Wait a tick..did they say men are from Mars..?

I'll have to say otherwise, really! 

As I grow older (and hopefully a little wiser, everyday) I realized that women can be really weird. Just yesterday, an old friend from  my childhood days came for my son's birthday. After the presents were opened and the kids went out to play, all the moms gathered around the table and we started catching up on each other. So inevitably the topic about who's with who now surfaced. So R started. With a certain disagreement in her voice.
"Emhh, he's going out with J. You ingat tak J," describing J to all of us. "Can you believe that?" And she went on and on... It's not about what or how she said or described the whole thing, really. Sometimes we do that too. The thing that I find a little hard to digest is..ok, how about you guys decide...
'HE' used to have a real big time crush on R. But she was at the time going out with this other guy. If I remember correctly, knowing that R is with someone else, 'He' moved on and dated J from years back. And to find out that 'He' is again dating J, some of us thought, may be they are meant for each other. But what bugs me is that R sure is not happy about it! But why? She didn't want him when he wanted her, why is the jealousy lingering in the air?
Then there's this other thing that we girls do, whether intentionally or not, I think this child-like attitude should really be diminished from our characteristic values. Somewhat. LOL, I'm just talking about how us girls fancy doing the "ummm, nothing.." thingy. A girl gets a little upset over something. After a few hours, the guy FINALLY noticed, and asked, "Babyboo, whatsa matter? You're not yourself.......," Instead of being bold and sarcastic (a little, well that's for taking hours to realize!) why couldn't we just respond, "I'm so glad that you finally noticed that I have not been myself. Yes, Papi, I was a wee upset that you didn't say anything about my new hairstyle and the new colour, blah blah blah..." There! You know how boys can suddenly be (and they talk about multitasking!) slow and inattentive? Why do we do that? No, it's not cute anymore. It's suffocating. Forget it, they can be really smart but they are no mind-readers! And when they try to become one, its a disaster! SO why not save your selves all the trouble girls? Are you familiar with this phrase 'My head says no, but my heart says go'? Well, erase that from your vocabulary of phrases! NOW! Speak both your head and heart, then you won't be blaming each other...
OK, this is a little tough to put in writing. But I will try my level best to be subtle. Here you go. Most married men, lie about their wives! And why do girls always fall for these..His wife beat him up. His wife has an affair with another woman. His wife doesn't cook for the family. His wife keeps all his salary.
Girls, be sensible! I mean the higher being is showing you some kind  of signs there...
Oh, and I have one more thing to add, if you're involved with a married man, and if he is sincere enough to marry you, tell him one of your (many) conditions is be GOOD to the first wife and the children meaning money is on time, be fair to both wives la di da. It's really HIGH time we  be nice to our sisters instead!

In support of 'Better Relationship' (HA!)

http://www.funny.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Funny.woa/wa/funny?fn=C4NOQ&Funny_Jokes=Men_are_from_Mars_and_Women_are_from_Venus

LaLa LaLa..

Hello fellas.. I found this in my Facebook posted my friend Aziah Madi whose husband is a Chef. Ooooooh the photo Aziah posted is enough to drool me that I asked her for the recipe, and she is very kind to let us all share it. So for you in Europe and US, the next time you found mussels, you should really try this!

1/2kg mussels
ginger, sliced - young ginger preferably
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 onion, sliced
oyster sauce, about 5 tablespoon
sweet soy sauce
corn flour, 1 tablespoon
salt and sugar to taste

Saute garlic, onion and ginger. Add Oyster sauce, then add sweet soy sauce and a cup of water and bring to boil. Add mussles, salt and sugar ONLY for 3 mins and turn fire off. Garnish with coriander leaves (my personal favourite) or.... Spring Onions.

Thank you again Aziah  :-) and you guys, give it a try

WHATTT

I've always believed that technology is here to improve things - whatever that means! But hey, my profile photo's disappeared and apparently it's due to having two blogs under the same primary account. How crazy can that get? IF it is not permitted to have more than one blog under the same Author/Primary Account, why the heck did you ask if I wanted to create a new blog, like "Hey, just click the button and voila!"

Yeah I'm ranting. I don't want to be creating a test blog and the html jiggalooz!

I guess it's not thaaaat simple here @ Bloggerville 

ohhh norrie!

would it be fair, no.. ok not quite the word..let me rephrase that, would it be alright to just publish about friends who wrote in about lifes little mystery?
i got quite a lot and its kind of hard really to pick which to publish. and telling about others instead.
im just rambling as i always do, so forgive me if im not making sense here, or that i jump the topic every now and then.

has life ever get kinda boring for you? im just checking..cuz it gets that way with me sometimes. sometimes i thought to myself, why norrie aint all these enough for you? the suffering that is..lol. i went out last night for a casual dinner with a professional-acquaintance cum friend lol, and he said, you laughed all the time i find it hard to believe you went through all that, blah blah blah. and he went on telling me how strong i have been. i found that to be uncomfortably untrue considering the breakdowns and the many times i felt like giving up..ohh i dont know what im talking about..its been raining you know and ive been known to behave this way when it rains..

and sometimes friendship confuses me..

have a great weekend :)

LIFEs LITTLE DILEMMA - Clean UP or....

ok, ive had a really tiring month, with the children and final exams and awards-giving ceremony (yes, im so happy that theyre back on track, slowly and steadily..congratulations darlings) and all the demonic ghostly people playing puppet show, i think i just talk about other peoples dilemma. 

:P   :-)

this comes from a guy. married. and i know him in person too. here you go:

Hye Kak..... sy tak tau cmn nak mula. Tpnyer sy akn cuba, ok. Akk taokan sy dh brpa tahun kawen tp sy rasa sy cm dah tak leh simpan sendiri. Heshh akk, bkan sy!!!!!!! Ha tu lah, cm tk pcaya kn? Tapi bukan lah pasal ada affair ngan lelaki lain. siah palih. Mintak dijauhkan laaaa. Ni pasal mengurus rumahtangga!!!! Ha, amacam ingat ada orang tak yg nak baca citer ni kak? Ok sy citer.. sy ni kira suami yg ok la, tak main perempuan, akk pn tao sy cmna kn.......bukan jenis kaki joli. Abih keje kl takde pe2 sy sure balik umah  nyer lh. Masalah eh kak skng ni workload teruk letih dibuatnyer kak oi. Benda ni dah entah bape kali sy dah tegur. Sekali tegur seminggu tak bercakap. Akk bayangkanlah dia yg duk umah, sy yg balik keje penat2 kena basuh pinggan. sidai kain. Umah tk berkemas. Jangan kata berkemas brg2 umah pon tk tau cmna nk citer. Kat ruang tamu sy ada kain baju. Kadang2 atas meja makan pon ada kain baju. Majalah buku citer lah. Gua serender kak.

CEMANA TU AKAKKU YANG DIKASIHI????????

Sy penah balik umah setengah ari sb badan tk sihat, nengok anak sy yg kaklong tu, baru 9 tahun kak, masak nasi goreng sb ibunyer tk masak! Sedih sy kak. Kalau dia sakit ke sy faham kak. Ini tk dia elok tgok tv. Apa ke jadahnyerrrr? Dato Fadzilah Kamsah kata kalau suami isteri agak2 nk perang tu, tangguh2 la dan bincang laa atas katil. Malam tu sy pon bukak mulut. Elok2. Jgn kata tak dapat kak ngeh ngeh ngeh lansung tk bercakap dekat seminggu. Penjelasan dia, dia kata dia suh kaklong tunggu. Mandi dulu dia masak lepas nengok citer fevret dia. Dia tk nyempat2 sgt so bini sy kata pegi la masak sendiri. Adui pe perasaan dia gak nyer kak? Akk gitau sy..akk pon emak. Akk lg lak, bekerja. Tak kuat sgt sb kesihatan. SY tao akk masak!

