Music of my heart

Hey, am waiting for the Sch Waste Workshop to start, so I'm listening to my playlist in the subfolder Rock Kapak. Well, this is my most fav genre of all...the slow rock songs of the 80's and 90's. I could sing almost all of 'em (Read: sing=with the right lyrics, not necessarily like a nightingale!)

Do u listen to this kinda music too? C’mon…let’s share with me.

Well, although I’m a bad tempered person, I love mellow songs as they’re genial and easy to the ears. Hence Sinar.fm is one of my choice when I tune on the radio. I disfavor listening to exaggeration by Abby Fana, though… not to mention Kak Engku’s gelak-je-lebih poyoness in the Sinar Pagi slot.

The second fav subfolders are Jiwang Karat, that keeps all the mushy Malay songs (okay, u may start laughing at me now!) and the Sentimental subfolder (English). But, these affable jiwang karat songs diffuse warmth and keep me floating in the air when listening to them. Lagho x hengatttt!!! :P

The My Love Songs subfolder lists down all the songs I used to listen to when MrHubby (my bf, then) and I were in the long-distance relationship.

Okay, let’s move on to another genre. When I am in a good mood for head banging or swaying my hips, I’d select and play all the songs in the Malay Fast Beat or Morning Beat (English) subfolder. That rarely happens, though. But I tell u what- when I play ‘em all, my fingers would be knocking on the keyboard quicker than I would when I listen to slow drippy songs. Hahaha.

Other subfolders in my list are:

Lagu tawin: I made this collection prior to my wedding day, but still I listen to them nowadays (bila mood gatal nak bersanding is in the air).

Lagu Raya: is definitely a sesonal subfolder, but still whenever it's still months away to Ramadhan, I'd just play 'em all bila rasa gedik nak raya that is.

Nasyid: plus the recital of the verses in the Holy Quran. Mesti ada nih..kalo x, mesti kena panah dgn petir! :P

There were also times when I am carried away by emotions and would only play 2,3 songs and that definitely caused my officemates to suffer-having to listen to them again and again for hours. Hehehehe. Kesian diorang ekk?

What about U? What sorta music do U like? How many CDs do u have in your collection?

I don’t have many, but the most special one would be the one autographed by my Abg Nuar (ohhh…Anuar Zain centaku!) with some special scribbles in it. Hehehe.

Aisey...lupa lak nak snap gmbr that special CD :P

And I’d say that the most embarrassing album in my collection is a pirated cassette of Siti Nurhaliza. Hahaha. Bcoz I don’t like her, but I still used to listen to her singing anyway.

Let’s share with me yours... ur fav album and ur most embarassing album collection It’s gonna be an all-round glee!

Adam speaks Japanese!

I am supposed to blog about this yesterday, as yesterday Lil Adam was 2yrs, 2mths & 22days.
Anyway...

I realize lately, he loves to chuckle with his hands covering his mouth. Ala-ala perasan comel la tu!


This is one of the video of Lil Adam singing the Ultraman song.
Actually, there's plenty more, but I haven't transferred them from my hp.

I am so impressed with him bcoz recently, he managed to count to ten in Malay and English!!!
This was how he did it...

One, two, tee, four, six, seven, ett, nine, ten...

and
Satu, wa, tiga, epat, nam, tujuh, apan, ilan, puluh....

..and if u realize,no.5 is missing in both series. Hahaha. Ko x suka no.5 ke, Adam?

One more thing, he is always confused between KFC & McD.


No matter whenever he sees both signs/ads on TV, he'd say..."McDonalds..."
There were times when MrHubby taught him...

MrHubby: Look! What's that?
Adam : McDonalds
MrHubby: It's KFC...
Adam : McDonalds la!
MrHubby: No, that is KFC.
Adam :Bukan la, McDonalds!
MrHubby : Okay la...It's McDonalds (assuming he'd say KFC)
Adam : *silent*

Whatever, son... We juz love u to the max. And I can't imagine in a few months time, what would I be blogging on ur milestone...

Who's the good cook?

When I was a lil girl, I had a passion in cooking. Those days…there was no AFC, hence aside from Wok with Yan and some other seasonal cooking programmes (e.g. for Raya), thus every Sunday noon, I’d glue my butt in front of the TV for the cooking programme-Kuali, hosted by Laila Johari.

