3 Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas wrote a novel about a young man who leaves home to become a guard of musketeers. Then there's Athos, Porthos and Aramis with their ever famous "all for one and one for all" motto and I bet you know the rest of the story.

But in my case, 3 musketeers aren't those who fight for their people's justice but more to the fight of their own justice............with their mother. They are none other than my 3 super naughty lil' cousins who are also Maklang's (my mom) most favourite nephews.

Tengok muka masing-masing. Masam sungguh! They come over to our house every possible weekends. They are like the penyeri of our house. My parents just love to hear their screams and shouts. Oh! they love Izwan too, like crazy love. Abang Wan sana, Abang Wan sini. Sampai kadang-kadang Abang Wan pergi mandi pon nak ikut. They are also the reason why we have to fix my sister's bed every time they are around because they love, super duper love to jump at my sister's bed. Even my cats ran away whenever they come closer.

And this boy, this little boy who's aged one and a half years is a very chicky gangstery little boy who doesn't like to play with girls. I kid you not! He's my dad's favourite. He can only mix around with either my dad or Izwan. Orang lain memang kirim salam, tak layan!

Kanak-kanak bila kecil memanglah chomel. Terlalu comel. Tapi bila besar hanya Tuhan saja yang tahu!

Firefly, kenapa tax kau mahal sangat?!

Been checking flight tickets for two to Koh Samui and sadly only Firefly flies directly to Koh Samui and god their taxes are unreasonably expensive. Sigh!

Oh how I wish I earn 5 digits salary by now. Tak apa, bersyukur dengan apa yang ada.

There was a conversation I had with a colleague of mine couple of days ago about how beautiful life is if we were to be a housewife. Note that she is also a working wife to a workaholic husband. They are both working in the same industry. The same as I am. We were imagining the leisure time that we would have had if we were one. Wakes up only to get the husband's breakfast ready. When the husband is off for work, we would have all the time of our own to do what ever we want to do while waiting for the husband to come back from work. And since both of us are still in the category of "the newlyweds", getting the kids ready for school is not an issue. But if we were to have one, well, tiada masalah untuk menghantar dan menjemput mereka dari sekolah. In a way, we get the chance to spend time with our children, the mother-daughter/son time. Feed them lunch and hours later, they'll be off for the evening school pulak. We're free again. Apa lah sangat mengemas/mencuci/membasuh. Basuh rumah tak perlu hari-hari. Membasuh baju can be done in the morning. Even if we have to do it everyday, we still get roughly 2-3 hours of afternoon rest/nap. And by the end of the month, husband will give a great sum of pocket money for you to spend; on groceries, monthly allowances and what not.

Isn't that lovely. Oh, how I wish life is that simple.

But then again, when the reality hits, I don't think I want to sign for the above. I would rather work and earn my own money. And by the end of the month, we get more than enough to spend and travel. Kalau husband saja yang bekerja dan kasi duit, can you just imagine the amount of moo-lah that you'll be receiving? Unless if your husband earns 5 digits a month, itu lain cerita.

Furthermore, what life can a housewife gets for just staying at home? Otak tak berkembang, ilmu tak terisi and by the time you reach 50, your brain stuck with nothing. Of course there's exceptional but I've seen most housewives at the age of 50 and I don't want to end up being one.

Lebih rock jika menjadi seorang career lady and a great mother/wife at the same time. If my mom can do it, so do I! So yeah, housewife is a big no-no.

Lagi pon kalau jadi housewife, belum tentu si suami akan kasi green light untuk membayar tambang firefly yang tax-nya mahal itu. But if you work and earn your own money, at least you can split your expenses and spending with your husband and can afford to go for a better holiday. Tak gitu puan-puan?

After all, I don't want to waste my hard earned degree for nothing yang hanya di simpan di dalam file untuk kasi ia berabuk berkaput-kaput and I don't think my husband agrees if I want to be one. Daripada dia yang botak cepat, saya yang akan jadi lebih botak daripada dia.

Hey, I have goals to achieve and I don't want to waste my life for nothing. Being a housewife is totally not one of them. Bersusah-susah dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian, tak gitu?

Will you marry me?!

