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| Tuesday, 19-Aug-2008 02:08 |
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parents finally left for Texas yesterday. i packed almost 2 containers of blueberry scones with melted peaches for their lunch. it's Dad's new favorite; Mom doesn't bake as much as I do. now he wants to move up closer to us even more so he can have good baked goodies every day. yeah right. 
on the way back from the airport, i stopped by at the mall. as always, i never came home with empty hands. i bought a pair of Karen Scott red flats that was on sale, $20.97. so stinking cheap and comfy, too. while passing the handbag dept., i spotted a Fossil saddle on sale for $47.97. I couldn't pass it up so i grabbed it and quickly made my way to the cashier because if i were to wait and think if i really should get it, i'd have felt even worse. when she scanned the tag, it actually came out as $38.60, almost 10 bucks cheaper. my guilty feeling then was all gone.  
i also got a new D&B medium slouch. nice color, just nice in size. actually i exchanged the red french leather medium domed D&B with this new one. the body was bright red, very soft, very delicate. i was too worried to use it because i was afraid i'd get it stained (ignore redundancy here). so to save myself from getting some headache and heartache, i decided to exchange it with the brocade signature monograms. it's almost matchy-matchy with my new coach soho signature wallet. you can say i'm a happy camper. 
encik husband is still out of town. it's been a week since i last saw him, this work trip is very long i don't even like it. his final year in grad school is gonna commence next week. it'll be only one stinking big final project, funded fully by LM, the company and the sole sponsor of the Masters program he and other 9 friends are in. i still remember when he asked me if he should apply for it because it's very competitive and selective program. there were 2-3-4 interviews he had to go thru before at least a few hundreds candidates, if not more with outstanding undergrad academic history, and only 10 will get selected for admission from Cornell Uni. every year. i didn't even think before i said he should do it. this one chance, this opportunity will probably come in once in his lifetime, to get a Cornell education with everything paid (with close to $40K in tuition per year!). then came in series of interviews and finally he delivered the great news 2 years ago. i was so happy for him to get selected. i was thinking for his future in the company, a graduate degree from one of the prestigious, Ivy League schools will definitely give him an edge to move up a little quicker. or if he were to go somewhere else, in which i highly doubt, will earn more money for him. so being a dutiful and loving wife i am, i pray for his success and support him along the way and so far he's been getting all A's (i know, i'm allowed to brag!!). my parents are planning to come up for his commencement in May next year.
uhmmpp, i meant to write a quick update. anyway, , 'til then.
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| Tuesday, 12-Aug-2008 00:03 |
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Mom and Dad arrived on Friday around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I loaded up the fridge with veggies, silk soymilk, juices, fruits, and meats. We took them out to a vietnamese restaurant for dinner, came home just about time for the 080808 beijing olympic opening ceremony. We tried to stay up late to see our representing countries; US and Malaysia but they were doing it differently this time, not by the alphabetical order like the usual. I didn't even bother to TiVo it either.
So on Saturday, as part of their anniversary gift, we went to the picture studio to do a family portrait. We did the formal pose and some crazy pose as well. This town is apprently so small, we didn't get the pictures right away, the proof is sent to North Carolina for printing. Weirdo. Anyway, we went to get lunch and did some window shopping for abit before headed home. We were so tired that we all decided to nap.
I've been missing Mom's cooking for a very long time, so I paksa her to cook some authentic Malaysian dish; mee hoon goreng. Oh very yummy but very spicey ler. Eh did I tell you what I got for my 27th birthday from them? Fishes & petai. Lots and lots of them. Ikan Merah, Bawal, Kunyit-kunyit, Kembong, and Selayang. They were so faaaaaaatttt, too. She also got me a large wok, and the real authentic Thai, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore cook books. You won't believe the writings, a total Kampong. Not Asian Fusion thingamajigy. I'm a very happy camper.
Steve is out of town for 2- week business trip. I drove Dad and Mom to Cornell to visit the Plantations on Sunday. We went to see the herbs garden and boy, kunyit (tumeric)and limau purut (kafir lime) and kesom (vietnemese coriander or mint) bushes are thriving. The girl at the gift store said they sell those bushes in about a month or two. So I'll be making another trip to Ithaca in September to get those yummy herbs.
