of spices.

The weather's pretty humid but I am shivering
I also have been sneezing throughout the day.
I hope I am not gonna be sick.
There were a couple of sick people at work who might have passed the flu bug on to me. Hmm.

I made Mee Bandung for the first time tonight. *bangga*
Hehe.
Well, I actually used a packet of ready made spices mum in-law bought for me. I just had to make sure I had the right amount of water (a part that needs skill according to Mr Sunshine, hehe) and put in all the other necessary ingredients such as eggs, prawns, vegetable, meat etc etc.
But Mr Sunshine has put his seal of approval on my, ahem, masterpiece and even told me to buy more packets of the ready made spices to make for visitors who come over to our place.
:D
Mum in-law also bought me a packet of ready made spices for Mee Rebus. That will be our berbuka menu this Friday, InshaAllah. :)

Work was tiring today. Yeah I had to work while most of you got to enjoy your day off. Hehe.
The male ward was full with patients today, so I took quite a long time to screen all their prescriptions. Not to mention there was a medical officer who got on my nerves which made things a bit tensed.
I took a long nap when I got back and woke up just in time to cook.

I am having cake cravings now, thanks to Superheroes & Mom for posting a photo of a delicious looking Red Velvet Cake.

xoxo

to doctor (insert name here).

You're a doctor. You're responsible for every prescription you write, every drug you prescribe and every patient under your care. But you choose to be ignorant, and when asked whether is there a reason why a particular drug was prescribed not according to standard guidelines (you do realize it's my job to intervene to make sure a patient receives appropriate treatment, do you ?), you lash out angrily and tell people to fix the situation out themselves ! This is the third time you've ever done such a thing, and your rude attitude is nauseating. All the other doctors and even the specialists I have been dealing with all this while have been very well mannered. I wonder what use were all those years of studying and two years (yes, you're just an MO, I believe you need a reality check) of working you went through.

P.S: This is referring to one particular medical officer, not the whole community, thanks.

xoxo

hello sweet tooth.

I need a distraction. 
I need to avoid thinking about what's in store for me (and everyone else) at work next month, in other words, next Wednesday.

Mr Sunshine bought a pack of pineapple tarts a few days ago. It's gone now, thanks to my insatiable sugar cravings.
You know how normally people look for rendang, ketupat, lemang etc during Aidilfitri ? 
I, on the other hand, actually look forward to all the yummy sweet Raya cookies ! 
So friends, you don't have to work up a sweat in the kitchen if I tell you I am dropping by, just get your cookie jars ready for me. Hehe. :)
I received the cookies I ordered from one of the hospital staffs yesterday, and I'm gonna be needing loads of willpower to resist gobbling up all of 'em before Aidilfitri. 
But it seems sooooo impossible ! Help !

My tummy's still burning from the extra spicy sambal tumis I had last night. 
But it was delicious, and I am happily gonna take all the credit for preparing it. Hehe.

Here's to a good week ahead, everyone ! :)
And HAPPY MERDEKA DAY !


xoxo

they say time heals everything, but i'm still waiting.

Happy birthday Mummy.
You would be 60 if you were still around.
And tomorrow, it will be 4 years since you left us.
I miss you so much that it (literally) hurts, especially since it's halfway through Ramadhan and Aidilfitri is just around the corner. :'(

This will be the fifth Aidilfitri we will be celebrating without you. I just can't lie,but things will never be the same without you around.
Daddy misses you. He's doing alright, but he's alone for most parts of the day. I hope my transfer application will be approved as soon as possible so that I can be nearer to him. Ameen.
Marc's doing good. He's  a lot wiser now. You would be so proud of him, I know I am. He's no longer naughty little Marc. :)
Marlene's growing up to be a beautiful, smart and strong woman, just like you. She resembles you so much !
I am in the hands of a good man right now. Alhamdulillah.
It's such a pity that he did not get to see how beautiful you were as a mother and a person.
I'm sure you would have loved him. He's sweet and hilarious. :)
I have gained great new friends, and lost a few insignificant ones.
I have learned so much over these four years. Alhamdulillah.

