My life as it is...

I don't have internet at home so whenever I feel like blogging or have an idea on what to blog about I would just stall it until I get into office. Last weekend was a long 4 day-weekend due to CNY holidays. I spent most of my time at home, with Saturday in my KL home when hubby went to work. Naturally I just wanted to curl up, watch TV, catch up with the never ending house work etc and TRY to do a little bit of studying in between. Somehow, maybe due to the effect of watching TOO MUCH Grey's Anatomy & Desperate Housewives series, I had time to reflect on life... My life. The question of whether I am happy now?

*The entry is a bit too long so if you are too lazy to read, just skip the whole thing and go to the last paragraph. That should summarize everything.*

I must admit I am blessed through out my life. Despite my difficult childhood, I did have it good in all other aspects. What I am about to type I think will come out a bit perasan so bear with me a little. This is all that has been playing out in my head yesterday. In my primary school days, I think my bestfriend and I are among the "famous" girls in school. Mostly because we are loud and we mixed with boys. "Famous" I say because kids in school like to tease both of us by pairing us up with all the "famous" boys. Plus it was a very small school. No, both of us didn't have any bf then. My philosophy was why would I need a bf now? Pretty useless to be in a "committed relationship" at that time, don't you think? Needless to say, I scored top grades all year round. I was always top in my class and the worst I got in my whole 6 years in primary school was top 10 for the whole standard. Pretty good, yes but I guess despite all that I lacked leadership skills (although I was a prefect, I was not the head girl or anything) and I was pretty rough for a girl, getting into fights all the time.

Then I went to a boarding school for my secondary education. Being in one of the top girls boarding schools in the country, my grades became average among the rest. I was not the best anymore and for awhile I found it difficult to adapt... no boys for me to beat up or get into a fight with. As time passed by, I studied harder to get into the best class (to be with one of my bestfriends), which I did, took up more responsibilities along the way, became quieter because of that, but again, still did not hold any top post in school. I dated... not really but went out with people... but again refused to be committed in a relationship as I felt that I was not ready although sometimes I did feel a bit lonely inside. But being committed to my studies and extra-curricular activites kept me busy and occupied. Left school with straight A1s for my SPM.

Left TKC, went to MMU for awhile before I got my JPA scholarship (where I got to know and befriended my hubby in real life instead of virtually) and later enrolled myself into KMYS for my A-Levels. Here, my grades again became average... not because I didn't do well. I still scored straight As for my A-Levels. Still managed to get an A for my maths though I did HORRIBLY for my paper 4 because I had a fight with my then bf (my hubby now) the night before. I was average because I had to struggle to score and everyone else was just very good, smart and so much better. However, to my amazement, I manage to finally hold a top post, not the college students' council but I was at least the house captain. It was something.

And as you might have guessed, it was after I left school that I was finally ready to be in a relationship. It was a whirlwind, crazy, awkward relationship. Both of us were first-timers with this relationship thingy. It was hard trying to reconcile the differences on how a guy & a girl thinks/feels, both coming for a single-sex school background. Our relationship only officially began after I went to KMYS, which means we were in a LDR for 5 years. 2 years while I was doing A-Levels and 3 years while I was doing my degree. It was the craziest, most happening phase in my life. For the first time, I was really happy, at the same time I could be REALLY sad when we got into a fight, which was all too often. But we worked things out and managed to hold the relationship together.

I came back from the UK, got my degree, work for 2 years before we finally tied the knot. I would say with all the good grades, straight As, excellent extra-curricular records, I actually now lead a pretty average life, nothing outstanding about it. I must say I should be thankful with all the blessings I have, but all those achievements before don't really matter now. True, it got my to where I am now. I am MOST thankful for that. I earn enough to make a living out of it. But what matters most to me now is that I am happily married to the love of my life, happy to be leading a boring life in the suburb with him. Happy to cuddle all day long. Happy to hug him to sleep and to wake up with him by my side. I am not outstanding in any way anymore and I am happy. It is bad actually, I think because people kept telling me that they have high hopes for me. Whatever~ If the opportunity comes along, great! It not, I would like to say I feel contented with my life now. Okay. I do hope bigger things happen to me... getting a big project/raise/promotion whatever, but for now, I am just happy. =)

Like a baby

I have always wondered why we have to continuously pat a baby for him/her to fall asleep. Wouldn't it make the baby become more aware instead of falling asleep with all that constant patting. Well, last night I got my answer... first hand. I wanted to sleep early since I have to rush to work early this morning. Hubby came home ard 10 and wanted to go out for a drink, which I obliged. Dengan penuh pandainye, I ordered Cappucino, which obviously contains caffeine so naturally for me, I couldn't fall asleep easily when we got home. I tossed and turned in front of the TV (hubby was watching it) and found it difficult to fall asleep (normally I will just turn off no matter how loud the tv is). So hubby, the sweet guy that he is, patted me to sleep... I dozed off in less than 5 mins...

Sepang - Johor - Brunei

I realised I have been MIA from the blogosphere for awhile despite so much happenings in my life this month. As I previously mentioned before, Dec'10-Jan'11 has been a busy period for us. I attended department's regional AMD at Golden Palm Tree Gold Coast, Sepang mid month (15-16 Jan 2011). I had very low expectation based on reviews my colleague read online. Turns out the place was not bad at all. The room was spacious, the environment relaxing and the view was okay. I had nothing much to complain except when I went back to my room for the first time at ard 10pm+ after dinner, I found out the room was already occupied. Lucky there was no one inside. So I had to go back to the reception and get another room.

On the 20th, it was a (Thaipusam) public holiday for most of us. Hubby and I woke up quite late with so many things to do. We had to attend a nikah ceremony in JB at 9pm and started our journey from Nilai only at approximately 6.30pm. Naturally, we had to maximise Inspira's speeding capability and I am so thankful that we made it on time! Safely! That was even after a short stop at Linggi for Hazmi to take a shower and detoured to the nearest Petronas since we ran out of Petrol + toilet break. That said I filled in RM85 worth of RON97 petrol for that journey, which was fully utilised. Filled in RM90 petrol for the journey back but we still had more than 1/4 tank when we reached Bangi the day after (average speed back was 110km/h). Shows how much petrol the car can consume when you press the pedal. Good thing I took Friday off because hubby was not feeling too well that night so we checked in at Kozi Hotel in Danga Bay.

Final trip for this month was Brunei 22-24th Jan 2011. Sabah trip got postponed/cancelled... Thank God. I cannot continue living off suitcases like this while I still have to go to work on daily basis. I nearly regretted my decision to go to Brunei as a holiday destination as most people say there was nothing there to see. Well, I am glad I did. True enough, there was not many tourist attractions there. But we got to see a lot. For once, the people there are still very friendly, like we once were. They truly respect their Sultan, which is also their ruler, unlike ours where PM is the one calling the shots. Their petrol is OH SO CHEAP at 50+sens compared to our RM2.40/litre. Their cost of living (food etc) is not as expensive as ours. Their traffic was very clear, thus less stress. The downside is that they are not as developed as KL. It looks like a small town, like Alor Setar perhaps. Not many things for locals to do. We went to 2 malls. Went to watch a movie. There was a bowling alley. And that's it. For tourist like us, we went for a boat ride around Kampung Ayer. Tasted their Nasi Katok, bought from Pasar Malam near our hotel but to me it was normal. It was like plain rice + sambal (4 variaties to choose from) and a small piece of fried chicken. It was cheap though. Only BND1.

So that was it. I shall declare a hiatus in our travelling schedule from now on so that I shall START concentrating on my studies. Looking at a longer intervals between blog posts, I suppose.

More ASB loan?

I am rather meticulous when it comes to money (rather is an understatement). I currently *manage* Setapak Indah bills, Bangi bills, telephone bills for all 4 of us (mummy, abg, hubby & myself) and my own credit cards + loan payments on monthly basis. If you have been following my blog last year, you should have known that I took quite a big chunk of ASB loan (big chunk for MY standard). Now that dividend for last year has been declared and paid, I am quite settled with that for the time being i.e. I have enough funds put aside to cover one year of installments so I don't have to worry about that for now.

So I started digging for other debt that we have to settle and found hubby's PTPTN loan. He has around 26K+ outstanding and has never REALLY bothered to consistently pay for it. I said REALLY because he kept saying he will pay it when he has extra funds but you now how expenses never really end. He does pay sometimes but it's so inconsistent that it barely covers the interest/admin fee portion. So I made new year resolution to pay that loan consistently this year. Of course, hubby argued why would I be paying for it when it is HIS loan. Whatever hubby. Your money, my money, your loan, my loan. I ask money from you whenever I'm broke anyway... (which is often =p)

Taking into account 26K+ loan with 3% interest annually and monthly payment of RM200, it's gonna take yearsss for the loan to be settled. (Where's my financial calculator?) Definitely MORE THAN 10 years. So I told myself, I need to shorten it so that we can move on to other things later. So my target now is to shorten it to 3 years within managable monthly commitment. How? I know about this ASB loan paying interest portion only for some first few years. The catch is the interest rate for this package is higher than the normal ones. If I take that loan paying the interest portion only, I can use ASB's annual dividend to settle hubby's PTPTN. In 3 years time, I would be way ahead of the PTPTN payment and will be left with insignificant amount of debt left. Oh I also plan to prematurely cancel the ASB loan, of course pay the penalty fee, before I have to start paying for the principal. So my mission now is to hunt down an RHB ASB loan sales person. Don't know whether I have enough limit left under my name. I worry if I use hubby's name, he will later want to use the dividend for other stuff than to pay his PTPTN loan. Haha. Well, not really. I just find it a hassle to manage things that are not under my name. I will always have to drag these people along whenever I need to do any transaction. Anyway, that is my mission now. Apart from chasing my car dealer to quickly clear my neo's loan, that is!

