Go Dutch

It’s just another normal day in the office.



We (I, a Dutch colleague – Lady B, and Mr. M) were talking about holiday plans since in KL we can only dream about the long holidays that the people in Miri is currently enjoying.


So we talked about zoos, snakes and national parks.



Me: So where did you see the snake?


Lady B: In Bako National Park… we were hiking and there’s a big viper rolling on a tree branch.


Me: Oh… you’ve been to the Bako National Park… did u get to see any proboscis monkeys?


Lady B: only from afar… there are too many people that day, I think it scared them away


Mr. M: What’s a proboscis monkey?


Lady B: What is it Amalia? Orang Belanda?


Me: (To Mr. M) Monyet Belanda


Lady B: haha… because it’s big, tall, has a long sharp nose and white.. right?


Me: errmmm… (while resisting the urge to ask if she knows that Belanda means Dutch in Malay… anyway I think she knows and is being a really good sport)..

terjumpa Mr X - part 2

ok ni nak sambung cerita 4-5 hari lepas...

actually, aku ni kalau keluar weekend adalah sangat malas nak berhias...nak tepek essence jerawat segala, bedak, eyeliner, mascara etc etc....tudung pun malas nak gosok...kalau balik rumah kat Kuching sana, confirm aku akan bermanja kat mak atau adik aku mintak tolong gosokkan tudung... biasanya they just gave in sebab kalau nak tunggu aku gosok sendiri, mesti akan menyebabkan delay nak keluar rumah (either that, or aku pakai tudung hari semalamnya yg ku sembur dengan perfume..huhu)

so that day, since keluar dengan family je pun, aku pakaila baju kemeja tak gosok, jeans ngan selendang style arwah nenek aku pakai pegi rumah jiran.... memang nampakla outline telinga segala...muka pun aku tepek² bedak  ngan lip gloss Cosway ala kadar... nasib baik mata tak sembab sebab cukup tidur 8 jam.. masa adik aku call cakap Mr X ada kat food court, kitorang memang dah on the way nak ke sana pun, reaction pertama aku adalah pegi toilet tengok cermin... hahaha... yelah kalau aku nak buat muka sombong ngan dia pun, biarle muka sombong yang cantik sikit kan.. manala tau kot² ex kita tu tengah jalan ngan perempuan lain yang lagi ayu ke... imagine what that would do to my self-esteem.

anyway, for some reason.. I looked ok that day. Maybe because I just had my facial done and got plenty of sleep. My brother in law pun cakap aku nampak berseri hari tu (this one is subject to doubt, though). Masa turun tangga nak ke food court tu, aku terus cakap kat mak aku kat mana dia kena lalu so tak payah lalu meja Mr X tu ...aku siap suruh mak aku jangan pandang tepi, pandang straight ke depan je... but just as we were about to sit at my sister's table...mamat tu melambai kat mak aku la pulak (ntah macam mana ntah mak aku tertoleh kat dia) ... and he started walking towards our table... darn.

well, mungkin korang fikir I'm making such a big deal out of it kan... tapi aku memang patah hati sebab mamat ni...tinggal nasib baik semangat aku tak patah sekali.. aku pulak dah setahun setengah tak jumpa dia... so, my feeling masa dia nak datang tu agak bercampur-baur... dia gi salam ngan mak aku and my little brother, aku sebenarnya nak "high five atas angin" je ngan dia, tapi dah dia hulur tangan nak salam tu aku sambut jela...pastu aku duduk straight with my arms folded and head straight looking at my sister in front of me... aku ingatkan nak chow dah, tapi boleh dia pegi duduk kat kerusi sebelah aku yang kitorang letak goodies bag.

fine, ko nak sangat bertegur sapa kan.... fine, even though bertegur sapa ngan ko mengganggu sedikit (je) emosi aku yang stabil "zen" tahap dewa ni, takpe... ko berbudi aku kenalah berbahasa... aku happy kau further study, at least ko buat one of the things in our list dulu...aku sampai sekarang baru setakat pasang niat je untuk further study... I noticed that you lose the sparkle in your eyes, or was I the only one that's imagining it? takpela, yang penting aku (perasan)  yang aku semakin cantik, berseri dan ceria berbanding dulu.

itu jelah kisah aku jumpa Mr X...tak tau dah nak cakap apa.. just writing these words made my chest constricts macam masa mula-mula putus cinta dulu...but, I just have to let it out.

ok readers, see you on a happier note!

terjumpa Mr X

Aku memang seorang wanita yang nampak cekal, tabah, cool dan berdikari. Tapi, pernah sekali, I was taken aback when a friend of a friend yang baru dikenali tiba-tiba buat statement macam ni pasal aku after baru sekali jumpa, "Amalia tu nampak je macam strong, tapi aku rasa dia ni stok-stok yang kalau nangis berjam-jam".