Tak tahan lah kak. Semak la kepala sy bila balik umah kak. Dgn umah beserabut. Itu satu hal. Berbelanja! Cm dia istri orang koporat! Kita ni plg2 pon pegi umah org kawen jer kak. Kasut eh cm supermodel. Brg2 mekap. Brg2 dapur sume taknak ngalah kak. Sume nak. Tp guna nyer setahun sekali pon susah nak nengok. Cmna nk nengok guna kok tk penah masak! Eh eh ader la guna, tp emm alahai, ikut style akk, akk perasan tk akk suker ckp emm alahai bila sinis? Rindu lah kat Kak Nora!

Ok ni satu lagi cerita yang sy nk btao akk yg setakat ni sy ingat la, kepala otak sy tengah semak ni kak. Bini sy ni nk kata busuk ati ke hapa ke tak tau lah kak oi, Mashaallah, ini isteri sy sendiri ni yg sy citer! Tp sungguh2 sy rimas la kak. Dia cukup jaki tul kalau sy belikn hadiah untuk anak2 buah sy! Akk pecaya tak tu?????? Pecaya la kak, ni yg sebabnyer sy tak nipu ni! Mcm2 la sebab dia beri. Emak bapak org tu kaya raya, leh beli sendiri. Kenapa dia ni kak? Kenapaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa???????????

Emak sy penah panggil sy tanya knpa sya boleh berdiam jer nengok isteri saya cm tu padahal sy ni masa membesar dulu duk dalam umah kemas bersih. Bukan idup cara cm ni sekrg ni. Sy diam je kak. tak tao apa sy nak ckp dgn mak sy. Mak sy bukan tk suker dia kak. Tp dia pon pelik kenapa sampai jadi cm ni. Mak sy sampai kata dia bukan nyer marah sy belikn brg2 utk isteri sy. Itu hak isteri sy. Sy pon tao tu kak. Tp die ni cm ego lebih kot. Tak tao la kak, sy dh puas pikir. Dah terlampau penat. Skrg sy paham rasa nyer bila akk ckp dulu penat mental ni laen dr penat badan.

Ok la kak sy dah penat taip, citer byak nk mengadu kat akak. Tp sy betul2 letih nak pikir. Nak taip.

Kak, doa kn sy dan keluarga kak yer? Tkasih kak.......

i dont know what to say. i know him, a nice guy really. 

ok, its a syndrome. i think, lol. to those who may not understand malay..hes talking about his wife not doing the household chores and her attitude towards some people and more. yea like i said its a syndrome. i think she wants what she cant/doesnt have. may be she wants a maid. she doesnt dig bonia handbags. nor primavera shoes! hehehhe. If you can afford it, apa salahnya bro? bukan senang tau homemaker ni..

my dear brother, kak nora rasa, awak kena tegas beri amaran supaya dia berubah. and ambik lah maid bukan awak tak mampu daripada biarkan rumah berantakan macam yang awak tulis dan yang paling penting, banyak2lah berdoa untuk isteri berubah.....(be firm and go on and get a maid, not that you cant afford it and pray really hard for her to change..)

i just have to reassure you that you DEFINITELY werent trying to embarrass her. youre just letting the steam out. no one knows who you guys are. so dont worry yourself too much over this little confession. ok?

SUNDAL ke kau fikir aku nihhhh?

i told ya i can be rude if i need to..

Bismillahhirrahmannirrahim...sedara-sedari, minta maaf dulu..

ok, mohon maaf kepada sahabat2 yang TAK buruk sangka..:-) 

ini saya tujukan kepada yang banyak buruk sangka  :-(  :-(   dont judge a book by its cover, orang kata! musang berbulu ayam, pun ada orang kata..eh iya ke itu perumpamaannya? tak kisah lah apa pun, tapi buruk sangka tu biarlah berpada-pada beb! jangan over-over..

saya pun tak faham, apa sebabnya nak buruk sangka sampai macam tu sekali? ada ke awak fikir saya berkawan dengan memana lelaki saya ni buat tak senonoh? ada ke saya menipu saya ni orang kaya raya? hahah..atau ada ke saya menipu saya susah dan sakit terlantar? saya bersekedudukan ke? bekas suami datang ke rumah menjenguk anak-anak,  dan bawa kami keluar makan. nak dengar sangat ke cerita dan butiran terperinci? adoii, lotihhh!

saya hargai yang beri nasihat, yang serkap2 ala-ala mamat dalam melodi @ abang rambut ketak tu takyah laaa. saya dah 42 tahun hidup, bernikah sekali, bercerai sekali..saya hanya pernah tido dengan laki a.k.a sekarang ni bekas laki saya saja. im not a slut just because you see me with a different man. or with all kind of men.. saya buat apa yang halal untuk anak-anak saya.

oh ya baru teringat part yang ni, kalau awak fikir sebab berkawan dengan omputih saya ni sure gerenti punya serah tubuh badan, well let me tell you this, setakat ini, tak pernah pun kami buat apa2 yang melampaui batas. tak minum. takde sex bebas. takde lah bebenda macam tu. kawan-kawan saya pun hormati saya. mereka pun tak pernah mintak bebenda mengarut. tak taulah..mungkin kalau yang rela menyerah tu, bak kata orang buaya mana yang tak nak bangkai. pengalaman saya, yang malaysia ni yang banyak mintak bebenda macam tu. im not an animal. apa yang tegak berdiri sapu je.

at the same time, im not judging or looking down on you. saya percaya pada transparent-friendship. you tegur i, i timbang dan perbetul. sama jugak bila i tegur you. bukan cerca caci belakang saya. bercerita dan buruk-burukkan saya. saya sendiri masih cuba memperbaiki diri. i know a lot of things and a lot of people yang selesa macam tu..alamak macamna ye nak cakap tanpa menyinggung perasaan kenalan-kenalan saya. ok takyah cakap lah. biar cakap pasal diri saya sendiri. macam ni lah senang, dengan badan dah patah riuk dan gelember sana-sini, saya sendiri tak selera, apatah lagi orang lain? fikir lah logik.. itu secara terjemahan kasar. i am just not into it! and saya pun bukan gila jantan (tengok luaran je, macam tengok lelaki hensem tu ada lah) dan BUKAN gila sex sampai tak kenal buruk baik.

saya pun ada perasaan. sakit bila kena kutuk.. dan mungkin satu hari nanti, kalau Allah pertemukan saya dengan jodoh saya, mungkin saya akan berdating keluar makan. jalan2. buat masa ni memang tertutup lagi, masa depan tak tau lah. heeeeeeeeee ontah lah korang ni..nampak macam orang baik-baik, ghupa nye, saya yang disangka buruklaku ni tak lah seburuk tu..

i think im done rambling. so please, bila lagi sekali lagi awak fikir saya ni pompuan jahat, ingatlah awak ada anak perempuan. ada adik perempuan. ada kakak. ada anak-anak buah perempuan.

*nota kaki lagi! - nah kau..

tak percaya pada kekuasaan Allah ke? lima kali sehari sembah muka ke bumi, awak mengata-ngata orang? tak percaya ke yang manusia ini akan berubah. doakan lah bukan sebaliknya, itu saja.  yang mengata saya pernah mengandung tanpa nikah. pernah mengugurkan anak. ada anak yang lari rumah ikut lelaki, bersekedudukan sampai ada anak. ada anak buat dosa depan mata, tak buat apa-apa. cukup-cukuplah, tak terfikir kah perasaan orang? saya banyak benda yang nak kena tempuh, i am just asking you to play nice with me, be a friend. thats all!

fatbottomgal becomes aunt thelma?

when i first heard 3Ds (Dilly's Daily Dilemma) on mix.fm i thought "ok..can this beat battle of the sexes?" just that i thought jds interview thingy is silly and annoying. its been almost a year, i think and it gets better and  better..i wouldnt say better than battle of the sexes, i just love both! good job dilly!

the reason why i brought Dilly's Daily Dilemma here is because i have been getting messages from friends and acquaitances on facebook and people following my blog talking about what theyre going through. isnt that something????? i really never thought of that.

so, i decided to ask permission from one of them if i could write about it in my blog, of course not revealing the names or true identity. all that i asked, have agreed! VOILA!

heres my first debut..uh huh

her subject title read: I MARRIED A BASTARD, REALLY!

