they profess is right for them.

When I heard Osama was killed, I blinked and went on the read the news in the next page of the newspaper. People thought I did not care, but I have to be honest and say I was silent for I do not know what I should say upon hearing such news. I have not seen the speech made by Obama, I do not think I want to. I do not want to see the footage of where Osama was killed. I do not want to hear that America has taken custody of his remains, promising 'that his remains shall be disposed off in a Islamic manner' only to hear later that he remains was dropped off in an ocean somewhere.

I ask myself, 'what is the purpose of this madness?' and tears come to my eyes. I mourn not only for the people lost in the 9/11 attacks, but for Osama. Because regardless of the race or religion of the people who have perished in both incidents, we are all citizens of this earth. He was as much my brother as the people who perished in 9/11, an event which also moved me to tears as I saw it happen, almost a decade ago.

What has America proven by killing the so called 'No. 1 terrorist in the world'? Their actions prove nothing more than their belief of what justice is and it is 'an eye for eye', what else can you call it? There was no court, no trial. Just an order to kill. In a way, their actions prove that they are no better than the terrorists who they claim is responsible for the death of their citizens. Judge, Juror and Executor all in one.

I am no Osama sympathiser, but as I watch how everything went down and how America is perfectly capable of meting out 'justice', I wonder what is being done about the massacres in Palestine? the breach of war ethics by the Israelis who murder and slaughter women and children? The mass massacres all throughout the African region, the Bosnian conflict and massacre, what have the self proclaimed 'police of the world' done to protect those in these regions save for sending some troops and leaving it to the UN to do the rest? Which of course means that nothing gets done in the end?

What is the difference between the value of the life of those killed there and those who lost their lives on American soil? A lot, as you can apparently see...

It kills me to know (and I know everybody knows this) that the end of Osama's life will bring on nothing but more death. He died a martyr (at least that is how his death will be viewed by some) and will be avenged upon. I know that violence has been repaid in violence and this will go on. Blood will continue to flow. The cycle continues and shall never be broken.

I thank God everyday that I am a Muslim living in a peaceful country free from war and oppression, free from a country where I may be branded a 'terrorist' simply because I profess the religion of Islam.

I am free to watch my son grow and not worry that he may be shot or attacked because he is living in a land which is coveted by others through a dispute that have lasted some 2200 years ago. That my husband as a 'Muslim' man may be shot down for no other reason than he is a man and that he is a muslim.

I thank God everyday that I have grown up in a country that did not teach me to hate.

I am struggling, and struggling still to make sense of it all...

May my God, your God, the God of us all have mercy on all of us...

Labour Day Post

Am much happier... I got my glasses on Saturday...

So my vision is crystal clear, no more wearing just one side of my contact lens and driving around half blind.

Managed to watch Thor, it was a fun action movie and Thor was so hot half naked hahahaha....

I was really impressed with LHDN as I have already received my income tax refund! Now, that is enough to bring a smile to my face. Well done LHDN! That is what I call efficiency!

Other than that, things have been busy. Am glad that a case we worked so hard on was successful, clients are happy and my 3 sleepless nights of drafting that 300 page submission paid off. On to the next one I say..

Am still figuring out a nice hotel to stay in Krabi. Any suggestions anyone?

Happy Labour Day! Not applicable to Bonda and Aries as they are 'bosses' not' labourers' anymore!
Haha