Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

To all Muslims around the world, Happy Eid ul-Adha.

As any other festivities, we are one day late. Brunei celebrates Eid ul-Adha on Saturday, way to late than in Makkah or Mina where they went to Ukuf on Thursday. Anyway, its going to be different for us this year. For donkey years we never celebrated Eid ul-Adha as much and intense as Eid Fitri except going to the Masjid to perform the Eid ul-Adha prayer and that was it. Even the whole of Brunei there were never any actual celebrations except maybe for those who have family performing the Hajj, they gather around the house and do thanksgiving ceremony with relatives. And of course who do the deeds of slaughtering the animals for Ibadah Korban will gather around the designated places to distribute the meat to the needy, friends or family. We don’t have all those this year but we intend to stretch it a bit further by doing an open house for family.

Its going to be Saturday night. My brother invited us for his own open house at lunch so we take the night spot. So its going to be fun for family to have two houses to feast on.

And I am going to cook these dishes

Black pepper beef
Chicken Kieve
Fish curry
Vege –still under negotiation with hubby lol
Fried Mussles
Macaroni cheese

And for dessert:
Tiramisu
Curry puff (this one I bought)

I think that’s about it. And its going to be busy Saturday for me. I am looking forward to all the cooking although I am feeling so tired and beat these days. My shoulder is killing me and I have this dull feeling on top of my head for a long time.

And below is the pictures of Masjidil Haram in Makkah yesterday at Isyak prayers (curi from PDKM blog hehe). Look at all those people! Very beautiful and makes me miss Makkah so much. Labbai Qallah WalaLabbaiq...

New Moon

Ok here is the deal. The second series of the Twilight series, New Moon is now on at the cinemas. And here I am contemplating whether to go and see the movie not? Shall I or shall I not? Guess what? It’s the hottest film this week, all around the world. And I am excited about this movie?? A teenage movie that is. I know it’s a movie for the younger generations and I feel I don’t really fit. I mean, whats up with the Vampire???!! And the story is about these two teenagers (one human and vampire the other) who fell in love. I don’t know what the New Moon have in the mix though but I am sure it will still be along the same line.

So I did this. I watched the first movie, “Twilight”. Not at the cinema since the movie was aired a year ago but on our living room. My girl urged me to watch the first movie first, that’s what I did, last Sunday night. I had a low expectation and I even prepared myself for a little dissapointments. So I just watched it merely to accompany her since the movie started at 10pm on our tv. But I kind of liked it. Its unique and different. I haven’t watched a vampire movie for a long long time, maybe since Brad Pitt became one, ages ago……. Doesn’t that show how old I am??? lol

Aahh.. Twilight.. At least I knew what to expect. I knew the scene will be dull and gloomy. The casts (the vampire especially) will be pale, white and ghoulish. I mean that’s how people did vampire movies right? and I was correct. But the storyline was kind of nice. How this girl was brave enough to confront her vampire friend and tried to find out as much as possible about this friend, until they fell in love. And I didn’t even know vampire don’t sleep or eat. There were also some elements of profound illogical aspect to it, like, since when do they sparkle in the sunlight? But its sure is interesting to watch and it could be fun to learn a little bit more about all these mystical creatures.

I have seen so many reviews about NM. Is it good or better then Twilight? It has good reviews so far, for those who were crazy about Twilight should definitely watch NM. But if you haven’t watched Twilight then maybe you shouldnt go and see NM. You may be at lost and suffer the consequences of living in the dark (no pun intended!) for the whole durations of the movie, so to speak.

So what about me? Should I be there amongst the youngsters and do all the oooooohhhhhh and Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh, lol, my girl thought Edward was cute though.

Now, if I want to be honest with myself, I would have to ask these questions. Am I a recently committed “Twilighter” who would definitely plunk down some cash to go and see the movie or maybe I am still sitting on the "Twilight" fence, unsure whether to go or not. Well still havent got the answer….

So should I watch Edward and Bella again? My girl is certainly interested.

Congratulations!