I went to your blog because I was bored. Sorry. I have seen it on Facebook notification a few times, just never bothered to go until last month. I always respect our relationship in ways of what it was based on, I learn about relationship of husbands and wives, family in laws and friends. I never believed that I should check his phone or be suspicious everytime when a girl calls. But on the night of our anniversary, I just thought I should break all the rules. We went out, had a nice dinner. And he bought me what I asked for. Yes I got what I asked for. But I guess this is what they call a woman's intuition. We went to bed that night, the same as any other day. No hot sex. No romantic pillow talk. I'm sorry, we've been married for 4 years and there is still no sign of us having kids. He said he loves children. Okay, I guess that is besides the point. Or is it? Well he sure wasn't trying hard enough. We were in bed and he was still busy replying to his BB messages that kept coming in. I got really annoyed. It's been going on for months already. I mean what is it that couldn't wait for tomorrow that he had to be texting messages in the middle of the night? On our anniversary? I almost lost my temper but I thought, calm down, do it professionally. I was trying to be funny. I waited until he was fast asleep. I took his phone and left our room. There were hundreds of messages conversation with a lady. Lets name her N. Some were normal stuff. Some sounded like work related. And some was pure disgusting sex talk!!! There was one conversation where he admitted that he's married and that he's not completely happy because the lack of action in our sex life because he said I'm fat! Then he added he likes a little flesh but I'm always busy with work and never there for him. That we have sex, may be once a month, when I say Okay, it's sex night tonight!

I don't know what to say. I confronted him in the morning. He denied it all. He said she was just a friend. A single mother. She meant nothing to him. It was just a fling. He was bored. And in the end, when he ran out of excuses, I think, he said N doesn't him anyway when he told her that he's married. SERVES YOU RIGHT!!!!

A classic excuse right? I think I've heard them all before from another woman's mouth.

It's true we don't have sex every night. But we are both working 2 jobs! Things looked normal until he met N, I think. Now I'm convinced that he met N at work. I mean if he would just tell me that he wanted sex, I would gladly gie him what he wanted, God damn you, I want sex too, you idiot!
My husband, he is just a typical dark tall, not bad looking guy. I fell in love with him because he was this quiet, shy guy, I thought would never cheat on his wife! Another thing, he told N that he's had affairs before but before he was married. He never told me that! He told her how he liked them in bed. HE DESCRIBED what the previous girlfriends did for him, sexually! So much for shy, quiet guy!!

Okay, my problem now Nora, is that I can't live a lie anymore. I have lost all my respect for him. I feel disgusted and dirty. Why? I have no idea. He should be feeling this way, not me! But he's perfectly normal. Like nothing happened. And he wants me to do the same. For the sake of our marriage but I want out! I really want out. I'm not sure what or why I write to you. Maybe, for some advice. May be just to let things out. I really don't know.

******************************************************************************
ive written to her and share my opinion. the decision making is all hers. sometimes we just need an unbias opinion on what we wish to do, just to be clear-headed. she was devastated because she believed that the relationship she had with her husband is true 'to the bone'. she trusted him. she let him had his ways with what he wants to do. and he betrayed her. thats what i think.

shoot! didnt i sound bias there??????

lawar daging..

...which really is a malay cold dish!!! its a combination of salad and meat. its beef and cucumber! well thats how Chik made it. you can of course use chicken, fish is good too..now if you use fish, it is probably somewhat similar to a sarawak  dish. you can eat this on its own or with rice.

youll need:

1. beef - you can start with half a kilo

2. coconut milk - thick milk preferably

3. cucumber - 2 pcs

4. onion - 2  pcs

5. bird's eye chilli - about 11 - 21, if you like it hot, that is.. OR you can use black pepper corn that you should pound yourself, for the fresh taste and aroma

6. shallots - about 11 - 21 pcs

7. garlic - just dont go overboard with it, 1 - 3 cloves will do

how to:

1. boil beef + salt on slow fire for the stock. you can either slice thinly, or pound it and tear it to your desire

2. slice cucumber thinly

3. slice onions thinly

4. shalllots, garlic and bird's eye chillies pound or blend them (if youre using prawn, add a little dried prawn in this mix, or dried anchovies if you use fish)

5. combine all the above in a mixing bowl and pour coconut milk and some of the beef stock, for taste.

6. keep refrigerated

my grandmother inlaw made something similar to this, its lovely too. only thing is that her method is very much like cooking masak lemak cili api because hers is cooked. whatever it is you should really give this a try..i will make this and will upload a picture while i let your imagination run wild.. ;-)  :P

ALFATIHAH untuk Chik, Ayah, Along & Bapak n Uchi

..the way i see it? Pt. II

my teenage days were really not very different! (right?? tell me that you had the same, well ALMOST as interesting..?) the top of the pops days! the true rebel. i didnt get the attention i used to get from my father. i missed my mother, whom i hardly see because unlike the other mothers at the time, she worked. my brother hizan a.k.a. gary was always taking my sister around and everywhere. my brother sham had his own group of friends that he occasionally brought home during the weekend. so i kept to myself. i read books i wasnt suppose to read. i watched movies that got me scared in my room at night. in short i learnt about the other side of life when i was suppose to still be a child.

shortly before my 17th birthday, i had a tiff with my one and only sister - so i wrote a letter (yep, i started writing letters at 8-9 years old. my father encouraged me to write letters to new friends..from the program 'the big blue marble'. i had friends from every continent, i forgot to mention this in Part I) saying that im going to 'clear my mind at chops place', lol macam real. on the second night at chops, she called. and i got an earful of  'lectures'  from her. i asked her why didnt you tell mother where i was? when i came home i got more nagging from my mother, the woman never raised a finger nor her voice at me. clearly she was angry, frustrated and scared. i cried. then to my surprise, my father called me and we had a 'man-to-man' talk. not his normal self, he spoke like a true hero, with his hand on my head!  i remember thinking 'ayah is on my side..' i  cried for two days before my mother, or 'chik' thats what we call her, started talking to me again.

at some stages of my life, my relationship with my sister or 'kaklang' was like of an insecure lover. haha. i will share with you some of the story of our lives! i hope you and i, learn from what we share here. im not looking at it as a bad thing.. now im 42, ive learnt to see things in a different perspective, i hope you would too..

my sister, she is really beautiful and blessed with the height and great bod.. what i wrote up there was actually the beginning of our love-hate relationship.

(PLEASE DONT LOOK AT THIS AS A BAD THING, both of us have made mistakes..just take it as a lesson learned.. try to read this as just a life experience without being judgemental.)

from then on, we have been the best of sisters, and otherwise! when i was thinking about writing this, i was scared if i would hurt some people. it took me a long time, and finally, here it is. we both made mistakes. i was the super sensitive one. i was called the weak one..but i see myself as the strong one, because i was, i am and i will always be a stand-alone unit. per se. i think. but i realized a few years ago that i am a stronger person than i gave myself credit for (ok.. that sounds familiar, haha, a line from a song..it must be johnnys)

you see its different with kaklang, she never shed a tear. well, hardly. i guess she is super strong and she leads a pretty much happy life. my life is very different for hers. she has a very responsible and loving husband who takes care of her every need. stable living. emotion.

i know that its really unfair for me to write this without yeins, thats my ex, side of the story here. like i said, i made mistakes too. but i guess once youve lost it,  you lost it..(not the loving feeling..well i still care about him a lot. as does he, for me.)  
i'll talk about this in the other part, insyaallah  :-)

so..from a happy person i turned to be this sad woman....my perspective towards a lot of things changed. i totally changed. i have been through a very lethargic journey that at one time got me losing faith. losing faith in people. there were too many hidden agendas. pride to protect. which is, NOW i know that it seems like a natural thing. that almost everyone does that! "Oh i have  never done such thing!" "Aku tak pernah macam tu"  Ive seen too many. I am talking in general now, please know that...

before i finish up with part II, please let me tell you that my sister and i, we are just like many other sisters, just a little different  ;-)  i love her dearly, and i know she loves me too, in her own way..

so i guess, the moral here is.. theres always a reason why people say things..do stuff. just frickin' stop judging.. there cant be no two identical situation that two different people are facing..

have a fabulous weekend my friends  :D

facebooking & school reunion

Dah lama tak update blog..just cuz i was busy with nursing myself and stuff.

