The not so secret life of a Bee..

Glamer dik non!

2009-06-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

How many people can say "My face is on a billboard?". Not many eh... Anyways, as mama and I were driving past a row of shop houses close to the Stadium Shah Alam a couple of weeks ago, I saw something that caught my eyes. I wasn't sure the first time around but then when we drove past the same road the next time around, the person I thought was on the big billboard was in fact the person I thought it was.

Lo and behold! None other than my very own jaju aka babu my beloved sister Annahita. Glamer mak ayam....Kelas gitu ;)

This bilboard is at the De Wajah head office in Shah Alam :)

Was it worth it?

2009-06-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

I began to dread the fact that I agreed with mama the night before to go to the Pasar Tani, Shah Alam at 7am. It didn't help that I only fell asleep at around 4 am. I was so engrossed in this book that came highly recommended by mama entitled 'Fragrant Rice'. Initially I told myself that I would only read a couple of pages. Well, those couple of pages ended up being 117 pages. Hahahahha...Talk about a page turner. Anyways, as mama knocked on my door, I was so tempted to cancel our plans and continue on sleeping. But then I thought, what the heck, I should just get my lazy behind up and go. Mama has already before that told me about this famous 'gerai' at the Pasar Tani that sold 'Sup Gearbox'. Being me, I can't say no to food.
On our way to the Pasar Tani (tried to capture the sunrise but obviously failed. hahhaha....Sunrise behind coconut tree)

So off we went to the Pasar Tani. We got there at around 7.20 or so and got a good parking spot. Oh I forgot to mention that one of the main reasons why we wanted to get there early was to secure a good parking spot. If you arrive later, there is a possibility that you would have to park far and walk for quite a bit.

Mama at one of many vegetables store. Love the petai hanging in the background :)

The Pasar Tani sold pretty much everything. They had plants, clothes, fruits, vegetables, the freshest seafood, chicken, beef, lamb, etc. As well as my all time favourite, the reason I am up so early on a Sunday morning... Cooked food. Yummmm...Roti canai, nasi lemak, kuih-muih, fried koay teow, bihun, keropok lekor, roast lamb and chicken, and the list goes on. I was salivating and was spoilt for choice! In the end this was what mama and I settled for: the famous 'sup gearbox', soto ayam and nasi lemak. hehehhehhe... Yes, when people dine with me we tend to over order. hahhahaha... Food was good and I was stuffed. And no, we did not finish all the food in one sitting. We ended up 'bungkus-ing' leftovers from the soto and sup gearbox.

Sup Gearbox (RM13.00and worth every penny). They even give you a fat straw to suck out the bone marrow...sinfully delicious!!! The happy faces of yours truly when she is presented with oh! glorious food...

The reason to love breakfast! Nasi lemak with fried egg, kelempung, daging goreng, sambal. All for an affordable price of RM4.50! Yummmmm!

So was it worth it? 1,000,000 percent yes!!!

When you have too much time on your hands...

2009-06-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, since I got back home, I have been (and still on) a very very very very long vacation *sigh* A vacation is great but when you've been well rested for over 3 months now, it bugs you and all you want to do is go to work and work and work and work. You hear that employers? If you hire me, rest assured, you will get an employee who is going to work so so hard for your company that you would have to ask her to go home when she insists on staying after office hours to complete her work for the next year or so. hahahahha...So believe it or not, I have applied to well over 300 jobs. Yes, you read that right. 300 (and counting)... Never in my wildest dreams that I ever thought it would come down to this. I am starting to doubt whether anyone would give me a job. Will I end up having to mooch of my parents (and sister..muahahha) for the rest of my life??? I hope it does not have to come down to this :P Anyways, I truly hope that sometime soon I hope...real soon that I will eventually get the job I have always wished for *wishing hard...real hard*

Anyways, I have been experimenting on some recipes to kill time. The fridge now is stuffed with food! hahhaha... Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the food I made. So I'll just have to tell you and you'd have to use your own imagination. hehhehe... I have made chicken rendang, chicken curry, bubur cha cha, jellies, baked cup cakes and even made pineapple upside down cake. The list continues...

So please, someone, anyone, please give me a job so that I don't gain 200 pounds!!!

As promised...

2009-05-30T03:52:00.000-07:00

Hey...My apologies for the delay in posting up the pictures. I was away and did not have Internet connection there. So here you go... :)

Cuppy Cakes...

2009-05-24T09:59:00.001-07:00

It has been ages since I last updated my blog. I just didn't have anything to write about (actually I did but never came around to do so...hahaha). Anyways, life is good. Am heading to Penang in a couple of hours (yay! food!) so I am pretty excited about that. Still searching for my 'dream' job (where is my fairy godmother??). Been applying to lots of potential places. Hopefully I'll get some calls soon (hoping and wishing real hard).

I've always been curious as to how some people come up with great looking cup cakes. So on Thursday after yet another fun filled day (not :P) I decided to bake. Baking the cup cakes were not hard but I've always wanted to see whether I could actually decorate the cup cakes and actually turn out good. So I googled how to decorate cup cakes and discovered that the secret to all those pretty looking cup cakes is fondant icing (a.k.a. baker's playdoh). Aaaaah... I was so glad I finally discovered that. Yay! So I read a couple of websites and after about 1/2 hour I pretty much knew what to do. So off I went to the store to get all my baking needs. It was fun baking again (not that I was much of a baker to begin with). I always find cooking/baking very therapeutic and fun.

After baking the cupcakes came the fun part of decorating them. It was kinda nerve wrecking because I did not know what to expect and whether I would succeed or fail miserably. Mama was in the kitchen while I was starting the process of decorating and was intrigued by the whole thing. Initially she just wanted to see how it was done but then ended up decorating all the cupcakes with me. I must admit it was tons of fun especially to have mama do it with me. She enjoyed it too! Here are some pictures of our masterpiece! hehehhe... Doesn't taste too bad too.. Yay...Mission accomplished...

Opppsss...Just realized that my cousin is sleeping my room. My camera's in there. Guess I'd have to load the picture tomorrow ;)

Jakarta and Bali Pictures

2009-04-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

I was in Jakarta from the 18 till 21 of February. I was there with my parents and 4 of their friends. After that we flew to Bali and stayed there till the 24th of February. Jakarta was ok, but I will never go there again. It was a good experience to see it at least once. Bali was great. Tons of tourist (even though it was the low season). I can't imagine it during peak season. I pictured Bali to have clean beaches with crystal clear water. To my disappointment this was not the case. I guess nowadays it is hard to find such beaches. You'd have to go to the middle of nowhere for that. We were lucky to be in Bali at that time because there were tons of rituals that were being performed leading to the Balinese Hindu new year called 'Nyepi'. All in all, Bali was great and the people were so so polite. They smile a lot too... :) More to come of Penang and Singapore....ciao...

Home sweet home...

