:: 8 Random Things ::

Tagged by @dr3h

1) I was a tomboy when I was in primary school and I used to beat up boys who messed with my brothers back then.

2) I am a control freak when it comes to home deco and cleanliness.

3) I am now 7 kg overweight! Arrgghhhh!!!! And I'm dreaming to shed those kilos with yoga but unfortunately, I've only did yoga once since last month.

4) I am now living in a guest room in my dad's place with abang. We are now renovating our house with huge help from my genius uncle and cousin. We are hoping to move in before next year.

5) I am extremely close with my dad as compared to my mother. Maybe its because i'm the only daughter so my father manja me since I was little. In fact, we bought our new house so near my parents place so that I can see my father and sit under his ketiak every other day.

6) I am a karaoke addict (duh...)

7) I got 4As for UPSR, 4A 4B for PMR, 18 agregat for SPM, Studied in MMU for 4 years, Graduated from MMU, majoring in multimedia, but only worked in a multimedia company for 2 years. I pursued my career as a stewardess because of the money. Now, I'm a wealth Advisor with CIMB Wealth Advisors.

8) My hair is naturally curly. (For the last time, I did not perm my hair!!! Trust me, I know!)


So there you go... Take care peeps!

:: Arab Day ::

Assalammualaikum, Keif Halkum?

Ana Bkhair, Shukran Jazilan...

Yesterday was my official Arab day. A dear friend, an ex-colleague from Emirates came to visit. Well, not actually came here and visit, he was here for a flight, layover for 2 days. His name is Hasil Khan bin Karim Al-Balushi. He's originally from Muscat, Oman but now living and working in Dubai. We used to hang out together everyday back when I was there since we lived in the same building. We were so close that people thought we had an affair.. What can you do? You cant stop people talking, can u? We both know what we had back then.. It was more special than an affair.. we had a very special bond that is a Friendship.

He and his friends (Juma, Feisal, Abdul, Habib, Tariq and Khalfan) were like the big brothers I never had. They took real good care of me when I was sick, cheered me up when I missed my home so badly, they gave me the support and a pat-in-the-back whenever I did something good and they scold me like nobody's business when I did something bad..

So yesterday, abang, me and hasil were planning a lunch together, but because of a silly phone mishap, me and abang ended up having lunch together and then, we went and pick up hasil from his hotel. He looked well and he bought me a really nice abai-ya ( the black jubah that their women wear). It was nice of him. Then we went the curve and shop like there's no tomorrow (that includes the must-have item from Malaysia, pirated DVDs).

The one thing hasil said stuck in my mind till today.. He said, "Faizah, u're a lucky girl. Shah is a very nice guy and he loves you a lot. To find someone that loves you that much and being able to marry and live with him, is just a blessing. Take care of him, yourself and the marriage. I will pray for your amirah. Please remain friends forever coz I dont want to lose u and miss the chance to see your baby..." and as always, he asked us to come to oman.. bila la agaknya.. I would really love to revisit a place called 'salalah' in Oman. Thats the place where the Nabi Ayub well is located. Nice windy weather with gorgeous view of the mountains and rivers.

When we were done, we bid our goodbyes and me and abang headed home. Then, nad called and summoned us for a mengeteh session in cyberjaya. And since we're headed that way anyway, we joined her. She was there with two of her friends from Saudi. There are such nice polite guys!

Anyway, I've always love Arab hospitality. Because contrary to popular believe, they are actually very polite. Yeah they speak loud, but it doesn't matter, does it? What matters is what they're saying. For example, a normal beginning of a conversation with Arabs will start with a lot of "How are you"s.. How's your life, how's your father and mother, how's your family, how's your work, how's your husband... I mean, how many of us actually asked a friend about his/her family when we meet up? None of my arab friends had met any member of my family. They never even speak on the phone, but still they kept on asking about the well-being of my family.. To me, that shows concern.. And that's something that we all should do more of... Well, thats only my personal opinion..

When everyone loves and cares about one another, the world will be a safe and happy place to live in.


Take care beautiful peeps... Lets take care of each other today..

:: Funny Signages ::

I have a thing for weird, out of the norm signages. To me, signages are supposed to catch our attention. And if its too normal, it becomes boring and it will eventually 'blend' with the background. As a result, people dont really notice, let alone pay attention to them anymore.

Back during my flying days, I was obssesed with talking pictures of those signages that are impossible to be found in Malaysia. (And my friends thought I was crazy because I was more impressed with the signages instead of the lurve). However, since I lost my laptop sometime last year, I lost all the photos.. (It was in uptown, someone broke into my car and stole my laptop and abang's too... worst thing was the 'bastard' took my make up bag! Arrgghh! Do u know how much a real good blusher brush costs nowadays?)

