and the slight renovation on the house starts..

not really a renovation, but I don't know the exact term for this :

• additional tiles to the backyard, outside the kitchen
• awning at the backyard as well ( hunny wanted the skylight or whatever it is called.. but because that will make the kitchen panas dengan humidity yang terkumpul , we decided on a normal plain awning..lagipun kurang sikit cost)
• plaster ceiling for the living room and dining hall.. hunny wanted that circular thing with engravings to place a chandelier.. tapi macam tak sesuai je, so we opted for normal plaster ceiling and lights yang tenggelam dalam ceiling tu. dunno what that is called.
• grille for the whole house..

all in all, it initially costed (ada ke such a word as costed? ) us RM7.3k.. which I think is quite all right memandangkan banyak jugak benda that we asked the contractor to do. Tapi masa tu i was being so chatty that I usik usik the guy to give me discount and make it RM6.5k.

hmm, he didnt give me that.. tapi he punched the calculator and showed me RM6.7 k.. okayla tu kan? berjaya ! Berjaya! I just sat there without moving a muscle after i mintak kurang.. lepas tu lama sikit baru dia kasi.. yeahay! boleh tahan..

hunny during that time buat buat jalan jauh nak cari cheque book. rupanya after that meeting, he told me , he gave me space to get the guy to reduce the price. tak sangka mr hubby percaya that I could do that..hehehe..

Lepas ni banyak lagi to do..kena kerja keras kumpul duit. To do list :

1. kicthen cabinet - which may cost around 5 to 6k depending on the style. I just want a simple one that would not injure me in any way. I ni kan clutz, asyik nak langgar aje any bucu that comes across.
2. fridge - ini nak kena tengok pintu bukak arah mana, nak sesuaikan dengan the kitchen cabinet layout. budget dalam 1.5k
3. sofa, katil for master bedroom, furniture lain lain - malas nak fikir dulu. Bujang jela yea..
4. pest control for anai-anai.. this shd be the first thing in the list sebab rumah baru memang sepatutnya we make sure that we call the pest control people. somemore our place used to be a ladang if i'm not mistaken
5. etc..
6. oh yea, MOT belum bayar lagi..that's going to cost us about RM3k.. macam mana ni?

It's okay, we shall start slow. Alhamdulillah yang basic macam grille tu semua dah dapat bayar. Yang lain lain we still have about 2 years to complete.

So peeps, our homecoming , eh bukan, housewarming will be when all of those items have been completed. Lama lagi la nampaknya, memang betul kena tunggu i balik.

Tapi macam mana couples lain yang beli rumah kat situ boleh buat reno habis habis? Macam mana they all kumpul duit cepat sangat? Amazing!

I was rushed to the hospital at 12.30am

Thank goodness my friends di tingkat atas my apartment were not asleep yet. (this happened on Monday night, lepas sehari bekerja). I was suffering from (what i think was) high fever. I was shivering like nobody's business and didn't stop even when I was at the hospital A & E. Was placed on a bed yang boleh bergerak tu while all of us (my 2+1 friends, one from India, one from Korea with his GF).. what a way to be introduced to a new friend right.

Funnily enough, I cried because I was afraid that I had the swine flu. All the 3 friends came to my rescue had to wear the mask, and me too.

Finally the scary experience ended with me having a 3-day medical leave, medicines and migraine and high fever to counter alone (and thank goodness, no swine flu). My hunny panicked because i called him crying.. you see, I changed my phone and gave him my not-so-old nokia where i forgot to save all my HK friends numbers into the new phone. Lepas tu kelam kabut la telefon hunny yang panic dengar suara i macam nak pengsan je hari tu.. got the number and terus called y friends, my upstairs neighbours.

phew, I'm lucky they were there to help.. memang tak larat. Ini ke challenge duduk jauh jauh ni?.. erk, sini ok lagi, if dah pegi negara lain yang tak de orang who are in the same programme like me, how la?

