cool couple

i am in my sister in law's cool condo in johor bahru and the view of singapore is superb. this place is huge! and rase mcm orang kaya lak duduk sini.. thinking of going swimming tomorrow before heading back to kl.

and since my parents, my brother, niece and nephew are in singapore today, i stayed in the condo watching astro and marking papers the whole day.. since our house stopped subscribing astro, i had a lot of catching up to do.

so i watched back to back Bill and Giuliana reality show. and i totally love this couple! they are cool, successful, mature, laid back, and they are truly bestfriends-soulmate kinda.. not so cocky, not so manja manja gedik.. and not much of PDA.. which i think is cool..

best :)

miss ikhwan..

Read more...

2 months

'Pipi dah gemok la'

Yes! I said to myself while looking at the mirror. I gained some weight wooohoo!! I do feel like badan macam berat berat sikit. Perhaps those yogurts are working out for me :)

Today is our 2 months anniversary.

Happy anniversary bb :) ich liebe dich von ganzem Herzen

*honeymoon in Krabi Island*

Read more...

what Adrian said hit me

I'm back in KL. Part of me is happy to be home surrounded by my family but a huge part of me is back in Mannheim, Deutchland. During our trip to Paris (which I have yet to blog about), we met a Canadian guy, Adrian and now keeping in touch. He said and I quote, It's kind of weird to be home. Back to reality can be strange. But that's life. It kinda hit me hard.

I couldn't agree more. The first thing I did when I landed at KLIA was switched on my hp only to find that my Maxis has been barred, so I used Ikhwan's prepaid to call him. Traveling alone for 11,000 km was something new to me. I am just getting used to the airport procedures, since my trip to Singapore and Krabi recently. Jarang jarang la naik kapal terbang ni.. I used to travel a lot with my family back in the 90s. But I was like what.. 10 ? All I could think about was chocolates and keychains and souvenirs from foreign land. I couldn't be bothered where my passport was, or if I had enough cash in case of emergency.. and laptops and handphones ? what are those ???

My dear loving husband waited till I passed the imigration and waved at me with a half hearted smile on his face. We both knew that this is gonna be the longest 6 months ever before we said our goodbyes with almost felt like neverending hugs and kisses. Tears were falling from both of my eyes from Frankfurt Airport all the way to Calcutta, India I think. The German guy who sat next to me glanced at me a few times but I couldnt care any less. Of course I took all my meals, even with the peanuts. Malaysia Airlines is a lot better since the 90s. But travelling alone, especially when u just got married, after having a very long honeymoon and a taste of life together, the wait to hear his voice again felt like forever. It was the longest 12 hours.

Going to the loo was a big challenge since I was sitting next to the window, I had to wait for the German guy to wake up before asking him if I could pass through. And yeah, I had my laptop in the handluggage but Ikhwan said, tawakal je lah. And so I did just that. Alhamdulillah everything went well, the flight to KL was smooth, not much turbulance as it was going to Frankfurt. However, it felt safe having Ikhwan next to me even with the turbulance going on.

So here I am, on my desk in my room with my table lamp and notes and laptop. wishing that Ikhwan was here or I was there with him.

That's life. leider nicht sehr gut, for now. perhaps a better tomorrow and days after. counting days.. counting days..

Read more...

my first Montag in Mannheim (monday in mannheim)

German word of the day is Anmelden, means, Sign In.

Yes, i figured it out here cause everthing is in German. The google.com.de instead of google.com.my, the keyboard (I am still having a hard time finding the DEL, CTRL and SHIFT key and sometimes confuse the Y and the Z and they have this ß, ö, ä, ü). I had a hard time installing JAVA cause everything was in german.. It took me awhile to take out $ from the ATM machine cause Ikhwan had to assist me, the tv channels are all in German except CNN.. even the instructions to the curry powder are in german :) hehe I laughed and thought gosh, Guten Tag, Danke and bitte schön are just nanobytes of the German language.. and I really wanna learn more now :) it's exciting!

It's amazing. Living in a foreign land, with a foreign language and everything else is foreign except your other half who understands what your saying.. I still sometimes pinch myself (literally). Alhamdulillah..

We still have a bit of jet lagged, and sometimes the occassional homesick kicks in. But thanks to Ikhwan's Voipstunt, I call home on average 2 times a day to check on Mama Papa and sometimes ask Mama on how to cook curry or to manage kitchen things (which I am learning very hard now). No complaints from Ikhwan so far. And knowing him, he doesn't complain. Now that I am staying with him and understanding his life over here, I learned why he doesn't complain. This experience opened my eyes on how we should really be thankful with what we have. And Alhamdulillah.. Things could be worse.. But Allah is generous to bless us with what we have now. I am not just saying it because he is my husband and the bunga bunga cinta talk, I know him for how many years, though through very distant but we talk a lot and we understand and trust each other. People who know him knows that he doesn't complain. That's just Ikhwan. One of the many reasons why I love him.