AFF Suzuki Cup Win - Goodbye 2010

Yesterday Malaysia won the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time. Yeayyy! ^_^ Our PM declared tomorrow, Friday 31st December 2010 a public holiday. Double yeayyy! That makes today the last working day of the year. I am excited, of course, to get that extra 1 day holiday but today was and Monday will be a freaking busy day for us. Reason being today is a year end! (closing book etc) and on Monday we have to deal with 2 days of maturities (die).

Anyway, 2010 has been a good year for me. Hubby and I took a number of extra steps forward. I moved in with him mid-January 2010 after 3 months of marriage... we furnished the house and made it home together nearly a year ago. I am still adapting to living together but getting a better hang of it now. =p

In June, I finally sat for my Level 1 CFA paper again. I said finally because I was supposed to go for the December paper but I was coughing so bad that I was willing to let go the RM2K+ exam fee to not attend the exam. =( But good thing I passed Level 1 in June so I got to move forward to Level 2 this coming June.

Travelling has been crazy. Went to Melaka for Haslin's wedding 1st January, Terengganu for Norul's wedding in March, Pangkor Laut with parents-in-law, mummy and abg in June. Went to PD for Hanijoe's wedding also in June and then twice for vacation with each side of the family in July. Went to Penang in October for anniversary and an impromtu trip to Cameron Highland. And the list gets crazier.

December 16-18: Hatyai

December 24-26: Penang

January 1-2: Melaka

January 15-16: Sepang

January 22-24: Brunei

January 28-30: Sabah

That's like almost every weekend with little breaks in between. Huargh... Tiring and burning a BIG hole in our pockets but alhamdulillah for the opportunities. I believe this is rezeki of its own kind. Not to forget, both hubby and I changed our cars this year. Hubby gave back his Naza Kia to his mom and bought Mitsubishi Triton just before Hari Raya Aidilfitri. That was to facilitate his business for the annual mantai session. As all of you might have known, I just traded in my little Proton Neo for a Mitsubishi Lancer WANNABE i.e. Proton Inspira. ^_^ Loving these both babies of ours. Hehe.

Investment/Monetary wise I bought an apartment in Kajang at simply no cost at all, albeit a small, cheap one. Rental has been consistent so far, Alhamdulillah. And although I don't have a clear saving at the moment, I took up a huge debt i.e. ASB loan that is now forcing me to put aside a HUGE (for me) chunk of money monthly, for it to be available in the future... 15 years to be exact.

All I have to say now is Goodbye 2010, and Welcome 2011. Hopefully 2011 will be a better year. Although I don't normally have a clear resolution for any new year (it has always been to pass exam with flying colours... irregardless whether it is a new year or not), this year I really have something to achieve in this new book.

1) I want to get back my pre-wedding weight, with no/little financial cost involved.

2) Start studying for CFA as early as possible. (Possibly after the Sabah trip)

3) Pay hubby's PTPTN consistently. (He seldom pays attention to all these things but I am very particular about money and THIS is clearly a commitment I must honor.)

With that, have a good new year celebration everyone! See you next year. *wink wink* ;)

Hatyai Trip

Last Thursday, hubby and I followed my parents-in-law, together with Kak Ina, Abg Nad and the 2 kids to Hatyai, Thailand. FatherInLaw had a wedding to attend and all of us got to tag along. This is my first trip to Hatyai. Yeay...

We left early Thursday morning from Nilai. FIL borrowed an Estima to fit us all in. Stopped for breakfast at Rawang (Thank God. Hubby and I were late, thus didn't have time to eat.), then we stop for Lunch in Kedah at this Ikan Bakar shop, apparently family's favourite. Sedap!!!

I had my first tut-tut experience. Got my first Thai foot massage, which was, in a way, a funny experience since my tolerance for pain is very low, I made the masseuse jump a couple of times. We had teh tarik, which is not that similar to our teh tarik in Malaysia. Other than that we just went around and did some shopping. Well, I didn't shop much. So I just played games on my phone while waiting for them to shop until hubby said he wanted to go back to the hotel to sleep.

tut-tut

teh tarik

The wedding was beautiful. Generally, although the venue looks pretty much the same for a wedding reception here in Malaysia, they do not have a pelamin area. The culture is also a bit different. Instead of the celebrated bride and groom being hidden until the grand entrance, Thai newlyweds receive their guests at the entrance and have pictures taken with them first. While their guests are enjoying their meal, the bride and groom will make their grand entrance walking towards the stage. Then there was some word exhanging event on stage (I didn't understand a word since they conversed in Thai) before the cake cutting ceremony. Later, the newlyweds would go to each table to hand out the doorgifts to the guests. Wah, so tiring!

I also got a pic with CIMB Thai's atm and hubby managed to snap for me a CIMB Thai branch. He says I am obsessed. Whatever~

My new baby :)

I know I should update my blog sooner on this but I was just too busy at the moment. It is near year end now and one colleague is on long leave so I got my hands full until mid next week. Anyway, I went to Hatyai last Thursday - Saturday with hubby and the in-laws. It was a fun trip but I will update on that later. This post is solely dedicated to my new baby, Proton Inspira BLB 2690, pet name BumbLeBee. Haks haks. After signing the agreement Wednesday night (with the correct rate and after making such a huge fuss over the neo transfer), I was told that I could take the car when I came back from my trip but sadly they are not open on Sunday. All the hardship and drama forgetten once I met this new baby of mine. (Now I understand the feeling of being a mother giving birth to her child... wakakaka)
Meet my new bee:

Loan

Okay. Now is the part to sign my loan agreement. Car should be released anytime soon after it got registered, pending loan disbursement.

Just as I was about to sign the agreement, I saw the interest rate = 4.00%.

Hmm, I was told that it was revised down to 3.50%?

So when the dealer called me just now, I asked him and he confirmed again that the rate should be 3.50%, not 4% which is the old rate.

So I called the bank to ask about it and after checking, she confirmed that it should be 3.50%.

My dealer said just sign the deal, later they will revise. He needs it fast to register the car.

But after I sign the agreement, would the bank WANT to revise the rate down?

I don't want to sign an agreement I don't agree to.

Huwaa... No no no. Wait some more laa.

Temper - Part 2

I was sooo stressed out with work last week that even when I got a call that I can already collect my Inspira, I found it hard to be all excited about it. I let hubby do all the dealing with the car dealer as I didn't want to get involved with things that did not require my immediate attention. I had a deadline to meet, which was the year end party so I didn't want any distraction.

Now that everything is done, I started to trace the progress of stuff and started asking around. To my dismay, I found something very disturbing. Hubby has been hiding the fact from me coz he's kinda scared that I might just burst. He was right at that. If you follow the last post below titled "temper", I was already so mad when I found out that I need to find my own buyer. When the manager called to tell me that I would not get my car as soon as I was promised I asked her what would happened to my current car. She checked for me and said "we will take care of it" so I shut up. Then now apparently because it is year end already, I need to top up around 3K to settle my current neo loan... because cars devalue at year end. So why was that when you wanted to make that sale, you promised me it was okay, and now suddenly cars devalue? Because I made that payment already?

WTF!!! You PROMISED to take it at breakeven. I didn't like that because I think with a little extra effort, I could make a little profit, if not much from it. After all, my loan is 7 years instead of the normal 9 years. But I agreed... Fine... At least, it won't give me a headache. At least, I don't have to top up... Not making a loss. And NOW you want to come to me and say otherwise? Are you fucking kidding me?

I said if I had to top up, just cancel my booking, refund EVERYTHING I've paid before. The car dealer just agreed to it. Then I called the manager to confirm that EVERYTHING means including the "service charge" for using my credit card. She agreed but hesitated. Then she said the car is already booked under my name. I replied, I don't care. If your side do not deliver your words, why should I deliver mine??? Just because I have paid doesn't mean that you can default on your side of the contract. She said she will look into it.

Then the dealer called me and begged for me to top up just 1K. He will cut ALL his commission from this deal. I didn't give in and only said I will think about it. Actually still thinking whether it would be possible for me to sell it at another second-hand car dealer or just stick to asking for refund. After all, I still LOVE my neo. I can live with her for another 4 years until my loan settled.

