Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our 11th Anniversary. Anniversary apa ye? Haha....

Ok...11 years ago, at around 9 p.m., my other half uttered the three words, for the first time ever.

It made me chuckled just to remember the scene. We were on our way back from having dinner. He was sending me to Masjid Jamek's LRT station. I was living at an apartment in Pandan Indah then. I noticed that he was a bit quiet during dinner...but being a chatter-box, that was perfectly fine with me, because I myself, can memeriahkan suasana.

A few steps from the station, suddenly he stopped and pulled me beside the road. He looked at me seriously and blurted, "I love you." I was like..errr...what? It took me a few seconds to register what he just said. Wooo...I didn't know how to react. We had only known each other for about 3 months (2 months online and 1 month in the real world) and we had only gone out for about 5 times before that. So, you know what I said in response? ... I said, "Thank you." Haha...I can still see his 'dumbfounded' face by my answer. Clearly he was expecting a different answer. Anyway, I just gave him a big smile. I was soooo happy because I was smitten with this boy/man from the first time I met him and for him to propose so unexpectedly, really made my day, err..night. I was so so very happy that I took the wrong way home. Instead of taking the LRT going to Chempaka, I took the other way around, to Sogo instead. Who can blame me? I was in Cloud 9! :))

Now...11 years and 2 babies later, we are still together. Alhamdulillah.

I wished him Happy Anniversary last night but he replied with a deep snores. (chuckled)...if he was awake, he would have ask, "Anniversary apa pulak ni?" Haha..after we got married, we decided that we will only celebrate our wedding anniversary because being a typical man, he's not good in remembering dates. But being a typical woman, I still remember the date. How can't I? It's one of the sweetest memory in my life, forever carved in my mind and my heart.

You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Cracking Up

I haven't been quite well lately. Head-aches, giddyness, not to mention my old friend, anxiety panic attacks. ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm tired of this so-called disorder. When will it ever go away???!!???

My being with only the kids doesn't help either. No, don't get me wrong. I love them dearly. They mean the world to me. But a very active toddler and a very 'suka menjawab' preschooler can easily drive any moms straight to the wall. For the past 5 days, my other half has been in Florida. Got some machine issues to settle in a nuclear plant over there. I know he's terribly busy, so I don't like to call him whenever he's away on a job. I just wait for his phone calls. And when he did call, I only mention about the nice things..I don't want to add to his list of things to worry.

But the main thing that'is making me crazy is about my customer. You see, I've been doing a design job for a state-body of Johor. (I shall not name it, but those who knows me personally should know this so-called tradition cultural heritage body..blrughh). That project has been carried over since AUGUST 2007!!!! I've done my part of designing and type-setting since then. Basically it's 95% ready. Only things missing are an article of a very important person in Johor's history, the Foreward, and the blurbs of the book. And mind you, I've been chasing for this materials since AUGUST 2007!!!! A 'so-called' very important Profesor Datuk from a well-known university in Malaysia is in-charged of this thing. That book was supposed to be launched on Merdeka Day 2007 (in celebration of Malaysia's 50th ID), but the Datuk asked it to be postponed saying that for once he don't want the launching ceremony to be 'menempel' in other celebration. Said he wanted to have a gallant launching of its own. So, it was post-poned to sometime in December 2007, to be held during UMNO's meeting in Johor. But then, it was cancelled AGAIN, because the Prof Datuk had to attend a convention in Jakarta, so none of the remaining materials needed was ready.

Anyhow, I still chased him. So, finally in FEBRUARY 2008, Prof Datuk came down to Johor and together with 2 other editors they camped in M-Suite, supposedly to complete the job. But then, dear Prof Datuk told us that he had lost the pen-drive that kept the material. ARGHH... He was supposed to write them back again and give them to me over the weekend. But STILL, later, before he went back to Kuala Lumpur..he said he would e-mailed me. So there I was, waiting and waiting, chasing and emailing him for the materials. But dear Prof Datuk was all over the world, Egypt, London, conventions here and there. ARGHHH...up until August 2008, (ONE YEAR LATER!!!), I was still chasing that guy!!! Oh..I did asked the other 2 editors to follow up too. But then they shoved the job back to me. "Intan aje laa yang follow-up, nanti apa kata Datuk kalau ramai sangat kejar" ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So, as I've blogged before, my hubby came to US in June 2008. I HAD TO POSTPONE MY TRIP UNTIL MID-AUGUST 2008 BECAUSE I HAD TO COMPLETE ANOTHER 2 BOOKS FOR THEM. So, when I have delivered the books safely (all 3000 copies of them), I asked one of the editors about that particular post-poned book, and he said "It's ok..biarkan aje. You just go to US and enjoy yourself, your job is finished for this year."

