mira, the red-nosed kat.

I usually get the sniffles when most people are already recovering from the flu. I guess you can say that I'm a late bloomer during the season. Someone else always get sick first in the household, and I'd get it from that person.

But not this time around. The first day I honestly thought that it was just my sinus, something I get on and off, usually when there's a drastic change in the weather [from sunny to rainy in a matter of minutes, or staying in with the air conditioning on and go out under the hot sun the next very second]. But then the next day the runny nose didn't go away, plus I got myself a bonus - a damn annoying sore throat. That's pretty much the deal breaker for me; I knew I'll be attaching myself to a box of tissue for the next few days.

... Did I just type out two lengthy paragraphs on flu? blergh.

OK so let's focus on something more cheery. Like the Bukit Merah trip I took! woohoo! Honestly, the 'open mind, open heart' mantra I held on to like my life depended on it [yes I'm exaggerating] worked like a charm. It was actually a very decent trip.

We arrived on Christmas day at around 3pm, and had one of the lousiest laksa ever, at a supposed kopitiam near the apartment where we were staying. I say supposed coz it looked more like food court than a kopitiam. Waited for the rest of my family to arrive, settled down for a bit, and off we go to visit my auntie and her family at a small town nearby, in Bagan Serai.

The next day was tiring! Went to the Orang Utan Island in the morning, and that was actually... fun. Especially since that was the first time ever I saw orang utans! Went to the Ecopark next, and I had fun there as well, surprisingly. Of course, there's nothing to shout about really... it's just a zoo with many trails to follow, and an animal show every 30 minutes [which was entertaining!]. And I had a good walk as well. Walking back to the main area, which was about 15 minutes from the Ecopark, was an even better exercise as I was carrying Fadlan in my arms. Penat k? Whoever invented the baby stroller is a genius. But Lalan [as we sometimes call him] behaved really really well, so it was very very pleasant :)

We were really tired by the time we finished our lunch, so we decided to have a little fish spa experience instead. It was the first time for my sisters and my Sayang, and although it was the second time for me, IT STILL TICKLED LIKE HELL. My Babe liked it, so yeay! We can go to the one in Midvalley together woohoo!

And that night, we decided to go crazy and head to Penang island for dinner. We didn't know any good spot in the area, so we just thought since Abang Wan is familiar with Penang, we might as well try our luck. The traveling took a little longer than we expected, but the food at Padang Kota was pretty decent. Well, not for Abang Zul and Kak Syisya I guess. Other than that, it was a very nice, impromptu dinner outing.

So yeah. I had fun at Bukit Merah. But in all honesty, I wouldn't really recommend to people to go there. You really ought to have an open mind and an open heart in order to enjoy the place. Yes, I had fun at the island and the park, but I don't think they offer much more that what you can get at any zoos. The apartment itself was quite a disappointment. And the crowd.... well, I'm just not gonna go there.

But to enjoy/endure all that with the person you love most, and to share it with your family is priceless.

Pictures will be up soon. :D

Anyways, we came back yesterday, and reached home around 2.30pm. My sinus has graduated to full blown flu by this time, and my Babe and I almost decided to not go to Faezah's [Lyana's sister] wedding! But I don't want to risk being sorry for not attending the reception, or the wrath of Lyana, so we went anyways.

It was one of the most relaxed wedding I have ever been too. It was held in such a small scale, but lovely nevertheless. Faezah was radiant, and Lyana was equally gorgeous! Nawar, the groom, didn't look too bad himself. sigh. Too bad I forgot to bring my camera!

ugh my head's feeling a little heavy. I hope I'm not getting a fever.

i wish i can sleep and type at the same time.

There's a huge zit a little on the left side of my forehead. Besides from being super huge, it is also super annoying and painful.

I'm currently taking a break from packing up things and clothes to bring to my family's Bukit Merah trip tomorrow. Well... not really a break la, more of a halt as I am effing sleepy and I'd rather continue in the morning with a much clearer mind.