Ye, Encik Hafiz, bukan je aku tahan nangis berjam-jam....bahkan berhari-hari pun aku pernah nangis. Tapi biasanya jarang la aku nangis lama begitu dan aku akan limitkan sampai seminggu je...lebih dari tu akan membinasakan diri ye kawan-kawan. Nanti badan kekurangan garam la pulak kan. Last sekali aku nangis lelama masa broke up Mac 2009 yang lalu. Seminggu beb...makan pun tak lalu, duduk diam tak buat apa-apa pun air mata mengalir macam paip bocor. Makan pun untuk hidup je dan untuk sesiapa yang terasa susah nak diet tu, cubalah heartbreak diet kalau berani....memang confirm turun berat badanla, I must say.

Jejaka yang buat aku frust menonggeng ni kita panggil Mr X jelah ye, walaupun codename aku untuk dia adalah "mombok" atau dalam kata lainnya adalah hantu (as in ghost of my past)....since we lived within 90 minutes radius kat Kuching tu memangla possibility untuk terserempak itu ada walaupun kureng. Lebih-lebih lagi family aku memang selalu pergi ke kampung dia (by the way, the whole kampung also kind of knew about us).

Despite all that, aku baru terserempak dengan Mr X sekali je, itupun 2 bulan lepas kitorang putus. Family aku yang lain, selalu la terserempak dengan dia. Setiap kali terjumpa tu dia akan bersalam dan berbahasa-bahasi (one of the reasons why I fell in love with him, cold breakup aside). Well, yang itu aku tak kesah lagi....tapi kalau terjumpa time kenduri tu tak yahlah kot nak melepek dekat bapak aku... sungguh awkward okeh..

Anyway, semalam aku pergi temankan adik aku pergi education fair kat BCCK....sambil-sambil tanya pasal postgraduate programs yang ada la kan. Dapatla jugak tips-tips berguna untuk ambik GRE dan macam mana nak tulis karangan masa isi borang permohonan nanti. Kitorang pergi 5 orang, my sis and her husband, my mom, my brother and I. There were a lot of booths kat dalam tu...so my sis tak larat nak tunggu kitorang yang sibuk bertanya itu ini dan dia ajak hubby dia pergi makan kat tingkat bawah.

Then....she called me.

(to be continued, I nak gi breakfast dulu)

parang

Another random conversation I had with TC, on sms:

TC: There's a new outdoor shop I nak beli parang.

Me: U nak beli parang nak bunuh siapa?

TC: Why do u think that?

Me: Because of the word parang.

TC: There r other uses u know.


Me: Yeah, but I would use it that way kot.

TC: u nak beli kamera lomo kan...Ada exhibition in library..selling there. **(as usual, topik akan ditukar bila saya mula merapu)


~just reached Miri last nite....today nak fly ke Mukah pulak...huhu..tapi pagi ni nak gi breakfast at my favorite place dulu... ;P

gemuk genit macam tempayan

saya jarang ada kat office di Miri sekarang ni, so I feel flattered jugakla bila ada manusia-manusia yang ngumpat pasal I masa I takde....yelah, they spent a few minutes of their precious time (work time to be exact) just to talk about you....masa itu emas, so they're spending gold on me, tak gitu?

Anyway, gambar ni lah yang menjadi topik perbualan mereka:

kenapa? well.....diorang cakap saya nampak cerah dan kurus dalam gambar tersebut dan ini bukanlah gambar saya.....siap beriya-iya cari gambar saya yang lain untuk banding-bandingkan.....amusing la diorang ni.....if they miss me, cakap je la kan.....macam some of my friends yang tiba-tiba hantar message tanya "when r u back in Miri?" huhuhuhu....tetiba terasa diri disayangi. 

Anyway, gambar kat atas tu was taken after I lost 4kg because of heartbreak (T_T), ambik guna camera handphone yang low resolution so tak nampakla jerawat dan yang sewaktu dengannya, dan lighting yang perfect boleh membantu keadaan. Sekarang ni saya dah gemuk genit macam tempayan, tapi saya rasa masih boleh kot nak dapatkan gambar yang nampak kurus, ok tak kalau guna contoh kat bawah ni:

Petua untuk kelihatan anggun di dalam gambar (walaupun anda adalah sememeh di luarnya):

ambil dari pandangan sisi

pilihan warna tudung yang sesuai untuk tidak mensuramkan wajah

lighting, lighting, lighting

senyum kena nampak gigi, kalau senyum simpul tutup mulut akan membulatkan pipi

be always aware that the extra chins tak keluar

bangkitkan memori gembira untuk gambar yang nampak gembira (apa kes?)

smi-eyes: smile with your eyes bak kata Tyra Banks. haha

ok, have a good day people

hmmmmm....

the downside of looking younger than your age:

-people don't take you seriously
-they treat you like kindergarten's students
-you're not being spoken to coz they thought you're an intern
-they thought you're gullible

but you'll love the surprise on their faces though

positive negative positive is whatever you make of it

Positive: I managed to revive my dead car battery and successfully installed it myself! Woot woot!!