There's so much more that I want to tell you about.
I miss having you sit on the living room sofa and listen to me babble on and on.
Sometimes I have old videos with you in it on repeat just so I can listen to your voice.
I still cry myself to sleep at times, but Mr Sunshine is always there to the rescue. Alhamdulillah.

I miss you.
I miss you.
Al-Fatihah.

xoxo

transition.

What a day.

I went to work feeling quite happy because I just found out last night that I am already confirmed. Sah dalam perkhidmatan. Alhamdulillah.
But then, just as I stepped into my office, I found out that my head of department is leaving ! :'(
She will be transferred to Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ), Kuala Terengganu. Her place will be taken over by someone new. Not new new, she's a U54 pharmacist.
But she's definitely new to me. :(
All this will be happening effective September 1st. :(
My head of department is awesome, just in case you people did not know.
The best boss anyone could ever ask for. She's kind, helpful, considerate, smart and just downright nice. 
You can talk to her about almost anything, work or non-work related.
She won't get mad at you in public, any criticisms will be given out one-on-one. Everything done so professionally.
I have so much respect for her.
SIGH.

And only Allah knows how our new head of department will be like.
Hope and pray.
Hope and pray.
SIGH.

It's pay day today. Alhamdulillah.
And we're getting an extra RM500 this year. Alhamdulillah.
But I am still broke.

Oh sigh.

xoxo

manchester united vs. fulham.

I was too sleepy to stay up and watch the match.
Before I went to bed I jokingly told Mr Sunshine, "Mesti seri je ni, sebab awak tengok !" which was followed by a quick reply from him, "Eh jangan lah !".

OMG.
Have I jinxed the team ?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !

Hehe.

xoxo

feel me.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

(Maya Angelou)

xoxo

i'm not lovin' it.

Good morning Friday !

I had a very unpleasant experience at McDonald's, Padang Hiliran, Kuala Terengganu this morning.
Mr Sunshine and I were supposed to collect a few boxes of kerepek which his mum sent from Batu Pahat through one of the express buses. We were told that it (the bus) would arrive at between 0430 hours to 0500 hours at Kuala Terengganu this morning, so we had planned to leave the house at about 0330 hours and to have our sahur at the McDonald's outlet mentioned above.
So it happened we overslept, no surprise there huh, and woke up at 0440 hours, resulting in Mr Sunshine speeding and us reaching the McDonald's at 0515 hours (a record time of 25 minutes !*).
Alhamdulillah, we still had time for sahur, I thought to myself.
I thought wrong.
We decided it was best to just dine in the car, so we tried the drive-thru but there was no one there to entertain us. So I got down the car to order takeaway.
There was already a couple ordering in front of me and I noticed that the female employee behind the counter was taking down the order manually. The cash register was closed for some odd reason.
No one behind the counter was smiling, I could swear one of the male employee rolled his eyes at me. They seemed very unhappy to be having customers at that hour.
The ordering process took longer than I expected, with the female employee grumbling out loud, "Tak sahur lah aku hari ini." and "Aku baru minum air sahaja tau.", frowning all the way.
The couple and I exchanged smiles and the same WTH thought.
The clock was already showing 0530 hours and all of us still have not gotten our food.
I watched in disbelief as another male employee reluctantly filled in our drinks and put them on the counter without even acknowledging us.
While the female employee was still grumbling and whining out loud. 
I received my McValue Meals earlier that the couple in front of me. Poor thing, they ordered a lot more than I did.
But there was no Thank You or I'm Sorry or even a smile at the end of all of it.
If that does not scream lousy service, I do not know what to say.

Apart from the horrible encounter, I was not pleased that Mr Sunshine and I were left with a few minutes to gobble down our meals.
I think I have indigestion now, thank you.
I hope the earlier couple had enough time to at least have a bite before Subuh. 