2009-03-30T00:55:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a month since I got back from US. I landed at KLIA on March 7 in case some of you were wondering about my whereabouts. It has been a crazy few weeks though and I have not had a chance to actually just sit down and catch a breath. I was in Jakarta, Bali and Singapore with my parents and a few of their friends. It was my first time to all these places and each place was unique. I will blog about this soon hopefully. Haaaa... I promised to blog about Disney World and till this day have not done so. My apologies people. Hopefully I will one day (better late than never right?). All in all I enjoyed my trip very very much. My favourite place would have to be Singapore and Bali. Jakarta has nothing much to offer and I would never go there again on a vacation. It is kind a place where you go once and that is all you need. Unlike Bali and Singapore where you can visit a couple of times. Shopaholics like myself would die in excitement in Singapore where shopping is in abundance. Man, you can literally shop till you drop here. Special note: Maini S and A, imagine if the 3 of us went to Singapore... Hahhahaha.... Habis kedai kena borong! hehehhe....

Wow...

2009-02-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my road trip in the US is about to end soon. Real soon. I didn't realise that I will be flying back home on March 5 and arriving KLIA on March 7. Wow...This would be my last weekend spent here. I am going to miss some very special people that I have had the pleasure and honor to meet. I am going to miss them all very very much. This past 2 years have been a great learning experience for me. If I had to do it all over again, I would...

Disney World

2009-01-27T07:15:00.001-08:00

I was away from the 22 to the 26 of January in Orlando, Florida. Never in my wildest dreams that I imagined that I would ever step foot at Disney World, but I did! So now I can check that off my 'Things to do before I die' list. It was a great time and I am happy that I managed to spend this magical time with Itos :) We were a great team! wohoo!! Will upload pictures and write about our adventure soon! Tunggu.......

My addiction...

2009-01-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

I have a problem... I know I should kick this bad habit of mine but I just can't help myself. I have no willpower or maybe perhaps it is too good an indulgence that I refuse to quit. Hmmm... You see, I am addicted to this sinfully delicious beverage called Caramel Frappucino and also to the many items on the McDonald's menu namely the fries, filet-o-fish, vanilla iced coffee, and the Egg McMuffin.

Thank God these will be readily available to me in Malaysia. Imagine life without it... muhahhahaha...

Mexican American??? Indian??? Martian???

2009-01-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

Having been in the States for almost 2 years now, I have come to accept that a lot of people think I am Mexican, Brazilian, Peruvian, etc etc. So pretty much people think that I come from South America. So in most cases Hispanics would start to speak to me in Spanish and I would have no clue what they are saying. I would have to just smile and politely say, "I am sorry, I do not speak Spanish. Can you please repeat that in English?". Sometimes I feel as though they think I am being a snobbish Hispanic that refuses to speak her mother tongue...Hahaha...Little do they know that I eat sambal belachan and ikan kering and that mak saya cakap Melayu (my mother speaks Malay)... hahaha... I also get these extra attention from the Hispanics senors who in most cases would stare at me when I go to a Mexican restaurant or just walking around the mall. They are always surprised when I say that I am not one of them and that I come from Malaysia (where the hell is Malaysia is what they would be thinking to themselves! muahhahahha).

People have also thought that I am Native American. Hahaha... Once, Itos and I were at a Museum in Chicago that so happened had a Native American exhibition going on. Coincidentally, I had my hair in braids that day and looked like a Pocahontas wannabe. So a couple of people came up to us and asked us what tribe we belonged to. ehehhehehe...Pretty funny eh.

It is so funny that people can never guess what I am. Even in Malaysia most people assume that I am Indian or Eurasian. Which I am neither. I am Malay/Persian. I remember once when I bought a drink from a roadside stall near Puduraya. I asked the person mending the stall how much the drink cost in Malay and he did not respond. At first I thought he could not talk or something. Then I asked him again and he was just in shock that I could speak in Malay. He said "Kakak boleh cakap Melayu"? (You can speak in Malay?). Hahahah... That was a funny incident which I will never forget.

I wonder whether I would be considered Iranian if I was in Iran... hmmmmm...

2008 vs 2009

2008-12-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe that 2008 is coming to an end... It has been a relatively good year for me. I did some of the things that I never thought I would ever do.

I swam with the dolphins in Hawaii.
I went to Las Vegas.
I rode on a roller coaster.
I started blogging.

Hopefully 2009 will bring more first times. On my wish list:

Visit Europe.
Visit Japan.
Maintain a healthy diet and look good in jeans.
Join a gym and actually make full use of it.

Happy New Year everyone... xoxo

Updates

2008-12-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone..It's been quite some time since I blogged. No reason whatsoever. Hahaha..

1.

It was quite a stressful week last week when I found out that some @$$ stranger had stolen my credit card number and racked up such a huge bill. Still working with the bank on this matter. They say it will take 4-6 weeks for them to carry out the investigation. Hopefully everything will be ok. I am just so furious! Seriously people, why steal from other people? How bout go out and get a job??

2.

The weather now is so so cold. It is so cold that if I leave a water bottle in the car overnight, it will freeze. That's how cold it gets. *sigh* I love the boots but not too crazy about the weather

3.

aaaahhhhh...I feel so relieved... I am done with my research paper for the Social Problems class I am taking this semester. That was a major contributor to my stressful week too :) One more to go though. I have to take the final exam.

4.

Been eating too much lately. Seriously, I am never full!

5.

Counting last night and today, I have had 8 Ferrero Rochers (p.s. having one right now as I type)

6.

It is starting to sink in now. I am leaving and coming back home. It is definitely bitter sweet...

Surprise...surprise...

2008-12-01T20:16:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning and this was what I saw...

It finally snowed a lot :) I love the snow but hate it when I have to brush the snow off the car in the freezing cold. My fingers go numb...brrrrrrr.....

I was out in the snow twice today. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I love playing in the snow. Makes me feel like a kid again... Snowball fight!!!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday...

2008-11-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

I had a blast on Thanksgiving (ate a ton) and went shopping the next day (Black Friday). Wohooo!! Eating and shopping, my two favourite things to do :) Will blog about it soon... xoxo

Boo!

2008-11-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween, I decided to fork out a decent amount of money and got myself a costume. Initially I was kind of reluctant to get a costume which I was only going to wear once. But heck, I thought. I have to get into the spirit and this was going to be my only chance to celebrate Halloween here in the States. Also, I am not as creative as Itos in devising my own costume (which by the way, she did an awesome job!). So on the eve of Halloween, Becs and I decided to do some last minute costume shopping. After several hours of trying on different costumes, we ended up buying the same ones. Hehhehe... It was a close call between becoming a Devil or Robin Hood. I decided on the later because it was longer and was not as tight as the Devil costume. And yes, of course being me, the Robin Hood costume was much more expensive than the Devil one. *aih, susah ada taste mahal nih.... hahahha..*

I was lucky enough to get the day off on Halloween. So Itos and I had a great day. We started our day by having some Indian buffet. Yum, the food there is so good! Then off we went to get some last minute Halloween stuff at Walmart. We got some white face paint, decorations, candy, etc. It was so much fun seeing everyone doing their last minute shopping! Then we went to a bakery to get some cupcakes as well as dinner (we got Popeyes fried chicken..yum!) to take to our friends house. Then off we went to start our Halloween celebration.