I was never the popular girl in school. and school is where you meet the first batch of mean people..god really..
i went through the same ordeals. mean girls. bean boys. i just needed it to rhyme.. i was called names and looked down to by a few of them. oh well. i guess people change..i know one or two who are  nicer now, well, lets hope that they really are sincerely nice..

so the idea of meeting up at a reunion really didnt appeal to me at all although there are some friends that i really missed and would really like to meet again..

I accepted most of the friend-requests, talked or chatted once in a while. But..ahh..i missed several of the TTS (TEH TARIK SESSION - pulled tea ) I only went once on the first year, and kept myself busy with god-knows-what..and just recently after much persuasion from my dear friend Hazida Abdul Karim, i went out again  :-)

I didnt know if i could make it , it was all done right to the very last minute. i was still very much a child at school when it comes to meeting up and chit-chatting cause i feel that among my friends, im a failure. that i have nothing to tell anyone about.

i was excited to meet up with my friends but there are things in me thats  giving me the hot and cold sensation..like im getting married, all over again. thats not a good sign..

we met, and evidently, i really did enjoy myself! well i know its called TTS but at this point none of us were drinking tea..it was only later when we are at the mamak stall that the tea session began. TEH TARIK tastes the best at Mamak stall! theres no such thing that Teh Tarik kat hotel sedap...  :P

Sooooooo heres a pic of some of us anyway  :-)  Thank you, you georgians..

constantly craving..

..the quarter pounder!
its john clayton mayers birthday a few days ago and somebody was too damn persuasive, i just had to say yes! uh huh..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN..
telling you the same, good loving is on her way..  ;-)

theres just 'something' about john that i cant quite point a finger at..  cheeky lol

thats johnny on my SKIN!
(god, my hands are muscular)
AND THANK YOU FOR DINNER  :-) AND EVERYTHING  ELSE  ;-)

 

i thought...(lol i better not 'think' too much)

well anyway, i posted on facebook that on tuesday i missed my mother so much, god rest her soul, i started reminiscing my childhood  :-) yeah i was hungry too. alright before we argue on whose mom is the best cook..i agree that we all love our moms cook, as i love mine. i love to eat..(huh, no wonder!) so food to me is somewhat a journey and every journey is an experience..just like the article i shared on facebook about turkey (http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/travel/tasting-humble-and-high-cuisine-in-istanbul.html?smid=fb-nytimes) and its legendary, mouth-watering, tongue-waking (????  haha) cuisine, desserts and it seemed to me, everything thats edible in turkey, fits to be fed to the kings anywhere in the world. well at least  LIESL SCHILLINGER wrote it in such a beautiful way, she really got me!!!

ooooo.k back to my moms humble kitchen! when shes at home, shed cook for us with all the love in her heart. even if she didnt have to 'cook' it...like the ikan bilis & air asam (dried anchovies in tamarind juice) i absolutely love it that even as i type, i swallowed my saliva  a few times!

how to?

get  the smalllest sized anchovies, about a handful of onion, slice thinly, chilli, slice

tamarind paste, depends on how sour you want it

and mix together.. add salt to taste, voila!!!

ohhh.. of course you know, this is for those who dont!! macam buat sambal budu! or even the famous cincalok.

:-)

p/s: i have two more new posts that i decided to put on hold and let this go..

i cant scrabble!

i guess thats enough (the title of my post) to label me a scrabble junkie! not that i am any good, i just need to play it. most of the times, to get me to dreamland. then there are other things like, im bored. or interesting people although mostly wouldnt say a word.. and  i just cant stop talking!

but there are things about scrabble on fb that i dont really like. why i say this is because during the yahoo days, theres a game called Literati, quite similar to scrabble. THAT i like! anyway, why i sometimes dislike scrabble on fb...first, we cant play with the yankees and the canucks. second, the other players are always (way toooo quick!) quick at clicking "skip" on me or "forfeit" my game. blardy burger,,i waited for you, you wait lah for me..i clicked "casual" game already kan? then, those with 600+ points will join my game and clicked "cancel" because i only made a 3-letter word or at best 3 letter-word with an "s"  (tongue sticking out)
hey, sometimes shit happens..like exchanging 4 "I"s and getting 3 back plus an O! the other were 2 Cs and i cant remember the last one..

but yeah, thats scrabble! if i get to play with nice polite players, that would be just nice..

p/s: find me at scrabble when youre bored!! and be nice to people everytime you get the chance to..   :)

the way i see it..? PT. I

yes..! im finally catching up.

on life, that is...

ok, im the youngest from a couple of a nurse and a cop. the normal middle-income earners. my parents, theyre cousins. there were five of us. 2 boys. my first sister, no. 2, is back into one of gods cradles at age 2. no, there really is no superstitious significance in the number two, in case you were thinking!

anyway, our lives were as normal as any other families around. we fought. we shared. we laughed and cried. i was my dads favourite for a while. when i turned 10, it all sadly changed. it was the first time my mom went to Mecca, on duty though. ayah, or my father, was this really bad-tempered person i have ever known at that time. after 10, everything seemed to be in a weird order. i wasnt my dads pet anymore. i had no one to run to. i was mostly on my own or with my friends. i dont quite know how to describe how i was as a kid. but here are a few scenarios up to a few years back, as an adult.

my mom had this piece of land, where her house is , still. there used to be 3-doors of little houses that she rented out. when i was 10 (may be '10' is..?), ive started with the schools extra curricular activities. after morning school id cycled to school with my dear cousin mimi (god bless you, ive not seen her in years and i miss her). one day, my mom called me like theres something important that i should know. well, indeed it was! she asked me, "kau pergi sekolah ikut jalan mana?" or which way do you take to school. i explained. she explained even more. so i collected the rental money, every single cent went to her. one day, there was a footie match at school. it was really really hot. i just took the money bought  one thing after another. on my way home, while cycling, my conscience crept up my innocent neck. i had goose bums thinking about it. suddenly, i felt scared that i was getting closer and closer. when i finally got home, i went to  look for my mom, immediately, handed her the crmpled notes and stood there crossing me legs for i felt a sudden need to go to the loo..hmmm! mom asked, "kenapa pulak ni?" (whats wrong,,) i wasnt sure if she was asking why i was standing the way i did OR why the money were all crumpled and damp. i blurted, "orang beli air dengan kopok belanja kawan-kawan" the truth. i waited for something to happen. for something to hit me. but nothing happened. she said, "oh really.. treat your friends ye.. wow like a grown up aaa you, treat here, spend this..blah, blah, blah" and i was immediately taken off the duty!

i also took my brothers camera to school and then lent it to one of the boys. he promised hed give it back! then  i had to beg my dad to go all the way to pasir panjang to get it back, but my dads really really good. i didnt think wed find his house! no gprs. signboards were scarce. most importantly, no mobile phone to ask, "im at the first traffic light and i see about four more ahead. so after which traffic light do i make a right turn, again? sorry.."
my brother Along, was furious..  sorryyyyyy

the kind of mischieves i was into..

i dont need anyone to judge me, oh please.. this is all in the name of sharing a laugh and learning from even the simplest of situation.  of course there were a lot of other situations and circumstances that  shaped who i am today, but these were the beginning of me, unfortunately  :P

p/s: i was checking my labels list and i cant believe theres a 'John Mayer' label!!!

the dark hair, pale skin...well, no....not like that

yesterday, well its already monday morning..the recent weekend was a movie-marathon weekend for us at home. it started saturday night and ended at 3pm, give or take..chah my 1st daughter was selecting from the DVD albums what to watch. she picked movies of the same genre as mine, horror/thriller. then she picked one up, excitingly, asking not whats it all about  but yet she askeg me, "mama, who is this?" ohhh she likes what shes looking at! god, my daughter has grown! is growing......

well the movie she picked was keanu reeves (mr reeves to you, children...errrr) CONSTANTINE! when his face came on screen, trish, almost screaming, well ok, she did sound louder. than before mr reeves came to the screen, uh huh!