I definitely plan to not forget their faces and am gonna note down their names the next time I am there and I'll either complain directly to the franchise owner (Mr Sunshine knows him) or use the suggestion form to lodge my complaint.
I'm not being dramatic, it's just that I believe that when you work in this line of business, you have to show respect and be pleasant to your customers AT ALL TIMES. In fact this also applies to us pharmacists and doctors (or anyone whose job requires them to be one-on-one with other people) as well.
From my retail experience of working at Watson's, Carlo Rino and Paul Smith, and now as a pharmacist dealing with all sorts of patients the whole day, I know how tiring it can get, but whatever that's going wrong behind the counter stays behind the counter.
Everyone has their bad days.
Grumble all you want behind your customers, but smile (fake one, if you have to) in front of them.
If you can't do that, quit.
And go look for a desk job which do not require human contact. Good luck with that.

I am not angry lah.
Just very, very displeased. And my tummy hurts.
Ok I have to go to the market now. Bye.

*Kids, don't try this at home.

xoxo

hiccups.

When I was little, every time I had the hiccups, Daddy would say to me, "That means you're growing !".
He said in such a way that it made me feel proud to be hiccuping. I'm growing, I'm growing !
I'm all grown up now and these days when I've got the hiccups, I still believe it's a sign of me growing. Growing sideways, that is. Hehe.
 
Mr Sunshine and I are planning to buy food from the Ramadhan Bazaar here for tonight.
I'm in my lazy (and tired) mood so I won't be cooking.

Don't blame me, blame all the traveling the both of us have been doing in the past few days.
Terengganu - Batu Pahat, Batu Pahat - Terengganu, Terengganu - Seremban, Seremban -Terengganu.
Those states are not like an hour's drive away ok.

But all is good because it's already the end of the week and I have the whole weekend to (hopefully) have a good rest. :)

xoxo

btn for the forth time.

Good morning Tuesday !
How was your sahur ?
I reheated last night's berbuka food, I am so fortunate that Mr Sunshine's not fussy when it comes to food.

He's currently watching Leverage on his computer while waiting for Subuh prayers.
We have a 1-day Biro Tatanegara (BTN) course happening in Seremban tomorrow, so we're hoping he gets permission to leave work early as the journey would take almost 8 hours from here.
I, on the other hand, have been given the privilege of a 'traveling day' by my boss. Mr Sunshine is entitled to a traveling day too, but according to the authorities at his workplace, he'd have to choose either the day before OR the day after, so he's going for the day after (the course finishes at 1700 hours tomorrow, so it's a bit ridiculous to be driving 8 hours back here right after that and to be at work the next day).
My boss told me it was the day before AND the day after. Who am I to argue with that eh ? Haha.

While we're still on the topic of BTN, I just have to tell you that mum in-law pulled some strings and got my baju kurung for the course sewn in one night !
We're required to wear a white top/baju kurung top and black or dark coloured kain. At first I wanted to buy myself a new Canggih school uniform top (ah, the memories !) and go on a hunt for a black coloured kain, but mum in-law told me she had a friend who could sew it for me.
Of course I thought it was impossible because as with all tailors, they should be super busy with baju Raya tailoring at this time of the year.
But (super)mum in-law made a call, and before I knew it I was buying black and white material on Saturday afternoon and had my baju kurung ready on Sunday morning !
Awesome tak ? :D
Now if only I had a pair black shoes...

I am wondering why my last month's claim is not credited into my account yet. It has been almost 2 weeks now. Hmm.
Note to self: Call the accounts unit TODAY.

If all goes well, I should be able to fast tomorrow. I hope.

I'm gonna try to go back to bed after Mr Sunshine leaves for work.
Although I doubt I would be able to because I have this worry about my claim thingy in my head.
Anyway, here's to a wonderful week for all of us ! ;D

xoxo

tender is the night.

