Balik Kampung

(Picture of the day: Sunset in Kampung)

First of all, as a Malaysian, I'm proudly to say (or scream)...

HAPPY MERDEKA DAY!!!
May God bless Malaysia with everlasting peace, harmony and unity!

For me, this year I celebrated my Merdeka Day in kampung. I have to admit, as much as a KL girl I am, I still cannot live without my kampung.

The fresh air in the morning, the blazing sun in the afternoon and the chilly night in the middle of a palm estate, where you can hear clearly the sound of crickets, the birds chirping in the morning and the best of all, the sound of the hen cockcrow-ing at dawn.

That, my friend, is the real life of kampung.

My kampung is not that far, just an hour or two from home. It's in Perak, near the Selangor border, Tg.Malim (where you can find the best YikMun pau in Perak). It's pretty much isolated from town, worse than KTT, I betcha!

(The road to my kampung. Very hutan-ish)

Though, that is where my dad grew up and needless to say, my second home.

Despite of its lack in modern facilities (my grandpa is so smart, in order to save electricity and excretion of urine, he substituted the zinc roof in the toilet with a clear, see-through, translucent roof which gives us shivers at night in case of you-know-who appears),

it's rich with Malay traditional cultures and of course, not to mention, the food. Fabulous is all I've got to say.

Gulai Ayam, sambal belacan, cecapan, sahang, ikan wadi, sambal tempoyak, ulam, nasi ulam, ikan masak cuka and the best, sambal kering make my kampung like no other places on earth. Homey and cosy.


( That is called Papai or sambal cempedak. Yes people, it's cempedak cooked with chili.)

Neighbours know each other very well (Anak neigbour depan is so handsome! but he's in Jordan now, studying medicine)

and not to mention, everyone sticks up their nose in each other's bussiness (Trust me, my grandma is the taiko in that) but that, I take it as being concerned about one another.

So, on that night of Merdeka, we only celebrated it with a cup of teh tarik. Haha.

P.s. No matter where you are across the globe, Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadhan Al-Mubarak!

Breakfast At Jalan J

(Picture of the day : Kesengalan yang Melampau)

Woke up as early as 9.20 a.m. to have breakfast with a bunch of high school friends and of course, with my housemate too, Joanna. (Sadly no pictures taken).

I showed up at 10.30 a.m. in which at that time the restaurant was jam-packed with hungry-looking people, struggling to get a plate of the magnificent Jalan J Nasi Lemak.

I'm not so sure what makes the nasi lemak there so magnificent but I think it lies strongly in the restaurant's environment that makes it superb; Loud, hectic and chaos.

There's a diversity of characters of people you can find there; people who are mad, depressed, happy, moody, lonely or simply hungry. But for some people, that's a place to catch up with old buddies.

See, food brings people together. That's why we must love food and never diet ;)

There were 5 of us at first; Joanna, me, Leow, Feli, Daryl and ChunSoon but later, Muhaimin was there too.

We updated each other, from personal life issues till political prospects. It was nice to finally meet up with them, bringing the high school memories back to life. I wished there would be more of us, but what can I say, we all lead different path of life.

In the end of the day, Daryl had 2 plates of nasi lemak, Chun with his two plates of roti canai, Jo and Feli had a roti canai each, me and Leow with our scrumptious roti telur and Muhaimin who had nothing, at the loud, hectic, chaotic restaurant full of stray cats and cigarette smoke which almost killed us.

But still, it was a beautiful day. :)

Wah, so jiwang....I bet this is Jo's sentimental influence =.=

Final Product

The final product of the sketch.
I'm sorry if I screwed it up. Huhu.
Well, one more portrait to go. Nadia, sabar menantinye!

Megasale Maniac!

Yes, this year's megasale is INSANE! Man, I've never become this shopaholic in my life.Pheww, if I've ever mentioned 'shopping' again, please, slap me someone!


Since the megasale is going to end in September, I shopped for Raya clothes as well. Now, it's almost complete except for a pair of jeans. I was thinking of buying it at Topshop since I think, by far, the most comfortable jeans I ever had.



Here are some things that I bought, 99% of them are clothes.

These tank tops cost only Rm13.90 each. It's all the way from Melaka, opposite Mahkota Parade, Dataran Melaka I think.

Further detail of the design.

Long tank tops, each Rm39 from Topshop but due to megasale, Rm30 if you buy both. Half tube tops, both cost Rm13.00 from F.O.S.
This one is baju Raya, meaning, was paid by mum. Original price, Rm 60+, after sale, Rm30+, from SEED. Nice to go along with my cropped brown cardigan.

Another baju raya, from MNG. Rm129.

Black pants. After 50% off became Rm47.00, from Soda.

Nike shoes.

This one is not from megasale. It's actually a birthday gift from mum . Thanks mum!

Friendship bracelet from Jixs.

FIN

Oh, and I bought gold for invesment. Huih..

Kopitiam. Mamak.OldFriends.

My mum craved for kopitiam food today, so we went to OldTown White Coffee at Jusco.

And this time around, I brought my camera along and managed to take few photos some of its best delicacies.

That's meatball. Getting bigger day by day.

Chicken Ham sandwiched between 2 grilled, sweet buns with gooey, melting cheeseinside and kicking Iced White Coffee. Great for a hot day. Though, the coffee was a bit too bitter for my liking but as my mum said,

"It wouldn't be coffee if it's not bitter,"

True indeed.

Half boiled egg and again, Iced White Coffee. Man, I have no idea how they boiled the egg. It's perfecto! Eric and Joanna would surely drool, especially Eric. This one is for you man.

See, I live to eat.

Though of all the food we ordered, I forgot to take a photo of its best delicacy, the toasted brown bread with kaya and butter. Haihh...