Only after about 10-20 mins or so, he texted me and said okay to take the car at break even. When can I send the car. Hmpphhh... Now you talking. Hubby can be mad at me for being so short-tempered once... when the news was still very fresh and they had not explored all the options out there. If you think you can push me there AGAIN, you are very well mistaken. Deliver on your words or no deal at all. Better yet, if you can't keep your words, get lost!

Where is the line?

We received social media guidelines a few days back. While some are pretty obvious common sense no-no, some did give me something to worry about. Today, I feel like posting "I am super tired, super stress and just want to go home" on twitter but in the end decided against it for fear of it being too similar to the no-nos printed in the guideline. (Now at home I can take a step back and properly think through of what I am actually going to post here. Lets hope these are within the acceptable area.)

Earlier today, I was haunted by my own doing of telling TMI. I did put a bit of thought in it before I hit send. Is the content okay? Is it too personal? Then I justified it to myself that it is okay to share my feelings, at least with my closest friends. But apparently it was still wrong. I have not been a very secretive person before. I seldom keep things to myself as I tend to share my feelings most of the time. I can keep someone else's secret but if it was about me, at least someone out there must have some knowledge about it.

Yes, I understand. As a wife, I am bounded by "the guideline" to keep the privacy of our relationship to ourselves. "The guideline" is there to help maintain the harmony of the marriage. We shall not tell stuff that are too personal, like your bedroom activities, things that can rock the marriage for fear of other people taking advantage of it, things that are embarrassing about your partner and the list goes on. So just now, before I hit the send button, I weighed the situation and think that there must be exception for very close friends. Because it is not something about what happened in the bedroom, it is not something that can rock my relationship. Was it embarrassing? Was it a weakness? Why was it wrong? Say my partner or myself was suddenly diagnosed with a prostate/cervical cancer, would that be okay for me to declare to the public? Would that be embarrassing? (Pray to God to protect us from all that and may we all have a good blessed passing when our time comes.)

Everything is just a bit too confusing. I know my friends meant well. They were just trying to educate me, also not trying to get entangled in sinful web I just created for myself, for not being a good wife by telling TMI. But where the hell is the line???

P/s: I will take a break from looping while I clear my head for a bit. Maybe I shall go repent.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

Good day everyone. I am in a good mood today. Firstly, I'd like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha. May those who is in Mekah for Hajj this year have a good and fulfilling trip.
This morning I woke up super early coz I had to send hubby back to Nilai. That's because I was sleepy to pack and go sleep in Nilai last night. (I was already asleep when hubby arrived ard 10pm =p) But this morning, not only I get to have McD for breakfast, I arrived in office before 8pm. Sooo earlyyy. Traffic was clearrr. I loved it!
End of this week would be another weighing in session for our biggest loser program among the looperz. Actually we are not racing each other on who would lose the most but more of a support system for each other so that we won't quit or give up our diet/working out regime. (Losing weight is damn difficult!) It starts on 20/10/2010 and would end this 31/12/2010. Fortnightly, we will update on our progress and this Friday would be the second weighing in session. Let me tell you this. I don't think I lost any weight from the last weighing in session, which was nearly 2 weeks ago. That's because, last week had been pretty crazy and busy that I did not get to slot in some exercise time, making my effort before useless. Now I have to start all over again. Sigh~
I am still anxious about the purchase of my new car. Although downpayment has been paid, I don't know when exactly will I get my car. If you read my last post, you would know what worries me now and I really DO hope that it won't be a problem in "disposing" my lovely little baby neo... just as promised. Hubby is going to China 19-22 November and I don't think I will get the car before that. Huhuu T_T

Temper

This morning I got all fired up when hubby called to say the car dealer was "a bit reluctant to take in my current car"? I am not too sure what hubby meant by that but I remember being told that they will take it in at break even, meaning I will not be getting anything on top of my loan amount nor do I have to pay extra to "get rid" of it. So I was happy enough to agree as I do not have to go through the hassle of finding a buyer... He said he will "take care" of it. So I started to get all worked up and mad when hubby sounds like he's worried about not having a buyer. (God knows what he is really thinking about.)

Then I continued with my rage on BBM to him, (but not at him...) when he got "pissed off" for my short temper. He said it was nothing... I should not be mad or worried so quickly. Hmmphh... Okay. At that point of time, I regretted not doing anything by myself... Go do own booking at a centre near me as it would be easier for me to go to them, deal with them, get angry AT them. Now everything I have to rely on this middle man, my hubby. But after I cooled off a bit, I think I made the right decision to let HIM handle it instead. Not because I know nothing about cars but because he has the right amount of patience.

I am generally not sooo short-tempered (I think... you people might not agree =p). But I do get all hyped-up when I don't get things my way, as I expected it should be especially when a LOT of money is being put at stake. I used to be all stressed out on the road but since I have to deal with KL traffic every single day, I figured that would only lead me having heart attact/hypertension wayyy before it's due. So I have learnt to manage that temper and keep it in check. Hubby on the other hand is still kind of a road rage. But when it comes to dealing with all these people, he could be such an angel.

This is how I operate. I go see what I want, check if price is reasonable, pay for it and expect delivery as promised. When it doesn't, I'll throw a fit almost instantly. This is how he operates. Once he decided on what he wants, he will negotiate for a better price... better deal... free gifts and what nots... haggle haggle haggle, possibly giving the sales person a headache to meet all his demands but he handles it better when things do not go as expected. Who's the best choice to go deal with all purchases? Him. Who's the better buyer from a sales person's point of view? I dunno. What I know is I need to control my anger better especially in front of him. Let not other external forces be a problem for us when we have enough at home to deal with already. Hahaha...

First Wedding Anniversary - Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

Hi all. From daily updates to a gap of two weeks. I have been a little busy lately. Wanted to tell you all about our Penang anniversary trip but had not found time to do so until now, which is a little outdated already. (Hopefully I will finally hit the "publish post" button.) So here it goes.

As at 16/10/10, we have been married for a year! Wuhoo. I already bought AirAsia flight tickets for both of us during a promotion early of the year and had a really good deal. RM37 return tickets for two + add on assigned seats (10 per person per way) = RM77. Also got a good deal from AirAsiaGo for our stay at HardRockHotel, Penang.

View from the room was fantastic. We had a good time with each other; resting, walking down the beach, parasailing!, swimming and going round and round Plaza Gurney. The only not so nice part was that we didn't have total freedom without a car to drive around and the cab cost RM30 one way from our hotel to Jalan Gurney and RM70 to the airport. Lucky Camy picked us up the morning we arrived and hubby's cousin Nadia sent us back that Monday evening.

View from room

First day there, we spent the morning with Camy until we checked in. Slept until it's time for dinner and took a cab to Jalan Gurney. The cab rides both ways cost more than dinner itself. We ordered 2 char kuey teow, 1 nasi goreng with telur mata and 1 pasembor. But before we could enjoy finishing dinner in peace, rained poured down heavily so we had to take shelter under one of the stalls until it subsided. When it finally did, we went to Plaza Gurney and tried to look for the entrance to the cinema (coz the mall was closed by then) but couldn't find it (so we assumed it was close too). We were already in a cab back to the hotel when I got Camy's msg saying that the entrance is a bit tricky to find. Sigh~
Second day was a little better. I had 3 full plates for breakfast... (not wanting to spend for lunch). Went parasailing for the first time together with hubby, who hurt his feet due to wrong landing technique. Went swimming in the hotel's pool while hubby relaxed by the beach. Went back to the room and ordered in-room dining. =p That night we just had a drink each at the reception area, entertained by the live band. Then went to the Hard Rock Cafe next to the hotel for another round of drinks (which caused me to have stomach ache the whole night) and some light snacks before we called it a night.

All in all it was a good break. Though both Hazmi and I are currently broke from funding this trip but we had a great time. Need to start planning for the next one and if it is within Peninsular Malaysia, we will definitely drive the next time.

B** 3563

This is freakyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
I was browsing through mudah.my to check out the market rate for my neo and I found this!!!
This car looks strikingly similar to mine and it's plate number is B** 3563.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS???

Proton Satria NEO 1.6 -A- loan Full- 08 -08

Price: RM37 800 39 800 Reg. year: 2008
Mileage: 45 000 - 49 999 Make: Proton
Model: Satria Neo Transmission: Auto
Engine Capacity: 1600 cc
Accessories: Solar Film, CD Player, Sport rims, Alarm, Central lock, Adjustable steering

Proton Satria NEO 1.6(A), 2008 yrs , malay lady owner. original paint black... 100% acc free, low mile. and very good condition ,well maintain by last owner, clean interiou, tyres just change.. very beautiful car... see to believe...

loan full finance

The differences are mileage - mine is going 75K and transmission - mine is manual. I don't have solar film and I haven't changed my tyres. Is this my car??? It doesn't look like my car and I never left my car for them to take its picture. Did my car dealer put this on to sell off my car or there is just another neo with a same plate number? Did they super impose the picture? Did my dealer get the wrong info? Hmm... Very mysterious.