Usually, I’d keep my hands ready with paper and pen to jot down the ingredients and how-to’s of preparing the dishes. Most of the time, I focus on desserts as I love ‘em very much.

The recipes were copied into an exercise book that I turned into a ‘cook book’ together with the pix that I drew of how the dishes should look like.

Unfortunately, not only that I didn’t get moral support from Mak. Yes, I realize that there’s no way that I could turn any of the recipes into edible food. But, she even condemned and demotivated me, saying that I wouldn’t be able to be a good cook, as I don’t even have the experience to do so.

Well, it was saddening… considering the fact that she’s the one who never trusted any of her daughters to help in the kitchen. To the most, we’d only be given simple tasks like peeling the onions, or stirring the mixed ingredients in the pot. That’s all. So, who’s to be blamed if Along, Yone, Ina, myself –none of us doesn’t know how to cook at all?

Anyway, Allah granted us the basic skills to cook at least. Alhamdulillah…so far, neither Along’s family and nor mine have been admitted to the hospital after consuming anything we cook. And there are more times when I receive compliments from MrHubby on my cooking, rather than critics. I might not be able to cook nasi beriani, laksa, mee bandung, etc. (bcoz I haven't tried) but I can now cook Western, Italian, simple dishes and desserts.

So, who cares if my childhood dreams were once laughed at?

Tips/strategy to be the Prom King/Queen

No...no... I wasn't the one!!!! Pls read the entry to the end.

As I have been touting last week, I had a faculty dinner last Friday. Well, it wasn't a great one. *sigh*


The setting was grand! Yet it seems like the participation/attendance was a bit poor, plus I feel like only certain people are being 'celebrated'...esp. those researchers (in agreement with the Uni's aim to become an RU).

Anyway, I promise, next year is gonna be my year!!!





Well, that nite... as encouraged by my fellow bloggers frens, I wore my bluish purple dress as u could see in the pix...

It's nice to see most of the faculty members put extra effort to look their best, not to mention some fashion victim :P

I arrived early with DrWan (as scheduled in the tentative) and took a seat next to the former Deputy Dean & Dr Harinder.





We chitchat and I didn't get up of my seat until the event ended, although part of me really wanted to go around and say hi to some people.

I believe that's the reason I wasn't noticed, besides the lacking in terms of my contribution to the faculty.

Wak Lempo, the Jamu Nano guy.

Joget and saturday nite fever by the admin team.

Hey, I don't mind not getting the Prom Queen title, as I don't wanna be paired with the narcisstic Prom King. Hahaha.
But the Prom Queen wore a dress with a black inner, which I think is only half-elegant.




So, the tips/strategies to make yourself in the limelight...

1. Wear something nice, though might seem overdone.
Don't be afraid to apply a 5-inch make-up or fake eyelashes. Wear bling-blings as much as possible. It's better than u appear as the sloppy one.

2. Arrive a bit late, so others notice how well u dress up. This was my biggest mistake. So, lessons learnt.

3. Else, u might have to walk around, chitchatting with others. Although u might have to excuse urself from the table, go mad cam-whoring. Ignore others if they are staring sternly at u.

4. If no.3 makes u look desperate, tone it down by doing a performance. This is an indirect way to be in the limelight. Nevertheless, make sure u don't fool urself with silly performance like a clown.

5. If no.4 is not possible (bcoz u have stage fright or u just don't possess the talents to sing/act), do something significant for the Faculty, that'll make u go up the stage. E.g book publication, research, gila research, research lagi, lagi-lagi research...etc. Hahaha
Hahaha. This particularly applies to my workplace. Very the poyo!




Hmmm....As I said, next year is gonna be my year.
I mean, not to be a Prom Queen, but I'll go up the stage for something I can be proud of.

So u think u can dance?

Actually, I love dancing very much. From the traditional joget, to modern ballrooom dance. I used to watch Strictly Dancing (in OZ) and now I love it when there's Sehati Berdansa.

Last 2 nites, I watched So U Think U Can Dance, the reality show. I just love to see the contestants swaying their sexy slender hips to the beat of the songs. Whoah!!! So graceful!

And I realize Cikebum has also developed the same passion. It has been a few times that he stretched his arms towards me when I was watching the dance shows.


I tot he wanted me to dukung him. Instead, he insisted on tilting and inclining together with me!!!