They left to visit granma and pop-pop today and won't be back until Friday. The house is very empty and quiet, too. I decided to drop my car off at the workshop at Sam's to get the imbalanced tires fixed. Meineke's screwed up the tire balance when they did the 30K miles tune-up. It vibrated like crazy as soon as I went over 60 MPH. I did bother to go back in and those idiots were just plain idiot. I'm sorry, how hard was it to get tires balanced out? Sam's Club can do it and they do it right. I told them flat out if it vibrates again, I'll come back and I'll bitch really good. Well, pardon my language, it wasn't their fault in the first place but I was so frustrated. He said I won't need to come back unless if I do. He also told me that the rear right tire was out of balance for about 3 ft.lb, God knows what that means but it was messed up pretty good that was why it vibrated so badly. But they're fixed now, and I did 2 rounds of test drive at 60 MPH, 70 MPH, and errr close to 80 MPH. Fortunately there were no highway patrols or cops around so I didn't get stopped for going way over the speed limit. The ride was so stinking smooth and quiet. So all is good now. Thanks to Sam's.
Anyway, I did some shopping on ebay for indian dvds. I bought 2 dvds from my regular indian dvd supplier and Jodha Akbar from Amazon. This way I won't feel so lonely at home when everybody's away.
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| Wednesday, 6-Aug-2008 23:08 |
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she looks prettier in tudung..photo: infofoto.org.bn
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OK, it's gonna sound gross and XXX.
my boobs have been sore for a few days now. my lower ab is bloating like nobody's business. i'm off of Yaz for good and i just had my period 2 weeks ago. so, i'm pretty sure i'm not pregnant. but based on these symptoms, i'm making my own assumptions that; my hormones are going crazy because there's no more pill to tell them, yes, she's pregnant no ovulation and likewise. and i'm also getting zit all over my face again. imagine what the pills can do to your skin care and menstrual cramp and PMS.
phewww move on. so i was able to talk myself out from getting a coach holiday patchwork. steve's gotten me a new coach soho wallet as a birthday treat instead, one with checkbook organizer and change pouch. it's still in the wrap and in a coach paper bag. it's like "hey, it's mine now, why the rush?"
Mom and Dad will arrive on Friday. Knowing Mom, she usually would bring 4 large size luggages, seriously, they're only gonna be here for a full week, but she'd pack almost every single outfit she has. and Dad's no different. they don't seem to care much about the new luggage regulation for plane. and i don't think my Camry can handle 4 passengers and 4 stinky large luggages at the same time. we're not sure where to take them around, it's not much of places you can go around where we live, the closest will still be about an hour drive, and that's Cornell U in Ithaca, his & soon to be Steve's alma mater. we may just lepak at home la kot... oooooohh i miss Dallas; the house, the pool, the shopping malls, lots of them.
and the funny thing is, i bought a few outfits from Gap for our twin niece and nephew (still to be born), they're so cute and adorable, they just melt your hearts. i showed them to the man of the house, and guess what he said?! "keep them all for our own baby, they're just too nice and cute to give away." yeah, he's almost getting there. 
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| Monday, 4-Aug-2008 00:52 |
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my birthday
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the celebration was awesome. we spent a night down in the Pocono$ at his family retreat after a shopping spree trip at wilkes-barre's mall. we went on another shopping spree on saturday, headed back home in the evening and decided to extend the celebration by staying overnight at the Mosca's. the McFiggins also joined us, we stayed up very late, about 3 something early in the morning playing Wii. we were knackered really good. we left their home after late breakfast. i continued my shopping spree again later while steve worked on my veggie garden terrace. it's super clean and no more weeds.
he treated me for a nice dinner and a coach soho wallet as a present. i'll post pictures when i'm not feeling too lazy later.
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| Friday, 1-Aug-2008 20:08 |
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Life Teacher
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it's never too many blings :-) mata duitan
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...Randy Pausch
I watched the Primetime show done on him a couple of days ago, and wept for 2 hrs after that. When I woke up in the morning after, I cried for some more. I showed up at work with puffy eyes, my colleagues thought I fought with my husband and that he made me cry this hard. I told them no, I cried for the late Randy, and his family. I wept for the guy I never knew personally, only through youtube and tv show.