This is an open air coffee bean. It's still a non smoking area as its considered very near to food? How can smokers live in singapore?

Its actually "MEGAFLICKS" but from a certain angle, it looks like megafucks.. hahahaha...

Ok enjoy!!

:: Forever Friends ::

A comment in my last post got me walking down memory lane for a while.. it was from a dear friend of mine from form 1 till form 3 in Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Sabah(SBPS), now known as Sekolah Menengah Sains Sabah (or something like that).

Back then, when people are still using filmed camera to take pictures, when doc martin shoes are an essential item in everyone's wardrobe, when cellphones are unheard of and when normal rate for cybercafes is more than RM10 per hour. (Gosh I feel old!) Back then, I was known as PEEJAH… hahhaha… I can’t exactly remember why, but my best guess is that some of my schoolmates couldn’t pronounce the ‘F’ and ‘Z’. They ended up calling me Paijah.. then from paijah, it somehow turned to Peejah. I loved the name though, and still do.

Anyway, I went scurrying for my old photos from back then. Back when I was young, naïve, wild and so so soooo thin. I had a few great buddies when I was in that school. We spent a lot of time together in the hostel as well as the class, fooling around. I was a bit of a trouble maker then and these friends stayed with me no matter what ‘trouble’ I caused. They stuck with me through thick and thin.

Maybe I was too proud to mention it back then, but I really appreciate it u guys. Thanks so much for everything. I feel so grateful just for knowing each and every one of you as a friend. I really wish that we could catch up sometimes. Inform me if any of you is ever in KL ok..

So now… the old old pictures!!!

One of the pics that I found of Herda, Otek & me, in our classroom where we were suppose to study real hard. Otek was the hardworking one and Herda was a cheerful and funny one.

Pic of Otek, Fariza, Herda & me with our cikgu darjah, Ustaz BK as we call him. I seriously cant remember his real name! What's his name ha? Ah anyway, the cikgu hated me so much (well, I must say the feeling was mutual back then) and he loved Otek so much coz she was wearing tudung and she was so obidient... hehehe... What ever happens to Otek? Oh btw, Otek got her name because her face is so cute and round that from side view, she looked like cute ikan otek.

This is Ena & me. The thing I remember about Ena is how beautiful, graceful and tall she was. This picture was taken by one of our friends with me on my tip toe, trying to measure up to her. When she smiles, her eyes turned to straight lines.. hehe.. She has a chirpy little sister named lolyta. Loly used to teach me to rap and dance.. hahahah... kan time tu semua orang nak jadi rapper.. termasuk lah akak.. hahahahah... sungguh kelakar.... hahahahhaha

And finally, (absolutely not least) this is Fariza & me. Fariza has the most gorgeous long black and straight hair i've ever seen. Her hair always smelt good too! What happen to fariza ha? I met her in UTMKL years back but that was it. We lost contact and never seen her since. We were quite close back then and had our fair share of laughs and tears.

Well, believe it or not, that was the only pictures I had from SBPS. I'm not a very good keeper I guess.. Of course there were a lot more friends who had touched my life when I was there.. Million thanks to each and everyone of you for making my life much more colorful..

Since we're still on the subject of rekindling, I met with Kamarul Elmi's father the other day in my open house. Just so happen my uncle is his good friend, and since he was visiting from sabah, my uncle brought him along to our place. Anyway, I got a chance to speak with Kamarul thru phone and he said he's managing the dewan makan in sbps now.. Wow! that's amazing.. oh ya.. and lily is managing the cafe? impressive!

Oh I miss the old times.. when everything was so simple.. when all we had to do was have fun!

:: Allahyarhamah Nyamin Binti Sulaiman ::

Innalillahi wainailahiraji'un...

Today marks the passing of my dearest grandmother. She went peacefully in her sleep early this morning, around 5:30 am. Masa sahur.

I was quite shocked when i got the news early this morning because believe it or not, i've been dreaming about her these pass couple of days. U see, according to my cousins, I am her favourite grandchild. We used to sleep together all the time when I was little and we also slept together when she stayed in my house before I got married. She just recently moved to mak long's house in gombak to give way for abang, and was supposed to move back here once me and abang move to our new house. I kept telling myself that I would come by my mak long's house this weekend to visit nenek, which is today. True enough, I did go to mak long's house this morning. As sad as I could be that she is no longer with us, I am also Very glad that Allah chose Ramadhan to take her. At least nenek terlepas seksa kubur... Alhamdulillah...