Alhamdulillah, we've arrived safely back in Kuala Berang late this afternoon.
Mr Sunshine is getting his much needed sleep as he drove for 8 hours with only 3 hours of sleep. I kept asking him whether he needed to me to take over the wheel, but he insisted on driving the whole way.
I failed miserably as a co-pilot, I was knocked out for almost two hours ! :(

A pot of beef curry is currently cooking on the kitchen stove.
I have time to blog because I waiting for the beef to be tender. Hehe.

Ok, it's best I get back to cooking.
Bye.

xoxo

top of the world.

Good morning all.
I'm testing out this mobile blogging feature, I'm blogging from my phone ! I'm a bit slow and am easily amused when it comes to techy stuff. :p
I'm in Mr Sunshine's hometown, Batu Pahat. The whole family's here as my sisters in-law just got back too. :)
We're all done with sahur, I had quite a lot to eat (considering I won't be fasting). I have not started to fast yet this Ramadhan. Well, what do you expect if your menses start a day before the first day of Ramadhan, eh ?
Last night, mum in-law and I went through some videos of our Batu Pahat wedding kenduri. It felt as if everything happened just yesterday. We had a good laugh watching one of the videos in which Mr Sunshine and I were forced to dance along with the traditional dancers. Hehe.
The videos did bring back some 'unwanted' good memories though. I guess the dust has just settled and I am at the point where I am more sad than angry or hurt.
Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets. I know this a phase I have to go through. And, life goes on whether I am on the top of the world or not. I am definitely not on the top of the world, but I know I'm getting there. :p
I have been spending my free time trying to finish Marian Keyes' Anybody Out There which I bought ages ago n only started reading two nights ago. I wish I had a day all to myself, just to finish it.
Tomorrow we'll be heading to Batu Pahat town for a baju Raya hunt !
I am going back to bed for a couple of hours now. Mr Sunshine has already dozed next to me.
Random note: My hair needs some serious TLC lah.
xoxo

breakdown.

I am not sure whether any of you had noticed some bickering going on in my blog. If you have not, just ignore this next paragraph. Hehe.
For those who have, I apologize for all the negativity in this Holy month of Ramadhan.
The thing is, I usually rant about that person in my private blog, but I stopped writing altogether over there halfway through my first year at work, so I kinda forgot about the whole point of that blog's privacy.
It was my mistake to bare it all here, in my public and so-called happy blog. Sorry !
The timing of this situation is actually funny because I just finished reading Marian Keyes' The Other Side of The Story a few days ago, a book which tells a story about three different characters; Gemma Hogan, Lily Wright and Jojo Harvey, and how their lives intertwined through heartbreak and success.
Gemma and Lily were former best friends. Their friendship was torn apart because Lily stole Anton, whom Gemma thought was her love of her life.
Funny because I can relate to the 'becoming former best friends' part except that no boyfriend stealing was involved. :p
I am not going to delete any posts or comments because what's done is done.
No looking back, those are the words that are frequently told to me by Mr Sunshine and Akey.
I believe that when a relationship turns sour, both parties involved should be blamed and responsible for the damage. So I am in no way saying that I have done nothing wrong at all.
But I've done my part to try to rectify things, but it was a breakdown waiting to happen.
I am honestly relieved that it finally did.
So yeah, let's just put all that nonsense behind because I do not intend to be an attention seeker or perfect baby/budak who always thinks she's right. :)

Moving on, today I received some pretty exciting news (work-related).
I am trying not to keep my hopes up but I sure am hoping for the best !
Semoga dipermudahkan semuanya. Ameen.

How did your first day of Ramadhan go ?
Despite all the drama, I made three simple dishes for berbuka just now. Although I am not fasting, I only drank a few gulps of water throughout the whole day so I was pretty famished by Maghrib. :p
Currently waiting for Mr Sunshine to come back from Tarawih prayers.
I feel bad for waking up at 0530 hours this morning for sahur, even though Mr Sunshine had already told me he only wanted to have bread, I still need to practice waking up to prepare a sahur meal, don't I ?

