Halal Travelling.

i was watching rachael ray's travel food guide throughout the states in usa. looking at the food featured were so yummy-licious.

then, i started thinking about how i'd have to hunt for halal or close to halal food if i were in the states for a holiday, for instance (i hope, some day it will happen! hehe. insya'Allah.) i suddenly thought how am i supposed to ask around the locals for non-pork origin food and non-alcoholic food (yes, not drink cos they love to put a dash of wine, beer and etc. here and there in their food, especially the higher end restaurants.) without offending anyone by just a simple question of " does your food have any forms of pork origin or use any alcohol as an ingredient?"

based on my experience in singapore, a multicultutral society which should already be used to muslims asking about such questions, people weren't really that honest or kind or polite or understanding as though the question was meant to accuse them of some crime. sheesh.

so, i've thought of a brilliant plan, hehehe. instead of asking outright whether they use pig origins or alcohol in their ingredients just to receive another dishonest answer, why not pretend that you are looking for such dishes? for example, instead of asking " does your food use pork or alcohol?" blatantly, instead, try asking " i'm looking for nice pork dishes with generous dashes of wine in it. do you happen to know of such restaurants around?". get what i mean? make it sound positive.

i sound like i'm so experienced at travelling and dining in countries with few halal restaurants eh? hehe. the only country that i've been to would partially qualify as this category would be bangkok, thailand. seriously, even their macdonald's and burger king, my favourite here in singapore, sells the original HAM, yes, pork burger. heh. yucks. so disgusting man the pictures in the menu. the funny thing was, when i asked the female muslims girls my age there if they know any halal food places in the shopping centre, they said they don't know. so weird! and, don't be surprised to see arabs and middle easterns who are clearly muslims eating at such places though. you'll see them doing that even in malaysia. yup. of all countries, malaysia. tsk tsk.

Drained.

The problem about having more than one paper a day is keeping up with the stamina and mental focus while pushing away the mental strain that would start to build up. that was exactly how i felt like yesterday. by my second paper in a day yesterday, all i wanted was the time to pass quick while at the same time i want it to stand still so i can answer the questions properly. yup. so fickle. by 4pm, i was so sleepy and tired, waiting for the time to leave school for tuition. sigh.

i've been thinking. being vague will only make others fill in the blanks themselves according to their own liking for you. this is especially when they are not in the situation or just plain do not know you. and, so, i've sort of reprimand myself to not let myself get into such shoes ever and made myself promise myself to try and not be vague. confusing enough? hehe. i'd rather fill in the blanks myself.

it is also true that when one do not know of the real context, one will misinterpret. yup. very true indeed.

♥ 27.04.09 ♥

it's that date again...

and, yes...

ns ♥ mr is ♥ nmsr.

for many more years to come...
Amin.

Imperfectly Perfect.

there was this advertisement about family on channel 5 which totally caught my eye, heart and mind. the message it tried to bring across was really beautiful.

it is the little imperfections that makes it beautifully perfect.

and i know that that is true.

(:

Glowing...

i am glowing and smiling. i feel like i'm glowing so greatly that it'll burst out of me. i feel like peter pan when he got a dimple from wendy. he glowed and "burst" with so much glow that it rocked and enriched the whole land of neverland with happiness! yup. i'm feeling like that right now. (:

April Birthdays (:

Happy Birthday to YOU, Ibu! Muacks!

And, Happy Advanced Birthday to Wak Lan too! (:

though none of them reads this, hehe.

Can I Take Back My Words?

ok. i take back my words. haha. the meeting with the prof was quite useful. cos i realise that i was on the right track. i realise that the parts i did study were fine. no serious problems. heh. alhamdulillah. right now, it's the sdl that needs to be done extra well. yikes.

Financial Planner? No, Thank you.

i almost teared when i saw a dead cat in the middle of the road which i was driving at. sigh. so kesian.

the professor wants to see me and some others about the ca. sigh. i find it redundant cos it's not because i don't understand. it's because i didn't manage to finish studying for the ca. irritating. heh.

anyway, i find it strange that there are many jobs out there for financial planners. prudential called me to ask if i was interested. wahah. strange because instead of conserving the money for important usage, people spend on financial planners in this economic recession. i'm pretty sure these people are paid quite a sum to, erm, plan finances. wahah. hmm. maybe, to these people, it's like paying a certain price for something that's beneficial in the long run... so, in all, in the long run, they don't really lose much. in the short run, go figure. heh.

