Auntie Kakak.

Believe it or not, I’ve never ever held a newborn in my arms before. I’m too scared they would break. I’m scared that they would cry. I’m always scared of newborn babies. And I know that it makes no sense seeing how small they are but the reality is that – newborn babies terrify me to a certain extent.

Most of my good friends have either delivered, awaiting arrival of newborns or expecting. Tuan badan belum rasa pressure, anda pun tak patut pressure untuk saya. Isu selingan. Tibe-tibe.

Anyways, back to newborns.

I have been following Lynn’s pregnancy journey quite closely. Why wouldn’t I? She is one of my best friends and she beautifully recorded her pregnancy in a way most people don’t – she doesn’t sugar coat it and makes you feel like, “Hey, you don’t have to panic just because you’re going to be a first time mom. You just have to learn to accept everything and expect nothing.” The last bit was exactly what Lynn said.

So, since she was so kind to share with us her pregnancy updates, I got the feeling last weekend that it was “time”. Boleh? Anak orang lain, aku yang menyebok. Hahah. So, I asked Lynn how she was doing and she said it could be any time “tapi tak sure budak kecik ni bila dia nak keluar”.

When I was at Empire on Sunday, Sopex messaged me to ask me whether we had any plans to visit Lynn since she was at Ampang Puteri, but I thought it would be a good idea to wait until she delivered before we brought our Pretty Lil’ Party there.

So, we waited.

And then, the message of the arrival of the precious lil’ one came on 13th June 2011 and I was overwhelmed with all sorts of feelings. I wished that I was one of the first few to hold the lil’ princess but duty calls and I couldn’t get off work. But yesterday, I cleared my work at supersonic speed and at the very first opportunity, I packed my bags and headed home. And then off we went to see dear darling Tyana, at 2 days old.


And that’s where I held a newborn baby for the first time ever in my life.

It was quite an experience.

It’s just one of those things I don’t think I’d ever forget and I became quite emotional last night. Not in the “I’m going to cry for no reason” kind of way, just “I’ve got bile in my throat” feeling all night long.

Dearest Tyana,

Please know that even at this point in time, you’ve already got 157 aunties + 1 mummy already loving you and saying how adorable you are. You truly are precious and please know that 4 of mummy’s friends here love you as if you are our own sebab Auntie Nad, Auntie Tasha, Auntie Nem and myself, bangun pagi je terus rindu dekat Tyana. You truly are very precious. We were so noisy yesterday, but you just slept in my arms like an angel. We're so sorry we're so noisy like all the time. We're just very excited on your arrival. Your birth has brought many people together. Like how I saw my friend whom I haven't met in about a year yesterday. You have no idea how much you make our hearts melt and how we can stare at you for hours, even though all you really do is sleep. Thank you for not crying when I held you yesterday. I was glad that my first experience holding a newborn - it was you. 

Love, Auntie Kakak.

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Tea with the Smarties.

It has been A LONG time since I last saw these people alright! Not surprising though, since even Nanad and I don’t bump into each other that much these days and WE WORK IN THE SAME BUILDING, for goodness sake.

So, meeting them was something I looked forward to all week. You should ask my husband how shiny-shiny (direct translation from bersinar-sinar haha) I became the moment I confirmed that we were going to have some tea together.

Venue of everyone’s choice – The Loaf at Empire.

More than anything, actually, we wanted to see the Mommy-to-Be who is due to deliver... anytime soon now!

I had a tough time finding a parking space in Empire. I couldn’t even remember which way I was supposed to go because I’ve never been there before. Encik Suami insists that we’ve been there together before, but I honestly don’t remember and I’m not in the habit of forgetting things.

So, anyways that’s besides the point. I finally managed to get a parking space somewhere and since it was already 4 p.m. (we promised to meet at that time) and I know how skema these people can be (ehehe peace yo) ... I rushed up the elevator and pressed a random number – 2.

The next thing I know, I was at the Second Floor of the Empire Hotel. I’m hopeless, I tell you. HOPELESS. Never ask me directions. Do not follow me when you’re lost. I’m probably just as lost as you and the only thing I'd do is make you more than lost. Double peluh. "=.="

So, I got off at the 2nd floor and pretended to head to my (non-existent) room and guess where I went?