Negative: An older colleague in the office called me 'pemalas'. I still don't know if it's a joke or not but I've decided that I don't care.

Positive: Had a good end of year discussion with my boss. And he didn't believe that I'll be turning 29 next year. He thought I'm 24. Hmmm.....maybe if I get a laser eye surgery and drop 15kg, I'll look 18.

Negative: My car battery went ka-put again and I'm too put off right now to do something about it.

Positive: Thank God I have a second car.

Negative: Another colleague/friend said even with my picky attitude when it comes to food, I am still twice his size. Sebenarnya, dia tu yang keding.

Positive: Last night, I went to the newly opened McDonald's in front of my house. Met a friend with her kids there. Her 4 year old daughter told her mum that she thinks I'm cute...SUKA!!  :-)

BEING HAPPY IS A MATTER OF CHOICE

a reason to lose weight

kekerapan mengupdate blog semenjak dua menjak ini adalah kerana finally I got some sense of stability back...first time duduk in one place for more than a week....no rushing to the airport and packing unpacking (even though masih banyak baju yg belum dibasuh and suitcases are still on the floor)...

if you guys/girls have seen my flying schedule that I posted that day, actually 2 days since then it has changed again with more additional flights....more trips to KL for work (last week's trip I didn't call anyone because all I do after work is zzzzz...so glad this week's trip is canceled).

anyway, added a personal trip to Mukah for a friend's wedding.....I used to make annual road trips to Mukah during Kaul Festival but lately the road conditions have worsened, that even if I bring my D-max there pun macam kesian je nanti....so I decided to fly since my other friend from KL is coming to Miri so that we can go together....

of coursela Boeing tak terbang kalau setakat Miri-Mukah kan....airportnya pun kecil...so have to take Twin Otter...

twin otter ni muatannya tak banyak....agak² sampai tak 20 orang ek....can't remember coz the last time I've been on one was when I was 8, masa tu nak balik kampung ke Limbang....naik with my mum and adik²ku yang masih kecil lagi masa itu...we flew Kuching-Miri and from Miri kena naik 'belon' kecik ni....twin otter ni kalau angin tiup sikit pun dia goyang....and kalau lalu bukit tinggi-tinggi tu macam boleh pegang je pokok-pokok kat bawah....that's why la kalau cuaca buruk, flight memang akan dibatalkan sama sekali...and kes-kes yang kapal terbang terhempas somewhere in rural Sarawak biasanya melibatkan twin otter la...na'uzubillah but these kind of things happen...

kalau nak naik twin otter masa check-in tu kena timbang berat badan tau....apart from your luggage. This reminds me of my offshore days dulu-dulu.....nak naik chopper (heli) mesti kena timbang berat badan dulu. It's not that bad at the helibase, even though mamat kat check-in tu look like he's trying to suppress a smile or a snicker lepas dia timbang aku....the worse one would be at the rig itself. We will have to weigh ourselves and luggages the night before we take the chopper home. Then , the RO will put it in a spreadsheet, print it out and put it in the noticeboard. So, the whole rig crew of 131 men will know exactly how much the princess weigh, which will result in people asking me to eat less setiap kali aku masuk galley....darn. It's not that bad if you go to a rig where you're not a regular though. The people are not mesra enough to talk to you freely like that, but then you can actually feel them talking about you..."hmmmm....inilah perempuan yang berat dia XXkg tu"...mind you, I've heard my own rig crew talking like that about friends of mine, regardless of how light or heavy they are... ~sigh..

so, nak naik twin otter bulan 12 ni....and I'll be weighed in public! a reason to lose weight? naaaahhh....I'll just check-in early or make sure nobody I know (or have a crush on) is nearby when I do it. :)

Story Mory: Metabolisme

I have a friend/colleague. She's petite and athletic. In short, body dia memang lean dan smart....and womanly at the same time....not voluptous type....but with a cute butt. Mind you, she's very athletic....kalau setakat 5km tu, dia lari laju macam pelesit....so we had this conversation one day.....dia tengah mengeluh pasal dia gemuk.

Friend: I gemukla....tengokla muka I ni. Bulat giler...


Me: Apa yang bulat? (Rasa nak cekik je minah ni)


Friend: You have to believe me. I dah gemuk (showing me a not-so-old"kurus"picture of herself).


Me: Kalau you gemuk, I ni apa? I must be overly obese then.


Friend: You takpe. High metabolism.


