lip service (trouble sleeping part II)

If you want to have a phone conversation with someone, please act like you WANT TO HAVE A CONVERSATION la. Don't ask me some courtesy questions that really sound so unsincere - let's just get this conversation moving in whatever shape or form that it's taking. If you can't talk to me, say la... hey I gotta go pee, i'm with a client, or call me later or whatever. My heart's not gonna break if you do that. You still wanna hang on the line for what?? Listen to me breathe??? I feel like disemboweling this someone(s) everytime I get these questions:

1. So what have you been doing all day?

Jo, aku kat ofis la. Aku bukan kat fun fair. Can I say, "Phew, I just finished giving 10 bl*w jobs!"

2. Fever?

When I say I'm not well, that doesn't mean that I have FEVER. Do you know that there are OTHER afflictions/diseases in this world?

3. Dah makan?

You ask me this at midnight. I just feel like saying, "Baru je lepas melantak. I like to sleep on a full stomach and let my food digest while I dream of going to the gym"

4. Did I wake you?

It's 3:15 in the morning and I'm not a 19 year-old. Even if I was 19 I'd probably be asleep if its a freaking WEEKNIGHT!!!

5. You will get through this...

Get yourself another cliche, please. I hear that from you ONE MORE TIME,...!!!!! argghhh...

trouble sleeping

hola people. This weekend was cool. Didn't do much but time flies fast so that's good. In fact, it's all good :) Had a bbq cookout just now - ya, I know... bbq again??? Sampai guard kg warisan tu cakap kat meandmylife "Selalu ek, party-party." Hee hee. It was kindof a pot luck thingy - I just prepared the lamb chops (what else), steaks and chicken. The gurls brought creme caramel (thanks ita!), mihun goreng (fewittt.. meandmylife) and some lovely dadih with nata de coco in it (sedap suze, where did you get those?). Piccies at my Multiply, as usual. But please excuse the pics ya cuz it was freaking RAINING the whole time. URGHS.

I'm having trouble sleeping (could it be i'm suffering, because i'll never give in, won't say that i'm falling in love - as ms corinne bailey rae sings) again.

Ini semua gara-gara wicked witch of the East. Puek betul!

macam real

Yours truly in vintage Bill Keith, bought when Bill Keith was still affordable

So last nite was the much anticipated (by whom ya?) STF-SDAR-STAR dinner at Putrajaya Convention Center. I had a long day at work, with a meeting at MWA in Hartamas at 3 pm and the chairman who wouldn't let me leave without eating the goreng pisang and kopi O. Dahla bad hair day, frizzy nak mampus and of course, as usual I didn't have time to do my hair. The last time I did my hair for an event was our company annual dinner like, what, 3 years ago! That's how pathetic I am.

It was really nothing to shout about la. VIPs were the DPM (i took an up close and personal shot of him) and wifey, Hishamudin and wifey, (whom i thot looked like paris hilton), Awang Adek etc. Some surreal experiences:

1. There were a tad too many white-haired guys and I mean, ancient ancient ancient grandpapa types. I thought I like older men, but this is overkill.

2. A STAR/SDAR guy mistook me for my senior who is like 5 years older than me!!!! Urgh.

3. STF superseniors are super cool. They can dance on the stage with M Nasir and boogie the night away. I just didn't have the vibe for that last nite - I had more vibes with the kugiran at Daisy's wedding.

4. An unnamed senior asked"single lagi ke?" sebab dia nak matchmake kan dengan bapak budak SDAR. Wot????

5. M Nasir is HOT. Everytime i watch him perform, met him in real life i get weak in the knees. Every single time. Funny thing is when he's on TV macam tak teringin pulak nak tengok.

6. Dalina, Rina (!!!) and I got picked up by atok2 dari SDAR during our cig break. Hahahahah!!!
"One more for the road, ladies?" Kan Dalie kan?

I need more excitement than this.

save yourself, save the world!

Since most of my blog readers are mostly (hot) ladies, some available, some not... some Not-So-Single (i don't quite get what that means actually)... I have an experiment for you to try.

See, I've started using my own environmental bags when I do grocery shopping since about a few months back. Yes I'm trying to save the world in my own miniscule way. So far, I've always had guys who are in the queue at the cashier making remarks about how "cool" it is to do BYOBags and sometimes they will like, ahem, chat me up and things like that. Tapi kan, akak dah not in the market so akak tak pursue any further la. Sorry. (eh.. kenapa eh akak not in the market..??? heheheh. Now THAT is another posting altogether. Tapi mungkinkah akak akan kembali in the market?? Geez I'm digressing...)

Just two weeks ago, on a Saturday at Jusco, not one but TWO guys actually made remarks about my bags and how he wishes that "everyone would be like you, oh the world will be a better place". Spare me the saccharine-sweet "sincerity" la brader. The other elderly guy (40ish) went - "nice bag, where do you work? where do you stay?" errr.. so irrelevant la kan to saving the environment.

Why don't you guys participate in this little social experiment of mine? Bring your own bags for groceries, and see if you get chatted up. But don't la go to Bangsar Village or Cold Storage - you won't be the only hot chick carrying environmental bags. Hee hee. Try Giant, Carrefour or Jusco - the less sophisticated ones. See how many hot guys you can score. Betul! Cuba, jgn tak cuba!