To that place people keep extra towels etc. etc. Good God, I really am hopeless with directions, don’t you think so?

After embarrassing myself beyond repair, I finally asked for directions and hoped that I was heading toward the correct direction and TA-DA! There they were, waiting for everyone to arrive. Mommy-to-Be wasn’t there yet, but Nanad, Zaki and Mamita were.

We ordered our food, ate and chit chatted about things. Work, mostly. I know, I know, we are such boring people aren’t we? But since we spend a minimum of 8 hours in the office, that’s where all the juicy gossip come from. Who said we were talking about the SERIOUS STUFF?

Ah, I was so glad to be reunited with some of my most trusted gossip partners. My secrets are safe with them, that’s for sure.

Then, the Mommy-to-Be arrived and she ordered her food and drinks and there was more gossip.

The highlight of the day was probably when we met our "LIYODS" Lecturer there, with daughter and the daughter has the same name as Baby Maya (???) What??? Zaki was so surprised, he was rendered speechless. Ahaha. We had quite a laugh about that but hands down Baby Maya is not only cuter, but she’s also one of the most cantik babies I’ve ever seen.

It was a really, really good way to end my weekend. These people really are some of the best people I have ever been friends with. Without a doubt :)

Oh, I had Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Danish + Chicken Pie. I LOVE the Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Danish, but I've tasted better Chicken Pie at Baker's Cottage. Trust me, the one at Baker's Cottage is TO DIE FOR, yummms.

p.s.: Adlin, Din and Batss you were dearly missed. Would’ve been more fun if you were around.

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princess.

I read ProudDuck quite a lot.

And I saw the FV Daddy’s Girl Contest.

No, I’m not going to participate but PD’s stories of her dad got me smiling because her dad sounds A LOT like my own dad.

I feared my dad. No, wait. I still fear him. I don’t know why and no one knows why. About a year ago, my dad asked me the same question. He asked me if I remember him striking me, ever. I don’t. I really don’t. I remember Mama striking me, but Babah, never.

In fact, my childhood with my dad (until I was about 7) is still pretty much blurry to me. If not for old photographs, I wouldn’t know what I looked like in his arms at a very, very young age.

Mama tells me that when Babah was younger, he was very, very hot-tempered. Everything would rile him and he was a tad clueless about parenting. So, he brought me up the only he way he knew – by being a tough disciplinarian. And boy, he was tough alright. Apparently, he did strike me ONCE.

And in the rank of strikes, that strike could be called a sissy, since it was a mere tap with a ruler. But even so, I got a fever from that and Mama told my dad to never lay a hand on me ever again.

Since then, he never did, but I continued to fear him nonetheless.

When I was very little, my dad worked 2 jobs to make ends meet. So, I saw very little of him and lots of my mom and so, a lot of credit is owing to my mom for my splendid upbringing and why there’s a lot of her in me.

But be that as it may… in more ways that I can even imagine, I am actually a lot more like my dad and it took me 25 years to realise it.

Some time in November 2010, he brought me out for a lil’ “chat”. Some things were getting out of hand in the “mom-daughter relationship” department and my dad was curious as to why I was acting like a complete rebel when that’s exactly who I’m NOT.

And for the first time in my life, I cried my heart out to him, telling him EVERYTHING that I felt and since then, I became his Princess. I will never be a bestfriend + princess to him, like Adik is, but Princess is enough for me.

Since then, I started seeing him in a different light. I started seeing him not only as my dad but also protector and my confidante. He treated me like an adult. And whatever it is that passed between us on that day remained confidential up until today.

And since then, our differences also began to evaporate, bit by bit, because guess what? There were never real differences to begin with.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH OF MY DAD THERE IS IN ME.

Like how I can sleep just about anywhere.
Or how I hate the Original Flavoured Anlene and love the Chocolate Flavoured one.
And how we dig the Green Nescafe.
And how I write journals almost every day and keep record of everything.
Like how naïve I can get about certain things.
Or how I can explode like a volcano when I’ve held some things to myself for too long.
Or how I cannot control my anger (and hate) once it is unleashed.
And the fact that I have a splendid sense of hearing (Alhamdulillah).
And the fact that I am terrible with directions. I didn’t even know that its hereditary???
Oh. Let's not get started on the part where we're both born with extraordinary patience.
And let’s not forget my slapstick humour.
I apparently got that from my dad too.

