I have landed!!

I am in Dubai at last!!

I am missing Airiel tremendously. And is currently trying to arrange my stuff in the hotel room. This is going to be home for the next 8 days.

Watch this space friends for updates!

Later!!

My Father, Heart and Soul

Just to share on how proud this daughter is of her father.

This is taken from here

This is taken from here

Ever the Perakian, he formed the Persatuan Anak-Anak Perak and it was reported here.

And these are just the ones that are reported. I have a folder of the clippings in Sinar and elsewhere where Ayah has contributed with his heart and soul. And belum lagi instances where he just goes anonymously to help those in need.

We have at home, always a ready supply of rice, oil, onions, eggs, salt, flour that Ayah will give away when someone in need calls or when he is informed that there is someone out there who needs help. If there is not enough to give out, we take whatever we have from our own kitchen. Pernah sekali dulu, hati ibu terasa berat sebab tengok makanan kat dapur tiada langsung (memang  naluri wanita itu risau melihat makanan tiada di dapur bukan? Bagaimana harus memberi makan kepada keluarga betultak?). Lalu ayah berkata, jgnlah bersedih, tuhan akan gantikan dengan makanan 10 kali ganda. And yes,  that was what happened. Our kitchen has never been empty, murahnya rezeki MasyaAllah tiada terkata. I believe it is due to what my father does every day. Helping those he does not know. Helping those who have been forgotten.

And my father admitted during the last election in Puchong that winning the seat he contested for is almost impossible. But you know what, he lost to Satim Diman by a mere 45 VOTES.  And there was 800 lebih undi rosak. Apa ada hal?

My father loves politics, no doubt. It is in his blood I know, but he is not just another politician and I am not just saying that because he is my father. You know what makes him different? Dia ikhlas. And people tell me chivalry is dead. I tell them, what about keikhlasan?, have you seen that lately?.  I tell you such a quality is non-existent these days.

The word 'keikhlasan' reminds of Oprah. I look at her and her journey and I truly believe bahawa dia adalah seorang yg ikhlas. I remember John Travolta saying to Oprah on the kick-off episode of her last season "Oprah, there is only one of you and there will never be another one..."  and I remember my father, for he truly is an individual yang hanya ada satunya, dan sesungguhnya tiada gantinya.

I have reiterated in my past posts on how I am apathetic to all things political, and my father knows this. This is unlikely to change. But I am proud nevertheless of my father and who he is as a person, politics aside.

I respect my father not just because he is my father, but because he is a respectable man.

Allah must have blessed me for giving me the privilege of being his daughter.

Alhamdulillah

Airiel and Golf

Airiel like his father, has taken a liking to golf.

Being a stylo metro, like his father, this is what he normally wears while practising golf with his abah.

Honestly, I think Airiel has talent!!!

Hold Steady!!!

Eye on the ball.. and swing!!

 Errr, where did the ball go again?

Hahahahahaha..... that's my son y'allll!!!

Birthday dinner marathon

Aries baik hati balik awal and treated me to 2 consecutive dinners for turning 28.

Yes people, this is me at 28. Yikes!!!

First up, Bora Asmara.

Can you feel romance in the air? 

Aries fresh off his flight from JB

condiments 

I was absolutely in love with the decor, especially the lights 

my pink lemonade drink 

Aries' kelapa drink 

It was raining cats and dogs but the band was playing some good music to the patrons 

Shrimp in honey and lemon salad. I quite liked this 

Aries and his nasi goreng order. He said it was so so 

My lamb rack (which looked suspiciously like lamb chops to me hehe). I did enjoy the lamb though. Who would have thought that there were wedges underneath the lamb? Hehe 

The band finally came to our table and started singing away. Ini Aries muka control 

The band singing 'Happy Birthday' to yours truly!!!

And the next day, it was Meatworks at Citta Mall. They have an outlet in Solaris Mont Kiara. But this outlet in Citta Mall is huge!!. I was so impressed. They have a groceries area which sells the exclusive Jamie Oliver products and seasonings which I have not seen elsewhere.

Just like a meat deli in the UK (teringat nostalgia plak)

The onion soup was hearty and came with toasted bread floated on top of the soup. We both enjoyed this. 

Aries ordered the cheesecake here. To me it was not as cheesy as I would have liked it but Aries loved it as he hates overly rich desserts. We finished this one.

Our drinks. Ice lemon tea for me and Raspberry for Aries. 

This is my 200gm T-Bone which I loved. It was cooked pink and was absolutely delicious till the last bite) 

Aries rack of ribs (3 racks) which he finished. The meat was tender and basically melted in our mouths.

We absolutely loved the food at meatworks!!

Thank you Aries! 

One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.
Judith Viorst 

Angel with Silver Wings

Tears in Heaven


Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven
Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven
I must be strong and carry on
Because I know I don't belong here in heaven

Would you hold my hand if I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand if I saw you in heaven
I'll find my way through night and day
Because I know I just can't stay here in heaven

Time can bring you down
Time can bend you knees
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please

Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure
And I know there will be no more tears in heaven

Eric Clapton wrote this beautiful song after the death of his son. Isn't amazing how something so painful can translate itself into such a beautiful song like this?

