Tim

We had a quite dinner with Tim today. Tim was our neighbor at Carolina Place and now that we've shifted, we invited him over to our place. There's something about Tim that just gets to us. He lives by himself, he doesn't talk much and he's always alone. Tim lost his job a while ago so he's always at home. He lives on the second floor and he likes to lay down flat in front of his door. Sometimes I see him walking to the pump station to get a bottle of milk, doesn't look like he eats much. Sometimes I see him taking a shower at the pool club, maybe coz it's free and it saves him from paying the heating bill. It does get pretty costly during winter over here. One day he dropped by to ask for hubby's help to carry a TV he found at the dumpster, too bad it was broken when they tested it. That was the day we knew he hasn't even got a TV at home.

The next day, hubby bought a TV. He did not told Tim it was from him, he said it was from a friend who wanted to get rid of it. Tim was over the moon when he saw pictures coming on the TV. He was so happy and he was going on and on about it for a couple of weeks. Such a sweet guy he is. I asked hubby what's inside his house. I did not mean to be nosey, I just wanted to know how he lives and if he was living OK. Has he got a bed? Does it look like he's cooking and eating well? Hubby says his bedroom is empty accept for a chair, he's got a couple of sofa in his living room and his kitchen looked unused, except for a couple of tea bags that was lying around on his kitchen bench.

That night hubby told me something that reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the first place. He said 'Berdosa kita membiarkan jiran kita lapar sedangkan kita tahu dia dalam kesusahan'. The next day, we invited him for dinner.

The first time he came over he did not even eat much. I know lots of people who would stuff as much food as they can just coz it's free. But Tim was not like that. He took whatever he wanted, which was not much by the way. He even declined dessert just coz he's shy and polite. He did not talk much, and he wanted to go back as soon as he's done.

Today, he's much more relaxed. He talked a lot, he was not rushing to get back home, and it felt like he was truly enjoying it.

Tim reminded me to be thankful for all the things that I have. For the roof on top of my head, the food on the table and the ride that gets me places.

Thank you God for all the rezqi yang Engkau limpahkan kepada kami. Amin.

Turkish bread

I am posting this recipe to record a simple Turkish bread recipe that I found online. I tried making this today but has mistakenly put more water than I should. Still, the bread turned out pretty good except that I couldn't make indents as the dough was pretty sticky. Better luck next time!


Turkish Bread
---------------------

Mix all the ingredients and place in the bread maker:

350ml Water
1/3 cup olive oil
4 cups Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Yeast (soak in warm water for 15 minutes before mixing)

Set your machine off making your dough. Mine takes 1.25 hours in the machine on dough setting.

Then divide it into three balls and roll each out into a rectangle 35cm x 15cm. Make indents in the bread using your knuckles. Wash with an egg wash (1 egg and 2 tsp water beaten together) and sprinkle with sesame seeds or nigella seeds. Set aside in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.

Bake each on a lightly greased tray at 220 degrees Celsius or 10 - 12 minutes

Ngeng...ngeng...ngeng macam nyamuk

I teach part-time so I go crazy the rest of the hours when I am not. Salwa keeps me insane during those hours, thank god for that. I talk to her in kitty voice coz she's a cat but my husband says I shouldn't coz it drives him crazy. For god's sake, she is the only amusement that I have when I am at home, alone. Sometimes I pretend as if I am her mommy and she is my little baby girl.

Gosh those free hours really do make me go insane.

Teaching is tiring. A session of lecture or lab really worked me up. I'd usually slump myself on the sofa when I get back home, try hard not to sleep but would end up snoozing for at least an hour. I have no complaint for that. It's OK, because teaching is never boring, it's always engaging.

So at least that confirms the fact that I am not lazy. I used to think that I was a lazy bum coz I used to drag myself to work everyday. But that was different - that was working behind a desk 8 hours a day pretending to be busy, or sitting in a meeting pretending as if I cared. There's no such thing here, accept for pretending to be smart when you are bombarded with questions that you are clueless about.

Hubby is encouraging me to get an IT job coz it's more promising. My heart sinks at the thought of it and I just wish I'd never have to go back to office work. But I do know that sitting around playing with my cat will not do me any good. If only I can get a full time teaching schedule, that would be awesome.

