Sunday, July 30, 2006

4 more hours til my flight home!! Cant believe I'm finally coming back after 10 long months away :D Bah guys, lemme just tell you now I am extrordinarily bad at recognising people, so if any of you sees me when I jalan2 tagur ah :D I promise you I'm not ambong, just blind =P

Lots of love! xoxoxo

Thursday, July 27, 2006

I'm sandy, battered, henna-ed and on the whole slightly worse for wear than when I set out this morning, but I'm totally exhilarated! The desert safari is excellent! Highly recommended to first time Dubai visitors.. It basically involves a 4WD car picking you up at your hotel and then driving to the desert where you do "dune-bashing"; in otther words, driving crazy fast on the dune sands at crazy angles! Imagine a rollercoaster on sand and you'd have the idea. To be honest, it probably won't be the best of things to bring elderly or very young visitors too, you do get bumped around quite a bit; safety belts are a must! Each 4WD has about 4-5 passengers and the different cars from different tours gather at a point before starting the tour. It looks quite impressive when you see 15-20 cars all lined up in the sand ready for action heheh... I'll put up pics as soon as I can load them up. Travel-sick prone people would be better off taking a couple of pills before this ride because I saw at least 2 cars stopping in the middle of the desert today to let their passengers um... puke =P There's also the constant danger of getting stuck in soft sand, but the cool thing is, even though the drivers are all from rival tour companies, they're always around to help each other; everytime someone gets stuck, all the driver needs to do is give a couple of toots on his horn and someone'd be over within seconds. You get the sense that everyone's all part of a big, well-oiled machine and that definitely adds to the feeling of security. Particularly when our car was stuck in sand, at a very awkward degree. Lol! A knight in shining (white Toyota) armor came to our rescue and pulled us out, but not before some shots were taken our the poor helpless people in the stuck car (ie us!) =P Lol! I have to say though, after about 90 min I was pretty ready to get out of the car and onto solid road.

Along the way we stopped at a camel-farm and for some photo opps. Sadly though I think we set off a bit later than usual cause we didn't have any sand-boarding or sunset photography sessions, but it was still exciting.

After that we were taken to a campsite where they had tents set up offering food, drinks, shisha, henna, traditional outfits to try on and camel rides. We spent the rest of the evening there; I got henna-ed, had some drinks, walked around and had dinner. The main event of the night was a bellydancer, she was amazing! And guess who just had to get up and join her on the stage? Lol! Once in a lifetime right? And I didn't know anyone there other my parents anyways, so who cares if I made a fool out of myself =) Was so inspired by her I even bought my own jingly-jangly shiny bellydancing scarf before I left heheh =) Might take up some lessons next year and put it to good use; maybe if i get strapped enough for cash, I'll just start advertising my entertainer status lol!

On the way back to the hotel, our driver showed us a video on his phone where a 4WD flipped over several times while dune-bashing, with someone seen clearly getting thrown out the window. 2 people died in that accident =S Eeps..smart of him to show it when we were finished cause I'm not sure anyone would've gone on the tour if he had shown us the video before!

Tomorrow's a weekend here in Dubai and things only open after 4..so looks like I've got a late start ahead of me tomorrow. Its been a good holiday, no rushing out of bed to get to places, its just been nice and leisurely =)

On a completely unrelated topic :

Note to self- Must check that just because someone's MSN id is logged in doesnt necessarily mean s/he is using the computer at the moment. To avoid embarassment try and find out if it *is* actually the person you intend to talk to and not a member of his/her family. Eeps. *dies of shame*

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I take back all complaints I've made about Uk's summer. Since I've been here (um.. about 24 hours lol) temperatures have ranged from 56 degrees (!!) to a low 42 this morning. Aiyo. Going out is like being hit by a solid wall of heat and due to the high humidity in Dubai, I feel like I'm breathing underwater. Thankfully though, the idea of airconditioning seems to have caught on well here, as opposed to in the Uk, so even though its this hot, every building is blissfully airconditioned =)

Flight got in quite late in the night yesterday so just had a quick (very meaty since it's all halal) dinner at the hotel before crashing. Got up late today and our first stop was my idea of heaven on earth : The 2nd largest mall in the whole wide world, the Emirates Mall. Oh.My.God. It was overwhelming ol! It had everything, from Harvey Nicks and Debenhams to Hang Ten, Giordano and Charles and Keith! Didn't spend too long there, but Dad's promised me the whole of Saturday in there, so credit cards at the ready! Lol!