Me: (I so disbelief this girl)....why do you say so? Sebab I kuat makan, malas exercise, and yet I didn't membesar macam Syanie?


Friend: (looks like she wants to agree)

~sigh...

Pak Jamil & Me

Tadi, my project lead datang ke cubicle aku nak bagitau that the morning meeting is canceled. Ini adalah drama sebabak kitorang yang selanjutnya…


Me: So, what’s the update on the meeting that we’re supposed to have in KL?


Pak Jamil: It’s postponed to next Tuesday.


Me: Oh…who’s going?


Pak Jamil: Since you were not that keen on going to KL, it will be me, X and Y. (sebenarnya pakcik ni memang nak aku pegi, tapi aku jual mahal sebab masa tu aku tengah penat asyik naik plane saja….siap menggoda dan menghasut dengan ajakan shopping lagi, pun aku masih tak berminat)


Me: Errr….that was if the meeting is this week. I’m OK if the meeting is next week. (sebenarnya, dalam hati aku pun tak sure aku nak pergi ke tak, tapi rasa macam dah lama tak naik airplane….10 bintang untuk mengada-ngada!)


Pak Jamil: Why the sudden change of heart? What agenda you have in mind? Shopping? (sambil tersengih-sengih sinis)


Me: (*light bulb moment* - boleh shopping tudung!! Wedding adik and raya dah dekat!) errrrk….NOOO…it’s not like that, it’s just that I’m not that busy next week, and I’ll be on leave on Thursday onwards anyway….


Pak Jamil: Hmmmm, let’s see how it will affect the travel budget….in the other hand, I don’t think having all of us 3 e****s is such a good idea for this meeting…and I’m sure you know better if they start asking about yada, yada, yada….


Me: **fluttering my eyelashes** See….you need me to be in the meeting. If my innocent face worked with the immigration officers (this is another story), it will work with them too.


Pak Jamil: **I’m-not-totally-convinced-face** Let’s make a deal…if you finish the write-up on permeability multipliers before Tuesday, you’ll get to go.


Me: OK. *tetiba rasa macam budak sekolah bila pendekatan carrot-and-stick itu digunakan ke atas saya*


So, there you go. My motivation to work for this week - nak pegi KL beli tudung cantik to match the dress that I’m going to wear on my sister’s wedding! Hehehehehe…..sayang Pak Jamil!!






P/S: Sebab kat department aku banyak mat saleh…so kalau kitorang nak cakap pasal diorang dalam bahasa melayu, nama diorang pun dimelayukan sekali, so kat ofis tu ada Pak Jamil, Che’ Mat, Ridhwan, Karim, Kamaruddin and last but not least, Pakcik Panjang! ...okla tu kan, bukannya nama yang tak elok pun, Jamil tu makna dia cantik apa dalam bahasa arab…

Cantik. Macam Bulan. Tapi Gerhana.

Hehehehe....itu ayat dari filem Ahmad Albab, my favorite P.Ramlee's comedy. Sampai aku hafal lagu Kg Pening Lalat tu....memalukan sungguh bila ada tetamu di rumah lepas tu anak dara tua yang dah besar gedabak tengah happy² sing-along kat lagu tu dalam TV. Dush dush....

Anyway, ni nak ceritala....malam tadik I chat ngan my Sarawakian friend....lamak dah sik beloyar (sorry, tukar channel jap)....almaklumlah masing-masing busy (him with fatherhood, me with hal-hal duniawi)....he told me that he reads my blog....awww...aku ingatkan my girlfriends je yang baca (blogging is a nice way to keep in touch with u all)....

Me: bagusla ko rajin baca apa nak dikerepak aku, aku rasa macam nak nukar blog ku jadi blog gedik (ala-ala girlish sikit)

My friend: ada ku nangga gambar gedik kau (previous entry)....kedak Yuna lah

Me: **bangga diri**

My friend: tapi kembang.

Me: sik hal, kembang pun kembangla.....asalkan kach.....(kachak = cantek dlm bahasa S'wak)

My friend: Kach....ne ada ku madah sik kachak...

Me: =P (sengaja mintak puji sebenarnya)

P/S: so apa kaitan dialog ni dengan tajuk di atas?

of getting old and cynical

There will be a new graduate hire in my discipline. My senior (who has to be in charge while boss is on leave) was looking for a "buddy" for the new guy. He asked me to be the guy's buddy...after 5 years in the company, and a few buddies later, I don't think this is for me....so I 'taichi'-ed the honor and told him to try and ask somebody else.