On another note, my cat has some sort of a yo-yo diet going on. One day she's fat, another day she's slim like a model. She loves sitting on top of me as if she's light like feather. I have never actually weigh her, bet she's at least 2.5 kilos. I sleep on the left side of the bed, and so does she. She sleeps right next to me every single night, always aiming for my left arm *cough* pit *cough*. Whenever I sleep on my tummy, she gets confuse coz it means my left hand is in the middle of the bed and she doesn't like that.

Silly cat.

I think she's bright for a cat. If only there's an IQ tests going on among cats I think she'd easily ace it. Oh, and she can act too. For example, she likes to greet me whenever I get home. I can usually hear her running from the room towards the door, but the moment I open the door she'd sit still or stretch herself, pretending as if she doesn't care. I wonder who taught her that, or why she is acting that way.

I have lots to tell about Salwa, but I won't bore you non-cat lovers about my silly cat's tales.

Signing off for now, with love.

This is a hate post

I hate one person at my work. And because of him, I am starting to hate his whole race.

I know it's a strong statement, but I've had enough of them. I don't remember them having so much hatred in their heart while we were in school. There were a number of them in my class, and we never had any problem getting along. Probably because we grew up in a small town, probably because we were still naive.

Things started to look bad when I was in the UK. I remember helping out 2 fellow classmates in the first semester. I have nothing against them, in fact I was more than happy to help my fellow countryman even though we were off different race. However, when it was my turn to seek for their help, I received so many excuses from both of them and at that time, I understood. People from their race will only use people from my race for their benefit, but will never help you in return. It's like a rooted kind of hatred that was built the very day they were born. Hate the Malays, do whatever it takes to make their lives miserable, even if they do you no harm. They stole our rights, they took what was ours, so let's team up and go against them though we live side by side. Make them believe you, put on you best smiley face, and then stab them when they are not looking.

Who stole who, may I ask?

I used to be a believer in the people's coalition. I used to have high respect for one of their leaders. I thought he was smart, articulate and fair. I saw it all crumbling down after 2008 GE. He was not smart nor articulate, he was cunning. He was everything but fair. He did not want justice for everyone, he wanted justice for his own race. Everything was about his race.

I have never been so proud to be a Malay. Malays may not be the strongest nor the bravest, but we are the most compassionate. Of course we have our downsides too (who doesn't?), but it is trivial. We are good hearted naturally, we were brought up to see the good in people and to forgive / forget people's wrongdoings. We are all human, and human makes mistake. Sometimes we do compete, but unlike them, it's never poisonous.

Glad to get it out of my system.

Told ya it was a hate post.

Is this the one?

Jakson has been here for the last 7 years. He is originally from Brazil, and came to New Zealand for a brighter future. He did not know much English when he first came, so I assume he took whatever job he could in order to survive, and to help pay for his sister's university fees back in Brazil. He knew that the only way to improve his career was to master the language, so he took several short English courses along the way as he could not afford to go to school full time. After 7 years of hard work, he decided it was time to improve his skills so he quit his job and enrolled for the programme. He strongly believes that there is time for everything, you just have to be patient and you will get there eventually, one step at a time. He thank god for the opportunity for tertiary education as it never crossed his mind before, probably due to his hardship. He knows everyone in the school as he loves communicating. He was the first person who thanked me for teaching him and that made me smile the whole day ;)

Ricky was born in HK, but grew up in New Zealand. He went back to HK after his primary years, if I am not mistaken. He came back earlier this year to pursue his tertiary education as he is an NZ citizen. He says his English is rather rusty as he did not use much while he was back in HK as he was working in a restaurant - waiting tables, I assumed. Like most Chinese, he is very competitive. He strives to be the best and he worries too much about how he is performing in school. Yesterday for example, he asked me whether he has failed his first assignment after I commented on his group's presentation. I tried to comfort him but deep inside what I felt was auwwwww he he. He's just too cute to worry about something like that in the first semester!

Bhavan is the only girl who says hi to me in the morning. Other girls are still pretty shy to even greet me, let alone ask questions in class. She too, came to NZ 3 years ago to pursue her tertiary education. She studied for a while and left school after a year as she was unsure about what she really wanted to do. She told me it was very difficult to find a good job and ended up working in a supermarket for a whole year before deciding to come back to school and finished her diploma.