Reality Check

i think i need a reality check.

anyway, the career talk organised by the BSS was quite interesting. I realise that for a graduate with just a Bachelor's degree, if one wants to go for research although he/she may not be qualified enough, one has to go an extra mile to get into the research arena as a career. there was this lady, the manager of the biological sciences faculty, who was an NUS graduate with a general life sciences degree, in the talk. she actually went knocking at the doors of professors in charge of a laboratory and a certain project, asking for the opportunity to be their assistants. FOR FREE. imagine. however, her move was a good one cos after some time, the professor asked her to become his fully-employed assistant for the next 9 years. she even participated in the writing of numerous papers and research. one day, the professor even asked her if she wanted to consider doing a PhD. amazing right? this was one of the means two professors suggested we do. in fact, this method is actually a good way to hone those technical laboratory procedural skills.

i suddenly thought about myself, whether i would have the guts and will to work in labs for free for a long time. i wonder if i could ever do just that. i realise i do not have that kind of passion to go to such a drastic extend. i never really foresee myself doing academic-based research, looking for new discoveries about science and biology in general.

farhanah and i had a conversation just now about what we really want to do after graduation. it is indeed true that it is all a matter of what you intend or foresee yourself doing once you enter the workforce. that is what should guide one in making the decision of whether to proceed with further studies or to enter the workforce straight. i for one, know that the health care industry is my calling. insya'Allah. but it seems real difficult to get in it. especially in this economic downturn. lots of jobs which i would love to work in the healthcare industry require working experience, laboratory skills and management of a team skills. knowing this, i hope the path i've set out for myself will be the right one. insya'Allah. one thing's for sure. i realise, i am not alone in this.

crossroad once again.

New Beginnings?

yeah. i deleted a lot of older posts. i just find them silly, stupid and redundant. i shall stop blogging about my life from now on. this blog shall be a reflection of my thoughts, if any. it shall hold any thoughts that i keep in my head and have the need to ramble about. you know, it's like talking out loud. in this case, it's writing out loud. cos i know i write a lot better than to converse. i stink big time at that.

bye.

Am I Asking Too Much?

i hate it when my own friend take advantage of me. once or twice is fine. but, if it's so many times, i cannot take it anymore! hrmph.

Post Dated Post

this shall be an update of many un-updated events. in short, events that are already basi. heh. busy weeks uh. every week, there will be a test. i thought neurobiology test last friday was the last one but i just remembered that microbiology test is coming next next monday. fortunately, the neurobiology review paper is due on the 6 april, pushed back from 1 april.

right now, just like yesterday evening, i am putting some heat on mom's left feet which is swollen. it has subsided a little.

oh yeah. mom has been at expo for health/lifestyle products promotion. it'll end on 22 march 2009. so, friends, if you happen to be there or will be free later today, do check it out yeah. i'm not sure which hall, hehe, though. all i know is that there is bj kadir. hah.

i am itching to get a haircut! i wanna cut my hair short. i suddenly thought of it while i was watching a drama and this girl had this really nice and cute cut. hehe. so, i did my own research online to find out the right one for my hair type and found this:


i told mom already about the way i want it. yep. my mom has been my hairstylist since i was born, hahaha. she has become better and more apt in her hair cutting skills. so, i trust her. well, i hope it does turn out right, hehe.

