Butterfly week

by with No Comment blogdrivingeventsfamilyfoodfriendsholidayschoolTravel

The Holidays have started and I intend to make the most of them. This week has been filled with activities, going out and socializing and meeting people and going places and doing things. not my average week, but definitely enjoyable 😀

4-7 June – Pulau Perhentian Kecil

more pics below 🙂 most perhentian pics from rahsia studio and phy

A lot of uncertainty building up to the trip but boy was everything worth it. From ramai jadi sikit until I was the only girl then nego2 til there were 5 girls on board. I didn’t know what to expect from Perhentian, of course there are those glossy tourism pictures but I’ve been let down by advertorial images too many times to believe what I saw on the internet.

But Perhentian was really really breathtakingly beautiful Masha’Allah. Air macam lumion. And it was nice to not have to be the one organizing things, as I’m very prone to doing. can’t really help it…I just like making the most out of my travels. like when we went to Hong Kong and Melbourne, no one else seemed to know where they wanted to go but I researched the hell out of everything, and Alhamdulillah, both trips were quite enjoyable. But I digress.

Perhentian was delayed a few times, because the days leading up to it were jam-packed full of finishing up thesis reports and external portfolios and whatnot. Once we got going at 3am though, minus a small but scary hiccup early in the journey, we got there safe and sound. We stayed at Maya Chalet, and for our 3day 2 night package which included island transfers, snorkeling trip (equipment and boat) and accommodation, we only paid rm140, which was a total bargain.

Our chalet was on coral bay, the chill, quiet side of the island, good for food and chilling out, but for swimming and playing on the beach, a short trek across the island to Long Beach is recommended. Long Beach is kind of the party beach though, so by dusk it was starting to get rowdy with bars and loud music and dancing, so we made our way back to our little haven where it was jack Johnson and calm waves all night long. Mafia wars that night after dinner and for the first round I was the mafia, and in the second round I was the angel. Fun times.

The next day after a morning stroll on the beach with Puteri and breakfast of twiggies and roti potato on an upside-down kayak, we hung out on Mye’s balcony and had second breakfast, before getting our flippers on and heading out for our snorkeling trip. This was by far the best snorkeling trip I’ve ever ever been on. Felt like I was swimming in an aquarium, so so many different types of colorful fishes, coral, and even sea turtles! we went to the shark point but unfortunately I didn’t see any sharks since I was too scared of swimming near the rocks (takut terhempas dgn ombak). swimming was so tiring but so completely absorbing once you got into the rhythm of breathing and paddling and following fishes around.

After snorkeling for a few hours we headed back to our island and had lunch, and then had some rest before hanging out on the balcony again. towards the late afternoon we all decided to go explore one of the other beaches, a more remote one called Romantic Beach lol. It wasn’t that good for swimming since there were lots of sea cucumbers which kind of grossed me out. Didn’t want to step on those slimy things. so I just sat on the beach, borak2, chilllllllll~

That night we had a bbq dinner, and it was deeeeelicious! I had shark (of the non-endangered boleh jumpa kt giant variety) which was soft and succulent. Cheap too! RM15 for the bbq set which included a meat of your choice (barracuda, barramundi, squid, blue marlin, stingray, prawn, lobster, chicken, etc2), choice of dipping sauce, rice, big slice of juicy watermelon and pineapple, a slice of banana cake, and drinks. Nyummmms :-9

That night we played ‘kotak beracun’ which is kind of like a pre-prepared truth or dare + hot potato. It was hilarious and I definitely learned a lot heheh. The next day we packed up and after a last bit of pictures-taking, headed back to the mainland.

We stopped by Kuala Terengganu to buy keropok lekor at Kg. Losong and then Pasar Payang for a bit, then started on our journey back to KL, which turned out to be quite the adventure. Kak. Fiza’s car started acting up, or rather, wouldn’t start, so we jump started it but it kept on dying, even after driving. That happened a lot of times and nighttime was closing in, and they couldn’t turn on the headlights because the car would die and we took the kampung road so there weren’t any rest stops along the way. Managed to slowly drive in convoy to meet up with An’s uncle who bought a replacement battery in Kuantan, and after that the car was ok, Alhamdulillah. Eventually reached KL at 3am, just around the time we left 🙂


8 June – textbook meeting which I came late to because I was so tired. eh wait. that’s true but also because I had to go meet our course coordinator and receive the bad news (will talk about this later)

9 June – Helped Salmoon clean up their new house. Tiring. Then Haneef has been wanting to get his glasses made, and for some reason insisted on waiting until I was available to go with him, so we went. That night we went to Mariam Sano’s Henna party. Dance dance. Well not so much. haha

bebola ikan said salman…

 10 June – Went to clean up the studio while waiting for the studio mates yg nak pergi visit Jannah and her baby in Shah Alam. Convoy around 7 cars because everyone was going home straight afterwards. Stopped by Faiz/Yeop/Paih/Boss’s house first where it was like raya, makanan penuh satu meja, kuih raya bagai. Nyums. Ate til our stomachs were bursting then headed over to Jannah’s to coo and gush over baby Qurratul Hayah.

kuih raya~
posing with the sleeping baby shhhhhh
little angel~

11 June – Finished cleaning up my stuff at the studio and loaded them up into the old Volvo, then makan2 and jalan2 at Wangsa Maju with the baby brother, then visited Yang at her house, chatted for quite a while, then drove brother home, then headed over to Ayesha’s for a surprise bday party bbq sleepover. Successfully manned the BBQ and it was the best bbq chicken I’ve ever had, hehehehe. Potato salad was scrumptious, and lots of laughs all around. Singing and eating and laughing, Good times.

 
muka selekeh semua orang yg baru habis berbbq

12 June – Went to UIA to settle some more stuff (more on that debacle later) then went back to Ayesha’s and just hung out. went to Dr. Cafe in the afternoon, then back to Ayesha’s for dinner (we call her house our holiday retreat. bliss!) then picked up my mom from work, and finally headed home where I finally got to talk to Muhsin who’s in Japan for three months, yay!

my girl, talkin bout myy girllll

13 June – ran around doing errands and driving people around and then finally got to the initial plan of the day which was the long awaited DOCTOR WHO MARATHON finallyyy!!! Picked up some (fake) jammy dodgers, lychee soda, and fish fingers, drove over to Aziza’s and made custard and fried the fish fingers, and made the TARDIS blue drink. Fish fingers and custard was actually not that bad. an acquired taste perhaps. then it was time to catch up on the last 4 episodes of the season. OMG.

jammy dodgers, homemade bounty bars, fish fingers and custard, tardis lychee drink, and episodes 😀

14 June – More driving people around and errands, had to save my mum from ISTAC because her car battery konked out. Felt extra manly this week because of the barbecues and driving and battery changing. Went to watch Man of Steel afterwards with Ilham, Nadiah and the Khatibs, can’t say I enjoyed the movie really. Actually felt quite bored.