A friend posted a video of another friend proposing to his girlfriend on Facebook. It's been quite a while now but I only got the chance to view the video yesterday after another friend of mine was talking about it over the phone couple of days ago. I honestly think that it was cocky. Ahaks! But it was sweet of him to propose that way. But I still think that it was cocky. Double ahaks!

Jealous? Definitely not! Trust me, I'm no romantic kind of person and I don't do romantic things either. So, yeah!

Izwan never proposed before. Hah! that's explain. But if he does I would have teased and laughed my lungs out till the day he dies. He's not the romantic kind of guy. The day that we decided to get married was the day when both of our parents agreed to do our engagement on March last year. It wasn't because we told them so but it was simple because that month was the month where my mom has finally settled with her shop's renovation and also it was during the school holidays that will be easier for Izwan's family to come down to KL. It was initially planned for a merisik but my parents agreed that we do the engagement all in together considering that Izwan's family are all in Kedah hence they won't be able to come down twice. That was the time that we decided to get married. I wasn't expecting the proposal from him anyway and we have never plan in settling down any time soon.

The only time that Izwan popped the "will you marry me?" question was few months before our Akad Nikah. Isn't it obvious? Only few months down the road of course I said Yes. Gila apa baru nak fikir jawab apa time tuh. Surat permohonan nikah pon dah diluluskan. Tak de maknanya. But of course, he was laughing hysterically when he popped the million dollar question and I remember spanking his head after that. Oh, we are romantic that way.

Anyways, I'm truly happy for both of you but I still find it cocky. Hehe.

Child's Labor

This naughty lil boy is trying to clean our kitchen but he fails tremendously. The broom and the dust pan are taller than he is but nonetheless, his efforts memang paling awesomeness. He carried the broom and dust pan all around the kitchen and ended making more mess than it already has. A very hard working he is. Gonna give him an A+ for his efforts.

Senyum Colgate

I don't need millions of friends to tell me how good my life is. Not that I actually have but I need friends that will always be there when I needed them the most. Friends that aren't two faces. Friends that are there to lend their shoulders to cry on. Friends that are able to tell me how ugly I look for growing uncounted number of pimples on my face. Friends that are there to pick me up when I'm down. Friends that are able to tell me how stupid I've become for making such decision. Friends that are able to share their spoons with me. Friends that are able to scream and shout at me for being a reckless-self-centered person. Friends who are able to wake me up when I'm all above the sky. Friends that are able to say that I've picked the wrong man as a partner. Friends that are there to fight with me. Friends that will say "NO" to my decisions. Friends that will love me for my flaws. Friends that are not pretentious. Friends that will never judge. Friends that are there to laugh cynically to my stupid jokes (as I never good in creating one). Friends that would stay even when I farted. And most importantly, friends that are honest.

Hey, who doesn't right? And I bet you have one too.

See how much I've grown? My face is soo BoooLaat!

I'm lucky that I have these 3 amazing girls as my friend. Friends that fulfill all the criteria above. Friends that are there through thick and thin. Friends that will never judge.

We don't get the chance to meet each other that often. Everyone has their own life to live, other commitments to be taken care off. But we know that we have each other for support and love.

Hey, this doesn't mean that I'm no friend with anyone else. It's just that they are my definition of a true friendship. Kawan susah senang melayu cakap.

I'm blessed! Alhamdulillah.

Six.

Six years ago, you sent a text message with just an Hello! I did not reply though I know it was from you. That unfamiliar phone number of yours made it so clear to me that you were serious when you said that you wanted to be my friend. Honestly, I know you wanted more than just becoming a friend; becoming my friend. Didn't I tell you that my instinct's a bitch. It never fails on me and it was right all along.

We've been through a lot together. Some were good and some were terribly bad. You have been the sweetest person I have ever met and the most annoying creature god has ever created at certain level of point. Who would have thought, that little annoying of yours has make me love you even more. You who have loved me to the highest sky, who have hated me to the deepest low and who have been the most patience while handling the psycho part of me. And with that, I'm truly grateful for I have made the right decision to stay and to fight for this relationship even when there was a time when I feel of giving up.

Six year later - today, you are the man that I married and to have this love stays forever and to grow old together with you, Insyaallah is all that I'm praying for.

There will be no more today. There will be no more celebration on remembering today but today shall remain forever as the day that you have said Hello!