Happy Birthday, Papa and maternity leave 3 months!

Today is a good day. Woke up to the wonderful review on Inspira by Paul Tan... ^_^ ahahaha
Today is also my papa's birthday. I sms-ed him this morning to wish him and he replied "Thanks. I am officially a senior citizen now". Definitely don't look like one. ;) (The importance of having young kids). =p
And then received email from CIMB's Group HR saying that maternity leave is now extended from 2 months to 3 months! Woohoo!
Should start trying now eih?
Ahahahahha

Manual it is!

There is nothing else I am obsessed about now apart from my new baby-to-be, Proton Inspira. Yesterday I was in a big dilemma whether to buy a manual or an auto transmission as I got excited with the tiptronic/pedal shifter thingy. Even called up my car dealer to change the order but was told pedal shifter is only available in the 2.0 liter model. Today, I look up Paul Tan's website and found his review. I would like to highlight these two paragraphs.
"Naturally the 1.8 liter manual felt like the best driver’s car of the lot. The steering somehow felt more precise and had better feedback compared to the other models. According to Proton, the entire setup was designed mainly on the 1.8L manual version so that could be why it felt sharper, and it could also be that the 1.8L manual had a lighter front end compared to the models with the presumably heavier CVT transmission and even the larger engine block for the 2.0L model.
Ride comfort is better than the Lancer GT, because of the different tyres used, and the P3-90A just had a natural stability that’s hard to unsettle even at the extremes, and that helps the driver feel so much more confident in controlling the vehicle. I didn’t feel any issues with the 5 gear ratios of the manual transmission nor the way the gears slotted into position so I suppose if I don’t feel annoyed they should be properly spread. The clutch is also light and easy to control. I think the model I like the most is the manual."
If only I found this review earlier, I wouldn't have even considered the auto transmission. Just TOO MUCH noise around asking forcing me to get the auto model. Now I am contented. hehe.

I wanna go back to KL!

I am a spoilt child. Currently crying alone at home because hubby raised his voice at me on the phone for my constant questioning of his whereabouts and when he is going to come back. I understand... he must have felt very trapped living with me, having to answer those two questions every day but I don't like feeling lonely like this.

Despite having a difficult childhood, I was blessed to constantly have people and friends around me. Though I hated boarding school for its lack of freedom, I LOVED it because I ALWAYS have a friend with me. With so many of you in a batch, you can choose to hang out with different people at different time of the day. In case one person gets bored of you, you can simply go next door and find someone else. That was what I treasure the most. I must say I didn't get that anywhere else. When I moved to college and uni, though I had these wonderful friends, our responsibilities grew bigger so we spent much of our time attending to all that. Everyone including me had lesser time to entertain people. Now married and alone, I miss those TKC days ever so badly.

Although I can actually just go back to KL or hang out with friends until hubby comes home, I feel the need to come back to Bangi because the house is in such a mess. However, when I got home, I always do not have the mood the start doing these chores especially because I am alone. I miss my mummy!!! I'm sure she misses me at home too. But having a near precise biological clock, I normally don't feel like driving past 10pm. Plus, when all I can think of is bed, Bangi feels so far away from KL.

I don't blame hubby. He works near and with his family. He gets to go home everyday, which he does and hence, do not feel the need to come home quickly. To him, Nilai is his home too. It feels to me he tries to spend as much time as he could at both houses, as well as his farm. But being a family person myself, I am happy he is that close to his family. Happy that even after we got married, he tries to make himself available to his family, which I have no problem with. I love my in-laws dearly.

But it got me thinking, have I not be a good daughter to my mother. Here hubby is with a biggg family. He still makes an effort to go home every day. My mummy only has me and my brother, who is now in college... so basically just me. But I try to go home only once a week. Sometimes I try to reason with myself, my responsibility is hubby first, then parents... but at times like this, I still feel bad that I don't go back to my mom that often.

At times like this, I feel like moving back to KL and let hubby commute instead, which he won't considering how tired he'd feel from that travelling. But I just hate living in Bangi alone. Might propose that to him tomorrow. Maybe alternate days for now?

P.s. - Hubby came back and comforted me... While hugging me, who started crying again (cry-baby~), he said "Jgn pindah KL" so I guess not now.

Booked...

As I am typing this down, hubby is at the shop putting in booking fee for my new car. =D I am SUPER excited. Even went to lunch in a real Lancer today and it is sooo spacious! Hehehe... excited mode. And to add to my excitement, hubby called to say Proton is offering both auto and manual! Yeayyy!!! Can get my manual carrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Then my lunch entourage giving me lecture why I should take an auto car.

1) "You don't know how tiring driving a manual car especially being trapped in a jam." - Erk??? Am I not driving a manual car now, every single day, through the massive KL traffic jam?

2) "Auto car has higher second-hand value." - People say that when I bought my little neo too. Did that stop me?

I appreciate the concern... the advice... and everything that comes with it but I want what I want. It's not like I didn't do my homework. And I especially hate it when the way they say it to me it's like I know nothing about cars! Some info is very useful. And I tell you I am happy to add that to my knowledge but please do not take me for some bimbo who can't talk cars. I get a little offended by that assumption. I may not know a lot but I do know a little... especially when it comes to the car I am buying, I may know more than you do so keep your tone down please.

My new baby, Proton Inspira? ^_^

I am SUPER Happy today. Ehehe. Lets start from last Friday.

I went back home ard 8pm+. Along the way, called hubby but sounded like he was not coming back so soon... Called a few more friends around Bangi but everyone else was either not around, busy or already with someone else. Hence, I was left feeling sad and lonely again, a normal feeling since I moved to Bangi. In KL, apart from having mom and bro with me, I also have Bojol, Hanipot and a lot more people to call and hang out with.. though I used to have Camy and Aizat around before they moved to Nilai and Penang respectively.

And then, before I reached home, hubby called back, probably sensing the sad tone in my voice and asked what do I feel like doing that Friday night. I said, I dunno... go for a drive to hmm... Genting perhaps? Then he replied, "pack our bags... and bring along our sports shoes". Wee, hubby came back to meeee... Initially I thought we'd be spending a night in Genting until I saw Abby's status on Cameron. Not that I care. I didn't have any major plan on Saturday apart from settling my maintenance fee and doing my laundry so whatever it was, I wanted IN, as long as hubby's with me. All those can wait. So off we went. I'll save you the boring details about the trip because I want to tell you something else.

On our way back, late Saturday afternoon, just near the Proton City exit, we saw THIS!

The new Proton Waja-Lancer aka Inspira being test-driven on the road, 4 of them!!! What the hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll??? If you are trying to tempt me here, I tell you now it is definitely working! And apart from the spoiler, it looks strikingly similar to the Mistsubishi Lancer although of course not EXACTLY the same. From "I-don't-have-money-to-commit-to-this" to "I-WANT-IT-FREAKING-BAD!!!". Was in a "bad-mood" all the way back to KL and all I can think of it what colour is the nicest. Guess it works coz hubby GAVE ME GREEN LIGHT to trade in my car. Yeehaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday Finally~

It's 7 O'Clock now. I should make my way home already... Or go see Lin's little baby boy. But I am just too tired. Too tired to move, too tired to even lift my butt from this chair to go the toilet. Haih... What's wrong with me this week. Maybe I lack stamina so bad now that I get too tired easily. Perhaps because I am hungry too. Only after I had dinner at the 68BFR reunion the other day, I had the strength the enjoy the night and get into the conversations. After that, wanted to watch movie but there were no available movie to watch at that particular time so decided to just go back home instead. BUT HUBBY FORGOT WHERE HE PARKED THE CAR!!!
Urgh... after going on to every parking floor and went round and round the parking lot, my pace became slower and I eventually just stopped. My feet hurts, had a headache and I just felt like I didn't have enough oxygen in me. And hubby was laughing, thinking it was funny. Then suddenly he got mad because I was walking ever so slowly. Who's fault was it, you tell me? Then he said I was just acting out because I was mad at him, not because I was actually tired. Right. I tried to just keep my calm... How am I mad when I didn't even raise my voice at him. Well, technically I didn't have enough strength to even raise my voice or be mad at him. I just felt like sleeping on the parking floor that time. I was focusing hard to just stay awake. Needdddddddd strength.
While browsing through the internet with nothing specific to look for, I decided to look up my horoscope. Lets see together what it's gonna say about me today.
Quickie
Conserve your energy -- you've been going off in too many directions. Focus on one.
Overview
That big brain of yours is throbbing with info -- and you need to start broadcasting! It's a really good time for you to engage with that new hottie or some friend of a friend who seems interesting.

Hah... This IS interesting. I NEED to conserve my energy. I think I SHOULD just hibernate at home this weekend but schedule is ever so full, as usual. But contrarary to previous weeks, this weekend is full with hubby's invitations. Not mine. Then I need to go back and churn info on The Malaysian Competition Act 2010 from the course I attended yesterday and submit it to my boss. Whatever... I should go back and have a relaxing night tonight. Maybe I'll visit Haslin and Danish next week.

