Back home

We all were back home yesterday arrived safely in Brunei International Airport at around 4.15pm Brunei time. It was a good holiday, although the weather could do us more justice. It was really really hot and even after a few minutes outside we were simply exhausted and sweaty.

Kuching was really not that bad. They have everything you ever wanted in a city and the last 2 days we were at the Damai Puri resort which was rather nice. My father loved the place and we were really glad.

We also managed to have good seafood as dinner. There was this place called Top Spot sea food restaurant, gerai style which was really awesome. The dishes were fab and yummy. But the place were very crowded and busy. But the food were a thumbs-up.

I am going to upload some brilliant pictures from hubby's camera. They were really pretty and very good shots. But its going to be at our other blog, the holiday blog.

We were tired but it was a good holiday. I hope my parents enjoyed the holiday too. Right after we touched home, hubby attended a photography workshop at Orchid Garden hotel for 2 days. He has been waiting for his workshop so he is excited to go. It was organised by a local photography organisation called Candid Syndrome and they invited a very well-known photographer from KL, his name is Saiful Nang who has won so many awards. So hubby is excited, but I also know he is exhausted and I hope he has a great time and learn something new.

We are here!

Arrived in Kuching at 2.15pm today. First thing I noticed is the Kuching International Airport which was really big. Twice even trice the size of Brunei International Airport. Nothing to compare. And the weather was really hot. We checked in at the Somerset Service Apartment, a two bedrooms apartment with kitchen, dining room, living room and other amenities such as washing machine and dryer. After resting for a while, we went out to Kuching waterfront which was a OK! We strolled along the front and had a relaxing time with my parents. It was rather nice.

I didnt know Kuching city was hilly, reminded me of Auckland but not as hot. We even tried using the pedal, thats a small sampan we can hire to reach the other side of the river. We were looking for a muslim seafood restaurant and we found one at the other side of the river. The food was fab, I love the clam in black pepper ketchup, yummy!

All in all, we are not yet dissapointed with what Kuching has to offer. Oh, we had a minor problem today when hubby left his handphone on the Toyota Innova, the taxi from the airport. The hotel people were very helpful and helped her to call the driver. And the driver turned up at the hotel within less than 15 minutes which was rather good. We were thankful and happy when he returned the handphone right after. We were grateful that we got the handphone back within minutes and without any fuss.

Till next time with pictures, ta!

Rush

Gotta do some packing for our little vacation in 2 days time. I usually do that ahead of time, never on the last minute, My rationale : you tend to forget something when you pack at the last minute. It happens all the time. I know it. Sometimes we still forget something even when we packed days earlier. So hubby always write things down. Just in case. Which is good of course.

The basic necessity is always there. We dont usually forget that but there are little things that we need on holiday that we tend to leave behind and thats the problem.

I love holidays but I dont like living from a suitcase. And I always miss our cozy bed and our bedroom. Nothing like a home sweet home.

So next : urge my daughter to pack her things. She is so unlike me. She never bothers to pack earlier. She is simply the opposite. Last minute kind of girl. Thats what she is! And at the end I need to supervise her to make sure she doesnt leave anything important or useful behind. Sigh.. I guess thats what we have to face living with a teenager. But she is a good teenager and she has done her part, so I am not complaining :-)

Oh I finished the Shopaholic & Sister book. As I said, its brilliant. Becky and Jess ended up being sisters again after that humagious fight. Very witty. But as usual its has an happy ending. Becky even made up with her husband but not after a dramatic event, her being the leader of as a protestor group. I totally enjoyed the book. Wonder where I could find other books by Sophie Kensella. Guess I need to look in Amazon.com and order some.

Anyway, I miss hubby. He is away at the moment and it seems that he is away alot this past few weeks. I never thought I said that, I mean after being married and known someone for more than 10 years, I still long for him. Strange feeling but he is really part and parcel of my life, my better half so if he is not around, my life tends to miss something. But he will be back soon. So I am going to wait patiently for him to come back and enjoy our time away together.