I don’t think I ever understood him before. I never understood why he was so tough on me. He would wait for me AT THE GATE (!!!) if I went out for a date and came home any later than 7.30 p.m. He wouldn’t let me travel with just anyone. And there are a whole list of things which he does to me, which (whether luckily or not, I don’t know) my siblings have been spared. But for what it’s worth, it was all done in good faith and I can finally see the sense in all of the things he did.

Now, he’s a lot mellower. He’s calmer now that I am married and tells my mom off every now and then when my mom acts like I’m still single.

We still have “secret code” looks that we give each other when the same thought passes through our mind at any particular time. And we’re still working on getting to know each other better, now that we both see each other in a different light.

It’ll still be awkward for me to just “hang out” with my dad, as that’s never happened before.

But one of these days, I’d love to try that.

He may never read this blog but I just want everyone to know that I love my dad heaps and that I’d probably get him loads of golf balls for Father’s Day this weekend. That would make him the happiest Dad on earth and his golf buddies for the next 6 months will never hear the end of “anak I belikan I bola golf” stories.

Hahaha. Babah, Babah. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

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the perfect proposal.

I’m sure many of us have an “I Do” story. The kind that makes you feel all fuzzy inside. Well, even if we don’t, I’m sure that most of us at least DREAM of the most perfect proposal. And by perfect, I think most girls wished that their partners would get on one knee in front of thousands of people, express his undying love for her and asks her to marry him and they’ll live happily ever after.

Well, believe it or not, ONE girl got that wish granted.

I was listening to the radio last week when I heard of this girl’s story.

She told of how they were all in a party with thousands of people and suddenly, she saw her boyfriend on the stage. Then, he called her up and then the whole works of a “perfect proposal” took place. She said YES (!!!). And I thought that it was all a very sweet affair.

And at that very moment, she asked no one in particular (in a very, very flat, unexcited tone),

“Sounds perfect, right?”

I almost screamed at her through my radio, “OF COURSE ITS PERFECT YOU IDIOT!”

Only, after her entire story (and not to mention her tone), I wasn’t too sure if she felt the same.

She was in a dilemma. She told us that she felt that it was all happening too fast, too soon. They were still young. She had many other things she wanted to achieve in life and wasn’t sure if settling down was one of it. At least not at this point in time.

So, when the DJs asked her why she said YES in the first place, she told them that she was caught by surprise and it’s not that she had much of a choice. There were thousands of people there and she didn’t want to embarrass her boyfriend. Hmmm. That is a valid point. If I were in the same position, I would have probably said yes too.

After dinner that night, while we were cleaning the dishes, I told my husband of the “perfect proposal” story and asked him,

“If I were someone else; any other girl, how would you have proposed to me?”

He said,

“But you’re not any other girl. You’re you. You’d hate the “perfect proposal””

So I persuaded him to imagine that I was some other girl. Not me. I just wondered how he would propose to me if I wasn’t… me?

So, he looked me in the eye and said,

“Well, if you insist… Jom kawen?”

THAT’S IT?

Boy, am I happy that I’m me or what?! At least I got a relatively sweet message of “I bought the ring already” rather than “Jom kawen”.

Point is that we all dream of some kind of a “perfect proposal”. We do. Don’t deny it. And for most (myself not excluded), we’ve been brought up with the image of “perfect” being one that has a knight in shining armour who kneels on one knee, who presents us with the “rock” we’ve all been dreaming of all our lives.

Truth is, sometimes what is deemed as a “perfect proposal” isn’t all that perfect when actually executed. It only looks sweet in movies. In real life, I think that it’ll probably cause an awkwardness that’s difficult to overcome.

I wouldn’t know for sure because I’m an entirely different species of "girl" (where proposals are concerned) anyway.

More than anything, I don’t think I’d settle for just any rock… no point of having a surprise if it isn’t a pleasant one. Heehee.

Do you have a "perfect proposal" story?

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why don't they just DO IT?

BCS2.

That's who.

