Year In Review: 2013

This was one eventful year.. my baby sister got married.. my two best friends delivered two healthy babies.. and we ended the year with a great bbq session.. so as i sit here reading of what the years before have brought, i'm thinking of what this year has been like and what 2014 will bring.. sure, everyone starts the year with this huge positive attitude and might slumber as they go on.. but i have a feeling that 2014 will be great.. but before we dwell on that (which should be in a different post), lets reflect what this year has brought us... and again, not in any particular sequence...

how can i ever forget the first real family vacation ever (and overseas, mind you) that we had in probably years.. we went to Perth Australia, and had such a good time just being with each other, the five of us... 

I'll have to repeat, my sister's wedding was also among the highlight of the year.. from the preparations, to the day itself.. now it feels likeit happened so long ago but actually was just a month..

babies cuteness.. yup, i adore those two babies so much.. although i've only met ameena (and should be visiting more often actually), i can't wait to meet addam.. and hopefully by the time i see them, i'll have the 'courage' to cuddle them hehehehe

Yes!!! I've finally paid off my car loan.. you might as well say that i've got an 'increament' hehehe but must save for new zealand.. it doesn't help that the currency keeps increasing by the second huhuhuhu

shaytober 90% success.. and i'll think of something to do for this year which should be around that mindset.. plus, i ordered a shaytard calendar and it was signed!!! Woot woot!!

Other than that i managed to hang out with my friends more last year and went to USS weehooo.. had so much fun with them.. next time hanging out with them will be so different, seeing that they're parents now..

Well i guess that's all i could think of.. kinda lazy to recall too actually... anyway, have a great year ahead.. it's almost the end of the year, and i still need to sort out my goals/plan for this year.. lookibg forward to our next family vacation.. hugs

Interlude Before the Wedding Post

Iklan jap.. after this hopefully i'll have some post of my baby's wedding.. but before that i want to ramble a little bit.. as i may have mentioned before, i dislike unwanted visitors (or in this case readers).. sometimes i don't think about it and care.. but other times it's somewhat annoying to me.. off course you'll think that the easiest and most logical thing to do is to change the setting to private right? well, although i don't have that much readers (kire gune sebelah tgn pon cukup), the people i do know read my blog don't have an account.. and agak leceh to ask them to sign in and what not so i'm leaving it public.. not that i expect people to read but that's just the way it is..  but then there are also people that i prefer not to read this blog just cuz i don't ok.. it doesn't help that i get ask questions about things that other people shouldn't have known (cuz lets face it, i'm not much of a talker).. or even get a random text that makes me go, "what the fuck are you getting at?!?" rimas ok.. get the hint already.. i'm ignoring you for a reason.. 

malas nk type dah.. wanna continue my Sherlock Holmes before the year ends huhuhuh bye

I Can Hear The Bells

It has been awhile indeed.. updates? Well Shaytober was a better month for me.. started out motivated and vetted through but towards the end, I did fall off the wagon.. and then came Brovember and that was horrible.. I didn’t go into the month with the right mindset.. and now it’s already December, and I’m slowing down a little bit.. Shikin had a beautiful baby girl.. Jue is due in a couple of days.. super excited for that.. went to visit kin with my sisters the other day but didn’t stayed that long.. as my fear of holding newborns still remain, I didn’t cradle baby ameena.. We’ll give it a few months when she’s stronger and I stop being a loser ok.. the kitchen is done and I have my island woot woot.. I haven’t started cooking though but I have a few things in mind.. I’ve managed to catch up on HIMYM.. now I get why Mohsin like it so much.. now in their final season so will need more series to follow.. although by then, GOT will be back yeayy DRACARYS!! Hehehe.. On a side note, Paul Walker passed away.. although I’m not as gutted by the news as I was when I heard about Cory, but it’s still sad.. wasn’t a huge fan of the Fast n Furious but did managed to watch most of them.. people keep saying how ironic it is that he died in a car crash.. just wondering how the 7^th film will be like.. must be really hard for his family seeing him in a speeding car on the big screen..

Anyway, with all that aside, lets talk about something else.. well, my baby sister is getting hitched in a few weeks!! 2 weeks to be exact.. it’s bittersweet but I wish her all the happiness in the world.. not sure if I’ll post pics from the big day cuz c’mon, I’m that lazy to blog now.. in terms of preparation, huge salute to my mum.. I’ve been slacking a lot with helping her.. I think I only managed to do some door gift which didn’t even add up to a quarter of the amount.. my stubborn head sometimes think that my sister should do more and be more proactive with planning her own wedding instead of leaving my parents with most of the work.. booking dewan was done by my parents.. although she did find the pelamin and all but my mum did the bookings.. caterer pon my parents went to meet them up n booking.. izad? Hmmm mcm xde buat bende je.. can’t imagine how Jue managed to do everything by herself.. it takes lots of thinking and effort on her side.. come to think about it, I wished I did play a role on helping her huhuhu I guess I’ll just redeem by supporting her through her pregnancy and being a new mom (xsabar nk tgk baby baru nnt)..