Yes, married life in a foreign land. I am still coping and learning. Sometimes I feel like it's orientation when he shows me how to use the coffee machine, how to do the laundry, or showing me around places or what to do when what happens. Hehe. There are times that I feel like a freaking Asean tourist (which I am apparently) with 1 DSLR camera and a very good compact camera with 2 batteries (yes I know I am a freak). I get that occassional weird look which I am starting to get used to. I am loving every German thing and I will say, 'Omigod, that is sooooo German!!!' and of course he will roll his eyes and shake his head.. hehehe..

People will ask me, 'how's married life?' (usually the ones who are married) and me being naive will tell them what I feel. Some will give advices, some will just grin and give me they 'yeah this is only the beginning' look. It's hard to comprehend what people have in their minds when they throw me those questions. Are they just waiting to rub it in to my face ? Are they genuinely happy for me ? Are they waiting for me to give them an answer that they really wanna hear ? Honestly, I think that people should not ask someone on how's their marriage life is like. Because in Islam, and to me, personally, I feel that it's very personal. And I believe that whatever a person share with their other half is only between the two of them.

So yes, it's been a few weeks. And I don't know much about this new life but give me a chance to explore and learn and experience. And I think the best of people to give advice to us are our parents. Because they raised us from day one. They are the ones who know us, our actions, the way we think and the way we handle any situation. and the best part is.. They have never asked us 'how's married life?' because I know at every prayer, they pray for us.. Thanks Mama, Papa, Mak and Ayah :)

I know I promised a lot of pictures but give me time to edit it first ok.. Cikyah shared with me a very interesting lesson in photography she learned from Sifu Foo, 'there's always a story to be told in every picture. You must concentrate and think very hard on what story you want to tell and click with your heart'

what's the story behind this picture ?

Bis später! Auf Wieder sehen people :)

Read more...

my life starting now

Dora's back people :) I am blogging from Ikhwan's house in Mannheim, Germany.

Yes, alhamdulillah we are now married after 3 and a half years of long-distant relationship.

Thanks to the Al-mighty Allah, my husband, Ikhwan lafaz his akad with one lafaz at 1104am on 13th June 2009. And after that, it rained for abit at Masjid Ar-Rahman, Kg Tunku. Hujan rahmat :)

The walimah too was a success thanks to my family, especially Mama & Papa and of course my wedding planner, KakWar who did a superb job! May Allah bless my family and everyone who helped..

So this is marriage life. Sharing, caring, loving and everything. The past is the past and the present is where we are. And for me, personally, I want to focus on the present and plan for the future, insha Allah.

I think that is enough for now.. The flight was a bit bumpy and I slipped and fell right before boarding the plane (yes, that's me, clumsy dora hehehe). I think I'm gonna rest forabit more. We're gonna go grocery shopping later to stock up food for us to cook.

I'm thinking that I will write less and post more pictures.. since pictures can tell you a thousand words :)

Yes, you can be sure there will be loadsssssssssss of pictures :) Salam

Read more...

my first of April

Hari ini menandakan bulan yang baru. Aku telah pun memflip kalender aku dan dia menyatakan APRIL 2009. Hari ini juga, kami staf - staf mendapat punch card baru. Lebih kurang 2 jam 15 minit yang lalu, aku telah mempurchase tiket ke Europe. Yes. Europe. InsyaAllah, aku akan ke Europe selama sebulan untuk bercuti :) Di mana? Mengapa dan dengan siapa ? Akan direveal satu hari. Sekarang ini, aku sedang menghitung hari. Dan apabila hari itu hampir tiba, pasti akan dikongsi, insyaAllah :)

Hari ini juga aku berperasaan gembira. Gembira kerana tanggungjawabku mencurahkan ilmu kepada pelajar - pelajar Tahun Asas yang terdiri daripada bangsa Melayu, Cina, India, Sudan dan Somalia sudah pun dilaksanakan. Gembira kerana mereka juga turut gembira selepas aku menyatakan, "That is all for Statistics. We have just finished our syllabus". Maka kedengaran mereka bertepuk tangan dan ber'high 5" tanda gembira kerana selepas ini hanyalah tinggal Tutorial, Quiz, Test dan Revision. Namun, hati ini bercampur dengan perasaan sedih. Sedih kerana kumpulan pelajar ini merupakan kumpulan pelajar yang paling unik yakni, multiracial dan international sepanjang kareerku (yang tidak sampai 2 tahun lagi) sebagai seorang Pensyarah. Semester ini aku mengenal erti sebenar teaching and learning. Aku mengajar mereka tentang Statistik. Mereka belajar tentang Statistik. Mereka mengajar aku tentang budaya Timur Tengah, aku belajar tentang budaya Timur Tengah.

Seorang pelajar yang sering meluangkan masa untuk berbual denganku menceritakan pengalamannya ketika mula - mula menapak ke KLIA.