"eh eh handsomenya orang ni siapa dia tu ma," senafas, innocently.

all i can say is like mama, like daughters

no, no not the vampires..

and trish and taff picked X-MEN. they are into superheroes, super powers, you know the wolverine kind. or alice..

johnmayer still, for now.. 

Makteh that I know..

My phone rang when I was in the bathroom. I let it rang and continued bathing. After a few minutes it rang again. Aesyah called out saying it was Aunty Yati. According to Aesyah, Yati informed that Makteh is coming over.

I told Aesyah, OK. I continued with shampooing my hair and thought, ‘ I have nothing in the fridge..’ I walked out of the bathroom thinking maybe I should serve nasi lemak made for breakfast. Getting dressed, I asked Aesyah what should we serve Makteh. What a question to ask a child. I know. But Aesyah is not just any other child although she couldn’t quite provide a solution. Haha, what a mom! Sometimes a mother needs a smart child’s opinion.. ;-)

Anyway, while I pondered, and Aesyah swept the floor, my phone rang again. It was Makteh. Makteh asked if I was home, and added that she’d like to come over. I explained that Yati has called to inform me and invited her over despite my worries. The spunky lady said she’d be over in 5 minutes! And she’s walking, OK! I couldn’t help but smile thinking about Makteh, whom I am so fond of chatting with, every time I get the chance! I have had the pleasure of knowing Makteh through Nurul. Makteh lives in Port Dickson and I have enjoyed knowing her.

I heard she called my name. Aesyah rushed out to let her in.. We hugged. I missed her. Last I met Makteh was when she dropped by the office some time in July. So we sat at the one place available and there’s coffee on the table. So we sat and quickly started on catching up. She asked how am I holding on. I told her honestly. Hesitated at first.

Makteh is one smart lady that you shouldn’t waste time trying to hide things from. That I learnt! What makes me comfortable around her is that she doesn’t judge me. God knows I’ve made a whole life worth of wrongs (God..some people just love knowing that I admitted doing so many wrongs in my life..I was just being humble :P !) And I have a strong feeling that she knows. Well, I know quite a few who are no angels but thinking they are and instead think they’ve been wronged. Oh well.

Anyway, my apologies.

So Makteh and I chatted! Makteh likes to read and she’s a person who reads well, from novels to autobiographies to books on travel and history. I find Makteh to be an intellectual person that you can joke with (just about anything) and talk about topics going as far forward to the future or back, historically! I have to say, once again, I may not be blessed with a closed-knit family, (but I love them with my all my heart and I’m certain they love me too, just that we were brought up differently..) I certainly am blessed with super-duper-fantastic friends.

Makteh was telling me about how I need to be firm about things and not give in easily. I honestly like how Makteh relates things. I told her about how the doctors ‘thought’ that I’m depressed (How dare you! Haha) Guess how Makteh responded to that, well she said, “Nora.. bi-polar is the fashionable thing now..” I couldn’t help shrieking away when she added that Catherine Zeta-Jones is seeing a Shrink!

And how she makes me wants to start believing, that sometimes, shit in any form, will eventually make the final exit.

Being someone who is also well travelled and was herself a flight crew of the Cathay Pacific, she is very well versed in the social etiquette which can be a laughing matter to some..(honestly, I lack it!) So listening to her, put me in the “menganga” mode.. silly gila open-mouthed punya muka..when she shared her experience.

God knows I don’t know much, and I honestly admit that I’ve made some mistakes in my life, however, I have always tried to not say otherwise, always own up to all the crap I did!!!! Makteh is the same, I suppose that’s why I look up to her as oppose to the others. Most people I know would appear to be godly and will eagerly find faults in others. OK, I’ll stop!

I know I have a lot more good things to tell about Makteh, but between the twitches in both my feet and Altaf calling out to play Bookworm, I have a feeling that friends reading this have some ideas how I treasure her friendship.


My Dear, Dear Makteh,
To peaceful life! (Of which I am still searching, high and low…..)


A LITTLE MORE ABOUT MAKTEH

She’s born Fatimah Said. Makteh is a person we Malays call our 4th aunt (I think). Makteh now in her glorious sixties travels as often as she can for peace of mind and knowledge. She is, as I stated earlier one hell of a spunky lady and quite the intellectual with quite the face to match.
Thank You Makteh, from the bottom of my heart, for the doa you're teaching me, for the advice and for the breeze of strength hovering over me still thats keeping my spirit high..
Thank You

Sofian Osman

This is Sofian Osman, or Abang Pyan, fondly known to most of us here. Abang Pyan is our Maintenance Manager. This photo of Abang Pyan was taken when he came to my office to discuss about a letter. But I bukan nak cerita pasal letter tu, tapi nak cerita pasal Abang Pyan. I kenal Abang Pyan melalui isteri dia Ita, yang sekampung dengan I. Abang Pyan ni nampak macam garang (kadang2 garang jugak  haha) tapi BEST sebenarnya!

Setiap perkataan yang keluar dari mulut Abang Pyan selalunya buat I ketawa besar. Mukanya selamba je!!! Pengalaman bekerja dengan Abang Pyan yang pertama bagi saya ialah menyiasat water treatment disebelah resort kami yang mengeluarkan aroma yang sungguh dahsyat! Saya seperti biasa tukang tulis surat, jadi hantar lah surat kepada GMnya. Tolak sana, tolak sini.. bau yang tak menyenangkan masih lagi di udara! Saya pun duduk dengan Abang Pyan tanya dia apa nak buat?

"Bolehhh, Nora sanggup ke tak sanggup nak buat je.." Abang punya style, cabar saya.

"Buat apa Bang?," saya tanya Abang Pyan balik. Suspen pun ye jugak. Buatnya Abang kata kena masuk treatment pond tu, huh masak dibuatnya!

"Alah, mudah je. Pukul 7 pagi esok, make sure Nora ada kat depan treatment pond," air muka Abang antara serius dan sengeh2. Susah nak agak apa dalam fikiran dia. Saya pun excited.

SO the next day, saya dan Abang Pyan dah tercangak depan treatment pond tu. Abang explain step by step prosesnya. From the waste dari potty orang2 yang duduk hotel tu, sampai lah dia flush out ke monsoon drain, TREATED..! ok.. Lepas selesai, memang bau HAMPEH sungguh!

Bila saya tulis surat kali kedua, baru saya faham kenapa Abang nak saya pergi tengok proses dari mula sampai akhir. so i whipped them good sampai directors mereka turun dari KL minta maaf dan admit that tiga dari enam pump mereka rosak! The reason why mereka sampai turun berjumpa kami sendiri, ialah sebab Abang Pyan dah ajar saya step by step proses, dan saya dah tau apa yang PATUT saya tulis/cakap dengan mereka..(Mr Paul sampai tanya saya, "Nora, are very sure you should say this?")