Rushed back to go on a river cruise on the Dubai Creek; there were loads of pretty boats all lighted up, almost like tanglong in Brunei. =) They had an after dinner show and for some reason one crew member kept picking on me! First when they were dressed as a horse he kept coming over and tried to nibble at my neck and my ear, which kinda freaked me out and made me spill my water =P Then there was a magic show and the same guy chose me to be the "lucky" girl who gets a sword put through her neck! Lol! I was *so* scared of dislodging the blade I don't think I've sat up straighter or held my head up as high as I did tonight! Made friends with a newlywed Saudi couple who must've been on their honeymoon; offerred to take their picture on the boat. Got talking to the girl and found out she was only 21! And already happily married... Can't say the sight of the 2 of them cuddling at the table next to ours didn't make a me a teeny bit jealous =P Got straight into a waiting car after the boat docked again, then suddenly the girl I just met knocked on the window. I opened it and she took off a ring she'd been wearing and gave it to me, and told me to "remember her". That was probably the randomest and sweetest thing that's ever happened to me, bless her =) Lol, told my dad I might start offerring to take more photos, but only of bejewelled people ;o)

Tomorrow I'm off on the desert safari, which apparently has dune bashing and sand boarding. Not to mention belly-dancing and camel riding! Eee can you tell I'm excited?? =)

I've been a silly little girl with P the last couple of days, which's led to me saying a lot of stupid things that I meant at the time, but horribly regret now. It's all about the same thing as well, and it does get old rehashing the same thing over and over again. I don't even want to type it up here because it really is stupid, but...I guess I'm just not as secure as I thought I was. Even my mom's told me I'm being a little cow. Honestly? I'm kinda scared one day he'll reach the end of his tether with me and that'll be that. =(

4 more days <3

xoxo

P/s: Thanks for all the congratulatory messages guys and thanks for reading too! =)

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Hello from London all =) It's been good here, I'm not as cranky with people as I have been when I was in Leeds, think I needed a change of scenery.. now I'm all sweetness and light again lol! Well..most of the time lah =p

Been keeping myself busy too, loads of my friends are around at the moment, getting ready to go home, so most nights m out with them, catching up on stuff and sharing graduation photos...been eating at every conceivable malaysian restaurant here too; I don't get my parents, its like they can eat asian food anytime during the past year and when they're here, they should try something else, sushi, italian, greek, etc. but nooo.. still sticking to their typical fare. Can't blame them I guess, it's something familiar to them, and I shouldn't really complain, I haven't had home food in a while either heh..

First night here was good, met up with A, K and her boyfriend D for dinner with my parents. K and D were so sweet, they texted me beforehand on how to say hello and thank you in Malay to say to my parents lol! Had a good (if slightly excessive) meal, then the parentals went home and we went around Bayswater for a place to chat.. Ended up ath this Moroccan place and we had a nice relaxing night just chilling with everyone.. Think I've been deprived of the girls' company haha.. Can't wait for them to get to Brunei, we have so much planned for them!

Had breakfast with A and her family yesterday before she went home in the evening and our dads were so cute! I think they've both been very deprived of Bruneian company other than us and they bonded like nothing I've ever seen before! lol! Within the minute of meeting each other, they were inseparable lol! Me and A were super amused, it's like.. jalan in the streets pun A's dad pushed her out of the way so he could walk with my dad! And like...my dad got a fan (because the hotel room had no fan, no airconditioning, nothing!), and although A was struggling with the weight of some stuff she just bought, when she asked her dad to carry her things for her, he went "Sorry lai, babah kan bawa kipas ni!" and went over to carry the fan for my dad! Lmao! Apparently he's already made plans to invite my family over for dinner at theirs in Brunei, although I get the feeling A's dad wouldn't be too distraught if me and my mom couldn't make it lol bless them =)

Went to a car show after that and I have found my dream car. The BMW M6 covertible is To.Die.For. The one I saw had (and lusted after) had an ash grey/cloudy blue paint job and red leather interior. Soo sexy! Told P about it and he said he'd get it for me once he starts earning the big bucks..haha don't think I'll hold my breath bless him..