This year for Halloween, I went for trick or treating (and no, we didn't bring kids along.. we were the kids! muahhahahha). It was fun going from door to door getting candy. Later that night we went to a nearby club to check out the Halloween celebration there and enter a costume contest. It was fun seeing all these adult dressed up in really cool stuff. All hoping to win that $500 cash. I was hoping Itos would win since she was as scary as hell as Hantu Susu (complete with baby that talks in tow). But the winner was a guys dressed up as Michael Jackson with a boy on his crotch... hehhehe...I must admit that's pretty cool.

I must say that it was a great day. I am glad that I got into the spirit and bought a costume that I'll never wear again. But then again, whose going to arrest me if I show up at KLCC dressed up as Robin Hood right?

It's been a long long time...

2008-11-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

... since i blogged. I don't know. *aih* There's so much to write about but I just can't seem to put it down. I want to blog about my trip to Great America (where I actually got on a roller coaster!), Halloween, Medieval Times, etc etc. I will... I just don't know when... I'll leave you guys with some pictures though... Stories to come...

Remember the Stratosphere?

2008-10-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Remember my previous entry on the Stratosphere? Ala, the one where I wrote about the hotel that has 3 pee-in-my-pants rides? Here's a picture of it. So those rides I was telling you about is on that very top of that tower... Care for a ride???

Vegas - September 21, 2008

2008-10-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Oh no....It's Sunday! Good bye Vegas, hello reality... Oh.... Why do holidays have to end? Why can't it go on and on and on? *sigh* Woke up early...Wanted to explore Vegas one last time before heading back to Illinois. Honestly I don't know where I get the extra energy from when I'm on vacation. I'm like an Energizer (or is it Duracel?) Bunny that can move it, move it (compared to when I'm home and like a Bateri jenama X Bunny!!!)... Muhahhahahha...

Asked whether anyone would like to come with me to explore but they were all not up for it. So off I went on my own with a mission of getting to see as much as I can without missing my flight. Looking at my watch I had approximately 3 hours or so before we had to leave. Armed with my camera, I walked to the Caesars Palace Hotel (ala, yang Anita Sarawak and Celine Dion pernah perform dulu) which was literally 5 minutes walk from the Mirage. And in case you guys were wondering, it is Cher that is performing at Caesars now. Caesars is gorgeous and very opulent. It's cool that they have the Pussycat Doll's club as well as a PDC themed casino. The dealers were all hot (and some so-so) girls clad in PCD style outfits. It was very pink and it was cute! Also, like The Venetian, Caesars has an indoor mall with the same kind of ceiling (clouds) and a huge indoor fountain. Again, my mind was confused and thought that I was outside! Roamed around the mall for a while, got lost in the mall, didn't know how to exit, asked a lady for directions (whom I must say was very nice and polite) and finally found my way outside. hehehhe... Time was running out so I walked back to the hotel and after a couple of minutes all 4 of us took a cab and off we went to the airport.

The flight back home was good. Slept for at least half way through the journey. Was reluctant to leave Vegas but happy to be back to Illinois (really? :P) muhahhahahhhaa...

That's it folks...Finally, I'm done with my Vegas stories. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it... And a word of advice, when you can, do come to Vegas and don't forget to get me a plane ticket too...

Vegas - September 20, 2008

2008-10-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Oh no... Today was my last full day in Vegas. I didn't want to leave. There was so so much more to see and do. So many places, so little time! Oh no, no, no... I want to stay for another month or so. I wish *sigh*

Oh well, got to make the best out of the situation and move it..move it.. So woke up and got ready early and ventured out into this great massive concrete jungle called Vegas. I love you Vegas... You are awesome!!!

In order to cover more of the Vegas strip, Itos and I decided to purchase the unlimited day pass on the monorail (which turns out to be worth every penny spent!). This was a great move since we saved a lot of time having to walk the entire Vegas strip. The strip is pretty much a long stretch road filled with rows and rows of hotels. We saw the MGM Hotel (massive!) and also the lion habitat located in the hotel. It is pretty cool since the only thing stopping the lions from attacking all of us are glass walls. The lions looked pretty sedated though. I guess they drug them or something (tak pun kasi panadol! haha). We also saw the Mandalay Bay Hotel (and saw a lesbian couple getting married at the chapel there! only in Vegas!). New York New York (it's so cool with the replica of the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, NY Public library etc.). Paris (yes, you guessed right, with a replica of the Eiffel Tower). We also saw Excalibur Hotel (which looks like a castle), Luxor Hotel (resembles the pyramid), Monte Carlo Hotel, etc. We also stopped by at the M&Ms store. It's so cool in there and way bigger than the one in New York with tons of yes, M&Ms, other candy, souvenirs, etc.

Oh, and we saw the Stratosphere Tower Hotel from the Sahara Hotel (which by the way is the most cikai on the strip...Note to self: never stay at the Sahara if I go back to Vegas ever. But tell sworn enemies to go to Sahara! muahhahahhaha). The main attraction of the Stratosphere Hotel (http://www.stratospherehotel.com/thrills/) is the 3 thrilling rides which is located more than 1,000 feet above the Vegas strip. It's crazy!!! Never in a million years would I ever do any of those rides even if someone paid me a million bucks...It looks so so scary! The description of the rides are as follows:

Big Shot - Shoots passengers straight up 160 feet at 45 mph (over 4 Gs) until they are 1,081 feet above the Strip.

X-Scream - A giant teeter-totter that propels you 27 feet over the edge of the Tower, 866 feet above the ground.

Insanity, the Ride - A massive mechanical arm extends 64 feet over the edge of the Tower and spins you at a force of 3 Gs for a truly mind-bending experience.

C.R.A.Z.Y!!!

That night Itos and I went to see The Crazy Horse Show at the MGM Hotel (highly recommended). Becs and Baz went to see a Cirque show 'Love' at The Mirage (also was spectacular).

A tiring (having cramped all those sight seeing in one day!) yet enjoyable and always exciting day in Vegas...

Vegas - September 19, 2008

2008-10-20T22:31:00.001-07:00

Itos and I made a promise to each other that by hook or by crook, we were going to go to the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum that day. We were suppose to go yesterday but because we were distracted with other activities, we decided to postpone it till tomorrow. So we woke up bright and early and got ready. According to Itos, when she was in Amsterdam, the line to the Madame Tussauds was so so long that she did not get a chance to go in. So, in order to beat the crowd, we wanted to make sure that we were among the first to arrive. Yay! We got there early and there wasn't a line even! wohoo!! Also, we managed to get student priced tickets (all thanks to my CLC student ID). The wax museum was fun and we took so so many pictures there (ambil gambar tak hengat!!!)...hehehhe...My favourite has got to be Johnny Depp. He looks pretty real. Julia Roberts did not look anything like her. When I first saw the was, I thought it was Hillary Swank, so go figure! We spent about 3 hours there. After getting some stuff from the gift shop, which by the way has really really cool stuff we went to the Venetian Hotel. As the name suggest, it has a Venetian theme to it. Hence the gondolas and the Italian art decor. It's really cool. Having been to Venice, it was fun to see the Vegas version of it. I must say they did a good job!