"From the internet, I know that Malaysia is an Islamic country. But I thought that Malaysia is something like the US, very modern coz I saw from the pictures (gambar apa la yang ditengoknya) But when I first reached KLIA, I saw a Malay wearing the Hijab, it was very beautiful. Because I always see this in my country, and now, I am in another country, and there is also a Muslim wearing Hijab. It felt amazing. I see that Islam is everywhere. And when the first time I heard the Adzhan, MasyaAllah, I cried. Then the first time I wanted to call my dad, I waited for the Adzhan and said 'Dad, do you hear that? They also have Adzhan here.. It's amazing!' "

Entah mengapa, aku sungguh kagum mendengar cerita ini.

Walaubagaimanapun, di sudut hati ini, terdapat satu perasaan yang sukar digambarkan dengan gambar dan tidak dapat dicoretkan dengan tulisan. Yang pasti, aku yakin, Kuasa Allah itu adalah sangat besar. Paling besar. Dan setiap yang niat di hati, Dia-lah yang Maha Mengetahui.

Read more...

my time alone in Kuala Lumpur

I was really hyped up about going to Kuala Lumpur (KL) today. For someone who works in a ghetto place, going to the city for the weekend is like a big deal (even when I live in PJ). There were some change of plans so I decided to go alone. I could use this time to think and reflect (again) and perhaps enjoy the city alone. Usually I would prefer driving cause it's less hassle, takde tolak tolak, I feel safer, senang nak park. I don't mind paying for parking fee and fuel for a little bit of comfort and it's easier if it rains. However, semenjak $ banyak disalurkan kepada perkara2 lain, and since I was going there alone, I hit the city using public transport. I wore like a schoolkid / uni student, took my small backpack, wore comfy sneakers and brough my DSLR in a small bag.

Yes. Public transport. I haven't used that for quite some time. A year, maybe? My brother dropped me Taman Bahagia LRT and I went straight to Masjid Jamek. Travelling was easier since I reloaded my Touch & Go. The city looked pretty much the same. Dusty and jammed and everyone seems to be heading to the same place as I was. PWTC.

See, there's a travel fair going on and people are just flocking in to PWTC. Macam nak kejar apa je. Takut tiket habis kot ? For me, I had a very specific objective, so I went straight to the appropriate place. MAS. I wasn't looking for some holiday package. I was looking for a ticket. A return ticket. And when I saw the destination and the price, I smiled and actually jumped a little. Murah bangat! Anxiously, I qued while biting my fingernails waiting for my turn.

Cust Serv : Yes Miss how may I help you?
Me : Hi. Can I know the exact price for flight to ________ on ________ ?"
Cust Serv : (Looking into computer clicking here and there) Ok... travelling alone or 2 people?
Me : Alone
Cust Serv : Ok.. For flight to _____ return it's RM ****, all inclusive. You have 30 days from departure date to return to KL.
Me : Oook.. Do I book first now? Are there any booking charges?
Cust Serv : Sorry, you have to pay and I give you the tickets right away.
Me : (gulp) Oo.. but I'm not sure of the return date yet.. Can I change the return dates?
Cust Serv : So sorry.. once you've purchase the tickets, no changes can be made..

Alamak. Susah la pulak. Even though murah GEGILE but.. alot of factors I need to consider first and I need to talk to someone first. I didn't buy the tickets today. I still needed more time. However, I purchased a headphone for my mp3 player instead since there was a Digital Fair too. Singgah juga Canon nye kedai but no wide eye lenses around for sale, just body + kit set jer.

Buntu la jugak for awhile. I searched for Lufthansa but no other airlines were there. Just MAS. I walked back to LRT Star and sat for awhile. 3 trains passed. I still couldn't decide on what to do next. I took the 4th train and headed to Pavillion. I changed to Monorail at Titiwangsa where I got a nice seat before the monorail was sandwiched with many many kiasu people. AAh! I exhaled when I reached Bukit Bintang.

Yup. I looked at Menara Genesis. It was the building where I used to drag my feet to go to work. For me, the sounds of techno music with Chinese salesman/salesgirl with blonde-rebonded hairdo and long fingernails is Bukit Bintang's true identity. Not to forget the salesperson who sells moving toys at RM 10 in front of Maybank. Youngsters (sadly Malays) who hangout in groups are completely oblivious at the fact that precious time is lost just by enduring this lepaking culture.

Like a schoolgirl who just entered the city, I innocently walked towards Pavillion. This would be my second time visiting this gah place. Watching yuppies with their cup of coffees discussing projects and clicking at their PDAs reminded me of the lifestyle I had before becoming an academician. (only, i didn't have PDA, just.. had a lot of coffee and no projects :p still drink coffee now too though). Comparing this scenario with the lifestyle I am leading now is like two different universe.

Finally I reached my destination. I stood still and looked up as everyone was walking. Wow. So this is PAVILLION. but.. It looked just like any other shopping mall to me. Except the COACH store by the side, which you rarely see in KL. But one thing you see a lot in KL is that the youngsters, specifically, mat rempit kinda or gothic chic kinda, they like to hang outside of the mall. I felt a big difference when being outside of the mall and inside. There was a whole different crowd inside. How freaky!