Btw, Jaewoo's GF cooked rice porridge for me and she explained that everything was vegetables and vegetable based cooking.. how sweet! I really do not know how to repay their kindness.. (furthermore i dont cook, so I can't treat them to my own cooking kan? ).. takkan nak bagi gula macam orang dulu2?? (i have to return the tupperware when she made the porridge for me) any suggestions????

raya and so many other stuff

Just an update of what went on during my 7 days of raya leave (termasuk weekends) back in Malaysia :

Day before Raya :

Spent half a day (from 9.30am to 3.30pm) doing my hair at the salon. Imij Hair salon is the only place that my sisters and I go to to do our hair. This is especially after Thomas and Guys at SACC ruined my hair.

Around 4pm - went to search for baju raya at Kompleks and SACC - tak dapat.

So went back to my in laws and siap siap untuk hunt for baju kurung at Subang Parade while berbuka sekali at DOME. Finally I got ONE baju kurung at 50% off from Sireh Pinang. Okay la dapat satu. :)

Lepas tu rushed to Shah Alam Mall starbucks to meet up with Mizzy and kids :) Pics are with Hunny, tak download lagi :)

Raya Morning :

4.30am - bertolak balik N9 because I wanted to celebrate my 1st raya kat kampung. Yeahoo!

First day of Raya:

Melawat saudara mara sampaila ke petang.. nasib tak pengsan sebab makan banyak sangat. Actually takla banyak but maybe our perut terkejut because of the variety of food that went in.

Melawat pusara atuk, wan, pak teh.. but I didnt go because...

And my family melawat makam daddy at Makam at Seri Menanti.. and followed by visiting daddy's sister who stayed nearby.

Second day of Raya, Monday :

Visited 2 more houses, my nenek saudara.. and then off we went back to Shah Alam. We reached Shah Alam at about 2pm. Dead tired and slept until 6pm..boleh tak?

I think we went out for dinner malam tu if I'm not mistaken.. tak ingat dah.. oo, we went melawat nenek hunny whose house is also in Sek 17.

3rd day of Raya, Tuesday :

Somehow I don't remember what happened on Tuesday. I remember that hunny and I went to see our house at Denai Alam tapi lepas tu macam blank. But I know it was a busy day..

4th day of Raya , Wednesday :

Ikut PIL balik Melaka to visit their relatives.. from 8 am to about 5pm (5pm was when we reached shah alam). Hunny said there were many more houses to go to but the PIL macam tak larat.

Note : next time we're doing that, let's rent a room for an overnight, tak larat babe. Lagipun the drivers (FIL and hunny) were sleepy while driving. Me? I dah selamat terlentok at the back seat. Siapa suruh tak kejut, I could have driven as well :)

5th day of Raya, Thursday:

Pegi ING Malaysia office - buat keje sikit sikit , accessing my Asia pac email from there. Met my darling colleagues/ friends tapi tak sempat nak minum2 pun.. rushing sangat!

After that I went shopping for a new pair of office pants (kat HK punya dah longgar , me likes! ), got myself a new dress and of course MOST IMPORTANTE! - a new pair of office shoes.

NOTE : in HK, is so damn hard to find shoes that are free from pig-skinned lining.. sangat susah!

6th day, Friday :

Naz and Net came to my PIL's place to beraya :) Pics not with me yet. Thank you guys, i memang tak sempat nak berjalan jumpa kawan :(

Petang nya we went to Denai Alam to choose the designs for some stuff for the house. This is interesting to blog about - will tell you soon. Spent a good 2 hours or so just doing this. Penat!

7th day, Saturday :

masa ni dah takde mood nak buat ape ape because I know I have to go back on Sunday. Sheesh! Went to my mum's place and after that brought her to kak ita's place and we just lepakked there until 6pm.

Lepas tu tak payah cerita because I was in a sad mood that nite.. boo hoo hoo..

Sunday - 4.ooam was sent to LCCT. Bye bye hunnny.. bye bye Malaysia :(

dah tak best dah..

sebab kena balik HK. Time really goes by when you're having fun. And the flight back was super-terrible, sikit lagi nak muntah. I was super scared.. some lady pun dah siap terjerit ketakutan. Is it AirAsia's plane? Or is the the route itself? Masa naik MAS tak teruk sangat.. maybe it was just our luck that turbulence was soooo bad that day.

i told syamsul about the flight and he said, ooo, biasala tu, i lupa nak cakap. Apparently everytime he comes here memang flight macam tu.. huhu, kesian the hubby..tsk tsk..

