And the countdown starts now...

Now that I have found you
You've changed my life
Cos you're the one who showed me
I have everything right
We're never gonna differ cos we know it's true
So don't change me and I won't change you

- Sophie Ellis Baxtor's "I Won't Change You" -

This morning...i woke up late, rushed through to get to my 10 a.m. class...

This morning...i sat through 7 boring presentations, just so i can see my friend, Debora, present her report as a sign of support..

This afternoon...i withdrew cash, topped up my phone, made my way to Oxford St, had Tazo Chai Latte at Starbucks, while reading Like Water For Chocolate, as the rain drizzled outside the window, while waiting for my roomie to arrived...

This afternoon, went for a little window shopping, and watched 50 First Dates with Ainor...I have a soft spot for Drew Barrymore cuz she's proof that you don't have to go for the super skinny look to look good on screen..and noo, she's not fat..she's just so cute...i love the fact that the camera never misses her slight double shin, the extra flab under her arm, her chubby cheeks, and slightly imperfect teeth, and round nose....Adam Sandler: reminds me of my brother, whom i'm sorely missing.period.

This evening, tried all manners of bottoms from the ultra-mini skirt (ugh!), to Fifties Style skirts, to capri pants, to pedal pushers to jeans to cargo pants...verdict: go home, count cash in piggy bank first...

This evening, had dinner at Nahar with Ainor, had yummy fried kuehtiow, met a few friends, bugged cousin to join us...left late, arrived home near midnight...

Now....

i will start counting days till i'm no longer your best friend...

i will start cherishing every moment we spend together...

i will look at our photos a little longer...

i will make our calls last a little while...

i will try to keep my promises to you...

i will try to be there for you as much as i can...

as i sit, almost shocked at the turn of events and at what i'm now feeling, i hope that you'll do the same too...

Your happiness is mine, my bestest friend...you just can't blame me for missing you already... :)

Did i mention the yummy yoghurt??

This love has taken its toll on me
She said Goodbye too many times before
And her heart is breaking in front of me
I have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore

- Maroon 5's "This Love" -

i just got back from Googling Landliebe, which can be described and testified by moi, as the BESTEST, MOST DELICIOUS, YUMMIEST, CREAMIEST, LIP-LICKING, SMACKERDOODLICIOUS yoghurt EVER!! you have not tasted yoghurt, until you've tasted Landliebe...unfortunately, right now, you can only find it in Germany, i think...my first taste of it was when i first got to Germany and tasted Putri's Walnut Yoghurt..Walnut! what luxury! we were hooked by then, and whenever Kak Iza goes back to Gemany to visit her hubby she never fails to bring us back a pot each...i've just finished my supply of the strawberry yoghurt, and my tongue is itching to taste that walnut yoghurt..good thing she's going back to Germany this weekend...yay!

wich brings me to the issue of this weekend, which is an extended one due to the Bank Holiday on Monday...and we, my roomie and i, have nowhere to go...blame it on lack of foresight...*grr* what first started out as a proposed trip to Manchester is prolly cancelled as our host is too busy to take us around..besides, she has a deadline on Tuesday, so we don't want to be bugging her this weekend...which is quite a bummer, cuz the Commonwealth Film festival is held at Manchester this weekend, and they're screening a Malaysian movie, written and directed by Amir Muhammad....Big Durian, is a fiction/documentary, about a guy who went amok with an M-16 in the streets of Chow Kit, Kl in 1987..so the whole film is about how the event affected about 23 real/fictional characters....that was not taken directly from the website btw, but it sounded interesting kan? now, we prolly won't be able to catch it.... :(

good news would be, that the group assignment due tomorrow is finished, and just waiting to be printed and binded before submission...yours truly here was up till 5 a.m., writing her long-overdue part, accompanied by the Lovely Nonz online...thank you dear for listening to me ramble..biaselaa, i kan suke story ;) but, as it rained in London the whole of last night, lightning and thunder included, it was torture getting up this morning, when all i want to do is snuggle in deeper and lose myself in La-La Land....but, got up i did, and true to the Malaysian style, arrived about 2 hours later than scheduled..*not proud of that*..stayed at the library till about 3 p.m., editing with the ever-charming Kai, amusing each other with cheesy metaphors that we actually included in the conclusion just so our lecturer will have something to smile about after reading the whole blarrdy report..met Asrar, long-lost classmate, chatted for a bit...stumbled home, landed on my oh-so-comfy makeshift bed of 3 layers of duvet, and promptly fell asleep till about 9.30 p.m. ...

