Bonne Annee!! Welcome 2008!!!

Pic from pdphoto.org

Thanks to all of you who've made my life fabulous. Love you to bits and pieces!

Have a big banging time y'all!

Mwahhh!

Back from the holidays

I'm baaaaaack! What a wonderful reunion we've had. I know I mentioned in my last post that I'd hope to post pictures of the reception. What I didn't mention was that my cousin was marrying someone from the royalty and that the king from one of the states was attending the do. So to adhere to the strict protocols, we weren't allowed to take photographs till after dinner time. Bummer... I really wanted to capture the bride and groom in action but right when it was open time all the cameras started flashing and people came from nowhere. What was the funniest is we think they were trying to capture the beeyoootiful princess who just married the Regent, well yes of course they wanted to see Erin and Shah too hah! Anyways, as there were too many people in the way the pics we took appeared blurry, and where the good images could be clearly seen what showed were just guests and more guests... Oh well, I'll wait for the soft copy then. Sorry guys! Have these instead.

Hungry and waiting for the arrival of the Highnesses King and Queen so we could finally eat...

After the King, Queen, Regent and Princess had left my husband managed to take these pics of the gossiping girls...

"You know this ugly stepsister actually insisted that she was prettier than you...", says the bride. "And why do you look so amused telling me that???", I was totally irked.

"No, of course I wasn't! I made sure to tell her that no one can make a man give in to her whims and wishes by a flick of her hair and a toss of her head but you and you alone!"

"Damned right I could! You'll want me body people will walk you through it!!"

I left that night feeling absolutely elated.... ;-p

I'm glad we managed to steal some time off of the entourage the next day and had a quiet dinner at a pleasant place called Passions of Kerala. If ever you guys came to Penang, you should really give the place a try. Warning though, for lovers of curry dishes or adventurous first timers only. Totally worth it.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha (Happy Eid Ul-Adha)

To my peeps, near and far, Happy Eid! It's a public holiday in Malaysia today, but many have taken long leave till Christmas, some till after the new year. I'll be around till tomorrow, then we birds will fly north to Penang. I missed my dear cousin's wedding last weekend, and her reception's due this coming Saturday there. Hopefully I'll get to post photos of the reception here.

Selamat Pengantin Baru*, Erin

Mom and dad are around for the holiday, and like I said we, the members of The School of Birds will be flying to Penang together tomorrow. While mom's here we'll be eating good food, yay!

* A greeting in Malay, wished to newlyweds.

No reason

Just felt like doing this as so many have called to ask what's happened to my blog and myself. Apart from going through something major in life, I also don't have much to tell. Anyways, this is to my peeps who've showed me I absolutely can't leave without y'all, just because... Oh, and I was totally inspired to post this, thanks to AsianCajuns Cath who put up her gorgeous pic in a lovely Ikat/Pua Kumbu dress.

"Happy Holidays!!!", my ikat fabric seems to be shouting in full spirit.

Peace to all.

Happy Birthday, Roy!

Roy = Roi = King

So, au roi de mon coeur, bonne anniversaire! (Hun, it means, "To the king of my heart, happy birthday!").

Heck, even Kennedy wasn't a king...... and you are definitely one, even if it's just by your given name! :-D.

Sean, Roy and yours truly, so happy together... la la la la la la....

Mommy, how old are you again?

Our recent MotoGP at the MScape VIP Village requires the patrons to be at least 18, since it's backed by the tobacco giant brand Marlboro. A legal age meeting point of some sort. Since we were there for two days we had to leave our 7 year old behind at my brother's, he very much knows he's under the age limit.

Today after lunch and seeing all the cool stuff in the goodie bags, we had this conversation:

7 y.o.: Mommy, you said I couldn't go because I'm seven.
Me: Uhum..
7 y.o.: Only 18?
Me: Right. 18 and older.
7 y.o.: 16?
Me: No sweetie, only 18 and above.
7 y.o.: Daddy could go because he's 50, right?
Me: (Grinning) Heh, right.
7 y.o.: Then how come you went? You're only 16...?
Me: Ooopsss.....

Honest to God I didn't teach him my age, or even my husband's! He made it all up by himself. what I find so flattering is now biting me in my own a@#...

Polini Malaysian MotoGP 2007 part 2

Day 2 of bike racing. My ears still hurt from the noise at the starting line, thanks for leaving the darn ear plugs behind and not taking new ones just before leaving the suite. Had real fun with both the Ducati Team riders (Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner) spending some time at the suite while being interviewed by Randy Mamola and later giving away two signed helmets to more lucky devils. If you still remember, I mentioned in my last post about the double session. Randy's the rider of the two seater bike, World Champion Motorcycle Racer Hall of Famer and a living legend in motor racing world.