Things that I remember about nenek:

- She is the most positive woman that i've ever met. Never once I heard her whine. Not even when she was sick, frail and weak.

- She got thousands of stories to tell. How she found a ring inside a fish she was meant to cook, how she fought 4 strong guys who were trying to break into her house, how she helped a pregnant lady in a bus and finally delivered the baby by the road side in hulu langat and she later named the baby Mohd Jalani, how she raised all her children single handedly( my granfather passed away when their children were practically babies) just by walking around the village being a bidan and a masseuse, how she delivered my mother in the river when she was doing he daily washing, how she acted a small part in a P.Ramlee movie as a nenek kebayan... i could go on and on till tomorrow..

- She knew all the pantun and folk songs in the whole wide world. One that I will remember for the rest of my life is..

Di Kiri Jalan, Di Kanan Jalan,
Tengah-tengah Pohon Mengkudu,
Di Kirim Jangan, Di Pesan Jangan,
Sama-sama Menanggung Rindu.

One of her favourite is gendang gendut tali kecapi, kenyang perut suko hati, which she would say everytime after meal.

- A bright smile was always planted on her face no matter what happened in her life.

- She was a real great cook! My favourite when i was little was ayam masak kuning (which is actually ayam masak lemak). She would catch one of her chickens herself and cook the dish, easy on the cili padi. whenever she cooked cuttlefish, she would patiently 'kelar' the sotong so that it would curl up nicely n beautifully when cooked. Its not usual to see a woman with that kind of passion and patience for cooking nowadays.

To nenek, you will be greatly missed. You thought me a lot about life and your strong spirit will stay with us forever... I love u!

Semoga roh nenek ditempatkan dikalangan orang beriman.. Al-Fatihah...

:: What's Friendship? ::

A very interesting yet disturbing thing happened yesterday.. How two friends ended up arguing and bashing at each other over a lame and harmful joke. This incident got me to reevaluate the word ‘friendship’ and what it really meant to us. Maybe friendship is overrated. Friends really do come and go but what I really believe is that people just vibrate at a different level at a different time, and that we actually “attract” the people we associate with in regular basis. Have u ever notice that there is some degree of truth in the saying “birds of the same feather flock together”?. How a group of people that has the same common interest, same goal and same values just stay friends forever. To me, that’s simply because they are vibrating at the same level and they will stay close as long as they stay vibrating at the same level. When they grow together, they stay together. When one of them is growing but the rest of them stay, somehow that one person will feel left out simply because that particular person is no longer sending the same level of vibration as the rest. Good news is, that ok.. in fact that’s normal. In time, we will ‘attract’ new people who vibrate at the same level as us..

For example, when I was flying, (no I was not a superwoman before, but I could fly!) my circle of friends consists of people from the aviation line. But now that I’m in financial world, surprisingly, my circle of friends has now changed into people who are involved in finance. Of course some of us from aviation line are still in touch, but somehow or rather, we don’t really connect as well as we did before. And I regard this as a healthy thing, and as part of growth.

This unfortunate incident also reminded me of 2 great books that I’ve read and love.
1) Personality Plus by Florence Littauer
2) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne ( I have the cd too)

I’m pretty sure a lot of u have read or at least heard about this book but to those who havent got a chance to read them, GO AND GET THEM NOW! They thought me a lot about different kinds of people and how to deal with them as well as how to change your surroundings and your future just by changing your thoughts. I shall write about the books in my next blog... maybe..

Anyway, for the both of the people, whose friendship is in turmoil, think about it long and hard.. its sad to see such a beautiful relationship goes to waste over some nasi dagang (pun unintended).. but then again, i always believe that people walk in and out of our lives for a purpose.. it maybe sad that the friendship cant last forever, but for whatever its worth, every friend has shaped us into the person we are now. One way or another, we should be thankful to have known them for they have contributed and played their part in helping us grow into a better person. Nothing should be changed as wishing to change anything at all from our past is not only a waste of time, its also a waste of valuable experience. Thats just life. It may seem unfair now, but believe u me, there's always a blessing in disguise.

A point to ponder... we make mistakes all the time.. heck, we're just human.. but the most important thing is sincerity. When apologizing, apologize sincerely. If it doesn’t come from the heart, u might as well don’t apologize. Again, to me, the rule of thumb of any relationship, be it in the office, at home, with friends or family, compliment a person in public, but criticize a person in private. And we malaysians really do need to compliment more! We are excellent at criticizing each other and we would be a great nation if we learn to at least compliment as much as we criticize. ( I need to double up on my compliments too..)