So he went around telling my boss (jokingly, I hope) that I gave him a HORRIFIED look when he asked me to be the new guy's buddy....my boss went to my desk to look at my HORRIFIED face. This happened on Thursday. Come Monday, and they're still talking about how HORRIFIED I am.....boleh gelak-gelak lagi tu....aishhh....

source: postsecret.com

Aiyyooo.....I'm not as enthusiastic as I was before la.....the same way I hate it when being around depressed/negative people drains my energy and positive aura out of me, so do I don't like to be around enthusiastic, hopeful graduates...I want them to experience the ups and downs the way I did....I don't want my cynism to make them lose the momentum they need to do their job excellently. And being around energetic young people for too long makes me feel tired. Yes, dears...I'm OLD.

pakcik kayooo

Al-kisah, tadi aku gi keluarkan duit dekat ATM kat lobi ofis. Kebetulan aku punya colleague tengah keluarkan duit jugak. Aku sengihla dengan dia sambil cakap " Hello Boss"...

Senior aku tu sengih-sengih sambil cakap ada 300 ribu lagi kat dalam bank ni.....

Dia ni memang suka buat lawak macam ni (walaupun aku tau dia memang banyak duit sebab pandai invest dan hidup berpada-pada....tapi aku ingat org simpan duit banyak kat ASB je)....

Pastu aku pun cakap, "Mana? Tengok jap..."

Memang sah ada 300 ribu lebih kat dalam tu.....aiyoooo....patutla bila aku mintak belanja, instead of aku yang asyik tanya, dia yang asyik tanya aku bila aku nak makan free....huhu....pakcik, pakcik....aku nih kalau by the time hujung bulan kalau ada lagi 3 angka kat dalam bank tu pun dah kira cukup bagus dah tu... :P

what am I going to make of myself!

Aku rasa aku punya tahap calmness dah dekat nak mencapai tahap nirwana....when I was in New York, I was stuck inside the bathroom for almost 2 hours....but I didn't really feel the panic...instead i just laid a towel on the floor and made myself comfortable in case nobody hear me and my roommate balik lambat...I WAS READY TO SPEND THE NIGHT SLEEPING IN THE COLD BATHROOM FLOOR....and the bathroom is really tiny tau...as I was staying in a cheap NY hostel, but I chose a room for only 2 people with ensuite bathroom...likelihood for people to hear me is low, so I decided that instead of wasting my energy I rather just keep calm while thinking of what I have to do....so I was already sitting in the dark bathroom (I switched of the lights coz the wiring is connected to the ventilation fan which creates so much noise I won't be able to hear sounds from outside) for an hour when finally I heard some noise from downstairs. So, I just shouted from a small air opening and mentioned my room number. This guy (whoever he was) informed the front desk. It took 2 guys another 40 minutes to open the door (it's the KNOB that is spoilt, you see)....Thank God I brought a t-shirt into the bathroom so at least I was decent when they rescued me....My room mate came back around that time, and she's really amazed that I didn't freak out at all. Actually, it kind of scared me that I didn't feel scared at all....

You see, I've practised a lot of calming techniques, I really worked hard to pick up the bits and pieces of my life and be a happier person....I cleared my mind of negative thoughts, filling it with positive ones...reading the words of wise men like Paulo Coelho and whoever that writes self help books...while it might not be a perfect situation, it really made me feel a lot happier and positive and having this couldn't care less (or more) attitude....hehehehe....paham tak apa yg aku cuba nak cakap ni? Well, lepas apa yang aku lalui dan dalam mengutip cebisan-cebisan hati untuk kembali tersenyum, aku dah jadi orang yang tenang dan selamba gila....mementingkan diri sendiri pun ada, yelah sebab sebelum ni ko utamakan your other half, tapi untuk recover, kena tukar mindset sekejap yang diri sendiri lebih penting...anyway, sebab benda2 macam nilah aku dah tak kisah tau, kalau apa-apa benda jadik sekalipun, sebab aku rasa kalau fikir banyak-banyak pun serabut jugak, dan belum tentu benda tu baik atau buruk bagi kita....the best thing is, just go with it.

Lagipun, when you clear yourself of all the negativities, dah takde dah rasa nak dengki mendengki kat orang, rasa tak bersyukur, tak puas hati....hidup pun lebih tenang....yelah, cuba tengok sekeliling kita, orang yang tak bersyukur ni mesti asyik merungut je kerja dia dan tak puas dengan apa yang dah ada. Sedangkan, they should appreciate life for what they have, not what they don't. Lagi satu, orang yang suka dengki-mendengki ni memang tak tenang jiwanya. yelah...asyik nak fikir macam mana nak kenakan orang, macam mana nak dapat lebih dari orang....manala tak sakit kepala, sakit dada, sakit jiwa kan....cuba rileks tahap nirwana macam aku ni....muka senyum ke....orang kasik ko soalan menyakitkan hati, buat muka innoccent, comel dan senyum....tapi kalau mood aku tengah nak mengzass, atau orang tu dah melebihi quota 3 kali menyakitkan hati, sila ready untuk saya punya zass ok.....silap2, kisah laki ko kahwin lain kat sempadan pun aku cakap nanti....pembaca blog ni jangan risau ok...takde kaitan ngan korang or orang yg korang kenal....I've known about it for a few years and tak pernah bocor pun rahsia ni...what I did is I just avoid makcik ni, so that she doesn't have a chance to make me upset...or after she made her first remark, I will just keep quiet and make sure I don't bump into her again....and continue to remind myself that nothing good will come out if I don't think rationally....