I'm kinda excited about the trip, despite remembering that a few people I know told me that the place sucked. I googled the place, and found out that they mostly have nature-related activities. Now, to be honest, that's not really my thing. But who knows... It might be fun walking at the Ecopark.

Open mind, open heart. I'll probably have the time of my life.

I think my bed is calling out to me.

Merry Christmas, everyone :)

hahaha.

I did a double-entry on the three things I love, related to the award. Oh well. Malas nak betulkan. :)

i wonder how long this post is going to be?

haha I just realized that I was supposed to list three things that I love and nominate other bloggers I deemed worthy of the Kreativ Blogger award. My bad!

My list is as below:

a) I love the people I have around me; my great family, my best girls, my good friends, and my Baby Boo, definitely :)
b) I love cats (our Zoey Schmoey especially!)! I adore anything cat-related! Except for cat poo.
c) I love good food. Sometimes too much. heh :D

And for the award, I shall nominate:

a) Azzura - http://wickedrossored.blogspot.com/
b) Moqh - http://blog.mukhrizlatif.com/
c) Ili fm - uhh, what's your blog address?
d) Suffianr - And what's yours?

I'd name Najeeb, Kusa, Ikin and Saddiq as well, but they have all already been nominated at some point for the same award, so I don't want to be redundant.

Okay so let's move on.

You may realize from the date of my blog and the time, that I am blogging from the office right now, which is somewhat of a rarity. If you didn't, then you should already know since I just typed it out haha. The reason for this such rare, privileged occasion is...

THERE IS NO IFN NEWSLETTER FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS! woohoo~

There's no real reason to celebrate here, coz it's not like I won't have anything to do until January comes. But hell, I won't have to go back home late for the next two weeks, so I'm psyched about that. There's still reports to be written, and possibly people to interview, but I'd like to know how it feels to have a lil bit of a work-less Friday.

I hope my bosses won't kill me, if ever they found out :D

Especially since I'm kinda promoted, effective from January onwards :)

haha yup. No more Editorial Executive, hello Senior Writer! It's not really a promotion, coz we didn't have that position in IFN before (although there is a Senior Writer in IFA, another one of REDmoney's publication). Its more like a new position for me, with more work. And a bit more money.

Uhh. I think I just described a promotion. But anyways.

Azzura and I decided to meet up today for lunch to kind of celebrate my new appointment. And in a way to make it up to her for not being able to join the gurls yesterday, when they went shopping for bridesmaids' material for Noran's wedding. Azzura asked Noran, Animz and Along to come as well, but they're busy so nevermind. We'll have fun anyways.

Had a somewhat good lunch at Chakri Palace in KLCC; I say somewhat coz I had better Phad Thai in The Gardens. Bitched for a bit, walked and oogle over shoes and handbags and makeups for a while (while bitching duh), then settled at Starbucks for a bit for coffee (juice for Zura; no coffee! gila unlikely for her ok?!) and cake. And yes more bitching.

Of course, its great to hang out and just lepak with her, even for a couple of hours. Would love to lepak with her longer, but I still needed to drag my lazy bum to the office.

And oh, my office had the Xmas dinner on Tuesday, and my secret santa (Shashi, my copy editor. Gila terer hide it from me!) gave me A Thousand Splendid Suns! yeaayyyy~! I was the santa for Raphael, my editor, and I got him Philips' earphones. He told me he love them. Hopefully he told me the truth :P

And the dinner was great. It was held at The C Club in Pavilion, a jewelry boutique -cum-fine dining restaurant, owned by The Carat Club. The ambience was nice... We had the terrace all to ourselves! The food... well, it depends. Personally I find that there's nothing special about the mushroom soup, but the fish for main course was amazing. Took only a bite of the brownie ala mode, coz by then I was already too full.

And some of you may know how much I like watching people act silly... And I had a ball of a time that night! haha I dunno why, watching drunk people making little sense amuses me.

Okay I'm done. Only 45 minutes to go before I head to Kelana Jaya. Will be going out for a date with my Sayang later... We're having Bubba Gumps. :)

i crave for some meat.