I can never imagine watching someone that close, that I love so dearly, dying. The part that really broke my heart was when at the end of his "Last Lecture", he had his wife's close friend wheeled out a birthday cake for Jai, his wife. She walked up to him, hugged, and kissed him, and whispered to his ears, "Please don't die."
I "begged" Steve to go out later that day to the bookstore and got a copy of his book "The Last Lecture." The content was very similar to his speech but knowing that I have the hard copy of the book gives me a sense of peace in my heart. I still weep everytime I see the book, or think of him, his wife and 3 small children he's left behind. I've watched so many sad & touching movies, tv shows, and books but this one is the keeper.
The book will be one of family heirloom, it's cheap, but the content of it means a world to me. I hope my children will learn something very valuable from it.
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| Thursday, 24-Jul-2008 23:39 |
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My wish list....
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LV Popincourt Hout
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LV Batignolles Vertical
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2.73 ct. cushion cut D, VS2 in platinum $28K
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yeah, call me krazy..even a materialistic human being I don't mind it at all..hehehe i've asked my dearest husband for Batignolles or Popincourt Hout for our 5th year anniversary..and that won't be until 2012 and yes, we can't afford an LV right now as we're starting a family soon..i'm also ready for a new bedroom set and a custom order & made non-standard size sliding doors don't come cheap. so right now, i'm okay with 2 D&B's, Cole Haan wallet & coin pouch set, and C***h holiday patchwork.
and if we're destined to live to celebrate, Insyaallah, our 25th wedding anniversary, i'm sure the pictures of the bling above will do the justice. (if it were up to me, i've had more than enough money to get either one of those myself but again, we're "planning for your retirement like you're gonna live forever & emergency fund & college tuition" person so i'll just wait for him to get it for me.)
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| Sunday, 20-Jul-2008 21:14 |
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Christian Bale is H.O.T
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photo: warner bros
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photo: warner bros
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seriously, i hope none of my soon-to-be cravings would be making out with this hottie. ooohhh i'm drooling already...
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| Thursday, 17-Jul-2008 01:21 |
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oh my baby..babies are every where!
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photo: ok mag
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mom and dad will be visiting in august, partially for my birthday, reeds family gathering, and steve's company's employee appreciation event. my parents and brother-in-laws will also be visiting. it's gonna be a full house!
i can't believe i'm gonna be 27 years old, married with no kid. at least not yet. but with babies popping out every where in the world, i'm hopeful to get pregnant very soon. i only have 1 more week to go with the p*lls. my sis-in-law is expecting twins, with one of each. she's due to give birth in late november/early december via c-section. oh joy.
steve would like to think that jessica is his 'girlfriend.' he was a little devastated when she got pregnant and married to cash. but hey, he's got a little baby now, only he's not the father. it's the thought that counts, no?
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| Wednesday, 2-Jul-2008 00:38 |
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See if you can afford this house...
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neighbor's house # 1 (for sale)
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my parents' house (NOT for sale)
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neighbor's house # 2 (sold)
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Real Estate Stats:
Type: Single Family
Address: Colleyville, TX
Sq. footage: 5356.0
Price/Sqft: $144.00
Bathrooms: 5
Bedrooms: 5
Year built: 1999
Price: $771,250
Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment: $3,699
Footnote: this house has been up for sale twice in 3 years, a slightly lower in sq. footage compared to my parents' (5500 sqft). the other neighbor's house was sold for $775,00, if not mistaken. they're in one of fancy subsdivisions with its own private lake.
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| Monday, 23-Jun-2008 22:25 |
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kampong homesick..part I
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well, we're back in the US. back at our lovely home that we left for 3 weeks. with 1 foot tall of grass in the both front and back yard. i'm sure the neighbors were not too keen of tall grass. so, where shall I even begin?
May 22, 2008
we decided to head over to NJ (John's house) around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. we (actually, Steve) cleaned the mess around the house, made sure all doors and windows were secured, our lone ranger G-Diz (that's our only goldfish, by the way) was good with the feeder installed to its tank, etc..we stopped by at Applebees for a quick lunch and then we drove to NJ for like 3 hours.