This post is especially dedicated to my beloved daughter who was just promoted to Form 5Sc2 for 2010. A big congratulations for pulling through. Now that you are in Form 5 (where did all the time go???), I guess you need to triple your effort to get good grades in your GCSE. I would expect you to study even harder and aim high. For now, you have done great, being 6th in class is not so bad and as usual I am so ever proud of you.

As usual too, you will always be in my prayers, day and night. May Allah bless you with His abundance of Rahmah and Hidayah. Looking forward to your next accomplishments in the near future...

Mommy loves you always and forever.

2012

OMG.. Have you seen this movie? What will happen in 2012? Mayan calendar predicted the world will come to an end on 21st Dec 2012 and that’s the whole story! I never seen so many destructions in one movie. I was so beat and tired after watching it. Gave me breathlessness and dizzy head with the magnitude of devastations and ruins this move has! I must say this is not exactly my kind of movie. I don’t usually go for it but hubby insisted we should go and watch it. With all the fuss this movie has I’ve decided to go for it for and witnessed the world went down lol. What a sad sad story. Although it has a happy ending for some people (which movie hasn’t?). But I have to admit I was pretty impressed with what the cameras and computers could do these days. The disaster seemed so real.

My girl was quiet for the whole duration, I kept on looking at her and asked her how she was doing. I was worried she might not enjoy the movie but she said she was ok. Maybe she was as overwhelmed as me but she usually didn’t say anything. For some reasons, a few people went in and out of the theatre throughout the duration of the movie. I wondered why? Was it they couldn’t stand the capacity of the sounds and camera tricks? I dunno. But this movie will make you tired for sure. Well it did for me, since its not my cup of tea. For those who used to watch violent movie, this may be just a piece of cake!

There were a lot of people in the cinema yesterday. Never seen as many people there for a while, I didn’t know why people were interested to see it. Good publicity? Or what? I even noticed very unfamiliar looking people there too. I mean those who never went to a cinema, the goody goody people, the aunties and uncles, if you know what I mean. Wasn’t that awesome? What this movie could do to attract viewers? Then something struck me. Was it because this movie is about end of the world? The world doomsday? And there was even emails flying around for a while about this? That’s yet to be proven and as a Muslim we do not know when that is although it sure will happen.

It was a long movie though. 2 ½ hrs in total, an epic adventure for the movie goers and I didn’t even realize the time. The movie started around 4pm and earlier hubby wanted to see the sunset after that and took some good photos but it finished way too late at around 6.30pm when it was aleady dark and raining lol. So scapped the idea and went for dinner at the Thai Restaurant instead.

Phew… what a Sunday.

That Bruneian girl

Today my post is dedicated for our first Bruneian ever to ski in the South Pole and Antarctica, she is a 25 year old lady named Era and currently has started the expedition with the rest of the 8 women from around the world which make up the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition team. What a shame that there isnt enough local coverage on her courage and journey. Considering what she is about to accomplish. The rest of the ladies selected are from Cyprus, Ghana, India, Singapore, New Zealand, Jamaica and the UK. The adventure will take 40 days after gruesome training and they will cover an area of over 900 km across Antarctica. Isnt that amazing?

I don’t know how she was selected, as I mentioned there was not enough coverage of her achievement prior to the expedition. What a girl! Imagine being in the South Pole blizzards and snow with temperature below –30C. Not everyone wants to do it even given the chance. Its not an easy challenge, it will test her endurance and her self perseverance and willpower. Mind over matters. Important aspect for being strong.

The expedition is to mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth and the aims are to demonstrate the intercultural understanding and exchange while at the same time highlighting the achievements of women across the world.

I will follow her journey through here, for me its very exciting and challenging. Wish I could be there and see Antarctica for myself since I love snow so much! Hehehe. I don’t mind being in the snow actually. Although I MAY change my mind if I ever was in Antarctica, it can be a rude wake up call for me! lol.

I don’t wish my girl to go through the same ordeal though. Well, but if she is interested then that’s a different story. But looking at how challenging this expedition will be its not for the soft hearted. Maybe Era is the strong one, then its ok. I am hoping she will do Brunei proud, So good luck. You go girl!