Its not too bad spending time alone at home on a Sunday. Well okay that's a lie; I'm kinda bored, but it's only for a few hours. I'm not exactly alone, actually... the girls [i.e the maids] are downstairs.

Why am I alone? My Babe and his bro, Chik, were invited to a friend's BBQ party. I didn't want to go coz I don't know anyone there, and I know there's a big chance that I'll just stick around my Sayang and socialize very minimally. So why not just let him do his own thing for a change and let them boys bond over a little game called WOW? That's how they know each other anyway.

Furthermore, I don't want to be like one of those people who insist on having their significant other do everything with them, and I feared that I was already becoming one. I know that weekends are our only real 'us' time together, but we'll get many more chances. :)

I got myself an award from Najeeb about two weeks ago. He thinks that I'm creative enough to be considered a Kreativ Blogger. Honestly, I don't know if I deserve to be called creative, coz to be honest, I don't have a single creative, artisitic bone in me! But I try to be in my writings, and Insya Allah I'll be able to channel it better in the future. So thanks Jeeb for thinking of me, and I am really really really happy! yeay! Its my first ever!

So anyways. The award.


As a rule, the recipient has to lis three things that he/she loves, and my list is as the following:

- I love my dad, my sisters and my little devils. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I am nothing without them. They have been with me through thick and thin, and they know for the person I am.
- I love my girls to tiny bits and pieces. Azzura, Animz, Noran, Along, Adik, Lyana and Ikin. You girls are my rock.
- My baby boo. My Sayang. My Husband. And Insya Allah, father of my child. wah gila babi corny haha~

Ikin also tagged me to post seven random things about myself. I'm pretty sure I did it before, but for the life of me I couldn't find it in my archive. I'm just gonna try find it one more time, and will do the tag if that doesn't work out as well.

Hmm. Almost 2pm. I think I'll watch a movie.

8.30pm on a Thursday night, and I'm doing nothing.

I realize today that I've been doing most of my shopping alone lately. Its not much fun, especially during those crucial moments when I need to choose between two tops, or when I need a reasonable voice telling me that I have enough shoes as it is (which rarely gets through my head anyways haha).

Why? I don't know. My husband is not a mall person, I don't have much free time anyways on weekends, and so I resort to shopping on my home from work at KLCC.

However, solitary shopping does have its perks: I get some alone-time, and I find myself making good buys without other people influencing my decision.

But given the choice, I'd take shopping-cum-makan-cum-bitching session with my gurlies anytime, baby.

Talking about shopping, my company will be having a Christmas dinner in the middle of this month, before the bosses go for their holiday break (no bosses for 2 weeks! woohoo!). We're going to have a Secret Santa-thing that day; where you buy a gift for someone whose name you picked out randomly. I get to ask for something that I want in our wish list, and I know that I want a book. Question is: what book?

Any suggestions? I'm thinking of either A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini or Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. What do you think?

4 cups of coffee made me a zombie.

I know, I know... a proper update is due.

Been living a pretty much uneventful life as of late; things and shits do happen, but nothing big enough to blog about.

The big things that do occur are not my stories to tell, and so I keep mum.

The weekend was pretty much... slow. Didn't do much on Saturday, but had a blast hanging out with my sisters on Sunday. A drastic change from the busy-ness of the previous weekend.

And today was spent at Concorde for training. Went back relatively early, but had to go to town, and I just got back home like 15 minutes ago. So crazy tired, but I need my Internet fix.

I need to organize my life better. Things are not messed up, but it will be if I don't keep myself straight. There's this feeling that everything will just tumble down, or I will go crazy if I don't do something about the current state I am in.

I'm being vague, I know. I'm trying to figure out what I'm saying myself.

Or maybe I just need to sleep.

ps: Finished reading Love in the Time of Cholera. Awesome book. Everyone who knows how to read should read it. Also read Memories of My Melancholy Whore. Will start on A Hundred Years of Solitude soon.