15 June – Don’t know what got into me but I found myself in SS2 Mall early in the morning to attend an Improv Workshop held by AI:IA. Maybe because someone said it probably wasn’t my kind of thing I felt challenged:p maybe because I really was in the mood to try new things, maybe because the place was near food foundry and I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some mille crepe. I didn’t know what to expect at all, and came in to find people stretching like they were going to go for a run. erk. Turns out the stretching was a good idea because it turned out to be very..physical? I’m really glad I went though, it turned out to be really really fun and it was nice to meet new people and just be crazy with random strangers for a bit 😀 I enjoyed the last exercise the most, and apparently I was quite funny heehee ^_____^ Food Foundry afterwards where we split a smoked salmon sandwich and a pulled beef sandwich and ALMOND SALTED CARAMEL MILLE CREPE :9

pic from @iedilputra http://instagram.com/p/akQLS7xNXH/
heavenlyyyyyy..pic from http://lwinlee.blogspot.com/2013/01/mille-crepe-indulgence-food-foundry.html

16 June – lazy dayyyy~ Spent most of it either online, asleep, eating, or reading. Picked up ‘The Prisoner of Heaven’ around 2.30 and finished it (including an hour long nap in between) at 6.30. Good books really are too short oftentimes. played the flash version of portal after maghrib but got stuck on level 14. researched Japan and got :/ over how expensive it is, then chatted, then played Zelda: A Link to the Past but kept dying although I did make progress and got to fight the boss before dying again, battery of the gameboy micro was dying and it was late but I felt like writing, and here we are.

 
Ethan keeps on dyinggggg

A fun, fulfilling, but very tiring week. it was awesome 🙂

Family/Friends

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My sister getting married last September made me realize that I was always part of a Force, it was always me and my sis, the Hamzah sisters, part of the Hamzah Family. Of course her getting married kind of changed that and now I’m just lonely me.

In our school, a lot of our friends were those kinds as well, a Family Force. There were the Khatibs, the Preeces, the Joneses, the Radwans, the Soualhis, the Sanos, the Ismaiels, the Manafs, the Khans, the Abullais’, the Shafiqs, the Tauseefs, the Ashours, the Elkhaldis, the Ghassans, etc.

And now we’re at that age where we’re starting to become the people who will be family friends ourselves. I don’t know if that makes sense, but that’s how I see it.

Last weekend my brother’s best friend got married to my sisters best friend. It seems kind of impossible that they didn’t know each other before Munira’s wedding, but that’s where they first met. 8 months later and they’re happily married. So surreal. Throughout the whole wedding weekend it felt like my actual sister was getting married to my brother, as weird as that sounds. Because they really are like family to me. I couldn’t be happier for them both 😀 Congratulations Zati and Lutfi!!! I had fun being a self appointed bridesmaid and unofficial photographer 🙂

more pics in the slideshow below 🙂

Today we had an appreciation bbq for us fifth years, as a way to say thanks to our supervisors and ‘assistants’. It was fun prepping the bbq, cooking, eating and chatting with my studio mates. cakap pasal macam2. Some dah secured jobs, some are applying, some are starting to look for houses. My plans after graduation are kind of sketchy, but mainly consists of chilling and traveling. maybe a small job just for fun. I’ve always wanted to work in a bookstore, or an assembly factory.

Towards the end of the night, we all gathered round for a game of mafia wars (which you can read about here) and even though I was already ready to go home, I decided to play one round. I’m quite proud  that my first guess was absolutely spot on. too bad no one really believed me so the tyrant lived well into the game.

But sitting in that misshapen circle and staring people down made me realize that, despite everything, I know I will miss this crazy bunch.

Its the final final stretch to the finish line, just have to submit my report and Insha’Allah I’ll be done with my thesis. Final presentation went alright, but more on that later. 🙂

Beginning of the end

by with No Comment blogcatsemotionseventsfamilyfriendsnatureTravel

*brushes aside cobwebs and dust*

I suddenly feel like blogging again. I probably won’t but it’s just a feeling. It’s the final stretch of my Final Semester of my Final year in B. Arch, 3 more weeks till I have to submit my design thesis. I’m nowhere near done and I don’t know if I will be come the 16th of May. In all honesty I should be working on it now but today has not been a good day.

I woke up late because last night I was up till quite late, trying to get a chapter written, and then my friend pinged me on gtalk and we talked about River and the Ponds and how complicated river’s timeline is.

River Song and the Doctor’s Timeline
L=R: Rory, Amy, Doctor, River

Didn’t really help that I was woken up in the middle of the night by my mom asking me where my brother’s overalls were. (?)

Woke up proper and found out our last kitten got hit by a car and had died.

T___T

That’s probably why I don’t feel like doing any work. My thesis is about animal welfare, but all our cats keep dying. Makes me feel like a phony.

—

In an attempt to make my life more interesting and to take my mind of Things, my weekends have been pretty packed as of late. Hanging out with friends, playing games, cooking, climbing up Tabur, white-water rafting, karaoke, concert-going and movie watching. It’s been fun, but at the same time, once the weekends are over, I sink back into stress and depression. it’s been getting slightly better but things happen and it triggers all the emo switches.

