I'm Still Alive

I have been quite preoccupied for a while, trying to adjust to living in Malaysia again and also working life. It definitely was not an easy transition. So many things have changed in the one year that I was gone and many more will. In the absence of fast reliable internet connection, my blog seems to have been a target for an irresponsible human being to vent out his/her anger (check out the chatbox), whether it is towards me or by sheer accident my blog was chosen to be the outlet, I can never know. He/she did not leave a name or contact number. After tracking the ip address, I found out that he/she post the comment from Petronas. If I did something wrong to this particular person, I apologise and wish you have had contacted me personally to settle it and let me know what I have done wrong.

To other readers, sempena bulan raya ni, I hope it is not too late to wish you all selamat hari raya and maaf zahir batin.

Quick Weekly Summary

Was in Subang for the weekend. In puncak alam actually. The girls and I conquered the house and partied. There were only three of us the first night but the second night the party grew to five and it was lively. Even learnt some belly dancing moves thanks to Ima. That and a year's catch up.

Oh special thanks to Eza for her helping hand in sorting out my room. If it were not for her help, I doubt the room will be sorted by now. But, must say that I am still not sure where everything is yet..hehehe

Got to ride in BBBee's baby..cun gak keter dia. But, official vehicle is of course Slipknotz's bumble bee.

Oh had two mcD's meal. Got a free cheesecake from coffee beans kat OU, compliments of the guy at teh counter. He said it's his last day at work..hehehe

Three drivers got lost between One Utama to puncak alam thanks to the horrible directions given by the host.

Finished my thesis..finally! But the reference list is still in progress. So technically not quite done yet. But, have submitted the first draft after a hard try.

Reported for duty 'unofficially' it seems. Penat jer dress up. Got two weeks leave. Atmosphere in the office or ex-office feels like a graveyard. What happened to the madhouse that I joined three years ago and I left a year ago...Feels totally like a different place now.

Then there's jogoya..the sashimi, sushi, teppanyaki.. makan sampai 3 jam. Oyster dia sangat besar and super fresh. Thank you noris for the treat. Tried so many new dish that night.

Caught up with some old friends in putrajaya. Still the happy bunch with new additions. That's a relief. Annuar Zain and Manjalara did their share in helping us to bond again..:)

Now back home to dial-up..and no signs of my transfer cable..*sigh*..enjoying parent's pampering and aktiviti ternak badan.

Ikan Bakar Ayam Golek

Semalam pegi medan ikan bakar for dinner. Second dinner actually. Already had rice with sayur nangka masak lemak, ikan goreng sambal, ikan masin and sambal tumis when I found out we were going to the ikan bakar place. Funnily enough, we didnt eat ikan bakar there but had sweet sour fish, sotong goreng tepung and kerang goreng sambal. Sedap jugak for a newly opened place. No other seafood. The story has it that the fishermen didnt go to the sea as there was some chinese prayers to attend.

Today I went to visit my ex-teacher who have had a stroke. I teared but everything was under control. Hopefully he will get well soon. On the way home, my mum grabbed some ayam golek for dinner. Those who know where the infamous Mi Bandung Central is, the ayam golek stall is just in front of the stall. Sedaap la.

So as you can see, all I have been doing since I came home is eat eat and eat some more. Mmg no chance to slim down. I must brave myself to hear comments about my increased weight when i report for duty soon.

Even on that day I have a date at Jogoya for dinner..habis laa

Me and the fruit trees

I am not sure if I am still jetlagged or what but I didnt wake up until 12.30 pm today. The funny part was that I thought I woke up at 8 am. Was so proud of myself until I looked at the clock..hmm

I tried to start writing the remaining chapters to my thesis but to no avail and I ended up eating kuey tiow with chicken curry, kubis masak air, ikan gelama masak kicap and sambal tumis. Times like this makes me happy to be home. Was looking for the fresh soya bean drink but could not find any in the fridge. Oh well.

In the evening, I spent my time getting to know the fruit trees around the house. There is the duku tree, the jambu air tree, the rambutan tree, the coconut tree, the longan tree and the kuini tree (kuini is something like mango but with sweeter and stronger smell). Even had the chance to pluck some remaining duku from its tree and also the red jambu air. Will upload the pictures once I can find the transfer cable. It should be in one of the bags that I brought home with me. If this is not the case, you will be seeing the photos in 10 weeks time when the boxes i shipped arrives.