Love much, your wife

Ini tanah YTL punya

This was what one of the guard at Sentul West/KLPac entrance gate shouted at us when we were walking around the area for my wedding outdoor photo shoots. Apparently, no one is allowed to take photos without YTL's permission even at the back gate of Sentul KTM Komuter station.

I guess everyone is well informed on whose house design does this belong to. Pretty impressive ha, for someone who has been listed as Malaysia's richest man for several years now to own such mansion. Not him of course. He died years ago. But nonetheless, YTL's residence was designed by a French designer for the YTL family.

It is reported that the mansion includes 9 bedrooms, 2 family rooms, a family kitchen and a private dining area, a family library, a game room, a public reception area, a formal dining room, a ballroom, chapel, 21 bathrooms, a swimming pool, 2 guest suites plus an indoor private and guest parking.

The overview of the designed bangalow. It looks like a vacuum sucker to me though. Heh!

Source: The Cool Hunter

I have nothing against them but after the "Ini tanah YTL punya" incident and for the fact that they bought my school and shut us out at some deserted area in Cheras, my husband and I have decided to ban (chewah!) YTL's property development projects. Not that we are eligible for it but who knows one day kitaorang menang lottery ke duit jatuh dari langit ke tiba-tiba terjadi kaya raya roti kaya. Eventhough they have numerous of nice house projects (chewah, hipokrit lah pulak) but YTL is totally out of the list.

When the richer gets richer, the poor suffers!

It's Ok to be less educated as long as we know the right channel

I've been meaning to post about this for days but I just couldn't find the time. Lets move on while waiting for this long hair to dry on its own.

What she said on Awani was unethical. Very uneducated I must add and insensitive too. Just like what kakak said, "buat malu budak TKC". Very embarrassing for someone who is the wife of a Prime Minister who also claimed to be the country's First Lady (tak pernah di buat orang PM isterinya di beri gelaran Wanita Pertama lainlah kalau President negara) to make such statement as if she never really studied Geography before.

What happened in Japan is something beyond our control. It got nothing to do with the country's unstructured development. And I bet, Japan is one of the country which plan their country's development pretty well. It's nature's call for such incidents to happen. It's not something that we can control.

My prayers will be to the Japan earthquake and tsunami victims.

26

Dearest Husband,

Happy 26th birthday. May Allah bless you always with love and joy, murah rezki. Amin. Sorry for not being able to celebrate your birthday on the day it self but I hope you love the cake that we bought for you and for the fact that your favourite boys were there to blow the candles with you. Oh, and you got your expensive ice-cream cake, isn't that awesome?! You've been through a lot these past few years and you're still standing strong. You're one awesome man and I'm glad that I made the right choice by marrying you. Please know that we are all here to love and care for you unconditionally.

Anyways, Happy birthday my dearest. May all your dreams come true and many many happy returns.

Love much,

Your wife.

OMD Team Building + Annual Dinner

Last Friday, my company had a 2 days 1 night trip up Awana Genting for our annual dinner + team building session. Too bad I don't have my camera with me all the time hence no pictures taken during the super fun outdoor activities that we had to do. It was raining cats and dogs since our arrival, we have no choice but to continue with the activities under the heavy rain. Imagine how freezing we were up there with activities that requires us to walk in a lake. Gila awesome lah! The ones I have here are also not in a good quality. I've been using my old camera for years but I have yet to master its' function. Very bad quality.

Indoor activities that we had after lunch break after the freezing cold outdoor activities.

Rock climbing rock lah for the fact that I actually climbed with a pair of jeans on. I can officially scrap one list from my bucket list.

And now comes the dinner. The theme was Superstar and I must say that they really put so much afford on this. Memang awesome lah!

OM team

Rockstars superstar.

GMs and Media Directors

My Media Director dressed as Whoopi Goldberg. Cool eh?

CEO as Jon Bon Jovi or maybe Slash or I don't know. He was very high that night like super high I don't think he remembers what he did that night.

Me and the rest of the girls.

Kelly as Katie Perry. Very sexy you'll

Rita as Kungfu Fighting ta ting ting ting....Wachaaaa ok I don't know who =P

My GM dressed as Mr. T.

We (me and my group-mates) won first prize for best performance that night for a RM1000. And not forgetting Coffee Maker + Estee Lauder perfume for lucky draw. Wohooo.

And before I go, here's a video by the management team (GMs, CFO and the CEO). Last minute request from the audience. Very random lah I tell you!

