23 August 2008

Istana Seri Menanti


Went to visit Istana Seri Menanti today with Ded1. He's been trying to make me go there with him for so many times already but I'm just not interested. C'mon.....I've never ever heard of the place before & I'm sure there's no shopping malls there that would excite me. Anyway, since it has been quite a boring day for me today, I've decided to say yes this time.

We took off quite late already - approximately 3 pm. At a speed of 80 km/hr, it took us about 1.5 hrs to get there. The journey is quite calming since we've to drive thru the quiet kampung area with lots of trees at both sides of the road.



It was 5 pm when we reached the so called "istana". I'm quite impressed when I first saw the palace. Set in a a quiet green valley and surrounded by padi fields and forest, the palace looks stunningly beautiful! Maybe because I've always loved wooden houses. Their so unique and classy. Staying in a wooden house in a real kampung has always been my dreams...... hope it'll came true some day, insyallah.

Right in front of the palace, is a garden with great landscape. This garden actually makes the whole place so warm & restful. The view from the palace is simply amazing & breathtaking. I really love the environment there - the kindof place I wanna grow old at. I owe this to Ded1 for dragging me here. Thanks mate !



22 August 2008

My Wish List

Went to Mid Valley after work today. The weather had been quite unpredictable these few days.....today included. It was still drizzling when I stepped out of the office but that doesn't stop me from going to the mall.......well; nothing could when it comes to going to this one particular place called shopping mall. Hehehe......that's how strong the bondage is between me and the mall !

Luckily the weather is on my side today. The rain almost stopped by the time I reached my destination. Since it's my first time riding my scooter to Mid Valley, I've to make a few turns before I could find the parking spot for bikes. They have quite a spacious area for bikes there in Mid Valley, by the way...which is good.

My trip to Mid Valley was to accompany a fren of mine, Ded1 who wants to buy a watch - the Victorinox Swiss Army Night Vision II. It is a very expensive watch, speaking based on my standard. The original price is RM1800. After 25% discount, he got it at RM1300 which is way too expensive for me...I mean, just for a watch.....considering that he already has a few other expensive watches in his collections. Anyway, that's how guys are.....since they don’t really have a lot of other things to spend their money on - unlike we, women. We have to look good from top to toe. Apart from that, we also wants our house to look good.....our cars to look good...our kids to look good.....in fact, we buy things for our hubbies too so that they'll look good. So, it's not that we simply like to shop, right? It's just our nature that loves to see everything around us look nice.

Anyway speaking of shopping, there are 2 things which really caught my attention while I was wandering around the mall just now. The first one is this shiny blue Vincci handbag. I've been looking for a blue handbag for quite sometimes already.....since it's just so difficult to get one. This particular one is so very nice to my eyes - I would say it as "love at first sight". It's too beautiful to resist but thinking of how much money I've spent on shopping this month, I dont think it's wise to get it now. It is certainly a no-no.....not now....not this month. I'm gonna target it for next month.....if it's still available (oohhh...pleaseeee....). The price of the bag is RM 109, which is ok if I didnt buy those shoes & handbags before..... huh..huh...huh......

The other item which is salivating me is this Calvin Klein watch.....damn gorgeous !! It's awesome......superb....incredibly beautiful !!! I dont care if I'm a bit over exaggerating here but it's just too stunning not to be noticed. The original price is RM1,100.00.......after discount, it's RM880.00. At one point, I could hear my heart talking to me......go ahead Intan, just close one eye, the hell with that guilt .....you go girl ....just grab it ! Luckily, I'm still in full control of myself. But, this watch is definitely going into my must-buy list. When it's gonna be mine, I'm not sure but one thing I'm quite sure with is that someday, it's gonna be around my wrist for good.

Lunch Treat By Dresser

This month's birthday's celebration is a lil bit different from the others - since we're also celebrating Merdeka in the same month. Hence, the company decided to make it as a double celebration kindof thing la......which means more food for the staff rather than just a boring cake. Whatever it is, free food is always good.