So.. thats how detailed Abang Pyan is. He will teach, AND he will make sure that you know what the hell he has taught you (more like, the 5 hours of his time made it through your frozen brain..ok, ok.. MY frozen  brain  :P  )  Abang Pyan always has things to share with you.  

When he was here last, which was very recently, he was telling me about his years with the Japanese. What managed to stay buried in my head (that time) was of course budaya kerja orang2 jepun..Abang Pyan cerita, orang2 Jepun memang punctual, generous etc.. tapi yang I paling suka ialah, Abang kata orang2 Jepun, bangun pagi2, pegi keja. Dah duduk depan komputer, mula-mula dorang buat ialah...

MAIN GAME!!!!  hahahahahahhaha! And rationale dorang sangat chanteque..(ikut spelling Nur) pagi2 BADAN saja dah bangun.. tapi OTAK masih "tidor"  so dorang BANGUNkan otak dorang dengan main game yang memberangsangkan! LOL LOL no, no n\bukan macam tu punya memberangsangkan naaaa...

So kalau rasa2 otak masih tido lagi bila dah duduk depan komputer, bawak2lah main Tomb Rider: The Legend hahahah (itu nasihat Afezul  ;-)   )  Ghost Recon, jangan main-main!

Selamat Bangun Tidur!

And to Abang Sofian, THANK YOU for everything  :-)

the grass looks greener..

almost emerald-like on the other side. I read with joy (and envy) johanna groves blog about the cruises and ships shes been on. I have to read  more to know who is james cusick, and how many ships and cruises johanna and james have been on. i itched to write something, but my mind just wasnt functioning. fiddling with the tabs, i thought i should just hit  "Next Blog" and stumbled upon the blog.

first thing that came to mind was, god, id really love to be there, before i die

and why wasnt this made known..to our part of the world? im sure a lot of malaysians would love to go on these cruises.

GO HERE: http://www.jamescusick.co.uk/?expref=next-blog
 *******************************************************************************

im not sure whats this about cruise and ships etc thats got me spellbound (uh huh) recently. probably its the waters.

you really ought to check this out http://www.cunard.com/ 

Well, I thought the grass looks greener on the other side..while I went through murky waters on a seasoned boat that fits maximum 12, depending on the size, Johanna boasts about probably 8-storey high oceanliner. an encounter with an iceberg. geyser and all. I guess its just normal that I feel lesser..

Is it? 

When I lost my way..

..I get really weird and all that. (Freddy G would  say, "everything and all." haha youre funny G)

And I, ..I just need to ramble. When your heart beats a very un-rhythmic tempo. And you feel restless @ RENGSA (my dear Myera Fizzouk once was so fond of using the word Rengsa..) to describe the chaos in your heart, to be specific. The Chaotic-Theory, if it's just a made-up thing, strangely, has some truth in it.

Colbie Callait should start writing hate song..well ONLY if she writes really good hate songs..as good as her love songs, to say the least. It does get to me, haha, love songs, people getting engaged, people getting MARRIED!
(LOL they say it's HEALTHIER when you let it out)....and so i'm letting it out  ;-)

Chelsea's here...

NOW how could I have mistaken John (why are most "Johns" not keeping  up to the virtue of the name? :P)  Terry, with..


Andre Villas-Boas?

(Anyway, what about the Matthews?)
I was at the Sports page (YESSSS! I do read the Sports section dammit!) And for days now, The Star's been talking about The Blues friendly match against Malaysia, today. The truth is, I was thinking with John Terry around...And OHHH, Ashley Cole!!! Which one (or two) of the many gorgeous looking girls here in good old Kuala Lumpur would be lucky enough (can I say pun intended?) to announce nine months down the road,
"We had sex while Chelsea was here for the friendly match.."

;-)

KENDURI KHAWIN SANA SINI.. WEDDING BELLS..

Aaah.. one of my favourite times of the year! How can it not be? Good food! Beautiful people! Saya suka kenduri kawin. Ayam masak merah (Thats chicken in thick red gravy, sweet and a little spicy and sourish Goddd help me). Pajeri Nenas - sort of a Pineapple Chutney..and yes it is yummy in the first degree! Real Beef Rendang, lol not that there are unreal ones.. it's just that they just taste BETTER at the wedding! :P

My nieces are getting married. My cousins daughters. One, just did today and I missed it. I actually forgot! Totally my bad!

Here in Malaysia, when you're invited to a wedding, a Malay wedding, and especially if  you're a close relative it's compulsory that you go! Well sort of. Malaysians love people coming to their wedding. Especially us Malays! My wedding was attended by.. what.. more than 500, close to a thousand! And really its nothing. We believe that, the more we invite, the more Rezeki (rezeki is good fortune, in many forms. children. good health. financial aspect..) comes along with it..and it's definitely NOT BRAGGING!

The word is gotong-royong. Its a Malay word, loosely translated, community team work..people in the neighborhood, close relatives, very close friends..will all come to lend a helping hand! Those days, people like my parents (Al-Fatihah untuk Chik and Ayah) had their childrens wedding at home. Hotel weddings or wedding at community halls were something "ridiculous" those days. Because we want to have the special day at our home.

These days however, everyone wishes to have their weddings, (parents and brides/grooms alike) at a hotel or, at least..the community hall. Mostly because, it's easier. Convenient is more like it. Imagine hundreds of guests. The raw materials. The leftovers. Its a mess, trust me. But its the most treasured.

OK guess what.. you know the "oops, waitaminute.." look, or in the movie, it even has a sound effect..like youre applying an emergency brake..because they need to to do that flash back thingy..or tell the real deal!

OK, haha, Im feeling guilty, thats the cue. Now you know. I have put this on hold way too long. So I kinda lost my way..

But to both nieces and nephews, Congratulations! I pray for your happiness.

Pheww ThankGod..I forgot what i wanted to write about, but I remember thinking about uploading my own wedding photos!!!! (just what were you thinking norrie?)

maybe another time, another place..
another man?

matter of the heart..

i listen to this song everyday..actually ive been listening to it for the past few months..

"Slow Dancing In A Burning Room"

It's not a silly little moment,
It's not the storm before the calm.
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we've been working on.

Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms.
Nobody's gonna come and save you,
We pulled too many false alarms.

We're going down,
And you can see it too.
We're going down,
And you know that we're doomed.
My dear,
We're slow dancing in a burning room.

I was the one you always dreamed of,
You were the one I tried to draw.
How dare you say it's nothing to me?
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw.

I'll make the most of all the sadness,
You'll be a bitch because you can.
You try to hit me just to hurt me
So you leave me feeling dirty
Because you can't understand.

We're going down,
And you can see it too.
We're going down,
And you know that we're doomed.
My dear,
We're slow dancing in a burning room.

Go cry about it - why don't you?
Go cry about it - why don't you?
Go cry about it - why don't you?

My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room,
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?

ON MY EFFORT IN GETTING FOLLOWERS

awww guys and girls..
would appreciate your comments..and of course..
follow me..

thank you
:-)

WOMEN CAUSE MOST ACCIDENTS!

can you believe that?

sebenarnya, saya boleh kot.. kononnya universiti michigan, usa (usa ye, bukan jepun  :P ) ada buat kajian bahawa dalam kajiselidik sebanyak 6.5 juta kes kemalangan kereta, disebabkan oleh pemandu-pemandu wanita.

kata mereka, yang bestnya, kedua-dua pemandu memang perempuan..bukan yang perempuan pi langgar lelaki! kisah-kisah yang dibincangkan, apa lagi kalau bukan kisah rumahtangga..drama2 di TV.. apa lagi agaknya?

tp saya rasa, orang perempuan ni dia agak 'cemerkap' sikit kot bila tetiba berdesing mat rempit zoooooooom sebelah dia, ahahaha!

apapun..sapa punya salah, yang kurang baik skill pemanduannya..hati-hatilah.. bukan anda seorang pengguna jalan raya..

When it rains..

..it pours?