So tonight, determine to write something. Am currently at 68 pages. 12 more pages to meet the minimum requirement but there is still so much I want to write that I think I will exceed the 100 pages requirement. Ok technical writing time.

p/s: I am really envious of Eric who told me he has completed his first draft. But definitely not envious of the presentation to the French company that he has to do.. hehehe. Best of luck, Eric.

I changed my mind..

I did! While chatting to miss Slipknotz that is. I changed my flight from 2 September 2.05 pm to 31 August 2.05 pm. My apologies to Mizleyha and Mizteera for cancelling our girls day. Must say I was really touched by Mizleyha's efforts to prepare her room for my arrival yg dicancel tu. Thank you to Tirah yg tolong tarik and angkat beg. Although I have not known you gals for long, rasa macam dah kenal lama and you will always be remembered and have a special place in my heart. Thank you for your company during my last few days in Glasgow. They really make my leaving Glasgow more difficult. Then there is Zack, such a great friend. Partly changed my flight sbb x nak susahkan dia kena angkat my super heavy bags naik rumah Leyha yg kat tingkat 4 tuh. My only regret is not being able to say proper goodbye to him.

Oh lupa lak. Thank you to Zack, Leyha and Tirah yg tolong kemaskan kitchen and terima all our junks from the kitchen. To Noris who missed all the fun, only 5% was thrown away sbb dah buruk but others, managed to find new homes. It was really like a lelong day, the cleaning kitchen day that is.

So, yup. Now back to reality. One year paid holiday is over. Touched down as scheduled.


p/s: hari ni makan ayam percik and rojak petis.. No pictures though.

Alas..FOOD!!!

Finally, after hours and hours of starvation, someone or something opened the gate to the food heaven. I was calling and knocking that same door last night but no one picked up the phone nor heard me. After several attempts I gave up. Anggap jer la puasa. But, baru ni the door was opened. No phone calls needed, no banging needed. But all the leftover food from dinner two nights back has gone bad. So, while starving and shaking due to low calorie intake, I had to clear them first. Not a beautiful sight nor smell I must say. Reminds me of many years ago when a friend left for home, leaving another friend and I to wash her plates, clean up her place, pack her kitchen stuff and hmm what happened to them? I honestly cannot remember. Oh well, all that does matter.. what matters now is that I have food..yippie!!!

A Trip Down South

It's our last chance to drive down to the English soil. I promised Fairuz I'd take him for an England tour. But somehow, almost a year later, my promise is still just a promise. But finally, last Wednesday, on impulse, Fairuz and I rented a car and I finally get to realise part of my promise (Southampton x sempat nak cover). By the time we took the car, it was already late afternoon. But, the weather was superbly beautiful. So, we decided to have a picnic. This time at Queen's Park. Cooked a quick fried noodles for the picnic. Unfortunately, Noris had a pre-arranged engagement and hence not able to join us.

He joined us for the England trip though. Our journey to the south should have started at 6 am..hahahaha.. even writing it sounds like a joke. I woke up at 6 am. Sorry guys. We finally left at 7 am.

First stop, Liverpool. Dont really know what to do here and we were rushing for time. So off to Anfield and then head for Cheshire Oaks.. Still one hour behind schedule.

To get to chesire oaks we had to go through a tunnel, Kingsway Tunnel, and we had to pay a toll for it, £1.30. Macam x percaya jer in UK ada toll. First toll paying experience in UK. At Cheshire Oaks, x snap gambar pun sbb too busy keluar masuk outlets. We were there for about two hours. Surprisingly, all i bought was two packs of cappucino beans coated with chocolate and dusted with cream from whittard..specially for someone..*ehem* ehem* you know who you are. Next destination was Birmingham. Quite a famous city in the UK. Never set foot there before. Thought we'd check it out.

Birmingham, I was told is great for shopping. Ada bull ring shopping center, cadbury world and etc. But we never really made it to those venues. Birm is quite a big and modern city. Since we are not really in the shopping mood, we decided to have a lunch picnic at one of their parks. We couldn't find one though. While driving round in circles (passed by Aston Uni like 3 times?), we saw a sign for the botanical garden. Yeay, lunch time. It turns out the garden is a gated one and you have to pay £4 per person to get in.. hmm no, thank you. Just snapped photos around the compound and then drove away.

Accidentally we found Birmingham University. Saw some green patches at their carpark and that was where we had our lunch, with all the passerby staring at us munching happily the fried rice that noris cooked earlier in the morning... hehehe.. I would never do this in Malaysia.