I enjoyed my raya this year very much! maybe sebab duduk jauh kot pasal tu la rasa best sangat :) have so many pictures dari camera hunny, ke kamera nadia, to my camera..haha.. posing je. But Nadia and hunny were papparazi berjaya! :) Thanks to them we have so many raya pics this year :)

Pics sekarang tidak ada.. only in FB. Too lazy to download from hunny's camera.

By the way, my laptop is on medical leave back in Malaysia. Terpaksa carry hunny's lappy yang 2.5kg ni.. He'll bring back my bonnie to me when he comes here next month. My laptop asyik tutup sendiri every 2 hours or so, memang dah demam la tu.. Hope she's ok now. Till then, toodles.

Don't you miss your hubby?

If you ask me how do you feel being apart from your family especially your hubby for a long period of time?
On the forefront I would say ‘I’m fine’ or ‘I’m hanging in there’ or ‘It’s hard but I guess it’s a sacrifice that both of us decided to take’.Well, it is not easy peasy. Sometimes , (well most of the time when I’m stressed at work) I wish I was home and could seek comfort from dear hunny.
Susah, bukan senang. Sometimes bila heartache tu meluap luap, rasa nak give up pun ada.
Imagine, we have a new house now, dah dapat kunci. And he is all alone to look after the house and check if things are in order. I so heartache! Orang lain dah start moving in, and he has to wait for me to come back so that we can do it together.Lagi 1 tahun 8 bulan (if betul betul nak ikut exact duration) that I will be away from my loved ones.
Is this what I really want? Seriously, up till now, I am not sure of the answer. It still is at an experimental stage for me.Can I still endure another fasting month without my family? Can HE still endure another round of fasting month and maybe raya (next year) without me? I don't know.
But I am glad and happy that he has been very supportive, and he surely will be in future.

Nak raya ni mula la nak emo.. tapi nanti if kena campak negara lagi jauh, macam mana? How now brown cow? Nak bawak hunny sekali, expenses management would be an issue (currently we’re splitting the expenses for the house and other investments.. taknak kata debts, investment ok..hehe). I should think of it when I get there..

P.S. to myself : I can’t believe I’m here! From someone who grew up without a dad and had to endure so many challenges in her life.. I think I’m doing all right. Guilty of telling people my sob stories or not, I think that is one of the ways that I managed to reduce my stress and be the sane person that I am today.

Can't wait to fly back to Malaysia!

Source : Google

Can't wait to go back home because :

1. I MISS my hunny, my sisters, my family, my friends..my , my ,my
2. Dah 3 bulan tak balik rumah, and this 1 week leave may help to ease my homesickness level
3. to get my hands on my handphone raya..yeahay! (ps : at time of entry, i have yet to buy baju raya). Ok, so takde baju raya pun takpe kot tahun ni.. i still have the jubah from mekah/madinah that my in law bought for me. pakai je tshirt and jeans lepas tu sarung jubah, boleh tak agak-agak. The jubah is very jarang.
   This is the first time i have ever, ever, spent on a handphone because i am not into tech and/ or gadgets. I am more of a clothes and handbags person. Tapi hunny kata ini tengah offer, so ok, i shall give it a try.
   The last time i bought a new phone was 2 years' back.
4. ada lagi satu benda that is waiting for my return ...

Source : My Closet (online shopping haven)

fruit hand for people back home

the purses and perfume - not for me

earrings - for me! me , me!

the purse that i bought for kak ita

I really don't know what to buy for the family back home. They sell a lot of souvenirs / trinkets here tapi dari segi kualiti tak dijamin la. I bought a few coin purses for my aunties (but can already see that the zipper they use is flimsy), one perfume for Nadia's bday, a purse for Kak Ita's bday.. tshirts with HK logo infront ada banyak, but somehow the size is a little bit funny. The bigger the size, the longer it gets. Bukan patut lagi besar sideways ke? So, no tshirts. Just small purses.

and maybe a few things for me as well. Have decided that those earrings will be mine..muahahaha..

packed my bags and ready to go

well,okay. Not 100% ready, i still have a few this and that to place inside the luggage. Initially I didn't want to check in my luggage, but after buying the perfume for nadia, it has to be checked in. Oh well..