Most hotels in Vegas have huge shopping malls within the hotel itself and the Venetian has an awesome one. It is an indoor mall with cool architecture. Besides having a river flow through the mall (gondolas and all, with the gondolier singing), the roof of the mall is painted to mimic the sky on a nice sunny day. So when you look up you see a nice blue sky with pretty clouds. Look closely at the picture of me in the mall and you can see the sky. Isn't it cool? And the thing is, your mind gets confused and tricked into believing that you are actually outside when you look up to see the ceiling! I like. Then Itos suggested that we try out the Oxygen bar. You're suppose to inhale oxygen and then they give you a head, hand, and back massage. Supposedly it's suppose to rejuvenate your body (konon!). That I felt was something we had to try but would never do again :P Mahal woi! It cost us about $60 for a 45 minutes session. Ceh!

Later that afternoon, we went to the outlet mall for some shopping. Boy was I excited! You know me, always out there looking for a good deal. So outlet malls are like a slice of heaven for me. The outlet mall that we went to was an outdoor mall with rows and rows of stores such as Juicy Couture, Aldo, Coach, Armani Exchange, Fossil, the list goes on. And yes Shereen, you and I can shop till we drop there and camp overnight for more shopping the next day! We didn't have much time so we had to rush through the shops. *Aih* I am happy with my purchases. I got myself an Ed Hardy hoody and a Bebe t-shirt. I must say, I am very proud of myself for being able to contain myself and not buy too much! Granted that we didn't have much time...hmmm...Itos got a couple of good deals too. She got herself an Ed Hardy hoody too (kami kan kembar siam), sunglasses from Fossil, Armani Exchange t-shirt, and sandals from White House Black Market (Obama's wife Michelle likes dresses from here!).

Later that night we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I had some kind of Thai Spaghetti (tak sedap!) and Itos had pasta soup.

Again another great day in Vegas!

Vegas - September 18, 2008

2008-10-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Thursday (September 18, 2008) - I couldn't wait to wake up!!!

Despite having slept late the night before due to all the excitement that Vegas had to offer, I was up so early. I looked around the room to see whether anyone was awake. Nope, they were all still deep asleep. *sigh* I thought to myself. I want to get moving. I want to explore! I want to soak in the sites. I wish I had the same kind of energy when I am working or studying! hahha....Not happening anytime soon! :P

After contemplating for about 15 minutes I decided to get ready and explore on my own first. Time was precious. I didn't want to waste any time at all. So off I went exploring on my own. I pretty much explored the hotel where we stayed at, The Mirage. In Vegas, each hotel was ginormous with tons of attractions. You could spend a whole day (literally) at each hotel just exploring the sites and the unique attractions that each hotel has to offer. So by the time I was done, Itos was up and came to meet me at the hotel lobby.

Off we went to explore another hotel called TI (old name Treasure Island) (dunno why they changed it from Treasure Island to TI, errrmm...Malas nak eja panjang-panjang kot! :P). Then later, we caught the Sirens of TI show. That was by fluke actually. We were on our way to meet up with Becs and Baz at the Fashion Show Mall when we saw this huge crowd of people waiting on the streets. Having have read the Vegas guide book, I pretty much knew what it was. So we decided to catch the show. Heck, it was free and because we were staying at The Mirage (which was a sister hotel to TI among others) we were able to stand at an allocated spot! wohoo!! That was nice. The show was alright. It's on a huge makeshift boat with a river flowing through it and all. There was even fire and fireworks as part of the show. The 'sirens' were hot sexy female pirates all dressed in scantily clad clothing and baring their assess. Heck, I saw more ass in Vegas then I have had in my entire life! hahhaha... Yes guys, save up your money and come to Vegas for some ass watching! Hahahahha!! So these sirens are vicious hot mamas who captured a pirate (lucky lucky man!). So the story revolves around how his pirate mates tried to save him la di da and in the end they all got together. The usual..

After the show we went to see Becs and Baz. The mall was really nice with all the branded stuff. But I was saving my money for the Outlet Mall (I'll write about this in my next entry). Becs got stuff from Betsy Johnson (I'm so jealous of her really gorgeous hot pink dress! It's fab!!) and Baz did some shopping too at Nordstroms etc.

After, we went back to the hotel. I was pretty exhausted. From all the lack of sleep! hehehhe... So off I went to bed. zzzzz...

Vegas - September 17, 2008

2008-10-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hey guys...As promised, here's my first Vegas entry. Enjoy!!!

Wednesday (September 17, 2008) - Excited, excited, excited!!!

I woke up early today at about 8 am. The taxi wasn't coming till about 11.30 but I had to run a few errands before I left for Vegas. In total if I had to guess I only had about 5 hours of sleep. Between the excitement of leaving for Vegas, packing, washing my hair (yes I waited last minute so that it would look good for Vegas...hahah), and being on the computer I slept late. Oh well I thought, I'll be able to get some shut eye in the plane. So I woke up, took a shower, straightened my hair, and got dressed. I left the house at about 9 am while Itos was still in dreamland (damn lucky I thought to myself..ehheh). First stop was the library to return some books. Next was the bank to deposit some money into my checking account. Then went to get my eyebrows done. Finally I had some time to spare and went to a store to return some clothes. And whalla, I was back home with 30 minutes to spare! yay!

Itos and I reached the airport at around 12.15 and everything was smooth sailing. The airport was not too busy and security check went well. The only thing that bugs me is the new ruling that all airlines here have. You have to pay $15 for each bag you check in. Urrgggghhh...

There we met Becs and Baz who were going to Vegas with us. They just got in from London and I was very happy to see Becs since I haven't seen her for quite some time. She was lucky enough to have gone to London and Ireland prior to her Vegas trip! Man, I'm jealous!! :)

I knew I was in Vegas when once I stepped outside, I saw rows and rows of slot machines! kaaaaacccchhhhiiiinnggg!!! Man that was exciting. The four of us stayed at The Mirage on the strip (good location as it is right smack in the middle of all the action). The room is gorgeous and spacious. With a huge flat screen and the beds, oh my, were they comfortable...It's like sleeping on a bed of clouds...

We chilled in the room for a while, unpacked and got ready to go out again. We decided to have dinner at the Cravings Buffet in the hotel itself. The food was good and they even had sambal (chili paste) with bubur (congee)! wohooo!! That was great...My other favourite was their shrimp dim sum. I had a ton of that. After dinner, Becs and Baz went to sleep while Itos and I roamed around the hotel and its surroundings.

I was so hyper and excited that I just didn't feel tired at all. It is true what people say about Vegas, it's a city that never dies and the excitement just makes you want to stay awake all night!

All in all, my first day at Vegas was great. Can't wait for tomorrow!!

I love food!!!

2008-10-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I love my food. Any kind of food... The first picture was taken when I had fajitas at a Mexican restaurant called Las Palmas. I used to not like Mexican food but now I love it and can't get enough of the guacamole!! The next picture was taken at Olive Garden, an Italian restaurant. It has good food which is reasonably priced. Also, they have unlimited soup, salad, and bread sticks...Wohooo!!! My dream job would be to become a food critic. Man, imagine being paid to eat? Wow! Just thinking about it makes me so happy... Food, glorious food...

On a different note, I know that I promised to write about the Vegas trip. I will soon k... Building anticipation konon! hahhahah...

Selamat Hari Raya!!!

2008-09-29T21:56:00.001-07:00

Selamat Hari Raya everyone. Maaf Zahir Batin. I can't believe that raya is Wednesday! This will be my second raya in the US.

