17 years is a long time!

I finally made it to one of our small reunion from the primary school group! Yay! Honestly, i had my reservations at first and didn't know what to expect since we have not seen each other for almost 2 decades.. I wasn't sure if we actually have things to talk about, whether or not they will be the same nice people (because people change. And for some, oddly enough, are only nice when u don't actually meet them). But as it turns out, we couldn't stop talking and had more refills (and restroom visits) to go on! I'm glad i didn't ffk the last minute. Hehehe.

We met at Friday's, The Gardens where we sat for 4 hours! Only 6 of us turned up since some already had plans for the long holiday, but we had great fun anyways :D

Friendships rekindled

Here's another class photo. Sadly, it's the only class photo i have from the primary school days:

Taken circa 1992

There's a similarity of me in this photo and this one.
Your take?

(you bet i'm the sweet and innocent one! nyahaha..)
God, i miss those days! Though, i wouldn't wanna go back and go through everything all over again.. :)

Goodbye...

How did December ends so fast?? A lot has happened this year..
Let's see...

It was definitely a year of travelling.

France in January (where we manage a short one to Manchester) and Andorra too.
A 2-day trip to Hong Kong (this was purely business & Dimsum :)) and a 6-day trip to London & Chester in March,
and the latest being Saigon last month.
All in 1 year!
And i realised that i don't have updates on any of them except for Toulouse and the short trip to Hong Kong.
There are lots to tell! Perhaps i shall put them up later. So to close 2009 :)

***

Started learning to play tennis..
...aaand have not been playing for 2 weeks now!
Jeremy (our instructor) said there is still hope for us, ladies can still be trained to be a pro before we turn 35. But if this keeps on, i doubt that that's gonna happen! As if! We just learned the backhand swing last lesson. Looks like it's back to forehand again after this.. sigh.

***

Took up beading class (or was this last year?) - and almost went blind!!
It was a full day basic course. By end of the lesson, i feel like my eyes were gonna explode! The SIL had kindly offered her clothes as guinea pigs and to date i've done 2 of her baju kurung. Suppose to do another 2 or 3 eh, Ilie? I pun dah lupa. I guess, i prefer baking to this lah. 

***

Got a part time job to occupy my time.
Working fulltime at the office and working part time from home certainly has its pros and cons. And to tell you the truth, it's a lot easier to work in the office (fulltime) and i am not sure how long i can keep it up.
Flexibility can have its downside, i must say.
But i sure met some new people from many different areas (and became good acquaintances/friends with some of them) and that is a big plus about the job.
Being out there.

***
Learn to bake and took up cake decorating class..
(not to mention made some $ to boot! Woo! Though, not up to the point where it can turn me into a millionaire, but still).
This, i have elaborated enough in my previous posts. But i do plan to go for cookies deco class and fondant cupcakes too. God willing :D

***
Started another micro (read very small) side business while going travel.
This started only recently. It's pretty fun.
I'm supposed to go to Saigon again last Sunday but the husband and i are still feeling a bit under the weather. (I'm still down with fever as we speak). So the trip will have to wait.
I have another destination in mind for next month but since the Saigon trip is being pushed, we'll see.
At least there's a plan.

*********

And therefore, i shall conclude that it has been quite a productive year for me.
But aside from all the good events that has taken place, sadly, there are unfortunate ones too...

We lost 2 cats.
2 cats in a year. What are the odds? :'(
Lost Aslan while we were in Toulouse earlier this year after almost 3 years caring for him.
We had planned to bring him to the vet once we get back from Toulouse.
The last time i saw him was through the car window when we were leaving for France. He was sitting near his feeding bowl, looking at us leaving.
Aslan actually belonged to a neighbour of ours but loved staying at our place instead of its owner's. The owner calls him by the name Chocho and visited him whenever they pass by our house. They were saddened by the news too and gave us some of his photos to remember him by :')

And recently, we lost our litttle Scabby to leukemia.
We were already at the vet, trying to find a space to park the car when we received the phone call telling us that he had passed on.....
We picked him up when he was about 7 months old. He was a very playful one. That was what attracted us in the first place. He was busy chasing after a lizard when we saw him.
I'm not so much into cats, but i love kittens.. especially lively, playful ones.
Scabby was only about 2 years old when he died (that's only 14 human years).

***
Lost my dearest grandfather.
A great loss for me.
After being in and out of hospital, he finally succumbed to gastrointestinal bleeding on December 8th at 2.50pm. He was buried on the same day, died at the age of 82.
I'm just glad that i get to be with him that last day. It's weird since we (the husband, my cousin and i) were having breakfast together that morning and decided to go to visit him at the hospital right after instead of in the evening like we had planned. I guess God has his own way in laying out plans for us, don't u think?
Well, i'd like to think that he's in a better place now, insya Allah.

*********

So anyways, what's your new year's resolutions?

I have a few of my own..
Stay healthy (no matter what the weighing scale says), Live more, Try to make babies (of course :)) and Spread more LOVE!
Have a great new year ahead, everyone!
God Bless!