Also went to Mawar twice last night, once for dinner with my parents and another to satisfy my friend's craving for teh tarik lol! Might meet up with them again tonight, won't see them til at least September when I get home..

Getting excited about Dubai, bought a lonelyplanet traveller's guide yesterday heheh.. Things I wanna do when I'm there:

Go on a desert safari along the sand dunes
Drink camel's milk
Have a big ass steak, medium rare please!
Shop til I drop

Oops, 10 more minutes left on my voucher so I better wrap this up, but before that...Ada tia laki2 hensem brabis sebalah ku ani... dari Argentina, sailor lagi tu.. Rambut panjang, sun-streaked, macam Fabio. Accent sexy brabis.. Aiyo..Sudah tu ya minta tolong aku proof read emailnya.. (bloody hell my malay's shit!) I promise I talk better than I type =P Anyways, moving on, with a face like that, how could I say no?? I may be happily in love, but I'm not dead! =D Speaking of P actually, told my dad about P and he took it surprisingly well..Although he did say if P harmed a hair on my body, there would be grievous bodily harm done to someone by someone =P Heheh dads're cute, no? =)

Thanks to everyone who congratulated me on graduating and thanks for visiting the page too =)

Neez, Congratulations on your result, told you I believed you could do it! Now its time for you to prepare for *your* GDay! =)

Til next time, xoxo!! (Might go to China town and get an overpriced bubble tea soon)

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Last day in Leeds today, I'm off to London tomorrow for a couple of nights before I get on that plane home..Well not home, exactly, but Dubai and *then* I'll go home lol!

Met up with a friend for breakfast (like a lady of leisure haha) and now waiting to meet N for a drink at this juice bar near where I live that's given me free net access for an hour if I buy one of their drinks. Bargain lol! Mom's in the hotel room, resting and Dad's in London. Why? Well, its cause, I have a *lot* of luggage to take home, 2 big bags and 3 little ones. Which, for someone who's not been home for a year is highly appropriate I think. But my dear parents, who're here for a 2 week visit, somehow has got 56kg worth of luggage in 5 bags between them!! So, instead of having to pay for excess baggage on my flight tomorrow, dad's moving some of the stuff down to London today =S Poor him..but omg, overpacking, much??

So.. graduation yesterday was...surreal. It felt really good to put on the robe and the hood and to walk around uni with it. To see my coursemates dressed in their robes really drove it home that we were finished. Properly finished =) It was a gorgeous day too, hot but windy. Took loads of photos, will post them up as soon as I can and will let the pictures speak for themselves...

Off to Bradford later this evening to watch Cats at the Alhamba Theatre, can't wait!

xoxoxo

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Temperatures are rising here... and so are respective tempers =/ Cranky people here, cranky people there, cranky people every-effing-where.

All the world needs to make it a better place is airconditioning everywhere when its boiling hot like its been the last week and I can guarantee there won't be as many minor fights and squabbles as you get now. Fact.

Lappie's being taken away today =(
Lol.. there goes my 24 hr internet access here bleh

Will update as soon as I can!

xoxo

Monday, July 17, 2006

...And I'm back!! In my parents' room at the hotel now, ada wireless yo hehe...so guess who just got herself a 24 hr pass for the internet :D Parents're resting now, bless them, they're probably jetlagged...Gonna take them out to dinner in a bit with my friend and her parents, have to wake them up first though! =P I know where I get my overpacking tendencies now by the way.. For a 2 week stay, they brought 5(!!) bags! FIVE!! Excessive sikit, no? Lol. At the most I was expecting 3, skali out of the arrival hall one trolley each =S Aiyo..One bag was full of food though hehe.. they brought red bean buns, kek batik, keropok pedas, kacang, kuih mor for me lol..Cute eh.. Nda payah makan luar this time, makan my food saja =)

Moved some of my stuff over from N's tadi, it was a slight effort =P 2 more big bags to take home and then I can finally move out wahey =)

13 more days... <3

xoxo

They're almost here!!!! *jumps for joy*

..Although I haven't packed my room up yet eek! =P

Was woken up this morning by P's text: "Hope you're already up and rehearsing how to break the news to your Dad about me!"