I remember fondly as a child celebrating raya in Teluk Kumbar at tok wan and tok's house. It sure was a full house since all the children (my grand parents have 11 children) would be there with their kids in tow. So that was the time when I'd meet all my aunts and uncles and my cousins. The things we did as kids during raya was loads of fun. At that age our number one mission was to collect as much duit raya as we could from family as well as the neighbors. So Itos, myself and few of our cousins would 'round satu kampung' and go door to door. However, as we grew older, we became a little bit shy and would not go round making our collection. This tradition is however carried on by our younger cousins :)

The other thing that I remember about raya as a kid was the food. There would be tons and tons of food and drinks. My favourite had to be the drinks that my grandpa would order especially for hari raya. We would get Coke, F&N Fanta, 7UP etc that came in glass bottles. Man, that was so special and I loved my grandpa for that. He was so cool to get all those drinks :) And at that time, being able to drink fizzy drinks was a treat since it was only once in a blue moon that I was able to get my hands on those bad boys (mama doesn't think fizzy drinks are good for you). Also, it was like a tradition that every year I would eat and eat and eat and puke right after for eating too much! You think I'd learn. But noooo, I do it every year. But I'm happy to report that I do still eat and eat and eat now during raya but thankfully my body has learned to adjust and I am able to hold my food in! hahah..

My favourite food for raya has got to be nasi impit with rendang daging (my mum's), rendang ayam (my aunt Q), kuah kacang with perut (my cousin Kak Ina), and my own kari ayam. Yum..yum..yum.. Hari raya now as an adult involves eating, relaxing and socializing in front of the tv, eating some more, relaxing and socializing again, eating, you get where I'm going with this... ;)

Once again, Selamat Hari Raya and don't be eating too much of that rendang now...Save some for me!!!

Pictures, pictures, pictures...

2008-09-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures of Vegas. I'll upload more and write about it soon. There's plenty of pictures to upload and plenty to tell. I miss Vegas already *sigh* Kaaaaaacccchinnnngggg!!

I'm back...

2008-09-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll...I just got back from Vegas about an hour ago. It was what I expected it to be and more :) Sad to leave Vegas and all the excitement but glad to be back home...I will blog more about it tomorrow and yes, lots and lots of pictures. I promise :)

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

2008-09-16T23:02:00.001-07:00

It's about 1 am now and I need to be up by 8 am tomorrow... Now I am beginning to regret having had a Starbucks Frappucino at 7.30 pm just now...Damn...Now I am up like an owl and too alert to even fall asleep...I must, I must, I must go to sleep soon...

Itos and I and another 2 friends of ours are leaving for Vegas in approximately 13.5 hours...wohoo! Boy am I excited...So I won't be blogging till I come back on Sunday. I promise to blog about it and yes, put tons of pictures...

Need to sign off now...Taxi's coming at 11.30 am. I need to go to the bank, library, and store and I have to do all that before the taxi comes. So hence having to wake up early...

Vegas, here I come...wohooooooooooooooooooooo!

Jumping, jumping...

2008-09-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Perhaps some of you have noticed, perhaps some of you have not..Itos and I are now big on taking our pictures jumping. Hahahha...Some jadi, some tak... But it sure is fun when after numerous shots (camera cikai so ikut nasib lah), we actually get good shots of us jumping! wohoo!! Fun and good exercise perhaps?

Anyways, these pictures were shot 2 weeks ago at this place called Independence Grove. It was a beautiful day when we were there and we had fun feeding the fishes and ducks and gees. And what else? Jumping of course!

p.s. Maini S, not until you pointed out that this is ala2 'Leap Ahead' that I remembered the Intel video! fun times..fun times..

On my birthday..

2008-09-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

On the first day of being 28..Here is roughly a list of what I did today:

1) 9-10.30: Drove to the college to pay the tuition fee

2) 10.30-10.45: Stopped at Walgreens (ala2 Guardian/Watson) and picked up an eyeliner

3) 11-12: Read chapter 2 of my 'Social Problems' class. Test end of this week

4) 12-6.30: Work (note to self: next year take the day off on your birthday.. Go to a spa or something and chill :) )

5) 6.30-7: Got ready to go out

6) 7.30-10: Dinner at Wild Fish with Rob :) Thank you..Dinner was fantastic...Food was great, but most importantly company was superb ;) I have had a craving for sushi for awhile, and today my wish came true..wohoo!!

7) 10.30: Internet (blogging, facebook)

Today was really good. Happy birthday self...I feel more like 18 rather than 28.. In denial perhaps? muhahhahahah..

p.s. Thank you all for the birthday wishes...You guys are the best!! xoxo

It's my birthday...

2008-09-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

In approximately 1.5 hours, I will be 28. I am already 28 in Malaysia though :) Thank you all for the birthday wishes.. So so sweet and I feel so loved :)

It's raining again..

2008-09-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

It has been raining non-stop today since about 11.oo am. I love the rain when I am indoors. Given a choice I would love to just curl up in my bed reading or watching a movie. Listening to the rain pouring down is kind of therapeutic. And being so comfortable, soon enough I'll doze off to sleep...So so nice..Man, I miss doing that so much. I don't remember the last time I did that.

However when I am outside it's kind of a pain *sigh* It's really cold and so wet.. But I am not complaining.. I love the rain...Love the smell of it and how fresh rain makes the surroundings look.. But it would be nice if it was only raining when I am indoors :)

Cold weather and ulat bulus...

2008-09-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Before I came to the States, I had a few things that worried me. At that time (February 2007) my biggest worry was whether I was going to be able to endure the freezing temperatures. The night before I flew to the States there was a massive snow storm. So I was just anxious to see how my body would handle such extreme coldness. I didn't want to go home in a kotak (box) lah! Surprisingly, I handled the winter pretty well. Yay to me.. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.. And now I am looking forward to the winter again so that I can put on my boots! Yes, I am obsessed with boots! The sad thing about it though is the fact that I won't be able to wear any of my boots when I go back to hot Malaysia *aih*

My next biggest worry was whether I was going to be able to find someone to help me maintain my eyebrows. Having been blessed with ulat bulu (caterpillar) eyebrows, I had to thread them every 2 weeks or so. In Malaysia I was lucky to have had Mrs Maninder to thread my eyebrows. So I panicked when I thought that I would not be able to find a threader in the States. However, my worries disappeared fast when I was roaming around the mall (5 minutes away from the house), I found a threader! wohoo! Boy was I happy. I found Mrs Maninder's replacement and her name is Mrs Uzma :)

My kind of food...

2008-09-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

After spending the whole day in Chicago last Monday, Itos and I decided to go have dinner (bukak posa) at the Penang Restaurant. It is located in Chinatown (about 10-15 minutes by car) from downtown Chicago. I have been there a couple of times with my Malaysian friends and food has always been really good. So wanting to be the good tour guide, I knew that Itos would want to sample some delicious Malaysian food. She's been here approximately 3 weeks and already she misses Malaysian food. Who wouldn't right? It is the best food in the whole wide world! yum..yum.. So I was really excited to go eat there.

We took the cab from downtown instead of the 'L' (like our LRT). It would have cost us $4 if we had taken the L, but we opted for the cab that costs us $13. Oh well, we were both so tired and didn't want to walk no more.