Proton Inspira (Waja Lancer)

I am TIRED! Now waiting for Azmir to pick me up for 68BFR reunion. Hubby is as usual... LATE. I am flustered today, I think. I am not very sure what it means but I know that is what I feel today. I am also emotional due my raging hormone following the start of my menstrual cycle. Hubby came back VERY late last night even after I called and he said he'd be arriving in 10 mins... which he didn't. Work is also a bit crazy. But to top it all, Abg Nad told me the booking for "my dream car" (for this past few weeks...) is now OPEN. The salesman said he can take in my little neo at break even cost which is 35K of loan outstanding (which is surprising given that the car is going to be 3 years in January). BUT I still need to fork out the 10% downpayment for the new car, which comes up to 8-8.5K. I have not been saving for this and to suddenly just withdraw ALL my savings for this is just irresponsible. Huhu...

So with a heavy heart, I HAD to reply to Abg Nad, I have to pass this time. I am saddd... I want this car SO BAD because 1) It is Proton. I am patriotic. And being branded Proton means the car is cheaper than any other car in the same category. 2) As patriotic as I say I am, I can't help but wanting Mitshubishi's technology in that Proton car. 3) It is LANCER's technology for God's sake. And people say that the first 200 units are CBUs meaning they are fully imported... manufactured by Mitsubishi themselves. Urgh, frustrated.

Hopefully tonight's outing can help lift me up.

Financial Stuff

When I was having dinner with friends the other day, I heard them talking about how their financial would be like when they got married. Some ppl say have joint accounts as you share the same expenses anyway, have joint accounts for expenses but separate accounts for yourself and so on. For me, after I got married, nothing changed much. Main reason, I suspect, is that before we got married, we already have joint telephone bill. I think it serves as a practice for us in terms of sharing our monthly commitments. So every month hubby will pay his portion of the bill to me. Well actually, not necessarily HIS portion, he pays a fixed amount, thus it is possibly a little more/less than his actual bill.

Then when we got married, house was taken care of by my mom. Our additional fixed costs now, on top of our telephone bills (both maxis and digi), are astro and electricity bill. I will normally take care of this as I am the self-appointed account manager of the house (all of my mom's houses actually including the ones in KL but mummy will write a cheque for me to cover her expenses). Being the one who rarely carries cash around, hubby normally has to pay for my food when we are out together. As we eat out quite often, I have to remind you that THIS portion is not small. We pay for our own car loans, maintenance, petrol, tolls but other than that, we don't keep track. Sometimes he pays. Sometimes I pay. Whoever feels like paying. Groceries, tables, clothes, shoes, whatever. So do we really need a joint account? No, I don't think so.

Okay. This is one expense I will normally absorb for hubby.

Travel & Vacation.

1) This is not a necessity, but a luxury. Most of the time, I plan it myself.

2) Hubby knows I can afford it.

Still... when we got there, who do you think will pay for my food and nitty-gritty expenses? You guess it. Him.

End of story. Haha.

ICEROOM Serves Non-Halal Chicken

Hello, ppl! Shocking news I got yesterday. ICEROOM with outlets in Nilai, PD, Bangi and few other places serves non-halal chicken. It is shocking to me coz I have been there a few times and obviously ate their chicken/meat products. I must admit my mistake here. First time I went there I was a bit doubtful. But I saw their workers (some are Muslims) and I saw some mosque goers with their families eating there so I became confident. I guess they feel that way too seeing me there. Apparently, ICEROOM didn't even have any Halal certificate so it is NOT their fault coz we just ASSUME. I got to know about it from comments on some strangers blog. I straight away asked my youngest brother-in-law who works as a cook over there. (He's a chef) And he confirms it!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhh... Now I feel a HUGE responsibility to spread the words to everyone via blog, twitter, facebook whatever so that other ppl can learn from my mistake.

I am not trying to kill their business here as the owner is a friend of my parents-in-law. Again, not putting the blame on the business as they are only trying to make money rather than being concern of other ppl's religious belief. And they serve the best SNOWICE in town. So just be careful. Spread the news to other ppl not to eat their meat products. Their snowice is still a must try.

Schleepy morning - Pic with Marion Caunter

Good day, ppl. I'm so sleepy this morning. Had to slap myself a few times while driving to work today. Not good. Not good. Since I am fasting, I cannot drink coffee, which makes it worse. Went to Naza's raya open house after work yesterday and got a pic with Marion Caunter. I was so excited. Haha.

Then went back to Bangi instead of going to see mummy in KL coz hubby said he was done already by then.

8.30-ish - 9pm: Arrived home

9pm - 10 pm: Sort out bills + paid 2 bills using BB as the modem for my computer. For a 2 min job, I think I took half an hour to complete the 2 transactions. Sigh. Bile laa hubby nak install streamyx. I am no streamyx fan but reception at my house in Bangi is quite crappy and streamyx is the ONLY cable internet provider in Malaysia. (And they say they are not a monopoly)

10 pm -12am+: Ironing... It's never ending. Sigh. Cleared like half the basket, then asked hubby to help pick up washed (dry) clothes from the line. So back to a full basket. Arghhh...

12+-12.30am: Forced hubby to start updating his financial records again. Cash in hand, pending in-coming payments, debts etc

12.30ish-1am: Took a shower, prayed, went to sleep...

Went to watch Wall Street on Monday with Irna at Alamanda. The movie was okay thanks to Shia LeBeouf and Michael Douglas but I don't quite like the ending because it was too flat... It's a happy ending but I don't feel happy or excited leaving the cinema. Quite a disappointment really. But what really funny was when Irna and I tried to sneak 2 A&W burgers+onion rings in... together with 2 bottles of mineral water when our bags clearly can't fit in all these. So I stuffed Irna's burger into my baju kurung's pocket and Irna cramped my burger and onion ring into her small bag. It was hilarious but we managed to get in. Thank God. Haha. My Mozza burger was deliciousss~~~ If any of GSC's representatives reading this, please know that we cleared up our own mess. :) So please don't be mad or become stricter next time. We love you. Haha.

May you rest in peace, Abah.

My uncle aka Abah passed away peacefully yesterday morning. While it is understandable that his family members are grieving and crying, I am actually happy for him. Looking back, he had a good life. He did a lot of good including providing a place for a child like me to grow up. He took care a lot of others too with his wife, my aunt aka Mak. He raised 4 children and have 11 grandchildren in total. He performed Haj twice and attended religious classes regularly. At the end of his life, he practically had nothing much to look forward to.
No, I didn't cry... Not because I don't love him but I have accepted the cycle of life. I didn't cry when my own grandfather passed away either. I think very few people's passing will garner my tears. That'd be my hubby and my mom coz my life depends heavily on them. Taking them away from me would mean taking a piece of me... Changing my life completely... Putting my life at a halt. They are my pillars. Don't get me wrong. I love more people than just the two of them. My dad, my brother, my family, my in laws, my closest friends. I love all of them. I would be sad, I would be devasted, I would be frustrated but this is the cycle of life and I have no control of it. Hence, life has to go on.

Life is like playing games. You have lives... Make the most of it, complete mission, level up and stuff... Until it's game over for you. So when you achieved most of your missions, have a good game/life, be reasonably prepared for death, you should be not be terribly sad to leave this temporary world... except for the fact that you would be leaving your loved ones behind. Worry not, we will all meet again in the future... The eternal life... That being said, I do worry if my life got cut short unexpectedly (though we should always expect it everyday as we never know when our time is up). Going unprepared is a scary2 thought as you won't have a second chance in life... There in the afterlife, you would be judged by all the deeds you have done here on earth.

That being said, I hope Abah could rest in peace di alam barzakh. So far, he had it good. His passing was smooth and despite being sick since last Wednesday, he was blessed to leave the world on Friday morning and managed to catch the jemaah of Friday prayers before being buried. Al-Fatihah.

Death

I had a weird conversation with my dad today. We were talking (text-ing) about my uncle, who is currently not feeling well... putting it nicely. Fact is he is dying. Yesterday the whole family came back, neighbours came to visit and everything but God decided it's not time yet.

Papa: Pity him. Hopefully if I have to go better instant with least suffering.

Me: Yeah. Same here. But i hope i have time to repent. Hopefully not sudden death like accident or lepto (rat urine). Scary but at least fell prepared a bit. Hoho

Ish... We don't have conversation that often, and when we do, we talk about how we prefer to die instead... This is just weird.

Oh la la!

My baby neo's wheel-bearing problem is fixed! I had a 1Malaysia experience along with it yesterday. Kak Zalina picked me up from the workshop when I sent my car. Rachel sent me back to the workshop to pick it up while Viknes helped to stay back for me coz it was my turn yesterday. The sound of my baby neo is like music to my ears now. I even turned off the radio all the way back to the office.

