Random rumination

Salam dear blogger friends...


Yep, it is moi dropping by to say hello, hope you are well and that you have been missed.

Thanks for everyone who took the time to check up on me and my blog whilst I was away hibernating so to speak, over the past few months. I am fine alhamdulillah and am about a week away from the 20 weeks milestone in the pregnancy.

Reason for my absence? Apart from being constantly tired and really busy with end of term, unfortunately I also lost ALL mojo for blogging as well as FB. (if you think you missed out on any action on FB, you didn't! FB pun bersawang jugeee). I lost my juggling act...T_T

Am I back? Have i found my lost mojo? I don't know to be honest. And also I feel really guilty about not being able to keep up with all the updates on my blog list...That's my problem...It's all or nothing with me....

So why this random entry? This is to keep my promise to LadyLove (hugs) that I would at least try to do a brief update.

And I chose today because I felt like celebrating me completing a major item on my To-Do-List which has been too long overdue; 9 months to be exact:
Submitting my Associate Professor (DS54) application.
(Damn those score sheets, appendices, proofs and endless photocopying).
Malu tau, Pejabat Dekan dah remind banyak kali huhuhu. Alhamdulillah siap juga akhirnya.


So as an update, here are some random BB pics which I have saved to use in random posts such as this one...




1. Remnants of Raya 2010

Sayang nak delete gambar ni, so this is the perfect place to keep it. (Hugs to the gals).








2. 10 October 2010

Birthday my little boy Adam. Toy Story theme. It was a special date and day. Sayang tak update either here or in FB...oh well...



Cake by Mamabakers.




3. Burn out at work...Nuf said.







4. Weekend getaway.

We needed a break and so did the kids.




The private pools were the perfect selling point to this place; it was an easy decision to come here ~ The Legend International Water Homes, Port Dickson.





Shame I didn't take a BB snap of the two king size beds in our Garden Pool Villa. But here is a pic from the website.





A very nice retreat; it was all about veging out in bed and in the pool. Needless to say we extended our stay...



5. Sushi cravings

After a few weeks of Marmite (Yuck? Yum!!!) madness, I then became hooked on sushi. Yeah yeah, pregnant women shouldn't eat raw fish. But after researching this further, I decided insyaallah it would be safe to consume sushi. So Sushi King became a favourite haunt throughout most of November. Siapa la yang nak makan sushi selalu, so biasa datang sini sorang2 for lunch.



Miso soup, chukka idako and salmon sushi would be my typical order.




It's all about the baby octopus and salmon strips!



6. Doctors to the rescue
(This short entry is dedicated to a couple of awesome doctors: my elder sis Dr. Shima (masters in otolaryngology) and sis in law Dr. Soraya (masters in radiology)).

My brother Zamir managed to injure himself (bad gash on the forehead) whilst playing cricket last weekend. After a less than inspiring experience at A&E Serdang Hospital, the doctors decided to take matters into their own hands...
Pergi HUKM, wifey performed a brain scan and sis stiched him up. The cut required 7 internal (yep, his scull was exposed) and 14 external stitches. Alhamdulillah it wasn't anything worse and happy to say lil bro is recuperating. But I am still in awe over the whole thing...:P It's like playing doctors and nurses except that it is real. With real blood, real scull and real sutures penetrating real skin. Whaaaaat?








There are currently 4 doctors in my family, and 2 more studying medicine. I wish someone would specialize in O&G and paediatrics as well! Senang nak refer kalau preggers or the kiddies sakit hehehe...



7. Home sweet home

After 5 years of staying at my mum's rental house, we are finally moving into our own crib. It is nothing fancy but the location is good so hopefully it will be a good investment for the children one day. It was initially constructed in 2008, and upon completion it has appreciated in value by about 100K. I believe this is typical for houses in bbbangi. I foresee us living here until we decide on a location for a retirement home kalau ada rezeki insyaallah...



A view of the street from the master bedroom balcony. I like that our bedroom receives morning sunshine and is nice and shady and cool in the afternoon.

We aim to move in by early January. At the moment it is still a construction site with some renovation works still underway. Insyaallah next time I'll show you around ;)




Ni ha nak promote sikit the contractor...Very good workmanship with very reasonable price. Alhamdulillah. And this is moi, (back from work, so excuse the grubby look) with me 4 month old bump. Can you see it? To me I just look fat :P



8. C is for Candy

With a currently non existant handbag fund what with the house being the latest priority, I have not indulged in any form of daydreaming about any luxurious and selfish purchases whatsoever. Hence it was a true respite when I felt a familiar shiver of excitement upon unfolding the latest advert package from Chanel. Aaaaaahhhhh...absolute eye candy. And although I have lost my desire for overpriced quilted flaps, nothing beats an accessory or two for a quick Chanel fix.