BUT last Monday, the same person called me and kecoh-kecoh, "We have to print the book this year!!! SUK dah bising, kalau tak peruntukan kena tarik balik. Prof Datuk akan datang JB 8 Nov untuk suntingan terakhir". I was like..."WTF man!!!! How can I possibly do the printing when my body is over here in US, and I won't be back in Malaysia till at least after Christmas 2008???" Now..bila SUK dah bising, baru semua orang gabra. And the other editor was saying "You just emailed us your copy of settings, and we'll ask other printer to print." Again, WTF!!!! I spent lots of energy and time designing and laying out the settings for the book, not to mention the editing of the texts and touching up of the images. And here he was, senang-senang cakap nak amik all my hard-work and ask other people to print??? Then the other printer will get all the money lah! WTF WTF!!!

Now now....pardon me for the language, but I am really pissed right now. For those who don't know the real situation, it would seem that I'm the guilty party here. This would be the perfect chance for my other rivalries to condemn my company. Yeah..as small as it is, my company does have rivalries..big companies who feel threatened by my presence. Shit..I'm just a one-woman company. I am the boss as well as the kuli. I'm a home-based company. But yet, I can deliver something big. You see, I treat every job like my own baby. I start from scratch, slowly designing and building it up to be something significant. I check my text word by word, I go by my design layer after layer. Hence all my jobs are almost perfect, and that is the winning point of my company. Giving customers top quality products is my priority. As I'm the only one in the company, I look after every stage myself, from designing to setting, to film layout to printing. Of course the printing is done by my dad's friend (we have an agreement on this), but I'm there all the way throughout the process. So far, I know I've done my old man proud (I took over the company when he died 4 years ago).

I've dealt with some issues before. Rivalries, jealousies, back-stabbing, design stealing, even black magic ok. Many times, I felt like giving up. But whenever I close my eyes, I would see my Dad, his smile, his words of encouragement telling me not to give up, telling me that I can pull this off, telling me that I'm his daughter, and as his daughter, I should be as tough as he was. But this current episode is really tearing me apart. I really feel like giving up the business. I'm tired of dealing with these kind of people. I'm tired of condemning and back-stabbing. I'm tired of giving my best and having zero in return.

And my anxiety disorder is making this worst. I really feel like cracking up right now. Sorry for my ramblings..just bear with me ok. I'm trying to ignore this feeling of frustation. I will tell them to choose 1 out of 2. Either they'll wait for me to come home, or they can give the job to other printer but they have to start from scratch. I'm not giving up my designs to them. I don't care if the SUK will give them wrath. As far as I'm concern, they can go to hell! $@%%&@#&%@^#$@%^

ARGHHHHH....

P.S. I Love You

My cousin, Iqa, has been telling me about a movie titled 'P.S I Love You'. She said it's a romantic comedy and the story tells us how much we should appreciate our loved ones. Life is too short to be spent on angry remarks and hurtful words.

So last Saturday when we went to Albertsons (they have a RedBox DVD vending machine, 1USD per movie per day), I decided to rent the movie. Oh...before that I've bought the novel (the movie is based on a novel) but couldn't find the time to read it.

Anyway, my husband and I spent our Sunday watching the movie. I agree with Iqa..it is a romantic movie..but she failed to tell me that the hero is actually dead. *sigh*.. Well, in a nutshell, the story is about how a young widow is trying to survive the sudden lost of her husband. What I fail to understand is how did the husband die (they sort of jumping the scenes..one minute they were in bed..the next one it's already the scene during his wake). And the husband seemed to know that he's dying because he has made all the arrangements for his wife to cope up with her lost..guiding her with his letters and words of encouragement that's always end with "P.S...I Love You." Haiahhh.....I was red-eyed almost all the way. One time, I had to sneak to the bathroom to blow my nose in fear my husband would laugh at me..hehe.. Well, it is sad you know...to lose someone that you love very very much, and to know that you will never ever see them again..you will miss their smiles, to hear their laughs and to laugh at their jokes and antics.

