Watched The Notebook for the umpteenth time tonight and cried incessantly like always. Ryan and Rachel make their love story so real, that you can just feel the pain, the love. Just weeks ago, I watched Ryan in Crazy Stupid Love and he has changed tremendously. He's buffer and more handsome even. It's no surprise since The Notebook was released 7 years ago. And I still somehow have hope, though I know it won't happen, for Ryan and Rachel to get back together. The reason why the tearjerker movie struck a deep chord with me is because I've been in Allie's shoes. And it was no picnic. But that was then and I was young and dumb. Now I'm crazily, "smartly" in love.
The night before Syawal came along, I was sad and reluctant to move on. Ramadhan passed by so quickly, that I didn't have the heart to let it go. But like sand slipping away through my fingers, Ramadhan was still going to leave us and any attempt made to stop it would be useless. I felt like I didn't do much and I couldn't even manage to khatam on time; only halfway through the Holy book. Woe is me.
However, I didn't keep my frustration for long. Eid-ul Fitr is a day of celebration and that's exactly what I did.
I hope there is still time for me to wish you Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir dan Batin. I'm sorry for all of my wrongdoings, as I commit usual flaws human beings do, and hopefully this apology is met with forgiveness. May you guys have a joyful and wonderful one with your respective families! x
Assalamualaikum! After a week in breezy, windy, cold UK, I'm back in sweltering Malaysia. I can feel the vast temperature difference. I have no idea how my friend there will adjust herself here when she gets back because even at 21 degrees during her recent holiday in Italy, she felt it was too hot that she went back to her hotel to take a shower! Anyway, my holiday in Manchester and London was how I imagined it would be. Eccentric natives and their fashion sense, tiptop politeness, lovely weather, and wonderful companion!
Fro!
Our last picture sobs.
Eating fish&chips. It's quite the staple meal there.
Us minus Jwa in Old Trafford. I'll never forget this.
Went to see my crazy cousins staying in London,
And not to forget. This. Yes, that building that says "Primark".
Me and my sisters went crazy in there! Everything was affordable. Yes, the UK pound is equivalent to RM5, but they sold sunglasses and bags for 3 pounds and they're so nice! But the sad thing is, Primark is situated only in the UK, so yes, another visit is a must. Bought quite a handful of items so no more online shopping for me. For now..
I wish I could go again. Probably in a few years' time? On my own? Or with someone? I don't know but I'll definitely give it another visit :) And no, not because of Primark.
One thing I love about my mum is that she is one major traveler, and because of her and my dad's life-long dream, I'll be off to Manchester for a week next week! My dad has been a huge MU fan since he was in diapers, thus going there seems like a natural move to take; a once in a lifetime opportunity that should not be missed out on. Apart from having the chance to feast my eyes on the Theater of Dreams and bask myself in the crisp English weather, I get to see my best friend who's studying there! It's been ages and I can't wait :) It's also my first time spending a few days of summer in the UK, my ultimate location to study and live so you can just imagine what it does to myself! Yup, almost loopy..
I'm not one to surf Youtube incessantly, but this weekend I have been doing just that. Thank you to the creators of this channel, for offering me and several million others the chance to watch this festival live even though I am halfway around the world! :)
Two years ago, nearing the ending of March, I was liberated and these songs were my anthem.
Saje nak relive balik, bukan mahu mengungkit. Because that particular period of my life was so, so epic. I became brave, was holding my own and once I escaped, good things came to me and I couldn't thank God more. Received my first ever Dean's list award, became Ethos! vice president, stumbled on a wonderful person, and the best of all, I got myself back.
I share this award with Banana and Celery.. because we went to the seminar together and I just happened to write my name first teehee :) Thank you U8C, I loved your seminar!
And no, not because I got this award :p Loved the hospitality, the venue, the FOOD, the speakers, the teamwork and effort. Pat yourselves on the back, because you guys definitely deserved it!