Now what’s left is the barang2 hantaran and putting the goodies in the goody bags.. perhaps the later will be done within the week of the wedding itself.. so might be a tight week for us.. planning a wedding ain’t easy, especially one that’s decided kinda last minute =b note to self, get the checklist from Jue next time hehehe I hope everything goes smoothly on that day and the days approaching it.. praying that my loved ones will be healthy and able to make it.. had a couple of deaths in the extended family these couple of months.. and reading an article that quotes Paul Walker’s dad, it rings true to me.. “I’m just glad that everytime I saw him, I told him that I loved him. and he would say the same thing to me”.. sometimes we think too much about the last goodbyes, about the last moment we spent with the departed, or the last thing we spoke of with the departed (thinking about the episodes when Marshall loses his dad) but really, when the person goes, what u want is the person to know that u love them and u know that they love you... right?

Ok la no mushy2.. anyway, don’t know what more to write.. will do my best to update pics of the big day.. all the best izad.. I love u so much.. even though it is kinda sad that u’ll be ‘leaving’ us, but I’m so happy for you.. our family will grow not just bigger but hopefully stronger.. Although our parents marriage wasn’t all fairy tales, but things have gotten so much better and you know it.. I can just pray that ur marriage will be blessed by Allah and may u have all the happiness there is in this world and hereafter.. I’ll love ur kids and spoil them (if I don’t have mine yet).. and no matter what, u will always be by baby sister.. big hugs.. muahh muahh.. (no mushy2 la bodoh) byeee

The End of Shaytober

So how do i fare? well, this is one is kinda hard to judge.. for one, i didn't workout as much as i had hoped for (duhhh) but then on the other hand, i did take the stairs to work from 1st floor to the 26th for 3 days.. and with each time, i did make some progress.. not sure whether it's the water or what tho.. i did once or twice took it from the 14th floor so it's like half way only.. other than that, nada, no workout for me.. but then consumption wise, i did manage to be aware of the food that i take.. no sugar day for me although i did have my cheat days and towards the end, i didn't do so good (boo hoo).. thanks to no kitchen, we ate lots and lots of salads.. started with a sorta obsession with ceaser salad, and then thousand island cuz it'll always be my all time favorite dressing..

i didn't write out my goals here but overall, i didn't complete them all (i did one though).. but the progress i did to achieve them was better as compared to previous attempts.. i wanted to better myself physically and spiritually and i think i'm taking the right steps towards them.. so now i just have to keep the momentum going.. tomorrow is awal muharram, and it's always more motivating to start fresh on a new year, so that's what i'm going to do.. goals will be carried forward with perhaps minor changes.. shay wanted to call it Brovember but i don't like the name so we're naming it Shayvember or Shavember? hahaha ok xdelah cantek mane...

so lets do this again? weehoooo

p/s: one of my best friend just had a baby... congratulations and alhamdulillah for having a safe delivery and a healthy baby.. be warned, i might spoil her  =b  next is jue's turn.. praying for the best  *hugs*

I was born for Broadway, baby

I hate being in the center of attention... i'm ok if it's with my family or closest friends . but not really for others... yes, i'm that bias.. 2 good gestures this year but both made me feel like a horrible person for not appreciating it.. benci k.. no means no but i guess some ppl don't get the hint.. *sigh*

anyway, on another note, how does a loner spend her birthday? nothing different than other day, cuz really, there's nothing special about it.. i'll be 27 for 365 days, no biggie la... but i did however used it as an excuse to pamper myself.. what did i do? i went to watch hairspray Musical Live!!! woot woot!!!! although my bday is in Oct, but i had an early bday present for myself and went to watch the show in Sept..

ticket for one please  =b

yes, as a loner i went and watched the show alone.. i asked the obvious if they wanna go see but they all decline.. the next obvious person to ask was Mohsin but i was kinda broke so after giving it some thought (and although i have a strong feeling that he won't mind paying it himself), i decided to have some me time.. it did felt a little awkward but that awkwardness disappeared once the show started..