As soon as we arrived, John gave a quick tour of his apartment, we then headed out for dinner and left for the EWR (Newark Intl.). we checked in our luggages, 3 of them that brought to a total weight of roughly 190 lbs. yes, One Ninety. One Nine Zero. Luckily, i called the MAS office in NYC a couple of days before our departure and got the OKAY for each checked-in luggage to be between 50 lbs and 70 lbs AND no charge since i purchased our ticket way back in Dec 2007. so we waited until 10 o'clock to board the plane. we were anxious, tired, and sleepy. Steve didn't know what to expect of this long duration flight. he's never flew to overseas.
the plane was packed..300 something passengers i guessed. we flew to stolkhom for 1.5 hours transit. it was shit. all those 300 people were waiting in the line for the whole 1.5 hours. as soon as we got off the security check-point, we were back in line waiting to board the plane again.
we continued our journey for appx. 12 hours to Kuala Lumpur. I was getting very giddy as it got closer. couln't wait to taste the real nasi lemak. oh btw, i didn't enjoy the foods on the plane as much as i thought i'd. we safely landed at KLIA, went through the immigration through the Passpot Asing Lane and off we went for the baggage claim. those luggages were stinkingly heavy. we had to wait for the whole hour for our laggages to show up thru the carousel. oh did i mention KL was stinking hot and very HUMID?! 
May 24, 2008-May 29,2008
so anyway, my aunt picked us up and took us back to her house in Hulu Langat. it was around 8 something in the morning. we first stopped by at Ampang Puteri Specialist to visit my uncle, whom at the time was doing his routine dialysis. he didn't look good at all. he was gasping for air to breathe every minute, we didn't stay long but i finally got to eat the real nasi lemak with sambal kerang, sayur kangkung, and ayam goreng. i was grinning from ear to ear. steve only had white rice with 2 ketul ayam goreng. they were so gooood.
after saying goodbye to him (and hoping to see him again at home later), we left the hospital soon after. but he never came home that evening. he was transferred to IJN and admitted in to the Coronary ICU for the next 2 weeks. apparently, he drank a little too much water (he's only allowed for 850 ml of liquid per day) prior to his routine dialysis, his lung was filled with fluid that caused him having difficulty breathing. the cardialogist had to make a small incision to withdraw the fluid from his lung and he was put under general anesthetic for the whole night. and the next night, the guy who was admitted at the same time as him passed away. so we thought we were losing him as well.
we went back and forth between our sightseeings in KL and IJN for the whole week we were there. i had to cancel our outdoor photoshoot with kak Zubye (EoG) only a few days before our appointment, i felt really bad doing it but we were not in our best mood. steve only got to see KLCC, Pavillion, Great Eastern Mall (our cousins took us out to Cozy House for dinner), Central Market, and Bird Park. the rest of our time was spent at the IJN. i helped looking after my youngest cousin while her mom attended her dad because she wasn't allowed to visit the ICU. oh they also took us to Port Dickson, steve didn't even go in the water, too hot and humid for swim. there, we got to see the Loji Penapisan Esso (ExxonMobil Refinery) where my cousin is interning and his rental house before we headed back to KL.
May 29, 2008-June 10, 2008
Our ride was, well, with AirAsia. i swear, really, i will never fly AirAsia ever again. it was all my fault, i waited until the very last minute to buy the ticket to Kelantan thru MAS. i thought, people have been flying AirAsia for a few years now, heck they even voted it to be the airline of the year 2007?!! so it should be good, right? well, i'd thought it wrong. first, the terminal/airport was so stupidly crowded. people were so inconsiderate. they were cutting line left and right. this one guy was talking on his cell, ignored the line and stood in between Steve and I. Steve, of course was having a difficult time to move that fast because he was pushing the cart with 190 lbs total weight luggages on it. i turned around and actually said to him:
Me: excuse me sir?! the line actually ends all the way in the back (about 15 people behind us). you can't just cut line like that. we've been waiting in line to check in for an an hour and he's with me, he's my husband. so you need to make a way for him and please don't give me that nasty look. you don't want to mess with me.
note: the same problem happened right when we were waiting to board the plane going to KB and checking-in line coming back to KL. so i learned to shut my pie hole and stayed calm with "i don't give a damn anymore" attitude. steve, on the other side wasn't impressed with the impolite manner.