the love has been sick since thursday. i hope he's feeling better now. he didn't sound too well on the phone just now, but he was still the same old comic and witty self, hehe, which i love by the way. ;) please get well very soon, dearestestest! i am missing you loads! we have one week left before you leave for tekong in april remember? take good care, okie? :*

on the 7th of march was abah's birthday. i shall not disclose his age, hehe. he gets a lil sensitive when he realise his age, hehe. i bought him a gillette shaver. i know it seems cheapskate but i have a basis here. let's just say i really know my dad that well from observation at home. (: we made him a special toast breakfast with roasted chicken fillet, tomato, salad and kiwi fruit slices. something i learnt from watching the food channels on channel 5 in the morning. i love cooking programmes. one of my favourite is asmah laili's. she's a great cook. another is pbs' "everyday food". i love their dessert section. damn easy and simple. ok. i side tracked. i shall let the photos do the talking. (:

here are basi pictures of kak kila on her engagement day.

pretty right?

anyway, the other day, dad came home with this pear. it looked weirdly funny cos it has a humped head. abah and i joked that someone hit it on its 'head' till swollen like that, hehe. look at the picture for yourself and you'll understand what we mean... hehe.

the pear's on its side. so you can imagine how it looks like with the "benjol"...

this came in the mail last weekend. i am so excited but scared at the same time! haha. i already have in mind who to invite to the ceremony besides the parents. hehe. you are included, love...

the white areas were my home address. hehe. blog is public so must take precautions. heh.

oh yeah. i just remembered. i ordered some additonal necessary supplies for my new batch of sea monkeys. i started the new batch on tuesday evening. so, today's the fifth day already. feeding day. this time around, there are so many sea monkeys that hatched! difficult to count even! i guess there are about 20 or more. a lot, right? these are the extra supplies i bought. extra food, emergency pack, mating (hehe) boost, aerating pump for oxygen and more vitamins so they grow faster and healthier.


hmm. that's about it i guess. can't remember much more. nitez! or rather, morning! hehe.

An Engagement which got Us All Confused

Last two sundays, my cousin got engaged. The hantaran, the people who came and all seem so, erm, excessive. My sister keep asking where is the groom? I keep having to remind her that it was just an engagement, not a solemnisation. Again, proof of my previous point? Anyway, I'm glad everything went well and that all the roti kirai, which mom and i made were eaten. So no wastage. (:

My favourite moments were all the cute little babies! There was this baby boy, son of my cousin's friend, I think, who looks like afiq, mainly due to the tembam-ness. And, I got to carry him! Hahaha. I was so happy when the other girl who was carrying him passed him to me. Hehe. I know. So tak tahu malu. Then, my little fraternal twin cousins came! They are so cute! About a year already, I think. The younger one, I didn't get to carry cos she's kinda teary when other people carry her. And, I love the heart shaped jelly with strawberry inside and biscuit crust my cousin made. nice! yum yum. I think my cousin look damn pretty that day... (:

Photos will be up soon.

RIP: My First Batch of Sea Monkeys

My sea monkeys died!
cos i over fed them... hur hur. it's so saddening. especially the biggest one cos i actually can see it dying. the whole time, i was praying in my heart, hoping against hope, it'll survive. but, nope, it didn't make it. its death is officially today, 01/03/09 at 0930. that's when it's feet stopped fluttering. sigh. here's a picture in its memorium.


i'm sorry, love... i think i got too excited and over feed them. i'm supposed to feed them only once a week. and, maybe, due to lack of oxygen. i'm gonna invest on getting the necessary stuff to grow a new batch. this is for you, love... (:

Money Money Money

i think i've become extra thrifty with money recently, haha. i remember when i was at arts forum with annisaa for our medical sociology lecture last week, i saw a really pretty brown long dress which costs 20 bucks. so much cheaper and nicer than those at this fashion, even. but, i decided against buying it. haha. the following week, i was still thinking about it. wakaka. then, i was at bp plaza and i saw the delicious, crunchy and crispy fried chicken sold at old chang kee. i was just about to take out a dollar and twenty cents but changed my mind in seconds. if i end early around 2pm, i'd rush home just so i can have lunch at home. unless, of course, i hadn't had any breakfast. then, i would be too famished to wait till i reach home to eat. hehe.

the only time when i'm not too thrifty is when i spend it on my loved ones. only four in my life. my family and someone special. (:

i'm watching the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring as i am typing this. right now, it is on the part when gandalf is visiting the hobbits' village. the cute part was when the youngling hobbits were so happy when he let go of a few tiny fireworks. i still remember when i went to their exhibition in science centre about 4 years ago on the last day! damn cool!