I don't know much about Jagdeep and Fernando, all I can say is that they are good students. They are both confident and aren't afraid to speak up. As for the others, I hope to find a way to connect to them too.

I have a new profound respect for them. They are motivated, they take time to really ponder about what they want in life, and they do it with a smile.

For me, there are tons to learn in this new field. I worry lots. I worry about them not getting it, I worry about going too slow or too fast, I worry when I go blank while presenting. Ha ha. I hope I can learn as much from them as they can from me. I thank god for this opportunity - an opportunity to see if I can really make it in this field, an opportunity to see if this is what I am looking for all these while.

:)

A clue on how to pursue your dream career

If you suddenly won the lottery and had all the money you would ever need for a secure and comfortable life, what would you do?

It's funny how things turn out sometimes

You can be so certain about something but in the end, it could turn out to be a total opposite of what you expected. And you can be so unsure about another, without knowing that you actually nailed it big time.

But that's life aye? If everything is so sure than life would be one boring, straightforward journey. Like the saying goes, the only certain thing is uncertainty.

This time around, it's regarding my permanent head damage application. Like I said before, I was so certain that I nailed Massey, but turns out the guy wouldn't sign the paper until I can proof to him that I can get the participants sorted out. Boohoo. As to Auckland Uni, I was given the green light to proceed with the formal application after the meeting with Dr G and Dr K. And I thought I was blabbing away during the meeting. Funny aye?

Whatever it is, it is still a long way to go. I am not sure whether this is the right path for me - my heart is telling me it's not. Hmmm. I am only doing this to kill some time. I'll give it a thought when the time comes!

The waiting game

The waiting game is daunting but at times, can be good for the soul. It gives me hope and keeps me going, though I must admit that at times, it drives me crazy too.

But what is life without hope and uncertainties?

Lots of stuff have been going on lately. I have a lot at hand at the moment and it's only a matter of time before I get them realized, Insyallah.

Yesterday was kind of an important day for me. I was supposed to meet both Dr G and Dr K last week on the 24th, but failed to turn up coz I got the days mixed up. I guess that's what happened when you're unemployed, you lose track of time, or days. Boo hoo. Nevertheless, they were both very kind, as all Kiwis are, and scheduled another meeting yesterday at Symonds's instead of at Epsom's. It somehow felt like an interview, a rather bad one. Ha ha. Some of my answers were too short, while some were rather winding. I did not know why I was nervous. Anyway, both of them are supposed to provide me with some answers before the end of this week. I am not quite worried as I think I've pretty much nailed Massey if I fail to get this one.

On another note, I am looking forward with the second round of interview with M*** sometime next month. It's pretty hard to get an interview with a foreign name and I am crossing my fingers for more opportunities to come. I know many are in deeper trouble than I am when it comes to career and moolah, so there are lots to be thankful for even in this situation. I should probably do some certifications while time permits as this might improve my chances for landing a good job.

I have rather good news with regards to my medical condition. My iron level has gone up to its normal range based on my blood test two days ago. My hemoglobin however, is still low despite the improvement in my iron level . That explains my fatigue and forgetfulness. The doctor has prescribed me with more iron tablet and I do hope with God's will that by October, all will be back to normal.

I am looking forward for a weekend getaway with FRW and A's family. 2nd July 2010 will mark our 6 months anniversary and we are celebrating it in Matakana, a small winery town north of Auckland with a few good friends, just how we like it. I was surprised to know that hubby planned the getaway in commemoration of our anniversary as I have only recently remember. He can be quite a romantic at times ;)

I am officially 6 months old wifey tomorrow, how time flies!

Puan Seri

Somebody pointed out today that I am a Puan Seri.

In what way may you ask?

We were in the middle of a conversation with some acquaintances. Hubby was telling how happy he was that he managed to sell our second car at a reasonably good price.

Then the acquaintance asked,

"Kereta lagi satu?"

I told him no, we are keeping that one.

And he said,

"Yang tu mana boleh jual, tu kan kereta Pn Seri. Hahahaha..."

I know some people around here have the impression that hubby bought that car for me. And when I say people, I meant the Malays. It is rather luxurious for their standard, so they made assumption that I 'requested' for it, for my personal use after we got married.