3 days of nothing

I have been having a three blissful days at home doing absolutely nothing. Its rest days and its been great. On saturday I went to try on Reflection Spa at Palm Hotel in Kiulap. The newly introduced spa from Japan called HOKUTOLITE MEDICAL STONE SPA. My first time there after I got a good bargain voucher which only cost me B$10 which original price was B$69.90. I am not very fond of spa actually especially sauna which kind of hot, and I dont like sweating very much. But I just wanted to give it a try. With all those promotion I got to try it out. The spa supposed to be relaxing and have many health benefits, thats what they say. The ladies were nice and the sauna looks a bit different from the normal ones. I had to lay down on this so called capule which looked like a coffin! It looks a bit intimidating They have a few of these arranged together in a room and its look rather scary. I also tried their medistone massage, also from the stone which I supposed to lie on in the sauna. Its not that great. Its nothing extra ordinary about it, its just like the hot stone massage although they boasted about the benefits and boy there were so many of them. I also got another voucher, promotion of B$59.90 for 3 treatments, plus 2 complilnetary voucher for friends or family and a blood test. Sounds good but I havent made up my mind whether I want to go again.

I am really relaxing at home. I read another book from Sophie Kinselia. She is great and I love reading her books! I am kind of addicted to her writing. She is hilarious and witty. Full of sense of humour. I cant put it down and have to read it on. Although her books are mostly targeted for a younger generation but I cant help loving it. They are brilliant. For now I read "Shopahic and Sister" about this young girl well not really young, she is married who is obssessed with shopping. It cause her her marriage. She also found her long lost sister from her dad other marriage whose is completely different from her. This sister hates shopping although she has all these plans and imaginations that all will be great and they will bond. But she is bitterly dissapointed with the turn of event. Very good. I havent finished reading it yet so I will update you all again what will happen next ;)

Lost Interest

I feel that going to work is such a chore these days. I am losing all interest to go to the office and sit on my desk. Ever since the recent hiccups, things has not been the same and I really don’t feel like to be there. Its so disheartening and discouraging. Now I am thinking of quitting. I know that’s a big decision, something I shouldn’t decide without really thinking about it. I have to think the consequences, the pros and cons. The aftermath. And how my life is going to be like if I do quit. On the other hand, its kind of tempting to think not having to drive or sit by hubby for 1 ½ hrs every day. Its such a daunting task. And I wish both of us could spare the torture every day. How I wish life would be simpler.

And the company I am working for is not that great either now. After the news are now in the open since last weekend, I am not proud to be with this company again. Such a pity.

I am reading this old book called "Undomestic Goddess". Its about this girl who was a lawyer, very committed to her job, worked her heart out, even during weekends and never had a vacation. But when she screwed up she was fired from her job and suffered from the consequences big time. She ran away to the country and ended up being a housekeeper to a couple who didnt know who she was. She was really not the kitchen type of girl. She didnt know how to cook and clean and took care of a house. But she was determined to stay put so she learnt everything from her gardener friend’s mother. And she ended up liking her new life. A life which is much more simpler, slow pace, calm and easy. At the end of the book she found out that somebody from her law firm framed her and she actually was not at fault. Then the law firm insisted her to join them back. But she didnt want the old job back since she has found what really important in this life, its not all about money and status. But more to life contentment and appreciations not only by other but also for yourselves. Its hilarious but on a serious note, this book does hit me hard on the head.

What I am saying here is, not matter how much money you get from your job it doesn’t guarantee happiness. There are more to life then just committing your life 24/7 to your job. And if things go wrong then the company you are working for wont even blink an eye when they want to fire you.

That’s what inspired me. Although I know its just a book and a fiction but I derive my strength from reading it. There are some true notions to it that I cant afford to ignore. I need to face life with that kind of attitude and dignity. Working for this company is a good choice for starters, but still I cant deny that but at the end of the day I need to consider what is good for me and my life.

Travelling to work for the past 10 years has taken its toll on me. I am tired most days. I even have a travelling pillow on my neck when in the car just to support my arching body! I don’t have enough time to do anything else after work, cant even pray properly 5 times a day. I am rushing every day, I need to perform my Islamic obligations, its important and trying very hard to do that, and I also need to think of my duty as a wife. Although my husband has been very understanding and even insisted I don’t have to cook for him but I know I shouldn’t ignore my responsibilities. So evenings is filled by cooking dinner, spending some short quality time with my daughter and bed. That’s it. Day in and day out. Is there a meaning to all this? I don’t think so.

Someone make Brunei proud.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34892964%2334892964

2nd birthday treat!

My second birthday treat dinner was at Fratini's. The best Italian food restaurant in town. The food was fab!!

Me and my birthday dinner!

1st birthday treat!

My first birthday treat on 3rd Feb with hubby, Ayang and my parents at Jerudong Thai Restaurant.

Me and my daughter

My birthday cake!