Silly boy.. I'm gonna let *him* do it actually =D He just doesnt know it yet lol!

Hyper now, much love everyone! xoxox

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Typing this post up in bed, N’s home and H’s at work so I’m home alone and making the most out of it heheh…Missing N though cause she’s usually my partner in crime when it comes to doing nothing lol!

Went to uni today to sort out some stuff and it was full of students in their GDay robes and hoods with their proud family and friends. It was a gorgeous day too so everyone was hanging outside the Great Hall. Walking through the crowd has got me really excited about this coming Wednesday. Fingers crossed the weather stays good for my graduation. But then a sort of melancholy also settled over me as I walked through my university grounds. From today (Friday 14/7) on, I only have a week left in Leeds before I leave it for good. I’ve done most of my growing up here; I’ve probably matured more in the last 3 years than I have at any other point in my life. I’ve met great people, made great friends and experienced fantastic things. And as much as I’ve been looking forward to going home, I don’t think I’m ready to leave this place that *has* been home to me the last 3 years. I’ve grown so attached to this place; it didn’t really hit me til today that this is it. Now, when I come back to Leeds, I’ll be coming as a visitor, no longer as a resident. Aiyo, sad now =( Me and my housemates’ve decided, no matter where our lives take us from now on, we’ll always be Leeds girls. I’ve got my hoody and Tshirt ready to wear too heheh..I never really subscribed to school spirit and all that jazz but I think I will from now on. I’m gonna be one of those people who’ll subscribe to the Leeds University biannual magazine or something lol =P

Where has July gone by the way?? I’m sure I only welcomed its arrival a couple of posts ago, and now it’s halfway gone! Funny how time seemed to have gone really quickly when during its passing it felt slower than slow. (Did anyone get that? Lol!)

Went out with N last night too, she’s gone home and then she’s off to France and won’t be back til Tuesday, so last night was our last night out. God, lots of lasts in my life this year, must come with the “finalist” territory. Plus, she’s not coming to Brunei with the other girls, so I’m not sure when I’ll see her again either =( *mustsnapoutofbluefunkNOW* Students make up such a large percentage of Leeds’ population that when the students’re gone, clubs are virtually empty save for the locals and a few stragglers. Last night was good though it got fairly busy and the Dj was pretty good too. Well to be fair, me and N paid 4.50 each to get in so we were determined to have a good time, whether or not it was just us out on the dance floor lol =) Got a few ego boosts last night too, the highlight has gotta be the 20 year old fresher who chatted me up, bless him, he was cute, in a geeky, mommy’s boy kinda way. Me and N properly felt out age around him and his 19 year old friend =P

Nottingham and Germany were good by the way. Arrived the same day as R’s parents and they didn’t come empty handed bless them. I’m sure they filled a whole bag with Bruneian food! The first day alone I had salted egg, liking (fish), belutak (beef) and keropok pedas. Heaven man haha.. If only there was a way to transport bubble tea without it going bad over the 17 hour flight! R and her parents treated me really nicely, seriously I was a pampered little princess the last week. Get up in the morning, breakfast would be prepared and lunch and dinner would also be catered for. All Bruneian food, of course heheh. Germany was boiling hot by the way. Every year I come home for summer I’m tanned. Macam I didn’t just spend the last 9 months in a country that barely sees any sun saja =P Did a *lot* of sightseeing and touristy things but I have no photographic evidence as of yet. R’s dad has a real knack with the camera, so he was our cameraman for the trip heheh.. Will post them up as soon as I get them in Brunei, scouts’ honour =)

Just got an email saying that I’m going to start work a week after I get back, til September 15th. That barely leaves any time for me to go anywhere with the family! I wanna at least hit Singapore before I come back…But macam tight saja the schedule this year bleh. Speaking of coming back, I haven’t told my grandparents I might be coming back yet…Not quite sure how to break the news to them, according to my mom, they’ve been looking forward to me going home for good. Huh, yet another piece of information that has to be passed on delicately, along with the boyfriend situation haha..

