Bapa birthday treat - sungkai at Asma Hotel

Asma Hotel sungkai buffet was a blast. Enjoyed the food and the restaurant has a good ambience. Really worth the money. Some pictures of the night below.

Tips for travelling safely

Good to have this in mind when travelling. Security analysts Robert Siciliano and Mike Brooks offer some tips to keep in mind while traveling.

* Never accept transportation from a person who first approaches you at the airport, grabs your bags and says they have a car waiting. If you want car service, arrange it in advance.

* If you rent a car, never stop for anyone who's not wearing a uniform. A common trick among criminals along the roadside is to lure unsuspecting drivers to pull over by faking a flat tire. Don't fall for this tactic!

* Always try to get a room on floors 2-8. A room on the ground floor will be more easily accessible to criminals from the outside.

* Do your research and emulate locals and how they dress. Blending in makes you less of a target than if you announce your home country by wearing your country's flag or national colors.

* Trust your instincts and don't venture through side streets. If you stick to the well-traveled streets, you'll be less likely to have anyone approach you with a gun or a knife, the experts say.

* Leave the fancy jewelry at home. And carry your wallet in your front pocket, or better yet, get a money belt or a passport holder/wallet you can wear around your neck.

* Clean out your wallet before you leave home, Brooks says. Don't carry any more credit cards than you need. Make sure you leave your Social Security card behind.

* Try to stay away from budget hotels as they are usually not in the best of areas. When you get to your hotel, keep an eye on people in the lobby and note how far your room is from a stairway. If there is a fire, Brooks says, you can't take the elevators and you need to know the quickest way out.

* If you ride on a bus, stand near the bus driver or near an exit. If you find a seat, sit with your back to the side of the bus so you can see people in the front and back of the bus.

* Never go with someone you just met to their hotel room or invite them to yours, says Brooks. Also if they want to give you a ride to another hotel or bar, get your own cab.

* If someone orders you or tries to force you into a car, you must do whatever you can to stay out of that vehicle.

* Make eye contact with people, Siciliano says. Don't stare but use a "stern gaze" to acknowledge people around you. Criminals count on the element of surprise and will seek other victims if they know you have checked them out.

* If you wear glasses, bring an extra pair, Brooks says. If they're broken in another country, getting a new prescription could be difficult and you want to be as alert as possible to your surroundings.

So there you go...

Happy belated birthday Bapa!

Its his 68th birthday yesterday. We celebrated his birthday with a sungkai at Asma Hotel. Awesome food, really enjoyed it and I never felt so full. The first time for this year Ramadan I really felt so full. Usually I ate moderately but I dont know why I ate so much yesterday. Anyway, we took some pictures, will upload it later if I have the time. Just want to wish Bapa a happy birthday, semoga panjang umur, murah rezeki and healthy always. Its such a bittersweet feeling to celebrate his birthday, time does fly by, he is now 68, he used to be young and strong but he is getting old. I know every body does but it just reminding me of our own mortality. Time doesnt wait and we should make full use of our time left on this earth. I know at his age, we should already think about of all our amal ibadah and I am sure he does that too. And I am glad my dad is still in good health, still happy with lots of laughter. I know he enjoys his children and I am thankful that he is always surrounded with love from my mom, his children, his son/daughter in laws and of course the grandkids. I hope to celebrate his birthday more in the future.

What happened today?

Nothing much except we get our new curtain, a very simple one and looked very much similar to our previous certain before the current one. Not as expected and looked so low quality, anyway, its already done. Have to live with it I guess.

Work today was good. Did my quarterly presentation to the HP management. It went well and well received by attendees. As usual I always brought up something new for the management to think about and review. Today was not exception. My presentation triggered alot of discussions and suggestions since the subject I brought up was actually very important and need to be addressed. And I do know what I am talking about. Apart from that, life at the home front is just great. I let my girl know that we are going away again soon. To KL this time since hubby was sent to attend a workshop. In two weeks time if everything goes according to plan. We booked our tickets yesterday and we will be gone on the 7th day of Shawal. As usual, I am full of anticipation, I just love travelling although my girl is not that keen. I know she likes it too but she also has to think about school which I am sure she has to miss for this trip. But its not gonna be a long trip so I think it will be ok.