—
Beach and ikan bakar outing with the girls at bagan lalang

kfc and egg sandwich picnic. L-R: Nadiah, Ilham, Aziza, Hannat

watching the sunset then praying on the beach 🙂

—

Pies are quite leceh to make but very delicious. In conjunction with Pi-day (March 14th) Kd, Muz, Nirman and I baked some pies. the Tomyam chicken pot pie was especially tasty. we also made banana-mango pie and lemon cheese pie. recipes were taken from various online sources and tweaked.

—

If you’ve never played rockband, I think you definitely should. it’s a lot of fun and good for stamina and dexterity lol. I was terrible at drums but I think I did ok for a beginner on the bass..

—
AM
Subuh on one weekend a bunch of friends and myself made our way up Bukit Tabur a.k.a the dinosaur in my backyard. this was my second time up and it was a lot of fun. It was great to be able to organize it and ajak my friends along too. Will definitely go again.

ulu kelang dam from one of the peaks
Me and Yang the trooper 🙂

I dont have a fear of heights but i admit, gayat sikit duduk sini

Photo by Umar Mita

PM
After the descent from Tabur, went for some eats then got home and popped right back out again to make my way to KL Central where me, Ilham, Aziza and Hannat drank obscenely priced coffee at the Hilton cafe and Ilham casually asked Nick Carter for a quick photo like he was our friend or something. Then we dashed off to KLCC for the Twin Towers Alive 2013 concert and to fulfill our adolescent dreams. BSB were A M A Z I N G obviously, but what really surprised me was the number of males in the audience. I’d have thought it would be full of screaming fangirls, but about half the crowd were guys.

mmhm

shockresistant7's BSBTTLive2013 album on Photobucket

—

Went white water rafting with Ilham and Nadiah in Slim River, Perak. It wasn’t as challenging as I thought it’d be, and I came out of the 3 hour session not really tired. It was a whole bunch of fun though, would definitely recommend it although it’s a bit pricey at rm180 per person..

one of the stops along the way
Nadiah and I

At a hot spring we stopped by otw back. L-R: Sian Tze, Ilham, Me, K.Nini, Nadiah

—
after the last crit session Mye, Jedot, Mimi and myself drove off to Danau for some stress relief in karaoke. the place was super cheap but it was still ok. I didn’t sing too much firstly because I needed to save my voice for Sunday and secondly because I didn’t know half the songs they picked. aheh. the next Sunday I went for karaoke again, this time with ilham, hannat, aziza and nadiah at redbox in pavilion. a lot nicer and fancier but also much more expensive. they had a buffet which was good, and we were there for 4 hours singing our hearts out. It was actually a surprise birthday party for aziza, which I forgot about and was taken by surprise when a birthday song started playing all of a sudden and some guy brought in a cake. Loads of fun.

Its election season now

Bisous

by with No Comment blogfriendsholidaymailTravelworld

Got a message this morning from Lily who I met in 2010 while she was on holiday in Malaysia. She is a lively Parisian who has been travelling all around the world on her own, making friends along the way. We don’t talk often at all, but every so often she would drop me messages and they are really the sweetest things. She sent me a postcard once, out of the blue, from when she was in Bali. and every ‘Eid, new year (Islamic and Gregorian) she would email me wishing me and my family all the best and hoping that our paths will cross again.. For someone I only met for a couple of weeks, its really nice of her to still remember me and take time and effort to write me emails and send me Parisian bisous <3

Hani, Lily, Lina, and Maryam, Summer 2010

Holiday to do list

by with No Comment eventsfamilyfriendsholidayplanschoolTravel

Ok I’m procrastinating again. My exams are not over yet but I already have a list of thing I want to/have to do this holiday 😀 I have a month. I’m sure i’m being over ambitious, but here it is, in no particular order:

  1. Sew something! because i’m a total absolute noob, probably something simple. like a handkerchief. haha. ok maybe a pouch/purse thing.
  2. Continue to work on my knitting/crocheting – even out the stitches, edges, and make something instead of just incomplete pocket squares which turn out looking like triangles.
  3. Write more – here, there, everywhere. to myself, to friends. on this blog.
  4. Sketch things – whatever ideas i have basically. could be about the above mentioned projects, architecture, crafts or anything else. 
  5. Papercrafts – make cards and other fun things
  6. Clean my room – ohoho yes
  7. Fix my clock face – its broken so i want to make a pretty new one
  8. Organise my year by putting things into a calender
  9. Maybe tinker with this blog design
  10. Research on highrise – services, structures, examples, green tech applicable, materials, case studies
  11. Do the assignment madam told us to do – what setbacks i experienced this year, how i plan to improve upon them, and what my expectations are for B.Arch
  12. I also want to travel
  13. Hang out with friends. this can be done together with item no.12
  14. Bake. or make bagels.
  15. Finish my Zelda game. By finish I mean win, of course. Come on Ethan you can do it!!
  16. Continue those french lessons I long abandoned.
  17. read more Qur’an and its translations – review those surahs that are fading /have faded from memory 

Showdown of Champions, KL 2008

by with No Comment eventsfriendsholidaySport

As Shirley Bassey so aptly sang, “Where do I begin?”

My birthday was on the 17th, but the 18th was what i was really excited about and looking forward to, so ignoring the big 21, here goes!

Meet and Greet/Autograph session, KLCC foyer

Yesterday went beyond all my expectations, which were, to begin with, already great. So in the morning Zah, Nadiah and I stood for about 2 hours in line waiting for Roger Federer to arrive, and even though the encounter was brief, and by brief I mean really brief, it was great. Even standing in line we were entertained by the presence of a Federer lookalike, which we learned later on was an Iranian who lived in the USA, he was there with his mother. His name was Zaher Khan, also found that out later.

It must be weird, for famous people. Many people they meet tend not to look them in the eye, instead, they point a camera straight in their face. That was one mistake I did in the meet and greet. Couldn’t really savor the moment because I was flustered and didn’t know what to do. Missed a lot by seeing through the camera display rather than using my eyes. Didn’t really repeat the mistake in the match.

this picture appeared on gettyimages, with the hilarious caption of “Roger Federer (C) of Switzerland signs autographs for a Malaysian Muslim fan…”

After the meet-and-greet (aptly named, as that’s all you did. Meet, say hi, and then you get shooed away) we were standing outside KLCC towers all giddy and beaming like overexcited children, and for some reason Bernama decided to interview us. God knows what nonsense we were jabbering on about because we didn’t get to see ourselves, not that we’d want to anyway. They also interviewed lookalike and his mom before us (that’s where we found out his name).