I better lie down before this headache of mine gets worse.
Here's to a better day tomorrow, InshAllah. Ameen.
Bye !

xoxo

ramadhan al mubarak.

Salam Ramadhan everyone !
Have a blessed month of fasting and controlling our nafs.

It's a pity that I can't join most of you to fast tomorrow, I'll have to endure menstrual cramps instead. :)

xoxo

you.

Hi YOU.
I hope someday you would realize the amount of hurt that YOU have caused me.

I hope someday you realize that every time I tried to get in touch with you, it was FOR YOU, to know how YOU were and if there was anything wrong with YOU.

I hope you realize that over the years I have been dismissing my husband/family/friends/ex-boyfriend's advice to keep you out of my life because I was willing to give YOU the benefit of the doubt.
My Daddy even still remembers the day you stood me up for your other friends when you promised me we would look for a place to stay together. I'm sure YOU can't even recall that incident, because I seemed to have forgotten it too.

I hope you realize that my husband won't even want to talk to me if I mention YOUR name. Yes, that's how much he hates YOU for doing this to me. 

I hope you realize that I am starting to regret the day we bumped into each other after I tried to severe ties with you even though I know it was written that I had to be there for you through your nasty break up.

I hope you realize that you do not need to stoop so low and pass remarks about how beautiful your friendships with other people are despite them having little or no communication, just to make your sorry little self feel better.

"Don't let these bangang people bring you down." (Felicia Simone, 2010)
So I am not letting YOU bring me down.

Thanks Felicia, thank you Akey, thank you Lene, thank you Annisa, thank you Diana and thank you Mr Sunshine for all your words of comfort and advice.

xoxo

don't worry be happy.

Oh hey, Mr Sunshine's back !
With my Big Apple donuts !
Alhamdulillah.

I'm now thinking about getting a spare phone battery for him. Hahahaha.

xoxo

worry is wasteful.

I do not like not knowing where Mr Sunshine is.
Pardon me, I do not mean to sound like a naggy wife, but he travels A LOT either on his own or with some of his other colleagues, and I get worried for his safety on the road.
And yes, sometimes the worrying almost crosses the border to being paranoid. Almost.

I do not expect hourly reports, but a simple text message to let me know when he has reached somewhere or is leaving to another place would suffice.
It's a good thing, the both of us have been used to letting each other know about our whereabouts, even before we got married. It's not something any of us forced unto each other, I guess it was just came naturally to us.
I am not sure whether this is the norm with other couples out there(?).

A short "Saya dah sampai." or "Saya baru bertolak ke (insert name of place)." are common exchanges between us.
Well of course through the short messaging service those messages are actually shorter. Hehe.

I depend so much on the security of always being able to get in touch with him and his whereabouts so you can only imagine how distressed I would be if he happens to go some place where there is no Maxis coverage.
Or when his phone runs out of battery.
LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW.
The last text message from him was at 1800 hours, letting me know that he had just left Mesra Mall, Kerteh after his routine inspections at premises in Kemaman were over. Before that he did call to let me know his battery was running low and asked me what flavor of Big Apple donuts that I wanted. Love you.
Based on experience, he should have arrived back home like, hm, now. :(

I just want him home safe. :(

xoxo

how's your neighbour ?

I feel like a lousy neighbour.