Here is the link to read more of their adventure.

http://www.kasperskycommonwealthexpedition.com/index.cfm

And lastly here is our pictures when we went skiing in the snow at Mt Coronet, New Zealand. Only for a short one day. Imagine being in the snow for 40 days.

The Beach

Pictures taken while we were on the beach. More pictures on our Photography blog.

Mission Accomplished

Another weekend. Of course bz. Busy with family is always nice. No complains whatsoever. Fun fun fun. And proud proud proud. My girl got her SSSRU certificate on Saturday for her ugama final year exam last year. And she was getting Grade 1. She knew her result almost a year ago and as tradition would have it, she and the rest of the schools in Brunei only get her cert a year later. Emm… wonder why it took so long to produce the certificates?? Are we not in the cyber and IT prowess these days? Where we could do printing of certificates in a blink of an eye??? Sigh… I guess some people are still at the lowest end of the IT civilizations. Anyway, we were all excited again, the same excitement when she first knew her result. It’s a good result. Grade 1, the best result anyone could ask for. After all the hardwork, and with PMB on the same year (2008) it was really tough on her. But she managed to pull through, and even prouder she got Grade 1. Her PMB result was not too bad either, and she is now in a science stream class. The best result ever. So congratulations Ayang. You always make your mom and dad proud. Keep up the good work and looking forward for more achievements in your life.

We went to JPD in the morning and tendered a new number for the car. Didn’t know it was so easy. But then its not done yet since the officer who was in charged was away on leave. And we had to come back and pay and get the number on Monday. WTF?? Didnt get it. Wasn’t there supposed to be a relief? To make things or businesses run smoothly? To make customers happy? Since your motto is At your service???? blah blah blah.. Anyway. I just don’t understand how it works. That’s all.

We went for a jog at Damuan in the evening. The place was packed and its good to see that everyone looked after their health. The jog or brisk walk for me lasted half an hour only but it’s a good half and hour, at least we accomplished it today.. Outside with fresh air (is it fresh?? Lol) . Not like the past few weeks where I did my exercise at home using a DVD! Hubby suffered some strain muscles, lol. For being out of sync with his own body for a while. Too bad. Think we need to do this more often.

Sunday we went out to the beach and took some good pictures with our Nikon. The weather was so hot and we were sweating like crazy. But the beach was lovely. Havent been there for a long time and its good to see the beach was well taken care of. It had a facelift and everything looks new and organized. Its good to see the ocean in a clear day. Its lovely.

After the beach we went to look for BSP virtual office. It was tucked away at the corner of these new rows of shops. Although it was not difficult to find. But it was kind of isolated, the rows of shops were not occupied yet except for some so it looked like a ghost town. And the office were not that big, with rows of tables with desktops. Like in a library. Side by side, of course no privacy except for the dividers in between the tables. Not even a phone is available. So I guess if we were to work there, would have to make do with the MSN or emails. We couldn’t even find the toilets or were we not looking? lol. I think the office are not fully finished yet. The 1st floor was not done. Its not ready so I guess there were still a lot to do. But ground floor are available to use. So I think I will work there on Tuesday and see how I feel.

Pictures coming soon!

The missing piece

I've always been an ardent fan of the US reality show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8". I even blogged it a few months back when they were still together. I always admire Kate for being a tough woman, raising her twins and sextuplets. But there were times when I reality pity Jon for being treated like a child. Sometimes I dont agree the way Kate handled the situation when it came to her husband. She looked down on him, berated him and didnt fully respect him as a person, more so as a husband. In the end, looked what happened to them. I am sure Jon was really pissed off, he was embarassed for being treated like the ninth child. How could she? You dont just shout at your husband in the grocery store or keep interrupting him when he said and corrected his grammar, things like that. As if he was a child. Of course people has certain degree of patience and tolerance. I think Jon has came to his senses and told himself enough is enough.

And now they are parting ways. And in a nasty ways too.