*Check out the ipad cover in the middle! 5K plus. Kena ke?











So peeps, begitulah ceritanya. I have no idea when/if I do the next entry. If not sooner, then later. So till next time....XOX





- A semi juggling act from my iPad

Hibernate

Maybe I spoke too soon.

Serious. I feel so blah.

Hari ni terpaksa ambik cuti. Lagi.

                           I.Feel.Like.Crawling.Under.A.Rock.And.Sleeping.Forever...

googled pic

The only thing yang 'menceriakan' hari ini ialah nampak Mawi, Ekin and his Ma coming out of his Blue X5 Beamer ~ BEA 30. Erkkk kena ke starstruck ngan Mawi? Tak koooottt, tapi suka tengok Ekin, she is so stylo.

Based on where they were parked, I believe diorang makan sini...

Islamic Kitchen, Seksyen 8, Bandar Baru Bangi.

Tak pernah pergi pun myself.

Mujurla bukan mode paparazzo nak pergi stalk diorang

(yang benornya hubs who was driving was having none of it).

Dapat depan keta pun jadilah...

As for me, sebab cuti, x dapat ikut pergi lunch raya kat rumah a colleague. Menu nasi kerabu. So sebab teringin haruslah pergi menapau di sini...

Tak sesedap the original one in Kelantan, tapi bolehlah...

Lepas makan sambung zzzz...seriously, it sucks at the mo.

If you don't see me around that means I am hibernating. See you in the spring time...(kononnya skrg winter la)...




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Blog on the go

This entry is for Syidagorjes atau sesapa yang masih belum guna Mail2blogger.

Kadang2 kita terpaksa blog on the go kan, so senang lah ada feature ni.

Senang je nak setup.


Go to the page below and setup your Mail2blogger email add and posting options.
Agak la kecik, hope you can see it.

Save, and you are done. Itu sahaja.

So if you use a blackberry, all you do is email your entry to the mail2blogger email address that you setup.

Saya hanya guna untuk mengarang sahaja. Kena juga guna pc/laptop untuk watermark pics and edit pic arrangements and what not.

Hope you found that useful ;D

PB I Miss You

It is week 10 of the academic calender. 4 weeks to go till end of term. My first year undergraduates are sitting for their Test 2 which constitutes 20% of the overall course marks. I have one hour to kill thus I have decided to write for my poor neglected blog...No ipad with me at the mo, so my good old BB to the rescue...

Alhamdulillah it has been OK at work, manageable. I don't know what I was dreading so much hehehe. There are not too many balls in the air ~ just yet. Things will pick up again soon as tests need to be marked, final exam questions need to be prepared and subsequently the typical hustle and bustle of the end of semester will rear its ugly head.

One of the main deterrents of pregnancy for me is having to go through the first trimester ~ yucky! However, this time, apart from slight headaches, I am pleasantly pleased to find that so far the impending morning (read whole day) sickness and nausea has been kept at bay. Alhamdulillah. I noticed that it became less worse for my second pregnancy and now it is relatively very mild indeed. Can one become immune to the raging hormones? I have no idea but each pregnancy is of course different. Please let it be easy for me this time, amin.

I notice that I start getting headaches when my stomach is empty, so like it or not I eat. 

Kalau makan healthy tak pe la jugak, but I am not in any position to be picky about what I eat.

Semua pun makan. Calories belakang cerita, yang penting tak nak cranky!

Angan2 nak guna my Tupperware Healthy Eating System which I got early last month is now down the toilet.

 

Tak kuasa nak think and plan my meals. Despite the fabulous recipes yang dulunya berkobar2 nak cuba!

Give me milo, teh tarik, nasi, ikan kering, nasi lemak, kuih kuih, McD, lagi banyak calories lagi sedap, lagi bagus. Tak pe la, peram dulu la tupperware ku itew...

Gosh I also miss my PB T_T... Without it I notice I am more constipated and bloated. But it could also be the natural side effects of pregnancy. Ok la, tak kesahlah. Yang pasti I miss it...Inevitably I am now monitoring the dreaded side effects of pregnancy ~ weight gain.