Truth is hubby's had it with him for several years already. The only reason that people hasn't been noticing is because he prefers to drive the other car, an old 2-seater because it has an open roof top - he likes having the wind in his face. After we got married, he obviously continues to drive that car simply coz he loves it and the fact that as a husband, he wanted me to have the better ride - no rocket science there. So when people see me driving a more luxurious car, they made assumptions that I am a queen who wanted nothing less than a German ride.

Sometimes it boggles me, don't they have enough on their shoulders? Between managing families and pursuing their PhDs, they still have time to jaga tepi kain orang.

Good friends are hard to come by

Friends are those precious angels who stick by you through thick and thin. They lift you up when you are feeling low. They laugh at your silliness but never ridicule you. They listen to your insecurities and thoughts but never judge you. Acquaintances are abundance, but friends? They are hard to come by.

Yesterday I met someone with a quality of a friend. She's married too, and oh - jobless like me! So that's one thing in common. Ha ha. She is a qualified industrial designer but fails to secure any job due the niche market and her unwillingness to resort to generic art simply due to her passion in what she does.

There was one particular gesture yesterday that made me feel an immediate connection with her. We were talking about traveling and she mentioned how different things are after marriage as she has to consult her husband first. "You know how it is Cikitita, we have responsibilities now..." while rolling her eyes. Ha ha!

Some of you might get the wrong idea and think she is being disrespectful. But if any of you were there yesterday, you would have realized what a nice and cultured person she really is. To me, what she said signifies individuality, and determination of being her own person despite being married to a man. For those who have crossed the marriage-dom, you'd know what I mean. It is easy to lose yourself as you strive to be the perfect wife, especially in our culture.

I loathe ladies who are so clingy to their men. I loathe ladies who stop seeing their friends just to make herself available to her men 24x7. I loathe those who are full of jealousy. I know a person who did not let her husband do manicure because she was uncomfortable with the idea of another woman touching him (read: his fingers).

K I L L M E N O W .

On another note, I was out with another person today. It is sometimes difficult to understand someone and it is hard to categorize them as a friend or an acquitance. I know there are possibilities of her 'using' me, but I am giving her the benefit of the doubt, at least for another month. I shall not blog about it as I do not intend to ruin the positivity that I am having right now.

Till then, signing off with love.

Now I can put on my smiley face

My last post was on the 3rd of March. I thought of writing from time to time but nothing came to mind. So today while going through the blog I thought hey, why not publish some unfinished post just for the sake of it? So I did.

While browsing through the list, I came across a particular entry that I wrote prior to the wedding. A 'cold feet' entry. All brides get this, I know I did based on what I wrote that day. But boy, am I glad that I married him ;)

Ok enough mushiness.

And enough of whining too.

So for a change, I would like to share with you a few good news. Firstly, I am glad to announce that I have gotten the work visa which is up to the 18th of November. A short duration, but enough to get the residency application done, or so I hope. I have completed the expression of interest, lost 50 marks due to MMU not being recognized by the NZ government, hence eliminated me from the 'auto-approved' group. I refuse to get it assessed by NZQA as I see no point in giving away 750 NZD for recognition purposes so people, do pray for me!

I do have two other good news to share, but both are on initial stage so I thought I'd give it a pass, at least for now. Will definitely share it with you guys once all is confirmed. Good things are definitely coming my way, and I thank Allah and my lucky star (read: darling hubby) for giving me hope when all seems dark and gloomy.

Did I told you guys that I am loving the weather? It has been raining cats and dogs for the past two weeks but I doesn't bother me, really. Auckland has mild temperature, no winter, and half of the time it feels like summer. I know things will only get better, and no matter how bad it gets I know it is a lot better than other places. You'd say that too if you've experienced the hot, humid weather in Malaysia and the crazy four-season-in-a-day in the UK. The weather reminds me of Madrid too, gosh how I miss those carefree days!

It's about...

...why vs what

...research vs intelligent gathering

...finding the right question

...finding what you don't know

...originality


If this is the best path for me, then I pray to God to ease the way.

Amin.

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I wrote. Not much has been happening hence, the silence.