I still follow their stories. Not a happy one but more on the bad sides of things, like their ugly divorce and how Jon paraded with his new girlfriends. And how sad and upset Kate is. It is profoundly sad. I cant imagine the magnitude of her unhappiness and its there for all to see on TV. And starting Nov, there wont be anymore Jon & Kate plus 8. Its over. I know they are stopping the show because the situation has become nasty. Pity them.

I am sure Kate didnt expect this to happen. But Jon is a man. I wouldnt expect their relationship to last looking at the way Kate treated him. Its all come to a sad ending. These days I dont see Kate smiling again. And according to her the kids is now affected by the divorce too.

Although on our tv, they are still a couple, but of course not for long. We are still on a previous series and even then Jon doesnt even look happy. And always Kate berated him. How sad.

I still support Kate. Never mind she doesnt know it. I support her because she is a mom. A good mom at that. A good mom who wants the best for her children. She still there for the kids, while Jon goes out and enjoys his new found freedom as a single dad. For me, Kate's mistake was how she handled her husband. And the amount of time she was away promoting her books. And how she didnt appreciate what Jon had done. Although I know Kate still loves him, she said so herself. She said she will never get married again. Its not easy to forget someone you loved for 10 years.

And looks like Kate is the one who suffers now, just look at this video which I copied from one of the US magazine website. I want to keep this video here for my safe keeping. So I can watch it over and over again, a proof on how sad it is to lose someone.

I dont know what happened next so I will keep on googling them for sure. I want to know what happen to those precious children. At the end of the day, I am sure everyone agrees all that matters are the children, and what is best for them.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Living proof of miracles

This is my childhood friend with her husband. I hope you don’t mind me publishing you in my blog darling ;-)

And this is her featured from Brunei news.

http://news.brunei.fm/2009/10/31/living-proof-of-miracles/

She is a cancer survivor, have been fighting cancer since 2005. She is a member of Brunei breast cancer support group and has been very active these days.

I am so glad she is now in remission, and able to enjoy her life again. Although I was not there when she had all her chemo, I know she has gone through a lot. Our parents are neighbours and her mom and my mom used to talk about her struggle. Its so sad. I didn’t know all about her sufferings until much later. And when I knew, I was not sure where my place was. I didn’t know how to offer help or support. All I did was to pray to Allah, may Allah spare her from further ailments and illness. I am thinking about her all the time but at the same time I dont want to appear too pushy, I sure didn’t know what to do. I didnt have enough experience in dealing with such a tragedy I guess but of course I am thinking about her all the time. And contacted her as and when just to hear her news.

We used to play around at our Kampong when we were kids, we went to school together and ended up working for the same company. So I basically know her all my life. She is such a sweet lady, very humble and friendly. I adore her, she lights up when she enters a room, full of life and that’s what I love about her.

So girlfriend, here is wishing you the very best in life. You are such an inspiration, I salute you for being such a strong model to our society. It goes to the rest of your gang as well.

MJ This Is It Movie

Man oh man!!!! We watched MJ This Is It the movie last night and it was simply brilliant! What a performer. During all the rehersals, he was a picture of health, very thorough and a perfectionist. He didnt look sick but very energetic, calm and happy. He was in a top physical condition and we couldnt believe that he was already gone. Just like that.

He’s also sharp, creative and very involved in all the rehersals. His perfectionistic control over the show was really evident and it clearly showed how much he was in control. He also appeared to be friendly with everyone and very good at showing people on what he wanted. He told his musicians to repeat musical phrases until a certain feeling was achieved, he said like “You gotta let it simmer … bathe it in the moonlight”, if they did mistake he said, "Thats why we have rehersals, things like that. He didnt even look 50 when he danced with all his dancers which I believe was a lot younger than himself. Well, except maybe his face who looked very ghoulish sometimes but thats what he was.

There is no denying of his greatness. Everyone says so. The world is amazed with the film, like this one review from the US tabloid.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13658854?source=searchles

A true performer, gifted and original. The music and entertainment world was at loss now that he is gone.

Ok, some pictures from last night at the Empire.