By the way, the August babies are Eric, Gerard & Wai Loon. The amount of food they ordered are huge.....too much for all of us here. There are Domino's Pizza (lots of them), KFC, O'Brien Sandwiches, Fried Mee Hoon, Chicken Rendang and of course, the cake - it's a Tiramisu Cake which they bought from The Rennaissance. I've always loved Tiramisu but nufortunately not this particular one. It doesnt really taste like a tiramisu......it's just to creamy & milky for me. Maybe this is how the expensive tiramisu tastes like. Too bad I have a cheap taste bud !


21 August 2008

Old Photos

A few days ago, I was cleaning up the studying room & came upon some family old photos. These old photos are indeed very valuable & priceless. Looking at them brought back all the memories .........be it good or bad. Nevertheless, memories are memories......is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are and the things you never want to lose.
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This is me.....the cute little me! This photo was taken in November 1970.
I was 9 months old then......so adorable !!!!

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The family photo of Cikgu Abdul Rahim
Taken on the very same day of the above photo...noticed my same outfit?

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Me and my brother, Long @ our old house in Tanah Putih, Kuantan.
Not really sure which year was this but must be somewhere 1973 - 1974

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Again with Long @ the studio. I would be 4-5 years old then.
Hhmm.....I wonder what has been pissing me off that day???

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Me and my dearest Mum.
She was 23 years old at that time yet so matured

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The moments may be temporary but the memories are forever.......

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Loneliness



As of yesterday, I wont be seeing my little princess for a couple of days as she'll be spending the school holiday with her dad...... uuwwaaaaa. I'm gonna miss her so much......... in fact, I already did. It feels so lonely when she's not around. I hate this loneliness feeling that I'm having right now. It really makes me sick.

However loneliness would still creeps in even though you have people around you. This normally occur when we have relationship problem with people very close to us. He or she might be there beside us but yet we feel so alone...so lonely. Loneliness is one of the curse of humanity. It seems to affect everyone regardless of age or ethnicity. Whether you're a PhD or high school dropout, rich or poor, you're equally vulnerable. It is a feeling that intimacy, understanding, friendship and acceptance are missing from one's life. It is a feeling of isolation or separation from others, a feeling of being all alone. Whatever it is I just hate that feeling.
Marsya, come back to mummy pleaseeeee......................


Loneliness
by Rebecca Drollinger


It is cold today
Indeed the rain is falling and I am alone
Thoughts of life and love
Meaningless to anyone but myself
I am alone
They watch me, their eyes not knowing
Knowing nothing of what they see
I am but another creature, alone
They scurry on the surface, unaware
Unaware of the life below
When you are alone

Loneliness, not a burden nor a sorrow
But a time of solace, of deepnessnever to be shared
Never to be understood
They can never reach the place where I am
And I know I will never reach the place where they are
I know I don't want to reach that place
True happiness is here, unmisted
Unmisted by smiles or laughter
Unmisted by the joys of company

To find true happiness
To know if one is truly happy
He must be happy alone.


Mourning Day

As the title says, today is indeed a sad day for all facebookers working with D*****r. You know why? D*****r apparently blocked the website - you just cant have an access to it. When you type the address http://www.facebook.com/ , the D*****r website would appear instead. It has been programmed that whenever you try to go to this facebook website, it will somehow re-directed you to the D*****r website.




Carol (and I'm sure a lot of other D*****r's employees too) is so sad today. Upon finding out about this, I quickly check the Blogger website. Phewww!!! Luckily it's still up & running. Otherwise I would be feeling as depressed as Carol :( Cant imagine how it would be not being able to blog......life's gonna be so empty & boring.

As I'm writing this post, I'm signing in to my Yahoo Messenger. To my suprise, the same shit happen to me! Once I'm in, it will automatically signed me out & this message appears.