After all that excitement, it was a case of “now what..?”

So we wandered back inside and into the mall, where we were walking around when suddenly, I turn to say something to Nadiah and who else do I see but Mirka? Funny, because we were just speaking about maybe bumping into her in KLCC. She was taller and prettier and more down-to-earth than we imagined, but she declined any pictures taken. Respect that. What I found most odd was how she seemed to be wandering aimlessly around the mall, all alone. Well, except for the freaky couple that was silently stalking her.

Showdown of Champions, Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil

Left the mall at 4 to beat the rush hour, even if that meant we’d get to Bukit Jalil ridiculously early. Hung around the Putra stadium observing the weird people around, pointing out people we recognized from the autograph signing, like South Africa hat dude +family, lady who needed to “meet someone,” guy with stripey blue shirt, Jason Mraz hat guy, cowbell lady, dude with plaid hat, lookalike and mom, etc. oh we also saw Hans Isaac, weird again because we were, for some reason, talking about him that day also. Saw a really lost looking dude who was walking aimlessly around the complex alone. Weird.

Waited for Ilham and Ayesha to arrive, since they were stuck in traffic. Meanwhile, we walked around the stadium looking for where the players would arrive/exit from, so that we could stalk them when they left. Found it with no trouble at all. They finally arrived at 7, so we entered the arena, prayed marghrib, and went into the seating area where our ears were blasted to smithereens from screechy Ella singing. Jacklyn Victor was a bit more tolerable, as was Ning Baizura. But who cares about them, its tennis we came to see! Other people we spotted inside were mostly some other political people. I chatted with this family from Alberta, Canada. I told her I used to live in Canada too, in Waterloo, and apparently she went to university there! Also some weird guy started chatting me up when I went down to take some pictures after the match. Freaky.


The first match was with the old timers, Bjorn Borg and Jon McEnroe. McEnroe being the feisty one, always playing up the crowds with his antics, as per usual! It was all in good fun. There was some racquet throwing, ref-slamming and ball-boy teasing which really cracked us up. Borg was more reserved. Watching them play, I thought, this is a lot different than what I’m used to seeing on the telly. Its much slower paced and not as aggressive. But then again they are old so I guess that’s why. McEnroe won that 1 set match in a tie break.


Three short minutes later, the real reason people came to the match started. It was James Blake vs Roger Federer, which was absolutely amazing to watch. It seemed so surreal watching a live tennis match, the movements so familiar and yet it was different, because it was right in front of our face, live. Everything was really just so surreal. And it was awesome seeing a master at work, you could tell he was a genius in his element, so exquisite and graceful, that one. Watching live, you get more of a feel and understanding of how different the players’ styles are, their temperament, personality, quirks. Federer was the elegant and graceful one, full of finesse and sweeping movements and nimble ballet-esque footwork. One thing I heard but never did on telly was his cute “aiya” when he’d mess up a shot. Blake was more aggressive and hard hitting, but both were absolutely brilliant. Federer won that match, also in a tie-break, much to the crowd delight, especially the cowbell lady et al, who (I gathered from their view-blocking banner) were Asian rogerfederer.commers. Which, come to think of it, so am I.

Another thing, I noticed that anything the players say on court can really be heard by almost everybody, at least up to where we were seated, midway up the stands. And its not even shouted, just things said normally. So imagine what it must be like if Nadal or Sharapova were in the house, grunting and shrieking all the way? By the way, next year instead of Federer et al, Miss Sharapova will be gracing our shores, opponent not yet confirmed. Big Whoop. Guys should be glad I suppose.

The final match of the night was a single set doubles, Europe vs. USA, with Roger pairing up with Bjorn and Blake with McEnroe. That match was super exciting. Fast paced, a lot of laughs from us and the players, and all in all a really exhilarating match. In the end USA came out on top 7-5, so the only person who didn’t win anything was poor old Borg.

We planned on stalking the players back to the hotel but then it was already late and some of us had work the next morning. Also, it wouldn’t be that easy this time, like it was during the CYC because these people had a whole convoy and police escort whereas at the CYC it was just a bus. Went to Ilham’s house feeling dazed and giddy and happy all at the same time.

So to Federer, Blake, Borg and McEnroe, a HUGE thank you for coming to Malaysia and giving us something to buzz about for a long time to come! You guys made my day! And last but definitely not least, Thank you to Nadiah and her dad for giving us all the opportunity to witness a genius at work!!

Pictures, videos, and links
hcfoo’s tennis blog
NST article
The Star article

KL, raining

by with No Comment friendsholidayTravel

Went to the orchid garden as planned today, on the way there also stopped by the hibiscus garden. Place was nice, though not all the flowers were in bloom. Even though we were right in the middle of KL it felt like we were far, far away. After that we had a spontaneous moment and decided to go to the planetarium, so walked all the way there, but on the way it started to rain buckets. Fortunately, my raggedy minuscule umbrella kept us from being totally drenched. We arrived at the planetarium only wet. It was a lot less than I imagined it to be. Kind of let down, after all these years wanting to go there, it didn’t really offer much. Lots of screaming school kids too. Observation deck was empty so that was nice. We retreated back downstairs when the children discovered it. Then went to Masjid Negara for prayer. All in all, great day. We were thinking about going to the bird park as well, but didn’t fancy being pooped on :/ Tomorrow doesn’t look so promising. Have to submit my (scrappily done) CAD assignment and then off to driving class number 2 a.k.a engine class. Won’t make me a world class mechanic but at least I won’t be hoodwinked by the grease monkeys.

