It's not common for me to gripe around but... Has the weather been terribly hot or what?!

The pain in my head says it all.... Horri-gible!

It starts with this slight throbbing on the left side. I made a turn for the worst when a double-decker bus practically screeched in front of me. Ugh! The noise! The pain!

Imagine a drumbeat playing in constant motion. Dub Dub Dub... Then the player decides to play faster and faster. Somehow with the screech of the bus, the player goes at full force - In Your Ears. Aiyoh!

By the time I reached home, I have this big, fat headache sitting in my head, ready to metamorphize itself into a full-blown migraine. Worse, I felt really really flushed like I'm having a fever. Everything I touch takes in my warmth. In the shower, I felt the floor beneath my feet heating up.

Somehow, when I checked my temperature, it was a mere 36.8 deg/c. Not that I am some hypochondriac but when your internal system starts messing up, there is a cause for worry, isn't there?

Maybe it's due to the fact that last week, my work schedule was super-hectic. Deadlines after deadlines and yet, this week has taken a slooowwww start.

Adapt, baby. Adapt!

Stumbled into a blog(while struggling to keep awake in the office)where that certain someone did this really interesting quiz, that kinda' make you delve deep into yourself....

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Reason why I'm supposedly compatible with the Newborn Soul & Traveler soul is because I have part of their characters in myself too.

An eye-opener, you say?

Definitely.

Aidil Adha this year was pretty simple. It has always been simple. Spritually, it should be more significant but somehow Aidil Fitri is more exuberantly celebrated. Tsk tsk.

My bro gotta work. Darn him! So our family was a mere 3-man squad. My vocation? What else? Off with the pointy-heels! It's bare-footed driving the whole day. Sheesh!

1st Stop: My nenek's @ Clementi.

2nd Stop: My Atok's @ Bedok

3rd Stop: My aunts' @ Jurong


Here, I would like to thank those involved in that surprise bash for... well, ermm... the surprise. I was actually sitting in front of the cake the whole time! Thank goodness my curiousity never get the better of me to peek inside the box or the plan wouldn't have worked, eh?

To think that I did wonder why there were so many kids at that moment out of a sudden. From my little cousins to my nephews & nieces. My elder cousin was struggling to take a video on my cam and that gave this ever jovial uncle of mine the opportunity to make the kids sing "Allah Selamatkan Kamu" (inst. of the usual b'dae song, they deem this one more appropriate because of the nature of the Holy Day) kind of like, erm, 4 times???

It was so cute! The kids were eyeing the ultra-chocolatey M&Ms-topped cake and are willing to do anything. Kesian pulak. I sure felt like one helluva' kindergarten teacher. Aghast!

Another cute thing. As soon as they had their cake - Poof! All disappeared. Like they had actually gotten what they came for.

I can't thank my aunt enough, the aspiring confectioner that she is. Despite being an amateur, her breads, bun & cakes are irresistable! Power!

Let the snapshots do the talking.... Aidil Adha '05 pics

HERE'S WISHING ALL MUSLIMS, SALAM AIDIL ADHA or SELAMAT HARI RAYA HAJI

And for myself... Happy Birthday!

Those who know me as a Libran (whatever!), before you wanna label me a blardee liar, let me justify this. That specific date in September, is my birthdate according to the Masehi calendar. However, a certain number of years ago, exactly on Aidil Adha a.k.a 10 Zulhijjah, my mum was rushed to KK Hospital. Gettit?

Yep, I was born on Hari Raya Haji itself. So my family traditionally celebrate my birthday according to the Muslim/Hijrah calendar. It's fun to celebrate 2 birthdays in a year. Though it's generally low-key, I still feel honoured to know that I was born on such a holy day (not holiday!).

Heh.

Trivia: My mum told my dad to name me, Siti Nur Adha. My dad, either he had hearing problems or that he had ideas of his own, named me something else. Gasak, lah. Just that whenever I went to Indonesia, selalu kena tegur, whenever they check my passport. Nama symbolic sangat....

This is one movie where I would like to give a perfect 10

This movie will make a tear-jerker out of you. Trust me. I swear the guys in that theatre were dabbing their eyes that day (no wonder most of them came alone...)

The story is peppered with contradictions that are so well-pieced that it didn't come off as confusing at all.

The actors were so darn good it felt like I'm watching a documentary of Ramon Sampedro's life on big screen. In fact, I heared that this movie is Belen Rueda's film debut! Amazing!