bad news, spent unnececessary amount of money (GBP 3) on 2 books..i know i shouldn't have walked on the other side of the street where the charity shops are..i can never resist getting something...hehehe...kemut, but greedy at the same time, i only buy cheap second-hand books, but right now i have amassed 3 of which i've not touched....Like Water For Chocolate, Agatha Christie's After the Funeral, and Weekend in Paris...Weekend in PAris looked ditzy enough, but it also looked brand new, with no price tag..when i enquired at the desk, the guy told me to look into the book, but i told them, there's no price written in there...he looked at the book, and went, you can have this for 1.49 if you want...if i want??!! of course i want!!! hehehhehe....

so, insya-Allah, if all goes well, i'll have loads to read for my trip to Spain...maybe i should practice eating tapas and paellas, huh?

A Tribute to Mr Abu Bakar Sidek

Panjang umurnya,
Panjang umurnya,
Panjang umurnya serta mulia,
Serta mulia,
serta muliaaa...

- Birthday Song from Indonesia (source unconfirmed)

Happy Birthday Ayah! on the 27th of April aka yesterday, my dad celebrated his 58th birthday...called him up to wish him after midnight, and although he has difficulty hearing my voice, he did hear me shout "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYAH!!"over the phone and started laughing..."thank you, thank you..how's the weather there? "..that's my dad for you, a verrrryyyy simple and quiet person, who does not like any spotlight on him, preferring not to celebrate his birthday, causing us, his kids, to make it a nonchalant (Bandit, pinjam word eh ;) ) celebration every year....just cake after dinnertime, and carefully selected presents....this year, from me and Aliaa, it was this Cerrutti Si perfume set..

the thing with my dad is, he is EXTREMELY fussy....and, sad to say, i think his fussiness has made its way to me, and i am now almost as fussy as he is..i think i once did mention how he combed the whole of Mekah looking for the perfect sunglasses..there was this period of time where we just kept on buying him perfume for his birthday, cuz we didn't know what to get him, and knowing him, he won't spend as much to mewangikan diri...ehhehe.....and once, when i first got my paycheck, i bought gifts for the whole family, and i got him a Charles Jourdan shirt..which he made me take back for a larger size....heh! sabar je laa.....btw, his criteria for a shirt is mesti colour yang neutral (blue, black, brown, gray), besar sikit and it HAS to have a breast pocket....other than that, us kids takut nak beli benda2 lain cuz we're afraid he might not like it....

i think i'm like my dad in a way...i'm extremely fussy, especially when it comes to shopping, which always results in me not getting satisfied or not being able to purchase anything..Dani, if you're reading this, you should know kan *winks* ...i spent the entire lunchtime scouring KLCC for the perfect kasut raya on the eve of raya..what Dani did was, walk into Isetan, tried like 2 pairs of shoes, chosed one, and started bugging me to buy a pair..heheheh..it is common to see by the end of a shopping trip with my friends, they'd be carrying multiple shopping bags, and me nothing....but once i start spending, then i won't stop...my dad is like that...once he starts buying, and he asks us if we want anything, masa tu laa kena take advantage of the opportunity, cuz it won't come soon! i never did understand why my mom kept telling us to just get whatever when ayah asks us, when we were younger...sekarang baru boleh faham..ahaa....unfortunately, its also the age to be earning, so a bit the segan laa to actually get him to buy me anything....

when i was younger, i wanted to be a quantity surveyor just like him...masa kecik, mana paham amende QS tu..what i knew was i wanted to go and study in London, which i'm currently doing *alhamdulillah*...the best part was, there's never any pressure from him to do whatever..my dad can be described as a most laidback person....can be the envy of some friends at time...maybe that's why jodoh die dengan my mom, who's a control freak *sorry ma, enter frame jap eh :) * he never told me what subjects to take for SPM, he never told me what degree to go for, or what career to pursue...he just says its up to me..and congratulates me whenever i show him my grades....not much of reprimands either...its not because he doesn't care, its prolly because he lets us kids do whatever we think is best for us....of course, being laidback, results in us kids becoming little devils whenever my mom's away (which is practically never, so you can imagine what chaos ensues when she goes off! )