(L-R) Loris Capirossi, Randy Mamola and Casey Stoner.

The race officially started off with the 125cc category, then 250cc and finally the 500cc where both Capirossi and Stoner were in. While Capirossi doesn't need any mentioning, Stoner is one full of surprises and created the most buzz lately. Just 22 and already a World Champion.

My number 42 didn't bring me any luck today, again... In ANY of the countless lucky draws - not even once. Not an interesting subject to elaborate, so moving on...

However though, I did taste luck for about two hours until it was blown away. I approached Randy for an autograph, and he gave one on my cap. I was among the only four in the room to get his signature on our caps (my husband Roy, Nadd and a random guy being the other three). Soon after, we went to the rooftop to see the race start, and a gigantic bird was hovering above us to catch her namesake's eye view of the moment.

(L-R) Giant bird; Excited people waving; Last few moments of luck.

Scorching hot day, bird gives off nice cooling wind, human real pleased, thanked bird by waving like crazy, UNTIL my cap was blown away and knicked by I-don't-know-who!!! Nadd said she saw who took it but her voice wasn't heard over the loud noise of the hovering bird. It all happened so fast. Hers stayed on, my husband's cap I managed to catch but mine was isk isk... That killed my mood and left me absolutely deflated. I hope for the person who selfishly knicked it to lose it in his drunken stupor. Yep he left his half-full wine glass in change for my Randy cap.

Oh well, at least we still have Roy's cap, thank God.

Nevertheless, I'm still glad Casey Stoner won the race. A wonderful birthday gift for a fine guy who celebrated his birthday last Tuesday.

Pic taken from Casey's website.

I'm off now to enjoy all the official merchandise that came with the race day pass. Hurray, at least...

Polini Malaysian MotoGP 2007

I had a great time today. What started out as a winning competition for Nadd (that only Nadd won) ended with gifts for her, me and my husband! Hahaha, I must say connection does take you a long, long way. Anyways, today is the qualifying race with Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri securing the top three spots for the race tomorrow. Prior to the race, we hung out at the VIP Village enjoying the abundance of drinks and good music. Heaps of MP3 Players were given out during the lucky draw session, unfortunately I wasn't one of the lucky ones. My number 92 wasn't a favourite with the lotto number spinning machine :-P. Ah well, better luck tomorrow (yes, we got passes for two days).

Then it was time for the Pit Lane Walk where I almost totally lost my mind watching 9 lucky people doing the double on the track. Holy Molly!

Lucky devil at the start of the "double" session. Yup, they start off with a wheelie.

I've been harboring hopes and dreams for this, but apparently the 9 guys were pre selected by the organizer based on unknown criteria to us. I swear my heart dropped into my stomach the second I caught sight of them passing right before me.

Crazy jellus woman by the side of the track. Shooed by race officials coming from her right. Grrrr..!

Having worked here a few times before I know that the side platform is a no-go zone, but I was too jealous to care. I just leapt up to see what else was being shoved to my face by the evil organizer. Talk about going 300km/h on a bike. Of course you'll just be the pillion rider but who cares? That's the closest that any Tom, Dick and Harry will ever get to racing on a bike.

Crazy jellus woman and track officials made up. Before they shooed her off again, hmmphh!

Anyone who knows me would definitely know how crazy I can be. So I'm gonna take this crazy self to rest for a while before starting again in the morning on a whole new session. A demain mes amis!

Eid Mubarak

The month of Ramadhan ended last week on October 13th and Syawal began the next day. Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin to my beloved family and friends. After a month of detoxifying, I figure we can intoxicate again, well a little shouldn't do any harm...

Raya goodies for the sweet tooth

This is the reason I've been quiet since the last post. Eid came and we were out of town celebrating. I went back to my hometown after three long years and needless to say, had to succumb to the pressure of visiting family members. Well serves me right for not doing that for ages. But that's the beauty of hari raya (eid), you see each other and wish everyone well, ask for forgiveness and make peace, not that I launched any war, but that's just how it is. A week of Eid and travelling across 3 states later, we arrived home sweet home. Oh how I missed my own bed, the air conditioning and most of all, the tranquility that I get to enjoy from my patio just listening to the windchimes. I don't mean to come across as a shallow worldly person, but come on, Malaysia sits right above the Equator - the heat doesn't make you a hot person!

Tradition says to visit your peeps during the month of Syawal, so come on over. Come one, come all. Let's have a feast.

XOXO

Oh sister, where art thou..?