Hubby was super sweet yesterday. I have to admit I was still sulking a little bit that time, though I was missing him terribly. Lazy to go back early and even stayed in the car a little while before he came looking for me. So walked in and just sat in front of the tv. He went to the kitchen and started cooking, FROM SCRATCH. Mind you, my hubby doesn't cook. So when he did that yesterday, it was a total surprise... A nice surprise! I Loved It. How can I continue sulking when he is that sweet to me??? Had delicious dinner and quality time together. Finally! Exactly what I was looking for the whole weekend. THIS is a true anniversary celebration. That made my day... Made my week even. I was too lazy to even do the dishes but he cleaned up everything. I got first class treatment all night long.

Walking on air, I was obviously very very happy. Just as I was about to go to sleep, I received 2 sms... from that psycho model!!! Arghhh... You are killing my mood laa, dude. Pretending to be all nonchalant, he sms-ed 1) Hello Salam 2) Bile I boleh kenal dgn Fizzy. I ignored it and when to bed with my lovely hubby. And this morning, he has the cheek to sms me: Apsal u ni sombong sgt. Hadeih... How stupid can you be mamat? And how stupid do you think I am? Pleaseeee lah.....

Dosa gaduh ngan suami =p

My life is like an open book. I basically tell my friends everything as long as it is not too personal. (okay, that's subjective =p) So when Azmir reminded me to not fight with hubby on our anniversary, I just had to laugh. I forgot how on anniversaries we usually fight. That's another thing about me. I forget quite easily. (Hubby is worse, I tell you. Haha.) Anyway, I told him when expectation is none, guess there is nothing to fight about, right?

So Friday was the anniversary day. I called him to ask what time he'd be home, he said quite late. Then with a sad voice I asked... will there be no celebration at all? He replied... "Mesti laa kene celebrate". (Expectation from none to a little bit). So we came back, had dinner, thinking what to do, which hotel to crash... and almost decided to go up Genting. But I was already sleepy, it was late already and taking a room at that hour would be a waste. On top of that, my little neo had a wheel-bearing problem but that's not a contributing factor since we could take triton up. Thinking that we are already going to be spending quite a bit for our wedding anniversary next month, which is not so far away, we settled with just spending time at home.

That night hubby couldn't sleep. He went out and came back nearly 6am in the morning. Naturally, he slept in until about 2pm that day, and we later went to my friend's wedding and open house. We even went jogging at the park that evening. But that night, he went out again so I went back to KL and fell asleep waiting for him. He didn't come back to KL. He went back to Bangi instead. I sent my car to the workshop that morning to be looked at so I didn't have my car until afternoon. That's when hubby called to say his relatives came over our house for beraye. Then my cousin called saying my uncle was at Mak's house. I was torn... wanted to go back to Bangi to see hubby but need to go see uncle. So I dropped by Mak's house real quick, met uncle and auntie and rushed back like mad... only to found out hubby's not home. Highly disappointed I called hubby to come back. I need him home like NOW!!! Hubby said he didn't have transport and asked me to pick him up. I refused and waited. One hour gone and he was still not home...

Okay. I was silly. I can just go there and pick hubby up. In fact, I can join their beraya session. But I was upset. Upset that hubby didn't come back to me that night. Upset that he didn't inform me he was going there when I actually ditched my family to come back to him. And upset that he didn't wait for me. I was being childish and I was crying and seriously not in the mood to go beraya. After waiting for an hour, I left home... Didn't want to wait for him. When he arrived home, I told him I didn't have transport to go home (planned to send car to workshop straight away and leave it there) and asked him to pick me up from KL. He said okay, he'll come later. Halfway through I changed my mind. Went back and found hubby sleeping. Grrrrr.....

Then I forced him to teman me go find a workshop that can fix my car on the spot. He groggily woke up but drove VERY2 dangerously to NILAI when there were a couple of shops open in Bangi itself. Fine... he's retaliating. His driving actually did more damage to my car then what was already there. Came back to Bangi when there was no ONE shop opened in Nilai but the shop in Bangi also could not fix the problem since spare parts shops were already closed at that hour. Came back and did own things. Mostly not talking to each other.

Went back to Nilai for dinner. When I closed the door behind me, my little finger got stucked. It was freaking painful. Since not talking to each other, I could not turn to him for comfort. So I ran inside to his mother and cried to her... Hahahahahaha. It was funny. Maybe not to other ppl. (Hubby kept singing Rihanna's song "You're so ugly when you cry" over and over again all the way back.) There were quite a number of guests around that time. But I was not done being childish that day. Lucky mom-in-law and sis-in-law were very sweet. Moral of the story is don't disobey your husband. =p But I guess our anniversary won't be complete without a fight anyway. Hahah.

HAPPY 8 YEARS ANNIVERSARY, SWEETHEART!

Check out my first ticker on the right.

We are 8 Years today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still HAPPY and VERY MUCH IN LOVE with this very same guy!!! (He is my one and only boyfriend I have had my whole life. Hope it stays that way til the end of our lives. InsyaAllah.)

Thankful that we are still standing strong together today.

Although a bit sad this date is not also our wedding anniversary, I am accepting the fact that we now have 2 anniversaries to look forward to. That shall be exciting.

No more big plans for this anniversary this time round. (Already planned a weekend getaway for wedding anniversary next month.) Nevertheless will try to make this weekend as special as an anniversary should be. However, no matter how small the celebration will be, life is already beautiful with you in it, baby! ^_^

I LOVE YOU, FOREVER!

(What a big promise... I do hope it turns out to be true though. Haha. Provided he still feels the same way then la, of course. Haha)

~Love, love jugak. Disclaimer jgn lupa. =p

Stalker! U Go Get A Freaking Life!

(Abby, I stole your post title coz I didn't manage to read it on yours. Where is it? Put it back. I wanna read it. Haha =p)
Yesterday was a public holiday. It was the first time Malaysia celebrating Malaysia Day... the day Sabah and Sarawak joined Tanah Melayu and we became Malaysia. I actually find it unnecessary to have that as a public holiday since we already have Independence Day but I LOVE HOLIDAYS and it goes in line with the 1Malaysia concept so why not.

However, yesterday to me was more of a family day. I woke hubby up early in the morning to have breakfast with my mom. Then went to Mak's house coz my DAD was coming over! That was the second time I see him, first for hubby, since they day we got married. That's nearly a year already. Then we had to rush back to LCCT to pick up hubby's parents and siblings who went to Aussie for this Raya break. And all of them agreed on one thing: Australians are very friendly.

What crossed my mind that time was this - Malaysians USED TO be friendly. We WERE known for our friendliness to the rest of the world. But I think that's not the case now anymore. Why? Abby said coz we are scared to be friendly these days. It's too dangerous. And I agree. Just look at this Sosilawati case. Scary, I tell you.

Anyway, back to the title of this post. I wanna do a shout out to my stalker out there. The model who paid for my carwash, remember? I was friendly for a bit and now he is my freaking stalker. Only after 2 days of talking to me on the phone, he has already been "missing me everyday". Now won't stop sms-ing, with a 2 to 3 days interval. I have stopped replying since the 5th day we "met" each other. ("Met" him Saturday. He missed me already on Monday. Deleted him from FB Tuesday. Last SMS sent to him by me Wednesday.) "Met" coz we didn't actually meet that day, I saw him, he saw me. End of story. No talking. If I bumped into him on the street, I won't actualy recognise him. But one thing for sure, I am now quite scared of any white Satria Neo approaching and now barring myself from answering unrecognised numbers. Damn you, psycho model. You are making life difficult for me. And how did it start? By being friendly...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

Good day, everyone. I know it has been a few days since first day of raya to be wishing you *Selamat Hari Raya* now but I have been busy sticking by hubby's side. =p (Macam belangkas) It has been a wonderful 6 days! This is my first raya as a wife! I was on leave since Tuesday last week and today is my first day back at work. It was okay except there were sooo many clients on leave, leaving me with matured deals with no instruction on how to proceed. Now checking emails and work backlog. Lets see what have I done the past 6 days.

Tuesday: Supposed to be sleeping in at home but did laundry, cleaned the house and packing instead. Left home ard 5pm with Ayet for Stadium Paroi. Break fast. Mantai starts around 8pm. Went back to Labu to pick up more "stock". (I slept while waiting)

Wednesday: Ard 3am-ish went for sahur. Checked in into a motel. Took a nap. Refreshed. Mantai restarted ard 6. Went to pick up stock again. Close shop ard 12pm. Went back. Slept from 4pm-ish until nearly 6am the next day!!! (I woke up ard 8.30pm and only drank water to "break fast" before going back to sleep)

Thursday: Relaxing day. Went back KL to see what they were cooking. Raya mode already in the air. Went to Labu to pick up hubby's employee from KLIA station. Break fast with hubby's family. Went back to KL.

Friday: RAYA!!! Woke up for Solat Raya in the morning. Went to Mak's house for breakfast and bersalam2an with my family. Ard 11.30am, went back to Bangi to beraya with hubby's family. Singgah kubur arwah atok and nenek. Beraya rumah Mak Long and Ajong. By 3pm, already home. Relaxed - watched movie... sleep... Ard 7ish, mummy and abg arrived. Beraya di Nilai.