Well thats how the saying goes but I wasnt talking about the saying at all.
Im talking about how everything changes with me when it rains!

Being born and bred here in Malaysia, I should by now be 'immuned' to the warm weather of good old Malaysia. Hahaha. OK now that is besides the point here..

Rain. It has an undeniably powerful therapeutic benefit. Well to me it does. I have been through a lot in my life. I have had times where I didnt know where or who to turn to. Thats what it's like when you're not in your so-called element. Nothing was going my way. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't work.

But when it pours, I forget everything. I slept like a baby cuddled closed to her mother's bosom. I just feel at ease when it rains. I guess if I ever posted on Facebook, or say it loud "Yesss, yesss , yess it's raining. It's raining!" like I'm wanting sex or anything related to it, please forgive me. Seriously.


So rain washes away the bad vibe. That's all. That's why I really like it when rain pours down on my roof loudly. I can't hear anything else but the rain.

Now I simply love it when it rains because it helps me sleep and take away the little worries and tiredness.

Alhamdulillah, Thank You God for bringing back the rain just on time..


rain drops keep falling on my head..

CATIANA & SUNSET CRUISE

When Capt Rudi first approached me about his cruising program, I politely declined the offer to join him as his "crew", instead offered to arrange for the FAM Cruise. And so I helped with the FAM trip. And the feedback was not very overwhelming. Everybody thought it is, Catiana, the Catamaran is some (lets hope that I spell it right, one time, this time!) yacht! At least the one that allows one to dress up on board it :P ! I was worried. Have I misled those beautiful people I sent on board the (supposedly) romantic Catiana to watch the sun set?

So off I went. Getting onto Catiana itself is not something romantic (for ladies who's thinking of wearing those red stilettos for something like a romantic sunset cruise (you think..) forget it! Well not on the Catiana, you don't!) Oh well if you insist! You really ought to take them off anyway. You have to cross over the fence (unless Capt Rudi waited at the blue-carpeted steps to climb on, then you can wear those shoes! For a while..) and your feet would be in the water. Can you imagine that already?

As soon as we started, I thought of what some of the people were telling me about..there's no way you can move about the catamaran. In style. We set off at around 5.30pm. Tide was already high. And as soon as we got out of the marina, I regretted agreeing! That was the first time and I thought the last.

Last month (in March, really), I took my children and Yein on the cruise. They were so excited. The view of the marina is breathtaking. The kids loved it. Like at the airport, you need a boarding pass..so as soon as we got ours, we ran towards the gate. OK, I lied, the muskies (hey you, if you're reading this post, this is dedicated to you) did the running! The water was clear enough to watch fishes swimming around the boats. This may sound to you a little more than trivial, but wait til you're there! So we walked on telling one another how beautiful the boats are and wishing that we'd get invitation to go on board. At least one!

When I saw Lynn, the musketeers asked, "Is that the boat?" I said, "Yes, THAT is the catamaran and its name is Catiana...." and led them towards the Catiana where Lynn greeted us with a sweet smile. I made all of them wear sneakers. We climbed on board and the adventure begins.

Altaf was the first man in command of the catamaran! Capt Rudi pulled Altaf towards him and placed him on the chair to sail the boat. Well whaddya know, the boy's at ease sailing as he is cycling! And we were not just looking around! We're one of the Catiana's crews. When we started, we didn't do much work, but after about 20 minutes or so Capt Rudi was on his feet giving orders to his crew! You really really are not on a romantic cruise. Well not yet..

"Raise the sail," Capt Rudi's coarse voice broke into the whirring strong wind in the sea, about 2 nautical miles from the mainland. It looked really far to us all. Plus, I'm feeling (AGAIN) like the whole catamaran was going to overturn on my side!

LOL big time! Actually, I was feeling that way most of the time! Sumpah saya tak tipu punya...! So I was given the honor to sail the catamaran towards the sun. Some kind of thrill it was really, but still couldnt beat the fear of the catamaran overturning!

Honestly, from the time you set sail, there's really nothing romantic about the catamaran, the baileys, the warm tea..just walking from point A to point A and a half, holding on to just anything at all just so you won't get thrown off the boat. I think Trish would love the life at sea. She stayed "awake" with me throughout the cruise while her dad gave in to motion sickness and slept it off at a corner of the cockpit; with Aesyah and Altaf for being tired.

So it did give me a different outlook on life (the experience on Catiana that is) I'm not sure though but that's what happened. I guess I'm somewhat braver ( :P ) now (please wipe that "chuckly-smirk" off your face)

You see, after the divorce, I worry about financial stuff, the kids future. And more. But I have soon crawled out of that "cocoon" and I have a good relationship with myself. And I know it's a good thing because the ONLY person you should trust your life with is your self. When I thought Catiana was going to overturn, I heard old faithful Norrie telling, "Hey Snap out of it! YOU are in control!" More like a doppelganger than a friend really.. and I did.
I believe that every new thing or.. OK , OK.. if you are searching for some kind of a "petunjuk" something to give you a sign. Guidance.. apart from going back to Allah SWT (Almighty God) there are other things that you should really look into.. A challenge. Something... a defying moment. I guess it's true what they say.. you have to conquer your fear to move forward.

To experience the Catiana Cruise:
Please call 06.6516888 ask for me, Nora. I personally recommend Adventurous Honeymooners, Kids 7 above preferably, team building organizers to give this a try!

Have a grand weekend :-)

Much Ado About.....

Friendship.

Way to go Norrie..that's no way to be a better person!

Hell yeah it is!

It's just a matter of how honest and "bitchier" I CAN BE! Where hurting anyone else is not even secondary. Nobody matters. Really?

I am definitely unangered (as Jarod very much love using..bless you Jed, I miss you. i miss you a lot) but what I certainly was feeling weeks ago was disappointment beyond words I know exist.

Has friendship a definition in itself?

Kawan tapi mesra? Friends with benefit..kawan makan kawan.. kawan macam tu, macam tu je..

But I have friends that I know would make life a little disoriented if they werent part of my life..friends like Fizh Usul, Epit..Wati..Sherrie (Bless you Sherrie Hussain) Suhaila Yusop, friends who have helped me through so many heartbreaks. troubled times.

I love you, I hope you know that :-)

Anddddd, to the friends Im still making, what did you keep on saying about betrayal of a friendship.....?

http://youtu.be/fk1U5UPXauI

Sailing, anyone?

Alright, I was reading STAR on Travel - boating along the Yorkshire canal! and I thought, "hey, I should really try this," then went "waitttttaminute.. I already did!" In fact, I went on two different type of sailing experience, I must say! When I was approached with the idea of sailing or just going anywhere that requires me to travel through water, I just nodded and gave a faint smile and repeatedly told myself (yes, I do talk to myself quite a lot) "Norrie, you'd puke. So don't even think it!!" And the idea of sailing, (or going somewhere via water transportation) was well buried in my head. Well until last month, a rabies infected monkey went insane..I decided that I need to try new things. New environment. New men. More friends. So i took up the challenge, and went for the River Cruise. For the first time!

RIVER SAFARI CRUISE

The Operator of this river cruise is PD Travel & Tours and it starts at Tanjung Agas about half an hour's drive from Port Dickson. We were advised to leave PD early so that we could start moving at 5.00pm as scheduled. Oh well, the famous "ikut jam melayu" is the way of life..so instead of arriving at 4-30, or 4.45, we arrived at well after 5.00pm. Give and take. Just thought that you should know why we're late.. because we had to make two stops untuk alas perut to go.. pisang goreng oooh la la (that's banana fritters, or rather fried banana, uh huh), apam balik, and more food stuff (...... rrrrrrrr I know there are more food waiting at Tanjung Agas.. haha Norrie, Norrie tsk, tsk, tsk) Oh well..so as soon as we reached Tanjung Agas jetty, PDTTs Reps were already waiting for us and taking us straight to our table. And more food..