Pavillion reminded me a lot like Singapore. As usual, I took my time looking at the Directory (its a thing that MSO and I do when we are at shopping malls), at that time, I missed him. A lot. I acted cool since I had my mp3 player on. I was bopping my head a little (padahal lagu slow masa tu) cause I didn't wanna look like I was really lost and scared. I didn't know where to go really. But I was hungry. Nando's. Okla, so I had my lunch there. Alone. Yes, I was there alone. I took my time eating my Mild Peri - Peri with Garlic sauce. I didn't wanna look like a complete loser so I took out my planner and started to scribble notes while eating (yes, it did feel like a yuppie at that time). I took out my phone and started SMSing and calling people. I really did look busy when in actual fact, I felt lonely in a middle of a busy city. How is that possible?

Lunch was done. As a normal teenage girl (ewah) , shopping was next in the list. I remembered Tangs had a MEGA sale so I headed there. Malangnya, takde ape sangat. The shopping vibe in Tangs, Pavillion was not like the shopping vibe I had in Singapore. I walked around here and there. Stopped by at Crabtree, Braun Buffel, G2000, Soda, Parkson, Sembonia, Charles and Keith and a few others I can't remember. I decided to buy a pair of Soda Jeans and Soda Blouse to go with it. And I bought a pair of Sembonia shoes (FINALLY!). To kill time waiting for the rain to stop I bought some stuff in Parkson.

It was almost 6. I walked out of Pavillion. I walked by at Lot 10 and of course stopped by for an Iced Blended Chocolate at San Francisco. This place is a very meaningful place for me. It's where MSO and I had met for the first time after 7 years. Everytime I'm at Lot10, pasti akan ke San Fran :) It's like my thing :)

Mama called cause she was worried. Apa la jadi kat anak aku sorang2 jalan di KL.. "Kol berapa nak balik ni ? Dah kol 6.. "... "ok ma, dah on the way ni" (pdhal singgah Lot10 dulu on the way tuh).. hehe. I was too tired to shop. After looking at some shirts, I headed to the train station. Seperti gadis kampung, saya terkejut dan takut melihat begitu ramai orang (esp mat rempit) at Bukit Bintang. I wanted to go home so badly cause it was just too scary. I was holding a lot of things but lucky for me, I got a seat. I reached KL sentral. I bought 2 pair of hijabs (like the one I mentioned before) for RM 30. A fair deal.

Lastly, I waited for the LRT train. I headed to Taman Bahagia again. Finally reached home safely at 730.. that's how I spent my time alone in the busy city, kuala Lumpur... very much different from kuala selangor, kan ..?

Bunyi macam tak pernah gi KL kan ? hehehe.. Lamenya x gi kl...

** post ini akan diedit lagi ye. Nanti nak bubuh some pictures I snapped.

Read more...

my holiday plans

Googling a place to go for a holiday. I know I want to feel the sandy beach in my feet and swim the deep blue ocean and take pictures of sunrise and sunset (note to self: need to buy an extra memory card and extra batteries for my SLR), drink fancy drinks with little umbrellas by the side of the glass, wear pareos and flip flops with my aviator sunglasses.

So these are my final options :-

Krabi (Phi Phi Island macam cerita The Beach.. Fabulous)
Pangkor
Redang

Or if I decide to be more adventurous, I'll add in Cambodia (gile adventurous).

Any other suggestions ?

*Mama watching Isteri Untuk Suamiku.. Cerita yang asik asik menangis dan muka terkejut yang kesian~~ tak larat..

Read more...

Salam All (unedited)

I'm back from my 1 week trip. I will blog about my trip later..

Mission : Accomplished

Items : You're gonna have to wait next year :)

Photogs : Improved a lot. Lucky I had a lot of practise. The pictures turned out real nice (hehe for me lah)

Summary: SUPERB AND FANTASTIC AND FABULOUS. FANTABULOUSUPERB.

Opps sorry.. I had to do a private viewing thingy. YM me at lyricaldj alias yahoo dot com or email me at ikhwan dot dora alias gmail dot com if u wanna check out the pics..

2008_12_24

2008_12_25

2008_12_26

2008_12_28

Read more...

last post for 2008

Hello. Salam. Adaab. Guten Tag! Sawadikaap. Konichiwaa.

I have decided to write in English for this post. So how were my BM posts ? Did you all like it ? Or do you prefer me writing in English ? Give your comments ok :)

I will be going for a 1 week holiday starting tomorrow. So I guess this blog will be berspiderwebs till I get back. Tolong tengok tengok kan yer hehe

NOTE TO MSO aka BB :

Bb, take care. Think of me. As I will be thinking of u. ich liebe dich :)

Take care people. Pray for my safe journey.. Hope that my mission will be accomplished for this trip. If I don't blog again for this year, I wish you all Selamat Menyambut Awal Muharam and Happy New Year!

Read more...

Into the Blue, Alpha and Yellow and time value

watching SUPERHOT jessica alba (oh, come on.. am i wrong??) in Into The Blue made me feel like jumping in here :




Wish I could have this one day:
Dari manakah asalnya gambar2 nih ? Definitely not from me. Hehe.. I told my students to go on a holiday after their finals to refresh, rejuvinate and rewind (sepatutnya unwind tapi nak jugak the re- hehehe ).