Fuck !!! Didnt know D*****r would be so lansi like this. C'mon....what's wrong with YM? If they can allow Skype, why not YM then? It's totally the same fucking thing for all I know ! I'm sure those IT people in the states is so damn free that they have the time to do all these mean things. It's either that or they're just being jealous coz they dont have any frens to communicate with either in Facebook or Yahoo Messenger.


18 August 2008

Scary !!!

Marsya wrote this. Can you imagine that?? At 9 years of age, she could actually list down the criteria for her so called "true love"? Come to think of it, I dont really know how to react - should i be laughing (coz it's quite funny though) or should I be scared (it is rather scary too). At this age she can actually come up with something like this...imagine how would things be in another 10 years time....now i'm scared !
'
When I was at that age, I dont even know how to spell the word "love". Let alone knows what it means. This is the price that we all have to pay for tchnology. Children are so exposed these days. It's both pros & cons....or is it just cons ?? Now I'm really freaked out !

14 August 2008

Cool Sembonia Sandal


Went to KLCC after work today with Carol. The main purpose is to have a look at this cool brown handbag that Carol intend to buy. Our destination is Isetan which is currently having a sale in conjunction with the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival. It started when I told Carol about this Carlo Rino travelling bag I saw in Ampang Point. Hearing this, Carol told me about her brown handbag & suggested me to go to Isetan with her and check out that Carlo Rino bag since they're now on sale.

I really fell in love with that Carlo Rino bag - it has been in my mind ever since I laid my eyes on it about 2 weeks ago. The travelling bag that I have at the moment is so very old already and it's high time for me to get a new one ( as usual looking for justification....... hehehehe ). The only setback is of course, the price. It is RM150 which I think is a lil' bit expensive considering that I wont be using it that frequent. But the bag is too cool to be forgotten......arrgghhhh !!!

So, there we were in Isetan, KLCC looking for our bags. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately? ) my bag is not there. They do sell Carlo Rino bags but only the handbags. Carol bought that brown bag she've been eyeing for god knows how many days. While waiting for Carol to pay, I lingered around the place. Suddenly my eyes was glued on this nice brown sandal on the shelve. I've been looking for a brown sandal for ages.....this is just so cool. The best part is the discount offered for the sandal which is 70%, resulting in an incredibly low price of RM26.70. Such a great deal for a Sembonia sandal, huh. I would be very stupid to let go the offer, wouldn't I? Without any hesitation, I quickly grab the shoe & head straight to the cashier.

Smile was all over my face then. I was so happy with the sandal.....I felt great everytime I bought something branded with a dirt cheap price. The feeling is like winning a lottery, (even though I never won any ) but I'm very sure the feeling is so exhilarating and that's exactly how I felt that very moment.


13 August 2008

Lunch @ Saisaki


Saisaki Japanese Buffet Restaurant - one of my favourite restaurant in town. One thing I love about this place is the wide variety of food they offered. It's humongous...swear to God! So far, been there for at least 6-7 times already but still couldn't eat all of their food. Well, being a small eater like me might be one of the reason too. Wished I could eat more....

Went there to celebrate Abang's birthday & I'm glad he enjoys the food very much. As for me, obviously I enjoy the food...otherwise it wont be my favaourite makan place, isn't it? Well, their salmons are to die for - the raw ones of course! It is so fresh & juicy....bloody yummy! So is their miso soup especially if you put lots of beancurd & sea weeds in it. I could still taste the scrumptiousness (is there such a word?? what the heck !) of the soup sliding into my mouth.....heaven! Truly heaven ! Besides those two, the soy beans are also nice as an appetizer. These beans reminds me of my trip to Tokyo a few years ago. If it's not becoz of these soy beans, me & Ija would have starved to death already.



Other than the soup, salmon & beans, among other favourite dish of mine would be the steamed cod's head (for it's soft & sweet bones), clams (for the spicyness of the soup - they put cili padi in it) and Kosaki (it's actually pucuk paku......didnt know Japs eat pucuk paku). These are the must-eat dishes everytime I visit the place. Then if there's still some space available in my tummy, I'll go for the rest.