By the way, I don’t know why but I write in fragments a lot of the time. Bits and shards of thought, as long as the main idea is out then i’m good. My sentences are usually abrupt, truncated in the beginning and end. Is it annoying? Word economy I tell you…

Here are most of the pictures from my camera, please ignore the craptastic photography. I am but a point-and-shooter…

Connections

by with No Comment Abstractfamilyfriends

My friend’s sister’s husband is my brother’s teacher, which i just found put yesterday after tarawih.
—
My 3rd grade best friend’s grandmother used to stay in my grandmothers house in johor when she didn’t have anywhere to stay, kind of like an adopted family. I found that out when i was in third grade when I went to her house and her grandma started asking me weird questions, like whats your grandma’s name. People don’t usually ask that do they?
—
My parent’s good friend’s daughter who used to live in Canada (i think) and Australia is my good friend’s good friend. I found that out in Burger King when another good friend was telling me some good news.
—
The only boy who talked to me when I first came to Malaysia used to be a close friend of another one of my good friends. Then she found out he smoked.
—
My mom’s Aunt’s daughter (her cousin) is my classmate. That makes her…my aunt?
—

there are a lot more but i’ve got to get back to work. speaking of which, is there a study which tells you the statistics about the diseases that architects are most prone to, i’d think we are very susceptible to CTS, arthritis, back and shoulder related problems, eyesight abnormalities, etc.

6 degrees

by with No Comment eventsfamilyfriendsschool

My social networking skills were called into play a few days ago – a friend asked me if I knew any service apartments and if I knew where to find a DJ since her friend wanted to throw a party.
Service apartment? The only one I know is the Ascott where we stalked the Manchester United youth team last summer. That is near KLCC, and will probably be very expensive.
DJ? Well… one of my friends met and fell in love with a DJ in Sunway, but that’s all I have.
She then asked if I knew this other girls’ phone number since she had a party recently, but I had no idea. But I could refer her to another friend with more contacts…
I asked her when the party was going to be held and she replied, “Tomorrow..!”
!

—-

At my cousin’s wedding some of her sister’s friends were also there and they asked me where I studied. I told them in UIA, and in Architecture. Turns out her sister was my classmate… They were in the Kuantan campus, and I asked if they knew my Malay classmate, and they did…

Hello…

by with No Comment AbstractfriendsschoolTravel

I have been told time and time again that I can be very unfriendly when I feel like it. I know this to be true, but only on rare occasions. The truth is, I’m just embarrassingly shy and self deprecating. If I don’t say hi to you when I see you around campus, its not because I’m stuck up and snobby. Its usually because of one of these reasons:

1.I don’t want to disturb you when you are with your friends
2.I don’t want to disturb you when you are enjoying your solitude
3.I don’t know if you remember or recognise me since we met randomly through friends of friends and only ever said hello once, in passing.
4.I don’t know if you even want to see me around, let alone start some small talk with you
5.I’m not sure if you’re the person I think you are. Some people look so alike.
6.I don’t remember your name (sorry!) or I don’t remember how we met, or if we ever even met at all, or if you are just one of those faces I see every day.
7.I’m terrible at small talk and socially awkward. And shy, like I said.
8.Etc.
9.okay sometimes i just can’t be bothered or am too lazy or i’m in a hurry.

Another thing – if I say hi to you once, does that mean I have to say hi to you always and forever? Even if we just saw each other a while ago and will probably see each other around again soon?

So if i don’t tegur you please don’t take it personally…

(I blame constantly moving around the world for this)

The Homecoming

by with No Comment eventsfoodfriendsschoolTravel

Firstly, I’m sorry the pictures aren’t up yet – Facebook refuses to upload my pictures for some odd reason.

Many of my classmates are back from their overseas studying, so today we had a mini-reunion in the middle of the hustle and bustle that was Mamma Mia. For the uninitiated, Mamma Mia is an eatery in IIUM where many students choose to hang out for lunch in. This is because not only is it air-conditioned (not that you can feel it when its packed) it also caters to international tastes, i.e. people who can’t eat spicy food. Prices are on the steep side for students, but most are willing to pay albeit grumbling a bit. The lady at the cashier always seems apologetic when quoting prices, but oh well. Bagging a table is a matter of great importance if you plan on eating in the air-conditioning as by 12.30 it starts to fill up extremely fast, and by 2 it empties out. You can usually see the same faces there every day but once in a while you get fresh blood, always recognizable by their raised eyebrows, widened eyes and generally incredulous looks when reaching the cashier.

Anyways, I arrived at our mini reunion quite late since I had no idea it was going on. So in the end I only spent 15 minutes with my friends before huffing off to studio, but not before indulging in an Oreo J.Co. These things are dangerous. Before, if you wanted J.Co donuts, you’d have to drag yourself all the way to Pavillion to satisfy your cravings. Now, every time there is any sort of fest/carnival/stall setup in IIUM, a J.Co stall sprouts up. This time its even worse, because there are two. One in my Kulliyyah, KAED, and one in the Center near the bridge. Also there is a Big Apple stall. All these factors do not positively contribute to any weight loss diet anyone might have, but as for myself, yes, I might gain weight, but at what artery clogging cost? Today I was guilty of binging on two donuts, Oreo and banana-choc. Yesterday I had Tiramisu, as I did the day before. Come to think of it, my sugar intake has been abnormally high this week. I’ve had chocolate for breakfast on three straight days, plus a handful of sour nerds every time I get back to my room. then of course the donuts. and the other day I bought mango juice which was half sugar water. Oh and in my desperate attempt to stay awake in class, I finished 3/4 of a sour mentos tube.

Falling asleep in class. I seem to be doing that regularly these days, and I don’t know why. Its extremely annoying because the moment the lecturer opens his/her mouth, I get drowsy, and the moment class is over I’m fresh as a daisy. Add to this the fact that I always sit in front (supposedly so I can pay attention) which means any nodding of the head or drooping of the eyelids is blatantly obvious to the lecturers if they cared to look up. I have tried almost everything – eating candy in class, texting. doodling. writing, squirming in my seat, even trying to strike up a sleepy conversation with my neighbor. None of them work more than a few seconds. I’d like to blame on my lack of sleep last week due to so many assignments but I have to see if next week is any different to make any conclusion.