After giving their Test 1 results, ada yang muka2 hampa, muka2 terkejut, muka2 (aku dah agak dah), and ada yg muka whatever... So I gave them a little boost in their confidence.. I don't think I am their favourite lecturer and I definitely teach their least most favourite subject, hehe.. But I think I can dive into their minds a little and put myself in their shoes. So I try my best to be the one lecturer that they are not afraid of to ask questions at the same time not the one they can mess around with.. (not an easy job, really) .. But its a teaching and learning process.. everyday i teach and i learn new characters, new tricks, old tricks (been there, done that), new perspective, new ideas on how to make the learning experience exciting and memorable. Only that, the one who evaluates me (SKT aka dalam bhs omputih is KPI) are the ones who never entered my class. based on surveys conducted during the end of the semester. where students just tick 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, if they like the lecturer or 1,1,1,1,1 for their least favourite lecturer.

In statistics, to test the reliability of the survey data is through Cronbach alpha. but how sincere are we when we answer survey forms? being a statistician myself, when i answer survey, i can say that 80% of the time I am honest, the rest of the time, i just wanna finish it quickly and get it over with. but there are times that i really answer the survey honestly when i feel that they can benefit from it. with the hopes that from that data, they can somehow formulate a new solution for the issue addressed in the survey.

Anyway, I'm thinking of changing to DiGi. Since I can maintain my supercool number.. hehehe.. Or should I wait for other networks to announce their MNP and see which gives the superlowest offer ?


Gimme your thoughts DiGi people ? Will they follow me ? Like everywhere ? Even in my campus yg jauh dan selalu takde line Maxis itu ? Seems like all networks are all out in marketing their services. I think at one point, the sms service will be free... will they ? u think ? remember in 2000, smses used to be 30sen and for one darned misscall yang sempat diangkat will cost you 60sen. and a frigging prepaid costed me rm238! i can top up a few ringgit and almost buy new lenses! that was the value at that time..

heh, remember the days without hp ? and public phones ? and meeting up in a middle of kl and not get lost? those days were based on trust, punctuality and public phones.. i think we took for granted that since mobile phones are well... mobile, we tend to procastinate and became less punctual. cause it's just a phone call away. so these days are based on handphones, smses and.. internet.. which is not a bad thing if we use it wisely..

okla, tajuk blog ni makin lama making pjg and labels pun dah jadi banyak sbb dia rojak kan.. so i'll stop now.



**actually i was waiting for someone to come around while writing this.. maybe dia penat kot**

ich vermisse dich

Read more...

my PD course

Hey People,

I'll be going off to Port Dickson for my training / course .. Really need a holiday kot.. cewah.. paid holiday.. hehehe

Pray that i will have a safe journey pergi dan pulang :)

Details when i get back.. and pictures too! hehe

Read more...

my penang 'trip' (day 2) - part 2

ok so sambung to part 2.. why am i soo bersemangat nak tulis this? hehe you'll see why.. at the end of this post..

ok, so after PRamlee's gallery and stuff, we decided to go somewhere yg mcm nature like.. so it was either the beach or spice garden.. and i tell you.. if you go to penang, you really HAVE TO go to spice garden.. eh, tolong laa.. its soo heavenly and very peaceful.. (only if you're the adventurous type.. there i was in front of tropical spice garden.. nak masuk kena bayar RM13 which was totally worth it.. dia akan bagi some insect repellent nak bubuh kat badan so that insects won't bite you.. mmg boleh buat yoga kat situ.. and ada that what do u call that? hammock izzit? yeah.. ada hammock yg membuaikan kita utk tidoq.. hehehe

you know those birds that's chirping sounds.. and then ada this type of bird yg bunyi mcm "eooowooohooo" that makes u feel mcm wow im in a jungle.. its like another whole world.. mcm bunyik2 org yg horn mase tgh jam tu dah takde.. suddenly you feel soo at ease...

Air dia pun jernih.. ok gambar ni tak brapa clear coz i set it to aperture mode so mcm tangan din bergetar sket sbb dlm hutan kan.. this pic is supposed to be mcm air tu jatuh from my palm.. konon simbolik laa.. hehehe but the water was crystal clear .. and cold too.. ada ikan kat dlm tu!

This was one of the stairs yg kat dlm tu.. you see, dia mcm abit like a maze kinda..

Ok, this is the fun part when din & i did this yoga nescafe advertisement kinda... din dapat bertahan lame dgn posisi tu.. (she does yoga quite often) so mcm dah terer nak stabilize.. heheeh
ok , the pic on the right was totally buat2.. my feet weren't in the water.. sbb takut ada katak kat dpn tu.. takut jer bile2 dia melompat.. amek ko! ahahha

Alright now this is the peak of this post rasenyer.. berdebar2 nak tulis ni.. you see, we were having a blast.. posing sana posing sini.. making funny faces and laughing all the way (maklumlah ketiga2 stress kerja - see, cikyah is an engineer in motorola.. yeah.. motorola penang.. dia buat bhgn walkie talkie and currently undergoing some big project.. din is a Sales Manager kat Autobavaria glenmarie.. so mase tu dah nak month end closing.. imagine the stress.. me? well, im a statistics lecturer yg tak seberapa hebatnyer.. whose teaching 20 credit hours a week and always keeping myself busy with endless assignments from almost 200 students.. yeah, pretty stressful) so Penang was more like a break from all the work and stress.. or a breakaway or getaway or something like that.. look at me jumping so high and happy.... and while i was jumping i was like "wooooooohooooooooooooooooooo"

yer lah.. woo hoo sgt, half an hour later, while going down the stairs, i slipped ke or tripped ker... bottom line is, i fell down the stairs... gedebuk.. and sprained my right ankle... ouch!