And the cinematography...Wow!

It was simply breathtaking. In fact, great cinematographies are what draw me to foreign/art films in the first place and this movie is no exception.

You will be absorbed into the immense beauty of the rugged Spanish countryside of Coruna. I was blown-away! Gorgeous scenery complimented with this really melodic tune in the background.... I half-wished that I'm watching this in the Omni-Theatre instead.

All the way to the end, I was wondering; "Who the heck is the director? He's awesome!"
Checked the credits: Alejandro Amenabar. Now, where have I heard of that name. Suspiciously familiar.....
Outside, I saw this on the promotional poster:"From the director of The Others.."
Aaaahh...Sohhhh. That explains it. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

Hey, wait. He's only 32!

******************************************************

I would also like to thank Roxywahine, a fellow blogger for recommending me to her sis, Valarina who in turn informed me bout' the MPH warehouse sale last weekend.

The books are super-dooper-dirt cheap! $5/= per book?! I almost broke my back browsing through them books on the floor!

Lord of the Rings also $5/=! The 3 series @ $10/+???!


I think I got the only copy of Chuck Palahniuk's Diary: A Novel (finally finished reading his collection of novels!). And also Lorenzo Carcaterra's Street Boys. Both of which I've reserved 3x respectively@ the NLB but never bothered to pick up. Only managed to pile up the service charges.


And the newer one by Andrew Neidermann.

Oh, did I mention that Dan Brown's Angels & Demons is super-awesome??!

Hope it's not too late for this...

Happy 23rd Birthday, Tini !!!



12012005

Wishing you the bestest of wishes. May our friendship last..16 years & still going strong!!!

Hey, wanna see something interesting....?



That's the bloom of a tumeric plant. Back in the kampung days, it's hard to spot the flower of this plant because of it's camouflaging nature. What's the big deal, you asked? Do you how rare it is to see a blooming tumeric plant?

It's kinda' rare so a visiting relating was amazed to see the bloom in a potted plant. She said that back in the kampung, when someone's tumeric plant actually blooms, ppls will come digging around or under the plant, looking for hidden gems. Absurd? Hey, there's no smoke w/o fire. Something must have made them believe such myth.

My dad actually dared me to sit beside the bloom overnight, asking me to see for myself the 'visiting guardian' of the rare bloom. Maybe he's joking but I've heard ppl telling something bout' the bloom having a 'guardian'.

Maybe I should peep thru the hole in my door to see what's outside. Wait ah....

... Eh, nothing leh. And it's already 1+ am. Shucks...!

Sat-Sun

The day was pretty hectic, to start with. My parents actually issued the weekend coupon cos' we'll be leaving early that day. Hey it's quite precious, ok. $20 just to drive out a few hours early that Sat... Hmmpf!

Dropped my bro off at his workplace before having a quick brunch at this coffee shop near Al-Iman kindergarten @ Tampines. My mum punya pandai, beli barang kat Aminah Siregar nye kedai, chat with her w/o realizing who she is. Only when she read the business card, then she realized her blunder. Ha ha. Kinda' funny actually.

Then it's off to Bukit Batok & Woodlands to visit her old-time pals, whom she had not met up for almost 20 yrs. Whoa! I was still a toddler when they last met!

When it started to rain pretty heavily, I tot' of giving the class BBQ (SP-DAT 03/04 Grad 2002) at East Coast a miss. Besides, I was still stuck in Woodlands with my mum & her pals still deep in conversation. You know, when mums meet....

Niwae, one of my mates, Bas decided that it's wise that we just proceed to the BBQ. Besides, the rain kinda' stopped. God knows, when it will be the next time where the whole bunch of us can meet again. Almost all the guys have ORDed and will step into the hectic working environment or wil be furthering their education (esp. overseas).

Da' guys.... Check out their bods. Once scrawny; now all buffed up. Swoon-worthy???

I spent that nite zipping from ECP to Bedok like 3x?! Fetched Bas on my way there. Then fetch Kai. Then rush home to send me mum to work and top-up petrol. To send the guys to the train station, I asked Kai to do it. Too shagged! Then to home. Not before dropping Lixian off at the taxi stand and Roy to Hougang. Then Kai @ Kembangan before Home Sweet Home!

Us gals. There should be more than this but I guess they have something on... That's me(e' dark horse), Lixian, Vien & Liyun.