This post was supposed to be about my classmates returning. But I haven’t really talked to them yet. Oh but I did go out to the airport to fetch Nadiah, along with Ilham and Ayesha. I love going to the airport., but thats another topic altogether. Anyways Nadiah told us her adventure with MAS which left us feeling “how in the world did that happen!?”

Finding a lunch buddy is getting harder as the semester progresses. Not everyone has time or wants to have lunch anymore, but I need to have lunch or else I’ll starve. And I hate eating alone. Especially in UIA.

*Update
I looked up ‘drowsiness’ and being a hypochondriac, I believe I’m suffering from Narcolepsy

Fun, and then craziness

by with No Comment eventsfriendsholidayschoolTravel

I have a cold, resulting from either eating rambutans or from the rain and a/c combo. Or both.

On Friday I woke up at 3.45a.m. To get ready for our site analysis trip to Lumut. We were supposed to be in front of KAED at 4.45 a.m. got there just in time, groggy and freezing, and boarded the bus, which was like a freezer! Drove for about an hour and then stopped in Rawang for Subuh prayers. Drove some more and stopped somewhere for breakfast. Then we drove some more till we got to Kellie’s Castle. My mom was telling me about it when we went to Sentul, how the old abandoned house there reminded her of the Castle. But that place was gorgeous! So out of the blue. In front of it was a river flowing calm and steady, and then the castle itself. You can read the full sad story behind it here, although the version that is posted up in the castle is slightly different.

I never knew I was afraid of heights until I went there. Usually I just feel like jumping, be it my hostel or the KLCC sky bridge. But here there were no rails to prevent you from tumbling over. But it was an awesome experience all the same. Oh, Perak is lovely by the way; I just love the calm feeling of the place, so contrasting from the madness of the Klang Valley. The mountain/hills, caves, and especially the vast expanses of land.

After Kellie’s Castle we headed to UTP, and this is another awesomely gorgeous place but in a totally different way. Just as a measure of comparison, their Chancellery building won the Aga Khan Award! What I loved most was their library, mind boggling when you first set eyes on it but ingeniously simple when you see how it’s done. I was going to meet up with some friends there but didn’t get the chance to. Oh well, next time. We prayed at the UTP mosque (the one I had to draw for my Graphics assignment) and then finally made our way to Teluk Batik where our chalets awaited.

Chalets. Don’t they sound charming? Believe me they were not. Livable, but only just. The toilet was a mess and that night we didn’t have any water supply, so we had to trek out to the public loo some ways away. Awkward coz the boys used the public toilet right next to it. One evening I was going to the washroom by myself, and like always I looked around at stuff, but when I looked ahead, these two boys had just emerged from the showers. They were only in their towels, poor things. Must’ve been embarrassing. So I turned around and let them have their peace/space.

Oh right behind our chalet there were two horses. All they did was eat, so we mustered up some courage to go and pet them the darker one, Along, was sweet and came to us to be petted. The chestnut one, Angah, was a sour old Meanie that snapped his teeth when we tried to give him a loving pet. Sheesh.

The chalets were quite near the beach, so that was good. Being all enthusiastic, my housemates and I went straight out to the beach after we dumped our things in the room. The wind was so strong and refreshing! Kicked off our shoes and waded across a small stream to the other side of the shore. Big mistake. The wind blew my shoes and my friends slippers and wallet into the murky stagnant stream =0 so began our adventure of trying to retrieve our belongings and in the end Missy was our hero of the day after recovering all the flotsam and jetsam. One of my shoes was quite dry since they floated, but one bobbed upside down so was wet. Thus I went around the whole of Lumut (and Pangkor and Pasir Salakand back to KL) in my bathroom slippers.

Our site was a park by the waterfront at Lumut jetty. Nothing much to say about it except it has some potential but is poorly maintained. The second day we spent the whole morning analyzing it. In the afternoon we went to the mangrove park and were hounded by monkeys. At night we ate out at some unreasonably priced place across from the naval place.

Third day we had to check out by 8.30, so we did and then went to Pangkor. Not for long though, just a short tour round the island, which I would recommend only because of the amazing rollercoaster-like roads there. And the beaches of course.

Then went to Pasir Salak to the museum of history of Perak (or something – we were rushing since it was actually already closed so didn’t get a name or any pics) lovely place and awesome dioramas which make you feel like you’re there if you stare long enough. Outside the museum they decided to have a durian party, I personally did not join in but instead feasted on goreng pisang courtesy of Ilda and rambutans courtesy of Mdm. Zaiton. Got on the bus (which now was like a freezer filled with durian ice cream) and went to Tapah rest stop for maghrib. We went to Tapah mainly to look at the bathrooms and surau actually. It was raining so hard there and we got soaked. Had maggi for dinner, got on the bus and tried to sleep but the smell and the cold were too much. Soaked + freezing bus +durian smells + unwashed rambutan = sickly feeling and a cold. Got back to my hostel at 11, immediately did my laundry and died on my bed at around 12.45

Next day I had to submit 15 sketches of the trip. Thank God Madam said we only needed to come to studio in the afternoon session and not at 9.

Tuesday had to submit a Building construction & Materials report as well as present it (group work)

Wednesday had to submit an environmental services assignment as well as an intro to landscape architecture report

Friday was the presentation of the site analysis and also submission of our project A, a 24” x 24” painting. On Thursday I managed to stumble back to my far-away hostel room at around 5.30 a.m. even though my work was done by 3 a.m., i had to wait for the others to finish up so I could read their parts. spent that time cleaning the studio with Ilda and harassing the first years. btw, its amazing, KAED, at 5 am every floor is still full of people. Funny looking at their haggard faces. especially the first years. Lol.

Crazy! After Friday I thought I’d be able to relax a little bit, but no.

Monday have to submit another 5 nice sketches of the trip, A3 size. Also have to have gone and studied at least 2 art galleries complete with reports. Also have to re-do site analysis for our own personal use. Also must have a preliminary design idea or bubble diagram.

Tuesday I have anther BCM report/presentation due

Wednesday must submit our CAD 3S assignment. I don’t know how I’m going to do that since I don’t have the software on my computer. Need to then print it, bind it (hardcover!) and make sure it looks professional.