"omigod!!!! ouch ouch ouch.. kaki aku.."
dlm hati : "OMG!!!!!!! patah ker?????"
din & cikyah : do! ko ok ker?
din : cuba ko gerakkan kaki ko?
dora : aduh aduh.. bole bole....

then mcm tersilent sekejap..
dora : mcmne laaa aku ley jatuh.. ahahhaa

yeah.. it was pretty funny though.. i tot it wud be okay... so we continued jln2.. me as the gadis tempang.. hehehe so this is the picture after the mishap.. walaupun view dia lawa.. tp tak berapa dpt nak enjoy the view coz God knows betapa sakitnyer kaki.. tp mase ni tak sakit sgt... so we continued jalan2... hehehehe

we headed off to miami bay and miami beach.. (nama jer) to have our laksa and rojak yg best!

Snapped some pictures by the beach...

3 barefooted gals who painted Penang red

on the way back, we singgah kat masjid terapung to take some pictures...

and lastly, we bought buah pala and stuff and last last but not least, borong DVDs kat bukit jambul!! gile murah.. mase tu dah 415 so we rushed back home took a quick shower and headed to Sg.Nibong bus station.. keadaan terlalu cemas sampai din tertinggal satu teket bas kat keta cikyah.. PANIC! but cikyah saved the day by bringing (dengan rileknyer) teket tu kat kitorg balik "korang tertinggal dlm keta eh?" alas, selamat pulang dgn kaki yg bengkak dan jalan yg terhencut hencut... hehehe

reached kl at 930... and there it was.................................... dpt MC 3 hari.. hehe.. but it was totally worth it!

Read more...

my penang 'trip' (day 2) - part 1

The day started with an alarm at 6am. yes. 6 am. since we had such limited time, we had to wake up early. we showered and waited for subuh. in penang, subuh dia 615am. after we performed our subuh prayers, we hit the roads.. it was almost 650 when we reached USM's hill to watch the sunrise.. and all the while i was singing Norah Jones' Sunrise.. excited. From this picture, it looked more like sunset rite? perhaps. i need an SLR camera kot.. hehe.. well, it was definitely breathtaking and refreshing. many won't do things like we do.. - waking up at 6am.. so kalu nak travel and do stuff kena cari yang sekepala laa.. baru best..

And from this picture, i realized that my 'in2it' 2-way foundation looks good on me.. and my revlon lipstick also blended well with the foundation.. hehe (iklan kejap). here are the three ladies who had a blast in penang. thanks to cikyah who sudi membawa kita jejalan and being our SLR photographer and teaching us a lot about photography.. perhaps, i'll own my own SLR camera gak one day ;)

thanks to din also who sudi menemani me to this trip.. and being there when i need a friend.. always :) gurl you rock.. [ok sesi penghargaan]

we headed off from USM at almost 730 bila matahari dah naik betui betui.. and i managed to snap this gorgeous picture.

later we had char kuey teow at a stall nearby. and it was sedap giler.. really, penang food really ada kick betul..

then, we headed to town at almost 9 kot? cant remember the time.. last time i went to penang, i wanted so much to see P Ramlee's house but couldnt cause apparently they close on Mondays.. so this time, i got what i wished for.. we managed to go in.. yeay! we took a LOT of pictures tapi tak dpt dimasukkan disini.. nnt tak muat pulak.. so i'll keep them as my own memories.. hehe.. there we were in front of the museum.. and i was doing the Pohon yang rimbun scene and the oh kanda! scene right in front of P Ramlee's rumah kelahiran..

yes, i took a photo at the exact spot and wearing the exact pants about 7 months ago when i attended the USM interview. it would be great if i had the opportunity to work in Penang. i've always loved Penang and i don't mind going there again or a matter of fact, work there kot? Despite the jam and everything, i guess there's always something that can compensate the stress... the beach... tapi if i were to work in Penang, i'd like to bring my parents along.. hehe.. anak manje.. bukan apa.. siapa nak jaga diorg if bukan their baby gurl (walaupun dah besar panjang and bole jadi mak orang).. hehehe

tu dia many2 scenes taken from the house. (1) kemanakah kanda? bilakah kanda mau pulang dari germany? (2) scene tepi tangga (3) basuh kaki bila nak masuk rumah.. tapi takde air pun?

here's pak mat the one who takes care of this place.. apparently, his dad and Allahyarham Tan Sri P Ramlee's dad worked at the same place. [ayah PRamlee sebijik muka dia]. so they were staying at the same quarter house.. and he told us that he always accompanied PRamlee whenever he wanted to go anywhere to meet people.. Pak Mat told us a lot of things that we didn't know.. or maybe things that i didn't know.. Tan Sri PRamlee was a very generous man..

