Another Meme

I took this from Dictator Princess. I hope she won't mind.

10 FAVORITES
Favorite Color: Blue. Even when I’m anrgy and feel firey-red inside, it’s still blue.
Favorite Food: Chocolate. Dark chocolate. It’s almost better than sex.
Favorite Month: May
Favorite Song: Don’t call me corny but it’s On Bended Knees by Boys II Men. OK, ok, maybe it is a little bit corny.
Favorite Movie: Too many to choose from. Favorite Sport: Hmm, bowling? Eventhough I haven’t played in a while. I used to love playing badminton. And basketball.
Favorite Season: I love Spring. Not too cold, not too hot. And the flowers are beautiful.
Favorite Day Of the week: Saturday. Coz I can wake up late and still relish the fact that tomorrow I can do the same thing AGAIN.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate mint. Joe once took me to Baskin Robbins and I had a triple scoop of Chocolate Mint. I got icecream headache for a week.
Favorite Time of Day: Mid-day.

9 CURRENTS
Current Mood: Content
Current Taste: Taste of what? Taste in my mouth? Err..minty, from this morning’s brushing.
Current Clothes: Light brown baju kurung, with brown hijjab and my NEW BROWN SCHOLL SHOES. :D
Current Desktop: A picture of Dania and Dina riding their bikes.
Current Toenail Color: Err…pink. Natural pink.
Current Time: 1.01PM. It's lunch time, I can blog if I want to.
Current Surroundings: In my office space.
Current Thoughts: Of Nathan Scott from One Tree Hill. He is one fiiiinnnneeee dude.

8 FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Katie Rennick. She was the fisrt person that befriended me when I went to kindergarden in the UK. She was the person who cried the hardest when I had to come back to Malaysia. We’ve never seen each other since. I hope she is doing well.
First Kiss: Ahhh, some things are best left unsaid. *blush*. But it was nice.
First Screen Name: Mrs Pheonix. Coz I was sooooo in love with (the late) River Pheonix back then.
First Pet: A big bad SOB cat named Sinbad. Got three female cats in my neighbourgood pregnant and came home everyday with war scars on his body. One day, he just never came back.
First Piercing: My ears, I can’t remember how old I was. Probably I was still a baby.
First Crush: Ahh…another trip down memory lane. I’ve forgotten his name…Amin or Amir or Adam. He was popular and I was 8. I remember giving him a valentine’s card. He gave me a flower he picked from the side of the road. Ahhh, young love.
First Album: Good grief. I’m pretty sure it was either New Kid on the Block or Tommy Paige. Arghhh…the shame!!!

7 LASTS
Last Cigarette: Emmm, year 2000. Cranky from having finals (and I’m pretty sure hubby and I were fighting at the time), me and my room mates went to the playground to smoke ciggers and play on the swings. At 3am. In wintertime.
Last Drink: Sirap bandung.
Last Car Ride: With hubby, coming to work
Last Kiss: Hehehe…bedroom tales are not to be told.
Last Movie Seen: Does it have to be in the theatres? Or do DVDs count? In the theaters, Spiderman 2 (it’s been THAT long). DVD…Red Eye. Very good movie. Go watch.
Last Phone Call: My boss, who didn’t pick up coz she’s on MC.
Last CD Played: Hubby’s rock compilation CD. It has Alone by Heart. I love that song.

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy Friends: No. I’ve thought of it but never acted on it. Too complicated.
Have You Ever Broken the Law: I’ve driven at night without headlights, accidently. I got pulled over by the police. Batted my eyes a few times and did the whole Oh-Officer-I’m-so-sorry-I’ll-never-do-it-again routine. Got off with a warning.
Have You Ever Been Arrested: Almost arrested. Caught being “together” with hubby (then boyfriend). Outside of Sunway College. We were in the car. Eating pizza. Coz it was windy outside and we didn’t want to swallow dirt alongside the pepperonis.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Never. I’m daring, but not THAT daring.
Have You Ever Been on TV: Yes, the first time I was 4. They were doing a stint on public libraries and wanted to shoot cute kids reading. I was one of those cute kids. Last time I was on TV was 2003. Work purposes.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: Cute babies. Old people. Friends of my parents (on the cheek).