To be continued...

Outlet and Clearance

Somehow ended up at the Forge retail park ptg tadi, attacking the M&S outlet store and NEXT clearance shop. Student layan discounted stuff jer. Last few days to enjoy the perks of being a sponsored student.

Lepak At George Square

Hari ni lepak kat george square together with groceries from Sainsbury's.

Carboot at Blochairn

Hari ni pegi carboot. Borong story books as cheap as 25p per book. Bought 6 of them to fill up my box yg nak dishipkan..hahaha... Also after a year of contemplating whether or not to buy caramel squares, I finally bought them today.. OMG, super sweet. Sedap but let me repeat this, SUPER SWEET. Kalau awal2 dtg dulu dah start beli, by now I would be diabetic.

Last Meeting

This morning's meeting was the last face to face meeting i am ever gonna have with my project supervisor. sob sob sob. Macam x caya jer. Dissertation nowhere near completion pun. Kira punya kira I have slightly more than two weeks jer kat sini. Aiyo camana ni?

Hari-Hari Makan

Saturday makan, Sunday makan, Today makan lagi...all very good food. And oh now at page 16. 64 pages more to go. Sempat ke sebelum balik ni? I need to get streamyx installed before i balik. Wonder how reliable streamyzx is.. if not, like what Alden like to say, " Mati lorr!"

Too Much Stuff

I have just realised that I have a lot of stuff to bring home yet again. I got myself just one box from the shipping company thinking that I could not have possible accumulated a lot of junk in just a year but surprise (or no surprise), I did. I packed half of it last night and today I will request for another box. But then I have another problem.

Last night I also packed the souveniers for people who matters in my life and the things that people kirim. Those things already fill up almost the entire bag. And I still have a couple of files that I can't ship coz I'm still using them for my thesis. There's my clothes and slippers etc. that I still need to use daily. I can't ship the souveniers coz then I will sampai before them and when I meet up with these people cannot give the souveniers of course. x best la kan.

Initially, I thought of shipping the stuff home earlier i.e. not wait until my final week here sbb takut pisang berbuah dua kali (last time I ship home I had some problems with the pickup). But, seems like I have no choice. So, u see bukan I x nak jadi organise but keadaan yg memaksa! Err.. those who know the real me, please stop laughing.

p/s: Room feels empty now that I have start to clear some stuff. :(. Maybe I should unpack..

Quick Update

Semalam Noris buat makan2 for his old friends from Uni days. When i say makan2, it usually is a feast and yesterday was no exception. Noris masak nasi lemak and sambal sotong and sambal udang siap ngan flower deco lagi. Zack tetap maintain hebat ngan sate kajang and sanbal kacangnyer. Sedap giler. Melantak x hengat (quick note..diet has been abandoned..dont see how it can materialise with so many great cooks around). All in all ada about 15 of us, the guests, the three hot babes (Tirah, Leyha and I la saper lagi) and three handsome lads. Sampai hari ni pun kenyang lagi. X amik photos pun semalam. So kalau ada ihsan photo from other people will share with you guys later la hah.

Since semalam dah makan byk, hari ni gi main badminton 2 jam. Still x kurus pun!?

Malam ni still malas nak tulis thesis. So far baru tulis 3 full pages. Sayour big time. Still have 77 pages to go. But since malas punya pasal i thought of packing some stuff to ship home. Yes, the time has come to face reality. I am going home soon. Sob Sob Sob. Mesti sedih tgk bilik kosong lepas ni. But what needs to be done must be done. Still have to do it sooner or later. Just hate the feeling of having to leave a place you call home. Kena cari excuse datang negara ni lagi nih.

Oh nowadays my ears are fed with non stop bag-piping and drumming.. mula2 dulu rasa best jugak. Then feel like I'm living in a carnival area yer jugak. But now,after two weeks, it is just plain annoying. Pukul 9 mlm pun main lagi.. arrgghhh. Those sounds have officially replaced my alarm clock now. Kalau dah bunyi tuh means dah pukul 9 pagi la. Even the high quality double glazing window in my room is unable to block the sound from penetrating the walls and windows. Can't wait for their bag pipe competition to be over so that peace and order can be restored to my life.

Guess I'll go start on my packing now. Been delaying it for too long.