[Oh btw, if anyone interested in donating blood, please give me a buzz. Our family could really use your help. Thank you!]

Horsing around at Denai Alam

Good news! For those who has a passion for horseback riding but find the cost is burning a huge hole in the wallet, here's a chance not to be missed! I was there for a photoshoot to promote the place. It will be launched and open to public in January. I was told that the yearly fees will cost about a mere RM150 (lesson fees not included, of course. But they will be offering low fees for the classes too!). So look out for it! Go horse around a little. Life is too short. Have more fun! (Unless u're a wee bit intimidated by the horses like err, me. Heheh).

You can find more than 10 horses that are very well kept here, in which all are male except for 2 (they are called Siti Nur & Siti Mas :D) and 2 ponies, one female and another a male.

The idea of this place is to provide horseriding facilities at affordable prices. So perhaps i should say that now, everybody can (horse)ride? :)

Mission accomplished!

The nephew's birthday celebration finally came. Elmo was the lucky (or not) character the mother had chosen for my task. These are what i came up with:

Initially the plan did not include the dialogue box. But when i saw the birthday candle the mum had bought, i knew i needed a change of plan. Either that, or we needed new candles. In the end, the mishap i had was what saved the day.

What's worse, I only realised that my oven was not working properly when i saw the outcome of the first Elmo. It was a DISASTER!! It was distorted, lopsided. I had to turn the next one the other way round after half baking time and prayed hard for the cake to rise nicely. Lucky for me, it turned out okay.

I would definitely hate to see the first one goes to waste (stuffing myself with it was obviously not a solution, and to serve it to any guests would be a disgrace!) so, the Mr. suggested that i do something with it. I needed a new plan anyways. That's when i thought of the dialogue bubble. And so i did damage control. Reconstructed the whole thing, improvised a bit here and there and voila! With not much expertise, i manage to salvage it! Hahh! Thanks to the beauty of frosting, it helps to conceal all the flaws :D But i admit that it wasn't my best effort. I was too drained to make it any nicer.. bolehla, kan? I hope the birthday boy liked it anyways..

Side profile of the (still edible) lopsided Elmo.
It was taken out of the mould by utter frustration, hence the bad complexion.
(I also had to warn the mother as to which part can be cut for the guests given the nature of its construction :p).

Happy 2nd Birthday, kid!
Aeeaeyyouuu!! (he knows what it means :))

A Token of Appreciation

A gift of 5 to 5 helpful friends.

All i want for Xmas is... not much.

Just these:

1. a DSLR
A basic one will do. I just need a good camera for nice, sharp images for my projects and travel. And for his hobby too.

2. an Anya Hindmarch Hector Navy Python

3. maybe a Hybrid car :P

OR,
some additions to my wardrobe/shoe/book/DVD collection and home furnishings would be nice too :)

Life goes on..

I lost my dearest grandfather 10 days ago. I told my uncle that day that i still can't believe the fact that he's gone (i still can't!). I've so many memories of growing up with him. Then the uncle replied,

"We all live with memories, just make the best of them. And live your life so that he would be proud of you if he were still around".

That gave me the support i needed at that time as i was in no mood to do anything, let alone to bake. but i'm glad i did. These happy faces made my day :)

Happy Birthday to the sister and a Happy Anniversary to the couple! :)

Spring in December

What i'd like to say is that i am proud to be the first one to leave class this time.. heheh. I know, it's not a competition but it's a big achievement for me :D What motivated me? Well, i was running late to fetch the Mr! :P

Learner vs. Teacher
This is how the chrysanthemum should look like.
Mine, of course is the one looking like a tepee..

And here are some i've made for a friend.. (she was asking me why i didn't put them up on my blog. Honestly, i'm uber shy :)).
Here goes nothing..

For her mum in law's birthday.
Dadi translates mum in Pakistani.
Trying out mini hydrangeas.

For the sister.
Experimenting with bright hues.
Note to self: To use the bright colours for the lettering background next time.. i think it will look nicer.

And this is a simple one i made for the lil kid who "helped" me bake for my friend's order. Sorry you only got 3 pieces, Naufal. Next time, perhaps when Aunty Azra is able to work her hands faster!

Funny how it never occurred to me that i'd be doing this for a side income - especially given the fact that i don't bake. I actually went for the class because i received a request to make my nephew's birthday cake from the mother. I have another order this week, Alhamdulillah. It's true what they say, sometimes the best things happen when you least expected it ;)

Irene Suchocki

She captures breathtakingly beautiful photos. I especially like the dream like effect. Stunning.

Check out her work, i am definitely a fan.









[the red vanity case reminds me of mum. She used to have one just like that, given by dad on their engagement day :)]

Just humour me

With body kit - Arden

Classics
I love them all.

Ouch!

One Sunday night over cakueh and air kelapa laut while waiting for our ikan bakar.
Venue: Tip Top Ikan bakar stall, JB.

Kid bro: .. tadi kat majlis qiqah there's this one girl my frens and i were checking out.. Cun! Tapi dah tua la...

Moi: Tua macam mana?

Kid bro: Dah late 20s..