5 THINGS
Thing You're Wearing: My wedding band, my anniversary band, and my anniversary necklace. Hubby sure does give me a lot of jewellry.
Thing You've Done Today: Finished two approval papers and one brief paper. Reorganized my desk. Daydream about Nathan Scott.
Thing You Can Hear Right Now: People typing on their keyboards. My colleague on the phone talking to someone she obviously doesn’t like.
Thing You Can't Live Without: Sleep. Love. Air
Thing You Do When You're Bored: Ask hubby “What do you want to do?”

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY
1. Bedroom
2. Toilet
3. In my car
4. At my workplace

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
1. Hubby
2. Allah
3. Myself.

2 CHOICES
1. Black or White: White, like snow.
2. Hot or Cold: Cold, like snow

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Travel more with my family. And not have to worry about money.

I won't tage anybody but feel free to do this meme if you want to. Cheers.

Its Called R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I don’t understand some people. Its called common sense, ok. It’s called respecting other people. What’s so difficult about that, I wonder?

I’m ranting against people who think its ok to make noise in places where you’re not supposed to. Take for example, the surau (small mosque). The surau is a place for praying, for reciting the Quran, in a peaceful and serene environment. The only “talking” that should be taking place is between mortal and Allah, not between mortal and mortal.

But of course there are those that see prayer time as a time to catch up on the latest gossip amongst their friends. They take up hole in one corner of the surau and start opening up their latest stories and jokes, talking and laughing, regardless of the other people praying around them. I seriously don’t understand these people...are they blind? Are they just disrespectful of other people? Do they not know the true purpose of the surau? Why can’t they just shut up for 15 minutes, coz really, that’s how long it takes to take ablution, wear your praying attire, complete prayers and get ready to go back to work. JUST 15 MINUTES!!

Don’t get me started on those who refuse to shut/silence their handphones when coming to the surau. There’s nothing worst than trying to pray with I Will Survive or Aduh Saliha playing in the background.

I’ve tried going to the surau at different time intervals, with the hope there wouldn’t be many people there, thus less noise. Today was the worst. There were not one but two loud, obnoxious groups, chatting away while other people tried to perform their prayers. I gave the groups 10 minutes to disperse, but after hearing them go from one topic to the other, I figured I might as well just pray and try to block out all the noise.

I hate when I have to do that. I hate all the distractions when I’m trying to pray. I take prayers very seriously and I try, in my efforts to be a better Muslim, to concentrate while I’m praying.

I wonder why this happens. I find that it only happens in the female part of the surau. Over in the male section, you hardly ever hear people talking and laughing. I guess it’s true when they say; A woman’s downfall into hell is mostly because of her mouth. However I see that other religions don’t have the same problem. From what I’ve seen in the TV and from a far, in churches, temples and other religious places, everybody there is focused praying and reciting doa. Everyone is respectful of each other, making as little noise as possible; unless of course there’s a wedding taking place.

I know I’ve been guilty of talking in the surau too. Now I make an effort not to, or the very least talk in soft whispers. I also silence my handphone. I figure the cycle of respect should start somewhere, and the only person I can control is myself. I just hope other people can do the same.

Al-Fatihah - Datin Seri Endon dies

Today is a sad day for all Malaysians. The beloved wife of our Prime Minister passed away this morning at around 7.55am. She died from breast cancer. She was 64 years old. She leaves behind a loving husband, a daughter, a son, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and several grandchildren.

Nori, I know it’s been 20 years since we’ve seen each other and you probably don’t remember me, but I just want you to know that I’m praying for you and your family. I hope you will all be strong and get through this tragedy. Even though I never knew her personally, I’m sure your mother was a truly wonderful lady. My sincerest condolences.


I look outside and it’s raining. Even Mother Nature is mourning.

“Dari Allah kita datang, dan kepadaNya kita kembali”.

Husband Vs Wife

Nooo...this is not a post on who is better, the husband or the wife. We all know the answer to that already so no need for me to elaborate. This is just a in-between post between my regular rants coz I'm currently ateenyweeny bit busy with work.

I know..lame...so lame...booo!!

So just to have some updates on my blog, here are some Husband Vs Wife jokes I got from my friend, Joe. Trust him to come up with this kind of crap. Hah!!

WIFE VS. HUSBAND
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?" "Yep," the wife replied, "In-laws."

WORDS
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

CREATION
A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. " The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!