Dan yang pasti the weight lost during Ramadhan has crept back up.

Some may scorn at my 53.4kg. However, you must remember that I am quite petite at 155cm, even borderline midget when compared to other long-legged creatures...

The fabulous girls and moi.

Sangat menyesal tidak memakai heels at this get together recently huhuhu.

Especially nasib malang berdiri sebelah diva yang hujung sekali tu ehehee!

Nad, Yaya, Naddy, Fara, me and Verde.

So, it is very important that I don't let the weight gain get the better of me. Orang pelik kenapa saya pakai PB sebab saya bukannya kategori gemuk pun. But as I mentioned before, I use it as a maintenance tool. I need it to keep slim. Using it I can skip my exercise, as I showed in a previous entry. Ada a couple of people kata tak paham my equations how? Cian. Tak taulah, lagi kurus lagi sedap pakai the full set. Kalau badan gempal dan berisi agakla tak selesa pakai to be honest. Especially the long bra. Tak ke lagi nampak macam gorilla?

I am sooooo not looking forward to the post-pregnancy slimming down session. I have no idea if I will take the same route as I did before. Sanggupkah daku diganyang lagi???



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Work mode anyone?

Salam semua...hope you all had loads of fun celebrating Aidilfitri 2010!

Siapa yang dah start kerja angkat tangan!

Ingat tak hari tu saya cakap konon tak ambik cuti raya lama, nak buat kerja kat ofis sementara budak2 uni still cuti this week? That was a big fat LIE because I have extended my leave for this whole week muahaha!!

• Mode raya and relaxing still on la, hoooooooowwwwww???

 

Mummy, Salma Aida and Adam.

Raya pertama with the Ipoh clan...

Gambar di pagi raya sebelum rumah opah kena bom dengan manusia lepas solat jumaat.

Termasuk budak kecik, ada la dekat 70 orang kot datang menyerang hehehe.

Gambar raya with the Bangi clan will be inserted here as soon as I get it from my bros camera ;D

Gambar Mr Hubs and I pun nak enterframe hehe ;)

• Mode makan still on as well, hoooooooowwwwww???

Mee rebus Muar.

Masa kecik2 balik kampung selalu singgah bandar Maharani, makan mee rebus dan sate untuk sarapan.

The taste and texture is exactly the same since 20 years ago.

Tuanya daku T_T...

Breakfast in Muar semalam.

Sebelum mengadap soto, mee bandung, lontong, mutiara berderai (dessert) dan kuih raya di rumah uncle/grandma.

• Mode chillaxing with friends still on!

Met up with a few chicks for pre-raya manicure pedicure session @ Colour Culture, Pavillion.

Sweet Fizamior.

Next time kita jumpa kat Shah Alam pulak eh babe

Bawak I gi SACC Mall, I tak geti area SA ;)

Leh jumpa Damia sekali hehe.

Effervescent LadyVerde.

This date sure beats the previous impromptu meeting outside my house tepi tong sampah at midnight.

Masa tu mesti jiran2 ingat hantu yang mengilai malam2 hahahaha.

Hilarious LadyLOVESLeisure.

Last time jumpa kat my house in London, 2003!

It was good to see you babe.

Jumpa lagi insyaallah hari ni dan lusa muahaha.

• Mode furniture hunting for our new house is also gearing up. Kunci rumah katanya dapat end of the year.  

Terjebak dengan Laura Ashley sale, menyebabkan daku mencilok into my handbag fund, how?

Nampaknya new handbags (if any) will have to be on hold whilst we sort out the house...

And last but certainly not least...

• Mode excited...

I promised myself that after completing major projects at work this year, it was time to concentrate on family...

It wasn't easy to mentally prepare myself especially with juggling things at work. But I am ready.

Alhamdulillah for this Aidilfitri surprise.

I think this was the culprit to my stomach ache the early days of Syawal ;)

I hope 2.5 months of taking folic acid is enough.

It is still early days, baru je 5 weeks, tapi mudah2an semuanya berjalan lancar, amin.

I do miss my PB though huhuhu.

Gosh, bloating tahap maksimum kot?

How to start work next week?.... T_T

Aidilfitri favourites

Sungguh pantas masa berlalu...pejam celik tamatlah sudah bulan Ramadhan dan bertemu kita dengan bulan Syawal. May Allah be pleased with our amal, amin.