Pictures of the trip to follow soon so check back in a while…

Exploration and Discovery

by with No Comment AbstracteventsexamsfriendsopinionschoolTravel

I think in my previous entry I mentioned how I was done with my exams. Today however, my Intro to Built Environment class had an assignment to do, Urban Trail, which brought us to Petaling Street and Jalan Masjid India. It was my first time in Petaling Street, much to the surprise of our senior who was acting as our guide.

Let’s just say the day was full of discoveries, not necessarily related to the assignment itself. Actually, not related to the assignment at all. This much I’ll say, innocence can be deceiving – and I should know. On the flipside, you can’t judge a person on certain actions that they do, however disgusting those actions are. Somewhere, sometime, that person is better than you. Another piece of reflection – someone’s good image can go out in smoke in a matter of seconds, just the same amount of time it takes for impressions to be dashed. Also, some people are quite contradictory, even within themselves. Chivalry vs. destruction and disregard, for example.

Ok. Enough for now.

Chinatown

TAGGED – and apparently i’m doing the chicken dance :P

by with No Comment familyfriendslisttag

So I’ve been tagged by my sister, this should be interesting… Google FTW!!!

Rule: Go to Google and search the phrase. Tag friends. Please use your REAL 1st name.
Use the first thing that comes up that makes sense.
(don’t forget to use the ” ” )

Q: Type in “[your name] needs” in the Google search:
A: Maryam needs surgery to heal wounds she suffered during the multiple attacks on …

Q: Type in “[your name] looks like” in Google search:
A: Maryam looks like she is really happy to be around her cousin. How cute is that. And I love the slings and the color and pattern, very nice. …

Q: Type in “[your name] says” in Google search:
A: Just like Rokiyah, Maryam says she chose to wear the hijab on her own as a way ….

Q: Type in “[your name] wants” in Google search:
A: Maryam wants to be an individual yet feels like she has to reject at least some parts of the new culture in order to preserve a spot in a greater collective …

Q: Type in “[your name] does” in Google search:
A: Maryam does the chicken dance!

Q: Type in “[your name] hates” in Google search:
A: know Maryam hates it when I come home and get on the computer to type to all of you. So does Patrick. That’s cause I steal the computer from him and his …

Q: Type in “[your name] asks” in Google search:
A: Maryam asks you to try a beet. You do, it was OK, but you’re not crazy about it. … Maryam asks if your mom is buying him tickets to a show. You say no. …

Q: Type in “[your name] goes” in Google search:
A: Maryam Goes To France on Vimeo

Q: Type in “[your name] likes ” in Google search:
A:- Robert Scoble’s wife Maryam likes Scott Guthrie, a General Manager at Microsoft, just because: “He always answers his email.”

Q: Type in “[your name] eats ” in Google search:
A: 8 year-old Afghan girl Maryam eats her lunch in a camp for displaced people in Kabul on May 4. Millions of Afghans are struggling to survive in the …

Q: Type in “[your name] wears ” in Google search:
A: As a young Muslim American woman, Maryam wears a headscarf, known as a hijab, out in public and keeps her body completely covered so that only her hands and …

Q: Type in “[your name] was arrested for” in Google Search:
A: No results found for “Maryam was arrested for”.

Well some of the results were just fragmented and stuff, but overall they were pretty random! mostly from blogs…and i have never been arrested! yea!

Thus, I tag:

Sumeyra
Nadiah
Aziza
Ilham
Ayesha
Nada
Zeynab
Khushnood
Olla
Muhsin
Haneef
Khair
and…whoever else wants to have a spot of fun

In a land far, far away…..

by with No Comment eventsfriendsmovies

T watched the second installment of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince caspian, today. it was ok..some parts were good, some ok, some…cliched, it was after all a disney movie. i was given the feeling it was meant to be an emotional journey for the characters, but the only part in which they really succeeded in thoroughly portraying these emotions was their sense of desperate longing for narnia, how they missed it and their sadness in knowing that it was all temporary.

The Brazilian word ‘saudades’ is described as “it is a deep feeling of longing for someone or someplace, which is very sweet but also tinged with an inescapable sadness” (definition provided years ago by Antonio Carlos Jobim). It is this feeling that i so very often feel, and this movie captured that feeling very subtly, from beginning to the end.

The end credit song by regina spektor perfectly captures the mood, and was such a great way to end an otherwise just ok movie. it was like a wonderful surprise present. my sister andi were sitting there, thinking, we know that voice. we love that voice. yea for regina! in most of the other emotional scenes i was just an observer, and once or twice actually burst out laughing…more later

p/s: go listen to the song – its called “the call”
Regina Spektor – The Call

hmm so far i have edited this post 4 times…and i expect to do more soon. i guess its a testament to the movie, it made me think about stuff…

3rd times a charm…

by with No Comment eventsfriendsholiday

It’s Shakira’s birthday tomorrow so we all went out, me, Sumeyra, Hiba, Nada, and Shakira, to Sunway pyramid. the whole journey alone took an hour and a half – but we were on a mission. Today, we would go ice skating!!! YEA!!!! hehe last time i skated was when i was 7, my god how embarassing for a canadian, only skated twice in her life. Today marked the third time i was on the ice. Nada didn’t want to at first, after seeing the people on the rink as well as Sumeyra’s unhelpful gore story of how someone’s fingers were sliced off by the blades. but Hiba bought her tix anyways so she was forced to. anyhow i assured her nothing bad would happen, and showed her that “see, the skates aren’t even sharp!”

at first i had to get used to being all wobbly and slippery, getting my ice-legs or whatever. and the skates were kinda tight. pinchy. but after a while i kinda got the hang of it and had a load of fun. Sumeyra left us all and went off at first – come on we all know you know how you’re canadian/turkish! help us out! i fell down 4 times, all right after touching Sumeyra – she must be jinxed or something. the first time hurt, but only for a while. the second time hurt the most. third time was funny cos i kinda slid-fell and ended up lying eagle spread on the ice, laughing my head off. then finally the last fall gave me wet clothes as the ice was melted at that time. but even falling was fun..btw Hiba is really good at skating, very steady and smooth and fast enough…

we skated for about 3 hours then had lunch at wendy’s…yea after seeing so many ads in canada i wondered what it actually tastes like. but the burgers were puny sized. baked potatoes were nice though, but not salty enough. then while waiting for nada and hiba (who went off to satisfy their chocoholicism) we watched the people skating. there was this one girl with beautiful orange hair, all wild, looking like a hippie/gypsy/irish lass/free spirit and she was super nice, helping people out and teaching them how to skate even though she didnt know them. she was a good enough skater, but she fell once, slid and fell, and was also laughing.

must must go again….