WHO DOES WHAT
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee." The husband said, " You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee." Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee." Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me." So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.......... "HEBREWS"

THE SILENT TREATMENT
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

Amazing Race - my family team

Tonight is the 3rd episode of the new Amazing Race, Season 8. Are you guys into it?!! I am. I’m totally into it. This is one reality show that never fails me.

So far I haven’t got a favorite team yet. Most of them are pretty much supportive of each other and portray the average family situation. There is one family I’m started to despise though; the Paolo family. The sons are rude, the dad is rude and the mom keeps on whining. Seriously, this family is giving Italian families around the world a bad name. I know the race can be stressful, but when your own son tells you to SHUT UP, that shows a definite lack in discipline and respect among the family members.

Previously I wanted to do run down of the teams and maybe some predictions on where they might be going and which team might win the million dollars. But Kampung Gal already did an awesome job here so instead I’m going to tell you who I would have chosen for my own family team.

My Husband.

Of course he would be on my team. He’s a terrific driver for one thing. He can drive long distances and not get tired easily, which is a huge plus in the Amazing Race. Also he’s very competitive and can be very devious when it suits him. He’s strong so he’ll be great help for when it comes to physical activities but he can’t stand eating strange food. Not to say he has a sensitive stomach but you ask him to eat 8 pounds of meat (like in the last season), he’ll probably do a Rob and fold. And get other teams to fold too.

My Dad.

I’m choosing my dad coz he’s been around the world more than any other person I know. I know, most of the time on business trips but still ANY knowledge about a foreign country is vital knowledge when it comes to the Amazing Race. Plus my dad is a very patient person so most probably he’ll be the one holding the team together when the going gets tough. My dad is quite healthy for someone his age, and loves walking around when he’s traveling. He can walk miles and miles and not get tired. Of course, walking leisurely around the golf course is not quite the same thing as dashing along the bust streets of India. But still, my dad gets a vote to be on my team.

For my last family member...here’s where I’m a bit torn. My mom would be a nice addition, but frankly speaking I don’t know how she would hold up in the Amazing Race. For starters, she gets tired easily. She hates walking long distances and does not like to get dirty. On the other hand, she’s very thorough. She’ll be the one who reads and rereads the clue to make sure we’ve got the right directions. Also, she’s the type who would suck it up for the team. If it meant having to paraglide over a cliff or scale a rocky hill, I’m sure she’ll do it...slow and steady, she would do it.

Another person, or rather three more people to consider would be my brothers. Hmmm...out of the three, I would probably go with my second brother, Zulhazmi aka Alang. No offense to Angah and Kamarul, I still love you guys. It’s just that Alang has more spirit and urgency when it comes to stressed situations like the Amazing Race. Angah, for one thing, just CANNOT wake up early in the morning. So if our departure time from a certain location is at 2.36am, then we would be in trouble. Kamarul....well, I still see him as the baby of the family.

So there you have it. The IDRIS family. Hehehehe...yours truly, my hubby, my dad and my mom or second brother.

I predict we get in first place throughout the race. HAHAHAHAHAHA....

Who would you chose to be on your family team and why?

The Big Red

No, it’s not about that Richard Gere movie.

It’s only been 7 days going into Ramadhan and I’m already 5 days behind. Its times like this I just hate being a woman. Stupid period!! You’re early, you know that!! I’ve asked hubby to buy me a big can of pineapples. It works..I’ve tried it. Of course, there are repercussions like having to change my pad every hour but I can live with that. What I can’t live with is having to “ganti puasa” up to 40 days again.

Having lunch at work is a hassle during Ramadhan. You have to be discreet; don’t give a chance to your male colleagues to use the “PMS” excuse on you. Most food outlets don’t open in the afternoon and when you’re working where I am, your choices are limited to begin with.

So today I did the next best thing. I bought food from home. Except today I was in a rush and didn’t have time to reheat the soto hubby had bought yesterday. So I slobbered some jam on five pieces of bread and took those instead. 5 pieces of bread with strawberry jam, that’s all I have to last me through the day. I should really start a food stash instead.

Our Morning Ritual

Nowadays my girls have a new morning ritual. After waking up, both of them climb onto our bed (Dania does, Dina yells from the side until hubby or I pick her up). Sometimes they just join us under the covers where we have family hugs and share morning-breath kisses with each others. Most of the times, the girls like to look out from our bedroom window and count how many cars, lorries, birds and people go by.



This “tradition” carries on even when we’re in other places, like my MIL’s house.