Galak betul! Siap lembik-lembikkan badan lagi to let me bend him backwards. Hehe. Dari mana lagi le dia dpt penyakit galak nak menari tu? :P

Looking back, I could have been good at salsa by now, if I shared my passion with C.fu before. Err... I mean salsa the dance, not the the tomato-based spicy sauce.

That's bcoz he too, loves dancing! Aha! Pakcik tu nampak je ganas (mati aku kalo C.fu baca nih!) tapi bab-bab nak jadi romantic ni, x agak-agak!

And I was the unfortunate one for not having the courage to attend dancing class with John, my classmate or to find a friend to go together.

Well, salsa might sound a bit flashy on me. It requires a good partner to move together at fast beat. But hey, I also love tap dance!

I wish I could put on the tap shoes and clack across the floor. It's nice to 'hear' the dance and to control the music we make with our own feet!

How to tap?

Step 1

Put on your tap shoes and some cool music.

Step 2

Start by tapping your toe to the beat. Do this faster and faster to build strength.

Step 3

Brush the ball of one foot forward and then back to shuffle.

Step 4

Step back on the ball of your right foot and step on your left (or vice versa) to do the ball change.

Step 5

Brush forward with the ball of your foot and step on the ball of it for the flap.

Step 6

Do a cramproll by jumping up and landing with your feet. Do this in the following order: Land first on the ball of your right foot, then the ball of your left foot, followed by your right heel and, finally, your left heel.

Step 7

Step with your right foot and touch your left toe behind it for the step toe.

Step 8

Learn the stomp. It's similar to stepping, but you hit your foot on the ground to stomp and then lift it off (placing no weight on the foot when you stomp).

Step 9
Perform the shuffle hop. Do the basic shuffle with your right foot and, leaving your right foot in the air, jump up.

and if it didn't work...

Just do this...."Hantam-sajalah-Labuuuuu-step" :P

Deep Blue Lense-copy paste contest

This is a very easy-peasy contest. Let's try our luck!

Just copy n paste...

AND click on the pic above or HERE for further details.

Deadline is 6th Dec 2009.

What I love most is the prize...
* outdoor shooting
* 1 photoshoot session for 1-2hrs
* 100-150 shots (+ 50 edited pics) in CD
* location around Shah Alam & Putrajaya only

And guess what, they are offering a very low introductory price of RM50 for their service too! So, if we are not lucky enough to be selected by random.org, we are somehow still lucky to be offered such a reasonable price!

Hmm..so now I can start daydreaming :P

Compliments that complement

When I meet new people, I always introduce myself with my short name, Is... bcoz I believe not everybody could remember my full name, although it is just an 8-letter-word. Yes, my full name is just made up of 8 letters, simple and not overdone like most kids nowadays.
Anywa, back to the introducing with nickname...it particularly applies to international people I meet, bcoz I believe they might find it hard to articulate a Malay name.

But hey, I was wrong.
Yesterday, upon hearing my full name...my newly found Iranian friend (from the iCeL2 conference) said "Is that a Spanish name?"

:P

And that wasn't the first time I got such a response. There were times when they replied with "That's a beautiful name! U shouldn't have use your nickname."

or
"I like ur name...Is******, Is******" (mumbling my name a few times).


Well, to be frank, I used to wonder how did I get my name. The first two syllables synchronize with Abah's name-at least that was what I thought...until I asked Abah personally.

I got to know that actually the first syllable is of Abah's name, while the second syllable was of Mak's. Aha!!! How come it never crossed my mind for the past 29yrs?

So, I asked Abah about Along's name. Hers sounds similar like mine (the first two syllables) and again, I was surprised to know that it is generated from our parents' names too!

Owing to the similarity of pronunciation in our names, whenever her friends were introduced to me, they would make a wild guess "Oh...so, is your brother's name Iskandar?"

The fact is no. His is Mohd Firdaus.
And none of my younger sisters got such names too. They were given beautiful and meaningful Arabic names that I wish I had.

What to wear?

This coming Friday, I'll be attending a dinner and the theme is elegant/glam.

Now I am wondering of what to wear. As usual, I always wanna look my best esp. at such events, but I dont wanna overdo it. Kang mak sorang je melaram sakan, ada pulak diva yang makan hati!

Anyway, last semester's dinner, the award for the so-called-prom-queen was given to a colleague. Later, some students told me that actually, they decided to give it to me in the first place, but considering that people might complain why is it always me...so, they purposely gave it to another person.