A lousy neighbour who was oblivious to the fact that the senior medical assistant who has been living right across me with his wife (a nurse) moved out last weekend.
Even though I could choose to use the excuse of me not being around during the last weekend, but I did not notice that they were no longer occupying the space opposite mine even after I got back from Gombak last Monday.
It took me a question from my colleague, who asked me whether they had already moved out for me to take a closer look and realized there were no more shoes and sandals outside of the place.
How ignorant is that ?
:(

To alleviate my guilt, I tried to strike up a conversation with him when I bumped into him at the hospital,
Me: Assalamualaikum, Encik S**** dah pindah ye ?
Him: Waalaikumussalam, iye baru je hari minggu yang lepas.
Me: Oh patut lah, saya balik kampung masa tu, tak perasan. (See how I am trying to console myself ?)
Him: Ye lah, baru seminggu je pindah.
Me: Oh okay. *smiles*

Oh well.
What's done is done.
As Pumbaa puts it, you've gotta put your behind in your past. Hehe.
How I wish I could do that, who knows maybe my behind will stop expanding at the rate it is now. :p

Ramadhan is next week and I have finally finished making up my fasts, today.
I vow to start making up the fasts for this Ramadhan as early as I can, not like this year.
But that was what I vowed last year too, so you get the picture.
According to my period calendar, Aunt Flo will be visiting me (InshaAllah) during the first few days of Ramadhan, which means she will paying another visit at the end of Ramadhan (InshaAllah).
Hence, more fasting days to make up for !

I would like to share a few things I learned over the long weekend:

1. If you double park, you can (or should ?) leave your car in free gear so that it can be pushed/moved just in case. Yes, I did not know this, laugh all you want. Thank you Mr. Parking Attendant at the Putra LRT station car park.
2. There is such a thing as an Exhibition Specialist. Thanks Annisa darling.
3. I am not a shopaholic, but a new pair of pretty wedges can do wonders to your confidence !
4. Every relationship/friendship needs two-way communication. 
5. Always remember to keep a record of your expenses especially when there's a (book) sale. Hehe.
6. You don't need to stay in a toxic relationship/friendship and if someone does not put you on their list of priorities, they don't deserve to be on yours.
7. I need to eat to survive, I used to be able to go on starving but now I need food !

In reference to No. 5, I am guilty for over spending while I was back in Gombak. Sigh.
So now I am spending my days (and nights) whining to Mr Sunshine about how I am going to get through another 20 days until my next pay.
I am so lucky Mr Sunshine is such a cool dude. Hehe.
We're total opposites, I get worked up over petty things, but he remains calm and collected (and macho as he would put it, haha) even through the rough times.
I don't know what I would do without him.
I guess opposites do attract. ;)

My armpits are still sweaty (hahaha), and my arms are still a bit sore from scrubbing Mr Sunshine's shirts awhile ago.
I should take another bath.

xoxo

6 days and 6 nights.

Besides spending time at home talking and joking with Daddy and Marc and helping Daddy with the Streamyx troubleshooting (it turned out the modem was kaput already !), I filled my 6 days and 6 nights back in Gombak with:

1) Having lunch at KLCC with one of my best friends, Diana, who I have known since I was 12.

I love you and I am always here for you. We're survivors ! ;)

2) Succumbing to these.

And these.

3) Enjoying a late night dinner, chat and dessert with Annisa at Dr Cafe, Solaris, Mont Kiara.

 We were having so much fun, we did not realize it was almost midnight !

4) Gossiping with Putri over Chocolate Cream Chip and Mocha Latte Frapuccinos.

 Thanks for the great time (and stories), dear ! ;D

5) Celebrated these special people's birthdays

With a whole bunch of special people at Nando's, Jaya One.

 Felicia, I hope you don't mind I stole this one from you !

You guys are beyond awesome ! I love you all.

6) Pouring my heart out to my best(est) friend, Akey.

It goes without saying that you're one in a million, thank you for being there for me through all of this. You know I love you !

7) Devouring the King of Fruits.

With the loves of my life. :)

No matter what happens, blood is thicker than water.

All in all, I had an amazing time ! A few glitches here and there but I am still alive. Hehe.
I hope your weekend was as amazing as mine. :)

I'm currently waiting patiently for Mr Sunshine to come back home with food for me to berbuka with. :D
Ok, tipu. Not patiently. My tummy's growling so badly I feel embarrassed.
Habis kurang pahala puasa saya.
Ok bye.

xoxo