Ok then.. take care peeps…

:: Book review - Follow Your Heart ::

Follow Your Heart by Andrew Matthews

I made it a point to buy at least 1 book (most of the time more than 1) every month, as soon as i receive my paycheque. My reading selection has evolved from mystery books like nancy drew to teenage books like high school romance. then to adult books like the shopaholic selections. However, for the past 2 years i've been reading a lot of motivational & self help books.. I believe that 'u are what u read!'.

The latest book that i read is tittled 'Follow Your Heart' by Andrew Matthews. He is one of my favourite author because of his laid back and simple, easy to understand, practical style of writing. One more unique thing about his writing is that he has 'in a nutshell' column at the end of every chapter. Therefore, when u need to revise, u can always go thru the nutshell instead of reading the whole chapter. I first read his book called 'Being Happy' when i was 11 years old. Then i got another book by him, called Making Friends. When everyone else in my class was reading Kuntum or Dewan Pelajar, I was reading about how to train your subconcious mind to always think positively so that u can attract positive things into your life. My mother is a psychologist, specialised in child psychology, hence the reading selections.

Anyhow, back to Follow your heart.. its an amazing book about finding purpose in your life and work. It teaches us to do what we love so that we can achieve total satisfaction in life. A lot of people in today's chalenging world are doing things that are expected of them.. A child often studies whatever the parents ask them to study so that the child can fulfil the parent's dream. the child will end up as a frustrated adult. He wont love his job and most probably wont be earning much money.

I'm not saying that you should start drafting your resignation letter now and become a balerina.. i'm just saying that you have 2 choices.. u can either change your attitude towards your job or u can change you job. It definately easier to change your attitude rather than your job. And the easiest way to change your attitude from hating your job to loving it, is by giving it your best.. work like the company is your. You give your best not because you need to impress people, u give your best because thats the only way to enjoy your work. As Kahlil Gibran would say, "Work is love made visible". You have to find meaning in your career.. sometimes people might say.. 'how can i love my job as an IT specialist, when i hate looking at the PC?' There is a clue about finding meaning in your career.. "THE JOB ISNT IT!" Whatever u do for a living is a vehicle to connect with people. Whether or not u are fulfilled depends on how u serve people. U'll notice something about good nurses- they like people even more than medicine.

Sometimes all it needs in this world s for u to be creative.. Look at everything as an opportunity, no matter what people say.. whatever is true now, wont necessarily be true in the future. What works today, may not work tomorrow. The only constant we have is change. Therefore, whoever can adapt and make the best out of anything will most likely be successful. For example,

In 1927, Harry Warner of Warner Brothers Pictures said: "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?".

In 1943, Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM said: "I think there is a world market for about five computers".

In 1977, Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corp said: "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home".

One particular story that i love from the book is about Julie. She is Andrew Matthew's wife. Julie has manicurist, Danielle who used to rent a corner of a hairdressing salon. When the hairdresser doubled the rent, Danielle was devastated. Then she piled all her nail polishes into a fishing tackle box, and started doing home manicure visits on her scooter. She's punctual, gives great service and she's booked weeks ahead. This goes to show that doing what u love doesnt have to involve years of training and big expense. It often grow out of apparent disaster and being able to adapt to changes and make the best out of it.

In conclusion, Always do more than u are paid for, and soon enough u will be paid for more than u do. Lagipun, kerja tu kan ibadat.. Fisabilillah!

Another interesting thing about the book is the review at the back cover of the book... "Remarkable, inspirational... FOLLOW YOUR HEART is a redeeming feature in the solitude of prison walls." by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, ex Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Hmm... interesting... I fully recomend books by this author for all to read!
Happy Reading!!

:: from nad with lurve ::

Gambarku di waktu zaman jahiliah satu ketika dahulu.. Nad yang snap gambar ni.. So far, ni je la gambar yang aku ada.. nanti bila dah ada gambar lain aku letak lagi sampai termuntah muntah korang nak tengok..

:: welcoming myself to the blogging world! ::

HOLAAA!!

Ni la first time aku menulis blog.. thanks to my dear friend, Nad who introduced me to this new realm called BLOGGING!

I am not really a natural born writer, but it seems that sometimes, all Nad can talk about is her blog.. It makes me wonder (and i wondered for a looong time) am i missing something here.. so here i am, not wanting to miss anything..

So lepas ni, aku dedicate kan hidup aku untuk jadi penulis secara online dan sambil sambilan.. hehe..