Gambar hanyalah cadangan hiasan

Hahaha. Hampes x?
So, I suppose there's no point for me to put extra effort la to look good next time.
But that's the dinner with students.

The one on this Friday is organized by the faculty (attended by staff). So, should I or shouldn't I dress up?

Another year

Another year to create

precious memories together.

Another year to discover

new things to enjoy about each other.

Another year to build

a life rich in love and laughter.

Another year to strengthen

a marriage that defines “forever.”

Happy Anniversary, dear!

(Poem by Joanna Fuchs)

What makes him so special?

*An entry in conjunction of our 3rd anniversary*

Hey peeps, have a glimpse at your better half's pic now.
Look into his eyes (err...the pics, I mean) and ask yourself- what made u attracted to him when u first courted him?


The reasons we fall in love are often a mystery, yet the reasons we stay in love are far less elusive.

Mine might not be a perfect partner, but he is an ideal one for me. The set of qualities that our partners possess has made us go beyond looks, charms and success. Those qualities might be uniquely meaningful to us alone, but now let's talk about what makes a man special in our eyes.

Affectionate
Ideal partners should have physical, emotional and verbal affection that demonstrate the feelings of warmth and tenderness. Don't talk about sexual affection here, bcoz when we first got to know our partner, it's not in the list.

Boy, I was afraid if MrHubby (MrBoyfren, then) would find it awkward to display his affection as he was not of that type. Fortunately he changed as time goes by. Hahaha. Padan muka dapat bini yang suka PDA (public display of affection).

Having a non-affectionate partner must be pathetic, eh? Kontrol macho konon. Sepak kang, baru tau...

Well, marriage is a two-way communication, thus should be enjoyed by giving and accepting the pleasure of company.

Understanding and empathetic

Who would want a non-understanding partner to share his/her life with? Gila wei tanggung emosi sorang-sorang.

Couples should be aware of the commonalities between them and understanding is the key to appreciate the differences. Empathy is also important to communicate with respect and feeling the wants, attitudes and values, so we feel appreciated. Do u agree with me?

Sense of humour

I strongly believe that most of us love to laugh together with our mates. It is in fact a lifesaver in a relationship. You wouldn't wanna laugh alone at your own jokes, would u?

This quality will help to ease the tense moments in a relationship. Well in the first year of our courtship, I was worried if he wouldn't understand why was I behaving childishly. But now I am proud to say that I am playful and love teasing him...

You know... I know some couples whose husband have to start the jokes with "Darla, I'm gonna tell a joke now, eh..." (Poor guy!)

Beriman/beragama

Well, even Ning Baizura during her single days (so are the other sexy female celebrities in Malaysia) when asked of the characters they look for in the opposite gender, the typical answer would be..."Oh...saya nak lelaki yang beriman."

What the.

Anyway, as a matter of fact...I find guys who have extra knowledge on the religion attractive! It's great to see that there's still plenty of guys out there who could recite the Quran well, who could advise us with dalil naqli to support their stand or who intelligently discuss religious matters wisely. These people sure have a bonus point in my eyes!

Full of patience.

This is amongst the top of my list bcoz it takes a very mentally-tough person to endure with a bad-tempered person like me.

No man can be my life partner if they are lacking at this. Enough said.

Sensitive/respectful
We should be sensitive to the wants and desires of our better-halves, value each other’s interests and be supportive of the goals in life. Some people find it hard to practice, but the key is simple- communicate.

I am an expressive person, hence there's no excuse for MrHubby to say "Oh, sorry dear...I didnt know that!"

However, while we closely share emotions, we still have to be respectful of one another’s personal boundaries.

Hahaha...MrHubby was so not-fat b4 I left him for my study

Grown up

Basically, all of us are grown ups. But what I mean here is maturity that make people act like an adult.

I used to have several not-so-matured bfs once ago, and it was like knocking my own head on the wall. Sakit hati ada partner yang x cukup matang! So, I told myself it's a no-no to settle down with this kinda men.

Grown-ups won't go for someone to compensate their weaknesses or shortcomings. Neither would they complete their incompleteness. It's more on having a spouse with qualities similar to ours, with whom we can share life in a compatible way.

For whatever qualities that MrHubby possesses, I am grateful to have him.

For whatever qualities he is lacking, I'd remind myself two things...

-He'll improve one day

-I myself have weaknesses to improve...