while my mom would freak out whenever we got into accidents or some scrapes, ayah would just be totally relaxed about it....example: one frightening time in my life, when my brother met with an accident and was in the ICU, my dad sempat lagi, told my uncle just outside the ICU "habis my car, and my handphone" sambil sengih-sengih...boley? alhamdulillah, zaidi was ok...that reminds me, his tribute should come first, but i'll do that later...when i rammed my mom's car into a motorcyclist and wrecked it pun, he was ok about it..but that doesn't mean i'm not remorseful after the incident..believe me, i avoided that area for about a month after that, and didn't want to drive my mom's care ever..but he told me to get back behind the wheels (after dah claim insurance tho :p ) so i could get over the whole thing....unfortunately, i memang takde "ong" with my mom's car, as about 2 years after the accident, i got into another one....my mom was like, you and my car aa, jinx laa! ayah jugak came to the rescue, tersengih-sengih hehehe...

maybe because of all the hardship he went through when he was younger..being the eldest in the family, he has to take care of about 7 younger ones...he never talks about the past much, but he did tell us how he had to drink water from the perigi and toreh getah before going to school...my grandparents were Felda settlers back then in Sungai Choh..he eventually got a scholarship to study QS in London, at the Polytechnic of Central London (now, University of Westminster), and later, served DBKL faithfully till he retired....maybe because he was susah dulu, that he lets us get away with anything..hehehe....

Ayah doesn't watch much tv, but he gets his kick out of watching P Ramlee comedies, as will i, and we'd both be laughing our heads off..he has strict meal times...you won't find him eating rice at 4 p.m, as his dinner time is fixed after Maghrib prayers, although he makes an exception every Saturday night when we go out for our family dinner to allow some time, he doesn't take tea/minum petang..he loves his ulam and masak taucu (which is his favourite dish *rolls eyes*)..can't be counted upon to cook, except to fry eggs and kacang, although the family attempted to masak lemang last raya in our backyard..however, wonders of wonders, he works the old-fashioned sewing machine (you know, the one with the pedals, brand Singer *menawan keluarga bahagia*) like a pro!

I'm actually not that close to my dad..i never knew why, actually..guess i'm more of mommy's girl...maybe its now time to get to know him better eh?

Happy Birthday Ayah! May God bless you always, sejahterakan dunia akhirat, and murahkan rezeki.... and although, i've never said this out loud to you, but i bet you know that i love you lots and thank you for everything you've ever done for me and being there for the past 24 years of my life... :)

Volume II : Chapter One

Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby
Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you

- Alicia Key's "If I Ain't Got You" -


Let's start all over shall we? *gives self a shake* God, it has been a while, hasn't it??? anyway, the new look is in conjunction with the anniversary of this blog...yups, ladies and gentlemen (of you left in the audience), my blog turned 1 on April 17th, but i was too busy then to do anything about it..heck, i was too busy then to even write in it, let alone reply emails, tagboard chats, and messages..sheesh...what if i get married and have children, and have to juggle deadlines at the same time??? mati gue!

right now, i can't really give a day-to day encounter of what i did for the past two weeks..but it was a rush...as in the rush you get after riding one of the meanest rides at Alton Towers a.k.a. the Nemesis...man, i will always be proud of that....the monkeys have gone back, and i didn't shed a tear, seriously i didn't! one threatened to drip though, but i kept it in..hehehe.. and now i'm back to my humdrum life...sheesh, 2 full weeks of easter break is not enough, let me tell ya....

So in a summary:

Where i went and what i did and ate (of what i could remember that is):

- Alton Towers: went on 8 out of the 10 rides we earlier planned, had great fun with Eileen and her bf, Ajit, my sis, my roomie and her sis..one unforgettable memory: when we were queuing for a ride, and we were very hungry, so we had lunch while standing in the queue..the thing was, lunch is supposed to be sardine and egg mayo sandwiches, but since all of us got up late that morning, what we did was made the fillings and put them in separate tupperwares, and brought along a load of bread..so, there we were, dipping our bread into the smelly sardine and the gooey egg mayo, and before we know it, it was our turn..as the safety bars locked itself into place, we turned to each other and asked, eh, nie ride ape aa? ....gah, the cockscrew! not so much of the fear of the ride, but more of the goey egg mayo making its way upwards our throats! but the whole trip was worht the first-class ticket..grr...not even a complementary tea or coffee service! But the rides were damn fyynneee!