Unplanned

The only thing that I planned for yesterday was to go swimming at 5pm. But, unfortunately, partner is down with fever and flu. So, plan was abandoned. By 4 p.m. I got bored of being cooped up in my room and decided to do some banking and somehow ended up shopping. After 3 weeks of resisting the Monsoon Sale, I finally succumbed to it today. Hey, they're having their 70% off sale. It's amazing I lasted this long.

Halfway through shopping, i got really hungry and thought of dragging my loyal companies to Campus East for free pizzas (for any drink purchased apparently). Too tired to cook. But then Zack called and said he is cooking dinner. Wah even better. Dinner turns out to be quite a feast and was really great even though one member was MIA. Was so full but when Fairuz mentioned dessert, terus terbayang cheesecake and off we went, searching for the perfect dessert. On the way, sempat main posing2. Here's one shot from Zack.

Not surprisingly, after a 15 minutes quest, we ended up in Starbucks at Borders. Funnily enough I didnt eat the cheesecake pun coz just had it like two days ago. (Frequency of visiting Starbucks is increasing and it's worrying). Sempat la joke around and gossip sikit sebelum kedai tutup.

All in all, was a great unplanned lazy and relax evening. Somehow, I feel that the fact that everything was unplanned makes the good time feels sweeter. I think I should plan less.

p/s: Happy bday, babes (2 August). Semoga cun selalu. We'll have a party when I get home k.

Friends, lovers, friends

First we were just a bunch of good friends. Then we ended up loving and dating each other, only to break up later for various reasons. Life is after all a complicated story. Although everyone ends up being friends again, things can never be the same like they were before. Gatherings now have sensitive issues. But, it would be great to meet up again, just us, making peace with ourselves and moving on.

Talking about good friends, so glad one of mine has internet connections back in her life, that's one more friend returned to me.

Also, over the weekend I have had the pleasure to meet up with old friends from Cambridge, whom I have not met for so many years.

They are still the same as I remember plus a touch maturity. Thank you for the good time and free ride to Livingston and Edinburgh. Hopefully you've enjoyed your stay here.

Bukan Diriku

Currently into this song but not the Samson's version but Anuar Zain's version. Been looping the song on youtube for a while now. Can find it here. Favourite bit is the chorus of course.

"Walau ku masih mencintaimu

Ku harus meninggalkanmu

Ku harus melupakanmu

Meski hatiku menyayangimu

Nurani memerlukanmu

Ku harus merelakan"

Bila la Anuar Zain nak buat concert. Confirm pergi kalau dia buat.

Every Little Helps

I have been doing masters in Sustainable Engineering course for almost a year now. So, throughout the course, we've been taught and reminded to save energy, go green etc. Kat class angguk2 kepala but whenever I reach home I am so not energy efficient. My reason senang jer, I have paid for the electricity and gas bills, so if i consume less i rugi la kan. Bad Aeni..very bad. Heck, I dont even recycle. So, every now and then I would feel guilty for not doing my share in saving energy and combating climate change etc.

But then today I received this email from my friend who is into sustainable engineering and the following is how the email goes.

"For those worried with energy consumption the following may be of interest...

When your screen is white, be it an empty word page, or the Google page, your computer consumes 74 watts, and when it's black it consumes only 59 watts. Mark Ontkush wrote an article about the energy saving that would be achieved if Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views.

According to his calculations, 750 MWh per year would be saved (about the same as, say, one-quarter of the energy produced annual by the Green Park wind turbine) - but it all helps!

In a response to this article Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but with a lower energy consumption; check it out

http://www.blackle.com/ "

If the study is true than I have been doing my share all these while sbb my blog has a black background! hehehe I am so proud of myself. Oh, I have also checked out the black version of google.. cool jugak but need some getting used to. For now I think I'll stick to the white version kut..hehehe coz I have done my share :P (sikit pun nak claim gak..x kisah)

What is the limit?

Personally, i think Malaysians are pemalu. If they are offered something, the usual answer you would get is "x per lah" when most of the time they do want it but too shy to say they do. As a result, to show that you honestly meant to offer them whatever that is, you would have to offer over and over again. It's quite a tiring process coz if you dont do it they would think you ajak2 ayam jer. But in the end if you offer them too many times, they have to say yes but terpaksa kind of yes sbb x nak lukakan hati org yg offer pulak. Now it is becoming pure complicated.

So surely there is a rule of thumb as to how many times you offer something and if they still refuse by then, it really means 'No, thank you'. From what I heard, the Malay's offer limit is three and I take this as my guideline even when offering to non Malays. So that is one problem solve, for me at least.