I've been there 3 times now and twice, I went there to get my hair cut.

Both times, I got different Stylists.

The first time I went, it was a girl and she didn't have the heart to cut my hair short because it was my post-wedding hair and you all know how long post-wedding hair can get. So, I totally got her point when she couldn't, just couldn't chop the devil off.

This time, after approximately 2 months since the last time I got my hair done, I went there again. I really like the saloon BCS2 and that deserves a paragraph of its own later. Point is that I went again last week and just wanted a short do. Shorter than what I got before. Nothing else.

To my disappointment, the real nice girl stylist I previously got - Maggie, wasn't around, so I settled for a guy by the name of Ringo. He's really nice too and he entertained my mindless chatter as I got my my hair washed and asked me how I planned on having my hair done.

But when it came for the time for him to actually chop the devil, he became hesitant. He just couldn't do it. He kept telling me to come back next time and maybe then, he'd have the heart to cut my hair short.

WHAT IS IT UP WITH THESE PEOPLE AND MY HAIR???

If I had it MY WAY, I would have wanted my hair to be like this:

source

I did ask Ringo to get it done like this but he told me that the only way I could achieve that look is by perming my hair. Same thing that Maggie told me the last time and NO there is nothing or anyone that can convince me to get my hair permed. No sirree.

So, I told him that I wanted my hair to be "collarbone" length.

And he said OK and started chop chopping my hair. Only, after a while, I realised that... well, the longest point of my hair wasn't collarbone length. It was sort of an optic illusion that worked well for people who aren't anal about their hair styles. It just generally had the "collarbone effect" but wasn't really collarbone length, get it? Sigh.

So, I told him that I wanted it shortened. "Like this, like this" I kept showing him the photo of my inspiration.

He got a lil' upset I think and did cut my hair just a tad bit shorter but still refused to give me my medium short hair. He told me that if I wanted to go short, I should consider getting my hair "bobbed", nothing else. Sigh again.

At this point, I just gave up. My usual stylist while I was in Shah Alam refused to give me the Rihanna cut. He gave me "flip hair" instead. Oh, in case you're wondering, "flip hair" means the kind where you can wake up, comb your hair a bit and just flip your hair and you're good to go.

Anyways, back to my "chopping" episode, I just gave up on persuading Ringo that I looked good with short hair and thanked him for being such a nice guy and for cutting my hair nicely and I paid for my "haircut" and left. I still felt good because although I didn't get my desired style, it was still a very good haircut. So, for that, I think that BCS2 deserves this promotion in my blog.

They have a dedicated team. Unlike some shops with Junior Stylists and Senior Stylists, this saloon has Stylist and Assistant Stylist (AS) only. So, the AS handles the hair washing, blowing etc. and the Stylist will cut the hair. Only Stylists will cut your hair and the haircuts they give you are of good quality too. Their staff is friendly and apart from the fact that they refused to shorten my hair, I really was satisfied with their services. And the price? Very, very, very reasonable, I must say.

You see, when you've had long hair for so long, all you want at times is a lil' bit of a change. You want to look younger (not that I think I look so old *denial mode*), you want to look fresher, you want your head to lighten up a bit. You just want a break from that Rapunzel-like existence.

But I also know that short hair isn't that easy to maintain, especially if one's got hair with an attitude like mine. I know that once the hair products and the effects of a good commercial hairdryer wears off, I'd basically have hair that would piss the living daylights out of me.

Oh yes, I've been there before.

first, please don't ask me why i mainly wore BLUE back then. i was probably obsessed with the colour. second, i have no idea why i looked the way i looked in the last photo. HAHAHAHAHA.

So, I guess that I'll just have to be content with long hair until I get into one of my "hairy moods" again and go through another "hairy episode" with either Maggie or Ringo or some other Stylist at BCS2.

In case you were wondering, BCS2 is located at L4-06E(p), The Mines Shopping Mall.

If I told my dad this story, he would have the easiest, most obvious solution, "Kan Allah suruh pakai tudung, tutup aurat"

*GULP KENA SETEPEK*

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Halloween in June.

This year, it seems like alot of people have a penchant for... costumes! Or themed dinners! Or fancy dresses.