- My first cinema trip in the UK! i know, damn sad kan, after almost 7 months in the UK....we watched Passion of the Christ, which, incidentally, was NOT on my wishlist for the movies that i want to catch this year! but i watched it, blood, gore and all, albeit between fingers....it was an interesting experience..but an emotionally draining one..

- My second trip to the cinema!! to watch Kill Bill: Volume II! which was cool! but i have not watched any of Quentin Tarantino's movies, except for Kill Bill, so i couldn't really say much...but the coffin scene was my favourite...not to mention the Kung Fu master Seventies style movie-experience, and the part where she pulled out Elle's eyes and squished it between her toes....priceless!

- Watched the Changing of Guards at the Buckingham Palace..which is prolly not a big deal. but that was a first for me..besides, i thought something major was about to happen as the crowd was HUGE! but it was just a daily thing...heh...but that was fun tho...

- Traipsing in Bayswater, looking for cheap accomodations for 5 bouncy kids....climbed long flights of stairs to get to tiny rooms with *kononnye* en-suite facilities, which in fact was just an actual shower tray and a flimsy, transparent shower curtain....by the foot of the bed! yeah..but nice view by the stairs, as that's where young men in colourful towels wrapped arund their torsos and flip-flops walked to and fro to get to the shower...hehehe....

- Kak Amni's place, where i *kononnye again* wowwed them with my ginger chicken in soy sauce...and more pictures with the family, as they catched up with Eileen. .. before that, we did the whole Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge, Tower of London bit...

- Watched The OC till Episode 21..hah! it was cute to see the 2 tykes aka my sis and my roomie's sis, racing to finish them all by the time they go back...bersengkang mata budak2 kecik tu menghabiskan OC...tengah2 malam pulak tu....not to mention the Japanese dramas that i made them watch...hehehe....my sister was more concerned about leaving the OC, than leaving London..hmmpphh....Seth, you're too adorable, don't you know that? you and Captain Oats..and Ryan, even though you banyak gile terkebil-kebil, you can still enter my dreams tonight aiight...ooh, btw, did u guys know that Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) was in Notting Hill? she was the child actress that Hugh Grant had to interview under pretense of being a Horses & Hounds journalist...her part was when Hugh Grant asked her which is her favourite actor to have worked with, and she replied: Leonardo...and Hugh Grant went, da Vinci....and she looked at him weirdly back, noo, DiCaprio..hehe...

- Went shopping for birthday gifts for the family, who coincidentally share birthdays in the same month!!! pokai dah makcik..got my mom a handbag, which she used today (i checked), my dad some perfume, and my brother a pair of trainers...thank god for some sales....

- Had Italian food with Athirah on Saturday at the Lucky Spot, then went off to play aluminium-air-filled-frisbee with her brother, Ayie, at Hyde Park , where half of London turned out to celebrate the sun coming out...and us being Malaysians, played under the shade..haha!

- Made Ajit ran with my sister's heavy suitcase after a bus..as a matter of fact, that day, we ran everywhere...to catch the tube laa, train laa, bus laa.....my kneecaps are suffering right now....its back to the hideous knee guard then...

- Catched up with dear cousin and her mom, after her long trip to Turkey..and no, i still can't belly dance...blame my rickety knees and perfectly uncoordinated self then...

- And today, the same old group meeting, with more gossips and stories thrown in...convincing me that Kai, being the only male member of the group, wished he had joined other boys..hehhehe..btw, did you know Kai in Thai means chicken? its his nickname...and when i asked why chicken? because its cute, he answered matter-of-factly.....nasib baik laaa budak nie memang comel....hehhehe...

pheww..not much kan...? i could swear i did much more, but those are the only bits i remembered..i need to start writing again...this brain is turning rusty and lazy..speaking of which, i have 3 deadlines tomorrow...yikes! gotta get cracking....

ooh, gotta make my speech:

To My Blog...thank you, for always being there (nak pergi mane pun)..and providing me the opportunity to release my not-so-stable self to the world...thank you, for making me see so much more..thank you for making me realize that there is more to life than what i thought there were..for accepting me as i am, whatever i jot down...and for bringing me to The Honoured Ones and The Beautiful People, of whom i have regarded as friends, even though i will prolly never meet some of them..

to The Beautiful People and The Honoured Ones...you guys are truly wonderful for keeping tabs, and enriching my blogging experience....thank you, from the bottom of my heart....from day 1, the support has been tremendous, even though the writings were crappy and about more crap..but you guys were always there...we might all never meet, but your presence have meant a lot to me....so, thank you...