It's raining quite heavily at the moment accompanied by thunder and lightning. Sca-ry.

Today is 15 Sept - Tuesday. Two major happenings :

Typhoon signal number 8

I think this is the second or third time since I'm got here. Tapi last night macam susah sikit nak lelap mata maybe because I was a little bit scared of the rain.

Level 8 signal / warning was still on until 10am on Tuesday so masuk kerja lambat sikit. This is because whenever the level is at 8, you're suppose to stay indoors. Kadang kadang if the signal is hoisted while we're at work, depending on HR's info, we get to go home early.

Patrtick Swazey's passing

I think he died on the 14th but I only knew about it today. Funnily enough, I have never watched Dirty Dancing in full. Always a little bit here and there..

I am not a fan of PS but still, he is a famous actor who lost his battle with cancer. What made it more touching (i think) was that his wife was with him till the end. Lama kawin tu, mana nak dapat artis hollywood (or even Malaysia for that matter) yang kawin lama macam tu?

eh, this entry is not so relevant to the title.

My favourite things

at the moment (in random order) are :

1. sparkling ribena - dulu takdela minat sangat but I guess after seeing how expensive Esprit drinks are, I settled for Ribena. Sini Esprit is about ..hmm.. RM 15 per bottle. In Malaysia baru RM 7..
2. Eating at an Indian restaurant - especially the masala dossa (where it is famously known as tosai in Malaysia). It is very yummy and crunchy with potatos on the inside of the folded dossa. Nice!
3. Wasabi nuts - after eating so much cakes and brownies and ice cream and all the sorts, I am bored with those desserts and tekak saya nak makan dessert melayu (which of course mana nak dapat kat sini kan? ) . So in the end, I bought a very last packet of wasabi nuts! tak relevant sangat but I need some excitement .. hehehe
4. Going to Sasa to try the nice perfumes they have there and refraining myself from buying any of them since I do not need a new one.

The list is endless actually. And it changes, maybe all the time..hehe.. by the way, I am looking forward to have my hands on a present that i bought for myself at home. Yeahay! Nak balik , nak balik!

i am not a drinker

and i do not consume alco. Saya baru saja membuat seorang colleague merajuk sebab I actually bailed out on him as he wanted to have drinks with me and another friend (apparently kawan I yang sorang tu pun cancel la pulak). Thing is :

1 - rugi je i pergi minum with them because i only drink juice (not so much into soda nowadays sebab dah biasa tak minum dah) and ice blended perisa buah buahan. nak mintak hot choc or iced choc macam mengarutla pulak kat bar/ pub macam tu kan. And normally I don't enjoy drinking fruit juice sangat. Alang alang minum fresh orange baik I beli je yang in those boxes and minum kat rumah kan..

2 - puasa puasa ni i am super tired after buka.. susahla nak buat orang faham. Bukan nak menolak invitation or not that I am anti-social, tapi penat la wei puasa berejam pastu nak membuka mata melayan borak kosong sambil minum minum. tapi they all tak faham.. takpela, I am an anti-social for the time being. that's fine with me.

3 - bukan nak berkira pasal duit, but instead of me spending on minum air juice yang berpuluh ringgit and overpriced tu, baikla i save my ka-ching for my commitments back home. I have things to pay/ save for and most of them here tak ada.. jadi tak boleh la kata I terlalu jimat.. i just have more commitments.. kereta, rumah, study loan. not showing off but these are the things that I have to prioritise berbanding nak keluar pegi minum minum. If ada teh tarik ke, you all nak pegi minum starbucks ke, tu I tak kisah la, because me likey those things.

I am not super pious, tapi lebih elok mengelak dari terjebak. Betul tak kawan-kawan semua?

Say AYE!!!