hahahhahaha.....moral of the story? up to you guys what to make of it....I have a big family and a wide circle of friends....and not to forget, saya ni banyak berjalan and suka observe orang.....memangla banyak cerita merapu ni yang saya dapat kan....so, tenang-tenangkan jiwa anda dan penuhkan dengan positive thoughts... semoga berjaya mencapai tahap nirwana....hehehe

few notes

- sangat penat naik flight, more than 30 hours travel time inclusive of airports layover....penat beb...
 walaupun naik biz class

- pramugara kat dalam flight to LA has the same name as my dad's...turned out that he lives in the same neighbourhood as mine, his dad is also a teacher...and he's the first cousin of my primary school friend... dan kami sudah add kat facebook...

- pramugari kat dalam Continental Airlines peluk aku masa aku keluar from plane LA-Houston....orang lain dia tak peluk pun....apsal friendly sangat ni? maybe, I look like I need a hug.

- this trip is not as miserable as I originally thought.....and being alone is not that bad either...ada sorang colleague from SSB tgh buat kerja kat sini....nasib baik aku tak pernah berlagak dengan dia masa kat offshore...sangat gentleman and sangat baik...pagi-pagi ambik aku and drive pegi kelas walaupun kitorang duduk hotel lain-lain, then balik sama-sama, and makan, etc. takdela bosan sangat....next week dia dah takde though, balik Miri sudah...pandai²la aku survive nanti...Monday next week public holiday kat sini, Tuesday might go for curry dinner with few guys from my class (orang putih kat sini gile makan kari you!)...

- gonna watch Shrek-3D malam ni...yeay!

- I was awestruck tadi bila aku dapat tahu ada sorang mat saleh ni cakap dia masuk Islam sejak tahun lepas....tak sangka beb...muka typical American...dari Lousiana, so agak tradisional....kalau korang selalu tengok cerita omputih...muka dia memang macam ulat buku...he was an agnostic before, lepas tu baca Quran independently and thinks that Islam is the truth....even sebut "masjid" dan bukan "mosque" OK....agak comel la jugak, pendek², nerd....siap ada company sendiri lagi 2 bijik...org lunch break, dia sibuk uruskan hal company dia....tapi, aku bangga la jugak sebab dia memang tak sentuh dah hatta daging ayam yang tak disembelih sekalipun selepas masuk Islam...

woot woot
update later.
kena buat exercise dalam kelas ni

-

Karipap-Karipap Cinta

I just got back from another weekend in Kuching....yeah, I went back for 2 straight weekends...since everyone is there and the next time I'll be back is at the end of June...so, why not?

My uncle and his family spent some time with us over the weekend. Zhafri stayed the whole weekend in our house to play video games with Adin. It's so nice to see my uncle, aunt and my cousins happy, even though I know deep down in their hearts they really, really miss Zharif.

When they came to my house to pick up Zhafri, the girls and my aunt were very excited to tell me their latest news.

"Kak Long, Kak Long, kitorang beli buku cerita baru!"

"Oh yeah...buku apa?"

"Karipap-Karipap Cinta."

"Hahahaha....bestnya title.Best ke buku tu?"

"Tak baca lagi. Ada kat rumah. Kitorang beli sebab muka girl dekat cover buku tu macam Kak Long."

"Hmmmmm.....harus kucari buku itu."

So, as soon as I reached Miri, I googled the book. Apparently, it's quite popular....they're printing the 3rd edition in less than a month and a proposal of turning it into a movie is currently in progress....but, the likeness of the covergirl and me? I'll let you people see for yourself. One thing for sure....I think one of us needs to lose the double chin. Hehehehehe

How do I look?

A good thing about traveling is it puts my mind off my worries. I feel full of energy and carefree. And sometimes, at the height of the carefree-ness, I don’t wear my scarves. Ooops.


Yes, aku bukannya alim sangat. Every once in a while, especially masa jalan-jalan, I took off my tudung, tapi tak selalu la…kadang-kadang je. Dan bukannya sebab nak melawa pun….tapi sebab malas…maybe sebab dah pakai baju berlapis-lapis…or gatal nak merasa pakai scarf, mittens, beanie segala…or sebab nak jalan dekat-dekat je….on theses few instances when these happened, I came across these situations:

Situation 1 – South Korea
The Korean women at a restaurant that we went too told our host that she thinks I’m a Korean. Sangatla saya tak paham.