Lunch time random ramblings

• Been checking on Maldives for weeks now but I guess, it's not happening. Airfare is damn cheap but the tax that's making it impossible. Hah! sedih makcik. Next year perhaps only when husband permits which probably leads to a No! Sedih makcik kali ke-dua. It is reported that Maldives is "sinking" soon. By soon means in 5 years time and it would be a total lost for not being able to step foot at the island. The saddest part is, the beautiful island will be gone forever due to global warming. We'll never have the chance to see Maldives again.
  
• My parents are going for Umrah this coming July and I have to stay back for some unforeseen reasons. Kakak is going too and the whole gang of Maklong's are following. Ini tidak adil. But on the happy note, I will be able to have my first puasa with my husband all by ourselves, wootwoot.
  
• My body is still aching from the camp that I attended last weekend. Believe it or not, I ran 2.5KM in just 13 minutes. Who would have thought, this asthmatic girl still has her stamina in her. Self-achievement weyh!
  
• I miss Penang. Very much! Hurm
  
• I haven't found my costume for company's annual dinner. I don't even have time to think on what to wear. Anyone know where I can rent cheap costumes?

Lunch hour's over. Now back to work. Have a nice day people!

Enhancing skills

click to enlarge

Read it up people. It's very useful especially for those in the communication industry/public relation/customer service.

I got news for ya...coffee addict

Here are some insides for those who have the same kind of addict as I am - Coffee Addict. As some may have heard the ever famous-most cliched-statement: coffee is bad for health is totally untrue. Here are the reasons why.

1. Coffee protects your heart: Moderate coffee drinkers (1 to 3 cups/day) have lower rates of stroke than non-coffee drinkers, an effect linked to coffee’s antioxidants. Coffee has more antioxidants per serving than blueberries, making it the biggest source of antioxidants in American diets. All those antioxidants may help suppress the damaging effect of inflammation on arteries. Immediately after drinking it, coffee raises your blood pressure and heart rate, but over the long term, it actually may lower blood pressure as coffee’s antioxidants activate nitric acid, widening blood vessels.


2. It diverts diabetes: Those antioxidants (chlorogeni acid and quinides, specifically) play another role: boosting your cells’ sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar. In fact, people who drink 4 or more cups of coffee each day may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to some studies. Other studies have shown that caffeine can blunt the insulin-sensitivity boost, so if you do drink several cups a day, try mixing in decaf occasionally.


3. Liver loves coffee: It looks like the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases. One analysis of nine studies found that every 2-cup increase in daily coffee intake reduced liver cancer risk by 43 percent. Again, it’s those antioxidants—chlorogenic and caffeic acids—that might prevent liver inflammation and inhibit cancer cells.


4. It boosts your brain power: Drinking between 1 and 5 cups a day (admittedly a big range) may help reduce risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as Parkinson’s disease, studies suggest. Those antioxidants may ward off brain cell damage and help the neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function to work better.


5. Lastly, it helps your headaches: And not just the withdrawal headaches caused by skipping your daily dose of caffeine! Studies show that 200 milligrams of caffeine—about the amount in 16 ounces of brewed coffee—provides relief from headaches, including migraines. Exactly how caffeine relieves headaches isn’t clear. But scientists do know that caffeine boosts the activity of brain cells, causing surrounding blood vessels to constrict. One theory is that this constriction helps to relieve the pressure that causes the pain, says Robert Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology and director of the Headache Clinic at the University of Vermont Medical School.

That’s not to say that coffee doesn’t have any pitfalls. It does. Some people are super-sensitive to caffeine and get jittery or anxious after drinking coffee; habitual coffee drinkers usually develop a tolerance to caffeine that eliminates this problem (but they then need the caffeine to be alert and ward off withdrawal headaches). Coffee can also disturb sleep, especially as people age. Cutting some of the caffeine and drinking it earlier in the day can curb this effect. Lastly, unfiltered coffee can raise LDL cholesterol, so use a filter for heart health.

This doesn't mean that one has to consume 5 cups of coffee a day. It may not be the same for every individual. Some can take the heat but some just can't. Drink moderately.

Very useful ha?!

Photostream #2

Life achievement

and a man who thinks he's the next member of the Taliban.
Obviously, he's not!