The visa application is still pending - my full medical certificate has been been returned to the Auckland office 2 days ago after being sent to the advisee for further examination. I foresee that the result will come out anytime soon, hopefully in a week or two. I am due to depart this country tomorrow at 12.50pm NZ time after the 3 months stay but I shall not due to the absence of my passport. The process of deferring the return ticket has been nerve-wrecking, not due to the complex procedure but due to the absurdity of Malaysia Airlines' call centre which seems to be lacking staff and training, albeit it's reputation. I spent 3 hours on the phone and Internet on our holiday at Lake Tekapo and missed the sunset due to the incompetency of the travel agent, not to mention the hefty amount on the next bill due to the direct call. And the outcome? A headache of going back and forth of whether my ticket was valid for 3 months or a year, and an addition of NZD 550 which is pretty much like buying a whole new ticket on sale.

The verdict?

Screw the ticket, screw the agent.

Meroyan

I like to think of what I would love to do for a living whenever I'm on my own. It's like an addiction for the past 6 years. Somehow I kept having this vision of being surrounded by kids. Kids ranging from 3 - 12 years old. Kids 3-5 years especially. It feels cheesy to dream about becoming a teacher. Nobody in the X-generation dream of becoming a teacher coz it's just not cool. And to be involved with kids? Lotsa kids? Or is it the biological clock knocking?

Instead of doing the permanent head damage I am now thinking of doing a graduate diploma for a year so I can become a registered teacher. The truth is that I am not keen on this permanent head damage thingy no matter how much I tell myself that it'll do good to my resume and career path. When you really think about it, it doesn't really makes sense to be doing something that you don't love, does it? Why would I wanna torture myself into doing something that I loathe just coz it sounds good on paper? But if I do take that path, what would happen when I get back? Would it be valid for me to teach back home? What would the pay be like? Would I have to start from the beginning like fresh graduates do? There's a huge possibility there, I think. But if I can't than do I have to start looking for office jobs again coz I know I'd hate to do that. I guess if I were to go home anytime soon than the best path is to stick to the initial plan, but that wouldn't make me happy in the long run, would it?

And it makes it a lot harder with the fact that I'm beginning to like this place and having thoughts of making it home. Low crime rate, low traffic, less stress, more quality time - perfect place to raise a family. But that would break mom's heart. Period. It's a battle between doing something that you want and doing something that your love ones want and it drives me crazy whenever I think about it.

I once dreamt of running a small cafe with wooden interiors all over. Wooden chairs, wooden table, wooden counter top, wooden shelves and wooden everything. Yellow lighting. That would go well with my wooden floor. And I'd serve people good quality food which I cook from my heart. Yeah yeah laugh your heart out ;p When I was in Reading I used to help out a friend who owns a cafe a couple of times and guess what, I changed my mind after doing that. Just like that. Poofff. It doesn't work like what I had in mind. It was waking up at 6 in the morning to open at 11 and going back at midnight when it closes at 6. And that wasn't even a proper cafe with in-house dining, it was a take-away cafe which serves food from the freezer. What if the same thing happen this time around? What if I spend a year in graduate school, and spend all the moolah, and end up not liking the job?

When I started working I used to have this particular question running in my head. I kept thinking about the purpose of life and it drove me crazy every single time. I had a decent job, a decent pay, fabulous friends and I was seeing someone. I was not bad for a 22 year old yet felt something was missing. It felt wrong to be getting up in the morning day in day out, dragging yourself to work, come back home, watch telly and doze off - the cycle continues. Is that it? Is that life? Have I got nothing to offer apart from spending and doing everything for myself? I think I used to drive my friends crazy whenever I brought this up coz to them life was OK, not fabulous but OK and they just don't get where I come from and why I felt that way. And I don't get how they can be so content with what they do and have. I wanted to travel, I wanted to see the world but there was not much to spare. I thought that maybe, just maybe if I get to see more of the world I'd finally get the idea of what I really want in life. And there comes the scholarship and it was like a dream come true. I get to see more of the world but it left me for longing for more.

Maybe I am spoilt in a way that I want everything, and the fact that I need to have all the parts working. Partner wise, family wise, friends and career. I don't see how people can be content having just one. I disagree with the way some people stay away from their friends and what they love doing when they settle down. Having a partner completes you, I agree. But I believe that you still need to have the other 3 to be completely happy and content. I see many women crumbling down when they have issues with their partner coz they just don't see their lives in portions. And the fact that they don't have the other portions working because they are so into the relationship they would just simply abandoned everything else and work on the one portion that they think matters the most. I crumbled once too, I believe everyone has at one point or another, else you didn't do much living or had much love. But I try not to sabotage the other 3 portions that makes life beautiful.