Yay! I finally have a proper post put together!

Ciao bellas! xoxoxo

Friday, July 14, 2006

Can't gather my thoughts properly for a post lah. Will try again later. 3 more days til the parentals're here and 5 to GDay!! =)

Congratulations Mai and Rai on graduating from Nottingham Uni today!! I'm so proud of you guys, we've come a long way since PJN and SMSA.. See you guys back in Brunei yes??

Ciao! xoxoxo

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Cmon France!!!! I have pulut panggang daging and teh tarik ping riding on u winning!! Dont fail me now!!

lol! xoxo

Saturday, July 08, 2006

In Starbucks now enjoying the wireless connection heheh.. If only I found out about it sooner, I might as well have spent my week in Starbucks rather than uni =P Just sorting out my ipod now before I'm off to Notts, the thing's been having issues..Rundown of the last coupla days:

1. Went to Otley -kampung brabis. A little village so out in the middle of nowhere I thought I was back on field trip. Cue people asking me where I was from. Told them Leeds and they go "NoooOoooOO" Cue me explaining where Brunei is "Close to Malaysia, yada yada yada"

2. Got bored of Otley ( you could literally walk from one end of the town to the other in 15 min) so hopped onto a bus to Ilkley..Alamak.. the bus took us even further out into the outbacks lol! Bigger village than Otley and prettier too, but again, not much to see lol. Stayed there for an hour literally and jumped on the first train back to Leeds.

3. Went out last night to celebrate N's unveiling of her back. See, she's been having allergic reactions to something so the doctors had to do a patch test on her and her whole back was plastered and bandaged for about 5 days the poor girl. She finally got everything off yesterday and wanted to go out to show off her back and her newly bought backless top lol...Went to 3 different places and it was really quite boring with no students around! The clubs were filled with old people who were just really weird.. Its kinda painful to watch men and women your parents' age boogying to some dance music =P Finally hit paydirt at Bourbon, there was a group of guys there who were out having a laugh and they were fun! Crazy dancing is always better than sleaziness =P

4. One more week til the parentals are here!!!

5. Said bye to a good friend, R who left for Brunei a coupla days ago. So annoying to think he's gonna see my mom at the office before me!! =P It was physically painful to say bye to him hmph..

6. Hmm..yeah. thats pretty much it really =)

Have a good weekend everyone!! xoxoxo

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Have a seat with my name on it already in this cluster, noone else is allowed to sit there lol =P Met up with a friend yesterday before he left for Brunei this morning. I swear, hugging him goodbye last night was very very hard cause it just made me want to go home *so* much more, and he's going to be seeing *my* mom at the office before me! Mana nda I get kusut =/ 25 more dayyysssss I've never waited this long for anything ever before... Aku. Mau. Balik. Now! *tantrum* Sigh.. even though I know I'll probably be bored of Brunei within the first 2 weeks but at least I'll be home. No more of this living out of a suitcase, being homeless business =(

Over the Hedge was ok, nothing special. It had its funny moments, and moments where the joke fell painfully flat.. Cute animals though, but no match for Madagascar or Finding Nemo.. Will hopefully watch Pirates of the Caribbean tonight, Johnny Depp mmmm =)

Things I wanna do/eat when I get home (not in any particular order):

Go straight home to see my grandparents and give them a year's worth of hugs

See P for 2 months worth of hugs and manja-ing

CA Mohd for the murtabak and rojak

Excapade for sushi (KB lah saja)

Dynasty for dimsum

Mall to see what the new arcade's like.

Cinemas for the gorgeous popcorn that Uk can't ever live up to

Bubble tea every single day til I get sick of tapioca balls

Drive with my Cds blasting and the aircon blowing full blast


Enough for now, getting me all depressed pulang =P Might go on another daytrip tomorrow, then I'm off to Notts and Germany this Saturday =)

Much Love!! xoxox

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Yep, you guessed it, back in the clusters again.. Lol I'm sure if I spent this amount of time working here when I actually had any work to do I would've done loads better in my course =P