House refurbishment is done and finished. And I do like the outcome except for the curtain which is not very satisfactory. But I can live with it. We will look around for more house decoration in a few days just to complete the transformation and that would be it.

I gave in!

I've been seeing this dress or Jubah the way we called it for a while already. Everytime my hubby and I passed by the kedai its there like waiting for me. Calling me to go inside the kedai and look for myself how lovely they were. I tried to ignore it, thinking I will be able to resist the temptation. And I dont really need a baju like that.

But yesterday, I gave in. I couldnt stand it anymore. I felt like its torturing me inside out. I must went in and have a look. Yes just have a look. I wouldnt be tempted, thats what I said to myself. Then I found out how much it cost. And so many colours to choose from, they were gorgeous. Not even came close to what I have predicted.

And at the end of the day, the jubah is now hanging in my bedroom in all its glory. And it belongs to me!

Life is so sweet, hehehe.

Blessful Ramadan

We are 2 weeks into the holy month of Ramadan. Alhamdulilah. At least we all can fast in not so much hardship. Its smooth sailing and we have been blessed with good health. We havent got any difficulties whatsoever, although hubby sometimes on complaining of stomach ache. But it is not serious, he is ok and still manage to fast without any difficulty. Maybe too much eating or his tummy is not used to eating at dawn. What with my oily cooking and all. So I suggested to him maybe we could take something light for a change. Maybe we just take bread and oats for sahur. See if his tummy agrees. Well, we do take rice and oats for sahur but maybe we should omit the fried chicken! For me, its not really a problem. No real harship. I know I have been blessed. I can eat any time in a day or night!

My dad used to tease me about that when we stayed with them before. I remember when we woke up for sahur I always was the first one who dug the rice bowl and eat, always had the appetite. Whereas the rest of the family struggled to put the spoon into their mouth. Its not easy to have your meals at 3 oclock in the morning right after you were asleep. But for me, its as easy as any time of the day. Alhamdulilah. My girl is ok with sahur too. She is not like any other teenagers who are so difficult to rise after a deep sleep. All I need to do is a little shake on her shoulder and she is all up and ready to brush her teeth and have her meal. She is a good girl too, having been fasting for the whole of 2 weeks without fail. Alhamdulilah. May Allah bless us all with continous easiness and good health so that we could finish the whole month of Ramadan. Then only the Hari Raya celebration means a lot more.

Before Ramadan came, I was determined to do all the good deeds the Ramadan could offer. I know its a blessful month, Allah gives abundance of blessings and Rahmah. So I wanted to grap all those. Its not easy but I do what I can do. We live only once and we never know whether we would be here to observe this holy month again next year. Life for me can be so fragile. You dont have to be old and grey to pass on. Its now or never. I try to keep that in mind.

I also remember that if you give food or meals to others during the month of Ramadan then in a way, the pahala of those people will be pass on to you as well. Its a powerful blessings so yesterday I did that to all my work mates in the office amid its just a small bowl of bubur pedas for everyone. The most important thing was I did it with ikhlas and to get Rahmah from Allah.

And I am happy. I embrace life to the fullest. I love my family. And I am ever so grateful for this blessing. I hope we will continue to do well in life and we will be resilient and tough facing what life has to offer. Alhamdulilah.

Ideas pouring in.

I just spent two hours on the internet trying to look for some decorating ideas for our living room. Today the painting was done. Its now a whole new living room. I love the colour, its a bit dark but cozy and intimate. Now all the living room need is some freshen up. So what I did today was re arranging the furniture a bit, pulling down the pictures on the walls and moving them about. There are still some empty space on the wall so I think we need to go out and look for some beautiful pictures so the wall dont look too bare.

I've came to know that its not easy to decorate a wall. Our house has this big abundance of wall which is so difficult to decorate, and the living room is L shape. So what I try to do is to divide the space to a few sitting arrangements. I came up with 3 divisions of the living room with a few chairs/sofas and coffee tables close together to create intimate looking set up. And one area which acts as a tv room, well, this already exist even before the new paint but I remodel the space a bit so it does look a bit different.

Now what we need is some pictures for the wall. I am thinking the pictures need to be white in colour to create some contrast. Pictures of flowers would be very nice. And hubby commented that the curtains look out of place. Our curtains are maroon and our living room is pottery colour so they do look odd together. We need light colour curtains so we decided to make a new ones in a few days. Then our living room transformation will be complete!