When I was a lot younger I thought I'd had it all figure out by this time but nope, that didn't happen. Bohooo. But I do know that I have a lot to be thankful for. I don't know what got into me to be thinking of this right now, probably the fact that I have too much time to kill. It drives me crazy to not having to work and I'd never thought that I'd feel this way coz I loathe my previous job and I hated the rat race. Period.

I hope one fine day I'll find what it is that I love doing so I can say to myself that hey! this is it! this is me doing what I love to do, day in day out coz you know what - life is short and it's not worth wasting it at something you loathe.

Sometimes when I cook, I weep

That was by far the stupidest script I've ever heard for a cheese commercial on the idiot box. And to team it up with a gorgeous Italian man who speaks thick Italian accent (drool heheh) while cooking pasta in his spotless kitchen was actually bluwekkkk (and I thought Greek TV shows were the worst! ;p)

Went for some groceries last night at Pakn'Save after the better half finished his badminton session and whaddaya know, the flat peach has finally made it's way in town and got themselves on the counter and here it's known as Peaches Flatto. Go figure heheh. I've been trying to tell him about this peach ever since we got here. That got me reminded a lot about Madrid and the fun times that I had coz that was the exact place where I first saw this particular fruit. It looks ugly as compared to the normal peach but like what my mom always say, the hideous it looks, the better it tastes. I wonder if that applies to people too. In the sense that the more hideous they look, the better they are? I know some who look hideous and act like one too. Huh!

Did I ever told you people that I got a Salvatore Ferragamo purse as a wedding gift from his cousin? I mean, who the heck would ever give you a Ferragamo on your wedding day???? Or any day for that matter??? Another mind boggling gift was from his aunt - a gold bracelet. Like what the??? Who the heck would give you gold apart from your parents???? That still gives me chill on my spine whenever I think about it! I got some cool ones from my parents too - that hotel room and the flight tickets to Queenstown for our honeymoon. And it's cool that I got that givenchy perfume, lingeries and a diffuser to go with it muehehe. Thanks NI, NA, RM, SS and NNK!!

Nothing much has been going on. The work permit has been sent off yesterday at Queen's street, let's see how that one goes. The permanent head damage application has been lodged. We'll see how that one goes too. We went for movies in the park at Greenhithe the other day to watch Fame and it's funny coz we thought we had it over the top with our pillows and sheets and foodies but when we got there, we haven't got much as compared to others with their bean bags and nice chairs and sleeping bags and lots more! Another month to go and I'm loving it! The next would be Transformers 2 at I-can't-remember-where. Anyway, what I really wanted to point out is a quote from that movie which goes something like this...

"Happiness is waking up in the morning knowing that you're doing something you love and going to bed at night feeling that you've done your very best at it"

Cool aye?

When will I land a job that makes me happy? Will I ever figure it out?

Sebagai peringatan

1. Memberi/membuat segelas air untuk suami -> mendapat pahala puasa sunat 1 tahun.

2. Menyedia/memasak makanan yang mengenyangkan suami -> mendapat pahala haji dan umrah.

3. Menguli tepung gandum dengan bismillah -> Allah akan berkatkan rezeki.

4. Menyapu lantai dengan berzikir -> mendapat pahala seperti meyapu lantai di Baitullah.

5. Melayani dengan baik suami yang pulang ke rumah di dalam keadaan letih -> mendapat pahala jihad.

6. Menjaga solat, puasa, menutup aurat serta taat pada suami selagi suami tidak melanggar syara’ -> diizinkan Allah memasuki syurga dari mana2 pintu.

7. Melayan suami tanpa khianat -> mendapat pahala 12 tahun solat.

8. Mengurut suami tanpa di suruh -> mendapat pahala 7 lapis emas.

9. Mengurut suami setelah disuruh -> mendapat pahala 7 lapis perak.

10. Memandang suami dengan penuh kasih sayang -> dipandang Allah dengan pandangan rahmat.

11. Melayani suami dengan baik dalam keadaan suami marah -> mendapat pahala separuh jihad.

12. Menghamilkan benih suami -> mendapat pahala syahid.

13. Mandi Junub dengan suami -> mendapat pahala seperti bersedekah 1000 ekor kambing pada fakir miskin.

14. Redha suami keluar berjuang ke jalan Allah dan kemudia menjaga adab rumahtangga

-> masuk syurga 500 tahun lebih awal daripada suami, menjadi ketua 70,000 maalaikat dan bidadari, dimandikan di dalam syurga, dan menunggu suami dengan menunggang kuda yang dibuat dari pada yakut.