i didn't get much pics cuz it was kinda hard to... how was the show? superbly awesome!! it would've been more perfect if i got seats that were closer to the stage, but then those tickets cost a fortune.. i love all the songs and enjoyed every second of it, except the part when Link Larkin sang.. Zac Efron sounded much more lovely than he did.. Penny's one liners were laughable even with having the same script as the movie.. the woman who was Amber's mom was amazing, her vocals just hit it there.. i'm no vocalist expert but i dare to say that she was pitch perfect...

thinking about it just makes me want to do broadway.. i love singing and dancing and theater actors don't usually get the fame that comes along with movie star.. just my cup of tea.. i remember seeing Starlight Express as a young kid way back in London, and i definitely fell in love with it.. i remember thinking how awesome it was for them to actually race in the theater hall on their rolling blade.. if ever they were to have a show here, i'd definitely go again.. i'd go alone too if i had to... Grease on the other hand was a little downer experience.. the whole family went but we sat at the upper tier so sound system and effect wise was very minimum... would love to go to another show if they'd have one again.. 

Alas, what i can do now is just day dream about it cuz let's face it, being a broadway star is something i definitely won't be hehehehe till next time.. bye...

Downer

Sometimes you set goals to better yourself.. when you're me, you'll know that following through you're goals are very challenging especially when it's always the same goal... and when you're me, you'll know that setting goals usually ends in failure..  yet, i keep doing them.. Shaytober is no different with Shaytember or any other new year resolution i used to have.. yet, going through it, it did feel different.. for once, i really did do what i set my mind to.. although not completely, but i am happy with what i did so far.. and the one thing i had control over is the consumption of my food.. thinking about this in my head, i understand a little bit more about bulimia, anorexia or the opposite of it, obesity.. in short, i think i'm one step closer to understand how people have food disorder.. it is really the one thing that seems easy enough to take control of.. 

but having said that, and not being in denial or anything, i don't think i have a food disorder.. yes, i used to eat what i want, but i'll stop whenever i'm stuffed.. and now, although i pick and choose what i eat, it's a step for me to be healthy and eat healthy.. so when i had an 'excuse' to better myself (which is participating in Shaytober), this time, i did my best to set realistic goals and follow through them.. i won't list them out here, it's already depressing enough to read my previous goals.. but i have it all in my head.. i knew October would be a challenging month given the circumstances, but i had a plan in my head, compromising with myself, give and take.. 

I knew it wouldn't be easy, nothing really is.. so i don't strict myself too much.. i have my cheat days.. weekends.. two days a week should definitely be enough to devour my cravings right? off course it is.. just look at the first weekend itself.. but i try not to be so hard on myself because i decided to have those cheat days.. i decided how much is enough.. i won't consume and cover what i had deny myself of.. because then, what's the point of it right.. so i did felt empowered (in some way) about this.. 

but then it happened... i caved in... not to my temptations but to others' request.. and that one minor decision i made, to care about others more than my own principles, was a major downer.. all those resisting, restricting myself and saying no, feeling a sense of accomplishment and proud, somehow it all just evaporated... it was nothing really.. very petty to compare.. and yet it had a huge impact on things.. how fragile can these feelings be.. i shouldn't over think this actually, but it kind of summarizes things.. even though i did my best, the conclusion will still be that i failed.. and that's just the thing that's bothering me.. not doing things on my terms but on others instead... even if i did the 300 challenge workout, i will always be haunted by that one bite.. and that's how negativity works.. even the slightest little negativity.. it just shoves all the positive thing you build up aside and make them seem worthless.. 

and that, my friend, is what i call weakness...

Skohns Canteen

Yes, i'm going through the pics in my phone and just writing short entries of places we ate.. since we started our kitchen renovation, i guess u can pretty much say we eat out a lot.. one day we were thinking of where else to have dinner, and mama suggested this place at Damansara Perdana.. yes, since mama rajin browse2 fb die, byk gak tpt she found out and suggested to go.. Cupcake Chapters and The Little Gerai for example (and sumer pon jenis makanan yg same kan hehehe) so that day we drove to Damansara Perdana and round2 sket to look for the place.. as usual, papa xjoin for dinner sbb "i'm ok je..." hehehe nothing to story2 just some pics i want to dispose of...

we ordered mushroom soup.. which was yummy.. previously only pizza hut nye mushroom sedap, tp tu style ala2 campbell.. now i'm liking these sorta wild mushroom soup.. sedapp...

we also ordered garlic bread...