anyway, my sea monkeys are growing! one is as big as an exclamation mark on this page, haha. it's kind of difficult for me to take a photo of them cos they are quite translucent. one day, i will bring them to let certain people see. hehe. especially you. i took 2 videos but i can't upload them here. they are boring anyway. nothing much. so it doesn't really matter.

the other day, during microbiology lab, after i've finished carrying out the respective observations, i took these photos. just to gross rayme out, haha. his reply was damn cute. :p

Pseudomonas aeruginosa producing green pigments with full haemolysis of the blood agar.

Staphylococcus aureus in yellow on the left & Penicillin chrysogenum is the white mushroomy ones on the right.

i think i am crazy, haha. did i mention that i love microbiology? hehe. (;

tomorrow will be burnt. cousin getting engaged. tomorrow straight after subuh gotta help mom cook. sigh. this is one reason why i don't like the idea of having big events. waste of money.

"judgement" day for the one closestest to my heart on monday. insya'Allah, it'll be better than you thought it'd be. if not, go through it with a strong heart and mind, ok? (:
i'll be here. home. a very short one week break.

alrightey. that's all. take care everyone.
dang. time sure flies real fast.
sigh.
(:

The Legendary Sea Monkeys! (:

i fell asleep while waiting for my laptop to load. the next thing i knew, i woke up with a start, confused at the time and wondering if i had already solat zuhur. (i had already solat, by the way, haha.)

then, while i was still in a daze, the phone rang.

it was rayme.

he told me to get ready to open the door cos he was already by my home door. i panicked. then, i told him to just ring the door. that's exactly what he did. mom saw him and called me. i answered the door and there he was with a toysRus plastic bag with a toysRus gift wrapped box. he said, "This is for you." i was shocked. So, i just smiled and nodded and took it from him and thanked him. And as usual, before any word can be further exchanged between us, he quickly said he gotta go and bolted, hehehe. ;p

the packaging he surprised me with.

as soon as i closed the door, mom asked me what did he send me and wondered if he came all the way from the East just to send me that. i assured her that he could have been from his aunt's place or something. However, from the call I've just had with him, it seems that he really did come all the way just to send me that! mom asked me whether i was gonna open it, haha. I was still reeling from the surprise that i forgot about opening it. when i meticulously opened the wrapper, the first thing i saw totally gave me a shock! i had to hold my excitement in front of mom and sis, hehe. gonna be 22, must be more mature, hehe. this was what i saw...


know what that is? i have been wanting this since i was a little girl! and, i planned to get it soon when i have a little more capital. if anyone noticed, apparently rayme did, hehe, i put my personal msn message as: "i wanna get sea monkeys! heh." i shall be extra careful about what i wish for next time, hehe. :p



anyway, i have already carried out the first phase of the sea monkeys culturation. step 1: water purification + some "magic" crystal, not sure what it is. this step has to be done overnight for 24 hours before adding in the eggs. so the egg hatching session shall be tomorrow at 1900. over the next few days, i will document their birth and development, hehe. stay tuned! (:

the 12-ounce tank.

anyway, i am so excited that i have a truly unique and special pet now!!! i have been wanting to get a pet. thought of a fish but realise it's too a hassle, the cleaning and feeding, etc. and this, sea monkeys are turly puuurrrrfect! thank you, rayme... (;

fyi, the sea monkeys were created by scientists a long time ago for a study on gravity and orbit in space. they were the perfect candidate cos their eggs hatch very fast, they replicate real fast and feeding is fuss-free. They were indeed used in 3 successful space shuttle missions. find out yourself about it. hee. (: (: (:

i am very happy today. hee. and i am truly in love with you. much more than ever.

p.s.: i feel so blessed that you are a part of my life. you are truly amazing. never fail to surprise me and bring a smile on my face. thank you...