Sepanjang hari tadi sakit perut memulas, wallahua'lam sebab apa, orang lain semua okay aja. Dugaan di hari terakhir ramadhan agaknya. Lepas perut diurut oleh GMIL alhamdulillah beransur baik. Begitulah kelebihan orang2 tua...ada special touch ;)

Rumah GMIL

Tiga beradik.

Suasana perayaan di Ipoh sungguh meriah sekali. Rata2 orang masak lemang dan rendang. Belum ada nampak ketupat lagi hehehe...

Kalau beraya di rumah parents di Bangi mesti sebok membuat ketupat. Ayah saya pandai membuat ketupat, kalau time raya itulah kerjanya. Ibu saya pula membuat kuah kacang, lodeh, ayam masak kicap dan kari ayam. Itulah kombinasi lauk ketupat turun temurun keluarga kami ;)

Anda tahu membuat ketupat? Antara adik beradik rasanya saya sorang je yang tahu membuat ketupat. Saya dan adik bongsu kot. Adik ipar pun pandai juga. So yang pandai buat la yang penat huhuhu. Yang lain semua tak pandai. Tangan keras kata mereka. Alasankah? Hahaha.

GMIL punya kepakaran ialah memasak lemang dan rendang.

Masak lemang selama 4 jam...

Rendang ini bukan rendang tok. Nanti saya akan buat satu entry khas tentang rendang ini yang mengandungi satu bahan yang cukup menarik dan tidak disangka2. Saya dah pandai dah buat rendang tu. Yang belum belajar lagi ialah cara membuat lemang!

Satu lagi speciality GMIL ialah tapai pulut. Anda suka tapai? Saya sangat suka! Tapi mengikut GMIL, nak buat tapai ni banyak pantang larangnya, kalau tak ikut tak menjadilah tapai tersebut. Contohnya, kalau buat tapai tak boleh marah2, tak boleh gaduh2. Sebab nanti tapai akan berwarna merah. Orang yang datang bulan pun tak boleh buat tapai diatas sebab yang sama. Orang yang mempunyai ilmu merawat bisa binatang pun tak akan menjadi tapainya. Haaaa...wallahua'lam. Kalau saya dah pandai buat tapai nanti boleh lah saya cuba eksperimen tengok sejauh mana kebenarannya hehehe.

Periuk penuh dengan tapai yang disimpan di dalam bilik, jauh dari hiruk pikuk dapur dan orang menjerit2. Tempat yang sunyi for the yeast to do its job and ferment the tapai.

The moment of truth...

Yeay, sukses!

Di rumah MIL pula, speciality beliau ialah kuih raya namely kuih makmur. Kuih ini mengandungi ramuan istimewa dan cara penyediaan/penggentelan tertentu. Kuih ini agak rumit nak terutama dengan lapisan kacang di tengahnya. MIL je yang pandai buat. Saya sangat suka kuih tradisional ini dan insyaallah satu hari nanti boleh lah belajar cara nak buat.

Satu lagi ialah kuih cornflakes rice bubbles. Kalau makan satu nak satu lagi and so on and so forth. Yang ini pun ada ramuan istimewa hehehe. Saya cakap pada MIL, why not next year take orders? Haaaa....insyaallah, kalau ada umur panjang, amin.

Pada waktu malam pula, suasana di sini riuh rendah dengan mercun. Kami juga tidak ketinggalan...

Kepada rakan2 sahabat handai both real and virtual, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Alhamdulillah saya sempat bersama anda di blogosphere tahun ini. Mudah2an dipanjangkan umur, dimurahkan rezeki kita dapat lagi bersama sehingga tahun hadapan, amin.



- A juggling act from my iPad

Fresh-faced and Bright-eyed

Last Friday penyakit malas datang menyerang big time huhuhu!!!
Masa tu tak sabar nak balik, sebab petang tu first time we all nak pergi berbuka puasa dekat luar. So agakla menggedik nak balik and nak dress-up sesikit hehehe.
Another main reason is because the 2-weeks half term holidays are here and the festive season is in the air.
In uni, holidays are for students only. Lecturers work throughout the year with 30 days of annual leave.
Tahun ni saya ada dalam 16 hari lagi cuti yang boleh diambil.
I am taking leave from 8th-13th September.
Ramai juga yang bercuti for 2 weeks straight, tapi time2 cuti ni lah baru ada masa sikit nak buat kerja2 spring clean office and tulis paper and what not.