We played this silly game that required a lot of simple memory power. Not surprisingly, my memory was such a failure. My hapless/pathetic self (complete with the ultimate ditzy-looking-blank-look) just wagged my finger at that fella' who easily sabohed me with that much better memory power of his. Yikes! Frankly, the seemingly harmless game comes off as pretty scary. Me & my poor memory. Sigh....

Fri-Sat
Weekend kinda' start early, with my collegue & myself doing overtime on Fri nite. Yeah, when others were partying the last of that weekday away, we were working our a** off, rushing to meet the already-hours-ago-overdued deadline. Shucks!

But my dear bro was kind enuff' to fetch us. Stomachs rumbling, I asked him to drive us to someplace for supper. Little tat' I noe we'll be interrupting his plans with his current girlfren. Heh!
Apparently, she had cooked for him & he gonna get the food-spaghetti bolognaise, from her. FYI, my bro detests spaghetti. Since she already cooked for him... Haizz, sayang nyer pasal....
Niwae the gf, Joyce, joined us for supper @ Changi. I told my collegue we're gonna have fillet-o-fish and she really tot' it's MacD. It's just the fish & chips there. Sedappp!
1/2way thru' the supper..... Yummy!


It's kinda' weird you know. There were the 4 of us at that table and yet it seemed like there's this invisible line dividing us. My bro & his gf in their own world; my collegue & myself in ours. My bro secretly stole 'grimacing' glances at me while eating the spaghetti. Hee.... Gf's cooking or not, he still dun' like spaghetti so he practically stuffed the food into his mouth. Pitying him, I offered to finish up the last bits of mushroom and vege. Aww.... Nasib baik sedap...!
Bro & Joyce

Besides eating @ Changi, what else...? Hee.. Look out for the TS a.k.a Ladies there. Fav' pastime(gonna add tat to my 'Hobbies' list...) We spotted Chris at the other CP, with another of her partner-in-crime. Had a short chat with her. Chris with her white tube-top and skirt... Still as 'lawa' as ever.

Then it's home sweet home...

My family has yet to be able to wake up early to have a breakfast of nasi lemak @ Changi on Sunday, before sending my bro to work. We've been pushing the date with everytime we woke up only in time for SPS (slept again aft. solat Subuh). Hope to be able to make it this weekend....

Aiyoh, new year, new year and it’s not yet February.Okay, the only significant New Year to me is CNY. Cos’ that’s when I get 1-week straight of leave, on the house/office. It was meant to go traveling(my bosses are avid travelers and are trying to brush some of that sprit onto us). Not that I’m much affected by the foiled plans to go to Phuket but simply too lazy to save up. I mean -

During my 3 days of leave, I went out shopping and boy! Does it feel good! No wonder some called shopping, “theraphy” (with the exception of the wallet/pocket/bank). Bought new sandals, tops, beauty products for a certain someone’s b'dae, another b'dae present, health supplements, water bottle, mary-jane pumps, and even cool pastries!

Gonna use the ERS $$ ka-ching to open a new bank a/c. Now that’s a step closer to some serious saving (although I personally think most of it is going into traveling expenses, anyway). In case you’re wondering, nope. Saving up is not my new year resolution. Not that I’m making any. New year has carried no significance for me since the day I started working.

Unlike those school days, when we have long breaks before the start of a new term/semester. You either love it or loathe it. Working life has been pretty monotonous. In fact, the night/morning of new year was spent at my cousin’s, watching tv and kinda' stumbled into Taufik’s (who?!) new vid. Yar...yar. Scream all you want. Girls.

If you think waching the news this past week has not been sad enough, then go watch this Japanese movie: Nobody Knows. The leading actor, a 14-yr old boy, won the Best Actor Award in the Cannes Film Festival. The story is poignant, disturbing and downright sad. You think it never happened, but it did. Despite the characters being fictitious, the movie is based on a true story, back in 1988.

Nobody Knows : Cannes Best Actor, second from right.

Read: Site 1
Extracted from site:
"... AKIRA: You're so selfish, mother.
THE MOTHER: How can you say that? You want to know who's really selfish? Your father's the one who's selfish, up and disappearing like that... "

Read: Site 2
Extracted from site:
"... Children can not choose their parents... This was what came into my mind after I saw this movie..."

The mother is downright selfish, selfish, selfish!!! Eeeei! Geramnya!
Ya Allah, ellakkan diriku daripada jadi begini sekiranya dikurniakan cahaya mata nanti...
Amin.