Here's to another year ahead! Happy Birthday You!

*Big Sigh*

Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate

- Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" OST The Osbournes -

hehehe..i hate writing stale entries..tapi, my bad jugak....sape suruh delay kan....

well, the day after the monkeys arrived, we were supposed to meet up with Eileen's boyfie, Ajit....so, we spent the day roaming Oxford St, Bond St, and Regent St..where they flexed their shopping muscle..hehehe, so cute laa..sebab my house is about an hour away on the bus, o both of them were pretty sleepy, especially with the gentle rhythm of the rumbling bus..but they perked up after looking at the shops..took pictures here and there...then rushed home to go off to Ealing as those boys invited us over for dinner that they cook...we had ayam masak merah, some fried vege, and omellete..standard la tu....

the next day, i took them to Trafalgar Square, the Queens Guard (and the smelly horses), and Westminster Abbey..then it was off to Sloane Square, to have cheap lunch at this Vietnamese place, where Ajit's friend's working....and get this, the name of the stall is, Phat Phuc...boley? hehehhe..after lunching on singapore laksa, and beef noodles, we roamed the famous Sloane St pulak, and oohed and aahed over expensive stuff....later, got back home, and took my sister out for some good old fried chicken and grocery shopping....

Saturday saw me and my sis waking up lat, lazing around then rushing off to meet the guys at Camden market..it was my first time there, and woah...funkeee!!!!!!!! i love it! can't wait to go again! met a few more people, Azahari from Queen Belfast, Chi and Lynn....then off to Nahar, for some teh tarik and fried kuehtiow....later, they were worried that us girls will get home late, so they shooed us off...and we went off to PIccadilly Circus to take more pictures..but it was really chilly, so we didn't stay for long....

on Sunday, i sent my sister off to her childhood friend's family place at Oxford Circus..they were gonna take her to Bicester Shopping VIllage..jealousnyeee!!! nak gi gak!!..anyhoo, they haven't met for ages, so it was a chance for my sister to practice her, ahem, accent..haha! i took Eileen for a spin again, went into Hamleys and she took a picture riding on the back of Nimbus 2000 heheheh.....but i rushed home early for The OC...did i mention that it totally rocks?!!! tak kisah laa if it's filled with anorexic bimbos, Ryan and Seth can just enter my world anytime, no questions asked..*merapu dah nie* ..later on, went off to Sainsbury's to get some more groceries for our planned picnic session the next day....

Monday: haaruummmppphh..picnic nye!!! it was bloody chilly and windy! after a hard morning of preparing sandwiches and nasi goreng, we ended up taking shelter in Marks and Spencer...but later, as it cleared up, we took a walk to Hyde Park, snap more pictures...then the wind nearly took us off...so we head off home...cooked dinner of maggi mee (boley tak? mengidam laa pulak budak2 Malaysia tu), had pizza (my sister is now a converted pizza fan), fried rice, and a few other things..

My dad arrived yester day, so we went to meet up with him at Edgeware Rd...had lunch at his favourite Salwa restaurant *rolls eyes* dunnolaa what he finds soo sedap about the food..then jalan2-ed at Oxford St.....then went back to get some stuff from his hotel room, and he followed us home for dinner...had more pizza, fried rice, extremely slaty scrambled eggs (salah budget laa) and onion rings..and he promptly fell asleep on my thick duvet, siap dengan his topi and glasses..when i called my mom at about 11 p.m. to tell her that he has safely arrived, i told her, "and ma, lepas dinner, ayah terus tido! and he's still sleeping nie!"..my mom laughed, and told us to biarkan my dad....but he woke up a few minutes later, and stumbled off home....

*big sigh* and finally, today, i had a meeting with my groupmates..grr, grr....got some things done..nasib baik Kai, the extremely cute Thai guy, invited us all to have dinner at the Thai restaurant he's working at near Trafalgar Sq next week.... then rushed off home to pick the llittle monkey up, kemas bilik sikit as Ainor and her sis is arriving today..then rushed off to meet my dad at Edgeware Rd..and we had dinner at Khan's near Bayswater....and tadi, we went for a short jalan2 up at Piccadilly Circus cuz the little monkey nak ice-cream laa pulak...finally got home about an hour ago..met ainor and her sister....

penat laa tulis....my spelling's prolly haywire, and i prolly don't make much sense here and there...but i need to get all that incoherence out of my system.....

night peeps!