This has indeed been a long break from blogging. First it was the dreaded bloggers block. Then I got busy with Iftar invitations - a cycle of delicious food on my itinerary does keep me away. At the same time, I got lazy hahaha!

Apart from watching the latest Heroes on TV, I'm also playing catch up with Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. We stay up pretty late to do all these, and of course just makes you sleepy during the day and lazier. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Have also been helping my mom bake her famous pineapple jam tart for the coming holiday season. Thousands and thousands of them. She gets orders, so she's a rich woman now (Hi Mom, I love you!!).

Am thinking whether I should post pictures of the yummy food I've been gobbling, but... nevermind, am LAZY...

Oh, and just last week it was my son's 7th birthday and more food fiesta at Marche. Happy birthday, sweetie!

Ok, folks. My soft and comfy couch is beckoning... Instead of food pics, have yourselves some fish pics where we had our dinners recently.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

The goldfish of KL Hilton

Louis the Great doing his ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz roll

* All pics shot by Nadio

Alisa

I present you a haunting beauty, well to me at least...

"Alisa", courtesy of nadiO

There's just something in this face, even at 5, her beauty is out of this world. A sad story though, Alisa's an orphan at one of the orphanages in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. I heard her parents divorced, her mom went insane (literally - she's institutionalized now) and her dad fled the country for his homeland in the States, and the Welfare Department took custody of her. My heart goes out to her :(. I pray for all things good for this girl.

Thinking of her, this song comes to mind. "Sad Lisa" by Cat Stevens. I did a search on YouTube and found a video. My first time embedding it on here, so please bear with the lack of skills...



On a lighter note, I love Cat Stevens. Reminds me of my childhood in the late 70s when dad used to play Cat's lp on the good ole turntable. Crisp voice, that man. Yusuf Islam now, I'm amazed he hasn't lost touch of his artistic side. I don't care what the world may think of him, he's a music legend to me. Even now when he's old and gray. He ROCKS! And why not have s'mores...



I would've put the live one on, it's got a punch in it rather than this one but embedding was disabled by request... Darn, but anyhow, to those interested, click here.

Okay, I'm hopping on the Peace Train. Come join me.

The kind of shoes I want. Badly.

So, who wanna buy me this? Anyone travelling to the UK sometime soon give me a holler. This will seriously make me happppyyyyyyyyyyyy....!

Da bling bling

I stumbled upon a wonderful site a few days ago that i absolutely fell madly hooked with. Has kept me up late trying to go through the archives. What's wonderful is the fact that the author, Wendy, is a jewelry designer and her designs absolutely ROCK!! Check 'em out here. You know I love "different" jewelery and by different I mean not the typical 916 yellow gold with big huge whatever old ladies like to have on *shudder*. My aunts always question me why I like 18k gold more than the 916 ones, and what gets to them is my fascination for platinum and white gold. How can I not? I'm steering cleer of their path *shudder shudder*. Of course of late you see lots of nice looking yellow gold pieces making waves again, but what sets them apart are the mere designs. Look below for old versus new.

Old

New

Now, isn't that a world of difference? Anyone who sees me suddenly wearing the oldie, I grant you the approval of shooting me. The newbie also comes in white and rose gold, and are absolutely refreshing and modern. When I saw the newbie I absolutely fell in love, in fact the whole collection was delicious! I have one particular favorite (I"ll call it my dreampod) on the It Girls collection and if I get that, that will be IT. Those are on my wishlist. Someday, when I have 'em moolahs lotsa moolahs....

On another note, gems are nice too. I particularly cherish this one:

Please excuse the picture quality. The garnets dont really pop out in here. I've been asked before whether it's a snake... Y'all must think I have some kind of fascination with snakes. No people, it's the letter Z, after my mom's and dad's names...

Ok, there it is, I'm going to dream some more about my dreampod. :)

Ramadhan, Logic vs. Realistic et al

Hope it's not too late to wish "Ramadhan Al-Mubarak". To friends who texted me, thanks from the bottom of my heart. Sorry I've been really occupied lately, this whole month's gonna be a juggling act altogether! May this month bring us all the good...

In the meantime, this is something I found in my heaps of pic files which I finally got down to organizing. It's a picture I took while we we were travelling in Indonesia recently. Something for y'all to ponder.

It's in the Indonesian Language, which when translated screams, "If love is blind, why need bikini?". SO true, though you might wanna say otherwise. On the other hand don't ask me what the caption on the top left means coz I've no idea... If love is blind Liz Taylor wouldn't be decked in her diamond collection given by all the men in her life. Haha. If love is blind there wouldn't be unhappy marriages and failed relationships. But if you wanna console yourself, listen to Tesla's Love Song. There I did it, the Mr.'s gonna be so proud I listed Tesla in one of my posts hahaha!