The songs in the movie are great. But the theme song sticked to my heart. Even Harith recognized the song is from the movie (when I played the mp3 on my laptop). It's the kind of song that lingers in your mind and before you knew it, you'll find yourself humming to the tune. The song that you're hearing now is that song, titled 'Love You Till The End' by The Pogues.

I just want to see you
when your all alone
I just want to catch you if I can
I just want to be there
When the morning light explodes
On your face it radiates
I can't escape
I love you till the end

I just want to tell you nothing
You don't want to hear
All I want is for you to say
Why don't you just take me
Where I've never been before
I know you want to hear me
Catch my breath
I love you till the end
I love you till the end

I love you till the end
I love you till the end

I just want to be there
When were caught in the rain
I just want to see you laugh not cry
I just want to feel you
When the night puts on it's cloak
I'm lost for words don't tell me
Cause all I can say
I love you till the end

I love you till the end
I love you till the end
I love you till the end
All I can say
I love you till the end
I love you till the end
I love you til the end
Cause all I can say
I love you till the end
I love you till the end
I love you till the end

Life is full of ups and downs. We can never expect what the future holds for us. One thing I learnt from the movie, we should always treasure and appreciate what we have now. No use mopping on the past, and wondering the uncertainties of the future. The present is what matters.

To my dear Honey......I appreciate everything that we have had together....the good days, the bad days, the shiny days and the rainy days, every minute and every second...together with the seeds of our love, I know we will create many many more colorful memories, forever etched in our entwined hearts.

P.S I Love You.....till the end...

Halloween

Halloween is coming up soon. Everywhere we go, we can see elements of Halloween in every corner. Giant pumpkins, monster masks, a flying witch, a big intsy wincy spider etc etc. Harith is very much excited about the whole thing. Not so with Hannah. My little peanut will start screaming everytime we come across the sandwich-man who's wearing a Halloween costume. About two weeks ago, we went to Gameland (a shop where they sell used and new games and their accessories). Whila Abah and Harith went hunting for a game, Hannah and I just browsed around outside when suddenly the little one gave a little howling, "Mommyyyyyyyyyy...Adik takuttttt". When I turned around, wallahhh...a scary Mr. Piggy is grinning at us. Hehe..I didn't notice that next door to Gameland is a Halloween store, and apparently Mr. Piggy is ushering people to go to his store.

Harith has asked whether he can get a costume. I don't see any point in buying him one since we don't celebrate Halloween back in Malaysia. Furthermore, I'm not even sure what is the purpose of the whole celebration. Is it a Christian celebration? Is it a just an American tradition? But I think I have to buy some candies just to make sure if any little ones come up on our door for the trick or treat. I sure don't want to disappoint anybody. Oh yeah..dear Hubby and I are still considering whether we should get Harith a costume. It's not the money that's matter. The costumes are quite cheap anyway. Around 10-20 USD for a boy his age. Errr..jangan convert duit Malaysia laaa.. It just that dear Hubby and I think that it's time for Harith to learn about the value of money. Not everything comes cheap, OK..and in our case (Hubby and I), we have to work hard to be where we are today (wherever it is). So yes, learning about the value of money is one of the values that we would want our children to have.

Anyway, even the theme parks are corporating the holiday. We have 'Mickey's Trick or Treat Party in Disneyland', Six Flags Fright Fest, Universal Studio Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights, and Knott's Berry Farm's Haunt. Well, if I'm not a very very the penakut person, I would sure go to one of these. Especially the Knott's. It seems very very very eerily scary.

OK..here's a little about Halloween that I have Wikied:

Halloween or Hallowe’en is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses", carving Jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories and watching horror movies. Immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century.

Halloween is celebrated in several countries of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia. In Sweden the All Saints' official holiday takes place on the first Saturday of November.

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them. The carved pumpkin, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols in America, and is commonly called a jack-o'-lantern.

Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off any superstitions. The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins were readily available and much larger, making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's doorstep after dark. In America the tradition of carving pumpkins is known to have preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration. The carved pumpkin was originally associated with harvest time in general in America and did not become specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

In North America, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are quite diverse. In the Anglican Church dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints Day, while some other Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day of remembrance and prayers for unity. Celtic Christians may have Samhain services that focus on the cultural aspects of the holiday, in the belief that many ancient Celtic customs are "compatible with the new Christian religion. Christianity embraced the Celtic notions of family, community, the bond among all people, and respect for the dead. Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry of celebrations from October 31 through November 5, all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy of the dark and to revel in its mystery.

A Quote To Remember?

A few nights ago, I watched a movie titled "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". It was good, hilarious and informative, in aspect of Greek's culture, their tradition and lifestyle.

But one thing stucked in my mind. When the main character wanted to further her studies but her father objected the idea, her mom reassured her that she would change her father's mind. She said and I quote:

"The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck. She will turn the head to whichever direction she wants to."

Hahaha..don't you think it's funny? I did! :))

Handbag Planet

Good news for everyone!

Handbag Planet is launching their website on October 15th, 2008. In celebration, they are giving away a free handbag every hour for 24 hours on the day of the launch. Their high fashion, trendy handbags are inspired by popular designer brands and priced between $30 and $80.

Please visit their websites to have a chance of winning beautiful, uniques designer handbags! ----> Handbag Planet

For Facebook members, you can become a fan by visiting their page at http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/wwwhandbagplanetcom/38449093560.

I so hope I'll have the chance to win ;)

Muslim Family Day @ Six Flags Magic Mountain

On Saturday, the 4th Eid day, we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the Muslim Family Day organized by Islamic Circle of North America. We started from home at 9.30 a.m. and it took almost 1 hour to reach there. Surprisingly, it was drizzling. The 1st time ever since we have been in California.

The Front Gate

Six Flags Magic Mountain is a family theme park which is full of roller coaster. And the roller coasters are AWESOME and AMAZING. I wonder how did the human minds worked in producing such wonders.

View from Skytower Museum, 38 stories from the ground.

Anyway, our first stop was of course, Thomas Town. The kids were so excited. Harith and Hannah have been Thomas's big fan. Apparently, Thomas Town is the latest excitement in Six Flags. It has a little Island of Sodor, a Tidmouth Shed where all the useful engines have a rest after a busy day, and an animal farm. Unfortunately Sir Topham Hat was no longer around. The 'character' was there during Summer for photo session with the little ones. I wish he was still there, Harith would go 'crazy'!. Hehe.. anyway, Percy the Small Engine had a small ride of his own too.

Thomas Town

Tidmouth Shed

Thomas The Tank Engine with his coaches, Annie and Clarabel

Percy the Small Engine

We spent quite sometime in Bugs Bunny World. It's the only part in the park where Harith and Hannah can have the rides. Other parts are full of gigantic roller coasters such as Goliath, X2, Tatsu and Ninja.

Inside Tweety's Cage

Taking a ride on the heli.

After that we went to have lunch at the East Pavillion where the Muslim Family Day was having a few stalls. We had a Beriyani and a Halal KFC. KFC was really finger licking good..yummyy..I seldom eat KFC back in Malaysia, but now I suddenly miss it. Haven't had the opportunity to have it here till this family day..not all KFCs have the Halal status over here.

Next came dear Hubby's turn for his crazy rides. This is his 4th time visiting Six Flags and he's still not tired of those monster roller coasters. *sigh* He went on Tatsu, the longest flying coasters in mountainous terrain.

Tatsu, view from Skytower

Somewhere up there is my dear Hubby

While waiting for Hubby, the kids and I explore around. We found the Superman's cove. It looked quite harmless, so I was thinking that I should take the ride. I haven't taken any of those roller coasters ride because I was too scared.

So when dear Hubby came back to the ground, hehe..I asked him about the Superman ride. He agreed that I should take the ride. He said the ride was fun and easy and it's not a roller coaster. Seeing the cove, in my mind, I was thinking about the Mummy ride that I took in Universal Studio..it was fast but quite ok because it was only in the cave. So, happily I left the kids with dear Hubby and went on to take the ride alone. What I didn't see was...

...that tall rocket-high behind the cove.