Amazing..

Thank YOU

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes to those special people! You know who you are!!

A year wiser I hope.

Had a small celebration yesterday with Aries.

And Aries is gonna let me shop till I drop tomorrow as a birthday pressie!

I think that is the best birthday present I could ever wish for!!! Hehe

Oh, so sorry that you guys cannot see other people's posts on my wall. I have changed my FB settings so that only I can see the posts others make on my wall!

The new FB settings annoy the hell out of me and does not respect the user's privacy at all. So I have installed Better Facebook to customize my FB and revert to the original settings. It is a free app and is great!

Countdown to my Dubai trip starts now!. Yes readers, I am off to Dubai next week!

Countdown starts now!!!

Updates on birthday dinner date next!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Online Shopping - Update 6

Honestly, I have lost count of how many online shopping escapades I have had this year. I have not blogged about online shopping for a while sampai ada readers tanya, 'Nape takde online shopping update?'. Errr...well ok.


Well, truth be told, I have not shopped online for a while. Sedih dan kasihan melihat Aries bekerja keras and masyaAllah he buys me everything I want and requests for asalkan tak keterlaluan. Alhamdulillah. Bukankah baik dan buruknya seorang lelaki itu boleh dilihat dari cara mereka melayan isteri mereka ?. Pernah baginda Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda, ‘sebaik-baik lelaki adalah yang paling baik, kasih dan lemah lembut terhadap isterinya.’. Take heed, husbands hehehehe.


Anyways back to online shopping. You should only buy something when it catches your eye lah kan? Don't buy for the sake of buying something betul tak? I have bought a few things recently online.

I don't follow trends so I did not know that there is this trend going around right now called 'colour-blocking'. At the time, I just thought these baju kurung's looked really cute. So I bought these 2. They are from Modish Mode House 

I like this slouchy long sleeved top which is quite labuh and covers my booty. This light blue colour is cute, and its from Little White Crane.

And that is all!!

Sigh, I'm off for a trip next week. And without family, is so NOT looking forward to it. Anyways..will let you in on the location later. 

Shop smart and not till you drop k? Hehehe

Penyejuk Hati

And here he is, in the flesh...

Mama loves you!!!

Limits of Love

Love, in all its greatness makes a person capable of 

almost anything...it renders you blind to faults and flaws, 


it gives you the will to fight, the will to persevere, it 


feigns acceptance, it grants you the capacity to forgive 


...but love...even as powerful as it is... cannot make you 


forget...

Kelantan Delights, Subang

Had lunch at this place recently with Aries (boy, I am missing you these days..adakah hati sudah tua dan jadi jiwang berkarat?)

Anyways, let the pics speak for themselves.

We both ordered the same set, which came with drinks and dessert.

Aries hot lemon tea 

Both of us ordered Nasi Kerabu Daging. The meat was tender, but other than that, it was nothing extraordinary 

Budu masak dia 

My sirap selasih 

Both of us had sago gula melaka for dessert

The ambiance was nice.

Total damages was around RM72 bucks. For nasi kerabu that was not 'mind blowingly' good? That was a tad bit too pricey for me.

Maybe i'll try other dishes next time to see why this place is so popular.

Faith

I blogged about how everything happened on a Thursday, in my last post kan?

Well, I forgot to tell you the best part of last Thursday which I had.

I was getting ready for my trial. Having your own trials in a big firm such as mine is a BIG deal. Clients pay top dollar for top people in action. Having a client believe in you enough so you can conduct your own does not happen very often. I appreciated that.

I wanted to be in court bright and early. And left the house for Jalan Duta early. I realised my oil tank was getting empty and so after entering the Duta highway, I stopped at Shell to fill up my gas. The petrol attendant was hitting on me (not something unnatural, the same petrol attendant did that the last time I was here). I smiled, chatted with him and drove off.

As I was driving off, a van driver told me that my petrol cover was open. I was like 'darn petrol attendant, ngorat aku sampai lupa tutup tempat isi minyak'. Anyways. I stopped at the side of the road. Closed the door to my car and closed the potrol cover and suddenly had a realisation that my car had automatically locked itself.

You see, ever since we serviced our honda and upgraded the lock system, the car locks automatically when the engine starts and the doors are all closed. Previously, it only locks when the car starts moving. And so here I was, at the side of the highway, locked out of my car, with nothing. My phone was in car so I could not call anyone for help. And on the first day of my trial no less!!!!

My heart sank! Cars and motorcycles passed me without so much as a glance. Cops passed me by without stopping. And the sun was rising, my trial was starting soon. I wanted to call out to my Aries, but I realised that I was sans a phone ...and Aries lived in JB. He is not here. Sigh..

And so I prayed. I prayed from within the deepest parts of my heart and closed my eyes. And a motorcyle stopped. Abg 1 gave me his phone so I could call Atok. The spare keys were at home and Atok could take it so I could open the door to my car. I sort of told Atok where I was but was not sure if he knew where it was. I called the office to tell a chambie who was helping me out on that day to stand the matter down.