Some time earlier this year, we had our Division Conference in Kuantan and one of the themes we decided on was BACK TO SCHOOL! Uhuh.

It has been quite some time since a we had a themed dinner and though I was all hyped about it, I was also swamped. So, I ended up looking for my "fancy dress" just a day before I left for Kuantan. I guess I am just lucky to have friends of the same size and thankfully, Hypermarkets sell school uniforms at very, very affordable prices (issue of quality aside).

I ended up dressing up as "HERMIONEESA", to which my bosses responded by telling me that movie characters don't count. Well, it doesn't matter because what matters is that we had loads of fun that night!

***

Last weekend, I went to my cousin's 11th birthday party (I thought that she's still 8 though!).

MakNgah is a genius because she booked everyone about 3 weeks before the party. And so, that way, little miss (oops Mrs) from Putrajaya here made sure that she kept that weekend free.

We went to Mama's first, where I camwhored with Adik like nobody's business. That hasn't happened in a long time and I think my Android deserves the credit since I've been more than happy to snap photos since I bought it 2 weeks ago. We also decided then what we really wanted to dress as.

Initially, I wanted to go all out and dress like this:

But MakNgah called one day to ask if I was coming and she told me not to worry too much about the costume and what was most important was HEAD UP. So, that eliminated one huge headache, but it didn't mean that I now knew what I wanted to be.

So, we went to MakNgah's house. Dropped Mama and Adik off first and Encik and myself joined them later. I was at the gate when I heard Na scream my name. YES, it has been THAT long since we last met and she was so excited to see me, and when she finally saw me looking all FAB like THIS:

Imagine her reaction.

It was hilarious, I tell you!

It was so amazing because everyone who had already arrived was looking either yucky or scary and I'm sure Hannah was mighty, mighty glad that everyone was such a sport.

What happened that night was a lot of fun, of course. And here are some of them who just had to go all out with being super scary halloween.

Nice, right? To be honest, we never thought that Halloween could happen in June, but it DID! We should have more themed parties like this because that was just oh-so-fun, I tell you!

It was great meeting them and talking gibberish and laughing like silly hyenas all evening.

And last but not least, thanks Adik for the matchy matchy teeshirts and thanks Encik for driving us there!

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another one.

Windows. That’s something I often work on. Last week, the windows opened widely for me and all the stars seem to align in my favour. I got things to go my way. All the way!! (apa aku merepek kerepek ni)

I got off work early on Friday. Picked my husband up from the ERL and we got ready to attend my friend’s wedding at Dewan De’ Sri Endon, which is about 10 minutes away from my house, maybe?

The venue looked amazing! I super love venues with yellow lighting, makes us all look pretty, oooh. The food was PLENTY! We seriously didn’t know which one to choose! I know this because I was in line with Aleng and Tash and we had already (greedily) piled our plates, only to realise there were MORE food! And the cendol… I was just so seriously WOWED by the cendol, that I could eat 5 of them, yum yum.

And let’s not forget the bride, who looked nothing less than lovely. Stunning and so berseri-seri, I tell you!

It was a lovely night. It was fun-filled with laughter (and loads of babies) and questions of “when?” or “dah berisi?” or “have you missed your period?” were abundant. No offence taken. I just smiled and told everyone to relax.

Yaa and I have been friends since we were 13 and we were housemates and dorm mates and basically she was one of my mom’s “daughters” as well, like most of us are to all of our moms. Heehee.

I wouldn’t have missed her wedding for the world and since I had every opportunity to attend it, I made my way there!

It’s been a while since I attended any Fighterzs’ wedding too so meeting the girls on that Friday night was a huge treat for me, no joke! That night, I had no other choice but to abandon my husband for a couple of hours because these girls are just too much fun to be with!

Here are some photos, which I (shamelessly) stole from Dira because my camera just didn’t work its wonders that night.

Congratulations, Yaa and Midi! May you have a blessed life always and may you cherish and love one another. It’s not always going to be pretty, but most times, it’ll be beautiful ;)

p.s: masih muat baju tunang. pheww. lap peluh sikit.

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We're Just Ordinary People

We're just ordinary people,

We don't know which way to go,

Cause we're ordinary people,

Maybe we should take it slow.

I miss Perth. :')

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