So after queueing about half and hour and it was finally my turn, imagine my surprise when I realized that I was going to actually ride on this thing:

This Superman ride, true to its name, is the first ride ever on this planet Earth to reach 100 mph in six seconds, and I was actually on that thing!! %^&*@(*#@*%&$@ The ride was only about 15 seconds but it was the longest 15 seconds in my entire life! When the ride finally ended, I felt like my soul was actually still up there. It took me another few seconds to get up. Hehe..I walked back to where the kids and hubby were waiting, I could see that dear Hubby had a big grin pasted on his face. On our way back, he finally reveiled to me that he, himself didn't dare to go on that ride when he first came to Six Flags, he only took the ride during his 2nd time there. "Wooo..now you're telling me, eh Honey?" He just showed me his big "Gotcha" grin. Arghhh.. anyway, I was quite proud of myself, haha..

Well, later we went around the parks. Not really taking on any rides because it was too big for the kids and I was too chicken to get on it, and dear Hubby had already taken the rides during his trips previously.

Anyway, you can look at more photos in my online photo album.

Eid Mubarak

Today is Eid Mubarak.

We started as early as 5.30 a.m. this morning. Performed Subuh prayer and woke up the kids to prepare going for Hari Raya prayer. This year, the event was jointly organized by Islamic Center of Hawthorne and Islamic Center of South Bay at Carson Community Hall.

After getting 'lost' for the first half an hour, we finally arrived at the Hall at about 7.30 a.m. Many people have arrived and the hall was almost full. Dear Hubby took Harith with him, and Hannah and I headed to the Muslimah section at the back of the hall.

The event was more or less the same as those in Malaysia. Takbir Raya, Khutbah, and the prayer. But a thing happened that I found was truly special and made the morning extra joyful for fellow Muslims. We received a new 'Sister'. We witnessed and welcomed a new Muslimah to embrace the beautiful religion of Islam. Hearing the Syahadah, "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah", I found myself nearly in tears.

I was born as a Muslim, so I tend to accept Islam as part of my life. Well, Islam does means "A Way of Life". What I mean is, sometimes I forgot to be thankful how lucky I am to be born as Muslim and the umat of Muhammad. Sometimes I tend to ignore the beauty of Islam, to neglect my duties and responsibilities as a Muslimah. Let's hope that my experience this morning would constantly remind me to be a better Muslimah of this beautiful, true, religion of Islam.

Again, I was marvelled by the difference during the prayer. As usual, I covered myself except for my face and my two hands, wearing a jubah and a hijab, complete with the socks. But there were other Muslimahs who perform the prayers with only the shawl clinging on the head, and a short-sleeves dress, I could even see their toes (complete with the nail polish!) Wow..I did get really confuse. On the other hand, there were other Muslimahs who dressed as I do. Hmm..can somebody explain to me, which is which actually? The woman next to me even bent over and shooing her baby when the pumpkin cried in the middle of the prayer, and then she continued performing the prayer. Hmmm..I know we have different mazhabs in Islam, but for me that is too much difference! I was taught that we can't move freely during prayers for fear it would be 'batal'. I was also taught the aurat of Muslimah should cover everything except for her face and two hands. Hmmm....

Anyway, contrary to what I expected, no delicacies was served.. aww.. :( We only got a Papa John's doughnut and a drink. They were quite short, so I just took two doughnuts for the kids.

So we just went home and have a small feast of our own. I spent the whole evening yesterday, cooking ketupat Nona, rendang daging, ayam masak lemak kuning and sayur sambal goreng. Boleh laa..setakat nak lepas rindu, haha..serupa TAPI tetap tak sama...uwaaaaa...

Oh yeah..I had YM web conference with my family last night. Miss them..miss them..uwaaa...mujur la Ibu tak banjir..kalu tak..harus banjir gak LA niiiii, hahaha..

Hearing the Khutbah

That blue thing is the string of Hannah's balloon, enterframe betul laaa..hehe..

Outside the community hall

A sport shoes and a jubah??? Hehe..

I was holding tight to 'Atom', Hannah's security pillow (bantal busuk laaa) for fear of losing it. Has lost it in 2 occassions, and had to turn back all the way to the shop for it.

Our small feast, rezeki pagi Syawal di bumi Amerika...Alhamdulillah.

I Wanna Go Homeeeeeeeeeee.....Uwaaaaaa... :____(