Saturday: Ikut hubby potong kambing. Breakfast. Watched movie Resident Evil 4: After Life @MBO, Seremban. Went back. Played wii. Sleep. Went to Nilai to send hubby's family off to Perth. Went back KL.

Sunday: Breakfast with mummy. Went to Mambau (since Kak Ina went back to Pontian). Masukkan duit kat Seremban. Balik kandang. Went to The Store, Seremban - shopping baju raya. Woohoo!!! Tired and hungry. Went back home but cannot find open non-mamak kedai makan. So had to cook dinner. Clean up a bit. Went to sleep.

Sigh. So sad... That's the end of my long leave this season. As boring as it may sound, I treasure every minute, every second of it as I get to spend that much time with hubby. Can't wait for the next one, whenever that is, to spend that much time with hubby again!!!

Why My Hubby Is The Best & Irreplaceable

I must admit I can't stop talking about the model guy. But world, pls be clear on one thing here, NO ONE can replace my husband... Ever! He's the best and the only person who understands me, who can stand me, who can keep up with me. He's my person to keep me safe, to comfort me when the thunder storms and to tug me in at night. He let me be childish, he let me be spoilt, he let me be me.
I have said this again and again. I don't need my husband to give me money, don't need him to buy me a house, don't need him to buy me a car (Not to say he couldn't). All I need from him is to love me for who I am, to cherish me and to hold my hands. And as long as he doesn't forget that, as long as he is still my sweet loving companion I have always had this whole 8 years of togetherness, he is irreplaceable... He is God's greatest gift to me and I will never ever neglect him as long as he is still standing right beside me.
No billionaire, no hot model, NO ONE can take me away from him. I can talk OPENLY about who hit on me, who I probably I had a crush on coz he will always know where he stand in my heart. He has the sole right to be that confident of himself. Hehe. I LOVE YOU, Mohd Hazmi Abdul Halim. You are my life. Muacks.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, MALAYSIA! I LOVE YOU, TOO!

Stranger at the car wash

Hubby sent me to Im house first thing Saturday morning to pick up my car. We left it there (like old times) coz hubby came down to break fast with my friends. We went IKEA to buy my computer table after dinner, then straight to karaoke with his friends in Nilai so I'd rather us not driving two cars to all these places.

First thing that crossed my mind was to service my car but since the car was sooooo dirty =p, I better sent it to be cleaned first, although sending the car for service at lunch hour would mean longer waiting time. So to the carwash I went. Upon arriving there, before handing my keys to the attendant, I had to transfer ALL my stuff (and junks) into my boot. It was pretty clear how messy my car was... it was for everyone to see... but what the helll. Like I care what everyone else thinks of me. So I sat there and played with my dearest BB the whole time. When it was done, I handed over 10 bucks to the attendant, only to be told, "Sorry kakak. Abang pakai kerete putih tadi dah bayar untuk kakak". I was perplexed. I saw the car. It was a modified white Satria Neo. And I think I sort of saw the owner at the corner of my eyes. (I was scanning the car more than the owner, of course!) He was a fine man... in simple words, very handsome well-dressed man, wayyyyy out of my league. And he paid for MY carwash? Seeing me speechless, the attendant continued... "Die tinggal nombor die untuk kakak. Kakak nak ke?" Thinking I at least need to say thank you, I said sure... gimme his number.

Lets get things straight here. He can't be hitting on me. One, I'm NOT pretty. I am very the comot. Two, since I got married, I have grown fat. So I am farrrr from attractive. And if we wanna talk about personality, what was there to see. I barely said a word to anyone through out the whole waiting time. Before I did anything stupid, I reported the event to hubby. I'm sure hubby was just as confused as I am but being the diplomatic, non-irrationally-jealous, non-controlling man, he proposed that I sms-ed him to say thank you and if he asked for something more than just friendship, "told him you are married". Fair enough. Maybe he was just being sweet. Maybe he has no small change.

I head to the service centre and sms-ed him. Thanking him first, then asking what was that for? Satria Neo club buddies? He later called me. And our conversation started. I am not gonna write down the whole conversation here. It was a pretty long conversation. Cutting the story short, he is a 29-year-old model, in my eyes very smart well-dressed guy, looking for a plain looking girl to settle down with. Hmm, here comes the question: Should I be flattered (to catch the attention of this handsome young dude) or should I be insulted (that he thinks I am not pretty)? Haha. But lets face it world. I ALWAYS KNEW I am NOT the pretty type. I rarely dress-up for any occasion and I rarely put on my make-up. During that maybe a half an hour of conversation (it was cut "short" coz his phone ran out-of-battery), he also called me short and commented on everything I wore that day all the way from my tudung, down to my red sandals. He also said, I am not fat, just that my body store a little too much water and fat. Hmm. This guy made me laugh like mad.... Okay, I was a little flattered to be given so much attention by a stranger who is METROSEXUAL. Haha.

At 12.30pm, my car was just about to be serviced. I asked mommy to do a last minute facial appointment coz my face was out of control. I had pimples like a teenager and the last time I had my facial was before my wedding, which was nearly a year ago! There I laid, restless for awhile and eventually fell asleep. (He called me back but I can't be entertaining him while doing facial so I said I would call him back in the evening.) Halfway into my sleep, Hanijoe called me. The sudden sound woke me up and I got disoriented. For awhile I didn't know where I was. I wondered why there was wet cotton on my eyelids and why my face was covered with slimy stuff. It took me a few extra seconds to come to reality and finally answered my phone. LOL!

Done with facial, I went back to my workshop. Service was done. I complained about my roaring engine and the mechanic told me maybe it was the petrol that I used. Currently am using RON95. Maybe I should go back to RON97? But that's gonna push up my petrol expense by around RM200 a month? Hmm, something to think about. 80k mileage coming soon... perhaps before the year ends. To change my timing belt alone would cost me ard RM400+ ex the usual major service routine. OMG!

Anyway, I went back home, lazy to call this dude back so I texted him. After a few minutes, he called me back until Cyan arrived and continue talking for awhile before he finally agreed to hang up the phone. Not long after, Hanijoe and Irna arrived and off we went to pick up our Satay Kajang and shopping @Bazar Ramadhan. We had a gala time shopping and preparing for berbuke (though a little bit late) =p Sorry guys. Zue and Zack arrived just in time for berbuke. Hudam, Syidi, Aleesya arrived next, followed by Wafa, Azmil and Aliyya. We had a blast eating together, gossiping as well as playing with babies, fire crackers and Hanijoe's Macbook. I had fun with you guysssssssss... Thanks for coming and do come again. =D

Sedekah

We were told to be kind and caring when we were little so I used to enjoy giving out money to sad-looking beggers when I went to pasar malam etc. Not much, maybe just a few sens from my 70 sens daily allowance but I was glad to know that a person could have maybe half a meal at least from the little money I gave.

When I started working, I came to understand how hard earning money actually is. At the beginning of my career, I had to even take up several part-time jobs to sustain my life and also fund my wedding. Then I took time to actually look at these beggers. Some beggers are blind people, guided by a normal healthy person. Why don't this healthy person work and support the blind person instead? Maybe the healthy person is "working" for the blind, and the blind "job" is to get sympathy from other people. Then came an article pointing out how much these beggers actually earn. Some earn a whopping 5 figures monthly. That's more than I make myself... Why should I give my hard-earned money to them! The article also pointed out one begger, who can afford to take "leave" a few days monthly, live in a comfortable house and even own a car! Then you see stories like Slumdog Millionaire, highlighting syndicates kidnapping children and exploiting them to beg. Today we this have in The Star newspaper: Malaysia – a foreign beggars’ haven. Click here to read it yourself. Or even this (scroll down after the Raja Azmi story to read: Berita Minggu reported that foreign beggars could collect up to RM300 a day at Ramadan bazaars especially those in posh residential areas.)

This is why I stop giving out money to beggers now. Sometimes when I eat out, these people will come over and ask for money. Some look realllllyyyy bad... I pity them. BUT NO! I am not gonna be fuelling this industry. Just to make myself feel better about it, I have to actively look for proper institution to give to or at least pay my zakat and hope they will use the money right. May I still have a blessed rezeki from Allah. InsyaAllah.

Lombok

One of hubby's employee, 22, is getting engaged today. This girl is gonna be his 4th wife. Hmm, impressive? Pekerja ladang from Lombok can manage 4 wives? How did he even manage to get wives that easily? Apparently, ada ilmu lah. He even offered to teach my hubby that. Oh no! Please don't fall for that hubby. I love you so very much. Don't do that to me.

I Have A Lot of Growing Up To Do

If I think staying home on weekends cleaning the house + do laundry and waking up in the wee hours in the morning to prepare sahur is enough to fulfill my duty as a wife, I am clearly living in my own dream world. This entry is a follow up on yesterday's PMS = sulking entry. Last night I threw a tantrum in front of my husband. Here's the story.