So as I looked around, I saw a guy and a lady, too well dressed I was beginning to think either I was underdressed or they were lost to a very formal function. Somewhere..! They stayed away from everyone. Table on their own. The guy, wearing a gray colored suit..closed his eyes, trying to get a few minutes of a shut-eye. Then the pretty young lady, was wearing Baju Kurung with a 3 inch-high heels. I thought I should take a walk around, grabbed my life jacket and headed to the public restroom. Horrible, horrible sight! I decided to just hold it in. So I walked towards the jetty. There's a man fishing with 4 rods. I asked what kind of fish can you get here, he replied, short and firm, "Many kind." As if to hurry me off. So i walked on and to my surprise, good God almighty..the stairs (if I could call it one..) was a mere rusty metal thing, hung on to the rest of the jetty. Oh Fish! I thought how is that lady going to go down this thing? As I was trying to figure out the best way to go down the stairs, more and more people have started queuing. Letting the person right behind me to go first, I watched and learned. I thought before I lost my courage to be adventurous, I should really put my foot down onto the first step of the stairs. And I did. Courageously! I thought, "Hey that's not so bad at all! I did it!" And locked myself at the front of the boat. When we started our journey, the skipper instructed one of my friends to balance up the boat. So he did. And we sailed on.
There were trees on both side of the banks. It felt like a really long journey. They say you'd feel that way when you're going somewhere for the first time. You don't know where your journey will finally end. Anyway, slowly I was picking up the vibes. Exciting. I saw a few boats passing by. I saw Talapia cages. We were promised that we'd stop by on the way back. So I waited patiently. Not that I like Talapia. One of the MAIN attractions of the river safari, is Crocodile-watching! Unfortunately for us all, we didn't get to see any. I was enjoying the scenery of trees. Boats. Cages. Ohh, and the feel of water splashing on my face. After an hour or may be less, the boat slowed down to a river bank, where two boats were already docking and people were climbing up another scary looking pieces of wood, as the stairs. I pretended that I was watching the others going around carrying Lokan (something that look like Mussels to me) and Udang Galah. No, that's not enough encouragement for me to climb up the stairs. But I did anyway. I really did give my all!

So, there I was at Taman Lokan Pak Zainal.. Uncle Zainal Lokan Garden.. It really is. It was nicely paved and there's a sort of a BBQ pit. We're encouraged to look for Lokan. In the mud!!! It was serious fun. And the prawns! It was a little scary, apparently where there are prawns, there are crocodiles! Yikesss! I didnt really like the Lokan. It tastes muddy, haha, go figure. But the prawns - marvelous! Sweet and smells delicious. There - for the first time I tasted the Attap fruit. I love Attap fruit.. but not the ones I tried. It tasted kind of sourish or even tasteless. I like the ones in Lai Chee Kang or some special ABC drinks. Sweet and jello-like. So after an hour there, we boarded our boats.

Going back, I went on a different boat. We were the first to leave. My bag and camera and other stuff were with my other friends. Zam was with me. Sailing back, I felt a little sad leaving Taman Lokan Pak Zainal behind. Especially the prawns. Trying to entertain myself, I started talking to the others. Asking where they're from. What they do for a living. Where they're from. Small talk. One of them was my neighbour, Herlee Yusoff from Legend International Water Homes. He was snapping away. I was feeling down that my camera was with my friends on the other boat. My phone was in my bag. My phone was in my bag. Hmmmph! Herlee who was busy snapping pictures of trees and more trees, and probably the water around us.. suddenly made a rather exciting noise that broke the monotony in me. "Whoa..." almost inaudible, as if worried that he might disturb the others. I turned to look at where he's looking with his camera. I thought, "what IS that?" I saw something touching the water, then as if it's a sign to disperse, I knew what I was looking at. A flock of Bangau!!!! or Stork! Or...Crane? They are all the same. Right? I think! When they flew off, I thought that was one of the exciting things I have ever experience in my entire 42 years of living! Yeah well..ONE of the..! It was awesome. Who would've thought that that excites me terribly? And then they did this one more beautiful thing. They soared and circled ( that's a bit of johnny's lyric BIGGER THAN MY BODY) the trees on my right. There were hundreds of them! When they finally landed on the trees, Subhanallah! The best view I have ever seen! Beauuuuutifulll! The tree tops looked like they were covered in snow, just that you sort of see something "flickering" because their heads kept bobbing up and down, turning left and right!

I felt the boat slowing down, then the engine went completely quiet. Everyone was 'Ooooh-ing' away. Spectacular! (Been wanting to use that word, ON SOMETHING, for quite sometime now..) We stayed and watched more and more of them coming home for the night and covering the trees until they were all white with Bangau! I was beyond smitten.. It's 7.10pm The skipper's ready to sail on. We didn't get to see any crocodiles. No Talapia cages. It's getting dark and everyone's gone quiet. Probably tired. Or worried. Then the boat slowed down again. I admit, I was starting to panic! In the middle of nowhere. Tide was rising. And it was really dark.
Then, about a hundred meters ahead of us, there were two boats across each other almost in the middle of the river. Skipper Hussin, must have read our minds. He explained the two boats had a net - across the river, they're fishing! That's why Skipper Hussin had to slow down. Then I worried about if our engine might get caught in the net (norrie you obviously worry too much! About everything..! Thats why la cepat tuaaaa!) Our boat moved really slow until after we have passed the net about less than 2 meters ahead. What a relief! So along the way, we saw Talapia and other fish cages, lighted up. Some even has ASTRO hooked up to kill time in the still and quiet night.

Then I saw the jetty I was so afraid going down to a few hours ago. Suddenly I felt like a hero. I've conquered my fear (yeee haaa)! And then, ( I swear I won't say "and then.." again!) I thought "Hey..where is Skipper Hussin heading to..?" As I looked ahead, I saw a drop-off area ( can I even call "it" a drop-off area? ) I thought, "Yay! I don't have to climb the stairs!" but as we approached the "drop-off area" I thought I heard Norrie saying something in a mumble "Ohh..I so want the other 'drop-off area'.." I just realized at the time that the boat is so high and that there's no way my (short) legs could reach the cemented floor where the boat is supposed to be parked. Docked.

So as I was adjusting my position, to get off the boat, when I looked up, there stood two gentlemen reaching out their hands to help me down. Suddenly I jadi extra berani worrrrr! "Gatai niii", bak kata Afezul..hikhikhik! Selamatttt, Alhamdulillah! But as I was walking away, I heard voices screamed. As I turned to look, our guide Pn Ida fell into the water. Soaking wet. And bruised her foot. Being the tough cookie that she is, she got up on her feet in an instant! Bravo Ida :-)

Walking to Zam's car, I was already thinking about the cranes. And the Talapia cages that we didn't get to see. The fireflies. The crocodiles. God! I'm thinking of coming back! Already!

Well, on the journey back, I evaluated the whole experience from the time I entered Zam's car who was the designated driver for the day, the people I talked to and to the time I got off the boat - now this may sound trivial, but the whole day..the whole trip is a treasured experience. I realized that friendship can get really weird. I'll never ever believe a person has never lied! And more. I'll share, one day.. :-)

For once, well if you're up to it, that is..try something new in life. Put shopping aside for your next trip. Gather your very best of friends, and go for it!

- I made a promise to myself to try really hard to not hurt another human being's feelings but in the course of trying.. if my mission to be a better person somewhat fail..miserably, help me get back on track -

For more information, please contact PDTT:
PD TRAVEL & TOURS SDN BHD
No 42-B, Tingkat 1,
Wisma YBH,Jalan Mahajaya,
PD Centre Point,Peti Surat 51,
71007 Port Dickson,
Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus.
Reservations : 606-6471965/966 Fax : 606-6471963
Website : http://www.kumpulanybh.com/


Videos of Safari 1& 2 is courtesy of Herlee Yusoff :-) Thanks Herleeeeeee