"La ni, mana nak cari ganti.. org mcm dia? Kita ada beratuih ratuih artis.. takdak sorang pun mcm dia.. Depa igt depa kaya.. Hangpa tgk Tan Sri PRamlee, dia dulu gaji 7000 ringgit sebulan.. masa dulu 7000 ringgit tu kayaaa.. tapi dia punya pikiq masa depan.. nak bantu orang melayu, dia belanja 500 utk dia saja.. 500 tu la dia nak makan, jalan2, beli barang2 sket.. lagi 6500 dia sedekah kat orang susah, bagi anak yatim.... haaa.. mana nak cari orang lagu tu?"

"kita skrg ni.. taktau apa nak jadi.. pramlee dulu pikiq jauh.. dia takdak ilmu sekolah.. tapi dia bijak.. dia punya cerita semua ada msg.. semua tentang kehidupan dia sikit2.. dia nak naikkan orang melayu.. tapi zaman sekarang ni.. sedih.. takdak sorang pun boleh ganti dia.. orang doq mai jejauh. dari Belanda, Perancis, America.. dok tulih tulis nota tanya pakcik.. dok kaji pasal dia.. dia antarabangsa... tapi la ni, takdak artis sorang pun bole jadi mcm dia.. artis la ni dok kejaq glemer.. tu pun dalam2 sini saja.. takdak yg overseas..."

"pramlee tu dulu, dok jaga sembahyang.. setiap kali lepas sembahyang dia doq zikir ratuih ratuih kali.. haaa.. mana nak dpt lagu tu? amalan dia, takdak sapa nak blajaq.. "

"kalau zaman skrg, gaji beribu ribu, doq beli kereta besaq, rumah besaq.. tapi pramlee masa mati, takdak tinggalkan harta.. satu pun takdak.. pasai dia dah sedekah kat orang2.. harta dia pi kat org2 melayu...harta dia sebenar ada kat seni dia.. itu harta dia sebenaqnya.. lebih berharga... tapi sedih.. pasai dia dah takdak..baru depa nak bg pangkat Tan Sri.. buat apa? dia dah takdak.. dia dah takdak baru orang nak hargai.."

"...La ni mai dekat 20 orang nak claim depa tu Azizah.. Pakcik ckp, depa semua ni bkn azizah betui.. pakcik tanya, kalau betui hangpa ni azizah.. hang tunjuk kat aku surat yang PRamlee ada bagi azizah masa dia nak balik ke Singapore. masa tu bapak azizah suruh depa putuih hubungan. PRamlee ada bagi surat. dia suruh Azizah baca 3 kali, lepas tu dia koyah separuh, dia simpan, separuh lagi Azizah simpan.. dia ckp lagu ni, 'Azizah, kalau kita ada jodoh, kita akan jumpa balik..' haaa pakcik suruh depa tunjuk kat pakcik mana surat tu? takdak sapa yang ada.. Azizah mmg wujud.. dia lawaaa.. muka dia mcm arab.. dia mmg orang arab pun.. tapi lepaih tu, takdak kabar berita dari dia.. taktau apa jadi kat dia.. bapak dia tauke kedai emas.. lepas bapak dia jual kedai emas tu, taktau depa pi mana.. mmg takdak jodoh dgn PRamlee..."

After listening to Pak Mat's story, mmg rase sebak.. how he fought for his bangsa.. and how we are today.. Berkorban apa saja.. that was his tagline.. and indeed.. he sacrificed everything for his nation... i bought my favourite PRamlee movie, Ibu Mertuaku with the hopes that it can help with the maintenance of the gallery.. i hope that even after 100 years, PRamlee will always be remembered for his talents and his contribution... may he rest in peace.. Al-Fatihah..

Read more...

my penang trip (day 1)

hey lowww people.. im back from my penang trip.. although hanya 2 hari sahaja but i had a great time!

we bertolak on a transnasional bus at hentian duta. and get this.. the bus tiket
printed out, our bus departs at 12:14 am ok.. But we departed at 12:22.. slight delay.. heh.. din (right) was tired from working all day, she had to complete her work sbb closing on monday.. so nampak terserlah kepenatan di mukanya.. me on the other hand, i took the day off sbb nak setel some stuff.. so, din terus kong lps bas bertolak.. she had her ipod on and i had my zen mp3 also on.. lps din kong, i was struggling to sleep... pusing sana pusing sini.. i didnt feel comfortable to sleep on the bus.. so the moon accompanied me while i listened to korean drama soundtracks and big band and swing (frank sinatra) on my mp3 player...


we reached sg.nibong bus station at exactly 4:57 am.. cikyah was there to pick us up. so we headed to her house for subuh prayers and terus tido atas katil empuk di dalam biliknyer till it was 10am.. heh heh.. cikyah's mom cooked us a super delicious nasi lemak yang membuatkan masing2 tambah average 3 kali kot.. which had sustained us till 4pm! after mandi2 and stuff, first destination, we went to Jeti Jerjak where they shot a scene from Nana Tanjong with Apek and Fasha Sandha. Nice.