oh he did give me the nastiest look. and did i care? no, because i waited for the whole hour to check in. the line was very long, they finally had to open the 2nd counter. the rest of people were just looking, i guess they were polite (or scare) to say anything. not me, i don't just take shit from people that easily.
anyway, that was one of many unpleasant experiences with Malaysians. when we reached Kampong, i took Steve for a tour, with Ayam, Itik, Pokok Kelapa, Rumah Papan everywhere, and introduced Steve to the neighbors. i even took along both of marriage certs in case ada yang plan for tangkap basah project. who knows, right? we went out for night markets a few times, roti canai's trip to Pasar Jelawat almost every morning. the phone line at Kampong was out service for 2-3 months already. some jerks who didn't have brain or didn't want to use/put the brains given by Allah in to a good use decided to steal the copper inside the cable and sell it for money. well guess what?! you didn't always have a good luck, did you?
i filed a complaint and wrote a letter for reimbursement to Telekom Malaysia because we've been paying the service fee every month for the service we can't use. stoopid.  i didn't write any phone numbers i thought i could get online and Jelawat doesn't have cybercafe close to house. we only have 1 cellphone and we were cheap and frugale with the minutes. so i apologise to those whom i promised to meet and makan-makan. insyallah, steve and i plan to visit Malaysia again in early 2009. we don't think we can realize a trip next year as we'll be starting a family in the same year. July will be the last month for me with Yaz and I'll be off it for good until after a baby is safely born and finished with breastfeeding. i'm excited!!!
fast forward to June 10, 2008
my uncle dropped us off at the airport around 11 am. he then was heading down to Johor to drop off his wife and baby boy at noon. our AirAsia flight was scheduled at 3 pm but only on that day did we find out it was cancelled. i was mmaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddd!! i asked the guys at the ticket counter and they said bla bla bla (i didn't even pay attention or wasn't even listening) so our flight was rescheduled for 10:40 PM. freaking late. i asked if they sent any notification about changing of schedule. sure they did, he said. it was sent via sms (this thing is really annoying, that's all people do nowadays) what happen to face to face or offical letter?) and email. well, okay, i thought, i didn't have any access to internet so there was nothing i could do.
i went to the MAS ticket counter, hoping to find available seats for us. and boy was i very glad, the flight was still empty, i bought the ticket without even thinking twice. i was just happy to get out there and the flight was scheduled to depart at 4:50 pm. A lot better than 10:40 pm and was again rescheduled for 11:50 pm. Gila apa AirAsia ni?
so soon as we got back at my aunt's house in HL, i went online to check my email. so much so for taking the blame onto myself. THEY DID NOT SEND ANY SHIT TO ME!! and i was pretty sure if they did send it, my uncle would have said something about it because he wouldn't just get an sms from AirAsia for no reason because i told him i'd fly AirAsia to and from KB.
i was thinking about writing a letter of complaint to AirAsia and any Malaysian newspaper, i even have the proof so i'm not scared but i don't think it was worth of my time. as far as they know, they can cancel, reschedule flight anytime they want, and they already got my money. it wasn't cheap..RM800 for 2 round trip ticket, not RM48 tambang murah whatever. so i was very disappointed, i might be the only person who didn't have much luck with AirAsia. 
June 11-12, 2008
we went back to KLCC and Central Market for souvenirs for families and friends. we got a few things from Royal Selangor Pewter, ARCH, Kinokoniya for my Nona, Jelita, Melayu Novels, and other reading materials. i had my last lunch at the Mangrove Central Market while Steve stuck with McD's Quarter Pounder.
it was sad leaving Malaysia. i wish we could have stayed longer than 3 weeks but family, friends, work, and our home were calling us back. steve couldn't wait to mow the grass, he did it at 8 o'clock in the morning on Friday, the 13th.
we're still recovering from jetlag, i've been back at work for a week now. Steve's away for his annual ELDP conference for a whole week and i'm just happy to catch up with sleep. i, of course miss him very much and wish he didn't have to go but this is the last one, he'll be done in May next year. we're definitely getting ready to start a family. please pray for us!
note: photos will follow up later..
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