There we ordered laksa, roti canai, and koay teow goreng. The food was excellent. The laksa was really spicy but so succulent and yummy that we finished both the noodles and the soup. I was impressed with the fact that the laksa was 'laksa basah' and not laksa from a packet. So that was a plus point. Even in Malaysia when you go to some stalls they give you laksa from a packet which I hate..So I am pretty impressed by that.. The koay teow was good too. It had shrimp, towgeh (how do I spell this..Lupa lah), and eggs. I just wished that the koay teow had kerang (cockels) in it. That would have been so delicious..Man I am craving for koay teow kerang right now... The roti canai was more like roti tisu than roti canai. Not having had roti canai for more than a year, it was pretty amazing to have roti canai again..I believe that roti canai is one of the greatest food inventions ever...Go roti canai!!

We were happy with the food and as usual I ate way too much.. *sigh* It was worth it though.. My only complain was the fact that service was very very slow. It took ages for them to take our orders. And at one point I asked for some sambal (chili paste) which never arrived till today.. haha..

Having recharged our batteries, we decided to take the L back...wohoo..That saved us a couple of bucks and we needed the exercise anyways ;)

As promised...

2008-09-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some of the pictures Itos and I took (we took way too many pictures!) when we were roaming around Chicago. The first two were at Navy Pier. It's a cool place with tons of restaurants and shops, as well as the Ferris wheel and other stuff like the swings etc.

The picture of me jumping like a happy 5 year old who had way too much sugar is by 'The Cloud Gate' in Millennium Park. But a lot of locals call this sculpture 'The Bean'. Honestly I think 'The Bean' is a way cooler name than 'The Cloud Gate'. Simple yet amusing.. hahaha...That's just me though.. Also a picture of Itos and I (yes, we had to buat muka tak malu and ask people to take pictures for us. If not only individual pictures, mana syok).

The pictures with the flags in the background is somewhere on Michigan Avenue a.k.a. 'The Magnificent Mile'. It is really pretty here with the awesome buildings and most importantly there's tons of shops on this strip :) You also get to see the Chicago river on both sides of the road..

Till then..Hopefully you enjoyed looking at the pictures of beautiful Chicago :)

Rain, rain go away...

2008-09-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

Today was indeed a wet, wet, wet day. It was raining non-stop from morning till night. Even when I came back at around 9.30 pm just now from the mall, it was still raining. Hopefully tomorrow there will be no rain *wishful thinking*

My True Religion...

2008-09-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yay! I am so happy! Jules got me a pair of True Religion Jeans for my birthday (early birthday gift..My birthday is on the 10th, oh my, I'll be 28!!). It was my mission in life to get a pair for myself before I left the States (yes, I am that shallow!). I was saving up (those jeans cost a fortune!) to get myself a pair. So when she got it for me I was ecstatic! The reason why I love it so much is because it fits so so well. Also, it has these unique back pockets and stitching. So people who know True Religion will recognize it in a second..The jeans are still too long on me (yes, shorty me). I'll need to get it altered. Here's a picture of my very own True Religion jeans (oh, my new baby!). I'll post a picture of me with my new favorite jeans once I get them fixed..

It's been awhile...

2008-09-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I blogged (4 days actually). It seems a lifetime for me though. Ever since I started blogging I've been addicted to it! hehehhe.... My mind is constantly thinking about the next thing I am going to write about. Taking pictures, making mental notes of things happening around me, etc. And now Itos and I have another common interest that we share...Blogging that is.. We can talk for hours about blogging etc and get all excited and enthusiastic about it (yes, we are nerds at heart)..muahhahah..

Anyways, I haven't been blogging in 4 days because the computer at home is broken (*oih*) and still needs to be fixed. I am blogging from the library today to 'lepas gian' ;) My weekend was great. Took Itos to the Irish Festival on Saturday. And on Monday (it was a public holiday here - Labour Day) took Itos to downtown Chicago. It was her first time there and we had a blast if I have to say so myself. I'll add pictures soon (took pictures with Itos's camera). My camera is dying on me (so so so slow but still takes really really nice pictures). Thinking of getting a new camera soon. So come back soon, hopefully I'll have those pictures of us in Chicago posted by then.. ciow ciow..

Oh before I forget, Selamat Berpuasa people!

Desert or dessert?

2008-08-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from my trusted editor-in-chief for my blog (my mama!) about my spelling blunder :P This was what the email said, among other things: "By the way I hope you did not have padang pasir (desert) at the end of your meal at Sir Crazy but instead had pemanis? (dessert)". Opppsss... My bad.. I can still taste the sand in my mouth from my 'desert'! hhehhhheeh...

I am my mama's number one fan (Itos get in line..you'd have to fight me for the position! ehhehehehh). She is the most intelligent person I know and so knowledgeable. Itos and I used to tell her to join the 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' show when they were taping the Malaysian version of it. But she never did. If she did, we'd be millionaires by now *sigh* hehehh...

I remember back in my uni days when mama would edit all my assignments. She would do it even late at night (since her beloved daughter likes to finish her assignments last minute!). And I know for a fact that she was the main reason for me getting mostly A's in my assignments! She's the best editor ever!! I love you ma.. As I write this, I miss you so so much.. I love you ma..Thank you for all that you have done for me.. I could not ask for a more perfect mother...

Picnic

2008-08-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Oooh, just to give you guys an idea, this was where we had our picnic. It's pretty much a huge field and people set their own stuff down (lawn chairs, blankets, tables, etc) and chill. People come with their families and friend, bring food, games etc and just have a nice evening together while they listen (we can't see the stage, it's too far!!) to the concert.

Backstreet Boys (Like ten years ago!)

2008-08-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Itos, Becs and I went to watch the Backstreet Boys (they should really think of revamping their name to something more age appropriate!! haha) concert. There we met with Mari and Lorraine. Before the concert, we headed to Dominicks (ala2 Giant, Tesco, etc.) to pick up some food for our picnic at the concert grounds. We picked up a whole roast chicken, buns, salad, crackers, hummus, as well as chocolate cake for desert. I must say that we were very satisfied with the food :)

We arrived at about 5 pm. The original plan was to arrive at 4 pm to get a good spot but that didn't work out :P Anyways after we arrived and found a spot to lepak (chill), we spread out a blanket, placed our chairs and food, and began our picnic. At around 7 pm, the concert started with Girlicious as the opening act. They performed for about 20 minutes. After that we were made to wait till about 8 pm when BSB came out to perform.

The funny thing about this concert was that Itos and I only caught a glimpse of the BSB because we were at the lawn sitting area a.k.a. cheap seats where you can't see a thing! Anyways, we had a blast. We sang along to their songs which brought back lots of memories from high school. I remember being in Form 4 (16 years old) when I was pretty much obsessed with the group.

It was a really really fun and enjoyable outing. Great food, great music (some might disagree), and great company..Who could ask for more?

Not so crazy about Stir Crazy..