Now, what should I have for iftar (break fast), hmmm??

*steak fajitas - photo by iowa_beef.org

Paradise

This is an idea of what paradise on earth felt like for me recently... Nothing to worry about except where and when to have dinner, when to hit the beach and pool and what to do next. SO pleasant! Sad I had to come back down to earth...

And that's me sporting my latest accessory. Hey, the boa's back!

I had so much fun!!! I'll post some more later, gonna have to grab some lunch now.

Beachy arrangements

Gonna be off on a beach-y retreat from tomorrow through Saturday, hooray!! Our flight's in the morning which means I've to wake up way earlier than I usually do but for this one I shan't complain ;-). I hope it doesn't rain out during our stay coz I have about a dozen things on my to-do list. Later peeps, gonna start packing now!

August 31st '07. Merdeka!

We decided to have dinner first before heading out to DP to watch the fireworks held at the Curve. Spectacular spot we found, and thanks to Nad's car visor-cum-flash reflector and now mat, we hung out with the other locals waiting for midnight to strike. Midnight came and the fireworks started. Man, A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! We not only saw one, but three shows from different sites right from where we sat.

We actually went out to photograph the show, but me with my unsteady hands coupled with the excitement, just couldn't perform! Thank God for our pro girlfriend who came equipped with her gadgets and gizmos, even supplied us with mosquito repellant without which I was sure to complain of the uncomfiness and not have a great time hahaha!!

Merdeka, 50th and counting. Thanks to our forefathers who fought for this land to be free and flourish for the next generations. And loving thought and memory for my Pops who helped fought for this independence...

Heart and Soul: Soccer Maniac.. lately...

Heart and Soul: Soccer Maniac.. lately...

nadio

Soccer Maniac.. lately...

So my day went on as usual yesterday until Bear texted me around 6 pm calling for an unexpected meeting (when we already agreed to clear the Independence Week of any meetings)... Shortly after that the Mr. called to suggest going out for the night to which of course i agreed too, it'd be dumb for me to deny my own principles wouldn't it? :-). Nad also called with another agenda more interesting than the first two - the soccer! After a round of explanation with Bear, saying we were gonna watch Pesta Bola Merdeka finals (Independence Football Fest) which Malaysia'd made to the finals (how rare of an occurence is that...), my head was off the noose. 'Glad Bear had a trickle of nationalism in him to excuse me from the meeting we shouldn't have in the first place (he was mean anyway wishing we'd lose so I'd have a bad time and feeling missing the meeting going to a no-win match). BUT, Malaysia won 3-1 to Myanmar! Haha that made a good close to my day!

It was a good game, with a few yellow cards and a red card thrown here and there, I should categorize it as a rough game. A near incident of crazy spectators doing the water bottle rain into the field until an official stood up and practically begged for them to be a good sport. But DAMN fine it was. And a fine gift to the nation for its 50th independence it is.

Woohoo!!

*pics courtesy of nadiO

TV Hero?

This coming Friday is Malaysia's 50th Independence Day. Almost everybody whose a somebody in the corporate world's doing something to support this national agenda. Not only the corporate world, schools and the education industry also have a hand in educating the youngsters patriotism and the whole nine yards.... With these, enter my Junior and TV3. He's been excited since before the school midterm holidays telling us the tv station's coming to his school to shoot for the National Day prep. So yesterday right after the Mr. got out to send Junior to school I sat in front of the tv. True enough... it was live screening heheheeeee....

Children and teachers sang to the Jalur Gemilang song, gosh I must say something got to me. To see Junior waving the tiny flag, all cheery with his mates, some overwhelming feeling that was... I've never been patriotic myself, but that doesn't mean I don't love my country nonetheless. I'm proud to see Junior on tv demonstrating his feelings for the country for about 5 whole minutes and then some more on a different segment (err... maybe he's just following along without having a clue what the hoo ha was, but anyways...) and I'm glad he went to a public school. Kudos teachers of SK Tropicana!! The Mr. of course captured the moment on his phone which later in the evening he showed to me.

Junior came home in the afternoon all excited asking me if I caught him on tv to which I replied of course I did and there goes his cheeky smile... Right after lunch Pops and Moms called him and they all visited the morning agenda again to Junior's delight. He absolutely loved the attention he was getting. My tv hero :-)

Finally!

Yes, finally! I've done this after a year spent drowning in other boring routine...

Good for me.