15. Meninggal dalam keadaan suami redha -> masuk syurga.

Pegi cucuk diri kamu sendiri

Go fuck yourself.

No offense peeps. I wasn't trying to curse or anything but that's exactly what I heard on the idiot box from a show called Orange Roughies (roughies???) on TV 1. Apparently the con-man is a Malaysian who can't speak English and that was what he said to the police officer (pegi cucuk diri kamu sendiri) which later were translated by his translator as go fuck yourself. Te he he.

Apart from the daily tasks as a hot wifey house wife, I've got something to really look forward to this coming Friday.

I'm getting a keyyyyyboarddddd! Yeayyyyyy! A high performance WK-series from Casio with 76 real size touch sensitive backlit keys, exactly the specs that I wanted! Well, even more actually coz I initially only wanted a standard real size 61 key. Thank you sayang!!!! Love yaaaa!!!! Muahx muahx! Sorry I fought with you in the morning. And afternoon ;p

So hubby said he'll get everybody on North Shore to come over Saturday night to hear me play. Ya rite. Bluweekkk. My palms are sweating, my lips are twitching and like what the Brits always say, I just can't bludeh wait! Ngeeeeeee ;D

On another note, I am quite worried about the work permit. Haven't got much time left until my visitor's visa expires on the 10th of April. I've undergone the medical check-up which cost us 470 dollars at Sunnynook medical centre, Sunset drive and Apollo drive last week and the results were all good except for my urine and iron level. The urine was contaminated (had no idea I had to do mid-stream tssk) and apparently I've got iron deficiency therefore, was required to undergo another test just to be sure. The second result wasn't that good either as I was informed that my iron is still extremely low though I had steak the night before. They're setting me up with hubby's GP next Monday for consultation and we'll see how that one goes.

Other than that, there's much to be thankful for. I am beginning to fall in love with this new place called home. The serenity, the calmness, the feel of the different colored sand and the grass underneath my feet. The knowledge that I can be at the beach to ride the waves every single sunny day. To go for quite walks or even a dip in the pool with darling hubby whenever he gets back from work. The knowledge that you're in such proximity to the city, but so far away from the hustle bustle and bad traffic. The fact that you can go do your groceries anytime of the week, even at 2am in the morning in your PJ.

I miss my girls. I miss hanging out and lazing around at Intan's place. I miss lunch and movies with Ennie and Farah, and karaoke too! I miss my sunday brunch with Ai. I miss trying to fit in Sham's very busy schedule. I miss chatting with Ain. I miss K.radhi's company and her mean mushroom and chicken in oyster sauce. I miss the sporadic emails and lunches with Adek and Epit. I miss sharing my secrets, thought, insecurities, hopes and dreams with darling Ijah and mek yue. And lately, I've been missing my Erasmus comrades too. Ton, Paras, Lis, Preston and Jun. I wish you all well and I wish you all find whatever it is you're looking for in life.

Jangan sayang sangat

Nanti sakit.

Love like you've never been hurt?

Bull shit.

Resolution

My brain's kinda dead by now. Life has been on halt work wise, for the last 45 days. Funny that when you're working you're dying to be on leave, but when you're on leave it's the other way round. I guess we shall never be satisfied with what we have.

It's probably a little tiny weeny late for a new year resolution. Not that I've been following any for the last 28 years. Bohoooo. Though it does feel good to write them down coz it gives me some ideas on what I want to do coz I usually forget. Better than sitting like a lazy bum for the rest of the year aye? Also, it's good to be sharing them with you guys coz it'll made me turn red if I don't ever get them all done. So be sure to ask me by end of this year. Muehehe.

1. Learn spanish

2. Learn how to read notes and play keyboard

3. Start a Permanent head Damage.

4. A good scholarship.

5. A part-time job

6. Brush up on swimming and play more sports

7. Lose 6kg for good

8. Cut down on sugar, carb and fat. Eat more greens & 5 servings of fruits per day

9. Drink lotsa water

10. Read, listen and watch more

I have a good feeling that I won't get any of it done but what the heck.