My birthday

It was a great day. Received greetings from family so early in the morning. My parents came over last night and we went out for a nice birthday dinner. They even brought a cute birthday cake for me which was really nice. My daughter made a lovely card. She woke up early before we went to work and gave me a handmade birthday card which was so touching, we even cried together after reading it lol. Its wonderful but emotional. And I was surprised when hubby left a parcel on my desk at the office which I didnt know about.

All in all, it was great to have loving families beside me, no matter how old I become lol. Will post some pictures later.

Chit Chat

Wow.. its February already. Whats happening in Feb? Lots, I must say. For one, its my birth day. Will be in 2 days time. Do I look forward to it? Nah… not really. Which makes me think, when we are smaller/younger, we tend to look forward to our birthdays. We even count the days until THE day comes. How we wish to announce to the world that we are now a year older and hopefully wiser. We are excited to receive greetings from family and friends. And upset when no body remembers. But not anymore when you reach certain age. Those days were gone. Long gone. For me anyway. For now, I wish birthdays dont need to come hehehe. Or if they do, be it in the most quiet way possible. Funny eh. I just want to treat it like any other day. No fuss and no hush. Lets keep it that way, will ya!

Been busy at work yesterday. I had to do presentation for the contractors about the delay in their payment and how we think we should solve it. My slides were well received although there were some burning questions from them, which infact were true and I couldn’t agreed more. Sometimes I pitied the contractors, they were doing what they were supposed to do, followed the guidelines but at the end of the day, it was them got all the blame whilst in actual fact, its our internal people were the culprit. There, I said it, very vaguely coz I don’t want to create any frictions from this blog. Sensitive stuff.

But the presentation went well, that’s all that matters. I practiced what I should be saying and produced the presentation slides. All these, while we were in the midst of office move! Very hectic. I had to wait up until my pc was back on before running through the slides again. It was off since Friday so I was hoping it was up and running just in time for my presentation. And it did and I was glad. Phew.

My girl started her tuition tonight at R&R Tuition school. Its kind of hectic for her too. She finished school at around 4pm today so I advised her to take a nap and rest before tonight’s tuition. I didn’t want her to feel tired and fatigued with all that’s been going on. I wanted her to have a rest between studying since I know nothing will go in if your brain is tired. So she did and had a nap for 2 hrs, lol. Good for her.

Tonight’s tuition started at around 7.30pm. Its her first lesson and there was another girl with her. Not too many students yet since its still February but I am sure it will get crowded as the months pass by. So its all good for now.

This is what I’ve arranged with Mrs R, the tuition principal/owner.

Monday 7.30pm – 9.30pm – Maths
Sunday 10.30am – 12.30am – Chemistry
Sunday 12.30am – 2.30pm – POA

We were still negotiating her time for Physic. There was a class on Friday but Friday is a no no since we are both working. So Mrs R will try to find an evening slot so my girl could attend. She is having a hard time you know, the cater for every needs, lol. Different student has different preferences so its not easy. I never want to open Tuition class, I don’t think its that profitable and you need to look for good teachers since parents are depending on you. I might be interested to open up a nusery school though. Well, that’s just a thought.

Weekend Headache

Have you ever experienced that? I have this occasional headache, not often but it comes once in a while. Its been going on for a while, so I try to remember when I get it. And I come to the conclusion that it happens only on weekend. Its something very weird. I noticed that I don’t always have headache during weekdays when I am busy at work and spend all my days infront of the computer. I was attacked again this weekend.

The headache was quite intensed. Its so bad the pain traveled through my neck and shoulder. I don’t like it at all. Try to ignore it of course. Spend my days like normal although I walked around with heavy feeling, like something shrouded my shoulder. Come Monday the headache is gone. No trace at all. Isnt that weird?

Brunei Consumer Fair 31st Jan 2010

Over the weekend we went to the Brunei Consumer Fair. As usual it was crowded. That’s how it is in Brunei I am afraid. We love Expo so much! Its always a hit no matter what the Exhibition is about lol. Anyway, hubby and I were skeptical as usual. We’ve been to a few and its always a disappointment. It’s the same thing day in and day out. But this one, its thumbs-up. Its different, lots more new stuff and in a much bigger scale than those we used to see. The expo was divided into different areas of ICC. Its busy, its noisy and crowded. It’s a combination of local companies, International Companies and some government organizations such as RTB. The place was ok, its fully ventilated and aircon was great. The food section is a hit. A lot of people there. The rest were not too bad either. We liked a few of the exhibits, some new toys, home gadgets and lots of nice things to see. So it was a good day although I walked around with a headache! Lol.

More read on this fair, its here : http://www.bruneiconsumerfair.com/index.html