Later, in the evening, I went to Deen, a mamak restoran to pi kena Teh Ais and of course, to catch up with old friends. Well, they all still the same to me, loud and crazy as usual ;p. Maybe, except Inu who I think can become the next Mak Andam Vogue. Your make-up was simple and beautifully done. No smudgy eyes, smeared lipstick like I always get whenever I apply cosmetics.

It was nice to reunite after a long time not seeing each other and I was superbly glad that finally someone noticed that I've slimmed down a bit!

From left : Nad, Intan, Sarah, Inu and moi.

That's Azri, the only thorn among roses. Anyway, thanks for the ride man, hope you will get well soon!

Oh, I miss the old days!

More portrait drawing

This is the first sketch using 2B pencil. Haven't done shading with charcoal yet.

Camne Huari? Ok x? Haha. I heard you got a self-portrait assignment. Cool.

By the way, that, is my friend who asked me a favour to sketch him. He said he looked fat in it. Talking about self-denial...

Forgive me, non?

First of all, please accept my apology for my weeks of disappearance from blogging.

I have loads of stories need to be told yet, living in a such isolated area, away from developement and modernisation has left me with no choice but to read books 24/7 . It's not just bad net connection over there but to be able to read newspaper is a miracle.

Haha, I'm indeed a woman of excuses.

Ok, let's start off with my birthday celebration.

I have to say, I was flattered with what my friends did for my birthday because basically, I
come from a family who doesn't really celebrate birthdays or needless to say birthday surprises.

Trust me, my previous birthdays with family were well-spent at Kedai Mamak, eating Kari Kepala Ikan with no cake whatsoever and presents were given prior to my exact birth date, though I'm grateful with that, at least, they know, it's my birthday.

Like what my dad always say, " Abah dulu sambut birthday takde kek pun, kek hanye untuk budak kecik je, gula banyak, nanti diabetes pulak,".

But of course, friends are always around to celebrate my birthday especially Sarah & her gang. They never failed me with surprises. :)

However, this year, I had 2 surprises from my friends at KTT, namely, Joanna, Lynthia, Yasmin, Hanisah and Junmei. They worked really hard to surprise me and their plan almost failed because of Eric The Big Mouth.

So, during the night of my birthday;

Scene and time: Almost midnight, at the apartmen, after Ladies Night, the rest were studying;

Joanna: Suraya, tomorrow is your birtday you know.

Lynthia and Yasmin were giggling if I'm not mistaken.

Suraya: Oh, yea, I know.

Joanna: What are you going to wear tomorrow?

Suraya: Baju kurung. (sms-ing, so absent-minded).

Joanna: But it's your birthday! Don't you want to wear something special?

Suraya: Oh yea worr, I go check my closet.

So, I went to my closet, flipping my garments one by one untill...

Suraya : E eh, whose sweater is this? Tell me what love is?? (The words printed on the sweater). You guys?!

I went out of the room with the sweater, suddenly,

SURPRISE!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Suraya: O oh....

I know, not so much of expression there because my mind suddenly went blank.

Later, when the feeling finally sank in, they sang me the birthday song and they had another surprise for me which almost failed by me.

Time: Not yet 12 but very close to 12a.m.

Scene: All back to studying.

Suraya: I'm going to pray now.

A sudden shocking look from Joanna. The rest I don't remember.

Suraya: What's with the face? Ok, maybe a bit later. Freaky...

Suddenly at 12 a.m. , Lynthia's phone ringing but she didnt answer it...

Suraya: OMG Lynthia, answer the damn phone!

Joanna, Lynthia and Yasmin : Suraya! Listen to Lynthia's phone!

Suraya: Ooooh, OMG....

It was a birthday song, very loud and squeky sang by Lynthia, Joanna, Yasmin, Hanisah and Junmei. Despite the off-pitched voices, I was touched by it, deeply. Hehe.

So, the other birthday surprise was done on the next day in the evening. They went to Giant when I was off to class and later, they knocked the apartment door with a surprise of KFC and a birthday cake! I mean, a real birthday cake with candles!! Thank you so much!

Not to forget, Syazana and Jixs who surprised me with pressies and of course, Farhana for bringing me out eating cakes at La Manila and last but not least, friends who wished me on the night of my birthday. And my classmates too for singing the birthday song. ;)

This one is from Syazana.

Had fun with Farhana at La Manila.

You can scroll to the previous post to see presents from my KTT friends. (Picture of the cake you can go to Little Black Book.blogspot.com). I want to put pics of us but unfortunately I didn't wear tudung that time.

And from Jixs, I got a friendship bracelet along with a card. Very nice indeed. I'll take a pic of it later.

And this one is from me to me,

Patent leather pumps, what do you think? ;p

Just My Luck

Let's start with the good news;

1. Good News

a) Suraya managed to submit her P.Msia individual assignment on 31st July. Meaning she'll get full mark for it.

b)She also managed to finish up the P.Msia group assignment which is to her, such a pain in the ass.

c) She had two birthday surprises from her 6 lovely friends (Joanna, Lynthia, Yasmin, Junmei and Hanisah) and she was terharu by it :)

d) Thanks to everyone for remembering her birthday.

2. Bad News

a) She broke a pipette on 31st July. Had to pay RM 30.

b) She screwed up during chemistry practical.

c) She's having exam in 1 week time.

Though,

The worst of all,

d)Her wallet was STOLEN. =.=

* * *

Anyway, thanks for the lovely handwritten card,


And the contents inside it,

And not to forget, the pressie, the cake, KFC and the song!!! I will never forget that moment in my entire life. Maybe without all this from them, my week would have been a complete hell.

Thx a lot you guys. :)