Considering the food varieties & quality, it's worth the money to have your dinner / lunch there - highly recommended. The lunch would be RM40++ and dinnner is RM50++. It may sounds a lot but trust me......you wont regret it. In fact, you'd wanna come back !


Photographs That Should Change The World If Not Just Us

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.


1963. Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam , burns himself to death protesting the government's torture policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never made a sound, or moved, while he was burning.


1962. A soldier shot by a sniper hangs onto a priest in his last moments.



1965. A mom and her children try to cross the river in South Vietnam in an attempt to run away from the American bombs.



1966. U.S. troops in South Vietnam drag a dead Vietkong soldier.


February 1, 1968 . South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shoots a young man, whom he suspected to be a Viet Kong soldier.

1975. A woman and a girl fall, after the fire escape collapses.


1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger, and a missionary.



1982. Palestinian refugees murdered in Beirut , Lebanon .

1987. A mother in South Korea apologizes and asks for forgiveness for his son who was arrested after attending a protest. He was protesting the alleged manipulations in the general elections.

1992. A mother in Somalia holds the body of her child who died of hunger.

1994. A man who was tortured by the soldiers since he was suspected to have spoken with the Tutsi rebels.

1996. Kids who are shocked by the civil war in Angola ...

2001. An Afghani refugee kid's body is being prepared for the funeral in Pakistan ...

2002. Soldiers and villagers in IRan are digging graves for the victims of the earthquake. A kid holds his father's pants before he is buried.

2003. An Iraqi prisoner of war tries to calm down his child.


'There was never a happy war, or sad peace..compensate injury with justice, and selfishness, with kindness'

Happy Birthday Abang !


It's Abang's 47th birthday today. Happy Birthday dear! I'm gonna dedicate this poem to you - cedok from the internet, of course.....well, I'm not that terrer especially when it comes to poem writing. Anyway, it's the thought that counts, right ?

Once a year I get the chance
To wish you birthday cheer
It pleases me no end to say
I wish you another great year

So happy birthday to you, Abang
From the bottom of my heart
And may your good times multiply
Till they’re flying off the chart!


Do you know how difficult it is to get a present for a guy? There are not so much options to it - clothings, wallet, perfume.......then what else? Ok, if the guy has a hobby, at least we could get him things that are associate to their hobbies..otherwise, that's about it lah. In one year, there are 2 celebrations as a minimum - annivessary & birthday. It wont take that long to complete the gifts list & all you know you'll be scratching hard on your head thinking what to buy. I'm having the same problem here.......but after giving it a deep thought, I've decided to get him a backpack coz the one he's currently having is quite worn out already. To make it easier for me i've asked him to choose it himself - simple! In this way, I dont have to worry about him not liking the present coz there's no point giving him a suprise when at the end it turns out that him hating it.


Eksklusif CT Nurhaliza Bersama Peminat


Got a call from Ani this morning - asking me whether I'm free tonite. Apparently she has 2 tickets to watch CT Nurhaliza perform @ Pentas Perdana, Angkasapuri, RTM. I admit that I am a fan of her (love her voice!) but just a fan...not the die-hard type. Meaning to say that I'm not that thrilled being given such an offer. However, since Ani used to babysit Marsya before, I guess it's now payback time - just returning her the favour la.

The show is actually the recording for the Hari Raya slot. We arrived about 1 hour before the show started - giving us enuff time to select the best seats. The show started at approximately 9 pm as scheduled. Before that, the audiences were being taught to clap & scream.....to make it a happening event.....which I dont think it's really required coz the moment CT entered the stage, everybody were so thrilled & excited. Clapping hands are just another reflex action..... not forgetting the screaming too, especially from the guys.

CT, as beautiful as she always been however, looks a bit plum tonite - as compared to the last time I've seen her acting in the P.Ramlee, The Musical theatre somewhere end of last year. Well, who wouldnt? Having loads of money and a millionaire hubby, she must be enjoying life to the fullest. She sang a 7 -8 songs that nite & her voice I would say, superb! Her voice is her greatest asset & nobody else could sing as well as her. Her voice is unique & very pleasant to hear. Some people said that Jac Victor has a better voice but I dont think so. Jac's voice may be high but the pitch is so high that it hurt the ears.