Masa tu pun fikiran dah melayang nak pergi last minute shopping, weeeee...Sempat lagi tu!
Women and shopping, sigh...sigh...sigh
*Link rosak, sorry!


Entry ni nak cerita sikit pasal makeup. Saya mula betul2 beli makeup relatively recently, dalam last year kot especially sebab nak nampak la bergaya sikit untuk majlis2 merisik, bertunang dan kahwin adik. Itu pun saya tak beli banyak sangat sebab I don't usually do heavy makeup. Nearly all of my products I got from MAC. Reason? Sebab masuk2 je KLCC MAC ada terpampang kat concourse tu heh ;P For me pakai lashes je pun dah cukup besar impaknya. So for a while I made do with the relatively incomplete kit that I had. Cukup la untuk tolong makeupkan diri sendiri, adik beradik and me mum (my mum suka au natural).

Tapi sejak dua menjak ni seronok pulak experimenting with makeup. Yelah, umur pun dah 32 tahun, terasa sudah cukup matang untuk indulge and experiment with proper adult makeup hehehe ;D Agaknya gedik pun semakin menjadi-jadi disebabkan juga musim perayaan dah nak tiba.

My humble makeup kit.

Haih...lambatnya aku matang, orang lain semua dah pro gitu ;P

Colours for the eyes.

 

Assortment of brushes and current favourite palletes (Shu Uemura) for a smokey eye effect.

1. Slanted brush (266) for eyebrows or underlining around the eyes. 

2, 4. Small brush (228) to pick up small quatities of shade;

dark for the outer eyes and highlight for the inner eyes.

3. Medium sized brush for the main colour.

5. Slightly tapered brush (275) for brow bone.

6. Blending brush (217) to seamlessly blend different shades of colour.

7. Small and pointed brush (209) to apply gel eye liner. 

Rouge and gloss for lips.

  Rouge and blending brush (12SSH) for cheeks

Believe it or not I have never found the right liquid foundation and concealer, so I just use tinted moisturizer with SPF and mineral based foundation. Cukupla untuk tak nampak pucat, tapi coverage for that flawless skin complexion so effortlessly achieved by those with the right products, not so much. Saya rasa suuuuuuusah sangat nak carik the right foundation and concealer. Kalau saya beli mesti last2 tak pakai sebab tak suka the outcome; either it wasn't the right colour for my skintone, it was difficult to apply or it would look cakey. Pastu bila dah pakai foundation my dark circles would look more prominent since I couldn't find the right concealer again for the same reasons! Sampai saya fed up.

That is, until recently!

I found a fantastic liquid foundation from Shu Uemura  and the best dark circles concealer from MAC.

I like the foundation (Shu Uemura Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation 764) because it suits my skintone, it has a nice texture, it is easy to apply, and more importantly the finish looks natural and not cakey.

Liquid and mineral based foundation.

Kabuki brush tu tak muat dalam brush kit holder, dang! :(

Lain kali beli yang ada batang panjang tau!

Haaaa...agak2 nampak tak saya pakai foundation?

Adakah ini yang dikatakan flawless complexion?

Boleh la kooot kalau nak syok sendiri... 

Last weekend balik Ipoh, jalan2 kat Taiping ngan Kuala Kangsar.

Masa ni atas mini train kat Zoo Taiping.

I heart Perak.

Kembang kalau laki aku dengar, sebab dia memang cas Perak best gile ngeng.

Kalau ikutkan, banyak benda nak cerita pasal tempat2 best saya discover kat Perak, tapi nanti2 lah ;D

As for the concealer, I have finally found products worthy to receive a special mention. And the secret to conceal those dark cirlces, I learned, are as follows. :
1. A liquid/cream concealer with the correct colour for your skintone (MAC Select Moisturecover NW30).
2. A concealer brush (224).
3. Loose powder (MAC Select Sheer/Loose NW5 ).

So all you do is dab a little concealer on your dark circles under the eyes using the applicator.

Then using a concealer brush, dab around the eyes to blend.

Set the concealer with loose powder again using the brush.

Voila!

I also like to use YvesSaintLaurent Touche Eclat as a highlight.

Gosh easy peasy, and yet selama ni apekehalnya susah sangat nak conceal them circles! Secara theorynya memang la senang, tapi tak jumpa2 the right product and was never told the correct way. Saya baru je beli semalam, and baru je testing tadi hehehe but so far I loike!

So say good bye to blogger eyes and look fresh-faced and bright-eyed for Eid y'all!