Situation 2 – Brisbane
I was walking at the open market at Eagle St Pier, looking at some blouses. The shop owner talked to me in something that I couldn’t understand. I said, “huh?”… She thought I’m from Thailand and she just spoke to me in Thai. Too bad I don’t have the petite figure like most Thai women (and transvestites) have, or otherwise I might have bought a blouse or dress from her.

Situation 3 – Surfers’ Paradise
I went for last minute souvenir shopping at a gift shop just down the street from the hotel. The towkay was entertaining a couple from Indonesia who wants to buy kangaroo leather wallets. The Indonesian couple is actually Chinese and the towkay is either from Malaysia or Indonesia. They were conversing in Bahasa. When I came to make my purchases, towkay immediately switched to English to speak to me. Terbantut hasrat aku nak beramah mesra dengannya.

Situation 4 – Cambodia
This has got nothing to do with me….but my brother la….he really fits in these 2 countries…even our tuk-tuk driver talked to him in Khmer and a Khmer guy who sat next to him in the bus shared his food with him. He called himself Maddox because of that.


So, how do I look? "Amalia, truly Asia"?

The Devil Wears Bata

Before I start my story, I just want to say that I'm homesick right now. It has been 32 days since I was last in my hometown and 18 days since I last board a plane...*luahan jiwaku yang sengsara dan merindu ibu...huhu*

Hence, being "sebatang kara" in Miri, together with friends, we tried to fill the void of the weekends that we have to spend here, as much as we can. One of such activities is "merayau" at the malls...and that was what I did last weekend with my friends, TC & Miss E.

Miss E picked me up around 2.30pm and then TC from his place. Since we couldn't come to a mutual agreement on watching movie or singing at the karaoke "jamban"....so we just had lunch at KFC, and window shop at Boulevard & Bintang MegaMall...sangat fun ok.....Miss E bought a lot of things that day and she swears not to go window shopping again....hahaha....dia ni pun satu, aku cakap benda ni, benda tu elok....dia beli...(which also makes me happy because seeing people buy things that I like give me the same satisfaction as if I'm the one buying it myself... ;P )...actually, I was also hunting for a nice pair of sandals at Bata for leisure use, but of coursela it was Miss E who came out of the shop with an extra carry bag..(karma has it that everytime I really want to look for something, I will never find one that I like and suitable for me)...

So, after all that shopping Miss E was saying out lod that she has shopped too much.

Miss E: I've spent more than RM200 in less than an hour!

me: itula pasal...aku pun belum beli apa-apa sangat.

TC:  (to me) That is because you're influencing her laa....the DEVIL. You.

Miss E: But she sounds convincing that I just have to listen to her.

TC: That's why....you see, DEVILS ARE CONVINCING....that's what DEVILS do!

**tetiba rasa diri dibandingkan dengan syaitan dan tak tau nak rasa amused , flattered atau marah**

me: See....E listens to me and she looks good....you, never listen to me and....tengokla sendiri **I made a reference to his overall appearance and selekehness. Enough said.**


Anyway, I like my friends the way they already are. At least none of the people I called friends are the pompous, pretentious type. And that includes YOU, whoever is reading this... :)

the art of dodging...

It’s the month of February. The month of Chinese New Year, heavy rains and love for some people. As for me, I don’t really expect anything interesting to happen on Feb 14th….even when I was in a relationship with a pure romantic, we didn’t make a big deal out of it. Maybe it’s just because I don’t believe in building up expectations…what if he doesn’t remember? I’ll get upset. What if he remembers, but the things he does, doesn’t really impressed me or I just plainly don’t like it? Trouble. With the cost of flowers, chocolates, romantic dinners escalating on this particular day….nah…I couldn’t care much about V-day. Hari-hari lain pun boleh juga berkasih sayang apa. Tapi kalau ada orang rasa macam nak kasik bunga, sila kasik saya coklat Ferrero Rocher yang dah digubah jadi bouquet tu ok. Hihi.



Anyway, this year’s Feb 14th will be a bit different. We’ll have a celebration of love and I’m going back to Kuching for that. Not me la babe, but my younger sister (note:younger). She is getting engaged on that day. I’m really happy for her. Before I would have thought the feelings would be similar to what I feel if a car overtake me at the highway then slow down (like how drivers here always do)…but amazingly not. I’m really glad and happy that she’s going to settle down and somebody else will have to bear with her antics and not us siblings. ;P


But of course, all the makcik-makcik and pakcik-pakcik won’t leave me alone. It’s called society pressure. They belong to a different generation. Instead of upholding the “30’s is the new 20’s” motto, theirs is more to “if you’re not married by 25, you’re a spinster”. I haven’t reached the big three-zero, but I’m certainly past 25. ~Sigh.