it's still #Shaytober boohoo... i thought of having some salad tp xde serve la plak..  instead i ordered this jack potato with chilli n cheese.. time order tu i was thinking of gooey cheese mcm kenny rogers tu.. tp ni just mcm pizza je.. nevertheless, sedap gak la.. just one comment, perhaps they should put this under main course or something cuz it's kinda heavy to be a side dish...

then yaya n izad had lamb chop.. one pic je sbb same kan, just sauce je lain..

mama had steak..  i only had one bite n xingat sgt the taste.. but pinggan mama licin, so sedap la kan hehehehe

they also had some pastry tp lupe amek pic... xingat total baper, recipt pon xtau gi mane hehehe but again, another low point for this place, cash only.. xperasan la mmg usually these restaurants are cash only ke ape, but lately mmg cepat pokai and i don't have enough cash on me.. anyway, if u wanna try this place out, here's the address: 

Skohns Canteen,

G-13, Perdana The Place, Jalan PJU 8/5G, Damansara Perdana.

Serai @ Paradigm Mall

xpayah la nak review this place sgt kan... kinda well known already plus eating for 3 pax, don't have that much pics to share anyway... but a few weeks ago, mama, yaya and i decided to have lunch outside.. susah sgt nk fikir a place to eat even though we kept telling ourselves to make a list of places to eat.. we didn't want to go very far, so decided to go to Paradigm Mall.. my first time there... aduhh boleh sesat la plak skejap kat dlm tu sbb xjumpe Serai.. apparently it was at the opposite building.. bagus la tu kan.. we almost gave up but then there was no other place tempting enough to go.. again, malas nk tulis panjang2, but this is what we had..

i had the Serai Platter.. so fulling and definitely not #Shaytober material.. luckily i haven't started then hehehehe

yaya had this chicken pramagiana...

mama had cantonese fried kuey teow i think (xingat sgt, tp sedap gak)

then all 3 of us drool over this kid dish, spaghetti chicken mushroom... sedap gler yummmm

for dessert, pavlova la since this is kinda like it's signature desert... mmg sedap cuz it's not too sweet so blh mkn byk... i think so far, Alexis n Serai has the best pavlova... Alexis win on the amount of toppings heheheh

after this, gonna have a desert session with yaya hehehe ngidam la plak... if i list down all the things sy ngidam nk mkn skrang, i'm not sure how long it'll take hehehe  anyway, till next time.. bye...

Happy Birthday Papa

Ok, so this post will be short cuz basically, i'm not really in the mood to write hehehe Last saturday was my dad's birthday.. he's 62 years old and insyaAllah panjang umur.. so naturally, we celebrate by eating out.. we're currently in the process of renovating our kitchen and since there were workers at the house, we had to wait till their done.. so we decided to have dinner to celebrate.. had some things to do that morning then went to klcc for brunch.. since it's #Shaytober, i had 'salad' for brunch.. i'm loving the salad bar that isetan supermarket have.. although the ones i had that day, had some cheese in it so not really 100% healthy hehehe

 this is broccoli mixed with mac and cheese.. super yummy 

 sautéed vegies.. yummmm

and since i'm doing "no sugar' on weekdays, i kinda treated myself to a mini milkshake =b

after that we got home and rest.. then we got ready for dinner.. our place of choice? Here i.e. Cupcake Chapters at Ukay Boulevard.. Papa didn't join us the last time we were there.. and since the food wasn't bad, we decided to take him there.. the place was kinda empty the moment we arrived, but got full soon.. not much to cite2 here, we just ate and sembang.. normal family dinner.. i had the same thing i did the last time we were there.. sedap oooo mashed potato tu pon sedap gak.. just kurang vegie je utk side dish die.. and also bummer mushroom soup habis *sob sob*.. anyway just some pics to share to add on from my previous review..

i forgot what this was called.. but yaya and izad had something similar..

 this is the giant burger papa had.. doesn't look big but the patty itself was thick...

mama had this lamb chop..

we shared this desert since everyone was full.. too sweet for my liking..

the birthday boy.. Happy Birthday Papa.. we love u so much

apparently i was too hungry to snap a pic of my own food, but i had the same thing i did the last time we came.. don't remember the total for that day, but what i remember was the down point to this place.. cash only huhuhu imagine the horror on my face when i found out about it and had no cash on me.. terpaksa buat muke xmalu kat mama, pinjam duit sket.. luckily though yaya had some.. so Cupcake Chapters, pls get one of those swipe2 thing for credit cards.. even though the place is not pricey, not everyone have enough cash on them to pay the bill huhuhhu that is all...

Your Move

Game of Thrones book series

Urban Decay Smoked palette

Ukelele

Prince Harry