2008-08-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

Since we couldn't take Itos out last night for her birthday, Becs and I decided to take her to Stir Crazy (a Chinese/Thai restaurant) today. When it comes to Asian food, Becs and I love this place the best. Believe me, we've done our fair share of eating at Asian restaurants, so our opinion counts! ehehhehehe.. Anyways, confident of our choice, we took Itos here. We ordered our usual 'kung pao chicken noodles' and another dish which I forgot the name. We've never ordered this dish before but it's like a yellow curry kind of dish with noodles and chicken. The food was good and was gone fast :) We gals love our food ;)

So, trying my best to surprise Itos (even though I know she knows), I stood up and told them I was going to use the bathroom. Instead, I went to talk to the waiter and told him that it was Itos's birthday and could he put a candle on the desert and sing when he sends over the desert? To my surprise, he told me that they used to have sparklers (alah, bunga api with the blue cover and a black cat in front of it.. remember?) but now they don't. They didn't even have candles and they don't even sing happy birthday! I was kind of disappointed as I was trying to make the event a little more festive. *sigh* Sorry Itos, I didn't know they don't do that. I thought every restaurant does this. I know for a fact that TGIF, Red Robbins, etc does this. Cis, bedebah :P

Then our desert minus the candle came. Immediately, Becs and I knew that there was something not right with our 'Fried Wonton Banana Fritters' (not sure of the name but you get my jist). We've been there often enough and have ordered the same dessert each time so they couldn't fool us. First of all, there was no caramel drizzled on top. Also, the presentation was kind of awkward. We told this to the waiter even before he placed the plate onto the table. He told us that they've already kept the caramel (It was 9.27 pm and they close at 9.30 pm). That does not give them a reason to short change us on our order! The waiter knew that we were not very impressed with the whole desert thinggy and as a peace offering, he sent 3 vanilla ice creams our way. Still not impressed :P

And when we got home I also realized that he did not give us our fortune cookies! Aih...

Fun read..

2008-08-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Want a fun read? (besides reading my blog of course..muahhahahahah)..If the answer is yes (you better say yes :P) go here: http://annahitabakavoli.blogspot.com/

This blog belongs to none other than my one and only sister Annahita a.k.a. Itos :) On your marks, get set, go.....

Isn't this nice?

2008-08-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! I just love this picture of Itos and I. It is so so amazing. Mari, a friend of ours took this picture yesterday when we were at Ravinia watching the Backstreet Boys (more like Backstreet Men according to Itos and I agree 110%!! hehe). It's a great picture and I love it. Thanks Mari!!

Happy Birthday Itos!!

2008-08-25T10:34:00.001-07:00

Dearest Itos,

Happy birthday to you..Happy birthday to you..Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!! Love you loads Itos.. Muacks... Have a great year in the States Itos...I know that you'll enjoy your stay and learn so much from all the experience that you have/will gain here. You will leave this country with so much more wisdom and maturity. You are an amazing and wonderful person now. You'll grow stronger and be better and better, each passing day . I am so proud of you my dearest sister. I love you with all my heart.

Love,
Nasheh

Saturday updates..

2008-08-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

Last night I went out for some Chinese food at a nearby restaurant. Itos was with me. We had chicken pot stickers and kung pao chicken noodles. The pot stickers were really good but the kung pao noodles were so so. Being the klutz that I am, I spilled a whole glass of water even before the food arrived. Hehehhe...Man, I made a mess. How embarrassing :P

The waiter was a very nice, handsome Asian looking dude. Itos and I was trying to figure out which part of Asia he originated from. So I guessed Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. We were curious and wanted to see whether we guessed right. To cut the story short, after he came back with my bill/check, he asked us: "Are you guys Malaysian?". We were in total shock! How could he have guessed? It's not that my name sounds anything Malaysian.. So then we asked him, "How did you guess?". Then he told us that he has a Malaysian friend and the words that we used such as 'hand set' instead of 'cell phone' etc. gave it away :) Also our English accent had a British tint to it. Aaaahhhh.... Interesting..All in all, dinner was enjoyable :)

Later we drove to the movie theatre a.k.a. cinema to go see 'The House Bunny' at 10.30 pm. I was so tired and after 5 minutes we decided to go home instead of watch the movie. Heheh..I figured that if I was to stay I would be paying to go 'tidur' (sleep) instead of watch the movie.

Happy to report that I had a good night's sleep and today I feel rejuvenated :) wohoo!!

oh btw, the dude is Filipino. Yay, we guessed right ;)

First time..

2008-08-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

The baby (kiddo I take care of) had his first haircut on Tuesday :) After being on this earth for more than 19 months, he finally had some of his lovely curls snipped off. He was definitely due for a haircut since his hair was getting really long. Because he has massive curls it would get all poofy and wild after he wakes up in the morning. To eliminate poofiness (I personally like poofy cause he looks so so cute!!) his hair needs to be combed through and put a little gel to let it hold. But I also feel bad for the little child having to endure the 'torture' of having his hair combed on a daily basis. I remember when I was a child and hated to brush my hair because it was so painful!

I know it's crazy but it was very bitter sweet for me. Having his haircut meant that he was growing up and won't be a little baby anymore. I want him to be that cute little baby with wild crazy curly hair forever :) But I guess babies grow up and my little baby is now a little boy *sniff*

Happy Birthday :)

2008-08-21T00:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Rob. I know it's a couple of hours late but here's to you :) Have a great year ahead and many many more to come! Eat that cake for me will ya ;)

Duh...

2008-08-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today I had another packet of Maggi Mee (asam laksa flavor). And I realized something, I had mispelled the word 'Maggi' in my last post.. I spelt it as 'Maggie' instead of 'Maggi'! Man... It's a sign that I've been away for too long from my dear friend Mee Maggi. Heheheh...

I'm addicted to it right now and only have 8 packets left!! nooooooooooooooo................. :O

I had Maggie Mee today..

2008-08-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Alas, after a year and a half, I had Maggie Mee (curry flavor) today.. I must say that Maggie Mee never fails in providing a delicious yet unhealthy meal :) Itos brought me 10 packets of Maggie Mee from Malaysia (5 Asam Laksa and 5 Curry flavor). I am sure I'll be going through those packets in no time.. slurrrrppppppppppp.....

Talking about all time Malaysian favorite foods, below is a list of food that I crave for (in no particular order):

1) Nasi kandar (Kampung Melayu and Globe)
2) Koay Teow Soup (Taman Tun Sardon)
2) Nasi lemak
4) My own chicken curry
5) Nasi ayam (Bukit Bintang)
6) Nasi padang (PKNS)

***********************************drool**************************

Itos is finally here!!

2008-08-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

After a long grueling trip from Malaysia to Illinois, US with stops in Korea, Los Angeles, and New York, my darling sister is finally here! With her twisted ankle (which forced her to be pushed in a wheelchair at the Incheon Airport), and the delays and surprise..surprise..flight being cancelled, she made it in one piece :) Compared to her, my trip to the States was a breeze. The only hiccup to my trip was the delay I had when I was flying out of New York to Chicago.

I met Itos for the first time in 1 and a half years last Saturday..I must say that it is really nice to have family around :) It's still sinking in though..It's all still very surreal.. I am very very happy and can't wait to show her around :)

Itos, I hope you have a great year in America.. I love you and am so excited that you're here! muacks..