Since my parents are inviting quite a number of guests for the engagement ceremony, I am expecting some people to ask me this question:


“Kamu ni bila lagi?”


My dad told me to answer it with “Belum jumpa jodoh”, but I don’t like that answer coz (a) it feels like self pity, which is not what I feel (b) it is not creative enough and (c) it invites a string of other related questions. So I decided to brainstorm for the suitable response to that question. Here are my best picks:


1. Pretend that I didn’t hear the question properly, answer with a polite “Huh, I beg your pardon?” then proceed with asking the person whether he/she has already eaten or not.


2. “Saya sedang menunggu Anuar Zain masuk meminang.” (Fatma, this happens to be my cousin’s favorite answer as well)


3. “Actually, I am the younger sister, my ‘kakak’ is the one getting engaged.” I think I can pull this off, no offense sis, u’re still cute though. **all innocent and starry eyed**


4. “I’m a cougar. My future life partner is still in high school.” Haha. Mesti mengucap panjang orang yang mendengar jawapan ini.


5. “I’m waiting for a guy who has good teeth, same sense of humor as mine, speaks good English, open minded, a good Muslim but not the super-alim one and his mother has to be a bit chubby and kind-hearted. Let me know if you know one.” Ini juga pasti mengundang cemuhan dari orang ramai. They’ll in turn say “Patutla”. But I’m not in love, what’s wrong with having these ideas? I know that when I fell in love, automatically I don’t really care about all these because love is blind. Tsk. Tsk.


6. Gather up a few friends and perform Michael Buble’s “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” in front of the person who asked. GLEE –style.


7. A simple uncomplicated answer, “I’m enjoying my life. Rileksla makcik.”




However this is what I like best. I was talking to mommy dearest the other day…


Me: Mum, what will you say when people asked you WHY your eldest daughter is still single?


Mum: I’ll just say that you’re weird….oops, I mean, unique.




Thanks, Mum. I love you.

Perkara yang aku tak patut ulangi, tapi aku rasa akan kuulangi jugak

Hari raya ke-8, after almost 2 weeks of enjoying myself at home and beraya, time to go home to Miri and pretend those 2 weeks were a dream. Days of taking a nap whenever I feel like it are going to be traded off with napping accidentally in front of my workstation. I have to swap mom’s cooking with canteen / café food that sucks but have to eat it anyway coz nobody cares enough at home to prepare breakfast (I’m staying by myself, so yes, I don’t care enough about myself either).

There goes the days where I can spend as much time as I like to put on makeup (it was Hari Raya) and back to looking borderline ugly (not that I care, anyway…).And there goes the days of wearing pretty dresses and back to wearing drab work clothes. Karang kalau melaram lebih-lebih nanti orang tanya aku nak pegi mana…yelah, ini Miri bukan KL.

I think I might have started getting into my Miri ‘mode’ a bit early…there is this one particular blouse and a pair of pants that I really like to wear, especially when I go out running my errands on weekend, or just window shopping. The blouse is the flowy type, with an empire waist, which perfectly hide any bulging tummy, and it’s in my favorite dirty purple colour. Pants pulak jenis kain cotton yang stretchable tu….sounds super comfy kan, kan kan? Dua-dua pun I bought in Jusco Taman U masa pergi JB around X’mas last year…masa melepak dengan Puan S (masa tu Miss S lagi). First remarks that she made about the dress was, “never wear this blouse if you go dating or whatever….you can only wear it when you go out with close friends..” I still wear it though, sebab super comfy and tak payah gosok, but always very careful not to wear the blouse and the pants together….kalau pakai dengan jeans, it still looks stylish ok….

However, masa nak balik Miri tu, sebab malas giler nak balik, and we just came back from beraya, I main taram je pakai that combination haram tu….it’s raya and of course most of the baju are the kurungs la….my jeans pulak dah lipat siap-siap and at the bottom of the bag…so pakai jela….lawa jugak apa.

Until masa check-in tu…

I checked in my bag and gave the guy behind the counter my IC. Then he pointed at a piece of paper on the counter and asked me to confirm on that…it's something about the airline's regulations on liquids, sharp objects and pregnant ladies..

I just nodded my head coz I didn’t really get what he meant. It’s only after I walked away, board the airplane and safely on air did I realize…

He was asking me to confirm that I’m not pregnant.

DAMN. DAMN.

Patutla takde orang ngorat aku dalam plane. T_T

NOTE TO SELF:

1. Jangan pakai baju tu lagi. Ikut cakap Puan S.

2. Don’t get too comfy with comfy dresses/blouses/t-shirts/pants.

3. Round is NOT a shape. Lose it.