The show lasted for about one & a half hour or so. The moment the show ended, a few people were rushing to the rear exit. I am very sure they were going after CT.......so myself & Ani just followed the crowd & as expected, it brought us to CT. She was swarming by her fans - taking photos of her & signing the autugraphs. Took the opportunity to snap a few shots of her from a short distance. She attend her fans with patience & continuously smiling at them. Yang loratnya, as usual her bodyguards la.......


12 August 2008

Sophie's Book Again

Just came back from Kinokuniya, KLCC. Finished reading Shopaholic Takes Manhattan last week. So, went to Kinokuniya just now to get me a new book - the sequel to the shopaholic series. This time it's called "Shopaholic Ties The Knot". I am so excited already - cant wait to start reading it. This time Becca gonna marry her boyfriend, Luke. I wonder what kindof havoc this Becca gonna make this time? Sooooo excited !!!!



On top of Shopaholic Ties The Knot, I also bought this storybook called Worth More Dead by Ann Rules. Ann Rules is the #1 New York Times bestselling author who wrote books on true crime stories. Read about her in Reader's Digest a few weeks ago. Since then, I've always wanted to read her books. There are a few titles available & it's kindof difficult for me to choose the best one. So, I hope Worth More Dead is the correct choice.


Mar The Maid


This morning, my maid burnt another tudung of mine - the second one to be exact.....uuwaaaaa. The first tudung is that China Silk tudung I bought in Ampang Park. The best part is I havent even worn it yet. Minang....minang....sabau je lah...

I think I wanna write something here about this maid of mine. Her full name is Gusnimar. A divorcee of two. She's so-so lah as a maid. Nak kata rajin tu tak lah sangat but can be trusted la which is more important I supposed. It's not easy to find a perfect maid though - as long I could leave her at home with my daughter withou having any doubts / worries - it's good enuff for me.

Mar originated from Padang, Sumatera Barat. She's a minang. Being a minang, she always wanna win ( a typical Minang as claimed by my half-Minang Abang). Everytime we talked about something, she always wanna win in which I've always let her la - malas nak layan. Another thing, almost all songs sung by our local artist she claims that those songs are originally the Indonesian songs. Tak larat betul minang sorang ni !

Her hobby would be watching TV & singing. Suka bebenor minang ni nengok TV sebenarnya. maybe becoz she's bored la i guess - the whole day staying home with not so much work to be done. Another thing she likes to do is telling me stories of her ex. From the stories she told me, looks like she adores her ex so much. It's just that she cant acccept the fact of poligamy. How sad.....

Overall, Mar is quite ok actually. She's a good cook, by the way. When I first knew that she's a Minang I was so excited coz Nasi Minang has always been my favourite. That means I can have my favourite food every day larr......saper tak suka kan? Anyway, I'm glad she's there with us. The more the merrier. God bless her....and us too !

Double Standard


I was so shocked when I saw the front page of The Star today. It's a news about the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing. The girl who sang during the grand opening ceremony was actually miming and only put on stage because the real singer was considered not cute enuff. Can you believe that?? Such a double standard, isnt it?

The cute girl, Lin Miaoke was using Yang Peiyi's voice that night. The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi is flawless. If I'm Yang Peiyi's parents, I would not allow my daughter's voice to be used - never. This is really cruel. How can a 7 year old girl not cute? All children are cute in their own special way. Yang Peiyi has a beautiful voice & it's only fair she would be under the limelight not the other girl.

Anyway, this has always been tha case. Those with good looks always get a better opportunity... be it in career, relationship, showbiz.....practically everything. Those who are the not-so-cute ones have to really struggle to excel. Life is unfair......it never did. Morale of the story is ....good future lies on a beautiful face.