I dont really want to spend too much on the decorations. All I need is just a new coat of paint since the original paints are mostly faded. But it is really tempting to buy a few more furniture to compliment the living room. So I dont know yet. Its hard to resist when the idea comes pouring in.

Since I know nothing compete the feeling of having a fresh and renew looking living room. Its the best!

Sungkai at The Empire

It is always not a good idea to stuff yourselves with too much food especially after fasting. But still its very tempting to break the fast at one of these eating establishmnets at least once. As everyone knows during Ramadan there are abundance of restaurants offering sungkai buffets and it seems that everyone is eager to go at least once in the whole month of Ramadan. On hubby's birthday we went to have our sungkai at The Empire. As usual there were alot to eat. And its so impossible to try every dish and as usual we ended up eating only maybe 60% of the food offered. As we all know Ramadan is a holy month, the Almighty bless us with good rezeki. All you need is just a small potion and you are already full although you havent eaten for the whole day. Thats how special being in a fast is. Its all coming from Allah and we are so grateful for all the blessings.

Its that time of year again!

Tomorrow is my hubby birthday. And looking how busy life is I might not be able to post anything tomorrow. So here are my wishes. Wish you a very happy birthday. May Allah bless you always. May all your dreams come true, and may Allah bless you with abundance of good health and wealth. Amin...
Happy birthday love!

Livingroom Decoration Ideas

We are thinking of painting our living room. At the moment its pink and I feel that its so out of date. And its about time now we change the colour and get a new fresh air into our home. We have been through and forth with a few colours and in the end we both agreed with one colour. Well, hubby really has not choice, its all up to me so I hope my choice of colour will look good and will blend with the rest of the furniture. I chose a colour which I think its not very common. He called its a "lady colour". That sounds nice and I hope its the right choice. I dont see this colour used in many homes in Brunei. I dont know why, maybe it doesnt look good or people are not adventerous enough to try this colour out. I dont know. I know its so bold and this is kind of like a gamble for me. If we have chosen it and the contractor has applied it onto our wall, there is really no turning back, is there?

Just feel like I want to be adventerous. Dangerously adventerous. Even the contractor told us the room will look dark. But I love the colour so we determined to go ahead.

I am excited and dreading it at the same time. Excited about the new paint of our living room. We've been here for the past 10 years already so its really about time. And I dread it when I think of all the mess we gonna have to bear. I need to pack and put away all the crystals and other ornaments from our glass cabinets. Put away the picture frames, my flower vases, the carpets and so on. The contractor will help to remove or rearrange the furniture for them to do the painting. So its going to be busy for a few days.

The inspiration came from nowhere but today I googled some home design websites and found the same colour scheme that I have in mind. And It doesnt look too bad. Its unique, refreshed, modern and chic. And the concept of English country style is so appealling to me.

Ramadhan is almost here!

Alhamdulilah... the time is almost here again for us to embrace the blessful and special month of Ramadhan. Another year so full of hurdles and tribulations as any normal human being should encounter. Life is full of that, I know and I am not the only person who has been challenged with what life has thrown at me.

But the time has come again for us to increase our amalan and make full use of this holy month. This is the month of all forgiveness, Allah opens the gate of all blessfulness, closes the gate of hells and imprison all devils and satans. I should make full use of this month, Insya Allah.

Of late I have been looking at life in a totally different angle. I always been so critical of life, sometimes l feel life has not been treating me well. I always feel I miss so much in life and feel that others are more fortunate than I am. Now I know I am so disrespectful. And I am so ashamed of myself. These days I come to realise how fortunate my life is. Although there are things that I regret, there are others "things" I havent got. But looking at other aspects of my life, I should feel fortunate to be granted with so many blessings and good fortune. This is all coming from a few blogs that I read continuously for the past couple of months. One blog in particular is about this lady from Malaysia who suffers from cancer. She had breast cancer and had mastectomy a few years back. After a few years, there is a reccurance. She was diagnosed recently that her cancer came back and attacked her liver. The doctor predicted she only has 8 to 18 months to live. I feel sorry for her. She is so upset and sad but that doesnt mean she gives up on life. She is still fighting and continues her chemotherapy. She is a strong woman who stands out and fights until the end of her breath. Thats what she said. From her blog I came to know her and feel like I was her friend. She still here, fighting for her life although at the same time she suffers the unthinkable. Life is so hard on her. From her blog I learned the suffering of cancer sufferers. How painful the surgery is, how debilitating the chemo is until she loses her hair, feel weak and nauseous. How hard life is overall, and to think of her family, husband and children. And here I am whining and complaining of minor ailments and misfortune.