If you look at the bottom-right photo, you can see a portion of Pulau Jerjak. Its not that far really. But you need to go by a motor boat. History has it that during the 1940s, they put all the prisoners at Pulau Jerjak. Now they build a resort and usually companies use it for team building and outdoor activities..

Dora

chics who rawk!

Next destination, was War Museum which was totally awesome. It's the largest War Museum in South East Asia.. that had brought us back to the early 1940s. it felt like we were back to the future.. cewah.. we understood more about our nation's history and how difficult it was back then. tiba2 rase semangat nationalisme tu tinggi sket..


Yes, "Malaysia Needs You". the aunty kat reception tu was abit garang. and when she briefed us about the history of our nation, we felt like we were back in form 4 and she was like that fierce history teacher that everybody hates?



it costed us rm15 each to enter, kire bole la.. it was adventurous. ooh yes, and rm2 for each camera that we brought in. we paid rm2 jer for cikyah SLR camera cause it was pretty obvious.. we didn't pay for mine and din's camera coz camera kami kecik2 jer.. hehee but we snapped a lot of pics..

there was an interesting tunnel sorta.. and we ventured in.. really cool stuff inside.. i set my camera to aperture mode.. tu yg gambar din mcm kabur2.. see how cool the pic turned out (bottom left)

this was the original 36 steps way back in the 1930s

top left : "ok.. ni tempat kita menyorok and tgk2 if our enemies dah sampai"
top right: view from where they were menyorok-ing
bottom left: tempat ammunition
bottom left: tempat ammunition gak

Me

A really cool pokok rotan

Our photographer, Ms. Dyanna.. as paparazzi yang mana lense nyer dia terlupa nak bukak.. hehe

After the War Museum trip, we headed home to cikyah's house to have a shower sbb dah berpeluh2 giler.. tak sempat nak jumpa our schoolmates nisa&amet at rasis' wedding. yes, the main mission we went to penang was to attend a wedding.. yg mane kita pergi sekejap jer.. rasis was my classmate, (which i didnot talk much with and haven't been contacting since 10 years ago). he's a doctor now. Dr. Wan Mohd Rasis. he married a doctor too. The theme color was green and din blended well with the theme.. hehe.. we attended the wedding at almost 410 pm and surprisingly ada lagi orang kat situ? hehehe penangites..

After the wedding, we went to see Azren's baby, Aisya. A really cute one.. unfortunately, tak sempat nak amek gambar.. or more like terlupa.. sbb borak punya pasal...

After maghrib, we had mee udang at Salwa's Mee Udang at Teluk Kumbar. Cikyah laughed cause i said Teluk Kumbar.. when all the penangites says it like this Teluk Kumbaq hehe.. the place was really by the sea and ada jambatan panjang sampai ke tengah laut.. tp tak amek gambar juga coz it was dark.. and cikyah parents was around so mcm segan.. walaupun Salwa's Mee Udang gerai was really at the ghetto place of penang, utk mendescribe betapa glemer and sedapnyer mee udang dia, we met wif the gorgeous Ida Nerina and her entourage there.. nak amek gambar jugak, but.. segan.. everybody was looking at her.. unfortunately takde sape yg brani nak approach for a photo or autograph.. i think she was disappointed.. heh...

well, after mee udang, we headed home and i terus kong tidoq.. din and cikyah stayed on and watch this weird malay drama Wani & Watie..

will continue wif (day 2) which was wacko!

Read more...

my pacifier

Ok, tadi dalam keadaan membara.. now im okay.. im okay. im cool as the guy walking around the clock kat tepi belah kiri ni <--- hehehe.. what happened actually? well, no need for me to tell here.. have to take out the negative vibes.. orait. some things to be happy about.. i'll be leaving for Penang tomorrow! yippie! just going there for the weekend.. chill out.. see the sun, sea, sand.. and nature.. gonna take some nice pictures and share it here when i get back .. dah tgk2 dah brochures dia.. check it out! mmg mcm foreigner la ni.. (walaupun i just went to Penang last July for an interview.. hehehe)

i've done my homework.. dah photostat Test 1 for the Shah-Alam-ers.. baik tak i.. i bagi diorg pagi tu time off pagi tu so that they can study for the Test 1 at 2pm petang Isnin ni.. Despite diorg nakal2 sket, (biasalaa remaja) i ada jugak empathy, bak kata sesuatu Prof (nama sebenar dirahsiakan). oh yes, to answer mangchik's question, as a student (tanya la Shaz & Sue), i alwaaaaaaaayyys datang lambat dlm kelas.. mmg glemer for that.. tp we were the senyap2 type.. kan Shaz? tak kecoh.. hehehe

well, im cool now.. im cool.. dun worry :)

Read more...