Well, dreams don't just happen without any effort being put in. With hard work, determination, strong belief as well as good alliance, my class managed to pull through rather successfully (based on peer evaluation, speakers as well as lecturers' feedback) with our seminar last Saturday on "Branding Youthself." I'm missing the weeks prior to the event already. All our discussions, meetings, little disagreements; agreeing to disagree moments, are all in the past now. But I can promise you, the memories will forever be etched in all 33 heads :)
Some pictures taken;
Our colourful banner
Hospitality at its best ;)
Moja, Mary, Azie and Aida waiting for the VIPs and participants :)
Me and Mimi were the ushers at the door he he
People from Maysaa came. I almost, almost bought Hana's Kimono Wrap Dress. I wish I did. Regretting it at the moment.
Jezmine from Old Blossom Box!
Heee Hana heeee
Fynn Jamal. Oh my she was so endearing and so down-to-earth. I loved her positivity and her personality. She's currently one of my idols.
Mary, me, Fynn, Aina, Azie
She sang and recited a poem, upon my lecturer's request (!). We all had tears in our eyes.
Me and Hana (my dream came true !!!)
Sharing a light moment with Hana (!!!)
Post-seminar. We all did the peace sign, Fynn Jamal style
We all had two other speakers, Nana Mohan, a TESL graduate and is now working with CIMB as well as Mr. Roslan Bakri, MyHarapan's chairman. Unfortunately, I got to listen to only 3 of the speakers as I had to guard the door..
All in all, I had a really great time, even though the nervousness struck us hard. I miss this already and I hope we'll always remain close. And readers, if you work hard for something, insyaAllah God will recognize it and reward you. We all have tasted the sweetness of our own effort and are now reminiscing it with a smile. Meeting Hana (whom I thought would be impossible to meet) made me realize that dreams really do come true. The fulfillment is in our hands :)
Can't wait for this Saturday, U8C Seminar! Am ready to be more inspired ;)
It's 2011 and already an abundance of great performers are coming down to our shores to showcase their talent. From Michael Buble, Maroon 5, Maher Zain, Mary J. Blige to Deftones, Justin Bieber and my favourite, MGMT. And guess what? I'm going to go see them!
I absolutely wanted to go see Michael Buble but since it's a showcase and not a concert, the tickets are way pricier than "normal" ones because showcase is more intimate I guess. The cheapest is RM200+. If only I'm earning my own money. The fact that it will be held here in Stadium Melawati, which is really a stone's throw away from my house does not help either. I guess I'll just have to wait until he does a real concert.
But it's okay, because I get to go see MGMT!
Despite scoring tickets, it was not easy. I missed the early bird ones because I honestly thought I could get them online. But they only made 100 tickets available so of course it was quickly sold out. So I had to wait another week for the pre-sale ones. Again, there were problems. The website kept asking for the password of the credit card I used (my dad's btw) and he didn't know a thing. My mum, being the wonder woman that she is, went all out and contacted the bank and stuff. Long story short, she made it possible. Yeay! :)
I've been meaning to write a post on Uniqlo and post pictures but I couldn't find the USB cable to the camera till my sister came to the rescue and gave me hers. So the famous Japanese brand finally arrived here in Malaysia and me and Amer had the chance to go there on its opening day! We contemplated whether to commute using public transportation (i.e: the LRT then the monorail) or by car and decided to choose the latter. It seemed more adventurous that way :P Besides, public transport means a lot of people scurrying around and pushing you to get their way and that will definitely cause irritation and even waiting for the train's arrival sounded so tedious to do for impatient me that day he he.
Since we both were so not familiar with the roads in KL, (and the fact that the last time I went to Bukit Bintang was ages ago), we missed a few turns and had to do a u-turn and finally found our way to the mall. And man, the crowd was huge! There were some Hitz.Fm troopers (is that what they are called? Not so sure, sorry) outside the store and I was excited to snag some goodies. But I didn't get to do that though because, you will know why later.