I even told hubby about her. I feel for her. And I promised hubby that I am not going to complain again. My suffering is nothing compares to what she has to go through and others that I may not know about, Inna Lillah... I should embrace life to the fullest.

In a way, this coming Ramadhan for me is a time of reflection. And time for me to ask for forgiveness for my hubby, family, friends and fellow human. And most important, ask forgiveness from the All Mighty, for all my sins and my ignorance. I feel so small in your world, Masha Allah.

I am looking forward to fasting. And I am glad to know my girl feels the same. She is excited and cant wait to start. Alhamdulilah.. May Allah bless us all with His Hidayah, Rahmah and Barkah, Amin.......

Sigh!

Life is not always beds of roses. I have my moments of sadness and despair. I am trying not to complain since everything happen for a reason. But it still hurts too much, and still haunt me, until now. No matter how much I tried to be of perfection, but it never reaches "there". Nothing much I can do except to accept the fact that it will haunt me until the end of life.

Our outing during HM birthday celebrations

Some random pictures we took during our family outing in BSB for HM Birthday for my own rememberance and memory.

After the trip to see the lights we dropped by at Fratini's to have our dinner. As usual the dinner was awesome, love the food.

A must nowadays in my handbag. The hand sanitiser.

Me and hubby with our matching outfits.
My favourite chicken
Hubby introduced to me this delicious stuffed mushroom, it tasted so good.

Hubby and Ayang opted for this pasta carbonara.
And our favourite mushroom soup, couldnt eat without it!
Ayang favourite carrot juice.

Brunei is snowing!

With smog.

Its been a week Brunei is covered in haze. Its getting worst by the day, looks very unhealthy to be in this condition. Reminded me of the haze period in the 90's, its almost similar. For today, the PSI reading for BSB is 82, which is considered moderate. And for KB it is >100, which is unhealthy.

So during this condition, I have to make sure to stay indoor as much as possible. And have to remind my girl too to take good care of herself, to remain indoors while in school. And make sure she closes her room windows when she is at home.

Sigh.. so many bad things happen these days. Whatever it is, its all comes from Allah, as part of his cubaan to His subjects.

Its nisfu syaaban today too. Very blessful day for muslims. And I am so thankful to be able to observe this special day. Trying my best to do good deeds for my own happiness in the afterlife. Afterall thats all there is to it while living in this world.

Girls Night Out

Watched the Proposals today at the Empire cinema with my girl. As usual, I always enjoy a movie with Sandra Bullock in it. She was brilliant and I love her! It was really a good movie too, my girl and I enjoyed it very much. Very touching, and it went to show how valuable a family life is.

Its about this lady boss who was so fierce and strict in the office. She had a a young male assistant who she treated like a slave. One day her boss informed her that she had to be laid off since her visa has expired, (She is a Canadian in the movie). She was shocked and speechless until the assistant came on the door and she had this idea of marrying the assistant so she could stay in her job and in the country. Thats when the whole story began. She followed her assistant home to his family in Alaska for the weekend pretending to be lovers, engaged and to be married. They were both in a very awkward situation and this was when all the fun began. You know they had to share the same room whilst they were not really lovers. How they pretend to be in loved whilst they actually were not. Its hilarous! Then here she realised how important family life could be. The assistant family treated her well and she just realised how much she missed family life. Her parents died when she was 16. The family even insisted they got married there and then which they reluctantly agreed. On their wedding day, her conscience took over. She couldnt go through with it and lied to the whole family on her true intention. She broke down and told the truth at the altar and left. And of course, all along, they were actually falling in love and her assistant track her down to NY and declared his love. And in the end they did get married and live happily ever after.

Sounds cliche'? Of course it does. We already knew the story line but hey.. its what entertainment is all about. It was indeed a movie not be missed and I dont mind watching it again. Sandra Bullock rocks!!! And she still looks fantastic at, how old is she? 45?

Went home tonight with a warm feeling all over. The movie really made my day.