Hubby has been busy for about 2 weeks now. He has been coming back very late and very tired. On top of that, it is fasting month AND he had food poisoning where he was experiencing diarrhea and stomach ache, resulting in him to frequent the toilet more often than usual. CLEARLY, he was very very tired. But this sweet loving husband of mine still insisted to come home to me every night although it is wayyy past mid-night and even when his family members (worried about his lack of sleep) try to persuade him to just stay over in Nilai and offered to send him home for sahur. That is notably very sweet of him.

In a parallel world, I have been wanting to watch Inception, Salt and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with him since the movies were launched but we were either too tired or too busy to catch any screening at the nearest cinema. Yesterday, while browsing through the screening time, I realised that Inception will soon be phased out from the cinema so I told hubby about it and he said he'll try to rush back and see if we can catch it.

He arrived home ard 10-ish and called me out. I went into his car and wonder where we were going. He said "I thought you wanted to watch Inception". I replied "Oh, this late? Next show is 11.45pm in Mid-Valley..." Thinking I have to wake up around 4.45am to prepare sahur, and the movie would probably end around 3am, I was not really up for it. But I am not fasting (as I am currently having my period) I could probably just take coffee to last me through the day. However, when I look at him, he was yawning constantly and looked very very tired. So I said, lets go buy DVD instead. He asked me thousands of times whether I am sure with my decision coz obviously the DVD won't be of good quality. All I know is I want to watch Inception and since he is home with me now, and came back just to spend time with me, might as well. So we went ahead and the drama begins.

I opened the lock to my house. There was a sliding door right after the grill but I went ahead and bang my whole body against it. Of course, it is funny but it was also painful. Hubby was laughing at me and I was waiting for him to rub the pain away. But he was taking his time. Open his car's door, one after another, Open it again, Check the boot... Still not done. What the hell was he looking for? So I yelled, "Cepat laaaa... sakit nih" and he was still laughing and said "Itu laa dulu gelakkan org".

Guess what I did. In pain and so mad that he was laughing at me instead of soothing me, I threw the lock on the ground!!! Hubby, with all the stuff in his hand, was not happy I did that and complained, "Jangan la macam nih. Baik tak payah balik awal." Urghhh... Benci. Mmg takyah balik awal kalau nak irritate orang. I stormed inside and waited in front of the front door. He didn't come in. After rubbing the pain away myself, I went back outside to check on him. Apparently, he dropped all his stuff on the ground too, head down on his new Triton. So I picked up his stuff, picked up the lock and the house key, tried to pushed him in but he would't budge. So I just went inside.

I went straight to the kitchen, washed my dirty dishes while crying and went straight to bed. Not in the mood to watch movie... All the while, he was smoking, sitting comfortably on the back of his new triton. Only after he had gain enough strength to deal with me, he came up and comforted me and asked me to watch movie with him downstairs. Melted that he at least still try to make that effort, I went for it, but after just 10 mins, he fell asleep on the couch beside me. Feeling sleepy myself, I woke him up and dragged him upstairs. Back to normality...

PMS Mode - Part 2

Okay. PMS got the better of me last night. Though instead of lashing out, I ended up sulking the whole night. Great...

PMS mode

At this very moment, I am fighting off a very strong urge to lash out at my husband although he didn't exactly do anything wrong.

Dream/Nightmare

I am the kind of person who dreams frequently, almost every night actually. Sometimes I remember exactly what happened in the dream. Sometimes I choose to not remember anything. I had a horrible dream last night. That being a nightmare, of course I do not want to remember the details but I do remember seeing blood bath scenes. I am just glad that when I woke up from the nightmare, hubby was already home. He erases all my worries and anxiety by just being there. He has been working very hard lately and coming home late... leaving me to go to sleep without him. Miss him already...

My All New PC

Hello, earthlings! Just got back from Mines with hubby and Ayet. Here's the result.
Desktop full spec minus CD ROM: 1,039.
20" LG Monitor: 388
Logitech keyboard: 30
AVF VGA to RCA Cable 1.8m for wii =D :30
Belkin 6 Way Surge Protection: 155
Extra 3% for using credit card
Total: RM 1,693

Huaaaaaaa. Wayyyyyyyy over budget. Reason being abg's old desktop is a little obsolete. Changing one part will require me changing another. A 256mb RAM? Who uses that anymore. Next is my ink catridge and table for the gadgets. Good night.

Welcome, Ramadhan =)

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan, everyone...

I have a few things that I plan to achieve this Ramadhan.

Lets see later whether I manage to meet the target or not.

Hehe.

Geek-y Weekend

Last Sunday was one of those running errands day. After getting back from Nilai and did my laundry, I went straight back to KL with Irna and Asserk to deal with mummy's BB stuff (separate line under Maxis, fill in form at Digi etc). The matter has not been settled yet due to some backlog and some misunderstanding on Maxis side... But I don't want to dwell on that.

On top of that, I was looking for a monitor for my soon-to-be-set-up PC. Surveying ard, I came across Samsung 21.5" monitor with HD resolution for RM583. Hubby went to Mines and found the same item for 550 which I think a good enough buy without me having to squeeze my way through PC fair at KL Convention Centre. Hubby also went looking at some other models but I insisted on the full HD resolution.

At the same time, abang's desktop, which I "kidnapped" last week was at the repair centre. The guy called me up saying that it was a hard disk problem. I asked how much would it cost me for them to replace the item for me and how many Gb will it be, and how much would it cost me if I just buy the hard disk elsewhere and get them to just install it for me? After I hang up the phone, I feel like such a geek dealing with all this stuff but truth is, I am no geek at all with the amount of knowledge I have on all these technical devices. Lucky Ayet (hubby's cousin) tells us that he can repair the desktop for us so I don't have to incur repair charges. I only have to belanje him makan... Fair enough =) So I took back the desktop from the shop without having to pay for anything (Thank God... I thought they would charge me for identifying the problem for me.)

That night, hubby and I went out with Ayet and Ayet got to use his geeky knowledge to (really) gain my attention. He explained all about the resolution stuff and told me I don't need a full HD for my monitor... Computer does not support that high of a reso (or I would have to change my graphic card, which I don't need since we won't be using it for serious kick-ass games). Even if I would like to connect my wii to it, console games, even more so wii, does not support Hi-Def reso. So I can just proceed buying a cheaper monitor version.

All in all, it was a geeky weekend but most of the things are still pending. Supposed to go Mines shopping all the stuff above with hubby and Ayet last Sunday but since all of us were too bz, we postponed it to next Sunday. Hopefully all the things above will be settled by next Sunday. One week is enough as a gadget geek. =p (perasan mode la kan)

August 2010 Budget

After I settled the over-the-top Pangkor Laut trip the other day, I am left with my normal monthly expenses, which is not that small actually but managable still. But on top of that, I took up or planning to take up a few more BIG commitments that are driving me crazy. I hope I will not run out of cash this month for my fooddddd especially with puasa month and Raya coming up.

1) PD trip for my whole family - 1,216 (mummy reimbursed me about half actually) (used to pay item 6 below)

2) CFA Level 2 (need to sign up before 22 September) - 2K+ will convert into installment plan under CIMB Mastercard

3) Buying mummy her new BB - 1,299 + 500 deposit (if I buy from Digi) = 1.8K (ongoing) done. Mummy dearest paid for her own RM500 deposit since I am quite short this month.

4) I need a working computer at home. My laptop died a few months back after serving me for a good 6 years... Hubby's netbook is too small to serve the purpose. If the connection gets too slow, it hangs easily. If I take abang's desktop at home, I still need to pay for repair... and I also need a working printer/scanner so total budget around 1K.

5) I can scrap this but what the heck. Put it here anyway, new TV that serves as wii TV AND monitor =p... not in budget

Taken abang's desktop, printer/scanner & keyboard and brought back my uni-days speaker+sub whoofer. Now need a decent monitor ard400-500, harddisk ard200 and putting aside some budget aside for repair cost, printer's ink catridge and hdmi cable (for wii maybe =p) ard100 = total ard800 RM1,693. Mummy dearest reimbursed 500.

6) Starting my ASB loan installment this month - additional 700+ monthly paid using item 1 above

7) My tyres need changing soon... ard 1K? will have to wait for now. maybe when my mileage reach 80K KM (10 KM to go) October budget

8) Accommodation to Penang and Brunei - 1K

HOW MUCH DO I THINK I EARN!!! Urghhh... managable now :)

If this is not enough, I bought tickets to Penang (October) and Brunei (January next year) during AirAsia promotion early this year. I haven't booked accommodation yet!

How much do I budget for this one? 1K?

9) And Raya???????? kuih raya? duit raya? ok kids.. duit raya cut this year =p

Thank you.

handbag

It's official. My handbag will only last around 6 months or so. After which, it will be soooooo used up that it will not be safe for use/in a working condition anymore =p Just changed to a new handbag mom-in-law bought for me during her trip to Europe... Uhh, thanks mak!!! I NEED new handbag. Old one right to the dustbin.