Went to Knaresborough yesterday and it was a picturesque little English town. Very ye-olde English, if you guys know what I mean? Coming from a big city, I hadn't really been to many quaint little towns, even when I visit my friends I'd be visiting other big cities..Knaresborough had cobbled streets, cute tea rooms and chemists, a castle, a 12 acre park area, and a river we could go rowing in.. And rowing we went lol! Was quite scared at first cause the river was quite deep and I can't swim at all.. But after a while and a few false starts with the oars, I was rowing like a pro! Lol.. well not really a pro.. Our rowing consisted of me rowing us into a shady spot in the river, letting the oars go and having a rest and reding our magazines lol! Nice and relaxing, but the boat guy must've thought we were nuts =P

Not much to post about today, will probably 241 it at the cinema later, think we'll be watching Over the Hedge, been wanting to watch it for ages!

Oh yes, congratulations to Norsh, Amels, Boof, Lina and Sur for graduating with honours from Manchester University on Monday and Tuesday! Very very proud of you guys, can't wait to see everyone back home!

xoxo

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

I'm in the university clusters now, making the most of my free internet access and airconditioning lol! It's been sweltering hot here the last coupla days, hot enough that you sweat as soon as you step out the door and hot enough that all you wanna do is flop down on a seat and stay there with someone fanning you and feeding you grapes. Too much to ask for? Heheh...

The move on Saturday went well. Thank god most of my stuff was removed on Friday because the rest of the girls' stuff practically filled up the corridor from my front door to my back! =P At one point I couldnt even get into my room cause there were 3 boxes piled high in front of it :P Good day for moving though, it was nice and sunny.. Lol..I looked like a right mess unfortunately, wearing a white vest top and men's boxers with sweaty face and hair haha.. I can only imagine what the new tenants must've thought! To be fair though, I wasnt gonna bother getting dressed all nice and pretty only to mess it up a coupla hours later, was I? Speaking of the new tenants, they're a pretty weird bunch of people...We had to throw quite a bit of food out from our cupboards cause noone was willing to take them, so we put the bin bags outside. These new people actually went through our *trash* and picked out stuff they wanted like half openend bottles of oil, opened packs of biscuits and lord knows what else! Is that not trampy?? And they did it in full view of us and the landlord too!! Weirdos =P Then they proceeded to take the cutlery and pots and pans we were throwing out as well... Nda pemalu banar.. its not even as if they're poor students, 2 of them were fully employed! Engineer lagi tu =S

So me and N only had to move our stuff across the street, although N just *had* to move into an attic room.. it was such a mission to move all of her stuff up these set of windy narrow stairs! Her parents almost had a fit lol =P I was in the attic room last year and never again will I do that... I'm sure its against some human rights laws to have people move all my stuff up those stairs lol..The first night in the new house was.. strange, which was to be expected lah.. Every little creak woke me up, and I stayed awake in the dark for agesss..It's gotten a lot better now, we also have another girl, H, staying with us cause she's just as homeless as I am for the time being heheh..Its no fun living out of a/several suitcase(s) believe you me..Plus I have no form of entertainment since my telly's been put in storage and there isnt any internet connection anywhere. Can't even steal someone's wireless lol! Hence me coming into uni voluntarily when only a coupla months ago I would've avoided it like the plague..

13 more days til the parentals get here =) Been keeping myself busy since then.. Went to Tropical World in Leeds yesterday and in hindsight, going to a place called Tropical World when you're already all hot and bothered by the weather wasn't really a good idea lol! It was like a sauna in there!! Loads of cool stuff though like birds and butterflies flying about freely.. fish, reptiles, nocturnal animals, etc also got =D Cheap too, at £3 per entry.. Tropical World's really close to RoundHay park which was beautiful..Ada gardens, walking routes, lakes where you can feed the ducks, etc etc...Me and N were too hot to attempt any more walking after that though so we just went to the nearest pub and sat there for hours nursing a huge coke and lemonade respectively lol..Puteri lilin still, ok? =D Now m waiting for N to finish her classes and then we're off to Knaresborough, which is a nice little town about 45 min away from Leeds for a bit of rowing and sightseeing =)

It's been good actually; I still can't wait to get home, but at the same time, least I'm not moping about the house. Been really cranky with P recently, but it's only because I miss him. I'm just hoping he understands and won't get too sick of me before the 31st of July heh =P

Much cayangs! xoxoxo