Even though we'd arrived safely and me and Amer were like, "oh yeah, we did it! Google Map, thank you, victory dance, etc", to find a parking spot was another thing. I didn't know the mall was small, something more or less like Empire, hence the parking spaces were limited. We had to wait for people to go out so we could have their space. And it took about half an hour or so and I got so agitated that Amer had to calm me down. I mean, we were already there and there's no parking?? I racked my brains out on managing the directions (I seriously can't read maps) and being the lousy navigator and was all high-fiving with Amer when we arrived but there's no space for Jackie?? You got to be kidding meeee. Oh Jackie's Amer's car btw. (yes, we nickname our cars :p)
So when we finally found one, apa lagi? Kami bergegas lah. And to my surprise, which when I think back now, was supposedly expected, there was a really, really, really long line with massive amount of people. And we thought, "erm orang tak kerja ke hari ni?" since it was a working day. But I really do think there were some people who literally took MC or EL just to go to Uniqlo's opening day. Oh btw, we arrived at 12 something so we lost the chance of receiving the Uniqlo bag for free. However, they stated that if we spend more than RM200, we'll get it and indeed, we did! But man, we stood in line for 2 hours, yes 2 looong hours. The first hour went like a breeze since the line was moving quite swiftly but the next hour was excruciating. My legs hurt and I kept shifting my weight leading to foot cramps.
Once we got in, it was like "okay, you go find what you want, and I'll find my stuff and we'll meet here once we've finished okay" so off we went looking for stuff separately. The reason we had to do it was because it was hard to shop together and having to wait for each other, since it was even hard to walk around without finding yourself inches away from another person. Yes, it was that many. We shopped for 2 hours as well. Called it a day and off we went home as two happy and satisfied shoppers :)
Here are some pictures to show you the craziness of it all.
Almost there...
2 hours later... and we're done!
I was very happy indeed. Bought some stuff for me mum and dad. A fleece jacket for her and a polo shirt for him. He liked it so much, he wore it the very next day! And the day after that and the day after that.. I really want to go there again, and maybe this time with girlfriends. I need stuff for winter (they sell really cute and practical winter clothes) for my trip to somewhereee in December! ;)
They say a picture's worth a thousand words. Well, I got several here to show ya :)
Some activities in the past weeks. (Well, now that we've entered November, in the past month)
Maher Zain
The showcase was on October 14th but yes, little old me procrastinates updates as always. Truth be told, I expected myself to cry or remain "well-mannered" all throughout but no, Maher Zain asked as to clap and sing along. And I was like, "Okay Maher :D" And yes, he was amazinggggg.
My favourite out of the bunch,
Surprisingly, I was swooning whenever he went to the audience on the left stage (where I was sitting). I had no idea he was that good-looking! Swooning continued up until he sang "For The Rest of My Life". Future husband, do take note. If you want to serenade me, this one's a good choice.
Aina Banana's birthday lunch
My dear friend, Aina turned 22 on Oct 20th but because of our (me, Aina, Mary) clashing schedules, we only got together a week after. But despite delaying a few hundred times, it was nice, as always :)
You'd think a couple of girls getting together celebrating would take pictures like crazy (or known as "camwhoring) but no, oh no. Out of the blue, these girls I've known for 4 years suddenly got "shy-shy cat" and don't want to take pictures wann. I think aliens came down to earth and disguised as my friends for a day.
Bought Aina this charming charm bracelet (heh heh). It was pretty and gold, with pearls, swallow, a small locket being among the charms hanging from it. If I was mean, I would've kept it to myself he he. And I am telling the truth when I said it's pretty because birthday girl put it on the spot :)
Love you girls! xx
UK Education Fair
Went to the UK Education Fair in KLCC on both days last weekend with my sisters (on Saturday) and Aina on Sunday. Rush of excitement definitely went through me upon entering the hall, when talking with the uni representatives (almost all hailed from Britain, some were local), and when exiting. I found myself interested in several unis, though their fees dampened my spirit a little.
It's no surprise studying abroad costs a fortune, but there are always doors for you to knock. Entering them is another matter however. But as said, there are doors.
p.s: I didn't actually take pictures of the fair itself. Was busy scouring and talking, sorry hehe
I wish I'd gone to see Chip perform in his play, which I heard won 3 categories by the way, congrats! But time's always envious. I hope it won't be with me on Thursday though, because I want to be among the 1000 people who reach Uniqlo by 11 a.m and get that free bag! Are you guys going? Amer's been a big fan of the brand and he got me into it as well. Can't wait for the store to open its doors to us!