Texas de Brazil vs Brasil 68

2008-08-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend after having wanting to go to a Brazilian barbeque restaurant for ages, Rob, Okaka, and I joined a couple other au pairs and their friends for a big feast of non-stop meat eating! (For those who are not familiar with this concept, it is pretty much a buffet of meat on skewers. The waiters walk to your table with these skewers and carve the meat that you want. They'll keep coming back with different kinds till you tell them, I surrender!!) Yum..yum..

People who know me well know what a carnivore I am :) So I did any well respected Malaysian would do..Starved myself before hand so that I would be able to gorge and make my money's worth (hehhehehe)..I did eat a little here and there beforehand cause being me, I just needed to munch! The time moved so slowly as I was awaiting 6 pm. I was salivating just thinking about the glorious steaks that I was going to encounter and gobble up :)

The time finally came and we were waiting outside the restaurant because some of the girls were fashionably late (I only thought Malaysians were always late but I guess not :) We waited for about 45 mins or so and my stomach was crying for some juicy red meat. Alas they arrived and we were shown to our table and thus began the battle of BB vs Steaks. There was a spread of salads, soups, sushi, etc too that was part of the dinner. I could't be bothered as I was eager to start with the star of the show, the filet mignon :)

Then the unexpected happen..Man, I was so mad...My stomach was not cooperating...It was not acting its usual cheery-i-love-food self. Man, then I remembered...It must be the 'angin' accumulated in my tummy since I didn't really have a good lunch...*arrrrrrrggghhh** Oh, well...It wasn't too bad and I managed to chow down quite a bit of food.. And it was delicious and worth the wait...

Going there reminded me of Brasil 68 in Penang. Man...The food there was good too..I remember going there for the first time with Aten and Ajiji. We ate so so much we couldn't walk! ehehhe...Good times..good times.. We need to go there again guys (Is it still open though?)

Spoiled Rotten!!

2008-08-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

Having the priviledge of living in an area which I would classify as upper middle class, I am in awe as to what I encounter. Let me further explain this. When I first stepped foot to this area, I was just amazed as to how huge their houses are. And having been into a number of these gigantic houses, rest assured the interior is just as lavish as the exterior. Never in this life time or next (unless I marry a rich old fart!!) would I ever be able to afford and live in such houses. Oh well, I am happy with what I have and that is all that counts (me trying to console myslef! hehehhe)..

So in these houses live families of humans and pets as well as pests :) Hey, pests have high standards too okay ;) In the neighbourhood I live in families have children ranging from infants to college going kids. So these kids pretty much live in their very own little Buckingham Palace. To top that, when I am out walking with the kiddos, I see all these young teenagers (they get their driving licence at 16 here) speeding away in their very own fancy-schmancy car which a normal working guy wouldn't be able to afford even if he worked his ass off for a million years..yea..yea..I'm exagerating, but you get the point right? They drive really nice cars which are given to them by mommy and daddy..

So today before I left the house, I saw the neighbour accross the street purchasing a nice black 4WD for his son that just got his drivers licence. Funny enough his older son (I think he's 18 now) got a Hummer when he turned 16.. So I guess daddy had to be fair and give both his kiddos expensive birthday gifts..Mind you these are not chepo cars but really posh ones. Damn lucky!!He's just 16!!!!!! So now, they have in total 6 cars shared between the parents and 2 brats (2 Hummers, 1 Mercedes Convertible, 1Range Rover, 1 Porsche, and the new black truck which I am yet to see what model it is)..

p.s. Ma...You still owe me a Hummer for my 16 birthday..I'll be 28 now so please upgrade it to a Lamborghini if you must :)

I am back...

2008-08-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

Hey..I must..I must...I must.. start blogging for real!! I was talking to my best friend Shereen the other day and she was persuading me to blog. So I am once again fired up..yay!! Stay tuned for more fun/silly/sad/angry stories and my obseravations of the world around me... And yes, will try to put in pictures too!! Woohoo!!

The importance and not to mention convinience of car seats..and strollers..

2008-07-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Before coming to the States, I never gave much thought about infant and child car seats. They were not in my vocabulary and I know for a fact that it does not exists either in many of us Malaysian folks. But now, having to deal with 2 young children that still require car seats (it's againts the law not to place a child in a car seat up to a certain age/wight), I just can't imagine how us Malaysians take the safety of our children so lightly when travelling in cars, etc. How on earth have we not come to realize how important car seats are? Not only do they serve a purpose of protecting our children in an event of a collision, etc but it is also so so convinient.

No more having to bring Mak Timah or Kak Yam along with you to hold on to baby Jenab (1 month old). You can just place baby Jenab in her infant car seat, buckle her in securely and off you go to Midvalley Megamall without having to bring your Tim's or Yam's. And once you are there, place baby Jenab in a stroller and off you go shopping while baby Jenab sleeps peacefully to the cool air conditioning the mall has to offer. The compartment under the stroller is also an added bonus to place all your impulse buying. I am a pro at this as I frequent the mall with my baby comei in tow.

When I have my own kids (if this ever happens :P), I will make sure that my lil kiddo is placed in an infant car seat the moment he/she leaves the hospital. Babies in America are stuffed into their infant car seats from day one, that's why they get used to car seats and don't scream or cry trying to get out of it. Try placing a 3 month old baby who never in its life been stuffed into a car seat for 5 minutes. See what happens? I am sure the lil thing would be screaming its head off as though its being tortured to death (noticed how I used 'it' instead of he/she bacause at this point the child is more like an uncontrollable monster rather than that cute innocent baby that loves being cuddled in the arms of Mak Timah or Kak Yam while being chauffeur driven to rumah nenek). So moral of the story is that start from day one. This is true for both car seats and strollers.

I wonder when Malaysia is going to come to their senses and make car seats mandatory..They should..

The procrastinator that I am...

2008-07-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

This time, for real, I am making myself this promise..The promise to maintain my blog, to vent out my frustrations, to feel sorry for myself, a channel to release all my sorrows and worries, my frustrations and fears, my regrets and feeling of remorse, and to share my happiness, the feeling of being content with life and how I see and perceive my surroundings and people around me.

I sure am the kind of person that gets things done at the very last minute. I fondly (more like painly) remember the times when I would pull all-nighters trying to complete my university assignments. I guess I never learned my lesson and constantly did it through my entire university life. And now, I still continue with this bad habbit of mine.

Before I left for the States approximately a year and a half ago, I promised my family and friends that I would update them about my life and my whereabouts via blogspot. I promised to upload pictures and post entries often enough for them to somewhat know what I have been up to. hahahha...Fast forward, a year and a half later, they are still awaiting my blog that I promised them before I left. Believe me, I did try a couple of times to actually start blogging. I even managed to create an account and published one entry. And that was that and that was months ago. I don't even remember the name of the account I created.

I am the kind of person that has all this brilliant ideas of what I would like to do and never come around to actually do it. So I have been wanting to blog for the longest time and have all these things that I actually want to write down. Sadly, I only do it in my head. This causes me lots of stress (I hate this quality of mine, procrastinator with a big P). Urrgggghhh...Even typing in my first entry right now makes me feel a sense of worth. Pushing myself to do something which most people can do with ease. I feel a slight burden being lifted off my shoulders. Please self, don't let me down, let's make this work..I need this, I need this bad..