So I'm thinking... if going "green" is one of the ways to pick up strangers, so be it. You're doing a lot of good for yourself (who knows you might land a smart and sexy guy who's also into saving the environment) and Mother Earth.

GO GREEN!

trifle-making with little elves

For full recipe, click here.Mula-mula, take Kitchen Elf No 2 to buy ingredients at Jusco.

Make sure they don't kill each other in the car while driving home. Kitchen Elf No 1 is a gentle soul, he always gets beat up by No 2.

No 1 has escaped to his lair, while No 3 plays with toy truck hoping that he can steal some bananas. No 2 is all hyped because "I buat twifle.. twifleeee"

No 3 shows his interest in the banana-laying. While No 2 starts to become agitated and territorial, "It's MYYYYY twifleeeee!!!!"

The Bibik took No 3 away for fear of being scalded with hot custard by his clumsy mummy. No 2 popped a big juicy piece of strawberry while I wasn't looking. Caught red handed in this pic!

No 2 hid her head under the table sebab terasa guilty mencilok strawberry itu.

Yeah they will lick clean whatever bowl that I mix anything in. Licin la my custard periuk.


PUMP IT! Somehow this particular brand of whip cream's nozzle is so keras and have to use full force to pump it. Very unsexy for usage in bed (hahah!) so avoid this particular brand ya people, for those planning for that li'l somethin somethin.

My very limited artistic ability, plus I had to do this quick before No 3 comes over and smoosh everything up.

DONE! Phew! After that I happy-binged at Nirwana banana leaf, Bangsar with Ayu :)

my secret garden

Sunflower looking down on me, with Sri Maya (the cause of my asthma) at the background

I won't take credit for this sunflower, because it wasn't planted by me :P It does however, mark the border between my secret vegetable garden and the rest of the plants planted by the apartment's maintenance Bangla. I love my apartment because it has its own veggie garden tended by the that same Bangla, and in addition, all around the compound there are like more than 30 lemongrass shrubs and pandan shrubs. Siapa nak masak rendang or pandan chicken, you know where to get your ingredients for free, eh?

While some people who know me shrug in disbelief when I tell them that I like gardening, I do have a penchant for growing vegetables. Not fruit trees, not flower plants, not ornamental shrubs .... but vegetables. This craziness started when I was in Standard 5. There was a "Taman Sains" in my primary school, and there were plots of lands available for students to plant their own whatever that they want to plant lah. I remembered planting okra, mustard greens, brinjals, and some other vegetables. I will religiously go there every morning before school actually start (macam rubber tapper) - play with my buddies at the Taman Sains (huyoo.. kitorang main V tau - ingat tak the TV series "V"?? I think it had a cult following in the 80s!!!) while tending to my vegetable plots.

My grandma did have her own HUGE vegetable garden at her backyard. When it comes to veggies, she's completely self sufficient. She had all sorts of herbs as well - daun selaseh, kesum, mint leaves, and all the exotic stuff for her jamu - she has normal veggies like sawi and spinach and she also has kuchai, long beans, tomatoes... whatever veggie that you can get in a mini market, she's got it.

My fingers kan, boleh tahan green jugak la. When I was studying in the States, my housemate had some seeds of this plant that I cannot write the name here for fear of being imprisoned. I took a handful and planted it at our backyard in winter. Spring came, and the plant flourished!!! Yessirree, we had our very own Bob Marley's favourite vegetable growing at our backyard. It became a centerpiece / talking point for our backyard bbqs. And no, I did not make any money out of that darn plant.

So this is my take on my very own veggie plot (credit goes to my bibik la...heheheeh):
Don't let its looks deceive you, I've got okras, papaya tree (I love the young leaves, blanched), cucumbers, tomatoes, long beans, cili padi, baby bitter gourds (it's so unbitter and it's my almost daily ulam), daun cekur, turmeric, ginger...

Crunchy young cucumber... all green and best of all ORGANIC ok! No chemicals, no pesticides. Bottom right is the daun cekur which only my bibik use. I know I can use it when making urap but then again, do I have time to make that???

I love okras - blanch them in boiling water and dip 'em with Sambal Asam (recipe to be added on my recipe blog soon...tee hee).

So there, I know some of you are shaking your head if utter disbelief... Domesticated jugak perempuan Melayu terakhir ni... heheheh.... See, I told you I'm a holistic person :)

the battle begins

Do you know how good it feels to finally be able to say:

"Talk to my lawyer!"

Although I'm RM1,000 poorer (just to open a file) - it's the most worthwhile thing that I've every spent my money on. I'm glad I did it, hired a lawyer. Well, I will file for fasakh (anullment) and according to her i've got good grounds. Let's hope this works.

It's an overwhelming thing, this, in spite of me seeming to taking it lightly, at least in this blog. Emotionally I am completely drained. Physically, my skin is acting up due to the stress. My hair's all frizzy and oh, because of the lawyer's fee yang 4 years ago cost only RM500 to open your file and now it's DOUBLED, akak tak jadi buat streaks. At least not this month. Takpelah, no streaks, but I got me a darn Lawyer!