The changing of fickle minds

by with No Comment eventsfriendsholidayplan

soooo port dickson bottomed out, because of certain and numerous complications. we ended up crashing ayesha’s house instead (kesian her brother, had to lock himself in his room for 2 days:P) but in the end, i think we all had a great time! ala didn’t know about her surprise party, she thought we were just heading to ayesha’s for lunch. we decorated the place with whatever we had, namely colorful scarves and those belly dancing things you tie around your waist, she has tons of them. we even made a paper plate ‘banner’ which was deemed ‘so childish’ by ayesha’s bro, but who cares.

after lunch we all crowded around the laptop to watch ala’s video of us mainly stalking her and her guy like deranged paparazzi, her expression when she watched it was priceless. but after that came the presents time and lets just say ala was super super embarrassed and/or horrified at some of the more risqué gifts…>_>(nothing too extreme laaah)

then at night we decided to walk over to plaza mont kiara for coffee so we crashed starbucks tho me and ilham decided to get stuff from secret recipe instead, and since we were there we decided to surprise zah with a belated birthday cake. worked out perfectly since she and ayesha went off somewhere for a bit to get some burger ayam special so when she came back we all broke into ‘happy birthday’

when we were heading back ala wanted to play in the water fountain, that was hilarious. i suppose her sugar rush kicked in just then coz while walking back she was singing and screaming out loud (i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream aaaahhh)!!!! kiiiinda scary…so it was me and ala walking ahead of aziza, ayesha, and hannat. then i look back at them and i see these 2 guys walking behind us and we all start panicking and walk super fast half running and laughing all the way to the main gate since the back gate was locked. that was really something.

the next day we cleaned up and left at around 2 ish. me zah and hannat wanted to go to klcc, and the rest went to uia/home. then when we were in klcc who else do we bump into but ala’s guy. it was funny coz we were saying how, next thing we know ala is here also. then we can say ‘ha ala you didn’t wanna hang out with us huh?’ and then we really do see her lol.

i borrowed like 6 dvd’s and as of yesterday i already watched 3 of them and finished reading the book i bought. now i’m wondering what am i gonna do for the rest of the hols? might go to pc fair today and mummsy wants to watch forbidden kingdom tho its not out yet…

Has the holiday started yet?

by with No Comment drivingexamsfriendshealthholidaylistplan

assuming i have finished writing all my exams, which i have, then yes, they have started. but i have so many things to do.

1. clean room – half done today
2. clean hostel room – half done yesterday
3. prepare ala’s surprise video thingy
4. arrange our studio for accreditation (? what if some people dah balik kampung?)
5. buy gifts for two special people
6. buy munchies for port dickson
7. pay ilham gas money for port dickson
8. basically get stuff ready for our port dickson trip aka ala’s surprise kinda bachelorette party
9. heapful of laundry to fold
10. go to my driving class

among other things. haven’t been out in ages, and lately i’ve been getting really massive headaches that are triggered by anything a bit too strong for my senses, like day before yesterday the sun was shining in the morning and my head pounded the whole day. then some bad smells leaked out from the kampung drains and i was spinning for two days. ugh. hope its not anything seriously wrong with my brain – i have hypochondria so i think the worst things are happening to me whenever something is wrong (all the better to be prepared right?) but its better not to say what i think…

An Account of how my day went Wrong

by with No Comment eventsfriendsschool

Today actually started last night. I was working on my group assignment. Of course, my group members contributed, but in contribution, I mean, go to wikipedia and copy the information. A kid could’ve done that. Even though I wasn’t really done, I had to go to bed at 1, because tomorrow (today) I needed to meet one of my group members at 10. we had agreed. I actually suggested 11, since I know she wakes up late, bt she said 10 was better.

Ok.

So I go to sleep. Wake up at 9.15 to get ready and stuff. I go and shower. I need to iron my clothes, so I trun on the iron. The cords are tangled so I try to untangle them. My iron falls down, hot plate side, onto my skirt. A big gaping hole appears and a whole bunch of sticky substances are deposited onto my iron. Stupid stupid iron. It burns everything!

Ok.

At 9.45 I get a message, from my group mate, saying can we meet at 11 instead? And please bring q2 ith you thanks.

Ok.

So I sit and finish off the assignment (meaning just checking the formatting, etc). I do this and then look at my watch – its 10.45. oh crap!

I rush and get dressed – wearing my holey skirt – and speed walk all the way to my studio. I reach there at 11. she is not there.

Ok.

I wait, and wait, and wait. For 40 minutes.by now I am getting really annoyed.

She appears. Does not apologize, or even show the slightest notion that she knows she is late.

Now I am really angry.

We check over our assignment. Then she tells me, the maximum is 3000 words. Yesterday she said it has to be 4000, but she wsn’t sure if it was minimum or maximum. We do a word count – 5638 words, not including title page, contents and references.

Sigh.

Sigh.

Her slides are not correct either. Good thing I already did some slides last night.

We try to reduce our word count. Suddenly the cd drive gets ejected, after we burnt our slides onto it. This nudges my thumb drive out.

Ok.

I put it back in, and look for our report. It is not there. Vanished. Missing.

…..

After 5 minutes of trying to figure out how to recover it (doesn’t vista have auto recovery???)I dump everything in my bag and walk off. The long walk back to my room.(to get the assignment saved on the laptop of course)

In my room it is windy. The door slams shut.

My day sucked. And its only noon.