The next question is how many times do u offer someone to join in an activity and get turned down before you should take it as 'I am not interested to join any of your activities'. I tried applying the three times rule but cannot because every activity is unique in its own way. Maybe that person do not like one kind of activity but like the other one. But, when the 'no' keep coming in my way that I rasa macam terhegeh2 je when it is obviously the other party is not interested. So berapa kali kena ajak before i can stop so as not to be considered being rude?

Wasted minutes

I am not really the kind of person who takes naps. That was true until i started my third semester i.e. since early May. Now, all that i do is nap. Morning nap, Afternoon Nap, Evening nap. No wonder la makin hari makin tembam. Although the nap is good, the feeling after waking up from the nap is not especially these days when time is extremely precious. Nowadays, when I wake up i will regret taking the nap in the first place coz it feels like I've wasted the little time i have left here. I should really be using those wasted minutes to finish my thesis as soon as possible and then enjoy my remaining stay to the maximum. As a result, each time after waking up from a nap, I'll be grumpy and angry at myself. And yet, i keep on falling asleep. Nap after nap and then nap again. grrrr

i just woke up from my sleep and i am grumpy. better not take a nap today!

i think my entries are getting more personal i.e. me merungut most of the time. Maybe i should start making this blog private, for my eyes only. Wonder if there is a way to do that. hmmm

Misc. and etc.

Look at the dates!!! I have only six more weeks left to be spent in this country. Panic attacks are coming more frequently. Why didnt I apply for the unpaid leave (sambil ketuk kepala sendiri). What was I thinking. Agak2 sempat x if I apply now? But I dont really want to be fasting here alone and whatmore, I would be homeless after 1 September. Yaiks, I'm actually in quite a mess. Time to get organised.

1. Must start writing
2. Must ban youtube etc.
3. Must start dieting (seriously!)- if i heard her correctly, mummy said i look boroi in the pictures :(

Those who have the intentions to kirim stuff, this is the time to send me the list. I accept payment by cash or through maybank2u.

Just found out someone very close to my heart is expecting a baby. Dont think it is for public knowledge so namanyer dirahsiakan di sini. Anyways I am excited for the couple and hope everything goes well with the baby. I really think balik ni I will be getting BABY SHOCK. Within a year, so many of friends dah dapat baby. Sure rasa surreal when the next time we meet and these people will come holding cute babies in their arms.. erk

Glasgow River Festival

Glasgow River Festival (GRF) is an annual festival held here in Glasgow on the River Clyde and its banks over Glasgow Fair weekend. This year, the festival was held on 14-15 July. It is a great event for those who are into ships and boats and other maritime stuff specifically and those who enjoy great day's out generally. Held at the Clyde Waterfront, not only you can see the historical landmarks of Glasgow such as the Tall Ship but you also get to enjoy some of Glasgow’s more modern architectures such as the Glasgow Science Centre and the Clyde Auditorium.

Landmarks aside, there are loads of boats, ships and other floating vessels of all shapes and sizes throughout this festival, some of which taking part in races while others are for display. You can even climb aboard for a look around on some of them, which has historical significance one way or another such as the MV Kyles, the Pole Star etc for free. There is also Zapcat racing, which is pretty fast and exciting and is part of the Zapcat National Championships. You could even go for powerboat rides, try rowing and sail on board the steam engine boats. They mentioned duck races as well but did not see any while we were there. Oh we also saw a demonstration of how Bells Bridge, one of the bridges on River Clyde can be swung to let tall ships pass.

Meanwhile, on the riverbanks and around the Science Centre, there is also loads of entertainment happening – funfair, bands, crafts etc. There was this huge balloned slide that I would love to get on but I was too old for it. *sigh*. More info on the festival here.

Free SPT(local bus company) shuttle buses were provided throughout the festival weekend. There were regular departures from several locations within the city center and also outwith Glasgow. We boarded.. chewaah we got on one of these buses at West George Street, in front of the Queen Street Station. Surprisingly there was no queue at all. Since it is one of the double decker buses, we took this opportunity to sit right in front on the top floor. Feels a bit like on a roller coaster ride.

We arrived at Clyde Waterfront just before 1 pm. There was already a huge crowd there. So, without wasting any time, snap snap snap. Weather was great (but photos look gloomy somehow..hmm) and I had a lot of fun.