Precious Times

whoopee! finally, the belos and nuruls have settled on a definite time and date for lunch! and, it's alternate weekly! last semester, fanah... hehe. next semester, you won't see me, ain or suli. insya'Allah. hehe. muni, i'm not sure.

i'm so excited for next wednesday. ada secret plan. betul tak, ain? (:

i hope the bbq/picnic family get-together which wak lan and i are planning for the maternal family is gonna work out fine. i'm so excited to meet my cousins, aunts and little nieces, not nephews, hehe. and it's my first time organinsing a family outing! (: but, i have yet to double check if it's okay to set up your own bbq pit without booking one. rayme said there's a possiblity of getting fined while my uncle and cousin said dah boleh. so who is correct? simple. ask the authorities responsible for it. so, calling up the authority, which i do not know at the moment, will be in my list today. that is, if i get around to doing it, as usual. hee. i've told my uncle though about it. if he still persists, then, lantak je la. hehe. especially since he's the one preparing the bbq pit. i hope kak nini can come. it'll be fun to have her around with little lydia. she was the one who called me up, all excited, hehe.

anyway, last sunday, i watched ong bak 2 with rayme. (: i didn't watch the first installation of the movie series but i like it. it was cool to watch the fighting scenes. there was one part when all the fighting styles were featured and we were excitedly figuring out which style was which. there was the kung fu, muay thai, japanese swordmanship and etc. the ending was kinda sad and heart-warming though. by afternoon, we were craving for long john silver's! haha. at first, i wanted sarpino's but he didn't want. but just as we left the place, he suddenly decided that he wanted that. ish ish. :p by then, it was kinda too late. then, we went to his favourite makan place but there was no parking lots available. so we made our way to tiong bahru plaza and settled on ljs which i had been craving since morning. i was craving for the breakfast but i guess the lunch menu would do. hehe. (: (: (:

alrite, that's it for now. gonna tell mom about the bbq plan. it's almost confirmed now. yep. i haven't told her about it, hehe. in fact, i told dad about it only yesterday evening.

Beautiful Coincidence? (;

yesterday, my family and i went to vivocity to get my much-awaited levi's jeans. rayme told me earlier that day that they have the levi's lady store especially for ladies. the only reason why i decided to splurge a little on jeans this time around was because i wanted something that i can use for many many years down the road. something that lasts long. and when else is the best time to get it when levi's is having their $50 cut promotion.

after a short tea time at the hawker centre across harbourfront and maghrib prayers at the nearest mosque, we went ahead to vivocity. i was driving. so i went to look for a parking lot. when i enter the gantry, i decided to try the basement 2 lots although it was full instead of the multi-storey lots which has lots only at level seven! we went around, past the blue sector, round to the orange sector and finally one big round to the blue sector again. that was when we noticed a western family getting ready to leave the lot. what luck! we got a parking lot that was so near to the entrance! the real surprise was, i realised that right next to that particular lot, was a black toyota rush, red plate and it was rayme's car parked right next to the car waxing/polishing shop! what coincidence! yup. our cars were parked right next to each other. i was all excited and shared it only with sis and later that day with mom.

when we went inside, after going around browsing the shops and ending up getting a hair-curling iron which was on offer and sis and mom wanted it, we finally end up in the levi's lady store. i was browsing through the jeans and suddenly turned around. and guess who i saw? rayme and family, specifically his mom and dad! what another coincidence!

it was seriously one heck of a day with surprises. lovely surprises. (:

Educational Vacation. Oxymoron.

it's almost the start of another semester. my last one. insya'Allah, i'll be graduating mid next year with mighty nurul. dad has been making me feel nervous about graduating and starting the work force. it's scary to leave the safety net of school and enter the real world.

then, there's THE question. is just a general degree enough? i hate it that i do not have any prior work experience. i can't help reminding myself that my cousin's so much more well adequate and equipped to enter the work force despite only having a diploma currently in the same field of studies cos she has all the experience and training. one thing i've learn from the past semesters in a university is that one should never take courses according to their interests as the aftermath may be costly. instead, one should take modules that are easy to score. no matter how we deny it, it is unavoidable that grades are indeed the most important thing in pursuing a certain area of studies. no matter how hard we try to enlighten ourselves with new and real knowledge rather than strive for just the grades, we can't run away from the fact that Singapore is a very meritocratic country. been there, done that. wished i had chosen the right exposure modules outside my field.