And so after all that help, Abg 1 left. And a long time passed. I was getting worried that Atok did not know where I was or misjudged my position. I prayed.

Another motorcycle stopped. Abg 2 had a real concerned look on his face. I told him, I think Atok is waiting at the petrol station (shell) for me. I don't think he'll find me here. He told me, hop on his motorcycle, let him take me there.

I was..hmmm can I trust this guy? What if he is a sex maniac or something? But I needed his help and beggars can't be choosers.  And the voice inside my heart says 'have faith that Allah is giving you a way out of this'. So with nothing but blind faith, I hopped on his motorcycle.

He drove against traffic until we reached the petrol station. Atok was actually walking at the side of the road as he misjudged how far I was from the petrol station. Abg 2 bersalam dengan Atok and told me, ikutla atok as he needs to rush off for his work.

I took atok's car and we drove to Stevie. And when we reached there.Abg 2 was actually there waiting!!! He told Atok, he was afraid that someone might break into the car, so he waited. I wanted to give him money, but he flat our refused. He said something which I had not heard or seen for some time. He said to me and Atok 'Takpe encik, cik, saya tolong ni ikhlas'.

I did not even catch his name. He drove off after refusing the money I/Atok tried to give him. I drove to Court just in time for the trial. Then I rushed to the Court of Appeal, then the Federal Court pulak. It was a busy week as my trial continued again on Friday.

But the incident did not escape my mind. The kindness of Abg 1 and particularly Abg 2 touched me.

You see, we do not live in a kind world. When was the last time kita benar benar 'ikhlas' melakukan sesuatu? What he did renewed my faith in the kindness I have not seen in years, in keikhlasan which I thought I will never see again. Their kindness moved me to tears.

Allah works in mysterious ways. And I thank Allah for locking me out of my car that fateful Thursday. I thank Allah for letting me see and believe in kindness and keikhlasan which at the time I truly thought no longer exists. I do now. I feel it now. Terima kasih Allah.

What a week...

This week without a doubt, has been the busiest so far this year.

Had to rush like mad for a trial on Thursday (no, not me with the bosses, my own trial. Yikess!!!). What made it worse was that:-

(a) There was also a hearing in the Federal Court on the same day so finalise finalise the Core Bundles, arrange boxes for bosses bla bla bla;

(b) There was also a hearing in the Court of Appeal. We asked for an adjournment but surprise surprise, we did not get one. They only agreed to stand it down until 12.00. An adjournment requested because we were caught in the FC were refused and we only knew it was refused on Tuesday. What does this mean? It means we had to finalise our submission and bundle of authorities all by Wednesday, before the hearing on Thursday.

See how everything seems to fall on a Thursday? Get my drift? At the same time, I had overdue opinions (2 in fact this same week, 1 of which is still overdue by the way....hishhh), settlement agreements, blah blah blah...Shesshhh

Verdict : Lack of sleep + never ending adrenalin rush + not enough time with Airiel = Tired and slightly miserable

I hate to admit it but I sort of miss Aries as well. Eheh

And the loss of Steve Jobs. What a legacy he has left. Everybody has read his Standford Speech after his passing. I read that speech in late 2005 a few months after he gave it. At the time I could not understand the hype surrounding a Mac, and despite his speech, it was still some time until I converted (yes, converted) to a Mac and never looked back.

But what he said touched me. I have the video in my Mac playlist I keep on Youtube. At times when I feel that I am lost, I would listen to it. And I would wake up the next day with renewed vigour. Let me me share with you the parts of his speech which I cherish the most:-

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

"Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

And his speech eventually gave me the inspiration to name this blog 'Living my life...my way.."

Thank you Steve.

You will be missed.

And what a week this has been...

Wake Up Call

I have never really cared much about my health...

I mean, I have been plagued with a fugly skin condition since birth and because of that I bleed and get cuts so easily. You know when your skin gets so dry it cracks and you can see the pink flesh underneath? That happens to me a  lot.

And then Bonda made a casual comment one day, 'you better not get diabetes..'. And then right...I realised how freaking scared I was. I mean, I get cuts and and bleed all the time. If I get diabetes, confirm habis semua kena potongla kan...macamlam kalau sakit ada org nak jaga diri in kan. So kenala jaga diri sendiri.

I have never exercised in my life after kahwin, dulu time bujang rajinla buat aerobiks ke aper.

So now I have to start taking care of what I eat and start taking care of my health..and I have managed to influence my colleagues kt ofis to start PILATES.

Yupp, yours truly akan mula ber'pilates' starting this week.

Am trying to desperately cut down on my coffee intake and have resorted to drinking fruit juices instead (poyo kan? what the hell, this is my health we are talking about).

Berusaha tangga kejayaan, cegah sebelum kena.

InsyaAllah akan beristiqamah dalam usaha menjaga nikmat 'kesihatan' yang dikurniakan.