Sigh..I know I’m going to miss this as the girls get older.

What's your morning ritual?

Mini Meme

MaryBishop just tagged me for this mini meme:

The Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

My sentence: She had a husband and a baby, not even a year old.

This statement was made in reference to the sudden death of my colleague, Allahmarhamah Syikin. Reading back the post, it brought fresh tears to my eyes. Hmmm...

Ok. I tag....Kampung Gal, Maiz, Sity, Apit and Nadya.

Selamat Berpuasa...Happy Fasting.

To all my Muslim friends, no matter where you may be, I want to wish all of you

Happy Fasting

May this Ramadhan month bring prosperity to us all.

Sapa2 yang boleh sembahyang terawih tu, hehehee...rajin-rajinlah yer. Macm adik kita kat bawah ni.

* Image taken from http://jowharaschamber.blogspot.com. Check out her blog.

A Birthday Note to Dina Yasmin - One Year Old

My Dearest Dina,

Today you are one year old. How time flies!! It seemed like just yesterday I was panting in the labor room, high on gas and then plump!...one push and you were out in this world. I remember smiling, thinking how easy this labor had been compared to your sister, who had forced me to endure pain for 4 ½ hours before coming out, kicking and screaming like the little Dive she is.

But this birthday note is about you, and for you, so I’ll try not to mention your sister too much. Because you’re both unique, and I don’t want to be one of those parents who likes to compare their children...WHY CAN’T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR SISTER? I promise not to be like that, and if you ever find me doing so, you can print out this birthday note and show it to my face. Remember this, ibu? Remember?

I’m been thinking about what to write for your 1st birthday note. Such an important occasion, one that would either make me forever Mother of the Year in your eyes, or the person that is CONSTANTLY EMBARRASSING you.

I want to begin with telling you how badly your father and I wanted you...and how close we came to never having you. You sister (I promise, this is the last time I mention her) was already 1 year 8 months and both you father and I figured we had enough money to feed yet another ravenous mouth, so we got busy. We didn’t have to get busy for long because I got pregnant almost instantly (I can see your father beaming with pride as he reads this). The first few weeks were bad for me, extremely bad that even your father was worried and was constantly buying me stuff to eat and TRY to keep down. I finally dragged myself to the hospital to do some ultrasound scanning and I’m telling you, my heart dropped...dropped thousands of miles into the earth’s core when the doctor mentioned how “unhealthy” your sack was looking and how it might be in the best interest to terminate the pregnancy.

But I held on to you. I told everybody, if Allah didn’t want me to have you, then my body would just have to dispose of you through its natural way because there’s no way I was going to do it consciously. And how you’ve proved everybody wrong. Today, not only are you healthy, you are LOUD. And funny. And cheeky. And so beautiful.

Now that you are one year old, I can see your personality is completely opposite from that of your sister. While she is aggressive, you are calmer. While she is outgoing, you can be dreadfully shy at times. Remember when we went to Nenek’s house in Melaka last weekend? We had a family function going on and everybody wanted to hold you and kiss you and that must have FREAKED YOU OUT because after a while your grandma came to me with you in her arms, crying your heart out. When you saw my face, you reached out to me as if I was the only force that could calm the storm and when I carried you, you buried your face into my shoulder and held on for dear life. You stopped crying almost immediately and scolded me in your baby talk voice for handing you over to those cheek-pinching, small-feet-biting monsters. Tell me, what kind of mother wouldn’t have melted then? How I wish I could have stopped time to relive that feeling again and again.

Dearest Dina. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t count my blessings for having you in my life. Everyday I look at you and I feel like I want to hug you and kiss your sweet smelling hair and feel your soft cheeks against mine forever.

I love the way you dance and move your body to any sound that you hear. Even the sound of the plane engines going over our heads during our evening walks is enough to set you off. I love the way you’re not afraid of cats, and birds and other animals and how you feel that everything requires a taste test before receiving your stamp of approval. I love the way to smile at me with your crunched up nose that I’ve nicknamed you Popeye for obvious reasons. I love the way you laugh and shriek with joy when your father throws and catches you in the air.

I love you so much Dina Yasmin, and not just because you’re my daughter. I love you for all the joy and love you’ve brought into our lives and for showing me that your laughter and your smile is enough to pull me through my bad days.
Happy First Birthday, little girl.

Love, Ibu.