On another note, I am still at odds with other Malays in North Shore. I can't seem to find a common ground on how to connect. Half of the ladies are doing their PhD while the other half are stay-at-home-moms. I met one family from my hometown with 4 adorable kids ranging from 2 to 11 years old. I taught them how to swim once and now the mother is thinking of sending them to me on weekly basis. Not that I mind. In fact, I think I would really enjoy their company. Yesterday we played basketball while the other moms were chit-chatting. I wonder what the other moms think of me. Hmmm. Why can't I find people like you girls here???

People have been asking me whether I like this new place called home. You know it's a difficult question for a fickle minded person like me coz the answer varies from time to time. One time I feel bored to death, another time it feels like Nirvana. From time to time it does occur to me that the ETs really do exist and they're doing an excellent job here - abducting people, that is. Sometimes I strain my ears real hard to listen to people's voices but nope, I only get the sound of the wind and on my lucky days, a meowww. A really faint meow from Salwa. Go figure for a country with 4 million people but 40 million sheep.

Life is pretty much a holiday around here. People seem to take their hobbies a tad too serious but it's good coz they've got cool ones like cycling and surfing and yatch-ing and other water sports that I don't even know their names nor existence before I came down here. They even do cycling on one wheel, like wth??? It's the kinda place where you just pat you friend on the back and say "Hey dude, wanna go ride some waves?" when you don't know what else to do. The other day we went to Piha to watch the World Junior Surf Championship. And on another day we went boogie boarding at Omaha after strolling at Matakana which is also known as the slow-food town simply coz they're against the fast food industry. All within 45 minutes from home. 5 minutes and uphill, you can go see some horses and feed them carrots if you feel like it. Believe it or not.

Signing off for now.

With love.

The aftermath

2 hari lepas kawen saya mimpi melawat taman monyet bersama hubby dan makan yong tau foo berharga RM120 segelas. You read that right. The yong tau foo was half full (note how I use half full rather than half empty after marriage.muehehe. Am I making any sense? whateverrrr). It was also presented to us in a glass rather than a bowl, in water rather than soup. Hubby took a look at the price tag, refused politely and paid RM10 as compensation to the hawker for declining the meal. Betapa mulianya suami saya walaupon dalam mimpi. Apekah? Sayang, was that supposed to be our honeymoon? At taman monyet? Why oh why????

As spooky as it may sound, I dreamt of monyet again last night. This time in the form of Avatar. We were watching the trailer for Avatar before we went to bed, hubby thought it was cool and suggested that we go watch it in 3D today. As much as I want to give it a pass, being a good wifey that I am *ahem* I agreed so we'll be having our first movie as man and wife at 5.50pm today at Hoyt Silvia Park. That made me dreamt of a pitch black menace monkey for the whole night. Lucky he was cute though and behaved well towards the end. I can still see his face staring at me even now. Duh.

Okay let's wrap up the monkey business for now.

Marriage has been bliss so far. We are taking things easy so the transition has been quite smooth. Being an amateur cook, I went to bed late the first night that we arrived in Auckland to prepare the spices for nasi lemak and got up earlier than usual to cook our first breakfast here. Poor hubby got up 3 times that night looking for me as he felt bad for leaving me in the kitchen all alone though I insisted that he should be in bed due the long journey that we had earlier that day. Lucky he loved my dish and couldn't thank me enough, so he brought me to this cool German bar at Mission Bay which serves really scrumptious dishes for dinner. We had masak lemak mussels, tomato soup and chips and waddaya know, it was indeed the best mussels and tomato soup I've ever tasted my whole life! Like seriously! The mussels were huge, at least 4 times the size of mussels in Malaysia, fresh, sweet and chunky, the tomato soup was cooked together with cream and cheese and the taste just kinda explode in your mouth. The coolest really! After the slow walk by the beach, darling hubby took me to Parnel to have a taste at the Chocolate Boutique, a small but packed cafe which serves killer chocolate deserts of all kinds. All this for the small effort of nasi lemak? Cool aye? Maybe that's what people say that when you give, you get back so much more.

Signing off for now. Have so much to share but till then, adios!