i truly salute those out there who diverge from the mainstream path and still can make things work out. i believe upbringing also plays a part. i've been brought up in a very protective family in which my parents won't even allow me to take up part time jobs such as those in starbucks, macdonald's or pizzahut as long as i do not get anything important or useful out of it except money. if i can make a job sound useful or educational to them, then will they only allow me.

enough of despairing stuff. i went to KL a week before ain and fanah went. partly to support my sis for her asean inter-varsity silat competition held at university of malaya on the 17th of december 2008. the combat part of the competition was boring. i can't help thinking of the stories rayme told me of when he was in silat during his younger days. wished i could have seen him in action during those days. ;) anyway, sis competed in the regu part. in other words, silat seni. if you guys have read the berita harian, she was featured in it. she and her two other mates brought Singapore a GOLD medal. quite cool to watch the indonesian and malaysian team in action. you can see that indonesia was good in the combat part. but when it came to seni, Singapore's team was good despite a little mistake towards the end. oh. i met my senior! julie! haha. i totally forgot her name! she recognised me. hehe. i even had to ask sis about her name. sorry julie. (:

sis, mom and me. in sis' hotel room in subang jaya.

while i was in KL, i couldn't help feeling proud to be a Singaporean because the facilities in KL such as traffic networks, rail networks and etc., pale in comparison to Singapore's. i can't help feeling lucky that i was born in Singapore and not anywhere else in this world. the university is so scary and old. here we are in nus, complaining about the lack of facilities, while the facilities in UM is even worse. i totally can't imagine studying there! gosh.

with that aside, navigating around KL with dad was fun. i didn't drive inside KL cos dad was afraid i'd miss certain exits and the traffic there is bad. mostly, we travel via the monorail within KL and the LRT to nearby cities. it was cool but tiring. walking around. penat. the cool part was watching our first ever movie together! with dad and mom of course. sis couldn't follow us cos she had to stay with her team. then, the 3 of us had 2 rounds of bowling. i lost to dad! well, i had my hurt thumb to blame. it got hit by the car door while i was day dreaming, hehe. ouch. i know. my parents were so pengelat. just to take advantage of the super cheap tickets for senior citizens, they claim that they are one. padahal, kalau check i/c, their age is still a little off. hehe. we even drove to genting for the day and went back to KL at night. taking the roller coaster ride was boring cos the parents didn't want to. i had to take it alone seh. but dad took the viking with me though. it was a nice but tiring vacation. it's like that was my best opportunity to take advantage of the company i had with my parents without having to fight for attention with the sis. i enjoyed watching a late night movie on hbo on the tv with mom. the mr. bean holiday movie. it was really a great laugh. (:

anyway, i came back on a sunday, down with a high fever and sore throat which lasted for four days and ended with a cough. my body must be tired and protesting from the one week in KL! hah. the last time i went to padang, i had food poisoning during the last 3 days. gosh. alhamdulillah, i survived that away from home!

before i end, happy new year everyone! it's interesting that the start of 2009 is so near to the start of a new hijrah year of 1430H. it's january 1, 2009 and it's only 4 Muharam 1430H. only 3 days different. cool eh? (:

i wish i could go on a holiday and travel the world with you some day. even with the family. insya'Allah. (:

i'm missing you. ;)

Mini Archery, Love?

we met and went out yesterday. it was fun. we watched madagascar 2. cute and funny and sort of a closure movie for the animals. (: then, we saw this small archery place in suntec and decided to take a look at it. we end up taking up 3 games in total in mini archery. cool eh? as usual, he won hands down. heh. i figured it's the way i oriented my body while aiming. that explains the bruise on my left wrist. well, it wasn't really a fair game cos he's used to handling and aceing firing rifles. in soccer, he's good at aiming at the spot he wants too! so, tell me, is it fair? hehe. ;)

it was a great day spent. the company was great. even though we are not together now, the bond that we shared then is still just as strong. i still have him as my greatest friend ever.

thank you for the day spent... (: