It Is Almost Year End Already!

Hi darlings. How are you? I've been very, very busy thus the silence despite best intentions to have the blog updated always (sometimes the thought of why bother? came to mind too..)

What are your year end plans? I've got none actually. We've got another family wedding coming up. I thought I will bake a turkey - just for the fun of it. I'll be working most days till Jan anyway.

We were at Picknik the other day (at last!) - the place is small but the food was quite enjoyable. The carbonara was good and the brownies are out of this world. But stay away from the risotto (my thoughts were, surely risotto tastes better than this!) And if you have any intention of catching a glimpse of the "leng chai" chef  at all you should go in the evenings. That is when he is around. If you are familiar with Ben's at Publika, Picknik is sort of like behind Ben's in the Solaris building, one floor down. I recommend the place.

I also found a collection of decent tudungs at ClosetHeart. They did a sale at the office the other day but their shop is in Subang Jaya. Their selendang are long and wide - tidak lah kecik / jarang / licin or any other silly tudung issues like that. Their tudung Syria are comfy too. The material is firm enough to stretch and yet not limpy. They have quite a range of pretty blouses also if you are into that.Thank you Aeda for recommending. & I recommend their stuff to you too.

And I am not a devotee of The Voice. But I came across this last night. She came this close to the late diva herself (after all who doesnt love the song or Whitney?) I was amazed. According to coach Adam they only rehearsed the song once. And if you do not know yet, Tesanne won.

If you are vacation-ing, have fun. If you are workng, you'll have fun too. The roads - and the office - will be almost empty. Have a good year end.

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Colors

Arent they cute? I'll keep them for pets please.

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Friendship

Hmmm.. Never have the skills for it. Never keep in touch. Never call. Never write. Dont remember birthdays. Nor anniversaries. Dont do facebook either.. So yeah, that's about it.

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Jom Drama Kejap

Have you seen this samsung ad - Wind Chimes In A Bakery? It is awesome.

You can start with the Episod 1 below.

For now it runs through Ep 4 only. Unfortunately the next episode will only be available August 8th (believe it or not I typed these same sentences on my newer HP laptop and this is what is shown on the sceen - Y64 can start w5th the e*5s6d 1 here. F6r n6w 5t r4ns thr64gh e* 3. nf6rt4nate3y the next 6ne w533 6n3y be ava53ab3e A4g4st 8th. - definitely wysiwyg NOT. I need to fix my keyboard again. Next time get a DELL you guys at DLCM..)

Anyway. The go-live dates for the rest of the episodes are here - (lama lagi nak tunggu finale tu)
Ep 5 : 8 August, Thur (malam raya doh, I s'pose they'll launch it at mid-nite?)
Ep 6 : 16 Aug, Fri
Ep 7 : 22 Aug, Thur
Ep 8 : 30 Aug, Fri

So enjoy the videos; this is definitely a drama Malaysia ala Korea in so many ways. The boy is cute, the girl is sweet and it is a love story after all - what more could you ask for? (but.. I dont do drama Korea - ayat biasa saya. Or drama Msia come to think of it. Maybe this is an exception. We'll see).

ps - Aton, have your daughters watched this? Awak tu kalau tengok jangan nangis pulak! But anyhow I am rather certain that you will..

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Thoughts About.. Nothing

I love how the orang putih can be so warm and encouraging sometimes. But I equally hate it when they are outright vocal and being blunt about things.While at other times I am cynical; I think they may be pretentious - I was reading a lovely post when this comes to mind.

And I wish we can enjoy the various seasons of the year. Then we dont have to make up excuses for having seasonal salads, summer movies or even the types of shoes that we wear (I am loving the images of summer fruits and colors).

And I love reading Zana's posts. There is always something interesting in all that she writes. I love the one about cats - ours roll on the floor and show us tummies too. And I suspect Sushi did give me a kiss once or twice! That's priceless I suppose coming from me (who claims to not like cats).

Help, I think I am assailed with bouts of melancholy. And I think I have too much time on my hand and I am over-scrutinizing things I should not have noticed in the first place (I am already on my eid leave; let's hope there'll be no emergencies in the office. The cookies are done and delivered. I will do last minute shopping tomorrow. Sleep on Tue. And cook a bit more - a lot? - on Wed. You take care, darlings).

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LOVE

Life is slowly returning to normal after the wedding. I still have lots to clear, but am taking that slow.  And now I am thinking what new projects I should come up with.

Last weekend we were in  Taiping for my niece's wedding and enjoyed our stay at Flemington with rooms facing the lake gardens! I need time to post that with photos too.

For now this is something I found and like.

Btw, I also love van Gogh's Starry Night (which I love most of all his works) and Irises and also sunflowers (I only know of van Gogh from hubs who took an elective class in arts at college).
 

 

And do you know Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) by Don McLean is a tribute to van Gogh? So now you know (for whatever its worth).
  

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Happy Friday!

Hello darlings. It has been two weeks since the last post. I have been moody, busy, ephemerally euphoric (I just learned this expression), had a couple of Yes! moments and - sometimes - selfishly uncaring (ya Allah, help me mend my ways please)..

But it is Friday again. What are your plans this weekend? My niece Nadira is getting engaged! Yeay.. And InsyaaAllah the invitation cards will be ready to be sent out. I need to sort out many little details this weekend too.

And I hope to be livelier, more productive and happier -

Something I would definitely live by. Have the best weekend ever!

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Doodles

I forgot that I have an equally outstanding view of the mountain (bukit more likely) on my backyard.

Took this on my morning walk yesterday.

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Doodle

I was walking to my car when a drop of water fell on my face. Raining? I asked myself and looked up. And lo and behold I saw this great view of the menara. The water could be from the helipad above..

 
 The photo does not do justice to the actual view. It was almost dusk and light was fading fast.

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It Is Just An Itsy-Bitsy Silver Screen Crush

We were at Ruz Aladdin in Ampang, kedai masakan Johor. I think it is a revamp from the old restaurant - the food tasted better than the last time we were here. Ada beriani gam, mee rebus Johor, mee bandung, soto etc etc. The beriani wasnt too bad but mee bandung di sebelah restoran Haslam di Pekeliling lagi sedap..

Anyway. The movie being played was Ghost Protocol. I said wah, cruise - I have to watch this. This past week there was Jack Preacher, Mission Impossible and Top Gun (!) Awesome. Tiba2 alahai, ada orang tukar channel pulak.. I said to hubs, you think I should tell him to switch back to MI?  

I walked up to the restaurant owner (the waitress told me who he is) who had changed the channel to some tennis game. I picked up the remote on the table and said, do you mind if we switch back to hbo? I am watching MI. He coughed and said oh belum tengok ke? Saya dah tengok 2 kali (he seemed flustered, the poor man). I didnt tell him I've watched the movie twice also already (I love the part when cruise swings on the short rope into the hotel). I didnt tell him I have a crush on cruise either (blush). Of course not.

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Doodles

It is not my birthday. And not mother's day. And neither it is Christmas nor an anniversary. I havent won any blue ribbons. But can I have either of these pretty, pretty please?

(I have a crush on Fossil)

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A Gem!

Aww, this is so sweet. McBeal was like so addictive for a time. Iron Man is an all time #1 favorite super hero. Loved Sting and Every Breath since forever. All in the same video? Be still my heart.

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Doodles

I had a most productive weekend recently. I visited mom. Then did groceries and packed the freezer like sardines in a can (I dont know if I am serious or otherwise when I occasionally said kita patut menangis tengok the amount of food we pack at home. Can you imagine your house dengan hanya beberapa keping roti dan kurma..)

I did some office work and went to raya open house. I baked. I came away on Mon with achy shoulders. But with nice photos of the stuff I made.

Top: Buttermilk cake (which my son said, ma kenapa kek kita tak moist? - you should put more butter. I suppose I will put a big X and a 'do not repeat this' note on that recipe page).

Middle: Choc chip cookies (I cheat actually. I made cookies but not these. These I experimented with some time ago when the boys complained, ma we should upgrade our cookies - they meant put more choc chunks. This photo looks nicer..)

Bottom: Lasagna (a family - oh, and neighbors' - favorite. I like mine with grilled eggplants and mushrooms. The kids love theirs with lots of cheese).

But now it is back to the rat race. I somehow think I am complaining here. I must remember sesungguhnya Allah tidak sesekali menyulitkan hambaNya (I searched for the ayat but cant find it - I thought it is in Al-Baqarah tapi tak terjumpa pulak. Does anyone know?)

ps - If you need recipes, leave your request in comments.

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Weekend Doodles

And almost like in a blink of an eye it is suddenly Friday again. It was (almost) a weird week, quiet (than usual) at work. Many are on leave, going on holidays I suppose this school break.

But I've been busy. I finished the photobook I got for at a very good discount from Groupon. Hopefully by next week I will get the finished copy. If you like to make your own photo books, here are some beautiful samples to choose from. They have discounts too now. I am already thinking of ordering my second (and third!). This is a page from my very own photobook design. 

We also went to the bookstore to get books for Eirfan. Ilyas sneaked in a book he wanted to buy in my pile with a Ma, Ayeah punya buku satu ok? A sap that I am, (and for no particular reason whatsoever) I thought now this is a kodak moment (only I cant say that as kodak is no more, bankrupt as it is. Maybe I should say an iPhone moment and take a video of that scene). Anyway.

We watched Avengers too. Where my husband said, you seem to enjoy yourself (I thought that surely is given. With bigger than life superheroes on the big screen what girl can keep silly grins off her face? Haha)

I have a busy weekend ahead. Have fun wherever you may be.

 

This is a sample from Photobook, titled chasing northern lights (amazing photos).

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Venting My Frustrations

I left my camera at home (or so I thought). That was why I couldnt upload my photos earlier. So I packed my cable home. I got home and then found out the camera was in my bag all along. Oh well. Later I took the camera and searched for the cable. Which is then nowhere to be found - not in the bag, not on the desk nor on the kitchen counter or the sofa downstairs where I thought it had fallen off. I searched for the second time. And a third.

Frustrated, I sat down to write. Then found out that now I had misplaced my reading glasses somewhere. So I went about searching for them.

Do things like these happen to you too? (please say yes)

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Seasons of Life

Winter, spring, summer or fall. 


(I am experimenting with picture formatting software).

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Cute

I love this (it is so much better than the official video, I think). And the kids are simply adorable. And Indie rocks.

Thanks Zana for sharing.

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Cycling in Spring

I love this.

Isnt this amazing? Salute to dad.

And this.

 Cool. When was the last time you cycled like this? Me, more years than I care to remember, actually.

And this.

Sort of remind me of school days. And college days (if we have cool spring days, I'd cycle too).
 
And more wonderful / hillarious / cool / fun cycling photos here. Via Jo's.

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A Time To Sing

I need some new shoes.. tra-la-la-la-la. Arent these to die for?

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Fancy That!

Did you get anything interesting done the past weekend? Me, zilch. I did a total lie-down therapy with an arcoxia - I might have over did things a bit I suppose - dan melayan video lama. 80's is a really rocking time. Luq's fancy headphone has got to be the best I've used so far - macam live.

Dan melayan perasaan yang bukan2 - like how come I've never had a bigger (and fancier) ambition. Like becoming a jet fighter pilot. That would be superb. Piloting the stealth or an equivalent fighting engine. Or be an accomplished violinist. Or a pianist. And be well known like Pachelbel or Vivaldi (I love Winter; watch / listen here. Jika anda seorang wanita, cuba link ini).

And wondered how come I do not have an equally awesome passion at play. I mean, riding a super bike would be so awesome. Or maneuvering a hot air balloon. Or white water rafting.

Yeap. Crazy. And so that's how I daydreamed (wasted?) the weekend away.

ps - whenever I write senseless stuff such as this I would always hover on the publish button. To proceed or to gracefully concede that I did not do justice to the blog. Most times I will publish anyway. Despite knowing what utter rubbish the post is all about. And then quickly post something new so this entry doesnt command the main spot too long!

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